Session 3.1

The Arrival of the 73rd
Players: Chris (DM), Casey (Root), Becky (Jespora), Steve (Kamara), Ryan (Carric), Eric (Ulrich), Thayer (Grammarsh), Luther (Buckler), Caspar (Nihilus), Cathy (Aurianya), Elaine (Fallynde), Lauren (Aurelae), Rick (Rael), Shane (Indigo), Brady (Chen)

Tomorrow is the scheduled day of the 73rd Arrival! Let's go to the landing site at Softholme to greet and welcome them to their new home!

The Arrival

Preparing for the journey, Fallynde packs mini-kegs full of beer and attaches them to her Strider. We'll have plenty of beer to offer the new Arrivals, and we can refill at the Softholme beer geyser. A large party joins the welcome wagon this year and makes the day's journey south. Indigo is excited by the chance to witness the vessel emerge from the Void, now visible due to the recent lack of permanent cloud cover.

The party journeys toward Softholme, the jabbering Rockador statue, and the beer geyser. When they arrive, they see the floating island inhabited by Illithids and the Void, suspended in the air near the island. When the time of Arrival finally occurs, they witness the vessel slowly emerge from the Void... Once through, gravity takes over, and the vessel falls to the ground, crashing loudly upon impact. The scene is... not exactly what we were expecting. I guess we thought it'd be more impressive? Regardless, they enthusiastically make their way to the crash site to welcome Hardholme’s newest citizens!

Aboard the 97th Vessel, lights are flashing everywhere after the giant impact. Most of the 97th were able to strap themselves in with enough time to spare, but others did not. There's blood everywhere, and three travelers have died upon impact. The young tiefling, Zevine; and two humans, Babble and Drake, perished during the crash.

The ten survivors of the 97themerge from the vessel to an alien world. The scene is eerie, the sky is filled with a multitude of planets, and to the south, the world seems to simply end – a sheer cliff that descends into darkness. A nearby river to the west is flowing right off the cliff, the water falling down into nothingness. Nearby is a small village that appears to be in disrepair, with small weepy trees throughout – this must be Hardholme!

Chen returns to the vessel to retrieve Zevine's remains, while Nihilus returns to pull Zax from under his chair. The other Arrivals work to remove the remains of their friends of 5 years. Upon exiting the vessel again, they come face-to-face with the welcoming party. Root rides Vonna over to meet the Arrivals, causing Chen to make a quick and strategic retreat back inside to avoid being eaten by the giant bear that suddenly appeared; he only reemerges after Root assures him of his safety.

The ten Arrivals are:
 * Arthas: A male Tiefling with purple skin who appears to be about 16 years old
 * Nick Elback: An old washed-up bard superstar
 * Olivia Bishop: A female Elf who's gruff with a firm handshake
 * Gaw-yiz: A female Tabaxi who appears very taciturn
 * Jarpington the Just: A Human male paladin of the Silver Flame who is very old and frail
 * Chen: a male Apeling monk with long fur
 * Natmine (Natty) Dekker: a female Tiefling who appears to have a relationship with Chen
 * Jespora: A female Dragonborn cleric with blue scales
 * Desmond: A male Yuan-ti who appear to be Jespora's husband
 * Nihilus: a male Gnome wizard who appears somewhat nervous

The Arrivals make their way to– Wait! There are more?!
 * Zax: An elderly gnome peeking from behind Nihilus who appears both attached and overbearing of him
 * Jesmyn: A female toddler who is Jespora and Desmond's daughter. A CHILD?!  And she's a Dragon-Voidborn, no less!  But wait...
 * Lucius: A male toddler, Jesmyn's twin brother! Also Dragon-Voidborn!  What might the ramifications of this be??

Rael and Natty immediately recognize one another; they run toward each other and embrace, then they begin breathlessly talking at each other rapidly; she seems older than she should, though. Buckler shakes Jarpington's hand, and they begin to talk about the Silver Flame; it seems Jarp is one of the order's elders. Desmond and Kamara also seem to know each other, but they keep it low-key.

Root helps to carry the deceased passengers, and they work together to bury the dead. Once the task is finished, Buckler leads a small memorial service as everyone pays their respects to their friendships of 5 years, and the friendships that now could never be made.

The welcome party tells the newcomers about the Festival of Arrival, to welcome the 73rdto Hardholme!!! This causes confusion and eventually arguments to break out between everyone. The 73rd insist that they're the 97th, and the 71st insist they're the 73rd! Arguments fly back and forth while Grammarsh, Carric, Ulrich, and Olivia sit to the side smoking a menga joint and completely not participating in the fighting. The understanding is that the new arrivals left Davros as the 97th departure, but they've somehow arrived in the 73rd year. Does the Void have time compression properties?? Who knows?! New research topic!! The welcome party explains the Prime hierarchy and convinces the 97th that they need to present themselves as the 73rd anyway, since it might cause panic, resulting in the unraveling of Hardholme's social structure. The 97thhesitantly agree. This at least explains why the recognized travelers are much older than expected.

Zax demands to be led to the Lord of Hardholme. Nihilus ponders the fact that, since they're the 97thand also the 73rd, does that mean they're DOUBLE-PRIME?? Natty is freaking out over the possibility of time travel, while Anya tries to comfort her. Desmond moves to talk to Kamara, who appears to not recognize him, while Chen begins to eat lots of food.

The Interloper

As the group rests, giant footsteps can suddenly be heard! They sound suspiciously like Wrex-Wrex! They ARE Wrex-Wrex!!! Two of them, in fact – giant furry t-rex monsters with wolf heads! They're running in from the north, charging directly at everyone!

As they're charging, they emit two giant Void-colored discs at us, which slice across the ground at angles around us! Wait... they can't do that, can they?! Yep, the discs passed THROUGH them from behind! The monsters are each sliced in two and fall to the ground dead. “I AM UNTETHERED!!!” a cacophonous, deep, echoing, psychotic voice rings out. Floating in midair behind them is none other than Silas! He looks PISSED! The Void-colored discs he launched has caused a giant triangle-shaped section of ground surrounding us to begin to break away, to slide down into the abyss!!

The group breaks into a dash, moving in 3 different directions; some move westward to get to solid ground, others dash eastward, and some dash directly north toward Silas. Root is riding Vonna, while Fallynde jumps up to join Buckler on Nobanion's back as the silver lion makes a dash for safety. Ulrich moves with Jespora and Desmond to keep their children safe. Aurelae fires an arrow and lands a bullseye in Silas' head at 300 feet! Kamara tries to perform a mental slap on Silas but can’t reach him from this distance. Carric levitates himself and gives Silas the finger.

Levitating in midair, Silas' mass suddenly expands. His shape begins to lose definition and blur, becoming jagged like static. Black tendrils emerge from his body as he screams. Likewise, the two Dragon-Voidborn toddlers begin to scream as loud as they can as their bodies begin to lose shape and black tendrils emerge from their own skin. Jespora is horrified at what is happening to her children, but she holds them tightly as she continues to rush them to safety.

The rest of the party continues their dash as the ground continues to break away underneath, creating gaps. Some make it to solid ground, while others make a direct charge for Silas. Anya jumps up on Root’s shoulders as Vonna dashes by, while Buckler and Fallynde dash at Silas’ flank atop Nobanion. Fallynde’s enraged and frenzied and looks like she’s about to one-shot his ass; Buckler’s into it. The rest of the group is now running toward Silas to attempt to get within range; Carric is still smoking his menga joint as he runs.

The entire ground behind the group is now falling away, as Rockador, the beer geyser, and the landing site fall into the abyss. Softholme is also now Goneholme! Silas sends out a shockwave that knocks several people to the ground. Rael uses his guitar to cast Stoneshape and form a ramp over the ever-growing gap, which allows most to run and jump over it. As Vonna is running, Root Misty Steps forward and behind Silas as Anya performs a controlled fall and lands on Vonna’s back! Ulrich plays his bone foot flute to attempt to put Silas to sleep, but it has absolutely no effect on him. Kamara uses Nomadic Step to teleport himself to solid ground within vomit-range; he then spews his projectile acid vomit all over Silas, damaging him and incurring a hefty dry-cleaning bill. Chen, who is running behind Vonna, somersaults off her butt to fly up at Silas, giving him a hard flying kick to the face, punching him, and grappling him like a badass ninja monkey! Fallynde and Buckler leap off Nobanion and perform a badass dual-tech x-strike on Silas, the Wrecking Flame!

The ground continues to collapse more quickly, and several people begin to fall into the gap. Jespora rides Kamara’s strider to safety, though her children are still reacting severely to Silas. Nihilus casts Slow on Silas, rendering him unable to harm us in the immediate future. Rael is falling into the chasm, but clicks his Immovable Rod in place and hangs on to it. Anya jumps off Vonna’s back to reach solid ground, but she misses and continues to fall! Vonna descends into the darkness and will need to be summoned again later by Root. Desmond and Jarpington are stranded on a small piece of solid ground in the center of the collapsed land, but it’s beginning to break away. Kamara and Grammarsh also begin to fall. Indigo readies his Ars Goetia and yells to Chen to get away from Silas; Chen nimbly runs down Silas’ body and grabs Anya’s hand, and swings her up to safety! The Ars Goetia opens itself Indigo opens the Ars Goetia toward Silas, and as the book floats in midair, a black maelstrom forms about it. Tendrils of negative light emerge from the book and encircle Silas, then drag him, screaming, into the maelstrom. The book slams shut and emits a faint black aura as Indigo’s right eye briefly flashes red. Lucius and Jesmyn immediately stop shouting, and their bodies go back to normal.

With the threat of Silas gone, the party can concentrate on rescuing their falling allies! Kamara is using his movement to scurry up the falling sand to safety, but since it’s falling, he stays in place like a cartoon character; he then uses his action to Teleport to safety! Ulrich points his Rod of Lordly Might in Grammarsh’s direction and presses button #4, which causes a ladder to shoot out of it and stick into the chasm wall! Grammarsh tries to grab hold of the ladder, but misses – twice! Rael unclicks his Immovable Rod and force-falls in Grammarsh’s direction. He’s able to catch Grammarsh’s arm with his tail and click the rod in place again. Ulrich then uses his ladder to rescue Rael, Grammarsh, Desmond, and Jarpington (who were still on that little sliver of ground that miraculously didn’t fall away until right as they were rescued).

After everyone is safe, they all run away north away from the collapsing ground. The edge of the Hole continues to collapse northward, but eventually slows down to a negligible pace. Poor Softholme (Goneholme), the landing site, Rockador, and the beer geyser are all gone. Once everyone is at a safe enough distance, they set camp for the night.

The Return

We learn about our new companions during the campout. Rael is speaking with Natty and Chen and is joined by Anya. Buckler is talking to Jarpington, and Kamara and Desmond are off speaking alone to one another (unbeknownst to us, Desmond was once a disciple of Kamara). Olivia is a tattooed badass who was really famous; she was like the Anthony Bourdain of Davros! She also seems to have a thing for Carric… Nick and Carric also seem to be getting along well. Noticing that Gaw-yiz is standing off alone and appearing to not want to talk to anyone, Anya brings her a cup of beer but doesn’t say anything. Gaw-yiz pours the beer out onto the ground and drops the cup, and Anya silently, but respectfully, returns to the rest of the group. Though it seems Gaw-yiz may have glanced in her direction as she walked away?

Nihilus is checking on everyone, while Zax is asking around about the Lord of Hardholme. Desmond and Jespora are tending to their young children and are visited by Ulrich and Root. After checking on the children’s wellbeing, Ulrich explains HH’s child care services to Des and Jes, while Root surreptitiously offers to Detect Evil on their kids. (lol No evil, btw). Carric offers some menga to Chen, who was complaining about the children’s voidy-ness earlier, and offers to make the children disappear. Chen thanks Carric for his generous offer, but refuses.

During the night, Wngas emerge! Everyone tries to catch one, and two of us actually DO! Root gets a Constitution bonus, and Nihilus gets an AC bonus!

The next morning the large party returns to Hardholme with no further incident. They pass through the south gate into Southridge, where the new Arrivals are treated to a view of Rael’s Crewe de Ventari vineyard and the giant cliff upon which the main part of the city perches. They travel through the new part of the city at the cliff’s base and climb the cliffside road into Steepridge. There are no Orphan beggars and pickpockets this year! Everyone is instead cheering them on! They make their way to the town green, where there’s a great crowd and a huge banner proudly stating “WELCOME 73RD!” Ulrich points out that, besides the potential societal collapse of naming them the 97th, the banners had already been printed stating “73rd,” so it was too late to change the name anyway.

The Festival of Arrival

The Festival lasts for a week! The new Arrivals spend this time getting to know their new neighbors. This is also the grand opening of the Archibald Battle Coliseum, where the strider races will happen this year! There are more seats here than there are citizens of HH. There are also lots of fireworks during the races (how did Francis-John procure fireworks??)

Goldie gets on stage to announce the new Councilors of HH: Fallynde, Rael, Vera, Root, Carric, Ulrich, and Lex. Zax chases after Goldie, inquiring about the Lord of Hardholme. Everyone bets on the strider race, and Carric wins with his bet on Big Country, netting him 14,000 gold!

Rael slips Chen a copy of his book “If I Did It” by Rael Dekker. The new Arrivals are confused by the Hyla; while there are myriad of anthropomorphic animal people on Davros, none are frogs! This is insane! Fallynde introduces the Arrivals to people. Chen goes in search of food, which Aurelae provides at her hunting lodge in Southridge. She has dinnerbird/ tastybird/ angrybird, tastyfish, quakesnake steaks, and lots of jerky. Olivia is very interested in the new flavors that await her palate. Rael brings Natty to the Tipsy Tabaxi and beams with pride. Fallynde brings Nihilus to her students so that they can shine his family armor. Rael tells Vera that she was right about Silas. Buckler gives a moving speech during a memorial service for the Battle of Sawsob, and he raises hope in everyone for the future of Hardholme.

On the night of the Void Curse, the 3 remaining members of the 72nd; Indigo, Jat Kusar, and Francis-John Archibald IV d’Ordeau, visit the Temple of the Silver Flame, where Carric and several Green Hyla priests cast the Feign Death spell on them in an attempt to “fool” the curse into not affecting them. Against all odds, the strategy actually works! All three of them wake the next morning, none the worse for wear! They’ve outsmarted the Void Curse for the first time in 6 years! At least this time around… Will they need to take precautions again six months from now??

The 73rd Arrivals retire to their own mansion in the nice part of town and settle in, each with their own thoughts, own dreams, and own plans for their future in this new and strange land.

The citizens who already live here now have new friends and a ton of new questions that need answers…