Session 26 - Tumbling Stones

This is the 26th session of the game Ashes.

Summary
As the party entered the city of Silverton they saw several propaganda posters hanging around. They each made it clear that the fight against Blackdale was not over, implying some sort of insurgency was still out there, all surrounding the "False Princess" Vespa Black, the bastard daughter of King Bernard Howe the once King of Blackdale.

The city itself had a surprising amount of steampunk-like technology, with silver pipes running between most buildings providing them with heat. Following Odell and Birtha, the party made their way to a church dedicated to The Flame, one of the few churches in the area, so that Birtha could see a priest prior to the delivery of her baby. While they waited outside they shared some parting words with Petrov, as he and his lady decided to not stay long in Silverton and to continue on to Granite. He thanked the party for what they did for him and took his leave.

The Patrons made two stops prior to leaving Silverton. They stopped first at Ol' Reliable, bought some rations for the road, and swapped rumors with the proprietor. They then stopped by Cowboy Rentals where they met Gamm Tot, a gnome man who rented out cowboy automatons. Themus and Astraea noticed that one of the names of the supposed outlaws killed by these bots, "Laughing" Cliff LaMont, seemed out of place, as he is seen more like a folk hero and a story rather than someone who could be killed. The party managed to leave Silverton after this without bumping into the Mayor.

As the party settled into another inlet and camped for the night, Themus and Acaelus during their watch noticed that there were two suspicious people walking around the tops of the canyon hundreds of feet off. The pair were scouting out Silverton, with long rifles with scopes. The two left after some time and went to a mountainous area and hid in a cave at the top of a hilly outcropping. The party decided in the morning to go investigate this.

They diverted the carriage into an incline to get to the top of the canyon to travel easier, and during the trek to the mountain broke one of their wheels to the carriage. They decided to leave the carriages and take off with the horses to the mountain. They arrived from the rear and set up a basecamp before scaling the mountain, all the while discussing their approach. Midway up Astraea nearly fell from the mountain, causing rocks to plummet to the earth. When the party reached the top Themus turned towards the mouth of the cave and had a rifle pointed right at him. Themus and Autumn were able to convince the man guarding the entrance that they were sick and traveling around the area and needed a place to stay. As the man turned his back to allow them inside the cave Themus jumped on the man and tried to grapple him. Upon failing harshly, he then successfully lied and said that he slipped instead of attacking the man.

The man allowed them into a waiting chamber where another guard was posted. There was a tension building as the party's inquiry made the guards more suspicious. The party surmised and questioned the pair about them being from Blackdale, which caused the friendly banter to cease. Without learning too much more, the party was given a replacement wheel and axel from the men and were told to leave the cave.

The party pressed on to Granite and eventually found a dead earth elemental blasted by some magic. Some party members recall that Granite was a city protected by a group of benevolent elementals, but these are mostly rumors to outsiders.

As the party approached the city we were all surprised to learn that Earth Elementals are pretty stealthy, and the party was jumped. During the fight one of the carriage wheels was destroyed. At the end of the fight, a nearby child blew a very loud stone whistle that called the local guardians, the Galeb Duhr, to arrive and fight off the encroaching Earth Elementals. The same little girl, Jenny, quickly rushes the party into her nearby home built within the canyon walls, while the ensuing battle between the warring elementals takes place outside.

The party spoke with Tumble, a Galeb Duhr who seemed to be protecting Jenny, about the situation here in Granite and surmised that a few years into the Dunland Civil War, a spellcaster of some kind emerged and attacked the already war-torn city. This started a conflict between the Galeb Duhr and the Elementals that this spellcaster was conjuring. The party decided to stay and help the cause, rooting out the source of the magic, and to help free the city. But first, a short rest was required.