Aurelian Occupation of Eldwythe

Stub-class article · First seen: s14 · Last seen: s20

The Aurelian Occupation of Eldwythe is the taking of Eldwythe by Aurelian forces while the party was away at the Candy Cottage. In session 14 the party came back to white-and-gold banners, soldiers searching carts and notice boards describing all five of its members, wanted for “unlawful possession and obstruction of divine inquiry” [10]. The party fled the town’s surroundings, escaped through its sewers in sessions 15 and 16 and sailed south. When it returned in session 20 the banners had gone from the town, though the Eldwythe Bridge checkpoint was still Aurelian [16][17].

Overview

The party walked back from the Candy Cottage in session 14, about four hours, and found Eldwythe changed [10]. White and gold banners hung from the palisade “where there were none before”, and soldiers in polished mail and pale tabards, “their shields marked with the sunburst of Aurelia”, were checking carts and pulling open shutters. The DM put it plainly: “This is not random inspection. They’re here for someone specific. They’re here for you.” [10].

The occupation is the point at which Aurelian forces began hunting the party by name, and the start of the arc told at Aurelian Persecution. It had lifted from the town by session 20, though not from the bridge.

Known traits

  • The notices. Fresh boards by the entrance carried “a crude likeness, descriptions, warnings”, and the charge was “not wanted for theft, not murder, not heresy, but unlawful possession and obstruction of divine inquiry” [10]. Asked whether the notices named only the casters, the DM said there was “a description of all five of you” [11].
  • The search. “Everything is being searched” [12]; inside the town, “They’re very much just searching everyone.” [13].
  • The timing. Hugo thought the party had been away for less than a day; the DM said “Takes one day back and forth, so two days total.” [14]. The players put Aurelia “two days on foot” away [15].

Relationships

Open questions

  • How did the Aurelians know the whole party? The notices described all five, including Hugo and Vasquez, who cast no magic in the town [19][11]. Caelumn wondered whether someone had reported them or whether the Aurelians “just detected it within their city radius” [20]; the DM said only that the party did not know how Aurelians “pin them down, but they do” [21].
  • How did the occupation end? It was not shown. By session 20 the banners were gone from the town but not from the bridge [16][17].

History in the campaign

Session 14: The Gummy Mummy and Aurelian Eldwythe

Main article: Session 14

After a walk of about four hours the party found Eldwythe hung with banners, soldiers “checking carts, speaking to the locals, pulling open shutters”, and notice boards for “unlawful possession and obstruction of divine inquiry” [10]. The DM said that the notices described “all five of you” [11]. The party had been away “two days total” [22]. Everything was being searched [12], so it put off returning the dragon and walked back to the forest clearing to rest [23].

Session 15: The Death of Ruin and Althea Joins

Main article: Session 15

A patrol found the party in the clearing and killed Ruin at once [24]. Phil Flowerforge’s smoke bomb ended the fight [25], and in the smoke a chain pulled away Caelumn’s backpack with the Egg [26]. Hounds were behind the party as it ran [27]. Phil did not lead it to the gate but to “a kind of cellar door, kind of on the edge of the walls” as the Aurelian banners came into view, and into the sewers [28]. He led them near the end of the sewers and left to meet Briochebane [29].

Session 16: Through the Sewers, Onto the Skiff

Main article: Session 16

The party crossed the sewers below the occupied town. Dogs barked behind the sewer door [30], and at the seaward end the Aurelians had “kind of captured the end of the sewer” [4]. The party slipped past them to a skiff and chose to sail for the White Lantern Shrine [31]. It did not go back into Eldwythe.

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

Nessa, adrift on the sea with her children, said she was bound for Eldwythe [32]. Hugo warned her: “I would like to say they’re heavily occupying it at the moment. Or at least they were. They might have packed up and gone, but there were some guards by there.” [33].

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

Having given up on Aurelia, the party asked the DM for the quickest way to Velkris, and he said it lay “through Eldwythe, through Umbrafall, Mirestrand and then to Velkris” [34]. After a night’s rest Caelumn turned the party back towards the town, hoping that it was “still not under Aurelia control” [35].

Session 20: The Man Who Was Always Here

Main article: Session 20

At dawn white Aurelian banners still hung from the bridge, and guards searched carts at the checkpoint on its southern end [16]. Beyond it “the Aurelian banner seems to be gone from the town itself” [17]. The party crossed as guards on Laura Bennett’s caravan; asked whether it had been in contact with a heretic, Caelumn answered, “We watched an execution happen in front of us” [36], and the caravan was waved through. The town “still bears some marks from occupation”: replaced doors, pale squares where notices had been torn down, local wardens at the corners [8]. Crossing took the party out of Aurelia [9].

Status

As of session 23. Lifted from the town, though the bridge checkpoint was still Aurelian in session 20 [16][17]. Nothing on screen says when or how the soldiers left, and the party has not been back since it left Aurelia [9].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 14, line 1556-1566: Banners on the palisade, soldiers searching the town, notices describing all five party members, "unlawful possession and obstruction of divine inquiry"; the party had been away about two days.
  2. ^ Session 14, line 1577-1605: Everything is being searched; the party puts off returning Briochebane and goes back to the forest clearing.
  3. ^ Session 15, line 446-573: Phil's smoke bomb; the Egg taken in the smoke; Phil leads the party through a cellar door into the sewers.
  4. ^ Session 16, line 1603: The Aurelians hold the end of the sewer; the party slips past to a skiff.
  5. ^ Session 17, line 978-979: Hugo warns Nessa, who is heading for Eldwythe, that the Aurelians were "heavily occupying it".
  6. ^ Session 19, line 290-390: The quickest way to Velkris runs through Eldwythe; Caelumn hopes the town is "still not under Aurelia control".
  7. ^ Session 20, line 374-417: White Aurelian banners and cart searches at the bridge checkpoint; the banner gone from the town itself.
  8. ^ Session 20, line 553: The town after the occupation; replaced doors, torn-down notices, the market open, local wardens at the corners.
  9. ^ Session 20, line 696: You have left Aurelia..
  10. ^ Session 14, line 1556: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 14, line 1561: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 14, line 1577: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 14, line 1650: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 14, line 1565-1566: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 14, line 1563-1564: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 20, line 374: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 20, line 417: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 14, line 1602-1605: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 14, line 1463-1464: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 14, line 1613: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 14, line 1616: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 14, line 1566: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 14, line 1604-1605: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 15, line 117-119: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 15, line 446-448: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 15, line 496-501: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 15, line 541: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 15, line 573: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 15, line 629: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 16, line 1123: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 16, line 1735-1740: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 17, line 978: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 17, line 979: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 19, line 290: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 19, line 390: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 20, line 549-550: Inline citation.
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