| Session Date | December 14, 2019 |
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| Base XP Gained | 2000 |
The wagons traveled on along the snow-covered Elf Road to the northeast. Ahead and to the right, the party could now see the vast expanse of Lake Greensward, a veritable sea fading into the hazy east. They were not pulling away from the elven forests further into human lands. As night began to fall, they could see light smoke rising from what appeared to be a small village on the lakeward side of the road. They approached it as night fell and lights began to be visible.
The locals seemed rather startled to see traffic and watched the party and Dwarves cautiously but with growing excitement. The party inquired after lodging and were directed to The Chalice, a small rather drab village tavern. Leaving the wagons with a Dwarf or two guarding, the others entered the tavern to arm up and get some food and ale, the first time they'd been under a roof in days. The locals quickly grew excited and began to jabber about how the Dwarves were coming to save them from the Giant King. The party tried valiantly to dissuade this idea, but most of the locals were so overjoyed at the prospect that they paid little heed. The party inquired about relations with the Gnomes -- the locals were rather ambivalent about them, not hostile perhaps but certainly not friends either. most of the rest of the talk was about the abysmally cold spring.
The party decided to spend a warm night in the village of South Shore, as they learned it was named, as it seemed safe enough, and the food and ale was superior to what they'd had on the road. Before turning in, Iban sent a note back to Nali in the Dwarf Kingdom by raven giving word of the battle, their progress thus far, and the aid given them by the gnomes (he used Dwarf slang to try to hide that last fact).
The next morning, they again began their journey to Manston, the locals informing them they should arrive that day. The journey continued to be cold but uneventful, though Iban, again airborne, noted a group of Gnomes at one point paralleling the party; they did not make contact and eventually disappeared in the snow. Two hours before sunset, the caravan at last reached the walled town-city of Manston, with Floi and the six surviving Dwarves (of 18 originally assigned to them). The gates, large and well kept, were wide open, and the walls tall and strong. The gate captain and his guards was most surprised and pleased to see the wagons, stating that no one had come to the city from any distance all winter. There was some confusion when asked who was in charge when the party flashed their badges of rank from the Kingdom's army; they eventually informed him that Cadwallider was in charge. He asked about their cargo and they showed the weapons to him, which then got him and his men quite excited, believing that the Dwarves were openly allying themselves with the city. He seemed confused when the party denied this and explained that the cargo was in payment for former obligations. Girion, Captain of the Lormyrr Gate as he named himself, said he was happy they'd come in any case and detailed two men to escort the party to his superiors.
They rolled the wagons through the cold streets, eventually coming to the old citadel along the shore of the lake. There they were met by Crinsdale, the Lord Mayor of the city, accompanied by a number of others. They had already received word of the wagons and wished to see the cargo, which the party showed them. There was a longish discussion now about how these were meant to pay other outstanding obligations and did not represent a formal declaration of alliance with the Dwarves. The Mayor told them that the city was still under an ultimatum from the Giant King and had not yet answered, as their council was split on a response...they expected a final answer would be demanded of them very soon. But, they would accept the cargo for the debts mentioned, and the Mayor directed that the party and Dwarves be given the freedom of the city for as long as they wished to stay. Further, he ordered that a lodging house be provided to them for their use while in the city. The Dwarven soldiers, meanwhile, begged to be given leave to visit the Dwarf Town part of the city and the party said yes to that (the Dwarves wanted to "get their beards braided properly" and other stuff weird Dwarves do on leave); the party also gave each of them ten gold pieces for spending money and as a bonus for making it to the city. Floi went with them, though the party considered keeping him with them to keep him out of trouble.
The party now went to the house provided to them, where a small army of servants rushed to make it ready. An excellent meal and plenty of good drink was made available to them. Outside, a crowd began to gather, rumbling about how the Dwarves had come to save them; the fact only one Dwarf (ZZ) was present did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm. Any time someone would show themselves, the locals cheered. Iban took the opportunity to detect evil within the crowd, and some were low level evil. A few others seemed to be watching the house without sharing the enthusiasm of the crowd. Meanwhile the rest of the party searched the house for secret entrances and the like, also finding none. Later, when one of the watchers left, Iban tried scrying him, eventually locating him in a richly appointed room talking to some older, well-dressed men. Finally, ESP was used on the staff to check for danger; a few were clearly intent on watching the party to report on them, but none seemed hostile.
The next morning, after a generous breakfast, Iban scried for the raven he'd sent, and found it safely winging along over a snowfield. Meanwhile, Cadwallider slipped out invisibly to detect for invisible persons. Finding none, he proceeded to briefly explore the neighborhood, though saw little of note, though he did locate and breifly look around the so-called Dwarf Town nearby.
The party was soon politely summoned to the Citadel by a guardsman. They made their way there in the cold morning air and soon found themselves in a largish council chamber with Crinsdale and six other men presiding. The party was asked to once more lay out the Dwarven position with regards to the Giant King; it was clear this was the continuation of a long debate. Unlike the boisterous townfolk, these men were clear headed and acknowledged the lack of overt Dwarven support, though did say they took the wagons of weaponry as a subtle sign that they favored Manston. A debate now raged as the two factions of the council soon made themselves apparent. Some favored defiance and resistance to the Giant King, saying that they were heirs to the old Empire, and would never capitulate to some upstart monster and his horde of underlings. The other side believed that they could buy off what was essentially a brigand chieftain, thereby avoiding war altogether; the leader of this faction was apparently the leader of the Trader's Guild. The debate raged until Iban interjected, making a powerful plea for resistance. He further pointed out that the Giant King had worked very hard to keep men and Dwarves (and Gnomes) separated, thereby sowing doubt as he sought to conquer them all piecemeal.
The Council was quite raucous but held a final vote, with defiance and war winning 4-2 (apparently, the Mayor was only entitled to cast tie breaking votes, as he cast no vote). This decided, the discussion turned to what should happen next. The party recommended not ceding all of the lands west of the city; a forward defense would potentially keep the rich farmlands available for planting (if the spring ever came). Further, the humans needed to coordinate with both Dwarves and Gnomes; the latter had already started fighting, they pointed out. The party was thanked for their advice and dismissed, as the council had much to discuss and order.
The party left the citadel, discussing what they ought to do next. They would look into the city's resources to withstand a famine if the harvest were to fail. Also, they assumed spies of the Giant King were in the town and ought to be weeded out. Finally, they were somewhat confused by the status of the Elf enclave in the city, and if it was acting forthrightly in passing messages to their own Kingdom in the forests (I am a little unclear on the last one -- my note on this is somewhat unclear to me!).