Recaps

Xia Nan had Barn make a temporary arm shield from the Snake Scale and declined an offer to guard a caravan. After leaving the blacksmith shop with new equipment and plenty of money remaining, he planned to rest in River Valley Town and practice his Combat Skills.

• Barn tactfully advised Xia Nan to preserve the Snake Scale as a temporary arm shield rather than attempt expensive advanced equipment.
• Xia Nan agreed to pay thirty-five gold for the custom arm shield, and Barn measured his arm and discussed its design with him.
• Barn offered Xia Nan a caravan guard job to Kalanfu'er in exchange for a discount, but Xia Nan declined so he could rest and await the Half-Elf's news about a Combat Skill instructor.
• Xia Nan left the Blacksmith Shop wearing new Chainmail and carrying his Dual Blades, with more than a hundred and forty gold still in his wallet.
• Xia Nan planned to rest, look for thrown incendiary items, and practice his Combat Skills before his next mission.

Xia Nan received Hai An’s letter confirming that a Veteran Professional would pass through River Valley Town in mid-Month of Scorching Sun, leaving him nearly seventy days to wait. With no need to rush into another adventure, he reconsidered joining a caravan and planned to use the trip to investigate his Combat Skill training bottleneck.

• Xia Nan practiced Forward Thrust and Block Upward Slash but continued to struggle with unstable form, and he arranged to check on his Snake Scale Arm Shield at Barn’s blacksmith shop.
• Barn asked whether Xia Nan would join the caravan guards, and Xia Nan promised to give him an answer the day after tomorrow.
• Chapton delivered a letter from Hai An, and Xia Nan saw a skinny youth swiftly avoid Bernie’s spilled ale before the youth left Bernie badly injured.
• Xia Nan read that a Veteran Professional would visit River Valley Town in mid-Month of Scorching Sun, and he decided to consider caravan work while testing his theory about his Combat Skill progress.

Tim’s gambling addiction drove his wife and daughter to leave, and he lost his chance to return to his adventurer party. After selling his old gear and gambling away the money, he found a strange hide-bound book marked with a white skull.

• Tim lost his remaining money gambling, then returned home and apologized to Beth for forgetting her muffins.
• His wife told Tim she planned to take Beth to the countryside, and gave him her savings so he could seek work or return to adventuring.
• Tim failed to find work, returned to the tavern, and woke to find his wife and Beth gone from their empty house.
• Tim prepared to repair his old gear, but his former captain said he had removed Tim from the party roster and gave him a purse of money.
• Tim pawned his armor and blades, gambled away the proceeds, and found a strange book bearing a white skull after a drunken collision.

Xia Nan traveled with Jeff’s caravan from River Valley Town toward Kalanfu'er, taking a break from hunting Monsters while guarding the merchants. As the camp settled for the night, he heard that adventurers had found no secret in the strange ruins of Thin Mist Forest, then watched Alton struggle in with a huge pot of stew.

• Xia Nan accepted Barn’s commission to guard a caravan traveling from River Valley Town to Kalanfu'er.
• Jeff stopped the caravan for the night and told Xia Nan that Alton was preparing stew and the guards would keep watch.
• Xia Nan listened as the Adventurers discussed strange buildings in Thin Mist Forest and said high-level adventurers had found nothing there.
• Xia Nan wondered whether his connection to the cave-like Secret Realm explained why others could not reach it.
• Alton arrived carrying a huge, unsteady iron pot, and called for help with the stew.

Xia Nan shared a stew cooked by Alton and learned that the Lightfoot Halfling honored Tymora, the Goddess of Fortune. The chapter left Alton revealing his devotion through a coin bearing Tymora’s image.

• Alton brought Xia Nan a pot of stew and urged him to taste it.
• Xia Nan sampled the stew, praised it, and learned more about Alton’s curious, outgoing nature as a Lightfoot Halfling.
• Xia Nan asked which deity Alton believed in, and Alton explained that Halflings treated their pantheon like family.
• Alton flipped a coin and revealed the image of Tymora, the Goddess of Fortune.

Xia Nan learned about Alton’s faith in Tymora and wondered whether he could gain the goddess’s favor himself. Jeff arrived to discuss the caravan’s plans, but an alarm rang before he could finish.

• Xia Nan reflected on how Tymora’s followers differed from other religious devotees and noticed Alton’s unusual superstitions.
• Alton explained that anyone could consider themselves a believer in Tymora, though he had received her oracle in a dream.
• Xia Nan concluded that casual prayers were unlikely to attract Tymora’s attention and continued chatting with Alton over stew.
• Jeff came to the adventurers’ camp to discuss reaching Kalanfu'er and the caravan’s plans afterward.
• A trap was triggered, and its urgent ringing interrupted Jeff.

A caravan came under attack by twenty-three Goblins, and Xia Nan joined the adventurers defending it. After Alton’s music seemed to bolster the fighters, Xia Nan used Whirlwind Slash to kill four Goblins, exhilarated by the release of his pent-up pressure.

• A bell rang through the night, and Xia Nan, Alton, and the other adventurers prepared for battle.
• Alton spotted twenty-three Goblins approaching the caravan, and Klee, Wilson, and the coachmen shot down several of them.
• The party’s leader ordered the adventurers to charge before the Goblins could reach the caravan.
• Alton played an inspiring tune as Xia Nan sprinted toward the Goblins and checked for signs of an ambush.
• Xia Nan used Whirlwind Slash to kill four Goblins in one sweep and felt exhilarated.

Xia Nan tested whether using unfamiliar combat skills in real battle increased his proficiency while helping defeat a goblin raid on the convoy. After the adventurers killed all twenty-three goblins, Jeff offered to pay their bounties from the Guards’ funds when they returned to River Valley Town.

• A fleeing goblin panicked after seeing Xia Nan kill four of its companions, but Xia Nan caught it and used Forward Thrust to pierce its chest and abdomen.
• Xia Nan killed two goblins trying to sneak around the battlefield and used Block Upward Slash against another, but his Attribute Panel showed no proficiency gains.
• The adventurers defeated and killed all twenty-three goblins within ten minutes, then collected their left ears for the bounty.
• Jeff proposed counting the goblin bounties toward the Guards’ pay and settling with the adventurers after they returned to River Valley Town.

After Xia Nan fought off a Goblin attack, Alton praised his swordsmanship and explained his salute to Alvulin, while the caravan’s adventurers grew warmer toward Xia Nan. By the campfire, Jeff asked Alton whether the Goddess of Fortune might bless his family, and Alton assured him that she watched over those who worked hard to live.

• Alton praised Xia Nan’s sword strike, and Xia Nan credited Alton’s music with helping him fight.
• Alton saluted Alvulin and told Xia Nan that the Lady of Smiles did not care about such rituals.
• The caravan dealt with the Goblin corpses and stopped to rest, where the adventurers treated Xia Nan more warmly after seeing him fight.
• Jeff told Alton that he was saving money for his children’s futures and hoped Jamie would teach Common Tongue while Lilina opened a tailor shop.
• Jeff asked whether praying to the Goddess of Fortune could bring his family safety and prosperity, and Alton said she watched over the brave and hardworking.

After arriving in Kalanfu'er, Xia Nan accepted Alton’s invitation to visit the Full Money Bag tavern, a gambling house. They encountered Sheriff Ingram with Jeff on the way, then entered the tavern as dice games and the desires of its patrons filled the warm, noisy room.

• Xia Nan arrived in Kalanfu'er with the caravan and joined Jeff’s celebratory lunch, drinking only a little while considering how to spend the afternoon.
• Alton invited Xia Nan to visit the Full Money Bag tavern, and Xia Nan agreed after noticing Alton’s lucky coin.
• Before leaving the inn, Xia Nan and Alton met Sheriff Ingram, whom Jeff introduced as an old friend.
• Xia Nan and Alton found the Full Money Bag tavern and entered, leaving the cold, deserted street for its warmly lit, noisy gambling room.

Xia Nan watched Alton gamble at Full Money Bag Tavern, where the halfling won repeatedly before losing his entire fortune in one final all-in round. Outside in the rain, Alton explained that luck and misfortune were two sides of the same force, and Xia Nan realized the gambling had been a ritual honoring Tymora.

• Xia Nan followed Alton through the crowded Full Money Bag Tavern and found him betting all his coins at a card table.
• Alton went all in every round, winning or drawing each time while Xia Nan watched the pile of coins grow.
• Alton lost everything in one final round and cheerfully refused the tavern manager's invitation to speak privately.
• Outside in the rain, Xia Nan asked whether Alton had deliberately lost the last round.
• Alton explained that luck was conserved and that fortune and misfortune were part of the same force.
• Xia Nan realized Alton's gambling had served as a ritual aligned with the teachings of Tymora.

Xia Nan and Alton encountered a pickpocket on their rain-soaked walk back to the inn, and Alton stopped the attempted theft. As the thief fled, a sheriff caught him and identified him as Joey.

• Xia Nan asked Alton about Beshaba, and Alton warned him not to speak of the goddess too much.
• Xia Nan noticed a silver-white robin flying through the rain as they walked.
• A skinny hooded figure collided with Alton and reached for the money pouch at his waist.
• Alton tripped and shoved the thief into the mud, but the thief rolled free and ran.
• Xia Nan started after the thief, but a blond sheriff grabbed Joey by the collar and demanded to know what he had done.

Xia Nan noticed that Sheriff Ingram bore the symbol of Amaunator, while Ingram left to investigate another body found with a limb missing. Alton identified the sun emblem as Amaunator’s, and the two looked toward the golden spire on the east side of town.

• Ingram apologized to Alton and Xia Nan after catching Joey, but Alton declined compensation because the thief had taken nothing.
• Xia Nan noticed a Golden Sun embroidered on Ingram’s cuff as Alton dismissed the incident and left with him.
• Ingram confronted Joey about stealing, learned that Old Harvey had not paid him for two months of work, and gave him money before promising to speak with Harvey.
• Two guards told Ingram that a prostitute’s body had been found with its right leg missing, matching an earlier killing; Ingram ordered them to take him to the scene.
• Xia Nan asked Alton about the sun emblem, and Alton identified it as Amaunator’s while looking toward a golden spire east of town.

Joey returned to his tent during a storm and reflected on his failed attempt to trick an Adventurer, but an unidentified figure approached his shelter. Meanwhile, Xia Nan and Alton heard Adventurers discuss a gruesome death in Kalanfu'er before a sudden knock silenced the tavern.

• Joey made his way through the rain to his patched tent and pushed accumulated water off its roof.
• Joey warmed himself by a stove, hid Ingram’s money pouch, and planned to seek out travelers during the Midsummer Festival.
• Joey recalled that he had approached two Adventurers expecting Ingram to protect him, but had been caught trying to trick a gambler.
• Joey drew his rusty Short Dagger when footsteps approached his tent, and a tall, burly figure stopped outside.
• Xia Nan and Alton listened as an Adventurer described a dead man whose arm bones had all been pulled out without leaving visible wounds.
• A rapid knock at the tavern door silenced the room.

Sheriff Ingram questioned Xia Nan and Alton about Joey’s murder, then revealed that the thief’s death matched a series of killings in Kalanfu'er. Alton suspected cultists were responsible, and Xia Nan noticed the reverse side of Alton’s Lucky Coin for the first time.

• Ingram told Xia Nan and Alton that Joey had been found dead and questioned them about their connection to the thief.
• Xia Nan and Alton explained their alibis, and Ingram confirmed the murders involved victims whose limb bones had been removed.
• Alton asked whether Joey’s death matched the other killings, and Ingram confirmed that it did before leaving with his guards.
• Jeff asked whether the Sheriff had caused trouble, while several drunken adventurers complained about Ingram and speculated about Joey’s killer.
• Xia Nan asked Alton what he knew, and Alton said cultists were likely behind the murders before tossing his Lucky Coin.
• Xia Nan saw the reverse side of Alton’s Lucky Coin for the first time.

Xia Nan’s Wooden Sword [Green Pine] grew hot and warned him of danger in the inn during the darkest hour before dawn. He armed himself and alerted the other Adventurers, then rushed out with Alton to investigate.

• Jeff carefully wrote a letter to his family before going to bed.
• Xia Nan woke early and sensed heat coming from [Green Pine].
• Xia Nan drew [Green Pine] and realized its unusual reaction might be related to the danger the Sheriff had mentioned.
• Xia Nan put on his Chainmail shirt and loudly warned the Adventurers in nearby rooms to get up.
• Alton armed himself and rushed into Xia Nan’s room, then followed him out without waiting for an explanation.

Xia Nan discovered a thin undead-tainted man stealing Jeff’s bones and attacked him with Wooden Sword [Green Pine]. The man escaped through a window as the other adventurers arrived, leaving Jeff injured and his fate unclear.

• Xia Nan sensed danger in the corridor and kicked open Jeff’s room door.
• Xia Nan found a thin, corpse-like man cutting bones from the sleeping Jeff’s leg.
• Xia Nan struck the man with Wooden Sword [Green Pine], breaking his rusty sword and burning through his armor.
• The man sent a cloud of gray-white fog at Xia Nan, but Xia Nan destroyed it with his sword.
• The wounded man escaped through the window before Xia Nan and the arriving adventurers could catch him.

Xia Nan drove off the gaunt attacker, whom the adventurers identified as Tim, and Alton treated Jeff’s severed leg. After learning the wound still needed a priest’s attention, Xia Nan and Alton asked Sheriff Ingram to take them to the church.

• The gaunt man fled through the window after Xia Nan defeated him, and Alton treated Jeff’s bleeding leg.
• An adventurer recognized the attacker as Tim, a retired adventurer whose wife and daughter had moved outside the city.
• Xia Nan suspected Tim had become an undead creature after noticing his lifeless appearance and the effect of the Wooden Sword [Green Pine].
• Alton said something remained embedded in Jeff’s wound and that a priest could treat it.
• Ingram arrived, thanked Xia Nan for saving Jeff, and sent two Guards to search for Tim.
• Alton pointed out Ingram’s Golden Sun symbol, and Ingram agreed to take them to the church.

Xia Nan and his companions brought the injured Jeff to Kalanfu'er’s Church of Amaunator, where the priest used holy magic to heal his severed leg. Xia Nan watched the powerful healing and wondered whether the priest was a Professional.

• Xia Nan and the others arrived at the grand church in Kalanfu'er and saw its stained-glass image of Amaunator.
• Ingram told the priest that Jeff had been injured by negative energy during an attack on the town’s inn and asked for holy healing.
• The priest agreed to help Jeff and learned that Xia Nan and his companion were adventurers who had helped prevent a tragedy.
• Ingram unwrapped Jeff’s wound, and the priest used his scepter to heal the severed leg with a bright light.
• Xia Nan was astonished by the healing and wondered if the priest was a Professional.

A priest healed Jeff’s wounds but could not restore his lost leg or fully remove the dark energy within him. After Jeff recovered consciousness, the priest and Ingram discussed an approaching ritual and Ingram’s future journey to Mengzhong City.

• The priest healed Jeff’s severed leg wound with holy light and discovered darker energy parasitizing him alongside undead power.
• The priest told Ingram that finding the culprit behind Jeff’s possession might remove its influence, and Xia Nan suspected Tim was responsible.
• Jeff woke, learned that he had lost his leg, and calmed down with Ingram’s support before describing his experience as a nightmare.
• Xia Nan and the Halfling helped move Jeff to a nearby side hall after the priest arranged further care for him.
• Ingram told the priest that the ritual should be completed before the next full moon, and the priest instructed him to go to Mengzhong City afterward.

Xia Nan and Alton learned that Jeff’s condition resisted the church’s powerful holy light, while Sheriff Ingram investigated a report of shadowy figures in the graveyard. Xia Nan suspected the strange graveyard activity might involve undead and wondered whether it was connected to Tim.

• Xia Nan and Alton left Jeff in the church, where its power could suppress the negative energy in his body.
• Alton explained that the priest’s inability to cure Jeff suggested either unusually powerful negative energy or another problem he hesitated to mention.
• Ingram arrived, confirmed Jeff was stable, and took responsibility for failing to catch the murderer in time.
• A guard brought Ingram a bald man’s report that he had seen shadowy figures and heard strange sounds in the Graveyard Forest.
• Xia Nan suspected the figures were undead and wondered if they were connected to Tim.

Xia Nan and Ingram investigated a report of something unclean in the graveyard and confronted its evasive gravekeeper, who attacked them. After Xia Nan severed the old man's hand, he blew a Bone Whistle that summoned a Scaled Bone Palm from the earth.

• Ingram led Xia Nan and the Halfling through the neglected graveyard to question its longtime gravekeeper.
• The gravekeeper turned pale and denied knowing anything about the previous night's events, then shoved Ingram aside and tried to flee.
• The gravekeeper stabbed Xia Nan with a dagger, and Xia Nan blocked the attack with Green Pine.
• Xia Nan used Block Upward Slash to sever the gravekeeper's hand and part of his forearm.
• The injured gravekeeper blew a Bone Whistle and threw it to the ground as a Scaled Bone Palm burst from the earth and seized it.

Xia Nan, Alton, and Sheriff Ingram fought the skeletons that rose around the gravekeeper’s hut. Xia Nan quickly defeated an elite Adventurer Skeleton, while Alton and Ingram cut through the surrounding undead.

• Nearly thirty skeletons emerged from the graves as Xia Nan, Alton, and Ingram prepared to fight.
• Xia Nan cautiously faced a large Adventurer Skeleton, but it swung too slowly and struck the ground instead.
• Xia Nan used Whirlwind Slash to cut the Adventurer Skeleton in half, then destroyed its skull and severed its sword arm.
• Alton dropped his lute and used twin curved sabers to swiftly cut down the skeletons around him.
• Ingram smashed skeletons with his holy-light One-handed Hammer, while his Light Plate Armor shrugged off their attacks.

Xia Nan and his companions defeated the graveyard skeletons and captured the fleeing gravedigger. The gravedigger presented a strange leather book bearing a skull, claiming it was a gift from his lord.

• Xia Nan and his companions destroyed the skeletons, and Xia Nan found a Bone Whistle fused with the elite skeleton's palm.
• Alton told Xia Nan the palm bone could be sold for a good price but warned him not to keep it long because buyers who needed it were dangerous.
• Ingram praised Xia Nan's strength, and Alton's question about whether Ingram was a Paladin made the Sheriff briefly stiffen.
• Ingram revealed that guards had been waiting at the graveyard exits and had captured the wounded gravedigger.
• The gravedigger begged Ingram for mercy and brought out a leather book with a human skull on its cover, calling it a gift from his lord.

Ingram examined a strange book linked to Myrkul and found a poem that matched the recent victims and the objects taken from them. The poem suggested the killer would target gamblers, heretics, and a maimed old man, though Ingram said he had someone else in mind for the final target.

• The gravedigger revealed that he had found a book and a divine Bone Whistle, while Alton dismissed him as an unimportant cultist.
• Ingram questioned the gravedigger about the book's missing pages, and the gravedigger insisted it had already been damaged when he found it.
• Ingram read a poem describing a woman whose ornaments were taken, and recognized its victims and stolen body parts as matching the recent attacks.
• Ingram concluded that the killer might next target a gambler and a heretic, and assigned men to watch the Full Money Bag Tavern.
• Xia Nan pointed out that the gravedigger matched the poem's description of a maimed old man cloaked in twilight aura, but Ingram said he had someone else in mind.