[Petals & Thrones] Session 19:

Session XIX

The short rest was ominous, the unflickering glare of Ribbles's dancing lights flanking them with jade green halls of impenetrable darkness. Acrid smoke still lingered from the scorched spawning pits, and the ichor of slain vermin made for a truly macabre scene in their isolation. Aquilan's sharp ears could pick up an unnerving skittering deeper in the Great Hive. Upon receiving their rest, the heroes Ribbles, Thoradin, Morluck, & Aquilan unsheathed their tools of violence to delve farther into the hive; Sharra, Vincent, Pierrot, & Talon accompanying them.

Having barely taken two turns, they come upon a pair of giant scorpions, who simultaneously notice the invaders and bellow a truly primeval screech of mandibles scraping on mandibles. As they finish the first scorpion, they see behind the behemoth threats a truly vast number of giant ants. The ensuing fight is a slog of blade & spell upon ancient weapons of carapace & venom. Giant vermin are replaced literally faster than they can slay, and when the mortar ants begin to connect with their attacks, followed by a smaller group coming up from behind, is when the party realizes they may have to retreat.

Their attempts at retreat are truly hard fought. Vincent is the first to fall, followed by Pierrot & Sharra. Talon only manages to keep up through Morluck's use of his wand of web to at least slow down the giant army ants. There's literal discussion of which tunnel leads them out of the Great Hive as they run.

Then they meet the spiders.

At one of the junctions, spiders had begun to carve a nest, which nearly overwhelms them as they hear army ants and the dreaded mortar ants slowly catching up. Their attacks are fortunately not true, especially after Ribbles drains the last of his spells with a well-timed use of shield. Ultimately, they do finally escape by the skin of their teeth, returning to their base battered & bloodied.

As their long rest continues, they hear news of Prince Darius picking up the pieces, personally leading a charge into the Great Hive. The threat is finally ended, and the Order of the Wyrd joins the cause against the Lunatic Court's rebellion.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 18: March of the Garden Ants

Session XVIII

Our heroes find the spawning chambers of the Great Hive, which activates a number of the local guards. Ribbles throws a fireball, which goes around a corner and kills a leafcutter near one of the huge pools, ultimately spawning a mega centipede, giant tarantula, & a huntsman before they move Sharra to throw down another wall of fire to ignite all of the nearby pools to stop them from further spawning.

By this point, emergency protocols are activated, so by the time the heroes slay the local stuff, a score of garden ants from the West begin to attack while leafcutters skitter near the huge pools untouched by the players for fear they activate the small pools nearby.

Fortunately, after a prolonged combat, including a few spare spawns from the East, they ultimately kill everything. They take another short rest to recoup and spam necrotic/poison cantrips to clear out all of the pools in the chamber.

Of course, the rest of the Hive begins to fully realize it's under attack, and respawns are beginning during this time.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 17: Creeping Crawlies

Session XVII

Our intrepid heroes work their way deeper into the Great Hive, finding the laboratory. The fights are easy thus far, and they toss torches onto the spawning pools as they find them. Their casual approach takes a turn for the wide-eyed concern when they see into the queen's chamber, as a horde of army ants & giant jumping jacks begin to swarm at them. A web gives them some time, followed by a fireball to severely injure the army ants, gives them some hope. They still feel the heat of so many threats, so they have Sharra throw down a wall of fire to give them time.

As they step back for a breather, they notice leafcutters are finishing extinguishing one of the pools they dealt with, so they slay these surprise ants, then set it ablaze again. Farther back from whence they came, an eclectic mix of vermin start heading for them, so they start trying to fight them off. While back there, they find one of the other pools had been doused as well, so they start having Sharra & Ribbles blast it with poison & necrotic cantrips to fully kill the larvae.

By this point, the wall of fire ends, and the swarm of defending army ants & jumping jacks begin to head for them. Thoradin whips out a maximized lightning bolt the vast majority of the army ants to be taken out. This, followed by some army ants coming from another room, gives them quite the fight. Fortunately, no more vermin seem to pour of the chambers after them, so they take the time for a short rest.

...as does the rest of the dungeon.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 16: Hives & Hill Giants

Session XVI

Our heroes take up Caspar's favour and ask around Sormont for information, eventually learning some of the darker suspicions of the Order of the Third Eye by the locals. They look for Caspar, but he's already left for Hillsreach. They ask about an underground river in the area; having to improvise what they know of it, I establish that the Third Eye knows of the river, but only through earth elemental scouting to know the area better. Confirmation of the river was established, but not an entrance, nor much in the way of details either because the Third Eye didn't want to accidentally rile up any potential activity from the Underdark (not that they found any active presence).

Done with the area, they use the gate to Valence and seek an audience with the head of the Free Company. Letanis greets them in her villa, given a robe as she exits the pool. Her request for the Free Company to break their vow of independence is taken into consideration as they leave, and the party adds her to their list of organizations that need to be removed from the playing field when they have time.

They reach Hillsreach and we get past my misunderstanding of the book, didn't realize it had it's own exploration section to find Ned/Ted rather than hearing directly from the giants (and I still don't fully know how Galdul interacts with the Culorate Empire faction). They wander the forest, help out the merchants they find, and greet the fire hobgoblin they rescued a few weeks ago. Afterward, they run into an angry Ted, calm down Ted with a promise to resurrect Ned at the end of the week, and go have words with Galdul about the incriminating forensics.

With the Hillsreach Giants on their side, they head down to the HQ of the Order of the Wyrd to ask for their support in the war. Deciding control of the forest will be more important, they opt to help them before dealing with the Vlatla's request, figuring their alliance with the Vlatla will hold long enough. Zipping along, they find themselves before the entrance to the Great Hive with three members of the Wyrd and Pierrot added to their group. This ball of murder goes along pretty calmly, though they're a bit puzzled as to how handle the spawning pools (they're hoping just leaving them on fire will do).

We end the session after the first spawning pool is encountered, the rest of the hive to be handled next session.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 15: Frontier of Morality

Session XV

Thanks to their earlier attempt at recruiting, the players know where the leadership of the Zodiac Society are meeting. That night, their ambush makes very short work of the realm of depravity, followed by Morluck chopping up the bodies into artful poses with clues a 4th grader can solve leading to the Lunatic Court being the "culprits" for the Zodiac Society's membership to find. Aquilan puts his calligraphy skills to excellent use here. The next day, they ensure that the Zodiacs join the Lunatics, then get some intel on what the Lunatics know about the Free Mithrallavien movement and the Sormont rebels.

They meet with Wesker during lunch, arranging for him to meet with them later in the week in Karis to seize the dangerous Scepter from a rogue necromancer. Afterward, they make toward Sormont, running into the Red Maw Clan partway through. Morluck did well to extract their requirements for joining the coalition, but simply wished them a good hunt as they left, personally contemplating going after them like they did the Zodiacs.

The evening hunt with the regent of the Order of the Stag left them with a similar feeling in their mouth. Aquilan openly wondered if there were any good people in the Eastern Frontier.

Balthazar's requests are simple, but not necessarily comforting to Aquilan, as their intel of the Sormont's rebels indicates their grievances aren't founded on falsehoods. Regardless, that day they head out into the wilderness, using the wizard's familiar to scout ahead. They encounter the hags, attempting to start parley, but an Insight allows them a chance to stop their attempting flank; the counterspelling & resistances make them exceedingly worried, as well as the knowledge that manticores, chimerae, & winter wolves are nearby. Once they discover night hags can turn ethereal, they run.

Their encounter with Sormont rebels & Veyna go much more smoothly, initiating combat before Caspar can even see them fully, though he still recognizes her face. Stabilizing the naga, they bring her unconscious before Balthazar, allowing for questions about Caspar's familiarity to be made. Balthazar dismisses such concerns in a way that is eminently plausible with his personality rather than any kind of malice/deceit, also off-handedly killing her with a cantrip while commenting on how her kind are functionally immortal.

Caspar makes the personal request. The players make their shopping list with the Order of the Third Eye's quartermaster, then prepare for use of their portals to make the Hillsreach trip faster.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 14: Siege of Fort Briar

 Session XIV

The Battle for Fort Briar starts off strong, as the players go special forces on the reserve garrison inside its walls. Aquilan in particular does excellent work tanking the archers' shots. Once they take the fortress, they sneak in five patrols of the Lunatic Court, interrogate Vincent for likely strategies, and subsequently cause a rout from the counter attack. Their other 7 patrols waited for the retreating Lion forces in the entrance to the Great Forest, at which point, they caused another rout. All told, the players took out six patrols of the enemy, lost two of their own, and gained Fort Briar.

After situating their units in Fort Briar, they went to Rivermet to finish off the next part of Goldblum's quest, check out the the minor factions, and finding Wesker. After a short conversation with Brac & Orlac to get them part of Goldblum's network, they arrange for a meeting with Forktongue at the Lapis Tea House. His request for control of a place to raise his peoples' eggs makes them a bit uncomfortable, but they at least act cordial and somewhat consider it.

The meeting with the Martyrs goes less smoothly, apparently revealing that the players draw the line at bioterrorism. Afterwards, jokes are made that as a DM, I have more trouble doing the RP of a serial killer than a bioterrorist; but I give them a summation of the Zodiac Society. They consider recruiting them later once they realize the best way is to kill the leadership, allowing them to get rid of the flunkies through Operation: Human Shield.

The conversation with the leader of the Steel Company leaves a sour taste in their mouths, and their pocketbooks are a bit too lean to consider hiring them anyway; though they privately discuss the idea that if they were hired, they would need a chaperone just to keep collateral damage minimal.

At this point, they make plans for a big meeting with the leadership of the Zodiac Society, and we call it a night.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 13: Karis Kapture

Session XIII

Previously, on Petals & Thrones 12, our players had outright slain Bishop Cornelius and prepared to make a decision on what to do next in the war.

Round 3 With a +13 bonus, they get themselves another rout. Wanting to take out Dame Leona, they opt to do mop up.

Thanks to Colombina & the ranger hireling, they have a strong stealth advantage, and basically have their choice of forces to take on. This fight ends up pretty solidly in their favour, taking out a lone patrol, followed by a more prolonged mêlée. They almost had Dame by having her polymorphed into an octopus, but she falls off the roof, takes enough damage to "die", then climbs back onto her horse, & flees further into the city. With the sheer volume of archers where she falls back, the party takes their victory and falls back themselves. By this point, they personally took out four patrols.

Round 4 It would have been just a +3 bonus, but the casualties have shifted it to 36 vs 13 patrols, favouring the Lunatics. Therefore, this is a +8 bonus, and they roll a 4, resulting in a bloody mêlée (35 v 10).

Round 5 Due to the increased numerical advantage, they encourage Harlequin to press the advantage with their +10 to this roll, and get a rout. This outright takes out every single patrol on the side of the Order of the Lions without any further casualties on their side.

Having captured Karis, they recruit the Ba'alzamon Society, and begin the War Council.

Harlequin shows them the distribution of forces, and there's a fair bit of chatter as I establish the movement struggles and ability to recruit the various factions, which the party are assigned to handle while she handles the logistics of the war itself. After that is fully understood, they make some decisions.

Harlequin takes 35 patrols to attack Goblin Town. The party pays a retainer to the Raven Company to support the Ba'alzamon Society's forces and garrison Karis whenever the Lions send forces from Old March. The party themselves take 12 patrols for the attack on Fort Briar.

But before the war effort begins, they take their first long rest and head to Ramshorn to pick up Morluck's magic item order. Upon arrival, they Rinn Taylor, who explains that a caravan had been attacked/massacred by a group of trolls, to which Morluck responds...

After calming down, they get an understanding that they'll have the assistance of a militia to help deal with these trolls, and so make a promise to join in this hunt after the mass combat.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 12: Plenary Assault

Session XII

Having assembled the map & units for overland travel, the trip to Karis from Ramshorn is much less eventful. They find the adventuring corpses, and while passing by Lion Patrols, tell them of what they find and it seemed to be the work of dire wolves. Upon reaching Karis, they meet up with Harlequin, who informs them that the goal of liberating the Eastern Frontier from the oppressive Lions begins today. Morluck attempts to get a better idea of Harlequin's motivation & goals, which partially runs into my own limit of conversational political discussion; forcing me to give an outline of her goals and a "this is a long form debate that we don't have time for."

After a quick bit of deliberation, the party offers the advantage of their allegiance not yet being known, and perform reconnaissance on Karis. They buy some things in the market, repair the contact with Goldblum's supplier (bribing him to make his caravan guards stay at one of Ramshorn's taverns), figure out troop numbers/placement, chat up Bishop Cornelius in the local temple, and Aquilan goes super spy into their central area where contingency plans are stored. After everything is done, they return to Harlequin and begin the war.

The first round is a rout. Offering to improve things even further, the party opts to cut off one of the heads of the leadership, Bishop Cornelius. Surrounded by three Lion patrols in the streets of Karis, he isn't a simple attack; but Harlequin's animate objects provides ten flying knives that really absorb the blows of their counterattack, made all the easier by a fireball from Ribbles. The Bishop was seemingly rescued by an extra patrol that comes up and carry his unconscious body on a knight's steed in the fifth round, but Thoradin takes a ladder to a roof and uses a maximized lightning bolt from his wand (and class feature) on the Bishop. From there, they flee as two more patrols start moving forward.

This assassination assists the Lunatic assault greatly, and allows them to break the enemy line for even more casualties in the second round of mass combat. At this point, there's some debate whether to do yet another assassination, this time for Dame Leona. They retain access to a casting of pass without trace and Colombina's blessing grants advantage to Stealth checks to one person (nominally Thoradin).

It's at this point, we end the session and I prepare things for the next part of the Battle of Karis.

Combat Summary

Round 1 With a +12 bonus, the Lunatics routed the enemies solidly

Round 2 With a +6 bonus, the Lunatics had initially outflanked the Lions, but the PCs upgraded the results to breaking the enemy lines by outright killing Bishop Cornelius.

Round 3 Due to round 2's positioning bonus and the death of Bishop Cornelius, the Lunatics are back up to a +13, the results to be decided next session.

Current Force Disposition

Lunatics 37 patrols

Lions 28 patrols

[Petals & Thrones] Session 11: Troubles with Trolls

Session XI

Word spreads fast of the party's success with the saboteurs from the Clans of Tiamat, and the Lunatic Court hosts a party a day later to celebrate such. At this party, the heroes play the part of loners, occasionally asking questions as they hear about the growing shadow of war in the Eastern Frontier. Toward the end of the party, Morluck approached Harlequin to ask if he can join the Lunatic Court; getting a solid thumbs up of approval from her and a suggestion to meet in Karis toward the end of the week.

The following morning, everyone but Thoradin hungover from the party, they head downstairs from the Accidental Gryphon & see the mass of merchants and other NPCs ready to offer quests. They go back to their rooms, sleep an extra hour (mumbling "quest log full"), then come back down and begin to talk to the mass to learn of the various needs of the merchants and wizards of Ramshorn. Ultimately, they decide to escort Bruen & Hawk to Mithrallavien and hopefully rest for a few days before they head north to Karis.

The trip to Mithrallavien is quite eventful. As we're using the d20 encounter process, it proves to be pretty eventful as the party runs into five trolls. These galumphing giants are felled, but not before consuming four 3rd level, two 2nd, and two 1st level spells in a terrible mêlée of blood & tears & flame. After a quick rest and slaked thirst from their skins, they return to the trek to the elven village.

That's when the wyverns attack.

Fortunately, they are not ambush predators, so they have some time to gird their loins. Unfortunately, one wyvern descends down upon Morluck to the tune of 65 damage, knocking him out with a flash of blood and venom. After the clash of blade and song of spells are over, everyone takes two short rests to attempt to recoup some of their loss.

Elf town is passing pleasant, especially with two elves leading the group. Morluck cover's Hawk's 100gp tab to ensure the trade deal is made. Once this is done with, they return to Ramshorn and sleep in the Accidental Gryphon's familiar beds. After a few days, the day of the Battle of Karis is at hand, and they set out.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 10: End State

Session 10

Returning to their exploration of the goblin caverns, they find themselves in the meandering chamber with a number of hobgoblins. About a third survive long enough to retreat to the chamber with Sir Dagai, whom they nearly kill with a fireball from Ribbles, and is finished off with a rapier through the eyes by a surprise jester of the Lunatic Court. The rest of the fight in this room is essentially a rout, with only the goblins surviving to retreat further into the caverns. In an attempt to circumvent a more drawn out fight with cornered goblinoids, Morluck brokers a peaceful withdrawal (Persuasion 17), allowing all remaining goblins in the caverns to exit and seek to rejoin their brothers in the Great Forest without further death.

They get some information out of the thankful red jester, who mentioned working with the goblins against the Order of the Lion and was rescuing the new fiery hobgoblin who was trying to defect back. They sift through the treasure hoard, I presume Sir Dagai's spellbook has all of the spells he's got with his character, and haul it all back to Ramshorn. Morluck takes the long rest to go with Goldblum's next caravan to sell all of the arms and armor they've picked up during these past four weeks.

Upon his return, they hire one of the rangers as a hireling and start their breakfast just before dawn, and are approached by a tiefling they've seen walking around once in a while. She tells them she's found evidence of dragonborn from the North may be infiltrating the woods, and leads them to the woods for them to investigate and confirm one way or another (Deception 28, they fully believe her honesty). Once fully inside the woods, she asks if this is enough evidence, and four dragonborn pop up and begin their attack.

...and the ranger hireling crits the spellcasting dragonborn to death just before he can act, Morluck gets brought to zero by the paladin of Tiamat (having done some damage), and Thoradin manages to find a spot to blast a maximized lightning bolt. The threat of these foreign provocateurs was ended in less than a round. They rifle their pockets for loose loot, tie them up for interrogation, and we end the session with a level up and me preparing for the next module.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 9: The Cryptillion

Session IX

The Vlatla Clan has invited our players as well as the Order of the Third Eye to the crypt that had been cleared out. Morluck attempts to inject himself into the conversation between Balthazar & Petre, but the conversation proved to be sufficiently academic that he bailed swiftly. This left Ribbles to pick up the slack, who provided impressive insight toward their academic debate.

Morluck moved over to another conversation, convincing Lilith that she could still have fun among all the stodgy academics, which proved to be 12-year old giggle worthy when she interjected with innuendo during the next conversation about the vermin hives in the Great Forest. The entire party brainstormed quite a few ideas and suggestions for dealing with said vermin while keeping enough around for study.

On the way back to Ramshorn to sleep off the party, they run into a slew of spiders scaring the townsfolk, wandering through the main streets. They notice a Vlatla thrall applying a pheromone to one and demand answers, informed that they were providing free defenses of patrolling spiders to the town, especially since Morluck had very consistently talked about people getting together to help with the region. After calming down the citizens of Ramshorn, the PCs run back to the crypt to talk with Petre Vlatla, and convince him to coordinate with the local leadership before taking such actions. Their friendly relationship works in their favor, so Petre agrees to such a mindset going forward.

The next day, the PCs suit up and head for the goblin cave. As one of Goldblum's hirelings was taken out by a goblin raid on his caravan, and the spiders are shoring up local defenses, he goes ahead and hires all but Trym Tosscobble to protect his caravans this week. They take their route through the backwoods rather than the road, figuring they would be less likely to run into any ambushes (they're right) en route to the goblin cave. Once at the cave, they begin their systematic process of murder and surprise. However, the goblins continue to roll exceptionally well with their Stealth checks to run for cover and warn their hobgoblin friends deeper in the cave. Several well-placed hits certainly make them feel the pain. We end the session right after they find Sir Dagai's correspondence with an unnamed draconic-speaking ally (that it's a draconic-speaker that wrote to the elves is noted).

[Petals & Thrones] Session 8: A Time to Stomp

 Session VIII

Our party continues their trek deeper into the spiders' nest. We are without Parth this session due to RL conflict. Ribbles, due to his deep gnome heritage, is proving to be by far the stealthiest person in the party (essentially never goes below a 22 with the Stealth check). All of their hirelings are kept in the back, using them as reserve forces for when they enter a larger room. As before, Aquilan's high AC and Morluck's strong attacks keep the smaller encounters from being a threat. They're mildly paranoid, but in a joking way, of the the occasional trapdoor spider due to their surprise attacks.

The second large room they come upon reveals to them the elf corpse's notes necessary for messing with pheromones, and they stop for a time to make a couple doses of self-destruct, which they end up forgetting about and only use one on a spitting spider in the final egg room. 

They are low-key surprised to find the skeleton of a brass dragon in this room, along with its hoard. Morluck negotiates with the Vlatla Clan for additional reward in exchange for the elf corpse's notes on pheromones, managing to get Ribbles access to one of the thrall's spellbook to copy from.

We end the session at this point, skipping the return trip to Ramshorn due to the late hour. Tune in next time for when they do that and attend the Occult Conference.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 7: Bug Hunters

 Session VII

In this session, we gain a new player to the group. His presence isn't going to be as reliable, so he will be coming in and out in all likelihood.

Parth

• Race: Shifter (Wildhunt)
• Class & Background: Gloom Stalker Conclave Ranger

Delving into the spider caves, they make exceedingly quick work as they progress from cavern to cavern. Due to the house rules I'm using for Stealth, the spiders have advantage on their Passive Perception, but not automatic detection. This gives Morluck advantage half the time for the opening round of combat, which combined with Parth's first round insanity, means it's not until four encounters in that a spider even gets to attack. Granted, that one that did attack was a recluse, whose poison damage terrifies the party as it bloodies Morluck in a single blow.

That the spiders aren't organized, nor in communication with each other, giving our stealthy party a severe edge, but the consequences are failure (once realized) are sufficiently high that they feel the tension and dread with the fact they haven't reached the egg room yet. They do, however, run into a large chamber with three giant tarantulas and have a rousing combat there.

They have been searching the bodies for valuables, and we end our session with them finding magic items on slightly fresher (as in a few months instead of a year or two) corpses of members of the Order of the Third Eye. They are debating taking the hour rest for casting identify on the items in this chamber, since there's no alarm from the spiders.

Monster of Folklore: Sun Drake

Large dragon, unaligned

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 51 (6d10+18)
Speed 20 ft., fly 80 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
19 (+4)	10 (+0)	16 (+3)	5 (−3)	12 (+1)	6 (−2)

Skills Perception +4

Damage Resistances cold, fire, necrotic, poison, force, slashing

Damage Immunities piercing, radiant

Damage Vulnerability lightning

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages --

Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Solar Wings. The drake's wings alternate with the passing of day & night.

• Day. The wings glow with the brightness of a bonfire.
• Night. The wings take the form of a cloak of shadow, granting advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks against those using eyesight. During this time, the wings are not functional for flight.
• Dusk/Dawn. A dim glow on par with a torch, maintaining flight requires concentration.

Actions

Multiattack. The sun drake makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of one other attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage.

Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

Lore

More commonly known in the Sword, the region of sandy dunes in the Anauroch, these creatures were originally the chosen of At'ar the Merciless. They have become rare and reclusive since the rise of Amaunator, having chosen to spend much of their time sleeping.

Reflecting the sun, their wings shine brightly during the day and turn into a cloak of darkness during the night. Cloud cover does not change this, which makes sun drakes uncomfortable with storms during the day, strongly preferring to not leave whatever shelter they've found. Retaining their original patron's blessing, their hide cannot be pierced, not even by the rays of the sun. Their weakness to lightning is a sign of Kozah's punishment for At'ar's infidelity.

When active, sun drakes are commonly scavengers, attracted to sites of death and carnage.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 5+6: Dead & Deader

Session V

This is, strictly speaking, two sessions. Our brave adventurers decided to handle the catacombs next, fighting a couple spiders en route. They listened to the Lion Knight's call to honour in cleansing the catacombs of necromantic energy, but decided the call to gold offered by the Vlatla was louder.

They spoke with the Vlatla to make sure they didn't attack the wrong undead, delved in, and spent quite a bit of time breaking bones and scooping the salvage. Pointing out the artificial tunnel to the spiders' den, they find out that they'll earn more favour with the Vlatla if they go there. This incentivizes them to go into the place and purge the nest and leave the eggs alone, though not without trying hard to get even more reward.

Unfortunately, they have chosen not to investigate much into the history or nature of the corpses within the catacombs. But, given as how they've been kind of reticent to side with any of the established power structure, this isn't super surprising.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 4: Liquidated Assets

Session IV

Looking at the pile of goblin corpses they had recently summoned (material component - live goblin), they strip them of gear and bring them a short jump to where they met the pack led by a werewolf as an offering of meat. Over dinner, they find out the werewolf's hatred of the Huntsman, and offer to help slay it if afterward they can be told where the sahuagin cave might be. Morluck's diplomacy wins out, and they travel to where the Huntsman is (werewolf rolls great on Survival), and wipe the floor with it thanks to the wolf pack's aid. They accept the information and leave.

Returning to their trek through the wilderness, they come upon a three way argument between hobgoblins, sahuagin, and a few frazzled Bear soldiers that have been without a base for a week. Just as the three factions' opinions reach a heated moment, the players jump from their ambush and come to the aid of the Bears, wiping out goblinoid and shark men alike. They apply some basic healing to the one wounded Bear soldier, and move a short distance to meet up with rest of the remaining soldiers.

Morluck has a conversation, convincing them that they can get Ramshorn to accept them as refugees who will abandon their associations with the Order of the Bear and start over in the community. All the PCs ask for in return is to guard the entrance to the cave while they go in and clear it out. Moving up, they encounter a few more sahuagin, giving chase until they reach the cave.

To not let them have the time to alert the whole cave, they send Morluck under full stealth a full round for possible recon, to which he sees that two of the four sahuagin are moving farther into the cave & opens with a sneak attack while the rest of the party unloads into the rest of the group.

It's a fairly clean follow-through with the rest of the cavern system, only one person going down (stabilized) in the fight with the shoggoth. They take the tentacles, pack up, check on the mermaid they rescued, & return to Ramshorn to convince the townsfolk to let the surviving members of the Order of the Bear turn their swords to plowshares (a small bribe & good Persuasion check later...).

[Petals & Thrones] Session 3.5: Goblin Ambush & How It Happened

Session III + 1/2

This has been a short session due to the alignment of real-life responsibilities, so we didn't get much done.

After having paid for the hirelings and set out for the sahuagin forces Sir Caspar spoke of, they didn't get far before running into an ambush of three bugbears and at least half a dozen goblins. It was a brutal fight. Both Selpora & Ribbles were fully taken down, and while the bugbears were ultimately taken down, every single goblin escaped with their hides intact. What helped was that for that entire fight, which the goblins entered and exited from Stealth at least twice each, I rolled an average of 16 on their checks. Worried, they went ahead and took a short rest to get everyone standing again and assess the situation.

Addendum

Now, for those who have experience with 5E, it has been commented that there are no concrete rules for handling Stealth on the whole. Sure, there's the skill check for it, Perception, and Passive Perception. But there's precious little in the way of when the check can be made, what can be expected to modify the results, etc. For that, I have been using the following rules:

Perception

Passive Perception 10 + Wis mod, max 10 unless proficient in Perception

Alert Status - If you designate yourself as Alert, you must designate what you are specifically keeping an eye out for; enemies, secret doors, strange behavior in a crowd, etc. Any time you roll Perception, you are guaranteed a minimum result. To remain Alert, you must not engage in activities that require concentration; conversation (quick battle shouts are fine), fighting, casting, maintaining concentration on spells, etc.

•     Low Alert 10 + Wis mod + proficiency (if applicable)
•     High Alert 10 + Wis mod + proficiency modifier (even if not proficient)

Low Alert is only applicable if you don't expect an immediate threat, such as being on guard duty. High Alert is when it's known that your target is afoot, such as hostile goblins receding back into the underbrush.

Complementary senses that aid in detection, such as tremorsense, increase all of these minimum values by +3. Effects that grant (dis)advantage adjusts these minimums by +/-5 as usual.

Stealth

To perform a Hide action, you must have some amount of cover or be within an area that is obscured, relative to the creature(s) you are hiding from. If you do not know the creature is there, then your check is made at disadvantage. If you are invisible, you may forgo movement to gain advantage on Stealth checks, and have the option to hold your breath to add your Proficiency as a stacking bonus to your Stealth check for the round.

Cover If you have cover, you enjoy a minimum Stealth result. Effects that grand (dis)advantage adjust this value by +/-5 accordingly; such as loud sounds or the enemy is able to be directed by someone else that can see you.

• Half Cover 8
• 3/4 Cover 12
• Total Cover 16

Credit: Grit & Glory. I cannot take credit for designing these rules. I found them online through an outside source and have applied them here. The resource is handy for ideas, though I feel the product as a whole can be overly detailed and difficult on an adventuring party.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 3: Blood & Gold

Session III

The battle begins to their advantage. The Red Jester sets Sir Brander's breastplate on fire with heat metal, and then the Ringmaster takes out nearly the entire enemy force but a single archer and ogrillon with hypnotic pattern. It was essentially a rout from that point, the party hunting down runners, ultimately only a single archer escaped with their life.

Some time is spent trying to figure out who will carry what in terms of loot, but the party ultimately returns to Ramshorn with their bloodied reward. That night is the Lunatic Fête, in which the party mingles. Aquilan's kata routine brings a joyous smile to Clown. Morluck pushes really hard to convince Vlatla & Lunatic alike to send soldiers over to Ramshorn to handle the leftover spiders in the region, which grows tiresome with both factions; fortunately, Morluck's call for mercy on the captured Bear soldiers (besides Sir Brander) was sufficiently impassioned to offset that concern.

After the Fête, a few days later, they are approached by Caspar & Lidia for their respective quests. Morluck presses Caspar that they could take members of his Order to fight spiders as additional payment, but runs hard into the fact that while they deserve respect, the Order's needs are elsewhere.

After the long rest, they hire Selpora, Milo, & Fodel and let them have access to their small armament.

Belldrone: A Tavern's Silencer

Artist: Aleksandar Ignatov

Designed by Draco Hallacan, a former adventuring wizard who turned to running a drinking hole called the Wight House, the Belldrone is a novelty of convenience. It's primary function is to manage the noise level in a tavern to a comfortable level. Draco's belldrone has become the de facto mascot, its light-emitting clapper having been adapted to adjust the colours generated and allowing for a dazzling performance.

It's been a popular design, and has seen variations made in taverns across the realms.

For a PDF of these stats, go < HERE >

[Petals & Thrones] Session 2: Battle of the Bear

Session II

Our intrepid heroes, after rethinking the wisdom of bringing squishy, squishy Bryce along with them, tread forward into the wilds of Ramshorn. They are mildly scarred by funnel spiders & jumping spiders, the latter making a critical pounce on Aquilan's face, but very swiftly slay them before they can attempt to escape.

They come upon their first group of Bear soldiers, and fortunately, one of them is a knight attempting to give the veneer of respectability. After some very terse diplomacy (and several gold in toll), they are given a warning and the party circles around them to the North, coming upon a pair of Bear infantry being attacked by giant wolf spiders. Saving them, they earn some goodwill and convince them to be escorted to the central camp...ultimately being recognized, increasing the guards' entourage and setting the tone with Sir Brander to be cool at best.

Fortunately, through Morluck's diplomacy and the goodwill of having saved two infantry men from death by spider, they're permitted a chance to walk away with a message that the Order of the Bear will collect their taxes soon. Running away, the party send word to the Lunatic Court, and speak with Pantaloon - who considers this a prime opportunity to achieve some goodwill with the people of Ramshorn, especially if they can outsource some muscle with the party (let them get paid in salvage).

Together with their group of Lunatics, they fought the first wave of Bear soldiers in the Battle of the Bear - 2 ogrillons, 2 elementalists, 8 archers, & 11 infantry (I rolled very high). The fight ends up remarkably well in their favor due to well placed tactics and lucky dice rolls, and none are actually slain. Thoradin uses a prayer of healing during the short rest, and they continue onward to fight Sir Brander at the Watchtower...

[Petals & Thrones] Session 1: Return to Ramshorn

I know it's been awhile since I've reported on the events of our cast of heroes, but life has gotten in the way as of late. Here's where we left off. Roland, Victor, & Bridgitte have perished in the caves of the goblins; having taken a rest a third of the way into their caves and thus giving the forces time to rally and slay them under a deluge of goblinoid bodies.

We now gather a new group of PCs

Cast

Ribbles Folkor

• Race: Gnome (Svirfneblin)
• Class & Background: War Mage Wizard & Sage
• Boon: Beak's Defense

Morluck Knife-Ear

• Race: Elf (High Elf)
• Class & Background: Swashbuckler Rogue & Courtier
• Boon: Sword Saint

Aquilan Thesalor

• Race: Elf (Wood Elf)
• Class & Background: Kensei Monk & Courtier
• Boon: Got Gud

Thoradin Battlehammer

• Race: Dwarf (Hill)
• Class & Background: Tempest Cleric (of Moradin) & Acolyte
• Boon: Martial Advantage Advantage

Session I

Things are more organized this time around. I compile a primer and such of the setting for people to peruse before the game begins. In a fit of deja vu, Morluck talks down the toll price, the party approaches the town, smells smoke, and begins stabbing belligerent Bear soldiers.

This time around, Andie manages to survive long enough for the cleric to stabilize her, and a number of Bear soldiers are also stabilized by Thoradin. Morluck is thoroughly running through them with a flourish, while Ribbles' owl manages to scout over the town something fierce. Aquilan & Ribbles (played by two of the original players from the prior attempt at Ramshorn) run into trouble with their dice rolling, but are there and contribute. Their jaws drop at the performance of Harlequin and her Lunatic Court, Morluck low-key fanboying.

After the raid, they have a short conversation, but then go into full negotiation with Goldblum, failing to improve his offer of 200gp in store credit after the Order of the Bear is handled. They also interrogate one of the surviving Bear infantry, discovering that he's a stupid one and just follows the archers when it's time to find the Order's camp, and all of the archers have either already escaped or were killed.

Gathering the fallen's wealth, they run face-first into Ront's policy of only buying weapons for scrap. So, they discover that Bryce is a priest of a forge god, and after a fair bit of high-rolling Persuasion (and about 30gp), they convince him to answer the Call to Adventure and join them as a hireling to manage their packmule in the hopes that they can get him to level 2 and leverage that sweet Force Cleric power. Tossing their haul into a room in the Accidental Gryphon, they set out that day to seek out the hidden camp of the Order of the Bear...

[Volaire, Pathfinder E6] Ishtarian Serpents

In Volaire, fiends do exist, but they are considered rare threats. Cultists can pool their resources and ritually summon energies from dark dimensions, but imps are among the most powerful fiends they can pull wholly into our dimension. It's generally more efficacious to use said energies to corrupt an extant being, generally a beast, as sentient minds don't react well to such corruption. Operating in such a manner over the span of years can twist the environment, leaving traces in the land itself. Over the span of generations, the uninterrupted work of dark cultists on a large scale can pollute entire ecologic regions.

The planet Unas is a world where rampant, uncontrolled channeling of extraplanar energies had gone unchecked for a century by a corrupt government who ignored the existential threat. The Moon Gate of Quag Keep, once the gleaming jewel of the system, was disrupted by a rival faction in an attempt at sabotage; resulting in a domino effect in an already magically unstable region that opened what is known as a Hellmouth, a permanently torn rift in space. The larger a Hell Mouth, the more powerful the fiend that can fit through. The Hell Mouth of Ishtar is the largest known in the Tapestry, and one of several such entities that came through is what is colloquially known as the Ishtarian Serpent. Academics call it a Thethtu.

O flower heart hides within a serpent’s face!

The gate is barred! Smash the door, shatter the bolt.

Life becomes death. Death becomes life.

• Cataclysm of Quag Keep, Epistle of Milo

Thethtu are exceptionally dangerous fiendish serpents; between five & six feet wide and roughly a hundred feet long. Most dangerous is Thethtu venom, which will enslave escalating loyalty to the serpent, animating their corpse if they die while it courses through their veins. As zombies are accrued, they move about like ants in service to their queen; protecting the serpent and its territory, seeking living creatures to subdue and drag to the serpent for conversion, etc.

Thethtu, Ishtarian Serpent [CR 6]

Gargantuan outsider (evil)

Init +1; Senses DV 60’, Notice +6; Spd 40’, 40' climb (compression); Reach 20’ (30’ tail)

hp 68 (5d8+45); AC 19 (+12 nat, +1 Dex, -4 size); SV Fort +13, Ref +2, Will +3

Immune mind-affecting; Resist cold/fire 10; DR 5/good; SR 11

Melee bite +10 (2d8+11 plus poison), tail slap +5 (1d4 nonlethal plus trip)

Stats 33.13.29.-.14.6; BAB +3; CMB +18; CMD 28 (cannot be tripped)

Skills Climb +19, Notice +6, Stealth +0

Ishtarian Poison (Su) When exposed to the poison, the victim must make a DC 21 Fortitude save or be unable to attack the Ishtarian serpent, effectively charmed. Every round afterward for the next minute, another Fortitude save must be made or the condition will progress. Failing a second time results in the victim being fascinated by the sight of the Ishtarian Serpent. Failing a third time results in the victim being dominated to serve the serpent for 1d4 hours. If the creature dies while under the effects of this poison, then their body is immediately animated as a zombie with the instinct to serve the serpent.

Fiendish: A Delve into Conlang

As a general rule of thumb, especially in fiction, artificial languages are unnecessary. The audience's limited exposure can rarely tell whether you put something together in a day with basic rules or spent a decade painstakingly constructing a new language down to incorporating historical borrowings and vowel shifts. This isn't to say you shouldn't put any thought into your constructed language, because zero effort conlang can be random and jarring. Something internally consistent and about a level deeper than what the audience will interact with is sufficient to make your fantasy language look superficially complete.

It is from that mindset that I am now doing conlang with the vulgar tongue of demons. This is a language spoken by fiendish inhabitants that possess many of the same morphological traits of humans as it pertains to communication; lips, tongue, a perception of time following the arrow of entropy, etc. Deal-making is also a major facet of their culture. Beyond this, I'm not planning on any deeper world-building of demonic culture, since I plan on this being applicable for multiple settings that use the above archetype.

Grammar

Fiendish sentence structure is Subject - Object - Verb. English follows SVO. An example of SVO is "Sam ate oranges," while SOV is "Sam oranges ate."

Grammatical Case

Fiendish conjugates its vocabulary pretty heavily. Objects aren't so much "gendered" as they are informing of the financial/hierarchical relationship. The object of a sentence is conjugated based on its relationship with the subject of the sentence, while the subject of the sentence is conjugated based on its relationship to the speaker. In the right context, this same conjunction is used in the ablative & allative cases (generally "wish to sell" & "wish to procure," respectively). As a good rule of thumb, apply the appropriate suffix to any noun. Appending -way or -ai to someone's name is an excellent way of indicating that the speaker is used to speaking in the tongue of demons.

-una  Neuter
-way  Lender, Seller, Owner, Allative
-ai  Debtor, Buyer, Owned, Ablative
-wan  Instrumental (tool)
-kuna-  plural

Subject Pronouns

First person subject pronouns (I, we) are generally not voiced, and are presumed when no other subject pronouns are used in the sentence.
Qan-  2nd person subject pronoun (you)
Pay-  3rd person subject pronoun (they)

Verb Tenses

Same principle as above. Take the verb and append it appropriately based on the tense. Fiendish cares about whether reporting of a past event is first or second-hand information (third+ hand is grouped here).
-ni  present
-chu  present (negative)
-sqani  past (reported)
-rqani  past (experienced)
-man  past (negative; would have)
-saq  future
-chik-  plural (allies)
-chi-  plural (minions)

Verbs

T'urpu-  to stab
Mikhu-  to consume (and add to yourself)
Lik’i-  to consume (without adding to yourself)
Impuwistu-  to invoice
Khuya-  to love
Qunqu-  to forget
Iñi-  to believe, accept as true

Nouns

sach'a (perennial), saca  large woody plant
-micun  food-bearing (temptation; eg apple)
-hamp  food-bearing (protective; eg oak)
q'illay  kanina coin
qullqi  price
asnu  gullible fool
michi  goblin

Sample Sentence

Qanai t'urpusaq  I will stab you (vengeful connotation)
Michikunauna asnuai mikhuchiksqani  Goblins ate, from what I know, the moron.

General Phrases

Haykai’k-[case]  Welcome!
Maypi [noun]?  Where is the [noun]?
Yanapayk-[case]!  Help! (-ai gives connotations of "my kingdom for a horse!", -una is more typical, -way is more prideful/assertive)
Wuynas diyas-[case]  Good morning!

Chu No. Adding grammatical case is only when being formal, especially in transactional context.

[Volaire] Food of Volaire

A staple for the lower classes is bread, mushrooms, and a porridge made from beans. Herbs are widely available for adding flavour. Cheeses of both local production and colonial imports of a variety of types are available, as are eggs (from domestic chickens) and nuts. Fruit is common, and remarkably high quality. Pies are the most common treatment for the various foodstuffs consumed by the peasantry. Meat is uncommon fare among the lower classes; what is available is specifically given a tax if made available to them, forcing only meat deemed inedible due to spoilage to be affordable. Such meat is subject to purify food & drink to make safe to eat (its flavour leaves a lot to be desired).

The upper classes have access to more meat. Goat and giant spider are preferred, but chicken is more common due to relative ease of containment. Meat is frequently given multiple layers of preparation, first boiling and then frying or roasting. When holding feasts or eating ostentatiously, wizards are hired for more elaborate meals.

As a general rule, everyone eats only one full meal a day; though this isn't to say no food passes their lips outside of supper. Especially of the lower class, something small, quick, and portable is usually consumed earlier in the day; something like bread & cheese or a pie.

Volaire is situated in the middle of the ice rings of Mondria, and the ice shards cleared out around the asteroid city have been concentrated into a handful of spots to be melted and become floating lakes. These bubbles of water allow for easily maintained fish farms, subsequently leading to seafood being commonly available to all classes of Volaire.

As a trade port for numerous worlds, the culinarians of Volaire have exceptional access to spices. This leads to the residents frequently developing a very multicutural taste, and it is through Volaire that many cooking styles are then introduced to the greater Mondrian system.

Caterina the Muncheon Minotaur

Standing on a crate behind her stall (platform shoes are common with women, but typically not an option for the hooved races), with a two-layer gown to cover it, Caterina is a spotted brown & white minotaur who is difficult to miss at the docks. Her soft-spoken nature is no hindrance to sales, as her presence and local reputation is more than sufficient. She sells two types of pies; a basic one of cheese & honey, and a more expensive peppered meat pie, the meat being whatever's available earlier that day, purified tapestry whale being one of the more common options.

[Volaire] Government

Sgobbe Leon (♂ Kobold)
Current Rao of Volaire

Rao

Chief executive officer & ultimately the most important public figure of Volaire. The Rao presides over the most important committees, sets the agenda, & acts as the chairman of the city. Numerous restrictions are placed on the person assigned to the position - the Rao cannot discuss business or even read official correspondence except in the presence of the Advisory, a six-member team appointed by the Civil Council that represents each of the districts of Volaire. The Rao's entire family is barred from civil service, with limited exceptions after the Rao's death (life-time appointment). The Rao is not allowed to own foreign property, & their estate is in fact audited upon death.

Civil Council

The ultimate deliberative body & seat of legitimate power is the Civil Council. It is composed of approximately three thousand adult males from the aristocratic families of Volaire. This Council appoints & elects its population into other, smaller government bodies.

Senate

Its 60 members are a mix of appointments by the Civil Council & outgoing senators, & serves as the chief legislative body of Volaire.

Lower Senate

Comprised of council heads, appointments from outgoing senators, ambassadors, & military commanders that are 250 people strong. Day-to-day operations typically only see half of this number, and only 60 are necessary to make quorum. This group predominantly handles administration, committee appointments, & oversight.

Magistrate

Executive positions assigned by the Lower Senate, these people are charged with regulating industry, enforcing sumptuary laws, auditing other offices, & so on. A magistrate & its office is typically a short-lived affair; lasting anywhere from three months to three years. Once its term is over, a new one is formed by the Senate.

High Lords of Sciolo

A shadowy body, originally comprised of twelve members elected by the Senate for non-consecutive terms each lasting one year. It was officially disbanded over seventy years ago, but its authority remained, ultimately acting as the true power. Its members include the Rao, the Advisory Board, the Ashe, & heads of three of the most powerful merchant families in Volaire. The High Lords are responsible for important financial decisions for the city, form the leadership of the secret police (both foreign & domestic), & are able to override any other part of the government. This body does not & can not oversee or manage everything done by the Volarian government, but it is the final arbiter of its policies & are behind nearly all of the shadowy moves of the government.

[Petals & Thrones] Session 5: Goblintown

Session V

Our intrepid heroes, led forward by the werewolf, approach the entrance of the goblin cave encampment. The lieutenant telling them to turn around is given the rebuttal of initiative, which leads to the bugbear surprise attacking the fighter for a critical surprise attack (still standing, barely), followed by all of the bigger goblinoids being webbed and slowly shot down. The goblins made a couple attacks, but stayed in stealth afterward to avoid blasting from Victor.

The continue inward, struggling through the front room, against the hobgoblins & bugbears, the goblins largely dispersing due to their distance and predilection towards stealth. They move west and south, finding an alcove to hide in for a five minute rest just before entering the room with the underground river. They have a very rough fight in this room, entirely using up their short-rest abilities against the eight hobgoblins and four goblins.

And so, our heroes, spent of their major resources and severely injured, march forward deeper into hobgoblin camp...

[Volaire] Social Strata

There are three classes, rigidly stratified within the population of Volaire. The aristocracy, the citizens, & the peasantry. Overall, the aristocracy compose of 5% of Volaire's population, while the citizens comprise another 8%, & the peasant class make up more than 83% of the population. The remaining 4% consist of outsiders. This of course does not account for the transient population, which fluctuates the number of bodies in the asteroid cluster that is Volaire.

Aristocrat/Nobility
The aristocrats are the ruling class, whose strictly patrilineal membership is archived upon the pages of the Book of Names, guarded carefully in the Golden Temple of Waukeen. Exceptional circumstances exist for new admissions, usually when an entire family is wiped out. An additional exception exists among male papermakers of the Artoa district: those who marry an aristocratic woman ensure that their children enter the aristocracy.

As the men of the noble families can pass on their membership, their political value is tightly understood, which has led to an inflation in dowries such that a number of seemingly ideal marriages don't happen at all because neither family can afford each others' dowry (see below for the groom's dowry). Volaire has stepped in with a legal limit on dowries to not exceed in value 500 times the annual salary of a manual labourer, though it's clearly possible for this restriction to see some circumvention. Ultimately, there is a surplus of unattached bachelors & many an unwed noblewoman joins one of Volaire's convents.

Dowries & Magic Rings
While the marriage ceremony itself is certainly expensive in a noble family, the lion's share of a marriage's expense is the dowry. Volaire's own culture has a nuance that needs to be included. One, the bride retains/regains the dowry in the event of the husband's death, regardless of any additional endowments in said groom's will. Secondly, the groom's family is expected to provide the wife an enchanted item, typically in the form of a ring. Variations exist, typically as an amulet or tiara, but exceptions do exist. In one wedding, the patriarch of the Vincere family bequeathed the wife wedding gauntlets of ogre power.

Citizens/Middle Class
Citizens are barred from political office, but they do serve in bureaucratic positions. While this means none can wield executive power, that is not to say they're powerless. The appointment of a judge can be measured in months, yet their support staff will have been in the same positions for years, wielding considerable experience & institutional memory. Membership is matrilineal, with an additional exception: proving to the city that both your mother & grandmother have been residents of the city with none of them being manual labourers allows for one to gain citizenship. The traditions of marriage, while similar to that of the nobility, are not as socially enforced.

Peasants/Lower Class
Collectively, citizens & aristocrats make up less than 12% of the population of Volaire. The next social class down, & by far the largest, are the peasantry. Peasants are the people who live & trade in Volaire have no formal political rights to speak of. Certain subgroups have their own privileges. Workers for the Armament (where Volaire produces its star ships) provide a ceremonial guard to the Rao as well as a number of prominent members for various public events, & the Foreman of the Armament is achieved through merit rather than birthright or even appointment of the Senate.

Outsiders
Outsiders, those without real position in the social hierarchy, make up the remaining population as long-term residents of various demographics. These include (but not solely consist of) foreign merchants given leave to live in Volaire (usually as a quid pro quo with the merchant's homeworld to allow for Volarian merchants to live & operate abroad), Athasians, & slaves. Slavery was abolished approximately thirty years ago in Volaire, but some number of foreigners from worlds that retain the practice have been given a special dispensation (in the interests of diplomacy) to have their slaves accompany them in the city; but this permission is at a cost of greater supervision & must provide a minimum quality of life to said slaves.

Please note, these classes are one of political representation. While aristocrats are predominantly wealthy, there certainly exist poor ones. Most of the merchants are members of the peasantry, but wield economic power that puts some of them higher than many patriarchs. One's separation from each other is ultimately just a social one, rather than geographic, as space is at a premium among the multistory buildings packed on the asteroids of Volaire. Barring the ghettos of the Athasians, a single neighborhood can hold the full range of social strata, with nobles living adjacent to peasants.

Gender Roles
It is the view of the Sikato Church that women be concerned with matters of the material plane. This has led to skilled artisans, engineers, soldiers (except knights & similar positions of command), & doctors to be predominantly performed by women. Female convents, which are frequently 75% upper class, are some of the best known martial dojos in the Mondrian system. Women of the upper class generally retain influence over their dowries, leading to them frequently co-partners of the marriage & generally wielding considerable power. Additionally, women are expected to (at minimum, if not outright lead) participate in the political negotiations between families, generally acting as the ultimate deciders of who marries whom & how dowries are arranged (controlling the destiny of the family is a very material concern).

Men are viewed as masters of people & the mind, leading to them holding the role(s) of leadership & scholarly pursuits. Positions of authority are nigh-exclusively male, especially within the political positions (bureaucratic positions, held by the middle class, are more egalitarian, though still favoring men) of Volaire's government or the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Sikato Church. While martial prowess is not frowned upon among the menfolk, it is expected that they practice those of more meditative or performative nature, or in accompanying positions of leadership such as generals or knights.

Professions associated with the peasantry have no expectations of gender; be it labourer, infantry/militia, merchant, performer, servant, & even adventurer. In many ways, peasant is the person's gender, leading to such activities as to hold neither masculine nor feminine connotations.