8/31/2022 The party returned to Ivy Shade without incident and received a hero's welcome. Mango, Mortanius, and the Duke are all in attendance. There was much celebration in the party's honor for defeating Bilius and removing the threat to Ivy Shade. Mango took the Ball of String, also known as the Orb of Binding, from Chance in order to complete a task for the Mages Guild. The Hetman's daughter also had a talking bunny! After some questions, it seemed apparent that the talking bunny was the work of Mittens. It seemed harmless enough, though... In the midst of the celebrations, one figure in the tavern stood out for their stern, and frankly menacing, demeanor. He was a huge man, standing over seven feet tall wearing a bearskin and red armor. Curious, the party went over to introduce themselves. The man gave his name as Vitchna, and explained that he was a liaison for the Duke of Chagna Fel. He was aware that Igny, Chance, and Xaris were to become Counts, but hadn't done so yet and were therefore scum to him. He repeatedly called the party some not-so-nice things, and then challenged the party to a duel to take place in Quivera on the first day of the Gods' Time. The terms of the duel were thus: Igny, Chance, and Xaris would face Vitchna three on one, in a fight to unconsciousness, at which point the victor will take a single item of his choice from the defeated. The party accepted his challenge. The next morning, the party was formally honored by Ivy Shade for their good deeds. Mortanius officially recognized Igny as a Death Lord itinerant and a Chevalier. Likewise, Chance was recognized by the Mages Guild, and Xaris by the Fighters Guild. The party then left with the Duke to make their way to Quivera. On the way there, however, they encountered some commotion. It was some sort of issue with the livestock. When the party went to investigate, they discovered a talking cow singing a song, and a talking pig playing some sort of instrument. Clearly this was the work of Mittens. Moving further along, they encountered some more talking animals in distress: three cows named Sven, Karl, and Steve, a pig named Carrol, and a chicken named Bert. The animals explained their predicament. When they gained the ability to talk, some of the local children decided it was wrong to keep them locked up in pens and broke the fences and herded them away from their farm. However, the animals were used to having shelter and food provided by the farmer, and didn't know where to go or what to do now. The party convinced the animals to return to their farm with them to sort out the issue. The farmer was very agitated at the talking animals, thinking they were possessed by demons. The animals, for their part, seemed concerned the farmer would slaughter them, but after talking it over amongst themselves decided on some sort of "plan" that the party need not be concerned with. Fearing an Orwellian outcome for this animal farm, the party decided they had to intervene and agreed to purchase the animals for 1 wheel and 15 lunars. The party continued on their way to Quivera, animals in tow, but continued to encounter talking animals on the way. For 20 more gold, the party purchased all of the talking animals they encountered, such that they had 35 additional cows (including 2 that didn't talk), 25 more pigs, and 15 more chickens. When they arrived at the outskirts of Quivera, however, the guard refused to let them in with their herd of animals. The cows, growing agitated and confident in themselves, decided to charge the guard. Xaris quickly intimidated the guard into stepping aside and letting them in the city. However, the situation inside the city didn't improve. The local cityfolk were afraid of the talking animals, and there was no stable large enough to house them all. Chance quickly came up with a solution: the party could drop the animals off in a pocket dimension. The party used the disk of pocket dimensions to transport all of the animals to a forested area with a purple sky. From the top of a tree, Igny could see a clearing 8 or 9 miles away with some structures constructed in the trees. The party decided that the animals were sufficiently far away from any threats, and left the animals to graze. After the first day of training, the party returned with grain and feed for the animals. However, when they arrived they found a slaughter with animal carcasses everywhere. They followed the sound of loud crying to find Karl with a large dart stuck in his side. Igny removed the dart and used Lay on Hands to heal Karl, who explained that they were attacked from the sky by large flying creatures. Karl was very upset with the party for leaving them there to be slaughtered. The party returned with Karl to Quivera and put him in the stable attached to the inn. The party wanted to try to search for any surviving animals, so they went to the Shrine of Ernalda, the herd mother goddess. There they met with the priestess Guildo and explained the situation. Guildo agreed to help the party, and they set off immediately to the pocket dimension. Guildo performed rituals to release the spirits of the slain animals, and then helped them search for five hours for any surviving animals. In that time, they were able to locate 7 more cows, as well as 3 pigs, and 2 chickens. Guildo agreed to try to rehabilitate the traumatized animals while the party continued their training. The party donated 20 wheels to the temple in appreciation for their help. At the end of the week of training, a merchant approached the party with a proposal. He would be willing to bring 250 wagons of common goods to Chagna Fel, and asked only that he not be taxed for five years in return. He gave the party some time to think and discuss his proposal. Chance felt that no taxes was too much to ask, and that even a small amount of tax would be more appropriate. The party leaned towards trying to negotiate better terms with the merchant, but reached no consensus on exact details when the session ended. TLDR: The party was hailed as heroes and promptly led a bunch of sentient animals to their slaughter.