Whitestone rebellion

The Whitestone Rebellion was an uprising started by Percival de Rolo and the rest of Vox Machina in Whitestone in an attempt to overthrow the Briarwoods.

2 Duscar 810 PD
 On 2 Duscar 810 PD, Vox Machina scoped out the town before heading for the castle. They saw some people in the town, with six undead giants slowly patrolling through the city. Many of the buildings were closed. In the center of the town, they saw the Sun Tree, with twisted and gnarled branches. There were eight humanoid bodies of varying ages swinging from the branches. They made a plan to sneak in to the town, revive the tree, and form a rebellion.

3 Duscar 810 PD
On this day, Vox Machina entered the city disguised as a group of dirty, ragged peasants, with Trinket as a donkey. They approached the Sun Tree with eight effigies of Vox Machina swinging from the branches. They found a tavern to stay in for a while and they covered the first floor windows, dug a tunnel towards the Sun Tree and attempted to revive the tree.

 Percy, Vax and Scanlan explored The Zenith in search of Father Reynal, but found him long dead. Percy dragged Father Reynal's body out in front of the altar while Vax carved the de Rolo family crest into the stone of the altar. After finishing the carving, Vax went to the door of the temple and carved "Pelor lives in Whitestone". On the way back, they overheared that Sir Kerrion decreed that if the villages couldn't provide food, taxes would be collected, and if the taxes couldn't be paid, there were worse things that can happen. Keyleth’s rituals on the Sun Tree were completed and she determined that something beneath the tree was sucking the life out of the land. Percy figured out that they had to kill Kerrion Stonefell first.

4 Duscar 810 PD
Disguised as peasants, Percy led Vox Machina to Beyond the Horizon before they tried to find Kerrion's mansion. They ended up at The Lady's Chamber, meeting Keeper Yennen there. Percy told him to look for signs of salvation and handed him a piece of parchment which had a portion of the de Rolo family crest drawn on it. Percy told him, "What appears dead may not necessarily be death. And that with the shadow of death over the city, perhaps there is life deep underground. Perhaps things that appeared ended and gone are perhaps continuing to this day. And may rise again."

Vox Machina exited the temple and continued towards Kerrion's mansion. They reached the mansion and infiltrated the compound. They encountered five people: three guards, Master Vouk and Sir Kerrion Stonefell. They swiftly killed Stonefell, incapacitated Vouk and killed two guards. The last guard was dominated to tell the reinforcements that everything was fine. They found some papers mentioning the bridge plan for Wildemount and a small notebook in the room.

They interrogated Master Vouk, and discovered that he had seen the Briarwoods and that they knew that Vox Machina was in Whitestone. He confirmed that Lord Briarwood was a vampire. He offered to bring them to the Briarwoods' project room under the castle and show them what was being worked on down there. Vouk was ordered to mark the secret entrance on the map of Whitestone. He did so with spit. Vouk revealed that Lady Briarwood raised and was controlling the zombie giants. Percy orders Vouk's face to be marked and his tongue taken, and then to let him loose. His tongue was taken and the de Rolo crest was burned into his forehead. The house was eventually set on fire by a burning sign of the de Rolo family crest. Vox Machina ran back to the tavern, disappearing into the rain as the guards searched for them. Citizens began to emerge from the buildings as a warning bell rang out. Smoke rose up in the distance. The first steps of the rebellion had been put into motion.

 Vox Machina headed down into the tavern cellar and hid the entrance. The group began discussing plans for their rebellion. They decided to rest for the night and planned to visit a magic shop known as The Alcove in the morning. The undead seemed more active after Sir Kerrion's house was set ablaze. Vox Machina headed down into the tunnel around the roots of the Sun Tree and settled down for the night. In the middle of the night they woke up and were attacked by three vampires with elongated fangs emerging from the mist. Defeating the vampires, they descided to move to the cellar, blocking the tunnel with a stone wall.

5 Duscar 810 PD
As they all woke, Vox Machina disguised themselves as peasants. They prepared to split up: two going to the townsfolk while the rest searched for a new hideout.

Percy, Vex, Grog, Keyleth, and Trinket (disguised as a donkey) all headed toward the magic shop. They talked to the current shopkeeper Jordana Whisk and drew the de Rolo family crest into the dust. Jordana warned them that the symbol was dangerous, and Percy wiped it away. Jordana allowed them to stay in her shop, but wanted to know why they were raising the symbol of the de Rolos. They told her that they knew the de Rolos, but the girl didn't believe them, saying that the de Rolo's had all been dead for five years.

Percy promised to compensate her when the current ordeal was over, and requested that Vox Machina be allowed to sleep in her shop for the night. She led them to the back and into a very small bedroom that used to be her father's. Jordana recommended that they talk to Keeper Yennen, as he could help spread information. Percy told everyone to meet at The Lady's Chamber when they'd finished their business.

Vax and Scanlan headed to The Journey's End. They gathered information of what had happened in Whitestone. They also asked if anyone had heard of rebels roaming the town. They found that the barkeep and the bar patrons present supported an uprising. When they left, they told on of the patrons, "Pelor has returned."

When Vox Machina gathered at The Lady's Chamber, there was a larger group gathered for Keeper Yennen's sermon. He told the citizens about the evils that were reigning over Whitestone, and how whispers had come to his ears about a hidden ally, the same that cut down Sir Kerrion. He believed that this was the time for the citizens to band together and show their support. He warned them to be careful and be quiet, and that word would find them as things progressed. He finished by giving a prayer in Celestial. The people began to scatter and walk away in silence, looking around warily and being careful not to exit in a large group.

Keeper Yennen told Vox Machina to follow him and asked the group to sit and talk with him. He had spoken privately with several community leaders, but they hadn't yet been convinced to help. His unknown informant within the castle had gone silent over the past few weeks. He got the information through someone else. Archibald Desnay joined them mid conversation and Vox Machina dropped their disguises. Archibald revealed that Cassandra de Rolo was still alive and had been feeding information to Archibald and others. She helped guide the last two rebellions that were attempted, and according to her the Briarwoods were nearing their goal. Archibald promised that they would have their militia. He told them Professor Anders was working for the Briarwoods and living in the castle; Lady Ripley had packed her stuff and moved out of her mansion. There were two mansions remaining. Vox Machina decided to create a distraction at the Vedmeyer estate, while attacking Count Tylieri.

  Scanlan, polymorphed as a triceratops, slammed through the Vedmeyer mansion and stumbled on an ambush of eight guards and Duke Goran Vedmeyer. Dropping the dinosaur form, he Dimension Doored onto the roof. He drank a Potion of Fire Breath and unleashed a spray of fire, igniting first the front of the building and then its back. Duke Goran Vedmeyer joined him there, but was quickly shoved of the roof with Bigby's Hand. Scanlan blasted his final fire breath into the roof hatch. He then ran to the other side of the roof and leaped off, having Bigby's Hand catch him and gently lower him to the ground. A zombie giant stomped towards him but was swarmed by a number of Whitestone residents that had armed themselves with makeshift weapons and armor. The mansion was eventually completely engulfed in flames. The guards and Vedmeyer managed to escape the burning building and began searching the perimeter for Scanlan. As Scanlan watched the undead giant, he decided to wait and watch the citizens' fight rather than rejoining his comrades.

The rest of Vox Machina began their assault on Count Tylieri's mansion. As Grog and Trinket rushed the front door, Percy, Vex'ahlia, Vax'ildan, and Keyleth sneaked around the back. The mansion contained ten guards plus Count Tylieri standing at the top of the staircase. They attacked Grog and Trinket and eventually the rest joined them. After a long fight, Trinket clawed at Tylieri and clamped his jaws over the vampire's head. He tore it off, the body turning to mist hovering in place as he screamed in pain. While Keyleth cast Sunbeam directly into the mist, the guards were taken care of by the rest of Vox Machina.

One guard remained with a broken ankle and missing leg. They interrogated him and then slit his throat. The group saw a dark plume of smoke in the distance, and people stepping out of their homes. Keyleth used the smoke to draw the de Rolo family crest in the sky. While the townsfolk formed small bands and gathered whatever weapons and armor they could find, the building was ignited. As the fire became an inferno, people in nearby homes pressed against their windows and watched this happen with smiles on their faces, their children whispering to each other, and the party snuck off into the alley behind the burning mansion, heading back towards The Alcove.

As Vox Machina darted through the streets, they heard in the distance the sound of yells and occasionally the crashing of wood and stone. Armored Whitestone residents ran through the streets, shouting orders to each other and helping the wounded. The rebellion was in full force. They all made their way to the Alcove and entered it, taking a short rest to tend to their wounds, then heading out to join the rebels in taking out the zombie giants. Just as they finished their rest, a giant fell to the ground and three people were in the process of hacking its head off just to make sure it was dead. There were seven citizens total, looking pretty injured but also eager and full of adrenaline. The storm was still ongoing, with bolts of lightning visible in the distance. The group of citizens gave a short cry of victory, and darted off towards the center of the city. The de Rolo symbol in the sky had moved and distorted slightly due to the storm, but was still visible. The group headed for the Sun Tree, searching for giants on their way there. As they headed southwest through the town, the chaos seemed to have died off in the area. They came across another felled zombie giant surrounded by eight civilian corpses. They made their way to the town square where the Sun Tree was located. Across the square was a zombie giant riddled with spears and struggling with a group of civilians. There were no bodies hanging from the tree. The battle still raged across the square, and there was a group of an hundred armored skeletons marching in from the north. Keyleth blew a number of them apart before they fled towards the treeline to the west. It seemed the Briarwoods were prepared to handle the rebellion.

 Before the fleeing skeletons could get to the trees, ten armored civilians appeared led by Keeper Yennen, who was holding a holy symbol of Erathis. Unwilling to leave the civilians to fight the undead horde alone, the group turned back. With newly found strength they began to fight again. Vax turned to the approaching civilians and Keeper Yennen and shouted for them to bring fire. Instead, Pike ran up, glowing with radiant energy and charged forward as an avatar of Sarenrae, making a leap and landing deep into the horde. She clutched her holy symbol and channeled Sarenrae's power to use Destroy Undead. The resulting shock wave destroyed thirty-six of the skeletons, leaving only about twenty remaining rushing towards the glowing gnome. With the help of Pike and Keeper Yennen, Vox Machina picked off the remaining skeletons. On the other side of the town square, two giants remained to be defeated. Contemplating if they need to wait for morning, the party makes their way around the Sun Tree and split up to continue the fight.

Grog and the gnomes charged to the south passing several streets, they spotted a patch of skeletons fighting against five villagers. Several bodies of villagers lay on the ground, one of which was still alive and dragging himself away. Looking up at a radiant Pike, the man mistakes her for an angel. Pike hold his face as the energy of Sarenrae flowed through his body and started to close his wounds. Grog tells the man to run. Still wounded but no longer on death's door, the man grabbed his sword out of the mud, and ran back into the fight with a battle cry. The group continued and charged southward.

Passing several more streets, they heard a large mass hitting the ground,. As they turned the corner they saw a giant, with a pile of rebels at its feet. Scanlan pulls out his Wand of Magic Missiles, and fires at the giant, causing some bones to expose. Scanlan darted off into an alcove and inspired Grog as he went into a frenzied rage, as three members of the resistance joined the fight against giant.

With Pike’s Guiding Bolt, a swing of Grogs hammer, and Scanlan’s Lightning Bolt they nearly knocked over the giant but it caught itself. The giant swinged twice at Scanlan but just hit once. The civilians move up and attacked one by one. Pike ran around to its back and slammed her Mace of Disruption into the open wound on its back, burning away the undead flesh. She than leaped onto its knees and slammed the mace into the front of its chest. The torso ripped open and bursts with divine energy. Pike lands perfectly and three soldiers step towards the goliath and the gnomes. The group told them that they are with de Rolos, to prepare, wait for their signal, and spread the word. The soldiers pulled their wounded friends to their feet and began moving the corpses and set them aflame. Grog, Pike, and Scanlan head for the western wall to meet up with the other group.

Meanwhile Percy, Keyleth, and the twins saw a giant, swinging a large metallic weapon, being pushed back by six guards, on the outskirts of the forest near the temple of Pelor. The party ran through the graveyard and see that all of the graves have been exhumed. They figured this is the place where a lot of the undead have come from, although someone had to have given them weapons and armor.

Percy fires Bad News at the giants hand and legs before the giant throwed a big piece of rubble towards Percy, slamming him off his feet. Vex shot two arrows into the giants knee and chest, Vax stabbed his Flametongue Dagger into its skull, and the resistance began jabbing their spears into the giant. Keyleth made the mistake to cast Heat Metal on Vaxs daggers causing him to drop the red-hot daggers as they burn his hands. And uses a Grasping Vine to grapple and pull the giant downwards. Percy shot the giant's face three times, before the giant reached down to pick its weapon back up and swung it down towards Vax but he easily dodged out of the way. Vax sliced both of his daggers down the front of the giant's body breaking open its chest. Vex shot an arrow straight through the giants eye. The giant lurched forward and fell as Vax and one of the guards quickly dodged out of the way.

Keyleth healed Vaxs hands as Vex and Percy went to talk to the guards. They discussed what is next and decided that they take the castle the next day. As the group of citizens left, Keyleth told them to keep watch for the sign of Pelor in the sky. Those words reminded the civilians to make a silent prayer to themselves, hand over their heart, before they headed back to the city. Vax investigated the open graves, the coffins were still present but had all been opened, the lids were taken off and the bodies were missing. He found an ornamental dagger but left it in its place. The party headed west to meet up with their companions.

6 Duscar 810 PD