Age of Ascension - New Beginnings

Session 1: Welcome to Towering Oaks

The party rides into the village of Towering Oaks and are introduced to a couple of the key players in town; Malchai Fairchild and Dagvo Strongshield, and they're given a run down on how most of the town runs by their travelling companion Smiling Ivan. After getting settled into their new lodgings they head over to the tavern to have dinner and a few drinks with Dagvo, the tavern owner and Town Marshal. The hammer-wielding fighter also scouts out the town's geography and what they don't have for defenses.
After a few hours of this a cry of alarm is raised and a group of 7 raiders ride through town, killing any they catch in the open and grabbing two villagers on their way through. One of the raiders is killed by the party, the other mortally wounded but stabilized for questioning by the paladin Jorgen Skarsgard. The leader of the raid is almost killed, after losing two seperate horses to the archer manhunter Tommy J, but teleports away from any pursuit. The party questions the survivor, who had attempted to commit suicide upon being captured, but he won't talk. The sorcerer casts Charm Person on the elf and then asks to speak with him alone, where he gets more of the story out of him.
It appears that the elves are all outcasts from Xallimanian territory, being convicted criminals to the man. They had been made up to look like the exiled Drow by their leader's wizard, a potion brewing mage, in order to draw suspicion onto the dark elves. He also seems to remember a meeting between their leader the Stag Lord and a human. The captured criminal, a thief named Alion, then asks for a horse to get out of town, which they agree to. As he's mounting the horse he tells them to watch out for the mage and for the Stag Lord's Bugbear enforcer. Alion then rides off with the intent to go to Marten's Landing. The party goes as a group to tell the Marshal Dagvo what they've learned and that they let the bandit go as they promised. Dagvo agrees with their decision, stating that he's seen too much bloodshed in his past and he's not eager to draw any more.

Loot gained: Curved Elven Blade, Long Spear, Long Bow and Splint Mail (2 of each); 2 potions of enlarge person, poison of charm person, 2x Jet (110gp), 20pp, 16gp, 32sp, wad of Ossian cash, totalling 5000 Osmarks (Mkt value as of now is 500 gp)

Session 2: First Town Council Meeting, Become the Town Council

The party spends the next week embedding themselves in the community and starting work around town to gain the resources for structures they want to build. Ougrox spends his downtime gaining Influence, while Jorgen works on snow removal and hauling goods for Labor points, and Tommy J gains some goods. The downtime Capital is split between Tommy J, with his plans to build a menagerie for his planned future flying mounts, and Jorgen's planned Smithy. Tommy J also takes some time to search for Smiling Ivan, who had gone missing during the raid, and it's found that he was either taken by the raiders or left with them willingly.
Friday morning Militia practice kicks off with the party pitching in to help with the training. The militia, normally only about 12-14 men strong, is bolstered by interested recruits who wanted to see the new talent in town, and a full 3 sections of troops show up for training. The two senior corporals are outfitted with the weapons and armor taken from the elven raiders and the senior private is promoted up to take charge of the third section. The morning is spent training cavalry and cavalry repelling tactics and the afternoon is split between archery and hand to hand combat.
The next day the party resumes their daily downtime activities while Tommy J assists Dagvo with his weekly hunt as a way to size eachother up. That night is the fancy Saturday dinner, where the influential members of the town gather and get to know the party better. Jorgen takes the opportunity to chat up Bessa and try and improve his relationship with the Bovine Warden. (Jorgen is now Friendly with Bessa, remainder Indifferent)
The next day is the day of religious practice and rest. Jorgen joins the morning prayers to The Grim White Stag led by Gareth to try and see if the druid is a legitimate spiritual leader or just insane, and he comes away still unsure. That evening is the Town Council meeting during which much is discussed.
The first order of business, raised by Dagvo, is the necessity of a town wall. Bessa insists that they don't have the money or resources to build one at this time and she can't afford to help out with it because of market prices. At this point the immigrant dwarf Ygin Earthfate stands to address the council and offers potential raw resources to assist in the construction of a stone town wall; if the party is contracted out to him to help clear out the area where he plans on building his Quarry. After some argument amongst the council members the question is put to the party and they agree to help with the endeavor, reasoning that they're unsure of the bandit location at this time anyway, and there's a good chance they'll stumble upon some clues to it's location while undertaking this other quest.
The second order of business; the proposed second councilor seat for a representative from the Communist Red party presence in town. There appears to be a lot of support within the townspeople, especially the ones currently out of work with the lumbercamps shut down, which appears to make the council nervous about vetoing yet again. Jorgen manages to calm the crowd down with some successful diplomacy, which allows the council to successfully shoot down the suggestion.
Third order of business, proposed changes to the Town Council itself. Marcus puts his name forward to the vacant Royal Enforcer position, Ougrox to the Magister position, Jorgen to the position of General with plans of putting together a professional standing army as the town grows. Tommy J puts in his name to compete for the position of Marshall which Dagvo currently holds. All positions will be reviewed and voted upon in 2 weeks time.
After the town council meeting concludes, Ygin meets with the party to give them some further instructions regarding their scouting and clearing mission to the quarry. The party agrees on a plan of approach where they will explore from the lumbermill counter clockwise back around to the town, hoping to hit the bandit camp on the way, and at the very least cutting off a few routes of attack that the bandits are coming from. Ygin gives them his prospector grandfather's notes to assist in finding the place, and also promises 2% of their income in goods per party member, and 10% to the town on top of the consumption reduction that the quarry taxes would provide.

Session 5: Mitch in a Ditch with an Itch

Week 3 Council Meeting:
Week 4 Council Meeting:
Building Built: Brothel is built, Lazlowe begins construction of the Smithy, Ygin starts building the monument.
End of Session -> Session ends on Friday night/saturday morning after spending the night at the Brothel and then fighting off the Treents. That's Friday the 5th of April.

Session 6: Breaking Ground

Played 11 weeks of downtime, John has a luxury store built and is in the process of building a pier and housing district. Berthelot's smithy is finished and he spent a month working in it. Mitch is started work on an arena. Four more hexes have been cleared, two of them claimed and three total made into farmland. The quarry is finished and the town has built a graveyard, two walls and a watchtower, and is slowly descending into a revolt as unrest from the rapid economic expansion builds and an anti-Orc sentiment grows. To increase stability the town appoints Brad to General and John moves into his treasurer spot. Dagvo steps down from Marshall and gives the position to Brent after a political scandal and massive bandit raid drains the town's coffers. Last day was the 28th of June just after the council meeting.