Session 1
3rd, Sun's Dawn, 1130AS
The city of Honnoji was ravaged by the battle many weeks ago. Aurora Tien, Cerridwen Talice, Dorian Worthing, and Kenshin Taskage chose to stay after playing their decisive role in the battle, to aid the reparation of the town as best they could. As the weeks past, however, they felt the call of Home in their bones, and decided, with the city almost back to normal again, that now was a good time to leave Shingisu, and return to Hoden.
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Among the many ships in Honnoji Harbour, the party enter negotiations with captain Khale, of the Eastern Wind, a weathered-looking Isenian, with a weathered-looking ship. They discover that the Eastern is transporting crates of silks and spices from Honnoji to Vier, trading-port of Hoden Province. He agrees to grant them board, if they contribute to the labour of running the ship.
The
Eastern was indeed grappled, and several pirates have captured the
three deckhands manning the ship. Their captain, a scarred, grizzled
gentleman, with a wicked saber, orders them to surrender, or die.
In no time at all, the pirates are either killed or captured (partially due to Cerridwen's “Haste” spell).
For this service, and healing Khale from a nasty cut from a pirate's saber, Khale invites them into his cabin. Fishing around in his desk, he offers them a bag of 100 gold crowns. The reward is refused, however, as they were “only doing their civic duty”.
While the crew set about clearing the deck of prisoners and bodies, the party return to their hammocks. Aurora discovers, packed amongst her belongings, a note.
“Go to the Dancing Goblin Tavern, in Vier. Once there, ask for the Shepherd.”
She shows this note to the others, who agree to ask about the Tavern once they dock at Vier.
The remainder of the voyage goes without incidence, and the Eastern Wind arrived in Vier the next day.
4th Sun's Dawn, 1130AS
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Before bidding captain Khale a fond farewell, Kenshin asks him about the Dancing Goblin Tavern. He is told that it's a fairly good place, south of the bridge, before the forest-road.
The Tavern has few customers, this being roughly mid-day. Kenshin approaches the bar, and orders a mug of the finest mead available. Once his drink arrives, he leans forward over the bar, and quietly asks the barkeep if he knows a “Shepherd”. The barkeep, making sure no customers are listening in, tells him to go up the stairs, to the second door on the left. He warns them to take no fewer than two steps into the room.
Shepherd's room is almost pitch-dark. This is strange, given the bright sunshine outside the Tavern. The only illumination in this room is a small candle, shedding just enough light to outline the table it rests on, and a figure in the chair beside it.
Shepherd hires the adventurers to deliver a sealed letter, to one “Thatcher”, in the Red Dragon inn, in Hoden Town. He offers them 100 gold crowns as a reward. Kenshin, suspicious, steps forward to get a better look at the man in the chair. Shepherd becomes silent, and Kenshin discovers that the figure in the chair is, in fact, a set of empty cloths, packed with straw. They light the room up, and see that Shepherd is nowhere to be seen, like he simply disappeared into the air itself.
The adventurers question some of the locals as to the way to Hoden Town. A miller tells them that, while the route south, through Glyglade Forest, is quickest, it's also home to many groups of bandits, whose raids have been growing ever-bolder. A safer, albeit much longer, route exists, traveling westward, and then south from the village of Godric's Ford.
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After some debate, the heroes hire a gondola to Godric's Ford. There is some debate about the letter: Aurora wants to read the letter, but to do so would break the seal. Kenshin, true to his word, takes the letter from her, maintaining that the letter remains unopened, as per instructions. He notes that, after delivery, if they can, they can sneak a look at it, but not before. While they look around the village, they hear a horse cantering up the road, towards the town. The rider, they see, wears the velvet and silks of a nobleman, but the purple fabric of the rider is stained red by his blood. The horse stops short of a cottage, and the rider slumps to the grown, several arrows in his back.
He is still breathing, but has been rendered unconscious through blood-loss. With help from the locals, he is brought to the church's infirmary. After much tending of his wounds, the man wakes. He identifies himself as Gisborn, a nobleman, from a little way to the south. His manor was attacked by strange and foul creatures, his servants slaughtered, and he barely escaped with his life. Gisborn described the attackers as “man-sized, head like a bear. Some ran on four legs, others on two.” The abbot crosses himself, announcing that it sounds like an evil from ancient times.
Kenshin swears to bring those responsible to justice, and the party set out forthwith.
After about half-a-days walk, Dorian picks up a scent on the breeze. Smoke. Odd, considering that this is the wrong time of year for farmers to burn anything. They follow the scent, and come across Gosborn manor, a smoky ruin of it's former self. The roof has collapsed, as has most of the inner walls. Among the destruction, the onlookers can see bodies. Limbs and torsos, torn apart, and flung around. Closer inspection of these parts show that the bones appear to have been gnawed-upon. Embedded in the ground, and in some of the unburned beams, are stone-tipped arrows.
Aurora spots tracks, leading away from the manor. They seem to be half-man, half-bear in their appearance. Kenshin, however, advises that they press on, to Hoden. This, he argues, allows them to deliver that letter, after they alert Lord Hoden as to this turn of events.
The rest of the party agrees, and journey forth to Hoden.
6th, Sun's Dawn, 1130AS
On arrival, Kenshin requests an audience with his Grace, and relates the news to him. Lord Hoden, clearly surprised by this, passes the order to his captain to dispatch troops to Godric's Ford: If these creatures attack the town, more lives may be lost than if they attack a manor.
After
this meeting, the party take the letter to the Red Dragon Inn. They are
given directions to Thatcher's room by the barkeep, an amiable Dwarf.
Thatcher gives them the remainder of the reward, as promised, and
offers to buy them a round in the tavern downstairs. Kenshin bids
Cerridwen to “look at the rooms, see if they're of good quality, for I
may stay here tonight!”.
Cerridwen takes this cue to search Thatcher's room while the rest are in the Tavern. She reads the letter, and, with great presence of mind, copies it down. While the letters are Isenian, the language is unknown. She figures it's in some kind of code, or something.
"Frater Elric
Meus frater , ego dissero vobis per sepulchrum novus: Paganus es plenus in vox , quod peto moveo nunc. Nos pauci procurator in suum ordo , ita nostrum notitia est angustus. Nos operor , vero captivus, tamen interrogatio ostendo sum parum.
Gero illae tabellae ero agito ludio ludius foveo consentio. Expertus idoneus adversus mortifer quod periculosus hostis. Ut eram dissero es solus spes demoror Paganus intentio pro comminor subvertio Hoden Suggero , quod Isenia ipsum.
Ut vicis est vox ero egenus succurro. Is est dictus, quod vos vadum teneo ut moveo.
Macto Sena, Macto Custodis.
Frater Rudolfus"
Further search reveals that Thatcher owns a signet-ring, the device of which matches the seal on the letter. She rejoins the party downstairs, who make their excuses and leave.
Cerridwen takes her copy of the letter to the local Mages' Guild. She hopes that someone there can shed any light whatsoever as to the nature of the letter
Cerridwen has always been somewhat wary of the Guild. When Louise first ran her, at first level, Cerridwen was offered a discount on services if she joined the Guild. The prices for joining and staying were, at the time, somewhat extortionate, to her way of thinking. As such, she's always been cautions of the Guild, in case they try something untoward.
She is greeted by a young man, wearing the robes of a Guild-Journeyman. She attempts to sweet-talk the mage into arranging something, without gouging her for being a freelance-magic-user. The young man seems quite favorably disposed towards her, and magnanimously offers to do his best, free of charge. He introduces himself as Adrian.
With their town-business settled, the Heroes trek North once more, to Gisborn Manor.
7th, Sun's Dawn, 1130AS
The Heroes are fortunate that the weather has remained good over the past few days. The tracks they discovered are still present, leading eastward, into Glyglade Forrest. They follow them deeper into the forest, and by nightfall, they come across a clearing. The decision is made to set up camp, with Kenshin and Dorian volunteering to take the first watch.
Kenshin, remembering the possible danger that lurks in the woods, suggests that the guard hides up trees, to surprise any night-time ambushers.
Sever hours pass, and Kenshin's ears prickle up at the sound of rustling in some bushes on the far-side of the clearing. Several dark shapes emerge into the clearing. They match the description Gisborn made, standing as tall as a man, with bear-heads and pelt. In human-like hands, some hold crude bows, others hold clubs, each adorned with vicious claws.
Kenshin wakes the others with his war-horn, and Dorian leaps from his tree, onto one of the bear-men.
After some fighting, one of the bears gives a low, moaning roar, and the rest turn tail and flee. Kenshin, however, utilises his quick reflexes, and hamstrings one with his throwing dagger. Dorian moves to tie it up, while Aurora holds it's arms. To their surprise, while tying the rope, the bear's head slips forwards, and rolls off to the ground. In it's place, is a man's face, covered in black and brown war-paint. It seems that the “Bear-men” were just men, with bear-hides.
Kenshin attempts to interrogate the man, but to no avail. The savage spits, growls, snaps and howls at them, trying to fight his captors in any way possible, like a madman. They gag him, tie him to a tree, and set about their rest once more. While doing so, they discover a flint blade, set as a pendant around his neck. They take it from him.
8th, Sun's Dawn, 1130
The Heroes decide to find out more about the man they captured during the night. They drag the snarling madman (somewhat annoyed, due to the lack of sleep he caused them) back to Godric's Ford. Nobody in the town recognises the man, but the Abbot points out, rather disdainfully, that the man “looks Pagan”, by his clothing and mannerisms. He explains that, when Hoden was subjugated by the Empire in 800AS, many of the locals “still lived in fear of the Dark, Old Gods”. Although, he had not heard of any such groups of Pagans nowadays, believing them all to have Civilised, and converted to the Church.
Believing that no further information could be gained, our Heroes leave the Pagan in the hands of the local Guards, and return to the Manor. They arrive there at roughly midday. While trying to retrace their steps in the undergrowth, they smell something different in the forest. The smell of smoke, but it's faint, and almost overpowered by the scent of cooking meat. Dorian tells the others to stay behind, so he can scout the area out. He comes across a small hut, with drystone walls, and a roof made of twigs. Outside the hut is an old crone, hunched over a fire, cooking part of a small animal. She hums incoherently to herself.
Dorian tries to get a closer look, practicing every stealthy trick in the metaphorical book. Without warning, however, the crone's head snaps up, and she stares at Dorian, who at this point is some 50 yards away. She gestures to him, beckoning him forward.
While Dorian had indeed scored the maximum possible success on his dice-rolls, I wanted this old woman to have something “otherworldly” about her. She's quite mad, of course, but with this madness comes great insight in many things. I really enjoyed playing this crone, and I think the players liked her too!
“Come, sit.” She gestures, “Food? Good food. Food. Good food, food good. Hmmmmmm.” She warbles. “Your friends, likes they some food? Comes, comes.”
Dorian brings the rest of the party forward. They seem somewhat unsure of the old bat. Dorian asks the woman about the “Demons” of the forest.
“Knows I some of this.” she cackles, “Has you a .... thing....a thing. A thing! Of them?”
Kenshin hands the crone the pendant-blade he took earlier. The Crone makes a sharp inhale, and points in a certain direction. She warns them, though, “Cuts them all down like grass, they'll back with the morning fog. Kills the Mother, yes, she is the heart. And he that wears the horns! Him, with the horns of power.”
She begins to hobble back to her hut, taking the dagger with her. “Bewares you the green woman, the horned prince...hmmmmmmmmm” is the last thing they hear, before she draws the burlap curtain across the doorway.
The party, with no further ado, head off in the direction the woman pointed. They come across a cave in the forest, with a man at the cave-mouth, dressed in hides, carrying an unadorned club. Beside him stands a drum. Kenshin drops him with an arrow.
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Cerridwen draws back the curtain suddenly, while Kenshin drops two with arrows, and Dorian finishes the last with his throwing dagger. Another curtain marks the end of the chamber
What
do these pagans hang the curtains on? I would assume wooden curtain
rods, but how to affix them to a rocky wall? Essentially, I wanted
doors, but in a cave, with people that don't use metal, this was always
going to be tricky. Fortunatly, my players didn't pick me up on it!
Dorian looks around the curtain, to see that the tunnel branches into three directions: left, right, and straight-ahead. Dorian scouts out the path ahead. The walls of this corridor are covered in strange cave-paintings. Cerridwen makes a note of them.
Dorian notes that the corridor forks, but the fork to the right has a curtain partition. He looks past the curtain, to see a grizzly sight: The walls of this corridor are lined with human skulls, and the floor is littered with assorted bones. Dorian tries to see what's behind the curtain at the far end of the tunnel, but slips on the bones underfoot. When he does draw aside the curtain, he comes inches away from a snarling Pagan, who evidently was intent on investigating the noise. Dorian quickly guts the man.
The chamber beyond is daubed in painted sigils (Area 2). Sitting on a flat rock is a woman, her skin painted green. She holds a claw in her hand, the tip of which she dips into a half-eggshell. She leaps up, hissing, and lunges at our Heroes.
The heroes dispatch her quickly. She wore no armour, and attacked with feral fury, but our heroes have good training, and (mostly) metal weapons and armour. Aurora was scratched across the cheek by the claw, before Ceriddwen broke the shamaness' back with her staff.
Having slain the mother, the Heroes explore the other fork in the path.
They discover that the path loops around to the first chamber, but
there is another curtain along here (Area 3). The room on the other
side seems to be nothing more than a sleeping area, with
animal-hides arranged like bedrolls.
The corridor stretches further southward, however. As they approach, the heroes hear the sound of chanting, and the sound of wood on wood, wood on stone, and the like.
The chamber of the cave here seems to be a dead-end (Area 4). At the far end of the chamber stand a circle of warriors, in their bear-pelts. One stands in the center, standing a foot taller than his fellows. Atop his head-dress are fixed a pair of oxen-horns. He raises his bone-studded club in one hand, and some freshly-severed heads in the other.
The Heroes use the element of surprise to launch their attack. Cerridwen launches an all-out barrage with her Magic Missiles, obliterating many warriors. Dorian leaps onto another, while Aurora wades into the Chieftain. Kenshin looses arrows at some remaining stragglers. After a grueling battle, the Chieftain is struck with an upward blow, and his neck snaps.
The party explore the rest of the tunnel-complex, but there is only one other chamber, with an underground stream. Having set out what they accomplished, they traveled back to Hoden to report this to his Grace.
10th, Sun's Dawn, 1130AS
The party report to Lord Hoden that the bear-creatures are no longer a problem. This pleases his Lordship, who rewards them with two hundred gold crowns apiece.
Cerridwen returns to the Guild of Magi, to see how the translation is coming. Adrian had discovered that the language seems to be Old Isenian, the same language spoken by Mother Church. The dialect, however, is unlike any that he had encountered before. He managed to determine, however, that the letter tells of “distressing news”, and something of “danger”. The final line, “Macto Sena. Macto Custodis” was particularly puzzling: “Macto Sena” is part of the ending of most Isenian prayers, but who or what is “Custodis”?
Continued in Session 2
