| Session 08: Wildlife and Werewolves | |
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| Real World Date | September 20th, 2014 |
| Game Date | March 20 - 21, Year 0 |
| Location | Duskorb Forest, Den |
| Enemies | A hot-tempered naga |
| NPCs | The Nightingale Bandit, Gran |
| previous Session 07: An Exercise in Exodus |
next Session 09: Disguised and Distressed |
Pursued by the military for unknown reasons, The Party journeys through Duskorb Forest to reach Flowburg.
Synopsis[]
After a mild rainstorm, The Party reached the river and found a hostile naga feeding on the carcasses of wildlife that had been killed by rain-loosened boulders. The naga gave the heroes no choice but to resort to violence. Following a tactical victory, the party found themselves in a small settlement recently ravaged by unknown assailants. Tahlarien saw a man she knew, but he refused to admit that he knew her. The Nightingale Bandit was found taking refuge in a makeshift hospital within the town. The party chooses not to make a scene in the ailing village. They spend the night in the hospital, and while on watch, Namfoodle discovers that all the patients other than the Bandit are werewolves.
Full Account[]
A full day and night pass without event, save for Tahlarien shaming Isaac for offering her processed foods. In time, The Party reaches the river, which is swollen from a recent storm. A beautiful but creepy sea serpent is scraping food out from the bottom of fallen rocks that landed in and around the river. Tahla vaguely remembers something about a serpent like this being able to blow people up with its mind. The party argues whether or not they should attack the serpent. Namfoodle decides to read its mind to get a good idea of its mental ability. He sneaks closer in order to cast the spell, and discovers that it is indeed a very intelligent creature.
Isaac casts a silent image to observe how the creature reacts to prey that looks more humanoid than its quar
ry. The creature reacts by casting an ice missile from the river at the silent image. Realizing that combat may be impending, a ranged team of Nam, Isaac, and Tahla climb a nearby cliff, while Emilie leads a diplomatic ground team with Vic and Kal. Emilie critically fails her diplomacy check. She tries to save it by making it excessively clear that the party means no harm, but the serpent is convinced that she and her companions have been sent by “them” to reclaim the trinkets that the serpent has stolen and decorated itself with.
He leaps at the trio, but Emilie’s draw is faster. She slices into the serpent beneath its head, drawing green blood, and the hidden, ranged team opens fire. Isaac launches an arrow into the same area. Vic smashes his weapon into Isaac’s arrow, driving it deeper into the flesh. Tahla fumbles her bow. Kal executes an advanced attack successfully. Again in the same place. Nam hits very accurately but does surprisingly little damage. The serpent sinks a deep bite into Kal, but Kal resists the venom. Emilie strikes to the spinal column and heals Kal. Isaac strikes an eye, half-blinding the serpent. Vic slashes off a patch of beautiful scales. Tahla misses again. Kal slices off some of its tentacles. It’s super unhappy, but alive. Nam fires magic missiles, bisecting the serpent. The encounter is over. Emilie takes the stolen rings that adorned its tentacles and gives them to Isaac for him to appraise. “They aren’t going to do anyone any good lying in a river bank,” she reasons.
Spoils:
- A ring with a green stone, which seems to cause weight reduction or leg strengthening
- A silver band that seems to engorge muscles
- A ring with a sinister black stone, which causes the wearer to perceive an alternate, abyssal reality.
The Party comes to a settlement near a waterfall. It is composed of apparently hand-built homes. This is a very war-torn settlement. Not much still stands. The settlement is inhabited. The citizens appear to be making attempts to return to “normal” lives.
Tahla talks to the villagers, trying to figure out what happened. She meets a man who seems to know her, but he acts evasively and leaves. Tahla says “he just looks familiar, is all.” The villagers are not super friendly, and hope the adventurers leave as soon as they are able. Another man says that the man who knows Tahlarien calls himself Jason, and he was found by the villagers in the forest. They took him in and he has been helping them since. It seems Jason was a merchant before his mysterious accident. He’s been at the village for a few months.
The town is situated a bit east of Flowburg, Enderland, in a bend in the river. Inside a make-shift hospital that must have been a small inn at some point, the party asks an older woman named Gran if they can spend the night in the town. She has a claw mark on her face, and that eye is fake. The companions are shocked to see that The Nightingale Bandit is being treated for wounds inside. He hasn’t see
n them. They decide not to make a scene here. Tahla, Isaac, and Emilie bathe, and the party rests. Tahla talks to Gran about the Nightingale Bandit. They found him in the forest and they aren’t sure how he became as horribly wounded as he is. They
don’t know about his criminal lifestyle. The village sticks together very closely to protect themselves from attacks like the one that destroyed the outer areas of the village. This is also why they are so untrusting of strangers.
Isaac takes watch, and hears animal-like scuffling coming from outside the room deep in the night, coupled with not-so-distant howling. He barricades the door with chairs. Nam takes second watch. Howling grows stronger during the night, and motion is heard in the main room. Nam investigates and sees that Gran is nowhere to be seen and several werewolves are tied to the tables. The Nightingale Bandit proves not to be a werewolf. Nam cautiously makes his way to the Bandit and tries to strike up conversation. The Bandit brushes off Nam’s offer for an alliance. Nam has concluded that the Bandit is probably a chaotic-neutral sell-sword who got too deep into whatever the hell it is that Lanaea is doing. The Bandit says that she and Atamant will stop at nothing to find the party.
The rest of the night passes with only the struggles of reluctant beasts breaking the silence.
So there wasn't much silence.
Notes[]
- All players were present this session! We were glad to be back from our hiatus.