Broken Heart

It's only been a few short weeks since the winter season began in the plains but a third terrible blizzard is already underway as the heroes trudge through the snow; tasked by Rehele with scouting ahead while the caravan travels back to Ackley to drop off survivors. Some of the heroes may believe it's a sort of punishment for what happened in Peregrin Pointe but others remember that scouting is the job they signed up for.

As the storm winds build and the temperature drops further they realize they need to find shelter and immediately. They leave the main road and venture off into the nearby woods looking for anything suitable. They see a densely packed area of trees, a small frozen pond and a rocky hill in the distance. They send Cordelia and Berenger to investigate while they fight through the snow. Aelfric finds himself exhausted by the weather and uses the help of two of his Frostmerite allies to keep going. Everyone else removed their heavy armor to make it through the snow better but he decided not to.

While the others were slowed a bit by Aelfric's struggle the scouts at the rocky outcropping began investigating the area. They discovered a small cave that might do the trick but before they could look in further they were assaulted by a pack of wolves. They fled back to the remainder of the party but not before being savaged by their fangs. The combined might of the party was able to defeat them save the one that Caellana Merathiel revived and spoke to. She found out the wolves were very territorial and angry that the party had crossed into their hunting grounds. The wolf also told her to beware the "three heads". Beorna took a wolf corpse to start skinning for a blanket.

Inside the cave the party stopped to catch their breath and warm up while Berenger and Cordelia continued their exploration of the depths of the cave. The traveled deeper and came across an ominous site: a dwarf warrior's body in full plate armor, the armor rent open by powerful claws and little of the dwarf's internals feasted on. The ventured deeper and heard the sound of a bleating goat. Both thought it strange and investigated deeper. In one of the large openings in the cave system, they discovered pitch black room that smelled of sulfur and decay. The dark and the many stalagmites and stalactites in the room obscured their vision. Berenger was in the middle of a hushed conversation with Cordelia when a massive clawed paw ripped into his back and sent him reeling. Cord swung her hooded lantern in the direction of the attacker and it revealed a hideous abomination with the body of a lion and large bat-like wings. It possessed three hungry heads, one of a feral lion, one of a crazed goat and one a hissing dragon. The pair picked themselves up and ran as fast as they could through the tunnels till the passages narrowed enough that only they could pass and not the beast. They returned to their party and eventually, they all decided this was not the safest place to stay.

It took them over two hours of pushing through the snow and increasingly dangerous temperatures to break through this small wooded area and find a potential shelter. A rather large inn off the side of a small road that likely connects several unmapped communities was the Calloway. It consisted of a large barn, inn and well. It was fenced off as well to repel wandering threats such as the pack of icy zombies trying to batter their way in. The heroes dispatched the dead, taking them by surprise, and then entered the Calloway property.

Inside the Calloway the heroes found well over a dozen other travelers taking shelter here. The owners of the Inn, Gillium and Tila, were busy at the bar taking care of drinks for a rowdy bunch of well-armed men. In the corner of the ground floor, they saw an old shirtless man mumbling to himself about songs in the woods. The heroes found a table to themselves (somewhat close to the deranged old man) and began taking in the scene, making sure this place was safe. Cordelia spoke with the Inn owner, mentioning the zombies they killed along the fence. Gillium Calloway was very grateful and offered them free stay for the night and a round of drinks. He did mention they were over capacity as far as beds but anywhere they want to set up bedrolls they can. Gillium reveals that the crazy man in the corner is an old hermit that lives nearby. They invited him to wait out the storm here. His name is Fievel. She also spoke with the well-armed men at the bar and learned their story.

The four men are all that remain of the mercenary-criminals known as the Lion's Claw. They were thrown out of the Grand Order of the Lion for their crimes and have been on their own for a while. Their leader, Powell Filmore, spoken openly with Cord and he mentioned they were involved in a mess of a job back in Peregrin Point where two of their men were lost. They were looking for a wizard whom their patron hired them to capture. He wouldn't reveal who his patron was though. She also met the rest of his crew. Casidor Cauglin, his second in command. Thorin Taur a seven-foot tall brute of a human covered in old battle wounds. Milo Stiven, a brash young recruit who deeply respected and idolized Powell. Milo also had a woman with him, a very beautiful, youthful and giggling. She seemed intoxicated by every word Milo spoke. Her name is Anfisa and Milo says he met her wandering around in the woods by herself. Cordelia thinks this in incredibly strange considering the conditions out there. Caellana also feels something strangely familar about the woman. .

Upstairs they met two halflings who had purchased one of the inn's two beds for their stay. Ren and Jek. They seemed like simple travelers returning from the west with goods to sell in Ackley. Luorna, a young woman traveling on her own. She's deaf but managed to explain to the heroes that her family and their wagon were attacked by bandits on the road and she lost track of everyone when her father made her flee into the woods. There's a hunter named Dolan Tagge who bought one of the other beds. He keeps to himself. And, a rather muscular Tengu perched on one of the upstairs tables working on his exceptionally heavy crossbow. He seems to understand them and makes a few noises but never speaks. He has a tiny piece of wooden plank hanging around his neck that reads "George". They assume that's his name.

The heroes sleep on the floor of the ground level near the fireplace that night with Tindel taking the first watch since he needs the least sleep. He heads upstairs to investigate, making sure to keep an eye on the Lion Claws because of their reputation. He takes a seat at the bar and watches the area. Later on, he sees Luorna creep down the stairs and start to rifle through the pockets of his friends for loose coins. He catches her and she pleads with silent apologies, explaining that she has nothing and is desperate. Tindel lets her go back upstairs after taking the coins back but doesn't bother his sleeping friends. He continues checking the inn, exploring and watching the Lion Claws upstairs. At one point he checks on them and sees Milo's woman (Anfisa - they learned earlier) is not there. Tindel returns down stairs to check on his friends when he feels a cold draft. The service door behind the bar is open and footprints lead into the blizzard. He sees a shape out in the storm winds but the falling snow makes it impossible for him to see much. He goes and wakes Caellana, assuming she being a fellow elf wouldn't mind missing some sleep. He's very wrong. Despite not needing sleep she really enjoys it. He leaves her to watch over the party while he investigates the tracks. Caellana promptly puts her head on the bar top and falls blissfully back to sleep.

Outside, Tindel follows the tracks maybe 80 feet from the service door till he finds a gristly scene beside one of the large trees on the property. A pile of blood, bones and ragged skin. The remains of Fievel. It looks like he was crushed and wrung out. They can find no other tracks but his. He quickly returns to the inn but decides his allies (him included) need to rest if they're to be of any use. He unpacks his bedroll and gets to sleep. He's awoken in the morning to the sound of the innkeeper and his wife screaming about a murder. Tindel explains what he saw and the rest of the party launches into how insane it was for him to have not woken them immediately. Berenger says Tindel took the meaning of night watch extremely literally and merely just watched what happened during the night.

Everyone is woken by the commotion happening downstairs and several of them proceed down. Tindel and some of the others go upstairs after revealing that Anfisa wasn't accounted for last night. She's there with Milo now and says she had nothing to do with what happened. Tindel heads over to Luorna's bedroll and asks her what she saw but she says she slept quietly through the night. Meanwhile on the ground floor Powell starts ranting about missing coins from his coin pouch as does Dolan Tagge and the halflings. The heroes try to keep the peace while Aelfric, Beorna and their two Frostmerite soldiers head outside to investigate further.

They examine the crushed remains of the old hermit and then check the outhouse in case that's where he was going. Everything seems fine there. They then head to the nearby barn where they find only a few piglets scurrying around and some stabled horses belonging to other travelers. However, Aelfric notices something moving in the trees some 50 or 60 feet outside. He can't make out exactly what but it looks human or human shaped and seems to bounce or vanish from one branch only to appear on another in a different tree. He and Beorna watch closely. They soon hear a strange, enticing, soothing melody coming from the woods that tugs on their every thought and urge. Both are able to fight off the song but they send the two soldiers back to the inn to warn everyone. When the song seems to fail to lure them into the woods, the woods come to them. A tree seems to uproot itself and starts to barrel down on the barn, quickly shattering the back wall and thrusting itself into ruin. Emerging from the branches is a creature made of bark, leaves and vines all shaped into the form of an alluring woman. She snaps off one of the tree's branches and it quickly forms into a deadly wooden spear. She attacks them immediately and demands they turn over her sister, Anfisa. She accuses them of having kidnapped her and promises to kill every one of them if they don't turn her over.

Berenger and Erik Shepherd stay inside the Inn trying to keep order while the other heroes head out at the furious request of the Frostmerite soldiers. Berenger and Erik start investigating the crowd to see who might be behind the theft of the coins everyone is complaining about. Berenger suggests to Erik that it's likely the actions of the Lion Claws and that they've been up to no good for a while now. While there really is no evidence for their being behind the missing coins Berenger can't bear to allow these criminals to be free and to keep on plundering local communities. He moves to arrest them with Erik's help and eventually the subdue the unarmed and very confused men. They do not, however, notice Luorna slip out the back when the fight breaks out.

Inside the barn Beorna is stabbed and left for dead. Aelfric is left nearly dead as well. Cord and Tindel immediately rush to aid their allies. Tindel is wrapped up in vines and held helplessly while the Dryad fights back against the others. Caellana overhears that this creature is looking for her sister Anfisa and instead runs back into the Inn to get her in the hopes of stopping the fight. She quickly grabs the woman from the chaos inside and hauls her out. Anfisa reveals her true form, a Dryad as well, and apologizes to her sister Ceska for what happened. She says she wasn't kidnapped but instead left willingly to be with a human she fell in love with. And, she refuses to go back; preferring instead to stay with Milo. Anfisa and Ceska seem to be working out the situation when Aelfric continues the attack against his enemy. He's confused and enraged at what happened to Beorna who's still bleeding out on the ground. The two renew their combat and bash each other bloody. [/justfy]    

Rewards Granted

10 Gold and 30 silver from Gillium Calloway

Missions/Quests Completed

They successfully scouted the area and survived the blizzard. The caravan can now plot a course far away from the Chimera's den.

Character(s) interacted with

Gillium and Tila Calloway - Owners of the inn and grateful to the heroes for their help with the zombies, the Lion Claws and the fae lurking in their woods

The Lion Claws - Powell Filmore, Casidor Cauglin, Thorin Taur and Milo Stiven are the last of the deserting Grand Order of the Lion members and they're handed over the caravan for justice as Rehele and the other leaders are representatives of Ghal Pelor's authority.

Luorna - The supposedly deaf girl who turned out to be a thief

George A mysterious tengu with a large crossbow and a desire to never speak

Anfisa and Ceska Two Dryad sisters. Anfisa is intrigued by mortals and even became infatuated with one of them, Milo. She disguised herself as a human who was lost in the woods and spent the last four days with him and the Lion Claws. She did not tell her sister because Ceska is older and aware of the dangers these mortals represent to the last hidden fae. She believed the Lion Claws kidnapped her sister and she went to extreme lengths to find her.