Session 8 Report

General Summary

The party awakes in Baron Distow's castle as it is raining and thundering outside and partakes in a nice breakfast in the common dining area. As they depart the castle to embark towards Cressen, they see a rider on a horse rushing through the opening gate. As the party and the rider intersect, they see that the man is Gambrell, the caravan leader they met previously as they left Fallwood. Gambrell is in a harried state, with multiple wounds and cuts, and a look of exhaustion as if he hasn't slept in days.   Gambrell, relieved to see that the party arrived safely in Distow and talked to the Baron already, relays dire news from Fallwood: the village has been destroyed. When he and his men arrived, they found the villagers all dead and buildings ransacked. He notes a few strange circumstances surrounding the scene: the villagers didn't appear to have been slain by weapons but by having their heads smashed in against walls and rocks by some strong hands, and the buildings, jewelry boxes, and locked up valuables that were rummaged through don't appear to have been taken. Whoever or whatever did it was looking for something but did not find it.   After, he and his men followed Finn's wagon tracks to the northwest but only found an abandoned wagon and it was too dark to continue so they made camp. Woken in the middle of the night by noise, Gambrell had found himself alone and wandered in search of his guards. He thought he had found one when it turned out to be an impostor-- with a somehow perfect imitation of his friend's face, voice, and clothing-- and was prompted stabbed. Left for dead, he crawled along until he thought he found his other guard, only to again find another impostor. Gambrell and the impostor fought and Gambrell managed to win, and on the creature's death, it reverted from his friend's form into some gooey mass of flesh akin to a malleable clay that then dissipated, leaving no corpse. He made his way back to his horse and rushed back to Distow with no stopping in order to both find safety and carry his message to the Baron.   Big Richard visits the blacksmith Bezzen again and sells his scimitar and shortsword in favor of a new circular shield and rapier to change his fighting style. Looking for some traveling clothes to protect them from the increasingly stormy weather, the party then visits the eccentric Dubar once again. Dubar is still interested in killing and skinning Little Richard and when informed that Little Richard has run away, he offers to leave the shop and hunt the beast down, but is rebuffed. Attending to the matter of weather-worthy clothes, Dubar manages to pull out four cloaks from his back room that are equipped with a very minor enchantment: that don't get dirty. He demonstrates this by pouring a strange liquid on himself, dirtying his face but the material slicks off the cloak like it's being repelled.   With their new rainproof cloaks, the party heads to the east gate stables where they meet the owner, Shyra. She has already received notice from the Baron to arrange horses for them and explains the path north: Cressen is about a day and a half ride on horseback. In safer times, there was no issue with camping out near the roads along the way but they may be more dangerous now with more bandits and monsters roaming and less guard patrols to deal with them. She says that if they need a rest stop, there is a town off the northwestern crossroads named Northhope that many travelers drop by. Shyra says when they arrive in Cressen, they can leave the horses at her son Simon's stable, and gives a letter of receipt for this purpose.   Out on the road, Big Richard takes a break and thinks back to his time with Little Richard and attunes himself with the magic of the surrounding nature. He is approached by a primal beast in the form of a bear, marked in ethereal magic etchings. Big Richard dubs his new beast companion Little Dickens and the group continues on the road for several hours. As the day approaches late afternoon, they reach the crossroads Shyra had talked about and find it strewn with dead bodies of guards, travelers, and horses, as well as strange upturned mounds of dirt all around.   The party doesn't have much time to investigate the bodies before they notice rumblings from underground and a large, bug-like monster erupts from beneath ready to attack. Quick on the draw, Valqinor bursts the creature with a powerful guiding bolt, and Little Dickens finishes it off. Another creature emerges from behind the clumped up group and launches a spray of acid, greatly injuring everyone besides Big Richard, whose new shield pays dividends. A fierce battle rages as another of these monsters reveals itself and tries to eat Valqinor. After many spells are slung and much blood shed, the party emerges victorious...

Character(s) interacted with

Gambrell

• Party met again and learned of the fate of Fallwood. Gambrell warned them of impostors

Bezzen

• Shopping

Dubar

• Shopping

Shyra

• Horses