Session Twelve: This was not what I signed up for

General Summary

The Bramble Camp   In the previous session, 14 new people joined. 12 Sicklemen (including Captain Jonathan “Small Fry” Greywater), a House Sivis gnome and a man who is tied up.   April and Silmer are very annoyed by the presence of these people in the camp. Especially as the two of them, including Ethan, Dan and Carey, were never asked whether they are OK with it. Corvus advises they are all in this together right now.   The group then ask about the bound man. The Sicklemen explained that the man was tied up because he was “running away and was going to end up hurt”. Malak unbinds and talks to him. The man (Ron Winddare) had just escaped the manor house of Captain Jonathon and didn’t want to be captured by them again.   April, Silmer and Ethan, now more weary of the gathered Sicklemen, know the man and managed to explain that while not liked, everyone here is simply trying to get out of the horrid situation. Ron explains that his mother, Kathleen, is still at the Greywater House, along with two other gnomes.   Captain Jonathon also confirms that his sister, Melissa, is there and another Sickleman, Sammi. The group decide they need to head to the Greywater House first when they get to Windshire.   The group briefly discuss what to do once everything is done in Windshire. Jenny mentions that her only goal is to get to Scotch Island within two weeks. Corvus says that he has a lift for her.   He contacts Tatalla and asks her to meet them in the centre of Windshire as soon as possible. She replies that she’ll be there in 12 hours. Corvus then tells Jenny that the lift has been arranged to which Jenny says that Corvus didn’t actually ASK if she could be taken.   Nesza initially offers to stay at the camp with Jenny. She refuses, explaining that she needs sleep (she was up during the whole rest session) and can’t deal with Nesza having another “freak out” around civilians and Sicklemen.   Hearing all this drama from Jenny, Mia storms out of camp, muttering how this is too much like a Lyrandar family reunion.   Half of the Sicklemen (one captain and five regular) will stay behind with Jenny and the civilians while Captain Jonathan brings five along with the group back to Windshire. One Sickleman coming along is the owner of Cherry Pie.   The rest of the group join Mia outside of the camp and they all head towards Windshire.     The Mists have Cleared   When the group arrive in Windshire, they note that the mist has dissipated. As it is well past midnight, most lights are off. The tavern still has light coming from it but the group assumes that’s because they left there in a hurry the day before.   So they head up the winding path to the Greywater House. As they approach, April inquires how many wine stashes the Sicklemen have found. Captain Jonathan says that he was present for two but he suspects more stashes were found. The group then take stock of how many bottles of wine they have, in case they come across any infected people. Nesza produces half a bottle of wine. There is nothing else.   The Greywater House seems dilapidated but must have been beautiful once. A window has light flickering from it. Before the group could enter, Cherry Pie alerts them that a person is approaching. Coming up the road behind them they notice a figure slowly making its way towards the house. As it notices the group, the figure starts to run at them, attacking one of the Sicklemen at the rear. The person is human but is snarly and gnashing like an animal.   Nesza manages to grapple the person and has the Sicklemen take the bottle of wine out of his satchel to give to this person. The Sicklemen do so, but pour most of the bottle’s contents out into the person’s mouth. Only a small drop is left.   The man comes to his senses. He was a Sickleman too and says he somehow lost himself. The Sicklemen watch over the man (named Jack) while the group go inside with Captain Jonathan.     Greywater House – Sammi   As the house is very dark, Corvus lends Vence his Moontouched Dagger but asks him to return it later.   The group first decide to investigate the well-lit room. Vence suggests to Malak to send in Myri. Malak asks Corvus to watch over him for a moment and puts a hand on Corvus’ shoulder as he sends Myri to scout ahead.   In the living room, Myri/Malak notes that the room has a roaring fireplace. Then they find a person lying face down on the ground. The group go in to investigate (Malak is back to normal again).   The room smells rancid of booze and vomit. Corvus notes that the woman on the floor is simply sleeping, probably passed out from drinking. He uses prestidigitation to create the scent of smelling salts to wake her up. She does so, disoriented and terrified. April tries to calm her down but the woman, whom April and Captain Jonathan identify as Sammi, is even more freaked out. Malak steps in and explains the situation to an inebriated Sammi.   She is asked where Melissa is and she says “probably the basement”. Still very disoriented but somewhat calmer, she is escorted outside by Vence.   Corvus and April check the room before they leave and discover a bottle of wine with a small, rancid-smelling, sip of wine still in it.     Greywater House – Melissa   Through the kitchen, Malak finds a door that would lead to the basement. It’s locked so he knocks on it. Initially, nothing happens. But after a moment, a loud urgent knocking comes from the other side of the door.   Nesza tries to ram open the door. It doesn’t give but they hear footsteps going down what seem to be wooden stairs from beyond the door.   Captain Jonathan asks why the fuck they are breaking down the door. It’s his house. He has KEYS. He unlocks basement door.   Mia, Corvus and Vence decide they would rather investigate other rooms upstairs while the rest look in the basement. Vence demands the keys from Captain Jonathan who says “no”. The two have a mini stare down. Captain Jonathan eventually only gives Vence the keys to Melissa’s room (first room to the right).   Malak, Nesza, April and Silmer head down the stairs with Captain Jonathan close behind. At the end of a short hallway, with a barred area to the right, the group sees a woman with matted blonde hair, eating something. When she looks up, the group sees her mouth has blood dripping from it. When she sees the group, she drops what she’s eating and immediately attacks them.   Silmer is able to stun her and Nesza grapples her. She is then bound and taken upstairs. Captain Jonathan identifies her as his sister, Melissa, and is absolutely devastated by how she’s acting. The group decide to give her the last drop of Nesza’s wine.   … it doesn’t work. She still is growling and snarling like a wild animal. Malak sends a Message to Corvus to bring his bottle of wine downstairs.   Greywater House – The Bedroom Meanwhile, Vence, Mia and Corvus investigate the upstairs area. They first try to open doors they obviously do not have the key to. After they give in to defeat that they will not be able to open any of those doors, they head to Melissa’s room.   With Vence’s help, Mia raids Melissa’s vanity table. On top of it, she finds a small music box with a twirling ballerina and children’s beads in it. She then opens drawers and finds a jewelry box and some papers (which she hands to Vence).   In the jewelry box, she finds some earnings, necklaces and bracelets that look quite expensive. She pockets them as “compensation for all the trouble this mission has been”.   Vence, in the meantime, looks at the papers. Two are letters from Jonathan to his sister, just checking up on her. The last piece of paper is written in a different handwriting and states the below: “To find the truth, you need to shift”   Mia looks around the room a little longer and decides to check behind the mirror. On it, in Elvish lettering, the below is written: “tjdlmf”   All three of them can read Elvish and they notice it doesn’t make any sense.   Corvus then remembers the letter he had picked up that was also written in Elvish but didn’t make sense. He shows it to Mia and Vence: “Cspuifs, Ijhiuipso dboopu sfwfbm uif mpdbujpo pg uif jtmboe jo ifs dvssfou tubuf. Gjoe uif esvje.”   Vence takes the letter and then looks at the note he found. He thinks the note might be a cipher on how to read the letter and the writing behind the mirror. That they need to “shift” the alphabet.   As they talk, Corvus gets the Message from Malak for the wine. So he gives the bottle to Mia and asks her to take it downstairs, which she does.   When Mia is out of earshot, Corvus confronts Vence about the “Message” he got from “Cissa” the night before. He mentions that he suspects Vence has more skills than he’s letting on as that was a very convincing impression of her. The fact that Vence knows the information that “Cissa” provided leads Corvus to think Vence might be more of a friend than he first thought. Vence feigned ignorance but does hint that one can be convincing through more than just “impressions”.   The two then head downstairs to join the group.     Greywater House – Food   Meanwhile, Mia gives Malak the wine bottle with the sip of wine. It still doesn’t cure Melissa. Corvus and Vence join the group. Vence sits down to try to figure out the cipher.   April wants to investigate downstairs to see what Melissa was eating. Malak suggests against it as April might really not want to know… what… is still down there.   Nesza and Silmer decide to investigate. April starts to join but changes her mind half way down the stairs, being reminded that Malak has been looking out for her the whole time they have been in Windshire.   In the hallway, Nesza and Silmer find… human remains. A severed head and limbs with parts chewed off. Behind the bars, they notice two more bodies. Of smaller humanoids. Nesza cries a single black tear.   They go back up to the kitchen and reveal their findings. They assume the human was Kathleen Winddare (Silmer was unable to fully identify her as part of her face was ripped off) and what was probably the two gnomes.     Greywater House – The Cipher   Before the group could discuss what to do next, Vence urgently calls out: “We need to get to Jenny.”   He had cracked the cipher, and the letter reads the below: “Brother, Highthorn cannot reveal the location of the island in her current state. Find the druid.”   Vence asks Jonathan if he knows what all this is about but he has no idea. Corvus casts Sending to check onJenny but she doesn’t reply. The Sicklemen send out Cherry Pie towards the Brambled Camp ground to check on the group. Jonathan carries his sister (who still gnarling and snarling).   The group decide to have the Sicklemen stay in Windshire while they check the camp ground. That way they can help anyone who might have left the camp ground. Jonathan takes his sister to the Tavern and says he’ll wait there.     Get to Jenny   As the group pass the Market Square, they hear a familiar flapping of heavy wings and a griffon lands in front of them, mounted by Jossac d’Vadalis.   She explains that the troops will be in Windshire in about four hours. The group asks her to scout ahead towards the camp on Floof, her griffon. She does so and the group follows.   Half way there, Nesza tries to apologise to the group again for the wayward arrow. Corvus keeps walking saying that now isn’t the time for this conversation. April agrees with Corvus but tells Nesza that she’s willing to listen to Nesza later on.   Burnt Brambles and a Circle They arrive at the bramble wall and see that holes have been burnt through it. Within the camp, there are obvious signs of a struggle and multiple sets of footprints going in all different directions.   April decides to grab a handful of dirt.   They identify drag marks and decide to follow where they go. As forests are Nesza’s favoured terrain, he is easily able to follow the tracks and determine that there are three additional sets of footprints. All medium-sized humanoids.   They follow the drag marks for about 20 minutes until the marks disappear… on a large flat bed of stone.. in the centre of a chalked circle. Corvus identifies the circle as a teleportation circle. But most of the runes have been smudged. The only ones the group can see are two Elvish runes “d” and “m” (the rune between the two is smudged).   Vence takes out his deciphered texts and compares the writing that was behind the mirror to the runes in the circle. “tjdlmf” deciphered as “sickle”.   With this knowledge, and a very good Arcana check from Corvus, they were able to draw a reconstruction of what the circle would look like   Corvus then explains that although they now know what it looks like, none of them can use it as they don’t have the magical knowledge to do so. But he thinks that Cissa might.   Malak tries to relay this information to Jossac but she is WAY out of range. The group then decide to return to town via the campsite (in case someone has returned there).   On the way back, Nesza explains the dangers on the island and if Jenny doesn’t return within two weeks, the Comodor Infantil will be unbound and can escape. This means that it can once again wreak havoc on the world, starting with the Eldeen Reaches and Aundair.   The group theorise that either that Jenny was wanted so that they have full access to the wine being grown there or they want something to do with the Comodor. Or both. Vence mentions they would’ve simply killed Jenny if they wanted to unbind the demon because that would happen simply if she is out of the picture. The fact that they TOOK her means there might be more to this.   The group discuss that they might need to find someone to take Jenny‘s place if they are unable to get to her on time. Nesza says his dad might be able to help but he needs to find a way to inform him. He asks Corvus if he’d be able to contact his dad but Corvus explains that’s only possible with people that Corvus is familiar with.     Sinni   Just past the camp, the group encounter two Sicklemen and the gnome. They had been hiding. They explain that the camp was attacked by the hooded figures using fire. As Jenny was sleeping, she had no time to fortify the brambles. She was easily taken.   The group inquire whether the House Sivis station is still operational (which means that they can send messages). The gnome, called Sinni d’Sivis, says that it is. Malak then mentions that Nesza would like to send an urgent message to his family.   At the mention of Nesza’s name, Sinni immediately declines. When the group ask why, he says Nesza and a large oaf that accompanies him show great disrespect to Sinni’s brethren. They are bullies that think it’s funny to put gnomes on shelves.   Nesza grins and walks away saying “sorry, not sorry”. The rest of the group look on in disbelief.   Corvus apologises for Nesza and asks Sinni to join them in heading back to Windshire. Mia chats to Sinni about ways to upgrade her special sending stone with better reception. She even shows how she uses Prestidigitation for filters.   On the way back, Sinni asks whether they found his other family members. Malak gently breaks the news that they died in the Greywater House. Sinni stops walking to absorb the information. The group try to console him and decide to first go to the House Sivis station so that Sinni can tell his family.   There, Sinni messages his family and the group shows him empathy in one way or another. Vence and Malak stands by him while he calls his family, while Mia gives him a drink. The others give their condolences.   Nesza then gives Sinni a sincere apology and promises not to show disrespect to them again. Sinni has him sign an apology note (that Vence keeps an eye on), which he then stamps to approve.   Sinni then offers to help Nesza contact his dad. As there isn’t a Sivis Station near when Nesza lives and Nesza is not sure where the group is headed, Nesza will loop by Windshire soon to check whether his dad has a reply.   The price is 2sp but Nesza gives an additional 5gp. Sinni said that there is no need for that and gives 2sp back.     Town Hall   The group then head to the Town Hall, as they assume that there is another teleportation circle there. Malak discovers a trap door in the mayor’s office that leads to an underground cavern. He and Nesza walk down a very long set of stairs to discover another stone slab with a circle. The runes are painted on but they were all demolished.   In the pillars of this large, cavernous room, Malak also notices small holes that seem to be unnatural.   Back in the mayor’s office, April and Vence are looking for more clues. They look in all rooms, all drawers, behind paintings. They find NOTHING. Vence then asks April about the person in the painting behind the Mayor’s desk. The one with the poofy white wig. She says that it’s the town’s founder, Matthew Windshire.   Meanwhile, Mia sneakily reveals to Corvus that she actually has more wine on her. The good stuff and offers him a sip. She mentions that she’s very unhappy with how everything went. When Corvus explains that it’s the side of a hero’s story that is never told, Mia says that she never wanted to be a hero. She wants to sip wine, eat popcorn and hear the stories. This wasn’t what she signed up for. Corvus also tells Mia a bit about the bard he was looking for, which was why he was so distracted.   Outside, they hear the troops arriving and go out to meet them.     The Troops are Here   The whole group congregate outside to meet the troops. Jossac is with them too and is rather annoyed that the group just disappeared when they were in the woods without telling her what they were doing (as they had promised to).   Malak apologises and tries to recap the last three hours in two sentences. Jossac has NO IDEA what he’s talking about.     The Tavern   Aside from Silmer and April (who go to see if they can find Ethan in Wondshire), the group decide to go into the tavern and update Captain Jonathan with what’s happened and invite Jossac to join them. He’s sitting with his sister, trying to figure out how to help her.   The group think Melissa’s state might be a second stage in the Sporing that cannot be cured with the wine. Or something completely different. Nesza gives Melissa a Good Berry to see if that would help her. She doesn’t get better (although her HP goes up).   Corvus hints to Mia that maybe she should give Melissa some of the “good” wine. Begrudgingly, Mia does. But it doesn’t work. However, Jonathan is grateful the group keeps trying. Mia is annoyed by her wine being wasted but Vence puts his hand on Mia’s shoulder and approvingly says “and that’s how you should negotiate”.   As Jonathan thanks everyone, however, he collapses. He falls unconscious. He becomes feverish. Malak immediately knows what is going on. Corvus tries to heal him. It doesn’t work. Malak explains that this isn’t the Sporing. It’s the Sickness and healing doesn’t work on it.   Malak whispers to Mia whether she perhaps knows the song that the bard sang to her when she was sick. Mia says she does not remember it. Corvus overhears the mention of a song and hums one to Mia, asking her if that’s the one she’s referring to. (Shocked to hear Corvus sing) Mia says no.   The group stay with Jonathan, making him comfortable. Malak casts “Detect Poison and Disease”. It seems Melissa is definitely Poisoned and Jonathan is dying from a Disease. However, this Disease does not seem to be natural.   He eventually passes away. Corvus closes his eyes and Malak casts the Funeral Rite Ceremony. Melissa seems to respond strongly to his death, leading Mia to believe that part of the old Melissa is still in there somewhere.   The group decide that Melissa should be taken to Fairhaven, so that she can be helped in the Spire of Life.     Finding Ethan   Meanwhile, Silmer and April first look for Ethan in Dan’s house but find nothing there but the old label maker. They then go to April’s home, Highthorn House. Ahead of them, some soldiers are investigating homes and four had just entered April’s. Not long after, Ethan, Dan and Carey come outside. He is very happy to see his daughter safe and sound.   Ethan explains there was not much he could do to help Jenny so they ran as fast as they could when they were attacked. When April asks what he will do now, Ethan says things are a bit unclear but he probably will stay in Windshire and help here wherever he can.   April asks if there is anything from her mother’s research that she can get her hands on and he says unfortunately not.     What Now?   As they reach the market square, the “Silver Bird” airship flies overhead and docks nearby. Tatalla lowers a rope ladder and meets them. The rest of the group plus Jossac emerge from the tavern.   The question now is, where to? The island (Tatalla: “I’m sorry, what?!”) or Fairhaven? They ask Jossac if she can contact Prince Wrogar with her sending stone to ask if he can decide what the best course of action is. She explains that her sending stone only connects to Captain Conrad’s sending stone.   The group decide to speak with him then instead. Jossac hands the stone over to Corvus.   Conrad suggested to report back to Fairhaven so the group can strategise, rest up and replenish supplies. The group agreed. Jossac says she’ll stay in Windshire for the time being.   Nesza goes back to Sinni to mention where they will be and to have his Dad’s reply sent there. He also has one message sent to his mother asking to have a talk soon.   Meanwhile, Corvus tells Ethan he will send updates of April whenever possible. She’s in good hands.   With that, the group board the “Silver Bird”. They ask Tatalla to first pick George up at the original meet up point and then head to Fairhaven.