Session 16: Skulls, man; you dig it? Report

General Summary

As morning greeted the party, they took stock, about half the mules in the caravan had succumbed to the overwhelming exhaustion and magical overload overnight. The Caravan master insisted those that survived, far more than would have without the party's help, were to be sold for farm life; a gentle retirement compared to work in the caravan. As the party made their way from the camp outside town into the stables they met Mayor Penrose coming the other direction.

Oh! Princess, I was told you were back in the area. We have a bit of a, situation. Animals all around have been going insane; driving so desperately to escape, to run, to leave their pens that they die in the attempt, or if they succeed they rush out into the wilderness and are doubtless brought down by predators. I know we have no right to ask your help, but you and your companions are the only ones who might be able to figure this out.

The Caravan Master, Slakrad, left to find their contact, as promised. Roisin Marshfield spoke to the Mayor about the travels since their last meeting, including the bandits outside of town. The Mayor became very concerned, even sad, at news of the bandit attack, and apologized that she must now depart. I must get my affairs in order. It was nice meeting you for the last time, Princess. Nobody reacted much to the strange wording as the mayor departed. The group wondered for a bit about what to do next, with Roy again advocating to just leave and go back to the citadel; insisting that they had no business bothering with side issues like animals going insane across the region. As they argued, the debuty mayor arrived, and informed the princess that The mayor will not be returning, as she is, quite appropriately, scheduled to be incinerated by the Interrogator in town as punishment for her failure to maintain a safe road for the Imperial Princess. Again, there was little reaction to the words, nor to the clear posture of speaking to the air they got from the deputy mayor. Jeeves asked about where to investigate the deceased animals and was directed to the nearby butcher where one of the recent victims was being processed. On speaking with the butcher Jeeves , who kept getting splashed with blood from the butcher's work, quickly realized he needed to set some things aside. Jeeves stepped outside to give his pirate-y items to Quirico to hold, then came back in to ask about purchasing the head. The strange negotiations, as Jeeves could not decide on his own and kept stepping back outside; where Roy continued to argue they should just drop the whole thing and leave town, ended Jeeves finally did purchase the head. They then promptly forgot all about examining the head and went back to the stable to ask a horse. Trysor as a warhorse ambled into the stables where the horses were immediately impressed by this magnificent specimen of horseflesh. The horses spoke of another horse that became terrified the night before, and slammed into the stall door until it broke free, then bashed itself into the hard wall beyond, unable to break through and finally falling to the ground battered and exhausted; then expired. Despite limited understanding the horses were quite terrified of the strange events, but willing to speak to the warhorse. Trysor stepped back outside and relayed this to the party, who began to discuss the situation. As they discussed this Trysor suddenly bit Quirico viciously and tried to bite others. Roy used magical suggestion to suggest that Trysor not bite anyone, and Trysor promptly complied by running away to be far from anyone to bite. A couple minutes of confused discussion followed, and then Roy ended the magic. More discussion ensued before the party finally decided to follow after Trysor . As they headed in that direction, they soon encountered terrified townsfolk running toward them screaming about some kind of rabid centipede creature killing people. As the party rushed forward they soon found Trysor the Ragipede biting everyone it could reach, and as fast as that creature could move few were able to avoid it. Bodies lay all around the intersection of two streets, perhaps two dozen or more, and, among them, the militia trying to fight the ragipede. The group initiated combat and quickly forced Trysor to change forms. Several attempts were made to simply grapple Trysor , but they either failed or were ineffective. In the end the party knocked Trysor unconscious with a pommel-bash and tied him tightly with a strong rope. The group tried to determine if Trysor was subject to a disease, poison, magic, or curse, but none of these seemed correct. In the end the group settled on madness caused by an encounter with eldritch knowledge beyond his comprehension without training or protection. A priest was called and they were able to restore Trysor 's sanity, although the party had to go seek out a modest quantity of diamond dust to power the divine magic. After curing Trysor the priest mentioned, casually, to Roy that Carina headed east, alone, after their son left for Marshfield to join the newly formed Fortress Garrison, and the priest suspected the woman would never return. Trysor was imprisoned until trial could be arranged, but the mayor allowed a parole to assist the party with their stake-out that night.

Jeeves and Roy , after the rest of the party gathered in the tavern to take a late breakfast, went shopping to find some needed materials. They found an herbalist, an alchemist, and finally a scriptologist. They traded a large gem to the scriptologist, a goblin. After leaving the shop Roy turned back to find the shop gone, and a human woman standing in the street with a travel bag. They thanked Roy for the magic that freed them from their transformed state, gave him a pair of parchment sheets, and departed with a magical incantation and a vacuum crack. One parchment had strange effects, leaving Roy with a desire to "choose wisely".