Session 15: Bearable Journey

General Summary

Upon returning to Hirschenheim without Jerrycoy, who had stayed behind with the werewolf pack, the party now reduced to a duo went back to the Lumbering Log where they met the shady Nacklenook once again. After telling them about their recent adventure, they went up to the gnome's room where he told them about what he had found up at Festenfort. He told them about how he had seen the giant wall separating the Empire from its former lands. The rune-powered wall seemed to keep the misty lands of Valakia at bay and removing the shard that was apparently powering the ancient runes might cause unknown effects. But for the first time since their hunt began, the group decided to leave the shard alone for now.   The following day Thomas and Nacklenook went to the library to study the wall of Festenfort further, but mostly to research the next town over. The capital of the cursed county of Morland, which might hide the next shard on their search. They managed to learn a lot about the history of how Morland became cursed and how it became the basis for their widespread tradition of meat production. They also read about the massive temple of Torag in the capital of Morheim. This would be their next destination. In the meantime, Úshrir had found a new squire. A young son of a small noble house named Fritz Kraus. When the others had returned they signed a contract drawn up by the dwarf before they started to prepare for the journey.   Before they left Hirschenland they stopped by Anthony Graham and sold Pander's old ring. Soon after they left eastwards. On the first day, they met a panicked horse, and after Nacklenook had spoken with it it turned out that it had been stolen from presumably a nobleman. It also admitted to having thrown off and killed its rider and was now trying to head home. After Nacklenook was denied access to its saddlebags, he let it go on its way. Soon thereafter they came upon the corpse of the thief, still with a small bag of loot on him. The group took the gold and jewellery before throwing the body into the woods.   As they continued the ground became more and more arid. The trees lost their leaves and the ground lost its green. After two days they made camp for the third time. During this night Thomas would notice a creature observing them. Upon closer look and after waking the others it turned out that it was a hungry werebear. Bearing a greataxe it approached them. But when it entered their camp it put the axe down and seemed to beg for food. After getting one of Nacklenook's rations it sat down. They began to question it as it seemed to understand them. It turned out that it couldn't speak as it didn't have a tongue. But it still managed to tell them that it was a bear and had suffered from lycanthropy for a while. After it had finished eating it thanked them and moved on.    The next day the party could now see Morheim in the distance, but they still had a days journey left. They stopped to spend the night in a nearby village situated next to a strange hill that seemed to breathe. In the village they stopped in the tavern named the Sleeping Giant, a theory about the hill that was prevalent in the village. The next day, they hastily packed up and left for Morheim, which they entered the same day.