10/17/20

in medias res Druss maintains his perch upon the moorbounder post-taint poke. We ride out for the day's travels. Coming to the end of our second day, it's getting dark, and we see the crest of a small town. Hear the pitter-patter of dinosaurs being used in place of typical work animals, and ridden by halflings. Enter the town for the evening. We are stabling ourselves and the horses in Mrs. Mayflower's barn for the night. Madra has a pseudodragon pet. I just thought that cat had psoriasis. We head to the inn, ceilings are 6ft. so I must duck my way in. Alaina is the captain of the guard and now speaking with us. Folks round these parts are very proud, and have experience fighting bandits in the past. Disappearances of townsfolk and livestock are on the uptick. Alaina is growing concerned about the remaining people and the potential losses. ~6:30PM Melfina asks if the folk have noticed the dragonborn warlock we're hunting passing through this way, and Alaina admits to having seen a suspicious creature she believed to be a large kobold having been through, a creature of milk-white skin tone. It passed through here 3-4 nights ago. The party was heavily cloaked and passed right on by the town. Ask about the reports of the hydra. One of Mrs. Mayflower's farmhands has been a later disappearance. Melfina is stealthing after some folks, heading to the barn and then off into the fields. Melfina makes Madra who makes Rorin and I aware that there are things in motion. As I leave the building, into the moonlight (CON SAVE PASS) and a feeling washes over me. It feels as when a project is already on overage but a room still needs to fit, and it can't work but it must. The frustration and anger passes and I am relieved. As I approach Druss, Melfina orders a hold. There is snuffling coming from between Druss and Madra, who leads the later pack of herself, Rorin, and me. The hog skedaddles, Melfina commands halt, fails, commands again, succeeds, then I truss it up successfully. INSP gained. A grumbling voice tells us to put the pig down and let him go, they just want to get by until the harvest moon passes. The voice is unwilling to reveal the meat from which it emanates. Cast detect good and evil, Melfina celestial, Spike undead, consecrated object on the other side of the barn. It still doesn't want to show itself. The boar is the voice's friend, and wants him released. We untruss the boar on the understanding that it will not hurt us or run until the conversation ends. From the far side of the barn, a very large, hirsute man with large paws, claws, a snout, and rounded ears emerges, the hybrid form of a werebear. The boar chills out and switches to its hybrid wereboar form. Bear = Harold, Boar = Jared. They are from the village, but family is unaware, just assumes they're missing. They saw the white dragonborn before their shifting-night, walking along the main road. **I missed a bunch cuz I can't hear shit** The were's have a compatriot named Carol at the base. There are two others with Carol that have always been were's, changed maybe 200 years ago. Carol is a wereraven. We're going to go back to their base, to talk to Carol about the dragonborn. Alaina has been a good guard captain, but looks to be staying in her position to avoid family responsibility in running the inn. The elder shifters are Gertrude and Hank. Head to the base, in a quiet glen, with a small creek running by. The woods shift from the run-of-the-mill to something more, something magical. We can feel the love and warmth as we enter the glen. Jared signals us to enter, and we walk into a swirling archway of trees that morph together to form a natural hut and canopy. We go inside to see a worn and well-loved tableau of cozy furniture. There is a weresheep, who is Gertrude, and a werewolf, who is Hank. The sheep has lots of jewelry and massive chains, and a heavy set of spectacles. In the far corner we see Carol the wereraven, in hybrid form, currently knitting. Gertie looks to be a druid, using shape wood or some such. Begin inquiring about the white dragonborn, Carol saw him passing through about 3 days ago, very shifty. The cloak the dragonborn wears is a relic of before the Wars, that of a magic initiate. Druss inquires after a method to supply the were's without inconveniencing the town. Gertrude plans to send potions and concoctions back to town to cover what they've taken in livestock during the transformative period. Ask if they've heard of The Undertow, which she finds interesting. Her protege (probably misspoke and meant mentor) was part of the group, taught Gertrude about her gifts and nature. This person was concerned about saving casters. She was a beautiful elven woman who largely went by Madame Moonweaver, also as Rin. We're looking to outfit the shifters with supplies to make it through the harvest moon, she offers potions in trade, 3 greater, 2 basic healing potion. Also, a dozen tonics for various problems. We keep the 2 greaters at 30gp cost, use the rest for trade. Harold hands a sealed letter to give Alaina on our way out. Harold is Alaina's brother and the letter lets her know that he's fine and needs no assistance. Return to the barn and bed down for the night. The town is named Smallville. We sleep late into the day to get the full rest. Awoken about 11:30am by Alaina in training garb, and see she has a duck marking, a la Totem Warrior.
 
WRAP SESSION