12 November 2023

Canoe 1: Mushareeb
Canoe 2: Freya
 
NOTES:
We've been on the river for ~30 minutes when Darvati feels something coiling itself around his neck. He is able to pry it off. As it goes to fight him, it stops and Darvati is subjected to an intense bloodlust, similar to that which he felt in Misthaven. The urge to murder it is strong. Darvati rips it apart. Everyone else sees him holding a long spine, covered in blood.
Freya: You know, I maybe could have talked to that for you.
Darvati: Yeah, that could have helped.
As we're rowing down the river, we eventually hit a bag. Mushareeb tells us to stop. It's blocking our passage in that it's big enough to stop the boat. Someone will have to dislodge it. Lanister deduces there's a corpse inside the bag. Malith creates an ice lance, and with it, Lani tosses the bag onto the jungle shore. We can swear we see movement.
Lani: Are you all right in there?
There is no response.
Mushareeb: We can stop and look if you like.
Malith: Why was it in a bag?
Lani: They probably offended someone. You don't end up in a bag for no reason.
Malith sees the symbol of Misthaven's Shadow Merchant on the bag.
Malith: We've gotta open that bag.
Mushareeb protests but gets the boat to shore. Darvati beaches the second boat. Tama peers into the jungle. Things have been following us, but Mushareeb assures that most animals won't attack such a large group unless one of us drops dead.
Tama: Just be careful. We don't want to get wounded here.
Lanister opens the bag and sees the face of a bloated corpse. He pulls it out. The corpse has a large head but a shrunken body. The face is stuck in a Blue Steel. Gray eyes, shaved head, human man, wasted muscles complete the picture. There are no clothes to speak off. Lani sticks himself with a point of bone. His blood prompts the corpse's eyes -- now greenish-blue -- to snap open. Now he is a slightly grayer human, yoked. He climbs to his feet, surrounded by kin but not home. He sports a five-o-clock shadow and Tarzan hair.
Lanister: Oh, I brought a man back to life with my blood.
He faces our confused and frightened party.
??: I mean no harm. I'm not trying to fight.
Wilford: Who are you?
Malith: What are you?
??: I'm a villager of Misthaven. Apparently, I died. I thought I died. Now I'm here.
Wilford remembers an old man who looks a like like this once-corpse and would tell stories. He passed 10 years ago in Misthaven. Besides story-telling, he also designed hunting paths within the forest. "Be careful wandering into the woods; you might not come back."
Wilford: Are you Shiswe's son? You look so... familiar.
?? stares blankly.
Wilford: Do you have a name?
??: You can call me Krav. I don't remember my former name. I'll go by that.
Malith gets back on the boat. Freya creates some goodberries and gives him a couple. Krav looks at them, feeling a slight remembrance. But he doesn't feel hunger, thirst. He's not even breathing.
Lani: Are you just forgetting to breathe?
Krav: Yes. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Do any of you know why I'm not breathing?
Mushareeb: There's a Death Curse going on; he can't be resurrected.
Lanister argues his magic blood had something to do with it. Tama argues he was reconstituted like beef jerky. Lanister realizes this is a reanimated, sentient corpse. It will understand what's going on, and, typically, these only happen when someone was killed while having a really strong purpose. There have been accounts of people coming back without knowing why. They're commonly called reborn or revenants if they're haunting someone.
Lani: This man over here seems to be reborn. He must have had some unfinished business, which is why he died.
Tama: That is so sad.
Wilford: If Misthaven wants to throw someone else into our world, let it.
Malith heard of someone in Cholt who was able to revive loved ones in a similar fashion to this despite the Death Curse, but it's a pretty involved process. This is most likely unrelated.
Lani: We were all magically transported out of Misthaven to this area in Cholt that we all are now in. We have these threads that bind us through fate, so what if this is just a new person who has to help us along the way?
Malith: I'm not feeding it.
Freya: I don't it needs to eat.
Lani: Do you feel a thirst for blood?
Krav: Maybe yours? I'm just kidding.
Wilford: Lanister, you said that these creatures generally have a purpose. Do you have any strange urge to do something?
Krav: I want to go home.
Tama: That's harder than it seems, but it's also our goal, so if you want to come along...
Krav attempts to touch the bag. When he does, a soft melody plays. Tama knows it as the small harp Elyra the Melodious played as she entered town. We feel at peace. The bag shapeshifts into a backpack with the symbol of Elyra as well as the symbol of Selphine. Back on the river, Darvati goes to sit in the boat. Something slithers up his leg.
Darvati: Freya! *puts his hands up*
Freya pulls his pant leg up and asks the snake if it's friendly.
Snake: My brother... he is dead.
Freya: You killed his brother.
Darvati: I'm so sorry.
Snake: I am here for revenge.
Freya: Would it make you feel better if I gave you a goodberry?
Snake: Flesh...
Freya: That's not very cool. Darvati, it wants your flesh.
Darvati pulls out a fish.
Freya: Did you say fish instead of flesh? I heard fish.
Darvati drops the fish, which the snake devours.
Snake: He will feed me daily or weekly as I require, and in return, I won't devour him in its sleep.
Freya: Make sure to keep it fed, and it'll be your friend. What's your name, snake?
Snake: Salazar.
Freya: His name is Slytherin. 'Cause he's Slytherin in your pants.
Snake: If he feeds me, I will forgive him my brother's death.
Freya: Feed him for forgiveness. His name is 7Salazar. By the way, you should let us know if you can't feed him. We need to do that.
Several days go by. On the dawn of the fifth day, we get an early start -- too early, because we don't notice how flooded the river is with debris. As such, we collide with something almost like a dam and end up waylaid in the river's center. We're not far from the shore, but it still poses an inconvenience. The embers of a file are barely visible on the left side of the riverbank. A bunch of tents line the shore. The debris in the water consists of belongings, tents, wood. Whatever this was, was intentional to block the river.
Wilford: This seems intentional. We should prepare for the possibility of an ambush.
Tama sees nothing in the woods but stops both old and new footprints on the shore. The newer ones are smaller. She informs the group of this finding.
Malith: Let's investigate. Let's head toward the light source.
We beach our boats, leaving the demon bird -- Skithirix -- to guard them. Directly in front of us appear to be command tents. This is the symbol of the Order of the Gauntlet. Wilford remembers there were two camps: one camp called Righteous (lost -- overrun by dead), the other Vengeance (stood up in retaliation). They're good, investigating the Death Curse, and have Camp Vengeance now.
Wilford: This is probably either Camp Righteous or Camp Vengeance.
Along the river is Camp Righteous according to the map. There's undead about. We need to be prepared.
Wilford: I'm unsure we should actually go into this camp. We can clear the debris.
Malith: I can investigate. I'm a very stealthy person.
There is a giant pair of feet. They're part of a shrine of a man holding the alligator. It has an entrance and goes further in.
Mushareeb: Likely, the Order of the Gauntlet was exploring. They didn't make much headway; maybe you guys would do better? They've given up their rights by abandoning this camp. You could salvage resources. The reason this fell is because they thought they were strong enough to hold off the undead and didn't set up any defenses.
Malith elects to sneak around and investigate. Freya provides air cover. She sees this camp has been long-abandoned but doesn't spot any undead. Malith follows the fire near the commander's tents. For the most part, they're empty. There are a few tarps with nothing of note underneath. Everything of value has clearly been looted. There are tents further back where there appears to be a destroyed shrine. There are also stairs leading up to the feet. Several lamps overturned, starting a fire within the templar's shrine. A pile of materials has been moved -- they were going to be used to make a permanent structure. A lot of these pieces ended up in the river. A silver holy symbol of Torm is hanging on the wall, covered in soot. Malith grabs the silver holy symbol of Torm. Freya notices a trapped fledgling axebeak in the animal pens. Its foot is caught in a piece of the enclosure.
Freya: Are you all right, young one?
Axebeak: Hungry, scared, alone.
Freya feeds it some rations.
AB: Thank you, sky.
Freya: If I let you out, will you hurt us?
AB: I will run home, free. My home is here, not anymore.
Freya: Can you find them without help?
AB: Help.
Freya: You want to come with us so we can help?
AB: No.
Freya notices slash marks on this enclosure, but the marks don't look like they're from weapons. It seems something was trying to release it. There are no signs of blood. She releases him without injuring him further.
AB: Thank you. *sprints into the woods* There are green men in here. Be careful! *then he sprints further*
Freya warns Malith of the green men.
Malith: What did we do with the axebeak? We need food.
Freya: It was a baby.
Malith: ABs are pretty sizeable. The way of nature is to consume and be consumed.
Anyone in the camp hears, "Hello? Anyone out there?" carried in the wind.
Tama: We should not answer, correct?
No one answers. Freya and Malith hear it from the animal pen. As Malith sneaks closer, it looks like it's coming from a set of latrines. The door is closed; the source is not visible.
Malith: Where are you?
??: Help me! I'm in here!
Malith opens the latrine to find no one. It's a wooden enclosure with a wooden stool and a bench as well as a large hole that people do their business in. Malith looks down into the hole. What appears to be a corpse lies down there.
??: You found me.
Then the voice snuffs out.
Malith: Freya, come here. Take a look down there. That was calling out.
The corpse is wearing scale mail and the symbol of the Order of the Gauntlet. His body is positioned in such a way that he was definitely avoiding the attack. It is clear he starved to death.
Freya: Should we try and get him? I think it's a trap.
Malith: Darvati, we need your help. Just come with us. Bring your fishing gear.
Darvati comes. Malith points at the latrine.
Malith: Trust me.
Darvati: I don't know if I want the fish that's down there. You're cleaning it.
Darvati hooks the corpse and reels it up. He's got a war hammer as well as a small pouch and some scale mail.
Darvati: Do you have anything to clean this off? I don't want to unhook it.
Malith: Why don't we bring this to the river?
They drag it to the river to clean it.
Darvati: Tama, hear me out. This wasn't my idea.
Tama: Clean that thoroughly.
Lanister: Throw out that hook.
Malith's rain cloud slightly cleans it but not fully. Inside the pouch are five gemstones. Mushareeb examines them: tiger-eye, bit of jade, small bit of corrupted amethyst. The other two are tiger-eye. Each one is worth about 10 gold here. Lanister takes them. Also in the bag is a note. Wilford reads the note. It was written in Goblin, and not by the man who held it.
NOTE: /The tall ones found me. They're looking further into the shrine. They're going to find the treasure. Since they're close, let's bring the fleshies to them. What was that noise?/
Wilford tells the group it's a note trying to lure people into the tomb. It talks about a real treasure but mentions it's probably the source of the undead.
Mushareeb: That makes sense.
Tama side-eyes him but doesn't say anything.
Malith: Well, should we go? Why don't we clear out the threats while we're here? We could also find something out about the Death Curse.
We cover the canoes in tarp and branches. It looks the same amount of out-of-place as anything else here. We leave Elara and the giant puppet to guard the animals. Malith leads the way, checking for traps. The shrine was built by the Choltan people and is very, very old. In the early days of the world, a man stood by the river. An alligator asked, "What troubles you?" The man feared to enter the river because of the gators but had to cross. The gator offered to take him, and the man agreed. The man asked, "How can I repay you?" The gator wanted to see the realm of humans, so the man carried him on his back for the rest of his days. This shrine is based on that myth. It's said this man was fearsome. Malith investigates for traps. She sees etchings of a man holding a gator: jumping over a spike pit, walking through acid, etc. There is also a concealed pit trap.
Malith: We have a gigantic pit trap.
Tama suggests laying the canoe over the pit trap and using it as a bridge.
Tama: I'm like the crocodile here. If only I had a man to carry me.
Wilford falls off the side. As he lands on his back, the floor beneath him falls. He plummets 20 feet down. Freya attempts to save him but falls as well. Lanister lowers a rope to his aid.
Freya: You made me get a nosebleed. Be better at balancing!
Wilford: I made you?! I...
Lanister sees hieroglyphics of a man carrying a gator. This time, there are blades and people swinging. Directly in front of us are slits in the wall. Tama and Malith try walking past, Tama carrying Malith on her back. This works -- they make it through unassaulted. Darvati carries Wilford. Krav carries Mushareeb. Lanister carries Freya.
Freya: Krav, what do you think of all this so far?
Krav: I'm having a blast.
We see no more hieroglyphics as we walk into a room with a grid-like pattern. Malith notices several of the grid tiles are glowing very faintly. The height gives the advantage.
Malith: Tama, I'm going to direct you to step in certain areas.
Tama steps on the glowing tile. There is a clicking noise, but nothing happens. Malith directs her to the next tile. There is another clicking noise but nothing happens. When Lanister steps where Tama did, Malith notices the tile is no longer glowing. Flames jet down from the ceiling on Lanister and Freya. There are occasional flickers causing other ones to glow.
Malith: Wait for us to finish!
She directs Tama to step on the final glowing ones. They get across. "You have come to the end of the line. Your journey is finished. Stand tall." Malith gets off Tama's back. We all make it through. A glyph lights up, pushing Darvati and Wilford back with concussive force when they try to enter on each other's shoulders. Darvati stays standing. Wilford gets knocked back five feet onto an unlit square.
Wilford: Hey, whaddya mean? I stood tall!
The room is dusty, littered with dino bones and webs. A central pillar contains a curved staircase. Reliefs of a man carrying a croc follow the stairs to the top of the pillar. There stands a large and beautiful ceramic jug. Tama takes Malith's back again, observes, then gets back off. Malith starts climbing the stairs. When Malith gets onto the third step, a glyph illuminates, causing lightning to rain down. The dust could be concealing glyphs on the steps. Malith makes a rain cloud to clear the dust. Lanister is standing before the alchemical jug after ascending the staircase. Lani sees that the ceiling of this 40-foot tall room looks loose. The jug has a little bit of a lip where it's sitting. The jug fills with blood when Malith thinks about it. Malith goes to swap Lani's spare hammer with the jug. Wilford and Darvati leave the shrine, making it outside. Wilford and Darvati are greeted by a rain of arrows.
Wilford: What the-?
Those in the cave hop on each other's backs and prepare to run. Malith is on Lani's. Freya is on Krav's. Tama has Mushareeb. We all get out to find Darvati and Wilford engaged in combat.
Mushareeb: It sounds like Bhateeri (equivalent of goblins).
Malith finds three smokepowder bombs. We portage the canoes. Five more days go by. We're successful in our route. We come to a gate in the river. A wooden plank reads "Camp Vengeance" on the shore. Militiamen from the Order of the Gauntlet say, "Halt! What business have you on the river?"
 
WINE TIME:
Malith - When I was young, my older brother was getting into alchemy and creating potions. He was teaching me to make potions alongside him as a birthday gift for my 9th birthday. I made a concoction that my mother drank, and it killed her. My dad and I didn't speak with each other. I hope he's dead now.
Tama - I first killed when I was seven. I killed my favorite cow, Daisybell, who got a lame leg. I slit her throat to spare her from the pain.
Wilford - When I was 14, I had my first love. She was nice on the surface, but eventually I learned her bad habits and the ways she was manipulating me. It really embittered me in terms of how people interact and what the worth of a human being really is, to feel devalued in that kind of way.
Malith: I'm beginning to notice a pattern in the people who were told to leave Misthaven.
Wilford: And then she became a ruthless businesswoman bitch.
Krav - I don't really remember my past, but I sort of remember this choppy story from when I was a child. It was three little pigs. The wolf comes into one house, blows it away. One pig runs to the stick house as it's sturdier. "Two little pigs, let me in!" Doesn't let him in, blows it down, runs to the third house. Knock on the door, but they were ready for him. The third pig was a mage, opened up with a fireball, and they ate him.
Malith: I've never had wolf before.