Session 8: Flame and Frost

Andrios, 11th of Anagrypnion

General Summary

The council leaves the City Watch Barracks on their way to the border of the Andrios forest to the southwest. Fyx shares with the group that he got a letter from Lyra, a princess from Setessa requesting Fyx's help. It surprised some of the council members (including Nir) that Fyx had a history with a Setessan princess but the group didn't explore any further.

Continuing their way through the forest, Melanthos and Kadmos are walking ahead of everyone else and Melanthos shares with Kadmos that he's concerned with Andrios' ability to deal with the recent events. During their conversation, Kadmos notices a strange scroll on a tree. Melanthos opens it and isn't able to read it. The council gathers around to see what's going on and they realize that the text is written in Leonin. Kadmos, Kaliaros, and Fyx are able to understand what's written but the text didn't make sense to Kadmos or Kaliaros. Fyx however, how was able to decipher the meaning behind the words and read deciphered message out loud:

I have reports that the unseen ones have returned to the plains. For now the tribes are keeping away from the south and our shaman's are trying to find something that would allow our warriors to see the beasts. We still don't know why only you can see them. If you can, meet me tomorrow in the forest just west of the Watcher's Den two hours after sundown. Wildpride

Identifying that the message originated from Drarra Wildpride the council began to question her loyalty to Andrios. There were a lot of questions, why would she send a message only Fyx could read? How could Fyx read it? Who are the unseen ones? Is she related to the cultists? What beasts could only Fyx see? Fyx did his best to dodge the questions and most remained unanswered. Unsatisfied, especially Kadmos and Melanthos , the council decided to meet with Drarra Wildpride and confront her. Kadmos sent Krinos out to scout and make sure they weren't being followed, suspecting that Drarra Wildpride could be trailing them. After about 20 minutes Krinos returns and doesn't have anything to report. Kadmos then uses his power to speak with Krinos freely. Kadmos asks Krinos his thoughts regarding the raven they encountered and Krinos tells him he doesn't believe the raven was an ordinary raven but that Kadmos already knew that. Krinos mentions that a lot has happened the last few days and that he isn't as worried as he is happy that something interesting is happening. Krinos also questions Kadmos if he has learned anything new about their past, to which Kadmos doesn't. The two continue down the path talking about recent events. After a two-hour hike through the forest, the council arrives at the southwestern edge of it. If they were to continue down this road for another day and a half, they'd reach Thestia. Melanthos takes out of his backpack four tents and the council begins to set up camp. Nir lounges on the grass while using her telekinesis and Fyx plays them an epic song. The council then decides to rest while they can though knowing they don't have much time before sunrise. Everyone tries to sleep except for Fennan who continues to study the diagram from Tauin machine, after some time he begins to understand its working and begins to theorize improvements. Kaliaros spends a couple of hours foraging for herbs and gathers two bunches of Yarrow.

In the morning, Kadmos was keeping watch and he noticed Sweet Potato arrive. After a curt conversation, two very large wolves arrive along with six other larger than normal wolves. The two larger wolves meet with the council and introduce themselves as Flame and Frost. Frost describes the owlbear that attacked their den, how both he and his brother were the only survivors of the battle, and how they gained their intelligence. The wolves also detail the impact the owlbear is having on the forest, leaving the wolves with very little food and putting the pups at risk. Flame doesn't trust the council and blames them for the wolves' current situation but it's clear that Frost wants peace.

After a tense back and forth between the council and the two wolves, the council offers to take care of the owlbear in exchange for the wolves to stop attacking the trade routes. Frost politely tries to explain that given the impact the owlbear has had, that won't solve the food shortage. Flame makes it clear that the wolves will get food from any source available. Melanthos, seeing that the discussion wasn't going anywhere, proposes a break in the talks so each party can discuss in private. Everyone agrees, the council returns to the camp area and the wolves to where the other wolves await. Melanthos raises that Andrios currently has two main problems: the threat to Andrios from Dawn and his people which may be related to the mysterious woman and the wolves that are attacking the trade routes. Following an earlier comment from Fennan, Melanthos believes that can use the second problem to solve the first one. Having god blessed wolves reinforcing the defense of Andrios would make him feel a lot less worried. The rest of the council has mixed feelings but they do discuss ways they could make that work. However, there's a consensus that they need to deal with the owlbear before anything else. Before dealing with the owlbear, Kadmos proposes the council returns to Andrios to recover and confront Drarra Wildpride. This raises some concern from the others as that would delay the encounter with the owlbear by a few days. Fyx raises that if the main reason for returning to Andrios is to confront Drarra Wildpride then there's no need. Fyx then goes on to share that when he spent time in Oreskos, he helped the Leonin tribes deal with some beasts that only he could see. With the new context from Fyx, the rest of the council decide to prioritize the Owlbear. As so, their plan is to take a long rest and then confront the owlbear later this same day.

Report Date

18 Feb 2022

Reputation with the gods