Session 42 Report

General Summary

First thing on July 26, 498 AV, Haymin’s Heroes went to Marcus’ Fine Arms and Armor to seek silvered weapons. Titta Morco, Auren Sylynn, Mogi Delvin, and Pyzar Zim, each paid for their respective blades. From there, Selia Roselyn Maxwell went to the Guild of Mystic Arts to research lycanthropy and how it can be treated. The rest of the party went to the Garden of Life to inquire from the clerics there about the same thing. After learning about the possible treatments, their respective costs, and potential dangers of facing lycanthropes, the party went by the address Draven had given them the night before. It was a small, and unremarkable house. The house looked quiet, but there was activity in the neighborhood around. Satisfied, they returned to Heroes for Hire to rest for the day before returning at night. During the twilight hour of the evening, they ventured back to the home. This time, they found light flickering from within along with movement from the residents. Titta and Auren snuck up to the house and peeked in through the open windows. Three men were inside, conversing and snacking on cheese. One of them heard something and investigated the window where Auren was. Auren quickly moved on, but the man claimed he saw someone. He and his companions quickly grabbed their weapons and moved to follow. Auren walked on casually as the men followed. Titta trailed them, keeping out of sight. When the men caught up to Auren, he recognized them. They were members of the Black Glove Society. They greeted Auren after recognizing him before continuing on their way. Auren then doubled back and met up with the rest of the party. Back at the house they snuck in through one of the open windows and began searching. The house was sparsely decorated, but the kitchen was stocked primarily with cheese. The bedroom contained three bedrolls and a trunk. Within the trunk, Titta found a map of the forest northeast of Rowadin with an “X” marked in the center of the area. She then proceeded to make a quick sketch of it. Suddenly, the men returned to their home. When they opened the door, however, they were surprised to see so many people within. They ran. Haymin’s Heroes gave chase. The pursuit ran through some of the northern streets and alleyways until the party caught the men trying to open a sewer grate in one of the alleys. The rogues began to change, sprouting fur all around, then Auren threatened them with his silver blades. His convincing argument caused them to look around and notice the silvered weapons in the hands of Titta, Mogi, and Pyzar as well. The wererats stopped changing, reverting back to their human forms, and dropped their weapons like instructed. A brief interrogation followed where Titta asked them questions while Selia read their minds with Detect Thoughts. They learned of the Hollow Moon Hunt taking place at the location on the map Titta had found earlier, a spot where two small rivers meet. These wererats were responsible for the kidnapping of three victims, known as Prey in the Hollow Moon Hunt. But they admitted there would be more gathered by others, likely about a dozen. There would be over twenty lycanthropes, a mix of werewolves, wererats, werebears, and wereboars. After the interrogation was complete, they turned them over to the city guard to be questioned about the abductions. On July 27, 498 AV, Haymin’s Heroes set off on the trek to the site marked on the map. They estimated it would be about fifty miles northeast through the forest, and the hunt would be held tomorrow, the first night of the full moon. During this first day of their journey, they were confronted in the woods by a party of armed men and women, a mix of warriors and spellcasters. Their conversation was friendly. There was Mintar Pyule, Lamot Dune, Brock Wills, Kamilla Ventina, Bravis Goldfeather, and Olina Derand, two rangers, a fighter, a druid of Terra, Goddess of the Land, a wizard, and a cleric of Vita, Goddess of Life, respectively. They were here to combat the Hollow Moon Pack and try to foil the Hollow Moon Hunt. The two groups agreed to work together. This party did not have a name and admitted to not work together exclusively, but would join up for these hunts almost every full moon. They explained how the Hollow Moon pack would release the Prey at midnight on the first night of the full moon and give them an hour’s head start. Then the lycanthropes would begin their chase. Any Prey who endured through the night were free to go. But that was a rarity. Most are usually killed, while a few might survive, though afflicted with lycanthropy. The two parties would approach the site from opposing directions, but they would keep their distance. If the Hollow Moon Pack sniffed them out too early, they would move the location of the hunt. Mintar admitted that they had been thwarted by the Hollow Moon Pack in this manner before. The parties would then wait until the hunt released the Prey before moving in to collect as many of them as possible and deal with any lycanthropes that came their way. Then the parties would rendezvous at a prechosen location with those they rescued. The next day, July 28, 498 AV, they continued towards the hunt site. Early on in the day, the parties split up like they agreed. Haymin’s Heroes pressed on to get in position by evening, then rested until midnight when wolf howls resounded in the distance to the northeast. The Hollow Moon Hunt was on. They began moving towards it, searching the forest for signs of anyone fleeing. It was over an hour before they found their first Prey. A young woman named Alli, burst through the bushes coming towards them. She froze with fright when she saw Haymin’s Heroes, her eyes focused on Pennig and Fisher. Titta did her best to assure her that she was safe, that they would protect her. She eventually succeeded and ushered her towards them. Then six wolves ran on the scene. Three of them began transforming immediately. They stood upright in their werewolf form. Ladigo Farthon cast Entangle, catching all but one wolf and werewolf. Those tried to run out, but ran into Titta. Between silvered weapons and Magic Missiles the lycanthropes and their pet wolves were defeated easily. However, Fisher found it difficult to damage them with his claws. Whenever he would strike a werewolf, the wound would heal up instantaneously. After dealing with this group, Haymin’s Heroes continued looking for more fleeing Prey. Alli was convinced to stay close to Fisher, who was instructed by Titta to protect the girl. They eventually came to a large tree where a man was hanging precariously from a branch over twenty feet up. Two wererats and four werewolves circled the tree beneath him. Pyzar charged forward and attacked a werewolf, but soon found himself surrounded by most of the enemies. One of the werewolves went around another tree to join the fray before noticing the rest of the party and heading for Mogo instead. Pyzar faced an onslaught of claws, fangs, and even a pair of rapiers wielded by the wererats. He was gravely wounded and had also suffered a werewolf bite. Ladigo healed him, but Pyzar was still bloodied from the attacks. He eventually succumb to more attacks from the wererats, being bitten by one of those as well. Auren and Titta rushed to his aid while Mogi and Selia dealt with the other werewolf. The lycanthropes were eventually defeated and Ladigo healed Pyzar again. The man in the tree was named Durg. He dropped from the tree onto Fisher, who could not catch him properly. And neither did Durg land gracefully, knocking himself out momentarily from the landing. Titta woke him and explained how they were here to rescue him. Durg seemed happy to see Alli still alive. He confirmed there were about a dozen or so victims who were released at midnight. There were still several more to find, so Haymin’s Heroes continued. Alli and Durg followed, staying close to Fisher. They next came to an area by a cave. A large sheet of webbing hung between two trees flanking the cave entrance. Two victims were stuck in the webs, a man and woman. As Haymin’s Heroes approached the scene, so did two werebears and wereboars. Then two ettercaps exited the cave as four monstrous spiders descended from the forest canopy onto the webs.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists