Session 20 - The Arrival of Hamal

General Summary

Hamal Armanuli had come to the town of Aleksandrovka a little over a week prior to meeting the party. At the time he was traveling with a mercenary company, but their next assignment - killing pagans off in the woods - didn't agree with him. Too much work, too much risk, too many ethical considerations. By comparison, Hamal found rather easy and fulfilling work sowing seeds for the local farmers. Some hay and a roof, and food in the evenings.
Late in the evening, while returning from the fields with Prokhor - a fellow laborer, they crossed paths with what looked like a small girl with a shovel. Hamal felt uncomfortable leaving the child to her own devices, but the girl insisted, and something about the whole encounter struck him as other worldly. . Once in town, as the sun set, Hamal and Prokhor heard a shout from a nearby house. Hamal rushed to the edge of the courtyard, and found a young woman - Lada, an old woman - Vashti, two unconscious men (Ivan and Borya), and a flaming goat. A heavy smoke filled the yard at the time, and the scene made Hamal grabbed one of the men and the laborer pulled the other. They placed the unconscious men in a garden shed to rest, and reconvened at Lada's home. Lada's home, it turned out, was inhabited by Vadim - an unhappy house spirit, and the goat - which had attacked them - was its yard spirit. With the house spirit unhappy and the yard spirit dead, Lada knew she would face much misfortune. She made efforts to appease the house spirit, and the house spirit seemed somewhat placated by her promises to respect the spirit and the home, but the house spirit warned that the home would not be find peace until Lada got a new yard spirit. The only way to do that was to give "a life for a life." The party cautioned Lada to be careful about dealings with spirits, but ultimately agreed to help her. The next day, Hamal set live traps, and the others helped Lada find an offering. Lada made food for the house spirit using her own blood as part of the offering. That evening, when Hamal checked his traps, he saw an old friend - a mercenary from his previous group - riding back to the town. He was covered in mortal wounds, as was his horse, and when Hamal looked upon the man he saw no life in him. Hamal didn't know what this was, but knew a threat when he saw one. He raced back to town to warn the others.

Report Date

27 Nov 2022

Primary Location

Aleksandrovka