Session 6 - The Return to Bychii Brod

General Summary

Back near the cave, Taras and Polkan, left behind to cover the rest of the party's escape, hear the sound of people approaching. They hide in the bushes before the people speaking the Rover tongue pass them. But because they appear to be heading to Zaozerye, Taras decides to misdirect them by tossing a stone in a different direction. The Rovers, led by Magnus Ragnarsson, hear the sound, and come to flush the two warriors out of the bushes. They confront them to ask what they're doing. In the ensuing parlay, Taras tries to mislead them about the reasons for their presence, while Magnus informs them that a confrontation took place in the caves nearby, and that the old priest has apparently fled. In the ensuing discussion, the Rovers reveal that they were visiting the Lipovane for the same reason the party did, while Taras tells them that the Lipovane were responsible for the death of Rurik's son, and that they were carrying out his orders. They then return to the village together, with the Rovers indicating that they would simply stay the night with Stepan and the trappers, and then move on in the morning.
After Polkan and Taras successfully relocate their companions at the monastery, they bring up what they learned from the Rovers, and Vadim admits that he (along with Vladimir and Hrefna Haldorsdottir), had explored the cave, found a talking mouth in the cave wall that raised alarm, found a coffer deeper in the cave system, and visited a chamber with ancient pagan animal and star art. Vadim also owned up to the fight with the wolf-men as well.
Vadim and Taras debated whether to leave the monastery unguarded or stay to help train the monks in defense. The monastery had few features suited for protection, and there were only a handful of monks, none of whom were well-equipped to mount a serious defense. Vadim (now baptized as Caphtor) and the doghead Polkan chose to stay behind and train the three wards, but their efforts yielded little success. Neither Hegumen Sergii nor Brother Aleksei participated in the training.
After spending the night with the monks, Taras, Vladimir and Hrefna lead the wolf-man prisoner, along with Hrefna, back to Rurik's estate. They kept the wolf-man bound in the sacred stole provided by the monks, which suppressed his magical abilities. The party had sworn an oath to return the stole once their task was complete.
Upon arriving at Bychii Brod, the group requested permission to execute the wolf-man, but the steward refused, informing them that the decision as to what to do with him was Rurik's alone, and that he would send a messenger to inform the lord about the captive. From him, the party also learned that Rurik had been drawn away due to a conflict over control of the amber trade, meaning the wolf-man's execution would be delayed an unknown amount of time.
In a crucial conversation, Taras told the steward about their recent incursion into the caverns beneath the temple of Perun. There, they found a talking mouth in the cave wall that raised alarm, and deeper in, found a chamber with ancient pagan animal and star art. After the alarm, they had killed some of the wolf-men's allies in self-defense. Additionally, Vladimir expressed his concerns to the steward about the possibility of other Volkhvy being present in the forest, potentially attempting to capture the wolf-man.
After these revelations, the group rested at the estate for about a week, recovering from their injuries and regaining their strength before deciding the next step to their plans. At the end of the week, seeing that aside from some giant wasp overflights over Zaozerye all was quiet in the fishing village, Vadim and Polkan return to Bychii Brod.

Report Date

29 Sep 2024