Session 31 - Dark Deal and Dark Discovery
7 Klarmont 1010 - 8 Klarmont 1010
General Summary
The party finishes their lunch, and decides to head straight out to visit Waldhexe. A few miles down the road they find a lone rosebush with a single bloom, and now that they are aware of it, can see that there is a path, much like a game trail headed south from the road. Tork takes the lead as they follow the trail. Thankfully, additional rose bushes can be found on the way; as they occassionally wander astray they see another rose bush to put them back on the correct path.
They work their way to a clearing, where they find a small pond, several gardens with vegetables, mushrooms, and herbs, as well as some ducks by the pond and a pen with some pigs. There is also what appears to be a dead Gulthias Tree that has been converted into a home. A red-haired woman the party soon confirms as Waldhexe stands up from collecting an egg from a duck nest, and straightens her dress. The party introduces themselves as adventurers in search of Stefan, and they describe the strange and disconcerting situation they are finding in the town of Leeside. They explain that they are hoping that she may be able to help them understand the nature of what is happening, so that they can deal with it and lift this cloud of confusion from the town.
She smiles knowingly and says a few things that indicate that she does in fact have some information that may help them resolve the issue, however she does not give information freely and suggests they, one at a time, come in to negotiate what they can offer in exchange for her assistance.
The party discusses what they might offer her, but since they are really not being paid for this "job", or at least not very much, they are a bit hesitant to commit to a large payment. Seraphina volunteers to talk to her first, and offer a small sum of money that they had claimed from the Ogres and see what information she would offer for this.
It turns out that money is not exactly what Waldhexe is is thinking of for payment, and asks Seraphina more pointedly what about her is special. Seraphina is uncomfortable with this line of questioning, believing it implies that Waldhexe is looking for something that would make the party uncomfortable to let go.
Seraphina reports back to the party and they discuss further. Leo suggests that what makes them truly special is that through their combined efforts and skills they can meaningfully overcome major problems and make the world a better place. He suggests that he try negotiating along those lines and see where it goes.
Waldhexe seems to take this line a little better, though she is still clearly looking to make them uncomfortable. She suggests that in the course of their adventures if they kill 10 different "bad" creatures (must be different species of creature), place a special silver coin into the mouths of the corpses, and sew them shut, she would consider this a fair trade. Leo says he is unsure that the party would agree to such terms, but would discuss it with them and report back.
Leo recounts this discussion and they think through it. Stavos says he is comfortable actually doing this deed (sewing the coin into the mouths of their fallen enemies). Seraphina is uncomfortable with the concept of this, as they do not understand what this rite would represent. Leo agrees that this is an uncomfortable task, but suspects that that is much of the point. It also seems that they do not have any specific timeline to complete this task, as it was in the course of their normal adventures. Eventually they decide to move forward with the deal.
Waldhexe prepares some sort of blood ritual to seal the pact with Leo. He is uncertain if this ritual is just to make him uncomfortable or if there is something more to it, but he definitely feels uneasy leaving his blood behind for Waldhexe, as there is may be powerful magic she can now perform with this.
Regardless, he participates in the blood ritual and drinks the bitter drink that seals the deal. She then informs him that in the library there is a set of books describing a broad range of creatures. She suggests that the creature they are dealing with is definitely in these books, and they should look for a creature that has power over memories.
With that, the party heads back to town. By the time they arrive back in town, it is dusk, and the lamps are being lit - this time by the younger brother of the boy who lit the lamps the night before. Tork speaks to the lad, and asks about his older brother and not surprisingly, but perhaps quite disappointingly, the boy says he doesn't have an older brother, but has been lighting these lamps all the time. Clearly the party is taking too long to solve this mystery!
The town hall is closed, unfortunately, so the party heads to the inn for dinner and to go to bed to get a fresh start in the morning. They ward their bedrooms with the alarm spell, and leave the book as bait along with a note for Rach to find. In the morning this appears undisturbed, and the spell has not been tripped in either room.
They head downstairs for breakfast, and are relieved that there is good coffee. They quickly eat, and head over to the town hall/library to do their research.
Upon entering they are once again disappointed, but not surprised, to find the front desk unoccupied. They go to the library, and go through the seven volumes of Darrington's Creature Catalogue, seeking their memory-altering creature.
After a couple hours of reading through the entries, Elincia finds a frightening and likely candidate in the False Hydra in volume 2 (the second book she reads). The party members all read the entry, and are all horrified by what they find.
It is all too likely that this is what they are dealing with, based on their evidence. This creature lives underground and grows to be a truly terrifying presence by devouring people and hiding the evidence through mind control. Things do not look promising for the missing townsfolk or Stefan. Stavos sends a paper bird to Eliander to warn him of the situation in case the party is unsuccessful at destroying the beast, as it appears that this thing could destroy all of Karameikos if left to grow to its full power.
That done, Tork and Stavos head next door to the general store to buy some needle and thread, and some wax to block up their ears, as well as some paper and pencils in case they need to communicate to each other after doing so.
While there, Tork strikes up a conversation with the shopkeeper hoping to understand if there is a cellar in the shop (to eliminate possibilities) by discussing the freshness of the vegetables on display. When it becomes clear that there is not a cellar they head back to the library to rejoin the rest of the party. They decide to start by exploring the rest of this town hall. They go to the door opposite the library, and it is a meeting room with what appears to be quite a bit of seating. in the north of this room, there is another door, and this leads to a waiting area, with a receptionist. They ask about the woman at the front desk, and she gives the same line about "it's hard to find people to work in this town since the population is so low" etc, etc. She asks them what business they have, and Stavos suggests they have an appointment with Vasili, the legal clerk they worked with yesterday, who had said something about pests! She directs him down the hall and to the left.
Once out of sight, the party begins opening doors trying to find anything out of place. Eventually Leo starts picking a lock, but the door he is trying to unlock swings open! Another clerk of some sort asks him what he is up to, and Leo explains that they are the pest control group. He seems a bit surprised, but states that perhaps the rats are back in the basement again. Leo asks him if he could show them the way to the basement, as that seems like a very good place for them to start their extermination project.
He leads them down the hall and to the top of the stairs and leaves them there. They decide this would be a good time to block their hearing, and begin heating the wax, and forming it into earplugs. Everyone but Leo seems successful in this endeavor and all look aghast, as they now see that there are holes in the ceiling and walls and blood everywhere. Apparently they must be close to the False Hydra. Leo, getting the impression that he hasn't quite gotten his ears plugged well enough fusses with his plugs, and eventually he too sees the horrors that surround them.
At that, the party decides to go down the stairs. As they do so, there is a mist and rotting smell rising from below - as they get to the bottom of the stairs it becomes clear that they are in the presence of the False Hydra!
Rewards Granted
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
28 Oct 2020
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