The Mouth of Doom: Session 16
General Summary
Peace At Last
Report Date
30 Jan 2021
As night fell across Castle Calaelen every member of the group had been watching Advocate Amrith Hogaine move from each undead that Jedrah had created in the name of the Master and purify their corpses. The Advocate used their connection to the Leyline and the Brume to draw on power allowing them to return the corpse to their more natural state. He explained that they now wouldn’t suffer the way the undead suffer and can now be returned to Myzelis if they need to be. One of the zombies was an older man who seemed to be the priest of Mihere that they determined to have died in the dungeon below. However, there wasn’t enough left of the body to clearly identify the individual.
The Advocate indicated that they are able to spare thirty able-bodied Wrenjers to occupy and guard the castle. They would not be appraised of the groups specific purpose but they wouldn’t interfere with them. The castle would allow the group a place to fall back to and rest when needed. Arddan would be assigned the post and seemed to be glad to stop trekking the woods. Before heading in for the night, Jarvis had handed out some soap and they started the extensive cleanup the castle would need. Sibrwd managed to clear out the septic pond while Kobek and Hogaine left the same way they had arrived. However, before leaving Kobek takes note of each deed the Wrenjer’s assembled had done. As the two head west the mist moves aside for the Ley Vampire and his companion.
They all wake up to it pouring buckets of rain; the 30th of Zhira was going to be a wet one. Castle Calalen is built into a cliff in such a way that the rain doesn’t pool but leaves the area. While the others gathered their day supplies and ate their morning meal, Jarvis turned one of the tables into a proper bridge for the pit, guided expertly by Artem atop the ballista. Before they leave to give the people of Zelkor’s Ferry some good news and to destroy a demonic statue, Gorbaz offers to move the ballista to another location and they ask them to mount it on the wall facing the drawbridge. The goblin is thankful for something to do.
As they walk a slightly different route than they had a couple days ago, they notice a rather unremarkable sign. It seems that the path they had been walking was an actual road as the ancient sign marked the distance to the shore. Te’Leyuura seemed rather interested in the sign but they moved on quickly through the deluge of rain to the statue. Taking a proper look, Jarvis notes that the ankles would be the best at taking down the demonic statue. The statue hadn’t been visited since last they had been through the area. Leofric smacks it but with Sidrwd’s guidance, Jarvis is able to find the sweet spot. They continue to smash the shit out of the statue which falls backwards and into a bunch of tiny pieces. After taking some time, they do note that no additional magic is released from the smashing; however, some note the odd way the hand had pointed at Zelkor’s Ferry before Leofric continued their onslaught of the stone.
Nothing assaults the group as they make their way to the small fortified town. Borkas spots the group first calling out to Captain Akrad. They move into the inn to get out of the rain and to share their tale. Akrad calls for a round of drinks and food for the group. The Advocate’s letter is presented to the Captain who thinks the letter looks far more important than them. They get rather emotional when reading the note. It seems that either the group had left a great impression and their loss had lingered or the town seemed to have been losing hope and this letter restored some of their faith in both their cause and people. Either way, the group who had set off to fulfil the town’s request seemed to be rather awkward around the emotions the Captain expressed. Odo, after reading the letter as well, left and talked with a couple people and upon returning with a small chest passed out their reward. It seemed that all they needed was the Advocate’s letter and not the rotting head of Jedrah in Sibrwd’s pack.
They all move to Ulman Dark’s tower, Leofric had wanted to make a house call of the ill old necromancer. All the warmth and dryness of the inn was completely wasted as they stepped out into the rainy area. Kanndra Dark was still present in the tower and welcomed the group into their home. It seemed that Ulman was having a better day today than last they had visited. Standing at the highest point of the bluff that Zelkor’s Ferry was built upon stands the two story magic user’s tower. To some, it was a bit off putting the seemingly age difference between Ulman and Kanndra but she seems to be older than she presents. The Darks explain they had heard Akrad yelling at the of his lungs about how great the group had been. They discuss purchasing items and Ulman offers to bring more of his stores here now that there are more interested parties.
Before leaving, Artem mentions the liquids in the room and they bring out one of the giant corvid eggs. Ulman and Kanndra seem rather interested in the eggs and even the corpse of the mother if they are able to bring it back to the tower soon. They are offered credit with the Darks and they jump at the opportunity. Moving to the trading post they talk about what they need to repair the castle and how quickly they would need it. Rasmus Pie formally puts in the petition for construction supplies which would arrive near the end of Senka. They purchase their supplies, gather their animal companions and head back to Castle Calaelen.
It is about midday when they left Zelkor’s Ferry and arrived at the castle with ample time to scout the nearby area for the large red bear. They discuss scouting during the day as night falls quickly in winter. Kanndra had suggested they followed the stream into the wood to find the red bear. The wood is thicker and denser than the wood around Castle Calaelen and as they draw closer to it, the trees are densely packed and mostly conifers. Because of the dense foliage, visibility through the wood is not great. The land around the stream rose through the wood; however, if they stayed near the stream the sightlines were far better. The sun was just starting to dip behind the Racchis Range causing the shadows to lengthen and the light to start to dim. They had been told that the bear was blood thirsty and had great senses but with the weather they might have lucked out and hunted it on a beneficial day for them.
As they head west moving as quietly as they could, unsuccessfully as it was, they start to see signs of something rather large and powerful moving through the wood; snapped saplings, tears as thick and broad as breastplate in bark, claw marks that seemed to be eight to twelve inches long, the smell and taste of copper in the air. There was enough blood in the air that the rain seemed to be thicker and smelled of blood. The stream ruddy with red. In divots in the ground they can see the impressions of wounds in the footpads of the bear’s foot prints. There were pools of blood that refused to congeal. The blood was warm and even the rain felt warmer. About a hundred feet ahead of them it looked like the area cleared to a stone ruin.
Peeking out behind some trees was a small outcropping of stone bricks, some part of a stone construction to cross the stream. The entire area is strewn with copious amounts of bones. An old battlefield built around a ruin. Unfortunately for the archeologists, the Brume had stripped the ruin of anything identifiable. They determine that there is possibly some sort of cave nearby that the bear is hiding in. They send Sindragosa to investigate the area. The winged snake familiar of Te’Leyuura doesn’t find anything until they move to the large tree in which as they approach the tree starts to shake. A large shape pushes its way through the tree limbs. Rattled with old battle wounds, the fur matted over its eyes, the bear sniffed the air and growled at the party.
Blood soaked and full of rage the bear engages the group. Artem acts first drawing….well not first blood on the bear. Jarvis moves up and stands face to face with the bear, drawing the attention away from his companions. The rest take their actions with Ansible taking flight and Sibrwd entering starry form. Te’Leyuura empowers her companion with Dragon’s Breath and hurts the bear. The bear hits Jarvis once and as the second bolt of radiance should have ended the bear they all notice that even though the bear should be lying lifeless at Jarvis’ feet it wasn’t. The bear just laid their whining in agony. They all think about what is happening to the bear. Whatever it was, there was no president unless it was undeath. The bear wasn’t bigger than other brown bears on the island but seemed to be extremely wounded many times yet still was alive which led them to think about the Master or a curse.
Artem finds four remains that show signs of being Wrenjers. They were back to back and seemed to have had their life siphoned out of them. One looked to be mummified on the spot. They find trinkets and toys in the sack of the middle Wrenjer and the bear was probably their animal companion. After more searching they find the magical symbol inscribed under the fur. Artem feels like it is part of their duty to scratch the symbol and finally release the bear from its suffering. They burn the bodies with the bear using the tree. "Hedwydd hlad Cydwyssen" Night falls as they return to Castle Calaelen for the night, with a heavy heart.
