Session 8 - Piss Off, Ghosts

General Summary

In Pursuit of Ghosts

Having remained in Hatena to assist Gertie and Vidar's team with an operation, Piers and Talitha are teleported back to the party -- give or take a few hundred feet. They find the main group in a state of panic and distress. The surprise attack of a banshee just minutes before left at least two teammates at death's door. Healed up and vengeful, the newly unified party decides to chase the banshee.
(But not before giving Piers and Talitha their novelty tourist items from The Seaman's Hole)
There is a small town to the west of camp. It is seemingly abandoned, but smells of ash, disturbed earth, and death. There are road blocks and some spike pits, implying that the locals had some time to assemble a hasty defense. But against what?

Battle With the Undead

The banshee hovers above a building and seemingly disappears within it. Walking a little ways into town reveals a humanoid figure to the north. 
An attempt at a greeting soon reveals that it is a wight wearing heavy laminar armor. Its colors and emblems indicate that it is armor once worn by members of the Hall of Heroes, a domain that collapsed over 400 years ago.
Combat begins. More enemies begin to reveal themselves. After the wight is engaged by Piers, three more zombies shuffle out of nearby homes. A 10 foot tall skeleton minotaur emerges from behind a building -- which Talitha immediately frightens with Dissonant Whispers. 
Another undead Hall of Heroes legionnaire appears as if from nowhere atop a fiery Nightmare steed. Wielding a lance, it gallops in and attacks Meera, who manages to evade. An undead battlemage appears with it, attempting to bombard the party with long range magic. Three skeleton archers also poke their heads up from behind a ruined church wall on the west side of town, but do not have a clear shot. They hold their ground, unwilling to give up cover.

Turn Undead

Abbit hops on top of the general store and centers himself around the largest group of undead creatures. He invokes the power of Hoo'Ax'Dyuu and uses Turn Undead. Hoo'Ax'Dyuu is clearly very powerful, as nearly every undead creature fails the save. The banshee, the skeleton minotaur, the undead Hall Legionnaire, and most of the zombies rapidly begin to retreat. 
Only the battlemage, the mounted Legionnaire, the Nightmare, and the skeleton archers remain.

We're Gonna Suplex a Demon Horse

Biscus casts "Enlarge/Reduce" on the Nightmare. The powerful demon horse shrinks down to the size of a pony, and the undead rider is forced to dismount. Soon after, Hart successfully grapples the Nightmare.... and then suplexes it, leaving it prone and vulnerable. The rest of the party soon "beats a dead horse" until the Nightmare turns to ash (save for its hooves, which comically pop back out to normal size). 
The former undead rider is subsequently surrounded and defeated, while Abbit and Meera circle back to flank the battlemage. The initial threat of this battle has quickly devolved into zany chaos, and the town is purged of its remaining undead.

Rescuing Survivors

The group sweeps the town to collect what loot remains. They also investigate the local church -- which appears to have been deliberately targeted by the undead invaders. There is a ruined statue out front that was seemingly decapitated on purpose. A few members of the party identify the statue as being Sir Pharos, a powerful member of the Hall of Heroes who defeated Lord Jericho during the Hall of Heroes Civil War. 
The church is primarily devoted to Hylia, whose altar was spared from destruction. There are other altars to the Golden Goddesses and Diel. Diel's altar was destroyed.
Hearing noise from a cellar door that's been covered in rubble, the group clears the debris away and finds a teenage Hylian boy named Liu holding a rake like a weapon. He is protecting several small children and an elderly halfling. They are all terrified, save one small boy (Koji) who insists he could fight anything. 
Many members of the party have no idea how to react around children and feel intimidated by the thought of babysitting them. Fortunately, the elderly halfling, Theodore, is more than willing to take responsibility for them all. Aaliyah is a Gerudo child whose mother is apparently a member of Roslen's foreign legion and should be back soon. Brendan has a pet turtle and is immediately fascinated by Krud.  The party returns to camp with the survivors to finish resting for the night.
Theodore is a big fan of Biscus and asks for an autograph, which he treasures!
Krud uses his ability to speak with beasts to communicate with Brendan's pet turtle, Gemma. Gemma is mostly screaming incoherently in absolute fear after seeing so many undead things eat villagers, but calms down while Krud holds her attention. Abbit gives her an apple and this seems to help her further.
In the morning, Theodore has made them breakfast and tea.... using Abbit's sleeping water. But they don't need to know that.

Willow Springs

The group travels another full day to reach Willow Springs, a much fancier town with a relaxed resort vibe. It is most notable for having a large lake that is surrounded by beautiful willow trees. They are met by a man running down the road -- Koji's uncle Hiroshi, who apparently is heading out to rescue his nephew from what was supposedly certain doom. Hiroshi and his husband Lucas take in all the survivors, even if the idea of suddenly having that many children under one roof is a bit daunting.
Biscus wins some free drinks and lodging due to his fame. The party performs a thrilling song for the bartender and a couple of elderly patrons who are present. 
Abbit and Krud then go speak with a Zora who is relaxing in the lake. His name is Telon, and he's apparently a trader on vacation. He regularly makes runs between Zora's Domain, located in the mountains, and the undersea city of Silver Reef. Abbit inquires about the latest news, especially regarding a Zora princess. Telon says that Silver Reef was in a big uproar last time he was there. Some highborn Zora named Lady Sura was killed after being captured on an island. Somehow the body was return to the Zora, and she was entombed and laid to rest. There was a large funeral happening while he was there, and supposedly some local political drama. Not that he paid too much attention.

Off to Bed

The group decides to split rooms at the tavern's attached inn. Surprisingly nice quality sheets! Talitha and Piers stay in one. Biscus and Meera in another. Hart has a private room. Abbit and Krud stay together, with Krud sleeping on the floor. 
Biscus and Meera have a heart-to-heart in which she almost recalls his proposition while she was heavily drunk, but Biscus plays this down. Instead, the two decide to team up, with Meera to serve as Biscus's hype-woman whenever necessary. Biscus also informs her about why they're really going to Roslen (to kill his old friend-turned-nemesis), since she was indisposed when he initially briefed the team on his intentions. 
Before retreating to bed, Abbit tells Piers about the Sending Stone conversations -- and how he's wanted by some fancy lady from Olimandias named The Sword of Diels. That's certainly news to Piers, who has never been out that way before.

Piers's Vision

Piers receives a dream-visit from his old ethereal voice friend, who says it is good that Piers has made friends. He needs to grow and become stronger to face the challenges ahead. Journeying to the west will come with brand new challenges, and not all battles are won with steel. Sometimes a battle is internal, and that reconciling conflicting emotions within your heart can be a greater struggle. But the voice trusts his judgment. It warns that many uncomfortable truths about Piers and his past may lie ahead. This "Sword of Diel" is not necessarily a threat, but could be. 
Piers then transitions into having a vision. 
He is a child again in the Lost Woods, at the edge of a lake. Fond memories of swimming with animals back in the day. But this time is different. It's dark and ominous. Someone pushes him from behind and sends him into the lake. He pulls himself back out. He is confronted by another child -- a girl a little bit older. At this young age, they both share a set of small angelic wings. They have very similar facial structures. She has long curly brown hair and brown eyes. She is using a stick like a spear.
She aggressively says she does not want to stay here in the woods, and that if he refuses to come with her, so be it! She marches off, leaving him alone in the fog. Piers shouts a name, but cannot hear what it is. He wakes.

After this, everyone wakes and meets up for breakfast in the tavern. Piers is happy to tell Meera that he finally understands the jokes about the Seaman's Hole (he does not).

Report Date

03 Feb 2021