Session 1: Hunt of the Sutwood Monster Report

General Summary

As the group continues their tracking of the winged creature that has been attacking the town of Sutwood they finally see a glimpse of it. Following the directions of a just recently attacked merchant they reach the edge of the forest. The land turns into a open plain and gives a great view of the distant area. Then there in the distance, just barely visable, they see a big winged creature flying away. After giving it some thought the group decides not to follow it in a direct trajectory, possibly giving away their presence, but take a longer route around the forest edge. Following a small road along these edges they suddenly hear the hooves of a horse approaching them. As they look back at the corner they just passed a horse and rider appears and immediately the horse is startled by the firey head of Thorduz. When the horse jumps up and tries to go around them he inadvertently throws of his rider, a lite hooded dwarf in leather armor. It all goes by in a few seconds as the dwarf gets launched into the air and unluckily hits a big tree root. With a nauseating sound the dwarf snaps his neck and is instantly killed. The horse, pretty much unphased by the accident, runs off into the distance. Completely flabbergasted by this sudden event the group tries to process what just happened as one of them runs forward to assess the rider. Sadly none of them have the skill or knowledge to help the dwarf in any way. Looking at his stuff to identify him they only find his satchel, marked with a royal sigil. Milos recognizes it as the seal of the royal house of Dalneymia, a neighbour of his homeland. He knows their country has been at odds with his before and hundreds of years ago they were even at war with eachother and also the human nation of Velumia. Although relations have greatly improved centuries after that war there has been some new tensions rising surrounding some mysterious events happening on both sides. So as this might be a politically charged subject Milos convinces the rest of the group to keep things sealed. However Nagini and Aleph seem to be reluctant and they eventually agree to atleast take the satchel with them until they decide what to do with it. The group carries on and finally reaches the foot of the hill where the target of their chase seems to have landed. It has already gotten late so they start setting up their camp here, close to the creature but far enough to stay out of sight. While Nagini, Aleph and Garthson build up the camp Milos decides to scout for a bit to see if he can find the creature's nest in the night. He is followed by Thorduz. As they approach the top of the hill they see an old, half broken down tower and more remnants of an ancient building. As the forest seems to clear up here they carefully peek around but strangely find no sign of the creature. Before they can reach the nest however one of them finally figures out why the creature is not in their nest. There, a top of the partly destroyed tower, blended in with the dark shape of the structure a giant winged creature has been tracking them ever since they entered their domain. As the creature jumps off and fly towards them Milos prepares his bow and fires while Thorduz seems to panick and set's things on fire before fleeing back into the woods. Shortly after Milos follows and both try to run back towards the camp while being attacked by the creature. Luckily the rest of the group joins them in time and after an intense battle Nagini gives the finish blow as he cuts of the head of the creaturen. A Griffon they later discover. After completely stripping the creature of any usable parts they finish of the camp and take a well deserved rest. Before fully resting however, this well deserved rest seems to get interrupted as the party is surrounded in the middle of the night.... By what or who? We'll find out next session !