Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2021 0:46:42 GMT -5
From the Falegar Chronicles...
Session 7 (19 September 2021; or 20-21 Primus Year of the Seven Sisters Ulibale time)
In the aftermath of the battle, the party decides to set up camp away from the ruins in case anything else arrives in the night. Sarkis remains atop the hilltop to observe and consult the stars. As the party keeps watch, Kruk hears a large winged creature flying overhead. It circles the hilltop several times before flying away, but other than that the night passes uneventfully and Sarkis returns to the camp just before dawn.
Once everyone is awake and finished their daily morning routines, Sarkis calls them together to discuss the situation. Sarkis, Jamallah & Koi, Sorcha, and the party all exchange information and get caught up with what is happening, and Sarkis outlines the many things he sees that need to be done. Unfortunately there are more things than he has agents to do.
The info shared at the council included:
-the increase in wolf activity in the valley isn’t just the result of a bad winter, there seems to be an intelligence and a will behind it and directing it.
-the increase in monster activity in the valley wasn’t isolated to the mountains and hills near Woolrich where the party discovered and destroyed Quintus’ mountain compound.There have been other reports of monstrous activity in and around the Everwet Bog to the south (reported by the halfling Chenna Brightmoon who was killed by the orcs at the Springstone) and in the mountains at the western end of the valley near to the border of the Yerevan Highland and lands of Acregor
-the Warlord Acregor has been marshalling forces and consolidating his power base after conquering all the other petty kingdoms and cities of the Yerevan Highlands, but is now looking eastward towards the Falegar Valley for his next campaign of expansion. The party shares that Quintus had been working for/with Acregor so the monster might be part of this, and that Acregor seeks the formula or ritual to achieve lichdom. Sarkis knows that Acregor has been the one stirring up the Ukkausan clans and is behind the recent orc raids in the valley as well. It is rumored he is also courting the Bukra Erah clans and trying to broker a truce between the rival orc clans uniting them against a common foe. Sarkis also relates to Zano that as Acregor conquers territory, he takes some of the population hostage to prevent the conquered people from rising up in rebellion. Sarkis also relates to the group that Acregor is affiliated with the Cult of the Death Prince (i.e. the demon Prince Orcus) one of the dark gods that stands opposed to the Pantheon of Seven. The presence of the half-dragon priest of Orcus at the hill fort the previous night confirms that affiliation. This prompts Kruk to ask Sarkis about the “kiss of Strahd” which Sarkis has heard of, and reveals it is related to vampires, Strahd being a powerful warlord from pre-Cataclysmic times who became a vampire and who still rules a territory in the Domains of Dread in the Shadowfell. The Kiss of Strahd is a metaphor for becoming a vampire.
-Sarkis relates that the Halfling river folk and the Dwarves of Angars Falls have tentatively agreed to join the alliance he is building to defend the valley, but many of the human settlements, particularly those in the eastern valley who haven’t had to deal with orc raids for nearly a decade, remain skeptical and reluctant to join
-Sarkis also relates that the Elves remain silent. He’s tried but failed to get word to them about the growing threat, hence why he sent Nix to try to reach them, not knowing Nix was a traitor, nor aware of Kruk’s history with Nix. He’s worried because it’s been nearly six months since he has had word from the elven communities in the Weirwood. He also tells them that most of his contacts are in the villages and settlements on the edge of the Weirwood, and he has only been to the Elven capital deep in the Weirwood once when he first arrived in the valley, but he is not sure where it is as he was blindfolded for the entire journey
-Jamallah and Koi are agents for the Danobian League, a confederacy of city-states to the west of the Falegar Valley south of the Yerevan Highlands. The League is concerned with Acregor’s aggressions, and the League sent the pair here to assess the situation in the valley. Jamallah and Koi are also former adventuring companions of Sarkis and old friends of his. They relate that some in the League prefer to tolerate Acregor’s aggressions as long as they are directed somewhere besides the League itself, but others, Jamallah and Koi included, believe he needs to be stopped before he becomes a threat to the League. They have been in touch with the leaders of Kalis, the westernmost human settlement in the Falegar Valley, and they wish to help, but have limited resources. An agent of the settlement, the bard Jared Karenthal had joined Sarkis cause, but he was among those killed at the Springs Stones. Jamallah and Koi have also heard reports of increased activity of the Bukra Earah in the south and west of the valley.
Sarkis begins to outline what he sees as needing done, but also asks Chore if he is willing to use a scroll Sorcha recovered from their fallen companion Jared, that will allow them to speak with the dead to question one of their fallen foes. They debate whether it would be better to question the orc sorcerer or the Aaracokra harvester and decide on the orc. They plan what they will ask and how they will deceive the orc into trusting them so he will speak truthfully, deciding that Chore will pose as a fellow orc who is using illusions to infiltrate the enemies alliance and who needs to know what needs to be passed on to the orc leaders now that the orc force holding the fort has fallen. They ask their questions and learn that there are three factions of orcs, the aforementioned Ukkausan, the Bukra Earah, and the Red Fangs, the group that the party encountered in the ruined village, and while they have discussed an alliance, they are still squabbling over who should lead that alliance. They also learn the names of the leaders of each faction, and that Acregor has threatened to send his whiate dragon ally to the valley if they cannot work out the terms of their truce/alliance.
Having covered all they know, they begin to discuss what needs and can be done:
-Sorcha will travel west to spy on the Ukkausan to determine their strength and disposition, and what their potential targets are. As a half-rc she can blend in, unless the Red Fangs are involved, as the Fangs despise all non-orcs and consider Half-Orcs an abomination.
-Jamallah and Koi need to report back to the Danobian League and try to marshal their aid and support for an alliance with the valley’s forces. They will stop at Kalis to update them and secure their continued support for the burgeoning alliance.
-Sarkis intends to head east towards the human settlements of Hart’s Ford and Garek’s Peaks to try to overcome their reluctance to support his cause, and to let them know what has been happening throughout the valley. He will also contact his agents in Woolrich to rally that region.
Sarkis asks the party if they are willing to continue aiding his cause and if they will undertake one of the remaining tasks. They agree. What still needs to be done includes…
-traveling to Angar’s Falls to report to the Dwarves recent developments and bring word that their representative, Conrad Deepdelver, was slain by the orcs at the Spring Stones in hopes of securing their further aid in the defense of the valley.
-travel to the Weirwood to get word to the elves and find the reasons for their silence. This also entails finding and dealing with the traitor Nix.
-travel south to spy on the Bukra Earah to determine their strength, disposition, and potential targets, and whether they are committed to joining Acregor’s cause or whether they can be recruited to stand against their longtime rivals, the Ukkausan.
-travel south to the Everwet Bog to investigate the reports of monstrous activity there
-travel west to the mountains to explore reports of monstrous activity there
-discover the identity of the intelligence behind the wolves. Could it be related to vampires now that they know what the kiss of Strahd is and that Quintus long-lost lover was a vampire, since vampires often control packs of wolves (and vermin)
The party discusses the matter briefly and all seem to agree that finding out what happened to the elves is a priority, so they will head to the Weirwood, but since they need to cross the Falegar to get their, they will travel to Angar’s Falls first, since it is on the way and they need to go there to cross the river.
After the council is done, they all eat a final meal together, and the party sets off towards Angar’s Falls. The journey should take them about half a day’s travel, and they hope to arrive before sunset that day thanks to Kruk’s ability to guide them through the hills.
However, they stumble upon a nest of stirges along the way, and have to destroy it, which delays them slightly. After setting the underground nest on fire and burning out the stirges, they resume their journey to Angar’s Falls, arriving an hour or so before sunset, moving at a much faster pace to make up for lost time, an effort that leaves Chore slightly exhausted. They enter the city’s visitor’s quarters and seek out a tavern. While the other celebrate their victory from the previous night and Wrex and Chore partake of the very strong Fire Crown Dwarven whiskey, Kruk seeks out the Temple of the Seven and arranges for an audience with the Lord High Mayor, who is also a former associate of Sarkis.
About an hour or so later, a page arrives at the tavern and summons the party to their audience. They make their way through the interior gates of the fortified settlement, through the Dwarven wad to the the Mayor’s Keep, where they are directed to the audience hall and announced. Inside the audience chamber, the Mayor, his chamberlain, and a pair of guards wait for them. The Chamberlain asks why they have come and they relate what has happened, plead Sarkis’ case, and tell them they are on their way to the Weirwood and seek passage across the river again. The mayor tells them he may be able to save them a trip, as he just an hour ago received a missive with word from the elven court, and the Chamberlain was about to open it and read it for them to consider. He invited the party to remain and listen to the missive, and they agreed.
The Chamberlain retrieves the scroll and prepares to break the seal. When Chore sees the scroll, the hair on the back of his neck stands up, and he gets the heebie jeebies, but steels himself, but as the Chamberlain breaks the seal, there is a flash of sickly eldritch energy that passes through the chamberlain, the guards and the mayor, but seems to ignore the party. The scroll destroys itself as the curse is unleashed.
The mayor begins to thrash in his seat and foam at the mouth as if having some sort of seizure, but the Chamberlain and the guards have it worse. After the eldritch energy washes over them, they begin to scream in agony as their bodies begin to transform. Bones break and skin rends as their faces begin to elongate into snouts and their bodies begin to change shape. The Chamberlain has been transformed into a wereboar and the two guards turned into giant boars. All three have the faint aura of an eldritch green crown hovering above their heads.
Zano rushes to try to get the other guard outside the audience chamber to help, but they appear catatonic, their eyes rolled back and the same sickly green glow emanating from their eyes. The rest of the party tries to confront the wereboar and giant boars, but the wereboar seems impervious to their weapons. Wrex manages to put one of the giant boars to sleep, and Kruk and Zano take down the other with arrows and bolts. Naggath grapples the wereboar and wrestles him into the fire of one of the standing torches held in a sculpted stone stand, and the fire sears its flesh as Wrex and Chore now blast it with magic to wear it down. Once the giant boars are dispatched, Kruk begins to douse the wereboar in oil from above as Naggath continues to hold it in the fire, even as the wereboar gores him with his tusks (luckily Naggath is hardy enough to resist the curse of lycanthropy from those wounds), and Chore is finally able to destroy the wereboar with a blast of sacred flame.
Catching their breath, they try to figure out what happened, and Chore and Wrex are able to surmise the scroll unleashed some sort of curse directed at only dwarves, and it seems more dwares than just the guard outside the audience chamber have succumbed to that catatonic state.
And that is where we will pick up next session.
-M
Session 7 (19 September 2021; or 20-21 Primus Year of the Seven Sisters Ulibale time)
In the aftermath of the battle, the party decides to set up camp away from the ruins in case anything else arrives in the night. Sarkis remains atop the hilltop to observe and consult the stars. As the party keeps watch, Kruk hears a large winged creature flying overhead. It circles the hilltop several times before flying away, but other than that the night passes uneventfully and Sarkis returns to the camp just before dawn.
Once everyone is awake and finished their daily morning routines, Sarkis calls them together to discuss the situation. Sarkis, Jamallah & Koi, Sorcha, and the party all exchange information and get caught up with what is happening, and Sarkis outlines the many things he sees that need to be done. Unfortunately there are more things than he has agents to do.
The info shared at the council included:
-the increase in wolf activity in the valley isn’t just the result of a bad winter, there seems to be an intelligence and a will behind it and directing it.
-the increase in monster activity in the valley wasn’t isolated to the mountains and hills near Woolrich where the party discovered and destroyed Quintus’ mountain compound.There have been other reports of monstrous activity in and around the Everwet Bog to the south (reported by the halfling Chenna Brightmoon who was killed by the orcs at the Springstone) and in the mountains at the western end of the valley near to the border of the Yerevan Highland and lands of Acregor
-the Warlord Acregor has been marshalling forces and consolidating his power base after conquering all the other petty kingdoms and cities of the Yerevan Highlands, but is now looking eastward towards the Falegar Valley for his next campaign of expansion. The party shares that Quintus had been working for/with Acregor so the monster might be part of this, and that Acregor seeks the formula or ritual to achieve lichdom. Sarkis knows that Acregor has been the one stirring up the Ukkausan clans and is behind the recent orc raids in the valley as well. It is rumored he is also courting the Bukra Erah clans and trying to broker a truce between the rival orc clans uniting them against a common foe. Sarkis also relates to Zano that as Acregor conquers territory, he takes some of the population hostage to prevent the conquered people from rising up in rebellion. Sarkis also relates to the group that Acregor is affiliated with the Cult of the Death Prince (i.e. the demon Prince Orcus) one of the dark gods that stands opposed to the Pantheon of Seven. The presence of the half-dragon priest of Orcus at the hill fort the previous night confirms that affiliation. This prompts Kruk to ask Sarkis about the “kiss of Strahd” which Sarkis has heard of, and reveals it is related to vampires, Strahd being a powerful warlord from pre-Cataclysmic times who became a vampire and who still rules a territory in the Domains of Dread in the Shadowfell. The Kiss of Strahd is a metaphor for becoming a vampire.
-Sarkis relates that the Halfling river folk and the Dwarves of Angars Falls have tentatively agreed to join the alliance he is building to defend the valley, but many of the human settlements, particularly those in the eastern valley who haven’t had to deal with orc raids for nearly a decade, remain skeptical and reluctant to join
-Sarkis also relates that the Elves remain silent. He’s tried but failed to get word to them about the growing threat, hence why he sent Nix to try to reach them, not knowing Nix was a traitor, nor aware of Kruk’s history with Nix. He’s worried because it’s been nearly six months since he has had word from the elven communities in the Weirwood. He also tells them that most of his contacts are in the villages and settlements on the edge of the Weirwood, and he has only been to the Elven capital deep in the Weirwood once when he first arrived in the valley, but he is not sure where it is as he was blindfolded for the entire journey
-Jamallah and Koi are agents for the Danobian League, a confederacy of city-states to the west of the Falegar Valley south of the Yerevan Highlands. The League is concerned with Acregor’s aggressions, and the League sent the pair here to assess the situation in the valley. Jamallah and Koi are also former adventuring companions of Sarkis and old friends of his. They relate that some in the League prefer to tolerate Acregor’s aggressions as long as they are directed somewhere besides the League itself, but others, Jamallah and Koi included, believe he needs to be stopped before he becomes a threat to the League. They have been in touch with the leaders of Kalis, the westernmost human settlement in the Falegar Valley, and they wish to help, but have limited resources. An agent of the settlement, the bard Jared Karenthal had joined Sarkis cause, but he was among those killed at the Springs Stones. Jamallah and Koi have also heard reports of increased activity of the Bukra Earah in the south and west of the valley.
Sarkis begins to outline what he sees as needing done, but also asks Chore if he is willing to use a scroll Sorcha recovered from their fallen companion Jared, that will allow them to speak with the dead to question one of their fallen foes. They debate whether it would be better to question the orc sorcerer or the Aaracokra harvester and decide on the orc. They plan what they will ask and how they will deceive the orc into trusting them so he will speak truthfully, deciding that Chore will pose as a fellow orc who is using illusions to infiltrate the enemies alliance and who needs to know what needs to be passed on to the orc leaders now that the orc force holding the fort has fallen. They ask their questions and learn that there are three factions of orcs, the aforementioned Ukkausan, the Bukra Earah, and the Red Fangs, the group that the party encountered in the ruined village, and while they have discussed an alliance, they are still squabbling over who should lead that alliance. They also learn the names of the leaders of each faction, and that Acregor has threatened to send his whiate dragon ally to the valley if they cannot work out the terms of their truce/alliance.
Having covered all they know, they begin to discuss what needs and can be done:
-Sorcha will travel west to spy on the Ukkausan to determine their strength and disposition, and what their potential targets are. As a half-rc she can blend in, unless the Red Fangs are involved, as the Fangs despise all non-orcs and consider Half-Orcs an abomination.
-Jamallah and Koi need to report back to the Danobian League and try to marshal their aid and support for an alliance with the valley’s forces. They will stop at Kalis to update them and secure their continued support for the burgeoning alliance.
-Sarkis intends to head east towards the human settlements of Hart’s Ford and Garek’s Peaks to try to overcome their reluctance to support his cause, and to let them know what has been happening throughout the valley. He will also contact his agents in Woolrich to rally that region.
Sarkis asks the party if they are willing to continue aiding his cause and if they will undertake one of the remaining tasks. They agree. What still needs to be done includes…
-traveling to Angar’s Falls to report to the Dwarves recent developments and bring word that their representative, Conrad Deepdelver, was slain by the orcs at the Spring Stones in hopes of securing their further aid in the defense of the valley.
-travel to the Weirwood to get word to the elves and find the reasons for their silence. This also entails finding and dealing with the traitor Nix.
-travel south to spy on the Bukra Earah to determine their strength, disposition, and potential targets, and whether they are committed to joining Acregor’s cause or whether they can be recruited to stand against their longtime rivals, the Ukkausan.
-travel south to the Everwet Bog to investigate the reports of monstrous activity there
-travel west to the mountains to explore reports of monstrous activity there
-discover the identity of the intelligence behind the wolves. Could it be related to vampires now that they know what the kiss of Strahd is and that Quintus long-lost lover was a vampire, since vampires often control packs of wolves (and vermin)
The party discusses the matter briefly and all seem to agree that finding out what happened to the elves is a priority, so they will head to the Weirwood, but since they need to cross the Falegar to get their, they will travel to Angar’s Falls first, since it is on the way and they need to go there to cross the river.
After the council is done, they all eat a final meal together, and the party sets off towards Angar’s Falls. The journey should take them about half a day’s travel, and they hope to arrive before sunset that day thanks to Kruk’s ability to guide them through the hills.
However, they stumble upon a nest of stirges along the way, and have to destroy it, which delays them slightly. After setting the underground nest on fire and burning out the stirges, they resume their journey to Angar’s Falls, arriving an hour or so before sunset, moving at a much faster pace to make up for lost time, an effort that leaves Chore slightly exhausted. They enter the city’s visitor’s quarters and seek out a tavern. While the other celebrate their victory from the previous night and Wrex and Chore partake of the very strong Fire Crown Dwarven whiskey, Kruk seeks out the Temple of the Seven and arranges for an audience with the Lord High Mayor, who is also a former associate of Sarkis.
About an hour or so later, a page arrives at the tavern and summons the party to their audience. They make their way through the interior gates of the fortified settlement, through the Dwarven wad to the the Mayor’s Keep, where they are directed to the audience hall and announced. Inside the audience chamber, the Mayor, his chamberlain, and a pair of guards wait for them. The Chamberlain asks why they have come and they relate what has happened, plead Sarkis’ case, and tell them they are on their way to the Weirwood and seek passage across the river again. The mayor tells them he may be able to save them a trip, as he just an hour ago received a missive with word from the elven court, and the Chamberlain was about to open it and read it for them to consider. He invited the party to remain and listen to the missive, and they agreed.
The Chamberlain retrieves the scroll and prepares to break the seal. When Chore sees the scroll, the hair on the back of his neck stands up, and he gets the heebie jeebies, but steels himself, but as the Chamberlain breaks the seal, there is a flash of sickly eldritch energy that passes through the chamberlain, the guards and the mayor, but seems to ignore the party. The scroll destroys itself as the curse is unleashed.
The mayor begins to thrash in his seat and foam at the mouth as if having some sort of seizure, but the Chamberlain and the guards have it worse. After the eldritch energy washes over them, they begin to scream in agony as their bodies begin to transform. Bones break and skin rends as their faces begin to elongate into snouts and their bodies begin to change shape. The Chamberlain has been transformed into a wereboar and the two guards turned into giant boars. All three have the faint aura of an eldritch green crown hovering above their heads.
Zano rushes to try to get the other guard outside the audience chamber to help, but they appear catatonic, their eyes rolled back and the same sickly green glow emanating from their eyes. The rest of the party tries to confront the wereboar and giant boars, but the wereboar seems impervious to their weapons. Wrex manages to put one of the giant boars to sleep, and Kruk and Zano take down the other with arrows and bolts. Naggath grapples the wereboar and wrestles him into the fire of one of the standing torches held in a sculpted stone stand, and the fire sears its flesh as Wrex and Chore now blast it with magic to wear it down. Once the giant boars are dispatched, Kruk begins to douse the wereboar in oil from above as Naggath continues to hold it in the fire, even as the wereboar gores him with his tusks (luckily Naggath is hardy enough to resist the curse of lycanthropy from those wounds), and Chore is finally able to destroy the wereboar with a blast of sacred flame.
Catching their breath, they try to figure out what happened, and Chore and Wrex are able to surmise the scroll unleashed some sort of curse directed at only dwarves, and it seems more dwares than just the guard outside the audience chamber have succumbed to that catatonic state.
And that is where we will pick up next session.
-M