Session 44: Choked Up About Animals
The captain is dead. Six bodies are retrieved from the water, some having drifted free from the heap. Three of Alastor's acolytes survived.The party rolls Nature to loot spore pods from the corps of the heap. They harvest 8 before the rest decay.
As long as they're bundled up, they'll keep for a little while. It would be helpful to find an alchemist or botanist to make the most out of them.
Alastor casts gentle repose on the corpses to ensure they don't decompose on the way back to shore. One of his crewmen pilots the party's boat to dock.
Once within range, Alastor moors his boat and has his people steer the party's boat in.
Miss Crew herself greets the party, surprised by the appearance of a second boat.
"Welcome back! I'm really happy to see you. I'm glad you're okay. You even brought another boat, are you from Soquay?"
"Yes ma'am I am, I was underway for much the same reason these folks were."
"So um. I can't help but notice your compatriots are carrying some bundles to the church. What happened?"
The Sprite describes the encounter and apologizes for the loss of the captain.
"I'm sure you did everything you could. So much has been coming out of the woods and water lately, these villages are not safe, I don't know how much longer we can stay here. For as long as you're in the area, you have free access to my ferries. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some families to inform."
Two of Alastor's priests accompany her to go tend to the church, leaving Alastor with the party.
(Party gains 180 experience)
Clarence introduces the party with all their names and titles and such.
"Abandoned the front yard, have you?" Alastor responds with a large smile, though Clarence might feel a little bit of stink on "abandoned."
They discuss Clarence's drake, Kimber, and how neither of them like water.
The Sprite uses Prestidigitation to dry Clarence off. He is immaculately fluffy.
Alastor says he is glad Clarence has found some new compatriots, and questions why he's here.
Sartorii peels off to collect Kimber and Sweet.
Our House is based in Brevoy, and some things came up, party decided to come take things down here, since Brevoy is mostly squared away for now. Nothing ever stays really saved, but stays calm for a bit.
Similar to why Alastor came here, he'd been wandering the River Kingdoms, and heard of a small cult that popped up here to spread their word. He's making sure they don't. Clarence and Rutana recognize the god's name, one from the western shore of the River Kingdoms.
Razmiran, the complete opposite corner of the River Kingdoms. It's ruled by a living god, a masked magi named Razmir, who has done the quest of the starstone and touched the thing and achieved godhood and all his followers believe him. With no one to prove it, he's essentially a human being with a powerful rock on a stick, and all the people worshipping him gives him power. With this he created a theological surveillance state. He sends people to preach the good word of Razmir.
The fancy puzzle map the party had deciphered previously mentioned the staff of a false god, which could be Razmir's staff.
So, Alastor is here to curb this cult. He's also ran into some knights who had been dreaming of a lost church in this area. He hasn't heard of this area being so active before.
Alastor and the party bemoaning the amount of cults.
Sartorii pops back up to say they met Asmodeus.
Wait what.
Also here's Kimber!
Alastor immediately pets Kimber, but doesn't really take his eyes off the party for having mentioned Asmodeus.
Party explains a bit.
Alastor rubs his brow. Gods, can't even imagine having so much on my plate.
The Sprite talks Clarence up and thanks Alastor for the aid during the seaweed battle.
Alastor thanks the party for saving his life from seaweed. "Knowing what you've all been through and, well... Clarence, I'll be a bit more charitable than I was planning on being."
"Do whatever you feel you need. We're doing what we do."
Alastor lets the silence hang for a bit then nods. "Yes, I suppose an apology was reaching. I'll see you around." He turns and walks away.
Rutana to Clarence: "Is he mad at you?"
"Probably."
The first anathema of Alastor's god is abandon a companion in need.
Rutana goes to buy some fruit for her bat.
The party is allowed to rest at an inn at no cost for having saved the ferry service. They're also allowed to park the cart at the ferry office while they head on their next adventure.
On the first day of spring, the party takes their mounts and travels to Greenwater, skirting the west side of the river.
While traveling through the woods, the party comes upon a group of abandoned houses. They're a little overgrown, but it looks like they were just abandoned because the people either passed away or moved and left the homes behind.
This is a haven. At any time the party can return to this location and rest in the abandoned homes. No nighttime encounter will occur.
The party spends the night here.
The next day, the party finds an alcove with an enchanted spring. The party can stay here to recover HP or gain temp HP if they are already at max.
Hot spring episode! The party relaxes here and tends to the basics. Kimber gets a bath, gear is cleaned and repaired.
Party uses their rations. If out of rations, the Sprite can forage food.
Perception checks, there is a rock outcropping nearby. Beyond the firelight, Sartorii sees the glow of two, four, six, eight, twelve eyes staring out of the woods at the party. There is a massive variation in height among them, ranging from 3 to 7 feet.
"If you're friendly, come out. If not, scatter."
Six cloaked figures scatter and vanish into the woods. The rest of the party looks on in confusion.
The Sprite casts Augury to see if it's a good idea to camp here. Meanwhile, Sartorii investigates the cloaked figures.
With Rutana's assistance, she sees they vanish toward the north. They also find what looks like little pieces of fur caught on brambles and branches. Some grey, some black, some blonde. Rutana's Shapechanger's Intuition does not go off.
The Sprite inspects a nearby mushroom, which indicates it will be safe to camp here. Augury returns an emphatic yes.
The party then inspect the fur. Between Rutana, Clarence, and the Sprite, they decide the grey and black are racoon fur, and the blonde must be dog fur. There's some cat fur around as well. The Sprite holds the fur up to Clarence to make sure he's not the one shedding; nope, wrong color. Probably not Alastor's either.
The party camps for the night, and nothing else occurs.
Morning, they continue traveling north.
At the edge of the woods, where the forest has been chopped back by the logging community of Greenwater, they see a significant amount of saplings planted around the stumps. In the distance there is a hamlet; not quite a town, just a bit larger than a settlement. A thorp. Could house 100 at the most.
As the party comes out of the woods they are met by 8 robed figures, 7 of whom pull up crossbows to point at the party. They all wear burlap cloaks that cover them head to toe, with hoods up and bandanas over their faces.
"Our scouts found you last night. What business have you in Greenwater?"
We're here to make sure Greenwater's okay.
A woman holding a crossbow responds. "Suppose it was only a matter of time until they sent someone."
"Yes, yes, we've been expecting this for a while. Tell me, heroes, can you keep a secret?"
Laughter. As a show of good faith, Rutana shifts to fox form, and is met by a bunch of oohs and aahs.
"Is that a werefox? I heard they're all nice!" "Well they're all women."
"Kitsune, totally different species."
The guy in front says, "Right, okay, fine." He pulls his mask down and face back to reveal the face of an especially gorgeous golden retriever. He licks his nose to wet it. "Right. Welcome to Greenwater. Walk with me."
The rest of them also pulls their disguises back, revealing more unnatural animal faces. Cats, dogs, rats, raccoons.
Clarence poofs up. A catgirl walks up to him, "Hey, you get used to the dogs, come on."
Sartorii apologizes for spooking their scouts.
"Ah don't worry about it, we were standing in the dark watching you bathe. Never know what you can trust in these woods, least of all comin' up the river."
"Do you get stuff coming up the river often?"
"Beasts in the woods, but we really can't say."
Sartorii mentions the seaweed creature they defeated. Two rats walk up to ask about it. Sartorii launches into the tale. Halfway through she's stricken with the sight of their eyes popping out. Bruxing, boggling. Happy thing that rats do. She continues with the story as they walk to town.
Early in the morning, they hear a rooster crow, then someone whacks him. "Charles you stop that, some of us are trying to sleep!" "Sorry!"
Many of the carts have been converted to be carried around by 7-foot tall draft horse men. The whole thorp is populated by these animal people, with no actual animals around aside from Sweet and Kimber. All eyes stare at the party, with some of the horse men staring at the party's horse uncomfortably.
Once in the town square, the golden retriever gestures at the largest house. "We'll talk inside."
As they leave they hear two simultaneous "Aww!" from the rats as they're turned away. Sweet and Kimber get hitched outside the house, Sweet's pupils slowly contracting as she stares at all the prey people around.
The house is pretty nice inside, the walls adorned with faded pictures. A bearskin rug on the floor, a fire going in the hearth, a beagle woman tending to the fire with a stew bubbling above.
"Ohh, it's been so long since we've had guests!" the woman cries when the party enters. "Please, welcome, take of your boots, make yourselves at home, stew is ready in less than an hour! Griff, who are these?"
The golden retriever sighs. "Hold on, Ruby, just hold on. She's right, take a seat, I imagine we have a lot to discuss."
"As much as you're willing to discuss, honestly."
"Keeping the entire population of my town hidden is not sustainable."
The party sits.
"First off, my name is Griffon. I am the mayor of this town. This is my wife, Ruby."
The party minus the Sprite introduce themselves.
"When I got reports you were coming up from the south, I was concerned. Not often we get visitors, even less those look like mercenaries, and even less often the fae. We've had bad experiences in the past. You've been polite, so against my better judgement, I will allow you to stay. But please, tell no one. The people of this area are small-minded and I fear they will burn our town to the ground. This is a recent development, as far as any of us can tell."
Sartorii asks how long ago.
"Three months." (The wizard war has been going on for about a month. This predated the arrival of those three.)
So you just woke up like this?
"That implies there was anything before that. About three months ago we all woke up one morning, in this town, with our roles. We had memories of our roles, but to the best of my knowledge, we have only existed for three months. I met Ruby about a month and a half in, we really hit it off, and... I say wife, she's my fiance. We haven't had time for a proper service, and we didn't wake up with a pastor."
It's a lot to think about. Clearly this town was here before then, but...
The Sprite tries to look at one of the pictures more closely. There are shapes of people, but it's all melted and swirled. It's hard to tell what the paint used to depict, just the vague shapes of people.
"See, I believe that as well. I found some ledgers for the Greenwater Logging Co-op. There are marks, payments, deductions, credits, all dating as far back as the book goes, years and years and years. No names. Any attempts to find who we are, where we're from, who lived here before we did, they're gone. Maybe we are some kind of replacements. I don't know. I'd be lying if I said it didn't keep me up at night."
Sartorii responds it's not the first time we've gone somewhere and there've been strange goings-on. We could poke around and see what we could find out.
Griffon thinks on it for a moment. When he hesitates, Ruby walks up and flicks his ear. "Oh, tell them about the troubles, they look like mercenaries, maybe they can do something! Not like we're using the treasury."
We're here to help just to help. Help us help you.
"You'll have to forgive me. In these past few months I've had so much on my mind, it's been a real question if there's anyone I can trust. But, that's just not sustainable. Fine. I have a few jobs that could be done if you have the time."
Of course!
Griff nods. "Then I've got some folks to introduce you to. After dinner, would you mind walking the town with me?"
We'd love to meet your townsfolk. We heard Charles getting yelled at earlier.
"Always late to crow, that one."
Griff cuts bread and Ruby serves stew, hearty rabbit and vegetable. Ruby and Griff also eat the bones. Ruby gives the biggest puppy dog eyes anyone has ever seen asking if the party will eat their bones. Griff gives Ruby a Look, but very eagerly takes the bone offered to him by the Sprite.
Rutana pulls upon her vast esoteric knowledge. She's heard of really powerful wizards awakening animals to human-esque sapience. They often take the shape of anthropomorphic, humanoid animals. More animalistic than ratfolk, catfolk, or dogfolk. To do it on this scale would take something very powerful, and it wouldn't explain what happened to the people here.
The Sprite casts Read Aura after he finishes eating. He can see vague specks of magic around, but whatever caused this has long since dissipated. There's nothing left to identify.
Once lunch is over Griff leads the party out around the town. It's small, just a few houses here and there, a little smithy for horseshoes. Rutana figures it's probably not where they get the majority of their horseshoes, just a stopgap until they would go get their main supply.
The tour takes them by a chicken farm, several places where the ground has been tilled and a setup with particularly large eggs in the window. There's a pair of hens who are squat, broad-bodied, rather buxom, falling over each other and bemoaning someone who's missing.
"Griff, where is he, he's gone, it's been a thousand years!"
"Greta, it's been two days."
Who's he?
"A vision, a strapping young man tilling the fields every morning, crowing at dawn to keep our schedules on track!"
"Red. He's a rooster who helps me out, and he's been missing. Yesterday evening Greta and Grenda were out foraging in the woods to supplement our diets since we don't get imports anymore. Allegedly something jumped out at them, he told them to run and jumped in front of them, and he hasn't been seen since. We haven't been able to send anyone into the woods." He drags the party away. "To be realistic, it's been a few days, I have little help. If you go out that way please look for him, we can at least give him a proper burial. There's things in these woods. I've seen a deer wait until a wolf struck it before opening its back and swallowing the wolf whole. I've seen a fox the size of a horse-drawn cart whipping trees with its tails. Multiple. There are Things out there, I've only been here three months and I don't think that's normal. Regardless, there's also the problem of fae from the east and beasts from the south. Our border guards can't stop everything and one of them vanished last week. So here, let me ask you this. There is a small platoon of guards that we have to the south. They haven't reported in, that's normal, but I would like to check on them given everything that's been going on."
We'll check on them then explore the surrounding woods to see what we can find.
"Greta and Grenda can show you their normal picking spots."
The Sprite asks about the fae problems.
There is a small church to Arastil. Inside is a juvenile buck with short horns, very fastidiously trying to read a book and teach himself to be a preacher.
"William!"
"Huh, yes? Oh! New people! I didn't know we were allowed to have new people!"
"We're not."
"But the people down in Biavon, they could teach us so much, I could go ask them—"
"Will, they will stab you. I promise they will."
Sartorii tries to convince them otherwise, but Griff continues.
"William, is Aubrey still... Has there been any improvement?"
Will rubs the back of his neck and looks away.
"Do you think she'd mind if we went to see her?"
"I don't think she'd mind much of anything, Griff."
Griff leads them past the chapel to a resting area. In one of the beds is a chickadee, very small. Her eyes are utterly vacant. "About a week and a half ago, a group of people met with one of our scouting parties in the woods, offered them food and drink, from what we could tell. When we got out there, there were tables and chairs wilting as if made of plant matter. Empty plates, full bellies, vacant stares. Out of the scouting party, three are gone without a trace. Two refused to eat until they starved. Aubrey hasn't said a word since."
She's breathing, but she hasn't looked around, hasn't given any indication of awareness.
Clarence can tell her body is fine and tended to, but there seems to be no one home.
The Sprite immediately identifies this as someone who ate too much fae food and left the fae wild.
The Sprite keeps that tidbit to himself, but thanks Griff for showing them and apologizes for the troubles that have befallen the town.
The party agrees to go check out the guards. Griff is sure Chuck would let the party stay at the inn, which Chuck had renamed to The Bark and Bray. Griff does a zip-lip motion, having to go all the way around his muzzle.
The party heads south to look for the guards. When the party gets to where the border guard was said to be, there's nothing but a lot of fur, a lot of red, and a lot of slime, but not a lot of people. Rutana shares with the party that the slime is nothing she's ever heard of before. It has the ozone smell unique to aberrations. There isn't enough blood here for anyone to have died, however.
The Sprite and Sartorii both spot different trails. The Sprite sees a trail of wolf tracks leading immediately northwest. Sartorii finds a path of wolf tracks leading southeast, along with slime.
The party decides to follow the southeastern trail.
The party finds a grove of yellow flowers. Not that large, and not that yellow. The Sprite recognizes as things rub against the petals they get stained red. These flowers are used to create a magical mixture called a colorful coating. The coating made from these increases friction, making it easier to move in an area. He plucks a few with mage hand to stash in the bag of holding.
The party makes camp and continues the next day.
They come upon a ruined tower that had been knocked completely down.
It's a quiet clearing, entirely lacking in game trails. The horses are hesitant to approach. Sweet and Kimber are well trained enough to follow. Sartorii instructs Sweet to keep the horses on guard.
The Sprite and Rutana notice slime trailing along the side of the tower, back toward a collapsed corner. There are some boarded up windows.
Clarence steps just past the collapsed corner. An arm stretches down from the ceiling and reaches for his neck. It slaps its wet noodle against his neck, dealing 5 damage. The arm itself is limp, but its hand is strong, and it begins to choke Clarence. It then crawls closer and throws another hand at the Sprite. It misses plaps against some sharp leaves instead, rendering the hand useless.
Clarence names the Aberration as the target of his Oath of the Defender, granting the rest of the party resistance to damage.
Rutana exploits vulnerability and opens with Ray of Frost, nailing a crit. The choker emits a strained wheeze, then freezes and crumbles into dust. She stops to listen and hears more of the creatures inside the building, but is confident there are no more outside.
Sartorii steps closer and spots another choker in the tower. She shoots her crossbow at it, dealing 3 damage.
The Sprite moves forward and casts Ignition, dealing 10 damage.
Clarence enters the ruin and claws at the choker. He deals 11 damage, and 10 on second attack, slicing the choker to ribbons.
End of session.