Run Date: September 24th 2022
Today's session was a lesson in player freedom and time management.
PCs
Arken[Pa]: Lv1 Artificer
Richard[Sh]: Lv2 Fighter
Return to the Red Water Sanctum
Rebel was out today so the other two players had to decide what they were going to do. Arken proposed spending some of their gathered gold on a couple horses, a wagon, and some supplies so they could return to the Red Water Sanctum. The plan involved mining out the Gold Digger Guild's claim and selling what they could on the black market. "Claim" is probably a strong word since the GDG were still trying to hire people to clear the area out for them, and the dice decided that nobody else had completed the job. After hiring a few henchmen, the party headed out (Aisha, Hap, Kumin, and Hawk).
The last time the party tried to find their way to the Red Water Sanctum, they got lost for several days. This time ended up no different: It took 6 days, and they only found the place by accident (random rolls for veering swung them into the appropriate area).
Day 2: Kumin was navigating: The group came across a wide path between two rocky hills. It was both a shortcut of sorts and one of the only places to get further along their path. Kumin and Richard were driving while the others chilled in the wagon until a small tremor caught their attention. A massive, plated creature burst from the rocky hillside and landed a little over a hundred yards from them. As it raised its head to sniff the air, the party went into defensive actions: they pulled the wagon aside, tied pelts over the horses' eyes, and hid under their hundred pelts as best they could.
They peeked out of their hiding place and observed as the bulette casually walked toward them with its nose still in the air. The creature didn't appear aggressive, but inquisitive. The group managed to keep the horses calm as the hulking mess stopped beside the cart and threw half its body over the edge. It nearly threw them out, and started taking bites out of their property. By the time it wandered off, it had consumed 30 of the 100 shoddy animal pelts they'd purchased (their plan was to hide their haul under the pelts to dodge prying eyes). The rest of their day was uneventful.
Day 4: Kumin continued to navigate for the party, and discovered a wide, well-tread path. The party was excited and concerned. What was a path doing out here? As they followed it, they discovered a sharp mini-mountain jutting out of the ground. There was a dark archway lit by a pair of long torches, and voices could be heard within. The party was far enough away to avoid being immediately spotted, and chose to sneak down the path and avoid the tunnel. To their luck, there was nothing else on the way, though they did find a strange campsite with a fire pit and dreamcatchers hanging from the surrounding branches.
Day 6-7: Kumin still navigating: They finally arrived at the Sanctum, but it was already evening. The group checked the place out to see if anything had traveled through before heading around another hill to set up their camp. Some time during the night, one of the watchmen noticed a stinking scent on the wind. It was faint, but concerning enough for Aishi to wake Hawk. Hawk finished 3rd watch with Aishi and did 4th by himself. The next morning, the group headed into the Sanctum and discovered the stench was coming from the back tunnel. Wanting nothing to do with the dungeon below, Arken took the role of supervisor/foreman and directed the others while they broke the surrounding rock to block the passage. Unfortunately, between the hard work and stench, two of the henchmen started vomiting and needed to rest. The others returned to start breaking down the base of a long-broken pillar (3 chunks).
Day 8: The day prior was full of hard work; and between a few exhausted henchmen and the two who were still nauseous, only Richard was able to put some work in. (1 chunk)
Day 9: Aishi was the only one still not recovered enough to get back to work. She spent some time chatting with the others and helping around the camp. Arken's work as a foreman continued rather well, ensuring that the crew's exploits didn't result in a collapse. (4 chunks)
Day 10: Aishi was still out, continuing her chores and doing what she could. She joined them for lunch to chat some more about what everyone would spend their cut on, and headed back outside. Unfortunately, today was her last. After a lucky run of encounter misses, something finally hit with a vengeance: Wildlings. The party was picking away at a section of the onyx floor when they heard the horses screech and the panicked scream of Aishi. A group of cracked stone-fleshed creatures with bulging red eyes and massive jaws tore through the camp, and the party watched as their horse and Aishi became sacks of blood drink. Arken grabbed his rifle and the fight was on.
The initial wave of ranged attacks killed one of the creatures and wounded another, and two of the henchmen charged into melee. Flush with blood and entering a frenzy, the creatures rushed the two frontliners, mauling one and wounding the other. The next round, a follow-up volley and some solid strikes eliminated another 3-4. Their morale shattered, and Arken took a parting shot as they fled around the corner.
End result: Aishi dead, Kumin KO'd (armor broken), others wounded but still alive. (Also 2 chunks). The party, now realizing their condition (and their ration stocks) called it here.
Day 13: Kumin was driving while Arken took his role as navigator. Arken was a better navigator, overall, guiding the party away from the weird tunnel and dreamcatcher camp and eventually to the edge of the hills. That evening, however, the party realized something was amiss.
High above were several birds, seemingly random at first but now following the party like vultures. The party caught on, thinking they were (stirges) waiting until night fell. They were proactive this time and fired a couple shots into the flock. As soon as that happened, however, the creatures dove. Arken quickly started reloading to try and get another shot off while the others did what they could: shortbow, sling, prep for melee. They killed one outright and wounded another, and it was as the dead one fell to the ground they realized something: the creatures were changelings. These changelings were humanoids mutated into avian monsters, all women, with sharp, toothy beak-mouths and chalkboard-nail screeches.
The screeching threatened to distract the party, but they pushed through it. In the meantime, the creatures closed the gap and landed on the cart to rip everyone and everything to pieces. Arken tried to scare them off with a point-blank shot and loud yell, but ended up getting distracted by a venomous bite that left him dazed. The others managed to ward off the venom or outright avoid being bitten, and laid into the creatures as heavily as they could. The creatures, however, held their ground (morale pass) and continued their assault.
Hap used his greatsword to butcher 2 of them while Richard focused on wounding strikes. Arken remained in his daze while Hawk defended him with a rapier. The fight ended quickly, with the party suffering some heavy wounds but otherwise still standing. The changelings, however, were butchered and bloody. Arken, still trapped in his dazed state, dove out of the cart and started cradling one of the creatures, "his beautiful angel."
The group noticed he wasn't in his right mind, but once he tried to lash out and start reloading his rifle Hap football tackled him into the dirt. They disarmed him and tied him up. Since it was evening, they decided to set up camp and hope his madness faded. By morning, it did.
Arken continued to navigate, albeit tied up and watched like a hawk (not that Hawk). The plains were much safer, and they eventually found the road.
Day 14: Returned to Riversmeet.
Downtime
We had about 20m or so left of session time so I asked the players what they wanted to do with the chunks (10). They paid their henchmen their wages and gave each one a chunk of onyx as hush money. Arken also purchased a round shield and some chainmail for Kumin. Richard hit up Vance again with the same deal as last time (25% cut) and went back to work (he works the graveyard shift, did you know?). Vance succeeded, though it seems that an investigator at the city guard has been working a case involving the black market. Lucky for Richard, he caught wind while having lunch at the mess (day 22).
Arken's venture was a bit different. He met his sale contact behind one of the old mills on Miller Street. After some back and forth about the goods (and Arken having hid 2 of his 3 chunks near the river), the man threatened him with a strange sack and knife. Arken just chuckled and explained what his gun was for, though it didn't seem to phase the contact. A quick initiative and a single shot, and the man was dead. The sack exploded as the body hit the ground and Arken rushed to the river to get his merch and hide.
Arken managed to avoid getting caught and finished his sale the following week. The week after that, he's going to train. (Day 36)
Rewards
3 XP
7500gp to Arken
3k (was it 4k?) gp to Richard.
Afterword
I don't usually toss something in here at the end, but it doesn't really fit anywhere else. The players and I talked a bit about some of the income their henchmen had received, considered what they might do with such funds, and chatted about money in general. Given the conversation, they may end up putting money into a fund for "new adventurers" to give any later characters a "new game+" bonus, write up some contracts, and maybe even develop a will or two. One player is thinking about buying a house while the other is considering what sort of fancy gear they want to have custom-made. There have even been some jokes about just outright retiring.
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