Run Date: February 21st, 2023
We were down one player today, and the other two picked up some of their less adventurous side characters to do a bit of exploration and treasure hunting.
PCs
TAG: Lv2 Rogue
Karthalian: Lv2 Ranger
Side Story
The session began with the group deciding which characters they wanted to play for their "break" away from the Graveyard Crew. Some time ago, TAG and Karthalian had wandered off to check out something in another town and ran across a destroyed merchant's wagon. After surviving some living statues, they came away with a solid amount of loot and a treasure map.
The two spent some time looking over the map and piecing together where exactly the stash was hidden. Since they'd gotten it from a merchant's wagon on the northern road, and the map had a house with an L marking, the group figured the starting point was Leslie. Leslie sits several days north of Riversmeet so the pair packed for a trip and hit the road. They chose to stay the night in each town along the route, giving them an opportunity to chat with the locals about various rumors that had been floating around.
In Cathorp, they learned that everyone was paranoid of the plague and began locking themselves away. Travelers and merchants had set up their own camp-town in the meantime. In Alfstead, the group heard more about the rumors of children disappearing. TAG, being a mother herself, considered investigating it. She convinced Karthalian to assist in the endeavour. They spent a day in Alfstead collecting information before choosing to finish their treasure hunt, "We should probably see if we even survive this before committing to finding these kids."
The pair arrived in Leslie on day 4. They worked through the clues on the map, and Karthalian took point in navigation. It didn't take long for the pair to find an archway of blown-over trees and strange tunnel of earth and stone. The players were extremely hesitant to enter, thinking it may have been a lair instead of a cache. As they descended in, they found themselves traveling a ways until coming out to a fresh spring surrounded by walls of tall trees and brush. It was a beautiful, natural site that protected them from the outside chill.
No surprise, but the two were paranoid about touching the crystal clear water. Karthalian poked it with an arrow and TAG put her finger in. I spent some extra time describing the ripples, the fish, and beauty of the area; also the water was fresh and cold. Finally TAG decided to take a proper look and spotted a half-buried crate at the bottom of the pool. She tied a rope to herself and dove in to dig it out. Karthalian was supposed to build a fire so she could dry off, but he was too distracted about what could be inside the mysterious chest.
It took a bit of work, but TAG eventually got the crate loose, tied her rope around it and hauled it out with Karthalian's "help." They busted out the trusty crowbar, broke off the wax, and pried it open. Karthalian pushed aside some slightly damp cloth and straw to find a chest, a rack of wine, and a small box. TAG set to work on the chest while Karthalian popped open the small box. Inside was a set of 10 cigars, fresh and begging to be smoked. TAG, meanwhile, managed to avoid triggering a needle trap as she shaved off the wax seals and navigated the lock. Within was a smattering of loose coin. The wine, being the least interesting to them, was a variety of vintages.
Satisfied with their reward, TAG and Karthalian headed back to Alfstead to try and sell off the goods and investigate the missing children. During their last stay, they discovered the name of a logger. Hector was the most recent to lose a child, his daughter Delilah, and lived over in Haywich. The group set out the following day.
Haywich wasn't much to look at. The Countess's estate stood out well above the smattering of rabble houses and even those quickly became widespread into farms and ranches. All along the way, farmers tended the fields in preparation for the coming spring planting. TAG decided to question one of them before arriving in the town proper; a large man with red hair and a redder neck. She asked about the rumours, confirmed some of the things she'd heard in Alfstead, and learned that Hector was this farmer's cousin. He pointed them toward the camp on the western side of town and wished them a good day.
The pair spotted Hector coming out of the woods with a haul of fresh cuts. They introduced themselves, sat him down, and began their detective work. He told them about some of the oddities around the town (The Talking Rock, Fried Friar) and of a naked Dancing Lady he spotted a while back. TAG, being Nüra, took interest in the theories involving Fae. After finishing their questioning, the investigators split up to do a bit of digging.
TAG focused her efforts on the Talking Rock and questioning the children. She entered the forest and easily found the strange stone, staring over it for some time. TAG could feel the ambient magics of the wilds, though faint, and it reminded her of her time traveling with her people. The Talking Rock did not speak to her, however, and she walked back to town.
The children were forward, as children are, about the things they'd been seeing. The smattering of stories and theories were overwhelming to TAG, but she managed to pick out consistent details. Some of the braver kids went into the woods to try and find their friends. Some never came back. Others talked about the nice ladies that come through town and gift them things.
Meanwhile, Karthalian headed a good hour out to chat with a rancher that Hector had mentioned. Upon arrival, the rough man was trying to repair a section of fencing that had been destroyed the night before. He was in no mood to converse with Karthalian, especially after his, "I'm working with a detective agency" introduction. Nonetheless, Karthalian helped (somewhat) with the fence and asked about the rancher's lost son. Philip, a short boy with a leg scar and brown hair, used to go into town to play with his friends every day; and would come home before sunset every night. He wasn't much use around the ranch, but boys will be boys.
Karthalian's attention drifted while the father talked on and he began examining the damage done to the fence. He spotted large claw marks, counting out several beasts of large stature. He also noted a distinct, rounded trail along their path, as if they were dragging something behind. Finally, he spotted a vibrant blue scale. The ranger practically dropped the post on the rancher as he picked up the scale. The rancher yelled at him and they began arguing again. Karthalian didn't learn much after that, but was satisfied with his find.
The pair reconvened in the evening, did a bit more questioning in the tavern, and retired for the night. The main detail gathered before bed was that the Countess has special guests that host festivals for a good harvest, and they're all beautiful women.
The next day, the PCs woke to panicked screaming. They had just stepped out of the tavern and were headed to the logger camp when a pair of men staggered into town. They rambled on about massive lizards breathing ice that ambushed their camp and killed their other party members. After some quick questions, the PCs decided to try and follow this party's trail and investigate their camp for clues.
Karthalian took the lead, but eventually the trail mixed with other animal trails. To his luck, he managed to find an opportunity to do some hunting as he came over a perfect ambush spot. A mother and her fawns were munching away some ways down a hill. An opportunity arrives, an opportunity passes. Karthalian went back to his tracking and eventually found another stone "face". This one actually had a hole where the "mouth" should be, and TAG was the courageous one. She stuck her hand in the hole and found a sack full of rune-marked snail shells and gems. She took the chance to taunt Karthalian a bit, "Finders keepers," and they moved on.
It took a few hours overall, but Karthalian eventually found the camp. Again, he had found the perfect perch, and spotted 4 large-mandibled infused flies munching away at half-frozen meats. They considered evading the encounter entirely until I mentioned that the camp had old backpacks and tents strewn about. A stone hole is too scary, but a backpack with potentially little is too much to pass up.
The party had surprise and made quick work of the Infused Flies with a volley of arrows and Scaley (Karthalian's pet) striking out. They tore through the packs and found a smattering of gear and some loose coin. They also noticed that the "ice breath" story was likely true: the campfire was frozen solid and the wood within barely charred; the weapons, now broken, were encased in a layer of ice; and there were still a few leftover "bits" here and there. This was more than enough for the pair to bounce, and they quickly headed back to Haywich.
Once they returned, they took a few more hours to ask some more questions. They met an old nurse called Auntie Auria, confirmed the existence of a Lady of the Wood, and eventually settled in for the night.
Rewards
4xp
666gp/ea
Afterword
I need to work on my methods for "normal" encounters across roads and such. LFG Deluxe has some road encounters, and AD&D has some tables I may be able to tack onto that. My main issue is deciding how often is too often for an encounter check, but 1/week seems to make sense given the area. On that note, I didn't write that the group encounter a massive wagon train and made some purchases. In-session shopping can always be hit and miss... Oh yeah, I also learned that Trade Winds doesn't have tobacco so I used the Exotic goods. That was probably a bad idea because each cigar ended up being valued at 10gp/FL. Then again, Riversmeet and Cathos are practically half the world apart.
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