Session Summaries

General Background:

It's been a difficult year for Cuthren. Early in the summer, one of Sir Sevlin's most trusted men-at-arms was found in the bedroom of his daughter (or so the rumors say). The man was killed in a failed escape attempt, and his bones, picked clean by birds, still hang in one of the village's six gibbets. This cast a dark, and unusually vicious upon Sir Sevlin's general mood, and the punishments meted out to villagers in the hallmoot have since become more severe.

When four able-bodied young serfs ran off in mid-summer, depriving the village of much-needed labor, Sir Sevlin took it personally. When bounty hunters failed to find the youths, the runaways' families were fined heavily and their heads of household publicly flogged. Sir Sevlin has vowed that any future runaways, their families, an (most ominously) the village as a whole, will be treated "with no mercy whatsoever".

Trouble came from other sources as well. A hailstorm in Agrazhar damaged crops, resulting in a smaller-than-expected autumn harvest. Harvest season was further marred by the death an itinerant laborer from Tharda (apparently an accident, but some whisper murder). A death during harvest is known to be a bad omen for the coming winter…

Since the harvest, heavy rains have pushed the plowing and sowing of next year's crops far behind schedule. It seems that the great swine slaughter (which traditionally begins on Saint Mytten's Day (24 Halane) may have to be delayed so that more time can be spent ploughing/planting for next year. Many peasants worry that they they're just not going to be able to plant as much wheat and rye as they should before winter comes along. There has been some grumbling about the inefficacy of Hine Asin, the village reeve— but, for now, most Cuthrenites' main concern is getting next year's crops planted. There will be plenty of time for blame-casting and political bickering during the cold, wet, winter months…

 

PC Activity

While Sir Sevlin and his son were visiting with the Earl of Techen for his great autumn hunt, yet another serf ran away— this time it was a lad named Dael (of clan Iurne). Alina of Birk, the wealthiest freeholder in Cuthren, approached the five PCs ( consisting of Aron, Firkin, Arlun Argothan, and Jonn) to ask for their assistance in recoverying the boy. Yet another runaway, she explained, would set Sir Sevlin's ablaze and the whole village would be sure to suffer his wrath. However, if Dael could be found and brought back before Sir Sevlin's return, then perhaps nothing much might come of the incident. The characters agreed to help find him.

Alina also told them to bring the youth back directly to her, rather than to his family. His father, she reminded them, was an angry brute who had often been fined “for beating overly long and without good purpose”his wife, his children, and his livestock. The boy, she explained, would be safest with her. Also, she noted, he would be with family, as the lad's sister Lena was a live-in servant in her house.

The young brewer Firkin spoke to Dael's sister Lena. She thought her brother might be heading south, to Kanday. Apparently, he had been quite fond of one of the slave girls who ran away last year… and just last month, a mendicant Peonian priestess brought the boy a message from the girl, , who now dwelt in Dyrisa (in the kingdom of Kanday) as the servant to a noblewoman. The mendicant priestess, Lena recounted, also told Dael that the runaway girl missed him very much and she was sure she could find the boy a position in the noblewoman's household.

Initially, the PCs thought to set out towards Kanday, heading south along the main road to Techen. After a few casual inquiries around the village, however, they learned that the boy had borrowed a lantern from one of the other villagers last night and that he had been seen heading off to the woods to visit the shrine of Saint Eulalia, a local saint whoe lies entombed near the ruins of the old Peonian church. A quick search revealed that the boy had indeed gone there… and then headed deeper into Laxley Forest.

Before leaving the ruined churchyard, several PCs began to feel, most uncannily, that they were being observed or watched. A glance around revealed the presence of a large, angry-looking raven perched over head in an elm tree. Almost out of instinct, the hunter Argothan, in one fluid movement grabbed an arrow, nocked it, drew his bow, and fired, shooting the raven clear through the belly. The bird tumbled to the ground with a dull thud, and after a short frenzy of pathetic fluttering and blood-spewing, died with an accusing 'Caw'. Upon the bird's death, an uneasy feeling crept into the hunter's soul— he could not escape the strange sense that he had just done something very very wrong, though he could not say why.

From the ruined churchyard, the group was able to pursue the boy's tracks. At length, the boy's trail led to a small lake in the middle of the wilderness. On the other side of the lake a tiny hovel stood, surrounded by a small ring of stones. Dael's footprints, quite clear in the damp mud, circled round the lake, leading towards the hut. The party approached. As they neared the hut, they were startled when an enormous black and brown dog— some kind of large wolfhound, perhaps—ran out of the hut and started barking furiously at them. The dog, however, did not approach but seemed to stay within the ring of stones surrounding the hut.

A human voice— that of an older woman— called out of the hut for the dog to be silent. The voice, then called out to the group, telling them that it belonged to an old basket-weaver named Grilka, who wanted no trouble, had nothing valuable, and simply wanted to be left alone. The merchant Aron reassured her that they wished to cause no trouble and that they were instead searching for a young boy named Dael, who had runaway. She replied that she knew nothing of any boy, but a slight hesitation made Aron suspect that she was lying.

After a few more questions, Grilka (who still remained hidden in the house, calling out from a small window) gave a few hints as to suggest that maybe it was possible that somebody came by in the night without her knowing. (Given the vigilance of her watchdog, that story seemed a bit difficult to believe however.)

Session #2: Skirmish in the Forest

14 Halane 720 (mid-autumn)

Laxley Forest, Kingdom of Rethem

PC activity:

The PCs continued to question Grilka, the old hagby the lake. At length, she called off her fierce wolfhound (called “Gashrul"”, a name with Morgathian overtones), although she refused to come out of the hut to speak face to face. The PCs came to suspect that she might be in league with some of the bandits in Laxley Forest— perhaps even the Brothers of the Green Wood. After Aron with these suspicions, and letting her know that he might be interested in doing business with the bandits, she made no such admissions. However, she did say that a youth had come by in the night, seeking a place to stay till morn. She refused to let him in as her dog hates all vistors, but claimed to have told the boy about an abandoned hunting lodge about a mile up one of the streams that fed into the lake, where he might be able to pass the night with a roof overhead.

The PCs went up that stream, and were able to follow Dael's tracks along the bank without problem. After about a half-mile, they noticed another set of tracks crossing it. Apparently a lone horseman (or a riderless horse) had forded the stream and headed off in more or less the same direction as Dael, but then veered off sharply into the woods away from the stream. The savage Arlun noticed that a snake had been crushed to death by the horse' hooves, which gave him a feeling of foreboding— the discovery of a dead serpent is considered an ill omen among the Kubora. The hunter Argothan thought it might be worth following those horse tracks for at least a short distance, and split off from the others.

The remaining PCs came to the hunting lodge, where from a short distance, they could year a boy screaming and shouting, and the sound of several men laughing. A quick reconnaissance mission revealed that a group of rough-looking men— presumably bandits— had caught young Dael and tied him to a tree. They were also having a sadistic “archery contest“ to see who shoot arrows closest to the boywithout actually hitting him.

The PCs crept closer, hoping to sneak in for a surprise attack while the thugs were distracted by their amusement, but the loud “CRACK” of a twig snapping under on of their feet spoilt the surprise. A pitched battle ensued between four PCs and what turned out to be four brigands! Three of the boy's tormentors were slain in battle. The fourth man was taken prisoner. Upon questioning, he told the PCs that he and his companions were not bandits, but were in fact Royal Foresters performing the king's business by “teaching this poacher a lesson”. He also told the players that they'd be in a lot of trouble when his 'captain' returned with the rest of his men!

The captured forester, realizing the the PCs probably would not let him live, offered to buy his life by telling them more information. His captain, he explained, was Sir Nemiran Wyllis, the Chief Forester of Laxley Forest. He had an arragement with the Brothers of the Green Wood wherein they would pay him a fixed amount every two months in order to be left alone. He also told them that this month's 'booty' could be found in a hole under a loose stone in the lodge's fire pit. The PCs investigates and found a large sack with coins and a few semi-valuable objects. He also told them that Sir Nemiran, his chief lieutenant, and several other men had ridden off, apparently in search of someone they had expected to be at the lodge. When the PCs were convinced the forester had told them everything he knew, the merchant Aron, in an act of pure cold-bloodedness, slit the man's throat— much to the shock of all (and the horror of Firkin, who had been too busy tending to the traumatized Dael to prevent the killing from happening).

A quick search of the area revealed that four horses had been tethered a bit upstream, which the PCs also took, leading them by hand through the woods. The decision was made that they would split up, with Firkin and Jonn (and then, once he caught up with them again) Argothan, taking Dael back to Cuthren, while Aron and his guard Arlun took the booty and the horses down to Techen, where he hoped to sell them to a buyer who might not ask too many questions about where they came from…

Session #3: Return from the Forest / Secrets in the Cave

14-17 Halane 720 (mid-autumn)

Techen / Cuthren / Laxley Forest

Aron and Arlun in Techen:

Aron of Techen and his Kuboran companion split off from their companions, and take the foresters' horses to Techen, stabling them at the Blue Drake Inn, just outside of the town. Gordi of Haawl, the innkeeper, is a member of Lia-Kavair and well-disposed to assist local merchants seeking to store/hide goods that they don't necessarily want to bring into the town— for a fee, of course. Aron spoke with his father about his horse-booty and sought his counsel. His father agreed to take the horses off his sons' hands, feeling sure he could find a buyer for them, if not in Techen— then certainly on the other side of the river (i.e. in Kanday).

---

Returning toCuthren:

In the meantime, Firkin, Argothan, and Jonn returned to Cuthren, where they led the boy Dael straight to Alina home, per her request. A few villagers saw them on the way, and inquired after the boy's wounds. “He fell in a ditch,” Firkin told them, providing no other explanation and quickly hustling the boy away. Back at Alina's, Dael's wounds were tended to, and a few choice words were spoken to him about the dangers of running off again, but little else was asked of him. He quickly fell asleep in the bed of his sister.

Word travels fast in a small village like Cuthren, and it was not long before Bel Iurne, the boy's father, came angrily to see his son. (The man, other villagers recounted later, had been fuming all day, fearful that he would suffer terribly for his son's flight.) He demanded to see Dael, but Alina and the PCs refused to let him— at least not while he was so obviously in such a violent mood. He ranted and fumed and shouted many foul insults, but eventually gave up, saying, “You can have 'im for the night, but I'll be whippin' his bones bare tomrrow or the next day.” Perhaps, the brewer remarked, it would have been kinder to let the boy go again after they had rescued him, rather than to bring him back to such a father.

For the next several days, Dael stayed with Alina, who instructed her slaves and several villages who owed her money to make sure that Bel stayed away from his son— although she did permit the boy's poor mother (upon whom Bel had obviously vented his wrath) a quick visit. During this time, Alina also played host to a part of Halean pilgrims from Techen who were returning from Shiran, where they had attended the Jubilee Festival of the Banquet of Delight.

Over the next two days, rumors of the PCs rescue of the boy spread throughout the village, with the “ditch”story seeming most common among them. A few suspected that something more had gone on— that the boy ran from them and they shot him in the arm— or that it wasn't natural for them to have taken the boy back to that rich woman Alina rather than his father. Still, most praised them for having brought the boy back and (hopefully) sparing the village from the wrath of Sir Sevlin (who was still down in Techen, hunting with the Earl).

During this time, one of the young pig herders reported to the other villagers that he had been accosted by a strange man in the woods, who grabbed him and demanded to know the name of the village. Many did not beleive the boy, who had a well-earned reputation of telling lies to get attention, although some villagers whispered that it might have been an outlaw, or perhaps one of the Brothers of the Green Wood, casing out the village for a raid.

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Back to the Forest

Upon the return of Aron and Arlun to Cuthren, the merchant met with the others to discuss how the 'booty' wealth would be split. Argothan also revealed to them what he had discovered when he pursued the set of horse tracks they had discovered in the Forest. Apparently, the Kuboran's supersition about a dead serpent signifying bad luck had proved true; just a half-mile away, the horse had stumbled and broken its leg. There were signs also that its rider had fallen off and injured himself, although he had apparently been well enough to gather some items from the saddle bag and to continue on foot. The tracks, he added, continued for another half-mile, where they ended, rather abruptly at a sinkhole in a small clearing. The man, Argothan, elaborated, had apparently fallen in.

From a mixture of curiosity, compassion, and the prospect of possible booty (if the man were dead), the group decided to return into the Forest, with equipment needed to climb down into the sinkhole— rope, torches, a lantern, etc. On the 18th, they set out at dawn, much to the curiosity of several of the village residents, who were puzzled by their return into the Forest— especially given the rumors of nearby brigands. Without much difficulty, they retraced the way to the sinkhole, tied a rope around an old stump (which they noticed had a large, very old and very rusty iron ring driven into it), and climbed down into the hole. Argothan, who seemed wary of caves and underground spaces, remained on the surface to keep an eye out for trouble.

The sinkhole went down about twenty feet, opening into a sizable underground chamber— a natural cave, apparently. There was, however, much about the cave that was clearly unnatural. All along the walls were carved niches in which were set various animal skulls— cows and horses mainly. The skulls were old, and many appeared to be in a state of decomposition from the cave's dampness. Remnants of what looked to be black wax could be found atop some of them— signs of ancient ritual activity, perhaps? The skulls, however, were not the only sign of death. Along one side of the cave, there was a large pool, in which lay a body— presumably that of the man who had fallen down. The body was dragged out of the water, wherein it was discovered that the man's neck had been broken, apparently by the fall. It seemed strange, though, that the body should be in the pool, rather than directly under the sinkhole. How could he have gotten there if he had already broken his neck?

The man was dressed in fine clothing, and was wearing spot pieces of exotic Kurbul armor. Aron recognized from his garb, his ring,, and some other of his trappings that he was a Solithor— i.e. a Halean temple guard, presumably of officerial rank. A quick search of his body revealed a fine quality sword, a good deal of silver, a few person effects, but most intriguingly, an ornate wooden scrollcase, sealed with wax, with the seal of the Halean Church upon it. Thinking that the contents might give a further clue as to the man's identity, the group looked inside, only to discover a single, blank piece of vellum.

The cave was explored a bit further, and it was noted that there was a short tunnel heading south, though it was blocked-off by stones— presumably the result of a cave-in. Keen eyed Arlun also noticed through the flickering lantern light that there was, in the floor of one part of the cave, a thin rectangle etched into the floor. Closer inspection revealed that this was no mere carving, but rather a large rectangular stone with tiny handholds on it, that had been placed in a rectuangular 'hole' carved out of the floor. With some difficulty, the part managed to lift the stone out, revealing a puzzling sight. Beneath, there was a narrow (maybe 2' diameter) hole that went down deep— very deep, perhaps 20'-30' feet or more. Out of it came a strange smell— at one and the same time as sweet as flowers and noxious as rotting leaves. While Aron pondered whether to ask his slender Kuboran companion to climb down, to see what might be found, the group was shocked by a voice— a cracked, throaty woman's voice— coming up from below!

After some hesitant back-and-forth discussion, the woman from below told the group that her name was Lily, from the village of Barden's Field, and that she had been a prisoner down there for— well, she didn't know, but it was for a very, very, very long time. Her prisoners, she explained, were vile Morgathians. It had been days, perhaps weeks, since someone had last come to bring her food or water. She asked the part members— implored them, in fact, to help her out, which they did, by letting down a rope for her to grab onto, while they pulled her up.

As Lily emerged from the hole, the group was shocked at what they saw— her pale, naked, wrinkled body, in some places marked by unmistakeable signs of leprosy. Knee-length, stringy hair, hung from her wildly. All this while, she turned her face and hid her eyes from the flickering light of the lantern, claiming it was too painful to gaze upon after so much time in the darkness. Aron, whose eyes, sometimes can see things about people that others can not, thought he noticed a vague menacing darkness flickering about her body— an uneasy feeling came over him that they might have unleashed some fiend of Morgath.

Lily then thanked them, begged them for food and water, while warned them that the should not come to close to her for she was afflicted both with leprosy and a more loathesome curse— that she had been tainted by the Shadow of Morgath. She then told a very strange tale. She was, she explained, Lily of clan Brakewodd, of Barden's Field, and that she had been one of the villagers who had refused to accept the Morgathians when they took over the village.As a punishment, they interred her with foul corpses that were corrupted by the shadow, so that she would be overcome— first by despair, and then by the Shadow, itself. “The Shadow has touched me,” she explained, “and it has cursed my body in ways that I do not care to describe”, but it has not overcome my spirit— and I resist it still.”

Firkin and Aron were touched, but also puzzled by her tale? Where is Barden's Field, they asked? And what Morgathians? Her answers surprised them even more. Barden's Field, she explained, was a village just north of the Corani fort of Techen, and the Morgathians were the Jihadists of the Theocracy. At hearing names out of history from over a century before, an unnerving feeling came through Aron and Firkin, realizing that she was much older than could be natural. “Yes,” Lily conceded to Firkin, “that is so. Partly it is the curse of the Shadow upon my body, but partly it is through my own arts. We of clan Brakewood are wise in the ways of life and death, as you should know, kinsman!” Only at that moment did Firkin realize the similarity between the names Brakewodd and Brockwort!

Jonn immediately had a bad feeling and wished to kill Lily immediately, but the pleas of Firkin held him off. At length, the group told Lily that they would take her back to Cuthren, but she said that she felt to weak for more right now. “It has been so long since I have breathed fresh air, or seen any light, and even the flickers of our lantern sting my eyes! Please, just give me some food to eat, some water to drink, and come back for me on the morrow, and I shall return with you then.” Although Aron and Jonn (and Arlun) had an uneasy feeling about this, they deferred to Firkin's pleas for pity. Before they left, though, they made a point of removing the dead body of the Halean guard from the cave, not wishing to leave it near to one corrupted by the Shadow of Morgath.

The body, however, was left, unceremoniously in the open air, in the middle of the clearing, because, upon returning to the surface, the group noticed that Argothan was gone! A quick search by Arlun revealed that he headed off into the woods. The group followed and caught up with a mile away, where he was sitting on the ground asleep. When roused, he seemed confused and demanded to know how he got where he was. He said remembered nothing, save that one minute he was on guard outside of the sinkhole, and the next moment, he was being woken up here. This seemed to fluster the normally cool and collected woodsman— and after the strange encounter with Lily, all members of the group agreed that it would be best to return to Cuthren quickly, before the fall of night.

Session #4: Dangerous Words and Mutilated Corpses

18-20 Halane 720 (mid-autumn)

Cuthren / Laxley Forest

Evening in Cuthren:

The group returned to Cuthren that evening, disturbed by the events of the day. An itinerant Peonian friar had come to the village earlier that day, and was holding a worship service in the home of one of the households of clan Ferm. Firkin attended, along with his pretty young cousin Xela, hoping that it might ease his trubled mind. Many of the villagers were curious about his doings in the Forest, but he kept quiet on the subject. It was not to difficult to divert discussion to the subject of the crop blessings that the friar would be performing the next day.

Later that evening, though, Firkin took another look at the blank parchment which had been found on the body of the Halean Solithor in the cave. Why seal a blank page? Looking closer, Firkin noticed that there was a small stain on the page where something had apparently spilled. In that stain, the traces of letters could be made out. Firkin recalled something he had once heard about the plant called mytisso, whose flowers could be used to make an ink that vanished when dry— but which could be made to appear again through the application of sea water. Taking a pot of water and stirring some salt into it, Firkin then applied this to the page, and the following words appeared:

Most Esteemed Lord Haelryn:

If the seal on this message is broken, hang the messenger, after a thorough interrogation.

Retelos is dead. His throat cut near the commons like a common dog. His purse was taken, but it was no mere robbery. It had the air of a professional job. I suspect our “friends” were on to him. They may be on to me as well, though he is, or rather was, was only one of my regular visitors.

Before his death, R. told me that our young friend’s now buying up grain and arms, using both his own money and the legion’s and he’s borrowing even more. He’s starting to buy horses and pack animals as well. The big news, though, is that he’s planning a massive call-up of reservists and veterans as early as possible in the spring.

This does not appear to be another just another provocation. The way the winds blow in Coranan, the boy’s only got one more year as Marshall. He’s young, arrogant, and ambitious and I have no doubt that he’s going to gamble fate on a bold brash move.

I still believe, quite strongly, that his target is going to be Themeson and that he’s going attack as early as he can in the spring. He’s even gone so far as to exchange letters with the Herpa Aperterahn in Cornanan. Yes, that’s Gred of Nurmon, who used to be Aperterahnherucha at Themeson— and I’ll bet he wasn’t talking conversion. R’s boy also overheard the Marshall make reference to ‘an inside man at Themeson’ during a meeting with his lieutenants.

While I have no love of the Cohorts either, His Majesty must be aware of the dangers that would be posed by the seizure of Themson by this overambitious youth. I await your counsel as to whether I should make any direct moves to impede it. I believe I am still in a position to arrange for any blame for the Marshall’s death to fall on the Magistrate’s Palace. (Perhaps I should also mention that Jithy’s mother has recommended to him a Shirani assassin as a solution to his Borosir problem. The man is expected to arrive within the month.)

I will continue my efforts as best I can, but R'sdeath comes at an inconvenient time. I may have to deal more directly with his friends. This could bring danger upon me, but I shall do my best in all matters. My primary goal shall be to ascertain the name of Marshall’s inside man at Themeson. If I feel I am in danger of discovery, I shall quit Geshtei with all due speed.

Your most loyal and obedient servant, D.H.
10 Halane 720

A dangerous letter— a spy report apparently. Firkin showed it to Aron the merchant, asking for his thoughts. Aron thought that it might be wise to burn the letter immediately and to never speak of it again. but instead, he suggested that it might be profitable to go to Geshtei, where the letter was apparently written, and to try and sell it to someone there— either to someone who might be directly interested in its contents (such as the Marshall, or if the letter's author), or to someone who might be able to use it for blackmail. Aron also remarked that he recognized the name of Lord Haelryn. Haelryn was the King's Chief Forester, nominally in charge of all of Rethem's forests, but this was something of a sham position. His real job, rumor said, was that of the king's chief spymaster. The words of the captured forester from the other day, who had mentioned that his lieutenant, Sir Nemiran Wyllis, had ridden off to meet with someone, made both merchant and brewer wonder whether the man he had been searching for was the corpse they had found in the cave.

---

The next morning:

The following morning, Cuthren and Aron rose early, planning to take food, water, and clothing to Lily in the cave, and to bring her back to Cuthren. At Aron's suggestion, Firkin also brought a small keg of ale to give as a gift to the old woman Grilka. “She's surely in league with the Brothers of the Green Wood,” he observed, “and it might be that she can help us contact them. They might have loot they wish to sell, and they may have things they need to buy. It can't hurt to cultivate her favor” To help the carry this, the pig farmer Jonn and the barbarian Arlun came along. The hunter, Argothan, however, refused to go— saying that he had duties to hunt game for the manor house that day, that could not be put off any longer. Some sensed that something else was troubling him, though they could say not what…

Grilka's hut was empty when they came to it— neither she nor her enormous wolfhound were there. They left the keg of ale anyway and set out for the cave, to help Lily out.

When they came to the sinkhole leading into the cave, though, they were greeted with two strange sites. First, the body of the Halean Soliitor, which had been left up top, had been violated. All flesh and muscle were gone from it, and even organs and offals were missing— it was picked clean through, and more neatly than any beastly scavenger could have done in one night. More disturbingly, some of the smaller bones were cracked open and it looked like the marrow had been scraped out— and there were signs of teeth marks upon them— human teeth marks.

No less disturbing was what they saw in the sinkhole itself. From out of the walls of the sinkhole,l ng, sturdy, roots had burst forth, and they had grown together in a pattern that could not be natural. They looked almost as if they had been 'woven' together, back and forth, to form a kind of ladder that reached down all the way to the cave floor. WHen they came down, they discovered that Lily was gone, presumably having climbed up the root ladder. Whether she was also responsible for the stripping of the corpse's flesh, was a subject on which none wished to voice an opinion, though many formulated one privately.

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Later on in Cuthren

[…] to be continued