Session #10: The Inconvenient Truths

Azeri had a head start and surprising new speed, and the party was not able to catch up with her. Though the distance to Askelios was long, they all ran flat out (except Akta, who jogged behind, and took quite a while to catch up). When Azeri reached the outskirts of the town, she began to attack the townspeople! Some ran for their lives; others turned and fought. Those that did were cut down. The party rushed in to take Azeri down themselves, but Azeri had some new tricks up her sleeve. She put a curse on Edge, making it so anyone who got near to him would be injured. One of the townspeople who stood his ground was unaware of this, and in rushing to defend his town, ran right past Edge and died instantly!

The battle was furious, and when it ended, Azeri had been knocked unconscious, and four of the townspeople lay dead. The party grabbed their fallen comrade and hustled out of sight. It took some time and effort, but they were eventually able to break the dark spirit's hold over Azeri, and she awoke as herself. Immediately, the enormity of what had happened crashed down over her, and she began to weep.

The party made their way back to the camp outside of town, and slept. The next morning, the 19th day of Eyre, they decided to continue their journey to Varna, in part due to Akta's pleadings. They arrived there in the afternoon of the 21st day of Eyre, where Akta went straight to her mother's home. When Reita, Akta's mother, saw her again for the first time in 15 years, both burst into tears. The party was invited in.

When they entered the home, there was another person there, a human woman named Elane, She was dressed in the vestments of the Church of the Silver Flame, and it quickly became clear that she had a position of no small authority in that church. She explained that Reita, a worshiper of the Silver Flame, had years ago reached out to her to help her locate Akta. Elane had eventually learned of Akta's imprisonment by Zelian d'Deneith, and was making plans to get her out, when the party beat her to the punch!

In the course of their conversation, Taumir asked his usual question about the Thirteenth Moon. When Elane realized that he was one of the Whisper Wood elves, she was greatly surprised - she thought they had all been wiped out! She explained that his people had been working on a way to give dragonmarks to any person, regardless of bloodline. Zelian had found out about it, and felt so threatened by it, that he had had them all killed. The party was great relieved to have finally found some answers!

Another shock was coming for Elane, and Reita too - as they all talked the existence of Akta's dragonmark was revealed. Elane was as astonished and stunned as the party had been upon their first learning of it, and Reita too, as Akta had managed to keep it hidden from her too. With all these revelations, Elane seemed to make a decision. She declared that Zelian was dangerous, dangerous to the world, and needed to be stopped. Elane could not get the Church of the Silver Flame involved directly, but she could hire a group like the party to take him out. Would they do it?

Taumir, Tselem, and Azeri did not hesitate. Edge, however, told them they were all insane! Zelian is one of the most powerful men in the world, he reminded them, and House Deneith is already hunting them. The chances that they would even survive this is small, let alone accomplish their goal. The party remained committed though, and Edge grudgingly agreed to come along.

Elane said they would outfitted with whatever equipment they wanted, and given the support they needed to carry out their mission. Tomorrow they would travel to the city of Flamekeep, the headquarters of the Church of the Silver Flame, and start their mission from there. With that, she retired to an inn she was staying at in town, and the party took their leave of Reita and Akta.

Rewards

• 1,000 XP for Edge, Tselem, and Taumir; 200 XP for Azeri. This means leveling up!
• You found 200 GP on the bodies of the townspeople; split it however you wish.

Session #9: The Cleric's Fall

The party talked for a minute to determine their next move, and decided to get in the coach and carry on their way. After only traveling for a few minutes they came upon the rest of the caravan, who were surprised and a little wary to see them. So wary in fact that they sent them on their way, letting them take the couch without any further questions.

The party rode on until late the next afternoon (17 Eyre), when they reached the city of Askelios, at the foot of the Star Peaks. Taumir had been acting aggressive and suspicious all day and now argued that the party should go into town without him so he wouldn't be recognized by anybody. Edge and Akta went into town and asked around about the Whisper Woods. They met a farmer who mentioned that his brother had spent some time in the woods, but was currently doing some woodcutting a long way away.

Returning to the camp outside of town they found that Taumir had fortified the spot by building a moat. The rest of the party was beginning to feel a bit jumpy themselves, but the night passed without incident. The next day (18 Eyre), the party hiked into the Whisper Woods. Before long, they came upon Taumir's old camp, which lay in ruins. It didn't look like anyone had been to this spot in a long time. Edge found a few gold pieces on the ground, and Taumir found a scroll he thought was long lost, but they didn't find much else of value.

While the party was puzzling over what to do next, a fox wandered into the clearing where they stood. They could tell at once that it was not just a fox, but a fox spirit, a fact that intrigued and excited Azeri. To their shock, however, the fox only spoke one word: "Run." And then it ran for its life. The party followed, only to find themselves pursued by an Owl-Bear! They turned, they fought, they defeated, and then they feasted!

After lunch, they heard someone moving in the woods near by them, just down a hill. Azeri and Taumir decided to try to sneak up on them. Taumir failed miserably, falling down the hill to land at their feet. The surprised peasants answered the questions he asked them, and were genuinely startled when Azeri snuck up on them. They didn't have much useful to say, though.

The party was frustrated with their lack of progress in finding out anything about the Thirteenth Moon, so they decided to wait for evening to see if some star-gazing would help. In the meantime, Edge rested, Tselem studied magic, while Taumir took Azeri to see the Whisper Rock, an interesting formation nearby.

That evening, the fox spirit returned, much to Azeri's delight. As it approached, and she prepared to commune with it, a hunter's arrow struck the animal vessel dead! Azeri's shock and rage was palpable - in fact the entire forest suddenly went dark and the party realized that something terrible had just happened. Azeri stood, and turned around, and the party saw literal darkness overtaking her - her eyes had gone black, and they could sense dark magic gathering around her. She rushed the shooter, a poor farmer they could see at the edge of the clearing. She struck him dead with a single blow, and then tore off in the direction of Askelios!

Rewards

• 700 XP each.
• In the forest you found a Watcher's Horn. It's in the Player's Handbook 2, which I have a PDF of. The description: "This small black horn produces no noise when sounded, but it awakens your slumbering friends and makes them ready to fight (as a minor action)."