Spirit Storm Session Log: Epic Tale #2 – Nights Pawns – Chapter #2
Date At Start Of Game: 05/24/206
[Author’s Note: This session log is for the 3rd session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred.]
Investigating The Forest Keep (Continued)
After some discussion the PC decide that their primary goal is to rescue Perry. To this end they decide to wait until dark then have Oren tunnel under the keep wall directly into the cellar where Perry was deposited. At the clearing tree line Kanga and Bishop are waiting. The other PC are following Oren into the mouth of the tunnel. When Oren breaks into the room he hears the sound of rushing water which is essentially muffling the sound of his digging. He quickly grabs Perry and returns to Po. Po saves the young Raccoon Kin from bleeding to death with a couple of quick healing spells.
Once Perry wakes up he is questioned by the party. After a stern lecture from Oren he admits to being hired by the bandits to steal the map from Kai, the Squirrel Kin mapmaker. According to Perry he was promised 75 sp for the job. When he delivered the map he saw a strange man with the bandits. This man was wearing a black hooded cloak, had pale white skin, and black eyes without pupils. Perry does not know what type of kin he was but he sure looked strange. The pale stranger and Frazz, the Vulture Kin bandit leader, went into the stone cellar. Several minutes later they emerged. The stranger looked happy and paid Frazz with a bag full of silver! The stranger then left?and the bandits promptly decided not to pay Perry. They then tied him up and dropped him into the cellar.
This prompts the PC to return to the cellar to give it a better look. This time Oren leads the way for Bilby, Cillian, and Po. Kanga and Bishop decide to stay at the tree line with Perry. When he breaks into the room this time Oren puts a blanket over the well portal while Cillian lights a torch. The PC find the room wet and decayed. Po spies tracks in one area so Cillian searches the area carefully. After a thorough search he does not find anything. Guessing there is something in the area Oren digs through the floor which is only packed earth and finds a gap on the other side. He widens the hole enough that Bilby can squeeze into the chamber. That allows Cillian to see a latch for the door. It opens a low portal into a natural cavern.
The PC enter this secret area and close the door. In the small chamber they see a vein of black rock that looks unusual and a loud rushing underground creek. Several of the PC take some samples of the rock. On the other side of the creek Po finds a small open chest. Inside the box is greased and two oak leaves, which are bright green, are protruding. He takes the box to Oren to carry it out. On the way out the PC hear people in the secret room. Someone has discovered their tunnel. Kanga, Bishop, and Perry see the bandits around the tunnel mouth and decide to run as they are vastly outnumbered.
After waiting a while in the secret room Cillian ?hears? Frazz and his Bear Kin aide approaching the secret door. Quickly the PC fan out to jump them. They let the two bandits enter the room then Bilby closes the secret door and Oren clubs Frazz. Frazz drops with one good slam to the stomach! Po casts his curse on the Bear Kin rolling the max effect. At the same time Cillian jumps out behind him, holds his sword to his back, and tell him to give up or he will kill him. The weary Bear Kin drops his mace and the PC tie them up.
With that the PC leave the forest keep with Frazz in tow. In the wood later that night they question the bandit leader. After some initial hesitation Oren cows the Vulture Kin into telling them about the stranger. Frazz says that the stranger, whose name is Narduhl, approached the keep to speak with them. They tried to attack him but gave up when he used a spell to call forth a giant worm that killed three of his men. Narduhl examined the keep carefully but found nothing. Earlier that week one of Frazz’s men found a map to the keep under a floorboard. He told this to Narduhl. Narduhl asked Frazz to acquire the map for him. Frazz hired Perry to steal the map. When Perry returned with the map Narduhl was excited. He found the secret door and the chest. He pocketed something then left with Frazz. He paid them handsomely for their troubles. Frazz does not know where the man was headed.
On Frazz the PC find 75 sp plus a burnt wooden tiki idol of a strange worm. Bishop detects that the idol is a summoning spell that call a shadow worm. During the process he also detects the Cillian radiates with spiritual energy! When Bishop mentions that Cillian is a mage he denies it. Finally Bishop checks the black rock found in the cave. The rock absorbs his detection entirely. Bishop runs a quick experiment with the idol and discovers that it blocks spiritual magic. Cillian then decided to check the chest more carefully. Inside he finds a hidden compartment with a journal. The journal has a burned mark in the shape of deer antlers over a crescent moon. Oren knows this as the mark of General Cornelius Buck. Buck was a very famous Spirit War leader. The journal is filled mostly with military figures but during the end if the following entry:
Year Of The Horned Owl, New Moon
My current spymaster has brought me a package from the druids. The package is an acorn from the once great tree, Great Oak. As Great Oak is now deceased its safety is critical. It is of such importance that I must handle its protection myself. I have received a report that the Azure Woods keep commander has found a strange natural cave that absorbs spiritual energy. It should be able to shield the acorn from magical detection until the war is over. After the war I will recover the acorn personally.
At this point the PC deliver Frazz and Perry to Lomas in Shatter’s Peak. Oren confronts Perry about his father. He tells the young Raccoon Kin that he must buck up and work off his debts with Lomas. Perry would not have to return home if he works it out with Lomas. With that Po uses the branch and detects a strong current from the northeast. It is moving quickly towards the mountains?The Mountains Of Lament?
Date At End Of Game: 05/25/206
