Game Notes: Session 9

Gameplay began the morning after we left off, the party having slept at The Warrior’s Rest. When they awake the next morning, they find that Virgil is gone, along with whatever he normally carried with him. He had been awoken for his watch, but he never woke anyone else up, and now he was gone. The party attempted to contact him via message, and they were able to discern that he was all right, but that he would be off on his own for about a week. A perfunctory search of the Warrior’s Rest turns up little, but Guy does have an encounter with a man wearing similar armor to another man Brix saw at the Flagon. While the party is searching for Virgil, Brixmore arrives, his time of reflection well-spent. The party determines that they have much to accomplish, so they set out on their way, heading back to the Bridge.

They reach the Bridge by nightfall, where they choose to camp. While they are camping, a gnome arrives (Phillipi), who is a scribe working for Doogal. He is translating the runes on the bridge. The party strikes up a conversation with him and forge a basic friendship – Guy even makes a promise to buy a book he’s writing. A little drinking goes on that night, with Floyd and Brix taking a bit from MacGuffin’s bottle of gnomish blue. Unfortunately, Brix can’t really hold his blue, and spends some time testing his echo over the edge of the bridge. Floyd, on the other hand, is able to handle the liquor, though he doesn’t fare much better that evening.

The spectre of the girl appears again, and everyone sees it, but at the last second, the girl’s ghost is grabbed by a large ghostly figure and taken to the bottom of the ravine. This solidifies the party’s position towards investigating what’s down there. The next morning, the boys make their attempt to get to the bottom of the ravine. After an excrutiatinly difficult process, the kids get to the bottom, and then make their way to the cavern on the side. They have to crawl most of the way until they discover that they’re impeded by water. Floyd scouts under the water, eventually discovering a pocket where the ruins of a chapel lie. In addition, they find the spirit of an unseely trapped inside a rock.

The rest of the party comes over to the pocket cavern, and they investigate the chapel, discovering the remains of a man and a girl, but also the ghost of the girl and a wraith (this is the figure that took the ghost girl back to the bottom of the ravine). A fight ensues between the party and the wraith, with Guy striking the deciding blow using a knife that is found in the chapel. A search of the chapel reveals one of the 12 artifact coins, which Brix keeps on his person. On their way out of the cavern, the unseely tells them how to conjure him inside of any rock.

The party climbs out of the ravine and begins the trek to Drea. They arrive in Drea late the next day, and continue traveling to the Cracked Flagon, which they reach on the 4th day of their journey. At the Flagon, they discover that tensions in the Centaur community have not eased, there is another one of those black armor guys, and Tok has another farmer disappearance for them to investigate. The boys travel out to the farmhouse in question, but discover this is not a “Harvester” situation, but rather, a raid and burn crime. The party returns to the Flagon, where they tell Tok and the black armor guy what has happened – the black armor guy drops hints that goblins, who don’t exist in this part of the world, may have played a part in the event. It is soon revealed that the black armor guy is one of an order of peacekeepers from a neighboring kingdom, and that even outside of their jurisdiction, they are well-respected.

After spending the night at the Flagon, the party heads off for Yish. They arrive late that night, where they are informed by Chief Bricka that Stonehoof is under their care, but they are constantly being attacked by gnolls who are intent on injuring or killing the young centaur. They also discover there’s a new shaman in town, Likalik’s son. He is not at all friendly towards the party, despite the chief’s full support of the gang. The boys agree to help stand guard over Stonehoof while he recovers. That night, as expected, a raiding party of gnolls arrives, and the party, along with several Lizardman gaurds, hold them off. The next evening, Stonehoof is injured again when a giant wall of fire descends upon the medical hut. This, coupled with the disappearance of Likalik’s son, lead the party to decide on a split up strategy. MacGuffin heads out to find Virgil, while Brix stays in Yish to watch over / heal Stonehoof. Floyd, and Guy, meanwhile, head off to find and take care of the new shaman.