Session+Seventeen

(Don’t worry folks… I will get the missing sessions up eventually… I was just rather behind and didn’t have time to backtrack that much. So, I’ll just start from here and continue on, and fill in the missing pieces when I have time. Though, if anyone is feeling the itch to get it done, be my guest!)

Previously in game… The PCs found out a ton of information about the gifts, their locations, and their usefulness. They also got attacked several times, did a lot of traveling, and even spoke to an actual dragon. And you all thought they were extinct. Ha. Some things of note… The dragon traded the gift known as elddem for a song. The group was attacked by a werewolf… Arion was bitten, but hasn’t turned so all’s probably clear, and we haven’t seen Sasha since. Jen has learned how to activate the gifts to find where the others are located. And finally, the crew has been to Idnova, and is now on its way to Phastia by way of Ishra.

Morning finds our group back in Cleardell, munching breakfast and discussing travel plans. After much debate, it is decided that they will all travel by land across to Ishra, and from there take a boat to Phastia. Along the way to Ishra, the group is hit hard by the winter, and is stopped by a giant! Each is directed to give him something nice and shiny. Jen offers up some of her beads, Lia offers up her Jerkey, which the giant seems happy to have, Arion gives a dagger, Jon and Dan offer up a mirror and a bottle of wine, and Kirin reluctantly gives away his kaleidoscope that he got from Carter. Passage is earned, and the group pushes on with three days travel time remaining, and no food left. Luckily Lia is able to hunt some small game, and the group does not starve completely. While she is out hunting one evening, she comes across a nasty looking cat-creature. It chases her around, eventually winding back up at the camp. Just when things looked like they could take a turn for the super nasty, a figure comes out of the darkness, followed by a wolf. About that time, Lia summoned a large, celestial dog and sent it off after the cat creature. The cat is sent off running, never to be seen again. (Or at least not this game session…) The PCs recognize the figure as the man who helped the group after the werewolf attack some time earlier. As it would turn out, the group had been camping not too far from where he was… and he had some food left over. So they all band up together and have a nice meal. The next morning, Drucien (the stranger finally gave the group his name after Jen threatened to call him Joe) was no where to be seen. So they all pushed on to Ishra. While in Ishra, Jen became a bit skittish or something… she wasn’t herself, though she never really said what was wrong. The group found a boat to take them to Phastia, and found work at a local tavern. Arion played for a lengthy stint, and the rest of the PCs took on a serving job, earning them all a nice bit of cash for the road. Jon and Dan decide to stay in Ishra to look after the carriage and the two Northblooded horses while the rest of the group heads up to Phastia. Just a note on the climate… the weather is considerably milder here. The group has been traveling in conditions similar to a Northern Minnesota winter up till the point where they hit Ishra… and from there everything has become more Mediterranean in temp. It’s warm, balmy, and nice. Definitely a welcome switch. Phastia is huge! A bit daunted by the size, the group decides to find a place to stay for a bit to figure out where to start. They grab a couple rooms at the Honey Sweet Inn, and set out to see some of the town. Jen tells them as much as she can about it… she’d been here a couple times when she was younger. She remembers a story about the royal family possessing a mystical sword, containing a large, powerful ruby… it’s a place to start at least! The group heads back to the Inn for some supper, then cloisters up in one of their rooms to see if they could activate the gifts and find any new information. Arion and Kirin both decide that they would like to try to activate the gifts they each have. Arion tries to use Elddem first… and he has a vision. There is a tall, dark haired fey man playing a harp in a quiet room with a fireplace. Next to the fireplace there is a guitar resting… the man motions to the guitar, and Arion picks it up and starts to play. The man then tells Arion “You're going to need that song to over-come the challenges ahead.” When the vision fades, Arion still has the song in his head… so he goes to make some notes about it so he won’t forget it. When he tries to write it down though, he can’t seem to come up with it. So, he tries to play it again… and does. It’s a chilling song… and when it was finished, all of the lights in the room went out. The group is a bit spooked by it, and Jen casts light right away. The song lingers in Arion’s head until he puts the stone away. Kirin tries to activate Fallraen next. He too has a vision. He sees a large demon, encircled by a group of white robbed figures. The thrashing demon is eventually consumed in white flame, and when it finally dies down, Fallraen is sitting where the demon stood. One of the figures hands the stone to Kirin, saying, “Be wary. Wielding this power comes with a great responsibility, at a great price." The stone is still very hot when it touches Kirin’s hands, and in his vision, the flesh begins to melt off of them. When he wakes from the vision, his hands are blistering and burning still… Lia quickly does her best to cure him while Arion tells him to drop the stone, and runs to get some water and bandages. His hands are eventually cured, and the group has a small discussion about the visions and their meanings. This is pretty much where we leave them. Next time, Jen would like a chance to activate the stones once more… thus far she is the only one that has seen a vision of the remaining gifts by using one of them.

On to Session Eighteen, Back to Session Sixteen