Posted: 29 August 2021 (reading time: 6 minutes; 1135 words)
Recap by Joel Hermann
With the pathetic Emperor of Bone dispatched, the stone giants healed, Radhani’s weapons secured from the Drow, and training accomplished, it is on to the next phase of the journey: Transporting the weapons to Radhani’s people. This will involve another boat. And the boat will require sailors.
The month of Ÿlir brings a winter festival to Vestri Keep. There is palpable excitement in the hamlets the party overnights in and passes through as they return south from Vogsal. Arriving again at the palisade surrounding the keep, the adventurers and their heavily loaded cart are flagged down by the guards, but the garrison commander Vali arrives on the scene and leads them to a planned rendezvous with Radhani’s countryman Grigor.
Grigor expresses approval for what is being attempted, but doesn’t think much of those attempting it (“Radhani is too soft. You’re proof.”). He makes the transfer of the boat official by completing a contract detailing the group name and the name of the ship, the Ægir Vargr.
Grigor gives a brief overview of the plan’s next step, sailing the vessel and its cargo to Morozny, to be delivered to his associate Dragomir, and says he expects all in the group to die in the effort.
As an aside, Grigor states that in the lands southeast of Sunnan Sea, all cities are led by women claiming to be daughters of the great, evil hag-witch-queen Baba Yaga.
The group is also informed that the boat has room to carry their goods and provisions enough for 90 men for one day, and that the speed at which the vessel can travel over the course of a day–switching back and forth between oars and sails–varies with the number of sailors aboard. The group decides that a sweet spot for speed of travel will be 15 sailors, meaning the ship will hold enough food for them for 6 days, enough time to reach Raven’s Watch hugging the coast out of Freya’s Tear.
Once Grigor takes his leave, most of the party head onto the ship for an inspection, though Vyshka chooses to remain behind and meditate. Belnirith magically mends damaged timbers, while Hrafn and Laguza search for anything more substantially amiss. Laguza finds a Rune of Scrying on the mast and is psychically damaged as she destroys it. Shaking that off, she and Belnirith then head out to fetch supplies.
Laguza wants to stretch the time they can spend out on the sea by preparing the boat for fishing, so tackle and bait are obtained as well as enough provisions to fill the cargo areas to capacity. During this time Greunthrn makes time to chat with Signe, Vali’s wife, who is clearly a respected leader of the garrison in her own right, and helps with set up for the festival.
The festival presents an opportunity for fun, and to hopefully attract sailors to the party’s upcoming voyage. There are four games, and at least one member of the group competes in each.
In the tightrope walking competition, Greunthrn and Belnirith compete with several of the locals, and after some initial success, find that the ropes are trickier than they first appear. Their attempt to entice sailors brings only a few hardy souls to their cause.
Hrafn fares better at the follow-the-coin game. Winning it handily and with a sneaky, golden flourish of making every choice a winner, he attracts a handful of additional sailors with his bravado.
Laguza and Belnirith perform admirably in the axe throwing competition, consisting of three tosses at bottle targets, that break with a very satisfying sound. Their prowess, and Laguza’s inspiration to liquor up the onlookers, leads to another handful of sailors joining up.
Laguza persuades Vyshka to join in the Stick Smash, and they compete with hardy local lads, again emerging victorious. With those they attract, the group has 16 willing sailors, evenly split between men and women, for the journey. One more sailor than was desired. The group figures they can choose which sailor will be left behind after a good night’s sleep.
As the morning waxes, a few of the hard-won sailors wander down to the harbor area, but the majority do not arrive. Through overheard talk and cries for help the party slowly awakens to the realization that scores of Vestri’s occupants from the night before have gone missing. Vali arrives and confirms this news, asking the group to help him discern the nature of what has occurred while he continues to assess the losses and organize against whatever has befallen them.
The group decides that the surrounding palisade is the most sensible place to begin their sleuthing. There it is Hrafn, not Greunthrn (to his eternal shame), who discovers tracks of several things being dragged out of the settlement towards the mountains. The tracks are easy to follow and lead to an ancient cemetery. Laguza recognizes one of the gravestones has been engineered to create an opening to an underground crypt. Once it is opened, some of the group hear the sounds of distant human voices.
With Laguza and Hrafn leading the way, they descend into the darkness, hearing the voices more and more distinctly as they delve further into the crypt. Searching various chambers, they nearly stumble upon two Merregon, corrupted souls of evil soldiers and mercenaries turned into demons, guarding a small group of the townsfolk. The ensuing fight is quick, with Laguza exercising newfound rune knight powers to enlarge into a dominating force, and cause one of the fiends to bash the other, and Hrafn, Belnirith and Greunthrn peppering the monsters with blows.
But it is also a very loud contest. Just as the party climbs back out of that chamber–after Laguza instructs the liberated townsfolk to shelter in place for now–two more Merregon are encountered and dispatched with similar alacrity. On the hunch those demons were also acting as guards, additional townsfolk are discovered in a similar, nearby antechamber.
Reaching the only remaining door out of the main crypt hall, they rush into the room beyond to find a Shadow Demon, feasting on one of the townsfolk, and two more Merregon guards. The group takes the fight to the demon, dealing such intense damage in just the time it takes for a deep breath that the fiend, with an Abyssal exclamation, dematerializes and escapes through the nearest wall. The guarding demons are dealt with like the others before, and a trove of gold and silver were recovered, along with a cloak, wand, and pearl, that all proved to be magical.
The remaining captives–a few had been consumed by the demon already, but none of the group’s sailors–were led back to Vestri Keep, where Vali welcomed the adventures. They are set to sail out of Vestri with his heartfelt gratitude and respect.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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