Session 16 – One-Punch Vezhka

Campaign II, session 16. Previous: Session 15. Next: Session 17.

• ‘Rath and the group delivers Peleos to the fort at Teryk

  • The gate guard sneers and suggests that the prisoner ‘outranks’ him. When informed that Peleos is wanted for desertion and racketeering, he remains skeptical but sends a runner for the captain. The captain recognizes Peleos as a deserter and escorts ‘Rath and the rest of the group to see Count Roland. “Deserters like him have been a major problem lately. I hope that his example will have some deterrent effect.”

  • Count Roland pays the reward to ‘Rath and arranges for the remainder to go to Kerowyn. When asked about helping with the Lhazaaran problem, he tells the party that, in addition to problems with deserters, there’s been a massive pull back of troops from the borderlands in preparation for the Empress’ next war against Valeria. The one who might be able to help would be the Prefect of Vedycaer, but “…somehow I don’t think he’ll be all that helpful.”

  • Count Roland also mentions that there’s an old retired adventurer, Casino, who is good with maps, and offers them free use of the fort’s Historical archives.

• Over the next nine days, the group splits up for several tasks.

  • Cresilde adds a second level spell to her repertoire. Vierath copies a few spells into his book for later, and begins making local contacts to enable future rumormongering. They hire the court magist, Arven the Amazing, to make an identification attempt on the magic sword.

  • Zydell (disguised as a drow to avoid anti-Valerian sentiment) and Vezhka go check out Casino’s fighting ring. Vezhka volunteers to enter the ring at the next opportunity.

  • Mireya spends her time doing some hasty carousing and learns an interesting rumor

  • Fenmyra spends her time walking the streets and mapping; one day she spots a thief running off with a large sack. She tries and fails to stop his escape, but points the right direction when a watchman shows up in pursuit. An hour or so later, the watchman returns and thanks her for her help. He introduces himself as Corvin Hale; he may be a reliable contact in the future.

  • When the day of Vezhka’s fight arrives, she faces off against a legionary named Attius in a fist-fight – and instantly earns the sobriquet “One-Punch Vezhka”!

• The party then makes ready to travel again in search of a mysterious Hole in the Oak they’ve heard rumors about. Lirra stays behind in town to sell off the rare furs they collected.

  • They pass the Ravenholt Monastery on the road just south of Teryk.

  • A band of merchants from the Ironmark trading company

  • A turn into the woods and begin searching for the giant Oak; as they spot it they also encounter a route of six dire wolves

    • The party makes fairly short work, with minor injuries sustained.

• Using their knotted ropes, they climb down into the hole beneath the giant oak. They hear the noise of rushing water or wind to the north, and feel some warmth to the east. When they try going east, they encounter a cramped passage partially blocked by roots. Fenmyra, as the smallest, attempts to squeeze through, but one of the roots animates and steals her torch, stubbing it out against the wall and tossing it out of reach.

• This drives the party northward instead, where they encounter a wide circular room with a conspicuous crimson rug in the floor. The illusion of a wizardly figure appears and tells them in broken speech: “Welcome to the realm of … the Imperishable. Please wait … in the provided … For your own safety, do not …”

• Vierath carefully approaches and begins rolling up the rug, only to reveal a runic circle beneath it. Cresilde is able to discern that it is likely to be some kind of teleportation circle, but is uncertain of how it might work. After getting bored of their discussion, Zydell steps into the circle and vanishes. Vezhka shrugs and follows soon after, and Grath follows her.

• The rest of the party curses their companions and searches the area for clues. To the east, a passage opens up and they see statues of a hunter and his hounds, with mirrors on each side. Cresilde averts her eyes, but Fenmyra catches a glimpse in the mirror – instead of her own reflection, she sees that of the hunter! A horn sounds and they hear baying in the distance.

• Spooked by this, they retreat back to the teleportation room; inspecting the door to the east, Mireya forces it open. They see a table on the far end of the room, with several jars containing tiny people (either dead or passed out), and a stoppered green bottle. Cresilde grabs hold of everyone on seeing this and holds them back from entering the room.

• They hear once more the horn and baying, and are momentarily frozen by surprise. A spectral form and two misty hounds appear from the southern entrance! Vierath drops a tenebrosity between them and the rest of the group prepares to flee. They hesitate too long, and the ghostly forms walk through the darkness to begin taking swipes at the group – narrowly avoided!

• The group ultimately decides to drag Vierath into the teleportation circle. They find themselves reunited with Vezhka and Zydell in a cavernous area, with a big stalagmite on the ground, a narrowing cavern in one direction, and three doors nearby, painted with:

  • A bull

  • A jester

  • A lion

• They begin a hearty debate about which door to pick, and while they are discussing, Vierath begins scouting off in the opposite direction with his shadowy senses. He steps a bit too far and hears once again the horn and baying sound!

And that is where we stopped the session.