Session 25: Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho Report

General Summary

23rd of Rolier 1524   During the last watch of the night in the very early hours of the morning, Xeldarix is outside the dome checking on the horses and the perimeter when she is attacked by a pack of varying wolves. The werewolves of the group go after her, while the dire and normal wolves go after the horses.   The sound of the attack wakes up the group that quickly spring into action. Karl, ever the unhappy wizard when his beauty sleep is interrupted, he encircled Xeldarix in a wall of fire to cut the werewolves off from the rest of the group. Lily summons a hellhound to give support to her allies and Good is protecting Simone. Lyra takes shots at the werewolves and Reign runs in to fight dire wolves. As Alfonso goes down, but thankfully Fargrim was able to heal him.   The fighting ended with a wave of fire that exploded out of the body of the larger werewolf and wash over most of the group. Lily and Karl were standing with Xeldarix and noticed that Xeldarix has been affected by the bloodburst. They notice that she has blue eyes instead of gold. She is unable to speak a language they know, or understand them. Instead she is strangely affectionate with Karl. With Lily's help, Karl is able to bring Xeldarix back to the group.   At this stage Simone has started drawing in her book while the group talks and has breakfast. It is pointed out that Xeldarix has suddenly got a limited language, which causes Fargrim to cast Tongues. Through this conversation it is revealed that the person sitting in front of him is named Alexis and does not recognise anyone in the group. They talk for a bit and it gets to the point where Alexis demands a mirror. It is given to her, which causes her to see that she has horns. It a flutter of feathers, she takes off. However, due to the telepathic conversations from Karl and Fargrim she clipped her wings on the tree and was sent down crashing. Lily and Reign had given chase. Upon crashing Lily was quick to try and comfort Alexis. After a few moments Xeldarix returns to herself, revealing she does not remember what happened after the blooded werewolf was killed.   Lily helped Xeldarix back over to the group. Together the group finishes eating breakfast, before it is suggested Xeldarix have a rest over by tree by herself. Once she was settled, the group used this opportunity to talk about Xeldarix behind her back and to ask Simone a question. During this Karl reveals:

• There are two prophecies likely concerning Xeldarix. The first is about someone being lost in fog, unaware of her actions. The second is about someone changing, being reborn however this may lead to death. When Xeldarix has been speaking Celestial and using Holy abilities, she has complained about being shrouded in fog.
• Xeldarix has the bloodline of a powerful good goddess in her which is fighting her infernal nature. This might mean Xeldarix is no longer a devil.
• Alexis is a name Xeldarix does not use anymore and Lily confirms this was her name before she fell.
• Alexis is unaware she has fallen.

Simone is asked the question: “How can we help the beings (s) known as Xeldarix and Alexis achieve peace.”   Simone draws the cards:

• 6 Grandmother Magicks I Comfort you - You see a kind grandmother sitting there knitting. However, you see a skeletal hand on her shoulder and… is that blood on her knitting needles?
• 34 Oroki Boundaries There is a wolf running that looks to be made of a plant with flowers in it. There are signs that some of the plants are poisonous.
• 36 Wu-Wang Wild, Pure Heart A unicorn is on this card. It is in a field of flowers with young animals around.

Simone's answer:   "Your roles in the life of a devil are changing as they been for some time. Once targets now friends. Once protected now protectors. Only those who have earnt her trust can show her that there are people worth acts of virtue, but be careful for if it is a choice made by the fractured fragment of her soul the fracture will grow. Anger and wrath drive her, but they didn't always and they have to anymore. Through the acts of kindness and love, healing will come, however there are those who will actively try to destroy or lead her astray which might lead to her taking steps backwards. Remind her that her past decisions do not have to define her forever and support her in making new ones."   After that Fargrim reveals Xeldarix and he had spoken the previous night about:

• Xeldarix is still under orders for hell, working for a Duke of hell named Arioch.
• As a devil she is compelled to follow his orders.
• The goals of the devil aligns with the party.
• Xeldarix believes with her current conditions she will not be welcome back in hell and most likely killed.

Once the group starts to travel Xeldarix makes the request to travel via horse with Lily for the day.   Three hours later, Lyra notices two large creatures with the front of a eagle and the back half of a lion that are fighting over the remains of a lion. The group sneaks around the creatures, aided by Pass Without a Trace.   As the group continues up the trail, not far from the creatures they hear a loud whistle echo through the mountain range. Karl and Lyra are able to determine the source as a very large 20 foot tall man with ash like skin and light blue hair. He's near a tall black obelisk. Unsure if the large figure is friend or foe, Karl sends Aeryn to check out the marker.   Once at the obelisk, Aeryn and Karl can see that their are markings on it similar to the temple in Poden. The writing is the same on all four sides and goes from the top to the base. The rest of the party watches on as the giant sneaks up to being 30 ft from the marker before he disappears and a fine mist is all that remains. A moment later he reappears at the marker. Aeryn's vision grows dark as two hands cup around him, encasing him. Everyone else can see the giant has caught the familiar much the same as watching a child catch a beetle or a firefly.   Using message and looking through Aeryn's eyes, Karl talks with the giant who does seem to speak Brecht. The giant comes over to meet the group and collect his pet birdies. Together they discuss:

• The town on top of the Mountain with the temple.
• The depopulation of the town.
• The giant's name is Kurruk of the Archestuel Mountains and his pets are Phane and Ouranos.
• The Unchained
• People who have been in the mountain range recently.
• The dangers in the mountain range.

After talking to Kurruk, the group investigated the obelisk. Fargrim discovered the stone is very old, about 2000 years old, and is made of onyx. From there the group is able to see the next marker and start making their way in that direction.   Four hours later, at 2pm, the group arrives at the next marker which has the ruins of an outpost with it. The wall had four beautifully carved dragon statues on top and in front of the wall. Once the group was close enough, the statues attacked the group.   The battle was hard due to the constructs staying in the air most of the time, however the group switched to ranged tactics while Karl gave Reign to gift of flight.   After the battle, Simone left to talk to one of the remaining spirits of the outpost. She was told a little bit about what happened and where she could find some gems. Simone decided to go around and give each person a gem.   Fargrim was investigating the ruins. He finds it is made from a mixture of Dwarven, Brecht and a style the group is not familiar with. Sadly those of Elven kind did not seem to understand Fargrim's excitement.   Before leaving the outpost the group realises that they can use the Mind's Eye to look at the obelisk that was at the outpost. The obelisk at ground level describes the Maesian's leaving the mountain once their work was done, to continue to flee the war and make their way Southward towards the land of the great sand where another of Anubis temple awaited them. There was more but the group could not see what is written at the top.   The group travelled for another four hours, two hours walking the horses and two hours riding them until 7pm. The group sadly did not reach another obelisk and camped on the trail for the night.   Before bed Karl finished scribing a spell and various people trained while others went straight to bed. At 10pm Karl put up the dome before letting Lyra take over the watch.   24th of Rolier 1524   At 3:30am during Fargrim's watch, Xeldarix noticed that something was up with the horses. Alfonso was upset and the other four horses wouldn't wake up. Fargrim got everyone up. It didn't take long for the party to work out that poisonous gas was coming out of the mountain, going 200ft up and down the trail from their dome. Fargrim and Lily worked together to heal the horses and get them up.   However in the confusion, Fargrim went down the trail with two horses and Alfonso, while Lily, Lyra and Reign took the remaining horses up the trail. Karl and Simone, seeing the split of the party stay in dome unsure which way to go. In the end Xeldarix is sent to get Fargrim, which leads to some interesting negotiation with a horse and some fruit.   In the end, everyone is on the same side of the trail where Karl and Lyra have a powernap, being the only two who did not get enough rest.   The party gets moving at 6am. While they are travelling, Lily checks to see if they are being followed and notices a bird is indeed following them. Lyra notches and arrow fires it at the bird. When it impacts the bird turns back into a humanoid, falling to the ground. It turns back into a bird and flies off.   The party continues riding and the Sword of Warning that Reign recently attuned to warned the party of an attack of Fire Snakes that came out of a crack in the mountain side.   The battle was over quickly and ended with the solo snake survivor fleeing back to whence he came. After the battle some healing was done before the bird that was following them was spotted again.   The bird was not getting any closer, and the group realised that this was going to end in a stalemate. Xeldarix suggested that she go up and see what it is. Aeryn was sent with her, Karl watching through her eyes.   As Xeldarix flew up to it, the bird flew to meet her in the middle. Upon reaching her, the bird turned into a humanoid again, the pair started to plummet to the ground out of sight of the group. Aeryn and Karl saw the identity of the figure and the fact that something had been placed around Xeldarix's neck.   When they got closer, rushing toward where they thought the pair might have landed, they saw the figure was Daffodil and Xeldarix stood with him. Karl warned the group of the implications of the collar. Lily demanded Xeldarix be released. Daffodil was cocky in his reply, claiming he would enjoy his new pet. Karl banished Daffodil quickly and Xeldarix seemed to be more herself even if she seemed confused and disorientated.   Obediently, Xeldarix started to walk up the trail when told by the group but was moving slower then usual. The group gathers around where Daffodil will return to and attack him. Through the efforts of Simone and Lily, Daffodil is incapacitated. However, upon getting the opperunity to do so Lyra commits Bloodtheft, killing Daffodil.   This angers Reign and the group is left emotionally divided as Lily finds Xeldarix collapsed further up the trail. She tries everything she can to get the collar off but fails.

Rewards Granted

• Star Rose Quartz worth 50g (one per person)
• Sword of Warning (Reign)
• Old books (Reign)

Missions/Quests Completed

A Horses Delight - Promise made for fruit (Started)

Created Content

• Kurruk
• Living Stone Constructs
• Fire Snakes
• Sword of Warning
• Ring and Collar of Enslavement

Notes

Name	XP	Running Total	Level at the end of the session
Fargrim	5,305	38,270	8
Karl	5,305	38,270	8
Lily	5,305	38,270	8
Lyra	5,305	30,085	7
Reign	5,305	38,270	8
Simone	5,305	17,860	6