Session XI: Crossing the Mountains Report
General Summary
Climbing the northern slopes of the Æsalon Mountains, the Party look back over the broad, barren Steppe they have spent the past several weeks traversing. It has been a day since the fight with the orc raiding party that claimed their elven companions. They are weary and their supplies are low, but their camp in the mountains provides them their first sheltered night's rest since leaving Abayada's Refuge. During the night, disturbing dreams come to the sleepers in the camp. Sir Chareth dreams of his father returned from the dead, sitting a spectral horse while village buildings burn around him. Lykee dreams of Asmodeus standing before a cradle upended. Jessie dreams of her abbess dead, her corpse lying out on the road, being eaten by crows and a magpie. Zelie dreams of Sinnig, his eyes glowing with the pulse of a dark heart. And Ragal dreams of Lightbringer Keep crumbling, flames rising from the ruins. They awaken before sunrise to the sound of Lucian crying. With the sun, Ragal and Zelie go out in search for food while Jessie others prepare spells and break camp. On a mountain trail, they encounter a hideous, giant, two-headed ettin and deftly defeat it together. However, the ettin has driven off the deer they were tracking, and they return with only a couple handfuls of berries and mushrooms. With Lykee's guidance, the Party continue their journey through the mountains in a final, tiring push to the gates of Redfell, Lykee's home. There, the guards at first bar their entry, telling them that the "city is full." Lykee bargains for her comrades' entry and the Party at last enter a city crowded shoulder to shoulder. The Party push their way towards the Quenched Stone, a tavern in the Founder's Heart district of the city. Inside, they hear a bard singing of recent events concerning demons in Seoryn, though by his telling, this was not the harrowing, dreadful invasion that the Party remember, but the return of the rightful gods to this plane. What's more, the crowd in the bar seem to agree, cheering on the bard's song, all, that is, except for Stefano of the Stone Well, whom the Party had met two months ago on the road to Ravenrock. Stefano tells the Party of increased activity on the roads and backroads of Muindor, not just the refugees from Seoryn, but strange travelers from unknown lands, making their way south and west. Retiring to Lykee's apartment near the University for a much needed rest, the Party get to know their traveling companion, learning of her love of hot sauces and the Real Housewives of Audona illuminated manuscript series. Their rest that night was peaceful, but in the morning, they awoke to find the child Lucian missing, no sign of him anywhere to be found.
Missions/Quests Completed
- Reach Redfell
