Session 28: Hogsfeet and Sunder Report

General Summary

Carderby and Cate Advizod

The party arrived into Carderby in the early afternoon of 15 Hosri. It is a large, well fortified town with a sturdy castle capable of holding a strong garrison to defend it.   The party largely disguised themselves, those not obviously human getting hostile looks from the guards as they made their way in. They were not stopped, however.   They reached the one tower which looked most Wizardly and, after talking their way past the guard, made their way inside. Tarvy stayed outside to talk with him about what was going on in town.   They made their way up to the top and found Cate in the midst of conversation with an old Tabaxi, Darshann.   Cate seemed pretty switched on and saw through the disguises reasonably easily, and mentioned they were wise to go through the town as, since Lord Carderby had died month or so before, things had been getting much worse in the town and speciesism was on the rise.   After some conversation and arrangement of payment the party agreed that they would take the delivery further on to Hogsfeet, a village a couple of days to the west.   The party therefore made their way, Darshann, a preacher of the Crone, along with them to show the way.

The Road to Hogsfeet

The remainder of the first day of their travel passed relatively uneventfully, however, on the second, the sun did not rise, this was what is known as a Solar Eclipse, the day indistinguishable from night.   The party made their way however, skirting around the Forest Sunder, a dark, sinister forest from which horrible noises occasionally emerged.   During the night, Hal had some terrible dreams and seemed a little unsettled in the morning.   They continued and as the day was drawing to close found their way to the little village of Hogsfeet.

Hogsfeet Happenings

Arriving they immediately sought out Polli, the young gnome mage they had been sent to deliver the supplies to.   They very quickly found the mountain of bright red hair in her small hut on the edge of the village.   She welcomed them into her tiny home (into which some of them did not fit), and was willing to sell them various potions and spices as well as treating them to some of her own herbal tea.   They established that she was sort of the local healer and magic user, although, she herself would admit, not the most powerful of mages by any stretch.   She very much relished their company and said that she would prepare some tea to give them before their departure.   The party then made their way to the Reluctant Pig, the local inn, arranged rooms for themselves and prepared to relax for the evening.   As they had just received their drinks, they heard heavy armoured horses and loud boisterous voices approaching, very out of place for this town.   The door burst open and armoured knights entered, headed by Ser Berenger, an imperious and aggressive human. They announced their presence with a proclamation from Lord Gauvain, the new lord of these lands following the death of Lord Carderby.   It stated that whomsoever brought him the head of Corvan the Obliterator, the one who had murdered their lord, would be handsomely rewarded.   Berenger then made it clear that this would be his job, none of the peasants in the tavern. He took particular exception to the party of "ratcatchers" in town, and especially Darshann the Tabaxi with them, openly challenging them in the tavern.   The party did not rise to the bait and so he and his men took their leave after flipping over the table on which the party's drinks were, and taking various bits of food and drink from the other peasants in the inn.   The townsfolk actually seemed to look at the party with more respect after this, both for their restraint and for the animosity they shared for Berenger.   The party then found their rest.   This was not to last, however, as, in the midst of the night, they heard screams and cries from the far side of town, and saw, disappearing into the forest, Tabxi, carrying with them a familiar bright red shock of hair.   In addition they saw an explosion, as her house began to burn vociferously. Gortan was able to put it out with icy breath and, after briefly meeting Mayor Osric, the party set off in hot pursuit.   Having several naturalists in the party meant that the trail was easy enough to follow, and they managed to avoid any confrontations en route, narrowly avoiding being found by a pair of heavily muscled tabaxi and their wardogs.   As the forest began to thin, they saw an area that had been recently felled, and, through the sparse trees, they could see the crumbling walls of a ruined fortress, manned by tabaxi and, most likely, where their quarry had been taken.