Session 3: The Coven
General Summary
After Meara returned to tell the party what she saw, they prepared to assault the coven of Sea Hags, planning to eliminate the coven, destroy the artificial dam that was contaminating the well, and get the surviving citizens back to town via the well. Attempting to sneak up on the coven, some of them were not quiet enough and the Sea Hags vanished from sight. Using his tracking skills and familiarity with Fey creatures, Zuko managed to identify where the Sea Hags were hiding in the river, and the party gave them a wide berth while inspecting the glowing altar in the cavern chamber.
Zuko was able to identify it as a crude attempt to force a connection between the material plane and the Feywild. The party agrees that destroying the altar is not only necessary, but would also draw the Sea Hags out. Malcolm used his spare gunpowder to create a fuse and packed enough powder in a crack on the altar to crack it open. With the explosion, the altar was deactivated and the Sea Hags emerged from the river explosively.
With the hags still blinded, Octavia was the first to charge forward with a flurry of blows, significantly damaging one of them, but nearly falling victim to its horrific appearance. One of the hags launched a lightning bolt across the cavern knocking Meara and Emmet unconscious. Zuko rushed to their aid with healing potions as the rest of the party focused on killing at least one hag to eliminate their ability to cast magic. Octavia succeeded in eliminating the first of three, and the second was killed by Emmet. Shortly after, the last remaining Sea Hag clawed Octavia to unconsciousness. Zuko and Malcolm finished off the last of the Sea Hags and rescued Octavia.
Zuko and Malcolm cleared the artificial dam and went to retrieve the surviving citizens. On their return, Zuko used a roped arrow to retrieve the well bucket, and Octavia led the citizens to the surface. Most of the town arrived to reunite with the survivors by the time the rest of the party made it out of the well. They were greeted by applause and cheering. Malcolm looked for Tidgrud in the crowd, but the only evidence of Cerulean Guard was two guards standing outside the The Bronze Flask .
Growing concerned, the party headed towards White Bluff Barracks while Malcolm split off to go Bertio the silversmith. Bertio was thrilled to see Malcolm alive, and agreed to take a look at the crystal the retrieved from The Vestige. When Bertio saw what the crystal was, he seemed terrified and angry, accusing Malcolm of being up to something. He rushed to his back room and came back with what appeared to be an enchanted war hammer. slamming the hammer onto the stone it shattered with a shock wave of arcane energy.
Bertio demanded to know where the stone came from, and Malcolm explained that everyone in the crew had lost their memories and had no idea what the stone was or where it came from. Bertio explained that the stone was was enchanted with banned arcana. designed to wipe the memory of anyone within a mile except the person activating it. Malcolm thanked him for the information and sold the shards of the crystal for 20 additional pieces of silver ammo.
At the Barracks, the party found Tidgrud standing in the doorway of one of the cells. They reported how many citizens were saved and handed over the bag of drowner heads. Tidgrud thanked them and rewarded the appropriately. Just as Malcolm entered the Barracks, they informed Tidgrud the tainted water had been cleared which he rewarded with a small wagon and two horses to replace their wrecked airship. The party was surprised to learn that he knew the airship belonged to them. He explained that it was obvious when six strangers showed up in town after the crash. When asked about why there were guards outside the Bronze Flask, he explained that two people were murdered there, the proprietor and an unknown patron. Ralph's throat had been slit, and the patron was stabbed in the back on the way to the door.
They asked to see the body of the patron, as they had left a traveling companion at the Bronze Flask. He showed them the body, and they confirmed if was the same friend that had kept them from dying in the crash. They asked that he be buried under the name "doc," and Tidgrud assured that he would do all he could fidn the person responsible, and send word to Palhas City if he discovered anything.
The party left the barracks and immediately pulled Emmet into a nearby alley where they interrogated him about his use of magic and what took him so long when he went into the Bronze Flask to retrieve the crystal. Emmet continued to proclaim his innocence and suggested they part ways if they weren't going to trust him. Malcolm aimed his pistol at Emmet's head and demanded the truth. Emmet's facade fell away in a fit of laughter and he pressed forward into the gun telling Malcolm, whom he referred to as "Percival", he would be doing him a favor by killing him. Emmet explained that his job was done, and the fate of the party was sealed. Killing him would ensure a swift reward from his god. Malcolm killed Emmet and the party searched his body; finding his share of the reward, an ornate dagger, a religious medallion with a white skull encircled by drops of blood, and a goblet with the same symbol and dried blood on the inside. They quickly departed the alley and found their way to the local dry goods store where the carriage they were rewarded with was waiting. purchasing some additional food for the journey ahead, the crew of the Vestige departed White Bluff and headed south towards the Twilight Forest.
When arriving at the edge of the forest, they could see that it was so dense that very little natural light would be seen while traveling through. With Zuko at the reigns, they continued forward and discussed what had transpired. Malcolm revealed that he had the crystal identified and explained what Bertio was able to tell him about it. He also asked if anyone else knew why Emmet would have called him "Percival." Zuko checked the "real" manifest from the Vestige for any mention of the name, and came up empty.
As they heard the sound of a rushing river ahead, Zuko felt some familiarity with the place, but couldn't remember what was significant about the area they were approaching. When the river bridge came into view, something looked suspicious about the path, so he brought the wagon to a stop and they checked the path on foot. They discovered a large boulder on the bridge path and attempted to lever it aside with a sharp stick. When attempting to get the stick under the rock, it let out a scream of pain, and stood up, revealing the form of of an 8-foot tall rock troll.
To be continued.....
@mouse
Rewards Granted
1,525 gold pieces
2 horses
small horse-drawn wagon.
Missions/Quests Completed
Horror in the Well
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