Session 5: The Greatest Gamble

General Summary

The crew of the Vestige proceeded to The Fool's Purse to partake in the well known weekend activities. They arrived just as the local fighting champion took out a challenger. Octavia jumped into the ring and was widely underestimated by the crowd, winning the rest of the crew a significant sum when she took out the champion in 3 moves.
Malcolm and Zuko joined a card game with a local named Rudd Lamertink; a scrawny human with an oddly symmetrical burn on his right cheek. During the game he revealed that he was trying to win enough to help his brother buy new cattle as he felt responsible for not watching the one's that were taken closely enough. Malcolm swapped out the deck with his own marked cards, and when they worked together to take Rudd for every coin he had, he lost his temper and flipped the table. Ethed , the proprietor kicked him out of the tavern and apologized to the crew, assuring them that she had never seen Rudd lose his temper like that. After a couple hours the crew headed back to The Welcoming Maiden , all but Malcolm returning with more gold then they left with.
The following morning, the crew found their way to the outside of the town wall where they had previously found evidence of the Lychanthrope that likely abducted Rebecca. Following the tracks confirmed that the creature was a werewolf, and led them an abandoned farmhouse in the forest. Meara informed the crew about her silver tell vibrating when Rudd had his outburst in the tavern, suggesting he may be the werewolf they are looking for. Inside the farmhouse they found the leftover carcasses of various farm animals the werewolf a had dragged there. There was a shifting in a pile in the corner and Zuko investigated, miraculously finding Rebecca still clinging to a life. Around her neck was a silver amulet of Nallula(religion). The crew determined that the amulet must have hurt the werewolf while it was attempting to eat her. They tried to heal and feed the girl but nothing seemed to be working. Meara picked the girl up and the crew ran back to town, rushing her to the local temple.
A group of clerics attempted to heal the girl as the Lord Mayor of Elta, the captain of the guard, and the girl's mother Johanna arrived. After 15 minutes of failed attempts, the cleric that previously healed Zuko approached the group as Johanna went to hold her daughter. She told them there was nothing they could do, as Nallula herself had only kept her alive so she could pass them a message.
The crew approached Rebecca and she smiled at them, explaining that implying that Nallula had shown her their faces and assured her all along that they would be coming to her rescue. Then she passed on the message from the godess: "Dark times are coming, and soon it will seem you have more enemies than friends. But she wants you to know that they [indicating Nallula and the other "Orya" Pantheon gods] are behind you. They survived him, and so will you. Just keep your eyes open, and don't lose hope." Rebecca then smiled at her mother and cupped her cheek before passing on. A burst of sunlight shined through the window with Nallula's symbol on the mother and daughter. Johanna seemed at peace and implied that she was given assurance that Nallula had taken Rebecca as a champion. She thanked the crew and indicated where they could collect their payment for finding her daughter; a jar of Magic paint.
The crew, disheartened by Rebecca's death but determined to avenge her, told the Captain of the guard where they found her and guided him and two guards to the old farmhouse. There Zuko discovered drag marks, werewolf prints and human prints the opposite direction of the tracks they had initially followed there. Telling the guards about their suspicions about Rudd Lamertink, they confirmed that the other tracks lead in the direction of the Lamertink farm. The crew asked to continue the investigation themselves, but the Captain insisted that the Cerulean Guard had to be involved. The crew accepted but insisted returning to town to make sure everyone had appropriate weapons to deal with a werewolf.
Zuko acquired an enchanted frost dagger, and the crew talked to Ethed to see if she had any health potions left over from her adventuring days. She happily handed over her last potions, and the crew negotiated for a magic artifact she still had; an amulet that keeps the wearer from bleeding out in battle.
The guards and the crew proceeded to Lamertink Farm, where Zuko found more evidence of activity from the werewolf. They interrogated Justen Lamertink for any additional information, since his loss of cattle and the werewolf were clearly related. The only additional information he good add was that the cattle disappearances aligned with the weekly full moon and the week of the Harvest Moons Festival, in which the Gedia is full all week. He also mentioned that during one of the incidents, his brother Rudd was supposed to be guarding the cattle, but was found wandering out of the forest the next morning, claiming to have been sleep walking.
They interrogated Rudd but could not find enough actionable evidence at first. Then Zuko recognized the burn on his cheek as matching the size and shape of Rebecca's amulet. When the captain of the guard suggested that they take him into custody till the next full moon, just in case, he began to get angry, and Meara's silver tell started vibrating again. This was enough for the captain of the guard to order his arrest. Rudd transformed, and in werewolf form instantly incapacitated the two guards. The captain of the guard stepped back and authorized the crew to destroy the beast....
To be continued... @session

Campaign

Winds of Earrenia

Protagonists

Meara

Zuko

Octavia

Malcolm

Report Date

04 May 2019

Primary Location

Elta