Session Two: The Way to Brackenmill

General Summary

- The 20 of Alta -

Yarrow Fermata, Alabaster Quilcy, Aldous Brackshaw and Cyrus Danceyboi started the day in a new direction. After reading the letter from The Bandit Coalition's Burga addressed to Serra Hyne the group has learned of a plot to raid a warehouse named the Blue Wing Warehouse within   The main quest here is dealing with the Bandits plan to steal cursed items from a craftsman." href="/w/mardlo-arias-nuactna/a/brackenmill-article">Brackenmill. Most of the party, save for one grumply bard, decided it was the good course of action to try and stop this attack.
The party had made their camp off of the main road in the woods. During the morning after they had prepared for the day the party ended up hearing traveler's. Everyone except Yarrow hid in the woods. Yarrow went out and saw a caravan of The Perch Guard with two bandits, a lean Mapach in leather armor and an angry Jerbeen in rags, in a caged wagon. Yarrow was quickly seen by the captain who introduced herself, a tall Luma named Hely Jordye, who questioned the Tola and his presence on The Road of Iron alone.
Hely wrongly assumed that Yarrow was part of The Tenders quickly picking up on his druidic capabilities. Yarrow corrected her but said that he might join them in the future. After a few short exchanges Hely told Yarrow to be more careful who quickly took the advice and disappeared into the woods. Hely shouted after him that if he becomes a Tender that he should say hi to Gifu Dustclaw for her.
After the caravan moved on the road, presumably towards Alderheart, the party made travel plans. They could keep to the road, a longer path but easier travel. Or they could venture through the woods, cutting the distance of the travel but requiring more trailblazing. The party decided to travel through the woods. The woods proved untamed but not impossible to navigate, especially not with Yarrow present.
After a few hours of travel the party ended up stumbling on the carcass of a wild deer. After investigation it appeared that the deer died of natural means, teeth marks present in its ruptured flesh. The damage to the deer seemed excessive though. After a quick examination of the deer wild wolves attacked the group catching them by surprise.
Five wolves in total, two being a bit larger than the others. One had twisted knots of muscles along its right front and hind legs and a hunchback stacked with fur. The other had a deformed face with several rows of teeth growing on top of one another. Yarrow quickly took to negotiations and cast Speak with Animals. The wolves seemed to be merely hunting for food when they heard the group coming. While the wolf with the deformed face seemed less hostile, initial negotiations proved fruitless. Alabaster and Cyrus took to the front lines, retaliating against the wolves who had attacked them. Aldous provided cover and dealt ranged damage by magical means of Mind Sliver. After some fighting Yarrow tried again with greater results. He convinced half of the wolves to flee the battle leaving only two with lowered morale. These two quickly made their own attempts to flee and attack but were quickly dispatched by Cyrus' assault.
With the wolves dispatched the party split ways to investigate and assess.
Yarrow went off into the woods to hunt another deer for the wolves. After trapping the deer using Mold Earth he quickly dispatched of the deer and came back, leaving its carcass on top of the other for the wolves to eat later.
Aldous cut into the corpse of the deformed wolf and cast Detect Poison and Disease. Being aware of all poisons and diseases Aldous found a small amount of plum purple liquid within the twisted head of the wolf. The wolf, besides having extra teeth, also had an extra eye and other growths along its face. Also it looked to Aldous that the wolf was unable to heal in the area of its body even with rest and that something had twisted its life essence giving it more strength and dexterity at the cost of its energy. Aldous placed his findings in his Tome of Shadows and carried on.
Alabaster went off into the woods as well to gather flowers and herbs. The only thing of great note in this area is the Purple Valley Flower. Alabaster did also find the corpse of a half eaten forest spider.
Cyrus spent this time exploring his items collected from his journeys. From his Curious Urn he grabbed a pinch of pink dust and threw it into the air. To his surprise this turned himself and the deer invisible while creating a cloud of fog in the area. Both lasted for 7 minutes until dissipating. Cyrus then produced his vial of dark liquid from his bag. Alabaster examined it and recounted many myths and stories of Dragons and the related histories of these mythical beasts. Aldous examined the vial and found that the liquid had some magical properties to it but it was most likely some sort of high level crafting or ritualistic material.
After the party reconvened Yarrow asked Alabaster to speak with the bugs in the area to help him locate bees. Alabaster, not wanting to argue did so, and talked with a beetle who flew them towards a clearing with a bee hive. Alabaster talked with the bees and made a deal to make flowers in exchange for some of their honey. Alabaster and Yarrow used Druidcraft to sprout flowers and make them bloom in the area. Pleased with this the bees gave them some honey and also brought them over to a destroyed bee hive that used to be their home before it was attacked by some wild beasts. Yarrow and Aldous collected some of the honey and Yarrow took the bee hive. Alabaster found 3 Water Cups, rare flowers used by local alchemists.
The group collected their wild goods and made their way to   The main quest here is dealing with the Bandits plan to steal cursed items from a craftsman." href="/w/mardlo-arias-nuactna/a/brackenmill-article">Brackenmill. Right inside the humble level of Brackenmill they found themselves in the town square, a huge tower of stones in the middle of it. After a small conversation, Yarrow decided to approach the Temple of Hanera, the Provider for shelter. Once inside both Yarrow and Alabaster were approached by priests who thought them druids from The Tenders.

Yarrow went off with the priests to help with the garden and the kitchen. While talking with the priests Yarrow learned that Serra Hyne is one of the local captains of Perch Guard in town. Alabaster, Aldous, and Cyrus found cots in the guest hall.
Alabaster and Cyrus poured over another one of Cyrus' artefacts, two ancient music sheets, to try and find its secrets.
Aldous snuck off in the night and made his way up to The Skymall to find out more information about Serra Hyne and the situation. Blending in with the late night crowd Aldous cast Detect Thoughts and learned of the presence of drugs and alcohol in Brackenmill, the secretive dancer Kathon, and found Reyny Wright. Reyny has some strong opinions about the humblefolk and their roles. She serves under Serra Hyne, a Cervan, who joined the Perch Guard under a new initiative to try and bridge relations between the humblefolk and the birdfolk. While in the mind of Reyny, Aldous also learned of Captain Uyncis Rose and Captain Alvert Selwe two humblefolk members of the Perch Guard who work alongside Serra Hyne. Aldous cast Message and talked with Reyny in her head, hidden in the night crowd. He told her that Serra Hyne was working with the Bandit Coalition, that he had proof, and that she should meet him somewhere in the morning, alone. Reyny agreed excitedly and walked off as Aldous drifted into the crowd and made his way out.

Rewards Granted

Purple Valley Flower
Water Cups
The corpse of a Forest Spider
Honey, Honeycomb, Dead bees, A broken bee hive
A vial of plum purple liquid from the head of a deformed wolf

Report Date

19 Jan 2020

Primary Location

Brackenmill