Chapter 19 - The Road to the Boar Pit

General Summary

As they await for their companions to return from the Pool of Insight, Reinhard and Klawuhn continue to converse with their elven  hosts and to study the workings of Albenheim. Reinhard comes up with a magical way to shield his companion from the deleterious effects of the realm's radiance, which seems to be effective, and to remove the need to constantly use healing magic to keep him alive.
At the end of the day, Franz, Eddi, Carrot the Donkey and Dietmar return to the Temple of Teeth, led by Reinhard's owl. They left immediately after the brief altercation with The Guy, not so much on his account, but because Eddi's vision of the fish convinced her that the Pool was somehow evil. Immediately upon returning, Eddi goes into the nearby woods to look for tubers to feed the beast, and while she finds no carrots, she does locate a strange, pale, humanoid-shaped tuber with numerous roots hanging off it. Plucking it from the ground causes the woods to become aggravated, but having heard of the price that needs be paid for taking life, she spills some of her own blood on the ground where the tuber grew. Taking a taste to make sure it is not poisonous leads to a series of visions, in which the forest and the temple's teeth speak to her, leading her to have a small breakdown. It seems wise to settle down and go to sleep at the end of the long day. 
The following morning, Franz converses with several elves regarding his brother, reiterating his skepticism about having to kill his brother. The brother, it seems likely, is probably quite young in appearance given the different rates at which time passes in Albenheim, which makes the former Wachtmeister want to kill him all the less. Nevertheless, he does learn that the brother resides at a place called Boar Pit Keep, which is located near the Boar Pit, from which Schwarzalbenheim's boars emerge, and which, not coincidentally, leads to the realm of the Dark Elves. This triggers Klawuhn's interest especially, and he expresses a desire to accompany Franz, so as to possibly investigate this pit. The keep is inhabited by an elven contingent comparable in size to that of the Temple of Teeth, its job being to guard the passage between realms. The Keep lies about a day's travel to the east, which makes it not terribly distant from the Pool as well.
The following day, the entire group except Cilly, who is still busy seeking potion ingredients, sets off for the Keep. Though Dietmar attempts to have God guide them safely, toward evening, they feel the ground shake. Something monstrous approaches, and Reinhard detects it to violently project necrotic magic into the bright Albenheim atmosphere. Two monstrous boars the size of small carriages charge madly at them out of the woods, their eyes red with deathly intent. Klawuhn manages to conceal himself behind a tree and then shoots a fortuitous arrow between the first monster's eyes, but the beast's size and destructive intensity makes it hard to kill. Eddi throws a net on it, which fails to stop it, but trips it up enough to skid just wide of Franz. The second beast, blind with rage, makes directly for Carrot, and only Dietmar's prayer preserves the donkey from certain death. Dietmar does find that his new prayer, designed to lay violent creatures to rest, has no effect on the creatures. Franz slashes at a boar with his scythe, and Reinhard - with a summoned blade of shadow. Eddi piles on with her silvered dagger, Klawuhn with another arrow, and the miraculously surviving donkey - with its hooves, felling the first beast. After Dietmar switches tactics to summon divine light, he fells the second beast. Eddi then proceeds to skin them, and to harvest the tusks, which appear to retain potent magic. Touching the tusks of the dead boar feels cold and draining, but Reinhard uses the same spell he cast earlier to protect Klawuhn to temporarily mask the tusks's dark power, which makes them still to the touch. Her companions then help Eddi to harvest the meat, which is then piled on Reinhard's summoned disks.
However, the Albenheim sun has set in the interim, and the companions have still not reached the keep.

Rewards Granted

• Necrotic boar tusks
• Massive amounts of boar meat
• One hallucination-inducing tuber

Character(s) interacted with

• Elves at the Temple of Teeth 

Report Date

16 Feb 2021

Secondary Location

Albenheim