Session 6 - A Parting Hijacked by Kaleb

General Summary

After arriving in Brillig, the companions settled in to explore the city. Narcissa listened in on rumors around town, and learned that the gaudy were often being humiliated and flogged by the Flagellants. Later, she went to Winifred and confessed her fey powers. She said that her fear of Sigisar bias against fey influenced people is why she lied about the 'Grandmother'. The two resolved to have each others’ backs now that this dishonesty had passed.
Manfred continued his study with the apothecaries, and learned about shapeshifting disorders, and alleged people shifting into wolves and rats. The apothecaries told Manfred that the ways to remove this disease was either through using higher order magic (which would remove curse) or through (possibly) killing the inflictor before the first full moon after the attack. He also tried to continue his study of books of anatomy in the scriptorium, but was told not to by Father Odoric, the castle chaplain. Seemingly by happenstance, Winifred came to Manfred during the week and confessed she had been attacked by a shape-changing man-animal, but that hers was a fox-kind. Manfred, concerned about the potential spread of the disease, enlisted the help of Sigisar and Edmon to find this creature. He did his best to preserve Winifred's privacy, but also had to indicate it was someone from their party to get their help.The trail, unfortunately, had gone cold. As the night of the full moon arrived, Manfred resolved to make sure that Winifred could not hurt anyone else if she had been afflicted with such a disease, and worked with her and Sigisar to place her in the dungeon under observation for the night. Thankfully, nothing happened, and it appeared as though the creature that attacked Winifred was of a different kind.
Kaleb went to the Cat Tavern looking for someone to take him to Fallsmar, Niflheim, or some other strange realm. He had not changed out of his baptismal garments, and appeared strange. He found a guide who had previously stayed in the charity house with Manfred and Kaleb. Learning that he lived in the castle, the guide offered to take him in exchange for valuables. Kaleb agreed and set out to steal valuables from the castle, and managed to take some cutlery and dishes.
Sigisar went to the manor of Herr Agiwulf, a Tungrisch Knight he had previously been the squire to, and expressed his desire to turn his lands over to his uncle Lothar as regent, and go on Ser Agiwulf’s journey to the East. Edmon spoke with his cousin Gernot about financial difficulties, and gave him some money.
Eventually, Sigisar’s uncle Lothar arrived with a large contingent. Lothar seemed amenable to Sigisar’s plan and agreed to be his regent. He also offered him 200 gold marks, and a payment on the family debts. He told Sigisar that he should try first before leaving to reclaim his father’s castle, but Sigisar maintained this would be done in vain. Lothar also became interested in the unmarried women, Winifred and Narcissa, as political assets. At a dinner following these conversations, future plans were discussed. Lothar aggressively pushed the prospect of political marriages onto Winifred and Narcissa (Narcissa was much more receptive to the idea than Winifred). Manfred told Sigisar that this would likely be the end of their travels together, as he needed to follow Kaleb wherever he went, and that he was not cut out to be a crusading knight.
Kaleb found his contact again, and offered the cutlery. They agreed to leave on the next day. That evening, Kaleb elected to say goodbye to Sigisar and Winifred. went and told Sigisar, in Manfred’s presence, that he was leaving for Fallsmar, and Manfred resolved to follow his companion. Then, the next day, he told Winifred he and Manfred were leaving. She insisted that she would go with them rather than be married, and went to pack her things with the servants’ help. This was noted in the castle, and Lothar told Sigisar to control his retinue as if he did not, it would jeopardize his requests. Sigisar softly refused, but went around to Winifred and tried to convince her to stay. This failed, and so everyone in the party elected to go to Fallsmar instead of their previous plans. Sigisar checked the treasury, finding 45 gold marks and a mountain of debt papers, and ended up taking 10 marks in shame.
The group went to the Cat Tavern and spoke to the contact, who Manfred recognized from the charity house. The man was resistant to taking additional people as it might upset groups like the heretics, but Manfred threatened the man successfully that they would be a bigger problem if he reneged on his deal.
The group, the guide, and some of his guards then set out towards the bald mountaintops, where the witches’ fires had been seen before. The guide called his guards “his brothers”, but this was an obvious lie. The group followed the river as rain began to fall. The guards unfurled an oil tarp with carrying poles, and shielded the group to the best of their ability.
Narcissa, while scouting with her familiar, discovered the group was being tracked by about a dozen wolves. The group elected to keep their distance, hoping the wolves would leave on their own. The group continued to follow the stream, but eventually stopped to make camp. Narcissa and Winifred worked on making magical fires, which caused grumbling among the guards that they were witches, but eventually, they seemed to accept it. The guide asked Kaleb why he wanted to go to Fallsmar, and Kaleb described the illustration of the snake underground and a way possibly to Niflheim he found in the scriptorium. The man seemed taken aback, and described that legends say this snake could easily eat men. If the group managed to survive and return, the guide said he would be very interested in learning more information about Fallsmar and other strange realms.
Watches were set up as the night fell. On the last watch, a whistle and footsteps were heard. Narcissa who was awake, instinctively summoned up an illusion to conceal everyone...

Report Date

06 Apr 2023

Primary Location

Brillig