Session 8 - Down the Shaft

General Summary

The next day saw the party progress slowly, as Edmon and his liege Sigisar hauled wolf bodies, piled atop a tarp, through the woods. Still, by the end of the day, the surviving guide led the party to the source of the Smara River in the Düst foothills. The guide, Randolf, said to the party that this is the end of the road as far as he knows, and though he doesn't know how to gain entrance to Fallsmar, he would try his best to assist his captors. As the party sets up camp for the night, Manfred made sure to keep his eye on the guide. Before lying down to sleep, Narcissa instructed her raven to fly around the area to see if any signs of habitation were visible. The bird saw a land which was fairly barren with no obvious signs of life. She then created an image of the area, to aid the raven's search. By the end of the night, the bird did see a small cloud of smoke to the west of the camp.
Naricssa and Kaleb decided to wander in the woods during their watch. Narcissa made a “walking bush” as they followed the raven. The raven led them to a densely forested hillside. The pair smelled wood smoke. Narcissa decided to turn around, attempting and failing to take Kaleb’s hat to try and bring him back to camp. Kaleb “galloped” towards the wood smoke. The pair found a frozen rope, which was almost certainly a trap. They then found a cloud of smoke hanging over a hill, followed by a dog bark. A dog approached the walking bush. Narcissa managed to slip away, but.the dog attempted to attack Kaleb. More barking was heard from the hills, and more dogs approached. Kaleb retreated as well. In the confusion of the escape, a dog was killed. Narcissa sent the raven to distract the dogs, but it was grabbed and dispelled, causing her to lose her darkvision and to run into a tree. She had to hold Kaleb's hand as they ran back to camp.
In the morning, the party elected to go in the direction of the smoke. After releasing Randolf, Narcissa summoned a new raven, black and navy blue. As the party went into the woods, they were set upon by bandits pointing arrows down from the trees. The bandits were upset about the dog which had been killed. Sigisar told the hunters he is the Margrave of Horstkopf, and is looking for a cure for Kaleb in Fallsmar. Edmon, feeling surly and defensive of his lord, nearly started combat with the bandits, but Winifred offered 10 gold marks to pay for the dead dog. With the bandits seemingly placated for the moment, the group elected to trade the wolf pelts for information on Fallsmar. The bandits traveled with the party to claim the wolf pelts, which were back at camp. The bandits indicated there are depressions in the ground which might lead to Fallsmar, and then they left.
The party struggled for some time to figure out next steps, and determined that it required digging tools. Feeling somewhat cheated after paying 10 marks for the dog, they elected to use subterfuge to get more from the bandits. Narcissa used a combination of seduction and magic to steal shovels from the bandits. The party then went further into the hills. While searching here, they found a shaft behind a small frozen waterfall, fairly narrow, and fairly smooth.
Once the bandits realized the deception, they called upon their remaining dogs to hunt the party down. Someone dropped a torch into the shaft, and Narcissa made the waterfall appear larger to conceal the group's movements. She was the first to be lowered down the shaft by Edmon and Sigisar. Next went Kaleb. Then Manfred, who summoned a light to illuminate the narrow shaft. Finally, the two warriors entered. Narcissa found a chasm as she went ahead in this shaft. Inside the chasm were animated dwarf corpses The party began to battle these skeletons, but the size of the tunnel made it difficult to maneuver. Kaleb jumped in the chasm, giving one of the creatures' hands a zap, and Manfred kept them at bay by reciting mocking verses. The warriors became stuck upon each other in the narrow shaft, and had to spend some time getting unstuck. Kaleb was knocked out in the fight and suffered an abdominal injury. Manfred managed to revive him, but was downed by the corpses himself, and had to be revived by Sigisar. The robbers eventually found the party and mocked them by offering a rescue, adding that they had no chance of survival in Fallsmar if they were bested by this shaft. Narcissa got across the pit and found strange geometric shapes with handprints and footprints. She tried to interact to touch them, but to no avail. Though Manfred also suffered a deep slash, the corpses were eventually downed.

Report Date

11 May 2023