Session 45
The Party, fully assembled after several days, gathered their belongings from the Gruesome Hamsters and prepared to depart. Parker Adams reminded them that he would be taking an airship to Sunhall to meet with King Summerbrace to ask for help. The rest of the Party agreed to head east to seek the help of Clan Hammersmith while Sylrieth would go consult with the Sisterhood of the Gentle Snow. The Party mounted their horses and road east for the day, stopping several hours west of Rockchill.
That night, Vigwalin heard a screech in the night sky which woke Sir Didymus. As he peered up, he managed to catch a glimpse of several large flying creatures to the northeast. They doused their campfire, and watched as they grew smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing in the darkness.
The following morning, the group awoke, ate something small, and continued riding. By early afternoon they had arrived in Rockchill. The first thing they noticed was how nearly half the people they saw were halflings. Aside from that, Rockchill appeared to be a normal small town. They stopped a person walking along the road and asked if there was anywhere to stay for the night. The halfling directed them to the nearby Frigate's Dragon inn.
The Party hitched their horses and entered the tavern. The barkeep, a good looking halfling named Reed Daggersharp, looked up at them and then suddenly frowned. As Bloodbane approached, the halfling shrank and attempted to address the half-orc. As he did so, he began to stutter and became increasingly shy. He couldn't even look Bloodbane in the eye, he was so nervous. Bloodbane and the others pushed their way up to the bar and tried to get some information from Reed.
The halfling bartender stammered, but he told them that the gentleman sitting at the end of the tavern might have some work for them. The group approached him and sat down. The human, with dirt under his nails and on his face, looked around at the Party nervously. He asked them what they wanted and Typhon told him that they were told that he might know of something interesting in town. The farmer told the group that a pack of cockatrices had been hunting and killing sheep over the past few weeks. That was enough for the Party and they immediately asked about a reward. The farmer mentioned that he didn't have much money, but said that he would talk to the other farmers in town about pooling resources.
The farmer led the Party to his farm on the north side of town. The farmland opened up to a small forest in the north and a few hills dotted the landscape. The sun beat down on the Party as the farmer brought out a sheep to use as bait. They tied up the animal and then proceeded to hide in a nearby barn. It didn't take long before a small pack of cockatrices came. The small predators descended from above out of the north. They harassed the restrained sheep and sliced at its soft underbelly, spilling out its intestines all over the grass. The Party watched the beasts as they disemboweled the sheep then flew back north. They gave chase, making sure to keep their distance so as not to spook their quarry.
As they continued through the forest, they reached a small clearing. Suddenly they heard a mighty roar in the air followed by a squawk and the thud of a falling cockatrice hitting the ground. A moment later, another two beasts landed nearby, followed by the sound of a mighty pair of wings beating the air into submission as a manticore landed near the bodies. It batted the fresh corpses around with its massive paw and looked over at the Party, making eye contact with Sir Didymus. The halfling ranger had gotten between the beast and its prey and the situation had grown tense.
The manticore carefully approached as Sir Didymus stepped aside. It grabbed the dead cockatrice and pulled it toward itself. All seemed well... until Sir Didymus made a sudden movement and provoked the manticore. It lunged out at the ranger, dealing tremendous damage to the halfling. Bloodbane ran in, hacking at the beast with Ravager while Typhon and Vigwalin launched attacks of their own. Soon the manticore found itself to be outclassed by the heroes and it attempted to escape. Sir Didymus loosed an arrow as the beast flew off, hitting it in the back of the head. The monstrosity crashed into the earth sending up dirt and debris as it slid across the landscape.
The Party searched the manticore, and pulled out several teeth and cut the wings off. Bloodbane removed a part of its ribcage for use in later jewelery making.
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