Adventure #17 - Like Wolf Among Sheep

General Summary

Adventure #17 - Like Wolf Among Sheep 8/23/24
Players: Karl: Erberk Torunn Seth: Gimp Chris: Dimple Nackle Kira: Tesh
Synopsis: On evening, Erberk, Gimp, Dimple, and Lionel all sitting at the bar in the Elderflower for a meeting called by Erberk to discuss how to proceed with the discoveries that Erberk learned from the automaton. For a full hour, Erberk raves like a conspiracy theorist about the Myneheart Delve and sharing what he learned during his sessions of communing with the automaton, including information about the facility, dates that don't line up with the dating system currently in use, and that it was suddenly shut down because of unknown hostiles. Erberk feels strongly that the party should explore the Myneheart Delve as soon as possible, learn what caused the facility to lockdown, and eliminate anything that might threaten their town. Erberk also expresses a concern that the mines might be connected to the Elderflower via the large pit in the center of the tavern, and that at any moment their town could be invaded by unknown denizens that could flood out of the pit. Lionel thanks Erberk for his passion for the mine, its exploration, and its security, but he explains that the mine is current unable to be further explored; a number of tunnels are caved in and blocking any way further, and that his team are slowly working at clearing away these tunnels one section at a time. Lionel feels confident that nothing would be able to break through, and that he and his crew will use extreme caution while they clear the tunnels, as to not unleash any dangers that may be behind the cave ins. Pappy, while munching on Elderberry Bread, also dashes away Erberk's theory on the town being in danger via the tavern's pit, reminding Erberk (who was present at the first discovery of the tavern in the first adventure) that not only is the Elderflower indestructible, but that Poog also has a magic key that locked the door at the bottom of the pit, which is just as indestructible. He reminds Erberk that Poog and the other goblins came from the endless labyrinth beneath the tavern, and that they have no interest in unlocking the door, protecting the key with their very lives. Deflated, Erberk accepts their responses and buries his sorrows in a drink, while Lionel departs for home. Pappy suddenly realizes that he is late in picking up his shipment of fresh bread from the new bakery in town, Bread & Bone, and asked the party if they could be trouble stop pick up a crate on his behalf and give her payment. As Pappy hands over a coin purse, he explains that the owner Tesh is new to town, and that she has an oddity about her shop; she has a reanimated skeleton companion that helps her in the bakery. He explains that she was approved for a permit for her skeleton companion, and that it has been deemed safe for town; it is not a threat and should not be attacked. The party accepts the task, and walks over to the bakery.
The party approaches the bakery, and Erberk kicks open the door and shouts his demands for bread. As soon as he does, he realizes Azalea is there doing business with Tesh, a female orc in baker's attire, and both ladies stare at Erberk after his sudden intrusion. Erberk sheepishly says he'll wait his turn, and after greeting the party, Azalea continues her arrangements with Tesh. The party listens to their conversations, and learns that Tesh saves all the stale bread, wheat leftovers, and floor sweepings for Azalea, who uses it supplement the feeding of the birds of her new bird sanctuary. Tesh offers to give them for free, but Azalea insists on paying for them, saying that the leftovers are every bit as valuable to the birds as her fresh bread is to the town, and that she feels that she is doing her duty as a Druid in seeing that none of the food is wasted. After completing their business, Azalea turns to Erberk and asks to have a private word with him. She explains that she feels guilty; after her failed coming of age quest with him and the rest of the party, she sought the help of a different party of adventurers and succeeded in passing the trials, gaining a bird companion (though still in egg form), and acquiring the seed of the Mother Tree, which she planted in the center of town as both her home as well as her new bird sanctuary. Azalea is excited to be starting her new life in Aberystwyth and contributing to the town, but she feels bad that she did so without Erberk. She explains that she didn't want to keep any of it secret from him because she cherishes their friendship and wants to celebrates these exciting events with him, and hopes that there aren't any hard feelings about it. Erberk says he is happy and excited for her, but inside he is crushed that he failed to help and that she needed the help of others to compete what he could not. Azalea explains that her bird sanctuary is more than just a safe haven for birds, but also a place to raise bird companions for the town, just like what she had at her home in the Wingspan tribe. Azalea says she thinks she has figured out a new ritual for bonding a bird to a non-Druid, and asks the party if they could test her ritual to see if it will work. Normally the materials and ritual would cost 50gp to perform, but she offers to do the ritual free of charge, and that if all went well they would have a bird companion of their very own. The party agrees, but remembers first that they must pick up the bread order from Tesh. The party does so, handing over payment and receiving a crate of bread, and prepares to deliver the order back to The Elderflower. Azalea extends the invitation to Tesh for the bird bonding ritual, and Tesh accepts, joining the party as they leave the bakery.
Soon, the party arrives at the base of a massive tree, which towers over head and is filled with the sounds of birdsong. Azalea asks for a moment to prepare the ceremony, and goes behind the tree to gather supplies. The party looks around to see a wooden staircase spiraling up around the tree, leading to a wooden home suspended high in the trees branches. Azalea reappears with ceremonial face paint marking her cheeks and forehead, and asks the party to stand in a line before her. She asks for a single hair from each party member, then adds it to a paint bowl she carries and mashes them into the paint. She then proceeds to use the paint to make markings on each party members face, each design being unique for each person, and then Azalea begins chanting in her Druidic tongue. After a moment, she opens her eyes, and waits expectantly. Nothing happens. Azalea begins to look flustered, saying to herself that the ritual should have worked and guesses at what might have gone wrong, and the party stands there awkwardly while she does so. Suddenly, a local farmer Jebodiah runs towards the party from the darkness, shouting for the guards. Gimp immediately refocuses his attention to the civilian, and Jebodiah explains that a large wolf has attacked his sheep, and that he tried to scare away the beast with his grandfathers sword. He offers the sword as payment and that it might be useful in fighting the wolf off. The party takes it, and then runs swiftly to the farm to help.
When the party arrives at the farm, and although it's nightfall, they find obvious evidence of an attack; a large pool of blood glistens in the moonlight on the ground, and a smearing red trail of something being dragged leads behind the barn. The party draws their weapons and follows it, and finds a pack of five wolves in a semi-circle feeding on the corpse of a ravaged sheep. The wolves notice the party approaching and snarl in response, while the center wolf rises on its hind legs in bipedal form and snarls violently. Erberk notices that the moon is full, and then shouts a battle cry as the fight begins. Without hesitation, Dimple lobs a bomb directly at the assumed werewolf, which explodes in a fiery inferno, catching not only the beast on fire, but also the side of the barn. Gimp skewers a burning wolf with his spear, Tesh cuts down a wolf with her great axe, and Erberk smashes a wolves skull into the barn with the Heat of the Forge. One by one the wolves fall, except for the werewolf, who combat rolls on the ground to put out the fire on itself, and then sinks its teeth into Tesh's abdomen. Suddenly, the sound of shrieking birds is heard from above and four birds begin to dive bomb the werewolf out of the night sky, pecking and slashing at its face with their talons. The rest of the party charges the werewolf, while Dimple throws handfuls of dirt on the barn in hopes of putting out the fire he started. Overwhelmed and visibly hurt, the werewolf howls and turns to retreat, but not before Erberk drops his weapon, leaps on its back and hangs onto the fur of the beast as it runs into the darkness.
Now alone in the middle of pitch black field and clinging on the back of the retreating werewolf, Erberk's mind races to find a weakness on the beast that might slow it down, such as a swift kick to the groin, but fails to do so. Without a weapon and left with few options, Erberk begins loudly venting into the night all about his bad day, including his disappointment at not being about to explore the mine, failing to help Azalea with her coming of age quest, embarrassing himself in front of Azalea, and even confessing his feelings for her but frustrated that he keeps letting her down and embarrassing himself in front of her. While he rants, the werewolf notices Erberk's loud presence on its back, and in response tilts its body towards on oncoming tree, slamming Erberk headfirst into the tree trunk, and knocking him off its back. The werewolf disappears into the forest, and Erberk lays on the ground dazed and seeing stars. After a few minutes, a bird (specifically a Hamerkop), lands on top of Erberk's dazed body and stands guard over him.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party back at the barn are joined by their own birds; a Peregrine Falcon lands on Gimp's shoulder, a Griffon Vulture joins Tesh's side, and a Hooded Pitohui lands on Dimple's head. Tesh and Dimple work together to put the fire on the barn out, and Gimp grabs Erberk's weapon and runs into the darkness to find him, guided by his new feathery companion. Soon, Gimp finds Erberk sitting upright against the base of the tree with his own bird, and hands him his weapon. Erberk then starts speaking nonsense as a result of hitting his head hard against the tree, and Gimp guides him back towards the party as he listens to Erberk ramble. The party rejoins together, and the party finds Erberk's jabbering strange, but do not investigate it any further. Disoriented and confused, Eberk suddenly feels that he needs to walk off in a different direction, and the party decides that they should try to knock him out and bring him home. To do so, Tesh and Gimp attempt to grapple Erberk so Dimple can force feed him a bottle of Drow Poison, but Erberk overpowers them and runs off into the night. The party sighs, and walks into the darkness to find him again. With Erberk far ahead of the party and alone once more, he is suddenly attacked by the same werewolf, who pins him and beings to maul him viciously. The party hears the sounds of struggle and animal attack, and walk towards the sound to investigate, finding the werewolf on top of Erberk's body as it gores him. The werewolf looks up at the party, snarls, and then runs back into the darkness once more. Gimp walks up to Erberk's lifeless body, throws him over his shoulder, and then the party begins to walk back to town to find a healer for him. After a few minutes, Gimp notices that his shoulder is hot and wet with Erberk's blood, and Tesh examines Erberk's breath, finds that it's very faint, and that Erberk is on the cusp of death. The party rummages around their packs to find a bottle of cute light wounds, pours it down Erberk's throat, and revives him enough to bring him back to consciousness. From there, they return to town.

Report Date

23 Aug 2024

Primary Location

Aberystwyth