Session 13 - 15 Report

General Summary

After the tour through Stag Hall and the Menagerie, the party met up with each other to discuss the situation concerning the contract of the Forest Spirit. They decided to once again visit Elhandra, to get additional information and gain Grohim's prophecy, and to do some shopping in order to prepare for the encounter with the forest spirit. The party wisely bought some Cold Iron arrows and a crude dagger fashioned from cold iron, as well as new Duskwood bows for TT and Yerin. They set off towards the lumberyard on the last day before the Harvest Festival to fix the situation, so the creature would not disturb the Wild Hunt during the festival.
After some searching, they noticed the forests to be completely silent, any noise of birds and other creatures completely absent. They found the creature, with its owl-like visage, and it attacked them using talons and its antlers, but after the party managed to slay the creature, it rose once again to attack them in another form, that of a bark and root covered predator, with the same visage. After slaying the creature for the second time, it stayed down and dissipated into the dirt. Slowly, the natural voices of the forests returned to them. The party found and took their first magic item, the Visage of the Hunter: a wooden mask bearing the face of the spirit they slew.
The party returned victoriously to the town, to get their reward and make the final preparations for the festival.
On the first day of the festival, the party spent most of the early morning and afternoon browsing the various stalls and goings-on at the town square. Rho and Yerin also put themselves up for the Brawl, which went in their favor after defeating their first opponent separately. For the second bout however, they teamed up and defeated their opponents together. They spoke briefly to Ragnar, one of the Jarl's sons and the reigning champion of the Harvest festival brawls, and they learned that they would face both him and his older sister in the final match. 
In the meantime, the party found that they were being followed by a mysterious cloaked figure. When the party moved to follow him, they spooked him and he started to run through the streets and over the rooftops in order to get away. After a brief chase, the party caught up to him and interrogated him in the streets, threatening to bring him to the Jarl's jail. He finally spilled the beans and said that he was working for the Bluecloaks, a group of rebels that are fighting the The Duke of the Pale in Rannalla. He said that he was tasked to look for the group known as the "Clubhaus", since they could be useful to the Bluecloaks' cause, as they managed to defeat a Uthengar Patrol. The party released the messenger and sent him out of the city. 
As the sun started to set, the party partook in the candle procession around the city, which accumulated into the night of Bonfires. As the fires lit around the city and the solemn silence made place for more joy and reveling, the party knew that their work for tonight was done. 
The next day, the party kept their eyes peeled for any strange activity and made their preparations for the finals of the Brawls and the Wild Hunt. Grohim made an offering to the Earth Mother, in the form of a newly made heavy armor, created in a single day. Though he knew that his efforts were blessed, he was also exhausted from the act.
The day went rather smoothly, but things got interesting during the start of the Brawl with the Jarl's children. A stranger clad in robes, behind the reins of a horse-led carriage was escorted into the city by town guards during twilight. He claimed to be bearing gifts from Rannalla, in the form of expertly crafted silver statues, that were laid on his carriage. The Jarl noted his horrible timing, as they were about to start the brawl, but received the gifts. Rho and Yerin noticed that something was off, as the man was not bearing a shadow in the light of the fires, and made their way out of the fighting pit, towards the stage were the Jarl and the rest of the party were seated. As the Jarl's servants and guards carried the statues through the crowd, towards the Stag Hall, a shriek emerged from the crowd. A woman was being strangled by her own shadow, from whose corpse another aggressive shadow-like specter emerged. 
The party, as well as the Jarl and his family fended off the specters and the Rannallan Envoy, who, appearing to be a mage, summoned an elemental made from the sands and stones surrounding the fighting pit in the middle of the square. The fight was hard and bloody, and a few of the Inquisitors almost bit the dust, but the heroes were victorious in the end. During the chaos, the Jarl was wounded, but still in good shape. They were however informed by guards that the fight was continuing further into the city, as the Shadows were still multiplying. Elhandra also rushed towards the group to tell them that the Hunt -must- be completed tonight, otherwise they would be risking Statsra's ire, which would mean that the city's future supply of game and fish would be at risk, potentially causing famine. 
The party set out to complete the sacred hunt, after taking a short rest to catch their breath. Elhandra explained the Wild Hunt to the Party; a spirit, descending directly from Statsra himself would appear in these forests tonight, as the prime target of the Hunt. The party must find the creature, slay it and take its heart. But due to the nature of the game, they would then be hunted themselves. Normally, this would be by other contestants, but as they are likely the only participants this year, it is likely that Statsra has arranged for another obstacle. Once they are in possession of the heart, they would have to take it out of the forest, and take it to the bonfire in the main square, where they will set it alight.
The party rushed into the forest, starting the search for the creature, which would this year take the form of an enormous stag. The search was arduous, but eventually they managed to find the creature and ambush it like true predators, that would make the Great Hunter proud. The Avatar of Statsra went down quickly and its Dire Wolf protectors followed soon. The Party ripped its heart from its enormous body and took off towards Hindarskjall. Through the canopy of the forests, they saw that the moons were almost at their highest point, signalling that their time was almost up. TT handed the object to Rho, whom was then thrice blessed by the other members of the party and darted through the forests like the wind, with a pack of wolves on his tail.
In what was probably too close for comfort, he made it to the pyre just in time, delivering the heart to the pyre. The rest of the party watched from the treeline outside the city as the pyre took a vibrant shade of green, illuminating the city in the sacred radiance of the The Old Gods, for just a few seconds. They knew that their job was complete. 
They returned to the city in shambles. Dead littered the streets, and where the city was a beacon of revelry before, it made way to grief for their lost ones and anger at the one that would attack them like this. They met with the Jarl and Elhandra, who thanked them deeply inviting them to hold council the following morning in the Hall of Stags, to discuss the events of tonight and how to proceed onwards.
As most of the party returned to the Old Helm Inn to drink and rest, TT and Grohim started the search for Fluffy, their hound. After an hour of nerve wracking searching, TT found the dog near Halford's shack at the menagerie and had an emotional reunion with their companion.
They headed back to the inn for a well-deserved rest.

Rewards Granted

Visage of the Hunter - Magic item: This snow-white mask belonged to a Hunter Spirit, it can be worn over the face, and will grant the wearer Darkvision up to a range of 60 feet. If the wearer already has Darkvision, its range will be increased by 60 feet. Additionally, once per day, the wearer can use an action to cast Pass without Trace as a second level spell through the mask.
600GP from the Woodland spirit contract
Duskwood Longbow & Shortbow
Cold Iron Dagger and arrows
Splint mail made by Grohim
XP Previous total: 4770 XP
Finding and defeating He-who-Protects-the Clearing: 600XP
Completing the contract: 200XP
Rho & Yerin partaking in the brawls: 400 XP
Chasing down and interrogating Bluecloaks agent: 150 XP
Grohim Hunting & Smithing challenge: 200 XP
Partaking in the procession and pyres: 100 XP
Securing the city during the first day of festival: 200 XP
Defeating Rannallan Envoy, Shadows & Elemental: 800 XP
Hunting and defeating Avatar of Statsra & guard Wolves: 650 XP
Completing the Wild Hunt before midnight: 200 XP
Generosity to townsfolk: 20 XP
Saving Hindarskjall from the wrath of Statsra and defending it from Rannallan incursion: 500 XP
4020 XP, new total: 8790
Level 5!
XP to level 6: 5210

Report Date

05 Aug 2020

Primary Location

Hindarskjall