Session 14: Dispellings

The party sets out from Summercrest to make the journey to Zaimier and Vondal and claim their reward at last. Kriv summons her phantom steeds, which allows them to travel almost twice as fast. It is a broad highway they travel on, and more than a few travelers pass them going either direction.

Six days later, they are deep in the forest when another traveler heading back towards Summercrest hails them. He tells them the bridge ahead is out, but that there is a small path that goes around the gorge it spans that they can use. This stranger seems genuine, and the party decides to listen to him, though Rougi does pick his pocket (despite Kriv's efforts to stop him). So they travel a little farther along the road, then make their way off onto the small woodland path.

The path takes them deep into the forest, and they walk for several hours. Dusk begins to fall, and they realize that they are not going to be able to get back to the road before dark. At about this time, however, the forest opens up - it is not a clearing, but they find themselves in an area where the trees are much shorter, thinner, and farther apart. It looks like an area of new growth, as if this section of the forest was clearcut some time ago and now the forest is gradually growing back.

The party walks into this area, figuring they will camp here for the night. Looking around, Rougi realizes that this area is actually the remains of an abandoned village. The crumbling remains of huts are hidden behind thick shrubberies, and there is a large dilapidated three-story manor house standing on the east end of the ghost town.

Before the party can take the time to process any of this though, they realize that there are three figures standing in the road a good fifty yards in front of them. Kava calls out a cheerful hello, which is greeted by a vicious snarl, followed by the creatures charging forward. As they draw closer, the party realizes it is a trio of ghouls! A sharp flash of déjà vu washes over them, followed by a grim sense of pleasure, a determination these monsters will not defeat them this time.

The battle is short and very one-sided. In only moments, Rougi and Kava have their revenge.

Invigorated from their victory, the party settles in for the night. Kriv actually stays up quite late learning some new rituals, but the rest of the party drops off to sleep pretty quickly. Rougi tranced and then kept watch around the camp for the rest of the night. As it wore on towards the hour of dawn, Berekhan woke up to wait out the last few hours with him. (Rougi was a little peeved that Kriv had tried to stop him from robbing the traveler on the highway, and attempted to pick her pocket too. In this he was actually unsuccessful.)

After a couple more hours, the two of them began to feel a little ill at ease. Their internal clocks told them that it should be getting light soon, that dawn should be approaching, yet it was still as black as midnight. Berekhan cast his mind about to get a feel for the magic in the area. He realized there was an illusion at work here. Concentrating hard, he could see, over the top of the illusion, the sun breaking over the trees.

Before they could take any further action on this though, eight ghosts materialized in the unnatural darkness and lunged at the party. Their phantom swords swung over Kriv's head and pierced Kava's armor, waking them up in a hurry. The battle was swift - soon all eight ghosts had been dispatched, dissolved into nothingness with shrill but quickly silenced cries.

The party elected to move away from the scene of the battle, and after only a few paces they found themselves subjected to the light of dawn streaming through the trees. The illusion had apparently been confined to an area right around their camp.

The party decided to investigate the collapsing manor house. However, once inside, it quickly became apparent there was nothing here worth having. The house was so old, so long-abandoned, that it was nearly collapsing around them. Rougi elected to swing up chandeliers and such rather than brave the stairs, so dilapidated did they look.

As their fruitless investigation came to a close and they turned to leave, they became aware that there was another ghost standing in the doorway. Unlike the others, though, he had a sad, lonely face, and rather than attacking, addressed them politely. He said his name was Brandis; he had been a resident of this village years ago. He told the party that his village had gone through several bad years of crop failures, and no one would give them any aid, no one would help. Starvation began to set in, and then desperation, and his fellow villagers began to resort to cannibalism. Brandis nearly became hysterical as he told of how he had watched his own wife and children killed and eaten by his neighbors.

Brandis pleads with them to help him. He says he knows why no one helped them, that it was an calculated, deliberate thing, that someone drove his village to starvation on purpose. The party is somewhat unsurprised to learn that it was Cabal himself. They promise he shall receive his just rewards. Brandis is overcome, thanking them profusely. (Rougi then tries to get some info out of him as to where any buried treasure might be, but Brandis didn't know anything; that manor house had been abandoned since before he was born.)

Their work here done, the party headed out once again for Zaimier. Kriv summoned the phantom steeds; two more days they traveled without rest, making their way back across the path and to the highway again. In the afternoon of the third day, they finally arrived back to Zaimier.

Rewards

XP: 500 each
Money: 1,400 gp (350 gp each)
Treasure: none