10 Eleint 1385
Session 7
In the mid afternoon of this slightly overcast day, the party arrived in the village of Kythyss. As they entered the outskirts, they noticed a few villagers wave or just watch them, yet there appeared to be a couple of houses and farms boarded up, abandoned…or the residents were taken as the rumours suggested.
They entered the main village hub and noticed, although it was small, there appeared to be some larger buildings, namely the tavern, a market building and a barracks. And upon a nearby separated hill was a large keep where the Mayor resided and ruled.
After discussing what to do, the group split up - Us heading to the Keep to talk with the Mayor about the disappearances, and for any other information, while the rest of the group entered the markets to both browse and to gather information of their own.
Us walked to the bridge connecting the Keep from the village, and he was approached by two guards who appeared to be on duty yet seemed lax in their watch. The superior of the two, a woman, approached and asked Us his business. He handed a forged document stating he was here from the The Golden Griffins and although it looked quite official, Us could tell she wasn’t buying it. She then escorted him to the Keep and, after a short period of time, got an audience with the Mayor, Mayor Thardo. He asked Us why he forged the document and what he was really here for, with Us demanding answers for the disappearances and the mist people had mentioned to the East to Kythyss. The Mayor claimed they were all rumours and his soldiers had debunked them, claiming the disappearances were fake and the people had simply left and it was all al ploy to take him out of power. He dismissed Us, with the female guard escorting him back. He told the woman to inform him if there were any problems later from the Mayor and that he was indeed there to help them.
The others went into the Markets and discovered the hall was split into several sections, namely produce and essentials in one section, and adventuring gear/potions/trinkets in the other. The party split between the armourer, weapon smith, and tinkerer, aiming to get what info they would. Hamwise spoke to the tinkerer and bought some more ingredients to make healing potions, and after asking the individual about the issues, the vendor told Hamwise it was all a farce and there were no issues. Hamwise however picked up he did appear borderline insane, s he promptly left. Tayln spoke to the armourer and, after some discussion about Taylns armour, the armourer admitted the village was told to keep quiet about the issues as there was ‘nothing wrong’ and that the Mayor had been acting strange the past couple of months for some unknown reason. He told Tayln that there was indeed some mist to the East and that one of the fish sellers sisters disappeared recently due to it. Tayln gave him some money for the info and left. Sckips walked into the weapons shop and, after being scolded by the gnomish seller for being underage and having to leave, Sckips disguised herself as Us, entered and bought a dagger, and then left, dropping the illusion as she left the store and making sure the gnome saw.
As the three reconvened after and discussed their info, Sckips felt something on her ankles and looked down to see manacles now on her legs. Suddenly the gnome appeared from her invisibility and asked for the dagger back. After some discussion, the gnome said she wasn’t allowed to sell to minors, yet she would happily sell it to any of the other two, saying she doesn’t care if they buy it and give it to Sckips as that’s not her business. After a confusing interaction and exchanging of gold and daggers, the gnome left, and Sckips realised she still had the manacles.
Us join the group outside and, after re-exchanging all the info, the group agreed to head east and see what this mist is all about - Head to the east of Kythyss and investigate the mist. After travelling in their cart for about an hour, Sckips arrived at a spot that appeared to be a type of hidden barrows. Green grass and small hills, thick trees, closed stone barrow doors covered in moss, a set of stones in a spiral pattern in between the barrows, it all appeared well and good. As the others exited and saw similar surroundings, Hamwise looked around and saw something very different…
Session 8
Appearing at these barrows, the party exited their cart and took in the wonder of the barrows. Hamwise on the other hand, saw a very different barrows to his companions; corpses lay strewn across the ground all in different states of decay, some skeletal, others still rotting, the furthest barrow opened with red flickering light emanating from its depths, and mist, faint but there, rolling around this space. The rest of the party began walking through the clearing in search for clues and why this barrow was here. Hamwise told the group what he saw and cautioned the group, who went to the furthest barrow, the opened one, and began looking at the stone door that sealed it.
Us took note of the etchings in the stone door and saw it was runes and carvings to keep the spirits at bay and to protect the dead who lay here; a typical burial ritual. As Tayln pushed the door open, Hamwise saw him pushing against nothing yet was straining to push. It appeared that the mist had conjured such an elaborate illusion that it was difficult for even the smartest of the group to discern. Tayln entered the barrow, seeing nothing but dust and empty space. He turned to explain this to the group, when Hamwise noticed a clawed hand reach out to Tayln, and two red specs appear in the darkness as something grabbed onto Tayln and seeped some of his life from him. Upon turning around, Tayln stood face to face with a Red Wizard, his hands grey and nails pointed, the wizards smile stretching from ear to ear, and his smile showing sharp pointed teeth . His glowing eyes shone as combat ensued, and throughout this encounter, he raised the bodies of his victims, claiming them to be experiments, and the party would soon join them. Soon though, the group realised that although the dead may fall, their master will continue to raise them. So they promptly took out the wizard and knocked him unconscious for questioning later.
The party survived, taking down the wizard, and managed to loot some of his belongings. Us found a book that, to him, was in scribbles and symbols. Tayln however noticed the book was written in Deep Speech, and managed to decipher this being a journal and experiment book. Not much of interest presented itself outside of the typical raising-the-dead he was doing, however a name continued to pop up - Dethmol. The wizard apparently respected and feared this individual, and was the one who aided in his research to raise the dead and, if his plan succeeded, would launch an attach at Kythyss and continue North.
The group also found another tome, The Fallen Scrolls of Capa, which would aid in the groups understanding of Deep Speech in the future if they studied it.
With this knowledge, the group headed back West towards Kythyss with the wizard tied and gagged, and sooner than later, they exited the mist, now visible by the entire party after Us, Sckips, and Tayln fought the wizard. Arriving in the village, they will decide what to do with the prisoner, and give the findings to the Mayor.