Bounty Hunters - Session 23

The Green Knight's Defeat

• The skirmish is harrowing. The redcaps tear handily into Moose-Elian and cause his form to expire once, doing significant damage to his normal form. Cantrips and healing from Joana and Madrin support him, and the three in concert are able to persevere. One at a time, the redcaps are defeated and fall into the mists below.
• Meanwhile, Whip and Bern face off against the knight, who continues to drag Bern away. Whip stays engaged--Bern is able to escape the vines and steps back to get some licks in. The knight tries to compel her close again, but fails, and so he turns to Whip, managing to enclose him in his vines. As the knight maneuvers to finish him off, Whip is able to desperately reach into an opening and, with a THUNK, knock him solidly on the head through a gap in his armor. He goes down.
• Whip pulls himself out of the still-clinging vines.
• He doesn't want to actively kill the knight, dimly recalling from childhood stories that the consequences for doing so among the Fae might be unpredictable. Given the liminal status of the place they're in, though, the group fears that leaving him in it might be tantamount to the same thing, so they drag him along.
• They're able to do so until they reach another "firefly" curtain. Elian charges through, but the rest pause with a conundrum: If they drag the knight through, the damage from the "fireflies" will certainly kill him. Whip is willing to leave him behind, but Joana is willing to sacrifice a potion of healing to see if there is an alternative.
  • But, the knight immediately attacks upon regaining consciousness. Whip knocks him out again and walks through the "fireflies", and everyone else follows.

• They again enter fog and walk for quite a while. How long, exactly, nobody can know.
  • Madrin tries to measure it with a makeshift hourglass, but no matter how much sand falls from one bulb into another, it never seems to actually lead to any more sand changing bulbs.
  • Hours? Weeks? Millenia? later, a light appears before them. As they continue walking, it eventually realizes the shape of an opening. They are in a cavern, their surroundings solid again.
  • The makeshift hourglass is now working more normally.
  • The group rests for a bit, then leaves into a new world.

Into the land of the Fae

• They exit the cavern into a valley. Fog-shrouded mountains, imposing and impenetrable, line all sides but one direction, which they arbitrarily decide is "South". Gurgling water sounds from the distance, but is not visible.
  • Once again, the plants here are unknown to Elian.

• • Bern notices a group of fungi surrounded by still corpses. The party gives this a wide berth.
• Seeing no other obvious direction to go, they head "South".
  • They eventually come upon a river's course, and they follow it.
  • An hour of walking, and they are suddenly set upon with the weight of all the traveling they've done up to now (mechanically: as if this was the first hour of a forced march). They set up a hut and rest.
  • When they awaken, a small building has joined them. No smoke rises from its chimney. Opposite that chimney is a door (unlocked), and on another side is a cellar door (padlocked).
  • They approach cautiously and knock. There is no answer.
  • Bern (still voluntarily gagged) gives a "fuck this" gesture and starts walking off. The group shrugs and follows.

• They walk further still, seeking the town of Viktal mentioned by Anise.
• The river course winds a bit, then joins another river coming from the "South". They join and head "Southwest". The group opts to continue downstream.
• Around mid-afternoon, they come across another tributary, with the main river course bending first "North", then sharply "West". All of this occurs within site of a tall bluff, atop which there is a small, walled village.
• There is, again, no smoke.
• They approach cautiously. Silence greets them.
  • A sign, in dramatic disrepair, seems to indicate this place is called "Kellee"
• They enter the closest building, which happens to be a brewery.
  • The floor is completely coated in stains that are clearly blood. The blood, and everything else, seems to have been neglected for quite a while--notably (to Whip), the contents of any unopened bottle has evaporated to a gunky residue, and all the corks are brittle and crumble to the touch.
• They move on to a nearby building, which appears to be a tavern.
  • The same sort of scene greets them, but here they do find a couple of things of interest: a logbook, a maul, and a safe.
  • The book has guest entries dated from FI 1213. Notably, those dates are by Alexandrian calendar notation, and the entries are in Fresian.
  • Bern will not touch the safe, but Whip willingly subs in. He nearly breaks a tool in its lock, but a stroke of (magical) inspiration saves him at the last moment, and it pops open.
    • 160 gp
    • An unbreakable jar filled with glowing liquid
    • A scroll covered in fine writing (magical)
    • A potion (magical)
    • A crown of dried camellia petals
    • A small mirror set in a painted wooden frame
    • A garish, colorful ticket: "THE CARNIVAL OF WONDERS - ADMIT ONE"
  • The items have clearly been there for some time. Rather than leave it to rot, the group divvies it up, save Bern, who refuses to touch any of it.
• They resolve to head toward the administrative center to see if they can find any more clues. Session ends.