Bounty Hunters - Session 30

Run, Rabbit, Run!

• Joana and Whip nowhere in sight, Bern Elian and Madrin have little choice but to press on in the direction Whip went.
• Hares work to surround them on all sides, but Elian plugs the gap. Bern has trouble orienting herself in her upside down position, and her shots whiff.
• Joana reappears where she disappeared (now, far behind the party). She looks disoriented.
• Whip's voice is hard to discern, but becomes clearer as he gets closer: "The exit! The exit!"
• Joana blinks and comes to her senses, just in time to start dodging three werehares. Her magical energy has found a second wind--she thundersteps toward the party, leaving three injured (and warier) rabbits behind.
• They fill in. Elian continues the measured retreat, Bern and Madrin taking shots where they can. Whip rejoins the party and he and Elian are able to get the rest of the gang behind them. With a clear goal ahead, their retreat becomes more-or-less orderly.
• Wererabbits continue filling in. The press becomes nearly overwhelming as they approach the portal, which has the appearance of a serene landscape in pastels.
• They rush in, one after the other. As they file through, they appear in the scene, which takes on a markedly more sinister tone with each subject who appears in its borders.
• Elian, the last one through, is surrounded by an impossible number of wererabbits, pushing in from every side. It's too much for him to even make it through as a wolf--in the nick of time, he shifts to his elven form, just missing the snapping jaws of a hare as he passes through the portal.

• They appear in a dark and twisted forest. It smells of death and decay. The thick, jungle-like canopy blocks off all light, and it is oppressively hot and humid.
• A bestial rabbit-humanoid, similar to the werehares but much, much, much larger, rests on a boulder before the group. He is flanked by two more werehares who, as menacing as they were on the other side of the portal, appear like mere pets next to their king.

Lord Vizzerdrix: You intrude on the sanctum of Vizzerdrix, lord of the Warrens. Lord Vizzerdrix: You have provided me some small diversion from the eternal boredom of this place. And have survived as well. You may ask of me your boon. Joana: Uh... Joana: ...remind me what we're doing here again? Joana: Sorry, it's been a little while. Whip: We'd hoped to find Mother Lorinda Lord Vizzerdrix: gives a predatory chuckle. Lord Vizzerdrix: I could just kill now, make it easier and less painful on you. Bern: (whispering to Joana) We seek Mother Lorinda OR her foes OR someone else who can renew the pact with the bossy elf-lady. Joana: We'd actually prefer not that. Joana: We've been sent here to find Mother Lorinda, so if you could just point us in her direction we'll get out of your... hare. Lord Vizzerdrix: I can do either of these things you have asked: introduce you to Lorendas enemies or else help you locate her. Lord Vizzerdrix: but I cannot do both. Lord Vizzerdrix: grins wickedly. Lord Vizzerdrix: Not without further negotiation, anyway. Lord Vizzerdrix: There is only one thing Lorinda values -- Children. I do not see any of those among you. Lord Vizzerdrix: Perhaps you plan to steal one with which to bargain? Lord Vizzerdrix: chuckles. Lord Vizzerdriz: They are in short supply. This land is cursed. Joana: (to party) We don't have any children, right? GM: (POLL) Vote Confirm: Seek Loreida Directly Lord Vizzerdrix: I suppose that is one way to escape the perils of this land. I will miss your entertainment value, but not your odor. Whip: Remind me to bring more patchouli next time I come here Lord Vizzerdrix: Very well. If you seek Lorinda, she may be found on any clear night of the full moon. She lives in a creature of wicker, bones, and thorns upon which is balanced a small stone towner. Lord Vizzerdrix: It is named Gurgyl. Lord Vizzerdrix: The villagers do not speak its name willingly, for they fear it will draw its attention to them. They do not know it as her dwelling but instead believed it to be cursed and an omen of ill. Lord Vizzerdrix: They are, of course, correct. Lord Vizzerdrix: Before you go, I would be willing to tell you the story of Mother Loreoda for but a very small cost. Lord Vizzerdrix: Perhaps, in her history, you might find something of value. Lord Vizzerdrix smiles at you like the werewolf of wall street. Lord Vizzerdrix stands up from its boulder and approaches you, as do the two flanking werehares. They sniff around the party. Lord Vizzerdrix: We are now closer kin than you might be aware. Lord Vizzerdrix smiles again. Lord Vizzerdrix: I always give favorable terms to my own. For one item of Power, I will give you this information. Lord Vizzerdrix snorts. Lord Vizzerdrix: A meager offering, but still a novelty and a token of another world. Lord Vizzerdrix: I will accept this offering. Lord Vizzerdrix: Once, before this land was enveloped in the Mists, it was a remote land in a remote kingdom. Lord Vizzerdrix: Lorinda was one of a trio of sisters, like all Hags. For, that is her true nature. Lord Vizzerdrix: The youngest of the three. Laveeda and Leticia were her siblings. Lord Vizzerdrix: They were the Mindefisk sisters. Their mother had always wanted daughters and struck a bargain under the light of te new moon. She was granted her wish: triplets. Lord Vizzerdrix: Their father, however, was a brute and a drunk who resented the girls, for he wanted sons to till the soil and continue his name. Lord Vizzerdrix: Like many who make ill advised bargain, the mother died early and left the girls in the cruel parentage of their father. Their suffering grew worse, as did their deprivation. Lord Vizzerdrix: The began to prey on travelers passing through the area. They murdered strangers and stole their wealth. Lord Vizzerdrix: They disposed of the bodies in their family cookpot, feeding the stew to their father and eating it for their own nourishment. Lord Vizzerdrix: In time, they came across a stranger whose beauty entranced them all. They fought over him and, in their dispute, killed him. Lord Vizzerdrix: It was this murder that their father discovered and, when he came at them, they murdered him as well. Lord Vizzerdrix: It was then that the mists rose to absorb not only them, but the entire province of Tepest. Lord Vizzerdrix: Carrying with it all who were unfortunate enough to live there. Include those on the Faewild side of the divide. Lord Vizzerdrix: From here, they cultivated and preyed on the people of the villages of the province. Lord Vizzerdrix: Over generations, the sisters changed.. twisted by the dark magics of this land which they invited into themselves and cultivated. Lord Vizzerdrix: Lorinda, the youngest by 13 minutes, wanted children. She worked in secret creating beings of animal parts, brambles, and blood magic. Lord Vizzerdrix: All Lorinda's attempts failed. When she asked her sisters for help, they refused -- not wanting to dilute their magic or share the secrets they had learned and kept from one another. Lord Vizzerdrix: And so Lorinda plotted in secret. She created several of these creatures, imbued them with life and animus, and used them to attack and capture her sisters. Lord Vizzerdrix: Bound and trapped, she forced them into the cookpot where they had all supped on many innocents and bound them with the power of the mists. Lord Vizzerdrix: None alive remember this, though we of the Fae -- the Undying -- are also unforgetting. We remember this time. Lord Vizzerdrix: -- fin -- Lord Vizzerdrix: If our business is concluded, it is time for you to leave this place. Lord Vizzerdrix cocks his head to one side. Behind him the forest changes a and extends, taking the form of a long, dark tunnel through the forest.

Nowhere

• They exit a cave, not in the exact place they entered, but not too far away either.
• From their position, Bern can see, about half a mile in the distance, a structure. No smoke rises from it, but it appears lit from within.
• They take a breather, then head to the structure.
• As before, it has no smoke, but its windows are unshuttered, and a constant, warm, yellow-white light comes from there.
• Its architecture is Fresian, but from ages ago (seemingly contemporary with the other habitations of human origin they have seen in the Faewild).
• Bern, as usual, is wary. Whip, as usual, is impatient. He opens the door, to protests.
• It's empty of patrons. The only lights are from orbs of pure light.
  • There is, however, an occupant: A skeleton, wiping the bar with a towel. It looks up, and hollow sockets lock onto Whip.
  • "Oh, hi, darlin'! Haven't seen anyone here in a long spell. Name's Breyonna -- Welcome to Nobody's Inn!
• Session ends.