Session Sartar Arc 12

1628, Sea Season, Truth Week, Freezeday and onward

Dramatis Personae

Events²Serala is great at logging. I’m so glad she’s taken over for this series!

As the group approaches the Cinder Fox Tula, Berra nips off into the woods to do a thing.  With Varanis in tow, she leaves a bag somewhere safe, aka hung halfway up a tree.  If she dies, Varanis is tasked with returning it to the Temple, along with anything else that belongs to the Temple.  Apparently it is an awful lot of money and Eril will be less than happy if it is lost.

On arrival, it can be noted that there are a lot of people patrolling the walls, almost as though someone is anticipating trouble.  

Berra tells Varanis to ask for help and hospitality, with a note that on the following morning, leave it to Berra and Valgarar to lead.  Silor comes out to greet the party as the ducks head off to the nearby pond and go sploosh.    

We are taken to dinner, well fed, all goes very well, and then we go to talk with Silor.  It is now, with Waterday’s moon rising, that Serala finally manages to break some of the hold that Sanra Eel has had on her and tells the group that there is something else.  Something that Sanra has been speaking to.  Something old.  Something trapped.  Something that hates Eril and all he stands for.  Silor admits there may be a Vampire at the middle of all of this.  Which is definitely not good news.

The decision is made to continue regardless, forewarned is forearmed, and we have the Humakti ducks along with us.  Also, Serala says that Sanra feels weaker; Berra and Varanis realise this is because the moon is dying, which confirms the time to go is Right Now.

On the edge of the woods, most people fail to step into their characters.  Other than Berra, at least.

Indrodar stands at the edge of the marsh and tells us The Plan.

He will set-up an overnight temple to defend the land against the undead; once the temple is up, we will need to defend it overnight.

He will be calling for castings as required; a boost to morale, pathfinding from Issaries if required.  

We settle to eat with the ducks, there is camaraderie in the breaking of bread (or fruit)  By sunrise, the morale ritual takes effect on everyone.  

Everyone wraps up their legs, Finarvi and Serala using traditional horse leg wrapping efforts.  Varanis goes for something fancy, which lets the leeches in.  Maalira fixes her up.

Next there is a poison gas pocket, resulting in Bindrodar projectile vomiting, and Maalira upchucking nearby.  The other three humans are okay; the ducks dive underwater, and surface just long enough to point out the best route to take instead.

We get assailed by insects and there is a certain amount of flailing by Maalira and Serala, in spite of their best efforts to stay calm.  And then the zombies attack. Maalira screams for Berra, who is for some reason not attacked.

Finarvi smacks his on the leg.  Serala blocks on then takes a good hit to the leg, resulting in some cursing, intensified as she misses hers, Berra chops the head off the first of Maalira’s playmates.  Varanis shows off by cutting her zombie in half.  

Berra then hamstrings her/Maalira’s remaining friend, before Varanis comes to Serala’s aid and chops off its left arm, rendering it semi-’armless.  Finarvi and Serala both avoid incoming attacks, before Serala masterfully does almost no damage to the chest of hers while Finarvi shows her up by taking his down.  Finally everyone piles onto the last zombie and it goes down with a squelch to Finarvi’s sword.

Berra recognises one of the zombies from its life; Dringrid.  It definitely affects her, and Serala asks if we should lay him to rest.  Indrodar says to bring his head along, and Serala obliges.  

Some time passes, as everyone trudges along, getting cold, wet and slightly leechy.  Some marsh sprites come by but don’t cause too much anguish.  After a while, Bindrodar asks Finarvi to watch the path for us as it is extremely twisty, and he duly obliges.  

 In due course we arrive at a cottage in the swamp, with Finarvi’s help holding the path, which keeps trying to hide., and Berra explains that something dead lives here – possibly a ghost, possibly known to someone here.  The ducks move to hold the circle while the human group go to deal with whatever they find there.

Varanis, by this point, can see three people in Berra’s space – Berra, Indrodar, and someone else, someone taller – presumably Eril.

Indrodar knocks on the door and it is opened by two ghostly figures, who turn out to be wraiths.  And there is someone else inside as well.  The Vampire.  The wraiths attack Berra who finds herself weak and struggling to even lift her sword.  Serala summons the light of the sun and moves between Berra and the Vampire; Berra needs to survive and she needs time to run.  

Varanis manages to take down the first of the two wraiths. The Vampire is demoralised by the sunlight all around, and Serala decides to attack him.  Varanis stays to get Berra free of the second wraith; Finarvi manages to bellow loud enough to bring the ducks in from where they were chilling all around.  

Varanis deals with the second wraith, Serala manages to hit the Vampire hard, albeit only in the leg; enough, at least, that it turns into smoke and tries to escape.  A duck arrives and casts Turn Undead, leaving the smoke confused and billowing.  Maalira takes advantage of the chaos to go and help Berra, who has, shockingly, dropped her sword.  Berra isn’t in good shape, to say the least.

Serala grabs the stuff that dropped – some rings, a silver dagger, some silk clothes, a bronze sword, looking like a back-to-front kopis.  

Varanis channels her current Humaktiness to turn undead, Serala takes a swipe at it, and then the Sword Duck hits it with his spell, destroying it.  And cutting off its head.  And carving a cross in its chest.

Finarvi is drawing his bow to take down the zombies that are starting to emerge from the water when they all fall down.

And they all start to work out how to get out of the marsh.  Varanis starts shivering badly³Creeping chills! and Maalira treats her, to the point of summoning a healing spirit to help.  We spend the night in the temple/cottage and in the morning, Silor is there to greet us, with an excessive number of bronze armoured warriors – far more than one Tula should be able to support.  

Varanis is a young Silor called to attend his father. The father says that Eril is banished and when Silor says he can’t do that to his own son, his father simply disowns Eril. Varanis goes to tell Berra and they all head out. Silor (the real one), says that he didn’t put any guards on the treasure Berra had stashed earlier. Thankfully, it was there when they went to collect it and all was well(ish).

• 1
  Just like diamonds on the soles of his shoes, only different
• 2
  Serala is great at logging. I’m so glad she’s taken over for this series!
• 3
  Creeping chills!