Valiard Tessar |
Valiard kicks at the pile of dust, sullenly knocking over one of the frogs.
"Well that was anticlimactic." Valiard says, looking back at the companions. "But I think I can live with it. Good shooting Grigor."
Mireza |
Mireza releases her hold on the colorful frogs, and in a matter of seconds they begin to scatter, disappering into the many cracks in the stone floor and walls. "It didn't even do anything," she protests, sounding quite aggrieved. "Not like it did to the Crows and the house in Slipper Market."
Valiard Tessar |
"I think we might have limited it some too. Think on it, we killed all the cultists before slimy ate them...so I think it could have been worse. Sorry Crow, I mean't good shooting to Windle."
"Not that I was able to do anything to the creature either..."
Windle Thetra |
Windle looks back over his shoulder at the door Crove failed to open. "Perhaps your efforts weren't effective against that...thing they called up, but if Crove had managed to release the other we would have been trapped between two potent foes, and I fear all would have been lost. When Grigor, Iozef, and I were trapped in Crove's web and could do nothing, who stopped him?"
Deimus |
As you watch the rain pour on Carrion Hill and its circling crows, human Crows approach the building. Recognizing your faces through the window, Commander Feldk waves at you and enters the building: "What's that smell!?! What happened here? Did you find it? Is it dead? What was it?" So many questions that you care not to answer, your soul still shaking from the encounter.
Slowly, you regain composure, your body trembling slightly from the receding adrenaline. You manage a smile: The city is saved and you live. Many good men died, like Commander Garus, but others died that deserved it.
As you're about to step out in the pouring rain, you notice one of the madmen still chained to the stairs. He is softly singing to himself an old folk song from the Tangle:
On crowned Carrion Hill,
The mound civilizations fill.
The darkest shadows lie longest,
In children’s vows, in fools jests.
In proud Carrion Hill,
Endowed to forgotten Evil,
The darkest shadows lie longest,
When crows and Crows, tend their nest.
O sore Carrion Hill,
The soar spills until
The darkest shadows lie longest,
And terror sows on your heart its crest.
And your thoughts turn to Baveshk and the stolen manuscript...
---The end of the Carrion Hill module---
Windle Thetra |
For the first time in what seems like forever (but is really only a day or two), Windle's face relaxes into the amiable expression he had when the party first met; only the most astute would notice a few new grey hairs, a few more lines on his face, a new tinge of hauntedness in his eyes. He walks on into the rain with his allies and compatriots, newly-met but bound by shared horror, the madman's song ringing in his ears and echoing in his mind.
Iozef Kolnikov |
Paying no mind to the Crows and their questions, Iozef heads in the direction of the pouring rain. As his mind plays out all that has occurred, everything seems to slow down to a crawl and any other outside noise seems to have been muted when the madman's song reaches his ears. Iozef looks the madman's way as he walks by, each step feeling like he's walking in mud as if it's imperative he hear the entirety of the song before leaving. As the song comes to its end, the noise returns and Iozef oddly enough finds himself outside getting rained upon. Unsure of what just transpired, Iozef calmly straightens his vest and double checks himself to make sure he is presentable, even though he's sopping wet, before turning his attention to the far off distance as the rain runs down his face. After a moment of thought, "Gentlemen, Madam Mireza, gather your things. We've a manuscript to collect."
Hard Fade to black; Musical Sting :)
Grigor Vachkov |
Grigors next few days are spent in a drunken haze.
He mentions nothing of Myre's death to his wife for the brief periods he is conscious and coherent around her but is sullenly belligerent to her, as if she is in someway tainted or unclean.
On two occasions he awakes in the watch cells, alone within the cell and separated from normal scum that would populate the prison... badly hung over, bruised and with all the aches that he's come to associate with the morning after a night spent brawling.
It is clear that he is on the path to self destruction unless his superiors (he has no real friends) can find a way to save him.
Mireza |
Just before Valiard can follow the others out the door of the asylum into the rain, Mireza's fingers brush his hand. "Apothecary...." As he turns back toward her, she reaches up to pull his face down and kisses him on the lips. "When the spawn came, I thought you might die," she explains with a quirk of a smile, "and I hadn't done that yet."
Valiard Tessar |
Standing in the street before his shop, fat drops of water collecting on the brim of his hat from the near constant drizzle Valiard smiles at the memory of a kiss. His shop...well not any longer, the shop and house that had been in his family for years were now sold, and Valiard was now the proud owner of a small covered wagon, two solid draft horses and all the freedom that he could stand.
The more that I think on it, the more that I realize that its been time to move on for a long time. This town has never been a safe or happy place. Certainly not a good place to settle down...look how I turned out!, he thinks with a rueful grin.
In any regard, there is a pretty little witch that I should be meeting up with right about now. She said it wouldn't take too long to pack up her belongings, but it never hurts to lend a hand. Plus, Windle and Izoef wanted to meet soon.
Valiard hopped up onto the wagon's buckboard, and gathered the sodden reins up. With a wet snap, he shook them out and started his two soggy horses down the cobblestones, plodding away from his past and into his future.
Deimus |
Most of you remember a fine ceremony, with mayor Heggry thanking you in the name of the city.
And yet, the man clearly hated you, for he associated you with the event, and he was sure to loose the upcoming elections.
In fact, the whole town hated you, in a way, as they adored you. No one likes to owe his life to another...
So you took the path north and away, carried by Valiard's wagon, with a dru ken Grigor sleeping in the back, delivered by Commander Feldk as you passed the city gate: "He can thank me later..."
Outside the city, the rain stopped...
Windle Thetra |
In the faces of the crowds, Windle sees again the unspoken questions that have dogged him for years in the Lady's service: Why are you here, and not my husband? Why couldn't you have killed the thing before it took my daughter? And he knows what that means. It is time to move on. Rain and gloom and three dead friends he never really knew behind them, but the clouds are parting before them.
"I'm sorry you all lost your homes over this. I am used to having to leave when the problem is...settled, and my welcome has worn thin."
Mireza |
Mireza is watching her spider explore the interior of the wagon, selecting the most advantageous corner in which to build a web. "I grew up in wagons like this." Her expression doesn't indicate whether the setting brings warm or unpleasant memories, merely that it is familiar.
Deimus |
Staying well clear of the furrows, the little wagon makes its way south-east, slowly climbing to reach the Raven Pass. Your efforts are well worth it as you punch through the clouds. Standing on the pass, you have at your feet a vast sea of white softness to the west, while you can embrace the way west, with lake Kavapesta and the Senir River. North and south, majestic mountains, most with eternal blankets of snow, frame the scene.
The sun... The sun bathes you, warms your bones and seems to wash away some of the madness that attached to your soul.
As the wagons stop at the apex, Grigor stirs and finally wakes, sober and hungover.
Grigor Vachkov |
Who celebrates his return to sobriety by fumbling for the tailgate and vomiting over the edge.
After wiping his mouth he mumbles, squinting at the unfamiliar surroundings, Where the f*+& am I?
Valiard Tessar |
"Nothing for you Crow. Time to dry out a bit I think." Valiard calls over his shoulder as he continues driving the wagon through the rocky pass.
"There is a sachet of herbs next to the water. If you mix it all together and drink it down, it will settle your stomach and help with the headache."
"Besides, Valiard adds with a cheery voice, "Look around! This is the first time that we have been out of the gloom in days! And no rain!"
Grigor Vachkov |
eerrrg.
Grigor goes on to mumble unkind assertions as to Valiards parentage, sexual orientation and practices and comments as to what he can do with the herbs but none the less follows the apothecary's instructions then sinks down with a grown while he waits for them to take effect.
Deimus |
The little wagon veers north, humbly meandering down the path leading to the northern shore of the Senir, into the county of Ardeal.
Knowledge (history, geography and local)
You all recall the letter that now leads your group north, to the Shudderwood and Ascanor Lodge.
Knowledge (history, geography and local)
It is with great joy that I have received your last letter, and the news of the finding of the Manuscript. As you know, my agents have met with great success in recovering some of the ingredients mentioned in it. I am hopeful the Crown will be in our possession soon, a exhilarating prelude to His return.
Now, you’ve mentioned a certain reluctance to get for me the Manuscript, mentioning a project. I am certain this endeavour must be of great promise, but I must press the importance of Our cause. Simply sending me the list of ingredients to be gathered is not enough. I must study the manuscript itself, lest I miss an important subtlety in the phrasing. My agent is on his way to Ascanor Lodge, in the heart of Shudderwood. See that the manuscript finds its way there. Or if you wish, leave it with Baveshk. He’ll find me.
I am willing to wait, but not for long.
Your Master and Friend,
Adivion
Iozef Kolnikov |
Iozef ignores the grumbling Crow as he looks upon Ustalav as they move along, contemplating where to go first in search of Baveshk.
The little wagon veers north, humbly meandering down the path leading to the northern shore of the Senir, into the county of Ardeal.
Knowledge (history, geography and local)
Knowledge (History): 1d1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21
Knowledge (Geography): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
You all recall the letter that now leads your group north, to the Shudderwood and Ascanor Lodge.
Knowledge (history, geography and local)
Knowledge (History): 1d1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
Knowledge (Geography): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20
Grigor Vachkov |
Grigor doesn't waste his growing sobriety on dredging up facts... rather he is sunk in a depressive funk that seems to lighten the further the wagon rolls from Carrion Hill.
Deimus |
Ardeal holds much of Ustalav’s most bountiful farmland, with the level grasslands supporting checkered fields of wheat, flax, and beans, though orchards of pears and quince and fields of hemp and berries are not uncommon. Numerous farms and ranches also cover the county, with most raising sheep, goats, boar, and the region’s distinctive shaggy cattle.
With the previous prince’s final decree moving the nation’s capitol to Caliphas, some thirty years past, Ardeal has suffered decades of withdrawal.
A sentiment of righteous bitterness against the country’s government and nobility f lourishes among Ardeal’s people. Abandoned serfs across the countryside find themselves forced into subsistence farming, immigrating to cities, or banding together in pitiful hamlets defending against neighbors turned to banditry. In larger communities, especially Ardis, the opinion grows even fiercer, as shops and industries wither and die daily, casting whole families into poverty.
Native Ardealians refer to Ardis as the True Capital of Ustalav, regardless of whether they remember the city’s slow desertion with the court’s relocation south. With the stubborn arrogance of those still bristling from the sting of decades-old defeat, the people of Ardis cling to their pride, their traditions, and their vaunted past, as nearly all else has passed them by.
In Ardis, Our Lady of Lanterns offers the patience and dispassion of Pharasma to the city’s people.
Located in the heart of the Shudderwood, attracting wealthy hunters from across the country and beyond, the Ascanor Lodge advertises itself as an island of luxury in Ustalav’s final wilderness, where elite sportsmen can hunt the land’s deadliest and most abundant beasts without sacrificing the comforts of a country retreat.
The Shudderwood dominates the wildest of Ustalav’s counties, where secret valleys, sluggish rivers, and monuments to civilization’s failures lay hidden beneath a canopy of merciless green. This is Lozeri, the land of the hunter, where man and beast struggle endlessly in the
depths of both the eldritch forest and the mortal heart. Many consider Lozeri and the Shudderwood synonymous, seeing little difference between the deadly wilderness and the scattered villages that warily eye its edges, for here the hunter’s maxim holds great (and often all too literal) truth: “By moonlight, all men cast the shadows of beasts.”
Baveshk most likely took the Silent Path, an ancient and rarely used hunting trail that is one of the most direct and covert routes through the Shudderwood. Marked in places with strange bone fetishes, the trail runs several hundred miles through the forest, crossing both the Beustral and the Calscroix rivers, passing by Ascanor Lodge.
Ardeal takes its name from Ardealia, first wife of Ustalav’s unifier, Soividia Ustav. For 9 centuries, Ustalavic kings ruled from the city of Ardis, driving back wild Kellids, Belkzen orcs, and other threats as they expanded and tamed their rugged country. Here Ardurras, last king of Ustalav, faced the conquering legions of the Whispering Tyrant and fell, breaking the line of Ustalavic kings. After the Shining Crusade, Ardeal once more became home to Ustalav’s royalty, while a newly risen nobility fractured the nation’s fertile heartland into a multitude of fiefdoms.
With the previous prince’s final decree moving the nation’s capitol to Caliphas, some thirty years past, Ardeal has suffered decades of withdrawal. Once-bustling noble estates now stand empty, their lands left fallow or in the hands of squatters as the rightful owners followed the royal court to the shores of Lake Encarthan. The sprawling city of Ardis stands as a withered shadow of its former grandeur, its population decreased by thousands, its industries struggling to survive, and dark things creeping in to replace the human deserters.
Iozef Kolnikov |
As Iozef looks out as they travel down the road, his mind pushes the information he has on Ardeal to the forefront. "Ah yes, Ardeal. If I recall correctly this is the town in which holds numerous farmlands in Ustalav. They grow everything out here, including animals of all types. Unfortunately for it, with the capitol being moved to Caliphas, it has suffered dearly because of it." He looks to the others a moment, noticing none of them appear to be listening. Iozef rolls his eyes, It's no wonder the world is in the shape it's in. No appreciate for knowledge at its finest. He turns and resumes observing their travels until the letter comes to mind.
"If you all recall the letter, it speaks of the Ascanor Lodge that lies within the heart of Shudderwood. That is where we must travel. Unfortunately, the forest is littered with deadly beasts of various types. Added to that, the forest is practically endless. It covers a great many miles which will make our search even more difficult. Now, Lozeri--I mention this place seeing how most deem Lozeri and the Shudderwood to be one and the same--is a place in which consists of several villages that keep an ever watchful eye open. They say the hunter's have an expression, one that supposedly holds great truth. It goes, 'By moonlight, all men cast the shadows of beasts'." Iozef drifts off slightly as he ponders the saying. "I have always found that most interesting and am curious as to what's behind it. It is possible we may find out if there is truly any truth to it, maybe or maybe not to our detriment." He says, appearing as if he's just mostly speaking to himself.
"Anwyay, where was I? Oh yes, odds are Baveshk took the Silent Path through the Shudderwood. It's a trail that runs hundreds of miles through the forest, crosses the rivers of Beustral and Calscroix, and passes right by Ascanor Lodge. So, with that being said, I suggest we locate the Silent Path and start our search there."
Grigor Vachkov |
Sounds a good a plan as any, says the Crow in a neutral tone, who has been drinking water excessively for the last day or so but seems better for the change.
Deimus |
Sorry for the information overload :) Everyone can read the spoilers I'd say. It will make things easier.
The wagon takes a few days to cross Ardeal, passing by Ardis. You spend a few days in what used to be the nation's capital, witnessing its former magnificence and buying goods for your travel through the Shudderwood.
In Ardis, the Pharasmins pay a visit to the library Our Lady of Lantern, searching for cues on how to find the Silent Path.
Five days later, you cross the Vhatsuntide River into the Palatinate of Lozeri. The town of Chastel is more an inflated village than a true city. Without walls, the town spreads around a vast farming market.
After crossing the town, you make your way through farmlands until you locate the start of the ancient hunting trail. Standing at the edge of the Shudderwood is almost like staring into another world. Ominous, towering pine trees blot out the sunlight, allowing only occasional splinters of light to pierce through. Within this dimness, broken branches and occasional shrubs growing up through fallen trees create shadowy illusions both wondrous and haunting. Apart from pallid lichens, colorful fungi, feathermoss, and wintergreen, little else grows in the forest. The Shudderwood possesses an eerie stillness only occasionally lifted by the sounds of passing birds and small animals scurrying across the dry pine needles littering the forest floor.
The Silent Path beckons, but a sense of dread crawls up your spine as you enter the Shudderwood. Before you walked a powerful agent of the Whispering Way, armed with the mad wisdom of ages past.
The Carrion Crown Adventure Path Part 3 - Broken Moon
Welcome to the next stage of our journey. Happy gaming!
Are you trying with the wagon? If not, how do you dispose of it?
Deimus |
Ustalav’s counties are divided into three distinct regions — Soivoda, the Palatinates, and Virlych.
Although Prince Aduard Ordranti III rules as Ustalav’s sovereign, his will is far from the only one that directs the fate of his nation.
In 4670, the county of Lozeri shrugged off control of its regional count, embracing rule by a council of politically savvy citizens after a series of relatively bloodless coups. Quickly acknowledged by the disinterested Prince Valislav, Lozeri, Vieland, and the refounded county of Canterwall became known as the Palatinates.
The three Palatinates assemble local councils of the region’s wisest and most influential, even though their frequently-changing representatives hold depressingly little sway in meetings of the royal court.
The rest of the realm is known a Soivoda and counts the ten counties, ruled by aristocracy.
The counts of the realm’s heartland hold the most immediate and forceful inf luence over the nation and its people. Able to act without oversight or reprisal, Ustalav’s ruling families have each transformed their corner of the nation as befits their ambitions or their petty vices.
Although each count is sworn to serve the throne, generations of courtly manipulations, incomprehensible laws, concessions, and exceptions bind even the Prince’s hands against interference in all but the most outrageous county edicts.
The last part of the realm, Virlych, surrounds Gallowspire, the prison of the Whispering Tyrant. The lands surrounding the accursed tower—formerly the counties known as Virholt
and Grodlych—are lifeless and haunted, seemingly poisoned by Gallowspire’s very
presence. No sane folk live in Virlych.
Valiard Tessar |
Valiard eyes the forest suspiciously. "I don't know how far into the woods we are going to be able to get the wagon. It looks pretty tight in there, and the path that we are following looks like it could peter out pretty quickly. I would like to try though. It would make traveling a lot easier...well more comfortable anyways."
Mireza |
"Especially if it rains again," Mireza sighs. "I'm not sure I've all dried out yet. And my spider likes her web better than my pocket."
Grigor Vachkov |
Grigor just eyes the green suspiciously and dismounts from his customary place on the wagon. He is aware that while he is comfortable in cities and towns, he is more or less ignorant of life beyond the cobblestones of civilisation.
He keeps his hands free and walks as if he was in a rough bar in the worst part of town.
Deimus |
The Shudderwood...
The little wagon sets up on the trail. Entering the forest feels like plunging into a lake of lead. Sounds, smells, the very air, seem to thicken and threaten as the forest looms its dark green tendrils above you. Soon, you can't tell where the sun is, and wonder if you'll be able to tell night from day...
For two days, you proceed and make uneasy camp at night, listening with dread at the howling wolves in the distance, or at the unnerving sounds of creatures you cannot identify...
Early morning of the third day, the forest around the path thins, and a brisk crosswind scatters a thick blanket of pine needles across the trail.
Grigor: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16
Iozef: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26
Mireza: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Valiard: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
Windle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
Deimus |
Windle listens carefully...
Perception: 1d20 + 12 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 12 + 5 = 18
And agrees that a woman is in danger and needs help!
;)
Grigor Vachkov |
Grigor is aware his silvered blades are bundled up in the wagon but doesn't want to take the time to dig them out. He knocks a silvered arrow and starts moving in the direction of the screams.