After surviving the goblin ambush, the party continued on to Durem, a ruined hamlet on the river. They were down two horses and so were slower, moving only 10 miles per day. They spent a great deal of time testing the water in the surviving well. There was no dangerous life in it, and no disease, so they thought it was safe but as Hadlof went to drink, he got the creeps and realized it must be poisoned. They went to drink from the river instead, but when a dead possum floated by, they decided against it. Two days later they were in Forsod, another ruined hamlet on the river, again with a well. This time they ignored the well and just filled up their waterskins at the river.
Two days later they reached the ford to Lebnam. Cynthia wore the Gauntlets of Swimming so she went first, and eventually Sunnhild and Hadlof also came across. Ben and Anders stayed with the horses and donkeys, taking them into the woods for safety. In Lebnam, Cynthia cast a Detect Life at every house and eventually fumbled doing it. She began to glow a pastel yellow and has since then suffered a crawling carpet of insects. She coated herself with mud and at night she wraps herself in a blanket after Hadlof casts Dominate/Control Emotions (Fear) on the insects. Over the days that followed, she was bitten and tortured by the nasty little beasts. On the other hand, they discovered a full wine cellar in Lebnam, including a rare bottle of Garlon’s Delight, which could be worth a pretty penny to a collector. They returned over the river the next day with about 20 bottles in an impromptu basket woven by Sunnhild. It took some time to locate Ben and Anders, who told them that five goblins and three much larger creatures (one seemed made of granite; the other two were covered with water plants) had also forded and were apparently tracking the party.
Rather than head on to Deadhorse as they had intended, the party instead headed cross-country to Rennold, through brambles and brush. They arrived on the second day and made camp, looking forward to a night spent drinking. Instead, Cynthia, Hadlof and Sunnhild went exploring and found a beautiful rock outcropping covered with wildflowers and thick moss. They gazed at it with pleasure for some time, and then started for camp once more. But they found themselves lost. They realized that Cynthia’s glow remained, but her insects were gone, that it was twilight and was not changing, and that they must have stumbled into Faerie. They began to backtrack but were attacked with a mallet by a strange bird demon in a tiny mobile castle. It took a while, but Sunnhild finally got a critical hit the round after Cynthia had Sprayed it with a jug of acid. Together, those efforts killed it and the demon quickly dissipated and disappeared.
They continued to search for a way back but the tracks had been muddled by the fight. Circling out in greater and greater loops, they still had no luck until they heard Anders calling their names. They ran to him in great excitement, only to realize that he didn’t know he was in Faerie. Fortunately, he had stayed near the outcropping and after a good deal of time, they circled it widdershins and returned to the mundane world.
Returning to camp, they were horrified to find Ben missing and the horses and donkeys all dead. Not just dead, but ripped apart and cooked nearby, as the bones by a large campfire showed. Even Babs, Anders’ baby Aykrian Tiger had been killed. Much of their supplies were gone (their rope, some of the captured scimitars and shields, all of the wine bottles except Garlon’s Delight, which Hadlof had carried with him) but some had survived (including Cynthia’s tent). Cursing the referee’s cruelty, they gathered what they could carry and headed southeast to Deadhorse.
The first night, Hadlof conducted a random Summoning and bound the air elemental that came into his Helm, binding it permanently by sacrificing one of his STR points, thus creating a Helm of Clean Air.
Reaching Deadhorse after another day of travel, they made camp that night outside of town but were attacked by wolves. They killed all but two but received a few minor wounds in return. And there we left it for the night.
The date is now Arturio 26. Next session we will distribute training points and resolve the reading of several books. And then they will enter Deadhorse.