Week 7: Temple raid

  

Feb 12, Monday; Cold & cloudy

• The Rogues had a week of downtime to come to terms with their loss and they are ready to travel once again. Their goal has not changed - get to the temple of the Feather-and-Claw people and rob it of its riches. They still have Deryn the cart-driver and two footwomen, Gwen and Bronwyn, with them, plus Brenna and Maera have spent the week honing their abilities, perhaps to dull the heartbreak. Additionally, Yt the last surviving ragwretch from the altercation with the owlbears has decided to join them as a guide and companion.
• Yt leads us all straight north from the ragwretch village, down from the hills and into a thick forest that he can nonetheless navigate without any trouble. (#4.19)
• We passed by a tumbled-down temple where a group of ragwretches was just butchering a corpse of some equine creature, but they only waved at Yt as we passed by them. According to him, that is a temple of Ís, the village's god of wine, and the seat of their priestess-queen.
• By noon, we were deep in the forest (#3.19, #2.19) where we arrived to the banks of a large river. Yt informed us that it's called Water-that-Leaps and it will guide us to the mountains where the temple we seek is.
• Going against the stream, we soon got to a ford (#2.18) and crossed the river, then continued west into a valley (#2.17) carved into the quickly approaching mountains.
• Dusk was upon us, but Yt insisted on going a bit further. As it turned out, the road we took into the mountains came to an abrupt end at the foot of a massive cliff, from which the river dove in a beautiful waterfall. Yt showed us a sheltered campsite where we can hide our cart. Tomorrow we will have to leave it here and climb a goat path to the higher reaches of the mountains.
• We were lucky that our camp is well-hidden. Just as we were about to go to sleep, Nissa noticed a group of hunched humanoids clutching primitive weapons scurry along the river downhill into the forest. They didn't notice us at all.

new hexes traversed = 50 xp

features found = 150 xp

Feb 13, Tuesday; Cold winds, morning star

• We leave our hirelings to guard the camp and climb up into the mountains. (#1.16, #1.17)
• The footpaths that Yt knows are winding and treacherous, plus we have to avoid a small group of big beetles munching on similarly big robber flies, but as dusk approaches, we catch the first glimpse of the shadow temple. It is still a few hours away, but tomorrow, we will be there.
• The night is uneventful, but the starry sky this high in the mountains is beyond beautiful.

new hexes traversed = 20 xp

Feb 14, Wednesday; Cold rain

• We awoke to the sound of endless downpour. But alas, we have to brave it anyway. Sometimes I wonder how adventuring in a desert would be, where there's no rain to drench you nor snow to make your toes purple.
• Anyway, we made our way across the deep valley towards the shadow temple. Everyone was rather sombre - both because of the weather and because we are getting close enough that running into a patrol is an increasingly likely possibility. Thus we've made sure to pick our path through wealds and shrubbery where we cannot be easily spotted.
• Instead of a patrol of Feather-and-Claw people, though, we've happened upon winged, leonine creatures taking apart some nightmare spawn.

2x Manticore

HD 6, AC 8, AT bite (2 dmg) or tail spike, MV flying, ML +2

4x Nightmare Spawn

HD 8, AC 8, AT giant weapon (2 dmg), ML +1

• The spawn seemed in pretty bad shape by the time we saw the fighting, the two manticores circling in the sky above and slowly taking them apart with shot spikes. They were all too invested to notice our little group.
• First spawn soon collapsed, pin-cushioned by spikes, and the other were already bleeding, too. Yet they seemed more enraged than daunted.
• They tore great boulders and smaller trees out of the ground and threw them up at the manticores. The smaller one was just a smidgen too slow and a boulder clipped its wing, sending it plummeting to the ground.
• The larger manticore cried out in anguished wrath and dove at the wounded spawn. It died clawing and biting at the spawn.
• During this whole ordeal, we stayed hidden and we kept hiding for at least another hour as the spawn collected their fallen kin and eventually left. Only then did we climb out of the bushes and went to investigate the two manticore corpses that were left behind. We cut off their tails, still bearing quite a few of the strange iron spikes.
• It was already past nightfall, so we quickly found a passable sleeping place and set camp for tonight. We have found more signs of monstrous activity in these parts of the mountains, but luckily nobody bothered our little campsite.

Feb 15, Thursday; Cold & cloudy

• We woke up early, intending to spend the day scoping out the temple and any forces guarding it. We split in two groups, Maera with Yt and Brenna with Nissa, and off we went.
• We quickly discovered an unfortunate turn of events - the temple was on high alert, guards posted to overlook every access path. Brenna and Nissa even found some of their patrol paths, though thankfully we haven't run into any of the patrols.
• We reconvened in the evening and shared our troublesome findings. This changes things. We all thought we could rob the Feather-and-Claw people blind, but this is now frankly out of the question.
• We have enough provisions for a few days yet, so we might as well wait at least one more day to see if providence doesn't smile our way, but it would seem that this venture was after all our troubles a resounding fiasco.
• Providence struck just after midnight. Maera was keeping watch and woke us all, pointing at the sky with a trembling finger. Two great shapes were locked there in a deadly dance, fire and darkness crossing the night sky. Was it the great dragon we have found sleeping a fortnight ago? Was it the horrid corvid-beast we have seen slaughtering citizens of Eklo?
• We were frozen in awe and fright until suddenly, a blast of darkness took the dragon square in the chest and it plummeted from the sky. The other beast flew back to the temple, but it was obviously hurt.
  Interesting.

Feb 16, Friday; Icy & cloudy

We split up again. Brenna and Nissa will go to watch the temple and its happenings again, while Maera with Yt will check out the place where the dragon presumably met its demise.

The temple was quiet and well guarded, just as yesterday, and Brenna and Nissa were getting rather frustrated that this was clearly going absolutely nowhere. Then, a dragon swooped in from the clouds.

Dragon of Cinders

HD 10, AC 10, AT bite (+1, 4 dmg) or breath, ML +3

5x Feather-and-Claw cultist

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

It tore through the group of Feather-and-Claw guards and then tore open the temple gate. Screams started to be heard as it barged inside.

"...What?" Brenna said.

"Maybe it's a spouse of that other dragon from yesterday?" Nissa ventured.

"You know what? I don't really care. Let's go find Mae and hide and never stick our heads out again."

Maera and Yt had reached the other dragon's corpse in the meantime. There were tracks that suggested it was already checked upon by the cultists, but no one was around at the moment. This would be a goldmine of magical materials is they had the time to properly butcher it, but they will probably not have such luck. Maera at least went to pry some teeth out of the dragon's mouth while Yt stood watch.

She managed to get six by the time that Brenna and Nissa found them. After a bit of disjointed explanation, they all decided to withdraw into the forest - and not too soon, as before long the dragon rose up above the now smoking temple and made for the very corpse they have just been desecrating. Watching from a hopefully safe distance, they saw the weary but mostly uninjured dragon land by its dead kin. In its mouth, it brought a massive corvid head - the head of that monstrous creature that served (or was served by?) the Feather-and-Claw cultists.

It laid the head by the dead dragon and for a few long minutes seemed lost in thoughts. Then it spread its wings and breathed out a column of brilliant flames, torching the corpse and the corvid head.

There were tears in Nissa's eyes.

"Are you actually feeling for that monster?" Maera whispered.

"I was," Nissa sniffed, "thinking about how much we could've gotten for that corpse."

The dragon stood watch over the pyre and the party sneaked away. Smoke was rising from the direction of the temple, a sure sign of the dragon's wrath, but Maera urged that they should still check it out.

"Beat the iron while it's hot, y'know? That dragon probably killed every last damned thing in there and the ziggurat itself didn't look all that flammable. It will probably be left standing, which means we can go a-looting."

"We don't know if everyone is dead and we don't have enough food left to stay about and wait for them to come out," Brenna doubted.

"I have seen a secret entrance," Nissa said.

"What?" Brenna said.

"It the base of the ziggurat. When the dragon attacked, a few cultists slipped out of there."

"Why haven't you mentioned anything?!"

"Things were happening. It wasn't important at the moment."

"Well, you could've told me as we walked!"

"Could've, should've! I'm telling you now. We can go right into the guts of the temple, steal what hasn't burned yet."

"I'm in but I'm also mad at you," Brenna said, "just so we're clear."

"I'm in as long as you stop bickering and concentrate on not getting killed," Maera said.

Yt just nodded.

And thus we went. We crawled through the bushes back towards the temple and it was indeed on fire. There were some cultists about, but they were mostly dragging people and paraphernalia out of the ziggurat, paying little attention to the party as they carefully circled to the hidden back entrance. There Nissa showed the others where she saw the secret door open.

Maera took out her toolkit and after a little while of tinkering pushed at a mechanism deep between two stone blocks, which made one of the blocks slide inside and reveal a narrow corridor.

"Ladies first," Maera motioned towards Nissa.

"Funny that you only noticed now," Nissa glowered but went inside.

From the dark but short corridor, she emerged into a large, barely lit hall and the rest of the party followed. The room was half-filled with crates, barrels and boxes - mostly food, as Yt discovered. However, Brenna also opened a small box that turned out to be full of jewellery. This prompted everyone to search the room more properly, revealing a pouch with several hundred silver coins in a chest of clothes.

Enheartened, we went on. Listening behind the single door out of this room let us know that a lot of people are running about this place, but none too close. We crept down the corridor, trying the doors to see which were unlocked. There was a kitchen and a common room with nothing much in them, a locked door, and then a room in which a statue of black iron was lifting a massive crate. With a metallic creak, it fixed its gaze on us.

Living Statue, Black Iron

HD 4, AC 9, AT talon (+1), ML +4

We jumped it before it could let go of its load. Though its iron hide was barely dented by Maera's blow, the others have slipped behind the construct and their blades found its joints, prying open the cracks where its limbs moved.

It threw its crate at Maera, but she deftly dodged and the box shattered on the ground. A swipe of the statue's talon, however, took Yt in the chest, leaving several shallow cuts behind. But it left itself wide open and Maera bashed in its sculpted beak with her quarterstaff.

"So..." Brenna said, "my sword is busted." She was holding just the pommel now, the blade mostly shattered.

"My sword's fine!" Nissa beamed.

"Yes, we all know you have an enchanted sword. Shut up about it already!"

There was unfortunately nothing interesting in the statue's crate, so we moved on promptly. We swiftly scanned a few more empty rooms, all obviously vacated in a hurry, and had to hide a few times from cultists running down the corridor carrying various knick-knacks.

Then we found the first room bearing the signs of the dragon's rampage - its wall was crumpled and a massive hole was melted into its floor, coating everything in the room in soot. Maera carefully edged in, but then Brenna called out a warning from behind her.

Carcass Crawler

HD 3, AC 7, AT tentacle (+4, no dmg) + paralysis, ML +2, XP 75

From a pile of slaughtered cultists smouldering by the collapsed wall, an insectoid shape rose and readied itself to jump at Maera, but several well-placed shots by Brenna and Yt saw it fall down into the hole.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem," Brenna said. "But we have a dilemma here, I think. The dragon clearly went down there, probably for a reason. There might be something interesting to appropriate, yet it will require that we abseil down a scary hole in the ground. I have rope, but I'd like to hear your thoughts, first."

"My sword-" Nissa started.

"If you say it's enchanted," Brenna grit her teeth, "I swear to all gods you will be the first down that hole!"

"It's enchanted and allows me to throw my sight, kinda. Like into that hole, so that I can safely see what's there, so suck it, Brenna."

And so we tried that, until Nissa started to look uncomfortable, gripping her gleaming sword with closed eyes and fidgeting.

"So... I may have figured something out. It appears that I can only throw my sight upwards, not downwards."

"Oh, really?" Brenna grinned.

Before more could be said, Yt interjected: "We throw torch down the hole and see, yes?"

And so we tried that. There was a cavernous hollow one floor below us, with some sort of a pool in it. By vote, 3 against 1, Nissa was chosen to go down and have a look and Yt volunteered to accompany her. Brenna and Maera were to remain up in the half-collapsed room to protect the rope.

They climbed down into the cave and got only somewhat frightened by the sight of a massive black-feathered body. Half of it was charred down to bones and it had no head.

"I've heard you screaming like a little girl, Nissa!"

"Fuck off, Brenna! Hey, there's something in that pool."

A moment of silence.

"There's a lot of something! There's a whole hoard of frigging gold and gemstones!"

The Many-Winged Herald's hoard:

• 15 000 gold
• 30 170 silver
• 14 gems
• 40 pieces of jewellery
• Curse: One magic item of the defiler permanently loses all abilities.

Then we had to figure out how to get all that wealth out of the pool and then out of the temple. Nissa dived into the pool and brought back handfuls of jewels and gold, while Yt partially emptied out their backpacks and stuffed them full of the treasure. Then the rock started to creak.

"Hey," Brenna called, "get out of there before you get buried."

"Just one more dive," Nissa called back.

In the room above, the door opened and several robed and feathered cultists rushed inside.

Darkness-Poignant the Priestess

HD 3, AC 8, AT staff

5x Feather-and-Claw cultist

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

"We've got company," Maera hollers and gives ground to have enough time to shoot the priestly-looking crow-person before the rest of the cultists surround her. She scores a solid hit and drops then her bow. Brenna has borrowed an axe from Yt to replace her shattered sword and now uses it to decapitate two cultists, stopping their advance.

Shadows thwirl and the priestess disappears from sight, while the remaining three cultists harass Brenna, scoring a shallow cut.

Maera joins the melee and fells two more cultists, the last remaining one turning tail and running. Maera and Brenna do not follow, instead checking on Nissa and Yt down below.

"Are you all right?" Nissa calls crom the cave, waiting by the end of the rope with a sack of gold.

"Yeah, but get your asses up here. They know about us."

They climb up, but before the gold can too be lifted on the rope, Maera gestures for everyone to drop everything and join her by the door. The cultists are coming back for rematch.

Darkness-Poignant the Priestess

HD 3, AC 8, AT staff

5x Feather-and-Claw cultist

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

The whole party gets ready to ambush them by the door, but then a flood of spell power made their knees buckle.

K̯͆͌N̘ͪEE̥̺Ḽ̀ͥ, they heard and understood even though there was no sound. Everyone but Yt obeyed.

The cultists stormed inside, only Yt going forth to meet them. He took one down, but another pierced his side.

Maera, Brenna and Nissa frantically fought the magic and the oncoming cultists both. Somehow, they managed.

Maera and Nissa blocked the remaining cultists while Brenna crawled to the fallen Yt, fumbling for a vial from her pack. She poured the greenish liquid down his throat and with a bloody cough, he sat up, then immediately stood up. He no longer bled.

The last cultists beaten, Maera started to grin, when the priestess entered the room and from beneath her robes, a flood of darkness came. Maera sagged and the other three felt their blood turning halfway to ice.

Still, Yt was feeling the lingering warmth of the healing potion that Brenna fed him and swung at the priestess. She blocked with her staff. He swung again and cracked her skull open.

Brenna rushed to Maera's side, carefully rousing her from unconsciousness.

"I'm finnn-ugh," Maera groaned. "All right, I'm not fine but I'll live."

They lift the sack of gold and quickly redistribute everything they carry, leaving most of their food and all non-essential equipment behind to stuff more gold into their backpacks and pockets. In total, they now carry 9 050 coins of gold, a dozen large gems and 28 pieces of ancient jewellery.

Nearly clinking, they move to get out of the temple. As they turn a corner, they feel the ground shake beneath their feet as something collapses. More cracks are spreading through the walls all around them. They move faster, jogging down the corridor and cramming themselves into the tight secret entrance tunnel. Then they are back under open skies, which have by now been taken over by the moon and the stars.

"Yes!" Nissa cheers.

D̐I̧̜Ę̇͂, a gravelly voice orders.

Midnight-Ascendant the High Priestess

HD 5, AC 8, AT staff

2x Hungering shadow

HD 2, AC 7, AT touch + devour, ML +5

Living Statue, Black Iron

HD 4, AC 9, AT talon (+1), ML +4

They all do.

Week 6: Temple trouble

 

Feb 5, Monday; Snowy rain

• Last week, the Shipwrecked - Fenja, Menja, Chani and Saoirse - have joined the group of Amazons from Eklo on their trip home, though they dropped off their two hirelings, Glynn and Aerea, along with the cart at the temple of C'ro. The footwomen had no inclination to engage in further adventures.
• Eklo bore some heavy signs of fighting from the assault of the Feather-and-Claw people from 18th January and when the Shipwrecked arrived, they were quickly shown to the keep. Sìneag, the elderly village leader, was killed in the attack and her place taken by her daughter, Beathag, who had lost an eye.
• Beathag enlisted the Shipwrecked's help in a counterstrike against the Feather-and-Claw people. They are to be joined by a group of ten Amazons - Eklo cannot spare any more warriors than that - get into the Hungering Temple and assassinate as many of the temple's leadership as possible.
• They are to set out on Monday.

• We set out on Monday morning.
• Around noon - it's hard to tell with the non-stop rain - we crossed a wide river coming down from the glaciers (#1.15) and then climbed up to a saddle with a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. Among the rocks in front of us, we finally saw the Hungering Temple.
• We crossed the last miles under the cover of the night, wary of being seen by patrols and guards. Out guide lead us to a sheltered campsite near but not too near to the temple (#1.16), where we settled down for a rest with cold rations and no campfire to heat our hands. Too risky.
• As we kept watches throughout the night, we saw the cultists gather for their midnight mass. Their chanting was faintly drifting to us, punctuated by thunder cracks.

new hexes traversed = 20 XP

feature found = 50 XP

Feb 6, Tuesday; Clear & windy

• During breakfast, a plan is born. Nobody has any idea about how to get into the temple and to the dark priests, so Chani agrees to be our scout and have a look at the guard routes and access points. She goes alone, being the most stealthy of our whole group.
• She creeps to the temple and finds a nice vantage point to track guard movements from, but today luck is not on her side. A stone crumbles under her and sends her rolling head over heels down a slope. Before she has a chance to get her bearings, a guard is upon her.

1x Feather-and-Claw cultist

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

• She jumps to her feet and throws her knife, catching him in the throat before he gets a chance to cry for help.
• Still, others will likely come to investigate, and soon. She smashes the corpse's head with a rock and finds another sharp one to open the cut on his throat more wide and ragged, hopefully masking her involvement in the death. Then she scrams.
• What an inauspicious start to our altogether too risky endeavour.
• Back in the camp, a small swarm of stirges can be seen flitting across the mountain side. Coincidence, or are they spying for the dark priests? We are left unsure and guessing.
• The rest of the day is spent planning a new approach to this venture.

Feb 7, Wednesday; Snowy rain, morning star

• There's little we know about the cultists, except that they attend a mass every midnight. They scale the stairs to the top of their ziggurat and then chant praises to their dark god around an altar and a sacrificial pit. This might be the only time where we can predict the whereabouts of at least some of the priests. It is also a time when they are gathered in numbers much too large for us to take on head on.
• Thus, we've planned a distraction.
• We stay in the camp for the day and when midnight nears, we split into three groups: Fenja and Saoirse with five Amazons, Menja with five Amazons, and Chani once again alone.
• We circle the temple, approaching from three different sides as the cultists start to gather and ascend the ziggurat.

• Fenja and her group are quickly noticed by the guards, but they have sneaked close enough to shoot. The Amazons release a volley of arrows and Fenja grabs for her javelins, but whether through eagerness or nervousness, they slip her grasp and clatter into the dark. Cursing, she instead grabs her war hammer and rushes the foes, splattering one's brain onto the ground.

5x Feather-and-Claw cultist

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

• She contemptuously bats away their attempts at counter attacks, but one of the cultists - the shortest - slips a javelin around her shield and stabs her armpit even through chainmail. Fenja growls in pain and indignation, but the remaining cultists are immediately felled by Amazon arrows.
• Having raised a ruckus, the group looses a few more arrows against the onlookers and starts to retreat.

• From her perch near the temple, Chani sees that one of the dark priests takes a group of cultists and pursues. A moment later, two statues of black iron emerge from inside of the temple and join the hunt for the intruders. That is as good an invitation as she will get, so Chani runs towards the door, keeping to the shadows.
• Right in the entrance hall, there is another cultist on watch, so she tries to tiptoe behind him and slit his throat, but he turns around and his eyes widen in fright before she stabs him in the chest and then grips his throat and gently lowers him to the ground. He makes not a sound as he dies.
• So this will not be a "nobody knows I am here" mission after all, Chani sighs. Let mission "nobody knows I am here and lives" begin.
• She goes deeper into the temple halls.

• Menja also makes use of the distraction and gets her group onto the stairs and within a striking distance of the cultists gathered for the mass. Of the three priests there, one went to pursue Fenja, but that still leaves two priests and a gaggle of cultists, all distracted and unaware of the arrows aiming for their backs.

Midnight-Ascendant the High Priestess of Night

HD 5, AC 8, AT staff

Darkness-Poignant the Priestess

HD 3, AC 8, AT staff

18x Feather-and-Claw cultist

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

• Menja sinks a javelin into the priestess standing by the altar and the Amazons follow her lead, peppering the priestess with arrows until she falls.
• Recovering from the surprise, the cultists close ranks around the priestesses and send javelins at Menja's group with frightening accuracy. Only Menja is left standing.
• Gritting her teeth, she withdraws and runs, a few more javelins falling around her. About half the cultists go after her while the rest escort the priestesses to the safety of the temple, carefully carrying the bloodied, unconscious one.

• Chani slips down an empty corridor and finds some unlocked doors, but they only lead to small cell-like rooms where the cultists live. As she turns a fourth corner of the corridor, though, she notices that firstly, she has come a full circle and is approaching the entrance hall once again, and secondly that there are people in the hall now, chattering in a language she doesn't know.
• She creeps to the door and sees that a group of cultists led by a priestess is fussing over another priestess lain on the ground. She seems to be heavily wounded, but still drawing ragged breaths.
• Well, that's as good an opportunity as she will get. A single shot to end this and then out of the door before anyone can get to her.
• Chani reaches for her long bow, nocks an arrow and after taking a careful aim, shoots. But at the last second, a cultist notices her and cries in alarm, her shot going wide as she is startled.
• Cursing, she tries to reach for another arrow, but the uninjured priestess caws out an incantation and suddenly, an invisible force lifts Chani off the ground, suspending her in mid-air.

• Fenja and Saoirse with their five Amazons and Menja with no one but a story of a semi-successful ambush reconvene in the camp. Both have thankfully evaded capture by their respective pursuers, but nobody sleeps until morning, waiting for the cultists to find them. Nobody comes - not even Chani.

Feather-and-Claw cultists = 60 XP

Midnight-Ascendant the High Priestess of Night, very nearly killed = 65 XP

Feb 8, Thursday; Windy & snowy

• We have to save Chani. Or at least try to. Otherwise, she will be sacrificed with the stroke of midnight.
• The Amazons were wary of our plan, their losses already heavy, but we managed to persuade them that even if the one priestess is dead, we can still inflict further harm upon the cult while rescuing Chani.
• We went to break camp, but then our sentry gave the signal that enemies were approaching. We disappeared into the surrounding undergrowth.
• Soon, two crow-headed animated statues entered the camp.

2x Living Statue, Black Iron

HD 4, AC 9, AT talon (+1), ML +4

• A hushed argument later, we have decided that the risk here is too great. We retreated, leaving our tents and some supplies behind.
• The plan was simple - once again, we cannot afford a head-on assault. There are few entrances into the temple and right now, their guards are doubled. So we split into two groups again, a distraction and an extraction team. We wait until the midnight mass, when they have to bring Chani out to the altar, and then we act.
• We even caught a few hours of sleep during the long wait.
• Then it was time to act. Fenja insisted on leading "her" five Amazons again, even though her arm still hurt from that cultist's javelin jab yesterday. The extraction team thus was to be Menja and Saoirse.
• And as midnight neared, a throng of cultists streamed out of the temple, surrounding three priests - we have seen the leading one yesterday, I think - and dragging a bruised Chani along.

Darkness-Poignant the Priestess

HD 3, AC 8, AT staff

Darkness-Regnant the Priestess

HD 4, AC 8, AT staff

Gloom-Unforeseen the Priest

HD 2, AC 8, AT staff

4x Hungering shadows

HD 2, AC 7, AT touch + devour, ML +5

23x Feather-and-Claw cultists

HD 1, AC 7, AT javelin

• There really was no point to subtlety, they must know that we are coming. Thus we put to good use the one thing we still had even though we abandoned our camp - lamp oil and bandages.
• Fenja and her Amazons charged, flaming bottles in hand. About a dozen of the cultists went to meet them, readying their javelins. The rest closed their ranks around the priests.
• Fenja threw her oil, splattering a few cultists and breaking their stride with a pool of flames. The Amazons followed her lead.
• The cultists responded with javelins. Though caught off guard by the sudden flames, there were a lot of them and some of their attacks found flesh.
• There was no need to press our luck further - Fenja and the remains of her group turned tails.
• The other group of cultists, with the priestesses and Chani, was unfortunately not fooled by the distraction. Though Menja and Saoirse did manage to get close, they were noticed. They had one chance.
• S͕I̬͒LEN̵̳͗C̤E̵̵̡, Saoirse said in a voice that was as inevitable as the turn of seasons. The priests' mouths shut.
• Still, the cultists - though taken aback - have raised their javelins in the face of the charging Menja. Snarling, she cuts right through their javelins, decapitating the two cultists that are restraining Chani in a single blow. She grabs Chani and drags her away.
• Her eyes widen, though, when she sees a javelin stuck through Saoirse's side. She grabs her too and tries to support the two women as they turn to escape.
• "Get them, boy!" she shouts at Úlfi, her small but vicious dog, with tears barely held back. She already knows how his bravery will be rewarded.
• Yaping and snapping, he starts after the cultists. Some are delayed and distracted, others skewer the dog to the ground.
• Ŕ̵͜U̮ͭ͒N, Saoirse says in that voice that shakes the sky.
• Even though that she is bleeding heavily, even though that Chani can barely stand, somehow their legs start working and they sprint into the night.
• Though there is immediate pursuit, somehow both groups manage to evade their pursuers and find each other at their hiding place in the woods.
• Fenja and Menja are both lightly wounded, but from the Amazons,only one is still alive.
• Chani bears some nasty marks of burns and cuts - she had been tortured to reveal the location of their camp. She will need some treatment, or she might well still die to infection. Worse, all of her possessions had been taken, including her winter garb. She is shivering in the bare tunic the cultists made her wear for her short walk to the sacrificial altar.
• Saoirse is injured, but stranger are her pained cramps. Something under her skin seems to be moving.
• "I... have draw too deep of... my magic," she gets out, sweating yet ice-cold. "I... will be... fine!"
• They are all itching to keep moving, but half the group is half-dead. They will have to rest for a while, tend to their wounds - with no fire and no tent - and hope that they will not be found. We use the few bandages and medicial herbs we have left and go to sleep, Fenja and Aneira the last Amazon keeping watch.
• Nobody finds us during the night, but nobody is truly rested in the morning.

Feather-and-Claw cultists = 40 XP

successful rescue = 100 XP

Feb 9, Friday; Wet snowfall

• The weather is, frankly, a bit of an double-edged sword. It hides our tracks quite well, but it also slows us and freezes our butts off.
• We have all given some of our clothes to Chani, so she shouldn't be outright freezing to death. Still, we'd better find a place to warm up tonight.
• We trudge through the snow from dawn to well past dusk and it's only thanks to Aneira that we find at least some shelter under a rocky outcropping and wood for the night. (#1.15) We spent the next hour trying to get a fire going, but everything was so wet we eventually had to use the last of our oil to start it.
• We all huddle around the fire and try to doze off.
• We all wake up in the middle of the night to a loud screech high above. Whatever is flying up there is hidden from our sights by the snow clouds, though, and so are we from it.

Feb 10, Saturday; Cold & cloudy

• When we woke up to a sky no longer spewing an endless flood of snowflakes, Aneira the Amazon guide declared that we should be able to reach Eklo by today's nightfall. Good.
• We made good time, except for a short delay when we needed to scale an icy slope and Menja had to cut some steps into the ice lest we fall to our deaths.
• But by nightfall we were indeed in Eklo. (#1.14)
• Though exhausted, we were immediately called before Beathag the village leader. We have reported the truth - one of the dark priestesses was either killed or heavily wounded, but at heavy cost in lives. The temple is well-guarded and without way more people, we cannot make a noticeable dent in their defences.
• Unfortunately, we may have also provoked a swift reply with our assassination attempt.
• Beathag was not pleased, especially by the Amazon lives lost saving one of ours, but we have pledged our help in defence of Eklo, should the Feather-and-Claw people mount an offence.
• With that, we were dismissed and went to find a place to sleep. In the end, Aneira offered to host us for the night.

Feb 11, Sunday; Cold winds

• Chani's wounds do not look good. She has woken up with high fever and an ugly cough, so we forced her to stay in bed. Saoirse is not injured, but she has drawn so deep of her magic that she still feels winded from any strenuous activity, so she volunteered to keep Chani company while Fenja and Menja run some errands around Eklo.
• They have found a place for all of us to stay, plus bought some basic equipment for Chani, to replace what she had lost. We don't have much coin left now.
• Menja also ran into Sabatha, the apothecary apprentice, and learned more about the happenings in Eklo. The last attack of the Feather-and-Claw people has led to much death and apparently, there is now talk about an exodus. Beathag is unsure that they can win, so she plans to abandon the village and move her people somewhere safe.
• We might well be there to see it, because right now, we are staying put. At least for a week, to give Chani some time to recuperate.

Week 5: Lost, hungry, killed

Jan 29, Monday; Icy & cloudy

• The party splits in the morning into hunters and explorers.
• Cori and Brenna take the horse and donkey as mounts and head north-west. By noon, the hills finally slope down and the pair enters a deep forest. (#4.17, #3.17) While travelling through it is faster than through the haggard hills, they also completely lose track of their direction (#4.18) and stumble upon colossal amphibian skeleton.
• They want to give it a wide berth at first, but then Cori notices a glint of metal under the massive rib cage. Carefully, she climbs in there and finds a ring on the finger bones of a severed humanoid hand. She takes it.

"And what if I wanted it?" Brenna asks.

"I saw it first, I braved the spooky scary skeleton and you already have a ring, so tough luck!"

"But my ring doesn't glisten!"

• They keep going and when evening comes, they are in hills again. Except they have actually went in a circle and nearly returned to their starting point (#4.17), but haven't realised it yet.

ring of animal control, unidentified
new hexes traversed = 30 XP
feature found = 50 XP

Jan 30, Tuesday; Cold & clear

• The two of us, Cori and Brenna, continue our explorations, but we must have gotten turned around in the hills - by late afternoon, we have found ourselves deep in the mountains (#5.17), which on one hand was quite an unwelcome surprise, but on the other allowed us to get our bearings and even see the camp of the rest of our group in a valley below.
• With next to no sunlight left, we decided to camp here and return to the base camp tomorrow. Then we can plan further exploration.

new hexes traversed = 10 XP

Jan 31, Wednesday; Blizzard

• What a way to wake up. When we went to sleep, the sky was blue and clear, but now it cannot even be seen over the swirling snowfall thrown around by screaming winds. Also our tent is literally buried in snow.
• We have gathered no wood yesterday. The tent and our sleeping bags would be enough for one night in the mountains, we thought. Now if there is any wood to be found, it will be pretty much inaccessible.
• We also don't have much food left.
• How wonderful. We will have to break camp and get down into the hills, somehow.
• Though cold, wet, filthy and exhausted, we have managed just that over the course of the whole day. (#6.18)
• We have found a reasonably sheltered campsite, but still needed to drag ourselves into the woods to get enough firewood for the night. 
• We ate our last rations huddled around the fire, our horse and mule shivering and munching sadly on the little feed we still have.
• I'm starting to think that I hate winter.

Feb 1, Thursday; Cold & clear

• We woke up chilled to the bone, but the blizzard is gone, once again replaced by clear blue sky.
• We have veered off course yesterday, ending up several hours of travel away from the base camp, but with the better weather it wasn't difficult to find our tracks from several days ago and follow them back to the rest of the group. (#5.18)
• They were out in the forest, hunting, and returned in the evening in a rather bad mood. While they had some luck with quarry on Monday and Tuesday, the blizzard had chased all the animals into their dens.
• Brenna and Cori went to sleep very early, still deeply fatigued from their venture into the snowy mountains.
• An hour or two into the early watch, Maera roused the rest of the party. Close to the camp, a lumbering shadow was carrying its prey - presumably to its lair, to feast in peace - but the prey was still alive and crying loudly.

"It's a person! We have to save her," Maera whispered.

"Yeah, in the maw of a monster," Nissa retorted. "We're lucky it's not us it wants to snack on."

"Whoever that is, they were here in the wilderness, so they might know more about our surroundings. There might be a village or a farm they could lead us to," Cori noted.

"And we really should just save them," Brenna said. "It hasn't even noticed us, we can kill it before-"

• Several more shapes emerge from the darkness, following after the first one.

4x Owlbear
HD 5, AC 8, AT claw or bite (+1), ML +2, SP bear hug (2 dmg) if is hits twice

"-or not," Brenna sighed. "Let's be really quiet and pray to all gods that they don't notice us."

• They didn't.

Feb 2, Friday; Cold & clear

• Cori was still feeling a bit under the weather in the morning and Brenna was not much better off. Thus the exploration group was now to be Maera and Nissa, and they had a special plan - follow the tracks left by the monsters in the night and see if there is a lair and perchance even a surviving victim of the monsters inside.
• The tracks led them north-west, to the hills already crossed by Cori and Brenna (#4.17), but they lost the path. They turned around in the afternoon and returned to camp.
• Unfortunately, the rest of the party had little luck in their hunting attempts.

"We have one day of rations left," Maera noted, softly so that the hirelings won't overhear. No need to make them question their leadership.

"We could butcher the mule," Brenna suggested.

"Don't you dare," Nissa jumped up. "And if anyone, we should eat Cori's horse. He's bigger."

"What? No! Never. I already had to surrender Baldy the donkey to the gods-forsaken foreigners and their bloody cart, no way you are eating Limpy, understood?"

"Stop arguing!" Maera said. "We have one day left, so I need ideas, not quarrels."

"We could have another go at the monster lair," Brenna said.

"And that will help us with our food situation how, exactly? That poor soul will have been devoured by now for sure."

"We could eat the monsters. They were big, there's probably plenty of meat on their bones."

"I really can't tell if you're joking, Brenna."

"Well, the alternative is to eat either the mule or the horse."

"I'm in," said Cori and Nissa simultaneously.

"I hate you all," Maera grumbled.

Ragwretch

Feb 3, Saturday; Hail

• The hirelings were left in the camp and we followed yesterday's tracks once more. Pinkybone the puppy proved her worth when she picked up even the cold trail and led us confidently.
• The only thing to spoil this hunt was the strengthening, freezing rain.
• And, of course, being suddenly surrounded by a band of stooped men covered head to toe in rags.

6x Ragwretch
HD 2, AC 8, AT axe or bow, ML +1

• But instead of raising their weapons, they addressed us in silky voices and thankfully, Maera knew enough of their dialect to speak with them.
• They were on a hunt, too, and hunting the same creatures. The monsters we saw in the night are called owlbears and the tribe of these people was attacked by them, with several people dragged off to be devoured. They wanted revenge.
• They offered us shelter and supplies in exchange for helping them in finding and killing the owlbears. There really wasn't much to deliberate about.
• By later afternoon, we have found the lair in a well-hidden cave. We were lucky that Brenna brought enough rope to safely abseil the vertical pit it had for entrance.
• The narrow but uncomfortably high tunnel led us through a few bends into a nest where a single owlbear was snoozing. It raised its feathered head, weary but wary, and sniffed the air, yet it seemed that we've escaped its notice.

Owlbear
HD 5, AC 8, AT claw or bite (+1), ML +2, SP bear hug (2 dmg) if it hits twice

• Before it had a chance to do anything else, we have all peppered it with arrows. It died so fast it haven't even had a chance to roar.
• Carefully, we approached, but the rest of the cave was empty and the monstrosity truly dead. Cori and Brenna went to help the ragwretches drag the massive corpse back to the entrance pit and lift it to the surface, but Maera and Nissa inconspicuously stayed behind to search the monster's nest for anything that might've been left behind from its many meals.
• They were not disappointed. While no valuables were to be found among the piles of old bones, Maera discovered the remains of a satchel and inside - aside from long-rotted vegetables and a rusty knife - a map. Nissa happened upon something arguably even better - a short sword of silvery metal, its pommel shaped as an eagle's head.
• They also found a crack in the wall leading deeper, though only if one wished to squeeze through rough stone into darkness-choked unknown.
• At about that point, they've heard an ear-splitting screech coming from the cavern's entrance.

2x Owlbear

• The ragwretches with Cori and Brenna have just climbed out of the pit when two other owlbears emerged from the forest. Both sides froze in surprise, then the beasts roared in bloodthirsty anger. Their weapons sheathed and standing on the edge of a fall, the group tried to scatter.
• The bear-things lunged forward. One ragwretch was deeply wounded by a sharp beak, but a second wretch was instead bull-rushed into the pit, splattering its brain on the cavern floor below just in time for Maera and Nissa to emerge from the tunnel.
• Two ragwretches who were not fast enough to evade the monsters fought back, covering each other's back. Their axes left bloody bites in the owlbears' hides.
• The rest of the group had managed to get their bows ready and sent a volley into the bears' flank. It was Cori's arrow that found an eye of one beast, and through the eye its brain.
• The other beast tore one ragwretch to bloody shreds and forced another one fall prone lest his head be swiped off.
• But another volley of arrows later, even it was dead. Two ragwretches were killed in the skirmish, but the party avoided any harm.

• Before we got the corpse of the first owlbear out of the pit, it was getting dark. We also had no way how to transport the huge corpses whole and needed to bury our two deceased not-really-friends, so we set camp right by the lair. Of course, we have seen another owlbear the night before, thus half of our group will always be on watch, weapons ready.
• We gathered plenty of firewood, flayed and butchered the corpses, then put some meat to roast and other to be smoked. In the meantime, we prepared two pyres for the dead wretches.
• The whole time, we felt like we're being watched from the bushes.
• When the sun set and the pyres were reduced to embers, we gathered around the cooking fire and tasted the owlbear meat. It was fatty and filling and tinged with something strange. As it turned out, that something strange was magic, as these beasts were anything but natural.
• As we will discover only the next morning, Maera's belly full of magical meat will lead to her growing about twelve inches taller. However, a more immediate problem was Cori, who started vomiting a black tar-like substance, and Brenna, who tried to vomit as well but instead seized up and started to choke.
• At that moment, the last, lurking owlbear ambushed us and jumped at Cori. It grabbed her in a hug and with a sickening crunch, her rib cage gave in.

Owlbear

• With a pain-filled warcry, Maera rushed the monstrosity, slamming her iron-shod staff into its loins. So did Nissa, cutting at the creature with her newfound silvery sword, and the ragwretches with their axes.
• Still, the owlbear stood tall. Contemptuously throwing Cori's crumpled body aside, it tore a ragwretch apart and wounded another.
• We had it surrounded, yet it played with us like a cat with mice. Two more ragwretches were dismembered in quick succession.
• We have wounded it, but it fought with a wrath born of grieving. So did we.
• Its beak left a deep cut on Maera's armour, but that also meant it left itself open to a counter strike. She shattered its skull and fell to her knees, panting.

• Meanwhile, with trembling fingers, Brenna fumbled through her pockets until she found the single bezoar they have purchased back in Odawara. She swallowed it and though she still felt like puking her guts out, the crippling pain in her innards ceased nearly immediately.
• There was nothing left to do for the rest of the night but grieve, for sleep would not come.

Loot:
3 owlbear hides
83 rations of owlbear meat
treasure map
WE WILL SEE the iridescent mithril shortsword with eagle head pommel. - Unidentified. Allows the bearer to "throw" their gaze directly upwards, looking straight down. Safely up to 100 ft, any higher causes nausea and dizziness. Can light up as a torch. There's a rumour it was once an object of faith for a beautiful religion.

owlbears = 700 (175 x 4) XP
feature found = 50 XP
new dungeon floor visited = 20 XP

Feb 4, Sunday; Clear & windy

• There's only four of us left - Brenna, Nissa, Maera and the last ragwretch named Yt. We spent the morning gathering firewood and preparing a final goodbye for our dead.
• We lit the pyres and Yt started to sing. His voice is so beautiful. We cried.
• We buried the ashes along with some parting gifts - a silver hand mirror and a circle of silver coins to ward off the evil spirits.
• After much deliberation, Brenna took the shiny ring that Cori found inside of a gigantic skeleton. "Something to remember you by," she whispered.
• Yt was offered the chainmail and longbow that Cori will never use again and gladly he accepted. He also filled his pack with owlbear meat, something none of the rogues wanted to ever touch again.
• Then it was time to leave.
• In the afternoon, we have returned to our base camp. (#5.18)
• Our hirelings have confronted us immediately - yesterday, they went through all the supplies in the cart and discovered that there is basically no food left. The hunts are not going well, so they either want a plan to fix this, or to return back home.
• It took us a while, but we persuaded them to give us one last chance. Yt will bring us to their village and there we can resupply and rest for a few days.
• We prepared the cart and set off.
• Several hours later, we were found by a ragwretch patrol and lead to the village. (#5.19)

new hexes traversed = 10 XP
feature found = 50 XP