Emma, Session 24

8th day of the 1st ride of Summer Flame, 1262

After the extraordinary encounter with Sir Florianus there was a short discussion on what to do and we decided to bury the remains of the knight, such as they were. Initially, I reckoned we would put his shield as a grave-marker but then decided to use his gorget instead. Emrys restored the gorget with his arcane talents, as well as the shield, which we took with us. I had a feeling that the shield may help us further down the road … should we actually make it to the Crimson Tower. Just a feeling.

Luca and James insisted in procuring some of the crystals from the portal area.

We continued our route through these rugged hills. There are less streams here, and the cover is thinner, the air is thinner and cooler to. But the sun is ever unforgiving. All the same, we made good progress and Tom’s directions proved to be in good order. Eventually we pitched camp near a small stream.

9th day of the 1st ride of Summer Flame, 1262

The night passed without incident. The next morning I projected a message to Tom at Shady Brook. I warned him of the restlessness and the violence of the spirits, and the destruction of Calvin’s Farm, and I urged him to take himself and his neighbours downstream to safety. He showed some gratitude for the warning, but showed reticence to leave. I can’t compel him to leave. It really is up to him to heed the advice of Sedna or not.

Our trek continued once more. All was fine until we descended into a valley which tapered towards a very narrow opening, with sheer cliffs on either side. A perfect locale for an ambush. When James noticed some sounds up ahead he went ahead to investigate. He reported that the opening was guarded by a giant humanoid and two absurdly large wolves and suggested that we turn around and look for another way. Luca was initially very much in favor of this.
I was afraid that we would lose our way rather easily, since the only directions that we had gotten would become useless once we veer off that itinerary. The Gods know how much time would expend trudging the wilderness! We might not even make it to the Eye in time! I urged that we press on. Seeing some sense in this, Luca and James relented.

From what we gathered, we had every indication that this was a violent creature, so we saw no reason to attempt a more peaceful approach. Sneaking past seemed an unlikely endeavour as well. Surely the wolves would smell us! So we decided to confront the beasts with the greatest amount of force we could muster. James would employ the frightful flute, I would attempt to freeze the large humanoid in its tracks, Emrys would try to reduce one or more of our foes to a more manageable size. Luca would attempt to weaken the giant’s defences so as to assist my efforts. Astrid would take her impressive blade and cut to ribbons whatever unfortunate critter would dare cross her path first.
The plan, such as it was, worked rather well. Admittedly, my attempt failed, but the horrific flute and Emrys’ arcane trick worked rather well. The carnage that ensued proved to be a rather one-sided affair. We didn’t get out unscathed, but the enormous amount of force we unleashed upon our adversaries overwhelmed them in a blink of an eye. I only managed to get in one satisfying thump with my mace before it was all said and done!

We procured some edibles and examined the giant’s lair, where James recovered a set of wrist-guards that appeared to be of some value. After that, we left the stench of our carnage and continued our journey. The journey continued without trouble until we decided to pitch camp at another stream.
Close to the campsite we noticed an absurdly large bear, which caused some commotion among our ranks. I advised leaving the beast alone as it was evidently feeding on something, but curiosity overtook James and he inched closer. Eventually the bear, which seemed to bear queer markings on its pelt, lumbered off into the woods allowing us to see what it was feeding on. These turned out to be mushrooms, mushrooms that are used by Kædwyni druids to induce visions. We decided to collect some, and I was immediately curious to try them.

10th day of the 1st ride of Summer Flame, 1262

During the first watch, in the company of Luca I tried some of the mushrooms. A vision I had indeed.

I left my physical form at the campfire and frolicked after the trail of the bear, which eventually led me to a small clearing surrounded by thick-trunked trees in a near perfect semi-circle against the base of a hill. In the base of the hill was a small cave, when I approached it turned into a massive cavern … on the seaside. Inside the cave was a ruined galleon. When I wanted to leave, having tasted the saltiness of the sea, I heard that tune again: Muirgheal’s tune. I approached the galleon and boarded the wreckage. Eventually I found the blue-robed lady at the steering-wheel, the same one that had sent her Grindylows against us! She is an advisory, the Daughter of the Sea, Rhosyn who betrayed her father! I woke at the campfire with a start when Rhosyn grabbed my throat.

I discussed some of what I had experienced with Luca, but we can’t seem to make much sense of it. Did I commune with Sedna, or did I commune with Muirgheal? How can Muirgheal be connected to Rhosyn, who lived ages after the creation of Muirgheal? How can Sedna be connected to the life-taking waters of the sea? I will need to go over the details of Rhosyn’s song.

Otherwise the night passed without trouble.

The next morning my compatriots indulged me in trying to find the cave. After some mucking about, find it we did, but it did not transform into the seaside cavern of my vision. Instead it proved to be a cave of a rather vicious wolverine mother. We departed.

We continued our trek without trouble, outside of the hardships of travelling such rugged terrain. Eventually we crested a hill and we beheld before us in the distance the Eye, the lake we had been looking for all along. May Sedna bless our guide Tom, let his water be ever cool and sweet!
We can just about see the curling of white wood-smoke from the chimneys at Bristlecone.

And now it begins.

Leave a Reply