Mike Wheeler: Did you think we would just sit in my basement and play D&D for the rest of our lives?
Will Byers: Yeah, I guess I did.
Author: Dennis
Eleven Years
It’s hard for me to accept that I haven’t seen my mother in exactly eleven years. The sadness I used to feel is very different now. I find myself wondering what she would think of who I am now, how she would feel about my place in life. Whether she’d be proud and what she thinks I should improve.
Through the Silverpine Hills
Previously, the adventurers travelled from Allenham, through the Riverlands, on their way to Pinefall. The came across a village where they got directions, a hamlet which had been attacked by monsters, a strange murder of crows, a stag with a demonic looking creature having burst out from within in. Some of these encounters were strange, but none more so than meeting a grievously wounded knight, alone in the wilderness but for his wounded horse, who gave a confusing recount of who he was and why he was so wounded, before ageing rapidly and ultimately perishing.
Eighth Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262
(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)
While Astrid started gathering enough stones to create a proper burial mound for Ser Florianus’ remains, Emma asked Emrys to mend his shield and gorget. Emma took the shield with her, thinking it might be of use later on, while the gorget was used as a grave marker once Astrid was done putting Florianus to rest. James took a moment to go through the rest of the equipment that Ser Florianus had on him when he died, hoping to find something of use, but unfortunately the only things among his belongings were mundane items and trinkets.
The adventurers had found a ring of crystals around a small crater of molten slag from which Ser Florianus had supposedly emerged. Luca tried to harvest some of the crystals from the slag, but found it very difficult to extract one without damaging them. He managed to retrieve a small purple crystal but chipped it while doing so. He tried to use it for a very simple illusion spell, but it didn’t seem to work like the orange crystals from the catacombs below Lynnecombe did. James, much more nimble of fingers managed to extract seven small crystals of different colours from the slag.
The adventurers travelled onwards and a conversation started about the strange encounter they had with Ser Florianus. James feared that Bristlecone might already be affected by what is happening there where Floranius claimed he came from. Especially his mentioning of Ser Benten confused them, and they wondered aloud whether it’s possible that the Sheridans have been around since the Age of Fear. They realised they only had a few more days before the Darkmoon would stand in high sanction, and Luca realised that it would be the Night of Violet Eyes, a rare night where both the Bloodmoon and the Darkmoon would stand in high sanction.
After finding a small stream with mountain fresh water, the adventurers set up camp and bedded down for the night, deciding not to light a fire because the light would travel much further in these woods than it did in the woods of the Riverlands.
Ninth Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262
(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)
During the night, James found that he couldn’t keep his eyes open during his guard shift with Astrid. The Silverpine hills were putting a heavy strain on his calves, and the higher exposure to the sun meant he and the rest had caught a bit of a sunburn, further taxing his system. Eventually, Astrid told him to rest and she would finish the rest of the shift on her own, an offer he gladly accepted.
The night went by without any incidents even though packs of wolves could be heard howling in the distance. Luca wondered whether Astrid’s golden yellow eyes were a sign that she might have an affinity with wolves, who he believed shared that trait. The following morning Luca observed that Astrid seemed more fascinated by the eagles and birds of prey flying high above the hills than she was with any wolves.
Emma implored Sedna to send a message of warning down the rivers, streams, brooks and rivulets, to Tom of Shady Brook, telling him about the fate that befell the people at the hamlet of Calvin’s farm. He responded that he appreciated the warning and that he would remain at Shady Brook but prepare for any attack. His response was swift and confident, further confirming the suspicion that Tom was more than a simple farmer.
Several hours after continuing their trek through the valleys of the southern Silverpines, the adventurers encountered a narrow valley exit, flanked on either side by high, steep walls. It was guarded by a towering hill giant and his two dire wolves. The hill giant was eating part of a large elk bull and entertaining himself throwing scraps to the dire wolves and watching them fight over it. He and his two animals were so preoccupied with this that they failed to notice the adventurers who therefore had ample time to prepare a solution for the conundrum the dangerous valley gate keeper was forming.
Since the adventurers had spotted a debris of bones, including humanoid bones, around the hill giant, they concluded that reasoning or bargaining with the brute was unlikely to yield any success, and thus it was decided to confront him en force, using the dreadful flute, newly acquired from Liliana’s lair, as an instrument to sow chaos among their foe. Emrys used his sorcery to shrink one of the two dire wolves down to the size of a regular wolf, and James played the dreadful flute, while Astrid and Emma engaged in melee and Luca sent bolt after angry bolt of eldritch energy into action.
They dispatched with the giant and his wolves in record time and took a short break to recover from the adrenaline and search through the giant’s belongings. James found some beautifully crafted, studded leather vambraces, while Astrid decided not to let the elk meat go to waste.
After resting up the adventurers continued on until the sun began to sink lower on the western horizon. The picked a high spot to take another look at their progress and orient themselves against the landmarks which were provided to them. They were likely only a couple of hours away from Bristlecone, but decided not to push it and make up camp.
While doing so, the adventurers noticed a large, grizzly bear rutting around the base of a nearby tree. It was far enough away for the adventurers not to feel immediately threatened, but too far away to make out what the bear was doing. They did notice that the bear had an odd mark on its flank, that of a circle with a crescent moon over it.
When the bear eventually departed some of the adventurers went to investigate the tree that the bear was rutting around and found a large growth of mushrooms there, many of them munched on by the bear. Luca, who had experience with mushrooms, knew them as ghost mushrooms and understood them to be toxic and a strong hallucinogenic. Emma could add that they were often used by Kaedwyni druids for rituals of communion. James, Luca and Emma decided to harvest some of the mushrooms and take them along with them.
That night the watch was arranged in a different way than normally. Luca and Emma would take the first watch, James and Emrys would share the second watch, while Astrid would take the third watch by herself.
Tenth Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262
(Silvermoon is waxing. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)
During the first watch, Emma decides to take some of the mushrooms while Luca observes to make sure that she is alright. Soon after chewing down the earthy and acrid fungus she started to notice that the sparks and embers from the campfire started to leave wonderfully coloured trails and traces and that everything around her started to glow with a radiant, multi-coloured light. She tried to step out of her own body and was surprised that she could look down at herself, Luca and the rest of the camp.
She wandered away from the camp, towards where the bear had been eating the mushrooms, delighted at how colourful everything looked, despite the darkness. She returned to the spot and decided to see whether she could follow the tracks the bear may have left, finding that the tracks looked like small pools of radiant water. She followed them all the way to a small clearing on the side of a hill. On the opposite end of the clearing that was a small cave entrance that the tracks lead towards and she decided to enter.
As Emma got closer to the cave’s entrance, it grew larger and larger in size, until it was tower over her higher than the giant had been. She continued into the cavernous depths of the entrance and felt she was stepping onto water. Darkness was all around her, except for the entrance behind her which looked once again small and very far away. She bent down and dipped her fingers in the water and put them to her mouth, tasting the salty flavour of the sea.
For a moment she turned back and decided to head out of the cave and back to camp, until she started hearing a clear, female voice sing that same song that she had heard Muirgheal sing, the sea shanty about Admiral Karadin and his treacherous daughter Rhosyn. Finding her bravery she turned back around and ventured deeper into the cave until she finally saw a huge ship. A galleon. A warship. It’s sails were ragged and it ropes were ragged. Approaching it she found a rope ladder hanging along its side, which she began to climb. All the while she heard the song, Daughter of the Sea, being sung.
On deck Emma found the corpses of sailors who had died during a violent battle. She oriented herself and decided to head up to the rear deck, ascending a set of stairs. There she found a figure standing at the rudder, wearing a bright, blue cloak. All the while singing the last verses of the song. Emma approached and called out, “Rhosyn?” but was met with silence.
As she raised her arm to remove the blue hood from the person standing at the rudder, Emma heard a verse she had not heard before, more troublesome and haunting than the verses before;
I heard, I heard, across a moonlit sea,
The old voice warning me,
“Beware, beware the Daughter of the Sea”,
“Beware, beware…”
…of me.
Emma removed the hood to reveal a beautiful woman with blond hair and a fair face. When the woman looked up and Emma’s eyes met hers the woman’s hand shot out and grabbed Emma by the throat so fast that Emma’s consciousness was brought all the way back to her body sitting across the campfire from Luca.
Luca and Emma spoke about what Emma had seen and what it might have meant. The rest of the night went by without incident, but the next morning Emma convinced everyone to spend a moment trying to find the clearing in the woods with the cave. They managed to find it, only to find that the cave was a small burrow to a very angry wolverine and not the cavernous hiding place of admiral Karadin’s flagship.
The journey continued, and by mid-morning, the adventurers found a the beginnings of a trail which quickly lead to spotting the first plumes of hearth fires in the distance. It seems their wilderness journey was coming to an end, and that Bristlecone might finally be in sight.
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.
Emma, Session 23
6th day of the 1st ride of Summer-Flame, 1262
The burial of Theodore Strickland was a dismal affair. He was interred in the garden of the Magistrate’s Residence of Allenham. The ritual was performed in the honour of Chauntea by a few of the villagers and Syldarael and her daughter. There were few in attendance. It was a deeply sad, but strangely fitting end to this horrific episode in the history of Allenham. More than a dozen dead, three permanently displaced … maybe three dozen remain. To be honest, I can’t wait to turn my back on this town. These wounds are unlikely to heal any time soon and there is little else I can do to improve the situation. By the Mistress, we did the best we could.
When I returned from the sad affair Luca and James stumbled in, while Emrys had just stumbled out of bed was starting to take his liberty with the larders. Astrid was loudly, but vast asleep. Luca and James looked haggard and were spattered in blood … not their own. They provided an explanation as queer as any. It seems that they had run into Martha Allen with some friends performing unmentionable acts under the influence of some … essence? Whatever it was, they followed it to a cave with cryptic markings and signs where they stumbled on a ‘beautiful’ creature. Luca suggested that it was some manner of wily daemonic creature. He also suggested that this creature may well have instigated the whole Allenham tragedy to begin with. At any rate, the two struggled with it and apparently slew it, or extinguished its earthly form. James and Luca were sufficiently shaken to want to leave Allenham at the earliest convenience.
We wrapped up some loose ends and made some final preparations before departing from Allenham. We travelled a well-trodden path northwards keeping the river within a fraction of a mile on our right-hand side. At first we passed through farmland, but these quickly made way for wild forests. While we were dealing with the sad matters at Allenham, the dark forest enhanced my sense of dread, now the forest and all its life lifts my spirits. The monotony of travel also has a meditative, almost cathartic effect. Outside of Astrid, the others were not fully comfortable with travel in the wilderness, so I feigned some confidence and set the pace. The pace was mostly dictated by whenever we would happen upon a pasture, so that we may relieve our fine mule Theo of its burdens for a short while.
We may be ill-prepared in many ways, but I enjoy the solitude of the forest and the great weather. Even that glorious thunderstorm! And don’t forget how blessed these lands are by the Mistress of Streams, this is a veritable heaven!
7th day of the 1st ride of Summer Flame, 1262
Our first leg passed without any significant events, and we camped in a fine pasture with what Luca identified as ranger-marks. The next day we came to a few farms, where we inquired about Lord Destan and bartered for some perishables with the elven blade we had taken from the bandits. Lord Destan and his guardsmen indeed had come by this hamlet called Shady Brook and we talked to the same Tom he had talked to. He gave us the same directions he had given to Lord Destan. The path wouldn’t continue for much longer. After that, we would have to go into the proper wilds, wilds not without danger or so it seems.
Tom explained that the wilderness is populated by ‘forest spirits’ that are very dangerous, and fiercely territorial. The forest-people placate the spirits with small offerings, but otherwise steer clear of their territories, which are marked by cairns and other cryptic markings. Also, murders of crows can appear at the boundary of a spirit’s territory. I get the impression that Tom is rather well attuned to the lands he dwells in. Perhaps he is like the Old Man of the Estuary, or the big man at the Seat of Friendship? Either way, we are very grateful for his help.
After our pause at Shady Brook we continued for as long as our feet would carry us and until it was sufficiently late in the day and we happened upon an appropriate pasture. There we pitched our tents and spent the night. Luca’s uncanny sense of direction and Theo’s stubborn resilience and Sedna’s guiding hand have put us well on our way.
8th day of the 1st ride of Summer Flame, 1262
During the night James became perturbed by gathering of crows at some distance from our pasture. He feared an imminent attack by a spirit. I noticed that the murder of crows was concentrating at a distance from us and not closing in. If a spirit is involved (and I personally like to believe it is) then it is simply making clear to us where the boundary to its territory is, and perhaps also to observe us through the eyes of these crows. There was nothing we could do than to rest and stay alert during our respective watches.
In the morning, we packed camp in a bit more of hurry than usual and continued on our way. The murder of crows appeared to keep shadowing us, always at a distance. We were clearly still outside of the territory of the spirit, and keeping clear of it. Luca hypothesised that these spirits may well be relics (or descendants?) from the Time of Fear: entities that became stuck in our world when the various planes of existence no longer intersected.
All things considered, our going was not too bad. We made plenty of little mistakes, and we had to double back on numerous occasions, but never for much. More importantly, we were well able to keep to the directions provided by Tom from Shady Brook.
After another crossing of a rivulet, we happened upon the mangled remains of a stag. More disturbingly, we found that a horrific monstrous creature appeared to have erupted from the stag’s torso. Luckily, this monster was without life. It appeared to have bat-like appendages, but to be of the size of a fully grown human. Not of this world.
We would discover this to be too true. We decided to track the stags final dash and found a small overhang with deposits of slag and crystal, much like we found underneath the Sheridan estate. A portal to a plane of existence with horrific monsters!? Now only the slag remains. Are new spirits coming into these woods?
We left the scene untouched (although Luca obviously tinkered with this and that, here and there) and continued on our path. A little weighed down by the revelations at the crossing I still managed to cheer up a little after some more travel from all this life around me. But then we came upon the Calvin Farm that Tom of Shady Brook had told us we should.
There were two farms and both farmhouses were clearly entered forcefully. We found the two families. All of them dead. It is unclear who or what exactly did this, but they set upon the residents with a great deal of brutal force. These people were very clearly murdered. James climbed up to the chimney where he kept watch, while Astrid and I laboured to provide modest burials for the victims. We procured some perishables for a meal and departed afterwards.
Here ends the lighthearted journey. Things become serious … dangerous again. I should probably warn Tom at Shady Brooks about these restless spirits, or new arrivals.
We continued until deciduous trees started to be replaced by pines and firs. We are getting onto high lands. At some point, from a high point, we noticed the shining armour of a knight slumped on his warhorse moving in a lumbering pace towards us. James and Emrys were immediately alarmed and expected the worst. James became taut like a bowstring, Emrys summoned a swarm of copies of himself, each one striking different flamboyant poses. Taking their lead I asked for Sedna’s protection for James.
We approached the knight and notice that he was severely injured, as was his steed. We approached with caution (I tied Theo to a sapling), while Emrys used his illusions to make Astrid appear larger and even more fierce than usual. But the knight was no threat … in fact he was dying. Luca recognised his sigil. This appeared to be Sir Florianus, a knight who had died a heroic death at the Crimson Tower, more than a thousand years ago!!! Dumbstruck we were unable to formulate anything really, and then we noticed that Sir Florianus was turning old rather quickly, right before our eyes. I summoned up the courage to perform my clerical duties and comforted the dying man and to guide his soul into the life beyond. He babbled about dying again and again, and I assured him that this would be the last time.
After Sir Florianus perished and turned to dust (as did his steed) I urged that we immediately trace the route the knight had taken and sure enough we found more remains of a portal: slag and crystals. Did Sir Florianus just wander out of his entrapment at the Crimson Tower and back into our plane of existence!? I sure hope so, for I shudder at the thought of the alternative. May the Lady of the Lakes keep us safe!
I hope Sir Florianus has finally found eternal rest. I can hardly imagine anyone who deserves it more.