Tag: Recap

Emma, Session 18

2nd day of the 1st  ride of Summer-Flame, 1262

After our battle on the Old Queen we came to Egremont for a brief pause. At the town we had a meal, while Emrys, being a curious lad, inquired about rumours. He learned that the region, and Egremont in particular had suffered a serious of unsolved murders. This hardly brightened our moods. We continued on to Blackbridge, where matters turned much worse at an alarming speed.
Initially we simply acquired sleeping arrangements at the local Inn and had a good meal and there seemed to be no bother. Then the local head of the guard rather loutishly inquired James about the foul dagger he had recently taken possession of. Supposedly, the blade might be connected to a series of recent murders, much like the ones in Egremont. James’s insolence and the guard’s brazen authoritarianism collided spectacularly and things got out of hand rather quickly. Eventual James simply escaped into the wilderness, later joined by Emrys and Luca who were uncertain of the guard’s opinion of them after the initial scuffle. I was too tired and worn to be bothered and remained.
After some more drama the matter was resolved thus: James would surrender the dagger to the town’s augur, who would investigate the history of the blade in detail. This should prove James’ innocence. As soon as James would be acquitted we would be free to leave.  Luca, overcome by his curiosity ‘demanded’ to bear witness to the augur’s divinations. Astrid and I joined him.

The local magistrate, a middle-aged woman, was rather annoyed by all of it and would not be mollified by my offers for assistance. Given the recent murders, this was hardly surprising. The augur turned out to be the magistrate’s husband, an elderly man with, judging from Luca’s keen interest, arcane skills. After a lengthy ritual the augur revealed the sinister history of the blade. The blade was fashioned by Melchior, a hidious follower of the Dark Queen, who used the powers of an enslaved dragon to create these warped foul blades. The dragon itself a follower of the Dark Queen who had grown too arrogant in its power and paid for its arrogance through enslavement. The blades were distibuted to devotees of the Dark Queen for the purpose of assassinating various people. The strange thing is that none of the victims appear to be of great importance beyond their closest family. No nobles or notables, just ‘common’people (a worry the magistrate expressed). This particular blade was also in the possession of an assassin, but one that had a mishap against a mark in Egremont. He injured himself in some way. He sought assistance from Alfred Barnaby in Bournemouth, who betrayed him. Barnaby killed him and used the blade for experimentation, probably creating the Pesta in the process. After the destruction of the Pesta, the blade came into the possession of James White, who, as the Augur confirmed, had no hand in the murders in either Egremont or Blackbridge.

We confirmed that the relevant information would find its way to authorities downstream and agreed that we would depart from Blackbridge at our earliest convenience. James would be free from any charges, so long as he wouldn’t burden the town with his presence for the forseeable future. Luca and I made an admittedly lame attempt to find Emrys and James before retiring to the Inn for rest after this very, very long day.

3rd day of the 1st  ride of Summer-Flame, 1262

After a proper night’s sleep Astrid, Luca and I woke later than most. This meant we were consigned to scraps for breakfast, but still found the innkeep willing to provide packed lunches for five. While we discussed the best way to depart from Blackbridge, the innkeep suggested that we might still be able to catch an elven boatsman by the name of Kethelon headed for Alanham. We didn’t hesitate and rushed to the waterfront. After some slight commotion we managed to stop Kethelon in the nick of time, so that we could embark, and by Sedna’s providence, both James and Emrys were there as well to join us. Kethelon was delighted to take us, and we found Willow and Rickon on the barge as well. I entertained Willow, Rickon and the boatsman in all manner of pleasantries so as to give Luca time to fill in our comrades about the augur’s findings.

Thus we departed from Blackbridge, leaving its magistrate with the dire information gleaned from the assassin’s blade and to resolve the bloody trail it and its brethren had carved in the community on her own. But that darkness is behind us, and we are heading up the stream, in what was to become a very pleasant day.

The dark history of the blade seems not to weigh on James in any way.

The trip was splendid. Apart from the brooding figure of James, and the sulking figure of Emrys, we were only disturbed by a passing shadow of a wyvern. A reminder that we are moving into wild country. The weather was nice, the scenery full of life, and no bother came our way. In the evening, while were camping out in a lovely shallow bend, I urged Emrys to join me and performed a cleansing ritual, hoping to remove the strange glow that emanates from him ever since the mishap in Barnaby’s basement. The ritual worked! Praise Sedna!

4th day of the 1st  ride of Summer-Flame, 1262

The next day started out lovely, but turned sour once we came to our destination: Alanham. After Willow and Rickon departed to the south we headed into town and quickly came upon the town’s Hanging Tree, which was bearing an upsetting amount of Strange Fruit. All of them Elder races. Our half-elven brothers departed with Kethelon, while the rest of us headed into town. It’s too bothersome to go through every detail of our actions, instead I will provide as detailed an overview of the situation I can give. Our initial aim was to acquire a beast of burden and carry on, but it seems that this is a problem we will have to resolve. Not only is it the right thing to do, it seems Toruviel is making Emrys stay until it is resolved.

The town is subject to a sudden and frightfully violent burst of racist sentiment against the Elder races. There appear to be three factions involved: the Lord Magistrate, the Alan-clan, and the Elder Races.

The Alan-clan is an influential family, and the most prominent local farmers. The town appears to be named after them, and many of its people are related to them in some way or shape. Possibly Willow is of this clan as well. The pater familias, Herman Alan, has a number of grievances that probably were the slow burning fuse to local tensions, which the Lord Magistrate set ablaze.
The first grievance is that he appears to have lost his lady wife in childbirth and blames Kethelon’s mother, the local healer, for failing to restoring her to health. Secondly, the Lord Magistrate cancelled a betrothal to Marge Alan, since she was simply too young to be wed and he had found a more suitable candidate. When this marriage also fell through, the insult to the Alans was aggravated by the Lord Magistrate when his eyes fell upon yet another candidate: Kethelon’s sister.
More recently the Lord Magistrate sentenced two young men to death by hanging. The young men had foolishly vandalised the smithy of a dwarf, for whom one of the young men had until recently been an apprentice. The dwarf had terminated the apprenticeship when the young man had failed to meet the required standards. When the young men rather brazenly admitted their crimes, the Lord Magistrate sentenced them to death. Naturally, the erstwhile apprentice was related to the Alan-clan.

My impression is that the Lord Magistrate is an arrogant and prideful man of little competence who has handled this community very poorly indeed. The Alans on their part have misguided their anger to the Elder races, starting a cycle of violence that can turn very grim indeed. In the meantime, a group of brigands led by an elven-marksman, originally a hireling in the service of the Daerlan Empire, is already seeking to inject themselves into the whole situation. I sympathize with the sentiment to protect others, but fail to see how injecting an unlawful band of armed thugs into the situation might improve it all.

Luca and I tried to convince the Lord Magistrate to elope with the love of his life and leave to town for another, but pride prevented him. It seems we will have to try and convince the relevant parties to place some trust in us and to help them resolve it all.

Sedna guide us.

Egremont to Blackbridge

Previously, the adventurers made their way from Bournemouth to Egremont on The Old Queen, a caravel carrying several passengers. Halfway through the trip a strange fog blanketed the entire river, slowing the caravel down to a crawl. The ship was attacked by several muck dwellers. Finally, another creature, stealthily moving through the fog appeared and tried to take Muirgheal away. The adventurers managed to defeat the creatures and discover that upstream, a woman in a bright blue cloak was observing the attack from a small boat. With the attack a failure, the woman departed.

Second Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)

The Old Queen slowly sails up the river, slowly winding around the low sloping hills of the Bourne valley while the wind soothes your scrapes and bruises. The afternoon sun glitters off the surface of the water as the first towers of a proud castle looms into view over the crest of an upcoming hill. As the caravel inches forward the rest of the castle, settled on a hill on the southern bank of the river, comes into view. It has high walls which obscure much of the castle. Two round towers, part of the castle’s wall, are standing guard on the river. Part of an impressive bridge juts out between them high above the river. It looks like it was destroyed long ago and now serves as a vantage point to survey the river.

Across the river a broken structure made of similar stones, commemorating where the castle once connected to the northern bank. Ferries now go up and down between the embankments, shipping people, cattle and goods across. An old, cobbled road still departs from the broken bridge, heading north for several hours to meet up with the Silesian road.

Over the last couple of centuries several thousand homes have nestled themselves in the shadows of the castle walls, expanding outward from the castle’s epicentre. Rows of water mills line the south bank of the river, directly west of the castle hill. White sails of tall windmills can be seen dotting the hinterland to the south. To the east of the castle hill a modest harbour allows for the Old Queen to dock.

For those of you who have travelled the countryside, the city of Egremont is a fair sized city, for those of you who only really know Kingsport and perhaps Bournemouth, Egremont looks like a quaint village.

Late in the afternoon, Egremont came into view. A castle sat proudly on the southern river bank, with several thousand homes spreading out into the hinterland from the castle’s epicentre. The caravel was docked at a modest harbour and captain Lorne began to arrange for the empty barrels he had been carrying for the Egremont coopers to be unloaded by dock workers. In the meantime, Lady Kathleen, her children, and her sworn sword Dame Idonia disembarked.

There was some confusion about how long the caravel would stay in port, but once it became clear that it would depart for Blackbridge within two hours, several of the adventurers decided to go into Egremont and find a place to eat. Ridley asked permission for her to join the adventurers, which captain Lorne granted.

Emrys remembered a tavern by the name of The Broken Bridge, where people were sitting outside in the late afternoon sun. Food was ordered and Luca used his magic to chill the cups of their ale. Ridley, who also had gotten a mug of ale, marvelled at the trick and enjoyed the cool drink. Meanwhile, Emrys was observing the conversations of the people around them and concluded that there had been a string of seemingly random killings in Egremont which had the otherwise cheerful people worried.

Eventually the adventurers came back to the harbour and found that a halfling merchant by the name of Travik had come aboard, together with loads of produce (e.g. potatoes, onions, leeks) which he was planning on selling in Blackbridge. Besides Travik, a trio of barbers had come aboard in order to travel upriver, as well as an exotic woman of striking beauty.

The Old Queen quickly went underway once everyone was back on board and it began to travel up the river Teign. The landscape changed from the fair fields of Fairfields, into the wooded area of the Riverlands. Both banks of the river became heavily forested.

During the trip, the adventurers had an opportunity to talk to some of the other passengers. Travik turned out to know about Pinefall because he had met Lord Destan when he travelled upriver several rides previous. When asked whether he had been to Pinefall, he denied, mostly due to the brewing trouble with a brigand group by the name of the Procyon.

Luca and Emrys took the opportunity to talk to the exotic woman, who was known as mistress Esmeralda d’Ortega, a Arroyan abjurer and representative of the Circle of Mages in Kingsport. Emrys explained that the adventurers had met another abjurer from the circle when the Lyrian queen had invited Emma to court in order to bless a well. She claimed that it was likely Dr. Arkenward, the royal abjurer. The conversation meandered a bit, but the adventurers managed to learn that Esmeralda was on her way to Blackbridge in order to take the Silesian road to Kingsport from there. She was to summon her mount there, which greatly interested Luca and mildly interested Emrys. She promised to show them how to do so once they arrived.

As the Old Queen sails further north up the Teign tributary the landscapes changes considerably from the fair fields of Fairfields. The golden fields of wheat make way for the more forested hills of the Riverlands. Both banks of the river become densely wooded and the occasional deer and fawn can be seen drinking at the water’s edge from time to time. Birds can be heard to chirp, coo and warble, echoing across the river valley.

The setting sun of the late hour of the day causes the wind to pick up, which provides some much needed relief from the heat. Ridley climbs down from the mast and goes to the rear deck to stand by captain Lorne and draw one of his thick arms around her, nestling into the crook of his arm. Roddy starts rubbing the ache in one of his shoulders, while Neiman keeps an eye out over the river from the front deck.

Occasional signs of logging can be seen along the river. In wide coves the long stems of oak and ash trees float, patiently waiting for barges to take them down stream to be worked in the saw mills at Egremont.

Finally, a large stone bridge comes into view, arching over the river where the Silesian road cuts through the forest. While impressive, the bridge is too low for the caravel to pass underneath. This is as far as the Old Queen will be able to take you.

On the eastern bank of the river, directly south of the bridge, the forest opens up to reveal the town of Blackbridge. Unwalled, consisting of perhaps a thousand wooden homes, all nestled close together on the soggy flats of the east bank, the town seems well camouflaged.

Half a dozen small, wooden piers jut out onto the river. They are barely large enough to dock a boat the size of the Old Queen, but captain Lorne expertly manoeuvres the caravel towards the dock, ordering the sails to be lowered. The boat is quickly tied to the dock and the dock hands start unloading the cargo unto the pier. Several ox-driven carts stand in the soggy, black mulch near the pier, ready to carry the goods onward.

The town seems to have taken its name from the bridge and the dark soil it connects on either side.

Once The Old Queen was docked on the small pier of Blackbridge the goods were unloaded onto carts under Travik’s watchful eye. Rickard and Willow of Allenham disembarked and walked into town to find lodgings. Emma and Astrid did the same while carrying the chest of valuables. James decided to join them while Emrys and Luca left to go to the bridge together with Esmeralda to watch her perform her summoning ritual. But not before Luca conjured up a little crystal flower for Ridley as a parting gift, something she was delighted by.

Esmeralda, Emrys and Luca found a secluded spot in the woods just off the Silesian road for her to perform her ritual. Surprisingly, it didn’t take her much effort to draw a swirling fog from all directions, which formed into the shape of a large stallion. Over the course of several minutes the shape started to gain more and more detail, until it spontaneously coalesced into a real, live chestnut stallion. Esmeralda explained that the stallion was a paragon she summoned from the Feywilde.

When Esmeralda bid her farewell and departed west down the Silesian road, Emrys and Luca went back to the dock and into town to find The Grove, the only inn to be found in Blackbridge. Once there, they had found that the others had already arranged for lodgings in a common room and some delicious food. The lodgings were simple and spartan, but the food was luxurious.

During dinner the adventurers learned that a contingent of crownsguard and knights had set off from the capital to escort an emissary to parlay with Lord Mirek Radowan, whose house had stood in open rebellion to the throne ever since the crown’s refusal to meet house Radowan’s demands for more forces to protect the eastern border.

There was little entertainment in the small, forest town, and so people decided to head to the common room in order to get some rest. Luca and Astrid remained behind in the main room, where Luca read and Astrid drank. They noticed a crownsguard come into The Grove and speak to Keogh and his wife Roswyn, the proprietors of the inn. After speaking to one another in hushed tones he walked over to the common room to find James.

The conversation was short, but spiralled out of control quickly. The crownsguard was captain Randall of the Blackbridge guard and wanted to know more about the dagger that James was carrying, claiming that similar weapons had been used in the assassinations of random people in Blackbridge. James explained that he had received the dagger as payment for services rendered by a man named Barnaby, operating an alchemy shop in Bournemouth.

James began to get annoyed when captain Randall insisted that James reveal his right shoulder, seemingly looking for a mark, or a tattoo which he found significant. When James revealed no such tattoo he insisted that James disarm and accompany him to The Black House. James refused. Captain Randall repeated his command and James refused again, insulting the captain’s intelligence on top of it. Clearly not a man used to having his orders refused he decided to take a more drastic approach in order to try and bring James to heel.

Luca and Astrid, who could hear the raised voices from the main room, came to investigate what the ruckus was about, while Emma tried to stay out of the conflict. Emrys on the other hand was trying to calm the situation by trying to get the captain to engage in conversation. The captain refused to do so and kept ordering James to disarm, which James refused to do. Eventually, James tried to flee the scene, afraid that the captain would attack him. Both Luca and Emrys started slinging spells at the captain, so when the captain pursued James who had run out of the inn, they decided they had probably overstayed their welcome too. Emma and Astrid stayed behind.

James lead the captain, who was wearing heavy armour and had no way of catching up with the fleet-footed rogue, on a wild goose chase through the town, eventually losing him and doubling back. He met up with Emrys and Luca who had tried to head towards the river through the forest. They decided to rest and come up with a plan.

Emrys, who was still afflicted by the strange, radiant glow coming from his eyes, decided that now that it was getting darker outside, he shouldn’t be trying to sneak around town, and so wanted to stay behind. James and Luca snuck back into town. They decided to head to The Black House to see if any search efforts were being organised and to figure out what had happened to Emma and Astrid, after James had discovered that they were no longer at The Grove.

Sneaking to the back of The Black House, they found a room with a closed window in which Astrid and Emma were in conversation with captain Randall and an known elderly woman. From where they were sitting they could only hear the woman’s side of the story, and it seemed that the woman was eager to talk to the fugitives about the weapon. James and Luca decided to knock on the front door of The Black House. The door was opened by a young guard who immediately recognised the fugitives and yelled for the captain. Before the captain could appear, James issued a demand to parlay at the bridge in one hour, before dashing off. Luca had to trouble keeping up with James but managed to get away.

Returning to Emrys they had explained what had happened and the three of them decided to rendez-vous at the bridge an hour later. There they found Emma, Astrid, the elderly woman, the captain and several guards. Emma and the elderly woman stepped forward and approached James.

When the elderly woman, who clearly spoke with authority, suggested that it was unwise to disobey the captain’s commands, James immediately objected, telling her not to start laying down the law. She kindly reminded him that she was, in fact, the law in Blackbridge, at which point he once again refused to accept the situation and decided to walk off. Luca, who had stayed back said that this wasn’t going to resolve anything. James gave Luca the dagger and let him deal with matters instead, believing that the authorities were looking to frame him for the murders which had plagued the small town.

Luca parlayed with the elderly woman, agreeing to hand over the dagger for divination by the town sage. If that would exonerate James, she agreed that he would be free to go, but James’ refusal to recognise the authority of the town guard meant that he was no longer welcome in Blackbridge. Luca wanted to be present when the sage performed his divination ritual, to make sure that the sage would speak the truth. And so a deal was struck.

The Old Queen

Previously, the adventurers wrapped up all the loose ends in Bournemouth. They engaged Lady Ulrikke von Rosenberg in conversation about her research into strange humanoid creatures stalking the countryside of the Daerlan empire. They could push the research of the frustrated margravine into a useful direction and potentially making a new ally.

The adventurers also spent some time preparing for their upcoming trip by purchasing supplies for their trek towards Pinefall in the foothills of the Silverpines. This included a visit to Alfred Barnaby’s shop to see about some healing elixirs. They found the scatterbrained man unable to reach his supplies due to a ghostly apparition having invaded his basement laboratory. The adventurers went down and confronted the apparition, which turned out to be a pesta, a harbinger of plagues and blights, which they managed to defeat, but not without a stiff fight. One in which Emrys was strangely transformed into a radiant, almost celestial version of himself!

Second Day, First Ride, Summer Flame, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning. Bloodmoon is waxing. Darkmoon is waxing.)

The adventurers readied themselves to depart from the River Stone, heading out to the harbour in order to board a boat taking them upstream towards Egremont with the final stop being Blackbridge. Falka met them outside the inn and walked them to the harbour, bidding them a safe journey.

The ship Astrid had arranged passage on was an eighty foot, two-masted caravel, with triangle, cream-coloured sails. Astrid and Emma, who had carried the company’s chest of riches from the inn to the harbour carried it up the gangplank, at the top of which they were met by two of the crew; Neiman, a blonde-haired man with an even tan and an easy smile, and Ridley a young girl who was easily mistaken for a boy, with a cleft lip and a speech impediment. After Astrid asked permission to embark they were invited aboard with a very warm welcome.

The adventurers settled themselves on the forward deck, where Emrys, who was still wearing a heavy hood and a thick blindfold to hide the strange malady which was afflicting him, sat down with all of their belongings and started strumming his lute, playing a melancholic melody.

Everyone got a quick primer of the rules aboard the ship; the rear deck was off-limits, but the passengers were invited to walk around the main and forward decks. The passengers were also allowed to take comfort in the forward hull if they wanted to, but Astrid warned that it might cause some sea sickness if the weather turned, which prompted Luca to take his place in the middle of the main deck, determined not to fall ill.

James asked whether he would be allowed to climb the main mast and Neiman differed authority to Ridley, who looked James up and down and nodded her approval. James took an interest in the young girl and asked her to show him how to climb the mast, which she happily did. She showed herself to a dexterous and excellent climber.

When Neiman found out that Emma was a priestess of Sedna he insisted on introducing her to the captain on the rear deck. He turned out to be an old, broad shouldered, one eyed man, whose old facial scars read like a map of the world. Neiman invited Emma to bless the ship, the crew and their voyage, which she reluctantly did.

The last crew member was Roddy, a plain-faced, dark haired man who didn’t possess the same charisma or willingness to converse as his crew-mate Neiman.

Several other passengers were aboard the ship; a young lady of noble birth, travelling with her infant daughter and a young, troublesome lordling by the name of Simon. They were accompanied by a middle-aged knight by the name of Dame Idonia, whose half-plate armour and shield were gilded in vermilion, showing her to be of the Order of the Shield.

The last two passengers were a young couple; Rickard of Allenham and his young wife Willow, both commoners on their way from Bournemouth where Rickard studied botany at the academy, to Allenham where they made their home.

Captain Lorne ordered the two bosuns, Roddy and Neiman, to raise the sails while Ridley untied the ropes from the pier. Pretty soon the sails caught wind and the boat started to inch forward. Expertly the captain steered the boat onto open water before turning back towards the city and angling to go up-river along the southern fork of the river, getting a great view of the southern end of Ioun’s Isle and eventually sailing past the Landsdown auction house, where the adventurers saw the two regular guards stand at attention, boiling in the early morning sunlight. Eventually the ship left Bournemouth behind as it slowly zig-zagged upriver.

Rickard and Willow came up to Luca, attracted by the tome he was reading and tried to make small talk with him. Rickard introduced himself and his wife and explained that he was a student at the faculty of natural philosophy. He was delighted to hear Luca’s lie about being a mage studying at the Circle of Mages in Kingsport. The conversation quickly died out and Rickard excused himself and his wife and they went to introduce themselves to the noble lady and her guard.

In the meantime, lord Simon had taken to running around the deck, kicking over buckets, uncoiling ropes and – his favourite – hanging off the side of the railing so far that he could fall overboard at any moment.

Emma, who had decided to use the several hours to Egremont to meditate and further attune herself to Muirgheal, found herself increasingly frustrated by the young lordling and used a sliver of Sedna’s power to project her voice in an impressive way and catch the lordling’s attention. As soon as she did, she saw that she had frightened him significantly, and saw that Dame Idonia was advancing on her quickly. She took a knee in front of the young lord and kindly implored him to obey his lady-mother, who had been commanding him to behave ever since embarking onto the Old Queen.

That seemed to calm the young lord down for a little while, giving Emma some time to focus on Muirgheal. Unfortunately, she felt like the intelligence inside the weapon was at a constant distance from her and she wasn’t able to reach it.

The beautiful Fairfields countryside rolled by, showing off the incredible wheat fields and grazing pastures of the Bourne valley. The different lands and pastures partitioned off from one another by ancient, moss-covered, dry brick walls, like a fertile mosaic.

Luca had grown dissatisfied with being in the hot sun and had decided to take refuge inside the forward hull, confident that he would be able to stomach the motion of the ship without having an eye on the horizon. Inside, he started experimenting with some of the simple cantrips and the effect that lyrium crystals would have on them. He quickly concluded that lyrium was able to act as an arcane focus as well as a universal spell component, which was valuable knowledge to have gained from such short experimentation.

James was the first to notice a strange bank of fog coming up along the river. The crew members picked up on it swiftly and the captain ordered the sails to be lowered so that the ship would slow down. While the bosuns were taking down the sails, Ridley climbed out onto the prow to keep an eye on any possible rocks, banks or debris.

When the ship was completely enveloped in mist, a cry could be heard out followed rapidly by a splash. Little lord Simon had fallen overboard and was in need of rescue. At the same time, malicious humanoid creatures climbed aboard the ship and attacked the crew and passengers.

Luca knew them to be drowners, sometimes called muck-dwellers, a hold-over from the last Conjunction of Planes. They were a nuisance in small numbers, only troubling lone fishermen, but they were climbing up the side of the ship in numbers larger than to just be a nuisance.

Emma didn’t hesitate, took Muirgheal in hand and jumped overboard to rescue lord Simon from the drowners who were pulling him further into the depths with every second. In the meantime, the rest engaged the drowners swarming the ship.

Emma valiantly fought off the drowners and almost managed to free lord Simon from their clutches, but the underwater surroundings were new terrain for her to do battle in, despite being greatly aided by Muirgheal. Eventually she succumbed to her wounds just as the last of the drowners on the ship were defeated. Astrid came to the rescue and carried lord Simon to the ship and went back for Emma and Muirgheal.

In the meantime, a new creature had appeared, this one a master of evasion using illusions and invisibility to move through the fog. Its patterns across the ship suggested that it was trying to find something, eventually settling on Muirgheal as it was being assaulted on all sides by the passengers and crew. During this fight, Luca took a chance and cast one of his eldritch spells using a lyrium crystal as an arcane focus and saw the effects of the spell enhanced significantly!

As it tried to escape overboard, James, who had had doggedly been pursuing the strange creature, launched an arrow into it and saw the creature’s body bob to the surface of the water. He dove into the clear waters and caught up with Muirgheal before it reached the bottom.

When he resurfaced he noticed that with the death of the second creature, the fog was retreating, revealing a small rowing boat a little further upstream. Standing on the boat was what appeared to be a young woman wearing a bright blue, hooded cloak. Once she saw James had retrieved Muirgheal she turned around in the boat and it started to move away, further upstream and out of sight.

When Emma was resuscitated and everyone had recovered somewhat from their wounds, the young noble woman came to thank the company for the efforts of saving young lord Simon. She pledged that they would always be welcome at house Tolliver, the family to which she belonged.

With the situation back under control and the fog retreated, the ship went back underway and soon, Egremont came into view.

Emma, Session 16

2nd day of the 1st  ride of Summer-Flame , 1262

We departed from Bournemouth after settling our accounts at the River Stone. We were accompanied by Falca who wanted to wish us a safe journey. We thanked her and boarded a fine Caravel named The Old Queen. We were welcomed on board by a boatman who explained the basic rules.
We picked a spot at near the prow of The Queen where a hooded and blindfolded Emrys perched himself over our chest of riches, playing doleful tunes on his lute. It is unclear what afflicts him, nor when and how it may come to an end. Luca, our resident arcanist appears at a loss.

When it became apparent that I am in fact a follower of Sedna, the boatman Nyman was eager to introduce me to Captain Lorne and to for me to bless the journey. Awkwardly I consented and hopefully satisfied Nyman’s spiritual needs.
During the journey I first admired the skill of the crew before settling myself for meditation and, hopefully, communications with Muirgheal. This proved rather difficult since a little lordling was misbehaving incessantly and being called after by his entitled, and very irritating, mother.
I begged Sedna for patience and called the lordly brat to a halt, perhaps a little too harshly, and then implored him with a calm voice to heed his mother as he would his father.
The knight that was guarding the lordling and his mother menaced over me but realized that I meant no real harm. For at least an hour or so the knight, myself, and the rest of the passengers of the ship enjoyed a blissful brat-free repose.
During this time I managed to engage as best as possible with Muirgheal, hoping to find out more about the person that imbued himself into this trident. Unfortunately our communications were unsuccessful. A veil of misunderstanding keeps us from properly communicating. Do I need to commit more to the weapon in order for that communication to be possible? Can I commit to that without harming my bond with the Mistress? I will probably need to talk to Luca about this.

A little later James, who had been clambering around in the Queen’s rigging, became intensely focused. An unnatural fog was forming ahead of the Queen. Most of the passengers were corralled below deck, while the able bodied prepared for the worst. The little lordling had resumed his misbehaivour and was being chased by the knight, but evading her deftly.

Several marsh-dwelling monsters boarded the Queen: Grypts by the look of it. I heard a loud splash near the aft, and heard gurgling cries of help from the little lordling. I reckoned that my companions, the crew, and the knight would be more than sufficient to handle the grypts, so I decided that I was probably the only one to be able to save the lordling.
I entrusted my safety to Muirgheal and jumped overboard. I quickly made my way to the struggling lordling, who was being pulled under by three grypts. Although they tried to prevent me, I focused on releasing the lordling from their grasp. I killed one in the struggle, and gravely injured the other two. I finally forced the last one to ignore the lordling, but in doing so I made myself vulnerable to attack and their fangs and claws overcame me.

I later learned that Astrid recovered the lordling and me from the water and killed the remaining grypts.
I also learned that another, much more dangerous creature nearly escaped with Muirgheal . Luckily, James finally managed to defeat that beast and recover Muirgheal. Even more disturbingly, a young woman cloaked in blue appears to have directed the attack on the Queen.

Who is this mysterious assailant?

Rhosyn? Surely not!?

The lordlings mother, a Lady of House Tolliver was very grateful for the … safe … recovery of Lord Simon and pledged that we would ever be welcome at House Tolliver.

Egremont is coming in sight.

Emma, Session 15

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

While breaking fast at the River Stone we divided the remaining tasks. Emrys was still fast asleep from a late night at the Golden Cockatrice. Luca and I would return to the Bournemouth Academy library for further inquiries. Astrid would arrange for a river-barge to take us upstream and sell the horses and the cart. We will have to acquire a beast of burden at Blackbridge. James pledged himself to a day of debauchery.

At the library I took a few directions from Falka and in so doing was quite successful in my inquiries. I found a fair few things about Admiral Karadim and his legend. I had brought Muirgheal along to see how it … he … she … would respond, but nothing too exciting happened. He murmured the same melody from before. Well, at least I appear to have recovered the right legend, but some things don’t sit straight. How come an artifact so ancient is knowledgeable of a legend that is considerably more recent?
I had hoped to come to know Muirgheal better through my researches but I come away with more questions instead. Most of these seem to lead away from the common goal I share with my travelling companions: follow in the step of Lord Destan and find the now somewhat less mythical Crimson Tower.
I will have to try and learn more about Muirgheal in another way. I have difficulty understanding the nature of him … her … it. There is power there, but to what end, and at what cost?  Luca’s researches have shed only a little light on the matter, but what it revealed was troublesome enough.  It seems that Muirgheal was a person at some point whose essence was imbued into the weapon by some bizarre arcane ritual.

While I was wrapping up Luca entered my study-room. He wanted me to join him and talk to the Margravin. She appeared to be studying things of interest to us. It seemed Luca was a little worried that he might reveal too much. Or perhaps he preferred me to make the mistakes for him.
We ended up with a fairly interesting discussion. The Margravin was investigating the ‘Skaven’ but two other types of creatures as well: dog-headed ones and bull-headed ones. These were all sighted throughout the Dærlan Empire.
We revealed that we were in fact eye-witnesses of the gnomish rats and provided her with some imagery. We explained that there is a connection to the Time of Fear and that if she were to focus her inquiries into that direction that she was likely to be more successful. We also explained that there is a suit of armor at the Lansdowne auction-house that she might find interesting to examine.
The Margravin was grateful and wondered how she could repay us. Luca suggested that she might relay anything important she might discover to the librarian Falka, who could act as a mutual contact between our group and the Margravin while we are away. I urged her to use whatever influence she might have to have the Dærlan Empire and the Kingdom of Lyria mend fences, since they might well need each other in the time to come, a time in which the Elder Races are likely to abandon us humans for the second time.

Luca and I retired from the library to meet up with the rest. Despite having been less successful in his inquiries into Lyrium crystals, he was pleased enough to have built some rapport with the Margravin.

James was drunk, Astrid was drunk and battered, Emrys was nursing a headache. By their own metrics they appear to be having a great day.
After lunch we decided that we would need to make some purchases for the road ahead. A few tents and some basic supplies for camping. We also went by a shop owned by a certain Barnaby, where we might get healing potions. We had found them rather steeply priced, so were reluctant to purchase them so far, but we are still lugging around ungodly amount of gold and we need to spend some of it surely!
Master Barnaby initially declined to open the shop, but eventually appeared in the window, looking rather distressed.
When we entered it was quickly revealed that Barnaby was suffering from an unwanted ‘visitor’ in his laboratory in the cellar. A supernatural creature of sorts. We agreed to purge the creature from the laboratory in exchange for the potions. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but a ruse or deception of some kind seemed to be the most likely.

How wrong I was. The truth was much more grim and horrific.

An ethereal looking lady was examining books in the laboratory and paid us no heed. When James approached it seemed unconcerned until he came too close and it started to look at him menacingly with dead eyes.
Meanwhile I noticed the muffled sound of dripping water behind a newly, shoddily built wall. I asked Emrys to point Toruviel at the wall and to blast it away. Behind it lay the decaying body of a woman, crawling with rats and other vermin. I asked Luca to cleanse the corruption with flame, something that unfortunately was necessary.

The spirit did not take kindly to that and attacked. I’m not sure how it worked and what happened, but appeared that she was draining the life from us and was spreading a noxious corruption all around it. It managed to corrupt my body rather effectively. In a desperate move to allow James to move away I stepped into the fray and lunged at it with Muirgheal and ripped through it with great effect. In another desperate move Luca conjured fickle flames to disastrous effect. After a bright burst of flame, darkness descended upon me.

I came to a little later. Feeling badly corrupted. I begged Sedna to heal our group. Slightly dazed I got faint glimpses of what transpired next. James haggled angrily with Barnaby and seems to have pocketed a good supply of potions as well as two interesting items: a dagger and a pair of boots.
Emrys in the meantime had become … I don’t know really. There is light emanating from his orifices.  His hair has turned bright silver.

Luca covered up most of Emrys’ head and urged him to keep his eyes and mouth shut while they made their way back to the River Stone. Astrid and James accompanied me outside the city to a sheltered bend in the river where I performed a cleansing ritual to purge the corruption from my body.