| Mission to the Vale of Tears |
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The Pathfinders sent one of their number, Slow, to escort us to the Readers Hut where we would be given our mission. At the Readers Hut we were tasked to find courier Hollyhock and return the box he was carrying. The Reader then transported us to the Vale of Tears in the hut. Shortly after we arrived a group of Khalid turned up led by a Stag totem priest. Also in the group was a member of the Stone Panther. They were carrying an injured individual and they requested our help with a ritual to fix him, which we provided via some ritual. In return they warned us that we should leave because sleeping in the Vale without a spirit totem to guard us would be very bad (people go mad) and the wailing woman would get us etc. He was also going on about some story where some brothers were going off into the mountains and coming back insane which was all a bit confusing and weird. In the end they told us of the location of a "dream catcher" that we could use to protect ourselves, it being in a sacred grove not far away. We headed off to find and retrieve the item. We encountered some Lesser Spirits of Mourning, which we assume are related to the wailing woman. At the grove we encountered a large, ferocious bear creature. We took the dream catcher it was guarding and left but had to slay it in the end as it followed us. (Not before it gave Spork a good mauling). The Reader put their wards up so we could sleep. Some spirits turned up outside the wards but couldn't get in. In the morning we killed some towerless who were chasing another towerless. We rescued the one being chased, Mikhail of the Borovni. He told us Khalid Earthwarp were in the area and that their arrival three months ago had coincided with all the nastiness going on with the wailing woman and the towerless getting more violent etc. At this point it seemed likely that the towerless had the courier so Mikhail agreed to guide us to their two camps. On the way to the first one we encountered a Thesessin scout who said he was in the area with a shaman, Sirru Thirru Sirruss. They are here to deal with the wailing woman. We encounter a number of towerless groups calling themselves "Treehowl" who seem very keen on blood sacrifice. One group was conducting a ritual (incomplete) and took a statue component from it after slaying them. We go back to the Hut. While there a strange earth construct wandered through, Tram grabbed a scroll of it and it attacked us so we jobbed it. It was a message in power runes addressed to a Priest Zerakan Uz (Pulse sect) talking about finding a site with the eventual intent to "tap" it and that they wouldn't get any more help. Another group of Towerless turn up for a fight. We captured one woman. We interrogated her and she was going on about the Old Man of the woods who would take our blood. Most of the towerless seemed keen on taking any colours we had. We headed off to the second camp meeting more towerless on the way. We ran into more of the weird construct creatures (green this time) that seemed to observe each of us, looking for something. Then they attacked us. We also ran into a group of master less undead. Later we encountered one of the strange creatures building a barrier across the path and some more undead. Watching nearby were some Khalid. In the ensuing fight Jadewin got a bit carried away and cast herself to death. Mikhail used his Borovni special brew to return her to life. Later on we ran into Priest Zerakan who was a bit miffed about us swiping his mail after Tram taunted him about it. They attacked us and we killed them all. On the way back to the Hut more mourners attacked us. We then found out that the towerless were doing some big rituals out in the woods so we went out to give them a kicking, while still looking for the courier. We travelled through the dark woods, fighting some undead until we arrived at the ritual site. A large fight ensued during which Elric went down and was captured, having all the blood drained from him. He was dead when we got to him. Time for some more Borovni special brew. We discovered another ritual site and retrieved another statue as well as the body of the courier. We returned, very battered, to the Hut. One the way back we were attacked by a couple of animal creatures. The Reader resurrected courier Hollyhock and he told a tale of horrible deeds and vile rituals then left to recover from his ordeal. The Thesessin shaman turned up and told us that they'd tracked the wailing woman from the Greenheart. Later on the wailing woman herself put in an appearance with a bunch of mourners in tow. Much running and screaming later we managed to dispatch her, temporarily we think. At one point a Shadowsfall turned up and nosed around a bit then left. The Reader put the wards up again. Mikhail tried to get some information about the statues but couldn't tell much apart from that they were magical and one of them radiated evil. In the morning Mikhail left, pledging friendship between the KVA and the Borovnis. Another group of towerless turned up and lured us out of the hut with long ranged magic. We attacked and defeated them. Slow turned up again with news that the Treehowl had had some big parties last night (one of which we'd crashed) and were all a bit the worse for wear, so we could get close without too much difficulty. The Reader use the Hut to transport us close and we head off to find Darcy Treehowl. After some time we located "Lord" Darcy Treehowl. He is apparently trying to start his own tower. We made a deal with him that in exchange for the courier's box we would deal with the Khalid in the area for him so his group went off to lure them to us. Some time later the Khalid stag priest and his men turned up and a rather vicious fight ensued. One of the Khalid took something off the priest and fled leaving Tram, Keelty and myself left to kill the priest, which we did. We staggered back to the hut to return the box to the Reader. At that point, a Son de Ville woman plus some guards turned up to talk to the Reader. They left with the hut, prompting a discussion between us and the Reader about how we were going to get home. In the end the Reader organised for the Thessessin to get us home to the towers. Job well done although the wailing woman issue is seemingly unresolved and it remains to be seen what comes of any potential alliance with the Treehowl or if they'll get a tower. Maggot, Wolfhold Cook. [Disclaimer: Any mistakes or omissions are a figment of your imagination] |