Session 14

When last we left off, our intrepid party had defeated the bandits who had come to Oleg’s, with two escaping to presumably return to their master. What would we do next? Explore the region more, or leave for a confrontation with the Stag Lord himself?

We began this session with the continuation of this discussion. Then Sella suggested she explore her oracle capabilities for the first time to see if she could provide further guidance for us. We agreed that this was an excellent idea. For two days, Sella fasted and prepared for the ceremony with Ix ably assisting her in the identification and preparation of the necessary ritualistic components. She then sequestered herself and began her meditation, which would last for three days. All this while Elsbeth stood vigil at her door until Sella let her know in a now barely audible voice that she had returned from her visions.

After a quick fortifying draught provided by brother Lothar, Elsbeth was able to relay her revelations over her first meal in five days. It began with a vision of Oleg’s, now surrounded by a dozen or so other buildings and increased fortifications. In the center of this town stood a stone plinth, which she approached. On it were carved words to commemorate the defeat of the Stag Lord. Tried to read more to see if she could discover more details of this battle, but the words blurred and became illegible. She then heard the sound of far off thunder. She turned around and saw the horizon dominated by huge, dark brooding clouds of an approaching storm. It was then that the strange music began. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKbPUzhWeeI Sella’s vision was suddenly drawn across a great distance towards this storm. She stood amidst the raging storm at the base of a hill. Atop this hill she saw the ruins of a castle and suddenly appearing in the flashes of lightning was the imposing figure of a monstrous man with a stag’s skull for a face, antlers growing from his head and a great bow in his hands…

After Sella conveyed her prophecies to the group, we consulted with Oleg to discover when thunderstorms began in this area. Oleg informed the group that in a couple of weeks the storms should begin. We then decided to do some more exploring of some nearby hilled areas, return to Oleg’s to re-provision, and then begin our trek to the Stag Lord’s fortress.

The exploration was largely uneventful. We came across a group of kobolds from our allied tribe. They had just killed a large elk and were preparing to return home. We noticed that a number of their group lay dead on the field of battle. Dervil and Kiril tried valiantly to convince them of the worthiness of respecting the bodies and memories of their fallen, but in the end their efforts were in vain as the kobolds did not seem capable of grasping this concept.

Next we discovered a lightning struck tree that resembled a claw. Kiril reminded us of a map with a tree such as this drawn on it which we found on a body at the bottom of spider’s lair. Sure enough, buried near the base of this tree was a yew wand of burning hands, a book of spells, a +1 dagger and a fine leather cloak. Ix was very happy.

We returned to Oleg’s having successfully explored five hexes, re-provisioned ourselves, and set out for the Stag Lord’s fort. We reached our destination. It was indeed perched high atop a hill next to a lake. The skies started to fill with dark threatening clouds. The captured leader of the last group of bandits to attack Oleg’s had told us of a possible secret passage into/out of the fort, so we decided to have Kiril and Elsbeth scout for an entrance under the cover of dark. On approaching the fort and leaving the path, skeletal hands sprouted from the ground and began to dig their way out. Kiril spoke the secret pass phrase and the skeletons returned to their graves. The two then skulked closer to the fort… and then both rolled 3’s on their stealth. A guard on the wall noticed them and that’s where we called it for the night.

How will Kiril and Elsbeth handle their being discovered? We’ll find out next time!