Eye Of The Beast

Adventure One: The Darkest Hour

Act I: The Tourney

Session One 10/13/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 2 0
Ending Advances 2 1

The cast of characters

GM Note: A new adventure begins, based on Times of High Adventure from Crafty Games. I bought a lot of Fantasycraft books when we were playing that, good to get some use out of them ;) Still just for Justin & Heather as they are the only reliable players. The Dominion game was going well, but I was exposed to the Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition game and found much to admire about it. Some combination of that game and Savage Worlds would be the perfect game. However, due to the current lack of such a game, I was torn at what to run and I floundered, facillating between the systems and campaigns. Trying to resurrect the prior campaign has proved difficult as certain players (you know who you are) get frustrated and throw away all their old characters. So, this new game using Savage Worlds is where we are at.

Sir Forg and The Swan Knight are jousting for the championship at a late spring tourney. Each of their squires provide them aid, suggestions, and morale support, but in the end Tulkas is victorious. The two seem taken with each other from great mutual respect and plans are made for a feast that night.

"Alex" sets out to acquire food, drink, entertainment, and gifts for the evening. Daedric competes in the melee tournements, placing 1st. Alex was also in the competition but threw her match as she noticed some of her Uncle's knights in the crowd and competition and did not want to be recognized.

The feast is a success and Daedric and Alex have a moment to speak and get to know one another. The next morning both their masters recieve summons to the Duke's castle from the Queen's herald. Plans are made for attending. At the meeting, squires are not permitted inside, so once again Daedric and Alex have a chance to converse.

After the meeting, Forg and Tulkas tell them that they are to acquire horses and supplies for a quick trip to the village of Andra, known mostly for the memorial tomb of an adventurer named Paschel. They desire for the pair to reach the village and return to them before the end of the Grand Melee, a difficult task. In the village they are to speak a coded phrase to the abbot of the church and return his reply.

The pair decide to leave that night as they need to complete a normally 5-day round trip in 3 days. Their masters have assured them that they will attempt to delay the Grand Melee, but they cannot guarantee their success.

On the second night of their travels, they spot an ambush but decide to fight anyways as a detour would cost them too much time. Alex is sorely wounded in the fighting and they have to search out a nearby hamlet for medical treatment, as Alex refuses to allow Daedric to treat her, fearing he will discover her deception.

Act II: A Quiet Evening Interrupted

This puts them slightly behind schedule and it is a hard ride in the morning through Fel's Cut, a pass in the nearby hills. They arrive at The Tipsy Wyvern just after dusk, about two hours from Andra, and decide
to rest their horses and get dinner before continuing on.

As Daedric flirts with the barmaid, Lisbet, the sounds of a fast-approaching horse can be heard, a strange fog quickly overtaking it. A rider falls from the horse, practically at the party's feet. The man croaks out a plea for help that others are still alive at the church in Andra and need immediate rescue. Grooms rush to shut the gates as the fog rolls into the courtyard and up over the walls. Daedric examines the man who is gravely injured by what appear to be human bite marks as well as scratches. The wounds, though fresh, appear to be infected. Alex notices figures closing quickly on the courtyard gate, lopeing through the fog; she draws weapons and stands ready.

The figures reach the gate, killing the grooms there, and flood into the courtyard. Alex sees several easily scale the walls as well. Daedric has finished stabilizing Hertiger, but has not had time to ready for an attack. Alex interposes herself and faces the initial spearhead of raveners who have breached the inn.

The raveners appear to be undead, but they are quick and viscious, not like normal shambling zombies. The party attempts to fall back into the inn to defend it but already the raveners are attempting to breach the second floor via shuttered windows. Staff and guests run about seeking cover and trying to defend themselves. The innkeeper is trapped in the main inn building, cutoff from his family's personal housing, where his wife and children are attempting to close up all points of egress. The stables and maid's quarters also become isolated from the party, as well as the outhouses. The fog is dense and unnatural, hiding the enemy's numbers and location.

Alex attempts to hold the upstairs while Daedric directs Lizbet and the innkeep to close up the firstfloor, but the inn is breached and fighting breaks out. There is screaming from the maid's quarters but they are holding, as are the innkeeper's family. The stables are breached and a fire is started accidently by one of the grooms during the fighting. Sadly, the guest using the outhouse outs himself with an ill-timed release of gas, alerting the nearby raveners to his presence and he is soon dragged forth and slain.

After clearing the inn and getting everyone to a more defensible location in the building, Daedric is determined to attempt to relieve the siege on the maid's quarters and tells Lizbet to shut and lock the door once he goes outside. As he steps out he draws the attention of the nearby raveners, including those sieging the maid's quarters, and he and Alex make short work of them.

The fog begins pulling back and the surviving raveners withdraw with it, taking the corpses of the newly slain with them. Again, Alex has been wounded in the fighting, but this time in the legs and arms, so she is willing to allow Daedric to treat her.

Session Two 10/15/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 2 1
Ending Advances 3 2

The cast of characters

Act III: Village of the Damned

The party sets out for Andra after getting a map and supplies from the inn staff. It takes them almost two hours to reach the outskirts of the village, which is shrouded in the dense fog. They locate the church easily and knock on the doors but there is no response. They circle the building looking for another entrance, but they are all barricaded. There are no signs of ravener attack so they try knocking again, this time calling out to those inside to let them in, telling them Hertiger sent them. This gets a response and a cheer goes up from those inside. The interaction has drawn attention, however and three raveners appear out of the fog. Daedric pushes closed the door and tells those inside to sit tight while he and Alex clear the undead.

The survivors inside the church are not helpless however and they attempt to help the fight by shooting their crossbows. Quick work is made of the undead horrors and the party is let inside the church. There are six survivors holed-up here: Theodore, a young lad, son of the sheriff; Maja Weaver, an older woman; Brigit, the woman who was helping the party with her crossbow; Bastian, Brigit's husband and defacto leader; Zerun, the town rat-catcher, and his small, but viscious, dog; and Brother Sevrin, a young clergyman.

Daedric attempts to speak the code phrase to Sevrin, but the man seems despondent and in shock from the horrors he has witnessed. Young Theodore, also an altar boy, mentions that Pader Karenus, the church abbot and party contact, was killed yesterday in the initial fighting. The survivors tell the party that they were saved in the inital attack by an adventuring party — Hertiger's companions. They holed-up in the Mayor's house until it became obvious that it was undefensible, then set in motion a plan to flee to the nearby church while Hertiger rode for the inn to get help. The adventurers' leader, a sage, was sorely wounded before they even made it out of the Mayor's house and the elven archer stayed with him, giving the others time to flee. During their flight they drew the attention of a large group of raveners and the warrior-nun and dwarven mage stayed behind to cover the civilians' retreat. They have been trapped here since, hoping for rescue but tempted to make a break for it. The only thing that has stayed them is a fear of strange changes they have noticed in the tree line, as if the trees were moving.

The survivors mention that the sage seemed to have an idea of what was going on and a plan, and that he had a journal he referenced often. The party makes plans to get to the Mayor's and retrieve it. Zerun takes Daedric aside while Alex gets healing from Maja. He tells Daedric the best routes to move through the town, making it less likely they will be spotted. Theodore asks them to find out if his mother still lives, Frida. Maja mentions that her husband was a retired dwarven adventurer and left some of his gear in a stash in the root cellar, which they are welcome to if they wish to make the side-trek.

Heading out towards Theodore's house first, as it is the closest, they stumble on the bodies of Sister Falthen and Hasafti Gurion. It appears they made a good accounting of themselves with many ravener corpses scattered about them. Falthen appears to have bled out from the bites and claws, but the dwarven wizard's head has been removed and his limbs shattered as if by heavy clubs. Pushing on they arrive at the sheriff's house on the outskirts of town. It appears a great battle took place here and there are raveners busy piling bodies and dragging them away, deeper into town. Both sides spot the other about the same time and battle is joined with several raveners. Alex is almost killed but somehow shrugs off the worst of the blows, while Daedric takes his first wounds.

After the battle, a woman approaches from the house, telling them she is Frida, Theodore's mother. She has been hiding in the attic watching the raveners drag the corpses away, including her husband's. She tells them she has something to combat the undead, something left by Paschel's adventuring group and passed down from sheriff to sheriff. In the attic she bestows a bastard sword on Daedric, named Spirit. They take her back to the church and re-unite her with her son.

Wounded as they are, they decide to hit Maja's next in hopes of retrieving healing potions. After recovering the potions and using several of them, they next strike out for the Mayor's house. It appears an extended siege took place here and they find the sage and the elven archer just inside the main doors in the grand foyer, pin-cushioned raveners all about. The sage's journal tells that the group were hot on the trail of a dark artifact called the Soul Star. It would seem they were beaten here by someone else who took possession of the artifact and has begun to use it. Several clues about how to combat the artifact are enclosed and the party, undecided as to the church or graveyard next, exit the building.

A nearby tree which only Daedric realizes wasn't there when they entered suddenly springs to life and clobbers Alex, almost to death, but once again she manages to shrug off the worst of the hit. The evil rootwalker, Wiltevil, misses his next attacks but he is a powerful and dangerous foe. From nearby buildings raveners are attracted to the battle, but seem to know better then to interrupt the bloodthirsty rootwalker.

Alex and Daedric's inital attacks deflect off the barklike hide of the mad-fae, but Daedric counters a clumsy strike and in a single stroke dispatches Wiltevil. Several of the nearby raveners move to attack, but Alex proves her mettle, dispatching the majority of them.

Act IV: To Face the Fiend

The party decides that scouting the graveyard is thier next move. The memorial tomb, built into the side of the hill dominates the graveyard and raveners wander throughout the yard, stacking bodies and digging free buried corpses. The party is spotted and combat is joined. Suddenly a giant grub-like undead wurm bursts up into the middle of the melee, knocking several combatants prone. It attempts to swallow Alex but she evades its clumsy initial assault.

As if that were not enough, a platemail clad figure steps from the tomb and crys out, "Enough!", bringing the battle to a momentary halt. The man, obviously horror-touched, claims it is his destiny to bring forth an army of these undead and conquer. The party is unimpressed and resume the fighting, only now the stakes are that much higher.

Daedric, confident that Alex can handle the remaining raveners, kills the grave wurm in a single blow and charges The Master, attempting to bring this combat to a swift end. He finds The Master a skilled opponent, but worse, one who's power is amplified by his contagious madness. The Master's mere glance is enough to shatter lesser minds, but it is his glare he brings to bare on the young squire. Alex charges into the fray in an attempt to save the mind-blasted Daedric, but she too is overwhelmed by the dark presense of the mad knight.

Daedric shakes it off and strikes, but cannot seem to wound the knight enough to finish the battle, meanwhile, the lone surviving ravener is making Alex's life hell. The Master, not feeling threatened by the youngsters, continues to rant and rave, attempting to cow them into submission. Finally Daedric leaps on the Master in attempt to wrest the Soul Star from him but this seems to drive the Master into a frenzy and he is unsuccessful.

Alex kills the final ravener and leaps into the grapple pile in an attempt to help Daedric, but the master shakes them both off. Raising his sword to strike he recognizes Alex as Kiley, his niece, and is momentarily shaken. Enough to expose him to Daedric's assault which KO's him. They take the Master prisoner, relieving him of the Soul Star, which calls out to them with the promise of dark power, but they resist. When the artifact is no longer in the possession of the living its power fades, neutralizing the threat of the raveners. In Paschel's tomb they find a chest on the corpse and take it.

Session Three 10/21/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 3 2
Ending Advances 3 2

The cast of characters

The party heads to the church. The village is quiet now, with no sign of active raveners. At the church they help Brother Sevrin regain his faith and he is able to heal some of their injuries. While they were out saving the town, Maja has gone through the old Abbot's papers and found clues pointing any successors to the information the party sought. Soon after, the Master awakens and begins his mad ravings ordering the party to free him. Daedric confronts him and he pauses momentarily, seeming to remember back to his initial corruption. He seems pensive for a moment then speaks:

“I heard its summons clearly from the first moment I sensed the Beast, like they were of the same flesh once, long ago… when the world was but a cinder off the flame of creation.”

Immediatly after, he screams and explodes into a mass of writhing maggots, stunning the survivors and shocking Brother Sevrin, erroding a bit of his mind in the process. Alex is distraught at the death of her father's younger brother, a man she remembers as a heroic figure. She flees outside to grieve alone. Daedric is unaffected by the display.

They decide to wait for Sevrin to figure out the clues so they can deliver their message to their masters. It is well after dawn when Sevrin decodes the clues that leads him to the secret stash of information detailing the Soul Star's resting place, the existence of the sword, and the wards placed on the tomb. Rather useless information now that they have the star and sword.

They decide to head back to the inn to see if they can get horses but before they go they donate the contents of Paschel's chest to the village to help rebuild it. Along the road they meet a knight and a company of troops moving to relieve Andra. The party is questioned but released when Daedric is recognized as Sir Forg's squire and assurances are made that the village is safe. They aquire horses and travel back to the tourney which is now over, on the sixth day from when they left.

Adventure Two: The Cleansing of Blackspur

Act I: The Road to Valespire

Alex's wounds take some six more days to heal and on the seventh day the squires' masters ask them to head to Valespire in the northwestern corner of Kanday and deliver the Soul Star to the church there. A scholar and sage, Pader Agustus Asonza, an ally of theirs is researching a Horror to whom the Soul Star might be related.

The trip looks to be some 15 or so days, so with fresh supplies, horses, and wound tracks they set off. On the eighth day they are ambushed by a pair of mad spriggan redcaps whose antics and bloodthirstiness confuse the party. They are convinced of the danger of mad fey though.

On the tenth day of travel they come upon a small group of dwarves under assault by a trio of griffons. They manage to kill two and drive the third off with no casualties to themselves or the dwarves. The dwarves continue on, thanking the party profusly.

On day twelve they are caught in a ambush staged by a moot of trolls, some ten(!) of them. Thinking quickly the party negotiates their release for one of their horses then flees as the trolls rip it apart. They spend the night in a fortified mining camp and try to rouse help to go back and clear the road of the very dangerous trolls, but the foreman and guards don't feel they would stand much chance and ask the party to continue on and get help from the valley ahead.

The party arrives in a large town and seek to get help. The guard captain is willing but doubts he has enough skilled men to make a real difference against that many trolls and suggests a meeting with the mayor to get a writ of introduction so they can travel to see the Duke of Westmarch and get his aid. Alex purchases a fine new steed, who she names Cinnamon.

Daedric does not attend the party as his attentions are occupied with the sister-in-law of their dwarven innkeeper, a beautiful fae lady. At the party, Alex catches the unwelcome attention of the mayor's very young and pretty wife who feels alienated in this "backwater". Alex manages to extricate herself from the situation without offending anyone and recieves a generous offer of a bounty if she can get her master, The Swan Knight, to visit sometime soon.

The next morning they set off for the Duke's castle across the valley. discovering that a spriggan from the inn in town has decided to follow them. Remembering the redcaps they fought, they treat him with kid-gloves, hoping not to set off his murderous streak. The writ gets them an audience on the morrow. Daedric takes the opportunity to upgrade his wardrobe so as not to attract unwelcome attention at the audience. The next day they find themselves mingling with the local nobility but it isn't until the early afternoon that they recieve their audience. Alex manages to insult the Duke about the state of his roads and lack of protection for travellers. The Duke coldly assures them that the trolls will be dealt with and dismisses them. They take solace in the spriggan's theft of much of the Duke's silver, but ask him to discard it in the moat rather then be caught with it themselves and hung.

Act II: Out of the Night

Session Four 10/26/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 3 2
Ending Advances 3 2

The cast of characters

After spending the night in the nearby town they set out for Valespire. Early in the afternoon they round a bend in the road to find themselves facing a trio of hungry trolls in the process of feeding on a mountain goat. Battle is joined! Daedric's horse flees immediately, taking the spriggan with it, but Cinnamon is instrumental in the battle. Daedric manages to down two of the trolls in short order, but they rise again soon after, their flesh knitting itself back together. It becomes a long, drawn-out fight as they try to make sure to burn the trolls after they down them, and finally, both badly wounded, they emerge victorious.

Arriving in Valespire the next day they seek out the Sisters of Mercy, a hospital run by the Order of St. Peoni. They learn that the hospital is hosting a high ranking member of the White Hand of Healing, Lady Alandra, and her apprentice, Bethany. She is able to provide Greater Healing magicks, but Alex is still wounded after the treatments, so stays in bed through the next day. Daedric is up and about that day and seeks out the Archivum and Pader Agustus Asonza who is happy to store the Soul Star and asks that Daedric and his companion return when they are able as he has another mission for them.

He asks them to accompany him to a nearby abandoned ruin, called Blackspur Keep. The keep was abandoned some fifty years ago after it was sacked by goblins and the Church declared it off-limits. Agustus confides that an ancestor of his was dispatched to the keep right before its destruction to help with researching some artifacts and strange arcana that had been unearthed during some renovations. Right after he was dispatched, it was discovered by the church that he had been corrupted by an infernum, a dark, proscribed book detailing the horrors and their summoning. Agustus wishes to search for the book and return it to the Archivum lest it fall into the wrong hands. The party agrees to go.

Daedric, having given over Spirit as well as the Soul Star, heads out to buy a new sword and is able to find a superior one with almost no leg-work. Alex as well buys two new superior swords, keen and sharp. The next day they set out. Agustus is a good companion as he has much to teach and loves conversing.

Late the second day, while they are crossing a long stone span over a ravine single file in case the bridge gives way, Agustus is knocked off the bridge when a wyvern attacks his horse. Somehow surviving the fall, but with both legs broken, he is taken by a group of curious goblins. It is after dark before the party can get down to the ravine and start tracking them. Neither being a tracker, and with the darkness, they are unsuccessful and decide to camp till dawn. It is after midnight, during Alex's watch, when she senses rather than hears the approach of silent wings. She shouts a warning to awaken Daedric as another wyvern begins making flyby attacks. Alex is poisoned by the creature's stinger and paralyzed by its venom. The wyvern lands to capture its prize, but Daedric stands over her and it is at this moment that several goblins lead by a female, Tinkesti, arrive and kill the wyvern with their bows.

There is a tense silence, finally broken by Daedric's smart-assed friendly hello. It works and Tinkesti asks them to come with her to the goblin encampment so they can take care of their friend whose legs are broken. It is only a couple hours until dawn when they arrive at a large goblin encampment, with over a hundred goblins and their wolf mounts. The Chief, one Kalkachanla, greets them and shows them to Agustus. Daedric manages to splint his legs well-enough that he can travel, though in pain. Agustus relates that the chief has told him that once every fifty years a great horror they call the Hauntbeast, tests the walls of a prision it was placed in a thousand years ago by a great goblin hero. Tonight is that night. Agustus thinks that he may be able to strengthen the horror's prision if he has a chance to study it at its weakest and with the help of the Infernum.

The chief is willing to allow them to ascend to the keep and do what they will, but warns them that come dusk, his riders will scourge the keep of all life as they did fifty years ago. The party begins the ascent just after dawn.

Act III: The Ruins of Blackspur Keep

Session Five 10/29/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 3 2
Ending Advances 4 3

The cast of characters

The party climbs the trail to the keep, arriving around nine in the morning. They see wyverns nesting on the tops of many of the towers. They sneak up to the open gate, the porticullis hanging ominiously overhead, wedged open. In the courtyard is a freshly drawn circle of conjuration. Agustus and Alex note that it is drawn improperly, offering a good chance for whatever is summoned into it to free itself.

Crossing the courtyard to search the chapel, they are spotted by two wyverns who descend to the attack! Alex is almost killed by a tail strike between the legs but for her luck, but is still incapacitated. Daedric handles one of the wyverns solo and as the other prepares to fly off with Alex to its nest, Agustus manages to distract it, allowing Daedric a chance to finish it…he fails. Acting quickly, Agustus finishes the beast. They drag Alex into the shelter of the gate and heal her as best they can. They are both dismayed when they note her lack of a penis - at first thinking it lost in the wyverns attack - but then realizing she is a girl. Kiley insists they push on, asking that they head to the cistern so she can clean herself.

Yet another wyvern is alerted to their presence and attacks. This one is quickly dispatched and they procede to search the nearby tower from which it came then head to the chapel. There they discover an echo of fifty years ago as the pech priest, Pader Ordeo, relives a short looping haunting, showing them the location of his journal. It contains clues pointing to the location of the infernum brought by Agustus' ancester, telling how he was last seen in the eastern tower. They decide to lure the remaining wyvern that they can see into the northwest tower and kill it but they miscalculate, having missed the wyvern sleeping in the stables and they lure both wyverns. Kiley is almost killed, yet again somehow lives. Daedric manages to get her moving, but now both she and Agustus are barely able to limp along. Deciding to push on and check the siege vault for the artifacts mentioned in the journal they find their way into the inner bailey via the messhall.

As they pass the broken doors of the easter tower they find cultists inside. First two, then another on the balcony, then three more from the upstairs…Agustus is severely wounded, but Kiley is downed with a shot to the eye, leaving her bleeding out and blinded in one eye. Agustus rushes to her, dragging her to safety and stopping her bleeding, best he can. Meanwhile Daedric fights his way through the five cultists and into the room beyond them where he finds their twisted leader, Achela, reading from the infernum over the vivisected corpse of another of her cultists. He quickly rushes her, attempting to stop whatever ritual she is attempting. She proves wiley and quick however, avoiding several lethal blows. Agustus has arrived at this point and joins the fray against the other remaining cultists who Daedric ignored as he rushed the leader.

Finally Daedric deals the woman a killing blow and collects the infernum. However, though her spell to break the prision of the Hauntbeast was thwarted it was opened enough for the cosmic horror to send a sliver of its power into this world, and patterning itself after the dead wyverns in the coutyard, the Reaper appears in the summoning circle.

Act IV: Rise of the Reaper

Daedric rushes outside, followed by Agustus and Kiley, who has regained consciousness and quaffed a healing potion. The vile creature spends several seconds testing its bonds and coalesing its form in this static world. The creature looses a terrifying cry and the circle of summoning explodes! Battle is joined!

Daedric and the others do what they can but it seems little enough against such a cosmic entity. Soon they are joined by goblin riders, dispatched by the chief when his shamans sensed the summoning. Many goblins are slain and Asonza's mind is shattered in the fighting but finally the Reaper is defeated.

The party decends the mountain to stand vigil with the goblins. It is a close thing as during the vigil, the power of the Hauntbeast reaches out and drives fully a quarter of the goblins mad. A grand melee breask out, with the untainted goblins attempting to slay their possessed breathren. Kiley and Daesric, as well as the Chief and Trinkesti, resist the lure, but Agustus, his will already broken, cannot. Daedric stops him from stealing away with the infernum.

Come morning, the party takes its leave of the goblins and limps home to Valespire.

Interlude: Kiley, The Endless Road

Session Six 11/03/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 4 3
Ending Advances 5 3

The cast of characters
GM Note: an impromptu adventure, based on a short adventure from Dungeon Magazine #174, to tie in Kiley's backstory and move her plot forward goes off the rails like a crazy-train as Daedric befriends the villians. Improvising I got them back on track, but they missed some critical intel which is making The Endless Road a trap they may never return from….

Act I: Kiley's Legacy

Having commited Agustus and the infernum to the care of his order, the party spends the next nine days healing and selling off the loot. The final sale is a strange, green soapstone statue of a tentacled creature, called, by the man who purchases it for his museum in Lepidstadt, "The Seasage Effigy". He invites the party to come see it when they have the time.

Lady Alandra, having pieced together Kiley's identity makes overtures of an alliance, but is rebuffed by the paranoid girl. So instead, she tells them about rumors of a woman fitting Kiley's mother's description still being alive, but trapped on The Endless Road, a place of legend whose tale is told to frighten children. It just happens that she is traveling part of the way to the village of Tranquillity, the one told of in the tales, to take her apprentice into Valon for her college training. The party agrees to travel with her until their paths diverge. Kiley is excited about searching for her mother and on the trip tells Daedric her tale. He swears to aid her in her quest for vengeance.

After five days of travel with the wizard and her apprentice, the party heads off to the south, around the western edge of the Mistmarshes, while Alandra and Bethany continue eastwards and on to Ravensbluff. On the third day of their travels they find a small, very poor village where Sheriff Trevor, her uncle's righthand man, and his men are annoying the locals, drinking their ale and fondling their daughters.

Kiley hides her face and tries to press on, but Daedric starts trouble with them. Trevor orders six of his men to beat the boy for his insolence, but Daedric defeats them all. Impressed Trevor invites them to his nearby keep. Kiley is upset by this turn of events, but cannot do anything about it. The thugs take Yasmine, the very attractive daughter of the alewife as well, much to Daedric's chagrin.

Father Egan, another villian from Kiley's uncle's coup is at the keep, and chides Trevor for failing to hunt down a rogue sleen from the marsh which has been killing villagers. Yasmine is almost killed when she attempts to escape at Daedric's prompting, but Kiley manages an incredible flying tackle that causes the bolts to miss. Trevor is heartily amused by all this action and calls for a feast!

Kiley, Daedric and Yasmine come up with a plan to escape and contact the local resistance after the feast when everyone is asleep. Sadly, they will have to leave their mounts behind. At the feast, Daedric drinks Trevor under the table, and when his woman, Sansa, arrives to dance for the men, they slip away from the feast up to their room and then out over the wall. Their plan gets them out of the keep and into the forest, but they are spotted and pursued all the next day. Finally losing their pursuers after dark they arrive at the homestead of a man Yasmine believes to be involved with the resistance.

The man agrees to take them after midnight to a nearby forest where a band of refugees, "The Resistance", is holed up. Along the road they cross a covered bridge and the Endless Road scoops them up.

Act II: The Endless Road

Immediatly they are set on by the Headless Huntsman and his pack of gibbering heads. The farmer is the first to fall and Yasmine flees, only to disappear when she exits the bridge. As fast as he arrived, the Huntsman vanishes and Daedric and Kiley find themselves lost on a road deep in the Shadowfell.

Walking the road they find several landmarks: a cemetary, overseen by the Caretaker; a strange town across a river, thought to contain cannibals, where Kiley sees a woman matching her mother's description; and the Van Hassen Estate. They learn of the history and curse of the road, but are almost killed several times by attacks from the Huntsman. The one method of escaping they learn is assurred to set them free seems impossible: slay the Huntsman within sight of his grave then race to the Crossroads, 149 miles away before the Huntsman rises again with the next moon.

Session Seven 11/00/12

Characters Daedric Kiley
Starting Advances 5 3
Ending Advances

The cast of characters

The party tracks Kiley's mother to Havenshire, the strange village across the river, a natural obstacle to teh Huntsman. Daedric offers to travel to the gravesite while Kiley and her mother wait at the Crossroads and attempt to kill the Huntsman, allowing them to get free, but it is decided that this exposes everyone to being picked off one by one while they are seperated. They decide to journey to another place they have learned of, The Whispering Well, and try to speak to the creature said to live there who may know another way. There they learn more of the history of the Road and its strange connection to the Van Hassen's.

Act III: Tranquility

They decide to infiltrate the Van Hassen Estate, gain Eli and Talithia Van Hassen's trust, then turn them over to the Huntsman to slake his thirst for vengeance. To aid their plan they arrange for Crevan Brand, a brigand they met along the road, to assault the manor just after the night of the full moon, in about three weeks time. They return to the Estate for the third and final time, swearing their fealty, a lie that galls Daedric's sensibilities, but one Kiley has no trouble with.

Things go well, as Daedric is hailed a hero for his actions along the road so far and help in the defense of the manor earlier. He is invited to the main house and quickly moves up the social ladder. Kiley is put on patrol and begins making friends with the disenfranchised. Daedric becomes Talithia's new obsession and all, save her father, are pleased with the girl's new found lease on life. Daedric does his best to resist her advances, but in the end succumbs. Elli offers to knight him, which just about breaks Daedric's heart.

The knighting ceremony lasts all three nights of the full moon and much dancing and celebrating is done. Finally, the night before Crevan is to attack with his brigands, Talithia asks Daedric to run away with her. They involve Kiley in the plan as well. It turns out to be a trap and a repeat of the tragedy that led to the current situation, but just as Daedric is about to be executed, he breaks free and bullrushes Elli outside the manor gates. The Huntsman is there in an instant and beheads Elli in a single stroke. Daedric rushes to protect Talithia, but the Huntsman is upon them, now that the wards holding him at bay no longer function, and her head too is quickly divided from her body. Grabbing both heads he disappears in the sudden fog. Daedric feels dirty.

Pandamonium breaks out in the Estates, with many blaming the party for their role. Knowing that Crevan is set to show up the following night with a small army of bandits, Daedric and Kiley call for any who would escape to follow them. Only a small percentage of people from the estate, 10% or so, leave with them. Quickly they head to Havenshire where they try to convince more people to join them. The leaders of Havenshire, selfish and power-hungry, oppose them and in the end only about 400 of the 3000 souls join them. Quickly they move to the Crossroads and soon find themselves back in Arcallis, near the village of Tranquility.

They settle in and start rebuilding the abandoned manor to house all the new residents as well as the seeds of rebellion against Kiley's uncle.

Adventure Three: The Vault

Act I: The Crown of Fate

Tulkas and Forg arrive to find out what the pair are up to, they having been gone so long and traveled so far. They are sympathetic to Kiley's quest, but have some matters to attend to first. Forg has his fief to govern while Tulkas is more close-lipped about his mission. They mention that Asonza has been healed, somewhat, and finished his research on the Hauntbeast's prison. Using the Star Stone that is the beast's eye, the infernum, and the Crown of Fate, he feels he can seal the beast away permanently. The Crown is said to have been in the possession of one Aeles Vermendan, an Archmage long dead. Her castle has fallen to ruin, but one area of it, the Vault, is still a destination for adventurers and it is thought the Crown might lie there.

It is decided they will pursue the Crown even in the middle of their rebellion, as having the Church indebted to them can't be a bad thing when it comes time to legitimize their position with the Crown.

They travel to the Vault. Nearby is a small village callled Madrigal's Crossing. A small inn there caters to adventurers off to try their luck. They spend the night finding out what they can of the area and resupplying.

Act II: Above and Below

The party enters the Vault and has harrowing adventures defeating the insidious traps and creatures left to guard it.

Act III: Legacy of an Archmage

Finally the party claims the Crown of Fate in a climactic battle. Returning to Valespire they present it to Agustus. Gathering the Soul Star and the infernum they set out with a party of Templars to Blackspur where Asonza seals the Hauntbeast's prision. The grateful Church desires that someone in the know be set to guard the keep just in case, so they offer to knight Daedric and grant him the keep. He accepts, but puts off the actual ceremony, insisting that Forg be present and desiring to help Kiley.

Epilog: Kiley's End

The pair return to Kiley's lands to finish her uncle. She proves apt in the role of diplomat, forging many alliances with neigbors, but they are betrayed and Kiley's mother captured and set for execution. A daring raid frees her and Daedric fights Trevor who seemingly dies, falling from the castle walls after a duel.

Her uncle's forces have already started the attack on her army's position and aided by the black magic of Sanza and Father Egan, not even Tulkas and Forg can turn the tide. Kiley and her mother are seperated from the others in the fighting and have to flee with a demon and a curse on their trail. Her uncle disguises a pair of corpses to look like them and declares them defeated. Daedric, Tulkas, Forg, and the army are demoralized and scatter, leaving the field to her uncle.

Daedric returns to Valespire and the Church for his knighthood. They present him with Spirit to help with his new role, that of Guardian Protector of Blackspur Keep. Forg is overjoyed for the boy, as is Tulkas, but the elflord has suffered a blow with the death of his squire Kiley and just does not seem the same.

Kiley and her mother flee into nearby Furyundy where they seperate, Kiley's mother heading to Marienburg, her mother's homeland, while Kiley finds her way to the northern frontier, hearing rumors of explorations there in the pursuit of a new charterd colony. When the time is right, they swear, vengeance shall be theirs!


On to Adventure Two: A Dread Star

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