Dawn breaks on the ruins of Falender, and the party rouses from a deep slumber after their triumphs over a demon and a would-be cult leader. They awake to find their new hirelings hard at work making breakfast for their new masters.
Gwyn, the swordswoman, pipes up and explains they are ready to break camp once their new lords are prepared. She explains that the other two, Tolu the archer and Aug the thief, have already gathered up the useful items from Glaive and their fallen fellows.
The hirelings managed to salvage: a battle-ax, a longsword, a dagger, two sets of studded leather armor, 50 copper, 20 silver, and a map detailing the settlements in the Raven Lands that Glaive knew of. The new huscarls have thrown themselves into ready service to their new masters.
Inspecting Faus’ injured ear, Kristov notes that the cut caused the ear to go from a large circle to more of a “triangle shape.” Still, the stitches are holding, and the sorcerer appears to be healing.
As Kristov, Jabari, and Faus debate where to go next, Gwyn interjects with useful information.
“Apologies, m’lords, but we might know of a location that is of interest to you,” she says. “Glaive didn’t intend on staying in Farlender long. In fact, we were on our way to a potential fort when he heard rumors of the demon and its book.”
The swordswoman relays the legend they were told of the fallen keep:
Once, when the Rust Brothers were more powerful, they had garrisons stationed across the Raven Lands. This fort was unique as it looked out onto the Tin and was near a river’s mouth. The keep gave the brotherhood vast sway over the area’s commerce and made it a target once the Blood Mist lifted. Bandits soon attacked the brothers once it was clear they were on their own with no support from Zytera’s forces. If the bandits weren’t bad enough, the Rust Brothers also contended with food shortages and all manner of evil beasts. Some say the brothers attracted demons to protect them, and those demons eventually destroyed them. Others say other wild monsters found the fort attractive and fed upon the remaining brothers. In the end, the fort was abandoned and largely forgotten, with only an occasional unfortunate traveler Providing a fresh meal to whatever foul beasts still lurk there.
Checking their maps, the party estimates the fort would be two days travel by boat or three days travel by land to the west. Agreeing to search the rest of Farlender for anything useful before rejoining Captain Sertold, the group splits into three pairs to salvage what they can.
Using his keen wolfkin sense, Jabari and Tolu find a collection of herbs, a great fur coat still in good repair, and they butcher the remains of the gray bear. Jabari secured meat for their daily meals and salvaged the skull for Faus.
“Glad you’re not letting that bear go to waste!” Faus says to Jabari.
Meanwhile, the sorcerer finds a holy symbol of the Aslenes, and a quiver of wooden arrows but is frustrated with the lack of decent treasures. Lastly, Kristov finds an old mysterious horn, a small shield, and a working pull cart.
Faus encourages Kristov to blow the horn, but he opts to wait until they are at the beach. Turning back to the ruined homes, the peddler gives a might blow into the horn. The results shock everyone. In addition to a loud sound, the horn also generates a gust of wind. The airstream is so powerful, it rips shutters off homes and blows shingles all about the shantytown. Kristov resolves not to use the horn on the boat unless it’s an emergency.
Captain Sertold is happy to see the party return but gives Kristov a ribbing at his passengers’ tripling.
“I’m not running a pleasure cruise here,” Sertold says. “How many people are you planning on taking with us?”
“These are momentary guests,” Kristov says. “And we may have found a new port of call for you.”
The peddler pulls Meroggha the Goblin aside and tries to give him the note Jabbles left. However, the goblin pushes it away.
“Meroggha no read,” he says. When Kristov explains that Jabbles returned to the forest, the goblin seaman gives a slight moan and tear but quickly returns to good humor.
“If the moon maiden means for us to meet again, we will,” Meroggha says. “Thank you for being nice to Jabbles. Most tall people aren’t good like that.”
Travel to the westerly shores of the Tin proceeds quickly at first. Kristov spends his time practicing his speaking skills and discovers a talent for spinning tales.
Faus becomes consumed with reading the lore book they pilfered from the demon. He learns some stone magic but begins to hear a voice whisper about “Pagoag.” Everyone else on the boat is unnerved as his muttering and cackles. Eventually, Gwyn asks Kristov who or what Faus is.
“My dad is master; call me Kristov,” he says. “Try not to worry about what the Faus does. He does a lot of things but is generally helpful. Not good with a capital “g,” but amiable enough.”
Jabari can see a storm in the distance, and they make for shore to avoid the worst of it. Kristov, Faus, and the hirelings suffer from the cold rain and winds and are forced to take shelter in the hold.
Once the storm passes, Jabari helps Sertold continue the voyage and endures more wind and rain, proving his mastery of the elements and showing his endurance. The wolfkin attempts to use Kristov’s spyglass to find the keep but ends up dropping it, breaking it once more.
As they continue the lake voyage without incident, Faus reads from the demon’s arcane book. Soon he finds himself overcome with the urge to eat something sweet. The sorcerer tries to pilfer from Jabari’s packs, but the wolfkin smacks him on the knuckles.
Making landfall, Sertold and Kristov debate how they should reconnect. The trader decides to continue on his voyage but promises to return the morning of the fifth day. The party agrees to light a bonfire if they wish to get back on the boat. Kristov pays Sertold 10 silver for the voyage.
Once ashore, the party trudges through a swamp and is attacked by mosquitoes. Kristov manages to spot the tentacles of a giant squid thrashing in the water ahead of them. Jabari wants to fight the creature, and the others don’t stop him. He’s able to slice off the tip of one of the tentacles before the creature retreats into deeper water.
Marching up the hillside toward the keep, the party sees that the ruins’ exterior is covered in thick, thorny vines. The main entrance and a broken-down gap in the rear of the fort are covered in vines. The smell from the keep is so awful and intense that Jabari is almost unable to continue. Kristov manages to craft a mask for the wolfkin utilizing the herbs they found earlier and some of the leather armor’s remains.
As they set to work clearing the vines, the plants suddenly come alive and attack them. Working together with their hirelings, Kristov and Faus set fire to some of the strangling vines.
Meanwhile, Jabari swings about with his mighty sword, trying to hack off as many vines as he can. Blooms from the vines come alive and spurt toxic fumes at the party, forcing Kristov, Jabari, and Faus to fall back. Unfortunately, the hirelings are overcome and paralyzed from the spray.
Eventually, one of the vines uproots itself and tries to escape, but Faus burns it to ash with his torch. As the last of the living vines are burned alive, the trio hears rumbling steps from within the keep as the stench around them grows worse.
JesseFolk.com 