A band of warriors who seek to find treasure to fill their hands and become important men. They seek track a pair of students of the Sorcerer Ebon Pirithus.
They travel north of Lestryhonia to the northern shore of the Giant's drown and then follow the shore west. Under the crashing thunder they continue and come across six pulsating shapes arranged around a corpse of a horse. The bloated silhouettes intermittently pulsate and the sound of suction is heard through the pouring rain. They give it a wide berth and travel further northwest.
They come across an aged tree from which 8 corpses hang and see it as a foul omen. They continue onwards and make camp amid the base of a hill taking shelter from the rain amid a few emaciated trees. At dawn the storm ends and they continue further north. They find a chasm and believing it to be the place where the two students of Ebon Pirithus went they enter.
Past the smell of ash they enter the water logged chasm. They head heavy stomps and hide themselves. They gaze further into the chasm and see a terrible sight. A horned salamander as long as two boats end to end. A pair of tusks jut out from its maw like that of a boar, and four horns emerge from its brow, two fused into a single spike. A mane of bulbous growths extends from its neck partially hiding numerous crystals the size of a man's fist embedded in its hide. Pale mist is rhythmically expelled from gaping pores as it lumbers deeper into the chasm. They grit their teeth and furrow their brows and choose to slay the beast and become immortalized in song.
They rush forth spears and axes gripped taut but half are overcome by the pale mist and feel their limbs become leaden and weak. Sain swings his axe but it glances off one of the crystals in the beast's hide. Grok's spear slips beneath the creature's skin as unleashes a spurt of blood as he coughs. Wulfram spear likewise stabs into the beast. Vondi's arrow glances of the creature's hide. Cartivel's spear likewise draw's blood. Matthias's spear is swatted away by the creature's claw. Tontra dodges a claw and leaps upon the creature's back hacking away with his axe. Hurass's axe is brought down on the creature's side drawing blood. The creature unleashes a scream of pain and the melee worsens.
One claw draws blood from Hurass and the other draws blood from Cartivel. The creature's horn skewers Tontra, melting through his armor, shield, and helm as it passes through his body. With a twist of it's head the creature flings him across the chasm and his corpse hits the wall with a thud. The creature thrashes about. Sain narrowly dodges one claw while Grok is merely scratched by the other. Wulfram is ran through like Tontra before him. The creature's horn melting his armor as it emerges form the other side. His eyes roll back into his head as Wulfram dies. Cartivel steps forward and rams his spear through the creature's skull. The creature's eye's bulge as it twists and spasms It collapses and dies.
They find amid skeletons deeper in the chasm: a Bracelet of silver and onyx, 280 silver coins, Idol of a serpent coiled in on its own tail crafted from quartz, an orichalchum Chalice, Helm, Shield, and a satchel of 12 lapis lazuli stones. They then behead the creature and attempt to remove it's horn losing an axe in the process. They simply take it's head as a trophy and seek to return to Lestryhonia.
They return and as they pass by the tree they make out eight idols set upon the altar. They approach and find that each has a a single lilac gem set in it's head instead of eyes. They look up at the corpses and make a dash for the idols and then flee. They travel south and pass through swamps where several are beset by leeches. Blood spilt into the mire they continue on and at the outskirts of Lestryhonia they meet a man with long ragged hair bound by a single leather band, otherwise clad in fur. He sells them a pair of boots that make the wearer weightless and able to walk upon water as if it were earth, a pair he claims he won in a game of dice with an old spirit in some dark woods amid the islands of Skyfa and Samarta. They purchase the boots and return to Lestryhonia.
Upon returning to Lestryhonia they are met by a pair of men, their lips stitched together approach you, upon you offering to sell the salamander skull. Another man, his face cloaked, speaks for them and offers 300 silver for the skull with the big horn but they do not make the deal.
Session 2 Downtime Events
The past week was been dry and warm, the heat has abated and the rain has ceased.
Matthias wass approached by the same man, with the scared fingers, who explained that he has another job for him and his men if they would still seek silver. In exchange for opposing the efforts of King Huhalyn’s men in their attempt to map the tunnels which run beneath Lestryhonia, in addition to the payment of 150 silver, he would make available his associates as retainers, many of which are adapt sneak-thieves.
Following the gossip that the party had slain the horned salamander to the north, the party was approached with an offer. An incredibly tall and thin man, their heads only level to his sternum, identified himself as a student to the Sorcerer Arrkad. In a low voice he told them of an offer of employment on behalf of his master. In exchange for clearing a passage to the burial chambers of Kordis the high priest of the Tridabaktrus and returning such a map to the Tower, they would gain the sorcerer’s favor as well as 200 silver. They could also simply return the high priest's silver ring for 1000 silver.
They learn the following information about the Giant's Drown:
Travelers who traverse the Gaint's Drown report encountering the following:Packs of wolves who will pull men off horses and devour them.
Flocks of large vultures that descend under the cover of darkness to consume both the living and the dead.
Entire camps all dead, each member drained of blood by large hole in their necks.
Spiders the size of hounds descending from the trees.
Snakes over 15' in length, with poison worse still.
Giant Apes, nearly twice as tall as a man, with pale fur and terrible fangs.
Corpses walking yet again.
Ghosts
Sickly man-things which stalk the swamps, reminescent of swarms of frogs
They gained the following rumors:
1) In ages past, the Giant's Drown was not desolate. After the fall of the jotun, the Tridobatrakus who lived amid the eastern swamps became a prosperous people. Their king held a blade spun from moonlight and his throne was attended by a pair of unicorns.2) A dolorous conspiracy led to the desolation of the Tridobatrakus. Priests abandoned the shrines of Ymir's Brood to dance beneath the baleful tones of the Orange Prophet. They sang droning songs of veneration to the Immortal Coil and bathed beneath the waters of the mire transforming themselves into forms better suited to the new age.
3) A troop of thieves calling themselves The Moles, is led by a man named Hetun who guides them to enter homes at night and rob their occupants. A thief is scarred around a finger for each theft. They travel through the tunnels beneath the city, often breaking into buildings from beneath.
4) Off the northern shore of the Giant's Drown is an island covered by mist and crumbling statues. Sailor whispers of pilgrims arriving under the light of the full moon to gain enlightenment in the caverns beneath the isle.
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