It’s been a hectic few weeks for us. We’re stuck playing catch-up so here’s the shake: We’re going to do the last 3 sessions recaps in a super abbreviated form. That way we’re caught up for next week and can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Session 19:
We left most of the gang dangling underwater as an Astral Dreadnought had just severed the cable that connected the diving bell to their hired ship, The Cetus. They used The Device to escape from the diving bell and into the Gray Plane, then the whole gang reunited in the ship’s skiff as the Dreadnought destroyed the once famed Cetus. Gathering what surviving sailors they could they made use of the Gray Plane to escape and pilot the skill and the boats of survivors back to North Wood. Note: They did discover that the temperature inside the Gray Plane is a constant comfortable 70-72 degrees.
Session 20: Having made it back to NorthWood the gang has a big meeting with Marast and Varon. Varon informs them they have a colleague traveling Northward but teleportation magic has become unstable so covering the distance between where this friend of their is and NorthWood has become exponentially more challenging. The Gang agrees to use The Device to retrieve this person, who’s name is Abbo, from a town 60 days regular travel south called White Cliff.
Marast obtains mounts for the team and they set off into the Gray Plane the next morning making all safe haste southward. After several days and nights of uneventful travel through the Gray Plane (during which the only other movemet they see are Orcish ships sailing southward following the coastline) they come across a stockpile of Orc supplies. Stacked up are mounds of dried rations, hard tack, weapons, and casks of water. Nearby it’s clear that an army several thousand strong has recently bivouacked on the open ground here.
Debate ensues and the gang decides to frustrate the Orc forces by burning their supply depot.
The smoke and fire draw some unwelcome attention and the gang finds that a smaller Orc ship is patrolling the coast. They conclude that it’s searching for them and using The Device exit the Gray Plane and enter the Material Plane.
They find themselves in a densely wooded area with only a few inches of snow on the ground. That night a powerful devil (Bael) strides into their camp with a message for their “Master”: The breakdown of the planar divide is a concern even for the most powerful of the Devils of the 9 hells and they will offer their aid to the gang’s master in his efforts to repair the damage. They wonder who their master is, quake and tremble for a while, then redouble their sentry efforts and get some rest.
Mid-day next day they see glowing light following them through the forest nearby. Sidron decides it’s time to exit the Material Plane and pulls out The Deivce. He is set upon by Will-O-Whisps and falls unconcious to the ground…
Session 21: The fight continues between the gang and the Will-O-Whisps. Mid-battle a glowing figure appears, dressed in ancient armor. This form extends his hand towards Wolrf and turning into a mist that slams into Wolrf takes control of his body. Wolrf runs headlong into the forest nearby. The gang give chase, they surround Wolrf, but this entity reaching into Wolrf’s essence finds that there is more to him than his companions know. Ephemeral wings unfurl from Wolrf’s back as his body bursts forth surrounded by radiant flames. They manage to still wrestle him to the ground and hold him down. At which point the entity leaves his body and rises a few feet above the pile of bodies. Attacks are made, magic and mundane, and all pass through the apparition.
Soon they find that the form was trying to help them, to lead them to a safe place where the Will-O-Whisps cannot go. This ghostly presence admires the gang because he sees them as warriors. It has been ages since he has seen others worthy to be called warriors. The gang decide to take their chances in the Gray Plane and part ways with their new “friend”, but not before he tells them of an ancient fortress about a mile and a half to the South-West.
Stepping into the Gray Plane the Curios Company quickly realize lookouts have been waiting for them to reappear. From a nearby hilltop a single flaming arrow arcs upward and over them. They exit the Gray Plane and spur their horses to the South-West for this fortress.
What they find is no fortress at all, it’s barely a ruin. Here and there in the forest they find a cobblestone, a corner of a foundation, a scrap of stonework. It’s apparent that this was once a great and massive castle but now it is all but reclaimed by the forest. The pursing Will-O-Whisps do indeed stop at what was once the boundary of this ancient place. A deep and old magic still abides here.
It settles in that the gang will not have the security of an actual fortress as evening begins to settle in. Jung settles onto the loamy forest floor and extends her consciousness out into the forest around them, “feeling” for pursuing Orcs. She soon feels 5, no 10, now 25, no 40… an amassing force of Orcs appearing several miles away. As the gang looks to make frantic preparations their ghostly ally appears and shows them to an ancient trap-door that is still intact, it leads down into the earth and into a collapsed tunnel where they spend the night as hunting Orcs scour the land in vain to find them.
As they awaken the next morning they find the Ghost to be gone, the Orcs moved on in hunt of them. They find that 5 of their 7 horses are still alive. They load up and prepare to move onward to collect Abbo.
An that’s where we left off. A few important bits: Gax asked the Ghost if it knew where any God Shards are at, the Ghost replied that they do not speak of God Shards. Sidron found a Gauntlet of Missile Snaring.
Till Next Week!
TOTMrpg 