Volk Lesnoy lies in bed, wide awake, following the movements of Raleni Vardek, who he just has been able to, once again, sense on The Material Plane after 2142 years. Right at sunrise, Volk decides to go downstairs and sit at one of the tables at the restaurant; as some of the first people awake in the morning, Kilbi Leaftooth and Galto notice him sitting there, with Kilbi engaging in conversation about what is wrong; especially after noticing that he looks quite bad.
Volk then told her what's been going on, namely that he can feel Raleni, the person who made him what he is now. Kilbi isn't able to help much, but attempts to be moral support. Then, the rest of the party wakes up, starting with Philomena Snapdragon and Dareth Lion'el Griffmane, until eventually Mikhail and Zora also make their way down, and he tells them what's going on as well. Volk isn't sure if he should seek her out, but he wants to, and it might become important to seek her out with her connection to the Forest Garnet, and with how the party has been running into the Jailers of the End, and how they are looking for such artifacts, and so on. After thinking about it, though, he decided to seek out Arilki Rayshine, first; especially since he and her knew each other once.
Volk and the others then, after a nice breakfast, made their way to the Central Temple in Argentis. After first watching from afar how Arilki finishes a short ritual, Volk engaged him in a talk. He informed Arilki of Raleni Vardek, also reminding him of her name, which he then remembered nostalgically. After a conversation involving Volk's true form, the silence of the Illiadian gods, and Raleni, Volk asked him if there was something he'd like to tell Raleni. Arilki told him that he should tell her that he's still around, she always has a friend with him, and that he'd love to meet her again someday. He then told Volk specifically to please always stay himself, no matter what.
With that, Volk came to a decision; he and the party would request from the guild some free adventuring time (which they definitely have accumulated enough of through their numerous quests), and he and the party would see out Raleni Vardek. But first, the rest of downtime was had, and the party prepared to best the cold of the northern Medweda Empire with some new winter gear.
After downtime, the party met with their new Axe Beaks, and then made their way to the HQ of the Liwilai Adventurer's Guild; deciding to make their way to Raleni from St. Petrusia. After several days of travel and increasingly cold weather on their way northwards, the party heard some squirrels at night, finishing their stashes for the winter. Upon nightfall of the coming day, however, the party, as they moved along the road, noticed a squirrel eating a nut... Only... upon closer inspection, it's way further away than thought... Oh... a giant squirrel... no... something else...
A Tembril; a giant squirrel-like monstrosity that hunts humanoids and the like, and sustains itself on the contents of their heads... And this one was currently finishing its last mean... before seeing the party, and calling out to two other Tembrils to hunt.
A fight was had, and Mikhail was, for a time, incapacitated by the maddening chittering of those Tembrils, while Zora was quire wounded in the end. But in the end, the party was victorious, as the party just had their first taste of the horrors of the north...
SESSION END