Whilst Marla and Plendel continued to work on the translation of the scriptures from SY06. Tomb of Dying Dreams, Part II, the party had a bit of downtime, whilst looking for more jobs to earn some money and reputation. They were soon approached by none other than Keri-Las in one of the main squares in Thistle Hold. As friends of the The Iron Pact, he had a proposition for them. He started with some background. There was an ancient hill near the Eanor river, some 50 miles north of Thistle Hold. Legend tells of a great battle that took place there between a "great hunter" and his prey. The hunter was rumoured to be a winter elf and the prey some sort of mythical beast. The legend had much sway with the barbarians of clan Karohar and the local witches, who had gone as far as to declare the hill taboo, forbidding any to visit it. However, a prospectors town had sprung up around the hill, with a number of so-called Dreamers, who believe there was much treasure to be found within. They reached it via the river, thus bypassing the barbarians, and as many as 200 people lived there at any one time, working for the Dreamers. The town was known as Salindra's Hope, named after the first person who settled there a decade or two ago.
Keri-Las was concerned that they prospectors would disturb whatever it was within the hill. He had an agent within the town, Semel, reporting on matters, who was worried that the diggers were almost through to the centre of the hill. Semel was an initiate trying to prove himself to the Iron Pact, and needed some help with any actions required. Keri-Las hoped the party would be able to somehow stop the digging going on, maintaining the status quo. He wanted to avoid a similar incident to what had recently happened with the unleashing of the Creeping Darkness on the Malgmar River area. He offered 250 thalor, with half paid upfront. The party agreed to go.
Due to the barbarian presence, they opted for the safe route along the river, and they managed to hire their old friend, Wesley again. On arrival they saw a ramshackle town filled with small huts and a few larger central buildings, in front of a clay hill protruding from the forest. Many of the inhabitants were covered in mud, and a few seemed to be celebrating their latest find. Someone on the boat commented on how the town was made up of a few dreamers who were normally quite wealthy, and dozens of day thalers, who worked for them for decent coin.
As they entered they heard some terrible howls. They were first greeted by a sly, middle-aged woman with half her face covered by a metal mask. She introduced herself as Silver Cheek, and told them not to worry about the sow, that she was always howling like that. She explained that it was a giant aboar and her herd, and that they were a danger to anyone who left the town. She said that she was in charge of the town; if they wanted a claim (an area to dig), then they would need to pay her for it. She had a gang of thugs to back her up - the Leg Breakers - who appeared to be barbarians. The party politely declined her offer, saying they were looking for their friend, Semel. She couldn't recall anyone by that name. As she spoke to them, they noticed a nearby old man listening in on their conversation. He soon scuttled away, and Wulf followed after. Silver Cheek identified him as the obsessive mage, Sikander. The conversation moved onto her moaning about the number of magic users currently working on claims. There was:
- Sikander, who she called the Pyromancer, previously an Ordo Magica elementalist mage, now an artifact crafter, who was obsessed with finding some ancient artifact that he was convinced was in the hill,
- Handelo, the alchemist, a mysterious mage always in black, looking for some sort of secret in the hill that he refused to divulge to anyone else, and
- Neferena, a black cloak, who was convinced the tomb of a saint was in the hill. She came here tracking someone the black cloaks were after, but got distracted by the lure of the hill.
They also spotted Silver Cheek staring off in disgust at another hill in the distance, but they were not sure what at. Just then, a chap by the name of Gijabolgo appeared, a young guy with expensive clothes and a cheeky smile. He gave Silver a gold coin and told her to keep the change, whilst he paid for his ale. He saw the Maddox and Lanky and offered them a drink too, which they were happy to agree to. Over a few beers, he gave them more information on who was closest to breaking through to the centre of the hill. He said it was a close run thing between Sikander and Handelo, who were both massively obssessed. He also mentioned Neferana, then he stated that both he and another man, Arkali were close. Arkali was a widower, convinced his wife was not dead and was in the hill. Meanwhile, Gijabolgo was sure that the final emperor of Symbaroum itself was in the hill. Maddox and Lanky noted that it was odd, how all the dreamers believed there was a completely diffferent treasure within the hill - maybe something was somehow controlling their thoughts?
Maddox did his best to convince Gij that there would be many traps and guards, if it truly were the emporer's tomb, and this seemed to worry Gij a lot, to the point where he was considering leaving or getting some of his families guards to support him. Gij then told them he knew where Semel was staying, and would be happy to take them there.
Meanwhile, Wulf caught up with Sikander (who also had his fire elemental with him). Sikander was not interested until Wulf told him how he'd heard of his great deeds, and what an amazing mage he was. Sikander then went on a massive speech about how he was going to revive the lost art of artifact crafting, and that the hill was the key. He stated that he would break through first, and that absolutely nothing would get in his way.
Wulf met up with the others on the way to Semel's shack. They heard a few rumours as they walked. That many who were digging had gone missing. That leaving the safety of the town meant death, from either the aboars or the barbarians. They bumped into an ogre on the way, the bailiff called Roughneck. He was a serious type of a guy, and seemed to be good at keeping order; everyone kept their head down around him. He greeted them and was then on his way. Semel was pleased to see the party, and gave them a bit more information. He was certain there was some great evil in the hill, and it would soon be exposed. The party had to stop it at any cost. As they were speaking, there were cries of "murder!", so they rushed to investigate.
They noticed something interesting on the way. Roughneck was covertly throwing something into the main campfire when he thought no-one was looking, creating a red smoke. Maddox decided to investigate further. He saw the ogre stamping out the fire, and cast an illusion to make the fire reappear, panicking the ogre. Roughneck then notice Maddox, and Maddox convinced him to tell the truth. Roughneck was secretly working for the witch, Girind, who was staying in a hut on the further out hill (the one Silver Cheek was watching). He was good friends with the witch, and they knew about the evil in the hill, and knew it had to be stopped. Roughneck knew of Semel's position in the Iron Pact too, and had the same goal: to stop the dreamers from digging. The red fire was a signal to Girind that a murder had occurred. Maddox earnt Roughnecks trust, and agreed to sneak out in the night, in order to give the witch more specific information on the goings on in the town.
Maddox then caught up with the others on the way to the murder site. Handelo had been murdered within his own claim. He had been stabbed multiple times, and they found some sort of magical residue on the blade, which they realised had some sort of evocation magic properties. They stowed some away to investigate later. They also found a dodgy book about worshiping the old gods, and then an even dodgier letter. The letter gave clear evidence that Handelo as actually a Dark Lord from the great war, with the real name, Khenad, and that there were other such Dark Lords still in existence. This was huge news, as they were all previously thought to be wiped out. The information could be worth something when they got back to Thistle Hold.
They then came up with a plan for how to stop the prospectors from digging. With Handelo dead and Gijabolgo already unsure, they had three left to deal with. They decide to attempt to turn Arkali against Sikander by planting a fake letter under Arkali's door, stating that Sikander had found his wife's corpse, and was defiling it. They also decided to plant the note under Neferena's door, just to see if that caused up a stir. Wulf and Lanky set about doing that, whilst Maddox decided to give the witch, Girind, a visit.
On the way he heard some painful howls, presumably the sow again. He even saw some of her giant tracks. When he got to Girind's hut, he was surprised at how young she was. He tried a bit of flirting, but she wasn't interested. When she learnt he was a friend of Roughnecks, she was clearly happy. She told Maddox more of the legend, although, from the witches and barbarian's point of view, this was a true story that happened three centuries ago. There was a winter elf who was seen as an ancient god, known as the Eternal Hunter. He became obsessed with hunting Gylta, the elder sow, another god. Soon the obsession consumed him, and there was a giant battle at the site of the town between the elf and the sow. He slaughtered many of her herd, and they gored his followers. There was a final battle between them, and all but dead, the Eternal Hunter fled to the safety of a near by serpent temple ruins. Gylta could not fit inside, and so the winter elf went into a deep slumber in order to heal. The sow has circled the hill ever since, spear in her side, bent on vengeance. The vengeance has consumed her, to the neglect of her remaining herd, who are slowly withering away.
Girind said that should he be disturbed, the Hunter would awaken, and there could be another terrible battle. She was worried that the battle would cause corruption to consume him, created a dark god, even more powerful than the Creeping Darkness. Maddox agreed, and told Girind of the plan the others had already set in motion. He also asked a favour of her. If she could rouse the barbarians and get them to surround the town (albeit, not actually breaking through the taboo), and pretend they were going to attack, causing the prospectors to leave. Girind agreed, but said it would take two days to get them all. Maddox also mentioned the murder and the coating on the knife, and the witch thought it might be something elemental. Maddox realised the evidence pointed to the Pyromancer, Sikander. He then snuck back to town.
The next day, they were awoke by a commotion. SIlver Cheek had a crossbow aimed and Gijabolgo, and was screaming at him, saying he'd given her a fake coin. Maddox convinced her not to kill him, so she shot Gij in the leg instead. Maddox said maybe it was a good time for him to leave town, and Gij agreed. The party were also witness to Silver Cheek ordering her Leg Breakers to go and hurt someone badly for not paying for a claim. After this, there was an even bigger shock when Sikander appeared, dragging a smouldering corpse with him, face burned off. He declared that Arkali had attacked him in an attempt to halt his dig, and this is how he responded to such threats. Roughneck and the Leg Breakers did nothing, either in fear, or because they thought of it as self-defence.
Sikander then declared that he was going to employ all available day thalers, for the final push through into the hill. They all began to follow him. The party, suddenly worried about what might happen, followed as well. On the way, there seemed to be a disturbance at Neferena's claim. It appeared that it had collapsed in on here. Lanky noticed a boot in the mud, and on closer inspection, there was a females foot inside it, with the blood drained. Only Sikander was left to deal with now. On arrival at Sikander's claim, they made their way in, and found him with his elemental, directing several workers to dig already. Wulf drew his dagger, now coated in the same substance they had found at Handelo's murder scene, and stabbed Sikander with it. It was a solid hit, but the fire mage was still standing, and turned on them. Whilst the day thalers continued to dig, a battle ensued.
Sikander had some nasty spells up his sleeve, casting scorching ray, polymorph (turning Wulf into a chicken), and wall of fire, a stalling tactic to hold the party back whilst the dig continued. Despite his skill as a fighter, Lanky was taken down by this magic, and Wolve the wolf (Wulf's pet wolf) was slain. Just seconds from the diggers breaking through, Maddox and Wulf prevailed, striking Sikander down with a chill touch. His elemental then disappeared. Wulf quickly revived Lanky before it was to late, while Maddox ordered the day thalers to stop, using his magic to scare them into submission. There was a tiny gap in the earth now, through some bricks to whatever lay beyond. Maddox used his burning sphere to burn the wooden supports, causing that end of the shaft to collapse down, burying whatever was within.
Outside, there was now a mass exodus occurring. With the death of the final dreamer, and all of the murder and strange events going on, on top of the increased howling of the sow, the day thalers had had enough. The barbarians granted them temporary amnesty, allowing them to flee the town. The party had succeeded, and were thanked by Semel, Roughneck, and Girind, before they made their way back to Thistle Hold on the next ship. The Enternal Hunter is still buried for now. Who knows how Gylta, the Elder so will proceed? Maybe she will continue to circle on a quest for vengeance, or perhaps she will realise that she has been neglecting her herd, and tend to them instead.
Back at the hold, the party retrieved the rest of their payment from a relieved and grateful Keri-Las, whilst deciding what to do with the information on the Dark Lords, as well as the ancient controversial book that they had recovered. A long overdue rest was now needed.