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11 Tarsakh, 1471 (Day 16)

The Lost Hills

Morning

• The Party awakens to Heavy Rain and finds that Morthos is not in camp
  • Morthos’ sleeping spot is impeccably clean, save for a message in raised letters in the dirt saying “I apologize, but I was called away…”
  • The message mysteriously disappears, as if a circular gust of wind erased it
• Slûûp announces that “the other sleeping master awakes!” and Orthanc sits up after his day long nap
  • Orthanc says he had visited the spirit realm, trying to find Persi while he was sleeping, but he wasn’t there
  • In preparation for his long rest, which he did not know how long it would last, Orthanc consumed all of the fresh rations he had collected - 12 in all
    • Orthanc gains Well Fed condition
  • Orthanc asks Persi about what happened to him to cause him to sleep for so long
    • Persi replies that he ate some tiny sandwiches and drank a potent brew
    • Then lots of sleep, a slippery trip through a long tube, and “feeling oneness”, then he woke up in the horse cart
• The Party discusses the state of their rations while deciding whether to travel for the day, they have plenty of water but very little food
• Despite the severe weather conditions, The Party decides to continue travelling through The Lost Hills
  • The Party continues along the route Morthos had been taking them on, but visibility is limited due to the heavy rain

Afternoon

• The storm picks up and becomes a Thunderstorm - severely limiting visibility, which is now 30 ft
• Orthanc suddenly calls a halt to travel. He notifies The Party that he hears something and tells them to prepare for battle.
  • An ogre ambushes The Party in the Heavy Rain and numerous stirges attack from the sky
  • The battle happens in Heavy Rain and is very muddy and bloody.
    • Meilu suffers considerable damage when 2 stirges attach to her and suck her blood
      • After the battle, Vala uses Cure Wounds to heal the gaping pierce wounds to Meilu
    • Rig devastatingly dispatched the ogre by stabbing into the arteries in its legs, but got her stilettos stuck in the tendons
      • She struggles to free the stilettos in the rain and gets covered in ogre blood
      • She refuses aid and becomes very frustrated with her inability to swiftly retrieve her weapons, taking some stress
    • Orthanc harvests 6 rations worth of ogre meat
• The Party continues traveling in the Heavy Rain

Evening

• The Party fails a trial to set up camp in inclement weather. The campsite they originally found seems to be virtually useless, so they decide to travel farther to find a better camp
• While traveling in a Thunderstorm, Rig is almost directly hit by lightning and takes considerable damage from the near miss
• The Party takes this as a sign to not venture farther and sets up a hasty camp
• The Partytakes a Long Rest

12 Tarsakh, 1471 (Day 17)

The Lost Hills

Morning

• The Party does not get good rest overnight and everyone wakes up with +1 Exhaustion
• There is still Heavy Rain and The Party decided to stay put in their meager camp rather than risk more travel
  • The Party works together to help Vala set up a shelter to protect 1 person from the elements
  • Unfortunately the weather has prevented The Party from collecting sufficient food rations, and some go hungry
• The weather finally improves at the end of the day
• The Party takes a Long Rest

13 Tarsakh, 1471 (Day 18)

The Old Owl Well

Morning

• The Party awakens to much improved weather conditions, but the elements have taken a toll on them with several suffering from severe exhaustion
• As they travel, The Party notices smoke, seemingly from some sort of campfire, coming from the east, toward where they believe the Old Owl Well to be
• As The Party moves in the direction of the smoke, they begin noticing an extremely strong odor of rotten flesh
  • The Party approaches a ruined wall from some ancient fortifications and the stench of death gets stronger
  • Vala succeeds on an Arcana check and confirms that the area is teeming with necromancy magic
  • A dozen zombies catch the scent of The Party and begin shambling in their direction
  • Rig wastes no time and fires an arrow into its chest, causing the zombie pack to shamble even more quickly in their direction
  • The Party then hears a booming voice yelling in a language they cannot identify and the zombies halt their advance
• The voice then announces that if The Party is not hostile, he would be amenable to parlay
  • Persi attempts to have whoever speaking meet them outside of the walls, but he refuses
  • The voice explains that The Party has come to his “diggings” and that he would speak with them there.
• The Party continues up a hill to a large gap in the ruined outer wall, presumably the site of a gate, and finds the Old Owl Well and Hamund Kost
• The Old Owl Well is the ruins of some once great fortification that was seemingly dominated by a very large tower, which has since collapsed
  • In the center of the ruined fort is a large, 20 foot diameter stone well
  • In the northeast corner stands a massive red tent that looks immaculate considering the remote location
  • In the northwest corner stands Hamund Kost, cooking his breakfast at a large cook fire
• Hamund Kost is a stocky 40 year old man wearing red, hooded robes. He lowers his cowl, revealing a bald head covered in tattoos of necromantic symbols and a well-kept black beard.
  • Kost is very nonplussed at the presence of The Party but mostly because he seems very intent on being undisturbed while he is working at his diggings
  • Persi and Orthanc annoy Kost with nonsense, which Kost immediately answers by calling more undead to his side
  • Kost explains to The Party that he is a busy man and that they can either help him in his work or leave the premises
  • The Party seems interested so Kost tells them that the orc band at Wyvern Tor has been scouting the Old Owl Well and he suspects they will attack. He will pay The Party 200 GP, if they kill the orcs and bring back their banner as proof
    • His only other stipulation for the agreement is for The Party to leave him to his work when they are done
    • He is cagey about why he is there, but he claims he is looking for historical artifacts and that the undead are simply there for his protection
  • Kost also offers The Party trade, stating he has many things that could help with the hunger and exhaustion
    • He pointedly says that he can help Persi recover from +3 exhaustion, but Persi refuses
• The Party considers Kost’s offer and decides to travel the remainder of the day toward the orc camp at Wyvern Tor

Next Session → Session 010: Battle at Wyvern Tor