Loose ends: a mysterious voice; Faceless Stalkers among the people of First Landing; Burrows to the north of the city; no canoes to be found; Undead threat in the caves and seas to the north
Participants: Delcan Bray, Kodzak, Hecret, Kane, Guhdhag, Blight
Locations: Dragonscale Peak, Sea of Stone, Living Shores
Short summary:
According to guild reports, there were mysterious sightings of canoes at sea near the mountains north of First Landing. During their travels, the party encounters Chad Griffon, a beast of a bird. Chad is slain, and his parts put to good use. One of the guild scouts turned out to have been abducted by Unknowns. The crew also dispatched of Draugr. A mysterious voice admonished the party when they rescued the scout, blowing up one of the Stalkers and nearly killing members of the party.
The Curious Case of the Cursed Canoes
Day 1
A little outside town our excursion leader, Hecret, had set up a small encampment for our troupe to meet. told you he would be staying and where the group should meet. A rabid dire squirrel almost ended the venture before it started although luckily it left us alone. After exchanging pleasantries and deciding on a course of action we set off northward.
Kane scouted ahead of the party and reported back sightings of large molehills that dotted the vast expanse of grasslands before us. He shared with the group that these were far larger than normal molehills and several had tunnels large enough for most Humanoids to fit through.
We made camp while keeping a good distance from the molehills and settled in an uneasy rest, although the night proved uneventful.
Day 2
After breaking camp, we continued our journey northbound and as the summit of Dragonscale Peak broke through the clouds in the distance the terrain slowly grew rockier.
We had two paths before us and the quickest to our quarry was the eastern sloped side of the treacherous mountains. As we scrambled along the eastern edges of the mountain we were brusquely attacked from above. The most enormous flying beast I’ve ever seen swooped down from the clouds and fell upon us with alarming speed and ferocity. Upon closer examination, once the initial shock wore off, I realized the creature was a Griffon with the body of a lion joined to an over-sized eagle. The animal possessed astounding mobility thanks to its powerful wings, allowing it to easily break off from combat for a more advantageous position. We even witnessed the creature strafe across our group hitting multiple members of the party as it flew through the air. It was with a heaviness in our hearts that we had to slay the majestic beast.
Days 3-5
For the next two days our pace slowed while traversing the inhospitable craggy mountains. The rugged rocky terrain made for picturesque and quite restful few days after our frightening encounter with the Griffon. The weather was amicable and our journey briefly free from any danger it seemed as if we may finally find what we were looking for.
Day 6
Upon the sixth day we arrived at our destination and our contact was nowhere to be found. It was most fortunate that our canine companion had sharper senses than any of us and soon took up a scent. After bushwhacking through the brush and shrub upon the mountain we found an abandoned camp and the trail took us to a nearly barren pine forest on the edge of a clifftop.
We were met by a sizeable horde of Draugr, seafaring Unknown who bestow a rather horrid curse upon any who strike them down. While they proved to be a challenge, we were able to dispatch them, we took note that one of them actually spoke a language none of us could translate. It struck me as odd that these were not simple mindless Undead and this demands further investigation. As a note for future explorers of this region, the Draugr curse can be lifted with a proper burial in calm ocean waters.
A voice had called out to us just before the fight had broken out and upon its ending, we had time to track down the voice, our missing scout.
But something did not sit quite right with our group as some brief questioning proved fruitless, we built a pyre to cremate the dead in hopes of making our travel with their remains easier. Hecret and Blight hatched a plan once the true hero of our adventure, Rosie, had sniffed out that something was off with this woman. They sprung their surprise upon the ‘scout’ in hopes of pressing her for answers only to have her body melt away and reform into a hideous monstrosity.
The creature, a Faceless Stalker, flew into a rage upon our discovery of its true nature and as the group fell upon it in front of the pyre it reacted by lashed out at anyone who came too close to it. After a lengthy and bloody battle, the monster was struck down and the remains of whoever’s identity it must have stolen were taken from its battered body. We slept uneasily that night.
Day 7
We awoke breaking camp and once again with the aid of Rosie we were able to find a trail that took us safely down the escarpment and onto the sandy beach below. The fresh air and cooling waters were a welcome reprieve from the night before and with sage words from Kane we put the Undead to rest and let them rejoin the ocean from whence they’d came.
There was little time to rest though and after a few of us enjoyed the ocean waters we traveled northward along the beach. It was not long before the tracks we’d found diverted with one set mysteriously veering off and seeming to disappear into the ocean. We built a cairn to mark the area and left a rather stunning seashell upon the top of it so that we may return to further investigate or the next travels to this area may pick up where we left off. The other set of tracks took us further north to an expansive cove.
Upon entering the dimly lit cove we found a wrecked rowboat that looked as if it had been there for quite some time, beached within the center of the cove in a diminutive lagoon. The party was given only moments to gather our surroundings as we saw two shrouded figures in the back of the cove before an eruption of sand and earth stopped us in our tracks. Large boulders hurled themselves at the group, seemingly coming to life as they sprung from the floor and walls. Upon splitting one open Guhdhag discovered that they were some sort of insect covered in a thick layer of earthen coating around their bodies as a form of protection. Despite their lumbering look they moved with surprising speed and were able to charge into the group bowling members of the party over and throwing them prone with their successful attacks.
After dispatching the lesser rocks, we were assailed by a Living Landslide, a massive mound of rock and earth that had substantial reach and no qualms about picking up its dead compatriots and hurling the deceased bugs at us with ease. As we drove the creature back with a barrage of attacks it reacted swiftly by burrowing into the earth before explosively climbing its way back out of the rocky floor beneath the party, nearly flattening them if it wasn’t for their quick reflexes. A mighty swing from our Barbarian struck something vital in the Unknown and whatever magics held it together broke as it crumbled into a pile of earthen debris.
Finally, we thought we may find some answers and have a moment's rest as we made it to the back of the cavernous cove to get a closer look upon the figures and much to our horror, we came upon another of those vile faceless shamblers. But this one, pre-occupied in some ungodly commune gave us time to strike a nearly mortal blow down upon it and although our Barbarian struck with fury the creature proved too fast for us. The brute sprung up from its trance and rushed amidst the group before killing itself in a horrifying explosion that nearly put the group down for the count. After some triage we were patched up and finally able to help the other figure we’d seen, a Unknown woman bound upon the group, and to our relief she was the missing scout Amalia.
In the end we were left with more questions than answers. There were no canoes to be found and whoever sent this missive requesting us to come out must have hoped to use us as the start of an army of look-alikes. This must be investigated as they may already be those within the town who are not as they seem. The Draugr left a puzzle to answer as well, why were they there and where did they disappear to under the ocean’s waves? I posit that there is likely a shipwreck perhaps not far off the shore. These are all matters that demand further time investigating.