Loose threads Rescuing or reclaiming the body of Cati, actually killing the vampires now infesting Javervale, the people of Roanokae Camp are struggling show them some kindness
Participants Toma Gristlemaw Cati Clayfang
Locations Roanokae Camp Javervale
Short summary:
After meeting with our contact Loytes in Camp Roanokae, the party travels to the walls of Javervale. A night is spent outside, interrupted by fae monsters. After many routes are explored for infiltration, the party manages to convince a hobgoblin hunter to sneak them in. They successfully enter the city, and are introduced to Rengoth, a civil servant of Javervale leading a rebellion against the Jagriarius government. This meeting is cut short, as the party hears a gun shot, and scream. Looking to be heros, they leave the privacy of this meeting place to intervene. The hobgoblin hunter who brought them in is on the ground, slain by their fellow hunters. The party dispatches the hunters, and realize too late they were compelled by the vampire spawn watching the fight.
Desperate for some kind of justice, the party presses on the fight, but fail to bring down the spawn before the town guard arrives. In their attempt to flee capture, Cati is brought down by a pair of the vampires. The remaining party members assume the worst, and abandon Cati to rejoin the rebels in hiding. After speaking with Rengoth, and failing to earn the forgiveness for the rebellion the party has jeopardized, the party abandons their quest and recall.
Full Report
"So, it all starts in First Landing, but that's true about all of these little ventures so why not cut past that. We pick up a friend- Loytes. Lovely lady. Catfolk with plenty of hope in her heart too. Her daughter is a real stick of dynamite. Anyway, we meet with Loytes in Camp Roanokae, and make the rest of the way to Javervale. The place is completely walled off, and we are stonewalled.
We spend the night and end up getting woken up by some locals. These weird green fey people. Just nasty sort. According to Toma, all they want to do is kill people in the woods. I can't make heads or tails of such a way to live. Even with catching us off guard at night, the bastards can't get much carnage done. I was the one on watch, and kept cutting them down as they tried to prey upon whoever was most vulnerable. It goes poorly for the fey, and we all come out okay.
Now the next day, we start looking over the wall and try to figure out any kind of way in. Toma uses his magic to turn invisible, and decides to scout ahead. I think it goes well, because he eventually comes back. Toma gets some useful info at the time, and long-of-the-short of it, we plan to disguise ourselves and try to convince some hunters to help us get in.
Some how, after a long back-and-forth argument with said hunters, we manage to convince one of em that Vampires are real, and are in their home turf. Our escort, a Hobgoblin woman, gives us some instructions and warnings we really should have listened to. Well, we get inside, and the place is WRONG. You know that way you get when, you know someone has lied to you once and now you don't trust a damned thing they say? You pick at anything they tell you and second guess what you believe? Even though it was just one lie, and they aren't lying anymore? Well, this city was that feeling made into a public infrastructure. The place was stark white stones, covered in mirrors, and bright lights. In the middle was this absurd tower of sorts, that I guess could watch the whole god damn city.
Now you might be saying now, 'well Gritt, aren't you about as dumb as the mining equipment you work with?' and I'd say yes, then you might the say next, 'and isn't Gristlemaw about as subtle as a bear trap is safe to play with?' and I'd say yes with a smile, then you might say, 'and doesn't Cati draw stares from strangers the same way a car crash does?' and I'd frown and tell you to not to talk about Cati like he was some monster, and you'd apologies then say, 'sounds like the odds are pretty stacked against you lot. How'd you manage to sneak around?' to which I'd somberly say, we didn't.
To give some closing credit, Toma was a perfect fit for this little vengeance. Goblins were common in the city, and of all of us, he had cool head to actually head the warnings the rest of us didn't. He even knows Escapee's tongue and had a few tricks for getting around without being seen.
In hindsight, this was the moment we should have left. Actually, no. We shouldn't have even left First Landing. I think if we had just a bit of foresight and honesty, we'd have concluded the simple truth of, no matter how personal this mission was for the four of us, only one of us was any where near equipped for this mission. It was doomed from the minute we started treating this like some noble quest where the good guys get lucky and beat the bad guys no matter what.
Sorry about the tangent. Drink does that to me, makes me ramble. I think I got the most insufferable of prides- I like to hear myself speak.
We reach a safe house of sorts, and our escort leaves us with a catfolk gentleman named Rengoth. Nice guy, some kind of pencil pusher I think. We didn't get to talk long about his rebellion, cause we hear a gunshot and scream. Toma sends out his familiar, and confirms our escort is getting killed by her hunting companions. Rengoth takes this as as sign to get the hell out of there, while we make the mistake of thinking we could save the hobogoblin. By the time we get to the action, our friend is clocked out for good, and the hunters are turning to fight us. We dispatch em pretty cleanly, but that was yet another blunder. Turns out, vampires can make you do awful things by just looking at you. Its called a Compulsion or something. These hunters we were fighting? Compelled by the vampires to kill their friend, and now us.
So, we cut down a few innocent men in self 'defense', and turn to face the vampires laughing at our little struggle. Now a rational person, like the Kholo rebel trying to get us to flee to the safe house, would have taken these mistakes in stride and cut their losses. We were not those people, or at least I wasn't. I made the mistake of keeping the conflict going, and went to try and slay the vampires. The rest joined in, some less enthusiastically then others. Its not going well at all. The city guard had already been called, and were soon converging on us, so after a few blows are exchanged we try to escape.
In our flight, Cati is fatally struck by the vampires. It pains me to say I fled, but as a coward I've already died a thousand times, so dying one more time as I watch a dear friend be brought down wasn't too hard.
The rest of us manage to escape, and are brought to some secret places, and finally another safe space to touch base with Rengoth.
From here, its all things that happen are between Toma, Gristle, and I, and is none of your damn business. All you need to know is we fucked up, and there was no real way of making things better, and every minute we spent in Javervale was another opportunity for us to make things worse for their rebellion and our selves.
We recalled, and are left now hoping the somehow, Cati lives and might someday be rescued, but I don't have the room in my heart for that kind of hope anymore. So why don't you hold that weight for me and let me know how it goes.
For any fools who want to try and kill these vampires, don't. In the likely chance you won't listen, here are some words of warning:
Learn to speak Escapee's Tongue.
Don't act like a hero. The city is under a watchful eye, and anything that could get you noticed is a death sentence.
Blend in. They got a lot of goblins, hobgoblins, catfolk, and kholos. If you ain't one of them, you best stay out of Javervale.
These vampires are smart, and know we're out to get them. They're more then willing to use innocent lives as bait to force you to engage. Don't. You must harden your heart if you wish to bring them to justice.
Bring some silver weapons, might as well hurt em bad when you hit them."