Session 2, part B
OCC:
Following the death of Magus early in session 2, John K. Elected to pick up the NPC, Adian Pym. But, death lurked nearby for our dinning room heroes.
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The three approached the elf. He was donning a bloody owlbear pelt, and revealing in the icor and feathers. He stopped long enough to wipe the ooze from his face. That’s when he saw them. They carried the body of the foolish one. Imija took a few steps back, and disappeared into the underbrush.
Sir Jebidiah called after the strange elf, but received no response. Pym thought they should track the stranger. Megena recognized her distant cousin for what he was – a wild elf. She briefly explained the survivalist mentality of the culture, and how they would not find him unless he wanted them to or they were unlucky. As the day was spent, the three remaining heroes brought Magus’ body back to Muffin’s Honor. Apple Island could wait one more day.
* * * *
Imija returned to his village indirectly. He knew the strangers were curious and would make chase. He doubled back, recovering his tracks. He returned home before nightfall.
Imija went directly to D’Jimer. Standing before the elder, he declared, “I am a tree.” With that he threw the owlbear pelt before D’Jimer.
“Indeed” Said the old elf, “and a stout tree you are.” With a wave of his hand the pelt seemed to vanish and the hall began to fill with the villagers. Each congratulating him and asking for the details of his adventure. He recounted the story. When he got to the part involving the strangers, the hall grew quiet. D’Jimer leaned in close, and motioned for him to continue.
“You are certain you were not followed? “D’Jimer did not pause long enough for Imija to answer. He pointed toward a lieutenant. “Double the guard for the next two weeks.” The solider immediately left.
“You said the beast had only one red eye and strangers come this way again. Curious. This does not bode well for our tribe. No. It does not.
You see, Imija. There was a god before our time with one red eye. He was powerful, but the masses abandoned him. Now only a few goblinoid tribes speak his name with reverence.
The strangers you saw in the forest, they are connected. The wind tells me this. You must follow them. Do not let the one with one red eye return.”
* * * *
Sir Jebidiah, Megena and Pym returned to Muffin’s Honor sadly. The partly eaten body of Magus born on a litter among them. His body was covered with a blanket from Sir Jebidiah’s pack. The weight of his loss was felt deeply among the party members. They deposited Magus’ corpse in their room at the inn. Megena inquired after the undertaker.
Boris Worbel, a cheerful halfling, arrived a short period later. Megena dealt wit him. They exchanged pleasantries while he measured Magus for a coffin. “So you’re adventurers, eh? On some secret mission to save world, I suppose.” He wasn’t really waiting for responses, just filling the time. He had come to find that people wanted to hear rather talk when they needed him. “I like people in your line of business. Steady customers. Yes ma’am. Good for business.” With that he rolled up his tape measure. “It’ll be a few days before its finished. We can keep him” he pointed to Magus “at the shop if you like.” Boris left with Magus.
Over supper, the party discussed their next course of action.
“There’s nothing we can do about Magus now.” Said Jebidiah. He had never had to console troops before. Their unit disbanded before they saw any action to speak of. “I think we shold go out to Apple Island tomorrow. You do know how to get their, Pym. Don’t you?”
Pym nodded. He felt a little responsible for Magus. He knew with the party down one, more would be required of him. This made the page frightened. Whiel he had some informal training, he was not a skilled warrior or priest. Really, he just brought the weapons to those really knew which end was the business end.
Megena was quiet throughout dinner. She wiped away tears as she feed her hawk. She knew this would not go well tomorrow. Magus was already lost, Pym was uncertain, things with one red eye. That. That was just unnatural. Moreover, she could not get the vision of the wild elf out of her head. It disturbed her that he wore the owlbear’s bloody hide as a grotesque trophy.
During the night, she dreamed. Everything was black. She couldn’t see or even feel her friends in the blackness. Only the one red eye saw in the void and it saw her.
They set out with the sun on the next day. Megena and Sir Jebidiah followed Pym in silence. So lost they were in their own thoughts that they arrived just minutes after they left Muffin’s Honor.
Orchard Lake was a horseshoe shaped body of water. It was rung by cliffs on several sides that were cut by some river eons past. In the lake lay a small island – Apple Island. The island housed a hermitage. It was nothing more than a cottage.
A rowboat was ashore. Pym righted the boat and pushed it into the water. Sir Jebidiah and Megena stepped into it. Pym rowed them to the island.
* * * *
Imija tracked the party. They were not quiet or careful. It was much easier than tracking a sick owlbear. He pulled his owlbear skin cloak tight against him (the same owlbear pelt he killed earlier which was cured magically by D’Jimer’s associate, and given to him before he left), and watched the strangers row out to Apple Island.
* * * *
Once ashore, they easily found the hermitage. It was just a little inland. Pym indicated that Calmet had recently been seen here. He scouted the exterior while the others entered the cottage.
The cottage was empty. Some turned over furniture and trash. Nothing indicated that someone had lived here. Let alone, recently.
Pym found the fruit cellar. He descended into it. Inside he found a not-to-well-concealed trap door under a sack of rotting grain. He called out for the others. After a cursory check of the door, Sir Jebidiah threw the door open and descended a dozen steps. He was followed by Pym and then Megena.
The room was octagonal and barely big enough for two people to stand abreast. It had a small hallway leading out of the room, directly in front of them. That was all they saw before an unnatural darkness fell around them. Pym and Sir Jebidiah felt tentacles brush them, but them were slow to react.
Pym yelped, but could do nothing as the tentacles grabbed him and pulled hi toward the ceiling. He felt the breath of something pulling him toward it. He struggled but could not get himself free. He prayed to Pelor. It enveloped him, and he suffocated inside the beast.
Sir Jebidiah was quicker than Pym. He jumped aside from the first tentacle. Unable to see his assailant, he stabbed wildly to no avail.
Megena, hearing the struggle of her companions, began to fail her staff around. She shouted, “Where are they?”
Jebidiah answered, “The ceiling.” A tentacle grabbed him and held him fast. He struggled against the embrace, but could not loose himself. He dropped the sword and grabbed his dagger. The beast’s grip tightened and he lost contact with the floor. He stabbed it, as the life began to leave his body, but it did not let me go. He understood his predicament.
“Get out of here, Megena.” He gasped. He heard her footsteps travel back up the steps. The trap door shut with a thud. It was the last thing that he heard.
* * * *
OOC
At this point, both Jonathan, my son, and John K., the 13 year old, were a little distressed that their characters had met untimely ends. However, they eagerly took to making new characters. John K. was kind of funny at this point. “Hey there’s a feat for fighting when you can’t see. I’m gonna take that.” And he did.
I really didn’t expect a couple of darkmantles to be so deadly. I think I forgot how easy it is to kill off a party of first level characters. I took that into consideration in Session 3.
* * * *
Imija Had sat still in his observation spot for several hours it seemed when he saw the Elven woman hurriedly push the rowboat back into Orchard Lake. She was alone. Where were the knight and his page. They boarded the boat together. He watched her quickly paddle across the lake. She grounded the boat and splashed ashore. She looked over her shoulder, back toward the island. Clearly something had not gone right. He watched her head back toward the Human town. He gave her a good lead before following.
I cannot tell who is more excited - me or the young'uns! 
