June 20, 2024
Eldervale is the kind of town that holds its breath. Nestled between the Whispering Peaks to the north and the Everthorn Forest to the south, it has spent most of its history insulated from the larger disasters of the world, a market town, a festival town, a place where the biggest argument was usually about crop prices.
That was before hunters at the edge of the farmlands found the ruins. Before the unnatural growths started appearing on the trees. Before the whispers started at night.
Mayor Elowen Thorne has called a town meeting. Milo, Cil, and Rhurzth are new in town and have nowhere better to be.
What Happened
The town hall was standing-room-only and not in a celebratory way. Mayor Elowen Thorne addressed the crowd while disgruntled citizens interrupted with complaints about unseasonal weather and spectral sightings. Milo used Thaumaturgy to hush the room, which drew more attention to the group than any of them wanted.
Cil stepped up to support the mayor and afterward found himself in a private conversation with Priestess Liora, who shared a vision she'd been keeping to herself: undead, lurking in the dark at the edge of town. Rhurzth volunteered the town guard's support, then immediately started tracking down a woman named Selene who had slipped out of the meeting early.
The NPCs were a mixed bag. Gideon had rushed in from the city to the east, claiming he'd heard about the hunters' discovery and wanted to investigate the ruins. Historian Jorin recounted the legend of the kingdom of Drakmere, a civilization ruled by someone who reportedly dabbled in the dark arts, though most considered it myth. Thorn, a local shopkeeper, suggested arming the townsfolk and let slip that he'd personally visited the ruins. Kaelen, a bard seeking inspiration, decided to attach himself to the group. Nobody invited him. He came anyway.
On the way to Thorn's shop, the Crow's Roost, the party noticed something wrong with the trees. Unnatural knots on the branches, each with tiny hand-like appendages. Rhurzth chopped one down. When the branch hit the ground, the growth turned to ash. They concluded the growths needed living material to attach to. There were more everywhere, once they started looking.
Inside the Crow's Roost, Milo spotted a glowing velvety jewel and asked about it. Rhurzth read Thorn's mind. The jewel was from the ruins. They filed that away and left to find rooms for the night.
Outside, they were ambushed by figures in green cloaks, immediately and collectively referred to as "puke green", which turned out to be cult insignia. Kaelen charmed one attacker. Milo went hand-to-hand. Cil incinerated a bandit with Sacred Flame. Rhurzth recognized the cloaks as Selene's followers and sent Milo and Cil to fetch the mayor while he ran to Selene's temple.
He found Selene there. She charmed him and convinced him to leave. He got halfway back to the town hall before realizing what had happened, turned around, and ran back to find the temple empty. She was gone. He found healing potions in the basement and pamphlets recruiting for the Cult of the Lich Empress. Also two ancient skeleton archers. He defeated them with telekinetics and called his guards to deal with the aftermath.
Session 2: Hunting Selene →