Warning: Potential spoilers below for the adventure, Jacob’s Well, from Dungeon Magazine #43 as well as D0: Hollow’s Last Hope from Paizo. Although neither are being used “as written,” spoilers for both may certainly be in the writeup below.
[This entry is from Rachel. As always, my GM comments in italics and brackets. It has been well over a week since this session and in that time, I hit up a few breweries and a great brewfest, Hickory Hops, in North Carolina so my memory of things may be a bit fuzzy and thus my comments more sparse than normal.]
After reducing the Velvetama to a small ice blue gem, we told the townspeople that they could go check out their homes but to be cautious and stay in small groups rather than going off on their own. Cuthbert, Lia, Skuli, Tor, and I walked the perimeter of the town—Cuthbert did not find any suspicious tracks, but we did see a few areas of the wooden palisade that fell apart due to too much snow on/in them. When we reported this to Mayor Skulisunu, he took note of it and commented that a trip to Eikstad, a logging community “south” of Dalsetter, would be necessary to get lumber to fix the palisade, although it could probably not be fixed until it warmed up a bit in a few months. We learned from some townspeople that Gytha’s home and the shrine to Eostre were completely destroyed—there were claw marks all over, and by the size of the marks it looked like this was done by the Velvetama when he was medium-sized. As soon as the town has resources for it and I am able to, I will need to rebuild the shrine.
[Hmm…I wonder if a trip to Eikstad could turn into an adventure of some sort in the future…nah…]
Tor decided that he would seek his fortunes elsewhere and bid us farewell before leaving Dalsetter.
[Tor’s player, John, is moving to California and so he will not be playing anymore and Tor has gone on his drunken way.]
We headed to Eowyn’s to ask Hervara about the sickness in Askvold’s Stead. When Hervara reluctantly answered the door it was clear she had been crying and she told us to go away. Cuthbert told her to find us when she was ready and that we would help her help those in Askvold’s Stead. We went to join the townspeople who lit a funeral pyre for those who were killed. I prayed to Eostre to bless her priestess Gytha and the others who had been killed, and Sebbi said a few words. Sebbi and his men were returning to the manor and Cuthbert offered our group to go with them. Although no slight was intended to Sebbi’s huscarls, it appeared that one took a bit of offense as he interpreted our coming with them as implying they needed protection and could not take care of themselves. Everything at the manor seemed undisturbed, so we told Sebbi we would head back to the Four Sheaves, but that we might be headed to Askvold’s Stead with Hervara in the near future. Sebbi asked us to let him know before we left and we agreed.
[This is one of those instances (or is it two?) where the NPCs act like real people rather than just being there for the PCs to interact with. Hervara not only just found out that her mother died a rather gruesome death but also is facing a pretty massive “health crisis” without her mother’s aid. She was, after all, only her mother’s apprentice. She held it together for a bit but simply needed some downtime.
Similarly, the leader of Sebbi’s huscarls, Anwir, had already been relegated to a backseat role during the battles against the Velvetama and now this insult (in his eyes). It could be that the party is making something of an enemy that could create some tension in the future…go figure. ;)]
Unfortunately, our intention to notify Sebbi of our plans was forgotten as we entered the Four Sheaves and were berated by Hervara, who was annoyed that we were not here when she came. Hervara told us that Askvold’s Stead has ratcatcher’s fever, which is not natural and is caused by a poison/chemical which includes rat urine. She believes it is transmitted through water and is most likely in the spring at Askvold’s Stead. Hervara found info on ratcatcher’s yellow in her mother’s book, which previously belonged to her grandmother, and Hervara thinks this is the same as the ratcatcher’s fever. She found a cure in the book that should heal those who are sick with the fever and get rid of the disease in the water.
[Todd missed the last session and no one was really playing Sebbi. I did for a few interactions at the start of the session but then Sebbi had his hands full dealing with all the headaches of being the lord of a village that had just been attacked and had many of its supplies destroyed at the start of winter. So, when the other players set out on their current adventure, no one remembered to go and let Sebbi know what was going on. I’m sure that someone like Agdi will fill him in.]
Hervara needs three ingredients to be able to make the cure, she has everything else she needs—
* Aldin moss, which only grows on the eldest tree in the forest.
* Rat’s tail, which is a pickled root that might be available in Aslov, and that Hulda, the witch of the Jarn Vale who taught Hervara’s grandmother in return for her eyesight, probably had on hand.
* Iron bloom mushrooms, which are very tough and hard, almost like metal, and about 2 inches tall.
Hervara tells us that Myrkr Holt is the closest forest where we might look for the eldest tree, and that Hulda had lived in the Myrkr Holt. She did not know if Hulda was still alive, although if so she would be very old. Cuthbert mentioned that there was a room full of mushrooms at Ertha’s Temple, and that we could see whether any of them are iron bloom mushrooms. Hervara told us that Munolfr Harsunu, the leader of Harstead (in the Urtharbrunnr) is the most talented woodsman for hundreds of miles and that he could tell us the most about the Myrkr Holt and how to find what we were looking for. She said he had a cabin at the edge of the Myrkr Holt, so we should be able to find him fairly easily. Hervara said that if we leave now, we can make it to Munolfr by tomorrow night. Hervara had already packed supplies for us, so we quickly got our things together.
After Cuthbert’s mentioning Erfithi earlier, Hervara brought Erfithi to the inn to tease Cuthbert, and also introduced him to her “companion” named “Gaupette.” Gaupette appears to be as stealthy as Gaupa.
[You may have noted that Hervara has a bit of an attitude. I have my reasons. :D]
We asked the mayor to send a messenger to Olvir and Ljot at the Temple with Hervara’s drawing of an iron bloom mushroom, so that they could see if there were any in the room at the Temple. We forgot to ask Agdi to let Sebbi know that we were headed out, although I’m sure Agdi will let him know. We left Dalsetter and camped that night before continuing on to Askvold’s Stead, where we left Hervara the next morning.
We reached Munolfr’s just as it was getting dark. We called out to him when we reached the cabin, and he responded from up in a nearby tree. We told him that Hervara sent us and suggested that we talk to him about a couple of things we need to find in Myrkr Holt that will help her to cure the fever that is affecting Askvold’s Stead, Munolfr and his son, and his men. Munolfr came down from the tree and invited us into his cabin and told us that he knows the eldest tree in the forest—an oak that is about 30 feet across at its base, and that when he saw it, there was something large slithering around it. Munolfr also knows where Hulda’s hut is.
[Hey, can you blame me for being inspired by the scene in The 13th Warrior where Edgtho is up in the tree when Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan shows up? I mean The 13th Warrior was a big influence on Hellfrost, right? Rassilon even has an organization called the Thirteen Warriors, right? Right?]
Munolfr invited us to stay the night and provided us with rations for travel. He arranged for Fenric, one of his men, to take us where we need to go. That night Munolfr’s men told us gruesome tales of Hulda and what she had done to various people and creatures. The next morning, Munolfr and his son and men left for Askvold’s Stead when we set off with Fenric just before dawn.
[Here’s where things get messy. Players can be such pains in the ass…having real lives that prevent them from making gaming sessions at times. The party is partially split at the moment. Sebbi is still in Dalsetter while the others have gone off to the Myrkr Holt. I originally had planned on switching back to Sebbi’s bit in this session (yes, of course something else will be going on that Sebbi may want to check on). However, it turns out that this will be Jamie’s last session for a couple of months so I think we’ll stick with the stuff that Cuðbert and the others are pursuing. Given that, I figured that Todd might just play Fenric. No problem there, right? (I’ve already warned the players that, given my “community” focus with the campaign, they may have to split up at times and thus end up playing other characters at times. This is probably going to be one of those sessions.) However, it is also possible that we may have two new players this session (and when I say new, I mean new to tabletop rpgs…I hope I do a good enough job that they’ll want to come back). I’m thinking that Fenric might have a couple of Munólfr’s other men along with him…the Myrkyr Holt is a dangerous place after all…we’ll just assume that they’ve been hanging back a bit.]
We arrived at the clearing where Hulda’s hut is by early afternoon. Fenric climbed a tree before we entered the clearing to stay out of potential harm’s way. Providing cover for their approach is how he was thinking of it. ;)] The trees around the edge of the clearing were twisted and looked as though they were trying to lean away from the hut. The hut looked like a rickety pile of twigs and had a door and dried mud walls but no windows. In front of the door in the clearing were about a dozen effigy-like fetishes/figures about 2-feet high. There were little hanging things on the hut as well, like knuckle bones and small animal carcasses.
Cuthbert was the first of us to approach the hut and listen at the door. He didn’t hear anything so he motioned for the rest of us to approach. As he approached the hut, Cuthbert was sure he saw the fetishes move in his peripheral vision, although the rest of us farther back did not see them move. As we moved up to the hut, however, we also thought that we saw the fetishes move. Cuthbert pushed the door open a few inches and called out to Hulda a couple times. There was no response so Skuli pushed the door open farther and stepped in with a torch.
The hut was very dusty. There was a large cauldron in the center and a chair made with tusks and human teeth was against the far wall across from the door. There was a somewhat mummified corpse seated in the chair. There are shelves along the walls of the hut, covered with curios, various objects and small containers. As we entered, Cuthbert and Lia attempted to speak to Hulda and/or her spirit and let her know that we have come for an item to help one of her student’s granddaughters, and that we do not mean any harm to her abode or belongings. Cuthbert moved to the shelves next to the chair, where the jars are, and lifted a jar from the shelf to wipe the dust off and see what’s inside. As he lifted the jar, the mummified corpse in the chair arises and another mummified corpse stood up in the cauldron.
Cuthbert set the jar back on the shelf and I attempted to tell Hulda/her spirit that we mean no harm and will try not to disturb anymore than necessary to find the particular item, but each corpse has an axe in one hand which they used to attack us. The one from the cauldron stepped out and attacked first, but one [Skuli…being played by Jamie as RJ was also missing] of us attacked it and split it in two pretty quickly. It dissolved into a fine mist, and then even more mist filled the room, making it next to impossible for us to see.
Cuthbert tried to move to where he last saw the corpse from the chair, but lost his balance and ended up stumbling into the cauldron and flipping it over onto himself. Although we could not actually see what happened, both Lia and I tried unsuccessfully to lift the cauldron, although I did manage to free my foot from it. Cuthbert managed to shove the cauldron off himself and through the outer wall of the hut with great force. In the meantime, the remaining corpse had heavily wounded Lia. Although we could not really see the corpse or each other, we were able to surmise the corpse’s general location and did our best to surround it against the wall. Someone split the corpse in half (I couldn’t tell who with all the mist), and the mist finally disappeared.
[It was Skuli again that did the splitting not…as pointed out…that anyone could see it.
The cauldron flipping over was the result of one of those “Snake Eyes” rolls. Jamie got it, I think, on an Agility roll to move through the hut and accepted the Bennie to not spend a Bennie and reroll the check. I probably should have made the result a bit more catastrophic…like having Cuðbert trapped under the rim of the cauldron and take some damage or have the cauldron land on someone else (e.g., on Wulfwynn’s foot) causing damage or possibly having it roll through the mud wall with Cuðbert in it. Next time…next time…]
Fenric called out to us, asking what was going on. I moved to the doorway and told him we had to handle a couple of things but will retrieve what we need and be ready to go soon. I healed Lia before Cuthbert continued looking through the jars and located the one that matched Hervara’s description of the pickled rat tail root. I looked around a bit more, just in case the other two items we needed to get were here too. I saw several gems that looked valuable and a shrunken head on a leather cord hanging on the chair, but left them as they were since they were not the items we were seeking.
[Heh heh…gotta love paranoid players leaving treasure behind. Now, mind you, I’m not saying that there wouldn’t be some repercussions for taking stuff from the hut…maybe even the pickled rat tail…but you never know. Maybe Hulda’s curse would (will) hit anyone taking anything…perhaps Hulda might (will) come after those taking her stuff…she is rumored to not be human (possibly some sort of hag) and a legendary witch of some sort.
I did come up with some really cool trappings for the shrunken head thing…just in case. I suppose it might get recycled somewhere else down the road since the players don’t know anything about it. You can call me a lazy GM but I’m going to go with economical.]
We left and Fenric took us back to Munolfr’s to spend the night. The next morning we set out for the eldest tree, which was a longer trip and required that we camp a night along the way. The next morning we traveled a bit before heading deeper into the forest toward a clearing with the eldest tree. Before reaching the clearing, Cuthbert heard an animal cry in distress. We headed toward the sound, and in the space between the forest and a small pond, we saw a red-orange fox with its leg caught in a brand-new bear trap. Although it seemed very unusual for there to be a new trap here in the forest, which is not often traveled, Cuthbert and I could not leave the animal in pain and continued toward it. As we approached, Fenric and Lia noticed two human-sized spiders hanging about 20-feet above the trap.
[This, of course, is where we ended the session. I’d love to share what’s going on and why it is going on but I can’t do that quite yet. I’ll just say that things may be developing that are both foreshadowing future stuff and developing out of the players (and characters) prior actions within the setting.
Here’s hoping that comment gives the players pause…mwah ha ha!!!]
