Session 1: The Caravan Report
General Summary
Five recruits from the Order of the Peacekeepers are tasked with securing a caravan heading south to the town of Ferriero. Over the last five days, they have traveled from Brescia to Melana.
The Enchanted Windmill
On the 13th day of Sowing, the caravan was forced to stop. Abibo Lodi, the dwarf merchant leading the train, called Nonna Balbina over to have her look ahead. On a hilltop ahead, a giant was swinging a massive club in a circular motion. Lodi insisted that the Peacekeepers deal with the matter.Nonna, Vincenzo Farfalle, Mario Andretti, and Galerina Marginata investigated. The giant did not notice or care about the small band approaching it. Mario was the first to see something strange about the giant. Nonna then noticed that it did not seem to be breathing and pointed it out to the rest of the group. This prompted Vinny to talk over and wave his hand through the giant's leg, proving it was only an illusion.
Mario stuck his head into the illusion and found a window he could climb through. He then walked through the circular room to the barred door and opened it. As he did this, the illusion vanished, revealing that it was only a windmill. They investigated the windmill further and found the corpse of a wizard that had appeared to have been dead for a couple of months. With him was an amiable black cat as well as a map case.
Mario took out the map and saw a detailed map of the frontier in the Wasted West near a city called Verrayne. There was a mysterious spot marked on the map with a slit. Vinny took the map and placed it in his map case. Further investigation of the windmill revealed a large divination sigil on the floor, although it was unclear what was being divined.
The Hilltop Herd
It was on the Spring Equinox that the caravan arrived at the farm of one Berick Dreeston. The gnome was a distressed goat farmer because his goats had gone missing. He begged the Peacekeepers to find them, to which they agreed.They began in his barn, where a goat was trapped under a large cart. The cart had a claw marks and found a bear's pawprint in the mud outside. This further panicked the gnome who said that bears had been known to live in the reigion.
Next, they investigated the paddock where the goats lived. Margie found a very shy goat hiding behind a boulder and used her ability to speak with animals to converse with it. She discovered the other goats had busted out of the paddock and ran off. They uncovered a trail and began tracking the missing goats.
Two more goats were found near a sheer drop. As the party tried to rescue those goats, they spotted yet another goat chased by a mastiff, followed by an older man. Once the man saw the party, he called his dog to heel and questioned them. He feared that they were bandits stealing from Berick. They convinced him that they weren't and returned to the farm with him to drop off the goats they had found.
Back at the farm, the old man named Jonah told them there was a sixth goat. However, it had been cornered by a bear in a cave nearby. He gave them directions to find the goat.
At the cave, Vinny and Mario went in to rescue the injured goat. However, as Mario went to pick up the goat, it began bleating in panic. This woke the sleeping bear that took a swipe at Mario but missed. Carrying the goat, Mario ran away as quickly as he could. Vinny then tried to cast a sleep spell on the bear, but it was not powerful enough to calm the angry beast.
The rest of the party waited near the edge of the cave, hearing the commotion inside. They readied to battle the bear. Nonna, showing impressive strength for her old age, was the first to fight the bear with her cane sword. Rocco Bonetti stood beside her and tried to hold the beast back. Margie summoned vines from the earth to sprout up and grasp at the bear, but it was too strong to be entangled. Finally, Mario set the goat safely down and ran over with his rapier, dealing a killing blow to the bear.
While most of the party celebrated and began skinning the beast, Nonna looked visibly distressed. She had not wanted to slay the animal she believed had done nothing wrong. Even still, the party took their trophies and the injured goat back to Berick's farm. There, he expressed his gratitude and paid them a sum of 25 gold pieces for their trouble.
