Session 3: Whispers in the Night
General Summary
14th - 18th Sharali 234 4E
From the young bandit, Meridas learnt these few things:
- Hrefna's character had changed recently. While before she could be grumpy she was usually upbeat with a wickedly dark sense of humour, and only occasionally used her magic against her own men when completely stepped out of line or as part of a joke. Recently she has become very authoritative and her temper has grown razor-thin, and she often uses her magic against any that go against her or that annoy her.
- Her camp lies a day and a half or so directly south of Brombie, near the start of Telan's Pass. It sits on a small hill summit with steep earthen slopes on most sides - an old earthworks fort some of the bandits reckon. They've cleared most of the trees around it, giving them good sightlines all around, and used the trunks to build a palisade around the camp with a single gate in or out.
- They have no nearby allies but they've got the villagers of Brombie supplying them with meat, firewood, etc. and occasionally use the blacksmith to repair or make tools etc that they need. To make the villagers do this, and to stop them telling nearby towns or nobles, the bandits have taken several hostages who they've got captive in the camp.
- The bandit's number fifty or so. At least they did when the boy had deserted, about a month ago.
Leaving the boy tied up outside the camp, Meridas returned to the others and updated them with what they had learnt. Not shortly after, one of the two men they had saved woke up. They helped him to the campfire, careful of his wounds, and informed him of what had happened and of the death of the woman that had been with them. It transpired that she had been the mother of the abandoned child the party had found and the wife of the other man in the tent, who in turn was the brother of this fellow. The third man, who was killed at the stream crossing, was a hand under their employ. They were fur and linen traders, returning from Lyne through the backcountry to avoid the war taxes.
Hearing of the alive bandit the man, who introduced himself as Alh, looked back at his brother in the tent with a pained face. With a silent nod he asked for the bandit's location and for dagger at Meridas' hip. They quietly passed it over and Alh headed into the trees, returning a few minutes later with heavy feet.
The reason for this action was revealed that night, when the brother, Daerwt, woke up and crashed out of the tent confused, scared, and angry. He shouted for answers, for the location of his wife and child, and when he got the answers a rage grew within him. With fury in his eyes he demanded the bandit's location, darkness swirling in his mind. When he was told the boy was already dead, the rage and sadness inside him had nowhere to go, nothing to release themselves on, and he crumbled and fell to his knees, silent tears streaming down his face. There he remained, the silence only broken hours later with a faint line from his lips - "... it's all my fault ...".
In the morning the party pushed on Langward in the company of the traders and received a warm welcome town for helping the family, who were from there. The party stayed two days in the town, restocking and resting. Tawny bought some new fabric, Willum found someone to buy the two beasts from him, and Meridas found a tavern to entertain with her new songs.
They then headed off for Brombie, following the directions they had gathered from the townsfolk. On the first day they crossed paths with a small group of mounted soldiers, who Avina marked from their emblazoned shields to be of the ducal guard - any soldier or guardsman in the hold can wear the Duke's colours or an emblazoned badge on their chest, but only the Duke's own men may bear the Hold's sigil on their shields.
The party learnt that the soldiers were patrolling the area before winter truly kicked in, cutting off the main roads to the furthest towns and villages, and making sure that all was well. They had just passed through Brombie in fact and all said all there seemed well. Quiet, but well. The party told them that that was where they were headed, spinning up a tale of going to inspect some mines their employer was thinking of purchasing. The two groups bid each other farewell and good luck and headed on their way, but as they did one of the soldiers turned around and yelled to the party - "Remember, don't listen to the shadows!" This confused all in the party, until Avina remembered a local superstition she had heard. For that night was the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, and in this area an ancient story of the solstice had been kept alive from centuries past, back when the Old Gods were worshipped by all. The superstition went that on the solstice the mists between the spirit world and our own was at its thinnest, faint enough that the spirits could step from their realm and into ours. They would wander in the darkness, through the long night, calling out for folk to follow them. And those who did follow them, who stepped into the darkness after the voices, were trapped in the spirit world come dawn.
That night they made camp. When all the others were asleep and Avina was alone on watch, she heard the voices. They called out in whispers from behind the net of branches and needles that encircled the camp, calling out for Avina to follow her. Panicked, she awoke Meridas. Despite the voices' words scratching at Avina's ears, Meridas could hear nothing. No-one else could either. The dawn arrived, bringing with it torrential rain, and the voices disappeared.
Session Log - Avina
I can’t stop thinking about that family. Poor little Greysen who will have to grow up without a mother. His father, who I am sure is riddled with guilt and grief. I understand Alh’s decision very well, though the justice being served will bring but little relief to this family. The loss of a loved one is a pain that won’t disappear that easily.
I am glad we secured a little more information from the prisoner before his death. The more we are prepared for the confrontation with Hrefna, the better. It seems that she has gone mad. Apparently, it’s bad enough that some of her people have started to abandon her. A crazed mage can be a very dangerous thing indeed, especially if she is as powerful as we were told. We’ve heard that she keeps the people of Brombie hostage, maybe we can secure some support from them in this fight. It’s not very far to the town now, but there won’t be any travelling today, as it has been absolutely pouring. I’m honestly quite glad for the respite, as I have had an awful night.
It all started when we met a patrol of the duke’s soldiers on the road yesterday. Who knows what they were doing out here in the middle of nowhere, but they were a friendly bunch that was easily persuaded to provide us with some possible contacts in Brombie. As they were leaving, they warned us not to “listen to the shadows tonight”. There is a local superstition that on the night of winter solstice (which was about to begin) the spirits take physical form and steal people from their homes never to be seen again. I am not usually affected by these kinds of stories. Yes, there are many mysterious and malevolent beings out in this world, but I’ve yet to encounter one which I couldn’t get rid of with a well-aimed lightning bolt spell. But in the darkness of the night, I suddenly did not feel so rational anymore. Maybe it was seeing the merchant families grief that darkened my own thoughts, or maybe it was Willum’s godawful excuse for a dinner (I’m not entirely convinced that he didn’t put some poisonous mushrooms into the stew by accident) but during my watch I did hear the shadows whisper to me. They beckoned me to follow them, to join them in the darkness. I politely declined the offer and now in the light of day (or more like the grey of the rainstorm) it all seems rather silly, but I must admit it was quite as scary experience.
For now, I am just trying to recover as best I can in this dampness. Hopefully it will stop raining soon, so that we can make good progress towards Brombie tomorrow.
