Strange Aeons / The Rushton Terror pt. 27 / Eire the 12th, 3592 CE / 4-20-21

Esp Playtrhynchos sits in a cottage on loan from the Church of Accuris in Rushton, meditating. She has grappled with the ramifications of her strange psychic abilities ever since she awoke days ago in an insane asylum with no memories of her past life. Since then she has had many strange and sometimes horrific adventures with a motley crew of companions, some of whom regrettably did not survive the ordeal in Stonebriar Asylum. The loss of these fellow Adventurers weighs on her soul, though she only knew them a few days, for she has discovered since coming to the seaside town of Rushton, that she was in fact an employee of the local Baron, and may have known some of these people much longer than she realized; she may, in fact, have been a villain while in the Baron's employ. Her meditation on these topics is interrupted by a knock on the door. It is Winter, the cleric of Accuris, who is serving as interim priestess in Rushton's New Chapel due to the disappearance of the former priestess, Maeve Trelawney, along with many other citizens of the small seaside town. Esp met Winter back at Stonebriar Asylum, and feels a certain kinship with her for having survived the horrors of the cursed asylum together; as much a kinship as the amnesiac psychic can feel with anyone these days. Except of course for her mentor, Latasha Nile, with whom she continues to commune in her dreams. But that is a thought best left to herself, lest others join in the questioning of Esp's sanity. Winter tells the the psychic that she is suffering from a guilty conscience for continually sending her and her companions into danger. Since their arrival in Rushton, the party has been investigating the disappearances, including that of Winter's companion Lady Romana, a member of the notorious Black Guard sent to investigate the troubles. Winter asks Esp if she will accompany her to Orchid Hill to lend aid to Esp's companions, and the psychic agrees. Despite her request to stay behind from the adventure to recover some of her own mental health, Esp realizes there will be no respite for her until the troubles in Rushton are resolved. Winter and Esp head towards Orchid Hill, the familial estate of Baron Haver Lowell IV, local lord and aficionado of the strange, as well as Esp's one-time employer. It has been revealed that it was the Baron himself who interred Esp and her fellow retainers in Stonebriar after they had lost their memory. And it may have been the Baron who, by means of delivering a cursed tome to the asylum's director, indirectly caused the rift that allowed Stonebriar to be overwhelmed with beings from the Dreamlands, until Esp and her companions were forced to close the portal by killing a patient named Zander Ulverus who had made a psychic connection with the evil being known as the Tatterman. Esp shudders at the thought of the monster who murdered at least two of her companions. She recently utilized a psychic echo of the Tatterman to defeat the Dream Witch, Darla Coronet, in a pyschic battle, and now she fears she may have somehow restored power to a monster who feeds of the power of dreams. As Winter and Esp approach the estate, they encounter the bodies of strange men, foreign to Rushton, with tribal face paint and sharpened teeth. The men appear to have been torn apart by a wild beast. The gates of the guardhouse at the front to the estate have been torn asunder, and Esp is unsurprised to see more bodies scattered about and hear the sounds of a vicious battle coming from the estate's guest house. Her companions, she muses, are not known for their subtlety. Esp and Winter hurry to the guesthouse to find the party engaged in battle with two women, one apparently a cutthroat and the other a magic user. It is quickly determined that the women are among the cultists who have been invited to stay at Orchid Hill, but no more will be learned from them, as they are both killed in battle. The party catches up Winter and Esp on their activities since Esp stayed behind, as well as introducing them to the newest party member, a nondescript washer woman named Desh, who nonetheless is determined to destroy the cultists and appears capable of blasting foes with powerful streams of cold energy. While Desh secures the estate grounds, Hemlock investigates the upstairs of the guardhouse, deftly avoiding having his face burned off by a trapped chest while looting the dead cultists' goods. Trakir reminds the party that a monster awaits them in the library of the main house, and the party heads there to deal with another of the eldritch threats which have presented themselves at Orchid Hill. Gleorn comes up with a strategy and the party are able to corner and destroy the strange winged monster, which Esp finishes off with psychic force so powerful it literally blows the creature's head off.