Session 019: Scary Stories

We begin as the North Wind blows out of Felimandoo, headed south towards Halitara. Talasea and Jack both spot a figure lurking near Jack’s house, but Jack tells Tal to ignore it. And so the group set out on their first day of travel.   As they’re looking for a place to bed down, Talasea spots a campsite that looks like it has been used before, with a small firepit holding partially burned charcoal and piles of scrub brush for makeshift beds. Poking around, Tal finds a bone and a crumpled note filled with paranoid ranting about being pushed off a cliff. Tal then looks over the cliffside (with Zenith’s back up) and spots bones on the rocks below, bleached and pale. The group is nervous, but making a quick vibe check, Tal, Jack, and Zenith decide it’s probably fine.   Aphid, who got a 20, checks the vibe and does not like it, but goes along with the others. They settle for the night. The group decides to hold watches in pairs for the night. Just in case.   Aphid and Talasea take the first watch. They feel the urge to tell stories to fill the silence. Aphid talks about the Needlemouse protecting the family from danger and the owls that swoop through the night. Tal sings of a woman transformed into a blood hungry mermaid. Their watch ends and Talasea falls asleep easily. Aphid, curled up in his pack, does not. Jack and Zenith take the next stretch. They too find themselves wanting to talk. Jack speaks of water ghouls formed from travelers dying of dehydration in the desert. Zenith tells a story from his mother, about shadows and how they become you.   With each and every story they hear, they feel a chill trickle down their spines and a tremor vibrate in their hearts. One by one, they fail their wisdom saving throws.   It is after the final story that things begin to go terribly wrong. Creatures slink out of the darkness to attack our heroes. Figures with no shadows, ghouls moaning for water, floating mermaids with jagged teeth, giant owls with fearsome claws. For each failed save, there is a creature intent on destroying them. And for every successful save, there is a class of opponent that cannot be seen. However, the group manages to take each and every creature down in spectacular fashion. Tal figures out that the appearances are false, revealing shadowy forms beneath. Jack realizes that it is not a typical ability of these creatures to be able to change their appearances. But eventually all of the shadows are slain.   Which is when a large shadowy form rises from the hill behind them and screams at them in a language only Jack can understand. It growls, “We have haunted these hills for hundreds of years and you’ve ruined it.” And then, it strikes.   The creature pops in and out of the darkness, pierces Zenith with painful words whispered in his mind, does its best to destroy the party. And it murmurs to itself where only Jack can hear, “He lied.” But the demonic figure, like the shadows before it, is brought down.   And the North Wind decides to pick up camp and move down the coast a ways.   Just in case.