Session 3: The Road to Cragyard

During the two days that they waited for the nobles to leave, the group split up to spend their time as efficiently as possible. Geneviève and Pierre-Pascal returned to the abbot and aided his followers and pilgrims, earning some coin in the process. Jane spent her time researching the history of the Planestone she now had in her possession in every book she could find. Zalia on the other hand went around gathering information from the people of Vael’s Rest themselves. Although the restfolk could offer her little in terms of information about the stone, she did manage to gather rumors about a cult worshipping the old Aurixian order that had arisen in Belham to the east. In the meantime, Ki’tor had made a friend. Barry the Gnome, whom he spent most of his remaining time in Vael’s Rest with. 

As the third day came, they all came out to see the nobles leave on horseback. Shortly thereafter they too left, but on foot, which meant that they stood no chance of keeping up with their quarry. Luckily Jane’s keen senses allowed them to easily follow the noblemen’s tracks. The first part of the journey passed relatively uneventfully, but when they were halfway to Cragyard, they came upon a rotting banner sticking out of the ground. Jane stopped, and the rest followed suit. As they looked around they found themselves in the middle of an ancient battlefield. A familiar battlefield. Memories flooded back to Jane, memories of soldiers riding to their deaths to stop a draconic tyrant during the Age of Dragons. Jane had met her death here. Geneviève, who had spent countless hours reading about ancient battles under the hellknight’s tutelage, remembered a passage she had read about the Slaughter of the Crag. They surmised that this had been the location of that engagement. They lingered for a while before continuing. 

At length they arrived at a crossroads, where they found an abandoned gallow with three rotting nooses. Here Jane could deduce that the nobles had rested for a long while and shared what Geneviève could deduce was cheap Aeryonian wine. As they continued to search the area, whispers began to be heard. Then shapes appeared. Shapes that vanished as soon as they looked at them, but kept creeping around in their peripheral. When they spoke with these spirits, it was revealed that they were all executed in that very spot, and their souls were now bound there. They claimed to have been innocents, killed by a missguided order of knights that had been deceived by Moorbrand. Only Moorbrand could set them free. 

As they decided to leave the crossroads, they noticed that the nobles seemed to have split up. One riding towards the Allerdale Mountains, and the other riding towards Cragyard. They decided to follow the prior of these. After a few hours they found only the horse, without its saddle. With thundering footsteps up in the mountains, they turned back. Jane managed to find new tracks, from bootprints. They followed these into the woods, towards Cragyard. At the end of these they found a carcass next to a saddle. The noble had been attacked and eaten by wolves. The group continued onward to Cragyard, in search of the remaining noble. 

When they finally arrived in the little village on the side of a massive quarry, Ki’tor ventured forth alone. Travelling into the village and getting himself a room at the Old Haunt and Baths, he was hoping to scout the area, and probe for information. 

As the rest of the group entered the village they found that they had managed to arrive right in the middle of the Night of Spilled Stars. A holiday celebrating the ascendance of the god of freedom and revelry Kaelus. A night that is celebrated with feasts, drinking and brawling. They initially split up in search of the nobleman, to which end Zalia took the form of one of the nobles. But given that the body they found was mutilated beyond recognition she had to guess which of them made it to the town. During this search, Jane and Zalia found themselves walking into the village’s biggest tavern, where a large feast was held. Inside it didn’t take long for Zalia to be recognised as the same noble who had already reached the town. People began to ask where the smith’s apprentice had gone, to which she responded that he was probably somewhere drinking as the drunkard he was. Not knowing that the apprentice was a mere ten years old this arose suspicions. In order to salvage this situation, Jane tried to sell the whole thing as a drunken escapade. To convince them she managed to conjure a load of vomit which she forcefully placed upon the floor. 

That’s when the blacksmith found them. Zalia managed to escape whilst Jane tried to talk the angry dwarf down. In return she received a beating. Outside Zalia ran into Geneviève and Pierre-Pascal. Geneviève took a hold of Zalia and marched into the tavern, demanding everyone's compliance. When they ignored her, she raised her weapon. That's when people began to run away in fear. Except the smith, who challenged her to a brawl. The whole lot of them went outside to take care of their disagreement. Then a councilwoman showed up with the village militia. She demanded that the group ceased their activity and came with her. Despite Genevièves reluctance, they did just that and were put under arrest beneath the council-hall. But not before Geneviève handed over all her official documentation to the councilwoman, demanding that she read it with all due haste.