Session 3: Whispers in the Darkwood

The Festering Forest

Morsday the 7th of Harvestide in the year 3024 Evening

As night falls, a steady rain pelts the shingles of the desecrated chapel of Morwen. With the cultists defeated, the heroes decide that their best move was to camp out within the shrine and wait for daybreak. Creek carried the unconscious Lyra inside to get her out of the rain and then carefully removed her armor to make her more comfortable. Zodak called upon the power of Aurus and healed Malcor. Creek then reverently gathered up the bodies of the dead prisoners and took them out into the woods to perform the ritual to send their souls to the Great Spirit. Returning to the Chapel, Creek tried to lead the horses inside, but they would not cross the threshold and so he tied them to a tree outside.

With the belfry of the chapel open to the sky, rain fell freely into the chapel making it cold and damp. Zodak decided that they should use the desiccated tree, once used as the focal point of the temple, as firewood. Although he did not know the rites of the Goddess of Healing, he did his best to reverently cut the tree into kindling. As he set the branches alight, the chapel was filled with a pleasant and soothing scent. The Goddess was pleased. Before settling down to rest for the night, Malcor arranged the broken pews around them for extra protection and to shroud the light of the fire from outside the chapel.

During the last two watches of the night, both Creek and Volu heard strange sounds coming from the wood and they also sensed a sickly sweet smell. Creek heard the horses stomping and neighing and went outside to try and calm them down. As he did so he noticed a nearby elm tree that had a slick, green slime on it. He made a mental note of the tree and then returned to the chapel to finish his watch.

Odrinsday the 8th of Harvestide in the year 3024 Morning

Our heroes awaken to a morning with an overcast sky and light rain falling. Zodak was trying to regain the full use of his arm, but he was still unable to shake off the unknown disease he contracted from the infected hyena bite. Lyra was now awake and fully healed. She spoke to Creek about his sister. They discussed if it would be best if they tracked the cultists to their lair or returned to the caravan. The rest of the group also joined in and they were not sure that the gnolls that had attacked the first caravan where connected to the cultists. It was then that Lyra reminded them about the brand on the gnolls bodies that looked like the medallions that all the cultists wore. Unable to choose a course of action, they decided to investigate the chapel and the area around it for more clues.

Creek then remembered the green slime from the night before. They went out to investigate the tree where the horses were tied up. Creek immediately noticed that the green slime infecting the tree had spread and pointed this out to Zodak. Zodak looked at the green slime oozing from the tree and he had a flashback to the sensation of drowning he had when he was first infected. Volu also recalled when his patron mentioned the Dream Whisperer, but he still kept it to himself as he was not ready to tell his companions that he was a warlock. One thing was clear, the wood was infected by something unnatural.

Malcor considered climbing up into the broken belfry to get a better look at their surroundings, but after looking closely at the walls, he thought better of it. Instead he thoroughly searched the chapel and discovered some footprints leading out of the back door. Calling over the others, they discovered tracks leading into the wood. They appeared to have been made by the cultists. The heroes searched the area around the church and it soon became clear that the evil infecting the wood was radiating from the chapel.

Creek and Zodak then went back into the chapel because they believed that the ritual they stopped was the cause of the malady infecting the wood. They found the symbol of the cultists carved into stone floor of the chapel. Creek and Zodak decided to destroy the symbol and working together they obliterated the unholy sigil. Creek then left one of his clan symbols on the front door of the church in the hope that his sister might return and see it.

Having finished with the chapel, they had a brief discussion about what to do next. Malcor told everyone that he disliked cities and so he was not in favor of returning to the caravan as that would bring him one step closer to Hilltown. Creek and Lyra agreed that Songbird That Sings at Dusk would have wanted them to put a stop to he evil that is destroying the forest. Zodak and Volu agreed and so they set off in search of the cultists.

Following the Footsteps of Evil

The tracks leading from the chapel were very easy to follow due to the rain that had fallen. Deeper into the wood, they noticed that the corruption was indeed spreading out from the chapel. After an hour of slogging through what had become a muddy mess, they came upon a densely wooded area. Something about the place just did not feel right. The green ooze was seeping from many of the trees on either side. They felt as if they were being watched. They stopped moving and readied their weapons.

Their wariness was rewarded when suddenly the forest came to life right before their eyes. There were small creatures that looked like hunched humanoids covered in conifer-like needles and large, mobile masses of slithering vines and creepers. Creek, undeterred by the freaks of nature, bolted forward and killed one of the small ones. As he did so, vines shot out from one of the larger ones and entwined around his body. Zodak then strode forward and landed a crushing blow on the creature which allowed Creek to flip out of the creature's hold.

Volu, Malcor, and Lyra held the edges of the battlefield, raining ranged attacks on the evil forest beings. Volu reduced one to kindling with an eldritch blast, while Malcor—or 'Little Bog Man,' as Creek had taken to calling him—dropped another by firing an arrow directly into its chest. Meanwhile, Zodak crushed skulls with his warhammer, and Creek used his dagger and short sword to take down more of the vile creatures. Although wounded, the heroes successfully defeated the evil blights.

After the battle, the heroes decided that they needed to take a short rest to recuperate from the ordeal of combat. Durintg that time, Zodak tried to gather up kindling wood created from the dead bodies of the creatures they had slain. He wanted to start a fire. He could not get them to ignite normally and even when he added oil, the wood only burned reluctantly. As he sat by the fire, Creek thought about what he had just seen and he remembered a story that his grandfather once told him. It was a story about a vampire that corrupted a forest and caused evil creatures like those they had just encountered to rise up as blights. This only strengthened his resolve to put an end to the evil that had corrupted the wood.

Continuing their journey, a light rain was falling. The woods began to thin out a bit and the signs of corruption had lessened. It became harder to follow the tracks left by the cultists. The decided to stop for a meal in a small clearing because the path forward was not obvious to them. After eating, Creek moved around the edges of the clearing searching very carefully for any signs of the cultists. After a few minutes of searching, he found the trail again and they moved on.

They tracked the cultists for most of the afternoon. The trail led to a dell sparsely populated with trees. Stone ruins were scattered around the floor of the valley. Although there was no sign of exactly where the cultists had gone, it was clear that they had entered this valley. As they gazed out over the ruins, Zodak noticed two men in dark robes about 500 feet away. Creek and Malcor decided to sneak up on them while the others stayed 100 feet away. Creek and Malcor were able to get close enough to hear them talking.

The cultists were arguing. Their leader was dead and no one was sure what they should be doing. One of the cultists said they did not trust her, but it was unclear who or what her was. The heroes noticed a stone lid tilted on it's side not far from where the cultists were standing. It looked as if a spiral staircase leading underground was directly in front of the lid. When the cultists decided to go back into their underground lair, Malcor and Creek leapt from their hiding places and made short work of them. After allowing their companions to catch up, they all decided to enter the lair of the cultist and put an end to them once and for all.

Into the Depths

Our heroes bravely descended the dank spiral staircase seeking the source of the evil that was infecting the wood. The stairs ended in a rectangular room. Opposite the stairs was a glowing white flame in a stone brazier. Flanking the brazier were two skeletons standing motionless. Two doors led out of the room to the right and the left. As they moved into the room, the flame in the brazier began to strobe faster and faster until it finally stopped. As it did so, the skeletons sprang to life and attacked them.

Malcor happened to be standing next to one of them and it slashed him viscously and the halfling fell unconscious. His friends then jumped into the fray and quickly killed the skeletons. Zodak was then able to heal Malcor and they were ready to continue deeper into the lair. They investigated both doors and found them locked. They decided to try the left door.

Malcor picked the lock on the door on the left side of the room which revealed a narrow passageway forcing them to continue single file. Zodak took the lead and the others followed. They found themselves in a dark corridor. Ahead was a small passage to the right and an intersection ahead with three separate alcoves. Each of the alcoves glittered in the gloom with coins and jewels. Malcor was immediately intrigued and began rushing forward to pick up the jewels, but Creek and Zodak stopped him fearing a trap.

They went down the side passage instead and came to another door. It was not locked and Zodak heard chanting from beyond it. The conduit burst into the room without hesitation. It was roughly hexagonal in shape and had what appeared to be prayer mats on the floor. A crude altar with a burning brazier was cut into the wall to their right and directly ahead of them a cultist in dark robes looked up and backed away. Zodak strode across the floor and slammed his warhammer down so hard on this head that it was driven into his chest cavity. The cultist died instantly.

Malcor wanted to search the room thoroughly, but Creek insisted that they keep moving. With no other obvious direction to go, they back tracked and returned to the room at the foot of the spiral staircase. Malcor then picked the lock on the door they had not tried before and they continued on.

The narrow passage beyond the door led them to an intersection. One path continued on while the other led to a reinforced wooden door. They decided to move toward the door. Zodak heard what he thought was moaning coming from the other side of the door. Malcor then checked the door and it was locked. After a brief discussion, they decided to leave this door locked and moved on further up the passageway.

When they reached the door at the end of the passage, they could hear that something large was moving on the other side. Finding the door unlocked, they readied themselves and opened it. A large flaming brazier rested in the middle of the chamber. Instruments of torture were scattered about the room and a locked prison cell lined the wall on their left. Of more immediate concern though was the huge monster now shuffling toward them. It was almost ten feet tall, it's hear scraping the roof of the chamber.

Creek and Zodak charged, meeting the monstrosity with brute force. Though their weapons found purchase, the sheer density of the creature's form absorbed the impact. Lyra and Volu supported them from range, their projectiles shearing off bits of necrotic flesh. With a guttural roar, the beast aimed a devastating blow at Creek; he narrowly evaded it, feeling the wind of an attack that surely would have ended him.

Amidst the chaos, Malcor sprinted in, sliding beneath the behemoth’s legs to flank it. Despite the party's combined assault, the monster refused to fall. It lashed out at Zodak, but the warrior blocked the strike with his warhammer. Creek wasted no time—he leaped into the opening and decapitated the beast in one fluid motion, leaving it to collapse into a heap.

Malcor immediately ran over to the prison cell and unlocked the door. There were three unconscious prisoners in the cell. They all looked as if they were near death. Zodak entered the cell and calling upon the power of Aurus, he was able to stabilize them to prevent them all from dying. They were alive, but unconscious. Creek also entered the cell, hoping to find his sister. She was not among the prisoners, but he did notice that one of the prisoners had on a bandage that was made from a tunic that his sister always wore. He would need to speak to that prisoner later. For now, they needed to continue on.

The heroes moved deeper into the cultist's lair. Beyond the door, they found a winding passage that ended in a fork. The left fork continued on a curve up and to the right. They heard indistinct chanting coming down that hallway. The right fork led to a door. Not wanting to leave anything behind them, the heroes decided to go through the door first.

The door was unlocked so they quickly opened it. Beyond they found a rectangular chamber filled with bunk beds on the left and single beds on the right. At the far end of the room were two cultists who were clearly surprised by the intrusion. Before the could get their weapons ready the adventurer's had moved in and killed them. Their depredations were at an end. Once again, they decided not to waste time looting, but to push on and finish the job of cleansing this den of evil.

Leaving the dormitory, the heroes followed the curving passage to an ornate door. As they grew closer, they could clearly make out chanting coming from the other side. A ritual was taking place and they were going to stop it! Bursting through the door, they saw a large chamber held up by a row of columns on either side of an aisle leading to an altar. On the altar was a stone urn within which was a greenish flame. In front of the altar was a shallow stone circle, with a bound and gagged woman lying on the floor inside of it. A cultist in purple robes, hands outstretched chanted over her, his back to the heroes. Three other cultists turned to face them as they entered the room.

Thinking that the bound girl was his sister, Creek rushed forward attacking the cultist in purple robes. Volu entered and stayed on the edges of the room, hurling eldritch blasts at the cultists. Zodak moved in and brained one of the cultists with his Warhammer, while Malcor leapt over a wooden bench and came down hard on one of the cultists. As the battle continued, the cultist in purple robes summoned a spiritual weapon which cut into Creek. Another cultist rushed forward to attack Volu and the remaining cultist moved to attack Zodak. As all of this was happening, the green flame on the altar began to pulsate.

Volu finished off the cultist who had approached him and then moved closer to the altar. As he did so he cast sleep on the lead cultist who had retreated to the far corner of the room. At that moment the greenish flame stopped pulsating and a beam of necrotic energy shot out of it hitting Creek in the chest and knocking him unconscious. Lyra immediately rushed to his aid, but was unable to revive him. Zodak had fallen to the last remaining cultist, but Malcor was able to dispatch him.

Volu considered the altar. The fire was pulsating again and he knew that if it stopped again that it would shoot out another beam of energy. He grabbed the medallion he had taken from the cultists in the chapel and rushed toward the altar. As he did so he felt evil energy beginning to pulsate through his body so he dropped the medallion to the ground. Now he was standing directly in front of the altar. The green light stopped and once again it shot out necrotic energy, this time striking Lyra who was standing guard over Creek. She staggered, but did not fall. Volu knew he could not allow the necrotic blast to strike again, so he decided to kick over the stone brazier holding the green flame. As he did so, the green flame was extinguished and the threat was over.

The heroes were in trouble. Both Creek and Zodak were unconscious and bleeding out. Malcor, even though he had little skill for it, rushed to Zodak's aid and was able to stabilize him. Creek, not wanting to fail his sister stabilized himself with his own force of will. He would no die until he found her. Zodak was then revived with a healing potion and he was able to stabilize the prisoner so she would not die. Malcor covered her naked body with one of the cultist's robes. Zodak was then able to cast a healing spell on Creek returning him to consciousness.

The heroes then turned their attentions to the cultist they had put to sleep. They tied him to one of the benches and then woke him up intending to question him. The cultist called them defilers and said that they would suffer at the hands of his master and refused to tell them anything. It was then that Zodak threatened to smash his Warhammer down onto one of the cultists testicles if he would not talk. Creek was appalled by this and stopped the blow before it could happen. A long debate ensued as Creek told them that the Great Spirit does not condone torture. It is one thing to defeat one's enemy in combat, yet another to beat him while he is bound and helpless. Zodak argued that the cultist deserved what he got. He reminded Creek about the tortured prisoners they had seen and the woman in this very room who was being used to fuel their vile rituals. "Why should the cultist be shown mercy if he did not show mercy to others?" Zodak argued. The two could not come to an agreement, so in the end Zodak simply smashed his Warhammer into the cultist's skull and ended the debate, at least for now.

During the debate, Malcor was searching the room looking for treasure and any hidden passages. After about thirty minutes of searching, he discovered a secret door on one side of the chamber. He opened the door and found a chamber beyond that looked to be the bed chamber of the lead cultist. A large brown, bear skin rug was on the floor in front of a double-bed. A desk was next to the bed with a book open upon it. At the far end of the room was round mirror, it's surface smooth but appearing to be a liquid and not a solid. Swirls and eddies moved across it's surface. On the floor next to this strange mirror was a chest.

Malcor entered the room and luxuriated on the bearskin rug. Rarely had he known such decadence. Creek moved over to inspect the chest while Volu moved toward the desk intrigued by the book. Zodak and Lyra entered the room cautiously, on alert for any dangers.

Volu noticed that the book was written in Infernal and decided to read it. As he did so he felt a compulsion to keep doing so, even when Zodak came and pulled it out of his hands. Creek tried to open the chest, but as he did so the mirror next to him swirled to life. In it's depths he could see the vague outline of a hideous looking, withered female face with black stringy hair and a wart filled face. He tried to pull away, but was unable to as the voice spoke, "Report! What is going on?" When the being did not get a response, she looked at Creek and said. "Who are you....yes, I see you know. You want to find your sister," the voice said. "Well, I can help you do that. Come to me and we will find her together..."

At that moment, Zodak strode forward and slammed his Warhammer into the mirror shattering it into tiny pieces.

Here ends session 3.