subplotkudzu | New Dawn session 2

Here's the second session of the game. Lots of fun exploration and ecological mysteries.

Session Two

Upon finding themselves in an entirely new world, our heroes regrouped as they watch the sun rise. Hadassah’s maps are clearly not as useful as they had hoped.

They engaged in an exploration of the area immediately around the door in order and discover that the entry to Hava is inside the territory of a Brithan, something that K’aedreeka identified as a dangerous mountain omnivore. She also knew that the Brithans are highly territorial, and that its bellowing half charge is a challenge – if they just leave, it will likely leave them alone. While the idea of getting the elemental Earth from the beast (its horns are actually geodes, and there is gold in its blood) the group opted to retreat rather than risk an encounter so early in their travels.

Once out of the Brithan’s territory Voilodion decided that they need more information on the territory, and set out to summit the mountain that contains Hava so he might get a view of the whole area. During the trek up he discovered several patches of white, streaky residue on the rocks. Once he summited he is able to confirm that they are on an island, and sketches out a rough outline of the coastline for future reference.

As he did this the others scouted their immediate area, confirming from the egg filled nests amongst the low trees that it was springtime. This gave Razor sufficient warning that the bright orange low hanging fruit from the larger trees was not fruit at all, as that would be unseasonable. Investigation showed them to be some sort of ‘pods’ and the group suspects that the pods are likely toxic. They were unsure whether said pods are a defense mechanism or the result of Horror Taint. The only things living on or around these trees were some small insects. These trees, and all other foliage, had a distinct bend towards the northwest, indicating a perpetual wind.

During this search Silver looked up, seeing a flight of some large creatures converging on the descending Voilodion – Griffons! Razor fired a single prefect shot with a flaming arrow that disrupted the lead griffon, saving the thief from an attack and giving him time to develop a plan. As the Griffons peeled off to engage the main body of the party, Hadassah wrote in aspects of a Locust into Dex’s pattern, giving the Troll magical leaping ability. Dex leaped high enough to engage the predators, knocking one down from the ground with a single blow! Silver fell on the beast before it could recover, ending the threat with a thrust of perfectly tempered steel.

Voilodion armed himself with a length of rope and awaited the griffon’s next attack, leaping over the beast and catching it with a lasso. The frenzied creature took to wing, yanking the thief up with him – all part of Voilodion’s plan to tire the Griffon out and drive it down. The creature flew towards its surviving mates, dragging Voilodion to his companions as well, where a Hadassah-enchanted Silver leaped onto the rope, their combined weight throwing the Griffon off balance and sending them crashing to the ground. A flurry of arrows from razor and another threatening leap from Dex drove the remaining Griffons off to find less pointy food.

K’aedreeka was able calm the earthbound Griffon, creating an initial rapport with the pack leader, before undoing the rope and letting it go. Much as she would have liked to deepen that bond it would be too time intensive. Razor finished killing the griffon that Dex had brought down and his sister immobilized, and calmly butchered the beast. They would need meat for their journey, and for weight reasons that meant finding fresh food every day they could. They also stripped off the Griffon’s feathers – the pinions are infused with Elemental Air and might prove valuable.

The decision was made to spend the rest of the day continuing the Hava perimeter scouting then head for the Eastern coves, and perhaps find Herrine, the Kaer that was supposedly built to southeast of Hava. The early part of the afternoon reveals the discovery of a few more natural animals: the small birds whose nests they found earlier (Voiloidion takes some of the eggs while Razor shoots some of the birds for later eating; when they are found to be tasty Dex names them Yummibirds), and a burrowing venomous snake discovered with Hadassah’s foot fell into one of their holes and only her boot spared her from a nasty bite (the creatures were duly named shovel-nosed vipers).

Late in the afternoon they discovered a swam of insects covering one of the broken pod-fruit trees. K’aedreeka got close to the swarm and discovered via her beastmaster’s arts that the insects are dangerous when swarming but only if disturbed, and that they focus almost entirely on consuming the pod-fruit trees. The group theorized that if the trees are Horror-tainted, these insects might be nature’s way of clearing the taint. They respectfully avoided the tree.

As darkness fell they found as defensible a spot as possible to make camp. At dinner that night Violodion practiced his cooking skills and the group learned that Yummibirds and their eggs taste good, that the griffon meat is tough and that the shovel-nosed viper's venom sacks run some way into their body, making them difficult to prepare as a meal. Violodion proved that the venom, if cooked, is not fatal, but merely nauseating. Very, very nauseating.

The non-nauseated members of the group discovered some nocturnal animals on the mountain - the wide eyed screech bird (dubbed a hookbilled screech) and a cat footed goat. They haven't named the last one yet, but it's clear that the griffins eat the goats, the hookbilled screechs eat the rodents and the vipers eat both the rodents and the Yummibird eggs.

The next morning they headed southeast, and learned that the mountaintop has had much of its soil eroded away, leaving an unnaturally low tree line. (Is it possible the pod-fruit trees poisoning of the local scrub loosened the soil which produced this erosion?) As they get lower the soil improves, leading to more and more varied trees and blocking much of the constant North-Westerly breeze. Unfortunately the lack breeze makes them vulnerable to the irritating mosquitoes.

The decided to keep to the edge of the forest, hoping that this will provide the best balance between the rocky highland terrain and mossy forest interior to make the best time. After finding a stream from which to replenish their dwindling water supply (and being careful to filter it), they discovered a large squared off, obviously manufactured stone in a part of the woods dominated by low, overhanging, interconnected trees. The stone is eventually identified as part of an obelisk, which had been hit by some force, its top third snapped off and its base left at an angle.

K’aedreeka and Razor explore the perimeter, discovering the remnants of a city – masonry, bricks and possible outlines of buildings – buried under the woods brush and deep mossy loam. If they had not seen the obelisk the group would have walked right past it. Voilodian and Silver assist Hadassah in clearing the moss off the obelisk to find the carvings underneath – the obelisk apparently was some sort of marker for the territory of Killorian. The name triggered something in Hadassah’s memory, but she can’t quite dredge it up. She just knew it’s important to Hava’s pre-scourge history. Silver’s investigations lead her to a different conclusion: this wasn’t a marker, it was a weapon. Dex headed deeper into the overhanging trees, looking for the top of the obelisk. He realized that the overhangs weren’t reees – they were vines and moss growing over bone…and he finds the crystalline tip of the obelisk buried in an enormous vertebra. He called the others over to investigate, and Silver and Hadassah confirmed that the obelisk point was enchanted and covered with an incredibly delicate filigree – likely Elvish work, possibly T’Skrang. Meanwhile, Dex followed the overgrown spinal column to its terminus, ending standing inside the hollowed out skull of a dragon.

That was where we ended the session.

New Dawn session 2

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