Heather Under Moonlight

Lake Region Saturday Group, 24/01/2026

Edith, Audrey, Lucius, and the crossbowmen huddle in an alleyway. Of the crossbowmen, Robert and Farwyn clutch Allyn, who was badly wounded in action earlier; two others lay heavy crates of laudanum bottles against the side and pitch up to defend the alley's mouth. The party confers for a long while as a crowd gathers in the street outside; Edith slips through, cloaked and hooded, to fetch the cart and escape. The crowd draws thick; then, out of it, berserkers charge with hatchets and crossbowmen lay a rain of bolts on the huddled PCs. Three of the five enemy crossbowmen are laid out by Audrey's illusion wand, and the other two are set to rout. Hatchet blows scrape off Lucius's plate armor and he butchers the hulking men.

Edith and the rest of the party, except for Thistle who wanted to finish her training, show up on the wagon and they flee into the night and fog. Passing a farmhouse, they see some pursuers and take some errant arrows, but are able to evade them. The party makes for Algar's castle, Southwest of Kelling, to sell their goods. Their good fortune holds through the swamp and they almost reach the castle safely, but the night before reaching it, Rachel and Lucius spot movement and lights in the darkness.

A booming, inhuman voice - a minotaur - calls out to ask who goes there. Lucius replies that he is escorting merchants for Thysrus, on official business; a brief negotiation ensues, and Amelius the Minotaur passes on in search of rebels in the woods. The party sells their product to Algar for 8000 GP, meets up with Thistle, and goes North to check out Ambell. they don't find much interesting stuff in Ambell because I apparently lost the piece of paper where I wrote all this shit down? damn. probably gonna be some cool stuff there when they get back though.

Anyway, while Edith and Lucius are training, Rachel and Serenity work for a few nights at the local Ferry-Shrine and are offered an ancient scroll - Raise Dead - if they can figure out what exactly happened to cause all of these refugees who have been entering Ambell from a nearby hamlet. A little investigation reveals that they are cagey about what actually happened to their town; the members of the party who are not busy training gear up to make a visit to the place.

On the way, they encounter a strangely familiar fishing hut, painted a peeling red but otherwise outwardly identical to one they found on the island near the druid's tower. Inside, they find it completely empty and abandoned, save for a straw mattress, small round table, rickety chair, empty cabinet, and fireplace. They spend the rest of the day there, so that they don't arrive at the hamlet at dusk. That night, while staying in the place, something miraculous happens; the fireplace fills with wood on its own. Nothing else of note happens at that little hut.

The next morning, they set out for the abandoned hamlet. They find about a dozen buildings, the outskirts of the fields littered with the decaying bodies of herd animals. One building is totally wrecked, but not burned; another is apparently still inhabited. The rest are totally abandoned. The party pokes around the abandoned buildings and the dead animals a little. First, they find some sheep in a field, which have been apparently mauled by wolves; then a few buildings which were abandoned at a slow and deliberate pace; then a building with an earth mound at the back, and signs of a struggle within. Bowls and spoons are scattered on the floor, and the animals lie dead in the barn-side of the house. Three were mauled by wolves - but one has had its neck snapped by a human being.

Then they come to the destroyed house, and the place is in a terrible state. It is of wattle-and-daub, and has been torn apart by some kind of terrible beast - a bear's claws drag long scratches down the side. Rachel remarks that perhaps the hamlet was not prepared for the rigors imposed by nature. Finally, the decision is made to come to the little house still inhabited. Out of hand, the party notice that her vegetable garden grows garlic; and a bulb has been hung from her door. The recognition is instant. A vampire has been here.

The party knocks on the door and a voice calls from within, telling them that they can't come in here, they can't be about in sunlight, and the last lot ended badly for the town. That's where we left the session.

Next time will be on the 7th - and the party will discover the bloody struggle they face. See you then, everyone. Thank you for reading.