"Forget Side-Tracked, you've been Down-Tracked!
"First there was that strange and disturbing citadel, and then you discovered that there was a 2nd complex of caves beneath it. Now, deep below the earth, you've been beset by all manner of strange beasts, even sentient mushrooms. You feel dis-oriented and out of your depth.
"How far do these caves go? Are mushroom men and underground lobsters really better than orcs? Don't we have a book to deliever?"
The party stands at the fork of the road, having withdrawn before the mushroom men. Goldpetal is above the dungeon on a hill.
Pax: We should go back upstairs. This is not what the Gods want from us. Lets go.
Stone: Where to?
Miriel: What about the orcs?
Teleryn: They might have been washed away.
Stone:We should ask Goldpetal if the orcs have washed away.
Teleryn:I don't see any sign this chasm will lead us back.
Pax:It's a chasm.
Teleryn:And it could go on infinitely. As much as i'd love to explore it, it's not what we should do. I will note its position for future reference.
Miriel:I'm fine with leaving the cavern, but what about the orcs.
Chuck: we've already had this discussion. We decided to go back.
Teleryn: We're going back.
Pax: Back.
Teleryn: Chester, is it still raining?
[silence]
Teleryn: I can't hear him. I don't know if he's not there, but I should be able to hear him. I want to find out what's going on.
Stone: Can we go back to where we fell in and look?
Stone: Can you take this grapple while you fly up and check on him?
Teleryn flies back down the cavern, taking the grapple and attaching it to the rope. The others follow on the ground. Chuck climbs up. Miriel follows. Pax refuses to climb and wants to have the rope tied around her. Stone climbs up, drops the bag, climbs down to help Pax tie the rope. Pax successfully ties the rope, much to Stone's surprise. Stone, irritated, climbs back up and starts pulling. Chuck assists. Pax starts to climb, Stone stops pulling.
The banging is still going on. There are two statues of strange-looking humanoid figures. There's a hole in the cieling with a rope. Teleryn checks on Chester, who is fine. The rain has stopped, but it's foggy, and the waters are starting to recede. Are there orcs? No. We can slip away in the fog. That would be a good idea. They attach the ropes. Chuck goes up. Stone goes up. Goldpetal is staring off into space, meditating. Stone pulls the others up, one by one.
It might be mid-afternoon on the first wilday of corer, but nobody's quite sure, as the fog makes it hard to see. What happened to the orcs? Goldpetal is soaked through, halfway catatonic, bedraggled and annoyed. Teleryn wants to rest, as does Miriel, while the water goes down. Stone checks to see if there's a way through the water, patrolling the perimeter of the hill. Goldpetal wants to know what took them so long. Vera is manacled.
Chuck and Stone disagree about what direction to go in. Goldpetal casts 'know direction' and knows which way north is; that's the (wrong) direction Chuck wants to go in. Everyone tries to move silently as we go southwards. Stone listens. It's strangely quiet and hushed due to the fog. Chuck looks for orcsign and sees nothing. After three hours it gets dark. Rolling hills, moist air. We look for high ground on another hill. Everyone warns Stone to watch his footing. The night passes without incident.
We travel for three days without incident. On the third day, Stone starts to recognize the terrain, and tells long stories about his childhood that put everyone to sleep. The hills get craggy, and on the left, you can see the blood basin in the distance, with the mountains on the right. Mid-day, we're walking single-file on a narrow path, with a rough bluff on the right and a steep ridge plunging 150 feet to the left. Stone leads, with miriel a bit behind. Chuck is looking for an angry monk.
We pass by a rocky bluff, and a guy steps out from the rocks, behind us. He's a large, wizened, broad-soldiered man, old, in peasant robes, and stares at Stone. Stone takes off his pack and crown, walks towards the man, bows, and stands in front of him, waiting for the hit. The man bows, and then attacks Stone with his staff. Teleryn mutters "i thought we were going here because we were welcome." Chuck prepares a rope to catch Stone if he gets thrown off the edge. Stone is hit four times with the staff. Stone attempts to grapple. He fails. The man trips and falls. Stone flurries him with blows. His staff breaks. He stands up from prone, throwing down the two ends of the staff. He hits Stone with a fist, angry. Stone, stunned, swings back wildly and misses. The man, equally incohate, tries to flurry him with blows, and also misses. The man swings back, knocking Stone unconscious.
The party watches in silence. Pax dismounts, wanders over to Stone, intending to heal him. The guy pours a waterskin on Stone, reviving him.
Stone:Master Bear
Master Bear:Stone, you've returned.
Stone:I have. *bows*
Master:Your transition from white lotus to hammerstrike was sloppy. Even a blind ratman would have noticed
Stone:Your white lotus style as always master is complemented by your bluntness.
[The Master tosses the staff pieces over the cliff].
Stone:These are my companions. We have come with a prisoner and to take rest.
Teleryn: and safety.
Stone:You can't help but find safety. You guys will be fine.
[The master is walking really fast. Stone will follow, at speed].
We follow, for half an hour or so, to find a cave. With nothing in it.
Teleryn: I thought there was a monastary.
Stone: there is.
The master cooks tea, with roots in a pot. Goldpetal recognizes the roots; they make an awful tea that's disgusting to drink.
stone: You can come in and enjoy my master's tea, or you can continue on the path to sevenhammerfalls, and meet the monks there.
P:Would you like us to stay?
S: If you want?
T: Would we require introduction?
S: Oh no.
The master gives Stone some bread and tea; he made enough for everyone and is annoyed that we've left. We head down the path for an hour, and see the monastary and falls.
From Josh's Notes: Monastery -- on a bluff at the base of Seven Hammer Falls. Describe Falls, 7 distinct breaks. 100s of feet high. More of a fortress than a Monestary. No guards, gate is open, but the courtyard is filled with about 20 Monks sparring, doing forms, one is even punching a rock repeatedly. All motion stop as the party enters the gate. Met by Master Willow.
We follow the path down to the keep. Miriel is uncertain, she doesn't like the looks of it. It's not a place of Madriel. Teleryn reminds her that we can eject the prisoner here. Pax rides up to the gate, which is unguarded. There are sounds of combat inside. Pax dismounts, and leads her horse through the gate. There's a large courtyard with twenty monks sparring and practicing forms. One of them is punching a rock repeatedly. As soon as she enters the gate, all motion stops, and they look at her. Pax attempts to make the bow that Stone made. One comes up and introduces himself.
I'm master willow. Welcome to 7hammerfalls.
I am Pax [name]. These are my companions. We are friends of Stone, who left six months ago. He has stopped with master B, as you might expect. We've brought a prisoner whom we would like to leave in your care, that you might administer the appropriate justice.
W: You've come to the right place for justice. He welcomes us to the monastary. "Our fare is very meagre, but you are welcome to what you want."
P: It is better than what we've had on the road.
Teleryn inquires after a library. They show us small rooms with cots; Goldpetal enquires after a sleeping place on the roof. (The monks look at him funny). Pax looks after the horses. The commissary has standard fare.
Stone has had six cups of tea. They go for a walk, and climb up above the falls. They watch the sun set over the blood basin. There are winter apples. They can see the fertile plains of vesh, and purple mountain majesty. The leaves that are falling turn to brown.
Master: you know that as an exemplar i've lived many lives, and i actually fought in the titans war in hedrada's army, and the reason i trained you is because i think you might be an exemplar, my companion reborn, master rabbit. i didn't like master rabbit, he wasn't serious enough. at some point you're going to have to go to hedrad and talk to the exemplars there and recover the memories of your past lives, you will know when to go.
our neighbor below, vesh, is like this apple, the fruit of the northern realm, beneath its benign appearance can lurk an ugliness within. (he twists the apple and shows the insides of the apple, rotten, with worms). those who can see, see beneath the surface, there's something rotten in vesh.
[insert speech from DM about the falling of the leaves portending winter].
Josh's Notes:
Discussion between Stone and Bear above the Falls. Can see the fertile plains of Vesh spread out for miles and miles below them. There are a few Winter Apple trees here, some still bearing the last fruit of the season. Leaves from the trees blow gently in the breeze. Bear picks a particularly ripe and delicious looking apple.
"Our neighbor below, Vesh, is like this healthy apple. It is the fruit of the Northern realms. But bengin outward appearances can hide a lurking canker within" With a twist, Bear splits the apple, and shows Stone the rotten, worm-ridden interior. "Those who see the patterns of Order can see beyond the surface. Something is rotten within Vesh."
"To the West, Calastia musters her forces. To the South, the ratman menace is increasing. Mormos minions threaten from all directions. Individually, these events are like leaves falling from a tree, random and unrelated. But together the falling of the leaves portend Winter."
"I have no love for the Veshians, and their lack of discipline. But if Vesh falls, all of Northern Gheldspad will become unbalanced. This must not happen."
"Return here when you have saved Vesh from her enemies."
I have no love for the veshans and their lack of discipline, but if vesh falls, all of northern ghelspad will become unbalanced. return here when you have saved vesh from all of her enemies.
Stone is amazed. Master Bear has never spoken this much total in the 5 years he spent training with him.
C: How long do we stay here?
M: I want to sleep overnight at least
T: I could stay for a week and a half!
C: What for?
T: I'd like to spend a little bit of time in the library.
C: If there's books, Telryn would spend a year in the library.
Telryn goes to the library, where he reads for several hours looking for language viruses, history of the Shadow Citadel, etc. There's a lot of arcana about hedrada.
Stone returns during evening absolutions. Willow comes by. He tells us we can stay the night, but any longer, and we'd have to work for our stay. Chuck tries to buy healing potions. He doesn't have any, but he will sell us some herbs that will increase our natural healing, increasing the level per day natural healing by two. I ask how to find it in the wild, but he's unwilling to teach it. Chuck buys two sets (of five applications each) for 40G.
Pax wants to train with them for purposes of picking up speed, but it's the tail end of the day. They wake her up in the morning to join with them. Stone spends the entire night up, practicing. Around 4 AM we hear the monks starting to pray. They give Pax a crust of bread, and start running up the mountain. Stone paces Pax so she doesn't get lost. They run ahead, getting to the top of the falls. Pax runs into them as they're coming down. Stone dives into the water when they get there. Pax jumps in, it's cold. They run down the hill. The monks are coming back up. Pax is exhausted. The monks do it two more times. Stone tries to catch up but fails. Everyone starts sparring. Pax will play for a while. It's about 8 AM when everyone else gets up.
Everyone eats gruel. Willow brings in a master and a scribe who depose us about the prisoner. They're more than happy to take the prisoner. We get the manacles back. We live around mid-morning, after the gruel and the deposition. Pax makes a donation on the way out. They give us directions to Rika.
Mid-morning the next day we hear hunting horns. A boar comes crashing through the brush and runs across the path, followed by a man on horseback, his cloak streaming behind him. The boar stops, turns around, and rushes towards the man. The party jumps off the path and out of the way. The man on horseback charges towards the boar, jumps on, starts wrestling with it. We're all watching. He pulls out his dagger and slits the boar's throat, killing it. He stands up, covered in blood, with a big gash in his side where he's been speared.
I'm Count Juvnal. Welcome to my lands.
P: Greetings, would you like a hand with the wound on your side?
J: Yeah, it's a nasty cut. You have any bandages? (Pax bandages him).
Pax fails miserably, Goldpetal stops the bleeding and bandages him. Pax introduces herself and her companions, and tells him where we are traveling, and asks permission to pass through his lands. He always likes to see travellers, and invites us to have a meal at his manor.
He has a hunting party of ten men, who have joined us.
P: We could stop for a brief lunch but we need to make more time today.
J: I would love to have you at our manor for our brief repaste. Or we could have one right here (the men are dressing the boar).
Their men have bread and cheese and strong wine, and they share it with us. Teleryn tries to gather information. He tells about his son lucian, who is in the veshan cavalry. He can see that our equipment is worn down, there's a new blacksmith in Rijka, who is eccentric but good. If we're ever in his lands, he'd be happy to have us visit his manor. Where are we going, where are we coming from.
Pax: we're going to rika, we're coming from the monastary.
J:Not a lot of visitors go to the monestary, although i hear the falls are nice at this time of year.
P:Bracing.
J:The hunting is good, but the monks frown on that sort of thing.
P:You frown on hunting? I thought you ate that owlbear?
S:I killed it with my own hands.
P:That was an impressive kill.
J: Thank you I have much experience I was in the veshan cavalry and spent some time with the horsemen up north
T: You must be proud of your son then
L: I just hope he's not dead, and he's no match for his old man
We go our seperate ways, and enquire after a village near his manor, and should we drop by if we're ever nearby; he says yeah, the village's name is Rika.
We get to the village. It's a large city, not as big as Lave, but 20K people. It's a walled city along a small river. By reputation, it's the best cloth in the world; there's decorative, colored, bright, cloth everywhere. There are many Corian paladins.
Chuck suggests we should find the traitor, but Miriel says that it's hopeless, and Chuck says the traitor will come to us. We shouldn't hunt, but we should keep our eyes and ears open. Pax: we'll stay overnight but not tell anyone anything. Chuck wants an inn near the gate, for easy departure if needed. Teleryn wonders if he can sell the map to the underhill dungeon.
Everyone maintains their equipment and restocks, etc. We go to an inn, and people go shopping; Pax and Chuck seek the blacksmith.
Miriel goes to the local temple. It's a militant sect. The Order of the Morning Sky. They're very impressed with her spear, and inquires after its origin; she demurs. She attempts to buy healing spells. She uses the party fund to buy five healing potions.
Chuck goes to the armory, and tries to buy a masterwork composite longbow, but can't afford it.
Goldpetal wanders around, finds someone who isn't doing well, casts plant growth, which increases productivity for half a mile by 1/3 for a year.
Chuck & Pax look for the blacksmith. Everyone they ask about him say he's crazy.
They find the new blacksmith's shop and hear: Get out of my store and never come back. I don't care what you pay me, i'm not working on your swords again. [A guy storms out]. Pax waits a minute or two, then pokes his head in. She sees a big guy, pony tail, tartan kilt, angrily pounding.
It's Fergus.
"You!! What do you want!?"
"I've got some nasty rents in my armor, I was hoping you could look at it?"
"What, killing innocent people who were just minding their own business? What, are you slaughtering helpless goblins again?"
"This time it's not like that."
"I'm not doing any work for you."
"You'd be surprised, the night you left, we didn't actually wind up fighting very many of the goblins at all. We wound up going past them into the cave and rescuing the boy."
"I didn't owe that kid anything."
"No, but we owed Fox something."
He shakes his head and starts banging away at the sword again.
Pax wanders over to the next blacksmith. It will take a couple of hours to fix it. "Trouble next door, eh?"
"Me and Fergus go way back, he's just not happy to see me."
"He's a jerk and he's taking all my business. I can't stand him. He thinks he's so much better than the rest of us."
"Some things never change."
Pax sells the extra masterwork longsword and gets her horse shoed. The blacksmith will fix her armor by the end of the day.
Pax inquires after getting something emblazoned on her shield and he recommends the painter down the way.
Teleryn buys something that the other players aren't allowed to know about. He seeks out the local wizard to buy scrolls, etc. He finds the guy. He has a large personal library and a lab; Teleryn drools. Teleryn tries to sell his scrolls of monster summoning. He offers 75g, which is half-market. Teleryn enquires after a scroll of fireball, but there isn't one. This guy isn't a scroll-maker as a general rule. Teleryn doesn't sell for that price.
Chuck goes to a leather worker to get his armor worked on.
Stone goes to get a swamp garnet appraised. He buys a masterwork artisan toolkits and some peasant shirts.
Stone goes to visit the count, after hearing complaints from the peasants about taxation. He gets past the guard, who doesn't quite believe the count knows him.
How can I help you?
I see you live quite well.
I'm a successful merchant, as well as a count.
I've been to the south, where ratmen armies are being gathered as a threat to the kingdom. Iv'e been to the north where deadmen have come to life, as if on a rampage. I've seen messengers from the Gods. I think these are troubled times, and I don't think that in such troubled times, it's right for a man to be taking extra taxes from their people. You live quite well here, your people do not, and I have heard their complaints. I thought that a man such as yourself, as skilled as you are in hunting and whose soldiers favor your service, should know, that perhaps, he is squeezing too much from the people of the land.
I appreciate you coming. Thanks so much. I don't get out as much as I should and I should talk to the people about this. Perhaps I am squeezing them too much.
Thank you very much. [He wishes him well].
Stone wanders back to the inn. The cider is excellent. (This part of Vesh is known for its hard cider).
We head out the next morning, after splitting the potions of healing among ourselves. The black eagle is a really good inn a day to the east of here, there are regular inns every day. We travel east through rolling countryside with fields alternating with woods. Around nightfall, we come across an inn. Miriel is suspicous; maybe the innkeepers are in league to make everything too expensive.
The ostler comes out and takes the horses, and pax goes to watch the grooming. The inn is crowded.
[We all see different things]. Stone wanders over to a table with a dwarf and a young woman and a merchant, gambling, Chuck follows. Teleryn goes to get a table. Miriel goes over to a table where she sees someone looking sad and asks if she can do anything to help (a female halfling). Goldpetal goes to the bar and orders the biggest mug of ale.
Pax comes in. He walks up to goldpetal, who is waiting for his mug of ale. Stone joins in the five-dice game (stars). Ante is 4sp. The merchant (?) and the dwarf (trom) are doing well, but the other person (ida) is loosing badly. Stone and Chuck both join in.
Pax takes goldpetal back to the table. He finishes the drink, buys another, and orders drinks for the table. Goldpetal orders drinks for everyone at the table and joins the game. He wins suspiciously - the dice are turning over after they stop.
Chuck gets up from the game and brings gold a mug of water gold samples says "what is this crap" and throws it it Chuck
Goldpetal continues to win Dwraf accuses gold of cheating loudly, barkeep breaks up the fight with strong brandy. Stone feeds goldpetal more booze, the dwarf chalenges gold to a drinking contest, at this moment a noblewoman with 5 guards comes in and says "I can't beleive that you've brought ma to place like this"
Dwarf, in a drunken slur, "I'll wager 3 gold thatI can stay standing for longer than you"
Waitress shows up with shots of 'Goblin's Blood', a particularly strong and nasty whisky.
The dwarf falls down after one shot.
gold challenges the table
Stone accepts
Stone passes out as well
Paks tells the captain ofNblwmns guard take your lady upstairs. There's something badly wrong here. meanwhile Nblewmn shouts Theif as GP is seen playing with a dagger that looks like it came from her - crest matches hers.
Paks looks at him, winces, says, "I told you so." Chuck, sitting at the table, saw it land from the air in front of him. He takes his arm around GP, rties to give it back to her. "Here,"
GP Thats my dagger! You can't give it to her!
C It is not!
Five guards surround them, hands on hilts
T casts Dispel Magic on GP
P takes dagger. Is this your crest?
N Yes.
P Then its clearly yours. Gives it back.
Cptn You guys have accosted a noblewoman. Dont let it happen again.
Telryn cast's Bull's Strength on Stone
C Let's go. Tries to escort GP out.
GP What are you talking about? I want another berr.
P We're leaving now.
stranger: Is your friend's name GP?
T: Yeah
s There was some guy named GP here last week. He jumped off the bar, broke his neck.
Chuck tries to escort GP away, GP tlips out of his grasp. Steps up to bar to order another stein
Paks goes to bartender, gives him a PP to cut him off
BT Sorry, son. You're cut off.
GP gives him a PP to pour another
Stone, Paks, Chuck try to grapple him. Despite numbers, strength, He throws them off.
Chuck draws short sword, tries to hit GP with flat of blade. Misses. GP ducks; C hits the bar. GP pulls dagger, stabs him.
Merchant: Oh no! They've drawn weapons! runs, falls. The woman gambling steals half the money on the table.
P looks for an opening
S yells "Hammer Fist", and punches GP, very hard, twice. GP collapses.
P tries to knock C's sword away. "Put that away!" she growls. He sheathes it.
T runs to door
BT jumps up on bar, yells "Cut it out!"
M follows T towards door
D wakes up. "What are you doing to my friend GP?" he tries to tackle C. He runs by Pax, who puts her foot out to trip him. He tries to hit Pax, who trips him. One of the townsmen jumps up. "Hey, you can't do that to Tom", punches Pax. Chuck picks up Goldpetal and inches towards Stone.
The merchant tries to get up from prone, knocks over the table, and spills a drink on a townsman. The woman by the table takes off up the stairs.
Stone waits for the townsman, and will charge if he hits Paks again. Pax ignores him, and walks away. He swings, and hits her armor. "Sorry about that, just keep those platinum," she says to the bartender.
Teleryn is out the door. He walks by a townsman. "I hate adventurers" he says, as he swings at Telyrn. The bartender grabs a cudgel and glares. A townsman tries to grapple with Chuck. He tackles Chuck, goldpetal falls to the ground as chuck goes down.
The guy who attacked Paks joins in the pile. The guy next to the merchant, who the drinks spilled on, punches the merchant, who crumples. The mercenaries and the noblewoman back into the corner. The mercenaries have swords drawn to protect their lady.
Stone kicks one townsman in the head, and the other townsman in the groin. Chuck picks up Goldpetal and stands up again. Paks makes it outside and calls for the horses. Teleryn steps to the door entrance, opens it, and watches. The Bartender orders everyone out. The townsfolk cringe and back into the corners. Stone escorts Chuck out. Everyone gets out of the bar.
We ride away for at least an hour, and look for a place to camp. Chuck ties Goldpetal up and lets him sleep it off. Pax heals Chuck. Teleryn thinks about spells. Teleryn casts 'quicksilver' to relieve Goldetal of intoxication effects and hangovers.
Why am I tied up?
In case you try to attack one of us.
Why would I do that?
You stabbed Chuck.
Was that after he tried to attack me with his sword?
Yeah, and right before I beat you half to death.
Nothing personal.
Do you remember what happened last night?
I remember being really happy, and wanting a drink, and drinking a lot, and .. dice. I remember playing dice. I never knew playing dice was so much fun.
You've never plaid dice in your life before. You drank more than i've ever drunk in my life.
You drank a dwarf and an orc under the table. And you stabbed Chuck. Do you want a drink now? Some water would be nice. [Chuck hands him some water and unties him].
While you were acting strangely, I detected a strange aura on you, but it wasn't something I could understand.
Do you detect it now?
Good question. Casts no
GP Someone must have died in that in.
T Yes. A halfling by the name of Goldpetal died last week.
GP I think his ghost was controlling me, like maybe it thought it was me or something.
T We should go back and try to put the spirit to rest.
S Do you really think that's wise?
T I think Miriel and I should go back and free it. Its Undead, causing mayhem in an inn..
Stone fixes a grand breakfast early in the morning. Teleryn explains about ghosts and possessions and thinks that we should go exorcise it. Teleryn and Miriel want to go alone. Pax wants to go with them. Stone wants to go with them. Goldpetal says, let them go alone, send Chester if they need help. The entire group starts heading back, but Stone, Goldpetal, Chuck, and Paks will hang back, just outside view. We get to the outskirts of the hamlet.
Miriel and Teleryn head for the bar. The bartender recognizes them. "What do you guys want? You're not allowed in here."
"I'd like to apologize for what happened last night but I come with an explanation but I think you're going to want to hear this because it effects your bar significantly."
"I don't want to hear your explanation. Your friend's a drunk. Never come back here."
"Did a halfling die in your bar a week ago?"
"A month ago. A stupid halfling jumped up on the bar, fell off, broke his neck."
"The elf who was drinking last night and making a fool of himself, you may have noticed, he's dressed a little differently, he's a elven druid. He doesn't act like that. He doesn't drink."
"He was sure drinking last night."
"I think he was possessed."
"Yeah, sure. Possessed. We've heard that story before."
"The halfling who died, was his name Goldpetal?"
"Yeah, maybe, but so what?"
"That's our friend's name, too. We think we can exorcise the spirit, I know it sounds crazy."
"Hmm. OK, if you aren't going to hurt anything or cause any trouble, i guess you can go ahead."
"If we damage anything we'll pay for it."
"Pay for it? I'll knock you over the head and throw you out."
Miriel and Teleryn debate how to make the ghost go away. Can they turn it? Consecrate the bar where it died? Teleryn tries to talk to the spirit. A disembodied halfling voice says "what do you want, leave me alone. can i have a drink?"
"what did you leave unfinished in your life?"
"unfinished? i just want another beer."
They decide they can't make the shade rest, so they'd better turn it. Miriel turns it. "Hey, that hurt, what did you do that for, ouch ....". Miriel isn't sure that was the right thing to do, and prays to Miriel. Teleryn insists it was undead, it needed to be destroyed. Miriel feels sorry for it. The innkeeper looks at them strangely, he tells them to take off and not come back.
We continue on the road to Lave. Miriel complains about the recommended inn, Pax suggests it was the Gods recommending that we take care of this problem.
It's a beautiful, crisp winter day. Teleryn casts mage armor on himself. The day is too good to be true. By mid-afternoon, the road starts to wind, and we're along a bluff, way up above a valley. The road winds for miles along below us. Visibility is 20 miles or more. A bunch of us see a single man, about three miles away. He's at the edge of the road in front of a copse of trees. He's wearing black plate armor, and a giant helmet with curved horns. He waves at us. Pax waves back. He draws a pair of axes and makes an ornate salute. Paks rides down the road towards him. He walks into the wood, and then he drags someone out of the wood, that's tied up. He pulls out a second, a third, and a fourth. Chuck has a bad feeling about this. The tied up people are alive and struggling. The rest of us follow. He draws his axes and starts hacking them up in front of us. Everyone charges. By the time we get into bowshot range, he's gone; he salutes us and takes off into the woods. Chester looks for him. His footprints disappear into the woods. GP changes into a cheetah and tries to follow his scent, but fails. The bodies are hacked to pieces. They're Veshan militia. "Poor bastards", Stone says. "At least they're soldiers", says Chuck.
Stone and GP go into the forest to look around. Chuck goes in a bit and tries looking for tracks again. Teleryn and Miriel begin digging graves. Stone makes a cookpit and a smoke fire. After ten minutes or so, Stone goes back and searches the bodies; GP continues wandering through the forest. Their weapons are broken, just inside the woods. Pax collects the dogtags. They're from a town near here, says Chuck.