Chapter 1: The Illness

Session 1
May Day is the festival of Abram, god of the sun and agriculture. In Red Deer, this means games, gambling, food, drink, travelling merchants, and chasing down a greased pig. Vyre and Gulo, planning to move on from Red Deer any time now, have decided to check out the festival — for Vyre, it is destined to be a quaint echo of the grand celebrations she saw back in San Fran, while for Gulo, this will mark his very first festival.

The day before, Vyre had checked in with Elfrieda regarding an elf named Trennen. Elfrieda had confirmed a man fitting his description had come through Red Deer about two months before, distressed but eager to make his way south to Mohkinstsis so he could return home via teleportation circle.

Meanwhile, Seth spent the night at Zohal's cabin, one she fixed up with Telmo's help from the state of relative disrepair it had been left in. Before they'd begun their night's rest, Zo had showed Seth around town a bit, introducing her to Beatriz and going fishing for their dinner — Seth caught a trout, which looked very large when she held it but was, on the whole, of about average trout size.

Vyre and Gulo were the first to arrive, leaving their rooms at the Troubled Monk to discover Erin manning the beer booth. After a brief discussion of which festival games were or weren't crooked, and after Erin mixed the various beers being offered into two hybrid pints for Gulo, the pair went over to try their hand at the Wheel of Fate, run by a pink-haired man named Rowan. Vyre's luck seemed sour, but Gulo doubled his money over the next few minutes.

Seth and Zo approached the booth, greeting the strangers, with Zo making a few silver herself. The group decided to move on as a whole to the next game — Fae's Favour, where Sam Hawkins joined them. Again, Gulo's luck proved fair, as he made a few gold for himself.

Finally, they made their way over to the arm wrestling, where defending champion Sybbyl Cornwallis took on Vyre, only to find herself abruptly unseated. This is where Rorrik came in, his arrival marking the beginning of our heroes becoming the team that would save Red Deer from certain destruction. Rorrik, who had been a little late coming to the festival as he was preoccupied with the mysterious illness that had popped up around town in the last week, challenged Vyre, and narrowly defeated her.

With Gulo now well into his hybrid pints, it was him and Sam who went to try to chase down the greased pig — a time-honoured May Day tradition in Red Deer, with the winner receiving their first choice of the roast pork that evening. For the first time, Gulo's companions realized just how fast he could move; he pinned the pig down easily, winning without even a hint of competition from the others. Erin brought him over some more Very Special Beer as a reward for his stunning victory, and — eager to prove their own talents — the group moved on to the archery competition. While Gulo enjoyed his well-earned beer, the others attempted to shoot progressively more difficult targets. Seth and Sam struggled to hit the farther targets, while Rorrik calmly stuck to shooting the closest one, which he knew he could hit consistently. Zo and Vyre both did well for themselves, only missing one target — but they wouldn't find out whether or not they'd placed among the top archers until that evening, when the competition was done.

Wandering around, Seth and Zohal spotted Seán, the vampire they'd met the previous day in a dungeon, wearing the same clothes as the day before, with the addition of a huge sunhat bedecked with fake daisies. While they chatted with the irreverent vampire, Zo noticed an unsettling sight — the butcher, walking with purpose, gaze distant, clutching a cleaver. She and Rorrik went to speak to Wei, who promptly tried to attack them. They subdued her without violence, and escorted her to the temple — at this point, Rorrik mentioned some people had been acting strangely due to a strange illness, news to most of our heroes.

Here, those less familiar with Red Deer met Kiran Ross for the first time, who came at Rorrik's summoning. Kiran admitted they knew of at least another case that had progressed to strange behaviour, but that it's proven difficult to identify who is coming down with the sickness until it's progressed to that point. Unsettled, but willing to help, the party made their way back to the festival to try to learn more — only Zo, Rorrik, and Seth saw a similarly deranged-looking man sneaking up behind Seán, clutching a wooden stake.

Session 2
Of the three, only Zo and Rorrik recognized the man sneaking up on Seán: Genberos Rezumenko, a local werewolf and the town drunk. Once again, Zo and Rorrik took the lead on peacefully subduing the sick man.

Realizing that this situation is devolving fast, our heroes discussed what to do next. After some discussion, they agreed to tell the townspeople that they have a medicine for the one symptom Kiran suggested preceded the strange behaviour: restless sleep. Whoever expressed interest in the medicine could then be followed up on before, say, they got a taste for homicidal acts. Seán eagerly volunteered to help con the townspeople.

Our heroes took their second patient of the day to the temple, and asked to speak to the one person Kiran had already had under their care: Ju Nadeau, the baker, her mind temporarily cleared by Greater Restoration. They agreed to go look for clues around her home and the bakery. On the way, they did their best to generate excitement for Seán's miracle sleep aid; they do not achieve this goal.

Gulo casually broke into the bakery, which Vyre found utterly beneath her standards. They inspected the food and kitchen for signs of contamination, but found none. Planning to check Ju's home or perhaps the butcher's next, they headed out — it is at this point that Zo used her druidic magic to check for poison or disease in the area, and came to a horrifying realization: most of their number were already infected, as were most of the people milling about the festival.

Casting around to see if anyone seemed more ill than the rest, Zo had another unsettling realization: a heavy aura of sickness hung over Sam, much farther along than the miasma of illness around the rest of them. Sam took the news about as well as someone could be expected to, but became agitated when the party said she would have to stay at the temple for observation, claiming the temple did not have the resources to contain her if she went mad. Eventually, however, she gave in to their protests, stomping off to find a room at the temple.

Discussing what to do next, the party decided to go searching for Tolvis, an elven druid who lives outside of Red Deer, and who was the only other lead they received from Ju while she was lucid. On the way, Zo asked to stop by the home of her friends, Chandra and Gin — Gin had come down with a cold a few days earlier which suddenly seemed much more menacing than it had that morning. Chandra was disturbed by our heroes' news regarding the illness, but agreed she'd take Gin to the temple instead of letting her rest at home. With Zo's friends warned, the party began their journey north, hoping to find answers.

Session 3
The party followed the river north-northeast, with Zo taking the lead, as the one most used to scouting out through the wilderness. After a couple of hours of searching, she and Lynxy noticed trouble up ahead: a handful of undead, skeletons and zombies. Working together, they neatly dispatched all five, though both Lynxy and Gulo had injuries, the bite on Gulo's shoulder being especially nasty.

Scouring the fallen enemies for clues or loot, the only point of interest was found by Seth: a piece of copper that looked as though it may once have been worn around the neck of one of them.

After another couple of hours, our heroes found themselves attacked once more, this time by sentient plant creatures, almost humanoid in shape. The battle is brief, but brutal: Zo, Vyre, and Gulo all sustain heavy injuries, while Lynxy is squeezed to death in front of their very eyes.

Session 4
Collecting themselves in the aftermath of the body, Zo wrapped Lynxy's body in a makeshift sling, carrying it on her back. They press on, with Seth giving her first of many academic lectures to the group, explaining that what they just fought were various species of blights.

As they press on, Rorrik notices something unsettling: Gulo's zombie bite appears to have opened up again, despite having been magically healed earlier by Vyre. Rorrik realizes that unless it's properly treated soon, it will fester, and Gulo may himself join the ranks of the undead. Still, only being able to handle one health crisis at a time, they press on, eventually coming face to crazed face with Tolvis.

It quickly became obvious that Tolvis had also been infected, as his behaviour was erratic and his speech nonsensical. Completely nude, covered in twigs and mud that camouflaged him so effectively he looked at first to be just another bush, he babbled about "them" — had our heroes seen them? They had to help them. Finally, something snapped in Tolvis, and he attacked. He proved much more difficult to subdue than the townspeople had been, which called for different tactics — Gulo began to serenade him with his ukelele, which seemed to have a calming effect on the mad druid. Finally, our heroes managed to pin him and calm him down, getting a degree more coherence out of him — he mentioned vines by the two lakes where the river curves, matching the description of an area Zohal knew further north.

Hearing a branch snap behind them, our heroes turned to find none other than Shelby Ball, a pretty teenaged werewolf. She claimed she'd been sent to check up on them by her brother Kyle, and seemed perplexed by what she'd walked in on. After a tense exchange, she offered to take Tolvis back to the temple herself, saying carrying him would be easy. She offered them supplies for their night's rest, including smoked meats and some extremely nice wine that her parents probably didn't appreciate her giving away. She mentioned the area they'd be going to was the old golf course, which led to Seth enthusiastically but not entirely accurately explaining golf.

Making camp for the night, they took turns taking watch, with Vyre and Seth going first and talking about family, their reasons for travelling, and so on — like so many adventurers before them, they generally refrained from mentioning the important parts of their individual quests. Gulo and Rorrik spoke less on their shift, with Rorrik trying to seek guidance from his god, but finding no answers in the silence of the spring evening.

Session 4 (cont)
That morning, Vyre attempts to use her paladin abilities to seal up Gulo's wound — it seems to work, though the day before a Cure Wounds spell had seemed to work at first, too. Heading to the area Tolvis had described, some of their number began to notice strange, dead-looking vines that seemed out of place with the foliage around them. After a brief discussion, they agreed to try to burn the vines down. A moment later, a thorn shot out from the vines into Gulo's leg, and he fell to his knees, seemingly going into some sort of horrified trance. As Vyre continued to try to burn down the vines, Gulo began to shriek in agony. A moment later, Zo was also struck by one of the thorns, and dropped into a similar state. Seth, also struck, managed to connect with the vines, and she began to try to converse with them to see what they wanted.

In desperation, the Thorns sent out visions, trying to connect with our heroes. Rorrik saw a handsome elven man, his smile splitting his face from ear to pointed ear, blood spilling from his throat. Seth saw a priest in elaborate white and gold robes beating a huge, scarred lion bloody with a jewelled satin slipper. Zohal saw a throat constrict, then split open, a thousand scarabs skittering forth over skin that turned to stone, the beetles taking to air all at once. Vyre saw a humanoid shape wreathed in fire, speaking words she couldn't hear, its eyes bottomless pits of blackness. And Gulo saw a young gnome, strikingly similar in appearance to Seth, but with shorter hair and broader cheekbones, surrounded by a faint green light, eyes going distant.

And the images disappeared.

One by one, all but Rorrik forged a psychic connection with the vines, with Vyre in particular exasperated by their pleas. Putting out the fire, those connected saw a vision of three large thorns, lit with an inner light. From the center of the plant rose a nest of vines and thorns, presented like an altar, opening up to reveal three large thorns, a darker and richer brown than the rest of the plant. Gradually, they come to a realization: to stop the illness, which seems to have been caused by the plants psychic powers, they must agree to host the thorns and try to return them to their home, which Seth believes to be the Ethereal Plane. Zohal, Vyre, and Gulo agree to the burden, and the thorns embed themselves deep in the backs of their right jaws. Immediately, the rest of the vines began to wither, gray, and crackle into dust. Immediately, the party feels better than they have in days, some of the lingering sense of fatigue lifting.

On their way back, they look for golf balls, with most of them finding some, and Gulo finding four. Thus, a new currency is born.

Session 5
Once back in Red Deer, our heroes head straight for the Temple of Honour, eager to confirm the illness has been cured, that Gulo is no longer in danger from his bite, and whether or not Lynxy might be revived. On the way back, Seth suddenly finds herself unable to communicate — though she feels fine, every word she speaks comes out as gibberish. They meet Edric Lewis, a new acolyte at the temple, who fetches Kiran to assist them. Kiran seems unable to establish what is going on with Seth, though they advise her to return the following day if her symptoms haven't cleared up.

The party checks on Ju, who seems a little more coherent than last time. With this hopeful sign, they ask if Kiran might be willing to resurrect Lynxy.

Kiran, who has never been asked to resurrect a lynx before, agrees at least partly out of sheer curiosity.

So the party undertakes their first resurrection ceremony. Runes are drawn, diamonds are chosen, incense is lit. Gulo serenades Lynxy, Zo tries to woo with scritching, Rorrik lights his favourite incense and... life is returned to the lynx who, no longer under the effects of Zo's magic, runs for it. The party spends the next several minutes trying and failing to herd cat. Finally leading Lynxy to the exit with food (forever Lynxy's downfall), they watch as the lynx bolts off into town.

Next, they ask after Sam, and are given the opportunity to say hi to her, only to discover... she's gone missing. It seems that at some point since the previous afternoon, she had broken out of her room.

Going to inform Elfrieda of their victory over the mysterious illness, our heroes are informed Elfrieda can't pay them until she's confirmed with Kiran, but she seems rather friendlier than she had been with most of them up until this point. She seems fascinated by the thorns three of them now carry. When asked about how to get to the Ethereal Plane, she recommends talking to Sam. When the party mentions that Sam is now missing, Elfrieda doesn't seem overly concerned, saying Sam's never done well with confinement, and she'll turn up sooner or later. Still, she'll look into other escorts via the Guard who might be able to take them there.

Our heroes stopped by the Phoenix Forge, picking up some horseshoes Vyre had commissioned the day before. After talking with Gulo about his search for answers, Brenras reluctantly agreed to meet them that night at the Troubled Monk to talk further.

As left, Seth had a singular experience: a strange voice with a strange accent speaking directly into her mind, identifying itself as Earl, and stating it was with her twin, who was leaving Coevorden, headed down the coast.

Session 6
That night, the party had dinner and drinks at the Troubled Monk. Gulo and Zo struck up a duet with ukelele and drums, and it was not a pleasant experience for anyone. After a time, Brenras arrived, and told Gulo what little she knew about his past: that a man and a woman who looked sort of like him had come through Red Deer maybe a decade and a half before. She'd never personally interacted with them, but she remembered them clear enough, since she'd never seen anyone like them before and — up until Gulo's arrival — hadn't seen anyone like them since.

With reluctance, she recommended he talk with Francisca Crawford, the local Madam, if he wanted to learn more, but she warned him that Francisca didn't give information away for free.

Later that night, Vyre reached out to her god, receiving an answer not in words but in the sense that she was on the right path. Gulo has his first warm bath in two years — Erin gives him the good bubble bath, 'cause he's earned it.

Session 6 (cont)
Rorrik sent a prayer to his own god, reflecting on the troubling vision the vines had given him — like Vyre, he received no words in answer, but the sense that he was on the right path.

Our heroes, gathering for breakfast, received payment for their good deed and chatted briefly with Elfrieda, expressing concern that Sam hadn't shown up yet. Again, Elfrieda seemed unconcerned, noting that Sam has a pretty good track record when it comes to taking care of herself. For lack of anything better to do, they made their way to the Red Bed and Francisca Crawford, with both Gulo and Vyre hoping to find answers there. The rest of the gang chow down on some wings.

Francisca agrees to look into the matter of Gulo's missing parents, promising to tell him whatever she finds if he can bring back one of two things: the blood of a phase spider or the heartstone of a night hag.

Vyre is the next to ascend the stairs to Francisca's room, removing her ever-present high collar to show the scars Trennen left her with. He killed his wife, and as Vyre is the wife he killed, she'd rather like to know more before she confronts him to take back what he stole: an artefact of her family's, a waystone that allows travel between Ki and An via a stable portal outside San Francisco and Baldur's Gate.

In exchange, she offers first crack at her family's imports. Francisca accepts the deal, promising to look into the matter.

Session 7
Back in the Red Bed's tavern room, our heroes were gifted a map of Red Deer, as well as a letter from Francisca telling Ade Fowler, owner of the general store, to give them a map of the area and put it on her tab.

With map and letter in hand, our heroes made their way to the general store. While most of the party browsed the long, dimly lit aisles, Zo began to bargain with Ade to sell the loot she had found in the dungeon with Seth, receiving a final offer of 125 gp, which she gladly accepted. Purchasing healer's kits, rations, and various other supplies, as well as the map — and after a brief disagreement re: whether or not Vyre could received an A(K)MA discount without her card — they made their way to La Voile Sauvage.

On their way, they stopped off at the Stables, where Zo checked in with Chandra, who iswasappropriately bewildered by what Zo's been up to, and ordered Zo to come get drunk with her and Gin before going off to any other planes.

At La Voile Sauvage, the party quickly realized most of Beatriz's wares were out of their tax bracket. However, Beatriz offered to look into a few things for them — location spells for Vyre, spell scrolls for Seth, and potion and salve recipes for Rorrik.

Vyre asked about Beatriz's fortune-telling and was immediately made to regret her decision. Rorrik also had his cards read, but was much less unsettled by the experience than Vyre was.

Seth asked Beatriz if she knew anything about the strange rocks she'd been compulsively collecting at her patron's will; Beatriz answered that they were hematite, widely believed to be helpful in removing toxins from body and soul alike.

Not long after, the party went their separate ways to run various errands, with both Rorrik and Zo successfully foraging for ingredients for their herbalism. Meanwhile, Vyre and Seth went to the temple to ask if they could help them find information — Kiran offers the women free reign in their personal library. Vyre manages to get an overview of the area's history from the ensuing hours of reading, getting the sense that the area never really recovered from the Great Rising, due to its harsh winters and ensuing lower rate of resettlement. Seth, troubled by her earlier fit of incoherence, did some research into madness, but found little that would explain what she had experienced.

Wrapping up their research for the evening, they went to meet the others back at the Troubled Monk, and Seth received another message from Earl, who informs Seth she can reach Deckhun by mail in Seattle for the time being. With this perplexing development in mind, she went for a late dinner with her new travelling companions, to see what new adventures the next day would bring.

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