Session Date: 07/22/2024
Bosch lays down and watches the sky as the flying thing hunts the bats - they’re an amalgamation creature called a Peryton. They can rip hearts out of bodies. Bosch thinks it’s not interested in hunting us, and Mary explains they are not native to here. They’re intelligent enough to be cruel, and know speech.
We all agree that we need to find cover and start off toward the building that Faylen pointed out at the top of the hill. The way this place is has a strange, unpleasant quality to it: there are places where the ground takes on a strange quality that is incredibly unpleasant to walk on, causing everyone but Faylen to occasionally make a noise of disgust as we continue. We push ahead and there are more animals, another peryton that is disinterested in us. We’re all aware of how fundamentally wrong it is here.
We find Carver unconscious on the ground thanks to the help of his dreadsteed. It seems that he used some talisman while falling unconscious, and it it noticeable how the area around us seems to be somewhat untouched. Mary starts to work on Carver to make sure he’s okay, asking Faylen to check the talisman and see what it is, if he can.
Faylen checks the talisman:
He’s heard of it before - it’s something that people in the high Commonwealth have access to. In normal circumstances it would encase him in a healing cocoon, or kept him safe. Here, however, it seems it reacted with the shadow magic and kept him safe by not allowing the surroundings to change too much.
Bosch, for his part, steps in something rather unpleasant and makes a sound of disgust. He shakes it off of his foot then steps into some normal mud, which then is consumed by the spell.
Tabby hears the sound of crying not too far off, but far enough off he has to leave the group. He heads toward it and finds a hunched possibly human child with their back turned to him. This is definitely the source of the crying. The child turn towards Tabby and their features don’t seem human - they seem almost created by someone who has a vague idea of what a human is. The eyes are completely blank and look past Tabby. It opens its mouth and then the sound of crying comes out of the maw, but it does nothing else. It does not seem any shadow magic was involved with this being, it could be something else.
Tabby rushes back to the group and recruits Bosch to look at it with him, but by the time they return it is gone. Tabby sort of wants to investigate more, but Bosch says that he is fresh out of magnifying glasses and pipes and heads back to the group.
Carver slowly opens his eyes and sees Mary and Faylen. Mary tells him to take it slow and Carver starts to exclaim that he can’t otherwise he’ll change the entire city (Argent) will change the entire city, then he notices that the entire city is changed. Faylen mentions that the spell is actually still ongoing, it’s not done yet.
Carver explains he was doing his recon, interviewing people who wanted to leave Shelmourn and trying to find a place they can stay. He thought it was a storm coming in, but a vision of shadow came in - the building in the middle used to be a temple. He feels as if he failed, but continues to say that Argent cast the spell and heard screaming, and he used amulet to save his life. Mary says that it worked, and now we have another chance to find Argent and stop him now. Carver isn’t so sure that Argent knew what he was doing, but here we are. Carver has the impression that Argent truly believes the
Based on the description Tabby gives, Faylen has no idea what the creature he saw was. Faylen can make guess it might have been something from the Dark Demesne. Tabby wonders if perhaps it was someone affected by the Dark Demesne, which is also possible.
(Hello fellow gamers, I just want to make the comment that Faylen very much thinks the denizens of the Dark Demesne are possibly trying to communicate with them.)
We get Carver atop his steed and continue toward the structure that was once the temple. Faylen comments that surely the Seal of Infinity can fix this (saying just the Seal, not the full name) and Mary wonders if there is a shard of the Seal that is partially responsible for this. Faylen very much believes it is, and surely the Seal can undo what a piece of it already did.
Carver gloms onto this and asks if it’s the Seal of Infinity, and Faylen diverts the conversation in a way that Bosch can start talking and distract Carver. It becomes Bosch’s goal to cheer up Carver and keep him from asking about the Seal of Infinity.
Mary has Talitha scouting ahead for us, and Tabby and Mary are keeping an eye out as they keep going. Tabby and Mary don’t notice as a voice calls out from above saying we don’t belong here, and they thought something was here. There’s a little bit of back and forth before the peryton calls out for others to join it. We aren’t sure if these things were brought forth, or if they are what happened to the citizens.
This is what a peryton looks like:
Combat begins.
Humanoid figures:
- AC: around 17
- Attack: +6
- Notes:
- Poisoned blades
- Don’t seem entirely real - attacks more disrupt their cohesion
Peryton:
- AC: around 18
- Notes:
- Shadows can take the form of other things
- Was actually a real creature, but encased in shadow
- Notable moments:
- Gored Faylen on his antlers for 40 points of damage
After combat, Mary goes over and patches Faylen up. He’s not 100% but he’s feeling much better. Carver and his steed returns, checking to make sure all of the combat is over. We confirm it is and we take a moment to gather ourselves up and then we continue on toward the temple structure.