11: Where the Rivers Meet

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## Summary

### Hark! Another Sidequest!

The party heads off on the road to the southwest, and is soon sidetracked by a curious noise ringing through the trees. After a brief investigation, Luca finds Dell, a human boy from Bran’s village who is looking for the village's missing sheep. The party begins to follow him to **Stonetree Village**, a humble town tucked away in the foothills where the Twin rivers meet, and Dell interrogates them along the way. Upon their arrival, Bran introduces the gang to his parents and gives his father a full (if slightly underplayed) recap of their adventures thus far. After lunch at Bran's house, his mother Roz recruits the gang to the village’s latest cause: the seven missing sheep. One afternoon of shenanigans later, including a peek at Bran's bedroom and a meeting with Balaayt's most famous landscape painter, the party follows an ominous trail of blood to the mouth of a cave far outside the bounds of the village.

Faced with the cave’s powerful stench, Keller bails to take the rest of the sheep back to the farm while the party wonders what is hiding inside. After Tira's unsuccessful attempt to lure whatever hostile beast lay within by pretending to be a sheep herself, Cat sends his spider familiar in and gets a glimpse of what awaits them: creepy, ceiling-crawling cave people. The party descends into the cave, and finds the corpse of one of the missing sheep. Apprehensive, Cat sends his spider familiar deeper into the underground chambers, but before he can make out what lies at the heart of the cave, his spider is squashed by a hideous cave-dweller.

Sensing an opportunity to sneak up on their foes, Mujie casts Pass Without Trace on the party, allowing them to advance undetected and get the jump on what turns out to be five cave-dwellers and a troll. With some help from Mahi's Faerie Fire, Luca's Moonbeam, and Cat's Firebolts, Bran eventually deals the killing blow to the troll, and the party finishes off its cohort of lesser monsters.

Exploring the cave further, Luca finds something interesting—a leather-bound journal with the crazed scrawlings of a member of the Illumined—and the party gathers the remains of the fallen sheep. With Blossom, Sweetpea, and Prudence in tow, they make for the village.

### Sunday Feast

The party returns, finding a knightly reward awaiting them: three ancient, cantankerous donkeys to serve as their mighty steeds. The rest of the village gathers for Sunday Feast, and the party gets an evening to wind down and let loose. Luca chats with Aster’s mother Daliya, Keller and Mujie show Dell’s sister Sheena how to hand roll cigarettes, Mahi reminds Roz how cool Bran is, Tira rebuffs the village Gaston, and Cat gets harassed by young children. As the feast winds down, Tira's mind drifts to the prize she’d claimed from Mitro’s Arkspring: the Deck of Many Things. Noticing her dilemma, the rest of the party weighs the pros and cons of pulling a card, and Mujie, deciding it to be the perfect time to consult his God, flips the coin again. It lands on the Arkring, and after a heavy silence, the gang notices Tira’s flail gleaming in the dim twilight.

Taking the omen as Mitro’s blessing, of sorts, Tira takes a card from the top of the deck to reveal The Knight card. And then, in an instant, and with a clatter, there’s a young **Wood Elf fighter** sitting on the table in front of them all.

## Quotes

### *YOUR MOM'S GONNA KILL ME:*

> “How the hell’d you get all the way out here, you gotdang no-good sheep!”
>
>

> “Whoa, who are your weirdo friends? City folk?”
>
>

*—Dell, upon meeting the party*

### *BUT YOU MIGHT BE FIRST:*

> “What in the Hells is going on in here? You brought everyone in the realm back *but* Aster? You know what I said about having friends over without giving me any warning!!”
>
>

> “Come on, Bran, don’t just stand there, help me bring out the guest table from the barn. Jeez, you kill ONE troll and suddenly you’re TOO GOOD for Sunday dinner…”
>
>

*—Roz*

### *CAN I HELP YOU?*

> "...Huh?"
>
>

*—Wood Elf Knight*