Session 1 Summary

## Start Date - End Date

Amta, Veluna 15th, 870 - Seata, Veluna 21st, 870

## Beginnings in Tengoku

The party, composed of Astrid Underbrush, Illumi Zoldyck, Gorbit Stickymind, and Gribblet Storyweaver received on the 15th Veluna confirmation by the Archurator society of their acceptance into the ranks of the Society, each returning to the tower seperately to have their first meeting with their team and discussion of their role in the Society.

In the Kodai Library the party met for the first time within the office of Kazko Textsipper, a grumpy Shuj Grippli with a soft spot for Crekara. Kazko explained that the role of Society members is mostly to record the details of their adventures into a Compendium, a magical notebook that receives the information encoded within and returns it to the Kodai Library to be sorted and dissemenated to the public as appropriate. Kazko also explained that the Guild offers commisioned tasks to their members that they receive from the general public from which members can receive a bounty of gold for the completion thereof.

The party expressed interest in a task for the guild proper, eventually deciding on the investigation of rumors of a beast in the Pawpaw Forest kidnapping children into the woods. After exiting the Library the party made their way to the Silver Line that runs through Tengoku, boarding it without any trouble and heading first to the Seifu district, where the local paper had mentioned the overnight appearance of a statue in the Northern Plaza of the district.

The party arrived to see a group of guardsmen and a figure covered entirely in black investigating the statue depicting the noblewoman Caikalyn Birieth as a mermaid like creature lounging within the pond. The guard's largely rebuked the party for attempting to investigate more closely, explaining that the black figure, Baron Tel Sendre, was already investigating the matter.

Sent off by the guard, the party returned to the Silver Line, again boarding without mention of any sort of pass, and took transit to the Ikebukuro district, the southernmost section of the city and area of largely simple restauraunts, bars, and plain housing. They exited through the South Gate, meeting up with a friend of Kazko, Nesterin Matohs, who had agreed to supply the party with a horse and cart under the naive condition that no harm come to the horse on their travels.

## We Had One Job

The party rode the cart south, eventually resting for the night midway down the southern road and between the vast fields of grain maintained by the town of Tengoku to feed the population. Taking turns with watch, the party eventually encountered a burrowing insectoid creature known as an Ankheg, which injured the horse, downed Gribblit and attempted to drag Gorbit to his demise under the ground. The quick actions of Illumi saved the life of Gorbit, however, and they were left harvesting the beast for meat and plate.

## Bubbly Beer and Milk

The party arrived roughly a day and a half later in the town of Torrine, a simple farming village of no more than eight houses. Heading into the local tavern, Terryn's Tavern, the party met a friendly woman named Sila Terryn who served them ale, including a strange bubbling concoction she called Crystal Lager, and offered them tankards of milk on the house. They found this all immensely suspicious. The party eventually asked Sila about the dissapearance of children from the area, but she admitted to not knowing much other than that roughly six children had dissapeared, the first being Neli Donnovan, daughter of the towns rancher.

The party then began an impromptu performance to attempt to raise funds for the adventure in the tavern, summoning the majority of the village into the tavern, including an intoxicated and solemn Ned.

The party questioned Ned about the situation over drinks, eventually concocting a plan to disguise Gribblit as a young child and trap the beast when it attempted to spirit him off. The party acquired clothes from Ned's wife Riley Donnovan, and went to lie in wait in the field.

## Battle against an Invisible Foe

After some time passed, Gribblit heard a voice from inside the Pawpaw call to him, asking him to come play in the forest and attempting to compel him to obey it. Easily resisting the grasp of the creature, however, Gribblit instead stalled it long enough for Illumi to get in position to strike it. The party scuffled with the creature, with Gribblit eventually managing to hook it with his fishing line and reel himself up to its back while the rest of the party gave chase. From the back of the creature Gribblit wielded his fishing pole and struck the beast down, plummeting to the forest below with Gribblit narrowly surviving.

## Into the Pawpaw?

Deciding that from this position they had no way to know where the beast might have been fleeing, the group resolved to head deeper into the forest in search of a sign of where the lost children of the forest might be. After roughly 10 minutes of trekking into the forest the party came across a light slightly deeper in, and experienced for the first time the strange anomalies of the forest that allow the creatures of the Veil to come dangerously close to the mortal realm.

## Contract?

Gribblit moved to investigate the fire while Illumi approached from the side. Upon arriving Gribblit discovered that the group about the fire was indeed a group of children with an unexpected extra amongst their numbers. A creature appeared behind an unaware Gribblit as he investigated the children, explaining to Illumi and Gorbit that he was well aware of their presences and that they should come into the safety of the fire to talk. Gorbit spoke back to the creature, alerting Gribblit to its presence as the other two members entered into the clearing as Astrid circled the clearing at a distance.

The party learned that the creature, a slender beast with the head of a ram and strange red marking covering its body, was capable of granting them considerable power at the price of their soul. Initially tempted by the prospect, Gorbit noted that the creature was perched upon a rock of strange markings, prompting him to lob a rock at the runes which the creature hastily blocked, alerting Illumi to the potential importance of the runes as he struck out with holy water, dispelling the beast. Searching the surrounding area, Gribblet managed to find a pendant with a strange engraving, "May this bauble keep you healthy my student", as Astrid managed to find a Path Stone embedded in the rock that the demon was perched upon.

## Out of the Pawpaw!

The children around the fire were brought to awareness at the banishment of the creature, setting into a panic as they realized they were lost in the woods. The party set to work calming the panicked children as Astrid made note of one still sitting entranced by the fire. Suspicious of the young girl, he approached, only to be growled at. Attempting shortly after to manacle the child, who lashed out at him as he did so, attempting to bite into his arm. Astrid eventually managed to manacle the child as the light of the fire flickered and died. Meli then alerted the party that the moon was getting full, and that her parents had told her to not be in the forest come midnight. Creating light by any means they could, the group herded the children to the outskirts of the forest, keeping a careful eye on the manacled child as they did so.

After exiting, the group led the children back to Terryn's Tavern, where the parents rushed to retrieve their children, paying little attention to the scruffier manacled child who remained unclaimed.

Astrid watched as Ned went to inspect his daughter, checking her for injuries and bruises and eventually discovering strange markings on her body that Gorbit was able to identify as a contract she had signed for her protection in the Pawpaw, and that the creature she had signed her soul away to was a beast named Focegaomar. The party resolved to try to dispel the contract.

## I Hit the Child (In a Lawful Good Way)

Deciding that the contract would be voided if the creature failed to protect the children while they were in the forest, the party gained the permission of Ned to attempt to strike his daughter, hoping that this would be enough harm to save Neli's soul from the demon.

Gorbit took the initiative, attempting a backhand against Nelly that was stopped just short of her body as an arcane surge tore through Gorbit's arm, flaying the hand open and causing Gorbit to faint from the pain. As he was nursed back to health with a healing potion, the party then attempted to poison Nelly, who was largely unaffected while inside the forest but ultimately succumbed to the poison promptly upon leaving.

At the end of the day the party was left in discussion of a way to help the children.