Session Forty Three

The forty third session of the Adventures of the Dragon Crag was on the 1st March 2023.

## Party Members Present

* Brandr Sigurdson (Late)
* Snorri Morgrimson
* Relnwe Adiath
* Aleksi Lehtonen (Late)

## Synopsis

### Finishing with the Beastmen

#### Taking them out

We found ourselves in the middle of a fight with a bunch of beastmen. Rel had just killed the fuck off big guy by stabbing his heart out with her spear and there were only a couple of grunts to finish off. After taking the remainder of them out, we heaved a sigh of relief - Nikolai had been knocked out for the past couple of minutes and we had managed to prevent his death.

#### Thrift-Store Thermopylae

By now, the storm had died down and we could see our surroundings. Here, the cliffs of the Rivet had narrowed down to create a small gap. The terrain into the gap rose slightly and the approach was filled with jaggedy rocks. It looked like a good place to for a smaller army to defend against a larger army. Snorri took a look around at the cliffs to discern what had created the Rivet, but he was unsure. Only one thing was certain: a lot of things died suddenly here.

#### A Journal

We noticed that the beastmen that we had killed were equipped with picks and spades. Clearly they were here for a purpose that involved digging. We followed the tracks that they had left and found a small natural cave in the west cliff wall of the Rivet. Although the cave was natural, it had been slightly expanded. At the end of the cave was a small disturbed mound with bones poking out of it. Brandr and Rel went to investigate and found human remains. An old, damaged journal lay with the body, but even Rel couldn't understand the writing. In a rare moment, Aleksi's literacy skills were needed, for the journal was in Kislevi. With much stuttering and hesitation, Aleksi read aloud. The journal spoke of a journey made for the Gods. It recounted a long and lonely journey across the Empire in a time of terrible civil war. The traveler crossed great mountains where he met dwarfs and into uninhabited land, only just being settled. Eventually the author ended up here, in this cave. It said that the acorn had been buried in the grove. The last words were scrawled, saying that the authors wounds were too great and that he had failed. Clearly, the beastmen we had killed had dug this body up - they were after the information here.

#### Sleep Tight

We bedded down for the night near the cave and Nikolai came round. Aleksi practiced some of his Old Kislevian Remedies to help us to varying degrees of success. After a tasty ration, we went to sleep.

### Through the Rivet

#### A Very Ugly Tree

The next morning, we awoke early and packed up our camp. Without hesitation, we continued on our journey northwest, through the Rivet in search of the Wellspring of Power. Soon, the valley widened out again and we passed by more strange things, just as on the previous day. We saw a tree with many crows in it that, if you squinted, looked uncannily like the Professor.

#### The Waystone

After passing the strange tree, we came upon an area with many broken stones lying hereabout. The largest of these stones looked like an obelisk that had been shorn neatly in two. It had Eltharin writing all over it and Rel knew exactly what it was. It had the runes *Sethai, Charoi,* and *Sariour* etched into it just as Rel had seen in her native Ulthuan. The largest rune on the stone was *Cynath*. There she had been taken to a similar stone as a part of a ritual in which a mage had spoken of her connection to the stone. It was a Waystone. This one was a minor waystone and had obviously been smashed. This was troubling, for waystones helped to stop chaotic power from overwhelming the world.

#### These are no Pebbles!

After leaving the waystone with a feeling of unease, we passed yet more sand dunes on our journey north west. Next, we came across an enormous dune made of what looked like rounded see pebbles. Excited, Snorri ran up to it to try and skim one of the pebbles, despite the lack of water. However, this was no pebble. After brushing off the dirt, Snorri saw that it was in fact a tiny skull. The entire dune was made of the skulls of small animals. This excited Aleksi, who waded into the pile of skulls like some drunk goth and the pile collapsed in on itself. At the very centre of the pile, a purple light gleamed and ebbed away as we watched. It looked a lot like the magic of Spooky Bitch.

### Rivet's End

#### Ooh, Shiny

We continued onwards and saw that the cliff walls of the Rivet were beginning to narrow again. Ahead, we could see the end of the valley. We passed yet more strange sights, including something glinting in the sand, which caused us all to charge towards it with glee. It turned out to be gold and, as we dug it out, we saw that it was gold cast in the shape of tangled roots.

#### The End of the Rivet

As the end of the canyon came into view, the terrain became extremely jagged and wrought, shifting and changing all the time. We crested a small hill and started to hear the ominous sound of hoofs on the ground. We saw a strange figure heading towards the end of the valley across the several small hills that littered the valley floor. We proceeded after it and then heard it coming back. We formed up and waited for it to arrive. It was a beastman with a human torso and a horses body. As it saw us, it reached for a horn so Rel shot it with the Hrukidron. The bolt pierced its horrid body. Brandr and Snorri quickly reloaded the Hrukidron and Rel fired again, hitting in the arm clutching the horn. The horn smashed into its head, melting its face with a soft 'toot'.

#### I'm in danger

After killing the beastmen, we headed further towards the end of the valley. We came over the lip of another hill, and in front of us we saw a final, perfectly smooth hill. Here, we could hear voices. We looked down into the gap between the hills and saw beastmen with human prisoners in cages. He rode into battle aboard the Hrukdron and Rel began to fire bolts, bringing down a centigor. Unfortunately, Aleksi missed his shot. Then. a beastman shaman emerged from a tent and took up a position in cover, from whence he cast a terrible spell upon us that sent an awful swarm of insects around us. We were in grave peril and the Professor, the only one of us to be able to engage this shaman in a game of wizards' chess, was still unconscious.