Session 04

## Summary

### Toil and Trouble

We open our session with Sibylla's disappearance in the Greenwoods surrounding Lowmarsh.

Wandering off from her new companions, Sibylla spotted an old crow leering from a nearby tree, beckoning her forward. Then, the crow opened its beak and spoke:

> *Sibylla, in a soft moon’s glow.*
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> *A master’s plea in whispers low.*
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> *Three witches’ hands to pact a bind.*
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> *Come to the woods where secrets wind.*
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> *The raven’s bound, its claw a song,*
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> *To where the ritual shan’t go wrong.*
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> *In shadows deep our coven thrives,*
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> *Come with me, Sibylla, my mistress invites.*
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The bird took wing, and Sibylla followed it to the northwest. Here, she saw two figures standing around a cauldron: an old human-looking woman and an emaciated hag. The older woman asked Sibylla to help the pair form a coven to see what other forces were interested in Lowmarsh. According to the woman, many eyes were on Lowmarsh, seeking its position of power for the upcoming Parallax.

As the witches performed the ritual, fog rose from the cauldron and formed a giant eye. Sibylla soon found herself in a trance. In the sky to the northeast, she saw a great number of eyes and a bright, emerald-green eye. The eyes seemed to stare directly at Sibylla.

To the southwest, she saw a chalice of wood eroded by a spreading corruption and leaking water. She saw a drop of kaleidoscopic light moving away from the chalice before fire engulfed the vessel, seemingly pursuing the gleam of light.

Then, she saw the city of Lowmarsh below her and a dark shadow lurking in the streets. The shadow seemed afraid and was pursued by a single pale light.

Finally, she saw a glint of metal in the dirt beneath her feet.

With the ritual concluded, both witches wished her farewell and disappeared into the woods. Sibylla took a feather that had fallen from the old crow and began making her way back to Lowmarsh. As she approached the town, the old woman returned, mentioning that she had also studied under the hag Nimue before her disappearance. She expressed a desire to find Nimue and seek her aid in “spells of the mind”. Handing Sibylla a note that would summon her if the witch found any information on Nimue, the old woman disappeared, leaving only an ancient, rotting scarecrow where she had previously stood.

### The People’s Committee

Meanwhile, back in Lowmarsh, Bigby, Drizella, Mordred, Merida, and Nik arrived at the town hall to meet with the People’s Committee. At the doors, Sibylla reappeared and refused to elaborate on her disappearance.

After the council concluded their judgement on a new windmill, the discussion turned to the party. Seeing the party’s presence, Lewis Short thanked them for assisting Matron Simone and offered Sibylla and Nik their freedom and Bigby, Drizella, Mordred, and Merida 75 silver each. Mordred refused the payment and asked for the money to be sent to the families of the dead soldiers.

Lewis then asked about the investigation into the treasurer’s disappearance. Vicar Shaun Rothwell offered to assist in dealing with the illusion in the treasurer’s room and told the party to find him later at the Immaculate Church. Before leaving, Bigby asked Lewis about getting the spare key to the vault. Lewis revealed that the spare key was locked in a safe, requiring a key from himself, Paul Good-Get, and Orson Burton. He offered Bigby his own key and noted that Burton was a kind man. Their real obstacle would be winning over Paul Good-Get.

While Drizella begged Mordred to leave town, Bigby approached Good-Get for his key. The man bemoaned Lewis’s decision to hire the party and claimed that the treasurer had likely been taken by the same group who had been stealing from his crops. The pair came to a deal, with Bigby offering to investigate the missing crops and Good-Get offering the party 12% off produce and ten silver each.

Drizella wanted to head to the Venn River north of the city, but the party agreed to visit the Good-Get farms.

### Good-Get Farms

At the farms, the party saw many workers toiling in the wheat fields. This close to the wall, they noticed the disrepair and age of the Lowmarsh’s walls, which were likely hundreds of years old. Paul directed the party to a field that had been disturbed and claimed raids on his farm had been occurring for three months.

Before long, Bigby noticed a hollow section of earth near the wall and a trapdoor. Paul smashed the door, revealing a tunnel leading under the wall. As the party prepared to explore the tunnel, Paul warned them there was a Redeye plague colony in the woods nearby and asked them to kill any plague victims they found. He offered 30 silver for their trouble.

Merida, Mordred, and Sibylla seemed hesitant to kill the plague victims. Sibylla claimed there was a way to cure the victims, describing herself as “walking proof” of the possibility. She revealed that by reversing time, a person could revert to a state prior to contracting the disease. The ritual, however, would take a day — more time than they had. Merida also recalled hearing of a traveller who had a cure to redeye to the north of Arrnonland. Ultimately, Bigby grew tired of the moral deliberations and entered the tunnel, set on killing the thieves. The party followed, some more eager than others.

### The Part Where Mordred Gets Traumatised

The tunnel was tight, and the party were forced to squeeze through the narrow passage. As they travelled through the pitch-black tunnel, Bigby heard scuttling and saw a glint of light ahead. Then, he felt a drop of liquid on his face and looked up to see a rabid goblin lunging towards him from the tunnel’s roof. As the goblin fell from the roof, Bigby slashed out with his scythe, cutting its head off. He covered his face with his top hat as the goblin’s blood splattered across him, avoiding contracting redeye.

Finally, they came to the end of the tunnel. Bigby hesitantly poked out of the door on the other side, holding his hat above his head. An arrow flew through his hat, and the party was plunged into combat.

They fought off four goblins, one of which was tied against a tree, as well as a human and a bugbear-like creature. All of them appeared to be infected with redeye. The party did not hesitate in killing any of the plague victims, with only Mordred attempting to encourage one of their enemies to run. After Drizella flensed the skin from one of the victims, Nik passed out, Mordred was horrified, and Merida was deeply disturbed. Mordred attempted to stop Bigby from killing the restrained goblin, but Bigby chopped the goblin’s head off, splattering blood over the boy.

Bigby warned Mordred never to touch him again, and the young boy fled back into the tunnel, closely followed by Nik. In the tunnel, Nik suddenly fell unconscious, and Mordred found himself hit by a wave of lethargy. He tried to bring Nik back to consciousness with a *lay on hands* spell, but he could not help him, and the light from his magic seemed to dim.

Nik again found himself floating at the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by the dead and the immense figure of Davy Jones. They informed Nik that three people were chasing him and gave him one simple command: “*Do not die until it is your time*”. Meanwhile, Mordred felt the wind beginning to howl and whip through the tunnel. A crow’s feather flew past on the wind, followed by another, until he was completely drowned by a torrent of feathers. Something grabbed his shirt, and between the feathers, he saw the face of a large bird with four glowing eyes. The creature opened its beak and screamed in his face. He thought he glimpsed a figure walking towards him in the creature’s eyes for a moment, but the vision soon vanished. The creature consumed Mordred, leaving him afraid and back in the tunnels beneath Lowmarsh.

Outside, Merida, Drizella, Bigby, and Sibylla saw the darkness from the tunnel coalesce into a cloaked shape. Merida recognised the figures as members of the Shadic Brethren, recalling her father dealing with members of the Brethren and their incorporeal, dark-incarnate nature. The shadowy figure apologised to Drizella and told her their “timeline had changed”. They claimed forces were moving against their god’s will and told Drizella to leave Lowmarsh in the morning instead. According to the figure, someone would uncover some secrets of the Brethren and report them to Lewis Short. So, Lewis Short had to die. Then, with a change of the wind, the figure simply ceased to be.

Soon, the other party members returned to the tunnel to find a drenched Nik and a terrified Mordred. Bigby seemed to believe that whatever had caused the shadow to appear had caused their visions. They made their way back to Good-Get Farms.

Before speaking with Paul Good-Get, Nik attempted to speak with Mordred, but the boy seemed horrified by the entire party’s violence and could not be consoled. When they arrived back at Good-Get Farms, Paul approached the party, and with proof of their actions, paid the group thirty silver each (Mordred refused the silver) and threw Bigby his key to the safe.

### Dispelling the Illusion

The party’s next stop was the *Immaculate Church of the Goodly Father’s Left Wedding Band*. Here, they met again with Vicar Shaun Rothwell, who agreed to help them investigate Thori Black’s chambers. Vicar Rothwell provided the party with a brief history of the temple’s strange name, describing how the Goodly Father once travelled through the town and left their ring in the temple. The band had remained in Lowmarsh ever since.

As they were at the church, Mordred stepped aside for a moment, praying before a statue of the Goodly Father for some kind of guidance. He received no reply from the Tuatha De Danann, and in his heart, he felt that more death and violence would be coming.

With the aid of the Vicar, the party returned to Thori Black’s chambers. The magic was beyond Vicar Rothwell’s power to dispel, but he offered his aid to Sibylla in her attempt to dispel the illusion. To the party’s surprise, Sibylla drew on a well of magic far more powerful than most of them had ever seen and proved herself truly a trained Sister of the Cruthic Covens. She dispelled the illusion, revealing the ransacked chambers of the treasurer. Sibylla recognised that a powerful fey had cast the illusion, and most notably, that the spell had been cast three weeks ago - two weeks prior to the Treasurer's disappearance.

As we end our session, many eyes turn towards Lowmarsh. The Shadic Brethren approaches. Lewis Short is in danger. And the mystery of the missing treasurer deepens further. Will our party find answers before all hell breaks loose?