Episode 68

Party talks about the vampires and management. They stay for two days until the knights come back. Some search around for evidence of vampires, but no luck. Some train, some help repair the church.

The knights arrive on the third day. The riders in the front wear silver and blue full plate armor and carry shields at their sides. The horses have matching armor. The acolytes behind them are armor-less and appear to be better equipped for long-distance riding. The leader of this group approaches the church and introduces himself to the group as Sir Kar Wellmaker. He has Roman-esque features, a well groomed mustache, and mid-length silvery/brown hair. He shakes Lily’s hand and apologizes for putting everyone in unnecessary danger. He also thanks them for handling the situation.

Lily tells Kar about the search for the other two vampires. He says they likely won’t attack again, but he has sent two knights to make a perimeter of the city just in case. She also mentions the fact that most of the bodies were vampiric in nature. The culprit was a werewolf who had been created by Dr. Lucius. She tells him about the abandoned cabin and points it out on a map. Kar appears concerned after hearing that Dr. Lucius had experimented on about 500 people before this one.

Kar hands them a large sack of gold as payment for the job. He ensures them that there will be more knights and they will see to this vampire issue. Lily wishes them good hunting before they scatter to search the surrounding area.

The party heads towards Lastonbell. The first day of travel meets them with beautiful weather. They pass through forests, plains, and hilly areas. They notice many creatures peeking over the hills, watching them as they pass. They do not bother the party. Before the light fades, they see a settlement in the distance. Seipora disguises the party to look like travelers before they ride to town the following morning.

The hills get shorter and shorter the closer they get to town. The party sees construction efforts to expand Lastonbell as they arrive. The town is lively and filled with people. Gravel roads wind around the many streets here. The party gets a few odd glances from the locals, some of the older folks give Ingred looks of disgust as they press onward. Lily stops a person on the street and asks him where they can find a blacksmith. There are two, he says, one to the west and one to the northeast; Gosoov’s Hammer and Dnevon Metalworks. Seipora, Anthos, and Ingred split off from the party to check out Gosoov’s while K, Lily, and Marisol head towards Dnevon’s.

The “green” team (plus the flame knight) follow the road to their destination. The building looks like a pavilion, with a large hole in the ceiling for smoke to pass through. A younger man in his 30’s moves a hot piece of twisted metal into the forge. His sleeves are rolled and ears plugged with cotton. Seipora grabs his attention by dinging on a piece of metal, but the sound also makes a child cry. He tugs the cotton out and welcomes them.

Seipora goes into an act, telling the man that there’s been some troubling reports that she’d like to check on. Her husband is a smith and she’s here with her young daughter (Ingred). She’s been hearing rumors that smiths and craftsmen in the area have been going missing. He says that they probably shouldn’t move here, since the older generation doesn’t like goblins. Many have been jumping travelers recently. He tells Seipora that he hasn’t heard of smiths going missing, but he did lose his smithmaster, Chester. According to him, Chester left to visit family in the north. Told him that if he doesn’t come back, he can have the blacksmith.

On the other side of town Lily makes small talk with the smith, asking if he could fix a beaten pauldron for her. She asks him about the smith that went missing, saying that he owed her money and she wants to find him. After learning that he left to live with his family, Lily asks for more details. The smith is unable to answer them, but suggests that they ask his drinking buddy Ocktin. They will be able to find him in the Eagle’s Dining Hall.

The party meets up again and shares what they’ve gathered. Lily mentions the drinking partner and everyone agrees to check out the hall. They arrive at a large, long building with many picnic benches and a counter in the back for food. The party settles down to eat at different tables and they survey the room. People appear to avoid Kova and Ingred. Most folks here are eating lunch and joking around. Three firbolgs are spotted; one in a group with some workers and two more sitting amongst some other people. Lily, Seipora, and Ingred go invisible in an alleyway and return to eavesdrop. K speaks to the barkeep.

After some time, one of the firbolgs shouts out in fright and slaps a man unconscious. Back in the alley, Ingred mentions that the one who got spooked was Ocktin. He is seen leaving the hall with the group and apologizing to the man he whacked. Lily sends her shadow hound after him and the rogue follows him after getting Lily’s permission. Everyone else meets up in the alley to quickly discuss plans. K mentions that he got some information about a drunkard named Mason who might be able to give them a scoop about the shady side of Lastonbell. They can find him in the Sleeping Sheep Inn.

The party catches up with Ocktin’s group shortly after. They are seen working on the town’s expansion, chopping trees for further terraforming efforts. Lily decides to stay with Ingred and watch the firbolg while the others investigate this “Mason” character.

The rest head to the inn. The sign out front is of a sheep jumping over a bed, a fitting sign for its name. Seipora goes in first and manages to speak with Mason after offering him some wine. She returns and tells the others about what she learnt, but despite Seipora’s discomfort K decides to go inside and get more information from him. They talk for a bit and K leaves with the party to meet back up with everyone. (details are restricted to avoid meta-gaming)

The watch is uneventful for Lily and Ingred, aside from some rubble being thrown their way. The party regroups and decides how to split the party to avoid getting K found by the cultists. K stays behind at the inn, Lily, Seipora, Ingred, and Marisol go to Ocktin’s place, and Anthos puts himself in the middle. They break into Ocktin’s house and find him sleeping next to his firbolg wife. They wake him up abruptly. He is scared but cooperates, his wife does not stir from her sleep. Marisol casts *zone of truth* and the party begins to question him.

The two met when Chester fixed his axes. Ocktin doesn’t know much aside from what the smiths have already told the group, but he does mention Chester’s wife: a woman named Vicyra Larsal. She lives in the north, an elven woman with green eyes and blonde hair. Marisol uses the opportunity to ask Ingred why she came to the Asurion region, to which she reluctantly responds “I was running”. Lily tells them to knock it off and continues questioning. According to the firbolg, Chester had lived directly to the left of the blacksmith.

They are unable to get more information out of him before his wife rouses from her sleep. The party slips out of the building after giving him some gold for his trouble. Away from the others, Anthos and K suddenly lose their ability to hear. They rush to meet the others, fearing an encounter with the cult. The girls exit the building and see a woman dressed in Ebony Wings robes, casually swinging her legs off the rooftop of a building across the street. Lily grabs Marisol and *dimension-doors* them to safety. Seipora grabs Ingred to follow, but the spell is countered.

The session ends with the woman acknowledging the two. “Let’s talk”, she says.