Session 14: Blackwater Needs Books

After leaving Thieves Landing, the adventuring party stopped to camp inland in what was now West Elizabeth. They had discovered that they were lacking in basic supplies, so Maurice, Abe, and Elisen all went out on a hunting trip to fetch more food to sustain them through to Blackwater. While left alone in camp, Aggie and Billy - a pairing quickly learned that should not be left alone together - decided to sort the entire party's belongings by colour, and so when the hunting party returned to camp they saw Aggie and Billy lying around amongst piles of similarly-coloured items. This did not go down well, and it was largely decided to never leave Aggie and Billy at home together again.

The rest of the travel to Blackwater was hindered by a two-day storm which left the group exhausted and cranky. Maurice pulled from his trinket bag a diary of useless secrets.

Still heading towards Blackwater, as they began to approach close to the city, the group saw large and unnatural spikes jutting out from the ground. Several people were impaled on these spikes, and they continued - huge and quiet numerous - along the path and in the water. Aggie used her flying ability to get a better vantage point, and from in the air she could see that the spikes got more numerous closer to Blackwater.

They reached the city, finally, and were apprehended by a mob desperately begging for books. The group had a difficult time speaking to the townspoeple as they were crazed and desperate, but the group managed to glean a few pieces of crucial information. Something terrible was in Blackwater, a large "rock man" who was demanding books, searching for a specific one. Intuitively, he was also searching for the Bibble. He was demanding all the townspeople bring him books under penalty of death, and the resulting panic had more or less eviscerated the majority of the town. On top of that, the road north from Blackwater was completely blocked by those magical spikes and meant instant death to anyone who tried to pass, so the town had been unable to send for help.

The players were instructed to go find Irving, the mayor, who might actally be able to provide useful information for them. They were also told of a mansion within Blackwater whose owner was apparently dangerous. Also, the group learned of a woman described to look similar to Elisen except that she had skin made of rock, different to the "rock man", who also claimed to be from another world.

The group travelled to the docks and spoke to a man named Dockmaster Jim to inquire about trading goods and the location of the Bibble. They found that the Bibble had been here previously, but had almost certainly landed in Strawberry by now. The group also closely investigated one of the spikes surrounding Blackwater and found that it had a magical energy coming off it. Aggie and Billy both tried licking and punching it respectively, but to little avail. However, magical tracks could be seen underneath the earth connecting all the spikes and leading off towards the mountains in the distance.

The group decided that they needed to meet with the strange woman who appeared to be an earth genasi from the same world as Elisen.

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