Rendar's Field Report
In the Grand Bazaar, the Scriveners section, people are moving around, doing business.
We all arrive in time for Master Thain’s summons, we are the only adepts to arrive.
Two dwarves are there. One requires tangible evidence. The other is dressed as a miner. They leave and a female dwarf and starts humming to herself.
Amhran starts singing along with her, and offers to help with the higher windows. She learns that they’ve sent messages to the Great Library.
We ring the bell and are allowed inside to meet with Bookbinder. We introduce each other, and explain why we’re here. We’re allowed into the rear to speak with Bookbinder. We discover that he doesn’t care for Lord P, but does take his money. He’s commissioned a complete briefing in order to increase the price upon Lord P. There’s a lot of undertone in his speech that implies many things unsaid.
Town of Coalton is where the abductions took place. Map with directions to Calton up in the Throal mountains, about 1-2 days. They offer Discipline training and half cost mundane equipment. Approximately 7 elven children lost. He instructs us to keep our eyes open.
Warak asks if there’s another client that would like something. Bookbinder drops several big names in Throal, and he’s very displeased with something.
We head to the Great Library and are lead to the Restricted Section to speak with Aesha. We provide the writ for the report. It reveals a Krampus is responsible, could be a Horror, or possibly an Invae, certainly a Netherrealm Spirit of some kind. It has some oracular abilities. Children who are tortured by the Krampus cause the birch switch to change color. Gold switches protect the child, and allows them to see it’s Ice Bird minions for what they truly are.
Four of the attacked children were not taken. 2 Silver, 2 Gold. No switches where the taken children were. The original archive documents are missing from the Library.
There were also Krampus breeding pens in Thera. There are several bodies of water near Coalton. They make statues for procreation which are roughly designed from clay.
We also discover that the mine was placed just outside the boundary of the Miners Guild, and most Throalic Laws. The writ we’ve been given allows our reports to hold more weight in the Courts. Warak theorizes that Lord P may have fallen from Chorlollis to Dis. We get some children trinkets.
Day 2 - The Road to Coalton
The paths are badly kept, with minimum effort to upkeep. We see a wagon lose a wheel, and flip over. Warak chases after the wagon wheel. Rendar rites the wagon before it falls over the cliff. Amhran treats some of the injured. Rendar notices they lack supplies for the multi-day trip. Coalton Mining Company logo. Amhran offers the children some treats. We give them several rations and assist the horse.
We learn they’re working off a family debt, so they have to get the delivery on time. They sometimes smuggle in food. House Ueraven sends them here to work off their debts. Things are much cheaper in Throal than the company store in Coalton. One person’s debt puts the entire family to work. They have to live in a company house, earning many fees and taxes.
They’re terrified to go to an outside lawyer. Those who have tried before have been in mining accidents. We’re warned that most kids hide, and causing waves may cause trouble. They’re all illiterate. They get 1 hour of school but aren’t any teachers to teach anything.
We forage some supplies on the rest of the way to Coalton.
Day 3 - Coalton
There’s a huge party going on. People are dancing in the streets. Overwhelmed with happiness. At the center of the party is a poorly crafted adult-sized coffin parading through the town. There are bits of food and drink passed around.
Amhran notices that the Astral is getting more and more corrupt as we get closer to town.
Ebenezar is the person in the coffin (making our writ useless).
Amhran asks around. Ebenezar was the iron glove that squeezed every bit of profit out of the mine. He kept track of all the debts, determining taxes, fees, and fines. There’s a child, NAME, who may have slit his father’s throat. Ebenezar locked him up in a cage in his office. House Ueraven has it’s own courts that is corrupt. Ebenezar was “killed by the Krampus” last night who then stole the child. Some witnesses live in the office and overheard the attack.
Jon McDonald, mine foreman, has a bad cough and blood on his hankerchief. We reduce the equipment fees to zero. He helps us with evidence to bring against House Ueraven, as he doesn’t have long to live. He directs us to the houses of the missing children, and the Golds and Silvers (and a few more that have gone missing recently). One child, Ashley, is a rebel and leader, very likely to be taken.
We head to Ebenezar’s office. There are signs of the murder, burst bars, rolled-up bedding. We find a locked box with a magical trap. The bars are bent and shattered as if they’d been frozen. We stash the box on Quechir.
We head to Ashley’s house. We find her taking care of her younger sister. If we get some milk for her sister, she’ll help us. We head to the store to get some. They’re charging silver for a bottle, and the bottle is a rental.
Just before dusk, Ashley runs, with her hand in one pocket. Warak runs to keep up with her. Rendar spots a number of flying birds, they’re leaving little trails of cold currents. Pointing this out to the others, he mounts Quechir. Arphen takes a shot at a bird, and it bursts into loose snow, and the other birds flee to the North. Arphen follows. Amhran stays with Ashley. Ashley produces golden shavings in her right fist. She indicates they are hers.
We get Ashley back to the house safely, then head after the birds.
We follow the trail to a partially frozen river. We see several horrid creatures on the other side of the river. Some of them dive under the snow to hide. Warak shoots one and advances. Amhran flies over the river and spies that they’re feasting on snow-covered childrens bodies. Rendar spurs Quechir down the river to leap across the river down onto Plum Pudding, who explodes into snow and blows away on the breeze. Perrok leaps over the river and Wounds Herbie.
When the leader is slain, it scatters into children’s teeth.
We smell gingerbread from the depths of the forest. Following the scent we find a full-sized gingerbread house. There’s a current in the Astral that flows from the town to this house. There’s a single door, glowing. Amhran tastes some of the frosting and realizes it’s a Namegiver finger.
We kick open the door, and inside is a large Krampus tending a fire. There’s a small statue of a Krampus in one corner. There are three children suffering from nightmares in cold water.
Perrok charges, hitting Krampus. Krampus backhands him and seems to take his Astral Imprint, and creates another minion as well. When the minion is attacked, Perrok feels the pain.
Warak grabs the statue and hurls it into the fireplace. The Krampus laughs as one child is released to the mercy of Death. The gigerbread house collapses. “Live then with your choice.” There’s a velvet bag with a sparkly white ribbon. Perrok kills his minion duplicate before it can run off into the woods. We treat the two remaining children.Statistics:Posted by Dougansf — Sat Jan 16, 2021 6:23 pm
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