The chronicle record
Session recap
In the darkness, Kuippana held back as Kracka brought the approaching Isgeri Slayers and wolves into view.
Isgeri Slayers advanced with bows; Kracka struck a wolf as it came within reach.
The wolf’s bite and a second wolf’s bite missed Kracka. Khar'gan marked a Slayer as his prey and attacked while Samantha cast Bless and Lexx Rennde conjured a Painted Weapon. Kui and Mielikki moved to keep the Isgeri Slayers from surrounding the group. Kracka killed one wolf and attacked the other as the Isgeri Slayers pressed forward with arrows and swords. Khar’gan’s second arrow missed in the darkness, and a Slayer wounded Mielikki.
The fight spread across the clearing. Samantha maintained Bless and chilled a Slayer; Lexx used Painted Brush. A Slayer shot Samantha, leaving an arrow in her lung, but she treated herself while Lexx used Restore the Mind on her. Kracka taunted a Slayer and blocked his strike with his shield, frightening him. Khar’gan punched an opponent, and Kui and Mielikki brought another down. When Isgeri Slayers began retreating, Kracka pursued one, saying none could survive to report what happened because the group needed to fabricate a story. Khar’gan chased and killed another. Samantha refused Kracka’s offer to use alchemist’s fire to close her lung wound. Khar’gan asked to take arrows from the fallen, and Samantha and Lexx healed the group.
The party debated how to disguise the deaths. Kracka wanted the Isgeri Slayers’ deaths blamed on devils; Kui suggested burning the bodies, while Samantha warned that this might start rumors that the goblins had summoned devils. They chose instead to make The Camp look as though a large animal had attacked. Khar’gan added bite and tail marks to the bodies and arranged the scene to resemble a dinosaur’s rampage. The party searched the tents, finding two healing potions and stolen trinkets, then returned to Thorngrip through a hidden gate. At the Ancestor Shrine, oracle Brakknap said the spirits were pleased the party had arrived and worried about what Viro was doing in the woods. Viro’s power concealed him from The Ancestors, but Brakknap said the party could help find him. He gave them a cloudy Crystal Pendant talisman containing an ancestral spirit and asked them to expose it to altered energy at three Chitterwood sites: The Hungry Hole, Little Tree, and Moss Pond. After Lexx supplied a brush, Brakknap marked their approximate locations on the map. The party ate and rested. By morning, Kracka had disappeared during the night after saying he needed to see about something, and a new goblin mural had appeared, visibly unlike the others.
Kracka carried the talisman as the party approached Little Tree. Its apparent size shifted, and a grizzly bear attacked, striking at Kracka and grabbing Lexx. Lexx escaped with Samantha’s help while Kui, Mielikki, and Khar’gan fought the bear. The tree, bear, and party members abruptly changed apparent size. Mielikki killed the bear, which returned to its original size, but some of the party remained tiny or huge; the tree’s apparent size changed as they moved nearer or farther away. Khar’gan recognized the effects as corrupted magic, and Kui and Khar’gan ended the disturbance, restoring everyone and the tree to normal. The talisman had begun to shine from within. Among the roots, they found mushrooms and a Spacious Pouch, which Lexx agreed to carry for the group.
At The Hungry Hole, they found a circular clearing without vegetation and a central pit whose edges shifted like a mouth. It inhaled and pulled Kracka, then Khar’gan, closer. Kui determined hellish energy had made the hole dangerous; the party withdrew, carrying Samantha and Lexx away from its pull. Since the talisman had not changed there, Kracka suggested returning after checking the remaining site. At Moss Pond, the moss undulated like water, and Mielikki noticed creature-like shapes in it. Lexx identified a portal to the Plane of Wood, corrupted by the ritual’s hellish energy. Sloths emerged and attacked Kracka as spores and moss surged around them. Lexx weakened the portal’s connection through occult work, and Kui ended the disturbance. The remaining sloth disappeared, the moss settled, and a portal remained, allowing vital energy and creatures to pass through. The talisman turned bright green. Beneath the moss, Kracka found a Striking Rune and a Smuggler’s Padlock.
After resting in Thorngrip, Samantha prepared Dispel Magic. The goblins repaired Kracka’s shield after his own attempted repair damaged it further. At The Hungry Hole, Samantha dispelled the magic from a distance, stopping its breathing. It vomited valuables along with mouse skeletons, lizard remains, and branches; two Alloy Orbs were among the recovered items. Viro’s location remains unknown, and the new mural at Thorngrip has not been explained.
Notable quotes
“No, don't come back. He's playing your character better than you would.” — Kuippana
“Kargan knew it was going to try offering him life insurance or whatever.” — Lexx Rennde