Date: 27-28 Wealsun, 609 CY (Friday November 7th, 2014) Attendance: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recap: With the mansion now gone, seemingly winked out of existence, the party is free to resume their quest to find the Beast of Marlgrove. Thruskk has particularly bad stomach pains, however (perhaps a result of bad rations, or careless first aid, or both) and thus is unable to help the party to his fullest potential. They reach the giant tree they were led to by the map they found in the Elven Lodge, and they decide to set up camp before examining it further. What happens next: Ash sees a bear sniffing at something hanging from a tree. When the bear approaches, there's a leg in its mouth. A short fight ensues and the bear is slain and Jericho retrieves some good meat for dinner. They find out that the thing hanging from the tree was Jeth. They bury him alongside the bear. Setting up camp, the party takes turns at watch (all except Thruskk, who sleeps peacefully despite his pain). They're attacked by tribals during the night. Two are killed and one taken prisoner; using his Awakened Mind, Clifton finds out that the tree houses something that the tribals consider a God, and that the creator of this god was someone called "Baba Yaga." Jericho takes the prisoner through the woods to release him, but instead murders him outright and leaves the corpse behind. They enter the tree the following morning, all except Thruskk, who decides to catch up later. Inside the tree they find a statue on a pedestal. Jericho also finds a nook in the wall that leads to a treasure chest with the words "DO NOT OPEN" on it. He sees a taught rope attached to the chest and throws his spear at it to trigger the trap; fire springs out and ignites both Jericho and Ash, but they're little worse for wear. They eventually try to solve a riddle found on the statue, but are unable to. Jericho then pushes the statue to reveal a chasm below. A chain falls off a pulley in this chasm, so they tie Clifton to it by means of a rope and they lower him down. Ash turns into a spider and crawls down as well. There they find a dead body and a journal, which Clifton reads. He discovers that an old acquaintance took up with the dead man, Jeth, and Gick, and that said acquaintance probably killed Jeth. Jericho pushes forward and triggers a trap that nearly kills him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Experience: Clifton – 195 XP (785 XP total) Ash – 195 XP ( 785 XP total) Jericho – 195 XP (710 XP total) Thruskk – 0 XP (515 XP total) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loot: Nothing (that I can think of.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inspiration: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------