[Day 44 – Still in the Dark Forest]
[This game uses the Pathfinder 1E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened March 6, 2023.]
[SPOILERS! If you are likely to adventure through the Shattered Star Adventure Path from Paizo, this campaign will be spoilers all the way down.]
Player Characters
Marativy – female ratfolk 9th level Ninja
Zitch Grimreaper – male ratfolk 9th level Witch with a donkey rat (capybara) familiar
Roscuro – male ratfolk 9th level Monk
Winston – male ratfolk 9th level Gunslinger
Via Roll20
Templeton von Trapp – male ratfolk 9th level Summoner (Synthesist)
Played by Proxy
Swamprover – female grippli 9th level Wizard
NPCs
Gridik Stormstride – male blue kobold 7th level Wizard (Invoker)
Hrefna – female changeling 7th level Omdura
Ariphi – female tiefling 7th level Rogue
Fish – male grodaire, actual name is Hummlgau
Autumn
Day 44 continued
Now in the Dark Forest, the Ratpack started following the trail of Selazny, the naga and last active member of the previous group sent here by the wizards of the Therassic Spire. Winston found signs of the naga’s passage that followed a trail that seemed to lead to the Black Keep. As that was the only apparent location of note in this small pocket dimension, we followed the trail, Marativy scouting ahead.
An Hour Later
While scouting for the group, Marativy noticed humanoids of some sort up in the trees, watching. They hid well, but her occasional glimpse of them left her with the impression they had twisted limbs of some sort. She returned to the rest of the Ratpack and reported what she had seen.
Knowing what to look for, the Ratpack stopped and looked around more intently. Several members of the group now saw the humanoids. Roscuro asked Zitch [the walking encyclopedia] what they were. Zitch identified them as Khaei. They have an extra elbow in their elongated arms and can age things with a touch. They did not appear to be hostile, so the group resumed following the path, albeit at a heightened state of alertness.
Ten minutes later, one of the Khaei dropped into the trail ahead of the group and spoke in Undercommon, “It’s coming!” It told the Ratpack they must get off the trail and should follow them to a safe place. Not entirely certain what was going on but recognizing the sincerity of the Khaei’s warning [through Sense Motive], the Ratpack followed.
The Ratpack followed the small group of Khaei to a hill and then through a small cave into their warrens under the hill. About 50 ft. below the surface was a large cavern where the Khaei had a village. There the Ratpack learned that the thing pushing aside the trees Roscuro had noticed [what the players referred to as “Kong”] was a rolling mass of zombies that killed and absorbed all it came into contact with. Zitch said he had heard of them, but this was the largest he had ever heard of.
While waiting for the thing to clear the area, the Ratpack chatted with the Khaei. Up close, the Ratpack noticed that the bodies of the Khaei bodies seemed to periodically fade or come apart around the edges. They were also all bald. Their concern with the Ratpack was that the Ratpack might serve the “Dark Lord”. Uncertain who they spoke of, Roscuro asked for clarification.
The Khaei described a dark rider with no head who rode a nightmare steed. Several members of the Ratpack who were more history-minded felt this described the legendary Dark Rider of Varisia. The Dark Rider was a headless horseman who appeared once every few years, hunting a specific target and killing any who got in the Rider’s way. Victims would be found headless and often a pack of shadow mastiffs would be left behind. Having hear all of this, Roscuro explained that the Ratpack most certainly did not serve this Dark Lord.
An Hour Later
After spending time trading stories with the Khaei, the Ratpack was told It [Kong] had left the area. The group thanked their hosts and returned to the surface. A damage trail 25 feet wide ran around and past the hill the village was under. Roscuro led the Ratpack back to the main trail by walking back down the damage trail. The forest was noticeably healing the damage caused at an accelerated rate. By the time the Ratpack reached the main trail, the damage in that area was completely healed over, with new trees grown in place and old, damaged trees rotted away. This was perhaps one of the creepier things Roscuro had seen since entering this pocket dimension.
The Ratpack resumed heading towards the Dark Keep with Marativy scouting ahead.
An Hour or So Later
Marativy reached the edge of a clearing containing the Black Keep. It was an odd shape, like a tower lying down, and had one visible entrance at the west end. She waited for the rest of the Ratpack to arrive and observed the keep and its surroundings. During this time she observed an undead spontaneously claw its way up out of the ground and wander off and that two wyverns were roosting on top of the keep.
When the rest of the group caught up, she relayed what she had observed. Zitch and Gridik supplied information about wyverns to the rest of the group: they are territorial and aggressive, have a poison-barbed tail, and are immune to many conditions, including sleep, paralysis, and poison.
The group decided that a quick and silent recon of the keep, looking specifically for other entrances, was in order. Winston, Marativy, and Roscuro formed the recon team [best in the group at Stealth] while the rest stayed concealed just off the main trail.
Part way around the keep, the recon team was attacked by a small number of bloody zombies [not bloody bones, something else]. During the fight Roscuro was poisoned [and lost 4 DEX]. Winston applied oil of silence to his musket and the trio quickly eliminated the zombies. One of the ex-zombies had a small bag containing a set of horseshoes, which the trio took with them as they continued with their recon.
At the same time, back where the rest of the Ratpack was hidden, they too were attacked by bloody zombies. Zitch was able to identify them for what they were and once the adventurers quietly put them down [with a combination of web, create pit, and two auras from Hrefna], Zitch had Hrefna cast bless on the corpses to keep them from rising again. The zombies had three pieces of jewelry among them, none were magical.
The recon group found two additional entrances on the northside of the keep, a door and a set of double doors. They also noticed a third wyvern roosting on the keep. When they returned to the main group they told all that they had seen.
End of Session
Rat Whispers
[While typing this session up, I finally noticed that I had not incremented the session dates to 2023. I’ve gone back and updated the entries back to Session 19 so they have the correct year for the session dates going forward.]
[Swamprover’s player was out this session, finalizing a (non-gaming) book she is trying to publish on Amazon. This was a higher priority than the game, so she had me run her character for here as there was no story way to have her character suddenly not there.]
Ratpack
Book 1: Shards of Sin Landing Page – Links to all Book 1 sessions
Book 2: Curse of the Lady’s Light Landing Page – Links to all Book 2 sessions
Book 3: The Asylum Stone Landing Page – Links to all Book 3 sessions
Last Session: Session 26
Next Session: Session 28
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