Tales of the Demon Lord 2: Trouble in Ephram's Fork N1, Part 1

Victims of the Demon Lord

• Chikatinga: Human Priest of Witchcraft
• Einar: Dwarf Magician
• Me7a: Clockwork Monk (Warrior)
• Ripples in the Pond: Elf Adept
• Tordar: Dwarf Spellguard (Warrior)

PROLOGUE:

 

After seeing the people of Starfall depart, the Victims make their own future plans.  Chikatinga, Me7a, and Einar depart for Crossings.  Tordar stays behind and makes an agreement with the ghost mage Salazar to train him in the ways of Battle magic at the cost of his index finger being replaced by Salazar's corpse finger.  Ripples also stays behind to do some introspection, whereupon he receives a vision of the Lady of Dreams and Shadows, encouraging him to follow his fate to Crossings, opening a portal for him to travel there and granting him access to ways of Teleportation magic.  Upon completing his training, Tordar makes his way to Crossings and rejoins his friends.

 

While in Crossings, the Victims do their best to make a living while deciding on where their fate lies.  Chikatinga tries to take on work as a healer, but given the church's stance on Witchcraft, none of the local healers would keep him on long, so he worked independently aiding those who wished their homes cleansed of the horrid smells that plague the city these days.  Me7a did odd jobs as a laborer, but also made contact with the local population of clockworks, establishing a relationship, building a new group of Tempered Souls and perfecting his Monk path.  Einar takes work as with a blacksmith and also gets in with the dwarven community through the local Honored Dead Shrine and Brewery, run by the spiritual leader and master brewer Stohk Ironbrow.  Einar also takes an interest in the clockwork community, being fascinated by the workings of their mechanical bodies.  When Tordar and Ripples arrive, the group begin looking for ways to supplement their income and further their career plans.

 

One thing that all of them notice, is the new star that appeared over Starfall when the Cult of the Wandering Star conducted their experiment, remains in the night sky…and is growing larger.

 

OPPORTUNITY ARISES:

 

While walking by an inn, Me7a is asked to take on a job of returning spoiled milk to a dairy outside of town.  Taking the news back to the rest of the group, they decide to make it a road trip.  The next day, the Victims follow Me7a to the inn and after the milk containers are loaded, they head out of Crossings towards their destination in Ephram's Fork; a 3 day journey. 

 

Initially, the journey is uneventful, but on the 2nd day their wagon wheel breaks and requires repairs, which Einar facilitates with his Technomancy.  The next day brings on them a storm, forcing the group to head into a nearby cave for shelter.  But within the cave they find rotting corpses and a malevolent presence within the cave.  Trusting in Chikatinga's affinity with the natural world, they risk the storm instead of taking chances with the strange fog creature in the cave.  The following day, they manage to make it to Ephram's Fork, but just as they do their wagon wheel shatters, requiring a new wheel.  With the aid of some friendly villagers, they carry the wagon to the local Livery and leave it there for repairs.  They then make their way to the Inn of the Buxom Barkeep, where they order a meal and relax for the evening.  However, halfway through their meal, another patron of the inn becomes violently ill.  Other patrons fetch the local doctor, Doc Bentley, who comes in and asks the group to help him move the patient to his infirmary next door.  Me7a agrees to carry the sick human to the infirmary and the group follows, asking the doc questions about this ailment.  They find the infirmary filled with patients with the same disease, some recovering, some not. 

 

The group returns to the inn, take a private common room and rest for the night.  The following day, they go to the Livery and find their wagon being worked on.  Waiting for the repairs to be completed, Chikatinga learns that others in town that were passing through seemed to take ill as well, but he could not determine the cause.  Once the wagon was finished, the group prepared to take the milk to the Golden Meadows Dairy farm, just outside of town.  They learned that the farm is run by a local couple, Zack and Nonna Meadows, who recently welcomed their first child into the world with the aid of a wet nurse they hired, and they also hired a number of out of towners to help out on the farm while they care for the newborn.  The townfolk they spoke to didn't care much for those workers.  Suspicions rise as the group make their way to the dairy farm…

 

End of Session