TotDL 2 - The Lonely Vale Pt 1 & 2

 

VICTIMS OF THE DEMON LORD

• Calum: halfling magician
• Chikatinga: human priest of witchcraft 
• Einar: dwarf magician
• Me7a: clockwork monk
• Tordar: dwarf spellguard

Upon completing their task at the Golden Meadows ranch, the Victims fulfill their obligations by returning to Crossings and have a little time to spend on personal pursuits.  However, trouble eventually catches up to them and they decide, as a team, to leave Crossings on a new adventure.

 Joined by their new companion, the halfling magician Calum Dapplespring, who had learned of their exploits from Ephram's Fork and followed them to Crossings.  The group make their way south looking for a place called the Lonely Vale, where Einar hopes to find some of the rare meteorite that he was told he needed to fulfil his destiny.  Me7a also had reason to go to the vale, learning that there was rumor of a Machine God disciple doing bad work out there.  So they make their way to a small town in bad weather to get directions.  They then enter the hills south of Crossings and proceed toward the Old Wood, where the entrance of the vale was said to be near. 

 The weather turns bad again as the group nears the Old Wood, and a hungry bear happens upon them, intent upon finding a meal amongst the group.  But the bear was bested by the combined might of the group and paid for the confrontation with its life.  Tordar skins the bear as a trophy. 

 The group finds the entrance to the Lonely Vale, enter and begin walking along the river, unsure of where to start.  Shortly upon entering, they come across a stranger running naked through the woods.  They catch up to the stranger, who is apparently running for his life from something he believed to be pursuing him.  But when nothing materialized, the group questioned him to understand his panic.  Ranting manically, fearful that he was being pursued, he became even more agitated upon seeing Me7a, who he claimed was one of "them".  The group decide to follow the man's trail to see if they could determine what was chasing him. 

 Shortly thereafter, they come across a one-legged woman checking fish traps in the river.  She calls herself Mary and said that she and her mother lived nearby.  She knew nothing of the stranger, but seemed kind and offered shelter to the group for the night.  They decline and continue onward, crossing the river at a shallow point and continuing to follow the naked man's trail.

 Traveling through the woods, they eventually come to a clearing where a ruined tower sits.  In the clearing, they also find a crater containing a meteorite, but not matching the description that Einar was given.  Einar takes a sample anyway, and the group go investigate the tower.  Within the ruins they find webs containing the corpse of a Wandering Star cultist, apparently killed by the spider hiding in the tower.  The spider senses the group's presence and attacks, but is no match for them and is killed.  The group investigate the tower, and Chikatinga gets his foot stuck in some rubble on the 2nd floor.

 Meanwhile, Einar left the tower and hears voices coming towards the clearing.  He attempts to hide behind a tree and witnesses 2 young local girls enter the clearing, apparently looking for someone.  Me7a, who had fallen out of the tower, also hears the voices and goes towards them, trying to seem as mechanical as possible.

 The group inside manage to get Chikatinga free and watch the encounter from within the tower.

 The two girls call themselves "Maybell" and "Beulah", and are young and very attractive.  They speak at Me7a as if it were not a living creature and claimed that their "Pa" would be very interested in him.  But their priority was to find the man they were pursuing, so they ask Me7a if he had seen him, which he confirms and offers to go with the girls to find him.  The girls decline, but Me7a follows anyway, hoping to learn more about why these girls are pursing the naked man.  But Chikatinga calls Me7a back, as the rest of the group decide to follow the girl's trail to see where they came from.  So the group leaves the tower clearing and head deeper into the vale.

 After walking a few hours, the group comes upon a strange field where cattle lie dead with no apparent cause of death.  Also no tracks indicating how the cattle came to be here or indicating their movements.  Its as if they were just set down dead in the field.  Curious, but the group continue on, following the girl's trail.

 A while later, the group hear the sounds of a camp.  Einar, using his superior scouting abilities, finds the beastmen camp and the group decides to take on the dangerous wildmen.  Using tactics and spells, they get a surprise drop on the creatures and manage to kill the ones they could see, but not before the beastmen alerted their leaders, who were in the cave at the back of the camp.  The leader Warg beastmen exit the cave and join the fight!

 

End of session.  

Upon completing their task at the Golden Meadows ranch, the Victims fulfill their obligations by returning to Crossings and have a little time to spend on personal pursuits.  However, trouble eventually catches up to them and they decide, as a team, to leave Crossings on a new adventure.

 

Joined by their new companion, the halfling magician Calum Dapplespring, who had learned of their exploits from Ephram's Fork and followed them to Crossings.  The group make their way south looking for a place called the Lonely Vale, where Einar hopes to find some of the rare meteorite that he was told he needed to fulfil his destiny.  Me7a also had reason to go to the vale, learning that there was rumor of a Machine God disciple doing bad work out there.  So they make their way to a small town in bad weather to get directions.  They then enter the hills south of Crossings and proceed toward the Old Wood, where the entrance of the vale was said to be near. 

 

The weather turns bad again as the group nears the Old Wood, and a hungry bear happens upon them, intent upon finding a meal amongst the group.  But the bear was bested by the combined might of the group and paid for the confrontation with its life.  Tordar skins the bear as a trophy.  

 

The group finds the entrance to the Lonely Vale, enter and begin walking along the river, unsure of where to start.  Shortly upon entering, they come across a stranger running naked through the woods.  They catch up to the stranger, who is apparently running for his life from something he believed to be pursuing him.  But when nothing materialized, the group questioned him to understand his panic.  Ranting manically, fearful that he was being pursued, he became even more agitated upon seeing Me7a, who he claimed was one of "them".  The group decide to follow the man's trail to see if they could determine what was chasing him. 

 

Shortly thereafter, they come across a one-legged woman checking fish traps in the river.  She calls herself Mary and said that she and her mother lived nearby.  She knew nothing of the stranger, but seemed kind and offered shelter to the group for the night.  They decline and continue onward, crossing the river at a shallow point and continuing to follow the naked man's trail.

 

Traveling through the woods, they eventually come to a clearing where a ruined tower sits.  In the clearing, they also find a crater containing a meteorite, but not matching the description that Einar was given.  Einar takes a sample anyway, and the group go investigate the tower.  Within the ruins they find webs containing the corpse of a Wandering Star cultist, apparently killed by the spider hiding in the tower.  The spider senses the group's presence and attacks, but is no match for them and is killed.  The group investigate the tower, and Chikatinga gets his foot stuck in some rubble on the 2nd floor.

 

Meanwhile, Einar left the tower and hears voices coming towards the clearing.  He attempts to hide behind a tree and witnesses 2 young local girls enter the clearing, apparently looking for someone.  Me7a, who had fallen out of the tower, also hears the voices and goes towards them, trying to seem as mechanical as possible.

 

The group inside manage to get Chikatinga free and watch the encounter from within the tower. Upon completing their task at the Golden Meadows ranch, the Victims fulfill their obligations by returning to Crossings and have a little time to spend on personal pursuits.  However, trouble eventually catches up to them and they decide, as a team, to leave Crossings on a new adventure.

 

Joined by their new companion, the halfling magician Calum Dapplespring, who had learned of their exploits from Ephram's Fork and followed them to Crossings.  The group make their way south looking for a place called the Lonely Vale, where Einar hopes to find some of the rare meteorite that he was told he needed to fulfil his destiny.  Me7a also had reason to go to the vale, learning that there was rumor of a Machine God disciple doing bad work out there.  So they make their way to a small town in bad weather to get directions.  They then enter the hills south of Crossings and proceed toward the Old Wood, where the entrance of the vale was said to be near. 

 

The weather turns bad again as the group nears the Old Wood, and a hungry bear happens upon them, intent upon finding a meal amongst the group.  But the bear was bested by the combined might of the group and paid for the confrontation with its life.  Tordar skins the bear as a trophy.  

 

The group finds the entrance to the Lonely Vale, enter and begin walking along the river, unsure of where to start.  Shortly upon entering, they come across a stranger running naked through the woods.  They catch up to the stranger, who is apparently running for his life from something he believed to be pursuing him.  But when nothing materialized, the group questioned him to understand his panic.  Ranting manically, fearful that he was being pursued, he became even more agitated upon seeing Me7a, who he claimed was one of "them".  The group decide to follow the man's trail to see if they could determine what was chasing him. 

 

Shortly thereafter, they come across a one-legged woman checking fish traps in the river.  She calls herself Mary and said that she and her mother lived nearby.  She knew nothing of the stranger, but seemed kind and offered shelter to the group for the night.  They decline and continue onward, crossing the river at a shallow point and continuing to follow the naked man's trail.

 

Traveling through the woods, they eventually come to a clearing where a ruined tower sits.  In the clearing, they also find a crater containing a meteorite, but not matching the description that Einar was given.  Einar takes a sample anyway, and the group go investigate the tower.  Within the ruins they find webs containing the corpse of a Wandering Star cultist, apparently killed by the spider hiding in the tower.  The spider senses the group's presence and attacks, but is no match for them and is killed.  The group investigate the tower, and Chikatinga gets his foot stuck in some rubble on the 2nd floor.

 

Meanwhile, Einar left the tower and hears voices coming towards the clearing.  He attempts to hide behind a tree and witnesses 2 young local girls enter the clearing, apparently looking for someone.  Me7a, who had fallen out of the tower, also hears the voices and goes towards them, trying to seem as mechanical as possible.

 

The group inside manage to get Chikatinga free and watch the encounter from within the tower.

 

The two girls call themselves "Maybell" and "Beulah", and are young and very attractive.  They speak at Me7a as if it were not a living creature and claimed that their "Pa" would be very interested in him.  But their priority was to find the man they were pursuing, so they ask Me7a if he had seen him, which he confirms and offers to go with the girls to find him.  The girls decline, but Me7a follows anyway, hoping to learn more about why these girls are pursing the naked man.  But Chikatinga calls Me7a back, as the rest of the group decide to follow the girl's trail to see where they came from.  So the group leaves the tower clearing and head deeper into the vale.

 

After walking a few hours, the group comes upon a strange field where cattle lie dead with no apparent cause of death.  Also no tracks indicating how the cattle came to be here or indicating their movements.  Its as if they were just set down dead in the field.  Curious, but the group continue on, following the girl's trail.

 

A while later, the group hear the sounds of a camp.  Einar, using his superior scouting abilities, finds the beastmen camp and the group decides to take on the dangerous wildmen.  Using tactics and spells, they get a surprise drop on the creatures and manage to kill the ones they could see, but not before the beastmen alerted their leaders, who were in the cave at the back of the camp.  The leader Warg beastmen exit the cave and join the fight!

 

End of session.  

 

The two girls call themselves "Maybell" and "Beulah", and are young and very attractive.  They speak at Me7a as if it were not a living creature and claimed that their "Pa" would be very interested in him.  But their priority was to find the man they were pursuing, so they ask Me7a if he had seen him, which he confirms and offers to go with the girls to find him.  The girls decline, but Me7a follows anyway, hoping to learn more about why these girls are pursing the naked man.  But Chikatinga calls Me7a back, as the rest of the group decide to follow the girl's trail to see where they came from.  So the group leaves the tower clearing and head deeper into the vale.

 

After walking a few hours, the group comes upon a strange field where cattle lie dead with no apparent cause of death.  Also no tracks indicating how the cattle came to be here or indicating their movements.  Its as if they were just set down dead in the field.  Curious, but the group continue on, following the girl's trail.

 

A while later, the group hear the sounds of a camp.  Einar, using his superior scouting abilities, finds the beastmen camp and the group decides to take on the dangerous wildmen.  Using tactics and spells, they get a surprise drop on the creatures and manage to kill the ones they could see, but not before the beastmen alerted their leaders, who were in the cave at the back of the camp.  The leader Warg beastmen exit the cave and join the fight!

 

End of session.