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Dunmari Frontier - Session 50

Shadows in the Night: in which the party desperately flees east

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker
In Taelgar: Aug 24, 1748 DR to Aug 29, 1748 DR
On Earth: Thursday Jul 21, 2022
Chasa River Valley

The Dunmar Fellowship escapes eastward, contending with shadow attacks and nightmares while trying to outpace their pursuers.

Session Info

Summary

  • The Dunmar Fellowship flees from Fausto, taking turns hiding in a magical mirror and riding eastward to escape.
  • Wellby and Kenzo take turns riding east, passing landmarks and trading horses as needed.
  • The group is repeatedly attacked by shadow creatures at night, and suffers from haunting nightmares.
  • Despite challenges, the party continues their journey east, with Delwath scrying and learning of allies’ activities.

Timeline

  • Aug 24, 1748 DR, afternoon: Sneak to a safe place to rest 15 miles east of Chardon; sleep. Kenzo dreams of Hralgar.
  • Aug 25, 1748 DR, morning. Wellby buys horses at a small market town; Delwath scries. Kenzo, Seeker, and Delwath hide in the Mirror of Soul Trapping. Wellby rides as fast as possible, passing Metium and traveling 70 miles east before stopping at midnight to rest.
  • Aug 26, 1748 DR: Wellby rides 60 miles east. Pass a gray stone monolith about 60 feet high. Sleep.
  • Aug 27, 1748 DR: Ride 45 miles east before a horse throws a muscle; Wellby gives him away to an apricot farmer. Pass Chardonian legion heading east. Camp just east of Erlona, about 210 miles east of Chardon. Fitful night marred by dreams of a spear-wielding shadow creature.
  • Aug 28, 1748 DR, morning: Sell old horses and buy new ones in Erlona.
  • Aug 28, 1748 DR, afternoon. Wellby hides in the Mirror of Soul Trapping while Kenzo rides east.
  • Aug 28, 1748 DR, evening: Pass the Scar of Shadowfire. Attacked by shadow mastiffs. Two horses and the ladder are frightened by shadows and run, but are relocated after an hour. More nightmares.
  • Aug 29, 1748 DR: Travel only about 30 miles as the horses are tired after the attack and Kenzo struggles to keep them on pace.
  • Aug 29, 1748 DR, evening: Wellby takes over, rides another 20 miles by midnight. Camp around 320 miles east of Chardon. Try to rest.

Narrative

We start as the party takes a brief breather in the shadow of a barn in a field of wheat, about a half-mile south of Chardon, having just fled from Fausto. During the course of a tense day, Wellby sneaks upriver and finds a place where the party can sleep, unmolested. The next morning, as dawn comes, the party discusses the situation and decides to ride as fast as possible east, with one person riding at a time while the rest of the party remains in the mirror. While Wellby heads to the nearby market town to buy horses, Delwath attempts to scry, first on Marcella (which fails), and then on Fausto (which succeeds). Fausto is finishing breakfast, an invisible servant carrying his dishes away, and then takes out a silver mirror with an elaborate jeweled border decoration, and begins casting scrying. 

The rest of the day and into the night, Wellby rides hard, changing horses frequently. He passes the wine town of Metium around 3 pm, before running out of steam around midnight about 85 miles east of Chardon. The next morning, get an early start in the pre-dawn light and ride all day, making another 60 miles with the horses tiring around 9 pm. Pass a tall gray standing monolith stone around 130 miles east of Chardon. May possibly be associated with the fey, somehow; later learn that this is one of several treaty stones marking the agreements between humans and elves in these lands, thousands of years ago. Camp at 9 pm, and rest.

The next day proceeds similarly, pushing 45 miles before one of the horses pulls a muscle and cannot continue. Wellby gives him away to an apricot farmer named Marcus, and then finds a place to camp near the city of Erlona, a substantial city with a large coliseum. Near the city, Wellby also passes an army of perhaps 500 Chardonian soldiers setting camp on their way east. The night’s sleep is interrupted by nightmares: a shadow creature with a long spear wrapped in darkness and a red and black mask appears, saying that he is coming for them.

However, the horses get their rest, and the next morning the party decides it is time for fresh horses, so Wellby spends the day going into Erlona to buy new horses and sell the old. He also maintains the cover story that he has made it to his caravan. The rest of the day, Kenzo takes over, with everyone else in the mirror, making it another 60 miles before calling it a night. 

That night, while the party tries to rest, a pack of shadow dogs attacks, seemingly attempting to get away with blood from party members. However, they are all killed, despite the heroic Ladder running away in fear. Trying to rest after the battle, Seeker is again beset by nightmares, this time of the shadow dogs hunting him and tearing him to pieces, and does not get a rest. 

The next day, the party sets out again, with Kenzo on the horses, but he is unable to keep up the pace Wellby was able to set before. After traveling about 30 miles, the horses tired from being frightened of the shadow dogs, the party takes a rest, and Wellby takes over again. After traveling another 20 miles, the horses are exhausted and the party camps. 

During the journey, Delwath also spends time Scrying, and sees Marcella and Sura. Marcella is in the mountains to the east, sleeping. Sura is praying in her tent, reading a prayer book waiting for someone, and then a messenger arrives. He says he has ridden all the way to Tokra, and no one there knew the secret of unpetrifying a person. Govir, at the Archives, is doing some research to see what he can learn, but no one knows how the sword caused this. 

Trying to sleep, Seeker again has nightmares, of the shadow hunter catching up to him and saying “I found you!”. The rest of the party is watching in the dream mirror, and immediately tries to wake Seeker, as the sound of howls echoes in from near the camp, and the session ends.