Aersalus B-Team: Season 1, Session 3 – Spirit Talks while Darkness Walks

Dramatis Personae

Previously . . .

The next day the primary expedition team has decided to go see the farmstead that the healers went to.

A Gift for the Bones

Unit 7
The Three Arrows Inn
Metalsday, Zhven 19th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 3rd hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

After the night of excitement, Seven, at the inn, having previously purchased a scarf, presents it to the bonecarver, Shikoba, noting that it’s apparently tradition to present a bonecarver with gifts to show appreciation, explaining they noticed that they mentioned something about appreciating romantic gestures as well. Shikoba takes it gratefully and compliments it before tying it around their waist. Shikoba gestures for Seven to sit next to them as they continue eating, which confuses it a bit, leaving him there to loom until Shikoba stands up and guides Seven to a chair. Seven notes that it does not require rest. They have a small conversation before Shikoba stands up, bumps their head against Seven’s, thanks it, and walks away. That’s now Seven’s cue to go check on the magistrate.

Resolve

Listens-to-Ocean, Rhum, Trapper, and Unit 7
The Constabulary
Metalsday, Zhven 19th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 5th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Listens has checked up with Tesseikai, who is still healing up. Listens is trying to ask what happened for Tesseikai to ask for water and attempt to sit up before taking a look at her hand, noticing that her finger is missing (despite Listens having tried to cast a restoration spell on her hand), almost looking like she’s going to start crying before shutting it down. She tells Listens that bandits attacked and then there was something in the dark and it was hungry. She says it could have killed her at any time but didn’t. It ripped apart everyone else, her entire team of healers is all gone. She couldn’t even see what it was but she could feel it, like teeth on her skin. She’s already ready to get up and going again, claiming that she’s got the strength back only for Listens to tell her to sit down and rest, which she isn’t happy about but does.

When Listens has a chance, he speaks with Raito and lets him know that they’re going to head out and check out the farm when he’s ready. Raito is getting the expedition group to move in closer to the town itself, moving into the small Church of Light in the small field next to it. It’s far more cramped but they’re spending time getting set up there. Listens, seeing that, yells for Trapper.

Trapper has spent his morning sitting on top of the constabulary keeping an eye out around the building and creating a clockwork prosthetic finger until Listens calls for him, coming down from rooftop and goes inside.

Rhum, having checked around things, sits down on the stump and asks when they’re going to head out. Listens tells them what Tesseikai has said and suggests that Trapper takes the lead. Trapper nods before heading over to the door and throwing the prosthetic at her who snatches it from the air. Rhum asks if Tesseikai wants a lift to go with them only to be countermanded by Listens, Rhum acquiesces rather reluctantly. He asks Tesseikai where the farmstead is and when Tesseikai tells him, he commits it to memory and heads out immediately without the rest before slowing down.

On The Trail

Listens-to-Ocean, Rhum, Trapper, and Unit 7
Outside of Wolftrap
Metalsday, Zhven 19th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 7th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

Trapper heads out, following the trail that she came from last night rather than the one she used to get to the farm. The forest feels weird at the moment, it’s too quiet at the moment, not even the usual sounds are there. All the sounds are dampened, the scents, the feeling of win in the trees with no sound there. Animals moving quietly, scared and trying not to attract attention, even the whine of the insects are baffled moderately. Almost like all their senses are baffled by a veil of fabric. Rhum readies himself for combat, shield and axe at ready and motions for Seven to get ready for combat as well who readies itself as well.

Trapper keeps investigating the area, following the tracks that Tesseikai went along last night, smelling the dried blood. That part doesn’t seem muted, but quite obvious, almost like his nose is right next to the blood. Trapper is aware that something is definitely watching them. It’s there, it’s angry, and it’s so, so, hungry. It’s hard to understand the depth of the feeling that he’s feeling. Whatever the effect that is responsible for the rest of the forest right now is also partially responsible for the being there. Trapper tells everyone to pick up the pace and they head for the farmstead along the trail.

Blood and Hands of Shadow

Listens-to-Ocean, Rhum, Trapper, and Unit 7
At the Soro Steading
Shadowsday, Zhven 18th, 2,981 Fourth Reckoning, 9th hour of the Sun
Wolftrap, Western Span

A lot of the farms around Wolftrap aren’t in fully cleared land with treelines all around. Like a small pocket of civilization in a wild area with pocket groves all around. Part of the homesteading had been burned out, the stone part of the building still standing. The fall crop is withered in the fields. There’s several bits of blood all around, in amounts that no one would survive but there are no bodies. There’s no blood trail leading into the forest, just gone. Rhum points with his axe and shakes his head towards Trapper, indicating bad mojo around the area. Looking closer at the building, they note that it was built over the foundation and remains of an older building. Rhum isn’t certain about the crops, not being too experienced with the plants. Trapper checks the root cellar, finding it full of putrid food that almost makes him sick to his stomach.

Listens keeps looking around, looking between worlds while Seven stands guard over them. There’s a moment when suddenly everything bursts back into color and sound, almost overwhelming at first and then it goes back to being muted. Trapper checks out the ground outside, looking at the tracks. It’s like everyone was trying to run in different directions and the blood on the ground doesn’t smell fresh, almost like it’s old blood, almost like it’s two or three days old. Trapper gets the trail of the healer group, he also gets the trail of the bandits that had come to the farmstead. The bandits weren’t too cautious about their tracks and it doesn’t look like they’re really disciplined, but they also came in the same place they left, but only about half of them actually left the scene.

Aftermath

Listens looks around, not able to actually see things but they do see the shadowy handprints of what they’ve touched. The spirit world is deathly quiet, even moreso for Listens. He can barely makeout the impressions of the spirits of the dead just milling around. Seeing scorched shadowy hand marks on them, arrows in others, some just look withered away. He takes a quick count, noting that there’s only around 4 bandits that died along with the homesteaders and nearly the entire expedition team (excepting Tesseikai). Rhum spends time searching the farmstead, looking for some sort of survivor out there but finds nothing.

After Action Report (GM)

We only played for a couple of hours, but we did get more than measure done of what needed to be done. Which is fine by me. I set the tone for the next game and the players got to do all sorts of things that their character would have done and what the players wanted them to do. I think I’ve played up the mystery of Mama Blood pretty decently. I think I’ve given the players plenty of room to decide what they want to do and how they want to handle it, but we’ll see if that’s actually the case.

I wish I’d been in a better place while I was running, but I wasn’t. Hopefully, next game I will be because I really want this campaign to succeed.

Other Notes

This was a short session. The GM just needed to go and decompress.

Bonus Report from Rory.

Soundtrack

“The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed

Aersalus B-Team: Season 1, Session 5 – Road Agents and Shadowed Paths