Session 3

On investigating the remains of the bandit assault the group discovered that some of the members, including the leader woman, had old gang tattoos from the Goto Mei gang from Jiiwani. They weren't carrying any money and only light supplies, found a little way behind the ambush. Sassani also found traces of grave dust on their clothes, indicating that they probably had been hiding out in an old and abandoned area.

The group pooled their evidence and knowledge and decided that they had probably been using a nearby abandoned fort, Karzin, as a base of operations. They decided that they could come back to investigate the fort later, and that escorting the caravan back to Dejang-e safely and taking their prisoner to Shava Dehu was the best course of action.

Upon arriving at Dejang-e they delivered the caravan to a thankful warehouse foreman and reported in to Elder Nouri, who was pleased to see that it had arrived safely and grudgingly thankful of the group's efforts. They then retreated to Otgon Sum. They reported their success to Shava, who told them that Tolli, Mana and Mida were currently out exploring the area. The prisoner was taken for interrogation, and given to Admar to “question”. Shava instructed the group to head back out and deal with the final problem in the village, the dying area of the forest, whilst the questioning took place and they waited for the others to return.

The group headed out to the afflicted area and discovered the forest slowly dying. Kathra cast a spell to detect poison and disease, and discovered a miasma of disease hanging over the area. She traced the source to the water in the area, then with Ryo's help traced the water back further into the forest. They discovered a makeshift dam blocking the river, with seven unusual creatures standing atop it.

Six of these creatures were short and skinny, but with large distended heads and jaws. The last creature was the size of an adolescent, and was equipped with better armour and tools than the others. They all spotted Kathra on approach (everyone else was hiding), and at a command from the larger creature the six smaller ones opened their jaws, began screaming, and charged down the damn towards her.

The rest of the part broke cover to help Kathra, eliminating two of the beasts before they had gotten off the dam. Those remaining took cover themselves, and began moving quickly in stealth towards their targets. Once they closed the distance they leapt at their victims, clamping on with their jaws and holding tight as they gnawed on them. All of this was supported by the larger creature, who provided cover with a bow.

The battle was hard-fought, with all of the party being badly damaged by the creatures. They did, however, prevail. Ryo set about butchering one of the creatures to see how they worked, with limited success, and Kathra moved to look at the dam. On the other side a large artificial lake had formed, and was overflowing into the surrounding areas causing a quagmire. The water was heavily polluted where filth from something upriver was feeding in to it, and this filth was polluting the surrounding area.

The group buried the bodies that were too badly damaged, and took the remaining five back to Dejang-e. Kathra spoke to Kiani, the herbalist, to explain what had happened and let him know to avoid the area. The others went to see Mahra, who also didn't know anything about the creatures. They showed them to her, though, and she gave them some chemicals to disguise the scent in exchange for keeping one of the bodies for herself. With no real extra knowledge they returned to Otgon Sum.

They showed the creatures to Batai, who ran to fetch Shava. Shava questioned the party about what happened, then instructed that they should not reveal the creatures existence to anyone. The group admitted that they had made Mahra and Kiani aware of the situation, and eventually agreed with Shava to return to Dejang-e and retrieve the two of them to help investigate what the creatures were.

Sassani and Ryo returned to Mahra's, who agreed to come with them when she heard that Shava wanted her assistance. They discovered she had been dissecting the creature herself, but she agreed to return the pieces to The Butterflies. Kathra and Chae went to Kiani, who didn't really want to come with them but eventually agreed when they made it clear he had little choice. Kathra went to the temple to retrieve the equipment he needed whilst Chae escorted him back to the group. He made an effort to escape from her, but she chased him down and threatened him into submission.

The group returned to Otgon Sum and turned in for the night. In the morning they helped get the investigation rolling, then went to check in on the interrogation of the prisoner. They found her asleep and abandoned, so Kathra woke her up and started questioning her despite not removing her gag. Once they'd finished entertaining themselves they found Jendrayana for an update. She told them what they'd discovered, the number of bandits, their location and leadership structure, then went to find Admar to see why he had left the prisoner alone. The group headed back to the prisoner to question her themselves to see if the information provided lined up.

Sassani pressed the prisoner on her previous knowledge of Admar, to which she admitted she'd seen him during a deal in Jiiwani some years ago whilst she worked for a gang in the city. The prisoner was unsure what other information she could provide, despite Sassani torturing her; she did not reveal anything else that they didn't already know. Admar and Jendraya then arrived, and he confirmed the details that the prisoner had given. The group went to leave, but as they did spotted a look passed between Jendrayana and the prisoner which piqued Sassani's interest again.

He and Chae went back in demanding to know more about the relationship between the two, but neither would reveal anything else despite strong suspicions that they were lying. Chae went to fetch Shava to arbitrate, and Shava decided that there was enough suspicion surrounding the situation that she barred all of the rest of the gang from dealing with the prisoner at all. Admar and Jendrayana were instructed to wait in their quarters for their colleagues to return, and the group dispatched to investigate the grey beings.

On the way back down to Dejang-e the group bumped in to Tolli, Mida and Mana as they returned from their mission. They confirmed much of the information that the prisoner had revealed, but said they hadn't been inside the fort to know for certain.

The group returned to the location of the fight and discovered that the two graves of the mangled bodies they had left behind had been unearthed. They spotted another grey creature hiding in a nearby tree and attempted to blow him out of it, but the branch held and the creature balanced well enough to avoid falling. He sounded the alarm, and a familiar cry went up in the distance.

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