Session 6
The session begins with the remnants of Groot's body. The dust of his orb lays on the ground.
Una catches up to the group. Theo asks Athtar for an empty vial, which he provides for Theo to collect Groot's dust.
Theo looks for something to wrap the body of the commoner who was killed at the start of the fight. Una looks at the commoner and knows that he died to a stab in the back, but notes that the ground around it was somewhat rotted, implying void energy.
Theo looks over the dustwatcher remains and examines the sword. He sees no evidence of anything to transfer void energy but does see that it has a rune with +1 attack. He takes the sword and stows it.
Athtar asks if the sword is able to the transfer void energy, which Theo reports it cannot. This leaves two possibilities:
The commoner was already infected
The innate ability of these dustwalkers lets them transfer void energy into victims
While Theo looks through the dustwatcher's remains, he finds some money and small valuables, but quickly reflexes back as the black liquid attempts to strike him.
Athtar heads up to the farmhouse and finds more animals that are torn apart. There doesn't appear to be a rhyme or reason as to what the dustwalkers are going for in their mauling. It seems like they're mauling for the sake of it. He also doesn't find any evidence of whom the farm belonged to
Theo burns the dustwatcher scraps along with the black liquid. He also burns the rest of the dustwalkers in a secondary fire away from the main farm area.
The group then settles in and sets up camp to rest for the night. Una patches everyone but Pete up as he cannot heal.
Una takes the first watch for the night while Athtar and Theo sleep. Pete doesn't sleep, so he stays up as well. Una notices movement from up in the hills. It seems to be a dwarven with a red beard. He seems to know Groot but is told that his arrival is too late. He joins the party, and goes to sleep by the fire.
As the watch shift switches over to Pete, he goes to the dwarf to ask who he is. The dwarf calls him out for travelling with abominations at his hips. As the dwarf continues yelling, he wakes up the others, and Pete hits him in the back of the head with his pistol.
The dwarf, seeing theo, recognizes that his arm is powered by an external plane. Theo asks who he is. The dwarf introduces himself as Gimmy Flint. The group asks what he does, and he responses that he speaks for mother nature, preaches her word.
He says he's come down from the Red Mountains after seeing a prophecy of a giant tree being devoured by the undead. The group responds that it did indeed happen.
Pete asks why Gimmy was wandering around the night preaching these things. he mentions a vision, and rambles, but Pete asks him to just tell the group why he's here.
Gimmy says that he believes to have seen a vision from the Goddess Gozreh about the group. He was shown a secret grove being polluted, and believes that by travelling with the group, he can continue the mission of Groot, and purify the grove.
Theo asks what the group thinks. Athtar questions his combat proficiency. Gimmy responds that he has not fought, but has spent his life carving the Earth using a pickaxe. He then attempts to lift a boulder, but fails as it is still somewhat buried in the ground.
The group eventually lets him join and then sleep the rest of the night.
After the group wakes, they continue on the trail left by the carriage. While they continue forward, Theo borrows Pete's gun to transfer the rune from the dustwatcher's sword into.
Pete continues tracking, Athtar takes point and keeps watch as he does so. Theo works on the transfer, and Gimmy maintains his hardwood armour.
Unfortunately, Pete accidentally follows the wrong tracks and spends the day leading the group down the wrong path. The night is uneventful after the group retraces their steps. He then finds the tracks and leads the group.
The tracks eventually fade away, but Athtar notices a path off the side of the road around where the tracks disappear. This path seems to lead closer to the base of the mountains, in a wooded area.
The group pushes forward into the forest. Athtar notices a few logs that have been knocked over in the path ahead, though he thinks the trees just grew that way. He also sees a way over a small hill which would let them pass by. Pete goes up the mountain to check if anything is around it, and sees some yellow flowers below a tree on the hill, they seem to be tangling the tree at the base. He also sees several corpses surrounded in vines with the same flowers growing out of them.
The corpses are animated by the plant and the one under the tree rises as it intends to claim the group!
Pete takes a shot against one of the thralls, Athtar finishes it off with an alchemist's fire vial, which melts the thrall. Two more thralls pop out of bushes behind Gimmy, Una, and Theo which causes them to split. The plant below the tree charms Theo and enchants him, forcing him to approach.
Pete is surrounded by two thralls but shoots a flaming shot at one of them, lighting it on fire, and dealing splash fire damage to the second.
Una takes a shot against one of the thralls that emerged behind them, killing it with a lethal shot and causing its head to explode.
Athtar attempts another alchemical firebomb but completely misses the thralls that were attacking pete. He then attempts with a frost vial, and manages to land the splash damage.
The burning thrall makes an attack on Pete, but it misses and burns to death before him.
Theo is slowly drawn closer to the creeper, and climbs up the hill to stand by it.
Pete asks Athtar if they're going to climb the hill together to get the creeper. Athtar agrees and Pete tells him to follow.
Una takes a shot against another thrall and Gimmy strikes the thrall that emerged behind him and kills it.
Pete runs closer to the hill. The thrall that remains with Pete and Athtar rips its arms off as vines grow from the sockets and attempt to grab Pete, but it misses.
Athtar, seeing this pulls out his colt pistol and shoots it in the back of the head, killing it.
The creeper with Theodore grabs him bores into his brain to try and pull it out. Pete takes a shot against the creeper holding Theo Athtar also takes a shot but misses. Una takes a shot, but misses Pete and Athtar also take shots and miss Una finally manages to hit and kill the creeper and saving Theo
As the group searches the remains of the thralls, they find 5 gold and an antidote.
The group continues on, maintaining their earlier exploration positions. The sky begins to darken as it looks like a storm will be coming in.
Una takes a moment to heal Athtar's wounds and the group moves on hustling.
The rain comes down hard and the sky darkens. Una, Athtar, and Gimme can see in the darkness due to their ability to see well in low light.
Una notices a flash of lightning in the distance illuminating a building of some kind. It looks like it might be shelter She informs the group, and they head to it.
Once they arrive they knock on the door and it creaks open. The group enters the manor to a hall with a flight of stairs up to a second floor. Gimli suggests finding a fireplace to warm up at. The manor seems well-kept
Pete and Theo split from the group to look for a place the carriage might have passed through while the rest wait in the main hall.
Pete and Theo get caught by a man about 7 feet tall. He mentions that the master of the house is not expecting visitors and escorts them back to the main entrance.
Pete not liking being touched pulls forward out of his grip. He also blows a signal whistle to alert the others. The man gets up in his face and asks why he did that. Theo takes the opportunity to run and check out a zombie gardener, who just seems like a normal undead.
The man tries to grab Theo, but he squirms out. The man is frustrated, but Theo complies and mentions that the group came here investigating something that the man and his master may be able to help with.
The man leads the group to a waiting room with a fire while he went to fetch his master.