Session 24 - Buried Legend

This is the 24th session of the game Ashes

Summary
Following the events of the previous session, Acaelus managed to spot the Bellower through the eyes of his owl Shawn. The Bellower crashed through a section of trees within the northern forest. The party discussed their next course of action. Ultimately they decided that they shouldn't waste any time and to try and track the Bellower while he was injured from making contact with the sacred slab. The party made their way back to the Crossroads Inn and met with Arno, the elven man who accompanied the party to the local graveyard and brought people back in the aftermath. The party inquired about what exactly the slab was, and Arno explained that while he knows some things that it may be best for the party to meet the village elder, Grandma, and ask her.

The party met Grandma, an old gnomish woman, who was able to explain in better detail about the area and its connection to the Old Way. She explained that within the slab were seeds birthed from Everlife Tree within the Solemn Sanctuary of the ancient elven city known as Kaen Kaelore. The seeds were planted there by Cyrell the First, the oldest god in the druidic tradition of the Old Way, and they were planted there in the inevitability of darkness overtaking the world. Grandma figured that dark times must be ahead if seeds this important were being tampered with, and noted that a terrible curse was put on the chest in case foul hands were to reach time, which seemed to be turned the Bellower slowly into plants. She explained further that the Bellower would not die, and would suffer some kind of eternal punishment. She also noted that three of the party members reminded her of friends in her past, referring to Astraea as a Wayfinder, Autumn as a Songseer, and Emeran as a Spring Sword, and deemed that the three of them could open the slab safely and carry the three seeds within. Before the party left she also mentioned that there was a rumor that Cyrell had buried with the seeds an artifact of great power.

The met up with Arno, who would guide them through the forest, and began to make their way to where the Bellower had landed after taking a short rest. As they made their way through, Barry the Bard decided to join the group, discussing with them that he was seeking adventure, and looking for material for another song. The party tentatively accepted. The party followed the path of the Bellower within the Northern Wood for several hours, and nearing daybreak became within sight of the demon, who seemed to be walking with another person. The party made their presence known and began a parlay with the demon, while whoever he was speaking with hid within the brush.

The Bellower seemed despondent, as the curse befalling him had deteriorated most of the right side of his body, so much so that his right wing had fallen off. He was willing to explain things to the party about why he took the Sacred Slab and explained how he was summoned and hired by a cult who worshiped the Harvest Moon. He wasn't sure why they wanted to take the seeds within the Slab, but more likely as a way for others not to have the seeds, and could potentially be used in a separate ritual. The Bellower offered to kill all of the cultists on the nearby hillside, give the party the seeds willingly, and leave if the party is able to remove the curse on him. The party deliberated for a long while about what to do. This was a part that really excited the DM since he was able to sit back and let his players do the heavy lifting while he had a good chuckle about the dilemma :)

At some point between all of this Barry the Bard remembered the lyrics to a song that seemed related to everything he's heard about what's been going on:

Harvest Moon, high in the sky 

A seed planted, her last wish granted

A boy in black, kept in a sack

A girl in white, bound in fright

A man in grey, rotting away

Gather them all, under the moon of Fall

Bury the seeds, cover them in leaves

Bury the boy, with things that gave joy

Bury the girl, with opal and pearl 

Bury the man, with the history of his clan

It will take time, but you’ve followed the rhyme

What remained has gone moot, the seed has taken root

Eventually, the two parties settled on a deal. The Bellower would kill the cultists, give up the seeds, leave, vow never to kill innocents, and reveal his true name in exchange for his curse being lifted, his life, and for his 8-foot tall obsidian greatsword. The party also wanted to question one of the cultists before he killed them, this was a point made much clearer after the Bellower had dragged the one walking with him out of the bush and ate his head. After everything was made clear, the party began a long rest in the Tiny Hut while the Bellower took care of his end of the bargain. During the rest, Acaelus pondered to Emeran the mortality of killing the Bellower after he's done everything they asked since he was in no condition to fight. The discussed these things during that time. Eventually, the rest came to an end, and the Bellower presented the party with a bag containing the last living cultist in the area. By this time the Bellower had lost his right arm to the curse, and Elias took the liberty in removing the curse from the Bellower. The Bellower revealed his true name to the party, removed his 8-foot long obsidian greatsword from the bag of holding, and with a few parting words left.

The party found with the last cultist several components needed for the ritual spoken with the lyrics of the song, a boy in black, a girl in white, and a man in grey. The cultist, named The Shrewd, explained that the three bodies were people from the city of Trawlwind where a majority of the cultists had been prior to meeting up. The cult of the Harvest Moon believes that by performing the ritual in many places across the world that the Harvest Moon would remerge. The Shrewd explained that he, and all other members of his cult, had heard the words of the song in a message that passed through all of their minds and that there was a place hidden away on this plane where a person could speak words and have everyone hear them. They had all taken it as a sign of gathering, and that there are many others out there, disconnected from each other with no central source trying to do the same thing as this offshoot had tried. With as much information as they needed in had the party decided to open the slab. Within the slab were the three seeds that they had expected, as well as a brass necklace of some kind that was glowing a bluish color. Astraea, Autumn, and Emeran deiced to each bear one of the seeds, and Autumn decided to wear the necklace, looking to identify it for later.

The party made their way back to the Crossroads Inn with the cultist in tow. It seemed that Joren had gotten enough strength to meet with the party in the inn. Seeking retribution for the death of his sister, Joren decided that the cultist deserved a death in the middle of town, and in the tradition of the Old Way asked Arno to fetch a chopping block. With the locals gathered Joren emerged with his axe in hand, and despite a silent plea from Grandma and solemn disapproval, Joren took the head of the Shrewd. Arno gathered up some coin to give the party for their trouble. The three seeds were given to Grandma for her to safeguard, and she requested that the party seek a Guardian of some kind to watch over these properly, as they had hundreds of years ago.

With that, the party left the Crossroads Inn southwards along the Gravel Path to their next destination on the way to Rust Port, the city of Silverton. Along the way, the party were able to identify the necklace that they found with the seeds. It was a containment device of some kind, and there was a creature inside it. Autumn spoke, trying to ascertain as to who the creature was and why it was contained in the capsule. A female voice spoke back in Sylvan and asked where Cyrell was. The creature wanted to be released and trusting the nature of what she was saying Autumn decided to let her out. The creature within was a Unicorn named Fenny, who had been living in this capsule for thousands of years. She was placed in there by Cyrell only to be released if the world fell into darkness. What would be expected is that a Guardian of a region would open the slab, plant the seeds that would grow Trees of Light and Life, and release Fenny to help defend the world against the darkness. Fenny wished to be brought somewhere which more resembled her home, and the two places that fall into that category would be Kaen Kaelore in Dagger's End or the Wroughtgrove in Exmoor. Until then Fenny agreed to stay with the party within the necklace for her own safety.