After settling in and enjoying a few days of rest and feeling more experienced, the group started looking for some other work. Through the guard Bryan, father of one of the children they rescued, the got a recommendation for some guard duty for a noble’s daughter and heir. She had been rescued by another group two months earlier from a fiendish death at the hands of a necromancer. The group, The Strangers, were busy at the old ruined castle White Rock so Count Ismae was recruiting for a group of elite guards who could keep his daugher under control. He needed a group of guards and was willing to offer each member in the group a choice of +1 weapon or +1 armor as pay for the work. The job involved guarding Sophie as she adventures out into town for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks,with no trouble, she was allowed to attend the Harvest Feast Ball, held each year by the town’s nobles and sponsored by the Patriarch. The Storm Peace Keepers were also provided with fine clothing for the ball.
At the Ball, your group helped keep peace and keep some of the nobles from cheating to win the prize, a Rod of Splendor. Sophia stayed out of trouble until after her performance when she tripped while coming down from the stage. The group noticed that she was passing a note. They questioned Sophia and found out that she was in contact with a group called the Sorority of the Swan. She had suspicions that her father was involved with a group called the True Men. The True Men would ride during the new Moon, in black clothing, and attack the poor in the Warrens. Because of these attacks unrest was stirring up and the nobles and the poor were calling for more guards for protection. However, rumors said that the True Men were nobles who were upset with the riff raff filling up the Warrens and they were taking the law into their own hands. Because they were supposedly nobles even True Men who had been caught had been rumored to have been let go with a warning from the town guards. The guards were afraid of revenge and the Patriarch had held off on bringing in his elite guard the Magn’a Gard to help keep the peace. The group spoke with the girl and said they would work with her to protect her and find safer ways to pass on the message.
In the meantime, Sheliak had been having nightmares about a large oak in the forest that is being threatened and slowly destroyed. And when Darsus requested guidance from his god Cayden he also received a vision of a large, old oak tree with a figure chained to it, that was being destroyed. There were also wild animals and monsters wandering through Cillamar and horrible shrieks of pain heard in the forest around the town. Two nights after the Harvest Ball, a bard of some renown, Phineas Muddey, disappeared. A friend of his, herbalist Stefan Barclay and warrior dwarf Arvik Duerlagg were last seen with him at the tavern the Infamous Oath. They also seem to have disappeared. This morning, Bryan the guard along with his superior, Ariel Perun, come to talk with you. They ask if the group would be willing to help in trying to find the people who went missing. In addition, there are more people missing as of this morning, Kelvin and Ambrose Wickworth, from a small farm outside of Cillamar on the eastern side. The distraught parents came into Cillamar, reporting their sons missing and that they needed shelter in the city before the animals overran their farm. They have heard unearthly screams in the east and animals are fleeing the region where the screams come from.
The group ventured out to the farm and met with the grieving parents. They had seen wolves wandering around and are worried that their sons went out to try and kill the beasts. The mother also thought she heard one of her sons mention that he was going to meet a new friend and she is grief stricken that she didn’t try to find out more information. The parents point the group to a path that heads into the forest towards the source of the shrieking.
The group follow the path and at the bottom of a hill you are surprised by something rolling down the hill towards them. Before the group can react, it comes to a stop at their feet and they see it is a body of a young man. There is a ragged wound on his shoulder, where the blood has soaked the shirt and a fresh bite wound on his side. The cleric tries to help but it’s too late for him. Someone glances up and sees a hyena staring down from the top of the hill. Before anyone in the group can react the hyena flees, disappearing from sight. By the time the group makes it to the top of the hill the hyena has disappeared.
After reaching the top of the hill a path can be seen going through a ravine. Off in the distance a magnificent oak tree can be seen rising out of a jagged surface about a half mile away. A path winds through the ravine that separates the group from the oak and seems to offer the fastest path over to the oak. During the trek on the path boulders come down the hill and bugbears step out from hiding and attack the group. The group reacts and quickly takes down the bugbears after avoiding the trap. They continue following the hyena tracks on the path and move closer to the giant oak tree.
While walking through the ravine there is a grove where the trees are contorted and the group hears the trees shrieking in agony. While watching the group can see the tree twist and expand and yellow sap gush from the broken bark. As they walk through the grove they see a group of dire weasels that seems to be playing with a piece of wood. The dire weasels attack and are backed up by arrows fired from the top of a tree. The group takes out the weasels and damages the satyr in the tree shooting the arrows. After a lot of damage the satyr offers to surrender and comes down the tree. The group offers him his freedom if he will go with them and fight the menace up ahead. He bolts and is taken down before he can run away.
The group continues and can see more of the tree through thick fog. As the group is walking giant wasps come out of the fog and attack. There is also lightning striking members of the group. After a few rounds the wasps are killed and the group stops to assess their situation. This is where the session ended.