Session 5 - Great Hunt

22/04/5-10

The Party continued their travels to Konskirav. Otto took the reins for the wagon and Valeyo moved to the back to read a book and take in the views. Not long after departing, Milivoj and Sapphhira was approached by a lone rider coming from the west. The man wore an animal skull of some sort on his head and his dark horse bore white paint markings resembling a skeleton. Milivoj recognized him as a member of the Goranov Clan. Living up north, those of the Goranov Clan are known to be deeply spiritual, believing in respecting the animals and the hunt alike. The decorate themselves with the skins and bones of animals, the number indicating their standing within the clan.

Once arriving closer, the man spoke in a thickly accented Ikovalian and. introduced himself as Vaz, a scout. The then asked them about the tremor and if they had seen any creatures roaming about, which Milivoj denied. Satisfied the man wished the party Blessings of Swiftness, before departing. In the back of the wagon, Valeyo was asking Cassini about his dissertation. Cassini claimed it was almost finished and pulled out his work from his case. Valeyo was appalled to notice that the "dissertation" was a messily assembled series of paper, written in all manner of different languages and bearing no protection from the elements. He implored Cassini to make a copy of the full work in Ikovalen and write it down in a well bound book if he hopes to get his work published and Cassinni got to work. The group travelled in silence for a few hours, but come the afternoon, a man could be seen laying with his back to some rocks near the road. The Sapphira and Milivoj got close, Sapphira smelled the blood in the air and noticed that the man was Vaz, the scout from earlier. He appeared to have been dead for a few hours, judging by his dried up blood, and laying across from him, on the other side of the road, was his horse, also dead. Both of them seemed to have been killed by a large puncture wound, reaching 10cm in diameter at it's widest point. From the tracks in the tall grass, it could be deduced that whatever beast had done this, had been a large quadruped which had headed south next.

Milivoj urged the party to take part in the hunt, but despite his protests, the group continued riding on, as Valeyo and Shiek wanted to be cautious. At around sundown a frequently used campsite could be seen ahead and the party decided to prepare to turn in for the night. After setting up camp, Sapphira went on a hunt, coming back with a couple of rabbits, while Valeyo talked to Ysomir about the history of the horse clans. Watch order was arranged, starting with Milivoj, but once his time was up, he decided not to wake the others up and instead kept watch through the whole night. A few hours into this, he saw a group of hunter, belonging to the Goranov Clan, setup camp nearby.

23/04/5-10

In the morning, Milivoj approached the hunters and let them know of Vaz's fate and his location, for which he was thanked. With the wagon packed up, the group was on the road once more. The day's travel was spend talking amongst each other until the afternoon, when something caught Otto's attention. A loud scream, followed with what looked like a man being launched through the air, broke the afternoon calm. Riding up to investigate, Milivoj spotted a group of four hunter, all mounted shooting at a creature. The men all bore avian iconography, with one having an abnormally large feather down his side. Milivoj knew these as members of the Otgore Clan. The beast they were fighting was a huge lizard like creature, with tall vertical plates going down its spine, ending in a long tail with four long sharp spikes. One of the riders found himself too close to the beast and was flung of his horse, by it's powerful tail. Deciding to help out, the group exited the wagon and joined the fight.

With the combined efforts of the riders and the party, the beast was slain, finished off by a volley of arrows from the Otgore hunters. The leaded approached the party and thanked them for their help in the hunt. He then cut off one of the tail spikes and gave it to Milivoj. Looking at the creature, from his research Cassini remembered reading about "Dinosaurs", which come up in these hunts. They apparently exist in other parts of the world, but are rare and their bones and hides are valuable. Sapphira and Valeyo recalled some of these creatures coming from the portals to the Deadlands 16 years ago. Valeyo explained the Portal Incident to Shiek and he asked the hunters whether they were bringing this back to camp, to which they confirmed and shot a red signal up. Valeyo followed up, by asking if they knew of the source of the tremors and the man said they are a test from the Great Wing - a being of worship for the Otgore clan, existing in the form of a roc. With that they bid the hunters farewell and kept traveling towards Konskirav.

24/04/5-10

In the morning, urged by Cassini and Sapphira, Shiek decided to open the Hungry Twin. Before he would do so, Otto cast Detect Magic, finding out that the box was enchanted with Conjuration magic. Shiek opened the lid and inside found an empty box, dark as if the walls were made of velvet. He placed a stone inside of it and there was no reaction, so he simply took it out and closed the box, deciding that they should just take it to an expert and Konskirav as Velyo had suggested. Sapphira had an idea an took a piece of parchment, writing on it "Hello, who is there?" before putting it in the box and closing the lid. Suddenly, the box animated making and exaggerated chewing noise, before swallowing. When opened again it was empty. About a minute past, before it started moving again, regurgitating a piece of paper with the writing "I am assuming you killed Rosa. That really isn't very sensible.". Cassini and Sapphira moved away from the box to avoid responsibility and Shiek simply shrugged, so Valeyo loaded the Hungry Twin back in wagon.

25/04/5-10

The day was spent in uneventful travel.

26/04/5-10

Around the early afternoon, smoke could be seen rising from the chimneys of the buildings of Konskirav. A large number of pointed, circular tents surrounded the town. On the left side of the road, the tents bore the images of birds, the Otgore Clan, while on the right they were decorated with bones, the Goranov Clan. The town itself was larger than Konkrainmor, with a big central thoroughfare leading all the way to the central square. On the way, right before the square, the party noticed a disturbance. A huge grey skinned man, standing at about 15-20ft tall, was frantically stomping around at a swarm of rats, scuttling around his feet. Otto recognized the man as a Stone Giant, and expressed his surprise at seeing one in town, as they are known to be reclusive craftsmen rather than city people. Some guards were approaching the giant and Valeyo decided to help, making his way to the front of the crown and using Calm Emotions on the giant. He immediately let out a sigh of relief and Valeyo used this time to tell the crowd to get rid of the rats. Some of the Boyar stabbed at the swarm, killing all of them ,except one, which Sapphira caught. When the rats were killed they simply poofed into non existence leaving no body behind, suggesting that they were magically summoned.

The rats having been deal with, Valeyo spoke to the giant, who thanked him for his help, expressing that he really hates rats and his cats were currently missing so they couldn't protect him. Valeyo ended his spell and introduced himself, with the giant responding in kind. He name was Venthor a craftsman. When asked about his work, he pointed down the road at the largest building in the area, a multistory stone tower, which he said he had built. When Valeyo complimented the construction, Venthor shrugged saying he prefers more delicate crafts. Valeyo then inquired whether Venthor had seen someone matching Blazh's description. The giant thought for a bit, before saying that he had seen a grey tiefling with an armoured guard heading south. Valeyo thanked him and wished him luck finding his cats, which Venthor had mentioned, he names after colours. The giant said that the trains frightened the cats, which prompted Valeyo to ask about the trains. Apparently trains don't run yet, as the track only reached a mile south of here, but materials are brought into town frequently for its construction. When asked about magical trinkets and baubles or exotic goods, Venthor suggested the market, as any merchant in possession of such items, would usually advertise.

The party wondered where to stay and Milivoj said that his clan, the Yuizhen, keep a base here so he would head there to get information and it could serve as a place to rest. Valeyo and Shiek split off to speak to the working people of town, while Otto headed to the taverns with Sapphira who was looking for job boards.