Adventures in Oerth- The Bane of Vecna: Book One, Chapter Eight, the Road to Kester Part 1

The Bane of Vecna, those present in this chapter:

Aurora Isilime, the Valley Elf Bard; "The Silver Tongued Siren;" who has more instruments than she can carry

Pharin, the Half Brass Dragon, Half Drow Wizard; "The Dark Conjurer;" summoner of demon bunnies, and Andolin's twin

Skye Vindhalle, the Air Genasi Druid and saver of demon bunnies

Dervish, the Kasathe Fighter

Nanu, the NightmOrc Fighter who is late, slayer of innocent bystanders

Pimbin, the Halfling Shadow Monk of Nerull

Aerys Shayl, the Human Ranger 

Andolin, the Half Brass Dragon, Half Drow Fighter/Ranger, and Pharin's twin

Pieces of Vecna acquired: Head and Hand
Other components being kept from cult: Book of Vile Darkness, Fang of Kas, sword hilt

***** Day 1 to Kester

       During the first day of travel toward Kester, the group spotted four wagons on the road, one looking slightly askew. They found three of the wagons to be merchants heading toward Zeif, and the fourth belonged to a noble, who was the reason the others were stopped. The noble's wagon had an axle that was smashed into splinters, to the point that it could not be fixed by a simple mending spell. He was sullen, demanding that the merchant who had an axle give it to him, instead of selling it; but seeing as how that was the only axle to be found anywhere near where the noble was stranded, the merchant had a fair point of asking 1,000 gold for it. 

       When the party finished asking about what was going on, they stopped at the different merchant carts and pretty much bought them out. Pharin, being the dick that he is, purchased the axle, and after knocking the noble unconscious, he "sold" it to the noble for a huge sum of money. 

       The group noticed a halfing dressed in dark colors who did not seem to be part of the merchant group, or one of the noble's lackeys. The halfling was traveling with the merchants because they were from his monastic temple of Nerull; after spending a few minutes talking with the halfling, who introduced himself as Pimbin, the party invited him to join them- he readily accepted. 

***** Day 2 to Kester

       On the second day of travel, the group encountered the drow priestess of Vecna that had attacked them during the gala in Blackmoor. Of course battle ensued, but fortunately the group had given Lan the Head back in Zeif, so they didn't have to worry about losing another piece to the cult. The drow managed to paralyze everyone in the group except for Nanu instantly, but fortunately everyone broke out of her hold quickly. Apparently, the bitch was not used to people resisting her, though she should have been after her last encounter with the group, and started a nasty fire storm centered on herself so that it would move with her.

       Pimbin and Nanu both had items that gave them the ability to start call lightning, and them with Skye had a triple lightning storm going quickly. This epic storm didn't last long though, Aerys used something of her own to end all of the storms- unfortunately, things like that don't let you pick and choose which things you get to keep and which you stop. The priestess was furious at the loss of her storm, and decided to vent her rage on Aurora, Nanu, and Skye, by banishing them. I once again found myself in my ancestral home, while it is a moving experience for me, it is horribly inconvenient to be constantly sent here in the heat of a battle by that bitch.

       Pharin reacted to the banishment of his comrades by summoning sixteen undead bunnies which swarmed the priestess instantly. While the priestess was distracted by that, Aerys seized an opportunity and landed on top of the priestess with her horse. Between the weight of Aerys and her horse, and the swarm of vicious rabbits, it seemed like they might finally defeat this woman. Unfortunately, the bitch had no intention of being killed or captured that day.

       The problem with summoning undead things around a high priestess of Vecna, is that he is an undead deity. With the help of her god, the priestess was able to usurp control of Pharin's rabid swarm, and made them attack Aerys' horse instead. While Aerys was distracted by her horse being mutilated, the priestess opened a portal, seized Aerys, and went through it. The moment she was gone Aurora, Nanu, and Skye returned from their banishment to take in the gruesome scene in front of them. I had been getting a little better about bunnies since Haas, but seeing that many undead monsters ravaging this poor horse was too much.

       Later that night the group received a message from Oryn that he was sending them help to replace Aerys. Even he did not know where she had been taken, which is unnerving on its own. 

***** Day 4 to Kester

       Our third day of travel was peaceful, but the next day more than made up for it. We had still seen no sign of Aerys or the help that Oryn promised us. 

       About halfway through the day the group spotted a group of cultists running towards them, comprised of clerics, fighters, and acolytes- five of each set. They saw them coming from far enough away that the group had time to stop and prepare themselves for the fight. Pharin summoned in eight bunnies the size of wolves in advance so they could also benefit from the magic Aurora was about to cast. He set his enormous bunnies to the task of digging trenches under the battlefield between them and the cultists.

       As the group began drawing closer to where our heroes waited, a warrior on horseback- completely clad in armor, keeping the person's identity hidden- appeared behind the acolytes and began hacking at them. It appeared the help Oryn promised had finally arrived, and none too soon. Between the warrior slaughtering any cultist who came near, and the rest of the group peppering the ones who continued to advance with arrows, they made short work of the cultists. When only two cultists, ones who were fighting the mystery warrior, remained, Nanu leapt over to his aid, while Pharin took one unconscious cultist as a prisoner. 

       When the warrior removed his helm, the group discovered he was identical to Pharin- this was Pharin's identical twin Andolin. Pharin, being the dick that he is, had his bunnies surround Andolin, just to mess with his head. Once everyone had gathered together, Andolin produced the Hand of Vecna, and he threw it on the ground, demanding someone else take it. Since Nanu has the sword hilt, and Pharin has the Fang, that left only Me, Skye, and Dervish as candidates to take the Hand- we didn't know Pimbin well enough yet to give him guardianship over a piece. Skye and Dervish both refused the Hand, so I was again stuck carrying one of those damned pieces around. I hid this one inside my drum. 

       After the group set up camp for the night, Pharin, Andolin, and Nanu took the prisoner off to "extract" information from him. They learned of things from the Book of Vile Darkness that would tell them more of the cult's goals. The group relayed the information to Oryn so he could have Lothar search for those things. 

       Pharin decided he needed to pick up more supplies for their travels, and used a teleportation ring to bring him back to Ekbir. He found some excellent things, including a wish ring with all three wishes, in abandoned shops.

       At about midnight the group heard an odd humming noise, and it felt like everything around them was vibrating in time with the noise. A very dazed Aerys landed on top of the Leomund's Tiny Hut that Aurora had cast, and slid off, hitting the ground with a thud. She was dazed, and badly beaten up- it was clear she had spent the last two days being tortured by the cult. Aurora cast some healing spells on her, while Dervish poured a few healing potions directly onto her wounds. Once they had her stabilized, Aurora set up a makeshift bed for her, and Andolin stayed up all night to keep watch on Aerys- he still had to wait up for Pharin anyway. 

***** Day 5 to Kester

       When Pharin returned to the campsite, in the wee hours of the morning, Andolin filled him in on Aerys' crashing arrival. Pharin used on of his wishes to completely restore Aerys- leaving her in the best shape she had ever been in- and he cleared any potential of her being a sleeper agent away. The priestess has planned to make her Josiah's replacement, but fortunately the drow found that ring. 

       After everyone else was awake, they asked Aerys what happened to her. They learned that Jarrid had been turned by the cult- he had seemed fine five days ago when they saw him in Zeif- and that he had been set to torture her. The group inquired about the knight who had pledged himself to Jarrid, and Aerys described a pile of flesh and metal, that was no longer recognizable as anything- they determined that was likely the poor squire. Aerys had no idea how she escaped the cult, or how she ended up back with the group, everything seemed foggy to her. She believed she was on the ethereal plane, but wasn't sure how she had drawn that conclusion. Aerys went for a walk to clear her head.

       A while later Aerys finally returned, to say that either Andolin or herself needed to return to Oryn, as he had a task for one of them. I wanted her to stay, the last thing we needed was another Pharin in our midst; but the majority of the group voted for Andolin to stay. I do understand why, after what Aerys had just been through she needed to get away for a while. At least Andolin listens to my stories, he apparently enjoys stories about killing things- which I have tons of.

       Later that day Skye sensed a group of wolves a couple miles from the group. For some reason that daft druid decided to turn into a dire wolf to go chat with the wolves. She attempted to befriend them, but they were more interested in the prospect of eating her, than they were in being friends with her. In the end Skye summoned a giant elk for the wolves to eat... alive. A horrible cacophony of screams came from the poor beast as the wolves devoured it, fortunately the poor thing died after about thirty seconds and the screams ceased. I don't see why she couldn't have just left the wolves alone, they weren't coming toward us or anything. I also don't understand why she let them eat that poor elk alive, I thought druids were against shit like that; the ones in the Vale would have killed her if they had witnessed it. 

***** Day 6 to Kester

       As the group was preparing to settle down for the night, they spied a group of fighters in red lacquered armor- identical to the ones who attacked them in Zeif. When they arrived they stated their desire to parley with our heroes. This group was the Cult of Kas, and they were collecting the pieces of Vecna in order to destroy them; they also planned to restore Kas. They called themselves the rightful owners of the Hand that Aurora was guarding, and claimed that the group didn't understand what was happening. These people were also vampires, and they left without a fight.

       All night the group saw them lurking just outside of their camp, but the vampires didn't attack. They left before dawn.

***** Day 8 to Kester

       Our seventh day of travel was thankfully peaceful, giving us a much needed break from constantly being hounded by now two cults. But like it was the last time we were given a respite, the next day made up for the peace.

       About halfway through the day- which seemed to be the time trouble liked to find them- the group began seeing a reduction in wildlife. They saw birds completely encased in ice, scorched land, and decimated farms. Nothing had been left untouched by the devastation that surrounded this land. Soon the group spied the cause of the destruction... It was the drow priestess of Vecna, and the gray fire dwarf thing they had fought back in Yecha. 

This marks the group's travel route during this chapter.