Session 15 - The Mark of the Rat

This session report is from the last week in October. We had a dry spell over the Christmas period and have moved to a fortnightly game, with one of the other players running something on the off week. We have played a session of MERP in the interim which was a blast though perhaps a little rule/table intensive for Hangouts.

Anyway, here's the Barbarians take on session 15:

Yannicks Tale

 The Mark of the Rat was on her.

 

That's what the Priestess said, at least... mostly it looked like a fever to me.

 

When the morning came, Quill starter preparations to exercise the spirit from Paige in a ceremony that started when Sol was highest in the sky.  It wasn't much compared to the High Whatsit, but I was assured it would have been very effective if she had actually been possessed.

 

Turns out I was close enough when I figured it wasn't anything that couldn't have been explained by an infection and having her brains rattled in the fall.  Only, the Rat Fever they get over here is a pretty darn big deal... seems like she was going to die of it within the week 'less she got herself some treatment from a priest or a better healer than Quill.

By which I mean one who has more skill with herbs, not just one who doesn't bad mouth your smell while she washes wounds.

 

Narvay found some Go'darn Rod, which wasn't actually golden but seemed to keep the fever a little better.  It didn't see seem like breaking any time soon and we were left playing out ways to get the poor lass back to Sunstep.  Even while we could give her the strength to walk it would still be about four days for her to do it and I wasn't so keen on stripping us both down and throwing her over my shoulder for two days march.  Bah.  Fact is there was a wagon of supplies coming the next day and we'd still be quicker riding back on that than we would messing around with stretchers.

Plus, this way we could get a bundle of the crates back to civilization to divide the spoils and all.  Stack 'em under her, she wont mind.

 

That day I hunt and it got late, but we were dressing the stag we saw a whole flock of bats fly off for the night.  Verdugo didn't think much of it, but I'm thinking here that it means either there's a building what has its roof still, a cave or a second entrance to the palace of Rogger and Zod.

Turns out that's what it was we were kicking around, down there: the palace of Zod the Stargazer and his buddy Rodgar.  'course he can't have been much of stargazer, what with building his place underground.  I can just see his predictions now...

"Hmmm, the ceiling is in ascension again.  That mean it's an austpicious time to drink a bunch of wine from my ever-flowing fountain and boff a popsy in the big bed with Zs on it." - Lucky bugger.

 

Anyway, turns out him and Rogdar had a ossuary down there, sonething the fancy-lookign wizard in the expedition would like to see and would pay us to guide 'im to.  I have no idea what an Ossuary is, and I suspect Bomani is faking when he says he knows, so we're going back to talk to the bod... offering a crate or two of thing-bits for his spells might help, eh?

 

But that's for another day... we knew the roads were in a bit of turmoil, like, when we expected the supply train I took out my warband to meet them at the treeline... one of the likeliest places for an Ambush and all.
We saw nothing, but did start to hear off in the distance the sound of a woman giving someone a piece of their mind something sharp for best part of an hour before the pack-train came into view.  Cart, donkeys and all... backed this time by a sullen-looking sergeant and some conscripts trying to walk the line between being annoyed by the shouting and smirking at their sergeant being on the end of it.

 

The woman on the donkey that was doing the berating was of a fair size and not young, but had an authority about her.  I'd seen the like in temples of the Saints before (the robes gave the Good Mother away) and they all had the power to go behind the voice.  The Voice, I mean... this one deserved the respect of it.

I said we were here to be sure that all got to the village safely and she said about time too, before putting the guards fears to rest.  I had no desire to test them further, so we walked in front and nobody got harrowed by anything before the village came in sight.  She turned up her nose at Quill (which quick got the Solly's back up) and said as that a Saint had tasked her to free the one from the Mark of the Rat: which was Paige.  And so she did that, with no more than a sniff of fanciness.

She said that was a mission over and we should thank the saints, which we did, but also encouraged her to say to help the villagers.  She said that was all very well, but we'd still have to pay for further miracles... and we didn't have the cash to get Paige's bonce looked at so we're still bound for Sunstep.

 

Left the Good Mother with the new village elder, they'd see her well kept. Likewise the troops seemed to be making to stay, which was reassuring for me: gave 'em some advice on approaches and watchposts and suchlike.
 
The cart we loaded and rolled out... all round feeling better about it though and it wasn't just a good nights rest to explain the cheerful feeling of our latest return with spoils.