Session 63 - The Disappearance of Silvermoon

13th January 2023

In-game timeline: Start of session: 1489DR Alturiak 24. End of session: 1490DR Alturiak 26

Our Heroes have reached the outskirts of The Lurkwood. Iwee admits being able to talk to the animals in this region and thinks there is a "power" of some sort in the middle of the wood. She is keen to head to Settlestone as soon as possible to meet with Silvermoon.

Derrick is still sulking a bit about the change of plan and is looking over the plains to the south while the others chat. He spots what looks like a group hunting down a horse in the distance. He sends Owl Pacino to scout out what is happening and when his trusty familiar returns, he reports that the horse being chased down looked very dark and very strange - not overly horse-like close up. The hunters seemed to be big dogs and humanoids riding big dogs.

The party decide to investigate what is going on. They approach the "hunt", which has now stopped, having taken down its quarry, cautiously but overtly. They get close enough to see a number of dogs tearing apart the horse-like creature that is on the ground, whilst humanoids look on. There are two humanoids riding large dogs who have seen the party approach, and have notched arrows pointing in their direction. The group decides that this hunt is none of their business, and turn to walk away in as much of a nonchalant manner as they can muster - trying to style it out. They get back to the edge of the forest with no incident.

Iwee finds a fox to chat to, and asks about the dog people, learning that they seem to have a lair by the big hole in the middle of the woods. After a bit of discussion, the fox, whom Iwee has christened Rusty, wanders back into the forest.

The group head on towards Settlestone.

Settlestone turns out to be a large Dwarven town, almost a city, at the edge of a large mountain, with much of the buildings actually cut into the side of the mountain itself. They enter the city, which is a welcoming place, though primarily dwarvish so the group look a little out of place. Unsurprisingly, they head to the nearest inn.

Striking up a conversation with the inn owner, Britney, they discover that Silvermoon does indeed live in the city, but she was thought to be kidnapped about a month ago. The Guard investigated her disappearance, but have been unable to find out much, partly due to the fact that they are very short staffed at the moment, as many of the Guard have been called up to help repel a frost giant incursion near to Mithral Hall, and some are trying to help out in the nearby town of Mistloch, which is having problems with an unexpected flood.

Derrick manages to get a table in the bar by unsubtly hinting to some local dwarven thugs that he belongs to a gnomish mafiosa guild. This may or may not prove to be a good idea. After finishing their drinks, the group decide to head to the Guard to find out more information. 

Sharak, the leader of the Guard, is very officious, but helpful. He confirms that Silvermoon has disappeared, suspected kidnapped as neighbours spotted her being led away by two figures - thought to be a human and a half-orc. Iwee manages to persuade Sharak to arrange for them to visit Silvermoon's home the following day. He also has reports of some cultists around the Old Fort - they did investigate, but found nothing. He wonders if there is a link between the two reports. When the party report what they saw regarding the hunt on the way here, Sharak suspects they could be a group of gnolls.

Back at the inn for the night, Iwee puts on a storming performance and the place is buzzing. She earns a decent amount of tips, and even manages to gain the whole group free drinks for the evening.

The following morning, the group head to Silvermoon's house, accompanied by Dulrig. When they arrive they discover the front door is unlocked. Dulrig is sure that he and his colleagues would have locked the door after checking out the house when investigating the disappearance a few weeks ago, so is a little concerned. Inside the house, it looks like the place had been turned over, and is in a bit of a mess. Dulrig assures them that it was not in that state when he was last here shortly after Silvermoon disappeared. A neighbour does recall that she did hear some disturbance in the house late one evening.

The group search around the house to see if they could find any clues as to where Silvermoon could have been taken, and what may have been searched for in the house. Nothing is immediately obvious - it looks as though whoever searched the place did a good job of turning it over. Iwee did manage to find a couple of bits of dried blue-tinged mushrooms in a basket that had been cast to the floor.

With these mushroom pieces the only "clues" they have, the party immediately seize upon them as being significant. They head to a local herbalist, Gruumsh Thunderfist, to try to find out more about them. Jaxii cannot stop laughing at the herbalist's name, which he finds a little rude, to be honest. However, he does answer their questions about the mushroom pieces. He hasn't seen them before - they are not very local - but he thinks they may be bluecap mushrooms - not poisonous, but perhaps a little hallucinogenic. The party decide to exchange the rest of the mushroom pieces for a discount on a healing potion. Iwee, however, does retain a very small piece.

The group thank Gruumsh for his help and head back to the inn for lunch. Whilst in the inn, Iwee heads back to their room and discretely eats the small piece of mushroom…