Session Information

Session Date: 8th Jun 2025
Saga: Season 4 - Ignatius Beckons
Attendance: Sam Gallon,Rowan Hales,Tom Brothers,Caleb Hamlet

Session Summary

The party, joined once again by Xekai, made their way back toward Fairset Port. Though his return was sudden, Xekai remained with the group longer than usual, brushing off questions about his work and assuring them that Emmeline and Bruce were doing fine. The group, still reeling from previous revelations, decided to avoid the Fairest Post and head toward Oceanvale instead. Along the way, a bizarre magical apple nearly suffocated Korrigan, and Halfbie, too exhausted to walk, cast a floating disk spell and fell asleep while being dragged along by Drache. Xekai refused to relax or even have a drink with the party, soon disappearing into a portal once more.

As night fell, the party made camp just outside Oceanvale to avoid another encounter with a Herald. During second watch, Mordecai was attacked by a pack of wolves, and a man dressed as a werewolf joined the assault. The group eventually dispatched their enemies, with Halfbie unleashing a barrage of spells after being woken up. The "werewolf" turned out to be a deranged man in pelts, but the mystery of his behaviour remained unsolved. The next morning, Mordecai expressed concern over Halfbie, who had begun to display signs of mental strain. At a river, Halfbie stared at their reflection for an extended period, seeing three faces instead of one.

Upon reaching Oceanvale, the city was revealed to be a near-empty fishing village instead of the grand port they’d expected. The locals were exhausted, disinterested in food, and suffering strange disappearances. Following a lead, the party found a foul-smelling cave outside the city and carefully pushed inside. There, they encountered the foul presence of the Herald known as the "Angel Under the Well"—a being they had faced before. After a brutal and chaotic fight, they finally destroyed the Herald’s body. But with its final words, it promised to return and ensure their deaths.

Full Session Notes

After the events of the previous night, the party leisurely walked the winding path back to Fairset Port. Xekai, looking for a pleasant distraction from his work, decided to join them. It was either from exhaustion or shock that Xekai stuck around after one of his random appearances. Still, Korrigan was at a loss for words but expressed his excitement at Xekai's presence nonetheless. Xekai chuckled lightly as if he were a headteacher with a young student eager to meet him.

Suddenly remembering the opportunity they had, Korrigan inquired about how Emmeline and Bruce were doing. Drache quickly chimed in with his concern for his girlfriend's safety. Xekai dismissively assured them that both were fine and currently out roaming the world, helping people. He did stress that they were swamped with work, which was why they hadn't had the time to check in with the party.

Xekai mentioned that he was also swamped, explaining that he had a "very strict schedule." However, he refused to elaborate when Halfbie questioned him about what that schedule entailed. Too exhausted to press further, Halfbie chose instead to focus on pushing the recent events from their minds.

Since Vaelrith's rebirth, Halfbie felt... whole again, a realisation that they had neither the energy nor the desire to investigate further had. Instead, Halfbie posed the question of whether going to the place that had lost all of its food supplies was truly the best idea, especially since they had all been spotted in the town just before everything went missing. The party agreed that it was probably best to skip the Fairest Post and head straight for Oceanvale.

Xekai then reminded them that their ultimate destination was Lost Haven. When Korrigan asked eagerly about what would happen there, Xekai ominously replied that it would be "interesting" when they all arrived.

Halfbie, too exhausted to care, casually asked Xekai what he did in his free time. Taken aback by the non-world-threatening question, Xekai sarcastically replied, "Laughing at you lot?!"

Half-jokingly, Drache inquired, "Not even a drink at the pub?" The mention of drinks reminded Xekai of their discovery that Fey's blood acted as a drug for vampires. He then asked if he wanted to try it. Xekai politely refused, citing his lack of vampirism.

Halfbie, unable to think clearly, began to panic, fearing they might be a vampire because they could drink the blood. Xekai paused for a moment before saying to himself, "Oh yeah, that would kind of make sense, I guess," and then reassured Halfbie, much to their relief, that they weren't vampires and would be fine after some rest.

Halfbie nodded simply before retrieving a length of rope from their pack. They tied one end around their waist and gave a puzzled Drache an earful of confusion. Then, Halfbie summoned a floating disk, which they promptly boarded and fell asleep on. With little else to do, Drache pulled the other end of the rope off his shoulder, dragging Halfbie on their disk along with the party. The floating disk made it much easier than expected; even more could join in pulling the wizard along.

It could've been a moment of silence before Drache said, "So, are you sure you don't want to have a drink with us, don'ti? First one's on me."

Xekai refused, stating it would be too much of an overreach and that he should return to work. Slightly disappointed, Drache insisted it would be fine and that nobody would know if Xekai decided to go. The offer would still stand. Xekai dismissively declined but thanked the barbarian for the offer before opening his usual purple portal. Behind him lay a vast field of wheat, which he quickly entered, closing the portal behind him.

The party continued along the road, soon passing Fairset Port. In the distance, they could see many townsfolk running around in a panic. Everyone felt bad about what had happened, particularly Korrigan, who looked predominantly downcast. Mordecai tried to cheer everyone up by reminding them that the vampires would sort out the town; still, everyone knew it would take some time for that support to materialize for the small fishing village. They carried on in silence.

As they travelled, the party came across an apple tree—a strange sight among the fields of spruce trees. Having not stopped for a meal in a while, Korrigan decided to eat an apple. With Halfbie still asleep, they had no easy way to test if the apple was safe to eat. Korrigan made the decision to take a bite.

To his, and everyone else's, horror, as he bit into the apple, the fruit began to grow until it filled his entire body, leaving him struggling to breathe. He tried to tear it away but was more exhausted than expected and couldn't get a good grip. Every tiny part he managed to grab immediately grew back. Drache also had no luck freeing Korrigan from then't. Eventually, Mordecai stepped in, using the spell Enlarge/Reduce on the apple and shrinking it down to the size of a small plug, thus freeing Korrigan's jaw.

A while later, as they approached Oceanvale, Korrigan suddenly remembered a quest request they had there. Upon rereading the quest details, the situation sounded very similar to the 'Angel Under The Well' they had encountered in Newhall. If that were the case, it would be wise to rest outside the city to avoid being enchanted by the Herald in their sleep.

They soon set up camp along the road. The first watch went off without a hitch, apart from a few rustles and sounds that could be attributed to local wildlife. When it was Mordecai's turn for the second watch, the sounds from before grew more threatening, with rustling noises approaching their camp. Although Halfbie had only been travelling with the group for a week or two, they had all grown accustomed to Halfbie's tiny hut spell. Being out in the wild and unprotected like this was not ideal.

Suddenly, out of the foliage, a small pack of wolves lunged at Mordecai. He managed to deal with one of the wolves quickly, waking most of the party except for Halfbie. The pack viciously attacked Mordecai as Korrigan and Drache scrambled to prepare for combat. The fight was going well until a creature resembling a werewolf appeared and began attacking the group. Halfbie soon awoke from their deep sleep and joined the battle, quickly dispatching many of the wolves with a flurry of spells.

Drache, who lacked Darkvision, struggled considerably during the fight. However, with the help of everyone else, they soon managed to take down the werewolf. Upon closer examination, it was revealed that the 'werewolf' was actually a man dressed in wolf pelts and pretending to be one. Unable to ask the dead why they had worked so hard in life, Halfbie started casting their Tiny Hut spell so they could get some uninterrupted sleep before plopping back into bed.

When they all woke up, they began to pack up camp. Mordecai asked Halfbie how they were feeling after the previous night's events. For a brief moment, Halfbie's face betrayed them, revealing a mix of confusion, fear, and disgust before quickly returning to their usual cheerful demeanour. Almost as if trying to convince themselves as well, they told Mordecai it had been an interesting night. Still, they insisted that after a hearty breakfast and a good wash, they would be right as rain. None of them believed the boy but did little to challenge him.

Drache whispered that they should keep an eye on Halfbie, a suggestion everyone agreed with. To wash their face, Halfbie walked to a nearby river. It was only when Mordecai came over to say they were ready to leave that Halfbie realized they had been staring at the water for nearly five minutes. To them, it felt like only a moment. Mordecai's voice pulled them away as they looked at the three reflections staring back at them from the surface.^[1]

They soon entered Oceanvale, a massive portside town that looked to be the largest city in the Dawn Empire on this side of the Verdant Spine. However, upon entering, they found that it resembled a barely populated fishing village rather than a bustling city. They decided it would be best to visit the local market to ask about their quest.

Like much of the city, most of the market space was empty. They approached a local fishmonger who had deep, dark bags under his eyes. He seemed utterly devoid of energy and muttered that no one wanted to buy fish anymore. Mordecai approached him to ask why, and the fishmonger explained that people were either too tired or had gone missing. This statement caught everyone's attention, prompting Mordecai to inquire whether there was a local well. The fishmonger clarified that there wasn't; instead, they sourced most of their drinking water from a stream that flowed from a nearby caEveryone'stside the city.

They thanked the man for his time and said they would investigate the reasons behind the disappearances. Feeling empathetic, Korrigan tossed the man a gold piece before rejoining the others. After speaking with a few more locals, they quickly located the cave in question. However, before they even reached the cave's mouth, a foul smell assaulted their senses.

Concerned about the source of the odour, they hurried toward the cave. The entrance was relatively small, making it difficult for Korrigan and Drache to pass through the cave. At the same time, Mordecai got through easily. As they moved further in, the stench intensified, and it was then that Mordecai finally realized what it was: the smell of decaying bodies.

Korrigan recognized the smell as he transformed into a snake to navigate more easily through the cave. The Halfbies, with their small frames, quickly caught up to him. Frustrated with their party's slow progress, they decided to teleport to the cave opening ahead. Korrigan, as a snake, would have dropped his jaw in disbelief if he could have seen that the party was annoyed he hadn't thought of doing the same.

Mordecai, slightly panicked, Korrigan's Halfbie's unchecked curiosity might endanger them all, rushed to catch up. Halfbie began using Prestidigitation to eliminate the horrid halfbies as they waited for everyone else. This wait allowed them to investigate the area a bit. Still, to their horror, they sensed a magical presence washing over them. It felt foul and unnatural—it was that of a herald.

Once everyone had gathered, they explained the presence they had felt, and the group began to prepare for battle. Drache readied his great axe, Korrigan drew his bow, Mordecai cast Mage Armor, and the Halfbis quickly assembled their eldritch cannon.

Once everyone was ready, they slowly walked down the tunnels, guided by halfbie's senses. They soon approached a large cave opening. And in the middle, surrounded by corpses, sense and blood, was the Angel Under The Well.

The Herald before saying, "Come back for more have you?" It laughed before saying, "So be it, idiots have come to die."

They charge one enough, and after a long and difficult fight, The "Fatebreakers finally defeat "the Angel Under The Well. As "its body began to fade away, it snarled its final words, "You will never truly kill me, I will be back, and you will die a painful death."

Footnotes