Session 1
“A Wild Goose Chase” OR “A Domestic Chicken Pursuit”
Pip, Zep and I was eating a late lunch at the Hogs Head. I was feeling good for two reasons: First, it has been several days sense anyone brought up the “hero” story, and second, if someone did ask me, Zep would be there for me to recant his version of the story which is mush better that mine. As I drank and stopped listening to the drown of Pip arguing with Zep about the best mushrooms; my thoughts drifted to those dreams. The dreams of survivor’s remorse – I should have been the one to die, and I only I would have died and not Sargent Salmar everything would be better. This dream was different after talking to the old priest Dehner about my dreams and remorse, I dreamed about ghoul fever. Priest Dehner had told me about ghoul fever a while ago so maybe those thoughts were triggered with the Priest’s consultation. I was snaped back by the blacksmith’s wife, the chicken farmer, who was looking very uncomfortable as she approached me. She sheepishly asked me if I was the Hero everyone talks about, I confirmed, and then asked if I could help find her priced chicken, who had run off. Pip spouted off about some nonsense but said she can talk to the chickens which got the attention of another patron of the tavern, a lady named Dume. Dume went with us, because she was curious.
At the farm house the farmer showed us where then chicken ran into the woods and past the city markers. It was not difficult to follow the tracks of the chicken west out of town to a game path that cut acrost the main west trail. The chicken seemed to be chased down a right game path then looped back around and run down the left game path. Pip conferred this with a spell to bring natural animals this time it was chipmunks to her then she “talked” to them. Dume was very interested that Pip cast magic and was concerned that nothing went wrong. (?) I thought she may have been a spellcaster with her staff and her lack of armor, but maybe she is a sage, or a sage in training. Pip helps me track the chicken who was being chased by a rat thing. Well, that is what its tracks look like. The chicken tracks lead us to two stone markers with dwarf runes they were names Zook was one name, I think and the other escapes me. Our Sage in training was able to read them and has them sketched in her note book. Just past the markers we encountered a group of Faires who told us the chicken ran into a deep part of the forest. Dume was useful in translating their language. I was able to picked up tracks that look like a large insect (spider). The pathway got into the deep dark web filled section of the woods. Very close to the ghoul attack. I warned the group there could be danger, when a spider-person, stepped out of the tree, almost like it melted into the tree. It did not talk but through Pip’s illusion of a chicken and my hand signs we communicated the idea that we were looking for the chicken. The spider-person took us to part of its web where the chicken and the rat thing (Zook) was wrapped in webs. After retrieving the now dead chicken the spider-person pointed to me then to Pip and took us to an area of the forest in which Pip examined for a long time until she realized we were in an old burial grounds and the oak trees were in the pattern of a druid symbol that is used for “Sorry We Tried”. This was very close to the area of the ghoul attack. I would like to head back to that area and see if the evil can be vanquished. But our group is needing protected when we are out in the woods; Pip can easily wander into trouble, Zep’s winning and complaining tells me he is not ready for a fight, and our sage Dume is as wide eye and green as they come. So, I will need to be vigilant and protect the less experienced people in our group.