Release
In the library, Dango hears a rustling noises above, and finds the same illusion wall Brin and Ikki passed through. She alerts the rest of the party, and they all ascend to the attic.
It is darker in the attic, and part of the roof has caved in, but they can still clearly see Brin and Ikki tangled in some vines. Across the space, a human man stands before the sleeping form of a giant wolf, ensnared in some sort of magical organic material.
ENCOUNTER: The party starts to fight the man, who is revealed to be missing Robern! He says, “My mother did well to send you”, indicating that Mad Mattie’s pleas were actually a trap. At one point, Vickas also reappears and joins the fight, and Robern refers to him as “my father’s dog,” revealing that Robern is the child of Joseph Brice. He requires the blood of the party to complete a ritual. Kor finally manages to free the sleeping wolf-thing by cutting through the ring of organic material.
Before he dies, Kor and Nim convince Robern to talk, and he reveals that he was the bastard heir of Joseph Brice, born long before Furio, and he and his mother were resentful of that. He wanted to do something to stake his claim on the lumber mill.
The wolf form is revealed to be Dawn, the spirit of the forest. As the party later learns, she was trapped by Vickas (as part of a previous life debt to Joseph) and forced into marriage her marriage. She eventually found a way to escape during a party, and she took Laurel, a half-human, half-spirit, child with her. The magic caused people in the village to forget being at the party, and to forget about the Brice mansion altogether.
[My notes on this part are hella spotty - so I apologize if I screwed up some of the mythology here, y’all. - slod]
Because Vickas returned to the house, despite its being cursed, and helped fight to free her, Dawn is willing to let the past go. She heals the damage he took during the fight, and releases him from being bound to The Laurels.
Before the party leaves, Dawn tells Ikki that she has seen “another with your face”, and offer her a sort of prophecy:
“… follow the river, he is below the dark sea / a bird cannot sing underwater / a maid sings for him, but cannot for much longer…”
The party takes a monogrammed handkerchief from Robern’s body to prove they found him, and leaves. Once clear, they watch as the ruined house and gardens are pulled down into the overgrown vegetation, leaving no sign behind that it was ever there.
A little way into the forest, the party finds a nice camping spot for the night, where they get a LONG REST. They spend time with Vickas, asking what he knew and couldn’t reveal before, due to the curse.
During the night, a benevolent, child-sized shape is seen watching them from the woods.
~ end of session ~
RANDOM NOTES
- The party levels up: 3