Pigsticking (TT016)

“Pigsticking” is the sixteenth session of the Twilight of the Sausage Gods campaign. This session was played 5/20/2019.

= Synopsis =

Seitse 17, 1,282 AY
Zadd awoke from a brutal workplace bullying the day previous by the Warewolf waking him up for his fantasy fortune cookies. After that, Zadd, Breesus, and Grier were all summoned to the Levee’s office, where they were introduced to a new hire from the team of five prisoners that managed to claw their way out of Wiil Somberwish’s death trap: Malek. Malek was to accompany the three veteran members of the Guild on this journey to take care of the Marked Boar, as he had already proven his martial capabilities by even surviving up until this point. The four packed themselves into a Guild provided horse and carriage and set off for the last stop before the wilderness: Scansa.

Seitse 18-26, 1,282 AY
Zadd spent the first day on the road irritably catching up on sleep, which gave Malek plenty of time to meet his other coworkers. Grier immediately sized him up as a fellow physical warrior, which triggered something genetically related to competitiveness in her. And Breesus… well. Was Breesus. So it made for something of an awkward carriage ride.

They arrived in Scansa on the 26th, and were warmly received by Lady Cocatrice and her halfling steward, Billips. Or rather, Zadd was. Grier was greeted with polite acknowledgement, and Breesus and Malek, neither of whom were with Zadd or Grier when they put the matter of Evan’s kidnapping to rest. Regardless, somewhat surprised that it was them getting involved in yet another Scansa matter, Lady Cocatrice showed nothing but confidence towards their likelihood of success. After giving them a place to rest for the night and a rough idea of where to go, the party prepared for their hunting excursion.

Seitse 27, 1,282 AY
Breesus was elected the pointman, as he drew his powers from nature itself. The first day however, they were led astray by a funky skunk smell… before Zadd realized what it was: they were near Abbey and Bryan’s hamlet near Scansa. Zadd wasn’t super amused.

Seitse 28, 1282 AY
The second day, as the group moved westward, they came upon a huge insectoid monster nest. The four managed to easily dispatch the beast, Breesus struck it dead via a flaming sword to the dome. They were so efficient that they took it out before Malek even got the chance to react.

Seitse 29, 1,282 AY
On the third day, some real spooky stuff happened. Grier, using her keen werewolf nostrils, detected some foul corruption emanating from a corner of the forest. Guiding them there, the ambient temperature dropped steadily, the forest growing twisted and lifeless, eventually discovering something both Zadd and Malek recognized for different reasons: Lunarian ruins. Malek, remembering his brief capture, was unnerved by the similarity of the architecture of the cavern that held him.

Zadd, on the other hand, was elated. He swiftly put together that this was a sacrificial altar, and as he traced the Lunarian cuneiform, Zadd found something he had been looking for; a lead. Carved hastily into the altar was a note that one of the Lunar Tablets was being kept “where the rivers met”; on Syravel, the only nearby place of that description was Walderdreath. Zadd spent the rest of the trip in fine spirits after that.

Seitse 30, 1,282 AY
Irony was sent out to scout the next day, and reported a black cloaked figure looking at a newly planted tree. Zadd was sent to treat with this mysterious figure, who introduced himself by the alias “Death-Swing”; a follower of the goddess of spiders Orthabe/Spidertron. Death-Swing asked Zadd if he had heard of bandit groups torching towns on Syravel and Zadd, suspicious, pulled out his sword and leveled it at Death-Swing, ordering him to drop his weapons. Death-Swing sprung into action, assaulting Zadd and covering him in nasty webs.

Grier, sick of this, cast a sphere of darkness around them, hoping to defuse the struggle. The rest of the party emerged from the forest, and they broke camp with Death-Swing for the night. Death-Swing and Grier talked, and the party was given a direction: due south. Death-Swing then left for the forest, but not before revealing speaking a bit of orcish to Malek.

Kahdek 1, 1,282 AY
The group followed Death Swing’s instructions, and the next day they found their quarry: the Marked Boar, emanating a deep fog to obscure its location. A pitched battle ensued, with Malek nearly getting gored by it’s tusks. It was several degrees tougher than the Marked Bear, even taking into account the numerical differences between the two fights. Zadd eventually brought the beast down, and like with the Bear, the Boar shrank in size as a great deal of negative arcane energy escaped the body and flew off to the west.

Kahdek 2-10, 1,282 AY
The party collected themselves the next day, returning first to Scansa to collect the bounty, and then back home to Walderdreath, one Marked Beast down, and (for Zadd), one lead up from where they began.

= Characters =

Player characters

 * Grier
 * Irony
 * Zadd
 * Breesus Christ
 * Malek (new)

Non-player characters

 * The Warewolf
 * The Levee
 * Billips
 * Lady Cocatrice
 * Death-Swing