Session 3 (5/14/21)

Mission 3- Continued

The party continued towards Twoshirts. They got to a large chasm spanned by a sturdy bridge. They saw the people who stole the necklace crossing the bridge (towards them) on horseback. The people were spooked, and the party shot their horses to prevent them from escaping. 

The thief indicated that he sold the necklace to someone who lives in a hut outside Twoshirts and they were allowed to leave.

Arriving at Twoshirts they found the town deserted, houses were smashed in as if the place was attacked, but there were no bodies. They started following the tracks of the attackers and identified that they were most likely hill giants with a large wagon to haul away the people. 

At this point they decided to abandon following the tracks and search for the hut. That night they saw an mind-controlled hill giant walking through the woods and followed it. At one point it bypassed another mind controlled hill giant walking in the other direction.

They followed the giant to a witch's hut where she was wearing the necklace and casting dominate person on the hill giants. They waited an hour to see if she went to sleep, and Vesper snuck into her hut. Inside she saw that townsfolk were being drained of blood for some kind of ritual. She snuck past the crow familiar into the witch's room, where she was not asleep, but was projecting her eyes elsewhere. 

Unskilled in stealing, Vesper snatched the necklace and ran wildly out of the room. Kotkin distracted the hill giant and led it into the forest and hid from him, while Brody and Vesper fled the crow who was watching them and leading the witch to them. They attempted to lose the crow but Brody gave away their position. Realizing he couldn't escape, Brody led the crow and witch away from Vesper, getting captured so that Vesper could escape.

When Vesper regrouped with Kotkin, Kotkin devised a plan to go back to the witch and offer the return of the necklace in exchange for their lives. Vesper warned him that this plan was suicide, especially with his weakness to mind control, but he went anyway. Vesper went back to town to wait for them, but they never arrived. 

Vesper returned the necklace to Zirule, who was saddened to hear of the tragedy and gave an extra 1000 gp to try to make up for it- he had no idea it would be so much trouble.