Session 2

From Osmund's Journal
I think Elle, Holt, Travis and I might be in trouble...

Travis and Elle had the dream where they were hunting again, this time it was a deer they butchered and again, we found it in the forest. It wasn't a clean kill and it wasn't eaten. The next day went well enough, there was plenty of venison pie, which smelled good enough to push the image of that deer out of my mind. We also looked in stupid Rasmis's house. Elle said it was ok because we were just 'perusing'.

The day was coming to a close when I remembered that I had caught the glint of sun off of metal down the valley, lo and behold - there were riders approaching Fristad! Not just one old man with some good stories... Anyway, the riders just went through town, they didn't even stop for Ardit.

It was a still night when I was awoken by the howl. It was bestial and human at once, a discomforting noise. Elle and Travis weren't waking up so I went and got Ardit, he was banging around and he swore when he looked at some wooden thing that he wouldn't show me. Never fear though! Osmund Winterkiss, hunter extraordinaire will find out what it was eventually! Ardit woke up Elle and Travis, they were fine, but they had another odd dream.

The next day I met the Captain of the guard at the keep, after I tricked Ardit into letting me inside the keep. The Captain was wearing the livery of the King's household guard! But he also took all our festival gifts, which is fair I suppose, but not really very fun.

I managed to convince Holt and Travis to come and hunt this thing in the forest. Elle didn't even take any convincing! Elle doesn't make fun of my parents being dead either. She's the nicest one. We set up a trap and it turned up, a huge pitch black wolf-cat-shadow. We almost killed it too! But Travis jumped down from a tree like he thought he was a real mighty warrior and got pretty scratched up by it. While everyone was fussing over him the thing managed to slink away. If it's foolish enough to come back, i'll get it!

Elle's Account
I was pretty sure we were all going to die.

Earlier in the week Travis and I had dreamed of hunting and killing a deer. An early morning excursion into the forest revealed that again it had been a True dream. Travis bought his families hearth sword with us and when he took it out of its sheath we realised that it had runes like the doorframes in town. Absolutely fascinating! On the way back to town we had a quick look around Rasmis’ house to see if there was any evidence that he knew more about the monster than he let on, the word werewolf may have been used. He did have a few interesting items, a book that might have magically hidden writing, some gold pieces and a dagger made of wood that was deadly sharp.

When I caught up with Travis again his father had coincidently given him the task of cleaning out the entire forge the same day Travis had borrowed the hearth sword. I used a cleaning spell on the place so that we could focus on more important work like copying down the runes from the sword. Travis also set about improving my hearth sword while he had the forge for the day and it turned out really well.

Holt and I went to Ardit’s to check if his hearth sword had the same runes, it did but it also looked like it had been well used. Ardit spare room also had a few strange objects, some kind of wooden sculpture with movable parts, a strange windchime with people and horses travelling on it, some chainmail and a strange bent sword. That was the night the soldiers rode into town, nearly fifty of them! They rode straight through town though and it wasn’t until the next day that Osmund managed to tag along to overhear the council talking with the captain. They took the taxes and seemed to be settling into the keep, claiming to be scouting the valley except they had the tabard of the king’s household guard. Maybe the king is with them, or maybe they killed the king and fled here, or maybe there is a war with someone or something and they were chased here, or...

That night Travis and I found ourselves in a grey misty world, we could tell the creature was hunting for us and it got closer and closer until suddenly something else drew its attention away from us. We still couldn’t wake ourselves up though, and when the town was woken by a victorious howl, Ardit needed to use smelling salts to bring me back around and Travis managed to wake up shortly afterwards. Ardit gave us some amulets with runes on them to protect ourselves. We guessed that the runes on our doorframes were broken as in the dream world our doorframe runes were the only ones not glowing. Ardit also agreed to teach Holt magic, which is great because I was feeling bad after I knew he could use magic and I hadn’t told him Ardit was a sorcerer.

Ardit was summoned to the keep to heal a soldier that had been injured and he sent for me to assist when he realised how badly he was hurt, the wounds were tainted like the animals had been and Ardit barely managed to save him. The captain was very interested in Rasmis.

Osmund came up with a plan to trap the creature in a pit trap, he was pretty determined and at least he was willing to do something about the creature. I certainly wasn’t going to let him go alone and the others reluctantly tagged along. We waited in the trees for hours until suddenly all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, when I turned to look however, I slipped out of the tree, landing on the ground, right in front of a shadow, wolf/cat creature with glowing eyes. It looked at me, and then started sidestepping around the pit trap towards me, knowing from my dreams that running was useless I stood my ground. Osmund let fly an arrow and Travis dropped out of the tree next to me with his sword. I reached out and gave Travis some magic armour which probably saved his life as the creature reached out with its huge claws and raked Travis right across his chest, sending Travis falling to the ground unconscious and bleeding. Wanting nothing more than to get away from the terrifying creature, I reached out and touched it on the leg, magically binding its paw to the ground. It reached out to bite me and missed by mere centimetres, I started trying to move Travis away from the creature, but he was so heavy. The creatures claws slashed at me again and then I finally managed to move Travis out of its reach. Holt and Osmund were firing at it and I could see a couple of arrows had stuck true on the creature, slowing it down, probably saving both of our lives. Then the creature started chewing off its own foot… I managed to pelt it with my sling but Osmund’s shot went wide and an arrow slammed into my leg, which fortunately didn’t go through my magical protection. When I looked up again, the creature had melted into the shadows, leaving a rotting paw behind.

Travis’ wounds were already starting to look infected, so I asked Osmund and Holt to protect me while I began concentrating on immediate healing, it took a couple of hours before I was happy with the healings progress before we starting heading back to town.

During the fight I was terrified and while I was pretty sure we were all going to die, I feel a sense of pride that we managed to work together and survive. This is what magic should be used for, working together with people to solve problems and protect people. I am resolved to gain more control over my magic and maybe it’s the adrenaline talking but I’ve never felt so alive.

Travis' Account
My chest hurts.

Elle and I had another one of those wierd dreams where we were some animal hunting prey. This time we stalked and killed a deer, but something was different - like the creature could sense us. When I awoke, I rushed to see Osmund and wake him. We agreed to go out into the forest and see if the dream had come true like last time. I grabbed a spear and the Threshold sword, maybe against my better judgement, and set out with Osmund, Elle and Holt.

We travelled into the forest. (I will note here, I was amazed by the quality and craftsmanship of the Threshold sword. It was clearly forged by a master) I followed my keen senses to the place I saw in my dream and, as expected, we saw the mutilated corpse of a deer, already showing the signs of rot. We decided to leave it and head back, but not before looking through Rasmus' house. It seems he has many secrets to hide, and I think he has definitely been beyond the valley.

(Note to self: Get Osmund back for his little joke)

My Father unfortunately had already seen that I had taken the Threshold sword and had decided to put me to work scrubbing the forge clean. Luckily, Holt and Elle turned up and wanted to copy the runes on the Threshold sword. Elle decided to use some helpful magic (muttering something about me smelling bad) and ended up inadvertently purging the forge clean. With my father enjoying the festivities, I offered a trade: Elle would allow me to reforge her mother's Threshold sword in return for being able to copy the runes off my Father's. She agreed, and I went to work. It took many hours, but I think it came out well and the forge looked as if it had been cleaned far more legitimately when my Father returned.

I was allowed to join the festivities, Strangely enough, people from the outside world arrived! The would not stop to talk, and headed straight for the keep. That night I had another amazing but terrible dream. I was surrounded by mist, and it seemed that if I concentrated enough I could "will" things to happen. It felt like the presence in my other dreams was still there, and was hunting us. I willed myself to find Elle, and then transported us to a dream version of the village. Not long after, the connection to the hunting creature broke as if it had turned its attention elsewhere. I attempted to recreate the bond, but I was forced away. After a bit of exploration, Elle simply vanished. I now know that she woke up. Not wanting to remain behind, I willed myself to wake only to see Atrid enter with a small crowd of people.

Atrid cast some magic. I do not know what effect this had on myself or anyone else, and when I pressed him about it he was deliberately vague. I must keep an eye on him in the future. We talked with him about the events of the past week, and it was clear that he knows more than he has let on. He gave me and Elle amulets to prevent any further dreams, though I know in my hear that this world will be a great help in the future, as dangerous as it might end up being.

The next day we followed the elders of the village to the keep, and Osmund attempted to sneak in. He was not successful however. We watched from the edge of the forest as he was taken into the keep, and when he came out it seemed he had learned very little.

That night, I took off the amulet and attempted to enter The Dream again, however I was unable to. I did have the best sleep I have had in a week, though!

The next day, Osmund decided that we should try to hunt down the beast. He set up a pit trap in the forest and we waited until the early morning. With Elle's urging, I had taken the Threshold sword and replaced it with the reforged sword. It took some time, but the beast appeared eventually - some horrible creature of darkness and rot. Elle fell from the tree she was hiding in, while Osmund loosed an arrow. I jumped down, blade in hand, looking to end the fight swiftly. I did not anticipate the strength of the beast however, and the last thing I remember before waking in the clearing was the beast's claw raking across my chest.

When I awoke, my wounds were very much knitted together. It seems Elle had saved my life, but the beast had not been slain. With the sun rising, we have only a little time to get back to the village. I don't particularly want to clean the forge again...