Lonesome Wanderings, Session 22

 In which Badger...

• Feasts and celebrates with Pytor's clan and discusses next steps.
• Joins Stephan to travel to the elven stronghold of Rifflian to sell of some horses and go from there to Threshold to investigate the tapestry.
• Hides from a passing by goblin warband.
• Meets with the cunning merchant Akihitos, who sells him information on Golthar being spotted in Kelvin, a strange dark woman searching for him hired by the Iron Ring, and that the Duke's daughter ran away with a guard captain.
• Bribes some orc scouts to bypass their lair.
• Attempts to investigate the Vault of the Void One, an abandoned mine but is scared away by an infestation of giant eagles within the strange vault with gearworks, portcullises, and dripping idols of long dead gods.
• Hides from some Iron Ring reavers before getting information that they are looking for him as well from a bribed ferryman.
• Ferries across the Vologa River to the Shutturga River before transferring to a Gnome Ferry.
• Stays at a Gnome Hostel the night before leaving on the Gnome Ferry.
• Sees a strange cloaked figure watching him and Stephan hurriedly leave the Gnome Hostel before he can speak to them.
• Ferries across the Shutturga River to the base of some mountains nearing Rifflian.
• Encounters Loshad the Chevall, who requests him to help deal with an Iron Ring camp in the mountains who have tied up and beaten horses (and also have human and goblin slaves too).
• Gets accosted by the hooded figure from the hostel while speaking with Loshad - the Iron Ring spy Askil and 7 Iron Ring operatives.
• Flees from the Iron Ring as a Hydra emerges from the Shutturga River, the commotion waking it. It's multiple heads roar in fury causing chaos and killing some horses and Iron Ring operatives.
• Arrives at the Iron Ring slave camp per Loshad's directions - only to find Askil the spy survived and the reavers and goblins are prepared.
• Defeats the Iron Ring reavers and slays Askil, freeing the horses and slaves - but at the cost of Stephan's life. Stephan's body is buried in the mountains and respects are paid.
• Travels the rest of the way to Rifflian without incident with a pleased Loshad's guidance.
• Sells off some horses to the elven locals in Rifflian, including a local ferryman elf, and bargains the rest off the cunning merchant Akihitos for some coin.
• Meets a contact of Pyotr in Rifflian and splits the profit with them, to deliver to Susikyn while he heals up from his injuries.
• Pays for a city room and meals and rests for a month and a week in Rifflian healing up, during which time he receives a sorrowful thanks from Pyotr from Susykin for selling off the horses.
• Prepares for the next leg of his journey to get the strange tapestry studied by looking for means to travel to the city of Threshold.

Current Level: Badger 7