August 3rd, 2008
If you have two tasks, first thing you’ll do is argue about which one to take first. Before our heroes even became a party, they’ve split up. Vani and Irgon went searching for the panther and others went to find the bird.
Using his streetwise skills, Kriv quickly found a hunter who followed the bird furthest into a forest. Unfortunately, he already sold this information to another group of adventurers for 50 gold pieces, and now he wanted another 100 for reselling the information. Kalista was outraged but Kriv calmed her down. In a short talk which followed, they’ve found out that the hunter wants a bird’s golden feather for his wife. They promised to get one for him if he shows them the way for only 50 gold pieces. He agreed and led them out of town.
Meanwhile, Vani and Irgon found a woodcutter who was injured when the panther attacked his camp. He is eager to help them catch the panther who wounded him and led them out of the town where they met rest of the party. Everyone agreed that it would be better for them all if they stick together. They decided to find the panther first and go for the bird after.
Hunt for the Panther
The wounded woodcutter led them into the forest where he was attacked by the panther. Around the campsite, Elsing spotted tracks that led them to a small clearing. That place was just beautiful: a clear lake near the forest whose green colors are mirrored on the water. One small river forms a waterfall and falls into the lake from a cliff. While Elsing was checking the tracks around the lake, Vani was suspicious about the waterfall. And she was right, behind the waterfall she discovered a cavern. One by one, the whole party passed through the waterfall into the cavern.
After a few yards, they saw stairs carved into the rock and descended them. At the bottom of the stairs, the path branched. On the left, there was an unstable looking pile of rocks which nobody wanted to go near. To the right, there was a wooden door, and in front of them a passage widened into a big cavern room.
Without any precaution, Irgon entered the cavern, and saw the four kobolds, tossing something into a big pit. They saw him too and he was quickly stunned by the sling bullets. Fortunately, the rest of the party was more careful and attacked the kobolds from safe positions. The Kobolds had no way to escape. They were on the edge of the pit while they faced Kalista’s eldrich blasts and Elsing’s arrows. They were overrun quickly.
Nobody could see anything in the pit, although Elsing could swear he saw something moving down there. The party decided to rest here before exploring what’s behind the door in the other corridor. While Kriv was holding watch he saw fumes rising from the pit. He checked them out but again, he couldn’t see anything in the pit.
After resting, the party continued to the door. The lock was easy to pick and Vani opened it. The hallway after the door led them to a small room. A big pile of branches were lying on the floor on the back side of the room. As they stepped closer, a big panther jumped before them and cut Irgon. Before he struck back, a long haired Eladrin woman came in and begged them to stop fighting. The panther stopped attacking and retreated as party stood by and waited for an explanation.
The eladrin woman, Nariel, told them this animal is a fey panther and that it lives in feywild. On some occasions, fey creatures can step over to the natural world. That can happen in places where boundary between the worlds is thin, in places of great natural beauty such as this lake with the waterfall. This panther accidentally crossed the boundary and being frightened, it killed a halfling who was fishing on this place. That accident affected the panther and it went berserk, killing woodcutters in a nearby camp. In such a state, the panther cannot return to the feywild and is now trapped in this world and dangerous to everyone. The only way the panther can be returned to the feywild is by an Eladrin ritual Narilel would perform.
Nariel pleaded them to go to Riverock, a halfling city in the south. They are to find a closest relative to the killed halfling to participate in the ritual. She knew they are adventurers and offered them a magic Eladrin chain mail as a reward. The whole party agreed that the reward is worth a shot so they left Nariel to watch over the panther and exited the cavern.
The ritual
Outside the cave, a surprise. Another group of adventurers spotted them exiting the waterfall and wanted to explore the cavern. The party saw this group before on the ship and Kriv was sure they wouldn’t negotiate with Nariel. They forbid the group to enter the cave but they didn’t listen; they pulled their weapons. Although the group was well armed, they’ve soon took a bath in the lake. While retreating, the leader of that party, Gork, promised them they will hear again from him. Empty threats.