Session one: the Menhir

 Abla’al – Shach 4th.

 

The Lord of Garrison has been sending raiding parties out specifically to target the tracker parties of Bloom, hampering their progress as they seek to undo the infestation of monsters that has led to a downturn in activity for commoners and farmers alike.
For Garrison, keeping the monsters at bay in the lands of their foes makes the most sense, as their own recent woes have seen them take a back-seat to the regional machinations of Stargazer Michel.
For Bloom, keeping the raiding parties out would send a strong signal of their return to the political scene.

Additionally, a bandit lord has carved out a small piece of territory in these lands, a ramshackle collection of old farmhouses and a makeshift palisade-wall protect a group of hardy survivors and their families from the worst of the wilds, but life is tough, so most willingly join him for numbers are strength and in strength lies survival.

The group is brought before the leader of these bandits, lord Helge, with little fanfare. They are outnumbered, outmatched and disarmed. They are given an opportunity to avoid paying the customary toll of 1000 zenit and upon accepting, sent out into the wilds by Helge’s advisor Tibalt. Their mission: find and ‘insert its magic’ into an old menhir so as to pacify the local monsters and provide safety for the village. They speak to some locals, an orc known as Furdin and a youth, Obo.

They reacquire their weapons and are handed on a crudely drawn map with on it a circle that marks their objective.

As they head there, they spy a violent encounter between forces of Bloom and Garrison, with the latter coming out on top. The group hides from the victorious members of House Ti’scer, noting one mage in their ranks. The mage taking some time to find her bearings before heading in the direction of the bandit village.

Afterwards, the party heads into the woods, but loses their way as Albert talks to some turtles and wolves, until they meet a group of friendly bandits that provide some added funds to the party coffers, mainly by dying and being alleviated of their cash.

Near the end of the day, the party finds the Menhir and the tandem of young Albert and savvy Mac manages to spot and activate the stone’s old magitek circuits that generate a field of nourishing energy for the nearby monsters. The party also takes note that the animals in the forest seem to have similar technology implanted in their bodies somehow.

A shadowy presence then activates an old magitek construct to ambush the party, but a concerted effort by the group leads to the thing being permanently terminated.

The group claims the core from the being, while Lucas winds up snapping a part off of it that seemed like a piece of an airship he once flew.

At the end of the day, they resolve to head back to the bandit camp to claim a reward for their hard work.