A Moose on the Loose

We join the party outside the town of Bremen as they get acquainted with their new axe beak mounts. Saddling up, they decide to make their way up to Caer Koenig - not only was Torg's Caravan heading to one of the Caers, but Sircle had heard rumor that the speaker of Caer Koenig needed some help with a recent bunch of thievery. After some route planning they decide to head to Termaline and cut across the open tundra.

On the way to Termaline, the party decides to take a detour over to Lonelywood - not only will Jamekas and Thorburn get to check in on their family, but they can investigate the rumors they've heard about a white moose terrorizing loggers and hunters in the area. 

The party rolls into Lonelywood in the evening and sees a notice posted by Speaker Nimsy Huddle looking for adventurers to go take care of the moose problem in the area. They move on to her house where she tells the story: for the past several weeks the forest has been terrorized by a white moose. This moose will chase off loggers, break equipment, injure hunters, and seems to be smarter than your average moose. In exchange for taking care of the moose, she's happy to let the party take the moose meat and plenty of her freshly baked cookies. 

Night falls and the party goes some separate ways: Sircle drinks himself into a comfortable stupor in The Lucky Liar, Thorburn and Jamekas engage in a little night fishing, and Peski and Golkum stay with Speaker Huddle to get some cookie baking lessons. After a mostly restful night, they meet back up to set off after the moose. 

Speaking to some hunters, they hear a very similar story - it's a smart moose that is hard to spot because of the color, and seemingly pops up at random to attack loggers and hunters. Several injuries have happened, but no one has died that they know of. The party sets off into the woods. 

A few hours pass, and they have successfully tracked a few moose, but these were all of the brown variety. And then in the early afternoon they crest a small rise and see a spectral shape of an elven woman floating in front of them. Before they can really formulate any plan the form moves forward where they gaze upon her terrifying visage, frightening some of the party. 

Golkum moves up and takes a mighty hack at the creature, but sees that his attack doesn't do nearly the damage he thought it would. She then floats through him, through a tree, and off to the side where she lets out a keening wail. Upon hearing this, Peski and Thorburn drop to the ground and are now knocking at death's door. 

Thankfully Sircle is able to spare the dying and eventually brings the unconscious party members back, but not before Jamekas takes a spectral bow shot to the back, dropping him. Beaten and battered, the party rallies bravely and the banshee is eventually dispatched by an eldritch blast from Thorburn's hand. The party sinks to the ground and spends an hour regaining their strength. 

Moving along, they come across more moose tracks and follow them to an interesting sight: The tracks lead to a large, circular indentation in a snowy hillside. Rising from the middle of this circle is a triangular gnomon of beautifully carved crystal that stands twenty feet tall. A ten-foot-high berm hugging the circle’s eastern edge has evergreens growing around and atop it, sheltering what looks like a sarcophagus buried under snow and enclosed by a half-circle of pale blue crystal pillars. North of the berm is a delicately carved gazebo made of marble, and south of the berm is a row of outward-facing, white marble statues atop granite pillars.

Firing up some magic detection, Jamekas detects that not only is some magic coming from the gazebo, but there is also magic coming from the statues and the sarcophagus. Sircle moves up to the sarcophagus and brushes off the snow to see a carving of a brazier in the lid. The pillars around the sarcophagus have images carved on them depicting a twig, a pinecone, a flame, a feather, and a humanoid hand.

Moving to the edge of the berm, Jamekas sees that the gnomon is "casting moonlight" down onto the symbols which clearly represent the phases of the moon. There's also a wall on the opposite side which has a hole busted into it. He hops down and the party moves to investigate this hole. Listening, they hear the noises of creatures sleeping, but not much else. 

Jamekas decides to step into the chamber beyond, which is a short drop down from where they are. He very stealthily moves in and promptly steps on a medium size bone, which snaps with a loud crack. As this happens, a large white moose with blood spots on its fur roars and rises up! 

See you all in two weeks!