Cthulhu Invictus - The Wayward Shepherdess 2-2

Salvius Horatious – Keeper Chad Iavolenus Tertius (Gladiator) – Bill Lucius Marius (Centurion) – John GM – Oscar When the party enters the cave they find that it appears to be just that, a small cave. After searching around for a few minutes Salvius finds not only the outline of a secret door but the lever to open it. So the party heads off through the mountains and after climbing many sets of stairs comes to an arch with daylight beyond. As they emerge from the caverns they find themselves at the top of a ridge on the side of the mountain, overlooking a lush valley. Cautiously descending the carved rock stairs Salvius finds the tracks of the hunters when they reach the valley floor. The party follows the tracks into the woods trying to intercept the hunters to prevent any mischief. When they enter the woods they are beset by dryads and are able to narrowly make their escape. As they flee they see the bodies of the hunters being slowly decayed among the trees. While making their retreat back towards the caverns, two satyrs come running in their direction. Salvius and Lucius drop to the ground as Iavolenus charges forward, startling the satyrs. Salvius puts on the artifacts the party found in Melipa’s room and finds that he can understand what the satyrs are yelling. Taking advantage of the surprise, the investigators attack, grievously wounding the two satyrs. Iavolenus and Lucius press forward to make killing blows but the red headed satyr shows up and tells his brethren to flee. Using this distraction to their advantage, the investigators head for the stairs but pause as the red headed satyr calls for parlay. He says his name is Kenner and asks about Melipa and the child. Kenner says the child wasn’t his but made a deal with Melipa that he would take the child and gave her the artifacts in exchange. Just then everyone hears the reverberation of heavy footsteps approaching. Kenner asks the party if they trust him and tells them to give him the artifacts and to hide. The party agrees and hunkers down in the tall grass as the source of the footsteps reveals itself. A large deformed tree with tentacles and a long slit for a mouth stomps pas following the retreating Kenner. Iavolenus and Lucius pass out and Salvius goes blind from fright. Kenner returns after a while and takes the investigators back to his house so that they may rest and recover before taking them back to the cave in the morning. Kenner explains that his brethren are afraid to climb the stairs and that Melipa had unfortunately stumbled upon the secret entrance to the valley. He offers to lock the gate from this side and asks in exchange goods from the village to be delivered once a year. They agree and think that Mathias would be willing to do it. Upon leaving the cave, the investigators discovered the body of the last hunter. He had been tied to a tree and flayed alive. There is evidence of a ritual having been performed and the tracks make it appear that the perpetrators were a group of women. When they finally make it back to town they find out that a group of four priestesses of the Magna Mater traveled through the town a few days ago. https://www.goldengoblinpress.com/ https://www.birdscoffeecompany.com/coffees/legends-of-tabletop-legendary-brew Use Code Legends10 to get 10% off your order https://www.patreon.com/legendsoftabletop Theme music created by Brett Miller http://www.brettmillermusic.net/