The Timberlands: Session Seven.

Session 7: The Lodgemaster.

An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary

With barely a breather, the heroes continued their assault on the Sandy Hills Chalet. Despite a myriad of wounds, the party remained determined to find the kidnapped associate of their new friend Niq the goblin. They also realized, rightly so, that these blueblood cannibals needed to be put down before they terrorized the congressional colonies further. Instead of smashing in the front door, however, the champions snuck through shot-out windows and into the chalet's large parlor. They picked over the bodies of the cultists they'd shot dead in the windows and scoped out the nearby rooms.

In the grand hall, connected to the parlor, awaited a cadre of lodge redwolves, mangeservants, war mask, and a barghest. Through the other door was a fine music room complete with a harpsichord, comfortable couches before a fire, and a black, basalt sacrificial altar. Sitting before the harpsichord was a barrel-chested nobleman with silvery hair and a heroic mien who played beautifully despite the ongoing carnage. The heroes suspected he was more than he seemed and used climbing spikes to bar that door before ambushing the villains waiting to ambush them in the hall.

The fight turned quickly, however, as the mangeservants hoped atop taxidermied bear-folk and animated them. The heroes reeled but managed to quickly recover as they funneled foes back into the sitting room instead of continuing the chaos in the grand hall. The harpsichord played on. Once the minions were dealt with, the party healed their wounds and considered their next move.

On the second floor above, they heard the rest of the cult fortifying their position. With no clear clue as to where to look for the captives, the champions elected to speak with the dignified musician. He wore no mask after all and seemed unconcerned by their presence. Once they entered and spoke up, the Lodgemaster stopped playing and greeted them all with a warm but feral smile. He even summoned up a mangeservant and offered them all some of the brandy previously pilfered from Niq. Somewhere in Sykes the rogue's fractured memories she realized who they were dealing with. The Lodgemaster was a fiend dedicated to the corruption of the aristocratic class and the chaos which followed. She knew someone who was hunting the devil, but couldn't bring up a name or face from her forgotten past.

Confronted with these facts, the Lodgemaster was nonplussed. He was glad to have a moment to banter with his food. So rarely did he get to have a polite conversation with his prey these days. Once drinks were finished, the Lodgemaster stepped away from the priceless instrument and the fight began. The fiend showed his true, devilish form and tore through the heroes with his flensing claws, took a few pounds of flesh with his skeletal jaws. The gunslinger Orym and ranger Wild both ended up bleeding out on the floor during the fight but Gwaedd the bard got them back up and into the fray. The dervish Riley and Sykes weaved and bobbed, their blades taking the fiend down inch by inch. In the end, the Lodgemaster buckled and disappeared in a gout of hellfire. He promised he'd be back.

The heroes licked their wounds. Now, more than ever, they hovered on the edge of exhaustion. After erecting a magical tiny hut within the room, Sykes and Orym snuck off to explore the rest of the first floor. They found a secret larder full of butchered humanoids, the dining hall, and connected kitchen where cannibal stew bubbled. Eventually, stairs to the cellar were discovered.

It turned out that Niq's friend, the high-elf diviner Ruven Vayunor, was not the only captive. The cult kept the wizard so he could keep an eye on potential targets, and other hunting lodges across the region that venerated the Lodgemaster. In another sell sat a fey knight of the golden court, Lady Lasthope for Spring who granted the heroes a boon for freeing her; much to the ranger Wild's dismay. There was also Arvantel Galar, a ship captain and runesmith, kept alive for his skills in artifice. Last was a tabaxi, Snow Drift, that the cult used as a sort of hunting dog. The beaten-down catfolk had a magical collar and chain that made him submissive to whoever held it. After freeing him of the device, Orym, Sykes and Wild returned to their friends upstairs. Along the way, they noted that the cellar wasn't filled with food, but find spirits from across the colonies. The battered heroes and their allies allowed themselves a brief breather in the magically protected room.

Then they made ready to clear out the rest of the mansion…