Very nearly wound up with a TPK last night, very exciting. Here's last time.
Our heroes have just killed one of the four(?) doppelgangers running the Shiny Belles tavern, and consider taking a brief rest, but Aisling is worried about Sennin, the old man whose form the now-dead shapeshifter was copying. So they all head out, in the direction of the "ditch" that he was going to when they last saw him for realsies! (Clara points out that maybe there never was a "Sennin," but Aisling believes that if that had been a shapeshifter, he'd never have pointed out the inconsistencies in the others' behavior that he did.)
They find the ditch largely by the smell; it's used as a latrine. But there's another odor behind the first, one of old putrescence. They follow it up-ditch a bit, and find corpses - five of them, all human (probably; they're not gnome or something, at least), all still dressed, all old and decaying, all halfheartedly buried and then dug up by scavengers. Aisling notes with rising disgust that these are probably Connal, Blythe, Achain, Wren, and Stellan, the proprietors of this place. She tries to get closer, but the smell is too much and she turns back.
Clara finds Sennin's tracks and discovers that he did indeed come out to the ditch, stood there a moment, and then turned back, but was accosted and dragged away. They follow his tracks over the ditch and towards a hayfield, and in the distance they see a scarecrow tied to a crossbeam...but as they get closer, they realize the scarecrow is moving.
They come up to it and find Sennin, bleeding from a bonk on the head but alive. Aisling heals him with a spell, and he explains that the doppelgangers approached wearing the forms of the adventurers (minus Zook), bonked him on the head, and tied him up here. They're headed toward Haywain, the little village west of here! He tells them to go along without him and maybe they can intercept the creatures, but they refuse to leave him - leaving someone alone with doppelgangers about is unwise. That means, of course, that they can only move as fast as Sennin.
They arrive in Haywain after a couple of hours, and they discover themselves already there! "Aisling" is addressing the gathered villagers, going on about shapeshifters coming after their women! Aisling is, of course, outraged, calls out the creature, and the villagers panic as the "heroes" ready themselves. Zook just hurls a firebolt at "Aisling," yelling "YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A ZOOK!" but misses.
The battle is joined! "Aisling" readies herself for battle and screams "Back to the hedgerows!" at the heroes! Clara runs up to "Clara" and attacks, while Dara throws a thorn-whip at "Dara", but the crowd and chaos make landing blows difficult. "Clara" strikes, mimicking Clara's fighting form, and knocks her out, but Aisling is quick with a healing word and rouses her again! Dara casts a shillelagh spell on her quaterstaff and chugs the potion of giant strength she was carrying, but misjudges her own newfound strength and snaps the staff on the ground when she strikes.
Meanwhile, Zook casts a witch-bolt at "Aisling," hoping to be able to reveal it even if it changes form. Aisling charges in and draws her sword, and the battle rages. "Dara" ducks into a building with a group of villagers and is lost in the chaos, while "Clara," badly wounded, drops its disguise, disengages and flees around a corner. "Aisling," likewise hurt, ducks into a building. The actual Aisling follows and finds a group of villagers...but she has a plan.
She casts a sleep spell, and the villagers all gently drop off, leaving one standing there holding a knife. It explodes into the white, lumpy doppelganger form, lunging at Aisling ("Do you think I'd give up?"), but Clara runs over, slides between Aisling's knees, and punches it! The creature staggers back, and then swings its massive arms ("DIE!"), knocking both heroes down and out.
Zook and Dara, meanwhile, spot one lone villager (the others ran when the doppelgangers stood exposed). Dara detects magic and spots the low-level magic around him, and points it out. The doppelganger obligingly drops the disguise, and Dara swings with her half-staff, but the creature bats it away and drops her with a single punch.
Zook, now the last adventurer standing, backs up in panic and throws a firebolt at the one that just felled Aisling and Clara. He misses, however, setting the cottage ablaze. The one that dropped Dara yells "Fench! Let's go!" and both remaining doppelgangers flee, leaving Zook to rally the villagers and put out the fire.
The other three heroes come to later that night, laid out on beds of hay in the barn, heads being dabbed with cloth soaked in water and herbs. The villagers thank them for their gallantry and nurse them back to health, and one of them offers a lift in a wagon into the nearby town of Fiadh. The heroes, perhaps a little chastened, agree, and ride in the wagon south along the river.
Fiadh is one of the biggest towns in Abhaile, with a population of roughly 8000. The wagon pulls in and up to a tavern, and the driver lets them out. A group of old men are sitting around outside playing a game involving wooden tiles marked with numbers and pictures, and they gently point out that the heroes look like they might have had a rough time of it. They agree, and Aisling secures rooms at this place - they decide to stick around a bit.
Over the next couple of days, Dara communes with the trees, developing her magic in the Forest Circle. Clara discovers a commune of barbarians, monks, and rangers not far away, and practices the Way of the Open Hand. Aisling meets up with Cillian, a bard from the south, and joins the College of Lore, learning new stories and songs.
Zook, meanwhile, continues practicing his magic of Divination, and one day is reading his spellbook in the tavern when an old man pokes him. "'Scuse me, is your name Timbers?"
Zook confirms that it is, and the man tells him that he knew his father. "Ranger, right? Not a woogly-woo like you?" He says that he helped Zeb construct a little stash, something he called a hidey-hole, not big enough to sleep in but big enough to hold supplies. He draws a simple map in the back cover of Zook's spellbook, and Zook thanks him profusely.
Next time, we'll see what, if anything is still there!
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