Chapter 1: Dawn of Reality

Maebh, Elesandra, and Firia have a lucid nightmare.

Your head is pounding and your entire body aches as though it was trampled by a stampede of horses. You crack your eyes open but only see pure black. Wait, there is a pin prick of light in the distance! It’s growing larger and larger. You hear voices coming from the light. Maybe you’ll get the answers soon. But the light doesn’t bring hope. The voices turn to cries and then screams. The light is washed out, the edges boiling like a million eels writhing. You turn to run away but your legs are frozen and cannot move. The light washes over you and the screams are all around you. Then all at once everything stops. There is no sound and nothing moves. You don’t know how long this goes on but the stillness is unbearable. You are not alone.

You hear a slow exhale of breath and the smell of rotting corpses permeates your nose. There is a loud crack and the light in front of you fractures into a picture. You can’t quite make it out. It’s distorted like viewing it through ice. It’s …. no…. you feel dread creep into every part of your being. That’s impossible! You try to avert your eyes, to push the horrifying image out of your head but it remains in front of you. You squeeze your eyes shut and push the thoughts out of your mind. It doesn’t make any difference. You know in your soul that this will happen and there is nothing you can do about it.

The picture explodes into sharp fragments of ice which pierce your skin. You need to run away! Wait! Maybe you can move your foot just a little. Yes! It’s like being stuck in thick mud. You look down and see you are wading through a massive waist-high sea of congealing blood. It extends to the horizon. You raise your hands to keep your balance, the black-red blood dripping down your arms. You take one step, then another. You hear slithering noises behind you but you don’t dare to look. You need to get away. Something grabs hold of your leg. No! Another hand grabs your arm, and another pulls at your hair. You can feel foul breath on the back of your neck. No! They are pulling you down. Another hand covers your mouth and nose. You can’t breathe. You slowly sink beneath the endless ocean of blood. A cruel, heartless laughing follows you down…

You sit straight up in your bed. Were you sleeping? Your screams are still echoing in your ears. The room is dirty and nondescript. Your bedding is soaked in sweat. The pale moonlight is spilling through the single window and you can barely make out the others, also sitting up in their beds. They are looking at you. Did you wake them with your nightmare? A rooster crows. Work waits for you. You will get no more rest tonight.

• Maebh, Elesandra, and Firia come to there senses as Tilly, the innkeeper yells at them to keep working.
• They are working at the Broken Wheel Inn, located on the west side of the mountain range in a town called Beton Chin.
• They do not fully remember why they are here or the exact events that led them here.
• Two ruffians, Nob and Hotch, cause trouble for Elesandra, calling her a witch.
• They decide to leave Beton Chin and head for their old establishment in Windhall.
• Firia and Meabh head out to buy a mule. Elesandra reads a history book.
• As the go through town they have a few flashbacks of the last few weeks.
• They meet the black-smith, an orc named Lash. Apparently the orcs and humans came to some amount of peace.
• They meet another orc at the church of Valor. He's a priest named Father Furbog.
• The party sees some young kids playing with some black rocks.
• Also, there are huge boulders that looks like they landed from the sky, crushing houses. Except this didn't happen recently.
• They are about to leave just before nightfall when they hear screams and a giant black snake is attacking the village.
• The party comes to the villages aid, even though Nob is there.
• They save the children.
• More black creatures attack from behind.
• The party saves the day, but other parts of town didn't fare as well.
• Nob's child was one of the kids saved. He approaches Elesandra, shoves some money at her and tells her to leave town.
• They leave Beton Chin behind them.
• They notice that they are each wearing a talon shaped pendant.

• 15xp