Chapter 2 - Session 6

The Whispering Peak and the Silent Camp

Part 1 video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfepwXZY4h0

Part 2 video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3NV1uSJe7U

Events and Actions

The party, having pursued Hans and an old Islander woman onto Totem Isle, split to follow two diverging paths leading up from the beach. Knick Nab and Cosimo took the left-hand path but lost the trail after a while and doubled back toward the beach. Mani and Riu took the right-hand path, and when the ground itself stopped giving up clues, Mani climbed a tree to scan the canopy for any disturbance among the birds that might betray someone moving through the forest below — and spotted exactly that, further up a prominent hill, Blackstone Peak. Feeling a strange pull in the same direction, Mani led Riu up toward the summit. Knick Nab and Cosimo, having lost their own trail, chose to climb the hill as well, reasoning it would offer the best vantage point over the island. Werner De Rendal and Noddy remained with the boats, with Noddy sending his seagull, Pocket, to scout for their ship, the "Advance" (which was not sighted).

At the peak, the party reunited. Mani's strange attraction intensified. They discovered a small, seemingly abandoned observation post, complete with a hammock, a writing desk, and two small chests. One chest contained a remarkably high-quality spyglass, and the other held writing materials and three small books. Two books were blank, while the third was a logbook whose front pages — some twelve to fifteen leaves, by their estimate — had been torn out, leaving only a single legible entry dated approximately seven months prior, detailing an unremarkable day's observations from the lookout. Riu used the new spyglass to survey the surrounding country, confirming a clear view down to the beach, out across the channel their ship had passed through, and along a chain of hills further inland of comparable height to Blackstone Peak, marking this as a genuinely large island; the dense forest below, however, hid whatever lay beneath its canopy. Cosimo sensed a source of power at the peak. Certain the pull had led him to something at the post itself, Mani searched the area and turned up nothing more mystical than an old latrine pit — a sobering reminder that not every strong feeling points to treasure.

Refocusing, Mani realized the pull was coming from beneath him and began digging, uncovering a large, perfectly flat, black, stone-like surface with a subtle shimmer. The party worked together to clear more of it, determining it was a large, circular or oval object. Cosimo, meanwhile, attempted a magic ritual to cast "Detect Magic" — a spell three levels beyond his ability — with Mani kneeling in prayer beside him and Knick Nab reluctantly joining in to help; their support narrowed the ritual's steep penalty considerably, and the casting succeeded on a partial success. Directed at the surface, the chests, and everything else nearby, it detected no active magic anywhere. While Cosimo prepared his ritual, Riu cast a "Detect Power" spell of his own across the post's ordinary belongings — the ground, the hammock, the makeshift table, the surrounding trees — and found nothing magical among any of them either.

The breakthrough came when Mani knelt to listen to the surface and his Medallion brushed against it, sticking fast like a magnet. All party members found their Medallions exhibited the same property, while other metals did not. Mani's own attempt to attune to the surface fell short, but Riu then succeeded (after an initial failure and spending a coin), learning that the surface was an immense source of "pure power," though not of a type he could directly use himself. Cosimo came agonizingly close to drawing nine power points directly from the surface through channeling, but fell just short; when he later cast his ritual using only his own reserves, he was left convinced the surface really could be drawn from, if only he understood it better. Werner's stonemason's eye and knowledge of stone lore found nothing familiar in the material either — it took no tool marks, would not scratch or chip even under a chisel, and rang like solid stone when struck, unlike anything he had ever encountered. Recalling the old Islander women's claim back on Bitterroot Isle that chewing the plant could reveal hidden truths, the party also tried a pinch of their dwindling store of Bitterroot on the mystery; it left them feeling soothed, but taught them nothing more about the surface. During these events, attempts were made by Werner De Rendal, Cosimo, and Knick Nab to remove Mani's Medallion, but all failed (often due to distractions), while Mani demonstrated he could remove both Werner De Rendal's and Knick Nab's — so far the only PC able to do so, and notably also the first of the Mani/Cosimo pair to have acquired his Medallion in the first place.

Piecing together what his channeling and his ritual had each told him, Cosimo concluded that the surface itself, not something hidden within or beneath it, was the source of power — this was no vault or artifact-with-contents waiting to be opened, but a solid mass of the stuff, which meant there was no door or entrance to be found no matter how thoroughly they searched.

With evening coming on, the party made camp at the peak rather than risk the descent in darkness. Werner dug a shallow, screened fire pit at the crossroads clearing, positioned so its light couldn't be seen from either the main channel or further inland, while the others continued digging and posted watches through the night. The party debated whether to relocate their whole camp — cannon included — from the smaller island to Totem Isle, but reached no firm decision. In the morning, they made one last push to understand the buried surface: mathematics suggested the shape was most likely a true circle rather than a square, so they dug a trench to what should have been its center and cleared a wide arc of one edge to compare for evenly spaced "slots," but both efforts turned up nothing — no seams, markings, or means of entry of any kind. Judging that reburying the site wasn't worth the effort, since the disturbed ground would give it away regardless, they resolved to mark its location and leave it as found.

Deciding to investigate further inland, the party followed a path leading down from the peak. Knick Nab's tracking confirmed the path had seen no real traffic in the roughly seven months since the peak's logbook fell silent, but partway down he picked up much fresher sign — a broken branch, a smeared footprint on a log — from someone who had passed within the last day or two. Backtracking the trail, he found it led all the way up to the observation post itself, meaning whoever left it had been at the peak very recently, not simply passing through months ago. Following the path onward, the party came to a small, abandoned camp by a lake.

The camp contained several tents, partially constructed buildings, and signs of a hasty departure (a third boat missing, with drag marks in the mud less than a couple of days old). Searching the camp, they found approximately ten bodies of sailors, dead for about seven months, apparently killed by spear-like weapons. Several had fallen behind makeshift barricades or overturned supplies, suggesting they had been defending the camp when they died; the recovered spearheads and javelins were notably small, not standard shipboard weapons, raising the same suspicion of a small-statured attacker that Bitterroot Isle had already planted in the party's minds. The bodies and the camp seemed largely unlooted of personal valuables, and the number of hammocks strung between the trees roughly matched the number of dead, suggesting few if any had escaped besides whoever fled in the missing boat. However, they discovered a crate of muskets, a crate of gunpowder and shot-making materials, a crate filled with Southern Navy uniforms of various ranks (including officer regalia for naval and ground forces, though tellingly none of the dead were dressed as officers), and waterproof bags containing more log entries (dated 8-7 months ago, with nothing older) and a folder of documents written in a cipher. None of the crates bore any maker's stamp, ship's name, or other identifying mark. Another crate of gunpowder had already been broken open and spilled across the ground, ruined; Knick Nab, using his knack for finding what others try to hide, checked the camp for concealed caches but turned up nothing beyond what already lay in plain sight.

As they were processing these discoveries, the party debated how to bring their haul back — hauling it up and over the peak, or loading it into one of the camp's own boats and risking the unknown river that drained the lake — and settled on the boats for now. Werner argued that if the muskets couldn't be gotten out safely, he'd sooner sink them in the river than leave them for hostile hands, while Knick Nab held that recovering Southern orders and intelligence was their duty as Navy men regardless of the risk. A distant "boom," sounding like their cannon from the other island, interrupted the discussion; the party couldn't agree whether it meant their crew was signalling them home or fighting off an attack. Cosimo then used a "Guess" spell to try and locate the cipher, guessing it was in the "left tent."

NPCs & Creatures

Hans: (Mentioned) The escaped prisoner the party was initially pursuing.
Old Islander Woman: (Mentioned) Seen with Hans, guiding his escape.
Dieter: (Mentioned) Prisoner remaining on the other island.
Stanley: (Mentioned) Marine remaining on the other island.
Pocket: (Present) Noddy's seagull familiar, used for scouting.
Deceased Sailors: (Found) Approximately 10 bodies discovered in the abandoned Southern camp.

Locations

Totem Isle: A large island in the Channel Islands where the majority of the session took place. From Blackstone Peak, the party could see a chain of further hills of comparable height running inland, confirming the island is considerably larger than it first appeared.
- Blackstone Peak: A prominent hill on Totem Isle. The PCs discovered an observation post at its summit and a mysterious, large, black, stone-like surface buried just beneath the topsoil. This surface exhibited magnetic properties towards their Medallions and was identified as a source of immense power. The party camped overnight at the crossroads clearing just below the summit, screening their fire from view of both the main channel and the island's interior.
- Abandoned Southern Camp: A small settlement found by a lake inland on Totem Isle. It contained tents, partially built structures, and evidence of a past Southern Navy presence. This is where the bodies, supplies, uniforms, and ciphered documents were found.
Bitterroot Isle: (Mentioned) The smaller island where the party's main camp, other prisoners, and cannon crew are located.

Conflicts

No direct combat occurred during this session.
The discovery of the 10 dead sailors in the abandoned camp points to a past conflict approximately 7 months ago.

Learnings and Discussions

The Black Surface: A large, circular/oval, black, stone-like surface was discovered buried at the top of Blackstone Peak. It is a source of immense "pure power" and magnetically attracts the PCs' Medallions. Mathematics suggested the buried shape was likely a true circle. The material defied every attempt to identify it: it took no tool marks, could not be scratched or chipped even with a chisel, matched no stone Werner De Rendal had ever encountered, and showed no seams, slots, or markings anywhere the party exposed; neither a Detect Power spell nor a chewed pinch of Bitterroot revealed anything further about its nature. Cosimo concluded from his channeling and ritual that the surface itself was the power source, not a container hiding something within — meaning there was no door or entrance to find, only the substance itself.
Medallion Properties: Further details about the Medallions were revealed/confirmed: they stick to the black surface. Attempts by Werner De Rendal, Cosimo, and Knick Nab to remove Mani's Medallion failed. Mani was able to remove Werner De Rendal's and Knick Nab's Medallions, leading to the understanding that only Mani has so far demonstrated this ability. Mani was also confirmed as the first of the Mani/Cosimo pair to find his Medallion.
Attunement: Riu successfully attuned to the black surface (after an initial failure and spending a coin), gaining an understanding of its nature: it is pure power, but not of a type he can use. Mani's own attempt to attune fell short. Cosimo separately attempted to draw power from the surface directly; though unsuccessful, he came close and believes it could work with a better understanding of the source.
Abandoned Southern Camp: The party discovered a 7-month-old abandoned camp that belonged to Southern forces. This suggests a Southern presence on the island around that time. None of the dead were dressed as officers, despite officer regalia being present among the crated uniforms, and none of the crates bore any identifying mark.
A Small Attacker: The camp's dead bore wounds from unusually small spears and javelins, not standard shipboard weapons, and several had died behind makeshift barricades — consistent with the same small, hostile presence the party already suspects from Bitterroot Isle.
Logbooks & Cipher: Log entries from the peak and the camp indicate activity 7-8 months ago. The peak's own logbook had roughly 12-15 leaves torn from its front; based on the party's rough estimate of two pages per month, this represents several prior months of entries, though the exact span is unknown. Ciphered documents suggest covert Southern operations.
Recent Activity: Someone was at the peak observation post as recently as the last day or two, then travelled inland towards the abandoned camp — this was fresh activity, not simply an old, undisturbed trail.
Mani's Connection: Mani feels a strong, unexplained pull to Blackstone Peak and the black surface.
Cosimo's Power Sense: Cosimo can sense sources of power that could aid his magic.
Distant Cannon Fire: A "boom" from the direction of their other camp interrupted the search of the abandoned camp; the party couldn't agree whether it meant their crew was signalling them to return or fighting off an attack.

Items Gained

Spyglass: A high-quality (+20) spyglass found in a chest at the Blackstone Peak observation post.
Blank Books (2): Found with writing materials at the observation post.
Logbook (1, partially filled): Found at the observation post, with a single legible entry from ~7 months ago; roughly 12-15 leaves had been torn from the front.
Muskets (1 crate): Found in the abandoned Southern camp.
Powder and Shot-making Materials (1 crate): Found in the abandoned Southern camp.
Southern Navy Uniforms (1 crate): Various ranks, including officer regalia, for naval and ground forces. Found in the abandoned Southern camp.
Log Entries & Ciphered Documents: Found in waterproof bags in the abandoned Southern camp.

Items Lost

No significant items were lost by the PCs during this session.