View source for Lasst uns froh und munter sein

{{Infobox expedition log
| title = Lasst uns froh und munter sein
| date = 12/9/23
| storyteller = Unseelie
| tier_of_play = Master
| player_characters = [[Serene Leyvald]], [[Zeal]], [[Kali]], [[Grist Vanafeld]]
| rewards = 273 xp, 1800 gp each minus individual rewards, Artic vigor formula, volcanic Vigor formula, Resurrect Ritual, Anointed Waterskin, sky chariot (medium) formula, wand of pampered pet, cantrip deck of summon instrument (5-pack) x2, cantrip deck of approximate (5-pack) x2, cantrip deck of inside ropes (5-pack) x2, cantrip deck of tremor signs (5-pack) x2, wand of forced mercy (rank 1), wand of breadcrumbs (rank 1), wand of elysian whimsy (rank 1), wand of allfood (rank 2), wand of infectious ennui (rank 3), wand of steal voice (rank 4)
| result = Success?
| author = Zeal
| downtime_days = 7
}}
== Log ==
The job this time was to head to the fortified mountain village of Kale, with a ride being sent for us. A flying sled of some sort flown by reindeer and led by a tengu named Rak-Tak. He was respectful and informative during the journey, though certain people of our group seemed to take offense to this. He answered our immediate questions, but assured us Master Konstantin would provide better information if we waited until we arrived to speak with him. Konstantin was indeed more useful, as we arrived at the snowy mountain village and headed right to his home to speak with him. He told us of the troublemakers, dangerous people committing vandalism, assault, and more. They wore horned masks, and even threw coal through the window of a more well-off home. We set out to investigate the town, and first looked into this.

Seeing as I was the only one of the four of us with any tracking skills, it was left to me to search for tracks. I found what looked to be bare feet in the snow, an oddity to be certain. The maid inside the home confirmed as much, but unfortunately provided us with little more of value. We did find another home with charcoal scrawling on it, and Grist pulled out a wand that let him read the smudged writings. As much as I fail to understand magic, it certainly has its uses.

"The inhabitants inside deserve the same as the victims"

That sentence confused us at the time, but it did confirm that whoever these criminals were, they thought they were doing something justified. Unfortunately for them, vigilante justice is naught more than a desperate plea for attention and desire to supersede the law. They would learn this in due time.

We split up to look for witnesses to any of these crimes, or to find out who lived in this home. Kali found an old lady nearby, who she and Grist spoke to. She said the person living in the marked house was Simone, and that she was gone at the moment. She worked as a cook, apparently. They learned from her rumors of a ritual to summon a snowstorm outside of town, of which it never quite made it all the way to town. She also heard rumors of necromancy with bodies near the lodge outside of town, which felt more urgent but was also further away than the snowy peak. They took this information and left. Serene failed to find any clues around or inside the well, and I couldn't get anybody to answer a door. Seemed like nobody in that town was present during the day.

The party, despite their misgivings about Rak-Tak, immediately wanted to take the shortcut of having him fly us up to the peak to investigate. While up there I couldn't find any tracks, which I fully expected given the recent presence of a snowstorm. A ritual circle was located however, and Kali confirmed it to be a ritual to Control Weather. It was converted from a "primal" spell to a "Divine" spell, according to Kali. Those of you with actual magical knowledge may understand that detail better than I do. Regardless, we found nothing else of note and needed to head back. It was late, so we needed to rest for the night before setting out for the lodge tomorrow.

Aside from someone falling asleep on their watch, the night was uneventful. The next morning it turns out someone was captured under accusations of colluding with the troublemakers, who threw them gold nuggets through their window. A bearded person hidden by lights appeared to the village master in his dreams, telling him to release the prisoner. The only correct course of action at this point was to interrogate the prisoner and figure out what he knew.

After the interrogation, we found he knew absolutely nothing. He didn't even know why they gave him the gold nuggets, they don't use gold nuggets here. He also seemed to enjoy Serene bullying him, and Serene enjoyed bullying him in turn. The former I don't understand, the latter I'm not surprised by. Regardless, we elected to have the man released and returned to his home, Serene carrying him out personally. We explained the situation to Rak-Tak and Konstantin, then had Rak-Tak fly us to the lodge at the group's request.

At the lodge, we didn't find any immediate sources of necromancy. I did find tracks, but it hardly mattered as what caused them was quick to find us in turn. People in brown bag-like clothing sporting masks of hairy, horned, fiendish appearance similar to that of a Ceustodaemon. They fought us with fear tactics and the horns upon their masks, which Kali identified not just as masks, but as cursed objects merged with their beings after intense celebration to some dark creature. Throughout the battle we killed two out of the five, capturing 3 with nonlethal strikes. Despite their appearances, I didn't feel the impact from my strikes against them that I feel when facing fiends. Who they worshipped we couldn't figure out, so the best we could do is have Kali use dispel magic while we remove the masks to free the victims from this curse.

Investigating the lodge itself, I found a woman in the kitchen scared but not knowing why. The auras of the celebrants apparently terrified her, but thankfully my own aura was able to calm her in turn. I speak with her and escort her outside to look at the three we'd unmasked, which "Simone", the cook from the marked house, informs us are people from the coal mine. Five out of approximately a dozen workers, converted into these freaks. In the meantime, Serene and Grist investigated the basement of the lodge. They found the remnants of a resurrection circle, which Kali identified as a 7th rank resurrection ritual modified to only require one person. Given its presence in a room full of meats, the team is forced to come to only one unfortunate conclusion. We interrogate Simone and confirm that people there have indeed been resurrected and killed for some nefarious purpose, their bodies buried nearby. This was likely what the vigilante creatures had been looking to punish her for. Her, her husband, and the owner of this lodge. 

Using my manacles we bring her and the bodies back, informing Konstantin and Rak-Tak of the situation. Kali goes to Simone's house and knocks out her husband, dragging him back to also be arrested. The celebrants are also thrown in jail, as their transformation only occurred due to their bizarre worship of a being that they hoped would do commit these acts regardless. We leave the locating and arresting of the lodge owner to the leadership of this town, promising that tomorrow we would free the two dead bodies from the masks as well in order for them to be identified, and convinced Rak-Tak to return the gold nuggets to the man that had previously been jailed. Based on Kali's knowledge of these creatures, they only punish people, they do not reward them. As a result, this gold was likely not given by lawless beings of vandalism and assault, but by a secondary person seeking to reward good actions in turn. That makes the gold lawfully gained, in my eyes. It was also worth more than our estimated amount of 10 to 100 gold each, if Rak-Tak's intuition is to be believed. I wish that young man the best of luck in his future endeavors.

During the night, our shoes were oddly enough filled with items? Mine had gold and a waterskin that seems to generate holy water. Useful for my battle against unholy forces, to be certain. The others also received oddly appropriate rewards, such as Kali getting tattoo and ritual formulas or Grist getting more wands to add to his ridiculously large collection, but Serene got a wand of Pampered Pet? I'm not sure what the intention of that gift was. The others thought it was rather funny, so it must have been an in-joke of some sort I wasn't there for. Either way we did as planned and freed the last two from their masks, then returned home with our rewards, including payment from Konstantin himself. If that wasn't our pay from them, I do wonder who put all those items in our shoes. And how they knew us so well, for that matter.