Session 12.5: We don't talk about Odo (Part 2)

A lone survivor. A swift rescue. A brush with the Things Below.

In part one of Session 12.5, our heroes made a brief expedition out of Gordin’s Delve to investigate the Hillfolk ambushes taking place in the foothills of the Huffel Peaks, which had been bedeviling Mutra the Teeth, one of the Delve Bosses the party hopes to ally with in defense of the coming attack by Cirl-of-the-Storms.

Pad’s keen eye, however, gleaned that the Hillfolk were not responsible for the attacks: Someone else had been striking at Mutra’s people, and making it appear as part of the ongoing feud between the Delvers and the nomads.

The most likely suspect is Odo Thriceborn, the fifth Delve Boss, whom we have yet to meet in person, though his fearsome reputation has preceded him. While encamped, Padrig’s shared what he knows of the man from his bloody past in the Delve, and Lucky Finbar, one of Mutra’s lieutenants, filled in some of the blanks. Now, the party returns to the Delve to report their findings to Mutra, and plan their next move.

Let’s see how the journey home goes — Padrig and Finbar are leading the party through the wilderness, and we’ll have Pad roll to see how the trek goes, with advantage thanks to Finbar’s aid:

Pad triggers Defy Danger with Wisdom: 5+6+3+2 Wisdom = 13, Strong Hit

They make it back to the Delve without too much fuss — recall that in the front half of this episode, we established a countdown clock that tracks the amount of time remaining before Cirl’s attack. I strongly suspect we won’t fill this, but if rolls fall poorly as the party strives to prepare the Delve for the coming battle, we could see some time pressure come to bear.

Back to the action — we’ll envision the party making good time home, but we also want to foreshadow a bit, and flex Cirl’s power. When I made the roll, I knew from the a Miss would be a great opportunity to show the hdour’s dominion over the natural world, but even with Pad’s strong hit, we can show that power but also give him and Vahid a chance to be smart:

Scene 6, cont’d: The Wilds

The next morning, they break camp and continue up the foothills. Rain has begun to fall, and Cerdic’s bravos grumble anew. “I thought you woodsmen were weather-wise, Lucky Finbar. Clear for days, my arse,” Snake-Eyes japes.

“It was clear, damn you,” Finbar mutters, almost to himself.

As they hike through the Spring rain, Padrig comes to Vahid’s side. “The weather did seem clear, Seeker. The rain came on swiftly, and the clouds are still rolling in. Didn’t you say our enemy commanded the wind and the storm?”

Vahid nods in grave agreement. “We should make haste.”

Padrig speaks quietly to Finbar, who presses them into a quick march, making fast for the Maker’s Roads. Cerdic grumbles, but Anwen exhorts him the storm will get worse, and they can’t afford to be caught out of the Delve. With Finbar and Padrig to guide them, they make swift time and pass under Sorrow’s Gate as the drizzle turns to torrents, and lightning splits the sky.

Scene 7: Mutra’s Place

They meet Mutra at her home -- a humble, narrow, two-story shack on the fifth terrace, with a trio of tattooed Peaksfolk lazing outside with iron-banded cudgels. They bow respectfully to Cerdic and Finbar as the men pass and stare suspiciously at the Stonefolk.

The interior is spartan, with a red, threadbare woolen rug covering the rough stone floor and a pair of shaggy grey hounds lounging near a burning hearth. Mutra awaits them at a round wooden table. She gestures for Finbar to sit, kicking out a chair for him, and dismisses Cerdic with a wave. He grouses but does not dare speak up and departs with a vague salute.

“Well? You’re back too soon to have done much good,” she growls.

“It’s not the nomads,” Pad says simply, placing the Hillfolk arrow on the table. “They don’t leave their bronze behind. Someone planted this there.”

She turns to Finbar. “Who?”

Finbar wrinkles his grey mustache. “Odo, they say.”

Mutra snarls. “Odo was dealt with. We taught him the way of things. What makes you think he’s behind this?”

“Jahalim needs the fuel you provide him. Draigh needs your people as a market for his goods from Marshedge. Smiling Ffransis’ quarrels are with Jahalim, and when he comes for you, you know it,” Vahid ticks off the possibilities on his fingers. “Who else?”

Mutra picks up the bronze-tipped arrow from the table and clenches it in her fist. “If it was Odo, it will be vendetta.” She takes the arrow’s point and slowly presses it into the table until it snaps. “Are you playing me, Padrig?”

There are footsteps behind them. Mutra’s bravos have entered and now wait with edged eagerness. “A single arrow,” she continues, gesturing at the splintered remains. “A thin reed to rest a call for vendetta upon. Am I to believe that the savages never mislay a single shot?”

Pad shrugs. “You sent me out there to see what I could see. I’m telling you what I saw. They left good iron behind -- seasoned raiders would never do that. They took the bodies -- this band would leave them behind as a warning.”

“Says Padrig.”

“Aye. I spent five winters living among them and another five fighting them blade to blade. Says I.”

Padrig triggers Persaude: 6+1+1 Charisma = 8, Weak Hit

“I want proof.”

“Testimony from one of Odo’s people would be the best proof. But they do not speak of him, it is said.” Vahid supplies. “Do you have any spies in his camp?”

Mutra leans back, deep in thought. “I don’t,” and her gaze turns to Padrig. “But you do.”

“What are you talking about, Mutra?” he replies flatly.

“We didn’t take many prisoners when we ran you and your dregs out of town, Padrig. But we took a few. Jahalim locked them up in the Foundry but grew tired of feeding them. His pet judge sentenced them to hard labor in the mines, and Jahalim turned them over to Odo for a handful of silver.”

“No.” Padrig breathes.

“I didn’t want them. I have no need for turncoats in my crews. But Odo takes all comers.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know their names. As far as I know, only one is still alive- the youngest.”

“Brogan.”

Mutra shrugs. “Whatever his name is, he is a fighter. Toiled for a year in the deepest, foulest mine, but of late, I’ve seen him bearing a weapon and wearing Odo’s colors.”

Padrig’s eyes fall, and he stares down at the table. After a few moments of silence, he rises. “We’ll get your proof, Mutra. Tell your people to sharpen their knives.”

She smiles at him -- her black iron teeth render it more of a sneer. “We’ll be ready.”

Setting the Scene: Rescuing Young Brogan

Perhaps you are asking yourself: Who the hell is Brogan? This is a bit of a deep cut, so buckle up — he was mentioned first way back in Session 2.3. Pad and the gang were headed to Marshedge, and Aled, a member of the Companions now deceased¹, asked Pad to see if any news of Young Brogan turned up:

“The word when we split up was that young Brogan died during our flight from the Delve. If you can, talk to the crew and see if anyone was there when it happened. I want to know for sure if he’s gone.”

In Session 4.2, Pad did just that, when speaking to Luddig, the Claw’s sawbones. Luddig shared this detail:

Ludig looks downcast. “Ivan left him behind to hold the caravanserai door when we escaped through the tunnel. The rumor is that he was one of the few taken alive. If he still lives, no doubt he toils in chains in one of the more unpleasant Delves. Tell Aled I am sorry,” he says.

Now we know for sure: Young Brogan still lives, and he wears Odo Thriceborn’s colors. No doubt Pad had Brogan’s fate in the back of his head when they came to Gordin’s Delve, but the mines are a cruel place for prisoners, and it’s reasonable to have assumed that Brogan was likely dead. Now that he knows Brogan is still alive, he’s compelled to go after him — and they need proof, besides.

To learn where they might be able to find Brogan, the party uses the Ask Around move that we’ve triggered a number of times in the Delve. We’ll abstract it a bit, mark some coin off the character sheets, and set the scene based on the result:

Padrig triggers Ask Around: 6+1+1 Charisma = 8, Weak Hit

The party chooses the easiest of the weak hit options for Ask Around, and spends a bit of extra coin — they’re still pretty flush with Vahid’s gold from dealing with Tymon Ammar² back in Marshedge. They learn that Brogan has a lowly post guarding Odo’s mining crews as they go back and forth from the Delve at seventh terrace, and they plan to catch him there. They arrive early, and Pad uses Read the Land to identify the best spot for an ambush — granting them advantage on their first roll as they execute the plan. We’ll dive into the action with their plan already in motion:

Scene 8: The seventh terrace

It’s pouring as Anwen and Padrig steal across the rain-slick plaza at the top of the Delve and into a narrow alley between two of the long ore storehouses that line the edge of the mountainside. Rain flows down the terrace, running over the ledges and stairways in little waterfalls.

The last crew of Odo’s miners is leaving the delve -- six bedraggled laborers in a scattered line, heavily stooped from the day’s toil, shuffle down the plaza, headed for their homes in the tenements or to the winesinks and lotus dens in the terraces below. Two bravos watch over them, one in front and one behind, with sodden white scarves as signs of their loyalty to Odo Thriceborn.

Pad immediately recognizes Brogan in the sun’s fading light -- the young man’s face is still soft and kind, though his eyes are harder than Padrig remembers.

“That’s him,” Pad whispers. His face is ashen -- Anwen has only seen him like this once before, on the road to Marshedge. Like he’d seen a ghost³. “We’ll get him back, Pad,” she whispers. “No matter what.”

Padrig meets her eyes and composes himself. His lips quirk up with a fond smile, and he whispers back: “Eyes on the battle, not the victory⁴. If we get split up, meet back at Parvati’s.” He draws up his hood and raises his scarf, and she dons her half helm and veils her face. They wait in an alley as the column passes, and as Brogan goes by, Padrig strikes.

Padrig triggers Defy Danger with Dexterity: 3+4+1+1 Dexterity = 8, Weak Hit

They make the grab, but the lead bravo will notice soon.

Before the young bandit-turned-bravo can react, he is seized from behind, and Pad pulls him into the alley, slamming him hard against the timber frame of the storehouse, pressing his gloved hand over Brogan’s mouth.

Brogan tries in vain to call for aid, but he is struck silent when Padrig pulls his mask down and reveals his face.

"Brogan, it's me. Padrig."

The hardness drains from his face in an instant, and before Pad’s eyes, he seems five winters younger.

“You left us!” Brogan spits, struggling against Pad’s arm. Tears begin to run down his face, mingling with the rain. “You and Ivan and Brennan left us to die! The Things Below take you, Padrig!” As the youth rages and flails, Pad is struck by his eyes -- he can’t remember what color they used to be, but now, in the dying daylight, they are a strange, golden color.

But there is no time to wonder at this change -- in the plaza, they hear a bellowing call over the din of the rain. “Brogan! Where the fuck have you gotten to? I’ll beat you bloody, you little wretch!” Anwen peeks around the corner and looks back at Pad. Her eyes urge him: “Hurry!”

 Pad turns back to Brogan. “I tried to save everyone I could, but it was too damn few. There were days I’ve wished I had died with you and the others -- it would’ve been cleaner. But I didn’t, and I’m here now. Odo’s a madman; you don’t have to wear his colors. Come with me.”

Padrig spends a banked Loyalty instead of rolling here. It’s a bit of a stretch, since it’s been a long time since Brogan was part of Pad’s crew, but I decided to err on the player’s side and allow it.

Brogan closes his eyes and looks down numbly, and Padrig glances at Anwen. She peeks around the corner again. “He’s coming,” she whispers. I’ll deal with him. You make for the stairs.” Padrig throws a cloak over Brogan’s shoulders and draws up the hood before giving Anwen the nod. She rises and smoothly rounds the corner, an oak cudgel held low.

The bravo approaches her. He is a tall, pinch-faced Manmarcher with a shorn head beaded with rainwater. “You there! You seen a little piss-wet cuss run by here?”

Anwen triggers Defy Danger with Strength: 5+3+2 Strength = 10, Strong Hit

Anwen strikes in one smooth motion -- she slams the club into the man’s gut, folding him neatly in half and driving the breath from his body. He drops to his knees, and she shoves him into the alley, doubled up and struggling for air.

Pad goes to lead Brogan out, but the boy pulls away and deals the bravo a savage kick, his boot striking the man’s jaw. He slumps to the ground like a sack of rice and lays shuddering, face down in a puddle of rainwater. Padrig stops the youth before he can strike again and pulls him away, out of the alley. Anwen turns the man over and sees that he is still breathing -- raggedly, spitting blood from cracked teeth. He has a strange, sick grin on his face, and he wheezes not in pain but with laughter. She stares for a moment and then turns away, rushing to catch up with Pad and Brogan as they join the trickle of mining crews heading down into the tenements and beyond.

Pad’s leading them back to Parvati’s trying to avoid the notice of any prying eyes by blending in with the crowd:

Padrig triggers Defy Danger with Charisma: 6+4+1 Charisma = 11, Strong Hit

Scene 9: Madame Parvati’s, upstairs

In a softly-appointed room in Madam Parvati’s, Brogan rests on a clean straw mattress. Sitting on a pillow next to him, Parvati offers a cup of steaming wine, and when he takes it gratefully, she softly rests her hand on his shoulder. Padrig sits next to the bed as well, listening intently to Brogan’s tale. Behind him, Vahid watches from the shadows behind him, and Anwen stands in the light, gripping Bearkiller’s haft so tightly that her knuckles have gone white.

“I worked the mines for a year with Serg and Aldo -- they were the only others taken alive. Then, one night, Odo’s woman, Dawa -- they call her Eyegouger -- came down to our flophouse and picked through the workers. We didn’t know why or what she was looking for, but when she saw me and the other Claws, she grinned from ear to ear and took us all. I still remember her smile -- it didn’t seem real, more like a monster than a woman.”

“They took the ones they chose deep into the tenements and led into a deep dark hole, through a twist of caverns filled with the most wretched folk I’ve ever laid eyes on—all the way to a great stone doorway beneath the town. At the threshold, she marked us with old, thick blood from a clay bowl. She was still grinning: “Pass through this gate, heed the whispers, and never again be prey,” she said.

Pass through this gate and never again be prey. Source: Midjourney

Padrig glances at Vahid, who shakes his head. “I have no memory of such an invocation, but I do not like the sound of it.”

Brogan continues, his gaze downcast, avoiding meeting eyes with anyone. “There’s a mess of passages and chambers under the tenements. Halls built by the old ones. Odo holds court down there, and we were taken for his amusements.”

He closes his eyes tightly. “There was a fighting pit lined with stakes, and they made sport of us for weeks. They threw us in pairs and threes to fight one another or pitted us against starving dogs. Sometimes they would bring in the wretches from the tunnels and throw them into the pit, along with dull knives and sharp stones, and bid us entertain them or become the entertainment.”

Anwen is now pacing about the small room like a caged beast. Vahid closes his eyes, summoning forth his third eye, and when he opens his senses, he sees the rage boiling off Anwen like steam. “You survived.” Padrig supplies, coaxing Brogan to continue.

His strange, yellow eyes meet Pad’s. “I did. Aled taught me good knife work, and I used every lesson. In the end, Odo put Serg in the ring with me, and said only one of us could leave alive. Aldo was already dead by then. Serg... he let me do it. He whispered in my ear to give the monsters a proper show. And I...” he closes his eyes, wracked by silent sobs.

“Surely that’s enough.” Anwen growls.

“Not for Mutra, I think,” Vahid whispers. “She wants proof that Odo has moved against her.”

Padrig nods reluctantly and turns back to the young bravo. “Brogan, you served as one of Odo’s knives. Was there any sign he was planning a move against Mutra? Was he ambushing her work crews in the foothills?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I... saw the bodies. They wore Mutra’s colors.” Brogan stares into the far distance as he speaks in a dead monotone.

“They brought the bodies back to the tenements? For what purpose?” Vahid speaks with quiet intensity, the light from his empty eye shining brightly.

Vahid is now attempting to read Brogan’s thoughts with his third eye, hoping to glean something about Odo from the youth’s mind.

Vahid triggers Seek Insight: 4+1+1 Wisdom = 6, Miss

Poor Vahid. He had great luck dealing with the Ustrina last session, but it seems to have run dry. Unfortunately for the Seeker, there are some very nasty things lurking in the dark corners of Brogan's mind, which he is now stirring up.

Vahid peers deeply into Brogan’s mind, piercing through the many veils of fear, disgust, and regret. Beneath it all, he sees a pulsing red hunger -- its strange, chaotic vibrations are mesmerizing, and as he stares at them, he can almost hear them whispering to him in an unearthly, wheezing voice.

Young Brogan seems to be able to hear it as well, flinching and twisting away from the phantom sounds. Parvati looks at him with worry and goes to place a cloth on his forehead, but he snaps at her, seizing her wrist and twisting it cruelly. She grimaces, holding back a cry of pain with iron in her eyes.

Anwen starts forward, but before she can reach him, he releases Parvati and hurls himself snarling at the Seeker, his hands outstretched towards Vahid’s neck.

He is quickened by rage, but Anwen has a boiling anger of her own, and she is quicker. Before he reaches Vahid, she is there, shoving him hard against the timber wall and pinning him with Bearkiller’s haft, the makerglass pressing against his chest as he howls and sobs.

Padrig is on his feet as well. “Peace, Brogan! You are among friends.” he barks.

Anwen spends a banked Resolve from Anger is a Gift (Brogan's tale had her pretty wound up) so she can intercede on Vahid's behalf with no roll. She then aids Pad as he tries to get through to Brogan by speaking to him with his commander’s voice:

Padrig triggers Order Followers: 6+3+1+1 Charisma = 10, Strong Hit

The fight goes out of him, and he falls limp, held up only by Anwen’s strength. “Please, Pad,” he sobs. “I can’t speak of it. I can’t, I can’t.” He points an accusing finger at Vahid. “Keep him away from me! His evil eye awakes the whispers!” Pad waves Anwen off, and she releases her hold, watching Brogan anxiously for a sign that he might fall back into a rage.

Pad embraces him. “I’m sorry, Brogan. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. Rest, my boy. You’ve done enough for tonight.”

Brogan sinks back onto the bed and drains the remaining wine, now grown cool. Parvati eases him down, covering him with a blanket.

“That’ll have to be enough,” Padrig mutters. “Let’s go see how sharp Mutra’s knives really are.” Anwen and Padrig depart while Vahid lingers, studying the young man closely. Parvati, in turn, studies the Seeker.

“What did you see?” she asks quietly.

Vahid's trying to make sense of what he saw -- he doesn't want to look into Brogan's mind again, but he can still use his wits. 

Vahid triggers Seek Insight: 3+1+1 Wisdom: Miss

Yikes. Once again, Vahid can't catch a break here. We want to follow our GM principles and be a fan of the player characters, so we can't make Vahid seem incompetent -- we have to give him some piece of insight about Odo. The GM move reveal an unwelcome truth was tailor made for situations like this. He'll reveal said truth in the fiction:

“What it is, I cannot say. But some... hungry presence has left its mark upon Brogan, and no doubt Odo as well. Who knows how many others? And as I saw it, so it saw me.” He shudders.

“My people in the valleys of the Whitefang Mountains tell tales of such a hunger,” she whispers. “In quiet voices, they speak of a curse that lurks in places of terrible violence and slowly twists men into beasts, inviting them to commit unspeakable cruelties. The Howling Curse⁵, it is called.”

Vahid looks grave. “The Delve is beset by wickedness on all sides. Madame Parvati, it might be wise to take your people and flee while you can. If you bear news of us to Stonetop, they can give you succor.”

She shakes her head with a chiding smile. “I’ve fought for my patch, Seeker. I will remain. Tell me instead what I can do to aid you.”

Vahid rises and bows with respect. “You have done much already, Madame. If we have need, we will call on you. For now, keep this young man in your care. I trust you will guard him carefully.” She nods, and he withdraws to rejoin his companions.

Scene 10: Madame Parvati’s, the common room

Mutra awaits them downstairs with Cerdic Snake-Eyes and a pair of his bravos. Her boots are up on the table, and Baraz watches her with narrowed eyes and clenched fists. Mani sits at his low table, polishing a curved iron blade, keeping his eyes on his work.

“Well?” Mutra says. “What did the turncoat have to say?”

Padrig clenches his jaw. “Whatever betrayal he was party to, we lead him into it. And he’s been punished a hundred times over.”

Anwen points an accusing finger at Mutra. “You handed him to that monster Odo. Did you know what would happen to him?” she growls. Mutra’s bravos come to attention, putting themselves between her and their boss, but Mutra rises and shoulders between them, her arms wide in a challenge.

“Don’t wag your finger at me, girl,” she says, exposing her black iron teeth in a snarl. “Brogan was my enemy, and he was due whatever he got. A hundred souls and more rely on me for protection -- Let him be another lesson for anyone who would trifle with Mutra the fucking Teeth.”

Anwen’s fists are clenched tight, but she doesn’t press forward. “Tell her, Pad. Tell her what he told us,” she says, biting out each word.

Quietly and calmly, Padrig relates Brogan’s bloody tale. Mutra and her bravos listen with increasing unease, and their faces are grave indeed when Padrig finishes. “Leave us,” she says quietly, aside to her men. They shuffle out, ashen, while Baraz ushers Mani into the back room.

“You are from the Whitefang Mountains, are you not?”⁶ Vahid’s voice comes from behind them as he descends the stairs.

“I am,” Mutra replies. “What of it?”

“Have you heard tales of the Howling Curse?”

Mutra shakes her head. “No. It cannot be.”

“Odo is afflicted. He must die, lest the curse spreads farther than it already has.”

“If we fight the hdour and win,  the victory will cost. We can’t afford to have him waiting at our flank, ready to strike while we lick our wounds,” Padrig presses. “You must go to the others -- Draigh, Jahalim, Ffransis. This is a matter for all of you.”

“You fools don’t know what you’re asking for,” Mutra says, drained of her earlier bravado. “If this truly is the Howling Curse, then Odo’s lair must be tainted with it. If we lead our bravos down there for slaughter, we will hear the whispers too!”

Padrig looks to Vahid. “Is this so, Seeker?”

Vahid, perhaps ill-advisedly, is going to think about what he saw in Brogan's mind and try to tease out some sort of useful intel here. Let's see if he can break his miss streak!

Vahid triggers Seek Insight: 6+1+1 Wisdom = 7

What a relief! He asks "What should I be on the lookout for?" from the question list. Here, we reveal a bit more the mechanics of Brogan’s affliction, and he'll deliver his answer in the fiction:

Vahid closes his eyes, calling to mind the mote of crawling hunger that he saw with his mind’s eye, buried deep in poor Brogan’s mind. “I suspect it calls out to our cruelty, vengefulness, and hunger. The stronger these drives, the more the whispers find fertile ground to take root in the mind. Brogan, for all he has been forced to do, still has some gentleness in him, and it is that which holds the curse in check.”

The Seeker approaches them, the shodding of his staff tapping on the earthen floor. “If we intend to brave Odo’s lair, we should pick those we bring carefully. Those with strong wills and with no love for needless cruelty.”

Padrig chuckles mirthlessly. “Have you any bravos like that in your circle, Mutra?”

Mutra grimaces. “Not many. But a few⁷.”

“Gather them, then,” Padrig says. “We’ll see who the others can lend to the cause.”

The party is trying to push Mutra into swift action here. We'll have Pad roll, with advantage for their help: 

Padrig triggers Persuade: 6+1+1+1 Charisma = 8, Weak Hit. 

Mutra recognizes the urgency, but she has a condition -- and it should be an uncomfortable one, that puts Pad in a tricky position.

“We’ll need Brogan to lead us to this place. He looked like a dead man walking when you brought him in. Get him ready to move,” Mutra says, making for the door.

“No!” Anwen exclaims. “We can’t take him -- he’s hanging by a thread.”

“And he is already touched by the curse. Who knows what will happen if we take him into those depths again?” Vahid says.

“If the curse takes him, we’ll have to put him down. In my homeland, he’d be dead already,” Mutra says. “I’m not leading my people in there blind, Padrig. Get him ready, whatever it takes.”

We’ll close out this episode here. Padrig has a decision to make — he’s just rescued his wayward warrior, Young Brogan, who has been through a terrible ordeal and bears the scars of it. But they are about to descend into a dark and twisting labyrinth, to face an opponent at least as dangerous as any they have faced so far, and they’ll need every advantage.

Padrig would love nothing more than to protect Young Brogran from ever having to go back into this terrible place. And he knows Vahid and Anwen will back him up, whatever he decides. So where does the old man’s conscience lead him? Does he try to help Brogan find his courage, risking his life and sanity for the greater good? Or does he refuse Mutra’s demand, come what may? Hit the button below to vote, and let us know what you think in the comments!

1. Killed by the Thunder Drake in Session 5.2.

2. The merchant prince who, in Session 4.2, purchased the strange fabric Blodwen brought out of the Green Lords ruin.

3. He had indeed seen several ghosts, courtesy of the Judge at the Crossroads — you can see the scene back in Session 3.2.

4. This is a callback to an admonishment Pad gave to Anwen a few days after the events of Session 3.2, in the previous footnote — a little above this scene breakdown in Session 3.3.

5. For you lorehounds who have access to the Stonetop materials and don’t care about spoilers, you can always look up the Howling Curse (the Whitefang Mountains, page 306) to see who or what this hungry presence might be! Parvati, who hails from those mountains (like Ozbeg), is in a position to know more than our Seeker about this, so she’s helping us to reveal this unwelcome truth (which is why I put her in the scene in the first place!)

6. Vahid doesn’t need to roll to know this — “Mutra” is a common name from the region, and he’s a pretty cosmopolitan fellow.

7. Just a quick footnote about GMing style: Here, I’m using the specifics of the Howling Curse — i.e., that areas tainted with it can corrupt wrathful, violent people — to rationalize the PCs doing most of the dirty work themselves. The GM agenda is to punctuate the PC’s lives with adventure, and it feels somehow less adventurous to brave this danger at the head of a small army of cutthroats. If you have thoughts one way another about this kind of narrative sleight-of-hand, let me know them in the comments!