Kingmaker: Ep. 17 – Gongaii

Winter eased its grip on the Swordlands as the party departed Fort Owlbear with word of a ransacked supply caravan and a name painted in blood: Moonchild. Guided by Izzy’s urging from Yamath, they reached Albrecht Hill in two days and found the place bathed in a red haze beneath a moon that shifted color and phase like a fever dream.

At the base, a lone bandit guard died crying Moonchild as three blue-woad spear-warriors of the Wardani tribe swarmed past. The party aided the Wardani against shadow-things rising from corpses, and Ickett’s oil-fire sent the darkness screaming. Climbing through menhirs smeared with old and fresh blood, they cut down two Wardani scouts—cousins to their guide—who had been gutted and defiled. Three bandits surrendered at a landing; despite Wardani demands for sacrifice, the party tied the captives and pressed on, noting the crescent-moon brand burned fresh on the brigands’ arms.

Near the summit, three branded dead-men met them with owl-swiveled heads as the moon vanished entirely. The brands flared when pierced, shrugging off mortal wounds, until Ickett blew an arm—and its brand—clean away. Shaken, the Wardani fled. The party reached a ring of thirteen menhirs and a bonfire where a red-haired woman—Moonchild—held a beating heart aloft above a second redhead, her identical twin, butchered on the altar. She proclaimed herself a triune god and called to the darkness, but Izzy blinded her and Fat Slasher’s shadow-blast staggered her. Ickett shot the heart to pieces.

Moonchild’s flesh turned the edge like iron, yet Ashla and Vark pressed the assault. With a curse and a rush of raven wings she flung herself into the night and vanished. The moon cooled to silver; the dead bandits lay slack. The party recovered a fine silk cloak and silver-and-ivory bracers, and found the stolen supplies in a side hollow—much of it already eaten. Their three captives had been slain by returning Wardani, one tribesman strangled nearby in turn.

On the way home, a bog hunt for giant dragonfly wings turned tragic. Izzy blinded one and Vark mauled it, but a house-sized flytrap erupted from the mire and swallowed Ickett whole before it was hewn open. Bearing wings and grief back to Fort Owlbear, the company saw a dragonfly-wing cloak crafted and laid their ratfolk friend to rest, vowing to hunt Moonchild now that her ritual is broken.

OUTLINE:

Winter Orders, Red Omens

• At Fort Owlbear, the party learned a supply caravan had been ransacked; the culprit was a bandit leader called Moonchild.
• Lady Kravmenko’s garrison and stores had arrived, but Yamath pressed Izzy to make haste south.
• Two days’ travel through Pohad Hills led to Albrecht Hill under a red-hazed sky and a moon changing phase and color.

First Blood on the Switchbacks

• At the base, a lone bandit died shouting Moonchild as three Wardani spear-warriors attacked.
• Shadowy filaments rose from corpses; the party destroyed them with steel, sanctity, and fire (Vark’s bite, Fat Slasher’s shadow blast, Ickett’s burning oil).
• They passed blood-smeared menhirs and found two Wardani scouts butchered and defiled.
• Three bandits surrendered; the party bound them despite Wardani demands for sacrifice and noted fresh crescent brands on their arms.

Branded Dead and a Vanishing Moon

• Near the summit, three branded corpses advanced with heads turned completely around.
• Brands flared red when wounded; the dead fought through impalement until Ickett shot a branded arm clean off, collapsing one.
• The Wardani lost their nerve and fled back down the hill as the moon winked out to black.

The Rite at the Thirteen Stones

• In a circle of thirteen menhirs, Moonchild raised her identical twin’s beating heart and proclaimed herself triune god.
• Izzy blinded her; Fat Slasher blasted her with umbral power; Vark worried her flanks; Ickett shattered the heart with a shot; Ashla pressed in as her skin turned blades.
• With a curse, raven wings burst from Moonchild’s back and she fled into the night; the moon slowly returned to normal.
• The party recovered a fine silk cloak and silver-ivory bracers and located the caravan’s supplies in a side hollow, much of it eaten.

Reckonings in the Bog and at Home

• Their three captive bandits were found later, speared to death; a Wardani lay strangled nearby.
• Hunting giant dragonflies for a cloak, the party slew one but a shed-sized flytrap erupted and swallowed Ickett; they killed it but he was lost.
• They returned to Fort Owlbear with wings for a gleaming cloak, laid Ickett to rest, and turned their sights to pursuing Moonchild and the Wardani’s stolen holiness.

NPCs:

• Lady Kravmenko: Northern patron of Fort Owlbear who made good on provisioning the garrison through winter. Her logistics kept the party’s home standing while they chased thieves into the hills.
• Moonchild: A fierce, tall, red-haired bandit leader turned blood-ritualist who sought to ascend as a ‘triune god.’ She sacrificed her identical twin atop Albrecht Hill and fled on raven wings when the rite was broken.
• Moonchild’s Twin: An identical red-haired woman butchered on the altar at the hill’s summit, heart torn free to fuel Moonchild’s ascent. Her death stilled the hill only after the party shattered the heart.
• One Eye (Wardani Chieftainess): Unseen leader of the Wardani, invoked in battle cries and blamed for a stolen holy figure. Her people perform grim rites older than most gods, and Moonchild’s theft made them desperate.
• The Faun Artisan: A towering faun craftswoman who can weave dragonfly wings into gleaming, sky-catching cloaks. She accepted the party’s wings and fashioned a marvel fit for swift forays and daring escapes.
• Wardani Spear-Warrior: Blue-woad-painted tribeswoman who fought alongside the party against the hill’s shadows before fear took the Wardani down the slope. She named their chieftainess ‘One Eye’ and swore vengeance for her slaughtered cousins.

ITEMS:

• Crescent Brand Mark: A blood-red crescent sigil burned into bandit flesh, the locus of a hill’s deathly power. Sever it, and the puppet falls silent.
• Dragonfly-Wing Cloak: A shimmering, iridescent mantle fashioned from giant dragonfly wings. It bears a gift of brief flight at need, though its gossamer art is not made to last careless hands.
• Fine Silk Cloak (gray): A light, valuable cloak taken from the altar’s dead, woven of fine gray silk and untouched by gore. It fetched favor and coin—and later, inspiration for greater craft.
• Silver-and-Ivory Bracers: Delicate bracers inlaid with pale ivory, pried from Moonchild’s twin on the slab. Their gleam hinted at wealth—and perhaps a story the hill did not tell.
• Wheel of Cheese: The most contested prize of any caravan—savaged, recovered, and shared beside a grave. It tasted of victory and loss in equal measure.

LOCATIONS:

• Albrecht Hill: A spire-like rise in the Pohad Hills, wreathed in red haze the night the party came. Switchbacks, blood-smeared menhirs, and a thirteen-stone circle crowned its summit.
• Fort Owlbear: The party’s snowbound stronghold in the Swordlands, newly stocked and garrisoned under Lady Kravmenko’s eye. Its cookfires, walls, and graves mark the company’s victories and costs.
• Lady Kravmenko’s Lands: Northern estates whose resources kept Fort Owlbear alive through winter hardship. A reminder that politics and patronage fuel swords as surely as food.
• Pohad Hills: Steep, icy foothills south of Lebron, scarred by drifts, bogs, and old stones. They hid Moonchild’s camp and later the stashed caravan goods.
• The Bog: A gas-reeking mire of cattails, dragonflies, and one enormous flytrap that devoured Ickett. It yielded wings for a cloaks and a somber march home.

FACTIONS:

• Cult of Sathoggua: A lurking darkness that answered Moonchild’s call poorly that night. It still waits in the gaps between heartbeats and the space behind the moon.
• Faith of Yamath: Izzy’s present path—wind, stone, and clear purpose—whose blessings struck true atop Albrecht Hill. Its mercy is as sharp as its judgments.
• Fort Owlbear Garrison: A hard-used company of soldiers, cooks, and opportunists holding the line in the Swordlands. Their survival depends on full larders and the party’s long shadow.
• Moonchild’s Bandits: Leather-clad raiders marked by a burning crescent brand. Their knives served a blood rite first and plunder second.
• Wardani Tribe: Blue-woad hillfolk led by a chieftainess called One Eye, devoted to rites as old as winter. Moonchild’s theft of their holy figure set them on a path of vengeance.

QUESTS:

• Aid the Wardani and Learn of ‘One Eye’: Untangle Moonchild’s theft of the Wardani’s holy figure and decide the party’s stance with the hillfolk.
• Bring Bandit Captives to Justice: Deliver surrendered brigands alive for a bounty and example.
• Disrupt the Rite on Albrecht Hill: Break Moonchild’s blood-ascension within the thirteen-stone circle before it corrupts the land.
• Hunt Dragonflies for a Cloak: Gather giant dragonfly wings to commission a gleaming mantle for swift travel.
• Pursue Moonchild: Track the red-haired ritualist who escaped on raven wings and end her schemes for good.
• Recover the Ransacked Caravan: Find and reclaim Fort Owlbear’s stolen provisions from Moonchild’s crew at Albrecht Hill.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Ashla: An aasimar fighter and former guard who leads with a steady guard stance and a cutting glare. She fights up front, blade-first, and does not rattle when the dead refuse to stay down. Her signature sword answers to a word of flame, and she is usually the first to step into harm’s way.
• Brother Carl: A human priest of Ord and iron-boned missionary who prefers sermons delivered with a hammer. He taunts abominations to their faces and stands as a shield for the wavering. Dogged, loud, and unafraid, he sees frontier justice and divine punishment as close cousins.
• Fat Slasher: A shadow-wreathed fetchling gourmand and battlefield cook of Fort Owlbear, fat-cheeked and feline-eared in silhouette. He whips darkness like taffy into lethal blasts and can slip from shade to shade with a predator’s grace. Beneath the bravado is a meticulous note-taker who sketches every symbol and sauce he meets.
• Ickett: A feral ratfolk gunslinger barely four feet tall, lean and hungry-eyed, driven by appetite and instinct. He favors trick shots at knife-fight range and can sniff out food—and trouble—like a bloodhound. Brave to a fault, he died in the bog, swallowed by a giant flytrap after blinding a dragonfly and shattering Moonchild’s heart with a shot.
• Izzy: An oread priest presently sworn to Yamath, practical and adaptable, with stone’s patience and a mercenary’s candor. His blessings bite hard—banishing darkness, blinding foes, and warding allies—and he is not shy about calling down judgment. He strives to set old devotions right even as new ones take root.
• Vark (Eidolon): Vizira’s towering, doofy-eyed, hammerhead-shaped companion with unsettlingly elastic reach. He bites through spirits and flesh with equal enthusiasm and can strike from yards away. Loyal as a hound, terrifying as a reef’s edge in a storm.
• Vizira: A triaxian summoner covered in soft white down with long rabbit ears, outwardly gentle but bound to a strange power. He calls forth Vark, a lanky, long-limbed, hammerhead-like eidolon whose neck can lash out like a striking serpent. Scholar-quiet until the moment comes to unleash his monstrous companion.