Session 34 — The Crocolion, the Fire Pit, and the Honest Speakeasy

Session Recap

A single afternoon in Ponterford, opening exactly where Session 33 left off — at the lumber-mill docks, where the party finishes planning against the intelligent river beast threatening the frog-folk family (the witch's first good-deed test). The creature, a crocolion (crocodile-lion hybrid), proves to be a genuine spellcaster: it hides in a self-made silt cloud, reads lips, and trades a silent Message-and-Suggestion duel with Silithane before either can land a spell. The party rigs the dock's log-hauling winch to a harpoon, Lash jumps in as bait, and the fight turns when the crocolion casts Extreme Buoyancy — a spell to be rejected by water — turning the winch-pull into a self-launched "nuclear missile" that flattens the winch and a ruined wall, badly hurting Lash. Jex paralyses it with a stinger, Magra auto-crits it to near death, and when it tries to Blink away through the bushes, Jex bends a one-in-a-million arrow into its side and kills it.

The frog-king King Ringo rewards the party with the King Ringo Crested Shield (+1 AC underwater) while his frogs play fanfare. Cutting the carcass open for the missing children's remains turns up crabs, fish, birds and a "Ponterford" signpost but no human bones — the thing hasn't eaten a child in at least three months, so it is not the snatcher; at most it scavenges the drowned bodies as they float down the river. The party harvests the head and hide and heads into town to claim the bounty. Along the way Fenric sarcastically asks an annoying lumber worker "do you want to be hit?" and is promptly marched to the fire pit to roll in the ashes of burned criminals — a sharp reminder that here a threat is a threat regardless of tone. The session ends inside the long-sought Aberforth Speakeasy, a food-only, no-alcohol, whisper-quiet establishment run by Abely, son of its late founder Aberoth — to whom the party finally delivers Caressa's letter (it was a keepsake from his father). The town sheriff, Jeremiah Falconer, pays the 100-gold crocolion bounty and dangles the next job: a south-side undead that wakes at night. No pip; still level 6.

Key Events

• Planning the crocolion. Picking up from Session 33, the party debates how to draw the river beast onto land. Jex light-rocks the riverbed to spot it (~25–30 ft deep, clear water); Silithane's warged crow scouts from above. They rig a harpoon to the dock's logging winch (100 ft of thick rope, strong enough to haul wet tree-trunks), with Lash — who breathes water — as the diver/bait. Valmora reminds everyone they have Water Walk and Water Breathing still active from earlier in the day.
• The spellcaster's duel. Silithane threads a Message into the silt cloud and casts Suggestion (telling the creature it's starving and should eat the first humanoid) — but it shrugs the spell off and silently casts back; both make their saves, and "two spellcasters silently stare at each other in the water… and both gain appreciation and respect for each other." The crocolion sets the river up as its own arena rather than fleeing, marking it as the worst kind of enemy: a smart one.
• The winch fight. Lash dives with the harpoon; the crocolion death-rolls her (she's immune to drowning, which it doesn't know). Thalia Entangles/Ensnaring-Strikes it to stop the roll; Magra, Fenric, Silithane and Jex crank the winch. The creature then casts Extreme Buoyancy (a deliberately useless-seeming spell to be rejected by water, quadrupling its rise to ~80 ft) — so the instant the grapple breaks and the winch heaves, it rockets out like a missile into the ruined building, destroying the winch and a wall. Lash takes 50 damage; Magra and Fenric 20 each.
• The kill. Jex's stinger lands a Constitution failure and paralyses it (denying its spell turn); Magra auto-crits for 30 (bolt to the forehead) and bloodies it; Thalia re-snares it. At 1 HP the highly-intelligent beast casts a natural-armour bait spell (to draw out a Counterspell nobody has), then Blinks 30 ft into the bushes and bolts — only for Jex to bend a "one-in-a-million" arrow around two trees into its flank, dropping it dead. (The GM settles his improved house Counterspell rules off the back of Fenric's free spell-identification.)
• The frog-king's reward. King Ringo and his frogs (Fred, "Little Taddy") emerge with horns and a maraca to crown the heroes, presenting the King Ringo Crested Shield — his frog face emblazoned, granting +1 AC while in or underwater — "one for each day of the week," claimed by Thalia for the party boat.
• Searching the carcass. Fenric (knife, not claws) opens the belly to look for the children's remains; Lash later takes the head and hide. Inside: crabs, fish, water-birds and a "Ponterford" signpost — everything swallowed whole — but no human bones, meaning no child in ~3 months. The takeaway: the crocolion is not the snatcher; at most it ate the already-drowned bodies as they floated by (and Magra notes crocodiles don't scavenge anyway). The viscera are buried under Thalia's beloved tree.
• The fire-pit lesson. Hunting the lumber-mill boss, Lash gets only "it's a CC" from a worker (a running gag — a company/collective, both words start with C, never explained). Fenric snaps a sarcastic "do you want to be hit?"; guard Martin arrests him and rolls him through the fire pit (where the town burns criminals) — "what is a threat is decided by the local gods, not you." Thalia formally apologises to the commoner (Jackie) on the group's behalf to head off another Session-22-style expulsion.
• Lash's pox con. To complete the frog-folk's wish — stop the mill cutting the southern (gnarled, poison-sapped) trees — Lash convinces a credulous worker the trees carry a pox/plague that spreads if cut or burned. He first schemes to sell the cursed wood to the Reclamation (double profit, and a way to please Laewendas by weakening "the invaders"), but Lash redirects his fear toward plaguing his own town, and he resolves the trees should never be cut. The lumber threat to the frog-folk is effectively defused.
• The Aberforth Speakeasy, found at last. The party enters the Speakeasy — hushed, chairless, food-only, no alcohol, with a cloth-muffled bell — run by Abely, son of founder Aberoth. Valmora, already his friend (met privately at the witch church), greets him; the party delivers the letter found in the Grabber Queen (Caressa)'s hand (Session 31), which turns out to be a keepsake from Abely's late father. He tears up and pockets it. The GM ties off a thread here: the letter was carried to the cave by "the postmaster who went in to deliver mail" — i.e. the town's missing last postmaster, the very lead Thalia is chasing. Resolves the long-running "Aberforth Speakeasy" thread.
• The sheriff and the bounty. Sheriff Jeremiah Falconer hands over the bounty ledger, pays King Ringo's 100 gold for the crocolion (14 each, 2 spare to the boat), and offers the next job: a south-side undead — just the head and neck of a "drake" skeleton that wakes each night to bite, blocking new construction — pledging to fight it shoulder to shoulder with a couple of men and a retired knight.
• Speakeasy gossip and propaganda. Two elven patrons from Marmoth — the dim Malus/"Midas"/"Miku" and his minder Malice — trade town gossip (the pottery-store twins both courting "Pot Piper"). The deeper note is grim: locals parrot Laewendas's anti-postal propaganda (bird-people steal babies, never trust postmasters, no village should talk to another) — the GM flags the worker as someone who has known only Laewendas's world since the schools were burned 40 years ago.
• Honour and the postmaster lead. For weeks of goodwill (bards, King Ringo, the sheriff), everyone may raise their honour by 1 (Lash waives hers). Thalia quietly probes for the last postmaster but the propaganda is too thick (a flat 10) — though she confirms there was one, with a base of operations, recoverable with better conditions later.

Combat & Encounters

• The Crocolion (river beast) — an intelligent, magic-using crocodile-lion lurking in the lumber-mill river, with a silt-cloud concealment ability, a crocodile death roll, silt feed-frenzy multi-attacks, and a spell list (Suggestion, a Barkskin-like natural armour, Extreme Buoyancy, Blink). High AC (15-ish to be hit through the water) and ~150+ effective HP. Beaten by harpoon-and-winch, Entangle/Ensnaring Strike crowd-control, a paralysing stinger from Jex, Magra's auto-crit, and a final fleeing-target trick shot — also from Jex. It dealt heavy damage via its self-launched missile (50 to Lash, 20 each to Magra and Fenric) but went down in a roughly two-minute fight. Confirmed not the snatcher.
• No level-up; no pip awarded (the party declined to push for one). Reward: 100 gold and the King Ringo Crested Shield.

NPCs & Factions

• King Ringo (new) — the frog-folk king whose family the witch sent the party to help; commissioned the crocolion bounty through the sheriff and rewards the party with his Crested Shield. Genial, ceremonial, and grateful; his frogs (Fred, "Little Taddy") form his tiny court.
• Jeremiah Falconer (new) — Ponterford's sheriff (the table likens him to David Beckham / Ryan Gosling); keeps the bounty ledger, holds the frog-folk's reward in trust, and offers the drake-skeleton job, promising to fight it alongside the party.
• Abely — proprietor of the Aberforth Speakeasy and son of its founder Aberoth; a quiet, devout (privately) man and Valmora's friend, moved to tears by his father's recovered letter. See The Aberforth Speakeasy (new).
• Malus / "Midas" / "Miku" and Malice — two elven speakeasy regulars from Marmoth (fled the giant); the dim one blurts insults until Malice slaps him quiet. Town gossips (the pottery-store twins courting "Pot Piper"); one-scene comic relief.
• Martin — the town guard who fire-pits Fenric for a sarcastic "threat"; reinforces Ponterford's brutal local custom.
• The Snatcher — not the crocolion. The carcass holds no recent child remains, so the drowning-children mystery is untouched; the river beast at most ate already-drowned bodies.
• Horibus — the town herbalist the sheriff names as able to heal the party further if they stay a few days; mentioned only.

Locations

• Ponterford — the lumber-mill river/docks (the crocolion's arena), the fire pit where criminals are burned (and Fenric is "punished"), the Aberforth Speakeasy, and the named-but-unvisited south side (the drake-skeleton site, blocking new houses) and pottery store ("Pot Piper"). Still no children anywhere.
• The Aberforth Speakeasy (new) — finally located: a food-only, alcohol-free, deliberately quiet eatery (cloth-wrapped bell, few chairs, trust-based self-serve pastries and milkshakes) and the town's bounty-board hub; the inverse of the rowdy Speak Loudly. Named for founder Aberoth; run by his son Abely.
• Marmoth — named again as the elves' former home, abandoned because "the giant kept standing on people."

Loot, Items & Rewards

• King Ringo Crested Shield — a normal shield bearing King Ringo's frog face that grants +1 AC while in or underwater (heavy rain doesn't count; "truly torrential" might). Claimed by Thalia to mount on the party boat and swap in for aquatic fights.
• Crocolion head & hide — harvested by Lash; the dog-sized head doubles as bounty proof and a potential trophy (joke fears of a future Speak-with-Dead betrayal), the tough hide as possible armour material or a sale to the Northern Trading Company.
• 100 gold crocolion bounty (from King Ringo via the sheriff) — 14 gold each, 2 spare added to the party boat's fund.
• The letter, delivered — the Session 31 letter from the Grabber Queen (Caressa)'s hand reaches Abely; it was a personal keepsake from his late father Aberoth. Per the GM it had been carried into the cave by the town's missing last postmaster — so while it was no intelligence lead in itself, it quietly corroborates Thalia's postmaster thread.
• +1 honour offered to everyone for the town's goodwill (Lash declined hers). No pip; no level-up (still level 6).

Decisions & Open Threads

• The drake-skeleton job. The sheriff's next bounty (worth double the crocolion's): a head-and-neck-only undead drake on the south side that wakes nightly to bite and blocks new construction. The party speculates it could be a tough caster ("ghost breath") — and that drake bone would be prime smithing stock for Lash. Valmora floats using Ceremony to keep it from rising for 7 days as a workaround. Deferred (everyone has dinner dates tonight).
• "Pissy Joseph the Weird Piss Thief." A bounty-board mystery the GM dangles a pip for solving; the party, burned by past mysteries, is wary.
• The snatcher, still open. The crocolion was a red herring — the drowned children are taken and killed by something else. Thalia's lead on the last postmaster's base of operations is the thread to pull, once the propaganda can be worked around.
• Earn the witch's trust. The frog-folk deed is done (crocolion slain, southern trees saved by Lash's pox con) on top of the tomato extermination; Big Finn's snatched granddaughter and further good deeds still gate the Covenite's snatcher knowledge.
• The sawmill / "CC." The war-wood industry feeding Cathalon remains the strategic prize; Lash has at least turned the mill off the frog-folk's southern grove.
• Dinner dates. Valmora dines with her friend Abely; Thalia has a date with "Pretty Patrick" at the lumber mill (and the group's standing dinner with Renforth at 8). The table jokes about lining up dates for everyone next session.
• Carryover: Otto's undelivered package and Thalia's oath; the red-candle tomb / 14-ft coffin (Session 24) and Valmora's dead-gods quarry; the missing mothers; the imprisoned Caressa and the cave's deferred loot/prisoners; the Veilwood as the longer heading; and the eventual assault on Laewendas.
• Roster. On-screen: Thalia, Fenric, Silithane, Lash, Magra, Valmora (Neko back this session after sitting out Session 32), Jex — plus Salamandine and Silithane's crow. Ashlyn remains recalled to the Veilwood. Still level 6.

Memorable Moments

• Two spellcasters in a river. Silithane's failed Suggestion duel ending with the crocolion and the elf silently staring at each other underwater, "both gaining appreciation and respect" — while the rest of the party asks why Silithane looks "like he's about to crap his pants."
• The nuclear crocolion. A river crocodile that casts a spell to be rejected by water so it can be winched into the sky and missile itself into a building — "this thing's a Beyblade and you are its victim."
• The one-in-a-million arrow. Jex bending a shot around two trees to kill the fleeing crocolion from behind a building — "nobody saw that though… not going to be able to prove I killed it."
• "You go in the fire pit." Fenric's losing argument that a sarcastic threat isn't a threat — "if everybody thinks the sky is red but it's actually blue, they're still wrong" / "but that's why you go in the pit" — capped by rolling around in the ashes of the burned.
• The pox gambit. Lash spinning a fake tree-plague so convincingly that the greedy worker first plots to weaponise the "cursed" wood against the Reclamation before she scares him off the whole grove.
• "What does the CC stand for?" An entire town that runs on a two-letter company name nobody — not the workers, not the sheriff — can or will explain.
• A letter from his father. The Aberforth Speakeasy's whole purpose paying off in a quiet beat: Caressa's stolen letter restored to Abely, who pockets his dead father's words and blinks back tears mid-shift.