Mill, Geese & Gold
Kormoran’s Wheel - November 27
People
Locations
Prologue
Ayrrin returned from the fort and, in Sigisfarne, helped the few migrants, but she is still intrigued by the missing children and decides to venture beyond the wall again. Aspen heard stories of mushrooms in the northern forests, maybe it is where her compass points. Razzy is curious about the hamshack village embedded in the forest called Kormoran’s Wheel - may this be the correct balance between humankind and the woods? Artea has heard no animal lives in the doomed forest beyond the wall. Is that possible? Dick Dale, a villager the group met in Miserlou, by the Nevask River, takes them upriver with ease.
Cursed Toy
Artea takes the burden of carrying a cursed toy from the daughter of the stablemen. The toy supposedly speaks two words: Geese and Nevask. They say the toy can only be given to someone who agrees to take it. And that it must be done before it learns to walk.
Forest Travel
The group travels toward Kormoran’s Wheel on a cold and windy day. They find an eroded shrine or place of worship, made of square rocks.
It sits against a cliff/one of the faces of the hill. In it, an altar carved to look like a tree trunk. On the side facing the entrance, there is a carved face. There is a bowl on top, with a single coin.
Artea feels the rocks, and they say
Gul Sorgul will continue to destroy the shrine and the trees
As they leave, the toy says a single word, once
Nevask Then it falls silent again.
Later in the day, they arrive at the river just before Kormoran’s Wheel. As they try to cross it, the sound of a massive creature charging through the trees towards them scares the group. Trying to cross the river in haste, Razzy and Aspen start to drown. It is Dick’s flute that calms the waters and saves them.
The night in the Whell is not an easy one. Halfway through it, a crimson mist engulfs the village. The group is frightened by it, but everyone else sleeps. The mist condensation tastes like blood.
They hardly rest and wake up with their clothes soaked in blood.
The Mill, The Geese, The Gold
After speaking with Risti again, they head towards the mill with her. She explains that she never bakes anything and gets her bread from the top of the mill. It makes her bread.
The mill ruins are treacherous—over the centuries, river migration has driven the collapse of their foundations. Ayrrin slips and hits her head badly trying to cross a caved-in section. Deep in the hole, she notices shining gold and geese.
They rope everyone down, and the millstone starts turning. Risti laughs nervously. One level down, just below where Ayrrin slid, Dick finds a mess of blood and organs - but no bones. Upon close inspection, some gold pebbles - but also the sight of his arms getting longer.
The smell of baking bread overwhelms everyone as they reach the lowest level. An oversized oven in one corner produces smoke. Eight misshapen geese honk what sounds like words, and are scared of themselves. And out of nowhere, a hand, the size of a person, reached for one of the birds.
It smashes the animal into one of the walls. As it explodes in blood, gold drips from broken bones. Ayrrin shoots an arrow towards the hand, and it fights back, throwing the young woman into a wall with force. It is Dick who solves the puzzle and jams the mill with a dagger.
Epiloge
The group leave the mill. The family of the missing youth receives the geese with love. The adventurers claim the treasure. Risti continues to take bread from the mill.