Session 11, VP1

 After welcoming and naming their new Pokemon, our heroes began to pack their belongings, eager to continue moving onwards. With quick goodbyes to Takav and Saffa, the party made a line towards the Himinglaeva River once more. On their way, they had a brief encounter with some Pokemon who attempted to ambush them in the tall grass. With solid teamwork, they managed to subdue or catch the wild Pokemon.

As the sun began to set, they came to the gently drifting waters of the Himinglaeva. The party released several of their Pokemon for some bonding time while they recovered from their hike. Once everyone felt up to it, our heroes swam across the river, accompanied by Gunnar's new Narpoon. Naivara had her new Phospharrow generate some cooling winds to help dry her off.

All at once, the Trainers became aware of a small campfire to the South-West, roughly 40' away in the brush. As Bergie and Naivara contemplated whether to approach or not, Gunnar suddenly shouted out a greeting, and jovially walked towards the site.

The campfire lay in the center of a small clearing in the midst of the grass. No tent, sleeping bag, or supplies of any kind could be seen. A few overturned logs served as seats circling the fire, one of which was occupied by a strange visitor. In the dim light of the fire, the figure's shape seemed to flicker and fade, as if it were made of living shadows.

Keeping their eyes on the figure proved difficult, almost as if their vision slid right off of the hazy form. Whatever the stranger was, they were roughly humanoid in size and shape, with a bow and quiver visible on their back.

Bergie & Naivara caught up to Gunnar just in time to see Gunnar cooking some beans over the fire. Hesitant at first, they decided to sit and join the figure once they saw the miasmic bow it wielded: could this be their mysterious savior from Bor's Rest?

Gunnar lit a candle, and attempted to offer it to the shadowy form. As the light of the flame neared it, it became harder and harder to see, but didn't seem to be bothered by this. Bergie and Naivara both attempted to engage the figure in conversation, with no success. When they asked if this being was who had saved them earlier, it manifested an arrow out of the darkness in reply, before gesturing welcomingly to the campsite.

After offering some beans to it, Gunnar challenged the figure to a contest. Taking careful aim, Gunnar loosed one of his throwing axes, landing a solid hit to a nearby tree. With a shimmer, the figure was suddenly standing, with bow drawn. There was no sound as the arrow sped forth, passing straight through the center of Gunnar's axe.

Continued questioning led to no further response: whatever the figure was, it was seemingly unable or unwilling to speak. As Gunnar retrieved his axe, the stranger made a gesture as if presenting the campsite to our heroes, before disappearing back into the night. Although slightly unsettled, the party felt they could rest safely in the night, and had untroubled dreams.

In the morning, they awoke to find a message scratched into the dirt around the fire, written in Runic. There was no sight of their mysterious benefactor, so the party decided to continue onwards to Drillsberg. Deciding to make the journey in less time, the heroes mounted up on Stompy and Mary's backs, setting out across the wide Varfjell plains.

Along their two-day journey, they encountered several more Pokemon, which they successfully defeated and caught.

As they drew closer to where they estimated Drillsberg to be, a scent of strong and exotic spices began to fill the air, mixed in with bits of flying sand. Strangely, when looking at the horizon, there appeared to be no city of any kind; the edge of a cliff face bordering a canyon loomed only a few miles away.

Continuing onwards, the party's mounts ran afoul of a tripwire laid across the path, launching their riders forwards into the dust and dirt. Before the party could process what was happening, 5 bandits leapt out of the nearby brush, brandishing weapons.

The bandits looked disheveled, with several missing pieces of their leather armor. Regardless, they meant business, and instructed the party not to move, lest they be assaulted. Not willing to risk allowing the bandits to steal any of their Pokemon, Bergie pushed himself to his feet. As he did so, a bandit wielding a hammer brought it down in a heavy swing onto his shoulder, but it was not enough to slow Bergie down.

Naivara released Lus as Gunnar did a backflip from his prone position, landing in a battle stance. Quick as lightning, Gunnar chopped one of the bandits with all of his might, shattering the bandit's arm bones. In shock and fear, the wounded bandit fled into the grasslands as fast as he could. With their own martial prowess, and the aid of Stompy, Mary, & Lus, more of the bandits were beaten quickly.

Their leader turned tail and ran, attempting to leave his men behind. Seeing the fates twisting against them, the hammer-wielding bandit grabbed Naivara, attempting to use her as a hostage. Naivara thought quickly, and turned herself into her Abra form, startling the bandit into loosening his grip.

As Stompy finished the hammer-wielding bandit off, Gunnar blitzed after the escaping leader at an incredible pace. One flying kick later, and the last of the bandits had been struck down.

Our heroes rounded them up, removed their armor & weapons, and bound the bandits with Gunnar's rope. After slinging the beaten foes across Stompy and Mary, our heroes continued forwards, hoping to bring the bandits to justice in the town of Drillsberg, if they could find it.

When they reached the cliff edge, they were momentarily confused: just as their eyes had showed them, there seemed to be no settlement nearby. It took them a few minutes to realize that they seemed to be hearing the sounds of a bustling city market from somewhere beneath them.

Looking over the cliff edge carefully, the party could see that the city of Drillsberg was carved into the canyon walls themselves, some 50' down. Gunnar interrogated the bandit leader about how to safely make their way down; with a successful intimidation, he scared the bandit into revealing that there was a platform attached to a pulley system due briefly South-East.

After finding the platform, Bergie recalled Stompy rather than risk overloading the pulley system. He then grabbed two of the bandits, and rode the platform safely down to the canyon floor below. Upon his arrival, he sent the platform back up to Gunnar & Naivara, who boarded it with the remaining two bandits.

On their trek downwards, Gunnar questioned the bandit leader some more, discovering that the bandits themselves had evidently been attacked and robbed a few nights prior, which explained their disheveled appearance.

As the platform came to a gentle stop, Naivara & Gunnar stepped onto the dusty canyon floor to join Bergie. A breeze kicked up the scent of desert spices, and, dragging the bandits along, our heroes began to walk the final stretch to Drillsberg proper.