Narrative Recap
Session 12, titled 'Where the Ropes Are,' opened with Ledger the badger delivering his customary cold-open narration, recapping the party's situation: two barge rafts towed voluntarily by Pickles upriver toward the Old Redwater Mill, with the goal of rescuing Corporal Tam Brannick and destroying the ropes holding caged animals. As the party floated upriver in early afternoon, Sanji and Vaela kept watch while Skrit slept — later confirmed to count as a long rest. Vaela noticed her mother's book of mythical creatures grow warm, and upon opening it found a new margin note in her mother's handwriting reading 'the water remembers being wild,' on the last page of the Starwater Plesiosaur entry and the beginning of an entry on river nymphs. The party also observed that the Tally Mark and Antlers brand was appearing with increasing frequency on riverside structures and docks, eventually to the exclusion of all other marks.
As dusk approached, Sanji's keen hearing picked up a man's voice methodically counting — 394, stroke, 395, 396 — drifting from around a bend upriver. The party signaled Pickles to slow, though she was irritated by the delay. Sanji scouted ahead on foot and spotted a raft ahead carrying four silhouettes and a fifth figure bound to cargo boxes, who she identified as the one counting — almost certainly Corporal Tam Brannick. Returning to the group, the party debated how to proceed. Rather than confronting the raft directly, they decided to follow at distance and observe. Further upriver, Sanji and Vaela went ahead on the bank and found a toll chain stretched across the river with no attendant. Vaela tried to melt it with a fire cantrip; Sanji simply pulled the release lever, dropping the still-sizzling chain into the water, and Vaela later burned the raising wheel so it could not be re-raised. Pickles, meanwhile, dropped the tow lines of her own accord — stopping at a point upriver past which she refuses to go — and when Vaela conjured a minor illusion of a chain to tell her the toll chain was down, Pickles broke, dove underwater, and swam away. Skrit, Wickett, and Gorlog poled the rafts up to a small dock bearing the Tally Mark and Antlers brand and tied up; Gorlog briefly offered to stay with the wagon but was talked out of it, pole-vaulting onto Ledger's back, and the party continued on foot.
As the group neared the mill, Vaela's hair caught fire during an emotional argument about Pickles — the DM later called it 'a beacon light as you're walking towards it' — and alarm bells rang from the mill as voices shouted 'incoming.' Sanji bolted into the treeline and vanished on a 27 stealth; Gorlog tucked in behind trees; Skrit and Wickett took cover together a round later. Two armed sentries in Tally Mark and Antlers tabards stepped out, one shouting 'six o'clock.' Vaela, caught in the open with Ledger and already tearful, leaned into it — sobbing, claiming she had fallen in the water, lost her map, and needed rest after running away from home.
A sentry called a weathered, competent woman named Sela out of the mill to assess the situation. Despite being clearly unenthused, she was convinced by Vaela's performance (a 22 deception/performance and then a 24 persuasion, both with advantage) and offered her a cot in the office — adding, when Vaela balked at a guard taking Ledger, the condition that the badger go to their corral out back. Ledger, reading Vaela's cue, followed without resistance. While this distraction played out, Sanji worked around the back of the mill on middling rolls; after the DM retroactively granted advantage for the doused lights, her re-roll came up 27 ('you are a ghost') and she slipped along the wall to the dock, located Tam Brannick bound to cargo crates, and — without a word — cut through his bonds and palmed her dagger into his hands (sleight of hand 21). Brannick, apparently anticipating rescue, never broke his stream of taunting the two dock guards. The session ended with the party split three ways: Vaela and Ledger being escorted inside, Sanji hidden on the dock with a now-armed Tam Brannick, and Skrit, Wickett, and Gorlog shadowing the escort from the trees, Wickett flanking behind the sentries.
Player Decisions
Scouted ahead on foot along the riverbank to identify the raft and its occupants before the group approached
Sanji heard a voice counting methodically from around a bend upriver and wanted to assess the situation before the rafts drew closer
Identified Tam Brannick as the bound figure on the raft; party decided to follow rather than confront
Chose to follow the captive raft at distance and observe rather than intercept immediately
Party debated whether to attack the raft, use Pickles to flip it, or use a distraction; Wickett argued for patience
Party reached the mill without direct confrontation with the raft's guards
Tried to melt the toll chain with a fire cantrip (Sorcerous Burst), then — after Sanji dropped it by pulling the release lever — burned the raising wheel so the chain could not be re-raised
A toll chain blocked upriver passage; no attendant was present
Chain permanently dropped; toll mechanism destroyed
Created a minor illusion of the chain dropping to explain to Pickles that the way was clear
Trying to reassure Pickles after she stopped pulling the rafts
Pickles was terrified by the illusion of the chain and dove underwater, abandoning the party; Pickles had not returned by session end
Instructed Ledger to run back toward the wagon when the mill sentries appeared
Two armed sentries stepped out as the party neared the mill; Wickett wanted to avoid drawing attention
Wickett hopped off, but his persuasion check came up a natural 1 (6 total) — Ledger didn't budge and stayed with Vaela
Performed an elaborate crying ruse — claiming to be lost, fallen in the water, map gone, running away from home — to gain entry to the mill
Caught in the open with Ledger when the mill alarm sounded and sentries emerged with a searchlight
Sela was convinced (a 22 deception/performance, then a 24 persuasion, both with advantage); Vaela was offered a cot in the office; Ledger was taken to the corral
Used the cover of Vaela's distraction to ghost around the back of the mill, locate Tam Brannick, cut his bonds, and palm her dagger to him
Sanji had tracked Brannick's voice to the dock; two guards were present but focused on the river. Her approach rolled a middling 12 twice; the DM then retroactively granted advantage for the doused lights and the re-roll came up 27 ('you are a ghost')
Brannick is unbound and now armed (dagger passed on a 21 sleight of hand); he gave no visible reaction and continued taunting the guards
Spent the river journey sleeping, claiming it as a long rest
Skrit was exhausted; the DM confirmed the river journey was most of the day and allowed it
Skrit arrived at the mill fully rested
NPCs Encountered
Locations
Memorable Quotes
"told you they were coming." — Corporal Tam Brannick, quietly to the dock guards just after the mill's searchlight lit, overheard at distance by Sanji
"Kreel's going to hate this. Go show her the cot in the office." — Sela
"I don't like him very much. I might bite him later." — Ledger (closing narration, regarding the guard who took his lead)
Cliffhangers
- Vaela and Ledger have been escorted inside the Old Redwater Mill — Ledger headed toward the corral, Vaela to a cot in the office, with Kreel somewhere on site and unaware of the ruse
- Sanji is hidden on the dock with a now-armed but still-bound-looking Tam Brannick, two oblivious dock guards nearby
- Skrit, Wickett, and Gorlog are shadowing the escort from the trees — Wickett flanking behind the sentries — with no agreed plan
- Pickles has fled underwater after being frightened by Vaela's chain illusion and had not returned
- Kreel is somewhere in the mill and Sela stated he will 'hate this'
Plot Threads This Session
Corporal Tam Brannick was located bound on the Old Redwater Mill dock. Sanji successfully freed his bonds without alerting the dock guards and passed him her dagger. He appears to have anticipated rescue and is actively cooperating.
The mill was confirmed to have a corral out back where animals are kept. Ledger is now being led there. No caged animals directly observed yet.
Kreel was not encountered directly but Sela confirmed he is present at the mill ('Creel's going to hate this') and that his approval is needed for decisions like housing Vaela. He is somewhere on site.
The party arrived at the Old Redwater Mill, identified as the operational hub of the Vance network's river operation. Tally Mark and Antlers branding dominates all riverside structures in the approach. Two armed sentries wearing cloth chest-pieces with the Tally Mark and Antlers logo (explicitly not uniforms, per the DM) were encountered outside.
Pickles towed the party upriver but stopped short of the mill, consistent with prior established lore about animal control in that stretch. She was inadvertently frightened away by Vaela's chain illusion and had not returned by session end.
The book grew warm on its own. Vaela found a new margin note in her mother's handwriting: 'the water remembers being wild,' appearing on the last page of the Starwater Plesiosaur entry and at the start of an entry on river nymphs. A history check of 19 did not unlock any additional context.
Wickett asked the DM to re-read the threat note from Session 8: 'we know what you did' plus a further clause (garbled in the recording, roughly 'your road ends at the foot...'), marked with a tally mark, delivered during the Session 8 dinner rush by a cloaked figure the party recognized as one of the guards who chased them out of Splinter's Bend. In light of it, the party concluded their food-truck cover would not hold at the mill and chose to lay low instead.
Gorlog prepared packed lunches for the river journey, referenced as box lunches. No special ingredients used. Gorlog's Fire Marshal sash remained in use — Ledger's cold-open narration specifically called it out snapping in the wind.