Session 10 Player Recap - Bloodroot Return and Customs (2026-09-09)

Session 10 Recap: Bloodroot Return and Customs #

The quarantine morning began with dreams.

Each of the party had woken with a vivid, uneasy memory: roots, earth, and the sense of being pulled down. Branka found no visible corruption, but asked them to watch for it over the next forty-eight hours. If anything appeared, the Solar Church in Valdengratz might be able to help.

The party chose to return to the Bloodroot Grove before the caravan got too far away. Branka supplied healing, medical kits, oil, and a light steel helm that Fren identified as a defense against charm and other mind-affecting magic. Aurelia took the helm.

The grove was dying. Its growth had begun to rot, and the clearing contained old crates, the strange helm, and five pieces of quartz marked with red veins. The stones fitted together into one larger shape. When Fren blasted one apart, the red veins remained visible in its dust—and somewhere in the grove, something rang like a bell.

The party investigated the former root-cages. The one that had held Nela opened into a deep passage below the tree; fire thrown down it sent smoke climbing back out. The other siphons were different: hardened within, but still capable of causing strange sensations. Gashesh was briefly overcome with unnatural hunger and then eye irritation near separate trunks.

Fire alone was not enough. Healing magic opened one of the siphons, and a crude Solar Church symbol carved into another caused the wood to split and collapse. The party used that discovery to bring down the remaining siphons, then burned their remnants. Black smoke gathered above the grove as they rode back to the road. They kept one of the red-veined stones for later examination.

Back with the caravan, Nela said she had not had any strange dreams and felt well. Branka could tell that the stone held magic, but thought a Solar Church cleric would understand it better.

After several quiet days of travel, the caravan reached Valdengratz: a divided river city whose border crossing runs on customs stamps, cargo seals, and close inspection. Fren sent a warning to the guards about the suspicious barrels. Customs began searching the caravan.

Seldon Finck, a Customs and Excise adjudicator, heard the warning. Henrik and Branka answered with an accusation of their own: they said they had watched the party approach the barrels and that the party was responsible for the smuggled wine. Finck found that the seals had been tampered with.

The party’s cover credentials did not satisfy Finck’s records, and the group was taken to the customs office while the dispute was examined. Fren shared the broader investigation with the officials, including the name Esteban Caldera. At last Byron Novembre arrived. He confirmed that the party were agents of Der Weitblick on a national-security mission and took responsibility for bringing them to a debrief.

Where we left off #

• One red-veined quartz stone remains with the party for examination.
• The Bloodroot dreams, the bell-like signal, and the strange effects of the siphons have no explanation yet.
• The caravan’s wine dispute remains unresolved.
• Byron has arrived to take the party to a debrief in Valdengratz.