We returned to the action underneath the Mendip Hills as the party were ambushed by a horrible entity seemingly made from the chalk itself. The Mendip Horror was a huge humanoid monstrosity, with sharp teeth, weeping iron as if it were blood, and with a second horrendous maw in the middle of its stomach. Its sudden appeareance out of the side of the cave caught young Roddy on the hop, and he was struck by a massive fist and sent flying into a wall, to be badly wounded.
The party sought to overcome their terror of the being, with William charging into a melee with it, while the others sought to pour shot on it, or in the case of Doctor Fitzpatrick, treat the fallen Roddy.
Note: This was the first time that a vaesen had managed to inflict critical damage of any kind on a player character in the entire campaign.
The giant figure roared its fury as William went toe to toe with it, and Lord Fallowdrake sniped at it from afar. It was unable to get to grips with William or shield itself properly from Fallowdrake's hail of lead, and eventually retreated by simply melting into the ground.
This was the end of the battle, and the group chose to exit the caves with Sarah Verrell with all speed. There was no sign of any of the errant farm workers they had fought earlier, apart from the luckless dead ones of course, sprawled in the upper caves. It was decided to return to Sarah's house in Cheddar which was in some disarray, with most of her opium supplies looted. She decided to pack what she could of her belongings, stating a not unatural desire to leave Cheddar entirely.
The party headed back to William Chubb's house, which was also abandoned, with signs that Chubb himself had left hurriedly. Here they found that Chubb had been buying pharmaceuticals from Dr Hiram Quill in Bristol and had been in correspondence with him. From this they uncovered Quill's address in Bristol. It seems Chubb had also arranged to ship a crate with unknown contents to a warehouse in Bristol's Floating Docks district - address also in the bill of lading.
Also of note was a newspaper clipping of recent provenance which detailed the plague which had broken out in the city in October. The Asian cholera is raging through the poorer districts, accompanied by swarms of rats and oddly, frogs. Some areas of the docks have been quaratined by the police.
Fallowdrake summoned the spirit of Isaac Merrow and asked him about the ritual needed to bind the Cheddar 'giant'. Merrow was able to provide further colour on this, notably a Latin chant he believed would assist in the ritual, as well as consecrating the Bleeding Stone with spring water from the Mendip caves (duly retrieved without molestation from the giant).
The party needed to find the Bleeding Stone in Wookey Hole, said once to be a witch that was petrified in an encounted with a holy monk. Verrell was able to guide the party to it. Here they began the ritual by encircling it with apple bough ash and anointing it with the water. This provoked an earthquake which saw boulders rolling down the ravine, deftly avoided by all. It was the last gasp of Mordred's infestation of the caves, as the ritual was safely completed, and his spirit banished with a groan from deep in the earth.
Sarah Verrell expressed an interest in heading to Exeter with the group, to seek her fortune there, no doubt dealing more opium to the population. There was discussion among party members about inviting her to stay at Harrow House, but they prudently decided against, so they parted company with her at Exeter train station. On returning to Harrowcombe, Fallowdrake investigated the noxious bog behind the house, but it had not spread further.
Roddy took down the antlers he had mounted over the hearth in the main drawing room and carried them into the woods around Harrow House, with William following at a prudent distance. He found a clearing in which a huge and ancient silver tree stood, within its branches the sleeping form of his fiancee, Arabella Sinclair, ensnared it seemed in a glittering web. From behind the tree emerged the stag-headed being he had encountered in Cheddar, and previously on Dartmoor.
Roddy offered the stag being the antlers in return for his beloved. The creature received them and gestured with one hand, at which the webs lowered Arabella to the ground. She immediately recognised Roddy and seemed confused about her whereabouts - and she could not see the stag spirit itself. The creature then said:
"The Hollow feeds on hunger. The Rat King is its feast. Yet there is a knot beneath the hills, a wound where life and death entwine.[gesturing to Arabella] She will remember none of this. [bows] You have given back what was stolen. Your line shall walk both forest and field until the moon forgets.”
Note: The group has invested development points in a contact, namely a police constable in Bristol. He could prove to be a useful ally.
Next time: "A plague on both your houses!"
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