Tales from Tabletop

Session 3.2: Lendrig's Hollow

Chapter II: Disembark

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As the sun rose above the horizon, the mood lightened from palpable dread to more or less somber calm. Even the mists seemed less foreboding.

Lendrig's Hollow rested at the center of a large bay. As they sailed onwards, the fog seemed to slowly surround them from either side of the bay. In retellings, Selene felt an apt description might be:

The mists lapped lazily at the water's edge, like an ancient predator glutted and satisfied after a long night's feast.

But the great hero, Selene Bryseis, knew no fear. She faced the void and fog, with a merry band of heroes, ready to brave a land few had seen and fewer left alive.

A small smile touched her lips as her tail bobbed slightly under her cloak at the thought. It was a few hours before anything of note would occur.

The ship sailed ever closer to the shore.

Further into the bay, it became clear that the mists did in fact stretch far beyond the shore line, creating a wall of fog. The hair on the back of Selene's neck stood on end as she stared at the strange site. Looking around, she realized the wall seemed to stretch from end to end of the bay. Looking back, she saw the way behind them was shut by fog as well. As if the mists were in fact the predator she described, and they had stumbled into the beast's maw. Helpless and past the point of no return, the jaws now snapped shut. Trapping them in eternal darkness.

Well...not darkness. More like eternal gray...ness. Selene thought as fog swallowed everything in sight.

There was little fanfare from the rest of the crew, which meant this was to be expected. Selene couldn't help but wonder if this was perhaps the reason why the captain had stopped for the night. Getting stranded here in the dark may very well be a death sentence.

For a moment, the ship floated in a grey void. Strangely, the mists never intruded on the space surrounding the ship, leaving a kind of bubble where all inside it could clearly be seen, but everything past it was lost in that endless void.

Thankfully this void eventually gave way as silhouettes came into view.

At first, they were vague and indistinct. Selene thought they might be ships or rocks in the bay, but that was quickly proven false as the silhouettes seemed to grow in height as they approached. Slowly, they came to tower above the meager vessel. In the mist it was hard to say, but they seemed to reach into the sky endlessly. Finally, when it seemed to breach the "bubble" surrounding the ship, the objects came into clear view.

Before them stood a massive gate. Ornate, but worn from time. The gate seemed large enough to fit ships far greater than the Admare. While it was certainly impressive, its primary function was clearly security. The bars holding it all up were made of thick, blackened metal that sunk deep into the depths of the murky sea below. It was an artifact from an age long past, one buried in myth. They stood before the gate to Lendrig's Hollow.

As the ship neared the entrance, the gate jerked into motion. With a loud screech, the gate opened.

"Damn these gates, give me the creeps." Selene heard one of the crew mutter.

"Yah," said another, "like starin' at da gates to hell or sumthin'."

The tension returned to the crew as everyone's faces turned grim. All except Selene, who could barely contain the excitement as her tail swished from side to side.

Past the gate, the air seemed clearer, as if the mists stood as but another barrier to entry. Not to say visibility was great, but the mist no longer stood as a wall around the ship. However, as the mists around them faded, light seemed to dwindle. It seemed the mists now bared down overhead, blocking the much of the sun's rays.