[Savage Worlds] Winter War Campaign, Session 8: Understand Your Man

The PCs returned to the smugglers' cave and the trouble that had befallen the villagers while they were gone. The water gate was up on the cave entrance, causing some consernation among the party.

Gliding silently into the cave, they saw no signs of life - the cave was hushed and eerie. Tying up their boats, they explored, spotting a body behind a rock pillar. Rick, Sir Aerik and Nostro headed towards it, finding a villager dead - his body ravaged by foul sorcery!

Sir Aerik called out to the villagers and they suddenly appeared, surrounding the PCs with shouts, screams and cries. Sir Aerik managed to calm them and found out what happened.

A few days ago, one of the villagers ended up dead. They searched the cave but found nothing and instituted a buddy system. Unfortunately, three more (including the one over there) have either disappeared or been killed.

The PCs searched around and found the other two bodies, skillfully hidden. No one else appeared to be missing from the village and they figured the evil entered with the survivors of the caravan from episode 2.

The PCs laid a trap, figuring that the creature could shapeshift. In fact, Mort's skillful knowledge of myth and folklore helped quite well with determining what kind of creature this was.

They determined that it needed to breathe (so it wasn't hiding in the water - a difficult prospect). They also figured it could be hidden in a crowd of people and that it didn't have any (known) vulnerabilities.

They staged a funeral in the ruins of the manor for the dead and took some time observing the villagers during the ceremony. Several PCs counted those present and each came up with 1 extra body, so managed to corral the creature in a smaller section of the ruins. It made a break for it and the chase was on.

Down into the cave it went, pausing long enough to lay an explosive trap (which the PCs stumbled into) on it's way down. The creature was effectively invisible so Mort used his Weird Science powers to illuminate the area (reducing it's effective invisibility). Nostro as well cast light, further increasing the chance to see the thing and Father Ashlyn did the same.

The fighting at the end was feirce, with the PCs prevailing and the creature dead at their feet, reducing to a puddle of goo. Whether the creature revealed the location of the smugglers' cave remains to be seen.

Next session: The Doorway!