Session 2 — Into Briar Hollow

Details pending. Global layout only; the account below is to be filled in.

Context

The one-shot (session 1) carried on into a campaign. The table made characters for a new setting — the village of Briar Hollow — and the party went into it. Percival Vale was not made here; he was played in the one-shot and carried forward unchanged.

The premise given by the DM:

No one travels to Briar Hollow by accident. The village sits at the edge of an old forest, half-swallowed by mist and time. Roads leading in are poorly kept, and those who pass through rarely stay longer than they must. The townsfolk are quiet, polite—but distant. Outsiders are noticed immediately.

Recently, something has changed. A local noble estate—long abandoned and avoided—has drawn attention again. Lights have been seen in its upper windows. Doors once sealed now stand ajar. Livestock has gone missing. And more than once, villagers have reported hearing voices where no one should be.

No one agrees on what's happening. Some claim it's nothing. Others refuse to speak of it at all. What is certain is this: people are uneasy, and whatever lingers in that estate has not been disturbed in years.

Into Town

The party goes into Briar Hollow and meets Mark. Who he is and what he wants is pending.

The Marked House

They enter a house with a marking on the door. What the marking was, and what was in the house, is pending.

The Card

Percival tested a card here: the Maiden, subtext "protects all". Testing it meant taking a wound. He asked to be shot, and Gia shot him.

The wound killed him.

The Deal

Percival died of the wound and made a deal with Valis the Feeding — his patron.

Details pending — what the deal was, what it cost, and what he is now on the other side of it.

Open

Who Mark is, and whether he is still around.
The marking on the door: what it was, who put it there, whether it relates to the marks given in session 7.
Whether the shooting happened inside the marked house or elsewhere in town.
What the Maiden actually did — the test's result is the reason for the whole thing and is unrecorded. The card reads "protects all" and the man who tested it died. See cards/the-maiden/the-maiden.md.
Whether Valis's pact predates this or was struck here. Percival was already a warlock of Valis in session 1; whether this was a second, separate deal or the original one being paid on is unrecorded.
What the rest of the party saw, and what they were told afterwards.
Whether his sheet changed.