Within the Wicked Wilds/Player Recaps

An alternative in-character set of highly condensed recaps are available from Sabbatical from her weekly reports at SWAAR.

And some further abbreviated, third-person summaries can be found at "Within the Wicked Wilds/Player Recaps/TLDR".

Session 1a: Thinwhistle

DM: Aaron

PCs:

• Rina (Jen): wood elf druid
• Lambda (Jon): warforged monk
• Nassir (Sam): dragonborn barbarian
• Stout, aka Neru (Rich): gnome paladin
• 22 (Cat): autom druid
  ***Present in spirit was Finny (Anna): Aarakocra Bard, who remained at base camp due to a last-minute injury (and/or hangover, depending on who you ask)

NPCs:

• Matilda and Bjorn, "guides" (i.e. chaperones) provided by TBEC
• Hunk and Snatu, residents of Thinwhistle

Significant events:

After the entire expeditionary group had travelled inland from Galik by airship, the party walked half a day west where they encountered and befriended the people of Thinwhistle, a village of Kobolds of Unusual Size. The chief and head lore keeper of the village was Snatu (he/him), who explained that the kobolds of this part of Amusa were once a glorious race, more powerful than most of their contemporaries and living in their underground ancestral kingdom, but that they were driven out by a great calamity, the nature of which had long been lost to the the tribe's memory and records. All they had was a tattered mural showing the destruction of a city, with fires raging and corpses littering the scene. Snatu went on to say that the people of Thinwhistle had split off from other tribes long ago, and that the tribes often war amongst each other but that some may know more of the lost history.

The party and a kobold warrior named Hunk (he/him) set out to find two monsters that had been terrorizing the village. They succeeded, in a way, when one of the monsters, a colossal red fire-breather, ambushed the party just as they had encountered three hostile drakes.

A fight ensued that the party won, but not without considerable risk to all their lives. During the struggle, Lambda was badly bitten by the monster and 22 revived him (about which 22 would later report feeling conflicted when they realized that, in their words, "Lambda appears to be a raging racist.") Nassir eventually slew the monster, and while the party was cleaning up the drakes, the other colossal monster appeared, a green lightning-breather that the kobolds apparently call "The Eater of Worlds". Though the party had tried to ensure Hunk's well-being, the new monster breathed lightning on Stout, Hunk and 22, and Hunk was knocked unconscious.

Just as Lambda closed with this second monster, Hunk, now stabilized by Stout, came around for long enough to shout "Run!!" upon seeing the beast. Nassir flanked the creature to try to help Lambda disengage, but the monster rendered both of them unconscious with a tail slap and a bite. Once it had eliminated these threats, it turned its attention to feasting on the first monster's carcass, and the party took this opportunity to GTFO.

Stout carried Hunk out, 22 revived Nassir, and Rina revived Lambda, and they all got a few-minute head start before eventually catching the telltale sound of the creature pursuing them through the forest, knocking over trees as it came. After a brief tactical discussion, 22 cast Pass Without Trace on the party, and they were able to evade the creature in the woods and return to Thinwhistle to lick their wounds.

Hunk soon became a liaison between Thinwhistle and the expedition base camp, and the two groups agreed to establish peaceful relations.

Session 1b: The Temple of Loth

DM: Julia

PCs:

• Reedy and Daq (Mercedes): tiefling ranger and drake
• Sabbatical (Talia): tiefling cleric
• Paris Hilton and PPP : human ranger and chihuahua
• Sir Yewvane : Eladrin bard/Paladin
• Therrin: aasamir warlock

NPCs:

• Paul, "guide" (i.e. chaperones) provided by TBEC

Significant events:

Today was our first expedition. Daq and I were joined by Sir Yewvane, Paris, Therrin, and Sabbatical was also there. We headed into the jungle, following our guide from Tempest Brothers, Paul. He is a capable young man, learned, and keen on artifacts and archaeology. I mostly went along for guard duty, which suits me well. As we were going along, Paris made the VERY WISE decision to open her satchel to show up her vermin, a small mastiff called Princess Platinum Paws. I despite it. Also, her satchel emits an alarming amount of light, causing a very loud roar, like one of the creatures that Kompi can summon, but it sounded deeper, larger even. We continued forward.

It didn’t take too long to find ourselves at a clearing and a large temple. It didn’t look in too much disrepair, but aged. Ornate and beautiful, almost—an odd glisten to it. We entered and in the first room, there were so many large spiders. They were the size of wolves. One of them bit me, but it didn’t take very much effort to pin down and kill the others, especially with Daq’sassistance. I was still inspecting the room when Sabbatical attempted to simply move ahead before we inspected that everyone was alright to do so. She can be very single minded at times. I grabbed her, pulling her back and having Daq block the door while we waited for the others. Once we were ALL ready, we moved ahead.

The next room of the temple contained a large statue of the deity this temple was dedicated to, a stunningly beautiful representation of the goddess, Loth, who is part woman, part spider. Her magical spiders, much larger and mystic, attacked us and their webs were also mystifying. We destroyed them all with a near ease, which was unsettling because it seemed too easy. Despite their size and arcane ability, it was not very difficult to kill them all. Upon inspection of the statue of Loth, she has her palm extended, awaiting an offering. I took one of my sapphire earrings out and rested it in her hand, but nothing happened. Clearly, my offer was not enough.

One of our party remembered that Loth’s temples often are entrances to the Underdark, but we did not see such an entrance, so we continued our trek. While the others were healing and maintaining themselves from the fight, I snuck away into the next hall, very careful. I noticed pools of black ichor with spider legs reaching out from inside, just swaying slightly. When I approached and was within their range, they snapped at me and attempted to hit, but it did not work because I am quick to dodge.

I retrieved the others, warning them of the legs in the black ooze and we slowly made our way, careful to destroy the legs before we moved further into the temple. We reached the final two rooms and as we approached what seemed to be the end of the temple’s layout, we found ourselves face to face with an odd bundling of the spider’s web. Obviously victims of the large creature that had been awaiting us inside our final destination for our mission.

As soon as Yewvane stepped into the final room of the temple, a monstrosity that I could not distinguish between bat, ichor, and spider, descended from the ceiling and attached. Yewvane tried to close the door to it so if could not see and attack us, but instead, it sent the door crashing into him and allowing it to begin to creep inside.

We would attack the creature, it would them force us into a state of mind that didn’t allow us to attack it until we’d attacked something else inside, so we rotated between attacking the legs of ichor that had regrown with the creature’s appearance, andattacked the Haunter of the Dark itself. Sabbatical ran around the room in mad dashes, lighting everything in her path ablaze while Paris brought our her mangy toy dog and it stayed with the large creature, attacking it. Paris, Therrin and I shot bolts, arrows, and blasts at it until it finally dissolved into it’s own ether.

Stepping around the disgust and filth, we made our way into the final room and I opened the web sac. Inside were many corpses, animals, humanoid, creature alike, some coins were found on the bodies, as well as a cloak that Sabbatical identified as being one of Protection, boosting my armor. It shimmers like Daq’s black scales. Also inside was a large deep red garnet, cut ornated into 12 smooth and perfect planes. I was tempted, for just a moment, to put it into my own bag, but realized how foolish it would be after a moment.

We look it back to the statue of Loth and placed it in the goddess’ hand. Behind her, a grating sound of stone on stone occurred and when we looked into the path that opened, it was a dark, deeply angled, descending staircase. We could only assume to where this would lead, the Underdark.

Sabbatical, ever one to see how far she can push people into submission, bullied poor Paul into standing on the other side of the door and seeing if there was a mechanism that would allow him to get back inside the temple from the entrance to the underdark. Yewvane wouldn’t let Paul go alone, so they both stepped through and Sabbatical removed the gemstone from Loth’s hand. The doors closed and for a faint moment, I thought perhaps she might leave them there, but she did not, so when they returned into the temple with us, they told us that once inside the stairwell, they did not see another way to open the door from the inside.

Paul has taken possession of the gemstone for now and will himself and Arcane lead missions out to see what we can learn about the Underdark inside Loth’s temple entrance. - From the Journal of Reedy

Session 1b: Kickoff Megagame - Ruins of Maddening Dreams

Session Tags: The Green Knight, Perseus Company, Philosopher's Stone, Sylvester da Stone

Characters: Lysvan (First Session), Obsidian (First Session), Amaris Luanach (First Session), Chrysaor Purosis (First Session), Deralickt Dadwarf (First Session)

DM: Keller (4/29/2023)

Important NPCs: Lucinda Grimfold, Lyowyn Mossbringer, Cookie, The Green Knight  Sylvester da Stone

Important Things that Happened:

So this ta be da true account of thins dat did ta happen during our arrival inna da Wicked Wilds. I Deralickt Dadwarf, Low Priest of the Order of Cucullin, of the Reformed Church of Bajayzus, Hisself attest to this.

Our skiff headed out to find da Perseus Company to coordinate settin up da Tempest Brothers Expeditionary Company camp, so as ta not be steppin on toes and such.

We did ta land near ta the supposed camp, findin a road cut inta the jungle heading towards and away from our target. Our party was made up of the notables listed above. A fine bunch o lads n lasses for a easy jaunt through de woods. Our Drood made a friend with a local monkey who will will kno as Chimp.  Others were preppin spells and such to assist with walkin thru da trees down da road.

Bajayzus spake ta me and guided myself to a large rock. This was not any rock, but was a rock known as Sylvester. Sylvester da Stone. Upon this rock I will build the Church in The Wicked Wilds. So within minutes of arrival, my ministry has doubled!

Sylvester immediately took off down the road a bit scoutin ahead and waitin till we caught up to again shoot ahead. Clearin the way and keepin us from ambush.  He even took off into the woods to sneak up upon the camp.  I have Bajayzus as my shield, so I walked right in. This was not the main camp, but a watch tower and small ruined camp.

Now, Ima all about keepin a good watch.  Cuttin off yer own head an stickin up on a pole seems a bit overkill. I was gonna point dis out, but the evidence of Gnolls was about, so figure it was them. The watch tower still stood, and was built upon a solid stone foundation.  Now Ima good solid sensible dwarf. Bein all dangly on a framework of wood is not the best plan, so I split off and went ta the stone cellar.  They did pretty good work on the stones, not dwarven mind ya, but nice and solid.  There was a large padlock on the door to the cellar. As I have learnt from my days upon the Barge, locks are usually in and about thins of interestin proportions.

Well, the open doors revealed a man takin a nap in the middle of the floor of a very smelly room, apparently locked in here for a bit. I went in ta wake him, and realized he was takin a dirt nap.  Most likely kilt by stuffin a black chicken into his mouth, as it was full of feathers, with feathers sticking out his ears and other places as well.  Lucky I was already pourin water inna his mouth ta see if I could revive em, Obsidian was lookin ta identify what type of bird ta feathers were from when they all burst inna fire.

We quickly left, as we dinna want ta get the bill for arson, when we found some bad poetry written on da wall.  

The party regrouped, Our company handlers quickly swept in and threw all sorts of accusations about arson anna such. Our people who climbed the tower found a map wif lots of circles anna such on it, with some crossed out. We decided ta make haste ta the main Perseus camp.  So the company people,  Lucinda Grimfold, Lyowyn Mossbringer, Cookie go a flyin off again, leavin us ta walk ta da main camp.

Darkness fell quick while we were walkin instead o flyin.  Strange thins did ta happen durin da watches, First watch, the trees moved in, The second watch da people were seemingly sucked up inta da sky. On my watch some darkness coalesced into a malevolent form.  I chucked a rock at it. It chucked it back, automatically hittin me in the head for a pile o damage.  Well, hittin a Dwarf in da head with a rock will really only result in smaller rocks. There be somin old and vast that dont want us here.  Again, I am immune to leavin areas just cause someone is annoyed by my presence.  Passive aggressive do ta be wasted on a dwarf. We did find Chimp dead and impaled upon a tree.  The first member of the expedition to die permeant like. He will never be forgotten.

We made it ta da main camp inna early mornin. They appear ta have been a bit better at putin up a fight as there were a few gnolls scattered about the battlefield They appear ta ave set up da main bunkhouse in an old temple, with a few outbuildings.   I investigated the temple and found interestin archeological information ta be published as a paper at a latter time. We also found a large duck anna merchant under a tarp, and sent him ta our main camp area. Prior to leaving he sent me my next member of the local parish Huginn N. Muninn, a stuffed raven who comes ta life sometimes.

We came out our last outbuildin and Lo and behold Slyvester da Stone had found a well.  Not just any well, but one that was mentioned in some paperwork as a well of madness or some such. Now I know this was divinely revealed to myself as only I could see it, Bejayzus be praised. Slyvester jumped in ta investigate da well, and not really able ta be much madder than I am, I of course walked over and peered down the well. It appeared to go on forever down, even goin threw several dimensions and planes and other such stuff. It tried to suck me in, but being a Dwarf of good solid common sense, I shrugged off the feeble attempt.

Lucky I was perched behind the Well o Futile Madness, cause out of ta Temple came a gnoll and a few hyenas. I say good cause the area around dem erupted in a series of fires and explosions as the rest of da party let loose with everything hey had and obliterated the hapless gnoll and his litter mates.

Well, not ta be left out of the fun, I rushed inna da Temple.

Inside were 4 more already too large for their own good Gnolls, one Really too large Gnoll, a huge and ugly Hyena, In the back was a large green figure we learned was the Green Knight. He executed the leader of the Perseus Company on a balcony and started to stalk towards three others on the floor.  

Battle was joined. I dont wanna go inna too much detail on the fight. Everyone in da party acquitted themselves well. We managed ta kill all the gnolls and hyena with some difficulty.  We held the line in the entryway, with the Power of Bajayzus guiding us and granting us extra strength to buoy us in battle (channel divinity)

I will discuss the antics of the Green knight.  During the battle he ignored us and executed the first captive on the floor while we were busy with his minions.  Lysvan the Drood got his attention with a heat metal. I stood at the top of the stairs to hold the line and keep the Gangrene Knight off the spell casters. Standing like an impenetrable wall, sing the Battle hymn of the Great Saint Peter Gabriel “ I wanna be, ye Sledge Hammer”  

 Instead of attacking me all right and proper, the Sassenach Green Knight  jumped up da steps and went around myself.  I WILL NOT BE IGNORED. The Drood went all giant badger and tunneled away to maintain his spell. The Green Knight at that point dismissed us and tried to just leave. I WILL NOT BE DISMISSED.

So I locked the doors with Arcane Lock and locked him in with us. The Green knight tried to kill me, with no success.  He tried to drag me to da door and force me to open it, with no success. He tried begging me to open da door, with no success. He tried many things while erroneously crying “This Ends Now”, with no success. Finally with having to smack us with a 6th order spell knocking out Two of our players and threatening to kill all my party members as he realized he could not win against me.  I relented and allowed him, defeated, to skulk out into the camp. BROKEN and DEFEATED by the stubbornness of a Dwarf backed by the power of Bajayzus Da Green (with envy) Knight fled into the jungle, still under da effect of da heat metal.

As we walked out victorious, a large horde of gnolls entered the camp, some of them 20 foot or more high.  I was debating weather to kill em all to ta let em run away, when we were swept up inna da skiff and whisked away to our base camp. I did ta try teaching them various curse words in celestial as we traveled away, but I don thin dey heard myself. Cursin in Celestial gives a nice classy mouth feel ta da base concepts.

 Chimp, the first in the expedition to fall in battle will have a place of honor inna the home of heroes aka graveyard. Now ta set up the Holy Basilica of Bajayzus and Research Library. Of course, setting up the final resting place for the fellows who are likely to fall along the way. With the help of Sylvester da Stone and Huginn N. Muninn we begin our adventures in the Wicked Wilds.

Session 3: All That Glitters...

Session Tags: Dinosaurs, Magic, Arc

Characters: Helli, Sabbatical, Marion, Hermes, Neru, p'Rahp

DM: Julia (5/10/23)

Helli could not believe her luck; she was to leave camp and investigate the wilds for the head of Magic and Mysteries… sure, there were missing people, who they were presumed dead. But it was her time to explore the wilds! She of course was a big scandalized to hear that Arc did not care about the dead bodies and wanted them to recover the research material and notebooks. Her whole life’s training was against abandoning the sick and taking care of the deceased.

Their trip was not so complicated as she had feared. Thankfully, there were some experienced scouts amongst them and not only they did not get lost, but also encountered some of the interesting plants. There had been some talk about laylines and impact of the local flora and fauna around the camp, but this was the first time she actually saw the evidence of that with her own eyes. Bioluminescence in all the plants. They were pretty… but the dead bodies nearby were not so much pretty. They collected their notes and she went through their bodies, trying to find out why they were dead. Signs of beasts. Large beasts… What sort of monster could have done this?

Her question was answered soon. Not one, but two dinosaurs showed up… and not normal beasts either. They had extra flavor in their attacks, bringing all of them to their knees. They were so powerful that they could nothing else but run, beaten and afraid. After all, they had collected the material they had set out to collect.

Further details from the Journal of Sabbatical.

Warning, reading the following content constitutes an agreement to Fiendish code, 1647(a)(IV)(c), which binds an unbound soul in service to the fiendish circle of Phlegethos for all eternity upon death. If the soul is already bound, then Fiendish code 18463(b)(II) applies, sequestering the knowledge from being shared with others without implicit agreement to the aforementioned 1647(a)(IV)(c) or a soul in service to Baator.

Arc summoned the six of us to investigate several disappearances of their research teams. They had sent three teams in sequence, and each had failed to maintain contact or return. The latest group had a single individual making daily check-ins through the sending spell, but had gone silent three days ago. After we discussed the wastefulness and inefficiency of Arc's previous plans, Arc sent us off with some basic directions and little other information. I have been... somewhat unimpressed with Arc's contributions now that we have entered the field, although their efforts in combat situations or camp-wide protections have yet to be fully realized.

As we traveled a few hours out of camp, Hermes focused our initial efforts at tracking, although he gave way to other contributions as the day wore on. Eventually the trail turned more North than West and we encountered a clearing with a large glowing plant at its center. Half the party investigated the plant, while the others searched the surroundings. We found the bodies of some researchers, including a few journals and coins, as well as armor and other equipment, all with signs of significant battle damage and elemental energy. As those of us checking the bodies searched them for more information, the others harvested some fruit, and then cut into the plant in order to collect a sample. Upon doing so, we were immediately attacked by a dinosaur laden with poison spines. This dinosaur struck first for Marion, and forced her into a barrier of ice immediately. While they were momentarily safe, the dinosaur turned to find softer targets and rushed toward our group investigating bodies. It revealed surprising toughness and a propensity to unleash spin attacks with the spines on its tail before attempting its vicious bites.

The roars and commotion of the first beast quickly drew a second into the fray. This second dinosaur was larger, and instead of poison, was imbued with electrical energy. It called forth a storm and unleashed directed bolts of lightning in addition to its bite and claws. This was turning into a dangerous battle, but one in which we could maintain a stable fighting position when a third creature appeared. This one was a flaming pterodon of huge size which swooped in and downed Hermes in a single blow. I was able to heal him back to a mobile state, but with a third massive beast in the fray, withdrawal seemed almost certainly necessary. Hermes was the first to effectuate a withdrawal, with all three great beasts alive and attacking, and many of us severely injured, I cannot fault the decision. Before the rest of us could organize an effective retreat, at least one of the other beasts needed to be dealt with. The poison lizard was the first to fall, finally succumbing to a burst of flame I unleashed on it from being struck by spines. Unfortunately, as I recovered from this blow, the pterodon struck me, tearing past my shield and cutting into my armor, knocking me unconscious in a single blow. Fortunately, with a plethora of healers in the group, I was resuscitated quickly and was able to disengage from immediate danger and take cover under the tree line.

At this point, I had a choice: stay within range of threats and remain close enough to offer some final limited support, or retreat to safety, leaving the others to an almost-certain demise. Flight could easily have been justified, and manipulating the camp's reaction to the loss of four adventurer members on a single mission onto a darker path where the Hells could have been invoked would have been relatively easy. It wouldn't even have been a dishonest or disingenuous effort. Infernal assistance could have provided exactly the outlet the camp would have sought in the aftermath. The whole thing could have been a master stroke, earning potentially several souls to the Hells' cause at the low cost of only four lives. I almost left; Philani should have left then, or better yet remained just near enough to ensure the demise of the others and return back with a corpse or two in tow. But... I didn't. Even now, days later as I reflect on it, the best way I can describe my reasons is that it didn't feel like the right move for Sabbatical. I don't just mean that it isn't in keeping with the pseudonymous character and identity I've adopted, but something more pervasive. It's not something I as Sabbatical wanted to just let happen unless it were actually unavoidable. I could tell that I was almost certainly out of immediate danger at that point, and although I could have pushed for the utmost advantage for the Hells, I didn't need to. I'm not on assignment to collect souls, I'm not under specific pressure to manipulate every circumstance, and I don't exactly want a bunch of these people to die. It doesn't improve my present situation, my living conditions, or advance any of the goals I've set for my time here. I am not currently bound by duty or anything else to maximize any potential gains for the Hells. Even as my soul is already bound and I know I am ready to serve the Hells and rise through the fiendish ranks for all eternity, I am still free to do as I will whenever I wish, so long as I am also willing to bear the consequences. And in that moment, I knew I was risking death, albeit a small chance at that moment, just to help protect the lives of others and move us one step closer to completing our mission's objective.

As I adjusted my tactical position, the lightning beast sent a blast of energy into the flaming beast as well, inciting its wrath and turning conditions more toward our favor. Yet it was also strangely fixated on Marion, and seemed intent on killing her. I could tell from my vantage point beneath the trees that Marion was but one blow from death, and the beast had the initiative. I could heal Marion and ensure her immediate survival at the risk of her simply being wounded and dying again, or I would wait, delaying my moment until just after the beast's attention shifted to give Marion a chance at not only surviving the moment, but escaping danger entirely.

No matter the choice, it was a gamble, so... I gambled, letting the creature act before I would heal Marion and trusting that she could then see to herself. Luck was both against and with Marion in that moment. It seemed all but certain that the beast would turn its focus away from the dying girl, but something prompted it to take one final attack toward her unconscious form. Despite her being prone and helpless on the ground, something about the angle at which the monster bit caused its jaws to close just short of Marion's throat, missing her by inches. I can honestly attribute this to nothing short of luck--the power of Marion's goddess, Beshaba. I seized the chance, immediately, releasing my healing spell and ensuring Marion had a chance to act and escape the situation. Of course, as luck would have it, the means by which she chose to escape: turning herself invisible, proved futile, and the creature swiped at her, knocking her once more unconscious as she tried to escape. Yet, the minor healing I offered proved enough. Neru was finally able to land a killing blow on the lightning beast and another minor heal allowed Marion to find cover beneath the trees before the flaming beast could turns its attention back to us. We were all able to withdraw momentarily, listening to the beast fly once more on its way now that the other two creatures were dead.

After taking that moment to gather ourselves, we returned to the clearing and scoured the bodies of the fallen animals. We recovered a significant quantity of useful scales from the lightning beast--enough for many of us to potentially craft armors from them, as well as parts from the poisonous beast. Furthermore, we recovered sufficient plant samples for Arc to make a more thorough study in the future. Knowing our severely weakened and depleted state, I insisted we take a short time to rest rather than turn immediately back toward the camp. Any passing threat could have easily eliminated us had we not done so, and all we lost from the decision was one more hour of daylight, meaning we would have to return to camp in the dark. This was hardly a serious impediment under the circumstances. As it happens, our delay had consequences back at camp, but those are in the next entry.

Session 6: A Penguin's Problem

Characters: Sabbatical, Lambda, Kompi, Therrin Flare, Paris Hilton, Nestor Spitemore, Hunk the kobold

DM: Aaron (5/24/2023)

Important NPCs: Pennysworth, camp quartermaster, Demonic entity known as "Mother."

Narrative account:

This mission was relatively straightforward: smoke was spotted in the distance, in the direction from which the base camp Quartermaster was flying in, and a distress signal had been received. Bjorn ordered the group of us to head out on foot immediately, help them fix the airskiff and return. The trip out was mostly led by Hunk the kobold, who is remarkably well-spoken and verbose when compared to other members of the race I have encountered. We headed straight to the crash site, which was situated in a portion of the wilds covered in moss and fungi.

Pennysworth, the penguin aarakockra apparently brought several of his children along as support staff, and they had already fought off one wave of apparently Abyssal creatures in roughly humanoid shape. We had just barely gathered around the ship and begun a plan to repair it when we were attacked by dozens of creatures formed from the moss and fungi of the area speaking in abyssal. These demons showed little in the way of intelligence, but kept speaking of a "Mother" which could offer comfort and gifts. But fortunately, I was the only one who could understand the nonsense of these obvious lies, so no one else could be tempted into doing something ridiculously stupid. As we battled the creatures, some of them released toxic spores when struck by an attack while others seemed merely to be using their arms and claws to try to batter and slice.

Despite being ordered to find safety on the air skiff, several of the smaller penguins failed to do so quickly enough and we slain during the battle. As we cleared out some of the last remaining smaller demons one of them spoke with the voice of Jim Stacy, asserting revenge against me and the camp for his fate. I cannot say I feel sympathy for his state, but no one should be left in that state and all demons deserve destruction. On the opposite side of the battlefield an enormous creature with four arms appeared, and, bypassing Lambda who had been knocked down, it ran straight for Kompi. It reached out its arms and picked up the little kobold, and then tore their arm off and very nearly tore them entirely apart. Eventually we were able to destroy the creature, but in doing so it released an immense cloud of spores. These spores fell over all of us in the area, getting in eyes and throat and starting to burn. There was also a shriek from somewhere nearby calling out for its children.

In the relative clear, we all thought it best to retreat quickly rather than stay and attempt to deal with whatever additional threats this "mother" could muster to attack us. It was also clear that these spores that had spread were starting to affect several of us with burning in the eyes and throat and blurry vision. Within a few more moments we had the airship operable once more and took off to return to camp short two of the weaker penguin assistants but heavier with the weight of whatever was going on with Jim Stacy and with the demonic disease starting to fester. Tactical details are recorded in my mission report reproduced above, and details of the aftermath belong on their own entry.

Session 7: Winds of Change

Session Tags: Thistlebrook Conclave

Characters: Helli, 22, Reedy & Daq, Marion, Nix and Jo

DM: Julia (5/26/2023)

Important NPCs: Curian, Billiam, Galaros, Bitris, Dream

Important Things that Happened:

Our second assignment was this evening. Billiam sent us out to find out what’s been happening to the starting herds of domestic livestock (goats, sheep, cows, etc) that we had had in a relatively safe farm area. He stated that it was clearly hunters and not other animals by evidence of the weapons and foot prints. They’d been keeping them to the northern end of camp, so we headed that way first, myself, Marion, Helli, 22, Jo, and Nix. Nix, we had met along our way to the farming grounds, who was coming, looking for their brother, Rachet. I told her the bad news, that he had died in combat with a giant alligator and she took up his fight, stating she would finish what her brother had started.

As we got to the farm grounds, we discovered footprints from humanoids heading east. Three sets were the most recent and we followed them, though not as quietly as I would normally like. Helli and Jo were particularly loud in their armor, and I make the mistake of correctly them, perhaps a little too loudly, and therefore we ended up alerting those we were following, which we discovered when an arrow flew out of the wood and struck a tree just shy of Jo’s head. I immediately became alarmed, butdid not attack immediately in retaliation. Marion and Helli took up negotiations quickly while I watched from behind for movement.

The one who shot as us was an auburn-haired male elf. He calls himself Curian. He told us that we were “on their land and need to leave” but somehow I just didn’t believe that. Even if he is older than me in years, he hardly seemed more mature. Elves T_T

Above him in the trees, we could see a curious creature, large like Marion but more animalistic, a fey creature called a firbolg, we learned, and she is called Bitris. She was watching from above Curian and mostly offering support.

He told us over and over that it was his family’s land and we could only leave, there was no discussion to be had, but that’s when the actually keeper and leader of these people arrived, an older lighter auburn-haired elf, the father of Curian, called Galaros.

He was far less hostile than his son and shared with us the actual reason of our folly as a camp. Their family, a conclave of druids, travels with the seasons, which here on Amusa are seven yearcycles. They spent seven years in the Winter near The Scar where it is warmer and then the other half of the cycle, the currently cycle of Summer, here in this end of Amusa. We came and took their ancestral land, where they usually camp in the clearing, and made it our expeditionary home.  In this folly, though, we may have made ourselves an ally quite by accident.

We asked them if they know anything about the ley lines and other magical plants and animals in the area and all he could tell us is that while their ancestors have many legends, folklore, and stories, all they really know is that some places in the wilds have heavy concentrations of magic that mix with the nature around it and cause these phenomena.

Galaros then invited us to a feast back with the rest of his conclave and while I was most eager to return home to the camp where Sabbatical was waiting to celebrate our recent [redacted], we agreed to go with them to the feast and walked a decently worn path, though clearly not as well walked as those we have in the camp. I asked Galaros how they manage to keep their people safe and he explained that they use spells that disguise the camp and that the larger dinosaurs usually don’t bother with this area, hence why they want our spot in the clearing.

They stated their numbers are in the 30s to 40s, some that chose this life willingly and some that were born into it.

I mentioned to Galaros that I believe the two camps can live in harmony and when the son brought up that we were taking what was not ours, I lashed back with the mention of our stolen livestock. Galaros went from a gracious host to a very disappoint and hostile father, but instead of defending his son, that anger was directed at his son. Galaros promised that we would receive a formal letter of apology and herd animals to compensate for what was taken from us. He has made good on this promise. Apparently when the herd animals that Curianstole arrived, he lied to his father and told him that they were abandoned by a ruined camp.

When we arrived at their camp, we were greeted by several members of their tribe, which is formally known as the Thistlebrook Conclave. Dream, a pale grey tabaxi, is their story teller who I believe takes part in smoking of the dank leaves; Jada and Jazor are halfing twins, and Rezzik was a human with quite a large beard who cooks for them.

During the feast, Marion asked if they consider the magical plants to be sacred and Galaros told us they are not and we are able to use them as we please, but warned that after they took notice of those plants arriving the animals began to become more aggressive.

She also asked if they were aware of the demonic presence or fungus that affected those of our currently with Sightrot, but he stated they hadn’t heard of such a thing. That a demonic presence is unusual for this area and that The Scar produces a Hellish energy, that the barrier between the planes is thinner there.

They provided us a meal of stew, fresh bread, stir fry and baked potatoes that Jo made, and sweet scones for dessert. Jo made sure to purify the food while she was helping them cook.

After the meal, we were invited to enjoy games and feats of strength wit them.

Marion competed in a drinking contest first, besting the firbolgand the leader of the camp with three strong drinks.

Then Helli played a game of dice called Shut the Box with Bitrisand won! I was very proud of her!

Daq and Jo competed in a feat of strength where they were to pull several logs up through a system of rope over a branch. Jo lost during the first round with the logs, but Curian and Daqwent to four logs, though Daq was unable to lift than more than halfway, he really gave all his effort!

Nix went through a scavenger hunt against the twins and kept quite a bit of a lead on them, finding things with what seems like intuition almost.

22, who is a curious autom, very unlike Lambda who is a warforged, told a grand story about a druid called Grandmush. It was more like a lecture than a story, but because it was a story about a druid, they all ate it up and declared 22 the winner without a competitor, since Dream forfeit.

I personally went up against the leader’s son, Curian, in a feat of archery. Three arrows, no magic, aimed to a bullseye; child’s play for a skilled hunter like myself. I handily defeated him, and then he asked me to face him in a second volley of arrows, but without Daq present, as he believed that was giving me some sort of advantage. I dismissed Daq and again, beat him very handily. He shot another, just to see if he could get a bullseye, and without looking, I scored higher than him again. He truly was an awful shot. So awful that when I went down to get my arrows from the bullseye, his arrow flew far wide enough to dig into my back. Jo quickly resolved my wound, and Marion and Helli did everything they could to keep me from breaking all ofthe peace that we had brokered so far with the druids. I maintained my composure while Marion distracted the son and I went to speak with the father.

Galaros agreed that we could find peace between our two camps for the time while Tempest Brothers has us here in this part of the wilds. We will not become a joint camp, but we will partner with them to share our resources, make sure hunting parties travel in different paths, and help with the protection they are lacking from the new demonic forces that are arriving.

They told us of a flower called Eyebright that might help our party members with Sightrot and have offered to direct us to where that flower was most recently found so that we may retrieve some to assist those afflicted in our camp.

They have asked that we consider also that they may have their our members of the conclave infrequently travel with our airships back to Galik in order to visit family there. I do not know if the quartermaster or the new crew will be alright with this, but at the very least, we can request it.

They have offered to perform ceremonial funeral rites for those of our camp who is fallen and may fall in the future, and as a last token of peace, they offered vials of an oil with droppers that are to help dampen the nightmares of those in our party with Sightrot who are having trouble sleeping.

We returned to camp with hardly a scratch and with new allies on our continued expedition -From the Journals of Reedy

Third-person Overview

Participants

Billiam of TBEC Reedy, Tiefling Ranger Nix, Dragonborn Artificer Marion Ette, Tiefling Warlock Jo Seraphim-Belphegor, Human Cleric 22, Autom Druid Helli, Tiefling Cleric

The Mission

Billiam said someone was stealing TBEC cattle that had been let loose to graze while the expedition was ramping up its farming, and this group was tasked with investigating the problem. The party traveled north from camp and Nix's companion, Bolt, flew recon and spotted clearings some clearings. From there, Reedy and Nix found unexpected tracks leading east, and the group followed them, trying to move stealthily, until an elf (Curian, he) appeared and told them to stop where they were. He was accompanied by a green-haired Firbolg (Bitris, she) in a tree.

The elf wanted the group to leave their land (including breaking down the entire base camp). Nix tried to negotiate, but the elf would have none of it. Another elf, their leader and Curian's father (Galoros, he) told him to stand down and apologized for his attitude.

The Thistlebrook Conclave

Galoros explained that they were part of a larger group (of 30-odd people) and that this was their ancestral home where they spend the mild seasons. (They winter closer to the Scar for warmth). Marion asked him about the magic of the land (ley lines and such) and got a vague answer about natural magic. Galoros invited the party to a feast, and although Reedy was reluctant, the group accepted.

Reedy announced that the company's livestock were being stolen, promting Galoros to become angry with Curian who had recently "found" some livestock. She then suggested that Galoros' people might try using magic such as Zone of Truth for situations like these. Someone asked whether any of them were bards, and Galoros responded that one of their number -- Dream (they, a tabaxi) -- whom the party hadn't yet met does performs songs but is not a bard.

When the subject of plant magic arose, the party learned that Bitris was a druid. 22 spoke druidic to her, and she responded excitedly that she had never met outsiders who spoke their language. (If she found it particularly strange that a synthetic outsider spoke druidic, she gave no indication.)

It turned out that these people, the Thistlebrook Conclave, were all druids or and rangers of various races. Rezzik, a bearded human, is the cook. The exuberent Jada and her twin brother Jozor were halflings. When 22 mentioned their mentor Grandmush, Jada asked to know more about the dryad, and 22 described their origins and their broad understanding of nature.

Further Exchanges

Marion asked about bioluminescent plants known to cause wild magic. These were relatively new to the area, and the druids didn't tend to see them often. They had tried to grow them only once, near the scar, with no success. Talk of the scar brought up the subject of demons, which the party confirmed had been encountered near their present location. This concerned Galoros, who said that he had seen extra-planar creatures closer to the Scar where there is less complete separation between the planes but that he was surprised they had made it this far west.

Helli asked Dream for a story. They told the party about a great Sky Snake who was turned into the constellation of the same name when, in a fit of jealousy, she had tried to bring eternal darkness to the land.

The members of the party all participated in competitions with the hippies and generally faired well. Jo competed in log pulling, Marion in a drinking contest, 22 in storytelling, Reedy in archery, and Helli in a dice game. As the archery contest concluded, Curian's arrow struck Reedy and she almost sorted him out until others stepped in to calm her down.

Before the party left, Galoros formally apologized in writing for his son killing the livestock, and he provided game animals as compensation. The two groups we agreed to try to assist each other in the future. 22 stayed behind to do druid stuff while the rest of the party returned to base camp.

Quelmarcon Double Session

DMs: Julia & Aaron

Date: 06/10/2023

Helli was elated to join the others in visiting the Thistlebrook Conclave. The first time she met them, the druids were really friendly and open to communicate with them. All they had to do was to pay their respects to their two Gods; the Timeless and Nameless. She was a bit chaffed about it, but then again was it not this why she had left her family? To experience other cultures and other ways of worshipping ones Gods?

Well, their trip got them through two separate places. The Timeless got them at the end of the world and time, fighting powerful monsters so they could prove their strength of will. Nameless got them suspended in space and time to test their wits. They had to answer questions and solve puzzles not only to prove their prowess, but also to help their friends by giving them boons with every correct answer.

At first Helli found herself answering riddles. The riddles were fun and playful, but the danger that their friends were in was always at the back of their minds. Their fears were confirmed when they all had a respite from their challenges; so many of them were on the verge of dying while fighting… She really tried hard to keep doing what she wanted, but she had to go. She had to use her healing to help them stay up.

And it was to no vain. Helli's help was crucial and amongst themselves, they managed to complete the trials.

Aaron's table

Galoros told us of two of their deities, and we went to a temple outside the conclave with two sphynx statues representing them. Touching one brought several of us forward to near the end of time, where the sky was a chaotic swirl of colors. Here we met "The Timeless", an androshynx who said its twin, a gynoshynx known only as The Nameless had sent the others of our group backward in time to face mental challenges.

He said our experience would be a trial by combat and that we would each receive an item as a reward if we didn't die. A flying creature with a huge eyeball in its face and eyestalks on its wings appeared.

- - - - -

Lambda(Monk, Jon) shot the creature, and it blasted Lambda and NickRivers(bard,Mike) with an AOE from its face, knocking NickRivers out with a blast. Three of the the stalks shot Neru(paladin, Rich), Reedy(ranger, Mercedes), and Prahp(paladin, Gail).

Timeless said our friends failed their first test, and the creature got more more mature and dragon-like.

Everyone tried attacking it, then three stalks fired again, at Neru, Reedy, and Lambda. By this point, the Timeless had informed us our friends had passed two tests as a result, we had all gained 1 AC and been healed a bit. the healing brought Nick up, and he mocked the creature. The timeless told us the team in the past had failed a challenge, and several draconians appeared.

The Nameless appeared and said our friend Baldwin had long ago challenged her to a game of wits (boulder/shears/parchment) and lost, and the debt had come due. We all took damage, which knocked Nick and Lambda out unconscious.

Neru brought Lambda up and told the beast to come get some. One of the draconians slit its throat and blew up in Prahp's face. Another did the same to Neru, and another to Reedy, who began to become become petrified. Neru brought Lambda up and Prahp got Neru. The monster went after Neru, missing with a physical attack and knocking her out with an eyestalk blast.

The Timeless announced that our friends had passed a challenge, and we were all healed a bit, which brought Neru around. Reedy became petrified, and Nick healed Neru further with some very inspiring pelvic thrusts. Because the creature had come after Neru, she was able to attack it and slew it, rendering 22's two recent failures to earthbind the creature irrelevant.

- - - - -

We returned to the present where the sphynxes agreed we could rest (instantaneously, by magic) before proceeding because the next Future challenge would be more difficult. We returned to the future with Heli(paladin, Margarita) instead of Nick.

- - - - -

A 6-headed hydrosphynx and three draconians appeared. The HS attacked Neru, 22, and Prahp with 2 heads each. The draconians all died by Reedy's hand or their own. It kept spawning more heads, but lost heads occasionally as it took damage. It kept spraying acid blood on half the party whenever it took acid damage. People kept getting knocked down for various reasons and getting healed.

The consequences of challenges from the past continued to propagate to us in the future, altering events for better or worse. Further outcomes we experienced included:

• Fail: hydra gets +1 head
• Pass: hydra becomes cloudy-eyed (losing attack power)
• Pass: +1d4 fire per attack
• Pass: +1 AC
• Pass: heal +2d6
• Fail: hydra gets +1 AC
• Pass: hydra becomes cloudy-eyed (losing attack power)
• Pass: +1 AC
• Fail: hydra heals
• Pass: hydra loses 1 head
• Pass/Fail: +12hp but +1 head (back to 7) (pass was due to amusement)

And we suffered the effects of another past contest with the Nameless, a best-2-of-3 game of boulder/shears/parchment, the echo of which reached us in the distant future. The result was the appearance of 3 draconians.

The draconians fell easily, but the hydra came close to wiping out the party. Only Neru, Lambda and Reedy were conscious when Neru finally killed it.

The gods brought us back to the present and offered our rewards.

Session 19: Road Rage

DM: Keller

PCs:

• Radion The Forged (Amal): warforged barbarian
• Thordon Akieye (Gingie): dwarf barbarian
• 22 (Cat): autom druid
• Dragonett (Rich): elf rogue/ranger
• Lowkey (appearing as Dug; Syameal): changeling sorcerer

NPCs:

• Lorrie Haslo, an adventurer and a company leader
• Lucinda Grimfold
• Skippy
• Ripjaw, a gnoll cyborg
• The Collector
• The Music Man, a noble wearing a masquerade mask and carrying a lute
• Colonel (or Kernel?), a large bipedal fungus creature

An Urgent Mission

Lorrie Haslo appeared in camp, appearing distraught and injured, accompanied by a large half-orc warrior called Frank. She hurried to speak to Lucinda Grimfold, who seemed displeased to hear what she had to say. Lucinda approached a group of adventurers to say she had a mission for them. "Some of you know what happened at the gnoll forge recently," she said, snapping her fingers, and ushered the group toward the skiff launch area. "Lorrie can explain more."

Skippy prepped the Crater-Maker 2 for launch, and Lorrie seemed traumatized over the explanation of a shipment to Galik for the Collector having just been attacked by gnolls, presumably in response to the TBEC's recent destruction of a large underground forge where a group of gnolls known as the Gearheads were building massive weapons.

Lorrie said the party was instructed to recover some important cargo that the gnolls took during the devastating attack -- but was not permitted to know the precise nature of that cargo was "for your own safety and its safety." Upon being pressed on whether the cargo was heavy or otherwise required special handling, she confirmed that "it is alive and can move on its own."

Time was short because if the gnolls were to reach their base with the cargo, it might be nigh impossible to retrieve, and moreover this concern might be irrelevant since the Galik government had caught wind of the attack and were preparing to use their standard method, "leave nothing behind," against the gnolls -- if they reached the gnoll convoy first, their assault would likely destroy the cargo. Lucinda flew off on her griffon without explanation, and the party (including Lorrie but not Frank, who was in no condition to fight any more that day) boarded the skiff.

Target Acquired

Skippy took the small air vehicle east toward the Scar until they could see a large trail of sorts: a burnt line twisting and turning through the jungle. Dipping below the tree line, they picked up the sound of grinding gears and crunching wood. As the noise grew louder, they caught sight of a convoy of gnoll war machines. These were colossal contraptions with gnashing blades along their edges, designed for raiding by the Gearhead gnolls, using technology stolen from Galik.

Four great machines were accompanied by three smaller ones, and Lorrie directed the group to the large lead vehicle. The larger vehicles evinced a variety of weaponry, with two large turrets on the first, a sort of wrecking ball weapon on the next, an apparent flame hurler on the third, and another turret on the trailing machine.

Lorrie directed Skippy to the lead vehicle, saying that was where they would find the important cargo, but he insisted he couldn't fly near it unless the turrets were somehow rendered inoperative, so the best he could do was drop the party on the trailing ship so they could battle their way to the front. (If anyone had thought to point out that the skiff could simply fly around the entire convoy and approach from the front, it would likely have made no difference as this approach was way more dramatic). So after one round of incoming fire, and some hasty battle preparations including Dug (Lowkey) rendering themself and dragonette invisible, the party members leapt from the sky onto the deck of the enemy war machine.

Melee at 60mph

Like most of the large machines, this trailing vehicle had a driver, a gunner, and about four other crew. In this case, there were two typical gnolls, an oversized gnoll, and two that appeared to be skeletal and held together by some sort of fungal growth. The first casualty was a fungus gnoll (or "witherling"), which Radion slew in one swing, cleaving through it into a second gnoll; the witherling exploded into a poison cloud as it fell. Thordon took a chunk out of the oversized gnoll (or "packlord"), and the invisible Dragonett eliminated the turret gunner with her first arrow.

22 shifted into the form of a dire wolf, and both they and Lorrie joined Thordon's assault on the packlord, which repeatedly commanded a witherling to attack Thordon each time it was struck. Radion wounded another gnoll and then decapitated it, the head rolling quickly toward the edge of the deck before tumbling out of view. Thordon swung twice more on the packlord before it went down with his axe between its neck and shoulder; then he took out another witherling, spraying some poison fungus onto himself and 22.

Dragonnett moved up to the now-uncrewed turret and, realizing she was familiar with its operation, climbed into the operator's seat to the gun on its owners. Lowkey cast a twinned Crown of Madness spell on two gnolls, including the driver of the nearby flamethrower vehicle, commanding the driver to abandon the controls and causing the machine to crash and burn spectacularly. One down and three to go.

Enter Ripjaw and the Galik Military

A bizarre looking gnoll called Ripjaw -- with many body parts apparently having been replaced by scavenged warforged bits -- moving on wheels instead of feet, somehow jumped from a small neighboring vehicle onto the trailing war machine. It launched three grenades, damaging Lowkey badly. Dragonnett responded by blasting it with the turret gun.

Lowkey's next Crown of Madness targeted the cyborg Ripjaw -- who Lowkey forced to succumb using Silvery Barbs -- and a giant gorilla/hyena hybrid (a "warmonger") on the deck of the next large war machine. At Lowkey's command, the warmonger attacked an allied gnoll, biting its head off its neck.

Lorrie, seething because these foes have just killed her friends, scored successive critical hits against one of them with her pickaxe. Radion blasted Ripjaw with flame, and Thordon leapt to the small vehicle in order to progress toward the next large vehicle, where the warmonger and the wrecking ball awaited.

Ripjaw had produced a harpoon and was prepared to impale one of the party and drag them along the ground while the convoy continued at some 60 miles per hour, but Lowkey commanded him to fire at a gnoll instead. The shot went wide, and he shook off Lowkey's control. By now, Thordon and Radion were both riding on the small vehicle between the two larger ones, but the warmonger leapt past them, then turned and made three successive attacks on Thordon.

As the two sides continued to trade blows, the party could see a team of Galik beetlers approaching from behind. They began firing indiscriminately, the first barrage hitting the rear ship where most of the party stood, damaging everyone and forcing 22 out of wolf form.

Dragonnette abandoned the turret to run to the front of the vehicle and put an arrow in the back of the warmonger's head, spraying blood onto Thordon and Radion and dropping the warmonger off the rear of the small vehicle to be run over by the larger one. Thump-thump.

Wild Magic with a Terrible Price

22 returned to wolf shape, bounding into the space from where the warmonger had fallen and from there onto the next large war machine. Lowkey had blinded the operator of the wrecking ball with a Minor Illusion of tendrils of darkness surrounding their head, but they sensed 22's approach and swung the ball, and despite their disadvantage, it seemed the only way to spare 22 from the devastating attack was another Silvery Barbs.

Lowkey's spellcasting had been causing Wild Magic fluctuations all along, but this time the random effect was a Fireball with Lowkey at ground zero of the powerful explosion. Several others sustained damage, but Lowkey took the lethal brunt -- massive damage that both forced them to revert from their grung shape to their true form and spread the androgynous changeling's charred remains about the deck of the war machine and beyond.

One Casualty is Enough

Only one gnoll remained alive on the wrecking-ball vehicle, fortunately the driver, who was able to continue to steer the war machine on a relatively safe path. But the operator of the smaller vehicle -- where Thordon lay unconscious and Dragonnett stood singed and wide-eyed -- was not so lucky, and the transport began to wobble on its wheels. Dragonett quickly seized Thordon's inanimate form and leapt forward to the safety of the wrecking-ball vehicle, while Lorrie was forced to retreat to the trailing ship and from there back to the skiff (which Skippy was still holding just out of range of the lead war machine's deadly turrets). Thordon had only moments to live when Dragonnett poured a flask of Nettle's Hardy Heart soup into him, bringing him back to consciousness.

The Final Vehicle

22 leapt to the leading war machine and bit deeply into one of the several gnolls there, and the turret gunners both responded by blasting 22, causing enough damage to force them to return to autom form once again. The beetlers then blasted the lead ship, damaging everyone aboard it and killing the two remaining witherlings.

Suddenly, a man dashed out of the hold of the lead vehicle, dressed in Galik fineries, carrying a lute, and wearing a masquerade mask and a cocky grin. He was followed by a strange, large, bipedal fungus creature, and the two of them escaped the scene by leaping onto the remaining one of the three smaller vehicles that had been accompanying the four large war machines.

As the non-combatants sped away, Thordon tried to jump onto the lead machine but fell short and wound up clinging to the edge. Now only Dragonett (and the driver) remained on the wrecking-ball vehicle, and her attempt to join her comrades on the lead vehicle met even less success than Thordon's -- she had begun to fall into the space between the two war machines when Radion's hand shot out and seized her by the arm to drag her aboard.

Primary Objective

The turrets fired again, one of them hitting Radion, who then bolted into the cargo hold to kill the remaining guard with two blows and find a prisoner seated with a bag covering their head. Removing the bag, he discovered the Collector in his familiar owl mask. Now unguarded by gnolls, the collector stepped over to a container from which he retrieved something Radion could not get a clear view of and deposited it into a satchel. Radion curtly warned him to GTFO if he wanted to live, and he responded "I know."

They emerged from the hold just as Thordon slew the remaining gnoll warrior and the next barrage from the beetlers destroyed the other remaining war machine in a blaze. Dragonnett and 22 dispatched the turret gunners and Skippy was finally free to bring the skiff alongside the larger vehicle so the party and the Collector could escape the continued assault from Galik's military forces.

Conclusion

The Collector seemed unbothered by the entire ordeal, as if he had borne no doubt of the outcome. He shared with the party that the two people of note who had escaped were known as Colonel and The Music Man. When Radion asked what the Collector had retrieved from the hold before exiting, he responded cheerfully that he couldn't part with his cherished tomes, and there followed an awkward moment of silence as if no one in earshot gave credence to the statement.

The Collector offered the party 750 gold pieces and 7 scrolls to share amongst themselves, which they divided more or less evenly. Lorrie was beginning to slump now that the mission was resolved, Radion offered his share to her to as recompense for his part in provoking the attack on her friends by destroying the gnolls' forge. She refused, insisting that this was not Radion's fault, and concluded, "Please tell Lambda I'm sorry."

Session 22: Slow and Steady

DM: Keller

PCs:

• Wiggler (Geoffrey): warforged druid
• Thordon Akieye (Chris): dwarf barbarian
• 22 (Cat): autom druid
• Sir Yewvane Eedryll (Jake): eladrin bard/paladin
• Helli Moltenshield (Nikki): genasi artificer
• Timothar (Alex): human wizard

NPCs:

• Cookie (otter, TBEC staff)
• Sticky (stickbug)
• Moog (gastrosapien)
• The Hydrail (gargantuan mutated snail, the progenitor of the gastrosapiens)
• Talyth (kenku, Wiggler's creator)
• Ubu (kopybold, an Alkinimic worshipper, RIP)
• Dynia (pumpkin boy, a Xevriss worshiper)

New Magic and New Acquaintances
Cookie sent the PCs to explore a recently discovered exposed ley line in the hope that it could benefit the company. Skippy flew them north, gave them a sending stone, and dropped them off in a jungle clearing a couple of miles from their destination (to keep the skiff safe). This location was calculated based on other magical locations in the area and a casting of detect magic confirmed it high levels of ambient magic.

While the group traveled overland toward the source of the unusual energy, Wiggler cast Speak with Animals and made friends with a mellow stick bug, naming it Sticky. Perhaps due to the strange natural energies of the area, the spell allowed Sticky to speak with any member of the group, and this effect would not wear off after the usual period had expired. Sticky would end up accompanying the party back to camp and continue to entertain people with his mellow stickbugfulness.

After an hour or two, the group came upon a three-foot-tall talking snail (gastrosapien) named Moog, who walked with a crutch. Sir Yewvane declared his role as protector of the weave, and Moog responded casually that they'd already got one. A creature called the Hydrail was the progenitor of the gastrosapiens and their guardian of the weave. Sir Yewvane and Wiggler asked to meet this Hydrail, and Moog escorted the group to the small gastrosapien city of Escargodia. A bright source of light glowed like the sun in the center of the bowl-shaped town, and bioluminescent blue mushrooms also provided ambient light. When asked, Moog indicated that the travelers were welcome to these fungi as they were quite plentiful, and the group harvested 20 mushrooms that shone brightly out to ten feet and dimly for 10 feet beyond, but only in dark areas.

Big Surprises
The hydrail turned out to be a gargantuan, five-headed snail eating the sap coming out of a huge root that was apparently the source of the ley line energy. While the group waited for an advisor to appear who could speak for the hydrail, a few other gastrosapiens began to assemble. Timmy walked up to touch the vine/root and identify it, but backed away when the hydrail turned its heads toward him and began glowing a deep purple.

Wiggler was taken aback to see who the advisor was: a kenku called Talyth, who had been the person to awaken Wiggler when he was but a lowly worm. He seemed not to want to discuss their parting and reunion but instead asked the group what brought them to Escargodia. After introductions, Talyth explained that gnolls had been causing problems for the small city, that the Escargodians were in search of someone to serve as guardians of the ley line, that this would be the day when guardians were chosen, and that the party could compete against the two other contenders for the position if they wished.

Meeting the Competition
While Wiggler stayed and talked to Talyth, the others split up to look into who their competitors were. Sir Yewvane, Heli, and 22 approached a giant pumpkin with doors and windows where they encountered a person with a pumpkin for a head. Sir Yewvane promptly cast Zone of Truth and began inquiring about the pumpkin person's motivations. He said his name was Dynia, but he objected to Sir Yewvane's curt manner. The others spoke to him and learned that he was a member of the Gourdheart Disciples, worshippers of the Pumpkin Dragon, Xevriss. (Although Xevriss had left Amusa for Osugbo, during the Holy Wars, he had previously been known as the Orange Scourge of Amusa and the Devourer of Gourds, and he had eventually consumed so many savory Amusan fruits that he grow too fat to fly.) Dynia indicated that he had a pumpkin pet and ate pumpkins as his staple food. He offered pumpkin pie that was delicious enough to inspire Heli to ask if he would want to return to base camp with the group and take a position as cook, but Dynia refused due to his religious duties.

Meanwhile, Thordon and Timmy walked to the location of the other competitors, who were apparently a group of kobolds in a nearby tent encampment, and met their leader, Ubu. Thordon quickly discovered that he was not actually a kobold but a creature that emitted adhesive purple ooze that smelled like a combination of rotting corpse and glue. Timmy magically identified this substance, learned that Ubu was a mimic, and tried to whisper this information to Thordon, but Ubu overheard and immediately ran away. During the interaction, Ubu had revealed that his purpose at Escargodia was to serve his master under the mountain, a reference to Old Alkinimic.

At the same time, Talyth was answering Wiggler's pressing question: how Talyth come to be here. He explained that he had been able to sense the magic of the exposed ley line -- which was a symptom of something moving out in the wilds, pushing on the weave. Arriving at the local source of magical energy, he saw that the root had created the hydrail, which had in turn created the gastrosapiens, and he watched as the hydrail grew from large and two-headed to gargantuan and five-headed. Wiggler hugged Talyth, trying not to break down, and Talyth said that he was sorry and he was proud of wiggler. During the conversation, Wiggler also mentioned the Green Knight, which led Talyth to claim that the Green Knight was a guardian of the wilds and to admit that he couldn't explain why he would be working with the trouble-causing gnolls.

When the party reassembled and briefed each other, Yewvane strongly and repeatedly opined that the group should preemptively kill Ubu and the kobolds on the grounds that Alkinimic, whom Ubu named as his master, was evil. The party decided not to presume that the other kobolds were Alkinimic-worshipping mimics, as well as not to offend their hosts and risk being eliminated from the competition for guardianship of the magical area, and the competition began without violence.

"A Test of Character"
Talyth explained that the competition was a test of character that would take the form of a race along a path to the hydrail, where the winners would be whoever successfully retrieved an amulet from around the hydrail's central neck. He also pointed out that, if the contestants had not noticed already, spells cast this close to the exposed ley line were more effective than normal (as if they were cast using a spell slot one level higher than the level of the actual slot used).

The race began with a trek through a large patch of animated vines. 22 morphed into an allosaurus to carry some of the slower members of the party, and Heli used fire magic to damage some of the writhing vines (to the chagrin of 22 who briefly ranted telekinetically about "unnecessary destruction"). Some of the group soon noticed that while the vines grappled many of their number, Dynia faced no such aggression the vines seeming to part for him as he passed. Recalling that this was to be a test of character, the group decided to try to convince the vines that they were not enemies and that they should be allowed to pass in peace. After several attempts at persuasion, some of which were boosted by friendly magics, everyone won the vines' favor and walked freely through the area.

Further along the path, the group encountered a bridge over a wide ravine with a seemingly non-threatening bridge keeper who posed three questions to each competitor before allowing them to cross. Those who answered incorrectly were magically hurled into the ravine but had an easy time climbing back up to the top as long as they did so on the same side of the ravine from which they had been cast in. Several of the questions had to do with people whom the group had encountered so far on their mission, and eventually everyone was able to pass without suffering the damage that accompanied a fall into the ravine.

Next came a game where a fey spirit, who had been observing the party during their trip, possessed one of the members of the group and tried to impersonate them. Each party member was permitted to ask a single yes-or-no question to another party member in an attempt to fool the spirit into giving away its ignorance about the individual's past. The group was then to guess which person was possessed, and any who guessed wrong would suffer a degree of exhaustion. The group succeeded in guessing that the spirit had possessed Sir Yewvane, and no ill effects resulted.

Finally the time came to face the hydrail, which fought non-lethally to retain the amulet hanging on a chain around its central neck. Already in allosaurus form, 22 made a lucky grab, crunching the chain between their teeth and claiming the prize. However, displeased with this result, Ubu used magic to merge with the hydrail and lash out against the party with its enormous body. The other kobolds proved to be mimic creatures as well, and they attacked simultaneously. Dealing sufficient damage to the hydrail sufficiently quickly repeatedly forced Ubu to separate from it, but he was able to merge with it again and resume his assault. Eventually during one of his brief separations from the creature, Thordon succeeded in killing him outright, and the hydrail was free of his influence. Before dying, Ubu announced ominously that Alkinimic would rise.

Trust, Gold, and Slurm
Through Talyth, the hydrail informed the group that they had won the competition, and that as well as being awarded guardianship of the magical area, they would also be given 900 gold pieces (some of which were minted in Escargodia) as well as three vials of hydromucus (a.k.a. slurm), which could make a non-magical weapon magical for a minute. Before the party headed back to base camp, Talyth reiterated, for the whole group to hear, that something bad was growing in the wilds.

Session 29: We're Going in Circles!

DM: Keller

PCs:

• Billium Teddly (Nathan)
• 22 (Cat)
• Sir Yewvane Eedryll (Jake)
• Dragonett (Drew)
• Twilsby Pendergras (Nick)

NPCs:

• Abjurer Cookie, the Otter
• Lorrie Haslo (with a tip from the Collector)
• Oliver "Olly" Vincent Bartholomew, with followers James Hill and Maverick Ried
• Skippy, air skiff pilot

Kobolds and the Collector

Recently, while the Tempest Brothers Expeditionary Company was distracted by the kidnapping of some of its members, including Lambda, Ripjaw and other gnolls had razed the village of Thinwhistle and slaughtered its friendly "big kobold" residents (leaving only Hunk, who was staying at the company's base camp as a liaison). The Collector had since given Lorrie Haslo a lead on finding another village of similar kobolds, and she had arrived at TBEC base camp to ask the company to pursue the lead, which involved an adventurer (Bartholomew) who could guide a group to the village. Cookie asked the party to assemble in his tent, where Lorrie waited appeared tired and bedraggled from her ongoing work for the Collector, and it seemed after some discussion that her sponsor had been stringing her along with continued promises of full payment after "one more job".

The Explorer

Bartholomew and his followers were summoned by a strange ritual in which they coalesced out of mysterious mists that appeared on the outskirts of the camp. Some of the assembled party had recalled his name as that of a human adventurer born hundreds of years ago, and in reality he appeared as a flamboyant, middle-aged human adventurer reminiscent of a stereotypical safari explorer. James Hill and Maverick Ried were somewhat younger, seemed weary from following Bartholomew for a very long time, and didn't know what year it was (believing it was decades earlier). Bartholomew, in the name of adventure, wanted to hike through the jungle for two weeks to reach the kobold village he described. This plan seemed absurd to the assembled party, who informed Bartholemew and his team about the existence of airships that could transport the group the same distance in a fraction of the time. He resisted the idea at first, but was impressed with a quick demonstration but Skippy, who helpfully agreed dropped what he was doing that day to pilot a skiff (which would be crowded but manageable) to take the group where they were going.

Mysterious Mists

Skippy spent only an hour getting ready for the spontaneous voyage and the party set out in the skiff. When night fell, they stopped to camp, and it became clear that the mysterious mists from base camp had stayed with them as Dragonett saw a structure coalescing out of them nearby. Yewvane went with her to investigate, and they discovered it was the house of her childhood, where the events were unfolding from her memory, those of the greatest loss of her life, the night her parents were killed. Dragonett and Yewvane saw a young girl fall from a second story window and run away, soon after which a large group of hostile adults exited the house. In the memory, Dragonett, father had forced her out of the window with his dying breath and told her to run. The intruders had then killed both of her parents before appearing outside in front of the adult Dragonett and Yewvane. There, they blended together into a huge lupine form, with which the two engaged in combat. It struck Yewvane and inflicted considerable psychological damage along with the physical blow. When the creature was injured sufficiently, it faded back into the mists, and Dragonett and Yewvane returned to where the rest of the party camped, badly shaken. Similar manifestations hounded the other party members over the continued course of their journey to Drakemire Hollow.

Overcoming Obstacles

Before reaching their destination, the party was required to land and pass through a large, locked door. Opening it required solving a logic puzzle involving the positions, material make-up and coverings of various levers in front of the door. Bartholemew claimed this was necessary in order to proceed to their destination, and Yewvane confirmed that this might be the case as there are such things as fey portals that prevent progress toward a physical location until the traveler passes through them. At one point during the journey it was clear that the instructions Bartholomew was giving to Skippy were steering the skiff in large circles, for no reason ever discovered. And the party was forced to land again, just before arriving at Drakemire Hollow, when they spotted a half dozen wyverns along between them and their destination. They hid beneath the jungle canopy and bypassed the deadly threat to reach the village, which had apparently been destroyed in the past by the eruption of the nearby volcano, and was now partly buried in pumice and ash.

Discoveries

The airship that would come to retrieve the group would not arrive for a couple of days, which gave them plenty of time to explore the ruins and find an entrance to a seemingly magical underground area that the TBEC would no doubt want to investigate further. During their first hours in Drakemire Hollow, however, Yewvane cast a Zone of Truth to get answers from Bartholomew. It came out that he had been cursed not to die but to be pursued endlessly by the wolf creature, an embodiment of death and entropy. Those who accompanied him might live indefinitely as well, but at the cost of losing some degree of their peace and sanity from the endless hunt, or they might eventually be consumed by the beast.