Forest of Wyrd Session #8 - Out in the Wilds

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 2)
Jonesomon (Specialist 2)
Ranza (Changeling 1)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 1)
Thrax (Fighter 1)

The party spent several weeks around Brakenrae, healing up and resupplying. Gnarl tried his hand at brewing blowgun poison to no avail. They also chose to spend some of their hard looted treasure on better accommodations, renting a small cottage just outside the town wall. But the call of adventure and treasure soon came, and they headed out with Feedbag and a cart of supplies in tow to search for the barrow of the Woad Chief. Not sure where to find it, they knew it lay somewhere north of Guri Bin Gur's barrow, so they decided to start there. They tried getting information out of the satyrs of the fountain, but they were tight lipped about what may lay to the north. Looking for other clues, they followed the one forest path as yet unexplored. After a couple of hours, they came around a bend and encountered a large crow in the middle of the trail. It hopped away, seeming to lead them into the trees. Hobbs and Gnarl use their woodsy skills to stealthy follow it in, with Jonesomon coming up the rear. The raven led them into a thicket. The three followed it in, and a large black widow spider descended on Jonesomon and felled him with one vicious bite (through thankfully the spider's poison did not take hold). A short vicious fight followed as Ranza and Thrax bullied in to assist, and the spider was brought down with little other injury to the party. 

A pair of bodies were found, wrapped in webs and hanging from the branches. Hobbs cut them down, which when unwrapped  revealed a pair of very dried and drained husks, both of which with their eyes plucked out. Jonesomon relieved one of a pouch with a few coins and gems. Gnarl also successfully removed the spiders venom sac for future use. Ranza meanwhile turned her attention to the raven. Using the potion of clairvoyance from Thrax (who mysteriously now disappeared in a glitter of fey magic), she scared the raven into the sky to have a look around through it's eyes.  The changeling got a pretty good view to the north. A rocky tor lay to the north and east, while north and west was a string of small lakes. The land was almost completely forested, except for three small open areas to the north-west, north-east and directly north. While she could see no barrow, the party decided to follow the stream north from Guri-Bin-Gur's tomb, which Ranza had observed lead into the string of lakes. There certainly wasn't another easy way to travel, as no roads, paths or trials could be seen. First stop though was back to the fountain of Pan, to bring Jonesomon back to full fetter and to rest for the night under the watchful eye of the fountain guardians. 

Next day they started along the small  stream, laboriously leading Feedbag and the cart through the cold waters. The light was more than half gone before they reached the first lake and started around it's edge, their ultimate goal being the north west clearing to see what there may lie. Halfway up the lake, they came across a small herd of red dear.The animals were upwind and did not notice the intrusion, so everyone hid back in the woods while Gnarl used his speak with animal to great the alpha buck and question it about the area. He learned the clearing they were approaching contained a village of men, while the one closest to their east contains ruins inhabited by small vicious humanoids. Gnarl graciously thanked the noble animal, and the herd cleared out as the party passed by. 

Several more hours of slogging through the rushing waters of the stream brought them nigh on the clearing. Gnarl and Hobbs  slipped forward to have a look, finding in the clearing a village of crudely built huts at the centre of a circle of standing stones. They saw a number of people wandering around, but no signs that this was a organized military camp or anything obviously threatening. So the two went back to get Ranza, Jonesomon and Feedbag, and they all entered the clearing as non-threateningly as possible. They'd made it halfway to the stone circle when they were noticed, and a hue and cry was heard in the village. Very quickly, a couple dozen men and women stood armed and ready at the edge of the circle. They party stopped, and visually and verbally indicated they came in peace and meant no harm. Out the crowd stepped a familiar figure; Ofra the erstwhile tomb robber.  He greeted the party are cordially as before, and introduced himself as the spokesman for the people of Farend. And inquired as to the party's purpose in being there. He was told quite truthfully they wished only for a place to stay the night and perhaps a little information on the area. Ofra agreed to let they camp inside the stone circle, which provided protection form the fey. After the party had settled in, Ofra and two others (Aminius and Loppa) joined them around the fire. The party learned Farend was a village of outcasts, criminals and others looking to avoid the company and attention of others. Of the surrounding area, he confirmed what the deer had told them of the ruins inhabited by creatures he called bush imps. He also noted something lived atop the rocky tor, but could not say for certain who or what. He knew nothing of any barrows or other burials though. 

Next day the party took leave of Ofra and friends, backtracking along the river and then looping back north to get to the villa on the lake. That took all day, so they camped for the night some distance from the ruins, not wanting to risk a battle with the fey in the rapidly falling twilight. Next morning they approached he ruins. From a distance they could see the ruins of a tumbled down villa Jonesomon dated to the Third Imperium 300 years before. It stood at the top of a rise, and down the slope towards the lake lay the remains of a columned garden with a ruined stone dock at the waters edge. The party moved around behind the villa, and once more Hobbs and Gnarl slipped ahead to scout. They came across a trio of little greenish humanoids in the process of torturing some small woodland creature. Hoping to take them out quickly, the hedgefey and wood gnome rushed forward but could not lay any blows. A general melee ensued as Ranza and Jonesomon rushed in to help. One bush imp was cut down, but the other two slipped away and fled into the overgrown ruins. But the party was not alone for long, for soon they were surprised by a dozen of the little savages pouring out of the bushes. A hard fight ensued, with sword and spell used to bring them all down. One was spared for questioning. The creature was obviously crazy, reacting not at all to threats, saying only it was going to rejoin the chaos of death. The party tired to squeeze information out of it, focusing on the imps treasure and location of any barrow, but to no avail. The imp did let slip that a witch lived atop the tor, and maybe they should ask her (maniacal laughter followed). This was enough for Gnarl, who relieved the creature of a silver flask it carried on it's back (containing, he soon learned, a potion )  and then sent it on to the great chaos ...

TOTAL XP
843

GAINS

2 gems (25sp & 75sp)
11sp, 6cp
Silver flask (20sp)
Potion of True Seeing 

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Giant Black Widow Spider
11 Wood Imps

LOSSES
none

Forest of Wyrd Session #7 - Rivals and Rewards

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 1)
Jonesomon (Specialist 1)
Vergarious (Changeling 1)
Ranza (Changeling 1)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 1)
Thrax (Fighter 1)

A glance down the tunnel showed that things were not quite right. There were faint signs of torch light flickering further down the passage, from an opening on the right Gnarl had not seen when he looked a week ago. While everyone else covered him, Jonesomon cautiously moved down to investigate.  He didn't get far before a figure emerged from the opening, raised a bow with arrow nocked and said "Stay friend; don't make me shoot" The specialist listened and retreated, going back to discuss with the rest of the party. The new fighter Thrax decided to take his chances, and walked down the corridor towards the man. The two exchanged friendly but cautious banter, even breaking bread and sharing tea. But the man (Ofra) was adamant that Thrax not approach too close; as it turned out, he and his companions had stumbled into the now open tomb and were doing a little looting. When Thrax decided to push his luck, the man shot and narrowly missed with an arrow, after which the fighter took a likewise close swing at him with his axe and shoved past him into the far end the corridor (which ended a chamber with a hole in the ceiling and a mysterious mist on the floor.) 

With party members now to both sides, Ofra was ready to keep talking. They reached an agreement that the tomb robbers (of which there were five) would split their spoils with the party and the two groups would depart without bloodshed. From this deal the party gained a curious bone harp, a small bronze amphorae and a gilt bronze bangle. Ofra then his men to the end of the hallway, tossed a rope and grappling hook up to the hole in the ceiling, and they climbed hand over hand up the rope and out the hole. Questioned, Ofra was coy about the dangers of the mist and why they were avoiding it, but the party guessed it wasn't safe based on their behavior. Jonesomon meanwhile had gone out on top of the barrow, only to see the men leave through the main entrance. Apparently they'd missed some other way down to the tomb level in their previous exploration. 

With that done, the party turned to the now looted tomb, On the walls were images of domesticity; women cooking, caring the children, serving food and drink to the warriors, and so on.  The tomb itself was simply four stone slabs topped by two others, one of which had been pushed onto the floor. Inside were three skeletons dressed in tattered and rotten remnants of clothing; a fourth had already been pulled onto the floor. 

Leaving this now looted tomb behind, the party pried away the stone slab they'd passed in the corridor. This revealed another tomb of similar design, but with paintings depicting Guri Bin Gur riding off to war, boar hunting and other mounted pursuits. When they lifted off this tomb lid, they found inside the remains of a horse. On it's head was a rotted gilt bronze chamfron, and lying at it's side a saddle in still excellent condition. Removing these, the party then shifted the horse's skeleton aside. This uncovered a small hole, about 2 feet across, in the bottom. Jonesomon volunteered to  crawl in and see where it ended up, finding that the tunnel went down for a bit before angling up again. But he never made it to the end, as he nearly bumped right into a transparent mass. He backpedaled as quick as he could, followed by the thing. It exploded out into the horse tomb close on the specialist's heals, and lashed out at Vegarious who was standing nearby. The blob felled the changeling, who dropped unconscious to the floor. Everyone else lashed out at it, largely with torches and oil until it had become engulfed in flames, and sizzled and popped to a burned goo. Hobbs scrapped away the remains, and then he and Gnarl crawled through the tunnel. 

At the end, the diminutive duo found a third tomb. It was like the other two, but had no paintings on the wall. The two guided the rest of the party to where they suspected a door was hidden in the hallway, which Ranza found easily and with everyone elses help was able to pull down the stone slab and open up an easier way in and out. They then lifted off one of the tomb lids, expecting the worst. But instead simply found the remains of a man dressed and equip with a glittering array of gold and silver grave-goods; helmet with silver boar crest, sliver inlaid spear, ornate bronze shield, and many others. After admiring for a moment, they carefully and respectfully stripped the body of Guri Bin Gur of all it's glittering accouterments. When done that, Gnarl glanced out into the hallway and saw that the mystery mist was now drifting down the hallway towards them. Knowing that couldn't be good, they gathered their loot and fled the barrow. 

The loaded up Feedbag's cart with treasure and the unconscious Vergarious, then headed for the satyrs fountain to heal their fallen comrade. That done, they turned back towards Brakenrae to celebrate their success.   And this time they could afford to stay in the inn rather than the stable! They also started looking for a more permanent and private base of operations, thinking about buying or renting a place out of which they could stage their adventures. Thrax also took the bronze amphorae to Jaskin the alchemist, bargaining with the prickly man and getting a good price on identifying the contents; a potion of clairvoyance.  Hobbs meanwhile played with the saddle, and figured out that this Saddle of Domestication could be used to tame and ride almost any suitable wild mount. Jonesomon marched off to talk to the local antiquarian, a man named Timpanious to learn more about the legend of Guri Bin Gur and his companions. Timpanious explained the blue figure in the paintings was the Woad Chief, leader of the D'war people in Guri Bin Gur's time. The yellow figure was the Yellow Cloud Prophet,  likewise a noted figure from that time. The three had lived in the years just before the first invasion of the forest by the dark fey, which was only defeated by an alliance between the D'war people and the seelie faerie who arrived alongside their dark cousins.  

TOTAL XP
7038

GAINS

Gilt bronze bangle (10sp)
Bone harp, gold and silver inlay (200sp)
Gold Torc (250sp)
Decorated helmet with a silver boar crest (250sp)
Silver inlaid spear (50sp)
Sword belt with gold fittings [rotted] (25sp)
Sword with silver inlay (50sp)
Ornate bronze faced shield with a grinning sun (150sp)
Tattered remains of fine cloak with gold thread (25sp)
Moonstone cloak pin (150sp)
Two gold finger rings (25 & 75sp)
Gold arm ring (150sp)
Silver drinking cup, stag hunt (75sp)
Scattering of coins from Guri Bin Gur's Tomb (9gp, 234sp)
Platinum coins from gelatinous cube (8pp)
Potion of Clairvoyance 
Saddle of Domestication

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Gelatinous Cube

LOSSES
none

Forest of Wyrd Session #6 - At the Root of the Matter

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Baihu Cerrit (Magic User 1)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 1)
Jonesomon (Specialist 1)
Ethanna Brightward (Wyrd Paladin 1)
Vergarious (Changeling 1)

Ethanna raised her torch and cautiously led everyone down the passage. Ahead it opened into a chamber. Glancing around the corner, Ethanna could see an exit at the far opposite corner. But of more immediate concern was the large mass hanging from the ceiling and taking up most of the room. It was a waxy and white woody shape, much like the roots they'd just chopped through in the passage above.  Knowing the troubles they experienced there, the party did not rush in but took time to contemplate their course of action. It had been immobile when Ethanna first looked in, but their presence seems to be stirring it, and now roots started to reach out and flail about the room.

The party first tried flaming oil, Baihu hurling a pair of fire bombs at the thing. The fire did not seem to have much effect, much as the roots above. Ethanna then borrowed Vergarious' bow and took a few shots, hitting deep with one. She was also surprised to see the thing shift over towards her and flail out with it's roots. So everyone retreated back up the corridor to plan further. Gnarl stuffed a pile of cloth and other combustibles in one of his many sacks and lit it on fire. But rather than throw it at the creature, it got tossed over into the far corner, hoping that it would sense the heat and be distracted. It did react, sending many of it's tendrils over to investigate.  This was the opportunity for which the party was waiting. Led by Ethanna, they rushed in to attack the main body of the beast. Things went pear shaped quickly though. The mass shifted and twisted away from their blows, and it wasn't long before both Ethanna and Baihu were grabbed by the roots and lifted into the air, helpless as their arms and legs were pinned.  The acidic sap, same as that on the roots above, also started to burn through their skin. Jonesomon and Vergarious soon joined them in the clutches of the creature, leaving only Gnarl free. Vergarious was able to free an arm and tried to lash out with his flail but to no avail. The wood gnome first cast entangle, causing the few remaining limbs to get twisted up together and unable to lash out at him. He then used his blowgun to fire a lucky shot right at the base of the root where it hung from the ceiling. This did the trick, and the creature went limp and released the four who'd been captured. 

Unfortunately, both Ethanna and Baihu has succumbed to the acidic sap and were dead. Jonesomon and Vergarious were unconscious, but a little emergency aid from Gnarl keep them alive. While he waited for the pair to regain consciousness, the wood gnome explored the room. There was nothing of interest with the root creature, but along the north wall was a primitive painting. It was in poor condition, but seemed to depict the life of the hero Guri-Bin-Gur. It showed the hero and his companions hunting deer, wrestling cave bears, fighting in battle, and other legendary deeds. The far right panel depicted the death and burial of Guri-Bin-Gur. At this point the panel strangely started to emphasis one of his companions, a man who was now a bright blue colour. There was a third prominent figure coloured in yellow. At the end of the panel a pair of barrows were depicted; one was quite obviously the barrow of Guri-Bin-Gur while the other to the north seemed associated with the blue man. A piece of the painting was missing at this point, but hinted at the presence of a third barrow to the west,

Gnarl also glanced down the next passage to see a stone slab door to one side and a leather curtain further down on the opposite side. But he did not explore further, instead returning to the root chamber where he began to haul out the bodies of Ethanna and Baihu and placed them in the donkey cart. Luckily the roots barring the way had died along with the main root mass below. By this time Jonesomon and Vergarious had regained consciousness and crawled out on their own. Gnarl then led the donkey and and cart back towards the satyr's fountain where he hoped to gain healing for his companions.  They tossed silvers into the water and then Jonesomon and Vergarious lowered themselves in to soak. After about an hour the hurts from their near death experience were lifted, but both were still quite weak. During this time, the satyrs reappeared. Or rather, a different pair of satyrs, Rifus and Malock,  appeared out of the woods. After a short conversation, Gnarl and the others realized they were still back in the past around the time of the spring equinox. They had not 'yet' been to the fountain, and this pair of guardians were the ones on guard before the pair they'd meet on their other visit. All very confusing, and led to much discussion of what they could do. There was talk of using this as a second change to stop the kids Alish, Peta and Sim from being kidnapped and brought to Faerie. And maybe dealing with the irritating little s*&t who'd bedeviled them on that adventure. Even stranger than the fact their circumstances allowed such a wild plan was the fact this idea came from the hard nosed Jonesomon! There was some worry about space-time continuum and what happens if they meet their future (past?) selves. But for now they decided to 'stay' in this time frame, head back to Brackenrae to resupply, rest and recruit new companions before coming back and finishing the exploration of the barrow. But not before building a pair of funeral pyres for their fallen companions to send their souls to their ultimate rest in style.  Gnarl, deep into his cups, was inspired to say a few words for the dead:

Brightward and Baihu
We hardly knew ya
Before the pallid root creature
Reached out and slew ya
So we venture on in your name 
Seeking fortune and fame
Our cups raised in memory to ya

The party spent a week in Brackerae and loaded up the donkey cart with food, torches and other supplies. A number of cold iron weapons were commissioned as well. A pair of new companions were likewise brought on-board, a changeling named Ranza and a badger hedge-fey names Hobbs. They then headed back to the barrow of Guri-Bin-Gur. It appeared just as they'd left it, their dug entrance still there and inside much the same, dead root creature and all. And so they steeled themselves to proceed deeper into the barrow ....

TOTAL XP
100

GAINS

nil

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Palid Root Creature

LOSSES
Ethanna Brightwand
Baihu Cerrit

Forest of Wyrd Session #5 - Below the Sepulchral Earth

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Baihu Cerrit (Magic User 1)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 1)
Jonesomon (Specialist 1)
Ethanna Brightward (Wyrd Paladin 1)
Vergarious (Changeling 1) [NPC]

The night passed without incident under the watchful eye of the fountain guardians. While the rest of the party gathered the last of their food for breakfast, Ethanna decided to challenge the satyr Latreus to an arm wrestling contest. He agreed, with the stakes being a 10sp offering to Pan should the paladin lose. Should she win, Latreus promised the help of his folk should she encounter them in a time of need. In the end, the satyr emerged the winner and Ethanna ended up 10sp poorer. 

Martial games and breakfast complete, the party bade farewell and followed the satyrs directions back to the stream and pool, thence north to the barrow. While climbing a low rise about an hour later, they encountered a scurry of huge black squirrels moving through the trees along side them. Gnarl cast speak with animals and entered into conversation with a couple of the critters who had moved down onto the trail in front of them. He learned another group of men had passed this way the day before, armed with bows and weapons. Of the barrow the squirrels could tell little. The two groups parted ways amicably (though Baihu was miffed to find latter that the furry rats had stolen her coin purse.) Gnarl was able to find the trail of thearlier group, which led to the clearing with the stream and pool. That trail headed back east though, whereas the barrow was to the north. So north they went. 

Less than an hour later the party emerged into another clearing next to the stream. This was quite extensive, and featured at their end a dolmen and lintel gate facing east/west. Beyond it was a low hillock, obviously the barrow of Guri Bin Gur. It featured a tall willow tree growing on it's eastern side. Remembering the hint from the satyrs, everyone piled in the donkey cart and had Ethanna led them through the gate twice. Emerging the second time, they suddenly found themselves not under the noon sun, but at sunrise. In fact, looking at where the sun was rising they figured they were well away from their starting time. They were at the spring equinox, probably this springs' equinox as the rest of the barrow and foliage looked pretty much the same. They now climbed the barrow to look for the entrance, which based on the satyrs story should now be obvious. Well it wasn't, but after a while Baihu made note of the shadow cast by the willow tree. It should have been much longer thanks to the low angle of the sun, but in fact was truncated to end exactly at a point at the west side of the barrow. While Gnarl stood watch from atop, everyone else headed over to start digging, there being no obvious way in. They didn't get far before someone glanced up and noticed Gnarl was not alone; a ghostly looming humanoid figure, cloaked in rags with a stag skull and antler head and bony claws, stood at the top of the barrow watching them. As it started to move towards them, everyone stopped digging and prepared for battle. At which point the figure stopped again and stood there watching. They figured it was a guardian, placed there to prevent the barrow from being desecrated. No one really wanted to fight it, so Ethanna set a protection circle around the dig to protect them. The creature came right up to the edge of the circle but could not enter, instead standing there and watching eerily as they continued their digging.  

It took quite a few hours (since no one had a shovel), but eventually they broke through. Clearing away the last of the dirt, a narrow 5' passage could be seen leading into the hill. It was built of stone slabs but with large patches of loose soil and roots poking through. Still worried about the wraith, Ethanna elected to stay on the surface to maintain the circle, while Jonesomon led the rest of the party inside. Reaching a T-intersection, they turned left into a chamber that was empty except for some smashed stone slabs.  Turning back they stopped at an alcove with a rusty chain hanging from the ceiling, which Jonesomon carefully yanked at using his whip, bringing the whole ceiling crashing down. 

Worried now that they might get trapped underground by the wraith, the delvers headed back up to join Ethanna to discuss how to proceed. The wraith was now barely visible in the bright sun light, so best bet was to wait until almost dark. When they could see it clearly, they'd break the circle and try to overwhelm the spirit with a flurry of attacks. In particular, using their small supply of cold iron (Jonesomon's dagger lashed to Ethanna's spear, and his cold iron medallion which Baihu would use as a sling stone) to strike telling blows. And when the time came, the plan worked perfectly. The spirit was banished without even getting a chance to strike a blow, and the party could rest easy. And it being nightfall, they moved over into the woods to set up camp and rest for the night. 

Next morning was spent hunting, the party having run out of food the previous day. They had much success, obtaining enough food to get them through the next couple of days. That done, everyone headed back into the barrow, this time heading along the right hand corridor. They didn't get far before being brought to a halt by a thick mass of waxy white roots  blocking the way. Ethanna tried to push them aside, but they were solidly immobile and coated in a thick layer of acidic sap. The paladin hauled out her spear and started to hack away, but the roots would move out of the way making progress difficult. They also proceeded to wrap around her arms and legs, trying unsuccessfully to pin her in place. Baihu summoned an unseen servant to help hold the roots in place; thus assisted the paladin was able to hack through.  But as she reached the end of the roots, they had already started regrowing back at the start. So everyone rushed through behind her, finding themselves at a hairpin bend in the corridor, which now started to descend ...

TOTAL XP
2100

GAINS

2 Glossy Black Gems [2x 500sp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Antler Wraith

LOSSES
nil