Forest of Wyrd Session #4 - Off to the Barrow

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Safely though the gate, the battered group had only two thoughts; rest for them and returning Peta and Alish to their mother. They headed back into Brackenrae and knocked on Gwynna's door, and presented her two surviving children. This did not go as planned, for as soon as she learned the children had been in Faerie, she immediately rejected them as faerie-cursed and turned them out. No amount of argument and persuasion would change her mind; nor did the party have any luck finding another relative or kind soul to take them in. In the end, they bought the girls new clothes and bedding, and let them stay the night with the party in the stables of the "Nymph and Knight" Inn, that being all they could afford [Jonesomon correctly noted that their inaugural adventure cost then more silver than they made]. They spent several days in rest at the inn, receiving treatment from Fyn the Physician and wandering the market replacing lost gear. An attempt to sell  rotting mazegill mushrooms to the sniveling alchemist Jaskin was unsuccessful, but they had more luck with the goblyns at the still active fair.  

After a few days, they party was ready to move on and look for the barrow of Guri Bin Gur and it's supposed hoard of treasure free of the touch of fairy. As for the two girls, the owner of the inn, Cederic Aletower, was happy to take them on as indentured servants to help out around his establishment. He seemed above board, and with no other options, the party agreed. Peta and Alish were signed over for 12 years of servitude, with the understanding that they could have their contracts bought out in future [400sp / year each] if the party so desired.

Following the directions of the old man from the Gobyn Fair,  they followed the road west for a day before branching off to the north along the banks of a small stream. They followed a series of overgrown paths, unsure of where they would end up as thick woods didn't seem  a likely place for a barrow. After a few hours, Gnarl walking point overheard voices on the trail ahead. Everyone melted into the woods while the wood gnome slipped forward to investigate. He spied a man's body, hanging from a branch over the trail. It was cut open from crotch to throat, and below stood two little brown men, catching the blood in their hats and cackling madly. Gnarl stopped that with an entangle spell, and the rest of the party burst from the woods and finished off the pair. Cutting down the body, the party gave it a hasty burial next to the trail, then recovered the dead mans' donkey and wagon from just around the bend before moving on. 

A few more hours of wandering brought them to a 4-way intersection where stood a mos covered marker stone. Scrapping off the growth uncovered a image on the west side, of a stick figure standing on top of a dolman/lintal under a full moon or sun.  Jonesomon concluded this meant they should head west, and so they did. A few more hours brought them to a stream and pool, with more trails to the north-east and north-west. Following the one north east led after a couple of more hours to a small clearing, with trails exiting south and south-east. On the northern edge was a large fountain with a priapistic Pan-figure. The area around the fountain looked cared for, unlike the rest of the overgrown trails they'd traveled thus far. They led the donkey over for a drink, and noted the bottom of the fountain was covered in silver coins. One was fished out, but then tossed back in. Baihu in turned tossed one of her few silver penny's into the water and made a wish, followed by a few others in the party. This didn't grant any wish, but did draw a pair of satyrs [Hyalus and Latreus] from the woods beyond. They were guardians of the fountain, which was holy to their god Pan. The two thanked the party for the offering, and noted should they have hurts that needed healing, immersion in the waters of Pan would help them. Asked about the barrow, they replied it lay to the west. They knew little about it, but did tell the party that to find the entrance, they'd have to pass east twice through the dolman gate. 

It was getting late in the day, they party decided to rest in this clearing for the night, trusting the two satyrs to watch over them as they served their 101 days guarding the fountain of Pan. 

TOTAL XP
100

GAINS

1 Donkey and Cart

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Redcaps

LOSSES
nil 

Forest of Wyrd Session #3 - Led Astray

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

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

Standing next to the ruined tower, the immediate task for the party was to calm down the screaming Alish. Baihu just upset her more, but the paladin Ethanna was able to channel some sort of motherly instinct to get her to stop crying. Despite Jonesomon snarling in the background about the paucity of treasure on this so called rescue mission. Taking stock of resources, everyone decided it best to return through the gate to rest and refit, then come back to search for the other children (they didn't really believe that they had both ended up in the goblyn's stew-pot). This set Alish off screaming again. Still not speaking, she was silently adamant that she would not leave until they found her brother and sister. So the party reluctantly set up camp and rest for the 'night' under these weird twilight skies.

Lighting a roaring fire, the night was uneventful until the middle watch. While Ethanna sat at the edge of the circle of fire light, she was verbally accosted by  pair of angry feminine voices. They expressed their extreme displeasure at the party's presence, their polluting the forest with the smoking fire, burning the trees, etc. Challenged to show themselves, a pair of  elfin women of stunning beauty stepped forth into the firelight, nearly blinding the wyrd paladin with their radiance. Engaging verbally with the two pouty and petulant fey, Ethanaa found they knew quite a bit about what was going on with Blasphemous and the children. Essentially, the fey had kidnapped the children to give to Blasphemous so he would would not prey on the fairy folk.  Told that Blasphemous was dead and they party simply wanted to get the children back, the pair pointed out the thicket of wood nearby where they said the other girl child was held by a dead treant. They were very insistent that the party go get her now and leave ASAP! By now, the rest of the party was up  (and all luckily averted their gazes sufficiently to protect their sight) and agree it best to just finish the job and get out of this world.

The two nymphs led the party to the thicket, a mass of dead and dying trees covered in a white fungus. Jonesomon brandished his cold iron dagger and tried to get the two the lead the way, but the nymphs recoiled in disgust from him and the blade, disappearing in a blink. The party was forced to scout ahead themselves, and ended up in a small clearing. At one side was the dead treant, covered in a thick layer of the white fungus and with a look of horror frozen on it's face. Here they could hear the sound of a young girl singing a nursery rhyme. Alish brightened up and pantomimed that it was was sister Peta's voice. Moving forward, they party uncovered a hole in the gorund from which the sound seem to emanate. Pushing back the turf, they headed down the muddy slope and into a large chamber filled with a psychedelic display of huge mushrooms. Baihu was able to identify one as a 'Rotting Mazegill', a deadly poison when ingested. Gnarl carved off a few samples for later use.

The singing could still be heard from the far end of the mushroom cave, so the party headed that way. The singing always seemed to dance just ahead of them, leading them around in circles and through various chambers; one with a pool of scummy water and a stream running uphill, another with an odd spiral pattern of flagstone on the floor, and yet another with walls covered in a glowing pink and white fungus. This Gnarl identified as a weirdly intelligent thing; touch it and it will take on your own form and follow you around like a glowing pink shadow.  At a number of points in the narrow winding passages the party discovered pits concealed beneath layers of brush and mud (two were found when Gnarl and Baihu fell into them). Examined closely, they found the pits were relatively fresh; someone had dug them in the last day or so. Which pretty much confirmed what they had begun to expect; someone or something was leading them on a wild goose chase.

The party decided to hunt down whoever or whatever was leading them around by converging on the last chamber from several directions. There they hoped Ethanna could set up a circle of protection to trap whatever it was (assuming it was fey), The plan went astray, however, when  Jonesomon stepped in the thick mud at the centre of the chamber. A muddy humanoid form rose up from the floor and clobbered the specialist, laying him out cold and leaving a thick layer of mud over his face which began to suffocate him.   Baihu grabbed her fallen comrade, and then the whole party retreated into one of the narrow passages, Ethanna taking point facing the mud guardian. Luckily, it could not move beyond the room, so she began to pepper it with arrows. But then from the end of the line came a cry from Baihu; something invisible had stabbed her in the back! After another hit, she dropped to the floor bleeding out. There was then a mad scramble for position as Vergarious and then Gnarl (standing on the changeling's back while he lay in the mud) tried to fight their hidden foe. They did strike a few blows, and after a while of their fumbling about, their foe appeared. It was the little fey fellow who'd led them through the gate in the first place! With a titter and a grin, he said "You're all much too fun; I'm going to enjoy bedeviling you all again!" Then with a wink, he disappeared.

By this point, the mud guardian had been knocked down and the party dragged themselves out of the muddy hole and back into the clearing. Jonesmon and Baihu were made comfortable, and Gnarl decided to check out the dead treant before the party headed back to the gate. (They'd settled again on leaving and recovering, coming back later to search for Peta.  This time the traumatized Alish did not disagree.) Gnarl found a hole in the rotting treant. To his surprise, inside was a chamber much too large for the space, and there sitting on  rough stool was a young woman of about 25 years. She was oddly dressed in a mix of scraps of clothing, plus leaves and boughs. And she spoke and acted like a 10 year old. When Alish appeared  with the rest of the party, the woman was most excited to see her and they started to banter like long lost friends. Or rather, separated sisters, for the party quickly learned that this was Peta. But physically much older than she should be.

That said, the party now had both surviving children (having accepted the nymphs word that Sim really had been stewed in the goblyns' pot). And back to the gate they trudged, shared the magic apples and made their way back in their own mortal realm once again ...


TOTAL XP

970 

GAINS

nil

KILLS/VICTORIES

Mud Guardian

LOSSES
nil