Forest of Wyrd Session #34 - Too Many Wolves

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 4) 

Thrax (Fighter 3)

After once more weighing options on how best to proceed, the party opted to continue on with the original plan. They would advance up the east side of the valley and (hopefully) get to Fortress Iacarta with minimal delay and trouble. Gathering up their gear, they moved out and followed the trail back into the forest. By early afternoon, they could see looming over the trail ahead a bare spur of rocky hillside.  Getting closer, Jonesomon and Thrax started to hear faint and sporadic moans emanating from the direction of the spur. Nervous about walking below the face of the hill, they filed back into the trees and climbed up the flank of the hill. Once there, they could see the top of the spur was flat and rocky with just patches of rough grass and stunted shrubs, about a quarter mile across, . And in the centre they could see a rectangular slab of white rock. The moaning continued to rise and fall, but when they stepped out of the woods and onto the bare ground, the moaning stopped and instead a brisk wind picked up, blowing down off the mountains. Approaching the stone, they could see it was covered in writing. Specifically, it was almost completely covered in names, in a wide range of languages, styles and hand writing. Reading a few of the names out loud brought back the moaning, momentarily and faint. While Ranza wrote down a few of the most recent names (to ask Mikan about these people, or others they may meet later on), Thrax used his whip to rappel  up the stone. The top was flat (and name free), and from there he could finally see the rest of the valley and Fortress Iacarta clinging to a mountain face at the northern end of the valley. Climbing back down, Thrax decided on a whim to carve his name into the rock. Gnarl followed, and both felt a surge of inner strength from potential damnation [permanent +2 save vs any curse]. But they also felt a deep icy dagger plunged in the depths of their souls, giving warning the  gift was likely not without some eventual cost. 

By this time, everyone felt a need to get away from the stone and the bleak plateau. They climbed back down to the trail and continued north towards the head of the valley and the Fortress. The rest of the afternoon passed without incident, at least until the sun started to dip low behind the hills and dusk began to fall. Keeping their eyes open for a campsite for the night, they spied a small glade ahead. Hobbs, scouting ahead called the column to a halt; he could see something in the clearing. He and Jonesomon crept forward for a closer work, and spied four human figures. They were dressed in crude furs and rough cloth, and were clustered around something hanging from a tree branch. One moved aside, and they could now see there were two naked human bodies hanging head down from the branch. Both had had their throats cut and were now bleeding out on the ground; and one of the standing men held a bloody knife in his hand. Outraged, Hobbs mounted Hoppy and loped into the clearing, sword raised high. The four men turned to face the threat, and each suddenly transformed into a wolf headed humanoid and charged forward. The rest of the party arrived in the clearing, and Gnarl cast entagle to trap one of the wolf skinchangers. Thrax and  Ranza ran up to join Hobbs, weapons drawn. Jonesomon followed once he was satisfied there was no one coming up behind them. A short tough fight followed, by the end of which three skinchangers were dead, leaving just the entangled one to deal with.  He was in some sort of berserk rage, but when questioned revealed they were sacrificing the hanging men to the Earth Mother, letting their blood feed the earth. Questioned further, the party learned the men were somehow 'created' by the power of the Earth Mother, but no details of the process were forthcoming. Done with questions, they finished off this last skin changer and then burned the bodies. They likewise cut down the two hanging bodies and burned them separately. From each of the skin changers Gnarl recovered from around their neck a wolf's tooth on a leather thong. In a pile nearby, the party found the gear stripped from the hanging men; general travelling gear, light armor and weapons. There as also a leather satchel with a bit of silver coinage and a gem studded belt buckle. 

Though it was late, no one wanted to sleep in this clearing which now seemed more haunted than the wind swept tor. They pushed on a short distance and found a perfect camping spot just on the edge of the trees. As they were setting up camp, they also discovered signs that someone had stayed here before, and fairly recently. A search deeper into the woods recovered a body, badly mangled and partly eaten, with it's head missing. Nearby was a backpack with some typical travel gear, as well as a spell book and 5 jars of bring colored pigment. Though this discovery was somewhat troubling, the party decided to take a chance and stay here for the night after all. They learned the error of their ways when, shortly after everyone else was asleep, Ranza on watch was surprised by a sudden assault from the darkness by a pack of wolves, lead by a huge dire wolf. She backed away and prepared to defend herself,  screaming at the party who slowly started to stir awake. She was further shocked when the large dire wolf opened his mouth and spat three magic  missiles at her! Badly wounded from this and several wolf bites, the changeling stumbled back beyond the fire to guzzle potions of healing while the rest of the party started to enter the fray. While Gnarl and Jonesomon fought off the smaller wolves who attacked them, Hobbs and Thrax tried to even the odds by focusing on the dire wolf. Hobbs tried to have Hoppy catch the wolf with his sticky tongue and pull the animal into the fire. This was unsuccessful, so Thrax used a gust of wind from his new sword to blow the flames towards the dire wolf and his companions, setting both of them alight for a short time. The dire wolf then called up a mirror image to make it more difficult to target, but in the end the combined power of the party slew the dire wolf and four of the others, the one remaining wounded animal running off into the darkness. 

With their blood now up, the party decided to pursue. Gnarl had no trouble following the trail left by the wounded wolf, and after some hours cornered it in a sheltered spot under the trees. He cast speak with animals to question the creature. Asking first about the wolves den (and any treasure therein), he was disappointed to receive a negative answer. He learned little more about the strange dire wolf, just that the others followed him as he was the alpha male.  Asked about the wolf skinchangers, the wounded animal denied any connection. In fact, the men who became skinchangers would capture wolves to then fight in their rituals by which they became skinchangers. These rituals took place in a nearby cave, the Pit of the Skinchangers.

Finished questioning, Gnarl released the wolf with an admonishment to not hunt men again. The party then set up their second camp of the night, heading down over the hill a little way in case the Pit was truly that close by.  The rest of the night passed without incident, and all slept well except Thrax and Gnarl. Thrax had been kept awake half the night by dreams of being chained to the white pillar on the hill while being bathed in wine by headless nymphs. Gnarl meanwhile dreamed he too was chained to the rock, but in his case was being devoured by golden hawks. Neither felt rested at all, and in fact Gnarl was unable to think clearly enough to bring fresh magic into his mind. 

TOTAL XP

1630

GAINS

350sp, 

Gem studded belt buckle [200sp] 

1 Gem [25sp] 

5 jars of pigment [5x15sp] 

Spell Book: 1/Spider Climb 1/Magic Missile 1/Mirror Image 2/Continual Light 3/Dispel Magic 

KILLS/VICTORIES
4 Wolf Skinchangers 

4 Wolves

1 Enchanted Dire Wolf

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session #33 - Troll, Tree, Trap

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 4) 

Thrax (Fighter 3)

The party spent the day trudging north-east through thick forest, notable mainly for being filled with mainly pine and spruce rather than the oak and birch they were accustomed to further south.  As evening descended and the sky began to darken, they started to see hints of something more than forest ahead. Ranza climbed the tallest tree she could find to get a better look around. Ahead a braided river flowed south through a valley of gravel outwash. In the deepening twilight, she could also see hints of a fire starting to spark to life on a hilltop to the northwest, while to the south a column of smoke rose from the trees. There was some discussion of checking out one or the other signs of warmth and comfort, but in the end they choose to set up camp for the night right here and proceed in the morning. 

After an uneventful night, they arose to  downpour of rain which made travel miserable and visibility worst. Climbing down the wooded hillside, they entered the valley. To the north they could see two towers perched on the hillside to the north, the closest about a couple of miles away and the other a mile beyond that.  But they opted to ignore these for now, and turned south towards the still visible column of smoke. Picking up the remains of a well engineered road, they made good time until it disappeared, washed out at some time in the past. Moving on through the low bushes and gravel, Thrax on point caught sight of something  moving to his left, down behind a low bank on the edge of a pool of water. He advanced towards it to investigate, but before he got too close, the dripping green and slimy form of a troll rose out of the water and lopped towards him. The fighter boldly stepped up and lashed out at it, while Ranza, coming up behind him, blinded the creature. As the troll lashed out wildly, the rest of the party surged forward and joined the fray. After a few solid claws and bites from the troll, they were able to fell the foul creature and the butchered remains fell into the water at their feet.  But almost at once, the dismembered parts started to writhe and move towards each each, and the troll dragged itself up on it's feet again. Once more the party hacked it to pieces, and this time doused the remains with oil and burned them. Except the head, which Thrax opted to keep and spiked it to the end of his whip for future use. 

Continuing south, they once more picked up the old road and followed it back into the forest. After a short distance, they came to a point where a footpath joined the road from the east. Nearby was a clearing, and in that clearing stood a massive oak. And around that tree was built a log cabin, the source of the smoke they'd seen yesterday and today. The party carefully approached the front door, but before they got there, the door opened and out came a massive man. He stood a good head and shoulders taller than even Thrax, and was equally broad at the shoulders. She stood there, sword in hand, and challenged the characters. There was some initial hostility due to a misunderstanding regarding from where the characters hailed; they man thought first they came from the north but was reassured when told they actually came ultimately from the south.  Eventually, the man introduced himself as Mikan and  invited the party inside for food, drink and warmth. They were shortly joined by his wide, Allisan. She was a slim woman of indeterminate age and dark complexion. She also showed signs of not being well. After some time and banter, the party learned she was someone linked to the oak tree, which they now realized was dying. Informing Mikan and Allisan of their ultimate goal, Fortress Iacarta, they asked the pair for information. Mikan informed them many dangers lay ahead of them, from trolls in the valley, to creatures of shadow at the fortress itself. And the further north they travelled, the closer they came to the dark fairy realm. After some time, he also asked that since they were going to the Fortress, would they do him a favor? He noted that as they had already suspected, the oak tree and Allisan were dying. She could only be saved if the tree were replaced by another sprung from one of it's acorns. Unfortunately, the tree had produced none in many a year. But Allisan, years ago, had planted one inside the Fortress, trying to cleanse it of shadow. Would the party recover it for them? He offered the loan of his sword as payment, a mighty weapon of magic, for he noted many of the shadow creatures could only be harmed by magic. This Thrax graciously accepted. He also offered their home as a safe refuge, and Allisan offered her services as a healer and herbalist to prepare healing poultices for them. All this the party accepted gladly, and took advantage of the pairs hospitality to spend the rest of the day and the night in warmth and safety. 

Next day was bright and sunny, and the party started their journey north to the  the head of the valley and Fortress Iacarta. Asking Mikan for guidance, he had little to offer in terms of the best route. The old road lead through troll country, and the witch Ygrite dwelled in the hills above. The trail that branched off nearby led up the other side of the valley but it too had it's (unspecified) hazards. They opted to try the route up the east side of the valley, to avoid the trolls at least. They crossed the gravel flats and a crude bridge over the river, before climbing up the hillside and back into the forest. Late in the morning they approached a clearing, in which stood the remnants of a bonfire. It had obviously just been doused, and still steamed and smoked. In front of it stood a small iron bound chest. Sensing a trap, but also treasure, Gnarl and Jonesomon headed towards the chest. Jonesomon checked for traps and declared it safe, so Gnarl reached out and opened it. Inside was a pile of silver coin and jewelry.  But before they could count it, from under the chest shot a thick mass of black hair. It grabbed Jonesomon and entangled him; Gnarl being a little quicker on his feet got away. As they rest of the party rushed into the clearing to help, from the other side entered three stout figures. Their legs were those of a goat, and their heads were a wild mass of hair. They rushed towards the fire and started to dance. Gnarl cast an entangle spell and caught two of them, but he then had the irresistible urge to join the remaining creature in it's wild dance about the remnants of the fire. The creatures all then laughed a booming, wicked laugh, stunning Thrax and Hobbs into a stupor. That left just Ranza, who turned a pair of colour spray on the korred (and unfortunately the prancing Gnarl as well). But the korred all fell unconscious, and the party quickly finished them off and untangled Jonesomon. Looting the chest, they then dumped the bodies in the hole beneath from which the hair had emerged, poured oil over them and burned them. After a short time of rest and recovery, the party leaded up again and prepared to continue along the trail ...  

TOTAL XP

6550

GAINS

375sp, 

silver skull with ruby eyes pendant on chain [1100sp] 

small platinum wire sculpture in the shape of an egg with a golden topaz at centre [500sp] 

scroll-protection from magic 

potion of heroism

Blade of the East Wind [Sword +2, wielder can cast Gust of Wind twice per day, can Control Winds once per week and can Wind Walk once per month] ON LOAN

KILLS/VICTORIES
1 troll

3 korred

LOSSES

none