Sunday, October 31, 2021

Forest of Wyrd Session # 50 - The Autumn Maiden

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 5)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 
Thrax (Fighter 4)


The palace itself was small, with four towers set in the surrounding walls, and two  more rising above a covered portico where a set of wide marble stairs led up to a pair of massive doors. Curiously, a very narrow bridge or buttress connects the inner towers with the two front towers on the outer wall. The palace itself seemed to consist of just a few floors, topped by a translucent white dome. 

Hobbs and Gnarl lead the way into the ragged garden, heading forward to look into the scum covered pool. With a little poking about, Gnarl noted one interesting thing; when the green algae was cleared away, the reflection in the pool showed the palace intact and in pristine condition. Meanwhile, Thrax had emerged from the entrance gate and decided to head straight towards the palace stairs and doors. As he passed the overgrown garden however, there was a stirring among the branches and out popped a black, tangled mass of torn and bark. It lashed at Thrax, cutting a deep gouge into his arm, which immediately turned black and began to fester.  Gnarl and Hobbs rushed forward to help, while Ranza and the baby stayed behind and out of danger. The trio chopped the brambling to pieces, but were alerted to the presence of another when Ranza cried out. She (and luckily not the baby) received a horrible wound as well before this second creature was dispatched. They all stopped to bind their wounds, and Gnarl announced both wounds were pulsing with poison. But alas there was little he could do to help for now; they'd have to hang on until the morrow. 

Reassured(?) by the wood gnomes advice, the party headed now towards the stairs. They lay under an overhanging roof supported by a pair of pillars. The doors were covered in a geometric pattern and made of a silver, yet now tarnished, metal. Over the lintel was written "Strife comes only to those who bring strife with them". Suspicious, Thrax pulled out the quilt of augury, and asked if it was safe for him to enter the doors. The quilt  rearranged itself to show Thrax opening the door, and then disintegrating into a pile of dust. That was not reassuring. After a few attempts to use the reflection in the pool as a means to enter, Hobbs threw caution to the wind and dropped all his weapons to the ground. Pushing on the door, he found they swung opening easily and allowed him entry. But then closed quickly before anyone else could follow. Having seen no danger or disintegration, everyone else followed after dropping their weapons (even Thrax). It seemed the quilt had lied. 

They found themselves in a pristine and glittering, white marble entrance hall. In the middle were a couple of glass and metal tables, atop which sat decenters of wine, goblets and bowls of fruit. At the far end of the hall a delicate metal staircase circled upwards around a tall shooting column of water. Thrax went to examine the fountain, discovering that items thrown in do come back down. Except, curiously, the red wine he tossed in; it did seem to disappear. Meanwhile, the other three checked one of the doors that lead off the entrance chamber. Inside they found a room subdivided by blankets, tapestries and towels to form a number of small private bedchambers. They also heard the sounds of sobbing, and another voicing saying "There, there. It will be all right ..." Following the voices, they came upon a pair of woman sitting on one of the beds. The younger was the one weeping, and at her side an older woman was trying to comfort her. Curiously, the older woman was dressed quite anachronisticly, while the younger was in the current height of fashion. After some initial surprise, the older lady (Hilla) was happy to answer their questions. Explaining she and her companion (Erid) were nursemaids for the children of the Autumn Lady, Hilla explained Erid was upset as she was new here and just learning her life now was to remain in the palace forever. It seemed the Autumn Maiden would snatch woman, who has recently lost a newborn themselves,  from the realm of men and brought them here to care for the fey endangered babies she likewise pulled through her mirror. When asked, Hilla said she could not take the baby; the party would have to present the child to the Autumn Maiden herself, who dwelled at the top of the palace. 

Taking their leave, the party headed up the stairs. There they emerged into a hall filled with statues of strange beings. 
  • A darkly beautiful woman with no mouth, dressed in a red silk robe. 
  • A woman of indeterminate age in a blue silk dress, but whose lower body (emerging from water) was obviously not human.
  • A woman with dark skin and hair of autumn foliage, recognized by Hobbs (thanks to his vision) as the Autumn Maiden. 
  • A woman of alabaster completion, wearing a white feathered headdress and white leather bodice and skirts. But with no legs, and holding a scepter of gold, crystal and pearls. 
  • A woman with pale skin and hair of starlight, dressed in a fuligin robe. 
  • A woman with bronze skin in a bronze robe, with a head formed of owls wings.
  • A faceless pre-teen girl in a plain dress.
  • The Green Man.
Not quite sure what to make of these, the party simply searched around  them, looking for hidden ways that may lead up to the dome, as there was no stairs or other means of access to be seen. They found nothing, and now tried the doors that lead out of the room to north and south. Through each they found a garden bower, guarded by a knight in full plate, and filled with babies, children playing, and nursemaids. (Curiously, the bowers and it's inhabitants changed each time they returned.) Speaking to one of the nursemaids, they learned again only that they would have to bring the baby to the Autumn Maiden, and they offered no hints as to how to reach her dome.

The party was now left to figure out how to get up to the top level and the dome. They tried searching for secret doors in likely places, and used detect invisibility to find anything that might be helpful. Hobbs even recklessly rode the fountain, hoping it would propel him to the dome. But all to no avail. In the end, Gnarl pulled out the greenstone of earthseeing so he could look deep into the walls. The wood gnome discovered stairs leading up the inner towers, and after rushing downstairs discovered a secret door leading into one of the outer towers where there was another set of stairs. By this they figured out the only way up was to climb the outer tower, cross the tiny narrow bridge to the inner tower, and then up those stairs to the dome. And so it was done, and the party was happy to find it was pretty much impossible to fall off the narrow filigree bridge that spanned the towers. 

Emerging onto the top of the palace, they passed a pair of rose beds, climbed a short flight of stairs and entered the dome. There they were shushed by a waiting nursemaid, and watched as the Autumn Maiden, sitting on a simple stone bench in the middle of the room, reached through  a large ornate mirror and hauled out a screaming baby. This she handed to the nursemaid, who immediately slipped out the door and left the party with her patron. 

The party started off by offering the child into the Autumn Maiden's care; she summoned another nursemaid and sent the baby on its way. They then started asking her some question. First, was whether she could do anything about their two diseased companions. This she could not, airily directing them to her sister Broann, the Wych of the High Moor [hex 06.06]. They then asked why she gathered in those babies at risk from the fey? She responded with a story of the Forest in the days of the arrival of the D'war, the first men. Her father, the Green Man, and his fellow wood gods, the Black Mother and Prince in Yellow,  resented the arrival of man and fought against them. But man was too strong, so the Green Man opened portals to Faerie to allow the dark fey into the forest to fight at his side. The war was terrible, and the Autumn Maiden was turned from her father and his allies by the horrors they inflicted on men. She dedicated herself to protecting those young mortals who risked being taken by the fey. Asked about her sisters, she said some remained loyal to the Green Man, some turned against him and some stayed neutral. And asked about the Green Man, she told them her eventually turned against the dark faerie as well, but the war had sapped his power and he (plus the Black Mother and Prince in Yellow) had fallen into a slumber. Their presence was still woven thought the forest, but less overt than it once had been. The party finally asked her what happened to the babies she saved? Once grown up and able to fend for themselves, she told them, the children would be sent back through the mirror to another place and time to rejoin the mortal realm. 

And for the last, they asked how to get back to the mortal realm. The Autumn Maiden offer them four gold necklaces, on each of which dangled a large teardrop of amber. Each contained a golden leaf; dog rose, shamrock, oak and mistletoe. They could use these to go back through the gate to the garden, and then out through the toadstool ring to the caverns. Each would also, once per month, allow to wearer to meld with that plant in the wild and be hidden from all sight and detection. 

Thanking her for the gift, the party at once retraced their steps, and without further adieu found themselves back in the caverns. Their first shock was Feedbag and the white stag , whom they'd left behind, were long dead. Gnarl figured, based on the remains,  they'd been dead for well over a year. That was their first clue that they were the victims once again of the weird time flow in Faerie. Hobbs recovered his saddle, and the party headed out of the caverns. And into a bright spring day, quite unlike the cold winter weather they'd been in just two days before. After a nights rest (and a few neutralize poison from Gnarl to cure Ranza and Thrax), the party headed back to the town of Upland. Once there, they learned about a year and a half had passed since they entered the Garden ... 

TOTAL XP 
4150 [shared]; plus 4800xp each  [Gnarl, Ranza, Hobbs, Thrax] 

GAINS
4 Amulets of Autumn 

KILLS/VICTORIES
2 Black Bramblings 

LOSSES
nil

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Forest of Wyrd Session # 49 - One of Us! One of Us!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)
Ranza (Changeling 5)
Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 
Thrax (Fighter 4)
Vegarious (Changeling 3) 



Finally catching their collective breath, the party was suddenly and unexpectedly joined by Jonesomon and Vegarious. Now full strength they were ready to keep moving towards their goal of finding the Autumn Maiden and turn over the orphan child to her care. They continued east along the trail through the woods, coming soon to a shallow ravine. At the bottom trickled a stream which disappeared into small cave. They descended the slope, and then moved towards the dark opening. Gnarl cast light into the entrance with his spear, then Thrax and Jonesomon headed in  to investigate. They immediately observed a pair of squat figures, giant frogs, barring the way. Jonesomon slipped into the shadows to move behind the pair, while Thrax walked bolding towards them. And was attacked by the creatures sticky tongues. He avoided any real hurt, thanks to Jonesomon stabbing the creatures from behind and the rest of the party rushing in to help from the front.   

With the frogs out of the way, Thrax and Jonesomon continued into the back of the cave, where the stream disappeared into a  narrow cleft of the rock. Jammed there was a bright and shiny kite-shield, which Thrax immediately claimed; and immediately became very possessive of. 

Done with the cave, the party moved further east down the ravine, which soon petered to an end. A trail climbed both east and north, and the party opted to go north in search of the 'Fountain of All Heal' the leprechauns had mentioned. Before doing so, Jonesomon checked the slope for any surprises. As he did so, he also noted a hidden cave entrance at the back of the ravine. Thickly overgrown with vine and brush, they'd walked within feet of it and not seen it. Going over to look closer, they were surprised to hear a tree, standing next to the opening, speak to them with a slow, sonorous voice. The tree, whose name they learned was Boomdulus, warned them off the cave, which he stated was his home.  The party complied, and took the opportunity to question Boomdulus above the garden. He was amendable to the questioning, through his answers were a bit vague and focused more on the plants of the garden than anything else. But they did learn they needed to use the Maze to find the Autumn Maiden, who dwelled in a magnificent palace of white in some hidden location accessible only viay the Maze. He also made some some wavy comments about 'the gardener', comments on which the treant did not elaborate. 

The party took their leave of Boomdulus, and climbed the north trail. It soon opened into a wide meadow of grass and flowers. The trial continued north, passing a pair of rose arbours, and a large square hedge to the east.  To the west was a large pond, in the centre of which stood a white open-air building. In spite of all the options, first order of business was to trace the stream they could see flowing into said lake, hoping it would lead to the 'Fountain of All Heal'. Avoiding an unfriendly looking pair of unicorn, the party did indeed find the fountain at the source of the stream. The crystal clear water poured out of a crack in a rocky outcrop, gathering in a stone basin marked with the words "Fountain of All Heal", before spilling over the edge and forming the stream. Everyone (except Vegarious and Ranza) immediately slacked their thirst. And everyone felt their hurts and harms healed; while Hobbs suddenly felt a new appreciation for the garden. He felt this was a place he could stay and end his wandering, adventurous ways. Jonesomon experienced a similar feeling when he drank again from the fountain a little later. But both were dragged along to finish their current quest; bring the baby to the Autumn Maidan.   

The party headed over the check the the large square hedge, which Boomdulus had told them was the maze that lead to the Autumn Maidan. They found it was just as the treant described, and plunged into the winding paths, leaving various means of  tracking their way behind them. Which was good, as the path seemed shift and contract as they moved, and it took many hours to reach the centre. Here they found a sundial, strangely stuck on noon regardless of the position of the sun in the sky overhead. Around the edge of the sundial were carved recesses of four different leaves; a dog-rose, oak, mistletoe and shamrock. They quickly surmised that this was some sort of gate or teleporter which could be activated by bringing samples of those plants and placing them on the sundial. So they retraced their steps out of the maze again, ready to search. The dog-rose they recalled seeing at the fountain, and it was claimed quickly. 

The others were not immediately obvious though, so the party decided to set up camp and rest, the sky increasingly getting dark. In the morning, they checked the two rose arbours to no effect, other than some strange weakness that overcame Jonesomon and Thrax. Unsure of what to do next, they headed for the lake. There they found a small punt tied to a neat little dock, and everyone climbed aboard to pole over the the building. But made it only halfway before they were accosted by a pair of giant otters, who splashed about the boat and did everything they could to stop the party from getting to the building. Gnarl cast speak with animals, and he and the wholly garden-enamored Hobbes questioned the two. The otters wouldn't tell them anything about the building, but offered to tell them where to find the missing leaves if they rowed back to shore. Which the party did, figuring they could come back latter. Once on dry land, the otters directed them to a hidden oak grove to the south to get mistletoe and oak, and back to the leprechauns for shamrock. 

The party decided to loop north around the lake to get back to the leprechauns, taking care to avoid the satyrs. They found the little men just beyond the toadstool circle, still glum and grumpy from loosing the riddle contest to the party the day before. But they brightened up when Jonesomon flashed his dozen Imperium gold coins in their faces, and offered them in return for a shamrock. And he quickly made them fully cooperative by making sure the split of gold was uneven; neither leprechaun wanted any of the others to end up with more gold then he. So in short order the party had it shamrock, and learned the reason for the otters defensiveness as well. It seemed their young laired in the building, and they would risk none to enter and harm them.  

Taking leave of the leprechauns again, the party looped back around to the location of the hidden grove. It was a dark hollow, dominated by twisted old oaks and hanging vines clustered with mistletoe. It looked downright unhealthy and unfriendly, so Hobbs was volunteered to enter under the cloak of an invisibility spell courtesy of Vegarious. The hedgefey was able to gather the leaf and mistletoe without harm, though several of the knurled burrs on the oaks seemed to 'eye' him warily. 

Now with all the leaves in hand, the party returned to the centre of the maze and placed them on the sundial. Suddenly the view shifted, and they found themselves standing inside a short entrance tunnel. Behind them the way was blocked by a meshed, wrought iron gate, through which they could be the lake and garden they'd just left. Ahead could be seen a many spired palace, but which was much worst for wear. The walls were stained, shutters broken, moss and wild vines climbed the towers. Between them and the palace, the courtyard was choked with a wild overgrown garden ... 

TOTAL XP 
100

GAINS
Shield -1, Missile Attractor 

KILLS/VICTORIES
2 Giant Frogs

LOSSES
nil