Forest of Wyrd Session # 59 - Murder and Mayhem

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 5)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 6) 

Thrax (Fighter 5)

[Slugs MacKenzie (Hedgefey 1)]

Still thinking the 'real' crown was somewhere in the garden, the party searched some more around the stone block. Using the nightmare to move the petrified guardian, they further searched under and all around where he'd been sitting. But found nothing. They even had Gnarl use his ring to turn the stone guardian inside-out with stone shape, thinking the Crown might be inside the creature. But no luck.  Finally giving up, the party settled in to rest for the remainder of the day and through the night, to be in a better position to face She Who Wore the Crown of Stars. Hobbs (with Slugs in tow) decided to go check the glowing green pool once more. The hedgefey played with the water, drank some, splashed it on his head, and finally reached down as far as possible with Slugs' spear to plumb the depths. He did not reach bottom, but as the spear was being pulled out, something grabbed onto it. And out of the fountain emerged one of the green men, a Jack-in-the-Green, who turned on the pair in a vicious attack. A short and bloody fight ensued, ended by the timely arrival of Gnarl and the insertion of his spear through the creatures back. 

Two other surprises arrived as the party settled back into the garden to rest. The first was an attack by 5 ranine, the frog-creatures crawling out of the depths of the pool. A well timed entangle caught three of them, while the other two splashed back into the pool once they realized the odds were against them. The second surprise came once night fell. The overhead dome, until now dark, opaque and impenetrable, faded away as darkness fell outside.  Hobbs hopped aboard the nightmare to fly up and investigate, finding the passage free and emerging under starlit skies for the first time in days. Quite a few days more than he thought it should be, for his giant swan mount and the donkey, left behind on the raft, were is terrible shape from near starvation. He brought the swan into the garden to feed and looked after the donkey, making sure the swan returned outside before sunrise before the dome (presumably) would reform. Which it did. This then was what the old man on the island was trying to tell them; that the dome disappeared in the dark. 

All that done, the rest of the night passed without incident, and the party arose to gird their loins before facing She Who Ware the Crown of Stars.  Their first plan was non-violent trickery. While the rest of the party waited nearby in support, Gnarl (under the cover of invisibility) would use the stone shape  power of his ring to pin her to the stone bench on which the Half Blood King lay, then swipe the true Crown. This unfortunately didn't work, as somehow the daughter of the Green Man sensed his presence and turned on the wood gnome. She raised her hand, and banished him to the distance space between the stars. The rest of the party moved in then, trying still to subdue her with a range of spells. But She shrugged it all off and fought back. Several more attempts at banishment failed, but she kept pulled star-stuff from her hair which animated and attacked the party, sticking on and draining their life-force. Eventually, out of non-violent options, Thrax lead the party in the old fashioned solution; swinging swords. But he also used the gust from his sword to hold her back, allowing Hobbs to sneak in and grab the Crown and Sword, thinking there might still be a way to trap her and escape with their loot. As the battle raged, Slugs fell with a near-mortal wound, saved only by quick ministrations from his employer. But after a hard fought battle, in the end She was cut down and now lay at rest near her husband. Curiously though, when Hobbs checked the body, he certainly got the impression She was not 'fully' dead, though he was uncertain what that boded. 

Gnarl returned from his sojourn among the stars just as the battle ended, and the party stared at the Crown in Hobbs hands. With a sudden impetuous movement, the hedgefey popped the artifact onto his head. And was immediately filled with rage, turning on Thrax and seeking to kill him and drink his blood. This battle royale proved to be bloodier than the fight against She Who Wore the Crown of Stars, with the rest of the party siding with Thrax and trying to either immobilize Hobbs or knock the Crown from his head. In the end, Gnarl was able to thrust his spear under the band of the crown and rip it (along with a significant portion of fur) from Hobbs head. At which point the murderous rage passed, and Gnarl pointedly wrapped the Crown in a burlap sack and his it away from Hobbs. 

After a last check throughout the upper tomb using the greenstone, the party waited for nightfall and exited through the once more open garden.  And then with little ceremony, made their way back towards Twitten's Hollow to rest, recover and plan the next stage of their quest: presenting the Crown of the Forest to The Prince Who Would Be. And probably explaining to him why they killed his mother. 

TOTAL XP 

14250

GAINS

Crown of the Forest [8000xp]

Starblade (Longsword +3, summon starfall 3x day, teleport 1/day)  [2000xp]

Golden Scale Armor of the Half Blood King (Chainmail +3) [2000xp]

Dagger of the Night (Dagger +1, blindness) [600xp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 Jack-in-the-Green

2 Ranine

She Who Wore the Crown of Stars 

LOSSES

Slugs MacKenzie (almost) 

Forest of Wyrd #58 - The Grieving Lady and the Gruesome Guardian

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 6) 

Thrax (Fighter 5)

[Slugs MacKenzie (Hedgefey 1)]

The three fey warriors advanced, swords raised, and the party deployed to meet them. There was immediate surprise when their opponents stated casting spells, and while Thrax and Hobbs shrugged off a number of magical attacks,  Ranza was blinded. In the end the trio were defeated, but it was a long drawn out fight. Taking just a few moments to loot the bodies of a bit of treasure, the party then moved on.   

They didn't get far before noticing an alcove to their right, and opted to investigate. Turning the corner, they observed an unexpected sight; a woman draped over a body lying on a raised stone bench. And the two looked just like the false pair the party had encountered in the room on the first level. Could this be the true Half Blood King and She Who Wore the Crown of Stars? The woman stirred to confront them, demanding to know why they were there. Hobbs tried to explain their quest, to gain the Crown of the Forest for her son, The Prince Who Would Be, so he could rule the Forest. She, however, would hear none of it. After much vigorous discussion, they learned she did not want to burden of kingship placed on her son. She cared nothing for the plight of the Forest or anything else but that her husband lay in peace and her son remain safe. Even trying to convince her that the decision should belong to the Prince didn't sway her, nor did suggestions that the Prince might be in danger or imprisoned against his will. Asked if bringing her husband back to life would change her mind, she replied that it was impossible. The Half Blood King lay under a powerful curse such that while the Green Man lived, the King could not. 

Unsure of how to proceed and still unsure if they'd found the 'true' King, She and Crown, the party took their leave and with She's permission, moved on down the corridor to find a place to rest and recuperate. They discovered the  chamber looped back around to another door where three more fey warriors lay in repose. These they did not disturb, retreating back to a chamber with three curious columns to set up camp. After settling in, they examined the three. Each was carved in a dense mass of images, each depicting a different age of the Forest. Jonesomon drew on his knowledge of history to examine them closely,  looking for clues to their current dilemma. He found hints that the Prince never took up the Crown when his father died due to interference from his mother. No surprise there. He also founds hints that the Prince was being held against his will, rather than safely under guard. Hobbs meanwhile poked around at all the fancy images of knights and Imperator on  the third column, and made a curious discovery. He found hints, when combined with what he already knew about to fall of the Imperator Vilorian II, that suggested the location of the Imperators long lost tomb in the Mountains of Twilight. 

After resting, the party decided to go back and try reasoning with She Who Wore the Crown of Stars once more; and so Ranza could cast detect illusion and detect magic to try confirming they were the 'real' thing. Reasoning didn't work, and She threatened them with the Guardian, whatever or whoever that might be. But Ranza's magic did confirm She and the Half Blood King were real, not illusions again, and the Crown itself radiated magic.  But the party still took their leave, moving back to the north end of the tomb and the great bronze doors that seemed to lead into the central garden. They still weren't convinced they'd found the true King and Crown, having expected to find his royal self laying in repose in a much nicer place than  a half finished alcove. 

Taking a drink from the healing fountain first (which unfortunately did not bring back Ranza's sight), the party threw open the doors. They passed down a wide series of steps into a garden lit dimly by glowing faerie bulbs. A few groves of trees surrounded a large pool, in the centre of which was a small island. And on that island  sat a grotesque figure; a huge. bloated and sickly pale batrachian beast. As the party descended the stairs, it turned and started to sniff the air. It appeared blind, but was able to identify them by smell. And challenged their presence. This they learned was the guardian of which She spoke; although it seemed a curious place for a tomb guardian. While not immediately hostile, the party knew they'd have to fight the grotesque creature eventually, and opted for a preemptive strike. Gnarl used a charge from his new ring of the stone  to successfully turn the creature to stone. Confident in their quick victory, the party moved forward, only to be surprised by a half dozen of the smaller but similar ranine that leap out of the tree cover and into their midst. Very quickly Jonesomon was paralyzed and the others were torn by claw and jaw.  They retreated up the stairs, and Thrax tossed his obsidian steed to Ranza so she and Jonesomon could fly safely above the fray. Meanwhile the changeling also used her wand of bees to summon help, while Slugs hauled out the pipe and magical tobacco to cast a hypnotic cloud about the creatures heads. All this turned the tide, and the remaining creatures were soon cut down. 

After taking a few minutes for first aid, they party spread out to search. Little was found, except a small hollow under the moss covered stone in the lake. From there Thrax hauled a velvet bag with a few gems, jewelry and coin, as well as a curious timepiece, the hourglass of fairy time. But there was no sign of a crown, or another king. 

TOTAL XP 

5237

GAINS

17 shell coins

169sp

Jeweled sword hilt [300sp]

4 gems (100sp, 10sp, 10sp, 50sp)

Bracelet (600sp)

Hourglass of Faerie Time [1500xp] 

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Dark Fey Warriors

5 Ranine

Dumaris the Vigilant 

LOSSES

Ranza's Sight

Jonesomon's Mobility