Forest of Wyrd Session #61 - Into the Temple

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 5)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 6)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 6) and Wattles the Giant Swan 

Thrax (Fighter 5)

Vegarious (Changeling 4) 

Jonesomon (Specialist 5) 

Slugs MacKenzie (Hedgefey 3) [Henchman]

neo-Baihu Cerritulus (Magic User ?) [NPC]

Bagfeed and Cart 

Knowing they could not step into the clearing without attracting the wood woads attention, the party decided to line the edge of the trees and shoot them down with arrows. And hopefully they would not retaliate. Unfortunately for the party, the creatures were not dumb enough to sit there like fish in a barrel, and they advanced in a skirmish line.  Thrax gulped a potion of growth and then battle was joined. The party was able to slay quite a number of the woad before the last few fled back into the woods. The party suffered little damage. That said, Vegarious did end up wracked with pain and agony as her muscles twisted and knotted after one hit from a wood woad.  

Once the clearing was empty, Hobbs flew up onto the roof of the building to keep watch while the rest of the party crossed the field. They first climbed up the raised columnar platform  to an opening at the east end of the temple. Inside they found a pair of statues. One of a rustic looking young woman, obviously human; the second of  lord of Faerie. Jonesomon sized them up for a bit, and declared them to be Crindis the Hidden one and Liadan, daughter of the last High King of the D'war. These, he explained, were the parents of the Half Blood King and thence the grandparents of the Prince Who Would Be. Ranza and Gnarl joined the specialist in a search around and behind the statues, but found nothing of interest.  The still double sized Thrax then proceeded to rip them from their bases, but again nothing was found. 

The party now moved around the colonnade to the front where the main doors were found. These were of some untarnished silver metal, decorated with a carving of three trees with intertwined branches; one red, one black and one green.  After a search for traps, mega-Thrax tapped the doors open. Beyond it was a long narrow chamber, also surround by a raised colonnade. At the end was a black alter or stone overlooked by a tall statue. Details could not be seen in the low interior light. 

But before the party could enter, Hobbs called out a warning from above. Something or someone was rooting about their raft, so the hedgefey launched Wattles into the air to investigate. There he found a wood gnome poking about their supplies. When challenged, the fellow seemed unperturbed and likewise  appeared to know Hobbs. He was in fact Silnor, the wood gone they'd rescued while following the Twilight Path. He agreed to follow Hobbs back to the rest of the party to explain his presence. Silnor it seemed was carved by his father many years before to watch over this refuge of the Prince Who Would Be. He explained that when the Prince was taken away to safety after his fathers death, the three peoples of the wood agreed to each build a refuge for him. The temple was that built by his human followers. Silnor's father was to lead the construction of another refugee from the wood spirits, but something went wrong with both it and the one to be built by Faerie. And somehow through all this, the Prince disappeared. Pushed  for more info, Silnor would tell them little more, even when they professed their goal to bring the Prince back to rule the wood. The wood gnome said only they would need to prove themselves capable and worthy of that quest without further help from him; it was not for him to deliver the Prince into the hands of those who were not able to protect the Prince on their own. He did leave them with a hint to set them in the right direction, reciting a short rhyme:

·         "The Prince burns with the inner fire that drives man. His blood flows as the water that isn't, of which his mother is born. And his soul holds a hint of darkness made real from beyond the veil."

With that cryptic word, the wood gnome turned and headed back into the trees.

Better informed but still confused, the party once more turned back to the temple. Sparking up a light source, they entered the narrow hall and headed toward the stone and statue at the end. The stature was of the Half Blood King  and She Who Wore the Crown of Stars, holding a baby in their arms, presumably the Prince Who Would Be. The black stone on the other hand held a large bronze book stand, on which was the remnants of a large book. In fact just the covers and a few scarps of parchment. Ranza and Jonesomon had big-Thrax lift them up on the inside colonnade to search around the statue. First thing they saw was a trio of small bowls in front of the statue. They were carved of three large gems: blue lapis lazuli, red fire opal and black jet. And carved in the base of the statue was a single line: 

"Fire which is not fire; water which is not water; darkness which has form"

They guessed these bowls had to be filled (with what they didn't know) to let them find the Prince. But for now they turned to their search around the statue. They found nothing, but when Gnarl pulled out his greenstone to search he was able to direct them to a secret door behind the statue.  He could see it lead into a small room with another statue -like object and stairs going down. But before they could get in there, it took some searching to find the way to open the secret door; by twisting the two closest pillars on the inside colonnade. 

Passing into the secret room, they saw that the statute was actually an armorers dummy. Which was surround in the ghostly blue form of armor and a sword. Closer examination gave no other information, so down the stairs they went. Lead by Jonesomon looking for traps, the party shortly found themselves in a chamber lined with black slate. The stones seemed to emit a thin oily mist that drifted about their ankles.  They started to explore, first finding a patch of broken flagstones behind which was a mass of tiny tunnels just a few inches high. But they didn't get a chance to examine them any closer, for at this point a hideous creature of darkness, claws and tentacles emerged out of the wall behind them. It attacked in lashing of claws and tails, as well as a mental blast that alternately caused fear, confusion or paralysis. Luckily most of the party was able to shake off these feeling, although neo-Baihu did succumb and turned in confusion on the party, webbing several of them in place as the monster attacked.  Both she and Jonesomon were later driven into flight from fear as well. 

In the end, the party prevailed, destroying the creature by their combined efforts. With the final blow, the  monster disappeared into mist, which then coalesced into the form of a large black  pearl sitting in  pool of thick oily black liquid. They recovered the pearl, and Gnarl also scooped some of the oily liquid into an empty vial, thinking it may be the darkness to which the rhyme on the alter was referring. He also grabbed a small chip of black stone for the same reason. 

The party then moved on to explore the rest of the greasy maze. They survived an attack by massed rats thanks to Thrax's gust of wind, and were distressed after passing though an area that dispelled all their magic (but thankfully only temporarily.) They then spent some time examining a trio of odd forges. These had no flue or chimney, but burned with a cold black flame. By trial and error they discovered when ashes or burned material was placed in the flame, it would 'burn' it back to into original form. Not sure what that meant in the bigger picture, the party opted to head back to the temple above. It now being late in the evening, there they prepared to set up camp to rest the night. 

TOTAL XP 

5750

GAINS

Giant Black "Pearl" [2000sp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

7 Wood Woad

The Form of Darkness 

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session #60 - Rest, Resupply and Ranging North

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 5)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 6)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 6) and Wattles the Giant Swan 

Thrax (Fighter 5)

Vegarious (Changeling 4) 

Jonesomon (Specialist 5) 

Slugs MacKenzie (Hedgefey 3) [Henchman]

neo-Baihu Cerritulus (Magic User ?) [NPC]

Bagfeed and Cart 

The party settled into the Moon and Mastiff Inn for a couple weeks recovery under the hands of Dafwyn, the matronly healer they'd hired to tend their wounds. Upon recovery, they set to work resupplying basic gear, food and healing potions. For they later they made a trip to the Monastery of the Seven Saints of Wisdom and were fortunate enough to catch them once more at a time when they were willing to speak with those outside their cloister.  They were about to abtain 3 potions of healing. 

Before heading north in search of the Prince Who Would Be, however, they had to take care of two more issues: Ranza's blindness and Thrax's inexplicable love for his crappy missile attracting shield. Asking about town and spending some silver in the taverns gave theme a few leads. There was always the seelie court of King Thorbus and Queen Botsum, where in spite of faerie fickleness they'd had good luck before. Another option they learned of was a manse west of town [02.05], home to the mercurial magician Maltros the Maleficent. And somewhat to their surprise, their old friend/foe neo-Baihu was in town. As a prisoner of the Thayn awaiting judgement on her brigandage. There were also rumors of the witch Luzza who wandered the wilderness north of town. And finally they recalled the Wych of the High Moor, another of the seven daughters of the Green Man, one who was renowned as a great healer and who dwelt relatively nearby in the forested hills to the east [06.06].  Ranza made it abundantly clear she would have nothing to do with any witches. And having just slaughtered her sister, they were not sure of the welcome they'd receive from the Wych of the High Moor. While the magician seemed hopeful as a 'one stop shop', he did constitute an unknown. So they decided to start with Queen Botsum, then move on to Baihu if necessary. 

As evening fell, the party crossed the great white bridge leading to the faerie shee on the north bank of the stream. No one was there to meet them, but a very long and elaborate scroll informed them the toll today was a loaf of fresh baked bread. Backtracking to the Moon and Mastiff, they returned with a steaming loaf and set it on the stone at the end of the bridge. Suddenly a half dozen pixies appeared, flittering about and riding the thermals rising from the bread. They then picked up the bread between them, and made to fly off before Hobbs interrupted and asked for an audience with the King and Queen. This required some convincing, and in the process the pixies managed to trick them out of the strand of Queen Botsum's hair they'd received as a gift. But in they end they were presented to the Seelie Court and once more made their case for help. This proved harder to get this time, and it took a few gifts of jewelry and a large goblet of strawberry cordial from Thrax's robes to convince the Queen to dispel Ranza's blindness.

Opting to not to push their luck and have Thrax's shield-love addressed by the Queen, the party withdrew and instead presented themselves before Thayn Godwin. There they made a case for the recalcitrant magic user neo-Baihu to be released into their custody. After some negations with her victims to determine an appropriate wergild, the Thayn agreed to release  her in return for 1500sp and a promise to keep her from further mischief. Ranza and Jonesomon then headed into the cells below the keep to present the chance at freedom to the magic user. neo-Baihu was quite happy to see Jonesomon again, thinking he was 'her' neo-Jonesomon. The specialist had to make up some story about a blow to the head and memory loss to make sure he didn't give away his true identify, but in the end neo-Baihu joined the party in return for a half share of treasure and the spell book the party had been logging about for ages (bit only at the end of their expedition to free the Prince Who Would Be). They learned quickly however, that  apart from Jonesomon,  she was not about to get too close or too cooperative with any of the party. And she gave Gnarl a wide berth, for in her eyes he ought to be dead. But she did follow through on the bargain, and a successful dispel magic separated Thrax from his shield, which Gnarl then encased in a rock with his ring of the stone to prevent anyone else from being tempted by it.

Now ready to travel once more, the party struck out north under a leaden sky, headed for the banks of the River of Sorrows and the location Eya had given them to find the Prince Who Would Be. The four days they travelled were wet and miserable, but they reached an open bluff high above the river. Below them was a large forested island with several clearings. They could see a building in one, a pool or pond in the other, and at the southern end a small beach protected by a small clutter of rocks. Another cluster of rocks lay upstream, white water raging around them. On the opposite bank a shear cliff rose up from the water, on which there appeared to be large bulbous face. Though whether it was a natural trick of the rock or a poorly carved sculpture they could not tell. And finally, at the base of that cliff where a small stream entered the river, there stood what appeared to be a single pillar or buttress leaning over drunkenly in a patch of boggy ground.  Meanwhile the clearing in which they stood showed signs of a campsite. An old fire ring, a lean too, and so on. Gnarl searched about and figured just a single person had camped here sometime in the the last day or so, but could find no sign of who it was or where he or she had gone. 

Deciding to head straight for the island, the party started to descend the slope to the river's edge to build a raft. About halfway down, Vegarious noted movement to their right. As the party turned, a mixed band of wicked faeire emerged from the trees: buggleburr, hobs and bush imps. A flurry of spells stopped the attackers cold, and after slitting throats the party moved on. It took most of the day to build the raft, and as the sun started to dip low in the west, they had Hobbs' giant swan tow them across the swift current to the island. There they pulled the raft out of the water, tied Bagfeed the mule to a tree and left him there with their cart of worldly goods before headed a few dozen yards into the forest to the building clearing. 

The clearing contained a columned temple-like structure, hemmed in by the forest. The building itself was in perfect condition. But as the party stepped into the clearing to approach, there was a strange quivering of a dozen gnarled oaks around the permitter. From them emerged humanoid figures composed of twisted and burled wood, who raised knotted clubs and advanced on the party. The party retreated, and the figures stopped. They learned by trial and error that the figures would move towards anyone in the clearing, splitting up if necessary to deal with separate parties. So how could they approach the building safely ... ? 

TOTAL XP 

200

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

5 Bush Imps

1 Hob

3 Buggleburr

LOSSES

none