Forest of Wyrd Session #45 - A Change of Pace

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Vegarious (Changeling 3)

As a first order of business, Gnarl passed the crying baby off to Ranza, who wrapped him up in an impromptu sling. The gruff wood gnome knew nothing about babies, there being no such thing in his world. Thrax then pushed open the door behind the pit, and the party walked into a library. Shelves of books lined all the walls, and in the middle of the room was a comfy chair, ottoman and a side table. While the rest of the party browsed the books and selected a few choice titles, Gnarl headed for the chair. On the table was a pipe and tobacco pouch, as well as an open, face down book. The wood gnome scooped up the smoking paraphernalia, and a quick sniff indicated the baccy was magical. He then moved to the book. To his surprise, when he picked it up and turned it over, the book clamped down on his hand with enough force to crush knuckles and draw blood. Ranza came over the help, grabbed the book, pulled it of Gnarl's hand and threw it across the room. She then approached it carefully, and found he tome to be whimpering to itself. Speaking to it calmly and softly, she got the book to talk. It seemed to know a lot, but was not really forthcoming on much useful information. Though the party learned there was a healing pool someone in the river valley below Fortress Iacarta.  But it offered little useful information on the manse, Eya or anything else in their immediate thoughts. 

Ranza carefully placed the book back on the table and then the party moved on to the next room. This room had walls covered in apothecary cabinets, and a quick survey uncovered a range of weird things like rocks, herbs, bones, bits of wax and similar items. Three drawers were locked, so Gnarl went after them with his knife, carving away the wood to get access. This bit of petty destruction was interrupted by two fuzzy bee men who barged in and unfurled into insectoid nightmares which attacked with claw and stinger. These were dispatched with relative ease and the looting continued. In the three locked drawers were found a small crystal vial (8 drops of healing), a round piece of amber carved with the same eye as Thrax's rock, and a small spider in a top hat. Who tried to bite Gnarl and then skittered away until Ranza slammed a cabinet drawer down on top of it to keep it trapped and safely away from them. 

Leaving the spider behind, they moved on again. Having checked most of this level, it was time to head up the stairs to where they hoped to find the pool. Hobbs stepped into the room with the stairs and the buggleburr guards. The two fey goblins didn't seem to pay him any attention, so the badger-man boldly marched over to the stairs and started to climb. At which point the buggleburrs lifted their cranking bars, inserted them into holes on the stairs and started to turn them. Which resulted in the stairs twisting together like grinding gears! Hobbs was nearly crushed but jumped away at the last minute with his lightning fast badger movement.  The buggleburrs then cranked the stairs back open, and went back to standing at the ready. Initially stumped as to what to do, Ranza solved the problem by casting colour spray and knocking out the pair of fey footmen. These were quickly trussed up with their own clothing, and then with Hobbs in the lead, everyone headed up the stairs

The hedgefey no sooner reached the top of the stairs when a familiar voice spoke: "Well, you've finished ransacking my manse have you?" There in the centre of the room, ensconced on a throne in the shape of a giant daisy was Eya. After a few awkward and uncertain moments (during which Eya convinced Hobbs to give back the candlesticks looted from the banquet hall), the fey lord got down to business. Which was finding out what the party's business was in Fortress Iacarta and why they were intent on getting all the seals to access the shadow caverns.  And the best answer they could give was because it was there and they hoped to find great treasure in the caverns. That said, Eya offered them a deal. He was guardian of the caverns. Charged by the lords of fey to keep the shadow wyrm, son of the Black Mother, trapped in the caverns below the keep. If they gave up their quest and turned over the seals, he could in exchange guide them to whatever they desired. And he seemed to already know what they might want; offering treasure of silver and gold; or great magic; or a safe place for the baby cradled in Ranza's arms; or raise the child's mother from the dead; or where to find the true ruler of the Forest of Wyrd to usurp the Earl. The party was somewhat overwhelmed by the offer and the change in circumstances. But in the end opted to make a deal with the strange creature. They were able to negotiate three paths on which to move forward:

• The Autumn Maiden [Hex 15.01]: Looking for a way to keep the baby safe, they first considered and rejected raising Erthis from the dead, fearing she and the child would be rejected by their tribe as both now had the taint of fey. Instead Eya directed them to the realm of the Autumn Maiden, who saved and protected baby's when they were in danger of being kidnapped by the fey. This was the women from Hobbs' vision in the pool of the Woad Chief. She was, they learned, one of the seven daughters of the Green Man and a power of the Forest in her own right. Eya directed them to a cave above the Witches Fingers where they could access her domains. 

• Tomb of the Half Blood King [Hex 01.07]: Eya told of a time after the first men in the Wood, the D'war, had fought the dark fey and driven them back. One of the fey lords, Crindis the Hidden One, had captured the daughter of the High Chief of the D'war. The two fell in love and had a child, who would rule the Forest of Wyrd for a brief time as the Half Blood King. The Half Blood King in turned married one of the seven daughters of the Green Man, but he soon died in battle against his jealous and mercurial father-in-law. The Half Blood King was buried in a hidden tomb infused with the magical power which the party desired. 

• The Prince Who Would Be [Hex 02.02]: Eya's story continued to tell of the son of the Half Blood King and She Who Wore the Crown of Stars. This was The Prince Who Would Be, who carried the blood of all the powers of the Forest (man, fey and wood god) and could rightfully claim to truly lead all the inhabitants of the Forest. On his fathers death, The Prince was sprinted away to safety to await the time when could return and claim the Forest of Wyrd as his own. 

Their deal made, the party turned over the two flower seals which could unlock the shadow caverns. Eya then led them to the Star Pool, readjusted the constellations and reset the time so they could proceed back to the gate and emerge back in the Fortress without any time effects. On the way to the gate, they met the strange girl again, who airily noted it odd that Thrax still lived, and took the eye stone back from the befuddled fighter. And at that, the party passed though the gate to the world they knew best. 

TOTAL XP 

2050

GAINS

Drops of Healing (8)

Tobacco Pouch (2x yellow lemon scented plugs [wall of fog @ 7th level], 3x black licorice and tar [stinking cloud @ 7th level]; 2x red spice and tea [hypnotic pattern]. 

Amber eyeball [250sp]

KILLS/VICTORIES

2 Apina

2 Buggleburr

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session # 44 - Three Men, Two Changelings and a Baby

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Vegarious (Changeling 3)

The party moved into the clearing and at once noticed a group clustered around one of the lean-tos. Getting closer, they could see the crowd included a tall women in black leather; obviously the missing Ravenguard. There were also three clearly inebriated men and a scrawny albino boy. The group turned as the party approached, and they could see the reason for their interest; inside the hovel lay a woman who'd just given birth, the baby balanced on her breast. The Ravenguard and the men eyed the party warily, but the woman in the hovel as ecstatic the see them. She pleaded and begged for them to take her and the baby with them to safety, for she feared the lords of Faerie will come to take the newborn to raise him as a changeling slave. Discussion with the greater group revealed that this was not unknown; people who got stuck here did from time to time disappear. Asked about why they were all still here, the party was told each had taken of the food or wine of Faerie and could not leave. 

At this point, as the women Erthis continued to plead, everyone heard the sound of something approaching through the woods. "It's them" Erthis screamed, and everyone drew weapons and stood on guard. Moments later, a great shadowy creature rose above the treetops, glowering down on them with eyes of cinder. It did not approach closer, but held everyone's rapt attention as it stood there. Everyone except Ranza, who out of the corner of her eye noted movement, and turned to see the albino boy trying to snatch the baby from Erthis. Ranza tackled and pinned the boy to the ground, and moments later the shadow creature disappeared. Questioned, the boy admitted to being a servant of a fey lord, sent to kidnap the baby. The boy (Laskeris) took advantage of the party's arrival to cause a distraction (the shadow monster) and try to get away with the baby. Further questioning revealed nothing of interest, so the boy was released and driven away into the forest. 

Feeling there was nothing new to learn here, the party prepared to go. They tried convincing the Ravenguard to join  them, but she declined, believing herself trapped here in Faerie and saw no need to put herself in danger on the party's behalf. Parting on somewhat bad terms, the party did take Erthis and baby with them, feeding the newborn off milk from Thrax's robe of refreshment in case the mother's milk counted as Faerie-tainted at this point. Leaving the clearing, the party backtracked to return the old hermit to his tree, and then headed for the closest staircase so they could get into Eya's Manse and reset time with the pool. 

They found the staircase rising largely unsupported above a grove of dead trees. The second staircase rose from the west and the two met high above the forest. But nothing else could be seen at the terminus of the stairs. In spite of this, Hobbs, Thrax, and Ranza, plus Erthis and the baby, ascended the stairs while Vegarious, Jonesomon and Gnarl kept watch below. But not for long, for as the party above passed the treetops, the party below noted the trees starting to move and block the stairs. So rather than get separated, the three raced up to rejoin their companions just as the trees were barring the way . 

At the top, there was still nothing visible. Gnarl, reaching into his now dwindling flour supply, tossed a handful forward, which revealed a portcullis. After having it checked by Jonesomon, Thrax threw the gate open and stepped through. He found himself in a room, open to the sky above and with stone walls  lined with flower planters. Everyone else just saw Thrax standing in mid air, but once he gestured them forward into the walled garden, they could see the same. Directly ahead was a door, and to one side another gate. Going to the gate, the party observed this area too was open to the twilight sky above. Much of the space was filled with supports for a platform high above, and covering these supports looked to be a giant bee hive. And at this point, a flight of giant bees appeared and flew towards the party. Arrows took down a few, while Ranza used her wand of bees to initiate some bee on bee action, and before long the remaining attackers retreated back into the hive.

Deciding to avoid fiurther bee attacks, the party headed through the door, entering a foyer with a blue and sliver rug on the floor. A corridor covered in the same rug extended ahead of them, and to the side was a door. Proceeding through the door, they found themselves in a banquet hall. There was a table set with silver candelabra, three bottles of wine and a bowl of dried fruit and nuts. As Hobbs swiped the candelabra, and others grabbed the wine (golden for Ranza, black for Hobbs), Thrax examined some markings on the floor. These looked like footprints, laid out to show the steps of a dance. No one felt like dancing, so they headed through another door instead. Once more, Jonesomon checked for traps and Thrax opened the door. And found himself blinded as the light from Gnarl's light spear was somehow amplified into a shacking blaze in the room. The wood gnome cover most of the spear to block the light, which let him safely look inside. And he found the room was full of mirrors, lining all the walls. Now able to see again, Thrax stepped in to look. When he looked in one of the mirrors though, he suddenly found himself transported inside it and trapped. Being careful not to look directly in any mirrors, Ganrl stepped into the room to help. He found that in addition to seeing Thrax trapped in one mirror, he could see the fighters reflection in another on the opposite wall. He also found the mirror could pivot a bit, and was able to turn the one with the 'reflected' Thrax so that the image disappeared. And then the real Thrax popped out of his prison!

Carefully prodding around the rest of the room, Ranza discovered a door hidden behind one mirror. Thrax opened it a crack, just to take a quick look. In the part of the room visible to the fighter, he could see a spiral staircase winding upwards. Standing next to it were two buggleburrs, tall slender goblins with yellow-green leathery skin, huge eyes and bat-like ears. These were dressed in blue and silver livery, and each held a crank or a lever attached to the staircase in their hands. The pair did not acknowledge Thrax, who pulled his head back and closed the door. Rather than try the stairs right now, the party decided to check the rest of this floor first.

The party backtracked to the foyer and headed down the corridor, stopping at a door halfway down. Just as they did, Thrax felt the carpet give way below his feet, and only quick action by Ranza grabbing his collar stopped the fighter from plummeting to the forest floor (and his likely death) 200' below. And just as they were recovering from that, from the area of the foyer appeared two more buggleburrs. These were armed with large bardiches, and drove at the party swinging their weapons. Unfortunately, Erthis had gotten shuffled to the rear and she was felled by a terrible blow. The baby was luckily unharmed, and while most turned to fight the foe, Gnarl crawled under everyones feet to reach forward and drag the newborn to safety. The two buggleburrs were cut down in short order, and once stripped of a bit of silver coin, were unceremoniously dumped down the hole to the forest below... 

TOTAL XP

927 

GAINS

6sp

2 silver candelabras (300sp each)

1 bottle of Pale Gold Cider

1 bottle of Black Wine

KILLS/VICTORIES

3 Giant Bees

2 Buggleburr

LOSSES

Erthis

Forest of Wyrd Session # 43 - The Fey Tower

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Standing over their fallen foes, the party's first thoughts turned to loot. Unfortunately, neither Shangrat nor the spriggan had anything of value on them. So everyone headed back up to the upper floor of the tower to look for loot in the lair. Hobbs examined the fireplace out of which the spriggan had sprung, but to no avail. Everyone else headed for the giants room to look around there. First order of business was the struggling figure in the burlap sack. Thrax opened it up and out popped a mountain tribesman. They questioned him a bit, but didn't really get much information and simply let him go. Gnarl then used the greenstone of earthseeing to scan the room, and discovered a hidden space behind one of the massive stones that made up the outer wall. Setting up the block and tackle, they were able to shift the stone enough for Hobbs to squeeze in. The hedgefey passed out bags of coin, a pair of potions and a curious black figurine that looked something like a horse. Thrax claimed this, and seeing the work 'trigger' on the bottom, read this out loud. Immediately, the object transformed into a massive black horse, breathing smoke and fire bursting from it's hooves as it stamped on the flagstones. Thrax jumped on, and the beast flew off the top of the tower and circled the Fortress, allowing the fighter to inventory the tops of all the towers. 

Mightily impressed, Thrax returned to pick up the rest of the crew one by one, and transported them all to the top of the next square tower. The mysterious one of which they could learn little. Thrax turned the horse back into figurine form, and everyone turned their attention to the stairs. While the way seemed open, there was a sign and sense of a strange shimmering translucency blocking both staircases. They first consulted the quilt, which suggested passing through this 'curtain' would cause no physical harm. They then experimented by lowering various objects through it; Thrax's troll head on the whip, his old sword on a rope, and a rock on a rope. The troll head (and part of the whip) simply disappeared, while the sword instanting returned to the scabbard from which had been drawn, and the rock simply came back with no change. Gnarl also hunted down a rat and used charm and speak with animals to question it about the tower. The rodent could only confirm what they already knew; things and creatures went in sometimes and never come back out. It did describe some of the beasts that it had seen emerge, including one that matched the description of Eya from the rearguard tower. 

There was obviously something off about this tower, but in the end the party decided to risk it and cross the threshold. And at once found themselves in a brooding dark forest, under a deep twilight sky filled with strange stars. Behind them was a stone door standing in the midst of the forest (which when open revealed the staircase which they'd descended), which ahead of them in the distance a pair of stone staircases rose into the sky to meet high above the treetops. The party started to move towards the stairs, but then noticed just a short distance away a small girl playing in the dirt. She had long blond hair and wore a simple linen shift. When hailed, she responded with a mix of precise response and vague wonderings. Sometimes before answering she would also creepily twist her head 180 degrees, and flip her hair over to reveal a second face hidden under her tresses.  She referred to herself simply as Girl, and answered no questions about who she was and where she came from. Probed about where 'here' was, she told them it was the faerie domain of the Lord of Nightmares. Asked about the missing flower seal which they sought, she quickly said the old hermit to the east had it. Asked what she was doing here, she said simply she was 'waiting for the one who would die', then walked over the Thrax and handed him a stone painted with a demonic eye. And turned to wander off into the forest. 

No one was sad to see her leave, and next planned to go track down the hermit. But first went looking for Thrax's troll. It proved easy to track a troll pulling itself along the ground by its lips, but the path soon showed signs of the beast regenerating its body and limbs very quickly. The trail ended in a swamp, and everyone decided it was not in their interest to go hunting what could now be a fully grown troll. So turning back, they followed the path leading to the hermit. The faint trail eventually disappeared under the boughs of a large pine tree. A small patch of cobbles pressed into the turf marked the entrance under the bows. Ranza stepped forward to check the patch for traps, but suddenly the cobbles pulled out of the ground to assemble into a humanoid form. In attacked Ranza, and the rest of the party rushed to help, soon knocking the thing back into a formless pile of stones. 

Passing now under the boughs, the party found themselves in a shaded clearing. At the base of the pine was a hollow that led under the roots. When Hobbs called out, an old man emerged from the hole and gestered them forward. He seemed happy to talk, but instantly disappointed the party by telling them he didn't have the flower seal. He confirmed they were in the domain of Eya Lord of Nightmares, whose manse stood at the top of the stairs they could see rising above the forest. The man also cautioned them to not eat or drink anything they found here, as that would trap them in Fairie forever,  just like him. He also warned them that time did not move the same here in Faerie. If they avoided food or drink, they could pass back through the door at anytime, but there was no way to know how much time would have passed on the other side in their absence. Asked if there was anything that could be done to avoid this time trap, the hermit told them a magical pool in Eya's manse would allow them to reset time by resetting the reflection of the stars to that which existed at the moment they entered Faerie.  The party also inquired about others in the area, and the old man indicated there was a small camp of others who were trapped here. He wasn't sure who was there now; they changed frequently as some found ways to escape, wandered off, or are carried off the the fey. Asked if he would guide them there, he agreed to do so if they would return him to his tree safe and sound. As they left, there were some apologies from the party for killing is guardian at the entrance, but the hermit waved it off saying the cobbleman would be back. 

The old hermit led them back past the door and in the same general direction they'd followed the troll trail. After some time he stopped and pointed, and in a clearing ahead they could see a small collection of hovels and lean-to's ...

TOTAL XP

6410

GAINS

2300cp

2400sp

Potion of Speed

Potion of Clairaudience 

Obsidian Steed

KILLS/VICTORIES

Cobbleman

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session # 42 - Shangrat's Fall

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Vegarious (Changeling 3) 

The party look leave of the Queen of Ravens and were once more escorted blindfolded out of the tower. There the Ravenguard left them, and the party had to decide what to do next. General agreement was to explore the surface fortress further. Since they knew Shangrat the fomorian giant had one of the seals to access the hidden areas below the fortress, they decided his tower was the first place to visit. But only after first checking the curious black flame Thrax had just observed off towards the ruined keep. It emerged from a narrow crack in the flagstone, and behaved just like a normal flame, except that it was jet black and produced no heat. Thrax did note it imparted some sort of strange property to a dagger he thrust into it, but this was indistinct and disappeared after a few moments. 

Leaving this new wonder for now, the party trekked through the tumbled ruin of the fortress town to Shangrat's tower at the far eastern end of the fortress. The massive rectangular tower loomed over the party, and the 20' wide entrance led into pitch darkness. Snooping around the barest remnants of the original gates, Hobbs noted tracks of two different types of humanoids. One obviously the giant and the others smaller and closer to human size. There were also signs of a four legged creature, though the exact type was uncertain. Lighting a lantern, the party formed up and headed inside. The entrance led into a massive room with ceilings and walls lost in darkness. Scattered around was nothing but a fallen and rotted lacework of old wooded racks and frames. Moving in further, the party entered a second oversized room that had once been divided into many smaller spaces by wooden walls; Gnarl surmised this was likely once a stable for the garrison. 

At this point Vegarious, at the rear of the party, heard something behind them. Turning, she saw a huge black feline with tentacles extending from each shoulder. It, like the shade hounds in the colossus, seems to shimmer or waver, it being never clear exactly where the creature was standing. This thing leapt past the changeling and fell upon Gnarl, slashing  ferociously with the barb-tipped tentacles. At the same time, the strange black kitten he'd purchased at the Goblyn Fair poked it's head out of it's basket and started the mewl. Reeling, the wood gnome released the kitten, which bounced over to his attacker. That placated the beast. and the pair started to move away. But Gnarl was not about to let his pet go, and enticed it back with toys and treats. Which likewise brought back the larger beast, and a short vicious melee was required to finally kill it (out of sight of the kitty of course). It would seem Gnarl had a very interesting pet. 

The party finished exploration of the entry level, finding nothing more of interest beyond an abandoned forge and more debris. A pair of stone staircases led up to another abandoned and ruined serious of rooms, these apparently old barracks. Beyond a serious a large fireplaces, all long cold and dim, they found a nest or bed of sorts make of boughs, rags and moss. While rooting around in it, the party heard behind them a shrill voice, demanding to know what they were up to. Turning, the observed a creature with a wizened little body and a huge, grossly ugly head. After some back and forth evasive banter, the creature screwed up it's face into a frightening visage, scaring several of the party into stunned stupors. Gnarl, now recognizing this thing as a spriggen like the once he'd fought in the black tower so many moons ago, hauled out his spear and with one swift thrust impaled and killed the dark fey. 

After unsuccessfully ransacking the nest and the fireplaces for treasure, the party headed up to the next level. Vegarious first cast invisibility to scout ahead. She crept up the stairs, and just beyond the top landing came upon the giant Shangrat. He sat on the floor of a room lit by a blazing warm fire, cracking and twisting bones open to suck out the marrow. In the corner was someone or something, occasionally wiggling back and forth, tied up in a canvas sack, The changeling retreated and went to get reinforcements, and the rest of the party climbed up to the top of the stairs. There, they stood whispering back and forth for a bit, trying to decide what to do. The out of giant's room boomed a voice "I know you're there. Why do you disturb Shangrat?" Now caught, the party decided to parley. Although Thrax nearly got them squished with his banter, they did in the end talk the giant into trading the bronze aster (which they could see stuck in his ear like an earing) for the bear statue Hobbs had been hauling around forever. 

Now made the feel unwelcome by the giant, the party turned to leave. After checking the roof of the tower, they talked about what to do next. Gnarl rightly pointed out that they had the seal, but giant's were also known to hoard treasure. And there was that captive who just might be of importance. Maybe a carefully laid ambush to take out the giant was the best course of action? No one could think of a really good reason why killing the giant was a bad idea, so they got to work. Looping back to the lower level, Gnarl crept up the second set of stairs and laid a snare spell there on the landing. He, Ranza and Hobbs then set up defenses at he bottom of the stairs. Vegarious, still invisible, lurked in the shadows at the head of the stairs while Thrax headed up to the roof too make sure nothing appeared there to take them from behind. Vegarious then caused a ruckus, attracting Shangrat's attention. The giant thundered across the tower towards the stairs, and tripped over the snare,  tumbling down into a stunned heap at the bottom. Gnarl, Hobbs and Ranza then took advantage of the battered giant and charged in to attack.  Vegarious, and soon Thrax as well, ran down the stairs to help. At this point, another spriggen appeared behind Gnarl, Hobbs and Ranza. After first scaring Ranza into inaction, it swelled up to near giant size and started to press hard against the remaining two. At about the same time, Shangrat recovered his wits, and lashed out with his weapon, a tree trunk studded with swords to form a giant spiked club. Between Shangrat and the spriggen, it was starting to look grim, especially for the battered Hobbs and Gnarl. But in spite of all, they soon succeeded in landing final blows on  both and brought the battle to an end ...

TOTAL XP

2240

GAINS

Bronze Aster Seal (20sp)

KILLS/VICTORIES

Phase Tiger 

2 Spriggan (Ollo and Grunk)

Shangrat the Fomorian Giant 

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session #41 - The Queen of Ravens

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Vegarious (Changeling 3) 

https://www.deviantart.com/fae-photography/art/The-Morrigan-574769825

The party (less Thrax and Ranza) stood their ground as the two figures approached. The pair were women, tall and dressed in black leather, while overhead circled a small flock of ravens. Once close enough, the two assumed a wary, but not threatening, stance and greeted the party. After some puzzlement about the tree, and inquiry into the party's business here in the ruined fortress, the two invited them back to the large tower to meet with their leader, the Queen of Ravens. The party demurred for now, interested more in getting the tree back to Allisan and ensuring Ranza was going to survive. The women allowed them to leave without interference, but instructed them to come see the Queen next time they visited the fortress. Meanwhile, while the women were distracted by the conversation, Gnarl had slyly cast charm animal and speak with animal  on one of the ravens to learn more. He got the impression from the corvid that the Queen meant the party no harm. But she feared both the shadow powers and the shapeshifters, and might be looking for allies to support her. He also learned something of the rest of the fortress; that the creatures of shadow dwelt somewhere below, a fomorian giant named Shangrat lived in the most distant square tower, and some mysterious ancient power inhabited the strange twin tower next to the wood.

Taking leave of the women, the party descended the switch back road once more. They were rejoined by the speedy Thrax, who had successfully delivered the stricken Ranza into the care of Allisan and Mikan. And reassured Mikan that the healthy sapling was on it's way, as it was obvious even to Thrax that Allisan was waning rapidly. The party crossed the river again and, finding that the mystical tower of rest had reappeared, settled there for the night before continuing on to rejoin Ranza at the tree house. There Mikan greedily took the sapling and planted it next to the house, vowing to build it into the structure once it was strong enough. He thanked the party, and told Thrax he could keep the Blade of the East Wind in gratitude. 

The party now was in a bit of a predicament. Rent was due on their home and the two henchman guarding it needed to be paid as well. So they would need to leave the valley and the fortress behind for now and return to Brakenrae. But Ranza was in no shape to travel. So she opted to stay with Allisan and Mikan while the rest recovered the raft to go south, take care of business and resupply, then return to continue exploration of Fortress Iacarta. Ranza also took this opportunity,  now that her brash and socially inept comrades were gone, to question Mikan some more about the area and his own past. The woodsman, more relaxed now than Allisan was on the mend, opened up a little to the changeling. He told her his secret; that he was a skinchanger who'd turned his back on that life when he met Allisan. He told here too about the Queen of Ravens; she was a skinchanger as well. The Raven was one of the totem animals of the mountain tribes; typically it was the only totem woman could use to become skinchangers. It appears the Queen of Ravens had turned on the tribes and somehow taken or claimed the totem as her own, and there was no love lost between them. Ranza filed that information away to pass on to the rest of the party when they returned .

The party itself recovered the raft and descended the river without interference. Stopping in Wickerwood along the way, however, they were shocked to find the town burned. Seeking out Sister Taritha, they learned Nimon the Gloaming Lord had descended upon the town with an army of ogres, buggleburrs, hobbs, other other fey. She didn't know why, and the fey lord didn't seem interested in taking anything. Just burning and pillaging it seemed. The party, somewhat sheepishly, stayed around for a bit to help and gave non-committal answers to the Sister's hints for help in dealing with The Gloaming Lord. But for now they were focused on the matter at hand; getting back to Brackenrae, which they reached the next day. 

After first checking in on the house and paying rent and wages, the party headed into town to shop and get news. In particular, they wondered if Nimon wasa threat here as well. Maybe the fey lord had his eyes on Brackenrae? It didn't seem so; there was no news to match that from Wickerwood. They did hears rumors of Skarling raiders on the roads around Twitten's Hollow, as well as mysterious knights on flying horses harassing travelers in the same area. These strangers were looking for someone or something, and would say only they were servants of the Pallid Queen.  

The party also went shopping for regular supplies, plus potions from Jaskin. When Thrax stopped in to see the irritable alchemist though, he was surprised to be upbraided by the man for Gnarl's overdue accounts. [At about the same time, Jonesomon was accosted by a pair of thugs accusing him of cheating them at cards a few days before.] It would appear their time twins were still about and causing grief for them. In any case, Thrax acted dumb and was able to spend much of the party's cash on a series of potions: 2x healing, extra healing, growth, and plant control. 

Business complete, the party headed north once more, stopping again at Wickerwood along the way and helping out a little to assuage their guilt.  Reaching Mikan and Allisan's, they found Ranza now fit and fully functional, and so they prepared to head back up the valley. There was some talk of going to see the witch, and give her the Book of Seven Souls in return for information. But for now they decided instead to go see the Queen of Ravens. They made it to the fortress without incident, and appeaching the Queen's tower, were met again by two woman. Whether they were the same two they could be sure. But the pair were aware of the party and their invitation. But they would not let them inside unless all were blindfolded; they did not fully trust the party yet. The group somewhat reluctantly agreed, and found themselves led blind into the tower. On the ground floor they were led carefully across a wood floor or walkway, then up the stairs to a level that smelled of birds and droppings, and sounded of ravens. Then another set of stairs through a non-descript area, and up a final stairway. There the blindfolds were removed and they could see around. They were in  large chamber, closed in by thick black velvet curtains. Overhead hung a massive iron chandelier blazing with hundreds of candles, while the floor was strewn with pillows and carpets. Lounging on a massive pile of pillows was a very tall, beautiful woman with long black hair, flanked by a trio of giant ravens. She introduced herself as Eileria, Queen of Ravens. She questioned the party, trying to gage their trustworthiness. To their own questions she gave truthful yet reserved answers, confirming in more detail what Gnarl already knew from questioning the raven and Ranza knew from talking to Mikan. They already knew about her enmity toward the skinchangers and the shadows; as for Shangrat the fomorian giant, she was non-committal but wouldn't complain if he were to disappear. They also learned that the other square tower in the curtain wall was a mystery; she'd lost a Ravensguard in there already and could offer no information other than be wary of whatever may lay there.

Speaking more about the ruined keep, she told them it blocked access to the caves below where the shadow creatures dwelt. It was sealed by someone (fey?) to keep the most dangerous shadow creatures imprisoned there; though as the party already knew there were ways for the lessor creatures to get our an wander the valley and fortress. She explained it could be opened by three seals; a golden poppy, a silver rose and a bronze aster. The giant Shangrat had one, though she knew not where the others lay. 

In the end, the party and the Queen came to an agreement on cooperation. The party was welcome to make use of the tower as a refuge while they explored the fortress as long as they brought no danger back with them. She would also help and support their goals as much as possible as long as she could call on them for the same when needed.

TOTAL XP

0

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

none

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session # 40 - Book & Bramble

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Jonesomon (Specialist 5)

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Next morning, Hobbs suddenly remembered the rusty dagger from the offal cavern. He dug it out and poked at it a bit, discovering the pommel could be removed. And when he did so, out rolled a huge ruby. Useless junk indeed!

That done, once every else was up and prepared, the party descended once more to explore the tower below, making their way down the hillside covered in an overnight snowfall. At the base, Gnarl used the Greenstone of Earthseeing to search along the cliff face looking for secret places. Finding none, the party entered the tower. There was no wind (or invisible assailants) this time, and the party started to search along the floor. They soon found a loose flagstone, which when pried up revealed a narrow shaft. A dropped torch showed it was about 60' deep, so Hobbs was lowered down with a rope to have a look (the shaft was too narrow for any of the larger folks). At the bottom was a box, fitted so tightly into the shaft that hinge and padlock were barely accessible. Further inspection by Gnarl revealed it was made of lead, and was incredibly heavy. Possibly impossible to lift even if they could somehow get a rope around it. Instead, the wood gnome jammed an iron spike through the latch, and the party then rigged the block and tackle to generate enough force to snap off the lock (but only after consulting the quilt of augury to ensure it was safe to do so). After a few false starts, they succeeded and Hobbs once more went down into the hole. Carefully opening the lid, inside he found a sheet of parchment and a rectangular object wrapped in purple cloth.

Hobbs brought the objects back to the surface. On the parchment was written, in fine penmanship and perfect Common, the following: "Are you sure you want this? Be careful what you do with it". Humm. The object was found to be a book, bound in a cover of woven spider silk. Ranza volunteered to have a look, and although she really couldn't read much of it, she understood enough to confirm it was a tome of incantations and rituals for the witches' wood gods, and was the Book of Seven Souls they had been seeking. 

The party considered heading immediately to the witch and trade the book for more information. But in the end decided they should finally breach the fortress to carry out an initial scouting mission and recover Allisan's sapling. But first, they would retreat to the magical tower if available (it proved not to be) or the colossus to get a nights rest. Something about this ruined tower creeped them out even more than the shade hounds at the colossus. Once there, the giant eagle Elsivar greeted them and announced the hatching of her egg. She was in a good mood with the birth of her hatchling, and gladly ferried everyone up to the statues chest cavity, where they were fortunate to avoid any shade hounds and settled into the secret room for the night. 

Next day they headed up the valley towards the fortress. Fording the river and avoiding the ruined bridge, they found themselves standing at the base of the 500' cliff atop which perched Fortress Iacarta. There was some talk of climbing the rockslide formed by the collapsed wall and cliff, but no one wanted to risk the donkeys by crawling up that way or leaving them behind. So they instead picked up the switchback road that lead from the fallen bridge and up onto the plateau. All went well for the first little while. But then about halfway up, a sharp eyed Hobbs observed something leap off the ruined bridge tower below them. As it got closer, he could see it was a shadowy form in the shape of a winged lion. I swooped down on the rear of the column, lashing out with tooth and claw. It also proved difficult top hit, phasing in and out of position. But enough blows connected to knock it out of the sky. Examining the corpse, it looked in substance and style very similar to the shade hounds they'd fought back at the colossus. 

Continuing, the party reach the front gate of the Fortress without further incident. Rather than enter by the open gate, they opted to skirt around the ruined tower to their right and scramble over the fallen wall into the interior of the fortress. Inside, they observed there were four massive towers still largely intact and set into the outer wall; two round and two rectangular,. Against the face of the mountain was the tumbled ruin of a keep, while east of that was the fallen ruins of the small trade town that once stood inside the walls. And finally on the north side of that was a small grove of trees and another smaller tower. Assuming that was where they'd find Allisan's tree, the party headed that way. Along the way they examined a triumphal arch, carved with martial figure and topped with a weatherworn eagle & dragon statute. Once they reached the wood, they could see it was more a jumbled grove, thick with brambles and undergrowth. Meanwhile, they also noticed the tower alongside it was quite unusual. It was actually two towers, one square and ancient, the other round and somewhat more recent. But still older than the rest of the fortress. But ignoring those structures for now, the party plunged into the thicket behind Gnarl, who'd cast a find plant spell to quickly home in on the oak sapling. 

Thanks to Gnarl, it did not take long to find the healthy young tree in the middle of the maze. But as they pushed forward the last few yards, suddenly the brambles around them detached from the surrounding trees and coalesced into vaguely rotund humanoid figures. These raised arms and lashed out, driving poisoned thorns into Thrax and Ranza who'd been walking point. Ranza was hit badly enough to become entirely engulphed by one of the black brambles and it drove poison thorns deeper and deeper into the changelings flesh. The others tried to help her, but it was almost impossible to hit the creature without hurting her as well. It expired (and the other black bramble retreated) just as Ranza lapsed into unconsciousness. Thrax immediately leapt into action, grabbing Ranza and usied his sword to wind walk the two of them. This staunched the bleeding and stabilized her, then he rose into the air on raced south with her, hoping to get the changeling to Mikan and Allisan's in time to save her. 

The others dug up the sapling and dragged themselves, bitter and glum, out of the thicket. Once they emerged, they noticed a pair of figures standing outside the massive round tower to their south. They watched the party for a few moments, and then began to approach ... 

TOTAL XP 

1775

GAINS

Ruby (800sp) 

Book of Seven Souls

KILLS/VICTORIES

Silent Guardian 

Black Bramble

LOSSES

Ranza (almost)

Forest of Wyrd Session # 39 - Eya and the Cookie Wookie

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 4)

Rising in the late morning the next day, the party headed out into the heavy rain and wind, climbing up to the tree line to make their way north to the tower where they suspected the Synarian Beast had laired. Thy arrived in late afternoon, looking down on the tower from the hill above. The tower itself was partially built into the rock of the hillside, and there were signs of a faint trail leading onto it from above. Thrax scouted ahead, finding nothing on the top of the tower except a locked wooden door leading into the side of the hill. Looking down over the crenellations, he could also see a trail leading up the hillside to the base of the tower. 

The rest of the party joined the fighter; on close examination the door proved to be locked. But not too securely, as Hobbs managed to spring the mechanism with ease. The party debated a few moments whether they should enter, all getting a bad feeling about the situation. But finally, tired of the wind and rain, they boldly barged forward and stepped inside. A short passage led to a room of sorts. While there was the sense of it being a room, it was actually the scene of an infinite brooding dark forest under strange stars in a deep twilight sky. A stone door stood free in the midst of the forest, and to one side was a throne carved of stone. On it sat a short, squat figure with purple skin, hair of wildflowers and legs that ended in cloven hooves. The figure greeted the party, introducing himself as Eya. But that was about all they were able to get out of him (it?) Eya proved evasive, yet probed them with questions about their purpose here and what they feared. The party avoided answering the questions, especially the second as they suspected a trap. But Thrax did let it slip he feared empty cookie jars and teddy bears more than anything in the world. Eya also proved a master of illusion ,shifting form as he talked to disorient and confuse the party. When asked about the Book of Seven Souls that the witch told them was in this tower, he pulled the book out from the throne flipped through it then flippantly tore it into shreds and tossed it to the floor. 

Feeling they were seeing nothing but illusion and simultaneously irritated by, and fearful of, Eya, Gnarl led the party to the stone door and pulled it open. It led into a natural cavern and the party crowded in and closed the door behind them. This they suspected was the lair of the Synarian Beast, and here they hoped to find it's treasure. The first room they encountered however was filled with offal and bit of rotting flesh, fur and bone. They smell was atrocious and Thrax lost his supper. Ranza, however, did not a glint of treasure and carefully fished a gold ring out of one of the piles. But the party opted to not disturb the rest for now, instead moving on. 

In the next cavern they found a strange crystal 'cyst' on the wall, along with scattered remains of  crystal shards from broken cysts on the floor. Inside the cyst swirled a multi-coloured mist. The party tried a number of tricks to remove the cyst from the wall. But in the end, all they did was break and release the mist. This temporarily filled most of the cavern, and when it cleared it left behind a giant ceramic cookie jar. Out of which erupted a huge furry humanoid, almost 10' tall and equip with a deadly array of claws and teeth. It charged forward, and Thrax struck it with his sword; said sword unfortunately stuck in the creature and was yanked from the fighters hand. Ranza responded with hypnotism,  and was successful in calming the strange brute by suggesting that it do no harm to them. That left the problem of the magic sword still struck in it's side, but Ranza once more was able to convince the beast to let them remove it and they would heal him. Which they did.  Ranza then had the creature sit and rest, while the party headed out to explore more of the caverns, confident the had placated the savage beast. 

They discovered an opening that led out onto the hillside and overlooked the valley below. Ignoring that, they continued through the caverns down a series of twisting passages. At one interaction, the floor collapsed under Thrax and dumped him into a sinkhole. One, he noted, with no other entrance or exit. In another cavern they found stalactites and stalagmites; though on closer inspection the stalagmites were found to be piles of excrement. 

Finding nothing else of interest, the party returned to the offal cavern. This time in was Ranza who started upchucking while the rest of the party turned to sift through the rotting and festering material. They did recover a number of items: gold rings; a locket; several hundred mixed coins; a rusty dagger inscribed with devotionals to St Bilian, patron saint of lost causes; a silver seal in the shape of a rose; and a large green gem. On close examination, this gem proved to be magical; Gnarl learned this Greenstone of Earthseeing  allowed him to see through solid rock for a short time, though the process did temporarily blind him each time. But of more immediate interest was a roaring sound from the next cavern; it seemed their furry foe/friend had shaken off the effects of Ranza's spell. The monster burst in and started to slash and bite. The party responded with their swords, while Ranza blinded the creature. In short order and with surprisingly little damage to themselves, the party felled the fearsome teddy bear.  

Leaving the dead beast and offal smell behind, the party headed back through the caverns so Gnarl could use the greenstone of earthseeing to search for any hidden rooms or treasure. Alas, it was to no avail as nothing was found. The party now returned through the door to Eya's lair, but were not overly surprised to find him gone. There was nothing left but an empty room and a pile of moldering books (which did not contain the Book of Seven Souls). Gnarl used the greenstone again to look for hidden things but again found nothing.  Still convinced there was more to be found, they party moved into the tower itself to search. The tower was simply an empty shell, and around the inside wall a stone stair looped down towards the bottom. The other notable point was the vicious wind; much greater than expected event given the outside gale and the poor condition of the tower. And then, as the party got halfway down the stairs, they were struck by some sort of invisible creatures. Tottering on the narrow perch, Thrax used his sword's gust of wind to push them back, while Gnarl tossed a leftover flour bombs to make their foes visible. The wood gnome was successful, and a pair of humanoid figures were outlined for them. Once was fairly quickly slain, and the other fled through an opening in the side of the tower. 

It now getting late, and with everyone more than a little tied, the party opted to retreat to the room above and rest for the night before proceeding. 

TOTAL XP 

3359

GAINS

136sp & 113cp

4 golden rings [25sp each]

Silver chain with golden locket and blue gem [600sp]

Curved dagger etched with devotionals to St. Bilian, the patron saint of lost causes [0sp]

Silver Rose Seal [20sp] 

Greenstone of Earthseeing [800xp] 

KILLS/VICTORIES
The Cookie Wookie

1 Windwalker

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session # 38 - The Synarian Beast

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 3)

The party gathered their treasure and put their minds once more to dealing with the giant eagle nesting in the head above. Based on the legionary standard they'd just recovered, Hobbs thought there might be some connection between the eagle and the long fallen Imperium. So Thrax was dressed in a legionary uniform stripped from one of the men in statis, and placed the standard on the end of a spear. Then standing in the chest opening, he sounded the bugle to get the eagles attention. Which it did, the avian once more flying down to confront the party, but refraining from pecking eyes and  entrails for the moment. Gnarl then cast speak with animals to open conversation. They learned they eagle knew nothing of the Imperium, so Thrax was able to change back into his usual clothes. The eagle (Elsivar) was quite intelligent, and the party learned this as her usual nesting site. She currently had an egg in her care. And her biggest worry was a creature known as the Synarian Beast, a scintillating winged thing she feared would destroy her egg or young fledgling once it hatched. She was quite interested in making a deal with the party; she would help be their eyes and ears if they would destroy the Beast. She also offered her treasure, half now and half after  the Beast was dead. She agreed they could use the colossus as a refugee, but warned the shade hounds frequently appeared in the darkened room by some unknown means. 

The party agreed, but informed Elisixar they must rest and prepare first. The eagle departed, and as it was now evening, the party decided to take their chances here in the colossus. They barred themselves in the secret alter room for the night; a good plan as they could hear a shade hound sniffing outside their door during the night. It unfortunately was still lingering in the morning, for it emerged and howled just as the the party was exiting the chest cavity via rope. Hobbs and Ranza were already on the ground, but Gnarl was just starting to descend and Tharx still stood rear guard. The howl once more drove Thrax mad, and he bulled past Gnarl to escape down the rope. The wood gnome, being made of stern stuff but muttering some unkind words for the big human warrior who nearly plummeted him to his death, escaped unaffected. 

Once safe and away, the party headed for the refuge tower to rest a few days and let Ranza recover from her grievous wounds. Unfortunately it was not there when they arrived, and in fact there was no sign of there ever being a tower there. They decided to push on and return to Mikan and Allisan's cabin to rest in safety. They were once more greeted kindly, though Mikan was somewhat gruff when he learned they hadn't even been near the fortress yet, let alone recovered the sapling for Allisan. They stayed quite a few days as Ranza needed a long rest, and they also obtained three more healing poultices from Allisan before heading out again. They climbed back up the hillside to avoid the trolls in the valley, and headed back to the colossus to meet Elsivar. By this time they'd figured the Synerian Beast must nest somewhere in or around the valley's northernmost tower, and that tower was their ultimate goal. They received from Elsivar part of her treasure (a wand of bees claimed by Ranza)  and then settled into the secret room once more to rest the night. But of course only after once more dealing with the shade hound which once more turned Thrax into a quivering bowl of fear. But it was driven off with no further issue. 

Once more their rest was disturbed though,  but this time by a racket outside. They heard Elsivar and some other creature screaming at each other, and the sound of massive wings cut the night. The party, thinking perhaps the Synerian Beast had come to them as it did in the refuge tower, bust out of the room and headed out to look. Indeed, in the sky above they could see the giant eagle and a scintillating draconic creature circling each other. The appearance of the party seemed to spook the Beast, and it broke away and flew off to the north. The party scrambled to the top of the statue with Elsivar's help, and prepared a trap for the beast. The giant eagle flew off to grab a deer from the forest to use as bait to lure the beast back, then flew out of site so as to not spook the flying creature with it's presence. The party then raised a racket, and soon the Beast did return. It cleverly did not land in the middle of the trap, however, instead clinging onto the edge of the colossus and biting viciously down on Hobbs. Thrax guzzled a potion of heroism, Ranza used her new wand of bees to summon some help and Gnarl laid down a snare and stumble  on top of the colossus's head. Unfortunately, the kaleidoscopic scales of the Beast caused great confusion, and most of the bees turned to attack the party. As Hobbs continued to get chomped, Ranza blinded the Beast. This caused it to get confused and disoriented, such that it stumbled into snare/stumble. There, momentarily pinned and helpless, it soon met it's end under the combined blows of the party, and the body crashed to the earth below.

Elsivar now emerged to cry her thank, and offered over the rest of here treasure; a series of gems hidden inside a hollow human femur. Gnarl recovered from trophies (hide, scales and teeth) from the Beast and then the party got ready to settle in again and rest after a battle well fought. 

TOTAL XP

5720

GAINS

Gems (10sp, 3x75sp, 2x750sp)

Wand of Bees

KILLS/VICTORIES
The Synarian Beast

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session #37 - Into the Colossus

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 3)

Vergarious (Changeling 3)  

The rest of the night passed without further interruption, and at dawn the next day the party started plotting a plan to access the colossus. Hopefully without disturbing/attracting the attention of whatever laired in the head. In the end. Thrax made use of his potion of polymorph to transform into a hippogriff and carry the party one by one to the open chest cavity. Last up was the invisible Ranza, and at this point a giant eagle head appeared in the eye opening above. But it was content to just stare at the coming and goings, and shortly after ducked back from whence it came.

The party found themselves inside a rather cramped space, from which other passages led off in cardinal directions. Scattered on  the floor were broken and weather-worn pieces of glass, apparently from a window or lens that once filled the chest opening. There was also a scattering of strange brass mechanisms and gears on the ceiling and wall, and a tarnished round metal plate on the back wall. After close examination of all the bits and pieces, the party surmised this formed some sort of viewing or signaling device.  As a backup, there was a tarnished brass bugle hanging on the wall. Vergarious cast detect magic on the room but discovered nothing of importance. 

Turning now to explore further, quick glances down the three narrow passages revealed they shortly ended in rooms. Except one to the left, which ended in a solid wall of darkness. So the party headed there first. Gnarl sparked up his light spear, and pushed it into the room. Surprisingly, it barely pieced the darkness, lighting just a tiny sphere with faint light. Then suddenly from that darkness errupted a ghastly baying, making everyone recoil in fear and driving Thrax into flight through the western passage. Then from the darkness emerged two shadowy hounds, with glowing red eyes and jaws that took up most of their heads. These leapt at Gnarl and Ranza standing in the corridor. As the rest of the party prepared to wade in, the second hound howled and drove Vergarious and Hobbs into flight, leaving just the changeling and wood gnome in the fight. One hound tore viciously  into Ranza, causing massive damage and forcing her to back away. Her colour spray also had little effect. But she and Gnarl held the line, and the two hounds were soon slain. They then went in search of the missing three. Thrax was found climbing a set of stairs which led both up and down the height of the statue; he reported it was blocked at the bottom by the same rockslide they'd seen outside. A quick check above revealed a mess of sticks and stuff; likely the bottom of a nest belonging to whatever lurked above.  

Vergarious and Hobbs were found cowering in the comer of a small room, which itself presented a strange sight. The walls were covered in murals of Imperium legionnaires on the march, while seated about a small table  were four real legionnaires. They appeared true to life, and close examination suggested they were in fact real legionnaires trapped in some sort of stasis. The party tried several experiments  to 'animate' them, but with no success. 

Heading back out to the chest opening, Thrax decided to grab the bugle and blow. After several hoots, he attracted the attention of the creature in the head; a huge eagle flew down and into the chest, lashing out at Thrax with it's wickedly sharp beak. He backed away, and the rest of the party held their attacks, unsure if this were really fiend or friend. The bird then turned and flew out again, returning to the eye opening and disappearing from sight. 

Ignoring the eagle above for now, everyone returned to the legionary room. Ranza found a secret door on one wall; Hobbs opened it by twisting a torch sconce on the wall. It led to another small chamber, this with an altar in the centre. Lying on the altar was a sword and shield. Carved on front of altar was the sun and triple star symbol of the Church of the Three Virtues, and the following phrase: "One must not trust to know even what one sees. Be right". Ranza boldly stepped forward and grabbed the shield, at which point both sward and shield animated and attacked. Gnarl quickly cast entangle, filling the room (and most of the rest of the statue) with a mass of root and twig. This  held the sword and shield, and everyone else, locked in place. Gnarl and Hobbs however were able to move enough to hack the weapons' down, and than all waited for the spell duration to elapse so they could once more go about their business 

Danger now passed, the party turned back to the altar. Thrax grabbed it and pushed, revealing an open shaft below. Poking at the right side of the symbol on the front caused the alter to open up, reveling another shield and sword. These proved both real, safe and magical, and were claimed respectively by the two changelings Ranza and Vergarious. Everyone then turned to the shaft, and Hobbs was roped up and lowered down. The shaft extended about 70', then opened into another small chamber. At the bottom was a small brass box, covered in images of of Imperium legionnaires on the march. Rather than go after it, Hobbs dropped a grappling hook to grab it and pull it up. This triggered a trap at the entrance to the chamber; eight bolts shot out in a grid pattern across the opening. Thankfully  the hedgefey was not hurt by these. 

Once Hobbs and box were back up in the altar room, they proceeded to break open the lock (which they observed was trapped). Inside they found an entwined golden eagle and dragon, at once recognized as the standard of an imperium legion. One could only surmised it had been placed there for safekeeping ...

TOTAL XP

8560

GAINS

Eagle & Dragon standard of the XXI [Mor] Imperium Legion (3800sp)

Shield +1 

Shadescourge (Sword +1, +3 vs incorporeal creatures) 

KILLS/VICTORIES
2 Shade Hound

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session #36 - Of Towers and Witches

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

Gnarl (Wood Gnome 5)
Hobbs (Hedgefey 5) 

Thrax (Fighter 3)

The party found a way across the valley and river, and arrived just as the sun was dipping below the line of the hills and more or less dry-shod, at the base of the southernmost tower. The tower itself was  non-descript. It stood about 60' tall and 20' in diameter; about two-thirds of the way up was a series of tall narrow windows and the top was ringed by crenellations. Curiously, it looked to be in excellent condition, as if it has been built just yesterday. Even the wooden door showed no sign of weathering and use. After knocking and hallooing elicited  no response, Thrax and Gnarl headed inside. The door opened easily on well oiled hinges, to revel a largely bare interior. That said, there were 6 comfortable beds tucked in under the buttresses, as well as a table in the center of the room with 6 chairs, and in the corner, a pile of hay.  A narrow stair circled up to a platform just below the windows, and thence to a hatch leading to the roof. There being no apparent danger, the rest of the party joined the duo. On the table Hobbs found a folded table cloth. When he spread it out, it suddenly sprouted a feast of food and drink of each persons favorite meal. After some trepidation, they sat down to eat and were wonderfully refreshed. Though still somewhat worried about just how perfect the tower was for them, they decided that at this point they had no choice but to settle in and rest while they could. 

The night passed without event (except Thrax and Gnarl once more slept poorly, plagued by even more terrifying and gruesome versions of their respective cursed nightmares). Taking stock, the wood gnome and the fighter convinced the others that a visit to the witch was really a necessity. They had no idea how long they could survive their curses, and wanted to seek the witches help in lifting them. Ranza, traumatized by her previous witch encounters and still quite battered and wounded, opted to remain in the tower while Thrax, Gnarl and Hobbs climbed up the hillside to where they'd observed the fire on their first night in the valley. Looping around, they climbed up above the spot to approach from the high ground. As they got close, Thrax and Gnarl noted something hanging from branches nearby. Close examination showed them to be human eyes which eerily seemed to watch them. This prompted Thrax to dig out the Quilt of Augury and ask if the witch could help them; no point in walking into a strange situation if they didn't have to. Receiving a positive answer, the trio decided to continue on, creepy eyes or no. 

They shortly came out  into a clearing overlooking the valley. The remnants of a bonfire stood next to a pile of wood ready for the next blaze; and at the other end of the clearing was a dark cave opening. Gnarl called out, and a few moments latter a woman emerged from the darkness. She appeared as a rather plain middle aged woman, dark of hair and pale of skin. But with pupil-less eyes of otherworldly black. The party opened up a friendly banter, and learned she was Ygrite, a servant of Samnuha the Watcher. Yes, she could help with the curse, and answer questions about the valley. For a price. And so the party dug deep for trinkets and coins. She grasped Gnarl by the sides of his head, pressing her thumbs hard into his eyes. She pressed harder as she chanted some unknown tongue, then released the wood gnome with a jolt and a push. When he got over the stars flashing in his eyes, the wood gnome felt the curse had lifted from him. Thrax, however, would have to return on the morrow as she could call on Samnuha to do such magic once per day. 

Feeling reassured by the non-creepy interaction, the party plied Ygrite with treasure and questions. They learned many foul things flew in the valley air, giant ravens and birds and other darker things. Asked about the skinchangers, she explained they did indeed draw their power from the Dark Mother. The Dark Mother, mistress of earth and darkness, complemented  the other great wood god, the Green Man, whose power lay in tree and sky. And around them were all the other spirits of the wood, Samnuha among them. Describing the strange wooden stature they'd found in Wickerwood Keep, she confirmed it too was a representation of the Dark Mother. Asked about Fortress Iacarta, she let slip that many factions inhabited the place, including among them the Raven Queen. Asked if any of these factions could help them, she laughed and said that depends entirely on what they wanted and how the party approached them. Asked now if there was anything she would ask of them, Ygrite indicated she longed greatly for the Book of Seven Souls. A magical tomb of some sort, she said it was now held by a fey lord who dwelt in the northernmost tower of the valley. Recover it, and she would call on Samnuha to answer any three questions they desired. 

Having run out of questions (and silver for now), they returned to the tower for the night. Once more taking advantage of the magical feast and comfortable beds, they still set watches just in case. Which was good, for on Hobbs second watch they had a visitor. Or an attempted visitor at least. Something large landed on the roof and tried clawing through the stone, and then the unsecured trap door. Hobbs roused the party and everyone rushed up the stairs to find a way to bar shut the trapdoor. But oddly enough, even though they could see and hear the attempts to pen the door, it did not budge. After some time, whatever it was gave up and took off. Rushing to the roof, the party observed an indistinct but large flying shape heading north, giving the colossus tower it passed along the way a wide berth.

The rest of the night passed without incident, and next day Thrax, Gnarl and Hobbs headed back to see the witch to have Thrax's curse lifted. They also took the opportunity to ask about the colossus tower  (for a price of course), learning that it was home to some large flying creature.  They then took their leave, and headed back to pick up Ranza before heading north towards the colossus. They stayed above the troll-infested valley and followed the edge of the hill, approaching the giant tower from the rear. The statue/tower was carved out of the living rock, in the form of an Imperium legionnaire nearly 200' tall. At the base was a massive rock fall, burying the statue up to mid-calf in large boulders. Which was too bad, as based on how the old road approached from the valley floor, the entrance to the tower/statue was somewhere below that tumbled rock. And a few hours digging soon proved the futility of trying to reach the entrance that way. There were some opportunities higher up however. The statues eyes were openings, and the chest had been burst open somehow, allowing entry via that route as well. Mindful of the witches warning, they waited through the day to see if any great flying beast emerged. When none did, Gnarl went looking for bats, charming and speaking to one, sending it into the openings to explore. It retuned swiftly, to report some large bird a prey thing (but not an owl) nested in the head, while the opening in the centre was empty. 

It now being too dark to proceed further, the party set up camp in a hollow in the rubble. Their rest was disturbed by three spectral creatures that approached them from the north. Gnarl, on watch, took the first blow. The chill touch drained his strength away. The wood gnome yelled everyone else awake though, and in short order the three incorporeal being were dispersed, but only buy use of their magic weapons. 

TOTAL XP

225

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES
3 Shadows

LOSSES

none

Forest of Wyrd Session #35 - Pit of the Skinchangers

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Ranza (Changeling 4)

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

Thrax (Fighter 3)

Vergarious (Changeling 3) 

Uncertain of where to go from here, the party was easily convinced by Hobbs to go in search of this pit or cave where men fought beasts to become skinchangers. Something in his noble badger heart had been moved by the thought of his forest kin being sacrificed for such a purpose. The broke camp and climbed back up the wooded slope, coming eventually to a deep dell. At the end of the dell a waterfall, tumbling off the hill above, seemed to disappear into the earth. Closer investigation by the stealthy Jonesomon and Hobbs confirmed this; they discovered a passage sloping into the base of the hill, down which the stream poured. And alongside the stream was a narrow ledge or path cut into the limestone. After building a hidden enclosure to hopefully keep the donkeys and Hoppy safe in their absence, the party first had Thrax consult the quilt of augury to ask if they would encounter skinchangers. It indicated "no", so they confidently lit a torch and started to descend. The path was muddy and steeply pitched, making travel slow and precarious. Noting signs of footprints, both man and beast, in the mud,  they searched along the way for any sign that the footprints turned off the trail to pass through a hidden  or secret door. But found nothing. As they descended a bit further, paintings were seen on the wall of the cave, showing man and beasts and hybrids of the two. 

Reaching the bottom, the path leveled out and opened into  a wider cavern. To the left the stream splashed into a large pool that extended onwards in the darkness. Underfoot was white sand that sparkled in their torchlight, while ahead and to the right were two passages. From the one in front a faint flickering light emerged, so after a quick check to the right (finding nothing but old campfires and damp walls) the party headed in that direction. Jonesomon and Thrax entered first, and were confronted by an old man standing in front of a small fire and brandishing a spear. Behind him on the other side of the fire lay what looked like a body, not clear if it was dead of alive.  The old man (Ufra) confronted the two (and the rest of the party as they streamed into the room), weary and warily telling them to not disturb his son; the one who lay on the other side of the fire. In the ensuring short confrontation, Gnarl tried knocking the man out with a blow with the shaft of his spear; this was unsuccessful and Ufra responded with a stab to the wood gnomes belly. Thrax calmed the situation and, after some back and forth with Ufra in coarse Common, drew out some details of the situation. The son was currently in a vision quest, completing his transformation into a skinchanger. Asked for more details of the process, the old said only the ones who would become skinchangers must fight and defeat an animal of the type they've chosen for their transformation. The rest of the details of how they then ended up in the vision quest the man could not say, he himself having never taken that path. Asked where these rituals occurred, the man vaguely indicated deeper in the cave. 

Bidding the old man farewell, the party moved deeper into the cavern complex, following a narrow winding path which would occasionally open into a larger cave. Then suddenly Jonesomon heard from ahead the faint sound of screams and howls, not in pain but with anger and rage.  Using his stealthy skills, the specialist slipped forward for a look. He found a small cave, lit by faint torchlight. Standing there was a huge bear of a man, arms folded over his chest, eye's closed and head downcast. As Jonesomon stood there, another bout of screaming emerged from a side passage, making the standing man flinch. He moved back to inform the party, and they decided to move up. Thrax stepped into the chamber and started to talk to the man, who like Ufra warned him off. The screaming sound was coming from an adjacent cave, where his his brother was in the final throws of his vision quest. Plying the exhausted and famished man with mugs of ale from his robe of refreshment, Thrax got him to relax and start talking more. It seemed that if disturbed during the vision quest, the person would die. After the transformation quest was over, the person would also be unable to control their animal instincts and would be turned loose into the wilderness to hunt and slay and offer blood to the Earth Mother until enough time had passed they they could exert their human side and regain control. Then they could rejoin their tribe in the mountain fastness. Asked more about the rituals, the man (Barska) told only of the hand to hand fight with their chosen spirit animal; beyond that he vaguely refereed to being brought before the Earth Mother. But no amount of ale would get more information from him. 

While Thrax kept Barska distracted, Joensomon once more slipped past to scout ahead. He found a cavern filled with supplies (food, firewood, etc). Heading back, he collected the rest of the party and they all moved on once Thrax had placated Barska. They passed through the storage room, coming to another intersection. To one side they found a torch lit room with a stag, chained to a wall, being cared for by a man. They decided not to disturb that scene, and moved down the other passage. Soon light and sound appeared ahead, so once more Jonesomon slipped forward. He saw what could only be the site of the combat trials. There he observed, lit by huge bonfires, a large sandy cavern which opened onto the pool or lake. In the middle was a crude fighting ring where a wolf and a young man, stripped to the waist and armed only with a knife, circled each other. They were watched by a small cluster of other men and a trio of what could only be the tribal chiefs or shamans. Meanwhile to one side was a small cluster of men around another small fire; one of them appeared to be getting ready for his fight and all were drinking and smoking as they sat. 

Jonesomon backed up and told the party what they had seen. Wary of confronting that crowd, they decided to retrace steps and try wading down the stream/lake instead.  This went well at first, but as the water started to get deeper and and the lake wider, Ranza at the back of the line was suddenly grabbed from below by a mass of hairy tentacles with deadly sharp suckers. She was slashed unconscious and dragged below  the water's surface. Gnarl, just in front of her, activated his shocking grasp spear and stabbed into the mass. With one blow he killed the hairy thing and rescued the changeling. The party retreated and hauled Ranza back to lay her safely on the sand. They also hauled the dead bulbous mass out of the water and slit it open, recovering a bit of coin and gem from its several stomachs. After a fruitless search for it's lair (and hopefully further treasure), the party decided it best to leave. They saw no gain in pushing forward at this time, and Ranza was in hard shape. Climbing back to daylight and recovering their animals, the party decided to cross the valley to the southernmost watchtower, hoping to find a place to rest and recover. There was also talk of searching out the witch, for Gnarl and Thrax were starting to worry about the long term effects of their pact with the white stone ...

TOTAL XP

614

GAINS

17sp

4gp

2 gems (100sp, 100sp)

KILLS/VICTORIES
1 Decapus

LOSSES

none