C2 Session 17: Treants and Giant Kingfishers Report
General Summary
17th of Anarire 1545 Continued
Ana and Margaret identify the spellbook that Peter had. It has the following spells:- Detect magic
- Detect secret doors
- Comprehend languages
- alarm
- Feather Fall
- Identify
- Mage Armour
- Hold Person
- Misty Step
- Find Greater Familiar
- Tiny Hut
- Dispel Magic
- Counterspell
- Sending
- Water Breathing
- Contact Other Plane (blood edition)
- Passwall
- Scrying
- Teleportation circle
- Telepathic bond
- Wall of Force
- Globe of Invulnerability
- Mass Suggestion
- Forcecage
- Teleport
- Gate
- Meteor Swarm
Brin heads out with Jamal, the door closes behind them. Jamal is more upbeat then he has been all day, but Brin is suspicious of the entire operation. He wants to know why the people stay and be a pet community to the wizard. Looking around, Brin sees the Tiefling that escorted the group in with the lizard humanoid. He immediately starts to question the tielfing on his role in the community. They are confused by the question and offer Brin some of their infernal whiskey which burns Brin's throat on the way down. The tiefling explains that he goes hunting and does community chores like everyone else. Brin continues to question the teifling about this utopia and the fiendish fungi in the temple they entered from. The tiefling has no answer for Brin that pleases him. Brin moves on and finds someone else to interrogate. He sees beautiful man, very hansom. He's tall, pale and has pupil-less golden eyes with silver hair. There is a ghostly halo crowning his head. He's working one of the garden's and is pulling weeds. He learns that from time to time, the Master does take on apprentices of minor talent. The Master was here long before any of them and has permitted those who wish to stay, to stay. He spends time in the community on community nights and during special events, but he is otherwise a private person. It seems people find their way down here and stay for many reasons. Some due to trauma of physical or mental sorts. Brin gets confused when they start talking philosophy and the Asimar recommends not to accept drinks from Enit again and maybe to mediate at the beach to clear his mind. Jamal follows Brin as he takes a nap by the water.
Margaret wonders around the community and sees a Kobold with one gold eye cleaning some armour. The other eye is brown. Margaret goes over to introduce herself and ask if the little guy knows about someone named Xeldarix. The Kobold, Eirraaliharn, is delighted that someone knows of the Lady Xeldarix and is beyond excited to hear that someone else with a golden eye and faith in the Lady Xeldarix is somewhere in the community. Eirraaliharn learned of Xeldarix is a dream while he was struggling through a hard time in his life. She invites him to the beach later in the evening to meet Ana. Afterwards she continues on her walk. She sees the same Asimar that Brin met before his nap, still pulling weeds. Margaret introduces herself and learns that this is Dailel of Venya. They found their way down here because of a scorned ex-lover. Apparently she pushed him off a cliff. They have a wonderful conversation about tomb raiding vs exploring. He confirms that it is likely a devil that the group had defeated up above in the temple that might have been causing the fungi. Continuing to walk around she sees a Green dragonborn snatching linen out of the hands of the tiefling that the group met before coming into this community. She doesn't want him coming in her house and reminds him to leave the laundry on the porch instead of coming in. The tiefling doesn't seem too bothered by being yelled at and walks off. Margaret has a chat with him. He recommends she go and check out the beach and Margaret agrees to do so. She arrives and finds Jamal sitting with Brin who is napping. They have a quiet chat while Brin sleeps. Margaret carefully hurts herself to hopefully remind her something happened today. Margaret also takes the time to have a rest.
At 4:30 Brin wakes to find Margaret and Ubek have joined Jamal and himself on the beach. Brin realises they are all here but Ana. They have a brief chat about what Ana is up to, Peter and tying things up here before tomorrow. Margaret tells Brin about the green dragonborn when Brin mentions everyone seems happy to be here. Jamal goes and finds out dinner is 2 hours away. Margaret suspects this place may be a confluence of the weave. What with the powerful wizard and hidden nature of the place. They continue to relax until dinner.
At 6:30pm Ana finishes copying her spell and Arinn is just coming into the room with two full salads with avocado, lettuce, cucumber and hard boiled eggs. The pair eat and have a short discussion. Ana learns that Arinn knows a lot about Cora Spellthorn. She was stolen as a child and raised by a hag, who had her do a ritual to steal away her humanity and turn her into a hexblood to act as a pawn within the coven to the witch. Hags often eat children but is they have the right potential they'll make them into a hexblood to add to their coven. She turned out to be more then they bargained for, especially when she realised what she was tricked out of when she became a hexblood. They talk a little about the party's goal and Ana's family. Arinn mentions how an unplanned shadow rift might get them there, but it could cost them dearly. Ana learns that Arinn studies blood magic, specifically, but does tend to study whatever strikes his fancy at the time.
At about 6 the group sees people heading for the hall space. The party heads that way. When they arrive at the hall there is a female tiefling serving dinner with the help of three lemures assisting her. They have used some of the meat from lunch but it's been smoked and added to a salad. They line up and are given a portion. Margaret gives Ubek a goodberry since his serving isn't as large as he would like. The little Kobold that Margaret met earlier comes and sits with them. Eirraaliharn introduces himself to Jamal and Brin, hoping one of them was the friend Margaret had mentioned earlier but is disappointed to find out she is not yet here. At the end of the meal Margaret takes some salad and leaves to head to the tower while Brin, Ubek, Jamal and Eirraaliharn head to the beach to wait for everyone else.
At 7pm, as Ana and Arinn's conversation lolls, Margaret enters. She offers Ana the extra salad, which she gladly takes. They have some small talk before heading back out and heading to the beach to meet up with the others. On the way, Ana tells Margaret what she has learned about Cora.
Brin sits with Eirraaliharn and talks a little while they wait for everyone else. Just after 7:30pm Ana and Margaret arrive at the beach. They find Ubek, Jamal, Brin and a Kobold on the beach. The Kobold jumps up as they approach. He is eager to find out if this is friend. Finally it does turn that Ana is the one he is waiting for. Not long after they start talking, they discover they both follow the Lady Xeldarix much to each of their's delight. They share how one another found Xeldarix, or found them, and how Eirraaliharn has sworn oaths in Xeldarix's name as a part of his faith. Ana suggests they make a temple to Xeldarix but Eirraaliharn explains that shrines are the extent that Arinn will permit for worshipping gods. He offers to show the group his shrine to Xeldarix which they graciously accept. To the side of his residence, there is a structure made out of odds and ends. Branches, bones, feathers, rocks, gems, and all sorts. It's clearly an angel, even with all the different objects that have been put together to make her. She's sitting peacefully with a bird in her lap. Brin asks if the bird is Peter and tells the tale of Xeldarix's friend Peter and exaggerates his role with Ana and Xeldarix. The statue bird is now called Peter is honour of this entity that supposedly keeps watch over Xeldarix's favourites. Ana, after a subtle facepalm, talks with Eirraaliharn about if he has been able to convert anyone, but the moment they are merely faith curious. They arrange to meet up early in the morning to make holy symbols with Ubek's help. However, Ana's dads are brought up and it leaves Eirraalihaarn confused. Brin tries to explain it with "a wizard did it" and Eirraalihaarn believes this to be very obvious as he knows no other way for two men to have a baby. Afterwards the group heads back to their beachside camp. When there they identify the staff to see it is a staff of Defence. Margaret will attune to it and Jamal attunes to her cloak of protection in case he needs the help tonight. Afterwards they relax before most of the party heads to bed.
Jamal and Margaret sit in a tense silence after the party heads to bed.
18th of Anarire 1545
Midnight arrives and passes and Jamal is still here. Jamal felt a slight pull but he easily resisted. He believes it is because of the location and at least for hopefully another month, Jamal is safe. Margaret is now able to head to bed without stress.Ana and Brin are awake first at 6am. Ana wakes up to a Kobold sitting on her chest, waiting patiently for her to wake up. Eirraalihaarn is very excited about making holy symbols this morning. Ubek and Ana are pulled away by the little kobold, leaving Brin to do his exercises for the morning while waiting for Margaret to wake up.
At 6:30am Margaret wakes up to Brin doing squats near the lake. Margaret immediately checks on Jamal and is relieved to find he is still present and himself. They chat briefly and are just happy to wait for everyone else to return at their own pace in the next few hours.
Ana, Ubek and Eirraalihaarn arrive at forge. Ubek preps the sand for casting and Ana uses magic to make a temporary holy symbol to press into the sand mold. As they work on making a few symbols, they talk about perspective and the different perspectives perspective can come from.
At 7am Ana and Ubek come back to the camp. The group decides they need breakfast before going to see Arinn. Though Ana will go straight to Arinn as he would have breakfast waiting for her since neither of them eat meat. Jamal will go with Ana since he doesn't need to eat. Meanwhile Ubek, Brin and Margaret head to the mead hall.
Ana and Jamal head to the tower. After entering they have a small wait before Arinn joins them in the sitting room. They explain they want to get on the road early, being adventurers and all. They discuss the simulacrum a little and Ana's father. Ana decides to talk to the simulacrum with her friends after breakfast. Arinn reveals that today they will have breakfast with the community as Robin makes vegetarian friendly meals. It's early but Arinn agrees to leave the tower now and head to the mead hall. Ana asks how often this occurs that Arinn spends time in the community. He tries to go and do something with them once every three days or so to prevent them coming to constantly check on him. He was the first person to find this place. Sometimes when he found injuried people he would bring them back to heal safely. Some people would stay after they were well enough to travel.
As Margaret, Ubek and Brin head to the mead hall Brin noctices that there are not many people yet. Some seem to be just starting their chores. There is a green tiefling cooking at the back, but no one else is here. To pass the time, they offer to help cook in the mead hall with the tiefling. They are given different jobs but after Ubek voices his confusion on removing the crunchy bits on the eggs he is not allowed to help with the eggs.
At 7:30am, half an hour before breakfast will be ready for serving, Ana, Jamal and Arinn arrive at the mead hall. Ana and Jamal joins in on helping make breakfast. By 8am enough omelettes are made for the whole community. They all sit down to eat and apple or orange juice is offered. They all enjoy a nice breakfast together. The party moves to the side to talk while members of the community comes up to talk to Arinn. They remind themselves what they want to get from Arinn in terms of information before coming back to him to find Eirraalihaarn trying to offer Arinn a holy symbol that had very recently been made. They extract Arinn to head back to the tower. Once they are back in the waiting room, Arinn goes to get the simulacrum. The group waits patiently for his return. The elf returns with the ginger simulacrum with a hand on the back of his neck. The simulacrum is wearing a crown which he wasn't wear before. The simulacrum sits when instructed. It doesn't look happy and looks very tired. Margaret subtly magically talks to the simulacrum while asking other questions out loud. Subtly the simulacrum confirms that it is being used for something and they shouldn't risk attacking Arinn. Out loud the party learns:
- The simulacrum would have taken Ana to the circle in the main tower that she grew up in.
- To protect themselves against the void is to know how to travel between planes in case you have to go retrieve them.
- Dispel and Protection against Evil and Good are other helpful spells against the void.
- Only Ana's father knew about the simulacrum.
- A suit of armour
- Gloves
- Scroll
- Potion x 3
- Blue gem
- Pipe
- Amulet
- Coin pouch
- Gloves of swimming and climbing
- Potion of Poison Resistance
- Elemental Gem, Blue Sapphire
- Smoldering Armor - Smoldering Plate Armor
- Pipe of Smoke Monsters
- Clockwork Amulet
- Potion of poison
- Potion of climbing
- Scroll of Protections from beasts
Brin and Margaret briefly chat. Brin is frustrated that Arinn didn't give them any notes on what he thought this place was and only marked locations. Margaret doesn't want to fight a forest worth of trees here, so wants to be careful. They agree to look around and get out if it's not obvious that people who have returned from the Shadow World had been buried here. They pause their chatter as they approach the building.
Ana jumps down from the hexagonal structure and starts to head through the trees. As she lands with a roll, a tree had tried to scoop her but she dodged out of the way. The tree rotates to face Ana and looks down at her. Ana speaks with the tree and learns:
- That Ana her group should leave quickly before the Elf, Malakar, finds them.
- Malakar has taken over the place and corrupted their Elder Tree. They will kill outsiders.
- All Treants must obey Malakar and the Elder Tree but will offer resistance where they can such as doing the order very slowly.
Several houses, now in ruins, surround a magnificent stone and bronze fountain. The fountain is filled with water and crowned by a statue of a woman holding a large empty jar. Margaret investigates the statue while Brin looks into the fountain itself. However, neither of them are able to disern anything. Margaret throws a coin into the jug of the statue but a blast of wind forces the coin back out of the jug while the woman's face makes a grimace before going back to what it was. They don't get long to ponder on this before Ana, Ubek and Jamal come running over to them. Around the group other trees have started to move. Ana urges the group to leave and they do so. The trees start moving in their direction. As the group crosses the bridge, there is a cry from beneath it as one of the saplings was hiding under it and runs away. As they move, Ana tells them what she learned. They head South for a short way before changing direction to West. Brin leads them through the forest with the map. They're not taking the time search the surrounding area. At 12:30 they have lost the slow meandering forest that was chancing them. When they get to the rough area that they need to search for signs of the next ruin. They find a sea of reeds. They can hear a crackling of thunder as the sky crowds dark and it slowly starts to rain. They keep moving, hoping to find shelter to rest in. They give Ubek the ring of water walking as they move through the boggy area. By the time they get through the reed, the short burst of rain has stopped. They emerge from the jungle/forest into the fierce sun. After the deep shade of the canopy, the light is almost painful. In front of them is a sea of reeds. In the near distance they can see vine-covered ruins jutting up, and past them, more jungle on the other side. The land in front of them drops sharply down a steep dirt bank. Thick tree roots twist down it, and merge with the roots of the reeds below. The bank is at least ten feet high, and their heads are only barely above the level of reeds. They must be at least twelve feet. Off to the left, a low stone wall emerges from the bank and disappears into the sward. Brin sees two walls above the reeds. The group decides to head to the far East wall as Luna is sent above the reeds. The moment she is above the reeds for no more than a few seconds when the party hears an ear-splitting screech followed by a deep, echoing laughter. If there were parrots the size of elephants, this is what they would sound like. Something starts moving through the reeds. They can’t see it, just moving weeds. Whatever it is, it’s big….very big, and headed directly towards Luna. Margaret directs Luna to fly up and away from the group, ready to dismiss her if needed. The huge creature continues to move after Luna and launches itself at her. At this point the group can now see the large bird creature. It has blue and brown features with distinct markings. It's talons are strong and imposing. It's bill can easily close around Luna with no effort as Margaret dismisses her familiar, leaving the creature to hoover in the air, disappointed in the lack of meal. It looks around for prey but the party quickly hide and evade it's detection.
Notes
