Resources purchased last session:
a Newspaper,
a Map of the Region
Beginning our Travel
The day starts with them leaving the company of Snakebite and Turbo, heading west with news of a town 3 days away and a pack of Hyenas somewhere along the way
The party decided west due to their location being surrounded by:
- West – Turbo has told them of the town to the west, 3 days travel by foot on this very unused path.
- East – Northern ranges of the elven woods of Velat
- Not safe for those not invited.
- North & South – Open grasslands, could be anything in that direction, side quests etc.
Travel and Movement
The group learned about marching orders, travel speeds, forced marches, etc.
This march would be difficult terrain, the town would be about 35 miles (@ half speed)
| Pace | Minute | Hour | Day | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast | 400 feet | 4 miles | 30 miles | −5 penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception) scores |
| Normal | 300 feet | 3 miles | 24 miles | — |
| Slow | 200 feet | 2 miles | 18 miles | Able to use stealth |
Gnolls
The Hyenas of course, are a small group of 3 gnolls alongside 4 Hyenas.
Due to the speed the party was moving, the Gnolls would come across their camp in the night. As the Barbarian was sleeping on their watch, the ability to negotiate was removed, and the gnolls considered the sleeping forms to be the start of a well rounded, tasty breakfast snack.
Attacking from the trees, regular gnolls and hyenas gave a group some minor trouble before the Fang of the pack joined the fray.
Throwing Senko down repeatedly, knocking the Barbarian unconscious while standing in the fire, and driving Pallarax down to a dismal HP count, Pallarax rallied and was able to get his companions up and closed out the fight before any lives were lost.
Upon inspection, each Gnoll had the same mark tattooed on their right shoulder, using insight to decide it might be their clan mark. maybe.
On their bodies can be found a pouch of gold, with 30 or so in it.
with a small note scratched on leather, mostly unreadable due to being chewed but has a red ‘E’ at the bottom corner.
No Ears were claimed from the Gnolls.
Insight Check revealed Erinthotle has people watching for the Sennite and his friend who defeated Buv’Kah
Gained inspiration for removing a regional pest.
A River Crossing / A Fairy Fucking with you
Suddenly, the vibe was really off.
Something wasnt right.
But Pallarax can’t roll for shit, so Senko got it done.
The real path was concealed by a hallucinatory terrain, but the players can still hear the rushing of water coming from nearby, enough dicking around got everyone able to see the illusion.
When they figure it out, they heard a faint giggling nearby.
They could see a fast running part of the river, about 20ft across, that appears to have once had a rope bridge (has been sawed off, by the looks of the ropes). The river is running quite fast, and goes for some distance, not likely to be easily moved around.
Balazarass flying past
Several hours after the Gnolls, (or maybe the next day?),
Roll Perception , Over 10 sees it
Pallarax clutches a perception roll finally, seeing that flying form is far off in the distance, coming your way from the East.
Large, larger that it should be and still able to stay aloft.
You think it will be here in about 3 minutes (timer).
After 1:30: They realised it was dragon sized and started trying to find places to hide, to get ready, to pee pants, you know the drill.
As it approached, it simply… flew over, too high up to interact with.
A reminder for the party: you’re not the only story happening today.
DM: A good History check might have revealed who he was, and where he was going / coming from, but oh well.
The Faerie Grove
During the second night of travel, Pallarax will feel a “calling” from the nearby grove of trees deep in his inner chakras.
The grove is lightly lit, glinting in the darkness, and is small, maybe only 150 or so trees, you seem to recall being able to see through it earlier before darkness set it, so a pretty small grove.
Investigate shows a very weak source of white light is flicking around inside, being blocked by branches and leaves, as if flying around within.
The group joins him in walking through the arch.DM: A wise choice, but now they will still need to learn about splitting the party and consequences that come with it another time 😇
Heading into the Wood – will they dare?
As they walk to the wood, a clear path in the grass seems to be laid out before you, flattened and ready, but still vibrant with life. Trees sway lightly in a wind you cannot feel, and little motes of light will flutter down from above, seeming to fall onto things, but never quite existing long enough to to touch or land on anything.
Arcana:These are Fae-Trails, showing the presence of the faery folk in this grove.
At the edge of the wood, before them, is an archway of branches that have grown together in this form, seeming as though it has been there as long as the stand of trees.
On the other side of the archway is the sight of an eerie view before them:
- A light without source seems to cause enough light to see shapes and basic details,
- The trees seem much sparser, each now appearing to have been tended too
- but still natural with shrubs and such around the base
- with small blue-white balls of light floating peacefully in the trees
- softly glowing pools of still, completely transparent water
- showing peaceful koi doing lazy flips and spurts of casual movement.
- The animal trail before you becomes stepping stones among the grass not far beyond the arch
- Say: “As you watch, the calling pulls a little stronger in a jerk, as if to say, ‘well, come on then'”
Time to meet the Grandma of the Plain
“Stepping through the glade, an intrusive sense of peacefulness washes over you, pushing thoughts of violence and trickery from your mind. Serenity, or some similarly simulated contentedness permeates your soul, and you find your mind wandering, thinking of snacks, or even the pretty girls from the old village you left behind many miles ago.
You know something is wrong with your mind, but… you just don’t seem to be able to care…”
A wisdom save is triggered as they entered, but was failed by all.
You suddenly find yourself unable to move, or speak
“Hovering, a few meters off, appears a floating lady.
She is dressed in a green and black ball gown, and has long reddish hair that curls down past her hips. She has flawless skin, high cheekbones, and lush, full, bloody-red lips. Her eyes are golden and have vertical slits for pupils, like a cat.
She’s also less than three feet tall.”
Faerie Godmother:
“What is this, entering into mine grove? A scaly Sennite, and a follower of Mithrim walking on the Watcher’s cloak? A Tumultuos FlowWalker, and a big angry boy with a big axe…
children really, nothing more.
Unaware and unready for the changes before their puny little souls, hmm??
Well, isnt this novel, for the night of Moons waxxing.”
She hovers closer and peers at each of your unmoving stances over her thick rimmed glasses
*Stopping at Senko for just a moment extra, she raises an eyebrow before zooming off to branch high up on a nearby tree, where she makes a welcoming gesture with a hand, causing that branch
“Hmm. have a care child, find your path.
Now, why did I bother to summon you here again? I know there was a reason!”
*She floats around a little, obviously pretending pretending to think in a comical matter, “Hmmmm’s” and “Aha!”s ringing out, before she exclaims, “Ah yes, right! Of course! He wanted me to show you something” and clicks her fingers.
She disappears, in her place appearing a stone altar, flat, with a crystal ball, about 15cm across, resting upon/in it before you.
From somewhere behind it, a disembodied voice calls out “It’s simple Sennite, grasp the orb. See your past. Peek at your your future. See the truth of the past.”
And with that, you suddenly have control of your bodies and mouths again.
She wont reply to any questions, but will giggle at dumb things from above.
Times Past, Times Future, Bad Shit All Round
DM: Lore Dump below. Get a Tea/Coffee.
Your consciousness floats up, above the plains of the Antaract, some miles up.
The sun slows, stops, and reverses course as time flows backwards.
The passage speeds, the flickers of the sun zooming past becoming first a strobe, then so fast it seems to be flowing forwards again.
The plains below seemed to inhale and exhale as forests grow and shrink, disasters of flood and fire come and pass, before finally the sun slowed, and time normalized again.
“about six thousand years, give or take, if you were wondering” mentions a familiar voice. “Let’s see the start of this mess first”
Below you, a massive construction project is underway. Giants over 60ft tall are erecting artful stone buildings and archers, lithe trolls are crawling across scaffolding and framework, consulting clipboards and slide rules, and down below, Orcs are piloting machines beyond your understanding, delivering and lifting materials, carving ornate art and painting gilding of a style beyond even the high elves.
The voice returns
“These were my people, did you know? At least, in a way. We fairy-kin were in tune and connected firmly with the Races of Mekk and their pure souls.
Well, you know, till that dirty asshat showed up”.
As she said that, your vision flies to a cave, filled with demon and beast alike (even a dead cloud giant in the back) where 13 Lich Lords were each stationed at a point on an elaborate ritual circle carved into the floor, with something that was probably once part of that cloud giant or his family.
Each Lich was standing next to a familiar looking crystal…
In the center, stood a figure draped in flowing silver robes, holding a tome made from the skins of dead gods and eldritch horrors, reaching up, not just across the heavens, but also, somehow, across realities, dimensions.
Morose Fairy saying “I hate this part” echoes in your mind.
Flipping back to the construction project, the sky suddenly darkens, as a blood red planetoid screams across the sky, leaking great slicks of oily blood across the land. The Mekkians below look up and point, some at the sky as their future ends, but some few others point directly at you also.
The bloody orb hit the ground, and the Mekkians went insane, turning on each other in a bloody rage, ripping each other from limb to limb, then beating the next guys with those same limbs. It was horrific, immediate, and wholesale.
You feel the passage of thousands of years, Men, Elves, and Dwarves propagate, the loss of the Mekkians is partially recovered from, til you start to watch an undead scourge spreading out from where you hovered. Eventually, golden barriers arose to hold back the Lich Lords and the armies of the dead.
Smirking Fairy “So, Scaleborn, you know your peoples part in all this don’t you? Their Crimes? Their transgressions?”
Your vision passes again, this time to linger in the lair of a sleeping silver dragon, curled around her eggs.
As you watch, Lichs walk into the lair, seals are set to keep her asleep and each of the eggs is quietly, oh so quietly, lifted by spells and carted off.
You flicker from lair to lair, across the world, watching as every metallic dragon lair is looted of their young and unborn.
And soon you see where, yet another ritual, yet another cave, this time around a creche of dragon eggs, that, as the spell culminates, each of the eggs hatch to birth an abomination. A man-like creature, on two legs but made of dragon-parts, the Scaleborn are brought into this world.
You follow the race for the next century, watching them train into shock troops of the Empire of the Lich, the First Empire, as they broke down defense and golden wards that had held back the undeath, bringing the risk of extinction to the living.
Angry Fairy: “Your people nearly ended all of us, Freak. And you did it with a smile. Or something that passes for one” came the voice*
Your vision covers the rest of the boring world story, people of the living finding ways to overcome evil, saving the day, all that good stuff. But the time passes in real time, slowly, you’re stuck watching monotonous details, squirrels digging for nuts, people farming fields, slowly, over the decades, driving your disembodied psyche into a state.
Before she finally gives up, with a humph, and returns thing to near current time.
“Now watch, this is what I was sent to show you, the rest was just fun”
You see Buv’Kah and a cloaked figure, standing next to the Crystal you freed from him, some days before your arrival recently.
The skeletal hands coming from the sleeves of the cloaked one starts weaving spells onto the Mekkian prism.
As he did, it turns blood red, and an impatient voice emerged from it “Yess, bloodless one? Iss it done?”
The Lich flicked his wrist, and the voice cries out in pain, while the lich leans over.
“Patience Sickly one, the plan matures..”
“Oh dear, and what will that mean?”
The Fairy shows future images of marching undeath, crushing the towns and cities of today.
You can see yourself now, on the wall of Nestor, You stand with Senko, & other players (Names?) with the heroes of the city, holding, the city falls around you.
You see Future Pallarax realize something, turn to Senko and yell “This is it! The moment I saw months ago! What should I tell me?”
With Senko Screaming back as a wraith dragged the last of his life from him “Tangor! Save Tangor! Tangor was always the key!”
As the vision collapses, you hear yourself yell back “but he’s already been taken from us by then! We didn’t even-“
“Well that’s not good, is it dearie? He wanted you to see this, so now you have.”
And you are returned to the present, the fairy is there, watching you for a reaction.
If they ask, she will reveal she must also answer three questions of their choice truthfully, however she will not reveal this info unless asked.
Once she’s done with them the vista fades, and they are once more, in a cold, dark wood in the middle of the night.
The session ends here, with Rizden ahead.