- Aram Raethran – Elf Warrior
- Azula – Tabaxi Bard
- Trinket – Harengon Rogue
- Bronk Thunderaxe – Bugbear Paladin
- Aelith – Triton Druid
- Bergeoff Raethran – Elf Rogue – Not Present
- Sage – Half-Elf Bard – Not Present
- Flint – Human Ranger – Not Present
- Lani – Aasamir Paladin – Not Present
- Silas Heron – Aarakocra Monk – Not Present
- Guest Starring: Niele – The Fairy Fighter
At the center tree – Burlap begins casting the ritual to summon forth Danela’s spirit…
Burlap, after nearly an hour, completes the ritual and summons the spirit of the slain Dryand, Danela, back…
Danela gazes around her, confused by her surroundings… the all too familiar woods… her home… but she has not seen it now for many long years… she realizes, her spirit has been called forth… “For what reason, would someone disturb the fae rest of a dryad spirit such as myself?”
Burlap looked to Azula to speak.
Azula stepped forward, “I am sorry to awaken you from your rest. I need your help. He said you might be able to help me,” she pointed to Burlap. Danela’s eyes seem to follow Azula, going to Burlap then back to Azula. “I see a spirit within you, child… my eyes see death now, where once they saw only life… even now, I see none of you in your true forms… I see only you, as you would appear dead… but in you, I see a dark spirit… an ancient spirit… one I know of… King Lux… So he has broken free of his mage’s prison and now has possessed you…”
Azula nodded. “That’s why we’re here. We were told you might know how to remove this curse.”
Danela was silent, her spirit shimmering, before she spoke again. “It will not be easy to remove such an ancient curse… the path forward will be dangerous…”
Azula nodded. “I understand. But if we don’t break this curse, I will cease to exist.”
Danela once again, seemed to shimmer, flickering and pause before speaking. “I will need the hide of a displacer beast to shimmer and confuse the spirit as to which body is yours…I will need the eyes of a basilisk so that through death – we can momentarily paralyze the dark spirit within you… and the spores of a Myconoid… Spores freely given to you… spores taken by force will be tainted and if use will trap that spirit within you… forever… before this mission is done… I sense you will aid evil and give it freedom…”
She then adds, “But I will provide you with a guide, Niele.“
“Where can we find this basilisk? Displacer Beast? And Myconoids?” Aram asked.
“The Basilisk will be in the caves to the north… but great danger lingers there…” Danela warned. “The Displacer Beast freely roams these woods, though it too, may stray into the caves… and the Myconoid… they are the Mushroom people… they are much, much deeper in the caves…”
Trinket looked to the little fairy, Niele. “Where do you think we should go first? The caves or hunt the Displacer Beast in the forest?”
Niele gave it some thought, “The caves.”
Flint looked at Burlap. “I will stay here – make sure he doesn’t do anything.” Burlap shot Flint a scathing look. Bergeoff nodded. “I will too. In case you guys spend too much time in the caves and we need to establish a watch.” Sage also agreed, wanting to stay close to Bergeoff, still remembering how she’d watched – in great horror – as the boat he’d been on had been pulled into the stormy seas by a Kraken. “And tend to her,” Sage pointed at Annabell who was rocking back and forth, oblivious to her surroundings.
Aram nodded, “All right. Me, Azula, Trinket, Bronk, and Aelith will head into the caves.”
Zorrin made a noise.
“And Zorrin too,” Bronk said in a deep gruff voice.
From the Mother Tree to the mouth of the cave, far to the north had taken several hours… and as they traveled, the corruption of the woods (failed savings throw) overtook Bronk, as his hereditary instincts to kill elves and wear their ears… his eyes settled on Aram… he managed to shake the thought away but kept it to himself (Bronk earned 1 Corruption).
As they reached the mouth of the cave, an all too familiar odor drifted out from near the mouth of the cave. Aram covered his mouth to cover his nose and whispered, “Stirges…”
Bronk is not able to quietly move through the mouth of the cave – having dealt with them before, Aram quickly cleaved through the awakened Stirges and waited safely a good distance inside the cave, followed very quickly by Niele. The others struggled to make their way through the stirges that were swarming all around them – one of them critically striking Aelith and draining a significant amount of blood from her body.
Beyond the stirges finally, the cave continues to yield more mysteries… in the muddy dirt, footprints could be seen… from what Aram could tell, the footprints seemed to be exclusively smaller – like that of dwarves, perhaps.
“Slavers,” Zorrin finally said to Bronk. “Those slavers. Bad people. I escape. That why I look for gold. Because I hear that people can buy freedom. If I find gold, I free my other people who bad slavers have.”
Bronk looked to the others, “We have to save Zorrin’s people,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“Are they down here?” Trinket asked, unable to understand goblinoid.
“I don’t know if his people live down here, but the dwarves have enslaved his people. That’s why he was in the graveyard looking for treasure. He was going to try his people’s freedom from the dwarves,” Bronk explained.
“Wait, if the dwarves have his people,” Aram tried to think of how to say it tactfully. “I know you’re a bugbear… and you’re unlike any bugbear I know… but could it be the dwarves are not slavers… but good people… and they’ve imprisoned the goblins because they’re evil? I’ve known a few dwarves… back on the island there was one we briefly traveled with named Kavax WildHammer… and during our travel he told me about his people. And he wasn’t the only dwarf I’ve known. Just seems… unlikely that the dwarves are the slavers…”
“I’ve found that any species is capable of evil,” Azula whispered.
Trinket eyed her friend then looked to the others, “We should move cautiously.”
As they ventured deeper into the cavern, the sound of a gentle stream and the constant dripping of water could be heard. Eventually they reached a small stream – it appeared to be about ten feet wide and only above five feet deep. “I can jump that,” Aram began as he stepped forward. Aelith held out her hand.
“Wait,” her eyes, as a druid of the sea, sensed life in those waters. “Don’t go in there,” she warned. “It’s full of Quipper fish.”
“Quipper fish?” Aram asked.
“Small fish with razor sharp teeth,” Aelith explained. “Capable of devouring an entire cow that foolishly goes in waters infested by them down to the bone, within an hour…and for a person your size… maybe two minutes… all that would be left would be bone… flesh and organs devoured…”
Aram looked at Aelith. “How do you know about them?”
“The Quipper fish are highly adaptive… they thrive in oceans… rivers… even small ponds… as long as something foolishly enters their waters,” she explained.
“We need to find another way across,” Aram muttered. “Even though of us that could jump it – anyone who doesn’t make it won’t do well.”
Niele smiled, “I’ll fly across.”
Bronk sighed. “Great for fairy have wings. We need other way.”
Aram moved along the wall to the left and called out, “Found a bridge.”
The bridge looked old and worn and relatively unsafe to cross. But for now, seemed to be the best way. “We should cross only one at a time. Doesn’t look like the rope or the wood can bare to hold much.” Bronk handed Aram some rope.
“Take across, tie and make more secure,” the Bugbear Paladin offered. Aram nodded and began to cross – however, upon reaching the half way mark the wood beneath his feet gave way (failed Athletics check). Aram was able to successfully grab the rope of the bridge to prevent from falling in. Azula quickly jumped on the bridge to try and get to Aram but found that, though she was one of the lightest, the strain of the boards gave way, and she too found herself dangling. Aram tried to pull himself up but the rope gave (failed Strength check) – sending him falling into the water. Azula grabbed the wooden portion of the bridge and pulled her feet up. The quipper fish, drawn to motion began to assault Aram who screamed out in pain – Aelith suddenly gestured with her hands and the water parted (casting Create/Destroy Water) – she allowed Aram to safely run through and Azula dropped down and the others quickly followed through the parted waters.
Azula turned to Aelith, “Why didn’t you do that from the start?”
“My magic is limited,” Aelith countered. “I am trying to conserve what arcane energy I have because in here,” she looked around, “and if the goblin is right about these slavers, I don’t know when I will get a chance to rest and recover to use my magic.”
Azula seemed ready to say something – then nodded and understood. Even as a bard, Azula could only use her music to weave magic to her will so many times a day. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Aelith unaccustomed to surface dwellers, simply nodded.
On the other side, the company followed Niele and Zorrin’s directions – when just ahead, they heard the gentle crackling of a campfire and some hushed tones. Trinket gestured that she would scout ahead. Moving silently, she approached the unaware humans who sat around a camp, one of them, with what was clearly a broken leg, saying that they couldn’t go on further. The others urged him on, saying that “the others” would catch up to them soon enough if they didn’t keep moving. Trinket returned back to the others, sharing what she’d seen and overheard. The company approached the four humans, who clearly looked to be escaped slaves. One of them looked at Aram and shrank at the sight. “You won’t take us back, elf.”
Aram was puzzled. “Take you back?”
“To those vile slave pits,” the human retorted.
The company exchanged uneasy glances – as far as they knew, the dwarves – if Zorrin was to be believed – were the slavers – not Elves?
Aram looked at the humans. “You speak of the Dark Elves.”
“If that’s what you call it,” the one with the broken leg said.
Aram looked to the others. “Dark Elves, as they’re so called,” he began to explain, “were elves so obsessed with magic that they used it to master life rather than live in harmony with it – they sought to bend wood and stone, create life and master it, master the ability to cease aging entirely so that they could go on forevermore, learning magic. They became, some might say addicted and twisted by the very magic they sought to master. They were commanded to cease this madness and refused to do so – waging war on the High Elves, before being driven out of the woods, where they escaped into the mountains. No one really knows what became of them… but stories have circulated… and they are not good.”
“As I said, I’ve found that any species is capable of evil,” Azula whispered. Azula knelt down to heal the man with the broken leg – but as soon as the magic coursed from her body into his – she saw a vision she could not explain – the essence of what appeared to be a jackal lingering within the man.
Azula stumbled backwards. “There’s… something in you…”
“You should talk,” one of the four humans said, pointing at her shadow cast by the flickering campfire.
Azula looked at her shadow and stepped into the darkness.
Trinket handed the one Azula had healed a dagger. “Here. Take this. There’s a bridge. Cross it, and get out of here.”
As the four men left, Aram looked at the others. “Odd they said they were slaves of Elves when all we’ve really seen is evidence of dwarven footprints.”
“There could be more than just the dwarven slavers. You mentioned the Dark Elves were driven into the mountains… maybe further down,” Bronk offered.
“Perhaps,” Aram said. “Perhaps.”
“Let’s just keep moving,” Trinket replied. Her people lived in burrows – usually within hillsides, similar to rabbits – but solid stone was a different matter entirely. And the unusual circumstances did little to ease the curious Harengon.
They traveled, following the dwarven footprints until they reached a drop off that dropped roughly 120′ down. On one side, there was an old rope tied to a stone that went over the edge. On the other side was a metallic cart that could be craned to move up – then back down again. Peering down, they could see movement of beings that looked almost human…
“What are those?” Aelith asked. As a Triton, she had swam in the deepest parts of the ocean and seen plenty of fish without eyes – the hundreds of different cave fish, for example – but never had she seen a humanoid without eyes – other than Annabell – but she’d gouged out her eyes – from what she could see – evolution removed the eyes of these humanoids.
“Bad,” Zorrin whispered. “Take you to the Deep, Deep, Dark. Take you to their masters, the Mind Eaters.”
“Mind Eaters,” Aram whispered. “I do not like the sound of that.”
“They look to be blind,” Trinket pointed out, seeing Aelith’s studying gaze.
Aelith looked to Trinket, “Which means they rely on their other senses. Their hearing, perhaps or their sense of smell.”
“We could try to stealth down going down the rope,” Aram pointed to the tied rope. Bronk gave the rope a quick tug and saw it begin to unravel. “That not safe,” he whispered.
“Then it’s the crane,” Azula said.
“I can help,” Niele offered. The company had forgotten about the fairy who’d scouted ahead. “I can fly ahead and I have this bell – I can ring it and draw them away.”
“Do it,” Azula nodded. And with that Niele dove down past the lumbering humanoids and began to ring a bell – which as expected began to draw the humans towards Niele. Bronk started the crane – and then, Aram heard something else – the sounds of battle. A moment later, several darked skinned dwarves emerged, looking up as the crane continued to lift.
“That the slavers,” Zorrin gasped.
“It looks like they killed the other humanoids,” Aram whispered peering over the edge.
“Yes,” Zorrin replied so that only Bronk could understand. Though Zorrin could not speak common, he knew enough to understand it. “Slavers no like others. Always killing one another.”
Bronk conveyed that the dwarven slavers killed the other beings. “They know someone’s up here to have activated the crane. I assume they use this crane to bring down the slaves so when they heard it, they came rushing out. We can pretend you’re all my slaves and I work for them,” the bugbear grinned. “I used to be a part of the Broken Hand. (You can read some outdated information about the Broken Hand and other existing Factions here).
It was as good of an idea as any. Bronk tried to tie a loose knot, however, unaware of his own strength tied the knot too securely as they went down the crane, greeted by six of the dwarven slavers.
“Who are you?” one of the slavers asked.
“Me? Me Bronk,” Bronk replied. “Me bring slaves.”
The slaver raised an eyebrow. “They employed you?”
Bronk shrugged. “New this week. Asked me to fetch some exotic slaves,” he gestured to Azula, the Tabaxi, and Trinket, the Harengon, then Aelith, the Triton. “Oh, and one lousey elf too,” he gestured to Aram.
The main slaver nodded. “Well the King will pay a handsome price for those three and probably toss the pretty boy elf to the basilisk.”
Everyone quickly exchanged glances – the basilisk was with these slavers!
“I can easily slay your basilisk!” Aram shouted, pulling at the ropes, wanting to be thrown in with the basilisk so they could help Azula. “Just put it in front of me. There’s nothing I am afraid of.”
“You will be,” the Captain Slaver nodded. “You will be…”
The company was escorted across a massive bridge and into the heart of the Duergar kingdom…
“The king says he despises the impure races of the world,” the Captain Slaver laughed, “but he breaks the pretty ones all the same way, if you understand what I am saying…”
Bronk’s lip curled. It took everything not to throw the dwarf from the massive bridge – and in that moment – he wondered if the dwarves were testing him – to have waited for this moment to speak in such a way.
Bronk choked back his fury, “King lucky me no take turn first,” he said, and feigned laughter.
In the King’s chamber – it took everything Azula had to remain calm – next to the King’s throne of bone – was a Faerie Dragon!
The King stood – and looked over Aelith for a long moment, admiring her slender body. Then he moved to Azula, and chuckled, “A pet,” he said. Then came to the Harendon. “Another pet… or dinner… when I am done.” He looked to the Captain. “Give the filthy bugbear 300 gold for these slaves and get that damn elf ready for the basilisk pit. Take the three ladies to my chamber. I’ll be there shortly.”
Azula immediately used her claws to get out of the rope knot, despite how tightly it’d been tied; and Trinket, as a rogue, easily slipped out of the knot – but neither Aram nor Aelith seemed to get out of the knot.
Immediately chaos erupted. One of the slavers jumped on Bronk’s back and pulled Zorrin out of the backpack, shouting, “You will go back to the slave pens with your disgusting ilk!” Bronk immediately turned on that dwarf, and tried – repeatedly – to pry him from and even kill him – when he couldn’t seem to pry him off Zorrin (who was squealing very similar to a pig in the madness!)
Azula ran to the cage and freed the faerie dragon, speaking in its native draconic tongue and saying, “Help us escape!”
The faerie dragon released a puff of air, of purple and pink mist that filled the room, targeting the duergar slavers. The euphoria breath swept across the room, inducing hallucinations for several of the dwarves, even as Aram and Aelith were trying to use the rope, pulled tight to clothesline some of the slavers. As the chaos ensued, Bronk was able to finally free Zorrin and put him back in his backpack; Aram and Aelith were still struggling with the knots; Trinket seemed to be caught up in the madness and having the time of her life; Niele was flying around stabbing who she could; Azula in the meantime was being pulled by the faerie dragon towards a grate on the floor.
Azula quickly called for the others, who jumped into the grate and found themselves in the sewers… the faerie dragon’s euphoria breath would take some time to wear off on the dwarves… but the King – he’d subjected himself to the faerie dragon’s breath for weeks – even months – and had built up a strong tolerance.
In the sewer chambers, they encountered several Duergar – and fought and killed them – resting in one of the janitorial closets to recover. Even Niele fell asleep on her watch (Critical Fail on her Perception explained as falling asleep while she was on watch) – during this time Aelith had slept walked into the hall when she suddenly woke up to the sound of alarms – quickly she returned – just in time to spot another Duergar – and they fought him and subdued him – which he then led them to the basilisk, assuming they’d die in the pit. Descending down the rope, Aelith used her fog spell to provide cover.
In the pit, they battled a single basilisk until they learned there’d been a second one, not visible in a cave, further hidden by the fog. After a battle that cost Niele he wings, after she’d been caught beneath the paw of one of the basilisks and dragged around, Trinket was finally able to leap on one and cut its eyes out – and with that, the party quickly scampered up and out of the pit…
They had gathered one of the three components that Danela needed to remove the curse…