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- Aros – Lightfoot Halfling, Rogue
- Galiena Erenaeth – Half Elf, Celestial Warlock / Druid
- Baldur – Human, Pack Chain Warlock (Spear) / Paladin
- Hellina Kaitlyn Deramu – Human NPC, Wererat
The party retreats back to the tree forts outside of Kaltore. Baldur points to the tree fort that he and Aros had entered (where as Galiena and Kavium had originally gone to the other).
Aros climbs over Baldur to make it up to the the top of the tree fort first. Galiena and Kavium make their way there – as Galiena ignores Kavium’s suggestion of them going to the other tree fort. As Kavium, sighing, climbs up the ladder, Darko, who stayed with the party as the fled from the treant looks at Galiena, “Am I to believe the lot of you hope to stop Lord Brenmoon?”
“That’s the plan, I think,” Galiena admits.
“Well, he’s in no clear danger, from what I can see,” and Darko proceeds to levitate up the rope and into the tree fort. Galiena climbs after him, pondering if bringing Darko along was such a good idea after all.
The rain begins to fall – and some of soaks through the fort, which at one time, may have been protected – but it’s been a long time. Baldur hears bells ringing in the distance, and he remembers the warning he got from his time in Felhorn – that if you hear a bell ring, get inside – that is the “witching hour” – where people tend to disappear. As Baldur looks around, he notes where the different bells are, meaning there’s towns around them. After a moment, he once again sees the fog descend down from the mountain – and it wraps around itself several animals as it descends, leaving shriveled corpses in their wake.
“The bells,” Darko says, “I remember feeling the cold when I heard the bells. So many nights of hearing the bells and the cold.”
“It looked alive… it descended from the mountains… attacked animals, and then receding back into the caves,” Baldur pointed out.
“So what do you know about Lord Brenmoon? And his keep?” Galiena asks.
“I know the entrances and their patrols, and perhaps secret ways inside,” Darko replies. “Get me a body and I will tell you everything I know.”
Kavium pulls Galiena away from Darko and whispers, “This isn’t right. Whatever he was before, he’s undead now. We shouldn’t be working with him. We shouldn’t trust him. Whatever information he could give us may be at too high of a cost.”
“We’ve not met anyone who knows more about Lord Brenmoon,” Galiena whispers. “He’s our only contact that knows anything about him – or the wizard, Razathorn. We may be able to learn something.”
Kavium looks grim, “I’ve said my peace. You know where I stand,” and he returns to the others and sits with them.
Aros suddenly pipes up, “As we were fleeing from the treant, I did notice something protruding from one of the roots near the treant’s mouth… and it might have been your magical wand.”
“Near the mouth? The treant is going to absorb my magic!” Darko says, panicking.
“Did you put your magic into the wand?” Baldur asks.
“I trusted that wand, and certainly didn’t think I was going to get murdered,” he adds, his tone sour.
“Have you ever heard the saying of putting your eggs into one basket?” Baldur asks.
“And going on a picnic? What’s that got to do with this?” Darko growls.
“Nevermind,” Baldur shakes his head and leans against the wall.
“That’s going to need to wait,” Galiena snaps. “We’re all beaten and tired.”
“Heroes,” Darko mutters and settles down on the floor.
The sound of thunder rolls across the heavens.
Kavium tends to Galiena’s wound she’d gotten as they fled Kaltore, struck by one of the roots.
“That looks like it hurts,” Baldur comments.
“This is why I need armor,” Galiena sighs.
“That’s why we’re here. It’s that whole chicken or the egg situation,” Baldur grumbles.
“Again with the eggs,” Darko mutters beneath his breath.
“Leave me alone,” Baldur snaps. “I am hungry. You may be undead and have no need for food, but we still do.”
Throughout the night, as Kavium and Baldur keep watch, they can hear the animals – especially bats. Bats seem to be everywhere. Baldur shares his story of gnomes who ride evil wolves. After swapping shifts, everyone is everyone is able to get a long rest. When everyone wakes up, the air is brisk and cold; everything is wet from the rain from the night before, and the dirt has turned to mud.
“We need to do something about that treant,” Baldur mutters. “Do trees sleep?”
Galiena thinks about it, “They do. They sleep whenever they need or want to.”
“I guess that makes sense, because you just need to watch the birds, and maybe the bees?” Baldur smirks.
“And I guess a wood pecker would keep you awake,” Galiena adds.
“I am sorry,” Kavium walks over from the other side of the fort. “Did I hear pecker?”
Baldur and Aros laugh, while Galiena sighs. Darko shakes his head and realizes he’s never going to get his wand back at this rate – not with this set of “heroes.”
As they make their way back to Kaltore – they can see the massive treant and quickly take notice that the arrows that Aros had fired into the tree have been almost completely absorbed into the tree – with only the feathered portion of the arrows still jaunting out ever so slightly. “This bodes ill for the wand,” Baldur whispers.
After a moment Baldur says, “We need to find a wagon – an expendable one, not the one we are going to use for ore – and put a bonfire in there – and then burn him. We use mood lighting over here to light the wood on fire.”
“That’d be a great idea,” Darko says, “if it hadn’t rained all night last night. I don’t think you’re going to find much in the way of dry tinder.”
“Maybe if we get in and out of town before the ghost gets active and awaken the tree,” Galiena says.
“True, the ghosts here seem happy being ghosts,” Baldur says. “And they can hang out here with this blood thirsty treant god of theirs.”
Darko says, “The people are moving about the town. No one is chanting yet. So if we’re going to do this, we should probably do it soon.”
The party sees Zedvar and approaches the spirit.
Zedvar sees them and seems to smile a ghostly, eerie smile, “Have you gone back to my wife, Alyson? How is she? Did she speak of me?”
Baldur shakes his head, “We’ve actually not made it back to her, just yet. We had something to do in town – but didn’t realize your god tree over there was so angry.”
“Ah, yes, Dalasmon – he was hungry,” Zedvar said. “He needed to be fed. It would have been content feeding on just one of you. To be honored to be taken to the roots.”
“Hungry?” Galiena asks, having never heard of a treat that fed on meat.
“Yes, Krysinda told us that Dalasmon would protect us, but he needed to be fed,” Zedvar explains. “But those who Dalasmon fed upon – they did not perish. They became a part of Dalasmon – spreading his roots deeper and deeper – feeding him, to protect us – bestowing him their power, their life, their love – all to be chosen for the roots.”
“How long have you been sacrificing to the tree?” Galiena asks.
“For as long as since Krysinda awakened Dalasmon in the tree to protect us,” Zedvar explained.
“There’s an object I want to get that’s jammed into the roots,” Aros explains. “And I kind of need to get it back.”
“And my wand,” Darko chimes in.
“That’s what I am talking about, calm down,” Aros sighs.
“If it is in the roots, that means Dalasmon will feed upon it,” Zedvar replies, “and take it back into the roots.”
“This doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere,” Baldur sighs. “What can you tell us about the gold, silver, and ore mines?”
“For those that seek the metal in the mines, we have always asked for a sacrifice to the great Dalasmon to appease him,” Zedvar explains. “But since Lord Brenmoon’s men came, the entrance to the mines were destroyed.”
“What if we could find a way inside,” Galiena asks.
“A sacrifice then, offered to Dalasman, and you can pass,” Zedvar explains.
“Does it have to be living?” Baldur asks. “Because, I encountered some… brigands… near where your wife is at. Could we feed Dalasmon that. We could go back – see your wife, and drag these bodies back.”
“Dalasmon prefers living bodies, but, I know since Lord Brenmoon’s attack, Dalasmon would take the dead flesh,” Zedvar explains.
Zedvar looks to Darko, “You… I can see a visage of your body around you… and you wear Lord Brenmoon’s attire…”
“You can see a body on me?” Darko asks. “That’s weird.”
“Are you responsible for the mist that comes at night and feeds on the animals so that Dalasmon can not feed?” Zedvar asks.
“I have no idea what you mean… Lord Brenmoon’s plan was just to collapse the mines, nothing about any kind of man eating or animal eating fog,” Darko replies.
“I suspect lies… the fog came a short time after Lord Brenmoon’s attacks… I suspect that it is to keep Dalasmon from feeding and trying to keep him weak,” Zedvar retorts.
Baldur recalls seeing the fog two nights in a row that descended from the mountains and then receded back into the mountains. “What if we did something about the fog rather than sacrifice one of our own? That way Dalasmon could devour the wildlife and keep growing stronger rather than a quick meal in one of us,” Baldur offers.
Zedvar pauses and walks away and begins walking towards the treant and begins waving his hands about.
“Here comes everyone,” Darko says, “they’re all gathering around and waving their hands around. They’re going to awaken this treant again. So if you… heroes… want to run, now would be the time to do it.”
Aros steps back – ready to run, but Baldur shakes his head. “I am confident they’re waking up the tree monster to ask if it will make a deal with us…”
Galiena shakes her head looking at all the roots around them. “This thing, if it decides we’re a meal because it’s still hungry as your spirit friends said – we’re in a lot of danger.”
Baldur looks around and sees all the roots, “You’ve got a good point. Let’s move to the edge of town.”
Slowly they back up until the reach the edge of town, watching Zedvar. The ground rumbles as the treant ‘awakens’ and seems to be speaking to spirits in a language no one is familiar with.
After a moment, the treant becomes docile again and Zedvar returns to his home, rather than coming to everyone.
“Well, this smells like a trap,” Kavium muttered as they slowly made their way back to Zedvar, expecting the roots to lunge for an attack at any moment.
Surprisingly the roots do not attack. Baldur looks at Zedvar and says, “So what did your tree god say?”
“Dalasmon saw all of you retreat to the edge of town,” Zedvar says, “and senses fear in all of you. He does not believe you’re strong enough to take the mist if you have such fear in your heart.”
“Last time your tree freaked out and attacked us,” Baldur counters.
“That was before I went to speak to Dalasmon on your behalf,” Zedvar explains. “Now he thinks the outsides – all of you – are weak.”
“But if we do kill the mist, he will let us mine?” Baldur asks.
Zedvar says, “Wait here. Let us see how Dalasmon judges you and your courage.”
Zedvar returns to the treant and Darko mutters, “And here we go again. Everyone’s coming out and they’re waving their hands about.”
“All right, let’s hang tight this time,” Baldur whispers.
“This is the worse idea ever,” Kavium sighs.
“We tend to have those,” Galiena adds.
Kavium nods, “Ramgor mentioned some of the things you guys got into…” (DM Note – Ramgor, like Kavium was one of the winners of the “date with Galiena” which happened in Session 7 – with Ramgor being picked as the first date and lasted through Session 8, Session 9, Session 10, Session 11, Session 12, Session 13, Session 14, and finally concluded in Session 15, where Kavium’s date with Galiena began).
Darko mentions, “Now that we’re close – I can see inside the tree… there’s something there… something dark…” And then suddenly the ground rumbles, and the roots rise, like serpents ready to strike – but they don’t strike – and Zedvar speaks with the treant.
Zedvar comes back and says, “Dalasmon accepts your offer. Destroy the mist and your can mine.”
Aros mentions, “Hey there was something stuck in the roots that we saw that we need for one of our friends. Do you think Dalasmon will let us have it?” He points at the root where he sees that the wand is now barely visible now, having been absorbed into the roots.
“It is too late,” Zedvar explains. “Whatever was inside of that wand, is now a part of Dalasmon.”
Darko furiously shouts, “Why did we run the first time? We could have taken this tree god and got my wand back.” He pauses, “I guess if you want my help that only leaves one final option, you find me a body to possess.”
“What do you know of the mist, Zedvar?” Galiena asks.
“I know nothing about the mist, only that it takes the food that Dalasmon feeds upon,” Zedvar replies. “If you can not defeat the mist, then do not descend from the mountain with steel or metal from the mines.”
“Understood,” Baldur nods.
As the party ascends the mountain path, it is a steep path – but none of them feel the exhaustion. They get to the path where gold and silver veers to the north, and the other path known for ore, is to the south. Baldur says, “The good thing, the fog came from the southern cavern… where we need to go.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Kavium sighs.
As they reach the mouth of the southern entrance, the cave mouth is caved in, just as expected. Aros and Kavium examine the caved portion, near the top – there is a small hole that Aros could fit through, which Kavium points out. “You could fit through there.”
Aros looks back at everyone, “Me? Go alone? Where the mist is?” He pauses. “Hey, Darko come light up this torch.” Darko grumbles, but Galiena grabs the torch and touches it – casting Light on the arrow. Aros fires it into the cavern – and he can see the walls are lined with ore.
Aros looks at Darko, “Do you know about any monsters in the caves?”
“I was murdered at the edge of town,” Darko growls. “I don’t know anything about what’s inside the caves.”
Aros says, “Can you go in with me and light it up?”
Darko shakes his head, “It’s going to be up to me to save the day.” And Darko squeezes through the hole easily, with Aros following behind him. Once inside, Aros notices that there are marks on the rocks – as if someone clawed down to their bones, with blood everywhere on the rocks, trying to dig out of the caved in mine… Aros quickly climbs out – rather than shout through the hole he’d climbed through to say, “Hey, so there’s claw marks on the other side, looks like someone was trying to dig their way out of the hole by any means necessary…”
“Whoever did it probably died a long time ago,” Baldur says.
From inside the cave, Darko’s voice shouts, “Yeah, because what dies stays dead, right?”
“All right, how much ore do we need?” Aros sighs.
“A lot,” Galiena replies.
“But we need to take care of the mist, or we’re not getting out of this place with anything, because we’re never going to get the wagon through the town before the roots rip the wheels off, and I can’t risk Walter getting hurt,” Baldur says.
Aros climbs back inside and looks around – and sees that, whoever had tried to claw their way out, had already moved some of the rocks inside – and Aros begins moving some of the rocks. Galiena shouts from the outside, “Stick your hand out, and I can give you Guidance.“
Aros sticks his hand out, and feels Galiena’s magic course through his body. He moves one of the rocks – and even with Guidance – the rocks quickly begin to rumble – and he tries quickly put the rock back (using Inspiration) and the rocks tumble down leaving only his hand sticking out from the rocks (as he takes 28 points of damage!), but in the process a large opening is created and Baldur, Galiena and Kavium enter the cave – and for a moment, don’t see Aros – before pulling him free from being buried, though they take a considerable amount of time due to the size of some of the rocks and using caution to ensure that the rest of the rocks do not collapse on them as they’re trying to free Aros, who is finally pulled out and very, bloody.
Galiena seeing how bloody he is casts Cure Wounds with Baldur giving some Lay On Hands with Kavium also lending a hand with Lay On Hands.
Darko floats, shaking his head, “How is it you have all survived this long?”
Around them is small deposits of ore glistened against the fiery green flame of Darko’s skull, but further down it could clearly be seen that larger deposits of ore and iron could be seen since the entrance was clearly mined first when these mines were discovered.
As they make their way deeper into the mine; they discover an area that looks as if it might have been a camp – with rocks positioned in a circle. Baldur and Aros see what looks to be like a tattered page of a book. As Galiena is trying to clean Aros, Baldur picks up the page and begins reading aloud…
Traveling deeper into the mine, Kavium seems to enter what appears to be a trance, and his playful, flirty edge ceases as he whispers, “There’s something down there… something vicious and foul… there is something…”
Baldur closes his eyes, and extends with his ability, and he too senses undead – but from further down in the cave (though Darko also registers as Undead). As the party edges slowly forward, they find yet another page to the diary…
Darko looks around, “Here we go again. Can you guys see the spirits? There’s someone there doing something with … what I guess, is supposed to be a campfire… and there’s a man here… pacing… a little girl over there… she looks so frightened… can you not see them?”
The party looks around, “No.”
Further down – they find the binding of the diary. And something oppressing seems to linger over them. And Darko says, “Tell me you see the girl… the frightened girl… she’s over here now…”
And there, where Darko is looking, is a tattered diary…
As Galiena lifts the diary, below it is an unusual looking doll.
Aros picks it up – and to his surprise, the doll suddenly attacks!
The doll lunges for Galiena – but Aros bats it away with his foot and screams, “The doll is alive!”
The doll cackles – Baldur and Kavium both suffer psychic damage as the doll’s laughter causes severe mental pain – but find themselves suddenly laughing uncontrollably, laughing about how stupid the idea of living fog in the cave.
Galiena unleashes an Eldritch Blast – but she’s horrified as she watches a needle weave itself though the doll. Aros runs over to Baldur and punches him in the nether region to break him out of the doll’s laughter – but instead, Baldur collapses on the ground laughing about how Aros had punched him. But Baldur gets to his feet and looks at the doll, and grabs his spear and says, “Why are you punching me? And not the doll?”
The doll manages to latch onto Galiena and as her hands grab her ankle, she feels what seems like a thousand needles in her ankle – and inflicts Galiena with psychic damage, forcing Galiena to scream out in pain. Galiena in turn blasts it with Sacred Flame which the doll is unable to avoid.
The fight with the doll continues, until Aros finally realizes that it keeps healing itself with a needle that it stores inside of its body – it takes several attempts, because a living doll frightens Aros – but he finally manages to grab the needle out of the doll, which forces the doll to simply collapse like a puppet whose strings have been severed.
Aros suddenly hears a voice in his head…
“Where am I? My name is Elisa.”
Aros looks around, “Does anyone hear Elisa’s voice?”
“There are others?” the little girl’s voice says. “I can’t see anyone but you.”
“Why did you attack us?” Aros asks. Kavium, Galiena, and Baldur all look at Aros. Darko, once again is simply shaking his head.
“I was not in control when I was inside the doll… I don’t know how I got there… I just know it was trying to defend itself… trying to protect me from danger…” Elisa’s voice says. “I found Sarith’s book… it had dark rituals for extending life… He found it on a mage’s body…” which Aros continues out loud.
“I know of the book,” Darko says. “That’s my book he found. Remember when you asked me if you would get me a old or young body and I said it didn’t matter – I could take it either way, because I’d take care of the rest. That book explains how it was done… That bastard looted my body when they fled into the caves. Probably also took my wand too.”
Elisa’s voice warns, “Beware of the fluttering… the blood… the craving… beware of the fluttering…”
TO BE CONTINUED!