Skyfell - Rise of the Glutton : Session 27
Introduction
A little while back I started a once-per-month Dungeons and Dragons campaign in my Skyfell setting that I call The Rise of the Glutton. I wanted to provide my players with a log of their adventures and then realized that such a log might make for fun blog posts. See Rise of the Glutton in my Session Index for a complete listing.
The cast is:
Session 27 - The Heroes of Moss Creek : Into the Tangles
In the interest of full disclosure, the summary you are about to read is for a session that occurred several months ago. I put the game, and the writing of this summary, on hold due to family events. Because I'm reaching deep into my memory fog, I am certain the content is incomplete and probably incorrect in a handful of ways. I did my best. Fortunately, my players are expert note takers. While I might have made a few booboos in this recount, when we finally get together for session 28, I'm sure I'll have a clearer picture of how session 27 unfolded.
With that in mind, kindly enjoy this humble recollection.
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| Kindly Enjoy My Story Source: The Storyteller |
Preparation
I do not recall what preparation went into this session other than using the Heroscape landscape to build out the map for the major encounter.
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| The Map |
I had no need to alter the general outline of the story. And I had already worked out the stats for the NPCs, so there wasn't much to do in that regard.
This only left finding a player for Bronte. After much cajoling and begging, my wife consented to joining the session to play the firbolg cleric. She does not enjoy RPG games and therefore has very little experience roleplaying. So, just like any new player she was nervous about "doing it wrong."
(As an aside, I have run multiple public one-shot games with people who have never played a roleplaying game before. These new players almost always have this same fear. And it really is a fear. They really don't want to "do the wrong thing." If there happen to be any folks reading this who are considering joining a roleplaying game, let me say this clearly right now. Outside of being abusive toward the other players, you really can't do anything "wrong." You will make mistakes, of course. We all do. The rules will be confusing. They were for me too when I first picked up the players guide. But those mistakes and that confusion don't mean you've "done something wrong." So, take a deep breath and allow yourself to enjoy the moment and have fun.)
Pre-game
Unlike previous sessions, I did not prepare a meal for my players. I think this is a tradition I'm going to move away from for a number of reasons not the least of which is that it's just another thing I have to prepare for on a day where I'm already busy doing other things.
We all assembled around the table and handed Bronte's character sheet over to my wife. We started reviewing the details of the character and quickly realized that dropping a 9th-level spell-casting character on a new player was not the best idea. Rodney volunteered to play Bronte so that she could play Tauffae instead. Yes, he is another 9th-level character, but there are fewer details to fuss over with Tauffae as compared with Bronte. Besides, taking Bronte gave Rodney a chance to try playing a different character in the campaign, which he was more than happy to do.
This settled, I gave my usual recap and got the game started.
In-game
After feeling well prepared for an underwater encounter, our heroes continued to follow the river up the side of the mountain toward the Moss Lake where the infected dryad had gathered.
As they went along, it became clear that the environmental infection was getting more severe the closer they got to the lake. Meribore sensed this too and was certain that the source of the infection was indeed in the lake.
Soon, they found a sparse collection of stones that were clearly the ruins of an elfeyash temple. Among the few remnants was part of a stone relief depicting a female being with pointed ears and wings like a bird.
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| Relief Depicting an Elfeyash God Source: Dragon Magazine #60 |
Bronte recognized this being as the entity who had appeared to him during his prayer dream to Hiatea the previous full gloom (see session 26). Drekzhar recalled seeing a similar image in the history book he had looted from Hungryfang's possessions back on the dead isle (see session 24). He confirmed that, according to the book, this was Aerdrie Faenya, an elfeyash god of life, storms, and trickery. This information resonated with Bronte. He felt an unexpected pull toward this entity, a deeply spiritual understanding and symmetry that he did not feel with Hiatea.
Perhaps more importantly for everyone else, the immediate environs around the temple were free of disease and infection. There were not even any infected flora encroaching upon them. The place seemed "safe" from whatever it was that was spreading out from the lake. A closer look around turned up a few signs that someone had stopped over at this place, making camp, and then had done an amazing job at hiding their visit. The party assumed that this must have been Pin-din Swift-leaf, the ranger from Moss Creek Burrow who was out searching for any remaining survivors (see session 26).
Bronte requested he have a moment to attempt a prayer to Aerdrie Faenya. He reached out to the deity, asking whether he could honor her. A subtle breeze tumbled down through the canopy and picked up a few tiny pieces of detritus in a gentle dust devil. He took this as a sign of her ascent and made an offering. He reached out to his own spiritual essence, the tempest. Lightning streaked down to him, splintering into a web of energy that wove itself in and around the dust devil.
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| Bronte Calls Down Lightning Source: Thor 2, MCU |
Satisfied that his offering was accepted, he thanked the group for allowing him a moment to reach out to this ancient deity. Then, they all continued on their way.
A while after, Meribore noticed a huge mass of infected campestri clustered along the branches of a dead tree next to the river. A little way from there were the remains of a tree cluster similar to the one that made up the lookout tower of the Moss Creek Burrow.
The campestri sang, loudly, out of tune, and nowhere near anything resembling harmony:
Bite them
Tear them
Sever their heads
Crush them
Grind them
For our beds
Clearly, these little guys wished the party harm. They would have to be dealt with. As a distraction, Drekzhar started singing The Heroes of Moss Creek. Very quickly the infected mushrooms picked up his song, filling the lyrics with a raspy, evil overtones. Bronte approached the fungal chorus intent on destroying it. His first attack thinned their ranks but the cluster quickly split into separate swarms.
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| The Party and the Shrooms |
Worse, amorphous masses of liquified flesh pitted with sunken eyes and rotting mouths tumbled up out of the water. These horrors set upon the party as theirs mouths began murmuring and chattering in a chaotic jumble of different voices: deep, shrill, wailing, ululating, agonized, raptured, angry, desperate, hateful, aroused, and a host of other extreme emotions poured out of each one.
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| Masses of Flesh, Eyes, and Mouths Attack Source: Monster Manual, 5e |
The fight that ensued (Sorry folks. Here, I do not remember the details.) was a hard one but eventually our heroes won the day with no small amount of effort. After the fight, they investigated the tree cluster. Here they noticed that a black, sludge-like material was eddying in the hollow of the cluster. It seemed to be coming from upstream. The party assumed the source to be the lake. More worrisome, though, was that the sludge was spilling out from the tree cluster and making its way downstream. It was clear that eventually this material would reach the burrow and likely infect what few survivors remained.
Despite this new information, the party was exhausted and needed a brief rest to recover. They decided to return to the temple ruins, with its soft, mossy ground that was free of any infection, to rest and plan their next actions.
Upon arriving, Bronte once again prayed to Aerdrie Faenya. Whereas before he simply made an offering, this time he reached out to her as a supplicant. He felt her answering presence fill the temple and touch his spirit. He made another offering and then asked this ancient deity three questions.
Bronte asked whether he may champion her. Aerdrie Faenya answered yes.
Bronte asked whether he could do this while keeping his faith to Hiatea. Aerdrie Faenya answered no.
Bronte asked whether greater restoration would cure the infected dryad and remove the curse. Aerdrie Faenya answered yes.
This spiritual interaction was like no other Bronte had ever had with Hiatea. It felt true. It felt right. It felt good. He imagined it was how others had described their own contact with Hiatea; a kind of experience he had been missing with a god with whom he had grown up and had always assumed he should worship. While the others planned their next steps, Bronte considered what would have been unthinkable just a few days before.
He considered abandoning Hiatea to turn to an alien god who meshed more closely with his own spiritual essence.
End session 27
Experience earned:
Bronte - 1952 (55,028 total)
Drekzhar - 1951 (52,976 total)
Meribore - 1870 (52,462 total)
Omagoshno - 1924 (54,145 total)
Tauffae - 1924 (52,802 total)
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