Skyfell - Rise of the Glutton : Session 29
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:
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Session 29 - The Heroes of Moss Creek : A Titanic Success
Preparation
I left the previous story in a cliff hanger with the dead (or maybe more appropriately undead) evermore tree collapsing under the weight of the lake. I had so many neat ideas for what might follow that I had a really hard time settling on one. As any DM can relate, I had some things I WANTED to do. There were also some things that HAD to be done. It's the classic conflict of anyone who is creating a story. There's what the writer wants and there's what the story wants. Those do not always align.
For the collapse, I opted for a theater-of-the-mind kind of play. I did this for two reasons. First, I didn't want to rebuild the map for the brief moment that it would be used. Second, I wanted to remove the concrete perception of the situation that the map provided as an analog for the general confusion that would set in if the protective bubble that kept the party from drowning suddenly starting falling apart and water started pouring in. I did, of course, build a map for another purpose using the Heroscape tiles. That was smaller than my usual efforts mostly because I've learned now that no matter the size of the map, combat generally ends up focused on one little portion of it.
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| The Map |
I also had to get Jeff's new character, Tabbi, introduced as quickly as possible. I worked with Jeff on Discord to flesh out Tabbi's background and reasons for being on Moss Creek. (Given the geographic realities of Moss Creek, it's a little hard introducing new characters, especially ones who are at such a high level.) We then introduced the concept to the other players for some quick brainstorming and to get their characters' potential take on Tabbi.
It was during this back and forth that I realized Tabbi would need a means to move from island to island. I didn't want him relying on the kindness of strangers or on hiring out ships. He needed the freedom to go wherever he might need to go. That's when I hit on the idea of giving him a mount. But it had to be capable of flight and big enough to carry a medium-sized rider. I thought about the quetzalcoatlus which there are stats for in Volo's Guide to Monsters but that is a huge creature. In researching the real quetzalcoatlus, I learned there was a large variety (northorpi) which was clearly the critter in Volo's Guide, and a smaller variety (lawsoni) that might fit my needs. I did a little poking around on the DnD subreddit for other ideas. One of the many posts mentioned homebrewing something like the flying ostriches from the game Joust. I immediately fell in love with the imagery of a tabaxi flying around on an ostrich.
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| Inspired by Joust Source: Vintage Ad, Williams' Electronics, Inc |
Jeff loved this idea as well. We worked together on some of the lore around these birds that I originally referred to as warbirds. This, in turn, got me thinking more about the tabaxi and their lore. I'm very happy and excited about where that exploration ended up. You'll see some of this lore in the In-game section as cultural notes.
After poking around the Monster Manual for a bit, I decided to base the flying ostrich on the axe beak. It's a near-perfect fit because of the whole "bird" thing and it's comparable to the warhorse so it didn't seem too out of place. This also solved a general problem I had been passively ruminating regarding travel in Piruna Fields. The idea that there is a species of "bird dinosaur" specifically native to Piruna Fields that are generally used as mounts by the native populations was perfect. I was feeling good about this direction and believed everything was settled.
Little did I know that this concept would continue to haunt me.
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| Source: Pexels |
I also needed to refresh my memory regarding the overall story arch. The previous session saw the loss of two characters. Yes TWO! And we were only replacing one, so I needed to rethink the encounter I had originally laid for them. And, if I'm being totally honest, while using banishment to get rid of my boss monster in the previous session was a brilliant move by my players, it did leave my dungeon-master brain itching for a more challenging encounter. Let's be honest. I don't have much experience running a campaign for high-level characters. It's a fundamentally different experience than running one for low-level characters. I also wasn't entirely sure how the session might unfold, so I planned for a handful of eventualities and left the rest up to the fates to decide on the day of the game.
Pre-game
Jeff showed up a little earlier than the rest of the gang so that we could do some rolling. His character, Tabbi, was starting at level 9 to match the other players and so it was only logical that he would have some extra equipment and goodies that he'd acquired in his travels. One of Tabbi's goals was to learn all he could about the Elfey. This included the language. So, I also wanted to give Jeff a chance to roll a few times to see how far along he had come in that study.
To handle this, I opted for a simple mechanic. For each level, I had Jeff roll percentile for equipment and based on that roll I would determine what Tabbi acquired (if anything) for that level. This resulted in a mix of mostly common and uncommon items, along with a Saddle of the Cavalier for his flying ostrich and a Handy Haversack that we re-skinned as a saddle bag. Also for each level, I had Jeff roll a d20 to determine how far along Tabbi had gotten in learning Elfeyash with the intention of using my rule for rolling natural 20s on skills. I gave Tabbi 1 point toward this goal to start with and Jeff managed to roll a couple more successes.
I had also planned on taking a new picture of the cast of characters, but it totally slipped my mind once everyone started arriving. Life be like that some times.
After the usual chatting, I did the recap and we got started.
In-game
The sludge dragon was no more.
The strange glow pulsing out of the central stump was gone.
The dryads were free of the disease and acting of their own volition once again.
The pools of black sludge around the cavern were shriveling into a thin, desiccated crust that was cracking. The pressure of the entire weight of the lake was pressing down on the chamber, threatening to crush anything and everything within.
The diseased campestri changed their tune as their numbers were caught up in the water that was quickly filling the chamber. (It went a little something like this, but with what we must all now recognize as the trademark discordant, off-beat, overly eager cacophony that is any campestri choral effort.)
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| Evil Campestri Sing a Song Source: Dragon Magazine Issue 41 With Digital Manipulation |
"Thank you," Sil-ob'at said in Common to Drekzhar and Meribore. (Meribore was still in quetzalcoatlus form but free of the desire to murder her friends).
Sil-ob'at closed her eyes. She nodded, as though acknowledging someone's comment. When she opened her eyes again, she said, "My sisters and I can safely escape this place, but we cannot take you with us. You must flee, and quickly."
Tauffae was still attempting to hug out the evil from Sil-!aryo. "Thank you," Sil-!aryo said in heavily accented Gnomish. "Release now please."
Tauffae, sensing the fight had gone out of the dryad, complied and watched as Sil-!aryo began the careful work of removing her seed from the tree. Sil-Ch'at stepped through Sil-!aryo's tree to emerge out of her own on the other side of the chamber and begin to work on her own seed. Once finished, both dryads stepped back into their own tree and were gone.
The other dryads returned to their own trees as well. After removing each of their own seeds, they too tree stepped and were gone.
It was then that Tauffae really took in and understood what was happening around him. "Time to leave!" he shouted as loudly as he could before taking off as fast as he could for the only exit he knew. He waited there for his friends, hollering for them to hurry.
Meribore took flight, heading first for the stump to look for Bronte and Oma. Her huge size made it difficult to avoid the debris and water that was crashing down around her. She painfully slammed into the side of the stump and spent a hasty moment to find her friends. She only saw the hollowed out center of the evermore stump leading to a spherical gap whose sides were burned out. There was no Bronte. There was no Oma. Before she could ponder this too much, a series of deafening reports boomed through the chamber. The ceiling was cracking and splintering under the pressure of the lake.
Drekzhar ran for the exit as fast as he could. With the Fey Splinter gone and the dryad leaving, the light in the chamber was dimming quickly. This, combined with the uneven terrain that was quickly filling with water made for a difficult run. As he passed the stump, he could make out Tauffae standing at the exit urging him on. As he neared, a series of reports not unlike the sound of an airship being split in half boomed through the chamber and sent his heart racing.
Seeing that his friends were going to escape, and hearing the booms that were absolutely a death toll, Tauffae decided it was time to get the hell out of there. He ran up the passageway for the surface. There was little hope for safety just yet. The walls of the tunnel, once resembling thick, black oatmeal, were beginning to turn into the same brittle material as the ponds in the chamber. That could only mean that very shortly, the tunnel would begin to crumble as well and he would be crushed by the lake.
Meribore leaped from the stump and flew straight for the exit, ignoring the fact that her quetzalcoatlus form was far to big to fit. As she sped toward the all too small opening, she risked a quick glance behind her What she saw only solidified her desperate need to reach the exit. A long rip was tearing its way along the ceiling, starting from the back of the chamber and racing toward the exit as quickly as she was flying. Water poured in from above, threatening to catch her up in its torrent, slam her into the ground, and leave her buried at the bottom of the lake.
And then, she hit the exit at full speed. The impact shattered both of her wings and her huge form filled the tunnel. The injuries were bad enough that she immediately reverted to her firbolg form. She tumbled through the tunnel, bouncing off the walls, floor, and ceiling before crashing to a stop. All around her the black sludge was solidifying and beginning to crack. She scrambled to her feet and ran.
Drekzhar and Tauffae were neck and neck in their frantic attempt to escape. "Don't worry, Captain," Tauffae said. "I'll make a fine Captain after you're gone."
Drekzhar snorted. "Just stay out of the blue trunk," he said. "There's nothing to see in there."
As they both laughed at this, gaining in morale what they lost in precious breath, a huge gust of air shoved its way up the tunnel from behind them. Its force nearly knocked down Drekzhar and sent Tauffae tumbling like a rag doll.
"Move it, you lazy bum," Drekzhar barked as he shot past the prone orc
As Meribore recovered from her crash, portions of the tunnel around her disintegrated. Water slammed down onto her. Through only the grace of Hiatea (or perhaps Aerdrie Faenya), the force of the impact sent Meribore up the tunnel rather than down. This miracle gave her enough time to stagger to her feet even as more of the walls around her began to crumble. Worse, it was clear the entire chamber had collapsed because a wall of water was blasting up the tunnel toward her.
There was nothing for it. She was going to be crushed. Then, she remembered her Auntie Brayfa's swimming lessons from her childhood and the advice to follow a river's current rather than fight it. With this in mind, she turned to face the wall of water and jumped right into it. Despite her perfect form, the impact was like jumping off a cliff. The water immediately took her up in its deadly current but at least she wouldn't be smothered by the lake. With all her effort, she tucked her body into as small a ball as she could and let the current shoot her through what little remained of the tunnel.
Tauffae swore profusely as a stumbled back to his feet. "Oh no you don't" he barked as he set off after Drekzhar, painfully aware that the entire lake wanted nothing more than to crush them both.
Drekzhar was the first to emerge from the tunnel and into the shallow shoreline of the lake itself. He leaped to one side of the tunnel's opening as Tauffae came up behind him. Tauffae jumped to the opposite side just as a blast of water (with a battered, soggy Meribore trapped inside) exploded out of the tunnel and shot into the air like a foutain.
Meribore crashed into a muddy shore just at the mouth of the river that led back to the Moss Creek burrow.
The entire lake was rippling from the collapse of the evermore tree stump. Far off, a plesiosaurus broke the surface, rolled to its side, and then disappeared below. It was obvious, though, that the creature was not alive but another of the animated dead. Worse, numerous undead dinosaurs were emerging from the trees all along the lake's shore. It felt as though something had called them all there. They looked angry and hungry.
"Bronte! Oma!" Tauffae shouted as he started a frantic search for this friends in the shallow waters. "Bronte! Oma!"
Meribore rolled onto her back, simply glad to be alive. She savored the sensation of lying flat in the mud even though she was bruised worse than a week-old piece of fruit. That joy turned to dread as three tiny, hungry, undead velociraptor faces snarled down at her.
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| Zombie Velociraptor Source: Pixabay with Digital Manipulation |
Worse, three zombie deinonychus plodded clumsily out from the tree line just across the river. The usual, sleek, efficient prowling of a practiced predator was perverted by their clumsy, undead gate.
Drekzhar rushed to Meribore. Tauffae, still overcome with worry, continued to cast about for his friends wholly oblivious of the new danger taking shape on the shore.
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| Zombie Dinos on the Shore |
The zombie velocirators closed in on Meribore and Drekzhar, snapping at and slashing at them both. The zombie deinonychus plodded across the river eager to tear apart the pair.
The, a flying ostrich appeared overhead. Upon its back was a medium-sized humanoid rider.
Skyfell Cultural Note
The peoples of Piruna Fields do not normally leave their home islands. Because of this, indigenous airships are extremely rare. Very few people have even seen one let alone flown on one. Island hopping is sometimes called for, though. The feral gnomes especially will trade with and intermarry with their neighbors. So, when air travel is required, it's done by flying ostrich. The gnomes breed two varieties, a large variety they use as pack animals and a smaller variety they use as mounts. Even though firbolgs are even more unlikely to leave their home island than the feral gnomes, they still raise the larger variety of flying ostrich for transport.
The ostrich circled a few times as its rider seemed to assess the situation. Without warning, a firebolt slammed into the side of a zombie deinonychus.
Meribore threw up a spike growth to slow their approach and then turned her attention to the velociraptors.
Tauffae, hearing new chaos unraveling behind him, turned to join in the fight.
Downstream in the river, a burbling ripple moved toward our heroes. Quickly, the rippled grew into a way. And then a large, slug-like creature burst out of the from the water. Its rotting body was lined with dozens of insectoid legs. Decaying tentacles lashed out from around a festering mouth full of jagged teeth. The smell was horrendous.
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| Zombie Crawler Appears in the River Source: Monster Manual With Digital Manipulation |
The creature's entire body convulsed and shuddered as it puked up a slimy mass of melted flesh dotted with gibbering mouths and lolling eyes. The sound this new abberation made sent shivers through everyone. Together the two horrors advanced on the adventurers.
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| Mass of Flesh, Eyes, and Mouths Attack Source: Monster Manual, 5e |
Ignoring the spike growth, the zombies closed in on Meribore and Drekzhar. Tauffae hurried to join what was turning into a potentially deadly encounter.
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| The Monsters Close In |
The flying ostrich circled once more before coming in for a landing on the other side of the river just outside the range of Meribore's spike growth. Its rider, a tabaxi, dismounted, slinging firebolts as rapidly as he could. The long, beautiful feather in his tri-corner hat jounced with each blast.
Skyfell Cultural Note
For many, the tabaxi are just another in a veritable encyclopedia of strange and unusual stories about Piruna Fields. There are enough fanciful legends regarding these furry humanoids with their pointed ears, long snouts, fangs, claws, and strange obsessive behaviors to fill several volumes of cryptid lore. (Tobin's Cryptid Guide advertises itself as the definitive guide to tabaxi society, culture, and spirituality. Many with no actual contact with the tabaxi believe this claim with a special kind of zeal. Those lucky few (or perhaps by some measure, those unlucky few) who have spent any time with a member of the tabaxi community know the guide to be an absurd collection of rubbish more suitable for imaginative children and lackadaisical bards.) Tabaxi, in general, don't care one way or another what any outsider might believe just as long as said stranger shows Piruna Fields the respect and honor the region deserves.
The fighting moved into close quarters, with the zombie slug circling around to chomp on Taufee while the zombie dinosaurs and gibbering mound of flesh focused their hunger on Drekzhar and Meribore.
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| The Fight Rages On |
But between the newcomer's spell slinging and the party's heroic actions, the undead horrors were eventually destroyed. (One zombie dinosaur was particularly insistent on not being destroyed but even it was eventually cut down by Shadow's Dark Bite.)
As everyone caught their breath (they had just done battle with a sludge dragon, escaped from a collapsing cavern, and fought a pack of undead monsters so a mindful moment to recover and re-center was not wholly out of line), the tabaxi hailed the party. He introduced himself as Tabbi. His flying ostrich was named Mother Wind. He explained that he was an explorer hoping to learn the language of the ancient peoples of Piruna Fields. He had already managed to pick up some rudimentary grammar and vocabulary. In the process, he also had learned a little about the elfey pantheon and some of their ancillary religious beliefs. He had been out and about surveying the damage the disease had caused to Moss Creek when he noticed the party and circled around to investigate. As they talked, Tabbi cast healing spells on the group to help restore their health.
Eventually, it occurred to Tabbi that the three adventurers before him had to be the Heroes of Moss Creek. He had heard the song from from Pin-din Swift-leaf (the ranger gnome from Moss Creek burrow). The two had spent some time mapping the island, and during those outings she had related the tale of these heroic outsiders. He was rather excited to meet them but worried over the fact that the group seemed to be missing two of its members.
The adventurers related the recent events and explained that they weren't sure what had happened to their friends. They did, however, feel that they were still alive, somewhere.
Before Tabbi could dig any deeper into this subject, the dryads approached the party. Once again, they expressed their eternal gratitude. The dryads explained that the disease of the Fey Splinter was definitely gone from the island for good. Meribore's senses had suggested as much but it was good to have those feelings confirmed. They also reported that the Fey Splinter itself had been closed, cutting off the Feywild energy that had been feeding the island for as far back as anyone could remember. Again, Meribore had felt this change in the island's pulse; it had gone from a feeling like many other islands in Piruna Fields to feeling more like Doraku. Something was missing now.
The dryads weren't entirely sure what this would mean for the island's future. Without the Feywild energy, it was unlikely that new dryad would be born. This would leave the total population of dryad at only 10; this down from the hundred or so that had been there before the Glutton's followers and The Necromancer tried to destroy the island. They didn't even know whether the Splinter could be reopened. They would have to convene with the other dryads to discuss. That meant returning to Moss Creek burrow and calling a dryad circle.
The party agreed to return to the burrow with the dryad, mostly as an opportunity to rest before continuing with their real purpose for coming to the island. They were going after The Necromancer next.
End session 29
Experience earned:
Drekzhar - 2104 (57,432 total)
Meribore - 2104 (56,896 total)
Tabbi - 2050 (56,842 total)
Tauffae - 2077 (57,209 total)
Supplemental Materials
Re-imagining the Flying Ostrich
As I mentioned in the Preparation section, I kicked off this session with the general idea of Tabbi's mount being a flying ostrich. I referred to these creatures as warbirds. After the session, I continued to think through the implications of such a creature within the various cultures of Piruna Fields. I also decided their was too vague and inappropriate for their general purpose. I decided to go with a simple and more accurate name, "flying ostrich." (Sometimes, there isn't any need to come up with a "special" name for something. The obvious works just fine.)
I realized the flying ostriches that the tabaxi might ride had to be different from the flying ostriches that gnomes might ride if not for any other reason than the size difference. I also really liked the bit of cultural background I had worked out regarding the relationship between a tabaxi and their flying ostrich. These realities made me realize that I needed a few varieties of flying ostrich if the overall concept were going to make sense across all of Piruna Fields. So, I settled on three distinct types: standard, miniature, and tabaxi. With this idea in mind, I revised my post on the flying ostrich. (And, to be honest I'm still revising it.)
I also updated my Piruna Fields geography post with additional information about the tabaxi. I'm looking forward to filling out this part of Skyfell culture.
Discord In-character Channel
(It's the dungeon master once again. Since this was the end of a story arc, I needed some idea of what the players wanted to do next so I could prepare for the next session. This filled the last 20 minutes or so with an unstructured discussion as the players talked with each and had their characters interrogate the dryad. It was a fairly unsatisfying chaotic info dump. Moreover, I suddenly became really tired and so wasn't paying close attention. As the session wrapped up, we agreed to continue on Discord. What follows in a summary of that back-and-forth, much of it copied right out of the chat with a few edits. I'm breaking this up by subject rather than by timeline since that is basically how the conversations went along on Discord.)
The Dryad
The party asked the dryads what they knew about The Necromancer.
The dryads explained that The Necromancer looked like an elfey but the life of the wild places didn't emanate from her. A different energy weaved itself through her. It was of some place far away, deep, cold, lifeless, imprisoned by rock, shadow, and anger. She traveled in an airship called Venom. Grease-hair--The Glutton follower from Moss Creek (see Session 24)--traveled with her. He desperately wanted to kill the remaining gnomes of this island; he was ashamed of his failure and eager to prove to The Glutton that he was worthy of that evil god's attentions. The Necromancer refused his request. She was more concerned about another island called Little Roots. She wanted to make sure a Glutton follower named Blight-thumb would be more successful in destroying that burrow than Grease-hair had been with Moss Creek. She said that if Grease-hair's god couldn't deliver the bodies his followers had promised, then her god would abandon The Glutton and find someone more competent. She commanded the diseased dryads to destroy the island instead.
The party was grateful for this information and decided that their next destination would be Little Roots. Fortunately, among other items that they had looted from The Glutton's followers' camp was an airmap marked with the location of the island (see Session 24).
Sil-ob'at wanted to help out the party in any way she could. Of all the dryad, she was the most angry with what had happened on Moss Creek. Meribore explained the situation on the Dead Island, relating how the party wanted to restore it to health. She asked whether Sil-ob'at could help with the recovery. Sil-ob'at was willing to go to the island to tend to its recovery if that indeed would help the party defeat The Necromancer. However, since there were so very few dryad left on Moss Creek, she couldn't make the decision herself. The rest of the dryad would have to agree.
The group returned to Moss Creek burrow to a heroes' welcome, and feast, and some much needed rest. Stil-'tsinia was overjoyed to see that all of the diseased dryad had survived and are were cured. The six of them gathered in a circle and gave praise to the wild energy of Piruna and sang a song whose words none of the party understood but whose meaning was clear. It was a song of pure joy, relief, happiness, fellowship, love, and life. As they sang, fresh vegetation sprung up around their feet and chwinga materialized in the trees, clicking and clacking their appreciation.
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| Tree Spirits Listen to the Dryad Song Source: Princess Mononoke |
A few campstri even settled around the dryad to listen, plopping down on the ground like children and gaping up with awe and fascination. For once, they were silent.
Drekzhar joined the audience to listen to and learn the melody of the dryad song so that he might play it later. As he listened to the dryad voices, he came to understand that their song was more than just music. It was a representation of the island's soul. No. It was the island's soul, the actual melody of its existence, the pulse of its being and the life force of every living thing that populated it. In that moment, he suddenly understood what Meribore meant every time she had spoken of an island's pulse because now he could hear the pulse of Moss Creek, not as some vague experience but as a lovely melody. Drekzhar decided then and there that the best instrument to capture this song would be the bagpipes, with their multi-layered thrum touching on the multiple dryad voices. He would master this life song. Better, he suspected that if he tried hard enough he might also learn the life song of other islands.
When the dryad finished their song, Sil-ob'at called for a dryad circle to discuss the closure of the rift to the Feywild and their next steps. The dryad agreed to hold the meeting at Sil-'tsinia's tree. They then joined hands and emitted a gentle hum. A gentle vibration, easily mistaken for a breeze, flitted from one tree to another off in four different directions. They thanked our heroes once more before tree-stepping away.
At the start of the next full bright, Sil-ob'at returned alone. She explained that the dryad agreed to let her return to the Dead Island to nurse it back to health. In return they asked the party for another favor. "We do not know how to restore the Feywild life force to Moss Creek," she said. "But we believe a Thel would. Unfortunately, we understand of the outside world only what we learn from the gnomes, and they learn only from the occasional visitor. So we don’t know where to find such a being. If in your travels you encounter a Thel, we ask that you seek out her advice on how to restore the Feywild connection, and then bring that knowledge back to us."
Of course, the group agreed to help one more time.
Hearing this, Tabbi perked up. He was eager to prove himself a potentially valuable addition to the Heroes of Moss Creek and this was a perfect chance. He quickly related that in his travels, he had learned about the evermore trees and the Thels that inhabited them. Better still, he had found a living Thel on an island called Misty Mountain that was actively tended by a tribe of firbolgs.
Skyfell Cultural Note
Sil is an honorific term among the dryad that can be most closely translated as "sister." Dryad apply it only to the names of other dryad. Thel is also an honorific term used among the dryad most closely translated as "mother." They use it only when naming the spirits within an evermore tree. While no dryad actually knows the origin of these terms, those who have studied the linguistic history of Piruna Fields believe them to be related to the modern Sylvan Silv!ayah (honorable sister) and Th'anya (honorable mother) and/or the old Elfeyash Si-alya (big sister) and Thelana (grandmother), both belonging to a group of cognates related to kinship from a so far unknown proto-language that likely predated The Cataclysm. There is some controversy here, though, because old Elfeyash texts use the term Thel when naming evermore trees and not Thelana, suggesting a separate, though perhaps parallel, etymology. It is also possible that Thel is actually an abbreviated form of Thelana, as evidenced by the fact that the logograph for Thel and the first in the pair of logographs for Thelana are the same. There are many examples of this truncation throughout old Elfeyash texts. However Sil is not one of them. This seems to have arisen on its own through the dryad culture.
Crew Members
Tabbi was excited to have found The Heroes of Moss Creek but was absolutely gobsmacked to find out that they were attempting to learn what they could about the elfey just like him. He wanted very much to join them, but was not quite sure how he might convince them to accept him.
Spring-eye Reece (the original engineer of the Howling Wind who had remained behind on Moss Creek at the end of Session 7), was eager to punch back at The Necromancer whom he blamed directly for the murder of his companions. With Omagoshno missing in action, he offered to fill the role of engineer on the Howling Wind II, until they found Oma, killed The Necromancer, or he himself was killed in action. He would do this free of charge. He wanted only revenge.
Both Tabbi and Springeye approached Drekzhar with their offers. Drekzhar went to Tauffae and Meribore to discuss this. "We don't know where Bronte and Oma have gone," he told them. His tone was somber, but with purpose. "They may be trapped on the other side of the dimensional rift with no way to return. The Howling Wind II is now without both a surgeon and an engineer. We can fly, but we will not be at our full capability. I believe that if we ask, Tabbi would be willing to take on the role of surgeon. Springeye seems enthusiastic about the possibility of flying the Howling Wind again, and more so to exact some vengeance against our adversaries. Would you support me asking these two to join the crew, at least temporarily?" Drekzar concluded his pitch in as simple and direct a manner as he could, feeling there to be little time for elegance in the discussion.
After some thought, Tauffae and Meribore aggreed. Until the others were found, Tabbi and Springeye would be helpful additions to the crew. This decision was particularly difficult for Meribore. Drekzhar offered support to his mates before inviting Tabbi and Springeye over for a talk.
(After this thread, I updated the crew roster for the Howling Wind II. This brought the total NPC companion crew to five: Eldith Holdershrek as the ships quartermaster, Fizzlestick its cook, Gubrash of the Stone Skull its melee-weapons master, Huru of the Shattered Bone its ranged-weapons master, and now Springeye Reece its engineer.)
Bronte
Of all the remaining members of the Heroes of Moss Creek, Meribore was hit hardest with Bronte's loss. They had been best friends since childhood. He had left Annam's Isle (their home island) to keep watch over her as she quested to understand and rid herself of the horrible visions that had haunted her throughout her life. While she was certain he was still alive, he was someplace far away and out of her reach. She didn't know whether she would ever see him again. Worse, she never had a chance for a proper good-bye. Their companionship simply ended and she hadn't even been aware of it happening at the time.
After the dryads left for their meeting, and after everyone else settled in for the evening, Meribore took her bird pipe and sought out the largest tree she could find near the burrow. She climbed into its branches and, finding a comfortable (and comforting) branch at the trunk, she began to softly play her bird pipe, weaving into the melodies all her memories of Bronte and their travels together. She allowed herself to become lost in the notes, to leave behind her mere flesh, to reach out to and commune with her lost friend.
The song moved from eerie to hopeful as she recalled the two leaving their village. The journey from Piruna Fields to Highwater and then back to Moss Creek filled the melody with wonder. Notes of melancholy crept in as Bronte faced struggles (both physical and spiritual). These eventually gave way to a song of joy and hope as he discovered Aerdrie Faenya's ruins and a faith that surpassed all he had struggled to feel with Hiatea. The song faded as the original theme of Bronte’s baritone voice sounded his encouragement to his friends across the rift that they continue forward in the journey with the assurance that they will always be tied through the bonds of friendship and love.
As Meribore played, chwinga materialized in the tree branches, drawn to the emotions that her song expressed. Some clicked with empathy and compassion. A few moved in closer to her, and gently patted her, offering in that moment just a little companionship. Even a few campestri hopped over to the tree's base and settle in to listen. A few attempted to join in with unrestrained enthusiasm, clearly misreading the mood, but their companions quickly shamed them into silence. At the songs closing, the entire group felt a sense of unity.
Restoring The Dead Island
There was, of course, the practical matter of restoring the Dead Island. Doing so would take a long time, but the gnomes and dryads of Moss Creek were more than willing to help in any way they could.
Each of the surviving ten dryad offered three seeds from their trees. With the proper soil and care, these would sprout and grow into saplings within a couple of weeks and into full adulthood within a couple of months. More importantly, if the trees managed to thrive and were allowed to grow and reproduce without interference, chwinga might be born from such a budding wilderness.
The dryad also offered fertilizers and mulch to help in this regard. (This was in addition to the promises that Sil-'tsinia had made to Drekzhar for some bark and other materials to help build the magical bagpipes whose plans he had found.) And, of course, Sil-ob'at herself would return to the island to tend to the new life. Her first action would be to replant her own seed and grow her own tree within which she would take up residence during her stay on the island.
The gnomes reaffirmed their offer to crate up as much soil as the Howling Wind II could carry. The soil would be nutrient rich and filled will all sorts of beneficial critters, such as earthworms. They would also build raised beds for planting crops, and provide the seeds for various kinds of berries and vegetables. Even better, they would send along a crate of mushrooms and an appropriate grow bed.
And speaking of mushrooms, a group of campestri remained enthusiastic for the idea of moving to the Dead Island, especially now that a dryad would be there too. Among the group were those campestri who had listened to the Meribore's song. They seemed to be forming quite a charmed attachment to her.
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A collection of orc-themed common magic items and trinkets.
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