Skyfell - Rise of the Glutton : Session 30

 

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:

Tabbi (played by Jeff) - male tabaxi, Sorcerer monk (Divine Soul)
Drekzhar (played by Dan) - male minotaur, Bardic rogue (College of Swords, Swashbuckler)
Tauffae Twofeather Topshelf (played by Rodney) - male orc, Fighter (Champion)
Meribore Softwalker (played by Laura) - female fitbolg, Druid (Circle of the Moon)

Session 30 - Little Roots Burrow : Cast the First Stone

Preparation

With the conclusion of the Heroes of Moss Creek story and the wonderful conversations on Discord, I had a very clear high-level picture of the major points to hit in the next story. As any dungeon master will tell you, though, the demogorgon is in the details. Having a general idea was a great start, but there were many, many details that needed to be sussed out to realize a fully engaging plot. 

My process started with a somewhat passive brainstorming approach where I simply allowed my mind to wander through the possibilities throughout my day. This approach was born out of mostly necessity. When I used to commute, I had nearly two hours every day to occupy myself with creative thought (and audiobooks). Now that I work from home, I don't have this sort of forced "quiet time." In some ways, though, this rather scattered approach has proven to be more productive. Popping in and out of my thoughts has given me the opportunity to re-analyze any previous ideas or concepts with a fresh mindset, uncluttered by the chain of thoughts that might have led to the ideas in the first place. It seems to be working for me at least. Your mileage might vary.

At the very top of the list was the very practical need to work out an entirely new island, including its geologic history and extant flora and fauna. The irony here, though, is that despite working out some of these details in my mind, I completely forgot to draw up the actual map of the island. (A fact I did not realize until half-way through the session when the players asked what the island looked like. Oops.)

And, of course, I needed to work out a whole new burrow. This is more than just listing out a bunch of names. Given the nature of the upcoming story, I needed to define the clans and their members, the intra-clan and inter-clan politics that would drive the story, and the social history that drove those politics and continues to drive its politics. I also needed to understand its economics, including very simple and practical matters such as the burrow's sources of food and water, it's material goods, and its relationship with other burrows on other islands (if any).

While my brain ran this background task, I created the first draft of the burrow map. Fortunately, I did not come into this entirely cold. I had already laid out the Moss Creek burrow and I felt that there would likely be a lose consistency between the burrow structures, speaking to perhaps a very ancient contact that just no longer was. This map included only the public areas. This got me thinking about the clans and I eventually sat down to create the entire genealogy of the burrow's population, including their names, general role or job they performed, who they were married to, and so forth. This exercise, more than any other, really revealed to me who these gnomes were, how they got along with each other, and eventually how Blight-thumbs (the follower of the Glutton whose only purpose was to destroy the clan) might exploit those relationships. It's sort of funny how this simple exercise brought more than 87 distinct NPCs to life for me in just a couple of days. I actually feel that I know these gnomes. I can't wait for their story to unfold.

There were also a bunch of other house-keeping tasks I needed to attend to. I had to update the crew roster for The Howling Wind II to include Springeye Reece, the gnome airship engineer who had been left behind on Moss Creek (see Session 7) as well as rework the other crewmembers. I'd been most ignoring them for several sessions and, after getting a better understanding of the sidekick rules, I wanted to rebalance their stats to be more reflective of those rules and the general role for which they were intended. I think their new stat blocks make a lot more sense.

Lastly, because I was wholly uncertain in how the events of this story would unfold and how the players would lead their characters through those events, I built out two different maps using the Heroscape tiles, one for each possible encounter. I suppose I could show you the one that was eventually used in this session. It's small, I know, but it's really just the entrance to the cave that they find.

One of the Maps

As a side note, normally, I'd share a lot of these prep materials in this section (or in a Supplemental section at the end of the blog). However, given the way the session unfolded, I don't want to show them just yet because my players have not yet encountered much of it. They, for example, did not go to the burrow and so they haven't met any of the gnomes. That's fine from a story standpoint, but it also means that I don't want to share the genealogy information right now because, well, spoilers. 

Pre-game

For the last few sessions, I hadn't been preparing a meal for my players. There were a number of reasons for this. A few weeks ago, though, I had stumbled upon a recipe for sautéed mushrooms from America's Test Kitchen on YouTube. I made this, along with some skillet potatoes and tomato-cucumber salad, for my family and posted some pictures.

Sautéed Mushrooms

Some of my players showed interest in trying them too. I decided to make up a huge batch for the game along with some couscous. Unfortunately, I completely misjudged how long this would take. The entire process cut an entire hour out of the in-game time. But the meal came out quite well. (And yet again, I forgot to take pictures.) More importantly, we all got to chat a lot more than usual. To be honest, in the last couple of sessions we got right into the game because there was so much to do. It was nice to take a breather and just hang out for a while. It was during this time that we also took new group pictures of the miniatures. One of those is now being used for the introduction of this blog. 

While we ate, I gave a quick recap of the last session and the discussions on Discord. And then, we got started.

In-game

The party awoke the next equi-light* refreshed and ready to continue on their quest to hunt down and destroy The Necromancer. According to the Dryads, she (along with Grease-hair) was on her way to another gnome burrow on an island called Little Roots (see Session 29). According to the letters and journals belonging to Razor-fang that the party had found back on Dead Island (see Session 24), a Follower of the Glutton named Blight-thumbs was working diligently to destroy the island's burrow. The party hoped to intercept The Necromancer and save Little Roots before it fell to the same curse and disease that had nearly destroyed Moss creek. Fortunately, an airmap tagged to Little Roots had been among the items the party had scavenged from the Glutton camp. So, they had an easy way to proceed.

As they prepared to leave, our heroes were first approached by Flan-jan Wrinkled-toe, the last surviving elder of the Moss Creek burrow. He gave the party a letter of introduction to present to the elders of Little Roots upon their arrival. He explained that the letter should help to frame the party in a positive light and soften the natural proclivity to distrust outsiders. He gave no guarantees, of course, the Little Roots gnomes would accept them as friends, but it was generally best to approach any gnome burrow with some sort of recommendation.

Letter of Introduction
Source: Pexels

The party was also approached by Hed-pall Foot-finder, one of the few surviving burrow rangers. He asked them to deliver a letter to his sister Hed-pall Wild-wanderer. Wild-wanderer, a druid, had moved to Little Roots to marry a gnome named Neb-eaus Quick-foot. The letter, he said, explained what had happened to Moss Creek and urged his sister to accept the party as trusted friends. He asked that Meribore deliver the letter personally and, because of the nature of its contents, to make herself available to comfort Wild-wanderer through the horrible news that the letter contained. Meribore, of course, agreed.

While the party prepared to depart, Spring-eye did an external pre-flight check of the Howling Wind II. This was the first time he had seen the ship since sabotaging its drive and stabilizer in an attempt to keep his crew (who had been turned into undead monsters) from leaving the island to spread their evil further (see Session 2). When it came time to board the ship, he was clearly distressed by the memories of what had happened there. Choking back tears, he headed for the engineer room. There he once again struggled with his sadness at the memories that were suddenly rushing back to him. Seeing all the modifications Oma had made to the workspace, however, pulled him out of his dark thoughts and he quickly busied himself with putting everything back to where it belonged (and to removing the errant pieces of chewed gum Oma had secreted away in various places). 

Spring-eye Reece

Tabbi was also shown where his bunk would be. Tauffae had made up Bronte's old room for their new tabaxi friend. Mother Wind (Tabbi's flying ostrich) would not enter the ship through its cargo ramp. Instead, Tabbi flew her to the top-deck where he set up a place for the bird to stay while the ship was in flight.

As the Howling Wind II departed, Enn-var Shroom-groomer led a huge chorus of campestri in a traditional traveling song. The burrow survivors joined in. It was a beautiful and touching sendoff.

The first day of travel passed uneventfully. Drekzhar kept a weather eye on Spring-eye. Though the gnome was generally in good spirits, Drekzhar noticed that he never went further astern than the engineering room. This, of course, was a little strange since the galley, mess, and cabins were all located in the back of the ship. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Spring-eye to join the party for dinner. After a few drinks and some kind words, he began telling stories about his former crew, of their individual idiosyncrasies and of their shared adventures. The gathering moved to the top-deck, where they held a farewell ceremony and continued to talk and relax. It had been a very tough couple of days on Moss Creek after all and everyone needed to let off a little steam. This went on well into the mid-gloom.

Around full-bright on the second day of travel, the crew spotted a dragon turtle. They immediately secured the ship as it became clear that the creature was headed right for them. Huru, in her role as ship's gunner, prepped the lightning ballista while Gubrash, in his role as master of arms, secured the top deck and prepped the crew for battle. The dragon turtle, however, followed a course that brought it up parallel to the ship and outside the range of its weapons. There, it vocalized. Drekzhar, retrieved his pipes and played the Moss Creek rhythm he had intuitively understood and learned from listening to the dryads' song (see Session 29). The dragon turtle responded in kind. This back and forth went on for a minute or so, before the creature banked and passed over the top deck at a mere 30-foot distance. Huru nervously begged for permission to open fire, but Drekzhar ordered the entire crew to hold their fire until the dragon turtle showed any sign of aggression. Thankfully, it simply completed its pass, circled around one more time, and then peeled away on a course back in the direction of Moss Creek.

By equi-light the next day, clouds were developing ahead. As they came closer to the island, the cloud cover increased. A few storm clouds were developing even further beyond that. They spotted the island near mid-gloom on that third day. It was shrouded in heavy mists. As they circumnavigated the island from a few miles out, they could tell that it was roughly heart shaped.  A large, crumbling volcano was at its point (the "bottom" of the heart). It was essentially sheered vertically in half, with its intact side facing inward toward the island and the sheered side facing outward into the open skies revealing its complex stratigraphy and a variety of chambers and tunnels that wormed their way through the rock. There was evidence of habitation at the opposite end of the island (the "top" of the heart where the two curves come together). Here, our heroes could see cultivated fields and farmhouses scattered about the top of a broad, flat hill. Meribore knew that feral gnomes typically used the land above a burrow for farming and ranching activities so it was a good bet the Little Roots burrow was beneath these farms. To re-enforce this idea, a simple network of paths converged on a piece of open land at the base of the hill that faced the volcano. This was probably the location of the burrow's main entrance. The area between the farmland and the volcano was thick with forests cloaked in a dense fog.

A Thick Fog Covers the Forest
Source: Pexels

The party decided that Tabbi should do a quick fly-over of the inhabited area with Mother Wind. This seemed less intrusive and much easier than maneuvering the Howling Wind II, with its runabout in tow, into a tighter search pattern. Tabbi and Mother Wind took flight and followed a course that would circle the area in question. As they neared, it became obvious that this was indeed a farming region. Lights were on in the houses. And crops were in the fields. At first, all looked pretty normal, but then Tabbi realized all the crops in the fields were withered, as though some disease had destroyed them. Before he could swing in for a closer look, a deep howl rumbled up out of the fog. The sound burrowed its way into Tabbi's thoughts and filled him with utter terror. He quickly pulled Mother Wind out of her approach and directed her back to the Howling Wind II. By the time they landed on its top-deck, his fear had subsided. He breathlessly related his experience to the rest of the adventurers. While none aboard the ship had heard the howl, Tabbi's description of it brought to mind the noises made by the Glutton Followers' pets back on Dead Island (see Session 23).

Possible Adult Version of the Glutton Followers' Pets
Source: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, 5e

After some discussion, our heroes decided to do a standard search pattern over the island using the runabout. Their goal was to see if they could find The Necromancer and/or the Venom (her ship). This could give them a better understanding of its terrain while providing a safe way to seek out the source of the howling.

During this search, they passed over the farmlands and watched what appeared to be gnome farmers retreating into their homes as another series of howls rolled up out of the fog. They also spotted empty pasture lands and empty pens that were most likely for pachycephalosaurs (a very common beast of burden and source of meat). There were flying ostrich stables as well, but these too were empty. Tabbi knew from his own experience that the flying ostriches were often set free during a life-threatening emergency so that they could fend for themselves until the danger passed. They always returned when the coast was clear.

Their search pattern also took them out over the fog-covered forests. Here, a brief break in the fog revealed a clearing near the base of the volcano. In that clearing, one of the Followers' pets, accompanied by several of the fleshy creatures that had tried to eat Oma during their initial exploration of the Moss Creek burrow (see Session 7) were swarming around a pachycephalosaur. As the mists veiled the scene once again, the monsters viciously dragged the dinosaur to its knees. 

Monsters that Tried to Eat Ohmagoshno
Source: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

The presence of these monsters was clear evidence that the Glutton Followers were active on this island. But by equi-light they had seen no sign of The Necromancer or her ship. They decided to return to the Howling Wind II, update the crew on what was happening, and return to the site of the attack to investigate the creatures further. They used both the runabout and Mother Wind for this second trip. They also left strict instructions with the crew to return to Dead Island if the party failed to report back after three days.

On their return trip, the fog was beginning to burn off a little and the farmhouses began showing signs of morning activities. Smoke was trickling out of chimneys and the smell of fresh bread and morning meals filled the air. These were all fairly normal signs of life which were, despite the evidence of diseased crops and missing animals, a good indications that the burrow was not entirely lost. To emphasize this fact, the adventurers spotted a pair of gnomes watching them from the front porch of one of the farmhouses. They were pointing and gesturing frantically at our heroes. One of the gnomes ran into the house and emerged once again with a bow. He let lose an arrow that fell painfully shy of both the ship and Mother Wind, but the point was clear. The party had been spotted and the gnomes had reacted to them in a less than positive manner.

Shortly, the adventurers arrived once more at the clearing and landed. A quick investigation of the scene indicated that the dinosaur has indeed been taken down there but it hadn't been eaten there. Instead, it appeared that the monsters had dragged away the poor animal to another location. The trail, a veritable swath of broken undergrowth, was easy enough to follow as the monsters had made no effort to disguise their activities. 

The party followed this trail for quite a distance to a talus cave. 

They Find a Cave

Fleshy debris was scattered about the entrance, which in itself was a little unusual. Normally scavengers would retrieve such remains for their own food but here it was left untouched. This implied that no creature in the forest had dared come near this spot. Worse, the air around the entrance smelled of death and rotting flesh. The stench was reminiscent of the same undead decay that had filled the cursed decks of the Howling Wind. The memory caused Tauffae to vomit. There was definitely an evil here, lurking somewhere inside, perhaps watching our heroes even now and waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Something Watches from Within

The party formulated a plan to attempt to lure the monsters out of the cave where they might be easier to fight. Tabbi took up a position above the entrance, while Tauffae and Drekzhar flanked it. Merbore wild shaped into a pachycephalosaur. She vocalized, loudly, presenting herself as bait. 

There was no response from within the cave.

Meribore vocalized again, this time louder.

They waited.

Then, they heard soft clicking from deep within the cave, as though something, many somethings, were skittering along the rock. 

Encouraged, Meribore vocalized once again.

The skittering became more intense. Shortly, the ambient glow of the equi-light reflected off the shiny carapaces of what appeared to be four giant spiders eager to attack Meribore.

Spiders Emerge

End session 30

Experience earned:

Drekzhar - 1350 (58,782 total)
Meribore - 1467 (58,363 total)
Tabbi - 1431 (58,273 total)
Tauffae - 1440 (58,649 total)

Supplemental Materials

Equi-light

During the game, I expressed dissatisfaction with the term "morning" in a place where there was no clear "day" and "night." We had already decided that "midnight" would be mid-gloom and that noon would be full-bright. We kicked around some ideas for morning, and came up with equi-light. This being the point in the day where the ambient light was neither gloom nor bright. Rodney further added the idea that it would be during equi-light that spellcasters such as clerics would be able to refresh and relearn their spells because all things would be "in balance" at this time. So, moving forward, morning is now equi-light.

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