Skyfell - Rise of the Glutton : Session 32
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 32 - Little Roots Burrow : A Burrow Divided
Preparation
Preparation was light again because I already had a general idea of the arc's direction. I rebuilt a few maps using the Heroscape tiles based on where the characters might go next but I suspected they would not be needed.
I also spent a little time fiddling around with a playlist for the burrow in its “normal” (not infected by the Glutton) state. I didn't get very far with that. If/when I finish it, I'll share it here.
It's funny, but as any writer will tell you, there are times when a particular piece of dialog, specific imagery, or even an entire scene haunts the mind as they create. I'm sure it's the same for all artists but I haven't spent as much time painting or sculpting or building as I have spent writing so that’s only an assumption. I have a scene stuck in my head for this arc. I really WANT to use it, but I have fallen prey to that impulse in the past to the detriment of the story so I am cautious in my excitement. But, oh man, I really want to incorporate it into this arc. Of course, if I can't use it here then I might find a way to use it elsewhere. We'll see.
The day of the game I happened to notice a comment on Mildew's Revenge, an adventure module I published on the Dungeon MastersGuild. It was from The Quest Hub podcast letting me know that they were going to do a review of that adventure. The comment was from last month, so I quickly found the episode on Spotify and had a listen. It's a good episode and they provided some insightful feedback. So, that pretty much derailed me until the start of the game.
Pre-game
We gathered around and chatted a little.
I was in a bit of a funk despite the glowing review I got for Mildew's Revenge and my previous excitement about getting together. It had been a long week leading up to game day. The heatwave was really getting to me. Several days of temperatures hovering around 110 isn't just hot, it withers the will. Regardless of the reasons, everyone was supportive. I grumbled a little, thanked everyone for coming, and then trudged forward with the recap. My mood did brighten as the session went along though. The limited edition Demogorgon stout I had picked up at Track 7 Brewing when I had run a Stranger Things themed Dungeons and Dragons game for Time2Tabletop also helped.
(And just a quick post-game note which breaks the pattern, I know. But I really wanted to mention that after the session, Jeff and I watched Prey on Hulu. If you have the means, I highly recommend watching it. It is a great movie.)
In-game
The gnome party, with Flan-seg Stone-wall in the lead, escorted our heroes to Little Roots burrow.
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| Flan-seg Stonewall Source: Heroforge Design by Me |
Neb-eaus Wild-wanderer clung to Meribore's side Wild-wanderer kept mostly quiet, dealing with her own inner turmoil about the near extinction of her entire clan. She did respond to the few questions that Meribore posed.
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| Neb-eaus Wild-wanderer Source: Heroforge Design by Me |
Neb-eaus Far-seeker and Tabbi continued to chat (in gnomish). Far-seeker confirmed that he had seen an airship, shrouded in clouds, pass overhead only two days prior to our heroes' arrival. That was, in large part, why a search had been ordered after the party flew over the burrow in the runabout. The ship had been large. Its black hull had been somewhat reflective, like the chitin of a beetle.
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| Neb-eaus Far-seeker Source: Heroforge Design by Me |
As they travelled across the outside surface of the burrow toward its entrance, it became clear that the community was failing. The few crops that weren't rotting on the vine were withered and unhealthy. There were no animals grazing. Every gnome who poked their head out of their homestead to watch the group pass looked exhausted and angry. Even the guards seemed to not be thinking entirely clearly.
On their way to the burrow entrance and at the burrow entrance itself, there were several message boards with various notices, complaints, and bits of news tacked up for the community. One note was posted at every board and it caught the party's attention.
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| A Notice of Note |
At the main doors to the burrow, Stone-wall muttered a password before the heavy entry doors creaked open to admit the group. At this point, the rangers bid farewell so that they might return to their own duties. Wild-wanderer remained.
Stone-wall led the party down the main entryway of the burrow which, much like that at Moss Creek, had been constructed in such a way as to make it easier to bring in supplies and other materials from outside. And as with Moss Creek, its walls and ceiling were threads of roots coaxed over generations into their current form. Here and there patches of rock broke through the roots. The floor was well trodden and hard-packed dirt. Purple, glowing mushrooms scattered here and there provided a soft light to see by.
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| Mushrooms Light the Way Source: Pixabay with Digital Manipulation By Me |
Our heroes were led passed a branch in the hallway that opened into a large gathering area with tables. A few scattered gnomes were sitting around these tables, staring at our party with intense interest and not just a little suspicion. One got up quickly and hurried off out of sight.
The hallway ended in what was clearly a temple. A hand-carved, wooden statue of Baervan Wildwanderer stood on a raised platform in an alcove near the back. Rising benches were arranged around this like an amphitheater.
As the party filed in, a flustered gnome emerged from a door near the raised platform. He bore all the trappings of a priest, including the holy symbol of Baervan Wildwanderer. He introduced himself as Flan-seg Clear-prayers, the spiritual advisor of the burrow and devout follower of that deity.
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| Flan-seg Clear-prayers Source: Heroforge Design by Me |
Stone-wall explained what was happening and quickly dismissed himself to seek out and retrieve the elders.
While Stone-wall was gone, Meribore asked Clear-prayers after the general health and events of the burrow. He was open and honest about his own concerns regarding the failing crops, the missing animals, and the infighting. He also mentioned that the dryad had abandoned them. He was quick to blame the farmers for this latter and the rangers for much of the former.
Wild-wanderer leaned closely to Meribore and explained in Sylvan that the dryad had left because an old feud had been rekindled. The rangers knew where they had gone, but they were not sharing that information with the rest of the burrow for fear that the dryad would take that sharing of information as a further betrayal. When Meribore pondered what that could mean, she suddenly realized that she hadn't seen any campestri here. This seemed very odd as the hyperactive, questionably sentient mushrooms were ubiquitous across Piruna Fields.
While this conversation was going on, Tauffae busied himself with examining the various religious objects that were stowed and arranged near and around the statue of Baervan. He noticed that several alcoves and displays were empty, but the dust pattern on their shelves indicated that objects had recently been there. Thinking this was a place to leave behind offerings to the gnome god, Tauffae decided to leave his VIP pass from the Clockworks of Carnage. He muttered a small prayer to the gnome god.
Soon, the elders arrived, filing into the room in the following order. (It was Wild-wanderer who gave the names of each man, starting with the head of her own clan, which caused Clear-prayers to bluster.)
- Elder Flan-seg Silver-tongue (the burrow folk)
- Elder Baer-pin Fiddle-stick (the crafts folk)
- Elder Neb-eaus Full-quiver (the ranger folk)
- Elder Uran-lan Swift-toe (the rancher folk)
- Elder Bar-tikk Soil-mover (the farm folk)
- Elder Gar-len Flat-stone (the farm folk)
Each one represented their respective clans. Each clan was primarily responsible for specialized tasks within the community. Even among these venerable and wise leaders, the rifts and rivalries between the clans were apparent. It seemed, however, that at least Soil-mover and Flat-stone were loosely allied with each other in their mutual distrust of the others. Though, even between these two there was some friction.
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| Flan-seg Silver-tongue Source: Heroforge developed by me |
After the introductions and other formalities were completed, Drekzhar rose to address the gnomes (in Common). Wild-wanderer translated into Gnomish with help from Meribore when it was needed. Drekzhar delivered an impassioned and inspiring speech. He explained the party's experiences over the last couple of months regarding Moss Creek and the Followers of the Glutton. He went on to explain the party was there to help Little Roots weather its troubles by hunting down not only the remaining followers but also a person of even greater evil. He cautioned the elders that these evils worked very carefully to turn good people against each other and that the burrow must be aware of this manipulation. He mentioned that the evil worked from within, spurred on by someone typically discontented with their life or with their place within burrow society. He begged the group to move away from division and toward unity otherwise the burrow would fail.
After a long, thoughtful moment, Silver-tongue acknowledged the problems the burrow had been experiencing and their inability to correct them. He welcomed the adventurers' help and promised to work as diligently as possible to restore unity, if the other elders would promise to do the same. It seemed to be a major concession on Silver-tongue's part, one that was welcomed by all the elders. Even in that concession, and even in that welcoming, there was still a hint of blame and dissent. After a brief word from each of the remaining elders about committing to helping promote unity and making available any resource the party might need, the elders dismissed themselves to attend to other matters, leaving Stone-wall, Wild-wanderer, and Clear-prayers to discuss with the party their next steps.
Together, they decided that the party would retrieve their runabout (and retrieve Mother Wind) and park it somewhere near the burrow; here Wild-wanderer promised to get permission from one of the farmers to use their land. Clear-prayers would call together the burrow and deliver a sermon on unity, kindness, and forgiveness, and would continue with those themes in every gathering. Stone-wall would alert the other burrow guard and the rangers to keep an eye out for anyone who might be working with the Glutton. Drekzhar cautioned against false accusations; he didn't want a witch hunt. He emphasized instead feeling out the population for anyone who might be an outcast or feeling as though they didn't belong and to encourage that person back into burrow life. While Stone-wall didn't necessarily believe such a person existed in the burrow--at least not among the Flan-seg or Baer-pin--he would keep the advice in mind.
It took a few hours for the party to bring the runabout and Tabbi's mount to the burrow. They settled on a piece of land near a pumpkin patch that was badly spoiled. All the vines were rotted and dead, in much the same way as the trees and other vegetation had gone bad back on Moss Creek. They set up camp with the notion of taking a long rest despite it being late full-bright. It had been nearly two days since without sleep and the entire party was worn out.
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| The Dead Pumpkin Patch Source: Pixabay |
Before bedding down, Meribore tried a little druidcraft to grow one of the few pumpkin seeds in the dead pumpkin patch that looked as though it still had a little life in it. The seed sprouted momentarily before the shoot blackened and shriveled. Meribore felt the heartbeat of the field shudder, as though something was forcefully rejecting the idea of healthy plant life growing. Wild-wanderer, who remained near the party after their return, felt a similar shudder and tried her own druidcraft on other seeds. There was the same result. Some force was actively, mercilessly, angrily, killing any healthy growth.
Meanhile, Drekzhar decided to try to learn the melody of the island in the same way he had learned the melody of Moss Creek (see Session 31). Using his lute, he played through some chords until the music he played began to resonate with what he was feeling from the island. It was a lovely melody but every once in a while, his fingers would stumble over themselves and cause a discordant strum. He quickly realized, though, that his fingers weren't stumbling. The flutter was actually part of the island's melody. And when either Meribore or Wild-wanderer attempted to grow a pumpkin vine, the melody became a momentary cacophony of jumbled notes.
With this news weighing on the party, they bedded down for their long rest. Despite being in "friendly" territory, they still posted a watch, affording each person a chance to observe burrow life through the remaining hours of full-bright and into mid-gloom. During his watch, Drekzhar witnessed a fist fight break out between a couple of gnomes. Clearly, there was still some distrust among the citizenry.
It was as mid-gloom approached, on Tabbi's watch, that the fog began to appear once again. It was as though it came up out of the ground itself. Clouds rolled across the sky, turning the normal dim light of mid-gloom even darker and colder.
And then at mid-gloom, a howl exploded out of the darkness, as though the fog below and clouds above were wailing.
End session 32.
Experience earned:
Drekzhar - 1350 (61,482 total)
Meribore - 1350 (61,063 total)
Tabbi - 1413 (61,063 total)
Tauffae - 1395 (61,511 total)
Supplemental Material
Island Melodies
It was only as I was writing this summary that I realized I should find some music to represent the island melodies that Drekzhar was learning. I poked around on Spotify for a bit and found exactly what I was looking for. My find was fortuitous because, as I mentioned in the Preparation section, I've been passively assembling a playlist for this arch, and perhaps more specifically for Little Roots burrow. A specific tune has been following every thought about this new burrow. I think I will likely go back and do a similar playlist for Moss Creek.
Until then, here are the melodies that Drekzhar has learned so far:
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