Skyfell - Rise of the Glutton : Session 34

 

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 34 - Little Roots Burrow : The Unraveling

Preparation 

A ton of prep went into this session. 

There was still a lot of story that hadn't yet unfolded. Certain events were going to happen with or without the characters and I had rather desired the characters to be present for those events. Leading up to session 34 we made some attempt to hammer out those events on Discord as it promised to be mostly roleplaying. That was not very successful because, well, I was busy. It wasn't just with work. I was also preparing for a story arch I was going to run for a game where I'm normally a player. This was also around Thanksgiving and there were social commitments that needed to be met.

But maybe most importantly for the Skyfell game, I was getting to know Leslie, our new player. I invited her to the game to fill in the gap left by Bronte's players. While Leslie read through the session summaries to get to know the setting, we worked on her character, its background, and how we were going to introduce her into the story. These were all actually quite difficult given that the characters are now ninth level. Any character joining the group would need to be equally experienced and such characters would be rather famous (or infamous) themselves. I guess I'm just saying it's much more difficult to integrate a new character into a 9th-level party than it is to integrate a new character into a 1st-level party. While I could just say "here's a new character in the party" I did want some sort of explanation for their sudden appearance (and subsequent adoption into the party) that worked with the story. This all took some time as Leslie and I batted around some ideas while working out her character details over Discord. We did eventually get on a call just to chat about our gaming experiences. Even after all of that, the story wasn't necessarily at a good point to introduce a new character so we decided that Leslie would not join session 34 but we would shoot for session 35.

While that was happening, I also had to prep for the coming airship battle. Sure, I've written some thoughts about airships and airship travel, but I hadn't really thought through the "rules" for their movement and whatnot. Also, I wanted to do something special for this encounter that would exercise my creativity. The result? I built scale models of the airships that I would need. Assuming that each 1-inch square on a map was 25 feet, I constructed airships that were about three inches long with pieces of carboard box (thank-you delivery service that shall not be named) and note cards. 

I had a LOT of fun doing this and it took quite a bit of willpower not to build out an entire fleet. Still, I ended up with three ships. 

I also built out a few terrain maps for the PCs if events should call for them. And yes, I used the Heroscape tiles as usual. For the airship battle, however, I used a standard grid battle map. In hindsight, a hex map would have been better for managing the airship movement. But I don't have one of those because I use the Heroscape tiles.

So, yeah, busy does not even begin to capture what my days were like leading up to the session.

Pre-game

We pretty much jumped right in because there was a lot to get through.

In-game

"This proves it," Far-seeker said. He thrust a crumpled, bloodied piece of parchment at Tabbi. "This proves the Flan-seg are behind all of these troubles."

The "Evidence"

The party looked over the parchment and recognized it to be the Ten Instructions that they had noticed posted all around the burrow. When they pressed Far-seeker to explain, his logic seemed somewhat less than logical. The Ten Instructions was a document that Flan-seg Clear-prayers had approved and had posted everywhere, even in places where they had no right to go. This included the hunter's lodge. Clearly, if they found the flyer in that dark, evil place, then the Flan-seg had been there. The Flan-seg knew about the place. So, the Flan-seg were behind everything that had been going wrong. 

Concerned about a dramatic escalation of tensions, Drekzhar quickly convinced Far-seeker to take the entire party back to the hunter's lodge for a little rest and more time to discuss this discovery. (No one in the party saw or agreed with the "logic" of Far-seeker's conclusion and were hoping to get more information from him before anyone acted rashly.)

To Tauffae’s and Drekzhar’s mind, the lodge was reminiscent of a primitive motte and baily. A low-lying "yard" was surrounded by dense, five-foot high shrubbery acting as a light defensive wall against anything that might wander in out of the woods. This yard backed into a hill upon which sat the lodge itself. Five large tree clusters, like the one back on Moss Creek, made up the corners of the structure. It’s walls are a fusion of cut logs and live growth. 

Arranged about the yard were makeshift treatment areas where the wounded from Far-seeker's party were being tended to by the entire Neb-eaus clan. A body, partially covered by a blanket, had been carefully placed to the side of this activity. A small group of gnomes were gathered around weeping. 

The party immediately offered their help to heal the wounded. When they learned that Wild-wanderer's husband, Quick-foot, was poisoned and unconscious, the party cure that as well. While they worked to revive him, they met Wild-wanderer's children All-tongues, Raven-talker, and Fey-kith. Raven-talker in particular caught Meribore's attention. Her clothing, and the various fetishes and other charms she wore, were all remenscient of ravens. Even her features hinted at a raven influence. More importantly, though, Meribore could feel the Raven Queen had touched the girl in much the same way she had touched Meribore. They were, in some ways, sisters.

After Quick-foot was revived, Raven-talker approached Meribore to thank her for helping her father. She said that the Ravens had told her about Meribore. They wanted Meribore to know that she was not alone; they were with her and would be there should the need arise. A little embarrassed, Wild-wanderer shooed her daughter and quickly apologized for her strange behavior. She explained that a few years back, the girl had nearly died. Ever since then, she had been practicing druid-craft with a heavy focus on and affinity toward ravens. It was clear that the animals were guardians of some sort and exerted a powerful influence that no one really understood. 

During this exchange, Far-seeker ordered ale be brought to the party as thanks. (Baer-pin Strong-brew made a damn good ale that would help to reset everyone.) As the drinks arrived, Far-seeker explained that his hunting party had been attacked by giant spiders upon first entering the cave. It was during this battle that Soft-foot was killed, Quick-foot was poisoned, and the rest of the party badly wounded. Still, the hunters pressed deeper into the cave where they found a chamber. In that chamber, things that should be dead but still moved with a sort of wicked life had been hoarded into a pen. There was also a statue of Baervan Wildwanderer that had its head replaced with a makeshift gaping maw. (This reminded the party of the statue back at Moss Creek.) Far-seeker found his evidence there, nailed to the statue. He held up the notice for all to see.

Far-seeker Discusses the Mission
Source: HeroForge design by me

Before our heroes could stop him, Far-seeker handed off the notice so that the rest of the gnomes might see it and weigh in on his theory. The crowd's general mood shifted from curiosity to shock and then to anger as one by one they all came to the same conclusion. Clearly, the Flan-seg were behind this. Clearly, the Flan-seg must be held accountable.

Drekzhar and Tabi both did their best to soften that sort of talk and steer the crowd-slowly-turning-into-a-mob back to a more rational analysis of the "evidence." A bit of musical distraction and kind words softened the mood enough to postpone an all-out attack while the clan elders consulted with the party on the best course of action. During these discussions, Tauffae quietly positioned himself at the exit just in case anyone decided to take matters into their own hands.

As discussion went on, a group of younger gnomes called out that they recognized the writing. There was only one person who possessed the unusual style. The author had to be Gar-len Strict-path. And just like that, the mobs anger shifted from the entire Flan-seg clan to the young Strict-path. 

The party quickly worked to calm the crowd once again, reminding them that The Glutton worked his strongest powers through those who felt thrown away by their burrow. There could still be a way to save Strict-path from the evil god's influence and put an end to all the burrow's woes without resorting to murder. There was grumbling consent that seemed ready to falter at the smallest provocation. Working quickly during the tenuous calm, the party went to the farmhouse where Strict-path lived. (It was, they noticed, the farmhouse nearest to the dying pumpkin patch.) There they met Grandmother Strict-rules, the original author of The Ten Instructions. They asked about Strict-path but the old gnome was not very informative. When they spotted Strict-path coming back from the pumpkin patch, they confronted him.

By now, more Garl-len had assembled due in no small part because the entire Neb-eaus clan had marched from the hunter's lodge to the farmhouse and were forming a somewhat belligerent crowd of onlookers around the periphery of the fields. 

As the party questioned Strict-path, the young gnome became angry and violent. His grandmother Strict-rules (after which he had been named) lit into the boy with an abusive string of putdowns and insults denigrating his behavior in general and announcing her eternal disappointment in him. This only pushed the youth deeper into rage (and triggered Tauffae's own PTSD as it reminded him of the abuse his family had heaped upon him). Strict-path fired off a blast of sacred flame as he announced his true name was Blight-thumb and he served only The Glutton. Falling into a dark language that the party did not recognize, the boy continued to verbally rage at them until he was quickly (but carefully) knocked unconscious. 

Strict-path Attacks
Source: HeroForge design by me

The gathered gnomes were all horrified by what they had seen and heard. The notion of one of their own being a follower of The Glutton was just too much. They were good people. Why would anyone one of them turn to such an evil being. The reason was clear to the party; grandmother Strict-rules was at least partially responsible. But they were less worried about assigning blame and more concerned about saving the burrow. They worked quickly to convince everyone that the best course of action was to make sure Strict-path felt that the burrow cared about him. The boy needed to feel that he was welcomed by and loved by his own people. Only then would he turn away from The Glutton. Grandmother Strict-rules, of all people, was the hardest to convince and it took having her escorted back to the farmhouse to  win over the rest of the group.

Over the course of the rest of the day, a group of gnomes, led by Flan-seg Clear-prayers, Strict-path's parents, friends, and extended family, all worked to reach out to, reason with, and re-affirm their love to the boy. This was not an easy thing to do, but everyone kept with it. As equi-light approached, Strict-path warned everyone that The Necromancer would be coming and that he had planted an evil in the pumpkin patch that she intended to use against the burrow. Strict-path had killed his favorite pet, a Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis named Tater, put a curse of blight upon the corpse, and buried it in the pumpkin patch so that the blight would spread to all the crops. The body could be removed and destroyed physically but would react to any form of magic. 

This the party easily dealt with.

Exhausted from a long, and emotional day, they retired to the runabout (which was still parked next to the pumpkin patch) to work out a plan for dealing with The Necromancer and her ship.

As they approached by 

End session 34.

Experience earned:

Note: While this is the experience that was earned for this session, I did not award it at the end of this session. We all felt like it would make more sense to distribute the awards at a more logical pause.

Drekzhar - 1350 (64,732 total)
Meribore - 1350 (64,415 total)
Tabbi - 1350 (64,337 total)
Tauffae - 1350 (64,836 total)

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