Skyfell - Lost in the Feywild : Session 44

  

Introduction

A few years ago, I started a regular Dungeons and Dragons campaign in my Skyfell setting that I called The Rise of the Glutton which has since been renamed to Lost in the Feywild. I wanted to provide my players with a log of their adventures and then realized that such a log might make for fun blog. See Rise of the Glutton/Lost in the Feywild 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)
Onyx (played by Leslie) - female tabaxi, Rogue (Swashbuckler)

Session 44 - Test of the Trunk: A Stone in the Hand

Preparation

Preparation this time around was mostly a mental exercise rather than one of drawing up maps or copying down monster stat blocks. I already had a notion of the elements needed for this arc. What I was missing was the mechanism for tying them all together. As I’ve mentioned before, this is my first foray into the Feywild and its peculiarities as a setting. I’m also still trying to find a healthy balance between the wholesale placement of Oz inside Skyfell and simply using its elements to inform Skyfell's flavor of  the Feywild. All of that together represents a rather tangled collection of ideas, goals, and themes to sort through and align. 

Long-term planning aside, I had the more immediate need to work through the mechanism that would continue to propel this story foreword. 

The one practical matter I had to address immediately was to work through the settings the characters might encounter during the session. The astute reader might have noticed that I have established the rule of three in many different ways in this arc. The most recent of these examples is the number of paths that have greeted the characters. That meant I needed three separate locales and a sufficient hook to force a real decision between which of the paths to take. That took a little thought because I wanted to establish a repeatable framework that I could return to for subsequent sessions. I think I’ve done that and we’ll see how it goes.

Pre-game

I enjoy cooking (so much so that I launched a YouTube channel during the pandemic…but I have not done much with it…another goal…another activity to eat up my time). So, when Heroes’ Feast came out a few years ago, I jumped on it. There's nothing like a well themed cookbook that summons a proper Dungeons and Dragons flavor with every recipe! Between the descriptions, the photographs, and the art, it's really easy to imagine characters eating the meals it describes. So, when I heard about Flavors of the Multiverse, I clearly had no choice but to get a copy of that as well. (To be honest, that was my third “fantasy” themed recipe collection. I picked up the Lord of the Rings Cookbook a little while ago. This too is deliciously entertaining. I think my adventuring-themed recipe shelf will only be complete, however, if they come out with a Delicious in Dungeon cookbook. Fingers crossed.)

When I first flipped through the recipes in Flavors of the Multiverse, one caught my eye: Neverwinter Nectar. I thought this punch might be a fun beverage to serve during the game. I prepped this fairly simple recipe the night before. (In hindsight, I realized I had cut the oranges and lemons the wrong way. This just meant more work for me the next day.)

Making the Neverwinter Nectar

Once everyone settled in, I eagerly offered up my untested refreshment. It had a strong, tart start but we all quickly agreed that it was missing a finish. We batted around a few ideas and eventually settled on cloves. I only had ground cloves (which turned out to be a help in this situation). We added a quick sprinkle to our cups and stirred. This absolutely rounded out the flavor. So next time I make this punch, I will have to drop in a few cloves. Regardless, the two batches of the stuff that I had made disappeared within 20 minutes.

While we enjoyed the Neverwinter Nectar, I did the recap. Since I had not yet written the session summary, there were several details I had forgotten, especially those that I had drummed up out of my imagination on the spot. This, however, was fine because even the players had forgotten some of these details. A quick bit of retconning filled in the gaps to everyone's satisfaction. (These “reimagined” details made it into the Session 43 summary that I finally wrote up.) Then, we got started.

In-game

Our heroes found themselves sitting around a clumsy firepit in a wholly unfamiliar glade. Fresh wounds and bruises covered their bodies. Meribore was busy cleaning an elfeyish dagger. Onyx was cleaning her hair with an elegant brush. Tabbi was contemplating two Ostrich feathers. Tauffae's nethers were covered in a makeshift kilt studded with bits of the constructs they had just fought. And Drekzhar was wearing a rather stylish (and form enhancing) pair of pants very similar to shadar kai armor.No one could recall how they had obtained these treasures.

The Ostriches were no longer with them. 

The glade was covered in soft, short grass. Clusters of pink flowers were sprinkled around its edges. There were clear skies above. It would have been a pleasant moment if not for the giant ball of flame that hung high over their heads, sending down upon them waves of heat that made their skin itch and prickle.

A Fireball in the Sky!!!
Source: Pixabay

Given Tabbi’s proclivity for launching fireballs as carelessly as he coughed up hairballs, the tabaxi immediately assumed the ball of flame in the sky was in fact a fireball coming right for them. He shouted a warning as he scurried for cover. The others, heeding the panicked tabaxi, scrambled for cover as well.

It didn't take long, however, for everyone to realize that the ball of flame wasn't, contrary to their initial fear, coming right at them. In fact, it wasn't even moving. It just hung there, high over their heads.

It occurred to our heroes that they weren't in Skyfell any more.

They needed some idea of where exactly they had gotten themselves. 

Onyx climbed the tallest tree she could find to scout their immediate environs. Dense forest stretched out in every direction. A mountain range cut into the skyline to her right which Onyx guessed to be fifty or so miles away. A similar range lie to her left at a similar distance. There was one obvious landmark missing. There was no Misty Mountain. 

While Onyx was busy taking the lay of the land, the others began taking a closer look at the glade itself. Three things became clear fairly quickly.

First, while the glade was filled with soft grasses, none of it appeared to have been recently trampled. The grasses where they had been sitting was tramped down, to be sure. Their hasty search for cover also left easily identifiable trails. There simply wasn't any other sign of traffic going into or leaving the glade imprinted on the vegetation.

Grassy Glade
Source: Pixabay

Second, the flowers were poppies, which Meribore, Tabbi, and Onyx all recognized as having medicinal value. One such use was as a key component in potions that caused memory loss. They collectively surmised that these poppies must have played some role in their current situation. They also decided to collect samples of the flowers, the seeds, and their milk. It was sticky work. Meribore managed to get herself mostly cleaned up. Onyx and Tabbi, however, were not so successful.

Poppies
Source: Pixabay

Third, there were three paths coming into the glade. 

One of the paths showed some signs of our heroes having come from that direction; Drekzhar’s hoofs left easily recognizable prints in the earth. But, as the path (and the tracks on it) meandered into the glade, they both were quickly overwhelmed by the grass. 

A few mushrooms sprouted near the head of another of the paths. A quick survey revealed more growing deeper under the canopy. There were quite a few of the things too, more than one might normally expect. 

Mushrooms on the Trail
Source: Pixabay

There were a few very faint campestri tracks further down this path. (Drekzhar in particular had become quite adept at identifying the telltale hop-and-drag scoring left by the campestri "foot.") Knowing the campestri appreciation for music, Drekzhar belted out a tavern song with an infectious beat and catchy refrain. His voice bounced down the path and disappeared into the darkness. Acoustically, it seemed to carry quite far, much further than the curving path and dense foliage should allow. This seemed strange. The mushrooms, however, did not respond.

Meribore joined Drekzhar. Tabbi followed her despite a hankering for a quick nap. Meribore used her innate firbolg abilities to communicate with the mushroom’s as she had done during their quest to find the thessalhydra (see Session 9). She asked them a series of yes/no questions, having them indicate their answer by bending in a particular direction. Through these questions, she learned that the party had never gone down that path, that some of the mushrooms thought this path to be the safest while others did not, and that they did not know anything about the crying stone. 

Meanwhile, Tauffae discovered that he no longer had the stones from when they had first entered the forest. He did, however, have a new lump of milky quartz. It was about the size of a mandarin orange. While the others were playing around with poppies and singing to mushrooms, he decided to find more stones. As he approached the third path, however, the  milky quartz burbled and actually rolled a little in his palm so as to lean toward the path. He tried to get the others' attention.

Onyx, yawning to shake off a persistent sleepiness, wandered to his side to see what the matter was. As she did so, she felt a tug in one of her pouches. She reached in and pulled out a lump of milky quartz quite similar to the one in Tauffae’s hand. She did not remember ever having this let alone where it might have come from. As Onyx got closer, the two rocks nudged toward each other. Tentatively, Onyx and Tauffae touched the rocks together. The rocks quickly fused into a single, larger rock (this about the size of an regular orange). This larger rock now chirped and rumbled more excitedly the closer Tauffae came to the path.

The party assembled to discuss what they had discovered. After a brief discussion, they decided to go down the path that excited the milky quartz rock.

The forest quickly closed in around the party as they made their way down this winding path.

They Head Down the Path
Source: Pixabay

Tabbi took a moment to jot down a few notes in his books regarding their lost memories, the poppies, and the path they had chosen so that if they were to lose their memories again, they would at least have a history to look back on and maybe try to make sense of what they were experiencing. He noticed, however, that there were more notes in his book then there should be. As he quickly thumbed through five extra pages of content, a few comments caught his eye, including, “Maybe I can find another partner after all,” Meribore didn’t die this time,” “The Drekzhar and Onyx dance routine is coming along quite nicely,” “I’m so tired of seeing Tauffae’s testicles,” and near the end of the text, “So many poppies.”

Between yawns, he informed the others of his discovery. They all thought this strange and encouraged him to read through the notes more thoroughly so that they might have a better idea of what they had been up to. Tabbi agreed that this was a good idea, but he wanted to first jot down their latest findings so that should something go wrong they would not lose that information.

As he finished this task, the canopy began to thin. Scattered beams of warm light streaked down through the leaves to light the ground. 

Light Streaks Down Through a Thinning Canopy
Source: Pixabay

Gradually, the trail widened to reveal the ruined walls of an ancient elfeyish structure. The area must have once been a glade but the forest was doing its best to reclaim the territory. Trees and other foliage smothered the structure, breaking down the stone until there was not much left of it. 

They Find Ruins

The party gathered near what they guessed had once been the entrance to the structure. Here, the crumbled stubs of statutes flanked overgrown stairs. An inscription on the wall hinted at this being the home of a sacred boulder.

Onyx, sensing that there could be any number of dangers lurking about, decided to go into full stealth mode and snuck off to a cluster of trees where she could watch over everyone and keep an eye out for any unexpected intruders. The spot she found was quite comfortable. This just reminded her of how tired she was. A nap sounded so nice and pleasant and the perfect solution for the persistent sleepiness she'd been laboring under. So she curled up and was snoring in a matter of moments. 

Tauffae noticed neither the inscription nor Onyx's disappearance. He was instead distracted by the whimpering pleas of a creature long suffering unbearable pain that filled his head. He was certain whatever was so upset was deep inside the ruins. The milky quartz rock he carried tugged and rumbled excitedly. Clearly, the stone they sought must be inside the ruins. And even if it were not, then something else inside needed help. Either way, it only made sense to go in.

So, he moved into the structure, following not only the will of the rock in his hand but also searching out the source of the sadness that was filling his mind. The structure itself was long and narrow. The surrounding vegetation was overtaking the stone in a rather aggressive, and perhaps purposeful, way. As Tauffae went deeper into the structure, he discovered a boulder in what must have once been a fairly large room. Numerous bushes had attached themselves to it. Branches from surrounding trees also reached out to the boulder and to the piles of pulverized quartz that surrounded its base.

Tauffae Ventures into the Ruins

Tabbi, was busy reading the inscription and examining what remained of the stonework when his own sleepiness simply became too much to manage. Really, he saw nothing wrong with taking a little nap. Nothing all that important was going on anyway. Though some little part of him protested, the rest of him found the most comfortable chunk of stonework and curled up for a quick snooze.

Only Meribore and Drekzhar seemed to keep their wits about them, but even then they were preoccupied with worry about Tabbi, uncertainty over where Tauffae was going, and absolutely clueless as to Onyx’s whereabouts. 

It was starting to feel like a very dangerous situation. 

The two decided it was time to retreat. Drekzhar went in after Tauffae while Meribore went searching for Onyx.

As Tauffae approached the boulder, the words “help me” filled his mind. The stone in his hand continued to vibrate excitedly. On a whim, he collected some of the debris from around the boulder and pressed it against the boulder. The material was absorbed into its body.

And the foliage all around him shivered with anger. 

One of the branches that was attached to the boulder pulled itself free. The tree that it belonged to rumbled and growled as it yanked its roots up out of the ground and lumbered toward him. It swiped at the rock in Tauffae's hand, trying to grab it from him. Quickly, he pressed the rock against the boulder. Immediately, the rock was absorbed. The suffering he felt, and the whimpering he heard, softened ever so slightly. Through it, he also felt a sense of gratitude.

This only to angered the tree and the other foliage even more. 

Drekzhar stumbled into this scene and quickly ordered Tauffae to retreat.

Drekzhar Orders a Retreat

The rising commotion from inside the ruins made Meribore a little frantic to find Onyx. She picked through the foliage and scanned the branches of the trees. In the course of her search, she found a very old jar partially buried in the detritus. There was a residue that, based on its smell, was some kind of herbicide. While she wondered why such a thing might be there, she heard Onyx's snores and spotted her in the branches right above her. She struggle to pull her slumbering companion out of the tree without causing too much harm.

Meribore (carrying Onyx), Drekzar, and Tauffae all converged by the entrance to the ruins. Drekzhar cast lesser restoration on Tabbi, hoping that the spell would cure his freind of whatever ailed him. It seemed to do the trick, because in a few seconds, Tabbi was opening his eyes. He was still groggy, but at least he was more or less ambulatory.

The Party Retreats

Tauffae moved to help Meribore with Onyx. Drekzhar helped Tabbi. Together our heroes hurried away from the ruins and back down the path that had led them there.

"Don't leave me again," filled Tauffae's mind as they did so.

End Session 44.

Experience earned:

Drekzhar - 350 (75,947 total)
Meribore - 350 (76,031 total)
Onyx - 350 (75,754 total)
Tabbi - 360 (75,874 total)
Tauffae - 350 (76,285 total)

Supplemental Material

Post-credit Scene

Ever since Bronte's and Oma's departure, I've been dropping in little hints of what has been happening to them as "post credit scenes." Here is this session's edition:

The sky turtle snorts. The swarm of little flutter turtles that had put the trio to sleep return to their larger companion's back. They settle into the nooks of its rugged shell and the foliage that grows upon it. This is their home, as it is home to hundreds of others of their kith and kin. Then, the great beast (or is it a masterful clockwork invention?), pushes off the ground to rise up and out of the forest. It turns sharply to the north as it picks up speed. Then, with a great explosion of wind, it swoops away, careful never to rise too far above the treeline. There is surprising stealth to its urgent flight away from the road made of yellow brick and the patrol of fanatical clockwork hunters single-mindedly stalking their prey.

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