June 30, Sunday (cont.) - Fulcher is concerned when the party shows up in his basement with 15 other people. Not wanting to have word spread that his new castle has basements that connect to the Underdark, it is eventually agreed that the former captives will be subjected to memory-blurring charm magic that will prevent them from remembering details of the last day or so.
July 1, Monday - The party travels from Fulcher's Hold to Linden with 15 blindfolded captives in a pair of wagons. The captives are set free in Linden, and Marlena Berkor, the High Riders Company merchant captain reasserts her vow to reward them, and promises to deliver such reward care of Raglin Tindall at the Linden Inn. She also gives them a signet token from the High Riders that will allow them to seek assistance from company offices or members when needed.
Rogan, one of the caravan guard fighters, says that he knows the location of the ruins where the captives were taken underground. His father was a hunter who traveled the region extensively, and he recognized the ruins his father called Kristovaria. He says he can lead the party to the spot and show them the entrance to the Underdark.
The party agrees to go. Lily Copperknock, the first level gnome wizard, talks the party into allowing her to go with them.
July 2, Tuesday - The party travels from Linden 5 miles south to Bornil, on easy trails, and then an additional 6 miles west to Gulb. On the road just west of Bornil, 2 ankhegs burst out of the ground and attack the party. This may have been a greater challenge at an earlier time, but the party dispatches the insectoid creatures without much difficulty. The party spends a quiet night at the Day's Rest, a small tavern and eatery (and the only such place in the tiny village of Gulb). Here they are told stories of strange happenings and dangerous creatures in the normally peaceful northern fringes of the woods.
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| Linden to Kristovaria (maps in Hexographer, 1 mile hexes) |
July 3, Wednesday - On a sunny warm day with a light breeze blowing, the party travels west/southwest about 12 miles by hunters' trails to the southeastern shore of a medium-sized lake. A mile or two across the water to the west, distant outlines of ruins can be seen. Rogan says these are an old Onorian town called Valtana, which is said to be a haunted place that locals avoid.
July 4, Thursday - Another warm calm day, and the party travels west along the south shore of the lake, and then south to find the trail into the Greenreach Woods. They have a difficult time finding the trail Rogan is looking for, and most of the midday period is spent searching the forest's edge for it. Eventually they find the trail and head south into the woods.
As they advance into the forest, Melior the druid sees increasing evidence that something is not right in the forest. Odd vines grow, trees and plants look twisted, and the forest grows darker the further they go.
Approximately four miles in, the party stops to rest in a clearing, and are beset by a number of vine blights and a pair of angry awakened trees. The trees are seen to have glowing blue crystal shards protruding from their trunks. When the awakened trees are killed, the crystal shards go dark. Thalmyr the dwarven paladin takes one of the shards with him.
Proceeding a short way down the trail, the party comes across a strange scene; a group of 6 gnolls surrounding a young treant, threatening it with torches and fire. It seems to be in desperate straights, outnumbered and showing many signs of burns on its trunk and limbs. The party kills the gnolls. The forest creature, near death, is saved by the party. Rogan the caravan guard, and their guide, is killed.
The treant introduces himself as Birchlock, and says that he came to this part of the forest to seek out one if his elders, an ancient treant named Fallthorn. He wanted to ask Fallthorn about the evil growing in the forest, and to seek advice and guidance. He was beset by the gnolls before he could find Fallthorn. After talking with the party, he heads off to the south, returning to his home to rest and heal from his wounds.
GM Commentary - I enjoyed this session very much. There wasn't a whole lot of combat, but the fight with the gnolls in order to save the treant was fun in that it presented the beginnings of a new potential story arc for the future (bad things going on in the northern Greenreach). The encounter with the two ankhegs was simply a case of tossing an experience point bone at the players (and that's fine if you know that there isn't going to be a lot of combat, and you want to make sure that you can get the players some XP).
