Session 44: The Animal Within Report
General Summary
20th of Haelynir 1524 continued As the dust settles, the Forged, Master’s of Brechlen and the Crew of Masela’s Fury take stock of the world around them. Karl helps Erin over to the wall to rest while she waits for her vision to return. Xeldarix clings and cries into Lily’s shoulder. Fargrim checks on everyone to see how they are doing. Meanwhile, people start to realise the phoenix egg is gone. Likely sent back to the plane of fire as the summoners are dead. The Masters confirm that all the salamanders are dead. There is a discussion on where people go from here. Lily and Fargrim will return to the top of the mountain with their angels in tow, Karl will continue with the crew and the Master’s will teleport to Poden before getting back to Brechlen. Karl wants to take a short rest and so do the Masters. Karl inquires about Uqaviel. Lily explains quietly and Karl mentions someone should talk to him about the dangers of teleporting on this plane. Fargrim does so. Uqaviel seems to understand the issue and will take it into consideration in future. Fargrim uses Detect Good and Evil to find that the area where the phoenix was summoned had been desecrated. Since the area wasn’t desecrated via a hallow ritual, Fargrim is able to cleanse the area through remove curse since it was likely the act of sacrifice that brought the phoenix through. Aeryn lands on Xeldarix shoulder and the two seem to converse and have a very positive interaction that even involved preening one another. At this point Karl has finished his ritual to detect magic. The group searches the creatures before departing. There are six magical spears that the salamander priests and chief had. Also there are 18 little magical rocks between all the creatures. Fargrim has never seen little rocks like these ones before. Lily finds some eggs on them that are too hot to safely hold. They consults with the Masters and Steve would like to send them home to the fire plane, but cannot do so today. The Master’s take a short rest so one of them can fabricate a stone basket to safely hold them in. Karl goes back to Erin to have a short rest with her. Meanwhile, Lily turns Fargrim into a giant bird again. Here he finds he can talk to Xeldarix as she seems to be able to speak bird. They dance and squawk at one another before Fargrim picks up Lily and Xeldarix to fly back with Uqaviel following. Karl sends Aeryn with them much to Xeldarix’s delight.
Once back at the tower and Jarvis lets them in, Lily leads Xeldarix to go and sit down. Fargrim sits and recovers in a chair from his transformation. He tells Lily about Xeldarix’s new language skills. Uqaviel reveals that talking to Xeldarix via telepathy is good as it removes the language or vocabulary barrier as intent is sent through. Lily does her best to ignore Uqaviel’s insults towards Xeldarix. Uqaviel reveals that he can use telepathy but doesn't feel the need to maintain a connection like Xeldarix has been doing so right now. He is currently still getting an idea of her abilities so he will know how to help train her. He did not want to openly discuss celestial lore with Fargrim, which he found very disappointing. Fargrim goes on to read up on his books while Lily reads with Xeldarix. Jarvis brings them down dinner. Xeldarix notices that Lily seems very hungry so she moves her food to Lily’s plate before attempting to sneak food from Fargrim’s plate for Lily. However, she is caught. They coach her through asking Fargrim for his food. It doesn’t come out quite right but she is getting there. Fargrim and Lily explain what they know of Xeldarix’s history to Uqaviel the best they can. They discuss the philosophical nature of angels, devils and Xeldarix’s fall. Uqaviel wished to know what specifically the pair wanted him to work on with Xeldarix. Lily requested self defense and coordination. Uqaviel agreed to do what he could and after an exchange with Lily gained permission to work with Xeldarix outside the tower at night. After that Fargrim took Xeldarix upstairs to play with cards and Lily went to her cot to play with her puzzle. After about an hour of moving and sliding the pieces, something clicked into place and it glowed green as Lily vanished from the tower with the puzzle.
Karl rests with Erin as the Master’s rest in their own group. The Masters fabricated their stone basket and quickly gathered the eggs. They organised with the Master’s to be a safe distance away once they teleported so they would see if anything camp through but would know if something did. However, before leaving Master Barnes reminds Karl about the report she will be expecting when he is next in Brechlen. Once confirming that nothing came through the teleportation, Karl and the half crew went back to the remainder of the crew and arrive at 5:30pm. They give Wave a new spear and Karl sits down to identify the new items. Heated +2 Spear. Acts as a +2 spear that deals an extra 1d6 fire damage on a hit. Motes of Elemental Fire. Appears as a rock. If dropped into an open flame, casts faerie fire centred on the mote. Can be used as the material component of a commune spell to contact a deity in the elemental plane of fire. Using either abilities destroys the mote. As the night approaches Karl goes around to chat with the crew, checking on Enna, Ten and Erin to see how they are recovering. Then until sundown Karl focuses on writing his report since he now has homework. Then he bunks with Johnny for the night.
The puzzle in Lily’s hands had started to glow. There was a pop before suddenly she finds herself sitting in a very different environment and not on her bed anymore. The brilliant sun hangs in the sky. The most fantastically huge plants can be seen in every direction Lily looks. Nearby there is a large monolithic stone that is roughly 20 ft high and 10 ft thick. It appears cut from a single slab of gray stone inlaid with intricate patterns of red, black, and gold minerals. There is a very faint humming coming from it. A soft “Oh no…” can be heard coming from Lily as she takes in her surroundings and slowly walks over to the monolith. In this new place she can’t sense Xeldarix anywhere. She’s missing. There are runes in monolith that constantly change as Lily looks at them. She summons Xochitl in his black form to fly up and look for landmarks. There is rainforest for at least several miles in every direction. In one direction there is a river. In the opposite direction there are mountains and in another there is desert with no real transition. Lily, seeing no clear direction to go, sits down and fiddles with her puzzle. However, after an hour she can’t seem to make any further progress with it. She takes the moment to observe around her. There is a herd of elk that can be seen grazing nearby. They talk softly to one another in a language Lily doesn't understand, but familiar to her. She speaks with them in Druidic and learns they know Brecht.
Fagrim continues to play cards with Xelarix and before he realises it, it is nearly time to turn in. Lily had never taken over so he could have a break, but there is no harm done. He bids Uqaviel goodnight as Xeldarix is left in his care for the night. However, as he goes downstairs he sees Lily is not there but all her stuff is. He calls out, but there is no answer. His next step is to contact Jarvis and see if he knows what happened to Lily. He states that Lily left magically with no word on where she went. Fargrim casts sending to contact Lily. She replies telling him that she didn’t leave willingly, but is on another plane. Having no idea who else he can turn to, Fargrim goes back to see Uqaviel, who is trying to calm Xeldarix who is reacting poorly to being separated from the others. Fargrim explains the situation and Uqaviel explains he is unable to travel from this plane, but he knows Xeldarix can. He is unwilling to let Xeldarix go alone though. Uqaviel spends several minutes talking Xeldarix through, coaching her to focus on Lily. After a few moment they planeshift to Lily. Xeldarix is obviously affected by doing this, seeming tired as she sways on the spot, but Uqaviel grabs her. Fargrim looks around to see Lily talking with some elk nearby. Upon the group arriving, Lily runs over to the group and goes to support Xeldarix. The group has ended up in the Beastlands plane on the Krigala layer. Here the animals can talk and seem to be intelligent. The monolith nearby is called the Sacred Stone of Salazha. Fargrim inspects it. He’s never seen anything like it before. The elk explains that no one knows what they do. There was a druid who found them, that they were named after, and had disappeared into one long ago. No one knows what happened to them. In the end, they decide to take a break to allow Xeldarix to rest while Fargrim and Lily try to see if they can get the puzzle to take them home. It does not. Instead they feel slightly revitalised with their magical resources. Fargrim looks up at Lily to notice that she has grown whiskers on her cheeks. They have been here for about two hours they think, but Fargrim notices the sun hasn’t moved yet. Due to the sun not moving, it makes it really hard to tell how much time travelling. They decide they need to rest after their long day and Uqaviel says he will keep watch. He reveals that this plane gives people animal-like traits, but does not fully turn them into animals unless they kill a creature here. By doing so they enter the game between predators and prey. The full change from killing an animal is reversible if they leave within 3 days if they can’t resist the effect themselves. 21st of Haelynir 1524 The day ahead for Karl is warm and drizzly. Over the course of the day Karl and Erin talk about their plans for when they reach Brechlen. This includes the discussion of where to house 28 people. At 11am Aeyrn spots a large group of orcs up ahead. Since they do not wish to take on a group that rivals their own in size, and the orcs are heading towards Brechlen, the crew follows them with hopes of overtaking them in the middle of the night.
When Fargrim wakes up he discovers that he has tusks and his nose is a little longer than it should be. He doesn’t know how long he slept. It’s very hard to gauge on this plane. As he wakes Lily and Xeldarix, he notices some changes about them. Lily, along with her whiskers, now has a cat nose, ears, and tail, while Xeldarix has lost her ears and small feathers start at her cheek bones sticking out of her skin here and there but grow in number as they head into her hair. Lily tries to get Xeldarix to take them back to the tower, but she doesn’t seem to want to. She misses Karl. Fargrim and Lily discuss different options, including getting Xeldarix to make multiple trips. However, Fargrim remembers the story from the elk with the druid and wants to trust the stones to take them home. However, as he tries to walk through it, he walks into it, knocking his nose and tucks. Uqaviel reveals the elk returned to them about a building humanoids use to travel around near a lake. They are to find the river and follow the flow of it. If they don’t want to make Xeldarix do it, this is another option for them. They would just need to be careful of the hunters nearby. As they start walking Xeldarix is very distracted by Lily’s tail which becomes a small game for the first part of the walk. Uqaviel mentions that the elk would prefer that the group remove the hunters they come across. Fargrim doesn’t want to, mostly as the problems on this plane are not his own. Fargrim realises how uncaring that sounds and apologises. Xeldarix hugs Fargrim to try and cheer him up. The three hold hands as they walk with Uqaviel towards the river.
At about 3pm the orcs all seem to stop to set up camp for the night ahead of Karl and his crew. They push through some fatigue and go around the orcs and camp not far away with the hope of leaving before the orcs to stay ahead. Once Karl and the crew stop, looking to see if the orcs noticed them at all, Karl realises they seem very distracted by something. After ritually casting Telepathic Bond he sends Aeryn to fly around the camp. She sees something out of the corner of her eye but it seems to wink out of existence as she turns to look at it. Karl directs her to fly very low and through it quickly. As she does this a dog appears mid air and takes a snap at her, but misses and disappears before it hits the ground. Karl and Erin are unsure about what to do about this, so they set up a defensive perimeter in order to try and rest the night but be safe. The crew themselves all take part in the watch. Before bed Karl sits down and focuses on writing more of his report.
With Xochitl's help, Lily, Fargrim, Xeldarix and Uqaviel make their way towards the river. It's hard to tell how long it takes to get there as the sun never moves. However, in time you reach it without coming across any creatures that wish to do you harm or otherwise. Lily gives some silver perch a wave in the river which they return. Lily takes the time with Xeldarix to point out animals and plants as she continues to try and expand her vocabulary. The group eventually finds their way to a large beautiful crystal lake. In the lake's edge there is a large black stained wooden building. Looks like a lodge. There are two humanoids standing by the door with spears and shields that haven't seen the group yet. They discuss for a moment what to do before approaching. Xeldarix will planeshift them back if things go wrong. This plan reminds Xeldarix of Karl, which causes her to whine a little since she misses him. Upon arrival, Uqaviel acts as translator for the humanoids and the group where they state their different and current situation. The guards are willing to let the group in to talk to the manager on the condition they submit to inspection. One at a time, starting with Fargrim, they enter the entrance room and are subject to magical scans. Uqaviel casts something on Xeldarix which seems to calm her as she was growing nervous at the strange things she was being asked to do. She walks like she’s in a sleep. When it’s over, she requires a little bit of a push to move so others can be scanned. Uqaviel subtly casts something on himself before being scanned and Lily is the last to go in.
Karl is awoken not long after he went to sleep by Erin. The orcs are under attack. The sound of dogs barking and spells being cast can be heard in the night. Karl sees a few female forms in the fire light and recognises them as hags. There are also Oni there. Karl and Erin decide to fight and deal with this problem. With the crew they creep up on the camp and attack. The crew hold their fire from the edge of the camp and wait for Erin, Wave, Ten and Erdad to get into the fight so they have a hope of catching the spell casters by surprise. Inside the camp the remaining orcs fight for their lives as their chief rallies them against the blink dogs, oni, and hags. The dogs seem to have realised Erdad is nearby and attack her as she tries to sneak up on them. Enna runs in to help Erdad with Ten. A green hag mocks the orc priests as Erin runs in to attack it, but her crew kill it as she arrives. They also manage to kill three of the oni. Wave does his best to keep up as his captain runs headfirst into battle. Karl throws a fireball into the mix, declaring death to the hags. A night hag tries to fire back but Karl dispels the attempt. The orcs continue to fight but are confused by the newcomers. The remaining oni and most of the hags disappear from sight. Erin moves on to attack some of the blink dogs and convey to the orcs they are here to help. Karl does his best to taunt one of the hags into coming back out and attacking while he readies his wand. Meanwhile Wave and Enna are forever running after their reckless captain, trying to aid her in reassuring the orcs. A night hag reappears to try and take out as many as she can with a lightning bolt, but Karl is ready and after that spell her spellcasting is neutralised. The dogs blink in and out, biting at anyone they can. As the hags and oni all reappear, they are swarmed by the defenders and killed off one by one. People rush to put the fires out. In talking to the chief of the orcs, Erin acts as translator, and they find out the hags attacked this clan. The clan defended itself when the hags tried to take the children in the attacks but the children were killed. They ran to save who they could but were hunted down eventually. Using his knowledge of the area, Karl directs the clan away from Muden that is currently experiencing famine right now. He says they should be safer in the forests of Truecht to the West. While searching the bodies Karl (takes*) finds:
- Oni Glave x7* (Magical unidentified)
- Carved statue of a dwarf x2*
- Giant kettle x2
- Wooden barrel full of fish
- Cask of ale (half empty)
- Wooden chest with 200 gold
- Giant sized drum x2
- Haunt of meat
- hemp rope x2
- A stuffed toy animal
- Moldy cheese wheel x3
- 4 trout
- Handaxe blade x2
- Uprooted berry bush
- Good quality fur pelt
- Wooden oar
- Beehive (with bees still in it)
- 3 ft tall idol
- 3 moldy loaves of bread
- 6 humanoid skulls
- Carved statue of an elf*
- Green Rag covered in a snot-like sludge
- Two strange stones* (Magical unidentified)
- A dreamcatcher* (Magical unidentified)
- Empty Jar* (Magical unidentified)
The lobby is large. There are hunting trophies around the area of many animals. Some familiar to the group and some not. There are many people there too. Most seem to be well dressed up and the noble sort. Though not all of the look human, dwarven or even elven. With each of the group in the Beastlands scanned, the guards just watch and wait. A few minutes later a woman in a beautiful Gold dress approaches with a clipboard. At first she appears human but as she draws closer lily and fargrim can see patches of scales on the back of her hands, on her cheeks and shoulders. Her eyes are also snake-like. When she speaks, she speaks in the native tongue of whoever can hear her. Her name is Talash and she is the manager of the Blackstone Lodge. She listens to their plight and offers an arrangement. They move into a very upper class bar. Nearby is a lounge area. The people within the building seem to be of a multitude of different races and people. Some of them seem part animal and some of them seem untouched. There is a corner booth that she takes them to. This lodge is the home base for The Glorious Conclave. They take hunting commissions from people and supply them with trophies or parts that they desire for a fee. Some want the experience of hunting here and it is also a service on offer. They have many locations across this plane on its three layers. Talash notes that the scans prove the group is not native to this plane and consists of a half elf, dwarf and two humans. Talash offers to send them back to their home plane in exchange for taking on a hunt for the conclave, however one of their group must remain at the lodge during the hunt. The group is concerned about the possibility of being fully turned into an animal. Talash tells them that if they return to their plane within three days they will be fine. Many resist the initial change and this is often used to test those of the conclave and their resolve for the mission. When they agree that they could help, they are given a file on their target. The group uses telepathy through Uqaviel to communicate mentally, while pretending to talk about it physically. The target is a grizzlepaw, a large, very dangerous bear where they want the heart, paws and teeth of the creature. Knowing that the creatures here are all intelligent and sentient gives the group pause on taking this arrangement. In the end, they convince Xeldarix to take them back to the material plane. After a few minutes there is a pop as Talash watches them from across the room.
As Karl sleeps. He might even be having some good dreams considering the good he did tonight. However there is a sudden movement and several bodies fall on top of him. Johnny screams loudly as people land on top of him. One latches onto Karl, grappling him. Karl yells in alarm and tries to escape from whoever is grabbing him. Meanwhile Lily sits up and looks around and just ends up laughing when she sees Karl. Karl casts light on his staff and demands to know what is going on and who is there, and for Johnny to stop screaming. After seeing who is here, Karl tells everyone to get out so Johnny can rest in peace. Xeldarix has to be carried out as she’s not conscious right now. She was just clinging to Karl in her sleep. Now Karl can see the changes the group has experienced. It’s at this point Fargrim realises that Xeldarix did not take them to the tower but had taken them to the plains where Karl was travelling. The pair give Karl a basic runs down of why they are here and the situation they were in. Fargrim looks over Xeldarix and discovers she is suffering from extreme exhaustion. Lily tells Karl about about how the puzzle sphere was actually what took her to the Beastlands. Karl decides to put up the dome so Xeldarix can rest more comfortably as they have no tent to offer the newcomers. They toy with the idea of using a teleportation circle in the morning to send the group back to the tower. Meanwhile Fargrim fears Xeldarix starting to associate them with pain and suffering as he feels like the party is abusing her. Erin comes over to find out the situation. Lily seems to realise how long it’s been for Karl and is very disorientated by the travel she has experienced with a sun that never moved. Once Erin has spoken with Karl a bit she goes back to her watch and Karl tries to identify the puzzle. However, he finds the puzzle is using non-detection magic to hide it’s nature. He tries to use the wand to disable it but is unsuccessful. The party settle down to get some rest. 22nd of Haelynir 1524 When the party wakes up, Xeldarix continues to sleep. They take the time to prepare their spells. Fargrim's nose is now a little shorter. So are his tusks. Lily has a normal nose again, the feathers have receded a bit for Xeldarix. Uqaviel's face is in normal shape again, but his tongue is still forked. They discuss plans for Brechlen. Karl fills Fargrim and Lily in on Erin’s plans, including contacting Viona to see if they can set up a potential ally against the other generals. Fargrim tells Karl more about Tucker with his chimeras. Karl and Uqaviel enter into a discussion about planes and the effects they can have on mortal life. The immortal gives the group his observations on his ward and her capabilities. She can travel when she recovers from exhaustion, and more language skills required for communication and dealing with her separation anxiety that she seems to have developed. Karl tells Uqaviel about Wellmore and what happened there, as well as the connection to Gargauth. The group learns that Uqaviel doesn’t empathise well with others. He notes this is a problem, but wishes to be done here before this problem comes back to the group. In the end the group decide they will travel with Karl rather than go back to the tower out of concern Xeldarix will just teleport to Karl and it’s not something she should be doing in her current condition. Uqaviel offers to carry her so they can travel. Lily creates some berries to feed the group who have no rations. Karl offers to become a mammoth to carry people, but isn’t taken up on the offer. Instead he goes to find Erin to update her on the situation.
Karl approaches Johnny’s tent where Erin was staying to find Johnny quietly trying to sneak out while Erin trances. Karl checks in on Johnny to make sure he is okay. He is okay but says he’s happy to sleep alone again after a wake up like that. Karl directs him over to Lily for breakfast. Meanwhile Karl sits down to continue writing his report outside the tent while he waits for Erin to finish. Erin wakes and greets Karl. He explains the new situation which means they might have more time in Brechlen since he won’t have to rush off back to the tower now. The puzzle interests Erin and she encourages him to try again with finding out about it. After trying twice, he is able to remove the protection and identify it. It identifies as having every school of magic on it. However, it does not give you the 10 effects. Karl suspects he would need to re-identify it for each one. The Sphere of Luan Phien. Originally designed by Samantha Evestrum. It holds 10 magical effects. Once all have been unlocked the sphere will activate and reawaken to serve those who have earned its loyalty through intelligence and bravery. Erin encourages Karl to have some breakfast while she organises the crew to get packed up.
A few minutes after Karl leaves a crew member comes over to request a berry and is given one by Lily. They wait patiently for Karl to return and Xeldarix stirs but is soon put back to sleep through the calming effects of Fargrim and Lily looking after her.
When Karl returns he explains what he learnt about the puzzle sphere. Lily explains the three effects she has experienced so far:
- Given silver coins
- Planeshifted to beastlands
- Reinvigorated their magic
- 20 Sets of Tattered Studded Leather
- 20 Tattered Scimitar
- 40 Tattered Daggers
- 10 Sets of Noble Studded Leather
- 10 Rapiers
- 10 Light Crossbows
- 125 Crossbow Bolts
- Red Bandana, bloodstained
- Steel Lock
- Playing cards
- marked Bad Scimitar
- Fingerless Gloves
- Weighted Dice
- Vial of Acid
- Wooden Box of coins 6 g, 10s, 33 c
- Gem Pouch ~100 gp gem
- Vial of poison weapon 1d4
- 5 g
- Two Face Coin
- Monogrammed signature blue silk handkerchief
- Sapphire pendant - large oval solitaire sapphire pendant on a chain
- Pocketwatch, inside of the pocket watch is scratched with "Don't forget"
- Travel dragon chess set, wooden box, ivory pieces
- Mother of pearl opera glasses in a leather case
- Gold-filled monocle, fancy
- Autograph book that says "Thank you for the donation"
- Nicer cloak, plus pin with a lion's head (Captain's Cloak)
Rewards Granted
From Hag fight:
- Oni Glave x7 (Magical unidentified)
- Carved statue of a dwarf x2
- Carved statue of an elf
- Two strange stones (Magical unidentified)
- A dreamcatcher (Magical unidentified)
- Empty Jar (Magical unidentified)
- 20 Sets of Tattered Studded Leather
- 20 Tattered Scimitar
- 40 Tattered Daggers
- 10 Sets of Noble Studded Leather
- 10 Rapiers
- 10 Light Crossbows
- 125 Crossbow Bolts
- Red Bandana, bloodstained
- Steel Lock
- Playing cards
- marked Bad Scimitar
- Fingerless Gloves
- Weighted Dice
- Vial of Acid
- Wooden Box of coins 6 g, 10s, 33 c
- Gem Pouch ~100 gp gem
- Vial of poison weapon 1d4
- 5 g
- Two Face Coin
- Monogrammed signature blue silk handkerchief
- Sapphire pendant - large oval solitaire sapphire pendant on a chain
- Pocketwatch, inside of the pocket watch is scratched with "Don't forget"
- Travel dragon chess set, wooden box, ivory pieces
- Mother of pearl opera glasses in a leather case
- Gold-filled monocle, fancy
- Autograph book that says "Thank you for the donation"
- Nicer cloak, plus pin with a lion's head (Captain's Cloak)
Notes
| Name | XP | Total XP | End of Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fargrim | 985 | 85,970 | 11 |
| Karl | 1,310 | 85,970 | 11 |
| Lily | 985 | 85,970 | 11 |
