Session 48 Report: Forest Trek III: The Search for Warfus

General Summary

Session 48 – Wednesday August 16, 2023 – Forest Trek III: The Search for Warfus

  4 Hour Role Play session 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM

The Stone Bearers. Party of 5

It is the 7th day of the month of Nightal (The Drawing Down) in the 50th year of the Age of Enialis (Early December.)

• Abrash – Wood (Desert) Elf, L9 Druid – Jacob Munson
• Ajani– High Elf, L9 Wizard – Nathan Gioconda (Remote Dog sitting)
• Gazlowe – Goblin, L9 Artificer – Josh Pozsonyi (Sick)
• Cassidy – Human, L9 Blood hunter – Ryan Armstrong (Remote)
• Isabella – Forest Gnome, L9 Barbarian – Jackie Armstrong
• Juan Peyote – Gnome L9 Paladin – Will Johnson

Walking through the trees

Ogian finished casting the spell Transport via Plants and the party walked into the large Elm tree named Jehoshaphat. They party walked out another large tree and found themselves in an unfamiliar area of the forest, very thick with trees. They noticed that Gazlowe didn’t make it through the tree. They also realized that they never got directions from Ogian as to which way to go or which way Warfus was in relation to the Endless Caverns.

The canopy heavily obscured the sky with only small patches here and there where they could see through. They saw bits of grey in the sky and heard rain lightly hitting the canopy above them. Abrash sat down and began to ritually cast a spell to commune with Nature and figure out where Warfus may be.

Dryads protecting the forest.

Abrash caught a glimpse of leaves moving into the trees. Abrash nodded in the direction of the tree and the others started seeing glimpses of leaves moving here and there next to the trees. Cassidy shouted out, “What do you want?” A light female voice, as if carried on the wind, responded in a friendly but firm tone: “Lower your weapons and cast no spells.” Abrash tried to justify his spell by explaining he’s talking with nature, but he didn’t stop casting. The vines from the tree reach out and restrained him. A dryad walked out of a nearby tree and Abrash finally stopped casting his spell.

The dryad suggested that Abrash bow. He did dip his head a bit, but not because of the spell she cast. She looked at everyone and said, “Leave the way you came. I will not tell you twice.” She then walked into another tree and came out at a different tree. Cassidy explained to the dryad that they were sent here to rescue someone from the Endless Caverns. The Dryad kept walking into a tree and then out another. Abrash noticed that there was more than one dryad, and they were surrounding the party. The dryad told them that nobody had been seen going in or out of the cave in about 2 weeks.

The dryad told the party that only treasure seekers go to the Endless Caverns and once they enter, they are doomed to die with the rest that are there. Abrash suggested that they be sent there for their death rather than have the dryads kill them. The dryads agreed to the proposition. Two large skeletons covered in vines came forth from the trees to escort the party to the Endless Caverns and make sure they go inside. The party again tried to explain they mean no harm but the dryads pointed to the axe carried by the Barbarian and would not listen to their pleas. The skeletons pushed the party north and the sryads walked back into their trees.

The entrance to the Endless Caverns

The terrain was very hilly, clearly, they’re in the foothills of the foothills of the Star Mounts. They summited one of the hills and spotted an entrance in the side of another hill before them. The entrance was outlined with timbers like a mine entrance. The Vine Skeletons continued to force the party forward. The Stone Bearers examined the ground near the entrance and found some footprints that were about 2 weeks old but none resembled dwarven. The skeleton forced the party into the mouth of the cave. Once all were inside, the vine skeletons backed off. One of them wandered into the woods and the other stood next to a tree about 30 feet away and blended into the tree.

Ajani lit a candle and using mage hand placed it further back in the cave. Abrash cast Commune with Nature in the cave and learned that there were undead within 300 feet, but none seemed overly powerful. There were shadows, zombies, ghosts and the like and none were very close. Abrash tried to sense any large deposits of gems but also didn’t find any. He sat just outside the cave and did the same thing looking for Warfus but couldn’t locate him.

History of the caverns.

At some point during the day, Cassidy went into a trance, and she had a vision. She saw back in time when Golden Sun Elves walked into the cavern. Some of them had wings like bats and reddish skin. All of them had orange hair. They were chanting in unison, getting louder in louder. Some held aloft staffs. The chant got louder and stronger and then stopped. Then the screams from deep within the cavern began. Thousands of dwarves, men, women, and children all screaming. The screams started to change to gurgling noises and the curse turned them all leaving them in an undead state. The elves turned and walked away. Cassidy fell to the ground and told them what she saw. She knew they were Fey’ri.

Waiting patiently for Warfus

Bored, Isabella spotted a bunny rabbit outside the cave. She coaxed the bunny closer to the cave with some food, but the bunny wouldn’t come into the cave. With a little telekinetic help from Ajani, the bunny was flung into Isabella’s arms. She spent the rest of the day trying to tame him. Abrash promised Isabella that if she was able to keep the bunny alive for 10 days, he’d awaken it. Cassidy spent time using her pickaxes to climb walls and ceilings. The party continued hanging out in the entrance to the caverns until the sunset.

I’m bored

The party was getting restless. Ajani sat on his rug and pulled out a candle and the lock of Warfus’s hair and cast Scry. He spotted Warfus, curled up in a ball and shivering. He had a damp pile of sticks before him that looked like a failed attempt at a fire. (Ajani noticed Warfus’ surroundings and believed that he was in the woods nearby.) Warfus stood up and was looking around, more like he was looking for someone and disappointed it wasn’t them. Anjai motioned to Abrash and made a “pew” sound. Abrash stepped out of the cave and fired a fire bolt into the sky. Cassidy saw what he was doing and lit up her crossbow and shot a bolt 320 feet into the air.

As Ajani continued to scry, he saw Warfus turn to look at in the sky. Ajani got a glimpse of the brilliant crossbow arcing over the treetops. He quickly used Encode Thoughts to display to the others the arcs and angles. As the group talked through some visual clues, Juan grabbed his abacus and figured that Wafus was south of them by about 3.5 miles. They also realized that the druids were directly between them and Warfus plus leaving the cave may draw the attention of the Green Dragon Grimnosh.

The party discussed rescuing him or waiting until morning. They went back and forth discussing the options: polymorphing everyone, sending an animal messenger, sending just Abrash etc. In the end Abrash turned into a giant eagle and headed out of the cave and over the canopy. As he glided over the canopy, he looked back to the hills over the Endless Cavern and spotted a gargantuan Green Dragon looking at him. The dragon stayed put and did not chase Abrash. Cassidy stepped out of the cave and watched Abrash (the eagle) fly over the canopy.

Warfus

Abrash flew fast over the canopy checking on the Dragon to be sure it didn’t pursue. After a couple miles Abrash began scanning the forest looking for any clues of Warfus. He spotted what looked like 2 hooded humanoids, most likely elves walking through the forest. A few hundred yards later he spotted Warfus and realized the hooded elves were heading in this direction.

Abrash landed in the forest and reverted to his normal form. He ran up to Warfus and told him that Ogian sent him, and he was there to rescue him. Warfus looked at him first expectantly, then when he recognized Abrash, the look turned to disappointment. His emotions took another turn when Abrash said that he is there to rescue him. Warfus became confused and then frustrated.

Warfus told Abrash to leave as he was going to ruin his plans. Abrash was insistent that Warfus come with him, but Warfus refused and angrily told Abrash to leave before the elves show up. Now Abrash was confused and demanded an explanation. Warfus didn’t feel he owed Abrash any explanation but if Abrash would hide himself as something harmless he would explain what’s going on. Abrash agreed and turned into a small bunny and Warfus whispered more details of his plan. With Abrash disguised as a bunny and safely out of site, Warfus was finally able to light the signal fire. He started to warm himself and then he told Abrash his story.

Warfus’s plan of vengeance.

Warfus whispered that there are dark forces in the forest who want an artifact that he has. He explained that the same evil Siluvanede Elves, the Fey’ri who killed his kinfolk (on his mother’s side) by cursing them to eternal undeath in the Endless Caverns, are looking for his Warmstone. Warfus explained that there are only 4 known to exist and they were once made by ancient hags using Unicorn horns, Eladrian blood and Dryad hearts. The Warmstones can help locate large deposits of Weavite. Where large deposits of Weavite exist, Elves and Dwarves had been able to create powerful magical enchantments.

Warfus had made an agreement with a vain green dragon to find a band of adventurers to help him with his scheme in exchange for a very precious gem. The dragon sent him the Married men, who provided him with a Warmstone replica that looked and felt and radiated the same magical aura of a real Warmstone. However, they had placed a special enchantment in it so that it could be tracked. The Married men took the real Warmstone to a safe place where it couldn’t be easily stolen: the treasure hoard of that same vain Green Dragon with whom he had made the arrangement.

Once the evil Sun Elves (who are really Fey’ri) take what they think is the Warmstone, he can then find out where they are holding up and find out what they’re up to! Once he has proof, he can then work with all the forest to exterminate the Fey’ri once and for all. Abrash assumed the Fey’ri would try to kill Warfus. He told him to be prepared, they killed 9,000 of your people, they may not honor whatever deal you made with them. Abrash told him that he can fly him away if it should come to that. Abrash the bunny sat in the bushes and watched.

The Siluvanede arrive.

Without making any noise, 2 elves walked into the light of the fire and greeted Warfus. One lowered his hood revealing his golden skin and red/orange hair. The other stood in the shadows with his hood hiding most of his face. Warfus pulled the fake Warmstone from his pack and handed to the first elf. The elf thanked Warfus and handed it to the still hooded elf who immediately began casting some sort of detection spell over it. The hooded elf sounded skeptical as if he detected another Warmstone nearby but in the end he shrugged it off and accepted the Warmstone as real. The hooded elf put the Warmstone in his pack and nodded to the other.

Warfus said, “I will get this back as we agreed, yes?” The elf replied, “You will get what you deserve.” They turned to leave. A few feet away the hooded elf pulled out a large Horn and blew it. The sound was a low, loud, rumble of a horn sound and it carried through the forest echoing over the hills. Even the others at the cave heard it.

The Siluvanede flee.

The two elves pulled back their cloaks and their bodies transformed. Huge batlike wings sprouted from their backs. They ran a bit and then took off flying. Abrash heard rustling in the trees and the sounds of creatures approaching. He transformed into a giant eagle and grabbed Warfus with his talons, and flew into the sky heading back to the cave. One of the Fey’ri looked back and saw the eagle carrying Warfus. Abrash told Warfus to make a scene and Warfus screamed in fear as he was being carried away by the eagle. The Fey’ri clearly saw them but Abrash dashed away quickly with Warfus.

As they flew to the canopy, they saw below that something summoned by the horn was approaching the area they just left. The trees were swaying, and grunts were heard. Abrash, as the giant eagle, flew towards the Endless Caverns with the dwarf. He didn’t take a direct route, hoping to mislead the Demon Elves. Abrash saw the dragon still sitting on his perch about 150 yards away and then swoped down into the forest. Warfus happily fell onto the ground. Abrash transformed himself and they both walked towards the Cavern entrance. Fearful of the whatever it is on their tail, Abrash polymorphed himself and Warfus into spiders so they could sneak into the caverns.

To stay or not to stay. That is the question.

Abrash explained everything that happened and told the party that he needs a rest. Cassidy asked, “How are we getting out of here with that dragon watching?” Abrash suggested they go and look for treasure in the caverns. Warfus didn’t like that idea since he has relatives in there. This prompted questions for Warfus. Warfus explained that he had to lie to his wife Bonnie because if she knew the Fey’ri were back she’d never let him go get his revenge. As he explained the story again to everyone, they saw connections to their recent actions. Sticking to their own cover story, the party told Warfus that Eversus had interrupted his plans by killing the dragon and Robbin and his Married men, as evidenced by the note they found near the dead bodies and unknowing recovery of the Warmstone.

The party continued to debate what to do next. They debated for what seemed like hours. Do they find another exit in the Endless Caverns? Do they just all run out stealthily? Do they use magic to polymorph people one at a time and escape? What about the dryads, the dragon, the Fey’ri and whatever else was summoned by that horn? It was late and the party decided to rest just inside the entrance to the cavern.

Abrash and Cassidy took the first watch. Abrash got a glimpse of shadows moving in the cave, but Cassidy didn’t see anything. Then Abrash heard a loud noise outside. He summoned a spider familiar and sent it out to investigate. Abrash sat still as the spider crawled into the forest in the direction of the noise. Eventually it came to a path where a massive dinosaur type creature was walking through the woods, heading south. Perhaps 30 orcs rode on this massive beast. Some on the legs, some on the back. The creature continued south and out of sight. Abrash explained what he saw to Cassidy and suggested that they track down the creature in morning to kill the orcs. Isabella twitched in her sleep. Ajani took the 2nd shift and saw a small herd of Elk walk by the cave. Otherwise, the night passed without any other events.

Found by the Tanarukks

In the morning the party again began debating how to leave. Warfus was very anxious to get home and getting impatient with the constant planning but no action. Cassidy stood outside the cave but near the entrance while he tried to make his points. Abrash turned to argue with Cassidy and noticed something in the trees. The party quickly cast spells to prepare for battle. Abrash cast longstrider, Ajani cast Mage Armor and Cassidy lit up his weapons. Juan blessed everyone (except Isabella, whose strength was blessing enough.) A Tanarukk stepped from behind a tree and blew a horn loud and deep. A moment later, 2 more Tanarukks arrived. Abrash realized these were the creatures summoned by the Fey’ri and may have been searching for them all night.

The first Tanarukk charged Cassidy and attacked her. Isabella sliced into the creature deeply with her axe. The 2nd Tanarukk charged in and bit Isabella, barely breaking her skin. Abrash cast Guiding Bolt and used his starry form to shoot a starry mote at the first Tanarukk. Juan and his War Rooster rushed in and ripped and stabbed the Tanarukk, bloodying it badly. Ajani shot a thunderous Chromatic Orb at the same one and left it barely alive. The 3rd Tanarukk charged in at Isabella and bit her and sliced her with its axe. Cassidy took out the chain whip and swung it around the first Tanarukk’s neck and yanked it to the ground with a sickening crunch, killing it.

A deep and terrifying screech stopped everyone where they stood. Those brave enough to look saw a massive, ancient green dragon and heard the whoos flap of its wings. It was only 150 yards away and rushing forward. Isabella looked at the others deciding if they should run or fight. Not high in intelligence, she chose to fight the 2nd Tanarukk with her axe badly hurting it. The Tanarukk, too, considered staying or fighting and it too chose to fight to complete its mission. It struck Isabella twice. Abrash shot another mote and hit the Tanarukk with another guiding bolt bloodying it horribly. Juan and his war rooster hit the Tanarukk and Juan finished it off with a Lance into the face.

Still deciding

Ajani hit the last remaining tanarukk with another thunderous Orb and then retreated 30’ back into the dark cavern. The Tanarukk looked up and saw the approaching massive monster. A moment’s thought about his mission and his two dead companions could not sustain his abject fear. He dashed into the woods, taking a critical parting shot from Isabella as he fled. Cassidy ran after the tanarukk. Warfus asked, “are we leaving?” Abrash looked at Cassidy running into the Forest and his brother running into the cave and had no idea what to do. Warfus ran after Cassidy.

Isabella ran after Cassidy and Warfus and caught up to the tanarukk. Abrash turned into a giant eagle, flew into the cave and grabbed his brother and then flew back out of the cave. With the Longstrider spell still active, the eagle’s speed was faster than normal, and he made it above the canopy with Ajani in his talons, dangling below. The dragon spotted the eagle and Ajani in its talons and dashed towards them. The dragon was within 100 feet of Abrash and Ajani but Abrash was flying faster.

Decision made. Consequences ensue

Ajani saw the dragon was in range and shot a chromatic orb at it but missed. Abrash put a little more distance in between them, and Ajani cast a hypnotic pattern. Dragon saw through the pattern and continued his pursuit. Anjani tried again but again the Dragon saw through it.

In the forest below, the tanarukk stopped after he glimpsed the dragon flying over the canopy. The rest of the party all caught up and slaughtered the creature with Isabella getting the last blow chopping it’s head off with the axe. Reminded by Cassidy about the loot on the other tanarukks, she ran back to get the horn.

Overhead, the distance grew, and Ajani once again shot a hypnotic pattern. The dragon was too wise for this trick and avoided it. Finally, determining to fight the eagle another day, the dragon broke off the chase and turned to find the other ones.

Cassidy heard the wings of the dragon shake the leaves of the forest canopy and she crouched down and successfully hid from it. Juan saw this, too. He hopped off the war rooster sending “Bird” away from the party and hid. The dragon spotted Bird running in the forest. They all saw the claws of the Dragon rip into the forest and grab Juan’s mount and tear it to shreds.

Now more certain that the others were afoot, the dragon flew back up and said in a deep sinister voice, “Where are you?” It then continued to circle around peering into the forest. Abrash and Ajani flying a relatively safe distance away saw the dragon circling the treetops and searching for their friends. Isabella, having returned with the horn, and Warfus found Juan and Cassidy crouching in the trees and said, “Now what?”