Session 10: Forest of Fairy Flame

General Summary

As Ravojhan woke up, still grasping the Broken Eye around his neck, he saw the worried party standing over him. He took it off and told them about his vision. As they discussed what to do, Aurora told them about the fact that she actually came from this forest, and that her town may be a possible destination. The party then followed her lead as they ventured into the forest.   They walked through the giant trees as Aurora realized that something was off. She couldn't pinpoint it, but there was something different with the forest. After a while, they approached a clearing in which they could see a small figure. A froglike being clad in simple robes feeding a deer. As usual, Kleech bolted into the clearing whilst yelling a loud greeting. He got a similarly enthusiastic greeting as a response. The small Grippli druid introduced himself as Bill Hilly, a native to the Feyfire Forest. As they asked him about the forest he told them about a cave-like city in the eastern part of the woods. They then asked him if he could show the way, to which he agreed.   Bill led them through the gigantic trees and roots that made up the dark, yet, faintly glowing canopy of the Feyfire, making it almost impossible to tell what time it is. Luckily they had Bill to help them and remind Aurora of the methods. Then he and Kleech fell asleep straight on the ground. The rest tried to make a camp and decide a method of keeping watch. As Quinomo began to meditate, Aurora started to keep watch. As Ravojhan and Trinky fell asleep, Aurora kept a close watch on the forest around them. That's when she noticed some distant movement, and felt eyes upon her. She woke the others and tried to investigate, with little to show for it. A while later she too went to sleep for the night.   The next day they were awoken by Billy and Kleech who were already prepared to continue. The rest of the group quickly gathered their things before they continued their journey. After a few hours, they made it into a clearing where they were met by the sight of a band of green kobolds with a chained-up treant, unable to move. At Billy's behest, the party decided to try and save the trapped treant. They entered the clearing and tried to reason with the kobolds. This led nowhere, and as one of the kobolds climbed on top of the treant and seemed to be controlling it, the party made a quick plan of attack.   Surprising the kobolds the group quickly overwhelmed the band of kobolds. As Aurora, Trinky, Ravojhan, and Quinumo fired arrows at the treant rider, Bill transformed into a stag and charged one of the two on the ground. Kleech quickly followed after and grappled the one Bill had toppled over. The other grounded kobold tried to strike Quinumo who had stepped forward to protect the rest. The treant rider, who had managed to stay on top even after being shot by Aurora, made the treant slam its giant arms into Bill who turned back into his grippli form. Shortly thereafter Aurora managed to snipe out the treant rider with another well-placed arrow. The second kobold, who was still fighting with Quinumo, managed to dodge his strikes, but in doing so left himself open to a well-aimed eldritch blast from Ravojhan, which broke its neck.   The party then turned to the last living kobold, which was still being held down by Kleech. They began to question him on who he was serving, as Bill tried to release the treant. Most of the party went to help him, except Kleech and Trinky who tied up the kobold. Trinky then proceeded to take all his stuff and waterboard him in search of the information they sought. After intimidating the poor being enough, he eventually broke and told her everything. She then promised to set him free, as she brought him back to the group. But when she wouldn't give him his magical sword back he fought for it. After managing to grab the silver blade he opted for a run. But Quinumo swiftly lifted his bow and shot an arrow right through his knee, stopping him in his tracks. He then walked over to him, and in a misguided attempt to help it yanked the arrow out his knee, ripping the tendons as he did. The kobold screamed in pain. Struck by panic Quinumo decided to put him out of his misery, and drove his magical blade through the kobolds brain. He then brought the magical sword with a feathered hilt back to the group, where it was given to Kleech.   Upon seeing the bloody mess created by the party, Bill decided to leave with the treant, much to the protest of Trinky. In the end the party made off without the grippli. Now lead by Aurora. After another days travel they made it to the ruined city that the druid had told them about. They approached the layered dwarven ruins and climbed to the top of the hill where they found an entrance to a downwards staircase. An entrance familiar to Ravojhan who had seen it in his vision. Reflecting back on the other contents of the vision the party debated their chances, but decided to go for it and entered the cave.   After following the stairs to the bottom they found a massive hall, filled with beautiful stone hewn canvases depicting the histories of nations and cultures. This hall was populated by a clan of Stone Giants, and taking a chance on their hospitality the party entered the hall and walked towards what looked like the chief. As they approached him the lord called to them and wlcomed them to his halls. Not recognizing the customs, Trinky and Kleech managed to offend the lord's viceroy. Upon being questioned the group told the cheif that they had come to witness their masterful craftsmanship. After some more inquiries they managed to find out that they were also protecting a magically inprisioned dragon and her hoard. The party asked to see this dragon. Afterwhich Kleech was offended and did two backflips.   The party walked over to the hallway described by the chief. A hallway that Ravojhan once again recognized. At the end of the hallway, they found a massive stone door, which was opened by two stone giants. Inside they found a gargantuan rotting corpse of a green dragon being held to the ground by chains filled with magical runes. The strange with being that this skeletal dragon drew breath. It was being held alive by the magical chains. It greeted them, introduced herself as Niarvenax the Great, and asked them why they had come. She then offered them a mission, to find her grandson in Dragonfen and give him a magical ring for her. In exchange, they would be richly awarded. The party accepted. She had also recognized Ravojhan as a member of the Geldoth family, who had been her servants over 3000 years before.   When the party decided to ask her about the shard to the broken eye, she told them that it had been stolen over 100 years before by an elf. She then looked at Aurora and seemed to recognize the thief in her. It was then revealed that the thief was none other than Aurora's father, whom they would find in the elven town of Alfenstira. The party then promised not to tell the giants about their conversation before they left.   As they tried to leave the halls of the giants they were stopped by the giants who had promised to throw them a feast. Realizing that there would be no way of getting out of this, they merely leaned into it and followed a giant to a guest hall where they would rest for a bit before the feast, where they would have to tell a story for the clan, that they could add to their collective knowledge. The party discussed what story to tell. After a while, they decided on telling the tale of how they managed to break out of Folkenfort.   After a while, they were called out as the feast was about to begin. They took their seats by the chief who introduced them to the rest of the clan and told them to go ahead. What followed can only be described as a miracle of latent oratory abilities as Kleech along with his party told the epic tale of their infiltration and escape from the inescapable fortress of Folkenfort IN THE EAST!!! Being the first ones to do so ever in the history of Aeryon. Even though Aurora's ability to tell a captivating story may have been lacking, the rest managed to tell an engaging tale, worthy of a giants applause. They then finished the feast and the next day they prepared to travel north to Alfenstria