General Summary
Borga's Homestead
The Turnip Tillers had been asked by Falamin Leabrace to deliver news of recent events to the godsguard of Porgorag. News of the planar portal beneath the town needed to be shared so it could be handled properly, and there were rumors of a powerful druid who may also be able to help the small town. Borga, Duggg, E'larus, Róvhén, Tanya, and Theryn, along with Theryn’s donkey Jeffrey Edwards, set out from Bridon Tillage on 26 Sedaena 5A 351. They took the well-traveled Belltree Road north and reached the Kumbon Forest the next day. The violet bell-shaped blossoms were fragrant, and the air beneath the canopy was unseasonably warm. They saw floating motes of light and heard distant canine barks and howls. Borga lived in this forest and was very familiar with the sounds. She informed the group about the canine packs and other dangers, and she suggested they cut west through the forest. They could reach her homestead by nightfall and rest there instead of on the road, which would save a day on their travel towards Porgorag. The group cut through the bell trees along animal trails and low hills, following Borga’s lead. At the end of the second day’s travel, they reached Borga's Homestead just as the sun was beginning to set. It was a small wooden cabin built in a forest clearing. Nearby was a haphazard barn for Borga’s goats that were all over the clearing. Borga opened her home and tended to the goats. The group looked around Borga’s home, noting the meticulous organization and the many catoplebas bone decorations she had. Everything was just as Borga had left it, with no dust or fallen petals gathered since she’d left. Borga lit a fire inside the cabin fireplace and the party rested and ate. The cabin was too small for all of them, so as night came, Borga and Duggg slept inside, Róvhén, Theryn, and Jeffrey slept in the barn, and E’larus and Tanya slept outside.Nightmares and Curses
Late into the night, their rest was interrupted by terrible dreams. Each of them saw nightmares that combined their fears mixed with the events of the last few days.- Róvhén was with Borga at the Brace of Spades tavern, laughing at Releg’s wild magic, but the scene shifted and it was Róvhén’s magic being laughed at, and he was carried away by shaking bones…
- Duggg was rushing to combat alongside Borga, but instead of animated turnips, chickens were attacking the town. Then, a massive Dire Chicken emerged, wearing a massive hat of bones…
- Theryn was in an unmarked grave, with no name to be remembered. Next to him was a funeral procession for a grave with Borga’s name, and inside was just a pile of bones…
- Tanya was with Borga searching for the dragonborn cleric, but they never found her. With feelings of worry, she returned to Bridon Tillage and saw just a sunken black portal of prismatic glass and bone…
- E’larus, with Borga, reached Porgorag and went to town’s church. However, as a tiefling, E’larus was followed by whispers and looks, and the town’s buildings were shut to him behind bars of bone…
- Borga saw a combat, one she seemed to remember. She had horns and claws, and she let out a catoplebas roar as she killed a half-orc woman and tore off her jaw…
An Animated Encounter
It seemed it was the catoplebas bones that were emitting the stench. Róvhén blasted the skull hanging above the barn door, but it took no damage. They noted the windchime outside the cabin was pristine, too, and heard the combat inside. Tanya ran quickly onto the roof, while E’larus tried to enter the cabin. He set off a rune trap that spouted foul gas at the door, forcing him back. Róvhén launched a fire spell at the scarecrow and E’larus followed up with a blast of twilight energy, scattering the scarecrow to cinders. Inside, Borga dodged a stab and shattered the sword to pieces. Duggg hid inside the fireplace and found strange herbs, but the paper golem rushed after him, cutting him with whipping paper. He blasted fire around him and burned the book to ash, then started to investigate the herbs he found. The flying cloak rushed through the gas and towards E’larus outside. Tanya jumped from the roof and slashed into it repeatedly. The cloak was severed and disanimated, and the fight was won. In the wake of the combat, the party quickly regrouped and investigated the homestead. Tanya looked into the thin, frail footprints in the muck. The tracks had been everywhere and had built up in the growing dirt and grime after it arrived at the homestead. Duggg recognized the herbs left in the fireplace as hallucinogenic and not native to this region of Tarteria. With the illusion on the home, they had inadvertently burned these, and he felt it likely this was the cause of their nightmares. Róvhén called attention to the bones as the source of the stench around them. E’larus cast a Detect Magic spell and saw each bone was emanating magic. Borga quickly gathered the skull, the windchime and all the bones together in a pile outside, but as she went to remove her jawbone necklace, she was unable to break it or take it off. Tanya investigated the catoplebas bone pile. She sensed Borga’s home had been desecrated somehow. To remove the curse, they would need to get a strong cleric to consecrate this land.A Convenient Cleric
As they came to this conclusion, they heard movement approaching the homestead. A young gold dragonborn approached. Unsure and somewhat quiet, she introduced herself as Godsguard Ankhan. She said she was looking for someone with knowledge of the Kumbon Forest to aid her in hunting down a hag rumored to be in the forest. Róvhén quietly said it was very convenient that the person they were looking for would just happen upon Borga’s home right after they were attacked. E’larus felt she appeared to be who she said she was, and Theryn noted the dragonborn did have a platinum holy symbol of Zenethia. Ankhan asked if something had been going on. Borga said there was curse affecting the gathered catoplebas bones. Borga told the story of a catoplebas that attacked her home and how she hunted and killed the monster. Ankahn investigated the bones, then said, “This does all seem to be coming back to you.” She continued, “It does seem like this is your fault.” She said she could try to help, but magic tied to Zenethia was weak and blocked in Tarteria currently. She suggested they try some more traditional things instead, like bloodletting or sacrifices, to corrode the curse. The group was now more suspicious of this dragonborn. They asked about the hag she claimed she was hunting and how she came to this homestead, but she ignored the questions. Ankhan focused on Borga and approached her. She said, “If this curse is as bad as you say, it’s likely going to spread. She stepped towards Borga, holding a knife. As this happened, Duggg focused on her platinum holy symbol. It looked and shined like platinum, but to the gnome, it didn’t smell like platinum should. He held up his large diamond, and his wild magic surged. As bright sunlight burst from him, the supposed cleric of light shied away from it.Mewling Mamie Millie
The golden scaled dragonborn form melted away to reveal a crooked and bent old woman, with ghostly white hair and dirty rags. The revealed hag said, “You’re a clever little menace, aren’t you, figuring out Mamie Millie’s tricks.” Mamie Millie cast a dark and fiendish spell and let out a loud mewling that echoed through the trees. In a puff of stinking magic, she was encased in a bubble of force. In response to her call, they heard the rapid approach of strange, thumping monsters approaching. Each had the head of a lion, but instead of a body, each had five legs coming out from the head in a circle. They rolled into the clearing at incredible speeds, trampling and swiping at the party. Millie’s voice was muffled, as she called out, “My maulers will make quick work of you! Get them my pretties!” To Borga, she said, “I’ll get my revenge on you, murderer! You killed my sweet, precious catoplebas, so I’ll kill you and wear your jaw!” Most of the group were caught in the middle around the pile of bones, but Theryn and Tanya were caught away. Borga and Duggg attacked the ball of force around the hag, but it was seemingly unbreakable. They attacked the maulers as they raced past them, but each pass left them with cuts and bleeding wounds. Duggg and E’larus were trampled to the ground and badly hurt. E’larus’s healing couldn’t keep pace against the maulers as they ramped off their bodies, focusing on their prone targets. The rest of the group rushed to aid them, gathering in the center, and fought back hard with what they could leverage. Mamie Millie taunted them as they battled. She said if they sacrificed Borga to the hag, she’d call off her beasts. The party ignored her, and she continued, “I saw from your dreams what happened in that little halfling town. A planar gate like that could make a witch like me quite powerful!” Gathered and working together, they healed their wounded. With weapons and spells the group wore down the maulers and one by one, killed them. Mamie Millie saw the battle turning against her. She taunted, “Very well! You’ll have to find me!” and disappeared in a puff of foul smoke, leaving the ball of force empty. However, Duggg was familiar with this spellcraft. He went to the force ball and tried to move it, but felt the weight of the hag still inside. As the last mauler was cut to pieces, the Turnip Tillers gathered around the ball. Mamie Millie attempted to bargain with the group. She said, “You’ve defeated my maulers, but I still know your dreams. I can provide you a surefire way to closing that portal underneath your precious little town, and I can even help you find that bastard druid in the west.” The group ignored her last tries to tempt them, and as the force bubble spell ended, they cut down the hag.Repairing the Damage
Borga dragged Millie’s corpse to the bone pile. She now could easily rip the bone necklace off her neck, and she tossed it down. They threw the pieces of the maulers into the pile, as Borga grabbed lantern oil from her barn and set it all on fire. Foul, black smoke filled the clearing as the catoplebas bones burned. As the last of them crumbled to ash, the strong, swampy stench began to fade. Over the course of the next hours, the group tended to their wounds and helped to clean and repair Borga’s homestead. Sensing the danger was over, Borga’s goats returned to the clearing. They set everything back to order, finishing around the time they’d planned on leaving in the late morning. The party headed from the homestead to the northwest. They stayed away from the roaming packs of canines, and the rest of the travel through the forest was uneventful. A day and a half later, they reached the Two Ports Road along the Leviathan Sea. Taking the winding coastal road westward, they reached the outskirts of Porgorag on 1 Ocana 5A 351.The Real Godsguard of Porgorag
As they approached the city, they saw a large group of clerics leaving Porgorag in their direction. Among them was a gold dragonborn, appearing the exact same as the disguise Mamie Millie had worn just days before. This dragonborn called out to them, “Excuse me! Would any of you happen to be coming from the Kumbon Forest that’s east of here? If you did, I’d be interested in some of your time.” She introduced herself as Godsguard Ankhan and said they were departing to hunt a hag and wanted any information they had. The group quickly confirmed they’d encountered Mamie Millie and had slain her. Duggg also said the hag had been disguised, pointing at the young godsguard. One of the other clerics stepped to protect Ankhan, but his magic fizzled. Ankhan called for calm and offered her hand to Tanya to prove she was no illusion. “It does seem like you’ve met the hag that we were about to hunt then if you’re so suspicious of a group of clerics traveling.” Tanya said they were actually on their way to meet with Ankhan in Porgorag. Tanya talked about Bridon Tillage and the issues they’d dealt with there, including the planar portal to Nadiria, the Plane of Darkness, the battles they fought, and the seal they put in place. Ankhan said she would bring this to the oknar and provide the aid she could to the small town. Ankhan said if Róvhén’s wild magics had sealed it, perhaps a powerful druid would be better suited to fortify that seal. She said that she didn’t know about The Hermit they’d heard rumors about, but she did have a contact that could help them. She said, “I have an associate who’s actually looking for a group like you to head farther west, into the Western Valley, and search for more of the things like you describe here. Planar gates and fiendish activity in that direction. Their group pays well, and Haugon asked me to watch for any good adventuring groups that I could connect to him. Have you all heard of the Hero Hunters?” With the message delivered to Ankhan and their mission completed, they’d saved Bridon Tillage three times in total. They also now had a new lead to further their quest for this rumored druid, to ensure this small halfling town may get the aid it needs and to further investigate what connections this may have to Nadiria. The Turnip Tillers continued on with Ankhan to the city of Porgorag, with more adventures still laying ahead of them.
Report Date
19 Jan 2025
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Related Characters
26 Sedaena 5A 351 to 1 Ocana 5A 351