An Emergency Situation
Sessions 5 - 13
After recovering from the brawl, the party responds to an update from Wrellen about work. Over a meal, he lets them know about a job on behalf of the local alchemist, Annie Annibel, who needs some supplies from Two Pines. Wrellen tries to warn the party about accepting the job too hastily, though, as Two Pines is not a pleasant place, but they decide to look into the work regardless. After speaking with Annie, the party accepts her job and runs into a strange group of travelers, which the party comes to suspect may be druids traveling incognito. The travelers ask for help reaching Two Pines, which the party agrees to provide since they are headed that direction. The following morning they all head out together. Along the road to Two Pines, a group of horsemen rob the group, taking off with one of the traveler's bags and distressing them greatly. Deciding to see justice done, the party takes one of the travelers with them and tracks the bandits down the road, ambushing them at night and killing the lot, reclaiming the missing bag. At the end of the fight, however, a strange man appears and attacks the group. While the party manages to defeat the man, he defies any attempt to understand his nature. He is both dead, but not undead, and shrugs off many attacks again him as if they were nothing. Suddenly concerned for the other travelers back at camp, the party quickly claims the horses of the dead highwaymen and rushes back to check on their allies.
The party finds their traveling companions frightened but unharmed, then set watches for the rest of the night, unsure of what to expect. The group is able to continue northward the next morning, stopping at the battleground to loot their would-be robbers and investigate the creature that attacked them in the dark. Bara extracts vine-like fibers from under its skin, and the party leaves. Two Pines, however, is already on edge from local troubles, and the Watch stops to question the party at the gate. Qas convinces the guards to allow their companions to go on with their business, but her snarky personality arouses suspicion in Deputy Howard, who takes their arms and puts the party on a local probation. They acquire lodging at The Split Rivers, then head to Vines and Vials to speak with Bellusial about their order for Annie Annibel. The herbalist lets them know that he will be able to complete their order, but only after he investigates the strange plant-like man they had encountered the night before. Having no further business with the party, Bellusial sends them on their way and returns to his work, so party heads back to the inn.
Later, the party catches wind of trouble outside the city when their escort is called back to the guard post, leaving them unattended. Following the guard, they discover that Deputy Paete Mrazek is mustering some twenty of the active members of the watch to help deal with some trouble to the north. As the guards leave, however, a desperate woman pleads with Deputy Howard for assistance. The party learns that the woman, Dania Wells, has come to ask for help as her family homestead has been stalked and attacked. Since the guard cannot spare any additional men to help, the party offers to help her and Deputy Howard reluctantly agrees, returning the party arms while keeping their money as collateral. The party follows Deputy Mrazek as far as he can take them, then heads on their own to Dania's home, where they are eventually able to hail Richard Wells. They decide to stay the night to help defend against any trouble, and set watches. Halfway through the night, however, the house is suddenly besieged by a large group of the strange, zombie-like creatures, leading to a long and bloody battle to save the homestead. While the party is able to eventually defeat all of the attackers, the house is heavily damaged and is no longer defensible. Additionally, and more disturbingly, they spot a single figure outside the house, watching the battle. When the battle ends, the figure turns and leaves, giving no sign of their purpose or intent. The following morning, the party heads back towards Two Pines with Richard, meeting a troubled Deputy Mrazek on the road. The deputy explains that his men made it to the lumber camp, only to find it completely abandoned. The party has him and his guards accompany them back to the Wells' homestead and investigate the bodies of their attackers, which the guards are able to confirm as being the missing loggers. More disturbed than ever, the guards help collect all of Richard's valuables and return to Two Pines.
Upon returning to Two Pines, the group is pulled aside by Veliel and asked to meet with Bellusial on a matter of some importance. Bellusial meets the group in his laboratory and tells them of his findings in regards to the strange vines and the creatures infested with them: they are known as Yellow Musk Creepers, a parasitic plant that burrows into the living bodies of its victims and turns them into mindless "zombies" for incubation. While natural in the area, the quantity of victims is wholly outside of the norm, leading him to have some concern about the situation. Despite this, he insists that his part in this issue is finished and lets them know that he will be leaving shortly to fulfill their order of herbs for Annie. Back at the guard post, Deputy Mrazek is debriefing the Wells family, and instructs them to stand by and wait their turn. Before he can get to them, however, Captain Stonehammer descends from his office and calls for the group to attend him upstairs. The debriefing is short, and the captain's disdain for Qas is clear, though his respect for their actions is begrudgingly given. Upon leaving his office, however, Rayne spots a very distinctly colored burnt orange banner hanging among a display of worn arms. Rayne keeps quiet about her discovery at first, moving with the group downstairs where they are thanked profusely by both Richard Wells and his family, as well as Deptuty Mrazek. Once the party returns to the inn, they start inquiring about the banner, hoping to find some link to Verant. All they manage to discover, however, is that it once belonged to the Amaelians, a noble family of elves that were wiped out during The Lizardfolk Wars. Having more questions now than answers, the group decides to relax for the day to rest from the previous night's exhausting events.
The afternoon following the battle at Richard's cabin, the party decides to send Bara to ask Captain Stonehammer about the orange banner while Qas and Rayne try to rest and stay out of trouble at the tavern. Bara is able to learn some new information, but isn't able to make any solid connections between the Amaelian family and Verant, so she returns to the tavern. En route, however, she hears that there is trouble back at The Split Rivers and rushes back to check on her allies, who are, indeed, involved in the fight. While Bara was out, several locals had gotten into an argument with another tavern patron, which turned violent. Qas and Rayne got involved when their guard escort was assaulted, and Bara arrives in time to help them finish the brawl without anyone dying. However, when the guards arrive, they arrest everyone involved, and the party spends the rest of the day in jail. When they are visited by Deputy Howard that evening, he brings them a meal and asks them to leave town immediately, as their presence is starting to cause problems. The party agrees and, after getting permission from the Wells to stay at their old cabin, heads out of town with a new lead, courtesy of Veliel: Yellow Musk Creepers tend to inhabit old graveyards or battlefields. There is one such place in the area - a ruined hamlet called Abelynn, just about a day northwest of Two Pines. Consequently, the same direction as the Wells' property and the lumbering camp that was overrun the night prior.
Deciding to investigate the ruins of Abelynn, the party leaves Richard Wells' cabin the following morning, following old logging trails and trade roads. They eventually reach the ruins of the small hamlet on the banks of the Coralous River, making their way through the remnants of the settlement until they find the cemetery. Once they are sure there are no threats outside the graveyard, they enter the perimeter and find a fully developed Yellow Musk Creeper and a handful of it's zombie spawn. The party draws out the creatures, eventually defeating them. Satisfied with a job well done, they set out to return to Richard's cabin when they note a large number of fresh zombie tracks, likely from within the last couple days, moving en masse to the south. Unsure of how to proceed, the party decides to continue with their original plan to return to the relative safety of the Wells' property and figure out their next move once they have had a chance to rest from their ordeal.
After taking a break to rest at Richard's cabin, Bara remembers that there is a small seasonal hamlet to the south, directly in the projected path of the zombie menace. The party decides to leave for the settlement, called Avul's Port, and rides hard to reach them before the zombies do, arriving in the early evening. The party informs the local headman, Joseph Sorenson, of the potential dangers, and he rallies the people together to defend the flophouse. By twilight, the settlement is ready to face the zombies from inside the barricaded structure while Bara and Qas patrol the woodline. They encounter a pair of the zombies but are forced to retreat when they spot a larger contingent of the plant-creatures start arriving on the scene. Once inside the flophouse, they join the defenders and are eventually able to defeat the incoming horde. Miraculously, the entire settlement survives the battle, though injuries are widespread and there were many close calls. Additionally, Bara spots a cloaked figure leaving the scene of the battle, just as with the fight to defend the Wells' homestead. The following morning, the party are hailed as heroes and saviors and Joseph presents Rayne with the enchanted blade that has been in his family for generations. Taking the blade, the party starts following the cloaked figure northward with the help of a Kenneth, a local huntsman. As they follow the trail, they discover that the mysterious figure they are tracking is able to shapeshift, almost certainly exposing him as a druid.
After some deliberation, the party decides to follow the druid for one more day before returning to the Wells' cabin. As they continue to following the tracks northward, they being to suspect that the druid is heading toward Abelynn. There, the group finds some of the zombie corpses from the graveyard where they fought the Yellow Musk Creeper have been cut open, including one which is missing its head. The party suspects that the druid found a living Yellow Musk Creeper seedling, and is attempting to cultivate it, so they start giving chase further north, where they eventually run into the druid and a handful of remaining zombies. They are able to overcome the druid, named Nelakor, and capture him in the ensuing battle - though Rayne is gravely injured, and recovers only with significant magical healing. The party decides to escort Nelakor back to Two Pines for trial, however, they are stopped by second druid who demands to take custody of his comrade. The party is able to confirm that the Circle intends to punish Nelakor for his actions, they reluctantly surrender him. Finally able to return to their temporary lodging at the Wells' cabin, the party parts ways with Kenneth at the gates of Two Pines, who promises to make sure their mounts are returned to them when he gets back to Avul's Port.
A day later, the party receives a visit from Kenneth, who brought up their mounts as promised. Shortly afterwards, they are greeted by a wholly unexpected visit from Veliel and Deputy Howard. The men bring news from Two Pines that both Bellusial and Mayor Redfern need to meet with the party. Mounting up, the party returns to town with their allies, now once more permitted entry by the watch. The party first stops by Vines and Vials, collecting their delivery from Bellusial before heading to the mayoral office to meet with Mayor Jesop Redfern. Inside the office they find not only the mayor, but also Captain Stonehammer and Joseph Sorenson, who are discussing the party's actions aiding the people of the region. Despite the captain's disapproval, the mayor lauds the actions of the party and rewards them with items from his personal collection. Hailing them as heroes of Two Pines, Mayor Redfern promises them that they will always be welcome in town, overlooking any previous misgivings. Their work in Two Pines now concluded, the party decides to remain one last night in town, saying farewell to the Wells family and enjoying the hospitality of The Split Rivers and a thankful Jacopo Hostler, before returning to Nettle Lake the following day. Exhausted from their long journey, the party drops off Annie Annibel's package before retiring back to their respective abodes and getting some well deserved rest in their own beds.
Relations
Allies
- Richard Wells - A woodsman and farmer outside of Two Pines. He and his family live beyond the safe walls of the town, putting them at risk from the dangerous forces now active in the area.
- Joseph Sorenson - The headman of Avul's port and a longtime local of the north.
- Kenneth the Huntsman - A local hunter from Avul's Port with unparalleled knowledge of the woods north of his hometown.
Neutrals/Bystanders
- Annie Annibel - Alchemist in Nettle Lake who hires the party to retrieve rare herbs from her associate in Two Pines.
- The travelers - A trio of travelers from the southern reaches of the Union. The elf, Avansiel, speaks for his lizardfolk companions, Has'relk and Ds'elek, in their quest to reach Two Pines. They are very tight-lipped about their purpose, however, and speak to each other in a strange language.
- Bellusial - The proprietor of the alchemist shop in Two Pines, and the contact for Annie's order. He is also an expert on both local and exotic botany.
- Veliel - The shopkeep at Vines and Vials, serving as the public face of Bellusial's business. He his much more personable than his employer.
- The Two Pines Watch - Lead by Captain Stonehammer and his deputies, Paete Mrazek and James Howard, they are responsible for protecting the local citizenry from dangers both within and without. Naturally suspicious of outsiders, they are slow to trust, but dedicated allies to those that prove themselves.
- Mayor Redfern - The mayor of Two Pines and a major landowner in the area. He is an adept politician who knows how to balance his personal interests with the needs and desires of his people.
Adversaries
- Nelakor - A druid of the Marsh Plateau Circle who used control over plants to launch many successful attacks on the people of the north.
Parent Plot
Related Locations
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