Session 28 - BEAR? MAN? OK.
General Summary
As they return to the barracks the party receives pings on their compasses—a task from Carnys. Great. There’s no message accompanying it, just a location in the middle of the forest on the opposite side from which they came.
Despite trekking all the way through the city and the sun going down, the party sees that the ping is on the other side of the city forest and begins the walk over. It’s beginning to get darker and colder, a great mix as the rain continues to pour atop their heads. As they are led off-path, Calum looks up to see animals watching them with wide stares. As he points it out, the others also notice and feel a little bit uneasy as they approach a clearing.
What they see in front of them is a temple built with shattered stones, moss, and vines. It’s messy and more of an amalgamation of nature than anything human-made. In the clearing they see animals of all kinds, wolves, giant snakes, owlbears, and more. They seem to be defending something. Despite the rain and the fog, the party can make out the fallen, bleeding form of an old friend. Nearly dead, surrounded by small animals, is Creaky, the stoic, silent knight from Honeyhive.
The group try to pass, but are stopped by the animals which move to block their approach. They are defensive, and very confused. As the party assesses the situation, they realize that these are normal animals who are simply acting instinctually, they do not understand the situation and why the party is here. They might not understand anything further than protect as the group struggles to make themselves non-threatening.
However, the party was clever. In a moment of joint religious unity, they realize that this is most certainly a temple to the Goddess of the Wilds, Kalmetra. Using other religious symbols as well as healing magic, they convince the animals to let them pass with the intention of healing Creaky. Then run up towards the fallen knight with Alastor and Violet doing their very best to heal the knight’s copious wounds. Although it’s evident that the healing is not affecting the knight as it would the average person, with his wounds closing but the damage still very apparent.
Furthermore, the party looks to the knight's side to see his sword covered in golden blood… The same golden blood from Melior’s monsters.
The party tries to think of a solution, reasoning that because Creaky is a demi-god and Kalmetra’s son, that normal magic probably will not work for him. Kalmetra is religiously known for her dislike for human invention, it’s reasonable that this might apply to most non-natural magics, even religious or clerical magic. Creaky requires druidic magic, or perhaps a cleric of Kalmetra, or, more feasibly, some sort of natural remedy.
Calum, Asha, and Celeste return into the city to search for a cure while Violet and Alastor keep Creaky breathing and report back to Carnys. To their surprise, the pair realize that the prince most certainly could not have given them Creaky’s location, and that Creaky’s wounds likely correspond to the same time they received the pin.
Who would’ve given them the location?
With Calum and Asha, the pair return into the city to bring Butters and their cart in case they need to bring Creaky’s body into the city. But as they are making their return Calum spots a strange sight—it’s Belt! But he’s with the same strange, cloaked figure which they had seen in the tavern alongside Holly who greets Calum with a wave. The cloaked figure is immediately defensive but Belt, Holly, and Calum de-escalate the situation. Belt is quick to try and get Calum to scram for a bit, but Calum is persistent in pulling Belt aside which he submits to.
Calum gives Belt a brief rundown of the party’s ongoings, and while happy for Calum, Belt appears rushed given he’s on the job. Despite his long-drawn claims of wanting retirement, Belt has found himself another important line of work. Apparently he’s going to be the one transporting Holly down to the Farsouth, but is not giving Calum any information about it. He keeps swearing to secrecy, insisting that everything will be fine. Eventually Calum says his goodbyes, returning to meet up with Celeste.
On the other hand, Celeste goes to the Scalescend Academy which is, at this point, already closed down with classes out of session. She pops into a few professors’ office hours and eventually finds her way to an active lab with students studying druidic magic. While they cannot give her the answers she is looking for, the students point her to a few studies all written by W. Bumbleford. Right.
She reads a few of the studies, and thinks back to the notes she had seen in Bumbleford’s journal. She comes to the conclusion that, with the vespon honey she had been given by Melior Ljonguard, she could feasibly either give it to Creaky or try and refine it into the healing substance Bumbleford had documented in prior studies. Despite a desire to err on the side of caution, Celeste brings back the unrefined vespon honey for Creaky to make the decision on his own. Fingers crossed he doesn’t blow up.
The trio return to see that Violet and Alastor have removed some of Creaky’s armor revealing the knight’s strange body. Under the armor is clothing made of animal hide slashed by the same demonic attacks which had cut through Alastor in the past. But Creaky’s actual skin and hands are strange, he is covered in coarse fur, like an animal who has been reformed like clay to be in a human form. As a result, the product is strange, with bones stretched and skin pulled to create Creaky’s form. He looks even more strange with his armor stripped except his greaves, his clothing covered in red blood, and his helmet on, covering his face.
When Celeste presents Creaky with the option of the vespon honey, or a refined product which she can hopefully recreate, Creaky decides to take the vespon honey raw. He pops off his helmet, revealing a raggedy, animalistic face which has been squished to match some of the proportions of a human head. Despite some extensions to the mouth and nose, Creaky is very odd looking. With how his face is shaped and made of an animal base, it is impossible for him to form the words of humanoid language, explaining his muteness.
Creaky takes one swig of the vespon honey, then collapses. But, despite concerns, over the course of ten minutes his body heals effectively. He is able to consume the vespon honey given his body’s strange build-up of parts to the party’s jubilation. Eventually he gives the party a thankful smile and works to put some of his armor back on.
As the group discuss what they’ve learned, Creaky requests that they come visit him tomorrow, which the party cannot decline. They offer to stay the night with him, but given the rain Creaky disagrees vehemently and sends them back to their barracks where they finally get a good night’s rest.
Despite trekking all the way through the city and the sun going down, the party sees that the ping is on the other side of the city forest and begins the walk over. It’s beginning to get darker and colder, a great mix as the rain continues to pour atop their heads. As they are led off-path, Calum looks up to see animals watching them with wide stares. As he points it out, the others also notice and feel a little bit uneasy as they approach a clearing.
What they see in front of them is a temple built with shattered stones, moss, and vines. It’s messy and more of an amalgamation of nature than anything human-made. In the clearing they see animals of all kinds, wolves, giant snakes, owlbears, and more. They seem to be defending something. Despite the rain and the fog, the party can make out the fallen, bleeding form of an old friend. Nearly dead, surrounded by small animals, is Creaky, the stoic, silent knight from Honeyhive.
The group try to pass, but are stopped by the animals which move to block their approach. They are defensive, and very confused. As the party assesses the situation, they realize that these are normal animals who are simply acting instinctually, they do not understand the situation and why the party is here. They might not understand anything further than protect as the group struggles to make themselves non-threatening.
However, the party was clever. In a moment of joint religious unity, they realize that this is most certainly a temple to the Goddess of the Wilds, Kalmetra. Using other religious symbols as well as healing magic, they convince the animals to let them pass with the intention of healing Creaky. Then run up towards the fallen knight with Alastor and Violet doing their very best to heal the knight’s copious wounds. Although it’s evident that the healing is not affecting the knight as it would the average person, with his wounds closing but the damage still very apparent.
Furthermore, the party looks to the knight's side to see his sword covered in golden blood… The same golden blood from Melior’s monsters.
The party tries to think of a solution, reasoning that because Creaky is a demi-god and Kalmetra’s son, that normal magic probably will not work for him. Kalmetra is religiously known for her dislike for human invention, it’s reasonable that this might apply to most non-natural magics, even religious or clerical magic. Creaky requires druidic magic, or perhaps a cleric of Kalmetra, or, more feasibly, some sort of natural remedy.
Calum, Asha, and Celeste return into the city to search for a cure while Violet and Alastor keep Creaky breathing and report back to Carnys. To their surprise, the pair realize that the prince most certainly could not have given them Creaky’s location, and that Creaky’s wounds likely correspond to the same time they received the pin.
Who would’ve given them the location?
With Calum and Asha, the pair return into the city to bring Butters and their cart in case they need to bring Creaky’s body into the city. But as they are making their return Calum spots a strange sight—it’s Belt! But he’s with the same strange, cloaked figure which they had seen in the tavern alongside Holly who greets Calum with a wave. The cloaked figure is immediately defensive but Belt, Holly, and Calum de-escalate the situation. Belt is quick to try and get Calum to scram for a bit, but Calum is persistent in pulling Belt aside which he submits to.
Calum gives Belt a brief rundown of the party’s ongoings, and while happy for Calum, Belt appears rushed given he’s on the job. Despite his long-drawn claims of wanting retirement, Belt has found himself another important line of work. Apparently he’s going to be the one transporting Holly down to the Farsouth, but is not giving Calum any information about it. He keeps swearing to secrecy, insisting that everything will be fine. Eventually Calum says his goodbyes, returning to meet up with Celeste.
On the other hand, Celeste goes to the Scalescend Academy which is, at this point, already closed down with classes out of session. She pops into a few professors’ office hours and eventually finds her way to an active lab with students studying druidic magic. While they cannot give her the answers she is looking for, the students point her to a few studies all written by W. Bumbleford. Right.
She reads a few of the studies, and thinks back to the notes she had seen in Bumbleford’s journal. She comes to the conclusion that, with the vespon honey she had been given by Melior Ljonguard, she could feasibly either give it to Creaky or try and refine it into the healing substance Bumbleford had documented in prior studies. Despite a desire to err on the side of caution, Celeste brings back the unrefined vespon honey for Creaky to make the decision on his own. Fingers crossed he doesn’t blow up.
The trio return to see that Violet and Alastor have removed some of Creaky’s armor revealing the knight’s strange body. Under the armor is clothing made of animal hide slashed by the same demonic attacks which had cut through Alastor in the past. But Creaky’s actual skin and hands are strange, he is covered in coarse fur, like an animal who has been reformed like clay to be in a human form. As a result, the product is strange, with bones stretched and skin pulled to create Creaky’s form. He looks even more strange with his armor stripped except his greaves, his clothing covered in red blood, and his helmet on, covering his face.
When Celeste presents Creaky with the option of the vespon honey, or a refined product which she can hopefully recreate, Creaky decides to take the vespon honey raw. He pops off his helmet, revealing a raggedy, animalistic face which has been squished to match some of the proportions of a human head. Despite some extensions to the mouth and nose, Creaky is very odd looking. With how his face is shaped and made of an animal base, it is impossible for him to form the words of humanoid language, explaining his muteness.
Creaky takes one swig of the vespon honey, then collapses. But, despite concerns, over the course of ten minutes his body heals effectively. He is able to consume the vespon honey given his body’s strange build-up of parts to the party’s jubilation. Eventually he gives the party a thankful smile and works to put some of his armor back on.
As the group discuss what they’ve learned, Creaky requests that they come visit him tomorrow, which the party cannot decline. They offer to stay the night with him, but given the rain Creaky disagrees vehemently and sends them back to their barracks where they finally get a good night’s rest.
Report Date
07 Jul 2026
