A.S.S.: Backfire

General Summary

Wherein the Arboreal Security Service contends with a massive conflagration 

An Urgent Summons

A knock on the door of Arbo HQ revealed a frog. This frog offered a message--Brackfeem, a druidic acquaintance of our eco-warriors (see A.S.S.: Plant Logistics) requested urgent assistance. He would like any available parties to meet him at Brannok's Patch--specifically where the Free Road meets the start of the forest. The frog did not have any further details other than to offer a profound sense of exigency and hopped off. 
Lenny, Sir Courtois, and Haemic then set out for Brannok's Patch. If they were worried about finding exactly where Brackfeem meant to meet them, then that was resolved as they quickly discovered the probable cause of Brackfeem's summons--a massive forest fire has engulfed the Patch. Brackfeem quickly explained the situation. Every year, those dedicated to the stewardship of the natural world (druids, clerics of Phoban, and the like) execute a careful and meticulous planned controlled burn in a rotating area of Brannok's Patch, designed to encourage the natural cycle of life in the forest. This has been happening for a century without incident. This year, however, the fire has grown beyond containment, has already leapt out in front of itself, creating unburnt areas in the flames and resisting all efforts to contain its progress. The emergency response team on standby, the Dewcallers, has already been dispatched to deal with this, but Brackfeem hasn't heard from them and fears the worst. What he needs the Arbos to do is to be dropped into the fire, navigate through the areas yet to burn in the flames, find the Dewcallers (or, failing that, find their supplies), and find a way to extinguish the fire from the inside. Brackfeem gave our group a "coldstone," linked to another "coldstone" with the Dewcallers, to help find the missing firefighters. It should feel colder as their proximity to the Dewcallers increased.  If things get too hot, however, Brackfeem also provided them with an emergency teleport device called a RIPCORD that will teleport all three of them back to this very spot. 
The Arbos accepted this profoundly dangerous mission with little hesitation.

Into the Fire

As our heroes can't very well just walk into the flames, they'll have to be dropped in from above from a flying mechanism known as a "choppa." They are to leap off of this choppa and use a glider to find a safe spot to land in the fire. Our eco-fighters did this with varying degrees of success. Both Haemic and Sir Courtois were able to do this with no difficulty. Lenny, however, prayed to her goddess Carida for assistance. Carina, notoriously fickle, did not appear to answer Lenny's prayers as her glider required significant expenditure of strength to keep from crashing, leaving Lenny exhausted as she landed.
Following the pulse of the coldstone offered a first encounter with fire wolves (that is, wolves made of fire). Combat commenced and there was just a whole heck of a lot of fire, setting the stage for things to come, to be sure. 
Next, our brave heroes met a bard both made of fire and playing with (and to?) the flames. She introduced herself as Moth and said that she was drawn here to play for her mistress (presumedly the fire itself). Apparently, she follows the fire, wandering from plane to plane to areas where the flames are currently most pronounced. Right now, that is here. But, tellingly, she is not the only wanderer. She mentioned an entity known as the Ashen Son, who does not sing to the flames, but rather seeks to control them. Could that be part of why this controlled burn is now uncontrollable? While the bard's playing was lovely, the Arbos had a job to do so they bid her farewell and headed deeper into the flames.
Further following the coldstone, our heroes witnesses a scald elemental and brimstone elemental locked in combat. Unfortunately, both elementals turned their violent attentions to our comrades and battle broke out. It was a fierce affair and required the Tree Cops to catch their breath afterward and heal up.
This proved to be a wise decision, as more combat awaited them. Searching for the Dewcallers, the Arbos came upon some ruins, and some devilish imps with profound beards in those ruins attacked them. After the battle, they discovered why the imps were there--stashing crates of accelerant among the stones and detritus. Was this meant to further fuel the fire? And to what end? Most alarmingly, these crates were marked with a logo of a lightning bolt on a sail cloth--something commonly associated with Sparksail Enterprises.
There was little time to consider the implications of that, however, as the Dewcallers were finally found. The leader of the group, a water genasi named Matarosha, explained that they've been doing their best to contend with the heart of the fire, as that seems to be the thing both controlling and contributing to this blaze. If they concentrated their effort, they could breach the flame walls and allow the Arbos to enter the heart and extinguish it, but they must be successful in doing so, as failure means that the Dewcallers will be burned alive when their strength depletes. With little choice, this plan was enacted.
And the Arbos came face to face with the Ashen Son, who sought to cleanse this world in flame. A fight ensued and, fortunately for the Dewcallers and the Free Cities, the Arbos triumphed. As the Ashen Son reduced to, well, ashes, he promised that the ashes will rise again, which probably means something bad. But, today, the crisis was adverted and the Dewcallers, along with the druids and the clerics of Phoban, were able to contain the flames, finally.
Their job done, Sir Courtois pulled the RIPCORD and teleported the Arbos back to Brackfeem. He was very grateful and gave them each 100 gold for their aid. With that, it was back to A.S.S. HQ for some much needed rest.

And That's Where We Left It

We'll see what the skein has in store for our eco-warriors as the annals of A.S.S. continue.

Varied & Sundry Details

• Lenny's careful crafting of an ogre horn onto her barge helmet came to fruition. It looks very much like a horn sticking out of a helmet and nothing else. A marked improvement!
• Lenny also offered a sick chant in battle with the Ashen Son: "I am the death giver / Fallen from the boughs / I give death in Carida's name / This is my solemn vow"
• Haemic's new nickname is Ripcord, apparently.
• What interest does Sparksail Enterprises have in Brannok's Patch? Why were those crates there? What other things might this corporation be up to?

Character(s) interacted with

• Brackfeem--druid of the Swallows and extended environs
• Moth--a bard both made of and drawn to fire
• Matarosha--leader of the Dewcallers, an ecological disaster response team made primary of genasi

Report Date

21 May 2023

Primary Location

Brannok's Patch