Harmony Session 20: Enter the Megafoot
General Summary
Our heroes continued their treacherous journey through Ferrous Forest, coming to learn much about the strange wood. A hazy light filtered through the thick canopy to signal another dimly lit morning after a fierce battle with the local fauna.
Before they set out once more, Gorr attempted to "take the temperature" of the wood. Swango Swamp had been very obviously diseased, the natural order of the region corrupted by the sema. Here though was a thriving ecosystem in tune with itself, but Gorr still felt like something was missing. Maybe not missing exactly, but unnoticed by his senses. Perhaps it had something to do with that strange footprint...
Iron Tidings
As our heroes plunged deeper into Ferrous Forest, they soon came to another area populated by locals. Large rents were carved into the trunks of the ironwood trees, most likely made by a powerfully sharp claw. The sign was identified as potentially owlbear, and these suspicions were soom confirmed as Zoran came nearly face to face with a nesting trio. Unfortunately for our heroes, these were no ordinary owlbears but ones raised among the ironwood trees, hardier and deadlier than their Keshloamic cousins. Thankfully, a few well-placed swipes from Zoran's blade and a brutal critical sneak attack from Malachai won our heroes the day. Their subsquent short rest did not go uninterrupted however. The Ill Tide, a fellow Windblown adventuring party had found them! After a quick Windblown call-and-response (Where do you sow? / Where the wind blows), the co-workers greeted each other warmly and exchanged news. Unfortunately for the Ill Tide, this included learning about the unfortunate demise of Juut Jeskaari after he left to join Pestus and Byzix Flintclaw. Bummer. The Six received a warning about centipedes and they gave their compatriots a heads up on the owlbears. With that, the Suckhole Six left their campground to the Tide and headed back out into the wilderness.Big Secrets
After a few hours' march, they began to feel the uneasy sensation of being watched. They soon spotted a strangely out-of-place tree that was in fact intently watching them. it stood motionless even as Gorr approached but disappeared straight into the ground when he got too close. Strange dude. The Six camped for the night, but awoke to another morning lost under Zoran's eye. Thankfully, the warrior was able to remember the trail back to the campsite where they met the Ill Tide. What he did not remember was the 30-foot tall giant apelike creature dominating the small clearing. The massive beast was bent over poking through something in the brush with a huge hand. Thankfully, Malachai was able to leverage his Ring of Animal Influence to commune with the beast. They learned that the megafoot was tracking the Ill Tide, but that its intentions were only observation. When aked who he "works" for, the megafoot answered "The Land, the Trees, the Song." Enoch was able to suggest to the creature that they weren't a threat. It even seemed to like Zoran's soft flute playing, which was quickly becoming the exiled king's first response to any interaction. After a few minutes, the megafoot lost interest in the Six then appeared to step out of the clearing, and the forest, altogether. The megafoot simply disappeared, either teleporting away or slipping into another plane of existence. Another clue, another mystery. The Six decided to cut their losses and camp here for the night.Spider Snack
Gorr was called to scale the ironwoods and get them unlost again. Perhaps inspired by his erstwhile success, the druid took the form of an acid ant and began to climb. Unfortunately, this housecat-sized insect was the perfect snack for the spiders that lived in the canopy. Gorr attracted some very unwanted attention and turned a quick retreat back down the trunk. The spiders followed and found much more than a tasty snack waiting for them. These creatures, much like the megafoot, were able to move in and out of the material realm at will, making them extremely difficult to hurt. They even brought the mighty Zoran down before the Six scared them off. In the morning, Azarki decided to tell everyone how good he was at tracking and surviving in the wilderness and took on the role of guide. Unfortunately, he was a lot more talk than action, having no real clue where he was going. Still, the God of Exigency may have been guiding Azarki -- the party soon stumbled into not just a clearning, but a wide scar of ironwood stumps and rotting trunks. The blue sky shone above this unwooded gash making it clear that this was the work of a Woodsman, but seemingly decades old. Intrigued by what might await them on either end of this trail, the Suckhole Six turned north along the pathway. Azarki was able to quickly orient himself and set a much-quicker pace along the carved hallway through the trees. Unfortunately though, these quick steps were a little less precise, and Azarki soon found his foot grasped firmly by the ground. The soil shifted as a toothed block of earth stood itself up on four thick legs and attacked the travelers! SOD FIGHT!Rewards Granted
- Ironfeather owlbear iron feathers
Character(s) interacted with
Created Content
- Enoch faced a moment of mortality when downed in a spray of ironfeather owlbear iron feathers. He flashed back to one of his first meetings with Master Abelkrug. A teenaged Enoch watched the dotty man tinker with some archanical trinket, hunched over a desk and rambling about chronurgy. "Think about it, boy, we could undo death itself!" the man practically screamed at him. Unlike the other students and teachers that just played nice with the crazy old man, Enoch saw something much different. "Tell me more," he said. Abelkrug's eyes lit up with the previously unknown excitement of shared enthusiasm and smiled. He immediately took Enoch as his apprentice that day.
- When downed by the venomous ghost spiders, Zoran recalled a memory of losing from his childhood. Staying out late one night, a trio ghostly thugs beat up and mugged Zoran and his friends. The children escaped and ran to Zoran's house where his father was able to drive the ghosts off. Damn ghost gangs were out of control back then.
Notes
- Azarki once again sought to commune with Kogos, but without some sort of infrastructure or significant ritual, he was unsuccessful.
Report Date
13 Feb 2025
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