Harmony Session 21: On the Fringes of Fire
General Summary
We return to The Suckhole Six as they journey through Ferrous Forest. The bold Azarki Kevin-Kevin, having finally taken control of navigation, stumbled upon a long stripe of downed ironwood trees stretching north and south. Recognizing the 30-year-old lumberjackery as the work of a Varduran Woodsman, the Six took a detour to investigate and headed north. Soon though, our heroes realized this unique environment deep in the thick of Ferrous Forest had drawn more than just them -- the very ground beneath Azarki rose up to bite him and a crop of chopped-wood golems woke up to attack.
The combat was tricky, but the Six prevailed and took the opportunity to camp. Dr. Malachai was quite taken with the area, finding the preliminary deforestation work a solid foundation for an eventual road. Gorr took issue with this, resistant to the cornman's perspective on the sanctity of the land. Where Malachai saw an opportunity to exploit, Gorr saw a wound to heal. So much shared experience, so much disparate context. What will end up happening with the development of Vardura? How will these eventual conflicts resolve? Standing there in this unlikely clearing with the detritus of centuries around them, these two still could do nothing more than hope... or fear. Like two vines of the same plant blooming into separate patches of sun. For now, that would have to do.
The Ashlands
Over the next three marches, Ferrous Forest began to recede. The air warmed and the sky darkened as the towering peak of the active smoking volcano that sat at the center of Vardura came into view. The Woodsman's path, whether its destination or origin, had led them into The Ashlands. Soon, the massive ironwoods that enclosed the Six within the path fell away to ash. Their trunks thinned and blackened, their blooms withered. Live flames seemed to sprout from the ends of their branches like burning flowers. The wide sky finally opened up but only to reveal a grim cloud cover of smoke and smog. Amid the flakes of ash that fell like snow, the Six realized they could not traverse this toxic land for long with what they currently carried. It could only get worse from here. As if to put a point on it, a small patch of blackened dirt exploded beneath Pilgrim's foot. The Faithwrought danced away from the sudden flames but stopped short when a chittering scream erupted from the nearby treeline. The Six froze as they realized they were surrounded by a scurry of very large, very fiery squirrels that had adapted to the unforgiving environment. And they were pissed. Malachai acted quickly and cast speak with animals, discerning that these larger-than-average tree rodents were not happy with their presence here. Pilgrim had stepped on one of their buried acorns and exploded it quite prematurely. Malachai convinced the squirrels to allow them to pass through, provided they took care to avoid the acorns, and the Six quite skillfully carved a path through the ember glider nest and further into the Ashlands.Answering the Call
After surviving the squirrels, the Suckhole Six had a moment of doubt. The Ashlands were sure to challenge them in ways for which they had not prepared. This trail they followed was now pulling them away from their primary objective and without discernable end. Their debate was cut short however when Enoch pulled a handheld device from his pack: The Woodsman's Call was ringing, signaling they were within 100 feet of Woodsman-like Varduran technology. The terrain blackened further as the path hardened to igneous rock and the leftover floes of solidifying lava. The flickering fires that dotted the landscape did little to light their way and less to illuminate the shifting clouds of soot that swirled around them. The Woodsman's Call reached its peak before a rock face about 30 feet tall. The firelight flitted along the jagged ridges and fell into a deep and uniform indentation. Before them stood the broken-rock silhouette of one of the massive Woodsman machines. It appeared as if the automaton had become stuck in the lava at some point, broke out after who knows how long, and then began to carve its path southward into Ferrous Forest. What fate the machine found likely lay all the way at the other end of its trail. But as the Call signaled, something had been left behind. Embedded in the black rock was a piece of machinery that had broken off of the Woodsman instead of joining its escape. Enoch and Malachai quickly leveraged their combined skills to attempt to excise the piece of equipment and get the hell out of here. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be as easy as they hoped.Death & Devotion
The Suckhole Six took up lookout positions around the excavation site. The process would take about an hour and none of them were looking forward to it. In the silence of the work, the wind whipped around them, scattering flurries of ash across the landscape. A strange and heavy quiet settled upon them and they each felt as if they were being watched. Gorr was the first to spot the suspiciously moving wisp of smoke and ash. The black fog swirled a little too deliberately through the air, even seeming to hang suspended for a moment atop a cleft of rock. In a blink, Gorr watched the wisp of ash change into a massive black bird. The creature perched atop a nearby rock and watched the Suckhole Six. Particularly Pilgrim. When the Faithwrought noticed, he raised a hesitant hand in a wave and the creature screamed a wicked response. About this same time, on the other side of the field, Zoran saw figures moving in the darkness. He stepped forward as the wind shifted the cloak of ash to reveal three humanoid figures shambling lazily towards him. Their faces were blackened and burnt, their eyes small burning coals. Flesh hung in ragged strips from their scorched bones and when they opened their mouths to scream, all Zoran could hear was the roar of the fire that burnt his life away in that lost time, in that lost place. Here, in the Ashlands, these poor creatures lashed out in a burning rage, their souls given over to the scorching hubris of their worship, and flung themselves at Zoran in a violent frenzy. All around the site, the Ashen attacked. They exploded from the darkness in a sudden rush of speed and flame. Three of the creatures sprinted right by Pilgrim, completely ignoring him for the archaeologists worrying at the cave wall. Thankfully, the resourceful Azarki was there with a powerful turn undead to help protect his compatriots. Unfortunately, this move revealed that destroying the Ashen made them explode. It also really pissed off the ash phoenix that had been otherwise content to watch. Eventually, the Suckhole Six were able to hold off the assault long enough for Enoch to excavate the item. Pilgrim made the highlight reel by majestically saving Azarki from the ash phoenix with a very cinematic fly spell. There was a moment after the phoenix's body was blasted into so many constituent parts that Pilgrim considered taking the egg it left behind. Imagining what might happen should such a creature hatch in the middle of Echwink's Landing, Pilgrim put the egg back down and made sure to tell no one it existed... especially the ever-curious Malachai.A Helping Hand
The Six quickly booked it south after the fight, not looking forward to waiting around for anything else to happen. Good thing too; when they looked back, they could easily see half a dozen more ash phoenixes arriving to the scene. Enoch studied the recovered device over the next short rest and determined it was a "Tertiary Sawblade Arm" of the Woodsman, deployed when precision lumberjack work was needed. Though this one had broken off the automaton, it still possessed some function. The Sernovian wizard convinced his friends to make camp for the day while he tooled with the gadget. Eventually, he came to Pilgrim and curiously asked to see his friend's arm. After a poke here and a prod there, Enoch surmised that, if Pilgrim were interested, he might be able to replace one of his arms with the tertiary sawblade arm. Eager to follow Enoch's curiosity himself, Pilgrim agreed, and the procedure commenced. It was done with ease. Pilgrim had no trouble using his new appendage -- nothing about it felt strange in the least. This ease was not only due to Enoch's expert skill though. Apparently, Enoch had accidentally uncovered a secret about Pilgrim's mysterious background unknown to anyone previously. Pilgrim's chassis wasn't just able to support the Varduran tech, but was straight-up compatible; Pilgrim was Varduran technology. Giving his new arm a little whirr Pilgrim couldn't help but grin, humming along in harmony with the sound.Rewards Granted
- A chainsaw arm for Pilgrim
Character(s) interacted with
- Angry squirrels
- The Ashen!
Created Content
- Azarki began the proactive approach of reaching out to Kogos by collecting materials suitable for a shrine. I hope he thinks about what questions he wants to ask before it actually works.
Report Date
27 Feb 2025
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Plots
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