The Happenings of Birthil
The Beginning
Ryoshi, Bree, and Daytona were sent to the Silver Leaf Tavern in Bithril to meet with the High Priest from the Temple of Silvanus. The adventurers did not know each other previous to this meeting. Bree made friends with one of the serving maids by tipping her well and ordering drinks for seemingly random people. Ryoshi tried to be friendly with some of the other patrons, but mostly heard outlandish tales from a man named Toman, whom they eventually found out had failed his own ascension.
Before long, the High Priest arrived. He welcomed each new member by their name and the god they follow. Each adventurer has succeeded in a previous ascension, so have merit within the Calling of Entropy. He states that the ascension will happen a bit differently now, as the temples have been adjusting their ascensions after the death of Mrykul. Their first task is to prove they are devoted to their Calling and worthy to work for its goals. They are told of heretics along the Lake of Midnight in Mielikki's Forest. They blasphem against the name of the Nature gods and must be destroyed, as conversion is not permanent or guaranteed.
Without hesitation, the party heads out into Mielikki's Forest after inquiring around Bithril about the location of the Lake of Midnight. Some of the townspeople think it is a myth, others claim that the lake disappears randomly, sometimes even changing its location. It took two days, but the adventurers do find the lake, realizing they must come upon it near the time of midnight, else it be hidden from sight. Upon the banks, they find a gathering of lizardfolk and their shaman. The party kills every lizardfolk they find without anyone going down. Unknownst to the party, Seya had also been charged in fighting the lizardfolk and had drawn some away from the lake. She successfully killed most of the lizardfolk she'd drawn off, but one or two disappeared and Seya assumed they were killed by other adventurers when she returned to the lake and saw the corpses. However, those few that disappeared from her fight stumbled into the fires of Norkan, where they perished in heated deaths.
Aid to Bithril
After completing their task in Mielikki's Forest, the party returned to the Silver Leaf Tavern and discovered the Temple of Sylvanus had paid for their rooms and meals for the next few days, in service of their ascension. A priest met with them to congradulate them on their success with the heretics and notified them that they can request their next task as soon as they are rested, but that there is no rush if they would like to explore the town. In the tavern, the party hears news regarding troubles in Bithril, such as mysterious damage to the flower fields, horrible deaths in the ruins beneath Bithril, and the impending attack from Lord Serkay's armies.
The Flower Fields
The party speaks to both the beekeepers and the flower tenders to find out what is damaging the flower fields. From the tavern, they had heard that swaths of flower patches were just disappearing overnight and the beeds had become quite disturbed. The flower tenders, and even some of the town's guard, claim that the trees come to life in the night and leave Mielikki's Forest to peer at the flower fields. The guard had been dismissed as a drunkard, and the tenders as paranoid. The beekeepers claim something bursts from the ground and steals the flowers; none have anything to say against their claims.
The party camps overnight in the middle of the flower fields to understand what is happening. On the first night, they found furrows in the ground that hadn't been there previously and followed them. In the end, a large Ankheg burst forth from the ground, spraying poison about it. They successfully slayed it without much problem. Ryoshi chopped it into bits and carried around a pinser and the head. He left the head with the beekeepers as proof of the beast's descrution
At the insistence of the flower tenders, the party stayed in the fields for one more night. Towards midnight, a tree did appear, walking towards the flower patch. It had twinkling lights among its branches that turned out to be a variety of fairy dragons. Day spoke with the tree, and Ryoshi thought that it was the fairy dragons playing tricks on them, as Day had some passing knowledge of these dragons. Eventually, they realized that the fairy dragons were not the ones communicating, but the tree itself. His name was Gregory, and he liked to come out to the flower fields to smell the flowers. Because it was nighttime, it was difficult to smell them, so he would pull them out and bring them back to the forest to smell them in the daytime.
After speaking with Gregory, the party decided the best solution was not to kill the tree, as it was well-intentioned. Instead, they opted to negotiate with the town guard, even having Gregory come out during the daytime to reveal himself as real, and sentient. The town agreed to plant a flower field to the north where Gregory could access it without much travel. This way, he could smell the flowers in the daytime without killing them, and if he accidentally stepped on some, it would not harm the trade of Bithril, as it had earlier.
The Ruins of Bithril
Day, Bree, and Ryoshi heard a chilling story from a lone man in the Silver Leaf Tavern. He was one of the diggers for the recently discovered ruins underneath Bithril. It paid well, but came at a high cost. Ever since two months ago, crews were being attacked by monstrous horrors in the depths of the ruins, but the elites in the town did not take the matter seriously. It was common for lowly laborers to get hurt in their line of work. The man and five others had been in the lowest floor, digging further when he heard a cry. He had been the one at the door leading back up, and had panicked and fled. He dropped a torch at the entrance to the lower floor as a way to guide his crew out, if any survived to follow him. None did.
The party decided this would be well worth their attention, as ruins usually meant great treasure. Plus, if they could make it safe for the crews to resume work, the town of Bithril might pay them handsomly. After resting up from the flower field debactle, they headed down into the ruins. It took them days of wandering, searching for staircases in the myriad of hallways and chambers. There were some smaller beasts for them to contest with, like fire beetles, and some more unusual ones, like Duergar, but the party made it to the last floor. In the hallway, they heard an eerie, scratching tsk, tsk, tsk. Ryoshi led the way in his scale mail, failing at a stealth save. All at once, four of the monstrosities came crawling out of the far end, scaling the walls and ceiling in their pursuit. Through a haggard battle, the trio managed to slay the four hook horrors and claimed treasure for themselves in the last room. They did not spend long looting around, however, as just beyond the room, they found a massive pit that dropped into the underdark. The hookhorrors, Druergar, and who knows what else had been making their way up. The ruins were quickly shut down and buried once more after the discovery.
Lord Serkay's Attacks
Lord Serkay is a follower of Tempus and rival to Lord Marxin of Bithril. He wants to conquer the town as his own in retribution for Lord Marxin refuses to take sides in the war between factions in the Calling of Strife. He has been attempting to burn crop lands and making attacks on the town with small scouting parties. The attacks haven't been significant yet, but the townsfolk are getting concerned and the guards are getting anxious. They have reports that Serkay is gathering a larger army outside his estates. Additionally, the trade up river from Solar City has halted, and the captain of the guard believes this is also due to Lord Serkay.
After killing the Ankheg and hook horrors, the party speaks with the captain of the guards. This is mostly because they are concerned that if their ascension with the Temple of Sylvanus lasts much longer, they may get caught up in the fighting. They theorize it is better to become a thorn in Lord Serkay's side prior to a battle and weaken him sooner, if only slightly
The captain of the guard gives them two options. They can either go with the scouting parties at night to search out bands of Serkay's men and execute them, or they could stand guard over the crops. If the crops keep getting destroyed, it could become a matter of life or death for the townsfolk, especially with the river trade halted. Day is passionate about keeping the crops alive with enough force, it might deter further attacks.
The party is separated into different teams to spread their force across as many farms as possible. Each team faced threats related to and not related to Serkay's assault, but showed a greater force than Bithril has mustered before. If this was enough to deter futher assaults, they would not know.
Leave taking
Upon completion of their vigil for the farmers, the High Priest of Sylvanus speaks with the adventurers. He believes that their unrequested assistance for the town of Bithril shows that they are more than worthy to continue their ascension, especially since they spoke on Gregory's behalf instead of murdering him. With the priest's blessing, they head north to the Temple of Malar in Solar City. Additionally, with the approval of the High Priest, the party accepts a message from the captain of the Bithril guard to bring to the Temple of Tyr in Solar City. He adds that if the party sees what is halting the river trade and does something about it, he can almost guarantee a steep reward in Solar City.
The captain also sends Sir Paxton with the group as reinforcement. He is a Paladin of Tyr and knows the route to Bithril well. On the week long journey north, the party encounters a group of Serkay's men camped on the banks of the river. It looks like a well-established camp and the likely cause of the trade embargo. Bree snipes a scout that tried running back to the main army force while the others raid the campsite and kill all of the fighters. None are forthcoming with information, to the party's disappointment.
Further along the road, the party is attacked by a pair of manticore. They take cover in an alcove made by erosion in the hillside. While distracted by fighting the manticore, Norkan finds his way into the back of the party's wagon. He had been attacked earlier and accidentally set himself on fire, resulting in mild smoke poisoning. He is falls unconscious in the wagon and remains that way until their arrival to the Temple of Malar in Solar City.
Plot points/Scenes
- Protected the flower fields and other crops from the ravaging of Lord Serkay's armies
- Killed an Ankheg that is destroying the crops from underground
- Created a peace treaty between Gregory, the sentient tree who likes to sniff flowers, and the town of Bithril. The treaty included planting a flower field dedicated to Gregory to the north of the town, near Mielikki's Forest
- Killed hook horrors in the ruins beneath Bithril and discovered an opening to the underdark. (Bithril promptly buried the excavated ruins to the best of their ability.)
- Received a message from the Bithril Guard to deliver to the Temple of Tyr in Solar City
