Session Eighteen: The Journey of Flame

General Summary

-8 of solas -

Yarrow was the first to wake in the house. He got up and moved to the kitchen to start breakfast the only sounds in the house coming from the floor upstairs. Outside he could hear Bonda instructing the Tenders on their daily chores. As he finished up breakfast an earthquake shook the plants and furniture in the house. It wasn't anything severe but enough to be noticed. Cyrus woke to this shaking and moved to the kitchen with Yarrow.

Yarrow handed food to Cyrus and then moved to the window in the kitchen on the side of the house. Opening the window he shouted to some druids outside to see if they wanted food. Two druids clambered over to the window and began to ask Yarrow questions of the White Stag and the Calamities. Yarrow gave food to one of them and asked if the food wasn't good enough because they kept talking. Cyrus interjected and asked the young tenders what the earthquake was about. The tenders told Cyrus that the Scorched Grove sometimes flared and ember touched creatures would emerge from it. They used to go and deal with the creatures so they wouldn't get to the towns however without Gifu around they've been letting them go to focus on Ashbarrow and to protect themselves.

Cyrus woke up Alabaster and the three of them started to make their way out of town towards Aldous. Once outside many young Tenders approached Yarrow with questions on the front of their muzzles. Yarrow drew a line in the dirt using Mold Earth and told them they could not cross one of his lines. Bonda called to the young tenders and told them not to bother Tender Yarrow eliciting a stare from the Tola.

"I am not a Tender!"

Yarrow shouted back at the crowd as they made their way out of town. They did see one tender following however, Maneba, the Gallus they saved on their way into town. Stopping Alabaster turned to Maneba and asked what they were doing. Maneba said that they were coming with them. They wanted to see the Scorched Grove for themselves and that they didn't like how much the Elders were keeping from them. The group heartily agreed but told Maneba that they would need to take care of themselves.

The group made their way out of town and started to look for signs of Aldous. A shabby campsite could be seen from afar. It looked like Aldous was trying to be sneaky in his site location but failed miserably at it. Aldous saw the group and emerged from the shrubbery.

The Corvum asked if it was time to leave and the group agreed that they didn't want to stay another night in Ashbarrow. They decided that Yarrow and Alabaster would go back into town and talk with Tanca Whitedust the apothecary to get supplies for the journey. Aldous gave them money to buy more ink if she had it.

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Making their way back into town the young Tenders looked to Yarrow but did not approach. They were each busy doing different tasks and it seemed like they had been reprimanded for bothering the Tola so much. They made their way to the apothecary.

It was built into one of the larger trees and had a very wide and open font door. There was a line of healers handing things off to one another and a series of tables with alchemist supplies, potions, and supplies. Alabaster introduced them both and Tanca greeted them. She was a tall Raptor wearing fine clothes and had scrolls layered in her arms. She gave them 6 potions of fire resistance as well as some fire resistant scroll cases for research. Alabaster also purchased some healing potions from her as well as ink for Aldous. Yarrow, not having any money, traded her some of the potion recipes he had been working on as well as some cacti seeds in exchange for some vegetable seeds and materials to make another one of his potions that allowed him to speak with animals. Before they left she warned them to take care and said that they should speak with the Elders before they go. They waved at her and made their way out of town.

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Cyrus climbed a nearby tree and looked out across the Scorched Grove. Atop the tree the Vulpin could see the petrified forest, smoke billowing into the air. To the East he could see ember touched creatures running out from the Scorched Grove. Looking back he saw a huge bulge in the ashen land behind the creatures. The bulge moved at the creatures at a ludicrous pace making the creatures flee in greater desperation.
Alabaster and Yarrow returned and seeing Cyrus in a tree asked him what he saw. He told them of the situation and continued to watch the creatures fleeing. They looked like they were fleeing towards the woods and in the direction of   The main thing here is that the magistrate of Winnowing Reach believes that a" href="/w/mardlo-arias-nuactna/a/winnowing-reach-article">Winnowing Reach. Yarrow looked to Alabaster who rolled his eyes and started to cast Sending to Mint Fermata.

"There maybe fire touched creatures heading towards the wood, none of the Druids are leaving Ashbarrow prepare yourselves, 25 word responses is any."

"Crioth has used it. I'll let the magistrate know. Be careful. I'll also send note to Alderheart with an update. Keep Yarrow Safe. Thank you."

The group began to talk about what it could possibly be underground. Maneba informed them that some researchers came back talking of a giant ashen snake that decimated them and their party. It had no eyes and yet still seemed to understand their movements and was able to hunt them down. The group decided to try and circumvent the snake by heading North and treading lightly.

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The Scorched Grove was hot and dry. Huge petrified trees covered the grove and a foot of ash laid on the ground. The party had no trouble navigating even now. They had maps and knew of the location of the temple that they sought. They knew that the temple would be underground and the entrance might be hard to find as well. They kept sharp eyes and ears out for dangers. The fires churning in the distance and the sounds of creaking trees filled their ears.

After half a day of travel they spotted something. A few bodies in the ash on top of one another. They all wore tattered robes, two were picked clean of their meat and their bleached bones gleamed in the sun. The other was a statue, made of stone and missing an arm with a look of pain on its muzzle. Yarrow inspected the bodies with Aldous as they tried to figure out what could have caused this. Alabaster inspected the area and digging around found a large square stone in the ash. Alabaster blew away the ash and saw more stones making out some kind of foundation. There used to be a building here long ago. Yarrow looked at the statue and tried to decide on what to do. He tried to use Dispel Magic on it, the statue rippled as if the stone was turning back to flesh but it quickly resettled back into stone and solidified once more. As he was attempting to help the stone Mapach Aldous began to pull at the skeletons.

Yarrow confronted Aldous about what he was doing. Aldous had learned some necromancy from some of Odwald's notes and wanted to practice. Having undead in the grove would be beneficial to them and help their survival. Yarrow accosted him and strictly forbade this practice and using Mold Earth buried the skeletons beneath the ash.

As the party argued Cyrus put his ear to the wind. Hearing movement in the distance he climbed a tree and looked out. In the distance trying to advance while hiding behind trees were several large bipedal and monstrous beaked creatures. They had long powerful legs, a strong core, and beaks with razored edges. Cyrus motioned to the party that they needed to be ready for a fight.

The creatures were about 100 feet away from the party. Yarrow asked the party to restrain themselves and he would try to talk with them. He drank his potion of animal speech and stood out in the open. The creatures started to dash at Yarrow screeching. The Tola reached up his hand and told them that they meant no harm to them to which the group responded by screaming 'Food!'. Cyrus used his action to cast Slow on the charging birds and Alabaster readied his gauntlets and cast Lightning Bolt.

The birds started screaming, Yarrow's eyes focused in as the creatures all screamed 'Danger!' and focused their attacks on Alabaster. Yarrow pulled back and cast Ice Knife on one in the back. The ice missile exploded and the cold seemed to hurt the creatures more severely then the piercing. Maneba pulled back and cast Entangle catching a few in vines. One flew up and began to battle with Cyrus in the tree.

Alabaster was being attacked by four of them at once. Most of their attacks bounced off his armor but the few that did make it through began to burn. A fluid was pouring out of their beaks and into the wounds he suffered. He held his arm and ducked down beneath the large monstrosities and cast Shatter above him. Deafening him for a minute but hitting all the creatures surrounding him.

Cyrus fought the one in the tree making several attacks using Hatyārā's daggers. After making his attacks he gracefully pulled from combat with the creature and fell the rest of the way to the ground. As he hit the ground he used his reaction to cast his new spell from Kathon, Absorb Kinetics. He resisted some of the damage from the fall and an aura of energy surrounded him.

Aldous reached into his bag and pulled out The Bellows of Dissolving Mist. Expending all four charges he used the bellows to turn half of the tree's base into smoke. The tree instantly began to fall, the towering giant of petrified wood falling with alarming speed on top of Alabaster and the creatures. No one was expecting it and the creatures and Alabaster were all crushed beneath the massive weight of the tree. A huge plume of ash rose into the air creating a thick cloud in the area. Maneba quickly ran over and cast Cure Wounds on Alabaster trying to save him from death.

The creatures were all dead and Alabaster turned to Aldous. Alabaster, Cyrus, and Yarrow all yelled at Aldous for his actions. Aldous defended himself by citing the effectiveness of the tactic. Alabaster turned towards the creatures and readied his vials. He gathered a few vials of the creatures fluids from it's mouth while Cyrus and Yarrow continued to reprimand Aldous. As the group continued to feud the ash began to settle and the ground began to shake.

Report Date

12 May 2020