Session 7 - The Aurora Shard

General Summary

After scouting out the goblin fortress where the gears were being delivered, the party heads back from where they came. The sun begins to set as they travel, and Andromeda begins to feel an odd sensation. A pulling at her mind comes, coaxing her into the eastern forest. She brushes it off for now, but the temptation lingers. As they find a spot to set up camp, Andromeda begins to wander towards the east. The rest of the group catches her, and decide they should accompany her in discovering what calls to her. To contain Dennis the Goblin, they put him into a crate and suspend him from a tree. After a brief walk into the deepest parts of the forest, they find a large pile of sticks.
As Rex and Andromeda approach the pile, the sticks begin to unweave and form into human-shaped creatures. They stand to the sides of the small cabin they had concealed. Andromeda inspects the inside as the others stay back. The cabin is long abandoned, and the insides look untouched for hundreds of years. In the center of the room is a skeletal figure, draped in a dark green cloak. In its lap there is a small parcel wrapped in parchment and twine. Andromeda grabs the package and is immediately overcome by it's magical effects. She falls unconscious, and the rest of the party rushes to grab her. Rex picks her up and takes her to the tree creatures for help, but the tree creatures seem to just fall apart. One by one they fall away into small piles of sticks. They decide it's best to take Andromeda away, and bring her back to where they set up camp. 
Arriving back at camp, Andromeda begins to stir. She now holds in her hand an item that was believed by most to not exist. Amos identifies it as one of the Aurora Shards, a piece of an ancient magical object. It's an object of myth, that contains powerful magic that channels the essence of The Forces themselves. This piece seems to be the Aurora Shard of Nature and Light. Andromeda describes the vision she had to the party, that the Shard was given to her by another Druid, who's group had kept it hidden. She saw knights of the Brightburn Empire chasing this Druid and her praying to protect the shard from their greed before encapsulating herself within the cabin. She then handed the shard to Andromeda, telling her that the Shard had chosen her. 
This is when Andromeda awake, now holding the shard and feeling it's power. After some discussion, the party discovers that Dennis the goblin has escaped from the rigged crate. They feverishly follow his tracks into the forest, finding him fallen on the ground desperately trying to escape. Darius casts his eldritch blast, throwing the little goblin into a tree, snapping his spine, and ending his life. They rejoin the group and discuss their plans to move forward, now in the possession of such a powerful item. They decide that making their way as far from the Great Forest as possible is their primary objective. Going to the Capital to speak with Governor Adrian Griswold, assuring military enforcements are sent to Hudson's Crossing, and speaking with the wizards in Stonebrook are all on the table as well. 
They spend the night where they had first set up camp, and have a peaceful nights rest. The next day they set off for St. Davy, and walk through the night to get there. Before they leave, Darius and Rex have a brief discussion about their collaboration, and swap secrets to build trust between them. The party walks through the night to get back to St. Davy, arriving back at around 2am. They are briefly awoken in the morning by the Sheriff as well as his husband Dr. Pippins, as they exit the inn they had camped out in. They decided to best protect Andromeda and the Shard, to sleep in the main room. After getting up, a few of them met with the Sheriff to discuss their completed mission. He thanked them and paid them for their work, and informed them that they would be needing to speak with the Governor in regards to this mission. Despite facilitating their work so far, it was getting beyond him, as they were now involved with state and continent level issues. The party regrouped and split their rewards, preparing to travel into the Capital of New Hudson. (and reached level 3!)

Report Date

03 May 2021

Primary Location

Great Forest

Secondary Location

St. Davy