Session 6: Sentencing
Activity Log - Deadly Encounters with Fae
General Summary
The next morning after our capture of the stalker, we reorganized with the intent of completing Jammy’s request. Tea Kettle decides to take this opportunity to complete some of his personal projects, confident that the young gnome’s monster hunt will be straightforward and uneventful. That miscalculation could have been fatal for our small group as we later discovered. Jammy joins us on the trip, intent on avenging her adopted mother’s deceased daughter. We follow a caravan heading out of town on the way to Beldon. We are let off midday in the area Jammy has indicated her adopted mother has spoken of to her. We are pointed to a tavern called the Lonely Lantern nearby in the woods. It is a two story building and quite cozy. Walking in, we are greeted by patrons partaking in food and drink. We are immediately greeted by the proprietress, a woman named Scarlet. She carries around a cat, petting it incessantly. She brings food and drink and is very welcoming. She inquires to our business in the area. Deciding to ask Scarlet about any monsters in the area, particularly ones that have been active in the last couple years, she tells us of a “fire eater” creature that is attracted to flames and flammable material, devouring it like a cow would grass. It resides in a cave a couple miles away and has supposedly been responsible for a few attacks on travelers. It is an odd story; I’d never heard of such a creature before, even from mother, but we decided that it would make for a reasonable monster to dispatch to put Jammy at ease. Scarlet insists on guiding us to the cave, and begins to gather her things. We convince her otherwise, not wanting to be responsible for protecting this seemingly sweet old woman. We do however, rent a room for Jammy to stay in and watch our things, including, on Scarlet’s advice, all of our oil and torches, to keep the fire eater from coming after us. Jammy argues to come with us as she wants to prove her mettle, but the dangers of this creature are not something we wish to risk on her. Cojitron gently lets her know that she must let us handle it. Jammy reluctantly agrees, with Scarlet promising to watch this little “egg”. We leave the Lonely Lantern and travel to the location of the cave, per Scarlet’s instructions. We find it easily enough after half an hour or so. We find the outside of the cave littered with the bones of various animals as well as a few people. They are badly chewed up. My hair stands on end as Horick leads the way inside. Not too far in, we spot a group of very large, cockroach-like creatures moving around feasting on what appears to be old equipment. Not wanting to rouse their ire, we quietly maneuver past. With Cojitron firmly tied by rope to Horick to account for its lack of darkvision, it is able to guide HIM through these distasteful things. Further in, we begin to see light in the distance. Closing in on the area, we find a large circular chamber that has what appears to be several weapon shelves, a bed and other such amenities for a living space. We also spot several large cages near the back of the cave wall, as well as another entrance on the other side. We also see a large standing mirror, a table with a fine china tea set, bookshelves with many tomes, and other such niceties. It hardly looked like the abode of any “fire eater”. The area is well lit by a multitude of lanterns. Cojitron wanders off to inspect the weapons rack. It finds all manner of nasty implements all showing wear and bloodstain. One large sword, however, is well taken care of. Cojitron removes them from the racks. Horick looks around the room at random while I approach the cages. There are five total, one housing a large, winged lion monster and another equally sized creature curled up with the heads of a goat, dragon and lion with a snake for a tail. They are imposing beings, and dwarf the next cage containing a small, green humanoid with pointed teeth and sharp ears. It shook the bars while gibbering loudly. The next two cages had a small, halfling sized woman with red hair and a distinct hat, while the last had a forlorn, lovely woman with green hair wearing a dress fit for nobility. Remembering some of mother’s stories, I guess to myself that the first two beings were a manticore and a chimera respectively, dangerous Fae that should be gone from this world. It led me to believe the other three were no goblin, halfling and human. Before I had the chance to interact with any of them, Horick warns us that someone was making his way from the other entrance into the chamber. Its heavy footsteps become noticeable a moment later, and drawing his weapon, Horick warns that it is a troll. Cojitron moves from the weapon racks to get behind our stout friend. Seeing my concerned look, the manticore addresses me, demanding to be let free in exchange for his help. Naturally, his dubious proclamation has me skeptical, so I ask who he is and why he has been imprisoned. He, Panterus, responds that they were in trouble with “the Shadow Court”, and that one “can’t outrun the court”. He doesn’t elaborate on this mysterious explanation, but to help us with his troll captor if we let him loose, and that he would only attempt to kill and devour us afterwards. He further suggests that the other monstrous being would lie to us. The three headed chimera, specifically the goat head, rebukes him and claims he would never dream of eating us if only we freed them, vowing their support against the troll. The bargaining posture of both were highly dubious, but I had the impression that they would indeed be interested in escaping and would fight the one that imprisoned them to get away. The safety of my friends and anyone else unlucky enough to cross these creatures’s paths is another story. I turn my back on them, just in time to see the troll lumber in, surprised to find intruders in the cave. Towering over us, we see that he is holding a pet cat in one arm. Upon closer inspection, I realize that the cat is the same breed as the one Scarlet had at the Lonely Lantern. Dread filled my stomach, and I stepped into a shadow to keep out of his sight, hoping that Horick and Cojitron could keep it busy while I figured out if any of the captors could be trusted to help us without immediately turning on us or being a danger down the road. The troll, a brute named Gurd, remarks that he was going to imprison us, assuming we survived, and, letting go of his pet cat, turned to the weapon rack to retrieve his trusty sword. Cojitron’s earlier removal of the weapon was fortuitous, for it angrily was forced to attack with his claws and fists. A marginal step up, at least. Horick charges the monster, who standing to his full height was more than two and half again his size, he bellows that fire or acid would put paid to Gurd. Fortunately, though we had been duped into leaving our oil and torches behind, Cojitron could easily conjure blasts of flame, which singed Gurd and had him howling in pain. Horick took advantage and bashed great wounds that could not immediately be regenerated by the troll. I quickly moved on to the other cages, but finding the small, green gremlin difficult to even speak to, I turned to the two women in their cages. The shorter one, picking up her hat, refuses to give away anything regarding her capture other than to confirm Panterus’s story about this “court” having ordered their capture for some unknown deed. I finally coax her into giving me her name, Kaylin. She promises me gold if I release her, though not her help, and though I claim that gold did not interest me as I could make my own, she scoffs at this and counters by suggesting I could hardly create my own. I look to the taller, green-haired woman, hoping for a better response, and she lazily looks in my direction as if seeing me for the first time. She more readily gives her name, Faedre, and seems not only willing to give her aid in our battle, but would soon forget us and leave this place. Wishing to help my friends as quickly as possible and deciding her words were mostly genuine, I attempted to pick the lock to her cage. A flash of golden light emits from the lock, nearly blinding me. I shield my eyes, but my skin burns slightly as the trap is sprung. Fortunately, I avoided the brunt of it and opened the cage. Faedre steps out, and the glamor once covering her sheds to reveal her green hair to be a coil of living snakes. Yet another fae thought to be gone from Tairos, a medusa. What had we stepped into with this cave of alien beings, and what horror had happened to Jammy’s long deceased foster sister? Horick and Cojitron’s battle with Gurd was difficult, though they had held their own. Faedre steps into view of the melee, and her eyes flashed, a gray beam shooting from them and engulfing all three within it. I cried out in protest, but my mind was set to ease as Cojitron was able to withstand the glare and yank the rope connected to Horick to help him avoid Faedre’s attack. Gurd, having taken large injuries, was not so lucky and starting with one clawed hand, found himself turning to stone, until he stood a twelve foot tall statue. Satisfied with her work, Faedre left without so much as a fare thee well. I pray silently that we have not condemned any poor travelers to Gurd’s fate. For his part, I wept not for the troll. Horick went about taking a potion and taking a breather while Cojitron searched the cavern. I returned to Kaylin, and, seeing the jailer defeated, promised to give me something helpful in exchange for her own release. Horick walked over, eyeing her, wondering aloud whether we shouldn’t just kill them as they must be dangerous like Faedre was. He especially took umbrage at what he assumed was a goblin in the other cage, but Kaylin was more than willing to be gone from here without a fuss, so I agreed to her deal. Horick shrugged, amending his earlier suggestion as possibly being too hasty and that this Spriggan Kaylin, as he called her, was probably less troublesome than her immediate cage neighbors. I wondered if my companion’s recent ordeals have made him less reckless of late. I go through the painful process of dealing with the trapped lock once again, and freed, Kaylin walks over to the desk, rifles through it for her possession, and tosses me a glass vial that she claims is “mummy dust”, which would infect another soul with some kind of foul affliction. She then disappears as quickly as Faedre. Cojitron approaches us at this moment, before we could figure out what to do with the other three, and also wondering aloud how to finish Jammy’s quest if she couldn’t land a final blow on a monster as Gurd was stone now. It warns us that it sensed the standing mirror in the room activating some kind of magic, and, examining it, realized it was some sort of portal. We leave with all haste, in no mood to face whatever came through, and wanting to check on Jammy, as we worried that Scarlet, proven to be untrustworthy, might cause her harm. Skirting around the insectoid creatures, we leave the cave and run back to the Lonely Lantern. We are deeply dismayed to discover the building in a shambles and, entering the inn, discover it in disarray and seemingly long abandoned. Rotted food and empty tankards greeted us, and not a hint of any patron having been here earlier in the day existed. Cojitron, using the mana gauge Khunmaesh left us, detected traces of illusory magic and runes around the table and bar recently having been used, and we realize the situation to be more awful than we had guessed. Rushing to the room we had “rented”, we find it empty and Jammy missing, wisps of enchantment magic permeating the area. We head over to where Scarlet supposedly had her quarters, and break down the door. Inside, we find the same type of standing mirror as in the cave, and Cojitron warns that the magic portal it currently has active is connected to our previous location and would close soon. We follow through, knowing we had to recover Jammy. Back in the chamber within the cave, having completely reasoned out the scheme in the meantime and enraged at the number of travelers, children among them, Scarlet and Gurd must have taken and killed over the years in this corner of the woods, we prepare for a fight. We find Scarlet pacing around, looking at the cages and cursing at the sight of Gurd in his new statue form. But gone was the friendly old woman and in its place was her true form, a hag that rivaled Gurd in height. Seeing us, it thanked us for saving her the trouble of coming to get us, delighted we had returned so she could collect us for the trouble of being forced to grow a new troll. Her cat was with her; I found this detail strangely disturbing. We demanded Jammy be returned, and she only revealed that the “egg” would serve as a new host for her. She produced the gnome girl, and we saw that she had implanted something within her, seeing it glow through her torso. Killing Scarlet, if that were possible, could only make her soul inhabit the poor child. Horick hefted his weapon and prepared for a vicious fight, but I held him back, approaching cautiously and offering a bargain in exchange for Jammy’s safe return and freedom. Scarlet claimed to love deals, and offered to do just that in exchange for an eye from each of us. An absurd deal, given even my small knowledge of body parts being used in dark magics. I pretended to consider this, and, within range, I swiftly through the vial of mummy dust into her face, the glass shattering and covering her with it. I silently thanked Kaylin as the dust did the trick even as I could see Scarlet’s shocked face fighting through the first wave of wracking illness. Whooping his appreciation, Horick charged in, yelling a battle cry and sinking his maul deep into the rubbery flesh of the hag. Cojitron stood back and sprayed fire into our ugly foe. Panterus and the chimera offered to help us if we released them, though seeing our desperation demanded parts of us as well. These creatures sickened me, and I reject their offer, preferring to take or chances. Scarlet regains some composure through her heavy coughs and produces a pair of scissors, first attempting to snip the shadow from my body and, when that proved unsuccessful, at Horick instead. Horick turned pale as his shadow came loose and began terrorizing us. Cojitron fortunately managed to stave off the shadow with its magical attacks, while I flanked Scarlet and sank my enchanted daggers into her side. Just as she cleared her throat of the mummy dust, Horick smashed his maul into her skull with a mighty blow, knocking her senseless. She had managed to swipe her cursed scissors in retaliation, but did not injure Horick nearly as badly. Sensing the tide being on our side, we finished her with several well placed attacks. Scarlet fell to the ground defeated, her reign of terror ended. Kaylin’s strange dust proved to be the advantage we needed against this dangerous enemy. We force Jammy to expel whatever she had been made to swallow, and after waking up, painfully did so, vomiting out some strange egg-like orb. I crush it underfoot. We explain what happened to Jammy, and looking over at the defeated hag, wished to put the finishing blow on her herself. Cojitron encouraged her, handing over her sharpened butter knife that she held for the girl, but I reminded her that her foster mother cared about her as her own no matter what vengeance she took, and that violence to prove one’s true worth was no way to live a life. I hope she took that seriously, but I did not begrudge her the opportunity to slay this vile monster regardless. Stabbing and drawing the knife across Scarlet’s throat to spill her ichor, the job was done and Jammy for her part looked relieved rather than relishing the act. Looking to the cages before us, we contemplated what to do with the monstrous duo. They still attempted to bargain for their lives, but it was clear that they would hunt travelers and other such innocents as prey; these were no mere animals, they were cunning and bloodthirsty. The way they looked at us made me ill. I quickly doused their cages in oil (that we retrieved from the Lonely Lantern) and lit their cages on fire. Their screams bothered me; I attempted to tune it out as a necessary if cold blooded killing. Seeing this, the gremlin, for that is what Cojitron figured out the goblin looking thing was, began begging for its life, claiming that it was an engineer that was heaven sent named Nasher. He could improve Cojitron, give it weapons to make it more deadly. Just about every promise was to arm my friend in some way to make it more dangerous. Something made me very wary about the kind of engineering it must do. Horick was surprisingly torn at cold blooded killing when it came to this thing, but in the end, agreed that it could hardly be left to roam free, even as we knew not at all what trouble Faedre could bring in the future. I put in arrow into Nasher’s head quickly and ended it there. Much of this seemingly simple mission turned fight for survival made me more concerned than even the fish plant mission. How many could claim to have encountered such dangerous and rare fae and claimed to live? What was this court and why was it capturing these particular creatures? I saw fighting as an unfortunate necessity but I had an even greater distaste for execution. But what could one do when faced with these unapologetic villains? My thoughts went to Imme; what would she say? It never really occurred to me, but now we’re forced to confront this reality beyond the realm of just story. Jammy is immensely grateful to Cojitron and pays the 17 gp for the job, insisting we take it. We decide on half, if she is willing to return to her adoptive mother. She agrees, and we bring her safely back. We were also ready to meet back with Tea Kettle to inform him that no job could be underestimated in the future. By my insistence, we next decide to go to the library and also to visit Hencil Spash to ask about the lockboxes. My concern was lately growing to a fever pitch with how dangerous things have been since we took the place of Uncle Dayne’s Blackhearts, and I wished to know what might be around the corner. I didn’t look to be an adventurer full time, and had barely the stomach for the work no matter how well paying, but we had foolishing gotten in too deep and now must learn as much as we could to be ready in the future. Our close call with Scarlet was an alarm not to be so careless in the future. The End for now, ~Bayour S.
Rewards Granted
- 17 gp from Jammy for serving justice for her adopted mother's murdered daughter
- Several magical items from the cavern of Scarlet the hag
- Jammy returning to her adopted mother
Missions/Quests Completed
- Jammy's personal request completed
- A dire threat to all travelers on the road to Beldon cleared out
Character(s) interacted with
- Jammy, a gnome girl and Throat Wolf
- Scarlet, a hag disguised as an innkeeper preying on travelers, particularly children
- Gurd, troll jailer for Scarlet
- A chimera, manticore, gremlin named Nasher, medusa named Faedre and spriggan named Kaylin, prisoners of Scarlet at the Shadow Court's behest
Related Reports
Notes
- How much fae activity is there in Tairos? How much of it is dangerous? They were thought to be largely gone, and though I know the one I hope to connect with is one herself, I never considered the ramifications of the actions of the more malevolent members of their kind. They were more than just stories, as we have found out. This was potentially are most dangerous job, and it wasn't even officially one done under official capacity
- I am grateful to my own mother for her experience and travels; some of it has been burned into memory and has helped immensely in my survival, beyond just being stories from her to me. Jammy's desire to belong is one I deeply understand.
