Session 18: The Monster Mash

Monday, April 26th, 2021 @6:20pm- EST

General Summary

summary
H1
As the majority of the party awakens, teleported to a mysterious clearing in the woods Emyr, Duul, Lavug, Slab, and Vex are greeted by a frantic Ghozun, who immediately proceeds to try to further awaken his brother. Catching each other up in the briefest of senses, though Cyrus and Eldin remain asleep. While the party is speaking, more owls gather around, looking at the party collectively, and as they begin to draw everyone's notice, they direct their attention to a path spreading out in the trees. Seeing what he can notice, all Duul is specifically able to pick up is that these owls are just regular owls, and the forest itself is somehow magical in nature. Trying to at least offer them some measure of protection, they offer to cover the sleeping bodies in brush and trees, though this idea is quickly rejected as the barbarians each pack one of the forms onto their backs and proceed.
[Ghozun Feywild quote]
The further down the path the party goes, the thicker the forest gets, and the more owls they are able to see. Eventually, they reach a point where they can go no further forward, encountering a hooded figure surrounded by a parliament of owls. With each of the winged creatures having their full attention on the party, they take a moment to try to figure out what they might know about the woman. Lavug and Vex know of rumors of an owl-cloaked figure healing wayward travelers in the Feywilds, but these such things seemed like little more than just rumors and tales in mythos. Duul addresses her directly, and she states that she is the one that brought them here, referring to the opponent that slipped away from Duul, Emyr, and Vex previously. The Champion in question is aiming to kill goddesses in this realm; upon Emyr's inquiry of whether the target is the Wood Elf deity, Nostra, she concedes, though the woman remains cryptic. She does, however, suggest that the Champion is likely trying to take out gods to pave the way for his own, and likely will be eventually targeting Zumna herself. She offers to guide them with her owls, who operate as her eyes and ears. While she is unable to help them, physically, in person, she does offer them a reward for their troubles, stating that she is a well known healer. When their job is complete, she instructs them to simply tell any owl that they see that they would like to speak with Sova and she will be there. In the blink of an eye, the owls and woman disappear, revealing more woods in their path instead. 

Following after the owl, the wilds slowly corrupt and morph around them, and while Emyr feels a familiar sensation, Vex is entirely new to the "spidey-sense"* tingling sensation that reverberates to the pair of them. The owl, at this point, stops at one of the nearby branches, seeming reluctant to proceed further. Upon Duul's inquiry, the owl confirms that it will go no further, leaving the party on their own for the remainder of their quest. Using a Speak with Animals usage, Emyr questions if there's anything that the party or Sova can do to stop the spread of this corruption, finding out that she does have a plan to deal with things once the source has been eliminated. Upon Ghozun's attempt at speaking to the trees, the entire forest begins to creak and groan, speaking in tongues none of them seem capable of recognizing. Amidst this, Lavug is entangled by a corrupted root that drags him towards it, aiming to bite down on the hobgoblin and causing him significant damage in the process. Combat begins.
[until 2:10]
After facing some heavy damage, the party proceeds far more cautiously, reaching a strangely serene clearing further down the path. 
[combat]
To be continued, next week in The Sunken Realms!

Report Date

26 Apr 2021