Session 74: Adventures in the Shadowfell Report

General Summary

Session 74 – Wednesday March 20, 2024 – Adventures in the Shadowfell

5-hour social/combat session 5:30 PM to 10:30 PM

The Stone Bearers. Party of 5

It is the 9th day of the month of Hammer (Deepwinter) in the 51st year of the Age of Enialis (Early Jan)

• Abrash – Wood (Desert) Elf, L12 Druid – Jacob Munson (Absent)
• Ajani– High Elf, L12 Wizard – Nathan Gioconda
• Gazlowe – Goblin, L12 Artificer – Josh Pozsonyi
• Cassidy – Human, L12 Blood hunter – Ryan Armstrong (Remote)
• Isabella – Forest Gnome, L12 Barbarian – Jackie Armstrong
• Juan Peyote – Gnome L12 Paladin – Will Johnson

The Forest of Apparition

Fodoro handed over control of Mikey to Ajani and told him his basic command words. Ajani patted Mikey on the head and Mikey stayed close by him closely. The party discussed their options. They decided to try to go in peacefully. They saw the trees were going back-and-forth between an ethereal and a physical state. Juan encouraged the others by telling them that he ain't afraid of no ghost and that if they stick with him, they won't be afraid either.
The forest floor was covered with debris, and it too faded back-and-forth between physical and ethereal. The party tried to be quiet, but they were not. Isabella felt the situation was hopeless. How could they find a single seed in such a large and messy forest? Juan helped her and removed her depression.

The Wraiths

The party crept along into the creepy forest. After about an hour of trekking through the forest Ajani spotted a wraith watching them. Ajani called out to the race in a peaceful voice and asked, “We are looking for a seed. Have you seen a seed?” The wraith continued to stare at Mikey.
Ajani asked Mikey to hide. Mikey turned ethereal and went inside of Ajani's body. Ajani then noticed several more wraiths. The wraiths began speaking but nobody could understand them. Ajani cast comprehend languages and began to understand what the wraiths were saying. With Mikey gone, another wraith (on a Nightmare) approached the party. “It is most unusual for the living to speak with the dead”, he said.
The party explained that they are looking for the seed of a Sh’nall tree. The wraiths explained that the seed is most sacred to them, but… Ajani said, “Let me guess. You have another task for us.” The wraiths said, “We have a bear problem.” With excitement in their voices the party said, “We are the stone bearers! We kill bears with stones!” The wraiths offered to take them to the seed if they solved the bear problem.

Wraith Bears

The party spent some time amongst themselves debating killing the bears or killing the wraiths. However, because they were not very stealthy the bears spotted them, and combat was inevitable. The bears passed through the physical trees and with glowing red eyes they attacked the party. The first bear roar as it charged, incapacitating Gosha. Isabella unaffected by the scary roar raged and ran towards it, attacking it with the short sword attached to her tentacles. The second bear came in and slashed Isabella so hard that it reduced her maximum health by 17 points.
Juan charged in and started attacking the bears with his lance. He missed one attack but because of Isabella's ability to give him luck he was able to succeed. Cassidy charged in with her whips very excited to take on ghost bears. She landed a critical blow on one of the bears leaving it bloody. He then cursed the bear. Another of the bears roared and this time Gazlowe was frozen with fear.
Gosha shook off her fear. Anjani banished one of the bears. Bird struck the bear; Cassidy used her ability to remove the bear’s resistance to Bird’s damage allowing Bird to kill one of the bears. Juan cast spiritual weapon and continue to attack another bear. The others continued to fight except for Gazlowe who was still frozen with fear. Juan killed another bear. One of the bears hurt Cassidy badly and Cassidy laid into it leaving it badly bloody. Gosha finished it off with her Forget Me Stick.
Everyone gathered around the spot where the vanished bear would reappear. Just before Ajani dropped his concentration, Gazlowe broke free of fear that was paralyzing him. Everyone pummeled the last remaining wraith bear. Gazlowe was able finish it off with a punch. The party collected what little bits of bear they could and went back to the wraiths.

The Sh’nall seed.

The party showed the evidence of the dead wraith bears. The Wraiths lead the party to a small cave. Cautiously the party went into the cave and found a small chest. Gazlowe examined the chest and found that it was trapped. With amazing expertise, he removed a poison needle. He then picked the lock and opened the chest. Inside the chest they found an ornate egg-sized puzzle container. They also found an ornate scroll case. Gazlowe figured it out how to open the little egg sized container and in inside was a seed about the size of a cherry pit.
The party said goodbye to the wraiths. They found Fodoro waiting for them outside of the forest. They returned Mikey, explained what they had done, and thanked him for the loan. Fodoro was impressed and promised to tell all his friends about the Stone Bearers. Fodoro gave the party detailed instructions on where he lives in case, they ever need to find him again.
The Stone Bearers slowly walked towards Kortar. Along the way they had a lengthy discussion about what to do with the seed. They knew that the seed could provide them untold wealth by creating food that could feed large populations. However, they also knew that Abrash wanted to restore his home back to the forest that it used to be. Cassidy sneezed. Ajani left and Abrash was able to join in the discussion. Abrash insisted that they take the seed back to the wizards so he can learn how to help his home. The others relented.

The Sorcerers of Kortar.

The party felt tired, they knew it was late. They persevered and made it back to Kortar. They were greeted by the undead sorcerer Fatine who once again took them before the council of undead wizards and liches. The Stone Bearers told them in some detail how they retrieved the seed. Upon hearing that the stone bearers had chosen to use negotiation and communication with the wraiths, the council gave the seed back to Abrash saying, “You have proven yourself worthy.”
The high mage Hissup opened the Golden container in front of him. He took out a very ornate ceremonial dagger and handed it to Abrash. He said, “This dagger will be required for one of the many rituals. Do not lose the stagger for without the dagger, the ritual cannot be completed.” He told Abrash that he first needs to gain more experience and become proficient in the rituals. The high mage Hissup continued, “Without this dagger, the proper experience, the proper rituals, and the proper sacrifice, the forest will not grow.” He also presented to Abrash a massive tome large in size, small in print and about 1,000 pages.
Abrash asked about the sacrifice. Hissup explained, “it is a long process but the only way to turn your desert into the forest is to first establish fertile ground. It must be cherished by you and filled with a blood of someone you love. Once the first tree is established the fertile soil will expand, turning the desert into a lush land where any plant that does not bear fruit can grow. Sh’nall trees can be easily grown once the fertile soil is established.”

A rest

The Council invited the Stone Bears to spend the night in peace protected within the halls of their keep. The party agreed setup for a long rest. They spent some time debating the pros and cons of growing this tree. Gosha fashioned a sheath to protect the ritual dagger. Abrash wore the sheath around his neck. Gazlowe stole the golden container that held the dagger. The party went to sleep.
In the morning, Abrash was gone (Cassidy had sneezed during the night.) Gazlowe got up and created a new homunculus (Scuttley.) He also enchanted Juan’s splint mail with a +2. The party then discussed where to go to next. Gazlowe suggested going to locate the vampires and find out what happened to them. Cassidy had woken up with a feeling of dread, convinced that the place is going to kill her.
Isabella woke up with a splitting headache; she had had bad dreams due to the sword attached to her tentacle. Juan helped her out and removed the curse, which allowed her to remove the sword from her arm. After some conversation, Gazlowe convinced the party to go find the vampires.

The home of a dysfunctional Vampire family.

The party journey almost 2 days following the map that Fodoro had provided. Along the way they saw many hideous creatures, but by carefully following the path they avoided any serious conflict. They learned that many the creatures that they saw were once humanoids who became lost in the Shadowfell and overtime they became monstrosities. Eventually they came to a dark and creepy mansion on a hill surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The gate was mostly closed but not locked a simple push and it creaked open.
Cassidy protested going in concerned that they could lose more memories. Gazlowe insisted and they pressed forward. Gazlowe walked up to the massive door with huge brass knockers and knocked. The door opened and Gazlowe stuck out his arm pulled back his sleeve showing the black mark on his arm. The vampire who opened the door greeted them saying, “Welcome friend, and a good Sure’Phat to you. Enter and I will get the Marquees for you.”
The Stone Bearers entered the foyer. Cassidy muttering that she does not like the situation. They looked around and saw vampires, vampire spawn, and a few servants. Several of the vampires were bickering with each other. One female vampire stormed away from what appeared to be your brother saying, “You always do that. You're such a jerk!” The brother in response called her names.

The Marquess Kurtis von Glauer

They looked up the stairs and saw a distinguished looking Elven vampire wearing an elaborate outfit that included a puffy shirt and an ornate Cape with a fancy rapier attached to his side. The distinguished looking vampire gracefully walk down the stairs with a very subtle smile on his face. He approached the Stone Bearers and said “You made it back” with a hint of surprise in his voice. He re-introduced himself as the Marquee Kurtis von Glauer. He touched them and said, “Look into my eyes. Perhaps I can refresh your memories.” In a flash, everything came back…

Three days before…

The party finished collecting all the treasure from Ashyra and descended the stairs. At the bottom was a stone door. They opened the door and found a small stone room that was plain and empty. An odd shadow filled one corner. Gazlowe knew what needed to be done, so he walked into the shadow. The others followed and they found themselves inside a crypt in the Shadowfell where everything was drained of all color.
The party tried to follow the crudely drawn map drawn by Ashyra. Cassidy sneezed and Abrash and Ajani disappeared. The map floated to the ground and Cassidy picked it up. Cassidy attempted to lead the party but had difficulty reading the map and wandered off the trail. After meandering around for some time, they found themselves surrounded by creatures known as the sorrowsworn (former humanoids Lost in the Shadowfell that have become powerful monstrosities empowered by the dread of the plane.)

The Sorrowsworn

The twelve creatures came from all directions. Cassidy spotted which she believed to be the biggest threat and charged to it. She mistook the creature for an undead and was surprised when she didn't do as much damage as she thought she could. Even Isabella who was making solid hits was finding the creatures to be very beefy. Gazlowe was able to kill the five minions by casting Shatter.
If it were not for Vor’pat’s teleportation ability, he would have been killed. After four rounds of back and forth, the party had only killed two more of the creatures. Isabella and Vor’pat were down to about ¼ of their life and Cassidy was unconscious making death saves. The remaining 5 creatures were merely hurt. The situation was not looking good as the Sorrowsworn’s attacks were devastating. Even Juan’s use of Channel Divinity failed to frighten more than a couple of the creatures who were all able to shake it off quickly.

Saved by Vampires

The party was spread out and Cassidy was just able to regain consciousness. But the Sorrowsworn were devastating. A screech was heard as a bat landed on one of the Sorrowsworn and turned into a vampire. Five more vampires appeared and attacked the Sorrowsworn. A Young female vampire bit into the neck of one of the monstrosities and then spit it out yelling, “Ewww! This is disgusting!” One of the young male vampires said, “Shut up and do it anyway.” The girl responded, “You're a jerk! You shut up!”

Rewards Granted

Treasure found:

In the forest of apparition.

• A poison needle that does 10d10 poison damage.
• An ornate egg sized puzzle container (worth 100gp)
• A Single Sh’nall seed (about the size of a cherry pit.)
• An ornate scroll case (worth 100gp)
• Druidic Care and feeding instructions for a Sh’nall tree.
• 9th level scroll of foresight.
• The Gom Jabbar, a dagger of instant death (+10 to hit and kills any creature with 100 hp or less. Once killed with this dagger nothing less than a which spell can bring the creature back. The dagger is consumable and only has one use.) (worth 10 – 20,000 gp.)

Campaign

The Forest

Protagonists

Thomas Elliot

Abrash Asim

Chaotic Good Moon Wood Elf (Folk Hero)
Druid 1

9 / 9 HP

STR
7

DEX
10

CON
13

INT
8

WIS
19

CHA
14

Report Date

25 Mar 2024