Session 10 - Mission Accomplished
General Summary
25 Planting, 498TA
Gathering the next morning the party had breakfast and discussed their upcoming meeting with Watcher Gelestro. Deciding that there wasn’t anything much to do beforehand, the group made their way up to the Keep. Presenting themselves as the door, the party is led directly to the Watcher’s office.Standing in front of his desk is Watcher Gelestro, a tall, broadly built human with mostly red hair, a few streaks of white are quite prominent. Turning to greet the party he said, “Well, I’m glad to see that you are all alive and looking well. Can I take that to mean that you were successful?”
Most of the party members made vague noises of agreement, but Jilken responded, “Reasonably successful, I guess you could say.”
Gelestro smiled at this, “Well reasonably successful is about all one can really hope for. Come, sit and tell me what happened.”
Taking chairs, Gelestro handed each party member a sack of coins as Denye rolled out the story for him, highlighting the Gulthias Tree and the threat of the blights. The Watcher was quite concerned to hear about this evil tree and promised to ask the Wayfinder Minorus to look into the threat. He also promised that once they acquired the information, he would send squads out to deal with the cursed blights.
“You have all done very well,” said Gelestro. “I’m very happy to that you were able to broker a solution for the kobolds and goblins. As long as they are not attacking our people, I see no reason for them not to live there in peace.”
Turning to his desk, the large human picked up a piece of paper, scanned it, and then looked up again at the group. “Things in the north are definitely progressing. The warbands have started gathering at Glorhilka. My scouts are reporting goliaths, trolls, and even some bands of humans. If you are willing, I would like to ask you to take a letter to Queen Alara down in Haven.”
When the party agrees, the Watcher sighs and tugs on his beard for a moment, “ I’m afraid I am going to have to call on her militias if we are to stop this threat. But I want to make sure you carry the most up-to-date information. I expect to have more scouting reports in a day or two.”
Walking around behind the desk, Watcher Gelestro opened a drawer and pulled some out. Stepping back to the party, he handed each person a small copper token with the arms of Wexwood (a long sword over a split waterfall) stamped on one side. “Give these to the innkeeper at whichever inn you are staying at. The least I can do is cover your rooms while you wait.”
After a few more pleasantries the party left the office and began making their way back to the front. As they were walking Denye mentioned that she would like to find this Wayfinder and see what information she had directly.
Hearing this the young page spoke up, “Aye sirra, if it’s the Wayfinder you be looking for, they are here in the Keep. Would you like me to take you to the Archive?” At the word Archive, Denye’s eyes started to pin and quickly agreeing, the team retraced their steps, this time leading even deeper into the mountain.
The Archive itself is a large room, 80x100ft, with 18ft high vaulted ceilings. The ceiling itself is covered in a mosaic representing the night sky, stars sparkling in the heavens. A number of ranks of bookshelves fill the room and a half dozen desks line the center. A large map of Ellebore hangs on the far wall, and there are a number of doorways leading off in various directions.
As they entered, a tall, middle aged, elven woman who had been reading at one of the desks stood and began making her way over to the party. She was clearly a southern elf, with chocolate brown skin and ash white hair that was braided in two long braids and then coiled into a bun.
She wore a buff colored silk shirt with a long red velvet skirt. Around her neck she had a small eye shaped pendant with a diamond at the center and a gold ring on her finger with a curious twist.
Nearing the party, she began to speak but trailed off when she saw Jilken. She seemed taken aback for a moment, but then stepped directly in front of the Aiel elf and moved her hands in a complex ritual bow before saying in perfect Aiel, “A blessing on your water warrior, and peace upon your seitch.”
Jilken seemed surprised, but quickly responded with her own bow and response, “May you always find water and shade.” Looking confused, she went on, “How is it you know the ways of my people?”
The Wayfinder smiled sadly, “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Shalana Emorin, Head Minorus of the Wayfinders and keeper of the Archive. My mother was an Aiel elf, from seitch Calmus in fact, but my father was Bur’an. I spent the first part of my life as an outcast living on the edge of the seitch, but left when I was 16. Since then I have traveled far and seen much.”
Jilken nodded, “Sometimes simply leaving is the best option.”
“Absolutely….and sometimes you have to take your power for yourself,” agreed Shalana. Turning to look over the rest of the group she went on, “Now, I can’t imagine my life story is what brought you to the Archive. What is it that you are looking for?”
“Research,” quipped Denye, “In particular, what do you know of Gulthias trees?”
“Hmm, let me think for a moment. Yes, I have heard of these before, but they were all thought to have been destroyed long ago. I will have to pull the correct books to get you the complete information, but from what I remember there were over 100 of those trees scattered throughout Ellebore. According to one of the sources I recall, the origin of the trees was traced to a coven of vampires just before the War of the Undead. So much of the records of that era have been lost it’s hard to say for sure. But what we do know is that they were all destroyed, with the last one having been destroyed around 200 SA.”
Denye cawed, “I wouldn’t be too sure of that, we just got done dealing with one on the other side of the pass. And we learned of two more, one to the south and the other north and east.”
At this Shalana’s mouth dropped open, “You destroyed a Gulthias Tree? You simply must tell me the whole tale. We only have one or two first hand accounts. Your contributions would be invaluable.” Leading the group over to a table with paper and a small inkwell, the Wayfinder sat down and began scribing as once again, Denye pulled out her notebook and went through the tale of their adventures in the Sunless Citadel. She is quite impressed by Denye’s charts and drawings.
As they finished Janora asked, “Do you know anything about the connection between these Trees and twisted plant monsters of dry wood. They seem to consume blood.”
The elf nodded, “There have been reports of these things before. They seem to come in a variety of forms. From what I can remember the twig blights are the easiest to deal with.”
Janora offered a sample, one of the pieces of twig blights they had collected after the first battle. Shalana took it and set it down on a silver plate on one of the other desks. Turning to the group she said, “I can get you some more exact information, but it will take me a day or two to gather the information. I don’t have Dor’s memory.”
“Who’s Dor?” asked Ell.
The elf smiled, “Dor is the Keeper of the Library in Haven. She has a wonderful talent for remembering everything she’s read. She would know exactly which books to grab, but I shall use the catalogue.”
When told that the party would be in town a few days before taking a mission to Haven she nodded, “Well if you are going to Haven, stop at the Wayfinder’s Collegium and speak to Wayfinder Majorus Matebera Brightfinger. Between Dor and the Head Majorus they should be able to answer all of your questions.”
Jilken asked, “Is there any custom or gift that we should bring to gain access to this Library?”
The Wayfinder laughed, “No no, access is free. And the only custom you must remember is the one that applies to all Wayfinders.” Seeing looks of confusion on several faces she continued, “We will answer any question honestly and share any information we have. In exchange, if one of us asks you a question you must answer honestly as well. If a Wayfinder believes or discovers that they have been lied to, that person is placed under the Ban and no Wayfinder will ever answer their questions again.”
After various agreements from the party, Shalana returned to the requested report, “If you’ve been to see Watcher Gelestro and told him this story he will be asking me for this information as well so I shall surprise him and have a report ready to go. If you like I can give him your copy as well.”
Agreeing that this sounded reasonable, the party made ready to leave. Janora pulled the Wayfinder to ask about another matter and Shalana promised that she would look into it for the half-elven witch.
As the party made their way out and back to the town proper, they discussed the various routes to Haven. The main trade road was right out….it would be 16 days or more as the road wandered through the Trroaine Timberland. That left either going overland to Port Frost and taking a boat down the Brisshall or an overland ride through the wild hills. Both routes would take a little less than a week.
Jilken expressed some concern over taking the river route. That much water was hard to accept without a little panic. Denye also seemed less that thrilled about the idea of a boat ride. Deciding that they would wait to find out if Gelestro had any kind of timeline and ask his advice before committing to a plan.
As the party came to the bottom of the stairs, Denye noticed that there were several new job postings. Stopping to examine them, they found an offer for a beast hunt, an escort mission, and a mission to clear some rats out of the sewers. Jilken expressed interest in possibly taking the hunting job and the others agreed that it sounded like a good use of time.
Before leaving however, Ell suggested that they explore the town a bit more and restock some supplies. Finding their way over to the Rainy Boulder, the party met the shopkeeper, Mirwu Tabblen. An older gnome woman with a face like a shrunken apple, but a cheerful grin. Her robes were once black, but have greyed considerably and aren’t helped by various stains that patchwork the front and sleeves.
The shop itself was a low, slightly damp room. The shelves and tables were piled with a variety of mushrooms, some dried, others clearly growing in a bowl of soil. She showed the party several different specimens and everyone found something to purchase.
Jilken mentioned that they would be traveling south for a bit and asked if there was anything they could be on the lookout for...anything that old gnome hadn’t been able to collect recently. As it happened, she did...there is a specific type of flower called Maiden's Blood. It has small star shaped blossoms with deep red petals with white at the center, and is often found growing around the base of conifers.
Agreeing to keep an eye out, the party left the shop and made their way back out into the streets. The four members decided to split up and meet back at the Restless Raven for lunch. Ell went off and stocked back up on his material components while Janora just headed back to the inn to play with their new pouches.
Jilken started heading back towards the inn, but got distracted while passing Alexi’s Axes. The young hertasi apprentice was just hanging a silvered war pick on a display board. Stopping, the Aiel elf asked if she could see this fine weapon. One end of the head was an 8” long triangular spike, serrated across the top edge, while the other was a 6” square hammer head. The handle was a dark greyish wood, carved with wave patterns along its length. Without much hesitation, Jilken set to bargaining, and walked out of the blacksmith shop with the hammer as well as a couple of packs of fire and ice crossbow bolts.
Denye meanwhile had wandered off to a quiet spot inside the walls where she could be close to the Forest beyond. Taking some time, she began laying out a ritual to find a familiar. The casting took some time and as Denye finished she waited silently to see if anything would respond. For a moment or two nothing happened, but then suddenly a small green and brown lizard with iridescent wings came flying in over the wall and landed on the ground in front of the young Corva.
It was truly a beautiful dragonnet, with green and brown mottled skin. When it landed and folded its wings down, they collapsed and almost seemed to disappear into the dragonnet’s scales. Enchanted, Denye reached out a talon and scratched the lizard behind the head. The tiny beast trilled and rubbed it’s head against her talon. Amazingly, as the lizard sat on the ground, it’s skin began darkening to dirt browns. Eventually the young wizard was able to coax the small lizard up onto her arm, where she cooed over it, “Such pretty wings, I shall call you Helyenwe.”
Eventually settling the dragonnet around her neck, Denye made her way back to the Restless Raven, where she found the others enjoying lunch. After showing off her new friend and placing her own order, the party began discussing plans for this beast hunt.
In the end, the team decided to set out today and made their way over to the job board and the scribe posted there to get more information and register their intent. After speaking with the scribe, an older portly human man with red cheeks, the group learned that it was some kind of large beast attacking farms a days ride south. So far it mostly seems to go for animals, but the Woodguard would prefer it was dealt with before it started attacking people. Strangely though it doesn’t seem to leave much sign and no one has been able to track it. The scribe suggested speaking with Grimald Leafwalker, a gnome farmer who has been a victim of these attacks.
Before leaving town the adventurers stopped at the Shoe and Grain. After all the trouble with the dyrall yesterday, the party asked Connack if he had any other horses to rent. Hesitant, but still willing to trust the group, Connack brought them some mounts. These were not the special Shin’a’in horses, but they seemed to be good horses nonetheless.
Following the scribe’s directions, the party set off down the road and turned off on a smaller track that led south. Around dusk, they found a nice campsite near a small stream.
Making camp for the night was short work and everyone soon found themselves around the fire, dinner in hand. Before going to bed, Denye set an Alarm spell around the campsite. “I’d really rather have some warning if more of those bandits show up.”
Most of the night passed peacefully, but just before dawn the alarm spell was triggered by a gnoll rushing in as a second one dropped out of the trees. Because the spell was set to alert everyone, the party lept from their bedrolls and were able to quickly dispatch one and send the other fleeing off into the night. Jilken wanted to give chase, but Denye convinced her to let the wounded monster go.
26 Planting, 498TA
Getting a later start than usual, due to the fight, the party found their way to the Leafwalker farm a little before midday. They were met by Grimald Leafwalker, a round little gnome farmer with short black hair and a bushy beard.He was quite happy to see that the city had finally sent someone out to deal with the threat. Janora asked him to describe what has been been happening, but the poor gnome said that he had not actually seen anything. Something has been stealing the cows and other than a few scuffle marks there were no other tracks.
Grimald also shared that he thought he had caught a glimpse of it the other night, a large dark shape out in the field, but before he could get closer to see what it was, the monster jumped into the air and flew off on large dark wings towards the west.
Taking the party out to the field where the shape had been, the gnome farmer pointed out the claw marks on the ground as well as the blood from the injured cow. Looking at the tracks that were left behind, as well the farmers description, Denye posited that this was likely something in the size of a gryphon, manticore, or sphinx.
Grimald was also able to recall that there was a cave in that direction and suggested the party start by investigating that. Deciding that was as good a plan as any, the party headed off into the sparse forest. After an hour or two of travel, following the gnome’s directions, the party found the entrance to the cave, set into the side of a hill. Jilken stealthed in first to scout it out, but found the cave was quiet and empty. Motioning everyone inside, Jilken and Janora started moving ahead while Ell and Denye moved the horses into the cave entrance. Denye also set an alarm spell across the cave mouth, so that the party wouldn’t be surprised by anything coming in after them.
When Ell and Denye caught up, Janora reported, “The cave splits ahead. I don’t hear anything down here so I’m pretty sure we’re safe. I’m getting the scent of rotting flesh and decay down the left tunnel. I’m also getting something musky and spicy from the right hand tunnel, but the rot is overpowering it.”
Deciding to deal with the left-hand tunnel first, Janora led the way. They found that the tunnel opened up in a 30ft round chamber. There were several cow corpses in various states of decay, all with limbs torn and great slashes and chunks of flesh missing.
There are several other animal carcasses thrown around the room, as well as two humanoid bodies. One looked to be a young human man, dressed in farmers clothes. It was hard to be exactly certain as the head was completely missing. The other person looked to be a tinker or trader of some kind. He appeared to have only died a day or two ago.
Denye spent a few moments, sketching his face, in the hopes that they would be able to identify him later. Ell, meanwhile, went through the pockets of the bodies and found a set of tinkers tools, several pots and pans, half dozen packages of dye, and a few small rabbit furs. He also found 52gp, 80sp, 3 Flitwig Francs (strange green pieces of paper with the smiling gnome printed on them).
Bundling all of that into a pack to sort out later, the group moved up to the right-hand cave. This too proved to be a roughly 40ft circular chamber, but in an alcove at the back there was a large nest. Made of branches of evergreens and filled with long grasses, this 15ft nest is almost as high as Denye’s head.
Moving over to instigate they found one large brown and gold speckled egg. There were also a number of egg shards, suggesting that there had been at least one or two more eggs that had already hatched. Seeing the eggs, Denye confirmed her suspicions that this was a manticore they were stalking.
As the party were just beginning to discuss what this meant…and where the two hatchlings could be, Denye’s alarm spell triggered. The raucous cawing of the alarm was drowned out a moment later by a deep feline roar. Rushing towards the entrance to the cave, the party found Momma manticore in the entrance where she had the neck of one of the horses in her mouth, having just downed the beast.
