Session 9 - Road to Wexwood
General Summary
22 Planting, 498TA
Deciding to speak to the gnome priestess once more time, the party made their way over to the Shrine. Drawing near they saw Dem and Erky sitting out on a bench in front of her small cottage laughing over some joke.The small woman looked up and smiled, “I’m glad to see you all made it back in good health. Erky here, has been telling me some of what you faced in that place. I’m very glad you were able to work out those deals.”
“As am I,” said Denye stepping forward, “Did Erky tell you about the tree that we found...that had possessed Sharwyn?”
“Yes, he mentioned it, but not much beyond it being an evil thing,” replied Dem.
Her eyes pinning in excitement (and a touch of terror) Denye shared all that the team had learned about the Gulthias Tree, it’s connection to the magic fruit and the blights, and Sharwyn’s warning about two more trees.
Dem’s face went ashen and she groped for Erky’s hand. Shaking her head she said, “I knew those bushes that grew from the seeds felt evil. But how can you tell if something is a bush or a monster?”
“Perhaps you could ask your goddess?,” suggested Jilken. “Even if she can’t kill them outright, she might be able to help you locate them.”
Dem smiled at that, “A good suggestion. Now I have heard of the Gulthias Tree, but not as anything more than ancient legend. There were once many of these trees scattered upon the land. But they were all thought destroyed centuries ago. I didn’t even know that the blights were a sign of it. You should speak to the Wayfinders, they will surely be able to give better information?”
“Wayfinders?,” said Denye, tilting her head to the side.
Dem laughed, “That’s right, you aren’t from around here. The Wayfinders are an order of seekers and scholars. Preservers of knowledge, I guess you might say. They will answer any question they are asked, so long as they are answered truthfully in return. Their main school is down in Haven. I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. But there is also the Refuge in Wexwood.”
“Well, Wexwood is our next stop,” said Janora. “Perhaps we should make that one of our stops in the city.” The rest of the group agreed that that was a sound plan.
Dem sighed, “Erky told me what happened to your horses. Are you going to have to walk the whole way to Wexwood?” When the party agreed, the gnome went on, “I heard the blacksmith had a cart and beast that he was looking to sell. You might try speaking to him.”
Ell smiled, “That is an excellent idea. Before we go, do you think we could have another waterskin of blessed water. Just in case we run into someone else like Sharwyn.”
Agreeing happily, Dem took the waterskin from Jilken and went down to the pool. Stepping into the water, the gnome filled the skin and then said a brief prayer over it. Again, when she exited the pool, she was completely dry.
Handing the skin back to Jilken, Dem looked at each of the party and said, “Go with the Mistress’s blessing, may you find peace and refuge along the road.”
Taking that as their cue, the party made their goodbyes and headed over to the blacksmith’s shop. Upon entering the team found a medium aged dwarf hammering a horseshoe on his anvil. The stocky dwarf was mostly bald on top, and his beard seemed particularly scraggly and scorched along the edges. Dropping the shoe into a bucket of water, the dwarf laid the hammer down and picked up a cloth to wipe his hands. Turning to the group, he smiles, “Hi there! What can I git fer ya?”
“We heard a rumor that you might have a cart for sale,” asked Janora, “do you still have it?”
“As a matter of fact, I dp,” replied the dwarf. “Would y’all like to see her?” At the party’s affirmative, the blacksmith led them around to the back where he had a small stable. In front of the stable was a small, somewhat rickety looking, cart of weathered wood. The bed of the cart was roughly 6ftx8ft with picket sides and an open back.
Walking over to the stall, the dwarf said, “And this here is ol’ Bessie.” Ol’ Bessie turned out to be a dyrall, a shaggy six-legged beast similar to a buffalo, and an older specimen at that. Turning back to Janora, he added, “ She’s got a sweet and even temper. She been right good to me, but now that Felosial has arranged for my iron to come in with her supplies I really don’t need her anymore +chuckle+ and I can’t afford to keep feeding her.”
Janora narrowed their eyes, “And what does she eat?”
“Oh, grass and leaves mostly,” was the stocky dwarf’s reply. “ She does like to munch on the way, so ya might keep an eye out for that.”
Janora snorted, “That all sounds lovely...and how much are you asking for them?”
The dwarf took a moment to scratch his bald head, “Weel, how does 100gp sound?”
Before Janora could reply, Ell said, “That sounds ridiculous. There is no way that cart and that beast are worth 100gp. We’ll give you 10gp for it.”
The blacksmith just laughed, “Now, now lets be reasonable here. I’ve heard y’all did some good for this town. Meby I can go down to 80gp.”
Ell shook his head, “The cart is basically falling apart and the dyrall probably won’t last much longer. We’ll be lucky if we make it to Wexwood. Really you should be paying US to take it, but we’ve had a pretty good week. How about 20gp for it, and you throw in any spare parts for when we have to fix it.”
At that the dwarf just shook his head. “Weel, if you don’t want it someone else will buy it.” With that the stocky smith turned and started back for his forge, leaving the party standing there.
Ell turned to the others and said, “Can you believe that guy? Maybe one of you folks should try.”
Jilken suggested, “I could go in and see what kind of weapons he has. Maybe if we buy something else, he’ll give us more of a discount.”
“Maybe,” said Denye, “I want to look at the cart and see what shape it’s really in.” With that the smallish Corva started climbing over and under checking all the things that she could remember from one of her books. The results of the inspection was that while the cart was rough, it was solidly built. There were a couple of boards missing out of the bed and one wheel squeaked, but that was it.
After hearing that news Janora shrugged, “If it will get us there, I’m willing to pay. This is more gold than I've seen at one time… and I'd much rather ride than walk." That seemed to be the common sentiment and Denye went to speak with the blacksmith.
After harnessing up the dyrall, the party loaded up the wagon and started off for Wexwood. Leaving Oakhurst around midday, the team made good time and eventually made camp shortly after dusk. After making dinner and deciding on watches, everyone settled in for the night.
First watch passed without incident, but part way through the second watch Janora heard a twig breaking off in the woods...exactly as if someone had stepped on it. In the same moment, their dogstaff started growling. Just as Janora was about to call out a warning to Jilken, they heard a voice behind them say. “Don’t move! Don’t speak either. Just stay nice and calm and nobody has to get hurt.”
For a moment, there was silence throughout the clearing, except for the growling of the dogstaff. In blink, Janora thrust the dogstaff behind them and swung, trying to catch the person at the knees. The half-elf managed to connect with something, but rather than a man’s yell...it was a canine yelp.
In response the bandit captain shot a crossbow bolt past Janora’s shoulder, “That was a warning, now stand down!” The statement was punctuated by a deep, ominous growl. Several other bandits stepped out from the forest and surrounded the campsite and the party.
After a fairly quick skirmish, in which the bandits discovered they had picked the wrong group of travelers to ambush, the party wiped out the threat and began rifling through the bodies. All told the party members found 31gp/64sp/2 gold bracelets (25gp/ea), as well as another small bronze square coin stamped with the likeness of a wolverine on one side and an eclipsed sun. This strange looking coin also gave off the slightest hint of magical aura. There was also a note on the captain with the same seal as the one from the goliath; a five pointed star in red and black with an upturned ziggurat.
Along with these monetary rewards the party also found a number of magical items; a repeating crossbow (which Jilken immediately claimed), a blackened throwing dart (Ell), a large book titled Book of Names (Denye), and a trio of small leather pouches (Janora). After removing the bodies from the immediate area, the party dropped back into sleep and rest, the remainder of the night passed peacefully.
23 Planting, 498TA
The morning sun rose and brought with it a perfect spring day. The sun was bright, but there were plenty of white fluffy clouds to keep it from becoming overpowering. Birds sang as the party traveled along the well-worn dirt track, looking over their newfound treasures.Around mid-afternoon, Jilken, who had been keeping an eye out on their surroundings, called out for Janora to stop the cart and pointed up at some old stone ruins off the road to the south. A large rounded hill, crowned it seemed with the remains of a stone circle. Deciding to investigate, Denye pulled the dyrall to the side and secured the beast.
Climbing the hill, the party found that it was indeed an old stone circle. Only about half of it still stood, the other stones either toppled and lying on the ground or missing entirely. Upon investigation all of the stones were covered in hexagonal glyphs, each one touching at least two others, the entirety created vines and knots that swam across the stone blocks.
Ell and Denye immediately fell into conversation about what these could mean. Jilken stood with them, absorbing the conversation without really having much to add, beyond a comment that “these somewhat remind me of ruins from back home.”
Janora, who had been much more interested in the weeds and flowers growing on the hilltop, than on some old rocks, paced around the outside of the circle. After completing a circuit of the hilltop, they announced; “There used to be quite a bit of power here. The veil between worlds feels a bit thinner as well. But whatever it was seems to be mostly gone.”
After listening to the others, Jilken got an idea. Walking up she placed a hand on the stones and cast Shocking Grasp. The glyph beneath her hand glowed blue for a moment, but faded quickly. It seemed that whatever magic had been in this place was destroyed along with the circle itself.
Deciding that it was interesting diversion, but not something they could do much with right now, they headed back down to the wagon and the dyrall. Ol’ Bessie seemed pleased to see them, particularly as most of the reachable area had been grazed down to roots.
The rest of the day’s travel was uneventful, with the party once again making camp shortly after dusk. The night was quiet and uninterrupted with clear skys of the shining stars above.
24 Planting, 498TA
The next morning started out quite well. After a hearty breakfast the party broke camp and were on the road quickly….knowing that they should reach Wexwood around mid-afternoon.Ell offered to drive for the morning, confident that he could handle the beast after seeing the way she responded to Janora and Denye. Things were good for a couple of hours, but it was quite a boring drive and Ell kept distracting himself and wandering off in lost thought.
Sensing this, the dyrall had been slowly edging herself over to the side of the road where she could get at the hedges and grasses. Unfortunately, the party members all discovered this about the time Ol’ Bessie took the cart off the road entirely and down into a ditch on the side.
Jilken, who had actually fallen out of the cart as it went down the embankment, got up and started yelling at the shaggy beast...who was quite contently munching on leaves from a young tree. Eventually the rest of the party got out and with everyone’s help were able to get Bessie and the cart back onto the road.
Taking back the reins, Janora got Bessie moving again and the party finally made it to the gates of Wexwood. As they entered the gate guard, recognizing the party, motioned for them to stop and after a sketchy salute said, “Watcher Gelestro will be glad to hear of your return. I’ll send a message up to the keep and you should hear from him shortly. Which inn will you be staying at?”
When the party expressed uncertainty, the guard smiled, “I suggest the Restless Raven. Decent beds and good food. They even have their own bathhouse.” Agreeing that this was a good suggestion the party made their way over to the Shoe and Grain Stable to rid themselves of this troublesome beast.
Connack Pretera'sedrin greeted them with a bit of a sad smile. “Ahh, I see you have returned.”
Denye jumped off the back of the cart and with a bit of a bow and talon-twisting said, “I bear bad news. Please forgive us, but we failed to protect the beautiful mounts that you had loaned us.” She went on to explain the situation at the ravine and how they had been checking on the horses, but at the end they found one dead and the other three gone.
As she spoke Connack nodded his head, “I knew that something had happened. Two of them returned, but they were covered in scratches and exhausted like they had been running for days.”
Denye raised her beak to look the Shin’a’in in the eye, “That two survived is an unlooked for blessing. Know that we honor those who have fallen.”
Again, the elf nodded. “A blessing indeed! And those who fell now roam free in the Great Plain under the hand of the Star-Eyed. Perhaps they will return again in time.” After a few moments of awkward silence, Connack clapped his hands, “Well, it looks like you have found another beast to care for. How can I help?”
After some brief discussion, the party left dyrall and cart with the stablemaster and made their way over to the inn. Arriving at the Restless Raven, the party was greeted by the bartender, a thin half-elven man with long, straight, purple hair and a pair of small round glasses with gold frames. Introducing himself as Hennalor Zinfir, he quickly got the party rooms and page to show them up as well as show them to the bathhouse.
After cleaning up, the party reconvened in the common room. Quickly being served drinks and food, the team began eating with gusto. Halfway through the meal, a young human (10-11ish) in the page livery of the Keep appeared at the table and informed everyone that Gelestro was happy to hear they had returned and asked that they meet with the Watcher for a debrief at 9 marks tomorrow.
Agreeing to this, the party members returned to their meals and conversation, the sounds of the bustling tavern around them and the pleasant melodies of the bard on stage, bringing a sense of comfort and warmth.
