Moving forward, I became the chief scribe. Truth be told, I had almost as much fun writing these post-session logs as I did DMing them. The Group are good folks.
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Original Session 6/8/20
PCs
Klayton - Warlock
Yelrah - Half Orc Barbarian
Svetlo - Cleric
Bluejay - Dwarf Fighter
PCs as NPCs due to missing players
Albrecht - Sorcerer
Fineach - Sorcerer
Avalon - Bard
True NPCs
Ulster - fighter
The session opened with a continuation of dinner at Mario’s to recap for Yelrah's player. In the morning, Ulster (rescued from the Pod People) offered his services as a reward for rescuing him. Recalling his deadeye shooting with a crossbow, The Group gladly accepted. They were also joined by the Dwarf Bluejay, not seen since the caravan they all guarded arrived at Ironguard Keep several weeks prior. No doubt he was busy tippling in the Lion’s Den all this time.
Now eight strong, The Group struck out northwards, following the river to a keep with an eccentric owner. They purchased a cart and horse to pull it, because the chest they were delivering was equal parts large and heavy (like a typical 6-drawer dresser). A few hours outside the Keep, the party realized they were being watched from the treeline. Observation suggested a humanoid, which they called out to.
She responded, and suddenly Klayton leapt down from the cart to join her. His companions successfully restrained him, and the woman in the trees pouted and said, ‘fine. Be that way.’ At which point an awful screeching was heard, followed by a second screech. The Group braced for whatever was shrieking and crashing through the undergrowth towards them. Svetlo grabbed the horse’s reins in an attempt to calm it, and while he did keep it from bolting, it stamped and snorted, eyes wide in fear.
At this point, a pair of owlbears broke from the trees and made a beeline for the horse. Bluejay suffered a mighty bite from one, and the poor horse had its head bitten through as a massive featherfurred paw ripped its throat out. Avalon sent one owlbear running with a spell, while the others enraged the second, eventually slaying it with sword and spell (mostly spell). They immediately chased down and slew the retreating owlbear, with Albrecht putting a crossbow bolt in its brainstem.
Being The Group, they immediately fell to bathing in the reeking gore of the scorched and bleeding corpses, skinning them and hacking away at beaks and claws for souvenirs. This dallying almost proved their undoing, as a flight of griffins passed by and decided fresh dead horse and owlbear made a tasty meal. The Group wisely ran into the woods to hide and watch.
Busy watching the griffins feed, The Group did not see the woman from earlier approach,tap Klayton on the shoulder, and caress his face while saying, “come with me.” He got up and willingly strode into a massive oak tree. By the time his companions noticed he was missing, it had been an hour. A twk-man flew by as they dithered and traded information for salt:
The old soldiers are stirring!
The forest queen has a new prince!
The old man of the mountains knows - he knows!
They tracked Klayton to the tree, whereupon Yelrah struck it with his wooden sword. All were amazed to see tendrils extend from both tree and sword, the tree apparently trying to absorb the weapon! Despite a valiant effort, Yelrah lost the tug-of-war, and his weapon was gone. Suddenly, a naked, sap-covered Klayton was spat out of the tree, landing on the ground, the dirt and dead leaves coating his body in strategic, yet awkward places. His clothing and pack were spat out after him.
Gladdened at having their friend back, though saddened at the loss of Yelrah’s magnificent Living Sword, they returned to the cart and chest. As Klayton bathed in the river (no wandering monsters, sadly), the others decided that manually pulling and pushing the cart holding the chest would be the fastest means of travel. They made another three miles before nightfall loomed.
Klayton unrolled his carpet and bled upon it, summoning the cabin. The entire party went inside, carrying the chest with them. At this point they realized they could likely use it to more easily carry the chest. Demiplanes are like that. They ate and drank and set up watches. All was quiet until Bluejay’s watch, when he saw a door in the wall that wasn’t there before.
Being the curious sort, he cracked the door open and was greeted with bright sunlight, bird calls, and the distant sounds of laughter and music. Bluejay then boldly strode through the door into the gardens, going deeper and deeper into …. a rather strange place (the Garden of Ynn). His chief triumph was helping a stalemate made of living chess pieces determine a winner. The method chosen, however, was unsatisfactory to both sides, and they all exploded after rewarding him with an ornate music box.
Running from the exploding chess pieces, Bluejay encountered a being made of glass that wanted Bluejay to stay for dinner. As it advanced, it kept discussing all the tasty tidbits it could make from Dwarf: pickled Dwarf ears, sauteed Dwarf beard, a soup made of Dwarf fat - all sorts of tasty things.
Blindly running from the Glass Butler, Bluejay found himself in an abandoned theater where an ominous ticking could be heard from underground. As he stood there, he watched his shadow begin to extend far beyond what it should, so he bolted, heading back to his companions.
Along the way, he passed a Gazebo, which had some interesting graffiti and some more interesting golden trinkets. Adding them to the ornate music box he had found, he merrily retreated more. At the courtyard with the door to his friends, he found three fresh corpses staked out on the ground, orchids growing from their mouths. As he moved to bravely loot said corpses, he heard a terrible snuffling behind him. Axe in hand, he turned to face a …. thing! and what a terrible thing it was! The body of a zebra, the head of an orangutan, the feet of a gecko lizard, and flapping bat wings (a lovely random table, that one is). Bluejay ran, making it through the door and almost closing it.
But.
But the thing got a tentacle-toe in the door and was trying to crash through! Bluejay called out in fear and consternation, waking his friends, who helped drive off the beast and close the door.
We ended there.
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Note that this was the last time I gamed with Bluejay's player due to a car accident.
Requiem in Pacem, James.
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