After surviving the ambush at the Robin's Breast Inn, the B-Team continued to Burle on their way to the Drowned Forest.
They arrived in Burle in the late afternoon. Burle is a small farming community built around a fortified keep. The community represents an alliance between the knights of Keoland and the elves and fey of the Dreadwood known as the Wild Flame Pact. Together the alliance defends the region against the incursions of the cults of elemental evil as well as the bandits of the Hool marsh. The keep of Burle sits atop a hill with a commanding view of the nearby Silverstand forest, the Janustream river, and the miles of farmland that separate it from the Dreadwood. At the center of town is a massive oak tree, hundreds of feet tall, named Wander Root. Wander Root is the subject of veneration by a group of druids. Indeed, unlike many walled cities, Burle encourages the growth of trees and undergrowth within its walls. As a result the interior of Burle resembles a wooded park.
The sun was setting as the B-Team approached Burle. The first thing they noticed was that the buildings outside the city walls were abandoned and several of them had been burned down to the foundation. The crops were left in the field. No one was outside the walls. The town still appeared to be inhabited. Indeed the town appeared to be locked down for a siege, yet no besieging forces could be seen and no evidence of one having had existed could be found.
The B-Team passed by the abandoned Tree Maiden Inn and arrived outside the East Gate. The gate was closed. Elven guards stood atop the walls. No one called to greet them.
Alot called out and requested entry. No one answered.
A voice called to them from the nearby Tree Maiden Inn, "Hey. Hey. Over here. They're not going to let you in. Its getting dark. It's not safe out here. Come inside. Alot, I have something to give you."
It was Busby, the last refugee from Waycombe.
CHAPTER 33
"BLOODSHED IN BURLE"
The B-Team:- Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
- Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
- Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
- Brenna "The Sea Witch" Myrasdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler, First Mate of the Sea Ghost.
- Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.
Busby
"Alot, Aella, it is good to see you again," said the innkeeper from Waycombe, "Come in. Here, let me get you a drink."
Aella asked for a cider while Alot declined. Brenna ordered a rum, Baylore a whisky, and Bordar an ale.
Aella apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't remember you."
"No surprise," replied Busby, "When we first met you had a bad case of the brain jellies. I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Busby. I was the last one out of Waycombe. I met you and Alot and your other companions the day I left. That was a little over two months ago now. You were headed into the Drowned Forest looking for Sakatha. I'm sorry about what happened to your companions."
Busby answered what questions he could about Burle. He said that people started disappearing about a month ago. Entire households just vanished, both within and outside the town walls. Watches were increased but then the night watch-men began disappearing! Farmers and villagers retreated into the town gates and the town was locked up. Those who tried to shelter in their homes were burned out. A few witnesses said they saw humans - some were bandits from the Hool Marsh, some were soldiers from the first expedition from Burle, some were those who had been recently kidnapped! All had pallid ashen skin and this glazed look on their faces. It was Waycombe all over again!
"So far I've managed to stay hidden and safe." Busby said, "You're welcome to stay here tonight. But you best set a watch."
Alot said, "No need to set a watch. I'll stand sentinel."
"That reminds me!" said Busby, "You gave me something the last time you and Aella came through Burle."
"We did WHAT?" said Aella.
"Yeah, about a week after you went into the Drowned Forest in fact. You and Alot came out. You BOTH had the brain jellies! You didn't talk much. You were on your way back to Saltmarsh. But you gave me something, Alot. Hold on." Busby went to a cupboard and retrieved a folded piece of parchment. "Here, you gave me this. It's addressed to YOU!"
He handed Alot the folded parchment. Indeed, it said "TO ALOT" in Alot's own handwriting. Alot opened it. It was a map, drawn by his own hand, with notes in his own handwriting. He had no memory of having made it. The map indicated a route from Waycombe to something called the "Secret Entrance".
DM Note-
I had the map uploaded as a handout in Roll20 but only I could see it. When Busby handed it to Alot, I changed its visibility to Alot. When Alot decided to share it with everyone, I changed the visibility to All Players.
Killers in the Night
That night the B-Team took rest in the abandoned Tree Maiden Inn. Busby took the room of the former innkeeper. Bordar took a room and Aella took another room. Baylore and Brenna dozed in chairs by the fireplace in the dining hall. Alot lit several candles in the dining hall and stood in silent watch.
Several hours before dawn, dark figures crept through the bushes outside the inn. One carefully opened a window into Bordar's room and silently climbed inside. Two opened the main entrance and crept up behind Alot. A fourth entered through the rear entrance and silently moved in on Brenna. A fifth went around the building towards Aella's window.
The dark figure in Bordar's room stood over the sleeping dwarf, raised its short sword, and brought it down twice! The viscous stabbing failed to kill Bordar outright. The dwarf cried out in pain and quickly rolled off his bed. He called out the alarm and grabbed his two magic axes from their position on a table on the other side of the room.
Alot spun around just in time to see the two assailants. they were clad in dark clothing and had long scarves wrapped around their heads and necks to conceal their faces. Their eyes had a glazed lifeless quality. The two intruders attacked the automaton but failed to penetrate his durable armor. Alot eliminated one foe while the other fled down a darkened hallway.
Baylore sprang from his chair and ran to Bordar's aid. Baylore threw open the door to Bordar's room. Bordar's attacker wore similar clothing to the ones in the dining room. Bordar and Baylore cornered and quickly defeated the intruder.
Alot followed his fleeting attacker into a darkened room. He stood their in the darkness, unable to see any target, waiting for his opponent to reveal himself by attacking in the dark. The attack never came. His opponent had fled into the night. He returned to the main room.
Despite the fighting around her, Brenna remained asleep in her chair. She eventually heard the clamor of battle and jumped out of her chair. However, she was alone in the room. All the fighting seemed to be in other rooms. Before she could rush to join her allies, an unnoticed intruder sneaked up behind her and stabbed her in the side.
DM Note-
Sleeping PCs must make a Perception skill check vs. 10 to wake up. If they're asleep in a dark room with the doors closed, the roll is made with Disadvantage. If someone called out the alarm, nudges them awake, or if they're in a room surrounded by combat, the roll is made with Advantage.
Brenna screamed and turned. She cast a spell and the room reverberated with the gonging of a massive bell. The intruder covered his ears but was still shaken to his core. Hearing the bell, Baylore and Bordar came running into the room. Likewise did Alot return. The intruder, realizing he had failed and was not outnumbered, turned and fled through the rear exit. Bordar threw both his axes at the fleeing intruder but missed. His axes lodged themselves in the wall behind the bar.
Meanwhile, Aella continued to sleep in her room. Unbeknownst to her, an intruder had climbed into her room through the window. The intruder stabbed her in her bed! Before she knew what was happening, the intruder had retreated back out through the window.
Aella burst out of bed, covered in her own blood. She took a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings. She was still alive but badly injured. She looked out the open window in order to see her intruder.
The intruder had been waiting for this! The intruder stabbed her again in the neck. She fell down limp onto the window sill. The intruder grabbed her hair and sliced her throat. The intruder turned and saw one of his brethren emerge from a back door with Baylore close behind.
DM Note-
Aella's player said "I'm down" and I was prepared for my assassin to let go and move away. But Baylore's player demands a harder edge to his games. He knew my assassin had one attack left. He said, "Don't you dare move away! Finish the job! He's a killer! He'd finish the job!" and I said, "You're absolutely right." (roll with Advantage against a helpless enemy) "Aella, take some more damage and automatically fail two death saves!"
Baylore's player was pleased.
Baylore chased the intruder out of the back door. He caught up to the intruder and punched him several times. The intruder fell to the ground unconscious.
Baylore thought he heard another over by the window to Aella's room. Although Baylore had excellent night vision, it was too far away to make out clearly. He ran forward and saw Aella lying lifeless in the windowsill. There was no sign of her killer.
Back inside, Alot inspected one of the dead intruders. His eyes had been smeared with some kind of magical salve - no doubt some alchemical ointment that allowed the intruders to see in the dark.
Brenna checked on Busby. Busby was still asleep in the innkeeper's room. The room was designed to be insulated from the noise of a rowdy inn. Brenna woke Busby and told him what happened.
Baylore dragged his prisoner into the inn and tied him to a chair. To his dismay, the prisoner had the same vacant stare as someone with the brain jellies - just like their attackers at the Robin's Breast Inn.
Baylore asked Busby if the other attackers that harassed Burle dressed or acted like these. Busby said they did not. Busby said that those were run of the mill bandits and farmers. Not trained assassins like these.
Baylore looked at the others.
"This was not random. This was a hit. We're still being targeted."
No one could go back to sleep. They all sat in the main room until dawn. No one spoke. Aella's body lay on the floor nearby.
Baylore broke the silence, "What are we going to do with Aella's body?"
Brenna said, "I have heard that some priests can bring murder victims back from the dead. But they have to be very powerful priests. The priests in Seaton couldn't even perform a divination. I doubt there's anyone in Burle would could do it."
Busby shook his head, "You're right. There are a few local priests but nothing like that."
Baylore suggested, "Maybe not a priests, but I think druids can bring people back to life."
Brenna said, "Well, they can reincarnate people, bring their souls back into new bodies. You don't have to be a very powerful druid to do that I think."
Busby said, "There's a whole circle of druids in Burle. It's part of that town's whole tree thing."
Baylore said, "Then maybe there's a druid in Burle who can reincarnate her."
Alot said, "If we can get in."
Baylore agreed, "If we can get in."
Wander Root
At dawn they took Aella's corpse to the gates of Burle. They were once again met by elven guards atop the walls. The elven guards expressed condolences for their loss but once again denied the party entry.
Alot tried to persuade them, explaining that Aella was on a quest to stop Sakatha. The guards remained unconvinced.
Baylore stepped forward, holding Aella's body, and shouted at the guards, demanding to be let in.
"If you want this to stop, you'll help us! Let us in!"
The guard was shaken and began to reiterate his orders but was interrupted by a booming voice like the sound of thunder from the center of the town. The voice was like the breaking of a tree trunk accented by the wind through the leaves. It spoke an elvish word with a bass tenor that shook the ground and vibrated the bones. The elvish guard froze and looked back. The guard quivered in his chastisement.
The voice continued, more measured but still thunderous.
The guard nodded and issued commands to those around him. Moments later the gate was open and the portcullis raised.
The guard said, "The great Wander Root has spoken on your behalf and has granted you entry. He requests your presence."
The team was led into the village of Burle. Inside the walls were huddled families living in tents on the street - refugees from the farms outside the walls. Dozens of people lined the street to watch the newcomers. The team walked to a park in the center of town which was dominated by a mountainous oak tree. The oak tree was surrounded by robed druids, aspirants, and ovates.
The oak tree twisted and presented a wooden face that resembled an wizened human male.
The oak tree spoke in heavily accented common speech. Its voice was deep and sonorous with an edge that sounded like wind through a leafy canopy. "Welcome to Burle. I am Wander Oak. I am Archdruid of the Circle of the Flame Pact. Aella's mission and her sacrifice is known to me. Place your fallen comrade before me."
Brenna asked, "Can you reincarnate her?"
The face on the tree looked bemused, "Yes. But I can also return her to life. Which would you prefer?"
Baylore responded, "We wish to return her to life, please."
Brenna muttered under her breath, "I was really hoping to see what she'd return as."
Alot shushed her.
Wander Oak informed the team that a sacrifice was required. They would need to provide the druids with a diamond of great value. They searched through their belongings and found a necklace taken from the vault on Leper Island. "Will this do?"
They gave the necklace to Wander Oak who took it in one of the spindly ends of a long thick branch. The great animated oak tree closed its wooden eyes and began chanting a ritual. The ring of druids joined him. The long branch reached down and the spindly ends touched Aella's body like tiny fingers. The ends began to glow.
The ritual lasted for an hour. And its end the glow became a blinding flash. The chanting abruptly stopped. The diamond necklace was gone. Aella took a deep desperate inhalation as if she just emerged from the water. Her wounds were healed. She was alive.
Alot, Baylore, and Brenna rushed to her side and helped her up.
Alot asked, "How are you feeling?"
Aella replied that she felt weak and tired, not all there.
Brenna asked, "Are you able to travel?"
Alot suggested, "No! We should rest a few days."
Brenna glared at Alot, "We may not HAVE a few days!"
Aella assured them, "No, I can travel. Lets go. I'll probably be fine by the time we get to Waycombe."
Baylore addressed Wander Root, "Thank you!"
The gargantuan tree twisted back to its original position and once again became a mighty oak.
The Drowned Forest
The B-Team set off immediately towards Waycombe, the village on the edge of the Drowned Forest that was destroyed by Sakatha's thugs over two months ago.
The four hour hike from Burle to Waycobe was uneventful. They arrived in the ruins of Waycombe just after noon.
DM Note-
The PCs were placed onto a map at the edge of the Drowned Forest with "Fog of War" turned on. From their vantage point in Waycombe they could see the forests around them.
Aella looked around and looked at the map, "I think we should go this way. Those trees over there correspond with this part of the map."
DM Note-
I was so proud of Aella's player for spotting that (sniff).
Alot said, "Okay, let's go."
Baylore cautioned, "Wait, you don't remember drawing this map. What if it points to a trap?"
Alot paused, "Is there any other alternative?"
Brenna said, "What about this Stephen DeMannis guy you two keep talking about? Who's he?"
Aella said, "He's a crazy guy who led us there the first time. I don't even know if he's still alive."
Brenna replied, "Well, let's go see?"
Aella said, "I- really don't think he'd be much help. His route was basically backtracking the route he used when he escaped Sakatha. It went all over the place and took us several days. Plus he eats bugs. He's really not very reliable."
Alot added, "I say we see where this map goes."
Brenna shrugged, "Okay."
After hiking two miles through the forest on dry land for an hour the team reached the edge of the drowned forest. Ahead of them the forest narrowed into a thin finger of muddy land covered in trees.
The Drowned Forest was a maze of muddy strips of land covered in thickets and trees separated by narrow channels of murky brown water. The route they took last time used a raft to navigate through the water-ways. The route outlined on the map led the team down the narrow forested islands. The ground was at best muddy and submerged under up to three feet of fetid water at worst. The going was slow. They were barely able to manage a quarter-mile of progress for every hour of arduous hiking through sticky mud and dense overgrowth.
DM Note-
Each hex represented a quarter mile. As they moved from hex to hex, I would reveal every hex around them on Roll20. I pre-rolled random encounters and when they would occur. It was simply a matter of where would they occur.
Late in the afternoon the party encountered an atrocious smell. The smell seemed to come from the strip of land before them.
Baylore told the others to wait here while he scouted it out.
Baylore struck out on his own to reconnoiter. He cautiously crept through the thickets and trees. He could hear a strange buzzing that permeated the air like bass electricity. He finally reached an clearing. The trees had been torn out of the mud by the roots creating an open area sixty feet in diameter. At the center of the clearing was a massive pile of animal dung. The skies were dark with clouds of flies.
The pile of animal dung was at least twenty feet high and twenty feet around.
It was shaped into the crude form of a black dragon!
Baylore returned to the others and reported what he saw. There was no way around it. They would have to go past the giant effigy of dung or they'd have to swim.
But first, the sun was going down. They'd set camp and tackle it in the morning.
To be Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment