A chance trip to the feywilds could have resulted in some much needed R&R, however it quickly devolved into risqué punch ups with hunky Dwarves and fearsome fiends, tests of might, death at the hands of a charming Incubus, and a battle against a fearsome Oni. Thanks for the trip Adam 😄
Kharduum Steepmine (Hill Dwarf Cleric)
Lizzy "The Dragon Slayer" (Light foot Halfling Bard)
Roza (Tiefling Sorcerer)
Growbeck Boniface (Mountain Dwarf Fighter)
"Big Von" Vonmond (Mountain Dwarf Fighter)
Kamakani (Half Elf Paladin)
It was with great regret that we had to takedown the poor dragon, it's mind warped by the power of the magical seeds, we took it back to the Outpost for investigation, and found that wherever its blood had fallen, great obsidian shards had appeared. Vonmond and I immediately recognised these as Dragonstone, and along with Lazlo, the "Dwarven" blacksmith from Grewall find that just one produces enough power to run an entire town. He immediately wants to go back and tell his people, the rest of us are reluctant, we know that if word gets out that Dragonstone can be created this way, it will lead to a mad rush of desperate people seeking riches throwing caution to the wind and causing calamity, and that such a discovery needs to be treated with care.
Kamakani and Lazlo are getting quite animated over their opposing perspectives when suddenly the door crashes open, Lazlo falls, knocking over one of the shards, there's a burst of light and our consciousness fades. When we awake we have seemingly been transported, we're on a snowy hill, below we see trees, with a steady draft of steam rising a short way in.
I start the ritual for an Augury with Moradin, while Vonmond and Growbeck play in the snow, sledging and throwing snowballs, Lizzy tastes the snow, saying it tastes like a sad memory, Lazlo is getting impatient.
I reach Moradin, I don't see anything, but start to feel, separation, loss of any happiness, but at the end, a glimmer of hope.
We make our way down the hill, spotting a tall elvish woman wearing a kimono at the edge of the woods, she waves, then turns and heads into the trees, disappearing from sight. As we make our way in the same direction, we spot a one storey wooden building, a waterfall behind it, the steam rising from the back. The sign says 'O'Cowers Bath House', but we can't spot any other guests. We enter and see the woman from the woods edge behind the desk, we ask her where exactly we are, it's the feywilds, and the bathhouse used to be the home of a interplanar portal that disappeared around the date of the Abjuration, when the snows arrived.
She advised that the proprietor, Mother O'Cower may know more, but she's currently preparing dinner.
She offers us access to the baths, Lizzy, Growbeck and Vonmond are all for it, Roza hangs back, seething at being pulled into another calamity, mere hours after dying and returning to life. Kamakani isn't in the mood for waiting and starts charging towards the kitchen, looking for Mother O'Cower, I went with him, knowing how he gets when he's like this. The kitchen door is locked, but he bangs his fist on it asking to speak, a small voice calls back saying she'll be out soon.
In the baths Lizzy starts talking with a group of hunky elves, trading stories, Vonmond tries to interject, much to their annoyance.
Mother O'Cower exits the kitchen and starts talking to Kamakani and me, she says that she needs our help to reopen the gateway and she's been working on a way to do it. I start to have a peculiar feeling, and cast a spell to detect good and evil, it's coming from behind us out in the baths, it's the three hunky elves currently attracting Lizzy's attention, I walk to the edge of the outdoor area and try to grab her attention, but as she turns, one transforms into a large fiend and digs its claws right into her, the others reveal themselves and the fight is on.
Growbeck and Vonmond are closest and first to the fight, unarmed and completely naked, Growbeck starts swinging… his punches and catches a couple with some mighty haymakers. Lizzy jumps away and unleashes some Viscious mockery, Roza and I shepherd Mother O'Cower away as Vonmond whips his towel in such a Fury that he bursts a fiends head open with it, before violently uppercutting another in the nether regions,
Lizzy goes down to a bite and I heal her from afar, Growbeck kills it with a flying punch and Lizzy gets back to her feet, hurling an insult so harmful the last one dies from mental anguish.
Mother O'Cower looks worse for where, and it seems like she's holding something back, we sit down in the dining area as she totters too and fro bringing food. Lazlo says we shouldn't trust little old ladies offering food, I follow his instincts and abstain as most of the others start digging in. The food doesn't seem harmful and tastes emotive.
We're being watched by a handsome looking Adventurer, Lizzy and Growbeck start talking to him, it seems he's been here since the Abjuration and Mother O'Cower has also told him she has a plan.
When she returns though she will talk only to us, advises that is a cave nearby where an amulet resides and that it can be used to return the portal to use, but it is protected, she says we can't trust the other adventurer, she seems genuine.
Lazlo excuses himself and I follow him to talk, he says he is going to investigate something, that there should be a guardian here with the portal and its strange that there isn't, he says we should check out the cave and we'll meet up later.
When I return to Mother O'Cower, I ask her about the Guardian, she says she doesn't know, but seems to be lying.
She leads us to the cave, transporting us with a story, time and distance is strange here.
But it isn't really a cave, the walls are bone and the entrance is the skull of a Giant Demon, inside the ground is just ice. I take the time to hammer small nails into my boots for grip, I offer to do it for the others, Growbeck is the only one to not take me up on it, he promptly slips and hurts himself.
As we travel through the cave, we see peculiar sights, demon and fey realms smashed together, boiling blood, weird mineral formations. Ahead is a figure, 8 foot tall in armour, he looks as if he's made out of wood and flora. Growbeck wanders right up to him and asks if he's seen the amulet, it appears magically around his neck and say it can only leave here if he's defeated in a challenge. Growbeck immediately challenged him to unarmed combat before we can even discuss it, he says he'll take my fellow Dwarf's head if he loses.
The challenge is immediately accepted and there's nothing we can do without breaking their pact. Growbeck throws himself into the fight, hitting the Green Knight with everything he has, he barely breaks stride and wallops Growbeck back, the fight goes on, Lizzy soundtracking every blow, parry and dodge until Growbeck finally falls. The Knight summons back his armour and weapons and approaches Growbeck to take his head, Vonmond interject with another challenge, a contest of acrobatics, the Knight accepts on the condition that he takes all of our heads, the Mighty Von is very confident, so we put our trust in him, the Knight and Big Von traverse the room, vaulting and somersaulting as they go, ultimately the Knight prevails by a single move.
It isn't looking good for us, The Knight is eager to collect before Lizzy and Roza shout up with another contest, a test of magic, he says that they have to offer something significant if he accepts, our eternal souls seem to be the price.
They let the spells fly with Roza erupting the earth around him to bring him to his knees, he calmly responds that he can't cast spells and that they have won the challenge.
The snow is getting worse outside as we make our way back, amulet in hand. Mother O'Cower is very insistent on getting her hands on it, she seems pushy and much too keen.
Somethings wrong, as we try and withhold it, she loses her temper and transforms into a great Oni, she was once the Guardian of the portal, but was corrupted by time and its loss. We try and get her to back down, but there is no stopping her, battle it is.
I bless the party and bring my spiritual hammer down on her and Vonmond unleashes his fury, she shoots a spread of ice out at us all, Roza is hit by the brunt of it as the rest of us manage to dodge, but she responds with an Infernal Rebuke, burning the Oni's spell casting hand. Roza erupts the earth around her, as the handsome adventurer appears, seemingly charming Lizzy and turning her against us, she turns her crossbow towards Roza, but I protect her with my body and take the hit, calling out to Lizzy and asking her what in Moradin's Bells she's doing.
Growbeck lays into the Oni as I hit it with Sacred flame, Roza starts downing a potion and hits the handsome chap with a magic missile, but he strengthens his charm over Lizzy and draws her close, killing her with a magical kiss before revealing himself as an Incubus. The Oni starts healing itself as Vonmond and Growbeck continue to melee.
Two figures crash through the wall of the lodge, another Oni wielding a black katana, atop the bathhouses other employee, now transformed into a creature with great red wings, the Oni finishes it before transforming back into Lazlo, battered and wounded.
I smash a mighty guiding bolt into the Oni, filling it with radiant light, it turns to run, but Growbeck cuts it down, guided by the radiant energy, the Oni's visage appearing on his magical blade. The Incubus charms Vonmond and tries to fly away, but Roza shoots him out of the sky with a firebolt.
The spell over Vonmond isn't broken though, he smashes a headbutt into Growbeck and they start exchanging blows, the scuffle breaks the charm spell though and Vonmonds senses return.
As this is happening, I rush over to Lizzy's body, casting revivify on her, she awakes suddenly and describes what she saw beyond, she was playing on stage to a vast audience, and hearing the percussive sound of Moradins hammer on anvil, adding to her performance and guiding her back to the land of the living. We're glad she's back, and I'm particularly happy that she has accepted Moradin as her Lord and Saviour.
Lazlo explains that he is an Oni, but left his gate as the Abjuration took hold, avoiding becoming corrupted. he guides us back to the portal and uses the amulet to activate it, returning us to the guild hall, a moment after we left. Merchant's guild members are in the room, trying to grab the dragonstones, jumping at our sudden reappearence, we manage to shepherd them out of the room, and lock the door.
Just like the seeds, these powerful shards can't fall into the wrong hands.
I don't know if I'd call the dwarves "hunky"
Excellent Telling of the events as always Karl!