Episode 04 - A Fire In the Night

Beginning Day: 10th of Lowsun

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Our adventuring party rose with the dawn, and moved in the grey twilight down to the lake front.  As they approached, they found a small wooden boat tied to a rock at the shore that had not been there the night prior.  To the distance in the north, they could just make out the shape of a cloaked figure with a long, thin sword at its side.

"Percival!?" they cried out, but the figure merely waved jovially and continued on its way.  A moments indecision among the party to decide whether to follow was all it took for them to miss the figure vanishing.  They briefly attempted to locate tracks or some other path to follow, but they had all blundered onto the scene haphazardly, and in the confused tracks, nothing could be found.  Aelar argued fervently that the group should set off in immediate pursuit in the last direction they had seen him, but was overruled by the others, who wanted to take the boat into the lake to examine the stone.

Kaladan and Merla, both well-accustomed to travel over water, took the boat into the lake alone, being unable to fit anyone else into the small craft given the dragonborn's size.  Upon arrival, Kaladan's Divine Sense detected a trace of a holy presence emanating from a faintly glowing symbol carved into the side of the stone facing to the south east.

Below this, a second symbol, slightly smaller and not glowing could be made out etched into the side of the stone.

Moving their craft in a circle around the stone, Merla spotted a ring of yet smaller symbols just below the surface of the water, and quickly committed the entire lot to memory.

Upon returning to shore, they shared what they had found, Merla making a half-way decent sketch of the symbols in the shoreline sand.  None could decipher a meaning, although Naivara was able to recognize that they were likely not directly magical in nature, and that they did not belong to any commonly spoken tongue - perhaps being an ancient language of some sort.

Deciding there was nothing further to be gained in the area, they set off in the direction of Fallcrest City, opting to try to take the more direct, but less well-traveled route through the dense forest, rather than backtracking several Ks to the main road up through Newford.  They eventually made their way to the original crossroads where Aelar, Kyla, and Merla had met several days prior.  Seeing that their options were to take what amounted to an animal-worn path through the thick forest directly to Fallcrest City, or to take the clearly more frequented path again up through Newford, they overrode Kaladan's objections and set off for the small town.

By early evening they had arrived, and the groups separated to visit the various townsfolk who served as merchants to the surrounding areas.  Merla and Damaia immediately legged it to the local inn, where Merla negotiated with the owner, a rotund human named Sadon, for a few hours of bardic performance in exchange for drinks and a meal for her and Damaia, on the singular condition that no sea shanties be played.  Her first song sang the tale of Kaladan the Paladin in the battle at the stone, and was well-received.  She quickly launched into a far more embellished tale of Kaladan's heroic intervention and defeat of several hulking, twelve-foot tall Vine Blights with glowing red eyes and dripping demonic shadows.  As she finished her tale, a single ethereal copper musical note hung before her in the air for a moment before vanishing into the evening and the applause.

In the town center, Naivara entered the town hall, just as Edmund, a young man in his early 20s, was closing up for the day.  She learned that while there was no library in town, the alchemist was most likely to know something of odd languages in town, and that if she were looking for maps, then the Town Watch was likely her best bet.

Across the small town, Aelar, Kyla, and Kaladan visited the local blacksmith, Sybbyl, with whom they left their gear for inspection, and from whom they bought a few score of some old but serviceable shortbow arrows she had laying around.  They got directions to the local alchemists place, and while Kyla and Kaladan headed to the inn, Aelar walked confidently into the closed up alchemist's shop, where he, and Naivara who had joined him, met Elel, a jovial and sarcastic young elf.  After a brief lesson concerning doors, and their purpose and usage, he obtained a few scrap pieces of paper to scribble the symbols upon from memory, and purchased a small pouch of willowbark.  Naivara asked if Elel knew anything of the symbols, but he did not, other than recognizing they had no particular alchemical significance.  As they left, the townsfolk children began running through the streets, dancing around them, and playing with miniature cornhusk dolls.

Back at the inn, Kaladan threw Merla off her game by yelling a request for "Freebird!" from the back of the room.  Befuddled, she launched without thinking into a sea shanty about a parrot and his human, to the relative displeasure of the crowd and a grumble from the innkeeper.  Outside, Aelar overcame long odds and great personal turmoil to catch a pair of lightning bugs, one of which he immediately squashed while putting into a pouch for keepsies.  To Damaia's great delight, Kyla practiced transforming into an adorably tabby cat, albeit one with stubby little legs, and the two played together for a few minutes while watching Aelar trip over his own feet chasing lightning bugs.

As they were getting ready to turn in for the night, more of the town children ran into the inn, chasing each other and playing at fighting with their corn dolls.  The group learned that the town had been seemingly overrun with the things since a peddler had come through several days prior and sold them to virtually all the children. 

"FIRE! FIRE!" voices cried out in the night long after the group had settled in to sleep.

Stepping out into the night, they were quickly recruited into a bucket brigade bringing water from the large fountain at the town center to a smaller house tucked several hundred feet off at the edge of the woods.  They found a modest one-story house engulfed in flames, the owners huddled with their child a short distance away.  Upon hearing the child crying about his lost doll, Sir Thomas, who protected him, Damaia valiantly charged into the burning house.

 
Wading through smoke and ash, she managed to find a few small, charred pieces of the cornhusk doll near the foot of one of the larger beds, and brought it out to the child before rejoining the brigade.  Over the next hour or so as the town worked to put out the fire, both Naivara and Kaladan stopped to inspect the area for magical auras, and both felt a faint sense of something magically sinister coming from the boy's hands.

As the fire was finally put out, and the townsfolk returned to their beds, our gang was left by the ruined house alone.  Upon further inspection, they found a small strongbox under one of the larger beds.  The lock was scratched, and one corner had been pried open.  In a burst of strength, Kaladan tore the lid from the box, scattering the small handful of copper pieces that remained inside.  Exhausted and confused, they all went back to sleep for the evening, and awoke the next morning, eager to continue to Fallcrest City.

Heading downstairs, Merla negotiated with the tavern keeper's young son Lief to trade his own cornhusk doll for a bone flute of hers.  He agreed, on the condition that first she give him a few hours of lessons on the flute, then he would give her the doll.  While Merla patiently taught the young boy, Kaladan, Aelar, and Kyla retrieved their gear from the blacksmith, all in good working order, and purchased a few miscellaneous items from her as well.  They stopped briefly in to see Elel as well, again purchasing this and that, and Kaladan obtained a small pouch of unknown contents.

At the Town Watch, Naivara was attempting to negotiate a fair and amicable bribe with Orin, a dwarven functionary that served as gatekeeper for the Watchmaster.  Quickly overcome with frustration, Damaia grabbed the dwarf, lifted him bodily off the ground, and shook the living daylights out of the creature until he relented.  Eager to have them on their way, Orin scurried off and returned with a map, shooing them out of the building with all haste.

After inspecting their new map, they returned to the inn to pick up Merla, who had by now completed her trade and received a doll in kind.  Naivara took it, and upon closer inspection of this intact specimen, immediately identified it as an evil possessed totem, used to carry out task for a master, and could even be crafted to contain small spells.  Merla nonchalantly tucked the possessed demon cornbaby into her pouch and named it Horace.

Apparently done with this small town, and unconcerned about the dozens of remaining possessed dolls, our group set off down the road toward Fallcrest City.

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Ending Day: 11th of Lowsun

Episode 03 - A Dark Rift

Beginning Day: 8th of Lowsun

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Seeing the flash in the night, our adventurers set off back toward town, the light growing steadily in the sky as they went.  Upon arrival, they found that rather than coming from the central stone, as they had thought, only a thin silvery line of mist rose from the stone that bent in the direction of the south eastern stone, the only other whose flocks had not yet been devastated.  As they moved through town, Gorm was in the process of pointing the way back toward the stone they had just left, angrily attempting to send the high-elf Wizard Naivara Nailo in their direction, her having just arrived in town as well.  Joining the group without much question, the team, now six in number, set off once more in the direction of the far stone.  It was now well past midnight, but as they approached, a pulsing light lit the area brighter and brighter.

When they crested the last hill, they were greeted with the sight of what appeared to be a jagged rift in the air, hanging above the stone, and filled with a black void.  Below the rift, a robed male Wizard struggled with a beam of light he had aimed at the rift itself, and was surrounded by three more wolves, as well as two men matching the description of Cassius and Doran.  The men and wolves inched closer to the Wizard, and Cassius let loose an arrow at the man, which he narrowly dodged.  The light dimming slightly as he pulled his attention away, the Wizard slammed his staff to the ground, throwing the men and creatures back a dozen paces.

"Assist me," he bellowed at the group.  With another slam of his staff upon the ground, the group felt a wave of healing energy wash over them, energizing them for the fight to come.  With that, the Wizard turned his attention fully back to his beam of light, which strengthened once more, and our heroes charged into the fray.

Aelar held Cassius at bay, trading arrows with the bowman at range, while his companions engaged the wolves and Doran with his staff at close range, noting that Doran's eyes were entirely consumed by a black void.  Naivara, in a burst of arcane fury, unleashed a devastating blast of fire that incinerated one of the wolves where it stood.  The remaining foes fell one by one, distracted each in turn by the cutting rebukes of Merla's wit, and each time an oily black film stretching first off of them and being sucked up into the rift before eventually falling to the group.  After they dispatched the last wolf while it attempted to flee, the team moved to the now unconscious Cassius and Doran, free from the dark influence that had held them, and stabilized them.  A short while later, the Wizard cried aloud and slammed his staff upon the ground once more, a final burst of white light impacting the rift which slammed shut.  The faint glow from the stone faded, and the Wizard collapsed in relief against it.

When he had caught his breath, he woodenly thanked the gathered adventurers for their aid, and identified himself as Alidar, High Wizard of Fallcrest City.  Before they could pepper him with further questions, he regained his composure, muttered a few words about notifying the Wizard's Council and for them to visit him in Fallcrest City, and took to the air, flying off to the south east.  Perplexed, but exhausted, Damaia and Kaladan hauled the unconscious farmers onto their shoulders, and the group made its way back to town, where it seemed the entire countryside had gathered, reacting to the lights and shockwaves in the night.  They were greeted with accolades, food, and drink, and then promptly ignored as the townsfolk tended to their wounded kin.

In the morning, Gorm stumbled in and provided a sack of gold that had been provided as payment for their deeds, and promptly departed, his job done.  Percival as well bid them farewell, saying his was off to find a piece of eight, and jogging in Kaladan's mind the memory of a, in hindsight, remarkably familiar looking stone a distance out into the lake he had been fishing in not long ago.  Although they were all looking right at him, no one could remember seeing Percival leave them; he simply wasn't there any longer. Gathering their things, and deciding to set off in the direction of Fallcrest City to find Alidar, and answers.  Rather than taking the direct road that led first north through Newford before joining the main road, they took a detour back to their old campsite.  Although it was nearing dark when they arrived, Merla and Kaladan spotted what looked like a stone standing in the lake a distance off.  Our heroes carefully checked the surroundings for blights, before heading to bed.

In the morning, they awoke rested, energized, and enlightened from the activities of the previous days, having gained significant experience, and grown as individuals.  Although they had known each other for less than an eightday, they were already forming bonds of friendship.

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Ending Day: 10th of Lowsun

Episode 02 - Arrival in Standing Stone

Beginning Day: 7th of Lowsun

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Our adventurers rise with the sun, awakening shaken but otherwise intact following the events of the prior evening.  The small fire of the night before burned out, and with it the bulk of the Vine Blight they had used as fuel out of spite.  With Aelar once again mobile, if not healed, they set off through the forest and emerged on the other side without further incident.  They once again reached a crossroads a few Ks outside of the village, where the path become a far more well-traveled, hard-packed dirt road in both directions.  By midday they had arrived into the village center, a collection of a few single-story buildings and a two-story inn surrounding a singular, large and unnaturally smooth stone jutting nearly twenty feet into the air.

After bothering a poor dwarf at one of the dwellings, they were given the extraordinarily complicated directions of walking across the way to the inn, where they were greeted by the owner, Thea Farlight.  Waiting inside, and well into his cups, they met the dwarf Gorm, Emissary of the Earl of Fallcrest City, and Damaia, a tiefling Fighter who had also answered the call for aid.  Kayla attempted to make friends in her own way by crafting a flower for the dwarf, which was immediately placed in the alms box Kaladan insistently shoved under the Emissary's nose.

Over a lunch and some light day drinking, our band of heroes, now numbering five strong, learned that over the past weeks, something had been slaughtering the herds of Rowntree Sheep that called the six standing stones that flanked the town center home.  To make matter's worse, two of the local farmers, Doran Brook and Cassius Morningfall had gone missing several nights prior while standing watch over the flock of Berinon Farlight, the town having banded together in an attempt to protect the remaining flocks.

Gorm provided a map of the area, and they set out for the Farlight farm, directly north of the town after the dwarf assured himself they would return before dark.

Upon arrival, they find Berinon standing watch over the decaying corpses of his flock.  Upon careful inspection, Kayla determined that the wounds were consistent with a wolf attack, but that a dark power lingered around the injuries.  One by one, each of our heroes inspected the stone around which the attack had occurred, each concluding that it did indeed curve at the top to point directly toward the town, and that it was unnaturally smooth.  Aelar used Kaladan as a step stool, and deftly climbed to the top of the rock, where he confirmed that it, too, was quite smooth.  The light fading, they headed back to the Gilded Lamb to bed down for the night.

Gorm immediately grabbed a tankard and left to sleep in the barn.  Rather than head to bed, our band settled in for a few more drinks after briefly accosting the inn keeper's son, Geth, who had been conversing with the only other occupant of the room.  Learning only that the stones had always kept the trees away, they eventually let Geth go, and turned their attention to the stranger, a modestly handsome, black haired and sharp-featured human named Percival.  Although a long, thin silver sword hung at his waist, he professed to be a simple bard.  He and Merla entertained them with sea shanties long into the night, while he and Aelar danced upon the tables.

When morning finally came, our band enlisted Gorm's aid once more to lead them to one of the two remaining farms that had not yet been attacked, that of Jade Morningfall, Cassius's sister to the north west.  They made their way to the stone, learning that the herds could not be easily kept away from the stones themselves, which were their preferred grazing grounds, and that the attacks always happened at night, so they weren't worried about the flock grazing here during the day.  Jade was outwardly unaffected by her brother's disappearance, reckoning he and Doran had simply been out tracking down whatever had killed the flock.

After inspecting this stone, and again confirming that yes, it was smooth, and yes, it pointed toward town, the group decided to wait until dark, to discover what was happening.  During their watch, Kaladan and Kayla observed a dense fog bank roll in from the north west, which stopped on the far side of the stone from them.  Kayla attempted to send some light into the fog, but all her magic stopped dead on the border.  Quite suddenly, the group was set upon by a trio of wolves emerging from the fog.  Each wolf seemed to be far hardier than they would have thought for a time, although eventually, a thin film of darkness would seep off the animals and stretch off behind them seemingly into infinity.  After dealing with two of the animals, the last was slain in mid-leap right next to the stone, its blood splattering over the rock.

Black light immediately began to glow from the blood, and smoke rose from the stone where it was hit.  The fog vanished in a blink, and there was an impact to the air - thunder, without sound.  In the far distance, toward the village, an explosion of pulsing light lit the horizon.

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Ending Day: 8th of Lowsun

Episode 01 - A Beginning

Beginning Day: 6th of Lowsun, 2566th Year of the 4th Age

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Our journey begins at a crossroads.  Aelar, a half-elf Rogue journeys to the isolated hamlet of Standing Stone, responding to a general call posted in neighboring cities and towns for adventurous spirits to lend martial aid to the small village.  At a crossroads, he meets the Halfling Bard Merla,  well into her second century, who is on a personal quest to sample the famous Rowntree Lamb raised and produced exclusively in the region around Standing Stone. Exported (at exorbitant prices) throughout the Fey Coast, few who can afford to indulge in the delicacy have a mind (or the constitution) to undertake the long journey through the relatively untamed wilds to sample the cuisine at its source.  Aelar stops to join Merla as they get to know one another over a lunch of travel rations.  While eating, the Druid Kyla, hair a tangled mess of leaves and twigs, comes into view, responding to a specific summons, seeking her aid by name.  

After a short while, the three agreed to make the remainder of the journey together, and set off on the old, and disused looking road.  Not much farther past the crossroads where they met, the road quickly became overgrown, with only a few wagon ruts to mark the way as it headed into a denser forest.  Distracted by, and frankly trying to avoid, the company of her new fellows, Kyla briefly lost her way in the woods, before being found by her companions.  As the night grew long, the three decided to set up camp in a small clearing that contained the remnants of an old fire.  While attempting to gather some dry wood nearby, Kyla was ambushed by a Thorn Blight, while a larger humanoid Vine Blight attacked Aelar and Merla back at the campfire.  Although they fought valiantly, they were caught of guard, and the battle had begun to go poorly when out of the darkness a towering dragonborn Paladin crashed into the fray, bellowing the name of his God Bahamut, and obliterating the Thorn Blight with a swing of his might morningstar.  The four then turned their attention to the Vine Blight, dispatching the creature and pinning its remains to a nearby tree, but not before Aelar was knocked unconscious.

Through shear power of devotion to Bahamut, the Kaladan the Paladin, who it turned out had been fishing at a nearby lake and heard the commotion, stabilized Aelar, who then recovered slowly throughout the night.  Our ragtag band of adventurers now numbered four, and night came and went without further incident.

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Ending Day: 7th of Lowsun, 2566th Year of the 4th Age