Session 15, The Spirit of the Forest is Under Attack

“I wonder if boots of the Elvenkind are really made out of Elves?”
 
Really? Did you just ask that? “No,” I interject. “Of course they aren’t! That’s like saying a Dwarven Axe is made from a Dwarf.” First of all, Dwarfs don’t have nearly enough iron in their bodies to forge the head of the axe, let alone hardwood to fashion the handle. Why are we even talking about this?
 
OK, let’s catch you up. We had been cycling through several doors in search of a vile necromancer. We had been using a tavern as a place to rest in between. After we rest, Eowyn performs her song of the Ancients that strengthens us, and we set out into the tunnels. There, you are all caught up.
 
Eowyn asks Julia, “Do you want to be more Catlike or Wise?”
 
Julia notes that she is already wearing Boots of the Elvenkind (which we’ve already established are not made of Elves), prompting the above conversation. Then she thinks about it, and states, “I would rather look first.”
 
Julia leads us into the tunnels, and we can tell that several areas of the tunnel look as if they were burrowed. Eowyn then decides that Julia definitely needs to become smarter. “Are you ready to become smarter, Julia?” as she casts Fox’s Cunning onto Julia. Julia then decides to cast Psychic Whispers on the party and mentally links us. Crap! Now everyone can hear my thoughts. What will they think if I think something inappropriate? Wait, let’s experiment with this! I send Julia a message in Sylvan. She understands… Cool! Then I send her a message in Inferno. OK, there’s a reasonable chance she speaks Sylvan, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t speak Inferno. She still understands! And… it appears I have to actually intend to send her the message. This isn’t the first time Julia has mentally linked people, but it is the first time I’ve been in the conversation (See Session 13 Journal).
 
As we continue exploring, the tunnel descends and branches. Yes, it is definitely burrowed out. That means something big did the burrowing… crap! Julia then messages that she hearings clawing and scraping… double crap! As this is happening, Eowyn says that this is an opportunity for Will or Temerity to show their stuff. I think she means to use Speak with Animals or something like that. Will has shown much better skill with handling animals than I ever have. I don’t normally prepare the spell Speak with Animals… that is Will’s forte. Eowyn speculates that a Froghemeth is the likely thing that we might encounter. A Froghemeth doesn’t sound like an animal to me.
 
Suddenly, something attacks! It is really big. I can’t see it around the corner. Eowyn shouts out, “This is a monstrosity, and it has a gem in its forehead!” I hear Eowyn get off a shocking grasp. I see Julia attack with her psychic blades. I move in to engage…
 
Wait. Am I supposed to attack? I see Julia… is that really Julia? Why is everyone so frantic? There is something big there, am I supposed to attack it. More electricity… well, is it electricity? I am so confused!
 
And then I hear something with clarity. Julia is telling us to not look at the creature. I keep my eyes pointed at the floor and look at the creature’s feet. They are clawed with legs looking like the belong to a creature with carapace for skin, like a giant insect. Clearly an aberration, but this one burrows and confuses people. Let’s Thorn Whip it.
 
Eowyn withdraws and casts Bless on us while she moves ahead in the tunnels. I can’t see Vardai, but Vardai is further back on the other side of the creature. Then I hear more commotion as a second creature, which Eowyn is telling us are called Umber Hulks, attacks exactly where Eowyn retreated to.
 
Eowyn is in trouble, but this first Umber Hulk is still tearing through us. I hit it again with a Thorn Whip, and the thorns wrap around its neck, breaking it. I can hear its carapace tear in a sickening manner. I run down the passageway to engage that second Umber Hulk standing over Eowyn.
 
It is me and Eowyn staring down (eyes averted, of course) the second creature. Will and Julia are still coming around the corner. I think Vardai is taking the long way around, as she was cut off by the first Umber Hulk. Eowyn then retreats. She left me!
 
It attacks. Its mandibles cut through my armor. I can feal my ribs cracking. I react instinctively with a Hellish Rebuke, which doesn’t seem to affect the Umber Hulk much. It hits me again with its claws. Ouch! Another one of those and I am done for.
 
Pffpht! Pffpht! Two of Will’s arrows connect with it. I can’t hear Julia’s psychic blades, as they are deadly silent, but I can feel the Umber Hulk flinch as they hit it. Eowyn is casting something in the background, and I then start casting. Burning Hands! It doesn’t do much, but any damage counts. We have to drop this thing before it hits me again. I summon Ember, and Ember hits the Umber Hulk with a Flame Seed.
 
Now, with Ember in the mix, the Umber Hulk has a second target. It attacks Ember with a fury; the damage Ember takes dematerializes her and she returns to her primal plane. The others continue attacking; I bring out a Flaming Sphere. Finally, Julia drops it with her psychic blades.
 
Crap, that hurt. Eowyn retrieves the gem from the first Umber Hulk, while I eat ten goodberries. They definitely taste good, but I hurt too bad to enjoy them. As I eat the goodberries, I feel my cuts closing and my ribs mending. Of course, I am all dusty and dirty and coated in dried blood, which the goodberries can’t fix, but I am alive.
 
We rest for a bit. Eowyn identifies the gem as a Stone of Good Luck. After some debate, we decide that Eowyn should carry it. I am not sure exactly how the Luckstone works, but things just seem to go slightly better for the person possessing it. In a tavern game, the dice might fall in just the right way. When dodging an attack, the wind might blow in just the right way to make your dodge successful. I would really like one… it would make me a much more effective adventurer.
 
After a bit, we continue on. The tunnels give way to constructed stonework. We are clearly in some sort of a dungeon. The place looks like a door ahead, with symmetrical passages to the left and right. The door ahead looks sealed.
 
After a short debate, something along the lines of “Adventurers always go left,” we decide to go left. Julia scouts up ahead and finds a trap. There’s a chain in the wall behind a panel that Julia pops off. The trap can’t be disarmed, but maybe we can jam it. I suggest using a crowbar to put the chain in a position to keep the blades from slicing us, and then using the immovable rod to hold it in place. Fortunately, Eowyn has a crowbar and Vardai is strong enough for the task. As we continue down the passageway, the immovable rod holds! Well, of course it holds, it immovable! No, I don’t know how it works… it’s magic.
 
OK, here’s my best take on how magic items work. Typically, you start with a finely-crafted mundane item. It doesn’t have to be finally crafted, but would you rather enchant a pattern-forged Damascus steel blade or some off-balance reforged apprentice-worked blade? Of course, just the act of enchanting the item improves its craftsmanship, but not significantly. An enchanted blade will become better balanced and lighter, with a sharper edge. Sometimes, special properties can be imbued, such as channeling the spells of a spellcaster, or doing some sort of elemental damage, such as fire damage. Hmmm, fire damage would be good! I think when a weapon does elemental damage, it opens a rift to an elemental plane, such as the Elemental Plane of Fire, and exposes the target to that place for a very brief instant. Maybe I’m wrong. So… how does an item get enchanted to begin with? I’ve heard old tales of a caster, usually a wizard, giving some of her power to enchant the item (Players Handbook 3.5 Item Creation feat rules (various pages), crafters spent experience points to craft items). The wizard would spend some of his or her talent and plenty of gold to infuse her magic into the item, making it magical. But then the wizard would have to go study and practice to regain her talent. Legend also has it the items can become magical through deeds. A mighty warrior winning a heroic victory can imbue magic into her sword through the glory of her exploits on the battlefield. Even I have the ability to craft minor magic items. Using my herbalism skills, I can brew a Potion of Healing. It does take me a day and some gold, but I can do it.
 
Let me get back to the story. The immovable rod is not moving, and we safely go down the passageway. We see a well. As we look down into the well, it is pretty dark and hard to see. Eowyn drops a torch down as I crank the handle – rope mechanism to bring the bucket up. I think we just unlocked a secret passage! Julia thinks she sees something down in the well and casts Mage Hand to bring it up. I cast Detect Magic while Eowyn does an Identify ritual. We find out we have Illusionist Bracers… cool!
 
We walk back the way we came from. Sure enough, the door that was sealed is now open, with another door behind it. We see insects looking like they are fleeing something. Then we see a mole also acting strange. Will casts Speak with Animals and addresses the mole. The mole tells Will something like the Spirit of the Forest is in trouble, and all of the animals are responding. According to the mole, there’s a dragon, and the mole has to see the dragon so that the Spirit of the Forest can see it.
 
Eowyn suggests that I transform into an animal to see if I can hear the forest spirit. I do… I wild shape into an ocelot. Seems like a good animal since I studied one just the other day at the tavern. I immediately hear, “Urgent! My Arrows have been attacked. Find the dragon.” It is not as if someone is speaking to me using their voice, but I hear it nonetheless.
 
“Temerity, where are you?” I recognize the call as being from Lavani. If you recall, Lavani is the fey mayor of Montsilt. I also think “Arrows” refers to the group Ardelis’ Arrows, which is a small group of Rangers and Hunters that protect the region from threats. Then I learn from the voice that the village of Pale Gear has been attacked, and many villagers have been lost.
 
I revert back to my normal form and tell the party what is going on. We continue exploring. I suspect if we take the passage to the right, there will be another unlock mechanism for the second set of doors. Julia finds another trap. We find a big stone, and Vardai throws the stone to trigger the trap. Of course, there is another well that we are able to crank to unlock the second set of doors.
 
We walk around into the now open area. It is a large room filled with treasure. Almost… as if it is a dragon’s hoard. A corpse lays on the flood, dead from large claw slashes. Vardai seems to go into some sort of a trance, like she is having visions again. We hear a loud chuckle coming from the opposite corner in the room.
 
Eowyn says to the voice making the chuckle, “I am Eowyn, Sage of the Library, here on an academic mission from the Library.”
 
Then a dragon discloses itself, a large green dragon. We hear it respond, “Puny Sages, you have little chance!” Then it breathes its poison breath.
 
Eowyn goes down. Julia gets hit hard. Will and I are out of its range. Vardai isn’t responding, but she’s not down either. I don’t have the ability to call Ember, but I do have most of my spells left. The dragon seems eager to tear through us. We’ve got this.