2023-09-26 Kazzin Forest Ruins
Player Characters
- Ivan
- Hedera
- Arkenciel
- Mac
- Fredrin
Summary
Ivan visited the Celestial Study to meet Quasar. Quasar told him that Tarhun was out at the moment, and tasked Ivan with exploring some ruins believed to lie in the Kazzin Forest. Ivan agreed to follow the directions and look for it.
The other members of the party convened in Salmund for their own purposes. Upon meeting Ivan, they agreed to search for the ruins for the reward that Quasar had offered.
Mack visited the marketplace to slink around, and pickpocketed an elf spice merchant.
Mack tried to negotiate with Grillev for cheaper studded leather, but the dwarven smith refused.
Arkenciel used her biomancy to enhance Fredrin's bow.
The party left town towards the Kazzin Forest. Night fell as they reached the forest edge, and they set up camp just inside. That night, Hedera heard a wolf pack howling from somewhere in the distance.
The next day, they continued into the forest. Ivan led the party using Quasar's directions.
They nearly stepped into some hunting traps: bear traps and roped nets were hidden among the brush to catch game.
A short time later, the PCs heard wolves howling nearby. They retreated to where the traps were. Just then, the wolves approached from between the trees to attack.
- Ivan put one to sleep.
- Arkenciel used her magic gecko skeleton to back one of them into a trap.
- Hedera struck down a wolf with a stale breadloaf.
- After the fight, Fred tenuously tamed the trapped wolf, which followed behind the party as they continued.
They came across Aradince's Hovel.
They met the two nothics who lived there. They sated the nothics by offering them wolf meat. The nothics scanned some members of the party, learning personal facts about them:
- Arkenciel missed Hyacinth, the fellow shadar-kai she had marched to the surface world beside.
- Hedera stole her famous cookie recipe from someone else, but took the credit for it.
The nothics cryptically mentioned these facts to each character, and each PC denied them.
Hedera offered the nothics some bread. They didn't like it, but began to use it to try to catch rats nesting within the ancient stone building.
On the way out, Hedera took a moment to appraise the stonework and design of the building. She realized that its lack of windows or ventilation would make it a poor home, and that it might have served some other purpose. The PCs walked back in to look around. The place seemed to have a more ritualistic purpose, like a temple.
Another night passed in the forest.
The next day, the party saw some a camp with some elves ahead. They attempted to sneak up on them, but the elves heard them.
The lead elf, Naviel, bid them greetings. During the conversation, she mentioned how the Beast had disappeared, and the forest seemed to be safe once again.
Mack warned Naviel about the "Wilderbeast", a dangerous monster with the body of a snake, the front paws of a tiger, the head of a rabbit, a long neck, and the back hooves of a stag. The elves were frightened by the image.
Naviel warned the party of corruption and blighted spirits that they had seen in the forest ahead, and cautioning them to avoid the area.
The party continued on, and found the scene of some dark ritual. Blights animated from the plants nearby, and the party easily dispatched them from a distance. The blights were decorated with blond hairs, noses, teeth, and goatees taken from humanoids.
Arkenciel determined that someone had attempted to animate some kind of effigy and failed, corrupting the spirits in the area. The party found a staff of the adder and some rations and coin.
The party arrived at the area where the ruins were believed to be located, but did not see anything. They spent some time searching, and discovered dilapidated stone ruins of an old village hidden by moss, shrubbery, and kudzu.
As they pushed their way through the green curtain, they saw an ogre wearing a blond wig sitting on a stone dais in the middle of the village, holding what looked like an old book. The ogre used it as a tissue.
They began to form a plan. Mack snuck his way around some buildings to get closer. However, the ogre began to tear pages out of the book, and the party stepped in to get its attention and stop it.
The PCs asked the ogre for the book. He laughed, realizing they wanted it, and began to demand gold and meat in exchange for it. Each time they prepared to attack or cast a spell, the ogre threatend to destroy the time-weakened journal.
Mack stepped out from hiding, and offered to be the ogre's lunch in exchange for the book. The ogre began to ask for more, but Mack assertively commanded him to make the trade. Thork, the ogre, obeyed, walking over to Mack and dropping the book onto the dirt.
The party burst into action. They pelted the ogre with arrows and cantrips from a distance while he tried to attack Mack, who grabbed the book and dodged the ogre around the town. Finally, the big beast collapsed onto the ground, dead.
Hedera cast comprehend languages to read the ancient journal, which was written in the ancient alphabet language by Vak.
They searched the overgrown ruined houses, and found two more ancient journals in the constellation language.
Fredrin followed a clue in one journal and collected a red primal crystals hidden in a compartment in some old furniture. When he touched it, he was drawn into a dreamlike vision where he was a child in this village. He ran about looking for his mother and avoiding some mean neighbors until the vision ended.
Hedera, Ivan, and Mack each touched the crystal to experience the vision as well. They tried to cause mischief and experiment with the world within the vision, but could do little to influence it. Hedera couldn't quite relate to it, as she had never known what it was like to be a child. She was created as an adult during Origination.
The party spent the night camping in the old ruins.
The next morning, on their way back to Salmund, the party spotted a goblin with a fake blond goatee spying on them. They asked him about it, and he seemed proud of it. The goblin told them it was a gift from Dorothy Drippynose, a nice lady living in the forest farther north. He momentarily dropped the hair, then collected it and fled.
The PCs continued back to Salmund to collect their reward. The wolf accompanied Fredrin back to the edge of the town.
Documents found
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