2024-01-12 Swampy Street to the Spiritroots
Player Characters
- Arkenciel
- Magoo
- Furifuru
- Ferravax
- Derulo
Summary
The party started in Umethrynn and hired a male drow ferryman named Thelver.
They piled into a boat to cross Wath'rym Lake on the east side of Umethrynn.
Furi clung to the large lantern in the center of the boat. He ignored anyone else, fearing the deep, dark water.
Derulo tried to stab a quipper in the water, after attracting a school of them with his pan flute. One flopped onto the deck near Magoo.
Magoo messed with Arkenciel, who tried to push him into the water.
They sailed across the dark lake, spending a night floating in the empty darkness.
They walked the road to Plynthenar Village. They passed iridescent mushrooms and zurkhwoods, passing a signpost along the way.
They entered the seemingly abandoned gate of the silent town. Looking around, they did not see anyone present. Three bodies lay in the street, and the city's blue fungal lamps' lights were fading along the brick and wood buildings.
Ferravax found that the bodies were dead and diseased. She carefully took a crumpled note from one corpse. Magoo cautiously retrieved their gold.
Arkenciel investigated the records in the Hall of Healing, but found no mention of any notable recent outbreaks. Records cut off last September, just as suggested by the note.
Magoo found many footprints heading northward out of the town.
They searched the village for a while, finding a few items but no additional clues. Afterward, they rested in a tiny hut inside a building.
They continued north through the Swamp Tunnels and were attacked by a group of kuo-toa shouting how they "worshipped a false god". The PCs fought and defeated them.
Arkenciel recalled how the fishlike kuo-toa had would madly worship fabricated entities with such fervor that those entities would sometimes come to life.
They spared the kuo-toa archpriest. Arkenciel convinced it to show them the "true god", which it called "the stone". It led them through side tunnels for about 15 minutes, arriving at a kuo-toa colony.
They entered the colony. The Stone turned out to be a particularly symmetrical stalagmite within an atrium with a near-perfectly circular basin and dome.
The kuo-toa plotted to sieze the false god, pointing at Furifuru. They demand the party forfeit him as a sacrifice. Initiative was rolled.
During the fight, Furi casted major image, creating a gigantic version of himself. Many of the crazy fishfolk, mesmerized by the appearance of the great rabbit, surrendered and kneeled in supplication. The archpriest and warriors kept fighting, and the Stone came to life as an earth elemental. The imposing leporine "god" intimidated them into submission as the priest died, and the elemental shrunk until it lost its animation and turned back into stone. The warriors kneeled and donated the priest's epicenter shield to Furi.
The PCs departed and continued up the Swamp Tunnels, leaving behind a new fish cult revolving around Furifuru.
A couple days of travel later, they found a camp with a single corpse and multiple bedrolls in it, as well as signs of a struggle. The deep gnome body had been bitten by humanoid teeth.
Looking around, Arkenciel noticed corruption in the nearby stream, which should have contained magic from the Spiritroots upstream.
A weird voice reached out to Magoo, asking who was there. Crossing the river, the group saw a pink blob inside a pit, which spoke to them in a variety of voices. The gibbering mouther rose up, and a corrupted water elemental and some darkmantles joined it in combat.
The party defeated the monsters by grappling them into cloud of daggers and bonfire. They picked supplies out of the mouther's gooey remains.
They continued. Along the way, they encountered more kuo-toa. This group worshipped Furifuru immediately, however, as if they had already witnessed the glory of the rabbit god. The fishfolk excitedly led the party to a side path. The party followed to their colony.
The kuo-toa home contained a strange dilapidated metal hut with a chair inside. The archpriest rose from the chair, and all of them bowed to Furifuru, then welcomed him to approach.
Furi sat upon the chair. Levers and buttons were scattered around. One with a red primal crystal on the end of it was positioned next to the chair. As he pulled the lever, the party were whisked to another place and time.
The PCs were ghosts in the shared vision, and could not interact with the scene before them. A cluster of five of the metalhuts were circled together in a small cave lit by fungi, and four stout harengons just like Furi stood outside, arguing.
- The leader, Captain Kamafoli, was stating that Furifuru's plan was the best chance they had at survival. He tried to reason with the others by establishing his trust in each of their skills.
- One named Ludoneran argued against the plan, saying it was risky and made too many assumptions. She argued with the Captain, trying to stop the plan.
- One named Fleesa stood between them. When one would make a point, she would agree. The arguing exasperated her, and she became upset with the two of them.
- The last, named Fuzifon, was constructing the "escape pods". He worked quietly, and did not get involved.
- From the discussion, it seemed that these harengons knew Furifuru, and that he had hatched a plan to time travel. Their escape and survival depended on it working.
- Suddenly, their ears perked up: something dangerous was coming. The rabbitfolk fled.
- A horde of toothy monsters, led by a humanoid-shaped creature with too many arms, entered the site. Something strange happened: a sort of glitch in reality seemed to occur, and the PCs were suddenly real, surrounded by the monsters.
- They grappled and overwhelmed the multi-armed monstrosity while a plant growthed mushroom forest kept the small monsters at bay. The creatures left the PCs to hunt for their prey.
- After defeating the monsters that didn't flee, The PCs investigated the escape pods, finding them to resemble the one that had transported them here.
The party were automatically brought back to the present time and place. The kuo-toa looked at them expectantly; it seemed they had experienced the vision as well, hence their worship of the rabbit. Furi cheered, and the fishfolk cheered with him.
The PCs moved on, continuing through the winding wet swamp tunnels. After a few more days, they reached the deep gnome city of Smurkleton on the edge of the Spiritroots.
The guards at the front had strange forced smiles on their faces. Seeing Arkenciel, they began to insult her, referencing the shadar-kai's past history with illithid kind. Arkenciel shrugged off their insults, knowing she had nothing to do with her people's history. They begrudgingly admitted her along with the rest of the party.
The PCs explored the town. They visited Singing Steelworks, where the blacksmith told them that they were running out of stock of magic items. Apparently, the spirit magic flowing from up north was corrupted, and the town's primary craft of magic item construction was suffering for it. The blacksmith told them how the previous mayor, Lord Mossmunch, had died from an explosive accident while working in the spirit forge due to the recent corruption. He had been replaced by Lady Lightwaffle, who had decreed that everyone must smile at all times. The blacksmith blamed the shadar-kai for causing the corruption, since they lived farther north up Twinklenight River.
The party visited the magic item shop, which had a few new magical curios.
Travel was successfully established through the Swamp Tunnels.
Documents found
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