Session 16
General Summary
Family Smalltalk
As the party started to wake up, Idris was greeted by Flameo Hotman who claimed "They're here." Understanding the message, Idris inquired more about those who might be here only to be told that they are safe, but they're not all together.Ahrieya woke up early, grabbed Gio and ran off into the woods. She told him that they need to get along because Gio's mom and Idris both said they need to. Gio explained he was skeptical at first of her, and still a bit so, but never truly disliked her, and did consider her a friend. He simply didn't want to expose that information around the Battlehands, as he seems to show a great amount of distrust towards them. One day they show up at Gio's house, the next moment the creature they're hunting destroys everything and takes Gio's family. When Ahrieya said she got magical ink from Talma, Gio said it was strange; she usually doesn't give things like that out for free.
On the road to the winery, Zarah moved alongside Idris. Apparently she thinks he looks cool, and bummed a cigarette off of him, talking about family and forgiveness. He doesn't have his parents anymore, so be thankful for the family you have left. But what monster would abandon their family and only leave a note?
Talma and Ariadne talked briefly. The Battlehand mother said that Ariadne reminded her of someone, perhaps her daughter Zarah when she was younger, but didn't seem to explain past that. After cleaning Ariadne up a bit, Talma said its important to keep that sunny disposition when in this place. Ariadne said that she raised Gio well, and that he'll come around to the Battlehands eventually. Talma scoffed and reminded her of how he reacted when he saw them; that boy is never coming back.
Grapes of Wrath
The party approached the winery to see the fields and ground overrun with strange plant growths and humanoid plant-like figures. A hooded figure nearby beckoned them over towards the woods. As Ahrieya and Nova approached, Ariadne sent a message. Apparently this person has been keeping tabs on them, and warned them about going into the winery. Ahrieya, stating they were on a time crunch, said they were here to help the winery, and asked the hooded man who introduced himself as Adrian Martikov. He reluctantly agreed, and after a bit of discussion as to the game plan, a whole family of people came out of the woods. The old man, Davian Martikov, appears to be the leader and patriarch of the family. He explained that some forest folk have been tormenting the winery for some time now, and around two weeks ago they had gotten much more aggressive. Before things got too bad, he had the family evacuate the winery as the forest folk took over.Davian, along with another individual Muriel Vinshaw, explained that the plant creatures around the winery respond to sound and sight, though mostly through sound. Upon having Viggo fly about the vineyard, it seemed to catch the attention of the blights. Ahrieya and Ariadne, through silencing and invisibility, managed to sneak by the blights undetected, and went into the winery to investigate.
Moving into a room with many large vats of wine, Ahrieya saw a multitude of small groups of twig creatures now known as baby groots, along with a tall, thin individual spewing green mist into the vats of wine as two humanoid individuals stood beside them with empty glass vials next to them, adjacent to the wine. Ravens with sickly yellow glowing eyes rested in the rafters of the room. After a quick message, the party rejoined and attacked the forest folk as the Battlehands moved to flank around them (though the flank would prove unsuccessful).
Possessed Vintage
As a fight ensued, Nova decimated the small groups of twig blights as Ahrieya and Ariadne harried the spooky figure from afar. Gio knocked one of the druid down the balcony and straight to their death by Nova, and Idris baned the more threatening figures only to have it come back and bite him in the ass as it managed to stop the spooky creature from hitting itself.Little by little, the threats were vanquished as Ariadne awakened her inner psychopath and stabbed the spooky entity with some kitchen knives. With this entity defeated, they dropped their black wooden staff as the Battlehands came in from one of the entryways looking a bit worse than before. Ahrieya locked herself in the kitchen to determine what it is as Ariadne explored the rest of the rooms, taking a plush ebony horse from a toy chest which turned out to be a now priceless Blinsky original.
Ahrieya determine that the staff, known as the Gulthias Staff, controlled the plant-like blights around the vineyard, and if it was destroyed would kill them as well. As she casted silence in order to control what could hear the breaking of the staff, Gio took it outside and snapped it quite easily over his knee. At that moment, all the creatures screeched before perishing. As the staff was shattered, Nova's vein burst in her arm causing significant pain. Ahrieya healed her, having the vein reform in Nova's arm.
Gio and Nova explored the cellar of the winery trying to follow a druid which escaped the fight earlier. Going downstairs, finding it ice cold, the duo found nothing out of the ordinary. When revisited by Ariadne, Ahrieya, Idris, and Ireena, the party found a secret door in the basement which led to another large group of ravens baring sickly yellow eyes as a familiar burlap sacked enemy stood menacingly before a glowing idol of a raven amongst barrels and barrels of wine.
The Gardener has returned...
Report Date
27 Nov 2022
Related Characters
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments