Chapter 8 - The Forest of Troubles

General Summary

The party, now having the rescued Princess Durkavna-Natalia with them, began to walk around the mountain into a canyon to find their way back to their horses. Yet the canyon had troubles, with the party being stalked by Winter Wolves. The Wolves would confront the party, with their alpha, Silas, telling the party they were intruding on the giant Snefnug's territory upon the mountain. Aldric presented proof that they had actually killed the dragon Gorgek, doing a great service for the giant, but the wolves still wished to bring them into questioning. However, Charles continued to run his mouth toward the Wolves, not wishing to be arrested, and the Wolves started to try and knock him out. Saphira tried to use the spell silence on Charles, but this only caused more problems. This incited a fight.
The party killed the Winter Wolves, but they realized this would cause more problems with the giant. Thus they fled further into the canyon, coming into a forest. However, after travelling for a few minutes, they realized they were walking in a fey forest. Aldric used Detect Magic and realized they fell into another illusion forest again. And with the Shaman of Winter gone, they had to figure it out themselves on how to escape. The party searched the forest, eventually finding a stone with complex runes placed upon it. Aldric knew how to read these runes, and read the inscription:

Read the stone aloud

To annoy the one in the cloud

March around the stone thrice

And what will happen is nice.

Aldric obeyed. Following the instructions, the party was suddenly met with the Arch-Fey, Bghonah, who greeted them by asking for a peanut butter granola bar. Out of thin air, Charles handed him one. The party was bewildered how this happened, but Bghonah simply replied that their reality was purely imaginary so odd things can happen if they appease an "omniscient body" governing them. Saphira then remembered back to her elf father's fairy tales, warning her of a "Sinelveh" who wanted to be fed sweets and trick unfortunate mortals. Unfortunately, Charles gave him one. Now the party had a load of trouble on their hands, as an impasse came: they didn't want to deal with the fey, but they also could not escape the forest on their own.
So the party dealt with Bghonah, who told them to plant some magical beans to annoy a local cloud giant. Bghonah then left their presence. The party planted the beans, creating three huge bean stalks for them to climb. Charles climbed the beanstalk and managed to see the ruins of Strynovo where they parked their horses. Saphira then climbed up with him. Charles proposed using the stalk to bend them down to the ruins, but Saphira warned him that it would sling shot them the opposite direction. The two then came down with the information of direction. Aldric then left a mark on one of the beanstalks and used his magic Driftglobe to go in a straight line in the direction they needed to go, trying to escape the forest by following an object with no senses.
Bghonah, sensing they were cheating their way out of his deal, confronted them again in much annoyance. He threatened the party that he would sic Yeth Hounds upon them if they did not obey him. The party tried to bargain out of the deal, but Bghonah was relentless. Finally, the party decided to summon the giant down instead of going up. Saphira called to the giant using thaumaturgy. Bghonah was angered and fled, leaving the party to die. Indeed, the Cloud Giant Snefnug began to descend down the giant beanstalk. The party tried to tell her that Bghonah was messing with them, but the giantess did not believe them, and tried to attack them.
Aldric got an idea, however: summon Bghonah back as proof. He began to summon the fey back as Charles, Saphira, and Princess Durkavna distracted the giantess. Charles and Saphira fought valiantly and the Princess began to shoot lightning bolts from her hands, but evidently the giantess began to overwhelm them. As Saphira and Charles were knocked out, Aldric finished the summoning, and Bghonah suddenly appeared. "I hate you," Bghonah said, as the giantess suddenly saw the malevolent fey. The giantess stopped her attacks and began to chase Bghonah for his annoyance. Bghonah left the forest, destroying the illusion.
Snefnug then turned back to the party, thanking them for ridding the forests of Strynovo of such an annoyance. She gifted them a Ring of Jumping as thanks, and then cleared the way through the forest to return to their horses. The party returned to the ruins, took a long rest, and then began to travel back to Fenebach in a hurry since the fey wasted their precious time.

Character(s) interacted with

• Bghonah - The Archfey, who tried to ensnare the party in his trickery. Unfortunately for him, the party managed to outwit him before they could be destroyed at the hands of a cloud giant.

• Snefnug, a Cloud Giantess who was angered with the weather being changed. She doesn't like the crown of Icenglav, but she hated Bghonah's meddling even more. She claimed the region of Strynovo as her own territory.

Date (in world)

December 17th, 5699.

Report Date

12 Jul 2020

Giantess by Wood-Illustration

Bghonah tried to lure the party to sure destruction by annoying a cloud giant named Snefnug, but he was ultimately foiled by the party's cunning.

Player Characters

Charles Mane is a human fighter of noble birth, hailing from the Kingdom of Goth. However, because of his lazy lifestyle, his family hates him, including his scheming uncle. Now in his 50's, he is now on a quest for glory.

Saphira is a half-elf life cleric, devoted to the mercy of Cardia. She finds herself on a quest to help the people of Icenglav to extend care to those who seek it.

Aldric Gemcutter, a gnome artificer from Avenve, finds himself looking for new inventions and ideas. He now travels in Icenglav to discover new possibilities, and uncover the secrets hidden beneath the snow.