Session VIII - The Timeworn Forest
1st - 4th of Tororima, 560 AL
Having arrived in the forest of Thrahin, the party collects themselves after the fight with the trolls. Cornelius's staff of fire has quieted, complaining that his power is weakened here. The party begins their trek into the woods in the hope of reaching the banks of the Tal Kanna and heading east from there. Their map leads them true: when Astra flies above the trees to scout the landscape, they see four brilliant lakes to the north and a huge river to the south.
The next day is spent in travel; they walk along strange, squishy mosses that cover the entirety of the ground. It's as if almost no natural rock exists in this place. The party begins to notice signs of other life beyond the forest's creatures: boot-clad tracks trudge their way in deep lines through the moss. Soldier tracks.
They continue northward on the second day of travel, avoiding platoons of Thrahish soldiers that patrol the area. A nearby grot-tree provides a temporary refuge. It is a shrine to a deceased person of some note. A two-hundred-foot-tall gravestone. The party flies upwards, huddling in its awnings for safety and rest. They observe a single Zivil mage soldier utter a prayer to the tree before heading back to his platoon.
As the journey continues, the party eventually see a massive standing stone in the middle of a circular clearing. They approach it and see a small abandoned village that seems to have been attacked. Blood and body parts are strewn apart haphazardly. Massive chains have fallen slack against the standing stone. Something was imprisoned here; it has now escaped.
Seeing that the standing stone is a carved monument, Cornelius reads its message:
Flint alone sees a figure in the misty bog. A familiar old man draped in a dirty robe: Vedem. Flint chases him into the marshes and sees the god sitting by a pond with a small paper parcel next to him. The god gently invites the genasi to sit with him, opening the parcel to reveal a handful of lemon squares. Vedem offers Flint a lemon square, and they accept. The pair sit by the lake and begin to talk. Vedem tells Flint that the squares were made by Meliae, the goddess of banquets. She alone has the recipe. Since Meliae married "that one", referring to Flint's patron of fire, Vedem has not visited her much. "It's just quite overwhelming with the two of them", he says. Flint asks why he's here and Vedem gives him information about Thrahin. He tells Flint that the "rules" have been broken in this place. That Fate is like a silk screen that has been punctured in the absence of his brother Barathane, god of time. Monsters that were once chained have been set loose, including Vedem's own son: the god of plague and rot, Veda. Flint tells Vedem that they will watch over those threats. Vedem asks the genasi if they would like to make the oath to do so, and Flint agrees. The paladin takes the Oath of Watchers. Eldritch scriptures echo around the pair as Vedem imbues Flint with the powers of vigilance. Vedem ends his talk by mentioning that the wolves of the forest can be either allies or enemies and that Flint would "know by the form of them". Flint thanks him and Vedem departs deeper into the bog. The paladin rushes back to their party's camp and informs them of Vedem's appearance. The party partakes in some of the extra lemon bars.
After their rest, the five party members proceed deeper into the marshes on the trail of the wolves, which now have multiple distinct tracks among them. Further in, they reach their quarry.
A werewolf is feasting upon the remains of a dead direwolf as another direwolf circles the monstrosity, growling threateningly. The direwolf is noticeably injured while the werewolf is tremendously scarred but uninjured. The party understands that the werewolf is the malevolent force at work here. They attempt to ambush it but it sees them coming.
In a quick battle, the party's mages and mortars blast the werewolf to its death. During the fight, the remaining direwolf leaps at the corpse of its ally and drags it away, fleeing the battle immediately. As the party kills the werewolf, the reason for the wolf's fleeing becomes clear.
The werewolf slowly reanimates itself, drawing energy from the very ground beneath it. Mossy vines and thorns stitch the creature's organs back together as it rises from death. In this form, the werewolf is stronger and more durable than before. It gives the party some trouble but they are once again able to put it down.
This time, however, there is a deep thrumming beneath the ground. A fiery glow emanates from beneath the party's feet as the werewolf's charred body begins to move once more. The party flees just in time as a massive gout of fire and lava tear the ground asunder. An enormous blackened shape moves through the fire. A burning wolf's head sits thirty feet from the ground as flaming claws ravage the bog around it. The party escapes into the forests once more, away from the flames. The werewolf does not spot them again.
On the bloody trail of the direwolf, the party eventually finds it licking its wounds on a mossy rock. It introduces itself as Jorunn, a wolf bound by knightly code to the brood of the Grey Wolf. Jorunn thanks them for saving him. The party converses with the wolf and learns that that creature is one of several that have come unchained recently. It is only empowered further when it dies. The creature is effectively immortal.
Jorunn offers to take the party to his family in the Valley of Denouement. They agree, spending the next few days traveling with the direwolf. They assist in carrying the dead wolf, whose name was Eir. On the way they tell Jorunn of their true origin; they are Zivil soldiers sent to pave the way for an invasion in the forest. Jorunn tells them that he trusts the measure of their soul, but asks that they control their allies to as to not destroy the woods. They cannot swear to him that the troops will abide by it.
After several days, the group reaches the border of Lausang, a cliffside town on the Valley of Denouement. The valley stretches miles across a vast chasm of darkness perforated by bright birds and other flying creatures that catch the sunlight. Jorunn bids them farewell there, commencing a long climb down the valley with his companion's corpse in his jaws. At the village, a group of six gnomish guards in conical hats are seen assaulting a man in front of the village's entrance. Cornelius immediately teleports the man to the party to save him from the gnomes. The six gnomes rush straight at the party.
Take as you need. Give as you can. No robbers prosper.In reverence to the stone, each member of the party offers a tribute or prayer to it. After a moment of peace, a ray of daylight shines through the clouds above. It directly focuses on the forest's edge to the north of the clearing. Something bestial is hiding there. It snarls and dives into the brush as its location is revealed. The party begins to track the creature, discovering wolf tracks from where it ran. They follow the tracks into a fungal bog of enormous mushrooms and vines that pierce the muck. Stopping for a rest before continuing onwards, the party sets up camp in a cave close to the bog.
Flint alone sees a figure in the misty bog. A familiar old man draped in a dirty robe: Vedem. Flint chases him into the marshes and sees the god sitting by a pond with a small paper parcel next to him. The god gently invites the genasi to sit with him, opening the parcel to reveal a handful of lemon squares. Vedem offers Flint a lemon square, and they accept. The pair sit by the lake and begin to talk. Vedem tells Flint that the squares were made by Meliae, the goddess of banquets. She alone has the recipe. Since Meliae married "that one", referring to Flint's patron of fire, Vedem has not visited her much. "It's just quite overwhelming with the two of them", he says. Flint asks why he's here and Vedem gives him information about Thrahin. He tells Flint that the "rules" have been broken in this place. That Fate is like a silk screen that has been punctured in the absence of his brother Barathane, god of time. Monsters that were once chained have been set loose, including Vedem's own son: the god of plague and rot, Veda. Flint tells Vedem that they will watch over those threats. Vedem asks the genasi if they would like to make the oath to do so, and Flint agrees. The paladin takes the Oath of Watchers. Eldritch scriptures echo around the pair as Vedem imbues Flint with the powers of vigilance. Vedem ends his talk by mentioning that the wolves of the forest can be either allies or enemies and that Flint would "know by the form of them". Flint thanks him and Vedem departs deeper into the bog. The paladin rushes back to their party's camp and informs them of Vedem's appearance. The party partakes in some of the extra lemon bars.
"I wish my god made me lemon bars. All I have is the moon…" Melinoe
After their rest, the five party members proceed deeper into the marshes on the trail of the wolves, which now have multiple distinct tracks among them. Further in, they reach their quarry.
After several days, the group reaches the border of Lausang, a cliffside town on the Valley of Denouement. The valley stretches miles across a vast chasm of darkness perforated by bright birds and other flying creatures that catch the sunlight. Jorunn bids them farewell there, commencing a long climb down the valley with his companion's corpse in his jaws. At the village, a group of six gnomish guards in conical hats are seen assaulting a man in front of the village's entrance. Cornelius immediately teleports the man to the party to save him from the gnomes. The six gnomes rush straight at the party.
