HHI Session 9: Hunting with Branches
General Summary
Month 3, Week 1, Year 908
Recovered from the fight with the largest ankheg they'd ever seen, the party returned to Renzi with the baby magmin secured inside a giant brass pot. They met with Kuranes a couple days later to hand the fire elemental over to The Gatekeeper for studying, receiving 400GP for their troubles. For the rest of the week the party explored Renzi and enjoyed not having to worry about the threat of death at the hands of a venomous ankheg. Balasar read more of his Sebastian Syndrome book to learn about his wild magic powers, and Mavis bought an old tome discussing some of the monstrous deities that terrorized Ekal during the Ostry Apocalypse thousands of years ago. Names like the Sunken God were familiar, but Mavis was interested to read more about the Lurker at the Gate, an entity often talked about by her mentor the Gatekeeper. This monstrous deity seemed to be more ambitious and calculating than the others, but even he was banished from Ekal by the Ageless One in the battle that created the Campanel Desert. Ithilwen spent her off days relaxing, and Ownka observed gatherings at the Temple of Luthic in downtown Renzi. Month 3, Week 2, Year 908
After several weeks in the endless wastelands of the Campanel Desert, the party was ready to venture into the Northern Territories. The party hoped they could find a decent stronghold for The Gatekeeper there, and one day they'd have to make their way to Younashi to rescue Maris Sissava's agents stuck inside the besieged city. In the meantime, the party chose to take a mission hunting down some poachers for the blue dragonborn kingdom of the Lotan Conservation. With its capital city of Tiammanthyllish just a few days north of Renzi, the the venture provided the party with an easy way to travel north and make some money along the way. Traveling to a run-down tavern on the edge of town, the Seeking Scorpions met with a blue dragonborn woman named Perra Greenclaw and a stern-faced lizardfolk named Branch. Perra explained to the group how a handful of poachers had breached the gates of Inner Lotan and stolen away with several rare creatures. The party would receive 2,000GP if they stopped the poachers and up to 1,000GP extra if they managed to bring back all of the creatures alive. Perra waved away questions about the creatures in question, but she explained how Branch would escort the group into Lotan while she met with Paoli Piedmonte to discuss recent trade quotas. After Mavis gave a quick farewell to Priscilla, the party was ready to head north towards Lotan and future earnings. The three-day trek by foot into Lotan's capital of Tiammanthyllish was uneventful apart from the changing scenery and increased humidity. Compared to Renzi, Lotan's capital was much more spartan in its architecture and stores. Only a handful of market stalls were set up in the main square, and one tavern alone provided accommodations for travelers and merchants. The only major point of interest was the giant wooden wall that separated Inner Lotan from Outer Lotan, only a select handful of outsiders allowed to enter Inner Lotan at any given time. Ithilwen quibbled over the price of some arrows capable of holding poison, but the party didn't stay long in Tiammanthylish before heading around the gate's perimeter to explore the site of the poaching attack. Month 3, Week 3, Month 908
With Ithilwen in the lead, the party came across a section of the wall with a thirty-foot hole blasted through at the base, a troop of blue dragonborn working to repair the gap and eyeing the party with suspicion. The party investigated the site of the break-in, and Ithilwen noticed a deep depression in the earth where a heavy sled pressed down the surrounding grass in a trail that led away from the break-in. The party had their lead, and with Branch's help they started navigating the jungle wilderness of Outer Lotan. The journey had its first complication when the sled's trail stopped in the middle of the woods, replaced by a field of bright-looking flowers. Ithilwen sensed something magical about the flowers, so Ownka took the time to cast 'Detect Magic' as a ritual to determine the source of the magic. Nearing the end of the ritual's 10-minute time span, a couple of owlbears rushed out of the jungle and attacked the party. Mavis managed to shoot off a couple Eldritch Blasts, but she was quickly felled by the larger owlbear's ruthless attacks. Balasar threw caution to the wind and cast several spells that triggered his wild magic surges, leading to the creation of several clones and increasing his size by several feet during the fight. Ithilwen methodically sliced up the smaller of the two owlbears, and once her ritual was complete Ownka joined the fray and started swinging at the larger owlbear. Surprisingly, it was Branch who delivered the killing blow when he impaled the owlbear with two of his javelins. Pleased with his work, Branch took the time to tear apart the monster and turn its ribs into javelins. While the rest of the party took a short rest, Ownka told the party about what she'd discovered from 'Detect Magic': the cantrip 'Druidcraft' had been cast to make the flowers bloom, meaning that a druid was working with the poachers to obscure the trail of the sled. Only question, why would a druid be working with poachers? After resting the party continued its journey into Lotan's wilderness, camping and taking part in Branch's hunting prizes every evening. One night Branch started asking Ownka about her magic powers, and the orc gave the lizardfolk a crash course in Gruumsh's warmongering faith. Branch decided to become a convert to Gruumsh to get more powers, but Ownka explained that the process would take some time. In the meantime Branch would mutter 'I believe in Gruumsh' every few minutes as the party traveled deeper into the jungles of Outer Lotan. Several days later the party found themselves in a clearing, signs of a fight marking the ground and nearby trees with slash marks. The party heard a voice in their heads, warning them against treading into the forest like this. When Balasar and the others tried explaining how they weren't like the poachers, the voice said that the party must prove their good intentions in order to safely travel through the wilderness. Ithilwen's investigating helped to piece together the fight that happened here: the poachers camped in the clearing for a night, hacking away at some of the nearby trees to steel some plants and a rare tribe of creatures known as Grungs living in the jungle canopy. Pleased with the answer, the voice announced itself as The Colony, a sentient network of trees and fungi that defended Lotan's ecosystem in a symbiotic relatinoship with the blue dragonborn. The Colony promised to give the party safe passage through Outer Lotan if they agreed to hunt down the poachers and return the grungs safely to their homes. Reassured by this information, the party continued its trek to the edges of the Conservation and the start of the Northern Territories. Balasar communed with the Colony one night while the rest of the party set up camp, thinking about how there might be some places like Lotan that might not need to be purified by the Ushers' flames. Meanwhile Ithilwen noticed a smoke rising from a nearby campfire, and sneaking over to the fire she discovered where the poachers were camping out. She saw two sturdy-looking fighters, one shifty-looking rogue, and a woman who appeared to be the druid in the poaching team. She saw the woman talk to a large lizard-like creature that was groaning against its shackles, the woman casting a spell to calm the creature's complaints. Ithilwen returned to the party camp and told them about her findings, leaving it up to the group how they should go about defeating the poachers and freeing these creatures.
Recovered from the fight with the largest ankheg they'd ever seen, the party returned to Renzi with the baby magmin secured inside a giant brass pot. They met with Kuranes a couple days later to hand the fire elemental over to The Gatekeeper for studying, receiving 400GP for their troubles. For the rest of the week the party explored Renzi and enjoyed not having to worry about the threat of death at the hands of a venomous ankheg. Balasar read more of his Sebastian Syndrome book to learn about his wild magic powers, and Mavis bought an old tome discussing some of the monstrous deities that terrorized Ekal during the Ostry Apocalypse thousands of years ago. Names like the Sunken God were familiar, but Mavis was interested to read more about the Lurker at the Gate, an entity often talked about by her mentor the Gatekeeper. This monstrous deity seemed to be more ambitious and calculating than the others, but even he was banished from Ekal by the Ageless One in the battle that created the Campanel Desert. Ithilwen spent her off days relaxing, and Ownka observed gatherings at the Temple of Luthic in downtown Renzi. Month 3, Week 2, Year 908
After several weeks in the endless wastelands of the Campanel Desert, the party was ready to venture into the Northern Territories. The party hoped they could find a decent stronghold for The Gatekeeper there, and one day they'd have to make their way to Younashi to rescue Maris Sissava's agents stuck inside the besieged city. In the meantime, the party chose to take a mission hunting down some poachers for the blue dragonborn kingdom of the Lotan Conservation. With its capital city of Tiammanthyllish just a few days north of Renzi, the the venture provided the party with an easy way to travel north and make some money along the way. Traveling to a run-down tavern on the edge of town, the Seeking Scorpions met with a blue dragonborn woman named Perra Greenclaw and a stern-faced lizardfolk named Branch. Perra explained to the group how a handful of poachers had breached the gates of Inner Lotan and stolen away with several rare creatures. The party would receive 2,000GP if they stopped the poachers and up to 1,000GP extra if they managed to bring back all of the creatures alive. Perra waved away questions about the creatures in question, but she explained how Branch would escort the group into Lotan while she met with Paoli Piedmonte to discuss recent trade quotas. After Mavis gave a quick farewell to Priscilla, the party was ready to head north towards Lotan and future earnings. The three-day trek by foot into Lotan's capital of Tiammanthyllish was uneventful apart from the changing scenery and increased humidity. Compared to Renzi, Lotan's capital was much more spartan in its architecture and stores. Only a handful of market stalls were set up in the main square, and one tavern alone provided accommodations for travelers and merchants. The only major point of interest was the giant wooden wall that separated Inner Lotan from Outer Lotan, only a select handful of outsiders allowed to enter Inner Lotan at any given time. Ithilwen quibbled over the price of some arrows capable of holding poison, but the party didn't stay long in Tiammanthylish before heading around the gate's perimeter to explore the site of the poaching attack. Month 3, Week 3, Month 908
With Ithilwen in the lead, the party came across a section of the wall with a thirty-foot hole blasted through at the base, a troop of blue dragonborn working to repair the gap and eyeing the party with suspicion. The party investigated the site of the break-in, and Ithilwen noticed a deep depression in the earth where a heavy sled pressed down the surrounding grass in a trail that led away from the break-in. The party had their lead, and with Branch's help they started navigating the jungle wilderness of Outer Lotan. The journey had its first complication when the sled's trail stopped in the middle of the woods, replaced by a field of bright-looking flowers. Ithilwen sensed something magical about the flowers, so Ownka took the time to cast 'Detect Magic' as a ritual to determine the source of the magic. Nearing the end of the ritual's 10-minute time span, a couple of owlbears rushed out of the jungle and attacked the party. Mavis managed to shoot off a couple Eldritch Blasts, but she was quickly felled by the larger owlbear's ruthless attacks. Balasar threw caution to the wind and cast several spells that triggered his wild magic surges, leading to the creation of several clones and increasing his size by several feet during the fight. Ithilwen methodically sliced up the smaller of the two owlbears, and once her ritual was complete Ownka joined the fray and started swinging at the larger owlbear. Surprisingly, it was Branch who delivered the killing blow when he impaled the owlbear with two of his javelins. Pleased with his work, Branch took the time to tear apart the monster and turn its ribs into javelins. While the rest of the party took a short rest, Ownka told the party about what she'd discovered from 'Detect Magic': the cantrip 'Druidcraft' had been cast to make the flowers bloom, meaning that a druid was working with the poachers to obscure the trail of the sled. Only question, why would a druid be working with poachers? After resting the party continued its journey into Lotan's wilderness, camping and taking part in Branch's hunting prizes every evening. One night Branch started asking Ownka about her magic powers, and the orc gave the lizardfolk a crash course in Gruumsh's warmongering faith. Branch decided to become a convert to Gruumsh to get more powers, but Ownka explained that the process would take some time. In the meantime Branch would mutter 'I believe in Gruumsh' every few minutes as the party traveled deeper into the jungles of Outer Lotan. Several days later the party found themselves in a clearing, signs of a fight marking the ground and nearby trees with slash marks. The party heard a voice in their heads, warning them against treading into the forest like this. When Balasar and the others tried explaining how they weren't like the poachers, the voice said that the party must prove their good intentions in order to safely travel through the wilderness. Ithilwen's investigating helped to piece together the fight that happened here: the poachers camped in the clearing for a night, hacking away at some of the nearby trees to steel some plants and a rare tribe of creatures known as Grungs living in the jungle canopy. Pleased with the answer, the voice announced itself as The Colony, a sentient network of trees and fungi that defended Lotan's ecosystem in a symbiotic relatinoship with the blue dragonborn. The Colony promised to give the party safe passage through Outer Lotan if they agreed to hunt down the poachers and return the grungs safely to their homes. Reassured by this information, the party continued its trek to the edges of the Conservation and the start of the Northern Territories. Balasar communed with the Colony one night while the rest of the party set up camp, thinking about how there might be some places like Lotan that might not need to be purified by the Ushers' flames. Meanwhile Ithilwen noticed a smoke rising from a nearby campfire, and sneaking over to the fire she discovered where the poachers were camping out. She saw two sturdy-looking fighters, one shifty-looking rogue, and a woman who appeared to be the druid in the poaching team. She saw the woman talk to a large lizard-like creature that was groaning against its shackles, the woman casting a spell to calm the creature's complaints. Ithilwen returned to the party camp and told them about her findings, leaving it up to the group how they should go about defeating the poachers and freeing these creatures.
Rewards Granted
- The party received 400GP for giving the baby magmin over to The Gatekeeper
Character(s) interacted with
- Kuranes - an ugly kuo-toa and assistant to The Gatekeeper
- Priscilla Cosimo - owner of Botticelli's tavern in Renzi and paramour of Mavis Wren
- Perra Greenclaw - head of Lotan Conservation's foreign policy division, who gave the party their bounty to hunt down several poachers
- Branch - a no-nonsense lizardfolk who escorted the party through the dense jungles of the Lotan Conservation. He took an interest in Ownka's worship of the orcish deity Gruumsh
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