On the Road Again
Hunt for the Hydra, part 3
General Summary
2nd of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Four
After some time of walking, the party no longer harried by the hum of the assassin bug’s wings, had begun to relax. They had completed the objective, and were finally on the return trip. With as much haste as they could muster the party pushed forward eager to be rid of the woods. After sometime the scenery began to lighten, and the swampy interior returned to a more familiar dense forest. And it was during this transition that they ran into their first obstacle.
Crossing their path ahead was a group of zombies, one that outnumbered them 5:1, but they were no regular zombies, that of course would be too easy for Wolfpine Forest. These were Yellow Musk Zombies, a rare type of Zombie that exists purely as a thrall to the Yellow Musk Creeper which ensnares its victims through an irresistible musk it releases, and once their prey draws the vine attacks killing its target and planting a seed in them. Eventually the seed will bloom revealing an orchid-like yellow bloom that reanimates the victims corpse. This victim becomes a thrall of the creeper acting as a means of movement, defense, and even a fertilizer as the thrall dies.
Sensing danger, the group hid themselves and were able to avoid confrontation with the creatures. Although it was noted that nowhere to be seen was the actual creeper vine, as the zombies themselves can’t survive more than a few hundred feet from the plant. They were able to avoid the danger thanks to the severe stupidity of the creatures, and after waiting an appropriate amount of time the party resumed their trip.
The mood in the party had considerably soured since their departure 4 days prior. With none of the regular comforts they were accustomed to, the constant danger, and lack of any decent sleep they were understandably frustrated and ready to be home. At some point during their journey that day, Myr had noticed something unusual. The normal sounds of the forest had vanished. From their description it was a similar experience to being in a bubble of silence except they could still hear each other. When Myr pointed this out to their companions the forest chose that moment to make itself known. The previously absent sounds of the forest returned at first quietly before swelling to ear splitting volumes that threatened to deafen the party. But as quickly as it came on it also vanished. Slowly the normal sounds of the forest returned around them and all seemed to be normal once again. Now partially deafened in addition to the earlier ailments the party were even more eager to find their way out of the forest.
Thankfully the rest of the day was far less eventful as their morning had been. When the sun went down Myr and Ollie found the party a suitable place to set up camp, a dried up creek bed that sloped up on either side so as to keep their tent out of the line of sight from casual observation. Watch order decided they settled down for the night and again the night passed without complication, mostly.
3rd of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Five
Apparently Xorn played some sort of trick on Ernie and in the morning when the party awoke Ernie excused himself rather swiftly to relive himself in the woods. His haste perhaps caused him to miss the crude traps that had been set up around the camp during the night, and as he showered the trees he was showered with acid from vials rigged above.
On high alert the party searched the immediate area and found no other signs of danger, and upon inspection of the traps it was a fairly easy assumption that they had been built by kobolds. The traps themselves were easy to dismantle once one knew they were there. It was now Ernie’s turn to push the party forward, eager to get home to treat his more… personal wounds. Soon after leaving camp for the morning the obvious tracks of the kobolds that had set the traps around their camp were seen, and although the party wished for vengeance it was outweighed by their current objectives.
What happened later in the day is perhaps a little harder for me to parse out as my source is a Kenku, which presents its own unique communication hurdles. At some point Xorn began to hear voices that whispered directions to her, seemingly from the crows in the trees. The rest of the party seemed skeptical, which I can’t blame them for, she seems to be in her own reality much of the time, and decided that they were going to continue onward ignoring Xorn’s suggestions. It was only a few minutes later that the party noticed that at some point Xorn had vanished. Xorn had wandered off heeding the directions of the crows, and came to a murder of crows arranged in a circle around Xorn in the trees above, and at the head of the circle was maybe a leader, from what I can tell it was a giant crow. There was some level of communication that was had, but I’m unable to parse any meaning from Xorn’s account of the events. The head crow took flight knocking its nest from the tree followed by the rest of the flock, and in the remains of the nest Xorn found a few coins and gems that the crows had gathered.
Simultaneously the party had turned around in an attempt to locate their missing member. Luckily it had been only a short time and the party was able to locate Xorn with relative ease, only to find her halfway up a tree building a nest, or at least that was how it looked to them. Confusion aside, the party reunited and returned to their route home. The closer they came to their destination the forest changed, the canopy opened up, and the brush became more dense. All of these were good signs for them, and as the sun set after many more hours of travel the party found a small clearing of trees and set up nestled between to large trees, in an attempt to narrow the areas that they needed to observe. It would seem however that this did not protect them from a night of oddities. First during Ollie’s watch he was plagued by a vision of a “bloody woman with torn up clothing” she was not immediately recognizable to Ollie, but still haunted his thoughts that night.
Further into the night another member of the party entertained a visitor although this one was far more tangible, and more awe inspiring, at least for myself. During Ernie’s watch just before sunrise, an unexpected visitor teleported into the midst of their camp. Startled by the sudden intrusion Ernie was on guard but the person that he regarded appeared to be nothing more than an older human man. This man introduced himself after some terse words as Naidra, the Sage of the Void. Naidrasala Kiloran the reclusive Sage of the Void. Oh how I wish I had been there for this meeting. I shiver as I think about what kind of things I could learn from Emmel’s foremost scholar on all things related to The Null. This meeting for Ernie was less than ideal however as Naidra was as Ollie described “an absolute dick”. Regrettable, but then again many geniuses aren’t blessed by the gods with a charming personality. Naidra seemed to be interested in both Ernie’s Null Compass and even in Ernie himself (What is it that he noticed in Ernie that I haven’t observed myself. This will require more research.) to which Ernie was understandably on guard against this stranger and as they continued to converse things became more tense. I do believe that Naidra assumed that Ernie was a spy for Krivatos, however how he came to such a conclusion, or even what Naidra’s relationship is with Krivatos are both questions that at present I do not know. At some point, with patience at its end with Naidra’s rude attitude Ollie stepped up to intimidate him before Naidra easily restrained him and Xorn with an unseen force. From all of the accounts there were no components to the spell nor any indication of one being cast. My hypothesis is that either Naidra is certainly not human and is able to innately cast spells, or perhaps he has an even rarer gift, that of Psionics, although that is unlikely. It would seem however that after giving Naidra the general direction of The Null he gave Ernie an amethyst gem as payment and made his exit.
4th of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Six
With another chip in the party’s patience they decided to rise and begin their hike early hoping to make the forest's edge by the day’s end. As if feeling the desire of the party or perhaps Besheba, goddess of misfortune, merely took a special interest in the party, either way, it then rained. Now we add soaked to the list of irritants. Not even the detour of watching two male Giant Toads fight for mating rights could assuage their moods. The rain did let up by midday, but the damage had already been done. Which is why when the forest's edge was in sight the party finally heaved a collective sigh of relief. The party emerged victorious from the forest on a random stretch of road unsure exactly of where they were. As luck would have it though a patrol group happened to be passing by at that moment.
Led by Captain Allway, a Human woman, the group had been making their returning trip from the northern parts of the Serpent’s Path headed in the direction of Lakeshore. The group consisted of another human woman by the name of Tanner, Smith a Dragonborn woman, Fisher a Lizardfolk man, and Calabra a Hobgoblin man. With a brief exchange and some personal vetting the patrol reluctantly agreed to give the party a ride north to Lugo, which was perhaps a couple hours to the north. Upon arrival in Lugo they bid the patrol farewell, with an invitation to meet again, and immediately made for their former lodgings where and were waiting, The Rusted Axe Inn. Their arrival was met with relief and smiles before they gathered the War Ostriches and rode through the night to arrive back in Talbet by the morning. There had been complications during the adventurer’s absence and the day prior, the fifth day since their departure, Khaya had finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed with no one able to wake her. Fortunately the wizard Chariz from Myrehall was able to be called on and arrived swiftly to take over care of the boy.
5th of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Seven
The party mustered whatever haste they had left and rode through the night arriving in Talbet as the sun rose. Without breaking stride they rode through the town directly to Khaya's tower and rushed in. Inside the environment had shifted once again. It was no longer an autumn touched forest but one that had fully matured into winter. The trees were bare and the air chilled considerably compared to the outdoors.
Mugridge was exactly where the group had last seen him, but this time it was Chariz standing over the boy keeping his tether to life alive through magic and stubbornness. Harland Mugridge was apparently sleeping in a bed nearby and hadn’t left the tower since his son's illness. Relieved, both at the sight of the party but also from his duties as he handed them off to Myr and Ernie, Chariz went to Khaya’s room on the third floor followed by Ollie and Xorn. What they saw was a small being with a profile similar to a young child except they were composed entirely of flame keeping watch over Khaya’s sleeping form. At their entrance the faceless flame turned to them seemingly ready to attack, but it seems once it recognized Chariz it returned to its tending. Gently waking the sleeping druid Chariz handed the reins back to Khaya, and she immediately jumped into action and began brewing, along with Myr, the potion that they had fought so hard for.
Once ready the party helped Khaya administer the cure which, in a most gruesome way, expelled the rot grubs from his small body. Now all they needed to do was wait and pray the boy made a safe recovery. Just then Ollie remembered something, a message from Oakbrow for Khaya, “Ranyinde lives, her new name is Fenumiel.” This simple statement seemed to make every muscle in her body tense. She seemed confused, or angry, or happy? In any case she left the party to the boy and his father and retreated to her room intent on not being disturbed.
It was in the awkward stretch of time after that Chariz returned to the tower to the confused party. After explaining to him what had happened, he in turn told the party that it was not his place to say, but he had some thoughts on the matter for another day, and he insinuated that trouble was on the horizon for them all. Chariz then turned to Ernie, having learned of his Varanasi heritage, and told him who he really was, Chariz Shadowmane, General of the War Mages of the Divine Myrdin Empire Empire. This. Is. Fascinating! The Chariz Shadowmane of the Ithrynfaron, and his legendary sword Roxador’s Bane. I wonder what he was doing in the ten years he had gone missing after vanishing one day from Myrdin. Oh I wish I could ask him. This news however was not as well received by Ernie, for understandable reasons, but he decided that now wasn’t the time for this. Soon though, they would need to talk.
After some time of walking, the party no longer harried by the hum of the assassin bug’s wings, had begun to relax. They had completed the objective, and were finally on the return trip. With as much haste as they could muster the party pushed forward eager to be rid of the woods. After sometime the scenery began to lighten, and the swampy interior returned to a more familiar dense forest. And it was during this transition that they ran into their first obstacle.
Crossing their path ahead was a group of zombies, one that outnumbered them 5:1, but they were no regular zombies, that of course would be too easy for Wolfpine Forest. These were Yellow Musk Zombies, a rare type of Zombie that exists purely as a thrall to the Yellow Musk Creeper which ensnares its victims through an irresistible musk it releases, and once their prey draws the vine attacks killing its target and planting a seed in them. Eventually the seed will bloom revealing an orchid-like yellow bloom that reanimates the victims corpse. This victim becomes a thrall of the creeper acting as a means of movement, defense, and even a fertilizer as the thrall dies.
Sensing danger, the group hid themselves and were able to avoid confrontation with the creatures. Although it was noted that nowhere to be seen was the actual creeper vine, as the zombies themselves can’t survive more than a few hundred feet from the plant. They were able to avoid the danger thanks to the severe stupidity of the creatures, and after waiting an appropriate amount of time the party resumed their trip.
The mood in the party had considerably soured since their departure 4 days prior. With none of the regular comforts they were accustomed to, the constant danger, and lack of any decent sleep they were understandably frustrated and ready to be home. At some point during their journey that day, Myr had noticed something unusual. The normal sounds of the forest had vanished. From their description it was a similar experience to being in a bubble of silence except they could still hear each other. When Myr pointed this out to their companions the forest chose that moment to make itself known. The previously absent sounds of the forest returned at first quietly before swelling to ear splitting volumes that threatened to deafen the party. But as quickly as it came on it also vanished. Slowly the normal sounds of the forest returned around them and all seemed to be normal once again. Now partially deafened in addition to the earlier ailments the party were even more eager to find their way out of the forest.
Thankfully the rest of the day was far less eventful as their morning had been. When the sun went down Myr and Ollie found the party a suitable place to set up camp, a dried up creek bed that sloped up on either side so as to keep their tent out of the line of sight from casual observation. Watch order decided they settled down for the night and again the night passed without complication, mostly.
3rd of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Five
Apparently Xorn played some sort of trick on Ernie and in the morning when the party awoke Ernie excused himself rather swiftly to relive himself in the woods. His haste perhaps caused him to miss the crude traps that had been set up around the camp during the night, and as he showered the trees he was showered with acid from vials rigged above.
On high alert the party searched the immediate area and found no other signs of danger, and upon inspection of the traps it was a fairly easy assumption that they had been built by kobolds. The traps themselves were easy to dismantle once one knew they were there. It was now Ernie’s turn to push the party forward, eager to get home to treat his more… personal wounds. Soon after leaving camp for the morning the obvious tracks of the kobolds that had set the traps around their camp were seen, and although the party wished for vengeance it was outweighed by their current objectives.
What happened later in the day is perhaps a little harder for me to parse out as my source is a Kenku, which presents its own unique communication hurdles. At some point Xorn began to hear voices that whispered directions to her, seemingly from the crows in the trees. The rest of the party seemed skeptical, which I can’t blame them for, she seems to be in her own reality much of the time, and decided that they were going to continue onward ignoring Xorn’s suggestions. It was only a few minutes later that the party noticed that at some point Xorn had vanished. Xorn had wandered off heeding the directions of the crows, and came to a murder of crows arranged in a circle around Xorn in the trees above, and at the head of the circle was maybe a leader, from what I can tell it was a giant crow. There was some level of communication that was had, but I’m unable to parse any meaning from Xorn’s account of the events. The head crow took flight knocking its nest from the tree followed by the rest of the flock, and in the remains of the nest Xorn found a few coins and gems that the crows had gathered.
Simultaneously the party had turned around in an attempt to locate their missing member. Luckily it had been only a short time and the party was able to locate Xorn with relative ease, only to find her halfway up a tree building a nest, or at least that was how it looked to them. Confusion aside, the party reunited and returned to their route home. The closer they came to their destination the forest changed, the canopy opened up, and the brush became more dense. All of these were good signs for them, and as the sun set after many more hours of travel the party found a small clearing of trees and set up nestled between to large trees, in an attempt to narrow the areas that they needed to observe. It would seem however that this did not protect them from a night of oddities. First during Ollie’s watch he was plagued by a vision of a “bloody woman with torn up clothing” she was not immediately recognizable to Ollie, but still haunted his thoughts that night.
Further into the night another member of the party entertained a visitor although this one was far more tangible, and more awe inspiring, at least for myself. During Ernie’s watch just before sunrise, an unexpected visitor teleported into the midst of their camp. Startled by the sudden intrusion Ernie was on guard but the person that he regarded appeared to be nothing more than an older human man. This man introduced himself after some terse words as Naidra, the Sage of the Void. Naidrasala Kiloran the reclusive Sage of the Void. Oh how I wish I had been there for this meeting. I shiver as I think about what kind of things I could learn from Emmel’s foremost scholar on all things related to The Null. This meeting for Ernie was less than ideal however as Naidra was as Ollie described “an absolute dick”. Regrettable, but then again many geniuses aren’t blessed by the gods with a charming personality. Naidra seemed to be interested in both Ernie’s Null Compass and even in Ernie himself (What is it that he noticed in Ernie that I haven’t observed myself. This will require more research.) to which Ernie was understandably on guard against this stranger and as they continued to converse things became more tense. I do believe that Naidra assumed that Ernie was a spy for Krivatos, however how he came to such a conclusion, or even what Naidra’s relationship is with Krivatos are both questions that at present I do not know. At some point, with patience at its end with Naidra’s rude attitude Ollie stepped up to intimidate him before Naidra easily restrained him and Xorn with an unseen force. From all of the accounts there were no components to the spell nor any indication of one being cast. My hypothesis is that either Naidra is certainly not human and is able to innately cast spells, or perhaps he has an even rarer gift, that of Psionics, although that is unlikely. It would seem however that after giving Naidra the general direction of The Null he gave Ernie an amethyst gem as payment and made his exit.
4th of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Six
With another chip in the party’s patience they decided to rise and begin their hike early hoping to make the forest's edge by the day’s end. As if feeling the desire of the party or perhaps Besheba, goddess of misfortune, merely took a special interest in the party, either way, it then rained. Now we add soaked to the list of irritants. Not even the detour of watching two male Giant Toads fight for mating rights could assuage their moods. The rain did let up by midday, but the damage had already been done. Which is why when the forest's edge was in sight the party finally heaved a collective sigh of relief. The party emerged victorious from the forest on a random stretch of road unsure exactly of where they were. As luck would have it though a patrol group happened to be passing by at that moment.
Led by Captain Allway, a Human woman, the group had been making their returning trip from the northern parts of the Serpent’s Path headed in the direction of Lakeshore. The group consisted of another human woman by the name of Tanner, Smith a Dragonborn woman, Fisher a Lizardfolk man, and Calabra a Hobgoblin man. With a brief exchange and some personal vetting the patrol reluctantly agreed to give the party a ride north to Lugo, which was perhaps a couple hours to the north. Upon arrival in Lugo they bid the patrol farewell, with an invitation to meet again, and immediately made for their former lodgings where and were waiting, The Rusted Axe Inn. Their arrival was met with relief and smiles before they gathered the War Ostriches and rode through the night to arrive back in Talbet by the morning. There had been complications during the adventurer’s absence and the day prior, the fifth day since their departure, Khaya had finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed with no one able to wake her. Fortunately the wizard Chariz from Myrehall was able to be called on and arrived swiftly to take over care of the boy.
5th of Mystra, 636 Golden Era, Day Seven
The party mustered whatever haste they had left and rode through the night arriving in Talbet as the sun rose. Without breaking stride they rode through the town directly to Khaya's tower and rushed in. Inside the environment had shifted once again. It was no longer an autumn touched forest but one that had fully matured into winter. The trees were bare and the air chilled considerably compared to the outdoors.
Mugridge was exactly where the group had last seen him, but this time it was Chariz standing over the boy keeping his tether to life alive through magic and stubbornness. Harland Mugridge was apparently sleeping in a bed nearby and hadn’t left the tower since his son's illness. Relieved, both at the sight of the party but also from his duties as he handed them off to Myr and Ernie, Chariz went to Khaya’s room on the third floor followed by Ollie and Xorn. What they saw was a small being with a profile similar to a young child except they were composed entirely of flame keeping watch over Khaya’s sleeping form. At their entrance the faceless flame turned to them seemingly ready to attack, but it seems once it recognized Chariz it returned to its tending. Gently waking the sleeping druid Chariz handed the reins back to Khaya, and she immediately jumped into action and began brewing, along with Myr, the potion that they had fought so hard for.
Once ready the party helped Khaya administer the cure which, in a most gruesome way, expelled the rot grubs from his small body. Now all they needed to do was wait and pray the boy made a safe recovery. Just then Ollie remembered something, a message from Oakbrow for Khaya, “Ranyinde lives, her new name is Fenumiel.” This simple statement seemed to make every muscle in her body tense. She seemed confused, or angry, or happy? In any case she left the party to the boy and his father and retreated to her room intent on not being disturbed.
It was in the awkward stretch of time after that Chariz returned to the tower to the confused party. After explaining to him what had happened, he in turn told the party that it was not his place to say, but he had some thoughts on the matter for another day, and he insinuated that trouble was on the horizon for them all. Chariz then turned to Ernie, having learned of his Varanasi heritage, and told him who he really was, Chariz Shadowmane, General of the War Mages of the Divine Myrdin Empire Empire. This. Is. Fascinating! The Chariz Shadowmane of the Ithrynfaron, and his legendary sword Roxador’s Bane. I wonder what he was doing in the ten years he had gone missing after vanishing one day from Myrdin. Oh I wish I could ask him. This news however was not as well received by Ernie, for understandable reasons, but he decided that now wasn’t the time for this. Soon though, they would need to talk.
Character(s) interacted with
Allway,
Tanner,
Smith,
Fisher,
Calabra,
Arcavius,
Spero, Chariz Shadowmane, Khaya Owens
Related Reports
Report Date
01 Dec 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Characters
Yellow Musk Sketch
Artistic representation based on first hand accounts
Feanor
Artistic representation based on first hand accounts
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