More than Barghained For

Life, Achievement/ Win

The newly gathered adventurers begin their investigations into a ravenous horde in the wilderness around Glen Hollow.  They discover that the gibberlings are meerly the labor force for a greater threat.  Digging out a the geodic prisms linked to the Treaty of Prisms, the hobgoblin Eoraut beseeched the the archfey Bodrenia to alter the status quo.  When opposed by the heroes, she showed her true form as a greater barghest.   The conflict ranged between the Geodic Prism to Glen Hollow and back.  Aided by the guardian spirit of the Badger, the party attempted to stop the Eoraut's ritual before a final confrontation within the icy mountains of Bodrenia's realm in the Feywild.

Our freshly intertwined hero set a trap in the night to attempt to capture one of the demon horde. The plan was to create a break in the light surrounding the village to lead into a fenced yard with an illusory donkey to serve as bait. Once a demon got in to the bait, the unlit torches around the yard would trap the creature within the light, preventing it's escape.   The adventurers found themselves attempting to capture more than just one of these things as an entire swarm piled into the yard. Baboon-like in aspects, the jabbering creatures bounded and surged over one another bringing their mindnumbing and terrifying clatter with them. Despite the light being thrown up, the creatures were not paralyzed within it. In fact, they ran right through it when needed to escape the slaughter. In the end, only one of these gibberlings ended up in the barrel for storage until morning. The dead gibbering hordlings show signs of containment: Iron bands or rings latched to waists, wrists, or necks. Evidence of use in a greater purpose beyond their own mad babble and feasting upon the the beasts of the countryside. The creature the party had captured was held in isolation, preventing feeding through the night. The goal was to have a ravenous, isolated prisoner in the light of day that could be released. Once freed, it would like return straight back to it's home and provide a trail to not only be tracked but act as a homing beacon for Kain's psionic tracking ability.   Following their chosen mark through the wilderness, it first led the party to the recent kills of the horde after they had been driven off last night. Insectoid carrion eaters took interest in the mark, giving the heroes quite the task to distract, redirect, and scare off their gibbering guide to who knows where while the giant centipedes and wasp swarms were dealt with. Continuing on through briars, the party eventually found where their runner began to follow the broader, well beaten paths that these creatures took often. There, knowing the path forward for certain and the mark of finding fading, the adventurers rested. In doing so, the badger Lyle called for comfort brought news with it of an wrongness upon the land, an undesired burrowing.   Continuing on, the party's attention found two draws. To the left, a summoned hawk scout looked down upon a giant mound of upturned dirt from a digsite into the earth. Entire trains of these gibberlings under the calls of gibberling shrewds dug down to the waterline. To the right, a crude camp built within a streamside ruin. More minor monstrosities were held within a holding cell/breeding pit. Fixing up the camp was an ogress of imposing size. While the bulk of the crew began to sneak around, Gregor stepped forward to speak with the ogre. She was more than willing to accept Gregors lies of a herd of cattle but refused to actually comply with what he wanted. Instead, she continued to insist that he leave and that he wasn't supposed to be here. During the sneaking and distracting of the gibberlings, the shrewds took notice of a problem and battle quickly began. Gregor and the ogre swapped uneven blows, Lyle summoned vines, the warriors waded through the horde, and walls collapsed not once, not twice, but thrice throughout the combat.   In the end, the gibberlings were dead, the ogress was nonhostile, there was tentative agreement on not killing her, and the ogre was in general dismay of probably needing a new job. As the heroes came into faltering conversation with this bilingual creature, they found the parley complicated in that while two party members spoke the languages she did, no language was shared by more than two individuals.   The ogre shared that her name was Vurug and that she served someone called Eoraut. Vurug complied as best she could with the party but continued to be distracted in doing a poor job. Before party could make any great headway with the ogre, they were belabored by a wave of gibberling reinforcements. The gibberlings from the excavation had regrouped and began their assault that Vurug had attempted to call for in the prior battle. The second wave wasn't as hard to deal with as the first but it did give Vurug the opportunity to head to the excavation site in search for Eoraut. Taking the situation in stride, Daniel and Kain searched the camp now that all present and adjacent monsters had been dealt with. Vurug's large tent had relatively little in it of value. However, a tent set up for a creature more Gregor's size showed intelligent design. Within, they found impressions from notes and clues that spoke of a Treaty of Prism, a Court of Currents, and some partial word "-odren-".   Despite the day of tracking and exterminating, the party pushed onward into the earth to finish your mission. Heading to the excavation site, they found a path leading most of the way down that turned inward into a cave complex. Finding an eventual cavern filled with brightly shining crystals, the party found themselves face to face with Vurug again. They pretended to have an appointment with Eoraut through some keen fast-talking. Deceiving the trusting Vurug led the party into walking through the cavern randomly, being hurt by the flashes of light as they passed between different crystals. Rather than careful exploration, the party continued to take the brunt of the protective chamber until a spiritual badger showed itself, what Vurug had referred to as the light "biting you". The guardian spirit was upset and did not wish to have even more creatures disturbing it. Lyle tried to calm it but it demand the party exit the crystal cavern. The situation grew tense as Lyle led the part onward but Daniel and Gregor got separated from the druid and began to head towards the center of the carvern rather than any exit. A chase began through the chamber. Eventual acceptance of combat led to the spirit being unwoven and reformed throughout the cavern.   In the end, the party was battered and burned, with very few resources left, and yet they continued on to finish what they had started. Finding themselves in liminal fey space, a geodic Prism flowing with life, the party found a female hobgoblin calling out to Bodrenia, the Dancer on Currents. She pleaded, flattered, and paid homage to her and wished the archfey to return to the prime material to hold Phaloxil accountable to what the hobgoblin believed to be a broken treaty. She sought to alter the status quo of the wild lands that disrespectfully look towards distant civilization for authority rather than the rightful rulers of these isolated places.   The entreating hobgoblin introduced herself as Eoraut and claimed that destiny had brought the party to her. However hard she might try, she could not get the archfey's attention. She believed that with their help, together they could complete her quest. Lyle, understanding who Bodrenia was to a degree, decided that Eoraut should be stopped. He lied, saying the party would help but it was just to give his companions the chance to get closer. His false claims were seen through however. As the party spread themselves out intending to get over to Eoraut, she herself had intended the same thing. With the Zeran being the first to get to Eoraut's island, she bellowed out that if they wouldn't help empower the ritual of their own desire, she would take that power from them anyways as she quickly transformed into her true self of fang and fur mixed with the goblinoid traits. She showed herself to be a Fiend Called [a] Barghest, an outsider that feasts on the souls of humanoids and fey to grow in power. She thought the villagers so weak as to not be worth her time in her quest. But the adventurers, by shared goal or mere power of self, would be her key to gaining Bodrenia's attention.   With the revelation of how dangerous the situation was, the objective changed. Combat transitioned into attempted thievery and flight. Kain managed to acquire the glass staff of Eoraut but was compelled to return it. Lyle and Daniel's fiery assaults drew the barghest's attention. During this, Gregor managed to wrench the staff from the beast which she then prioritized much lower than pursuing the pyromancers. Half the party took flight with Eoraut in hot pursuit. The combination of bonfires and hunting trap allowed them to take a lead dancing through the crystaline spirit cavern. Daniel managed to trick the ogre Vurug long enough for the group to escape into the wilderness. He created an illusory disguise to appear as Eoraut gambling on the fact that Vurug had only seen the hobgoblin side. Daniel's bid was correct. As the bargest stormed after the party, Vurug intercepted in an honest bid to serve.   Gregor and Kain's escape went less well as the now-charmed Vurug was left behind to ensure the regaining of the staff. Vurug maintained a desire to be nice and had instructions not to waste possible food for Eoraut but Gregor's flight cost him a collapse under Vurug's Chain. Vurug gathered the glass staff and sent Kain away with Gregor in tow.   The party, broken and beaten, trickled back to town. Needing rest, it was not given. Deep in the night, Vurug came in on a destructive path intending to bring down the Headman's house with the whole party still in it. Well, that plan was destined to fail because the whole party wasn't even in it. Lyle had stayed the night in the barn with an ox and sent it to defend the house.... and boy howdy. OXMVP. Vurug's attention was immediate distracted from her task, however happy she was to have a new job. As she was assailed on all sides, she called out that she didn't think that this would happen so soon. As she attempted to flee continuing to follow her instructions, the ogre was felled before she could escape the yard. With that, the barghest entered in spite and self frustration, claiming that despite her intention to return the land to a proper wildes, Eoraut herself had fallen under the influence of civilization by attempting an authoritative heirarchy. She was wrong. There should only be those of power and those without. Those with a will to be followed and those that follow regardless of their desires.   The battle against Eoraut was swift and brutal. Zeran took his turn in claiming her staff but was brought low. In the end, the party gave in to surrender and allowed the barghest to feed upon her underling, drawing strength and power from feasting on both corpse and soul of Vurug. Kain had attempted to feast on the ogre midbattle but did not do near enough to prevent this later enhancement.   Hope drained from the party. The town was gathered into the common hall to rest but no peace would be possible. Rest brought Dreams, and for Lyle, Dreams brought connection to the badger spirit. It spoke of a schism, of Bodrenia at one point supporting Eoraut but no longer. The badger felt the shifting of the earth, the forced influence of a entity trying to fully connect to the feywild. Lyle's request for aid was met with a task the badger spirit could attempt: If he find it in his power to act against Eoraut after rested and recuperated, they could get him into the liminal space of the Geode Prism from a new route, a freshly dug borrow. The Dancer on Currents wished the party to end this.   New plans were made. The villagers would flee to Tradefork if the party didn't return. Spells prepared, tactics created from all of the dangers the party had already faced. The Spirit badger took the heroes down through a newly burrowed route to allow for a surprise of the barghest rather than entering through a watched tunnel.   Upon descending into the chamber and Gregor's intimidating bellows dropping the warding wind that obscured the barghest's plot, the party saw the empowered fiend's new means of action. Utilizing a ritual of the four elements, the pieces began to fall into place. The mighty Dweomers of frost and wind hit hard, but would also be peeled away from Eoraut as she completed steps to the ritual. She once more tried to charm Lyle to aid her ritual and when that failed, she tried to get Lyle and Daniel to shroud her in flame... unfortunately for her, the only flame that was brought was phantasmal, chasing the swift predator aruond the Geodic Prism. She needed help with this ritual. She could not do the fire herself.   Energy flared through the chamber. Wards and Banes rippled through the combatants. In the end, the heroes got so close to slaying the fiend but as the hand of fate revealed cards, Lyle dropped before she did. Taking the opportunity, she took up the body and Dimension Doored to the tunnel and began the assent. The only way to save Lyle, the villagers, and eventually themselves was to finish the ritual.   Tumbling through space into a snowy, elemental towered mountain pass, Bodrenia's gifts of vitality passed through everyone: the standing party members, the unconscious Lyle, and the beast that held him. The battle started anew. The goals were changed. Eoraut no longer needed the party for anything. She was here. She commanded the heroes to leave but that would not happen. And so the fang and the flurry and bitter blasts and thunder and frost bellowed from the barghest. Smiting hammers, psychic blades, summoned spirits and conjured fears opposed the fiend. In the end, though, Daniel fell to one of her thundering rebuttals. With the rest of the party surrounding the heavily wounded barghest, she wasn't just going to stand there and take it. Instead, as the Bitter Cold of the mountain pass chilled the wizard, the Barghest made a Predatory Pounce across to the man and bit down, trying to feed, trying to regain her strength. She took life but was brought down and head smashed before she could take any in.   In the dismay of the moment, Lyle attempted a Healing Word to call up his fatally wounded friend, not Daniel but Bodrenia responded to the call, asking of the spirit talker what he would give to have Daniel returned. Lyle pledged his service. In place of the betraying Barghest, Lyle would call upon the fey and animal spirits in the Dancers place, seeking balance, obeying the demands of the archfey and heeding the warnings of what to leave alone. With that, Lyle's hands channeling the revivification using the levitating icicle shard as a reagent, life was brought back to Daniel. All were cast back to the prime material. Crawling out of the chamber of Prisms, climbing out of the excavation the party found themselves back in the light of day.