Those Who Knock
An adventuring party in Central Matera, Those Who Knock were sent on an mission on behalf of the powerful fey Cuberth Bulltlerbuts, after accidently disrupting his birthday party. They are good friends with the their fellow party Spagma.
History
Shortly after being founded, Those Who Knock set off in search of fame and fortune, seeking a Lucrative Adventuring Career.
Hearing rumors of a powerful beast (and its treasure, they began searching the wood near Loch Loren. Unfortunately, while searching they were beset upon by a horde of swamp goblins. While fending off the initial assault, they were caught by surprise when the horde master summoned reinforcements and were captured. Luckily, another adventuring party, Spagma, was nearby and heard the commotion. They fought hard, and managed to rescue the party, but the remaining horde bore down on them, forcing both groups to jump into the Loch and swim to safety.
They swam out to a small island, but upon hearing strange sounds in the woods, sent the Wyerm fighter Nepen to investigate. Nepen stumbled upon the birthday party of a eccentric but powerful fey named Cuberth Bulltlerbuts and his gremlin minions. Cuberth, displeased at having interlopers crash his celebration, attacked. Although the parties fought valiantly, they were unable to harm Cuberth, and eventually were captured by the creature. He demanded that they give him a great present in recompense for ruining his party, but as they had none, he decided that he would send them to get a powerful relic he desired, something that would aid him in finding the Murky Marqius. The relic was located in the strange ruins of Mol-Mirek, the homeland of the mysterious Llanara, far in the northern corner of the realm. Stating that they had half a year to complete the task, or he and his minions would hunt them down and turn their bones into pudding, of which he would feast upon on subsequent birthdays, he turned them loose.
After fleeing Cuberth's island, the two groups entered the Lorol Swamp. Immediately upon their arrival, they were beset by various swamp creatures, including giant mosquitos, crocodiles, and even a tribe of boggards enslaved by a swamp witch, all of which fighting was difficult, due to the deep marsh of the swamp. After overcoming all the hurdles, they encountered a rival Fey Court, members of the Fungal Church, the followers of the Pope of Putrefaction. This sect was led by a fungal creature named Cardinal Lakegulper, who had set up a spawning ground in the swamp and had spread his fungal spores to many of the creatures. Wanting the parties for their healthy bodies, he sent his minions in a suicidal charge, as they exploded and spread toxic spores upon death. The parties were able to utilize Yace and Tyloors healing and enhancement magic to survive the initial assault, and ǀoǂoǀʰuᵑǀ̤ǀʰuoᵑǃ was able to sneak up on the Cardinal and deal a devastating blow to his back. Unfortunately, the Cardinals mind and powers transferred through the fungal network to some of his surviving thralls, and he had to be slain multiple times, but the parties eventually triumphed, although not without great cost to stamina. The parties then exited the Lorol Swamp and into the great elven forest of Tar-Dorol.
Finding an elven guide named Kylan Moonstone who was willing to lead them through the woods, the parties ventured forth. Knowing that most elves where not particularly fond of trespassers, they needed to take back trails. They stumbled upon one of the elven giant eagle aviaries, upsetting them greatly. Lughi’a Hafqu’umu, the leader of Spagma, found himself the main target of the birds' ire, tossed around the roost in their talons. Eventually, the parties made it through. Avoiding several elven patrols, they came across and ancient elven bridge guard. The guard refused to let them pass without testing their worth, and after a contest of riddles, he allowed them passage. Arriving at the base of a great elven-tree village, the parties attempted to sneak below but ended up wandering right into an elven patrol. A fierce battle broke out, and despite a valiant last stand from Lughi'a, the parties were captured. Stripped of their gear, they were marched towards Hen-Aneon to receive trial, and likely execution. After a day, the entire procession stopped to eat a sparse meal but were startled by a shrill cry. A banshee descended upon the group, letting out a harsh wail, which caused the elven guards to flee and abandon their prisoners. The parties managed to free themselves, and engaged in battle with the creature, but soon learned that they could do little to harm her incorporeal nature. Nimulir was able to utilize his knowledge of the terrain, guiding the creature into a position where Lughi'a could utilize his holy smite to destroy the creature, at least for the moment. Once again freed, the party ran for it, hoping to escape the forest before any more elven patrols discovered them. They came across a great clearing, but it was patrolled by a massive treant. The treant could not see well, but reacted to noise, slamming its mighty fists down and pushing them back if they could not quite their steps. After some difficulty, the parties managed to get around them and saw beyond the exit to the forest. Rushing towards it, they were presented with one final challenge. A trio of strange knights, made out of plant matter, barred their way. They fought, and as they took down one of the knights, another rode into being across a mighty steed, a horse-like creature with a venus flytrap head and snapping jaw. Despite not speaking, the parties learned of his existing as the Budding Knight, a champion of one of the Fey Sovereigns, The Kudzu Knight. The battle was short but fierce, as the fly-trap creature snapped up Lughi'a in its jaws and the Budding Knight caused vines to spring from the ground, and the parties were captured yet again. However, Yace was able to flee, gathering Drongfub, Tyloor, and Nostale, who had fled in a different direction upon escaping the elves.
Regrouping, the four tracked the knights into a large pit in the woods, guarded by Bogarts, with their compatriots imprisoned within. Planning a daring rescue, Yace and Drongfub caused a distraction, while Nostale surprised the guards by jumping into the pit, drawing more attention and allowing Tyloor to sneak into the pit and untie the prisoners. As they escaped, they began to run through the woods, and soon realized that several other strange creatures had found their way into the forest, including a mothman, a strange, floating tentacled brain, an einherjar, a skin golem, an undead warlord, an imp that spoke strange debatably true facts, and the Budding Knight who had captured them in the first place. A voice ran out in the darkness, welcoming the eclectic group to participate in his death games, as they had stumbled upon the territory of the Survivor, a worshiper of the Vizir of Violence. He had scattered weapons throughout the woods and demanded that they fight for his amusement. After an intense race, the survivors of the initial fight were brought to another battle pit, where a great tournament would be held to determine who was worthy of facing the Survivor. After several intense bought, including a wizard duel between Nostale and the mothman, the strange skin golem found itself the victor, and faced the Survivor in the ring. However, the Survivor was able to easily able to dispatch the golem and was quite disappointed. Realizing that the remaining people alive were about to suffer greatly from the Survivor's wrath, Lughi'a offered to fight him forever if he let everyone else go. The Survivor took him up on the offer, freeing the others from his spell, but the rest of the parties did not want to leave him here, and convince surviving monster to fight against the Survivor. The Budding Knight in particular was able to inflict some wounds on him, and eventually the Survivor was defeated, slaying all but the imp in the process.
Freed from the pits of violence, the parties fled north, arriving at the Minya River. Quickly crafting some makeshift boats, they attempted to paddle their way across the great river. Unfortunately, a great storm rolled in, forcing them to find shelter on a small islet. As they camped, they were beset upon by a pack of dire wolves who were enraged by the trespassers. They fended off the creatures, and ran into a nearby cave, seeking protection from the elements. The cavern was already occupied, and its resident, a dire bear and her cubs were greatly angered by the group. Each time a cub was slain, the mother bear got more and more ferocious but was eventually taken down by a coordinated strike. What the parties did not realize, was that the islet was under the protection of the dryad Mora Sunbay, a follower of Ancient Ajaw, the Fey Sovereign of growth. Enraged by the slaughter of her beasts, she unleased a Cu Sith, a powerful, dog-like beast, as well as a small army of leshy minions on the groups. Unable to permanently slay the dryad while she was bonded to the trees of the islet, they first needed to sever her link to the trees, a significant task. The battle was fierce, and eventually, only Nimulir the ranger and Khmev the druid remained. Able to sever all but the final tree, Nimulir and Nora struck each other simultaneously, dealing grievous blows. Badly wounded, Khmev was forced to attempt to drag everyone away while the dryad recovered, sailing out into the storm, but was unable to properly sail in his state, and the boats were quickly capsized, with the two groups swept away into the river.
Washing up on the shores of Alkanta, the groups were badly exhausted, and easily captured by an Alka patrol. Due to their trespass, the Alka pack demanded that the groups engage in a series of sport games with them, of which the parties managed rather well, winning and losing an equal number of games, leaving the final round to be decided by blood combat. The parties entered the arena in a set of two against two battles, but the dog-folk proved too strong for the tired parties and ended up victorious. However, the leader of the Alka agreed that they performed with honor, and decided to let them go, allowing them to leave their camp unhindered.
The group travelled through Huntslan and found themselves nearing the edge of Mol-Mirek, the sight of their destination. However, they were beset by Ratosk bandits, hoping to relieve the travelers of their oh-so heavy gear. While they easily fought off the first attack, they soon found themselves outnumbered, and fled into the strange forest, chased by the bandits.
Eventually, the party was able to separate a smaller faction of the bandits, slaying them and running deeper into Mol-Mirek, were the Ratosk dared not enter. The parties then encountered the Llanara protectors of the area, who demanded they turn back, and unleashed a powerful song upon them. Violence broke out, and the parties slew the protectors, solidifying their trespass into the area. They encountered several other threats in the ruined forest, including a horde of redcaps and a basilisk, but managed to make it through relatively unharmed. They came across an ancient stone alter, guarded by an evil presence, a slender man whose touch rotted flesh and warped minds. Atop the alter sat a massive skull, and the parties could tell that this was the relic that Cuberth had sent them for. With the rest of the party distracting the creature, Yace and Nimulir were able to sneak in and retrieve the artifact, which banished the whisperer, but in turn summoned the spirit of the skull, a spectral troll. The battle was fierce, as the wounds inflicted by the whisperer would not heal, but eventually the troll spirit was dismissed.
The parties got no rest however, as Cuberth soon strolled out of the woods, with an army of gremlins in tow. Demanding that the parties' hand over the relic, it seemed at first that the parties were going to resist, before Lionslayer grabbed the relic and tossed it over to him. Exclaiming his excitement, Cuberth resummoned the troll spirit, explaining that it was named Kyleth, the wisest troll in the world who knew countless secrets, and now they were his to exploit. He then invited the parties to his "birthday dance" and his gremlins attacked, eager to spill blood. Cuberth also entered the fray, drawing an invisible sword that caused anything hit by hit to simply disappear. While the gremlins were eventually dealt with, Cuberth's blade and the trolls ferocity felled most of Those Who Knock, as well as Nostale, and left Drongfub and Lionslayer greatly wounded. Cuberth eventually entered a duel with Lughi'a and while Lughi'a was able to sperate him from the Skull, he was unable to destroy it and lost all of his limbs to Cuberths blade. Cuberth offered to spare the rest of his friends in exchange for eternal servitude, which Lughi'a agreed, but before Cuberth could complete the binding, Flistervurs and Nepen attacked him. While they were unable to defeat him and were slsin by his hand, they bought enough time for Yace to utilize the Skull, turning the spirit of Kyleth against him. Yace was able to find the source of Cubeths invulnerability; Cuberth himself was a fake; the real Cuberth was hiding away in the woods, a smaller gremlin who was the puppet master. After an intense battle, with control over Kyleth changing hands several times, Yace was able to strike the creature down, and both of the Cuberths disappeared in a puff of smoke. Now in possession of the Skull of Kyleth, Yace was able to sense the great power coming out of it, and realized he could use it for many things, but also that Kyleth's spirt begged to be finally let free to permanently rest. Yace eventually decided to return the skull to him, destroying it and freeing the spirit, and destroying the dangerous knowledge within. He limped back to the battlefield, Cuberth's invisible blade and found all of his companions slain, with Lionslayer of Spagma nowhere to be found. Burying his companions, gathering up their gear, he began the trek out of the forest, determined to find Lionslayer and determine what had happened.
Type
Adventuring Party
Location
Notable Members
Comments