Kill the Wolves
After a week of uneventful travel through Tunsil from Riverrun, Rhogar, Swift, and Kaya arrived at Midbourne, going to meet the High Scrivener about his problem with wolves. They spoke with a trapper named Harmony, who seemed to be cautious but grateful their presence to stop the wolves from harassing the village, then went off to meet with Dow. They were informed of the 400gp reward he was offering to take care of the issue as the courier refused to leave at night for long trips, and the trio happily accepted. They then visited the Winey Wench tavern for some food, and in Rhogar's case a first experience with the warmth of a woman's touch. As the night came on, the tavern grew emptied, and they left as it was shuttered and locked up for the night to begin their trek to the south.
As the trio walked for a night, they heard what could be wolves in the distance, following it until daylight, then night again. This time, they heard music, following it to a clearing where they saw some sort of fey apparition playing music in a tree. Rhogar and Swift played music with her, though Rhogar's unorthodox approach of hitting his shield in time for percussion was oddly fitting. When Kaya joined in with vocals, badly, the fey ceased playing and vanished, two shadow mastiffs appearing in the clearing instead. After a bit of trouble, Kaya, Swift, and Rhogar managed to slay the beasts, Rhogar being knocked unconscious at one point, and the music taunted them to follow it. After considering camping down, the shadows began to growl, and they decided to instead follow the music towards a large clearing.
The fey creature sank into the ground, and after a bit of listening, they could hear something below the dirt. Rhogar began to dig with his hands, Kaya offering him no other assistance other than water and verbally guiding him as Swift played music as he walked around. Rhogar then resorted in his frustration to using his shield as a shovel as Swift finally decided to assist, which was faster, though cost him his shield. Upon finding a trapdoor, they opened it to hear organ music coming from below, and they entered to go down a spiral staircase to a room where an organ played with no one sitting before it, seemingly playing itself in a sunken castle ruin that was magically lit. It stopped playing, and they started to try and look for clues. Rhogar, however, found a tower shield on a wall and decided to have it replace his broken one.
The group explored the ruins that weren't buried under the rubble, finding 400gp, a pair of spectacles, and several programmed illusions that gave them very helpful exposition of the castle history. When Swift found a musical sheet, they returned to the organ for him to play it, deducing that it was, indeed, a fey construct or being of sorts. As he played, Swift lost the ability to stop playing the organ, and a fey manifestation appeared to fight them from within it. After a long, difficult battle that saw Swift drop unconscious at one point, they defeated the manifestation, and the organ vanished as a final illusion played and the castle rose again.
When they returned to Midbourne, High Scrivener Dow thanked them for their assistance in ridding them of the wolves, and was told of the castle that returned to the surface. He initially didn't believe them, as he had records of the castle having been destroyed within his office, but then decided to use it as the grounds for a grain storage, though Rhogar had unsuccessfully vied in trying to purchase the castle and grounds for himself to have. After returning to the Winey Wench and Rhogar to the warm embrace of the human Laoka, they village seemed far more lively than before. Upon the morning, Laoka had received word from her sister in Omeria's Viskral Valley that there were problems with a basilisk in the area. Rhogar and Kaya agreed to go, though Swift had received a summons from his home Rymeia to return for a performance. And so, they parted ways for the time being.
As the trio walked for a night, they heard what could be wolves in the distance, following it until daylight, then night again. This time, they heard music, following it to a clearing where they saw some sort of fey apparition playing music in a tree. Rhogar and Swift played music with her, though Rhogar's unorthodox approach of hitting his shield in time for percussion was oddly fitting. When Kaya joined in with vocals, badly, the fey ceased playing and vanished, two shadow mastiffs appearing in the clearing instead. After a bit of trouble, Kaya, Swift, and Rhogar managed to slay the beasts, Rhogar being knocked unconscious at one point, and the music taunted them to follow it. After considering camping down, the shadows began to growl, and they decided to instead follow the music towards a large clearing.
The fey creature sank into the ground, and after a bit of listening, they could hear something below the dirt. Rhogar began to dig with his hands, Kaya offering him no other assistance other than water and verbally guiding him as Swift played music as he walked around. Rhogar then resorted in his frustration to using his shield as a shovel as Swift finally decided to assist, which was faster, though cost him his shield. Upon finding a trapdoor, they opened it to hear organ music coming from below, and they entered to go down a spiral staircase to a room where an organ played with no one sitting before it, seemingly playing itself in a sunken castle ruin that was magically lit. It stopped playing, and they started to try and look for clues. Rhogar, however, found a tower shield on a wall and decided to have it replace his broken one.
The group explored the ruins that weren't buried under the rubble, finding 400gp, a pair of spectacles, and several programmed illusions that gave them very helpful exposition of the castle history. When Swift found a musical sheet, they returned to the organ for him to play it, deducing that it was, indeed, a fey construct or being of sorts. As he played, Swift lost the ability to stop playing the organ, and a fey manifestation appeared to fight them from within it. After a long, difficult battle that saw Swift drop unconscious at one point, they defeated the manifestation, and the organ vanished as a final illusion played and the castle rose again.
When they returned to Midbourne, High Scrivener Dow thanked them for their assistance in ridding them of the wolves, and was told of the castle that returned to the surface. He initially didn't believe them, as he had records of the castle having been destroyed within his office, but then decided to use it as the grounds for a grain storage, though Rhogar had unsuccessfully vied in trying to purchase the castle and grounds for himself to have. After returning to the Winey Wench and Rhogar to the warm embrace of the human Laoka, they village seemed far more lively than before. Upon the morning, Laoka had received word from her sister in Omeria's Viskral Valley that there were problems with a basilisk in the area. Rhogar and Kaya agreed to go, though Swift had received a summons from his home Rymeia to return for a performance. And so, they parted ways for the time being.
Relations
Protagonists
Kaya of the Mist, Rhogar, and Swift.
Neutrals/Bystanders
High Scrivener Dow, people of Midbourne.
Adversaries
The Organ, Shadow Mastiffs.
Backdrops
Locations
Midbourne, Bear Castle.
Related Characters
Related Locations
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