Session 11: Awh, Beans. Hags.

General Summary

The party begins this session taking a long luncheon and short rest at The Bread Basket, a bustling inn at the foot of the City Plateau Bridgeworks. They enjoy a hearty meal, taking some time to chat amongst themselves. Amanita asks L0L4 what her hair is made of and even grants the Owlin a single loc of the fiber-optic cable hair. (Lola, for her part, gives an answer that is akin to "glowing noodles of science" for the uninitiated and "starnoodles" for Kitanya Evermoon.)
After the meal, Num Erik Al finds himself accosted by a mysterious stranger on the way back from the bathroom. Said stranger pickpockets our ranger, grabbing an Emerald Quill that Num had actually been quite fond of. He bristles at the stranger but is told he can have it back if he beats the stranger in Dragon’s Gambit. Annoyed but not wanting to potentially fight an entire inn, he agrees.
At the table, L0L4 joins in the game, and the Stranger sweetens the pot. He says he'll give the quill back win or lose and throw in a rare bauble if they win. The party initially is uninterested, until he shows the back of an Arcanum Portentia card. They start to play, a short but vaguely exciting game punctuated by truly insufferable flirting toward L0L4 on the stranger's part. They use Amanita Guttata's bone dice to avoid trickery while the Owlin looks on and seems ready to curse the lad at any point.
Num takes the win by a hair and reclaims his quill. The card is revealed to be one referred to by collectors as The Crystals. The stranger is vague about where he got the card, but that's pretty typical for an Arcanum Portentia card even when the person isn't a useless twat in a bar.

The card has a nondescript smoky grey background to not distract from the primary focus: a cluster of crystals with 8 points in the different colors of the rainbow. The colors are vibrant like gemstones and the crystals feel sparkling and shimmering on the bland background. The back is the same as the other Arcanum Portentia cards the party has found.

The stranger unknowingly saves against Amanita's Blindness/Deafness spell as he departs, leaving L0L4 a card with his name (Bin) and sending sigil on it; the card is promptly eaten by Amanita as garbage.
The party spends a little more time taking in the atmosphere, watching the various dancing and singing acts on stage. Num eavesdrops on some nearby conversations but ends up getting spellbound for several minutes listening to mindless drivel that amounts to nothing but silly gossip.
Finally, L0L4 takes notice of a small Aarakocra child lost in the crowd and crying for her mother. The gang helps search for her before determining the mother is actually, ahem, indisposed with a prostitute in a room upstairs. The mother is apologetic and thankful, getting clothed in a hurry to take over her childcare again, with the only real harm done that Kitanya fed the child a truly horrifying amount of honey for a sugar high from hell later.
-
The party embarks onto Mother's Gift, using their paperwork to acquire a selection of horses and a carriage-style wagon for people to take turns sleeping in, so as to not have to stop to camp unless they'd like to. They assume a neutral pace along the busy country road along Jona's Wall with Num scavenging plants and herbs, Amanita keeping watch, Lola composing a good ol' traveling song, Kitanya making snacks, and ALEK51 trying his hand at cartography. (It's a well-traveled road, but with Ostelliach being as fraught with natural disasters as it is, the topography is always of interest and changing. Maps can sell for a decent amount depending on the skill.)
They come upon a Farmer's Market of sorts, something causing MUCH excitement, especially for our starcook Kitanya. It's nothing as magical as Dortlitt's Store, but there's lots of goods for people living in the area--baskets, farming tools etc. Purchases:

• Kitanya: 1 GP per stall for an assortment of different honeys made with specific flowers, pickled veggies, candied veggies etc.

• Num: Some very good homemade jerky for Basil

• Amanita: 1 vial of Super Dirt mixed from a variety of different potions a stallseller spilled/broke on the ground. Uses unknown.

The most exciting of the stalls, however, was a man proclaiming Magic Beans for 10 GP each, one per customer. The party verifies they are indeed magical and detects Transmutation magic, so after some deliberation, all but Tervik Likkus try a bean. It is determined that the beans grant the consumer the knowledge of a single "mundane" profession instantly.

• ALEK51 : "dairymaid" - milk, cheese, butters, all those lactose-y things; he buys supplies to make butter along the road.

• Kitanya Evermoon: Cobbler; our cloven-hoofed bimbo now understands shoes.

• Amanita Guttata: Barber; the Owlin without hair now understands hair. Fitting considering the conversation about it earlier.

• Num Erik Al: Weaving, especially basketweaving. Useful for a trap-maker!

• L0L4 : Brewmaking (alcoholic and otherwise). Fitting for a socializing Bard but maybe funny for a Warforged?

• Wynnie Bishop - not present in session but definitely would Bean It, TBD next session

-
As the party travels on, the sun slips toward the horizon, creating a spooky atmosphere at dusk just as they come upon a notably dilapidated home guarded by 3 scarecrows. Perceptive eyes notice at least 2 of the scarecrows follow the group with their eyes; Num deduces this might be the house of "witches" people blamed for all things wrong with the area.
Heedless of anything spooky, Kitanya hurried up to the fence to greet the scarecrows and see if they were hungry. The party is stopped by the sharp, gravelly voice of a crone with green hair and a gnarled cane warning them to not cause problems on her property. She is joined by a meeker counterpart that looks vaguely similar. The first, Griselda, is ruder and more brisk with less trust, while her "sister" Mildred is more apologetic, hesitantly friendly, frequently cowed by Griselda's admonishments.
A conversation back and forth allows the gang to deduce that these two are hags, specifically 2/3 of a hag coven that has lost its third member. A hag coven must always have 3 members in order to balance the power dynamic and break ties, so the loss of their third has caused much stress and strife. The surrounding townsfolk are more relentless in their torment of the hags who now can scarecely leave their farm to take care of themselves, let alone cause problems. They're unsure of what to do or where to go but reluctant to trust an adventuring party, given adventuring parties' tendency to slaughter things like hags often.
Amanita Guttata (who has during the conversation been busy having a head-tilt contest with one of the animated scarecrows) is able to gain the hags' trust by showing Carl the baby mimic, displaying the party as sympathetic to "monsterous" things. Griselda negotiates with them and promises whatever they want from the shack behind if AHARRG is able to grant them safe passage to the Fugue Wisps, a swampy magical wasteland where they would be free to exist in peace and perhaps even find another coven member. A quick to Gleddy Goodvine confirms such a trade and the two sisters hand a large bag of goodies to the party before going inside to pack their belongings.
We end here with the party sorting through the goods, a macabre assortment of things magical and benign (see Rewards Granted).

Rewards Granted

• Arcanum Portentia: The Crystals

• "One inert Lola hair tube" for Amanita

• An assortment of goods from the farmer's market

• Wilting Garland (Sentient Item): This once vibrant flower crown appears to be slowly withering. It whispers dark encouragement to the wearer, urging them to sow discord and manipulate those around them. (Requires a Wisdom saving throw (DC 15) to resist its influence each day at dawn. Cannot be removed once put on; destroying the garland lifts the curse. Dispel curse can also work; if dispeled, the crown blooms into beautiful, healthy blossoms that grant calm and peace, giving Advantage on saving throws against Fear.

• Bag of False Faces (L0L4): This seemingly ordinary leather bag holds a nightmarish secret. Reaching inside, the party pulls out a featureless mask. When pressed to a face, the mask transforms to perfectly mimic the wearer's appearance, complete with voice and mannerisms. However, prolonged use (more than 24 hours) warps the wearer's own face, slowly turning it into a grotesque reflection of the mask.

• A pouch of gemstones (Mixed, value up to 50gp): The hags have a collection of stolen gemstones, mostly of low value.

• A sack of assorted crafting materials (Alek): This sack contains a variety of animal bones, feathers, clumps of fur, and strange, gnarled roots. They are miscellaneous components for spells and crafting. (Worth 15 GP or to supply 3 spells worth of less common components.)

• Vial of Churning Water (Num): This water constantly swirls and bubbles. When thrown on another creature, it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw (DC 14) or be blinded for 1 round.

• A bag of assorted trinkets (Alek): This bag contains a collection of seemingly mundane items – a rusted thimble, a handmade straw doll, a tarnished silver spoon. However, upon closer inspection, some of these trinkets hold sentimental value to past victims, potentially offering clues to the hags' past misdeeds. (Worth 5 GP in general or more to the right person)

• A pouch of bogberries (10): These foul-smelling berries have a matching vile taste. A creature that eats one gains 1d10 HP but must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 12) or suffer disadvantage on Wisdom checks for 1 hour.

Campaign

Ostelliach Campaign

Protagonists

L0L4

Neutral Good Warforged (Entertainer)
Bard 4

29 / 29 HP

STR
15

DEX
10

CON
13

INT
11

WIS
11

CHA
15

ALEK51

NG/CG Warforged (Cloistered Scholar (Sage))
Artificer 4

36 / 36 HP

STR
7

DEX
18

CON
8

INT
17

WIS
14

CHA
16

Amanita Guttata

True Neutral Owlin (Hermit)
Druid - Circle of Spores 3

25 / 25 HP

STR
8

DEX
16

CON
14

INT
12

WIS
16

CHA
8

Num Erik Al

()

8 / 8 HP

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Wynnie Bishop

Kitanya Evermoon

Neutral Good Satyr ()
Cleric 1
Stars Druid 1

15 / 15 HP

STR
14

DEX
8

CON
13

INT
8

WIS
18

CHA
11

Report Date

05 Jun 2024

Primary Location

Mother's Gift

Related Characters

• ALEK51
• Amanita Guttata
• Kitanya Evermoon
• L0L4
• Num Erik Al