S1 E32: Rael's Dream
General Summary
In which the gang finds a garden, what's left of some adventurers, and what Rael wished for...
- The party moves into the garden proper, a beautiful and tranquil ruin of fallen stone overgrown with flowers and vines - but trouble is immediately evident; a variety of hostile plant life takes an interest in their presence almost immediately. Mae identifies several rare carnivorous species of plant including smallower, 'small swallower', a flower that's merely a nuisance to larger creatures but is capable of doing real harm to small ones or children; Slaad Bush, a red-leafed brush weed which injects seeds into victims using long thorny spines not unlike the claws of a Red Slaad; and the very rare Stygian Vipervine, a pretty but deadly coiling flower that can spring out five feet at a time and spray a poison that causes temporary nerve damage and memory loss. Pointing these out to the party, the dangers are mostly mitigated.
- They dispatch a corpse flower, though in the process Yoxi hides too close to a Slaad Bush, though it is unable to navigate Yoxi's semiliquid nature and it's unlikely the seeds would have caused him any harm regardless. However he is sorely tempted to join the Kelpie in the well for a long dark swim, but is soon rescued by his lifelong friends. A number of needle lords arise, sliding out of petal-like incubation pods the likes of which Mae has never seen before.
- Dead bodies are found in addition to those in the corpse flower, along with gear and loot that evidently belonged to the party of adventurers that Fre Shavacado had mentioned at the jousting tournament. It would appear that all of that group was party wiped by the threats in the garden.
- Determined to eliminate those threats before exploring the column of fog in the small enclosure, a fireball lights a downed tree and reveals piles of loot that are yet to be explored; a spellbook, a staff of healing, and some scrolls are found in another pile. A bag of holding reveals 10x blocks or stones from the walls that the party had collected. (see Rael's Garden of Delights )
- When stepping through the space determined by the arc of the remaining pillars to attack an Assassin Vine, Blizzard triggers the manifestation of the garden's true defender, a Green dragon compelled by Rael's wish spell to defend the Pillar of Winter; a valiant effort by the party culminating in a successful charm eventually brings it down.
- Several piles of loot and the dragon's hoard, as it were, under the pillar where it rested remain un-looted. A concern arises over protecting the Pillar, which is clearly a World Anchor; ironically that was the purpose of the dragon known as Rael's Dream in the first place.
- Mae has a lingering unease about the destruction of the Assassin Vine, a plant being with notably high wisdom and a neutral outlook which she knows would not have attacked if it had been left alone. She determines that they should try to do something to win Nylea's favor, perhaps in the effort to thwart whatever it is that Kannet is drilling for in the forests of her people some distance to the east.
Rewards Granted
Most of the loot remains unexplored, however in this episode the party recovered a bag of holding, a staff of healing, and studded leather +2 armor, and a total of 1225 gold from the bodies thus far. They know of a spellbook and a scroll, in a pile in the grass, and have seen other items glinting in the weeds, as if the gear - or the people- were scattered at random. It's entirely possible that the treasures aren't all from the most recent party of adventurers, and some have been here longer.
Missions/Quests Completed
- "The Pillar of Winter"
- "Rael's Garden"
- "Rael's Dream"
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