Session 19-Nov-2022

General Summary

After enjoying a few months of relatively ordinary adventuring, the party finds themselves at Drakar's Hearth once. There, Anya receives a message from Lia. The forest guardian requests the party's presence in her grove regarding matters critical to the safety of the forest itself. The party travels there at dawn the next day.
Lia tells the party about a growing corruption in the forest that is spreading from the east. Lia believes that a sect of druids known as the The Followers of the Glade knows more and advises that the group travel there, find out what they can, and stop this corruption before it overwhelms even her. In exchange, she offers each person resposible for stopping the corruption a boon. So, the party heads out towards the settlement of Stilt's Rest, where the Followers of the Glade can be found.
Along the road leading out of the forest, the party members were ambushed by several men with crude weapons and black ooze weeping from their eyes. Despite the party's intentions to subdue and interrogate the attackers, all but one were killed. The remaining ambusher who goes by the name of Kamar parleyed with the party. He told them of a splinter group from the Followers of the Glade led by Stal Treeflower. They seek a better way and now commune with a 'new power' rather than the nature spirits of old.
Under the pretense of being open-minded Followers of the Glade, the party managed to convince Kamar that they were seeking to understand his sect's ways. And so, he told them to seek the group out at the old proving grounds.
After, the group arrived at Stilt's Rest to a not-so-warm welcome. They met Fransk, the elder of the village as he was tending to an ancient tree at the center of the village. He told the party that one year ago, a young man of the Glade, Stal Treeflower, came to Stilt’s Rest to commune with nature and after suffering loss in his former life. He was a natural adept at communing with and understanding the spirits of nature. However, he did not feel like he was progressing enough and sought more. Thus, he among others, split from the main contingent of Glade followers to gain power and a deeper understanding. However, since his departure, unusual things started happening around the region. He fears that Stal has done something to corrupt nature.
At the village, the group gathered several rumors:

• In the past year, Silt’s Rest has had several Followers of the Glade disappear in the night.
• The apple crop had far more dropped, rotten apples this year (leading to complaints about cider prospects)
• Villagers say the followers of Stal cake their faces with mud.
• One of the gatherers saw a deer eating carrion.

Later that night, Llewelyn observed villagers leaving in the night, unhindered by the guards.
That morning, the group set out to find the proving ground to learn more of the separatist cult. Along the path, they were attacked by an awakened tree that seemed to have the same black ooze weeping from it as the men that attacked them on the road. After dispatching it, the ooze itself rose up to attack the party.
After the encounter, Aurora, Anya, and Llewelyn find the old proving ground. The ground appeared to consist of a rocky outcropping at the base of a series of hills. Getting closer, they realized the grounds were guarded by several cultists and that a fissure in the outcropping led deep into the earth.
Under the guise of would-be recruits, the party was escorted into the dark tunnels below.

Report Date

19 Nov 2022

Secondary Location

Drakar's Hearth