Mission 014: Into The Woods
A call has gone out to rescue a group believed to have gone missing in the Pearlbow Wilderness, a vast forest to the north of Rexxentrum.
Mission Log
The Standard, equipped with road rations and camping gear, were called to Odessloe- a small fishing village to the north of Rexxentrum- by a Half-Orc woman by the name of Augur who had witnessed an airship experiencing trouble and eventually crashing in the vast forest known as the Pearlbow Wilderness. Recognising the ship as belonging to a former acquaintance from her old adventuring days- Yorick Crownsbane, a smuggler and scoundrel who worked oddjobs using his ship. Concerned for her old friend's safety and knowing that a dispatch from Rexxentrum would likely arrive too late, Augur tasked the ragtag group with a relatively straightforward mission; venture into the wilderness, find any trace of Yorick, and bring him home safely if he was still alive.
Setting off into the woods, the group fared well on their first day of travel. Between Paisley's map reading and Helelee's innate connection to nature, they managed to cover a good stretch of the distance they needed to travel before they had to make camp for the night. Hel foraged up a veritable feast, Anaya the wizard struggled to fathom what the forest was doing to their connection with their familiar, Bhoot, Wendelin and Fess used their elven nature to stand watch for the group overnight, while Paisley gave Auron a rundown of the group's various quirks, assuming that no one else could comprehend the Celestial tongue they used.
Their second day on the trail began well, but started to go downhill around midday. First, they found themselves set upon by a ferocious, gigantic boar. While the supernatural instincts of Fess and Hel kept the beast from taking the group unawares, the party still braced themselves for a tough fight, watching in horror as the gargantuan beast charged down Wendelin, Paisley, and Helelee-- only to disappear into the aether, leaving only a sense of exhaustion in its wake.
Then, the group stumbled across a set of ancient ruins, overgrown and long-forgotten. Studying a series of mysterious hieroglyphics set upon the ruin walls, Auron took heart as he translated a passage about ancient Aasimar heroes and their exploits. Paisley, meanwhile, watched the passage he was studying begin to shift- telling the story of a studious gnome set upon by a terrifying beast with a thousand maws and endless teeth. Before he could puzzle out just what that meant, Paisley was snatched up by vines and swiftly dragged away from the group, calling for aid. Luckily, some swift action on the part of Helelee and Wendelin's pet baboon, Jace the Second, freed Paisley from the vines and pulled him to safety.
Exhausted, confused, and beset by worries, the group made camp for the second night, with Anaya taking an uneventful first watch and Fess switching in for second watch. Some mysterious melody tried to bewitch Fess during his watch, but luckily the rogue was able to resist. Rousing the rest of the group, he relayed these events to the others, trying to recall the full song.
Setting off on the trail again, Wendelin used her Bag of Tricks so summon up a veritable menagerie of Jace the Second, Pig the Axe Beak, and Ursula the Giant Hyena, with the latter two serving as mounts for some of the party, speeding up the group's progress. (Anaya also used the opportunity to summon Thirteen Huge Bees but amazingly, this proved to be more chaotic than anything else).
Shortly after midday, the group found Yorick's crashed airship and set about investigating its wreckage for any sign of their target. Anaya was able to ascertain that the ship had been brought down by magical damage that had torn into the ship's hull. Paisley was able to piece together that Yorick had been using a series of small automatons to crew his craft. Fess, with some help from Ursula, was able to spot a trail of coins, buttons, and feathers that showed that Yorick had been dragged deeper into the forest. …and Auron tore his shirt.
Following the trail Yorick had left at a quick pace, the group found themselves facing a dilapidated old hovel in the woods and-- thanks to a misplaced hoof fall from Hel and some magical defenses-- alerted the hovel's inhabitants, three witches by the name of Winifred, Mary, and Sarah, of their presence.
A fight ensued, and the group managed to dispatch the witches, with Hel's necrotic tentacles, Auron's flaming sword, and Paisley's practical use of Commands proving particularly effective. Safely in the clear, Hel used her impressive strength and intimidating stature to both free and frighten Yorick, who was being held in a cage inside the hovel.
Grateful and relieved once Fess came along, Yorick thanked the group and was all set to explain just what had happened to him and what the witches had been planning-- and then Helelee violently shook every last coin out of him, and the group robbed him of every last bit of the cargo that had been salvaged from the wreckage of his ship.
Starting the long trek back to Odessloe, Paisley and Anaya used their arcane acumen to Identify the magical items they had 'liberated' from Yorick, and after two relatively uneventful days of travel and camping, the group delivered an embittered Yorick to Augur, who reminded him that the group had saved his life and that he should at least be grateful for that.
Bidding farewell to Augur, the group activated their bracers and were transported back to the Golden Standard, where they each went their separate ways.
…but not before Wendelin informed the group that she too speaks Celestial, Paisley.
SUMMARY
DM Luke
PLAYERS Emily (Wendelin), Lou (Auron), Mike (Fess), Puja (Anaya), Ryan (Paisley), Zoe (Helelee)
RESULT Mission Complete
TOTAL XP 1800 xp each
TOTAL GP 85 gp each (plus 20 gp for Anaya and 27 for Helelee)