RangerWickett
Legend
I know it's easy to lose interest in writing a storyhour, but I do hope you keep it up.
War of the Burning Sky (updated 24th May)
JonathanFarrier
First Post
Careful hands unroll a small meditation mat, adjusting the angle just so. The mat is soon joined by a second item, a chalice-like incense burner crafted of bone and rosewood.
The careful hands pause, reverse, and raise the incense burner toward a cowled face and steady gaze. The chalice is revealed as a small skull, gnomish perhaps. The skull is intact save for a missing jawbone.
After a brief polish with the edge of a cloak, the object is returned to the ground and a flash of white teeth can be seen within the shadow of the cowl.
“ Bards should be seen and not heard…”
The careful hands pause, reverse, and raise the incense burner toward a cowled face and steady gaze. The chalice is revealed as a small skull, gnomish perhaps. The skull is intact save for a missing jawbone.
After a brief polish with the edge of a cloak, the object is returned to the ground and a flash of white teeth can be seen within the shadow of the cowl.
“ Bards should be seen and not heard…”
I've still got the interest, just not the players!RangerWickett said:
Missed two sessions due to lack of players, but seemed to get an extra amount done this week to make up for it (5 encounters in one session - unheard of for us!)
I haven't had time to write up the whole session, but I'll post what I've got.
As Solsus sets about healing his injured comrades, Caryk and Ambar arrive to see what all the fuss is about. Gribron still bears some of the claw marks from the ghouls, despite Solsus’s efforts.
Gribron carefully searches around the base of the shrine, and finds a cunningly hidden secret door. With some more work, he finds the catch which opens it. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to protect the shrine entrance, and Gribron is proud of the way he has bypassed the defences.
Inside, a set of steps lead downwards. A blue glow is emanating from the hidden chamber below, and our heroes can make out what appears to be the sound of distant singing.
At the bottom of the steps, the shrine is a twenty foot diameter chamber. It’s a bit crowded with all six of them in there. A life size statue of a woman stabbing a stag dominates the room. The statue is stone, but her sword has been painted to look like wood.
At the feet of the statue are two bodies. One of them is an elf in robes which Caryk identifies as being used by clerics of Dol Arrah. He is missing his holy symbol, and a mace lies in the floor by his hand. It is probably the elf Bhurisrava, the one who wrote the journal and was seeking to move from worship of Dol Arrah to a healing faith.
The second elf is covered in flames, which strangely do not flicker. He is dressed in the uniform of a Shahalesti soldier, but it differs somewhat from the modern style seen in and around Gate Pass whenever the Shahalesti elves visit.
The other elf is clearly dead; he has been killed by what look like claws.
“Ghouls, maybe?” suggests Caryk.
“Possibly,” replies Jonathan. “Its hard to tell,”
“His mace has some sort of magical ability,” says Ambar, “but I am unable to determine what it does.”
Jonathan examines the mace, and notes it has a symbol of Olladra inscribed upon it. It also seems to have some kind of other-worldly aura. He remembers the difficulty they had damaging the bearded devil with their mortal weapons. He has a feeling this mace might prove more effective, but holding it is making him feel uncomfortable. Still, the path to power is never easy. He hangs the mace from his belt.
Jonathan tries to touch the body of the elf soldier, but there is a strange barrier blocking him. It looks like the elf is not dead, and is being preserved by some powerful magic.
He calls upon his healing skills and tries to identify the elf’s condition. He feels a brief sensation of warmth from the mace as it does so, almost as if it was aiding his efforts, but even so he cannot find out any more information about the soldier’s condition.
The room also contains a glass display case and an altar. The case has been smashed open – presumably with claws, since the mace would have done considerably more damage. There’s no evidence as to what it once contained, although it clearly isn’t big enough to hold Anyariel’s wooden greatsword.
Caryk examines the altar. It has been defaced with mud and twigs – presumably by the disgruntled elves referred to in the journal they found. Being the religious sort, he sets about cleaning it up.
When he has finished, a strange thing happens. A glowing, elf like figure appears above the altar. Jonathan identifies it as a ghaele eladrin, a creature from another plane.
“Greeting,” it says. “What business have you in the shrine?”
“Hello,” says Caryk. “We are on a quest.”
“We seek to put out the flames in the forest,” says Solsus. “What are you doing here?”
The eladrin notes the altar has been tidied up, and his manner seems more welcoming.
“I serve Olladra. Some forty years ago I was tasked with protecting the shrine. Thank you for cleaning the altar. I am only here to protect against future damage; I cannot repair what was done before.”
He turns to Gribron. “I see that you are injured. Let me restore you to health.” A warm glow spreads from the eladrin’s fingers, and Gribron’s remaining wounds close.
“Thank you. Do you know what happened here?” asks Gribron.
“It was like this when I arrived,” says the eladrin. I imagine there was some relic of the hero Anyariel in that case, but I have no idea what it was. The elf soldier still lives. He is under a temporal stasis, a powerful magic and one I am unable to remove. He is on fire, but whilst eh is in stasis the flames do not burn. I am speculating, but I think it is tied in with the same magic which summoned me.”
“We have heard that the burning is connected to a group of singers,” says Caryk. “Do you know anything about that?”
“That sounds like the seela,” replies the eladrin. “They are a group of fey who used to sing news from one of the forest to the other. I cannot say how living in the burning forest for all these years has affected them.”
“Do you know where they live?”
“They used to live by the lake, downstream from here.”
“Do you know what is upstream?”
“The river flows down from the mountains. There’s a waterfall there, and a small lake.”
The party discuss moving the elf, but come to the conclusion that he is better off where he is, at least until they can put the fire out. Thanking the eladrin, they leave.
Scene 3
Upstream, Fire Forest
January 7th, 11 am
There is a short discussion about the merits of going upstream or downstream. Jonathan and Caryk are keen to head downstream and deal with the seela, but the others would prefer to head upstream first and see what has been hidden there by Bhurisrava the elf cleric. It might be something which would help them defeat the seela, stop the song and free Indomitability.
In the end, they decide to head upstream. Haddin and Crystin are not keen on the extra travel, and decide to stay in the elf village with B’Roos for company.
The rest head up river. The going is quite easy, as the river is smaller than it used to be and the dry riverbank makes for a natural path. Solsus notices that the road out of the village appears to be blocked by a flaming curtain similar to the one they met on their way in. It looks like Indomitability wants them to take the river route.
Upstream is also upwind. The wind is picking up, blowing about the ash from the forest. A sudden gust catches everyone except Solsus unawares. It turns the ash into a cloud of burning cinders, and only Solsus can get out of the way of the fiery cloud.
A couple of the party start coughing and spluttering as the cinders go into their lungs. Some of the cinders nestle in Ambar’s fur, and it catches alight. Fortunately, the river is handy, and a quick swim douses the flames with no further ill effects.
Up ahead, the river flows past some large rocks. When the level was higher, they were probably rapids, but now they are simply obstacles. A group of small fire elementals are frolicking amongst the rocks, possibly enjoying the thrill of being so close to the dangerous water.
Caryk, as the party’s best swimmer, volunteers to approach the elementals via the river. The rest of the group continue along the bank, and let fly with spells and missile fire once they are at close range – even though Caryk is not yet in position.
One elemental falls, and the rest rush towards the party, their fiery forms moving swiftly along the river bank. Three of them strike at Jonathan and the last two attack Gribron. Both are injured, and Jonathan is also set alight.
Caryk surfaces, and takes in the scene. He decides the fiery Jonathan needs his help most and, with a quick prayer, creates several; gallons of water to douse the flames. Two of the elementals are splashed in the process. Sizzling and streaming, they abandon Jonathan and rush for the safety of the burning trees. The party soon finish off the remaining three.
“Let’s get out of here before the mother elemental turns up,” suggests Ambar.
Later, there is another encounter with a burning cloud of cinders, but the party are on the alert and manage to get into the river before it strikes.
When the third cloud arrives, it is viewed as a tedious part of the journey, rather than as a real threat. However, Solsus also notices a strange creature floating amongst the burning trees. It has a goblin like face, and lots of legs, and seems to be able to fly without wings.
He becomes visible and points out the creature to the others. However, even with his help most of them are too busy getting out of the way of the cinder cloud to spot what he’s talking about.
The creature see the flying Solsus is isolated from the rest of the group, and decides he’ll make a nice snack. It rushes towards him, but Solsus is too nimble for it to catch. He quickly withdraws, and vanishes from sight. Solsus breathes a sigh of relief when he realises the creature is no longer able to track his movements.
It seems that no monster is too obscure for Jonathan. “That’s a rast,” he declares. “Be careful of its teeth and claws; this creature likes to drain blood.”
Suddenly another rast appears, rises silently up towards the first and tries to bite it. Annoyed by its arrival, the first rast lashes out with its claws at the intruder – which turns out to be one of Gribron’s cunning illusions.
The rest of the group take advantage of its distraction and are able to kill the creature with a combination of spells and missile fire.
“Bravo!” says a voice from beside the river.
The party turn and see the bearded devil has returned. Its glaive is leaning against a nearby tree trunk - within easy reach but not currently threatening.
“Begone, you foul fiend,” says Caryk. “We want nothing to do with you.”
“Surely it can’t hurt to hear my proposal,” says the devil calmly. “I have no wish for this encounter to descend into violence.”
“That sounds very reasonable,” says Jonathan. “What is it you want?”
The devil fingers his collar, embossed with a ‘G’. “It would be unethical for me to state that I am working for Inquisitor Guthwulf,” says the devil, “so I won’t.”
“My employer has set me two tasks,” he continues. “My first task is to stop you leaving the Fire Forest.”
“How about if the forest was no longer on fire?” asks Solsus.
“My thoughts exactly!” says the devil with a grin. “If the forest was no longer on fire, then that would fulfil the first part of the bargain. The easiest way to do that is, I believe, to kill the singing fey. You’d probably be doing them a favour; the burning is torture for them, and has turned them into warped and evil creatures. It would probably take a day or so before the fire burns itself out. You could shelter in the lake while that happened.
“The second part is that you surrender the case to me.”
“Not going to happen!” says Caryk.
“What about if the case was empty?” suggests Gribron.
“I like the way you think,” replies the devil. “Unfortunately, my employer has already thought of that one, so it won’t work. However, there is no time limit. We could discuss it again once the fey are dead. Do we have a deal?”
The party decide to accept this deal with the devil. After all, they have already agreed with Indomitability that they will stop the singing.
“Excellent,” says the devil. “No offence, but you do know the fey are downstream, not upstream, right?”
“We are following up some other information,” says Jonathan, “and then we’ll head back downstream and deal with the fey. Do you happen to know what’s upstream?”
“Not really. There’s a waterfall. Brave adventurers could probably manage to climb up out of the forest there. I hope you aren’t tempted to do that, as it would be a breach of our agreement. Anyway, let’s be off.”
The devil picks up his glaive and starts to head off up the river.
“You’re not thinking of coming with us are you?” says Caryk.
“Of course,” replies the devil. “I’m sure we will have lots of fun together. We are not so very different, you and I.”
The rest of the party head on up the river, with Caryk and the devil, now locked in philosophical debate, bringing up the rear.
Scene 4
The Waterfall, Fire Forest
January 7th, 2 pm
The waterfall can be heard before it is seen. As expected, it flows off the side of the mountains and drains into a small lake. There is an island on the lake, with a white shrine built on it.
“I suggest we investigate the island,” says Agatha.
“I could teleport across and have a look for you,” offers the devil.
“No thank you,” replies Caryk. “In fact, please could you leave us. If there’s anyone in that shrine you might give them the wrong impression.”
“Suit yourself,” says the devil, and disappears in a burst of flame. A second later he reappears on a ledge at the top of the waterfall, and settles down to wait.
The party manage to make their way across the water to the shrine, and find it occupied to a horse-like creature with a single horn growing out of its forehead. It’s a unicorn, but its appearance is a far cry from the gleaming white creatures of legend. It is emaciated, and its coat is covered in ash and soot.
“Greetings travellers,” says the Unicorn. “My name is Nelle.” It studies each of the party in turn. It hesitates when its gaze rests on Jonathan, but eventually it decides that he too passes muster.
“What brings you to my home?
“Hello,” says Solsus. “We have read the journal of an elf cleric called Bhurisrava. Apparently he hid something here.”
“Yes,” replies the unicorn sadly. “He cared for his sick brethren for as long as he could, but when he felt himself giving in to despair he brought them to me. He was worried he might lose the strength to go on, and decide to put them out of their misery.”
“Couldn’t he just take them out of the forest?” asks Ambar.
“He tried that. When someone afflicted with the flame leaves the forest, the flame gutters and dies – but the person’s life goes with it.”
“Surely killing them would be a mercy,” says Jonathan.
“Those of us who live in the forest do not believe in killing,” says Nelle.
There is an uncomfortable silence.
“We are on a quest to put out the fire,” says Solsus brightly.
“Yes, we intend to kill the seela,” says Jonathan.
“Kill the seela !?! The seela must not be killed!” says Nelle.
“No, no, I didn’t mean kill,” says Jonathan. “Of course not. Save the seela, that’s what I meant to say.”
Gribron carefully searches around the base of the shrine, and finds a cunningly hidden secret door. With some more work, he finds the catch which opens it. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to protect the shrine entrance, and Gribron is proud of the way he has bypassed the defences.
Inside, a set of steps lead downwards. A blue glow is emanating from the hidden chamber below, and our heroes can make out what appears to be the sound of distant singing.
At the bottom of the steps, the shrine is a twenty foot diameter chamber. It’s a bit crowded with all six of them in there. A life size statue of a woman stabbing a stag dominates the room. The statue is stone, but her sword has been painted to look like wood.
At the feet of the statue are two bodies. One of them is an elf in robes which Caryk identifies as being used by clerics of Dol Arrah. He is missing his holy symbol, and a mace lies in the floor by his hand. It is probably the elf Bhurisrava, the one who wrote the journal and was seeking to move from worship of Dol Arrah to a healing faith.
The second elf is covered in flames, which strangely do not flicker. He is dressed in the uniform of a Shahalesti soldier, but it differs somewhat from the modern style seen in and around Gate Pass whenever the Shahalesti elves visit.
The other elf is clearly dead; he has been killed by what look like claws.
“Ghouls, maybe?” suggests Caryk.
“Possibly,” replies Jonathan. “Its hard to tell,”
“His mace has some sort of magical ability,” says Ambar, “but I am unable to determine what it does.”
Jonathan examines the mace, and notes it has a symbol of Olladra inscribed upon it. It also seems to have some kind of other-worldly aura. He remembers the difficulty they had damaging the bearded devil with their mortal weapons. He has a feeling this mace might prove more effective, but holding it is making him feel uncomfortable. Still, the path to power is never easy. He hangs the mace from his belt.
Jonathan tries to touch the body of the elf soldier, but there is a strange barrier blocking him. It looks like the elf is not dead, and is being preserved by some powerful magic.
He calls upon his healing skills and tries to identify the elf’s condition. He feels a brief sensation of warmth from the mace as it does so, almost as if it was aiding his efforts, but even so he cannot find out any more information about the soldier’s condition.
The room also contains a glass display case and an altar. The case has been smashed open – presumably with claws, since the mace would have done considerably more damage. There’s no evidence as to what it once contained, although it clearly isn’t big enough to hold Anyariel’s wooden greatsword.
Caryk examines the altar. It has been defaced with mud and twigs – presumably by the disgruntled elves referred to in the journal they found. Being the religious sort, he sets about cleaning it up.
When he has finished, a strange thing happens. A glowing, elf like figure appears above the altar. Jonathan identifies it as a ghaele eladrin, a creature from another plane.
“Greeting,” it says. “What business have you in the shrine?”
“Hello,” says Caryk. “We are on a quest.”
“We seek to put out the flames in the forest,” says Solsus. “What are you doing here?”
The eladrin notes the altar has been tidied up, and his manner seems more welcoming.
“I serve Olladra. Some forty years ago I was tasked with protecting the shrine. Thank you for cleaning the altar. I am only here to protect against future damage; I cannot repair what was done before.”
He turns to Gribron. “I see that you are injured. Let me restore you to health.” A warm glow spreads from the eladrin’s fingers, and Gribron’s remaining wounds close.
“Thank you. Do you know what happened here?” asks Gribron.
“It was like this when I arrived,” says the eladrin. I imagine there was some relic of the hero Anyariel in that case, but I have no idea what it was. The elf soldier still lives. He is under a temporal stasis, a powerful magic and one I am unable to remove. He is on fire, but whilst eh is in stasis the flames do not burn. I am speculating, but I think it is tied in with the same magic which summoned me.”
“We have heard that the burning is connected to a group of singers,” says Caryk. “Do you know anything about that?”
“That sounds like the seela,” replies the eladrin. “They are a group of fey who used to sing news from one of the forest to the other. I cannot say how living in the burning forest for all these years has affected them.”
“Do you know where they live?”
“They used to live by the lake, downstream from here.”
“Do you know what is upstream?”
“The river flows down from the mountains. There’s a waterfall there, and a small lake.”
The party discuss moving the elf, but come to the conclusion that he is better off where he is, at least until they can put the fire out. Thanking the eladrin, they leave.
Scene 3
Upstream, Fire Forest
January 7th, 11 am
There is a short discussion about the merits of going upstream or downstream. Jonathan and Caryk are keen to head downstream and deal with the seela, but the others would prefer to head upstream first and see what has been hidden there by Bhurisrava the elf cleric. It might be something which would help them defeat the seela, stop the song and free Indomitability.
In the end, they decide to head upstream. Haddin and Crystin are not keen on the extra travel, and decide to stay in the elf village with B’Roos for company.
The rest head up river. The going is quite easy, as the river is smaller than it used to be and the dry riverbank makes for a natural path. Solsus notices that the road out of the village appears to be blocked by a flaming curtain similar to the one they met on their way in. It looks like Indomitability wants them to take the river route.
Upstream is also upwind. The wind is picking up, blowing about the ash from the forest. A sudden gust catches everyone except Solsus unawares. It turns the ash into a cloud of burning cinders, and only Solsus can get out of the way of the fiery cloud.
A couple of the party start coughing and spluttering as the cinders go into their lungs. Some of the cinders nestle in Ambar’s fur, and it catches alight. Fortunately, the river is handy, and a quick swim douses the flames with no further ill effects.
Up ahead, the river flows past some large rocks. When the level was higher, they were probably rapids, but now they are simply obstacles. A group of small fire elementals are frolicking amongst the rocks, possibly enjoying the thrill of being so close to the dangerous water.
Caryk, as the party’s best swimmer, volunteers to approach the elementals via the river. The rest of the group continue along the bank, and let fly with spells and missile fire once they are at close range – even though Caryk is not yet in position.
One elemental falls, and the rest rush towards the party, their fiery forms moving swiftly along the river bank. Three of them strike at Jonathan and the last two attack Gribron. Both are injured, and Jonathan is also set alight.
Caryk surfaces, and takes in the scene. He decides the fiery Jonathan needs his help most and, with a quick prayer, creates several; gallons of water to douse the flames. Two of the elementals are splashed in the process. Sizzling and streaming, they abandon Jonathan and rush for the safety of the burning trees. The party soon finish off the remaining three.
“Let’s get out of here before the mother elemental turns up,” suggests Ambar.
Later, there is another encounter with a burning cloud of cinders, but the party are on the alert and manage to get into the river before it strikes.
When the third cloud arrives, it is viewed as a tedious part of the journey, rather than as a real threat. However, Solsus also notices a strange creature floating amongst the burning trees. It has a goblin like face, and lots of legs, and seems to be able to fly without wings.
He becomes visible and points out the creature to the others. However, even with his help most of them are too busy getting out of the way of the cinder cloud to spot what he’s talking about.
The creature see the flying Solsus is isolated from the rest of the group, and decides he’ll make a nice snack. It rushes towards him, but Solsus is too nimble for it to catch. He quickly withdraws, and vanishes from sight. Solsus breathes a sigh of relief when he realises the creature is no longer able to track his movements.
It seems that no monster is too obscure for Jonathan. “That’s a rast,” he declares. “Be careful of its teeth and claws; this creature likes to drain blood.”
Suddenly another rast appears, rises silently up towards the first and tries to bite it. Annoyed by its arrival, the first rast lashes out with its claws at the intruder – which turns out to be one of Gribron’s cunning illusions.
The rest of the group take advantage of its distraction and are able to kill the creature with a combination of spells and missile fire.
“Bravo!” says a voice from beside the river.
The party turn and see the bearded devil has returned. Its glaive is leaning against a nearby tree trunk - within easy reach but not currently threatening.
“Begone, you foul fiend,” says Caryk. “We want nothing to do with you.”
“Surely it can’t hurt to hear my proposal,” says the devil calmly. “I have no wish for this encounter to descend into violence.”
“That sounds very reasonable,” says Jonathan. “What is it you want?”
The devil fingers his collar, embossed with a ‘G’. “It would be unethical for me to state that I am working for Inquisitor Guthwulf,” says the devil, “so I won’t.”
“My employer has set me two tasks,” he continues. “My first task is to stop you leaving the Fire Forest.”
“How about if the forest was no longer on fire?” asks Solsus.
“My thoughts exactly!” says the devil with a grin. “If the forest was no longer on fire, then that would fulfil the first part of the bargain. The easiest way to do that is, I believe, to kill the singing fey. You’d probably be doing them a favour; the burning is torture for them, and has turned them into warped and evil creatures. It would probably take a day or so before the fire burns itself out. You could shelter in the lake while that happened.
“The second part is that you surrender the case to me.”
“Not going to happen!” says Caryk.
“What about if the case was empty?” suggests Gribron.
“I like the way you think,” replies the devil. “Unfortunately, my employer has already thought of that one, so it won’t work. However, there is no time limit. We could discuss it again once the fey are dead. Do we have a deal?”
The party decide to accept this deal with the devil. After all, they have already agreed with Indomitability that they will stop the singing.
“Excellent,” says the devil. “No offence, but you do know the fey are downstream, not upstream, right?”
“We are following up some other information,” says Jonathan, “and then we’ll head back downstream and deal with the fey. Do you happen to know what’s upstream?”
“Not really. There’s a waterfall. Brave adventurers could probably manage to climb up out of the forest there. I hope you aren’t tempted to do that, as it would be a breach of our agreement. Anyway, let’s be off.”
The devil picks up his glaive and starts to head off up the river.
“You’re not thinking of coming with us are you?” says Caryk.
“Of course,” replies the devil. “I’m sure we will have lots of fun together. We are not so very different, you and I.”
The rest of the party head on up the river, with Caryk and the devil, now locked in philosophical debate, bringing up the rear.
Scene 4
The Waterfall, Fire Forest
January 7th, 2 pm
The waterfall can be heard before it is seen. As expected, it flows off the side of the mountains and drains into a small lake. There is an island on the lake, with a white shrine built on it.
“I suggest we investigate the island,” says Agatha.
“I could teleport across and have a look for you,” offers the devil.
“No thank you,” replies Caryk. “In fact, please could you leave us. If there’s anyone in that shrine you might give them the wrong impression.”
“Suit yourself,” says the devil, and disappears in a burst of flame. A second later he reappears on a ledge at the top of the waterfall, and settles down to wait.
The party manage to make their way across the water to the shrine, and find it occupied to a horse-like creature with a single horn growing out of its forehead. It’s a unicorn, but its appearance is a far cry from the gleaming white creatures of legend. It is emaciated, and its coat is covered in ash and soot.
“Greetings travellers,” says the Unicorn. “My name is Nelle.” It studies each of the party in turn. It hesitates when its gaze rests on Jonathan, but eventually it decides that he too passes muster.
“What brings you to my home?
“Hello,” says Solsus. “We have read the journal of an elf cleric called Bhurisrava. Apparently he hid something here.”
“Yes,” replies the unicorn sadly. “He cared for his sick brethren for as long as he could, but when he felt himself giving in to despair he brought them to me. He was worried he might lose the strength to go on, and decide to put them out of their misery.”
“Couldn’t he just take them out of the forest?” asks Ambar.
“He tried that. When someone afflicted with the flame leaves the forest, the flame gutters and dies – but the person’s life goes with it.”
“Surely killing them would be a mercy,” says Jonathan.
“Those of us who live in the forest do not believe in killing,” says Nelle.
There is an uncomfortable silence.
“We are on a quest to put out the fire,” says Solsus brightly.
“Yes, we intend to kill the seela,” says Jonathan.
“Kill the seela !?! The seela must not be killed!” says Nelle.
“No, no, I didn’t mean kill,” says Jonathan. “Of course not. Save the seela, that’s what I meant to say.”
Last edited:
RangerWickett
Legend
Please keep it up.
Noteworthy little typo there.
Noteworthy little typo there.
JonathanFarrier
First Post
amethal said:
Just the character, honest (
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
Mwa ha ha ha ha...ahem).But you are right, I never should have used the B..A..R..D.. word - far too upsetting for the impressionable.
walker_saint
First Post
Cool!
What did we do next huh? huh? what? what did we do? tell us... tell us...
I'm getting the strange feeling that i should be more wary of Jonathan than i am... but then again he IS very ggod at healing others, he's always the first to anyone down... and if he can't always save them i'm sure he tries his best...
Right?
What did we do next huh? huh? what? what did we do? tell us... tell us...
I'm getting the strange feeling that i should be more wary of Jonathan than i am... but then again he IS very ggod at healing others, he's always the first to anyone down... and if he can't always save them i'm sure he tries his best...
Right?
“No, no, I didn’t mean kill,” says Jonathan. “Of course not. Save the seela, that’s what I meant to say. How do we do that?”
“I fear I lack the knowledge to answer that question. Once the seela sang news from one end of the forest to the other. Now they sing to keep the fire spirit imprisoned, for it is all that keeps the forest from burning to a cinder. If the forest dies, so do the seela. In time the forest may re-grow, but the seela will not.
“No one knows where the fire spirit came from. Sometimes I hear words amongst the crackling of the flames. The word ‘trillith’, and the phrase ‘daughter of Trilla’.”
Jonathan vaguely recalls there being a dragon called Trilla, but he does not know any further details.
“Can you help us on our quest?” asks the greedy Gribron.
“I need to stay here and tend to the suffering elves,” says Nelle. “However, I will give you what aid I can.”
The unicorn moves to a small sculpture of a dragon and an eagle chasing each other in a circle. Several of the party recognise this as a depiction of the flamebringer dragon and the stormseeker eagle, two of Gate Pass’s elemental spirits. The other two spirits - the worldshaper worm and the tidereaver kraken – are absent.
At Nelle’s prompting, Caryk pulls three feathers from the eagle and three scales from the dragon. These turn out to be magical tokens – three birds, two whips and a boat.
The party take their leave and head back down the river. There are several more cinder swarms, but they are adept at dealing with them so the clouds are nothing more than a nuisance.
Scene 5
A Glade, Fire Forest
January 7th, 5 pm
Its twilight, but the party are pushing on downstream as the burning forest provides plenty of light. They have passed the remains of the elf village, and hope to reach the lake and scout out the seela village before it gets too dark.
Agatha and Caryk hear the sound of singing coming from up ahead, and inform the others. Its coming closer. The party wait to see what kind of creature they have encountered. This could be the chance to bag their first bard. Caryk grips his quarterstaff tightly, anticipating combat.
The creature that emerges from the forest appears to be an emaciated young woman, albeit one with wizened, dragonfly-like wings which emerge from her back. She hasn’t seen the party, so Solsus hurls a sling bullet at her head. It strikes true, and the unarmed and unsuspecting fey singer staggers back in distress.
Its at that point that things stop going according to plan. Almost as if Solsus’s attack was a signal, a further six fey appear beside the original singer. They are armed with spears, and launch a concerted attack on the singer.
However, the woman’s few bits and pieces of leather armour provide surprisingly good protection, and she suffers no more than a few flesh wounds before she is able to dance her way past her foes.
Somewhat surprised by this turn of events, the party decide fighting six fey is more fun than attacking one, and join in on the side of the solitary singer they have just attacked.
More by luck than judgement, they manage to bring down the attacking fey without killing any of them. A combination of stunning beams of scintillating colours from Gribron, and Solsus’s use of the local vegetation to entangle the fey means that they are immobilised in short order.
The seela singer is surprised to see outsiders in the Fire Forest, but tries her best to remember her manners.
“Greetings, strangers. My name is Tiljann. Thank you for rescuing me from my attackers.”
“Not a problem,” says Jonathan. “I’ll just make sure they aren’t able to trouble you further. Won’t take a minute.” He draws his heavy mace, dedicated to Olladra and a boon to healers, and lines up a hefty blow at the skull of the nearest helplessly entangled fey.
“No!” shouts Tiljann. “They are my brethren. I don’t know what possessed them to attack me, but we should take them back to our village so the Songleader can deal with them.”
“Are all the rest of you fey congregated in the village?” asks Jonathan.
“We are known as the seela,” says Tiljann, “and apart from us seven I imagine we are all in the village.”
“That should save a bit of time,” says Jonathan. “Lead on!”
Act 3 – Out of the Fire
Scene 1
Seela Village, Fire Forest
January 7th, 6 pm
The seela live in caves beside a glowing lake. The only structure is a stone tower. Three seela are perched on top, singing in a language which Solsus identifies as sylvan.
“We sing the Song of Forms,” says Tiljann. “It keeps the fire spirit trapped, and prevents the forest from burning down. Many of us, including those six,” she indicates the captive fey, “think it’s a waste of effort and we should cease the song and accept the inevitable. There are now only fourteen of us left who sing, and twice that number who do not. We sing in shifts.”
Tiljann leads the party and their captives to the cave of Papuvin, the Songleader. He is ever bit as wiry and emaciated as Tiljann, but has a strangely commanding presence. A crowd of seela gathers at the cave entrance, curious as to what is going on.
After Tiljann has explained the situation, Papuvin addresses the party.
“Welcome to our village,” he says. “Thank you for saving Tiljann from these misguided youths. Allow me to offer you the shelter of our caves for as long as you wish to stay. They are not luxurious, but they are cooler than the rest of the Fire Forest.”
“Do you know why these seela would attack Tiljann?” asks Solsus.
“I’m sure when they have had a chance to think about their actions, their shame will cause them to explain what they have done. However, I can guess that they have been paying too much heed to the words of Vuhl, spokesperson of the defeatist faction, and decided to take drastic measures to silence our song.”
“Have you considered stopping singing?” asks Caryk.
“Never!” replies Papuvin. “We seela have always been the singers of the forest, and we will carry on that tradition as long as I am Songleader. We sing or we die, and I will not allow us to die so long as I can still sing the Song of Forms.”
The party leave the cave, pushing their way through the crowd as they do so. One of the seela, clothed in black and with black wings, has been paying particular attention to the conversation. He catches their eye as they leave.
“I think we should speak to this Vuhl person,” says Solsus. “Can you show us where he lives, Tiljann?”
“That won’t be necessary,” says a calm voice from behind them. It is the black clad seela. “I am Vuhl. I would be honoured if you would accompany to my cave.”
Tiljann seems unsure whether the invitation includes herself. She clearly has no love for Vuhl, but is reluctant to leave the outsiders alone with him.
“Not you, Tiljann,” says Vuhl smoothly. “I’m sure you don’t want to associate with the likes of me. Anyway, these outsiders have had to put up with your chatter for long enough. It is only fair that they receive a more balanced viewpoint.”
Vuhl leads the party up to his cave, and offers them what hospitality he can. “Have a seat; these cushions are very soft. Try some of my succulent acorns; you will find them very tasty.”
The party sit themselves down on Vuhl’s badly made cushions, and politely take a handful of burnt acorns.
“I’m sure you can see that the village is in desperate starits,” says Vuhl. “The seela are doomed. If Papuvin has his way we will wear out what is left of our existence delaying the inevitable, and eventually we shall succumb to the fire anyway.
“I am horrified that those foolish lads took it upon themselves to try and attack Tiljann, but it’s symptomatic of the desperation the majority of us seela feel. You’ve spoken to Papuvin. He was a fine, strong leader in our days of plenty, but in our current state his pride and obstinacy are dooming us to a nightmare existence.”
“So what do you suggest?” asks Agatha.
“Not more violence, seela fighting against seela – although if something is not done soon I may be unable to stop it.
“What we need is to stop the song.”
“I can do that quite easily,” says Jonathan. “There are only a dozen or so singers. It should be straightforward enough to shut them up.”
“I am a fey of peace,” replies Vuhl. “In any event, not all who follow me are fully committed to my cause. Any attack on the singers would likely cause some of them to switch sides and take up the Song.
“What we need is something which would shock the entire village, causing the song to falter for long enough to free the flames and bring us peace.
“There is a dryad, called Timbre, who is held in high regard by us seela for her noble deeds in ancient times. Nowadays, she and her tree have been condemned by Papuvin to burn forever. If you could enter her grove, remove her head and display it in the village, the shock would be such that the song would surely stop.
“She is a twisted remnant of her former self, maddened by pain. You’d be doing her a favour, although I would ask that you try and be as gentle as possible.”
The party are touched by his obvious sincerity, and ask for more details.
“She is guarded by two monstrous boars, eternally burning just like their mistress. In her insane state, she sends them to attack all who visit her domain. I can see that you are mighty warriors, but I am concerned that in defeating the boars you may weaken yourselves such that one or more of you falls before Timbre’s sorcery.
“You need a token to attract her interest and cause her to dismiss the boars. Are you familiar with the legend of Anyariel?”
“Who’s Anyariel?” asks Gribron before the others can stop him.
“Anyariel is a local elven heroine,” says Vuhl. “You may have seen her shrine in the elf village. The shrine once possessed a lock of her hair, but it was stolen by the nymph Gwenvere, who lives in the lake. The effect of the Fire Forest has turned Gwenvere into something horrible and twisted, but at one time she and Timbre were rivals for Anyariel’s affection.”
“But aren’t all three of them female?” says Caryk, struck by visions of a mountain of unfertilised eggs lying on a beach. “I’ll never understand mammals.”
Vuhl ignores him. “Anyariel chose Timbre over Gwenvere. The only thing that will get Timbre’s attention is the lock of her lover’s hair. I suggest you seek out Gwenvere in the morning, and use all means necessary to recover the stolen lock of hair from her.”
Our heroes leave Vuhl’s cave with plenty of food for thought.
They spend a relaxing evening chatting with the seela, and formulating plans.
Jonathan is intrigued by the stone tower, but on investigation it proves to be completely unremarkable. Tiljann, mistaking believing that he is interested in the song being sung by the seela on the tower, translates for him.
“So as we were born from the First Tree, so as from our homeland’s breast was cut a living blade, as this our lives are bound to thee, the forest’s heart in Timbre’s glade.”
Jonathan, conscious that the group has not yet decided on a course of action, resolves to control the flow of information and keeps this verse to himself. However, it turns out to be a popular part of the song and the seela sing it later in front of Solsus, who translates it for the benefit of the others.
Presumably, it refers to Anyariel’s sword, which appears to have some connection to Timbre the dryad, although the significance of the verse is not immediately apparent.
Ambar happens to pick up an interesting tidbit about Vuhl. Apparently he only became fully convinced of the need to stop the song about three weeks ago, and since then he’s been somewhat preoccupied – there’s often a noticeable pause between someone asking him a question and him starting to answer.
The party begin to wonder whether Vuhl is under the influence of some outside force.
Scene 2
The Lake, Fire Forest
January 8th, 9 am
Fully rested and refreshed, the party set out in search of the nymph Gwenvere – or whatever she has become. They have been warned by the seela that there used to be ogres living in the lake, but they see no sign of them.
Gwenvere is a strange creature, having apparently developed a taste for burning meat.
Solsus, being in tune with nature, is not keen on the idea of supplying an innocent forest creature to the nymph to try and win her favour. However, the party have left a trail of bodies behind them en route through the forest, and one of those might do equally as well.
The party mount a brief expedition upstream and recover the body of the rast they killed the previous day. There is no shortage of fires to cook it on, but for some reason the rast body refuses to burn. Eventually Jonathan remembers that rasts are immune to fire damage.
Solsus suggests they use one of the ghouls they defeated at the shrine of Anyariel. It wouldn’t make for an appetising meal, but Gwenvere probably isn’t too choosy. Caryk and Jonathan both confirm that ghouls have no particular resistance to fire – but it turns out that this ghoul does. Presumably this is another irritating side effect of the constantly burning forest – any undead spawned here are gifted with protection from fire.
The party decide to give up on the burnt offering at this point.
“I fear I lack the knowledge to answer that question. Once the seela sang news from one end of the forest to the other. Now they sing to keep the fire spirit imprisoned, for it is all that keeps the forest from burning to a cinder. If the forest dies, so do the seela. In time the forest may re-grow, but the seela will not.
“No one knows where the fire spirit came from. Sometimes I hear words amongst the crackling of the flames. The word ‘trillith’, and the phrase ‘daughter of Trilla’.”
Jonathan vaguely recalls there being a dragon called Trilla, but he does not know any further details.
“Can you help us on our quest?” asks the greedy Gribron.
“I need to stay here and tend to the suffering elves,” says Nelle. “However, I will give you what aid I can.”
The unicorn moves to a small sculpture of a dragon and an eagle chasing each other in a circle. Several of the party recognise this as a depiction of the flamebringer dragon and the stormseeker eagle, two of Gate Pass’s elemental spirits. The other two spirits - the worldshaper worm and the tidereaver kraken – are absent.
At Nelle’s prompting, Caryk pulls three feathers from the eagle and three scales from the dragon. These turn out to be magical tokens – three birds, two whips and a boat.
The party take their leave and head back down the river. There are several more cinder swarms, but they are adept at dealing with them so the clouds are nothing more than a nuisance.
Scene 5
A Glade, Fire Forest
January 7th, 5 pm
Its twilight, but the party are pushing on downstream as the burning forest provides plenty of light. They have passed the remains of the elf village, and hope to reach the lake and scout out the seela village before it gets too dark.
Agatha and Caryk hear the sound of singing coming from up ahead, and inform the others. Its coming closer. The party wait to see what kind of creature they have encountered. This could be the chance to bag their first bard. Caryk grips his quarterstaff tightly, anticipating combat.
The creature that emerges from the forest appears to be an emaciated young woman, albeit one with wizened, dragonfly-like wings which emerge from her back. She hasn’t seen the party, so Solsus hurls a sling bullet at her head. It strikes true, and the unarmed and unsuspecting fey singer staggers back in distress.
Its at that point that things stop going according to plan. Almost as if Solsus’s attack was a signal, a further six fey appear beside the original singer. They are armed with spears, and launch a concerted attack on the singer.
However, the woman’s few bits and pieces of leather armour provide surprisingly good protection, and she suffers no more than a few flesh wounds before she is able to dance her way past her foes.
Somewhat surprised by this turn of events, the party decide fighting six fey is more fun than attacking one, and join in on the side of the solitary singer they have just attacked.
More by luck than judgement, they manage to bring down the attacking fey without killing any of them. A combination of stunning beams of scintillating colours from Gribron, and Solsus’s use of the local vegetation to entangle the fey means that they are immobilised in short order.
The seela singer is surprised to see outsiders in the Fire Forest, but tries her best to remember her manners.
“Greetings, strangers. My name is Tiljann. Thank you for rescuing me from my attackers.”
“Not a problem,” says Jonathan. “I’ll just make sure they aren’t able to trouble you further. Won’t take a minute.” He draws his heavy mace, dedicated to Olladra and a boon to healers, and lines up a hefty blow at the skull of the nearest helplessly entangled fey.
“No!” shouts Tiljann. “They are my brethren. I don’t know what possessed them to attack me, but we should take them back to our village so the Songleader can deal with them.”
“Are all the rest of you fey congregated in the village?” asks Jonathan.
“We are known as the seela,” says Tiljann, “and apart from us seven I imagine we are all in the village.”
“That should save a bit of time,” says Jonathan. “Lead on!”
Act 3 – Out of the Fire
Scene 1
Seela Village, Fire Forest
January 7th, 6 pm
The seela live in caves beside a glowing lake. The only structure is a stone tower. Three seela are perched on top, singing in a language which Solsus identifies as sylvan.
“We sing the Song of Forms,” says Tiljann. “It keeps the fire spirit trapped, and prevents the forest from burning down. Many of us, including those six,” she indicates the captive fey, “think it’s a waste of effort and we should cease the song and accept the inevitable. There are now only fourteen of us left who sing, and twice that number who do not. We sing in shifts.”
Tiljann leads the party and their captives to the cave of Papuvin, the Songleader. He is ever bit as wiry and emaciated as Tiljann, but has a strangely commanding presence. A crowd of seela gathers at the cave entrance, curious as to what is going on.
After Tiljann has explained the situation, Papuvin addresses the party.
“Welcome to our village,” he says. “Thank you for saving Tiljann from these misguided youths. Allow me to offer you the shelter of our caves for as long as you wish to stay. They are not luxurious, but they are cooler than the rest of the Fire Forest.”
“Do you know why these seela would attack Tiljann?” asks Solsus.
“I’m sure when they have had a chance to think about their actions, their shame will cause them to explain what they have done. However, I can guess that they have been paying too much heed to the words of Vuhl, spokesperson of the defeatist faction, and decided to take drastic measures to silence our song.”
“Have you considered stopping singing?” asks Caryk.
“Never!” replies Papuvin. “We seela have always been the singers of the forest, and we will carry on that tradition as long as I am Songleader. We sing or we die, and I will not allow us to die so long as I can still sing the Song of Forms.”
The party leave the cave, pushing their way through the crowd as they do so. One of the seela, clothed in black and with black wings, has been paying particular attention to the conversation. He catches their eye as they leave.
“I think we should speak to this Vuhl person,” says Solsus. “Can you show us where he lives, Tiljann?”
“That won’t be necessary,” says a calm voice from behind them. It is the black clad seela. “I am Vuhl. I would be honoured if you would accompany to my cave.”
Tiljann seems unsure whether the invitation includes herself. She clearly has no love for Vuhl, but is reluctant to leave the outsiders alone with him.
“Not you, Tiljann,” says Vuhl smoothly. “I’m sure you don’t want to associate with the likes of me. Anyway, these outsiders have had to put up with your chatter for long enough. It is only fair that they receive a more balanced viewpoint.”
Vuhl leads the party up to his cave, and offers them what hospitality he can. “Have a seat; these cushions are very soft. Try some of my succulent acorns; you will find them very tasty.”
The party sit themselves down on Vuhl’s badly made cushions, and politely take a handful of burnt acorns.
“I’m sure you can see that the village is in desperate starits,” says Vuhl. “The seela are doomed. If Papuvin has his way we will wear out what is left of our existence delaying the inevitable, and eventually we shall succumb to the fire anyway.
“I am horrified that those foolish lads took it upon themselves to try and attack Tiljann, but it’s symptomatic of the desperation the majority of us seela feel. You’ve spoken to Papuvin. He was a fine, strong leader in our days of plenty, but in our current state his pride and obstinacy are dooming us to a nightmare existence.”
“So what do you suggest?” asks Agatha.
“Not more violence, seela fighting against seela – although if something is not done soon I may be unable to stop it.
“What we need is to stop the song.”
“I can do that quite easily,” says Jonathan. “There are only a dozen or so singers. It should be straightforward enough to shut them up.”
“I am a fey of peace,” replies Vuhl. “In any event, not all who follow me are fully committed to my cause. Any attack on the singers would likely cause some of them to switch sides and take up the Song.
“What we need is something which would shock the entire village, causing the song to falter for long enough to free the flames and bring us peace.
“There is a dryad, called Timbre, who is held in high regard by us seela for her noble deeds in ancient times. Nowadays, she and her tree have been condemned by Papuvin to burn forever. If you could enter her grove, remove her head and display it in the village, the shock would be such that the song would surely stop.
“She is a twisted remnant of her former self, maddened by pain. You’d be doing her a favour, although I would ask that you try and be as gentle as possible.”
The party are touched by his obvious sincerity, and ask for more details.
“She is guarded by two monstrous boars, eternally burning just like their mistress. In her insane state, she sends them to attack all who visit her domain. I can see that you are mighty warriors, but I am concerned that in defeating the boars you may weaken yourselves such that one or more of you falls before Timbre’s sorcery.
“You need a token to attract her interest and cause her to dismiss the boars. Are you familiar with the legend of Anyariel?”
“Who’s Anyariel?” asks Gribron before the others can stop him.
“Anyariel is a local elven heroine,” says Vuhl. “You may have seen her shrine in the elf village. The shrine once possessed a lock of her hair, but it was stolen by the nymph Gwenvere, who lives in the lake. The effect of the Fire Forest has turned Gwenvere into something horrible and twisted, but at one time she and Timbre were rivals for Anyariel’s affection.”
“But aren’t all three of them female?” says Caryk, struck by visions of a mountain of unfertilised eggs lying on a beach. “I’ll never understand mammals.”
Vuhl ignores him. “Anyariel chose Timbre over Gwenvere. The only thing that will get Timbre’s attention is the lock of her lover’s hair. I suggest you seek out Gwenvere in the morning, and use all means necessary to recover the stolen lock of hair from her.”
Our heroes leave Vuhl’s cave with plenty of food for thought.
They spend a relaxing evening chatting with the seela, and formulating plans.
Jonathan is intrigued by the stone tower, but on investigation it proves to be completely unremarkable. Tiljann, mistaking believing that he is interested in the song being sung by the seela on the tower, translates for him.
“So as we were born from the First Tree, so as from our homeland’s breast was cut a living blade, as this our lives are bound to thee, the forest’s heart in Timbre’s glade.”
Jonathan, conscious that the group has not yet decided on a course of action, resolves to control the flow of information and keeps this verse to himself. However, it turns out to be a popular part of the song and the seela sing it later in front of Solsus, who translates it for the benefit of the others.
Presumably, it refers to Anyariel’s sword, which appears to have some connection to Timbre the dryad, although the significance of the verse is not immediately apparent.
Ambar happens to pick up an interesting tidbit about Vuhl. Apparently he only became fully convinced of the need to stop the song about three weeks ago, and since then he’s been somewhat preoccupied – there’s often a noticeable pause between someone asking him a question and him starting to answer.
The party begin to wonder whether Vuhl is under the influence of some outside force.
Scene 2
The Lake, Fire Forest
January 8th, 9 am
Fully rested and refreshed, the party set out in search of the nymph Gwenvere – or whatever she has become. They have been warned by the seela that there used to be ogres living in the lake, but they see no sign of them.
Gwenvere is a strange creature, having apparently developed a taste for burning meat.
Solsus, being in tune with nature, is not keen on the idea of supplying an innocent forest creature to the nymph to try and win her favour. However, the party have left a trail of bodies behind them en route through the forest, and one of those might do equally as well.
The party mount a brief expedition upstream and recover the body of the rast they killed the previous day. There is no shortage of fires to cook it on, but for some reason the rast body refuses to burn. Eventually Jonathan remembers that rasts are immune to fire damage.
Solsus suggests they use one of the ghouls they defeated at the shrine of Anyariel. It wouldn’t make for an appetising meal, but Gwenvere probably isn’t too choosy. Caryk and Jonathan both confirm that ghouls have no particular resistance to fire – but it turns out that this ghoul does. Presumably this is another irritating side effect of the constantly burning forest – any undead spawned here are gifted with protection from fire.
The party decide to give up on the burnt offering at this point.
