Gwenthas Assaulted!
The band makes their way back to the town without
complications once again. Kirfog runs alongside the band, still maintaining the
form of an otter.
As they break through the forest and see the town in the
distance, the sound of screaming reaches the bands ears.
It is the citizens of the city, and while the ground does
not tremble, it seems something is happening. The band spot a chunk of rock
that goes soaring through the air and smashes down onto a building with a
thunderous crash. Smoke billows out of dozens more buildings and they spot a
few people running out of the bounds of the city bloodied and battered.
The fleeing civilians say that earth elementals have started
breaking out of the ground and attacking the city.
They are swarming the library! The guards are doing the best
they can to keep them at bay, but they just seem to keep coming.
Elemental Assault
The band rush to the city, flying over the giant ravines
that split through the streets and houses. There are bits of rubble from
defeated earth elementals scattered around as well as the bodies of a few town
guards.
As they fly up on the library, dozens of guards stand out
front fighting the elementals as they hurl boulders at the ancient structure.
It seems to be close to collapse.
The band start blasting the elementals. The guards scream
for them to get to the library! Their quest is far more important than helping.
Bo Dimension Doors
Hydrica inside the Library, to go and use the key to close the seal.
Kirfog grows very frightened and clings to Ekham.
Sealing Away the Primordial
Rachael is waiting for the band just inside the doors, beckoning them to
follow her quickly as she guides Hydrica around a pile of rubble formed from a
bit of the roof that has collapsed. She pulls off her necklace and uses the key
attached to open up a reinforced door that leads to the basement of the
structure.
Hydrica dashes a set of stairs that seem to spiral down for
at least fifty feet before opening up to a room lit by everburning torches
mounted in sconces along the walls.
There are a few weapon and armor racks to the sides of the
room, a small bookshelf that is stuffed to the point of overflowing, and on the
far wall a massive portrait of a group of heroes fighting an earth elemental
that towers at least eighty feet high.
Rachael traverses the room with an uncanny speed and asks
for Hydrica to help her take the portrait off the wall. Beyond it is a
triangular indention in the wall that is pulsing with green light and energy.
It seems to drip as if it were liquid and cascades down the wall.
The Primordial Seal Hydrica has is round, and will not fit
this triangular slot.
No matter how they angle the seal or try to make it fit, it
is to no avail!
Meanwhile
Ekham transforms into a golden haired earth elemental and
lands in a superhero pose, as Bo wonders where her broom got “absorbed” into
while Ekham was sitting on it!
Hydrica rushes back up towards Bo, to get into range so he can telepathically tell her the key does not work.
Kirfrog speaks up to “It decoy. Not real.” And he turns from the shape of an otter into a pyramid shaped stone.
Ekham in Earth Elemental form, just looks confused.
Bo tries to communicate with Ekham, but in Earth Elemental form, he cannot talk.
Bo tells Ekham the Earth Elemental to go to the glitter.
Ekham thrusts Kirfrog key to Bo, who runs down to Hydrica rushing past him to the indentation in the wall, moving up Kirfog the pyramid shaped stone that perfectly fits into the slot. “You good friends. Keep Kirfog safe. Now Kirfog keep you safe. Kirfog will never forget friends. Please no forget Kirfog.”
“ It ok. Kirfog ready. It why Kirfog live,” is the last thing he says before being placed into the slot.
Kirfog’s new form fits perfectly into the slot. Bright blue lines sprout from the seal and splinter across the wall in complex patterns, but all eventually leading to the floor of the room and disappearing. Five seconds pass before the first effects kick in- the ground gives one final mild tremor and then everything goes calm. Bo and Hydrica look back at the slot on the wall and see it is empty once again. Kirfog is gone.
Victory and Relief
As the band emerges from the basement of the library, they find the town is still in bad shape, but it has survived.
All of the earth elementals that were smashing through the area minutes ago are now simply boulders scattered across the ground.
Standing alone and confused is a Golden Haired Earth Elemental.
The fissures and rifts that snake through the town do not repair themselves, but the town and its people will survive.
The townsfolk mend their wounds, bury their dead, and start the rebuilding process for the town.
Rachael disappears into another secret area of the library for some time before returning with the reward that was promised to the band.
The band pick three of the following as payment for sealing the elemental.
- Manual
of Bodily Health
- Manual
of Gainful Exercise
- Manual
of Quickness of Action
- Tome
of Clear Thought
- Tome
of Understanding
The band buy the other 2 books, and also the following two
books
- Codicil
of White
- Psalms
of Ephrael
Providing much needed gold to help rebuild the city, 3000 gold coins.
Lemmog pulling the city under the umbrella of his kingdom, summons the twins to get on the job of rebuilding this city as its now part of his kingdom.
The band have the looming knowledge that in five hundred years this force will be unleashed and there are no more seals to keep it imprisoned.
Kirfog’s sacrifice will not be forgotten – yer right, the band forgot as soon as they slept for the night.
In the morning they head off on their travels again, ebbing closer to the Storied Bastion and gathering the knowledge for amplified sound.
Psalms of Ephrael
Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a cleric or paladin)
This thick hymn book is bound in electrum plating etched with seven stylized wings.
When found, the book contains the following spells, which are class spells for you while you are attuned to the book:
- ·e: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> blinding smite, earthquake, fly, sunbeam, wall of light.
While holding the hymn book, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your cleric or paladin spells.
The book has 3 charges, and it regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn. You can use the charges in the following ways while holding it:
- • If you spend 1 minute studying the book, you can expend 1 charge to replace one of your prepared spells with a different spell in the book.
- •e: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> When you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction and expend 1 charge to create a blinding flash of light. The attacking creature must make a DC15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, its attack misses you.
- •e: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> You can use a bonus action and expend 2 charge to sing an empowered psalm of focus. The song lasts for 1 minute or until you speak, are incapacitated, or silenced, or end it (no action required). While singing this psalm, your concentration on cleric or paladin spells can’t be broken by damage.
Traveller’s Hymnal
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement by a cleric or paladin)
While holding this leather-bound hymn book, you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your cleric or paladin spells, and you gain a +1 bonus to spell attack rolls and to the saving throw DCs of your spells.
In addition, when you use your Channel Divinity feature, you regain your lowest level expended spell slot of 3rd level or lower.
The band now have collected the following books (at least one is with a member who temp or otherwise has left the band)
- Book of Exalted Deeds
- Book of Vile Darkness
- Demonomicon of Iggwilv
- Manual of Golems
- Manual of Bodily Health
- Manual of Gainful Exercise
- Manual of Quickness of Action
- Nether Scroll of Azumar
- Tome of Clear Thought
- Tome of Leadership and Influence
- Tome of Understanding
- Psalms of Ephrael
- Traveller’s Hymnal
The Hollow of Ashen Pines
The band trek on through the forest, but start heading in what feels like circles, as the same markers and waypoints seem to appear, but the forest gets denser and denser with damp earth, snapping twigs, distant laughter.
Hydrica scouts out ahead, but sucomes including his ride to the voices from a grove of Whispering Trees that speak in the voices of lost loved ones.
Ekham and Bo wander aimlessly in roughly the right direction, only confirmed as the right directs as Ekham also succums to the Whispering Trees.
As Bo looks about the grove, blissfully unaware of any clues she is ducking her head under and standing on, until..
A Shadowed Stalker emerges from the forests shadows and attacks Bo.
Hydrica and Ekham snap out of their charmed state, just in time to see a second Shadowed Stalker emerge and attack Hydrica.
Ekham puts the fear on them and they scatter back into the shadows.
The band now investigate the area and finds an expedition’s abandoned camp — tents shredded, journals scattered, strange twig effigies hanging from branches.
Clues in the journals point to an ancient ruin deep in the forest, but also suggest the expedition turned on each other before vanishing.
Investigating the huge Heartwood
Tree, they see a gap in its root system, that leads down into the earth via root steps.
The Approach
As they make their way down, Ekham and Hydirca trip on Root Snare and stumble sprawling into a chamber.
Bo follows up.
Atmosphere
Sunken ruin beneath the Ashen Pines a chamber with the Heartwood Tree at its centre, roots snaking across cracked stone.
Dim green light filters from above through a jagged hole in the ceiling.
As the band enters, describe the silence is oppressive, but there is a faint heartbeat-like thrum from the tree, and the smell of rot.
The ruin is a sunken stone hall, half-swallowed by tree roots. Inside, the air is unnaturally cold.
Bo investigates the fungie in one of the corners of the room as the others pick themselves up, and almost gets poisoned for her troubles as Spore Clouds emerge from them..
When one enters near the centre of the room The Hollow Matron emerges from the shadows behind them, together with some Shadowed Stalkers.
The Hollow Matron feeds on the fear inflicted on the band.
After some fighting the band realise that the Hollow Matron life seems to be linked to the Heartwood Tree.
Hydrica traps the Hollow matron in a force cage, and the band despatch the Shadowed Stalkers.
The band then concentrate on killing the Heartwood Tree, Ekham uses a floating ball of fire, Hydrica his thunderous breath and Bo concentrated on Healing the band.
Each time they wounded the Heartwood Tree, its roots lashed out smashing the band all over the place.
Bo and Hydrica move out as Ekham sets his great ball of fire into the the tree, and stumbles out barely alive with its retort.
Moving to a safe distance they destroy the tree, with that they hear the phycic scream from inside the force cage, which they felt if they were closer would have killed them all.
Then with the rest of the band they head back in and destroy the Hollow Matron.
Resolution
The forest’s curse lifts, but the journal reveals that the Matron’s influence extends far beyond the Pines.
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