Beyond The Blade: Part Two

SESSION 7 (July 24, 2024)

The heroes are celebrated at a welcoming banquet hosted in Birch Hall in the underwater settlement of Tir Na Drayocht, capital of the Tree Lands. See Rumors at the Banquet for a list of nobles, noteworthy leaders, and other honored guests (and the potential adventure seeds associated with each one).

SESSION 8 (Aug. 8, 2024)

Elora, Jervis, and Pern agree to help High Queen-Flaith Ulit Ulaid by finding her missing great-granddaughter, the Baroness Boada Ulaid. The trio hire a forest guide named Animith Katan to lead them into the Dark Forest for the low price of 1 g.p. per day. Cipher and Li Bai stay behind in Tir Na Drayocht.

While travelling, Animith Katan describes the peoples who dwell in the forest...

* The Edhegron Tribe ("ED-eh-gron") (aka "tree elves," "Clan of Valor"): Feel their people are not just superior to non-elves, but to all other elf lineages as well.

* The Tiriatharl Tribe ("TEER-ee-uh-tharl") (aka "death elves," "Clan of Autumn"): Seek victims to feed to the dragon servants of their "god," The Devourer.

* The Othronion Tribe ("o-THRO-nee-on") (aka "wolf elves," "Clan of Song"): Cursed bloodline, known to suffer from lycanthropy, outcasts from all other elves.

* The Fomori: An evil alliance of magical fomorian giants, man-eating hill giants, and hobgoblin slavers.

* The Lost Gnomes: Once enslaved by fomorian giants until they escaped, or so the legends say. However, no gnomes have been seen in the Dark Woods for more than a century.

Also in the woods: hags (cruel bargainers), dragons (treasure horders), and other wild things.

After the first day of travel, the group camps inside an antlered skull the size of a building. During her watch Elora sees a silvery shimmer pass through their camp; possibly a will-o-wisp?

At the end of the second day, the group camps in what appears to be a long-abandoned gnomish village (giant blue mushrooms fashioned into now ruined houses), and Elora again sees the silvery shimmer - but this time, the image forms silent humanoids with human faces, including that of her red-haired former high school classmate Allison Hart. The figures do not appear to be ghosts, but rather a form of astral projection.

Elora's Message spell seems to reach the figures, but they are unable to respond. Elora's description of another figure, a white-haired man with ice-blue eyes, triggers Jervis to remember someone: covert operative Edward Pearl, who visited the Chevalier parents just before Jervis was sent on secret missions to steal uncut gems and classified CIA documents regarding funding for something called Project Stargate:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/stargate

(Note: Ask real-life James about Ingo Swann.)

Having found a necklace bearing the symbol of House Ulaid next to a 5-day-old blood stain, the group begins tracking hobgoblin boot prints (also about a week old) heading west. Halfway through the third day the group is ambushed by Edhegron tree elves and a pair of their pet wood cats (tiger-sized creatures covered in orange scales). A battle ensures, with the unseen elves high in the trees issuing a series of boastful threats before suddenly retreating in silence from the high treetops. Animith Katan panics and flees, and the trio of heroes follow him back toward the east.

SESSION 9 (Aug. 14, 2024)

After their abrupt hostile encounter with Edhegron tree elf archers and tiger-sized reptilian tree cats, the party debated using magical disguises and invisibility to continue their march west in pursuit of Baroness Boada Ulaid's suspected hobgoblin kidnappers. Elora became invisible, Jervis took on the likeness of Prince Cirdaneth Duibne, and Pern disguised herself as Baroness Nelenwe Duibne. Guide Animith Katan was given a mundane disguise and fooled into thinking he had an "invulnerability" spell cast upon him.

About 12 miles further into the dark woods, a pair of wandering hobgoblins were found and quickly dispatched by the party with help from more Edhegron tree elf archers, leaving one hobgoblin taken prisoner. The elves greeted the party as respected nobles of Clan Duibne and escorted them an hour away to one of their hidden encampments suspended 30 feet above the ground. An Edhegron elder named Minu warned them, "The mist that surrounds you is not natural; it is a veil that binds those who do not belong. Beware, for it will lead you to your doom." The hobgoblin prisoner strongly resisted attempts at interrogation, and his body was given to nearby tree cats for a midnight meal.

During the night, the ever-present noisy chorus of Norse gods arguing in Pernicious Periwinkle's mind were quelled when the mysterious entity known as The Traveller bargained to form a new warlock pact with her. A calm inner silence followed, but Pern felt a lingering doubt about her new eldritch patron.

Jervis asked Elora to create illusions illustrating the silent visions she witnessed during the previous night's watch, and he noted the likeness of Edward Pearl among them. Pern experiences a message from her new patron identifying the unknown woman with dark skin and big silver earnings as someone named Opal Vargas.

Also, at one point guide Animith Katan blurted out he was helping for cheap wages because Emissary Vedyne of the Stone Lands had secretly offered him 1,000 g.p. to travel with the group and report to her everything the heroes got up to in the dark woods once they all returned to Tir Na Drayocht.

The next day, the band of Edhegron elves led the party an hour away to the remote clearing of an old ruin that Fomorian giants and hobgoblins rebuilt into a crude stronghold. The elves explained that some of their own tribe were captured prisoners here, facing futures either as slaves or eaten by hill giants, and if Baroness Boada Ulaid was anywhere, it was most likely there.

A crude ditch filled with wooden spikes surrounds this crumbling stronghold. Its western stone gatehouse is an enclosure 30 feet high, about 200 feet wide by 100 feet long, followed beyond by an inner building roughly 200 feet wide by 300 feet long, surrounded by a sturdy barrier of thick logs 25 feet high. Two nervous hobgoblin guards stand outside the western gate, and a few more hobgoblins can be seen atop the inner structure's rooftop.

The party retreated back to the previous treetop encampment, now abandoned by the nomadic elves who explained they never spend two nights in a row in the same place. They claim to have many hidden encampments above and below the forest floor, and many get reused by nomadic Tiriatharl death elves and Othronion wolf elves over time.

SESSIONS 10 to 12 (Aug. 21 to Oct. 2, 2024)

THE INFILTRATION: After a brief stay with Edhegron elves (tree elves), woodlands guide Animith Katan led the group to an old keep now occupied and reinforced by a band of hobgoblin slavers. After some reconnaissance and false starts at entry, the heroes successfully posed as hobgoblins transporting Li Bai as their prisoner. By slaying a burrowing giant insect, the heroes earned the respect of the hobgoblins, but a sudden attack on the hobgoblin shaman in his quarters set off alarms and started a battle that saw multiple fireballs, summonings (a redcap and a demonic suit of armor), brutal martial arts takedowns, illusions, and eldritch blasts end dozens of hobgoblin lives.

THE SHAMAN: In the hobgoblin shaman's quarters, a small cauldron of some red fluid was knocked over and released a slimy worm-like clot that crawled like a worm. It was quickly destroyed, turning into foul-smelling ash. Elora later looted the green dragon scale armor the shaman wore beneath his cloak.

THE RESCUE: Finding and freeing Baroness Boada Ulaid was not difficult, as well as rescuing a handful of other prisoners: Edhegron tree elves, Tiriatharl death elves, Othronion wolf elves, a family of human merchants, and a pair of orc warriors - all of whom had made a pact to help each other survive.

* Othronion ("o-THRO-nee-on"), canine-featured wolf elves
* Tiriatharl ("TEER-ee-uh-tharl"), green-skinned death elves
* Edhegron ("ED-eh-gron"), primitive tree elves who ride "woodcats" (tiger/dinosaur beasts)
* Merchants and orcs, random prisoners.

RED CLOAKS AND CORRUPTED FLESH: Also in the prisoners' den were three demonically mutated elves. A few eldritch blasts caused them to explode into maggots, frost, and bile. In the group's escape, more demonically mutated foes - creatures previously cyborg ape soldiers (the "flying monkeys" of New Oz) - and a few humanoid figures in red cloaks were also seen throwing spells and commanding zombies.

THE GETAWAY: As the last red-cloaked figure attempted to flee toward the stockade's front gate, a 20-foot-tall purple-skinned Fomorian giant armed with a great club squeezed into the inner courtyard and promptly smashed the cloaked figure dead. Rumbling in goblin, the angry giant gave orders to the remaining hobgoblin guards before casting Enlarge/Reduce on himself to walk inside the stockade building. The heroes hurried everyone up a ceiling hatch onto the roof of the complex. The hobgoblins were too busy assembling reinforcements to notice. As the elves and other prisoners fled over the eastern stockade and headed into the woods, Baroness Boada Ulaid blew a silver dog whistle and watched the skies.

WARNINGS OF THE ASTRAL TRAVELERS: A silvery shimmer on the roof quickly manifested as the four "Project Stargate" silent figures who keep appearing every other day. Elora figured out the Message cantrip works well to communicate with them...

* Edward Pearl, a silver-haired man whom Jervis Chevalier recognized as having some sort of connection to his parents and various espionage operations during the 1970s;
* Allison Hart, a red-haired young woman who attended the same high school as Elora in the early 1980s;
* Opal Vargas, a black-haired woman with silver earrings whom Pern recognizes from visions sent by his new patron, The Traveler;
* Li Jushi, an elderly Chinese woman revealed to be 50 generations descended from Li Bai and who is being somehow coerced into cooperating. ("The white man said they won't let me husband go if I don't do this correctly.") Her immaterial touch on Li Bai triggered an aura of protection (Death Ward spell).

Allison and Opal ask the heroes, "What's the deal with the dagger? And what about the blood sacrifice for the Queens?" Opal also mentions Elora's body was found dead at the video store where the teen worked at the time of her mysterious murder. Allison also attempted to write a message in chalk, but it came out as "hglk gsv wvnrfitv uiln ivgfimrmt" -- which Opal Vargas then suggested could be read by considering the Bible verse of Matthew 20:16 ("So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen"). Following the first-last simple cipher, Allison's message translated to: "STOP THE DEMIURGE FROM RETURNING."

DRAGON DADDY: The four astral projections disappeared as suddenly a massive 50-foot-long, 80-foot wingspan red dragon dropped from the sky, blasting the hobgoblin stockade roof hatch with dragonsfire. (To which Baroness Boada Ulaid said, "Hi dad," answering the missing space on her family's lineage chart.) Just before leaving the roof, Baroness Boada Ulaid stopped and said she felt something wrong beneath her feet as if there was a "wound in reality" or a planar rift torn open within the hobgoblin stockade.

After some questioning and negotiation, the haughty red dragon named Abusditahebir (FWIW NAME CORRECTED HERE) gave the five a ride over and out of the Dark Woods before dropping them off about 20 miles west of the lake protecting Tir Na Drayocht.

The rest of the journey goes without incident, other than Elora attuning to her green dragon-scale armor and detecting an elder green dragon about 10 miles west in the Dark Woods. Also, Jervis has deeper visions and messages from his warlock patron.

RETURN TO TIR NA DRAYOCHT: The heroes are welcomed back with drink and celebration just four days after their departure to rescue the Baroness. Flaith Ulit Ulaid, the matriarch of House Ulaid, pays each hero 1,000 g.p. as a reward for returning Baroness Boada Ulaid. Still, no one mentions the red dragon or his connection to Boada's parentage. Pern gets Archdruid Sheybaigh and First Merlin Limimis interested in investigating the red cloaks and possible planar rift left behind at the hobgoblin stockade.

Prince Joo Lau of the Wind Lands and Prince Kenamu of the Fire Lands share some gossip: Four bounty hunters sent from the Machine Lands -- Mister Bolt, Rattles the goblin, Everwane the shadow elf, and Phlog the orc - were told by the halflings of House Flachach that the heroes had gone away to the Water Lands at the other end of Otherwhere. The bounty hunters went off in pursuit, and rumors say the Fellowship of Thorns and Coins (thieves guild) may have planted that misinformation as thanks for Jervis Chevalier pleading leniency toward Searchworth the tabaxi rogue.