The group finds a few leads...
Taking hours and hours searching through musty tomes, the group eventually began to piece together a story that may be of some use...
It seems there's a legend that long ago ancient beings of immense power left behind for the world a small aspect of their great power. As best they can figure, there are six such objects... natural things like stones, jewels or crystals... each representing their being's defining characteristic. These items were so powerful, so potent... that it is said that they shape the nature of the land and creatures around them. Certainly any one of these items would satisfy the Ridgeshire Adventurer's Guild...
Putting that information to use in relation to some of the other sources, two possible leads were discovered. A tale of an area southeast of Ridgeshire described as the most beautiful, serene and picturesque natural setting you'll ever come across. The beauty was supposed to be overwhelming, and evident in everything from the lush foliage, to the majestic animals, or to the crystal blue waters of the nearby waterfall. The other lead, slightly less appealing, spoke of a land of huge and mighty trees! In the area, so it was said, was a community of especially big and nasty giants. As best they could tell, the area described was southeast of Pungumplia, possibly where they had encountered the giants previously... Little other information was available, since not many who came across the area ever survived.
Gathering together and sharing all of the information, the group decided that given the relative locations of the two places to go with the devil they knew. And so they planned to head towards the giants. Someone, inquiring about the location of the Giant's Bane recovered from the Bandit camp, was shocked to hear Edgerrin matter of factly relate the tale of his sale of the blade to a local merchant in exchange for a Masterwork falchion and some more gold with which to purchase equipment upgrades.
Launching into some nasty in-fighting, some members of the group expressed some outrage that Edge would sell something that they considered group property for his own gain. She'dra in particualr seemed outraged (as much as the emotionally muted elf can be) that a prisoner had taken such liberties. Some pointed accusations followed by judgemental stares, countered by assurances that in his hands, the weapon he aqcuired was even more dangerous than the enchanted item could ever hope to be. This went on for a few tense moments before Ryo interrupted, seeing that this was getting them nowhere and reminding the group of the deadline that they faced.
Soon after loading up the cart, the band of prisoners had set about their way! Returning to the area in which they had initally encountered the giants, they secured their cart and began to head south on foot. Slowly but surely they began to notice the increase in the sheer size of things. Trees, flowers, insects... everything there dwarfed (what's a dwarf?) the typical varieties.
Reaching a clearing, the group spied through the trees and saw a group of about 4 giants, larger even than the ones they had encountered on the road. They seemed to be milling about some sort of small camp...
Formulating a plan, She'dra suggested distraction so that confrontation with the brutes could be circumvented for the time being. Unfortunately for She'dra, the distraction that came wasn't excactly what he had in mind.
Tippy-toeing closer to the tree line to get a better look, Quint never noticed the large root sticking out of the ground. The giants, however, DID notice the confused swashbuckler tumbling to the ground beyond the forest line with a thud and then scrambling back into the woods before he soiled himself. Trying to enact his plan more quickly, the elven wizard shoved Quint back into the clearing and instructed him to run east while he caused a distraction to the west. Grabbing the attention of one of the giants, the swashbuckler did just that, and each of them disappeared into the treeline to the east. Harnessing his arcane might, She'dra set the giants bedrolls ablaze, causing one of them to take his time to stomp them out.
Another of the giants fell back to the edge of the clearing and bellowed as best he could (DING!DING! DING!), smacking his great club against a nearby tree and calling for some additonal support. That just left one giant to push aside the treetops and peek in on our group of intrepid heroes. Spotting Emerys and the squishy mage She'dra, the giant already began to make plans for human leftovers the next morning.
But not so! With the combined might of the group... Damas, Ryo and Edge's steel with She'dra's arcane might and Emerys' true flying arrows, the group managed to take one of the gigantic monsters down! However, with 6 more rushing towards them, it was decided that perhaps this day discretion was the better part of valor. But how to escape? Surely the giants long strides would run the group down long before they returned to the road...
It was then that Emerys heard a whistle. Peeking to his left he saw a tree stump slightly rising from the ground. And beneath the stump? Quint's head and mischievous grin as he beckoned everyone closer. Claiming to have "met a guy," Quint lead the group to safety via a series of small underground tunnels, far too tight for the giants to think about following. So once again Quint had, through sheer luck, found a way to get the group out of the trouble that he had gotten them into.* (*Stolen from Kevin Herold.)
Leading them through the underground tunnels, Quint eventually came to another opening. Peeking out, the forest around the group had become normal sized again, and they seemed to be at a small, humble log cabin. A few quick knocks were answered by a small, bearded woodsman named Ander. Slightly gruff, but friendly enough, he offered the party a place to regroup for a few moments. Apparently the man had taken it upon himself to protect anyone foolish enough to head to the giant's camp, as well as doing his best to keeping the giants from spreading out much further than they already had. He's heard of others who had gone looking for the "jewel of might" as he called it, but he knew little else about it.
Trying to come up with alternate plans, the group seemed stumped. One way or another the giant camp looked like a suicide mission at this point in time. Thanking Ander for his aid and hospitality, the group set off to investigate the other lead...
Hopping back on the road to Ridgeshire, and following the directions from the accounts they read, the group began to head east into the woods following a small stream. As they walked the stream began to increase in size and speed, and the woods around them seemingly began to change. However, where they expected lush and beautiful woodlands, teeming with life... they found that the further they headed downstream, the more death and decay they found. The sounds of animals all but disappeared as grass became patchy. Trees showed signed of decay and rot and brush and other plant life became more and more scarce. Emerys wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a very uneasy feeling as they journeyed forward... and that wasn't half of what Bubo was feeling.
Eventually arriving at the end of the stream, they found their waterfall... but it was not the vista they had expected. It looked more like some druid's worst nightmare. With the land seemingly awash with rot and taint, the group ventured down towards the small grove to investigate. Surely this wasn't the place they had read about... was it? Not wanting to rush into anything, the group scouted the area... and wisely! Almost immediately after leaving Emerys' shoulder, Bubo returned frightened at what he had seen. Sure enough, the almost unearthly howl they heard soon after tipped them off to the presence of a pack of dire wolves, out looking for a meal.
Formulating a plan, Emerys decided to use the bag of his people that he had found in the bandit camp. Having tested it before he found that it summoned a wild boar! Surely that would lead the wolves away... Throwing the ball of fuzz into the opening, it shifted and grew and morphed into the shape of a regular wolf! Emerys was slightly surprised at the form, but commanded the beast to run anyway. Giving chase, the pack of wolves disappeared from view leaving the group safe passage into the grove...
The main feature of the grove was a giant, knotted old tree stretching up and up towards the heavens. All signed of green had long since withered and died, leaving the tree as a horrifying vision of twisted and knotty wood alone. At the base of the tree was an opening, almost a doorway, leading to a spiral stairway down into the earth...
The first thing to grab the heroes' attention as they made their way over the threshold was the body of what Emerys supposed to be a nymph. Her body was long since cold and dead, although not rotten or decayed as a human body may have been. It appeared from a cursory examination that she was murdered via a stab wound in her back.
Delving deeper into the tree, the group found themselves in a large open cavern, the only light a strange bluish glow eminating from the walls of the cavern. The entire cavern seemed to be built around a small wooden pedestal rising from the ground in the very center of the room. The pedestal rose to a point where the wood was almost shaped like a pair of hands in a cupping position. What they were supposed to be cupping, however, was not there!
What was there was another corpse. This time it was a man in a suit of armor with a large axe. His armor was dented and scarred from battle. There was a symbol on the front, but it was so damaged that no one could make it out clearly.
One final inhabitant of the cavern was discovered off in the distance... a large, monster of a bear. About as big as a house. Seeing that their quarry was gone anyway, the group decided to leave before an encounter with the bear became necessary.
Upon heading back to the surface, however, the sounds of battle became apparent! Using a scyring spell, She'dra peeked out of the tree's opening only to spy a man, dressed in a fashion similar to the corpse by the pedestal, fighting off a pack of about 9 dire wolves. Whether it was because they were hoping for answers, a quick way out, or just because they couldn't stand to let the man get mauled, I do not know... but the group jumped into the battle and tried their best to save the man!
Though the large, vicious wolves were formidible, our group was just a cut above and through guile, cunning, and a large helping of guts, managed to rout the wolfpack.
Speaking to the man they had saved, they mentioned the corpse of the man dressed like him in the tree, and the stranger seemed intrigued. Making a quick stop inside the tree they inspected the scene and the corpse. In trying to decide where to head next, the topic of the giant camp was again brought up...
"Giant camp?" asked the stranger. "That's where I'm headed."
But were the companions headed right back? This close to Ridgeshire it seemed a shame not to stop in... especially given the state of some of the party's health. And the giant camp was still as impossible to get into as it always was...
So as the group re-united in the grove, She'dra declared the intention to head back to Ridgeshire, which put off their new companion (named Zerin, as they found out.) After a brief back and forth between he and She'dra, Zerin left. But not before She'dra had his rat grab a piece of Zerin's clothing. Now he could be tracked...
It seems there's a legend that long ago ancient beings of immense power left behind for the world a small aspect of their great power. As best they can figure, there are six such objects... natural things like stones, jewels or crystals... each representing their being's defining characteristic. These items were so powerful, so potent... that it is said that they shape the nature of the land and creatures around them. Certainly any one of these items would satisfy the Ridgeshire Adventurer's Guild...
Putting that information to use in relation to some of the other sources, two possible leads were discovered. A tale of an area southeast of Ridgeshire described as the most beautiful, serene and picturesque natural setting you'll ever come across. The beauty was supposed to be overwhelming, and evident in everything from the lush foliage, to the majestic animals, or to the crystal blue waters of the nearby waterfall. The other lead, slightly less appealing, spoke of a land of huge and mighty trees! In the area, so it was said, was a community of especially big and nasty giants. As best they could tell, the area described was southeast of Pungumplia, possibly where they had encountered the giants previously... Little other information was available, since not many who came across the area ever survived.
Gathering together and sharing all of the information, the group decided that given the relative locations of the two places to go with the devil they knew. And so they planned to head towards the giants. Someone, inquiring about the location of the Giant's Bane recovered from the Bandit camp, was shocked to hear Edgerrin matter of factly relate the tale of his sale of the blade to a local merchant in exchange for a Masterwork falchion and some more gold with which to purchase equipment upgrades.
Launching into some nasty in-fighting, some members of the group expressed some outrage that Edge would sell something that they considered group property for his own gain. She'dra in particualr seemed outraged (as much as the emotionally muted elf can be) that a prisoner had taken such liberties. Some pointed accusations followed by judgemental stares, countered by assurances that in his hands, the weapon he aqcuired was even more dangerous than the enchanted item could ever hope to be. This went on for a few tense moments before Ryo interrupted, seeing that this was getting them nowhere and reminding the group of the deadline that they faced.
Soon after loading up the cart, the band of prisoners had set about their way! Returning to the area in which they had initally encountered the giants, they secured their cart and began to head south on foot. Slowly but surely they began to notice the increase in the sheer size of things. Trees, flowers, insects... everything there dwarfed (what's a dwarf?) the typical varieties.
Reaching a clearing, the group spied through the trees and saw a group of about 4 giants, larger even than the ones they had encountered on the road. They seemed to be milling about some sort of small camp...
Formulating a plan, She'dra suggested distraction so that confrontation with the brutes could be circumvented for the time being. Unfortunately for She'dra, the distraction that came wasn't excactly what he had in mind.
Tippy-toeing closer to the tree line to get a better look, Quint never noticed the large root sticking out of the ground. The giants, however, DID notice the confused swashbuckler tumbling to the ground beyond the forest line with a thud and then scrambling back into the woods before he soiled himself. Trying to enact his plan more quickly, the elven wizard shoved Quint back into the clearing and instructed him to run east while he caused a distraction to the west. Grabbing the attention of one of the giants, the swashbuckler did just that, and each of them disappeared into the treeline to the east. Harnessing his arcane might, She'dra set the giants bedrolls ablaze, causing one of them to take his time to stomp them out.
Another of the giants fell back to the edge of the clearing and bellowed as best he could (DING!DING! DING!), smacking his great club against a nearby tree and calling for some additonal support. That just left one giant to push aside the treetops and peek in on our group of intrepid heroes. Spotting Emerys and the squishy mage She'dra, the giant already began to make plans for human leftovers the next morning.
But not so! With the combined might of the group... Damas, Ryo and Edge's steel with She'dra's arcane might and Emerys' true flying arrows, the group managed to take one of the gigantic monsters down! However, with 6 more rushing towards them, it was decided that perhaps this day discretion was the better part of valor. But how to escape? Surely the giants long strides would run the group down long before they returned to the road...
It was then that Emerys heard a whistle. Peeking to his left he saw a tree stump slightly rising from the ground. And beneath the stump? Quint's head and mischievous grin as he beckoned everyone closer. Claiming to have "met a guy," Quint lead the group to safety via a series of small underground tunnels, far too tight for the giants to think about following. So once again Quint had, through sheer luck, found a way to get the group out of the trouble that he had gotten them into.* (*Stolen from Kevin Herold.)
Leading them through the underground tunnels, Quint eventually came to another opening. Peeking out, the forest around the group had become normal sized again, and they seemed to be at a small, humble log cabin. A few quick knocks were answered by a small, bearded woodsman named Ander. Slightly gruff, but friendly enough, he offered the party a place to regroup for a few moments. Apparently the man had taken it upon himself to protect anyone foolish enough to head to the giant's camp, as well as doing his best to keeping the giants from spreading out much further than they already had. He's heard of others who had gone looking for the "jewel of might" as he called it, but he knew little else about it.
Trying to come up with alternate plans, the group seemed stumped. One way or another the giant camp looked like a suicide mission at this point in time. Thanking Ander for his aid and hospitality, the group set off to investigate the other lead...
Hopping back on the road to Ridgeshire, and following the directions from the accounts they read, the group began to head east into the woods following a small stream. As they walked the stream began to increase in size and speed, and the woods around them seemingly began to change. However, where they expected lush and beautiful woodlands, teeming with life... they found that the further they headed downstream, the more death and decay they found. The sounds of animals all but disappeared as grass became patchy. Trees showed signed of decay and rot and brush and other plant life became more and more scarce. Emerys wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a very uneasy feeling as they journeyed forward... and that wasn't half of what Bubo was feeling.
Eventually arriving at the end of the stream, they found their waterfall... but it was not the vista they had expected. It looked more like some druid's worst nightmare. With the land seemingly awash with rot and taint, the group ventured down towards the small grove to investigate. Surely this wasn't the place they had read about... was it? Not wanting to rush into anything, the group scouted the area... and wisely! Almost immediately after leaving Emerys' shoulder, Bubo returned frightened at what he had seen. Sure enough, the almost unearthly howl they heard soon after tipped them off to the presence of a pack of dire wolves, out looking for a meal.
Formulating a plan, Emerys decided to use the bag of his people that he had found in the bandit camp. Having tested it before he found that it summoned a wild boar! Surely that would lead the wolves away... Throwing the ball of fuzz into the opening, it shifted and grew and morphed into the shape of a regular wolf! Emerys was slightly surprised at the form, but commanded the beast to run anyway. Giving chase, the pack of wolves disappeared from view leaving the group safe passage into the grove...
The main feature of the grove was a giant, knotted old tree stretching up and up towards the heavens. All signed of green had long since withered and died, leaving the tree as a horrifying vision of twisted and knotty wood alone. At the base of the tree was an opening, almost a doorway, leading to a spiral stairway down into the earth...
The first thing to grab the heroes' attention as they made their way over the threshold was the body of what Emerys supposed to be a nymph. Her body was long since cold and dead, although not rotten or decayed as a human body may have been. It appeared from a cursory examination that she was murdered via a stab wound in her back.
Delving deeper into the tree, the group found themselves in a large open cavern, the only light a strange bluish glow eminating from the walls of the cavern. The entire cavern seemed to be built around a small wooden pedestal rising from the ground in the very center of the room. The pedestal rose to a point where the wood was almost shaped like a pair of hands in a cupping position. What they were supposed to be cupping, however, was not there!
What was there was another corpse. This time it was a man in a suit of armor with a large axe. His armor was dented and scarred from battle. There was a symbol on the front, but it was so damaged that no one could make it out clearly.
One final inhabitant of the cavern was discovered off in the distance... a large, monster of a bear. About as big as a house. Seeing that their quarry was gone anyway, the group decided to leave before an encounter with the bear became necessary.
Upon heading back to the surface, however, the sounds of battle became apparent! Using a scyring spell, She'dra peeked out of the tree's opening only to spy a man, dressed in a fashion similar to the corpse by the pedestal, fighting off a pack of about 9 dire wolves. Whether it was because they were hoping for answers, a quick way out, or just because they couldn't stand to let the man get mauled, I do not know... but the group jumped into the battle and tried their best to save the man!
Though the large, vicious wolves were formidible, our group was just a cut above and through guile, cunning, and a large helping of guts, managed to rout the wolfpack.
Speaking to the man they had saved, they mentioned the corpse of the man dressed like him in the tree, and the stranger seemed intrigued. Making a quick stop inside the tree they inspected the scene and the corpse. In trying to decide where to head next, the topic of the giant camp was again brought up...
"Giant camp?" asked the stranger. "That's where I'm headed."
But were the companions headed right back? This close to Ridgeshire it seemed a shame not to stop in... especially given the state of some of the party's health. And the giant camp was still as impossible to get into as it always was...
So as the group re-united in the grove, She'dra declared the intention to head back to Ridgeshire, which put off their new companion (named Zerin, as they found out.) After a brief back and forth between he and She'dra, Zerin left. But not before She'dra had his rat grab a piece of Zerin's clothing. Now he could be tracked...
posted by Ryan Vaughn | 11:53 AM
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