An Errand for Amalthea - Group 1, Session 1
General Summary
It's been a few days since returning to the Bugbear's Head Inn from the Jennings farmstead. Farmer jennings has his tools and his family is learning to live with the Fey. While relaxing and thinking about what comes next, Branwyne Pinnman finally returns from her long hunting trip - she's been absent since the group first arrived at the Inn nineteen days ago. After being introduced to the group, Branwyne did have an offer of adventure to give the party: a "simple" message retrieval run into the deeper parts of the Feywood.
More specifically, Branwyne asked the party to travel to the Lizard Fens, locate a Lizardfolk village in the heart of the fens, and retrieve a message that the Lizardfolk chieftain had for Amalthea the Dryad, one of the greater dryads that oversee the whole of the Feywood. Unfortunately, since the Great Strife, the fey cannot travel freely within the fens, and the Lizardfolk are reluctant to venture beyond them, so messengers are needed.
The party started its journey north into the deeper parts of the Feywood following the stream that runs alongside the Inn. They were accompanied for the first five days by Daphinia, the Naiad that lives in the stream, and who offered to ensure, with the help of her 'friends in the forest' that the journey to the edge of the fens would be uneventful. During this time, the party had several opportunities to converse with the Naiad, who was quite friendly and appreciative that the group was willing to help the Fey by retrieving this message for Amalthea. They learned a number of interesting facts during their conversations:
On entering the Lizard Fens, the party was on its own. They had been warned about the possibility of gremlin harassment, and told of the territorial Boggards, who disliked outsiders (and hated the Lizardfolk). But they were not forewarned about the first real hazard they came to face. The fens are filled with intertwining narrow channels and pools of still water, and it was while crossing one of these channels that the party confronted the most feared natural predator of the Lizard Fens: a Sleeperjaw.
The group had decided to string a rope across the channel by throwing a grappling hook into a tree on the far side. Using this rope for stability, Endrin the Dwarven Sorcerer was the first to cross - impatient as the others decided on best approach. Endrin was able to demonstrate that at its deepest point, the channel was almost as deep as he was tall, so the Dayve the Goblin Alchemist and Hestia the Halfling Barbarian were going to have difficulty. Osric the Human Fighter and Ahronelle the Elven Rogue should have little trouble getting across, and should in fact be able to aid the shorter members of the party. Raelin the Dwarven Cleric simply waded in after Endrin and crossed quickly.
Next to attempt to cross were Ahronelle and Dayve, who was riding on Ahronelle's shoulders. As they reached the midpoint of the stream, though, the surface of the water rippled some 10 feet to their south, as the upper jaw of a large creature opened to reveal a maw of frightening teeth. A jet stream of liquid shot from just beneath the tongue of the creature, directed at Dayve's head. Fortunately the Goblin's reflexes were good, and he dodged the stream completely. But the predator wasn't finished; it's next move was to dive and attempt to grab Ahronelle's leg in its maw. Fortunately, again, the beast was unsuccessful. Ahronelle's elven agility allowed her to escape the water, getting her and Dayve safely to the other side. She then drew her rapier and turned to defend herself and others.
In the meantime, Osric had already loaded Hestia onto his shoulders, so all he could do at this time was to quickly toss the Halfling off and ready his Waraxe. He then waded into the channel to attack the creature. Hestia recovered her composure and then readied her greatsword. The battle was quick, but the creature did manage to get hold of Osric at one point, knocking him off his feet and nearly dragging him under the water. He escaped that fate, but succumbed when the creature's jaws found him a second time. Fortunately, Raelin, from across the channel, was able to prevent a permanent, terrible fate for Osric. Endrin's magical missiles, the few blows that Osric managed to land before falling, and a careful jab or two from Ahronelle (who had the misfortune of feeling the effects of a viscous tail swipe from the creature) were enough to slay the Sleeperjaw.
The carcass was hauld ashore. After inspecting it, Ahronelle and Hestia realized that this was not a typical Marsh Alligator, and quietly harvested several vials of Sleeperjaw venom without the party really noticing. In the meantime, Dayve prepared himself for a feast of raw gator guts as the rest of the party made camp for the night on some dry ground not far from the channel. After Dayve sharing some healing elixirs and Raelin invoking some divine healing, the party settled in for the night.
More specifically, Branwyne asked the party to travel to the Lizard Fens, locate a Lizardfolk village in the heart of the fens, and retrieve a message that the Lizardfolk chieftain had for Amalthea the Dryad, one of the greater dryads that oversee the whole of the Feywood. Unfortunately, since the Great Strife, the fey cannot travel freely within the fens, and the Lizardfolk are reluctant to venture beyond them, so messengers are needed.
The party started its journey north into the deeper parts of the Feywood following the stream that runs alongside the Inn. They were accompanied for the first five days by Daphinia, the Naiad that lives in the stream, and who offered to ensure, with the help of her 'friends in the forest' that the journey to the edge of the fens would be uneventful. During this time, the party had several opportunities to converse with the Naiad, who was quite friendly and appreciative that the group was willing to help the Fey by retrieving this message for Amalthea. They learned a number of interesting facts during their conversations:
- Daiphinia was aware that some Fey were going missing around the edges of Feywood, particularly in the north.
- The Naiad explained that she could not accompany the party farther than the edge of the Fens. "The Fens were lost to the Nymphs during the Great Strife; we have not ventured there since and cannot now."
- She told the party that this river would join another one in the heart of the Fens - her Naiad friend Malyra live in that stream, but she had not been able to see this friend in the 2200 years since the Great Strife. From there, the larger waterway flowed north to Spirit Lake. The lizardfolk village was not far from where the streams joined.
- She warned the party about the Gremlins that lived in the fens. Oh... and the Boggards... they can be nasty too. And the Lizardfolk. They're supposed to be okay, but she's not sure she trusts them - one can never tell what a Lizardfolk is thinking with those cold, staring eyes.
- Boggards are a frog-like race of beings. They are very territorial. They don't like outsiders, but they really despise the Lizardfolk.
- The Lizardfolk have been in the Feywood for many, many years. Before the Great Strife, they even had a civilization of their own, with stone towers and other structures raised up in the forest. But these were leveled during the Strife, and the Forest has covered them over in the two thousand years since.
On entering the Lizard Fens, the party was on its own. They had been warned about the possibility of gremlin harassment, and told of the territorial Boggards, who disliked outsiders (and hated the Lizardfolk). But they were not forewarned about the first real hazard they came to face. The fens are filled with intertwining narrow channels and pools of still water, and it was while crossing one of these channels that the party confronted the most feared natural predator of the Lizard Fens: a Sleeperjaw.
The group had decided to string a rope across the channel by throwing a grappling hook into a tree on the far side. Using this rope for stability, Endrin the Dwarven Sorcerer was the first to cross - impatient as the others decided on best approach. Endrin was able to demonstrate that at its deepest point, the channel was almost as deep as he was tall, so the Dayve the Goblin Alchemist and Hestia the Halfling Barbarian were going to have difficulty. Osric the Human Fighter and Ahronelle the Elven Rogue should have little trouble getting across, and should in fact be able to aid the shorter members of the party. Raelin the Dwarven Cleric simply waded in after Endrin and crossed quickly.
Next to attempt to cross were Ahronelle and Dayve, who was riding on Ahronelle's shoulders. As they reached the midpoint of the stream, though, the surface of the water rippled some 10 feet to their south, as the upper jaw of a large creature opened to reveal a maw of frightening teeth. A jet stream of liquid shot from just beneath the tongue of the creature, directed at Dayve's head. Fortunately the Goblin's reflexes were good, and he dodged the stream completely. But the predator wasn't finished; it's next move was to dive and attempt to grab Ahronelle's leg in its maw. Fortunately, again, the beast was unsuccessful. Ahronelle's elven agility allowed her to escape the water, getting her and Dayve safely to the other side. She then drew her rapier and turned to defend herself and others.
In the meantime, Osric had already loaded Hestia onto his shoulders, so all he could do at this time was to quickly toss the Halfling off and ready his Waraxe. He then waded into the channel to attack the creature. Hestia recovered her composure and then readied her greatsword. The battle was quick, but the creature did manage to get hold of Osric at one point, knocking him off his feet and nearly dragging him under the water. He escaped that fate, but succumbed when the creature's jaws found him a second time. Fortunately, Raelin, from across the channel, was able to prevent a permanent, terrible fate for Osric. Endrin's magical missiles, the few blows that Osric managed to land before falling, and a careful jab or two from Ahronelle (who had the misfortune of feeling the effects of a viscous tail swipe from the creature) were enough to slay the Sleeperjaw.
The carcass was hauld ashore. After inspecting it, Ahronelle and Hestia realized that this was not a typical Marsh Alligator, and quietly harvested several vials of Sleeperjaw venom without the party really noticing. In the meantime, Dayve prepared himself for a feast of raw gator guts as the rest of the party made camp for the night on some dry ground not far from the channel. After Dayve sharing some healing elixirs and Raelin invoking some divine healing, the party settled in for the night.
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