Tabletop Journeys

Rana investigates the outskirts of town with Hickory, looking for ways in and clues about the slime and also looking for a really big tree - 11 survival. She finds a very large oak on the far outskirts of town, Northwest that should be big enough for future purposes.

Fee goes to talk to all the shop owners and do some window shopping, talk to the locals and just hang out and chill. She’d restock supplies, general stuff like dried roadsnacks, rat snacks, rope replacement, etc. 2g spent total. No alchemist so no potion restock.

Ixie checks in on the guy she saved, he’s definitely in awe of her and smitten has poetry. Ixayl'anu's response: “No no that’s quite alright.” /leaves

Everyone spends a nice relaxing day in or just outside town. Rana doing her druid thing that she hasn’t had much of a chance to do with a whole group of people. 

As we arrive at the tavern for dinner together Diem is hyper and more energetic than usual, but Jutira, while looking happier and more settled, also still has a bit still deer in the headlights look to her.

Tira: Thank you for taking the time to let me spend the day with Diem. It’s been a long time and I understand you all have to go places.

Fee: Take all the time you need!

Ixayl'anu: Right within reason.

We chat a bit, Jutira gets pulled away eventually. During this time, Diem tells the story about how their gran had been poisoning her and then when they get to the dream crab story, performance 25 has the whole inn paying attention. ~ Reveal ~ Our one shot with different characters 10 years earlier had Diem's mom in it as an npc they all helped.

We discuss what happened to those characters at the end of the one shot, options they would’ve had for interacting after etc. along with what the characters are doing now. Almost everyone elected to have had those one-shot characters help Tira out upon waking. ~ Back to the main campaign ~

Diem goes to bed at their mom’s and is woken up way earlier than they wanted, and gently nudged from bed to start their day. Rana passes them on her way to the tavern from the inn and they exchange greetings (with Diem still half asleep). Not wishing to interact with the loud and lively innkeeper directly this early, Diem crawls into Fee’s window at the inn for cuddles and more sleep. Fee says they should talk about how their mom apparently doesn’t trust them to stay there alone.

Diem is tired though and just wants to cuddle (and sleep more).

At the tavern, Upa gives Rana a glowing pearl for our group, to help on our adventures. Rana opens the box and it glows enough everyone probably noticed it get opened. Rana plays with it like a cat because it’s pretty and shiny and it makes Upa happy to see her entertained.

When we arrive Diem notices and asks about it, Rana hands it over without saying it’s from Upa so they identify it and then say it’s a pearl of power (“It appears to be another pearl of power that’s all you get from it.”).

Ixayl'anu: Where’d you find it?

Rana: Upa gave it to me.

Diem: Upa gave it to you? Then why’d you have me identify it? Why didn’t you just ask?

Rana: I didn’t, you did that on your own, I thought you just wanted to see it ‘cause it’s pretty.

Diem: Well…it is very pretty.

Brief discussion so full of RP terms about Rana not having attunement slots left and Diem says they do, but Upa gave it to her. After a little back and forth between all spellcasters, Rana asks Upa if it’s okay to give to Diem, she says of course, she gave it to her to be the most useful to whomever among us.

Ixayl'anu points out that Diem is always the one wanting a nap. Diem suggests trading it back and forth before they’re reminded it’s an attunement thing.

Diem also gets specific permission to call Upa Grammy. Upa promises to take care of their mother too.

Even so Diem stops in at the guard house to give their mom the tolling tulip, ring of lightning resistance, and scroll of protection from undead while the others check on road conditions to Averni with Sean.

On the way there is a fallen tree on the path, overgrown, creating difficult terrain all over.

Fee hears barking - a tiny dog-like sound just before an acorn hits her. She sees the tiny grey squirrel that is angry with her that’s standing on the log. She gets chewed out. Fee throws something back at it, the squirrel dodges and disappears. The next time it throws an acorn it hits Rana’s shoulder.

Rana: Hey! (casts speak with animals then says “Hey!” again)

Squirrel: Get away from my tree!

Rana: Your tree is on the ground!

Squirrel: I know! (super distraught) squirrel goes back in tree “Go away!”

Even without a nature check Rana can tell this is just a very dead snag that toppled over.

Rana: Your tree doesn’t look like it’s gonna be a very safe tree anymore.

Squirrel: All my stuff is in here :(

Rana: We might need to move your stuff... It comes out to stare at her with thinking tail flicks.

Rana translates what's going on for the rest of us.

Rana: What happened to your tree, we were not here

Squirrel: There was a lot of wind and it got knocked over and it was loud and scary!

The squirrel is increasingly distraught and doesn’t know what to do now.

We eventually move the tree away with Diem volunteered as an elephant when Rana asks for polymorph volunteers (we ruled awhile back that Diem's shapechanging flexibility allows them to *choose* to let the polymorph magic take hold if they know it's coming, otherwise typical shapechanger immunity). Diem has a blast as an elephant being all big and strong. Rana has speak with animals long enough to hear how happy they are to be so huge and super strong look at me! /elephant flex /uses trunk to play with peoples' hair (gets bit trying to pat squirrel), animal handling checks must be made on wiser but less intelligent Diem to get them to do as requested.

Fee rides them the rest of the hour down the road after we've successfully moved tree out of the road and helped squirrel relocate to new, better tree. Hickory wanted to solve the problem with squirrel snack, this was not allowed.

We camp where we were for the haunted doll prank about a month ago and Diem minor illusions fake chalk remains to see how long it takes Fee to notice.

Hickory warns Rana someone’s coming.

Rana perceptions after letting us know, some woman offers to help with food if we share the fire.

Rana asks if we’re alright with company everyone but Diem hesitates. 

Diem: Sure we love company!

 (Rana telepathically with Hickory: play nice Hickory: She smells weird Rana: (missed response)

Hickory watches newcomer in definitely not horse like fashion.)

Rana insight checks her and can tell she’s a loner who doesn’t really like civilization, not really used to being around people but she seems friendly enough, she offers the two rabbits that look freshly caught. Rana notices things only Rana and Fee get to know in the secret room.

Her name is Tessa HillHollow

Rana takes the rabbits and makes a point of checking out the more ragged kill method. She will dig in her pouch and pull out a few dried soup balls and hand them over as trade.

Tessa is surprised and slowly takes them. Rana steps outside the ruin walls, away from camp to gut and prepare the rabbits. She tosses the innards to Hickory as she does this.

Fee: So where do you come from?

Tessa: I just have a couple of trap lines around here and uh…it’s a livin.

Fee: Oh you live here?

Tessa: In the area, yeah, not really in town, I do go to some of the bigger ones occasionally when I need some supplies.

She has a quiver, bow, and small pack she set down.

We chat her up, talk about how she’s been here a few years and we must’ve just missed her last time. Diem asks about the nearby haunted house stories and insights 11 that she looks a little unnerved so probably doesn’t like spooky stories. They revert to saying they’re a story teller, and ask what kind of stories she does like. Tessa: Adventure.

Before Diem launches into story time Fee convinces Ixayl'anu to do a perimeter check "Like we do EVERY NIGHT" (Diem insight 1 on that lol). Diem proceeds to try and stress how safe Tessa is with us, talks about being an elephant recently, how we handled a bunch of wild boar here last time.

Fee gets far enough away with Ixayl'anu to talk about her Tessa suspicions and asks her to do divine sense, making special note of the fact that creepy chalk circle still being there is super strange (all the laughter). During the divine sense perimeter check Ixayl'anu does ping a grave sight of some kind just southwest of the ruin campsite walls.

Meanwhile, sidenote: The chalk circle pieces disappeared after only a minute, occasionally Diem brings a glint of it back every now and then.

Diem 29 performance (nat 20) telling Tessa stories to entertain and help her feel safe with us but without focusing on us in a way that sounds braggy and arrogant.

She tells us some things about the area in exchange, including a warning about a spider-scorpion like thing that looks like branches and plants in the area as a disguise to ambush prey and she’s seen it grab things as big as a cow before. They are spider monsters with step shelf fungi-like growths on their legs.

Diem sets up an alarm spell for the next 8 hours.

Survival rolls for the night 12 Rana, 8 Hickory, Ixie 13, Diem 17, Fee 8.

Ixie and Diem hear wolves off in the distance, but they’re pretty far away.

-------- Dear Silver Scale Pack, I'm sorry to say this by letter and that I lack the courage to tell you in person, but I've decided to run away from this life and start anew. I debated not sending this letter at all, but I don't want you to waste time looking for me.

(Waking Up Is Hard To Do)

Before the game officially starts, rolls are made to determine quality of sleep and dreams - nobody rolls high enough for hints of proper memory or starting insight.

Odilya rolled highest and had nightmares that are already starting to fade. They have left her waking out of sorts.

Furrhaathandesh, Trisk, and Keir all rolled into the next group, leaving their dreams full of high adventure and satisfying victories. Those feelings linger, but they also don't feel as rested as they could be. However, they also wake up naturally at the end of a dream cycle with full awareness of their foreign surroundings.

Everyone wakes up in their own private room on a bed big enough for a dragonborn, regardless of their species. It doesn’t appear to be a prison cell, in fact there are locks on your side of the door that are unlatched and a small window to see out of. Immediately to your left is a desk and chair. There is a modest dresser across the room from you, next to the door. On the wall behind you is a window with the curtain drawn.

Anyone who lifted the curtain to look outside saw a stretch of rocky ground cast in dusky blues and grays by the weather and possibly the time of day. Beyond the relatively clear ground, about ten feet back, grows a gnarl of thickets and woods. It’s not a uniform growth - some of it starting a little closer, even more of it a little farther. A large, jagged boulder sits almost centered. One of the players (I wanna say Keir) noticed movement in the varied thickets, bushes, and trees, but it was maybe the shadow of an animal in the woods or branches swaying in the wind, the sort of movement she might’ve expected from a wildwood regardless.

Only one player (Furrhaathandesh, I think?) noticed the same, but also saw unrecognized twiggy creatures moving around, possibly watching him back from the safety of the trees and shrubs. Only Odilya mentions directly investigating her room and she finds what she’d pretty much expect from a college dorm room, it’s giving her flashbacks of her own from her university days. It’s even got similar types of things in the desk, study notes, an unfinished letter home, various writing implements. This does appear to have recently (still?) been someone else’s dorm as opposed to a guest room.

The rest of you added later: Furrhaathandesh thinks the bed could be comfier. He is very curious as to where he is but assumes there is a magical explanation because of the mage light and the general mysterious of it. He assumes it's not necessarily something super malicious because his pack is sitting nicely on the desk in the room.

Trisk tries to get back to sleep, but his blanket is a bit scratchy and not as comfortable as he's used to. There's a slight draft in his room, and, cracking an eye back open, he sees a room similar to his novice days in the temple, sparse and impersonal. His bag and holy items are settled in a pile on the floor. The decor here is thoroughly disappointing.

Keir sees a plain room, little frill or extra flare. Some small colored rocks on the top of the desk.

(Leaving Their Rooms)

Odilya comes out first, triggering Lillian’s improv NPC dialogue “Oh you’re awake!” (etc.). Shortly after, Keir begins scratching at her door, Trisk hides in blankets, Desh is trying to look out his door's window.

Lilian invites everyone to come out, following behind Odilya to check on the last door where they hear Keir scratching at the wood.

Lillian mentions how she found everyone in the portal room and assumed they were the help she requested.

Odilya lies successfully to say that she is and thought reads Lillian, picking up that she’s incredibly anxious, illustrated by scattered, mile-a-minute thoughts. Things are seriously not right and she’s actively worried about her research team.

People start emerging from their rooms, Trisk leaving last, still wrapped up in the blanket from his bed, but also in full armor.

Odilya introduces herself, but before conversation goes further people continue emerging from their rooms, Trisk leaving last, still wrapped up in the blanket from his bed, but also in full cleric armor. Someone interrupts the current discussion about what’s going on to ask about food being offered (Trisk, I think?)

Lillian says they should all definitely be caught up on everything that’s gone wrong but they must be hungry, so she’ll set out some food and they can all talk while they eat. She guides them to the dining room just south through the open doorway in the hallway everyone was in and invites them to make themselves comfortable while she fixes up some food.

Light interactions between the players, another round of abandoned introductions as most are more curious about what the others remember. There is a small interaction between Lillian’s daughter, Ari and Trisk, primarily. She likes the big kitty though darts out of view, scared, when he throws trail rations toward her in the kitchen doorway, expecting her to catch them. Odilya tries to encourage her when she pokes back out of hiding and picks up the trail rations, smiling shyly.

When Lillian brings out the first serving tray of food, prepared to set each one down buffet style along the center of the table, Odilya offers help. Lillian waves off the need, but allows her to take each tray as she brings it in. Odilya uses this as an excuse to stealth purify food and drink on each one just in case. Unfortunately, this leads Furrhaathandesh to think she might be poisoning it and Odilya fails to reassure him she’s doing the opposite, you know, just in case. He doesn’t voice his continued doubts aloud.

Trisk obliviously volunteers to be a test subject anyway by helping himself without thinking twice on it. The moment Odilya sets a tray close enough he begins chowing down. Food’s safe!

(Conversations Over a Meal)

Lillian joins them and begins to try and explain what little she knows about what happened. She talks about the research team finding these odd masks that looked organic and about the day one of them actually put one on and was wrapped in vines,being moved like a puppet. In the chaos, while the others tried to work on a solution, she sent out an SOS through the portal room’s communication systems and then locked herself and her daughter up in the panic room. After that, she didn’t see anything else for a period of time she seems obviously confused about, and troubled by her own lack of clarity.

When she finally left the panic room, she found a note left on the dining room table and another pinned to the portal room door by whomever put her team in stasis (she is clearly puzzled how they managed this as well) and then finding the group of players. She tells them she used enchanted carrying cots to move them all to the rooms they woke in, not wanting to really undress everyone, but used a prestidigitation device on them first, even though they weren’t particularly dirty.

It is revealed that however they got here, they blew out the teleportation crystals which will need replacing before it can be used to get out.

One of the players asks if they can leave. Lillian talks about the brambled creatures outside that tried and failed to get in that are out there waiting, including an entire flock of corvid where the brambles grew like a moss along their feathers, she’s never seen anything like it. She does say everyone is welcome to try leaving, she won’t keep them here, but because of the brambled creatures, she wouldn’t recommend it.

Odilya asks to see the note, which Lillian hands over. She rolls a high investigation and notes that this particular piece of paper has been frequently worried at, parchment worn as if Lillian nervously handled it on the regular. She also finds a smear of oxidized blood in the corner that first looked like dirt. It was obviously written in a hurry and there’s a puncture mark through one of the letters, likely from writing on an uneven surface. Odilya doesn’t share this information with anyone. I think everyone else either takes a turn looking at the note or glances at it over Odilya’s shoulder or maybe she turns it so they can see. Either way, I’m pretty sure Odilya keeps hold of the note. It reads: “Research team has been put in medical stasis. Going for help."

Bask was mentioned as guiding Trisk here, Lillian rolled a nat 20 on Bask knowledge and says she’d take all the help they can get and is thankful for Bask’s grace.

They all talk about getting a look at the research team from the observation room mentioned and Lillian agrees, so long as they don’t touch anything, it should be fine under the current circumstances. She asks if anyone’s been trained in magitech healing devices and gets a bunch of blank looks. She asks who’s the replacement healer then, to which Trisk says “I don’t know about replacement, but I am a healer, pretty sure I can figure out your devices.”

“What do you mean you’re not a replacement?” Lillian looks around at the players. She finds out that none of the others were sent, or at least they don’t remember being sent. That leaves only Odilya as someone sent by the foundation (and even that’s not true though no one but Odilya knows it).

The foundation is discussed at some point, Lillian is asked if she owns it. She admits she does not, she’s just the head researcher - currently the only researcher. However, as she introduced herself as Lillian Isley, she then has to explain that her parents are the reason it’s named The Isley Research Facility (and the Isley Foundation, respectively).

Once their meal is pretty much concluded, everyone wants to see the medical observation room to get a look at the research team. Now that she knows only Odilya was sent and no one seems to even be aware of magitech devices for healing, she repeats that no one should touch anything, but it should be fine under the current circumstances and leads the way, not bothering to clean up after their meal. (! There's a Greenhouse Sidequest)

She stops off in the landing room between dining room and medical observation tour-guide style and mentions the spiral staircase leads to the greenhouse but it’s been closed off. Most of the players hear rustling above. When asking Lillian about it, everyone finds out that in taking care of an entire research facility on her own while keeping an eye on a child at the same time, some of the plants in the greenhouse have grown out of hand and past the points they were deemed safe. As such, they’re running amok through the greenhouse. Lillian adds that thankfully, they have enough in the stores to feed everyone and she can create food and water if need be, but she would also welcome help with this particular problem if anyone’s of a mind to do so.

She has an exchange primarily with Furrhaathandesh about this. He’s been travelling through the shadowood with his friends - none of whom are with him, and he thinks he might know what she’s talking about. He saw a large patch of something similar to what she describes - hearty, thorny vegetation thriving in a patch where other trees are both being choked out and appeared to have recently taken a lot of lightning damage in a storm that missed the thorny growths entirely.

Someone (Furrhaathandesh, I think?) says they’re interested in seeing how they might help Lillian with this situation later, after they all get a look at the research team.

Lillian says she would be very thankful if they did. Trisk is having a serious case of hunter-kitty eyes over the noises and intense attention to the empty space above that shows the greenhouse roof more than twice as high as the dining room ceiling. Via the greenhouse roof beyond the invisible barrier, everyone can tell it’s raining very hard now.

(Inside the Observation Room)

“Here’s the observation room.” Lillian unlocks the magic door to medical observation, and reminds everyone again about no touching. Odilya and someone else (don’t remember who) both watch the magic lock gestures Lillian uses on this door and are confident they can copy the movements. However, an arcana check shows they also recognize that the magic is partially keyed to Lillian herself so even perfectly copying the gestures, they probably couldn’t unlock the door without her.

Once inside, she approaches a crystal base in the center of the room that has a floating shard of inert, liquid silver material. “This is the interface crystal.” With a few gestures interacting with floating white-blue orbs of various sizes in almost decorative orbits around the liquid metal, said metal begins to take on the shape of the figure in bed five. Lillian informs them of this aloud and notices Trisk reaching out to touch the newly formed, bramble-covered research from bed 5 replicated T2-style by the interface crystal.

He’s hesitating, but as soon as she gives him permission to touch the figure (just avoid the orbs of light, please, and mind the thorns replicated, they will be just as sharp as the real thing), he does so without hesitation. Lillian explains that the interface crystal exactly copies each figure in a bed and that it’s one of the commands she’s managed to figure out on her own. She says she’s not sure which researcher this is as the system is unable to identify the people buried under the plants and match them with their files. However, given relative size, she’s fairly sure Loda is in bed two, and Eln is probably the largest figure in bed three.

Lillian also informs everyone that the two people who knew the magitech devices in the observation room best were Lo (Loda) and Rik - she is uncertain which of the other three figures is Rik. She also tells everyone that she’s gotten the computer to recognize bed two as Loda, but it’s still having issues about that.

This is when Lillian draws their attention to the status readouts along the east wall. She’s preparing to tell everyone about the status and readouts of the research team according to these groups of crystals when Trisk decides to cast a level 3 dispel magic on bed 2 (Lo’s) crystals, thinking it would go through maybe and dispel this potential bramble curse from her.

Lillian notices this movement and tries to stop him too late. “Why would you do that?! What were you thinking?!” Lillian is now angry and completely baffled, now blocking his way from accessing anything else over there. Of the He breaks the vitality monitors and poison/toxin scanner and makes Lillian mad. Each large crystal cluster is made up of 5 crystal shards with an orb of the same colour floating over it. Each bed was represented by a different colour glow with some spears’ light pulsing slowly, wavering in lazy loops, or moving back and forth or up and down like a scanner light.

The pink crystals and orb that represent bed two were a high-level enchantment throughout the cluster with the orb not getting included in the dispel. All but one spear of that crystal cluster went “dark” (as in just unlit/no colour) after the dispel. Successful dispel on: Vitality monitor readout enchantment (a crystal for temperature, heart rate, and brain activity) and detect poison/toxins spear.

This is when Trisk (and everyone else) finds out that thankfully he didn’t break anything vital, but now they won’t know if Lo’s vitals change or if a toxin or poison enters her system. They also find out that the last remaining crystal detects magic - which would have told Trisk there was nothing to dispel if he’d waited for an explanation.

Though she is raising her voice at Trisk, it’s less of a violent anger and more of a worried and incredulous “I can’t believe you did that!” sort of reaction. All the same, it is making her daughter hide even more behind her in an obviously anxious way.

Furrhaathandesh looks prepared to help Lillian reinforce the no touchy for the giant tabaxi and Lillian notices the way he shifts his weight in a supportive sort of ready stance.

Odilya casts calm emotions but this unfortunately only gets Ari and Furrhaathandesh. It at least helps the little girl not be scared any more.

Fortunately, Lillian isn’t of a mind to fight a group of adventurers, but she does herd them out of the observation room now that they’ve seen (and Trisk has broken something lol) to discuss plans of action around less sensitive equipment. “Thankfully you didn’t hit the stasis field with that dispel.”

Pretty sure Trisk suggests that maybe they should take one of them out of stasis. Lillian is against this idea as it risks her team and reveals that there’s a back up stasis field anyway, one that will also prevent Trisk or anyone else from going into the medical bay directly, as they will get hit by the backup stasis field set on the entire room (with bed-specific stasis fields as the primary).

She approves of the idea of maybe getting a sample from outside to study instead of risking the team though, except that it’s raining very heavily right now. They’re welcome to try anyway, so long as they follow proper procedure when bringing it inside. A pin is put in gathering a specimen for now.

(Let's Just Go To the Already Broken Portal Room)

Lillian successfully manages to be the last one out of the observation room, which she locks behind her and then bends down with a half hug for her daughter and murmurs, “Go to the panic room, for now Ari, okay?” She gestures toward a door near the spiral staircase and confirms it’s the panic room after Ari looks around at the others and reluctantly nods before disappearing into the room, door locking. “It just seemed safer to have her wait in there, just in case something else potentially dangerous is fiddled with before I can explain how it works.”

From there, she suggests they all see the portal room she found them in, maybe that would kick-start some of their memories and she’ll maybe finish the tour from there since it’s probably going to rain like this all night.

Furrhaathandesh mentions again, if they have time, they could also help her with the shambling plants in the greenhouse after.

Lillian again expresses how grateful she’d be for the help.

Still in the landing area, she then tries to gesture them on but Trisk doesn’t budge/take the hint and waits for her to lead the way. With a sigh, Lilian turns to Furrhaathandesh as an ally who was prepared to help her in the previous room. “Help me keep an eye on the tabaxi, hm?”

Furrhaathandesh readily agrees.

(At Least Group A is Safely in Town…Right?)

The Superb Owl: Capture them! (80 ft reach command)

Initiative order starts with Ixayl’anu and then Diem; Ixayl’anu goes first and casts moonbeam on the Superb Owl (it really is a fey owl; though a typo does turn her into the super bowl instead. Just a thought.). Ixayl’anu then runs her 30ft south along the fence.

Diem has to run to catch up as Ixayl’anu shoots past them. “Fly, Ixayl’anu!”. They cast fly on them both as soon as they manage to catch up to her in about 30ft.

5 villagers jump the fence to try and grab us.

One guy across fence to her right manages to grab Ixayl’anu and yank her a little off balance and out of the reach of the guy coming straight at her who’d jumped the southern fence to follow the owl’s orders.

Two guys of three more guys who also jumped the southern fence manage to grab me - one to each arm.

The Superb Owl not only takes half damage from a save (8dmg) by staring her turn in moonbeam, she actually pretends she created the moonbeam as an awe-inspiring spotlight for attention. She spreads her wings and flies straight up in it, showboating a little, and says, in an enunciating announcer voice: Bring them to me and I will deal with the heretics!

Practically everyone near the owl by the northern gate of the square arena and out in an oval of about 40 ft east and west is gazing in star-struck admiration at the owl.

Ixayl’anu struggles to get loose and succeeds her strength check, gets loose and flies 30 ft up and 30 ft east.

Diem uses fey presence to go all Galadriel-style-you-would-have-a-dark-queen visage and voice to inspire fear (16 wis check): Not me you fools!

This works on four out of five of the guys around them, but the one who resists just happens to be one of the guys holding on to them, who actually tightens his grip in half panic as Diem tries to fly away with him still attached (contested strength check failed). They only succeed in lifting him a few feet off the ground.

Diem to Ixayl’anu: Get out of here, go get the others!

A new guy enters the area from the south gate and helps the first pull me back down to the ground as those other four continue to cower a few feet back from me.

The owl takes 4 dmg starting in moonbeam again and doesn’t care, the barely-felt pain is worth the extra awe-inspiring beauty of her spotlight. She is hovering there at about the same height as Ixayl’anu (about 30ft off the ground): Keep that one contained, I will get the flying one!

She’s sad to leave her moonbeam, but flies after Ixayl’anu and misses both attacks. Screams: Look at me! (tries to charm Ixayl’anu and fails)

Ixayl’anu screams right back at her and lands all 3 attacks plus a level 2 smite: 45 total damage. “Never trust owls!”

The Superb Owl screeches again.

Diem goes completely limp and in the owl’s voice says: I have possessed this one, you can let it go. (23 deception)

Everyone buys it and lets Diem go. They immediately zoom 30 ft up and 30 ft toward Ixayl’anu, flying with her between me and the owl.

Guys who let them go realizing their mistake: Oh shit!

(3D chess for everyone now!)

The Northern portion of the crowd begins surging toward us as well, both guys who had Diem are running after them even though they’re 30 ft up.

Korial, the feathered dragonborn from one of Ixayl’anu’s home islands (who had been in charge of and enlisted in the fighting competition) had come out at some point, disappeared in his tent again, and is now coming out, handing off nets to capable-looking people nearby so he can take a shot with his bow at Ixayl’anu. He hits her for 10 dmg

The Superb Owl screams in Ixayl’anu’s face again and tries to grab at her for a grapple. 18 slashing damage and a strength check of 20 vs 21. Ixayl’anu pulls herself away from the grapple at the last minute, which is ruled one reason why the claws hurt so much - made the wound worse pulling out of the grasp.

Ixayl’anu’s next attack misses, but her 2nd does 15dmg plus another smite for 9 more dmg (total 24dmg).

Diem still doesn’t want to hurt the owl if they can avoid it, it’s chaotic good, but just doesn’t understand the concept and finality of death for mortals or why consent is important for the little honor guard it’s trying to create. They are out of big spells, but still have a lightning bolt in their ring if it comes down to it. However, the people also need to know this fey is willing to kill them for the sake of convenience anyway. It’s not outright evil, but inhuman enough it will kill them as easy as praise them.

As such, totally trying to create some doubts and tarnish the awe, show a little truth in a dramatic way, Diem moves their hands in front of their face as if they’re casting a spell, conveniently blocking anyone able to see their face from seeing their mouth move as they mimic The Superb Owl’s voice again, as loud as they can supervillain style and say: I will kill anyone who fails me! (21 deception).

A good amount of people around the South fence pause a little bit at this, including the guys who let them go during the last deception.

After that, Diem shoots Northwest and up 60ft to get above and behind The Superb Owl without flying close enough on the way to cause an attack of opportunity (essentially 20ft behind the owl to the northwest and 30ft up for a total of 60ft above ground and away from Korial’s bow).

They cast an eldritch blast but their heart still really isn’t in killing this pretty fey creature yet (Ixayl’anu is definitely not holding back for sure). Their first blast of crackling iridescent magic misses entirely as a result, and the other is held back too much, doing only 3dmg.

The guys who got nets from Korial are now close enough to throw them at Ixayl’anu, but both nets go wide without accidentally ensnaring any of the people under her instead.

Korial shoots at Ixayl’anu again, but misses.

The Superb Owl: Get more archers! Stop using the nets!

She disengages from Ixie and flies a bigger circle away. She goes up to about 80ft off the ground and take a commanding view of the whole area.

Ixayl’anu has seen birds of prey do this maneuver - she’s getting height so she can do a dive at Ixayl’anu (from 50ft above her now/20ft higher up than Diem is). Diem is clueless what this means for Ixayl’anu.

Ixayl’anu drops moonbeam and downs a potion (16 healing) on her way to get behind the owl and in front of me, close enough she and Diem both get the advantages of the bless she casts in moonbeam’s place (add a d4 to any attack roll or saving throw for a minute - 10 rounds).

Diem casts message on The Superb Owl, speaking directly in her head in sylvan, using their patron’s voice: Harm my pets and mark my words you will have an archfey hounding your immortality, making sure no one anywhere ever even thinks about worshipping you ever again (Intimidation check of 26).

The Superb Owl’s wingbeat pauses and she dips down a couple of feet in reaction. She’s still for the moment.

Diem yells out as loud as they can, in part for the Northside audience this time (and in their own voice): This is your last chance, do this the right way, no one’s taken by force and no one dies if they refuse!

24 performance for the crowd gets another big circle near enough to hear who are beginning to doubt. This includes Korial who has run forward enough he heard Diem’s yell. He also pauses and shakes his head a little bit.

The owl takes a good look around at the chaos and doubters, she screams an angry and hurt sound: None of you were really worth it anyway!

She disengages, picks up speed by dropping about 30 ft (still about 50ft from the ground though) and books it back toward the iron heights.

Ixayl’anu misty steps after her and crackles lightning effects, swiping at the air in the Superb Owl’s direction, making noises to reinforce driving her away and generally trying to be intimidating “You better run!” style. She rolls an 11 for intimidation. She can’t see the owl’s face for obvious reasons, but feels like she did a good job.

(The “Victory Speech” No One Asked For)

Diem flies lower toward the ground and makes themself look like an autumn-and-firey-sun themed archfey with a slightly higher voice than their patron’s to address the people around then. Their impulsive goal here is mainly to check on the hostility levels of the crowd while also trying to make sure a the presence of an archfey makes it into some stories. Just in case any of those get back to The Superb Owl in the future. They don’t use their own patron’s looks because they don’t know how their patron would feel getting that credit. They do go for a fiery-autumn look thinking this heavily V’kandis sun god religious area might attribute the deed in story to V’kandis instead, or an archfey follower (vague spur-of-the-moment possibilities for how this story gets retold over the years lol). Their performance is only a 16 for this though and it’s ruled that most people are simply distracted by the charm suddenly getting dispelled, becoming worried about loved ones and children/parents, etc. no longer in sight. Either way, everyone clearly knows what happened now (insofar as being charmed goes). Diem finished the story with what the owl had been planning, that it wasn’t just harmless (to hopefully discourage later retellings from making the owl out to be something to be tolerated the next time it comes around. Like no, it was definitely planning to take people against their will and seriously considering killing anyone merely for refusing to go with it. As they see the mood of the whole crowd shifting toward deflated sadness and seriousness, they end with what they hope is an inspiring message to find their loved ones and celebrate the return of their freedom. Diem knows it’s not their best work for sure, but they think it went over reasonably well for people being understandably distracted by suddenly remembering all the things and people and tasks the owl made them forget. They do notice Korial is standing there just listening and watching, head tilted after the hold on him was also dispelled.

At the end, Diem then pretends, for the benefit of whomever might still be watching, to be released by the mysterious autumn-fire entity who’d possessed them, their own visage fading back in as they get their bearings and look up at Ixayl’anu. They pull out their sending stone and say into it: Owl taken care of, we’re on our way to you guys in Stoneroost, let us know if we shouldn’t.

(Rana and Fee are falling!)

Fee makes a perception or investigation of 23 right before they start falling, they both hear a crack of thunder even though the sky isn’t stormy. Arcana check of 2 - Fee thinks it’s thunderbird thunder, there might be a thunderbird nearby she just doesn’t know.

Rana was showboating a little like “look at my mountains!” before she fell.

They feel cocooned in this nice little bubble of antigravity and have a slow descent that stops right above the trees like levitating above the treeline.

The ropen are following their descent with intent. 30-40 ft away still, it has embellishment on it - what Rana assumed was a natural coloration, it’s a paint/tattoo and jewelry situation.

These details make no difference to Fee.

Rana has an arm extended toward Fee about to cast a polymorph, but then they’re slowing down to a stop. “Fee are you okay?”

“Yeah, you?” Fee was also reaching for her hand and they manage to grasp hands.

When they stop, Fee tries to see if she can swim in the air, but she doesn’t move.

Rana: were you hit?

Fee: No you?

Rana: No

Fee: Can you become an owl again?

Rana: No...well, yes, but not the same way and I don’t know what knocked me out of owl to begin with (Rana is watching the Ropen as they talk - it’s taking its sweet time to get to them like a turkey vulture rather than any bird of prey about to swoop down and snatch you motions.

Fee looks for the ground through the trees and asks something I missed.

Rana perceives 18 trying to see if there are any other ropen around. 100 ft or so and getting closer (overiding the shorter distance earlier). She casts speak with animals and calls out: “Hello!?” (holds her hands out in peaceful gesture, rats freaking out with “What the fuck is happening?!” type chatter in her ears now).

Rana and Fee must make a con save, both fail (7 and 9, respectively). Both begin to hear ringing sounds in their ears - it’s SPN angel speak type noise. It crescendos to the point it hurts, all in their head, past the point of unbearable for a half second before it cuts out and they take 3 psychic dmg.

The ropen is close enough to hover in front of them after that and they both hear an intense psychic voice “This is not a safe place to be so I am going to bring you back to the nearest settlement - you should not be here until we handle it.”

Rana: We can’t go back, we’re here to figure out what’s going on.

Ropen: We’re taking care of it, their invisible bubbles of levitation start moving both Rana and Fee back the way they came.

Rana makes one persuasion check of 6 before the ropen puts them both to sleep. The whole time the ropen made them feel like they were being talked to as a child by an ancient, one that radiates strong magic.

(The zone you tried to access is down for maintenance; have a portal, take a nap)

Both Fee and Rana wake up feeling like it was really brief, but find themselves in a field outside Bouldergap. (Tournament was southwest of Bouldergap, they wake up northeast of Bouldergap - slightly farther away from town, and directly North of the road in.

Wisdom saving throws: 13 Rana, 20 Fee; Rana wakes up without memory of why she’s even here, the last she remembers she was an owl flying to Stoneroost. She tries to point at the empty air like the ropen is still there though.

Rana: Look, look that’s the thing I saw!

Fee: Yeah we both saw it…?

Rana: Yeah it’s right there! (the air is obviously empty though)

Fee: Uuuhhhhh…

Rana: Wait a minute, why are we back here? (She checks on the rats, who she can no longer understand, but that’s okay because she doesn’t remember casting that spell anyway.)

Fee: Oh, I see, what’s the last thing you remember, friend?

Rana: Flying

Fee: And then we were falling.

Rana statues.

Fee: Here’s what I think happened, I think your bird demons have some kind of bubble around Stoneroost because you somehow became not an owl and we were plummeting toward the ground and they slowed our descent and they made this awful noise screaming in our heads or maybe just my head and then talked to us like kids and were like “No we don’t need your help, we got this dudes.” (She retells the whole thing with more words than this but this is all I got transcribed live).

Rana looks doubtful: I think I’d remember that...

Fee: Yeah you would think…

At about this time, Diem’s voice comes through on the sending stones.

Diem: Owl taken care of, we’re on our way to you guys in Stoneroost, let us know if we shouldn’t.

Fee picks up almost immediately: No, don’t go to Stoneroost - fly to the other side of the tournament just out of town, we’re, well...marco polo or something when you get close until you find us and we’ll catch you up on--

Rana interrupts: Meet us at the gate into Bouldergap.

Fee: Yeah. That probably works better.

It will take Diem and Ixayl’anu about 5 minutes to fly to their destination.

In the meantime, as Rana and Fee walk toward said gate, they talk about what Rana doesn’t remember. She is very VERY interested in everything Fee has to say about the ropen. Fortunately for her, while Fee didn’t care about all the details of the ropen, she did take note of them with her high perception and was able to describe them pretty accurately to Rana - including the detail that they aren’t naturally colorful so much as wearing paint or tattoos and decorative jewelry that glints in the sun. Rana doesn’t know enough about ropen to say whether any of this was normal or not.

The lore for them is only that they’re brightly coloured pterodactyl-like creatures. No one’s gotten close enough to realize it’s not a natural thing and Rana thought they were just animals until now.

They do both remember getting just past the area where we saw the abominations on the road before they were stopped and ported away.

(Together again)

As Diem and Ixayl’anu approach and land, they find Fee and Rana both looking pissed, Rana has her map out, half plotting a route through the mountains instead.

Diem: How’d you guys get over here? Nevermind because…(they proceed to excitedly tell how things went with the owl - including the bit Ixayl’anu was not yet aware of about the message spell convincing the owl that their patron promised retribution if their pets, plural, were harmed)

Ixayl’anu preens with pride over her actions and shining moments during the story. We did not highlight, live, that she would be hearing the message that chased the owl off for the first time though, so there’s no noted reaction to that bit.

Rana (after Diem concludes the story): I hope the Ropen gets it.

Ixayl’anu: Ropen?

Rana looks at Fee: Well, since I don’t remember what happened…?

Fee: Yeah...remember how Rana was gonna carry me safely and we were gonna do this recon mission…?

Rana glares into the open air at nothing over the whole situation.

Fee: Once we got a little more than halfway to Stoneroost, just past where we were before we hit a bubble or something I don’t know but that big Rope-Roc bird thing flew in and Rana got switched back and we were falling then we were not falling and then the bird thing screamed in our heads and it hurt. Then was all like, “Don’t come over here I got this.” and then I don’t know yeah that’s when we were put to sleep and moved over here. I guess Rana must’ve been dropped too hard because she doesn’t remember it all.

(Again, there were definitely more words used than this, more things said, all amusing retellings, but this is all I got transcribed live)

Rana: They’ve never stopped me going through the mountains before, so I’m thinking we go through the mountains and hike out there in the morning. (She also notes that they didn’t see abominations on the road though, at least).

We talk about possibly going by road one more time, but this time, coming out silver scale first to see if that gets us in the door with these Ropen. Among our options is Rana just straight flying out there again with one of us on her back, Ixayl’anu riding on her elk, or possibly hiking back out there and flying for the last 10-20 minutes. All with the silver scale and letter ready to show as a potential vip pass.

Diem pulls out their sending stone and starts to catch the guard captain up on everything as we head her way to check in.

Eldeth: Just meet me at the guard house, this is too much to take in over sending stones.

(At the guard house)

By the time we get there Eldeth says she’s heard many different stories but they all start with YOU (here she points at Ixayl’anu) breathing lightning all over the damned thing.

Ixayl’anu (not in the least as guilty as she should be lol): Yeah…

Eldeth: (nods to self like “Alright then.”) Well we hadn’t tried that, but it worked.

Diem fills her in with 25 performance on every little detail of everything tried first and failed and why etc. including visual demonstration of the archfey they tried to put in the story for retelling in case anything got back to the owl at least some versions might have an archfey involved.

Eldeth seems to appreciate all the details: Well, we had a deal and you handled it, but I’m not gonna lie I’d prefer to help you through to Stoneroost in the morning.

She calls in two guards for us though - a dark blue skinned goliath barbarian type named Mash Jufrin who has a pegleg (Mash was one of the dumb guards from the other day) and a reddish older looking warrior tiefling named Tioshikio Ayibi. Eldeth introduces them and says, “These are who I can spare - they’re the best at smashing things.”

Mash (laughing): Yeah I’m best at smashing things.

Diem: Delighted to meet you (to Eldeth after looking at the rest of their party) I’m definitely for the morning though too, I could use a short rest?

The others nod agreement.

Tio: In that case, I’ll go help out with breaking down all the festival havoc and meet you all at the gate out toward Stoneroost in the morning.

As Diem notices no one is telling the Stoneroost route story, they message Fee to ask why they’re not telling their story.

Fee out loud: Oh yeah you should totally do that!

Diem (also out loud now): Me? Oh...okay *tries to remember everything Fee said and does a 26 performance on telling their story*

Only because of that performance do they not laugh at Diem outright for talking about sky bigfoot but Eldeth is still looking at Rana (the local of our group) like “Seriously?”

Rana gives a look back like yeeaaaah...it is though, I know how it sounds. (She’d been wincing and frowning at every mention of ropen during the story.)

Eldeth believes us but points out that she wouldn’t otherwise if not for the owl and everything crazy that’s been going on of late. She recommends Tio to get more supplies to that end from the armory. We all part ways, Diem getting their extra sending stone back after announcing they have a date to get to.

(Free evening for shopping and more!)

We get the evening to do whatever we like. Rana needs a 300 gold diamond, so she’s going to go shopping. Since it’s on the way to other places we’re all headed, we all go with. Rana gets distracted by all the shiny pretty gems, Ixayl’anu has to pry her away eventually. Rana picks up 2 diamonds and can’t help herself, picks up 2 rubies, a sapphire and an emerald. Loose stones that call to her. Handful of rubies and pretty things.

Diem forgot in the live session but since it was determined they were there for the shopping on their way back to Emmen’s festival tent, they have been approved for also picking up some pretty stones and would have been just as enthralled by the pretties as Rana lol. Gem haul (whopping total of 1500gp lol): Includes 3, 10gp titanium rainbow peacock kyanite feathers, a large Iolite/Cordierite sample that is dark blue with white and clear crystal clusters in it at first glance - looking closer at various angles reveals the whites to shift into shades of silver that blend in with the blues that also shift with lighting into shades of black and violet as well (300gp for a small “brick” sized uncut chunk). Another normal-sized sample of this same uncut stone for 50gp, a water opal with an imperfection that looks like a crescent moon, worth 1000gp (the two big ticket items are to be gifts for their patron, if anyone asks), and topped off with a pouch of additional, hand-selected rough cut samples of asst other stones mostly in shades of teals and purples (basically would look like a small stash of rough fluorite, quartz, etc.). They also pick up a little amethyst cat figuring worth 100gp (because gifts to the fey should always come in threes).

Ixayl’anu hauls us out of there before we spend ALL of our money there (I mean for her goddess’ sake, it’s not like they’re the teeth of a rare and impressive beast or something) and goes off to find a shop with healing potions where she buys two common healing potions (100g total).

Diem gets 2 greater healing potions for 150 each.

Rana says she’s going to the temple, everyone but Diem is gonna join her there. Diem splits off from the rest to find their aforementioned “date.”

Ixayl’anu resummons her elk in the temple courtyard. It takes her 10 minutes to do so. He bugles frantically as though no time had passed since he was attacked and Ixayl’anu is there with horse girl hugs and affection that he appreciates as she calms him down.

Mutanamri quietly comes up to her during this: So while you’re welcome to stay here, and we appreciate all your help recently...your steed does have to stay outside the temple...it’s a little bit of a sacrilegious thing, so if you could put it out in the stables please?

Ixayl’anu nods and says she understands. She and her elk continue their affectionate reunion on the way to stables. She spends the night in the stables with her elk, sleeping together.

Rana floats the idea with Fee to do a find the item and retrieve course for the rats outside the temple somewhere. Fee agrees. Rana hands Fee a frickin ruby for this game and uses a frickin emerald for Hamlet, hiding them for retrieval. These are the games of the rich, people lol. Rana casts speak with animals and they send the rats out on their missions. They make animal handling checks of 8 for Rana and 17 for Fee 17. Horatio wins! It does help that he recognizes the “retrieve” game through practice a little better than Hamlet does.

We confirm that tiny animals stopped speaking draconic about a couple miles out of Longview. So Fee can also speak to and understand her rat through her ring.

Afterward Rana settles down by the flame and Fee with her, presumably.

(In the morning…)

In the morning, after everyone’s gotten up and performed early morning mass, Alka Briskfizz, a dwarven priestess in green, gold, and cream-colored robes, her orangey-red hair in pigtails approaches Rana and Fee: I heard you helped with the owl situation and I know you talked to Mutanamri a little bit about that already. I’m actually here right now because I’d like to offer my services for your other trip - I’ve got some family in Stoneroost as well. It would be nice to go up and see them with your group, make sure everything’s alright. I have some healing capabilities.

Rana nods: We’ll take all the help we can get.

Fee: Yeah…

Alka: Good - though...I thought there was more of you?

Rana: Yeah, we have to go collect one of us somewhere in town and the other is sleeping in the stables with her elk.

(some missed conversation for sure)

Fee: Have you heard anything more about what might be going on?

Alka: Every time I’ve been on the road it’s been uneventful, so this is new to me.

Fee talks about how the road was creepy and Alka says that’s definitely not normal for the pass.

Rana talks about what to expect on the road, mentions the ropen but frames it like, ‘yeah, we know it sounds crazy, but with everything else that’s going on, why not an impossible cryptid too?’.

Fee chimes in every now and then.

Alka’s listening politely. Rana insight checks at a 12 on her reactions - she seems skeptical but open to there being something best described, for now, as a mythological cryptid.

(The Smiling Dragon tavern)

On our way to the tavern, when Diem finds out the name, they rib Rana with a smirk. “The smiling dragon? How sure are you about the tavernkeep?”

Rana ignores them.

It’s probably 2-3pm

The Smiling Dragon has a nice, homey interior and basically looks like the Green Dragon Inn from The Hobbit inside.

The barkeep is behind the bar doing barkeep things.

We see an Aladdin-looking human bard with a lute (Dicho Acaa), a super ancient female dragonborn (Gran Tewafey; one of those ladies who are now just too old to die), and the barkeep-owner, Grismor Fefoki, behind the bar.

Rana knows both the barkeep and elderly dragonborn (no mention of knowing the bard, so I assume not). The elderly dragonborn, Gran, has looked this old ever since Rana’s known her. Rana nods to her as she comes through the door, this person is a fixture of the town and Rana is unsurprised to see her there.

The old dragonborn looks us all over as we enter, but it takes her a second before she goes “Rana? Who are these people with you, come over here, what in tarnation!?”

Rana: Oh hey, Gran…

Diem introduces themself as we approach with a respectful, hopefully charming bow. “I bet you have all the best stories.”

Gran: Finally, a young person who respects their elders - you look a little strange but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, and I do have some good stories - people should listen to their elders more!

Rana: We’ll be more than happy to listen - I’m gonna run up and get some food first and then keep you company (Rana practically runs to the bar).

Gran: I was about to leave but yeah I’ll keep you company.

Fee: Ooooh no.

We’re in for having our ears talked off and Diem is loving it, even if it is the somewhat dry material one would expect from schoolhouse history lessons.

In one of the stories, Fee interrupts “Exactly what IS tarnation?”

Gran has a story about this and the etymology too. Her way of speaking is as if she was around for the entire growth of this word lol.

Rana picks up a dessert for Gran.

The barkeep gives Rana a commiserating look (I already got you, I see what’s going on). They gossip about Rana’s niece and niephio’s mischief, namely how Taniel had not so long ago brought home a wild animal, just like auntie Rana used to.

Meanwhile, despite the occasionally dry lesson-style stories, Diem is loving it anyway - sorry ya’ll they’re prompting off this etymology lesson by asking what she knows about all the animals around her speaking draconic.

Gran is definitely of the mindset all of the native animals speaking draconic is the blessing of V’kandis. “We’re a blessed town. Nothing bad ever happens here, no bandits come through, no wild animals attacking, we’re really favored by our god.” This segues into proselytizing and being urged toward the priest before we leave.

Diem is finally less than thrilled by the religious preaching bits and their attention begins to wander to the bard who misunderstands their attention and fumbles his song a little and is painfully self-conscious. He thinks Diem is watching because he missed a chord or some other critique-minded senpai is looking thing. Meanwhile, Diem feels bad for him and can’t wander over or try and encourage him instead because Gran is snapping her fingers at them to pay attention. Diem puts a pin in approaching the bard later to encourage and make it up to him.

All you can drink potions is probably mostly joke potions. Rana orders a round of the local brews including one for Gran.

Gran begins quizzing Rana about her recent travels and how we all met.

Fee: First we had these mighty rats to fight in a tavern much like this one.

Gran: Rats? Why would you just be going off and killing rats, where are you from?

Rana: They’re not the same kinda rats Gran, these ones don’t talk.

Gran: Not from around here, I definitely understand, I definitely knew that.

Rana: I picked up this group in Rethwellian

Gran gives us another once over, her eyes falling on Ixayl'anu now and squints at her “I didn’t realize Rethwellian dragonborn were feathered, I thought that was some kind of headdress but you’re not…?”

Ixayl'anu: No no…

Rana starts stuffing her face to avoid being involved in this topic

Ixayl'anu: Not from Rethwellian. From a little bit farther away than that I think.

Gran perks up: Oh okay, where might that be?

Ixayl'anu: The Seejit (spelling?) Isles?

Gran looks at her like she just said Atlantis: Never met anyone from there before. Is it true that ya’ll have a dragon as an emperor over there?

Ixayl’anu: Yeah

Gran: To each their own

Ixayl’anu: No less weird than animals speaking draconic

They move on as Ixayl'anu asks Gran what she does.

She teaches history.

More conversation I missed.

Rana: We came on a boat in the water, never been on one before have you?

Gran: I’ve seen ‘em but I don’t like ‘em, never been on one.

Rana: Apparently these two have shipwrecked before (she indicates Diem and Ixayl’anu)

Gran: See, that’s why you shouldn’t.

Ixayl’anu: I technically never shipwrecked, my ship made it, I didn’t.

Diem: I mean...yeah, my ship made it too, I just got swept overboard and onto the wild expanse no less.

Gran: That explains why you look the way you do.

Diem: I will try not to take that personally….

We get ship avoiding advice courtesy of Gran.

Rana asks after various rumors in town.

Gran talks about livestock going missing and various other things because Gran knows everything and everyone.

Except one thing, apparently: I’m an old lady how would I know what kind of animal is out there?

Rana: You talk to a lot of people

Gran: That would require them knowing what’s going on. (after some thought) About a week ago Shima mentioned she was missing a few alpacas.

Diem: Any giant mole hills involved?

This question eventually leads to the story of their recent adventure with Diem dropping the word abominations in Perfection and several eyes turn our direction.

Now that all eyes are on Diem, obviously waiting for more, they launch into the Perfection story loud enough for eavesdroppers (21 performance). The bard in training stops to listen as well. He adds a chord every so often but he’s very much entranced as well.

Diem notices and encourages with faint prestidigitation sounds, a smile and a wink which totally shuts the poor guy’s brain down instead.

Jibru Tiklot, an older orc lady claps at the end and afterward asks to make sure there was a noon sun druid there.

Diem says their leader was there (because Edea looks like a definite leader to them).

Jibru: How very fortuitous that you were there then, that’s good to hear. (She’s very soft spoken and new agey).

Now that Jibru has Rana’s attention though, she also wants to know if Rana is staying awhile because she has some things she’d love some help with.

Rana: Oh yeah sure (not missing a beat)

They arrange things in exchange for cookies, Rana presuming again to speak for the whole group without asking first lol.

Rana: What sort of issue am I looking at so I can come prepared?

Oh it’s my <insert jungle plant name I missed>.

They talk about it a little, Rana belatedly asks if that’s okay with us, we’re fine with it. Jibru and Rana arrange to meet after food, drink, and stories.

We learn one of the reasons Rana was inspired to leave Longview in the first place was probably traveller stories from this very tavern.

Fee at some point talks about Miova and taking ships to other areas and such.

Rana talks about how super nice and helpful Fee’s friend Dima is (and Fee’s sister being so nice).

Fee gives her a ‘really?’ sort of look about Dima being nice, looking around to see if anyone appeared to recognize the name.

Also, Fee starts investigating around this establishment regarding use of thieves’ cant (25). She notices there are a lot of intricate carvings in the walls and beams, lots of smiling dragons built into the craftsmanship, there are small symbols on the front of the bar that indicate secret codes. An X with a top and an oval with 3 wavy s lines on the bar (bread symbol). On a side beam there’s also a triangle with a pea in it, spear or arrow on top of pea (people inside will…?). Triangle with the downward sword.

(A conversation about bread)

When they pay, Fee tips extra to Grismor after she’s observed this guy seems to be a cool person who helps people in need out.

Fee, in thieves’ cant while complimenting his bread: We seem to have friends in common

Grismor (while also pretending to talk about bread): Not friends but it pays to know the local players/powers.

Fee (so much lovely bread and your brew was lovely): Yes, I agree. Used to be on the payroll myself, but guess I could call them acquaintances also.

Grismor (thank you kindly stranger, please don’t mind that Diem is totally filling in what our fake conversation was like - mmmm bread - these two can REALLY talk about bread) Sounds like you made the right decision, seem like a good group of people you’re here with now.

Fee (Yes, do you have any other pastries I can sample?): Oh you know Rana

(DM Clarifications about earlier points: When Rana mentioned Dima out loud, Fee had noticed Grismor perked up in a negative sort of way recognizing the name. Fee noticed he had lots of symbols. “Safe resting place” “we offer free food here” “People here will guard you”)

Fee (I am all about bread, simply can’t get enough of it, do you have bread I can take on the road?): Do you have any current business with our mutual acquaintance?

Grismor (Sure, I can pack you up some bread, always love a good bread aficionado): No, I’m happy...more retired at this point

Fee (Excellent, I can smell it all from here, could you add a few sweet breads? Stuffed pastries?): I feel ya. Well if you need anything hypothetically we’ll be going back there eventually, I’ll do you a favor (being charming). (insight check on Grismor’s response: natural one - 3 total)

He kinda looks at her and he pats her cheek (All the bread you like little gnome, I’ll toss in a few free samples for the road). “Anytime you need something, just let me know. This is a great conversation, I feel like it’s been illuminating, but I don’t need anything right now, thanks.”

(He is very happy with her though)

Rana is finishing up the story about Ixayl'anu’s feather theft, occasionally glancing over at Fee and the barkeep being 100% slick and believable about their bread conversation that Diem totally did not make up for them after the fact.

When Fee returns “Man I’m tired.”

Rana: It’s after noon…

Diem: To be fair your sleep was disturbed.

Rana tries to ask about missing livestock.

Ixayl'anu suggests we can go talk to people around town about it instead.

As things are winding down Rana tries to get Jibru’s attention.

Ixayl'anu says she’ll go with, Diem says they’re gonna stick around and talk to the bard. Fee says she’s gonna take a nap.

Rana: Here? In the middle of the crowd?

Grismor: I do actually have a spare bed she can use.

After a brief exchange he insists it’s between friends, don’t worry about it.

Fee goes upstairs to nap in the sort of hold-over room for emergency issues like a friend’s friend is about to sleep in a bush drunk, rather than an official room.

(Off to Jibru’s)

Rana and Ixayl’anu go off with Jibru. She ushers them into a house full of plants and crystals, and new agey homey stuff. “I just don’t know what’s wrong with it. It just doesn’t seem to…(missed words) I moved it into and out of the sun and it doesn’t like that either...can you help?” (among a list of other things she’s tried)

Rana nature checks 10 - the leaves look a little ragged in addition to being sad and droopy, soil is dry, and she knows that it’s a tropical plant, not a desert plant.

Jibru: I mist it every day and I moved it into the house…

The heat is fine, it’s probably drying out though.

So I should water it more, is what you’re saying…?

Rana casts lesser restoration on the plant, starting with that. It still looks a little droopy, but the edges of the leaves fill in a little bit and it gives her two new leaves immediately.

“Oh we need water.” Jibru leaves to go get some. When she gets back: “I knew you could do something with it, it’s already looking so much better.”

Rana: It did seem to have some sort of disease (medicine check of 13 - she notices some fungus gnat infestation crawling out while it’s being watered).

Rana advises her to get someone to sell her some gnat eating lizards for it. In a controlled fashion, she’s going to cast plant growth to invigorate it and all the other nearby plants too.

Jibru’s eyes get big “Oh my gosh…” She was just going to give us cookies but now...she gives Rana a plate of very delicious snicker doodles and an herbalist’s bundle which does some cool things: Rare (These ingredients can be chewed raw for minor effects or, if you are proficient with the ‘herbalism kit’, you can spend 6 hours brewing any number of one type into potions for no extra cost, each bundle has 1d4 ingredients, roll a D6 to determine what each ingredient is:

Witch weed - (raw) water breathing for 5 minutes; (brewed potion) disguise self or water breathing for an hour.

Pepper berries - (raw) resist cold for a minute; (brewed potion) resist any element or fire breath.

Ogre ear - (raw) advantage to your next attack roll; (brewed potion) hill giant strength or potion of growth

Lover’s thorn - (raw) advantage to charisma checks for 1 minute; (brewed potion) philter of love or potion of poison.

Ghostbloom - (raw) false life; (brewed potion) invisibility.

Mother’s rest - (raw) resist disease for an hour; (brewed potion) lesser restoration or greater healing.

Rana does have proficiency and sits in small talk with Jibru, chatting about plants, medicinal herbs, and things like that.

She’s one of the people in town Rana typically gets along well with.

Ultimately they say their goodbyes about an hour heading back to the inn where Diem has spent their time trying to encourage and set the bard there at ease. They roll an 18 persuasion at this, primarily accomplished by admitting they’re not a bard either, just an entertainer. The bard is a little sad about this, but also gets over his senpai noticed me thing enough for conversation. Diem finds out he’s on a little bit of an adventuring gap year.

They finish encouraging his future efforts by complimenting all the things they enjoyed about his current performance and rejoin their friends when they enter.

(Enter Shima)

Back together at the tavern, we take cookies, and a pretty lady named Shima Paravash walks in. She appears to be a human about Rana’s age with tan skin and long silver-white hair. They’re not really friends, but they know each other (she’s more Stellan’s friend).

Shima: Rana, I heard that you were in town...are you busy? Are you gonna be in town long?

Rana: Probably at least until tomorrow, but we have time for stuff - what’s going on?

Shima: We keep alpacas...we’ve had an alpaca or two go missing (nervous)

Rana: We actually just heard about that and were gonna check out what’s going on, don’t want livestock going missing.

Shima takes in her friends (the rest of us): I notice you have friends with you…

Diem introducing themself: Diem, lovely to meet you.

Further introductions are made. Ixayl’anu says her full name.

Rana: Ixie is easier

Diem: She doesn’t particularly like Ixie though, Rana (verbal elbow)

Rana (matter of fact): But Ixie’s just easier.

Ixayl’anu to Shima: I prefer Ixayl’anu, please.

Shima turns back to Rana: We haven’t found any bodies or anything.

Rana: We can check it out now.

Shima looks surprised: Oh yeah we can do it now.

Some conversation missed on the way to Shima’s farm.

Shima: Rana’s mom will buy some fleece from us on occasion (they have alpacas of various colours)

Shima’s family definitely does not own the town (Rana is confused about where that impression came from - and I am not sure who asked in the first place between Fee or Ixie).

Shima hangs out by Rana/closer to her, asking the same questions everyone else has so far.

Rana gives her a more complete answer since she’s friends with Stellan - nothing to cause a panic, but a little about the investigation on weirdness with the meteors. She wants the town to be informed but if she lets the wrong thing slip gossip would make it an apocalypse by morning.

Shima doesn’t take us to the house directly, but instead to the paddock where the ones that went missing were last. “This is where they were, we’ve check the fences, I just went out to feed them and do field rotation and they just weren’t here and nobody stole them, I don’t know what to do…”

Rana asks a question I missed.

Shima: There were only two

The other ones were acting nervous like there was a predator around but we haven’t seen anything…

We find out this happened about 4 days ago. Shima hasn’t heard of anyone else missing livestock around town.

Good perception checks all around (Diem actually got a 17!), Rana got a nat 20 - she hears birds but doesn’t see any. Alpacas in the distance do still appear to be nervous, it’s a nice clear day.

Fee squeaks out to lure a local rat for answers. Side note: For future reference, help Fee remember her rat ring adds 2 to her stealth - nat 20 for total 22 persuasion.

Shima looks like she thinks it’s very strange. As she’s saying she hasn’t seen any small things to question around for awhile now though.

However, as she’s saying that a vole pops up “Well, howdy.”

Fee: Oh hello rodent of the brown.

Vole: I’m a vole.

Fee: We are looking for the missing livestock, do you know where all the livestock went?

Vole: Well I uh don’t really go out from under the ground but I have been hearing a bunch of - I’ve been hearing some loud sounds at night, like a big predator so I didn’t think I should come out at night anyway.

Fee: That’s totally valid, stay safe my friend.

She finds out it’s just recently and not all night, but off and on.

Fee: Do they smell?

He doesn’t know he runs when he hears the noise.

Fee gives him a rat treat (Ixayl'anu has been translating the vole’s words)

Vole: Thanks!

Fee: Thank you Mr. Vole

Vole: Come back any time if you’ve got more of these snacks.

Rana heads toward the alpacas by the end of this exchange. She casts speak with animals to understand the alpaca.

Rana: Hey, I’ve got a question for you?

Their heads all swivel in surprise. The bravest alpaca approaches.

Rana: I hear some things have been happening in the area, do you know why that paddock over there is empty?

They all look at her and start talking over each other saying things like “Are you gonna help us?” and “There’s a monster at night that comes out.” and “Yeah, they ate Harold!”

Rana: That sounds really bad I’d like to make that not happen, do you know where it’s coming from?

The brave alpaca points with its nose toward the iron heights in the hillier direction: “Yeah it’s real quiet and then it suddenly appeared - just lifted him! It was a flying monster the size of a barn with glowing eyes.

Rana: Did it look like the normal big flying birds that come around?

They all look around.

Brave alpaca: I’ve seen little birds? I guess it had feathers?

Rana: You mentioned it had glowing spots?

Alpaca the Brave: The eyes, they were just bright yellow and it was just huge. They confer amongst themselves. It was a big bird.

Rana: I think I know what it might be...is there anything else you want me to do?

Alpaca the Brave: Can you tell them we’d like to be inside at night? In the barn please?

Rana: I will tell them, I have a feeling they won’t have a problem with that ‘cause we wouldn’t want anything to happen to anyone else like it did Harold. We’ll see about getting rid of big bird too.

They all nod like good good

Rana: Thank you very much.

Rana comes back and tells all of us and Shima.

Shima: But we would have seen...do you think it’s a roc?

Rana: All they know is that it was big, it had feathers, and it carried Harold off.

Shima looks confused: Maybe after all this is over I can have you tell me what the alpacas all call each other?

Rana agrees (and notes that she will do so before we leave).

Rana nature checks, knows there’s giant owls and giant eagles - ones she’s seen from a distance before. Giant bird form is thus gifted to her repertoire of shapeshifts.

We talk about spending the night out there to keep watch, help protect Rana’s village.

Rana makes sure we’re okay with that. We talk briefly about our quest, but we were planning on staying one more night anyway.

Shima, talking about sheltering the alpacas: It’s a little tight but if that’s what they want…

Rana: They were adamant about wanting that, and you might wanna tell the others to bring their livestock in for the night too so this thing doesn’t fly past here looking for food.

Shima says she’ll send a bird.

We return to Rana’s home/mother to tell her the plan and pick up our stuff for the night.

(A plan of revenge-camping for poor Harold)

Ixayl'anu is taking the elk with her to use as bait.

Rana convinces her mom to get the sheep inside and camels if they’ll fit.

Rana sets camp up under tree cover in the tiny hut.

Ixayl'anu and Rana swap watch places since Rana’s exhausted from the previous night’s lack of true rest (Ixayl’anu first, Rana with Diem on last watch).

Ixayl’anu’s perception is a 15 - it’s quiet for her watch, she spends a lot of the evening listening to the birds chitter in gossipy draconic, just regular bird talk in draconic though too. Nice little wind background noise. No owls spotted.

Fee’s middle watch perception 9. She’s just a little distracted, she’s confused about why we’re looking for rocks on the ground, why we keep talking about rocks, inspecting the local rocks for movement - it’s probably a desert thing. Something these farmers know that she doesn’t.

Elk has been told to stand watch, still in easy sight, beacon in the field, playing bait, as it were. Elk has passive perception of 10 - gets 14 perception, he snaps his head up a few times.

To Ixayl’anu through the night in their telepathic bond: Can i eat this? Can i eat this? He eventually goes over to talk to the alpacas for a bit: What’re you doing in there? (Ixayl’anu doesn’t get their side of whatever conversation might have happened)

Diem rolls 18 on perception, Rana 16. We still don’t notice what happened until (Ixayl'anu will notice immediately) the elk gives a screaming, bugling cry as it is already being lifted up by a dark shape - we didn’t notice the silent approach.

Rana: Found it!

Ixayl'anu is awake because the elk’s screaming bloody murder in her mind.

It is about 100 yards away.

The elk makes it’s contested strength check at a 22. It takes 1d6 dmg as it falls to the ground (full 6). As it does we hear an angry screech of frustration as the creature whirls back around.

Elk is stunned but Ixayl'anu is calling him back immediately.

Rana casts earthbind immediately: Yellow strips of magical energy loop around the creature. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw, or its flying speed (if any) is reduced to 0 feet for the spell’s duration. An airborne creature affected by this spell safely descends at 60 feet per round until it reaches the ground or the spell ends.

She tries to identify what this is through the pale yellow glow of magic around it in the distance. She sees this is a giant great horned owl. 23 nature check - generally the ones who come down to hunt livestock only when there’s no other food available or they’re injured/can’t catch normal food in a proper hunt.

Rana: Take it down!

Fee hits the owl for 15 - 7dmg + 17 sneak attack dmg (24 sneak attack dmg). It dies in a poof of feathers, all salvagable parts are still salvageable.

The yellow magic binding it to the ground fades.

We trek over to check it out.

Elk comes up slightly bloodied and wild-eyed.

Ixayl’anu: Oh…don’t worry, it’s over now.

She lightly slaps her elk’s shoulder and casts lay on hands, getting an appreciative emotion back.

Even with our crap investigation roles, this owl is very thin, Harold didn’t do much for it.

Ixayl'anu is doing loops keeping watch, working off excess energy.

We discuss what to do with the rest of the night now, deciding to just keep camping out til morning.

Rana: We don’t need a hut

Diem just gives her a look and summons the hut anyway.

Ixayl'anu is too keyed up and running circles with the elk.

Rana camps out in the grass and fresh air.

Ixayl'anu’s perception is 16 - doesn’t see much.

Rana collects some feathers (11 survival - 5 feathers before she gets frustrated - tougher than she expected)

Rana and Diem talk about why it was starving and if more predators might be on the way.

Ixayl'anu calms down enough to take a good look at the bird (7 lol). She can’t see any obvious signs of broken bones, but she doesn’t see any other hints of anything. Feathers are kinda ragged but it’s late in the year, not sure if that means anything. Can’t tell its age. It was able to fly and lift the elk though.

We move on to talk about the two routes to Bouldergap and on to Stoneroost and how Rana has been there but reminds us you can’t just get in Stoneroost. One just does not simply walk into Stoneroost.

We discuss how unlikely it is this giant owl was a symptom of something more sinister that needs to be immediately checked out as opposed to an isolated incident that's been taken care of. We also discuss whether it would be worth taking Rana's usual path through the mountains instead to both make sure everything's good up there with the wildlife while still making our way to Bouldergap.

With an 8 survival check Rana thinks the travel time between her path through the mountains and taking the road is about the same, if she were on her own. In the process she calls them “my mountains” however, which Diem finds charming.

Diem: ‘My mountains?’ Well now I feel like I have to see them up close - like some of your family I’ve yet to meet.

Rana admits it may actually take us longer since we’re not used to mountain travel like she is. Her path through the mountains may be quicker, but she just doesn’t know about us because alone she’s very adept at mountains.

By way of a not serious answer, Diem alters their appearance to look exactly like her, clothing and all and mimics her voice: I’m very adept at mountains.

Rana: I’ll remind you of that when I’m fishing you out of a crevasse.

We decide to take the main road.

As sun starts to break the family comes out to see the bird and Shima talks to us.

Rana: Got you a present.

Some missed words about whether it’s the culprit.

Rana: It tried to snatch my friend’s elk so I imagine it’s what took your alpaca.

More missed words back and forth about these things being common, coming down to feed on farms when injured, all that jazz and how Shima’s never seen anything like it but Rana thinks it’s perfectly ordinary out there.

Shima: You go up in the mountains though...this could defintely eat a person.

Rana: I’ve never been eaten by one.

Diem: No, we left that up to the quetzalcoatlus *ribbing Rana quietly*

Shima is encouraged to hire somebody or something to make use of the rest of the carcass.

We totally gave Fee the credit but the story is gonna become Rana the giant owl slayer in stories.

We all get a nice breakfast.

(One more visit with mom and Stellan before we go)

We get herded back to Rana’s mom’s place.

We establish than when Diem and Romy were talking cloth/clothes, Diem gave Rana’s mom some of the nice cloth we got in Budelia from our fight with the vampire, Lady Sinnah.

We see Stellan one more time. He pulls Rana aside and hands her a pair of daggers: These are for your gnome friend - better daggers while she can’t use the other ones.

Fee thanks him, and wearing the daggers of a known blacksmith is going to be helpful. It’s also easy to notice they’re dwarvish style in make. There’s lots of teasing about Fee refusing the daggers at first, saying her old standard ones are fine, but I’m not sure if that refusal was actually in character.

Session 35 Notes

Notes!

(Chillin’ with Rana’s mom)

When we go in Rana’s home, Phi becomes a wandering cat who helps herself to exploration, comes back and says “There’s a hot tub!”

Mom: You’re welcome to borrow it.

Phi: Is this where you grew up?

Rana: Yep! (pulls out duck sauce, honey, apple jam etc. - giving it to her mom).

Phi sees this and pulls out her very expired mixed fruit to hand over, along with her gummy owlbears.

Mom: Oh no dear, that’s fine, you don’t have to start pulling supplies out of your pack.

Phi drops the gummy owlbears into the pile anyway.

Rana: Really sorry to barge in like this, but we just needed a couple of days, we’ve run into some situations and I’m looking for someone in Bouldergap - wanted to see if Stell knew anything about them.

Romy tells us we’re welcome anyway, stresses that this is still Rana’s home too and says something about friends that I missed for note-taking.

Rana pulls out the silver scale and letter from Retin and talks about him, says she’s pretty sure the guy Retin is sending us to is a dwarf. We were told he might be helpful, but we weren’t told where he was. She figured Bouldergap was the place to look and knows it’s a long shot her mom or brother would know him but we also needed a place to stay on the way, so thought she thought she might as well ask.

Romy: I can’t be sure but I feel like Stell has mentioned a Haldric in passing but I certainly don’t have a whole lot of communication with anybody of that name.

Rana: No ironbands as customers then?

Romy: No

Rana: It’s a weird thing, handed us this dragon scale gave us that name and sent us this way.

We’ve noticed Romy has a bone of contention with Rana over the news about shadowood travelling.

With prompting Diem remembers they’re the story teller and should tell it, 13 performance, gets smoother as they go on. However, to their friends, who have heard Diem tell this particular story among others many times, they definitely seem off their game a little.

When we get to fighting the dragon, Romy is worried, Diem insists healers were on standby so nobody died

Rana: We almost had him.

Diem: Well I mean technically one of us did get him later that night…

Phi cracks up laughing

After stories Rana says something about the meteor

Mom says something I missed for note-taking, GM is telling us about blacksmiths/nosy customers (so maybe something about that?).

Through conversation we gather that Grismor is innkeeper/tavern keeper of The Smiling Dragon - one of 2 inns who trades in gossip. Smiling Dragon is better for gossip, better drink, does his own ale, seasonal brews, jolly little dwarf who is as tall as he is round. Square dwarf.

Rana tells us about her messages to her brother which provided a nice distraction about meteor news for Longview.

Rana offers her mother the camels then belated asks us if that’s alright.

Diem says that they can’t obviously take the camels everywhere they go after this anyway.

There’s some talk about whether they’re needed for the trip further North.

Romy: Lets see how they do with the sheep

Rana: Elk’s in with the sheep and they’re doing fine (I think we ended up deciding ooc that it’s in a separate paddock though).

Rana is playing with the silver dragon scale while making small talk which eventually includes Farford gossip too - specifically the mention of a firecat.

Romy: Yeah someone was talking about seeing one here too.

Rana: No one saw the person it was with so I’m thinking it’s just a stray

Romy: We do have a lot of flame point cats in the area so it’s possible I suppose.

Ixayl’anu: Is it the same type of cat?

Conversation about them being wild cats vs tame, a specific species, etc continues.

Rana: No like flame point siamese not actual fire

DM: these are not just cats they are more akin to avatars of The Candace

We find out the entire town is talking about firecats too

Rana: How’s Stell (Stellan) doing? I picked up a few things for the kids, so hopefully they’ll like it.

Romy: Good

Rana: Nothing alive

Romy: I’m sure Stell will appreciate that.

Diem asks about the kids so we find out Rana has a niece and niephio (I have no idea on the spelling for this and a google search turned up only nibling as a suggestion for enby niece/nephew). Diem grins further to learn of the niephio in particular.

Rana (upon mention of the niece): She big enough to help with the forge yet?

Romy: She’s big enough to do the bellows and help out

Rana: We will hunt them down tomorrow

Phi: Yay!

At some point Phi would say “So your brother only has two kids?”

Rana: Yeah just two kids

Phi: Oh, so they’re just starting?

Rana: No I get the impression they might be done

Phi: Interesting...

Rana: At least he doesn’t (something I missed)

Phi: Well, that’s why you have more, so they can be together.

Rana: I’ll mention it to him...better yet you could mention it to him

Phi: This is the starter pack right?

Romy is extremely amused by this conversation.

(Dinner prep and additional conversations)

There are dress mannequins and clothes everywhere, fabrics everywhere.

Diem and Romy eventually start talking about the tailoring and different fabrics and fashions etc.

As they talk about that, Rana wanders off to make food for everyone.

Phi goes to help cook.

Diem wanders off with Romy to talk about fabrics and fashion some more (Rana will throw them out the second story window if they do more than that lol).

Rana was half sorting her bag and still has her rocks and stuff spread out on the rug even as she’s making dinner now.

Romy gifts Diem an outfit by the end of their conversation, still so happy this is the first time Rana’s brought anyone home. As she’s got Diem pulled aside though, she asks for more details about everything that happened, worried and just making sure everything’s truly good, and how is Rana really doing?

Diem spins it well about how capable Rana is.

Her mom def agrees and looks worried, but noticeably less so.

While waiting for dinner we all talk more, telling Romy about how we saved Perfection. She does not look ready to come to terms that her daughter is an adventurer now, but accepts it.

Part 16 of Rana rumors according to the other townsfolk who saw us all: “Yeah we knew something like this was gonna happen eventually”

Rana brings up the thunderbird and we talk about that.

Food got delivered, rats were introduced, how Rana and Phi have been training them to spy, rat race story from the Harvest festival gets told as well.

Rana notes that she is actually showing us off to her mom <3

Rana prompts us to talk about ourselves to her mom.

Phi happily tells her whole life story, or at least all the things she’s said to us as a group.

Ixyal’anu talks a little about herself as well.

Diem hangs back and doesn’t say much during this portion as they already talked pretty extensively with Romy already.

Rana: And Ixayl'anu’s on a task for her god but she doesn’t have a fire cat, she has vague dreams.

Romy asks about Ixayl’anu’s deity, pleasant ‘mom questions.’

As things wind down, Diem remembers the find familiar spell and asks if they have a moment, whether it would be alright to summon them while they’re here - noting it would listen to their directions and not make a mess or break anything. They get permission, but never end up doing the spell before bed.

Phi takes her hot tub bath, Diem takes one after.

After Rana gets us settled to bed in the guest room, she goes out and takes a point of exhaustion spending 8 hours to cast enriching the land again since she’s been gone a few years and it only lasts a year, then she goes and sits with the sheep, all of the sheep bed down next to her in a sea of white around her and she leans back against the nearest sheep for a nap/meditation during the spell. They remember her and know she’s the source of the good food.

(Mice vs. Rats: Draconic edition)

During the night, in the wee hours of the morning Ixayl’anu wakes up hearing some very high squeaky voices arguing “This is our territory”

“No, we were invited,” back and forth half awake-half asleep and thinking “what is this? Oh...this is real, this is something that is happening here.”

Very tiny angry voices continue.

Investigation check for more details 15: It’s dark in the room, she can kinda see in the shadows, she doesn’t see anyone. At the foot of Ixayl'anu’s bed is Horatio, four little house mice are around him being territorial against him, and the strange thing is they are all speaking draconic, including Horatio.

Ixayl'anu: What...what?

When Phi wakes up she doesn’t understand her rat any more, but she does hear the rat and mice speaking draconic.

Ixayl’anu: What?

The four mice squeak in a mousy scream

Horatio: Yeah you better run (turns to Ixayl'anu): Thanks!

Ixayl’anu: What? Why? Why are you speaking draconic?

Horatio: Is that what this is? I don’t know I was just suddenly able to and these mice were speaking a weird dialect and I found I could speak back in it as well.

Ixayl’anu: What...okay...and you’re still speaking it, who were they what were you fighting about?

Horatio: They live here and were being territorial and I was telling them I was an invited guest ‘cause I’m with you all.

(I am dead to the world as Phi wakes up)

Phi: Why are you talking to yourself?

Ixayl’anu gestures at the rat

Phi: Have you been teaching my rat that...?

Ixayl’anu: No…. Do you think that’s just something you can teach a rat?

Phi to Horatio: How are you doing that?

Horatio: I don’t know it just happened!

Phi: You’re still doing it…

There is conversation back and forth as its established among the three characters that Horatio still understands Phi, but since he is no longer speaking rat, she can’t understand him, but now Ixayl’anu can both understand and speak with him through draconic.

Ixayl’anu says something I missed.

Phi: what are you saying to my rat?

Ixayl’anu says something else I missed.

Horatio: You all can just decide what language to speak in? That’s weird.

Ixayl’anu: Yeah it is weird

Horatio: It’s a weird dialect and apparently it’s infectious.

Hamlet is mentioned in the back and forth and Phi, recognizing the name, wonders aloud if Hamlet is like this now as well. She tells Horatio he’s changed and she hopes it’s not permanent

Ixayl’anu tries to stop her to ask about that back and forth but Phi slips out of the guest room.

Phi 25 stealths through the house looking for Rana. From a window she sees an odd clump of sheep in the field. She goes out outside and climbs the fence.

Rana is deep in meditation.

Phi: Hamlet, wake up Hamlet…

Rat wakes up and cleans his face but says something back in draconic that she can’t understand.

Phi in common: Oh my god.

Phi uses her stone to let Ixayl'anu know not only this, but what she can see out here around Rana (visible plant growth around her - she’s decided to sleep on her sheep in the field which is weirdly moving and Hamlet’s doing the same thing, Rana’s not moving, I feel like I’m dreaming I don’t know about you…)

In squeakish Phi tells Hamlet that she can’t understand him but she knows he can understand her so “If you want to find out what’s going on you have to talk to Ixayl'anu about it because she’ll understand you. So I’m going to go now.”

Hamlet is irritated and goes back to sleep. All the sheep watch her. One sheep baas at her, then they all start baaing for food, none of them were speaking draconic.

Ixayl’anu to horatio while Phi’s gone: They just walked up to you and started talking to you and that was it?

Horatio: They tried to fight me!

Ixayl’anu: like biting and scratching?

Horatio: Yeah, look at this wet spot! And I’m an invited guest!

Ixayl’anu: That’s rude!

Horatio: That’s very rude, yeah! I’m an invited guest *stamps tiny rat feet*!

Together Ixayl’anu and Horatio determine they probably live in the roof or something, not pets.

Ixayl’anu casts detect magic. She sees the faintest little glow around Horatio. So faint you may think it’s not there and the only reason she sees it is because the lights are off, a wisp of power with the vaguest sense of magic. The source of it is nowhere nearby and the magic itself is so barely there she can’t even see the mice in the walls like she should have if they were properly bespelled in some way. It’s not any specific school for it. Mostly all she really sees is the glow of our various magic items.

At this point Phi returns

(Diem’s perception rolls were 2, 3, and now 0 lol. It is at this point we determine Diem is actually being held in sleep by their patron, catching up, talking about the familiar, and the follower and the spells and just having tea and a lovely bonding time. Probably when they were Tarma out in the desert, they did less communicating)

I missed some back and forth between Ixayl’anu, Phi, and Horatio.

Phi: They were being aggressive and picking on him?

Ixayl’anu to Horatio: Would you be willing to see where these mice have gone?

Horatio: You want me to bring one back to you? Yeah I can do that.

Ixayl’anu: You don’t have to but it’d be nice, I can give you food for it, *looks at her supplies*

Horatio: What kind of treat do I get, what’s in it for me?

Ixayl’anu: Nope no that’s not food I have nope that’s not food. *pauses in her rummaging* Well, what do you want, I suppose we can find something for you?

*thinks on it* A gummy owlbear?

Ixayl’anu: Oh I have some of those. Sure. *finds her little package of them*.

Horatio: Okay! *scurries off and disappears*

About two minutes later she hears furious squeak yelling, Horatio reappears holding a mouse by the scruff of its neck in his mouth “I found one!”

Ixayl’anu: Where’s the cage you keep the rats from? To put the mouse in?

Phi: We sold the cages, the carrier is Horatio’s home...there’s this box?

Ixayl’anu: Yeah that’ll do.

They find a box of rocks to gently empty real quick and put the mouse in it/close the lid (15 animal handling check).

As soon as Horatio had dropped the mouse: “Gummy owlbear please.”

Phi: He knows fetch now!

Ixayl’anu: All that training you’ve been doing with him is paying off! *taps box* Hello?

Phi: Ask if it if it talks like that if it knows it’s doing it or ask if it knows any dragons? I don’t know?

Ixayl’anu: Right?

Mouse is bouncing around in the box trying to get out.

Rana head canoned the rats as 400-550 grams

Horatio is gaming the system a little bit and only found a wine gummy to eat, never officially given one (Phi bought fancy rat treats for him)

(More things I missed and wrote down as “Talking to mouse ah 2”)

The mouse is screaming obscenities at Ixayl’anu.

Horatio is on his back in 7th heaven and suggests she should also give the mouse a gummy owlbear, maybe it’ll talk then.

Ixayl’anu sneaks in a smaller portion and it takes awhile for it to calm down and then it’s quiet for a little bit after until... “This doesn’t make us friends!”

Ixayl’anu: You want more? I’ve got more.

Mouse: I mean...yes

Ixayl’anu: I’m not planning on keeping you here I just want to ask a few questions

Mouse: More first

Ixayl’anu: Okay *puts in other half of gummy*

Mouse is very very quiet

Ixayl’anu taps the box: Hello?

Mouse (slurred): What do you want?

Ixayl’anu: Where’d you learn to talk like that

Mouse: I always talk like this this is how mice talk

Some similar back and forth about this.

Mouse (when asked about dragonborn/people like Ixayl’anu): People like you don’t come around here.

Ixayl’anu: Really? Oh… (to Phi in common now) I don’t this is how they talk, this is weird.

Phi: I think they just don’t know, they don’t know that they’re weird, you know

Ixayl’anu: But horatio thinks it’s a weird dialect

Phi: Did you ask if it if they saw any dragonborn? Or dragons?

Ixayl’anu: Well they haven’t seen anything like me (then to the mouse in draconic) Have you seen anything big with wings?

Mouse: Yeah outside but I live in this house I don’t have to worry about that

Ixayl’anu: Are there any mice that you can’t talk to?

Mouse: Everybody kinda talks like this around here

Ixayl’anu: Kind of or they do?

Mouse: They do?

Ixayl’anu: They all speak this...they all...speak this...I’m really confused.

They decide to try and wake Diem up for a third opinion, and it takes awhile before Diem’s patron allows it, letting Diem know that their friends need them for a moment, so they will have to continue catching up later.

Ixayl’anu as Diem finally starts waking up out of sorts: Weird things are happening

Diem continues to be out of it enough for a bit until eventually Phi catches them up - including the detail about Rana meditating in a cloud of sheep.

Phi (to Diem about the mouse in the box: It’s drunk

Diem: Are you guys sure you’re not drunk?

Phi: I’m not sure we’re not dreaming

Ixayl’anu: This isn’t dreaming not even close.

(I didn’t tag these two responses so the first might be Ixayl’anu and the 2nd Phi)

Too tired to bother with ritual magic, Diem uses a slot to cast comprehend languages.

Mouse asks if we’ve got more of those treats, which Horatio hears and says “Yeah! I’ll eat another!” *perks up*

Diem translates for phi who turns sharply to Horatio to talk about how many he’s already eaten and how he got one in the first place to ask Ixayl’anu for another, etc.

Horatio looks sheepish: Weeeellll sometimes you don’t secure your bag very good and I was hungry and they smelled good.

Phi smirks and retrieves Ixayl’anu’s package of owl gummies, then gives half to Horatio, and half to the mouse.

Horatio: YES! (helping her), I want this one I want the bigger section ‘cause I’m bigger and I get the big one (little grabby rat hands)

Diem does a history check on any stories they might have heard about talking animals like this (21). There are plenty of fairy tales with talking animals, sometimes it’s afey kind of thing - playing a prank on people. They’ve heard of similar events happening before, pretty disparate not tied to one physical location. Sometimes they’ve heard stories of animals in an area like within a mile circle will be able to speak draconic or sometimes other languages, not really a pattern to it. Sometimes it’s little towns, other times it’s connected to a whole city. Might be a natural phenomena. Specifically tiny beasts/birds/lizards are usually the type able to speak.

They also know various fae and wish spells can make this happen, but still they’re just random.

Diem shares this with Phi and Ixayl’anu.

(Insert missed conversation here)

Horatio or the mouse (not sure which): Yeah sure sometimes you say words that are funny and I don’t really understand what they are and they kinda sound like that and I don’t know what they are.

?: All the fangs or one specific thing? (I have no idea who said this or where fangs come into play)

We discover the mouse once met a gopher, stuck his nose in its burrow and it yelled at him back in draconic.

Diem to Ixayl’anu: Ask the mouse if it knows any fae in the area

Mouse makes an intelligence check when she asks, but does not know what she is talking about.

We confirm the mouse has always spoken draconic

Diem tells a quick rendition of cinderella as an example of fae meddling with small creatures where dress making is also involved (theorizing that perhaps Rana’s mother gets help from the mice as well)

We’re fairly certain it’s a normal mouse though and it’s now snoring softly so we’re not getting any more info.

Horatio by now is sprawled out on the bed, Phi cuddled around him while Diem gives him scritches. At a loss, we all go back to sleep for now, planning to ask Rana more in the morning.

(Good Morning!)

In the morning Phi will figure out the coffee situation and make some for everyone.

Romy (waking up to this): This is such a nice change of pace, somebody making the coffee for a change, and friends Rana brings in not destroying the house by the time I get up.

Phi: It’s no problem, I was just watching Rana from the window and figured she’d really like some, she’s gonna be tired so I can make sure coffee is waiting for her. We do have quite a story to tell her though.

Romy shows Phi where the biscotti is and such.

Rana is just now getting up and plucks Hamlet up.

Elk: something happened something happened something happened

Rana is feeding the sheep and clearly thinks the elk just wants some too

Elk: Oh is it breakfast? I’d like breakfast too!

Diem, after sleeping on it, performs a new arcana check on what sort of spells and effects cause draconic-speaking critters (21 again). They know now it can be caused by fae, wish spells, high level wizarding things will happen, and that similar strange effects happen around ancient dragon lairs (a little nugget buried in all their Miova dragon research they’d forgotten about), and that sometimes it’s just random without no discernible cause.

Rana comes in covered in sheep wool, hay, butt and legs wet, but she’s happy. Everything outside is noticeably green and lush.

Phi: We made coffee

Rana is super grateful and makes a beeline to grab a cup.

Rana: I took care of the plants and the animals

Ixayl’anu comes down around this time with the mouse in the box.

Romy: Your friend made coffee and something happened last night they were just about to tell me about.

Rana statues over her mother’s words with an ‘oh no what kind of things?’ sort of reaction.

Phi we’ll explain: Where’s Hamlet? Is he in your bag? Wait I’ll go get Horatio (who is snuggling Diem upstairs still)

Rana scritches Hamlet who asks “Oh is it breakfast time?” (in draconic) She’s tired enough she just hands it the biscotti without thinking.

When Phi returns she gets down on her knees in front of hamlet with horatio

Phi: What about today? What are you speaking today?

Speaking to her around his mouth of biscotti “I dunno what am I speaking today?”

This pings for Rana like hey…

Diem comes down as Ixayl'anu is talking about what happened.

Rana healing words the mouse. 7 pts healing. He immediately wakes up and feels great.

Mouse while cleaning his face: I feel really great?!

Ixayl'anu: You want some biscotti?

Mouse (very distrusting): Yes...

She sets the biscotti down. After awhile she’s half grinning and looking at her mom now.

Rana to the group: They just do that around here, always have.

Romy: That’s why the rumor mill here is so lively.

Diem: Why draconic?

(missed conversation)

Rana: Most people understand at least a few words.

Diem: What’s the local lore on it all? I mean...there’s gotta be stories involved?

Romy: The local lore - I did ask around since I’m not from here, it was very strange at the beginning but the townspeople didn’t seem to be bothered, the general consensus is that it’s a blessing of Vkandis.

Diem gets us all talking about maybe the silver scale dragon living nearby as they also share what they remembered about such events after they woke up.

Rana insists she would’ve seen it

Romy thinks you would know though, Diem mentions that they slept with one and didn’t know until the next day though so...

Romy: Rana you did see those kites though (a local cryptid)…?

Rana: That was definitely not a dragon.

Ixayl’anu: Birds? What?

Rana: They almost look like a roc but they’re definitely not rocs (some people write them off as rocs or pterodactyls but the markings are different they are an air cryptid - Ropen from New Guinea).

We get enough from context to realize this is an unusual sighting, but we are not outright told it’s a local cryptid, like spotting bigfoot.

We are told to watch what we say because the bakers bribe the birds and the whole town will end up knowing.

Rana: That thing is def not a dragon though.

Romy admits she’s never even seen a dragon before.

Rana: Diem rode it

Diem (laughing): In more ways than one

Phi laughs too

Rana still insists she would know if one of the townspeople were a dragon though while Diem insists you really couldn’t know that for sure, what if they just enjoyed a simple life and to avoid discovery they just chose a form that aged with the town, no one the wiser. Rana still insists it’s not possible.

Diem: So sure you’d know? We’ve traveled a month together on the road practically living together. How do you actually know I’m not a dragon?

Rana: I don’t.

Prepared for a similar pushback, this admission clearly surprises Diem. “And yet you’re this sure about people you haven’t spent every waking moment with?”

Rana says she thinks if you are not living time people need to know they need to know they will find out what you are doing.

Ixayl'anu: It could just be sleeping somewhere.

Rana: Either way this is just a normal thing

Ixayl’anu: Sure not really but sure.

Diem: Could be the innkeeper and has always been an innkeeper because they enjoy it. Everybody needs a hobby.

Ixayl'anu wants to know if V’kandis has anything to do with dragons.

(It is at this point we are informed that we’ve seen Romy has a shrine to V’kandis in the house as we’ve ignored this fact in favor of being like oh no, it’s not ‘cause a god blessed your town, it’s because of a secret dragon!).

Ixayl'anu scoots the mouse on his way and turns the topic of discussion toward our reasons for being in Longview and Anesh: So we’re looking for this dwarf?

Rana: No we’re looking for my brother

Ixayl’anu: Does he know where he is?

Rana: Maybe.

Phi: How old is he?

Rana: Older than I am

Phi: Oh, so definitely should’ve had more kids by now

Diem: Wait, Phi how many kids do you have then?

Phi (mishearing): Ooooh lemme get back to you on that...between 80 and 50.

Diem: You have at least 50 kids?

Phi: Oh no I have 0 kids, I don’t have that kind of life.

Rana herds us out the door, she leaves most of her heavier stuff at home.

(To Stellan’s house we go)

For some reason we established Diem definitely gets changed under an illusion of Ixayl'anu ever since using her image as a changing screen back in Budelia. Ixayl’anu has no problem with that, but they’ve all probably seen flashes of Diem’s side and leg tattoos anyway over the month we’ve been together.

Before we leave the house Diem casts comprehend languages as ritual. The birds quiet as we approach, but then the chattering starts up and we catch names and normal gossip presumably about people around town.

Ixayl’anu and Diem have a bit of a side chat about this in the RP text snippets section.

We have an uneventful walk over.

We walk in without knocking - Stell is clearly working on a sword or piece of armor.

Amira (the little girl def notices our presence, specifically Rana’s)

Rana quietly holds out her arms for a hug and Amira runs over squealing with excitement.

Diem: That is so adorable.

Rana scoops her up and has her on her hip now.

Amira looks at us and her eyes get really big - like who are you all? With continued excitement.

Stellan takes notice, surprised Rana brought friends, but still busy hammering out the sword.

Rana: Did you get your pigeons?

Stellan (withering look at his sister): I got THREE pigeons, yes.

Rana grins even bigger at his tone and expression.

Stellan is still working on whatever he’s hammering into during this exchange.

Rana: I was worried they wouldn’t get through so I had to send 3 of them.

Stellan: Well they all got here - first one was very surprising, after 3 though...

Phi: What was the message again Rana?

Rana: Oh, I sent him pigeons telling him about the meteorites and that we knew they were going to hit Anesh but we didn’t know where.

Stellan lets us know the meteors have been diverted and are scheduled to hit somewhere in the desert where there are no people.

Rana nods

Diem: Did they use magic to divert them?

Stell: You’re not from around here are you? Must suck to be from a place without a god that cares what happens to you.

He is a BIG guy. He stops hammering to shake our hands

Phi shakes with both hands to see how much she can get them around one of his (she can’t, there’s a gap between her fingertips).

He is very amused to have Phi forcibly shaking his hand with both of hers.

Meanwhile, Hamlet pokes out and gets on Rana’s shoulder to investigate the new passenger on Rana’s hip.

Amira: You have a new pet?

Rana: Yes, but this one is coming with me - you can still play with him for a bit.

Hamlet: What?

Amira in draconic: Wanna be my friend and play?

Hamlet: Okay!

Diem said some things during the exchange I forgot to note (probably a few cool stories about auntie Rana idk, asking about her speaking draconic?) that resulted in Amira excitedly adopting them for a tour of the house/playing with Hamlet. They follow Amira’s excited lead to do just that, but not before stopping near the next doorway for introductions to Adri, her mother.

Diem to Adri: She’s very adorable

Amira (talking about Aunt Rana): Look! She has a pet rat can we have a pet rat too?

Rana: I could probably get them a pet rat?

Adri: I could probably also get them one, if they’re responsible enough and can prove they’re ready to take care of it.

Some possible missed conversation before Adri, Amira, Diem, and Hamlet head deeper into the house while Rana continues talking to her brother.

Rana asks about the dwarf and shows him both the letter and silver scale, which he looks at while listening to the story about the wizard in the shadowoods

Stell: Are you sure it was Haldric that they wanted?

Rana: Yes (she double checks letter)

Stell: I know a Haldric Ironband but he’s a master blacksmith, but I...he...he’s never mentioned anything about wizards or honestly going anywhere so far away?

Rana: To be fair the wizard seemed to know who I was so maybe Haldric never met him either.

Stell: I don’t know this sounds like destiny hero bullshit

Phi is internally happy screaming about oh my god this actually works (it’s just as well that I never noted what actually works since the rest of us might only notice Phi’s happy scream state, rather than mind-reading the reason for it)!

Everyone but Diem learns this shorthand info I can’t entirely follow after the fact. My shorthand is awful and I’ve discovered I am unlikely to remember how to coherently type it later: Bhuxodihr for some reason you do want to mention t by the proper name he’s mostly retired, teaches to a select few, not stellan’s master. Haldric was stellan’s master’s master

Rana holds up the silver scale (again? I guess? lol) “You know what this would signify?” she hands it over to him. “Retin said we could use this, that it would give us legitimacy”

Stellan tests the hardness of it, getting higher and higher and Rana lets him and still nothing happens “Uh…(hands it back) I’m pretty sure this is the real thing.”

Rana: Real dragon scale?

Stellan: Mhm

Rana: Well that’s interesting

Stellan: Who did you say gave this to you again?

Rana: Retin, a wizard who lives in the Rethwellian Shadowoods

Stellan: I think Haldric knew someone down there but they weren’t genasi

Phi and Ixayl’anu tell him that we had a whole argument about it and deduced that Retin takes on the form of whatever will make you feel connected/more at home.

Phi or Ixayl’anu bring up how weird it is that all the animals here speak draconic.

Stellan, however, has hit his limit for weird shit, though not animals speaking draconic - that is a thing that’s completely normal.

Phi awkwardly: You should come visit us some time too, was great meeting you...or...yeah.

Ixayl’anu: Where would he meet us?

Phi: I have a home

Ixayl’anu: But you’re not really there

Phi: Well we can arrange it ahead of time.

Rana: She does have connections in Miova if you every go out that way.

Stellan says some things to Phi about all this, but as he’s talking he looks at her and she sees the moment when he notices her daggers and stops.

Stellan: Where did you get those?

Phi: They’re family heirlooms

Stellan: Nooo….where did you really get those? You can’t take those into stone roost or even bouldergap, not displayed on your hips like that.

Phi: Interesting you say that I was already thinking I should hide them because we found them on the skeleton of a dwarf in a cave in the woods

Ixayl'anu: No it was a corpse

Rana statues a little bit (which Stellan would notice)

Phi: There was a dwarf corpse, yes…

Stellan holds his hands up like ‘I don’t want to hear it’ and points at Phi: You cannot wear those, they’re only given to an elite group of dwarves and they do NOT give them to gnomes, you have to keep them hidden.

A few questions are asked about that. As far as Stellan knows, they’re assassins of some kind.

Phi: So do they have other weapons with the same characteristics?

Stellan: Sometimes they have short swords but not any arrows or large blades - just the small bladed weapons and it was a thing he wasn’t allowed to learn because he’s not a dwarf.

Phi: Do you know anybody who was in this group?

Stellan: No mostly these guys are like--

Rana (talking over him): I don’t think my brother knows any dwarvish assassins

Phi: If I were to return them to the right people, who would I talk to?

Stellan just looks at her for a few seconds: I don’t know if you just heard me but these guys don’t really advertised themselves

Ixayl’anu: Is this a group we wanna have anything to do with or just avoid them?

Stellan: If you’re really determined to get them back to someone, you might try Haldric, but I wouldn’t lead with that.

Ixayl’anu: Are they better to just be avoided?

Stellan: I wouldn’t wanna mess with them but you’re all out there dealing with meteors and who knows what else so maybe that’s what you do now, I don’t know.

Rana: This dwarf found the meteor too and turned into a mushroom

Stellan takes a deep breath.

Rana is enjoying making him uncomfortable now

They all talk about our bag of holding and hiding the weapons, Phi stashes them and pulls out her ordinary daggers to secure in their place.

Rana as they talk about possibly disguising Phi’s daggers: Oh mom has some camels now if you need one, there’re 3

Stellan: Okay I’ll take care of them for you

Rana: Do you want them to talk? I can make them talk.

Stellan (not amused): No, the pigeons are enough.

Phi: Thank you for the information

Rana: Yeah, I would like to not get killed by the people we were looking for

Phi: Yeah that would not be good

Rana: I’m gonna go corrupt tanny for a bit

Stellan: Yeah i’m gonna go back over here and...think about things

Rana: I let mom know everything so you can talk to her later.

At some point before they finish talking to Stellan, Ixayl'anu was looking for signs of jewelry in Stellan’s forge. She saw some platinum but didn’t really see any jewelry (because she needs a platinum ring). She asks him about it anyway while we’re there and it’s simple enough he melts down two platinum coins to make a simple ring for her out of it. He doesn’t even charge her for them since he already has the forge fired up.

He does have Amira help him since he rarely works with platinum and it makes a good teachable moment that takes about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, Adri has been following Amira and Diem around, Diem gets introduced to Taniel, 10, who probably is working on magic homework, they got really into potion making because they fan Rana and Rana brings herbs back - real into that right now.

Taniel gets up to see Aunt Rana, but Adri warns her to wait a bit they’re talking about tense things right now.

Through conversation along the tour Diem gets that Adri speaks draconic and has been teaching her kids.

Diem makes casual conversation that includes whether or not Adri grew up here and when/why she learned draconic.

About that time Rana walks in and Taniel gives her a big hug and tells her about her new obsession

Adri answers Diem that it makes sense from a guard’s stand point so she learned it, birds are awfully helpful

Diem: Oh yeah that makes sense

Rana: Yeah, Adri is very good at her job

Diem: You look it, you are killing it in that outfit (she is amused), I’m...yeah, not surprising I wouldn’t make a good guard, I even need help when we take watches (said in good humor)

Ixayl'anu stands awkwardly in the door until Adri invites her in properly (because she’s secretly a vampire! shhh)

Rana: We’re not gonna be in town for terribly long, I was just hoping Stellan had some of the info I needed and he did.

Adri: What info?

Rana: Oh I was sent by a wizard to find someone named Haldric who might be in stone roost and I thought Stellan might know him.

Adri takes it in stride “Well, be safe.”

Rana drops in that it has to do with the meteor.

Nearing the end of the conversation and visit, Phi asks if we can run by a general store to get medical kit supplies to complete her partial kit.

When we have to leave Amira is sad about the rat having to go and starts asking for a rat again in super sad puppy fashion.

Adri tells her they’ll still have to see and Diem distracts both children by pulling out the self-animating putty to give them as a gift, telling them how they can shape their own rat or whatever they like and it moves (makes a little rat and sets it down to walk around on the table and lick a paw clean) see?

Their imaginations take off with excited chatter about making tiny dragons and more, once again happy.

(A trip to the general store)

Rana takes us to Bafor’s general store (Bafor is a dragonborn).

Phi tells us that we would have noticed how Phi progressively jumped on this field medic train and as things have gotten dangerous and sketchy. Phi realized it would be handy to have some skills in healing just in case - more so ever since Phi found the medical supplies in Budelia and ever since Averni she’s been doing a little research here and there, including medical knowledge heading out into the new terrain of Anesh, like what to do for heatstroke and working on more survival skills. Over the journey she’s brought it up a few times to Rana and Edea, and Rana readily taught her some of her new feat requirements from her similar healer feat. Phi wants to eventually learn to make her own poisons too for maybe a damage over time, but also poison check and knowing what to do about poisons in order to help heal them.

Phi’s medicine check will also apply to her background skills, diagnosing a wound, how they died (starving, madness, dehydration, container recently held poison, blood spatter analysis, forensic stuff is part of her past).

Combat triage is cool and useful.

Ruled that with her medical proficiency feat she can diagnose poisons and such, but she would have to take a separate feat to make a poison and do dmg over time.

Phi walks into the store and admits she’s filling out the healer’s kit.

Rana says she has those items already and they have this conversation in the store. All along though she and Rana have talked about this over the month we’ve known each other.

Bafor: Yeah I have the little items, but you could also just buy a new healer’s kit already filled.

Phi: Yeah why don’t I just do that.

Bafor: Tell you what, you buy a whole healer’s kit and I will fill out your other one for free.

I think we hit a fruit stand or a different store where the vendor is gruff but warms up as we spend money (because that was a note for the vendor attached to all these dried fruits, but Bafor seemed pretty amenable from the start).

Phi and Diem also buy a big bag of granola for a silver each, and some dried fruits (Anesh grows pomegranate, apricots, olives)

(Taking a Long Rest) Before Diem goes to sleep, they recast tiny hut, rolls an 8 on watch, Rana rolls a 17. She can see the lip of the valley and sees a flash of light.

She gets a 13 survival check on mirror glint communication and recognizes this is an all clear? morse code with mirrors thing. Rana nudges Phi about it to see if she knows this mode of communication better or at least has a mirror on her as well.

Phi hands over her small mirror with a silver handle.

Rana assumes it’s Edea, messages the number 1, spells out worm, flashes “message received”

After a brief moment she gets back “not visible/query not found”

Rana: “Message received”

Rana tells Phi what was said back and forth, then leans over the building and tells Diem as well.

Phi and Ixayl’anu’s watch: 14 Ixayl'anu, 19 Phi

At 1 or 2am the most god-awful scream they’ve ever heard in their life, coyote mixed with a rabbit, loud and wailing and pained. It wakes Rana up.

Phi knows it’s deeper into the valley.

Rana scrambles to look down and check on us on the ground. Phi continues investigating and gestures the approx direction for Rana.

It continues for about 10 minutes.

Diem finally wakes up “What? Huh? What the fuck is that?”

Phi 27 perception out in the valley. She sees off in the distance and with a fairly good idea of what they look like, she sees one completely on top of the ground way off in the distance, mouth open, she can see it is “beached” and making this noise.

She pokes Rana and points it out, then whisper yells over the edge at us about it being one of the worms.

Rana with perception 7 thinks she can kinda make it out.

Phi: Half mile, ¾ of a mile.

It tapers off though and everything is quiet, too quiet afterward.

Phi keeps her eye on that worm.

Come morning, Diem gets 3 charges back on their band of shocking grasp and recasts tiny hut as we wake up, just to keep it there until it’s no longer needed.

Rana checks again in the morning and what she thought was the worm was a rock (17 perception this time)

Rana: Let’s go check out that worm.

We discuss what’s up while snacking on rations and getting ready to go. Rana and Phi bring their rats with, but we leave the albino shrieker in its box in the shade.

(Investigating a dead worm - more shriekers!)

We spread out walking toward the beached worm, Rana in front.

With a perception check of 20, Phi stops as she catches dust in the distance, but it turns out to be an actual dust devil instead; no poof poofs of worms.

Before we can even see the worm, we smell it super bad, the worst dead thing that’s been sitting in the sun, putrifying. We see it now and it’s not moving.

Rana: Was this here yesterday?

Phi: Not until last night when it started making noise.

Rana: Does it look like its been dead longer than it actually has? With a medicine check of 4, it looks fairly together. She remembers Edea did a blight spell but this doesn’t look like that.

Diem covers their nose and investigates. It’s still not moving, mouth is open, tongues are not moving.

Phi tries to shoot it, nothing happens, looks like she just hit a hay bale with it.

Rana: Well we can message Edea and tell her the last worm is dead.

Ixayl'anu: A worm is dead, are we sure it’s the last one?

Rana shrugs.

Diem keeps walking around until they finally see blood all over the ground on the other side of the worm. Eventually they get to a better angle as everyone goes around it the other way. They finally see there are no insides, it’s been hollowed out. They tell everyone else.

Ixayl'anu tries to investigate as well, but doesn’t learn much.

Diem takes a 12 investigation, sees foot prints that look like they could fit shriekers and the hole in the worm hide is ragged.

Rana walks up and smacks it hard but nothing happens.

Diem startles: Shit, Rana.

Looks like a scuffle in the area, mess of prints, two sets leading away, headed toward the other side of the Rim.

Rana: Let’s follow them.

Ixayl'anu: Do we wanna leave a message for Edea?

Rana: If you have a way to leave a message…?

Ixayl'anu: You’re the one who wants to impress her

Rana: I have a mirror.

We don’t have anything substantial to report to check in though so we decide to follow the tracks, Rana in the lead with a 21.

We see them go off into the distance.

Investigation for Rana tells her there are two sets of footprints, we gather there were 3 total.

This worm is roughly the same direction as our 2 lost shriekers, we walked through some slightly charred field, but this is quite a bit farther out than where we last saw the on-fire shriekers.

We are only barely still in sight of town. The farther we get form town, the more on edge Rana gets.

Rana sees a glob of blood and fur along the way, we keep moving while Rana makes sure we don’t get lost as we go. None of us are being stealthy, we’re trying to stick close to rocks though whenever possible.

Phi hears wet crunching sounds ahead, ripping wet munching noises.

Phi makes a stopping gesture at all of us: waitwaitwaitwait did anybody else hear that?

Only Rana hears it now too: I think they caught something else.

Ixayl’anu gets up on a rock to try and see (16): She gets the gross scent she’s learned to associate with these creatures.

We send Phi ahead to scout over the rock, stomach crawling over the top. 28 stealth: Phi sees 2 shriekers eating a dead cow. She turns her head and plays charades. Mouths “cow” then corrects to “two”

Rana to the rest of us: There are two cows, they probably belong to the village, let’s go get them. *she starts walking around to fight them*

Phi gets ready to fight as well seeing her getting ready to fight.

(Another shrieker fight)

The shriekers scream at Rana as soon as they raise their little heat sensors - she makes her save.

Rana: They’re not cows guys!

Phi takes a surprise round shot but misses. She shoots again and does 16dmg to pink - she uses her bonus action attempting to hide by sliding down the side of the rocks and moving back. 24 stealth check.

Blue rushes Rana and bites at her.

Rana flame blades, but misses. Fiery scimitar sticks around though and it will serve as a bonfire of sorts if Edea is looking at us.

The creatures LOVE it mmm so much lovely heat.

Pink also charges Rana and tries to bite the sword, bites through to no effect.

Diem rushes up and hits with one shot of eldritch blast for 3dmg.

Ixayl’anu rushes forward and takes a swing at pink, miss, hit, 9dmg.

Phi runs forward to shoot at them from behind, misses, and has no movement left to hide.

Blue tries to bite Rana with disadvantage, but hits anyway and deals 14dmg

Rana tries to stab blue with her sword, does 6 fire dmg.

These guys do not look previously charred.

Pink tries to bite Rana and her beautiful sword again, but misses.

Diem tries to parkour up the lower portion of the rock, makes it, casts eldritch black at pink, but misses both strikes.

Ixayl'anu hits pink for 8dmg, misses her 2nd strike.

Phi shoots at blue and gets a crit! 34dmg, blue is bloodied by it. Phi bonus action hides in a pile of rocks. 13 stealth - she feels sorta secure...

Blue bites at sword/rana and misses

Rana swings at blue but misses.

Pink bites at Rana and misses.

Diem casts eldritch blast at blue for 16dmg total (one crit)

Ixayl'anu slashes at pink, misses, misses

Phi has to do a con save and passes as purple screams at her from behind. It jumps down.

The others scream as well, Ixayl'anu and Diem make their saves though while Rana is immune from her previous success.

Phi runs forward (directly east) around the rocks and away from purple, she shoots at blue, misses, dashes farther away again (over 50ft away from purple)

Blue misses Rana.

Rana swings at blue, misses.

Pink misses.

Diem hits blue for 16dmg total again, kills it.

Ixayl'anu swings at pink 11dmg, misses with 2nd strike.

Purple charges Phi and takes a bite - 10dmg, she uses evasion to take only 5dmg.

Phi switches to her daggers and hits with both for a total of 13dmg, bonus action disengages, uses her movement to be closer to Ixayl'anu, slightly behind and a few paces east.

Rana stabs at pink and deals 6dmg.

Does purple look previously charred? No.

Pink bites at Rana and her sword, just barely misses.

Diem sees purple hungering after Phi and decides to try and help draw its attention toward them - Rana and her fiery sword all bright and tasty looking between. They hit purple with eldritch blast for 10dmg total.

Ixayl'anu hits pink for 7dmg, misses 2nd strike.

Purple turns around, sees the sword, but Ixayl'anu is closer so it attacks her and misses.

Phi attacks with her daggers and does 24dmg total, efficiently killing it. Phi disengages.

Rana swings at pink, deals 14dmg, killing it.

(After battle investigations)

Rana lets go of her flame blade, but keeps the remaining 10minutes of concentration to summon it back as a bonus action. She checks the cow for more information (10) it is very dead, nothing otherwise out of the ordinary.

The rest of us look around, Ixayl'anu gets a nat 20 investigation (19). She finds a shrieker halfway up the cliffs purple came from.

Rana and Phi check in on their rats, then Rana tries to climb up to the molt (17) and tries to chuck it down to the ground. It feels like a chitinous fiberglass body and cracks a little bit when tossed down.

Rana nature checks 16 - the molt is maybe slightly smaller, she survival tracks purple’s prints (another 16), it went up at the top of the ridge, previously it was following along equally with the other two, so probably the results of that 3rd set of tracks.

Diem investigates the molt for burning and finds some, points it out to Rana. It’s definitely something left over from one of yesterday’s on-fire runners, possibly from one of the three we just killed, after they shed their damaged skin.

Molt is 10-15 lbs - Rana shoulders it.

We follow purple’s tracks back to the worm, confirming all three of the shriekers we just killed were involved in wormicide.

Rana leads us back to town from there.

We talk about the 3 we killed, the 2 that got away yesterday (and whether they are the same) and handling the infestation only until we feel confident the villagers can take care of the rest.

When we get back to town we go check on the albino shrieker, Ixayl'anu cracks the lid to see if it’s still there. Little snout pops out and snaps at her fingers, gets one of her plate-gauntleted fingers before she shuts the lid.

Rana and Ixayl'anu were paying attention enough with their nature rolls they notice it’s larger than yesterday but still not as big as the other guys. There’s definitely not enough space for another one in that box. It is still all white.

Ixayl'anu squeezes a ration in there with it - it’s like trying to feed a crocodile through the fence.

Rana climbs back up to last night’s roof and pulls out her mirror, studying where the mirror flashes were yesterday.

Phi looks around to see if the town looks empty still since we’ve been gone. 20 investigation: Town looks pretty close to how we had left things. As she gets closer to the camels, she hears the elk making angry elk noises, self consoling and all worked up.

Phi tries to parkour up the building near them.

Rana starts the mirror flashes for hey look here hey hey. Listen!

Diem: Maybe we could build a bonfire somewhere and see if it draws in any more of the little ones?

Rana: (while flashing hey hey pattern) Let’s check in with Edea and see if the town people want to return first.

Edea responds with a “here/listening” mirror glint.

Rana: “All clear maybe.”

Edea: “Okay to return?”

Rana: “Should be.”

Edea: “We’ll return.”

(Ixayl'anu's elk is a hero! Recognize!)

Back to Phi parkouring up building (14 - makes it up okay); looks out into the distance at what might be wrong, elk is tossing his head and claims more space than the camels who have edged away. When he sees Phi, he bugles something, trying to tell her something and stomps his hoof and brandishes his antlers.

Phi looks out into the distances with a 24 for threats. Nothing in the distance.

Phi: Down boy (assumes elk is just not happy, elk snorts at her as she leaves).

Phi comes back: Your elk is not liking the camels, or the camels don’t like your elk, something is going on down there.

Before Phi gets back, the elk telepathically says to Ixayl'anu: I defended the camels successfully, be proud of me! *smug* your camels are safe, there was a huge battle and I defended them well.

Ixayl’anu makes her way down there anyway. On the way she describes shriekers to the elk

Elk: No it was flying like a bird

Ixayl'anu: Was it a bird?

Elk: It was weird, but it was flying so it must be a bird.

Ixayl'anu looks up but doesn’t see anything.

Rana and Diem check in on their camels

Ixayl'anu tells us it wasn’t natural, but none of us see flying creatures.

Ixayl'anu to elk: How big was it?

Elk: It was as big as me!

Ixayl'anu relays this.

Ixayl'anu: Did it smell?

Elk: The camels smell...

Rana casts speak with animals and asks her camel what happened.

Her camel is very upset by something large attacking from the air. The elk did scare it off, but now he’s been showboating about it ever since and the camels just want out.

Rana: Have you seen the thing from the sky before

Camel: No

Rana casts stone shape and makes a 5X5 passage, 1ft off the ground, carefully leading camels through the doorway and handing them off to people. Rana is playing tetris with stonework and camels, and she tries to explain to them what she’s doing, guiding them out - 20 animal handling check.

Animal handling for our camels handed over (5 from Ixayl'anu, elk’s antlers get stuck), I get a 9, Phi gets a 4, they are just too eager to be out. Phi’s camel picks her up, holding onto halter lead and goes trotting off into the greenery.

Diem’s drags them away from quicksandy dead worm area in the opposite direction, further into town rather than toward brush, but Diem does manage to see a little throughway and eventually the camel heads that way, Diem going with it to the little oasis area.

Rana helps Ixayl'anu with the last camel to get it to the brush.

We take a short rest as we wait for Edea.

Diem keeps their eyes on the skies but only rolls a 5 on perception.

Rana does the same, rolls 12, but she’s more interested in playing with her rat and there’s a lot of leaves in the way besides.

(Townspeople Return)

We eventually hear/see Edea with the group of villagers heading into the main building from across the pond. We hear large exclamations.

Rana: I think she’s here.

We go with her.

Edea is impressed by our pile of bodies

Rana warns Edea about what the elk saw, but we haven’t seen any indication. We still don’t.

Edea: We’ll keep an eye out, we didn’t see anything on our way into town either.

Rana: Don’t know if you guys heard that shrieking last night?

Edea: Yep.

We catch her up to that and the molt, edea wants to see it.

Edea: I’ve never seen anything like these creatures but I certainly wouldn’t have expected them to molt.

Rana: They look mammalian to me.

Edea: They’re definitely not insects.

Rana: Oh yeah and Ixayl'anu found a pet.

Ixayl'anu: Oh yeah (something I missed for notes)

Rana fills Edea in about el blanco’s details.

Edea volunteers to take the molt off our hands to the other druids of her circle.

Rana: As far as we can tell they love fire and heat

Diem: We thought we might light a bonfire before we leave, make sure nothing else comes after it before we move on.

Edea studies el blanco, then wrangles it, mouth together and ropes it closed.

Edea: It’s definitely malformed, compared to the other ones.

Edea pokes at the flaps and peels them up a little bit, it screams and struggles more: It definitely sees via these organs. What are you planning on doing with this one?

Rana gestures at Ixayl'anu

Ixayl'anu: (More words I missed for notes) definitely doesn’t need to come with us anywhere, just thought it might be useful to study.

Edea: Well, this was always intended to be our splitting off point anyway.

Rana: Yeah, I can get them to Longview from here.

Ixayl'anu: Yeah if it’s useful to study, we can leave it here.

Edea: Yeah this and the molt could tell us quite a bit.

Ixayl'anu: Not attached, just holding onto it as something we can maybe do something with.

Rana: Camels are by the oasis, they made it through just fine.

We talk things over, Earl comes out and sees shrieker pile “What in tarnation is going on here?”

Rana: Feel free to add to the pile

Earl: Val come look at this!

Val comes out to look.

Our plan is to wait out the heat of the day/afternoon. Diem sets up a tiny hut and we inform Edea of as much as possible.

Edea is now treating us all as competent and she’s giving us more respect as a result.

We begin our trek out of the valley toward Longview, none of us catching on that Rana is taking us slightly off-path from our plans.

Encounter roll of 19 from Ixayl'anu.

(Thunderbird sighting)

As we get to the far side of this canyon, beginning to climb out of it, we can see a lot farther than before, more regular level desert, far off into the distance, 10-20 miles away a huge thunderstorm is brewing, lots of lightning it looks real bad.

Perception checks Diem 1, Ixayl'anu 5, 23 Phi, Rana 22

Rana (excited and worried both): We need to get under cover right now! We can’t be out in the open when that thing gets here. I have never seen one but I think this is a thunderbird. I don’t think it’ll bother us if we leave it alone, but we need to get out of its way.

Phi: Is that bigger than a roc?

Rana: About the same size. I have never seen one...though it looks about the size of a roc.

Survivals: Rana 13, Diem 8, Phi 18, Ixayl'anu 6

We don’t really find a good spot. We find an overhang though, but not a big enough space for the tiny hut. We manage to be out of line of sight. It was coming toward us as we were looking for a spot.

To Diem (perception 4) it’s like being caught out in a hurricane.

Rana tries to get a look 17, Phi 11, Ixayl'anu 20

This bird is mad, something has pissed it off.

Ixayl'anu to her elk: This isn’t the thing is it?

Elk: *huddled* no this is not what I saw

We’re soaked to the bone, but it’s a warm rain. We watch for a good hour or so, we see it make a couple of dives in the desert but not near Perfection.

Phi wonders aloud if it’s mad about these new abominations in its land and it’s come to take it back and wash it clean.

It makes a couple of passes over the valley and then goes back where it came from to the North.

Rana: *grinning* Let’s not do that again.

Diem: That was AWESOME

Ixayl'anu is excited about the lightning.

Diem takes a long time to prestidigitation us all dry.

Rana picks up the lead again.

Survival rolls to get our bearings again diem 6, Ixayl'anu 7, rana 10, phi 17 - we’re pretty confident Rana knows the way.

Rana knows it would take another full day to get to Longview and looks for a game trail toward it instead of Bouldergap as we had planned (not that any of us catch on to the fact we’re off course out here.

It takes us awhile and we’re meandering a little. It takes us past dusk before we find a suitable area and begin setting up camp.

Phi: Rana, I don’t even see this path anymore...

Rana: That’s because we’re not on it. I use this path all the time, we’re almost certainly not lost *smiling*

Phi: Alright I trust you.

Diem casts alarm around the animals, then summons the tiny hut, coloured to blend with the desert sand.

Rana nat 20s first watch. Coyotes in the distance, lovely night, natural sounds, everything’s peachy.

She’s in a good mood when she wakes Phi up: It’s a great night.

Phi: Happy to be home?

Rana: More than a little. I like Rethwellian but it’s a little too green for my tastes

Phi: Well so far this desert has been nice but also a little smelly sometimes

Rana: In our defense, it’s usually not like that, hopefully they’ll be gone soon, maybe that thunderbird washed them away.

Phi: Hopefully

Rana: Alright goodnight

Phi: Goodnight

Perception 26, nothing really changes though she’s not as comfortable as Rana is.

On Diem and Ixayl’anu’s watch, Diem recasts tiny hut. Ixayl'anu gets 7, Diem gets a 4. Diem draws a bad rendition of the thunderbird in their dream journal (maybe because they didn’t get to see it so well lol).

OOC we rule that Diem doesn’t have to worry about timing and recasting tiny hut moving forward, it’ll last for as long as we need it.

Nice clear morning, Rana is pumped and ready to go, already on the camel as we climb out of our bedrolls.

(Lost treasure on the sandy deer trails)

Rana rolls a 6 for encounters - a few hours in, 10/10:30 we come to a scattering of splintered wood and strewn wagon wrecks up ahead. Rana stops because this isn’t supposed to be here. Even with an 8 she sees a wagon wheel.

Ixayl'anu: What, what’s going on?

We get close and see the remains of wagons.

Diem: Think this could be that missing caravan?

Rana: It’s possible, but we’re no longer on that path.

Ixayl'anu goes over to look at identifying marks on crates/wagons/flags

Rana perception checks around the area, Diem goes with her (22, 11)

Phi helps Ixayl'anu. She notices the wood is bleached and weathered, sitting in the sun for years and years.

Ixayl'anu: How long does it take for wagons to start looking like this? Doesn’t it take awhile?

Rana walks up.

When Ixayl'anu scrapes it with a claw it splinters like over-dry wood

Rana 10 investigates it, and agrees - very weathered and bleached, flags are tattered and bleached, light pink maybe used to be red. Rana goes up to the 2nd wagon, Diem follows. It looks like it was a goods caravan, no animals, no people, no bones (but rolled low for that).

Diem got sand in their eye (1 investigating for bones)

We are following a loose trail of debris, Rana sees the inside protected by the cloth and she sees several other crates that have been pried open, contents taken. Rana pulls one crate out

Phi and Diem both roll low on this next part.

Rana nat 20s looking this crate over, tucked away behind that crate is another one that got overlooked, barely protected, it has a strange symbol on it like the barest suggestion of an inverted triangle made with little triangles at each point and leaf blades in the center curling out toward the leftmost triangle point from a braided crescent moon along the suggested triangle’s right side, tips of the crescent poking up out of the leftmost and top sides of the suggested triangle. Rana drags it out and takes a closer look. It seems kind of heavy. Whatever is in there is well padded, no shifting or sloshing etc.

Phi 14 perceives for traps. She sees it is locked with delicate filigree on it, meaning it’s probably a trap. Attempts to disable the trap (24).

We talk about how very lost they probably were, because as Rana points out, you do not go off trail, the desert is very dangerous, it will kill you, and while we were okay off trail with her, you definitely do not go off trail with a caravan.

Ixayl'anu: I get that but how far off trail are we?

Rana: We are inadvisably far off trail, but I know where I’m going.

Phi defeats the trap and inside she finds a large teapot of red enamel with a slightly demonic face on the side of it with a large ring in its nose. When she picks it up steam gently comes up and it is warm.

Rana looks in the box for more identification. 18 investigation.

Rana 17 history checks the triangle-moon symbol too - she’s not certain where she’s seen the symbol but it’s tip of her tongue - not quite familiar, but something. She finds a very old, weathered piece of parchment with “the meal wish cauldron” written on it, along with what it does.

By putting in 10 gold (or similar value of jewels - per person?), you bring forth a great feast, including magnificent food and drink. The feast takes 1 hour to consume and disappears at the end of that time, and the beneficial effects don't set in until this hour is over. Up to twelve creatures can partake of the feast.

A creature that partakes of the feast gains several benefits. The creature is cured of all diseases and poison, becomes immune to poison and being frightened, and makes all Wisdom saving throws with advantage. Its hit point maximum also increases by 2d10, and it gains the same number of hit points. These benefits last for 24 hours.

We package it away into our own supplies for now.

Rana: We’ll get to Longview before nightfall probably.

We travel an hour and a half more before we get back to the main road again, very well trafficked, just like Rethwellian’s main roads, it’s like going from a deer trail to a five lane highway.

Diem plays off the whole bad bitch native desert dweller guide, so fuck off vibe

As we get closer and closer to early evening we can see Longview.

(Welcome to Longview)

We are going to see a small town, big enough to know everyone but only if you lived here awhile. Somewhat of a farming community, gardens behind houses are common, in the shadow of the mountain, a bit more greenery here, but not as green as Rethwellian.

Taking the main road in, not stopping, just going through town - Rana clearly knows where she’s going. “Welcome to Longview.”

Phi: So were you born here?

Rana: Yeah, I grew up here.

One person on the road nods at Rana but they don’t stop and chat. They stare more at us than her.

Diem thinks it looks very cute and cozy

Rana’s interactions are limited to nods and waves

Phi: How long since you’ve been home?

Rana: At least 2 years

We notice nobody’s trying to catch up with Rana, Diem just assumes that’s because they know Rana well enough to know she’s not much of a talker and/or they’re all very similar to her in that regard.

As we pass the inn

Phi: Are we going to stay with your family maybe?

Rana: That is the plan, yes.

She takes us to her mom’s place, taking a left and immediately leaving Longview for its outskirts instead. Comparatively small homesteading with some sheep that want fed, a small kitchen garden, that’s pretty much it. We passed a lot of farms on the way here though. This one is only about 10 acres.

Rana glances around at some to do things while she’s here, but not a whole lot, some of the fencing could use repairing. She finds a place for their camels for water and food, ties them off. While everyone’s unloading she goes to feed the sheep.

Then she leads us to the door. We make enough noise out there though that a farm dog comes out barking, excited to see her, yipping, mom comes out the back “Oh Rana you’re back!” (older, husky sounding voice, from the city, little bit more cultured, wearing very nice clothes).

Rana turns around with a grin and runs to give her a big hug

Mom: I missed you so much

Rana: I missed you too

Mom: You brought friends

Rana: I brought friends!

Mom: Bring them inside

A feathered female dragonborn, a white-haired female gnome, and a big scary human woman who looks like she could break you.

Rana: we’re gonna need somewhere to stay for a night or two if that’s okay?

Mom: Sure

Rana: I fed the sheep and the camels, I haven’t fed anything in the stable yet though.

Mom: We have some sheep that are laming too.

Rana: It is good to see you - it has been way too long.

Mom: I did hear from your brother about events.

Rana: Oh! Did he get his message then?

Mom: All 3 of them. One right after another

Rana (grinning): I’ll have to fill him in, it’s been an eventful few months

Rana waves us over.

Rana leads the elk to sheep pen so it doesn’t eat mom’s flowers. It is way greener here than the other gardens in town. Plants here are very lovely.

Rana looks around: I’ll take care of the plants while I’m here too.

Mom: They always seem to enjoy your attentions. Introduce me to your friends?

She introduces us, stops at Diem, “Drop the disguise.”

Diem clearly forgot they were disguised, but does so, looks a little out of sorts after they drop the disguise rather than their easily sociable butterfly self.

Rana introduces each of us and where we’re from, Diem says their home is a small village in Rethwellian nobody’s really heard of, not important.

We are introduced to mom as Romy

Level up!

(An Uneasy Short Rest) Rana’s perception check shows the camels aren’t entirely happily in their stall, but they’re safe.

Rana tries to jump across to Phi’s building, rolls 8, Phi tries to grab her, rolls a 9 they both fall and take one point of damage each.

Tarma-Diem drops the rope again for them to climb up on their building.

Phi manages to get up the rope, Rana gets halfway up, but slides back down, we help her finish climbing up the 2nd time.

Tarma-Diem rolls up the rope again and sticks it back in their pack.

We try to rest up as much as we can, hoping the worms leave the camels alone.

We hear a rumble in the distance. Everybody but Ixayl’anu sees the big building on the other side of town (southwest) shaking and lifting off its foundation.

Phi checks in to see how hurt we all are.

Rana: aside from you falling on me I’m fine.

Tarma-Diem: Not even a scratch left, out of big spells though.

We spend a few minutes watching the big Southwest building roiling, visible cracks starting in the structure. Then it stops and we think maybe we can relax now, except it starts rumbling under a closer building and it moves from one building to the next, getting closer. Rana is back on her feet as we discuss whether we want to try and rest or keep going.

As soon as Rana moves the rumbling stops then our building starts to lift up near where Rana is.

Tarma-Diem: Should’ve been quieter.

Ixayl’anu tries divine sense. Nothing pings.

We spend the next half hour or so sitting still and we get a very uneasy short rest out of it.

They harass our camels some too, stress them out, but they don’t get eaten (stone block cracks too).

Rana looks around for something loose on the roof and finds clay pots and an umbrella. She Zeldas a clay pot off the roof once she gets the all clear from the rest of us.

It gets about 10 feet away and gets sucked down, pot 2 same thing happens, this time she sees the barest shape of one of the noses of a big creature. She hands the last pot to Ixayl’anu who throws it in pretty much the same spot. Pumpkin sized pots.

Tarma-Diem: What was part 2 of this plan exactly?

Rana: I don’t know do you have any ideas?

Poison in a Genofeva pot?

Rana is gonna try to hit one with lightning bolt as soon as we see movement after tossing the umbrella, but nothing happens.

Tarma-Diem: Lee did say they learn...maybe it learned nothing’s there?

Phi: I wanna jump to the other roof, see if there’s more pots. Phi makes it with a 21, Rana sees the ground moving toward that building, but no emergence. Tarma-Diem is already paying attention to Phi instead and would have missed the opportunity to attack anyway.

Phi’s new roof has a half dead plant, a rug, weird odds and ends, no clay pots, a stool, a little table. Phi throws the potted plant (7). The plant stays, but Phi has to make a dex saving throw, she easily manages to keep her feet as the building pushes up 2 or 3 feet at that corner.

Rana sees the nose and casts lightning bolt. It takes the full 32 damage.

Tarma-Diem was too busy being impressed by Phi’s building surf acrobatics to remember to hit the worm too. The building drops as the creature burrows deep under ground after screaming. It very quickly zooms off Northeast. We talk plans, Phi offers to run around playing bait because she can shoot at the same time, Tarma-Diem says at that, they can do it instead and misty escape back to a roof or cast hellish rebuke the moment they get hurt.

In the end, we send our tank down, who can also misty step to safety. Ixayl’anu casts shield of faith on herself, Rana casts guidance on her, Ixayl’anu gets off the roof while we all hold actions for the first one to appear. (Combat Commences)

Rana feels a tremor under her feet, a snake thing pops up at Ixayl’anu’s feet and hooks her.

Ixayl’anu misses, rana misses, phi misses. We weren’t expecting the tiny tongue. Tarma-Diem hits with the last crackle of eldritch blast for 7dmg.

The graboid tongue tenses around Ixayl’anu tighter after the eldritch blast. 

Rana thorn whips it for 6 damage. 

Ixayl’anu is still grappled, she tries to hit it rather than breaking free, she misses. 2nd attack does 6 dmg though. It lets go and snakes back into the ground.

Ixayl’anu stays there watching the ground.

Phi: Where ya goin fucker?! *holds her action for if it pops back up*

Worm pops up with an open maw directly under Ixayl’anu to swallow her whole. Hits with a 22 for 22 dmg all around her.

She fails her saving throw.

Tarma-Diem: Shit!

Phi shoots for 38 total damage.

It screams in pain as Phi gets it right in the soft tissues of the mouth.

Tarma-Diem shoots an eldritch blast for 15dmg.

Rana casts healing word level 2 on Ixayl’anu for 9 pts with her bonus action, thorn whips it but it skitters across the heavy armor of the head.

Ixayl’anu lashes out with her weapons and 14 dmg, and another 8dmg - 22 total. She stabs down cackling and making lightning sound effects as she kills it.

Ixayl’anu feels it go limp under and around her.

Phi does a 360 perception check of 18. She doesn’t see anything but she does notice that all the little guys we killed earlier are gone. She doesn’t say anything out loud.

Ixayl’anu climbs out of the mouth and moves away, we all hold actions for a very tense moment but nothing happens.

Ixayl’anu walks around trying to tempt one out, but she is covered in yucky smelling saliva slime that is getting all the sand stuck to her.

Eventually a snake thing pops up but misses her.

By then Tarma-Diem has forgotten they’re supposed to be holding an eldritch blast, Rana misses with her rock, Phi hits it with a 13 and it pops back down into the ground.

Tarma-Diem: Damn it, I forgot to…

Rana: Keep dancing!

Ixayl’anu: Keep dancing? Dancing?! That’s what you think I’m doing down here?

Ixayl’anu jumps up and down some more.

Phi’s building begins shaking and moving again but she surfs the building with a nat 20, the whole inner portion of her roof is caving in.

Phi tries to jump onto our building and Rana catches her.

As the building collapses, 5 of the little guys boil out of that building and scream, but they’re just looking around at the rubble.

Rana casts Erupting Earth under them. Does 11dmg on success, 5 on fail - red fails, blue succeeds, green succeeds, purple crit succeeds: Rana: So there are more of these things!

Ixayl’anu: They came from the building?

Rana: Yes, keep dancing!

Tarma-Diem does 12dmg to purple with an eldritch blast.

Phi shoots and misses.

Tarma-Diem gets off 2 more eldritch blasts, one crits, 21 total damage.

One lifts its flaps and sees us - Tarma-Diem quickly puts their hands over their ears, they remember this shit, we all save, Tarma-Diem rolled a nat 20, didn’t even need advantage.

Shriekers run after us to do a little pyramid. Purple launches himself up the top and takes a bite out of Phi for 8dmg.

She uses her reaction to uncanny dodge, only takes 4dmg.

Blue is a little short still and can’t quite get up there.

Ixayl’anu runs over and stabs at green, seeing if she can destabilize the pyramid. Does max dmg (15). Blue manages to hop onto red and down. Ixayl’anu misses her 2nd attack.

She still has 4 minutes on shield of faith.

Phi ignores purple assuming we’ll handle it and shoots blue for 4 damage.

Rana shoolilas purple for 4dmg.

Tarma-Diem dbl crits purple for 29 total dmg, it dies.

Green screams at Ixayl’anu, who goes deaf for a whole minute.

Red pushes past green and misses Ixayl’anu, blue pushes green to the back and almost hits Ixyal’anu but misses.

Ixayl’anu flails at and misses blue with both attacks. She screams back at them.

Phi shoots at blue for 19dmg, gets it right in the front, it stumbles back and shakes a little bit.

Rana shoves purple off the roof onto green and deals 1 dmg and it gets pushed back into shifting dirt area. She steps up to the edge and gets a wonderful view of a worm spy-hopping up and eating green before going back down with it. - perception of 19 doesn’t see anything extra.

Tarma-Diem hits red with an eldritch blast for 8dmg.

Both attack Ixayl’anu and both fail. They get in each other’s way.

Ixayl’anu deals 13dmg to blue.

Phi shoots at red and deals 20dmg. They’re looking equally rough.

Rana holds a thorn whip for any giant worm action.

Ixayl’anu makes her dex saving throw as giant worm misses her coming up out of the ground. It nonetheless hits her for 22 and deals 6dmg (-6 temp hp). It goes back down, but Rana’s thorn whip still goes off, but misses.

Ixayl’anu misses her attack of opportunity as well.

The structure of our building is starting to collapse.

Tarma-Diem splits an eldritch blast dealing 12dmg to blue, 4dmg to red.

Blue shrieks at red and they try to disengage.

Ixayl’anu misses her attack of opportunity against blue.

They get out into the central road.

Ixayl’anu ignores Rana’s no-no-no arm waving and runs out into disturbed earth. She swings at blue twice and misses.

Phi tries to jump to the roof to still see these guys, 22 acrobatics and shoots at blue. Bonus action hides but in a way to look in both directions.

Rana holds another thorn whip for the next time the big worm appears. Perception check 11, focused on where Ixayl’anu’s area, but she nonetheless notices when the snakes pop up near purple’s body. Unfortunately her thorn whip misses. Rana: “Worm still in the area!”

Inspired by Phi’s acrobatics, Tarma-Diem tries to jump roofs as well to keep the shriekers in sight. They try to jump to the next building, roll a 3 (They are the cat gif of judging their jump so carefully only to fail spectacularly). They cast fly before they hit the ground though and float over to the next building, They did it! They hover over the roof. 10 minutes of fly.

Ixayl’anu chases the runners into the building under Phi and Tarma-Diem. There’s a whole pack in there though. 6 of them total. She tries to lightning breath them all, can only get 3 though. Blue dies, the others look pretty good. Ixayl’anu: “Found some more!”

Phi just waits, holding an action for any of them that leave the building.

Rana tries to jump to the next building with us with a 7 and goes cougar to climb back up to the roof, prowls up beside Tarma-Diem.

Tarma-Diem flies down but can’t see over Ixayl’anu, so they move forward to open the window, fly back as shriekers inside look their way. Pink and yellow try to climb out of the window at the same time but get in each others’ way.

Yellow wiggles out. Pink is primed to go next.

Others missed Ixayl’anu. 

Ixayl’anu attacks orange and does 7dmg.

Phi shoots at yellow and does 7dmg.

Rana pounces yellow and knocks it prone. Bonus action bites, but misses.

As Rana scuffles with yellow, a graboid tongue grapples her.

Tarma-Diem flies in, puts their arms around Rana-kitty “Just me,” then thundersteps them both to the building on the other side of the road. Worm, yellow and pink all fail their saves and take 31 damage each. There’s a shriek and the worms go limp, worm dies. Orange and green try to get out of the door making str attacks against Ixayl’anu. She manages to keep orange back, but green gets out and manages to shove her prone. Green keeps going west into the building we will eventually designate as “the clown car building.”

Red attacks Ixayl’anu with advantage. 8dmg. Pink gets out of the window, looks around and then ducks into the first building we stood on. Yellow took an action to stand and ran with green.

Ixayl’anu stabs at red for 6dmg misses 2nd attack.

Phi shoots at red and misses, then moves back up to raised platform on the roof.

Rana pounces red from above, deals 3dmg claw, misses bite. She then runs off to see if she can lure pink back out.

Tarm-Diem flies over with Rana and sees 2 more in there with pink, shoots pink with eldritch boss: “Got 3 in here”, then flies up a little higher, farther off the ground.

Red misses, orange misses attacks on Ixayl’anu.

Pink gives a rallying cry and all 3 try to attack Rana. Pink misses, orange-red hits (12dmg), blue crits (17dmg to Rana after she loses cat). Total 29.

Ixayl’anu hits red for 6dmg, then misses next attack.

Phi shoots pink for 14dmg.

Rana casts spike growth with a 20ft radius/40ft diameter, placed to hit the 3 in front of her without hitting Ixayl’anu. Bonus action healing word L1 on herself and use item for extra healing. 22 healing and stands the line.

Tarma-Diem sees Rana cast this and flies as far into the circle area as they can get while still being visible to blue and pink, then eldritch blasts them both, they hit blue for 6dmg, miss pink.

Successfully distracted, they both charge me and take 20 dmg each on the way there, snap at my heels at disadvantage and both miss.

Tarma-Diem laughs and flips them off.

Red-orange does something I missed.

Ixayl’anu kills red by chopping his head off, spilling more gunk everywhere. She swipes at orange nat 20, deals 21dmg, divine smites it for 8 dmg (29 total). She stays there trying to block the doorway still.

Phi shoots blue and deals 18dmg.

Rana shelolas orange-red but misses. This particular shrieker has apparently changed its name henceforth in my notes. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one who used to known as Red-orange. Same colours, but different order, please don’t dead name it.

Tarma-Diem flies back toward Rana to bait more travel through the spike growth. Blue gets hit for 5dmg on eldritch blast, 2nd blast hits orange-red for 11dmg.

Pink kills itself on spike damage. Blue runs for me, 8dmg, but misses.

Orange-red is pretty focused on Rana though, it misses her (be its valentine?).

Ixayl’anu takes 14dmg from orange.She heals herself by 16.

Phi shoots at blue, does 20dmg, it dies.

Rana shilalos orange-red but misses.

Tarma-Diem eldritch blasts orange-red for 10dmg.

Ixayl’anu can hear again!

Orange-red takes 14dmg getting to Tarma-Diem but also crits at disadvantage. Oh no! Tarma-Diem takes 11dmg and gets pulled down a foot or two before it lets go. Tarma-Diem: “Ah, shit!”

Ixayl’anu hits orange for 12dmg.

Phi hits orange-red for 24dmg, leaving it on death’s door.

Rana thorn whips orange-red back to her 6dmg it dies dragged across spikes. (Oops, Tarma-Diem face pulls a shitload more)

Tarma-Diem flies over to where they saw green and yellow go earlier (clown car building is about to get named thusly), but there are now 10 of them in there. “Holy shit guys, there’s ten of them in here!” The shriekers had their flaps up and see Tarma-Diem, who makes sure they see them move away from the group before flying 20 feet down the road away from everyone, and then up 10 feet.

They pyramid purple up to Tarma-Diem who hits for 7dmg.

Tarma-Diem misty escapes 30 feet north and 5 more feet up, invisible, but still heat signatured.

The last two from the clown car building spotted Rana first and headed for her. One of them gets Rana for 11dmg.

Ixayl’anu runs after these new two, leaving orange who misses its attack of opportunity, but then misty steps onto the building near my pyramid and throws alchemist fire into the pile.

It does max dmg (4), pink hit, yellow hit, red hit, redpurple hit, blue hit, redblue hit, redpink miss, purple missed.

Phi bonus action hides, shoots at purple and does 21dmg.

Rana sheleileis greenred for 8dmg and tries to get her back against a wall.

Tarma-Diem flies over between North buildings (in spike growth area) and down to hover 6 ft off the groud again until they see the ones on Rana between the two street-side buildings. They cast eldritch blast “Over here again fuckers!” They hit green with 10dmg, but miss greenred, who ignores the bait. 

Green takes 32dmg getting to me, misses it’s jump attack.

Greenred does 5dmg to Rana.

Orange runs up to Rana as well, but misses.

Everybody in the fire pile takes 11dmg each biting and flailing at each other.

Ixayl’anu jumps off the roof and runs to Rana (19 athletics), and casts warding bond on Rana. Rana gets +1AC and saving throws and resistance to all damage, Ixayl’anu takes the same amount of dmg as Rana now.

Phi shoots at redgreen but misses.

Rana shelalas orange but misses.

Tarma-Diem flies about 20 feet closer to Ixayl’anu and 1 ft up, kills green with 6pt eldritch blast, hits greenred for 8pts, still hovered over the spike growth.

Purple and pinkred run and bite at Ixayl’anu. Orange misses Rana, redgreen misses Ixayl’anu, redpink hits Ixayl’anu though for 5dmg, purple also hits her for another 11dmg (16 total).

Fire dmg on remaining group deals another max dmg of 4, and then they deal another 10dmg to each other.

Ixayl’anu to Rana: Wanna get out of here?

Rana reaches out: Yes please.

Ixayl’anu misty steps them both to the nearest rooftop, then pile drives back down onto redgreen (20 athletics, cool flip and everything), 14dmg, then 11dmg. For a fantastic looking 25 total.

Phi shoots redgreen for 27, killing it right out from under Ixie.

Rana magic stones orange for 8dmg, it’s on death’s door.

Tarma-Diem lands on a building at the very corner in view for last turn of fly (except it wasn’t because I can’t math), eldritch blasts purple for 5dmg, pinkred for 6dmg.

Purple takes the bait, but only goes 5ft in, takes 5dmg, backs back out.

Redpink attacks Ixayl’anu but I missed what happened with the attack.

Big group takes another max fire dmg (4pts), yellow dies.

Ixayl’anu slaps a 20pt heal on her chest.

Phi shoots at pinkred but misses.

Rana casts healing word 2nd level on Ixayl’anu for 9pts. Then magic stones orange, does 3dmg, kills orange.

Purple takes 3 eldritch blast dmg, redpink takes 12 dmg, but still focuses on Ixiayl’anu anyway, misses, purple backs up anyway, does not like getting hit in the face.

Fire group only takes 1dmg this time around. In the commotion the on fire group moves a little closer to center of the road. The ground around them shudders and a giant worm comes up out of the ground, chomps down on bluered, and sucks it back down. Worm is gone, leaving a big hole.

Ixayl’anu: Oh shit *stabs at purple still anyway* 9dmg, then another 7dmg (16 total)

Ixayl’anu: Diem! Can you throw a rope?

Phi misses redpink.

Rana thorn whips redpink for 6dmg, 4 pts of smash-fall dmg. (10 total)

Tarma-Diem pulls out the rope and commands it to tie off for Ixayl’anu. “K, it’s up!”

On-fire group takes 3 more fire dmg (there are only 4 of them left). They scatter in different directions still on fire.

Redpink notices the glorious heat-source of redpurple and attacks it, leaving it close to death.

Purple misses Ixayl’anu.

Big guy is not visible this turn.

Ixayl’anu swipes at purple and deals a total of 16 dmg, kills purple, gets 8 temporary hp, and runs over to the rope

Redpink gets an attack of opportunity on her and does 17dmg.

Ixayl’anu grabs the rope just after Rana panic-drops the spike growth to avoid hurting her.

Phi shoots at one of them and misses.

Rana magic stones redpink and does 6dmg.

Tarma-Diem eldritch blasts the farthest runner for 21 total dmg and finishes it off. The other two however use their whole action to go 120ft and get out of everyone’s range for future turns.

All runners take 1 fire dmg before calculations on them stop.

Remaining 2 shriekers miss their attacks.

Ixayl’anu climbs up to the roof.

Phi shoots at one and misses.

Rana thorn whips redpink for 5dmg + 5 slam-fall dmg (10 total).

Tarma-Diem deals 14 eldritch blast dmg to redpink

2 fire dmg kills redpurple.

Redpink jumps at Ixayl’anu futilely.

Ixayl’anu throws her javelin at redpink and misses, 2nd one hits for 4dmg and kills him. (Aftermath Investigations and RP)

Tarma-Diem: Still got 2 who ran off into the desert, a giant worm, and whatever else may be in these buildings.

Ixayl’anu: did you see the worm?

Tarma-Diem: Yeah, we got that to deal with and those two ran off capable of reproducing a shitload more.

Rana does a perception check (12). 

Tarma-Diem slumps down with their back against the lip of the roof.

Ixayl’anu crit-perceives the guys running, still on fire, and also saw a bush raise and lower on the ground in the distance.

Tarma-Diem gets a nat 20 perceiving those guys to fly after them but they are specs in the distance. They also see the bush go up and down, but it doesn’t seem to be chasing the little guys.

Tarma-Diem’s perception skills are tapped out now though and they do a whopping ZERO for aerial search of the entire area

Tarma-Diem looks in each building after, ready to fly off and lead them out of town, but doesn’t see anything. We take a short rest. After we discuss plans, we take a look around. Phi sees a small fire in the distance, but we don’t really see anything else. After the short rest, we take a closer, group look at each building.

Tarma-Diem gets a nat 20 investigation on the first building they’d checked alone while flying. These people were very well prepared, and even though things fell off walls they could still tell these people were pretty well off. Tarma-Diem finds a box marked explosives.

Phi checks box of explosives for traps (18). There is a very complicated lock on it but no other forms of trap. Phi attempts the lock (22), takes her a minute or two but it pops open. Inside is a bunch of c4 sticks - 5 of them. Plastic explosives can be placed as an action, and detonated with a press of a remote detonator (an object interaction). Plastic explosives also explode on their own if they are caught within the radius of an explosion that does at least 10 points of bludgeoning damage. Each creature within 20 feet of a detonated plastic explosive must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10d6 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Each additional block of explosives increases the damage by 5d6 (to a maximum of 40d6), and the radius by 10 feet (to a maximum of 80 feet).

We each get 1 brick, Phi gets 2. Rana makes sure the building stays as closed up as we can get it, all windows and doors closed, so that it will hopefully remain empty as we proceed, leaving nowhere for anything to hide when we try to sleep later. This is her plan at each, subsequent building and we all follow suit.

We back up and start with the very first building in town, on the left when we’d first arrived.

Rana gets a perception of 17 on building A while Tarma-Diem investigates with an 8. It’s a transient guardhouse of some sort with basic swords and arrows.

We cross the street to B, Rana perceives it with a 21 - big hole in the center, blood on the walls, broken and open food stuff.

With an investigation of 8, Tarma-Diem gets a snack of their choice! (twinkies lol)

Outside the next building, the ground around the dead worm just below the surface has turned soggy, like standing on a mattress.

Since we already took care of building C (hopping back and forth across the road alphabetically, left then right lol), we move on to building D (on the same side as B/the market we first roof-climbed.

Rana perceives at a 16, Tarma-Diem investigates with a 13 - sticks of furniture, scrap of clothing that might’ve been a shirt, and blood.

Tarma-Diem reminds everyone about the building behind this one and how it was difficult to see inside around the crates when they did their aerial search.

For recording purposes, I am calling it building E. This time around Tarma-Diem gets an 18 investigation and sees a moving 2-by-2 crate near the back. Tarma-Diem: (whispered) Shit! They make motions to back everyone out. Tarma-Diem: There’s one in a crate back there, a little one (they make approximating gesture of box size)

Ixaylanu goes back in first and tips the box up to see a little baby white one who screams at her but he can’t get out and the scream does nothing.

Ixaylanu squats a little and does the bird head tilt thing. It screams fiercely and tries to jump out but can’t make it.

Ixyal’anu: "It's all white..."

One of us (Tarma-Diem maybe since I didn’t label speaker?): Maybe we could nail the crate shut or something? Would let people study it?

Ixayl’anu throws a small ration at it.

It feels around with its tongue and eventually eats it.

When next it lifts its flaps, it doesn’t scream, when she puts her hand close though it does scream and tries to bite her. Dex save 22/nat 20, she’s fine, it snaps at empty air.

Tarma-Diem: Can you try and talk to it?

Ixayl’anu: I doubt it’s going to work but…*she casts it anyway*

It doesn’t work.

Ixayl’anu figures out the heat sensing thing by fluffing her feathers and noting that it doesn’t react to anything but her actual body heat.

Someone: It's been in here with food for awhile and there's no others...

Someone else: Yeah but it's had an hour to make more if it's going to

Rana leaves while we talk about it to look around outside before we move on. Perception 21 on our surroundings - the fire is still up pretty far from town, town is otherwise quiet.

Ixayl’anu and Tarma-Diem put the lid back on the crate, keeping the small guy in a box with some food. Ixayl’anu hefts it up on her shoulder and goes outside. It screams and kicks around for the first few minutes every time it’s jostled before it finally settles down like “Guess this is my life now.”

Rana 19 perceives the next building is about to collapse and stops Diem from going inside.

Rana perceives the next building with an 8, Diem goes in and investigates with 15. Nothing’s really damaged, so probably nothing even got in here, just evidence that people packed and left in a hurry.

Rana perceives (16) next building. 16 investigation for Tarma-Diem as well - they see a lot of nice towels in this bath house, they take one. It’s fluffy and soft (one should always bring a towel, rules of adventure and all that).

Rana skips the clown car building for the biggest building. There’s a giant worm in the middle of the building part that we could smell long before we see it.

Tarma-Diem, meanwhile, still investigates clown car building with a 16 - scorch marks inside, wrecked, food stuffs, some dead little ones inside, they close it up like Rana did with the other ones, then join everyone else at the big building.

Rana goes in, the rest of us follow. Phi finds half of a medicine kit. Phi 19s investigation

Rana perceives 17 on last plaza building - nothing in there. 2 investigation from Tarma-Diem.

Rana looks out toward a small building on the fringe of the village.

Tarma-Diem: That one was closed up tight and empty when I checked earlier.

Rana goes to have a look anyway - 14 perception (told ya ~).

Ixayl’anu gets her platinum ring back from Rana.

Rana begins making a shrieker corpse pile in the middle of the road, including the few from the clown car building. The rest of us begin helping.

Tarma-Diem hits everyone with prestidigitation again after we complete the corpse pile

We argue a bit about rooftops vs. the comfort of the tiny hut which cannot fit on them, but certainly has a bottom. Tarma-Diem and Ixayl’anu opt for comfort, while Rana and Phi opt for better vantage points and safety. We split shifts accordingly (1 rooftopper, 1 tinyhutter/1 dark vision, 1 not).

Tarma-Diem casts tiny hut in a 10 ft radius around them, within sight of the corpse pile but not so close the smell permeates the dome. They also take first watch in order to finish scribing alarm. Self-imposed concentration check only a 6, so it takes them two hours instead of just one to finish scribing the alarm spell.

They let everyone know they can cast perimeter alarms now, then ritual cast it on the inside of the hut, choosing the bell ping so everyone can hear it if the hut gets disturbed by giant worms.