Starter Set, Reception, Session 7 Part 4

The party approached the crumbling tower as quietly as possible, readying for a fight.

The sun setting over the trees, a stillness entered the air.  A low, sickly green fog rolled across the hillside, emanating from the tower.  The fog created a humid, sticky sensation on the skin, and an acrid, sour smell burning the nostrils.  Hundreds of birds surrounded the clearing around the tower, staring intently without a sound, silently watching the scene unfold.

Durial approached the tower as silently as he could.

"I know you're out there," spoke a female voice echoing from within the building.  "Speaking with the druid.  I can smell his foul odor."

"I know that druid wants me to leave. Coveting my treasure. Undoubtedly I'm sure you do, too."

"I have come to parlay," said Durial.  "I have an offering of treasure, and a safe home free from followers."

"...Very well.  Come inside, show me what you have to offer," she said, enticing Durial to enter.

Entering the round ruined structure, the drow rogue found a locked chest resting in the center of the space, and a broken stairway curving up towards a missing second floor.  Standing upon the upper-most stairs, the elven woman in green looked upon him.

Her eyes narrowed, she waited quietly as he drew forth a map.  "I can show you the location of a castle in the woods to the south that is no longer occupied," he said.

"Place it on the chest over there," she motioned.  He turned and went to lay the map down, when her voice shifted, deepening, becoming a loud growl.

"That's far enough."

Durial raised his head to the full form of the dragon, looming over him angrily with death in her eyes, just meeting her gaze in time for her poisonous breath to engulf him.

Starter Set, Deceptions, Session 7 Part 3

Not easily dissuaded, the adventurers went forth to address the hooded figures that Reidoth had described.  They carefully crept around the backside of a building they suspected Giant Spiders to dwell within; however, their stealth was not quite sufficient, and they found themselves acosted by the 10 foot tall arachnids.  Eva, the human druid, decided to become a Giant Spider herself, shapeshifting to meet them head on.  Spells and weapons flying, the monsters were defeated with surprising ease.

-----

The party continued through the town, coming upon a house that appeared barricaded and occupied.  Durial, the drow rogue, snuck up and listened through the door.  Several voices inside were discussing their plans of how to do as "the Black Spider" wanted.

Durial motioned for Eva, still in Giant Spider form, to stand beside him, as the rest of the party hid.  The drow rogue then knocked on the door, and waited in broad daylight for those inside to open the door.

A figure in a black mask and robe peeked through a curtained window, then moments later opened the door.  Behind him stood several robed figures in less-decorated masks.

"The Black Spider sent me to check in on your status," said Durial, with the Giant Spider standing by his shoulder.  His deception worked, as the leader told the drow rogue that they were having trouble convincing the dragon, having followed her yet again to this new location.  The leader indicated that they planned to offer the dragon several diamonds to consider assisting the Black Spider.

Durial convinced the robed leader to give him the jewels, that the Black Spider was displeased with their failures.  Giant Spider Eva loomed behind Durial, aiding his attempt at intimidation.  The robed man handed over the pouch, containing 300 gold worth of diamonds, and said that they would wait for the drow's return and further instruction.

With the door closed, the party quickly came up with a cunning plan: they searched for nearby zombies, finding the ruin of a barracks with several inside.  With the nimbleness and speed of a Giant Spider, Eva then led the zombies pied-piper style, through the ruined streets towards the abandoned house with the robed men.

Even climbed the walls onto the roof of the boarded-up house, and reached down with a long spider leg.  With a knock on the door, the men inside were fooled into an ambush with the undead.  The leader was killed, along with most of the men, though 2 of the men were able to escape and flee into the woods.

-----

Encouraged by the ease of their exploration thus far, they decided to approach the tower to the north of town, where Venomfang the young green dragon resided.

Starter Set, Weeding the Lawn, Session 7 Part 2

As they approached, they found a sign is posted at the outskirts of the town, the letters red as if written in blood:

"DANGER! Plant monsters AND zombies!  Turn back now!"

A gray squirrel skittered away as they read the sign, jumping from tree to tree.

They pressed on, into the misty, damp village ruins.  Coming upon a set of crumbling houses, they pushed aside brambles and weeds to enter the first building.  Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by twig creatures, pulling themselves up from the ground, having pretended to be merely dead shrubs.  Little more than a nuisance, the party cleared the path of the blighted plant creatures, and continued in their investigation.

They came upon an old tavern, named the Brown Horse, its faded sign depicting a cartoonish smiling horse holding aloft a mug of ale.  The door nearly fell off the rusted hinges, and peering inside, they could smell old yeast and a hint of ash.  The party filed inside, and as they approached the bar, 2 ashen corpses rose and attacked.  As Lemon, the human barbarian, gleefully slashed one down with her new glowing crystal sword, the corpse expelled a noxious flood of sickening ash, causing her to cough uncontrollably.  Seeing this, the party decided to destroy the next at range, and would take care to avoid contact with them should they encounter more.

Following the trail further into town, they came around a bend, and found an elven woman in a green dress blocking their path.

Durial, the drow rogue, approached her cautiously.

"I suggest you leave now," said the woman.  Durial felt the attempt to coerce his mind, but resisted her spell.  With that, the woman frowned, and disappeared into a puff of mist, teleporting into the forest.

Eva, the human druid, remembered her youth in this village, and led the group south, to the home of her former mentor, Reidoth.

This house appeared to be the only one in good repair.  The doors looked sturdy and reinforced, the thick shutters closed.  A large tree appeared to be looming over the back of the home.

Eva knocked on the front door, which appeared to open on its own.  "Come in, Eva," said Reidoth calmly.  "It has been some time."

Inside, they found a dark-skinned white-haired gaunt man sitting at a small table, appearing to be playing a game of chess.  The back window was open, and a branch was reaching inside, moving a piece in turn with the game.

Reidoth introduced the tree-creature, "this is my dear friend, Steelbeard," motioning to a face made of bark and moss looming through the open window.  Steelbeard the treant's hollow eyes and slow smile greeted the group, "visitors!  Would you like some tea?"

The party settled in, taking a rest from their exploration of Thundertree.
Eva asked Reidoth why he was still there.  He explained that after Mount Hotenow's eruption cursed the land, he remained behind to keep the ash zombies that came down from the mountain from escaping and attacking Neverwinter.

He motioned to a potted shrubbery in the corner of the room, which them moved on its own, pushing root-legs out of cracks in the pottery and walking across the room.  He told them that he had been creating awakened shrubs to combat the zombies; however, his control over the plants faded due to the cursed land, and the blight was taking his creations and twisting them.  Now, he just tries to drive people away and let the blights fight it out with the zombies.

The war between plants vs zombies had been waging for decades.

"Sadly, the curse has also taken its toll on my friend, Steelbeard," said Reidoth.

Steelbeard, hearing his name, looked up from the chessboard once more, exclaiming "visitors!  Would you like some tea?"  The party surmised that the poor treant wasn't doing so well.

The group described the lady in green, which Reidoth advised them was actually an illusion.  In reality, the "lady" was none other than a young green dragon named Venomfang, whose recent arrival had caused the cursed land to become more volatile lately.

Following her arrival, Reidoth spotted several giant spiders taking over the center of town, as well as a group of people in black robes and masks on the other side of town.  Reidoth didn't know what their story was, but they hadn't approached him yet, nor had they taken notice of him skittering around as a small gray squirrel.

"Honestly, you should probably just be on your way.  Far too dangerous around these parts."

Starter Set, Thunderous Origins, Session 7 Part 1

The party gathered the corpses of their fallen enemies into the front hall, then rejoined Sildar and Gundren, and took up residence in the bedroom of the defeated King Grol.

-----

Lemon's dreams were filled with the face of of a man in armor wielding a greatsword.  When she awoke, the name "Regdar" resonated in her mind.  Feeling compelled to examine the sword hilt, she uttered the name.  A wisp of smoke rose from the hilt, and solidified into a smoky crystalline blade, glowing a pale blue in the shadow of the room.  Testing this new blade, she found it dissolved when the sunlight coming through the window touched it, reforming once more while in shadow.

(DM Note: Greatsword with psychic damage that cannot be used in direct sunlight.)

-----

Entering the kitchen, the group found Droop standing in front of the old stove, holding something in her hands.  On the stove, a small iron pot glistens with a small bit of molten gold.

Fleek was leaning against the wall, arms folded, smiling at his daughter, a tear in the corner of his eye.  “I fixed it.” Droop said, holding up her mother’s bowl, the cracks filled in with a new gold inlay.  She smiled coyly, looking over at the corpse of Yegg, the goblin cook, “he… had some gold teeth…”

(DM Note: This is Droop's Mother's offering bowl to Meriadar, broken by the Bugbears in Tresendar Manor, described in "Starter Set, Motivations and Reunions, Session 3, Part 2")

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The party discussed their options, as they weren't far from Eva's former home of Thundertree.  In a show of support for their new friend, they chose to take this opportunity, and would go North as Sildar would take Gundren back South to Phandalin himself, and would help keep peace in the town until the men delivering Iarno to Neverwinter returned.

-----

It was approaching sunset the next day when they came upon Thundertree.

"Cresting a hill at the edge of the Neverwinter wood, a light rain overhead, you can almost make out the broken peak of Mount Hotenow 30 miles to the north.  Nearly 3 decades ago, the eruption from that far away mountain blocked out the sun and cursed the land.  Strange zombies came down from that mountain, along the river, and chased everyone away."

"From your vantage point, you can see the town below spread before you.  The forest looks strange, mutated, twisted.  The trail along the river gradually becomes overgrown.  Near the middle of town is a hill with a stone tower, partially collapsed, low fog spreading through the surrounding trees.

Roofs are collapsed on many buildings, some more or less intact."

"You have returned home, Eva"

Starter Set, Further Desecrating Grol, and the Owlbear Doll, Session 6 Part 3

[Fun note: Droop, the female goblin NPC in our game, was played today by a friend's 14 year old daughter, trying out D&D for the first time...]

The party prepared to continue to clear out the remaining enemies, and stealthily peered through the Temple room door into the front entry hall.  The could hear two hobgoblins talking in a room across the hall; two guard-post rooms could be seen further down the hall near the main entrance to the castle.

Hefting the head of the deceased King Grol in her hand, Droop readied herself for action.

Bursting into the hobgoblin barracks, the party took the resting soldiers by surprise.  The noise drew out a few goblins from further down the hall; Droop was able to down the first goblin guard she saw using her once-captor's skull as a fast-ball special (Natural 20!).

They made short work of their enemies, with Droop leading the charge and downing several of her former captors personally.

Th party found that only one room remained occupied in the castle: the kitchen.  Still in giant spider form, Eva the druid skittered through the door, frightening the half-dozen goblins inside.  The lead goblin in a tall chef hat was ready for them, and commanded the goblins to attack with kitchen knives while he threw vials of acid at the spider.

The party filled him and several goblins with arrows and magic missiles, then commanded the remaining 3 goblins to stand down.  They decided to take mercy on the pitiful kitchen slaves, allowing them to flee into the night.

Among the materials left in the kitchen, they found what appeared to be the shell of a dragon egg.

Taking a moment to rest, it was only a few minutes before they could hear the approach of a returning hobgoblin scouting party.  Confident, if a bit war weary, the adventurers charged to battle once more, this time with Eva still in giant spider form taking the scouting party by surprise from behind.

A dire wolf pet of the hobgoblins took Eva down for a moment, reverting her to human once more; in response, the druid met like-with-like, and faced off with the dire wolf as a dire wolf herself.  The rest of the group demolished the hobgoblins, and the dire wolf quickly saw it was on the losing side; Eva allowed the beast to flee into the night.

When the dust settled, Droop went into a side hallway, where tucked into a small corner of a broken tower room was her old bed-mat of straw and fabric scraps, and her stuffed owlbear toy doll that her mother made for her when Droop was an infant.