Dolmenwood 6

This report covers session six of a Dolmenwood campaign refereed by the fantastic inner_blaze. Read the previous session report here. Spoilers abound. Some details may have been lost in translation.

Characters

• Brom Tolmen, 2nd level human knight (played by yours truly)
• Impudence-Hath-Victory, or “Ivy,” 2nd level elf enchanter
• Kitty Pouncemouse, 2nd level grimalkin magician
• Kungus Cobwallop, 2nd level woodgrue enchanter
• Marib Twiggler, 2nd level mossling friar

Into the Woods

On the 15 Chysting, the party visited the Prigwort market. Along with assorted gear, Marib bought a horse (a Hop-Clopper named Fern), Kitty bought a bloodhound named Lucia, and Brom bought a Spookhound named Dogoode and a Lichhound named Loomer. Ivy bought fine clothing for themselves and Kungus, matching so it appeared as if Kungus were in Ivy’s employ. Kungus publicly slandered the Pilstens, calling their ale “Pisston.” The party gathered two new rumors:

• The Earl of Yellow was rumored to have influence over Prigwort.
• The elevated Smyde Humblebuff, who had proposed the position of Council Overmaster, was suspected of trying to diminish The Earl of Yellow’s influence.

The party kept their appointment with Mostlemyre Drouge at Bag Manor. They met Drouge in his octagonal office, and he presented the party with an offer: recover the ring of Sir Chyde from his tomb within a temple of Saint Sedge and earn 5,000 gold pieces. Drouge refused to explain his reason for wanting the ring, though he did provide the party with a history of Sir Chyde (which the referee provided retroactively in session seven).

The party accepted the offer after negotiating a 200 gold advance and a partial for concrete information that would assist Drouge in obtaining the ring. The party departed Prigwort and made their way south through a wetter part of the forest. They happened upon a thick tangle of trees and holly concealing a chasm. Kitty lowered a lantern on a rope down the chasm, and later Ivy climbed down the rope for a better view. These investigations revealed that water flowed down the chasm, which has a depth of 60 feet, and into a cave. Bones were scattered around the cave mouth and its entrance.

Continuing south, the party navigated a gloomy, indigo-shrouded wood full of toads. Throughout the region, the trunk of each older tree featured an unnatural loop. The party found a clearing hosting a miniature unsupported arch of smooth stones. Marib spotted an inscription, obscured by lichen, which read, “To dine overnight, will the daytime delight.” Marib rolled a rock through the arch, which did not yield an unusual result. Ivy determined that the arch was magical, and the party made camp in the clearing.

After a peaceful night’s rest, the party awoke early on 16 Chysting, the feast day of Saint Comice. The party searched the area and discovered a narrow cave mouth amid a heap of boulders, a faint green glow emanating from within. The party waded through squelching mud into an initial cave containing boots, cloaks, satchels, and stout walking sticks. Brom knocked against the cave wall and called out a greeting. A woman replied, “Yes, visitors? I enjoy visitors.”

A young woman with flame tattoos emerged from deeper within the cave, accompanied by three short wooden humanoids constructed from assorted wood scraps, including one with a chessboard chest and chess piece fingers. The woman yelled that she did not, in fact, enjoy visitors, and demanded to know why the party had come. After some back and forth, the woman, who identified herself as Bragwen, claimed that Mother had stolen her wand, which had the power of transfiguration or metamorphosis. Bragwen requested that the party kill Mother and return the wand (though simply returning the wand would also be acceptable). She also referred to the stone arch the party had found as the Luncheon Arch, and that leaving food under it until dawn would yield some unspecified effect.

The party continued their search of the region and arrived at a circle of standing stones and a flat-topped hillock. The bramble-covered path behind them seemed to close together, blocking their retreat. A granite slab rested against the side of the hillock. Within the circle of trilithons rested a slime-coated stag skeleton, a green haze wafting from it as it twitched intermittently. Thirteen iron owls with pentagram eyes hung from nearby tree branches, clanking in the breeze. Ivy recognized them as symbols of the Drune.

Marib felt a holy aura from the stone circle. Kungus threw a rock at the skeleton, which smoked slightly as it contacted the slime. Marib used her mossling knack, root friend, to inquire with nearby roots about the slime. Their response: “summoning ritual; nasty byproduct.”