LFG Session 33: Of Forest and Fae

Run Date: February 28th, 2023

PCs

TAG: Lv2 Rogue

Karthalian: Lv2 Ranger

Of Forests and Fae

Another day with two. The players decided to continue last week's investigations and weigh whether or not they wanted to hunt down the giant ice lizards they've been hearing about. Of late, I've been going over old session reports and my players have started to become more cautious over time; but this is not a bad thing. For each point of caution, they've earned one in "using the world." To this end, the players had no desire for a head on fight with the lizards and decided instead to consider poisoning them; either to kill or weaken. They would then blame the disappearance of children on them and reap the rewards.

This resulted in a nearly 1 hour discussion of whether or not Hemlock was growing right now (I use local weather) and how much they'd need. To my surprise, one of the librarians knew quite a bit about it, where we could find some, and options for brewing or concentrating it. As far as the game mechanics go, I also had to figure out if there was an alchemist available since the players weren't willing to run the risk of brewing it themselves. Unfortunately, the only option ended up being Riversmeet and the party was a few days out. Karthalian offered to head over while Tag remained behind to continue gathering information.

Karthalian's trip took a total of five days and involved an awkward discussion with a rather shifty salesman that went on and on about "a special poison designed specifically for taking out very large 'rats.'" On Tag's end, she learned that last week's discussions were not necessarily open. She spent a lot of time with Auntie Auria, the old nurse, learning about planting seasons and the festivals that go with them. She went on about the Countess Straire's special guest, The Lady of Haywood, and how the festivals involved a certain amount of infidelity. The Lady's apprentices would choose men to lie with during the festival and planting seasons; and the result was the largest harvests in the land. The men and wives were hesitant to discuss the topic and it was more or less an open secret.

After her discussions with Auria, Tag spent some time with the children. Her overall goal was to try and keep them distracted so they'd stop wandering into the woods so much, but as kids do, she was instead flooded with weird stories. On the list was: a giant green crystal sticking out of the ground, a 10-headed creature with long, snake-like necks, and a party of mutated creatures with spears that had stubby limbs, swollen bellies, and extra mouths. After a point, Tag settled on "here's a popsicle, here's a dagger, have fun."

Once Karthalian returned from his venture, he and Tag decided to investigate the giant green crystal. The two had high hopes that it was an emerald, and they could sneak it out of the woods without offending the Lady. They recruited the child who saw it to guide them. As far as wilderness rolls go, this kid was on fire, and probably a better navigator than Karthalian. Familiarity of the locale, I guess.

On the way to the crystal, the party came upon a clearing and a hill. As they reached the top, a white hawk flew by bearing a woman. The party pushed their guide to the ground and prepared for a fight, but one never came. The rider, a red-haired woman in earthen robes, shawl and hand-made jewelry, greeted them. She warned them of the dangers around and advised the party go back where they came from. Tag took the opportunity to ask if the woman knew of the Lady and ask some questions regarding the locale. She learned that the hawk was the Lady's, her mother, and that she had many sisters. Tag also asked if the woman had seen a young girl that had similar features to her (red hair, green eyes). The woman replied that it sounded like one of her sisters.

They pushed aside the usual suspicions, and had no interest in attempting to engage what could be a powerful witch. They then bid farewell to the woman and pushed further into the wood where they discovered a small stream that cut through the wood and down several steps of stone. At the bottom of this small dropoff was the crystal the boy had described. The group scanned the area for danger as well as a way down, but ended up deciding against it once they learned more details. The crystal was indeed huge and green, more quartz than emerald. Around it, however, were several sealed urns wrapped in bands of copper, all housed within a circle of rope. "Whatever that is, it's probably there for a reason and not worth the trouble."

So it was the group headed back. The kid continued to be a master of lucky rolls with his navigation, but Karthalian found the chance to show off by spotting a small pack of boar. He picked one off with a solid shot (which also lead to talks about why spears were used for boar) and did a quick cut job to harvest some dinner. Tag was not about to sit around while he did a proper butchering, after all.

Once they returned to Haywich, the session more or less ended. We followed up with a bit of talk and some jokes about this duo, and the players continued their conversation on what we're now calling Wanderer's Rest. Back in Riversmeet, there is a section on the outskirts that the various PCs have been purchasing lots. It seems this is going to become the hub of their crew, even the ones that don't necessarily know each other yet. Tag still wants to open a detective agency and Karthalian is thinking of opening a bar or inn. Across the road is Arken the Artificer and his foster son, and I can't remember the rest. Nonetheless, a fun joke slowly becomes canon and the world gains more depth.

Rewards

2xp

Afterword

Tag has earned enough experience for level 3, and is wanting to develop a Unique Feature involving her Nüra heritage: seeing glimpses of the past. As part of this, she has decided to seek out the Lady of Haywood. It's on this end that another opportunity to experiment is underway. The Lady and her theme were developed by a friend back when I was considering patron play (which thus far has fallen through). I tossed those two in a discord channel to hash out the information and look forward to seeing how Tag's UF comes out.