Timberlands Session Twenty Two

Session Twenty Two: Hobnobbing

An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary

The heroes gathered in the fortified Broken Bough inn after confronting an army’s worth of animated weapons outside. The owner, Edvan Reeve, was once an adventurer himself and was wearing his ill-fitting armor just in case trouble came knocking. Edvan was glad to meet a clearly experienced crew as they seemed even more skilled than the companions he once had. Edvan explained that they had several townsfolks hold up within the inn and were living off of the tavern’s stores for now. He’d hoped that some relief would come, or if not that they’d be able to make a run to the lord mayor’s abode which was better outfitted for a prolonged siege. He poured out ale on the house for the heroes and bade an older serving woman, Maddie, to fetch food for them too. After brief introductions, during which time it became clear he and the party’s ally Niq Brownfoot knew one another, Edvan asked Niq to look at some the injured. The goblin was happy to do so, especially after learning that the other bar wench, Daisy, had been cut up by her own kitchen knives. The pair disappeared upstairs.

Through the entire conversation, the half-elf tax collector Wren Holdfast watched and assessed the party. She was dressed in brigandine, as were her two guards Fearic and Pherim. Knowing that she’d gotten a contract at some point to assassinate Wren, Sykes the eladrin rogue struck up a conversation with the shrewd woman. Wren introduced herself and asked if the party was actually adventurers and if so, who was in charge. Sykes stated Wild, the tabaxi ranger, was their captain. This was news to everyone, including Wild. However, Wren chose to speak to Wild directly, even after the mischievous catfolk used alter self to make himself look like a shorter version of his other party member Aelric the satyr bloodhunter. Wren remained unflappable and continued. She harbored a warm spot for adventurers as they solved problems and brought back the treasure to civilization. That treasure then got spent and fueled taxes. She wondered as to why they’d travelled to Inniscrone.

Wild and Sykes explained that they were in Inniscrone seeking the famed blacksmith Gerwald Knapp but along the way came to suspect that Gerwald was behind the animated weapon assault. The changeling dervish, Riley, went into further detail about the variety of victims and flying tools they’d ran across on the way here or even weeks before. Aelric drank and mentioned he just happened to be in the area hunting arcanaphages. Ea the bearfolk wizard was just pleased to be with the group. Wren was displeased at the news, but not surprised. She’d come to Inniscrone because of Gerwald as well. The tax collector was convinced Gerwald wasn’t paying the taxes that he should, and likewise that the Lord Mayor Levinia Greye was also avoiding the dues she owed. However, she’d not been able to investigate much before the whole town was engulfed in violence. She and her guards were staying here for the time being, but would have to make a break for it eventually.

By then, Edvan came back down and made sure everyone’s mugs were full. He added a few more notes to the conversation while casting doting looks toward Wren. The half-elf was either obvious to the innkeeper’s affection or chose to ignore it. Edvan explained that the town had a boom after Gerwald arrived and more people travelled through Inniscrone. Hell, he’d had to build an addition onto the inn. Still, Gerwald seemed a bad influence for as the town grew, they got away from the old ways and attracted more hardened folks to the area. He had no idea of any wrongdoing that the blacksmith or lord mayor may have gotten up to. When asked about the hob mobs, Edvan said that there had always been rumors of helpful, wee fey in the area. Edvan said that when he was a boy folks used to leave out treats as a gift to the hobs for helping in the community. Over time, though, that practice stopped and then all but disappeared when the recent boom happened. The only person who even spoke about it was an older woman, Eloise, who grey even when he was a boy. She’d passed on the last year or so and Gerwald had bought her home near the center of town. There might be some clues as to the smith’s whereabouts there. Edvan also let slip that they’d seen the Hob Mobs gathering the broken flying weapons and repairing them.

Sykes pointed out that they’d cleared out the village square of the weapons and now might be the time to smuggle some folks to the mayor’s home. Edvan readily agreed and hurried to gather folks. In his absence, Wren explained that Edvan sees the best in people in his naivety. She is convinced that the lord mayor and Gerwald are up to no good and reward the heroes handsomely for finding evidence therein and then delivering them to her authority. The heroes let her know that they’d see what they could do. However, they were a bit put off as Wren had made a crack that abbess sounds close to abscess when the party mentioned they were working for the Convent of Quite Grace. Clearly the tax collector had no fondness for religions.

Edvan returned, along with a ruffle-up Niq, who looked pleased as a peach. The heroes playfully chided the goblin for what sort of healing he’d been up too. The civilians that wanted to make a run for the lord mayor’s manor made ready. Edvan opened the door. The heroes kept an eye on the town square to make sure the commoners got across safely. In doing so, Ea noticed that there were more Swarms of Direflies now gathered around the well and the glow from the Honeycombed Horror within was growing brighter. Riley postulated that perhaps the Vainglories hovering around it previously acted as a sort of bug-zapper that kept the waning court menace contained. The party grumbled, wondering what trouble they’d unwittingly released. There was little time to think about that though. Edvan bolted the inn uptight once the civilians were let into the mayor’s house. Then the champions snuck out the back of the Broken Bough and made their way to Gerwald Knapp’s house.

Repaired flying weapons were already floating out of some of the abodes where hob mobs were working. The heroes’ route took through some fields just off the town square, and they barely missed being detected by a Fallower… and likewise didn’t notice it either. When it was clear they’d not be able to cross a main road without being spotted by flying swords, Aelric reluctantly summoned a spirit wolf and sent the poor animal running in the opposite direction from them to distract the weapons. As the creature was cut down, the champions dashed into the house’s yard and then inside. Though, Peregrine the half-orc archer stayed outside to keep watch and Wild joined him.

Inside Gerwald’s home, they found the place richly appointed. Gerwald clearly was living above his means. The pantry was well stocked with all manner of rich foods and drink. The furniture was comfortable and well made. Riley went to investigating the hearth as it still had some ashes in it. Sykes noted how clean the place was, remarkably so while Ea focused on detecting magic. Aelric sampled the booze and found it better than the lord mayor’s swill. Sharing information, Ea and Sykes were able to find a hidden space under the floorboards in a guest room. Inside was a hand-chest of fine wood that radiated conjuration magic. They placed it on the dining room table and inspected it. Around the same time, Riley made a grisly discovery. Under the plate of the hearth was a tightly packed humanoid skeleton that didn’t look quite right. Aelric eased to his hooves and came over to have a gander. The bloodhunter determined the victim was female, likely a fey of some sort.

By the strange chest was on the kitchen table and opened. Out came a collection of flying, miniature tools which spoke to the heroes in sylvan. They explained they were ‘Hobs End’, tools of dead hobs animated by their spirits by Eloise, who had been an Ebon court fey in disguise. She’d always looked after the village and hobs there, living and dead. Of course, Hobs End was quite distressed to find out that she’d passed on, but offered to help the party going forward. Upon investigating Gerwald’s room they found a chest of gemstones along with a silver stiletto stamped with the icon of the Silver Saints. The Silver Saints were an areligious order opposed to the archfey deities and their worship. Their crusade had driven out the first colonists of what was now the Congressional Congress IE the Timberlands setting. This didn’t bode well at all.

Sykes suspected the hob mobs around town were repairing the flying weapons because of Eloise’s murder and the resulting disrespect they’d been shown. So, she gathered up some of the fine food and wine and snuck to the nearest house where the wee fey were working. She offered them the treats and proper respect, much to the hobs’ relief. That group promised to stop working on weapons if the townsfolk went back to respecting them and allowed Sykes to gather up the flying weapon pieces.

The rogue reported back to her companions at Gerwald’s home. As a group, they gathered up more offerings and moved to the building that houses most of the hobs and made a large offering to the creatures. Again, this offering was well received. The hobs allowed the heroes to gather the weapon fragments but kept working on the vainglories. The hobs explained that indeed, the lightning-charged constructs kept the direflies and thing in the well at bay. They’d already gotten some great swords out there to try and tamp the growing swarms back down.

Peregrine summoned his pact weapon in its original form, and asked the hobs to take a look. He’d been hearing mutters from the weapon compelling him to come to Inniscrone. The half-orc explained that’d run across the weapon, as a strange greatsword, and when it touched it, he started hearing the stern celestial voice. It had also changed into his preferred weapon, a heavy crossbow. The hob mob looked it over. They surmised that it was in fact Cindermane’s work, but made before the fey had been captured. As far they could tell, the fey artisan had captured a celestial ember, beaten it down to its base arcane energy, and then reshaped it into this weapon. Clearly, Cindermane was not as just as the party first thought, but they suspected such given he was part of the Waning Court. Peregrine thanked the hobs.

The heroes considered their options and decided to first destroy the flying weapons that had been repaired before dealing with the honeycomb horror in the well along with the direflies. That would allow them to move about the city a bit more freely. With trepidation, they moved into position and got ready to charge.

Just as the battle began, strained shrieks split the early evening clouds above…