An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary
The second time the party of heroes spent the night at the Smuggler’s Boot Inn and Tavern it passed without incident. They’d re-sealed the demi lich Ipqu the Bleeder and rid the nearby woods of his bloodthirsty creations. Besides getting paid, they were treated to baths, drink, and rooms on-the-house from a relieved populace.
However, they weren’t quite finished protecting the village of Tichner Fork. While the wendigo were taken care of, blood honey chunks and swarms of direflies were still floating into town from upriver. The heroes knew that it wouldn’t be long before the waning court of fey’s corruption flowed entirely over Tichner Fork and turned into a landscape of horror as it had so many other frontier settlements. After refreshing their healing potions and other supplies, the party headed north along the Tichner River.
The first day was dreary and rainy, but at least the weather had turned warmer than earlier in the month. It was closer to the seasonal water they expected. They didn’t run into any issues during the day and settled in for the night. During the darker hours, however, Aelric the satyr blood hunter, and Riley the changeling dervish caught the sound of flapping wings and curious snarls from the dark woods around their tiny hut spell. It wasn’t long before a manticore landed nearby and sniffed around the parameter. A bold soul, Aelric stepped out to speak to the monstrosity.
The beast was hungry and had caught the scent of its favorite food; goblin. It inquired if there was a goblin inside the protective spell and once it was confirmed there was (Niq the party’s all), the manticore tried to bargain for the morsel. Aelric refused of course, but struck a deal to hunt down elk in the area the next day for the beast to eat. The manticore, evil or not, knew it was outgunned by the party and agreed. It also let the satyr know that it’d seen thicker direfly swarms further up the river. It and its pride had avoided them, but they’d run across a dam of giant beavers driven mad by a direfly infestation. If the heroes continued on their path they’d run into it as well.
The next day, Aelric and the tabaxi ranger, Wild, made good on Aelric’s promise. They found the elk scarce in the area but managed after a few hours to track down the large beasts and take them down for the manticore and its pride. This still put the heroes behind and they didn’t reach the giant beaver dam until later afternoon. By then, the crimson glow of direflies filled the sky. There was also louder buzzing than any of the champions had heard before as well as cruel sylvan voices.
A trio of waning barbs mounted on giant direflies hovered above the dam. The heartless hunters took potshots at the pain-maddened giant beavers. The poor mammals were riddled with oozing direfly honeycombs. Outraged by the overt malice, the heroes immediately attacked the dark fey. Sykes, the eladrian assassin, threw herself into the swarms of direflies about and diced her way through the bugs. Aelric leaped onto one of the giant direflies to engage a vile archer directly. Ea, the bearfolk wizard, blasted the insects and waning barb on the flank with firebolts until he grew sick of the bastards and unleashed fireballs instead.
As Aelric clashed with the mounted, flying archer, the waning barb continued to accurately fire at the satyr despite being in melee. The fey had taken its legs out of the saddle, though, and Wild hit it with a hideous laughter spell and off the waning barb fell. Once the fey plummeted to the ground, Riley finished it off with their rapiers.
Despite being on fire, the giant direfly struck by Ea’s spells pressed forward and its curse-filled screamed cracked the heroes’ psyches before the agriother finished it off. Aelric rode the corpse of the giant direfly he was to the ground after decapitating the bug. The last waning barb realized the peril he was in and attempted to escape atop his flying steed. Wild wasn’t going to let that happen. The tabaxi zipped through the trees after the retreating foe on the other side of Tichner River. The pair traded arrow shots at one another as they moved before Wild switched tactics and slew the giant direfly instead. The waning barb terrified screams were cut short when it smashed into a wide redwood.
In the meantime, Sykes used her magic to speak directly to the giant beavers. While they were crazy with pain, the dam-builders were naturally docile creatures. She also discovered that the giant beavers’ infection wasn’t so far along that restoration wouldn’t purge them of the direfly infestation. Over the next few hours, she channeled her limited pact patron’s abilities to soothe the beasts. Once the giant beavers were on their way to start another dam, the heroes set their corrupted one ablaze. Exhausted by the battle, and now deep into the evening, the party settled in for the night. They inspected the gear the waning barbs were covering. Their heraldry was covered with a wide hand surrounded by autumn leaves. The sides of their saddles were further marked with braids of humanoid hair dyed red. The heroes weren’t sure what it represented, but they knew it couldn’t be good.
Again during his watch, Aelric noted something was off in the air. This time, Sykes was awake as well. The beaver dam continued to burn and both of them noticed someone standing in its smoke on the other side of the river. The pair made their way over and as the smoke cleared a pale-skinned fey woman stood tracked them with her imperious gaze. The woman’s gaze was imperious and her body garbed in an elegant ensemble somewhere between armor and gown. Aelric recognized her as a peerage of the Ebon Court and knelt while Sykes remained hidden behind a boulder.
The fey introduced herself as Wisteria Atop Headstones, the Grandmistress of the Order of the Unquiet Hours. Her knightly order served the Ebon Court’s necromantic needs, whole their fey numbers were small they employed a host of bound ghosts and risen corpses. Grandmistress Wisteria asked after the incident here and Aelric dutifully filled her in on the details. The fey noble knew the symbol the cruel hunters were wearing. It belonged to one of the Waning Princes, Whispering Winds the Thief of Leaves. Likewise, the red braid marking tied them further to Bloodmane, a mercenary hive crofter. Bloodmane and her brother, Cindermane, served whatever waning prince paid them the most and were quite familiar with the mortal world. Aelric scowled and let the Grandmistress that they’d already encountered Cindermane, who was back on the loose now. (Session 25)
Wisteria Atop Headstones was less than pleased. However, she did appreciate the information and courtesy Aelric afforded her. As a gift, she offered a sprig of withered wisteria to call upon her aid once they found the waning court compound. She also informed them that a different waning prince, The Prince of Omens, Beloved by Banshees, was culling Loga Orcs to the east and would soon threaten Congressional lands. This foe was who she sought, in truth, as he employed the undead. As far as the Grandmistress knew, Duke Fallowfields who the party had fought before was not in league with either waning prince. Likely, the bastard fey was merely trying to take advantage of the situation. Then, in a hail of white, dead petals the Grandmistress was gone.
With a fresh start, but still under rain-swollen clouds, the heroes continued upstream. Near midday, they spotted more giant direflies and those of normal side buzzing about a waterfall. On an island beside the waterfall’s pool, a waning blade worked on the tack of his vile, insect stead. The party crept forward with the intent of getting the drop of the fey and flies. However, Aelric was ambushed by a lurking crawling carpet which alerted their foes. The heroes engaged the bugs and bloodthirsty plants, making short work of them. However, the waning blade escaped underneath the waterfall. In his wake, an eyestalk sprouted from the ground and drove the heroes to cover with its eye beams.
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