An untamed frontier. Dark cults. Fickle fey gods. Ravenous fiends. Nothing black powder and sorcery won't fix... . Timberlands Campaign Diary
With the bewitched paladin, Ser Silvercrown, freed and his fey lover, Lichenclaw, likewise released from prison, the heroes took a well-deserved respite. Staying in the portable inn of their new allies, the Wrathyrst Brothers, the party got a good night’s sleep despite the ceaseless, moaning wind.
In the morning, it was time to part ways. Ser Silvercrown thanked the heroes for all they’d done. However, he regretted he could not travel back with them to Hillsbrook Valley. He suspected the testimony they needed him to oversee was important, yes, but not as important as aiding the war effort to the southeast. If what the Wrathyrst brothers said was true, the waning court host there was a bigger threat. While his powers had diminished due to his recent actions, the paladin knew his sword was better used on the frontlines there. The party agreed, their simple task could wait. They wished him and his friends the best of luck.
Not that the parting was without tears. Lichenclaw was beside herself to part ways with the valiant knight. In turn, torment played across Ser Silvercrown’s features. Cedwyn, the otterfolk sorceress, was convinced that Simon Wrathyrst was going to pine after her once she was gone despite having avoided the necromancer the entire time. Freya, the rabbit folk artificer felt the same way about Kaspar Wrathyrst, though they had spent quite a bit of time in one another’s company. Before all was said and done, Ser Silverclaw asked the heroes to look after Lady Lichenclaw for him and promised the glastig that he’d be back as soon as he could.
With that the party departed, trudging back to the pass over the Pond Peaks. Along the way, Lady Lichenclaw confided in Freya that she worried Ser Silverclaw would never come back. He might be slain in battle, but she got the impression his fellow knights didn’t fancy their love too much. Freya did her best to keep the fey woman’s spirits high. It wasn’t long before they reached the pass where the summer fey The Dragonfly Errant and the winter fey Baroness Moonseeker still waited. Baroness Moonseeker and Lady Lichenclaw were excited to see one another as the two shy maids were long-time friends. The Dragonfly Errant was pleased to see the party returned. He and his grey pixies were interested in their tale and if they’d managed to find the magic items needed to fuel the Arboreal Juggernaut. (The quest accepted in Session 30)
Gwaedd, the otterfolk bard, filled the Dragonfly Errant in while Freya got to work inserting reclaimed magic items into the war machine to get it up and running. Gwaedd also offered the large diamond the fey knight had provided to barter for such items back as they never used it. The Dragonfly Errant bade them keep it for services rendered. Through it all Naylth, the eladrin echo knight, kept an eye on their surroundings, He was the first to notice the wind picking up and the growing chill in the air. Gorse, branches, leaves, and other debris soon whipped about the pass. It was joined by an insane cackling. This meant only one thing…
The Riven Gallant (a legendary Brume))was about to attack.
Freya redoubled her efforts while the rest of the assembled heroes made ready for the autumn fey assault. They wondered how many manifestations of the insubstantial fey they would face this time, and what other horrors they would bring with them. Freya got one item inserted and activated and then a second as the wind picked up to the point where the flying detritus drew blood.
“Ah my pretty prey
Let the fun begin
Each of you, I will slay
And claim your skin!”
With a thunderous boom, a manifestation of the Riven Gallant arrived… riding on the back of a gargantuan dragon crafted from dead branches and brittle leaves. Leoleth (Reskinned Adult Copper Dragon with a necrotic breath weapon) had come as previously foretold. (Session 32) Their appearance shredded all of the Dragonfly Errant’s pixie retinue to pieces and knocked Baroness Moonseekers gargoyles from the air. She, along with Lady Lichenclaw ran for cover.
Nalyth yelled at Freya to keep working on the Arboreal Juggernaut while he and Gwaedd charged to the two gorse creations. The rabbit folk artificer nodded but sent her construct companion, Remington with them. Cedwyn worked on putting some distance between herself and the conflict. It proved to be a wise move as Leoleth blanketed the pass in a cone of flensing leaves and withering magic. The breath weapon tore through our heroes but they didn’t falter. Freya paused her work to summon an aura of healing, while Naylth flanked the faux-dragon with his echo. The blows from his accursed mace, the Hungering Maw, tore wide swaths from Leoleth but the creature merely responded by taking flight - the beat of its wings smashing the eladrin and his allies to the ground.
Leoleth landed closer to Gadget, but more so to Cedwyn as the sorceress slung spells at the beast. From the faux-dragon’s back, the Riven Gallant attacked Cedwyn directly but was banished by her next spell. Not that it stopped the brume from mocking the champions on the wind. After all, it was only a manifestation instead of the actual beast. It proclaimed things like:
“The Waning Court Rises!
The Harvest Has Come!
Leoleth will have His Prizes,
Mortals, Succumb!”
“Your pain pleases me,
Pathetic little bugs.
Let the wails fly free
You pitiful slugs.”
Leolth’s claws tore at both Nalyth and Remington, and its long ‘tail’ of sharpened branches and necromantic power punctured Cedwyn and Gwaedd. It was all that the otterfolk bard could do to keep his teammates inspired as they rolled and dodged in between the attacks. Then Leoleth exhaled the storm of befound leaves again; Nalyth and the Dragonfly Errant went down while Remington the construct exploded. Freya’s aura got Nalyth back on his feet and Gwaedd’s spells kept them there, but they were perilously close to death.
Freya finished her repairs and the Arboreal Juggernaut rumbled to life. The war machine, formed from standing stones and enchanted wood, advanced on Leoleth. It raised its arms and a great blizzard erupted from its form, engulfing the faux-dragon. Leoleth’s leaves withered, its branches snapped, its power waned but the profane thing survived. Not for long. Sensing Leoleth had been made vulnerable to ice magic, Cedwyn used metamagic to transmute a fireball into one of frost and blew the horror to pieces.
The heroes breathed a sigh of relief, but only a short one. They knew that the Riven Gallant’s manifestation would return any second. They quickly expended potions and spells to sitch their wounds with Gwaedd polymorphing into a giant terror lizard to make sure the brume went down.
“Die, Vermin, DIE!
I cannot stand the sight of you
So I demand you comply
As I run you through!”
When the Riven Gallant returned to this plane, they pulled all of the autumn wind’s energy into its being. What solidified wasn’t a mere manifestation, but the doomed fey itself. Even after the heroes emptied a volley into the Riven Gallant, they hacked away with their leaf blade, cackling the entire time. The attacks didnt’ stop even as Gwaedd snatched the fey in his transformed jaws. Though, the grinding of the terror lizard’s teeth finally broke the Riven Gallant’s magic and ended their pitiful existence.
With their dying breath, the dark fey declared:
“From this day forth your touch is doom
You shall only see wicked hives bloom
Your hand brings with it the autumn's chill
The blossoms wither, the trees you kill”
((Modified Curse from the Ravenloft Boxed Set minibook on curses))
Gwaedd and the others worried about what the brume’s curse might bring, but for now, they had a choice to make. The Arboreal Juggernaut was going to seal the mountain pass with early ice and snow so no waning host could travel further east without having to travel through heavy human opposition on a southern route. The Dragonfly Errant, Baroness Moondseeker, and Lady Lichenclaw were going to return to the latter’s pond, an Ebon Court Circle, and from there to the feywild to petition for more help.
This meant the band could either retreat further east to the relative safety of Hillsbrook Valley and meet up with the other troupe of player characters, or they could head to the southwest to help the Wrathyrst Brothers save Newpoole and thus the heart of the Congressional Colonies. Champions, every one of them, the party bid their fey allies farewell and hurried back down to catch up with the Wrathyrst party before they left.
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