018 - 250409 - The Hollow I -
Hook:
"That old barn ain't empty, if that's what you're thinking," a scavenger nursing a swollen arm muttered into his drink. "Giant beetles, big as dogs. They don't like sharing." He winced, flexing his fingers. "Something's buried under the floor. Don't know what. Don't care." ~Kesh
Date:
446 PC, Dawnrise 51
Players:
Loot:
None
After Actions:
A breakfast chat at camp, Die-Anna and Raven Madapple are sharing the story of our deaths.
Raven: Maybe next time we should tell Steve where we're going...
Die-Anna: Alright guys, I know I may look... uh a little different so me and Raven are just gonna explain what happened...
Raven: So we were chatting with Kesh about these giant beetles in an abandoned orchard, and I thought BUGS? And apples? Obvs I've never wanted to see anything more in my entire life. Die-Anna was totally flirting with Kesh btw!
Die-Anna: I MEAN I WOULDNT SAY THAT I MEAN like they're cool and- uh i dont know hahah um yeah so anyway APPLES, yeah apples and beetles so we end up walking over there. Honestly it was pretty nice at first, Raven was climbing trees and we were eating apples! Some of them were weird? Like rotten but also alcholoic I think?
Raven: It was super weird to see apples out of season, but snacks are snacks and we didn't question it too much. There was a sticky earwaxy resin on a lot of the trees. I licked the resin... not recommended.
Raven: The orchard used to be a ciderworks called Bigkin & Bramble! We saw the logo on some old broken pottery.
Die-Anna: Godsyeah please if you go out do not lick the resin... then we went a little deeper into the orchard and found this old building where Kesh said they saw the beetles. At first we didn't see any.... that was until I kicked one of these weird resin balls They came out of no where! There were so many beetles and they were pissed! They skittered out of no where and then they started teleporting around trying to get to us. We were able to take down a few but...
Raven: They were relentless, standing on their gross resin balls and attacking nonstop. I tried to run to get a better vantage point to shoot at them... but then we were extremely dead.
Raven: Then we were floating high above the Rift... chilling and observing... you guys this place is so much bigger than we thought.
Die-Anna: The view was insane! I couldn’t feel anything as we drifted up… then I felt this weird pain in my stomach. It was like something was holding us back from going all the way up into the planes
Die-Anna: Then there was this strange voice I think? It was saying something but I felt so strange. It was like we were in jello or something… I think I remember seeing one of the jerman… then we were pulled back
Raven: We woke up on slabs... I felt like I'd been deeply exfoliated, inside and out. Worst spa day ever, but kinda rad that all my scars are gone. Die-Anna looks cool as hell now! I think she got exfoliated even harder than I did.
Die-Anna: Uhh yeah that’s definitely what happened they just took all my skin off hahaha thanks Raven! You look great too! Now that’s what happened and everyone can go back to eating their breakfast! Also if anyone finds our bodies can you give our stuff back
038 - 250730 - A Bitter Vintage - The Hollow II
Date:
Brightwane 35
New moon
Players:
Loot:
Seed Stone from basement of Bigkin & Bramble Cidery Barn [scholar's tent]
Note: "Delivery for Moss-I, handle before dusk"
Sample of beetle resin for Murph
40 gp mixed coinage in resin ball (turned into company)
After Actions:
Ragnum finds Steve immediately on returning to camp:
Steve, I’ll get the written report later, but the bottom line is we got a big bug problem that, if it isn’t dealt with quickly, is going to be a huge bug problem.
Raven, Die-ann, Odette, Dev and I went out to the old Bigkin & Bramble Cidery, where Raven and Die-anna ran into those blinking beetles last month. Well, we were obviously cautious when we got there, given what happened last time, but the beetles were nowhere to be found. Turns out those beetles have dug an underground colony—think ant hill or termite mound, but for this colony, the tunnels are between 3 and 10 ft wide, and we found tunnels that stretch for miles. I was able to map some of the tunnels using a see invisibility scroll, as the resin they use to build their tunnels is apparently solid even in the ethereal plane. We found some exploratory tunnels that reach halfway back to camp.
While at the old barn, we fought a bunch of beetles similar to what had been seen before, but there was one beetle that was at least twice the size of those. We also found some sort of magical stone in the basement of Bigkin & Bramble I'm taking that to the scholar's tent to be looked at, and it looked like there were some cave paintings of furbolgs on some of the tunnel walls, but they got destroyed when the beetles broke through the wall. At any rate, this is a problem that the camp needs to devote serious camp resources to dealing with, or we eventually will run out of here.
039 - 250804 - Branching Paths - The Hollow III
Date:
Brightwane 37
Players:
Loot:
5 x Flask of Controlled Combustion (Wondrous Item, Uncommon)
Description: This flask contains a volatile mixture of Alchemist's Fire and specially treated Oil, designed for both an explosive impact and a controlled burn.
Use: As an action, you can throw this flask up to 20 feet. Upon impact, the target and all creatures within a 5-foot radius must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your Proficiency Bonus), taking 1d4 fire damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. Controlled Burn: After the initial explosion, the area is covered in burning oil. For the next 2 rounds, any creature entering the area or ending its turn there takes 5 fire damage. The oil burns out after this duration.
5 from Murph
After Actions:
We held the center entrance marvelously before the bugs retreated back underground. Since that first assault, Thalia has been sending small skirmish groups of her warriors into the resin-coated passageways. Their efforts have focused on mapping the upper levels, but with miles of twisting corridors to cover, progress has been slow. Still, your role in the initial wave has earned you a noticeable boost in Thalia’s respect. She's even considering inviting some of you back to deal with the beetle queen she assumes is down there.
Essentially, you repelled the initial defense. Now, the combat division is clearing out the top layers of the hive. The center cache is still down there, though.
049 - 251006 - A Hollow Crown - The Hollow IV
Date:
High Flare 6
Players:
Donk
Raven
Keres
Loot:
Seed Stone from basement of Bigkin & Bramble Cidery Barn [scholar's tent]
Note: "Delivery for Moss-I, handle before dusk"
Sample of beetle resin for Murph
40 gp mixed coinage in resin ball (turned into company)
After Actions:
Die-Anna's Report regarding the beetle hive nest thing:
Hiya Steve, so me, Donk, Raven, and Keres went down the beetle hole where Talia and co have been at “war”. Those tunnels were sooooo gross, they were warm from all the beetles scurrying about and puking their goo everywhere, but being the hero’s we are we persevered.
We were tasked with spearheading the assault, aka getting attacked first. Together we cleared out the first cavern of beetles pretty quickly. They all kept gnawing on Donks boots, and surprisingly he and his boots were fine! (need to ask donk where he got them..) Anyway we cleared the first room but one skittered off down the tunnel.
Following the bug we ended up coming across this MASSIVE bridge made from that goo the beetles were making. The cavern was vast and when we looked over the bridge's edge there was nothing but little motes flickering in the distance. Keres said it looked like what she saw at the edge of the rift!
Gravity was also weird, chunks of the resin were floating around us as we made our way across. It was almost peaceful, well besides for the sound of Talia and her guys grunting as they crawled across the bridge because it was too slippery for them.
When we were half way across, Keres noticed a slight thrumming from the end of the bridge. At the end of the bridge there was the main hive, the resin around it was almost church-like. I would almost say beautiful if it wasn’t so gross.
Anyways, we got to the main hive and advanced forward. The beetle queen was massive! She was ethereal in a sense! The queen had some strange aura about her, astral I wanna say but I’m no arcanist. Despite her size Raven (our local bug expert) informed us that she wasn’t even fully grown!! Thank the gods for that! After an intense battle Taila landed the killing blow to the beetle queen (of course after we all wore it down). All the egg sacs were destroyed except for one which we threw into the scholars tent! Overall it seems like we rocked this mission and deserve a nice day at the beach! Or lake?..... Whatever body of water you guys can find would be nice….
Signing out, Die-Anna of the Starshard Banner
059 - 251208 - New Faces - The Hollow IV
Date:
High Flare 39
Players:
Dev
Ragnum
Incilius
Krishna
Loot:
Seed Stone
After Actions:
Incilius, Highflare 39th
Bonita's revelations continue to show me new truths. I have been reassigned to a new place, a place almost as majestic as the places she shows me, and clearly it was meant to be.
After a week of getting acclimated to our new surroundings, Bonita has taken me and my new comrades - Ragnum & Dev, who have been here for some time, and Krishna, a new arrival like me - to a treasure she must have known was there.
In an orchard said to bloom year round, she began to dig, and so I helped her, for while she excels in the spiritual arts, I excel in the physical. While digging, we were set upon by monstrosities, plant creatures of foul design, pulsing with an evil green light as they set upon us. I protected Bonita, and we slew them, allowing me to continue digging down to the treasure she meant to show me - a large green gem-like item, apparently precious to Krishna, and of interest to others around me. Bonita was content with the journey to it, and did not wish to possess it herself, so I have handed it off to those who may learn more from it than I can.
She seems in tune with this land, and so I will learn to be as well, and continue learning from the revelations she blesses me with.
Dev
Report to Steve
Filed on Highflare 39
By Scout Dev
Per your request, Scout Ragnum and I found Recruits Incilius and Krishna and showed them around. Acting on intuition, Recruit Incilius led us to the orchard of the Bigkin and Bramble Ciderworks.
We fought and defeated four bramble creatures, who also appeared to be drawn to the orchard. Upon inspection of the corpses, Scout Ragnum and I found small walnut-sized cores at the center of the remains of three of the creatures and a larger, knotted root at the center of the remains of the larger one. It had a shard of something magical at the center of it. There were also traces of beetle resin in the claws of all four creatures.
Recruit Incilius dug up a fractured crystal orb, which Recruit Krishna was able to identify as a Seed Stone. These are a fey magic, a crystalized heart root that is alive in a limited sense and anchored to a specific environment. Scout Ragnum theorizes that it was used to maintain the orchard, allowing the apples to always be in season, but it fractured because it was not maintained properly in the years following the collapse.
We brought it to the new scholars’ complex for further analysis. Scout Ragnum believes that the shards could be used to help locate similar magic.Dev, journal
Highflare 39
Nearly half of the tents have been moved into Sifren. The Old World Hospitality Complex, formerly a large inn, is serving as the Starshard Banner’s new hub. I’m beginning to think everyone may meet the deadline to move out of our original camp site.
I was updating Ragnum on yesterday’s adventure with Draylor when Merry came up to us, wearing one of Steve’s scarves and being extra emo, even for them. “Existence is steeped in suffering, “they muttered darkly. Merry brought a message from Steve: “Moving today. Please welcome the new scouts. End of the month is coming; keep up with the paperwork.”
We asked if Merry knew where we could find the new recruits. They’re out with all the canvas, “where the discarded things are,” Merry responded sullenly.
We went looking for them, and encountered a human wearing a well-worn military uniform, sitting cross-legged and holding a toad. The man was built like a soldier, but he looked like he’d been living rough for a while. He was staring off into the tree line. Just as he introduced himself as Incillius, an owlkin flew down and landed on Ragnum’s shoulder.
I’m a little surprised Ragnum didn’t go down – the owlkin was about three feet tall. An eagle owl almost as big as the owlkin watched from a tree above.
The owlkin introduced himself as Krishna, and seemed somewhat childlike. He was interested in whether we’d discovered a gate to Faerun. I shared my recent experience with the Good Neighbors in the forest, but Krishna didn’t seem deterred in the least.
Ragnum warned the recruits about the area near Prominence Gate and the beetle infestation as we showed them around.
The toad, which we learned was named Bonita, wriggled out of Incillius’ pocket. He stared into Bonita’s eyes for several moments, and then the toad hopped off his hand and headed northeast into the forest toward the orchard.
As we neared the orchard, the scent of rotting apples assailed us. Bonita started digging in a pile of dried leaves and croaked excitedly at Incillius. He put the toad back in his pocket and started to dig with his hands, then chopped away at the tree roots with a hand axe. Ragnum decided to help dig with a crowbar while Krishna and I just watched. They had made a hole 3-4 feet deep by the time Krishna warned of an incoming attack by four bramble-like creatures.
The new recruits fought well, and the enemies were easily defeated. I almost felt sorry for the last of them… we were going to let it go to see if we could learn anything by following it, but Incillius was raging at this point and we should be happy he was separating friend and foe.
Ragnum and I pulled apart the remains of one of the creatures and found a smooth, knotted root at the center of it that pulsed faintly as the energy animating it dispersed. We found traces of the beetle resin in the creature’s claws.
Krishna found a small, unidentifiable shard at the center of the root. He sensed fey magic there. The owlkin hopped down into the hole where Incillius had started digging again because he saw a green-gold shimmer. It was the fractured remnants of a seed stone, and once it was uncovered, Bonita hopped out and laid down on it.
“Bonita’s found something beautiful!,” Incillius exclaimed.
The seed stone, a dormant crystalized heart root of a fey tree that is still alive in some sense, is typically anchored to a specific area. It reminded Ragnum of the crystal the party that fought the Saber King recovered, and that we used to get away from the Blood Oooze that killed Odett and Die-Anna. That had been a druidic focus.
Ragnum theorized that this seed stone had been responsible for keeping the orchard productive and allowing the apples to grow year-round, but it hadn’t been renewed in decades and broke from lack of maintenance. He believes that if we attuned to the fragments, we could use them to find similar magics. I think we each kept a piece, although we turned in the seed stone for further study.
I like Incillius, so I left out most of Bonita’s involvement in my official report of this adventure – I think it might be a little too weird for command. I suspect that they’re going to be more interested in whether we can obtain more magic items anyway. Maybe if we find something big enough, I’ll be able to get home to you sooner, Soph.Hook:
ipsum lorem
063 - 260120 - Signs & Portents
Date:
446 PC, Highflare 49
Players:
Dev
Draylor
Donk
Fisher
Sir Harold
Loot:
item 1 [claimed by]
item 2 [claimed by]
After Actions:
Journal of Donk Stonefist
Highflare 49
Today started of normal, I went to the Common Hall to eat and who should I see but Draylor attempting to get into the kitchen to talk to Cook. After the silver incident, we all know that Cook wants nothing to do with him. But apparently, they put one of the new recruits on guard duty. A knight by the name of Harold was stopping Draylor from entering the kitchen. As persistent as Draylor is, I decided to step in when I saw Harold start to draw his weapon. I tried to convince Draylor to walk away, when that did not work, I dragged him and we headed to go see Dev.
I guess someone though that Draylor should have a babysitter, because Harold stated to follow us. I paid him no mind, I’m sure he was just doing whatever Thalia told him to. We entered Dev’s place at the old newspaper place and I heard him chanting in Infernal and saw a purple fire creature crawling about his legs. I pulled my Great club and started to charge in, but was stopped by Fysher who pointed a dagger at me and said Dev told him not to let anyone interrupt. I have no care for the language of the Devils, but the ritual ended and Dev still seemed like himself. He said he was looking for more energy like the Seedstone, and found something in the south part of the city.
We headed there, and it was a mostly collapsed block, but one structure was still more intact. A larger building with a faded painting of what looked to be an apple core on the side. Draylor and Dev both started casting different rituals, but Fysher and Harold who was still tagging along decided to head in, I stayed out with the two magic users. After about 10 minutes or so we headed inside too, the place was covered in debris, the roof had caved in and there were rats (which Draylor was particularly interested in for some reason). I gained some respect for Harold though as he helped me move some rubble to gain access to an office room, where someone found a key and then a trap door that led to a secret tunnel and finally to a cellar of sorts with hundreds of barrels in it.
Also, there was a creepy costume of “Bramble the Brave” standing in the middle of the room. Dev and Fysher said there was a magical item attached to the costume and Fysher attempted to grab it with his ghost hand thing, but the costume came to life and attacked us. The fight was mostly one sided but it did get in one good hit on Harold and myself. Draylor in bear form attacked the magical brioche that was attached after it deflected Dev’s magic missiles and swallowed it. The costume thing fell soon after.
We figured out that it was Cider in the barrels, fermented cider! We grabbed a few barrels to bring back with us, while enjoying the spoils as well. After a few mugs of cider, I decided that I would confront Thalia. I saw her at the Common Hall with Dannon and his tiny dog Fruitcup and told her we needed to talk. Later that evening I confronted her at her room and told her I knew she was married. This did not phase her in the slightest and I expressed that I was not ok with the situation. We parted ways, she may be a fierce warrior but her values seem to be skewed.
Draylor
Hi Minx,
It happened again. Another “NEW RECRUIT.” This one’s a guy named Harold. So I stroll into the cook’s tent—boom—there he is, standing guard like he’s protecting the last potato in the rift. Naturally, I’m my usual charming self and tell him I’d be happy to provide a little libation. And what does this absolute legend do? He draws his sword. Enter Donk, yelling at us to stop fighting before anything embarrassing happens, and we’re sent on our way.
Harold follows me. I assume he’s heard of my accomplishments. You know—Draylor, Basilisk Slayer. Speaker of Dragons. Veteran of the Battle of the Skeletal Sabertooth. Survivor of the Blood Ooze Incident. But I digress. We head off to check on Dev the wizard. He’s in the middle of some ritual to find a “seedstone” (or a “stone seed,” or maybe a “rock that matters”—hard to say). He summons an imp. The imp immediately explodes.
Naturally, we track it to a cider factory. Yes, that kind of cider. But Minxy, I swear—I didn’t touch a drop. I am a changed man. We secure the stash—about 500 barrels—hidden in a tunnel beneath the factory. It all happened so fast. Oh, and you’ll never guess what else was down there. A mascot costume. I think it was a giant apple? Anyway, as these things tend to do… it came to life. Now here’s the best part. Rookie Knight Harold jumps in and—no exaggeration—kicks the absolute crap out of it. Just dismantles the thing. The rest of the fight was… fine. Honestly, I bearly had to help.
So, how are things back home? I’m glad to hear about your new “friend” from your last note—he sounds like a real ham. You know I love you, Minx. Boreguard says hi.
~Dray
Unresolved Threads:
item 1
item 2