The Pathfinder Society received a call for help from the Blakros Museum, where intruders tripped the many defenses and barricaded themselves inside the building. Upon overcoming these safeguards, they encountered Medda and her Twinhorn warriors. Medda was willing to discuss the Kellids’ reason for attacking. Valsin was angered to learn that museum agents resorted to theft to gain relics and promised Medda that Pathfinders would accompany them back to the Tusk Mountains to return the hilt.
The Pathfinders secured passage for their convoy through the Hold of Belkzen and fought off renegade tribes’ raiders.
However, they arrived at the Twinhorn encampment too late; Eshimka’s forces had begun flooding through a portal at the standing stones. The Pathfinders needed to fight back the undead and close the rift. Once sealed, they learned that the attack left an extraplanar scar. Expecting an even greater invasion the next solstice, the Pathfinders must prepare to defeat Eshimka and end the threat forever.
The Society members followed in the footsteps of the paladin Ivvora, seeking the place where she died battling a powerful white dragon. There, Medda hoped to commune with Ivvora in the afterlife, learning how to reforge the broken dagger or create a new weapon to destroy Eshimka. In the process, those present had to fight the new generations of white dragons and their kobold servitors who inhabited the area.
Now preparations are being made to travel to an ancient battlefield where Ivvora and her comrades fought against an overwhelming undead force.
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The wizard wears a tunic that leaves bare his heavily muscled arms. On his back is a massive rune-carved waraxe. In his hand is a flagon of ale.
"Not used to being without my armor. But word is that this team needed a wizard more than a warrior. So a wizard I am today. Though if any enemy think me a soft target, they will think again, by Cayden. I am also a diplomat, should that be needed."
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A mwangi man, tailed by a deinonychus enters the room. The dinosaur immediately rushes to Tere and starts sniffing into the elf's pack.
"Alaric Ysande. Shredder and I are front-liners, and I am often going to be in a form not unlike his. If I am, I can still cast a few spells. I've been a team diplomat by necessity, but if any of you are skilled in talking, I'll assist you rather than lead. To be honest, I am better in nature than I am with words."
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The long journey south from the slopes of the Tusk Mountains to the edge of Fangwood took several weeks, during which many of the Twinhorns and Pathfinders exchanged ancestral stories and tales of daring adventures to pass the time on the relatively uneventful trek. By the time the Fangwood rises ahead in the brisk morning air, both groups are eager to confront whatever lies ahead.
Medda addresses the crowd gathered before her. “South of here lies a battlefield where the paladin Ivvora risked her life in a daring ploy to help her battalion defeat an undead horde. For her selflessness, Ivvora earned a token of Vildeis’s favor: the dagger she used to deal a terrible blow to Eshimka! For all the crusaders’ heroism, I can sense an undead taint lingered here, and that stretch of the Fangwood has expanded in the centuries since to absorb it. It is now our turn to earn Vildeis’s blessing, risking ourselves to end this threat so that in turn we might slay Eshimka once and for all.
“The terrain favors small groups over larger formations, so we shall divide into smaller groups to navigate the forest and identify the corruption’s heart. May Ivvora’s example guide us to victory!” With that, Medda and her phantom Anok turn and enter the Fangwood, followed by Pathfinder and Twinhorn teams that fan out behind her.
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A half-elf with wild hair, and a long, scraggy beard, cowled in the hide of a recently-butchered adolescent owlbear, nods.
"Hopefully, this will be the last time that we will be called upon to deal with Eshimka's foulness!"
He then frowns.
"I will need someone to help me into my armor, after I change..."
Radagast then shifts into the form of a velociraptor, and starts nosing a suit of white dragonhide full plate barding, meaningfully.
It is difficult to tell how much time has passed through the smothering canopy as Medda addresses the regrouped Pathfinder and Twinhorn forces. “The ancient battlefield is just beyond those trees. There, Ivvora and her comrades scattered an undead army, but the necromantic taint never left this land. Instead, the plants and animals have gradually absorbed the evil, encouraged by someone calling herself Mother Bloodleaf.
“We must strike as one, simultaneously attacking the corruption’s heart as well as the seedpods spread out around the swamp. Their destruction will unleash harmful energies, so we of the Twinhorn following shall head toward the center to ritually disperse that energy to keep it from festering anew! Each team should follow its Twinhorn mystic to an intended target, and from there, three blasts of a horn shall signal our attack. May Vildeis bless us as she did Ivvora before us!”
Medda, the Twinhorns, and the Pathfinders spread out and make their way through the woods to their striking positions.
Brambles grow wild throughout the edge of the wood where a thick canopy of trees begins to filter out sunlight, turning day into night. The overgrown plant life forbids easy access deeper into the forest and fills the air with the sickly-sweet smell of decay.
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"I can help you with your armor."
Kavor Doan begins buckling on the full plate barding.
"And Alaric, I am happy to use your wand on you. Let me know when is the right time. May I also use a charge on myself if needed? I don't do much with Conjuration magic, but it has its uses on occasion."
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Kavor Doan tries finding a path through the brambles, but the revolting smells leave him sickened.
The druids make this look easy.
Although Shredder's curiosity keeps him from staying completely on the path, he is able to keep himself out of any dangerous brambles.
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Thran tries to weave through the vines but gets tripped up and almost falls face first into a huge patch of thorns just able to avoid getting a nose full of pricklies at the very last second.
After getting back up on his feet and rubbing the dirt of his pants
"I'm starting to dislike being back in this place..again"
You push your way through the brambles. Kavor seems to have a nasty rash as he emerges from the woods that tires him a bit.
The forest floor is blanketed with eerie dark flowers that paint the otherwise lightless woods with their purple incandescence. Disorienting paths cut through the trees, forward-facing paths seem to lead back to where they started, and retracing one’s steps leads to unfamiliar terrain. Glowing eyes glare hungrily from within the impenetrable thickets where the vines slowly curl around anyone who gets too close.
3 of you beat the DC 24 check.
Two large creatures emerge from the forest, their eyes glow a faint purple. The dark flowers found throughout the forest grow all over their body. The plants lash out at you as they turn feral.
Shredder
Kavor
Tere
Enemy
Radagast
Alaric
LT
Thran
Shredder, Kavor and Tere notice the enemies approach and move quickly.
As Shredder has not yet received a command to attack, he remains on his standing command to defend Alaric, though his eyes dart between Alaric and the beasts.
Tere's arrow finds its mark and penetrates the beast's hide before it can defend itself. The wound bleeds profusely, yet it doesn't seem to care. It charges up to Tere and tries to bite him.
The teeth sink deep into Tere's skin. He feels the creature trying to lift and hurl him across the canopy, but he holds his ground.
The vines from the nearby shrugs reach out to grab Tere, and he finds himself soon entangled. The beast in front of him makes no reaction, except it prepares to attack again.
You hear another similar roar around the corner, as a second beast rounds the corner. The forest seems to come to life as flora and fauna repel your approach.
Enemy (Red solid 13 damage, bleed 2)
Radagast
Alaric and Shredder
LT
Thran
Kavor
Tere (Entangled)
Shredder moves in to attack, now that his master has given the command!
Shredder's claws catch nothing but air. It distracts the creature's gaze long enough for Alaric to approach. The creature reaches forward and tries to bite Alaric. It also bites nothing than air, giving Alaric a chance to slice into its head.
LT channels primal rage into himself and runs up to help Tere, risking a bite from the creature as it reaches towards him. It bites into his side, but he hits the thing twice as hard.
Enemy (Red solid 41 damage, bleed 2, Purple 11 damage)
Radagast
Alaric and Shredder
LT (12 damage, Entangled, Raging)
Thran
Kavor
Tere
Radagast moves in with tooth and maw, hitting 4 times. Once he's done the creature is nothing more than a heap of dead flesh.
Kavor (Total Defense)
Tere
Enemy (Red solid 41 damage, bleed 2)
Radagast
Alaric and Shredder
LT (12 damage, Entangled, Raging)
Thran (Inspiring)
Tere realizes he was hasted just in time to avoid the brambles. What does he do now?
Tere slices the beast once more, yet it doesn't even react to the pain. With two targets, it lashes blindly with tooth, claw, and tail.
The beast's claws tear into Tere while it takes advantage of LT's entanglement.
Enemy (Red solid 51 damage, bleed 2)
Radagast
Alaric and Shredder
LT (27 damage, Entangled, Raging)
Thran (Inspiring)
Kavor (Total Defense)
Tere (26 damage)
LT kills the thing dead and then hacks his way free.
The forest seems to calm down as the rage of battle ends. You take a moment to recover from your wounds before pressing on.
With LT's wounds close, you move deeper into the forest.
The forest opens to a small clearing that is free of the dark flowers that seem to permeate the rest of the landscape. A ring of tall grey trees circles the clearing, their branches reaching toward each other to form a ceiling of black leaves. A chorus of whispering voices echoes within the clearing as countless faces form out of tree bark only to meld back in, flowing from tree to tree. Three of the faces remain in place and speak out in unison. “Who wanders these forlorn paths? Do you seek to join us? Join us!”
You notice how many faces are here, and how little they pay attention to you. Your time is limited, and each of you only have enough time to Observe and Present a case to one face.
”What are you doing here!” The mouth screams. ”Keep talking and I’ll steal your soul!”
”I don’t mean to bark, but I decided to grow my roots and plant myself here!” The face laughs. ”Don’t leaf just yet, stay a while and get in the grove!”
”I understand you wish to change things, but what’s done is done.” Its gaze remains stoic. ”Be at peace.”