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A vine covered Leshy with an oversized white pumpkin for a head looks around curiously, before the vines adjust to form what almost seem to be spectacles.
They excitedly rub their hands together "Another mission, this is so exciting. I'm happy I took that sabbatical from teaching at Magaambya to learn more about the modern world. I'm so happy to be here."
Looking around Professor Whitegourd looks around "Who are all of you?"
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Our story begins with you summoned to distant Iobaria via a cryptic missive from Verdant Wheel faction leader Urwal . The journey has been long, but at long last you have arrived. A sprawling camp of tents and wooden buildings sprawls out before you, overlooking a forest of red pines. Sounds of hammers and saws echo from afar, as construction crews of Pathfinders and centaurs raise buildings for classrooms and a makeshift infirmary. Veterans bearing coffee and breakfast greet new arrivals, eager to swap stories and add the newcomers to their exhausted work details.
A stocky leshy clad in pinecone armor and a jaunty eyepatch emerges from the crowd. He clutches a clipboard and puffs out his chest. “I am Blackberry, the esteemed commander of the training course. My friend Urwal requested we construct a special obstacle challenge to test the newcomers’ mettle, and you will be among the first groups honored to complete it! Get through if you want to find Urwal.” Blackberry gestures into the woods, but all
that is visible from this point are Iobaria’s iconic blood-red bruorsivi pine trees.
As if on cue, a group of bedraggled and dejected-looking Pathfinders, all spattered and dripping a thick purple liquid that looks suspiciously like jam, emerge from the forest from the direction that Blackberry is pointing.
“Ah, perfect! The previous group just finished with the latest obstacle course!” Blackberry looks pleased. “You can proceed forward without any delays! I really hope that you put on a better performance than the last few groups.”
A smaller leshy clears her throat, tugging on Blackberry’s shoulder. As the other leshy whispers in his ear, Blackberry’s good eye blinks, his head turning to more clearly inspect Professor Whitegourd. “Professor, my friend! Hero to the Finadar leshys! Forgive me for not recognizing you earlier! My vision is not what it once was… and thank goodness! Word from the wise: if you can avoid it, don’t let a piece of the Abyss lodge itself in your face.”
”Now,” he says, looking once again to all of you. ”Do you have any questions, or are you ready to dive right in?”
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Professor Whitegourd's look of excitement quickly changes to one more of confusion "Wait, obstacle course to find Urwal? Shouldn't we meet with him first?"
Professor Whitegourd then mumbles to themself"This is all backwards, backwards..."
Composing themself as their vine-glasses rearange themself, Professor Whitegourd follows up with a question "What sort of obstacle course?"
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"Ah, very perceptive Professor! But you see, this obstacle course--really, it's the best one we have ever made!--is designed to measure very important skills, like how well you can protect your fellow Pathfinders and work as a team! You must complete the course if you wish to find Urwal."
Cyclops relics corrupted the land here, causing horrific scars and lingering Abyssal pollution that infected many of the nature spirits that called the Finadar Forest home, including those that inhabited leshys. A group of Pathfinder agents cleansed the spirits of this Abyssal corruption.
Abyssal corruption isn’t the only threat to the forest; a rotting sickness has blighted the region for several years. Local druids attempting to heal the sickness have noticed the blight’s reach is lightest within the depths of the Finadar Forest.
A large kellid woman bearing an enormous sword on her back jogs up to join you.
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”Great, you’re all here! Follow me, please.” Blackberry leads you on a short hike through the woods until you come to another clearing. Seated off to the side of the clearing, a pair of centaur construction workers sit on the sidelines, swigging from wineskins. ”Oh, another group! Hey Pathfinders, don’t do too well! I, Tombu, demand entertainment! Haw haw!” He and his companion laugh and each take a drink, clearly enjoying the spectacle. ”Remember” he says to his friend, ”we drink every time they get one to the face!”
Meanwhile, leshys in purple bandanas grab pies from a nearby table and walk to clearly marked obstacle checkpoints. Blackberry points to a plump, pumpkin-headed leshy who is tying an matching orange bandana around his eyes. ”Here we are, Pathfinders! Your job is to escort Jackpot here through the obstacle course and help him keep heading in the general direction he chooses, without letting him take harm. You may steer him around hazards, but you must let him keep moving. Every time you fail, you get--” ”PIE IN THE FACE!” the centaurs shout, drowning him out, before they crack up in laughter and toast their drinks once again.
With that, Jackpot takes off running blindly forward! Just ahead of him, you see a 20-foot-square pit lined with wooden walls that prevent a creature from moving around it.
Seeing Krellin easily handling Jackpot, Amiri instead grabs a large armful of the biggest branches she can find and hauls them over to provide building materials for Erevan.
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Professor Whitegourd doesn't have much to add to the bridge-building efforts, and Amiri's armful of sticks arrive too late to be of any use, but neither matters as Erevan and Krellin have things well in hand. Erevan quickly constructs a sturdy bridge before Krellin bodily lifts Blackberry and places the wayward leshy onto it. As you pass over the bridge, you see that the bottom of the pit is lined with thick, cushy pillows.
As soon as Krellin releases him on the far side of the pit, Jackpot giggles and toddles forward toward a thick patch of shrubs. The bushes’ leaves drip with a sticky, purple fluid that gives off a sweet, fruity aroma and look like they would easily create a sticky mess all over Jackpot should he touch them. ”Oh no!” calls Blackberry from somewhere behind you, ”watch out for the 'poison' on those leaves!”.
Amiri draws her giant sword from her back, preparing for vicious battle against the plants. When she sees the more subtle approach of the rest of the party she sighs, sheathes her sword, and does her best to assist.
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Amiri's attempts at subtle guidance end in her covered with the sticky purple fluid. Krellin and Erevan are much more successful, though, corralling Jackpot through the treacherous landscape. Professor Whitegourd, meanwhile, identifies the dangerous plants as harmless Rhododendron luteum coated in an impressive quantity of blackberry jam.
Clear of the shrubbery, Jackpot once again races ahead as you emerge to see the final obstacle: a wide, lazy river, cutting cleanly across your course. You see a finish line just on the other side, but reaching it will mean helping Jackpot to safely cross the 20-foot width of water he’s currently barrelling toward.
Amiri strides into the water, trying to support Jackpot from below as Krellin swims the leshy across.
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With Professor Whitegourd supplying the materials, Erevan expertly crafts a small raft for Jackpot. Krellin plops the leshy onto it, holding him in place and kicking his feet to propel the craft, while Amiri holds her breath and supports it from below as she walks across the bottom.
Emerging from the river, Jackpot toddles forward and tumbles across the finish line! As the watching centaurs grumble about how boring your effort was--not even one measly pie to the face!--Jackpot cries out in mock pain. ”Oh! I have fallen and injured myself!” He pulls a large jar of blackberry jam from inside his gourd head and dumps it all over himself. ”Look at all this blood! I need first aid!”
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"Oh, I'm terribly injured!" The dramatic gourd reaches out an intentionally shaky hand and takes the vial from Erevan, gulping it down. He immediately pops up, as if nothing were wrong, and says "all better!" with a big pumpkin grin. He pulls 4 jars of particularly viscous-looking blackberry jam out of his gourd head and hands one to each of you with a dramatic bow before shouting "byeeeeee!" and toddling off back toward the starting line.
As you watch the leshy joyously head back to test the next group of pathfinders, a voice speaks from a nearby tree. ”One can read the stars, but not the future.” The nearby centaurs flinch as a copper-scaled iruxi drops from the tree right behind them. ”I am Urwal of the Verdant Wheel,” he proclaims, striding past the alarmed centaurs as he addresses you. ”Like the Wanderer, we must make haste.” With a brief nod, Urwal slings a pack over his shoulder and heads into the woods.
Amiri rolls her eyes and follows.
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”Destinations. We speak of them as if we always know the places we must go.” Urwal says, not stopping his march. ”But if you do not know where you must go, can you find your way back? More importantly, can you feed yourself along the way? Let us see if you can. While we have some provisions, see if you can fetch some food for our journey from the surrounding terrain.”
Amiri, used to surviving in inhospitable places, strides off into the woods, confident in her ability to hunt some food.
She emerges a short time later empty handed, covered in bramble-scratches, and wearing a look that clearly advises all that now is not a good time for conversation.
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Professor Whitegourd finds a prime spot for a quick recharge, while Krellin quickly hunts a brace of conies for dinner. Erevan gets lost for a while and Amiri scares off what's left of the wildlife, but even so Urwal seems satisfied with your efforts. "Our march continues, as the progression of the stars overhead on a moonless night."
Your march does indeed continue for several more hours with little in the way of conversation from the enigmatic iruxi. As the forest thickens, he suddenly stops and gestures to a particularly dense patch ahead. "Though we may swerve, the current of our march flows ever thus. You must allow it to carry you."
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Urwal nods in approval and follows Professor Whitegourd’s lead. He seems to become less focused on the area around him as you continue to travel, until eventually he stops and pulls out a wayfinder. His tail twitches as he glances up at a patch of sky, barely visible through the trees. “You may wonder why I tested you your skills at a seemingly trivial obstacle course and at wilderness survival. This is not just a random lesson. A powerful force calls in my dreams, and the stars tell me that we must heed it. I cannot sense them while awake, so I must enter a trance. Like Jackpot, I embark on a vulnerable, sightless journey, and need your protection.” With that he looks at you in an unfocused (and vaguely unsettling) way, waiting for your questions.
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Urwal shakes his head at Krellin's suggestions. "I don't know who or what calls. I can only feel the urgency. They sent me a vision of two partial constellations, the Stargazer and the Stranger. The Stargazer studies the heavens so intently that he cannot see his surroundings." Urwal pauses and shrugs. "Some signs need little interpretation."
When Professor Whitegourd invokes a name from the Society's past, Urwal once again shakes his head. "You must have an older edition, I'm sure I corrected that particular inaccuracy in the records. It was a demon, not a devil."
As you ask questions, Urwal digs some supplies from his pack, handing them to you. "Some of these may be useful to you; more useful than they will be to me in my trance, no doubt."