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PbP Gameday XII (Event # 2713068), running Sep 4, 2023 - Nov 20, 2023. The game will likely start in earnest on or about Sep 11, 2023, due to a GM vacation.
If you're reading this, you should know what to do.
And if you're not reading this, may I suggest...?
This PbP Gameday XII session is dedicated to the memory of Silbeg, a good friend and a great GM/player. He is profoundly missed by those of us who knew him.
Here and there in the wilds of the Verduran Forest, a seemingly normal plant suddenly reveals themselves as a leshy, a curious little human-shaped plant crafted by a druid as a companion or minion. Sometimes, leshys outlive their druid creators, while many others are set free to live their own lives. You are each but one of these stories, whose paths now cross within the Verduran Forest, the largest woodlands in Avistan.
It's hardly unusual for the leshys of Verduran to come and go as they please, but this morning it has become impossible for you to ignore the fact that your numbers have dwindled significantly. Many of those who remain grow fearful, and as the larger and more powerful leshys in the area, it's your duty to protect the smaller spirits.
It's time to admit something is wrong.
It's time to investigate.
It's time for...
Bamboom's face turns into a scowl. "Some sort of fleshy is eating us! Damned vegetarians!" he growls. "It's time to get down to the root causes of this and then I'm going to weed out the problem!"
Fluff Fang basks in the sunlight, ready to investigate.
Google Slides for this table.
"Weeeeelp" the cactus in the corner says kicking his tiny boots down off the log he was resting them on and tilting up his wide hat. "Ah reckon...you might be right there friend." He stands, his arms mostly hidden by his large serape made of woven leaves. "Ah suppose we'd best be gettin' too it, while it's still to be gotten to."
A snapdragon leshy's face twists into a big frown. "This is NOT okay! We must hunt down the problem! And set them on fire!"
Popcorn's proposed solution seems extreme, if decidedly effective, as Fluff Fang enjoys some of the nourishing sunshine. Meanwhile, Slo Poke and Bamboom mosey together in search of some clues.
You can't shake the feeling that there's one other leshy missing from your troop.
Reaching Rings is here to help.
With the sudden appearance of Reaching Rings (who was undoubtedly just using the Hide action) the quintet is complete.
But where to search first? Perhaps a Diplomacy check to Gather Information will gather some information diplomatically!
Flyff Fang knows a few good weeds.
"Last few that disapeared were Lavender. We should check down by the Verduran Fork of the Sellen for clues."
"Let's go then!" Bamboom says, hoping Fluff Fang isn't barking up the wrong tree.
"We will avenge the Lavender!"
Popcorn waves her flail of tiny skulls around in the air.
"Yup, s'pose we oughta mosey on thataway."
The river's rapid flow makes it difficult for lightweight creatures like leshys to cross, but swimming isn't usually necessary. As a youth, Popcorn once found herself at a loss in this very spot when the sprites she enjoyed playing with flew across the water with ease and taunted her from the far side.
Popcorn got angry at their teasing. Very angry.
Though there was little more she could do on that day than fume in rage, she returned the next morning and used vines and fallen branches to build a leshy-sized rope bridge strung between a pair of trees on opposite banks. In the years since, many local leshys have learned of the rope bridge and come to appreciate its convenience, and have often enjoyed using the bridge as a sort of swing to sit on and sway back and forth over the Verduran Fork of the Sellen.
Today, however, when you arrive, you see that all that carefully crafted handiwork lies in ruins! All that remains from the middle section of the rope bridge are fragments of vines hanging from the trees on both banks! Who would do such a dastardly thing?
Popcorn shrieks in fury. ”WHO DESTROYED MY BRIDGE? I will set them aflame!”
"Well, now hold on there friendo, first we gotta git ourselves over to that other side."
Fluff Fang frowns at the missing bridge "I could summon an unseen servant, but I don't think it's skilled enough to fix it though."
"Stupid fleshies!" Bamboom snarls, thinking about all the creatures that most likely are responsible for such awful behavior. Bunnies. It was probably bunnies. With their vicious plant-eating ways, and stupid oversized teeth. And what's with all the carrots? What do they need such good eyesight for anyway?!
"I can swim across," he says assuredly. "Do we have more vines? We can make a new bridge!" He ponders simply creating some, but isn't sure that would be enough.
"Flowers! I recognize them!" Bamboom exclaims.
"Hm, nice flowers. Ain't got nothin' like them out in the badlands, that's fer sure."
Popcorn is too mad about the bridge to pay attention to any flowers.
Bamboom does, in fact recognize them as lavender flowers, and some of them are very reminiscent of the particular hue from one of the missing leshys.
Bamboom carefully goes over, looking for signs of violence. Did someone kill one of the poor lavenders and then dismember her corpse?!
There's no remains indicating the leshys were dismembered, at least not here.
Bamboom notes the vines do not seem to have snapped on their own. The clean severance indicates they were deliberately cut using something sharp.
"Someone cut it!" Bamboom says, sharing a meaningful look with Popcorn. He's ready to cross over the water, assuming no one stops him.
He swims powerfully, ignoring the current!
Bamboom dives into the water and races to the other side!
On the far side, he cranes his neck up to look at the vines hanging down on that side. Maybe they can be repaired...?
Reaching Rings does their best to swim across to repair the bridge with their repair kit.
Reaching Rings has a significantly harder time than Bamboom, but just manages to make it through the swift currents to the other side.
They have some trouble reaching the overhanging vines on that side, though. They are a good ten feet off the ground. Reaching Rings ponders standing on Bamboom's sturdy shoulders to reach the top, but even then determines they'd still be a few feet short.
Fluff Fang looks at the river and shakes their head.
Bamboom ponders. Could he grow a tree right under Reaching Rings to lift him high enough?
Slo Poke looks nervously at the river. "Ain't never seen this much water in one place back home, and ain't never rightly learned to swim." After thinking for a moment, they pull a satchel from under their sarape, retrieving a coil of rope and a grappling hook. Affixing the hook to one end, they toss it across the river, calling to Bamboom and Reaching Rings "can one of y'all hook that good and sturdy around somethin' stout?" Once the far end is in place, he looks for something on this end to tie the rope off, leaving a slip loop he can use to retrieve the rope after crossing.
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Bamboom conjures a slim, symmetrical tree from the Plane of Wood. While it's not sturdy enough to attach Slo Poke's grappling hook itself, it does afford the opportunity to climb and attach the hook to the top of the bridge.
Slo Poke Pitfalls over, and the rest of the party follows suit.
Popcorn assesses the damage to her beloved bridge, and she thinks she might be able to fix it.
"I built this bridge once; I can do it again!"
Popcorn tries again!
And again!
After many swear words, Popcorn thinks she has the bridge put back together the way it was.
It takes about an hour, but while Popcorn discovers that building is often easier than repairing, she does eventually get the bridge put back into usable form.
As her companions sensibly stay out of her way while she's in this sort of mood — and swearing — Reaching Rings notices shoe prints in the mud, appearing to have emerged from the river and then intermingling with some tiny lavender flowers near the bridge before heading away from the river and disappearing into the wood.
Fluff Fang happily crosses the bridge and waits for their allies to lead the way.
Slo ambles across the bridge and waits beside Fluff Fang.
"I will find whoever destroyed my bridge! And the lavenders!"
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Bamboom helps, pointing out tracks Popcorn may have missed.
Or not.
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Bamboom helpfully points out that the tracks he's found lead directly to the water! It is some time before he can be convinced that the tracks lead out of the river.
With Popcorn working together with Reaching Rings, however, the leshy group finds a solid lead. The trail winds through the forest for roughly an hour or so, emerging onto a small clearing at a bend in the river, in which sits a recently used campsite. It appears currently unoccupied.
"Watch out for fleshies," Bamboom whispers, following a little bit behind Popcorn as she heads into the camp.
Fluff Fang nods, draws a rapier and continue in with their allies.
Popcorn leads the leshy legion into the campsite. There's a faint scent of jasmine in the air, but no one appears to be here.
Popcorn begins shouting, "Come out, you! We know you're here! Show yourselves!"
Reaching Rings does their best to fade away into the shadows.
If no one responds to Popcorn, Bamboom starts going through the fleshies' stuff.