Out of the Wilderun
Start of season two where the party travels beyond the wilderun!
Episode 1
Summary
- 🌳 Emerging from the Forest After six days, the party emerges from the forest near a bridge.
- 🎭 Mars’s Illusory Face During their journey, Mars’s illusory Elven face melts and droops each night.
- 🐈⬛ Sphinx Familiar A character (Mars?) summons a Sphinx of Wonder familiar, a small winged cat, which allows them to see through its eyes, although it has no attack power.
- 🔍 Scouting the Keep The Sphinx familiar is sent to scout a nearby town and keep. The keep is heavily damaged and more fortified than the town. The familiar hears a noise coming from inside the keep.
- 🧚 Encountering a Dead Sprite They find a small dead creature resembling a pixie or sprite, dressed in earth tones with long hair and coral, suggesting it belongs to the Fey family. It appears to have been dead for hours.
- 🤝 Meeting Kella Zorro discovers Kella, a woman who had been tied up and hasn’t eaten in three days. Kella is from Golden Fields. Some party members decide to stay with Kella and another woman in the village, planning to raise the drawbridge for protection.
- 🗺️ Seeking Others Other party members decide to accompany the rest of the group to find out what happened to other people from the village.
- 🏞️ Exploring Caves They find several cave entrances marked by various tracks. Despite concerns about splitting up, they investigate the caves.
- 🦇 Entering a Cave They locate a large cave opening with footprints leading inside. A character sends a bat familiar in to scout first.
- ⚔️ Combat in the Cave Inside the cave, they encounter Quicklings and Red Caps, who are Fey creatures. Combat begins, and initiative is rolled. Quicklings teleport and deal fire damage. Red Caps use melee attacks and cold breath.
- 🎯 Skills and Spells Characters use various abilities, including sneak attacks, Second Wind, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Tash’s Hideous Laughter, Burning Hands, Witch Bolt, and maintaining Hex.
- 💥 Battle Progress Damage is dealt through attacks and spells. A Quickling is defeated, and Red Caps are also defeated.
Journey
The following is an oral narrative from Clarence, the Tortle Cleric:
Ah, greetings. Please, sit while while I recall the next chapter in our journey. It is important to pause and reflect upon our experiences, for understanding often comes with time and careful consideration.
The air felt different as we stepped out of the stone structure. The light of the forest was welcome after the dim halls below ground. My shell bears the marks of travel, and these recent adventures have added new stories to its surface. Within the fortress itself, there were remnants of those who came before, such as some dwarven chain mail and a helmet. I recall one companion deciding quite resolutely about such items, declaring, “Leaving it there. I’m not picking it up. I’m leaving it there.” Each to their own priorities in such places.
As we journeyed, my companions conversed with great energy. I find it useful to listen and observe, though sometimes their words move faster than my thoughts. I took the opportunity to examine the book Aodhan had found earlier, the one discussing druidic theories about the cycle of life and death. It is dense with annotation in languages I do not readily know, but the concepts are worthy of contemplation. My goal is to learn all I can about healing, drawing from different sources, be they mundane, arcane, or divine. After our time exploring the Twilight Grove, where we aided the locals in retrieving their stolen crab, we emerged from the ruined fortress back into the forest where we had first found ourselves awakened together. It was shortly after this that Zoro, with his characteristic flair, seemed to notice a new individual amongst us and declared, “Gentlemen, gentlemen, I have discovered the loveliest creature. Gentlemen, I present to you, Kella. Hi.” This individual, Kella, seemed as unsure of her presence here as we were, stating, “I I don’t know. When I when I came to… I guess it’s pushing 3 days now”. Zoro, in his attempts to charm, even remarked that Kella’s “has a sweet nectar on the lips.” At times, observing Zoro’s consistent approach to situations, I’ve heard others remark, “That is all Zoro is is a walking cliche.” On one occasion, during a particularly chaotic moment, the peculiar phrase “Roll for cliche.” was even uttered, as if applying chance to one’s predictable nature.
Seeking further understanding, Eryndor and I made our way towards a notable building, a temple dedicated to Lathander, god of the dawn. As we emerged from the temple, a blur of light caught our attention.
Our path then led us to the base of some hills, where we found various openings in the earth. Zoro, in his usual energetic manner, sent his familiar, a bat this time, into one of the larger caves. Observing through the familiar’s senses revealed creatures inside. Upon entering, we were swiftly met by these occupants: small, quick beings called Quicklings and others known as Redcaps. They attacked with unnatural speed and ferocity. Mars, ever the tiny sorcerer, was perched upon my shell during the initial moments, attempting to cast spells.
During the fight, I found that speaking takes time. Even uttering simple words seemed to require extra effort in the chaos. My companions moved and acted quickly. I observed the Redcaps with their scythes and the Quicklings darting about. I myself sustained blows from these swift attackers. Amidst the fray, the air filled with the scent of ozone and smoke from the display of magical fire. I heard my companions react to this, exclaiming things like, “That’s mean fire. Nice.” and noting, “A lot of fire on that half of the table.” Someone even pointed out the prevalence of fire amongst us, remarking, “Your character is also fire.” When one of our number, perhaps recovering from a blow, rejoined the fray with renewed vigor, I heard the declaration, “Guess who’s back. Back.” A moment of triumph in the chaos.
In such moments, my purpose as a cleric becomes most clear. I was able to channel divine energy to mend the wounds of my comrades, utilizing my ability Preserve Life to distribute healing where it was most needed. This healing seemed to draw strength even from the defeat of our foes.
It was a challenging encounter, requiring careful movement and action from everyone. Zoro attempted his magic, though sometimes his ideas are difficult for me to grasp. We were successful in overcoming the creatures. After the fight, as we tended to our wounds and considered our next steps, I heard a voice, perhaps feeling overlooked in the rapid exchange of blows, ask, “Did anybody in the party even notice that I did anything during that fight?” It is true that in such swift movements, one’s individual contributions can sometimes be obscured.
There is always something to learn, even in the midst of conflict. Observing the movements of these creatures, understanding their nature, and practicing the arts of healing are all valuable experiences that add to the journey. Now, we ponder what lies deeper within these caves.