Guide of the Cartographer
Chapter 2, Part I
Written by Darwin (Justin)
Beatrix pulls Sir Hector aside
"I'm really glad to see you're okay," she says.
Lost a lot of sleep over what she thought happened.
Hector thought she died, asks what happened
Marauders laid waste to the camp, as Beatrix was fighting them off she got hit and passed out. Woke up as she was pulling into a beach somewhere with them (Northern Notch of the Timber Wilds) Rickety ass pirate boat. Got into a caravan through the Wilds, Beatrix obtained her holy symbol and tried to cast Command to get away, the second the spell left her mouth there was an explosion. The air was like tainted water. Sparked like casting fire around fumes. Blew up the caravan, doesn't know if anyone else survived, Beatrix barely did. Woman named Annette took her in and helped her heal.
Hector asks how she got to where she is now
Annette runs the Founding Feathers, Beatrix felt that she owed it to her and the rest of Roost to do something about the things that are happening. Felt like she could step up and bring people together. She's always been idealistic. Asks how Hector got here
When it was over he found Hector dead the next morning, didn't know what to do, so I buried him and took his armor, and tried to live up to the man that he was. (So who is our Hector?!?)
Beatrix says it's what the real Hector would've wanted. Asks if he's going by that name now
Hector: I was, but I don't know right now. Not sure who he is in this moment
Beatrix thinks he's on a good path. This is the path Materhawk would've wanted for you
Beatrix asks if we're trustworthy
"Hector" only has reservations about Victoro because he likes to steal stuff
Beatrix glad "Hector" is vouching for us
Artemis is mentally checked out after his big reveal. Notices a newspaper "Dreigull's New Magistrate" is the headline. (Magistrate is the ruler of Dreigull, elected position)
As Aer calls his name, there is murder in his eyes. He says the lie was taxing, not easy to keep up, this is better. Lacked the proper motivation to shake himself free of this ruse, the spell brought it out of him, he thanks Beatrix and Maggie. Aer asks if it's safe to call him Artemi in public. Officially he is not alive.
Hector asks Artemi how he died. Long story, it was a cover to allow him and his former team to properly perform their duties. Most dead, two missing (one probably dead), Artemi is searching for the other one (his younger brother). He is involved with someone/something that truly terrifies him. Sounds like they were basically a special forces team. Last mission was a snatch and grab in Blightjay, a target called The Broodmother. Mission was a success, but it brought them to a derelict temple.
While in there, it was unnatural, felt eyes on you, could see shadows stretching to try and grab you. Wandered for what felt like hours, but was only a few minutes. Found The Broodmother alone, staring at a burning book.
She came without resistance the shadows and voices became real, started to run, lost first member (Jace). Made it out of the temple, looked back, heard laughter, thousands of voices, until the door slammed shut on its own. Reached the shores of Blightjay, got on the ship, on the ocean a storm appeared out of nowhere and rocked the ship. Left the lower decks to go help the crew. The Broodmother appeared from below the decks, manifesting herself like Artemi's spider echo. Storm was tearing the ship to pieces. He and his father were desperately fighting to keep the ship afloat with the crew. He tried to bring The Broodmother down, he failed. His father tried, he failed. Artemi's brother (Adrik) came from below deck, holding the heads of the remaining team members and then killed their father. Broodmother tossed him overboard. Washed up on Dreigull, found us, here he is.
Mews knows something of the area temple The Broodmother was found at. It was slightly more hapitable than a lot of Blightjay, but at what cost? Story from her tribe about Miderachi (Leonin word) Materachi.
Maggie has never before heard of someone surviving an encounter with the Broodmother
Owen asks if Artemi wants to save his brother. Artemi doesn't know what his intent is. Hopeful that he can break The Broodmother's spell over him, if it even is a spell over him
Maggie thinks she can help Artemi find more. Founding Feathers is a large organization, Maggie is responsible for the Vox Owls, who deal in information and people. They do have information on the Broodmother, not location, but do have a few beats on gatherings of her followers, more than happy to share that information. Broodmother goes by many names.
Maggie is also more than happy to get information for any of us if we give her a specific task.
Knock on the door, someone comes in and tells Maggie that something is going on at HQ, it's weird, sounds Snarly to Darwin. Mews offers for us to come help
We head down to the basement, giant tree in the wall, Maggie knocks on the tree and it pops open a little door.
We step through the door, feels like we are traveling miles and miles at incredible speed, pop out in front of a gorgeous mansion in the woods, we come out of a flower. Flourescent looking area. Place is looking familiar to Owen. It's his family's vacation house. Weird flora was always here, natural vegetation of the Timber Wilds. This is where Annette brought Beatrix to heal after her accident
As we cross the bridge to enter the house, Owen notices a strange bubbling off to the east
We head inside, the house has been turned into a full on HQ. Big table with maps and plans, people milling about and working. Dwarf comes to Maggie says they have a problem with the bubble. Something is pushing in on the bubble. Apparently we are in the Fey Wild
The Fey Wild does not have a time dilation effect in Roost. Should be very careful making deals here
Mews batting at little Fey peoples, jumping from rock to rock and beefs it and falls in the water
I produce Prof. Benson and give him to Beatrix and Maggie. Explain that we are in the Feywild and we are in a bubble of protection and something seems to be working its way in. Benson thinks it might be a Snarl. Maggie says there were a couple reports of "regular" fauna showing up here.
What would happen if it were to bleed through completely? The magic of the Fey Wilds would be released into the material plane, would be bad because the material plane is not set up to process that sort of magic, a near-cataclysmic, apocalyptic event.
Owen hears an explosion to the northeast.
Benson says there will be a source of this activity, directly caused by some bastardization of Element 707 and whatever has been made using it
Aer, Owen and I go to investigate the bubble. Aer and I momentarily delayed by a magical child lock effectively.
Maggie comes back with a map and shows Hector and the others where we are in relation to the explosion. Explosion coming from outside the bubble. As Maggie says this, Beatrix looks upset, worried, angry ("Hector" notices this)
Biggest mining company on the Roost?
Aer learns that the bubble is not a protective barrier, it is a giant dome of a standing command spell.
"Hector" asks Beatrix about the mining company. Her face steels up and says the Marauders that kidnapper her and killed the real Hector were working for them. They have work camps and Beatrix was being taken to one of those when the explosion happened
Maggie gives Victoro the map of the area
Victoro asks if they can identify his weird black potion. Thick, smells awful. Doesn't know exactly what it does, very potent, almost a blinding aura, filled with transmutation magic.
On the other side of the bubble the air is shimmery and has that tainted water feel
We are going to head to the mines.
Element 707 is blue crystal with a liquid core once it is separated from the earth.
We come across some dead forest, it's in a drought in a weird circle
Mews sees a large creature in the decay that is hunched over, it has antlers, bigger than a deer, covered in greenish leaves and vines
Mews goes to grab the creature, it looks up with oil pooled eyes and attacks her
It appears to be charmed or something?
Fuck that fae centaur we got his ass, Aer nonlethally incapacitates him
What did the centaur remember? Bright green flashes coming out of the ground, the animals running for their lives, wave of "I dunno what" washed over him. Looks like it was riding the lines between this world and the Fey wild
His name is Twee, like the herb. The entire forest is under his watch. He is originally from the Feywild but traverses both realms. Main charge is to protect the forest and what is within it
Artemi asks about the mines. Very dangerous over there. He thinks that's where he was going before this happened. He heard an explosion
Twee doesn't think the energy that hit him was targeted
Owen thinks he might holding back a piece of information
Explosions are happening multiple times a day
He can get us close to the mine but not all the way to it, something is blocking him
He gives us a magical acorn that will light up the magical darkness
We follow the path he opens for us
We come to a small clearing, darkness around, faint whispering sound in the distance, a path that leads north and a path that leads south. Absolutely no footprints.
"Hector" tries casting Daylight, acts just like the acorn
We take the north path, we step into a crossroad, paths leading all 4 directions
Mew and Victoro hear screaming from the south. Mews hears her mom and Victoro hears an elderly man. Aer hears her father screaming from the west. Owen hears screaming from the north, his dad.
Mews runs to the south
We decide to head east. Shadows lingering along the edges of the trees here, branches are unsettling. They look like long-nailed hands, paths N, S, E, W
West has least unsettling branches
Mews slashes one of the branches and it hits back
We go East again, the trees slash at us, only Owen gets hit
N or S in this next clearing
We go North
Crossroads, N S E W, Aer hears her father from the S, Victoro hears screamingi from the W
East, shadows lingering off the branches, claw marks from Mews' strikes are still there
South this time from the crossroads. Ahead of us we see the ruins of an abandoned cabin, its front door is crooked on the hinges, wood on the sides is broken or rotted away, paths S and E
Victoro goes for the cabin and Artemi tries to trip him to stop him, "Hector" just walks and opens the door and sees a piano that is pretty well-maintained despite everything else being. Those who walk in find themselves alone with the door closed. "Hector" grabs the paper on the table and takes fire damage and a message that says "THIS IS NOT FOR YOU". Hector tries playing the piano, we can hear it on the outside. Victoro tries playing the piano as well.
"Hector" looks up the chimney and has to roll an INT save as he hears whispers. Psychic damage
The paper tells Aer that it's for me. She tries to convince the paper to let her bring it to me. The paper flies to the piano.
I investigate the sheet music and it seems it's trying to tell me something
Heading East
And around here Darwin was freaked out by the sheet music situation.