Session Date: 6/3/2023
Three corrupt druids are around an altar with a unicorn up there, asleep. The druids have eerie leaf-shaped masks marking them as followers of Bolan.
After a combat, we knock one druid unconscious, kill another, and the last one surrenders. We free the unicorn and looks at Valentine, eyes hazy with ritual wounds. The unicorn is in a magically induced state of panic. Valen calms it down, reassuring it that we do not wish to harm it.
Valen asks one of the druids — Korimona — what is going on with this. She explains that this is part of Bolan’s plan and they want to bring back the curse that kills elves. She explains that all “civilized” people should die. She says that she can tell us where Bolan is and we can take it up with him if we have an issue with it. He’s at the hideout and was going to come where with the key once things were all prepped. The hideout is an old gnomish house in the forest. She says they will lock things down before we ever get in, and we debate what to do with the prisoner we have. The druid did give us the guards’ names: Rifon and Menelimus. Rifon has a pet snake named Cucumber.
Valen suggests we disguise ourselves as the cultists and go, which seems to be the best plan. We do this, looting their armor and heading to the village. The village was allowed as gnomes have fey heritage. The village has been transformed into a veritable fortress. We left the living druids at the altar and the conscious one tells us there are no patrons at the village.
On the way to the village, Valentine apologizes to Opal for underestimating him. Opal hopes that Valentine will be more useful in the future.
The party agrees to use the story that we were attacked by adventurers that released the unicorn. We approach the guards and they ask if the ritual is complete. Opal explains what happened and the guard tells us to stay here, they will leave to fix this and they say we are such a disappointment.
Inside of this room, Valen peeks into the door on the right, seeing a mess inside of it. The room is absolutely torn apart, and Valen is absolutely noticed by something. Valen and Killian try to disable a trap in the doorway but neither of them manage to get it.
Opal recognizes grimples and vexgit. They don’t like order and civilizations — they are chaotic little fuckers. They speak in undercommon and laugh at us when we are about to walk into the trap — a caltrop snare that drops caltrops on us and will cause bleeding on a failed acrobatics trap when triggered. Opal appeases them so that they do not attack immediately.
We close the door and go across the way to the other nand can tell it is a greenhouse and I see a leshy (gourd) inside. They are created by putting a fey spirit inside of a grown plant body. We enter and there are two gourd leshys and doors to the north and west. There is also a box to the north. The leshys are gardening — one greets us and asks if we have heard if the gnomes are returning.
They say they help us with caring for the plants and all of their friends left for Seven Arches. They miss the gnomes. We also find out their name is Wisteria and Hyacinth.
Valentine asks how they feel about destroying civilization and the leshy are surprised by this and we explain everything we know. They are clearly distraught by this and opt to leave at this point, saying the forest will provide.
Valentine harvests 10 doses of flyleaf poison.
Valen and Valentine peek into the next room through a key hole and see a laundry room. In this “textiles” room there is a ladder up to another room in the ceiling, which is what Valentine sees. Valen sees a dining room with not much in it, hearing the sound of instruments like a child playing and figuring out what noises it makes. He can see two fey creatures playing with gnomish instruments — one instrument is very well crafted. The instruments are huge compared to the creature, and Valen can see a maestro instrument inside that is enchanted.
We enter the dining room and Valen sees a female sprite while Ria and Opal see a grig — a kindly fey musician that likes to fight evil but don’t have the vanquishing power to back it up.
They greet us and we say we are looking for Bolan. They are with the druids to stop logging from coming into the woods. Valentine lays it out for them and the fey asks why this is an issue for them since mortals are so short-lived and Valen chimes in that they tried to kill a unicorn, which catches their attention. They decide to go stop the guards from tracking down the unicorns.