Mistress of the Old Woods

Session 117

Characters: Julian, Balin, Anthony, Grim.

NPCs: Hallberdisfinna: Great Wyrm Green Dragon (Greenbound).

L 1 Mirtul 1374 - L 1 Mirtul 1374

0 XP

With more sounds of suffering coming from deeper in the forest grove, the party pushed onward with haste. Soon the canopy above them began to be stripped of its leaves as winds increased to almost 50 miles per hour. Plant debris filled the air and blocked their sight to less than 15 feet in all directions. The new ground they traveled on seemed increasingly wet and sloped downward; they were entering a large river valley. Then the party hit a large body of cold, green water and noticed that this river valley must have been near completely flooded. Only the tops of the tallest trees rose above the windy water; in them structures of ancient elven-make signaled they were within the enclave of Myth Drevanna. The three lone adventurers Julian, Anthony, and Grim gathered at the waters edge to search for clues.

Suddenly, the powerful winds brought with them a blast of corrosive gas. The three adventurers staggered away from the green shore and panicked. Seconds later another blast of corrosive gas blew with the winds and continued to eat away at their flesh. Grim and Julian struggled to find a source of this through the flying plant debris. Regardless, all three were nearly dead from their sudden wounds and so Grim recalled the party back to his personal Demiplane. There they waited in a healing glow for nearly 9 minutes, pondering their recent brush with death. Meanwhile, with a final strike of his oak staff, Balin crushed Valandis the Druid of Myth Drevanna into unconsciousness. Victorious, he set out deeper into the forest to find his comrades. Even with the violent winds and debris, Balin managed to easily track their previous movements in the boggy, water-logged ground. Balin descended down into the flooded river valley and at the water's edge noticed a great deal of turmoil in their tracks, and then the tracks stopped. Before he could ponder this evidence however, She had descended upon him with all Her might. Trapped, and under the threat of certain death, Balin had no choice but to submit.

Seemingly an eternity later, Julian, Grim, and Anthony returned to the outer edge of Myth Drevanna with many powerful protective spells cast upon them. They entered the rough green water and swam quickly between the near sunken canopies in the former glory of an elven mythal. As they moved deeper into Myth Drevanna all three noticed that a number of their preparative spells for battle had failed. Grim quickly deducted that these were all of the Abjuration school of magic. It seemed that the corrupted Myth Drevanna may at one time have been deeply linked to the school. As they advanced into the first section of the Mythal, the tree canopy came to life and began to batter the party with fury. Grim sustained a moderate injury and Shapeshifted into a Solar to resist the continuous attacks. As the party pressed deeper into the mythal with the trees constantly attacking, a third cloud of acidic gas hit the party. Julian sensed the presence of an intelligent mind within 100 feet of him to the northeast and the party rushed forward. Then, She descended.

The Great Wyrm leapt down from the tree canopy and bruised the party's flesh with a trunk-splitting roar. She was the largest dragon any had imagined, comparable to some small castles. Her dark green scales intertwined with vines, bark and thorns, and Her massive jaws dripped with a brownish ichor. From Her brief flight She clamped down on Anthony and smashed into the water. Anthony returned the damage with two incredible Smites and freed his arm from Her jaws. Julian attempted a dark and vile power upon Her, however his Avasculate did not hit with the same force he had expected. Additionally, Anthony and Grim had witnessed his Evil spell and became deeply concerned. Grim also struck the Great Dragon with bolts of sonic energy. Reeling back from the damage, She gazed back and Cursed Grim. Julian noticed however, that she had not casted the spell, merely directed it. Then, She ripped tenaciously into Anthony's body with her claws, fangs, spiked tail, and thorny hide and dived deep into the murky green waters. Julian sensed she was near and directed his comrads down to find her. Underwater, the terrible melee continued. Although the Great Dragon suffered heavy wounds She seemed to regenerate them back in the presence of the mythal. Anthony Smote Her again, and Grim directed more blasts of sonic energy, however all three had suffered near fatal wounds and were again at Kelemvor's doorstep.

With a final blow from the Sword of Cosmas, for an instant Anthony thought he had slain the Great Dragon. However, Grim had seen the magical effect and knew a Contingency and Transport Via Plants had activated. She was elsewhere now, and with the party's grievous wounds and Teleportation abilities locked out by the mythal it was only a matter of time before the violent trees would kill them all. Without hesitation, Grim knew what must be done. He stopped time with his vast arcane abilities and quickly searched through the remaining time-frozen forest. There, in an underwater cavern filled with an aura of Antimagic, he saw the Great Dragon licking Her wounds. Standing alongside Her without movement was Balin, his lost friend and adventurer. The cavern was carved from the grove's central crescent-shaped mound, which rose from the waters and was topped with colossal Druidic Stones. Grim knew there was little time and Sent for the party's help through the Weave.

Finding Myth Drevanna

Session 116

Characters: Julian, Balin, Anthony, Grim, Terus, Cael, Davvin.

NPCs: Orten: Mosstone Druid (Bear), Milisandria Mosstone Druid (Hawk), Connyal: Mosstone Druid (Fox), Fhina: Pixie path watcher, Valandis: Wood Elf Druid.

E 1 Mirtul 1374 - L 1 Mirtul 1374

1450 XP

The party gathered early in the morning as the sun rose above the eastern King's Road. With Balin and Julian's help Grim was able to Teleport the party directly to the Druidic trade town of Mosstone. They now stood at the base of a great earth mound; large standing stones rose out of the hill like the teeth of a colossal beast. The party left the central clearing and moved into Mosstone's trade streets enclosed by massive trees. Merchants of many guilds had set up shops along the forest floor. The party searched for Mosstone officials and within no time met with Orten, a strongly built human dressed in the traditional green robes of a Mosstone Silvanus druid. They told Orten of the assault on Porta Elvasious and the rumors of Myth Drevanna's "awakening". Orten then led the party to Treemeet, a great hall for the Mosstone Druids built from the intertwined bodies of Weldath's 5 oldest trees. The party waited within Treemeet, while various woodland creatures curiously examined their presence. Finally, they met with the High Druids Milisandria and Connyal.

During their meeting the party again explained the events concerning Porta Elvasious, the Old Way believers, and Myth Drevanna. Milisandria strongly agreed that the clash between the Old and New Ways must be resolved. In addition, she explained to them of the former Mosstone druid Valandis. He had been sent by the New Order years ago to seek out the odd changes in the forest to the northwest. He was rumored to have found the ancient Myth Drevanna and has never returned. Balin promised that he would go with the party to the ancient Mythal and seek out Valandis to both determine if he had any link to the attacks of Porta Elvasious and find a resolution to the recent clashes between the Old and New Ways. With blessings from Orten, Milisandria and Connyal the party then left Mosstone and searched for a Fey Road to lead them into Myth Drevanna.

With Balin's expertise, the party walked efficiently north through the Weldath Woods and found a small stream with hints of Fey magic in the reflections. Following this stream west, it widened and met with a 25 foot forest cliff-side forming a small waterfall. At the base of this waterfall Balin again found Fey magic and knew that in order to enter the Fey road they must leap off the cliff-side headfirst through the shallow stream waters below. Upon hearing this risky act Julian volunteered his services and jumped off the cliff before Balin could properly direct him. However, instead of slipping into the Fey Road, Julian crashed headfirst into the stones below. After a hearty laugh from his comrades, Julian climbed to the top and Balin leapt down. Instantly, Balin found himself within a mirrored extradimentional space looking up through the stream at his fellow adventurers. The rest of the party leapt one by one, and with Balin's help they slipped down into the Fey Road safely. To the suprise of Balin, the Fey Road to the north and south directions was pinched off. After a few minutes examining the Road for exits they found a small Pixie named Fhina hiding in a mirrored pocket. The party made bold attempts at first to spark her interest with tall tales, and offerings, however it was not long before they noticed she was in distress. The Fey Road became darker and more cramped, Balin knew this as a reflection of her psyche, and so attempted to console her. Fhina told the party that the other Fey Roads had been broken by some unknown force, and her dear friends were lost. She had closed off her segment before her fate would become theirs. The party promised Fhina that they would stop whomever had destroyed the Sylvan veins through Weldath and left the Fey Road through the stream above.

The adventurers now agreed that they must find Myth Drevanna with haste. Grim Greater Teleported the party to the closest known location of the ancient mythal. Although they were only within a few miles of the mythal they knew that actually finding it would be a time consuming a difficult task. Balin and Terus led the party with their tracking expertise and soon it was becoming increasingly difficult to travel. They began noticing themselves traveling in circles, seeing the same trees and rocks over and over. They pushed on and later the ground and terrain seemed to be moving asynchronously, had they been drinking? The hallucinations intensified as the party continued to focus on their precious land markers. However, a disagreement broke out between two sides of the party on whether they had already crossed a small stone bridge or not. The argument was settled and they decided to cross the bridge. Balin and Terus led them and as they reached its apex felt as if the wind had picked up greatly. Then all at once they crashed into the ground below, they had been falling. Some at the top managed to avoid this devastating fall by fighting off the powerful hallucination. After a while of searching, the party had reunited on the forest floor below and stared up at the great hallucinatory cliff-side.

They continued walking and found that their legs were sticking more in the ground, their feet snagging on roots almost continuously. Massive leaves from the old trees around blew in the shifting winds and obscured their vision. Then through his keen senses, Balin saw a small green bird gently perched on a tree branch in the harsh winds, Valandis. The Druids met, speaking in a foreign tongue as the party looked on. Valandis refused to acknowledge the power of the Mosstone Druids and renounced the New Way to Balin, it had failed him. Balin attempted to reason with Valandis, particularly to get him to control the forest to cease its attack on the King's Road. Valandis refused, and so Balin challenged him to a Sylvan Duel for the grove of Myth Drevanna and jurisdiction over the northwestern Weldath Woods. The terms were given: A melee combat until death, using only oaken staffs of equal make. Combat was joined. The elven druids battered each other furiously as the cracks of their oak staffs resounded through the awakened forest.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party heard strange sounds of crying and screaming from deeper in the druidic grove. Valandis was not the only enemy present. They moved carefully forward as the violent forest floor resisted against their movement. Then, under a large tree, the party saw the glint of a dead pixie's wings spattered against its roots. The party advanced now at a faster pace, still hearing the fey screams of terror. Suddenly, the forest's resistance culminated as Cael was dragged down, entangled by a great tree's roots. Vines and branches attempted to Entangle the rest of the party, however they were able to escape. As Cael continued to struggle, the party was blasted by a hail of thorns on all sides. Though heavily damaged, Davvin rescued Cael from the Entangling roots and the party scattered. Anthony Manton attempted to Heal the party's biting wounds however his spell instantly failed. Those among the party, whom could perceive magic, saw a horrifying and twisted Weave all around them in the forest. They now were within the wooded halls of the corrupted Myth Drevanna, and their presence was most unwelcome.