Gnome Way Home

Scribe Notes

Summary

(Captain) Dunbar Stormkinder

Lorcan Skyratchet

Egan Firehand

Tawnie Lodestar

Tulla Goldhand

Sterling "Splinge" Cogsprocket

Balthazar "Pongo" Wogglebottle

Adventure: Gnome Way Home
GM: Martin
Season: Spring 823 wk
Night: various weekends
Level: Low-Medium

Party

1. Dart - Halfling Bard - Alex
2. Roxanna - Human Mind Mistress - Paige
3. Mattin - The Murder Hobbit - Kyan
4. Kassian - Elven Druidic Cheesemaker - Gray
5. Tharlin - Dwarven Air Mage - Conal PL
6. Duvon - Dwarven Druid (m) - Dean MilSci
7. Ari - Human Namer - Stephen Scribe

Employer

By way of an urgent request some days after the Spring Meeting asking for a Guild party for a rescue and recovery operation in a location the employers cannot operate due to events dating back to Autumn 790 WK (See Against ze Flying Nomes).

Mission

Find, secure, assist, and recover a valuable lost asset and several VIPs.

Pay

Yes... definitely... probably quite good.

Scribe Notes

Into the woods

Frysday 18th Thaw

We're gathered for work in the early hours of the morning, a late and urgent request has come in from Gnomes to rescue a flying ship and crew that have crashed in Bowcourt south-east of Mure.

We gather equipment, do some rituals and head out.

• Greater Enchantment rk 20 on Magic for the season
• 6 x Restoratives 10/20
• 6 x Expired Healing Potions 2D10
• 6 x Special Potions
  • Stoneskin
  • Slow Trollskin
  • Heroism
  • Spider Climb
  • Gullibility
  • Vitality
• 6 x Oils
  • Mending
  • Sharpness
  • Hair Restoration
  • Barkskin
  • Sharkskin
  • Willowshade

We walk into Seagate to Seacliff Estate near Castle Chilton, there we are admitted to an enchanted Garden Gazebo.

At midday there is a lurching sensation, fortunately we're all inside, and then we're in a rose garden.

An elderly man (William of Mure, twin brother of Baron Henry) greets us, we're expected. It is a busy, well looked after estate in Armagnac.

William has gathered supplies for us, a lot of supplies: Food, tree clearing tools, mechanician tools & ropes, and more food. William's nephew Anton will take a ship with most of the supplies to Stormstout Brewery while we fly ahead to try to find the crash site.

The flying vessel is about 50' long with double that in wingspan. Our tracking device is pointing towards the Lupine Woods.

We have lunch, cast some spells (SoS & Flying), then take flight south-east for the Lupine Woods. Following the tracker as we get close, we land nearby on a bare hill with a magical circle of standing stones at the top - a barrow?. Counts as a Druidic Place of Power, associated with a power - Romulag. Ley lines flow around the barrow, it looks like this is probably a fey wood.

Rox picks up something watching us, sitting in trees, small with large heads and bodies but no apparent limbs. Plant-like, Tree Spirit (Kodama), Fae but not associated with any of the courts, Health/Growth ability. Kass talks to them, they are sad, trees were stolen, taken, drained. The rocks contain/seal un-life, rot. They have a friend, ???, not a false-friend. The friend checks on trees after big storms, last visited in winter.

About an hour through the forest, we come to the Gnomes and their crashed craft, feeling a bit sorry for themselves, hungry, & hurt. Sky Gnomes, recently affected by soft-fall magic.

1. Splinge (Sterling Cogsprocket) has metal legs and feet. Extra long moustache & pointy beard. Was stuck in a tree - "easier to go up than down".
2. Dunbar Stormkinder, pilot/captain, walrus moustache.
3. Lorcan Skyratchet, peacemaker/leader.
4. Eagan Firehand
5. Tawnie Lodestar, engineer, built the ship.
6. Tulla Goldhand, severe haircut.
7. Pongo (Balthazar Wogglebottle), poisoned (ate red berries and toadstools when they got hungry), hydraulics engineer.

They saw a beacon light (coming from the barrow), came in for a landing, crashed into the trees.

During the night someone barefoot & invisible approached enough to see us before withdrawing, their tracks show them deviating to check us out while travelling north of us, east to west.

Reapsday 19th Thaw

We walk back to the barrow.

Long ago, a great spirit/god of the forest became rotten, fell and was entombed/contained here. The circle syphoned & flared off (growth/life) energy from the barrow to keep it from building up. Many millennia old (Ancient Elven Empire or older). Broken 3 days ago, restoring the stones to their position won't fix it. The circle was built by great mages of the Elves and powerful Seelie Fae.

We see the prepared smoke signal rising from the Gnome camp indicating they need help.

Fae Hags or Ladies?

We race back, prepared for anything to find 2 gnomes arguing, 1 watching, and Tulla is throwing green leaves on the fire. 3 Gnomes are missing.

Splinge went east to feed the gremlin (beezly)

Pongo went north to find a river, he left just after we did

Egan went north to look for Pongo

We find Splinge fairly quickly, the Gremlin got spooked and made his legs fall off. After carrying him back to camp, Tharlin picks up the scant trail and we follow the other two north.

The two Gnomes have managed to go in different directions so we split up too.

Pongo somehow avoided an area infested with giant spiders that we find by touch. We find him by a small stream talking with a Fae, near-avatar, Green Lady, Seelie Court, Woods Guardian, centuries old. The lady offered to help get the Gnomes flying cart free of the trees, if we help her by getting rid of some unseelie to the north-east who are troubling her. Less than a dozen of them, like dark, twisted Satyrs.

We discuss the mound, it is from before her time but she thinks it may be reborn now that its containment is breached, this is not necessarily a bad thing (from her point of view).

Tharlin, Dart & Tulla find Egan fleeing through the forest, chased by wood animates, made of sticks, bone and rune stones (non-college, spirit binding, dark ritualistic magic, a couple of hours to make each one. Sacrifice animal, binding spirit to its own skull to create the animus, made by a Black Hag). They engage. Tulla fires a fire-crossbow, Dart & Tharlin engage in melee, the fight is quick and one-sided. They then return to camp.

Several times today we have seen yellow-eyed ravens watching us, someone possessing them that withdraws when we pay attention (the eyes reverting). The Green Lady is intentionally vague, she says they are several beings it could be.

After lunch we hike north-east to where the Dark Satyrs are supposed to be, we're followed by moving trees. Clearing around a magic well, faun archers, we try to chat, one of them shoots (elbow jogged by an awakened tree), the fight is on. Hands (of earth and brambles) from both sides are effective, melee damage, spells, arrows. One of the fauns is killed by an awakened tree, one tree killed by fire arrows, one de-animated by the well. We capture:

2 x Fauns - mostly Seelie court.

2 x Cervitaur (Faun-Deer style Centaur)

Plot Twist and an intense combat

Tharlin's Special Takeover of the Scribe Notes

After the battle, the walking tree was de-animated and we had three agendas

1) Talk to capturees

2) Investigate the moving trees

3) Investigate the pool

We find out from one of the fauns (Sorrel') that the lady they're working for is Flora Halfelven. They being Sorrel and the other faun Kale and the two Cervitaurs Sage and Bramble. They said Flora had gone to retrieve a patrol of real fighters and we only fought basket weavers. After precognition, some recitations and divinations of the trees, we find out that the trees were awoken by the Green Hag and instructed to eat the evil satyrs. The flavour of magic seems to be similar to that of the shoulder sigils from the guys Dart and I fought while rescuing Egen. Another recitation from Dart tells us that the pool here is clean water brought over with the fae when they entered the plane. Some of the spirits that came over with them dozed off over time because "the wild has left" basically meaning the forest is a mere shell of an the old great one that was here.

We decided to wait until Flora came back and she arrived with a woodland-fairy-y folk music played on the flute. For some reason Duvon put moss in his ears then him, Cass and the murder hobbit went glazy-eyed. We noticed archers coming in from both sides and next to Flora there were two ladies behind Flora (one with black Antlers who looked vaguely elvish named Feralia. Another playing the flute was Pomona). We figure out with them that not everything we've heard is true. The Green Lady could secretly be the Green Hag. There are three hags, the green, black and one we haven't encountered. Feralia, Flora's sister, is often referred to as 'tree friend' and the Green Hag could be 'false friend'. Lots to discuss and think about later. Flora and friends also told us they could get us into the corrupted area to challenge the corruption and they could get their druid friend Hawthorne to get the aircraft out from the trees.

We walk back to the gnome encampment and run into some wolves who don't look quite right. As they get closer, we form up and find they look more like Zombie Dire Wolves. There are about a dozen total around us. Rox took two of them out, using mind magic and we picked off the rest. I clobbered one and smashed its hip making it fall over prone then beat it to a pulp (I'm not cruel, it just kept getting back up). I became the stand-in Mil. Sci as the normal ones are engaged and I'm quick. Both undead re-deads crumpled apart and billowed out green smoke similar to that of the grassy guys Dart and I pummelled earlier but these ones have no sigils. Duvon was bitten and as we finished off our individual wolves, Dart and I ran around helping everyone else. Cass got his first 'kill' and we finished off the rest followed by some investigating. We find out these guys were animated by the Black Hag and their spirits have been bound into their skull pulling along the rest of their body. We head the rest of the way back to the gnome camp and as I got into the clearing I almost had my head speared by wooden stake from a ballista-like contraption made by the gnomes. Luckily they missed and that's the end of the day, Tharlin signing off.

Gnolls by Moonlight

Around midnight, Tharlin and Kass wakes us all after seeing a light (torch?) off in the forest and then seeing the Gnomes and craft are gone, the trees are undamaged.

We know something is wrong but we can't work out what, preparing for combat, we head out towards the light.

We find a rustic cottage, knocking at the door the short old lady, Granny Dwayberry invites us in for tea and cakes. Granny is aligned with forests and nature. Her cat, Dusty is aligned with the night. Her furnishings and crockery are a 'mixed assortment' and seem familiar to some of us, vaguely remembered cups from childhood. We're almost certain that she is the one known as the Black Hag though she doesn't explicitly admit it. She is keen for us to enter into agreements with her, we're cautious and cagey.

Mattin disappears, followed soon by Dart. Granny looks miffed and starts swearing under her breath while smiling at us and continuing to negotiate. Dart shouts with full bardic voice and the rest of us wake up to see a dozen Gnolls in the process of carrying off the Gnomes and our Halflings.

We grab up our weapons and attack. Lightning, Hands, Control, Mental Attack, Rats, and a mass of melee damage wins us the fight and we rescue the Gnomes though Kass took a near mortal blow - before fighting on and winning.

Lumberjack Time

We try to interrogate our 4 Gnoll prisoners with their limited common and our more limited Gnoll.

Mother Krave (Ynogra - Gnoll-Boss) sent them to sneak in and bring back small people to her at the tunnels/caves in a mound to the north. Shagrat will kill them for failing. Blood Magic.

Sunday 20th Thaw

Flora arrives at breakfast. Her dad arrives a little later with companion Owlbears.

We fly down to Stormstout Brewery, have lunch, load up with supplies and fly them back to the crash site.

Long ago, a star fell to ground here and poisoned the land (star silver). Gormalag, the local forest god drew most of the poison from the land but was corrupted by it and fell into madness.

During the transformations, I feel like there is something odd inside me, it doesn't show on Divination or Healer Empathy. I insist there is something there and they need to cut in to have a look, after a bloody procedure the extract a small egg parasitically attached to my intestines.

Small parasitical egg, created by dream and shadow, Living animal, Strix, fantastical avian of Shadow adjacent to Alusia. Bat-Avian-shadow creature with a long hard beak. It is a Spirit of a shadow realm, intentionally (using magic) caught up in a dream scape and baked into a honey cake, connected to me by consumption of the cake and dragged out to Alusia.

Moonday 21st Thaw (work starts, estimated 3 weeks) to Reapsday 10th Seedtime

Felling trees and clearing 4 acres for the Gnome's Flying craft to be able to get back into the air. Duvon, Kass, and Mattin take some nearly mortal injuries while felling trees.

The flying craft is lowered to the cleared ground. It takes a few tries for the Gnomes to get their Gnomish tree-trimming-and-splitting mechanician device working properly. The first couple of attempts have potential as short range siege weapons. Then they go to work on their rapid-tree-felling device.

25th Thaw

A tree sneaks into camp during the night and steals one of the Gnome-ish engines, Tharlin spots it makings its getaway, he and Kass engage, Dart wakes the rest of us.

Night Fight

We charge to engage, another two trees come to the aid of the original, one of them a lot bigger and spitting wood shards at all nearby. Mental attack slows the trees, the black cat is observing from a tree, 9 possessed wood animates charge us, and an even bigger amalgam animate. Things go their way for a while and look a bit dicey until Kass and Duvon get some Walls and Hands into play and Tharlin unleashes his Lightning. Passing off the Gnome's engine, they are slowly moving it away while we drink healing potions and slowly carve through the trees and animates. The Black cat turns into a 4-Hex displacer beast and attacks Rox. We split between finishing off the trees and animates, stopping the big animate getting away with the engine, and helping Rox.

The cat retreats, the animate is making a very slow run for it, we get the engine back, the cat attacks again, damaging the engine before we drive it off, I use the mending potion on the engine, we eventually destroy the big animate and then get the engine back to the Gnomes.

I divine one of the wolf animates to get counterspell (Dark Binding) for Granny Dwayberry's magic then we destroy the remnants of all of them so they can't be redeployed against us.

Reapsday 26th Thaw

Resting, recovering, clean-up.

The Gnomes ask us to head back to Mulberry to get more 'fuel' for their mechanician devices and other supplies which will make the repairs and clearing faster.

Deals & Abduction

We fly to Armagnac, Mure (just under 2 hours) to meet with William. He happily arranges an old wine barrel for the Gremlin and sends to the Gnomes for more fuel. We chat over lunch, catching him up on what we've encountered and learned.

Flying back to camp we deliver our supplies and fresh food, wine, honey, and Armagnac. While we have flying duration, we take off again for Stormstout Brewery for the remaining supplies there and some beer.

Back at camp, we settle back in for dinner and continuing the work clearing the forest. The Gnomes regale us with vague stories about interesting features of their secret flying city which they can't talk about.

Moonday 28th Thaw

The Cat approaches Mattin at night, passing on a message that things are happening and Granny is sitting it out, she's had enough. Mother, Baba Krave (the Blood Witch) is still feeling very aggressive and is going to take action, soon. Nanny, Baba Galdr (the Green Hag) might be persuaded to sit it out.

Frysday 2nd

Feralia and some Cervitaurs arrive in the morning, badly wounded. The Gnolls attacked one of their settlements and took prisoners, including Pomona.

We make a plan: The Fauns will make a show of following the Gnolls with an armed force. The Druid will stay here to defend the Gnomes. We will use the stone portal to sneak into the ruins and rescue the prisoners. Flora (Pomona's niece) will come with us as she should be able to sense Pomona and possibly communicate with her.

We cast buffs, drink potions, and prepare ourselves then tree portal to the stone portal (runes in the stone look old, possible carved out by claws) and through we go.

Old paved settlement, Elven style buildings, a cottage a few hundred yards north, looks like it would have been lovely once but is now mostly dead and ruined.

The cottage to the north rolls up its garden, stands up on a giant hand and walks away north with a farewell from Granny & the cat.

A large pool to the south of the town square with spiral floating stairs going around it and up to a floating v-shaped rock from which clear water cascades down into the green water in the pool.

We walk 5 minutes east to the edge of town, another 5 minutes out of town following a track where lots of Gnolls have been through recently. Down a switchback into a ravine.

Telepathy picks up Gnolls within the cliff, extensive caves, lots of Gnolls, our prisoners deeper within, a guarded entrance further along.

Telepathy, Control and Mental Attack to draw some outside and get them fighting each other, causing chaos, then we close in. Hands and murder of the 4 outside, one elite inside knocked out and being eaten by its fellow.

The Gnoll Elite

Walls to mostly block the tunnels left and right with Crocodile Tears thrown over them to damage and distract the enemy. Ahead the enemy meets us at their wall and we engage. Their reinforcements swarm over us, wall starts lowering. Taller, enhanced Gnolls riding giant hyenas, 2 special Gnolls (him with claws & a phase cloak, her with skull mace). Messy brutal fight, we throw an Oz Crocodile in, eventually we win through but I'm a bloody mess.

On around the corner towards the prisoners, through curtains made from various sentients, engaging the next wave of Gnolls holding a defensive wall.2 They have an earth elemental which is potentially nasty until Rox hits it with Mental Attack.

The Red Rescue

Tunnelling to bypass their defensive wall, we swarm to meet their reinforcements: more Gnolls, a Gnoll assassin, a 3-headed Hyena, Centaur-like Gnoll-Hyenas, a Titan-scale giant naked Gnoll-Mole-rat. Blood and bodies everywhere, the balance tipped several times by Rox controlling dangerous enemies and turning them on their allies, Earth Hands to protect our flanks, Stonewalls to guard our rear, Tharlin bear-hugging a Gnoll-Hyena to death in close, Dart demonstrating why duelists are at their best when out-numbered.

Cut Scene...
Krave: [Looking into her blood-filled cauldron] My sisters, they have broken through my defenses, you must send help.
Galdr: I warned you against this action, deal with the consequences yourself.
Dwayberry's Cat: The mistress is busy at the moment, can I take a message... [Cheshire smile]

Staggering through past another Earth Elemental to engage the Hag who has used blood magics to enlarge and is lethal with ladle and stomping boots. Tharlin engages the Earth Elemental, having the edge until a powerful blow connects and stuns him, looking bad until a timely Mental Attack takes it out of the fight. The Hag is tough in melee, adding to the blood already drenching me but distracted by Mattin's determination to stay behind her carving his initials into her organs; she drains the imprisoned Fauns to heal, killing Clover. When a combo of attacks from Dart and Mattin stun her, I snatch away her healing blood amulet. Wearing her down again she fights past death, her flesh petrifying in front of us, cursing Dart with her last breath (he may never find rest upon the ground) before she crumbles to dust.

Kas and Duvon arrive with recently rescued Fauns warning us the walls are not holding, a lot of angry Gnolls and some things that can dig through stone are about to descend on us. Freeing Pomona and gathering interesting loot, we follow Pomona's direction to the Hag's secret exit.

Gnomes going home

We spill the blood from the cauldron - just in case. Blood Heart Amulet (health battery, slowly charged by proximate death), Protective Amulet (vs Charm/Control), Circlet of controlling Earth Elementals (1 extra), Fairy Stomping Hobnailed Boots (free attack against things half your size), Soup Ladle (Mace of Herbalism & Cooking), Triple-headed biting flail (bite 20% of the time), Fighting claws (2-handed main-gauche), Wraith Cloak, glowing green alchemical liquid, berserker potions made from the same, mounted Unicorn's head. Exit up through the spiral tunnel to a closed cave on the top of the cliff, moving the large boulder to get out. Half an hour walking north to get clear of the corrupted forest then Flora talks to a tree and asks it to open a portal back to the camp.

Reapsday 3rd - W'nsday 8th Seedtime

Divine Dart, has a Death Curse, effective MA 100 (-1 per week), cannot regain FT from rest while in contact with the earth, half recovery if partially in contact (buildings), full recovery in hammock or no contact with earth.

Work continues on the clearing and construction. One near-miss fatal worksite accident.

The ley lines around the barrow are moving back to go through the barrow instead of around it.

We leave the gremlin's barrel down near the area he has been hiding. Mattin helps Beasley re-home into it.

Frysday 9th Seedtime

The Gnomes reassemble their flying craft, we bring Beasley & barrel.

Reapsday 10th Seedtime

A rather bumpy launch, leaving one of the wheels behind then we're flying NW nice and fast. Landing safely is a problem that's hours away. A couple of hours later we get to the flying city where we slide-land on the designated flat road.

They gives us papers that say we are visitors, not sure why, we already know that.

• Pegataurs (Pegasus-Centaurs)
• Flying, 'science' and herbarium areas
• Residential, workshop, commercial districts
• Levitating area (for fun)
• Bounce park
• Vanyarami
• Sphinx
• Great Library, museums of crafts, gem crafting, culture
• Magic school, Onyx tower has Namers.
• Markets - Gemeye, Merchant Row
• Slums (shadow reach)

Splinge takes us to an Inn near Merchant Row, The Glorious Second. Running hot water, internal plumbing, nice food.

Dunbar pops in around dinner to thank us and tell us he has organised payment/gratuity including Serrain trading/training options.

We discuss our availability for future 'field operative' work and we are allowed to visit again in the future.

Sunday 11th Seedtime

Seeing the sights of Serraine.

Monday 12th Seedtime

We split up to take advantage of the various training.

Gnome Home

The sights of Serraine...

Visiting the library, we see several Gnomes also have Scribbles from the Knowledge Dragon, they trade knowledge with it and any other library valuing culture. The Head Librarian is a floating skull (Demi-liche we all think), definitely on the Greater Undead+ scale of aura but GTN: Drous(sp?).

Rox is introduced to a Mind magic specialist (with some Necromancy), Horupin, a Nagpa (like Skeksis, vulture-people).

Vanyarami occasionally put on concerts on the giant wind powered organ in their quarter.

We see a Sphinx shopping in one of the markets.

The 'Science Park', paid entry to see all of the (successful & partially successful) masterworks (Mechanician, Alchemy, minor-shaping) of the Gnomes.

The Gem museum seems to have the best security in the whole place, possibly except for the head librarian.

Reference

Flora Halfelven

Half Elf, Half Faun.

Pomona

Faun. Aunt of Flora.

Uldar, 'Dad'

Elf, Wild/Wood Elf

4 Owlbear allies

Bad Hags

Red - Mother Krave

Broad, Stocky

Gnolls, Blood Magic

Killed

Green Lady / Forest Hag - Baba Galdr

Tall, Stooped

Animates Trees

Stayed in the area

Black/Night - Granny Dwayberry - Hrodpirin

Small & Slender

Spirit Binding, Animating, Dream Magic

Walking house - on giant animate hands with roll-up garden

Moved on to somewhere quieter

Black Cat - Dusty

Familiar/Ally of Hrodpirin

Aligned with night - Nix?

Also a 4-hex Displacer Beast

Mil Sci

Watch Order

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Ari				Tharlin				Dart
Rox			Mattin			Kass			Duvon

Calendar

Spring: Thaw 823 (10)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
		Candlemansa	1	Guild Meeting	2		3		4		5		6	.
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17	Urgent request arrives	18	Party assembled/depart	19	Meet Green Lady and Fauns, bonus Wolves and bad dreams	20	Trip to Stormstout Brewery
	21	Tree Felling	22	Tree Felling	23	Tree Felling	24	Tree Felling	25	Tree Felling, that night tree tries to steal engine	26	Armagnac, Stormstout	27
	28		29		30		1	Fauns abducted by Red Hag	2	Black departs, Faun Rescue and killing of Red	3		4
Spring: Seedtime 823 (11)
	5		6		7		8	Rites of Thunor	9		10		11
	12		13		14		15	Equinox	16		17	Eostre	18
	19		20		21		22		23		24		25
	26		27		28		29		30		1		2
Spring: Blossom 823 (12)
	3		4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17		18		19		20		21	Floralia	22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30	Walpurgisnacht