Session 63: Sneks on a Plane (October 3, 2024)
Last session, our heroes fought against a gigantic feathered kraken which emerged from the Gleaming Sea. The instructions of Darryl still in their heads, they sought to keep rowing. They mostly succeeded, except for Delilas, who dropped her oar to try and wrest an unconscious Elias from the kraken’s grasp. While the party fought bravely, they were one by one swallowed and digested by the massive sea beast.
They then awoke in a calm sea, accompanied again by Darryl. Rormir and Delilas were injured, and the hairs on the back of their necks were sticking up. Rormir felt as if he had been marked in some way. In time, they saw land approaching in the distance, distinguished by tall cliff-fronted coastlines and black smoke rising into the sky. This was Dalin, the island where Elias and Delilas were from.
The party strategized how to land on the island. They could enter through the burning Northrun, a forest inhabited by spirits angry at the imperial incursion. Or they could land in the city itself and risk being spotted by Kogar’s forces. To Heph’s nervous acquiescence, they decided to travel through the Northrun.
They headed west through the blighted trees, offering gifts to the spirits as they went. Rormir used Druidcraft to grow a number of trees, one for each party member (including a hidden Ana). Maho pulled Rormir aside to talk to him about how he had stopped rowing, saying he needed to start considering how his actions affected others. Rormir seemed to take this to heart, recognizing what he had done to other goliaths while under the influence of Geas. They continued on, making successful persuasion checks, eventually getting within sight of a jacaranda tree past the edge of the woods. The forest asked for one more gift, and they provided their stock of wine, sweetening the wind with an intoxicating aroma of alcohol and merriment. The woods opened up, leading the party into a courtyard surrounded by rough, unworked stone pillars. In the center was a jacaranda tree, its purple blossoms gliding on the breeze between a large number of Eladrin, all dancing around it in celebration.
- Standing on the edge of the clearing surrounding by rough, ancient-looking
standing stones, Rormir notes that although the body language of
the Eladrin seems to be merriment, their eyes seem to dart nervously and they
are more tense than they should be
- The Eladrin seem like they might not be fully in their own control
- Heph uses Disguise Self to disguise himself as an elvish child, who still looks a lot like Heph if you know him
- Elias asks Delilas if she notices something off, and she also notices that the people are off and that the forest seemed to put up less resistance than expected
- Elias asks if there are any members of the resistance, and Delilas points out two members of the resistance, Hilariel and Ser
- Heph offers to message one of the members of the resistance, and asks for some sort of code he can pass along to get them to trust the message
- Elias whispers a message to Heph, how to ask if Hilariel is okay in Thieves’ Cant, and Heph relays it via casting Message
- While this is happening, the group manages to stay stealthy despite Maho and Delilas stepping into buckets that were inexplicably there on the ground
- Hilariel’s dancing flow seems uninterrupted, but her eyes dart around and she seems to show more fear, and she responds in Thieves’ Cant asking who it is talking to her
- Elias, ignoring her questions, asks her whose control she is under
- She replies she was doing security at the festival, and a stronger presence than usual spread out to the rest of them from Mirelda, and they’ve been at it for hours
- Mirelda is the Jubilant, the leader of these festivals, i.e., the chair of the festival committee
- Heph pulls out his mirror and asks mirror Heph if he has
any ideas about the situation
- Heph and Pheh go back and forth for a minute, finally arriving at a few options
- The spirits clearly want something, and it must be a direct result of the attack, and there must be something they want, and the second option is violence
- Heph concludes that they should try figuring out what the spirits want and try to appease them
- Heph wants to try talking to the tree to see if we can figure out what it wants, and asks for ideas what to say
- After some discussion, Rormir suggests we ask the tree how we can help it
- Heph points at the tree and says “oh great tree, what do you need, how can we help you?”
- After a while, a voice responds “they came to our land, they took what was ours, we must take back”
- Heph points back at the tree, “oh great tree, what was taken?”
- It responds, “the Root Stone, it was buried beneath the soil, and without the stone we must gather energy from elsewhere, the celebration cannot end”
- Elias and Delilas put their heads together, to try
to figure out what the root stone is, and they surmise it must be ancient
- Delilas specifically remembers learning in school of a time before the Nor’Southern Isles were in either the material plane or the Fey Wild, and they were just forests and mountains and hills that were flooded when the Shroud ripped
- Heph asks the tree, “oh great tree, where is this root stone, so that we can retrieve it for you?”
- It asks “how do I know you can be trusted, how do I know you don’t want it for yourselves?”
- Heph responds “we passed through the forest and offered gifts, we are friends, not enemies”
- The tree pauses, Heph feels his foot begin to tap and feels a rush to join the celebration, but manages to hold back
- The voice replies “you are not what you appear to be”
- Heph says “correct, we are trying to hide from the imperial despots who are stealing your land”
- It says “you are not with him” and Heph replies “no, we are enemies of Kogar”
- It replies “those who dug the stone from our roots named Kogar, and took it past where we could see”
- It asks why we are here, Heph explains his friends are from here and do not agree with Kogar’s ways, we are here to return balance to the land
- It says the celebration cannot end, they must be celebrated to survive
- Heph asks if it can release Hilariel and Ser, they have information we need to help locate and retrieve the root stone
- The tree says they were somber, and it would be better if they were farther from the celebration, and releases them from its control
- Elias steps out cautiously from the tree line, makes eye contact
with Hilariel and Ser, Hilariel recognizes him but Ser does not, winks at
Hilariel and ducks back into the trees
- Ser looks over at Hilariel, who shrugs and motions for him to follow, and they walk over to the tree line to join the group
- Hilariel walks over and thanks us for getting them released, but as her brain fog clears she notices Elias and slaps him, Elias intentionally letting her hit
- Seeing that he let her slap him, she sighs, and asks Delilas why they are back
- Delilas explains that they are back because they found a shortcut and need help, but can’t talk here and need to go somewhere private
- Hilariel asks if the group can be trusted, Delilas explains they haven’t betrayed her so far and Elias trusts them, for whatever little that might be worth
- Hilariel turns to the group and says let’s get away from here and we’ll talk
- As we walk, Elias says “you’re welcome by the way”, and Hilariel says you have much more to make up for
- After coughing a literal frog out of his throat, Ser seems very nervous to be around Elias
- Arriving at a relatively private area next to Circle Grove, Hilariel asks what
Elias and Delilas are doing here
- Elias says he’s been on the material plane, and Kogar is there, and Delilas thought they could recruit help from here
- Hilariel is suspicious about him spending time with Kogar, and Elias explains he didn’t even know Kogar was there until a day ago
- Elias explains he felt bad about what he’s done, and Delilas chimes in and says he is an idiot and has had some real negative consequences on the world, but recently he seems to have grown a bit, and Delilas is there to keep him in line
- Heph is very amused by Delilas calling Elias an idiot
- Turning to the rest of the group, she is very confused about this motley crew that Elias and Delilas are with
- Heph convinces her to see through his disguise, but she is still
confused and thinks he’s a child
- Low intelligence barbarian
- The concept of magic is entirely foreign to them, and Hilariel is really concerned
- Elias uses Minor Illusion to make a duck, and Heph makes sparks, and Hilariel tries to stab the duck and then tries to stab Heph
- Ser has been slowly backing away, Elias pulls him in with Mage Hand but he says he doesn’t want to associate with Elias, and Elias lets him go
- Maho pushes Hilariel’s sword away and says we’re not there to fight you
- Maho, rather exasperated with the group’s antics, says to Hilariel that she doesn’t get all the magic either, and asks Hilariel if she wants a drink, and pulls out the wine
- Hilariel makes Elias drink some, he burps, and she is seems satisfied it isn’t poisoned, and drinks some, seeming pleasantly surprised by the quality of it
- Maho says Kogar is threatening the wine, and Hilariel asks if that is why Maho is after Kogar, and she explains that Kogar is threatening her folks, and Hilariel interprets it as her parents make wine
- She asks why everyone else is there, Heph tries to explain his issue with Kogar, but it is a bit confusing for Hilariel, and Elias simplifies the explanation and says that there is a unique opportunity to take out Kogar and there is hope now
- Hilariel is hesitant to take the group to the base, Delilas
convinces her she knows the code
- She wants to blindfold and drug the group, Heph convinces her not to drug him because he’s a child
- Hilariel motions to Ser, who brings over hoods to blindfold the group
- She motions to him again, and he tries to get everyone to sit on the wheelbarrow
- Heph says that seems like a bad idea while blindfolded, and Ser seems a bit panicked, Hilariel is taking notes while he is trying to figure it out
- He directs us to take off the blindfolds, sit on the wheelbarrow, then put the blindfolds back on
- Ser pulls out some nuts that look like they’ve been opened and resealed, and asks if anyone is allergic to chestnuts
- Elias raises his hand, Ser pulls up his hood and shoves it in Elias’ mouth
- He hands out the chestnuts and tells everyone to suck on them, not chew them
- He starts to hand one to Heph, and realizes Heph is a “child”, so he doesn’t give Heph the nut, but gives one to the rest of the group
- Everyone who ate the nut starts to feel a bit weak and loose and falls backwards, except Heph
- Rormir and Maho keep their faculties about them a bit, still feeling a bit off but largely in control, Ana starts mumbling oh, the hood was on, but now it’s off, and it’s a beautiful sky, and the frogs have angel wings
- Elias ends up crunching down on the nut, and finds himself miles above Dalin, riding on a giant Salty, he sees tentacles waving from the ocean and he waves back
- He sees Jeff Goldblums breast stroking through the ocean, and Elias waves at them too
- Looking to where he grew up, he feels an emptiness from there, a sense of absence, and looking around more he notices the entire island is surrounded by a massive snake that seems to go on for eternity, he can see the massive fanged head looking at him but can’t see the tail
- Elias steers the Salti-corn towards the snake head, and Elias says out loud “I must boop the infinite snek, the snoot must be booped”
- Rormir hearing this, says “oh you’re meeting my friend”
- Elias hears Rormir’s voice coming from a majestic flying sea turtle with wings and a wolf’s head, and asks him if he is the snake, but Rormir explains it is his friend, not him
- Elias asks if the snake likes to be booped, and after showing Rormir what a boop is, flies up to the snake and boops its nose, saying “boop” as he does so
- The snek allows him to boop it, and its tongue slithers out and licks Elias’ hand
- A voice emanates from the snake, “he’s closer to home”
- Elias asks who the snake is talking about, the snake rapidly circles and says “all life is a circle, he leaves, he must return, but on each pass, on each cycle, he brings more with him”
- Elias asks the snake if he’s going to eat his tail, and the snake responds “yeah, you get it bro” and Elias reaches out to give him a fist bump, and a little fist pops out to meet him
- The snake explains something about tides carrying sand in a cycle, and Elias says he’s not into riddles, and the snake clarifies “his time is near, the tide will flow out and his cycle will continue. Think on what of yourself and your quest and your relationships the tide will bring back to the depths”
- The snake rapidly spins around again, the coils forming planetary orbits of sorts, and then the snake head gets right up in Elias’ face, and Elias asks it where the Root Stone is, and then it eats Elias
- Despite not being drugged, Heph is having some difficulty tracking
the path the wheelbarrow is taking, but it eventually stops, and Ser says
“hang on, not there yet, just one second”, and some whispered conversation
occurs, followed by a knock
- The wheelbarrow starts moving again, on a smooth floor, and then Ser starts to drag it down what seems like a staircase, then pulls it a bit farther, then a clang of metal on stone as the wheelbarrow is dropped in place
- Ser says everyone can take their mask off, and asks how everyone is feeling
- Rormir says he is good, and Elias is making snow angels and asks if everyone wants to make a snowman
- Taking the hoods off, Ser hands out more nuts to suck on, and Elias immediately crunches it, the effects of the drug wear off for everyone, and mostly wear off for Elias
- Elias points at Maho and asks “who’s the child?”
- Looking around the room, it is dim, but we can see we are in a dark stone tunnel, just past a stone archway, and the tunnel continues off into the distance, branching off in a few directions at the limits of our vision
- Ser welcomes everyone to Avernale base, and Elias asks how to get out of the snake
- Ser says to move towards its ass, jerk, and Elias starts walking, immediately running into the stone wall
- For reinforcements we’re going to want to talk to Saraen, who is busy and we don’t have an appointment so it could be tough to get an audience
- Ser tells Elias to scratch the snake’s fangs, Elias leans to Heph and asks why he thinks they’re in a snake, and Heph just shrugs
- Heading into the tunnels, Rormir looks out for anything
threatening, and notices that he seems to be passing landmarks multiple
times despite seeming to never change direction
- Ancient faded murals, ruined statues
- Rormir turns to Ser and asks him if we’re going in circles, and he says no we’re not, but he reassures us he knows where he is going
- He asks Rormir for his name, and then asks Rormir if he’s okay, and Rormir says not so much, as he’s been dealing with some issues
- Rormir explains he is tired, he has a weird mark, and he is decaying a bit, it’s like he’s dying but is trying not to
- Ser explains the spirits he is used to have mostly come through the trees, but he’s had one in his head for a while, and he doesn’t know how to play the flute, but he doesn’t know how to do that, and his lips are chapped, but that’s besides the point
- He continues and says Rormir looks familiar in a way that he wouldn’t have been a couple of hours ago, he looks like how the spirits felt, and asks Rormir if he’s from around here
- Rormir says he’s not from the material plane or from here, he came from a different plane, less material than this one
- Looking at Karrl, Ser says “that’s a flying octopus”, and Rormir looks at Karrl and sees that he almost sees through Karrl’s physical form, and just sees Karrl, and looking at himself, he wonders if his form is also a shell
- Rormir explains Karrl was an octopus but he shifted forms to move around outside the water, and Ser looks at Karrl again, and says “yeah, yeah”, although he seems kind of distracted and he has realized something
- Rormir asks him if he noticed something else, and Ser says it is reminding him of something, and asks Rormir how he feels about snakes
- Rormir says he feels pretty good about snakes, he has one who is an old friend and mentor who he calls Urobor
- Ser seems surprised at the mention of this name, and asks if we can stop by his apartment so he can show us something
- He seems stressed, Maho offers him wine, and he says just hang on, you can offer it as an offering if you want
- Turning a corner we have definitely turned before, there are suddenly rows of
doors, and Ser takes us to one and tells Elias not to touch
anything, and then ushers everyone inside
- It is a nice homey space that seems roughly carved from the stone of the tunnel, reminiscent of the quality of the standing stones from Circle Grove
- He leads us to an alcove in the stony wall, and there is a bowl sitting on a plinth there, and he asks Maho if she’d like to pour an offering to the spirit of the deep
- Gesturing, we notice a carving into a stone plate above the bowl, of a man standing straight and tall, across his shoulders is a pole with platforms of a scale on each side, and emerging from his back are suction cupped arms of some sea creature, and surrounding him and coiling off into infinite circles is a carving of a massive snake
- Around this time, Heph’s disguise ends, and Hilariel notices and in surprise swings at Heph