Out intrepid adventurers, now back to full size and enjoying a meal at the Giant's Nose, were discussing future plans. The magician Breggle, Elrod Bumble, shared a map and was willing to share the reward for getting a ring from a burial mound. Friar Henry Moon had his own reasons for wanting to go, of which were not shared. And the Dwarf, Lozebell Nightmail, and her friend and occasional co-worker, Keir, had time on their hands and agreed to go along.
Listening in was the Elf Fern Evergreen. He also had some time on his hands, and after some discussion, the group decided that as he seemed nice when they passed paths in the nose, he could accompany them.
They eat and enjoy the music and have a good night's reset at the Giant's Nose. The next morning is a cold fog, unusual for this 2nd day of Iggwyld (see the Dolmenwood calendar in their amazing list of downloads). Thinking Fern should be a good guide, and having an inexact map with a few landmarks, they head off into the woods. A failed roll later and Fern may admit that they may be a bit lost. At that point, a large rat shows up. The group, seeing a rat of unusual size, is not sure what to do. The good Friar (I think - I really need to take notes!) tosses the rat some food. Who quizzically takes it, seems to enjoy it, and then scampers off.
Finding a landmark, they get back on course and find a thorny patch that leads to 7 trilithons. Which I had to look up to see what those were:
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| Trilithons - you think I would have gotten that from the roots! |
There is a twitching stag skeleton in the middle of the circle. The sound of metal clanking in the breeze is also heard. Turns out to be metal owls hung in the trees. The native Dolmenwood inhabitants recognize signs of the Drune. Friar Moon scrapes off the moss and sees carvings of what appears to be tormented Ice Elves. There are runes on the stones that appear to be summoning spells. While Keir climbs a tree to get a look ahead, Friar Moon tries to deal with undead. The stag skeleton gets up and wanders off. While Keir tries to shoot at it from the heights of the tree, they do miss. That and arrows do not do well with skeletons. Avoiding the green fumes, they proceed onward, and find the mound not too far up the path.
Checking around, Fern & Keir notice a hole, and 3 slime trails. Peeking down, Fern can see a chamber perhaps 15 feet down, but at around 2 feet wide, the hole is a bit small for anyone, even Belle the Dwarf, to fit down.
Deciding to muscle the stone slab, they managed to open the tomb. Dusty stairs lead down as Belle looks for any traps. A small foyer, with 4 religious items in each of its corners, opens up to 3 other hallways. Noticing the dust on the floor, they see a mosaic of Sir Chyde and his favorite two dogs on the floor. As no one knows Old Woldish, they can only pick out King and Frost from the words spelled out. Heading to the right, there is a mirror that gives the willies to Elrod but nothing amiss happens. There is a reflection of water from where the mirror is pointing - an archway with a carving of trees leads down below the current level. Friar Moon covers the mirror, an ornate floor-standing mirror that is probably worth a good deal.
Belle, Keir and Fern go down the stairs. There are floating candles, and water is lapping at the bottom step. It is a circular room, with an Elf statue in the middle. Stepping down, Belle is suddenly in woods. And in deep winter, unlike the early spring when this jaunt is taking place. Keir and Fern follow, much to the consternation of Elrod & Friar Moon as their companions disappear as the end of the stairs. There is much discussion between the magician and the friar, but eventually they decide to step through as well. While they were waiting, the group in the woods saw a white messenger raven fly to the tower.
At the edge of the woods, they can see a fairy castle on a frozen island. Standing in 2 feet of snow and slowly freezing, they decide to head to the tower. They do see huge footprints that lead to a pile of corpses next to the woods. But freezing to death overrides their concerns. Knocking on the door, they are met by a troll, Grimmlegridge, who has the goblin Griddlegrim riding on a palanquin on the huge troll's shoulders (and one of the players did mention he has a mini that actually is this very thing. We do have quite a collection between all of us!) Not having an invite nor being on the list, they decide to eat the mushrooms. Various impacts: Friar Moon now has glowing yellow eyes that he is unaware of, Fern shrank to 6" for almost an hour, Belle gained a bit of dexterity, and Keir had this warm feeling (and will automatically succeed on their next saving roll).
Now inside and warming up, the troll and goblin, who is laughing at the spectacle, tells them there is warm food in the kitchen and they should go there. Which they do, and two demanding Elf chefs through food at the group to carry up to the wedding feast. All but Keir take platters up the stairs. There they see a table with a few gentry Elves lounging about. Apparently, it has been a few centuries as they are waiting for this wedding. And apparently Elves have a lot of patience. The guard, Gierion, notices that they seem a bit out of place. He suggests that the group goes up to visit the princess. Keir decides to go back to their normal form: apparently this Changeling has to mold her face and body as they return to their base form. It was a bit disconcerting to everyone as only Belle (and I am not sure of that) knew she was a Changeling.
Once upstairs, they meet the beautiful princess. Who looks like the statue in the pool room. A bit of conversation but she promises them a lot of things if they can just get the ring from Sir Chyde and bring it to her. A really powerful magical necklace that grants a single wish is one of the things they may be able to get. And of course, we also have some internal issues about the ring, and why the two male characters are actually here.
They head back to the woods and the passage back to the tomb. We made a quick peek into the main room, where Belle saw two dancing skeletons. And that is where we left things.
Characters met
Player characters
Friar Heny Moon, human. Of which I still need to get which saint he said he is following.
Keir, a Changeling as the group has found
Lozebelle Nightmail, a stout Dwarf warrior
Magician Elrod Bumble, a Shorthorn Breggle
NPCs
Pierogi Poundflour, Dwarf owner of the Giant's Nose
Louie, the Dragonborn lounge singer at the Giant's Nose
Fern Evergreen, an Elf met first in the nose, and now a companion to the group
Gierion, an Ice Elf guard at the tower
Princess Snowfall-at-Dusk, the Elf princess in the tower
Grimmlegridge, Troll doorkeeper at the tower, eats moss from dead bodies
Griddlegrim, Goblin doorkeeper and keeper of the guest list as well as a bag of magic mushrooms
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