Ladrengielle – blogpost 14

I want to attack Francissy again, but suddenly I find myself in an icy wind above the water. A rain of ice is created with a lot of hail: I cannot see through it. I am still outraged and feel the anger come to a boiling point. I cast message to Francissy: I tell him that he’s lucky I can’t see him, otherwise, I would’ve killed him already. No response.

Borac helps me onto the ledge with a piece of rope. The second I see him, I let myself fall around his neck and start yelling: ‘I almost got him!’ We decide to go after Francissy. Smokey and Borac jump over the water to the other ledge. Pethar shapes water to do the same. When I’m on the other side as well, Borac shouts out to Smokey, who’s already dashed ahead again. We follow Smokeys’ voice and see floors covered with blood: the smell is horrible, like rotting flesh.

We turn a corner and see a Rock Gnome. He introduces himself as Farryn Flamel, an artificer alchemist. He has a humonculous servant named Takwin. We ask Farryn for Francissy and he replies that he went through the portal in the middle of the room. It is an archway like we saw previously somewhere in the dungeon, but with another rune. It looks like an old man with a staff. Smokey wants to find Francissy and establishes that he really went through the portal: he sees footsteps in front of the gate, but none behind it. The rotting smell comes from dead Troglodytes in the area that Farryn killed.

We find out that to go through the archway portal, we need to activate it by getting the sequence right. After that, you have a minute to walk through it. Pethar and Borac try to act like an old man, but that does not work – obviously. I investigate the portal a bit longer: the longer I look, the more I think it has something to do with his staff and how the old man holds it. Farryn tries to fix the portal: when he ticks it, it starts to glow. We can see through it: an old chamber with dust and spider webs. Borac enters first – I quickly follow.

We don’t find Francissy; it seems like he had another destination? We cannot find any footprints. We spot some stairs and descend: we enter a room with frescos (“DON’T LOOK AT THEM!”). Two doors lead to other rooms, but I hear some noises behind one. We enter and find ourselves on a balcony overseeing a green forest in some sort of courtyard. In that forest, I see a moving tree, an elf, and a big cat. The tree looks weirdly similar to Hallister.

Smokey is intrigued by the big cat and climbs down to pet it. The cat and elf allow it and ask Smokey what he’s doing here. Smokey tells them about our search for Francissy. The elf welcomes all of us, so we all climb down and walk up to her. “Welcome to Wyllowwood. I’m Wyllow.”

The tree actually looks like Hallister: the tree is there so he can keep an eye on Wyllowwood and makes sure there is balance inside the forest. Borac asks Wyllow if she needs any help restoring balance. Apparently, some horrible beasts inside the forest create havoc: Cloakers. They hunt for innocent creatures. The party decides to help Wyllow and protect the forest. We exit the area and follow Wyllows’ instructions to find the Cloakers. After some traveling, we come across another portal with a dead tree on it. I don’t know what it means, Farryn tries to fix it again. Borac ticks on it with a wooden object and the portal opens… We see a hallway with a parting halfway – we decide not to go through it and finish Wyllows’ quest.

We walk north and come across some rooms where Pethar finds a bedroll and a lantern. Smokey investigates the forest and we wait. I sit and dangle my legs over a ledge where I’m sitting on. I hear some moaning emerging from the forest. It is really far away – and we walk further. We descend a staircase and enter a thick forest. We cannot see further than fifteen feet or so due to the trees. We hear more moaning.

We end up near a sort of wall with pillars that are part of a gate. It is closed. Borac tries to bend it with his strength and Farryn tries to melt it with acid, but nothing helps. It is magic. Suddenly, I have an idea: I cast my tiny hut in the middle of the pillars so we can enter through the door and exit through the window, and avoid the gate this way. It works! Smokey calls out to us: he found a Cloaker! I approach Smokey and his Cloaker, but it scares the shit out of me, so I run back. It is for the best because Pethar is in a real pickle – I cast fireball and the Cloaker explodes as a bug smashed onto a wall. Pethar and I go and help the others next. When all Cloakers are gone, we go back to the neatly placed tiny hut to rest.