Zylo looks around their home for the night and moves about setting up a tent near a couple trees and foliage, "I will take the first watch." He says in reply and as he finishes setting up his tent he sets his pack inside and unrolls his bed roll. He carefully removes his heavy black plate armor until he is down to his tunic and pants.
Grabbing a brief bit of food from his rations he takes a moment to himself, looking around the inside of his tent. "Remember strength lies in knowing oneself. In knowing yourself, your true center, you shall endure and grow stronger." He smiles briefly before heading back outside and kneeling down on his knees just outside his tent, and nodding at the other two. "The Dragon is with us, you will be safe tonight."He says before closing his eyes and muttering a prayer, "Lo, Platinum Dragon, Let me protect those around me, as your wings enfold us for our rest tonight."His hands go to his thighs as he bows forward, continuing to mutter quietly for a few moments.
(@valekash thanks, what a swing of the pendulum XD, @Ben_Evolent You might be right about his heritage helping out!)
Iali's face darkens as her boots are covered with mud when she loses her way, but returns to her usual quiet equilibrium once the others find a good place to pitch camp. She spends the time before rest polishing the boots meticulously and going through a series of stretches. She is happy to take second watch.
After 2 hours into Zylo's watch the party hears wet squelches and leaves rustling. A trio of bullywugs are searching the nearby area approximately 80 ft away.
Zylo narrows his eyes at the trio, glancing over at the sleeping party he decides to stay hidden as best he can, ready to shout if their camp is spotted. (Stealth just in case: Nat 20 Holy Canoli!)
After 2 hours into Zylo's watch the party hears wet squelches and leaves rustling. A trio of bullywugs are searching the nearby area approximately 80 ft away.
Zylo narrows his eyes at the trio, glancing over at the sleeping party he decides to stay hidden as best he can, ready to shout if their camp is spotted. (Stealth just in case: Nat 20 Holy Canoli!)
Valrieth was sleeping during this time. If Zylo wakes her, she trusts to his swamp-craft and just tries to lie still in her dry little "nest." She glances up to the Stars, hoping that the bullywug's destiny is not to die by her hand here.
If the bullywugs approach within 40-ft of their camp, Val speaks as quietly as she can -- Val bargained away her ability to whisper -- saying, "Be ready. I will try to obscure us. Iali, perhaps you could scare them away, mimicking the voice of the hag you heard in Downfall?"
When the bullywugs are about 30-ft away, Val will stand up in her mostly-hidden sleeping spot. Her bedroll is presumably on a mound up above the level of the water, and she would just look like an odd shadow with her blanket still wrapped around her, covered in moss and leaves. The hood of her cloak is pulled low, covering her head. She immediately casts Fog Cloud (upcast with one of her remaining 3rd-level spell slots), centered not on the party but on a point 10-ft "behind" them. That way, the bullywugs would be just 20-ft from the "edge" of the AoE. Val hopes that if the bullywugs see the fog suddenly arise and spread toward them, it would encourage them to move to the nearest edge of the cloud (i.e., directly away from the party's campsite).
If that doesn't dissuade the bullywugs, hopefully Ialican scare the bullywugs away with a combination of Enhance Ability and Performance to make it sound like Bavlorna's voice is coming from the center of the fog cloud. As Val said before, she doesn't really want to kill a bunch of bullywugs who are just following King Ickrind's orders. Perhaps if they think that the hag has gone into the swamp herself, it'll scare them all back to Downfall for the night.
Iali wakes and, on hearing the bullywugs approaching, immediately wants to teach them the error of their ways. She listens to Val however, and casts Enhance Ability - Eagle’s Splendour.
Iali makes her voice older and more commanding, mimicking the hag talking to her servants, and throwing her voice to the fog cloud. “Who goes there? Who wishes to disturb the mighty Bavlorna’s work here? Begone! Begone!!” (Performance 19)
What do you do next? Continue resting for a long rest or something else?
Once she's sure that the bullywugs are gone, Valrieth voice can be heard nearby in the fog, "Thank you for waking us up, Zylo. And good job at scaring them off, Iali! I think that they'll leave us alone...maybe all the way until morning." She suggests that perhaps the bullywugs may avoid this area for the rest of the night, and they can sleep here all the way until morning!
Val admits that there may be some advantage in going after Bavlorna in the middle of the night. If they could make it back to Downfall and into Bavlorna's hut without being detected, perhaps Bavlorna wouldn't be expecting her to return so soon and without being captured.
(OOC: Valrieth votes for attempting to get a Long Rest unless both of her companions want to head back to Bavlorna's hut now.
Going now
Con - Val only has two 3rd-level spell slots left. (She also has 3 x free castings of Guiding Bolt.)
Pro - We finished a Short Rest, and we're awake now.
Pro - We may be able to surprise Bavlorna.
Pro - Val has her 2 Wild Shape uses back.
Plan - If we make it to Bavlorna, Val would have to use one spell slot for Spike Growth to try to prevent the Lornlings from swarming us. But that means she'll have almost no healing capability if anyone goes down. She would just be trying to ignore the Lornlings and focused on taking down Bavlorna as quickly as possible with Guiding Bolt and cantrips.
Try for a Long Rest
Con - If we keep getting interrupted, we may fail to get a Long Rest while also depleting more resources.
Con - If we're captured during the night, then we may end up back at Bavlorna's as prisoners.
Con - It gives Bavlorna more time to plan something nasty for our return.
Pro - A Long Rest lets Val regain all of her spent resources: all of her spell slots, 3 uses of Cosmic Omen (buff/debuff), and 2 uses of Rabbit Hop (avoids Opportunity Attacks).
Pro - Val would also be able to adjust her spell list in the morning to better align with whatever new plan we come up with for tackling Bavlorna and her murderously fast Lornlings.
Zylo nods, "Hmm, we want you to be at full strength, yes? It does us no good to move our camp in the dark as we could just as easily stumble upon the same or other patrols. I would like to stay as well." He turns away as he speaks to keep an eye out, untrusting of this foreign place.
Barring any objections the party takes a long rest and now it is the next day.
When Iali wakes Valrieth for her watch shift, she's initially starts back in fear. "I'm sorry," she says once she recognizes the wizard. "I was having a nightmare about the hag and her 'Lornlings', but I'm OK now. I'll keep watch until morning." Val doesn't look afraid, but she doesn't sound happy. She doesn't say anything, but her first thought was to tell Finley and Aoife about her nightmare, and the real nightmare is that they're both dead. "It's my fault their dead," she thinks, and she wonders whether she's going to lead her new friends to their deaths too. Val tries to take her mind off of her grief by charting the stars as she keeps watch. In particular, she's trying to divine whether The Stars predict success for the second attack on Bavlorna.
When the sun finally melts the mornings mists over the swamp, leaving only patches of fog lurking in the low places and huddled under the densest vegetation, Val wakes up Zylo and Iali. Over a cold breakfast, Val recounts again all the details she can remember of her previous fight. She confirms whether they both want to go back to Downfall with her to confront Bavlorna in her hut and to finish off what Val and her other friends failed to do yesterday.
Val worries that the hag has now had time to prepare nasty surprises for them or -- perhaps -- gather other allies. Then again, Bavlorna doesn't seem to have any real friends: even the hag's sisters don't seem to like each other! Val will prepare her spells for the day, based on whatever plan Iali, Zylo, and she can come up with.
Weal (even). Whenever a creature you can see within 30 ft. of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the total.
Zylo finishes his morning prayer before he begins to put on his armor and then packs all of his things back into his bag. He looks at his companions and grins slightly, "See? I told you we'd be just fine, even here my gods reach us and shelter us."He nods matter-of-factly and looks around at the swamp around him. "So, now that you're rested and ready to go, I'm betting you want some vengeance, yes? Defeating evil is all in a good day's work for us, but to be honest, we were kind of lost before we stumbled upon you."
Zylo finishes his morning prayer before he begins to put on his armor and then packs all of his things back into his bag. He looks at his companions and grins slightly, "See? I told you we'd be just fine, even here my gods reach us and shelter us."He nods matter-of-factly and looks around at the swamp around him. "So, now that you're rested and ready to go, I'm betting you want some vengeance, yes? Defeating evil is all in a good day's work for us, but to be honest, we were kind of lost before we stumbled upon you."
Valrieth looks a little uncomfortable at the thought of "vengeance." She admits, "Well...the hag killed my friends, but that was in self-defense after we attacked her. I don't know whether it's fair to hold that against her."
Val explains --- as briefly as she can -- what she knows of Prismeer. She tells them how Hisashi, Gan-Re, Finley, and she came to Prismeer from the Witchlight Carnival. She tells that the Hourglass Coven trapped Zybilna, "the rightful Fey Queen of Prismeer!", in her palace and frozen in time. Then the hags divided the realm of Prismeer amongst themselves. "My friends and I already killed one of the hags, Skabatha, also known as Granny Nightshade. We were returning back to Downfall yesterday, just in time to fulfill Finley's bargain," Val says sadly. She explains how Finley risked his heart in a fey bargain with Bavlorna to recover Octavian's heart, and when the party actually accomplished their part of the bargain in time, Bavlorna gave Octavian back his heart, but only after turning into some sort of enchanted doll! Val says, "Bavlorna is a wicked and cruel hag! She delights in other people's pain and misfortune, and she twists even the most carefully-worded bargains. We refused to bargain further and sought to put an end to her cruelty. And it's worse than that. They usurped this realm from Zybilna. They've twisted their lands with foul corruption of rot and poison and who knows what else! And they kidnap children from the Witchlight Carnival and force them toil away in Granny Nightshade's toy factory -- or they did before we destroyed that hag and Loomlurch itself."
Val takes out her notebook and emphasizes how important it is. She briefly flips through and mentions Jingle-Jangle, Sir Talavar, Clapperclaw, the alicorn horn, Elidon and Lamorna, the Wayward Pool, Will of the Feywild, the Boggle oil that they got for Squirt, etc. She has recorded notes on everything that they have learned about Prismeer and what they need to do. "Even...even if I die," she says, choking up with tears, "you must take my notebook and continue the Quest. Rescue Zybilna and restore her to power. Only then can this cursed realm be returned to a domain of delight."
Val says, "There are great Portents in the Stars. I've added you both to my calculations." She points to her star charts and shows you strange, cryptic calculations next to both of your names in her notebook. "I believe that we are Destined to restore Zybilna to her rightful place as the Queen of Prismeer. And after defeating Granny Nightshade, I feel that The Path will lead us to confront and defeat all three hags." She admits that she herself cannot leave Prismeer until Bavlorna has been killed because of the fey bargain she made with Bloody Toes to learn Bavlorna's secret weakness: an allergy to seeing someone running widdershins near her.
"But for today," Val concludes, "we just have to get past the bullywugs and into Bavlorna's hut. I'm afraid that the hag's lightning-fast 'Lornlings' are the biggest threat. I can try to restrain them with magic or turn the floor into painful brambles. But that still leaves the hag herself, and she is formidable! If either of you know a ward against the fey, you may want to use that."
Since the party now has three spellcasters, Val gives this advice:
Val thinks that the hag is lazy (low DEX) and indolent (relatively low WIS).
Hags are traditionally said to be supernaturally strong (high STR) and resilient (high CON).
On the other hand, Val found the Lornlings to be fast and nimble (very high DEX) but relatively fragile (low STR and CON).
The Lornlings are "copies" of Bavlorna and only animated by her, so they probably lack much willpower of their own (relatively low WIS).
Bavlorna seems to be able to create up to 8 Lornlings at once.
Bavlorna has a painful bite (which also restrained Finley), so you may need a way to escape from her grapple.
Bavlorna also attacked with some sort of necrotic ray.
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Lali becomes slightly lost but Zylo's firm knowledge of wilderness survival brings them back.
What does Lali and Zylo do before rest.
Zylo looks around their home for the night and moves about setting up a tent near a couple trees and foliage, "I will take the first watch." He says in reply and as he finishes setting up his tent he sets his pack inside and unrolls his bed roll. He carefully removes his heavy black plate armor until he is down to his tunic and pants.
Grabbing a brief bit of food from his rations he takes a moment to himself, looking around the inside of his tent. "Remember strength lies in knowing oneself. In knowing yourself, your true center, you shall endure and grow stronger." He smiles briefly before heading back outside and kneeling down on his knees just outside his tent, and nodding at the other two. "The Dragon is with us, you will be safe tonight." He says before closing his eyes and muttering a prayer, "Lo, Platinum Dragon, Let me protect those around me, as your wings enfold us for our rest tonight." His hands go to his thighs as he bows forward, continuing to mutter quietly for a few moments.
(@valekash thanks, what a swing of the pendulum XD, @Ben_Evolent You might be right about his heritage helping out!)
Zylo Esstyrlynn - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
Iali's face darkens as her boots are covered with mud when she loses her way, but returns to her usual quiet equilibrium once the others find a good place to pitch camp. She spends the time before rest polishing the boots meticulously and going through a series of stretches. She is happy to take second watch.
Past characters:
Cariadne - Forest of Celador
Daphyra Fuffletail - The City of Cats
DM - Geek Legends - Wild beyond the Witchlight
Leela Steadystone - Adventures in the Sands
Mirri Goldenhorn - Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
Lola Smythe-Whyte - Larkin Expedition
Daphyra - Deathworld: Lost Mine of Phandelver
Vanja - Binder's Hold and the Problem with the Mine
After 2 hours into Zylo's watch the party hears wet squelches and leaves rustling. A trio of bullywugs are searching the nearby area approximately 80 ft away.
What do you do? Lay low or something else?
(OOC: Can I mark a Short Rest for Valrieth? That just restores her Wild Shape uses: all of her other features recharge on a Long Rest.)
(Yes, Val gets a short rest)
Zylo narrows his eyes at the trio, glancing over at the sleeping party he decides to stay hidden as best he can, ready to shout if their camp is spotted. (Stealth just in case: Nat 20 Holy Canoli!)
Zylo Esstyrlynn - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
(OOC: Nice! I'm telling you, Zylo is really at home in the swamps! 😉)
Valrieth was sleeping during this time. If Zylo wakes her, she trusts to his swamp-craft and just tries to lie still in her dry little "nest." She glances up to the Stars, hoping that the bullywug's destiny is not to die by her hand here.
If the bullywugs approach within 40-ft of their camp, Val speaks as quietly as she can -- Val bargained away her ability to whisper -- saying, "Be ready. I will try to obscure us. Iali, perhaps you could scare them away, mimicking the voice of the hag you heard in Downfall?"
When the bullywugs are about 30-ft away, Val will stand up in her mostly-hidden sleeping spot. Her bedroll is presumably on a mound up above the level of the water, and she would just look like an odd shadow with her blanket still wrapped around her, covered in moss and leaves. The hood of her cloak is pulled low, covering her head. She immediately casts Fog Cloud (upcast with one of her remaining 3rd-level spell slots), centered not on the party but on a point 10-ft "behind" them. That way, the bullywugs would be just 20-ft from the "edge" of the AoE. Val hopes that if the bullywugs see the fog suddenly arise and spread toward them, it would encourage them to move to the nearest edge of the cloud (i.e., directly away from the party's campsite).
If that doesn't dissuade the bullywugs, hopefully Iali can scare the bullywugs away with a combination of Enhance Ability and Performance to make it sound like Bavlorna's voice is coming from the center of the fog cloud. As Val said before, she doesn't really want to kill a bunch of bullywugs who are just following King Ickrind's orders. Perhaps if they think that the hag has gone into the swamp herself, it'll scare them all back to Downfall for the night.
Iali wakes and, on hearing the bullywugs approaching, immediately wants to teach them the error of their ways. She listens to Val however, and casts Enhance Ability - Eagle’s Splendour.
Iali makes her voice older and more commanding, mimicking the hag talking to her servants, and throwing her voice to the fog cloud. “Who goes there? Who wishes to disturb the mighty Bavlorna’s work here? Begone! Begone!!” (Performance 19)
Past characters:
Cariadne - Forest of Celador
Daphyra Fuffletail - The City of Cats
DM - Geek Legends - Wild beyond the Witchlight
Leela Steadystone - Adventures in the Sands
Mirri Goldenhorn - Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
Lola Smythe-Whyte - Larkin Expedition
Daphyra - Deathworld: Lost Mine of Phandelver
Vanja - Binder's Hold and the Problem with the Mine
(Nice rolls)
The fog rises into place, and the voice is uncanny how it sounds so similar to Bavlorna Blightstraw.
The lead bullywug stops and bows in deference before saying "Pardon us as we are searching for the harengon as per your bounty. We will move away"
The trio of bullywugs quickly move back away and leave.
What do you do next? Continue resting for a long rest or something else?
Once she's sure that the bullywugs are gone, Valrieth voice can be heard nearby in the fog, "Thank you for waking us up, Zylo. And good job at scaring them off, Iali! I think that they'll leave us alone...maybe all the way until morning." She suggests that perhaps the bullywugs may avoid this area for the rest of the night, and they can sleep here all the way until morning!
Val admits that there may be some advantage in going after Bavlorna in the middle of the night. If they could make it back to Downfall and into Bavlorna's hut without being detected, perhaps Bavlorna wouldn't be expecting her to return so soon and without being captured.
(OOC: Valrieth votes for attempting to get a Long Rest unless both of her companions want to head back to Bavlorna's hut now.
)
Zylo nods, "Hmm, we want you to be at full strength, yes? It does us no good to move our camp in the dark as we could just as easily stumble upon the same or other patrols. I would like to stay as well." He turns away as he speaks to keep an eye out, untrusting of this foreign place.
Zylo Esstyrlynn - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
Barring any objections the party takes a long rest and now it is the next day.
When Iali wakes Valrieth for her watch shift, she's initially starts back in fear. "I'm sorry," she says once she recognizes the wizard. "I was having a nightmare about the hag and her 'Lornlings', but I'm OK now. I'll keep watch until morning." Val doesn't look afraid, but she doesn't sound happy. She doesn't say anything, but her first thought was to tell Finley and Aoife about her nightmare, and the real nightmare is that they're both dead. "It's my fault their dead," she thinks, and she wonders whether she's going to lead her new friends to their deaths too. Val tries to take her mind off of her grief by charting the stars as she keeps watch. In particular, she's trying to divine whether The Stars predict success for the second attack on Bavlorna.
When the sun finally melts the mornings mists over the swamp, leaving only patches of fog lurking in the low places and huddled under the densest vegetation, Val wakes up Zylo and Iali. Over a cold breakfast, Val recounts again all the details she can remember of her previous fight. She confirms whether they both want to go back to Downfall with her to confront Bavlorna in her hut and to finish off what Val and her other friends failed to do yesterday.
Val worries that the hag has now had time to prepare nasty surprises for them or -- perhaps -- gather other allies. Then again, Bavlorna doesn't seem to have any real friends: even the hag's sisters don't seem to like each other! Val will prepare her spells for the day, based on whatever plan Iali, Zylo, and she can come up with.
Val's Cosmic Omen for today: 6
Valrieth's Cosmic Omen for today indicates Weal:
Zylo finishes his morning prayer before he begins to put on his armor and then packs all of his things back into his bag. He looks at his companions and grins slightly, "See? I told you we'd be just fine, even here my gods reach us and shelter us." He nods matter-of-factly and looks around at the swamp around him. "So, now that you're rested and ready to go, I'm betting you want some vengeance, yes? Defeating evil is all in a good day's work for us, but to be honest, we were kind of lost before we stumbled upon you."
Zylo Esstyrlynn - The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
Valrieth looks a little uncomfortable at the thought of "vengeance." She admits, "Well...the hag killed my friends, but that was in self-defense after we attacked her. I don't know whether it's fair to hold that against her."
Val explains --- as briefly as she can -- what she knows of Prismeer. She tells them how Hisashi, Gan-Re, Finley, and she came to Prismeer from the Witchlight Carnival. She tells that the Hourglass Coven trapped Zybilna, "the rightful Fey Queen of Prismeer!", in her palace and frozen in time. Then the hags divided the realm of Prismeer amongst themselves. "My friends and I already killed one of the hags, Skabatha, also known as Granny Nightshade. We were returning back to Downfall yesterday, just in time to fulfill Finley's bargain," Val says sadly. She explains how Finley risked his heart in a fey bargain with Bavlorna to recover Octavian's heart, and when the party actually accomplished their part of the bargain in time, Bavlorna gave Octavian back his heart, but only after turning into some sort of enchanted doll! Val says, "Bavlorna is a wicked and cruel hag! She delights in other people's pain and misfortune, and she twists even the most carefully-worded bargains. We refused to bargain further and sought to put an end to her cruelty. And it's worse than that. They usurped this realm from Zybilna. They've twisted their lands with foul corruption of rot and poison and who knows what else! And they kidnap children from the Witchlight Carnival and force them toil away in Granny Nightshade's toy factory -- or they did before we destroyed that hag and Loomlurch itself."
Val takes out her notebook and emphasizes how important it is. She briefly flips through and mentions Jingle-Jangle, Sir Talavar, Clapperclaw, the alicorn horn, Elidon and Lamorna, the Wayward Pool, Will of the Feywild, the Boggle oil that they got for Squirt, etc. She has recorded notes on everything that they have learned about Prismeer and what they need to do. "Even...even if I die," she says, choking up with tears, "you must take my notebook and continue the Quest. Rescue Zybilna and restore her to power. Only then can this cursed realm be returned to a domain of delight."
Val says, "There are great Portents in the Stars. I've added you both to my calculations." She points to her star charts and shows you strange, cryptic calculations next to both of your names in her notebook. "I believe that we are Destined to restore Zybilna to her rightful place as the Queen of Prismeer. And after defeating Granny Nightshade, I feel that The Path will lead us to confront and defeat all three hags." She admits that she herself cannot leave Prismeer until Bavlorna has been killed because of the fey bargain she made with Bloody Toes to learn Bavlorna's secret weakness: an allergy to seeing someone running widdershins near her.
"But for today," Val concludes, "we just have to get past the bullywugs and into Bavlorna's hut. I'm afraid that the hag's lightning-fast 'Lornlings' are the biggest threat. I can try to restrain them with magic or turn the floor into painful brambles. But that still leaves the hag herself, and she is formidable! If either of you know a ward against the fey, you may want to use that."
Since the party now has three spellcasters, Val gives this advice: