Necromancer's Delusion-Homebrew

As the coolness of the morning fades you take your leave from the quartermaster and have roughly an hour to make your way to the griffon camp.  You see the colonel and both Lts addressing a group of officers and giving orders before they part ways into different tents.  The main section of the camp seems to return to its full operating status as soldiers rush past with orders and supplies.  The heat of the sun begins to beat on your bodies and only a few of the large puddles remain as small remnant of themselves.  

If you wish to make any further arrangements before you meet with Geo, now is the time.

Gabriel groans as he stumbles out of the tent, his bones and head aching. The aasimar is not as young as he once was. "Perhaps a better use of words would be to say I am hostile to social events." He replies to Jinara. "My order does not concern itself with interaction with the outside world. 

"Knowing a person is half the battle. If you can socialize with them, you can learn so many insights to their motivations." Jinara says as he finishes putting his bolts back in his bag. Jinara quickly follows Gabriel out of the tent and towards the griffon camp. "If a celebration is being held, then the feeling of something significant being accomplished is being had as well. Knowing what was accomplished may bode well for our saving the kidnapped druid."

As you chat you make your way slowly to the griffon camp.  As you approach you notice Geo sitting by the gate in a meditative state.  Floating around his body are rocks and bits of dirt that occasionally collide.  When the sound of your chatter reaches his ears the rocks and dirt descend to the ground slowly and Geo's head raises.  He rises to his feet and opens the gate for each of you.  

"Thank you for your expediency.  Please follow me." he says as he heads to Ailema's tent.  Once you all enter Ailema looks over to Geo who gives her a nod and she exits the tent.  With just Geo and your group present Geo addresses the group.  "I apologize for the secrecy and bluntness.  We do not know who we can fully trust.  While I don't necessarily trust you I trust the elders' judgement and they requested your assistance because of your recent successes.  Once we finish this debrief the griffon riders are taking us to the nearest forest, from there we will be transported to our grove in northern Telgun.  You'll have roughly 24 hours to prepare to crash the party.   Your targets are the Duke, sheriff and maester of Branmere, a small town in north east Telgun.  We've been tracking the movements of these three and were able to intercept correspondence between the Duke and Daegon.  Unfortunately, during that mission one of our druids was captured and is being held hostage to dissuade any further attacks."  Geo pauses for a moment lowering his voice.  

"The Duke is a very reclusive man and is rarely seen by the townsfolk.  However every year he holds a party where he visits with the noble families of the town for a short time before returning to his quarters.  This is the only time we can confirm his whereabouts for an extended period of time.  Our hope is that you can sneak into the party either under a disguise or through the rear entrance and eliminate the targets, look for any additional correspondence from Daegon and rescue our druid.  Normally we would take matters into our own hands but the Duke's maester has cast an incantation of protection against our druid order.  This is the cause for our request.  If successful, the grove would be in your debt and could provide support when able in the future.  We can go over more details once we make it to the grove.  Once we arrive there will be others who will be able to transport you to the Duke's house tonight so you can see the landscape to plan .  Do you have any questions before we depart?"  Geo stands waiting patiently for any questions.

Jinara ponders for a moment before asking "Who are the targets? I assume the Duke is one. Who else? What do they look like? Anything you can tell us about them, their personalities, etc. would go a long way towards us successfully infiltrating this party."  

"More detail will be given when we make it to the grove.  For now the targets are the Duke, his maester (A spellcaster) and the town's sheriff." Geo responds

"Is this to be an assassination attempt?" Gabriel asks, with evident displeasure at the thought.

"Yes" Geo replies.  "These three have been conspiring with Daegon, aiding his war effort.  Proof of this treachery against the living is at the grove."

Mucor will stand and ponder Geo's words. "I am sure that we can complete this task... I would like to just rescue the druid and then collapse the whole house on anyone else inside... but I imagine that would make it hard to find any additional clues... and also... may result in the deaths of innocent people.." The large minotaur would say with a snort.

"I would not advise that plan.  There will most likely be innocent women and children present, however the Elanaetas leave that decision to you." Geo says  "Perhaps you would feel less uneasy once you speak with one of the elders at the grove and see the proofs."

ZInmaer takes a moment to digest the information just given to the group. While he doesn't necessarily agree with violence as the answer it may well have to be here. "If the Duke has been working with Daegon then he has decided his fate. This task seems particularly difficult considering there is a hostage involved, but I'm confident we can get it done. I'm eager to hear more from the elders before we start planning our approach."

"If there are no further questions we can continue to the grove."  Geo says walking towards the exit of the tent and motioning for Ailema to return.   

Ailema enters the tent walking behind her desk and faces the group, "Alright, no passing out this time.  We've paired you up with the same riders and will drop you off in the nearest forest.  This should be a relatively simple and uneventful ride so enjoy the view... " pausing for a moment you see a grin break across the right side of her cheek as she looks back up to meet your gazes.   "Thank you for your help here and best of luck wherever it is that you're going. You have 5 minutes to prepare your things for flight.  Tighten your straps and cinch all bags."   Ailema promptly exits the tent and shouts, "Saddle up!"

"Shall we" Geo says as he follows behind Ailema.  

(If you wish to discuss anything amongst yourselves you now have privacy for a few minutes.  If not just say continue and we shall.)

"Ok. Now that we have a minute of privacy, how is everyone feeling about this? What strengths do you have? What weaknesses? We need to prepare ourselves so we can minimize failure." Jinara says earnestly after hearing the briefing from Geo. 

"Well... I could use my magic to dig a tunnel under the house... or I could take the form of a small creature and try to sneak into the house to try to find the kidnapped druid... ." Mucor would say scratching his shaggy head. "I normally use my powers to channel the powers of mold and decay to help me in battle but I am pretty sure I could turn into an animal too" the minotaur would say as he grabs his spear and pack, ready to leave.

"I prefer to fight with my axe on the battlefield, not a knife in the shadows. " Gabriel says with distaste. "But Vaeril's will be done. I shall conduct the sinful souls of the Duke and his allies to Vaeril's arms."

"I am not accustomed to such social events myself. If we were playing by my strengths it would be with the power of my hands rather than my social ability. If we were to sneak in the backdoor as a suggested plan then I think that may the best bet for us as a unit, but we can talk more about that shortly."

Zinmaer would gather his things and head out behind Geo and Ailiema. (If it seemed like no one else had anything to add).

Jinara listens with great fervor as his evaluates each of his colleagues' responses. "Yes sneaking into the back door is a viable option, but the cause for security is of concern. Being mindful of that will benefit us. I would anticipate the location of the party to be heavily guarded on all fronts. Fists and battleaxes and spears are great in combat, but serve little utility in social situations. Cutting down the guards outside may alert others inside. If this place is heavily guarded, we may need another way inside. Just ponder about contingency plans as we fly to the grove."

As he finishes his statement, Jinars will place his bolts in his quiver, stand up, and make his way outside as well (unless there are others that wish to add to the discussion). 

You exit the tent to see the griffon riders prepped and ready.  As you mount and strap in you see Geo standing off to the side without a griffon to ride.  About the time one of the passenger-less riders speaks up to ask about a ride, Geo drops to one knee and transforms into a eagle.  His dark brown skin turns to feathers and his amber eyes still pierce through the daylight as is illuminated from deep within his skull.  He stretches his wings for a moment then with a large leap bursts into the air.  Dust flies up from the ground as his powerful wings push the air down.  The griffon riders all follow behind heading towards the north west.  

While your journey to the front on foot offered breathtaking views occasionally, the view from atop the griffons is indescribable.  As you fly across the arid landscape you see the distant mountain ranges to the north and the sea far to the west.  After about an hour of flying you reach the change of landscape you saw in the distance of fields and forests.  Landing in a small field you say your goodbyes to the griffon riders and notice that Yera isn't standing around with your group.  Instead she has mounted a griffon and strapped in.  She smiles casually as a single tear trails down her cheek and in her soft voice says, "I'm staying at the front.  Gillethe wants me there right now but I will keep in contact with you to make sure everyone is okay.  I will pray that Gillethe keep you safe on this mission and return you back soon." In a flurry of feathers Yera and the rest of the griffon riders take off back towards the front waving as they disappear into the sky.

Standing there alone with Geo you notice that you are truly alone.  the sound of the wilderness hits your ears as teh ever moving ecosystem of plants and animals return to their natural state.  No mages for teleportation are present and sensing your confusion Geo addresses the group.  "In a moment I'm going to open a portal to the grove in this tree.  Once i do all of you must move through it quickly before it closes. Are there any questions?"  he says as he points to a large tall tree roughly 10 feet wide.

Gabriel removes his glove and shakes Yera's hand in a grip of iron. "Vaeril be with you, my friend. "

Then he proceeds to strap his pack and weapons securely to his person, unsure of what stepping into an interdimensional portal consists of.

Hearing no questions he begins to tap the tree in different spots then in one swift motion grabs between an indention in the bark and rips it open light a set of double doors.  A flash of greenish blue light flashes from within the tree as the bark melds into a portal of light.  Looking into the portal you see shaded deep green forest in an amber hue.  Geo turns back and motions you all through.  As you each bound through the large gateway between landscapes you feel a sudden change in climate as soon as you cross to the other side.  The hot, humid summer heat is replaced by a comfortable warmth of 70 degrees.  

Geo follows through the portal and the portal closes behind him revealing a huge tree roughly 20 feet wide.  you notice you are standing on a wooden pathway and looking up you see additional circular platforms surrounding the trunk with wooden walkways branching out in all directions.  The platforms are all busy with people and animals walking through portals on the tree. Standing guard around the giant tree are multiple druids (you assume them to be druids) in green and blue armor made from what seems to be combinations of beetle carapaces or turtle shells strapped together with leather.   Looking out into the distance you see wooden and earthen structures surrounded by forest.  Pillars of sunlight breath through open patches and cast the area in an brilliant amber hue.  Animals of all kinds walk and lay about peacefully as the sounds of birds chirping in the numerous trees hits your ears.  Geo breathes in deeply and smiles at your expressions.  "Beautiful isn't it.  Welcome to the Grove of the Elanaetas.  Please follow me."  Geo gives a nod to a pair of guards and they allow you to pass.  

Following Geo down a path you arrive at a large wooden and stone structure covered in lines of ivy.  Walking up the set of stairs to the entrance you are greeted by a group of guards that ask your purpose in an unfamiliar language to all but Mucor who recognizes it as druidic.  Geo responds and they allow you to pass.  Entering the large atrium of the structure Geo asks you to wait a few minutes and have a seat while he goes to speak with one of the elders.  Upon saying this roots from the ground grow upwards and form into the gnarled shape of benches for you to sit on.  Surprisingly they are quite comfortable due to the moss padding that quickly sprouted from the root framework.