Necromancer's Delusion-Homebrew

As you divide up the items and exit the temple you make your way around the grove.

Aryn walks around the grove swinging her new sword examining it and getting a feel for the balance. As you hold it out in front of you elvish lettering appears to burn itself into the steel. "Zhor' ai" you say repeating the word now emblazoned into the sword and instantly the sword ignites into flame. You almost drop the sword out of surprise but manage to hang onto it. The flame doesn't seem you burn you as you gingerly hold your hand out over the flames then carefully touch the blade. You walk over to a bale of hay and take a swipe. Instantly the straws of hay ignite and you quickly stomp out the flame. You look over the blade once more then utter "Zhor' ai" and the flame disburses leaving only the cold steel blade. Having found a spot to test your new bow you begin releasing arrows into a bale of hay. As you release each arrow you begin to observe the etching on each end of the bow light up with blue energy. Upon notching your 10th arrow you feel a jolt of energy and watch the etching closely as you pull the bow string back. Blue energy trickles from each end of the bow coalescing into the arrow as you release it. The arrow leaves the bow with incredible speed as if you were releasing a bolt of lightning. The arrow impacts and a puff of hay and flame explode into the air. You rush over and pat the fire out looking at the bow. You notch another arrow and the same thing occurs. You admire your new bow called tempest and meet up with your brother who teases you about your method of discovery.

Gaelin, while you are walking close to the stream you notice an old tree with a few branches that look to be diseased. Your clerical training kicks in and you touch the tree casting Lesser Restoration and watch as the tree branches heal and begin to sprout new buds. You feel a humming sensation in your hand and realize the staff is vibrating and the cloudy quartz crystal embedded in the staff begins to clear and light up. A small wave of energy from the staff courses through you and the crystal turns to a brilliant purple amethyst. You hear an exclamation from Aryn and watch as nearly falls over and drops a sword that is now a flame. Then you watch from a distance as she tests her sword then begins to test her bow slowly making your way towards her as the bale of hay explodes in blueish energy. You halt your pace until you observe a second similar shot and find your elated sister who you greet grinning ear to ear.

Mucor wanders about the grove observing the beauty of the nature around him. Reaching the top of a hill you set your new staff in the ground, feeling a small tingle in your hands and turn to look over the vast grove. Turning back you find your staff has transformed into a huge tree. You climb up to the top of the trunk where the branches seem to twist around an 8ft opening then continue up another 20 feet. In this spherical oval you find a hovering seed the size of a walnut. Engraved into the seed is the word "Vaxa". Immediately upon saying the word you drop down to the ground landing on your feet next to the staff still stuck in the ground. You pick the staff up and look over its features. Towards the top appear to be sprouts of leaves and about 2/3 of the way up an oval bulge that appears to be made of twisted limbs holds a shimmering green seed that shines in the sunlight like an emerald. Looking down from the hill you see Aryn and Gaelin walking together towards Jinara and Zinmaer.

Jinara finds an area to sit and contemplate what to do with his new items. Sitting under the shade of a large tree he holds up his hand looking over his ring. Lifting his other hand he conjures a flame that immediately gets sucked into the ring. He curiously twists his hand and points the ring into the sky. A bolt of fire escapes from the ring and explodes into a small poof of flame about 120 feet in the air. You look back over the ring and cautiously pull out the wand. You point it at a patch of grass and three beads of energy burst from the wand and impact the soil. As you walk over to inspect the 4 inch crater, you created you suddenly feel lighter on your toes. You see Zinamer in the distance walking towards you and as you make you way to meet him you note the disappearance of the sound of your footsteps.

Zinmaer (assuming you take the cloak) puts on the cloak and finds a place of solace to meditate in the deep forest. You hear the crack of a twig behind you and quickly spins around to see a panther leaping towards you. You instinctively raise your arms and the panther’s claws scrape off of your new bracers. The panther redoubles its efforts and leaps into the air once again swiping at your neck. Missing slightly the claws impact the cloak but fail to pierce or cut the surprisingly strong fabric. The panther, annoyed that his prey is putting up more of a fight than originally thought, retreats back into the forest in search of easier prey. You raise your arms looking over the bracers and see no sign of scratches from the claws of the panther. Looking around you see Jinara blast a hole in the dirt and begin to make your way towards him periodically checking over your back for any sign of predators.

As your paths intersect you smell the familiar scent of foods being cooked and make your way to the bonfires knowing you still have roughly 2 hours before you meet back with Inara.

(Slow clap)

"I see you're having fun sis." Gaelin says with a grin half expecting a slap in the face as they meet up with everyone else.  Smelling the food as they approach the rest of the group he would say,  "These new items are incredible but I'm starving let's get some food." and make his way towards the bonfire.

Mucor would give the staff a quick twirl, kicking up a cloud of black spores that settles on the minotaur like a veil of shadow, casting pass without trace  before attempting to sneak up behind Aryn as he approaches the group. 

17 = stealth

 (welp... I had a cool line I was going to say and everything but I guess not.... +11 to stealth isn't going to cut it... go figure :D)

As mucor approaches the group he will let out a loud sneeze and snort... "Uhh... I am ready to eat!" the minotaur would say hiding behind his staff as he then continues to grab some food.

Aryn would blush slightly, from embarrassment or rage was unsure until she lightly patted her brother on the cheek while saying,  "Just think, I have more ways to test how good your healing capabilities are now."  As they approached the group she would get a whiff of Mucor and say, "What is that sm..." just as he sneezes behind them and stop to say "Oh hey Mucor" then give her brother a side glance as they made their way to the bonfire and ate.

(Wait.. Xtra, I just noticed something did you make a weapon tailored to fit my name?)

(Guys this staff is great... I just need 8 hours to spend alone with my staff... and maybe a tree or some mushrooms....)

(I can't confirm or deny your avatar had anything to do with it.  I almost died choking on water when I read that Mucor)

 (So at the risk of tipping off xtracrispy, I really want to awaken something.... either some kind of awesome tree... or mushroom... or animal to be my BFF)

Mucor would then make his way over to the camp fires, sitting down on a log and grabbing a few mushrooms from his pack to snack on. When the minotaur gets to the "death cap" mushrooms he pulled from the duke's basement, he will quickly look them over to determine their properties.

20 = nature

You recall from your time in the swamp these mushrooms were dangerous to any animal or humanoid that ate them.  Within 48 hours anything that consumed them would die.  You've heard stories of shamans who crush and boil the mushrooms into a stew to make poisons.  There is no known antidote once consumed and death is almost certain short of powerful spells.   

(There are plenty of creatures and plants in the grove.  You just have to find 8 hours of free time...muahahahaha)

Quote from Xtracrispy07 >>

 

(There are plenty of creatures and plants in the grove.  You just have to find 8 hours of free time...muahahahaha)

 (Yeah... that is what I mean.... Mr. meet back here in 5 hours... probably going to immediatly depart into a vampire wasteland battlezone with no living plants or creatures... just a dead foggy undead zone where our only downtime requires us to be sleeping or face exhaustion for not taking a long rest :D )

(You'll just have to wait and see... :) I will say that I already considered this possibility when determining which items to offer the party. I weighed the pros and cons and found there were only pros.)

While eating you see Inara and Geo grab a small portion of food while discussing something and head back to the temple. 

Aryn would savor the delicious food, noticing Inara and Geo head back and upon finishing say,  "I'm ready to go to the temple if y'all are."

Gaelin looks over to his sister and follows her eyes to see Inara.  "Fine by me.  Though I think i could live here forever."

You make your way back to the temple where Inara greets you. “Our group of druids has returned from their scouting mission and made some interesting discoveries.” She puts a familiar bead of light on the floor which opens into a full top down display of a keep nestled into the side of a mountain.While Inara speaks the skeletons move aimlessly about the interior of the keep walls almost like a hive of bees, constantly busy. “This is the home of your target, Maven. It is the fortress of the Onyx Legion coven. Since we scouted during the day we were unable to get a glimpse of the target herself without risking the loss of life. Stationed along the wall and within are groups of skeleton soldiers who mindlessly follow Maven’s command. We estimate at least 30 skeleton soldiers but could be more. We will be scouting again tonight to see if we can ensure her presence at the keep.” Inara pauses for a moment before continuing.

“Luckily the vast majority of her coven was eliminated or captured when her coven was ambushed by a rival. We know her lieutenant and mate Respen is still alive but think there shouldn't be any vampire spawn currently residing at the keep. Which makes tomorrow night’s mission even more important. We believe Maven will be desperate and will kidnap multiple citizens of Emvale soon to re-coop her losses.  We must strike quickly before she can gain more slaves. You will have until noon tomorrow to plan. We suggest you use this time wisely to prepare to fight a foe who is resistant to most normal weapons but is quite sensitive to sunlight and running water.”

Inara observes the group's reaction to this information and says,  "We are prepared to aid in transport to and from the keep but that is all. We can only send one druid with you at this time and they will have to stay in the relative safety of the nearby forest.  We do have supplies of holy water that you can use should you require it."  Then, looking over Aryn and Gaelin's armor, she says "We also have fine leather armor that is still light but much stronger than regular leather.  Your companion Mucor is wearing it now and it provide about the same protection as half plate without the detriment of being noisy and stiff.  I suggest you accept it as your foes will not take pity on you."  (added it to your inventory.) 

Map of the area: 

"So we have to kill our way through a horde of skeletons and then kill two vampires maybe with additional vampire spawns or skeletons inside...  Sounds fun. Now what constitutes running water?  If I pour holy water out of a flask onto them does that count?" Aryn asks after observing the presentation.  As she speaks she gets closer to the illusion and makes note of all the walls, towers and enemies.  "Is that a tree inside the walls?  Could your druid bring us in there and catch them off guard?"

(Lol) "The holy water would already damage the vampire but running water is more specific to natural flowing bodies of water, streams to the ocean itself.  In terms of where the druid drops you off that is up to your team.  There is a tree inside the walls.  For the safety of the druid and your team I wouldn't recommend it.  They would immediately transform into a beast and head to the forest. Inara says.  "Judging by your performance we believe your up to the task."

"While it would definitely catch them off guard I think it would be better to set a diversion then attack elsewhere.  If we're attacking during the day we could take out all the skeletons in the sunlight with relative safety then worry about the vampires inside.  If we separate the fights we can rest and regroup in between fights."  Gaelin adds.

"It may prove beneficial to sneak over the walls and assassinate several of the skeleton soldiers before we have to engage them all at once. It appears the keep is separated by a central wall (I think I am reading the map correctly lol). The southeast corner appears to be unguarded. That may be our best way in. Inara, what is this grey area?(pointing to the north east corner of the map)" Jinara says as he analyzes everything.

"That is the sheer cliff of a mountainside that this keep has been built into.  The original Emvale family who built the keep were dwarves.  Bronir Emvale cut deep into the mountain and found ore within and started a mining operation to the north that was quite prosperous.  When Maven and her coven took power in the region this family fought back refusing to give Maven access to their town (Emvale) and paid the ultimate price.  Maven admired the keep and its intricate interior so she decided to make it her own." Inara says as the view of the keep pans out and you see a much broader area, including the small snow capped mountain range and streams that flow into a nearby pond to the north.

(Apologies, looking back that probably does seem like a random grey spot without context.)

Updated map: