Chapter 3

Hidden Foes Revealed

The party finally confronts the Sea Hag that had been terrorizing Grey Hawk and poisoning the well water. They successfully dispatch the powerful fey and collect her psyche, but Nira is shrunk to tiny size in the progress. Having successfully completed the trials to prove himself worthy of joining Ogdin's Horde, Aired Helelar challenges Grund Razorclaw to a duel for his honor, casting him out of the horde in disgrace. Aired, Wrenn Lingenhall, and Cock are granted magical tattoos when they complete the final trial to join. Hearing of a spring that allows animals to grow large in its waters, the party sets off into The High Forest to cure Nira. Along the way they help some halflings battle a Manticore and eventually wipe out an encampment of goblins that camped at the sacred spring. With Nira restored to her normal size the party follows Pointy to a glade where they meet Tild, who helps them learn to enchant items and to bond Pointy as a familiar. Back in Grey Hawk Alduin Silversmite's paladins are getting restless and trouble is brewing when Ogdin The Anvil demands entry to Geshtai's Chapel. It is revealed that the fugitive shapeshifter has been hiding amongst the horde and using mind-control to mislead the search party, but Nira's form-revealing magic allows the party to capture the worm-like shifter.

Session 11

Greenwake 45-Seedtime 1

• In the morning Feannag and Wrenn Lingenhall poked around at the bombs they had found, successfully disassembling them and reverse engineering ice, acid, and grease bombs. In the process of reassembling them Feannag set off the ice bomb in his face, losing the existing bombs but gaining the knowledge of how to make more
• Nira and Cock tracked the missing sheep to the river's edge, where they saw tracks leading straight into the water. Nira felt a slight mental pulse of energy through the Crook of Command that indicated the missing sheep was below the river bank
• Together they rappelled down the overhanging bank and went for a swim and saw that there seemed to be an underwater cave entrance down there

Session 12

Greenwake 45-Seedtime 1

• Aired Helelar came to consciousness in the Kruthik tunnels while being carried by Grund Razorclaw and noticed that his earring was actually the elven ring owned by his friend before she died in an orc raid
• Aired was put in the infirmary and had his injuries tended to by Gudbrand the Elder, but wasn't able to convince him about what happened in the tunnels
• He then snuck out of Ogdin's encampment, made his way to Nira's barn and passed out in a haystack
• In the morning Aired rejoined the party and told them about his tragic backstory, the group decided to kill Grund and his orc crew and pin it on the shapeshifter
• The party went to Geshtai's Chapel where Brother Collamir was cleaning up the mess from when Foke Barnswaggle transformed into a Sea Spawn and attacked them after his curse was lifted
• He taught the party about Sea Hags; their weird magic that doesn't seem to obey rules, that they love to offer bargains that end poorly for those that take them, and that they hate beauty above all else
• The party came up with a plan to set a trap at a mock beauty pageant by the river to catch the hag
• Outside they ran into 'Greasy' Greg Gremble, who sold them some potions and bomb-making supplies as well as offered to turn their Kruthik saliva into potions of darkvision
• Feannag MacDamhan went with Greg and spent the day learning about how to use an alchemy kit to make explosive charges, meanwhile Wrenn Lingenhall made some bomb casings at the forge
• The rest of the party set up an elaborate trap by the rivers edge, using fake flyers littered in the river to lure the hag to their pageant, where Nira was in disguise as a contestant
• As she looked in the water she saw horrifying visions, then was attacked by two Sea Spawn sent by the hag to wreck the pageant, the party dispatched them quickly
• Using Blessings of Geshtai to breathe underwater they then went into the depths of the lake to seek out the hag's lair, finding a grotesque garden of rotting hands reaching up through the lakebed outside a cave
• Wrenn, unable to swim in full armor, is grabbed by one of the hands and the hag is alerted to their presence
• Inside they found themselves in a small grotto that reeked of fish and low tide, detritus and odd artifacts littered the ground along with increasingly complex Rube-Goldberg-esqe contraptions that the party assumed to be mousetraps. They also saw the two missing children (Bitts Goldcrest and Zuri Xibloes) and Nira's sheep in cages, in the center the hag stood on a platform stirring a massive bubbling cauldron
• She said she had been expecting them and asked if they brought gifts, then Nira was able to surmise that the hag might be afraid of mice, and used a silent image to scare her into dropping her illusion, revealing Bitts at the cauldron and her true self in one of the cages
• She offered them many bargains in exchange for the children and sheep, but the party refused, instead shooting her with a crossbow, which she instantly seemed to heal from
• The hag explained that any damage she took would be absorbed by the life force of the poisoned villagers, so they shouldn't bother trying to kill her
• Instead the party took aim at her precious cauldron, with Wrenn and Cock shattering it quickly as she sprung into combat, however the attack was short lived as Rip caught the hag with Suggestion, telling her to sit and be quiet for a few hours while they thought of a plan to break the curse

Session 13

Seedtime 1

• The party decided what to do with the Sea Hag they had captured and charmed with Suggestion, and split up to cover more ground
• Aired Helelar, Cock, and Feannag MacDamhan went up to Geshtai's Chapel and convinced Sister Tasarda to give them more blessings for the children, she expects some sort of donation to the chapel in return
• On the way back they looked around the poisoned well directly above the hag's lair, Cock dove in and saw some bubbles but otherwise just managed to drink some cursed water
• In the lair Wrenn Lingenhall calmed Bitts Goldcrest down and got her hands mostly free, while Nira and Zuri Xibloes chatted about Sheep #38, who Zuri calls "Dollie"
• The kids told the party that they were swallowed by a toad while playing in the shallows and they woke up here, Wrenn tried to communicate with the large toad, but it seemed to be unnatural and undead
• The party looked around the lair, found more growing hands, mousetraps, and some interesting items: a piece of fish skin with dots corresponding to curse victims, a golden chain necklace, a ring, a mermaid disguise and many seaweed and bone fetishes and dolls
• Using the Blessings of Geshtai, the party returned the children to the surface and to their families. Yarr Xibloes was grateful and gave them the 10GP reward, the Goldcrest butler told them to go see Reeve Fona Goldcrest about the 500GP reward
• One of the fishermen in the village had died from a phantom crossbow bolt, likely due to the curse of protection from the hag
• Nira wanted to get the sheep out of the lair, so she had the undead toad swallow it then used the Crook of Command to make the sheep roll the toad forward and out of the lair
• Alone with the toad on the surface Nira attacked it to try to free the sheep, but it instead knocked her unconscious and swallowed her, shrinking back to it's small size just as Cock caught up to it
• Feannag and Aired were able to retrieve Nira and the sheep, but they remained tiny when taken from the toad's mouth, they then killed the toad and burned the body
• Returning to the lair where the hag was still captive, they creatively used rain to clear out some of the smoke from the hag's brew that was keeping her protected, they then tied the hag down using rope and the immovable rod
• Knowing that they had only one chance before the hag broke the charm, the entire party piled on huge attacks on the Sea Hag, killing her instantly without allowing her to use her protection curse
• They got to work harvesting the hag's psyche, hair, claws, and some skin, then looted the lair and left
• Now the evening they dried off and went to Ogdin's Overlook to take part in the remaining trials to join the horde
• Before oaths to the horde were taken, Ogdin The Anvil offered a chance for anyone to object to an initiate joining the horde, and Aired stepped up to challenge Grund Razorclaw, using his ring that matched one Grund carried as proof that he had raided his village and killed his friend years ago
• The horde of barbarians formed a ring and pushed Grund and Aired, unarmed and unarmored, into the arena for a duel for their honor
• Grund used his rage to take many hits and unleash devastating punches, but his sloppy style proved no match for Aired's deft maneuvering and Flurry of Blows, which knocked Grund unconscious
• Aired was given the chance to decide Grund's fate, and when Grund showed no remorse he sent the orc clan away, denying them entry to the horde
• The last trial was the Trial of Pain, and each member of the party who took part in the Kruthik extermination was to use their recovered spines to inscribe magical tattoos on their body without passing out from pain
• Aired was the first to succeed using his fey ancestry, joining the horde and swearing the oath as well as his oath to grant freedom from bondage
• Cock followed on his second try, swearing the oath in Ogdin's exact voice and swearing to seek truth in tradition
• Wrenn was the final member to join on their second attempt, swearing to protect the weak
• Each of their new tattoos granted special magical power in different ways depending on their sworn oath, and the horde closed in to welcome them with a night of drinking and revelry

Session 14

Seedtime 1-2

• After the initiation ceremony into Ogdin's Horde, the party joined in the libations and festivities that went late into the evening, all making their way home throughout the night
• Long Rest
• Pointy was antsy in the morning, and communicated to Nira and Rip that he wanted to go to a glade in The High Forest
• Party went to see Dutch 'The Boozer King' Ottenbrau, but his house seemed like he hadn't been home in days
• Talking to his neighbor Yarr Xibloes, Nira offered an apprenticeship on the sheep ranch to his daughter Zuri Xibloes
• The party gathered some well water to analyze, Aired drank some
• Stopped by Tam's Forge and Blacksmith Shop to pick up some shiny "treasures" for Goop
• Went to the Reeve's Manor to collect the bounty for Bitts Goldcrest, but Bailey Fanteaser seemed to have lost it, there was evidence that Goop may have taken it
• At The Bursting Barrel they saw blood leading from the kitchen to Dutch who was unconscious, Wrenn Lingenhall revived him and he explained how he had been shot with a phantom bolt last night
• They told him they suspected Gerthwin Bartelby was dead from the shapeshifter and he felt guilty for letting it happen, but told them to notify her next of kin in the city of Yartar
• In the stable Clarence showed no signs of intelligence beyond that of a normal horse
• Went to Geshtai's Chapel, ran into 'Greasy' Greg Gremble who gave them two freshly brewed potions of Darkvision and collected the well water sample to test
• Talked to Brother Collamir who mentioned a spring in the High Forest that is said to help animals grow large, and he gave rough directions to get there as the party set out following Pointy
• Came to a cliff and saw something flying overhead carrying a squealing pig, two halflings burst out chasing after it
• The party sprang into action, attacking what turned out to be a Manticore which attacked ruthlessly with tail spikes
• After sustaining significant damage the Manticore dropped the pig and Rip leapt off the cliff to catch it with Feather Fall, but mistimed the jump
• Cock used Repelling Blast to help Rip get to the falling pig, where he barely managed to catch the squealing animal and tumble down to the bottom of the cliff
• Nira finished off the Manticore after it dropped Aired Helelar, then the party and halflings repelled down the cliff to harvest the Manticore
• The halflings introduced themselves as Nikki and Ben, and with some insight the party realized they sell herbal remedies and risky drugs such as Hero's Wort and Tantric Truffles, which they gave to the party as thanks for saving their pig, Floyd
• Short rest

Session 15

Seedtime 2

• The party continued through The High Forest looking for the spring to restore Nira to her normal size
• Along the way they found a berry bush and Aired Helelar picked two, trying one and turning invisible until Rip accidentally hit him
• They arrived at the edge of a gully and could see a spring at the base of the cliff so they jumped off the edge, using feather fall to slow their descent
• On the way down three scraggly, crooked arrows come flying out of the trees along with some high pitched shouts in a language no one understands
• When the party hit the ground they set off, immediately springing a trap that hoisted Wrenn Lingenhall up into the air and kicking off an ambush by Goblins, a large wolf (Dire Wolf stats), and a goblin that seemed to have grown larger somehow (Hobgoblin stats)
• The party managed to fend off the attack, allowing the goblins to escape into the trees, though Aired Helelar pursued briefly
• They found an alcove in the cliff and had a Short Rest
• Pushing through the dense underbrush the party finally found the spring Brother Collamir had spoken of, a large network of waterways stemming from an ornate fountain. The walkways and shrines depicting nature scenes and Geshtai would have been beautiful had they not been covered in blood and corpses of the elf druids that used to oversee the spring
• At the entrance two elf corpses on pikes held signs warning off intruders, and as Aired stepped between them he triggered a trap that warned the entire goblin camp of their presence
• The party sprung into action, taking out a few goblins and wolves near the entrance and freeing two horses
• Nira and Cock pushed through the underbrush to arrive at the wolf pen, where two unnaturally large wolves were bearing down on a goblin and a smaller wolf while three goblins outside the pen egged them on
• Cock made quick work of the goblins, but was nearly overwhelmed as the large wolves attacked, and in the scuffle the small wolf was killed
• Nira fed the wolf a healing potion and it seemed to know what she had done before bolting off away from the fight
• Meanwhile Rip and Wrenn took out some more goblins and mounted a horse to head for an interesting staff-wielding goblin that seemed to be more interested in dancing than fighting, but as they crossed the waterway a Giant Crocodile lunged and took down their mount
• After Nira used Moonbeam to fry the Nilbog half the camp was cleared and the remaining goblins rained down arrows on the party, halting their advance toward the spring and their leader
• Cock used Skywrite from his new tattoo to write "GTFO Scrubs" in goblin in the sky, causing several of the grunts to stop firing arrows and flee before their leader regained control
• As this was going on Aired ran straight down the main path of the goblin camp, triggering several traps and nearly being eaten by a Giant Crocodile
• Just as the party was fading, Wrenn went down, but a clever use of a smoke bomb, Aired returning arrows to sender, and the timely return of the wolf made quick work of the remaining goblins
• Their leader, a Hobgoblin Captain took some serious damage and was Mind Whipped by Rip, so he tried to flee but was taken down, allowing his wolf mount to escape
• As the dust settled the water in the spring stirred and a great serpentine head made of water sprouted, explained that it was the guardian of this spring, and thanked the adventurers for clearing out the goblin scourge
• Nira and Sheep #38 drank from the spring, and as thanks for their help cleaning the camp (and disposing of the bodies via Crocodile) the guardian put a mote of its power in an ornate jug, creating a Decanter of Endless Water
• The party looted the goblins, finding an Elemental Gem, a Pearl of Power, the Nilbog's staff that turned out to be a Trident of Fish Command, and lots of gold
• The guardian asked the party to find a cleric or druid who could consecrate the spring to make it a holy place once more

Session 16

Seedtime 2-3

• Feannag MacDamhan, who had stayed in town while the party went into The High Forest, worked with 'Greasy' Greg Gremble to learn how to brew elixirs with his alchemist's kit, practicing by making a questionable Darkvision potion
• Was stopped by some of Alduin Silversmite's paladins on his way out of Grey Hawk, they said the town was on lockdown after they were attacked by the suspected shapeshifter
• He duped them and moved on, tracking the group to the spring where they were deciding what to do with the captive goblins, Flea-bite and Scruffy-mug
• The party cleaned up the spring, tied up the goblins, and Nira befriended the dog they met during the fight in the goblin camp
• Long Rest
• Feannag used the captive goblins to disarm the rest of the traps in camp and guide them through the woods, but the goblins refused to follow Pointy northward, citing disintegrations by the "beam-burner"
• Feannag considered killing them but turned the goblins loose with a warning
• Approached a glade on a hilltop with and idyllic stream, pond, a circle of standing stones, and a cottage with smoke coming out of the chimney
• Pseudodragons of all colors were sunning themselves on rocks and around the cabin
• A waterwheel by the cabin seemed to be powering a multitude of contraptions that did various chores, created a pleasant breeze, and generally made life easy for an old bald gnome who worked in an extensive but primitively-appointed outdoor workshop
• Without looking up from their work they introduced themselves as Tild and familiarly greeted Pointy as "Ishtar," which Wrenn Lingenhall recognized as "Nightshade" in gnomish
• Tild referred to the pseudodragons as children and seemed friendly with all of them, including a red one who would occasionally breathe fire to keep his forge lit
• Wrenn noticed the pseudodragon tail lazily hanging over the bellows as the symbol of Nebelun, the gnomish god of the forge, and their chosen deity as a cleric
• Tild asked Pointy why he was back so soon, what happened to his last companion as they were fond of L'Arsene, and admonished Pointy for being too eager to go adventuring with strangers
• Pointy seemed to want to bond a new companion, Rip persuaded him to bond
• The workshop and contraptions were impressively complex and Wrenn was impressed by the craftsmanship, prompting Tild to explain how they hone ancient pre-metal techniques and crafting and how they had spent hundreds of years worshiping by making an incredibly intricate ingot of mysterious layered metal from scratch
• Tild informed the party that they have magical wards around the glade that prevent evil creatures from entering, but in order to weave the spell to bond Pointy they would have to loosen the wards and evil would be attracted
• Using raw materials the party built traps and fortifications around the runes in the standing stones
• Tild appeared with a complex combination musical instrument that created magical tunes that worked Pointy into a dancing frenzy as the bond was formed
• The party defended Pointy during the ritual using their combat prowess as well as the pre-built fortifications against Cockatrices, Worgs, and a Peryton
• Rip used a large pearl to bond Pointy, allowing him to retreat to the pearl when hurt and Rip to summon him once per day
• Tild congratulated them, then offered to teach them about enchanting, helping Wrenn infuse the hag psyche into their shield to give it incredible magical properties

Session 17

Seedtime 3-4

• The party spent the night in Tild's glade, Tild asked them to look for meteorite to add to their ingot project and helped Aired Helelar learn a new brewing recipe while Feannag MacDamhan and Wrenn Lingenhall crafted a bomb
• Long Rest
• Left for Grey Hawk in the morning, navigating quickly through The High Forest until they came across a treant named Ashley who asked them three riddles, rewarding Nira with a platinum coin for answering correctly
• After trekking back to town the party encountered a squad of paladins surrounding 'Greasy' Greg Gremble's house and threatening him to come out to submit to questioning
• Greg, who displayed very individualistic tendencies, had locked himself in his home and was piping poisonous gas into a cloud around it to prevent approach
• Feannag tried to defuse the tension, but the paladins attacked, trying to set fire to the house to drive Greg out
• The party successfully put out the fires and redirected the paladins away from the house with Rip's Suggestion spell
• Greg thanked the party, bought some Manticore blood off of them, informed them that the well water seemed normal again, and gave Aired some fire retardant
• In town the party met Bailey Fanteaser in the stockade, he looked horrible and said he had been put in there two days ago as punishment for losing the 500GP reward money, he was worried the party was going to get him in even more trouble if they tried to talk the Reeve out of it
• In the town square Ogdin The Anvil and some of his group were arguing with Sister Tasarda by the chapel while Tam Thunderhand looked on worriedly
• The party went to the guard's quarters where they were accosted by the paladin they had tricked before Alduin Silversmite came out and reprimanded him for harassing the locals
• Alduin seemed exhausted, was reviewing interview notes and trying to manage the lockdown while protecting the villagers, and it seems like some of his paladins were getting out of line, the party convinced Alduin to let them help
• Across the street Sister Tasarda slammed the door in Ogdin's face and sealed it
• Ogdin said they were certain the shapeshifter was inside, then described a cloaked figure with strange bluish skin holding something round under their clothes
• The party recognized Iwana Sais from the description and convinced Tasarda to let them in
• Wrenn asked her for help with re-consecrating the desecrated sping
• In the back room the party saw Iwana laying on the examination table, sleeping fitfully and sweating, silvery-blue veins crawled up her arms and around her neck and she was visibly pregnant unlike last time they saw her
• Tasarda said her condition had worsened around the time the party said the hag died
• Feannag suggested killing the baby but Simon Sais jumped in and refused to even consider losing his child or his wife and would not listen to their arguments
• Tasarda asked for them to clear out the barbarians who were harassing the temple so she could go collect items to try to heal Iwana
• Outside they tried to convince Ogdin that the shapeshifter wasn't there, but a lizardfolk barbarian named Harie kept pushing Ogdin to arrest Iwana anyway
• In an attempt to show Ogdin that they could prove Iwana wasn't the shifter they pulled out the Amulet of Clarity
• Much to their surprise, it was glowing in the presence of transmutation magic and the eye was pointed towards the group of barbarians
• With a shout the party launched into action, Feannag took off to go get Alduin and Rip cast Detect Magic to see the shapeshifter
• Harie was glowing with transmutation magic as he whispered commands to Ogdin and the other barbarians to protect him and to stop Feannag
• Feannag was hit with a psionic blast that nearly killed him, then the rest of the party took another blast from the shifter's mental powers
• They were able to alert Alduin and just as Ogdin began his terrifying rage Nira was able to use Moonbeam to destroy the shapeshifter's disguise and burn it into submission with radiant magic
• As his mind control ended Ogdin got his wits about him and dove to revive the shifter, insisting that he needed to collect the bounty for it alive, and Alduin was able to bring it into custody
• Level Up! (3->4)