Bog Trek: The Search for Jobb (Part 1)
Nov 7, 2018 14:26:43 GMT
mattwilkin, Tugark (Retired), and 2 more like this
Post by andycd on Nov 7, 2018 14:26:43 GMT
Wander the Eladrin tranced, resting peacefully against the tree root while he went through the habitual process of sorting through his recent memories, grey skin against grey bark.
"Perhaps it was a mistake to come to the Material Plane." That thought floated in his mind like a title, and in fact was placed as a sort of heading for the set of memories of his last few days.
It had seemed a simple enough task: Head into the swamps north and west of Port Ffirst and find out what has happened to Jobb, the Head Chef at the Another Level, a restaurant which seemed to be doing far better than it should, given the exorbitant reward promised to them.
Barracuda and Wanda had been exploring the swamps together for a few days already, but they were also joined in this quest by 3 other companions - a fearsome warrior named Gorstag, a roguish gnomish skirmisher named Frug and a bard named Elrich - notable for the fact that he wasn't already dead.
Things had been exciting then. Wanda had been happy to go along and lend her magic to the cause. When an enormous crocodile jumped out at them and clamped its jaws around Gorstag, she'd been delighted to see the team spring into action. Two memories were highlighted and marked as key moments to remember - Barracuda as a Giant Octopus wrapped around a Giant Crocodile wrapped around Gorstag, and her own arrow as it flew deep into the skull of the beast, killing it.
They'd made camp after that as the party was quite injured. Concerned for her companions and suddenly engaging her more battle-hardened tactical mindset, Wanda's Summer aspect had come to the fore. The night had passed quietly, giving her time to put on her scale armour, until pre-dawn when a Will-o-wisp started beckoning to Frug to follow it into the woods. She'd advised the rogue to ignore it and wait until everyone was finished resting, but the wisp had been an impatient little sod and electrocuted Frug until he was a smouldering heap on the floor.
Irritated, and now with the rest of the party awake, they dispatched the wisp, got Frug back up and decided to have a lie-in so they could all rest fully.
Things got a bit bleaker from there, swamp had turned to forest but it returned to a fetid bog state with black algae clinging to the trees. Wanda recalled she still had a vial of the stuff in her pack.
A bullywug was seen and chased into an ambush, where the party got stuck full of spears. The Giant Octopus made another appearance but the fight was ended quite abruptly by a well placed Shattering from Elrich's drum.
It was a little after that that they encountered Kuurg the Oni. Wander shuddered as he remembered the initial meeting, even resting against the tree roots. A monster who had renounced violence after losing his brother to a hag that ruled this area. The party had been informed they were now trapped in this domain as well now, until they could defeat the hag.
That was when Winter had replaced Summer for Wander. He had only been in the Material Plane for a short while to explore and learn more about this place of mediums and only moderate emotions, and now he was trapped in a bog potentially forever unless he could defeat some hag. All because they'd agreed to find a missing chef? It was absurd, and he was decidedly bitter about the situation.
Wander paused, rousing from his deep trance slightly to wrestle with a difficult question - how had he been abducted? There was a gap in his memory between the early hours of the morning and him finding himself in a wooden coffin mid-burial. He couldn't reconcile it, yet it had happened and the memory of that time could not be processed.
Moving on, he recalled how his aspect had helped then, draping the calm collect of Winter around him, keeping his wits enough to simply step through the Ethereal mists to avoid being buried alive. Skeletons had been trying to bury him in a coffin with his own name on it, next to graves marked with the names of his companions. Unperturbed by this low level spookism from the hag, he set fire to as much as he could easily and then headed back to the party.
That was where Wander found himself now, taking a few minutes to trance and collect his thoughts once again, trying to place that missing piece of time from this morning. But there was nothing. It was a mystery.
Still, they had a hag to kill, and Wander found himself gripping the hilt of his rapier tightly as he opened his eyes and stood up to rejoin the party for the search ahead. That hag wouldn't know what hit her.
"Perhaps it was a mistake to come to the Material Plane." That thought floated in his mind like a title, and in fact was placed as a sort of heading for the set of memories of his last few days.
It had seemed a simple enough task: Head into the swamps north and west of Port Ffirst and find out what has happened to Jobb, the Head Chef at the Another Level, a restaurant which seemed to be doing far better than it should, given the exorbitant reward promised to them.
Barracuda and Wanda had been exploring the swamps together for a few days already, but they were also joined in this quest by 3 other companions - a fearsome warrior named Gorstag, a roguish gnomish skirmisher named Frug and a bard named Elrich - notable for the fact that he wasn't already dead.
Things had been exciting then. Wanda had been happy to go along and lend her magic to the cause. When an enormous crocodile jumped out at them and clamped its jaws around Gorstag, she'd been delighted to see the team spring into action. Two memories were highlighted and marked as key moments to remember - Barracuda as a Giant Octopus wrapped around a Giant Crocodile wrapped around Gorstag, and her own arrow as it flew deep into the skull of the beast, killing it.
They'd made camp after that as the party was quite injured. Concerned for her companions and suddenly engaging her more battle-hardened tactical mindset, Wanda's Summer aspect had come to the fore. The night had passed quietly, giving her time to put on her scale armour, until pre-dawn when a Will-o-wisp started beckoning to Frug to follow it into the woods. She'd advised the rogue to ignore it and wait until everyone was finished resting, but the wisp had been an impatient little sod and electrocuted Frug until he was a smouldering heap on the floor.
Irritated, and now with the rest of the party awake, they dispatched the wisp, got Frug back up and decided to have a lie-in so they could all rest fully.
Things got a bit bleaker from there, swamp had turned to forest but it returned to a fetid bog state with black algae clinging to the trees. Wanda recalled she still had a vial of the stuff in her pack.
A bullywug was seen and chased into an ambush, where the party got stuck full of spears. The Giant Octopus made another appearance but the fight was ended quite abruptly by a well placed Shattering from Elrich's drum.
It was a little after that that they encountered Kuurg the Oni. Wander shuddered as he remembered the initial meeting, even resting against the tree roots. A monster who had renounced violence after losing his brother to a hag that ruled this area. The party had been informed they were now trapped in this domain as well now, until they could defeat the hag.
That was when Winter had replaced Summer for Wander. He had only been in the Material Plane for a short while to explore and learn more about this place of mediums and only moderate emotions, and now he was trapped in a bog potentially forever unless he could defeat some hag. All because they'd agreed to find a missing chef? It was absurd, and he was decidedly bitter about the situation.
Wander paused, rousing from his deep trance slightly to wrestle with a difficult question - how had he been abducted? There was a gap in his memory between the early hours of the morning and him finding himself in a wooden coffin mid-burial. He couldn't reconcile it, yet it had happened and the memory of that time could not be processed.
Moving on, he recalled how his aspect had helped then, draping the calm collect of Winter around him, keeping his wits enough to simply step through the Ethereal mists to avoid being buried alive. Skeletons had been trying to bury him in a coffin with his own name on it, next to graves marked with the names of his companions. Unperturbed by this low level spookism from the hag, he set fire to as much as he could easily and then headed back to the party.
That was where Wander found himself now, taking a few minutes to trance and collect his thoughts once again, trying to place that missing piece of time from this morning. But there was nothing. It was a mystery.
Still, they had a hag to kill, and Wander found himself gripping the hilt of his rapier tightly as he opened his eyes and stood up to rejoin the party for the search ahead. That hag wouldn't know what hit her.
