Guardians of the Grove 9/8/22

 Guardians of the Grove

Hunt for Fennic Arc

The Tres Amigos

Session 9/8/22 

After an overdue long rest, the group has been given a new task by Mattias to bring back their friend Diego. Meeting Eltuire outside the Villa, she negotiates her way into the group for her own personal reasons. The following day the group is split as Wulf, Nirruk, and Atheya go to speak with the Arcane Eye’s Tianna to learn more about a possible item for Nirruk. Meanwhile, Mattias approaches Corvus, Blood, and Eltuire about a possible captain who has retreated to a nearby fort. Blood excited to show off his new self-appointed role as “strongest” decides the party should take the job. 

Before leaving the town, they head over to the armory where Eltuire is able to negotiate her way into receiving some Keeper attire. However, the bumbling duo of Corvus and Blood do not receive the same kindness and leave empty-handed relying on their own magical means for disguises to infiltrate the fort. 

On their way out of the city, Blood and Corvus are confronted by Lexa, the opportunist. In which she extorts the duo on behalf of Diego's Death and interest of 1000 gold a day until the debt is paid. After coming to terms, and no Wulf to dispute the current terms she leaves but not empty-handed as he pilfers Corvus’  magic amulet which is quickly discarded and discovered by some nearby children that Corvus pays to relinquish his item. 

After camping nearby, the group develops a plan, and Eltuire wonders how they ever got anything done, as several iterations of “sneaking in” leads to the group deciding to attempt to poison the fort by posing as soldiers still but contaminating their food supply in order to leave with their captain alive and retrieve the bounty of 6000 instead of 3000. After talking their way into the fort, the trio is let inside and navigate their way to the chef whom makes some rude accusation that Eltuire should be helping in the kitchen. Rightfully embarrassed he leaves to go get the spices with Corvus while Blood decides the amount of poison to put in the food.

How Eltuire sees the group currently  

Corvus: an open book - friendly

Wulf: angry bear, but softy - neutral

Nirruk: quiet - too quiet - neutral

Atheya : the voice - friendly

Blood: cocky - defensive

Diego: Dead - “Strongest”

Guardians of the Grove 8/18/22 Guardian Down

 Guardians of the Grove

Darkpoole Arc

Guardian Down

Session 8/18/22 

The Guardians enter the room for what appears to be their last trial. In order to retrieve the last gemstone, they must move past chains that seem to magically wrap around anything it touches and pull it violently towards an unknown direction. After trying many things to avail, the guardians are stumped. For all their power and destructive presence, traps tend to hold them in their place. Wulf decides to attempt the retrieval of the gemstone with his extended reach; he believes himself to be the best option at the moment. Through continued trial and error, Wulf can make his way toward the gemstone. Taking some considerable damage, he is able to throw the gemstone back toward the group. However, despite wrestling with the chains somewhat successfully, his success is short-lived when one chain is unable to be wrestled from his leg, and the leg is torn off almost immediately. After pocketing the gemstone to deactivate its anti-magic field, the group tends to Wulf and effectively wraps his leg. Wulf, visibly upset, endures his pain and uses his hammer to proceed further. The group, battered and beaten, makes their way to the door and opens it. 

Inside the room, they are immediately blinded by the darkness. The group quickly finds themselves stepping on a large amount of webbing coating the entire room. In the distance, Corvus and Diego can make out a halfling and Mattias inside the webbing at the room's far end. At the same time, Nirruk uses a light cantrip to light an area of the room. Diego also notices that there is no actual floor and only webbing. Eventually, the group's initial fear approaches; spiders. After fending off some of the spiders with little difficulty, Fennic appears in a new form from the doorway. Her lower body is a spider, and her upper frame remains the same though altered slightly after the merger. The group engages Fennic and the spiders under her control. Blood immediately antagonizes Fennic about her brother's death. In contrast, Diego remembers his training with Maximus to defeat Fennic. 

Poisoned, webbed, and outnumbered, the Guardians do their best to strike down Fennic. Diego knowing what rides on his shoulders is able to resist several hold-person attempts and evades being disintegrated as well. Dodging every attack from the other spiders, Diego focuses on Fennic with his allies by his side. However, even with support and healing. Diego is unable to finish Fennic off before she ultimately crushes his soul. His last thoughts are of the Guardians, their adventures, and the times they shared, as he would not trade them for all the fate-touched items in the world.  With no time for mourning, the group continues to attack Fennic in hopes of avenging Diego and surviving. With Fennic’s renewed vigor from consuming Diego, she quickly downs two more guardians with maddening darkness. With the situation most dire, the Guardians face their most challenging battle yet, and with no signs of victory in sight, one can only hope that Ios has not heard the last of the Guardians of the Grove.

A special note to those who read this.
Thank you for looking out for Diego/York and keeping him alive the best you could since the beginning.

-Diego B.

Guardians of the Grove 8/11/22

 Guardians of the Grove

Darkpoole Arc

Who knows where in Darkpoole!?

Session 8/11/22 

Weary from the trek down, the Guardian takes a short rest to lick their wounds. They make their way down towards the next room, entering a large area with two pedestals, one with a blue aura and one with a red aura. The brilliant detectives the Guardians are and employing their golden rule “touch everything” split into two groups and touch. Corvus, Wulf, and Blood are transported immediately to a previous room and use the same device to return. However, Atheya, Diego, and Nirruk were transported to the beginning of this dungeon. Putting together the situation the best they can, they hurry back through the lightning tunnel and head downstairs. Rushing toward the others before they make the same mistake. Luckily they are able to arrive in time just before the red aura is touched.

Heading into the next room, the group is surprised to see goliath-sized constructs in a non-receptive state. As well as perceiving the presence of a pool in the center of the room and an egg-shaped object behind. As Atheya and Nirruk approached the egg, the construct would turn their attention to them. Fearing the constructs were meant to either protect the egg or prevent it from leaving, they backed away. However, not before Nirruk would try to enter the egg's mind and suffer from it later. Nirruk falls to the ground from some unknown shock. After moving him away from the egg, he can stumble to his feet but becomes alert to a possibly new and hidden threat. 

Upon inspection in octopus form, Atheya discerns a means to travel further into the dungeon by a bright light at the bottom of the pool. The group swims down below and gets transported to another room. In this room, there is a giant humanoid-like skull, and opposite this skull is a door with three slots of different shapes. Seeing two paths at opposite ends of the room, the group searches the left side first. Upon entering a room with two doors, the group comes upon a plethora of skeleton bones. After a quick inspection, the skeletons come to life. The group tactfully deduces that flames and radiant damage permanently destroy the bones. During the battle, Nirruk's head begins to ache, and he is unable to cast higher-leveled spells. A combination of torches, holy magic, and a flapping sphere leave the group victorious. Diego looking tattered is tended to by the majority of the group, for which he is most grateful and, after an awkward moment with Corvus, can stand on his own again. Blood, on the other hand, patches up his scrapes in silence. 

After the encounter, the group enters the first door and quickly finds a gemstone with a familiar shape to the door mentioned earlier. Atheya, with no regard for her safety, grabs the stone and quickly leaves the room, triggering a laser-like beam to pierce out miss her by a hair’s length. Although she left with a haircut, little did she know that it was almost the end of Atheya Willowcrown. The next room left the group nervous and wary. Pressure plates were the new theme as the walls closed once the wrong plate was stepped on. Wulf navigated carefully throughout the room and successfully put the next gemstone in a bag tied to a rope. Once outside, together with the group, they could pull the gemstone out of the room. Being a trendsetter, Corvus decided to catch the stone with his face. Triumphant, the group heads back to the main room and down the next hallway to a door. The Guardians can see the last gemstone required when they look inside, but the room is filled with chains running across in all directions with barbed edges. However, knowing that their goal lies beyond the door, the group readies themselves to solve this problem like any other. 

Bonus Art* Non-Canon Fanfic

Guardians of the Grove 8/04/22

 Guardians of the Grove

Darkpoole Arc

Who knows where in Darkpoole!?

Session 8/04/22 

After infiltrating the Villa and following Fennic downstairs, the group arrives at an engraving of a quarter moon; Corvus quickly deduces that the symbol and its purpose have been desecrated. Along with Diego’s study of celestial language, the duo can deduce that this may be related to Iya and Oya. Inscribed on the floor were the words reaping, sowing, and balance. Taking this too literally, the group wastes some time standing on the platform in a “balanced” formation. Quickly moving forward, Diego, Corvus, and Atheya are struck by a lightning stream that continues to strike throughout the hallway. After deciding on the order, the group decides to rush through the lightning to reach several gem-like devices. Once the group touches the three devices, the path is cleared enough for everyone to quickly rush to a lift that takes them lower into the Villa.

After the shocking experience, the group arrives at another device and four altars.

The warning on the device roughly reads, “all things in balance, equally, if not, you will suffer the wrath of the elements.” The group successfully applies the correct elements and spell levels to the altars and powers up the device. At the same time, four elementals pour out from the altars. Their presence alone is intimidating and concerning for the guardians, but before any aggressive move is made, they acknowledge the four altar's success and leave. At first, the device presents no purpose as Wulf touches it, and nothing happens. Then Blood touches it and is switched with Wulf. After several attempts to reclaim their original bodies, they are able to proceed as themselves. The group can move on. However, the Guardians will always wonder what life would be like with the two permanently switched.  

The group moves to another room where a spherical crystal object stands above a floor that visually shows a constellation. The Guardians being who they are and following the logic of “touch everything” are quickly stunned when Corvus touches the Sphere and disappears. The Guardians follow his example and arrive at a dangerous confrontation with a powerful construct. 

The battle with the Construct drains the Guardians further as it was capable of taking down several members with the assistance of several wraiths/spirits of the dead. While the Guardians strategically take down ghosts and construct alike. The combined efforts of arrows, a hammer, and a thrown sword brought the goliath-like construct down. Severely worn, the group moves forward to the next room. Not expecting much resistance, they have a moment to cool down after stumbling upon documents, books, a mask, and bracers. Again adopting the group motto “touch everything” Wulf touches the bracers and is immediately both charmed and empowered to attack the group. Luckily the encounter was not too severe as the group was able to wrestle him to the ground and dispel the bracers. Resources drained and the group looking worse for wear, continue to push on.

The group stumbles upon a tree in the middle of this unknown location. Blood casts speak with plants, and with Atheya asks the tree several intriguing questions. Though tensions run high, we learn the tree has been down here for a while, there are two caretakers, trees can't see, and it hasn’t been cared for in days. As a kindness, Blood takes a pinecone from the tree to bring to the outside world to grow. Corvus also breaks out a waterskin and pours some water before moving on. Most importantly, the tree reveals that one of the caretakers has passed by recently. The Guardians, beaten, bruised, and drained, move towards the next set of stairs downwards, still on the Fennic’s tail. 

*Throwing a sword works*

Guardians of the Grove 7/21/22

 Guardians of the Grove

Darkpoole Arc

Return to Darkpoole

Session 7/21/22 

The Guardians reconvene after their shopping trip acquiring the goods and means to stop Fennic. After an initial failed attempt to use the teleportation circle to enter the Order of the Arcane Eye in Darkpoole, the group decided to use a teleportation scroll. Successfully arriving in the Dark Water Inn in Darkpoole. Upon entering, the group is warned by Vilt that the town is on high alert, looking for the Guardians. Vilt quickly kicks them out, and the group sneaks their way to the Villa. However, with no solid plan, the group hides in an abandoned pottery shop. Before establishing the next move, they notice that Blood and Corvus are not with them.

Elsewhere while disguised as Keepers, Corvus and Blood were pulled aside by a commanding officer of the Keepers. Ordered to help raise an additional Balista in a watchtower stationed in the middle of Darkpoole. After providing shitty assistance, they are sent to the latrine to clean. Convinced they were keepers, the duo head over to the latrines and stumble upon Fennic in the most unlikely place. The duo is able to convince Fennic they are doing their job, and she leaves. Nirruk, concerned about the duo, also finds his way to the latrines and encounters Fennic. Luckily, after a tense moment, he can proceed unbothered, retrieves the duo, and head back to the pottery shop.

Before Diego could embarrass himself and call out to the middle of nowhere for Lexa, he remembers that Nirruk could also reach out to Lexa, which he does. Lexa arrives on the scene and informs the group that the soldiers are still on high alert. She also proves her worth by telling the Guardians how she has poisoned the soldiers. Which Corvus and Blood were able to see firsthand with Fennic. The Guardians, with renewed confidence, set up a plan. Lexa will use her Keepers' horn to distract the Keepers in town, pulling them away from the VIlla while the Guardians approach Fennic. However, additional info about the disappearance of Mattias and a possible underground lair where people are being taken is revealed to the Guardians. Fueled by his desire to crush Fennic, Diego insists on getting Fennic first, losing sight of the big picture. The group breaks and successfully makes it to the Villa unseen and heads inside. 

Inside, it is not long before the Guardians attract attention; even while disguised, the group can make their way in, but after a suggestion spell wears off, the group is caught in a small skirmish. The Guardians quickly dismantled the Keepers before they could blow the horn. However, a small debate ensues about going after Fennic or to the underground where people are being kept. Atheya leads the group past the blood pool and encounters a large gelatinous creature that provides a challenge for the group before a sickly Fennic joins the fray. When the tide of battle turns in favor of the Guardians, Fennic hastily retreats into a door with Arcanic runes. Unfortunately, while Atheya and Nirruk combine their Arcanic knowledge to dispel the door, Fennic is able to escape. At the same time, the group stumbles into a dark underground chamber, not knowing what dangers lie ahead.

Special note: Wulf* did not die but rolled four critical hits!

Guardians of the Grove 7/07/22-7/14/22

 Guardians of the Grove

Darkpoole Arc

The Three R’s Retreat, Revive, and Revenge

Session 7/07/22-7/14/22

The Guardians split up into groups; “Get It Done,” consisting of Diego, Corvus, Nirruk, and “Chaos Crew,” consisting of Atheya, Corvus, and Blood.

The “Get it Done” crew heads towards the Inn, where Mattias will have his meeting with Fennec. Nirruk casts disguise self to blend in with the guards and talks his way into the kitchen hidden from Fennec’s view. However, Nirruk quickly discovers that a spell has been cast to give Fennec and Mattias privacy. Meanwhile, Diego and Wulf sneakily make their way to the inn through the alleys, spotted by a young girl. Before making any observations, the girl is gone. Diego and Wulf are able to successfully hide in a building nearby to spy on the situation. They can witness Fennec’s arrival, but she magically closes the blinds once she enters. However, Diego and Wulf stay put and are immediately blackmailed into giving up a magical item each to the young girl, who threatens to blow a Keeper’s horn and reveal their location. In what appeared as a good idea at first, Diego enters a contract verbal contract with Lexa to pay her for her services to infiltrate the Inn without being detected. She casts invisibility on them, and they arrive at the Inn. Upon entering, the group meets with Nirruk. Nirruk then witnesses Fennec startled and watches as she quickly teleports away. 

Elsewhere, The “Chaos Crew” infiltrates the Villa; though Atheya has a heavy headstart, the Duo of Corvus and Blood eventually enter the VIlla disguised as Keepers. The group makes many discoveries inside. Runic symbols that may block an important passage, a statue of Verric the Cold, an enemy from Blood’s work, a pool of blood, and encased under Fennec’s bed a horde of decapitated heads. While investigating the room, the trio learns a bounty is out on the Guardian of the Grove. At this time, the group tries to make their way out of the room, Atheya sneaking back out the way she came in rat form. However, they quickly discover that the door is now magically sealed and unable to be picked by normal means as the door melts Blood’s thieves tools. At the same time, Fennec suddenly appears behind them.

 

Back at the Inn,  fearing there might be trouble at the VIlla with the other Guardians, Diego and Wulf leave Nirruk behind to keep an eye on Mattias. They exhaust themselves to get there quickly but can see no commotion from the outside and decide to take watch again. 

Inside the Villa, Fennec questions why the group has entered her space, but in true Guardian fashion, the situation turns violent quickly. However, the combined efforts of the rat Atheya, Iya and Oya’s champion, and Blood…prove to be fruitless against Fennec, and they try to make a hasty retreat. Unfortunately, in their retreat, Blood is ultimately murdered brutally by Fennec. Atheya, upon seeing his body after Fennec opens the door, decides that the only way for them to survive is to retreat. Corvus and Atheya are able to make their way out of the Villa and fly to safety. Almost immediately, Fennec announces the death of one of the members, doubles the remaining bounties, and orders the manhunt for the members inside the city.

The Guardians decide to meet at where the Hydra was killed to teleport home to safety. While running out, Diego agrees to Lexa doing surveillance in the city until they make their return. The group meets and immediately retreats to Gladesedge. The group mourns the loss of their friend but agrees that bringing him back is the right thing to do. Using their funds to hire a cleric Joric to perform the ritual. Atheya, Corvus, and Diego contribute to the ritual the best they can. Being just enough, a naked Blood appears. (missing out on becoming a cool art piece lol) Blood rejoins the group. The group proceeds to have a strategy meeting on what to do next: KILL FENNEC.

Begin Shopping Montage!!

Guardians of the Grove 6/02/22-6/16/22

 Guardians of the Grove
Darkpoole Arc
Entering Darkpoole 

Session 6/02/22-6/16/22

Upon entering Darkpoole, the Guardians received a less than warm welcome when ordered to pay an entrance fee from Keepers stationed outside. The Keepers wearing their traditional red and white tabards over chainmail, kept a close eye on the Guardians, paying close attention to their magical goods and quality. When entering the town, the group notices the town is less bustling than other towns of its size previously visited. The town, mostly flooded by Keepers walking around, begins to make the crew anxious, so they take refuge in the local Inn & Bar, Darkwater. Upon which they meet the bartender Vilt who offers up some information about the town and the Keepers being in town for more than a few weeks now but is hesitant in doing so. The group also learns that the magistrate in town opposed the Keepers and was killed for it. The group compensates him with some gold for drinks, a room, and intel. At this time, several Keepers enter the bar making Vilt nervous. After moments pass, Mattias, a captain of the Keepers, enters as well. Mattias, son of Maximus, the Keeper who worked with Diego and York as a trio of warriors under Maximus' tutelage. 

While trying to be extremely discreet and avoid detection, Blood tried casting a spell on the group, immediately attracting the attention of Mattias. Mattias approached the group unconvincingly the group told Mattias they were adventurers in town seeking work.
After messing with Blood, Mattias leaves the group to their fun and leaves with all the Keepers. At this time, Diego is at a loss for words, and didn’t expect to meet him so soon, since last he heard, he was in trouble while Maximus and the Keepers were not subjugating towns. Nirruk proposed to handle some of his own business in town, finding a person named “Tiana” after no luck finding her, unable to find her,  they learn that the guilds have been all closed, the group heads to the main keep of the Keepers in town. Outside they find a market of sorts and look for some more intel. After another dead end, the group heads back to the inn. Before leaving the keep, a commotion breaks out in the town; at the same time, Diego sees Mattias walking into the keep. Diego proceeds to split the group and approach Mattias while the rest of the group heads toward the commotion. 

Diego encounters Mattias; Mattias immediately comments about the awkward silence in the bar earlier. Diego asks about what has been going on in Darkpoole and why? While Mattias tries to convince him that Diego's time is over and it is his own. Diego can perceive that Mattias had something else going on, provoking Mattias to stab Diego while missing any vital points; Mattias warns Diego to leave. Diego takes this warning and leaves, as there are too many Keepers around, and the situation is not in his favor to continue the conversation. After the conversation, Diego gets a telepathic message from NIrruk; the party is in danger, so Diego full sprints to their location.

While Diego spoke with Mattias, the other Guardians approached the town square where an execution was taking place. Keepers are posted around the stage while General Fennic (unknown to the Guardians) orders the execution of townsfolk for the protest of the Keepers in town. While the crowd could not do anything, the Guardians watched in horror as the people were executed. Before the executions were midway through, a poorly prepared resistance group arrived to stop the execution. Even with the advantage of surprise, they were unable to do much until Nirruk intervened and put up a wall of fire. With that, the Guardians attempted to do what they do best save people. 

Diego arrives mid-battle to see the guardian fighting with General Fennic, A Keeper formerly under Maximus who seems to be in charge of the Keepers whilst wielding a new and ominous staff. The battle escalates into an exchange of blows between Fennic, but Fennic’s ability allows her to simply heal herself continuously while the Guadians resources and stamina run dry. The Guardians make a hasty retreat while unknowingly leaving Bloodwulf behind. They escape through a hidden passageway, lead by the last resistance member. With the resolve to rescue Blood as soon as possible the group pushes forward talking with the last living resistanc emember and learning more about the fall of Darkpoole. The Keepers had arrived in town under Fennic’s instruction to find “Something”, the guilds tried to face the Keepers but were unable to fend them off or prevent the death of the Magistrate in town. The Guardians were then interrupted by a shadowy figure who revealed himself to be Mattias who had been secretly trying to remove Fennic from leadership as her cruel ways and corruptive influence did not sit well with Mattias as well.
Mattias also mentions that Blood is safely resting elsehwere as he was able to escape with Mattias’ aid. While Diego struggled to keep his composure with everything that had been going on, Wulf was able to snap some sense into DIego and get his mind straight. The Guardians agreed to help Mattias figure  away to stop Fennic and learn more about her true goal.

Mattias was schedule to have a dinner with Fennic that evening at theDarkwater Inn and leave the Manor she stays at. The group decides to split up into two teams, one ot guard Mattias from fennic should the meeting go poorly, and the other to break into the manor to discover so much needed intel about the ongoing situation. The group going with Mattias are Diego, Nirruk, and Wulf. Whilst the other group composed of Atheya, Blood, and Corvus are to infiltrate the manor discreetly. Alarmed by this group Diego sternly grabs both Corvus and Atheya and tells them to be on their best behavior. The group prepares for the oncoming missions with the determination to come through alive and see each other again. 

Should the group need to communicate or indicate they are in danger, they must use the codeword: Godslayer.

*reference for possible design*

Introduced Characters:

Keepers - Red and white tabards of chainmail

Bartender Vilt

Captain Mattias 

General Fennic 

Resistance Members

 <4th Letter>

Dad,

So, the Guardians of the Grove are pretty big shit now! We just stop a bandit raid on Woodberry and cleared the sewers of the remnants of the Master! No big deal, Dad, but ya’ boi and his crew are crushing it!... It’s me… I’m ‘ya boi’. Anywho, added a new party member. He’s this super dark and mysterious guy from the north. Pretty sure he was an assassin of some sort. Very intense fellow with an odd accent. He seems alright though. OH! And so Corvus’ sister is alive and she has his old powers! I mean, it was kind of a bummer for him cause she’s all dark and possessed and shit, but I think it gave him a little hope knowing that she “ok” for now. I think we can save her though, so there’s that. Speaking of Corvus, he finally got some powers back and thank the gods for that! I was really getting worried about him. I don’t know if he would’ve been able to stay with us for much longer just due the fact that it would be too dangerous given all of the shit we keep finding ourselves in. 

We’re about to join a huge tournament in a few days here in Woodberry. Will we win? I’m gonna venture to say YES!! HAAAHAHA! I mean York just beat down this super awesome dwarf fighter.. Barely. But if he can do that, then I’m certain the rest of us will fair well. Either way, I’m hoping we place at the very least and I think we’ve earned a little bit of time to let our hair down. Well, at least those of us that HAVE hair. I wonder what Nirruk would look like with hair? Oh, speaking of ol’ frog face, I made him an arm! It’s basic right now, but I’m gonna keep working on it to hopefully improve on the quality and functionality of it. I really like the guy and I think I would call him a friend. Not to his face of course! Yes, yes Dad, I know what you would say if you were here. I’m TRYING to be nice and not pull pranks on him, but ugh.. Sometimes it’s just funnier that way!! Most of the time… Fuck it ALL OF THE TIME!! HAHAHAHA.

Um, what else? Oh, turns out there’s some kind of body snatcher or doppleganger thing going on, because Mira, who we thought was dead (thanks Corvus), is alive and kickin’. Plus other people who were supposedly expired. We’re likely gonna have to look into that eventually, but after the tourney, I think we’re making a trip to Zandonia to help Corvus repair some swords he got from this priestess. 

Dad., there’s so much we gotta do! Fix Corvus, save his sister, go visit these gnomes for my secret invention I’m working on, find out what happened to the kid you gave the Withered One and find out how to get you back. Plus we don’t even know if there’s something that York or CC want to do! Oh right CC, I mean Atheya. I don’t know if I’ve written to you about her yet, but she is pure chaos! But she’s great! Except for that one time when she jumped into a random portal.. Oh, and the time she and Corvus tried to rappel simultaneously off of each other using a raggedy tree as an anchor, into a barely waist high pool, from 100 or so feet up! Oh and the other time when she happily agreed to murdering people. Oh and when she tried to start an illicit drug ring at our new home. Other than that, LOVE her!

Before I let you go, I went looking for her again. :/ I just want to make sure she’s ok. Plus, I thought she might be able to help me find a Fey patron for Corvus and teach me more about the natural magics and how to be a better shamanistic barbarian. I’m going to keep looking, Dad. she was, IS still my first and best friend. Ok, well.. I love you and miss you. I’m getting closer to finding a way for you to come back. I WILL succeed.

Forever Your Son and Number 1 fan,

Wulf

<4th Letter>

 

Bloodwulfs Journal 8/19/21

 Dear future family, 

    I’ve decided to start keeping a log of my adventures in order to retain what little bit of soul and empathy I have left and hopefully gain a bit more. I know my past is full of shame and it is my hope that I can do enough good deeds to outweigh the horrors of my bloody past.

    The start of this particular adventure begins like most; In a tavern. I was just being friendly with the waitress when a peculiar group caught my eye. I know adventure when I see it, so I bought them a pot of coffee and struck up a conversation. I learned they had just accepted a job to clear out the monster infestation from the local sewers. I thought this was a noble way to make a few coins so I asked if they could use my bow. After some delegation, the eventually agreed to let me join them.

    As soon as we got into the sewer we were attacked. A giant slime creature was waiting for us. We made quick work of this creature and cautiously continued on our way. While traveling though the sewers, it became apparent to me that not everyone could see quite as well as I could, so we decided to stay close together. I had the forethought to cast Pass Without Trace to make sure our footsteps didn’t gather any unwanted attention. That was all in vain though because the Druid of the group, Atheya, walked into a room and immediately got caught in a gelatinous cube! Don’t let the mental image of this foe fool you. This creature was fearsome, and there were two of them! We fought hard through acid damage to finally help Atheya free and defeat the first cube. We started in on the second and I’m ashamed to say one of my arrows missed its mark and hit one of my new teammates, Nirruk. Thankfully, he was okay, but the cube escaped. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of it, but I think we’ll be ready next time.

    We walked into the next room, and the door disappeared behind us. If that wasn’t enough the only two doors in the room were locked and a hole appeared on the other side! We peaked into the room and if was full of these disgusting giant bug creatures. We showed them what we were made of, and we thought we were safe when they crawled into the ceiling. Until we looked above our heads and saw all the holes above us. We braced ourselves and got ready for a fight. 8 of them filled the room and whenever they touched metal, it would rust away! Despite that, we destroyed them all, thankfully.

    From there, the doors were unlocked, and we went though one of them. We ventured forward, keeping close together and found a room with a gem towards the back of it with a strange energy surrounding it. We knew it would be too easy to just take, and we were right. Nothics dropped from the ceiling, and we had just enough time to prepare for these ugly one-eyed creatures. I started doing what I do best; firing a volley of arrows, while the rest of the team did what they could to kill these foul creatures. Atheya even turned into a bear! 

    After killing them, our focus turned to the gem. Nirruk tried to reach out with his mind to grab it, but to no avail. We eventually learned that we needed to use a certain number of spells on the energy field. While the team worked on that, we heard a pounding noise coming from the room across the hall. With the gem secured we decided to investigate the room with the mysterious pounding, but not before Nirruk found a pendant from one of the dead Nothics. 

    We slowly opened the door and were immediately hit with a wave of necrotic energy. Chained inside was a giant creature with tentacles. But it was sleeping. Behind it, another gem! We decided that we were too weak to fight this thing head on and decided to have one of us sneak past it and grab the gem and run.

    Nirruk decided to take the risk and sneak in and somehow, he managed to grab the gem without waking the monster! But no sooner than the door was shut, the monster was awake and ANGRY! It’s tentacles thrashed about and lashed out at us. We ran for our lives having to jump over a stream of sewage on our way, and eventually having to crawl through a disgusting wet tunnel. As soon as we made it though, Atheya used a spell to cave in the tunnel. We are safe for now, but I’m sure when we wake up from our short rest, we’ll have to fight for our lives to not only clear the monsters from this sewer, but to make it out in one piece. 

    I know I wanted to find a way out of my current lifestyle and career choice, but I’m not sure if this is what I had in mind. I’ll stick with this group for now, though. They seem to be a hardy bunch that has seen their way out of plenty of hairy situations. Maybe this is the way to help me erase all the guilt I have and earn some coin by doing some good in the world. Until then I will continue to strive to be the elf I know you deserve. 

-Bloodwülf 

Wulf's Journal Entry 3 7/15/21

 Dad, 

Well, we did it! Mom, the Glade, and the Undying Grove are all safe now. We got the bastard. That purple monstrosity will no longer be able to harm anyone ever again. Nirruk is free too, which I'm really glad we were able to help him achieve. As much as I mess with the weirdo, it fills me with pride and accomplishment that I was able to be apart of it and see it all the way through. I hope this gives him closure and hope I'm the future. I also hope he now knows that we are there for him and each other, and that our destinies are forever intertwined. And though I will NEVER say this to his face, I now see him as family, like a brother. Maybe a cousin... Like a shitty younger brother or cousin. Ya know, like the one you're happy to see but secretly wanna kick in the sun every now and again. Like he annoys you, but you'll bring wreath upon anyone that tried to harm or upset him. Yeh, like that.

So, I'm sure you're wanting all the details. Well, we were essentially herded to Woodberry by the monster through the citizens of the Grove he was mind controlling. And Dad, he had nearly EVERYONE under his control. We had to fight 20 or 30 guards from the Glade! Crazy thing was, we could tell that they were inside their bodies without control, but with whatever strength they could muster they would throw themselves on our weapons to die. It was heart-breaking. We were only able to save one, Silt's little brother.

We finally made it to town after dealing with some displacer beasts and were met by the entire town's population. Obviously under the control of the monster. They formed a kind of promenade to his tower which we promptly followed after the monster made one of the citizens attack himself when we displayed some hesitation in going directly to the tower. I healed them and we pressed on. Once we entered the tower, it was on. First we had to fight Silt, Amber and some Gith mind-slave. Unfortunately, we had to kill the Gith, but we were able to save Silt. Amber would die later though. Next was our friend Mira. Unfortunately, though we tried our best to save her, due to some miscalculations, we lost her too. Then Corvus, took her soul and later consumed it.Finally, it was mom. We temporarily paralyzed her then knocked her out. 

In the monster's room, we encountered a massive brain which was trapped. It promised to help us against the monster if we freed it. So we did. After a long and stressful battle, we ended the monster's life. I smashed his body to a bloody pulp, so ain't no resurrecting him. Once he died and the brain left the region, everyone was freed from the mental slavery. We were look at as heroes, Dad. Myself included!!

 It's been a few weeks since the tower incident. We call ourselves the Guardians of the Grove now! We, my friends and I, bought a house in the Glade. I've been working on this really cool thing. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXREDACTEDXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX.. the process was slightly challenging given all of the small XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXREDACTEDXXX and the smells!! Oh by the gods the smell, Dad. Anyway I really hope that XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXREDACTEDXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX since it took me so long. Also I'm so much closer with my other project. This one is gonna be a game changer for the group! Well, maybe just the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXREDACTEDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX but still think it'll prove useful. Ok I'm gonna go continue working on these shoes. Yeh, I've picked up some skills over the month. Miss you, Dad. I'm still reading the book. I'll get you back. IF you want that. Ooff, maybe I should ask Mom about that. Ok, love you. 

Forever Your Son, Wulf