I Have Un-birded

Session 46

We see Nogvurat — a large town of small, dark buildings. Maltheo, familiar with the town, isn't quite certain of what street he's seeing. We all notice the black goo dripping from roofs and in puddles on the roads. Molaesmyr, the spider, and the owl, have all disappeared. It's a "bad neighborhood" that Maltheo would have avoided as a kid, and so he quickly begins to lead us toward the highest point in town: a temple for the Dawnfather.

There's a crossroads where Maltheo stops. He decides to turn away, making what is an obvious detour, and circles around to come out a few blocks down. He seems to have been avoiding a specific part of the street, Verdant Way, due to old memories. The only obvious thing was an abandoned shop with a jewel-shaped sign hanging in disrepair.

Kra'naelen notices a dark shape, and before anyone can react, a morning star attack goes for Maltheo.

Combat!
(Featuring a wild magic extravaganza including a self-Polymorph + hair loss + self- fireball for Kra'naelen), two bugbears and a gnoll caster.

Afterwards, we keep moving toward the highest ground, closer to the Dawnfather's temple. We arrive in the city square where it is, and where the music is strongest. The temple evokes strong "Great Sept of Baelor" vibes, and is sun-shaped. Looking at the top, Maltheo searches for an Owl shaped spirit, but finds nothing. Then, he approaches the door, or where a door would be if most of it weren't rotted away and covered in the same goopy black. He tries to look for traps or anything dangerous in or around the door, and finds nothing. Kra'naelen doesn't seem to see any additional shadow creatures either.

Inside, the church is set up in a circular pattern. The priest would be in the middle preaching to the circular crowd. Here, we notice the beams and architectural elements in general are all rotting away and frail. The "points" of the sun are all stairwells that would lead to floors above. All we find is more goo, and in the center, a massively large puddle of the substance.

Maltheo implores, "Is there an owl spirit here?", and sees a shadowy figure in the roof when he looks up. Cass tries to make the sound of a horny owl, but it sort of sounds like a rooster.

"We mean no harm; we want to fix things in Molaesmyr. We're looking for the Fox and were told we'd need your sight."

(O)wl: "Did you say, 'Fox'?"

(M)altheo: Yes, indeed it is for the Fox we search.

O: Good!. That's cute. (Another flap from the rafters)

The group notices the roof has been plunged into some sort of unnatural darkness.

M: Well, we're here if you want to talk or do something about it.

O: So you spoke with Spider. That's... interesting.

The figure descends. It's a tall man... with wings. Most would identify this figure as a tiefling right away, if we'd been on the material plane. He has pale skin, horns protruding from the brow curling backwards. Normally where there would be hair, it's just feathers that curl backwards behind the horns. He's wearing a commoner-looking black shirt and simple pants; nothing formal or impressive. From behind him, there are four giant brown-feathered wings. He lands on a pew, and his wings fold around as if a cloak, like in the '90s Gargoyles show. His eyes are completely white.

O: Spider sent you to me, it seems.

M: Yes.

(P)rophet: Tell us what happened with you and the Fox. How can we help?

O: Helping? That's going to be challenging isn't it? Yes, something we missed.

M: They all gave something; Fox didn't.

O: So you say. I'm interested in this; very. Why me?

(K)ra'naelen: Relates the reasons why to him.

P: For a wise person, wouldn't you want to complete what you started?

O: It would be nice to see our dream actually fulfilled. I'm not interested in vengeance. But, finding Fox? Yes.

(B)riya: What was that dream?

O: We wanted Molaesmyr to be safe. There were some of the inhabitants (those who worshipped us)... they were digging I think. Found something, full of promise. Something that could grow roots... a network. Maybe that would have been OK, but they didn't stop and kept going deeper and deeper.

K: Until what?

O: Until we realized the roots were growing from some other place.

M: A portal to another plane?

O: I don't know if portal is the right word, but it did lead to some other place.

B: You tried to close it?

O: Closing wasn't possible, we tried to contain it; create some sort of barrier around it. Fox suggested we all participate. She didn't show. We attempted anyway for the sake of our people. We thought it worked, but over time it didn't. Didn't take long for the roots to spread. It was completely devastating. Molaesmyr became what it is now. We became shadows of our former selves. Our true forms are just baubles. I can't see where she is. My sight is gone. I have a sense, though, that you've seen Fox before.

He points out the temple window. Outside, it is no longer the landscape of Nogvurat. There's a faint outline of circus tents. In your memory; in your dream. Fox is there. I doubt she would have stayed much longer; maybe she's still traveling.

M: Can we use the baubles?

O: If there is a way, I don't know it. Those keys were made as a covenant of our collective sacrifices to protect Molaesmyr. She's drawn to things from the natural world that have cultural significance. She's quite sociable. If she travels, it wouldn't be alone.

M: Are there here, in this dream state?

O: No; they're not here in the dream.

M: Briya, you seem to have the next step. What is this?

B: I may have seen this Fox, or some version of it. Over a year ago, or longer. But I don't know how me seeing it a year ago helps us now.

P: If we take Azeersa's spider, will she still dream?

O: Azeeersa? Hmm.

Briya, Prophet, and Maltheo talk and argue too fast for Josh to type.

O: I think bringing Fox to Molaesmyr would be the first step. (kneels to be eye level with Briya) You say you've met her before. What did she look like?

B: A fox. Disguised as a druid halfing. Tricked me with a image of my father to lose the key-shield to our grove. Kitsyune, a 9-tailed fox, took it and went away.

O: Who was the Fox traveling with?

B: The Fire Ashari.  

O: Very interesting. The Fire Ashari. If Fox felt safe with them before, I don't know why that would have changed. They seem to be as good a place as any.

Group talks about what we know about the Fire Ashari, and where to find them. (Pyra; entrance to the Fire Plane; in Taldorei) The group we met were on a visit, but more of a nomadic group. They might still be in Wildemount.

Briya inquires about the keys and if they're important. Owl confirms. They're literally keys. You can lock or unlock the door with them, and confirms that we'll need the spider from Azeersa and the Empire's 3 keys. So we'll definitely need to bring Fox here.

Briya: But how will we make her into a bauble head? Is this something Fox has to decide for herself?

It would be easier if Fox came willingly.

Kra'naelen: But if not a portal, what's it connected to? What would be realeased? What's it protecting?

Owl: I'm not certain.

Maltheo: We only know chaos and cold. (Raokan? Truush?) If it corrupted Molaesmyr, we just need to shut the door.

We ask if Owl knows if Fox has any weaknesses? He tells us that the Fox is arrogant because she's so smart and witty. We also muse that Fae are possibly weak to iron...

Owl: The easiest way to get her to come back would be to perhaps trick her into a deal? She can change shapes… some are easier to manage than others. Not exactly a druid; her forms are limited to her attributes. A fox, a foxy-person. Bringing her here back as a fox would be great. A high-quality cage of iron may help.

The group ends up in a dicussion of steps of what to do next. Fox is first and foremost on most people's minds. We probably need to find and bring here here as step 1. Everything else can come after.

We ask the Owl when can we wake up?

O: You've been awake the entire time.

Suddenly we're all sitting down at the bottom of the half-painted tower; Azeersa is still floating in the air in her dream state.