The Party travels from Sky Diamond Academy to the Great Banyo Tree, where they traverse an enchanted hedgerow maze, kill many monsters, and discover Kerjes' power. New quest: trap Eta'el.
The Party and the Deans of Sky Diamond Academy threw Moon under the metaphorical bus, and now she's in the care of the Academy. No sign of Zelrathi. We researched Kerjes and discovered she might be a green dragon. We did some shopping.
Leaving Sky Diamond
We check our pockets to make sure we have everything, and leave town, debating what the best approach would be. We know that Kerjes is silver-tongued, and that many people have advised us not to listen to her.
So we elect to go in stealthy, and then switch to guns-blazing once we're discovered.
We travel to the southeast, along a minor trail in the forest. After two days' travel, we begin to see webs off to the side of the road, to the west. The road slowly degrades from well-kept cobblestones to worse.
On the fourth day, the trail ends at a long-abandoned town. Decades have passed without any humanoid occupants, and now the forest has reclaimed it, leaving at the center a single ramshackle house. Vine and tree grow through many of the buildings, where the buildings haven't collapsed.
Kerjes' earliest reference in the library was 36 years ago; so maybe this town was abandoned at the same time. And in the woods around here, there's more vegetables and fruit to forage than one might expect for this area; there must be fewer herbivores.
That night, Jerry sees the shadow of a large bird flying overhead. We'd heard of Roc sightings in the area, and seen one between Malcolm's Landing and Quarary. And we discuss that at breakfast. We decide we'll look for better places to sleep at night, with good cover.
Into the deep forest
The first day
The fifth day out from Sky Diamond, as the sun sets, we see the shadow of the Banyo tree ahead of us. Jerry finds a rock shelf for us to sleep under at night, and in Giant Badger form, Bugfood digs out a bigger space for us to sleep in: a 20-foot by 10-foot cave.
We try to bring the horses into the cave, and succeed at getting them near it, under solid trees.
On the second watch, once again, Jerry sees the Roc. There's a slight breeze in the air, and there's an indefinite presence in the air, a slow roll of eminence among the trees. A soft fog grows up around the entrance to the cave.
The rest of the night passes without incident, and we wake up in the morning to see the horses unmodified.
The second day
When the sun rises, we can see the Great Banyo Tree. Light fog, breeze at 4mph, 58F low, 75F high. So we travel slowly, stealthily. We let our horses go, and proceed as stealthily as possible.
Ryltar steps on a stick, which startles a flock of birds into flight. They are set upon by a huge bird: the Roc devours them.
We proceed stealthily through the deepening woods, traveling half as fast. At night, the Roc flies over us, and slows down. We dug a hole to sleep in.
The third day
The undergrowth becomes more spiky, and at night we again dig a burrow. Bugfood sets out a boar to watch.
Ryltar and Viroth hear heavy wingbeats at night, along with an unhappy bovine somewhere nearer to the tree. The wingbeats are the dragon, we're sure. Perhaps it has carried off a cow.
The fourth day
The morning fog is acrid; it almost burns in our noses. We try to figure out where it's coming from, and Bugfood in puma shape determines that it's a natural fog which has been corrupted by the presence of a poisonous creature.
We travel through dense bramble thickets during the day. The planting of the trees becomes dense, and the group begins to walk single-file.
Jerry runs into a wall of brambles, and we stop.
The brambles aren't too dense to go through; it'll just be more difficult than difficult terrain.
It takes Jerry all of 6 seconds to get through, carefully prying her way through the branches. Vurguron follows, taking some damage from the thorns. Salris succeeds in passing without harm; Bugfood wildshapes into a giant badger and plows through the hedge, taking 5 points of damage. Viroth and Ryltar follows through the badger's hole.
Once through the hedge, Jerry falls into a clear path, which goes left, right, and ahead away from the fence. The path is defined by hedgerows.
Jerry leads the group left. We spend some time wandering, and it becomes apparent that the hedgerows are magically rearranging themselves.
The hedgerow labyrinth
The hedgerows are 10-15 feet tall, lined with closely-growing trees and brambles woven between them. The trees above provide a continuous canopy. At Jerry's suggestion, Bugfood takes the shape of a squirrel and climbs to the top. Like Bilbo amongst the trees, he sees only an expanse of treetops. But to the East, a massive tree towers over the forest. Between the top of the normal canopy and the bottom branches of the Banyo tree is almost 40 feet of airspace. The Banyo tree is almost a mile wide. There's a thin stream of smoke off to his left, to the north.
He scampers down the tree and requests that we take a short rest, and we do so.
We hear tree branches crashing into each other in the distance, and so we set off again, with Bugfood again casting Pass Without Trace. Ryltar immediately pulls a Homer Simpson and d'ohs into the brambles.
The Lost Minotaur
We come around a corner and discover the real reason for the mooing: a Minotaur, partially flensed, the torn flesh exposing its jawbone, each breath exhaling a heavy mist.
Round 1: we quickly kill the Minotaur.
The Minotaur carries a grey axe. Jerry casts Ensnaring Strike as a bonus action, advances to the Minotaur, stabs it for a total of 22 damage, and vines appear from the ground to restrain the Minotaur. Then she retreats beyond its reach.
Vurguron casts Shadow Blade for psychic damage, and does a little damage. About 50 damage.
The Minotaur takes 1d6 = 6 damage, and then attacks Vurguron. Since it's restrained, it has disadvantage, and misses him with one attack before bouncing its greataxe off of Vurguron's Shield.
Viroth attacks twice with his longbow, gaining +1d6 Radiant damage because the Minotaur is Undead, and with two radiant arrows destroys the Lost Minotaur.
We come to another T intersection and go forward, and a T intersection and go inward again. We continue towards the center. Another T, to the center or left, and we go center again, and again, and again, and find ourselves going away from the tree once more.
The doglike quadrupeds
We run across … two large quadrupedal creatures, doglike in shape with long necks and human-like faces that have animal-like features.They're Yeth hounds.
Round 1. The … things … are defeated.
Ryltar casts Slow on them.
Jerry pops Hunter's Mark on the non-slowed one, attacks it once with her glaive, Horde Breaker attacks the other, attacks the non-slowed again, and uses Orcish Fury for 3 extra damage.
Salris pops two Eldritch Blasts on the slowed one, for 26 damage.
Viroth kills the slowed beast with his arrow, then damages the remaining one.
Vurguron can't get within melee range, but uses his Breath Weapon to deal half of 3d6 fire for 7 damage. It's on its last legs.
It's its turn. It sings out with Baleful Baying, and frightens Jerry. Then it runs away.
Bugfood casts Frostbite, dealing 2d6 damage, and turns it into an icecube. It dies.
The baying fades; and no one flees.
We continue forward, come to an intersection, and head towards the tree. Through several other intersections, we continue to head towards the tree. At one point, we come to an intersection leading only away from the tree. Vurguron considers casting Firebolt, but decides not to anger the brambles.
The petrifying lizards
We come to a clearing in the brambles, which is full of holes in the ground. As we enter the clearing, a reptilian creature with spines on its back appears from one hole, and tries to petrify the Party.
Round 1: The first basilisk is killed.
Vurguron is last to see the lizard, but first to react. He moves forward through the Party and casts a Firebolt down the nearest hole. As he peers down the hole, he sees a lizard scurrying up, and passes a Con save to resist petrification. The lizard is within range, so he attacks it with his longsword. No one else sees the lizard.
Ryltar holds his Ray of Frost until he sees the next lizard.
Bugfood does nothing.
Jerry casts Lightning Arrow and holds her dart attack until she sees the next lizard.
Salris stabs the hole, and does no damage to the hole. He moves to another hole, and passes his Con save when he sees the lizard. He misses an attack against the lizard.
The lizard tries to attack Salris, and trips all the held actions.
Ryltar's Ray of Frost deals 11 cold damage and slows its movement by 10.
Viroth attacks twice, hitting twice, dealing a lot of damage.
Jerry's Lighting Arrow thrown dart hits the lizard for 25 lightning damage, dealing also 4 to Salris and Vurguron. The lizard vaporizes.
Vurguron is bitten in the ankle by the lizard in his hole, taking 13 piercing and 2 poison. He makes an attack of opportunity with disadvantage and fails.
Round 2: the Party starts treating the basilisks like the sight hazards they are, and kills another.
Vurguron Firebolts into the darkness, and hits nothing. He moves to Salris' hole and fails his constitution save, and begins to petrify, for he caught a glimpse of the lizard.
Ryltar sees Vurguron begin to freeze, and averts his gaze, but attacks anyways with disadvantage to hit with a Ray of Frost for 12 cold, slowing the lizard's movement. As a bonus action, he tells Vurguron not to look at it. Kinda late for that.
Bugfood casts Moonbeam down the hole, from a distance.
Jerry advances to another hole and stabs down into a hold blindly, missing twice.
Salris swipes twice on his hole, hitting a lizard twice.
The lizard bites Salris for 14 piercing and 2 poison, then flees, provoking attacks of opportunity from Vurguron and Salris together. They kill it.
Another lizard pops up by Jerry, who takes 17 piercing and 8 poison. She makes an attack of opportunity but misses.
Round 3: the third basilisk is killed.
Vurguron has proceeded from paralyzed to restrained. On the verge of petrification, he fights the effect with a constitution check successfully and is no longer restrained.
Ryltar didn't see the lizard, so he holds an attack.
Bugfood sets up a camp chair and reclines. He keeps the Moonbeam active, shining down a hole.
Jerry lights a pot of oil and drops it down her hole.
Salris moves to another hole and holds two Eldritch Blasts until he sees something.
Ryltar sees a lizard pop out of a hole and hits it with a Ray of Frost for 3 damage, slowing its movement by 10.
Viroth shoots that lizard.
Salris does two Eldritch Blasts, hitting the lizard twice for 19 damage.
The lizard attacks Salris for some piercing and poison damage. As it runs away, he kills it.
The battlefield falls silent. Bugfood moves the Moonbeam over every hole, just in case.
Jerry recovers 3 basilisk heads, and puts them in her bag of holding, for future sales.
We take a short rest and heal up, before moving out again. A mist creeps up from the ground, ankle-height.
We proceed around the next corner of the hedgerows, and see the Banyo tree above us. We continue towards it for a while, and then get some twists of the maze that doesn't lead us closer.
The unkempt man
We come across a ramshackle entity of a human: muttonchops, unkept thinning grey-brown hair, patched leather vest over bare chest, carrying a maul as a walking stick. "Why are you here?" he asks. "This place is my home."
Bugfood immediately suspects that he's a dragon in human form, but there's nothing outwardly suspicious. "This is a strange place for a person to call his home," Bugfood says.
"Does Kerjes let you stay here?" asks Ryltar.
"Some would say that," says the man. He looks at the Party, who are all standing cautiously, at the ready. He looks up at the tree. "She gives me my home, as long as I do as she asks."
"That seems like a nice deal," offers Jerry.
"Deal, yes. Nice, no. But what is your business here? I have not seen you here before."
"I wish to parlay," says Ryltar, who wants the man to get out of our way without him telling on us. His persuasion attempt …
"Parlay? You are new here, no?"
"Yes."
"Call the birds. They will see you to the center," says the old man, and he steps back, allowing us to pass through, his back to the brambles.
We all pass. Ryltar tries to give the man a trail ration, but he doesn't take it.
Jerry turns to ask, "What is your name, Stranger?" But he does not answer.
And soon he is lost to sight, around a curve in the trees.
We look up and see that we are close to the base of the tree, at least by the thickness of the branches overhead.
We discuss whether calling the birds is a good idea, and decide to not call them quite yet. We're not really sure how to do it, or where they'll take us, or whether they work for the dragon.
The Great Banyo Tree
Finally we come to the roots of the tree, which start at five-ish feet above the soil and then rise up to 30 feet above the forest floor before merging with the tree's trunk.
Jerry sees a woman of Amazonian build, with bronze skin and black hair, and a bronze band around her head. Bronze gorget over steel breastplate, and in her right three arms she holds three swords, and in her left three arms she holds three whetstones, with which she sharpens the swords. Below her arms ride six scabbards, with three more swords. Instead of legs, she has a very long tail.
Jerry thinks she's like a Yuan-ti, but Viroth under his breath whispers, "Fiend." She's a demon, a "Marilith", a threat on par with the Mummy Lord.
She floats above the tree roots. She doesn't seem to notice us.
Bugfood quietly calls us back, out of her line of sight, and asks what the plan is.
She's on a tree root pretty high up, with a good line of sight to us.
We carefully, sneakily withdraw from her sight.
Bugfood casts Detect Magic as a ritual, to determine whether she's an illusion. Once it's cast, he wildshapes as a mouse and advances along the branches to within 30 feet of her. She's not an illusion. He returns, equally stealthily.
The Party had backed up, and found a new intersection turning left.
Bugfood left the bramble and found a new entrance, turning right, which led to an open area with a fallen knight in rusted armor. There's no magic. He investigates the armor, releasing his mouse shape, and falls into a pit 20 feet deep. There are remains of creatures here, adventurers who got lost. And there are holes in the side of the pit, and stones, and fragments of statues.
The rest of the Party waits for Bugfood, and gets worried. Ryltar casts Message in a few directions, asking "Bugfood, are you there?" but gets no answer from Bugfood. The spell he cast towards the tree returns: "I haven't heard your voice before. Come closer."
The Party comes across Bugfood's pit. He is still casting Detect Magic as a ritual, and so we don't haul him out.
Ryltar ducks back around the corner, and sees the Marilith has been joined by a huge green dragon, staring at him. He holds out a finger and says, "One minute, my friend's an idiot!" And then he retreats.
He comes back with all the color gone from his skin, making him look like a normal Elf.
He climbs into the hole with Bugfood.
One of the stone arms has a magic ring, which Bugfood fails to remove. He tells Jerry that it's valuable, and then climbs out of the pit. Jerry pulls off the ring and Bugfood pockets it.
Bugfood, Ryltar, and Bugfood walk around the corner to see the dragon.
Kerjes
"Is there anyone else," Kerjes asks.
"Did we come here to kill the dragon or something else? I forget. This is a ruse to distract the dragon," says Bugfood. With a disadvantaged 14 on intimidation, the Dragon pulls back in humor. "You? are here to kill me?"
"Yes, we three adventurers are here to kill you," says Ryltar, dripping with sarcasm.
"It would not be much of a fight," says the dragon. "I control this forest. I am this forest. Why did you come here?"
Bugfood pipes up: "You wouldn't happen to have a sky staff would you?"
"You met Eta'el. How are they doing?"
"They looked alright?"
"And they sent you…."
There's some more questions, during which Salris and the rest of the Party step out, and Bugfood begins to talk about saving the planet from the stars. Ryltar joins in.
"Perhaps," says the dragon, "but I would not bother yourselves with that. Let us introduce ourselves." She gestures to the demon. "This serves Kerjes. She serves the Great Banyo Tree. Be courteous to her."
The Marilith speaks now, gesturing to the dragon towering above her: "This is Kerjes, Hope's End, High Mistress of the Great Banyo Tree."
Kerjes continues: "Now that we are introduced, it is customary for guests to bear gifts and introduce yourselves. What do you bring me?"
Ryltar introduces himself and gives the wand of magic missiles.
Salris grandiosely introduces himself, giving the dragon the piece of golden chainmail, of advantage on sneak.
Bugfood, with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, offers a jar of lemon pepper. "This is the most delicious of spices," and he spends several minutes praising its use.
"You bring you spice, but no meat," taunts Kerjes.
Bugfood pops out a yarn ball to summon a Giant Rat, which he nudges towards the dragon.
Vurguron presents the platinum hilt of an unknown sword, and describes its history and importance to him. "I had exchanged my signet ring for this. I've had it for a long time now, months I think, and I still don't know what it is, or do really. Do you know what it does? Could you look at it?"
Kerjes is intrigued. She says, "Ah, Dragonborn nobility. I have used your kind in the past, but not with such a position such as yourself. I look forward to what we could accomplish together."
Jerry forks over the broken wand of "teleport to a location", sure that Kerjes will be able to repair it and with the hope that it will be of use to her when repaired. Jerry gives her name as Myev."Myev" is the name that Jerry's parents gave her.
Viroth has nothing to give, unfortunately. Ryltar offers in his stead the tooth that turns into a lightning sword, and the crystal of True Strike.
Kerjes says, "Didn't Annabeth tell you not to interfere, Viroth? And you, Myev, what other name do you have?"
Jerry replies, "Well, I have had many names. I thought you would want the first name."
"And what about the last name?"
Jerry replies, "Oh, that's Falone." The dragon smiles at that, lips cracking open.
Vurguron butts in, asking whether the dragon or demon know anything about the platinum-handled sword.
"I'll offer you a deal, better than Eta'el could. I'll let you live. Send you away. Bring Eta'el back to me. Alive if possible, or dead, if necessary. And I'll see what I can learn of the sword."
Kerjes says that we're free to go if we accept her employ. Or Kerjes could eat us, or we could be fed to the pets. If we stay in the employ of Kerjes, we'll never speak again if we lie to her, die if we disobey her, or if we betray her, "the worst fate."
"You would not have acted with Eta'el as you did if they had betrayed me."
"Can you tell us anything about them?" asks Ryltar.
"Eta'el is a tricky one. They meddle in things they should not. They will lie to get their way, send wayward adventurers to their doom. Eta'el is a Giant in disguise." Salris asks what kind. "A cloud giant. Keep them happy as you journey along. Lie if you want."
"What makes you think Eta'el won't run when they come to the tree?"
"That is for you to figure out, or me to wait."
"What does the Sky Staff look like? We might be able to use that knowledge to our advantage," begins Ryltar, and then we haggle over ways to deceive Eta'el into believing we had or had had the Sky Staff. How to do the trap, basically.
"I will show you the Sky Staff. It stays in my possession. I fought for it and it will remain in my power. But if you can bring him to a field near here, I will send a friend your way," Kerjes says, and there's a heavy thump of wings: the Roc arrives. It is bigger than the dragon. In its talons are multiple cows. "I can send Eril here to help you with your trap. That is the deal I can make here, now."
Ryltar says that he will attempt to fulfill the terms of the deal, but asks Kerjes if she has heard of Degrazil, Butcher of Othe. Kerjes had not yet. She thanks us for the warning, and says that she does not want her name spread.
Salris convinces the dragon to show us the Sky Staff, to help us better deceive Kerjes. She scratches the chin of the Roc, which flies up into the tree, to return with a 12-foot oak log, which is engraved with depictions of clouds, thunderstorms, winds, and really anything to do with freedom of the air. And from the top of the staff is an orb, from which emanates a cloud. It's definitely magical, of the evocation school. We all take notes.
And the Party's mood has turned against Eta'el, who got us into this without telling us what we were getting into.
"I believe we have made our deal," says Kerjes. She scratches the Roc under its chin, and flies up to the top of the Great Banyo Tree.
Next session
Find Eta'el, and bring them to the clearing nearby.
Learn how to summon the Roc.
Ryltar wants to flee in the direction of the Woven Council, so he can learn their teleportation circle pad. It's closer than Sky Diamond, anyways.