Dramatis Personae
Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter
Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer
Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil
Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker
Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin
Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma
Toilday, 19 Pharast, 4709 A.R.
As the Returners gather up the surviving Council thieves, they hear a noise in the alley beside Goren One-Ear’s shop, accompanied by muffled cursing in a strange, gravelly, fey voice. Investigating, the Returners are surprised to see a small gnome-like creature stumbling through the rubble in the alley in heavy iron boots. The fey creature has a mad look in its eyes, and a long, filthy white beard trailing to its waist. It’s red cap drips what looks like blood in sticky rivulets down its face, and it wields a scythe much too large for its small stature.
“Well, looks like you didn’t need my help cleaning up the mess here did ye? Pity, that. Mayhaps ye’ve got some more killin’ that needs dealing with?
“Dog Tongue’s the name, pleasure to meet ye? The Mother of Flies has heard of ye, the Returners ye calls yerselves? Seems ye and Mother ‘ave a common enemy in this group of meddlers that calls itself the Council of Thieves. She’d very much like to entertain ye at her abode in the Hagwood and discuss certain matters of family, nostalgia, and bloody vengeance.”
The creature calling itself Dog’s Tongue punctuates its speech with titters of mad laughter, and has a nasty habit of licking its cracked and split lips with a long, mottled tongue, clearly the source of its namesake. After more conversation with Dog Tongue and some interrogation of the captured Council thieves, the group decides to take the Redcap up on its offer and pay a visit to the Mother of Flies, the ancient hag that resides in a great tree called the Maggot Tree in the centre of the Hagwood. Boecca, especially, is interested in the venture as a condition of his atonement. Before turning the Council thieves into the dottari authorities, the Returners learn that the assassins were based out of a Council-house called Walcourt, a ruin located in the Rego Laina district of the Parego Regicona. They were sent by the Council usurpers (agents of Chammady and Eccardian Drovenge) to silence Goren One-Ear, a one-time ally of the Council old-guard. When the Council thieves learned from the pesh merchant that he was to meet several of the famous Returners, they saw an opportunity to curry favour with the Drovenge siblings and set up an ambush. Under interrogation by Boecca (with some unwanted help from the overzealous Dog Tongue), Maglin, the Council assassin, reveals some information on the residents of Walcourt. Maglin indicates that the place exists as a training ground for Council recruits, and that he took orders from one called Sandor, a mighty spellmaster of the guild and wielder of strange magicks.
Having learned this valuable information, and the location of Walcourt, the party decides to accompany Dog’s Tongue the following day and pay a visit to the Mother of Flies first, curious as to how the ancient hag’s goals could possibly coincide with their own.
Wealday, 20 Pharast, 4709 A.R.
The Returners leave the city of Westcrown for the rolling hills north of the city, meeting up with Dog’s Tongue the redcap a couple of miles outside of town. Dog’s Tongue leads them north for less than an hour, to the banks of the River Adivian. The redcap crosses using a magic potion kept for that purpose, waiting while the Returners find a ferryman to bring them across. As the party treks through the hills north of the Hagwood, Dog’s Tongue talks about the Mother of Flies’ connection to the Drovenges, and her reason for seeking an audience with the group. The redcap explains that over 20 years ago, the Drovenge family patriarch, Vassindio Drovenge, declared a vendetta against the hags of the Maggot Tree (there were once three). Vassindio Drovenge mustered an army of thieves to slay the coven. This force marched into the Hagwood and caught two of the hags – the Sister and the Daughter – by surprise and slew them both. The Mother of Flies was away at the time and returned home to find her kin slain and home destroyed. She swore vengeance upon the Drovenges. Now, with all the turmoil within the Council of Thieves, she has seen her opportunity and wishes to ally with the Returners to assist them in their struggle against the Drovenges.
As the group gets closer to the forest, Boecca and Dog’s Tongue notice the signs of the passage of a large number of people here and there, and periodically signs of larger humanoids, possibly ogre and hill giant. As the dark green scar of the Hagwood becomes visible, plumes of smoke rising from the interior indicate the presence of fires. Dog’s Tongue confirms that the fires look close to the location of the Maggot Tree, the Mother’s abode. The redcap believes that the number of fires mean a large force is attacking the Maggot Tree, and suggests a couple of opportunities for help – a group of redcaps (Dog’s Tongue former family) led by a bloodthirsty satyr called Madjaw, and a gigantic bombardier beetle called Fmugwha the Deathgorger. The Returners decide that such “allies” may be more hindrance than help, however, and strike immediately into the forest.
The Returners enter the Hagwood behind their guide, Dog’s Tongue. The old forest looms sinister; as the Returners delve deeper into the wood, the light of day grows obscured and filtered through layers of moist green canopy. The air in the Hagwood is heavy and cloying; the undergrowth fecund and full of dangerous rotten terrain. Not long after the group enters the wood, several Returners hear the sound of guttural voices and branches cracking underfoot. Taking cover in the undergrowth and with magic, the party waits as a patrol of Council thieves with two ogres and four hounds comes into view. The hounds catch the Returners’ scent, but before the patrol can react the Returners spring into action, taking the lumbering ogres and Council thieves by surprise. With the patrol dealt with, the party wastes no time making its way to the centre of the forest and the Mother of Flies’ massive Maggot Tree.
They arrive at the Maggot Tree – a gargantuan thing made up of several trees that grow together before reaching to an incredible 300 feet in height – to find it under siege by a significant force of Council thieves, ogres, hill giants, and other stranger creatures, small pale-skinned humanoids dressed in layers of old rags and tatters. Alfred the wizard recognizes them as dark creepers, normally found only underground, although rumoured to live openly in the shadow kingdom of Nidal to the north. Alfred flies invisibly above the massive clearing under the Maggot Tree’s boughs and assesses the situation. A number of fires burn around the tree, surrounded by barricades and siege walls, with at least four encampments of Council thieves, ogres and hill giants keeping the fires burning. A separate encampment exists at the northwestern end of the clearing; there Alfred spots someone who appears to be issuing the majority of the orders – a huge bear of a man wearing blackened scale mail and carrying two battleaxes that look to have seen their fair share of battle. Alfred relays the information to the Returners, and the battle preparations begin. Alizander recalls the wand of quench the group retrieved from the Nessian Spiral, and decides to lead the assault by dousing the bonfires that choke the Maggot Tree. The Battle for the Maggot Tree begins….
Treasure
· From the Council thieves (this session and last)
o Potions of cure moderate wounds (10) (worth 1500 gp total)
o Leather armour +1 (10) (worth 2900 gp total, due to market saturation)
o Masterwork rapiers (12) (worth 960 total, due to market saturation)
o Masterwork hand crossbows (12) (worth 1200 gp total, due to market saturation)
o Coins and jewelry (worth 1600 gp)
· From Maglin, Council Hushman (session 35)
o Leather armour +2 (worth 2080 gp)
o Buckler +1 (worth 582.5 gp)
o Masterwork rapier (worth 80 gp)
o Masterwork light crossbow (worth 167.5 gp)
o 10 poisoned bolts (blue whinnis) (black market only, worth 600 gp total)
o Ring of protection +1 (worth 1000 gp)
o Thieves’ tools (black market only, worth 15 gp)
o Set of quieting needles (black market only, worth 12.5 gp)
o Diamonds (6) (worth 1200 gp total)
· From Kruthe the Hammer (session 35)
o Potion of cure serious wounds (worth 375 gp)
o Spiked banded mail +2 (worth 2225 gp)
o +1 Warhammer (worth 1156 gp)
o Shrunken head pouch (value unknown)
o Cracked ruby (800 gp)
o Coins (worth 15.5 gp)
· From the ogres
o Coins (50 gp)
Experience Awards
· Council Thieves (6) – 4800 xp
· Warhounds (4) – 800 xp
· Ogres (2) – 1600 xp
· Total – 7,200 xp
· Per PC (6) – 1,200 xp
Current XP Total per PC
· Carlos, Slavé – 81,435 xp
· Alfred – 78,880 xp
· Boecca – 78,860 xp
· Tavo – 74,790 xp
· Alizander – 73,450 xp
· Total Current Fame Points – 20
