Session 24 — Hare-y Bulls

During their rest, the party was approached by a fearless rabbit. They were surprised when it began to address them:

The bunny introduced himself as Flav (short for Flavor Flav). He explained that Jelsi and Zin had recovered the equipment confiscated from the party by the guards in Blassingdell. They hid it under a large tree in the forest for the party to find, created a map marking its location, and entrusted Flav to deliver it. Unfortunately, Flav lost the map and could provide only a vague description of the location of the cache before he had to continue with his busy day.

After the rabbit hopped away, Qeew–realizing that she was for the first time in a long while not weighed down by her armor–climbed a tree, determined to stretch her wings and glide through the air. The young fledgling didn’t make it far before crashing into a tree. Undaunted, Qeew tried again, and this time Charlie assisted by casting Levitate on her, allowing her to soar without risk of falling.

From her vantage point, Qeew was able to see a huge rocky outcrop about two miles to the south with many humanoid figures moving on it. Somewhat closer and in the same direction, she could see another party of humanoids, some of whom were riding large beasts.

Qeew saw no clear signs of a “mommy” tree that matched Flav’s description. They speculated it might take days to locate the cache, and since they knew that every moment wasted put Xavier’s family in greater danger they decided to continue south without their “shit”.

Before long they heard the rumbling of large creatures approaching from the south. Jade, Kerath, and Qeew climbed trees to hide while Argora, Blumf, Charlie, and Keeva stood their ground. A party of eight orcs, three of whom were mounted on enormous bull-like creatures, picked up their scent and quickly surrounded them. The beasts rammed Kerath’s and Qeew’s trees, knocking the ranger and cleric to the ground, as Jade continued to fire arrows at the orcs from the canopy unseen. As Kerath scrambled to his feet, not one, not two, but three orcs swung their weapons at him wildly and missed, striking one another and even slaying one of the mounts. Blumf took another of the beasts head-on while Charlie and Qeew flung fire, lightning, and thunder at the orcs. At different points in the battle, Keeva, Argora, and Blumf were knocked out, but Blumf came to on his own without any healing.* When at last only one orc remained, it attempted to flee but was hunted down without mercy.

Badly injured and nearly exhausted, the party decided to retreat to a safe and secluded spot they’d passed earlier to rest and recover. As they backtracked they noticed a perfectly black wall several hundred feet off the forest path. Kerath reluctantly offered to check it out, and without hesitation Jade volunteered to accompany him. The pair stealthily approached and found that it appeared to be a volume of magical darkness surrounding the base of a large tree in a small clearing. They concluded this might be the location where Zin and Jelsi had stashed the party’s armor and weapons, so they cautiously advanced. Again, when Kerath considered entering the darkness, Jade volunteered to go first.

Upon entering the space, they both heard voices speaking in Sylvan, and Kerath recognized that they were sifting through their equipment and treasure, laying claim to some objects and rejecting others. Jade attempted to greet the unseen creatures in Common, but rather than receive a verbal response he was stabbed by a dagger in the dark, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground. Kerath heard his cry, deduced they were under attack, and quickly stepped out of the darkness. When Jade did not follow, Kerath demanded in Sylvan that the creatures show themselves, but they did not respond. He thought for a moment before he reached into his pocket for something and rubbed it between his fingers while muttering, but this did not have the effect he hoped for. Unsure what else to do, he frantically reached into the black for anything he could grasp, hoping to find Jade. Instead, he retrieved several darklings that shrieked when they were pulled into the sunlight before darting back into the dark. At last, Kerath found Jade Eyes, dragged him out of the darkness, and used the last of his magic to heal the tabaxi, bringing him back to consciousness. Together they ran and rejoined the party. They decided to flee instead of fight and continued on their path.

After further backtracking, they eventually arrived at the secluded location where they intended to rest. As they were setting up camp they heard a rustling in the underbrush and were pleasantly surprised when Durgeddin the Black appeared. He was sent by Lyra to help them in their quest to rescue Xavier’s family and was eager to kill some orcs.

As they prepared for some much needed sleep, one important question remained: Where was Flav’s boat?

* Yeah, this definitely happens when someone rolls a 20 on a death saving throw! After betting Jeff $5 each and losing their money, Christine, Kevin, and Steven certainly won’t forget this rule again. They really should have known better.