A Gimble in the Wabe Session 2

A Gimble in the Wabe Session 2. 

The Giant Turnip

I had another player join, and he created Theolis a human ranger from the Southern Utari Tribe. We decided he was the blood brother of the other players father, and pledged to follow and defend his brothers children.

The party is now:

Tekka the Half Elf Warlock

Her Twin Brother Pasco the Half Elf Bard

Their Half Brother, the Man-Fey Bata the Druid

And their human “Uncle” Theolis the Ranger

After having been chosen to serve the Queen by finding golden acorns in their slices of Queen’s Cake at the King’s Day moot, the party headed north from the edges of the Maze-Marsh towards The Glade, where the Faerie Queen holds court.

On their second day of travel they came across severed rabbit heads tied to a tree, and while investigating the gruesome scene Theolis who is wood-wise and perceptive heard the oncoming attack of Kobold Scouts. He warned the others and they party engaged the vile servants of the Jabberwock. Kobolds are the lesser of the Goblins that serve the pale green worm of the dark woods, but they are cruel and employ sly tricks and poisons. The scouts that the party faced were decapitating captured bunnies and stuffing the heads with poison spiders to be used as sling shot. Two of them advanced with wicked blades and hacked into brave Theolis wounding him. Tekka and Pasco hung back and used the magics of The Archfey and the Song to attack the Kobolds. A psychically charged insult from the Bard, a blast of eldritch magic from the Warlock, and the swirling dual short swords of the Ranger made quick work of the blade wielding kobolds while the others rained poison bunny heads down on them. Tekka moved to a better position from which to attack the slingers while Theolis engaged another charging foe. With one goblin left, Tekka heard the cries of a wounded bunny but decided to  make another attack to finish of the foes. AFter defeatng the kobolds, the Warlock came to the aid of the wounded rabbit just in time. The party earned the gratitude of Count Roarandux servant of Prince Gultharion third of his name, Lord of Bunnies, Rabbits, Hares, and Keeper of the Great Warren.

In return for saving his life, Count Rorarandux led the party to a Elfin tree village called a gwel, and let them know that he would tell his liege of their deed and welcome them to the Great Warren should they ever venture there.

Standing at the base of the Elfin gwel with night falling, they sought shelter. Ruan the Elfin Moon Wizard agreed to welcome them and award them up to three Feeboo cards if the guessed three riddles. The Elfs love riddles and games, and without much deliberation the party agreed to play along. The riddles were answered and the weary travelers gained shelter and three magic cards.

Feeboo is a game of the Tulgeywood, players are bound to magic cards that summon tiny monsters and fight each other. The winners monster grows more powerful and it’s owner earns a bit of XP.

While the party was partaking of Elfin cheese, pears, and dandelion wine, Ruan The Moon Wizard introduced a gruff and seasoned Northron woman. The warrior proved to be Lady Haldora, one of the Queen’s Knight’s of the Thorn and sacred protectors of the wood. Lady Haldora told them she had been sent to evaluate those younglings who found golden acorns and to get some rest for they would soon face their first test. During the night, Pasco the Bard sang a song of the Southrons for the Elfs, and in return they let him read an Elfin scroll that told the story of the ancient Wizards on the Moon who used their power to become silver towers.

Lady Haldora kicked the party awake in the morning and told them of their task, a Fey farmer named Snoggle had grown an enormous turnip that he could not pull from his garden. They were to go help the faerie harvest the tuber.

“And be careful, the last lot of recruits were killed by a troll. Hopefully you will do better.” She added.

On the way to Snoggles farm, they found Bata the Druid who had been separated from them. While lost in the woods, Bata had undertaken a quest on behalf of a shrubbery. While they headed west towards the farm, they came across a porcupine requesting help from a cougar who was asking for help to remove quills from it’s maw. The party decided to help both on the condition that the cougar not eat the porcupine and that the porcupine lead them to Snoggles farm.

Upon their arrival at the dell where Snoggles farm stood, they found the fey farmer drinking yeasty beer from an earthen jug in the company of a mouse. He threatened to sick his grandmammy on them until they revealed they had been sent by a Knight of the Thorn and he became gracious.

The turnip did indeed prove to enormous, and after trying brute force, clever tricks, and magic spells it would not budge. The mouse derided their efforts. Finally they recruited Snoggle and all his family including the ferocious grandmammy and it almost came out of the loam. The mouse continued to laugh and Bata threatened it until it too agreed to help. With all the party, the farmer, his wife and daughter, the grandmammy and the mouse pulling, the turnip finally came free.

Apparently the players had never read this story… which is OK because I added a twist.

Holding onto the bottom of the inappropriately large root vegetable was an angry scarecrow who stared at them malevolently and then slashed at them with wicked claws. Farmer Snoogle cried “that he’d a known that scarecrow weren't buried deep enough!” Tekka having used up her spells trying to free the turnip took to cover and began blasting it with her cantrips. Theolis bravely charged with swords, though they seemed to do little damage to the creature. Pasco inspired his half brother Bata with Bardic song. And Bata used his Druidic powers to make his club a magic shillelagh and proceeded to beat the animated scarecrow back to dust and straw.

After defeating the scarecrow, they spied a hole in the turnip patch that appeared to lead down into an underground structure. Tekka immediately jumped in and the party followed after securing a rope to the turnip for a route back to the surface. Once In the darkness they realized they were in fact inside a buried stone structure, and finding a locked door wisely decided to rest for a bit before proceeding. It had been a long day after all. A grateful farmer Snoogle welcomed them into his diminutive home and they passed the night eating and drinking in comfort. In gratitude for helping him with the turnip and defeating the scarecrow Snoggle presented them with an ancient and pitted silver dagger he had unearthed in his field.

I was extremely proud of my characters for literally jumping at what they took to be a dungeon entrance. Perhaps a bit of the old school is rubbing off… they even exercised caution once inside.

The next morning, Lady Haldora arrived with a wagon to take the gigantic turnip to the Queen. After hearing of the scarecrow from the farmer she asked the party to explore underground and try and determine from where it came. They descended into the earth again. The underground structure proved to be the crumbling  basement of an ancient and tumbled tower of the Kingdom of Clubs. The first men to live in the Tulgeywood. Bata opened the locked door with thieves tools, he had been raised a sneak and the dilapidated mechanism proved no match. Inside, were three more doors one of which was guarded by skeleton sentries wearing the armor of the first men. The skeletons seemed oblivious so the party tried a different door inside of which they found a similar room to the first, partially collapsed and covered in earth and rock. Examining the collapsed rubble Tekka poked a grey ooze with her spear. Everyone backed off except Bata, who shillelagh’d  it into little gelatinous bits until it was no more. Inside the ooze they found a key. They used this key to open the remaining unguarded door. In this room stood a wight, an old Club warrior somehow animated by evil.

Theolis the Ranger fearlessly jumped into the pit with the Wight and attacked it with swords that did nothing… The Wight drew a black longbow and felled Tekka with a single shot. Pasco inspired Bata who jumped into the pit swinging his magic shillelagh. Theolis changed his tactics and attacked with the silver dagger gifted by Snoggle. The Wight, consumed with hatred for life and wary of the dagger reached out with malice and drained the Ranger who was wounded and reduced in vitality. Pasco then revived Tekka with a Cure Wounds spell, and Tekka blasted the Wight with Witchbolt. An arc of blue lightning running from her to the creature. Between the shillelagh and the witch bolt, the Wight was destroyed before it could successfully drain someone else. The party took its evil weapons and decided they needed to rest before opening the last door.

I was a little nervous about the Wight but between three spell casters reliably doing damage every round and a Ranger to soak some damage it went well. The Wights Life Drain is a nasty attack and good alternative to level drain. Tekka was reduced to -2 HP, a condition which in any of my other D&D games would have required a save vs death at -2 but alas this is 5e and she was easily brought back into the fight with a cure spell. Had she not been saved, she still would have had to fail three saving throws... I'm very much on the fence about this level of "carebearness" in 5e.

Farmer Snoogle’s hospitality was uncertain until Pasco entertained him and his family with a song. They spent another night with the Fey farmers, and on the morn descended into the ruined tower again. The remaining door was flanked by skeletal guards who seemed to just watch them passively. After discussing the possibility of ignoring them, Bata suggested that no animated skeleton was friendly and the party decided to attack. Quickly smashing the guards the door was opened to reveal more skeletal sentries , now hostile and guarding a treasure. Pasco took an unlucky stab in the melee, but the animated club soldiers proved no match for Theolis’ swords and Bata’s shillelagh.

The players who are veterans of many dungeons tactfully used a doorway and quickly figured out that the ready action could be used to pulverize any skeletons that came through.

The chest was dutifully plundered revealing a modest clutch of moonstones, two scrolls and a potion. The party returned to the surface having cleared the remains of the old cellar of any reanimated evil. Something had caused farmers Snoggles scarecrow to come to life, and possessed the decaying remains of the club men, but what? Some darkness seems to have invaded the Tulgeywood, can our brave hero's discover the source and stop it? Will they get more cheese along the way?