On April 7th, meeting Gillican at the manor after returning the cured feral children to their homes, the Dragan Hall party decides to go to Hightower and clear out the yellow pygmies that seem to be enslaving hunters at a structure in the center of a broad blighted area:
- Gillican (MaC): Level 8 Elf Mage
- Halen Ricter, Level 6 Human Man-at-arms
- Altlan, Level 5 Human Cleric of Rusk
- Kyra, Human Handmaid
- Mel’on Juse (MaD): Level 7 Human Cleric of Sky Light
- Omac “Sir Pathos” (MaC): Level 5/5/6 Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief
- Derrick Lefter, Level 2 Half-orc Courtier
- Askellion, Level 2 Gnomish Religious Brother of Guffrey
- Simon Duffy, Human Longbowman
- Bristol, Human Squire
- Pepperin Lightheart (MaD): Level 7 Halfling Scout
- Zaum (JoF): Level 6 Half-orc Fighter
They set out under heavy fog. On the way to Hightower, they come upon a wagon surrounded by the recently dead. One of the fallen croaks out for help and they heal him, learning he was the captain of the wagon’s mercenary guards. They were attacked by bandits who disappeared when they heard the horses on the road. While they gather up the wagon and the dead, farmers afraid of the attack emerge from the woods and join them to return to Hightower where they receive a reward for returning the silk and perfume to the dead merchant’s trade partners.
Leaving the farmers at Hightower to wait for safe company back to Avenway, they head directly to the blighted area and toward the stone dome Kilterson told them was at its center. On the way, they encounter no pygmies and approach the ground-level dome unopposed. They send Halen and Pep on top of the dome for overwatch.
Invisible, Pathos enters structure and kills a pygmy sweeping the upper level alone. They all come down into the upper level of the structure and guard the two ramps down while Pathos and Zaum scout the nearest ramp down. They pass through a large, empty room down a second ramp to a large room with a plant growing in it.
They start to douse the plant in oil, but humans with yellow eyes and skin emerge to protect it, fighting them in the hall, but to no avail. Zaum and Pathos soon cut them down. They proceed into the large room with the plant, but two of its flowers confront them with puffs of pollen. Zaum resists the pollen, but Pathos starts to walk into the plant, resisting Zaum’s attempts to hold him back. Meanwhile, pygmies emerge from the far side of the plant, throwing darts at Zaum. He doesn’t dare follow Pathos into the plant and the darts pose a credible threat, so he retreats to gather the others.
Up top, Altlan and Derrick have already repelled pygmies trying to ascend the other ramp, possibly to surround them. They realize they need to move quickly or they will soon be facing Pathos as one of those zombies, so they start down the second ramp in numbers, calling Halen down to join them. They send Altlan, Askellion, and Derrick down the first ramp to secure that room, where they fight a few pygmies, one of which gets a cut on Askellion with a poisoned knife, but he resists the poison.
Down the other ramp, Gillican, Mel, Zaum, and Halen quickly slay a couple more in a large room before descending a second ramp on that side to meet in the plant room. They see Pathos in the center of the plant, but have no idea how to get to him safely, so they throw more oil and light the plant on fire, burning enough for Zaum to run in and cut Pathos free, dragging him to the others unconscious.
While he does so, pygmies try to dart him from doors behind the plant and Zaum sleeps the pygmies. They burn the rest of the plant and dig up the root, cutting it up and burning it. In the process, they find bones in the dirt and treasures, including bows, arrows, leather armor, and rings that have resisted corrosion. In the rooms the pygmies were living in, they gather trinkets of minor value, moving quickly out of a desire to get Pathos to a healer.
After a night in Hightower, they plan to set out toward Endsdell, but Pathos wakes in the morning, himself again, but his mind feeling foggy. They go to Endsdell (finding an unusual flail on the side of the road) where they pay the Temple of Sargrim for a heal spell that restores Pathos’ drained intelligence. They are also grateful for someone to have dealt with the controversial center of old Kelrian worship at the center of the blight. They may send someone to investigate now it is clear.
The players want to get back to the JV crew, but that’s a harder group of players to get together, so we’re taking time a little slower for a little while so the kobold situation doesn’t advance too far without more contact.
Mind Weave Role-Playing Platform 