To do backstory with two of my PC’s, Kala and Zorakus, I decided to let them go through an Easter-themed adventure, set two years before the rest of the campaign had begun.
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We begin in on the road towards CrystalForge with two weary travelers on horseback. Both horses are spooked off the road by a fox and stumble upon a slightly foot-beaten path in the woods. As the two riders try to make sense of what has happened, two panthers slip past them and the pair follows behind them silently. Suddenly, the two panthers shift into slenderly built golden-haired and the pair quickly whip around as they hear an examination from behind them.
Standing there is both a grey tiefling, Zorakus, and an air genasi, Kala, staring in awe at the two wood-elf druids before them. Zorakus and Kala introduced themselves to the elves and were introduced to Morwin and Daeven. They are graciously welcomed into the town of Rosefall, populated solely by wood elves, all of which are druids. As the foreign pair look around the town they take in festive decorations of colored eggs, rabbit and egg-shaped banisters, wonderful scents of freshly made festival food, the squealing of youth running about, and yet are also greeted by an unsettling sight: any teenaged elves are wearing rabbit masks that only expose their eyes and mouth.
The pair follows Morwin and Daeven to the town’s library, taking in the sights of the small building structures that are all overgrown with ivy and flowering plants. Upon entrance to the library, Zorakus and Kala separate in hopes of discovering more about Rosefall. Kala searches through children’s books for local fables, while Zorakus spends hours searching for the town history to no avail. While Zorakus spends hours reading, Kala finished his light reading and headed outside to scope the area for festive activities. Noticing a small stand with rabbit masks, each uniquely decorated, Kala makes his way over to learn more about the festival. He learns that the masks represent the type of animal the druids turn into and is handed one to represent his spiritual aura. Zorakus soon joins him and receives a mask as well.
The two adventure about the town for the remainder of the day to enjoy the festive activities and run into a young child wearing all pink. The three compare ages, discovering that the child is actually the oldest amongst them, and are invited to spend the night in the home of Morwin and Daeven. Once shown to their room they are warned to not leave at all after midnight, for their own safety.
During the night Kala and Zorakus both wake up to a strange sensation and the sound of scratching at their door. Roars and squawking echo from the room as they have both been magically transformed into the animals that their masks represented. Kala, now a large brown bear with blue crescents under his eyes and a golden chin to lip line, and Zorakus, now a small saw-whet owl, try to calm down, but panic as parts of their door is being ripped apart. The two bust open the door to be greeted by an oversized housecat that leads them downstairs to a congregation of nearly 25 panthers. The two do their best to blend in, failing to do so and are called out by Morwin and Daeven after the congregation for disobeying the one rule they were asked to follow. The two are escorted back upstairs and are closed off in their room once more.
Zorakus begins to panic once more, fearing the possible consequences for leaving the room and before Kala can adjust to his new strength, he pats Zorakus too strongly on the head and knocks him out. The two rest through a good chunk of the morning, Kala being abruptly awoken by a tap of Zorakus’ staff and a Mage Hand slap to the face due to frustration about the previous night.
The pair head downstairs and are informed of a local egg hunt occurring. While it is common practice for only children to participate the two have been allowed the honor of joining since they are outsiders who seemed interested in understanding Rosefall’s culture. During the egg hunt, Zorakus manages to find an excessively large chocolate egg, and once discovered by Morwin, and is asked to guard it through the night in the middle of the town square. Kala joins Zorakus in his guard-duty to see if he can catch a glimpse of the fabled Easter Bunny that is revered by the town. Through the night the two hear a slight cracking of the chocolate egg and are surprised to see a chocolate wyrmling clamber out of the egg, which instantly attacks Zorakus as he moves closer to see it.
During a struggle to kill the wyrmling the Easter Bunny appears to collect any eggs left outside and watches the pair struggle with wyrmling. Upon the death of the creature, the Easter Bunny promptly eats it and nods fair well to the pair, disappearing from sight as he does so.
The two awake the next morning in the town square, both wearing their masks, and are greeted with wide-eyed faces of children looming over them. Having enough of the strange customs of the town the pair head off in their own directions, putting as much distance between the town and each other as possible.
