A rot bud pod opens and pushes out Whisper, with a view embedded into the back of his head. Joining him is an additional plant-duplicate, this time of the Wolfkind Bloodhunter. Whisper manages to rip out the tendril and just as he does he realizes what was just a blink of an eye to him, nearly three hours had passed. He also realizes this vine was “reading” his mind, giving Lavinia the information to make her plant-duplicates. In time, Orpheon is swallowed up by a new pod. Eventually, Orpheon breaks free, along with a fresh Plant-Orpheon. After ripping out the restraining vine, they too have the uneasy sensation of missing a significant amount of time in what they perceived as just a blink.
The battle rages forth, with the Crew switching focus between Lavinia Gardner, The Rot Queen, and their duplicates. During the combat, Candy realizes every Divine Smite they hit Lavinia with, temporarily rips open a gash in the green bubble The Crew finds themselves in. Outside, Candy can see the sky but in a sickly green hue. After a few of the smites, Candy also notices that the sun is going from rising to setting at an unnatural pace.
After some close calls with Whisper, Vaerin, and Fizz all taking turns falling unconscious, Candy manages to land the killing blow onto The Rot Queen! Knowing that the giant rotted was destroyed in the field, the druidic lich cannot ever return. As Lavinia stands, pierced by Candy’s blade, she laughs while coughing up green blood. The dissolves away into dead leaves. Candy feels a flake of snow touch their nose and see Lavinia’s bubble is falling away as well but as The Crew finds themselves in the roof-less attic of the Gardner farm house, the floor beneath them begins to quake.
The Crew races out of the house, but Fizz and Orpheon trip on a remaining plant and Tarsaiiria holds back to help them up. The three fall behind the rest of The Crew. Candy instinctively races back to get their friends and Kovaella uses the last gasps of her Emboldening Bond and teleports Candy, Fizz, and herself to safety. Unfortunately, Orpheon and Tarsamiira aren’t so lucky and are hit from the vibrant, green implosion that destroys the Gardner home and everyone inside. Tarsamiira and Orpheon fall unconscious and close to death. Whisper asks fast and revives Tarsaiira and Orpheon, luckily, returns to consciousness thanks to the Radiant Soul. After The Crew catches their breath, they ride Candy’s goat steed back to town.
The Crew descends from Farmers’ Hill to see the entry of Everwynd’s survivors, less than 100 people stand watching, joined by the burgomaster Erik Truthtail and Tarsamiira’s mentor Slug. Slug and Truthtail share a nod and the burgomaster leads his people out of the destroyed town. Soon, Slug tells The Crew that all but a handful of buildings remain standing in Everwynd and the townsfolk had to wait until The Rot Queen was defeated before they could leave for Owlbear Valley, a wait that lasted a month. Orpheon will later summarize that Lavinia’s bubble was a detmiplane that existed in its own time, separate from the world on the other side. Tarsamiira and Orpheon share with Slug the faux-Necronomicon. He flips through it and finds the similarities shocking and remarks that only someone with intensive knowledge of the original could make this copy. As Slug flips through the pages, a tarot-sized card falls out, Fizz inspects it and discovers it features the image of a running rabbit and the back with an intricate design, just like the one The Crew found in the MinMax Mall. Slug promises to meet again with Tarsamiira to talk but until then he will be aiding the Everwyndians to their new home.
The Crew head to the still-standing Revelry’s Bliss Tavern to rest and come the next morning they discuss their next steps as Everwynd is blanketed in fresh snow. Soon, their meeting is disrupted by Tobias Tomorrow’s assistant who tells The Crew TomorrowCorp had just finalized the purchase of the land Everwynd once stood and The Crew must vacate immediately. On the trip home, Tarsamiira connects the construction site they discovered, the purchase of Everwynd, and the tarot card; somehow TomorrowCorp is behind this.
The Crew arrives back in Newhurst. In their meeting with Topher Thorngut, he remarks that the Union thought they died on their mission after a month of no contact. But fortunately The Crew still gets paid, unfortunately it will be some time until they can be signed up for any substantial jobs, something The Crew is more than happy with.
The Crew return to their respective apartments just as they left them. That is, except for Orpheon who finds their apartment has been broken into. Nothing sees to be missing… Except for the brain worms. Orpheon tells Tarsamiira and Vaerin and spends the next few nights on Fizz’s couch.
…
The events of The Curse of Everwynd, Part Six takes place July 7-August 10, 2012.
"Blorbo from my shows" this, "blorbo from my videogames" that. What about "blorbo from my DnD game" that only three other people know. Do you ever think about that-
With a plan in place, The Crew leave the tavern to follow the Locate Object signal, looking for the Necronomicon. But, just as soon as they step out of Revelry’s Bliss Tavern, Candy, their steed, and Whisper are snatched by enormous vines and are dragged under the soil rocketing towards Farmers’ Hill. The rest of The Crew make chase and as they rush through the small village of Everwynd, they see the plants are growing at impossible speeds, fully crushing homes and building to rubble. Soon, they find themselves back at the Gardner family farm.
The fields are just as they left them, burned rot buds as far as the eye can see, along with the fully destroyed giant bud in the middle of the crater. They follow the road and pass by the barn, also burned down, and reach a humble well a short distance from the house proper. The well, like the farmhouse, emits a strange, almost neon green glow. Like a flame a top a torch, the green light flares from the well. Vaerin sticks her head in to inspect and quickly something grabs her. Luckily, with the help of Tarsamiiria, she pulls back in time. Her assailant crawls out from the well; a boy no older than 17, his skin disfigured, burned, and melting. The boy looks not unlike how Mara did back in the Borealis Forest but instead of brilliant blue and yellow light, his is a sickly green. The boy, Brian Gardner, tells The Crew he heard a voice in the well and fell in attempting to join it. Brian says The Green has shared many secrets with him that he wishes to impart with The Crew. Knowing this means nothing but trouble, The Crew readies for a fight. Soon, Candy and their steed erupt from the ground, after Candy managed to break free from the kidnapping vines. During the battle, Brian locks in on Fizz and eventually gets close enough to whisper something in their ear. Fizz doesn’t know or understand this language but it sounds familiar to Deep Speech, but corrupted in a way. The battle reaches its en when Tars trows a spear through Green-Brian’s head, his death is a burst of green light that quickly disapparates into the air.
As they catch their breath, Orpheon is nearly stuck by a trio of crossbow bolts. Kovaella and Tarsamiiria spot the assailant rushing inside the still-glowing house but leaves the door ajar. The Crew follows and see the house, like all of Everwynd, it too is being consumed by flora and fungi, but, strangely, all the plants seem to be reaching up towards the upper levels of the house. Tarsamiira is first to enter and they find a gaunt man, nearly bursting at the seams with green light. He shakily points his crossbow as Tarsamiira as he explains all he wanted was to protect his family and when things began to fall apart he accepted the help of his daughter Lavinia. Tarsamiira convinces the man, Howard Gardner, to drop his weapon. He does but just before half his body explodes with plantlike! His ar becomes a system of thick vines and roots as his skin begins to tear and rip, revealing a heavy substance underneath. The Crew jump into action and make quick work of the poor Gardner patriarch, the battle ends with Fizz firing a pair of well-aimed E-Blasts.
Afterwards, Vaerin takes a look around the first floor of the house, searching the closet, workshop, dining room, and kitchen. She first finds an abandoned coin pouch holding a bundle of silver coins (worth 350gp that the group all splits evenly), then a group of fungi that are secreting an ichor that Orpheon discovers to be a paralyzing toxin — they bottle some for future study and use; and finally, in the kitchen, she discovers a grisly sight of the tips of three fingers, still bleeding, left on the kitchen counter. The ever-flowing blood has pooled in the middle of the floor where a blood-red rot bud has grown. Vaerin torches the bud and calls over Candy when she spots an effervescent-green knife. Candy inspects it and believes it to be imbued with some sort of magic after being in extended contact of the stage blood and discoloured rot bud. They pass the knife along to Fizz who believes they might have a use for it.
During this, The Crew can hear a noise from upstairs. Painful wails as well as something large moving as it pushes around furniture. The Crew decides to investigate and amend to the second floor. They see a narrow hall with two doors on either side. Vaerin discerns the source of the noise but is hesitant to open the door when whatever lies on the other end pleads for help (Candy points out the last time they “helped” something on the other side of the door it was the “twins” at the MinMax mall). Fizz takes a peek under the door and while not getting the whole picture, they can feel their mind almost crack at the maddening sight that waits for The Crew. Candy will later also look and also feels their mind strain but, like Fizz, manages to keep it together.
Meanwhile, Orpheon looks through the other rooms — first with a bedroom labeled Jack’s Room — not much waits inside except a My First Elysiastic Bible with some passages underlined. The next room has a sign reading “Brian’s Room” but there’s nothing of note inside. Orpheon thinks to read the bible passages to what’s on the other side of the door but when they do, a small child can just be heard weeping. After some discussion, The Crew decides to first look in the other room in hopes that they might find the Necronomicon. Inside they find Lavinia’s bedroom; the walls are covered in arcane symbols, written in ink and paint, candles with the wax long melted-and-dried on the floor, melding them to the floorboards, and finally an old toe on Lavinia’s bed. Orpheon uses Identify and learns, while nearly a perfect relic, it is a fake copy of the Necronomicon. They drop the book in Tarsamiia’s bag of holding and The Crew makes a plan for the final room.
Fizz says they will go in alone and handle what’s inside but Candy insists on joining them, Vaerin also sends in Ahri and Orpheon sends Neil. The four quickly dart into the room before anyone else can gaze upon the creature inside, lest in makes them go mad. Fizz and Candy see the Gardner Mother and young Jack have melded together like the Gibbering Mouthers in the mall or the fused alpacas in the barn. Fizz reads from the Elysiastic bible, hoping that the funeral rites will calm the fused mother-and-son while firing E-Blasts. Candy picks up on Fizz’s stance determinedness to handle this problem themself but decides it’s for the best that they put the two Gardners out of their misery with a powerful Divine Smite, effectively destroying them.
The only place left to look the the attic, The Crew approach the hatch door and see green light seeming through the cracks. Fizz is first to enter, followed by everyone else. They see a room filled with shifting and twisting vines and ivy and branches along with eight rod bud-like pods, each a different size. The largest opens to reveal a young, red-headed girl sitting in a throne of plants. Green ichor spills out of her mouth as well as her glowing green eyes. The girl, Lavinia Gardner, dictates her prophetic vision of a world made green, a world of “nothing but flowers.” Lavinia stands and she takes her form as Rot Queen; wooden antlers burst out of her skull, followed by a twisted, wooden crown. A wooden breastplate covers her chest as giant leaves grow pauldrons, gauntlets and boots. The Rot Queen, waves her hand and the attic transforms into a giant, green dome made of plants. Six of the other rot bud pods open, revealing plant-construct duplicates of The Crew; Candy, Fizz, Orpheon, Kovaella, Tarsamiiria, and Vaerin, along with plant- Ahri, Behemoth, and Neil. Te last pod, presumably holding a construct of Whisper, remains closed.
The battle begins, through the first seconds of combat The Crew manages to trap Lavinia on one side of a Wall of Fire and Vaerin manages to torch the plant-Tarsamiiria and Behemoth. But, Lavinia has full control of her lair and summons a reformed plant-raider and drake. The Crew see also, the eighth and final pod opens revealing not just a plant-Whisper but the real deal tumbles out, with a vine reaching into the back of his skull.
…
The events of The Curse of Everwynd, Part Five took place July 6-7, 2012.
16 Years, 2 Months, and 28 Days since The Cold.
"Blorbo from my shows" this, "blorbo from my videogames" that. What about "blorbo from my DnD game" that only three other people know. Do you ever think about that-
The Crew is faced with their toughest threat yet. Rot Zombies, Fungal Soldiers, living trees, and, what Orpheon soon discovers, a gigantic, glowing Rot Bud.
The Zombies and Fungal Soldiers swarm, and the Trees move in to attack — some hovering into the air! It isn’t long before allies begin to fall and Crewmembers need to decide to either move forward, heal their allies, or battle the floral-and-fungal threats not to mention the majority of adventurers have been infected by the Rot Spores and if they can’t be healed, they could become another one of the Rot Zombies’ number.
The battle rages and Orpheon has the amazing idea of using a six-pack carrier for Healing Positions, fill it with bottles of Alchemist’s Fire and Catapulting it right at the giant Rot Bud’s direction! The mutated plat is aflame, causing the dozens of smaller rot buds in the field to mimic the red-and-orange glow of the blaze. This also harms the trees, zombies, and fungal soldiers as they share a mental link with this Mother Bud. The fire does considerable harm to the plant but it isn’t enough, and it releases a 60 ft cloud of spores over their field that causes Tarsamiira, Kovaella, Fizz, Whisper. And Orpheon to fall unconscious — some dangerously close to death. But, Kovaella’s last defiant act, is a reaction of Hellish Rebuke towards the Rot Bud. Through her blessed Shield, a flame erupts and hits the burning plant giving that extra bit of damage to cause it — and all its progeny — to erupt into flame before burning up into a scorched and desiccated version of itself. With their allies still down and close to out, Candy and Vaerin work fast to heal who they can and as soon as Kovaella is conscious she lets out a Mass Healing Word reviving the remainder of The Crew.
As The Crew catches their breath, Orpheon and Fizz go in to inspect the remains of the Rot Bud — just to be certain, Orpheon casts Gentle Repose on the once-living plant to ensure it doesn’t return anytime soon. Rot Buds are a plantlike that have been seen all around Soil since The Cold, understood to be a new genus of plantlike more suited for the frozen world and Fizz discovered that when the Void-rock hit the Gardner Farm, it stuck a growing Rot Bud. The plant mutated into a cosmically-augmented form and began to grow sentience. It shared its power across Everwynd and allowed the enhanced plant life to grow along with sprouting the new Rot Buds in the Gardner Farm. Along with this, Fizz learns that while the giant Rot Bud was immensely powerful, the threat isn’t vanquished yet. The Rot Bud (or the it’s Cosmic power) has been shared beyond this field and the strange plants are showing no sign of stopping their growth, even though, it seems, the rot zombie may not be around.
During this, Whisper hears something further up the path. Tarsamiira picks it up too, a animalistic wail as if a creature was in horrific pain. The Crew goes to a nearby barn to investigate. With all the Crew operating in a weakened state, The Crew isn’t sure if it’s the time to inspect this noise lest it be a threat they aren’t prepared for. Whisper climbs into an upper floor of the barn and inside sees what looks like seven alpacas horrifically fused together with three of the creatures’ long necks protracting out of a fleshy mass, each head wailing in agony. Whisper also finds a spellbook among some hay bales he pockets.After Fizz confirms for herself what’s inside the barn The Crew discoed to put it out of its misery and Vaerin torches the stables.
The Crew head back into town to rest before their next course of action. No Rot Zombies seem to be skulking about but the plants seem to be growing even faster. At Revelry’s Bliss Tavern, Candy returns the Billowrock’s pocket watch. The matriarch of the Gnome Family, Elna, rewards The Crew with two Gold Coins each and rewards Candy with a Needle of Mending, a magical dagger disguised as a large sewing needle. Candy passes the weapon off to Orpheon and after informing the Billowrocks that their home was destroyed, Candy gives back the Gold Coins for the family’s new life. Burgormister Erik tells The Crew that arrangements have been made that once its safe to do so, the survivors of Everwynd will be relocating to Owlbear Valley.
The Crew all read into rooms above the tavern to rest, but before they follow, Tarsamiiria speaks with Eshyassa and Fexora. Tarsamiira asks how Eshyassa came to live in Everwynd and she says that roughly 15 years ago her village was attacked by unknown assailants and many people died. Those who didn’t scattered and Eshyassa and her infant granddaughter just ran until she found somewhere habitable, landing in Everwynd. Eshyassa doesn’t know who the marauders were but believes they were people who hated dragons. Tarsamiira asks about their connections to dragons and she explains that she, Fexoa, and seemingly Tarsamiira are Dragontouched, those descended from people blessed by dragons centuries ago.
After their long rest, The Crew gather in the middle of the night and around another fantastic meal by Candy, they plan their next steps. They learn from Nissa Billowrock (the teenage daughter) that the Gardners were new to Everwynd and would be known to be proud and often brag, especially after the void-rock appeared in their field. But when the growing plants became to turn sinister the family retreated into their home. Only loud shouting could be heard but no one was ever seen. Nissa also shares the rumour that Lavinia Gardner, the Gardner daughter, would meddle in witchcraft and Asmodianic rituals with a dark and evil tome. The Crew believe this to be the Necronomicon that Slug and Slate were originally here to find. The Crew decides their next course of action should be finding this evil book and Tarsamiira casts Locate Object, hoping that the description of an “evil, magic book” will be enough to go off of. The spell points Tarsamiiria north-north-west — back in the direction of Farmer’s Hill.
…
The events of The Curse of Everwynd, Part Four took place July 6, 2012.
16 Years, 2 Months, and 27 Days since The Cold.
The Crew travels up Farmer’s Hill towards the Gnome family’s farm. A few miles of walking and outside the house they see six figures standing guard; three Rot Zombies and with them three Fungal Foot-soldiers.
The battle is hard won but The Crew make it through without any loss of life or grave injury. Thanks to Kovaella casting an Aura of Purity The Crew didn’t have to worry about potential Rot Disease infecting them.
After defeating the guards, The Crew brace themselves to go inside the Billowrock farmstead.Candy knocks on the door but it’s weathered and rotten state causes it to just fall inwards into the house The Crew see the place has been over run by vines, ivy, roots, and fungi. They see their prize, the Billowrock’s golden pocket watch. Candy trepidatiously enters the home and grabs it and when they do, a quiet whisper is heard. Whisper, Kovaella, Vaerin, and Tarsamiiria hear it too. As if someone is quietly talking in a different room.
The rest of the Crew file into the small home and Whisper follows the murmuring, leading to a small child’s room where an old half-elf hippy-druid is talking softly to some mushrooms. The half-elf doesn’t notice Whisper at first until he stands next to the half-elf. The hippy-druid turns and pleasantly introduces himself as Brother (the person the Gnome boy asked The Crew to check up on). Brother says he can hear the mushrooms and they, along with the other plants taking over Everwynd, just want to make Soil “more like their home.” Brother goes on to tell Whisper how this all started; a few months ago, during a terrible storm, a Void-Rock crashed in the Gardner’s farm just a little whiles up the road. After the meteor crashed all the crops and plants in Everwynd grew impossibly fast and lush but the Gardner’s farm didn’t just have incredible crops but a field of large buds. Then, seemingly out of the blue, the void-rock vanished. After that the drinking water in town began to taste “off” and all the vegetation, while looking beautiful and fresh, would have black, rotten insides filled with what seems like blood. Soon after, the Rot Zombies came. Brother is quick to try and spin this as a positive, he tells Whisper that everything will be okay. The Buds, the zombies, the plants and animals, all of it is according to the Green’s plans. Whisper notices the blue mushrooms are quickly swaying and growing up Brother’s legs. Swiftly, he leaves the bedroom and blocks the door behind him.
Whisper alerts The Crew what he learned and what is happening to Brother. The Crew turn to Vaerin, whom earlier chose not to cast Fireball on the Fungal Soldiers and Rot Zombies in hopes to not burn down the house, but the circumstances have clearly changed. Whisper quickly checks the other rooms and finds them empty but before The Crew leave a pair of creatures made from vines lurch towards The Crew, followed by brother — now a Fungal Foot-soldier. Not ready for another battle, The Crew run out of the house and once they’re at a safe distance, Vaerin casts Fireball, aimed in the centre of the Billowrock farmhouse. Before burning up Fungal-Brother stumbles out of the house and says. “We can become her dutiful servants. All for our Queen.” The Crew run from the flaming house and once they find a safe spot, catch their breath and take a Short Rest.
Once somewhat recovered, The Crew decide instead of heading back into town they’ll continue towards The Gardner’s farm and put an end to this horror. They travel a few miles up the road and see almost disorienting, neon green. The land around the Gardner’s home — one of the largest plots of land on Farmer’s Hill — has been changed to an unnerving degree. The grass has become like small tentilla, the tree have become flesh-like in texture and sway like heavy tentacles instead of branches, and their fild is now populated only by the Buds Brother described; large undulating, green bulbs with roots like tentacles. Walking among the rows of the Rot Buds are nine Rot Zombies and a trio of Fungal Soldiers, clearly all acting as protectors of not just the field but whatever lies, glowing the crater in the middle of the Gardner’s field.
The Crew rush into the fray, knowing they just need to get through. The Fungal Soldiers approach, followed by the Zombies. Whisper and Fizz go in to attack. Vaerin casts a Wall of Fire blocking more trouble from the East (and burning up some of the Buds). Tarsamiiria holds back the leading Fungal Soldier and tells Behemoth to pick up Fizz and get them to safety. Orpheon tries to push away some encroaching Rot Zombies and Kovaella creates an aura of Spirit Guardians to protect The Crew. Candy rushes in to fight but finds little purchase with their blade. Just as things seem to be going off to a good start for The Crew, whatever is in the crate lets out a dull, loud toll and the field of Rot Buds shiver, letting loose a cloud of spores, infecting Tarsamiira, Fizz, Whisper, and Orpheon.
…
The events of The Curse of Everwynd, Part Three took place July 6, 2012.
Candy is faced by a coven of five druidic witches, all wearing unsettling wooden masks. The witches launch into an attack that throws Candy off guard and manages to swiftly knock them out.
Orpheon teleports Candy out of danger and blocks the cellar door that leads to these witches’ lair before calling their friends for help. Whisper quickly helps Orpheon with the door after feeding a Healing Potion to Candy. Vaerin is the first then to defend into the basement and battle the witches.The battle rages as slowly The Crew enter this coven’s lair. This soon take a bad turn when Whisper and Vaerin is knocked out. After w itch attacks the unconscious Whisper draws his final breath. There’s no time to mourn or process the death and The Crew must continue fighting the witches, lest they meet the same fate. Candy head Vaerin just enough for her to summon her Wildfire Spirit, Ahri, and through the Spirit cast Revivify on Whisper. The fallen Wolfkind returns to the land of the living!
After this dark corner the battle soon turns to the Crew’s advantage. Fizz blasts away on witch, followed by Candy slaying two, and Tarsamiiria spearing a fourth. Finally, Whisper rises to his feat — revived by Vaerin and healed by Kovaella — and pieces the final witch with his sword.
After the final witch takes her last breath, all five quickly decompose into small piles of dirt, leaving behind their wooden masks and a tinny sprouting that grows where the body fell. Kovaella, Tarsamiira, and Orpheon collect a mask each and The Crew return to the church where they rejoin Eshyassa. Tarsamiiria asks Eshyassa about these witches and she explains that after The Cold, Everwynd did all they could to resuscitate the devastated farmlands, some during to Druidic magic. These Druids became fanatical and worshipped “The Green,” these became the coven of witches the Crew just faced. These witches likely have no relation to the undead plague or even the overgrowth of plants in the village but they saw it as a weird, twisted blessing.
The Crew lead Eshyassa to the Revelry’s Bliss Tavern so she can be with her granddaughter again. But along the way, The Crew face off against a pair of zombies. They make quick work of the undead but the need to reach the Tavern and rest becomes clear. Once at the Tavern, Fexora is overjoyed to see her grandmother safe and sound and rewards each member of The Crew a solid Gold Coin (worth 100gp) as thanks. Later, Orpheon talks to young Weevil who lost his family to Ullr earlier that day. Orpheon tells him that the werewolf has been slayed and his family has been avenged. Weevil hugs Orpheon and thanks The Crew, even telling Whisper he isn’t afraid of him anymore. Tarsamiiria talks to Hurkyl about the witches but he has little guidance beyond that they are a tough threat but agrees with Eshyassa that they are unlikely to be the cause of the problems in the village.
Exhausted, The Crew head to bed. All but Fizz. Hurkyl tells Fizz that they can keep watch and make are no Rot Zombies attack the tavern. Tarsamiiria adds that Behemoth is outside the Tavern also keeping an eye out for trouble. During the night Fizz climbs to the tavern roof and sees over the horizon, just over Farmer’s Hill, a faint green glow. Orpheon sees this too as they look out towards the sky with a spyglass.
Morning comes and Candy prepares a delicious breakfast feat for their crew-mates. Vaerin asks Whisper what the deal was with his violent fight with Ullr. Whisper gives little detail beyond saying he knew the other wolf and he did “bad stuff.” Orpheon brings up the discovery of the runic-microchip that was embedded into Ullr. It’s unclear what the purpose of the chip was but Fizz relays that it made Ullr functionally into a sort-of Familiar for whoever was controlling him — they could look through Ullr’s eyes and he would follow their commands. When Whisper inspects the chip he notices its age, it has been in Ullr for many years. The Crew worry about TomorrowCorp’s involvement in all this, with their logo being on the chip. Vaerin recalls when she, Fizz, and Whisper were kidnapped by the cult in the mall, she overheard them talking about chipping Whisper but the three escaped before it could happen. The Crew throe how much Tobias Tomorrow is involved and potentially his kidnapping was staged. Whisper asks The Crew if any of them have any ties to TomorrowCorp, none do but Whisper lets slip that “[his] brother apparently did. ”
The Crew try to get more out of Whisper but he remains tight-lipped until Candy casts a Zone of Truth on everyone. Under the effects of the spell, Whisper tells everyone that his brother murdered his entire family and the entire Wolfkind village, leaving only Whisper. This happen seven years ago, roughly when the chip would’ve been “installed.” After this revelation, Whisper goes into the kitchen of the tavern. Vaerin follows and finds Whisper has left the building through a window. She uses a Locate Object spell on Whisper’s Friendship Necklace she made for everyone and finds him just sitting underneath the window. Vaerin sits with Whisper and apologizes for forcing him to talk about what he went through and thought it could be an opportunity for The Crew to become closer, but obviously she pushed too hard. Whisper doesn’t say much after this but after some time they rejoin the group.
Fizz and Orpheon tell The Crew about the green glow over Farmer’s Hill and since that’s also the location of the gnome family’s home that should be their next stop. The Crew head out but again encounter more Rot Zombies, this time a trio shambles towards them. The Crew defeat the zombies and Candy makes sure any of the zombie’s disease is cured from their teammates.
…
The events of The Curse of Everwynd, Part Two took place July 5-6, 2012.
16 Years, 2 Months, and 27 Days since The Cold.
With Orpheon’s summoned vehicles, The Crew heads East towards the village of Everwynd. Everwynd is a small, traditionalist settlement of people from all over Pinesnorth who would rather live like their ancestors did in the 1300s and before, turning their backs to the modern ways. Not much news or people come out of Everwynd so The Crew would be unsure of what to expect. Once they’re a couple miles outside the village they see it is like a bubble unaffected by The Cold. There’s lush green grass, vibrant trees, and plant live unlike anyone has seen in 16 years. Orpheon dispels the ca — knowing the Everwynd reads are probably not prepared for such a vehicle — and The Crew moves forward on foot.
When The Crew enters Everwynd proper they see things more complicated than the image over the horizon; the greenery is overtaking the buildings as if the moss and vines and ivy is trying to swallow Everwynd whole. The Crew walks down a dirt road and overhear a scream AIEEEE!!! Down an adjacent path runs a young girl, no older than 17. She has raven black hair and distinct, ridged horns. The girl spots The Crew and pleads for help. She’s being chased by six zombies. The Crew jumps into action and when Whisper rushes forward to attack he sees these zombies seem almost part-plant with big green blotches on their skin that almost look like leaves. The zombies also seem more than they would first appear, breathing out clouds of spores. Vaerin, Whisper, and Orpheon fid themselves at the business end of these spore clouds and feel themselves getting sicker by the moment. When one of these zombies falls, their body’s last line of defence is also bursting into these clouds of spores. The battle is hard won but Candy lands the final, decisive blow and quickly uses their Lay On Hands to cure Orpheon, Whisper, and Vaerin of their disease before it could get any worse.
The girl, who later will introduce themselves as Fexora, thanks The Crew and tells them they must get to the tavern, where it is supposed to be safe and her grandmother should be waiting. The Crew follow and find a small tavern, Revelry’s Bliss, turned into a makeshift fort and only a handful of villagers are inside. Once The Crewenters, Whisper forcefully pulls Orpheon aside and warns them to pay attention when other party members, namely Vaerin who was hit by a spell Orpheon was targeting at the zombies in the earlier battle. The Crew notices this altercation but the villagers do not. Quickly, the Everwynd burgomaster, Endrik Truthtail, welcomes The Crew and presumes they’re from the Adventuring Union and friends of Slate and Hyrkul. Tarsamiira affirms this and when they ask about Everwynd’s current situation, Hyrkul himself appears from the back room of the tavern. He rushes towards Tarsamiiria and gives them a big hug. Hyrkul, Tarsamiira’s goblin mentor, gives what info he can, he and Slate tracked the Necronomicon to Everwynd and when they arrived they found the place seemed miraculously untouched by The Cold but townsfolk began to die and soon rose from the dead more plant than person. Soon all the town’s dead have risen from their graves as what Hyrkul calls “Rot Zombies.” Slate got hurt and had to find his way back to Newhurst but Hyrkul says he’s been so focused on helping what survivors he can that he’s been unable to figure out the source of the zombies or the whereabouts of the Necronomicon. He asks The Crew if they can take the lead on that front while he focuses on the townsfolk and The Crew can bring any they find back to Revelry’s Bliss. He also warns them about the spores, if inhaled could cause a person to die and resurrect as a Rot Zombie themselves, he also mentions if The Crew finds the Necronomicon, to not touch it or read it since it is very dangerous. Tarsamiiria glares at Orpheon when this warning is given and tells them to remember the warning.
Whisper checks out the upstairs in of the tavern while the rest of The Crew talk to Fexora who seems distressed and says her grandmother was supposed to be at the tavern but is missing. They were operated by the zombies The Crew defeated but Fexora’s grandma must still be out there. The Crew ask her if there’s anywhere else she would go and Fexora thinks the first place to check is the church. The Crew then speak to a lone Halfling boy who seems frightened of Whisper, the boy tells The Crew his family was attacked by a werewolf and is the only survivor of the attack. The Crew tell Whisper this and she rushes outside and finds the scent of this werewolf and that it leads to the church. While Whisper is doing this, The Crew talk to a family of Gnomes who ask The Crew if they could go to their home on Farmers Hill to retrieve a family heirloom, a young boy in the family asks The Crew if they could also make sure his friend, an elderly half-elf “hippy” whole lives on the edge of the Gnome’s property is safe. While Whisper is still gone (under the pretence of making sure the Tavern is safe) Candy talks with Orpheon about the altercation between them and Whisper. Orpheon acts characteristically meekly but assures Candy they are alright. Then Candy asks what Tarsamiiria was referencing earlier. Orpheon claims they don’t know but admits they have a problem in putting their nose in situations that could be dangerous in the name of knowledge. Candy accepts this explanation but Orpheon ends with, “I’ll show you when we’re home.” Which only confuses Candy more.
Whisper returns soon after and says The Crew should visit The Church. The Crew head off towards St. Swithin’s Elysiastic Church. They see the East wall of the church has partially collapsed from the weight of the overgrowth. Whisper picks up the wolf scent and quickly kicks open the church doors, loudly calling out Ullr. The interior of the Church is largely taken over by the greenery and The Crew can see an elderly, horned woman, hiding behind the altar. But once Whisper makes his presence known, a large, feral werewolf drops down from the chapel’s rafters and the two wives fight! Whisper explains little to The Crew who follow what they assume Whisper’s lead to be. Ullr’s roar sounds strange and distorted and his actions are in a violent state, focusing only on attacking Whisper. It’s Orpheon who lands the final blow to the feral wolf after Ullr had knocked Whisper unconscious. When Ullr hits the ground, a smalls mark flares out from the back of his head and a small cracking of stone or glass is heard. Quickly Kovaella casts Spare The Dying on Ullr but once she revives Whisper, he’s takes his blade and kills what turns out to be his own brother. While the rest of The Crew make sure the Fexora’s grandmother is safe, Whisper goes outside and Orpheon and Fizz inspect what the spark was. Orpheon finds a small runestone-computerchip embedded in the base of Ullr’s skull. Orpheon finds that this this was some sort of control system but it had become corrupted and made Ullr more violent and feral than potentially planned. Orpheon and Fizz manages to remove the chip and they spot a logo embossed on the backside of it, the logo of TomorrowCorp. Whisper reenters The Church and tells The Crew they should dispose of Ullr’s body to make sure it can’t be resurrected as a Rot Zombie. Orpheon casts Gentle Repose and cremates Ullr’s remains.
Tarsamiiria and Fizz ask Fexora’s grandmother, Eshyassa, what she knows about the zombies. She says she knows very little but after a bit of pushing admits she thinks it came from a farming family in Everwynd, The Gardeners. She doesn’t trust the family, especially their teenaged daughter who, Eshyassa claims, is a devil worshipper (somewhat offending Candy). Eshyassa says she’s ready to go see her granddaughter and when she leaves the church, Whisper checks her for werewolf bites of which he finds none. Before The Crew departs, Orpheon checks some of the rooms of the church and finds one containing just a clear door. Candy breaks the door’s lock and walks down into the dark basement, There, they find a coven of five druidic witches wearing strange wooden masks. The Witches say in unison, “We welcome the Green blessed upon this land.”
...
The events of The Curse of Everwynd, Part One took place July 5, 2012.
16 Years, 2 Months, and 26 Days since The Cold.
After The Crew returns from Lightstow, they are told their Quest Manager, Gwannis Stormboots, has been let got from the Adventurer Union Collection administration and The Crew’s file is in the process of being reassigned. Because of this, they find themselves in a bit of a liminal phase of their downtime, with no way of knowing how long they’ll be without work. Tarsamiiria tells Vaerin they’re going to be travelling home for some time so Vaerin brings everyone in The Crew to The Hidden Step for a going away Karaoke Night.
The next day, Whisper goes to the AUC Human Resources to follow up on the report he filed with Gen. Sheppard in Lightstow. He’s told a lot of business/HR jargon but basically gets the idea that the report is being looked at but isn’t a priority. Whisper tells the Union he plans on leaving Pinesnorth for an indefinite amount of time and to give him a call if anything comes up job-wise. He rents a car and drives out to The Lost Frontier, looking for a continuation of the tracks he saw in the Borealis Forest just days ago. After awhile of searching, he spots tracks that cut across a long abandoned, snowy highway and out into a more rough terrain. Whisper tries for awhile to follow the tracks from the road for as long as he can but after a few days he decides to hide the car and go out on foot. One night, he spots light coming from a campfire over some rocky hills. We sneaks towards the light and sees a lone hunter sitting by the fire, sharpening his arrows. At first glance Whisper thinks this hunter is Tarsamiiria but realized they are a Drow but with similar horns and scales, but, unlike Tarsamiiria, his are blue. Whisper cautiously approaches and the hunter jumps to his feet but seeing Whisper means no harm, he lowers his bow. Whisper tells the hunter he picked a bad spot to set up camp since he is downhill and more vulnerable. The hunter, Orlin, thanks Whisper for the advice and says this is his first time out in the Frontier by himself. Whisper learns Orlin is also tracking a Wolfkind, Orlin says it stole food from his village and volunteered to find the beast, he’s been out in the Frontier for about six days. Orlin has had a hard time keeping pace with the wolf but says a helpful key is that there is something glowing embedded into the base of the wolf’s skull. When Whisper asks more about Orlin’s home he gets little answers in return. Orlin explains he’s not supposed to tell anyone where he is from. Whisper says he understands and says goodbye to the young hunter. Orlin begins to move his camp and Whisper deicides this hunter is now his focus.
Meanwhile. Candy takes this time off to buy a gift for Bestaeryn’s upcoming retirement party. Candy lands on a custom t-shirt that says “I retired from the Union and all I got was this shirt”. A couple days after the karaoke night, Vaerin tries to find Whisper but is disappointed to hear he has left the country. Vaerin then goes to the Opalsmith St. Black Market and buys a Ring of Feather Falling — a precautionary measure after her incident in Borealis Forest.
Fizz gets an A-Mail back from Professor Levenspiel about the information they sent before the Forest job. The Professor writes that he has no knowledge about the Department of Mystery Tradition but recognizes two names Fizz mentioned; Wilbur Dunwich and Anton Crowley. According to Fizz’s research, the two men were the directors of the Department of Mystery Tradition; Dunwich from its founding in 1962 until 1980 when Crowley took over and presumably is director to this day. Levenspiel says Dunwich was in some academic circles as an independent scholar with specialties in the occult and cursed items. Levenspiel is a bit more familiar with Dr. Crowley, the two crossed paths at St. Luc until Levenspiel was discredited for his “mad science.” When Anton Crowley was fresh out of grad school he wrote a series of papers about a theoretical realm beyond what had been discovered. Everything about Crowley’s realm was completely theoretical and based from nothing but ancient myth and Crowley’s own mind. But in the mid-late 70s, Crowley pivoted and became a Professor in Arcana at the university. There would be rumours that he would preform occult rituals in some hidden away lair but these things were never taken seriously and never could be proven. Crowley worked at the University until the 80s when, apparently, he was recruited to run the DMT. This is contrary to what Fizz learned from their interdiction to Crowley at Area Delta in Lightstow when Gen. Sheppard claimed Crowley was still a professor at St. Luc. Fizz also spends this over-extended time-off to fix the computer that was damaged by the White-robed cultists. They spend weeks on repairs and the machine is almost working until Fizz gets a “message” on their PDA. A winky pace, then an ASCII depiction of a moth, then another winky face, and then a proper message, “To finish, you need to do me a favour.” Fizz asks what the favour is and horrified by the response. There is another winky face message then the messages stop, despite Fizz’s follow up questions.
During the time-off Orpheon spends time transcribing the spells in the witch’s spellbook that was found in Borealis Forest. They also take this time to volunteer at the local library and in-between shifts begins extensive research into the Age of Heroes. A lot of what’s written of that time are romantisized, exaggerated tales of real historical figures defeating legendary and mythic threats. The greatest of these, and the only one Orpheon finds that’s almost 100% factual, is the Paladin Evangeline Whitebrook from Cresthall who took down the Lich-Lord Dakzas during the Lichwar of 1410. Orpheon also finds a lot creatures that are currently believed to be legend or myth but they and The Crew have encountered — Mind Flayers, Gibbering Mouthers, as well as angels and fiends. Orpheon begins an essay on their findings.
Tarsamiiria travels to their home, the Verthica Mountains, the trip takes two weeks as Tarsamiiria travels the entire distance on foot. There, they meet their mentor and father-figure, Vekdal Van-Vyre. A nearly-8’ tall Goliath who, after a serious injury, now uses a wheelchair. Vekdal is a stern, serious person but is happy to see her daughter. Tarsamiiria has a hard time explaining to Vekdal why they came to visit and what they need to discuss but eventually explains what they were told by Sarikanna; Tarsamiiria is not a trifling (like they presumed this entire time) but is actually a Dragon-Touched human. Tarsamiiria then tells Vekdal that they were worried by Sarikanna that Vekdal, Slate, and Hyrkul are dangerous and not to be trusted. This and the discussion of dragons in general makes Vekdal uncomfortable, something Tarsamiiria has never seen from their father. Vekdal assures them that they will alway be his daughter and he trusts Tarsamiiria’s judgement but warns against getting too close to this strange woman. Vekdal gives Tarsamiiria what he call the last thing he could ever teach them, don’t let yourself get too comfortable. After this Vekdal changes the subject and asks to hear all about Tarsamiiria’s adventures. After a couple days, Tarsamiiria gets ready to head back to Newhurst but before doing so asks what Vekdal knows about Gwannis Stormboots. Vekdal knew Gwannis was she was an active adventurer but remembers when she transitioned to admin work. Tarsamiiria tells Vekdal their concerns about Gwannis’ abrupt firing to which Vekdal is confused by, things like that aren’t how the Union is supposed to work. Vekdal gives Tarsamiiria Gwannis address and advices to get to the bottom of this mystery. When Tarsamiiria leaves they investigate a construction site that lies between Everwynd and the Verthica Mountains. The place seems recently abandoned and they eventually find a signpost declaring the construction to be indefinitely on hold.
Whisper follows Orlin for days as Orlin attempts to track the Wolfkind but when he son reaches the edge of the Lost Frontier, begins to turn around, it’s then Orlin spots Whisper. He thinks this is nothing but a conscience and tells Whisper he’s lost the Wolf’s trail and was advised by his village elders not to leave the Frontier. Whisper says goodbye but follows him again as soon as there is enough distance, Orlin walks far, far into the Lost Frontier in a direction Whisper is familiar with but soon Orlin begins to take a strange, erratic patten and eventually it becomes too difficult to track Orlin. Whisper realizes he’s not far from his home — a village hidden in the Andromeda Wilds. He heads towards his long-abandoned home but spots the edge of town is guarded by a line of Guard Drakes. They’re of all different colours and some, not unlike Tarsamiiria’s Behemoth, are a combination of types — Red-Gold, Blue-Black, Green-Brass, etc. Whisper keeps his distance and climbs a nearby tree to get better vantage point (aided by the newly purchased Eyes of the Eagle). He spots a village of what he would eventually learn are Dragon-Touched and we watches as Orlin enters the village with ease and enters a central building of the community. Whisper makes a note of this and begins his long trek home.
A few weeks later, Tarsamiiria returns to Newhurst and gathers Vaerin, Fizz, and Orpheon to visit Gwannis. They find her home in the Newhurstian suburbs and Gwaniis cautiously welcomes them in. Gwannis has little information she can give The Crew but explains he termination wasn’t because of anything The Crew did but of an “anonymous report” that was filed against her. Typically an administrator at the Union would be allowed to defend themselves against an accusation but Gwannis wasn’t even told what the report was and was virtually pushed out the door by the Union Heads. Gwannis tells The Crew she wasn’t the only Quest Manager who was fired and a lot of the HR department was let go, the entire Quest Vetting department was shuttered, and, perhaps most distressing of all, the Revivify Program has ended. The Crew is disturbed by this news and not only because of how out-of-the-blue this all is but how its contrary of the tenants to which the Union was founded. Gwannis explains the Union was designed to have checks and balances, so adventurers weren’t just hired out of a tavern with only a verbal agreement. The AUC was broken up into four sub-unions so there could be a democratic process to everything but that seems to all been ignored. Gwannis says the only thing that would explain this is if the Union was taken over by a separate entity. The Crew ask what they should do next and Gwannis just warns them to be careful, there is supposed to be a system to retreat from a job that is beyond them and the job would be reassigned but, she adds, they could threaten their Adventuring Licence and doing their kind of work outside the Union is “legally dicey.” Finally, Tarsamiiria asks Gwannis what she knows about their mentors, Slate and Hurkyl. Gwannis says their assignment was sort of hush-hush but since she no longer works for the AUC she’s happy to tell Tarsamiiria that Slate and Hurkyl were hired to retrieve the Lich-Lord Dakzas’s spellbook the Necronomicon. This has taken a lot longer than the AUC thought it would and eventually Slate and Hurkyl lost contact.
A couple week pass and The Crew are called to meet Topher Thorngut, they are assigned their next job — find the source of and eliminate the zombies that currently overrun Everwynd. The Crew prepare to leave and Whisper shares with The Crew what he discovered in the Wilds and promises to bring Tarsamiiria to the Dragon-Touched village once they all return from Everwynd.
The Crew looks on a Lorraine Hellmouth stands still, in a shocked silence, as nearly a quarter of Borealis Forest is wiped out by Mara’s explosion. There’s nothing for the forest floor left, no body to search for. Her brother, Ed Hellmouth, is gone. As is Mara and Skogdyr. Kovaella is in a similar temperament as Mara has vanished just as quickly as she appeared and this time is feeling a lot more permanent. The Crew eventually convince Lorraine and Kovaella to move as they find someplace safe to set up camp.
The next six days are only barely a blur. While the forest itself seems to be getting back to normal, the mutations to the flora and fauna seem to have more of a lasting effect. The Crew moves through the forest without much problem but along the way Whisper spots large, familiar wolf tracks rushing Westward, seemingly out of the forest. The Crew convince Whisper to stay with the group but he makes sure to note where these tracks would head. ADuring this, everyone wants to talk to Lorraine but no one knows what to say. It isn’t until Vaerin quietly comforts Lorraine with a rub on the back and a warm hand to hold as they walk. Lorraine, while silent, accepts this and softly smiles.
Nearing the end of their journey, Lorraine finally speaks and tells The Crew that the General is going to ask what happened. She will follow The Crew’s lead but advises them to tell, at least, a version of the truth since lying likely won’t go very far. Kovaella adds she wants to withhold her relationship to Mara and says The Crew should just report the discovery of a Void-Ship and an irradiated cosmonaut who battled the forest spirit Skogdyr. This is what The Crew shares with General Sheppard and Dr. Anton Crowley when they, later that day, make it to Area Delta. After this report, though, Whisper asks to privately speak with the General. During this conversation, Tarsamiiria asks Dr. Crowley what he knows about the Dragontouched — he says not very much, other than they were a community of people who were all blessed by dragons, centuries ago but the whole society was lost not long after The Cold. Tarsamiira then asks if Crowley knows the whereabouts of their mentor, Slate Shackleton, who worked in the journalism department at St. Luc University, where Crowley is a professor in arcana. Crowley says last he heard, Shackleton was hired by the AUC for some retrieval mission but doesn’t know anything beyond that. Fizz asks Crowley about Dr. Levenspiel who Crowley says is a disgraced, mad scientist and when he asks for Levenspiel’s whereabouts Orpheon and Fizz say the Professor wouldn’t want them to be too specific.
Sheppard and Whisper return and Sheppard says since the Unidentified Object was eliminated, the job is completed. The Pinesnorth Military will handle the implications of the events in the forest and the party is dismissed and to expect payment at the AUC in Newhurst. The Crew part ways with Lorraine and they wrap things up in Lightstow.
Tarsamiiria has their meeting with Sarikanna at the Locksmith’s Union. Sarikanna says she believes Tarsamiira is Dragontouched themselves due to the horns, eyes, and scales. Tarsamiiria says they were raised to be untrusting of dragons and the sudden impact of their draconic nature has been unpleasant to say the least. Tarsamiiria tells Sarikanna that their mentors had a violent encounter with a dragon and were raised to be untrusting of them, this upsets Sarikanna and asks if Tarsamiiria’s mentors were a goliath, a goblin, and a genasi — Tarsamiiria says yes and Sarikanna warns them that their mentors are dangerous and not to be believed, then rushes out of the Union building. Tarsamiiria follows but when they exit the building they don’t see Sarikanna but a silvery dragon who rockets into the sky and flies away.
Meanwhile, Candy goes to One Shots Bar & Grill where they meet Bestaeryn who’s enjoying a drink before leaving for Newhurst in the morning. Candy tells an exaggerated version of the events in the forest and Bestaeryn beams with pride for their mentee coming into their own. Bestaeryn tells Candy her retirement party will be in the Fall, in Cresthall, and to bring the entire Crew. Bestaeryn has some thing to tie up in Newhurst before fully retiring. The two drink the night away.
Vaerin takes this time to visit her parents. They seem to be doing a lot better since her visit two weeks ago but strangely have no memory of their visit with The Woman in Red. Vaerin’s parents tell her how proud they are of her and Vaerin tells them she’ll no longer sending them money as its time she moves on and supports herself. Vaerin’s parents accept this and give her a loving embrace.
Kovaella, Fizz, and Orpheon visit a library. Fizz finds little info but Orpheon reads about the Void Science program and notices a strange pattern; never in any reporting does the Pinesnorth Void Science Agency give any details on what they were hoping to learn during the nine crewed missions into the void, which each mission was met by more and more denigration from the public. Kovaella searches for info about what she saw in the vision Mara shared and finds in the library an old book, filled with fringe scientific beliefs. A chapter in this book talks about the idea of a fifth realm — Faerie, Shadow, Gehenna, and Elysium (all named after mythical and religious ideas) — a realm they call “The Far Realm” a place that births aberrations and horrific creatures and home to a massive, planet sized creature that has no name but only desires destruction and madness. Kovaella reads this haunting screeds and sees they’re written by (a younger) Anton Crowley.
The next day, The Crew leaves Lightstow and head home for Newhurst. They’re each paid 9800gp and begin their union mandated 3-weeks downtime. The Union heads tell The Crew that since Gwannis Stormboots is no longer with the AUC, their file is going to be reassigned to a new Manager of Quests.
That night, Tarsamiiria meets Vaerin to talk. Tarsamiiria blames themself for Vaerin’s fall at the Orr Canyon and apologizes for not checking in with Vaerin after their severe injury. Vaerin accepts the apology and is quick to forgive Tarsamiiria. Then, Tarsamiiria talks to Vaerin about how, on multiple times in their time together, Vaerin gets very solemn when faced with bodies frozen to death. Vaerin shares that her brother was chronically ill and she did everything she could to care for him but when The Cold happened, her brother froze to death and there was little she could do. So now she carries that with her and its why she left home. Tarsamiiria comforts Vaerin and tells her they are always there to talk to. When Tarsamiiria says they’re travelling to the Mountains to visit their mentor Vekdal and won’t be back for a while. Vaerin immediately suggest they need to get all the Crew together for a night out. They all gather at the Hidden Step Bar and enjoy each other’s company and a night of karaoke!
Three weeks pass and The Crew don’t get a call from the Union. Three weeks becomes four, four becomes five, and whenever one of the Crew calls the AUC, they’re just told to be patient as their file is being reassigned. During this time, Whisper heads to the Lost Frontier, Tarsamiira travels to the Vethica Mountains, Fizz works on the destroyed computer, Orpheon transcribes the spells in the witch’s spellbook, and Vaerin gets a part-time job at WizardBurger. (But more on all that later).
It’s almost 10 full weeks later when The Crew gets a call from “Mr. Thorngut’s Office” about a job. Thorngut is a rough-looking handling who promises The Crew “lots’a money.” Especially with the job they have lined up — Thorngut tells The Crew that the Adventuring Union gets a government stipend to fund efforts in eliminating illegal, necromantic activities and a few months ago the Locksmith’s Union hired a duo to retrieve “some artifact” and one of the duo returned a couple days ago and had to immediately be rushed to St. Markov Hospital. Hearing this, Tarsamiiria immediately figures out who this could be and rushes out of the office. The rest of the party, although worried about Tars, hear the rest of the job’s details. Thorngut explains there’s some necromancy happening in the traditionalist village of Everwynd, a community that has rejected modern society’s ways and continued to live like they did in the 1300s. The returned adventurer told the Union that Everwynd is overrun with zombies and since the Union has strict policies on responding to any and all reports of undead activity, Thorngut got The Crew the assignment.
Meanwhile, Tarsamiiria rushes to St. Markov General Hospital and finds their mentor, Slate Shackleton, in dire straits. A nurse tells Tarsamiiria that Slate is very strong but is also quite sick. The doctors can’t figure out why but the fact is there is plantlike growing inside Slate. Luckily, his Earth Genasi nature is working well to hold back the growth but it’ll be sometime when he’s back on his feet. The Crew arrive to be with Tarsamiira just when Slate, weakly, wakes up. He doesn’t make a lot of sense — apologizing for keeping truths away from Tarsamiiria and being away for so long — but Slate becomes panicked when he remembers that Hurkyl is still in Everywind. Tarsamiiria assures Slate that they and The Crew will handle everything and it will all be okay.
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