So where were we?
The Tiefling Cleric and the Gnome Fighter left the shops and headed to the pub, meeting up with the rest of the party.
The Tabaxi Fighter was trying to cheat people at a game of Liar’s Dice and failing, the Human Ranger and the Kobold Warlock were busy drinking, and then getting into scrapes with the local Genasi.
A Fire Genasi joined the Tiefling and Gnome for a drink. He hinted that there were other gods besides Czernobog still being worshipped, but to do so was illegal. A good way to get their gods back would be to overthrow King Kolschei, which would mean finding a way for him to actually be vulnerable.
The stories go that Kolschei is immortal because he hid his soul inside an egg, then buried the egg in a chest in the forest. Find the egg, save the people. Else everyone would end up like Vlad, the high priest of Bielebog – a man in the corner with one hand, one eye and nasty facial scars.
The Tiefling and Gnome went for a chat with Vlad, who told them that theremight be a way to reverse whatever magic Kolschei had used. One option was to find the old High Priest of Perun, long ago arrested and flung into the dungeon beneath the palace. The other option was to go into the forest, find the woman with the hut on chicken legs, and ask for her help.
Prison would mean having a word with Blind Nico, also in the pub.
At this point, the Kobold and Human started a bar fight, which was pretty good timing, as it meant conversations were harder to overhear.
Nico suggested he might be able to break the party into or out of the palace dungeon, but the information would cost them, and he’d ask for payment later.
It was decided to head to the forest in the morning anyway. In the middle of the night, the Tabaxi was visited by an armed guard and Tsarevna Dagoda – she was tired of ruling in her grandfather’s shadow. If the egg containing his soul could be found in the forest and brought back to the city, there would be a huge reward.
Setting out in the morning, the party made a bet with the gate guard that not only would one of them return, but more than half of the group also would. Winning would net the party fifty gold pieces, and a lone survivor would get twenty-five all to themselves.
The guard laughed for a while.
After a short walk into the forest, just when the road started to disappear into tree roots, some kind of small wooden creatures attacked, shooting needle-like wooden darts and gouging with sharp claws. They were quickly dispatched, but another group was encountered later. They all seemed to spring up from the forest floor.
Finding a clearing full of rose bushes with strange sky blue blooms, the group investigated. A quick sniff by the Gnome made him feel wobbly, a deeper breath by the Kobold knocked him out cold.
He awoke in a world of blackness, with a wet floor under him. He could hear the voices of his friends and feel them nudging him, but in the distance, he could hear a familiar whisper.
Following the whispering voice, the same one he sometimes heard whilst reading his magic book, he found a loathsome looking tree, appearing as if out a mist.
The tree looked horribly bloated in places, gnarled and withered in others, its branches bent in unusual angles.
Clearly now, a familiar voice said ‘this is the tree.’
‘Nice to finally hear you clearly,’ said the Kobold.
‘Nice to finally hear you clearly too, student’ said the voice.
After a bit of a poke around, the Kobold decided to try and head back where he came from, which he managed.
Waking up, he described his vision. The Gnome took two big snorts of blue-coloured rose pollen and fell unconscious.
He didn’t receive a vision.
After harvesting some roses for later use, the party found its way to a stream and realised that a house with chicken legs was nearby on the far bank.
The Tabaxi managed to jump up to the front porch, but couldn’t find a door. He tapped on a dingy window, and a surprised elderly woman pulled back a part of the wall and looked at him.
‘No,’ she said, confused, ‘I have absolutely no idea why a Tabaxi would be knocking on Baba Yaga’s window.’
End of session!
jot jot ïota 