The Southron Tavern

03 - The Forest's Judgment

7 min read

Opening Situation

the Company ended its short rest beneath the Treetop Toll Outpost in the Shifting Forests. Jeffrey remained imprisoned in Varynx’s lantern, and the Company still intended to deliver Elk’s Wagon to the Keep.

Company Present

Locations Visited

Events

Ash, Flame, and the Nine Lives

before leaving the outpost, Nadia returned to the leather-wrapped object she had taken from the cold brazier. She climbed back into the structure and called Shallie to examine it. The wrapping held a deck of cards, with words traced inside the leather.

when Shallie spoke the final word aloud, the brazier ignited without fuel. Detect Magic showed faint Illusion magic around the deck and an unidentified magic in the flame. The deck’s aura strengthened near the brazier and weakened when Nadia carried it away.

the Company burned the Queen of Hearts. The burned cat in the brazier moved, and ash gathered into a lean feline specter. The Company destroyed it. They then burned both jokers, which produced two more specters instead of moving the cat. The Company destroyed those as well.

Corvex urged everyone to stop testing the brazier. Nadia’s Prestidigitation could not extinguish its fire, but carrying the deck away caused the flame to weaken and die. The Company took both the deck and the brazier, leaving the puzzle unfinished.

The Forest’s Judgment

as the Company descended, roots moved beneath the ground and trees closed the paths around them. Branches covered the canopy, and the forest fell silent. A dryad whom the chronicle calls the Forest Warden appeared with sprites, pixies, satyrs, and an armed centaur champion.

the Warden condemned the bloodshed, the damaged and blood-stained trees, and Jeffrey’s imprisonment. Roots and vines tried to bind Varynx, but he escaped them. When ordered to release Jeffrey, Varynx proposed a trial by combat and confronted the Warden face-to-face.

Corvex declared that Varynx did not speak for him and used Command to order him to halt. While Varynx stood frozen, Karis struck the chain holding the lantern with Eldritch Blast. The chain broke, the lantern opened, and Jeffrey escaped to the Warden and the other fey.

before the confrontation could resolve, the forest shook with axes and marching feet. A horn sounded beyond the clearing.

The Red Tusks

four orcs broke into the enclosure and claimed the forest for the Red Tusks. The Warden told the Company to repay the forest by defending it. She and much of the fey host left to meet attacks elsewhere, while a centaur and several satyrs remained beside the Company.

Corvex fought at range with Guiding Bolt and Sacred Flame and healed Varynx when he was wounded. Nadia repeatedly hid among the shadows and foliage before firing her bow. Karis and Shallie took the outpost’s high platforms, attacking with Eldritch Blast, Produce Flame, and Ice Knife. Varynx fought beside the centaur champion, their cooperation becoming a running contest of strength and skill.

more orcs arrived whenever horns sounded deeper in the forest. Mounted raiders followed on hounds that vanished and reappeared whenever attacks threatened to strike them.

the final horn announced the Red-Tusk chieftain. He threw a javelin that became a line of lightning, striking Varynx, the centaur, and one of the satyrs. The Company and the remaining fey held their positions, killed the chieftain, and defeated the orcs who remained in the clearing.

The Cost of Victory

one satyr died in the battle. When the Warden returned, Corvex knelt beside the body and used Spare the Dying as a final gesture, knowing it could not restore someone already dead.

the Company recovered greataxes, ordinary javelins, armor scraps, usable chain mail, 20 gp, and the chieftain’s Lightning Javelin.

the Warden judged that the Company had answered part of the forest’s grievance by defending lives that were not their own. Green light formed a leaf-shaped mark on each member of the Company before fading from view. The Warden said the blessing would make hostile attacks less likely to strike them within the forest and would allow its paths to guide them.

the Company asked for safe passage to the Keep. The Warden granted it. Mist surrounded the Company and cleared beyond the forest, where the distant walls of the Keep were finally visible.

A Hunger Unseen

Character Knowledge: Varynx

after the Company made camp beyond the forest, Varynx returned alone through the mist to the fallen orcs. He tore open one corpse and ate its heart. No other character witnessed this, though the event was known to everyone at the table.

The Dead Fire

at the Forest Edge Campsite, Nadia and Shallie returned to the deck and brazier. Away from the outpost, speaking the words inside the leather wrapping did not relight the brazier. A card burned in an ordinary campfire like ordinary paper, producing neither movement nor a specter.

Shallie then turned back to the faint magic she had sensed around the wagon. Her attention settled on a square-headed black iron nail beneath the driver’s bench. Nadia used a hammer recovered from the outpost workshop to pry it loose.

the fresh smell of the wagon’s provisions vanished immediately. The food sagged inside its containers, spoiled and discolored. What had appeared fresh throughout the journey had been concealed by an Illusion. The Company now stood within sight of the Keep with a wagon full of rotten cargo.

Decisions

  • Nadia revealed the deck and burned-cat brazier to Shallie and then the rest of the Company.
  • The Company stopped experimenting after destroying three feline specters.
  • Corvex rejected Varynx’s challenge on behalf of the Company, and Karis freed Jeffrey.
  • The Company defended the Shifting Forests from the Red Tusks.
  • The Company accepted the Warden’s blessing and requested safe passage to the Keep.
  • Nadia removed the black iron nail after Shallie’s magic isolated it beneath the driver’s bench.

Discoveries

  • The deck carries faint Illusion magic, and its aura grows stronger near the brazier.
  • Speaking the words inside the leather wrapping ignited the brazier at the outpost.
  • Burning the Queen of Hearts produced one feline specter; burning both jokers produced two.
  • The deck and brazier did not reproduce the effect after being removed from the outpost.
  • Jeffrey belongs among the forest’s fey guardians and escaped when Karis broke his lantern chain.
  • The Red Tusks were attacking the forest at several points.
  • The Warden’s leaf-shaped blessing protects and guides the Company within the Shifting Forests.
  • Removing the black iron nail ended an Illusion that had concealed the wagon’s rotten provisions.

People Encountered

  • Forest Warden, a dryad who spoke and passed judgment for the forest
  • an unnamed centaur champion who fought beside Varynx
  • sprites, pixies, and satyrs defending the forest
  • the unnamed chieftain and warriors of the Red Tusks

Objects Involved

Open Questions

  • What is the intended solution to the deck, brazier, and burned-cat puzzle?
  • Why did the deck and brazier stop working after leaving the outpost?
  • Who are the Red Tusks, and why were they attempting to seize the forest?
  • What will the forest’s blessing require or mean beyond the protection the Warden described?
  • Who enchanted the black iron nail and concealed the cargo’s decay?
  • What should the Company do with the rotten provisions before reaching the Keep?

Current Circumstances

the Company is camped at the Forest Edge Campsite beyond the Shifting Forests. The walls of the Keep are visible in the distance. Jeffrey is free, the Company bears the Warden’s hidden leaf mark, and the deck and brazier are inactive outside the outpost. The black iron nail has been removed from Elk’s Wagon, revealing that its provisions are rotten.

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