The Lonely Coast Campaign – Brea’s Garden Part 2 (Session 5)

When we last left our heroes, they had been “rescued” by the Fey Queen, Danu, who put them ashore on an island that they soon realized was Brea’s Garden from old Cesvani legend. Their early exploration of the island showed that something strange was going on. A hag had somehow interrupted the “proper” transfer of power from the island’s sleeping Lord and Lady to their mortal avatars and had gained much of that power herself. She had corrupted some of the island’s fey and the party had been attacked twice already. Some of the fey, however, were only bound to their particular areas of the island and not yet corrupted. These fey had provided bits information and had asked favors in exchange. The party was deciding if they should take on another task to gain the favor of another faction of the island’s fey as we ended the last session.

Spoiler Alert: This session is heavily influenced and based on the adventure Beyond the Crystal Cave, both the original (UK1) for AD&D and the 4e version which was part of the D&D Encounters series. I’m going to depart from my normal format to say a few things about this before diving into the session recap.

Once I had hit upon this as one potential “out” for the party from being stranded way out at sea (yes, there were other options that would have happened if they had declined Danu’s offer…who’s to say if they would have been better or not), I decided to use the 4e version as the primary inspiration. So far, with 5e, I have used modules from all prior editions of D&D in this and our Side Quest campaigns except for 4e. So far, all of the “conversions” have pretty much been on the fly and have been relatively painless for me. So I was curious about 4e’s convertibility.

Mechanically, I don’t think the conversion is a big deal. Instead, what has really jumped out at me is the structure of the adventure particularly in comparison to the original UK1 version. The structure of the 4e version is, essentially, a series of scripted encounters while the original was much more open. There is, for example, no overall map of the area covered in the adventure for the 4e version; instead, only encounter maps. The original is pretty much the opposite with an overall map but not many encounter maps.

This, of course, isn’t an indictment of 4e…there are LOTS of published D&D adventures that are highly scripted (adventure paths anyone?). The difference is just how blatantly scripted the 4e version of Beyond the Crystal Cave is in comparison to its predecessor and I’m finding that to be rather jarring. Perhaps it is a result of it being a D&D Encounters adventure and I probably should have considered that before I started using it. Regardless, I’ve found it difficult to run because it is largely a scripted plot rather than a situation. I’m sure I’d have just as much difficulty with an Adventure Path.

It has been so long that I had kind of forgotten how much the adventures I ran back with 3.5 and 4e both needed to be prepared or strongly scripted…at least for me…to run relatively effectively. Despite running 4e for a year and 3.5 for a number of years, I never ever really got comfortable running things on the fly in those games. I’ve largely lost interest in overly scripted games. 5e, and I guess this is the point of all this, has been really easy to run in a non-scripted fashion. I probably should have given the 4e version of Beyond the Crystal Cave a closer look before committed to using it (even if it was just a committment to myself).

Oh well…in for a penny in for a pound, right? We pick up with our heroes, particularly Isenthorne, deciding if it is worth engaging in carnal activity with a satyr to gain favor with his lord, take on a different task offered by the satyr to gain his lord’s favor, or to simply carry on with other tasks on their to do list. So, obviously, I’ve departed from the script a bit…the encounter with the satyr in the adventure certainly doesn’t include one of the PCs being pimped out by the rest of the group. 😉

Although Robin’s attentions were flattering, Isenthorne simply could not consent to sex with him just to gain an audience with his Lord, Ragnar. After much private discussion, the heroes decided that it would be unwise to try and betray Kalindria and so declined to go and “rustle” a couple of unicorns as Robin had asked. Instead, the heroes continued to travel down the path and hoped that Robin would not hinder them.

The satry did not. Instead, he traveled along with the heroes. In a bit, the group came upon a camp of satyrs which turned out to be Ragnar’s camp. A few huts surrounded a central fire and nearly a dozen casks, perhaps mead, sat off to one side of the camp. There were about a half a dozen satyrs in the camp and they were all quite interested to see Isenthorne. Robin, however, cowed them with his own braying in response to their challenging snorts. The heroes were welcomed to the hospitality of the camp and offered mead.

Despite a bit of confusion and innuendo lost upon Isenthorne [or Rachel just didn’t want to listen to Thomas’ suggestion], Thalimor convinced Robin that Isenthorne would like to see a bear cave and that this would, um, excite her. Isenthorne, for her part, simply agreed that she would like to see the bears but without the innuendo. Poor Robin was so taken by Thalimor’s suggestion that he completely missed Isenthorne’s lack of innuendo. The pair headed off for the cave and although the rest of the party wanted to follow, the other satyrs blocked them [they were being Robin’s wingmen as Thomas put it].

The cave was not too far away. Once there, Isenthorne made it quite clear that she had no carnal interest in Robin. The satyr clomped off back to the camp leaving Isenthorne alone at the cave. She quietly moved closer to the cave, maybe about five or ten feet from the entrance. There she dumped out much of the honey pot she was carrying and then started to back away, leaving a dribbling trail of honey.

Before she had gone far, a cub came out of the cave, sniffing the air and went right for the honey. Right after that, momma bear came out and also sniffed the air and caught Isenthorne’s scent. Rearing back on her rear legs, momma stood to height of nearly fifteen feet and let loose a tremendous roar.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Robin returned and bellowed at Thalimor. He angrily accused the bard of having mislead him and demanded vengeance. Pawing the ground, the satyr prepared to charge while Thalimor ran to hid behind his largest ally, Osric. Before Robin could exact his due retribution, the bear’s roar echoed through the woods. The heroes took off running in the direction of the sound.

Isenthorne took off running as the bear came charging through the woods after her. The bear was obviously quicker but Isenthorne had maneuverability and weaved through the trees. The party was a little shocked when Isenthorne went running by, shouting “Run!” As the bear came crashing through the trees, Bay emptied both pots of honey that he was holding and then went running along with everyone else.

Crashing back into the camp, the party made a beeline straight for the casks of mead with momma bear right behind them. It was clear that she would catch at least one of them soon. Bay, valiantly, stood just on the other side of the mead casks in the hope that the bear would crash through them and destroy them. She did just that and Bay took off running using his fey magic to enhance his speed while the other heroes scattered to safety (and eventually circled back to the path).

Bay was able to eventually lose momma bear but he was lost in the woods. Growing up on the deck of a ship did little to prepare him for running through thick woods in a near panic. He set off in the direction that he thought was the right direction and eventually came across a narrow river. This was a bit concerning to the warlock as they had not come across a river while traveling on the path; he took it as a sign that he was definitely lost. He began to follow the river, heading downriver, and soon heard a woman’s voice asking for help.

A beautiful woman was in the river caught in snag of a dead tree on the opposite bank. Her hair looked badly entangled in the branches of the snag. She pleaded for Bay to come and free her. He jumped in the river and swam to the other side. He set about freeing the woman and soon she was. She insisted that she reward him properly and offered to kiss him. Although he protested at first, he eventually acquiesced [to nearly simultaneous groans from both Muse and Rachel].

As the woman embraced Bay and her lips met his, her hair transformed into what looked like seaweed and began to entangle Bay. As she kissed him, his lungs began to fill with water. In a panic, he thrashed himself free from her embrace. Before her “hair” could entangle him, Bay scampered up the bank and into the woods. The woman dragged herself up the bank as well but she had no legs, only strands of seaweed and so Bay easily outpaced her. This flight from danger, however, left him hopelessly lost.

Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes headed back down the trail to the fork. It had been yelled that this was where they should meet if they got separated. When Bay had not showed up after about an hour, the heroes headed back to Kalindria’s meadow. They were introduced to Kalindria’s Lady, Uma. Uma provided the party an oak leaf from her tree and told them that they could find shamrock in the meadow near the lake, mistletoe in the deeper woods, and a rose in the maze in which the sundial stood (the sundial that was the key to getting to the palace).

She also explained a bit more about what had happened to divide the fey…Ragnar’s brashness leading to an attack before Uma could unravel the ritual that the Dream Queen had begun. It was quite obviously his fault that they were in the situation that they were…at least in her mind. She also shared that Ragnar’s cousin, Basal, had been tasked with killing the mortal male (Romano) who was no longer in Uma’s care. The mortal male had chased after a wood nymph earlier and passed from the lands in which Uma could still travel. The dryad no longer knew the fate of the mortal male but could point out the trail that he had followed the nymph.

Torn between continuing their quest to free the island of the hag’s influence (and find a gift worthy of Danu) and finding Bay, the party discussed what should be done. Thalimor pointed out that the rational decision was to continue on their quest as Bay was likely already dead but the others disagreed. The party headed back to the fork and then set off into the woods, confident that Isenthorne could keep them from getting lost.

Almost immediately after heading off of the trail, Isenthorne spotted some mistletoe and a large bunch was harvested. After a short time of additional travel, the sound of snoring could be heard from ahead. Sneaking ahead, Isenthorne found a small clearing with a large slab of rock sitting in the center. Bay, sound asleep and snoring, was lying upon the rock. Some vigorous shaking brought him awake and he was slightly chastised for sleeping, his only defense that he was tired.

Reunited, the party returned to Uma’s meadow and set off on the path she had pointed out that Romano had traveled.

The path went through a bit of a rough ravine filled with brambles and briars with sporadic trees. Passing single file along the narrow trail, most of the party was quite surprised [at least in a mechanical sense] when two of the nearby trees began to move towards them, uprooting themselves, and attacking with their thick branches. Despite some confusion if they were retreating or attacking, the party eventually did enough damage to the trees so that the “de-animated” and re-rooted themselves in the ground, attacking no more.

The trail through the ravine eventually led up a hill to a large tree. A woman, whose beauty even outshone that of Uma and Kalindria, welcomed the heroes to her home. Rosaline, a nymph, explained even more to the party of the happenings on the island. The party learned that the hag, or Dream Queen, was named Sycorax.

Rosaline also shared that at least one of the party’s number did not share the same allegiances as the others. When pressed on this, she simply dismissed it as not her place to shed additional light on the situation. She did, however, give Bay a sad look. Perhaps she simply sensed his connection to Danu as some of the other fey had previously.

The nymph no longer had Romano in her protection. She had, instead, placed in the care of her friend, Oakstaff, and suggested that the heroes speak to him. He may also have some insight to safe travel at the lake.

Before leaving, Thalimor asked if Rosaline knew of any weaknesses that Sycorax might have. She simply asked for Thalimor to hold out his hand. Grabbing him by the wrist, she pricked his palm with her thorny fingernail. She then turned his palm towards the ground. As his blood dripped to the ground, it made an almost tinkling sound, like glass falling on glass. Looking down, a number of small gems were scattered in the grass. Rosaline simply stated that they should each take one and keep it on their persons for aid against the hag.

Each picked up one of the small gems. However, when Bay picked up one, it simply left his hand bloody instead of remaining a gem. Bay was resigned to the fact that whatever boon Rosaline offered was denied has as a result of his fey patron.

The heroes [as the script of the adventure largely requires] headed off to see Oakstaff. The trail Rosaline set them on eventually led to a small grove with a babbling brook and a series of flat stones, almost bench like, placed conveniently close together. As the party entered the grove, a slow and deep voice greeted them and then a large oak tree, an Ent!, stepped out from the surrounding trees.

Oakstaff shared that he no longer had the mortal male in his protection but was reluctant to share the location. When asked about the dangers around the lake and what protections or suggestions he might have regarding safely traveling around it, he had no real suggestions. With Sycorax having some power over the island, dangers could be anywhere and the safest way to go around the lake was simply to go around the lake. Magnus, perhaps the most distant from the old ways of the fey, was not pleased with this and Rosaline of lying. Oakstaff simply stated the fey cannot lie in response.

Oakstaff also shared that Sycorax had been the original “ruler” of the island on the mortal plane. She had been displaced when Lord Jólét transformed the island into what it had eventually become. Her rulership had been back when he himself was but a sapling back in those days.

This prompted Osric to ask to whom Oakstaff owed his allegience, Sycorax or Jólét. The ent was highly offended by the questioning of his loyalties and insisted the party leave his grove. To emphasize his point, he stepped back amongst the trees and the party could no longer distinguish which one was he.

A bit despondent at that turn of events and no wiser as to the location of Romano, the party set off for the lake. Coming to the edge of the woods, they found a wide meadow separating the woods from the lake, a few hundred yards away. A large rose garden could be seen some distance beyond the opposite shore of the lake. At the center of the lake, some sort of structure rose out of the water. It was made of a white stone that shone in the sun, making it difficult to make out any features such as doors or windows.

They decided that they would walk down towards the lake to come within a few yards of the water, looking for shamrocks all the way. Everyone except Osric would focus their attention on the high grasses and wildflowers of the meadow to seek the shamrock while the priest would keep an eye out for any approaching danger. It wasn’t long before a patch of shamrock was found.

It also wasn’t long before Osric spotted what potentially be an approaching danger. At the edge of the woods, he spotted a large and green humanoid creature moving about, probaby some twelve or so feet tall. As the warrior shouted out a warning to his companions, the veerbeg (or so the party assumes from a prior description provided) looked in their direction.

[And that is where we ended the session.

This week was largely a Crit! if you like IPAs. We shared this year’s Bells HopSlam (much better than the past couple of years), some Cigar City White Oak Jai Alai, and Alchemy’s Heady Topper…some of the best IPAs/Imperial IPAs around (all in Ratebeer’s top 50 IPAs/Imperial IPAs with Heady and HopSlam being ranked #3 and #5 in the world for Imperial IPAs). We also shared a Jaipur IPA that RJ had picked up which, sadly, couldn’t hold its own against the others and was a bit of a “miss.” Professor Fritz Briem’s 13th Century Grut was another bottle that RJ shared. I think most everyone enjoyed it. He also brought an Anderson Valley Gose because he knows that Muse doesn’t like IPAs but does like Gose. He’s such a nice guy.]