4th day of Sunsebb, CY 580 (not exactly) - A sword for the chance to kill a deity

 After a brief stand-off with the man (hero/quasi-deity, actually) known as Murlynd, calmer heads prevailed and the sword was returned to its case. But it wasn't until Sarril's familiar, Krek, showed up that Murlynd trusted the party enough to put away his guns.

Krek is an Orrek, which is a special supernatural familiar from the Plane of Concordant Opposition (Dragon Magazine #86) and one of the purposes of such a familiar to guide the soul of its master to the afterlife. The party had learned earlier that the outer planes were cut-off from the prime material plane, except through the use of powerful portals, like the black bubble Lolth had created over Istivin, or the one in her temple that brought the party to the Abyss. This meant that while Sarril was dead, his soul was stuck in the ethereal plane, unable to get home. Krek understood that the mirror in Murlynd's living room was one of Boccob's Mirrors (a Mirror of Mental Prowess), which happened to have once belonged to Zagyg (once a Magic User and Priest of Boccob). Krek intended to use the mirror to get Sarril's soul to Boccob's Great Library, but it looks like today was not the day for that.

Varys, still with True Seeing enabled, could see the invisible Krek leading the ethereal soul of Sarril toward the mirror. Murlynd, just by his nature as quasi-deity, was able to see the invisible Krek, and instantly seemed to recognize him. "Hello Krek, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Krek turned visible for all to see - a 3 ft. tall humanoid covered in green fur. "Hello Murlynd, it has been a long time. I am going to use this mirror to take my master's soul home."

"Who is your master?" Murlynd asked.

Krek pointed to Sarril's dead body, which was currently being carried by Pontus. This seemed to turn Murlynd immediately friendly toward the party. Whatever his past relationship with Krek, it was clear that a friend of Krek's is a friend of Murlynd's. With everyone calm and the sword returned, Murlynd invited the party to sit and meet in his parlor and discuss what was going on.

Murlynd was an excellent host and provided the party with food and beverage while they talked. Many questions were asked and answered on both sides. Some of the key information the party learned from Murlynd was:

• This demi-plane was created by Zagyg and, as he descended into madness, this plane reflected that. Hence visitors to this place will also slowly succumb to madness. Many of the residents were once servants and guards of Zagyg, while others were adventurers who stumbled upon the place.
• Murlynd's house offered protection from the madness, and the loss of Wisdom points would be restored over time once outside of the influence of maddening effects.
• Due to being cut-off from the outer planes, those who die here have their souls trapped. Sarril could use Boccob's mirror to join the afterlife, or attempt to have his soul placed back in his body through a Raise Dead spell, but if did neither of those things, he would risk becoming like the Witch-Ghost the party encountered in the attic. That being was once a servant of Murlynd's who ventured outside too often and then took her own life after succumbing to the madness.
• He explained that the sword the party was trying to take is called Gorgorin the Shatterer, and once belonged the death knight known as Saint Kargoth the Betrayer. Saint Kargoth has agents (mysterious members of an organization called the Sunsebb Sodality) scouring the planes in search of this sword and wants nothing more than to have it returned to him. The Company of the Seven (as Murlynd's adventuring party was once called) went on a quest to retrieve the sword after the Temple of St. Cuthbert in which it had been held fell to ruin. Murlynd's companion, Heward, constructed the grandfather clock with permanent non-detection magic to shield sword from scrying and other detections. Zagyg constructed this demi-plane to hold the clock, and Murlynd was assigned to be its protector.
• He also explained that one hour in the Abyss translates to one day on the Prime Material plane, and since the party had spent more than four days in the Abyss already, almost a year had passed on Oerth. It was now the 25th Day of Readying, CY 581.

That last bit of shocking news prompted the party to ask about current events on Oerth. Murlynd described a pretty bad scene, including:

• About the 8th Day of Ready'reat, CY 580, disaster struck in Chendl. Out of the depths of the city, an ancient and powerful evil was awakened. An entity now believed to be Ferrante, the first Paladin of Heironeous, who was struck down by the god himself after he became corrupted. Though Saint Kargoth is the first known death knight, he was built in the image of Ferrante, who was a proto-death knight of sorts.
• Ferrante's reign of destruction was swift and devastating. The Knights of the Hart fought back against Ferrante's forces of undead and eventually gained the upper hand, however, King Belvor himself, having just lost his son and feeling he had nothing left to lose, led the final charge. Ferrante was destroyed, but King Belvor was slain in the process.
• Furyondy is now in turmoil. The next in line for succession is Duke Tynneman, who is currently ruling as regent and struggling to keep a fractured Furyondy whole.
• The Red Death continues to spread, with the only apparent cure being offered by a Cult of Pholtus, which has grown quite large in the wake of all of the destruction.
• But most concerning is that after Castle Hart was virtually abandoned to fight Ferrante, and the forces of the Horned Society were weakened from massive counter-attacks from the Shield Lands, Iuz found an opportunity to grow his influence. His forces, virtually unchecked, invaded Molag and took over overnight. Within a few days, Iuz grew his small kingdom into an Empire. All of the remaining scattered forces of evil in the region came flocking to his banner. Without Furyondy to keep him in check, he spread his forces south beyond Whystil Lake and west into the Vesve Forest. Thanks only to a mysterious wizard named Philidor, he has been kept in check in the Vesve Forest.
• As for down south, Lolth's bubble expanded to cover all of Sterich, and her demonic forces have been breaking through the bubble with regularity. Without divine magic, the demons are nearly impossible to stop. King Scotti of Keoland is throwing all of his forces at trying to contain the threat, but it is a losing battle
• Murlynd stated  he and others, like members of the Circle of Eight, were currently focused on the trying to stop the mists that were cutting off the outer planes, and not able to do as much to help with the bubble. Even more importantly, King Scotti, as with most of the rulers of Keoland, have had strict laws regulating magic use outside of the royal court and the mysterious organization known as the Silent Ones, so helping directly is difficult.

The party explained about how they made a deal with a quasit to exchange the sword for passage into Lolth's ship. The only other way into the ship would require fighting their way through demon hordes - an impossible task for anyone. Murlynd gave this much consideration, then told the party they may rest overnight and he will return tomorrow.

And so they rested. The next morning, Varys took the opportunity to pray for a Raise Dead spell, which she successfully used on Sarril. When Murlynd returned, he informed the party that, after consulting with his peers, they have concluded that destroying Lolth is the more important than protecting the sword at this time, and stated he is willing to let them have it in order to fulfill their quest. He also confirmed that the holy avenger sword carried by Sir Fenius would be the key to destroying Lolth, though he warned that the sword may be destroyed in the process. He also told them that because they are cut off from the outer planes, the Mirror of Boccob would be the only way back to the Abyss, and gave Sarril the command phrase before leaving again.

Sarril placed the entire grandfather clock in the portable hole, but the party decided to stay one more day to fully heal and rest up. During this time, Varys communed with Kord and received more valuable information about their quest. Feeling fully ready to face what was coming, the party stepped through the mirror and back to the cliff where they had left the quasit.

____________________________________________________________________

Sarril pulled out the sword to show the quasit that they had it. There was some, not unexpected, back and forth between the party and the quasit about who could trust who, but that was cut short as the powerful aura of the sword attracted the attention of several demons, who began heading toward the parties location. Sarril handed over the sword, which the quasit made disappear quickly, before  teleporting the party to a platform just outside the front doors of the ship. True to his word, the quasit handed over the keycard, then disappeared.

The doors were not like anything the party had seen before. Made of some strange metal, smooth, with no discernable handles or hinges. There was a slot next the door where Sarril was instructed to insert the card he was given. He did so, and this triggered the door to slide open rapidly, revealing a staircase leading up to a waiting room with a desk.

Behind the desk was a six-armed demon known who identified herself as the Matron of Lolth (a Marilith, or Type V demon for those really old-school players). She had her scimitars sheathed and strapped to her body, using her six arms and hands to sort through a mess of paperwork on the desk. As the party approached, the demon looked up and said "The mistress is expecting you. You will need to sign-in." The demon then proceeded to sort through the papers in frustration, looking for a visitor log that was nowhere to be found. Finally, she replied "Wait here, I will be right back" and then left the room through a door behind the desk.

The party discussed this strange development, trying to decide if the demon was sounding an alarm, or truly going to let them in if they wait. Ava was convinced she would be back soon with backup, and used her Ring of Invisibility and Inaudibility to hide. The rest of the party decided to wait and see what happens.

The Matron soon returned with the ledger and placed on the desk, just as Ava succeeded with a backstab against it. Ava did quite a bit of damage - more than 50% of the demon's hit points were removed in just one attack, which was quite impressive. The Matron, in response, activated an innate See Invisibility ability, spun around, drew her six scimitars and eviscerated Ava with much prejudice. While not completely dead, Ava was now below zero hit points and bleeding out on the floor. It was now the turn of the rest of the party, who all spoke up at once "She's not with us!" (well, okay, not the paladin, who really, really, really wanted to kill this demon, but managed to hold it together knowing that he needed to save his strength for the real fight that was coming). They all signed the ledger.

The Matron, seeing no more threats in the room, and seeing that the party was signing the ledger, managed to calm herself down. In the meantime, Pontus checked on Ava's wrecked body and began applying first aid to stop the bleeding. Varys put a minor healing spell to top it off. Not enough to make Ava fully functional again, but enough to ensure she stays breathing. Pontus then picked up Ava and the Matron led everyone through the spider ship on their way to see Lolth.

They passed through several rooms containing hill giants and frost giants, who left them alone while they were escorted by the Matron. They came through a set of doors and into a massive room that looked like it took up the bulk of the abdomen of the spider ship. Within this chamber there was an approximately 150 x150 foot opening, several stories deep. On the other side of this chasm stood Lolth, in her hybrid spider form. Around her were some grizzly sights, including that of a naked drow female, tied to the wall, as sword spiders cut and completely peeled her skin from her body as she screamed in pain. But once flayed, her skin magically healed and reformed, and the spiders started again. This was a preview of the type of eternal torture the party would likely endure at Lolth's hands if they should fail.

"Welcome to our home, little ones," Lolth spoke to them. "You have done very well, so far - but only against our puny minions. Nevertheless, you force us to dispose of you personally."

It is now the 25th Day of Readying, CY 581 in game. In real-life, we will conduct this battle on Sunday, August 29th. 

4th Day of Sunsebb, CY 580 - Another tragedy. . . and an encounter with greatness

Those who have played EX1 - Dungeonland, and EX2 - The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror know that at the end of EX1, there is a boat on a beach that the players can use to sail to EX2, but accessing that beach requires going through the castle of the Red Queen after completion of the plot objective. After the players made it very clear that they did not want to play the EX1 module, I decided to accelerate their path to EX2. I did this by combining the maps from EX1 and EX2 into one, so that if they stayed overland, they would come upon the Magic Mirror House fairly quickly. I tried to dissuade the party from dealing with the duchess or the queen and therefore getting to the Magic Mirror House as quickly as possible.

In hindsight, I should have just started with EX2 (which is definitely more monster and treasure heavy, rather than intrigue focused), but I thought the PCs would need the experience gain from both modules before facing off against Lolth, especially after they effectively skipped most of D1 (troglodyte caves) and D2 (Shrine of the Kuo-toa). We will just have to see how it goes.

When we left off, the party had emerged from a forest into a road on a meadow and just met a giant dog. The dog turns out to be a pet of the duchess, whose manor is just up the road. The dog was friendly enough to the party, as they had just removed some giant ticks from its back. The dog led the party up to the duchess' house.

In front of the house was a bullywug with a spear and a shield. It looked like any other bullywug, except that it spoke eloquent common. Ava decided to speak to the bullywug and negotiate entrance to the house to see the duchess. "Enter at your own risk," the bullywug said "the mistress is in a foul mood." The party could hear the screams of an angry woman coming from inside the house, along with the sounds of breaking glass.

Ava insisted that the bullywug take them inside, which seemed to upset it. After a brief argument, the bullywug said "don't make me call the guards." Ava took that as a threat and attempted to plunge her sword into the creature, a maneuver that it easily parried. It then called out "Guards!" and several more bullywugs came from around the house to join the fight. The bullywug then attacked Ava with its spear and Ava dodged out of the way. None of the rest of the party joined in the fight, making this clearly a one on one match between Ava and the bullywug.

The two opponents stared at each other after neither being able to strike a blow to the other. The bullywug then straightened itself up, dusted itself off, cleared its throat and, trying to hide its embarrassment, said "Ah, very well. You are a worthy opponent. You may go inside, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Inside the house was another bullywug - the majordomo. In the background the PCs could see kuo-toan servants running back and forth in what looked like a dining room, dodging dishes and glasses being thrown at them, all the while hearing a shrieking woman yelling about all kinds of things, from the placement of silverware, dirty glasses, wrong colored napkins, etc. The majordomo asked the party to identify themselves, which Ava did, and then he started looking at a guest list trying and failing to find their names. He asked, clearly nervous, "um, are you on the guestlist?"

Ava could easily pick up what was going on. Their names obviously weren't on the list, and the majordomo did not want to risk the wrath of his mistress. If they were let in and were not on the list, he could lose his head. If they were supposed to be on the list but were not on the list, he could lose his head. Ava grabbed the list and wrote her name on the bottom - AVA + 5. The majordomo was clearly shocked at the brazenness of this action, but did not know what else to do, so simply said "please make yourselves at home and I will announce when dinner is ready."

The party had pretty much free reign of the house at this point. The kuo-toan servants mostly ignored them as they scrambled to prepare a dinner party as the mistress continued to yell and threaten and throw things at them. After searching the house and finding very little of interest, and briefly sitting at the table and drinking some bad wine, they decided to go looking for the duchess to talk to her, and they followed the sounds of the yelling, now coming from upstairs. The duchess appeared to be a female dwarf who was decked out in fantastic, expensive, yet gaudy, jewelry. She also turn out to be, unsurprisingly, insane, and of little help to the party. They did find out that the dinner party was for the Red Queen, and they decided it might be worth staying to talk to the queen. Getting no more information from the duchess, they decided to explore the cellar while they wait.

In the cellar they found what looked like a tunnel that have been covered up (poorly) with brick and mortar. Pontus used Kord's Hammer to smash the wall and see what was on the other side. It was a tunnel that went as far as they could see. The players decided to leave it alone until after dinner.

What is funny about this is that the players had stated that they did not want to play this module, and wanted to "fast forward" to the place where they could get the sword. While that meant forgoing lots of EXP and magic items, I was trying my best to keep things moving. I hate to railroad players, but I couldn't let them stick around here and get dragged into a long side-quest. . .

Sarril's familiar, Krek, was flying around over top of the manor house and reported that the king and queen, along with an entourage that included a jester, and over 100 armored foot soldiers and crossbowmen, were on their way and almost to the house. This caused the party to rethink staying for dinner, and they took a vote and decided to take the tunnel and see where it goes. They followed for about a mile and came to a door that opened into a laboratory. . .

EX2 - The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror

This is the Magic Mirror House in the sequel module, The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, and turns out to be exactly where they needed to be to get the item they came for. This strange house appears to be the home of a wizard, judging by the alchemical and other components in the lab. But it also house a number of very strange, very foreign objects of technological origin. Most of the house resembled something from Earth's Edwardian era - not that the party would recognize what that is, but some objects, like a VCR, were from 1980s Earth. The house was electrified with light bulbs in chandeliers and wall sconces, and working light switches on the walls.

Krek informed Sarril that he remembers this place, as it belonged to his former master. Though Krek's memory was hazy, being in this place was starting to bring it all back. He knew that this place was accessible from Castle Greyhawk, before a tragic, yet wonderful, accident destroyed the castle towers.

As the party searched the rest of the basement, they found a glowing half sphere in the floor with a creature inside that appeared to be made out of pure light. The creature moved around inside of the sphere at such great speed that it appeared to be a blur, or even teleporting at times. It was smashing against the inside of the sphere trying to get at the PCs, causing sparks and flashes each time. They decided to leave that creature alone.

Heading upstairs was the most interesting of all. Here they found a conservatory with strange plants that were being watered by a floating watering can, a kitchen with an ice box powered by a trapped para-elemental of cold, a study with a lot of strange books (some bound in paper with paintings on the cover). The books were written in a strange language, but Ava's Read Languages skill was used to some effect to determine that these were fictitious novels about Earth's Wild West. One book in particular was written in Oerth's common language and titled "Murlynd’s Early Adventures & Subsequent Ventures." Sarril recognized the name of Murlynd as a famous member of a group of adventurer's in Oerth's recent history known as the Company of the Seven. Other members included Zagig, Tasha, Keoghtom, Heward, Quaal, and Nolzuur. Many magic items, and some artifacts, are named for these famous adventurers. Sarril pocketed the book for later reading.

In the study, they found a not that read:

Dear Folks,

So happy you were able to stop in during my absence. Please be careful not to disturb anything! Check to see that the plants and pets are being properly cared for—they should all be alive and healthy! Help yourselves to whatever you need to eat. Mind you don’t eat me out of house and home, though! The two scrolls might be of some small use to you in the adventures ahead. If you notice any other small objects you are in need of, help yourselves, but leave the silverware alone. If you should see Zagyg, do tell him that Keoghtom and I are waiting for Denkainen, who will be along soon enough. Have fun! 

- Dr. M

Sarril took the scrolls before the party moved on to the Collection Room, which contained a large mirror on the wall (reminiscent of one of Boccob's Mirror's, though the party did not have the command word to activate it), a grandfather clock with a strange face on it (with eyes and a mouth that moved), and a large collection of butterflies, small animals, birds, etc., all preserved in glass enclosures. The clock had a piece of paper sticking out of it that contained a note. Read Languages had to be used to read it, but it said:

Dear Murlynd, 

Sorry you weren’t home when I brought Grampa C. back all fixed and running. No time to look at the rest now. Will fix the organ when I get a spare day. See you at Cousin Z’s place? 

- Heward

Sarril, with his high intelligence and ability to notice simple illusions, and Pontus, with his natural ability to detect illusions, both noticed that the pendulum in the clock wasn't what it looked like. The swing of the pendulum wasn't right for its size and shape, and the shadows it cast just looked a little bit off. While the clock face radiated magic, no magic could be detected from the pendulum. Ava opened the glass enclosure that contained the pendulum and as soon as she did so, Sir Fenius, the paladin of St Cuthbert, immediately felt its evil aura. Sarril cast Detect Evil and could also feel the aura. This was an intense, primordial evil, the likes of which no one in the party has felt since the Golden Skull in the Temple of Elemental Evil. They knew that this might be the sword they are looking for, but were reluctant to grab it before exploring the rest of the house. After all, if this is the home of the famous Murlynd, they would definitely like to avoid getting on his bad side. Ava closed the door to the clock and the evil radiation ceased. They hoped it wasn't open long enough for whatever Murlynd is hiding it from to sense it.

They decided to explore the rest of the house before coming back to the clock. There was very little of interest on the second floor, but the attic proved interesting. It looked like no one had been in the attic in decades, as everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. Many crates and chests made movement difficult, so everyone had to wind their way around single file. In the corner appeared to be several magic items that interested the party. Ava, ever curious, was the first to approach and came face to face with a witch-ghost who immediately attempted to take possession of Ava, which she managed to resist. The rest of the party that was within range attacked, including Sarril, who fired a lightning bolt at the ghost, doing some decent damage. Varys attempted to turn the ghost and failed, so there was nothing left to do but fight.

The next round the ghost let out a piercing wail (save vs. death or die). Everyone made their save except Varys (the new dwarf cleric) and Sarril. Both had some magic resistance - Sarril from his special familiar and Varys from his proximity to the paladin's holy sword. Varys' magic resistance saved her, but Sarril's did not. Sarril immediately dropped to the ground. Rest in Peace, Sarril, one of the last two original party members.

I should note at this point that, while I forgot to mention it in-game, I did later roll for Sarril's familiar, Krek, who also had some magic resistance. Krek managed to live, though most of the party wouldn't know because he tends to stay invisible. But it could be important later.

The remaining party fought hard until the witch-ghost was dead. Luckily, it could only wail once, and after that, it didn't take long to bring it down. Ava collected the magic items while Pontus collected the body of Sarril. Pontus, having spent the longest time with Sarril, was emotionally distraught and insisted that Sarril could be brought back to life. Unfortunately, the cleric had not prayed for a Raise Dead spell that day, having opted instead for True Sight, which, it turns out, was key to obtaining the sword, which the rest of the party now agreed needed to be done.

Back to the Collection Room they went, with Sarril's body being carried by Pontus. Varys cast True Sight and, sure enough, could now see the wicked two-handed sword, exactly as the quasit had described, hanging in the clock where the pendulum should be. Pontus opened the door and Ava, using a curtain to avoid touching the sword, removed it from it's case. As soon as she did so, the room grew slightly cold, and began to warp. There was a loud POP in the middle of the room where there suddenly appeared a man in a long trench coat and a Stetson hat. He immediately threw back the sides of his coat

to reveal two strange metallic wands with handles, which he quickly drew, aiming one at Ava and one at Pontus as he said "You have three seconds to put that sword back. . . one. . ." Ava started to protest. . ."two. . ." she immediately put the sword back and backed away.

Still with his wands out, the man then asked "Who are you and what are you doing in my house!?"

It is the fourth day of Sunsebb, CY 580. To be continued. . . 

4th Day of Sunsebb, CY 580 - Cheshire Cats, Worms and Hookahs. . . Oh My!

This was our first session back in-person in over a year. The DM was rusty and slow, but slowly getting his groove back. The players were anxious for an exciting adventure full of killing things, though not much of that actually happened. We will get there.

We also decided that Fantasy Grounds is too cumbersome. I don't want to knock FG, as I think it is a great tool, but there are three factors at play here.

1. As with any software, there is a learning curve. The more you use it, the easier it becomes. But we seem to only get together once in a blue moon, so its like we have to all re-learn the software each time we get together.

2. I'm definitely having some performance issues. Lots of staring at hourglasses as we try to move things around. I believe this is partially because I decided to move the software onto an older Windows 2019 Server. The server, which has dual 3.0 GHz XEON processors (8 cores total) and 40GB of RAM, is very good as a media server and file server, but I don't think FG is optimized for this architecture as most people run it from their PCs. I just didn't want to drag out my PC each time, and I wanted a perpetual server running so players could manage their characters outside of game time. This just isn't how the software is designed to work.

3. Most importantly, FG, like all virtual tabletops, requires a lot of preparation from the DM before each session. While there is a lot built-in, and many pre-loaded modules you can buy, most of the older stuff (1e/2e) isn't available, and so scanning and importing maps, configuring Line of Sight, building out NPCs and monsters, creating magic items that aren't already in the database, etc., takes a very long time. I've loaded most of Dungeonland and its sequel, Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, but only because I've had a lot of downtime during the pandemic. I also have most of Q1- Queen of the Demonweb Pits ready to go, but after that, not so much. The software was purchased to save time and speed up gameplay, but its not really accomplishing that for us.

With all of that said, I decided to keep FG around and just use it for character sheet management and for looking up information. It is good at those things, even if slow.

Anyway, we left our heroes in the Tiny Garden, having just defeated a Hangman Tree using makeshift weapons and spell power. Their next act was to explore a cottage to the north. They entered and found what looked like a normal cottage, though something was a bit off. Sarril could tell there was an illusion of sort at play here. The party decided to take some time to search, and they all soon realized the illusion disguising the fact that they were inside a stone box, and the walls were closing in fast. Fen immediately used his holy sword to  Dispel Magic, which failed to stop the walls from moving in, but Sarril followed up with his own Dispel Magic, which worked. The party quickly escaped the kill box and decided to take their exploration elsewhere.

They eventually happened upon a well, which Ava immediately climbed into. While there was nothing in the well, there was a trapdoor nearby that the rest of the party explored. The trapdoor led down into a small hovel with a cot, a desk, alchemical supplies, and several books (most likely spell books, labeled I - IX). Sarril grabbed the books and cast Detect Traps. Realizing they were trapped, he put them away for later.

The group reconvened and decided that whoever owns these spell books may have some insight as to where they can find the sword they were questing for. They decided to investigate two smaller cottages on the other side of the orchard. The first cottage contained two large porcupines sitting at a kitchen table having a meal. They decided to leave them alone and go to the second cottage. This scene was similar, but instead of porcupines, it was two huge lizardfolk. The party decided to barge in without knocking, much to the surprise of the two lizardfolk living peacefully inside. The party appeared to be menacing, and the only exit was the front door, so after the party started demanding information, one o the lizardfolk decided to try to barrel past the party, which had decided to block the door to prevent escape. Enraged, the lizardman attacked in order to escape and was beaten down for his efforts. The remaining lizardwoman was shocked that the party had just murdered her partner, and also scared of what was about to happen to her.

Meanwhile, the two giant porcupines from the other cottage came to investigate the commotion happening in their neighbor's house, saw the attack taking place, and fired several quills at the party. The party moved into the lizard cottage and closed the door. One of the porcupines then ran off to get help. It was at this point that the paladin in the party (whose player was absent, so the DM had to step in) refused to let the party attack or threaten the lizardwoman. Seeing what was going down, Varys the cleric decided to heal the lizardman, who was not quite dead yet. The party apologized for the intrusion and the mistake and started a dialog with the lizardwoman. They learned that this place belongs to the wizard Charldos, but lizardfolk know nothing of the sword the party seeks, nor even what is outside of this Tiny Garden. She did confirm that the exit is to the very south. The party decided they should probably leave before the wizard comes back. Sarril understood very well what spell books labeled VII, VIII, and IX mean, and what sort of wizard would own something like that).

On the way out, Ava somehow talked the party into exploring more of the Tiny Garden, to make sure they covered everything. While this is normally a good idea in any dungeon, it is probably not wise when you just stole the spell books belonging to an archmage. One of the first things Ava did was start drinking from one of the waterfalls. The water turned out to have random potion effects, so, of course, she drank several times just for fun, finally ending up enlarged for a time (but nothing else permanent or debilitating, luckily for her). She also decided to spend some time listening to the Jack in the Pulpit, who espoused the virtues of plants and growing and protecting plants. This had the effect of a permanent alignment shift to neutral, but since Ava was already of neutral alignment, the end result was primarily to give her a desire to become a botanist (maybe even a druid at some point, we shall see where it goes).

Jack in the Pulpit

Given that Ava listened and cooperated with the creature, the party didn't have to fight its protectors, and so they moved on. The next thing they found was that the statue of the rabbit had gone missing. This was curious, and some surmised that the rabbit may have been the wizard Charldos in disguise, and that he was now on the move. Possibly stalking them invisibly. And, as it turns out, that is exactly what Charldos was doing. You see, Charldos is a powerful archmage, but he is also quite insane and reclusive, avoiding interacting with people as much as possible. But the party attacked his servants and stole his spell books, so as much as he had hoped the party would just go away, he had to do something about that.

It was about this time that the party made the very smart decision to rest and recover hit points. They chose the peaceful alcove where the plants let off a healing aura that also gave them the temporary ability to speak with plants. They setup watches and slept through night, getting healed and refreshed. Charldos took this opportunity to invisibly sneak into the camp and steal his spell books back. Luckily for the party, no one noticed this, so that meant avoiding a fight with an archmage, which was probably for the best. Still, had they just taken the books and ran, Sarril could be taking inventory of some cool 9th level spells. Oh well, this is how the game is played.

The party woke up refreshed, but also changed in one other significant way. Everyone had lost a point of Wisdom. It isn't clear if this is a temporary or permanent effect, but it was noticeable, especially by Sarril and Varys, whose clerical spell bonuses were affected. The party was anxious to find this sword as quickly as possible and get out of this place. They moved south and crawled through the rabbit hole and got far away from the Tiny Garden.

They found themselves in a forest of tall fungi. Of course, it wasn't that the fungi was tall, it was that they were all still tiny. Whatever it was that they ate to become small seemed to be permanent - at least until they found something to reverse it. The party noticed an interesting blue mushroom ahead in the distance and decided to check it out. Atop the mushroom was a caterpillar (actually a behir that was shrunk down relative to the party's size, and disguised to look like a caterpillar). The behir/caterpillar was smoking a hookah and blowing smoke rings. Ava thought that was cool and immediately tried to catch one of the smoke rings. It turned into a valuable gold necklace. The party decided to ask about the sword, to which the behir replied it knows about a sword, and told them to catch the rings, blowing some more smoke rings. Fen tried to catch one of the rings, which turned into a rope of ensnarement, ensnaring and trapping him. The party decided they would have none of that and attacked the behir. It wasn't much of a match for the full might of the party, even without their weapons and armor. They took the hookah for good measure.

Moving on, the party encountered a cat in a tree, which turned invisible as they tried to interact with it. They decided to leave it be and continue on their explorations, but the cat had others ideas. It invisibly stalked the party, snatching up the lagging party member, which happened to be Tyril. It looked like he was swallowed whole. The party decided to follow the cat back to its resting place in the hopes of getting Tyril back. A lightning bolt from Sarril caused the cat to spit out a severely injured, but still living Tyril. The cat decided this game was no longer fun, turned ethereal, and ran away.

It was around this time that someone remembered they can all speak with plants. Speaking with plants is not easy. Plants don't communicate like humans, so even being able to speak their language doesn't mean they can understand and communicate human concepts. It took some doing, but they were able to learn the path out of the fungi forest, and that the mushrooms were the key to growing large and small. It turns out that the blue mushroom with the behir contains the special magical properties that will both grow and shrink the party (and this must be what the food and drink they first encountered was derived from). By talking to the mushroom directly, they were able to figure out which part to eat to grow or shrink. They each took bites as needed to return to normal size, which was good because now the cat would no longer be a threat.

The party also found a wall with a series of four doors. These four doors opened up into the opposite side of the long hall where they first entered. On the other end of the hall was all of their equipment. Between them was a pool of water with some creatures in it that the party would rather not deal with, so Sarril cast Fly on Fen, who flew back and forth with the equipment. Feeling less vulnerable now, the party made their way to a path in the northeast corner  of what is clearly now a small clearing of mushrooms in a much larger forest.

They traveled for a few hours through the forest and eventually emerged onto a larger road traversing through the countryside. A giant dog came running up the road toward the party. It seemed to be friendly, but also in some distress. Ava discovered three giant ticks on the dog's neck. The party killed the three ticks and seemed to make a friend in the process. It is now, maybe, the 4th Day of Sunsebb, CY 580, back on Oerth, wherever that is.

This is where we left off. Being our first time back together, I decided to smoke a brisket, and it was now time to eat. The players decided to take this time to have a DM intervention. Basically, they hate this module and want to skip it. I appreciate the feedback. The game needs to be fun for everyone, and if people aren't having fun, it is the DM's job to change things up. At the same time, I don't want to be in a position of simply having the players decide that if they don't like what is happening, they can just skip over something, as that defeats the entire purpose of the game. It wouldn't be good to simply say "okay, here is the sword you are questing for, now back to Lolth." So I have some thinking to do. How to either change things up to be more exciting, or find a way, without breaking the integrity of the story, to skip over the bulk of the module and get straight to the parts that matter most.

I hate to railroad players, and I think that is part of the problem. Freedom for players to make decisions in an open-world and do what they want has to be balanced against the fact that often times, players will spend a lot of time chasing things that don't advance the story, and then get bored. It's been a year. I just have to get my mojo back. I think the players had the most fun when they were playing the Temple of Elemental Evil, and I need to get back to the roots of what made that so engaging. We plan to reconvene on June 12th (settling for playing once per month now, instead of every other week), so I will definitely work on ways to speed things up and keep the action flowing. We will see how it goes.