Torchbearer
Cursed Lands
March 10, 2019
Rasotto and Billy are lead up, into the home of the an essentially a forest god by a creepy forest bush person. They call themselves Forest-kith. They are spirits which inhabit the woods and can possess the trees themselves. His face in the woods appears old and cracked in the bark. He occasionally drools black tar and coughs out smoke periodically throughout the conversation. He wants them to go on a journey to the first tree and find a dark effigy that is the source of this mysterious power. He suspects that is located somewhere in the depths of the tree. He believes it was put there by a man who turned his heart cruel in search of power.
The great forest spirit is the eldest spirit in the forest. All the others are young and not as powerful. He put his roots in and took a more permanent position as a tree to fight and contain the rot in the magic circle. He is waging a war with the cult and it seems now the castle too, all while maintaining the corruption from creeping and decaying the ole forest. He asked the party to travel to the first tree while he fights a forest fire set by the slavers at Liar’s Castle.
The other members of the party were already there and were present for the conversation. They agreed to travel the first tree and set off toward it, this is when they realized Billy the halfling wasn’t present and they lacked the map. Without a charted part, they were forced set off to make their way to the cursed grove, trying to follow the paths. They heard drumming approaching drum, drum, drum. Mad Jack set off to see what was causing the noise. There, hiding in the trees, sat Korben. He saw Mad Jack and yelled run! Barreling through the woods after him and chasing the party was a massive, twisted troll with beady eyes, coarse wiry hair and a huge puss filled nose. They ran and managed to escape and afterward were left breathing heavy, afraid, but alive. They set off once more and this time only made it partway and needed to reorient themselves in order to continue. They made it to the lost on, top of a hill and were unsure where to go next. Samson went to go look for a trail and fell down a ravine. His boots sliding and he landed unharmed but at the bottom of a steep 15-foot cliff, with only up as the way out. Mad Jack retrieved some dead wood and hurled it down the ravine. He told Samson to position it so he can boost himself up like 5 feet or more, with Samson’s reach around 7 to 8 feet and the boost of about 5, they were able to easily reach down and pull Samson up. Growing tired they rested. Mad Jack tried to sow together Samson’s pack but was out of rope, he’ll have to remember to restock when he goes back to market. The group rested and tried to steel themselves for the trials ahead.
Samson started saying how he can’t manage alone, and that he feels hopeless, and was comforted by his companions’ reassurances, but was unable to rest due to Korben’s insistence that if something were to happen that he’d take his friends bones. The dwarf Rasotto’s tough façade was lifted and he had a good messy cry as only dwarves know-how, which settled his anger, for now. Mad Jack sought refuge alone walking through the woods. But before the dwarf cried he had tried to make a meal out of a young rabbit he caught. His mouth-watering, but he lit it aflame in his haste, ruining it. Rasotto remembered he had water to share with everyone. But the subtle wafts of cooking meat would attract predators… next time.
Paper, Dice and Plastic 