Session 5: The Oracle's Choice

3,655 XP


     The Feinting GOATs underwent a significant change before their next mission, as Goop, their Dralasite fighter, chose to return to his people after reconnecting with the dralasites during their previous adventure. Though his absence would be felt, the remaining six members accepted Prince Hepirion's urgent request to locate the missing Oracle. The prince equipped them for their journey with two remarkable mounts: a buceppa, combining the noble bearing of a warhorse with the raw power of a bull, which Elyndra took responsibility for, and a karkadann named Biastes, whose distinctive V-shaped horns and metallic-sheened hide made it an impressive sight. Despite its training, Biastes harbored a tendency to go berserk at any sign of violence, a trait that would prove challenging for its rider, Korloth.

      The two-day journey to Alethia brought several encounters. The first group of travelers they met had recently seen the Oracle but were unaware of her subsequent abduction. Akemi and Elyndra performed their well-practiced routine, entertaining the group while relieving them of various valuables. A second group, composed of more businesslike soldiers, knew of the Oracle's disappearance but remained tight-lipped about the matter. Upon reaching Alethia at nightfall, they met with the Oracle's attendants, distinguished by their white robes and blue sashes, who revealed she had been taken by harpies during her daily routine in the courtyard garden. Searching the Oracle's chambers yielded a crucial discovery - a prophetic scroll hidden in her pillow, written in characteristic gold ink, foretelling her own abduction.

     At the Seer's Inn and Tavern, a tourist attraction in the town, Cut-Cut's awkward questioning of another adventuring party - consisting of a dromite leader, two humans, a tiefling, and a Haukburian Sebek-ka - revealed their disappointment at traveling so far only to miss the Oracle. A group of Milean noble minotaurs shared similar frustrations, though they too fell victim to Akemi and Elyndra's coordinated performances and pickpocketing. The party secured two rooms for the night and rose early for breakfast, finding the morning crowd dominated by the Oracle's attendants. These clerics shared that their mistress, a Muse from the Plane of Dreams, had been a pleasant person who maintained the town's routines and tourist industry. The harpies had carried her northward, over a forbidden forest known for its dangerous wildlife, toward the mountains.

      Following the trail immediately, they encountered Theodorus, an ancient cyclops whose grey beard and towering height surpassed even Korloth. The friendly giant, washing clothes by a stream, recognized Korloth as "cousin" and shared vital information about the harpies' location - a five-acre plateau 800-900 feet up a sheer cliff, site of an ancient Milean city. He offered to help them reach the cliff after retrieving a nearby artifact - a magical horseshoe buried with the legendary steed Thunderbolt, whose rider had been renowned for his animal handling abilities. Theodorus warned that accessing the tomb would require patience rather than force.

      Inside Thunderbolt's tomb, which proved too small for Korloth to enter, Cut-Cut discovered a puzzle involving a key chained behind two interlocked horseshoes. Through careful manipulation, she managed to thread the key ring through the chains and horseshoes, freeing the magical item. The party then split their ascent - Korloth and Cut-Cut climbed expertly while the magical horseshoe granted temporary wings to Bao Bao's stag and Adrian's horse, allowing them to ferry the others upward. The operation was interrupted when a chimera ambushed them while Adrian and Elyndra were still 120 feet from the top. Despite their disadvantaged position, Adrian's precise shots and Elyndra's spells contributed to the battle while the others engaged in direct combat, ultimately prevailing against the creature's deadly combination of multiple bites, claws, and fire breath.

      The party's injuries necessitated a day's rest on the cliff, during which Elyndra's continuing nightmares grew more intense. In one particularly vivid dream, she found herself stalking Akemi through the ruins, experiencing an alien hunger as she watched the geisha gather kindling in her crimson and gold kimono. The dream's predatory thrill left her disturbed and sleepless.

      Proceeding at night, despite Adrian's limited vision compared to his companions' darksight abilities, Cut-Cut and Elyndra scouted ahead to find ancient ruins guarded by harpies. Their attempt at peaceful approach failed as the harpies began their alluring song, entrancing both Elyndra and Bao Bao. While the rest of the party restrained their enchanted companions, Korloth managed to capture one harpy as the others fled southward. After binding their unconscious prisoner, they followed the harpies' trail to discover a temple filled with eerily posed statues. Before they could fully process the scene, a medusa emerged from hiding, immediately turning both Akemi and Bao Bao to stone. The ensuing battle proved challenging as Cut-Cut suffered from the creature's venomous bite while several statues animated to join the fight. They eventually prevailed, discovering the medusa's ring could temporarily animate petrified victims.

      With both their healers turned to stone, the party sent Elyndra's mechanical owl seeking help while they investigated further. Outside the temple, they found an altar bearing an ancient Milean inscription: "22 bones of ancient men, take away 8 and leave only 10." After several attempts, they realized the ancient Milean word for ten, "DEKA," could be spelled by removing eight bones from the arrangement, revealing a secret compartment containing a magical chisel.

      The chisel restored their petrified companions, and they used their night's rest to revive an Aasimar named Galyndra, who had been turned to stone 700 years ago during the Magus-Time wars. The tall, blonde cleric of Pelor, though confused by her temporal displacement, offered her healing powers to aid the party. During the night, the captured harpy nearly died from an assassination attempt by her former companions, prompting the party to petrify her for safekeeping using the medusa's head.

      Continuing their exploration, they discovered both a cave emitting strange chittering sounds and more ruins featuring a sealed dome ten feet in diameter. After investigating the cave to find an unexpectedly playful baby chimera, which Adrian took responsibility for after they temporarily sealed its cave, they proceeded to the northern ruins. There they encountered seven harpies led by one in pristine golden armor wielding a spear. Despite attempts at peaceful resolution, combat erupted. The party's focused attacks quickly felled the leader, and their opportunity attacks killed two more harpies as they fled.

      A ribbon found on the leader's wrist, when wrapped around her spear, revealed the command word "Ikario." When spoken from the ruins' center, this teleported Korloth to the dome - though his height caused him to strike his head painfully. Inside was the Oracle Nathia, who used the same word to free herself. She revealed she had foreseen these events and chosen not to prevent her abduction, seeking escape from centuries of confinement since being orphaned as a child. The party arranged for Galyndra to fly her to safety via Cut-Cut's monastery and ultimately to Korloth's homeland, deciding to report their mission as a failure to the Mileans.

      Before departing, Nathia provided both individual prophecies and one for the entire group, warning of darkness arising from unexpected sources. Her prophecy for Elyndra particularly reinforced growing concerns about the rogue's condition. The party then revived two more statues - a human fighter from the Voidfury Incursion and a young minotaur warrior - before racing to Morozko via spelljammer to consult the Hierophant about Elyndra's increasingly disturbing symptoms.

      The Hierophant revealed a shocking truth - Elyndra had been infected with werespider lycanthropy during their very first mission together, which was interacting dangerously with her secret identity as an Immiker (doppelganger). After the third night of the approaching full moon, she would transform permanently into an evil, shapeshifting monster capable of assuming the forms of creatures she had slain. Their only hope lay in reaching the Candle Keep, deep in the Underdark beneath Adrian's hometown of Danger Cove, protected by the reclusive but benevolent Dark Ones. With barely two days to complete a perilous journey before losing Elyndra forever, the party faced their most urgent mission yet.

 Note: The following writings are from the character's perspective and are often private to the character. They are not considered "in-game" knowledge to the other characters, and any in-character reference to this information would be considered meta-gaming.

Letters to Lord Nokizaru and Lady Liora Shimizu

  (by Stephanie Anderson)

My Lord,

Through my travels, I am keeping close to my companions. We are slowly uncovering that the world balance is tilting to an extreme as we have previously suspected. I have met an elder cyclops for everyone’s safety I will not reveal names. He remembers the old ways of several centuries ago. I have also met an oracle that gave me a reading regarding her. I will dispatch another letter when I reveal more information.

Yours,
A


Miss W,

Please let everyone know in PH to keep their ears and eyes open. Things are not as they seem in the world. Scales have tilted once again. 

Stay safe,
A

 

Letters to Master Kagemitsu

(by Caylen Redden)

Letter 1

Please welcome these travelers and extend to them the hospitality and protection of Tengai-no-mori. They have provided aid to the Feinting GOATs, and we hope to return the favor. In addition to temporary shelter and provisions for the continuation of their journey, they may benefit from your wisdom and advice, and I believe you will find conversation with them quite interesting. Please note, however, that they will likely be weary from their travels and prefer a quiet visit, without excessive attention. I will write more when I have the time. Until then, you have my thanks.

Yours,

Cut-Cut

Letter 2

Dear Master,

 I’m sure guests arrived before this letter, and perhaps they have even departed already. I left their letter of introduction intentionally vague because there was no way to know who they might meet first. I’m not sure how much they will have told you, so I will provide some details now.

Let me start at the beginning. As you know, assuming my previous letter reached you, the Feinting GOATs were sent by King Hepirion of Milea to search for a missing oracle. When we reached Alethia, we learned that the oracle was not simply missing, she had apparently been abducted by a flock of harpies. Upon searching her quarters, however, we discovered one of her written prophecies which led us to question whether the abduction had not been unwanted or unforeseen.

Following the direction of the harpies’ flight toward the mountains, we entered the “forbidden” forest where we encountered an ancient cyclops named Theodorus. We found him surprisingly amiable, thanks in part to his kinship with Korloth, and he supplied information about the harpies’ likely whereabouts as well as the location of a magical artifact that would assist us with reaching the necessary height. Inside the tomb of a legendary horse, Thunderbolt, I found a device made of horseshoes and chains not unlike the dexterity puzzles you used to give me for practice. Solving the puzzle freed a key which granted access to a magical horseshoe that can impart temporary flight on a mount. We took two of our mounts up the mountain, one carrying Akemi and Bao Bao and the other carrying Elyndra and Adrian, while Korloth and I opted to climb. It was fortunate that we did so, because it put us in an advantageous position when we were ambushed by a chimaera. Although the three-headed beast was formidable, we made short work of it, and the party reached the top of the plateau safely.

After a rest, we proceeded to search the area, looking for the ruins of ancient Milea, and shortly found an area guarded by a group of harpies. Given the prophecy we had found, we hoped for a peaceful interaction, but the harpies were immediately hostile, launching a sonic attack that enchanted both Elyndra and Bao Bao. Still, we managed to capture one and drive off the rest.

We then investigated an ancient temple that appeared to be decorated with a variety of odd statues. Unfortunately, these turned out to be the petrified victims of medusas, and we found one still in residence. Before we could react, she managed to petrify Akemi and Bao Bao, but thankfully I had gotten into position behind her, and with her mobility limited and gaze avoided, she was quickly dispatched. As fortune would have it, the medusa had been guarding precisely what we needed to restore our petrified companions, another artifact retrieved by solving a puzzle. We were also able to restore one of your guests, the Aasimar, Galyndra. Upon questioning, we gathered that she had been petrified some 700 years ago. I imagine you had an interesting discussion about history.

After recuperating, we set out once more and finally found the rest of the harpies. They again attempted to use their power of enchantment, but Akemi was ready for them, countering their song with one of her own. Since it was clear that there would be no peaceful resolution, we wasted little time, focusing most of our attention on their leader, and the remaining survivors fled after she fell. We found a secret missive around the leader’s wrist, a ribbon that, when wrapped around the shaft of her spear, revealed a command word that led us to the captive oracle.

The oracle is, I’m sure you have realized, your second guest, Nathia. She informed us that she had been taken in as an orphan and confined for centuries due to her prophetic abilities. She had indeed foreseen her own abduction and subsequent rescue and taken it as her opportunity to escape. Since we were contracted to search for the oracle, but not necessarily to return her, we simply informed King Hepirion that we were unable to recover her. I’m pleased to say that at no point did any of the Feinting GOATs consider returning her to be held against her will. My companions clearly have varying ideas of morality – some perhaps too loose and likely to run into trouble at some point, and others perhaps too rigid, which could be equally problematic in some cases – but at least in this instance, we were unanimous.

I apologize for sending visitors to you without warning, but another matter has come up which prevented us from escorting or further assisting them ourselves. Elyndra has been afflicted with lycanthropy (an unfortunate result of an earlier encounter but only recently identified) and time is short. We must travel to a place called the Candle Keep, somewhere in the Underdark below Danger Cove, to find a cure before the change becomes permanent.

And so, we are off on our next mission with hardly a moment’s rest. The life of an adventurer is certainly never dull.

 Cut-Cut