Aster's Ledger

Summary

Back in Phandalin, the party reported to Daran Edermath that the necromancer at Old Owl Well had moved on. Daran rewarded John with a magical guitar, Edermath's Lullaby, and gave Glomblax a pair of Boots of Striding and Springing. A quick inspection of the Whorebedashery showed that Constance Miller had the business running briskly, although Elsa still had not joined it.

On the road to Thundertree, the party encountered a hungry owlbear. Beatrix repeatedly tried to turn the encounter into an adoption, while John fed the creature rations soaked in an unidentified psychoactive potion. The owlbear fled in a panic, injured the party's horse, and downed Beatrix before Glomblax revived her. Beatrix eventually cleared the creature's confusion with Lesser Restoration and persuaded it to leave peacefully; it said it would seek the party when they passed that way again.

In ash-covered Thundertree, the party avoided several strange residents, met the druid Reidoth, and learned that a young green dragon has taken over the town's tower. Reidoth would provide the location of Cragmaw Castle if the party drove the dragon away. After choosing to delay that problem, the party burned through webbing near an old workshop, killed two giant spiders, and drew the attention of a group of twig blights. The session ended as the blights approached.

Key Events

Edermath Orchard and the Whorebedashery

• The party arrived at Edermath Orchard and told Daran that they had dealt with the necromancer and the undead at Old Owl Well. Daran remarked that he had only meant for them to investigate, not fight every zombie there.
• Daran rewarded John with Edermath's Lullaby, an old but polished guitar. When John touched it, its strings turned gold; when he played, Daran had him say, "Lullaby," causing the instrument to continue a gentle accompaniment on its own. Daran said it could be used as a spellcasting focus and had a property called Memory of Music.
• Daran also offered the party Boots of Striding and Springing. Glomblax received them and later attuned to the boots. When the group argued over whether he was short, Glomblax insisted, "I am incredibly tall."
• The party visited the Whorebedashery, where Constance Miller threw a gnome customer out after he tried to get more than he had paid and asked permission for. Beatrix approved of Constance's enforcement: "You gotta pay for that. And more importantly, you've asked for permission."
• Constance reported that the business was doing well, including customers buying hats, but Elsa had not joined it. Beatrix asked Constance to continue offering Elsa a protected place to work.
• At the Stonehill Inn, John and Glomblax gambled ten gold each. John lost five gold; Glomblax lost his stake and owed another ten gold.
• Glomblax and Beatrix confronted Elsa about working at the inn instead of the Whorebedashery. Edvard stepped in, cast a visible spell at Beatrix, and then tried again after she resisted. Beatrix called him out in front of the bar: "This motherfucker's trying to take away my anonymity to who knows god with what with me."
• Elsa said she felt safe with Edvard and that she had other income. Beatrix decided she would no longer patronize the inn while Edvard was there. Before leaving, the party used an illusion to make it sound and smell as though Edvard had soiled himself; Elsa believed it, while Edvard denied it.

Road to Thundertree

• After a long rest, the party took their cart and horses toward Thundertree. At an abandoned farmhouse, Beatrix found signs of a campsite used within the past twelve hours. Her tracking identified goblin tracks and larger, bear-like tracks moving in the same direction as the party.
• During camp, Beatrix's familiar Bone kept watch from above. On Beatrix's watch, a nine-foot owlbear entered the firelight and charged the camp.
• Beatrix tried animal handling, a cookie, and eventually Speak with Animals to calm the owlbear. It only said it was hungry and saw Shoomit as a "big meal." Shoomit gave up his hay and wheat while retreating; Glomblax chose to rage rather than surrender his own food.
• John soaked rations in the unidentified psychoactive potion recovered earlier and threw them to the owlbear. It ate them, became frightened and disoriented, and fled. Shoomit ate some remaining crumbs and began seeing everyone as chickens with sharp-toothed maws.
• Beatrix chased after the fleeing owlbear, despite the rest of the party's objections. The owlbear badly injured her horse, struck Beatrix down, and left her with a failed death save. Glomblax dashed to her and fed her a Goodberry, reviving her. He told her, "Stop trying to tame the wild animal that's bigger than you."
• Beatrix caught up with the owlbear and used Lesser Restoration to end its confusion. With another animal-handling attempt, she convinced it that she wanted friendship rather than a fight. The owlbear told her, "Bears don't have friends," but, after Beatrix said the party would return on this path, it replied, "I will seek you." It then ran away.
• Beatrix healed and thanked the injured horse. Through Speak with Animals, the horse said it had not expected to see what happens after death; Beatrix and the horse spent about an hour discussing life and death.

Thundertree and Reidoth

• The party reached Thundertree, an ash-covered, ruined town. A sign warned: "Danger! Plant monsters and zombies. Turn back now."
• Bone spotted twig-like creatures hiding in buildings and later found several ashen zombies in the old Brown Horse taproom. The party decided not to disturb them yet.
• Bone then found an older white-haired woman in the town's most fortified cottage. The party knocked, explained that they sought a druid, and met Reidoth.
• Reidoth explained that Thundertree had been destroyed by explosions and volcanic eruptions many years before; the town now contained ash zombies and blights. Reidoth healed Shoomit's owlbear wound with a tincture, leaving no scar.
• Reidoth confirmed that the party sought the location of Cragmaw Castle, where they understood Gundren to be held. In exchange for that location, Reidoth asked them to deal with a young green dragon occupying the town's tower. Reidoth said the dragon had attracted masked, cloaked people to the southeast and wanted the dragon driven away rather than necessarily killed.
• The party discussed ways to approach the dragon, including Beatrix's Pass Without Trace and Earthbind. Shoomit made Beatrix promise not to try to keep this creature as well.
• The party deferred the dragon and chose to investigate the old apothecary first.

The Spider Webs

• On the way to the apothecary, the party found thick webbing stretched across the road from a ruined workshop. Beatrix lit the webbing with her tinderbox, provoking chittering from inside.
• The party took up firing positions outside the workshop: Beatrix readied a True Strike gunshot, John readied Vicious Mockery, and Shoomit readied his musket. Bone confirmed that two giant spiders were inside.
• When the first giant spider emerged, Beatrix shot it and John mocked it, leaving it at a disadvantage on its next attack. Shoomit's first musket result was corrected after the group discovered his sheet had not marked him proficient; the corrected shot and Sneak Attack killed the first spider.
• The second spider bit Glomblax for thirteen damage. Beatrix used Burning Hands against it, John gave Glomblax a Healing Word and mocked the spider, and Bone helped distract it. Shoomit then killed the second spider with a musket shot and Sneak Attack.
• The gunfire and fire drew several twig blights from the south. As they advanced through the ruins, the party noted that these were among the first enemies they had fought together.

Session End

The session ended with the two giant spiders dead, twig blights approaching the workshop from the south, and Beatrix at the top of the initiative order. The party still needed to decide how to handle the dragon and obtain Reidoth's information about Cragmaw Castle.

Inspiration