The Haunted Heart (Friday-Saturday, Kuthona (XII) 6th-7th, 4707 AR)
An investigation of the wreck turned up several interesting facts. First, among the fish-eaten skeletons of those who died, none wearing Lucrecia's fancy clothing were in evidence. Second, the barge's hull bore several obviously artificial holes, the boards burst out rather than in, indicating that the damage that caused the barge to sink was inflicted from onboard - perhaps deliberately.
The reinforcements form Magnimar arrived the following day. Magnimar wanted to place the heroes in charge of Fort Rannick. If the heroes display an interest in helping to rebuild Fort Rannick and get it back on its feet, the Black Arrows could certainly use the help! Tillia Henkenson gushed all over them and sent fresh-baked pies to the heroes and Rannick every week thereafter in gratitude.
Although simply marching up Hook Mountain to confront the source of the ogre problem was an option, the wise (or simply cautious) heroes first looked into the mystery of what happened to Fort Rannick's commander. Jakardros informed the heroes that their commander went out on one of his "communion walks" the night of the ogre attack, and that he hadn't been seen since. Investigating the Shimmerglens - the location of his walks - was a good place to start to find out what happened to Commander Bayden.
The Shimmerglens had long been shrouded in mystery, for these trackless swamps were said to lie quite close to the First World, particularly where they bordered Sanos Forest. Capricious and sometimes malicious creatures were known to harass travelers in this domain. The Wicker Walk between Sanos Forest and the hamlet of Bitter Hollow was built expressly to offer travelers a way to cross through the swamps without annoying the area's denizens, but stories still abounded of nixies laying traps to confuse and baffle travelers, of nymphs seducing men and women and leaving them besotted and lost in the marsh, and of sprites stealing supplies and replacing them with rotten fish, poison mushrooms, or disturbing little dolls made of clay and string.
But, a darker horror held court in the heart of the riverside swampland. A nymph named Myriana, the lover of Fort Rannick's former commander, Lamatar Bayden, had been brutally murdered. Her ghost haunted the swamps, and this entire domain had become polluted with her restless hate. And the focus of this misplaced hate was upon those whom she once counted as her court.
Myriana's Fate
The Kreeg attack on Fort Rannick was not staged randomly. The ogres chose the exact night that Jakardros was leading many of the rangers on an extended patrol and the fortress' commander was on a so-called "communion walk". In fact, Lamatar was visiting his lover, and in so doing, unknowingly doomed her.
In the Shimmerglens a terrible rage rose from the remains of the nymph's body. Her spirit, anguished and insane, became a ghost, and her madness had twisted Whitewillow into a place of growing corruption. Many of her servants and minions had perished or become mad as well, but one loyal pixie, a normally chatty fellow named Yap, avoided this fate by fleeing into the Land of Big Folk in search of help.
A Desperate Plea
When the heroes took it upon themselves to investigate the Shimmerglens, they encountered Yap in the swampland. Yap looked like a typical pixie - a waifishly thin humanoid with gossamer wings, large expressive eyes, long pointed ears, and a diminutive 2-foot-tall stature. His rumpled clothes and eyes puffy from crying, though, indicated just how much things were out of place for the poor creature. Once Yap had the heroes' attention, he delivered his message and plea in a rapid, breathless speech, as if he was afraid at any moment the heroes would turn him away.
"My mistress, she is...ill. Very ill. Death would have been a kindness. The land sickens with her heart, and it cannot be cleansed until her misery is purged. I cannot do this myself. Please, you must help her! You are friends with her human lover, yes? He wouldn't want her left like this! I can take you to her - maybe you can do something. I have tried everything to cure her forlorn heart, but to no avail. She wails and moans in Whitewillow, and the trees and plants and nixies and frogs and everything are dying or worse! I can take you there! Please!"
When the heroes agreed to aid Yap, the pixie's mood brightened considerably as hope returned. He wanted to leave immediately. Yap insisted on accompanying the heroes throughout their adventures in the Shimmerglens, and he even promised the heroes a reward (3 doses of pixie dust) when they let him come with them. Unfortunately, Yap was something of a liability. His manic attitude and desperate urge to reach Myriana and save her led him to be an incessant chatterbox. Despite this, he remained a good-natured (if desperate) creature, and the heroes were kind enough to keep him alive.
Into the Shimmerglens
The Shimmerglens themselves quickly grew tangled and densely packed once one traveled out of sight of the swamp's edge - the easiest way to get around was by rowboat, navigating via the narrow channels of water. The rains that had been plaguing the area were thankfully absent - all that remained was the subtle chill of winter's approach.
Whitewillow
Twisted black trees rose wretchedly from shallow pools, seeming to have lurched form the land, their arthritic branches curled into miserable tortured claws. The sun seemed to scorn this place, and a cold, dark mist loomed within the canopy of bone-bare branches above. Evil murmurs rode an unnatural wind that flowed forth from the glens, and shadows danced in the dark mists within.
The trees of the swampy region of Whitewillow, once beautiful and mystic with drooping boughs of sparkling ivory leaves, had gone dark and twisted with Myriana's torment. They shifted and moved when they should not. Shadows played cruel tricks on the sharpest eyes, and sanity-shredding whispers caused even the canniest woodsman to lose his way. As Yap led the heroes deeper into the depths of Whitewillow, the degree of the corruption grew. Spiders, languid and fat with poison, hung from trees. Dying birds twitched in the shallows. Slithering things with too many eyes squirted away through the water. Whitewillow was about a mile in diameter, and as the heroes marched deeper and deeper into Myriana's madness, they had the following encounters that amplified their fears.
None of the moody, disturbing encounters the heroes had along the way were combats - encountering and interacting with the strange manifestations of Whitewillow's curse, impressed upon them the fact that what haunted the swamp was not necessarily something that could be fought with weapons.
Apparitions of Death: Nothing but chill silence surrounded the heroes, though they occasionally glimpsed tall, dark-robed figures in their peripheral vision. The creatures' enlarged skeletal claws extended form their arms as if reaching towards the party. When the heroes looked, they saw these apparitions were nothing more than horribly twisted black trees. Bruthien, Kibb, Jakardros and Yap were shaken for the remainder of their visit to Whitewillow.
Dead Pool: A natural pool of water created by runoff from the hulking dark trees stood in a clearing ahead of the party. The water looked clear and refreshing enough, though the heroes noted that no algae or larval insects dwelt in the pool, possibly indicating the water was poisoned. Fen, Kibb and Shalelu gazed into the water too intently. Their own reflection was normal, but other party members appeared reflected as decaying members. In addition, the other party members appeared to be glaring hungrily at the heroes gazing into the water as if they were about to attack and devour them. Their willpower suffered.
Ghostly Revels: All around the heroes, ghostly translucent forms emerged from the trees. Fey of all sorts, spectral satyrs, ghostly grigs, phantom nixies, and sprightly spirits floated gently from the swamp around the party, followed by a parade of phantom animals. These were once proud denizens of Whitewillow, now polluted by their mistress' unsettled soul. The fey cavorted and frolicked as they marched, eventually washing over the heroes. They caressed, danced through, and embraced the heroes before passing. Fen was caught in a ghostly party's path, riveted by the otherworldly spectacle. He took negative energy damage as the unnatural chill of the spectral fey burned him. The ghostly fey and their undead animals ignored the party; the unfathomable business of the dead drew them elsewhere in short order.
Mysterious Derelict: Deep in the swamp, the heroes suddenly came upon a derelict ship inexplicably located hundreds of miles from the Varisian shore. The vessel was badly worn and covered in thick dark green moss, but was completely intact and was obviously of a seagoing model. The ship was deserted, but in his quarters belowdecks, the long-dead captain sat at a moldering darkwood harpsichord carved with demons battling angels. Still dressed in his rotten uniform, he clutched in one hand nautical charts that seemed completely alien even to the most well-traveled hero, and a silver goblet inlaid with opals worth 100 gp in the other. A book of sheet music sat on the harpsichord. When the heroes emerged form the ship, a white dog sat on deck watching them with milky blind eyes. The dog stared but did nothing else, eventually wandering off into the swamp and leaving behind no trace it was ever actually there. The source of this strange event was a true mystery. When the heroes returned to the site of the mysterious derelict at a later date, they found that the ship had vanished without a trace, with only the goblet, the harpischord and the sheet music they salvaged remaining as proof that the wreck ever existed in the first place.
Whispers of Regret: The heroes came upon the mangled body of a beautiful dryad half protruding from a tree whose limbs had been smashed form the trunk by massive clubs. When the heroes approached within 10 feet, they heard soft feminine whispers in their ears - "She should not have fallen in love - her heart brought this upon us - why won't she let us go?" Anyone who listened to the whispers was filled with regret, but also with an increased resolve to lift the curse that vexed the swamp. These creatures had increased mental fortitude against encounters like these.
Heart of Sadness
The tangled swamp gave way to a relatively large clearing, a calm pool of unnaturally still water ringed by twisted, decayed willow trees. Wind blew, but the trees did not sway. It was as if the very land had died.
Still with the heroes, Yap quailed at the edge of the clearing. "We're here...my lady waits for you within. I dare not go any closer..." he said before stepping back to cower behind a gnarled tree.
As the heroes entered her twisted glade, the ghostly nymph rose with a howl from the waters. She didn't attack the heroes. In a shrieking, hate-filled voice, she accused the heroes of failing Lamatar, of failing to protect Fort Rannick, and of allowing the Kreeg ogres to take him to their lair high on Hook Mountain. She allowed the heroes a few minutes to state their case, and to explain why they had come to Whitewillow. When the heroes asked her what they could do to help, she simply bemoaned the fact that her love Lamatar was taken by ogres and that she was unable to save him. She knew in her heart he was dead, but when she tried to reincarnate him, foul magic prevented his soul from returning to his new body. She begged the heroes to find his remains and return them to her - she needed not the entire body. A lock of hair or a single finger would do.
Comments
Post a Comment