In Which Knowing Your Alignment Becomes Very Important

Carindrina, Furus, Nira, and Belladonna decide to go to The Bubbling Candle Apothecary while the rest go visit the Faerie Seer. The shop seems pretty much the same as previously, though they all poke around to look. She explains that the water is both acid and necrotic, but also possibly poisoned. She can’t figure out what it is, but tells Furus she can send it out to a friend in Corazon who is specialized in this area. Furus says he would really appreciate that, and she tells him to expect it to take a few days to arrive, be tested, and return.
Carindrina asks if she has anything that helps with necrotic damage. Yvaine says that healing potions are good, but holy water is better, she can sell it to them, but it would be cheaper if they went to a temple. She explains that there is also holy oil if you wanted to light an arrow on fire, but you need to be skilled to apply it. Belladonna asks how much that would be and she tells her 10 gold for a jar that would coat 2 arrows. Belladonna asks the group if they think she should get more than two doses, they decide to stick with two doses and see how it goes. They tell Yvaine goodbye and they walk to meet the rest of the group at the Abbot’s house.
They met outside the gate and exchanged information about what they found with the seer and with Yvaine. The group decides it is important to warn Adele and her mother, but then agree that rather than warn them and risk changing what happens, they should ask someone to keep an eye on her for them, and see if they can catch whoever is doing this. Nira asks Midna to talk to her fairy friend. Midna agrees, and goes to sit by a tree and calls out softly to Sweet Shimmer. Nira waits close by, hoping to see the fairy. She appears to Midna and Nira catches a glimpse of her as well.
Sweet Shimmer asks if Midna needs to return to the park, and Midna says no, she was hoping she could do her a favor, they think they have a lead on the missing children and would like her to help watch over a little girl. Belladonna, hearing the word “favor” tries to signal to Midna that she should not make a fey bargain, but Midna ignores her. Sweet Shimmer tells her that she doesn’t have a lot of power during the day, but she can watch over her at night and try to find someone to watch her during the day. Midna and Nira tell her that would be very much appreciated and Nira asks if they can have a way to get ahold of her. Sweet Shimmer says that Midna has a way to get ahold of her, but she can only travel with one person at a time. She says that if Midna promises to do her a favor later, she promises to bring the girl to Midna if Adele is in trouble. Midna asks if there is a way that Sweet Shimmer could bless a bell so that they know they need to come soon, or put something on Adele so they could track her. Sweet Shimmer explains that she could transport herself and Adele to safety, she could transport herself and the attacker to Midna, or transport herself and Midna to Adele, unless Midna makes a deal to owe a favor and let Sweet Shimmer involve more creatures. Midna agrees to the deal and asks for the attacker to be brought to them. Sweet Shimmer nods and grabs a handful of twigs, leaves, and flowers and makes a small doll. She tells Midna that she can hold the doll on a map and use it to scry for Adele, she will give Adele a matching doll tonight. They thank Sweet Shimmer and she disappears.
They explain the bargain to the group and then they discuss the visions more in depth. Nira expresses interest in returning to the Faerie Seer as she has some guilt about the rift that opened. Belladonna tells the group that the dark fey like to have mushrooms and use fungal-based fey creatures to guard areas and use them to slow down and poison people. Adalia notices that there is a specific creature that has a shawl/shroud/waisting sheet that they use to drown people, but can’t remember the name of it, and says that seems like it could be related to Venus’ vision. Nira explains that the visions lead her to believe that the toxic waters are being poisoned underground and that some of the evil, toxic creatures are now starting to come above ground.
The group turns their focus to the house, which looks even more wild than the day before. Furus asks Carindrina if she wants to just knock through part of the fence instead of jumping over since she is so small. She shoves Brad with her shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The group groans, “Brad! Don’t do that!” (**prior to this, the group misinterpreted Galia calling Furus “bard” and thought she said “Brad”, so they refer to him as “Brad” when he does something stupid.”. Belladonna asks if she lights the plants on fire if that will make it worse. Nira says they love fire and she should do it, Galia interrupts and says she is pretty sure that isn’t right, but fire will damage most plants. Carindrina stops the argument by saying “Let’s not light the whole building on fire.” She talks to Adalia and asks if she can douse a small bit of holy water and put it on the plants closest to the fence and see how they react. The plant screamed and hissed, the holy water doing several points of damage. The group realized these are not damaged plants, but evil plants.
Carindrina broke down the gate and they prepared for battle, now able to see the first archer bush. She pulled her axe out so she was now wielding an axe and her shield, moving forward to see if she could see any other plants, but only the archer bush was visible, so she stood her ground and growled at the plant, releasing her rage through a primal growl.
Belladonna moved next, grabbing her longbow. She shot out at the plant and landed a shot. Venus tried to coordinate with a fireball, but the plant darted out of the way. Midna also pulled her long bow and shot towards the plant, but it whizzed just over the edge of the bush. Adalia stepped forward, and Galia, too far away to attack, sent Juniper to defend Carindrina. The snow leopard leaps through the group, rushing to the front as Galia moves forward to stand with Adalia.
Furus whipped out his violin and began playing, inspiring everyone with his song. Carindrina runs up to attack and as the vines whip towards her, she jumps straight up, rising out of the way, but a new bush appears. Nira calls for guidance to help Carindrina, the bush in front of her shoots a volley of thorns, but her armor deflects them with ease. The bushes go still, almost receding into the underbrush. Adalia sees to her left something moving and she recognizes that it's another Archer bush. It shoots a ray of thorns out at her, but they all miss. Once it has stopped moving, it becomes invisible, she knows it is just to the left, and calls out its location to her friends. Juniper, pausing to locate a bush, can’t identify one, so she charges ahead to stand with Carindrina. Carindrina reaches out, swiping with her axe, then bringing her shield forward to deflect any thorns, the vines writhe and move just out of reach.
Belladonna moves forward into the yard, focusing on the main bush. She nocks an arrow, letting it sink into the heart of the bush. The leaves blacken and begin to fall off. Venus gathers her energy and attempts fireball, but it sputters out over the plant. Midna can see three of the evil plants, just barely, she aims at the assassin vine and the arrow sinks neatly into the heart of the plant. Adalia, seeing the assassin vine behind Carindrina take a hit, makes the decision to focus on the archer bush that hasn’t been affected, and calls hellish chains from another world to rise up and attack the plant. Galia ran forward again, but froze, unable to identify any of the bushes as they lay still. Furus continued playing in the background. Carindrina shouts at the vines, ready to attack. Aquila, trying to help, is attacked by the archer bush, it slams down on top of her, puncturing her with hundreds of thorns. Juniper, seeing her friend Aquilla hurt, disregards her owner’s command and runs to grab Aquilla, dragging her by the scruff out of the fray. Nira runs in to heal her as Juniper watches very warily, ready to protect her friend.
Carindrina reaches around with her hammer, smashing the plant between her hammer and her shield. As the reverberations ring out, the plant crumbles to ash. Belladonna focused on the next bush, taking aim with point blank shot and unleashing a large bolt. It strikes the bush, but the leaves and vines are still rustling like it is willing to keep fighting. Venus unleashes a firebolt that strikes the plant just before Midna uses her long bow to produce the killing blow. The plant screamed, withered, and was reduced to ash.
Adalia called forth the hellish chains once more, but the vines on the final bush lashed out and swept them away. Furus snapped his whip and the plant moved out of the way. If it could cock its eyebrow at Furus, it would have. Carindrina steps up onto a platform, jumping up over the vine, slamming her shield on the vine (it is easily deflected), and slashes with her axe. The vine crumbles into ash. The immediate danger over, Adalia runs back to Aquilla and Juniper, tossing Juniper a strip of jerky. She leans into Adalia and gives her cheek a big lick.
The group carefully looks around the yard. Adalia, moving to the side of the house, finds a camping set up. The firepit has been cold for a long time, the tents here are overgrown with vines and seem unused, but the tree nearby draws her attention most. Nira comes over to investigate too.
Midna is drawn to the well, a strange thrumming noise is coming from the well. She leans over, and the water begins to rise and bubble up to the surface. It is the same acidic, sulphurous, strange water as under Stoneblood Manor. She calls out to the group, “Please don’t drink the water here.”
Carindrina goes straight to the front door. It is filled with symbols she recognizes as specific to rangers, but being unfamiliar with their customs, lets Belladonna take a closer look. Belladonna explains that the door says “Only Those With the Mark of The Star of the Forest May Enter”. Venus, having snuck in earlier, is confused as she had no problem walking in, but doesn’t have any marks she is aware of. Carindrina wonders aloud if the star of the forest and heart of the forest are the same. Belladonna says that the star of the forest isn’t something she has been exposed to through her mentor’s guild, but seems like it could be from the feyblossom court or tied to the fey.
Furus had wandered even further back, finding a large sundial, but nothing else of interest. Midna found a small house similar to the house that held Buttons, the brownie for Ironkey house. Knocking politely, another brownie answered the door, “Did you get all of the bad plants?” she squeaked. Midna knelt down, “We did. I’m so sorry we didn’t know you were trapped in here, are you alright?”
“ I have magic and I could get things, but I’ve been here for weeks and couldn’t get into the house. Are the Abbots ok?”
“I haven’t been in the house, but my friends are inside if you want to come out.”
“Are you sure you got all of the plants? They can be really hard to see!”
“We got rid of all that we saw and we are here to protect you if any others pop up.”
She eyed Midna warily, and told her, “I’ll stay here but you can come back if you guys need anything.”
Midna thanked her for opening the door and talking to her, then went around the yard to meet Nira and Adalia. The tree they are staring at seems to shimmer and shift, and reveals itself to be dead. As Adalia looks at the tree, she can tell that this tree is being poisoned by something in the water system.
Inside the house, it is very orderly and well kept. Nothing looks like they left in a hurry. Belladonna searches in every nook and cranny and tries to find any clue, but the first level seems to be fairly normal. Venus stormed to the top, rooting around the attic. She found a large cage with iron bars in the center of the room, and, not thinking, reached out to touch the bars. A large force field pops up, and a blast of good energy erupted from the cage. Luckily, she is good aligned, otherwise the blast could have been enough to knock her unconscious. She shouts down the stairs for anyone who is not good aligned to not touch the force field. Carindrina, hearing this, thinks about her crisis of faith and decides to go wait outside the house. Venus decides to look at the bars closely without touching them, and recognizes that the bars are inscribed with runes and prayers to contain a great evil.
Adalia wandered into the house and everything was completely normal. There were food and cooking supplies, but no clues. She and Belladonna go upstairs. Rangers don’t tend to have real bedrooms, so there are a set of bedrolls and blankets neatly made. As they search, they find a notebook with a list.
A young girl went missing after the Grimmur festival, we helped the guards search but found no traces, even when using Khan and Bjorn.
The Feyblossom Chapter has decided to position us here to help the search.
Leads have been fruitless
Merchant Maurice--Thornyside
Melinda and Kerwyn
Elron?
Greenblades: Maude and Jon
Waylan Fredericks
Maeve Redwood-Spindledown
Legend of a sword that could kill vampires--perhaps this is why the children haven’t been seen?
Strange darkness in the forests.
Scath mountain

Belladonna decides to share the note with everyone. Her blood runs cold at the mention of Scath Mountain, and she ends with , “Gods dammit. Scratch mountain...That is where I was kidnapped.” The group lets her process for a moment. Adalia goes to the attic with Venus and looks around. There are two large crates, one with adventuring supplies, and one crate of all weapons.
Outside, Midna investigated the abandoned tents. As she looks into the larger tent, she realizes it isn’t really a tent inside, but actually covering the entrance to a cave. Even with her darkvision, all she can see is a large, cavernous, rocky tunnel. The smaller tent has some sleeping rolls and a small teddy bear tucked in. She called out to the group, telling them she wants to explore the tunnels, especially since we know the groundwater is being poisoned, and some of the visions dealt with underwater and underground themes.
Before they leave the house, Adalia pulls Belladonna to the side and asks, “Is having a giant cage something normal for a ranger?” Belladonna gives an adamant, “That would be a negative.” They stare at it in disbelief. Belladonna tries to investigate the magic, it is all holy magic, and it doesn’t look like anything has been in the cage, or even activated until Venus touched it. There are inscriptions from every major God’s Temple. This is heavy-duty, all the gods teaming up to fight evil. She looks for a key or a way to open the cage, but can’t find one.
Outside, Carindrina goes to the brownie cottage, kneeling to her height, “We have searched inside the home and the surrounding area, but we don’t see your friends. You said you’ve been trapped for weeks?”
The brownie started and quickly got herself worked up, “They always leave for a week, they all go to look for the missing girls, but they didn't come back this time, and things started going wrong, and the well flooded, and the plants were wrong and i couldn't leave because I kept getting attacked.” She was nearly hyperventilating.
Carindrina put a hand out to calm her, “That must have been really scary for you, I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. I am hoping that we can find them while we look for the children, too. Do you know where the well gets its water?”
She wrinkled her nose, “i don’t know. I don’t do water,. I do food.”
Carindrina nodded, “Okay, there is also a large cage. Is there a monster nearby?”
“I don’t know. Maybe what is taking the kids? They didn’t tell me.”
Carindrina stared at her, trying to sense if she was hiding anything, but she seemed to be genuinely upset about being held hostage in her house, but not necessarily hiding anything.
Returning outside, Adalia goes to look into the cave hidden by the tent that Midna found. She can’t see any further than Midna could. Slowly the group gathers outside the cave and decides to head in. The long hallway is cold, gray stone, roughly hewn from the earth. They travel down and it ends at an archway. Beyond the arch is darkness, though they can hear wind and movement. Carindrina walks in. Galia taps Juniper to run ahead, and cast dancing lights to allow the group to see the caverns. There is an opening that has 4 arches, each with a large keystone leading into a hallway, with one being the hallway they entered through. Carindrina investigated the arches, trying to see if her dwarven senses would reveal anything. The pillars and the keystones are very old, obscured by dust and time. Adalia tries to clean off the keystone of the arch they entered under, with water she summoned, but the water causes the dirt to clump and become grimy and muddy, rendering it unreadable. Venus went to the stone arch to their left. She couldn’t quite make out what was carved on the keystone, but felt that something was there. Furus went to stand near Carindrina, squinting, and couldn’t make anything out. They decide to rest in the cave for the night and work together in the morning.