Previous: The Wide World
Session 17: Island of Quel
The group awoke at sunrise and had to decide what they were going to do about being stranded in in the shipping lane, dead in the water. They decided to pull up the anchor and allow themselves to drift. Since their are so many islands in their area, they figured that they were bound to come near an island. After half a day adrift, the boat approached the rocky coastline of the island of Quel. The group figured that they were somewhere north of the town of Port Lynn.
Quickly they realized that there was a major problem, they were going to hit the rocks and the rough surf would likely overpower them and throw them into the jagged rocks. Corwynne threw the anchor overboard, hoping to stop their progress toward the rocks, however it was too late, and the boat smashed into a rock. Allister, Raymond, and Ollorin were thrown overboard, only Darstina and Corwynne were able to keep themselves on the boat. The boat had lodged itself between two large rocks, briefly holding the boat steady. Corwynne threw a rope to Allister, hoping that he and Raymond (who had been flung nearby) could pull themselves to safety. Darstina threw a rope to Ollorin. Ollorin, instead of pulling himself to the boat, took the rope toward the shore. Fortunately Ollorin is an extremely powerful swimmer and he was able to reach the shore and wrap the length of rope around a stone to create a semi-stable rope bridge to the foundering boat. Allister and Raymond pulled themselves back aboard the boat and used the rope to scoot themselves across to the shore. Darstina and Corwynne followed, and just as they reached shore the waves dislodged the boat and smashed it to pieces.
Although they lost some of their supplies in the wreck, the group was supplied well enough to allow them to travel south along the coast to Port Lynn. As they approached the town, Corwynne approached Allister and told him that she had to leave the group for a while. She told everyone that if she didn't return in a week to leave without her. Darstina was a bit distraught, and Corwynne explained that she had to go and she's not sure if she will return. There are changes that she is undergoing and she has to spend some time in the forest to figure it all out.
The group stayed in the sleepy, little port town of Port Lynn, stopping by the harbormaster to let him know that the boat they were on wasn't going to arrive. After asking a few questions the harbormaster told the group that an old woman named [insert name here] was looking for adventurer types to do a job for her.
They decided to stay at the local inn & tavern. In the tavern they met a fighter named Flynn O'Keefe. Flynn usually acts as a guard for local caravans when he was injured in battle he was left in Port Lynn to recuperate. He was now fully healthy but underemployed. The proprietor of the Port Lynn inn gave Flynn a "job" watching the inn, but it felt like charity to him. He had been waiting for an opportunity to arise when Allister, Ollorin, Darstina, and Raymond entered the inn. Allister and Flynn were fast friends and Allister mentioned that they were going to see [insert lady's name] to see what she needed. Flynn asked if he could tag along and Allister said yes.
Corwynne had begun to believe that she wasn't actually a halfling, realizing that she had heard stories of a race of fey that lived part of their life as a halfling-like humanoid, then they go through a metamorphosis where they shrink and grow gossamer wings. With her dreams of flight through an enormous forest as a clue, she decided that that was a possibility. Before she settled in to ponder her possible heritage, she meditated and called upon a new animal companion, a wolf. She named the wolf Skooby Two and had him watch over her while she slept. When she awoke she was encapsulated in some sort of chrysalis and when she broke free she had shrunk and grown wings! She was correct in her guess that she was a faen. She spent the next few hour acclimating herself to her new form, flitting about the forest, playing with Skooby. She headed to the town that very day.
The rest of the group went and saw [old lady] and found out that her husband had been killed by bullywugs, savage frog-like humanoids, while traveling the road that skirts the marsh. He had a necklace, a family heirloom, that was taken by the frog-men. She wanted it returned and she offered 100 gold to each of the party members upon its return. They agreed and told her that there was an additional member of the party. They would leave in four days when Corwynne returned.
Four days later Corwynne walked into the inn, looking the same as she ever did. She had cast an illusion spell on herself that made her appear as she once did. She figured that she had come back five days earlier than the group had expected, but they were packing to leave. She had been in the chrysalis for five days and her friends were about to leave. Darstina was so happy to see Corwynne that she gave her a hug. Before Corwynne could stop her Darstina felt that Corwynne's shape didn't conform to what her eyes showed her. Corwynne quickly diffused the situation by explaining the change that she had undergone. Although the group was shocked, they understood that she was the same old Corwynne, mostly.
They left that morning, traveling along the road to try and bait the bullywugs into attacking. Late at night on their third day Hooter awakened Corwynne with a empathic feeling of fear. Corwynne awoke, and blew on her signal whistle to awaken the rest of the group. She exited her tent and spotted a form near tree line. She cast a magic missile at the form and it retreated into the trees. The group was on edge for the remainder of the night, but there was no attack.
The following night the group was attacked by a group of six bullywugs. The battle was quick and the group defeated their attackers with no casualties. They captured one of the frogmen and questioned him. After some threats and coercion, the group found out that the bullywug knew where the necklace was and the group offered to buy it from him for 100 gold if he got it for them. He agreed and they released him to go to his village and get the necklace. Figuring that the bullywug may double cross them, Corwynne followed the bullywug, flying among the boughs, barely able to keep up with the frogman. When they reached the bullywug village, Corwynne watched as the bullywug crept into one of their mud-mound dwellings. He exited and quickly ran through the swamp toward the group's campsite.
The bullywug was true to his word and arrived in the camp two days later. The group gave him 100 gold and went back to [old lady] to collect their reward.
The group continued to Kinney, then on to Riverton and started making inquiries about Halburt and his fantastic sword. After asking several of the locals the group came upon a storyteller named Phinn of Quel. Phinn told the group of an ancient citadel in the heart of the swamp that is most assuredly the citadel that Halburt was speaking of. When they asked for directions to the citadel Phinn said that he had no idea how to get there, but pointed the group towards another citadel to the south.
The citadel to the south is occupied by the priesthood of Tharkil. Tharkil is the judge of the dead, so people are sometimes put off by the Tharkilite priests. Phinn assured the group that this sect was mostly harmless so the group set off to meet with them to try and get them to give the group directions to the marshy citadel.
After an uneventful trip to the Tharkilite temple, the group was able to convince the Tharkilite priest to allow them to find the citadel, with one condition. If they find any religious relics of the Tharkil faithful, they are to return the items to the priesthood. The group agreed and they decided they would leave in the morning.