8 - Fingal's origin revealed

PCs

Fingal - human sorcerer.  Speaker of Goodmead. Chosen of the Frostmaiden. Traveller from Golaran. Charmed by Rose.

• Nana is a good and faithful person and I trust her implicitly.

• Nyree seems to have a secret they are not telling us.*

Gildon - human hexblade servant of the Raven Queen.

• Ithkan is good at investigating things and I want to learn from them.

• Fingal may be interested in my faith.

• Nyree  should find what is happening with the knight of the dawn

Ithkan - goliath grave priest / investigator. Sees visions.

• Nyree owes me.

• Gildon is good at people stuff and I want to learn from them.

Nana - half-elvin grandmotherly healer. Pact bonded to Ecu.

• Fingal is out of place and I will help him fit in.

• Gildon is someone new to me and I want to impress someone I have not known since they were a baby.

Nyree - half elf/goliath tracker/ranger. Son of Drizzt Do'Urden.

• Ithkan knows incriminating secret about me.

• Nana should know something about my father but won't tell me.*

• Gildon and I will get to the bottom of what is happening with the knight of the dawn.

New NPCs

• Rose - Leshy from Fingal's world of Golaran.  Has ability to charm people who inhale her pollen.  Sickly.

• Gahg - outsider who can become ogre size for hours at a time. Angry with Rose for having charmed her and her husband.

• Duhg - outsider alchemist with power to become ogre size for hours at a time through his potions. Charmed by Rose.

• Friend - ogre. Charmed by Rose.  Protective of his goats.

Marshal Report

Upon arriving back at Goodmead Fingal is greeted by happy townsfolks saying things like, "Speaker you have returned safely!  Speaker, did you bring food from Dougan's Hole? Speaker what news did you hear from outside.  Speaker have you found any thing to help the bees?"  Sadly Fingal had little ot offer other then platitudes but the group had a destination in mind already a cave nearby but it was too late to go right after getting back so first the group settled in for the night.

Dannika asked if the group would be willing to help her track down the Chwinga back on the trail north through the woods.  She wants to figure out if her theories on elemental adaptation are accurate.  It would mean a lot if we could do that...  She offered to give the group one of her scrolls.

The group carefully avoid the area the druid was near and track their way out to the set of caves.  Tracks show one figure went out recently and older tracks going back and forth several times the same person with a damaged boot.  The right most cave has livestock and a fire so the group go check the caves to the west and find a hidden cave behind some trees that had a narrow Ossuary with bas relief showing a powerful hero.  Nyree's keen low light vision revealed the following decorations on the Sepulcheral chamber:

     • Powerful human spellcaster in luminescent robes striking down a dragon

     • Same Wizard holding a goat headed staff and using it to close a rift in reality through which eldrict horrors are seen

     • The wzard facing hordes of undead and serpent men leaving only ashes in his wake

     • On a storm tossed ship fighting with a giant sea turtle as well as several ships of pirates.

     • Holding court with kings and emperors with eyes that almost look out of the etchings as the observer.

     • Riding the back of a giant ape while battleing a colossal chicken

     • Commanding small sinister shadows and holding a glass staff

     • Founding the city of goodmead

Past all of this Nyree found a man sized figure mending a human sized boot.  This man had unusual features and a vest holding all manners of alchemical paraphernalia.

Meanwhile GIldon was walking through the westernmost cave and found it reaked of animal.  Deep within there was a sleeping mound of fur.  Also Both Nyree and Gildon heard faint humming, a buzzing noise, and a deep rumbling all from the eastern end of the complex.

Deciding they need to speak to these figures Nyree greats the alchemist who upon seeing him drinks a potion and turns Ogre size.  The figure speaks in a garbled voice but Fingal seems to understand him and starts talking.  It takes a while but it becomes apparent that the grou in the cave speak a far varient of Giant and Fae as well as a course version of giant that is understandable by the group.  The now large alchemist calls out loudly "friend" several times and eventually two new figures show up an Ogre names friend and a Leshy covered with wilting flowers whom was sickly looking but clearly the one the others looked to for decision making.

The group found communication difficult except for Fingal whom recognized Golarian and other tongues so the group needed to use Fingal as translator and depending on whom he was speaking to his voice sounded either garbled or clear.  But to him there was no difference he was either speaking Common or Elvin but depending on whom he was speaking to it was either in Golarian or native dialects which were completely un-alike.  

Rose said (translated by Fingal)-

• (In Golarion - Oh Great, humans... Probably followed Friend from the battle site. I warned the oaf but did he listen? No...)

• (In Golarion to Fingal - Wait human. How is it these others understand you when you speak the same language I do?)

• (In Golarion to FIngal - Did you also come out of the sky ship that crashed far to the south? I was rescured by a fellow passenger and we befriended an ogre so we could live in it's cave. We've been trying to learn more about this area but this cold and darkness sickens me.  I am not able to live someplace like this.  It is too cold.  There isn't enough sunlight.)

• (In Golarion responding to Ithkan's question- One of the ogres found some mead near a battleground to the east.  It had a bee and after seeing my excitement at seeing a bee "Duhg" helped me to recover some more bees from a villager's house but when he enlarged and the bees attacked he became terrified and crashed through the wall to escape. Ivgar's potions have odd effects like that sometimes.  The bees nearly stung him nearly to death... Look at how he swells and his wounds weep with puss. But it is true that the bees are a small comfort to me. Look how happy they are to see me.)

Several things come to light during the conversation as people came to understand bits and pieces of pidgin giant which seemed to be the common tongue of the Fae, Alchemist, and Ogre.  The fae constantly shed pollen and at some point Fingal got dusted and becomes very suggestible to the Leshys's requests.  Others noticing this avoided getting the pollen on them as much as possible.  Eventually a second female figure looking like the alchemist cames in from the cold with a basket full of unearthly metal pieces.  She held her speak warily though and seemed as hostile to the Leshy as she was to the group.  In Pidgin Giant the group learned that she had gone to the shipwreck to scavenge for materials and realized her and her mate had been charmed by the Leshy and she wanted to get her husband back from Rose's influence.

At some point Ithkan opens himself to impressions and touches one of the couple and sees impressions of something recent and traumatic leaking off of them.

Ithkan's vision - 

A falling star? A burning mote descending with a crash. Out of the crater stumbles multiple vaguely humanoid forms. But one of them was clearly fae in gauzy/leafy clothes with blooming roses for hair and trailing vines for a dress. This figure stumbled away from the light of the burning wreckage but swooned and is caught by a humanoid coming out of the wreckage behind her. The catching humanoid grew in size and picked her up before moving away from the burning wreckage. Anothe rfigure follows along behind and these figures are approached by a large figure attracted by the light and noise. This large brute was about the same size as the enlarged figure of teh alchemist. There is a moment of tension. He approaches her and grabs away the fae while he asks something in crude semblance of Giant. "What was that thing, how did you make bang". The fae appears to not understand and when grabbed her flowers open and all three forms are showered in pollen. After a moment the brutes grip became gentle but he still tossed the woman with roses growing on her head over his shoulder and stomped off into the darkness while the others followed behind. Moments later stumbling out of the wreckage is a man wearing only nightclothes. But before you can see much more the gleaming metal cables strewn around the crater flex and you head is filled with deafening noise. (Ithkan gets slight headache)

By this point group decide it is too cold to take Leshy out of cave tonight but they discuss whether she might do better in the town at the Meadhall Apiary/Greenhouse. The group decide to move off some to avoid Leshy pollinization and investigate some auras coming from the burial chamber and the bear's chamber.  

In the burial chamber Etched on the wall above the sarcophagus was a carving of the wizard from earlier holding up a finger in admonishment.  Writing on the wall is in Mainlander "I see you through space and time! Leave me in peace and I will grant you the same courtesy. Defile my remains and I will haunt your dreams." But the existence of magical auras in the sarcophagus are tempting to the party even Ithkan whom should know better as a grave priest.

Going to investigate the cavenext door Nyree uses food to lure the bear towards the cave entrance letting the group find a statue of Silvanus buried in the ice of the bear's den and the source of the last magic aura.  It is part of a ancient shrine even older than the burial chambers in the next room.  Some careful excavation by the party and research by the group reveals that the statue enchants and purifies water in its palms. When Fingal drinks from this pool his broken memories piece together revealing memories he had forgotten and suppressed.  Overwhelmed by a vision of past that has been stolen from him.  Remembers being captured and tormented by a horrid illithid on a metal craft that roared and shook.  Illithid was obsessed with some type of crystal and kept demanding more of it.  Impressions of when the ship crashed and Fingal escaped into the snow where he died alone a prayer on his lips for his god.  Then the ice maiden restored him to life and ever since he has been bound to her somehow.

Secrets Discovered

•  Fingal's Magic is wild and gave him disadvantage on arcana checks due to not being the magic of this world. It is possible to learn enough about this world to overcome the disadvantage.  (Dc 20 to gain control. Dc15 to have control for the day)

• There were psychedelic mushrooms in cave probably because the great archmage Eddie the all-seeing was buried here in goodmead and he couldn't get enough of that stuff.

• Fingal, the verbeeg couple and the Leshy Rose all come from the wreckage site.  Rose and Fingal come from the same world and speak the same language.

• There is a crashed alien ship somewhere to the South.

• Fingal is tied to the Frost maiden somehow. She brought him back to life.

Case log updates:

Found missing mead (complete)

Find kindred soul (complete)

Treasure

• Statue of Sylvanus
  Wondrous item, uncommon

The statue blesses waters in its palm, such that any creature that drinks from it gains the benefit of a greater restoration spell. This magic is suppressed while the pool is frozen. A given creature can gain the pool’s benefit only once. Only works so long as the statue is in a location sanctified to Silvanus.

New investigation priorities / assignments

• • Explore wrecked Illithid ship to south (new)

  • Determine next activity, goal, or place to visit.  Possibilities include:

1) Help capture Chwinga for Dannika's research

2) Explore alien crash site to south

3) Return to Bryn Shander

4) Escort Dwarven speaker Shalescar to Breman

5) Go to Easthaven cutting across frozen lake to do so

6) Head to Caer Dineval

7) Help with kobolds in Termilaine

8) Look for missing marshalls upon Kelvin's Cairn

9) Hep free Verbeeg couple from Leshy's control

Questions to explore next time:

1. What to do about Leshy and the verbeeg couple?

2. How will being charmed affect Fingal

3. So we elected a representative of the Frost maiden as Speaker?  What does this mean for us and for Goodmead?

4. Where will group go next?