Chapter Five

Everything is spinning. The last thing you see is the flower covered courtyard of the Spring Court castle, bathed in the soft light of dawn. Magical energy rushes by you like a gale force wind as the fairy ring teleports you somewhere inside the Autumn Duchy.

Eventually, the disorienting feeling of flying through space and time begins to slow, and the rushing wind finally dies down. Before you can say “toadstool!” you are pitched forward and deposited on a bed of leaves. As you gain your bearings, the world slowly rights itself and your dizziness subsides. You sit up slowly and look around.

You are in the midst of a vast golden forest. Huge trees surround you, their leaves the colour of amber, rust, and gold. You see grand old oak trees bearing fat little acorns. There are sycamores with round fuzzy seedlings and striped birch trees too, all proudly bearing the colour palette of a forest in the full swing of Autumn. The sky above you is overcast but a pale sunlight stubbornly shines through the thick branches of trees. The air here is certainly colder than the Spring Duchy. Instead of a balmy spring day with warm sunlight, it is brisk, bordering on cold. The forest is mostly quiet, although you hear small creatures chittering nearby, as well as the gentle sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

There’s no doubt about it. You have made it to the Autumn Duchy. Though where exactly you have landed, you can’t be sure.

You stand up and look around. You and the people you entered the fairy ring with are still together, but the rest of the Guild recruits are nowhere to be found. And neither is Sparrow.

Your party has no other option but to find a main road and try to make your own way to the Autumn Court capital of Skjolden. Perhaps you will catch up with the others on the way.

You dust off your clothes and head off into the forest, a carpet of dried leaves crunching beneath your feet as you start to hike.

A few hours into your trek, you are still winding your way through the immense forest with no road in sight. Just how big are these woods? You haven’t spotted another soul yet, and the only change in the scenery is the increasing number of toadstools. They grow higgledy-piggledy all over the woods, and some are large enough to sit on!

As your party wearily trudges through the cool autumn forest, you swear you hear a magical jingle carried on the wind…

You come across a very merry scene indeed. In a large clearing in the forest, a group of brownies are setting up for a midday feast. Small and knobbly, the brownies are dressed in brown tunics and wear long red caps on their heads. They have long beards that sweep past their knees (some reaching all the way to their toes) and kind, intelligent eyes. They perch, seated on toadstools around an enormous tree stump laden with food.

The massive oak trees that surround the clearing have doors carved into their trunks. You notice intricate sets of rope bridges and ladders that disappear up into the thick boughs of the trees, creating a network of interconnected branches high up amongst the golden leaves. Chimneys stick awkwardly out of the tree trunks, thick white smoke drifting out of them. Little round windows, sometimes accompanied by quaint flower boxes, are dotted here and there all over the huge trees.

There are a few other creatures in attendance. A squirrel sits beside a small group of serious brownies, having a meeting of some kind. A few wildlings are bartering with one of the brownies, and you see a flash of gold as goods are exchanged. A raccoon, a frog and a chipmunk play a series of strange wooden instruments to an onlooking brownie crowd who tap their feet merrily to the jaunty tune.

The jolly little fellows catch sight of your party and call out to you.

“Ho- and welcome, travelers! You look weary, and hungry. Come and join our supper!”

The brownies invite you to their table and share some gingerbread cakes and tree sap with you.

“Aye, you are in the nAmhrán woods. The road that leads all the way to the Autumn Court is nearby, but it goes right through Harvest Town. Used to be a friendly place but folks don’t stop there any more. You’re better off taking the long way round across the mountains and past the Winter Court. It’ll add, say, a month to your journey?”

A month! You haven’t got that sort of time. You need to get to Skjolden as soon as possible. You will have to go through Harvest Town, no matter the danger.

“Suit yourself, friend. Only warning you - that town is haunted. Properly haunted. Best of luck!”

The friendly little brownies line your pockets and packs with roasted chestnuts and leftover gingerbread cake, and refill your water skins. They wave you off as you continue through the woods, guided by a crude hand drawn map one of the brownies quickly scribbled.

Soon, you come out of the forest and find yourself on a wide dirt track with wagon tracks imprinted into the rough ground. You and your party follow the road for a few hours. The sun is hiding behind a thick curtain of clouds, and the breeze is getting stronger and colder.

Soon, you come out of the forest and find yourself on a wide dirt track with wagon tracks imprinted into the rough ground. You and your party follow the road for a few hours. The sun is hiding behind a thick curtain of clouds, and the breeze is getting stronger and colder. Wooden fencing starts to line the road, but it is broken and run down, long overdue for repairs. The road gets rougher and you dodge a fair few sizable potholes. This road isn’t fit for anything other than foot traffic. How long has it been since a wagon or cart passed this way?

You asked too soon. On the side of the road, a wagon cart lies overturned. A travel box is lying opened, fabrics and other knick knacks of low value scattered across the road. There are no living creatures in or around the cart, but it puts you on edge.

A battered wooden sign reads “Harvest town this way” and points down to a town in the valley below you. It is a medium sized village, eerily quiet, with a smattering of stone huts and red wooden houses that are slowly being reclaimed by nature. The streets are lined with cobblestones and you see the tip of a huge windmill on the far side of the town.

To get to the town center, you must first pass through an abandoned pumpkin field, a foggy apple orchard, or an ominous looking corn maze.

Something doesn’t feel right. Let’s look around.

You look around Harvest Town. The wood and stone buildings are covered in ivy, and a thick carpet of dried leaves have covered the ground. The village is quiet and seemingly empty. There are rotting pumpkins, damp hay bales and more wagons filled with rusting harvest tools.

Guildmaster Sparrow also rejoins the group and you are relieved to see him. He looks distinctly ruffled and there is straw sticking out from his wings, but he is otherwise unharmed.

“If Redcaps have infested this town, we need to oust them. They are vicious little creatures and have made the road to Skjolden dangerous for all fae. Let’s search the town and flush them out!”

You search inside the buildings around the town. There are more scarecrows around in and inside the abandoned buildings, but upon poking them thoroughly it seems there are no Redcaps hiding inside. This little town is quiet, eerie and damp, but you can almost imagine the bustling place it used to be. The town square is spacious and filled with a grand old oak tree. It could have hosted a harvest market quite comfortably. Little stalls line the streets, now broken or rotted through.

Having not found any more Redcaps, the guild converge on the last remaining building to be searched: the windmill. You all enter it cautiously.

Inside the drafty windmill, a gigantic statue of a man woven from straw stands imposingly over you. A wicker man! You hear the sound of cackling laughter from many different voices coming from inside the wicker man.

The cackling reaches a fever pitch and the wicker man animates, swinging a straw arm down on the guild recruits!

Sigh... back into the fray!

The Guild of Heroes defeat The Wicker Man (or rather, the Redcaps inside). You have cleared Harvest Town of the infestation and made the road to Skjolden safe again.

As you exit the windmill, a group of creatures approach your party. It is the brownies from the forest, along with a few of their friends!

“Thank you. The Autumn Duchy owes you a great debt. It isn’t in a brownie’s nature to live in stone houses, but we will move into the town for a while and help restore it to what it used to be. There are many creatures in the forest that would be grateful to make a home here.”

The industrious little brownies begin to whip up a huge harvest feast, with supplies brought from their own forest camps.

In no time at all, the grim little village of Harvest Town is lit up with lanterns and jack o lanterns, with fae chatting, dancing and making merry all over. A huge feast, even grander than the forest lunch you enjoyed so many hours ago, is laid out in the town square. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin pies, corn on the cob, baked apple tarts, cornbread… your tummy rumbles in anticipation of the harvest feast.

Some of the brownies are already fixing up the buildings, eager to start their work in rebuilding the town.

Sparrow turns to you all with a horn of warm apple cider in his talon, and a sparkle in his eye. He looks pleased.

“Well done, friends. When the Guild of Heroes was in its prime, we had many allies from all over the realm, creatures great and small. They acted as our eyes and ears, and were our trusted friends.” He pauses. “I think you have made some friends today. Every bit of good we do helps the realm - even the most meagre act of kindness to the smallest of creatures. But we mustn’t forget our main priority. Tomorrow we will reach the Autumn Court and will hopefully make a powerful ally against the iron creatures.”

The following morning, the brownies present you with some wagons they have fixed up. They press packages of pies, dried fruit and nuts, cakes and cornbread into your hands and wave you off as you continue on the main road to Skjolden.

The clouds part as your wagon rumbles across the dirt track. A weak sunlight filters through the boughs of the oak trees overhead as you make your way towards the Autumn Court.

As these quests are part of the main campaign, there is no due date to complete them. Quests also do not need to be completed in order.

Stay tuned for Chapter Six!

Chapter Five Gallery