Loose threads
- It remains to be seen what effects the ritual will ultimately have on Greenside.
- Rosaline seems to have become a part of the empathic network.
Participants
Locations
Short summary:
Ezekiel joined the empathic network, we followed the concentric fungal circles and Rosaline's footsteps to the tree where Dumchik was bound. We entered a mindscape and completed the ritual, connecting Greenside to the Millennium Forest, with Dumchik as the locus between the two, as the spirit intended for himself. Rosaline seems to have become a part of the empathic network.
Full Report
This is a continuation of Not So Greenside Pt. 1, so please refer to that report for context.
Kobolds and Companions
We met Parsnap, another kobold adventurer from the guild. He was escorting a guild agent, Rosaline, to Greenside Farmstead when something happened, and they were separated, and he was knocked out. When he came to, she was nowhere to be found.
Introductions were cut short, however, as fungi-ridden wolves attacked us. One was larger than the rest, obviously in charge, and sought vengeance on us for slaying their kin. Their fur was sickly and mangy, their eyes distant and unfocused, and they had red, glowing growths all over their bodies.
One of the blighted wolves surrendered and survived, and shortly after the combat was resolved, I heard a voice resound in my head, commanding me to "collect the growths". I couldn't fight it, and I am told I charged at the wolf with a crazed expression. I couldn't be stopped for long and ate a part of the wolf that it seemed to offer me.
Rest and Revelations
It took me a day to recover from the ordeal, where I recovered in the bogey's cabin, where the party made camp whilst I was unconscious. After the bogey's death, the blight doesn't seem to be held back by its wards as much, but with the time pressure, it's not something we had the luxury of investigating.
Upon reviewing the events up until now, it seems that I had become a part of the blight's empathic network, and that becoming disassociated with it has adverse, possibly insanity-inducing, effects. At least at first. It should become more manageable after that.
As part of the empathic network, the blighted wolf was far more agreeable to me than my companions. The cultists had clearly dealt no small amount of harm to the forest, and the network was furious with humanoids because of that. It told us that the wolves' awakening was an unintentional consequence of the cultist's ritual, and that Dumchik was part of the network's core. It also told us that Rosaline was lost, but heading towards the 'home tree', as it were - where Dumchik was bound.
Another, perhaps more important revelation, was that the wolf referred to the empathic network as "Father", which indicates that individuality persists within the network, something I can attest to personally. This "Father" also took a wolf avatar of sorts - that much larger, commanding wolf - so that it could move away from the home tree.
All Eyes On Us
Though we still had Carlos with us, we managed to form an agreement with the wolf - it would escort him (and the scouts' remains) back to Greenside. We had little reason to believe the wolf would betray us, so it was a natural conclusion. Meanwhile, we decided that we'd head straight to the home tree by following Rosaline's trail and the concentric fungal circles, at the centre of which was indeed the home tree.
Throughout this journey, there was a distinct feeling of being watched - by the forest creatures, no doubt. Interestingly, we observed a phenomenon with the forest creatures' eye glow, as some of the creatures' eyes turned from an ominous red to a calm blue - the same phenomenon was observed earlier, when the wolf was speaking with Warre.
Arriving at the home tree itself, we found it to be covered in shadow as dark as a moonless night, despite the sun shining bright above the canopy. That feeling of being watched was overwhelming here, and Rosaline's knapsack and its contents were strewn about the area, but the woman herself was nowhere to be seen.
In response to us announcing ourselves, calling out to Dumchik - after all, we were not there to fight - the shadows in the tree shifted, forming an ethereal mask-like face that shifted between intense emotions - elation, anger, fear, contentment... A disembodied voice emanating from the tree assumed that we were "of the despoilers" as we knew Dumchik's name, with Rosaline - infected by the blight, no doubt - and the wolf avatar reinforced these accusations.
The accusations were nothing short of infuriating, if I'm to be honest here. Nevertheless, despite my - our - expressions of frustration, we did manage to somewhat convince "Dumchik" to hold off on attacking. Convince it that we really were here to help, and not fight. It seemed willing to believe us, but needed a proverbial olive branch extended - for us to trust it as we ask it to trust us. By allowing it into our minds.
The Mindscape
In doing so, we were submerged in a collective mindscape. Two domovois and the wolf avatar were present, amongst some animated homeware (brooms and cutlery). It took us a while to figure out what exactly we could do from within the mindscape, but we eventually deduced that the two domovois were Dumchik's kind side, and his more feral side that had been connected with the soul of the forest and its suffering, which the wolf avatar represented. So consumed by this anger, the blight must have been a method for the empathic network to influence the physical world and ensure the continued survival of the forest, at the expense of all else, in the twisted way only such negative emotions can do.
Even so, that Dumchik's kinder side was still there, nestled betwixt the anger and pain, was telling. He gave me a pouch of reagents for the ritual, and would go on to plead with us to complete the ritual, whilst his feral side was lashing out and attempting to prevent that - much like how wounded animals are wont to strike at those attempting to help them.
Scattered across the mindscape, we found pieces of the incomplete ritual. A grimoire, the centerpiece of the ritual, and two smaller accompanying parts. Upon deciphering the pieces, they became embedded in our minds - those of us that personally deciphered the pieces - which gave us an innate sense that we were now "part" of the ritual, for lack of a better term.
We proceeded to do everything we could to set up the ritual whilst fending off the wolf avatar and the spiteful domovoi, gathering all we needed - ritual components and casters alike - around the ritual's locus, a magic circle in the mindscape. As we were fending off the wolf avatar, upon it being rendered unconscious, it transformed into a glowing orb of runes. We quickly discovered - the hard way, I should say - that it wouldn't necessarily stay in that form, as it transformed back and struck Warre down. Thankfully, this was but a bump in the road, as we successfully managed to bring the orb to the circle and begin casting the ritual.
We did, however, have some leeway to adjust how the ritual was cast, given its incomplete nature. I filled in what I could with my knowledge on necromancy. Our intentions with this ritual was to connect Greenside to the Millennium Forest, with Dumchik at the ritual's core, as he intended all along. We wanted the residents of Greenside to be able to opt-in to the empathic network, which should be more benign after the ritual's completion, and our final intent was to reinforce the connection between the two locations - Dumchik believed that the two should be on the same side, against hostile entities (such as the bogey was), and we believed similar.
A bright blue light signalled the culmination and success of the ritual, and the mindscape faded away. The forest's animals were entranced by something, but obviously non-hostile. Rosaline was conscious, much like we were, but she spoke with an eerily calm tone, and with the authority of "Father". She - or rather, the network - expressed their thanks, as the animals snapped from their trance and dispersed. It seems that Rosaline has become part of the empathic network now.
Addendum: Zick was erroneously left out of the initial participant list. I want to note that he was pivotal - as all members were - to our success here. That he was left out of the report, even if due to a lapse in concentration, is hopefully not an ill omen given his close brush with death recently.