Previously: Chapter 68: Back to the Wild
Departure
The next morning, having gotten a good night’s rest, the trio emerges from the magnificent mansion, deciding that they want to sample some local cuisine instead of what they already know, no matter how delicious it looks. Penny considered taking some food with her, but Relic reminded her that it will disappear when she leaves. On the outside, Dandelion is already up, helping with dinner. Kal, Relic and Penny all join the rest of the tribe, sharing breakfast and sampling some rather delicious, albeit primitive foods.
Sage sits by the fire, staring into it in deep thought. Dandelion asks him what is bothering him. He tells her that he does not know why they feel that they must go after the artifact, having already told her that the grove they suspect it might be in is inhabited by “fanatics”. It seems like Sage doesn’t want Dandelion to get hurt, but she tells him that she is willing to give her life to stop the threat that is coming. Sage relents, having been told several times that Faunus has set her on this journey. He tells her that she hopes she will find her way back safely, and that the tribe will stay where they are for at least a few weeks.
As the breakfast is done, Penny goes over to Gold, sharing some of her drugs that she acquired in Eilian, managing to avoid the prying eyes of Dandelion, an achievement in and of itself. Silver thanks her for the “gift”, telling her that he looks forward to testing it out. Penny laughs, and returns to the rest of her party. Sage sends them off, warning them not to venture past the river far to the east near where the corruption was spread, as there seems to still be some residual dangers lurking in that part of the forest. Dandelion then turns herself into a giant eagle and starts ferrying people across the large river that stands in their way. The rest of the tribe gives them a nice sendoff, waving at the party. They then start walking eastwards, wanting to find the river Sage mentioned, following it south to where the grove supposedly lies.
Familiar Flora
After a few hours of walking, following a path Dandelion has traveled on before, they eventually come across a fork in the road, one path leading them north, away from their destination, the other leading east, towards a part of the forest where Dandelion has never ventured before. They turn towards the unknown, hoping no perils lie in their path. They don’t have to walk long before they come across what to the rest of the party appears to be just a pile of old stones, but Dandelion recognizes this as an old marker for a place of interest, leading south from their current heading. They debate for a while whether they should follow it, but agree that they aren’t in any particular rush, so they decide to check out what could be found there.
After about an hour of walking, they come across a stone formation between a couple of hillocks, with a bunch of familiar flowers growing in its center. Doom Blooms, which they have encountered once before, when venturing through the mist fields in the north. They count 9 of them in total, more than enough to make themselves a Doom Bloom garden in their home if they do it correctly.
As the party approaches carefully, the stones surrounding the flowers start to shift, forming a huge stone golem. It stares at the party with no eyes, before saying something in a strange language that Dandelion recognizes and understands as Primordial.
“You are impure. Leave this place.”
Dandelion translates, and the party asks it to clarify after it keeps repeating the message. It eventually points one of its hands at Kal. Penny doesn't understand what it means, but Kal suspects correctly that it has something to do with her being a fallen aasimar, and decides to back off, walking away from the shrine back from whence they came, waiting for them to finish. Relic examines the stone formation, noticing that it resembles the symbol of the god Bavarus, and realizes that Yana, who is corrupting Kal, and Bavarus has an eternal feud, so it probably has something to do with that. It would also explain the Doom Blooms, as someone obviously has tried to find this place, but apparently have been unsuccessful so far.
Penny tries to play a song about war and honor for the Golem, which seems to do something, but apparently is not enough. She then decides to head over to Kal, who is in the middle of doing a divination spell, asking if Udall can tell her anything about the shrine and who might be seeking it. The response is clear, saying that a mighty warrior of Bavarus is laid to rest here, and those who scry on it desire what is buried within. Penny then uses Harmony to cast the spell Protection from Evil and Good on her, thinking that it might help with the golem guardian. When they return to the others, the golem does not give the same warning, so it apparently worked.
Dandelion asks the golem if it would be okay for them to relocate whatever is within the shrine to a safer place, away from whomever is trying to access it. The golem says, in Primordial, if they are worthy. Kal steps forward, saying that she is a cleric of Udall, and swears to protect whatever is within. The golem seems to accept the words. Dandelion says she is a druid of Faunus, and is on the side of good. The golem seems to accept the words. Relic says that he is on the side of good against the Forgotten One, if this has anything to do with that. The golem seems to accept the words. Penny says that if whatever is within can help fight the Forgotten One then she will do whatever she needs, as she wants to defeat him for good. The golem seems to accept the words. It shifts, saying “Now, prove thyself.” preparing itself to attack the party.
The Trial of the Golem
Kal strikes first, casting a shatter at the golem. Even though it is extra effective against manufactured materials, it seems to have some sort of advantage against magical effects, so it manages to resist the brunt of it. Penny fires at it with Harmony, and provides inspiration to Dandelion. Relic casts a chromatic orb at it, summoning Bimble to help. When the golem has its turn, it radiates a magical effect that catches Penny, causing her to become sluggish and slow, and attacks Dandelion and Kal directly. Kal is stunned by the attack, knocking her out for a few seconds. Dandelion casts blight on the golem, and gets some temporary health from the bardic inspiration. Suddenly, the other stones surrounding the field shifts, summoning many smaller golems who join the fight, focusing mostly on Relic and Penny, who is the most exposed.
The golem strikes hard, slamming into the ground, knocking Penny down and hurting the others, but also hurts his little golem friends in the process, taking a few out. When they crumble, they do so violently, exploding, hurting those around it. Relic casts a lightning bolt at a few of the smaller ones and the big one, causing a chain reaction that hurts Penny and Dandelion as well. Relic tries running away, having forgotten to activate his mage armor, but the small golems run after him.
Penny, still being slowed down, uses her bardic magic to summon a helper from a few of the nearby stones, who attacks the golem. They keep pummeling the guardian with their attacks, chipping away its health little by little. Kal strikes at it with Stormseeker, and sees that their barrage is causing the guardian to show cracks. Relic shoves away one of the smaller golems flanking him, and uses disintegrate on it and the guardian, greatly damaging it, and causing the smaller one to disappear into a cloud of dust as it explodes. Penny, having gotten tired of being out of the fight, dispels the effect plaguing her, moving to the side, giving some inspiration to Kal as her animated object keeps attacking the guardian.
The guardian throws one of its arms at Relic, and then regrows it, striking at Kal, who retaliates with her wrath of the storm. Dandelion, having taken a beating from both the guardian and the smaller golems uses wither and bloom to wound it some more, while healing herself a bit. Having taken all of the smaller golems out now, they focus on the big one, but more suddenly emerges from the piles, bringing reinforcements. Penny, now being flanked by a few of them, sees her opportunity and strikes at the guardian and a couple of the small ones with her steel wind strike. She blurs throughout the battlefield, ending up next to the guardian, who crumbles, defeated. The smaller golems fall to the ground as well.
Worthy
The silence is eerie, with only the wind blowing through the forest making any noise, before the stones start shifting again. The guardian reforms, but is no longer appearing hostile. It says a single word in Primordial.
“Worthy.”
The circle surrounding the flowers starts to shift, forming a staircase leading down below into the darkness. The guardian just stands there, menacingly, looking at each of the party members as they pass it going down. Kal silently curses Shehemis under her breath, thinking that it is just too perfect that they stumble across another grave for another hero of another god on their path to find the Heartwood Staff.
Below, they find a crypt. In the center of the chamber is a catafalque with a skeleton lying atop it, holding a very pretty looking sword. Surrounding the corpse are various offerings, both coins and items. On one of the tables in the chamber there lies a carved dragon statue and a necklace. Relic senses that powerful magical artifacts lie in the chamber.
Dandelion wanders over to the skeleton, recognizes it as that of a firbolg. She takes out a stone from her pouch, carving a symbol into it, placing it on the body, as she takes away the sword, thanking whoever it is for whatever it is they have done. The skeleton suddenly starts to shift and move, spooking Dandelion, but it’s just Kal casting speak with dead on it. Dandelion backs away with the sword, as Kal asks her questions.
They learn that whoever it is has a feminine voice, and calls themselves Greenwarden, a paladin of Bavarus, formerly a druid of Faunus. They ask if they can use the sword, and are told that they are allowed if they are able. If they are unable to use it, Greenwarden would like it to be protected until someone worthy can wield it. They ask if there is anything they want them to do for her, but she just tells them that she accomplished her task, and is at rest. They finally ask what they accomplished, and the corpse tells them that they were originally known as Thaeliath, but changed their name to Greenwarden as Bavarus asked for their help in fighting back against the orcish invaders. The only invasion from the orcs the party remembers happened around 500 years ago when Phandalin was sacked the first time. Relic deduces that it fits when it comes to the deterioration of the chamber. Dandelion recognizes the name as an old firbolg word meaning “One who listens to the forest”.
The skeleton goes still, the spell fading. Relic starts gathering some of the papers in the chamber in case they have anything of interest, while the rest of the party takes the coins with them, figuring that they might have more use for them than just sitting in this abandoned crypt. Penny uses her wand to identify the three items of interest, finding the sword to be the legendary Holy Avenger, the necklace is a Periapt of Wound Closure, and the dragon statue is a druidic charm, allowing a druid to wild shape into a dragon for a short while. Dandelion gracefully accepts the token, while the sword and the necklace goes into the bag of holding.
When they leave, Relic takes out a dwarven necklace, placing it around the skeletons neck, Penny takes a coin out leaving it with the corpse as a symbolic gesture, while Kal gives a proper warrior’s salute as she heads back upstairs. They pick up all the Doom Blooms, who luckily survived the fight, since the smaller golems were kind enough to avoid stepping on them. Dandelion druid crafts a flower, handing it to the guardian, who takes it in its hand, standing there, looking at them as they depart.
Continuing Eastward
After leaving the shrine, the party finds themselves a place to sit down to take a short rest, allowing Dandelion to attune to the dragon charm. Kal makes some food, while Penny plays a healing song, topping up the party a big more. Kal is yearning for some coffee, so Penny takes out Bozuuth the Sentient Coffee Pot, making a brew for the party.
The demon within has seemingly missed their conversations, having felt neglected for a while, telling Penny in her head that he has done research on the party since they last spoke. It tells her that he has learned that they have gotten on the bad side of a certain devil called Raam, asking if this is true. Penny confirms this, and is told that this pleases Bozuuth greatly. They seem to bond, as their deeds will be rewarded, allowing them to get the effect of the coffee pot twice a day now, instead of once a day. Penny spends some more time talking to Bozuuth, learning that when not with the party he spends his time as a teapot in the Abyss.
After taking the rest, healing up a bit and feeling refreshed, the party continues on their path eastwards. Dandelion, having been quite rejuvenated from being in her old home again manages to lead the party through a shortcut somehow, cutting down their travel time greatly with almost half a day by their own calculations. After spending a few more hours, they make camp, Relic summoning the magnificent mansion for them to rest in, figuring they have about another day of travel before they reach the river.
Dandelion checks out her new and improved quarters, finding it to be much closer to the feel she finds pleasant in the forest, with the proper sounds and a more “natural” ground with a single bedroll for her to sleep on. Before they retire completely for the night, Kal decides to step outside the mansion to cast a sending to Sage. She asks him if he has heard of the name “Greenwarden”, but is told in return that he has not heard that name before, asking her why she wants to know. She calls inside for Dandelion, who joins her outside, telling her that he doesn’t know about the paladin they found. Dandelion suggests that maybe he has heard the other name, Thaeliath.
She casts another sending, asking about the other name, and this one he has actually heard, seemingly in passing, but he will ask around if anyone else knows of the name. She tells Dandelion what he told her, and that they will probably have to go back to find out what he learned. Before they manage to head inside, they can hear heavy footsteps, creaking trees and breaking branches heading straight towards them. Something large is approaching in the night.
“Dandelion, what do your druid eyes see?”