Previously: Chapter 88: Calamity
Disappearance
Emerging through the protective barrier of the grove, the party splits up. Kal joins her family for supper, while Relic loiters around. Thistlethorn goes away to relieve herself, while Penny casts a sending to Brónach, asking if he has found anything. The spell goes through, finds its target… no reply. Disturbed by the implication she immediately tells the others of this, who are equally concerned by his lack of answer.
After discussing what could have happened to Brónach, Kal sits down to do a divination to see if she can learn more about his situation. They fear that he might have been petrified or something of the like, as he is unable to answer. Seeing that they’re in Faunus’ Forest, she decides to try to reach out to him instead of Udall or Mova. She asks Thistlethorn how she usually addresses Faunus, with her replying that she just reaches out, there is little formality to it.
Burning the incense, Kal feels the sudden presence of something looming in front of her. She cannot see anything, but it’s definitely there. Powerful and silent, peering into her soul. She asks the presence if it can give her an idea of what is happening with Brónach. Kal is suddenly bombarded with the feeling of being tied up, with tendrils piercing her chest, belly, legs and back, forcing her to tense up. The others see her being in distress, but just as fast as the pain emerged, it retreats, leaving no permanent damage. Brónach is clearly in pain, and unable to help himself.
They decide to ask Wanderwood if he has seen Brónach lately, but he has not, and has not noticed anything amiss about the forest. Thistlethorn walks over to the tree that Brónach used to transport himself through, and although it sensed that it was used as a conduit, he has no way of knowing where it led. Thistlethorn decides to send Argus and Ira high up into the sky to see if they can spot any sign of corruption, with Penny sending Riff to help, but with daylight fading, they don’t get far before they have to return, seeing little of value.
While they wait for the birds to return, Thistlethorn asks the moss for help finding where the corruption is spreading. It shoots out, whispering outwards for information. A few hours later, they report back to Thistlethorn that they are losing contact with their “cousins” to the north, and fast. Kal in the meantime does a commune, asking Faunus for more guidance. With a warm wind he confirms that the corruption is east of the river they are next to, and to the north, but a cold wind blows when she asks if it can blow towards it.
They debate long if they should use a scrying to see where Brónach is, or if it is time to use the scroll of momentary omnipotence, or if they should sleep to regain their strength before going out to look for the corruption. In the end, they cast a heroes’ feast, before retiring for the night, better prepared for what comes in the morrow. Disturbingly though, they notice that the barrier protecting the grove is faltering, growing weaker, so they realize they do not have a lot of time.
The Hunt
The morning after the party prepares their spells for the upcoming rescue mission of Brónach. The barrier is even weaker at this point, meaning they don’t have a lot of time to waste. After breakfast, Thistlethorn casts wind walk on the party, having taken Berry out of the pocket ball while putting Argus and Ira in each of theirs. Taking the shapes of clouds, they shoot up into the sky to seek out their quarry. As they leave the safety of the boundary they see how protected it is, as the commune blends in perfectly in the forest, hiding it from view.
After a few hours, they see the mountains in the distance. The weather is cloudy, close to rain, so they stay near the forest roof to get a good view. Suddenly, they notice that a large part of the forest seems to be muted, very much in the same vein as the previous corruption has been. Several miles from the edge they see a large oak that Thistlethorn refers to as The Old Oak. The corruption seems to be advancing relatively fast, around a meter a minute.
The party decides to land a bit away from the Oak, and after landing they can see clearly that the tree is marked with Vuthul’s symbol. Groaning about how he seems to have his finger in too many pies, they talk a bit about how to approach the situation. Kal thinks it might be a good idea to cast forbiddance around the tree in order to trap or prevent Hala from getting too close, as they know her kind are technically fiends. They agree they should try, even though the casting time is 10 minutes. For good measure, Thistlethorn takes out two boars and a weasel from the grey bag of tricks.
As they get closer to the tree, they move past groups of animals, wolves, bears, panthers and spiders, who seem to be watching them carefully, clearly ready to pounce, but holding back for some reason. As the treeline clears, they see a figure trapped amongst the branches of the Old Oak. Brónach, impaled by several vines which seems to be draining him of his lifeforce somehow.
They slightly jog to get close to the tree as quickly as possible. Penny activates her detect thoughts, noticing a presence nearby that she cannot place. Thistlethorn however, can hear a voice speaking to her, not inside her mind, but walking around her. Penny hears it too through Thistlethorn. The voice of Hala, telling her that she is glad to have her back, and looks forward to getting to know her better. Thistlethorn replies that she cannot have her, just as Hala appears behind her, and tries to possess Thistlethorn’s body.
Hala
Penny however is fast enough with her reactions that she manages to wound Hala and at the same time give Thistlethorn a bardic inspiration, which is enough to allow Thistlethorn to withstand the possession. Enraged, Hala retreats to the ethereal plane just as the rest of the party realizes what is happening. In her absence, the beasts that have been roaming around the periphery begin attacking, running straight towards the party, but leaving Thistlethorn alone. Other beasts can be seen in the distance approaching.
The party goes to work on the beasts, with Penny dominating a corrupted cave bear to help out. Berry is running around protecting the party from a flock of wolves which are trying to flank them. Relic summons a few spiders from The Arachnostaff to help out, which manages to take out quite a few of the beasts. Kal uses a spell to protect them from harm, making Hala’s attacks less effective as an undead.
Hala moves in and out of the ethereal plane, attempting to possess Thistlethorn several times, but Kal’s spell is doing a good job at preventing her from getting hold. Thistlethorn uses a protection from evil and good spell for good measure, before wild shaping into a giant eagle in the hopes of helping release Brónach, seeing as he is somehow fuelling the corruption, something they have to stop before it gets too out of hand. Hala sees this, and emerges next to them in order to stop her progress, telling Thistlethorn that she cannot save him, mockingly.
Thistlethorn examines Brónach, realizing that he is greatly wounded, and she will have to be careful and take her time to remove the tendrils that are embedded in his body, or he will not survive. Precious time Hala can use to finally possess Thistlethorn. Thinking quickly, Thistlethorn gives a small prayer to Faunus to help her get Brónach back, before she grabs a hold of his shoulders with her claws, forcibly dragging him away from the tendrils. Brónach, is killed, but the fuel for the corruption have been cut off, enraging Hala. Thistlethorn tries to fly away as Hala tries to make Thistlethorn fall asleep, but she manages to resist.
Thistlethorn flies closer to the ground to get within range of Kal’s protective spells, as Penny and Relic keep firing off on Hala. Kal tries to destroy the symbol on the Old Oak with Stormseeker, managing to make a dent, but remembers what happened with the last source of corruption, and focuses back on Hala instead, who has moved closer to Thistlethorn, attempting another possession.
This time, Hala succeeds, but thanks to Thistlethorn’s own spell, she is shunted back out. In anger, Hala strikes at Thistlethorn with her claws and magic missiles, dropping her out of the wild shape. Brónach and Thistlethorn fall to the ground, but Thistlethorn is saved by a feather token, slowing her fall. On the ground, she quickly uses one of the pocket balls to preserve his body, as she tries to run away by using a hidden step.
The visage of Hala begins to falter as the party keeps pestering her with spells, arrows and spears. Thistlethorn sees an opening, and uses her eight level spell to summon a sunbeam, nearly blinding everyone in the area, but at the same time burning away the remaining vitality of Hala, releasing her tether on the material plane.
The symbol on the Old Oak begins to glow, as a portal opens up, and Hala is sucked into it. Still open, it allows entry to wherever Hala has gone, and Thistlethorn wastes no time to take it, running in after her. The beasts who were accosting the party retreats as their charm is broken with Hala’s expulsion, so the rest of the party follows closely behind.
Within the tree, they emerge in a mirror of where they left. In front of them, they see the ethereal visage of Hala, greatly wounded, crawling along the ground, trying to get away from the party. Thistlethorn calmly floats over to her, as Hala turns towards her, clearly shocked and frustrated.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He promised me you would be too weak…”
Thistlethorn raises the Heartwood Staff, piercing it straight through the chest of the spirit of the hag who nearly destroyed her forest, causing it to fade away, sundered into nothing. The staff glows slightly, spouting a few leaves, as it is finally exalted. Thistlethorn screams into the void.
“You hear that? !You can never win!”
A figure is seen in the distance, with a menacing smile, and small balls of light glowing where his eyes should be, as Vuthul retreats into the distance.
The party has little time to celebrate, as they feel the whole area shake and begin to collapse. They quickly exit back into their own plane, and seeing that the Old Oak is shaking violently and beginning to glow, Relic summons a wall of force to protect them from the most direct blast, as they quickly make their way towards the nearest tree. Thistlethorn uses a spell to open a gateway, and the party just barely makes it through the other side as the flames of the explosion reaches them, but the closing portal cuts off the danger, as the party finds themselves back to the outside of the Grove of Eternal Whispers, barrier weakened, but holding.
Next: Chapter 90: House Call