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Session 24 into session 25 –(recap)
Welcome back everyone! – Here’s what happened in our previous session.
When last we met, Ophi’s Bodyguards were left a little divided, what with Kaelin, Rhyker and Ophi still out adventuring in the Lost City, whilst Scarlett remained fast asleep in her room, back in Lut Gholein.
Eventually, it came to the time for Scarlett to wake up, she gathered her things and rushed down to meet her comrades, but once again they weren’t there.
So -she spoke with Atma, who poured Scarlett a small drink whilst passing her a note which was written by Rhyker, it was strong enough to just to round off the edges, but it definitely wasn’t to Scarlett’s tastes.
Wasting no time, Scarlett laced up her armour, grabbed her bow and what little arrows she had still, and left the tavern, she quickly headed for the Lost City way point as soon as humanly possible.
Upon arrival, she met up with the rest of the party almost instantly.
An odd looking prismatic portal suddenly opened up before their very eyes as they were talking with Scarlett… It was both very suspicious and alluring at the same time.
The party gathered around the portal, and decided what to do.
Soon after some general preparations and drinking some healing potion…. One by one they entered through the portal, and stepped out into a strange and whimsical realm, filled with colour, and all kinds of odd looking creatures – of an unknown origin.
Immediately, as they all surveyed their surroundings, they noticed the items that were left on the floor… Strange gift wrapped boxes, and Egg shaped containers of different shapes, sizes, and colour.
Ophi explained to the rest of them that she had seen the Egg shaped containers in the past, back in Khanduras, near to the Rogue Encampment, and that merchants are particularly interested in trading for them.
Whilst Ophi set about with the others gathering any herbs or eggs they could, Rhyker attempted to open one of the gift wrapped presents – and before his very eyes, watched as the gold coins inside of the box, faded from view.
Moving on down the woodland path – past rainbow arches and smiling clouds – collecting yet more presents and eggs as they went, the party eventually came across a small clearing with a group of spiky smiling plants, that when approached, their demeanor turned from happy and playful… to angry and aggressive.
Combat, as unlikely as it could possibly seem – had then started.
To begin with, the party all underestimated these smiley plants, but soon came to regret their decision… They soon found out that these plant like creatures were potentially lethal with their razor sharp, armour piercing seeds they would project onto their enemies.
Scarlett quickly came under fire, and learned the hard way NOT to take these plants lightly, soon though, she ended the fight as quick as it had begun with her flame imbued magical arrows…. Sinking one into each of the plants seemed to cause them to shrivel and die.
Moving forward from their encounter, finding yet more presents to break open along the way… The party heard a low growling sound coming from up ahead.
The likes of which could only be described as bear cubs at play.
Sure enough, Rhyker pushed forward to see what the noise was, and as he came into close contact with the cute little creatures, their expressions also changed from happy to angry, and so they attacked!!
Ophi was overwhelmed by a sudden fear, which made it hard for her to focus on the bears properly, and so relied on her friends to help her fend them off.
That said – another batch of generally weak opponents to face, left this battle over and done with, in mere moments.
Following the path on-wards, away from the treeline, and deeper through the plains, was somewhat an enjoyable experience, and at the very least a welcome reprieve from the arid desert.
Further on, more eggs and presents were found near to one of the large lakes in the area, following around this lead the party to a section of this land, which split into two main directions.
To the south, a forested grove, with a tall bell tower in the centre, holding a purple metallic bell at the very top of it.
To the west, a thin path, which lead between two large lakes, and over to a grassy meadow in the distance, that contained a patch of mushrooms, which had grown in the shape of a large circle.
Scarlett and Ophi took the Southern path, and investigated the tower. However, upon climbing the steps, Ophi lost her footing and slipped backwards, but she was lucky this time, as Scarlett was walking readily behind her, ready to catch her friend.
Pushing up the stairs led them out onto the roof, where Ophi decided to use her staff to strike the bell three times.
Which unknown to Ophi, had awoken something off in the distance.
Kaelin and Rhyker took the Western path, and pushed forwards to the clearing up ahead of them, cutting down yet more plants and cute bears, as they went.
Eventually they broke through to the clearing, just as Ophi and Scarlett returned from their visit to the tower.
As the party entered the clearing, they watched as a majestic and colourful unicorn, manifested within the ring of mushrooms, claiming that she was the Forest Guardian.
She threatened to end them all for invading her realm, destroying her property, stealing items of value, and worst of all, killing off her forest friends.
With anger welling up inside, and not wanting to hear excuses, she attacked without any remorse.
The Forest Guardian – A unicorn by the name of Princess Lillian – was indeed a strong opponent, with many skills and abilities at her disposal… but even with all that, she was overwhelmed by the combined efforts of the party, and killed.
Kaelin delivered the final blow with her dagger, as she took a big leap using a broken fence post, onto the back of the creature, and struck down towards the neck, grabbing the horn, she tore it from the head of the guardian, and plunged it into the back of its head, deep enough to piece the brain… and scored her very first kill.
Sliding off the beasts dying body, she saw that the body began to fade fast, leaving behind only a pile of gems for the party to collect.
The forest around the area, the grassy knoll they stood near in the open field, the gentle breeze that was blowing, the ambient sounds of distant critters, all ceased the moment the guardian had fallen.
The very realm itself was made sad at the loss of Princess Lillian, and so with that in mind, the party decided that it was probably best to get the hell out of there, and back to Lut Gholein, and so that’s what they did… Scooping up any missed loot, they returned to the portal that took them to that realm, back into the Lost City, and promptly headed for the way point there.
Once they were back inside the city, the party paid a visit to Elzix, who was more than happy to trade for the eggs they had.
After the business with Elzix was done with, a quick visit to Cain was in order, to get a few items identified, whilst the rest of them went off to visit the various city merchants, and took a short rest to process just what they had seen – whilst they decided what to do next.
It’s here where we pick up from in today’s session of… Adventure in Sanctuary.
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