Lost in the Woods

"Lost in the Woods" is the 26th session of Campaign 2.0.
== Summary ==
* Our baby got kidnapped. We set off immediately for North of the Novell Estate - what Angeal saw in her vision and the questions she asked are the only things we have to go off of. 
* Before we leave, Ranthal gifts the party a really, really nice silvered magical sword! Thomal now wields it. 
* We take off on our horses and ride off into the forest. We gallop, and gallop... 
* It begins getting a little foggy. And now it's super foggy. The trees around here are gnarled and twisted and blackened... and now we've found ourselves in a magical forest. Angeal recalls through a history check that this is, in fact, called the Black Forest. Or the Black Woods. I'll ask for a correction some day. 
* A little bit of of exposition here... but back during ye olde Dragon War, this place was wracked by the experiments the wizards of the time performed here, and the forest has since then become shrouded in a magical fog. 
* This place is weird... it's completely, utterly silent, save for the noises the party is making. There's no wildlife, no anything. 
* Gareth investigates a little bit, and finds a magical rune inscribed onto one of the trees. Strangely enough, this tree isn't gnarled like the rest of them and stands straight up. Bryna and Angeal try to discern what it is, but the rune itself is written in an ancient elven language that none of us understand. Bryna casts Identify on the rune, and learns that it's some sort of abjuration warding magic. 
* Well, that's co-- CLICK CLICK CLICK. What the dink is that noise? Is it a creature? We all roll for initiative, and stand our ground, our backs to the tree... We can't see anything in the dense fog. 
* Gareth looks up... and in the forest canopy sees a giant, horrifying spider-esque creature looming directly above him, its tongue lolling out and drool pattering onto his head. 
* What the FUCK! The monster's massive mandibles clamp down onto Gareth's head and take him up the tree. Gareth manages to wrench himself free from the creature's maw and drops down from the tree! And lo and behold, several more of the monsters drop down as well and begin shredding the shit out of or poor wood elf with their... weird, hooked praying mantis blade claws. 
* Long story short, we beat the shit out of them, but they burrow away before we can kill them. And also, we're, uh, now lost. 
* Gareth can't use his ranger abilities to find out which way is which because we're lost by magical means. We wander around for a bit. Gareth decides to climb a tree, hoping to get a view above the canopy. He reaches the top, and sees that we're facing away from the mountains, which are located northward. From there, we're able to resume our trek towards the cabin. Bryna grabs a stick and draws a line in the dirt behind the group so that we know which way we're supposed to go. 
* We bed down for the night, making sure to place a lot of markers facing North so that we don't get lost again... 
* During Gareth's night watch, he listens out. He doesn't really hear anything for a while, until he hears the sound of a tree being uprooted, and a low wailing noise about 200 miles away. What. 
* The sound continues, and gets closer. And closer. But eventually, it begins to fade... and then the sound stops. And all is silent in the woods once more. 
* Well, that was fucking terrifying. We all wake up and continue our journey! During all of this, Bryna has been messaging Lilith through the Sending Stone, making sure she's alive. Thankfully, Lilith's been offering responses this whole time, which consist of "help," "scary," and crying. Poor baby. 
* Angeal's been continually casting Locate Creature, hoping to catch a beat on Lilith's location, and at some point she senses her! We all hurriedly make our way towards the location, getting closer and closer... 
* We find ourselves out of the Black Woods and arrive at the cabin. It's pretty nice and sizeable, and outside there's a big ol' burly dude cutting wood. 
* The party tries to devise a bunch of different plans. At first we try and lure the giant guy closer, but that doesn’t work, and then all of a sudden we can’t decide whether we even wanna kill them or not. The giant guy at some point brings a woman out from the cabin with him, and the two seem like.. regular ass people. 
* This greatly discontents Sulelia. She grows worried - what if these people are innocent? What if they’re, like, unwittingly housing an evil, baby-stealing entity? She insists that we don’t immediately turn to violence to solve this. 
* Bryna is fucking pissed and wants to kill all these motherfuckers. They took her baby. Gareth serves as the mediator, and ultimately we decide on this plan: Thomal and Sulelia pretend to be lost adventurers, and they can begin questioning the couple from there. But we all make it a point that whatever they do, they SHOULD NOT GO INTO THE HOUSE. 
* Alright. This should be easy. No problem. Child's play. Thomal and Sulelia successfully play off their act, and the giant guy offers them refuge in his big ol’ cabin. Thomal and Sulelia say... SURE! And are guided inside of the cabin. 
* Bryna, Gareth, and Angeal watch from the treeline, absolutely dumbfounded. “They blew it,” Angeal mutters, “They went ahead and blew it.” Gareth turns to Bryna. “You’re good at math; what are the chances of them dying?” Bryna estimates a good 57%. 
* Thomal and Sulelia are offered food and tea. Sulelia uses her divine sense, and detects a VERY STRONG FIENDISH PRESENCE BELOW THE HOUSE. Uh oh. 
* The giant dude and the other lady introduce themselves as Dario and Bontha, respectively. They seem like stand up people. Bontha is a wizard, and she moved here into the forest to seek recluse. She offers to take Sulelia’s fortune, and Sulelia accepts! 
* Bontha takes Sulelias hands and focuses... (and i’m gonna ad-lib here cause I don’t remember it exactly) “Your quarry is closer than you think... They’re manipulating others for their own gain. Eliminating it now could save lives and the one you love. “ 
* Haha... Bontha asks Sulelia if that sounds right. Sulelia replies that it hits a little too close to home. 
* Meanwhile, the rest of the party outside is tired of waiting, and they all stride up to the cabin’s front door. Bryna and Gareth ask Dario if he's aware of a fiendish presence below his house, to which he says that he has no idea what we’re taking about. 
* Y'know what? Fuck this. Gareth imparts one last question for Bontha: “Before we leave, I have but one question for you. ...WHERE IS THE CHILD?!” And with that sends an arrow straight into her. 
* Combat ensues, and Sulelia slices into Dario, and asks him where Lilith is! “TOO FAR NOW,” he replies as he drops his disguise and assumes his true form - HE’S A FUCKING ONI WIELDING A GIANT GLAIVE. 
* Bontha and Dario both turn invisible, and we lose sight of them. Angeal, through Locate Creature, senses that Lilith is below the house. The entire party breaks into every room in the house trying to find her before Angeal informs us of this. 
* During all of this, we all hear hushed distorted whispering closing in on us. It grows louder and louder every turn that passes... 
* Bryna and Angeal try to feel around the walls for a secret door or something, anything! Bryna eventually finds a hidden door! She tears it open and we all funnel downstairs into a secret basement. 
* There we find the oni standing guard alongside Bontha, who has revealed herself to be a hideous fuckin’ night hag. She’s sitting in the center of a pentagram drawn onto the floor. She has lilith is one hand, who's stark naked and drenched in blood and grime, and a dagger in the other. 
* We beat the ever living shit out of the oni, and turn our sights to Bontha. The ring around the pentagram bursts into a wall of fire, and Thomal dives into it and tackles Bontha! 
* Thomal takes... an immense amount of fire damage from this. All of his hair is singed off, even his eyebrows, and he is covered head to toe in extensive burn damage... 
* But, Bontha drops Lilith to the ground, and the flame immediately ceases - the ritual has been interrupted. She quickly gathers Lilith back up into one hand and brings the dagger closer to the baby. “Don’t move any further, or I’ll kill her,” she says. “I can’t disappoint my master!” 
* Gareth goes, fuck that! He immediately draws his bow back and shoots the dagger straight out of Bontha’s grasp. Bryna casts Enlarge on Lilith, making her twice her size, and multiplying her weight by eight. 
* Lilith is pissed. She first asks for a berry from Gareth. He hands her one without question, and she stuffs it in her mouth... and then proceeds to punch the shit out of Bontha. 
* With the combined efforts of a giant baby, spells, swords, and gunshots, Bontha gets her teeth knocked in. Angeal gets the killing blow on her. She seizes a hand around her neck, and digs her fingers into it. “Think about who’s baby you kidnap next time,” she tells her before casting Inflict Wounds at 5th level. Bontha fucking explodes. 
* And... it’s over. Bryna wastes no time in scooping up Lilith and absolutely pouring over her. She cleans her, plants a long kiss on her forehead, and cradles her... Lilith is delighted! “Brynaaa!” 
* We search the underground chamber and the cabin in its entirety. We find a lot of money, Bontha’s spell book, a bunch of gems and diamonds... 
* And eventually, Bryna comes across an incredibly beautiful ornate bow housed in a glass case. The lock on it proves very difficult to break, but her and Gareth eventually break it loose. 
* Bryna casts Identify on the bow. She learns that it’s a legendary magical weapon called the "Black Bow.” It has a bunch of cool abilities... very nice! Oh, wait a second. It’s chaotic evil. And it can speak to its user. And it tries to manipulate said user into doing terrible things. 
* Upon touching it, the bow speaks to Bryna. “Are you my master?” 
* “...No.” Bryna shuts the display case and implores Gareth not to wield it. GARETH REALLY WANTS TO, THOUGH. He knows Bryna cares, and asserts a compromise: if he finds himself slipping to the will of the bow or starts acting funny, then we have his permission to take it away. Bryna reluctantly hands the bow off to him, and we decide to bed down in the cottage for the night.