Expedition 4: Fern's Folly

*Or "Twenty Wolves. That’s As Many as Two Tens. And That’s Terrible."*

### Summary

We venture to DyrRoc to help Fern with logging, but are ambushed by twenty mutant wolves and flee with our lives.

### Detailed Writeup

We launched aboard Fern’s ship, the *Injured Ankle,* in the early morning, heading to Dyrrock with clear skies. Little of incident passed during the two-hour journey to Dyrrock.

As we approached the island, we took note of a pair of vibrant yellow eyes that disappeared inland as we got closer. We encountered no yellow-eyed creatures later, so this beast’s (or non-beast’s) identity remains a mystery.

The party went inland to scout before Fern’s lumberjacks made landfall, but we encountered no hazards. Nexrin discovered signs of wolves about and signs of (what we presume were) monkeys, but nothing attacked. The lumberjacks got to work in the late morning and began cutting timber close to the island’s coasts. One interesting thing we noticed was a set of structures in the water around the Rock: like caves or maybe buildings, they were regular and hollow. Their origin remains unknown.

Nexrin, the first to land on the island, also caught sight of a strange marble Fountain hundred-twenty feet inland. He, Calliope, and Marzipan went to investigate the Fountain while Steelstaff and Lahont kept watch over the woodsmen.

While on watch, Steelstaff caught sight of families of monkeys further inland, swinging from treetop to treetop. He also saw a strange, brilliant source of light in the very center of the island, which reflected off the foliage of the central trees. Its origin is still a mystery.

Cautiously, Nexrin, Calliope, and Marzipan investigated the Fountain. Upon inspection, it was carved from white marble and built in the shape of a great swan. It had only a small amount of water left in it, perhaps a pint. Upon it was a plaque writ in Dwarven, but with strange verbiage: “For the Blessings of the Hero.” Fern Copperaxe was able to tell that it clearly was not made by anyone from Port Vrall.

After careful investigation, we determined that the Fountain was a creation of Celestial magic of 6th level. It carried a powerful Blessing spell from Heironia, which was gained by drinking from the Fountain. Marzipan and Calliope drank from the Fountain and received the Blessing of Heironia, granting them courage and advantage on all saving throws against the frightened condition. Unfortunately, the Fountain held only those two doses left when we found it. After all of its remaining water was drunk, it crumbled into wet clay. It is unclear how long Heironia’s Blessing will linger on Marzipan and Calliope.

Unfortunately, while Calliope, Marzipan, and Nexrin were occupied, Lahont and Steelstaff failed to properly watch for threats. A group of five wolves attacked the woodsmen and badly injured one, Synton Strik, before we even could gather together. Hoping to save the woodsmen, Steelstaff launched into the battle ahead of the rest of the group and, though he killed a wolf, he was also left bleeding out.

The rest of the group engaged with the wolves and began to winnow their numbers. However, we noticed unusual features on the beasts: double or triple-jointed legs, reflective green eyes, and poison that coursed into whatever they bit. The wolves savaged Marzipan and lightly injured Lahont, but the tide of battle turned as the party regrouped and Steelstaff forced himself upright after critically succeeding a Death Save. All but one wolf was killed, and Nexrin healed Synton Strik well enough that he got right back to hacking lumber.

As the afternoon wore on, the party got back to work: Steelstaff went back on watch (healed) while Lahont and Nexrin looked over the wolves’ mutations and Calliope and Marzipan skinned them. We acquired two units of wolf skin, and some unusual trophies: several of the Mutant Wolves unnatural teeth. We also learned more about their mutations. The Mutant Wolves had spider-like limbs, reflective eyes like a cat, and poison glands like a snake, with twice the normal number of fangs in their warped jaws. They each apparently only had enough poison to inject a single dose; we could not get a sample. The origin of the wolves’ mutations is an open question.

While on watch, Steelstaff discovered a bloom of Murderer’s Balm, an antitoxic plant. Unfortunately, he did this while he was supposed to be keeping watch, and thus he failed to notice the immense pack of Mutant Wolves that had crept close to the woodsmen. Twenty-one wolves, each with the same poisonous mutations as the first five, had closed to within twenty feet of the lumberjacks before we realized it. (Seriously, we rolled a twelve on the random encounter table, then *two more twelves,* then two eights. This after the wolves crited like five times in the first fight. Those wolves are a menace. A menace!)

The lumberjacks, understandably, broke and fleed back to their boats as quickly as their feet could carry them. The party, trying to conceal our panicked fear, formed a line to block their retreat and slowly backed up to the large raft of cut wood we had been planning to float out to the *Injured Ankle*. We hoped to intimidate the wolves long enough to make a hasty exit with the wood we had cut so far.

With immense difficulty, we managed to launch the raft with all of us aboard; Calliope and Marzipan expended several spells, and Steelstaff seriously injured himself in his frenzy to launch the raft. Calliope went down while drawing fire for the party; Marzipan was once again poisoned with a wolf bite. But, with the party intact, we launched the raft, and the wolves were left unable to follow. We learned one more useful thing about their mutation: they violently die when exposed to the seawater around Dyrrock. Unfortunately, only one wolf perished this way.

We regrouped on the *Injured Ankle*, healed, and discussed our expedition. Fern had cut only a little over half the wood he wanted, but given that we had retrieved his lumber during the retreat and had prevented any casualties, he elected to give us bonus pay, two silver each, and declared the mission a success. He also decided, justifiably, to never return to Dyrrock to try to repeat this mission.

Battered and slightly demoralized but thankful that we all were alive and had (mostly) gotten what we came for, the party settled in for an uneventful voyage home aboard the *Injured Ankle*. Our story, upon arriving, was scarcely believed at first, but eventually, we became well respected for our courage and levelheadedness during Fern’s Folly

**Expedition Result: Success! Also, AHHHHH!**

**Expedition Loot:**

* **All:** All members of the expedition received 1 Renown as tales of our heroic fighting retreat spread, and all members were given 2 silver apiece for Hazard Pay.
* **Marzipan:** Blessings of Heironia, 1 unit of wolf skins
* **Lahont:** 12 Mutant Wolf Teeth
* **Calliope:** Blessings of Heironia, 1 unit of wolf skins
* **Steelstaff:** 1 unit of Murderer’s Balm, an antitoxic herb.
* **Nexrin:** 4 Mutant Wolf Teeth

**Future Expedition Prompts and Unanswered Questions:**

* Investigate the odd buildings in the water around Dyrrock.
* Investigate the yellow-eyed creature that lives on the Rock.
* Investigate the island for other signs of the civilization that created the Fountain of Heironia.
* Capture a live Mutant Wolf to learn more about their anatomy. Are they diseased? Cursed?
* Exterminate the Mutant Wolves. It would be dangerous work, but they are hazards to all travelers to Dyrrock. Now that word has spread about how numerous they are, civilian expeditions to Dyrrock will dry up until they are killed.
* Investigate the brilliant light at the center of Dyrrock.