A Feather in Her Cap: Here's the Jist of It

#### *Methodology*

Our troop of adventurers set off from Haven in search of knowledge of the land to the west of Spoopyton Abbey. Before we left, we caught up with our comrades, sharing stories of our daring deeds and domestic endeavors over the past few months.

We headed the now well-trod paths toward Spoopyton, but before we arrived, we encountered an as-yet-uncharted cavern. Toast graciously volunteered to scout for us, but after several minutes inside, we realized he was not coming back. We followed him inside a path that led steeply downward. When we came to a chasm, Muk hurled rocks spelled with Light down the abyss, and we heard the dulcet tones of the fanciest cuddlefish anyone has ever known. Toast was caught on a ledge after having fallen a small distance. Tied to a rope that was held by Muk, I launched myself toward Toast using a feather fall spell. Dangling just below him, I reached for him, and his graceful toasticles (EDITOR'S NOTE: Blame Bryan) wrapped around my hand and pulled me to him. The ledge he was on was unstable, and before we could be dragged below, I tied him to the rope, cast a jumping spell on myself, and we all made it back up to the main path safely. However, the path continued to destabilize. We retreated. To mark the cave entrance from the path, Muk built a small cairn, and we etched the words "Lost Toast Cave" into the wall discreetly.

We then continued on to Spoopyton, where we made camp in the Blacksmith's building where Romeron and Jennega had previously slept. At first light, we toured the town, showing Lavender and Spenser all its glory. Notably, the scorpacrabra we fought in the town square a month ago had been cleared away. Before we headed out, we stopped at the Pub for a drink. We learned that the ghost bartender would only offer anyone a drink once ever, so I was not able to partake a second time. Spenser was given a fruity drink garnished with cherry, pineapple, and orange that we afterward dubbed "The Chaperon." As soon as he finished his cup, he realized that he was completely sober--yet our entire party was rendered quite inebriated. Rad, who previously had declined a drink, was given a cup of dark black liquid with white flecks that temporarily transported his mind to become one with planets and stars. Lavender received a board with five shots of different colors. After taking them, she began to belch bursts of acid, fire, frost, and other minor breath weapons. After run-ins with dragons destroyed my home town, I felt somewhat anxious that Lavender had taken on permanent aspects of the dragon, but it proved to be temporary as well.

We left Spoopyton and headed toward the hills to the west, trying to keep the path to the elven town we believed to lay to the west in our sights. Along the way, we encountered a fascinating bush with fruit Rad called a "rainbee". The rainbee bush was full of pomegranate-like fruits with arils that came in all colors. Eating the honey-scented arils stained human flesh, and the bees/flies attracted to the fruit were likewise color-stained after drinking aril juice. The juice from each aril also seemed to have greater volume than the apparent capacity of the aril itself. We collected many arils in the vials of my alchemist's supplies for further study.

#### *Results*

As we crested the third hill on our journey west, Spenser, Lavender, and Rad notice that the terrain to the south and west did not match the map we had retrieved from the Spoopyton Library. What should have been forest to the south was now plains; what should have been land to the west was a massive body of water. Using my cartographer's tools, I sketched out an update to the map (Figure 1), and learned that the map we retrieved was likely very ancient. It appears that the further west we travel, the more the landscape has changed from ancient times.

Recalling that Romeron had told us that his city lay in the western forest (which we now realized was north of the sea and not due west of Spoopyton as we previously thought), we decided to inspect the coast of the sea on our way into the forest. The remains of the ancient western path led directly into the sea, and we saw the ruins of an old city. Muk and I tested the waters of the sea and learned they are salt waters, not fresh. In the distance, we saw large centipedes with lidless golden eyes, which we called the "aquapedes." I tossed a rock to them and a mass of centipedes dove after it. One caught it in its jaws and hurled the rock back at me. Unfortunately, it missed, or we could have engaged in a rousing game of catch. Muk tried to communicate with them in amplified Aquan. He then tossed some flavorless biscuits into the water, and the centipedes feasted. Rad dubbed this body of water the "Saltpeder Sea."

We made camp for the night at the edge of the forest away from the shore of the Saltpeder Sea. During our first watch, Muk and I heard a commotion. We woke everyone and made our way to the sounds. There was a great fight among a giant creature with massive tail and fearsome jaws. Elves, like those we saw in our second trip to Spoopyton, were fighting with the creature. After hearing screams and witnessing some elves take terrifying hits, we joined into the battle. Following multiple critical beatings from Spenser, Lavender dealt the creature its death blow. The elves appeared to give Lavender great deference. After an exchange with their leader, General Jist, Lavender (with Spenser translating for us) learned that killing this creature was a great honor. Apparently, this creature was pursued by the elves as part of a "great hunt." These creatures appear from a chasm in the north west, and are hunted both for protection and honor. They have been appearing more frequently since the mists disappeared.

Lavender took one of the spines off of its tail as a trophy, and General Jist gave her a bright shimmering blue feather dipped in the creature's blood as a symbol that she had earned the kill. She also learned that having this honor allowed her to challenge an elven warrior called a "fang" in a battle to "permanent defeat." There was no time limit on when she could make this challenge, but it appears to be our only way of gaining entrance into the elven community, should that be desired. She also asked General Jist about the ruins in the Saltpeder Sea, and he said that they were ruins of Presuda, the City of Judgment, which had been around before The Calamity.

Following our conversation, we decided not to press further into the woods as the elves preferred outsiders to not encroach on their territories.

#### *Discussion*

We returned home and Lavender asked Romeron for more information about the her feather trophy. Romeron was astounded, and told us that there are several warrior classes in the elven culture: feathers (unlimited), fangs (21), talons (8), eyes (3), and the king (1). Any feather who gets the honor of a kill can challenge a fang, then fangs can challenge talons, and so on. The king, however, is replaced by any warrior who kills the creature that killed the current king.

With much training, Lavender may decide to challenge a fang, or she may not. The choice is hers alone.