18/02/2020 - Bolstering the Band and Bird Person vs Bush Person

## **TL;DR**

* The group made landfall on the new island and met Ves , the archaeologist heading the expedition, and two other guild members (Clara and Tyrone) - they explained that another two had explored further ahead
* They set off through the forest and came across a set of Sapphire Crystals surrounded by a pool of water, which they discovered to be magically amplifying
* Continuing to the edge of the treelike they saw a substantial walled city across a mile of boggy plain
* Narko  decided to light up his pipe part way across and got Merric  and Rocky  involved - the others left them to get high
* At the entrance to the city they met Elyan , while Bird Person flew over the walls and met the angelic Azuriel  - the two explained that there appeared to be nobody inside, but signs of very recent activity were all around
* Exploring the city, they made it to the doors of the Cathedral when they blasted open and a giant red dragon appeared in the doorway

*We resume as our adventurers hear the cry of 'land ahoy!' and see the oncoming island...*

## **Landfall**

As they approached land, Merric’s  eccentric mind began to whir into action and he began a philosophical treatise on the relative size of land and pirates. The others scoped out the coastline which appeared to be quite unnatural in its construction. The Captain  decided that the landing site was somewhat too perilous for the large ship, and busted out the two rowboats. The one with Gimble , Rocky , Tamsin and Ashtai carved its way through the surf. The wobbling equine form of Narko  somewhat hindered the second, as he and Bayul both tried to row and by the time they made it to the beach, Ashtai was welcoming them in with a bagpipe melody.

On the beach they were greeted by Ves , the archaeologist leading the ‘dig’, and two other guild members (Clara and Tyrone). They explained that they had the camp all set up and that two others of their party had gone on to scout ahead, aiming for the city to the North.

## **Woodland Wonders**

Setting off into the forest, two groups rapidly formed when Rocky  suggested band practice. To the side of the path, Merric  noticed a glint through the trees and made everyone aware. They all snuck up on the edge of what appeared to be a clearing, while persuading Rocky  that now was not the time for a gong. In the centre, they saw a collection of large Sapphire crystals (with an igneous crystal lattice structure) surrounded by a shallow pool of clear blue water. As Merric  and Ves  investigated the nature of the magic surrounding the crystals, Narko  checked for runes and Ashtai, Bayul and Rocky  played death hammer.

Bird Person got bored and went off to forage. He filled a hefty sack of berries but was ambushed by an actual bush that wrapped around his legs. Registering the new danger calmly, he swept out his bow and fired point-blank into the plant, which slumped to the floor. Bird Person harvested its ropey corpse and returned to the group to show off his hearty yield of stuff. With his return, the others revealed that they discovered the crystals inherently amplified magic. They pocketed this information and continued through the forest.

## **Sweet Mireyjane**

From the edge of the treeline they could see the walled city across around a mile of dank marshland. Ves  was able to follow the previous tracks of her companions, but rapidly lost the trail in amongst the quagmire. Nonetheless, seeing her progress, the others followed in line. Soon, they began to pick up the sound of music from the city, which Ves  identified as clearly coming from her musically-inclined companion, Elyan .

Perhaps livened by the sound of music, Rocky  asked again if it was gong time and everyone agreed it probably was - he played it surprisingly melodiously and tried to get a conga line going. Getting involved with the hype (but definitely not the conga), Narko  decided it was time to bust out his ‘weed’ for a puff. Rocky  and Merric  also took up his offer to partake and both took it somewhat better than Narko  had expected, given its notorious potency. Ves  kept a protective gust around her head, and soon her and Ashtai  left. Bayul  and Gimble  stayed for long enough to ask why the swamp was the optimum location for getting turnt, before also leaving them to their fun. The druggies steadily made their way across behind them.

## **Where is Everybody?**

At the entrance to the city, they saw a man waving. Ves  introduced the jovial Elyan  to the group, and he explained that the final party member, Azuriel, was still exploring the city. Meanwhile, Bird Person had flown over the walls and landed in the clearing before the gates. After a short explore, a figure clad in bright brass armour swooped down to him on angelic wings. His golden eyes were kind as he introduced himself as Azuriel  and showed Bird Person  the mysterious nature of the city; there were numerous signs of life but not a single person in sight.

As the others entered they saw before them a market area, above which loomed an extremely grand and old Cathedral and Manor House. The market again showed signs of very recent hustle and bustle, but completely without life. Merric  found a note partially written in gnomish and revealed to the group that it listed the year as ‘700 TB’, which no-one was familiar with.

Ves  proposed that the Cathedral would be a judicious place to start their investigation as it was possible to learn a lot about a culture from their religious practices. The group was happy to follow her lead and made for the giant structure, though Bayul  and Narko  stopped along the way to examine the statues by the side of the road they traversed. It was clear to both that they represented humanoids rather than deities, but none were familiar to the pair by sight, and the inscriptions were indecipherable.

As the others closed upon the giant wooden doors to the Cathedral, they chatted about their respective creeds; Merric  explained that while he found gods to be inscrutable and often contradictory beings, he kept his faith for the comfort that it brought. Suddenly, with a colossal ‘WHOOSH’ of wind, the doors to the cathedral blasted inwards and a blood-curdling roar burst forth. It was all they could do to keep their feet and reach for their weapons as first, an immense and cruel set of claws emerged, and then a truly colossal crimson-scaled vision of death. The monstrous dragon sent forth a second thunderous roar and a targeted white-hot inferno from its savage maw as its bulk materialised from the doorway.

*Next time, we will see how our adventurers handle this distinctly non-negligible threat...*