Favor, Episode 21: Take by Storm

## Starring

Sage Stafford as Aoife Flannery
Naseem Etemad as Fittonia 'Toni' Silvertail
Katie Budabin as Lluvyras 'Lu' Ssath
Celeste Conowitch as Dungeon Master

**Episode 21: Take by Storm** *(2x21)* is the 21st episode of the Venture Maidens Favor campaign.

## Synopsis

*An unending rain threatens to drown*

*Our heroes headed to changeling town*

*And monstrous beings await*

*All who step beyond its gate*

### Preperations

The time has come for the Maidens to set off for Storyville to track down the Enigma Codex. Toni hands the others a potion of healing, proud of the work she was able to accomplish over the last several weeks. Aoife bids Kell a farewell, telling the firbolg that they are heading out on an adventure, but not going into detail to spare her boyfriend any unnecessary worry.

The morning of their departure, they all show up to the hut geared up and ready to travel. Lu serves up a nice breakfast (and gives Aoife a point of Inspiration). When they declare they are ready to go, the Chicken Hut lifts from the ground and takes off, but lands an settles back to the ground only a minute later, startling Rook and the gang. The ex-fey mercenary glances out the window and announces that they have arrived already.

Before leaving the hut, Lu asks Rook what she knows about Changelings. Rook momentarily recoils at the question, but answers that Changelings do not like the fey, for good reason, and they have all had it really rough. She tells the Maidens not to mention the Chicken Hut or her fey heritage, and warns that the Changelings might corner them for information about the mortal world. Lu asks why they would be so curious and Rook explains that once a mortal becomes a Changeling, they cannot go back to the mortal realm, equating it to how a fish needs water to breathe, and the Feywild was the ocean.

Toni reckons that they should all stick to using their fake names and Rook agrees as she finishes strapping knives in various places on her personage. They step out of the house and are immediately buffeted by sheets of rain. Everything is still vibrant, but they are in the actual representation of a “dark and stormy night”. The wind howls through trees, bent in subjugation to the wind. Where there was sun a moment before rests only darkness and malicious clouds. Far in the distance, they can see a large structure through the woods, but it is hard to tell exactly what it is.

### Welcome to Storyville

Lu, upon getting hit with the rain, curses the hair gods as she books it into the forest. They wind through the darkened woods until they get close enough to realize that the structure is the wooden-pillared walls of a small town. Aoife places her left hand on the logs and trudges through the rain until she leads the group to a lifted drawbridge flanked by sputtering lanterns. Next to one of the lanterns is a human-sized door with an iron grill and closed slat. Aoife pounds on the door, trying to be heard over the constantly roaring thunder. A moment later, the slat shifts open and a pair of green and orange eyes scrutinizes them. They ask what the group wants and Aoife tells them that they seek the Pendragon Inn, informing the person that they are weary travelers. The man inquires into the type of travelers and Aoife begrudgingly admits to being mortal travelers.

The figure behind the door assumes that the party wouldn’t mind if they were administered the test and Lu asks what the test involved. Toni, as part of her military training, had learned about magical combatants. She had been through North Point, which is one of the most excruciating and difficult training grounds to attend do to the terrain and conditions. She recalls sitting in tiered bleacher seats with twenty of her fellow trainees. A bespectacled half orc teacher, with large tusks and a beer gut, stands at the front, attempting to get his students excited about the history of the Eldrin Empire. Bashaar sits next to Toni near the back of the room, and they catch a snippet of the lesson between passing notes. Toni recalls her teacher telling them that there is a simple method to determine if a creature is fey or not. The teacher calls on Toni to tell the class what that method is and the young fighter tries to guess her way through the answer. She is incorrect and gets reprimanded for not paying attention in class, and is informed that fey cannot stand the touch of cold iron, also known as unworked iron, and will cause their flesh to blacken, smoke, and sometimes burst into flame.

Coming back from her recollected memory, Toni tells the man to bring on the cold iron. A lower slot opens in the door and a thick gloved hand protrudes with a pair of tongs holding a piece of rough iron. He instructs for someone to give him their palm and Toni steps forward to grip the cold iron, to no effect. The man at the door seems surprised and motions for Lu to touch it. She takes off her gloves and touches it. Rook and Aoife both look nervous because they aren’t sure if anything would actually happen due to their ancestries. Aoife reluctantly touches the iron and it feels warm in her palm, but she is otherwise unaffected. She manages to hold back her visible relief as Rook steps up and touches the iron. A moment passes before he draws the iron back through the door and opens the gate.

Looking across the drawbridge, they can see a little town surrounded by the ring of wood logs. The town is so small that it houses maybe a hundred people, and only has a few businesses. The immediate thing that they notice is that everything is closed and there are no people in the streets. They can hear the thick chains of the business signs eerily swinging in the wind. Steeping through the gate, the Maidens realize that whoever they were speaking with at the door has already disappeared.

### The Pendragon Inn

Lu looks around for some street signs, and notes that none of the street lights are lit, even though it is dark and storming. They make there way through the town and find Briar Rose lane, which contains three buildings. They make out the sign of the Pendragon Inn hanging from one of the buildings, displaying a medieval style dragon on a crest of arms. This building, unlike many of the others, has an orange light coming from the edges of the curtained windows. Lu is the first to step inside, quickly followed by the other three before the howling wind catches the door and slams it shut behind them. Everything in the inn is rustic, full of red wood furniture and a bar with bottles lining the back wall. A set of stairs leads to rooms upstairs and a small hallway leads into the back of the establishment’s kitchen, storage room, and cellar. There are a few patrons scattered around, but less than one would expect on a stormy night. They are all pretty unique in appearance, seeming to look like humans or other humanoid races at first, but each has something strange and otherworldly about them. One patron has twisted butterfly wings that have half grown out of their back and another has a single insectoid antennae sticking from their head.

The person behind the bar, at first glance, appears to be a gold-scaled dragonborn, but as they turn to greet the new arrivals they are revealed to have a head half covered in moss and speckled mushrooms. He recognizes that the adventurers are not from around here and instructs them to put their cloaks on the hooks by the door so they don’t track mud all over his inn. Lu, surprised by the normalcy, does as she is instructed and wrings the water from her hair before throwing it into a bun. Aoife sits down in front of the dragonborn and asks his name, to which he responds that they can call him Oslo. He asks what brings them to Storyville. Aoife responds that they had heard that someone liked to occupy room 3 of this particular inn and gives Oslo a knowing look. The dragonborn admits that the rooms don’t see much use since the place is pretty small and is used mostly as a local drinking spot. Toni asks him how long he has been working there and he tells her that he had acquired the inn from the previous owner fifteen years ago. Lu asks after the original owner, but he had apparently disappeared though that is not unusual given their location. Oslo is glad they all made it to town safe, given the monster in the woods and the bad weather outside.

Aoife questions him on what the monster is, and Oslo doesn’t know, which is the problem. They had found one of their own outside the gates, a younger man that was out cold in the woods. He hasn’t woken up and people have been reporting a strange light out in the dark. He infers that people in town were likely not going to be willing to help as long as they were having to deal with that. He asks if they want anything to drink and informs them that he does accept gold. Lu orders a hot tea, Toni gets mead, and Aoife orders a hot toddy. He slides the drinks over and takes their payment.

Toni recommends that they all rent out room 3 if it wasn’t being used, and Lu inquires to the cost. She pays a gold piece and he asks if they are sure they want to stay given that their is a beast roaming the nearby woods. Aoife reasons that there is no point in hoofing it to the next town if their was a beast out there, and that they may be able to help either hunt the creature down or at least wake the unconscious boy while they were there. He lets them know that the boy’s name is Hayden, and his adoptive folks live next door to the inn. He asks if any of them are a doctor and Aoife tells him that she can mend a wound, so she may be able to do something. He heads upstairs to get their room ready, and the party notices that some of the gathered patrons have left the inn.

Looking around the room, Aoife sees a halfling woman with skin patterned with diamonds. The satyr leans over the bar, pours the same drink that the woman is nursing, and heads over to talk to her. She slides the cup across the table and tells the woman that she and her friends are not here to make enemies, but if the town is suffering they would like to help unburden them and asks about what the halfling knows about the monster. The woman says that it is big and fast, but nobody has been able to see it with the storm rolled in several days ago. Ever since they found Hayden in the woods, it has been getting worse now that people have been seeing the silver light in the woods. She tells Aoife that the town has turned off all of their lights in the hopes that the beast won’t notice them and will go away, but nothing is getting better, even with the significant magic some of the townspeople have at their disposal. Aoife asks if Hayden had been the only victim and the woman admits that he was the only one found like that, but nobody else has been attacked, though there have been close calls. Some townsfolk report seeing the creature and describe it as being as big as a house, and sometimes it has four legs while other times it is reported to only have two. She informs Aoife that they are all Changelings and nobody in the Wildes likes them, so it really could be anything.

Aoife asks if the light appears in a certain part of the woods, or if it moves around freely, but the woman isn’t sure, outside of the fact that it has been seen in the woods that surround the town. While nobody has disappeared, any time they go outside of the walls, this creature seems to be waiting for them, so they turn around and come back to the safety of the town walls. She thinks the party is lucky since they haven’t seen the monster on their way into town. She asks if they are adventurers and Aoife confirms her suspicions before the halfling asks if they are mortals. Lu says they are mortals and the woman asks if they have ever been to Chasiana. She has family there and she remembers that it is a beautiful city. Lu looks to Rook, who is signaling for the drow not to engage in this particular conversation before announcing that she needs to use the bathroom and asks Lu to go with her.

Aoife, ignoring Rook’s usual brand of distrust, launches into the tale of getting white chocolate mocha from a back alley cart and her night full of enchantment during their visit to Chasiana. Tears well up in the Changeling’s eyes as the story brings back her own memories. Aoife tells the woman that she has a friend that lives there, and she reckons that they will go back to Chasiana to visit eventually, offering to take a message back for the Changeling. The woman tearfully thanks Aoife for her kindness, telling the young satyr that her name is Dot, admitting that the name is ironic given her appearance. Dot says she has a lot to write about and asks that Aoife not get eaten before she has a chance to give the bard the letter, before apologizing that she doesn’t have the power to grant favors or anything as a Changeling. Aoife immediately waves her off and tells her that it is a simple kindness. Her father, a great storyteller, taught her how powerful giving stories life can be, and she is happy to give the Changeling this gift.

Dot takes her leave and Oslo comes back downstairs, informing them that their rooms, while not fancy, are ready for the night. He asks if they want anything to eat, offering what he calls Everything Soup since there isn’t a lot of fresh stuff left seeing as no one has been able to leave the town for supplies or to tend their fields or orchards. Lu tells him that, after they deal with the creature, she would be more than happy to bring her food cart through town for everyone to try until they could get back on their feet. Oslo admits that everyone here misses mortal cuisine, and they would all love it if Lu is willing to serve a bunch of Changelings. He looks genuinely surprised when Lu tells him that she doesn’t care in the slightest if she is serving Changelings.

### Rip Van Hayden

They all decide that they should check in on Hayden and his parents, hoping to get some more information on the mysterious creature. Luckily they don’t have to travel far in the rain since they only need to go next door to a simple thatched roof home. A golden furred humanoid, similar in appearance to a bugbear, opens the door when they knock. He looks at them expectantly and Aoife launches into her introduction, informing him that they are adventurers and she was hoping to take a look at Hayden so she might potentially be able to help her with her healing abilities. She tells him that she can’t promise anything, but she does have a few talents and Toni is an herbalist that might be able to work something to help the boy. Speaking a mile a minute, Aoife continues to barrage the man with questions, asking who found Hayden in the woods and what happened to the boy.

Hayden’s father, Barry, explains to the Maidens that Hayden is a woodcutter, and one of the other boys had gone to one of their usual felling sites and found Hayden passed out in the clearing. Nothing seems to be wrong with the boy, though he has some scrapes and bruises from falling over. He has been unconscious for two days, and they are doing the best they can to make sure he stays hydrated and force fed. Lu asks about the boy that found Hayden, and his father tells her that the boy is a troll-looking fellow named Dimitri. Some of the other townsfolk attempted to go back to the clearing to see if they could find anything, but the creature is always waiting for them to leave the safety of the walls. Lu asks how long they had been logging in that area before this all occurred and he informs her that they had been using that area for a while, having made a deal with the local treants. Hayden had been there hundreds of times, so there should have been no reason for this to happen to him. He leads them back to a modest bedroom at the back of the house and opens the door to reveal a boy in his late teens asleep on the bed. His father tells them that the local magic-users had already checked him for spells or curses, but it all came back negative.

Lu approaches the boy and looks him over for any bites or marks, but she only finds the bruises and scrapes from where he had toppled over suddenly in the woods. He is still breathing and shifts when she shakes him, but otherwise does not wake. Aoife attempts to cast a *lesser restoration* spell on the boy, attempting to darn the damage. She can feel her spell’s energy pass over the boy and sink into his skin, but as it works its way deeper it spirals into a void of nothingness. Though the boy physically rests before them, she knows that there is currently no person inhabiting the body. She looks perplexed and tells her friends that its like someone has taken Hayden’s essence that makes him who he is. She tells them that Hayden’s body is there, but there is nothing tethered to it. She looks to Rook and asks if one of the Courts has a similar ability. Rook reasons that the Sleeping Court might be able to do something like this, but she doesn’t know why the courts would bother coming all of the way out here to prey on a tiny town of Changelings.

Lu reasons that their next step is to find and speak with Dimitri. She turns and asks Hayden’s father if the weather is always this terrible, or if it had started around the same time as Hayden’s unconsciousness. Barry, looking terrified after Aoife’s explanation of his son’s condition, admits that the storm started up shortly before, and that it could be related, but he doesn’t know of any kind of fey that could control the weather and steal people’s essence. Rook shrugs and says that they could track down Dimitri, or they could just go and kill the beast in the woods. She looks to Toni for confirmation and the half-orc says that she is interested in talking to some of the trees to see what they know. Lu says that she would rather not miss a piece of easily attainable information if they can help it, and Rook argues that the beast can’t be that bad since it chose to attack a kid who was alone in the woods. She says that they are fey bounty hunters and that it is their job to do things like this, but Lu says that it is also their job to be as knowledgeable as possible, because what if the same thing happens to any of them while they are out there in the woods. Toni sides with Rook, saying that the fastest way to stop what is happening is to put an end to what caused it. Lu argues for thirty more minutes, reasoning that it shouldn’t take long to find and question Dimitri in the small town. Rook gives in while Barry gives them directions to Dimitri’s home.

It doesn’t take them long to find Dimitri’s house, similarly built like Hayden’s, with a similar family dynamic. Dimitri is soft spoken and seems reticent, but explains that he had gone out to their felling ground and found Hayden lying on the ground. The changeling rolled the boy over and checked, but found nothing wrong with him, and then he saw something big, with four legs and horns. He recalls their being something shiny followed by a glowing light. Fearing for their safety, he picked Hayden up and ran back to the town. Lu is annoyed that he wasn’t able to provide any more useful information and writes the boy’s name in her notebook, followed by the word useless.

### Unwelcome Visitor Walks Here

Toni and Rook share a silent victory as Lu agrees to hunting down and killing the creature. They stop by their room to drop off any unneeded gear and Rook carries out her crossbow, quiver, and all of her hidden knives as they step out onto the stormy streets of Storyville. She reaches into her pocket and pulls on a glove before unwrapping small glinting arrowheads that she attaches onto her bolts.

They head out of the town and into the woods, quickly finding the area of felled logs and stumps. The townspeople had left whatever they were carrying to the elements when they ran, and rusting axes laid scattered about. Rook has her cloak pulled over her head to block the rain and calls for “Detective” Lu to do some investigation. Lu grudgingly agrees and searches the area, but any tracks that were there are gone, and Lu is not accustomed to wild environments so she is unable to locate anything useful.

Aoife casts *light* on her rapier, hoping to draw the creature’s attention to draw it to them. Toni takes this opportunity to commune with the local plant life. She invokes the magic of her mother’s brooch and attempts to communicate with the nearest tree. A slow tired voice, much like one ready for a long rest, acknowledges Toni’s presence. Toni asks what it knows of the beast that has been roaming around and attacking the townsfolk. The tree responds, revealing that an unwelcome visitor walks here. It calls it sad and hungry thing, not of this place. It looks like “us”, but is not “us”

Toni asks if it knows how the creature hurt the Changeling, learning that the tree saw it happen, though it does not know how. It saw the boy fall and then it saw the eye. It seems to seek another. Toni wonders if the creature is looking for another of its own kind. The tree explains that first there was none, then the boy fell, and then there was one and it wants two eyes. It warns Toni that it comes and is running now. Toni thanks the tree and warns her friends, spinning to see Rook loading her crossbow and dropping down into a crouch.

Lu rises to her feet and puts her back to the group, scanning the darkness with her extended darkvision. Toni warns them to all be careful of their eyes because the beast seems to be after them. The other three bounty hunters pause and start to question Toni, but she is cut off by Lu, who sees a bobbing silver light in the distance between the trees. As she focuses on it, she can see the spot growing brighter as it runs towards them. They all turn to see a large creature made of bark and vines that is lurching towards them. They can see the eye of silver is seated in its head, which is crowned by massive antlers. The silver light of its eye seems to be reflected on a mirror that is suspended between its antlers. It rushes them, drawing up to tower over them and they can see that its other eye is empty.

That is where our journey comes to an end, until next time! -Venture Away!

## Featured Characters

### Player Characters

* Aoife Flannery
* Fittonia 'Toni' Silvertail
* Lluvyras 'Lu' Ssath

### Non-Player Characters

* Barry
* Dimitri
* Dorothea 'Dot'
* Hayden
* Oslo
* Penny Dreadful (Mentioned)
* Rook

## Locations

* The Wildes
	+ Storyville
		- The Pendragon Inn

## Inventory

Toni gives each of the Maidens, and Rook, a Potion of Healing.

## Quotes

“Watch out for the trees, it looks like they are doing the bend and snap.” -Toni

“What is that?” -Rook

“I see you, and I hear you, but I am gonna need about thirty more minutes.” -Lu

“Oh no…what a tragedy.” -Rook

“Fuck human eyes!” -Rook

## Trivia

Rook is 38 as of the beginning of this episode

Magical wood is hard to come by in the Wildes.

Rook’s bolt tips are made out of cold iron.