Thither

## Clapperjaw's Secret

When the hot air balloon touched down in Thither, the party disembarked with Clapperjaw and took in their surroundings. They found themselves in a wooded area, with a steep cliff face nearby in which they could just about see a cave entrance. The group noticed a wanted poster for Will of the Feywild and asked Clapperjaw if he knew anything of the boy in the shakily drawn image.

Clapperjaw described a lanky 11 year old boy who had been causing trouble for Granny Nightshade by freeing children from her workhouses - though he hadn't always succeeded which was good for Clapperjaw as it meant he hadn't needed to go on the Wild Hunt in a couple of seasons. The party looked at Clapperjaw in horror, why had this scarecrow any need for the Wild Hunt and why did the failed saving of children mean he didn't need it? Gentle probing revealed that Clapperjaw was the soul of a small boy, long trapped within the body of a construct created by Granny Nightshade in order to help him live forever. In order to stay alive, he had to fill his scarecrow body with fresh viscera from children around the same age as himself...

Anguish tried to cast sleep on Clapperjaw so they could decide what to do with him without hurting him in the process, however - being a construct he did not yield to the spell but did notice the birds and squirrels in the area dropping to the ground in a gentle slumber. Hirsch and Mardred took him to "hunt" the sleeping animals in order to feed the party, but it was finally decided that Cassyt should cast Dispel Magic, where Clapperjaw fell apart into scarecrow parts and partially decoposing innards on the floor.

## Nib's Cave

While the group were reeling from the events with Clapperjaw, an old man in rags with a blindfold over his eyes came shambling out of the cave entrance. He invited them in for tea - remarking on the lack of birdsong that he had grown accustomed to. Though wary, most of the group entered the cave - Hirsch stayed outside to keep watch for evil doers, neither trusting the Feywild outside nor the strange old man inside. Inside the cave, there was a rocking chair and various tea sets, all seeming to be filled with piping hot tea ready for them and various seats - but what stole most of the party's attention was a great pile of gold pieces taking up a mountainous portion of the cavern.

The old man introduced himself as Nib and offers each of the adventurers a gift made of the gold he had immorally earned in his life, each accept except Hirsch and received a magical item that was tailored to their needs after Nib held their hand or touched their skin in some way to "get a sense" of them. None of the party tried to figure out how he was doing this.

Hirsch did not want to take Fey magic nor did Nib ever touch him - he just guessed, so Creswinda kept hold of the Rust Bag of Tricks for him in case he wants it later. Iris seemed vaguely traumatised by her conversation with Nib and hid in a cupboard with alcohol until the other party members were done with him.

The group noticed ghost children flitting around the cave and jab into Nib at various points and seem to disappear into a crevasse at the back of the cave, after their recent turmoil with Clapperjaw this put the party on edge. They began to question Nib and learned that his gold was cursed to haunt him with his past misdeeds until he had given it away freely, the ghosts were not children he had killed directly but children he had killed through his greed as a landlord. The party did not kill Nib but did follow the ghost children into the crevasse at the back of the cave...

## Little Oak and the Getaway Gang

The channel in the rock ended and the edge of a forest glade unfolded almost immediately in front of the party. There were treehouses set up in the trees surrounding the glade and a large treehouse encompassing the entire canopy of one of the two giant central trees. The other of the central trees looked to have a recognisable face, and as the party ventured further into the clearing it became clear as to why as the tree roared into life threatening the party with violence.

Elenya - having shown a proclivaty for burning trees and naturally wooded things - was quickly shoved to the back of the group, as Marded and Anguish attempted to persuade the treant that they were simply there by accident. Unconvinced, Little Oak called for his boss Will, a small boy dressed somewhat like peter pan around 11 years old who jumped onto his mighty branches and was a darn sight easier to convince than his flora friend. All it took was learning that they too were enemies of his enemy - Skabatha Nightshade.

Will took the party to meet the children he had rescued: Bobi, the boisterous dwarven boy growing in his first whiskers; Sloane, a sarcastic, ginger haired female wood-elf with a remarkable similarity to Creswinda; Zennor, a tenacious female orc who wants to fight; and Lamorna, a 4 year old human girl who had grown up with the others and wishes to kick butt.

The Getaway Gang had been planning an attack on Granny Nightshade's operation for some time and were going to be using all of the children to get the job done - but Will wanted them to stay safe and so asked that the adventurers get involved instead. Anguish and Lamorna became very enamoured with each other, with Lamorna playing on Anguishes tail and eventually falling asleep being cradled in it. Little did Anguish know that Lamorna had stolen one of her many daggers in that time and was planning on being like the big kids!