Session 69 & 70: Secret of the Ooze

The group rests at the bandit camp. In the morning, Cho writes a letter to Redmud and gives it to his associates, in case they don’t see him again. However, the gnoll guard comes to fetch them shortly after. They follow him to a forest clearing, where Redmud is waiting for them, armed and armored. He agrees to help them and suggests a brawl to see their abilities. The four of them against Redmud, Yana the Tabaxi, Boreal the bear man, and Ravi the gnoll. They agree and square off.

Redmud uses the axe to conjure a tiger spirit around himself. Cho charges and tackles him, but he keeps his footing and retaliates with his axe. Boreal flanks Cho and also bashes him with warhammer and battleaxe. Yana casts a mental attack on Cho and Vojta, but they resist. Vojta transforms into a glowing version of his stone bear form and punches Boreal, but his fighting spirit makes him resistant to physical attacks, just like Cho. Meanwhile, Nan flies into the air and barrages Redmud with arcane bolts while Ravi runs around at great speed, making opportunistic attacks at his enemies. Arran casts a haste spell on Cho, who then charges Yana instead. With enhanced speed, he strikes her three times with Kolo’s greatsword. She retaliates with blasts of force that heavily injure him, but then yields against his overwhelming assault and leaves the ring.

Redmud praises Cho’s fighting prowess before charging Arran, who summons his mirror images to defend himself. Boreal continues his attacks on the injured Cho, so Nan enchants him, trapping him in the illusory gullet of a giant beast. Together, Redmud and Ravi cleave through Arran’s duplicates. Cho and Vojta give chase, pummeling the leonin and gnoll. Redmud delivers three knock-out blows to Cho, but he stays conscious through great willpower. Unable to take any more, Cho then yields and leaves the ring. Arran summons grey hands from his shield to push Redmud to the ground, then jabs him repeatedly while he’s down. Ravi tries to flank him, but Vojta punches him repeatedly, until he too scrambles from the ring. Still stuck in the illusion, Boreal calls out that he yields, so Nan releases him.

Redmud recovers and attacks Arran, putting him on the defensive. Arran casts haste on Vojta, so he and Nan attack with a barrage of punches and bolts, but Redmud blocks them all with an arcane shield from the axe. Arran launches magic slashes from his rapier that strike him unerringly, but Redmud wounds him with a powerful strike, forcing him to yield. As Vojta is briefly stunned from the withdrawal of Arran’s spell, Redmud lays into him, chopping away chunks of stone. Nan staggers him with a radiant bolt into his back, then Vojta hits him with a series of punches, ending with a powerful uppercut. The wounded Redmud considers for a moment, then yields as well.

With the fight resolved, both sides compliment each other for their combat skills. Arran asks about the arcane shield, so Redmud says that the axe can store some spells, in this case provided by Yana. The group rests in the camp some more before teleporting to Banska to deal with Vojta’s personal issue. Vojta talks to Lavoi, who confirms that Bretka is still missing since she left for the Lake of Myriad Stars. The Horned Forest is protected by minotaurs, so no one else has entered it since. Lavoi thinks the minotaurs could be convinced to let them pass, but that flying straight into the forest might anger them. He also gives them some potions of healing that he brewed. Arran suggests that he splits off and goes to the Frosthearth to meet up with Grombrin and search for the White-Winged Blade. The others agree that they can probably do this without him, since other druids have made pilgrimages to the lake before. First, they spend the night in Banska.

In the morning, Nan looks tired and drinks a healing potion. Cho announces that they need to go to Seagate right after they finish their business here. He had a dream that someone he knows was killed and wants to investigate. Nan says she also had a dream about Kadoma, where elves were being executed in search of Arran, including possibly his father. Arran hopes it isn’t a real vision but deems it plausible. Nan remembers a green dragonborn commander named Krathus, searching for a letter in Arran’s possession. Arran doesn’t know which letter that would be. Cho and Nan are not sure how they got these visions, so Vojta suggests they may be granted by the local spirit, Sazyr. Cho still agrees to finish Vojta’s quest first.

Arran gives his spell storing ring to Cho and his secret letter to Vojta, in case he dies while away. Vojta then turns them into clouds, and Arran flies south while the others fly north. They fly over the hilly tundra of the Varian highlands for an hour, until they reach the edge of a dark and compact pine forest, the Horned Forest. Snow has started to fall, obscuring their vision. Even so, they spot a few large horned figures among the trees, including some perched in the treetops. They discuss whether to request access from the minotaurs or simply fly over, and ultimately decide to fly to save time. As they fly deeper into the huge forest, the minotaur numbers diminish. Eventually they see a large lake in the distance.

As they get closer, the blizzard becomes heavier, and a thunderstorm starts brewing behind them. The sky slowly transitions from grey to an unnatural dark cyan colour. Vojta determines that this is not a natural storm, but something riddled with druidic magic. When they reach the edge of the lake, they realise that it lies in the eye of the storm. The lake glows blue-green with the light from the stars, covering the coast in starlight. A small earthbound galaxy reflecting the night sky with the cosmic galaxy smiling back at it. Around the lake are several small minotaur encampments. As the group descends they are approached by a group of minotaurs.

They remark that Vojta has returned, even though he has never been here. Confused, the group lets the minotaurs guide them to a nearby camp with a carriage. Around the campfire they are met with some familiar faces: Vica, Ahrm, Thorim, Arran, and Vojta, as well as Lavoi, Brosta, Dosek, and Vleko from Vojta’s tribe. Their equipment is a little different from the real counterparts. Vojta cautiously talks to Fojta and, after some confusion, realises that this is the oblex from Ceneza, mimicking the people it has met. Its real body is inside the cart, from where it can spawn these doubles. The oblex arrived here after fleeing from Ceneza and wants revenge on Ruthstin for killing its brethren. The group agrees to team up when it’s time to face Ruthstin again. Nan offers to let the oblex search her memories for information about him. It does so, painfully stinging her mind, then spawns a double of her from the cart. Fojta then summons Trojko to heal the pain. Vojta asks about the double of Dosek, whether the real one is here. The oblex answers that the speaker lives in the lake.

The group goes back to the minotaurs and asks to see the speaker. They are told that they can meet him at midnight. The minotaurs also question whether they performed the rite of passage with the border tribe, which they admit they didn’t. The minotaurs say this may cause problems, so Vojta asks them to convey that they will still take the rite if needed. When the minotaurs leave, Cho reiterates that he wants to go Seagate soon. The friend he dreamed about was a street punk who he saved from a knife fight and took under his wing. If he really was killed, Cho wants revenge on the murderer. Regarding her own dream, Nan asks if Vojta recognises the name Krathus. He remembers that he is a fleet admiral in command of the southern seas, who was also in charge of capturing Kadoma.