RED LIST

source: lilgreenfox

Ephraim Win'sow

Torga'arr Benshi

Shascha Thunderpouch

Ferdinand Portsmith

Red List is a Brigade oneshot that follows an investigation by several members of the Brigade into "Warbling Beasts" that have been encountered nearby the Zenith.

## Prompt

A hunting party gathering meat/furs recently returned wounded and frightened-- no casualties, but they reported strange dreams, followed by an assault from a large pack of man-sized tentacled beasts, which warbled and roared at the group as they grabbed what they could and fled. Could just be some mages playing tricks, but regardless of origin they could pose a significant danger to future hunting parties if left unattended.

For more info, please meet with the wounded hunters at Dunkle's Residence, 690 Card King Road in the Theldirk Barrows, where they are still recovering from said assault.

## Character Developments

First appearance of the following NPCs:

* Cherry Hart
* Burgh Whitterson
* Xilvia Natters

Burgh and Xilvia joined the Brigade as part of community service, while Cherry was taken to the Zenith for a jail sentence.

## Summary

After meeting at the appointed location in help wanted ad, the party stepped inside and were greeted by Dunkle, who had encountered a monster while on a camping trip with his roommate, Larry Seto, and both Bave and Zalem. After having a nightmare of something screaming in his ear, he awoke to a blue/black creature with tentacles and many legs. He provides them with a map to the campsite they stayed in, and the party headed into the forest.

Upon arriving at the campsite, the group began to investigate the area and ran into a group of displacer beasts that had sensed their presence. The encounter nearly came to blows, but with a decisive action from Ephraim to try and calm the creatures, they appeared to mean no harm to the group itself. They, however, seemed to have some deep-seated anger towards Tara, whom one of them pounced on. After another tense moment, the group was able to dissuade the creatures from any violent action with several persuasive actions and a liberal use of carrots. Still keeping a close eye on the younger Dewlight as they moved away, the creatures began motioning to the party to follow them through the forest, and Tara was able to disguise herself so that the creatures didn't recognize her.

It took about half an hour for the displacers to lead the party through the dense foliage, during which the Dewlight siblings worked to determine why exactly the creatures were hostile towards Tara in particular. Near the head of the party, Torga'arr and Ephraim were having their own discussion, this between the merits of each other's religions. When the party finally reached a ridge that the two displacers had led them to, they were greeted with a sorry sight indeed.

Standing outside a small home in intense conversation were three hunters (later determined to be Cherry's Reapers), and nearby were the reasons as to why the displacers had brought the group here: three tanned hides of young displacer beasts hung from racks, and a fourth one was being kept within a cage, mewing pitifully. Aster, upon seeing this, immediately prepared to storm up to them, but his sister held him back, speaking to him in hushed tones. From the few words that were exchanged between them, it could be seen that Tara had, at one point, worked alongside these hunters before. While they spoke, Ephraim, Shascha, and Ferdinand approached the three hunters in full view, Ephraim calling out to them to release the child and hunt the adult displacers "fair and square".

When it appeared that the situation would not be resolved peacefully, he removed his helm to reveal his true skeletal form to the hunters. As he did so Shascha charged forward towards the leader of the group, a kobold named Cherry, who had been in the process of attempting to run away with the caged child. Ferdinand followed up with an incredibly effective suggestion spell on the half-orc wizard (Burgh Whitterson) as he prepared to cast a spell upon the party, telling him to "go and rethink his life". The compulsion was so strong that Burgh did exactly that, stepping inside his house and, realizing just how far he had slipped into his greed, wept in his bed. The final member of the hunting party, a sand elf by the name of Xilvia, was beset upon by Aster, who had pulled away from his sister and began to pummel her with his mailed fists. Torga'arr followed the others into the combat, signalling to the adult displacers to follow the party into battle, but both were snared by traps the hunters had put down in case of just such an attack. They did not, however, account for a party of adventurers attacking them as the snares went off, and so instead they surrendered as Torga'arr instead worked to free the displacers, disrupting the magical snares the hunters had placed down.

Once they had surrendered and the young displacer had been freed, the party interrogated Xilvia and Cherry, determining that Cherry, the ringleader of the operation, was trying to poach the wildlife near the Zenith. Xilvia, with some encouragement from a still-disguised Tara, told the group that she had expressed her desire to leave the hunting party when Cherry had concocted the plan to lure the adult displacers into traps using their child as bait. Burgh too appeared to have reformed his ways as Ferdinand comforted the half-orc, and agreed to perform community service alongside Xilvia back at the Zenith. Cherry, still not wanting to give up her own methods, was instead put in jail at the Zenith for an amount of time to be decided by the Keepers. As the party returned back to the Zenith, the displacers followed them from afar, until eventually they melded back into the forest, aware of the structure but giving it distance.

## Notes

* Burgh has joined the Brigade to assist with building the school at the Zenith, and will work to teach people there once it's complete. Ferdinand has provided him with a stipend of 250 gp to use for gathering teaching materials. Burgh's particular fields of teaching are Enchantment and Archaeology.
* Ephraim and Torga'arr have formed a rivalry over their two disparate gods and clashing cultures.
* Dunkle has provided the party with a Mythic Rare Goblin the Gathering card each signed by "The King of Card Games".

## Gallery

The oneshot banner. LilgreenfoxOne of the Displacers encountered in the forest.Cherry's Reapers. *From left to right-* Cherry Hart, Burgh Whitterson, Xilvia NattersFerdinand Portsmith, a member of the Brigade, consoling a distressed Burgh after using magic to make him rethink his life choices. Lilgreenfox