Someshot 1

The Shard Research League has been sending our survey teams to investigate the shards of reality that have formed in the time following the Shattering. A group of subcontractors have been brought in to provide security for a group of nerds who intend to study one about a week's travel west of Wolis.

## The Party

* Ward - a hobgoblin wizard, mostly there to take notes on what they find and his chicken Henrietta
* Rixy - a kender rogue who is here to get everyone through locked doors and past traps
* Drosera - aasimar druid , inspecting the cool bugs and mushrooms we find along the way
* Mira - floating and willing to help, but otherwise not super social
* Stephen - human paladin with children and definitely the party dad

## Summary

The world after the arrival and defeat of Progenitus resulted in shards of reality being replaced with pieces of other worlds. These shards are explored by the Shard Research League and assigned categories of danger based on what they find there:

* Category 1 - benign - terrain or folks got transported
* Category 2 - use caution - aggressive wildlife or toxic materials
* Category 3 - actively dangerous - extremely dangerous to enter
* Category 4 - actively hostile - dangerous to the area around it

The group is setting out to assess an unknown shard, not expected to be dangerous, but just in case. The head researcher of the League is a human woman named Salassae, and the group leader is a halfling rogue named Elliard Methuss. Elliard was contracted to provide the escort, while the party are subcontractors. The road has become less traveled and maintained the closer to the shard they get. The shard is approximately a day and a half out.

Elliard gathers the party together to discuss the watches for the night. Rixy and Stephen take first watch, Ward and Drosera take second watch, and Elliard and Mira take third watch. Ward and Rixy pass the evening playing music passably before watches begin. Rixy and Stephen see nothing, but during second watch, Ward and Drosera spot an oncoming band of undead. One of the skeletons appears to be intelligent, declaring "It calls" as it dies. One of the other skeletons is simply ambling nearby rather than acting hostile, a mushroom growing out of a crack in its skull.

Curious about the nonviolent skeleton, the party ceases attacking to observe. The skeleton's movements are more jerky than a normal skeleton. Out of curiosity, the party brings the skeleton back to the party. It is covered in a unique kind of fungus. It is protective of its mushrooms, grabbing Rixy when she touches it, but releasing her after. Ward convinces Salassae to let him study the zombie before it is destroyed. In the course of their experiments, MIra and Stephen discover that the skeleton is constantly trying to attack, but the mushrooms are controlling it and not allowing it to. It is able to write in the dirt that its name is FOUR. Ward finds that the skeleton itself is a normal undead skeleton in that it doesn't register at all, and the mushrooms also do not ping as magical. FOUR indicates that it wishes to continue traveling as it has been called, though it does not know why or to where, only what direction. Due to the skeleton's slow speed, the group decides to tie a piece of material and release it, intending to pursue it after they finish their current task.

The next day, the group begins to resume their journey. Along the way, one of the wagons break down, leaving them with a couple of hours of downtime. During this time, Drosera finds a grass snake, which she puts in her hair. Elliard asks Ward where he came from. Ward explains that he is from a place that no longer really exists, but is disinclined to explain. Elliard sympathizes, as his home was originally Auguste, which was overrun by the zombies in the Blight Ward during the Shattering. The company eventually reaches the shard, a kilometer cube of jungle in the middle of more rocky terrain. Due to the late hour of their arrival, they make camp once more, changing up the watches somewhat. Elliard explains that the barriers between reality sometimes produces "crazy monsters" made of the same material as the barriers, but usually only when the barriers are approached. Stephen, concerned about Ward having not eaten breakfast, tries to find a way to make the evening stew palatable, but Ward just chugs it as quickly as possible.

During second watch, Ward attempts to secretly cast Silent Image as part of an attempt to pull a prank on her as promised earlier in the day, but is unable to do so stealthily. The two begin to chat, Rixy explaining that she appeared in this world before the Shattering with no knowledge of how she got there, but has been having a good time exploring and meeting new people. Ward finds it fascinating that she didn't know how she got there, since he's been studying the shards since their appearance. They observe that it's nice to be able to go back home, then Rixy shows him the maps she's gathered from the places she's been.

During third watch, Elliard questions Drosera about Ward and the nature of their relationship with each other and school. Drosera claims that Ward is blackmailing her into going to school instead of being in her swamp, surprising Elliard, who thought they were simply friends. Drosera asks how dangerous the fight the next day might be. He explains that the creatures created by the barriers usually incorporate the creatures found within the shard. The following morning, Ward attempts to swallow the stew in one gulp while winking at Elliard. He does not succeed. Rixy offers a glowing mushroom she finds in her bag, which Ward recognizes as not being from this plane. He is grateful and eats it, but also question Rixy about what race she is—a kender, which is similar to halflings, but definitely not from here.

They break camp and approach the barrier. After a moment, the wall shimmers and a pair of bear-like lizards emerge from the wall.

## NPCs

### Introduced

* Salassae
* Elliard Methuss

## Items

* Potion Injector with regular healing potion (1 per party member)
* A FOUR mushroom (given to Drusera by FOUR)