The Mending of Magic Part 3: The Treacherous Beanstalk

Jack never had it this difficult.....

**GM/DM Intro**

We find ourselves in the land of faeries, storybook characters, and legends, The Feywild! Each of our adventurers journeyed to Qlain, the faerie kingdom, to assist its inhabitants in Mending the Magic of the Land. After rescuing their recruiter, Humdrum, the beefy satyr boi, he led them to the Podded Glade, where they could find a safe space to talk strategy and question their blemished eladrin assassin.

On the way to the Glade, discussion topics ranged from The Magic Pool to Tyresius, the eladrin who currently seems to be blemishing it, to how each of the adventurers came to know one another. They learned that Egg, the wizard gnome, was a planestraveler in the name of research; that Sir Hellvanguard, the human paladin, and Brick, the child Aasimar cleric, met each other in a battle to save an orphanage; that Kroh the Keanu-esque centaur druid was a native of the Feywild, though not specifically Qlain; and that Gus, the human ranger, found herself in the Feywild courtesy of a spare portal that separated her from the material plane as a child.

Upon reaching the Podded Glade, it became clear that Egg was anticipating a reunion with a certain Spriggan that he esteemed from his past visits to the Feywild, as he cleaned himself up. Humdrum mentioned that he and this Mama Greenspray were working secretively but so far unsuccessfully to find a cure for the Blemished Magic. He led the group to a private hospital-slash-research pod where families left blemished ones as if they were embarrassments or diseased. The families were not altogether wrong.

Kroh, Bert, and Egg took some time to visit the blemished, and eased a young Jackalope’s worry with tales of five friends saving the Magic. Kroh became more convinced that the blemish was occurring more rapidly among the more magically inclined and made sure to note the faces of those who had been touched, to burn into his mind who he was fighting for. Egg discovered the secretive hospital pod in which they were standing was itself blemished and rushed to join his other friends. Burt stole some food, ate some food, but then put it all back at Kroh’s behest.

Meanwhile, Sir Hellvanguard, Brick, and Gus met with Mama Greenspray, the elder Spriggan, who was overseeing the healing research. In a tearful reunion, Sir Hellvanguard met his long lost mother, Elora Lusterpath, who revealed that she sent Hell aka Braemar Lusterpath with his father to the Material Plane as a child so that he could return to fulfill his prophecy. In the same moment, she told him as happy as she was to see him again, she would have to say goodbye shortly as she was one of the chosen Bound Ones, the Fey, and would need to be tethered to Magic for 100 years. Immediately, Sir Hellvanguard volunteered himself as tribute in her stead.

Mama Greenspray would be the Flora Bound one, and Grendle, Humdrum’s daughter, would be the Fauna Bound One. Learning that Humdrum and Tyresius were once lovers, the party guessed that Grendle was daughter to both.

Finally, the adventurers were able to question their captive Eladrin, who, since being brought back to life after dying, was losing some signs of the magical blemish. She was one of the guardians of the Magic Pool for centuries until Tyresius returned a few weeks ago to bind her own foul creatures to the Magic. The eladrin guardian and her brethren were turned in that moment, and also, a new prophecy appeared along the Magic Pool’s basin: **To unbind and free these curseless, consider one girl who dealt with three Ursus.**

The Eladrin suddenly exploded in a mass of black sickened vines that split her body open in many spots, and the Teardrop Pod that acted as a secret hospital broke apart as well. Just as Egg had predicted, Tyresius’ spies learned of these new Bound Ones and swarmed in on their location. Six hags, three jaguar-slash-moose, and three blemished centaurs cornered the adventurers and targeted the Bound Ones.

We left mid-battle just as the (now) five hags dove into Brick’s slashing rainbow spirit guardians to grab Grendle and Mama Greenspray and Elora, Hell’s mother, led everyone in a rousing group singalong of “Five Alive,” the prophecy that took the form of a children’s song. So let’s see what happens.