H:RotG Chapter 6: Olive Brooch, Black Heart

Following the lead of **Silpin**, the orcish monk who offered the party some much-needed healing, they reach a humble and foreign-looking temple. Silpin reveals that the locals here do not worship any of the Dragon-Gods of Halintar, but instead follow a recently developed belief system known as **Khaw Sid**. While they rest and dine, he tells them of the Olive Brooch and their partnership with the Roots of Venom.

Hearing that the party plans to head to the Ashen Breach, his friend **Hmxk**, an Ashstalker Tiefling and fellow monk, pipes up. He had recently returned from an attempted excursion to the Breach, but had been denied due to either having to pay an “entry fee” or wait through an absurdly long queue, one that others had been camping out in for weeks. He recommends speaking with the leaders of the Olive Brooch to see if they may offer the party money or resources in exchange for their assistance.

Taking this advice, the group thanks the monks for their hospitality and head to the outer edge of town, where they spot over two dozen tents donned in (fitting) olive-hued cloth. Raised voices and exclamations can be heard from the largest of these tents, and as they begin to enter it another figure leaves- one which startles T, as it’s the nightmarish tentacle-faced Plantfolk he had seen in his nightmare only the night before. He doesn’t even bother to introduce himself to the party, stomping past them in a huff.

Acting cool despite the clear disagreement they just had is **Alomandite**, sitting at his desk and smiling as the group walks in. He’s an odd sight in Halintar, a high elf with pale skin and flowing crimson hair. Next to him are two other fellow foreigners and Olive Brooch members: **Vinzi Lysanre**, a feeble-bodied gnome woman also from Kaiken; and **Feovold Neffey**, a wild elf of Ohwald with tufted ears and a permanent snarl on his face. As Silpin predicted, Alomandite did in fact have an adventurer-worthy task for the group- venture into the rolling tunnels of Bangaica-So, the giant mushroom, and report back with any information they gathered while inside. He also waves around a number of crappy wands at them, bragging about his magical prowess while showing nothing to prove the fact. The party ignores his weird proclamations and agree to go on this expedition the following day, spending the current one exploring the town and licking their wounds a bit longer.

T traces down Tacca, finding the humble home of the Roots of Venom in the shadow of Bangaica-So. Though somewhat on edge, Tacca welcomes T and reveals that only Plantfolk are able to join their ranks, as the potent poison of their adored mushroom cannot kill them as quickly as it kills other mortal races, and they alone can develop an immunity to it. He offers him an unidentifiable substance, a drug for Plantfolk that allows them to peer into the distant memories of their past lives. He sees first-person visions of a Tevi made of bamboo, limber and dexterous, able to pull themself apart to use as a lethal combat weapon, pursuing dark-robed cultists and leading a siege against a towering demonic figure in the distance.

Meanwhile, Rok gets frustrated with the orcish residents of Groasblouk, seeing them as “weak” for their pacifistic ways. This leads her into a lengthy discussion with one of the elder women of the town, **Kruna**, who explains that the violent war-mongering members of their town had long since departed after peace was declared, migrating towards the Badlands where they terrorize whomever dares cross their paths. Among them is her only son, who left her all alone. Kruna then gives Rok a doll she made for him many years ago, asking her to deliver it to him if she ever finds him on the party’s travels.

Rabi and Zor socialize with a couple of the Olive Brooch’s guards, one of whom reveals some intense greediness and two others who are much more normal and freaked out by their cohorts revelation. And finally, Hydran, fiddling with the figurine the party had found on Trinket Beach, hears a sketchy conversation in the distance. Vinzi and Feovold seem to be outside the Olive Brooch camp discussing something confidential-sounding in harsh whispers, but he can’t make out much else beyond that.

They venture into the shroom the next morning, and as it turns out, what was inside the mushroom was danger! In its depths, the party happened upon a nest of dragonflies. While they’re harmless little creatures anywhere else in the Stretch, in Halintar they’re monstrous beasts with magic flowing through their blood. They hound the party mercilessly, burning Rabi to a crisp and barely letting the group escape with their lives. Lucky for them, they managed to make it out not only alive, but with a handful of basketball-sized dragonfly eggs, which have the potential to bestow any number of magical abilities unto those who consume them. Far away from this lair, they find the core of the mushroom, a largely unremarkable chamber that has a calm energy about it and a pillar of pillowy flesh forming a column in its center.

Dragging themselves out, they take a moment to heal and return to Alomandite only to find him being actively aggressed by Vinzi, Feovold, and Tacca. The party experiences their first of many combat whiplashes as the three turn their rage towards them for interrupting. Tacca grabs Alomandite as a hostage and runs, and as Vinzi and Feovold flee they kick down the tent’s supports to trap the adventurers inside.

Rabi and Rok escape the trap first, just in time to witness Feovold wreaking absolute chaos on the town, slaughtering innocent villagers for no particular reason at all. He laughs, swiping his black blades into the crowds as Rok’s rage builds.

The rest of the party escapes and blazes a path in the opposite direction, following Vinzi, Tacca, and the unfortunate Alomandite. Vinzi dashes off into the distance, but Tacca stops, holding a knife to his hostage’s neck as the group comes close. He’s hysterical, shouting about his suffering and how Alomandite promised him the resources he needed to kill his “nemesis”. They whittle him down a bit, both physically and with their words, and he lets his guard down just enough for the high elf to escape into the wilderness. There’s no time to scold the tentacle-faced plantfolk, however, as Vinzi appears in some sort of mechanical monstrosity and begins plowing it through the soft-walled tunnels of Bangaica-So, aiming for it’s heart. Accompanied by the clear-minded Tacca, they chase her into the darkness.

Back in Groasblouk, Rok and Rabi attempt to get closer to Feovold. Noticing this, he swings his two blades about and fuses them at the hilt, transforming them into a bow and startling the two with a speedy shot. But what’s even faster than him is none other than Kruna, who leaps in front of Rok and takes the shot, the deadly arrow ending her life as she hands Rok her greatsword, the Gutslinger. Taking the sword as well as the old woman’s crimson scarf, Rok’s barbarian instincts take full hold as she charges forward in intense rage, leaping past the corpses and rubble that attempt to barricade her path. Rabi follows her lead, calmer but still wielding his intent to retaliate in full force.

At the heart of Bangaica-So the rest of the adventurers find Vinzi in her mech, digging away at the central column. Mortified of this act and of Vinzi herself, Tacca leads the the attack on this deadly technology, striking at it in an attempt to find any weak points. It’s well-shielded and seems to barely get scratched from the group’s feeble attacks. But then, the mech’s shoulder-like protrusions and tummy-shield open up to shoot lightning at the group, accidentally revealing the power source- three large gemstones. With some well-timed attacks the group shatters them, and the machine falls backwards, tumbling to the ground and puncturing it, falling into the endless abyss beneath the floor. Tacca, worn down from the battle, isn’t fast enough to dodge the mech’s final attack, passing on with the strike and falling into the self-made grave with Vinzi and her machine.

Back outside, more shots are fired by Feovold, arrows with barbed tips that strike at the two heroes and make the hit areas functionally useless. Rabi’s rendered immobile from the pain that these arrows inflict, instead shooting back with spell and arrow of his own. Rok, blood boiling, continues the charge, and as she takes the combat toe-to-toe with the remorseless hunter her new blade strikes true, and in one powerful swipe she ends the elf’s life, slicing him in half at the waist as he lets out one final roar of disbelief.

Regrouping after the separate, yet equally intense fights, the battle-beaten heroes lament the loss of newfound friends (and their paychecks). They acknowledge that there’s not much left for them here, and so rather than pout they gather their things and begin the final leg of their journey to the Ashen Breach.

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 TBD