Tuesday Game: A Player’s Perspective – Shadowhold Outcome and Grassel Farm

When last we saw our adventure party, they had found themselves in Shadowhold at the precipice of a demonic statue that held their goal, the sword of Veldspin’s father. Veldspin desired to pull the sword so that she may reunite the lands her father had ruled once before, but her hired help of daring adventures had sensed the sword may be doing more than just decorating this statue. However, the warforged monk, Rain, sought to tempt fate itself, and precariously removed the blade from the statue. Upon the withdrawal of the likely magical blade, the party found itself beset by maleficent and shadowy specters and a demon wishing to cause harm to all living things before them.

The group defended itself with every blade and spell attack at their disposal in the hopes of vanquishing their attackers, and the fates were in their favor as a hulking goliath barbarian, named Spray, barreled down into the plaza launching a flurry of axe slashes and wild magic in the form of lighting streaks from his person. Then, the grung warlock, Natty, called upon her ancient one’s oath to focus a fantastical and fatal Eldritch blast on a shadow specter, and with the intent of finishing off their foes, the dragonborn cleric, Quibli, hurled a divine moonbeam onto the shadow demon. This beam of glittering light dispersed the demon’s form with a satisfying blast, and the adventures were able to catch their breath once again.

After a short rest and some deliberation amongst the group and the priestess, it was decided it would best for them all to leave the sword in the statue, for the group suspected that the sword was the key in holding back the dark forces of the Riven from entering the material plane. Though the priestess was disappointed in not retrieving her birthright, she thanked the companions for helping her connect with her father’s deeds of the past, and she headed on the road home to finding another way of bringing her lands together while the group headed back to the Three Wolf Heads Inn and Tavern.

Upon return to their usual spot, the adventuring party was advised to stop by Grassel’s farm for free room and board while traveling back to their keep, Dope’s Hope. The party rode out for one week until they happened upon the mentioned farm, and they were greeted by an older rugged looking woman by the name Tara Grassel, her young adult son, and an oddly larger-than-normal badger. The farmers provided a quick tour of their apple farm and offered the group stay with them free of charge, but the adventuring party ensured this act of kindness was repaid by at least help in the harvest produce.

An apple picking and farm duty montage later, the dinner bell was rung, and everyone prepared to partake in the feast prepared by the Grassel family. However, the always vigilant cleric detected a poison that prompted the dragonborn to discuss the matter in private with his compatriots. This further led to an awkward situation where the cleric questioned Tara on the purpose of the poison, and she declared that the poison was meant to keep rodents from damaging the crops. However, this answer only served to put the cleric and others on edge for the rest of the night, and it was followed up with further deliberation while standing guard over the farm.

The discussion became so heated and passionate, that even the most perceptive of the group were caught off guard by the sudden arrival of several unsavory guests who yelled out for Lyra Firebrand, head of the Badger Brigade, to show herself. The band of bandits proceeded to descend unto the farm with breaking into Tera/Lyra’s house and setting the orchard on fire. Our adventuring companions responded in kind with fighting back several of the bandits with sword and sorcery. They were able to prevent the unpleasant outlaws from abducting Tera, who revealed herself to be Lyra Firebrand, and the group was able to put out several flames consuming the farmland. The crooks, seeing the tides turning against them, finally fled back into darkness from which they came, and left our travelers with questions they needed answering from Lyra Firebrand…