12-Jul-2023

 After discussing the situation with Grendira, the kindly old gnomish wizard of Alapon Landing, the Bunch decided the best route would be to try to investigate Paavu’s nighttime disappearances in that short time he is gone. The big question, how to do that? The plan was to have Nuka wild shape into a field mouse, stay in Paavu’s beard all night while he slept. Paavu slept through the night without incident.

The next phase of the plan was to recruit some real field mice and have them sleep in Paavu’s beard and report back to Nuka if he disappears in the night. Nuka cut a deal with 8 mice; Mary, Jerry, Larry, Barry, Gary, Carry, Bob, and Tom. Nuka also cast beast sense on each one when it was their turn so she could observe what the night’s events might unfold. Paavu slept through the night without incident.

On to plan number nine, use beast sense through a horse and have that horse signal if Paavu disappears. The Bunch would wait right outside, and would hear the horse kick the barn wall and they would run in and investigate. Paavu began is usual routine of getting sloshed, laying down in some hay, and falling asleep. About an hour into the night, a kick was heard on the barn door and Shava ran in to see what she could find. She studied the area and found nothing out of place other than Paavu missing. She could tell a spell was cast and was able to determine that it was a summoning spell.

After a couple of minutes, Paavu poofed back onto the hay, caked in dirt and covered in bruises. His injuries weren’t serious, but his hand was pretty mangled. As Nuka healed him back to the model of perfect health again, Paavu went to summon Xantor’s Rage and noticed he had 2 large, uncut emeralds in his hand. They were covered in mud and dirt like he pulled them out of the ground with his bare hands. Another clue!

The Bunch looked around Alapon Landing for a jeweler, and went to the Shiny Pebble to see if they could find out anything. The jeweler, whom no one bothered to ask his name, looked at the gems and saw that they were flawless and deep green, more perfect than he had seen. When asked if he could tell what mine they came from, he didn’t recognize any of the dirt but stated most of the emeralds come from the mines along the Yelling Heights. The group wanted to get more opinions, so they went down to the docks to talk to the port master. SHE said most gems originate from the Yelling Heights, but they come from all over as they are used as currency fairly often. As they were discussing, a raven landed in front of Shava with a leather bound scroll attached to it. The note was calling the Munch Bunch to action in Deepwich. They are to attend a council meeting regarding Tiamat and the Creed of the Dragon, and a teleportation scroll was attached. Poof, off they went to Deepwich and the adventure continues next time.

29-Jun-2023

 The last session was filled with fun and sleep studies for Paavu. The first goal was finding a friendly necromancer to talk to in hopes of deciphering the glyph. They went to Grendira to discuss and see what she knows. She didn’t know enough, so the Bunch began running their own experiments. They decided to recreate that first night, getting him drunk and sleeping in the barn, but checking on him halfway through. About three hours into the night, Paavu woke up suddenly soaking wet and spitting up salt water and heavily damaged.

The crew put on their lab coats and began systematically experimenting on Paavu. Nuka discussed the happenings at night with the horses in the barn. She found that they smelled ocean water and heard splashing, but did not see anything as they were also sleeping. The next night he slept sober, and nothing of note happened. The night after that he slept as the little spoon with Nuka, and had the best night of sleep in his life., but nothing else of note. 

For the next night, Nuka made a sweet deal with one of the horses. She gave him tons of treats, and he let her cast beast sense on her that night and watch Paavu through his eyes. While watching, she saw him disappear for about 2 minutes, and when he reappeared there was a gust of wind and a smell of ozone. He had hundreds of tiny cuts all over his body and was in a lot of pain, so Nuka came in and healed him. They took this new information to Grendira, who suggested investigating while he was gone to see what they can find.

14-Jun-2023

 The Bunch started the last session in Alaphon Landing on the docks, going to visit Grendira, an old wise wizard that might be able to help identify the glyph on Paavu’s forehead. She was in the middle of casting what felt to be an extremely powerful spell, so once she has some time tomorrow, she will talk to the group at her lab. While leaving the docks, Gold Brain ran into an old friend, Alice, a fellow sailor he shared some time with on some shipping vessels. Gold Brain learned some rumors about Lyraena and the reasons for her downfall.

Feeling the need to go relax chemically, the Munch Bunch found a happy little bar in the Fluffy Halberd. They then went to find something more clean and comfortable, and settled on the Dark Ocean Inn. Once they got set, Gold Brain shared some of what he learned from Alice with the group, and that inspired Paavu to share some of what he’s learned from Garok’s journal with the group.  Dara looked shook, but internalized those reactions and did not share with anyone. As the group said good night, they all went into weird sleeping situations and I didn’t take notes, but just know it was pretty inefficient and it lead to Paavu sleeping by himself.

When Paavu awoke, he was not rest, and in fact was well done. He had burns and char marks all over his body. What hair Paavu had was all singed, and it could be smelled when he entered a room, and he had taken damage as well. The Bunch did not know why or what happened, and went on to visit with Grendira in her lab. She cast a number of spells, increasing in power, to try to determine the true meaning of that symbol on Paavu. Unfortunately, the most she could infer was that it was a link to something, but what she could not figure out. She also could not say why he was singed and hurt from sleeping, but advised to get an eye witness to it.

The group decided to take turns watching Paavu sleep to see if they could get a clue. Paavu has never slept so well, despite the slight unease knowing his friends were watching him. The party milled about town for another day, awaiting for Dakota’s saddle and some potions to be completed. When Paavu slept, he slept in a room by himself, or so he thought. Wimpy disguised himself as a crow and perched up watching him, witnessing nothing of significance. The group went and picked up their potions, and Nuka went and got Dakota’s saddle. Feeling an even stronger bond with Dakota, her confidence is at an all time high and the future is bright.

07-Jun-2023

 This week’s session started off shortly after Shava scooped up the enormous emerald that fell when her cousin was defeated. Going through the small camp, the Munch Bunch found a few empty cabins that smelled like they were used as barracks for the orcs. They searched each cabin until they found the one for Garok. A large black robe that smelled of death told of the cabin’s owner. The desk littered with notes about necromancy were scooped up by Dara for a bit of light bedtime reading. Paavu recognized a journal in the room, matching one given to him by his father in his youth, that must be Garok’s journal from their father as well. Nuka found a colorful wand and impulsively stepped out of the cabin, pointed it at a tree in the distance, and fired. A stinking cloud formed around the tree and Nuka put the wand away on her person and thought nothing of it.

Searching the other cabins Gold Brain found an amulet that had some interlocking and working gears in it. After ransacking the cabins, Nuka looked over the corpses of the fallen enemies and thought a few of those creatures would look better without hides and skinned the hell hounds and harvested what seemed to be some useful parts from them. Garok’s curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the journal to read it. An infinity symbol appeared on his forehead as he passed out for about 30 seconds and took some necrotic damage for doing so. 

Showing he recovered from that damage quickly, Paavu was back to doing Paavu things by going to the male hell hounds and cutting some specific trophies off of them. He now had a goal of preserving these impressive paper weights so he can cherish them forever. After investigating the site and having some tasks to do, the Bunch headed back to Alapon Landing. Nuka took the group’s extra items and bartered them away for cash, while Paavu took to looking for a taxidermist. The group found some leather work to be done with the hell hound hides and commissioned them to be made into cloaks. They went to the apothecary and ordered some potions.

With those chores out of the way, they wanted to do some research into necromancy, both fighting it and trying to figure out where Garok may strike next. After asking around, they found one of the older wizards in town, Rocria, in the library buried under some books. Despite hearing a number of overly details stories, they learned very little other than the glyph on Paavu’s head linked him to another plane. What plane and how he was linked, however, was still unknown.

17-May-2023

This session started with the Bunch facing off against a death knight, summoned by Garok the Apostate before he left via a portal. It was Paavu as the only character within 200 feet of the death knight, but fearless nonetheless. Nuka jumped on Dakota as he sprinted down the cliffs toward Paavu. Dara made herself invisible and started sprinting with the rest of the Bunch.

The death knight raised her hands and summoned 4 hell hounds and a nightmare, who scattered and readied themselves to attack. Paavu raged and swung Xantor's Rage, hitting the death knight twice in what felt like some pretty big hits to Paavu, but only minor bruises to the death knight. As the Bunch reached the battle front, Dakota trampled an orc and Gold Brain stabbed one in the way. Dara flung some eldritch blasts into the fray, and then the hell hounds engulfed much of the party in flames causing massive damage.

Dara responded in kind by summoning a putrid spirit, which was able to kill the nightmare. Meanwhile, Paavu was taking a massive beating from the flames of the hound and the death knight. Then Shava came within sight of the death knight, causing her to start lobbing vocal barbs at her.

"Oh if it isn't little Ara all grown up!"

"I always imagined Hadarai would be the strongest of the Nailo kids."

"You're almost as pretty as Ielenia... almost!"

Shava searched her memories and realized this must be her cousin, Lyraena. Last she was heard of her ship, Moonshadow's Grace, was abandoned in a small port town and the crew scattered over the countryside. Now she knows what became of her, but the why is still a mystery.

Meanwhile, Nuka transformed into a displacer beast and began attacking a hound. Lyraena cast compelled duel for force Shava to fight her, but Shava's will was too strong, as was her positioning awareness, seeing Lyraena and four of her allies all lined up, she sent a lightning bolt down the middle of them, using empowered spell to cause as much damage as possible and felling a number of the enemies. 

Paavu, looking weak and about to fall saw Nuka the displacer beast leap between him and the remaining orcs and fight them off, buying him time to take a healing potion Gold Brain had couriered over to him. As the numbers started falling into the Munch Bunch's favor, soon they outnumbered Lyraena six to one and worked her family style with Gold Brain landing the final blow. As she appeared about to succumb to her wounds, she disappeared in a puff of black smoke and in her stead was a large pristine emerald.

After a long discussion of who should or should not touch the emerald, Shava scooped it up into her bag of holding and decided to deal with it later. They could tell from the magic in the emerald that it was linked to the essence of Lyraena in some way. The group then began searching the camp and found Garok's hut. The large black, putrid smelling robes hanging on the coat rack is what clued them in, as well as the notes on the desk. What else will they find there? We will find out next session.

19-Apr-2023

 The Mighty Munch Bunch started last session finishing up a fight with some orcs surrounded by a wall of fire and one outside the wall. Nuka made quick work of him with her thorn whip, and then Dara dropped the wall of fire surrounding the other two. Dakota took one out with a trampling charge, and Nuka dropped the hilt of her dagger right between the eyes of the enormous orc chieftain, dropping him out cold.

When he came to, the Bunch put him to the question to try to find out more about the Apostate. What they found was loyalty and dedication from the chieftain for the rest of his short life. The group took a short rest to recuperate some and also leave little time for the Apostate to prepare for their arrival, and then they traveled north until they found a set of cliffs and waterfalls and a small camp nestled in there.

They saw a number of orcs patrolling and a pale, skinny goliath in dark robes walking around the camp. Nuka wild formed into a falcon and flew in close to get an idea about what was going on. She saw the goliath was clearly in charge, likely being the Apostate himself. What they were planning, she could not tell as they were speaking goliath and orc to each other. She returned to the group and told them what she saw.

Paavu then took the circuitous spyglass and put it to his eye and took a look. He exclaimed “Garok!” and put down the spyglass and sprinted to meet his brother. His brother, long thought dead, greeted him coldly as if expecting him. As he talked with Paavu about the destruction of their village, he was unhooking the two skulls hanging from his belt. He tossed them on the ground, telling Paavu to ask their parents himself as he cast Speak with Dead and had them confirm who they were.

An emotional Paavu used the first three questions to discuss their deaths, but saved the final question to ask if he should avenge their deaths. Padak, Paavu’s father, told him he would be honored, and Thuni told him to make them suffer. Paavu’s will emboldened, he proclaimed to Garok the Apostate that he will destroy him. Garok, looking directly at the circle around Paavu’s eye but being too polite to mention it, told him it would have to wait. He reach out to the orcs at each of his sides and touched them, causing them to begin to glow with a darkness as their bodies wilted before everyone’s eyes. 

Garok reached out and opened a portal to a dark realm, and out stepped a massive knight, suited in full armor with an enormous sword that seemed to absorb light around it, giving it a deeper darkness no one had ever seen, who then raised and pointed that sword at Paavu. Garok then reached out his other arm, opening another portal that glowed a deep green, and before he stepped through, he looked out far into the cliff and winked. On that cliff, Nuka’s eyes flickered and rolled back into her head and she collapsed. Garok stated, “Until next time brother” and stepped through the portal as it closed behind him. Nuka, shaken a bit, awoke, and Paavu looked death straight in the eye.

05-Apr-2023

 The Bunch started the session eye to knee with a couple of zombie hill giants and a number of orcs.  They split up to avoid being flanked and took on the giants and orcs in small groups.  Paavu took the full blunt damage from one of the undead giants, and striking him with all his might yet the giant was unfazed. Shava blasted the gemstone embedded in the giant’s head with a magic missile, causing the giant to stumble, clueing the group into the weakness of the giants.

With that, Nuka pulled out her thorn whip and cracked that gem dead on in the giant’s head. Paavu leaped up to take some swings at the gemstone and Gold Brain went for flair, planning to jump off Dakota’s back and stab that gemstone to pieces, and boy did that sound cool. When he lost his footing jumping off Dakota, his stumble and landing on his head didn’t look quite as cool as his plans.  Dara took the orcs in the center and surrounded them with a wall of fire, and was paid back by a giant throwing a tree at her.  

Gold Brain disengaged with Nuka to better position himself and get her out of danger, and the giant thought Dakota could use some better positioning as well so he picked him up and tossed him at Gold Brain.  After Nuka helped revitalize everyone with the aura of vitality, Gold Brain went back, jumped off the giant’s knee, and penetrated that gem full on, causing it to shatter and the giant falling and decaying at an accelerated rate.  

The Bunch proceeds to take care of the all but one of the orcs outside the wall of fire and now need to deal with the remaining before they proceed to the Apostate’s lair. With 36 seconds left in the wall of fire spell, what kind of cockamamie plans can they come up with in that time to deal with things? Will they find out the reasons the Apostate is terrorizing villages or will they go in wands a blazing and blow it all up?