Event: 11th November 2018 - Into the Bandu forests.

Previous: 23rd September 2018
Next:9th December 2018

Note: I was not there throughout this journey, so these notes are taken from conversations with the party when they returned!

The party awakes
The party had awoken from a strange dream where they had experienced strange flashbacks from their lives. Although it had felt that they had experienced many hours in the dream caverns, it now became clear that mere seconds had elapsed. All around the campsite was as it was when they had first seen the gift, except now there was no gift. Was it a collective dream, I assume that it was bad cooking, but each of them tell me that they were sure that they had grown from the experience. 

The next day they returned the quest that had been set by Undula; to establish whether there is any substance to rumors of whole villages going missing.

Bandu farmstead Soon enough they came upon a small collection of mud huts, which appeared abandoned. When they investigated further the only life that they could find where two pigs, who had free rein of the settlement, their fence having been broken. When the team looked inside the huts it appeared that they had been broken into by a large creature who pushed all the furnishings aside. The only evidence of human life was one poor soul who had been torn in three. However, it was clear that whomsoever had caused this had no regard for items of value, the village treasures, meagre as they were were ignored or cast asunder. 

Zanthoris, the name that Amiracle had assumed for this day, has shown me a child's small magical book that he salvaged that told a tale of an orphaned princess, pursued by an evil queen, who had sought refuge amongst a hamlet of dwarfs, before she was rescued by a handsome paladin. It did not look the kind of object that a poor villager would just discard.

The party had tried to track the attackers, but lost the trail in a small stream. Whilst travelling further north the party were attacked by an aggressive plant uncovered a stone circle surrounded by warning runes. Within the stone circle a strong magic carried whatever was there unceasingly upwards. Ryn was first to avoid death at its hands when she managed to teleport herself to ground using an enchanted stone. Then Zanthoris, emboldened, used the magic to soar into the sky and scout around. 

An ancient tomb uncovered With the newfound knowledge of the Bandu lands acquired through this aerial jaunt, the team had discovered the remains of Helion Towers scholars, who had unearthed an ancient chamber. Trapped within were a cask of ancient spores which had taken over the explorers and turned them to strange plant zombies. The party had used fire to rid the land of this menace.

Of Bullywugs and their gods The party then travelled further North to a swampy area habituated by a tribe of Bullywugs (frog like humanoids). I am told that the tribe had awoken a huge great frog creature called a Froghemoth who they had taken to worshiping as a god. Emboldened by this discovery Bullywug sorcerers had enchanted swamp trolls to do their bidding. I understand that Swamp trolls are the simplest of creatures, so can believe that this was true. The silly Bullywugs were using the enchanted trolls to collect villagers who they were feeding to the Froghemoth god to gain his blessings. Garrett tells me he had understood this at first sight and had killed the frog sorcerers, thereby freeing the Trolls and enabling the remaining members of the party to fell the beast and free the entrapped villagers. I am told that many frogs burned that day.