#Brooches & Pins | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sims4viviennc · 3 years

Photo

Sims 4 – Twilight CC

Gallery name: ViviennC

(turn CC on to see the sims)

CC used – Twilight

General

Kijiko lashes

http://kijiko-catfood.com/3d-lashes/

Hairline

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/616887534465826816/beard-ab-9-colors-teen-males-only-hairline

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/181806931303

Sliders

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/185656309058/more-sliders-for-the-face-all-sliders-work-in

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/174905199148/more-sliders-for-eyelids-dl-slider-for-the

Mouth corner

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-skindetails/title/mouth-corners-n03/id/1330957/

Accessories

https://murphy-sims.blogspot.com

Eyes

https://dangerouslyfreejellyfish.tumblr.com/post/164577819691/whisper-eyes-for-everybody-defaults-non-defaults

Teeth

https://www.pinterest.es/pin/65231894593343705/

Makeup

https://goppolsme.tumblr.com/post/619725497000214528/gpme-gold-makeup-set-cc15-foxy-eyes-makeup

https://goppolsme.tumblr.com/post/629691187746488320/gpme-gold-makeup-set-cc25-download-at-goppolsme

Height

https://simscommunity.info/2018/06/14/the-sims-4-height-slider-mod-now-available/

Contour

https://thesimscatalog.com/sims4/downloads/makeup/blusher/gpme-face-contouring-at-goppols-me/

Contacts: Irene

https://www.patreon.com/posts/genetics-remix-47684316

Body glitter

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-tattoos/title/fairy-dust-light-body-glitter/id/1501109/

Edward Cullen – Sims 4 CC

Hair

https://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/wingssims/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-male/title/wings-to0124/id/1525013/

Skin overlay

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-skintones/title/markus-skin-overlay-hq/id/1367723/

Eyebrows

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/189025965813

Nose mask

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/174533730818/obscurusxmelancholic-collaboration-dl-video

Lipstick

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-lipstick/title/peach-blossom-lipstick-n176/id/1428223/

Eyeliner

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-eyeliner/title/rem-eyeliner-n90/id/1432348/

Gorilla – belted jeans, jogging suit, layered swim, London shirt,

https://gorillax3sims4.blogspot.com/2020/02/belted-jeans.html

https://gorillax3sims4.blogspot.com/2018/09/jogging-suit.html

https://gorillax3sims4.blogspot.com/2020/08/london-shirt.html

https://gorillax3sims4.blogspot.com/2019/08/layered-swim-shorts.html

Sneaker

https://www.patreon.com/posts/42100124

https://theslyd.tumblr.com/post/146540946841/golden-goose-deluxe-brand-super-star-sneakers

Shirt

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-male-teenadultelder-everyday/title/delfino-t-shirt/id/1352147/

Jeans

https://mochizencc.wixsite.com/mzcc/slim-fit-jeans-sims-4

https://darte77.blogspot.com/2019/02/jeans.html

Ring

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-rings/title/anniversary-rings-female-version/id/1516287/

Jacket

https://www.thesimsresource.com/members/mathcope2/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-male-teenadultelder-everyday/title/mathcope-biker-jacket-i/id/1522779/

Boots

https://lazyeyelids.blogspot.com/2019/06/laced-boots.html?spref=pi

Suit

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-male-teenadultelder-formal/title/bastian-men-s-suit/id/1536177/

Isabella Cullen / Swan

Hair

https://antosims.tumblr.com/post/190366226450/e-l-e-n-a-hairstyle-d-o-w-n-l-o-a-d-early-access

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/792703971909488365/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto-sheila-hairstyle/id/1507315/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto--aviary-(hair)/id/1390941/

Skin overlay

https://sims3melancholic.tumblr.com/post/190539311837/download-ea-credits-obscurus-sims

Bag

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/556335360209259441/

Shoes

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-female-teenadultelder/title/madlen-nosferatu-shoes/id/1293845/

https://miro-sims.tumblr.com/post/617822842982137856/gold-chanel-pumps-22-swatches-new-mesh-all-lods-hq

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-female-teenadultelder/title/madlen-jasmine-shoes/id/1376912/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/815362707524722518/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-female-teenadultelder/title/anisa-boot/id/1488529/

Eyebrows

https://goppolsme.wixsite.com/goppolsme/single-post/2018/10/11/gpme-gold-f-eyebrows-g3

Lips

https://goppolsme.wixsite.com/goppolsme/single-post/2018/11/21/gpme-lips-cc01

Silk shirt

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-everyday/title/trillyke-yestoday-silk-shirt/id/1436312/

Sport

https://grimcookies.com/post/618986221656588288/savvy-x-grimsavvysweet-and-myself-are-so-happy-to

https://darte77.blogspot.com/2019/04/adidas-gazelle.html

Swim

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/190061434880/madlen-ariana-swimsuit-new-swimsuit-for-your

Dior underwear set

https://serenity-cc.tumblr.com/post/171273288538/j-adior-underwear-set-sorry-for-the-wait-i-was

Gorilla – belted jeans

https://gorillax3sims4.blogspot.com/2020/08/belted-jeans-af.html

Jeans

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-everyday/title/high-waisted-denim-jeans/id/1472584/

Shirt

https://gorillax3sims4.blogspot.com/2019/10/unbalanced-sweatshirt.html

Boots

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-female-teenadultelder/title/jius-textured-leather-ankle-boots/id/1511496/

Blush

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-blush/title/lulu-blusher-n17/id/1333988/

Nails

https://www.redheadsims-cc.com/2018/12/gucci-nails.html

I can’t find the wedding dress / party dress, but if someone wants them, I can email the files

Rosalie Hale

Hair

https://www.patreon.com/posts/minerva-39268006

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto-gold-dust-hair/id/1328036/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/wings-tz0920/id/1506965/

Skin overlay

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-skintones/title/venus-skin-navelpiercing/id/1307012/

Swim

https://www.patreon.com/posts/s-w-i-m-w-e-r-s-35625320

Boots

https://sims4updates.net/shoes/gigi-boots-by-silence-bradford-at-murphy/

Sport

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-everyday/title/love-amp-evil-top-recolors-mesh-needed/id/1420929/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-Athletic/title/adidas-athletic-shorts-9010/id/1481192/

Velvet sandals

https://jius-sims.tumblr.com/post/644784322981789696/the-velvet-collection-part-i-jius-velvet

Nails

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/330170216436881853/

Gucci tights

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/427490189633730444/

Jumpsuit

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/716916834418489413/

Black dress

https://www.patreon.com/posts/41109570

Blush / contour

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-blush/title/frs-blush-n06/id/1473445/

Eyeshadow

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-eyeshadow/title/frs-eyeshadow-n154/id/1529149/

Lipstick

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-lipstick/title/frs-lipstick-n146/id/1480718/

+ GPME Gold makeup set CC16, CC17, and CC20, CC25

Eyeliner

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-eyecolors/title/light-eyes-n108/id/1358026/

Shoes

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/611080461126631424/madlen-allura-shoes-high-heel-stiletto-pumps

Crop top

https://br.pinterest.com/pin/756252962414496477/

Face mask

https://obscurus-sims.tumblr.com/post/174533730818/obscurusxmelancholic-collaboration-dl-video

Flames Pants

https://m.simsdom.com/downloads/266962/flames-denim-pants-sims4

Coat

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-everyday/title/leona-outfit/id/1498194/

Eyebrows – n1

https://sims3melancholic.tumblr.com/tagged/sims-4-eyebrows

Alice Cullen

Skin overlay

https://www.simsdom.com/downloads/242070/pola-skin-by-sims3melancholic-sims4

Chanel Shirt

https://murphy-sims.blogspot.com/2020/03/chanel-cc-trim-t-shirt-chanel-month-day.html

Chanel pants

https://www.pinterest.es/pin/653936808381405639/

Chanel sneakers

https://sims4downloads.net/murphy-kenny-sneakers-by-silence-bradford/

Chanel sunglasses

https://sims4downloads.net/gigi-sunglasses-from-murphy/

https://www.simsdom.com/downloads/244869/chanel-glasses-unisex-sims4

Chanel chain belt

https://sims4updates.net/accessories/kenny-chain-belt-at-murphy/

Chanel skirt

https://www.simsdom.com/downloads/224448/rimings-chanel-brooch-knit-cardigan-chanel-belt-knit-skirt-sims4

Chanel cardigan

https://rimings.tumblr.com/post/621968439597219840/rimings-chanel-brooch-knit-cardigan-chanel

Chanel gown

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-formal/title/lily-dress/id/1377391/

Wedding inspired dress

https://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/-April-/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-formal/title/stewart--dress/id/1360671/

Eyeshadow

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/608197124675352215/

Nails

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/189634582775/stiletto-nails-for-your-sim-low-poly-download

PS blush n17

Choker

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-necklaces/title/volindur-choker/id/1400422/

Hat

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-hats/title/s-club-ts4-wm-hat-202001/id/1474448/

Lipstick

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-lipstick/title/kylie-cosmetic-matte-lipsticks-updated-v-3-all-colors/id/1355448/

Cindy set

https://www.simsdom.com/downloads/275519/cindy-set-sims4

Bikini

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/614949272115396608/madlen-edita-bikini-get-ready-for-a-hot-holiday-or

Dress

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/189708701225/madlen-jessica-dress-stylish-satin-dress

Jacket

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/631417669339447296/madlen-vicki-jacket-leather-aviator-jacket-with

Gucci pants

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/758152918504743765/

Hair

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims3-hair-hairstyles-female/title/wings-oe0411/id/1417116/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/wings-tz0325/id/1482374/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/wings-hair-sims4-ntf925-f-m/id/1353398/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/leahlillith-nevaeh-hair/id/1349071/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto-aviary-hair/id/1390941/

Shoes

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/791648440732219334/

https://www.simsdom.com/downloads/138783/saint-laurent-logo-heels-by-mauvemorn-sims4

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/626088647928823808/madlen-adena-shoes-new-wedges-for-your

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/189673172145/madlen-beverly-shoes-elegant-satin-stiletto

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-female-teenadultelder/title/madlen-dijon-boots-female/id/1444409/

Eyeliner

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-makeup-female-eyeliner/title/tattoo-glam-eyeliner-n08/id/1304476/

Gucci dress

https://rimings.tumblr.com/post/620686987441078272/rimings-gucci-brooch-round-collar-ribbon-dress

Dress

https://simpliciaty.blogspot.com/2020/08/joanna-dress.html

Gloves

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/190709025920/madlen-yvette-set-smokin-hot-black-leather-dress

Mary Alice Brandon

Skin overlay

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-skintones/title/adriana-skin/id/1351361/

Training set

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/734931232916300159/

Hand tattoo

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-tattoos/title/merci-tattoo-n10/id/1468547/

Tattoos

https://www.thesimsresource.com/members/ANGISSI/downloads/browse/category/sims4/search/tattoo/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-sets/title/cleavage-detail-set-full-coverage-amp-overlay/id/1470518/

Choker

https://thesimscatalog.com/sims4/downloads/uncategorized/vernier-jewelry-set-ac-2019-day-16-by-silence-bradford-at-murphy/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-necklaces/title/moon-phase-choker-simblreen-2020/id/1512217/

Earrings

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-earrings/title/priscilla-earrings/id/1533604/

Head piece

https://sims4downloads.net/queen-of-the-universe-headband-by-sugar-owl-from-tsr/

Hair

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto-emilia-hair/id/1283645/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto-alba-hairstyle/id/1504074/

https://antosims.tumblr.com/post/638660814580154368/h-e-n-a-r-hairstyle-d-o-w-n-l-o-a-d-patreon-early

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/anto-cristina-hairstyle/id/1520728/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/wings-os0514/id/1376358/

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-hairstyles-female/title/sonyasims-endor-s-witch-hair-collaboration-br/id/1511739/

Brows

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-facial-eyebrows/title/catarina-female-brows/id/1464954/

Swimwear

https://birba32.tumblr.com/post/164706121923/rose-swimsuit-a-new-swimsuit-with-lace-on-the

Dress

https://www.patreon.com/posts/eternity-cc-pack-49019369

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-everyday/title/sundress-with-lace-neckline/id/1466754/

Tights

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-leggings/title/stars-tights/id/1398641/

Shoes

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-shoes-female-teenadultelder/title/madlen-kristen-shoes/id/1368952/

https://madlensims.tumblr.com/post/629168039996358656/madlen-otillia-boots-high-leather-boots-in

Makeup:

https://pralinesims.net/tagged/*

Head scarf

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-hats/title/scarf-joan/id/1328606/

Hat

https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-hats/title/s-club-ts4-wm-hat-202002/id/1501458/

Accessories:

https://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/S-Club/

71 notes · View notes

cursewoodrecap · 4 years

Text

Session 13: Trouble on Your Mind

We deal with good memories and bad plants. Also, we meet another all-star NPC. For this session we drew the Woods, the Madness, the Triumph, and the Curse.

Sergeant Clem Haxan stares out into the frozen wood, atop the barricades and trenches stretching out across the carefully built killing field, scanning the treeline for any sign of partisans.

It’s night; that’s not surprising, given how short the days are in winter this far north. The wind, at least, is down to a mere roar. It’s yet another day in the village of Podtybok. The partisans had fortified it somewhat before the Czar’s forces took it; it was a supply depot, and they were counting on it to get them through the winter. Now the troops stationed here are counting on those same supplies while they’re snowed in, cut off from the rest of the Czar’s army. The partisans tried to burn some supplies before they were driven out, so there’s only the barest rations to go around, and Clem is hungry tonight.

She hears someone approach her from behind. She turns around. It’s Privates Sokolov and Vodyanakov. “Sarge!” exclaims Vodyanakov, excited.

“Privates,” she greets them.

Vodyanakov is huddling in his bulky coat, his red gloves reinforced with thick strips of wool, wrapped around like bandages. But he still seems cheerful. “You’ll never guess what happened!”

“Tell me and be quick about it,” Clem grumbles.

“A herd of deer wandered into the killing field near Grigori’s position!”

“And?”

“He got 3 of them before they managed to split!”

“Oh, fantastic news!” Clem finally grins. “Do you need help dragging them back?”

“Naw, Rusalka led a squad out. They’ve already skinned ‘em for stew.”

“Aw hell yeah, good work!”

“Yeah, we figured we’d tell you. C’mon, everyone’s meeting in the barracks.”

Clem happily goes with her current comrades. As they wander through the frozen town of Podtybok, she can see the Red Hand and the town’s remaining citizens going about business as usual. It’s night, it’s cold, but there’s a real sense of community here.

Clem considers for a moment, and asks the DM: “How long have I been here, roughly?”

She is allowed to roll a wisdom check to time it out. She’s not sure how long she’s been here. It’s pretty deep in winter, though, and they didn’t get rescued until spring.

Wait, that doesn’t make sense. It’s still winter here. Clem knows it’s probable that the elite forces won’t show up until spring, but how would she remember when-

The DM tells her to roll a d4, and doesn’t explain why.

Sokolov took over her watch point for her. Winter seems to have gone on forever, is how long she’s been here. And she’s clearly been on watch for a while? Her feet are tired, but it occurs to her that she doesn’t feel all that cold? Odd, in a winter like this.

Vodyanakov is leading her toward the barracks, and Clem is hungry for deer stew.

Who’s next?

Gral is leaning against a tree, opening his eyes when he hears a young voice calling out. “Joybringer, where are you?”

“I’m up here!”

Gral opens his eyes and he is standing on a cliff overlooking his clan’s territory. Below, he can see the river Duu stretching out, carving its way through the mountains. The fields are blooming, the towns on the mountain slopes above are bustling, and the river is beautiful & green in this light. He turns and the voice is a local child Gral knows, Chak Greka’duu.

“Joybringer!”

“Ah, young Chak! What brings you here?”

The young orc pouts at him. “Did you take a nap again? We can’t get started without our bard!”

“Huh? What time is it?”

“Late! C’mon!”

Chak leads Gral down the ladder from his small watchpost, then across a rope bridge, making their way through the mountain city hanging onto the steep edge of the cliff.

As they head toward the communal Song Hall, Gral can see many other orcs of the tribe heading the same direction.

Who’s next?

“Shoshana, are you in there?” calls her father’s familiar voice. She’s sitting in her room in her father’s house. On the table, her herbalism kit is spread out, for sorting and unpacking from a trip to woods.

“Yes, Aba?” she calls back.

“Are you ready in there?

“Y-yes, of course,” she says, hurriedly brushing herb clippings off her skirt. She pulls open the door.

Her father is there, mildly dressed up. “Well? Get ready. We should have been at the Spear three minutes ago!”

As she dusts off, fixes her hair quickly, and puts her shoes back on, her dad smiles at her. “It’s okay. I was late too.”

As they’re leaving, her father pulls a dish off the stove. “It’s not much, but I figure the least I could do is make some potatoes. It’s nothing compared to Hershel’s cooking, of course.” He shrugs ruefully.

“I was going to bring a gift, too, but...the pickings have been slimmer lately.” Shoshana gestures ruefully to her slim haul from the day’s harvest.

“Just bring yourself! You know you’re always welcome there. Come on!”

He leads Shoshana out into the cheerful village of Ovruch. It’s a pleasant afternoon, edging into early evening, and there’s the gentle, sleepy hum of the day’s work winding down all across the town. They make their way toward the familiar Silver Spear Inn.

Walking inside, Shoshana can see the old inn, just the same as it’s always been for most of her life, well-kept and cozy. It seems like a happy occasion; in the big dining room, a few tables have been pulled together, giving the place the feel of a rustic banquet hall. The innkeeper, Herschel, and his family all turn to greet the guests. “Yakov, Shoshale!” he calls, poking his head out of the kitchen. “We’ve been waiting for you!”

The oldest son, Lev, is there, moving chairs into place. The innkeeper’s wife Mindel and the young twins, Asher and Bluma, are scurrying around setting the table with plates and cups.

Shoshana, by reflex, immediately looks for one specific other person. She rolls excellent Perception. The DM has her roll a d6 and doesn’t tell her why, but her eyes immediately latch onto the teenager in question, coming down the stairs.

Something’s weird about her - no, wait - no, there’s Rifka, the same constant she’s always been for nearly all of Shoshana’s life. She skips lightly down the stairs and pulls a seat out at the table, beckoning Shosha over.

Who’s next?

The familiar weight of Valeria’s sword moves with a practiced ease. She swings and breaks neatly through roughly-carved wood, and the training dummy falls to the ground in pieces as she practices in the familiar training yard of the Citadel of the Rose. Feeling amped with adrenaline, she whirls through her daily training, but pauses when she hears heavy footsteps from behind, laden with the clank of full plate armor.

She looks back and there, resplendent in gleaming armor, is Kyr Marius. He’s a silver dragonborn like her and a respected senior member of the Order. He’s been a mentor to her for a long time - not assigned by protocol, but as another silver dragonborn, he took an interest in making sure she was fitting in. It’s a surprise to see him right now - he’s not one of her teachers, and he looks dressed for a formal event, wearing his heavy ceremonial cape, rich purple and pinned with a brooch bearing the Order’s crest.

Valeria sheathes her sword, trying to gauge whether Kyr Marius is impressed by her combat skills. She rolls well at Perception, and the DM asks her to roll a d4. Meanwhile, it certainly seems like he’s impressed!

“Your diligence is commendable, Kyr Valeria,” he greets her warmly, “But you’re going to be late! Your trials have been passed; this is a time for celebration, not more toil. Come! The entire Order must be together for this. Goodness, you’re not even dressed properly yet.”

He approaches and pins his ceremonial cloak onto her with the Rose brooch. Valeria blanks for a moment - has she ever worn a cloak like this before? She rolls badly, and - no, clearly not. Just a vague sense of deja vu.

To wear Kyr Marius’ own cloak? She - well, reptiles don’t blush, but she’s certainly feeling the equivalent of it at this great honor, and tries to stand a little taller.

“Come down to the banquet hall!” he beckons. “Tomorrow we set out, but tonight we celebrate!” He leads her down the carved marble stairs and through the blooming gardens of the Citadel of the Rose. The trellised archways and stone pillars are ornately decorated with statues and symbols of Rack, and the many rose bushes are in lush bloom. (Honestly, it’s kind of excessive - which, to a dragonborn sense of aesthetics, is perfect.)

Where were we?

The players are muttering amongst themselves with theories and questions, but Clem isn’t paying attention to those nerds. She has stew to get to, and she’s powerwalking toward the barracks in the barricaded northern town of Podtybok. (”Partybrook?” “....yeah, sure, Partybrook.”)

She hurries past the small civilian houses and the inn as she marches straight toward the mess hall that was set up in an old building. It was originally one of the winter storehouses. When the Czar’s forces took the town, the partisans took what they could and tried to burn the rest of the supplies, but the snows were already falling, and the buildings held up well. The largest of them now forms a mess hall and a sort of central meeting place. She can already see a line of hungry soldiers queueing at a huge cauldron of stew and finding their places at a huge pushed-together table.

Clem ladles herself two hearty bowls and looks for the captain. She rolls well on Perception, and again the DM asks her to roll a d4 without explaining why. Looking around only takes a moment; the captain is at the head of the table, exactly where Clem would expect, laughing at a fellow soldier’s story. Clem immediately goes to her, sitting in the open spot next to her and listening to Rusalka describe himself and Sokolov retrieving the deer from the killing field.

“-and the kid almost jumped out of his skin! Oh, hey, doc! Sit down, have a bowl!”

Clem offers her second bowl to the captain. “I have plenty,” the captain says, gesturing to her own stew. “You eat, you must be hungry.”

Clem’s like aw hell yeah, two bowls. “Thanks, Captain Anya. Hey, is Khoslev still drinking in the inn?”

“Of course he is,” laughs the captain. “Where else would he be? He’s not welcome here and he knows it.”

Clem laughs along. “Any movement beyond the line?”

“No, all quiet for now. We can relax for a while.”

Clem happily chows down on stew without a care in the world.

Where were we?

Orcs are streaming in towards the song-hall. The sound of laughter and conversation drifts out, and Gral happily makes his way inside. As he enters, he sees the familiar, unmistakably marked face of Vek “Thrice-Burned” Garna’duu. The massive fire-scarred warrior is lounging at the end of one of the huge tables laughing about something. He catches sight of Gral and waves. “Joybringer!”

“Thrice-Burned! Hello! What were y’all talking about? I seem to have missed a joke.”

“Tarok here is telling me a funny story. Come, sit, we’ll need your talents later.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Gral chirps, settling himself in at the table.

There’s a huge buffet lined up on one side of the hall, a table overflowing with grilled fish and fragrantly spiced vegetables.

“Yes, the harvest has been very good this year!” Thrice-Burned comments, seeing Gral’s gaze. “You’ve got to try some, the cooks outdid themselves.”

Gral ignores the food for now. “Don’t stop on my account, I want to hear this story!”

“No, no, please eat, you look famished!”

“I guess I can’t refuse such hospitality!” the bard allows, hopping back up to take a look at the buffet.

He, too, rolls a rather excellent Perception to examine the spread. Roll a d6, the DM tells him, and again gives no explanation. The food looks delicious; it’s all of his favorites and plenty of exciting things besides. Roast rabbit, fish, potatoes, grilled vegetables, a sauteed mushroom medley. With a roll that good, he sees there’s...actually kind of a lot of mushrooms? Huh.

Gral’s getting a weird feeling, but can’t quite place it. He helps himself to a plate of fish, avoiding the mushrooms, and brings it back to the table. He’ll take a little nibble, but he’s not chowing down yet, more interested in Tarok’s story.

Where were we?

Shoshana makes sure to ask Mindel, the mom, if there’s anything she can do to help set up. “No, dear, you’re a guest! Sit!” Mindel says, playfully swatting Shoshana’s hands away from the pile of plates to set out.

What kind of occasion is this, anyway? With a mediocre Int check, Shosha’s not sure what occasion exactly. Just a dinner party, maybe?

She takes her seat next to Rifka’s, like always, and pulls the chair out for her. The other girl sits and passes her a bowl. “Did your dad make potatoes again?”

Shosha groans. “Ugh, yes. I keep telling him he doesn’t have to, but he keeps not getting the hint.”

“It’s okay, my dad made gravy, we’ll survive.”

Asher and Bluma, the little kids, are being adorable, so Shoshana turns to greet them too. “Well hello, you two. What’s this I hear about sticky fingers over at the baker’s?” The twins immediately point to each other, denying all culpability.

“Well clearly neither of you two have been up to any mischief lately. I hope you’re helping your mom out with cleaning up?”

“Mmm-hmm!” The little girl nods emphatically. “Everybody helps!”

The oldest brother has sat down, so Shosha turns to him with a sly smirk. “Heyyyy Lev. So how’d it go with her?”

“D-don’t worry about it,” says Lev quickly, taking a spoonful of mushroom stew.

“Oh, huh, is this a new recipe?” Shosha asks, momentarily distracted.

“No, dad makes this all the time?”

Anyway, there’s more important topics to get back to. “Did he choke trying to ask her out?” she asks her friend, whose brother is turning red.

“It was hilarious. So he waited at the well for her-”

“Okay, cliché but doable-”

“But here’s the thing, she was actually in a huge hurry, and when he keeps getting in her way-”

“Ugh, the poor schlemiel-”

“And the next thing you know the Rav happens to walk by-”

They proceed to make fun of Lev and share all the small-town gossip. Mindel is ladling more onto everyone’s plates. “Please, eat! I made too much anyway, don’t let it go to waste-”

Shoshana’s player is a suspicious bastard, so before partaking in mushroom stew she’s going to engage Mindel in fifty layers of small-town small talk first. And for that, she’s to make a Charisma save. 26! Hey, roll another d4.

Where were we?

Valeria steps into the grand dining hall. The Knights of the Rose are lined up at long tables, all clad in gleaming armor, wearing their formal cloaks, and they all turn to look at Valeria as she enters. Kyr Marius directs her to a table full of paladins she recognizes. Kyr Boucher, a halfling man, and Kyr Saroyan, native to the Ventallan countryside where the Citadel of the Rose is located.

Kyr Saroyan reaches out to shake Valeria’s hand as she takes her seat. “Congratulations!”

“I can’t believe it’s finally come,” Valeria admits.

“You’re one of us now! Sit. Enjoy the feast, we’ve got a lot of work tomorrow.”

A rich banquet of food is served. At the end of the table somebody laughs. The hall is full of the clink of gauntleted hands clutching goblets.

Marius stands up, gesturing that he would like to make a toast! Valeria is told to make an Int or Wis check, and immediately fails it badly. Everything Is Perfectly Fine.

“Tonight we welcome the newest knights into the noble Order of the Rose!” Kyr Marius declares, his clear, booming voice ringing through the hall. He begins to name each of the newest knights of the order, applause and cheers from the gathered crowd following every one.

Finally, he calls with great aplomb, “Kyr! Valeria! Argent!” The hall roars with applause. “A toast to you and to all our new knights! Congratulations on joining our glorious community! Please, let the feast begin!”

A hearty haunch with a mushroom glaze over a bed of lettuce is placed in front of Valeria. She settles in to enjoy the feast and the company of her fellow knights.

Where were we?

Clem’s sitting with Rusalka and the Captain, well into her second bowl of deer stew. Someone’s scrounged up some mushrooms and edible lichens to throw in there, plus other vegetables from the winter stores, and it makes the food richer. The friendly banter among her most trusted comrades is like being enveloped in a warm hug. Everyone’s almost glowing with warmth and camaraderie.

Clem’s proficient in cooking; she focuses for a moment on the flavors of the food. She makes another perception check.

The stew is… She takes another bite. The stew tastes delicious, except - wait. Those spices aren’t the ones they would have here in Podtybok – these are drow spices, they didn’t have anything like that here –

When she thinks about that, everything flickers for a moment.

The stew tastes mushy - warm and filling, but kind of flavorless? It doesn’t taste like deer stew at all.

Hey, Clem, make a charisma save. She looks up around the old barn, moss and lichen hanging from the ceiling, strange unknown figures around her – no, everything is fine, she’s still at the mess hall with her friends. The DM has her roll another d4.

Where were we?

Gral is just getting finished telling an excellent joke. Everybody is laughing.

“…and then they found him, feet dangling up from the river, and Krotok says, ‘now that’s a weaver for you!’” (Sadly, the pun only works in Orcish.)

Thrice-burned is there, along with Tarok Shala’duu, one of the best chefs Gral knows, and young Chak. And they are just losing it over that joke. “A WEAVER,” Tarok chokes out through his guffaws. “I’m surprised you didn’t say BOAT HAT!” (Again, we assume it makes sense in Orcish.)

“Tarok! There are children here, this is a G-rated joke,” Gral admonishes playfully.

Hey Gral? Make an insight check. Yeah, no, the joke was pretty good, but it wasn’t THAT funny, for as long as they’ve been laughing. We’ve heard of a captive audience, but…it’s weird, somehow.

Their laughter does finally slow down, but they’re all weirdly in sync about it. Every orc at the table has the same cadence to how they stop laughing.

“Oh, Gral, you have to try the shellfish. Chak, get Gral some shellfish,” Tarok insists.

Gral remembers some business. “Thrice-Burned. Last we spoke, you were checking on the mountain tribes, about some land dispute. How’d that go?”

“Oh, very well, of course. Some of them agreed to come and join us! Others, well…they are not welcome here.”

Gral has a moment of strange vertigo when he tries to think about the tribal dispute, and tries to place what day it is, what year. And the harder he tries, the more he realizes something is wrong. He rolls a Charisma save, and begins to remember more.

This orc here answered to Thrice-Burned, but...he was only Twice-Burned at this point, wasn’t he? Yes, Gral sang this orc’s death song, he’s sung the story of each of Vek Garna’duu’s names - he became Thrice-Burned during the Ascension War, when Raspult lit up the mountains and rivers. Raspult is a name Gral can’t possibly know; there hasn’t been such a thing as the Ascension War yet. But that’s definitely Thrice-Burned sitting there, with the scars from wounds that couldn’t have happened yet.

Gral thinks it’s time to stir up a little conflict.

“These shellfish are amazing. Hey, uh, I’ll be back in a few – I realized I left something – Chak, on that mountain where I was, um, meditating, I left an important scroll that might blow away. It’s pretty valuable, so I just need to run out and-”

Chak interrupts. “No! I’ll get it. We can’t have a feast without our bard!”

“I won’t be more than ten minutes-”

“No, your part is next!”

“My part?”

“Yes! For the new ones-” Thrice-Burned gestures to a group of orcs Gral’s never met. “From the mountain tribes. We need to welcome them into the community properly!”

Gral reflexively insight-checks, and gets to roll another d6. This isn’t a thing. Like, there’s no such thing as a ‘welcome to the town’ ceremony. Orcs don’t switch tribes. This is all wrong.

“Ah, yes, I know exactly what you’re talking about and, what a coincidence! My scroll is for the welcome ritual!” Gral spitballs.

“Okay, you stay there and I’LL go get it,” Thrice-Burned insists.

“No, really, it’ll take so much longer-” Gral gets up to start walking, and a massive burn-scarred hand shoves him back into his chair. “I’ll go,” Thrice-Burned says, his tone brooking no argument. He turns and leaves the hall.

Where were we?

Valeria makes another perception check, and rolls her d6. She does well enough on her roll to notice Kyr Marius slipping out of the hall. Valeria breaks away from the conversation, rising from her seat, intent on following him.

“Whoa, where are you going?” asks Kyr Boucher. “The meal is not done!”

“I still have his cloak-”

“I’m sure he just has to run and get something,” Kyr Saroyan says soothingly. “Probably his spare cloak. He forgot his tonight. That’s so unlike him!”

“Really, I’d better go return it-”

“No, please, we insist. You have a big day tomorrow! It’s your first ride with the knights as a fully fledged Knight of the Rose. You need to eat well. Ser Marius can take care of himself.”

All the players notice the “Ser.” Does Valeria? She’s asked to make one more Charisma save, and makes it quite well. The DM does a little math, and nods.

Valeria stands up to follow Kyr Marius, and her eyes open. She looks, really seeing for the first time today, and sees the strange, swollen, overgrown faces of the unfamiliar human and halfling sitting next to her. The table is no longer the glorious mahogany of the Order of the Rose dining hall; now it’s a plain wooden table, half-rotted. The meal before her is no longer a delicious roast haunch, but a lumpy fungal growth. Retching, she spits out anything left of it in her mouth.

Valeria feels a tug on her arm and looks down. Vines and creepers have twined around it, a thin coating of lichen beginning to spread under them. The two strangers’ bodies are overgrown as well, though if they’re still alive they make no move to shake them off. The halfling’s mouth soundlessly moves, as if it’s talking, the way Kyr Boucher was just a moment before. He turns his head in the other direction to look at - oh, that’s Gral, further down the table, wrapped in vines. Clem and Shoshana are similarly bound. All three seem dazed and sluggish, their eyes closed.

She hears the door to the barn close as heavy footsteps recede into the distance.

This can’t go on. Valeria strains against the vines, and her hard-won warrior’s strength serves her well. The vines holding her tear apart as she stands.

Where were we?

Shoshana has finally lost the battle of small talk. Never go in against a Jewish mom when there’s food on the line; she’s been served a hearty portion of soup and bread and informed she’s too skinny, eat! And the innkeeper does bake an excellent sourdough.

Valeria, meanwhile, sees Shoshana about to take a bite out of what might once have been bread, but is now overgrown with mold and lichen.

Valeria knocks it out of her hand.

Nonsensically, the sheriff of Ovruch is there in the inn, and he’s just slapped the bread out of - Shoshana makes a perception check - her clawed, shadow-stained hand. In shock and confusion, she looks back at Rifka - and makes a Charisma save.

The girl next to her is someone she’s never seen before, and looks gruesome. The head and body are weirdly misshapen, and there’s a flower growing out of her eye socket. Scabby lichen creeps across her face, and bulging mushrooms protrude out the far side of her head. Behind her, a moldy chunk of once-bread skitters across the table.

She blinks, and the disconcerting vision is replaced with her best friend’s face. “You okay?” Rifka asks, concerned. “You nearly fainted!” She lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “Did you eat your dad’s potatoes?”

Shoshana barely hears, because she’s looking at her hands. They’re pink and fleshy and knobbly like they’ve been all her life. They’re long-clawed and soot-dark. Claws to hands, hands to claws. She blinks rapidly, trying to make sense of it. Her hands look normal and human. After all, if they weren’t, it wouldn’t be possible for her friend to be sitting here with her.

Rifka is looking at her with guileless concern. How to do this without looking crazy?

“Um, can I ask you a weird question?”

“Sure, anything.”

“Do my hands…feel cold to you?” Shoshana asks, warily, looking to see if her friend has any reaction to touching shadowy talons.

Rifka puts her hand over Shoshana’s, softly, and smiles warmly. “They feel wonderful.”

Where were we?

Clem blinks. For a moment she’d seen some other place, weird and different, and didn’t recognize anyone - and then it went back to normal. Before she can say anything to her friends, one of villagers steps forward and slaps food out of Grigori’s hand.

Clem scoots her chair back, looking around, still weirded out and unnerved. She fails a Charisma save and rolls Perception. It’s sort of weird that this wood elf villager is so big. Like, Clem-size big. And- is he wearing armor?

Rusalka turns to her, gesturing to the villager, and says, “Well, Sarge? Are you just going to let him do that to one of us?”

“W-what are you talking about?” Clem demands. “Who is this?”

“One of the partisans, probably!” the captain exclaims. “Quickly, help us!” The Red Hand gathered around the table begin to stand.

Clem also stands. “Wait, this isn’t like us.” Private Vodanyakov is next to her, drawing his sword, but - she can remember how he died. He got eaten by winter wolves, but he’s right there. That hasn’t even happened yet. It hadn’t happened until years after they got out of Podtybok, but-

“Sergeant Haxan,” the captain orders evenly. “Draw your blade. Attack that enemy. They are not one of us.”

Clem tries to meet her eyes. “You haven’t called me Sergeant Haxan in ages. You always called me Clem.”

“Clem,” Captain Anya says, tone not changing. “That one is not one of us. You are.”

Clem grits her teeth, not drawing her sword. “Who the FUCK are you?”

Her Charisma save fails; she’s still there in the snowy village.

Where were we?

One of the unfamiliar mountain tribe orcs has stood up and slapped something out of another orc’s hand. Gral is confused, but he’s always been a peacemaker. He’s gonna try to head over and talk to them.

Where were we? Oh yes, the overgrown barn.

The mushroom-encrusted bodies are standing up, threateningly turning their sightless eyes to stare at Valeria.

Gral and Shosha remain seated, their eyes closed, covered in mounds of creeping green matter. Clem, though, has stood up, and is looking in Valeria’s direction. The biggest mushroom person is standing next to her, pointing. She turns on her Divine Sense, but it’s a bust - these creatures maybe have a spark of fey or fiend to them, but it’s not enough to turn them.

They’re occasionally making strange noises, but not really vocalizing. Valeria casts Detect Magic to try to figure out what’s going on here. The entire barn lights up as magic, though not as clean-cut and tidy as humanoid magic. One of the smaller mushroom people sees her casting a spell and takes this as cue for it to attack. It swings a wild punch at her, and on impact, noxious spores puff out of its fist.

Where were we?

A fight has broken out between the mountain orcs and the clan Duu orcs. None of this makes sense, and Gral is pretty sure it isn’t real. He makes his Charisma save with flying bardic colors, and his eyes snap open. He’s in a rotted-out barn. There are weird gross mushroom people, and one of them is punching Valeria.

Whoa. Guess that explains it. He defensively casts Mirror Image, planning his next move.

Where were- oh, it’s all blending together.

Lev, across the table from Shoshana, is strumming a lute, and also there’s now four of him. Shosha doesn’t feel well. Something’s wrong.

“Something’s gone wrong with Sheriff Haskel, Shoshana!” he cries. “You are one of us, right?”

Shoshana suddenly remembers that no. For the last eight months, no, she hasn’t been one of them. Not after what happened. Not after they abandoned her for a witch.

She rolls her Charisma save, and her eyes snap open in a musty rotting barn.

Where are we?

There’s a fight breaking out between the Red Hand and the villagers, and Clem’s been ordered to assist her unit. Clem’s still dazed, conflicting memories jarring horribly with the present. A ton of these people next to her are long dead? She looks to her captain, baffled.

Captain Anya’s given Clem her orders, and is now rushing into the fight, not drawing her weapon but clearly ready for combat. Clem rolls her Charisma save - and it’s a natural one.

She draws her greatsword. These traitors are attacking her family.

Shoshana, meanwhile, wakes up restrained under a blanket of greenish-brown growth. In a knee-jerk panic reaction upon waking up, she casts Burning Hands on the crowd of mushroom creatures.

Clem, one of the partisans just threw a bomb or something!

The gout of flame hits most of the mushroom people, though it also scorches Gral. The biggest of the fungal zombies takes the brunt of the blast.

Clem, the Captain got hit by that bomb!

How dare this partisan bastard touch her Captain. Clem shouts “Anya!”, draws her greatsword, and turns on the wood elven woman who threw the Molotov with murder in her eyes.

Shoshana, still hampered by the carpet of mushrooms, barely manages to dodge Clem’s swinging blade, and as she struggles to get free she makes an easy target for the next slash.

Gral sees Clem bury her sword in Shoshana’s side. The drow’s eyes are still closed, and her snarling face has a thin film of lichen over it. He’s immediately distracted, though, by the large mushroom leader clocking him in the face. Shit. He’s gotta get out of here - he’s just been hit hard, and also set on fire. The big shroom guy manages to pop one of his Mirror Image duplicates as he runs.

Clem, the captain just dropped one of the partisans, but apparently he had three identical brothers!

By taking the attack of opportunity, though, Gral manages to make it to Clem’s side, and casts Dispel Magic on her.

Clem’s eyes snap open to see Shoshana bleeding on the other end of her blade.

The big drow’s voice comes out tiny, fearful and bewildered. “…Shoshana?”

Shoshana squeaks, “Oh god your sword is so big.”

The mushroom corpses, realizing we’re all out of the illusion, rush in. They’re clumsy, shambling things - the six smaller ones, likely unlucky travelers who wandered in here the way we did, miss most of their swings at us. But Valeria, who’s been fending them off the longest, is starting to feel the damage. Shoshana turns and sprays another cone of fire at the rotting things.

Clem pulls her sword free and begins babbling apologies. “OHMYGODSHOSHANA, IAMSOSORRY, IDIDNTMEANTOAREYOUOKAY”

Shoshana grits her teeth. She’s been stabbed before, it’s fine. “MUSHROOMS NOW, APOLOGIES LATER.”

“Right!”

Clem and Valeria slash at the fungus monsters. Spores spurt from the back of their huge leader, but Clem manages to save against the toxin.

Gral Phantasmal Forces the big shroomer, who fails hard. The thing has advantage, though – it succeeds as one of other mushroom people gestures. The DM lets on that they are, in fact, a hive mind. If Gral had managed to succeed, the Phantasmal Force would have gotten ALL of them.

Valeria opens her jaws and lets loose a blast of ice. Three of the Overgrown crumble as the fungal growth on them withers and dies of the cold.

The rest of the Overgrown swarm to attack her, but their uncomfortably squishy punches squelch against her armor. Shoshana shreds one with her claws.

Clem faces off against their huge leader, furious. This thing impersonated her commander, made her attack her friends, and made her eat super gross mushrooms. Her attack is ferocious, but the monster retaliates with a crushing blow. As it hits, spores puff out of the fist - underneath is clearly hard wood or bone, but the surrounding fist is one of those bulbous shrooms that explodes into spores when touched. Super gross.

Gral tries to cast Dissonant Whispers on the big guy. The hive mind protects it again, and the damage is evenly distributed between the linked members, so they all take like 2 damage. He grumbles.

Valeria puts her smites to use as Shoshana and Clem both get punched. Shoshana turns on the one that hit her, her claws tearing through flesh both human and fungal. “Gross, that’s under my nails now, I hate it.”

With a mighty swing Clem cleaves the massive, swollen, overgrown body of the leader in half. As it falls down leaking spores, we can see the remains of what might once have been the farmer that owned this barn. ICKY.

Gral decides that spells weren’t working great, so he just slices the last one apart with his sickle.

A weird stillness falls over the dark, dank barn.

Shoshana is the first to speak. “Let me be the first to say: what. the. FUohhhhmygawd there’s still fungus on me.” She scrubs frantically at her arms and clothes, trying to brush away the clinging lichen and spores.

We all make Intelligence checks to try to remember what the hell happened.

Clem remembers: we had just found the Purple Cave Creeper at the mouth of a cellar to a house in an overgrown village, when suddenly the floorboards above our head shook and we ran outside to avoid the cave-in. These mushroom people were there, converging in on us. We prepared for battle, ready to charge in, but the choking cloud of spores overtook us all. Valeria managed to get an attack in before she succumbed - though in her head she believed it to be the training dummy.

Clem and Valeria, who ate the fungal food without reservation, both picked up 4 taint. Gral and Shoshana, who resisted eating, only picked up 1, because the DM rolled garbage.

What was with all those extra dice we rolled? Turns out the illusion had HP, and we were rolling damage against it with our d4s and d6s as it exerted itself to keep us under. The charisma save to break out was double its HP, so it became easier to break out the more we wore it down.

We emerge from the gross barn into the late afternoon light amidst and overgrown patch of houses. The woods outside seem very thick.

Clem has resumed apologizing frantically to Shoshana, who is awkwardly accepting. Aethis is out here, looking very put out about being restrained by a thick mass of vines. As Valeria goes to draw her sword to cut the gator free, she has to push aside her cloak to do it.

She wasn’t wearing a cloak when we went into the house, so this is a bit distracting. It’s very familiar. Sturdy, finely woven, and purple, lightly enchanted to resist tearing and weathering. She has a very similar one at home for ceremonial purposes, except hers isn’t enchanted. This one is spotless even after a bloody fight in the muck; only senior officers of the Order of the Rose are given the enchanted ones that can be worn into the field. And this one is specifically sized for dragonborn proportions.

Somehow, she came out of the dream still wearing Kyr Marius’ cloak.

The group discusses, haltingly, what we saw in the hallucinations. They took us back to times we were happier - times we were with family and friends, times when we were part of a group. We note how much the visions focused on the importance of being “one of us,” with outsiders as a threat. Seems like we might be getting an idea of how this Prisoner recruits.

The most important thing we figure out, though, is that it’s late afternoon, and we have no idea where in the hell we are.

Clem blanches. “Shit, I have a dinner appointment tonight.”

Valeria and Clem team up using Lay on Hands and medic abilities to get us back in fightin’ shape. But how are we going to make it back to safety before dark?

We do have a map of the woods from the Sturmhearst annex - it doesn’t look like the abandoned village is marked on it, though. We’re near where we found the Purple Cave Creeper, but that was the easiest plant to find - it’s kind of everywhere.

Valeria uses her Ring of Jumping to launch herself 18ft straight up into a big sturdy tree. From there, she clambers up to get a better vantage point. She can see the river! We’re a bit west of it, which gives us a basic direction to go. Beyond the river, where it’s not overgrown, there are lights from the village of Bad Herzfeld. We can’t see Sturmhearst at all. Mostly it’s just trees - wait.

There’s a plume of smoke not far to the north.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire; and where there’s fire, there’s people with flamethrowers.” -Clem Haxan

We decide to head towards the smoke and see who’s been making camp.

Shoshana rolls a godawful Survival. Clem grabs the map and turns it right side up. This grants advantage and then we do fine. As we pass through, we get an increasing sense that until recently, this side of river looked just like the other side, with fields and farms instead of this thick jungle-like forest. All the overgrown structures are kind of weirding us out, like in those pictures you see where buildings have been completely eaten by kudzu. It’s eerie.

Then we find ourselves in an area with signs of woodcutting. A lot of trees have been cleared. That’s good, right? Somebody has been clearing trees! Up ahead we see fire smoke.

Wow. It’s weird that we got so close to those big log cabins without hearing anybody. No, wait….we’re not that close; perspective is just playing tricks on us because these cabins are REAL FUCKIN’ BIG.

Shoshana excitedly points at the map. This must be Trollsburg!

Oh, hey, there’s a big grey-green figure who is waving at us. Shoshana awkwardly waves back. Gral is incredibly happy to see a non-fungal individual. Yep, this is a burg with trolls.

“Hello!!!” Shoshana calls.

“HULLO!” says the troll.

Shoshana starts headin’ over.

(We ask, but the DM tells us there aren’t any of the fancy plants we need near Trollsburg. Also, it’s getting pretty late.)

“Hullo,” repeats the troll as we get closer. “You okay? You just came outta da woods. You don’t look so good. I mean, your hit point totals look fine…”

“Yeah, uh, the plants tried to eat us.”

“Ooh yah, you gotta watch for dat. But we’re safe here. We been clearin’ the trees away, like the orcs do.”

For lack of anything else to say, Valeria introduces herself. “Kyr Valeria Argent, at your service!”

“Oh! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Doctor Kjeller. Doctor is a joke, see. I am real smart though.”

Gral ponders. “Might I say, you’re very different from most of the doctors I’ve met.”

Dr. Kjeller nods. “I is a troll doctor, not one of your people doctors. It’s quite easy, we do regenerate most injuries. Really, da word for doctor in troll translates more to ‘chef’. But I was given some credentials,” he tells us proudly.

He shows us a Sturmhearst bird mask he has hanging around his neck like a pendant. “See? I’s a doctor.”

“They accept trolls at Sturmhearst?” Clem asks.

“Oh no, some peoples gave me this. I met a person doctor once, an’ they were wearin’ one of dese. Said I was a doctor for trolls. So how was trolls gonna know they could trust me as a doctor?" He puffs his chest out, showing off the mask, which looks toy-sized by comparison.

“Are you here for the troll moot? Is that what this village is for?”

“Oh, da troll moot, no, yah, that’s what I came here for. Yah, I heard it from Mjonn. I lost my bridge a while back, see. This pack of really mean bandits moved in, chased me out, y’know. I got better, but it hurt real bad when they chewed my arm off. I think they mighta been werewolves. Trolls don’t get dat, but I ate some wolfsbane anyway. So I was kinda down on my luck, but Ionn told me that Coronn told him dat Emmek told her dat there was a trolls moot in dis here valley, so I decided to come check it out.”

“Who’s organizing the moot?”

“Oh, K’jell is the local troll! He lives under the bridge over the river. ‘S a nice bridge! Not gonna lie, I’m a bit jealous.”

“Why are you calling the moot?” There’s an obvious answer - something to do with the Curse - but we want specifics.

“Us trolls gotta be safe! It’s dangerous these days! There’s wolf people and fungus monsters and worse out there! Oh, but da local farmers here had a real bumper harvest, and dey were like, we should do a favor for our friends, the trolls! And they gave us this place. They been feedin’ us with plenty of food, and a place to live, and they been comin’ over and helpin’ us build dese big houses.”

“Troll moots are pretty rare, aren’t they?”

“Yah, the last one was when the elves come in. The Czar heard about us and it got pretty ugly.” He nods sagely, failing to elaborate.

We shuffle awkwardly. “So, uh,” Shoshana starts. “Can we ask you a favor? We need a favor.”

“I cannot promise since I do not know what you are going to ask. But I promise to help. Dat is da doctorin’ way.”

“Um, can we sleep here tonight?”

“Oh, sure. There’s room in my house. They made the place big enough for two trolls, provided they get cozy. But I’m one of da first arrivals. And as a skilled troll I get some privileges! Like a bigger house, with multiple rooms in it. C’mon in!”

He gestures towards the oversized house. “Now, it ain’t much.” He opens up the troll-sized door, and shows us the cavernous inside. There’s not much there; trolls aren’t known for lots of material possessions or for needing much furniture. There are two rooms, with no door in between. There’s some herbs hanging on the wall and a crude shelf with a few trinkets, and a big animal skin as a rug.

“Now, as guests, you can have the skin. I haven’t given it those homely touches yet, I only just moved in. It’s way too dry, but whatcha gonna do? It’s not a bridge,” he apologizes politely.

“It’s lovely,” Valeria responds courteously. “Thank you for sharing your home with us.”

As Dr. Kjeller putters around, Gral pulls the gang aside. Quietly, he mutters, “I think there is something really bad here. What’s planned hasn’t happened yet, since he’s one of the first trolls to arrive – but this town is a trap.”

We consider. “I don’t think the trap will spring tonight,” says Valeria.

“Yeah, they’re gonna wait until all the trolls are here,” agrees Shoshana.

There’s a little bit of time before the sun goes down, so we have time to look around. There’s at least 20 giant houses here, which adds up to an insane amount of trolls in one place. We want to go look at their food storage; the plants tried to trick us into eating their cursed fungus, and that’s the easiest and subtlest way to infect a horde of hungry trolls with fungal-zombie spores. But Valeria wants to make sure to cast Detect Magic, and we are fresh outta spell slots.

Gral wants to talk to the moot’s organizer tonight – is the local troll ignorant of any nefarious plans, or is he part of it? We gotta find out.

There’s probably enough time to make it to the bridge and have a quick conversation with him. It might give us an idea of whether it’s actually safe to sleep here, or whether it’s worth the risk to travel after dark to get back to the Sturmhearst camp.

(We do agree on one thing. “I’ve known this doctor for like five minutes and I would take an arrow for him,” comments one player.

“And you might!” replies the devious DM.

We’re very thrilled to have created an entire race of CR 5 cinnamon rolls.)

We head over to the bridge. There’s a little sign indicating a troll is in residence, plus a wooden mailbox that says “K’jelk.”

It’s Shosha’s job, as the local, to talk to trolls. As is apparently customary in Valdian society, Shoshana announces herself by knocking gently on the bridge and singing her silly bumblebee kiddie song.

There’s an earthshaking THUD THUD as something under the bridge shifts. A wooden door opens on the riverbank and an absolutely enormous troll pokes his craggy head out.

“Yeaahhhhh?” he inquires in a deep basso. “I haven’t heard da bumblebee song in a while.”

“Hi,” Gral ventures. “Are you K’jelk?”

“Yyyup!” he rumbles. Dat’s what it says on the sign!”

He points to his necklace, which does in fact include a road sign that says “K’jelk.”

“Are you the one who’s organizing the troll moot?”

“Yes I am. I called it, I told Mjonn, who has a bit of the wanderin’ foot, and he told Dr. Kjeller and Emmek and Hans, and Hans is gonna tell the one down the river, and they’re gonna tell-” he continues to ramble about the troll gossip network, and Valeria has to gently interrupt.

“We actually had a concern with the troll couple on the bridge down the river!”

“Oh, zat so? They okay?”

“Yes, they’re fine, but they got attacked.”

“Oh, we don’t have dat problem here. It’s real safe here.”

“Well, they didn’t exactly get in a fight, though-”

“’Course not. Dere’s two of em! You’d have ta be real dumb to attack two whole trolls. Unless you’re three trolls. We got about ten here, so we’re safe.”

Valeria tries again. “We’re not worried about a fight, though. We’re worried that there might be sort of a….hmm.” How do you phrase “mycological contagion” to a troll?

“K’jelk, have you ever seen fungal zombies?”

“Yah. They smoosh real weird?”

“Yes, the attackers tried to turn that couple into fungus monsters. Did you hear about Trolskiv?”

He nods his huge head. “Dat sort of things is why I called da moot! Trolls can’t be on our own anymore, it’s too dangerous. I expect ghosts got him, probably.”

“No, it was mushrooms,” Gral explains. “In a nearby farmhouse, we found a huge fungus colony that was spreading. We had to burn it down to destroy them. It’s very similar to the stuff growing here.”

“If the fungus is what’s making trolls go berserk, having a lot of trolls in one place might mean...a lot of trolls all go berserk together?” Shoshana tries to clarify.

“Naw, I wouldn’t worry. One of da first ones I got here was Dr. Kjeller. He’s a expert in troll fee-zee-ology. He knows all about troll feezies.”

“He certainly is very…intelligent?” Valeria grants, “but we’ve seen plants around here giving off the same kind of poison spores. The local farmers have an usually large crop - which is why you can hold this moot - and we’re worried there might be fungus growing in it. Can we look at the food stores and make sure there’s nothing bad going on? We’ve seen the fungus infections before, and I’ve got magic that can help.”

He glowers down at her, brow twisted, not really saying anything. Gral jumps in to give her advantage on the Persuasion roll: “The farmer who created the mushroom colony that hurt Trolskiv said he came from Bad Herzfeld. If villagers from there provided that food, it would be wise to look carefully.”

The huge troll relents. “Arright, you can look at da food. I will introduce you to Zelig. She’s the one what’s providin’ all this an’ collectin’ food from the farmers. Pretty sure she was organizin’ a service at the farmers’ temple tonight.”

Valeria’s interest is piqued. “Oh, a service? I’m a Paladin of Rack myself; what sort of service is she holding?”

“Ummmm...da religious kind. No offense to da big chainy rattley man, but trolls don’t really go in for dat. Dat’s one of them little people gods, they don’t bother us much. We got our own. Grandmother and Grandfather are friends of the trolls, and they’ve done us pretty good.

We agree to come by in the morning to take a look at the storehouses; it’s too late tonight. “Yah, just come on by and I’ll get da key out. It’s all in them big barns over dat way.”

We walk on back to Dr. Kjeller’s as the sun sets. We’re entirely sure the trap won’t be sprung tonight, but we agree to keep a watch just in case.

We get over there, and we see Dr. Kjeller leaning against the wall of his cabin with a big pipe in his mouth. He has a flint and tinder in one hand and is smoking like a literal chimney. Whatever he’s smoking smells acrid and foul and sets us coughing.

Eh, he’s a troll, he’ll be fine.

“Hullo!” he calls. “How was K’jelk? Guy’s pretty big, huh!”

“Super big.”

“Yup. Everything’s in order up here, I was about to turn in after a smoke. It’s good for yer health! Want a puff?”

Clem is tempted. Okay, twist her arm, she’s gonna try it. She takes one pull on the pipe and barely makes it a second before making a con save. With an excellent roll, Clem manages to not die. This stuff is foul. She takes 10 damage as the smoke sears her windpipe.

“Yup, as soon as da inside of your lungs grow back, you’ll feel great!” Dr. Kjeller tells her, smiling. Clem gives a thumbs up and nods, trying not to cough her lung membranes out.

The doc pours a barrel of water into the end of the pipe, putting the unsmoked bit that’s left on his shelf. He puts on a comically large nightcap as he gets ready to turn in.

“Water barrel’s right dere, if’n you want something to drink in the night, an’ there’s a bit o’ jerky hanging off the rack in dere if’n you want a midnight snack.”

Valeria, ever the polite guest, replies, “We appreciate your hospitality. Thanks so much!”

He goes in other room and kind of clonks over, out like a light in under a minute.

Valeria takes first watch, and the rest of us must make saves to get to sleep – it turns out trolls snore somethin’ fierce.

Clem barfs and passes out due to the trollpipe. Warning: NOT FOR DROW CONSUMPTION.

Shoshana brews a knockout tea with her herbalism kit and doses herself. Gral uses his cursed lutestrings to wooble a pillow around his ears. “I shouldn’t be getting used to this power, but I’ve had a long day. Fuck it.”

We all take 1 taint for resting in a mildly cursed zone. Trollsburg’s not as bad as the rest of the forest, but we are - so to speak - not out of the woods yet.

When we get up in the morning, Dr. Kjeller is already awake and cheerily heading down to the river. We follow, since we need to talk to K’jelk about investigating the foodstuffs, and come across the two trolls attempting a morning exercise routine in the river. K’jelk is trying hard but is poorly following along at Dr. Kjeller’s awkward-looking, clunky troll yoga. Dr. Kjeller says: Morning calisthenics is very important for a healthy troll body!

“Oh hey guys,” Shoshana mumbles groggily as she wanders up to the bank, blinking the last of her sleepy-tea hangover out of her eyes. “What’sOOOOOHHHHH GOD I can see everything that troll owns!”

“Hey, at least we don’t have to save against that kind of taint!”

We go out and investigate the food stores. Everything looks all-clear; there’s no sign of weird fungus growths at all. We are Skeptical.

Valeria casts Detect Magic on the grain stores, and finds absolutely nothing except a lot of beets. She grumbles about wasting a spell slot for no reason.

While Gral and Valeria are still sorting through bushels of food, Clem and Shoshana see a group of humans leading an ox-cart up the way. Clem flags ‘em down.

There’s an old woman riding in the cart, sitting among a heaping pile of provisions, clearly more supplies for the storehouse. She’s accompanied by two buff farmhands. “Ahh,” she says, “you must be the visitors K’jelk mentioned.”

“We are,” Clem admits. “And you?”

“I am Zelig. These two are Hans and Franz.” The two very beefy humans look at Clem and offer an end-of-Predator-freezeframe-handshake. Clem makes a Strength check, and somehow Hans (possibly Franz, we can’t tell which is which) wins, therefore claiming the Schwarzenegger role. Clem concedes - it’s okay, the adventuring life’s got her pushing too many pencils.

Zelig smiles. “We were just here to deliver some grain for the warehouse!”

Clem nods. “Well, at the moment, we’re inspecting the food on hand for potential fungal infection, and-”

Shoshana elbows her super hard, but the cat’s out of the bag.

“Oh yes, we must be on our way soon, but it’s no issue if you want to take a look,” the old woman says, her smile unwavering. “We have nothing to hide! I must wonder why - ahhh, a Knight of the Rose! Of course!” she crows as Valeria emerges from the barn.

While Clem inspects the grain on the cart, Valeria strikes up a conversation. “I sure am! Kyr Valeria Argent, at your service. Are you Zelig? I heard you were leading some sort of service last night. Are you a follower of Rack as well?”

“Oh, I’m nothing so grand,” Zelig defers. “The local cleric of Lethe ran the farmers’ temple, but he passed away recently under mysterious circumstances. He was trying to rescue some people from western side of the valley and never returned.” Her voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper. “I think some of those Sturmhearst people were involved.”

“Oh, have they been causing trouble?”

“Nothing overt, but, well. You know.”

Franz, or possibly Hans, adds, “They’re from the big city, they don’t understand us.”

Valeria soldiers on. “So you’ve had to take over the temple of Lethe?”

“Oh, it’s a full temple, all the gods are represented! But yes, it was a cleric of Lethe that did run it. Bjorn was his name, he’s gone now. I’ve taken over as best I can. We’ve got a good community here, and they needed…well, I keep the place clean and the lights on and say a few words when everybody gathers…”

Valeria squints at her, and Nat 20′s her Insight check! Zelig is lying about something. The words are true, but this hunched old woman is sizing Valeria up as a threat. (”Understandable, I am,” quips her player.)

(Clem, meanwhile, finds nothing in the grain, although she thinks Hans and Franz might be juicing. You do not get that much definition just from farming.)

Val twitches her official cloak out a little bit. “You recognized me as Order of the Rose. Have any of them come through recently?”

“Oh, everybody knows of them, but I did see one once. I believe he might still be in this area. I could ask around, if you’d like to speak to him. He never did say his name...”

That pings us all as weird, because Valeria can’t go ten seconds into meeting someone without introducing herself by name and title.

Valeria keeps her calm. “If he’s still around, I’d love to talk to him. It’s been so long since I’ve seen one of the Order.”

Clem, Hans, and Franz get busy in the background unloading the cart. There is definitely gratuitous and competitive flexing as they heft the heavy bags.

Shoshana decides to put her Charisma score to use and lays on the small-town charm thick. “We heard about the tragedy downriver with Trolskiv. I’m so glad to see you’re taking care of the trolls here; we’ve been so worried and it’s really wonderful to see you being so kind and giving them a place to keep safe.”

“We don’t have great armies or knights, but we do have a lot of food,” Zelig replies, equally friendly. “I thought, wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all come together in this place?”

She offers to send a few people out to find the Knight of the Rose. “Last I heard, he’s been wandering around helping folks.”

“Yeah, we do that.”

Zelig, all solicitous charm, asks if we have a place to stay for the night. We can’t exactly say we do, and she offers to reserve us a room at the local inn.

Shoshana maintains her friendly facade. “That’s very kind of you, thank you for such a hospitable offer.”

“Oh, we’ll charge you 3 silver for it. We’re kind and simple, not stupid.”

Eh, that’s fair.

Zelig does a quick walk-through of Trollsburg, seemingly to make sure everything is going well, and as Hans and Franz finish stacking the last of the food. She’s calm and unflappable, seeming to have no worry whatsoever that we’ll find anything here. Valeria tries to project an image of being tall, sparkly, and intimidating, but is somewhat overshadowed by the two hunks of grade-A organic farm beefcake.

Valeria casts Detect Magic as the three villagers tour around. Valeria taps the pink bead on her ear chain and doesn’t say anything, but we can all tell she’s kinda bitter.

Valeria taps her pink bead and doesn’t say anything, but is bitter about that.

Shortly, they’re done with their business. “Take an old woman back to town, if you would,” she requests, and Hans and Franz lift her back onto the cart, making eye contact with Clem the whole time. We watch as the cart trundles away, back towards the village.

Clem thinks they’re juicing on fungus. Gral agrees; yyyyeah, these are a couple of simple farm boys who are stronger than war vets. That ain’t natural.

Anyway.

We have the rest of the day to ourselves, and we have two more rare plants to find for spell components. We consult our map, and make a plan: we’ll go out and try to find the red mandrake root, then hit up the Sturmhearst camp to say hi to Flynn and Fiona, and then we’ll slide into town in the late afternoon to check the place out and cautiously take them up on their offer of hospitality.

We head into the woods. Clem rolls a decent survival check, and we find the plant surprisingly easily, coming across the distinctive red flower fairly quickly. Valeria happily reaches down and confidently yanks one out of the ground.

Shoshana, rolling a poor nature check, is a moment too late to remember why that’s a terrible idea.

Everybody gets to roll a wisdom save!

The root, pulled free from the ground, is bright red and forms a vaguely humanoid shape. And as anyone who’s heard the legend of the mandrake will expect, it opens its mouth and screams.

Clem and Valeria, failing their saves, take damage and are briefly stunned as the piercing wail echoes throughout the valley. We all clutch at our ears in pain as the thing wriggles and shrieks.

We can’t hear anything over the awful noise, but the trees shudder as the forest begins to wake.

-to be continued-

#session recap #valeria argent #clem haxan #gral omokk'duu #shoshana bat chaya #bad herzfeld #the growth #dr kjeller

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