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The Third Cryptic Mission


DM: Omelette

Players: Rilan, Qar, Beralt, Chanterelle, Slissezh, Galli

Date: 02/25/2022-03/14/2022

After leaving Whistle’s Wonders with my new wood flute in tow, I skipped down to the Potted Plant to see if I could find another adventure. Our last one was quite interesting and I had so many questions.

Once there, I ran into a funny little halfling with amber eyes, Rilen. He had the same energy as me so we hit it off quite well. I showed him my flute and played it surprisingly well for the first time! How exciting!!!! 

My bestest friend, Beralt, he’s a bugbear but as sweet as can be; the gentlest of giants. Following him was a yuan-ti named Slissezh, he is a very interesting guy! My other good friend, an elf named Chanterelle, had come up to us shortly before Merula was heard outside. I saw her kissing a very tall man before coming in! Spoiler…she’s getting MARRIED! How exciting. She did like Beralt’s new shield and mentioned her love has an interesting shield as well.  

Merula

Qar, a strong dwarf who’s an absolute gem, meets us next and we talk with Merula for a short time before departing into the cold and starting on our journey. We were going to find the “Queen of the Fae”. 

As we walked I tried to play my little flute a few times, just fiddling around with it playing tunes for the group. It was a nice bit of music for the trip. All of a sudden it did get awfully windy and we lost some time but we tried to get back on track as soon as we could. Night fell and we made camp. I had wild carrots for dinner! They were SO good. It was such a cold night though and I tried to huddle into Beralt’s fur as much as I could. On my watch I played my flute some more. 

In the morning, Rilen let us know he had seen some hooded people in the night but couldn’t see them very well. I thought that was very strange, I wonder what that was. It was such a cold morning and we were a bit sluggish because of it. I tried to play another traveling tune for the group but I’m still not very good. 

Suddenly, we heard a growling sound near us and we instantly started looking around for the source of the noise. Then there were more of them! I was getting really scared, I huddled under Beralt’s legs! 

Out of nowhere, Qar and Slissezh got blasted by some weird snow forces. Qar was covered in frost! It was insane! We were surrounded by some snow wolves and they were trying to eat us! We did end up killing them both before we heard another faint howl way off in the distance. I tried my very best to hide but I was so discombobulated by the fight with the wolves that I just couldn’t find a good bush to hide in. 

Then we saw him. A snow white wolf that was so big and scary! We had killed his targets and he required a debt to be filled. We convinced him to join us as an ally and he joined us on our path. 

Blue Fang

Rilan really took a liking to Blue Fang as he joined our group. We continued on before night fell and we made camp again, this time with a new friend. On our watch, Chanterelle heard some sad music, sounded like a violin, so we decided to check it out. Over a small hill, there was a spirit of sorts looking very snowy and icy, playing a very sad tune on a frozen pond. I tried to match her song but I scared her with my flute…I really still need to practice. 

A snowy “spirit”

When we got back, Blue Fang and Rilan were sitting around the fire keeping watch while we were gone. Blue Fang seems melancholy and he lets us know he is very, very old. 

In the morning we get moving and a blizzard occurs. We find cover and hide out from the storm; two hours long, what a long time to lose on our trip. I had a goodberry from Rilan and practiced my flute some more. Finally night fell again.

Morning came and we continued on until we reached our destination. There he was, the armored guard looking very scary guarding a blackened tree. 

The doorway guard

We were very weary of this guard but he presented us with a puzzle. A riddle of sorts which with Qar’s brainpower and Beralt’s strength they easily beat and the guard literally just disintegrated into dust. Oddly, he looked happy about his release from duty. He handed Beralt a necklace with a rose inside. I played him a sad tune on my flute as best as I could. He was a very kind but sad man. I hope he is happier where he is now. 

The rose necklace surrounded by crystal

We walk into a door into the tree, how wild does that sound? Inside it is so beautiful, like a euphoric forest. 

The beautiful inside forest of this tree

I found a footpath and we all followed it up to a doorway we had found thanks to Rilan. Inside we find three very different guards.  

The three guards inside

We did end up having a battle with these and we had a really, really hard time with this one and a lot of us were hurt. Once they were all dead, we found several bodies in the room hidden behind pillars, I thought that was really weird. We also found some treasures!

Rilan had run off and went into one of the two doors in the room. Inside he saw a familiar sight. The metal melt shop ran by those flaming skulls we had seen at the farm. I was absolutely not going in there! So we went to the other door. 

Scary metal shop

Flaming skulls, at least 30 of them!

In the other door, Rilan and I were led to a similar scene from when we came in except there was a grand tea table set for six. It was beautiful! We kept up the path toward a large throne room; in the room were four large statues as well as a raised dais. Rilan became a shadow and sneaked up to the lady on the throne we saw in the room. I was way too frightened so I went back to the group to let them know what we had found. 

the “Queen”

She is accompanied by her guard as they talk about where we were.

Her guard

Chanterelle and I managed to sneak in but the others just couldn’t. The Queen was very upset. I got the impression she wasn’t as bad as we thought. She seemed to not understand that she was in a tree and not actually Queen. She got very upset and fainted right before the guard stabbed her, causing necrotic damage as well. The fight was on. 

The four statues in the room had armor suits on them that came alive and started attacking as well. It was a super hard fight. In the end, we lost Qar and the Queen. Her little flower faeries took her body away.

Flower faeries made by the Queen

We searched around and finally found the last cryptic, grabbed it and Qar’s body, after I played him a grieving song on my flute, and we were out of there. Qar was a very brave warrior and he will be very much missed. 

Once we made it back to town with no issues, Rilan and I sat down to try and figure out what the cryptic code is, DESTRA. Opening it there was a message in elvish, which we read, saying: 

“If you read this I take it that you have found the Chemist, Illestra, and rid the world of the useless waste of breath my daughter is. You have proven yourself worthy of my power. 

The spirits bound to me by contract will serve you well. Go forth and find the alchemist, retrieve the books he holds and learn all you can. You will need it to join my ranks.”

It was written for the satyr and the chemist. There was also a note written in a language we didn’t know. 

We gathered all we could and I set out to have tea with Merula. I am still very saddened by the loss of Qar. The battles we have had during this quest have been exhausting, I needed some girl time; and more time to practice my flute. 

Till next time! I’ll be seeing you later! 

Galli♥