Humblewood Recap #8

Humblewood Recap #8 Sunday April 5, 2026 @ 12:00- 4:30 P.M.

 

<<WARNING SPOILERS FOR THE HUMBLEWOOD CAMPAIGN: ADVENTURE IN THE WOOD! >>

PART 2: THE BANDIT MENACE

     The party rested for an hour and waited for Benna to write her message to the Birdfolk Council…

      Benna gave them a sealed map and scroll case bearing the wax seal of the Bandit Coalition. A group of 8 Mapach Bandits, 4 Jerbeen Thieves, and 2 Vulpin Captains escorted them a day away from the Bandit Fortress, leaving them to camp on their own near dusk.

      The party had a Long Rest to recover from the fights in the Bandit Fortress.

      The rest of the travel down The Crests Mountain pass was uneventful. After entering the Humblewood, the party had an uneventful day of travel followed by a day where they passed the Shrine to Reya.

      On the third day of travel in the Humblewood, they encountered red imp-like creatures. They were holding paintings and then their bodies radiating fire and heat. They threw the now burning paintings at trees in the Humblewood, setting the area on fire. They then sat down and starting playing with rubies like they were marbles. The red rubies began to whiten in the intense heat. The elementals laughed and spoke in Ignan, but this was not understood by the party.

     Galadriel ran up and threw a javelin at the ground near a sitting Magmin. Quilliam used stealth to gain a better vantage point for a Gust of Wind spell cast. Lucius leaned against a tree and waited. Zivvy shot a Magmin with her hand crossbow. The Magmin stood up and attacked Galadriel, burning her clothes. 

     Galadriel charged a Magmin in the back but missed. Quilliam used a Gust of Wind to put out two of the trees on fire and doused the Magmin slightly as well. The Magmin were pushed back and one of them knocked over by the wind. Lucius moved behind a tree and shot a Magmin with a Sneak Attack from his short bow. Zivvy shot the Magmin on the other side in the side with a bolt on a critical strike from her hand crossbow. One of the Magmin got up and moved towards Quilliam but the elemental didn’t make it far in the wind gust. The other Magmin got up and flanked Galadriel who was now being burned from both sides.

      The bloodied Galadriel flew into a frenzy, killing the flanking Magmin. The Magmin exploded, causing her even more pain. Quilliam cast Ice Knife to kill the Magmin in the Gust of Wind. He then moved his Gust of Wind to extinguish the last tree that was on fire and suppress the last Magmin. Lucius shot the last Magmin with a Sneak Attack critical from his short bow that killed the elemental. It did not explode, perhaps due to the suppression from the wind gust.

      Quilliam used the Gust of Wind to douse any of the smaller brush fires. The party found five red rubies worth 50 gold pieces each although the art objects had been destroyed by the Magmin. Zivvy healed Galadriel with a Cure Wounds.

      The party had a Long Rest that night to recover from the fight.

      On the fourth day in the Humblewood, the party found an encampment with a tent shredded by claw marks, and four Birdfolk corpses. One of the corpses was missing an arm and one a leg. Quilliam noticed scuff marks showing a body dragged off away from the camp. The party found a cave. Quilliam lit a torch and entered the cave. Inside the cave, he found a dire wolf with weapon scars guarding three dire wolf cubs. A Birdfolk skeleton picked clean was in the middle of the cave. The dire wolf growled at the party. Quilliam cast Animal Friendship. The dire wolf stopped growling. Quilliam offered a trail ration and the dire wolf gave it to its cubs. Quilliam looked over the skeleton and found a map and scroll case on it as well as 12 electrum pieces. Zivvy grabbed a spear and put it into her Efficient Quiver. The party left the cave.

     Outside the cave, the party tried to figure out what to do with the loot. There were 4 chain shirts, 4 shields, and 4 spears that Zivvy put in her Efficient Quiver as well as 48 electrum pieces. Zivvy reluctantly opened Eliza’s Box. Inside of the box was an imp with a cat’s ears, face, and tail but with devil wings and a pink body. Having seen what was inside, Zivvy finally understood the magic at play. Eliza’s Box used magic similar to the spell circle used by Susan of the Swamp to contain the Lesser Demon. A spell circle which she had already seen fail once.  

      The Lesser Demon gave them a tutorial on how it worked. The party tossed a copper into the box and got a torch. Then they put the torch back in the box got nothing back. The Lesser Demon said, “Half a copper doesn’t exist so end of tutorial!” Quilliam started shoving random objects in the box, stones, branches, and even the tattered tent, which gave him 1 gold piece. The chain shirts and shields netted 150 gold pieces. The Lesser Demon asked if they wanted to commission an item before they closed the box. The Lesser Demon explained they could commission a magic item and it would be available in a Measure aka six Beats (One Week= Six Days). Quilliam suggested a Chainmail Bikini for Galadriel. The Lesser Demon said 500 gold pieces. Lucius wanted a poisonous short bow. The Lesser Demon said 1200 gold pieces. Quilliam commissioned a Healing Potion for 50 gold pieces. Zivvy closed the box. A timer next to the box had 144 then 143:59:59 and started counting down.

      Quilliam opened the message he had found:

Perch Guard Scouts,

 

     Lucius has left with the prisoner Fray. We assume they are heading to the main base of the bandits. You are to discreetly follow them. Return to base when you ascertain the location of the main bandit stronghold.

        -The Council

    Quilliam was unnerved by the message and its ramifications.

    The party then traveled to Alderheart and camped outside the city.

    The next day they were summoned to the Birdfolk Council in the Council Plaza. They delivered Benna Serridan’s terms to the council. She demanded the absolution of the Birdfolk Council to be replaced by a Humblefolk Council. Each one of the ten races must be allowed a member on the council. Furthermore, the Bandit Fortress was to remain independent of Alderheart rule. Lucius vouched for Benna’s desire for peace. Quilliam brought up the message and the Birdfolk Council dismissed it as a forgery. Zivvy was suspicious but was convinced it was a fake by a council member.

      The party stayed in Alderheart for 1 gold piece. Lucius stole 15 gold pieces in the Canopy Market. Quilliam got a book for 1 gold piece. The party visited Eliza who had added a magical Scroll for 150 gold pieces and a Cloak of Strigkind for 300 gold pieces to her wares. The party bought 28 rations and waterskins from Eliza.

       The next day the Birdfolk Council gave Lucius a message for Benna Serridan in a map and scroll case with a wax seal of The Birdfolk Council.

     The party left to go to the Bandit Fortress with the message. They had an uneventful first day of the journey. On the second day, they found three Birdfolk corpses left. One had been dragged off.

      On the third day, there was a knock from within Eliza’s Box. Zivvy opened the box, and the Lesser Demon delivered a Healing Potion to Quilliam. Lucius commissioned a Healing Potion for 50 gold pieces and Zivvy shut the box.

      Later that day, they came upon a series of webs in the forest and a cocooned Birdfolk 30 feet up in the air. Quilliam strode forward as if nothing was going on and was promptly webbed by a silken cocoon. A giant spider missed a web spat at Lucius. Another giant spider attacked and poisoned Galadriel.

 

       Lucius peered into the forest trying to find the hiding spiders. The Birdfolk in the cocoon struggled and freed himself. He glided down from the cocoon and landed a downward strike on the Giant Spider attacking Galadriel. Galadriel responded by going into a Frenzy and killing the Giant Spider. Zivvy cast Gust Barrier to protect herself and used Bardic Inspiration on Lucius.

[The two remaining Giant Spiders made their morale check and kept fighting. Yeah, I rolled a Will save for both to see if they would keep fighting with one giant spider down and one enemy freed which tipped the scales 4 to 2 outnumbered but both 19s.]

     One of the Giant Spiders came out of the forest shadows and killed the Birdfolk Skirmisher. The other one attacked Lucius and poisoned him. Quilliam struggled to free himself from the web. 

     Lucius disengaged as a Bonus Action and cast a fiery Chromatic Orb at the Giant Spider that struck it and burned the nearby web. Galadriel frenzied and struck the Giant Spider that killed the Birdfolk Skirmisher once. Zivvy shot her hand crossbow at the Giant Spider near Lucius but missed. The Giant Spider missed Galadriel with its bite. The other Giant Spider webbed Lucius. Quilliam freed himself from the web.

    Lucius struggled to free himself from the web cocoon. Galadriel cleaved the giant spider through the abdomen and it lay still. Zivvy missed again with her hand crossbow.  The Giant Spider attacked Lucius but missed. Quilliam cast Flame Sphere and used it to free Lucius and incinerate the last Giant Spider.  

    Zivvy put a spear into her Efficient Quiver from the dead Birdfolk Skirmisher. Lucius found 11 silver pieces on the Birdfolk Skirmisher. Quilliam found 70 gold pieces in a victim’s cocoon.

   The party camped and took a Long Rest to recover from the giant spider ambush…

[End of session.]