Humblewood Recap #10

Humblewood Recap #10 Sunday May 24, 2026 @ 12:00- 4:00 P.M.

 

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

 

Player Name: Emily

Character Name: Finn

Companion Name:  Thimble the Cockroach

Race: Jerbeen (A mouse-like humanoid)

Class: Ranger

Subclass: Swarmkeeper

Alignment: Neutral

Background: Urchin.

Character Appearance: A 2 feet, 20 lbs., 9-year-old Jerbeen covered in tattered but baggy clothes that hide her swarm of cockroaches.

Character History: She grew up in the Underfall in Alderheart as a street urchin. She befriended a cockroach called Thimble who leads her legion of cockroaches who lived in the roots of the Underfall on the crumbs of the destitute Humblefolk.

Player Name: Amber

Character Name: Eclipse

Race: Dusk Corvum (A crow-like bird humanoid)

Class: Rogue

Subclass: Thief

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Background: Wind-Touched

Character Appearance: A 4’5” inch tall, 100 lbs., 20-year-old dressed in a purple and black hooded cloak.  

Character History: She grew up in The Branches of Alderheart where she used her gliding and skulking to perform breaking and entering thefts.

PART 3: AN URGENT SUMMONS

     After a week, the party was summoned to the Birdfolk Council…

      In the Council Plaza on the way to the Council Chambers, the party overheard a Huden Gallus talking about the spreading fires. He was accompanied by a shy Sable Luma, a Jerbeen, and a Dusk Corvum.

     After his speech, the Huden Gallus approached the party and introduced himself as Havel of the Autumn Moon. He thanked the Defenders of Alderheart as the folk of Alderheart had started calling them for saving a friend of his on the night of the bandit attack on Alderheart. Quilliam said, “You are welcome.”

    The party entered the Council Chambers. Bita, the Council Speaker asked the Defenders of Alderheart to investigate a new threat to the Humblewood in The Scorched Groove.

   The Sable Luma from earlier was introduced as Tevor of the Spring Path. He described seeing snake-like or worm-like creatures burrowing in the ash fields of The Scorched Grove. The adventurers that he had hired to go with him to The Scorched Grove were introduced as well. One was Finn, a Jerbeen Ranger and the other was Eclipse, a Dusk Corvum Rogue. With their greater adventuring experience than Tevor, they could bring the Defenders of Alderheart near the spot Tevor had seen these creatures in his stead.

    The party accepted the mission and then resupplied their water and rations at Eliza’s Emporium. The party discussed going the short or long way and decided to take the shortcut. The party traveled one day through the Humblewood to the edge of the Scorched Grove.

   In the Scorched Grove, the party was quickly approached by a swarm of a hundred Emberbats 60 feet away.

   Zivvy cast Shatter and killed a couple of the Emberbats. The Emberbats moved 30 feet towards the party. Even at this distance, the intense heat started to hurt those near the swarm. Galadriel chucked a couple of Javelins at the swarm and downed a couple Emberbats. Lucius cast Ray of Frost and steam cooked an Emberbat. Finn shot her longbow but missed. Eclipse shot down an Emberbat with her shortbow. Quilliam cast Speak with Animals but the Emberbat seemed distracted saying, “Fire! Fire! Fire!”

     Zivvy cast Shatter a second time and a dozen of the Emberbats dropped. With the swarm reduced somewhat, a ball of light could be seen in the middle of the Emberbats swarm. The Emberbats moved forward biting at Quilliam and Galadriel, striking Galadriel. The sweat on the brows of Quilliam and Galadriel started steaming from the intense heat of being inside the swarm and next to the fiery orb. Galadriel frenzied and attacked the orb twice with her axe, hitting once. She felt her axe get stuck in the orb, feeling it resist her physical strike. Lucius cast a Thunderwave at the swarm, taking out three of the Emberbats. Finn shot her longbow and hit one of the Emberbats out of the sky. Eclipse took out her rapier and attacked the orb. Feeling the intense heat within the swarm, she disengaged and retreated. Quilliam heard the Emberbat say, "The Light! The Light! The Light!" Quilliam reacted by casting Moonbeam at the orb. 

[As Dungeon Master, I was honestly surprised the orb didn't have Radiant damage reduction or immunity.  All you can do is shrug and then Mills Lane, “I’ll allow it.”]

      Zivvy shot her shortbow at the orb but missed and took down an Emberbat instead. It seemed that the swirling Emberbat swarm worked like a shield against attacks from the outside.

[The orb had +2 AC against outside attacks. But AC 13 for the Emberbats was struck on a miss against the higher AC of the orb.]

      The Emberbat swarm swirled around the orb biting at Quilliam and Galadriel but missing. The orb couldn’t seem to move forward with Galadriel blocking its path. Galadriel swung her axe twice at the orb, striking it once. Lucius cast a Ray of Frost at the orb which struck an Emberbat instead. Finn cast a Fog Cloud centering on the Emberbat swarm and orb and retreated. Eclipse retreated further away from the intense heat. Quilliam’s Moonbeam disintegrated the fiery orb. Quilliam heard the Emberbat say, “We are free!” Quilliam asked what was controlling them and the Emberbat said, “We were drawn to the heat, flame, and light of the orb and could not look away.”

     Zivvy dashed away. The Emberbats scattered in every direction over the course of four turns. Galadriel and Quilliam were blinded by the Fog Cloud and were singed by the confused Emberbats as they escaped. Galadriel tried to escape the Fog Cloud and fell over Quilliam, becoming impaled by some of his quills. Lucius retreated out of the Fog Cloud, fortunate to be only in its periphery. Finn and Eclipse followed Zivvy. Quilliam waited for Galadriel to get off of him, then cast Goodberry.

      Galadriel got up and helped Quilliam get to his feet. After the Emberbat swarm had dispersed, Finn dropped Concentration on the Fog Cloud.

       Zivvy thought about the orb of fire and understood that it was a byproduct of some Conjuration spells, specifically decaying magic circles…

[End of session. It was relatively short due to character creation. Everyone either leveled up to Level 4 or made a Level 4 character.]

 

 

Humblewood Recap #9

Humblewood Recap #9 Sunday April 26, 2026 @ 12:00- 4:30 P.M.

 

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

PART 2: THE BANDIT MENACE

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

 

   The group passed the Shrine to Reya and left the Humblewood for the mountain pass over the next two days.

    Going up the mountain pass, Quilliam saw two griffons in the air. Perhaps they had moved into the area after the mountain lions had been killed. He knew they were territorial, so advised the rest of the group to turn back.

     When the group turned back, Zivvy noticed four Birdfolk hiding behind rocks. Zivvy cast Detect Thoughts and learned that their orders were to follow Lucius to the Bandit Fortress. She saw the message in their mind:

Perch Guard Scouts,

 

     Lucius and company have a message for the supposed Bandit Leader, Benna Serridan. Follow them and ascertain the location of the bandit base. Return once you know the location. 

        -The Council

 

     The group passed them on Zivvy’s advice and then Zivvy told the rest of the group to continue backtracking while she went to deal with the four Birdfolk…alone.

    Zivvy cast Sleep and made one of them unconscious. One of the guards woke up the unconscious Birdfolk. The guards decided that Zivvy could be killed and that they could follow Lucius without disobeying their orders. So, one of the Birdfolk Guards reached her and stabbed her with his spear. Zivvy disengaged and ran away 30 feet. The Birdfolk guards ran after her, with one missing and the other three guards 5 feet, 10 feet, and 15 feet behind (The slowest being the one who had to get up from prone). Then suddenly, the two griffons swooped in and grabbed the two Birdfolk guards lagging behind. They soared off to their nest presumable with dinner.

    Zivvy cast Dissonant Whispers and killed a Birdfolk guard. The last Birdfolk Guard standing attacked her and missed.

   Zivvy cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. The last Birdfolk guard fell backward off the cliff and pointed at Zivvy with both hands, laughing all the way as he fell to his death crashing into the crags below. Zivvy grabbed an electrum piece from the body of the only Birdfolk left.

    By the time Zivvy got back to the others, she saw that Galadriel the Outlander had been enlarged to nearly 9 feet tall. Zivvy told them the coast was clear and the Griffons were fed for the moment, meaning it would be easy enough to pass.

   The group has a Long Rest and continued up the mountain pass a day to reach the Bandit Fortress.

     Lucius delivered the message from the Birdfolk Council to Benna. The message read:

To Benna Serridan,

    You want Peace? We want Justice. We agree to your terms on one condition. You must turn yourself in and face the judgment of this Council. Know that the penalties for your crime of disrupting the Realm’s Commerce and Killing Perch Guardians on your orders is Death.

   -The Birdfolk Council

 

    Benna said that if this was the price for her utopia, she would gladly pay it. Fray Merridan would lead the Bandits of the Bandit Fortress after her death. Benna prepared her things for the trip to Alderheart and bid the group rest the night at the Bandit Fortress.

     As the group went down the mountain pass, they encountered four unresponsive Mapach bandits standing still. Benna called out to them, “Patrol, Report!” But the only retort was the susurration of a howling wind in the canyon. As they approached, they saw that the Mapach bandits had been turned into statues and chunks had been bitten out of them.

     Suddenly, the mountain pass seemed to move as a Basilisk left its cave entrance. The Basilisk gazed at Benna as she threw a dagger at the Basilisk. Benna blinked and missed. The Basilisk gazed at Zivvy as she tried to shoot the Basilisk with her hand crossbow. She seized up and then turned to stone. The Basilisk gazed at Lucius as he tried to shoot the Basilisk with his short bow. He seized up but shook off the petrification. The Basilisk bit Galadriel and sent its venom into her veins. Quilliam cast Enlarge on Galadriel and hid from the Basilisk’s gaze behind the now massive Cervan. 

    Benna averted her gaze and then missed her melee attacks with her scimitar and short sword. Lucius averted his gaze and tried to use his rapier to reflect light into the eyes of the Basilisk. Galadriel averted her eyes then flew into a frenzy. Galadriel managed to hit the Basilisk once with her battle-axe. Quilliam climbed Galadriel. The Basilisk attacked Galadriel but missed.

    Benna struck the Basilisk once with her short sword. Galadriel missed her two axe attacks. Lucius reflected his sword into the Basilisk’s eyes aided by a Druidcraft spell by Quilliam. The Basilisk gazed at the rapier and tried to petrify its reflection turning its own attack on itself but made its Constitution save.

     Benna missed all three of her attacks. Galadriel missed her two axe attacks. Lucius averted his eyes and missed an attack with his rapier. Quilliam jumped off Galadriel and landed on the Basilisk’s back. Quilliam cast Chilling Touch and a deathly chill spread on the back of the lizard with a critical hit.

     Benna held her Blade of the Wood aloft and said “Justice!” A Spike Growth grew from the cave to underneath the Basilisk. Lucius averted his eyes and tried to reflect light on his rapier. Galadriel looked the Basilisk in the face and drove her axe down into its neck, beheading the creature.

     Lucius cast Prestidigitation to clean the Basilisk head and then grabbed the decapitated head, shoving it in a sack. Quilliam harvested oil from the gullet of the Basilisk and then slathered it on Zivvy’s mouth. Zivvy’s stone body reverted to the furry flesh of a Mapach. Zivvy cut off the Basilisk’s tail and placed it in a sack. Zivvy made a torch out of a Basilisk’s arm. She placed oils from the Basilisk in its hand and wrapped a cloth around it. She then lit it and they entered the Basilisk’s lair. Inside they found a masterwork arrow, 5 rubies worth 25 gold pieces each, and an ewer than made sloshing sounds even when empty.  

      The party had a Long Rest after the tough fight with the Basilisk.

      The party found no remaining Birdfolk bodies on the mountain pass as they moved through Griffon territory.

      The party entered the Humblewood and the box knocked, delivering a Healing Potion to Lucius. Lucius commissioned an Animate Dead scroll for 500 gold pieces from the box. passing the Shrine to Reya, and walked to Alderheart without incident.

      Through trial and error over several Beats (days), Quilliam determined that the ewer was an Alchemy Jug and would fill with a chosen liquid once per day on a command word. Water would fill it with salt water, but Fresh Water would fill it with potable water.  He determined it could fill with Basic Poison (1 dose), Beer, Wine, Fine Wine, and Milk, among other liquids. Each liquid would only fill a set amount and it was different for each liquid. Wine would give a whole bottle and Fine Wine perhaps a pint.

     The next day, the party entered Alderheart and was summoned to the Birdfolk Council. The Birdfolk Council heard Benna’s story in person. Quilliam stepped in to plea for Benna’s life stating the dangers of killing her and allowing Fray Merridan to take over the Bandit Coalition in her stead. Benna was allowed to return to the Bandit Fortress. She gave Quilliam her Blade of the Woods as thanks.

     The group stayed in Alderheart for a Measure (1 week). Zivvy found Susan the Seer (Susan of the Swamp in disguise) in the Canopy Market selling fortunes and potions. Zivvy altered a potion recipe with her Basilisk’s tail and got a Potion of Stone to Flesh instead of the normal result from Susan’s cauldron.

     Zivvy bought rations and water from Eliza. Eliza had a Gauntlet of Defense for 3,600 gold pieces and an old spell book for 315 gold pieces.

     The box knocked and gave a scroll smelling of brimstone and sulfur to Lucius. With no more commissions the Lesser Demon seemed to sigh in relief as the box was closed.

     After a week, the party was summoned to the Birdfolk Council…