Session 12 -- Granny Crabapple Wants a Nail

The party headed south from the hill giants and bought passage on another halfling ferry. They knew they needed to get to the Temple of Gloom in the swamp.

They crossed the Narrow Sea without incident, but, once on the other side, they were attacked by hobgoblins. 

They eventually made their way over the Caldera Mountains, being attacked twice by gargoyles. Along the way, they did see more hobgoblins, but these did not attack. The party scared them off, but not before Murchad noticed that these were wearing clothes dyed yellow, while the other hobgoblins had worn clothing in reddish hues.

Once inside the swamp, they were attacked by a large party of lizardmen, including shamans. They did eventually make their way to the edge of the Lake of Tears only to find a strange hut surrounded by skulls on stakes.

They knew this was the hut of Granny Crabapple. They were already wary of meeting her and had been hoping to avoid her, but since she was right there...

Jack went up to it and knocked on the door. An elderly voice beckoned him to enter. Inside, Jack found a cozy and not-at-all-terrible little cottage. The pleasantness of the cottage stood in stark contrast to the hideousness of the owner. An ugly hag with greasy black hair and blue-black, warty skin spoke kindly to him through blackened, jagged teeth.

Jack was unfazed.

The hag told him to invite the rest of his friends in, which he did. Once inside, the door closed behind them. Jack began pumping her for information regarding the children and the Drow who were taking them to Malek.  He asked if she had a crystal ball, which she didn’t. She opened the door to reveal a party of Drow led by one wearing pitch black full plate armor, leading children through a dead forest under an ashen-gray sky.  She then closed the door again.

The party asked how they can get to the children, as they were now in the Shadowfell, and she said that they would need to use the Temple of Gloom. In order to do that, they would need to sacrifice a humonculous that she would make. Her price: a mandrake root and a nail forged in Mt. Raiva by the fire giants of the Angry Mountains, far to the north. The party agreed to her terms, and she touched each of their faces. As she did so, they were all healed.

Once they left the hut, they saw it stand up on chicken legs and begin to walk off into the distance.

The party returned the way they had come through the swamp. At the edge of the swamp, Lily was waiting for them. She warned them to be careful of dealing with Granny Crabapple, as she was powerful and malevolent.  She did reassure them that they could trust her to hold up her end of whatever bargains she made, but to be careful as she was not their friend. Lily reminded them that they had already been told of another way into the Shadowfell, through the Cave at the World’s End. Lily said the cave was a nexus of sorts that linked the Feywild and the Shadowfell to other places besides.  It was dangerous to use, as many who entered it never returned either through the dangers it held or by getting lost.

As the party debated their best course of action, they realized that Lily had vanished on them once again.

Not long afterward, they met four hobgoblins (these wearing blue), who were stranded in the swamp. They offered to let them travel with the party as they crossed the mountains. The hobgoblins accepted, and it wasn’t long before they were attacked by another party of red-wearing hobgoblins on the western slopes of the Caldera Mountains.

The red-wearing hobgoblins attacked the party straight away, attacking the blue-wearing hobgoblins first. In the struggle, the party was able to learn that the red-wearing tribe was called Bloodfang and the blue-wearing tribe was called Shadowfoot. The party defeated the Bloodfang hobgoblins, although not without the loss of one of the Shadowfoot. They parted company on the far side of the mountains.

They managed to find a mandrake root without any trouble.

The party made its way to Feyhome, the main settlement of Dwarves in this part of the Feywild. Deep inside the Dwarfreach Mountains was an entire underground city. The dwarves warned them about the fire giants, as they dislike visitors and intruders. The dwarves have limited dealings with them, as the fire giants like to work with the special iron the dwarves mine in the Tummel Mine. The party bought an iron ingot of this special metal to take with them.

As they made their way to the ferry point north of the Dwarfreach Mountains, the party discovered a band of ogres interfering with the ferry. The party killed the ogres, and the halfling was so grateful, he gave them a ferry ride at half price.

On their way to the Angry Mountains, the party found the Shrine of the Plains. It appeared in the same form as the other shrines but was decorated with motifs of horses and deer and grains.

The party continued northwest to the mountains, but, as they ascended, they were confronted with a chimera. This chimera was powerful and did great harm to them, although they succeeded in defeating it. They found a modest bit of treasure and took time to heal themselves in the shadow of Mt. Raiva, which is where we stopped for the session.