Gnomecalypse [5e solo hexcrawl]

[Smilex]

You start towards northeast, staying at a safe distance from the shore but near enough that it doesn't create too much additional distance. There's a plume of smoke in the northeast and for a while you're travelling straight towards it.

In the first couple of hours the journey is uneventful. You see a few rabbits and a few goats from a distance but nothing particularly strange or interesting. Once you think you see a ranger scouting to your left on a hilltop but a moment later they're gone again.

You are moving closer to the lake than where you met the silverboot gnome and you don't see any sign of him. You keep as well hidden as you can and as twilight descends it's all the easier. When you're at the northest edge of the lake you find a furry humanoid next to the lake. They're filling leather flasks with water. They have more of a snout than a nose. Their head has a black and white striped pattern like that of a badger. Unlike any badger you've ever seen they have small horns though.

The area is a combination of small hills and brushland. It would be no difficulty to avoid the individual. They rise and start towards somewhere further from the lake, seemingly towards the origin of the smoke in the north. They seem unarmed and they've covered themselves in a loincloth. The flasks they're carrying with leather straps that go over their shoulders.

[WindStruck]

Hushedfly observes the furry being for a bit, but ultimately leaves them alone. She'll continue walking along the edge of the lake.

[Smilex]

You watch as the badgerperson slowly walks up from the lakeside and passes you at a distance of about 20 m. You notice they're walking along a path. This is apparently a regular trip for them.

At about this point you feel the earth rumble a little. Onwards from where you're skulking about 40m away you see the earth start glowing green slightly. And then from the ground bursts up a roundish thing that's shedding green light. It keeps coming up and up and the you realize it's not moving as much as it's growing.

It looks to be an enormous turnip. It keeps growing though the pace decreases until it's about two meters high. Then it starts to grow a green stalk that pushes even higher, probably five or six meters high. Finally yellow flowers appear at the top. At this point the green glow slowly starts fading.

The badgerperson stops to look at the situation and stare, then they start northwards again, moving more briskly than before.

Spoiler: OOC

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You've heard of this type of a thing. Sometimes a pocket of remaining faerie magic empties out through a growth spurt of local flora. Apparently it used to be more common. You've heard that for the first couple of hundred years these kinds of giant roots sustained the gnomes of the vault. The mines used to be extended in search of eatable roots as much as for any other reason.

[WindStruck]

Wow! Like the badgerman, Hushedfly was also thinking it's a good idea to keep her distance from that turnip. At least, for now. It might be an amusing thought to somehow roll that thing all the way back to Notagem, though honestly it would be a bad idea since it would no doubt be very noisy and attract a lot of attention doing that. As well as probably being tiring, if it was possible at all!

Well in either case, Hushedfly decides she'd rather continue on how she was going: eastward, to the forested side of the lake.

[Smilex]

You advance eastward.

As you move, the terrain starts to flatten and the brushes come more plentiful. In the final hour of twilight you see that towards northeast there's quite a flat area where the ground continues to slowly descend. Somewhere in the far distance you can barely see a small herd of some large shapes moving about.

When you turn your gaze right you notice the northeast part of the lake actually has an island. It's not far from the shore and it isn't particularly large though it has a small hill. From the other side of the lake it had kind of blended to the background but from here it's clear enough even in early moonlight. More interestingly you can see a white glowing shape move on the island. It looks to be slightly taller than a gnome but generally of the same shape.

It becomes more and more difficult to stay distant from the lake while following its shape. Eventually the brushes start becoming larger and scattered trees start to mix with the brushes. At this point it's getting really dark. You've never been close to a significant number of trees. You're aware of stories of walking trees attacking gnomes so moving in their midst becomes one of the spookiest things you've ever done. At times you feel like you see one of them take a few steps. Other times their creaking reminds you of snoring. Happily the woods are not thick at all. The trees are quite distant from each other. Even then they feel like they're pushing up to you.

When the wind happens to turn a little to come from the southeast you can hear the faint sound of music, somebody's playing pipes. The shore continues south. You're also quite near the island.

[WindStruck]

The island seemed like an interesting place to go.

Hushedfly would try to swim to the island, taking it pretty slow so as not to splash water or create big ripples.

[Smilex]

You carefully wade into the cold water. The island is not far, maybe thirty meters. You feel something scrape your leg. You look down. You brushed against a daggerlike horn. At the other end of the horn is the nose of a large creature. You see the rest of the creature's corpse lying in the shallow water.

Spoiler: Image

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https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0c/9c/a3/0c9ca3215b7d0c72dfd6754470a9859f.jpg

The creature looks intact. You can't see anything that would have made enough of an injury to kill such a huge beast.

At this point you hear a drizzle of water behind you. On your left, about twenty meters away there's what looks like a forest gnome peeing in the water. They seem to have goatlike legs and small horns on their head. The individual doesn't seem to have observed you. Instead they keep peeing and they start humming. It seems like a variation of the tune you heard coming from a distance. It's quite jaunty.

The island isn't too far. As you look to that direction you see two other rhino corpses in the water. On the highest point of the island seems to be an obelisk. You can mostly see it's shadow against the stars.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'd like to ask you for a roll of arcane and another of history.

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: ooc

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And suddenly, dead giant creatures and peeing gnomes!

arcane: (1d20-1)[4]

history: (1d20-1)[4]

[Smilex]

Spoiler: OOC

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Unfortunately the confusing situation doesn't allow you additional information (with the very low rolls) :(

As you try to take the situation in, you notice the appearance of a white glow from the island. The white glowing form of a very tall female gnome floats into view from behind some rocks. She seems to glide without moving. She's dressed in flowing robes. She's not moving towards you but seems to be circling the hill in the middle of the island.

Meanwhile there's more peeing noises and humming.

[WindStruck]

Well, this suddenly wasn't a great position to be in!

However, Hushedfly decides to keep heading toward the little island for now. She'll let the guy keep peeing (and avoid getting that water mixed on her) and perhaps will get a somewhat closer look at whatever this other robed gnome woman is.. hopefully without alerting anyone.

[Smilex]

You slowly wade through the water until you're deep enough that you have to swim a little. Happily, there's no more corpses.

The white floating lady seems quite large, certainly taller than the tallest gnome you've ever seen. As you approach them, you notice their form is also quite haggard, though beautiful.

The furry gnome, having relieved themselves. Starts yelling in a slightly slurred way:
-Oi, Lady of the lake! Listen to this one, I made it for you! May it bring you calm and happiness! and he adds with little less gusto -Though I know it'll bring you neither. After which he starts playing a set of pan pipes. The tune is a ballad, mostly melancholy, but still energetic and with moments that suggest hope.

The white lady doesn't seem to react to the music at first.
You finish your swim and start wading back up on to the island itself. At this point the white lady pauses. She's near the hill to your left, about 20 to 30 m distant and she looks like she's finally listening to the melody.

On the island there's plenty of small rocks to hide behind. The hill itself is in front of you and it's less than ten meters high. You can see the dark obelisk on top a little better now. It seems to be actually shedding a sort of very dark purplish-indigo light in small amounts. You don't see any plants, even brushes on the island.

[WindStruck]

Hm. Lady of the Lake. Perhaps this woman floating around the island...

If Hushedfly had to guess, perhaps she was some sort of spirit?

With no life on this island at all.. this wasn't a good sign. Though Hushedfly will at least for now, hide among the rocks and listen to the song and wait. Would she ever be spotted by the lady? And more importantly, would she be angry?

[Smilex]

The tune continued for a couple of minutes. It was a skillful composition, somewhat made worse by the inebriation of the piper. At this point the piper himself is too far for your darkvision so the song just seems to come from the darkness.

The lady continues to listen as long as the song continues. Then the floating spirit turns to face more or less towards you and starts screaming. Immediately you realize this is the wailing you've previously heard all the way on the other side of the lake. The screaming makes your blood chill and you imagine that if you were just a little bit closer the voice would stop your heart and rip your essence apart. Reflexively you protect your ears with your hands and push yourself down behind the rock.

While the scream may seem to last a lifetime, it only takes a few seconds. Peeking behind the rock you realize the Lady of Screaming lake is approaching. Her face is flickering between perfect beauty and skeletal effigy. She doesn't look straight at you. She's obviously aware of your presence but apparently not your exact location.

The water is about five meters from you and then the land on the other side is about 30 meters away. The obelisk on the hill is maybe 50 meters away from where you are. In the dark you can see many rocks and not much else in your immediate vicinity.

Spoiler: OOC

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Please give me whatever rolls your actions need and a couple of wisdom saving throws just so I don't have to ask them in another post. Spooky.

[WindStruck]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Though Hushedfly did not say this at all or scream, even. She may have really wanted to. Her reaction to the screech towards her was more like a pained, disfigured cringe as she clutched her ears.

And then she kept coming.

Yipe!

Hushedfly got up and immediately bolted away from the lady. Going to shore, to water wasn't her priority.. no, it was getting as far away from this lady as possible first. But she wasn't sure if she would make it at this rate.

If this ghost lady pursued her in any small way even after Hushedfly started swimming, she was probably going to be dead. With little other recourse, she can only just cry out, "Ah! Help! Please play another song!"

Spoiler

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Athletics: (1d20-1)[14]

Just trying to sprint away from the lady of the lake and swim as fast as I can away after.

wisdom: (1d20+2)[19]
wisdom: (1d20+2)[14]

[Smilex]

You dash into the water shouting to the piper. There's a confused reply from the other shore -Is there someone on the island?

The Lady of Screaming lake sings a few notes in crescendo and you feel an attempt to enchant you somehow but you shake off the spell before it clutches you.

You run through the cold water, this time not trying to avoid splashing noises. You know she must be catching up to you. There's no way you could push through the water as fast as she flies.

Her shriek is now close behind you. Fear strikes you even more than before but the fear just makes you want to push further away from the island.

Then the pipes start again, first just a long single note, then a second one, rushed. You can hear footsteps. The piper is running on the other shore towards the spot opposite to where you're crossing. They're trying to remember a tune while running. They stumble a little but continue.

You can see white light reflect from the water's surface now. The Lady is near.

And then the sound of the pipes becomes more focused, the tune picks up. It's a simple tune, a children's song. But there's passion and fury in how he plays it.

Behind you the Lady starts singing along the tune
-There was an old woman lived under the hill,
And if she's not gone she lives there still.
Baked apples she sold, and cranberry pies,
And she's the old woman that never told lies.

There was an old woman
Liv'd under a hill,
And if she ben't gone,
She lives there still

You swim and the reflection of light is broken. But you can hear the voice farther and farther behind you.

In front of you the naked man with goat's legs is blowing into a small set of pan pipes as hard as he can. He's jumping in the darkness, crudely dancing to his own song. You reach the point where you can rise up from the water and start walking again.

The goatgnome lowers the pipes from their lips and states
-Ma'am, you seem wet and lost.

Spoiler: OOC

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Banshee. in Irish folklore, a type of female fairy believed to foretell deaths by singing in a mournful, unearthly voice, 1771, from phonetic spelling of Irish bean sidhe "female of the Elves," from bean "woman" (from PIE root *gwen- "woman") + Irish sidhe (Gaelic sith) "fairy" or sid "fairy mound" (from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit").

[WindStruck]

Hushedfly pants somewhat as she finally reaches shore. And she nods.

"I, um.. yes, maybe? Not completely lost. But I guess lost enough to wander into.. that..."

She looks behind her, back toward the island and the floating spirit.

"Um.. thanks. Seems she really does like your songs," Hushedfly says, sheepishly.

[Smilex]

The goatman nods.
-It's easy to get lost in the dark. You must've mistaken the lady for the queen, but the Lady of the Lake is passing on. Her time is gone.
He seems almost sober in his focused state of mind. After having a second look at you and after you comment his songs he bows down to you.
-I am called Headroom. I am a humble servant of songs, merriment and laws of the party. While stating this he makes a flourish with his hands that makes him look anything but humble.

The Lady enjoys many songs, particularly the ones that were made by her before the cataclysm. The stress on her is strong so I do what I can for her. Now, please, dear lady gnome, where do you hail from? Are you a formal envoy?

While talking he helps you out of the water and attempts to direct the both of you to start walking southeast.

[WindStruck]

"The queen? I, um.. don't think I have met any queen before..." Hushedfly says. For now, she hesitantly walks with him.

She nods to the man as he introduces himself. She quietly responds, "I am Hushedfly."

"An envoy? I am anything but that..." she says softly, sounding rather confused. "I am just a wanderer. My home is near the mountains and called Notagem.."

She wasn't sure how much information she should be divulging.. or who this goatman even was, really, aside from the name he offered. Still, he seemed friendly enough, and probably even saved her from the wrath of that banshee.

[Smilex]

As you walk he stumbles several times. At first it seems like his head's heavy with drink. Then you notice there's a clear difference in how difficult it is for him to avoid branches that stick out versus how little his speech is affected. Then you realize he can't see in the dark.

-Pleased to meet you, Hushedfly... He starts humming and singing
-Fly away, fly away over the sea,
Sun-loving swallow, for summer is done;
Come again, come again, come back to me,
Bringing the summer and bringing the sun.

You notice that there's a flickering light in the distance and your route is towards it.

-Notagem? So it exists! Indeed, one should never discount something just because it's a myth. Please tell me more! Do you all dress like that in Notagem? And what happened to your wings? Or are they under your skin like those of a ladybug? You are of the female persuasion are you not? Or is the look an enchantment?

The light in the distance seems to be a flame and it's moving. Someone's carrying a torch. You also hear the sound of breaking branches.

He points to that direction.
We were sent to collect dead wood. Queen Mead doesn't want any live ones hurt but we need wood to keep warm. We always do the collecting in the night. It's a tiresome thing but needs must.

[WindStruck]

"I believe I'm in the minority.." Hushedfly says. But this was too many questions all at once.

"I.. I don't.. we don't have wings." As he keeps talking she begins to nod her head only to begin shaking it in a confusing manner.

She stops. "W-wait.. where are you taking me?"

[Smilex]

Headroom, the goatman turns to you.
Dear ma'am, I would not presume to take you anywhere. But if you want to go to the same direction as me, I'll be getting back to my friends, for they need watching and encouragement.

He pauses.
You can hear more singing and pipeplaying in the distance.

I don't want to presume too much but if you'd like to join us, we could offer you some soup, some mead and some company. If you then want to accompany us back to the court, you're welcome to do that too.

He pauses again and looks towards where you came from.

Ma'am I don't know where you were wandering to. But I request you kindly to join us, if for nothing else, I'd enjoy the variety in company. For a while he sounds positively imposing. Then he hiccups.

After a moment of thinking he adds.
-If you come to the court, you'll meet other gnomes as well.

...

You hear voices raised in an argument from near the torchlight.
Headroom sighs and says "I'm needed." Then he puffs out his chest and starts walking again.

From the depth of his sigh you realize he's not a young goatman any more.

[WindStruck]

Hushedfly wasn't sure what to do.. perhaps coming along for a bit wouldn't be such a bad idea?

"Okay.." she quietly responds.

She follows, though reluctantly and carefully behind Headroom, trailing back a ways.

[Smilex]

You walk between the trees for a while. You left early in the evening so you reckon it might be midnight now. You are getting quite hungry.

Surprisingly quickly the forest starts getting even more sparse than it was before. You suspect the forest is actually only a narrow strip of woods along the lake's eastern side.

You see a small group of people who all seem to be of the goatman variety. You count six of them in addition to Headroom. You see a very badly made fireplace with a small fire. On it is a claypot which almost suffocates the fire. There's piles of branches, each of which is tied together with rope.

You can see they've been using stoneheaded axes. In the area's trees you see some marks. Some live branches seem to have been cut. Three of them are arguing about whether a particular tree is live or dead.

Headroom immediately walks to them. He makes up a small ditty about the virtue of patience and then makes a point that they should always respect the queen's relatives, no matter how distant from the court they are. After this the four of them start a short dance while all of them repeat the singing of the song.

One of the other goatmen approaches you with a leatherskin that smells faintly of alcohol. Why my eyes must be lying. Headroom brings a nymph with him. Would you care for a dance?

Hearing this Headroom jumps around and approaches roaring and yelling: All of you are not to bother her! She's not a nymph and she doesn't know the courtly ways! She's a gnome and an envoy of Ainsel. Do not make any assumptions regarding her. She will be allowed to join us if she wants but no harassing or prodding questions! Give her time. Then he somberly turns to you and continues.
I apologize, the young ones are boisterous and full of energy.

For a moment the other goatmen and sneers but then he shrugs and has a chug of mead.
I was just making an offer of nourishment, master skald. He puts the meadsack hanging from a branch next to you.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ainsel = 'Own self' as in 'My own self' or myself.

[WindStruck]

Well, Headroom's reaction did seem quite over-the-top to say the least. She thought the outburst was strange.

Spoiler: roll

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insight: (1d20+4)[17]

wondering if it all seemed like an act or not genuine

Something nagged at her, thinking this whole situation just wasn't right. How long or how far did she think she could trust them?

[Smilex]

You look at the older goatman wondering. He's definitely passionate about what he's saying but passion is in his nature, not in the subject matter. He doesn't seem like a person who is easily moved from his path. He has the air of a showman, a fanatic, a martyr and a sage. It's clear he's doing his best to help you but you feel it's all circumstantial. You are not the thing he's protecting in truth but he's protecting something that you represent. He's definitely not lying but he's working the audience. As for whether he seems good or evil, you get the feeling that his motivations are good though he might find himself occasionally on the wrong side of an argument. His actions with the white lady would suggest there's also compassion in him when there is no audience to attract.

Spoiler: OOC

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Here's a couple of video clips of people who are behaving in a manner somewhat similar to this person:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMLgHQwZF68
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrKeseMRABs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oehry1JC9Rk

The mood of the situation shifts. A couple of the goatmen pour some soup for you and one of them asks if you've got a favourite song. The one who offered you mead and a couple of the others continue to collect wood. You note they're all male. Headroom watches everyone and nods in approval.

The younger goatmen ask you a series of relatively innocent-seeming questions while giving you distance and space. They seem very interested in you but wary so as not to be further scolded. It's obvious they consider Headroom their leader though in a couple of faces you can also see a smidgen of resentment.

You watch how the goatmen gather wood. They're energetic, haphazard, boisterous. In a moment serious work turns into jokes when one pokes another's tail with the very tip of a torch. A chase ensues and they end up wrestling and laughing. A third barely manages to pick up the torch to avoid fire spreading.

The soup seems barely heated but it smells fine. The mead smells exquisite.

In a while Headroom comes to talk to you again. He points to the east and says:
There's plains there. Small hills, quite barren really. About an hour's walk to that direction is the court of queen Mead. We will leave soon enough.

[WindStruck]

Hushedfly quietly accepts some soup, tries a sip of the mead, and watches as the goatmen work. An almost inaudible 'thank you' escapes her lips.

When Headroom points to the east in the direction of their court she softly asks, "Would you tell me more about your court and your queen?"

[Smilex]

The soup is lukewarm at best. It's eatable though and you've had worse. The mead is something completely different. It's quality is of the highest order. It's rich and flavourful. It has layers of experiences to it. It's fresh and cool, yet simultaneously warm and spicy.

Headroom smiles at you. He starts talking
-Queen Mead is unaging and invincible. My parents and granparents and their grandparents have all served Queen Mead. She's a good queen who stands against the Queen in the Forest. The Queen in the Forest is actually a giant spider. Any who fall under her webs are devoured - either quickly or after having been tied into webs for weeks.

He pauses to look back towards the lake
-The Lady of the Lake is said to have been a wood nymph, our queen's predecessor. But she's said to have caused a horrible disaster which caused all the land to become barren. Most faerie magics failed. Most faerie courts and nobles fell. Now her existence is a pain in payment for what she's done.

Headroom has a sip of mead.

-Queen Mead's court is full of joy and merriment. We adore our queen who gives us drink and sanctuary. The young ones, so innocent. They don't understand how lucky we are. You know... The stories say there used to be bad nobles in ancient times. There's stories of every manner of bloody butchery and horror. Our court is completely different. I would do anything to protect it.

He pauses to give instructions to the younger satyrs. They slowly start to get their piles of wood together. Headroom seems to surprisingly pick the largest one. You realize that while he's getting on in age he is also quite bulky.

-The court is mostly us satyrs. Satyrs have very few females so the boys get curious around you women. That's why they're reacting to you like they do. The court has had gnomes too, not many but they've been around for a long time. Stories say that some of them used to be from this Notagem. For a hundred years though all we've seen is gnomes from the far south. They say their tribe lives in a forest.

One of the younger satyrs comes up and says.
We're ready whenever you are!

Headroom sighs and stands up.
-Indeed.

[WindStruck]

Hm. Well.. paranoia and mistrust could seep into and taint everything, if allowed. But for whatever reason, Hushedfly felt satisfied with Headroom's explanation.

With a nod, she says, albeit sounding somewhat hesitant, still, "Alright. I .. I suppose I will join you. If it is not a bother. It all sounds very interesting..."

And some part of her was thinking, 'Wow! Faeries? Queens? Shall I meet one for real? Some that are not all bad? Perhaps these satyrs already count.'

Though she was small and her words seemed somewhat reluctant, her actions did express a certain eagerness, as she actually began collecting some stray sticks that the others had dropped.

[Smilex]

The small group starts eastwards. For a few minutes there's brushes and a few small trees around you but after that there's nothing. Every side of you there's just darkness. The land is completely flat and nothing is yet growing. It's eerie in a new way. You know you must be visible to anything that is in the darkness. The torches the satyrs carry make it impossible to think of stealth.

Anything could be out there, watching.

When you look around you finally see something far in the south. There's a glowing ring there. You realize you must've seen this same ring a couple of days ago but then you saw it from a different direction. It must be huge to be visible at such distances.

A couple of times you think you see the eyes of some animal at the edge of darkness, reflecting torchlight. They don't approach.

Then you pass a small hill. You notice that a there's a small cruse stone wall that's been built on the hill's side. The satyrs don't seem interested in this and the journey is continuing.

Spoiler: OOC

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You're now moving into area AI04. Also you've reached a milestone. At your next long rest you can advance to third level.

[WindStruck]

Hushedfly is uncomfortable feeling so vulnerable, out in the open. Though her options are pretty much non-existent. She could maybe only hope to stay far away from the others bearing light and torches, but she still had pretty much nothing to take cover with, and would be all alone.

Hushedfly does not stray far from the others, and though she may be interested to approach the wall or the ring, if the others do not approach them, she does not.