Today we played Cairn. Virtually, of course, because absent actual leadership in this country the pandemic numbers are surging again, but hey. Both parties are the same.
Anyway, it's been a couple of months since our fuzzy heroes talked a dryad down from being Dire. Ratatosk has been making invigorating potions and sleeping draughts, and he and Russelet have found a way to soak arrows in the latter to make sleep arrows (though they haven't really tested them yet, Ratatosk is pretty sure they'll work). Rumdiggle continues to sing at the Cider Mill Inn, and Snootabur is tending her worm farm.
On this particular evening, a lazy, warm, summer dusk, Ratatosk is hanging out with Asta Ringrunner, his mentor. Ratatosk has noticed that Asta seems preoccupied, and as the sun starts to set, Asta tells Ratatosk to run an errand for him - go gather up his three compatriots and bring the to the Observatory.
Ratatosk scampers off and finds Snootabur tending her garden. They get into a brief discussion about compost materials before Ratatosk remembers why he's there, delivers the message, and zips off.
He runs into Rumdiggle on her way to the Inn and tells her to go to the Observatory as soon as she can; she goes to the Inn and arranges for someone else to do the entertaining for the evening. Ratatosk finds Russelet at the archery range he's set up near the Inn, and tells him about the Observatory. Russelet flutters off and listens to the gossip in town, and hears that Professor Puddleleaf (who runs the Observatory) has been building something near the river, but no one knows what.
The characters meet up at the Observatory and are welcomed in by Professor Puddleleaf, a beaver and absent-minded inventor. Asta Ringrunner shows up as well, and Puddleleaf shows the character his problem - a tetrahedral crystal with a purple sheen and a pure black sphere in the middle. It radiates Disharmony and makes them all uncomfortable. Puddleleaf admits that he made it to absorb the Disharmony in Cairn, and it was working, but now it's started to leak. His research indicates that the druids at the Rock Circle could probably help destroy it, but the Rock Circle is a long ways off. Puddleleaf has built a boat to travel up the Swiftwater River to the base of Highpeak Mountain, but then he would need to travel overland to the Rock Circle. He knows that the characters are stalwart Favored of good character, and he needs help getting it up there.
Snootabur agrees, but does ask Puddleleaf if he's realized that this isn't the way to work through Disharmony. He sheepishly acknowledges this, and the other characters agree to come along. Puddleleaf asks them not to reveal the true purpose of the trip, and they all decide to leave tomorrow night.
The characters spend the rest of the night and the next day preparing. Snootabur asks Whistle Shimmerborn to tend her garden. Rummy tells Alyere Loregood, who runs the Cider Mill Inn, that she'll be gone a while. Russelet has his protege Ladd Ringtail keep the rumor mill from getting too worked up, and Ratatosk prepares multiple bottles and sample jars.
The next evening, they meet by the river and Puddleleaf unveils his boat. He says he didn't have a chance to name it, so he asks the characters for idea. Rumdiggle suggests "Cairn on the Run," but Snootabur points out it's really on the river, so Cairn on the River it is! They climb about and head up the Swiftwater.
A few hours in, they feel a thump below the boat. Russelet and Snootabur keep their footing, but Ratatosk and Rumdiggle tumble towards the edge. Snootabur catches Ratatosk and Russelet tosses a bag of provisions in the way to stop Rumdiggle from falling in. He takes to the sky and spots two shapes swimming by the boat - they look like beavers.
Rummy and Ratatosk peer over the edge of the boat, and the beavers surface quickly and yell "ARRRRGH!" at them. Rumdiggle, in the way of her people, faints dead away. Ratatosk leaps straight up and grabs a tree branch to keep from falling in the water, and scampers along the treeline keeping pace. Snootabur swings her staff at one of the beavers, but it submerges out of the way. The beavers start taunting Puddleleaf about his Observatory and his inventions.
Ratatosk, from the tree, bops one of them with an acorn and tells them to leave them alone. One of them looks back and says, "yeah, who are you?" Ratatosk hucks another acorn and says "I'm the squirrel throwing acorns at you!" He jumps off the tree and lands on the boat, and calls up the spirits of the river to propel them away.
Russelet, up in the sky, swoops down and catches up, and as day breaks the characters moor the boat and try to get some sleep. They wake up feeling a little grouchy and drained - the prism is having an effect. As they set off down the river, Rumdiggle starts playing her lute and singing, and the others join in. Russelet notices Puddleleaf standing on the bow of the boat looking forlorn. He walks up to the beaver and engages him in a discussion about how sound carries different underwater, and what kinds of musical instruments you could use making use of that. Rumdiggle points out that he could also slap his tail on the water to keep the beat, and Puddleleaf tries it, and gets into the song, too.
They're having a grand old time, and Snootabur, standing at the front of the boat, notices a pearlescent web spanning the river. She nocks an arrow and shoots it, breaking it in half, but Ratatosk, eager for a sample, grabs it and sticks fast. The characters notice a weaver (a big ol' spider) crawl out of the rocks on the bank and start hauling in the web. Russelet fires an arrow and snaps the web, and the boat drifts on as the spider starts rebuilding its net. Ratatosk scrapes the webbing off his paw, excited about a sample but less so about losing fur.
They make camp again that morning, and as they're doing so they hear something very large approaching. A ripper (bear) emerges from the woods and lumbers down to the water, drinks a bit, and then slaps a fish out of the water and eats it. Ratatosk and Russelet head into a tree, but Rumdiggle, resisting the urge to faint, walks up to the bear and talks to it (she's a shifter, and has an affinity for rippers). She can't exactly converse with it, but she lets it know that she's friendly and she means it no harm. She indicates the boat and says that they'll be on their way soon, and the bear starts walking toward the boat...and the prism. Rumdiggle intervenes just in time and convinces the bear to watch over them as they sleep. The bear cracks open a big dead tree to reveal a feast of termites, which of course makes Rumdiggle and Snootabur very happy.
The next evening, the ripper snuffles at them and heads into the woods, and they get back on the boat, feeling, again, a little worn out. Puddleleaf tells them that they should reach the end of the river sometime before the next sunset, and then they'll need to travel overland. None of them are much looking forward to that leg of the journey...
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