D&D: The Enclave of Thorns

Last night was D&D, and in contrast to last time, where we very nearly had a TPK, this was pretty chill.

Our heroes continue their trek toward the southern border of Abhaile, and therefore the Enclave of Thorns. On the way, Keenan asks Dara, since she's from the Enclave, about what the Thorn Druids are really guarding everyone from. Dara says that she's heard stories, monsters from the south with huge claws and bleeding fangs, and some of the others have heard similarly dire tales (although they tend to get less specific the further north one gets). 

In a couple of days, they arrive. An elf named Cathal approaches them and greets Dara, and tells them that they're welcome, just follow the rules. The "rules" basically boil down to not crossing or attempting to cross the southern barrier, and if a druid tells you to do something or stop doing something, obey them. The party crosses an invisible threshold and emerges into the Enclave.

The Enclave sprawls out over a wide area, with living spaces in and at the bases of trees. Many of the inhabitants are elf druids, but there are other races - humans, half-elves, even the occasional halfling or forest gnome - represented. Aisling hears someone playing music and goes off with Fearg to track it down, while Dara goes to find Riona, the Archdruid, to tell her about the scroll that they took off the Bride-Gnoll. 

Riona recognizes the script as Abyssal, and tells Dara that they should probably study it further, even though touching it for any length of time makes one's fingers itchy and red. She has Dara take it to a druid scholar, who offers to teach Dara to read Abyssal - he does warn her, however, that once you learn it you can't unlearn it. Dara, more curious than cautious on the best of days, agrees.

Zook finds a halfling druid named Caragh training a small pack of large dogs, and asks what one would have to do to prove oneself worthy of having one as a companion. Caragh says that ultimately it's more about proving oneself to the dog, and Zook sets about getting to know the animals and joining the training. There's one in particular, with red-brown fur and a white ear, that seems very much in synch with him.

Clara goes out into the woods and finds a forest gnome foraging for mushrooms and roots, and talks with her about which fungi and plants are useful around here. She's happy to have the company, though she's clearly not an adventurer - she's happy here in the Enclave making stews and so forth.

Aisling and Fearg find the source of the music; it's a half-elf named Tadhg playing a wooden pipe. Aisling is fascinated; woodwinds are largely unknown where she's from. Tadhg is happy to teach her the fingerings, and Fearg slips away, reminding himself that this is what happens if you get involved with a bard.

Dara, having dropped the scroll off with the Scholar, spots Nuada in a tree, meditating. For context, Orla and Dara were a couple and Orla went behind her back with her hunting buddy, Nuada - that's why Dara left the Enclave and became an adventurer. She hadn't expected to go back here so soon, but that's where the journey took them. Having now talked with some of the druids about the...if not "cult," then "movement" of the Ghrian Trí Duillegoa, she's learned that they spend their time meditating in trees, or soaring on air currents in bird form. She talks with Nuada and he confirms as much, and says that Orcan, the druid that introduced this worship to the Enclave, has learned some pretty impressive magic into the bargain. 

Magic is all very well, says Dara, but it's this "worship" thing that she finds uncomfortable. In Abhaile, divine worship is uncommon - people recognize the existence of the gods, but they don't think of them as listening to the wants and needs and prayers of people. When people do speak to the gods, it's usually in the context of "we'll get through this whether you help us or not." But the Ghrian Trí Duillegoa take a more...contemplative approach? To the idea, and Orcan has learned to tap into that power and summon up a weapon from nothing, to enter a state wherein no one can harm him, or to call up fire that burns the evil. 

Dara is suspicious. She's curious, yes, but she's also a druid and knows the value of tradition. And Nuada is a little too cavalier about the idea of testing the southern border...

That night, the group comes together, plays music, has mushroom stew, and Dara shares what she's discussed with the others. The next day, she begins her study of Abyssal.

The Scholar helps her learn the structure of the language, and over the course of the day they translate the scroll in more detail. It is what it seems to be - a magical how-to for creating gnolls out of not-hyenas. But that's not the strange thing. The Scholar explains that while the scroll is written in Abyssal, the sentence structure is off. It's like this was written in some other language and then translated into Abyssal...but what language would that have been? Abhaile isn't exactly linguistically diverse; most people speak Abhaila (though there are dialects, but the basic grammar doesn't change). Druids have their own particular tongue that isn't taught to outsiders, and presumably the dwarves of the north have their own language, but otherwise it's pretty much Abhaila all the way down. 

Zook goes back to Caragh and works with the dogs some more, but they're being less cooperative today. Caragh tells him to take a break, and he goes wandering in the woods and bumps into Clara and Tinna (the gnome forager). 

Aisling and Fearg, the former out looking for a stick (the jokes write themselves), take a walk to the border to see the Thorn Wall. As they approach, they feel everything get colder. The Thorn Wall is exactly that, a barrier of brambles so dense that light doesn't seem to shine through it. Aisling has heard that the first arch-druid of the Enclave gave her life to become the Wall, and the other druids joined her, each giving up his life to protect Abhaile from something horrible. As they're looking at the wall, they're approached by a red-haired elf named Sionnach.

Sionnach is the warden of the Enclave, the kind of head of security. He's standoffish and brusque, but warms to them as they talk (it's hard not to warm to Aisling). He says that the truth of the story, as far as he knows, is that the first archdruid cast a spell that called up the Thorn Wall, but put so much of herself into it that it claimed her life. He also says (because Aisling asks) that he's seen one attempted incursion on the wall - about 50 or 60 years ago, someone or something tried to get through from the south and was cut to pieces. He thinks it might have been an orc, but it was unrecognizable pretty quickly. Either way, the Wall is doing its job. Of course, these Ghrian Trí Duillegoa aren't making his life easy now. He considers them a security risk, and doesn't get what they're trying to do anyway. "Who would trade the hum of night for sunlight?" he muses.

Dara, still wanting to learn more about the Ghrian Trí Duillegoa, finds Orcan, meditating in a tree. He explains that "worship" is the wrong word for what they're doing - they don't want to violate the barrier or encourage anyone else to do so. They just believe that there are divine forces that are benevolent, that could empower people, if only people would listen. Dara questions him further, and Orcan confesses - he was riding air currents as a hawk one day and drifted over the southern border out of Abhaile. He didn't see anything on the ground that looked markedly different - it was forest, not a blasted hellscape as some of the stories would have it - but he heard a voice in his head, a voice that explained the divine. He carried it with him back into Abhaile and has been meditating and communing, slowly learning the magic of Ghrian Trí Duillegoa, though the other followers haven't managed it yet.

Dara is now very concerned - Orcan broke the border and wound up with a voice in his head? She immediately goes to find Sionnach and explains the situation, and Sionnach, his suspicions confirmed, goes to find Riona.

Clara and Zook talk about the Enclave, and about the border - Zook is interested in seeing if it's possible to cross, maybe for just a minute, but Clara doesn't think that's wise. They're talking about all this when Dara finds them and explains what she's learned, and Clara and Zook decide to figure out how many of these sun-worshippers are actually in the Enclave. They know about Nuada and Orcan, of course, and they learn about a few more, including a half-elf named Senan, apparently Orcan's right hand elf. They find Orcan in a tree and climb up to talk with him, and he very politely talks with them about the Ghrian Trí Duillegoa and their beliefs. But then Senan flies up in bird form and whispers in his ear, and he excuses himself and tumbles off the branch to fly off ("these guys are such show-offs," mutters Zook). 

Senan stays and talks to them, and they tell him a little about their adventures. Zook mentions the succubus that they fought, and notices that Senan's demeanor changes, ever so slightly, when he does. Zook presses and talks about how the succubus was no match for four adventurers, and Senan asks if they got her name. Clara remembers the name the succubus was using, but never heard her actual name. Zook asks what Senan's interests are - they've met druids that forage, train dogs, and so forth. Senan says (after a strangely pregnant pause) that he's interested in fire - something dangerous for forest people, true, but something he finds fascinating. He asks Zook how much he's mastered of fire magic, and how it feels to begin a spell and then finish it (as opposed to Keenan, the sorcerer, who presumably has a more spontaneous approach to the process).

Meanwhile, Aisling and Fearg are heading back through the woods and come upon Riona and Sionnach arguing with Orcan. It's in Druidic, so they don't catch it, although Fearg gets a word here and there. "Violation"...no, "betrayal." Orcan storms off, and Riona sees the two of them and says that Orcan crossed the border. Sionnach advocates exile, but Riona isn't quite sure that's necessary.

Dara spots Orcan a little later, and he asks her flat-out if she told Sionnach what he told her. She confirms that she did, and he leaves, obviously angry. Dara glances around and notes that the curtain to the Scholar's area is drawn, and goes to check on him...and finds that he's paralyzed by a Hold Person spell. She waits for a moment until it falls, and he gasps "Orcan! He's taken the scroll!"

Dara runs out, raising the alarm...