Some “Behind the Mist” Encounters and Events
Category: Behind the Mist
I am trying to get back into working on my “Behind the Mist” adventure. I’d lost a lot of motivation when an artist that I’ve been speaking with (that I really hoped to work with) earlier this year ended up not having the time for it. I’ve had a lot of this written for a while, but decided to update it and put it out there hoping it would get me back into the writing habit.
Some Fae Encounters
The Shop of Faelan Donnelly – A brown eyed leprechaun who wears a green tunic and brown overalls. He manages his own shop, and sells various magical trinkets as well as gardening supplies. A few of his own gardening tools are quite magical. He acts kind to those that enter his shop casually, but when someone that has a great need for something enters his shop he will do whatever he can to trade them what they want at the cost of something they have great sentimental value in. He can be very mischievous, and even taunting to those that have traded something to him that the once greatly adored, and will not easily trade it back to them.
The Collector – A small, misshapen male, hunched and covered in boils. He has been spotted by the people of Kataros and surrounding areas for several centuries, always jumping to try to break off the lowest limbs and branches off azure magnolias. If confronted, he will drop everything in his arms – about 2 pounds of broken limbs and branches of azure magnolia trees – and flee into the woods, disappearing the first time he goes behind a tree. If PCs take the collection, they’ll never see the Collector again. If however they attempt (and succeed) at finding a way to get it back to the Collector, he will reward each of them with a Flurwyn Pearl, which may be crushed into powder and consumed for 2d4 temporary hp, which last until a long rest is taken.
Dessicated Man – A man lies on his belly over a stream, a half-consumed bag of salt by his side. He is near death. He is attempting to rid himself of an Alp-Luachra, a fairy spirit who lives inside people and drains them of their water and moisture. If you somehow help him, the Alp-Luachra will appear and attack. ( inspiration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint-eater )
Alp-Luachra
AC 14 (as chain shirt); HD 6; hp 29; Saves as level 4 Cleric; Attack +3 (as level 3 fighter/warrior), attacks by reaching down victims’ throat – each round reaches deeper and claws his way in. Damage Nd6, where N equals # of rounds successfully attacking the same person.
Lakcha – Encountered only near a river. PCs hear a beautiful humming first, and then the unmistakable sound of an oar dipping and pushing through water. A beautiful, mature female with hair like fire rows herself down the river. If she sees PCs, she may attempt to have a conversation with them. She likes to talk about water, rain, nymphs, nereids, and lily pads. If the PCs have a conversation with her that pleases her, she will offer them a jar of fireflies, and will tell them “the Skin Taker is bewitched by dancing bugs.” They are ordinary fireflies, and if released, will quickly fly away. If the PCs attack or displease her in any way, she will reveal herself to be an extremely powerful witch (level 9 wizard/witch) and will defend herself as such.
The Skin Taker – Rumors in Kataros speak of a faerie who kills its victims, skins them, and dances under midnight full moons, waving the skins like flags. The Skin Taker may appear as a human male with loose skin (close inspection will reveal it has been sewn to the Skin Taker’s bones). He is one of the most powerful beings in the Mollachmaen Forest, the equivalent of a level 9 assassin. He will attempt to kill the PCs and take their skin. If the PCs have the jar of fireflies from
Lakcha, releasing them will paralyze the Skin Taker for 3d3 rounds, as he stands mesmerized watching the bugs fly away.
Procession of the Magpies – One of the oddest occurrences which happens near Kataros is the ghostly march of hundreds of magpies, which happens for three nights a year – the first three days of autumn. Two miles to the east of the town, near the southern edge of the Mollachmaen is a small pond surrounded by willows. For at least the last two hundred years, every year at the appointed time, hundreds of spectral magpies appear just before the sun sets on each of the three days, and march across the waters of the pond. In the middle of the pond, the magpies form a circle and two of the birds step forward and fly off together. The rest continue their march across the pond, disappearing on the other side.
They have never caused any harm, and no method of touching them has ever succeeded – they are simply bodiless phantoms of unknown origin. The bottom of the pond has been scoured, as have the roots and canopies of all the trees surrounding it, and no clue has ever been found as to their source. The elderly farmer Himwell, who has a goat farm
directly west of the pond, knows his grandfather Caedrak died in the pond, and knows he has other relatives in town who may know more.
If the PCs see the procession and happen have Chelsi Koven’s magpie skull, the two magpies in the center will fly over the PCs head and circle them several times before flying off and the PCs will have the effects of Bless for the next eight hours.
Honeybee Swarms – These seemingly-random swarms of hundreds of honeybees come down from the trees. Rumors say they must be protecting something, but no one is ever able to make it through the swarms. They can be avoided by looking carefully for the somewhat hidden beehives which hang from some trees.
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