✎ resources:adventure:sanctuary [animus]

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====== Sanctuary ======
===== Initial Brief =====

The Foresters Guild is looking for intrepid individuals to accompany Torch paladin and scholar Sorin Luminova on an expedition into the Forest of Loss, to examine a site currently designated under Category E (//mysterious ruins, apparently ancient//) - which may offer us a singular tactical advantage in our efforts against the Forest. While a small garrison has been established at the site, applicants will be expected to accompany Luminova on any excursions they deem necessary during their time there, ultimately ensuring that they return to Rastaban unharmed.

The Guild will be grateful for services rendered in this manner.


===== PCs =====

  * [[user:aleahas:pc:eli_jin|Eli Jin]]
  * [[user:joesmoke:pc:elias_of_esteban|Elias of Estaban]]
  * [[user:tomm:pc:gemini_doubt|Gemini Doubt]]
  * [[user:am:pc:jasine|Jasine]]
  * [[user:emma:pc:jeremiah_stingelhelm|Jeremiah Stingelhelm of Telemere]]
  * [[user:zacs:pc:kaeris_oriole|Kaeris Oriole]]
  * [[user:4denthusiast:pc:lyra_averick|Lyra Averick]]


===== Summary =====

The party meets with Sorin Luminova, Devout of the Torch, a fiery and uncompromising preacher with a strong (stronger than usual) hatred of anything connected to the Forest of Loss. Luminova is not at all comfortable about the prospect of travelling with a couple of Forest Touched, but grudgingly recognises their utility in this endeavour.

It turns out that the ruins Luminova and their escorts are to explore only appeared recently, although... well, they’re clearly old, //really// old; what’s more, they are said to have some ability to hold back the forest. Luminova expresses skepticism - //only the Muses have the power to defend us against the Forest//. Still, the Foresters Guild have established a garrison there, headed by Isolde Rotheld, a much-respected soldier - the plan is to liaise with Rotheld and establish the rationale behind the claims of sanctuary.

A little way outside the city walls, the party receives its first demonstration of the dangers posed by the Forest - here, a number of Moss Poppets and Crooked Men are assailing a group of farmers. Our heroes manage to drive back the forest creatures and ask the terrified farmers why they continue to live in the shadow of the forest. The farmers deal with the adventurers' naivety with good grace (given that they //did// just rescue them) - this is just what life is like, out here beyond the city walls. It is the fate of those who lack sufficient privilege or street-smarts to thrive in Rastaban to instead eke out a poor existence on this frontier, with little control over their lives and the constant threat of incursions from the Forest.

Passing under the eaves and into the embrace of the Forest, the party soon comes upon a wounded wolf on the path ahead of them. Eli tries to heal the creature - and they are immediately beset by wolves on all sides. After a difficult fight, they kill the beasts - and Luminova, letting rage overcome their self-control, turns on Eli, accusing her of showing undue sympathy for the forest creatures. This was a coordinated ambush - the 'wounded' wolf was used to bait the trap they had walked into - and Luminova is concerned that Eli and Gemini are no different. Everything touched by the Forest is under the control of the Forest, Luminova emphasises.

As they progress deeper into the Forest, our heroes notice that the trees are streaked with a slimy residue. Eli tastes a little of this substance - it seems to be fungal, and leaves Eli feeling strangely light-headed and disinclined to take the threat of their predicament seriously. Jeremiah is appalled, and fears that Eli has exposed herself to the Forest's malign influence. He takes a sap sample from Eli, noting that it seems more //viscous// than he might have anticipated... but then, he doesn't have much to compare it to. He takes a second sample from Gemini, noting that the two are of near-identical viscosity. Unbeknownst to Jeremiah and the rest of the party, Gemini has secretly sampled the slime as well... and is now feeling increasingly paranoid.

Luminova provides an explanation for the slime on the trees: they've reached the edge of a fungal swamp, a particularly dangerous part of the forest. The directions they've been given is to wait at the edge of this swamp for Rotheld's scouts to meet them and provide them with safe passage to the garrison. Seeing no sign of these scouts, the party makes camp for the night, keeping watch in shifts. A little after midnight, they are assailed by unseen horrors that strike in darkness. The torches carried by Jeremiah and Luminova provide some protection against these creatures - but Gemini runs away from the circle of torchlight a number of times. At sunrise, the shadows retreat and Luminova once again expresses their distrust of the two Forest Touched, citing Gemini's actions during the night. Can Gemini and Eli truly be trusted, or should they be treated as traitors? A vote is taken, and although Elias shares Luminova's misgivings, the majority rules in favour of leniency.

Our heroes are, however, now faced with another dilemma: Rotheld's scouts still haven't materialised, raising concerns about the status of the garrison. Luminova makes the decision to press on through the swamp without outside aid, in the hope of locating the ruins and discovering the fate of Rotheld's team. Somewhat uneasily, the party makes its way into the fungal groves.

Here, the vegetation begins to give way to the fruiting bodies of fungi - clumps of mushrooms cover every inch of the few trees that persist here, while enormous puffballs stand interspersed around the swamp. The party knows to avoid touching anything of this sort, but are unprepared for the flies they encounter here. These insects have clearly learnt that they can bring down large animals by bursting the puffballs in order to release the toxins within. Before our heroes can escape, they all inhale some of this poison, and - in spite of concerted efforts to cure themselves - all end the encounter with heightened emotions.

What follows is somewhat bizarre: they encounter another adventuring party, seemingly on a quest to locate Eli and bring her home. In addition to Eli's parents, Jasine's estranged mother (who is trying to convince Eli's parents to give up the search - it's so much healthier just to forget about any wayward kids) and Jeremiah's rebellious Erosion Weaver sibling are present. Gemini recognises one of the friendlier members of the Foresters Guild, who seems have developed a soon-to-be fatal affliction during the course of their adventure - they plead with Lyra to trust them and join forces for the common good. This person is not alone in their affliction, however - Elias has discovered strands of mycelium sprouting from his ear - a splitting headache would seem to indicate that the fungal is burrowing into his brain. Kaeris, meanwhile, is hearing voices - the Forest itself is mocking her inside her head, threatening to take everything away from her. Luminova loses control upon being accosted by a particularly blasphemous member of the other party.

As several of our heroes begin to find themselves overcome with emotion of one sort or another, the other party takes the opportunity to attack. The more that each person allows themselves to lose control of their emotions, the stronger the other opposing party becomes. It is clear that these people are not Forest constructs, so our heroes exhibit a degree of reticence to fight back - Jeremiah, for one, refuses to strike back... in direct conflict with Luminova's instructions. It is only when Warden Orderic appears and spontaneously bursts into flame that the young Torch Paladin finds himself willing to accept that his opponents are not real people. Eli spends a little time attempting to ascertain what exactly they //are//... and discovers something unexpected: they seem to have strayed into the plane of Dream - somehow, the Forest here has extruded itself into this plane and is using it to deceive them.

At last, the party finds its way out of the dream bubble into which they have strayed; Elias's and Kaeris's bodily afflictions dissipate, and there are no further visions of old acquaintances. Better still, they soon catch sight of a complex of ruins in the distance, constructed atop an area of higher ground in the middle of the swamp. They hasten towards the ruins, where they are greeted by Rotheld and one of her guards, Feeney.

The garrison has clearly seen better days – Rotheld's people have taken something of a beating over the past week - while the forest doesn't seem to be capable of attacking the ruins themselves, an attack suffered during a recent excursion into the swamp has left several of the guards with severe injuries - indeed, one of their number, Butterwort, never made it back. Rotheld apologises for having been unable to meet the adventuring party – to have sent out scouts now, when their numbers are so depleted, would have rendered the garrison indefensible.

As anticipated, security is tight here. As a special precaution aimed at catching any changelings, Rotheld has a guard make a cut on each person’s right arm, to ensure that they bleed blood instead of sap. Their blood samples are retained for analysis by the garrison's medic, Doctor Pooter, an expert on Forest corruption, who claims to be on the brink of curing contamination by fungal spores. The good doctor gladly cures our heroes of their remaining afflictions in defiance of the broken arm he himself has suffered.

Over dinner, the adventurers find themselves with an opportunity to converse with Rotheld's team. Jasine strikes up a conversation with Chelidon Slide, the resident Wheel Paladin; Elias, meanwhile, takes a little time to examine the architecture of the ruins, discerning the intent of those who constructed them: this was a place of worship.

===== Debrief =====

===== Consequences =====

====Eli Jin====

  * Gains 1 Favour;
  * Understands that the Plane of Dream is where minds go when someone sleeps, though most people aren't aware of this. Shouting this to the rooftops would be unwise.

====Elias of Estaban====

  * Gains 2 Favour;
  * Gains various trinkets from the temple (these can't be fenced until Find a Buyer is acquired, but can be stored secretly without fear of incrimination);
  * Understands that these items belonged to a cult which was divided into a rigid hierarchy and based around the ritual consumption of blood.

====Gemini Doubt====

  * No Favour for the bad forest monstrosity;
  * Gains a cup through which Gemini can communicate with an entity describing itself as //The Chalice//. The Chalice offers control, but wants followers;
  * On strict probation with the Foresters Guild following 'enhanced interrogation' - if he brings the Guild into disrepute again, they will withdraw their protection (this almost certainly means death).

====Jasine====

  * Gains 1 Favour.

====Jeremiah Stingelhelm of Telemere====

  * Gains 1 Favour;
  * Gains five samples: sap from Gemini, Eli, Pooter and Butterwort, plus traces of a 'sedative' that is actually pure forest corruption;
  * Understands that the sedative is the purest forest nastiness, followed by the changeling blood, Butterwort's blood, and then that of the two forest touched. Forest 'possession' seems to work in the following way: the forest infects you, kills you, and then corrupts your body. It is only at the point of death that someone is definitively and completely beyond redemption. 

====Kaeris Oriole====

  * Gains 1 Favour.

====Lyra Averick====

  * Gains 1 Favour;
  * Gains a jar of spores.

{{tag>"sanctuary" adventure eli_jin elias_of_estaban gemini_doubt jasine jeremiah_stingelhelm kaeris_oriole lyra_averick}}
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