shifty louts

Tiny Fables Session 4: The Fallows, a Shadow Thief, an Oath Over Carrots, and Hot Gossip

Players

Cherry Summerholme (Greenie), Bill Pipp (ChaosKnight), Crocus Grant (DD), Cornelius Dunhall (hireling)

Summary

The Month of Star. The Fifth Fair of the Fifth Week.

The group awakens outside of Boris’s Bridge to gale winds and bitter cold. They cross over the bridge for the arduous trek across the vast expanse of the Fallows. Across the landscape, depleted farmland stretching for miles.

Dry soil full of weeds and thorny brambles. To their east lies the Shimmer Bog. Dead trees and islands of moss jut out from the mud. Flecks of silver shine on the surface. A howling wind continues for much of the day.

The group eventually meets two weak-looking bees carrying the last of winter’s pollen back to their hive around Heart-Ache Lake. The weakened bees, Limbly and Bloblu, tell that the lake has grown stagnant and still, driving the Merfolk on land because of the fetid water, and they are building something.

News of the Merfolk comes as a shock to the Mouse Adventurers, who never knew of the Merfolk of Heart-Ache Lake!

Cherry gives Limbly and Bloblu some food for their arduous flight and befriends them. Limbly and Bloblu of a strange tower to the east, guarded by some sort of bird in a pumpkin.

After a truly exhausting day, they arrive at a rolling hill that sees the Tower in the valley, but they need shelter, so they burrow and set out to survey the wizard’s castle after resting for the night.

The Month of Star. The Fifth Fair of the Sixth Week.1

Upon the morrow, Crocus, Bill, and Cornelius are still exhausted, so Cherry opts to investigate the Castle while the others rest. The weather has changed for the worse, the bitter wind has turned to sleet, turning the Fallows into a muddy morass.

Cherry scouts ahead as she sees the Castle. A rotting and withered jack-o-lantern rests atop a tower. She also hears the sound of a chicken, its caw echoing across the tundra.

She also witnesses a group of five Red Rats entering and exiting the tower throughout the day, only for a large, muscular Red Rat to arrive later in the day and seemingly gesticulate wildly at the group of five, clearly the leader!

Cherry returns to their burrow and tells the others what see has seen. A plot is hatched, and the group decides they could pose as members of the Red Rats by finding holly berries and dyeing a strip of fabric to use as a red sash to sneak into the Castle of Chulip.

The group splits into two groups and spends the watch foraging for holly berries, only to find three carrots. While the group forages,  a raven circles in the sky above, cawing. An ill omen, for crows are known to attack mice when they are hungry.

The group decides to use the carrots and rub them on a long piece of clothing Cherry has, but finds the cloth bands a dull orange, not red. More plans are hatched, but the day has been exhausting as Bill, Crocus, and Cornelius still need rest from the trek across the Fallows. The group plans to rest more and then the next day head to the Castle.

In the early morning watch, as Bill watches the burrow entrance, a haunting childhood lullaby is barely whispered in Bill’s ear.

A shadow pours out from the light cast by their fire. Bill turns around to see a figure in a long, ragged cape with shimmering black and gold skin and an elongated head. It holds a writhing shadow of Bill and, in a melodious voice, tells Bill to kneel and pledge his loyalty, or it will turn his shadow into Jabberwocky skin.

Bill, in fear for his life, pledges loyalty. The figure demands that Bill spy upon Mayor Mirabelle and the Brothers of the Branch when he returns to Thimblewood. The figure tells Bill to summon it, light a single candle, and blow it out, and it will appear.

Bill agrees to these terms, and the Shade relinquishes control of Bill’s shadow and disappears. Bill gets drunk on Mabel’s Moonshine to try to forget, and is awoken by the others, who have found Cornelius missing.

His bedroll replaced by a mound of colorful cushions and pillows surrounded by lavender and vanilla-smelling smoke.

The group is distraught and spends another day resting, trying to decide whether to proceed with their plan to Chulip’s Castle now that Cornelius is missing. They figure he has been summoned to the Fae Kingdom by Lady Twiggler's machinations

The Month of Star. The First Fair of the Sixth Week.

The next day, the sleet had left, only leaving more bitter winter winds.

With the group rested up,  Bill is unsure of what to do, torn between Chulip’s Castle and his business associate Cornelius’s whereabouts, but the group decides to push forward, as the fate of Thimblewood lies in their paws!

Their sashes are still a light orange, so Crocus cuts his paw, using his blood to deepen the color of the fabric. Bill slices his paw, as does Cherry. A blood oath sworn over carrots! They group breaks down camp, and they proceed to Chulip’s Castle. They see a fae flying their direction. Cherry hails the Fae.

They find the butterfly-winged fae wearing a thimble for a helm, carrying a rapier. They have golden hair with feline eyes. Adorned in frills and lace with a lilting voice and lithe frame. The fae introduces themselves as Milton or “Silver-and-Quicksilver.”

They are the nephew of the Royal Advisor Tylwig. On a geas to become a knight to appease his uncle to slay the “fire-breathing fiend” at this tower.

Milton is curious to find three others on a quest and mentions seeing a mammal like themselves follow Lady Twiggler around like a lost “bumblebee-puppy” at last night’s Winter Cotillion. They should come! The group would be a delight at the next Cotillion being held!

The group asks Milton for a favor. If he could fly to the castle and see if there are any safe entrances, as the front gate has Red Rats. Milton agrees, charmed by the “delightful creatures,” but asks for gossip in return.

Bill tells him a story of how he got his 20p IOU from a Lord Mckingsinton for services rendered for acquiring a “blue pill” (some sort of potion to help with having a new litter). For that delicious crumble of gossip.

Milton gives Crocus a “jar of morning dew”, seemingly mistaking Bill for Crocus, and hints that the Fae King Sylvester isn’t the true heir to the Kingdom. There is a long-lost child of Lord Nectarius (the previous Fae King), who is the rightful heir, somewhere in the forest!

With gossip exchanged, Milton flutters off towards the Castle to find another entrance for the Mice!

Aftermath

Treasure Found:

Foes Encountered:

Rumors:

Deaths:

XP Awarded:

Notes

  1. The Next Winter Cotillion (theme: Chalice-at-Duskviolet) at the Fae Kingdom is being held at night. Cornelius gets teleported through a circle of colorful cushions and pillows surrounded by sweet-smelling smoke because he holds the invitation given to him by Lady Clementine Twiggler, “Sunbeams’ Last Breath”↩