OSRIC Session Journal: To Kill A Fairy

It's been ten weeks or so since last we played, and I felt a little less focused than usual possibly because of the long time between games.

There was a lot of summarizing from the last time considering the major NPC/plot developments. We followed the druid as he led us down a hole that lie at the base of an oak tree. There was quite a cave system below, and the dwarves recognized the tunnels of giant rats. The druid had assured everyone that we had nothing to fear down here, that he'd been here before, and that he was after a magic relic that would aid us in overcoming the strange malady effecting the area. Down a short passage and continuing to follow the druid, we climbed down a long steep incline entering a large chamber that was obviously a shrine of some kind. There were a few rat-like humanoids there who called out that worship services were not for some days.

The druid began a discussion with them about how his order had sent him to borrow their relic and they were agreeable having dealt with his circle before - but they required collateral in the form of one of our party. We’d left the porter up on the surface with the horses, and Gladric helpfully suggested he retrieve the poor bugger for this purpose, but instead Sidre (the druid’s lover) volunteered.

In these OSRIC games I’m a player - so far this session had seemed a little too melodramatic. I was also beginning to feel more like an NPC myself, witnessing the interactions of the NPCs and not really having a lot to do with anything.

When we got above ground we asked him where he thought we should go next and the druid replied to the north. It was then that I decided to try and take some control back and made a case for us returning to a location we’d previously mapped in the wilderness. It was a well on a distant hill where there was a scantily clad, beautiful female (who could blame me?) Gladric asked the druid about her and was told he was aware of her and that she frequently lured passersby to their deaths. I was able to convince the party that we could do a good deed as well as recover some treasure for hiring some additional porters or men-at-arms.

So we set out for it and approached the well cautiously from all sides simultaneously, slowly closing in on it. We called out for her to surrender or die. When we were a short distance from the well, the ground suddenly gave way beneath three of our number. The earth where they’d been standing was an illusion and they fell thirty feet down into a ravine. One of the druid’s men was killed instantly, our porter and the cleric Ouze were near death.

At this point the creature flew up from out of the well. She was semi-transparent in appearance and we didn’t know whether she was some kind of fairy, ghost, or something else. When one of the dwarves rolled a 19 and missed, we knew we were in trouble. Benedict tried to turn her but failed. While distracting her, another rescued Ouze with a rope. Things looked grim but Ouze cast Hold Person which somehow made her solid and managed to down her with his magic staff. I think we were pretty lucky. The haul was unexpectedly large, so we should have an easier time finding some help if we’re going to eventually take on the brigands to the north. The druid wasn’t pleased with the digression but the rest of the party (that didn’t die) are pretty happy.