Session Recap: Wood Elves, Mutilation, and the Mi-Go

 They woke up the next morning to the realization that Porphyria was missing, and immediately started making plans to go looking for her. Over breakfast, Isidor Wake told them that with the help of several other men of the village, he'd managed to clean up the old abandoned farm and wanted them to have it to thank them for rescuing Thomas. When they expressed their plans to go out looking for Porphyria, Isidor suggested that they should take his eldest daughter, Asenath, out with them on their adventure, because she's been looking for an opportunity to get involved in that sort of thing but hasn't had the opportunity because of how rare adventurers are in Vohlespil. They agreed, and set out for the woods. 

Combing the area, they found Porphyria's battered sandal on the ground near an entrance to the woods - through the ancient ribs of a cyclopean beast - and a trail of vines, between the first and second crossings, near the area where they'd lost Porphyria. Faye found a set of tracks that seemed to be Porphyria's - a woman's tracks, with one bare foot and one shoe on. Following the tracks along the path, they came to the first crossing - the flooded stream that ran hard and fast. A smashed boat lay in the middle of the stream, stretching from end to end. Araxie tested it to see if it would hold weight (since she's the lightest), and determined that it would, but it probably wouldn't hold them all at the same time. Araxie crossed first, then Faye, then Asenath (since she's the heaviest, because she's over 6 feet tall and is super muscular). As Asenath hopped off the ruined boat on the other side, an arrow whizzed through the air and hit the deck just where her boot had been seconds earlier. Araxie looked around and saw the head of a strange earthy green creature with long ears and skin like a knotted tree watching them from the treetops. She pulled out her gun, but before she could fire, it had disappeared into the trees. 

Asenath left the arrow in, waiting until she could find an appropriate way to staunch the bleeding. On the other side of the stream, they found themselves in a dry streambed - a tributary that had run dry, and dusty as fuck. Faye picked up Porphyria's tracks again and they followed them north. She climbed a tree to scout ahead, while Araxie and Asenath listened closely for signs of trouble. Unable to see anything past the trees, Faye climbed back down and scouted ahead a little. An arrow from the treeline hit her in the shoulder, and hearing Faye's shout, Araxie and Asenath ran to her ready for a fight. Araxie spotted three of these naked mottled tree-like elf-esque creatures in the treeline. One tackled her from above, and she put her pistol against its stomach and blew a hole straight through it. The creature was still alive, though, and it climbed a tree and ran away before Araxie could even get up. Asenath beheaded another creature with her claymore, and Faye ended up in what basically amounted to a really intense duel with the third. She swung and missed, and they clashed swords. Faye pushed the creature away from her, and Araxie shot it in the head. The creatures bleed green-brown sap-like blood, the stench of which they'd been smelling on the air since they entered the woods.

Araxie, Faye, and Asenath continued onwards on high alert, weapons drawn, and passed by a circle of mushrooms and a circle of standing stones. Past the standing stones, still following Porphyria's tracks, they found a path of jagged quartz as clouds started to roll in, looking like rain. Faye and Asenath could walk the road of jagged quartz with their thick boots, but Araxie, barefoot, couldn't move at any speed along it without cutting up her feet badly. Along the sides of the path ran a line of totems, three to four feet high, carved in the shape of hideous tentacle creatures. They slowly started to realize that they were in the ruins of an ancient graveyard. 

Araxie climbed the totems and crossed that way, while Asenath and Faye walked along the quartz road. Porpyhria's tracks became even easier to follow, because her feet were badly bleeding, so the tracks were easy to spot. After a few minutes walking, they were met by a volley of arrows that they managed to dodge by hiding behind the totems. Araxie shot one of the creatures, and it's lifeless body fell from the treetops. Asenath killed another with her bow, and Faye fired but missed another with her blowdarts. The creatures then started moving around in the treetops, and the party wasn't really able to spot them. They ducked to the other side of the totems and hoped for the best. Arrows whizzed past them, sticking in the totems. Araxie managed to spot them emerging from the trees. She killed another, Asenath narrowly missed one, and Faye wounded one but it fled. Araxie dropped her guns and drew her sword and charged towards the creatures coming from the tree line while Asenath and Faye covered her with missile fire. Reaching one of the creatures, Araxie crossed blades with it. She cut off its arm, but it kept fighting, picking up the sword it had dropped and stabbing her through the stomach, pinning her to the ground with it's blade. Araxie was badly wounded, bleeding out. Faye fired on the creature that had impaled Araxie and killed it, then Asenath killed another with her bow. A handful of others fled, and Faye took to the treeline after them, out for fucking blood. The creatures were ready for her, though, and Faye's efforts were met with a blade that opened her stomach and sent her careening to the forest floor, bleeding heavily, dying, holding her organs in with her fist. 

Asenath tried to communicate with Araxie through gestures to determine if Araxie thought it would be a good idea to remove the sword from her stomach, but Asenath, not being especially articulate, couldn't figure out a way to communicate the question coherently. She went to check on Faye, and found her dying too, then struck out into the woods to see if she could find any herbs that would help her friends. A rustling in the trees followed her. Asenath found a type of corpse nettle that she knew slowed bleeding and encouraged clotting when chewed. She picked it and returned to Araxie and Faye. She had Faye chew the nettles, then carried her carefully into the road where Araxie lay dying. Managing to communicate a little more efficiently with Faye's help, Asenath told Araxie that she was going to remove the sword and give her something to help her. She removed the sword carefully, without doing any additional damage, then fed Araxie nettles. Their bleeding slowed, and Asenath then tended to herself. She yanked the arrow out of her own shoulder. She was met with a spurt of blood, but when she chewed the nettles, the bloodflow slowed down considerably, clotting and starting to scab over. 

Asenath carried Araxie and Faye deeper into the woods and covered them over with blankets and leaves to hide them from predators, then struck out further along the road in search of help, hoping that maybe further along, Porphyria had found someone and was perhaps staying with them. Further along the road, Asenath found a ruined church overgrown with vines. Through the window she saw candlelight, despite the seemingly abandoned look of the place. With her bow out, she walked into the church. She saw someone moving in the shadows near the back of the church and called out: "Who's there?"

A woman wrapped tightly in a black cloak - nothing showing but her face and her feet - stepped out of the shadows and asked Asenath in a strange buzzing voice if she was here to kill her. Asenath told her that she was just looking for help, and the woman told her to lower her bow. Asenath did, and the woman introduced herself as Sister Aldonta, a nun from the church, the last survivor of a massacre. She told Asenath about a meteorite that had landed behind the church, and creatures that crawled from it had massacred the other nuns, leaving her as the only survivor. Asenath asked Aldonta why she hadn't left the church, and Aldonta told her that she had sealed the fungoid creatures from beyond the stars in the catacombs and that she had to be there to keep the wards up. She then explained that the fungoid creatures weren't really dangerous, but that what had occured with the other nuns had effectively been a very confused first contact. The nuns tried to kill the fungoid creatures out of fear, and the fungoid creatures fought back. Aldonta had been spared because she hadn't tried to kill the fungoid creatures, but instead had tried to communicate with them. She told Asenath that the fungoid creatures were scientists and philosophers, with technology that humans could never even imagine, and that they could easily help Asenath's wounded friends. She told Asenath about how the creatures were slowly learning how to exist among humans from books she brought them, and stories travellers told, and that they intended to eventually enter the human world in disguise so they wouldn't be slaughtered. The fungoid creatures, according to Aldonta, would likely heal her wounded friends for little more than a story of the outside world that intrigued them so greatly. 

Asenath told Aldonta that she was more than interested, and asked for Aldonta's help in bringing her friends to the church. Aldonta agreed, and they struck out together as it started to rain. Despite being barefoot, Aldonta walked the quartz path without pain, and when it started raining, the rain slid off of Aldonta's hair and skin like it would slide off of a raincoat. Asenath being a naive farmgirl who'd just left home for the first time though, didn't really think to question any of this. She chatted with Aldonta casually and friendlily. They ran into one of the tree-like creatures in their path, but before Asenath could draw her sword and attack it, Aldonta shooed it away, sending it scurrying into the trees. When Asenath asked Aldonta how she had scared the creature away, Aldonta told her that she was just good at communicating. They reached the part of the woods where Asenath had left Araxie and Faye, and picked them up, carried them back to the church. 

Aldonta led Asenath down into the catacombs beneath the church while telling her about the miraculous healing tincture that the fungoid creatures made from special mushrooms that grew around the church. At the foot of a massive spiral staircase, Asenath saw a woman sleeping with one shoe on, one shoe off. She told Aldonta that she thought that might be the woman she and Araxie and Faye had been looking for, but that she couldn't be sure since she'd never met her before. Aldonta led Asenath deeper into the catacombs, where she came face to face with the fungoid space creatures for the first time.

Scared out of her mind, Asenath backed away as the fungoid creature spoke to her in a buzzing, piping language that she couldn't understand. Aldonta told her not to worry, that they really were friendly, and that they had helped the sleeping woman near the stairs, as proof that they were kindly. Aldonta and Asenath lay Araxie and Faye's unconscious bodies on the ground and the fungoid creatures drug them away into the darkness. Aldonta led Asenath upstairs and offered her the mushroom tincture for her own wounds. Asenath wanted it, so Aldonta went down into the catacombs to retrieve it, telling Asenath that the healing process would take the rest of the day and into the night.

While she was waiting, Asenath explored the chapel. She found a massive painting behind the altar of a group of people being burned alive inside a collapsing church, titled Trial by Fire. On the altar, she found a leatherbound bible, but when she looked inside, it didn't look like any bible she'd ever seen. The frontispiece read The Black Rites of E'leten'kehrena, as Passed Down to Women by the Elder Things, and the inside described various horrific rituals devoted to ancient and powerful alien gods - Shal'Nakath, Ia'Ioway, Aoine-Iphion, and most importantly, the swirling chaos E'leten'kehrena. She found a page describing a ritual to a summon a shoggoth, but the second half of the ritual was missing, a page torn out. Aldonta came up from the catacombs, and Asenath quickly shut the book, scared that Aldonta would be angry with her for poking around. Aldonta wasn't though. She encouraged Asenath to read the book. Asenath said "You're not the normal kind of nun", and Aldonta agreed. She explained a little of her black religious rites while injecting the tincture into Asenath's shoulder. Asenath's wound sealed, but she felt something growing in her shoulder, like it was filling the hole with something else. 

The woman from the foot of the stairs came up from the catacombs, and Aldonta went down below, leaving them to talk. The woman identified herself as Porphyria, and asked Asenath why Araxie and Faye had left her in the woods. Not knowing all the details, Asenath tried to reassure Porpyhria that Araxie and Faye care about her, and that it must have been a mistake. Porphyria told Asenath that she's almost glad it happened, because it taught her how to fend for herself a little. They talked a little, mostly about their lack of experience. Asenath asked Porphyria if the tincture really worked, and Porphyria opened her robe, showing Asenath a scar where one of the tree-creatures had shot her with an arrow. Asenath got all embarassed by seeing Porphyria half-naked, and started rambling about how she's never had sex, has never even kissed anyone, has never experience so many things in life. Porphyria showed Asenath ridges of mushroom matter that had begun to grow on her arms, around her wrists, and when Asenath checked, she found the same growing on her own arms. Asenath rambled about how she has a bit of a crush on Araxie but Araxie is way too old for her, and Porphyria talked about how she has a bit of a crush on Araxie and Faye both. Porphyria referred to Aldonta as Alfrieda, telling Asenath that she was fairly sure that that was what she'd been told. Asenath decided that she must have misheard, and then she and Porphyria chatted and flirted for the rest of the day, because being only 20, Porphyria is solidly not too old for Asenath.

Night fell, and Asenath got ready for bed. Aldonta/Alfrieda brought Araxie and Faye up from below and laid them down in beds in a side room off the chapel - the same room where Asenath and Porphyria were going to sleep. Asenath asked Aldonta/Alfrieda if there was a safe way out of the forest, where they could hide more easily from the creatures in the forest, and Aldonta/Alfrieda told her about a path to the east of the chapel, past a ruined wall and a crumbling house, where there was a path of blackened grass where one could find their way out if they followed the sound of the bluebird's call. Asenath and Porphyria went to sleep, and Aldonta/Alfrieda retired to her chambers.

Asenath and the now mostly-healed Araxie and Faye were awakened at 2am by screaming. Three fungoid creatures in their room, the floor covered in arcane chalk etchings, Porphyria on the floor with her robe torn open, and one of the fungoid creatures about to stab Porphyria with a ritual dagger. The shell-like mask that had been Aldonta/Alfrieda's face lay on the floor, along with a shell that had been her feet, visible beneath her cloak. Panicking, Asenath charged the fungoid creature that was about to stab Porphyria, shoulder-tackling it against the wall and shouting for the others to grab their backpacks and run while she held the fungoid creatures off. Araxie grabbed her backpack and took off running. Faye ran to the door, got her backpack on, then decided to try to stay and help Asenath. Porphyria, in a panic, hid under the bed. Asenath drew a knife from her belt and stabbed one of the fungoid creatures repeatedly, pulping its head. It fell back against the wall, unmoving. The fungoid creatures swung their claws at Asenath, but with a berserker yell, she pushed them back and fended off their attacks. Faye tried to attack the fungoid creatures but they buffeted her with their wings. From the doorway, Araxie fired, blasting through the wings of one of the creatures, then ran for it, heading for the door of the church. Asenath begged Faye to run, then jumped over the bed and tried to kick it at the two fungoid creatures to cover Porphyria's escape. She fucked up though, and just ended up tipping the bed upwards, exposing Porphyria to the fungoid creatures more than she'd been to begin with. The fungoid creature pushed the bed back down, pinning Asenath under it. She shouted to Faye and Porphyria that this was why she'd told them to run, then managed to push the table up a bit and slide out from under it. Porphyria scuttled out from under the other bed and took off running after Araxie. Asenath stabbed another of the creatures, wounding it, then grabbed her pack and she and Faye headed for the door. Asenath slammed the door shut and held it in place while the fungoid creatures slammed themselves against it. Asenath begged Faye to run, and told her that she'd be right behind her, and Faye finally did, darting out into the churchyard while Asenath held the bedroom door shut. Once Faye was outside, she let go of the door and ran herself, the fungoid creatures pursuing her. 

Not knowing about the path Asenath had learned about, Araxie and Porphyria ran towards the quartz path, trying to go out the way they'd come in. Porphyria's one remaining sandal gave way under the sharp quartz, and she and Araxie both mutilated the soles of their feet pretty badly. Porphyria couldn't walk, so Araxie had to carry her. Araxie ran to the end of the quartz road, stumbling on bloodied feet, and reached the dry riverbed, the dust stinging her feet badly. Looking back to see if they were being followed, Araxie spotted a hunting party of the tree-creatures pursuing them. Arrows whizzed past her head, and Araxie didn't stop running. She turned back and fired one of her pistols, killing one of the creatures, then found a vine-covered path leading to the north. She took it, finding a way out of the forest, but the tree-creatures were still in pursuit. Turning, she killed another with her second pistol, then ran for a stream, where she washed her feet clean so she wouldn't leave a bloody trail. She hid behind a rock and read her map by the light of the moon, trying to get her bearings. The tree-creatures spread out through the area, hooping and hollering, but eventually they gave up when they didn't find Araxie and Porphyria. 

Once she was sure the last of the creatures had returned to the forest, Araxie picked up Porphyria and started towards home. She circled around a mountain, found a road, and walked a couple of hours in the dark, finally finding the Mosna River. She followed it towards home. It started raining horribly, but they made it back to Vohlespil in one piece. They nearly got lost in the city trying to find the Wake Farm, but eventually Araxie found her way home, a little past sun-up.

Meanwhile, Asenath and Faye ran in the opposite direction, not slowing their pace until they were sure they'd lost the fungoid creatures. They hid in the ruins of a crumbling wall, and made their way past a collapsed building. Asenath searched for the path Aldonta/Alfrieda had told her about for over an hour, stumbling in the dark, worried that light would give them away. Finally, she found the swath of blackened underbrush, and heard the sound of bluebirds. She and Faye followed the path through the brush. Between the tree branches, they couldn't see the sky, the moon. All they could see was an otherworldly colored light dancing across the heavens. Faye got scared that they'd walked into a trap, but Asenath insisted on not turning back, afraid to brave the original path and risk running into the tree-creatures again. Faye started rambling about how the mushroom-y ridges growing on her arms are probably some sort of fungoid infection that will have to be cut out eventually so it won't take over her brain, and Asenath tried to calm her down, by reminding her that they didn't know what was going to happen, that there was no way to know right now so she needed to just chill. They walked along the path for hours and chatted. Asenath told Faye about how when she was fighting the fungoid creatures, all she could think about was all the things in life she'd never done - how she'd never had sex, never been kissed for real, never fallen in love, never even left her hometown. She tried to flirt with Faye, but Faye shut her down by telling her that she'd lied about her age - that she's actually 25, not 20 - and that just like Araxie, she's too old too. Asenath talked about how despite all the danger, this whole adventure was exciting, and better than the life she'd thought she was going to end up with - working as a shepherdess forever, tending to the farm, eventually being married off to a she didn't want to be with, having kids. Faye told Asenath that she wishes she could have a calm life, which Asenath didn't understand. Faye got to worrying some more, and Asenath distracted her by asking her about her travels. She made Faye promise that if they survived this night, they'd go to Litnovisk together someday, since neither of them have ever been. That calmed Faye down a bit, and finally they found the end of the path. The blackened brush and the bluebird's song let out onto the main path, just before the crashed boat on the stream crossing. 

They crossed and made their way back to town, spotting three orbs of otherworldly light dancing over a lake while people on the opposite side of the lake danced around a fire. Following the road, they made their way back to the Wake Farm as the sun rose. Isidor and an unknown man in his mid-twenties with the telltale Wake features came to greet them. Asenath ran into her father's arms, and he nearly cried over how happy he was that she'd come back alive. Asenath asked her father if Faye could rest at their house for a while so she wouldn't have to start setting things up at her own farmhouse while she was sleep-deprived, which Isidor agreed to. Asenath then asked the young man who he was, and he told her that she was surprised that she didn't recognize her own brother. Isidor told her that while Thomas is at an age where boys grow like weeds, he doesn't understand this, but he's seen stranger things in the world before. Asenath hugged her brother and returned to the house. Faye went to sleep and Asenath took a bath, then waited up in hopes that Araxie and Porphyria would come home soon. About half an hour after she finished her bath, they came in. After their excited reunion, everyone went to sleep. 

Faye slept all day, and Araxie spent the next day trying to find books in a language she could read, with little success. She gave up and got to work setting up the new house with Asenath's help. After lunch, Asenath carried Porphyria up to the hayloft and Porphyria told her about how she felt more confident in her own abilities to survive after everything that had happened, and that she wanted to join them in future adventures. She and Asenath then had sex in the hayloft, curing Asenath's 'I might die without ever having had sex" anxiety. The rest of the day was spent in relative quiet.