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Play Report Jan 6 2026 - Crow's Keep #21

Introduction

Today’s session was a lot of fun, as it was mostly my own keyed hexes and random encounter filling out the game. I had long had up my sleeve an homage to Algernon Blackwood's β€œThe Willows,” but the players have been so petrified of the rumor for it that they refused to land a boat there. One of the advantages of doing essentially 1:1 time is that I can do little things like freeze the river in Keep to see how that changes the players’ interaction with the game world.

The gnoll encounter was mix of a lair keyed in the woods plus a random encounter in the form of the Woodfolk. This is the third or fourth visit to the Mad Hermit's cabin, and something a little different goes down there every time.

I also had begun generating some hidden treasure hoards around the map to encourage some offroading; the table has hit the mid-game, mature sandbox state where they have a small number of frequent locations, so I want to coax them back into the wilderness. Was happy how it came up here!

Report

In attendance:

And retainers Aislinn and Daniel the Blade!

Winter comes to the Keep on the Borderlands. New Year’s cheer fills hearts and tankards as battle lines and rivers freeze. All hope that even Chaos hibernates, and the denizens of the Caves will stay quiet for the season. Still, even during this quiet time the Ogre-whelming Force stays busy!

Glenn was spotted running into the woods, returning weeks later frostbitten and naked, muttering about the Wind. It seems he had an encounter with some force of Chaos, but he would say little…

With the Goblindrink frozen and the happenings at the Keep slowing, the Ogre-whelming Force finally decides to visit the mysterious Willow Island, subject of many a river-going tall tale. Local legend has it that the trees sway strangely there, and that no one who visits returns alive. The band set out in the cold. As they trudged to the riverbank, they noticed a lone goblin wolf rider watching them from a distance.

The island was full of thick and scraping undergrowth, even during the winter. Halfling Heebie Jeebie was especially victimized by the sharp branches and bushes. Eventually, the band came upon a clearing dominated by a blackened and petrified tree of great age. A single green shoot emerged from the dead trunk.

Tan the elf sought the counsel of the King of Elfland, who showed him the image of a tree like an orchestra conductor. The sylvan maestro swayed and made the woods away along with it. A flash of light followed, resulting in the conductor going still–but for one of its green fingers.

Heebie Jeebie found a bone protruding from the hardened ground. As he hacked away at the frozen earth, a shattered skeleton was revealed, along with a map that seemed to show a location in the hills to the north. At that moment, Tan reached out for the shoot–and a rumbling began.

Two trees uprooted themselves and charged at the band. One of them struck Daniel the Blade with such force that the Force thought him killed outright. Confronted by such violence, the band scattered.

Heebie Jeebie tried to set fire to the green shoot. As the little twig writhed in apparent pain, the attacking trees seized up and refused to move! Tan chopped the twig off the tree, where it fell to the ground and coiled like a startled snake until the elf snatched it up and bagged it. Strand drove her dagger deep into one’s hollow and sap sprayed like arterial blood. Glenn invoked the Toothed Wind, summoning a great windstorm to destroy any fighting foliage that remained.

The band beat a hasty retreat back to the Keep to lick their wounds and pore over the map. A number of the Force recognized the rocky hills and crumbled watchtower where they had faced the griffon some months before. Tan also examined the shoot from the willow island, which had now gone still and become much like a wand. The elf quickly divined the wand's ability to control plants.

Fearing an aerial attack by the surviving griffon, the Force traveled through the woods on foot. As night fell, they opted to stop by the cabin where the late Mad Hermit John once resided to avoid camping in the cold.

Upon arrival, they realized they were not alone. Three badly injured Woodfolk had holed up in the cabin. When they realized who the Force was, they explained that they had come across a gnoll camp and had come off worse for the encounter. A dozen or so gnolls remained and were certain to sweep through the woods that night looking for wounded prey.

Eager to assist, the Ogre-whelming Force hatched a plan to booby-trap the woods around the cabin and lure the gnolls into a deadly ambush. Snares were set and pits were dug throughout the nearby woods. Once satisfied, the band lit the fireplace to draw the gnolls in with the plume of smoke.

After dark, the woods echoed with the whooping and cackling of hunting gnolls, growing ever louder. As the beast-headed hunters converged upon the cabin, several of them fell victim to the traps scattered about the cabin. Their leader, an opal-toothed monster with twin axes, burst through the door and began laying into the band.

Perhaps the King of Elfland was still with Tan that night–as the gnolls arrived, the elf called a host of mighty beasts from Faerie, including a magnificent lord of pumas. The gnolls were pushed out of the cabin by the ghostly stampede, and Tan took advantage of the chaos to put the gnoll leader under an enchantment, turning her against her underlings!

After that, the band had little trouble slaying or driving off the remaining gnolls. Impressed that Tan’s menagerie of summoned beasts had won the day against the gnolls, the Woodfolk bestowed upon him the epithet β€œGnollbane.” The groups parted ways the next morning, the Woodfolk limping off to a nearby camp to resupply before returning to report to Roisin Haregetter.

The band continued along on their treasure hunt, making a treacherous icy climb up the rocky mountain face. Atop the low peak, they found their treasure, seemingly a barrel of fermenting fish?

Unconvinced, Glenn split the barrel open with a mighty whack of his sword. The pungent contents spilled out across the rocky mountaintop, and glittering jewels caught the light oof the winter sun. A small fortune for the crew and their retainers!

With some extra wealth in their pockets, the Force returned to the Keep to warm their bellies with mulled cider. Perhaps winter wouldn't be such a lean time after all…

#b2 #crow's keep #dcc #play reports