Genasari Has Fallen

The Myste-Hass Calender

23/01/2024

Adventurers follow up on a notice board request, heading out to a farm at the southern edge of the north woods. Harris Farm appears to specialise in dairy cows and cattle.

A short man, skin deeply tanned answers the painted door. He looks as though he may have had a stroke at some point because only half of gappy-toothed face moves.

The man invites the adventurers in and asks about the skills of those applying for his notice. His task involves sending the group north into the mountains to locate a magical device. A friend of his is keen to find the item. He presents a sketch of the device, but he seems unsure what it actually does or the exact proportions and description of the device. He knows that it should be found beneath the ground in a cavern. The artifact is magical, but he has no clear picture of what it does.

The device is lost in an abandoned settlement, Genasari, that was one of the first to fall to Morthel's attacks. The man draws a map that offers a rough guide to find the abandoned settlement.

His friend, Ben, was badly mutilated by Ravaran. He is the one looking for the device. Ben was a magic user, but he no longer has hands or a tongue limited all his arcane abilities. Harris informs the group that Ben has been doing a lot of sketching since his mutilation, but the quality is very poor at best.

The group are offered the reward of one-hundred gold between them. But, Harris claims that there is a lot more available if this item is located. Jim asks for more, and Harris offers him a cow - Buttercup.

Whilst the man goes off to find a lantern for the group, Bellatrix searches his house and eats some of his bread. He offers ale when finding her helping herself to the food.

The man provides the group with a map.

In the past, fires rage throughout the city. For two days, the troop of escapees rest on a mountainside above the forest, watching their home ransacked. They can see little detail, but the screams carry on the wind and they know the destruction wrought by the wizards, gnolls and hobgoblins when they ran.

Your group discuss going back, Gurda is desperate to return to her family, but before the first night is through half of the group are wracked by fever.

Dreen's body hurts in a way he's never experienced. It’s as though all of his muscles have been stretched then shrunk back into place. His neck hurts to move. His eyes water uncontrollably. He's nauseous and thoughts feel foggy.

Only Lucius and Phoenix find themselves untouched by the illness that ails their fellows. Lucius is wearing that slither of the Genai Stone that all Scourers are granted on completing their training. Phoenix is not, but he does not pay much heed to his apparent immunity at first. There is still an orange glow that lights the sky as Genasari smoulders, and his nightmares are reawoken as he watches that flame stricken city.

By day two, Lucius agrees to share his Genai Stone necklace with the group. They take turns wearing it for a few hours, feeling their bodies return to their normal strength. By this time, the city has grown quiet. The Genai monument is gone, and though Phoneix wears the necklace, it doesn’t seem to help the trauma you feel. The flames have died down. But smoke still pours into the mountainside.

Dreen watches with careful eyes, noting how foliage that was once tirelessly kept at bay from the surrounding area of the city has poured through the huge gaps in the wall. They've faced those vine chokers before, and the level of greenery that now blankets Genasari is a frightening concept.

On the third morning, the city is quiet and your troop has regained enough health to scope out the damage and look for survivors.

Dreen is wearing the necklace as the group head back into the city via the sewer entrance that leads to the House of Arcana. Whilst moving through in the darkness, the distinctive smell of soap and bleach becomes apparent.

Eventually, Dreen and Phoneix descern that its a particular ooze developed by the House of Arcana to clean the sewers system, combating the strain placed on the hygiene system by the enclosed system.