Chucklehead’s Bargain and the Wyrmling’s Tune

Session 3.2 began with the party arriving at Loomlurch, a massive treent that served as the dwelling of Skabatha, one of the three hags of the Hourglass Coven. Determined to rescue the children being held captive inside, the party crossed a bridge, proceeding quietly.

They soon encountered five goblins selling treats from their carts. After a brief discussion, the goblins led the party to Chucklehead, the leader of the market. Chucklehead, who suffered from a peculiar condition—a “maggot” that made him good and compassionate—mumbled to himself constantly.

Filbert, in a clever attempt to gain Chucklehead’s trust, convinced the goblin leader that he, too, had a maggot in his head. This shared affliction warmed Chucklehead to the party, and he agreed to help them reach Skabatha. Before escorting them to Skabatha, Chucklehead treated himself to a piece of candy that caused him to triple in size temporarily. He explained that the candy’s effects could vary, demonstrating its unpredictable nature. He then offered Zahala a piece of dragonfly toffee, suggesting she save it for later.

Chucklehead then led the party to the parlor at the entrance of Loomlurch, using a whistle to signal their arrival. Inside, they finally met Skabatha, a formidable hag with a key protruding from her back. Despite her fearsome appearance, Skabatha greeted the party warmly. She sensed a hint of the feywild about Acornagorn and playfully teased Zahala about her lost item.

The parlor housed a large musical box, which Skabatha encouraged the party to activate. Turning the crank, they unleashed a cacophony of sound—a horrid song that seemed to claw at their ears. However, the musical box remained stubbornly closed.

Undeterred, the party decided to try their hand at a performance, hoping to appease Skabatha and perhaps trigger the box’s mechanism. Their attempt, unfortunately, fell flat. Their group performance check resulted in an eerie and dissonant melody that sent shivers down their spines. To their surprise, Skabatha, rather than being repulsed, found their terrible music oddly endearing. She carefully transcribed their performance, noting that she had a particular fondness for poorly executed music.

Filbert, ever the optimist, encouraged Zahala to give the musical box another go. He then attempted to use his illusion magic to enhance her performance. However, despite their combined efforts, the musical box remained unresponsive.

Skabatha then decided to take matters into her own hands. With a mischievous glint in her eye, she turned the crank for a third time. The box sprang to life, but instead of a traditional tune, it played back the party’s atrocious music. Skabatha, it seemed, had a wicked sense of humor.

As their discordant melody filled the parlor, the musical box finally opened, revealing Cradlefall, a wyrmling dragon.

Turning her attention to Zahala, Skabatha offered a proposition: she would willingly return Zahala’s lost item in exchange for a favor—interrupting a theatrical performance by Endelyn Moongrave, another member of the Hourglass Coven. Skabatha hinted that she had other tasks the party could help her with, suggesting a potential for future bargains.

Before Filbert could launch into another performance, the sound of blaring alarms echoed through Loomlurch. Skabatha, visibly concerned, ordered the party to behave themselves before vanishing from the parlor.

With Skabatha gone, the party decided to explore Loomlurch. In the workshop, they discovered three captive children and a supply of boggle oil, which they collected for Squirt. Moving on, they found a room filled with ten empty, three-foot-tall houses. They then entered a long hallway that led to a central chamber adorned with paintings.

Five paintings hung on the walls, each depicting a different figure: the three hags of the Hourglass Coven, Tasha (a powerful witch), and Baba Yaga (a mysterious and ancient figure from folklore). Through a series of events, Zahala managed to recover Skabatha’s painting from the chamber. They decided to leave the other paintings undisturbed.

Ascending to the upper level, the party encountered Will, who emerged from a room accompanied by a group of children. “YOU HAD ONE JOB,” he exclaimed, exasperated by their detour. He instructed the party to return to the workshop and retrieve the remaining children.

Back in the workshop, the party faced off against two boggles, grotesque creatures that guarded the captive children. After a fierce battle, they vanquished the boggles, freeing the children from their clutches. Will then escorted the children back to the safety of his treetop home.

Determined to free Mishka, the party made their way to the kitchen. Picking the lock, they found Mishka chained inside, along with a massive oven and a pit covered by a grate. Trapped within the pit was a dwarf named Elkhorn.

Working quickly, the party released Mishka from her chains and removed the grate covering the pit, freeing Elkhorn. With a combination of stealth and cunning, the party, along with Mishka and Elkhorn, managed to escape Loomlurch undetected.

Back at Little Oak, Will and the rest of the children greeted them with relief. Elkhorn, touched by the children’s plight, volunteered to stay and watch over them. Will assured them that they could remain at Little Oak for the time being. Exhausted from their harrowing ordeal in Loomlurch, the party settled down for a long rest.

• You started in Little Oak with Will and his three companions, Squirt the Oilcan in Acornagorn’s bag, and a long rest behind you.
• Will agreed to try to get Star home to Dirlagraun if you would help release the children in Loomlurch, which you happily agreed to do.
• Will told you his plan, which included a distraction and y’all meeting with Skabatha until the distraction happened. He also described Loomlurch to you and drew you a map of it.
• You started at Loomlurch on a path across from the tree—a massive dead oak lying on its side. Three trees grow up out of it like towers and you could see candlelit rooms in the towers. You also saw two bridges, and knowing that the one on the right lead to the Goblin Market, you crossed the bridge quietly.
• At the market, you encountered five goblins, four in the carts filled with buggy treats, and one with a massive toffee apple head.
• Some discussion with the goblins led you to Chucklehead, the leader of the Market. He mutters to himself, he told you, because he has a maggot eating him from the inside out—but it also has turned him good and compassionate.
• Filbert convinced him that Filbert also has a maggot in his head, which made Chucklehead warm up to you.
• Filbert and Acornagorn “went to the bathroom” to discuss the plan while Chucklehead and Zahala stayed behind.
• Chucklehead ate a candy, which tripled his size temporarily. He explained a whole set of effects the candy can have on a person and gave Zahala a piece of dragonfly toffee to hang onto for later.
• Chucklehead finally convinced you to meet Skabatha.
• He took you to the parlor at the entryway to Loomlurch after blowing some kind of whistle.
• Once in the parlor, you met Skabatha, a terrifying-looking hag with a key coming out of her back.
• She greeted you warmly, smelled a little bit of the feywild on Acornagorn, and gave Zahala a hard time about having her lost item.
• You turned a crank on a big musical box, which played a horrid song. When it popped open nothing happened.
• You tried to do a performance but your group performance check failed and your song was eerie. Skabatha wrote down the music because she liked how bad it was.
• Filbert tried to have Zahala turn the crank again and then produce a minor illustion, but it didn’t work very well.
• Skabatha then went and turned the crank a third time—and this time it played your bad music (as a little joke from Skabatha)—and out popped a wyrmling dragon she called Cradlefall.
• Skabatha told Zahala she’d be willing to exchange her lost item for a favor—interrupting Endelyn Moongrave’s theatrical performance. She also said she needs a few other favors, if you’re willing to help her out.
• Filbert got himself ready to do a performance but was interrupted by the sound of the scarecrow alarms going off in the distance. Skabatha told you to behave yourselves and she disappeared.
• You went through the workshop—where you saw three children and got some boggle oil for Squirt.
• You went into the next room and found 10 little three-foot-tall houses, all empty
• You found yourselves in a long hallway.
• At the end of the hallway, you found the central room with paintings. There were five of them—one each of the three hags, one of Tasha, and one of Baba Yaga.
• There was some DM misunderstanding which resulted in the paintings getting retrofitted with Zahala’s family, but we fixed that by redoing the rolls, and Zahala was successfully able to recover Skabatha’s painting. After some conversation you decided to leave the rest of the paintings behind.
• You went upstairs, where you encountered Will coming out of a room with a bunch of children. “YOU HAD ONE JOB” he said, and he sent you back to get the children from the workshop.
• In the workshop, you battled two Boggles, eventually destroying them so the children could be free. Will took them with him back tot he tree.
• You decided to go to the kitchen to see if you could recover Mishka. After unlocking the door to the kitchen, you found her standing there in chains. You also discovered a massive oven and a pit with a grate over it holding a dwarf named Elkhorn.
• You successfully released the chain and the cover to the pit, and Elkhart and Mishka and the rest of the party succeeded on a group stealth check to escape Loomlurch.
• Back at Little Oak, Will and the rest of the children were glad to see you. Elkhart volunteered to stay with the children and Will said they could stay at Little Oak for now.
• You took a long rest.
• You are contemplating going back to Loomlurch.
• You know that:
  • Somewhere there is a unicorn without a horn.
  • Somewhere there is a horn without a unicorn, which was used to defeat zybilna and may be necessary to release her.
  • Zahala’s lost item is still in Loomlurch somewhere.
  • Skabatha wants you to go interrupt Endelyn’s theater performance.
  • You have a painting you plan to give to Bavlorna.
  • You have given Squirt what he needs to be willing to take you to Yon.
  • There is a dandelion in Yon somewhere who knows the way to the Zybilna’s Palace of Heart’s Desire.the worlds heart