Lighting the Beacons & Entering Motherhorn

The session began with the party standing at the end of the chasm, having just parted ways with Obud and Keg. Retracing their steps with Molliver and Trig, they journeyed to Lockbury Henge. There, the long-standing animosity between the brigganocks and korreds reached a heartwarming resolution, as both groups pledged their support to the party’s cause in Loomlurch, should they be called upon.

A Child’s Woe and Fey Beacons’ Glow

Their journey continued towards the Fey Beacons, a path that led them to a serendipitous encounter with a young girl struggling with her kite. Ribbons, imbued with a peculiar magic, adorned the kite, threatening to age the girl prematurely if they weren’t removed before its release. The girl’s frustration, palpable and potent, seemed to influence the wind itself, causing the kite to lash out with its animated face. The party, with their characteristic blend of empathy and quick thinking, calmed the distressed child, causing the kite to peacefully descend and allowing them to safely remove the enchanted ribbons. In a heartwarming display of gratitude, the girl gifted them a moss-covered child’s parasol. Filbert, ever drawn to trinkets, received four blue ribbons.

Reaching the Fey Beacons, the party found Prince Alagarthas locked in a repetitive, seemingly futile cycle. He would painstakingly ascend the beacons, ignite them, only to have a group of Perytons extinguish the flames before he could move on to the next. This had been his relentless routine for decades.

The Greyhawk Mummers’ Tale

Alagarthas revealed to the party the nature of Endelyn’s castle—a grand, if terrifying, theater where she orchestrated plays for her own amusement, always seeking new players for her twisted productions. He went on to explain the origin of the Perytons. They were once the Greyhawk Mummers, a troupe of actors renowned for their pantomimes, who had captured Alagarthas’s attention with their performances. Endelyn invited them to Motherhorn, where their success ultimately proved to be their undoing. Their fame fueled their egos, making them difficult to manage, a transgression Endelyn wouldn’t tolerate. She imprisoned them, but when they pleaded for release, the hag granted their wish—with a cruel twist. Transforming them into Perytons, she stripped them of their voices.

Acornagorn, through a combination of skill and empathy, managed to communicate with the Perytons. He learned of their profound longing for their lost craft, a yearning that resonated deeply with the party, especially the ever-theatrical Filbert. Encouraged by Filbert’s enthusiasm, the party persuaded the Perytons to perform once more. Their performance, a poignant echo of their former glory, captivated the party, who responded with thunderous applause. Their spirits lifted, the Perytons soared away, their mission to entertain fulfilled. With their interference gone, Alagarthas was free to light all eight beacons. The deep pool at their base shimmered, revealing an image of his woodland home. With a decisive plunge, he dove into the portal, leaving the material plane behind and returning to his own realm.

The Understage Beckons

Choosing to venture into Motherhorn, the party ascended the secret passage concealed within the brigganock mine. At the entrance, they left Gleam and Amidor, trusting in their promise to answer the call should their aid be needed.

The understage of Motherhorn awaited. There, they encountered a peculiar sight—a skeleton, animated and ensnared in its own puppet strings. Filbert became entangled as well. Zahala, with a deft touch, freed both the skeleton and the hapless Filbert. The skeleton, introducing himself as Break-a-leg, proved to be a font of useful, if somewhat unsettling, information. He revealed Endelyn’s deepest fear—eclipses, a secret apparently known to all within Motherhorn. He also shared the existence of a secret, penned by Endelyn herself, about her sister Skabatha, hidden within the oracular library on invisible parchment. Finally, he divulged a critical weakness in Endelyn’s defenses—the lightning rods atop Motherhorn, which, if destroyed or stolen, would render her arcane contraptions useless.

Persuaded by the party’s charisma or perhaps their underlying desperation, Break-a-leg agreed to join their cause, taking up residence within Filbert’s seemingly bottomless bag. Venturing further into Motherhorn, they found themselves in a workshop, a hive of activity.

Charmay’s Workshop and the Ocular Library

A woman, clad in a form-fitting dress, was being attended to by a host of goblins, one meticulously adjusting her attire while another, a brigganock, labored alongside them. “My name is Charmay, don’t call me that,” she snapped at one of the goblins, her words heavy with a meaning the party couldn’t yet grasp. They attempted to slip past unnoticed, but Charmay’s sharp eyes fell upon Acornagorn and Filbert, and with a word, she commanded the surrounding props to life, setting them upon the party. Chaos ensued. Charmay, seizing the opportunity, fled upwards in an elevator, the brigganock in tow. Filbert disappeared up a nearby staircase, vanishing behind a black curtain. Acornagorn and Zahala engaged the animated props, a battle that left them battered and bruised. A fiery exchange erupted between Zahala, Filbert, and one of the animated props, a confrontation that ended with Zahala landing the final blow. Regrouping and pushing forward, the party ascended the staircase, emerging into a grand, open-air amphitheater, a stage seemingly between performances.

Their path led them to the Ocular Library, where even their battle-worn appearance elicited little surprise from the inhabitants—an unsurprising reaction in a place where theatricality reigns supreme. A series of cryptic encounters followed, involving a peculiar green book and a mysterious black tome.

Motivations and Unanswered Questions

The weight of their mission pressed upon them:

• Gleam’s yearning for reunion with her sister, a reunion inextricably intertwined with the perilous task of freeing her from Endelyn’s clutches.
• The heart-wrenching separation of Hurly and Burly, a tragedy they hoped to mend.
• Filbert’s lost possession, a seemingly insignificant trinket that held an unknown significance.
• The fate of Zybylna, a mystery yet to be unraveled.

These motivations fueled their determination, driving them deeper into the heart of Motherhorn, a place where shadows danced with secrets and every step forward promised both danger and discovery.

• You started the session with Obud and Keg, standing at the end of the chasm.
• You crossed back, with Molliver and Trig, and traveled to Lockbury Henge, where the brigganocks and korreds ended their animosity toward each other and dedicated themselves to help you  in Loomlurch if necessary—if only you call them.
• You traveled to the fey beacons and on the way encountered a girl with a kite, which had ribbons on it that were cursed to age her if they were not removed before she released the kite. She was in a foul mood and her mood seemed to affect the wind and make the kite yell at her with its animated face more vehemently.
• After calming her down, the kite fell out of the sky and you were able to safely recover the ribbons.
• She gave you a mossy child’s parasol in return, and Filbert took four blue ribbons, as well.
• You got to the Fey Beacons and discovered Prince Alagorthas climbing them, lighting them, and then climbing back down again, only for a set of Perytons to put the flames out before he can light another. He has been doing this relentlessly for decades.
• He tells you:
  • Endelyn’s castle is a grand and terrible theater where plays are performed on the stage for her amusement.
  • Endelyn is always trying to recruit new actors to perform in her theater.
  • The perytons were once a troupe of actors called the Greyhawk Mummers. Endelyn invited them to Motherhorn, where they performed pantomimes. (Alagarthas attended several of these performances.) When their popularity made them haughty and difficult to control, Endelyn locked them up. When they begged to be set free, the hag honored their request by releasing them into the wild—but only after she turned them into perytons. The transformation deprived them of speech, yet they retain their theatrical behavior.
• Acornagorn is able to speak with the Perytons, who explain that they miss performing. At some encouragement from Filbert, they ask the Perytons to perform. An hour later, after applauding their performance, they fly away, and Alagarthas is able to light all eight beacons. The deep pool shows his woodland home, and he dives into it, transporting away from this plane and back to his own.
• You traveled up the secret passage from the back of the brigganock’s mine, deciding to leave Gleam and Amidor at the doorway to come if called.
• Upon entering the understage, you met an animated skeleton tangled in its own puppet wires.
• Filbert got himself tangled up, too.
• Zahala untangled both of them, and he introduced himself as Break-a-leg. He happily gave you the following information:
  • Endelyn is terrified of eclipses (this is Motherhorn’s worst kept secret, Break-a-leg admits).
  • Endelyn wrote a secret about her sister, Skabatha, on a piece of invisible parchment that she keeps in the oracular library (area M7).
  • If the lightning rods atop Motherhorn are destroyed or stolen, Endelyn can’t operate her arcane contraptions.
• You convinced him to join you inside Filbert’s bag.
• As you stepped out into a workshop, you saw a woman in a tight dress she was being fitted for, a brigganock chained up working alongside her, and a goblin working on her dress, in addition to a bunch of goblins working in the space. She said, “my name is Charmay, don’t call me that” to one of the goblins.
• You tried to walk through without being noticed, but she saw Acornagorn and Filbert, and with a word, animated some props to come attack you.
• While they attacked, she escaped up the elevator with the brigganock.
• Filbert almost immediately escaped up the stairs behind a black curtain.
• Acornagorn and Zahala engaged with the animated props, taking quite a bit of damage along the way. 
• Filbert and Zahala exchanged fiery attacks with one of the animated props and Zahala finished it off.
• After a few moments of disengaging and getting moving, the party finally went up the staircase into the theater—an open-air amphitheater obviously in-between productions.
• You went up the staircase to the Ocular library, where folks didn’t seem surprised to see you, even bloodied as you are (it is a theater, after all) and after some shenanigans with a green book, and a little bit of work looking at a black one, you seem dedicated to searching for the secret about Skabatha.
• You intend to take a short rest here in the library.

You are motivated to:

• Help Gleam get reunited with her sister (and help her sister escape from Endylyn)
• Perhaps help Hurly and Burly reunite, as well
• Find Filbert’s lost item
• Find and rescue Zybylna