The Vengeful Recap 2026-10-16

Previously, in The Vengeful…

The rescued children were playing in the gardens, but the companions still had to get them home. An old teleportation circle could shorten the journey north. Nobody had secured its arrival point.

Hellion, Gwyniviere, and Lance weighed the alternatives. Traveling by river and overland could take months through dangerous country; teleportation meant trusting a route into the northern Maltreks. Oren could guide them, though his ban from the elves’ settlement would keep him outside its borders. Angel would negotiate.

Returning the children was an obligation and an act of goodwill. The party agreed to keep it separate from any price for an alliance. For gifts, they bought five weapons of warning from Jessica, two longbows and three shortswords, and paired them with Feywild seeds. Ordinary iron or steel might offend their hosts; Jessica said enchanted weapons could adapt to their wielders.

The council had little time to spare. Thousands needed food, and only two or three days of supplies remained. The companions discussed bringing food through teleportation circles, inspecting and purifying it, and preserving what they could. Marquis Rannek was willing to accept help from the Maidenfeld fleet even if it earned the family political favor. Hellion insisted that any supplies still needed inspection: Eastonton had shown what contaminated food could carry.

Matthew’s rescue might also secure the aid promised by the hags at the Thralmals pools. Meanwhile, Minfilia and her companions remained trapped in Thrantorbury. With the next full moon only two days away, Mark’s surviving lycanthropy and Jessica’s uncertain condition added another deadline.

For now, the expedition north could move.

Farther north, two young travelers had already left home without permission.

Sharyn, Raistasi’s twin, believed a merchant had abducted her sister. Snowdrop, the young changeling raised alongside them, went with her. Their elders had been slow to recognize that missing children might mean something worse than an extended visit to relatives. Sharyn and Snowdrop were not prepared to wait.

They entered Torris stacked beneath one cloak, hoping to pass as a single adult. Their Elvish and enthusiastic gestures did little to help them explain themselves. Hunger became confused with pregnancy or a missing baby. Snowdrop smelled meat she was forbidden to eat. The pair fled their first attempt at human hospitality without abandoning the disguise.

Sharyn’s Locate CreatureLocate CreatureLevel 4 · Divination1 action · Self · 1 hourV, S, M (a bit of fur from a bloodhound)Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you. You sense the direction to the creature's location, as long as that creature is within 1,000 feet of you. If the creature is moving, you know the direction of its movement. The spell can locate a specific creature known to you, or the nearest creature of a specific kind (such as a human or a unicorn), so long as you have seen such a creature up close—within 30 feet—at least once. If the creature you described or named is in a different form, such as being under the effects of a polymorph spell, this spell doesn't locate the creature. This spell can't locate a creature if running water at least 10 feet wide blocks a direct path between you and the creature. pointed south. At the river port, however, the travelers had neither tickets nor money. An unsuccessful Charm PersonCharm PersonLevel 1 · Enchantment1 action · 30 ft. · 1 hourV, SYou attempt to charm a humanoid you can see within range. It must make a Wisdom saving throw, and does so with advantage if you or your companions are fighting it. If it fails the saving throw, it is charmed by you until the spell ends or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance. When the spell ends, the creature knows it was charmed by you. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 1st. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them. and offers of work only made the boat attendant more suspicious. He called the guards.

The escape acquired a horse. With animal speech and the promise of a star apple, the travelers persuaded a black stallion to leap his fence and carry them away. He had troubles of his own: humans had stolen his elder foal, and he was reluctant to leave the filly waiting at home. They persuaded him not to abandon two elflings in the wild.

He carried them through Norlis and onward. Sharyn found a map in his barding and confidently misread it, placing distant Tumult’s Landing conveniently near their route. Audrey, a hag, offered food, directions, and an introduction to Mother. They remembered their elders’ warnings and declined. They continued south.

Back with the expedition, Raistasi helped the rescued children wash and prepare. She accepted the short name Stas and reassured a frightened child that Angel would not put them back in the crates. Angel invited her along as a recovered cleric of the Green Lord. The children would remain behind until the advance force secured the route.

At Port Mibram, twenty soldiers and Angel’s twenty mercenaries awaited them. Hellion and Oren would go first, Lance and the soldiers would follow, and the support group would come later. The orders were to preserve Reformist lives where possible, bind their hands, and gag their spellcasters.

Oren channeled the circle through an orb. The advance party arrived at Tuck.

The enclosure around the circle had been destroyed. Buildings stood damaged and deserted. A Dispel Rune neutralized an alarm glyph, but no bodies explained the blood around the settlement’s edges. Most of it was human and a few days old. One sample was elven, unfamiliar enough to raise suspicion of drow.

While Hellion guarded the arrival point, Oren investigated. Five Reformist scouts had just reached the ruins after losing contact with the settlement. They reported black elves, missing personnel, and halted mining. Their reinforcements were still several days away. They had also lost contact with Sir Aldric Torward.

The party struck before nightfall. Lance and the soldiers came through the circle and overwhelmed all five scouts. Hellion’s black eyes and tendrils terrified one captive into addressing him as Master.

The prisoners marked a mine entrance roughly a hundred miles away. Oren suspected another entrance must lie much closer. The scouts also named an elven settlement, Marim, from which their own people had not returned, and described a local Reformist hierarchy gathering at Leeward as the mines fell silent.

Hellion then drained the prisoners one by one, killing them and putting their bodies in his bag of holding. Lance watched in horror. Hellion said Minfilia had requested three hundred bodies. He still needed two hundred and sixty-three.

The soldiers cleaned the blood from the route and circle with runes. Hellion sent word that the arrival area was safe enough to bring the children through, though remaining there overnight was another matter. About twelve children arrived from Port Mibram and went into Lance’s care. Hellion departed with most of the soldiers; the escort took the children and diplomatic gifts south toward Torris. Before leaving, Raistasi hung black dahlias on a ruined building.

On the road, maps showed Raistasi how little of the world she knew. Her settlement restricted contact with humans and traded in favors rather than money. Oren explained that his name came from his human adoptive parents; Oran was a name of the Green Lord. Asked about the world beyond her protected home, Raistasi had as many questions as answers.

As darkness approached, the escort chose to press onward. Their cleric fed and befriended the horses, secured the vehicle with vines, and used Freedom of MovementFreedom of MovementLevel 4 · Abjuration1 action · Touch · 1 hourV, S, M (a leather strap, bound around the arm or a similar appendage)You touch a willing creature. For the duration, the target's movement is unaffected by difficult terrain, and spells and other magical effects can neither reduce the target's speed nor cause the target to be paralyzed or restrained. The target can also spend 5 feet of movement to automatically escape from nonmagical restraints, such as manacles or a creature that has it grappled. Finally, being underwater imposes no penalties on the target's movement or attacks. and Lesser RestorationLesser RestorationLevel 2 · Abjuration1 action · Touch · InstantaneousV, SYou touch a creature and can end either one disease or one condition afflicting it. The condition can be blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned. to help them continue.

Elsewhere, Sharyn and Snowdrop’s stallion needed rest. They stopped beside trees and a stream, only to discover blighted leaves and worse corruption deeper in the woodland.

Sharyn remembered La Papessa’s advice and cast Plant GrowthPlant GrowthLevel 3 · Transmutation1 action, 8 hour · 150 ft. · InstantaneousV, SThis spell channels vitality into plants within a specific area. There are two possible uses for the spell, granting either immediate or long-term benefits. If you cast this spell using 1 action, choose a point within range. All normal plants in a 100-foot radius centered on that point become thick and overgrown. A creature moving through the area must spend 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves. You can exclude one or more areas of any size within the spell's area from being affected. If you cast this spell over 8 hours, you enrich the land. All plants in a half-mile radius centered on a point within range become enriched for 1 year. The plants yield twice the normal amount of food when harvested.. Fresh growth surrounded damaged limbs; trees cast off diseased branches. The travelers had made a healthy pocket large enough to camp in, but the forest beyond remained blighted.

The spring stank. Dead animals and deformed fish occupied its waters. Sharyn cleared the water, and the horse drank safely. The travelers settled for goodberries.

Through Speak with PlantsSpeak with PlantsLevel 3 · Transmutation1 action · 30 ft. · 10 minuteV, SYou imbue plants within 30 feet of you with limited sentience and animation, giving them the ability to communicate with you and follow your simple commands. You can question plants about events in the spell's area within the past day, gaining information about creatures that have passed, weather, and other circumstances. You can also turn difficult terrain caused by plant growth (such as thickets and undergrowth) into ordinary terrain that lasts for the duration. Or you can turn ordinary terrain where plants are present into difficult terrain that lasts for the duration, causing vines and branches to hinder pursuers, for example. Plants might be able to perform other tasks on your behalf, at the DM's discretion. The spell doesn't enable plants to uproot themselves and move about, but they can freely move branches, tendrils, and stalks. If a plant creature is in the area, you can communicate with it as if you shared a common language, but you gain no magical ability to influence it. This spell can cause the plants created by the entangle spell to release a restrained creature., a recovering tree told them what had happened. The forest’s Urdefolcin guardian was dead. Hags had consumed its heart, felled its trunk, and desecrated its roots. Older trees farther in were dead, dying, or caught in an evil the tree could not explain.

Their elder had forbidden interference in human forests. Snowdrop argued that the blight would not respect that boundary. For the moment, the travelers rested to recover their magic.

Around midnight, the children’s escort reached Torris. Lance had scouted ahead without finding the strange nighttime behavior reported in Eastonton. The party hid the children’s ears and used Marchioness Maria Rannek’s cover story: these were children from a troubled mountain orphanage, being relocated south.

Oren erased their trail. A sleepy boy led them to lodging, where Miss Mika had keys and warm soup. Angel and Raistasi settled the children. Sandor and Mal were exhausted; Sir Brastok kept watch, with Angel nearby.

Raistasi left her Boots of ElvenkindBoots of ElvenkindUncommonWhile you wear these boots, your steps make no sound, regardless of the surface you are moving across. You also have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks that rely on moving silently. with a note thanking Angel, then climbed out a window. She found Oren outside and asked him for the route to another elven settlement. She needed an archfey.

Her elders, she explained, no longer hoped to return bodily to the Feywild. They wanted to create a tree that could carry their souls to the Tree of Life. Sharyn possessed the rare life magic they wanted. Raistasi and Oren feared the elders intended to put her inside the new tree.

Raistasi defended them as desperate. They had watched generations of elven souls become restless dead or fall into others’ hands. Oren warned that their proposed tree might offer no protection against the blight or the hags. He urged her to save Sharyn and give the elders a credible reason to hope for another way home.

Raistasi also explained how she had left. She had paid a merchant with an elven cloak to smuggle her out. The children she babysat had followed without her knowing. The merchant carried a cursed object she could not identify.

Oren reassured her that she had not intended their kidnapping. Returning alone, however, would not stop the elders’ plan. He suggested approaching Lance and the Legally Bare associates who had traveled to the Feywild and returned. A warlock among them could reportedly reach an archfey patron across Senera’s barrier. Oren’s own promise to Emily Hazeldine was that every elf should have the choice to go home.

Their conversation lasted toward dawn. Oren revealed that he had once been Orellian of the Highguard, before banishment and his life among humans. At the river, Raistasi’s skin and hair turned blue, and gill-like markings appeared as she swam against the current.

They spoke of confinement and grief. Raistasi described her brother Torches’ forbidden love for a human, his collapse, and his isolation in the forest. Oren had suffered decades of grief after losing his own human family. He questioned whether Torches’ wish to contact merchants and send letters proved madness, or whether confinement was keeping him from the answers he needed.

Raistasi described dreams of an archfey reaching through darkness and blighted forests, apparently held back by a barrier. She regretted leaving her twin behind. She did not know that Sharyn had already escaped into an adventure of her own. Raistasi returned unnoticed to the inn before sunrise.

When Sharyn and Snowdrop woke, Locate CreatureLocate CreatureLevel 4 · Divination1 action · Self · 1 hourV, S, M (a bit of fur from a bloodhound)Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you. You sense the direction to the creature's location, as long as that creature is within 1,000 feet of you. If the creature is moving, you know the direction of its movement. The spell can locate a specific creature known to you, or the nearest creature of a specific kind (such as a human or a unicorn), so long as you have seen such a creature up close—within 30 feet—at least once. If the creature you described or named is in a different form, such as being under the effects of a polymorph spell, this spell doesn't locate the creature. This spell can't locate a creature if running water at least 10 feet wide blocks a direct path between you and the creature. pointed north, back along the way they had traveled.

A woman hidden among the trees offered pies, cakes, caramel, and candied apples. She looked human; the travelers suspected a hag beneath an illusion. Sharyn cast AwakenAwakenLevel 5 · Transmutation8 hour · Touch · InstantaneousV, S, MAfter spending the casting time tracing magical pathways within a precious gemstone, you touch a Huge or smaller beast or plant. The target must have either no Intelligence score or an Intelligence of 3 or less. The target gains an Intelligence of 10. The target also gains the ability to speak one language you know. If the target is a plant, it gains the ability to move its limbs, roots, vines, creepers, and so forth, and it gains senses similar to a human's. Your DM chooses statistics appropriate for the awakened plant, such as the statistics for the awakened shrub or the awakened tree. The awakened beast or plant is charmed by you for 30 days or until you or your companions do anything harmful to it. When the charmed condition ends, the awakened creature chooses whether to remain friendly to you, based on how you treated it while it was charmed. on the tree concealing her. Grateful for the forest’s healing, it entangled the woman and urged the children to run.

They escaped north to a caravan clearing. After resting, Sharyn used Commune with NatureCommune with NatureLevel 5 · Divination1 minute · Self · InstantaneousV, SYou briefly become one with nature and gain knowledge of the surrounding territory. In the outdoors, the spell gives you knowledge of the land within 3 miles of you. In caves and other natural underground settings, the radius is limited to 300 feet. The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns. You instantly gain knowledge of up to three facts of your choice about any of the following subjects as they relate to the area: terrain and bodies of water prevalent plants, minerals, animals, or peoples powerful celestials, fey, fiends, elementals, or undead influence from other planes of existence buildings For example, you could determine the location of powerful undead in the area, the location of major sources of safe drinking water, and the location of any nearby towns. and sensed blight nearby, with a cave and a portal to another plane somewhere in the affected area.

They sent a rabbit with Animal MessengerAnimal MessengerLevel 2 · Enchantment1 action · 30 ft. · 24 hourV, S, M (a morsel of food)By means of this spell, you use an animal to deliver a message. Choose a Tiny beast you can see within range, such as a squirrel, a blue jay, or a bat. You specify a location, which you must have visited, and a recipient who matches a general description, such as "a man or woman dressed in the uniform of the town guard" or "a red-haired dwarf wearing a pointed hat." You also speak a message of up to twenty-five words. The target beast travels for the duration of the spell toward the specified location, covering about 50 miles per 24 hours for a flying messenger, or 25 miles for other animals. When the messenger arrives, it delivers your message to the creature that you described, replicating the sound of your voice. The messenger speaks only to a creature matching the description you gave. If the messenger doesn't reach its destination before the spell ends, the message is lost, and the beast makes its way back to where you cast this spell. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the duration of the spell increases by 48 hours for each slot level above 2nd.: a warning for Raistasi to escape any captors, avoid leading them home, and return for a painting session. Snowdrop added a request for meat.

Then they went toward the cave. The frightened stallion asked to return to his filly, and Sharyn released him. Snowdrop agreed to a quick look. A plant near the blight could no longer feel its roots or its kin beyond the sickness.

Sharyn searched for druidic markings. On a fallen tree, she found a warning of danger that Snowdrop could neither see nor read.

Someone had written it in blood.

At the Table: Where We Left Off

• Sharyn and Snowdrop are investigating the blight: they have approached the area of a cave and planar portal detected by Sharyn’s magic. Their stallion has been released. A druidic warning written in blood is their last discovery; they have not entered the cave.
• The rescued children have reached lodging in Torris: the circle at Tuck was secured for their passage, but the journey to Queilei and any alliance remain unfinished. The orphanage cover story conceals their identities. The party carries weapons of warning and Feywild seeds as gifts.
• Raistasi has confided in Oren: she left voluntarily; the children followed without her knowledge. She fears the elders intend to sacrifice Sharyn to a replacement Tree of Life. Oren proposes finding help through Lance’s Feywild-traveled associates. Raistasi returned to the inn before dawn; Sharyn does not know her account, and Raistasi does not know Sharyn has left home.
• The sisters’ search has changed direction: Sharyn’s latest spell pointed north. A rabbit carries their message, but delivery has not been witnessed.
• Tuck’s attackers and the blight remain unresolved: Reformist scouts reported black elves, disappeared personnel, and halted mines. A recovering tree separately blamed hags for killing its forest’s Urdefolcin. Neither account establishes how the wider threats connect.
• The other deadlines remain: food for thousands, the approaching full moon, the rescue in Thrantorbury, and Matthew’s rescue to secure the Thralmals hags’ promised support.

Source Note

This recap draws from the reviewed October 11 notes, including their boundaries and open hooks. It condenses council discussions and lore exchanges for pregame reading, keeping private conversations and attributed reports distinct from shared knowledge. This recap does not replace the fuller notes.