Munchaucher's Proxy

Munchaucer’s Proxy
Date	9/5/25
Storyteller	Rorik
Tier	Expert
Player Characters	Swaying Petals, Hogo, Kaina, Quill, Sanguine
Rewards	300 xp, 1000 gp, Rustbringer, Admirers Boquet, Atlas Arcane, Deathdrinking, Antifungal Salve (Moderate) x2, Gorum’s Tear x2
Result	Success
Author	Swaying Petals (Cloyster)
Downtime	18

(associates visit the isolated town of Skol to establish relations)

Log

Log penned by Swaying Petals

Recently the Isle of Mahlah has reportedly grown in size and has expanded its influence across much of the sea to the south. With them seemingly being led by cultists of Apollyon, these guys seem like bad news as they seek to poison and sicken the creatures and the very land itself. Apparently, there's a town I never heard of on the eastern coast called Skol that has been the only town to resist the influence of Mahlah in the area. The town is isolated, so we were given a special mission to establish relations with Skol so that we can support them in their effort. However, Onadbyr is still officially ‘peaceful’ with Mahlah right now, so we need to keep our activities there a secret. The organizer of the mission gave us these bracelets that provided a temporary illusionary disguise, to help protect our identities if we were to come into contact with Mahlah. We were also given a cart with food and medical supplies as a gift to Skol, which I’m sure they’ll appreciate in these times.

On the trip was me, Swaying Petals, along with Quill, Hogo, Kaina, and Sanguine and her eidolon Valena. We traveled for a week traveling south, at first going along the road but eventually needing to hike our way through dense forest. It was tricky getting the cart through and I may have been holding the map upside down for part of the way, but eventually we approached where Skol was reported to be. Occasionally, we caught foul scents on the wind as it seemed the corruption from Mahlah was not too far off. As we approached, we felt a sensation as if there was a pressure on our necks. We eventually identified it as some sort of scrying enchantment that activated when we crossed a certain threshold. We continued forward and I was looking at the map when suddenly I walked head-first into a wall! I fell and clutched my head, but I couldn’t see what I ran into. Kaina and Hogo also ran into the wall after me, probably to make me feel better, and they also bounced off. Quill put their paw up on the invisible barrier and they said it felt like liquid. They pressed their paw into the barrier as it gave a little until they were able to slip on through. Following Quill’s lead, we all squeezed ourselves and the cart through the bubble-like barrier to the other side.

And oh my Gosh, the other side of the barrier felt wonderful! The air was fresh and clean, the birds were singing, and things just seemed more vibrant. It was like we just stepped into a little pocket of paradise! We continued on and it didn’t take long until we saw two guards, one older gnome and a young human. We greeted them and said we were associates from Onadbyr and the human was very excited! It was so cool to meet a fan, even if it was just a fan of us associates in general. The gnome told us Father Theo had said we would arrive, and the guards urgently ushered us to the town hall where a meeting was taking place.

Half of the town of Skol was built on the coast whereas the other half was built on stilts sitting on top of rocks that jutted out of the shallow water on the beach. The town hall was on one of those islands connected by a wooden bridge and behind the town hall was an old 3-story stone tower. We waited outside the town hall for a moment and we admired the large stones at the center of the village that had red, glowing runes on them. It looked like they were written in blood! An old human wearing a necklace of 3 cattails, a symbol of Aminara I believe, came out and greeted us. He seemed very surprised that we were here, but he pretended like he had called for us. We went along with him and entered the town hall, which was crowded and seemed like nearly every villager was here arguing.

The old man, who was named Father Theo, settled everyone down and asked us to introduce ourselves to the villagers. One villager piped up and asked if Onadbyr’s gates were open, which caused a woman sitting next to him to smack him in the head! The whole room erupted back into arguments, and it seemed like a solid third of the town had wanted to flee Skol and migrate elsewhere. Father Theo was furious and shouted at everyone that they will not abandon their home. He also seemed embarrassed about needing to rely on Onadbyr for help. Eventually, Sanguine raised her hand and got the crowd to quiet down. She reiterated that Onadbyr is accepting refugees, but they will have to not be diseased. Apparently, everyone there seemed to have a loved one who is sick and is locked away in a place called the tower. I piped up and asked what sickness they had, and everyone started to yell out different answers! I was sorry I asked, but luckily Sanguine was able to calm the room down again.

Father Theo took us outside for more discussion and showed us the rune stones. As we suspected, the rune stones were the source of the scrying and the barrier that we encountered, but it has weakened overtime, as in the past outsiders would not be allowed through at all. He told us that ages ago, a wizard named Skol created the barrier to protect the town and vitalize the nature found within. But the first barrier he created dissipated over a year, so in order to create a barrier that would last, he sacrificed 200 people to create the rune stones that stand today. However, due to time or with the sickened condition of the current village residents, the rune’s power was growing weaker.

Kaina suggested that fleeing the village may be a valid option, as Mahlah has thousands of residents while this village only has around 80, but Father Theo wouldn’t hear it and yelled at us! Eventually he wore himself out and pondered over the rune stones. There are only scattered research notes from Skol, so reverse engineering the runes to reinforce them will be difficult, especially if we do not want to repeat another mass-sacrifice.

As we discussed this, we heard horns blow from the distance. Skol was under attack! We looked and saw many ships carrying cultists and various diseased creatures. Many ships rammed into the barrier and were stopped, but a few managed to break through. One ship crashed into the tower island, and a giant wearing a mask stepped out and started breaking down the door to the tower. Up to the north, Leukodaemons were spotted terrorizing the town and destroying buildings. And finally, a group emerged from the water near us that consisted of a cultist and several diseased weresharks. Concerningly, last time I saw a group of weresharks they were under the command of the friendly red panda poppet named Kiara. They were one of the few in the area putting up a fight against Mahlah, so I really hope Kiara is alright… see A Gasp of Rot

As we knew these attackers were from Mahlah, we activated our disguises, with me taking the appearance of a halfling with yellow hair, Kaina took the form of an elf, and the others took on human forms.

The weresharks charged at us as the cultist began spouting off some nonsense, but as Sanguine and Quill started landing devastating blows against the weresharks, his attitude turned from confidence to confused horror. We knew we couldn’t leave the other two places undefended, so Hogo and Kaina ran north across the bridges to stop the Leukodaemons from smashing up the town. After healing Sanguine, I followed them with a plan to circle back around to the tower once both groups had dealt with their threats, as the giant banging on the reinforced tower looked like a tough foe to beat. Kaina ran across the shallow water to engage with the Leukodaemon while Hogo and I shot at it from afar. It began to look weak so Kaina told us she had this handled, so Hogo and I took off towards the tower. But after a moment, Hogo turned around to check on them only to watch in horror as the Leukodaemon put its mouth around Kaina’s face and breathed a foul gas directly into her! She collapsed on the ground, but Hogo shot the gravely wounded Leukodaeon, eliminating the threat to the north. While I wanted to go back and help Kaina, Hogo confirmed they were still breathing so we should help the sick people in the tower from the giant first.

As Quill and Sanguine finally cleaned up the cultist and the weresharks, we all closed in on the tower island. The water was a bit too deep for me to easily cross, but the others waded through and engaged with the giant, drawing it away from the tower. The giant was powerful, hurting Sanguine and forcing her to dismiss Valena to save herself. Quill was sickened from a corpse the giant threw at them, but before the giant was able to cast a spell, Quill struck down the giant who fell with a mighty thud. As the giant was defeated, we heard the invaders shout an order to retreat. We turned to look over the water where the cultist flagship stood, and we saw a strange, almost insectoid, beaked armored figure at the bow. They must of been one of the commanders from Mahlah, and they held a sword made of shadow as they led the cultist forces away. I'm glad that the barrier managed to slow the cultists down, as we would of had a tough time fighting them all!

We managed to prevent too much damage to Skol, but the attack still further damaged the barrier. We eventually revived Kaina and I treated everyone’s disease, including Sanguine’s wereshark bites. But Kaina contracted some advanced form of malaria, and the infection had gotten so bad that they’ll have recurring malaria for the rest of their life! I feel so bad that the Leukodemon permanently gave them this disease, but at least malaria is not contagious, so they can return to Onadbyr. We successfully made a good first impression with Skol, I think, but fixing the town’s barrier will be a tall task.