Campaign Log -- Day Sixteen (Day Seventeen taken up by travel)

The 21st day of the month of Obad-Hai
The 110th year of the second Ravensblood dynasty

When last we left our heroes… well, two of them… well, protagonists, at any rate…  Quimarel and Hiddlebatch (and Makpov, but his player is not present, so he’s just shambling around wordlessly in case they need to kill something) were searching for fairies out of sheer curiosity: why did the Royal Intelligence Corps have a drugged-up atomie locked in a birdcage in their vault?

They had shared a campfire with a recent convert of Saurivuntyr the All-Seeing, dragon-god of oracles and madmen. He seemed relatively harmless, and they took their leave peacefully, waiting until they were at the edge of earshot before Hiddlebatch shouted “Khurgorbaeyag could kick your god’s ass” and ran away, ineffectual butterfly wings flapping furiously.

After travelling for a good chunk of the day, the pair come across some red flowers, which had featured in Silvermoss’s directions, It’s not a whole field of red flowers or anything, but there are a bunch scattered around, enough to be noticeable. Hiddlebatch starts looking around [Perception:21], and spots a fairy apparently harvesting nectar from a flower not fifty feet away. Hiddlebatch decides to try and talk to it.

Hiddlebatch: Ho, fairy folk! We would speak to you a moment, in return for which we will give you mead and flowers.
Fairy: Score! What can I do for you?
Quimarel: Have you noticed anyone trying to catch a lot of you?
Hiddlebatch: Or fairies going missing?
Fairy: I did hear that young Silvermoss went missing.
Hiddlebatch: How long ago was that?
[long pause]
Fairy: It was… colder… when he went missing….than it is now.
Hiddlebatch OOC: How long do fairies live?
GM: You’re not sure.
Quimarel OOC: And they don’t have much of a concept of time… “colder” could just mean it was at night.
Hiddlebatch: Have you made any efforts to find him? Do you have any idea why he’s missing or who would take him?
Fairy: Well, he’s not part of my hive -- his hive lives a little bit north of here. But as far as I know, nobody knows where to start looking for him.
Quimarel: Well, we think there’s some sort of plot to capture fairies --
Fairy: My word!
Quimarel: We would like to speak to his hive, if possible. Is there any way you could lead us to them or at least point us in the correct direction?
Fairy: Yes. Hold on one moment…
[The fairy pulls a little bottle of liquid out of his pouch and uses it to sketch something on a leaf]
Hiddlebatch OOC: Sense motive… 20.
GM: You shouldn’t trust him.
Hiddlebatch OOC: With the map, or at all?
GM: At all. Including with the map. Just… no. You remember what you heard about fairy senses of humor from Silvermoss, and this guy looks way too cheerful right now.
Hiddlebatch: You know, in exchange for actually leading us to the hive, we would give you additional mead.
Fairy: How much more mead?
Hiddlebatch: [noting the relative size of the fairy and the mead bottles] A bottlecap?
Fairy: More mead than that.
Quimarel: A cup.
Fairy: I require enough to drown a gnoll.
Hiddlebatch: A gnoll?
Fairy: A gnoll!
Quimarel: [obviously thinking she can con the fairy into accepting a lesser amount] Have you ever seen a gnoll?
Fairy: That’s a gnoll. [points to Makpov]
[Out-of-character swearing ensues]
Hiddlebatch: Well, you get a cup or you get none.
Fairy: I’ll give you this map for a cup.
Quimarel OOC: All we have to do is take the map and avoid anything he points out on the map.
Hiddlebatch: We don’t have that much mead. How about some honey?
Fairy: How much honey? I will take honey as well.
Hiddlebatch: All right. Good. Lead us.
Fairy: Wait. I require enough honey to glue two goblins together by their face-parts.
Hiddlebatch: Well, fortunately for you, honey is very sticky, and goblins have small faces. So… here. [H gives the fairy honey, which he puts in one of his pouches.]
Fairy: Fine. Take the map anyway; I don’t want to carry this.
Hiddlebatch: Thank you for the map.
GM: Roll a Fortitude save.
Hiddlebatch OOC: NOOOO! [swearing]  [sound of dice rolling] [more swearing] I ROLLED A ONE!
Quimarel OOC: [giggling] You gon’ die.

As Hiddlebatch grabs the leaf that the fairy had helpfully painted with Sassone Leaf Residue, under the guise of drawing a map, H suddenly feels dizzy and faint.  [11 damage; 1 Con damage] The fairy starts giggling like a maniac, and Quimarel tries to smash it.

Hiddlebatch: But then we’ll have no guide!
Quimarel: Like he was going to guide us anyway!

Quimarel successfully does two damage. The fairy screeches at her and flies away. Quimarel takes out her sling and does two more damage… of course, neither the rocks or Quimarel’s fist are made of cold iron, so the fairy doesn’t seem at all hurt.  Eventually he gets out of range and turns invisible.

Quimarel looks at the map, being careful not to touch it, only to find that it’s just a bunch of random squiggles.

Fairies: Just say no.

The PCs continue onward, trying to follow Silvermoss’s directions. A few hours later, they spy another fairy.

Hiddlebatch: Ho, fairy folk! We recently encountered a fairy who played a very cunning trick on us --
Fairy: Yes, we do that.
Hiddlebatch : -- but before he did so,  he told us a fairy named Silvermoss has gone missing. We think that there may be a plot  against you, and we’re trying to figure it out. Would you happen to be one of Silvermoss’s hive?
Fairy: I am!
Hiddlebatch: Can you tell us how long ago he went missing?
[long pause]
Fairy: ...well, I think there was snow on the ground.
Quimarel OOC: What time of year is it now?
GM: Mid-spring.
Quimarel OOC: So not too long ago.
Hiddlebatch: Do you know why he was taken?
Fairy: I know exactly why he was taken!
Quimarel: What did he do?
Fairy: Nothing! He was as innocent a fairy as ever… fairied!
Hiddlebatch: So why was he taken?
Fairy: He was taken… so that the big folk could hold power over us.
Quimarel: Hostage.
Fairy: Yes, that’s the word.
Quimarel: Have they made demands?
Fairy: They say they will harm him unless we use our [shifty eyes] talents to gather information for him.
Quimarel OOC: When he does the shifty-eye thing, I look around to see if there are any other fairies in the immediate vicinity.
GM: There probably are -- they can turn invisible.
Quimarel OOC: [swearing]
[Some high Perception checks reveal disturbances in the grass that should not be there, and plants bent as if someone atomie-sized were sitting there.]
Hiddlebatch: Is there any particular reason they took Silvermoss instead of any other fairy?
Fairy: I don’t think so. He had a weird snake fixation.
Hiddlebatch: What information have you given them?
Fairy: Nothing important. Just what big folk do.
Hiddlebatch: Like what?
Fairy: [incredulous] I don’t REMEMBER.
Quimarel: When do you meet these big folk that you report to?
Fairy: Sometimes. Usually when it’s light out.
Quimarel: Do they come to you?
Fairy: No. We write things down.
Hiddlebatch: Do you have any of these papers? We can give you honey?
Fairy: How much honey?
Quimarel: Enough to drown a robin.
Fairy: You could drown a robin with only a thimbleful of honey if you knew what you were doing.
Quimarel: Enough honey to drown a robin even if you were not doing it properly.
Fairy: That is sufficient.
Quimarel OOC:  I speak their language. It’s a weird language that makes no kind of sense.
Fairy: I think I have one of the more recent reports around here somewhere…
Quimarel: Do you keep copies?
Fairy: Why would we do that? We don’t need them. Oh, here it is.
[The fairy hands them a little rolled-up leaf with some writing on it.]
Hiddlebatch: WAIT! Spot… or… whatever you do for… um… ooh, natural 20.
GM: It’s just normal ink this time.
Hiddlebatch: And the leaf? It’s a plain leaf?
GM: Knowledge (nature).
Quimarel: Twenty.
GM: It’s a harmless leaf.
Quimarel: I gingerly take it with my fingernails and I read it.

Leaf:

The big folk who wear black robes to the south were doing many chanting things in the field filled with stones, and then other big folk arrived, but they were different-colored, and didn’t touch things, and floated above the ground.

Quimarel: We would like to work with you. We think we can get Silvermoss back.
Fairy: Oh my.
Quimarel: It might take some time, but if we’re  careful, we can get him back unharmed and safe. But to do that, we need to know what the big folk you’re reporting to are acquiring. We need to know the same information. Do they come to you, or do you go to them?
Fairy: We go to them.
Quimarel: Do you leave the … leaves somewhere?
Fairy: Yes.
Quimarel: Could you show me where?
Fairy: There’s a hole in a tree outside the town to the north.
Quimarel: Are there any… landmarks?
Fairy: There’s a tree.
Quimarel: There are many trees.
Fairy: Not that many trees.
Quimarel: The big folk do not have eyes as sharp as you, and it can be difficult to discern an individual tree.
Fairy: Ah. It is the tree --
Quimarel OOC: If you say “with the leaves“ I will punch you.
Fairy: -- with the fairy nearby putting stuff into the hole.
Quimarel: Okay, if we go at that time, yes, but when you’re not there, it won’t have that landmark.
Hiddlebatch: Why don’t you take us there, since you were on your way with that report anyway?
Fairy: I was not on my way -- I was just holding onto it until someone else was ready to take them to the tree.
Hiddlebatch: When is the time you deliver them?
Fairy: When the spirit moves us.
Hiddlebatch: Can we see any of the other reports? Maybe that the other fairies nearby have?
Fairy: There are no other fairies nearby. It would take forever to go find them and gather them here.
Hiddlebatch: [points at one of the spots where the only explanation for the way that plant is bending is that someone tiny and invisible is sitting on it] There’s one right there!
Fairy: [blatantly lying] No there isn’t.
Quimarel: So if I were to, say, swat really hard right there, nothing would happen.

Hiddlebatch waves its hand around wildly in the general area. Two attack rolls later, the PCs hear a small screech. Something  jabs Hiddlebatch in the hand, and H holds up the new wound for inspection.

Hiddlebatch: See? There’s a fairy right there.

The fairy has, in fact, appeared, since they can’t attack and remain invisible. It glares at Hiddlebatch, then goes and hides in the grass. Hiddlebatch and Quimarel start loudly offering mead for any fairy who has a report they haven’t brought in yet. [Diplomacy: 16]

Spokesfairy: There are no other fairies around. However, if you leave all the mead here, then we will make copies of our reports, and next time we bring them into town, we will also leave copies in a place that you tell us.

Quimarel gives the fairies some directions to the Squirting Squid, and tells them to look for a small box adorned with certain types of flowers, and put their leaves in there. She will also leave more mead in that box, so that the fairies will do the same thing next time.

Hiddlebatch tells the fairies that the Black Sands are the holy touch of an awesome god, preaches its heretical gospel of Khurgorbaeyag, and leaves them one of her terrors. For the next hour or so, she has another convert, but then the fairy in question forgets all about it.

There is some discussion about whether Hiddlebatch can make the fairies Tainted by making one of them eat some of the Black Sand H carries with her. (No -- you’re either born Tainted or you’re not.) H then suggests procreating with them, but the difference in sizes stymies this discussion.

The PCs narrowly avoid getting ambushed by Blood Hawks on the way home: my random encounter table is overruled by the fact that the GM wants to go home and get some sleep.