Session A11 — Feywild Trials

Summary

The session opened mid-fight with a crazed halfling barbarian on the road — the "hostile halfling" glimpsed in A11 — who continued attacking even while unconscious (Rage Beyond Death), forcing Roland to deal lethal damage. Her dying words thanked him and warned him something worse was coming. They were right immediately. Roland began hallucinating within minutes — Kavu's horns looked like rabbit ears, phantom bells, a new necrotic aura on Detect Magic. Kavu tried everything: Lesser Restoration, folk remedies, an improvised exorcism with stick fetishes and candle flames. Nothing worked. The party reached the ruins of Conyberry to find no shelter, evidence of a very large bird, and wolves in the northern woods. The large bird arrived that night: a roc, which grabbed Kavu and flew. Kelvin Thorn-Whipped onto it and got carried along. Roland and Othorion chased them up the cliff. Kavu played dead in the treasure nest and survived on nerve alone. Roland nearly died in the nest fight before Karlach — Aunty K, arriving as a blazing radiant barbarian with wings — saved him at the last moment and finished the roc. She then scolded everyone thoroughly.

Key Events

The Halfling Fight — Rage Beyond Death

The session picked up mid-fight with a crazed halfling barbarian who had charged the cart running down the road "very much like the scene from Austin Powers — a very slow running steamroller": wild hair billowing, greataxe in hand, screaming incoherently. The party tried everything to subdue her. Kelvin cast Entangle; she ripped free. Kavu's poison dagger failed — she saved against it. Cavu stood on Bella the cow and bellowed "HALT! State your business! Don't come any closer!" — which scared the cow and did nothing to the halfling. Kavu's Hold Person worked once, then wore off: "I SAID HOLD... I really mean it! Please hold!" — she failed, froze mid-swing, then was held a second time and broke free again. Othorion attempted non-lethal damage by hitting her in the back of the head with the butt of his hand crossbow. He hit, and did zero damage: "I don't know what that means. It's kill or be killed."

She went limp when knocked unconscious. Her eyes rolled up. Then her body, "as if it has a mind of its own," kept fighting. She was unconscious but immune to that condition: Rage Beyond Death. Still swinging. Roland was eventually forced to deal lethal damage.

She fell. Her eyes cleared. She looked up at him: "you poor poor soul." Then: "Thank you so much. And I apologize for what you were about to deal with." And she died. Nothing of value was found on her. The party buried her off the side of the road.

Roland Gets Cursed

The consequences were almost instant. "Kavu, have you always had those big bunny ears?" Kavu: "You mean my horns?" Roland also heard phantom bells: "You guys hear that ringing? Sounds like a bell in the distance." — no one else heard it. His sword Talon appeared tarnished, wobbly: "Talon has started turning into a wobbly candy cane." Kavu described Roland as "genuinely like eye as a kite." Roland eventually sat talking to an empty spot in the wall with complete conviction while Kavu danced around him.

Kavu ran every diagnostic: physical exam (pressed Roland's head against his own kobold forehead to check temperature — "Are human heads normally this cold?"), eye exam with a held flame ("Roland, stick out your tongue! Go!"), Detect Magic. The Detect Magic confirmed it — Roland was radiating transmutation and radiant as normal, but also necrotic, which Kavu had never seen on him before. Kavu: "I think I found the source. You're radiating necrotic. Which is — which is not usually the case!" Othorion also showed a persistent enchantment aura that wasn't from any item, which he declined to explain.

Lesser Restoration: failed. Folk remedies: nothing useful in the vicinity. Kavu escalated to an improvised exorcism: he made little fetishes out of sticks and branches, lit candle flames scattered around Roland, and danced around him chanting "BEGONE, EVIL SPIRITS! THE FIRES OF GHOSTS COMMEND YOU TO LEAVE!" — Kelvin identified it as an exorcism. The ritual had significant theatrical conviction and zero measurable effect.

Kavu's conclusion: it's a curse. There are two ways to fix a curse. He has access to neither of them.

Conyberry

The party pressed on and reached Conyberry: a ruin in the most thorough sense — no roofs, no upper floors, anything wooden long since gone, dirt and overgrown broken floor in every shell. No shelter that could contain anyone. The road still ran through it; it was not entirely disused. The most notable feature was evidence of a very large bird: Othorion's perception sweep found "large amounts of bird shit... just bird shit everywhere," and Kelvin's nature check identified it as "not from a multitude of small birds, but likely the excretions of a larger specimen." A cliff jutted out over the town to the south, about 600 feet up. To the north, rolling woodland.

Kelvin and Othorion scouted the woods and returned: "I can smell them. They have entered the woods. We feast tonight" — at least three packs of wolves, territorial howling. Kelvin recommended against the woods. Kavu made the fire bigger, throwing Jonah's old bottles of liquor in for fuel. Kelvin barricaded the open structure with thorny bushes to funnel entry. The party settled in for the long rest.

Roland, still cursed, rolled a nat 20 on an Insight check — which the DM noted was bad, not good, given the circumstances: "He's going to see something and he's going to bug out like Wingnut did with the orb." The DM sent Roland something privately. Othorion, who is an intelligence gatherer who is not above taking advantage of a weakened state, eavesdropped on Roland's incoherent rambling. Roland made an 18 on his Wisdom save and said nothing useful.

The Roc Takes Kavu

Kelvin's watch caught it first: gleaming eyes diving toward the firelight. Kavu used Fire Bolt to illuminate the thing mid-swoop. The response at the table: "It's a rock." A roc — an apex predator, huge creature, 28 Strength. It swooped down with flyby, beak missed, talons hit, Kavu was grappled. It flew 20 feet into the air taking him with it. Kavu yelled "Come get some fried fricassee!" at it as it carried him away. The smallest party member: always the most aerodynamic.

Kelvin Commits Entirely

Kelvin read Thorn Whip aloud: "If the creature is large or smaller, you pull the creature up to 10 feet closer to you." The roc is Huge. The DM: "What will happen is it will take you with it. Indiana Jones style." Kelvin: "I'm going to try that anyway." He Thorn Whipped onto the roc mid-flight, couldn't drag it, and became involuntary carry-on luggage. The DM ruled that he was willing the cantrip to continue past its normal duration out of desperation: "You fear for your friend so deeply that you're willing the magic to continue."

He used his bonus action for Healing Word on Kavu on the way up. Both useful and completely absurd.

Othorion climbed onto a ruined wall — ten feet up — and threw his dagger at the roc. It hit, lodged in the wound, then a follow-up d20 came in under 10: "Alright, the dagger goes with the rock." Roland, cursed and seeing what appeared to be a very large parrot, fired an arrow that streaked with radiant energy and hit. The roc kept flying, heading for the cliff.

Kavu in the Nest

The roc carried Kavu 120 feet to a nest at the top of the cliff overlooking Conyberry. It deposited him and turned its attention elsewhere. Kavu did the sensible thing: he played dead. Stayed very still. Kept stock of the hoard with one eye. The roc's attention kept circling back to him in the way a predator circles back to something it's not sure is dead. He bought time.

When Kelvin eventually came to consciousness in the nest (Kavu had rummaged through his pack for a healing potion and poured it over the wounds rather than into Kelvin's mouth: "you have to pull your hands away before the wound closes over them, making you part of him forever"), Kavu's first thought was escape. Othorion's was more colourful: he slid under the roc to retrieve his lodged dagger, hands "slick with birdshit slipped off it" as he came out the other side, landing next to a very large new person.

The Nest Fight — and Karlach

The nest fight was long and ugly: the roc had eggs it was protecting, elevation and reach, and 28 Strength. The party improvised badly and survived through escalation. Roland, still cursed, looked at the roc and thought it looked like a really big parrot: "I kind of want to be his friend." Kavu: "IT'S GONNA EAT ME! ATHORIAN, THROW SOMETHING AT HIM!" Othorion, on the wall above: "Not at the bird — at Roland!"

Kelvin smacked one of the roc's eggs with his quarterstaff to provoke it. The egg made a sickening crack and started bleeding. The roc spun its head 180 degrees and focused on Kelvin entirely. The table: "the greatest druid ever."

The roc attacked Roland. Its beak penetrated his armour and dug into his flesh. Roland flashed back to his childhood — "the light so bright and radiant in your mind's eye, the loving looks on the face of your mother as she teaches you to fly for the first time... all of the combat training that you got from your Auntie Kay" — as he went down to the dying state.

And then something broke the sound barrier through the cloud layer above. Karlach landed in the nest next to Roland, "wreathed in a white flame," and used Giant's Might to grow to 25 feet tall. She raged. She hit the roc with Reckless and Divine Smite, twice, for 32 damage each. The roc was not yet bloody. She looked down at Roland in the dying state: "Now listen here, soldier. You know better than to lay down on the job. Get up." She used 25 points of Lay on Hands on him.

The roc grabbed Karlach by the wrist with a nat 20 talon attack (39 damage). She took it, hellish rebuked, pulled it close, looked it in its face and said: "Excuse me, I'm trying to have a conversation with my nephew here. Would you kindly bugger off?" She held it in place for Roland's killing blow: "Like we used to do when you were young. Like the drills. Except this isn't a dummy, this is a large fucking bird. So I'm gonna hold it — you ready? Just fucking stab it. Come on, it's hard to hold. I'm big, but I'm not that big."

Roland moved like someone who had practiced the maneuver thousands of times and drove Talon in. "And it lets out the screech of a thousand butthole piercings and dies."

Karlach tossed it off into a corner, grabbed Kelvin under one arm, grabbed Kavu, leapt back over: "I got you, little guy! I got you, big guy!" Put them both down. She was still 25 feet tall. She shrank back to 7 feet.

Aftermath — Aunty K

When Othorion introduced himself by sliding out from under the roc in front of her, Karlach's assessment: "Hey there, cutie! Nice moves! Can you do it again in reverse, though?" Othorion: "Think I'm only good for one of those a day." Karlach: "Hey, most men are like that. Don't feel bad."

Then she turned to the group: "So, someone wanna explain to me how my little nephew Roland here got into all types of trouble." Kavu immediately began the story from the very beginning: "Well, that's a long story. First, first we were on a caravan — uh, then we ran into some goblins..." Nobody stopped him until Othorion gently clamped his mouth shut. "You need to stop. Nobody needs your life story right now."

Karlach, more seriously: "That is the second time in as many months that I felt Roland's life fading away from him. I wasn't close enough last time, and I may never be close enough again, but I was close enough this time to intervene."

"Nephew, is this true? Are you going crazy?" Roland: "Well, they keep telling me I'm seeing things that aren't there." Karlach: "How many fingies am I holding up?" Roland: "Two." Karlach: "That sounds about right." She doesn't have anything that can cure a curse — she spent all her Lay on Hands healing him, and she needs a rest before she could try anything else. She needs to leave before sunrise.

Her scolding of the party's tactics: "Are you all traveling with my nephew Roland here? Well, you've all got to take better care of each other. Make more intelligent decisions. Whose bright idea was it to fight a rock?" Kelvin explained the wolves. Karlach: "And you didn't think to go into the woods and hide from it under the canopy?" Kelvin: "Yeah, but there were wolves and..." Karlach: "If I had the choice of fighting wolves and fighting a big fucking monstrosity of a bird, I'd pick wolves, personally."

She was mid-speech offering comfort to Roland — "well, you know, we all have bad days and we all learn from our mistakes. But we don't do them again, right? That's what learning from them means" — when someone's toilet flushed audibly over the call, cutting the scene off. The DM called the session there.

Note from the pre-session recap: The players confirmed that since the A11 cave scene, Jonah/Haldak has departed the party — he "went off to his people." The party also confirmed the Feywild content from A11: the white fox named Skittlebump that Kelvin followed was revealed by Titania to have a true name of Roland. Othorion also has an unread scroll obtained from the Feywild that is still in his pocket.

NPCs Encountered

Combat

Encounter 1 — The Halfling Barbarian

• Enemy: 1 crazed halfling barbarian (female, unnamed)
• Location: Road to Conyberry
• Round 1: Kelvin opened with Entangle at 90 feet — she passed the DC 13 STR save and ripped free but moved through difficult terrain. Kavu stood on Bella the cow and bellowed a challenge (frightened the cow, not the halfling). Halfling raged — eyes glowing red, slobbering — and used Reckless Attack on Roland with her greataxe: missed twice. Othorion hit with his drow assassin dagger; she saved against the poison. Roland drew Talon and dealt 18 non-lethal damage. Kelvin won an Athletics contest and shoved her back into the Entangle zone. Kavu cast Hold Person — she failed and froze mid-swing
• Round 2: Kavu attempted to disarm her greataxe — she saved and kept the weapon. Othorion tried to knock her out by hitting the back of her head with the butt of his hand crossbow — hit but dealt 0 damage (negative Strength modifier): "I don't know what that means. It's kill or be killed." She broke free from Hold Person and struck Kelvin for 5 and 7 damage
• Subsequent rounds: Hold Person reapplied and broken again. Halfling broke rope restraints with STR check. Non-lethal damage accumulated until she went unconscious — then her body continued fighting via Rage Beyond Death. Roland was eventually forced to deal lethal damage to stop her
• Outcome: Halfling died; her eyes cleared and she delivered her dying words. Body buried roadside; nothing of value found

Encounter 2 — The Roc (Camp Attack)

• Enemy: 1 roc (Huge monstrosity, Flyby, 28 STR)
• Location: Conyberry ruins → cliff nest (600 feet elevation)
• Detection: Kelvin rolled 18 Perception on watch; spotted bioluminescent eyes diving from height. Othorion rolled 1 and 2 (disadvantage, trancing)
• Round 1: Kavu fired Fire Bolt for 8 damage, illuminating the creature. Roc swooped — beak missed Kavu, talons hit and grappled him, flew 20 feet up. Kelvin used Thorn Whip on the roc — since it's Huge (larger than Large), the pull mechanic reversed and Kelvin was dragged along instead: "Indiana Jones style." Kelvin used bonus action Healing Word on Kavu while being pulled skyward. Othorion climbed a 10-foot wall and threw his dagger — hit for 7 damage, dagger lodged in the creature. Roland hit from range for 16 radiant-streaked damage
• Round 2: Roc used Dash (120 feet movement), carrying Kavu and Kelvin to 380 feet altitude, then to the cliff nest at 600 feet

Encounter 3 — The Nest Fight

• Location: Roc's nest atop 600-foot cliff; contained scaled eggs (about to hatch per Kelvin's nature check), treasure hoard, bones and weapons of previous adventurers
• Setup: Kavu played dead on the gold pile; roc settled on its eggs. Othorion climbed up stealthily. Kelvin was unconscious but breathing in a pile of rotting bones. Kavu tried Speak with Animals on the roc — failed (monstrosity, not beast)
• Surprise round: Othorion attacked with advantage (hidden) — 17 piercing damage with sneak attack. Offhand attack: roc slapped his Larial sword away into the distance
• Key moments: Roc grappled Othorion for 24 damage. Othorion used a Misty Step spell scroll to escape the grapple and teleported 30 feet. Kelvin smashed one of the roc's eggs with his quarterstaff — "a sickening crack and it started bleeding" — the roc spun its head 180 degrees and focused entirely on him. The roc's beak penetrated Roland's armour and put him in the dying state
• Roland's flashback: As he went down — "the light so bright and radiant in your mind's eye, the loving looks on the face of your mother as she teaches you to fly for the first time... all of the combat training that you got from your Auntie Kay"
• Karlach's arrival: Something broke the sound barrier through the cloud layer. Karlach landed wreathed in white flame. Used Giant's Might (25 feet tall). Raged. Hit the roc twice with Reckless + Divine Smite — 32 damage each. The roc was still not bloody. She used 25 points of Lay on Hands on Roland. The roc hit her with a nat 20 talon attack for 39 damage; she Hellish Rebuked it, pulled it close, and held it for Roland's killing blow
• Outcome: Roland drove Talon into the roc — "And it lets out the screech of a thousand butthole piercings and dies." Karlach tossed the corpse aside, grabbed Kelvin and Kavu, and leapt back: "I got you, little guy! I got you, big guy!"

Loot / Discoveries

• Roc's treasure hoard in the nest (contents observed by Kavu but not inventoried this session)
• Lost: Othorion's dagger (thrown at the roc, lodged in its body, lost with the corpse)

Party Notes

• Roland: Cursed after the halfling's death — hallucinating (Kavu's horns as bunny ears, phantom bells, Talon appearing tarnished, talking to empty spots, thought the roc was a friendly parrot); Detect Magic showed new necrotic aura alongside his normal radiant; Lesser Restoration failed; went to dying state in the nest fight; killing blow on the roc with Karlach holding it — "Like we used to do when you were young. Like the drills."
• Kavu: Ran exhaustive diagnostics on Roland (physical exam, eye test with flame, head-sniff temperature check, Detect Magic, Lesser Restoration, improvised exorcism with stick fetishes and candle flames); grappled by the roc and carried to the nest; survived by playing dead on the gold pile; tried Speak with Animals on the roc (failed — monstrosity); kept his composure throughout: "Come get some fried fricassee!"
• Kelvin Fairlight: Thorn Whipped onto the roc mid-flight and rode it involuntarily to the nest; cast Healing Word on Kavu as a bonus action while being dragged skyward; arrived at the nest semi-eviscerated and unconscious; smashed a roc egg with his quarterstaff to provoke it away from allies — "the greatest druid ever"; barricaded the Conyberry camp with thorny bushes before the attack
• Othorion: Attempted non-lethal takedown with hand crossbow butt (0 damage, negative STR); eavesdropped on cursed Roland's rambling (Roland made an 18 WIS save and said nothing useful); climbed to the nest stealthily for a sneak attack; used a Misty Step scroll to escape the roc's grapple; lost his Larial sword (flung away by the roc) and his thrown dagger (lodged in the roc earlier)

Threads Opened / Advanced

• Roland's curse — halfling's dying words, confirmed necrotic aura (Detect Magic), hallucinations; Karlach can't fix it; origin and nature unclear; requires more than Lesser Restoration to cure
• Karlach — first appearance; radiant/winged rather than infernal; Roland's aunt (confirmed, not metaphorical); she felt him dying twice; now knows the party is in trouble; must leave before sunrise; "I wasn't close enough last time" — what was the first time?
• The halfling's warning — "I apologize for what you were about to deal with"; what was she connected to? Why did she thank him for killing her?
• Roc hoard — Kavu observed a treasure-filled nest; not inventoried this session
• Conyberry — roc problem now solved; Agatha is still the reason they came this direction; session ended before they investigated further
• Othorion's enchantment aura — Kavu noticed Othorion radiates a persistent enchantment that isn't from any item; Othorion did not explain
• Othorion's Feywild scroll — obtained in A11; still unread; "no lasting harm done... well, I don't know, because Othorion still has to read what was on the scroll that he got that was in my pocket"
• Jonah/Haldak's departure — confirmed absent this session; "went off to his people"; no further details offered