Workshop of Assisted Magic

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Written by: Cinder

May or May not be Cannon

Year 12336

There is a strange workshop of ancient magic hidden out in the swamps. a group of adventures have been tasked with investigating it. as there has been no contact from the workshop for some weeks they tell the party to take caution.

After a few months of traveling from the edge of Covania all the way to Garmsby in the north of Reton Raishin has been spending a few days rest within the town. the place was relaxed and it seemed not many troubles were afoot, there was a local city watch that seemed to handle all the daily issues rather than typical guards.

upon the 4th day Raishin approached the notice board looking for her next task, expecting to find another simple traveling merchant looking for extra muscle instead she finds a special task from a man by the name of Larimar upon seeing the hefty reward Raishin snatched the notice and went to the meeting place described upon the note.

Sitting at the deck of a large well decorated house Raishin whittled away at a piece of wood, taking notice of other adventures approaching.
One of the city watch, a very common looking man with an air of eldritch power. his name turned out to be Mahumaded Lee, Raishin had met him before, he had questioned her species, her horns must have given him cause for worry as tieflings were outlawed in these lands, Raishin had calmed his thoughts explaining that she was of Goliath blood, the horns are merely an inheritance from family above her.
A wood elf was next to approach, adjusting her mask and pulling back her hair gave Raishin a better view of him. a traditional druid he seemed to be, Raishin took a liking to him right away, people of the woods always struck a better social cord with her. He told her his name was Dayereth,….sounded traditional also.
I almost didn't notice the Kobold hurrying towards the house in a fluster, he looked strong but distracted, it was hard to imagine that such a small creature was a fighter but it wouldn't be honorable to brush away people just by their looks, i'll give anyone a chance to prove themselves. his name was Dekkas, or at least that's how he introduced himself along with two thumbs up and “Good Job”, his hand barely the width of my thumb when we shook.
Lastly was a high elf, he did not smell like any elf i had encountered but they seemed polite either way. w shook hands and their grasp was weak and flimsy, i felt like i would be able to crush it by accident, A cleric it seemed but didn't seem to gospel about their god much, unlike Dekkas who would not stop talking about his great dragon.

We had all gathered and shortly after Larimar appeared from the main door, seeing him analyze us gave me the quick impression that he was the one who posted the job.
“Come, please come in” he gestured for us to follow. i let the others go in first as when i took note of the door it would be a bit of effort to squeeze through.

The inside was well decorated and the brooms moved on their own, curious magic, i never dealt much with it myself unless it was an obstacle in my path. the party seemed just as interested.
upon entering the main lounge room my eyes are met with a great portrait of the the man himself, i couldn't help but scoff, maybe a bit too loudly as i got a dirty look from some of the other party members.
Lee approached the portrait and seemed to examine it closely but weather he actually knew a thing about art was up for debate. it was a simple bust up portrait. I noticed the elf took interest in the smaller art items around the room having about as much understanding as Lee.
Dekkas the kobold asked for some paper as we were asked to sit down. the chairs where not meant for my girth, as I sat I could hear the creaking of the wood crying out for mercy, and Larima seemed to cringe as if he was listening to a child scream, we locked eyes for a moment before he regained his composure.

After we had all taken a seat Larimar told us why he had put the call out.

The journey to the research facility was uneventful at most, a few of our members were not used to traveling in such an unforgiving environment but i was born and spent most if my life in the mountains, I ended up carrying the Kobold up the majority of the mountain after they received several thorns in sensitive areas.
About half a days journey and we found the entrance just as described by Larimar The stone door shut as we approached. I signed loudly as I noticed the many magic runes covering the door.
“Aye, you Spellcasters are better suited to solve this one than me I presume” as i put Dekkas down and let the other party members ahead of me.
A voice came from the door, i was not expecting it but it had asked a question “what is your business here” i simply replied “we would like to enter” after the door repeated the question i gritted my teeth as i felt anger swell up, but before i could say another word Lee chimed in explaining the situation, and to my surprise it worked, the voice accepted and opened.
I patted the human on the back, almost knocking him over but i expressed a hearty laugh and appreciation as i marched forward ahead of the rest.
Blasted buildings, it was only a tad too short i had to bend my neck low to fit down the hallway into the mountain.

Runes covered the walls, The wood elf, Dayereth who had been mostly quiet our journey so far seemed quite interested in the runes covering the walls, as did the elf, Ty.
Suddenly i felt a surge of magic come over me, i turned to attack but saw it was merely Dayereth casting a helpful spell on me. lowering my clenched fist i made it clear to him
“You should be more cautious wood elf other people may not want magic affecting them even if the casting was of helpful nature, respect them and ask permission before hand” My words were sharp and firm, the elf seemed to retreat slightly falling a few paces back.

We spoke with the wall voice several times, upon encountering a door in the right side of the tunnel. S.A.M as the main entrance Lee asked permission to enter and it was granted, i took note this time as the voice did seem of helpful nature. the room was a mess, books and scrolls tossed all throughout the room, the other part members entered and Dekkas quickly found a blank book and starting to fill it with drawings, before entering myself i had a sense of danger, i announced to the part that i would return shortly as i headed back towards the entrance.

Upon returning i could hear quite a commotion as my senses screamed DANGER, i rushed to the door and saw that a fiend in the shape of a book case had Lee in its grasp. We drew our weapons and readied our magic. Lee stabbed the fiend with his pike looking very uncomfortable as the mucus soaked book stuck to his face. Dayereth fired off a spell causing the bookcase to quiver and move unnaturally, i jumped in delivering two fierce punched to the beast, i expected to hit solid wood but instead it was more like the flesh of man, unnerving to a lesser man but to me it only meant weakness, i surpassed the beastly rage inside me, i had a feeling i should save it for a more important fight p that is yet to come.
next was Ty who shoot another spell but he missed the mark quite a lot, almost hitting me.
“Oi! watch those” i called out in annoyance.

The panicked scream from Dakkes overcame the rest of our shouting as he tossed a dart hitting the fiend square, the bookcase then squelched and moved to grab the dark and remove it, afterworlds it sprayed acid at Lee copping a face full. After another spell the bookcase lay as a mound of flesh, squelching and writhing but no doubt defeated. i grasped the air declaring our victory as the spellcasters worked to heal lee of his injuries.

All furniture from this point on could be danger. We left the room and continued down the hallway, Lee questioned the walls about the creature while Dekkas accused it of being the source of our strife.
I examined the walls myself, as predicted I could only deduce that the runes were indeed magic.
Dayereth seemed to have more luck but of his findings he did not divulge.

A door further down on the left this time. I asked permission to enter as the others had before, the door opened and inside seemed to be living quarters but the furniture whispered danger.

The door opened to a house of green, where the tree came alive. Instead of fighting i chose to slip past, Lee and Ty managed to follow my lead however the Druid Dayereth and Dekkas were caught behind and blocked by the dirt.
it seemed they were in trouble so to grab the attention of the tree and clear the way i set upon the living wood.

I grabbed the trunk of the tree, claws digging in and muscles screaming as i attempted to uproot the entire fiendish tree. It budged but stayed stubborn, i tried again with leverage and it bugged further but still not enough. I gave a mighty punch to the tree with a running start and that was enough, the snapping of roots and the entire tree fell over, clearing the way for the others.
Dayereth seemed badly hurt…and a lizard, we made our way through the door and upstairs.

The Story diverges from the original game at this point to avoid continuity errors

Dayereth's wounds were too great. We had no choice but to return, leaving the workshop unsolved. however payment was still granted, with the job complete i put aside the mystery. it would be someone else problem now.