Warhammer Quest: The Sylvan Epic

[Oversoul]

At long last, I found my notes buried in a box in a garage. So I'm out of excuses and we're all set to resume wacky hijinks in the Warhammer World. Since the party seems to have decided to pursue this quest, I've started a new thread for it. Of course, at the time of this first post, the party is still in Middenheim. There's a bit of administrative stuff to consider: I still haven't forgotten to give Throg some time in town to buy a mule...

Following Corticruss's directions, you arrive at a house on the northern end of the merchant district. This is an older neighborhood, with large, sturdy homes that are weatherbeaten and poorly maintained. A stern wood elf with the bearing of a warrior meets you at the gates and beckons you inside.

Passing through the threshold, the scenery changes. The exterior of the house was unmistakably classic Middenheim albeit with a bit more crumbling stone than normal, but everything inside is decorated in the more ornate, distinctive style of Athel Loren. Immaculately preserved wood elf furnishings are interspersed with artifacts that must have been brought here centuries ago. The place is vibrant and full of life, with elves and other denizens coming and going as the warrior leads you through the house. Most of the people here are deliberately ignoring your presence, although you do catch a few wayward glares from gardeners tending to plants, and an old woman nervously steers a group of elven children away from you.

The very existence of this place is remarkable. Middenheim already has a thriving Elf Quarter, and even the non-elves of the party have been around Middenheim long enough to catch glimpses of it. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to arrange and maintain this microcosm, far beyond the Elf Quarter of the city, for no discernible reason.

Your warrior guide takes you to a nondescript table in a corner of the house. A frail, elderly wood elf dressed in fine robes sits at the table. He speaks...

"So, you're Carrow Darkweald. I am Lord Cael. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, although I do wish it had been under better circumstances. I imagine that we both have many questions and few satisfactory answers. You and your companions may as well sit down and perhaps we can figure some of this out.

By way of introduction, as I said, I am Lord Cael. You've also met Revaethan here [Lord Cael gestures toward the warrior who led you through the house]. In theory, I am here in Middenheim to assist him in his role as Protector of Welhallas, although I do not know if such a concept any longer has meaning. But we'll get to that. And of course you'll meet the remainder of our little band once Revaethan can gather them. What of your group? The only one I know anything about is Carrow Darkweald, and even in his case, I know too little. Shall we go around the table?"

 

[Spiderman]

"Dorgath from Zhufbar" (Not sure if I said before where I was from - if I did, use that, if not, this is it)

 

[TomB]

"Tyresius of Middenheim I am. Is this your home Lord Cael? It's an amazing place, beautiful, and full of life."

 

[turgy22]

"I'm Throg G'Nflor of the Chaos Realm and I didn't understand half of what you just said so stop talking so much."

 

[Melkor]

"I am Kelgar. Priest of Sigmar, whose light protects us all."

 

[Oversoul]

Lord Cael reacts suddenly when Throg admits to being from the Chaos Realm, but Revaethan restrains him with a hand on his shoulder and a grim look. Lord Cael composes himself. As Kelgar speaks, Lord Cael quizzically examines each member of the party. Eventually, he sighs and addresses you again...

"Not many would admit any connection to the Chaos Realm within the city walls of Middenheim, where even young children known to be mutants are left to die. Of course, things are different in Athel Loren. Hm...

To answer your question, Tyresius, this is not my home. This is a retreat meant for the high priestess of Talsyn. She is presumed to be dead, and no successor has been appointed. So she shan't be joining us. Ideally, she'd come here to guide Revaethan in his mission. I am here instead as a kind of contingency. I had been in the Elf Quarter here in Middenheim as an emissary, since the city has been seeking our help against the forces of Chaos. But now we have problems of our own. I am probably the most well-traveled native of our homeland, so Revaethan sought me out. Despite all my travels, I admit I was taken aback to encounter a dwarf, an elf, a priest of Sigmar, and a man from the Chaos Realm all traveling together. Your group seems to be the setup for some crude joke, walking into a bar and such. But we should focus on the problem at hand. I might as well tell you what I do know about it.

I was born in a place called Welhallas. It is a city, of sorts, something more resembling a city like this than any other place in Athel Loren, anyway. You probably haven't heard of Welhallas. It's considered a secret of Loren, although the secretive nature of the city is rather dubious, now that so many elves born there have emigrated to other places, myself included. This number would also, I believe, include an ancestor of young Carrow here. I once knew an elf who I believe became your grandfather, but he left Welhallas a long time ago. More recently, Welhallas was swallowed up by the Wildwood. Although the city and its people survived, it could only be reached through a hidden path. But now Welhallas is besieged by dark forces. I do not know their nature and have not yet seen them for myself. From what I hear, all contact with the city has been lost, and the great tree known as the Heart of Welhallas is believed to have be damaged. Soon, the Heart will need to be replaced. Ariel, queen of the elves, is herself working on this. It has long been suspected that some enemy has been working to sabotage the Heart, but this enemy has never been found. Our late high priestess believed that she had identified the culprit, but she was ambushed before she ever got around to passing her knowledge on to anyone else. This has been the source of great frustration for us. By now, I've learned enough to know that we really do have some mysterious enemy, but I still cannot find them!

When the high priestess was ambushed, her plans for fighting this mysterious foe were lost. So were her companions, including her bodyguards, some of my finest warriors. But I did get some information: the sole survivor of the ambush was a young priestess who fled, slinking through unfamiliar ground and hiding from monsters alone for days. She retrieved the high priestess' journal. The journal gave me part of the plan, and Revaethan knew some of the details. The Heart of Welhallas is ancient, going back to a sacred pact between the elves and the forest. The city was built on that site to protect the Heart. To restore or replace the Heart, the priestesses would require certain songs for their rituals. The high priestess had access to these songs, but she decided that the versions copied in our lore were imperfect. She needed the originals. And those, it turns out, are in that book you have. I'd happily take the book back home myself, but that's not how its magic works. It was stolen long ago, and having been lost for so long, it reacted to the presence of one of its own. You're a wood elf Carrow, even if you've never been to your homeland. The enchantment of the Sylvan Epic is now attuned to you. When Revaethan couldn't find you, I worried that you might have been killed, and consulted with our sorcerers to see if the attunement could be shifted. We didn't make much progress in that endeavor.

So, part of my request of you is a simple one. I'd just need both Carrow and the book to be present for the ritual to restore or replace the Heart of Welhallas. You wouldn't need to actually do anything in that regard, just stand around while our people take care of the rest. Of course, there are complications. Welhallas was, last I heard, cut off. We'd need to find a way to actually reach the Heart. I don't know if doing so is possible. But since the fate of my people may depend on it, I must try."

 

[Spiderman]

"What about this hidden path that is supposed to reach Welhallas? Is it no longer usable?"

 

[Oversoul]

"The path was accessible the last time I traveled there. When the city was attacked, the attackers also blocked off the path. I still do not know the details. It is possible that we would have to fight our way in."

 

[turgy22]

Throg takes one look at that block of text spewing forth from Lord Cael's mouth and invokes his alcoholism super powers to prevent himself from killing the elf in rage.

 

[Mooseman]

Throg takes one look at that block of text spewing forth from Lord Cael's mouth and invokes his alcoholism super powers to prevent himself from killing the elf in rage.

So Throg falls a sleep.

Of Course we have to fight our way in.
So we have much healing?

 

[Spiderman]

"May we have a room to discuss among ourselves?"

Assuming we're given one...

"So now we know what these elves want. Personally, I'd like to check out these 'Beacons of Retribution' things in the West End Mountains and see if they might affect any dwarf strongholds. What do the rest of you think?"

 

[TomB]

"Sounds like they need Carrow to be involved in this ritual, since the book is attuned to him, and they need to do this ritual to save a tree or regrow it or somesuch that will...what? Save their bond with nature? That's probably pretty important to elves I suppose, though not so important to the rest of us...You guys think they'll let us tag along? I wonder how large of a group we're talking about traveling around with here..."

 

[Melkor]

"It does not surprise me that a priestess who is not of Sigmar has failed to prevent this tragedy. Still, even elves should not be denied Sigmar's light."

 

[TomB]

"So Carrow, do you want to do this?"

 

[Mooseman]

Okay, Explain these Beacons to me. I'm not sure if they have time to wait for us to adventure there, but I won't go without you ragtag bunch of dirt dwellers.

 

[Oversoul]

For the record, Lord Cael has agreed to give the group some privacy to discuss the situation. So you're currently having this argument in a room by yourselves, in case that was unclear. I mean, I am watching, with amusement, in case you were wondering.

 

[Spiderman]

"I'm not too clear about them myself, just that those members from the Order of the Holy Forge were trying to light them and running into problems with undead. I reckon if there's undead running around in the World's Edge Mountains, they may also be a threat to some dwarven strongholds."

Oversoul, can you tell us/are we allowed to know if quests can get closed off by doing other quests? The OCD in me would obviously like to try to do all of the quests at some point, but if some will be unavailable in the future because we did other quests, that may help in deciding which ones to do. And of course, "I can't tell you" is an acceptable answer also

 

[TomB]

"I WAS kinda drunk when I heard about that at the tavern, but the story sounded kinda legit...maybe it's on the way to this Welhallas place, or perhaps it'll be the other way around, and we can go there after helping Carrow out...Either way it sounds like they need help in BOTH places and soon, so we should probably decide something and get going...Personally I'm in favor of helping the people that pay the best since I still have a price on my head for the money I owe, but I'm certain that getting out of town quickly is the best idea for me regardless of the potential payout..."

 

[Mooseman]

Well, If you underground hellions will help with my ... uhhh.... quest, I'll go with you to light the beacons.

 

[Spiderman]

I'm assuming no answer to my question is the answer itself since Oversoul posted in the Casual Decks forum...

"Ahh, good point, if Welhallas is on the way or near these 'Beacons', we may be able to kill two birds with one trip... although I got the impression that it's just us going to Welhallas, no one else... I'm willing to go to Welhallas first and then perhaps we can check out the Beacons on the way back, sound good?"