🍃 The Marsh Way Chase

The session picks up as the party quickly kick into a chase after the grafted men who took both Xolo and Lorna. The party glide across the waters of the Marsh Way with Cartinho, following the grafters deeper into their territory, finding themselves surrounded by oil lanterns instead of the usual firefly jars.

They manage to rescue Xolo from the swimming grafter, however lose Lorna to the winged one. They gather their wits and head back, intending to interrogate one of the grafters who they managed to subdue with their own tranquilizer needle in the previous fight.

🐦‍⬛ Enter Myron

After picking up the unconscious grafter, and the rescued Licklittle child, the party head back to the mound where they had left Davos and the tortoises. However, Davos is gone, presumed to have sent for help after they never returned.

Before they settle in for the night, a rustling in the trees stirs up as suddenly a black-feathered aarakocra dashes down to greet them. The blunt, stoic bird announces himself as Myron Albaretta, and reveals that he was sent for them by Melma - his lover. The party realize that Melma has been hiding this relationship from her family, and leave the Licklittle child to Myron to fly back to Melma.

🗡️ Grafter Interrogation

As the rest of the party head to sleep for the night, Lyra and Xolo take it upon themselves to wait for the grafter to awaken, and interrogate him for information. After enough time, the grafter awakens, breaking out of his binds and attempting escape. Lyra swiftly apprehends him, tying him up once more and siphoning what information she can out of him.

They learn that the grafters are a faction operating out of a corner of the Marsh Way known as Grafter's Hollow. There are about 120 of them, and they serve an ex-Flammenvielen researcher named Richtor. The group appear to be kidnapping those with inherent magic abilities or racial traits - grafting their appendages onto their own in order to take and use their powers.

The party realize that this was the group who set up the blockade for the procession, and presumably kidnapped those part of the exodus in order to harvest them.

The grafter reveals that Richtor started all this after getting his hands on a Grafting Sickle - an arcane tool invented by the College of Evos, who the party now believe to be behind the racial splicing experiments.

🌲Return to Licklittle Hall

As morning arrives, the party return to Little Thorn in order to convene with Melma, and tell Mama Licklittle of the Grafters. To the party's shock, Mama gets in an argument with Melma over this, berating her, and remaining steadfast that the kidnappings are being carried out by the Clungwaters and the Albarettas.

Even upon being presented with a grafter by the party, she uses her stick which commands the marsh to bind him with vines and drag him deep beneath the water, ignoring the party's pleas.

🌿 Meeting at Melma's

The party gather with Melma after their failed meeting, and realize that there is no getting through to Mama. Melma explains that herself and Myron had scoped out Grafter's Hollow, and that if they meet at Melma's place later, they can discuss a plan going forward. It's clear that while Melma was suspicious of the party at first, she now finds herself trusting them, and potentially needing them, to deal with this grafter problem.

🌿Meeting at Melma's

The session begins with the party gathering at Melma's place, a cutely decorated cosy shack in the middle of Little Thorn. The party reunite with Davos here, who lets them know he has spoken to both Melma and Myron.

While waiting for the pair, Ember experiments more with the sigil on her hand, and discovers that it allows her to rewind flame, suddenly finding herself able to snuff out the candles lit around Melma's place.

During the wait, B works on some explosives with 'splody sap she bought from one of the townsfolk. The bomb goes wrong, is tossed and detonated in the water outside, and Xolo cooks one of the long-neck geese that died from the blast.

After some time, Melma and Myron return home, and discuss the situation with the party who ultimately decide to go and investigate Grafter's Hollow for themselves.

🪡 Grafter's Hollow Expedition

The party head out towards Grafter's Hollow, taking some wooden rafts with them that they can use as to not lead Cartinho into harms way.

The party head back out to Grafter's territory, sneaking by patrolling rafts between hanging oil lanterns. Eventually, they reach Grafter's Hollow, a rugged, eery outpost built about a giant hollowed tree. Xolo uses Polita to scout the place out, and discovers their settlement built far behind the tree, a body disposal site near where the land meets the water, and a mound that the Grafter's appear to be shipping captives into.

The party sneakily bring their carts through the body disposal riverway, and sneak onto the island. They split up, with Xolo turning invisible and heading for the tree, B burrowing beneath the ground, and Lyra and Ember delving into a trench that leads around the back of the central tree.

🕷️ Richtor and the Grafting Site

While the others explore the island, Xolo finds himself in the central tree. The place appears to be a cultist ritual site of sorts, with a sacrificial alter in the centre surrounded by piles of strange, teal-coloured ash. This is where the party assumes the grafting process takes place.

While scoping it out, Richtor, the leader of the Grafter's, enters. He is a hulking amalgamation of parts - devil arm, tiefling wings, beholder tendrils for hair, spider mandibles etc. He doesn't notice Xolo who is still invisible, and eventually leaves.

🔗The Mound

Meanwhile, after scoping out one of the rooms beneath the tree, B returns to the rest and they devise investigating the mound. Lyra turns B invisible, and she enters through a hatch out behind the mound.

The mound appears to be where the Grafter's are storing their victims - with some being killed outside and led to body disposal, while the rest are escorting inside, presumably where they shall wait before being taken for grafting.

While exploring the chambers, Polita discovers a room where prisoners are being stored, and finds that Douglas and the rest of the party they had talked to in the procession are being held captive here, confirming their suspicion that the Grafter's were responsible for their disappearance.

🔭 Sol

B and Polita explore the rest of the underground chambers beneath the mound, and eventually happen upon a small office of sorts with a human researcher of sorts working away inside - Sol.

Upon entering, Xolo, through Polita, spies that Sol is examining an unconscious Lorna who is laid out across a table. Not before long, Richtor enters, and scolds Sol to work faster, revealing that whatever research Sol is doing, it will allow him to become a 'vessel'.

Sol argues with Richtor, self-proclaiming his morals and revealing that he is being kept their by Richtor forcibly to carry out this research. Richtor threatens to start killing captive children each night that Sol doesn't make an advancement, and leaves.

🚬 Outside the Mound

After extracting what intel they could from observing Sol and the Grafters, the party attempt their escape. B burrows back out to Ember and Lyra who await in the trench, while Xolo awaits Polita's return, hidden beneath a parked cart.

Before they can slink away, the three in the trench suddenly hear Grafter's approaching, and conceal themselves with a silent image before realizing it's two Grafters who have come down into the trenches to slack off and smoke. Lyra attempts to slink off first, but trips, stumbling into them, and startling them to combat.

Combat Start | Escaping the Hollow

The two Grafter's quickly shout and begin alerting others guards that there are interlopers. The party attempt to flee, clashing with the two Grafters in their way as others begin to rush to the mound.

Xolo eventually catches up, but not before Grafters begin to surround the trench, tossing snares and sleeping mist to try and subdue the party.

🕷️ Enter Richtor

The party make a good effort fighting through the first wave of Grafters that attempt to subdue them, but are quickly met with more resistance as Richtor returns, flying from above and landing to discover what is causing the commotion.

He attempts to cut through the party using the grafting sickle, which makes quick work of Lyra's seemingly impenetrable armour, and blasting them with beholder rays. His power is immense, but the party and quick and nimble - Ember somehow managing to slip out of his grasp as he desperately slashes at her with the sickle, revealing how he is particularly interested in her because of her mark similar to Lyra's.

🐦‍⬛ Myron's Sacrifice

Eventually, Myron flies in to provide support, fighting off some of the Grafters from the air, displaying his unique fighting style that allows him to elongate and harden his limbs into tree bark as he throws flying kicks and sweeps. It is barely enough however, and Richtor manages to clip his wings, capturing him as the party barely escapes.

The party shake off the few Grafters who pursue them, and link back up with Davos and Cartinho who escort them back to Little Thorn safely. They are distraught at how overwhelming the Grafters are, and decide that if they have any hope to get Lorna, and now Myron back, they are going to have to bargain with the Clungwaters and the Albarettas, and negotiate some sort of peace between the marsh factions.