The Jade Frog Predicament

I was reeling after the resounding success of the Depressed Moth session. Occasionally over the following week I'd stop and chuckle to myself as the joke tickled me greatly. But it also left me in a strange spot, I had so far enjoyed running the normal story but the group wanted to do some more side missions to level up and I wasn't massively inspired by the side missions in the book. What's that I hear you say? Write my own? No. I couldn't possibly.

I mean, I could. Do I have any concept of a plot? Oh, wait, I do. In the second session the group managed to procure a jade frog from Cragmaw Cave and Dan mentioned I could do some story with it. Okay so I have a hook, now I need a story. I'd recently finished another watchthrough of Avatar: The Last Airbender and enjoyed every last second of it. Two episodes immediately stuck in my mind. The first spirit realm adventure and the library in the desert. Okay, I think I got this.

So, having defeated the Moth at Hathmere Hollow and accidentally releasing some kind of spirit in to the world, the group decided to head back to Phandalin to collect their reward from Narm. They trekked back and eventually crossed the boundary of the town, where they sensed an eerie presence. They decided to head to Narm's Meats and Goods to collect their reward and then go to the inn and get some sleep for the night.

When they arrived at Narm's, something seemed off. They couldn't figure out what it was so headed inside, where they were met with a surprise. The place had been stripped bare. The lavish furnishings and shelves of meats and goods were gone, as was Narm. They walked up to the sales counter where a leather pouch sat containing their reward, next to the pouch was a dagger. The dagger was unlike anything they'd ever seen and had an S engraved onto the hilt. They pocketed the money and the dagger.

Deciding not to hang about, they headed to the Inn to catch a good night's sleep, for their evening had been unconventional and exhausting. The group lounged about, lost in a deep sleep, all was calm and well, until strange happenings occurred. Griffin was twisting and turning in his sleep, something about dying and being reincarnated by that Elf had rubbed him the wrong way. He laid on his side, glancing out into the moonlit room. Until he saw movement. From the Satchel of Dan Firebeard emerged a very unlikely companion. The Jade Frog Statuette strolled out from within the bag and took the room in. No surprise there if you've read the title I suppose.

The Frog didn't notice Griffin and hopped off towards the door. Griffin, thinking his eyes had been deceived by some trick of the light, ignored it. Until he couldn't stop thinking about it. He climbed out of bed and grabbed his weapons and pursued the frog.

The next morning the adventurers awoke at the crack of dawn. They immediately noticed the irregular departure of Griffin. Soon after, Firebeard noticed that the Jade Frog was missing from his satchel. Using the limited evidence they had, they concluded that Griffin had taken the Frog and run away. They searched the room and surrounding areas in pursuit of more evidence. They headed outside where they noticed footprints heading away from the Inn. They followed the footprints for many miles, they went far beyond Phandalin into the forest.

They followed the prints until the sun sat level on the horizon, the night was beginning to make itself known. They followed the footprints for as long as they could until without warning, the prints stopped. The group edged forwards, hoping to ascertain as to why the prints had stopped.

In a quick flash, Glirin, Moses, Gro'Nak and Tohm awoke in a dark and gloomy room, thick smog surrounding them. They looked around and decided to light a torch. The flame sparked as it consumed the top of their torch. A small gust of wind blew out their torch, an echoing giggle with it. Tohm used his magic to light the room and as far as the eye could see were shelves and shelves of books. They glanced upwards and the shelves went high above them, disappearing into darkness.

They took in their surroundings until they heard the distant sounds of screaming and pleading. They raced towards it. They ran down the corridors, the screaming getting louder as they drew nearer. They burst into a clearing, a mid section between several corridors. They noticed blood and scratches covered the floor. They followed these scratches which led down another corridor, almost identical to the first. The scratches stopped. But the blood didn't. Drip. Drip. Drip. Three drops of blood dripped on to the ground from above.

Firebeard, Esh, Yargon and Ariadne awoke away from the rest of the group. Their surroundings, unknown to them, identical to the rest of the group. As a group they decided to head in a direction hoping to find answers to where they were. The smog was cold and brushed up against them as giggling echoed through the air, sending chills up their spines. Eventually, they noticed a figure shrouded in darkness, lying on the floor. They raced over to discover an unconscious Griffin lying on the ground.

A quick inspection revealed no harm had been done to him. He then shot awake. They quizzed him on what had happened to which he had limited responses. Their questioning of him continued until they heard a clang. The clanging happened again. And again. And again. Each time the clang happened it got louder and closer. Soon the clang turned into a boom. It was getting closer.

The dripping continued, and they heard a shuffling. They looked up and saw a creature clad in shadow. It had thin, spindly limbs and a large mouth teaming with razor sharp teeth, each of them yellowed and disgusting. It's face was covered with blood and it was dribbling. The creature crashed down to the ground and it's deep black eyes focused on them. It rose up, towering over them and jumped to attack.

The booming continued at lightning speed. They braced for a fight, in that moment something smashed through the book shelves and landed before them. A creature with several limbs and a head with no face stood there. It grabbed on to the bookshelves next to it, tearing them down in an attempt to get closer to the adventurers. It's featureless face glancing around at them. It shook the bookshelves causing an avalanche of books, blocking their way out. It leapt to attack.

Both groups fought valiantly, hacking and slashing at the grotesque beings. The first group prevailed first, one of them embedded their weapon into the beasts head, killing it in an instant. The beast smashed to the ground, black blood oozing from it. They stood there and caught their breath for a second before hearing a blood curdling scream in the distance.

They raced towards the sound, crashing through a hole in a bookshelf. They were faced with the rest of their group and a faceless demon. The beast stopped and raised its body at the new adventurers.

'You there...' the creature whispered menacingly. 'I smell the blood of my kin...'

The beast screamed, causing the group to cover their ears in pain. Enraged, it jumped to attack. But failed. In an instant in turned into dust. The beast floated away in the breeze. Confused, the group look around for answers.

BANG.

A bright flash occured and their surroundings changed in an instant. They were still in the library but now it was glowing and ethereal. They heard a loud booming and from behind the bookshelves emerged a giant frog with glowing emerald eyes.

'Thank you valiant adventurers. I am Bambaril, the keeper of this sacred place. I am the spirit of knowledge and this is my realm. Long ago I ruled here, protecting and preserving knowledge for all. Until a dark sorcerer tricked me and turned me into that frog statuette. As a cruel trick, every 100 years I am offered the chance to come back to my realm and reclaim it. If not for those beats, Hobin and Crangil, I would have succeeded a long time ago. Whilst they were busy fighting you, I had enough time to regain my strength and stop this once for all. I thank you.'

The Frog offered them one piece of free knowledge as a thank you. Naturally, they asked who the Elf in Hathmere Hollow was.

'His name, is Sedruid. Long ago he waged war on the world, destroying settlement after settlement as he went. He was taken down by the Cloaks and was thought to be dead, I suppose, he is not. Defeating him will not be easy, and I wish you luck.'

The Frog thanked them again and their surroundings began to fade. They awoke in the forest at the crack of dawn, with an answer, but ultimately, more questions.