Shovel Skull Spire

Run 1: Mystery Among the Mudslides #

A call had been sent out across the Spires searching for aid. The town of Styton, on the Shovel Skull Spire, was experiencing a harrowing set of kidnappings. Most simply disappeared, but those who were found were never in one piece. There was also rumors of a secret society of talking animals, spread by a certain robed individual named Quyst Iverg. A group of Spirelings consisting of the goliath paladin Aura, the kobold druid Ohrt Greentail (who acted as the group's chronicler), the kobold cleric Quartz, the kenku fighter Rayvn Steelfeather, and the human monk Sha, who lives on this Spire, got together to resolve these issues, meeting in the midst of Styton's bustling crowd.

The town was a lively place, filled with crowds holding celebration and experiencing community even in dire times, where even the din of the mining tunnels held a rhythm - as was the way of the compassionate, diligent Shovel Skulls themselves. Even then, there was a palpable anxiety hanging over everything, exacerbated slightly by Ohrt's presence - though less so than one may have seen in other places. The group met their contact, Omul Brushbristle, a gregarious orc with a scrawny frame, an excitable demeanor, and slightly too-big glasses, who explained the situation to them. In addition, they heard that the whole of the Spire was worried about a series of mudslides that had been degrading the integrity of the towns, which were built off the mountainside. This was especially a problem for Styton, which sat above the edge of the Green.

An example demonstrated itself via a sinking music shop, which was falling down the mountain slowly towards the lowest part of the town. The group leaps to it, and it lands atop a dwarven library below - the rock gnome proprietor of the music shop, Mirik Bouldervane, assisting Omul with his explanation the whole way down. Everyone decides the library, known as the Silent Rock, is the best place to begin investigating.

The dwarven librarian, Milge Stabletooth, wearing a burgundy dress and tying up her gray hair, presided over a dusty building of crumbling books and stone tablets - the stumbling antics of Sha not helping the group endear themselves to her, but revealing a scrap of paper that seemed important. Beyond that, Quartz finds a mysterious anagram hidden within the newspapers: LERFEL. Aura finds a stone tablet with defaced info. Sha recalls the Clam-eye Sleuthing Co, a rag-tag group of investigators known around Styton for being causes and solvers of local mischief, who might be looking into this missing persons' buiseness. Eventually, the group manages to get Milge to warm up to them enough to share what she knows - a decades' old folk tale speaks to the killings, and to the presence of the mysterious talking animals; these are issues in resurgence, not new threats.

She also mentions a certain phrase, one capable of summoning a being of chaotic assistance, task-giving, and ale...

"I'm looking for adventure."

This, of course, was the means of gathering 'assistance' from one Quyst Iverg, which was immediately tested by Ort, and resulted in the man appearing, with red robes and gold trim and a hood over his face and magic beads of force and a bottomless tankard of ale (whew!). Convinced utterly that the "Smoldering Roost" were behind the animals' appearance, he managed to get a laugh from a passing bird, which gave the party a task to earn its trust - find a flaming boar mask and take it to the animals. It seemed too intelligent to be a normal beast by far. The group reluctantly drag Quyst back to his normal haunt, the training grounds/tavern known as the Wallowhouse.

There, they speak to the bartender, Edel Busk. He believes that one of his regulars, Bolon Yotoo, may have been responsible for the vandalization of the slab sometime before the party's arrival after being witness to the early morning murder scene that the group found in the tavern - which reeked of Green corruption and a scuffle. As the party investigates, they discover an absurdly long druidic carving in stereoscopic script: "Stone menhirs carved from the mountain will be paved all the same. Piece by piece, your forest circle will be torn apart at the source". Further scrawlings had been found on the table in mold, as Bolon recounts, painting the writer as something of a reverse lumberjack - a creature that perceived steel cities as if they were forests to be harvested and the Green to be the new world to pave over them. The blasphemous text nauseates Quartz and Ohrt alike, but brings to light several things - that the entity causing the killings is a Green avatar known as the Feller, and that the "Smoldering Roost" is in fact the Smoldering Roast. With more snippets of the mysterious document, the party pieces together that the Luddite Conspiracy may be the source of the Green.

With little else to find in the way of concrete leads, they check up on the Clam-eye gang, and finds the group suspicious of them - until the party places down their heaping mountain of evidence and quickly forces the Clam-eye Sleuthing Co. (Clarence, Nutmeg, and Pasley) to accept their success. In the exchange of information, it's discovered that this one mystery is in fact, two distinct mysteries; that of the Feller's killings returning, and that of people being transformed into talking animals. This latter point is complicated when mid-level agents of the Smoldering Roast ("snouts") find and attempt the party, to disastrous results for the Roast snouts, who are captured and interrogated. They reveal that their plan is to steal techniques from visitors to the Shovel Skull Spire in order to shore up the mudslides, in fear of the spire going the way of Peach Blossom Mountain. However, the group convinces the duo that their plan is filled with fallacies, and they recommend the group talks to their leader, one Debelise Romay, to sort things out. Together, all the assembled groups have enough information to deduce the Feller's next target - the Terra Fencehold Quarry.

Rushing there quickly, they manage to evacuate most of the civilians before the Feller strikes, riding in on a monstrous, abominable logging cart with a harvesting arm grafted to the front using Green-infused rubber. The wooden man with a two-faced expression of green, smiling moss and dour oaken misery monologues for a brief moment about the "new world" he seeks to create, before directing his 'Go-Devil' to attack. The party retaliates with fire and the animals arrive to tear into the cart, causing the rubber to burn with toxic fumes. The Feller, displeased by this, leaves through a reversal of gravity, while the group takes out the malevolent Green machine. The quarry workers who were trapped are quick to reward the group and celebrate the fact that they were saved in the nick of time.

A talking gray fox contemplates the escape of the Feller, and leaves behind scraps of the same manual out of mercurial curiosity, before suggesting the group pay Debelise a visit. He slinks away, and the group returns to Omul with their findings, who passes them on to Reacham and the leadership of the Shovel Skulls.

Run 2: Dinner to Die For #

A meeting is called in the Silent Rock, as a new group of Spirelings convenes to deal with the problems the Smoldering Roast is continuing to cause in Styton. Omul and Midge are present, and the Spirelings involve include the kobold sorcerer Ehosmir, the elf warlock Oh'Pah of Oblivion, the dwarven cleric Oleman "Old Man" Firebeard, the halfling wizard Rusty Crustfoot, the goliath druid Stroag, and the dwarven druid Thuruln. While there is some anxiety over the high presence of wood magic and Gaian sympathy, Omul and Midge reveal why this isn't as heavy as elsewhere; namely, the Shovel Skulls' elemental magics relate to earth and water - thus granting some the ability to access wood magic, which is an awkward truth of their survival in what was once the most barren Spire of the forty-eight.

Cracking open a gem, Omul and Midge call upon the sleeping mind of the elven elder Palinel Rockshaker to explain the situation. The Smoldering Roast is still causing problems across the town, and to prevent them from transforming any further individuals, the leadership of the Shovel Skulls wants the Spirelings to head down into their lair to either convince their leadership to pause their depradations over the course of the crisis the Spires are facing or to break their chain of command. Initially, the group intends to do the latter, as they don flimsy suits to use for entering the light Green that surrounds the lair of the Smoldering Roast - stealthily concealed below the largest mudslide out of Styton.

With feather fall, they glide to the ledge walkway that leads to the lair of the Smoldering Roast and make their way forward across the long beam. They manage to convince the earth elemental myrmidon that guards the entrance to the lair and pretends to conceal it as a simple rock face to allow them passage through, decieving it into believing Debelise invited them to speak. By doing so, they avoid having the elemental collapse the rock face on them, which would have made their entrance much harder and alerted the Smoldering Roast to their entry. However, they realize they need to keep up this deception as they head further into the complex.

As they press on, they encounter a room with a cleansing charcoal grate where several Roast members are cleansing their advanced gear for traversal of the Green. The process is painful, but not especially dangerous, and the group decides to ask the mage in charge of the chamber to let them through. Since the mage is a little more open to discussion than the myrmidon - and believes the party to have been rightfully let through - he acquiesces, though the party has to undertake the rounds above the coals as well, and leave any equipment harboring Green corruption outside.

The mage leads them through into a multipurpose room that's seen a lot of fighting - from Green incursions, intrasect conflict, and vigorous training over the course of decades. Among the Smoldering Roast devotees in the room are refugees from the Standing Ox, who fell in with the similarly stubborn, tradition-minded Roast as a way of securing power. There's also an individual with technology from the Initiative, an organization that once fought against the Green present, who objects to the party's entry. At this point, however, the party is easily able to refute their objection, and they move on to meet with Debelise.

The leader of the Smoldering Roast, Debelise Romay, a tiefling with a strong build, spined tail, curved horns, piercing eyes and a crimson dress, is in a grand feast hall, surrounded by her advisors and a caged, terrified talking rabbit, convinced that Debelise is planning to eat them. Debelise shrugs at this assertion - citing that the rabbit had been attempting sabotage before their transformation - and welcomes the party regardless. Just as her followers had a run prior, she explains her plan and, newly, her Technique - the forbidden Feast of Arts, capable of stealing the powers of others for herself. She explains that the Smoldering Roast exists, in their view, to protect the Shovel Skulls from outside influence when they are unwilling, and to provide the selfish in-group compassion that enables true, selfless compassion to be sustainable. She admits she's gotten more ruthless about her targets since the destruction of Peach Blossom Mountain, extending beyond the criminals and villains that are the Smoldering Roast's typical targets. She also freely says that the truly vile were devoured after their transformation as grisly penance for their crimes.

The party (including Stroag, who was crushing on Debelise more than a little) decides that this situation is worth turning from deception to true diplomacy despite the nature of the Smoldering Roast's actions, and Debelise, in turn, asks them questions;

“Do your leaders have a timetable for finding a solution to stabilize the Spires, or to find livable spaces in case evacuation is necessary?” - Not concretely, but they're working together for the first time in years.

“What successes have already come to pass in their fight against the Green?” - Mostly informational successes, at this point, but successes nonetheless.

“If we decide to abandon our current plan and assist you, what shall the Smoldering Roast be provided in turn?” - Access to the Iron Seat.

“We have been investigating the other missing persons cases in Styton ourselves. What more do you know about them?” - They're the Feller's doing.

“What would you sacrifice to stop the Green for good, if it was the only way?” - This particular question got many responses, from ones Debelise expected, such as a self-sacrifice, to those she did not, outright rejections of her questions.

Together, these answers satisfied her enough to earn her support. The Initiative-tech-wielding adviser couldn't abide by this, and attempted to press a button to summon Initiative constructs to the scene. A Standing Ox adviser took firm hold of the traitor while the others rushed to confront the army of steel. At the edge of the cliff, they spotted the constructs - Defoliators and an Annihilator - lurking below, climbing their way out of the Green... and bursting open to reveal the Green infestation had already taken them, as a Green Behemoth and a flood of Mantispores crested the rise. As the Behemoth was pushed back off the cliff and Dragon's Lung was set up (perhaps by Oleman?), curses and frustration poured from twinned voices in Druidic and Ancient below - this trap was the Feller's doing. Keeping the monsters at bay with wind and using the Feller's gravity trick against the behemoth, they tore the Green invasion apart, earning Debelise's full trust in the process. She had the Standing Ox associate and the heat mage show the party to her study, where they learned about Kodo Torro, the former leader of the Smoldering Roast who had been transformed into a fox, and his technique the Wallowmaker Dance. They learned about the Initiative, a group dedicated to preserving an empire of technology - gathering more pieces of their manual, and of the Standing Ox leader referred to often as "Old Bull". There was even mention of a fallout between apprentice Miles A. Nelson and current Shovel Skull leader Dokoi Shivarran over a rigged tournament match, and the Lacquer Sect that the Roast had learned some information on how to protect themselves from the Green from.

As the group took their leave of the Smoldering Roast, convinced of their conviction to work with the main sects on preserving the Spires' way of life, Debelise extended an invitation to return if the group wished... especially to Stroag, as it turns out the goliath's infatuation with the imposing tiefling woman wasn't one-sided in the slightest. With that, they got to work on locating the lair of the Feller... ready to vanquish their Green-empowered foe once and for all.

Run 3: Cathedral of the Sleeper #

Another group of Spirelings makes their way to the Wallowhouse; the kobold monk Brother Yurgol, the kenku monk Corvo, the kobold barbarians Judge Mentor and Roarzjakk, the halfling ranger Shaemus, the human sorceror Kingfisher, and the dwarven cleric Thulsa dar Mufasa. Only one person is there to meet them - the young master of the Shovel Skulls, Lobi Thornpek, a distant descendant of the few members of Sect Founder Jiwuba's family who escaped to the Spires. She informs the assembled group that the Feller, the killer who's caused problems for Styton past and present, has been tracked down to an ancient ruin, and a rudimentary path to infiltrate the ruin through the Green has been created by the Smoldering Roast.

Aware that the journey to the Feller's lair will be dangerous, Lobi offers to join them herself, adding her sorcerous/druidic talents to the mix in order to ensure their success. Furthermore, the group gains access to several of the Smoldering Roast's protective suits, and use them to shield themselves from the Green over the course of the trek. The eight intrepid explorers use the great mudslide at the center of Styton to make their way down, and the Green reacts by deploying a Green Devourer surrounded by blighted plant creatures. The Smoldering Roast and a well-placed fireball from Kingfisher obliterates most of the chaff, and the Devourer bounds forward into its own destruction before getting a chance to strike. The party makes it to the bottom of the mudslide with no issue.

The trek through the misty zone of moderate Green infestation is difficult, and the mists turn the group the wrong direction at least once or twice, forcing them to deal with four hours in the Green before finding their destination - an incongruous facility consisting of great, hollow rectangular walls around a central glass greenhouse, all covered by strands of the Green. Text around the facility is written in Ancient, and a great mudslide has somehow compromised the opposite end of the structure, as if something slid around and into the back of it, carried for miles by momentum. The group chooses to head in the one entrance that hasn't been locked down - on the building's southwest side.

The inside was an overgrown cafeteria, with a single Green tender manning the infested kitchen space. With the doors shut down, the group sends one of their own over to attempt to speak with the creature, only for it to offer a piece of the Green that it had "cooked" in response. After pretending to eat it and walking awkardly away, the group discover a puzzle under the growths on the floor and clear it away - soon realizing that the puzzle is attached to the door. After working out that the puzzle required connecting each of the matching symbols on the floor using lines of energy without crossing said lines, everyone easily collaborated to finish the puzzle and open the locks that led further into the facility.

On their way, they discover the other chambers each contain research dedicated to stopping the Green - a biolab containing samples of the Green, a medical bay with chemicals that pacify Green creatures, and a construct bay with various broken-down mechanical marvels. These chambers attach to the central greenhouse via a system that requires three keycards to open. They also discover an office that appears to contain an officer's version of the Initiative Field Manual, which the Spirelings have been gathering chunks of throughout various runs, sealed in an airtight container to protect it from Green exposure. With a variety of options, the party must make a decision about what to approach first.

They begin by mending a keycard in the biolab, which pictures a stately scientist. While there, they notice that a strange breathing seems to emanate from the vents in the room, not of the Green but charged with revitalizing energy. A group of spilled samples to the south reacts to the breath as it continues, a keycard nestled in its Green embrace. The party tries to yank the card free, only for the samples to react violently in an attempt to get the card back. The group hacks away at it, the few who use weapons seeing their weapons degrade as the Green moss mass tears pieces of their weapons away before they slowly reduce the mass to nothing, gathering a keycard of a wild-haired man.

Heading into the medical bay, they find several Green mossmen lingering there, led by a Green ambusher who appears to be languidly holding onto a keycard of a handyman. They attempt to ask for it, and the ambusher writes on a table in moss, “Your home has been invaded by something that was never meant to be there. Nobody else is coming to help you – no town guards, not even your friends and family. It means to lock you up, and confine you, keeping you there slowly until you wither away. Tell me – if you could do anything, anything at all to escape this situation, what would you do?”. While responses such as striking back or growing in spite of/with it exemplify the ambusher's purpose, Judge Mentor realizes that neither goal is permanently fulfilling, and opts for the consideration of a third path. Conflicted, the ambusher curiously hands over the key... and forgets the whole interaction.

The group then investigates the office, finding allips formed from the spirits of Taveris Anulim and his cohort, the senior Initiative agents present at this facility. These allips are stabilized somewhat by the presence of the Initiative base and the manual, and eagerly try to check whether the group may be able to help fight the Green through questions. As Taveris himself is surprisingly lucid for an allip, he briefly speaks coherently, enough to reveal that one of his subordinates, Corumir Nusk, became part of the Feller and can't be allowed to lay his hands on the manual. The group, respecting Taveris's wishes, leave them alone.

In the construct bay, a fourth keycard of a powerful druid is dexterously lifted from a calibration machine, though a surge of energy causes an Annihilator partially covered by the mudslide to swing its titanic chainsaw one last time before going inert. Fiddling with the keycards, the group discovers a series of recordings - stating that this place, the Initiative ex-Luddite Collaboration Center, was a place for the last great minds of both regretful creators of the Green and those seeking weapons against it to come together against the dire threat that had been set into motion by the Luddites. Taveris was jubilant, though the archdruid involved in the collaboration soon left in despair, knowing their efforts were too late.

Two remained.

A young druid named Bayfir who sought to contact and hoped to control the mind of the Green to pacify it. And an Initiative handyman named Coromir who built a weapon capable of striking at the psyche of others.

Nothing to do but to see what lay in the greenhouse, they press forward, finding it transformed into a cathedral for the Green, a great form hidden by vines and spores at the front of the mudslide, and the Feller exulting before it. He - no, they - turn, and regard the party with one set of eyes that used to be two.

Here, the Feller reveals something shocking - the creature encased in the Green before them is none other than Jiwuba, the Founder of the Shovel Skulls, the Patient Sage, the Sleeping Hermit himself, having fallen into the Green and been totally encased by it, alive but in grave danger and grown titanic over years of meditation. The Feller plots to transform him into a greater weapon for the Green than anything before it, to prove that they are the mouthpiece for the Green's will. As the party stances up to fight, the mossy side of the Feller's head budges to reveal a mossy hand forcing its way free of the wooden statue, followed by an arm, and a torso, as the parasite of moss within the wooden shell fully revealed itself.

The fight to follow was bloody and swift. The breathing of Jiwuba, sensing friends trying to free him, bolstered the party, but even with his exhalations healing them and inhalations forcing the Feller towards the back of the room, the Feller was a dire threat, capable of striking out with his corrupted axe, rending minds with a word, and causing great walls of thorns to sprout up around the writhing room. Yet, with a well-placed white bolt, Shaemus did him in, the salt-treated projectile tearing the mossy half from his shell. The wooden visage of the handyman, free from his strings, turned towards his old friend, and told him it was time for it all to end, as both allowed themselves to discorporate into the vegetation which had already taken them so many years ago.

Yet a dilemma lay in their wake - how to bring the colossal form of Jiwuba back, and wake him from his sleep. With many questions answered but more on the way, the group returned with the manual and this daunting news.

Run 4: For the Founder #

Dokoi Shivarran, the current leader of the Shovel Skulls, formally calls a group of Spirelings to the audience chamber to Reacham's Truffle Fortress. This contingent is composed of the human barbarian Aldyr, the human cleric of Aru, Bianca, the half-elf druid Nu the Wanderer, the gnome sorcerer Oswin Goldscale, and the dragonborn barbarian Xzar. The dwarven leader explains the situation regarding the founder Jiwuba's entrapment, and why rescuing him is imperative (see the Sleeping Hermit con teaser for more details as to that story), and also comments that something will be needed to wake him up, free him from his prison, and bring along aid in case the process gets hairy. After commenting on some possible routes the group can take to achieve this goal, he sets them loose to find the truth!

First, they investigate statues of the Sages who made the Sages' Seals, Jiwuba being among their number. These statues exist within the Truffle Fortress itself, alongside the meditating forms of sleeping elders, each trying to divine the future through explorations in their dreams, just as Jiwuba did all those years ago - though thankfully, these folks are far more wakeable if need be! Curious, they attempt to remove one of the pieces of the statues to see if it does anything, after noticing that Jiwuba's statue among the rest appears incomplete. Since this does nothing, they decide to take the piece with them in case any information comes up, leaving the statues and any secrets they may hold to sit while they look for what they need to free Jiwuba elsewhere.

Their next destination is a cave atop the Spire of Beasts. A pilot from the human airship clan, old and cantankerous, is commissioned to sail them across the Spires, dropping them off above the cave. They're here to track rumors about an echo of the voice of the Hero who created the Hero's Path technique, and walk headfirst into the cavern. When the path forks, the echo calls out to them, determining what type of challenge they'll face. When it seems the paths converge beyond the cavern at a waterfall, after they pick a challenge of tooth and claw, they step through. They find themselves amid a darkened battlefield, and soon realize the danger facing them is that of strangely stealthy dinosaurs, led by a grand, horned tyrannosaurus rex!

Bianca calms the beast and gains time to speak with the echo of the Hero's voice bonded to it - this was the beast who claimed the Hero's life when he attempted to tame the Spire of Beasts alone. Despite offering a deadly challenge, he proves to be quite friendly, revealing that most of the time he directs the "King Rex" to save those who are out of their depth among the Spire of Beasts. He offers a spar in exchange for his aid in freeing Jiwuba, and the group obliges, defeating the Rex in direct combat. Pleased with their candor, the Hero and the Rex say that when the time comes to free Jiwuba, they will promise to be present - a way to pierce the shell of Green around Jiwuba. With that, they help the group return to the surface and call their airship down.

The next lead is to talk to the Smoldering Roast again. Debelise is more than happy to welcome the Spirelings back into her abode, revealing that she's kept true to her word. The party asks for her aid, knowing she may have information on Jiwuba's past that can wake him and has the ability to muster much of her forces into the Green to provide direct support. She acquiesces, though only in exchange for a seat on the Hall of the Council - the group says they'll vouch for her seat with Shivarran and further that her direct aid in rescuing Jiwuba will allow her to be recognized in such a manner. Satisfied, she tells them that Jiwuba had a sister who was very close to him, but who was lost to the Green when she went back to save their grandfather. She says that Kodo Torro, her mentor and the original leader of the Smoldering Roast, may know more, and tells them to find him - in the form of a silver fox, hiding out at the Krieg W. Garret Resort & Casino.

Following her advice, the group heads there posthaste, only to find themselves walking into the Henry Frick Resort & Casino (+Bathhouse): A Fricking Awesome Experience. (See ⁠gabe-higbee , Run 4: We're Fricked). The group bore witness to the chaos of a certain Joel Stanch being sealed into a mirror, and Oswin pulled off a magic trick that had the unstable Henry awed and amazed enough to grant them audience with Kodo Torro - in the process, he unwittingly gave Kodo Torro access to the Aleph Goad, his former weapon before being turned into an animal by Debelise and the key to finishing the design of a superweapon he had been secretly building in case Jiwuba was corrupted by the Green.

Heading to the construction site/attraction, he reveals his plan to the party when pressed - his great weapon, the two-pronged fork-like arcane cannon known as the Obsidiovas, was meant to utterly annhilate the fighting ability of whatever it struck. Naturally, since a green-corrupted Jiwuba represented a dire force capable of overwhelming a Spire with but a single focused effort, he was planning to fire it on Jiwuba, likely causing the founder to be consumed by the Green but at no loss to the Spire's further integrity. Seeing some wisdom in the fox's ambitious effort, they chose to leave him this possibility, should it come to pass that his last resort were needed. He told them the name of Jiwuba's sister, Deledes, in return, and gave the general location of their old family home within the Green - something he had painstakingly researched years ago.

The party flew to the home, Aldyr plucking the petals of an Ox-Eye Daisy, which, curiously, showed the result to a question of "Is Deledes alive?" as yes. Unfortunately, when they arrive at the dilapidated house, the cruel irony of this result is made all too clear. Deledes, in soul, is alive, but her body and mind have been transformed, into nothing more than a mossman of the Green, bound to the similar remnant of the person she came back to her home to save. The two are uncharacteristically docile as they remain within an old rocking chair, held together as much by their magic as by anything else.

Yet, by pantomiming with a bowl, they manage to communicate an important piece of information to the group - as they'd been told by Kodo, Deledes and Jiwuba were known for having a competitive rivalry, always striving to outdo the other with the least effort possible. Who could win a race? Who could get the most output from an acre of potatoes? Who could win a prank war? And the key moment that started the last one was none other than a simple "warm water in a bowl" trick Deledes played on Jiwuba... that the Green remnant of her form seemed to think was key to awakening her brother, or at the very least, a memory that she retained even as a hand of the Green itself.

Solemnly, they return to Dokoi with this information - now having the means to wake Jiwuba, allies to help his return, and the aid of a dinosaur able to cut through the shell of the Green around him. All that was left to do was wake him up.

Final Run: Waking the Sleeper #

The same airship captain who helped the previous group of Spirelings is present for the final call that Dokoi makes to wake Jiwuba from his slumber. The last group of Spirelings that answers this missive is sparse due to the trials occuring across the Spires, many of which are of similar scale to the battle that is about to occur, unbeknownst to them. They consist of the dwarven paladin Grumdrig and three kenku; the barbarian Steelweaver Trill, the fiery monk Whipple II, and, Ravyn Steelfeather, having mastered the Five True Strikes and returned to the Shovel Skull Spire to finish what she started. When they make their way down to the ILCC after their preparations, they meet with Dokoi Shivarran, Lobi Thornpek, and Debelise Romay, and are caught up on everything that's occured.

The Smoldering Roast has come out in support of their leader, and the King Rex has made their way here. All that is left to do is to call Quyst with "I'm looking for adventure!" and grab a Decanter of Endless Water from Grumdrig to create a pool large enough for Jiwuba's hand to be dipped in. After the group makes their preparations, there's nothing left to do but to stick Jiwuba's hand in the pool. The King Rex pulls a truly titanic hand from the shell of Green and lays it over the makeshift pond. and the pod begins to rumble and thrash. The group was prepared for combat - after all, Dokoi had warned them that during the moments between Jiwuba's full awakening and his meditative slumber were when the Green shell would be at its strongest.

Several hand-like tendrils emerge from the shell to fight off the party, one getting tangled in a net trap Trill had set for it. With immense firepower, literal and metaphorical, the group manages to cut through these hands even as Jiwuba thrashes in his sleep and Green spores coat the room, though not without someone getting punched halfway across it by one of the hands. The hands try to grab foes and coat them in the Green, pulling them into the shell, or slash to expose fresh wounds to the air. Still more come forth to try to pull the shell free of the mudslide, though the Roast, the sect leaders, and the Spirelings fend them off with relative ease - leading the shell to prepare its next line of defense as Jiwuba shatters the ground with a particularly strong slam against his bindings.

Everyone falls, a feather fall prepared to prevent the worst of it for the party while Dokoi shields the rest by shattering his armor, turning it into mudlike tendrils that catch everyone. Some members of the Smoldering Roast dive away and onto safe ground with the King Rex, while the others marvel at the 125-foot-tall storage basin that had been built underneath the ILCC, untouched by the Green above and sealed by the mudslide that brought Jiwuba to the sight.

Jiwuba himself, covered by the Green tightening around his bulky form, stands... and it becomes clear just how large he's become, as he stands 200 feet from head to toe, dominating the chamber that the group has fallen into as the Green attempts to direct his body to climb free, resisted by the efforts of the orcish grandmaster within what would come to be known in stories as the Titanshell. The party fights the Titanshell around his feet, while the Smoldering Roast distracts his upper body. They navigate stomps, precise upwellings of earth and water, or sweeping, stunning strikes against the ground as his feet move with lumbering resistance. Yet Trill has a plan, leaping from the wall and using their Spiderback Rig to climb all the way up to Jiwuba's knee, before downing a cooked Sailor's Cabbage - giving them a supreme amount of strength enough to force the colossus's lower legs to the ground with a single grab and pull. Inside his prison, Jiwuba forcefully pushes his upper body down, leaving him kneeling bowed and cramped at the chamber's bottom.

Debelise attempts to strike, but only succeeds in getting the Green tendrils around Jiwuba's face to subsume her, causing a mask reflective of the Smoldering Roast to appear around Jiwuba's face as the Titanshell attempted to channel all of her stolen power to create a defensive weapon. Jiwuba is forced to give a battle cry, morphed into a twisted roar that batters the whole party, as thorny rows of Green appear across his legs to deter approach, but it can't do so for everyone. A hand reaches for Debelise and she grabs on, being pulled out of the mass surrounding her even as the party remains battered and bruised, Lobi and Quyst completely unconscious as a result of the fight.

Jiwuba stands, and pulls the Titanshell off of his body, scattering it to the winds and destroying it utterly. Yet - he is still not entirely awake, though his sleepwalking body does something curious. It turns towards the Shovel Skull Spire and begins digging down - his speed now incredible, even for his size. The party, with little clue of what might be going on, follows. As they reach Jiwuba's destination, they're given a view of a miraculous wonder - a great, sparkling cavern underneath the Shovel Skull Spire, the locus of the Spire's elemental power. Jiwuba channels its energy and channels his own outwards, restoring the Spire's natural balance - and stopping the mudslides for good.

Then, he turns, and a great wind blows through the chamber, causing everyone to be blown up and out towards Styton - though a hemisphere of mud catches the Spirelings, Lobi, and Quyst before that happens. A single mote of light fiters in through the hemisphere, revealing itself to be Jiwuba's sleeping mind. He thanks the party profusely for everything he's done, and shares what he's learned about the Green: it is a ritual, created by the arcane and druidic, to call down an aspect of the divine and shackle it to their will. He explains that their divided nature was their undoing. The arcanists wanted magic back, and so channeled their powers to create a weapon that could destroy technology. The druids wanted nature to flourish, and channeled their powers to create a fungus that would do so. The result was an ever-proliferating fungus which would chase down technology - The Green, and a corruption of what both groups wanted.

He has plans to help stop it, but to get them fully realized... he needs to wake up. And his body, weary from years of defending itself against the Green in physical and psychic form, resists his intent to do so. Worse, it would fight anything that would come near in self-defense. He offers the party a final task - to speak to his body of their connections, use those stories to wake him, or, failing that, to slap his body awake (after all, his kind disciples hadn't tried using overwhelming force, but he can take it!)

The party takes him up on their offer, and the excited kenku trio (along with a moderately excited dwarf) get to use the Initiative flight gear, supercharged with power, as he opens the hemisphere. What follows is a fight done at a scale where each square represented 50 ft. Jiwuba's body was no slacker - bounding around the arena with ease, fighting with earth, water, and wood, doling out infectious laughs, and being incredibly defensive against any attack. However, Jiwuba's tips left the party an opening - by using the items they'd collected along the way, presenting stories and connections with friends, they would be able to slowly chip down at his defenses and render him vulnerable to certain attacks.

And so they did, item after item, person after person, true strike after true strike from Rayvn and Quyst's tag team attacks, slowly causing the master to stir from his slumber. There was pressure when Kodo Torro, with a fully realized Obsidiovas, created a portal into the room to fire his last-ditch weapon, unaware or unwilling to believe that Jiwuba was truly free from the Green's embrace after all these years, but when a plushie of Kibble the Chosen One was brought out by Whipple with a dance for good measure, he couldn't help but wake up to join in.
Irongut Meditation had ceased concentration.

A pulse of life covered the room, severing Kodo's portal and destroying the Obsidiovas, sticking partway through the portal. Kodo attempted to jump into the charged sphere of void, but it winked out before he could do so. Jiwuba, seeing this, temporarily put Kodo into a magical slumber to allow him to rest off his choices. Quyst felt a call from a certain Grunk Bunkley III, and followed it in the aftermath (see ⁠gabe-higbee, Run 6: No More Deals). Then, the 200 foot tall Sect Founder got on his hands and knees to profusely apologise for all the trouble his actions many years prior had put everyone through when trying to save him. With the help of his four saviors, he devised a plan to stop the local Green - to tear it apart into its arcane and druidic components, creature by creature, such that it would remain as a lethally hostile, but harvestable and livable, enchanted forest. He was also convinced to pass on a technique for eating the Green safely to a few people he trusted, and with that, returned to the surface to rejoice - for with Jiwuba's guidance and the end of the mudslides, the Spirelings had saved his Spire!

Epilogue #

With the founder of their sect returned, the Shovel Skulls had more reason to rejoice than they'd had for many years, especially after noticing that all the mudslides surrounding the spire had spontaneously halted in place. Jiwuba's return didn't bring much major change to their way of life, but allowed for its preservation, and brought reason for old conflicts to heal over as it coincided with resurgences in major Steelweaver relics and Gaia's return, as it became more and more clear that the short-term solutions for many of the Spires would bring enough time to the world for the Age of Spires to soon be at a close. The Shovel Skulls as a whole welcomed the change, though many of them continued to remain on the Shovel Skull Spire itself - after all, having turned their once-barren home into a little slice of paradise, there was reason for many of the older families to remain even if the lowlands were once more just as rich.

The town of Styton, in particular, breathed a breath of fresh air as the Green around the Spire underwent several fundamental changes over the course of the next few weeks, ceasing to pull at the Spire and becoming more stable in its growth generally, thanks to the fact that it had effectively been split into two individual factions of flora; the Proliferation, which was an ever-growing mix of fungus, fruit trees, and tubers that was safe to eat, and the Reaping, which protected many of the plants of the Proliferation and was still hostile to non-Green life, seeking to create more of its own in the guardianship of the forest but never moving beyond its boundary to take victims. With no more missing people, Styton was able to redouble focus on its mining industry, especially since they were finding more magic-infused gems than ever before.

Omul Brushbristle realized his talents lie not in dreams but in active travel, and spent much of his life running tours for the rechristened Thuglington-Stonefingers-Kriglebrunt Resort-Casino-Drive Thru-Ghostcoin Exchange (+Bathhouse). His enthusiasm for his work brought more Shovel Skulls to visit than ever before, especially since the Resort was far closer to the Skulls' tenets of compassionate community than it used to be.

Mirik Bouldervane took the placement of his music shop above a library as a signal that it was time to make a change, and sold the business off to become a wing of Silent Rock, perfectly placed away from the more fragile goods. He would later compose a number of amateur songs about the exploits of the Spirelings, especially Quartz and Trill - hoping to modernize Silent Rock through advertising Steelweaver tech. It sort of worked?

Milge Stabletooth, the librarian, continued to watch over Silent Rock for the entirety of her life. From a rudimentary reconstruction, she figured out that the slab Bolon destroyed didn't contain any information about the missing persons mystery, but about a fortune hidden under one of the mines. She opted to, strangely, keep the slab hidden - hoping that rumors of its contents would get people to read more books from the library. Whether it worked is as much a mystery as that fortune itself.

Edel Busk expanded the Wallowhouse after discovering more about Lobi's visit to the place, and the popularity of the building boomed the moment it became clear that this is where the party who defeated the Feller convened. It was eventually converted to an inn/training center after they failed a health inspection carried out by a surprisingly sober Quyst. Somehow, he is still a regular at the business.

Bolon Yotoo decides that after his stressful run-in with the products of the Green, he needs to subject himself to exposure therapy. To achieve this, he decides to spread the word of what's happened at the Shovel Skull Spire to the townsfolk of Dianthus, since the town's current solution to the Green is to have an older variant of the floral infection spread in loop with the new. This works to some extent, and helping others process their grief slowly calms his own fear.

Quyst Iverg continues doing what he does best - directing people to quests of interest whenever they're feeling the itch for adventure! Undaunted by his prior brushes with death and ever more sure of himself, he's gained the ability to switch between rampant drunkenness and serene sobriety on a dime thanks to a gift from Whipple II. As the Age of Spires concludes, he seems to find himself drawn towards the mysteries of the ocean, and what may wait beyond the waves.

The Clam-eye Sleuthing Co. likewise continues their work as a local task force, and are surprised to find common cause with the reformed Smoldering Feast, a number of whom join on as apprentice investigators. Now, the sign of the three-eyed boar mask is one for criminals to fear... especially since the Clam-eye investigators end up causing more collateral damage than ever. It helps that Pasley's mother was restored to her original halfling form, helping her to focus on her work with greater zeal.

Terra Fencehold is once more in operation, the workers within having lobbied for a "Green defense force" after the close brush with the Feller nearly led to two of their own getting killed. Unexpectedly, the training for this force resulted in a complete change of their business model - now, each of their employees is trained to fight against the Green in some respect, and they're focusing their efforts on mineral extraction within the few remaining areas of heavy Green corruption.

The Smoldering Feast has ascended, like a roast boar seemingly smiling from within the flames of an oven, to become a main sect after subsuming much of their former identity. Led by the renewed Debelise Romay, the group seeks to protect the Shovel Skulls as it always has done, but has adapted to a changing world to be more protective against the Green rather than other sects, though their skill at rooting out spies goes unstated. Curbing back the ruthlessness of their activity, they now mediate inter-Sect justice when no other authority would step in, taking a pragmatic, blunt approach that's proven suprisingly useful in these cases. Jiwuba has also assisted them in restoring the forms of most who were turned into animals, and they've stopped stealing techniques from others and transforming folks (well, mostly).

Debelise Romay had a chance to wander around Truffle Fortress before Dokoi reached it, and discovered a secret about the Sage's Statues - namely, the hidden passageway underneath them. There, she discovered the reason why all practitioners of the Sage's Seals only conjure 7 seals each day, not 8 - Jiwuba deliberately avoided finishing his, waiting for someone to provide the right finishing touches. Making the Seal her own, she emerged with a revised version of the Feast of Arts known as the Festival of Arts, that allowed for both the taking and sharing of techniques, though what was stolen and shared needed to be kept in balance. Teaching this technique to her disciples allowed her to reshape the Smoldering Feast for a new age, and gave her the title of the second Patient Sage at Jiwuba's urging. Dokoi, with great reluctance, gave her the seat on the Hall of the Council she desired, and surprisingly, she didn't abuse this power - instead using it to strike down emotional disputes which would threaten the cooperation of the Sects.

The rabbit at Debelise's side was transformed back into a Shovel Skull named Esha Irolo and let free. She immediately strode up to Dokoi Shivarran and whispered some stern words in his ear, before disappearing back into the crowd - saying that she was looking for "the one person who cared to show what risks they were trying to take". The Irolo family and the Nelson family were later shown to have a series of longstanding relationships.

The first thing Dokoi Shivarran did after many years of sleepless, arduous work, after he saw the massive form of Jiwuba land light as a feather on the Truffle Fortress's top was to faint. He remained dead asleep for two days, and woke up just as people got worried, having received the first good rest he'd had for years. He ceded half of his governing position to Jiwuba after a number of conversations with the Founder, and for the first time, is able to laugh as heartily as his fellows regarding the future of his sect. Thinking deeply on the words of Esha Irolo, he sent a letter to a person he thought he'd never contact again in his life - Miles Appleton Nelson. What he said in that letter was known only to him and to Nelson himself, but it could be said in the future that the letter seemed to allow tension to fall from the shoulders of both men when it was sent and received.

The Hero and the King Rex returned to the Spire of Beasts for a time, continuing their previous work in protecting people of the Spire who tried challenges that were beyond them. As the Age of Spires abated, they eventually walked the lowlands, doing the same for those who tried to tame too much of the Green at once and helping to carve new paths for people who were taking the challenge upon themselves to make way for a new world.

People wandering the Proliferation and the Reaping would occasionally come across two faceless Favored Hosts of the Green who represented each of the different sections of the newly transmuted enchanted forests. The first was commonly known as The Flourish, accompanied by the sound of cackling wind through the leaves, who was known for constantly playing pranks on travelers... though when they left, they found that the last laugh was always to fill their bags with safely edible plant matter. The second was known as The Forger, who would take technological items from those who passed his territory and return with magical items of sturdy oak - by force, if it became necessary to do so, though he never killed or turned to the Green any who passed through his abode. Curiously, some who travel the Green much have rumored to see Jiwuba speaking to one or both of these enigmatic figures... as if they were family.

The Initiative-tech wielding Smoldering Roast advisor was never heard from again. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out where he ended up. (see Run 2).

The Feller, though long dead, persisted in one aspect - his axe. It ended up in the hands of Lady Killigrew. As it was present through the forging of the Marble of Life, which allows identity to return to those who were corrupted, the remnants of Bayfir and Coromir inside the axe eventually began to speak to their wielder, elated in the eventual victory their weapon allowed over the Green... though enough of their combined, malevolent identity remained for the weapon to occasionally encourage violence. This was likely the happiest ending either of them could have received at this point, to be fair. For Lady Killigrew: Use this as you will for personal epilogues!

Kodo Torro awoke to Jiwuba sitting near him, asking what he wanted to do now that his "actually pretty smart" plan had blown up in his face. From what Jiwuba recalls of the story, he tried to defend his actions in a panic, only for Jiwuba to reiterate that he wasn't in trouble - after all, he was right! If Jiwuba HAD been controlled by the Green, the spire could have been lost. In a fit of self-loathing and shame, Kodo Torro spitefully told Jiwuba to return what was his and leave him be. While Jiwuba did destroy most of the Obsidiovas, he returned the Aleph Goad to Kodo, and took him back to Styton. Once there, he saw that his allies were scattered, his greatest creation destroyed, and his greatest legacy was transformed into an organization no longer reflective of his will. Kodo Torro, with one other person trailing behind him, simply slunk away into the reaches of the Green, never to be seen by another soul on the Shovel Skull Spire for as long as the Spire remained.

For Trill: Indeed, Trill would have discovered a means of recreating the flight suits used in the final battle to Wake the Sleeper, and would have been able to mass-produce them for other kenku to experience the joys of flight that they had felt in that halcyon moment. In such a future, they'd have a booming business venture bringing what the Initiative once used to an Age beyond Spires. Use this as you will for personal epilogues!

For Stroag: Certainly, Debelise would have still extended her invitation to Stroag to visit anytime - and likely, if their romantic inclination had been left to blossom, Stroag could certainly choose to work alongside Debelise for a lifetime. In such a future, they would be a potential power couple capable of bringing down the hammer when enemies of the Spires were due some forceful justice! Use this as you will for personal epilogues!

Jiwuba himself became co-leader of the Shovel Skulls alongside Shivarran, and seemed like he'd never been happier. His family had grown, after all, into a Sect truly spanning the Spire, and had shown itself strong enough to stand the test of time without his guidance. He rejoiced at the Hall of the Council's presence, ecstatic to see that the Spires had finally mended differences which had held since his earlier period of wakefulness. He began to travel the Spires, bringing community, friendship, and hope to all who he encountered along the way, and rumor has it he even made a pit stop to meet with the Steelweaver [mech] and Gaia, while she still walked the earth. When the dust fully settled on the undertakings to come, he remained active, eager to ensure that the successes made along the way weren't lost. He entrusted the power to eat the Green to the bearers of the re-christened Festival of Arts, along with Dokoi, Lobi, Quyst, the four Spirelings who saved his life, and those living practitioners of the techniques he'd had a hand in making who reached the peak of their art.

With old friends and new, he could breathe a sigh of relief. Once more, it was time for the Shovel Skulls to kick back, and relax in their dreamy home.

And that's the tale of the Shovel Skull Spires!

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