Blueleaf S02E08 to 10: The Dragon's Game
Session 8 (13 August 2025)
After the Cup went missing, the investigators decided to descend into the tunnels below the city to find George Stanthorpe, who was allegedly near the Well of Ulthayr. Astrid noticed a crack in the wall and touched it. A strange tunnel opened, lined with glowing blue fungus, and two mould-covered individuals shambled out! Stonks defeated them and drove them back into the tunnel. Dox noted they wore clothes similar to those worn by Preacher Sandstorm's congregation.
Session 9 (10 September 2025)
The investigators next visited Preacher Sandstorm at his warehouse in the run-down industrial ward of the city. There, homeless people worked as a collective to sort rubbish and mend items. Sandstorm spoke about his ideas for how the poor should become a self-sufficient collective.
Stonks noticed that the mud on the boots of some parishioners came from deep underground in the sewers, likely from where the Bloom was growing. Vorx noticed that Sandstorm was carrying a powerful fae artifact.
Dox was curious about how Sandstorm’s manner and education differed from his appearance (he is an ogre from a lower-class, military background) and began quoting some of George Stanthorpe’s writings. In response, Sandstorm’s manner changed to that of an early twentieth-century educated gentleman, confirming Dox’s theory that the Bloom had somehow merged Stanthorpe's consciousness with Sandstorm.
When Dox pressed Sandstorm on this, he became agitated and cut the meeting short.
The group decided to trace the congregation when they headed underground. Vorx enchanted a coin, which Stonks hid on one of the clergy members. Stonks could then track the coin using one of his powers.
Session 10 (24 September 2025)
The group followed the congregation underground. Using his powers to conceal himself from monsters, Stonks tracked Sandstorm to an underground cavern filled with the Bloom fungus. Inside, people worked in perfect unison. At the centre of the cavern was the missing Royal Venator agent, Bryan Berg, with fungal tendrils growing into his body. He spoke to Sandstorm, giving him instructions. All around the cavern, people laboured with their eyes glowing a fungal blue, suggesting they had been fully absorbed by the hive-mind.
Stonks retreated, and the group reconvened to plan their next move. They concluded they needed the ancient artefacts—the bracelet and the missing Cup—to seal the Bloom back into its extradimensional prison. Sandstorm carried the bracelet, and the Cup was still missing from the Fotherington Vault. Deciding to deal with Sandstorm later, the group deduced that the most likely culprit for stealing the Cup was the changeling lawyer, Mr. Baleron, who had visited Agatha Fotherington earlier.
They confronted Baleron at his office. After a furious debate, he admitted to stealing the Cup and giving it to Ellanora. However, Ellanora had subsequently hidden the Cup in a dragon's hoard after the party defeated her previously. This meant the group now had to negotiate with a dragon to retrieve the Cup.
On the journey, Vorx misjudged the fae roads and led the group to a strange castle in a green, summer landscape. The castle unfolded itself into a giant—this was the ancient fae, the Breaker of Edifices, who seeks to release the Bloom upon the world. The Breaker threatened the party, but Astrid broke one of her research vials containing Bloom spores, unleashing them in the fae's territory. The Breaker retreated, and Vorx successfully opened a portal to the correct location: the dragon's lair.
They negotiated a deal with the dragon, exchanging the Cup for Dox's enchanted box and a promise to spread the word of the dragon's brilliance to potential romantic partners.
Now, with the Cup in hand, all they need is the bracelet from Sandstorm to seal the Bloom away...