Invasion of Collia

Invasion of Collia is a one-off adventure set in the town of Collia in Year 825.

Arrival
In 4/825, a delegation of Noble House Storms arrived in the lumber trading town of Collia. The delegation was led by Donovan Storms, accompanied by a cohort of ambassadors and porters, as well as the inquisitor Lothar, dispatched to investigate a series of odd goings-on in the town. The elegaion's intent was primarily diplomatic, although Lothar had the primary motive of investigating a dispute between the local druidic circle and the town's lumber mill. Upon their arrival in Collia, the House Storms delegation was greeted by the townsfolk. Donovan proceeded to engage in festivities in the tavern whilst Lothar investigated for evidence of the druidic circle's presence.

The following morning, Donovan Storms attended a town hall meeting whilst Lothar broke into the mayor's office before being caught by the mayor's assistant. The city's primary issue was that the lumber from the mill north of town was constantly being harrassed by the Col Basin's druidic circle, causing an overflow of logs and impeding trade. The city's citizens were unhappy with House Storms' inability to aid them in the handling of the druids; some had even discussed seceding the town to the authority of the Noble House of Bulls.Donovan assured them that House Storms would work to keep the situation in hand, proposing the Collia Forestation and Preservation Act as a means to make peace with the local circle and mill. Shortly thereafter, the town meeting was interrupted by reports of druids attacking the town. Donovan and Lothar engaged the druids with the assistance of the town guard and were able to dispatch two of the assailants before the remaining members fled. In the aftermath, two druids were taken as captives and interrogated. Lothar attempted to magically compel everyone present, including the mayor, his assistant, and two guards, to tell him the truth. During the questioning, it was discovered that one old, male druid was under the effects of powerful illusion magic and was, in fact, a young woman. From her Lothar and Donovan were able to glean the location of the local druidic circle's sacred grove. The two of them, accompanied by guards, set out for the grove shortly thereafter.

After roughly a day of following the leads offered them by the druidic attackers, the group found themselves at the sacred grove that serves as the meeting point of the druidic circle of the Col Basin. There, they encountered a lone druid that attempted to repel them with druidcraft, wrapping Lothar in vines and scaring away the two guards that had accompanied him. The druid, who identified himself as Alder, was initially distrustful, but Donovan convinced him of the nature of their quest. The druid then led them to the Collia lumber mill, located a mile north of the town, where it became clear that the millworkers were deforesting indiscriminately, harvesting specific mushrooms and herbs and loading them into boxes. Alder informed them that the mushrooms specified were a rare variety used in the brewing of potions, before noting that a coven of witches and warlocks had been feuding with their druidic circle for many months. Learning this, Lothar and Donovan made their way back to town to locate the witches.

After several hours of searching, the group began to search the Temple of All Gods in the middle of the night on the far corner of town. The ceiling was partially collapsed, with large branches and leaves scattered throughout the sanctuary, though no tall trees were present in the area. Donovan declined to climb the bell tower, so Lothar drew his crossbow and set out to eliminate the coven in keeping with his order's tenets. During this lengthy battle, Donovan was approached by a young man that was interested in his help with restoring the druids' good name. As they were speaking, Donovan was startled to find that a pair of trees had appeared behind him. One of the trees revealed itself to be a treefolk and scooped up Donovan and the man. At Donovan's request, the treefolk extended a limb and lifted him to the window of the uppermost room of the bell tower. Donovan assumed the form of the woman in the jail and leapt through the window, shouting that everyone needed to flee the tower. At this time, he noticed that Lothar had been beaten and rendered unconscious, surrounded by dead witches. The startled warlocks began firing magicks out the windows at the treefolk, who responded by attacking the tower itself. Donovan scooped up Lothar and began dragging him down the stairs. He and the unconscious Lothar narrowly escaped being crushed by the falling stones and massive bells, but were trapped in the collapsed tower until the treefolk were able to free them and conceal them within their branches. The following morning, the two fled the town, Lothar to his order's headquarters, Donovan back to his home in Brellin to speak with his grandfather about restructuring the town's government and arresting what warlocks survived the collapse of the tower.