Hall of the Forest King

(Ripped entirely from "Kingsfire" by Richard Lee Byers, published in the Elric of Melniboné anthology, Elric: Tales of the White Wolf)

Summary
After rescuing the student priests of Torre from the Liartians, the party returns them to the monastery and turns over the surrendered guard to the local authorities. Discussing what they learned, the elders at the monastery believe their students were captured to be sold as healer slaves. Harper's sense of the need to go south has diminished, but not disappeared, Raidne's is almost gone. Harper does a Divination prayer and asks how will she know when she is at the right place. The answer to her prayer comes as "Evil, old and familiar. Evil, new and unknown, battle one another"*. Harper assumes she is looking for a confrontation between the Liartians and cultists. Since she still has a slight feeling to go south, and the party has loot to dispose of, they decide to head for Opal. Opal is also a massive human city, and since the cultists they have seen so far are predominately human, maybe there will be some there.
Before they leave, the monastery elders ask the party to participate in a ceremony of thanks for the adventurers' efforts and at the ceremony they receive the Favor of Torre blessing in thanks.
The first couple days are bad weather, but travel iomproves and they notice a few other bands of adventurers like them on the road south. the other groups are slightly hostile and suspicious and won't talk to Hudora when she approaches them. The next town, Burry, is full of adventurers and the first inn they check is complete packed. They try another inn which has a table by the door open, but the barkeep says they are charging 5 silver a head to sleep in the hay loft. The party decides to get dinner here, then sleep outside of town using Anna's Leomund's Tiny Hut spell for shelter. Eroe talks to the barkeep and finds all the other adventurers are here because a spirit appeared in the town square and said the lost enchanted sword Kingsfire could be found in the woods south of town. Also, strange, ogre sized monsters have been spotted and have attacked some of the locals. The ruling baron has put out a bounty for the creatures. The local legend says that 100 years ago, strange creatures appeared. A foreign born knight carrying Kingsfire came to the area and disappeared in the woods. Neither he nor the sword were seen again.
The party decides to go hunting themselves. They get up before dawn and head into the woods, but find other adventurers are already ahead of them. After dawn, they here shouts and the sounds of spells and battle in the distance. They encounter two large creatures, something like ogres, but with the heads and curled horns of rams. One holds a massive greataxe and the other a crossbow. The second shoots Harper with its crossbow and Eoe chrges it. Raidne hits it with Flaming Sphere and Hudora tries a Crown of Madness spell but the creature resists. The first creature brutally slams Eroe with its axe (Natural 20!) and the second drops its crossbow to draw its axe as well. Pancho saw the Crown of Madness fail and shoots the first creature with a Psychic Blades charged hand crossbow bolt. Anna hurls a Fire Bolt and misses. Most of the party engages the cretures hand to hand and Hudora hides and snipes at one from the bushes. Anna throws a Shadow Blade and hits, Pancho drives one back with Dissonant Whispers. Eroe presses his attack, Raidne does Call Lightning and Harper hurls a Guiding Bolt at one allowing Pancho to stab it and Hudora snipes it for the finish. Eroe decides to take the other one prisoner and he and Harper beat it unconscious. They tie it up and turn to the other beast, which is dissolving into a puddle of clear goo! They realize the creatures may be fey from the realm of the Feywild and possibly there is a portal nearby. When the creature wakes up, Raidne questions it in Sylvan and it replies that "the king" sent them to hunt here, they are all prey. The party notices the creature doesn't seem healthy; its fur is patchy and mangy and almost algae soaked in places. After answering a few questions, it becomes angry and breaks free of its bindings and Harper, Pancho and Hudora are forced to kill it and it too dissolves.
Following the trail back, they find some other dead adventurers, killed by the beasts. Hudora spots the creatures tracks and they follow them back to a pair of standing stones inscribed with celtic style glyphs. Between the stones is an open portal to the Feywild, showing dismal and dreary hills with sparse and sickly vegetation. The party decides to explore and Hudora can't wait and zips through the portal first.
Beyond the portal, the tracks lead through a valley in some low hills. The sky is cloudy and dreary, the vegetation is wilting and unhealthy and the ground is muddy. The trail has been churned by multiple passages of small groups of the ram headed ogres, plus the occasional tracks of something larger, the size of a giant…
The party begins following the tracks and along the way they hear music coming from a side valley. The adventurers follow the sound of pipes into the valley and are attacked by a tree! Anna shoots a Firebolt, but misses and Hudora hides but Sprites appear behind Hudora and shoot poisoned arrows at her. She shoots and kills one, the other turns invisible. Eroe steps up to attack, and lightning leaps from his hands to strike the tree! Pancho strikes the tree with Thunderwave. The tree batters at them again and Anna casts Wall of Fire around the tree. Raidne casts Speak with Plants and akss why it has attacked them, it says "Blue Morel told it to". Down the valley, a gnome appears and raises his hands and begs them to stop. The tree draws back and Raidne puts out the fire with a Control Water spell. Harper says the mortally wounded sprite and a group of faeries; goblins, sprites, satyrs, gnomes, eladrin and dryads appear behind the first gnome. The first gnome says he is Blue Morel, he and the others are hiding from the Forest King, Tyrith. The two groups sit down to talk and Blue Morel explains that long ago a human warrior with the sword Kingsfire came through the portal. Tyrith fought him and claimed the sword, but over time, it has driven the king mad. The kiung's madness is reflected in the poor health of his realm. The portal has reopened and the king and his servants hunt the faeries here and people in the mortal world beyond the portal. They sent a faerie through to pretend to be a spirit and deliver the prophecy about finding the sword in hopes of luring adventurers through to defeat the king and take the sword back. The party agrees totry to reclaim the sword and help the king. Blue Morel gives them directions to the king's hall and tells them they have a few days in local time before the portal closes again. After a rest, the party heads off to the king';s hall. Along the way, they realize the sun hasn't moved and the sky is a constant bright twilight.
They spot the Forest King's castle in the distance, a circular grove of trees whose trunks and branches have grown together to form solid walls. The front gates hang open, guarded by two more of the ram-ogres. The party splits up and circles around the castle to attack the two guards. Harper moves into the open to cast Silence in the gateway to block the sounds of battle, but she's spotted. Anna strikes one of the ogres with Wall of Fire and Raidne hits it with Blight and Harper finishes it with an Acid Arrow from her longbow. Eroe, Pancho and Hudora team up to take down the other. Anna hits it with Vitriolic Sphere, but shapes the burst to avoid Eroe. Eroe lays into the ogre with his sword and Pancho finishes it.
The party moves into the castle. The floors are roots grown togethera and the walls are tree trunks packed together. Branches grow overhead to form domed ceilings. The walls ad floor are not smooth, but they are level. Glowing flowrs give off light, but ome are sickly and dim. Fungus and rot are scattered across the wood and the smell of mold and decay fill the air. Beyond the gateway is a large chamber with a huge passageway leading deeper and curtained passages to the left ad the right. Two ram ogres come from the left and Anna summons Melf's Minute Meteors and hits one ogre with two fireballs. Pancho uses Enemies Abound on the second. The first ogre shoots its crossbow, hitting Harper, then the second ogres slams it in the back with an axe. Two more ogres come from the right and Hudora tries Crown of Madness on one but fails. Raidne strikes the two newcomers with Tidal Wave, knocking them down. Harper casts Spirit Guardians and charges to fight beside Eroe. Eroe deals out blows from his swords on the ogres, Anna hurls a couple of Firebolts, but hits Harper in the back with one. The enraged ogre kills its partner, then turns on another. The party kills the ogres including the enraged one.
Moving further into the castle, the party finds smaller passageways leading toquarters for human and smaller sized residents, but no occupants. The next set of large passages lead to much larger rooms with furnishings for large beings. It looks like the ogres may have been living in some of the rooms. They also find storerooms, a kjitchen and dining hall. The dining hall has tables and chairs ranging from gnome sized up to a single chair and table for a giant…
At the end of the passage is a large double door, light leaks through gaps in it. Peeking inside, they see the Forest King on his throne. He is fully giant sized, with dark bark like skin, but his skin is afflicted by the kind of molds and rot found in the castle and his left arm is malformed and longer than his right. Across his lap is Kingsfire, a human made two handed sword of arabic style with gold and gem decorations. The sword glows red and crooning a wordless song of madness to the king. The party withdraws and confers. If they can get the sword away from him, they may be able to remove the curse from the king. They decide Harper will cast Silence on the king to mute the sword's song. Pancho may be able to play and counteract it as well. Hudora turns invisible and the party opens the door and moves into the throne room and discovers there are two ram-ogres in here as well. Eroe turns and engages the one on his side and Pancho and Hudora attack the other. The king charges up to the party and hits Harper with Kingsfire. Raidne casts Grasping Vine and pulls the sword from the king's grasp, then retreats. Anna surrounds the king with a Wall of Fire. The king charges through the fire and barrels through the party, then grabs Raidne and picks her up. She throws the sword to Harper, who drops her shield and catches it in her left hand, then throws the sword to the ground as she feels its evil. Raidne hits the king with a Blight spell, then a Flaming Sphere. Eroe kills the first ogre single handed, but is severely wounded. Hudora, Harper and Pancho fight the other and Pancho gets in the killing blow. Hudora wants to cast Sleep on the king, but is unsure if he's weak enough to be affected, or what will happen to Harper and Pancho in the spell's area. Anna hits the king with Magic Misslie and Harper steps up behind hit and slams him twice with the flat of her blade and the king passes out. They time him up as best they can and Harper prays over him and casts Remove Curse. The sword goes dark as its link to the king is broken. Harper carefully wraps the sword in her cloak and picks it up. The party hears a noise behind them and turns to see Blue Morel and the rest of his ferie kin. He comes forward and examines the king, who's condition already seems improved. He thanks them for their efforts, he and his people will care for the king. One of the goblin digs in a corner of the room and comes up with the scabbard for the sword. Harper carefully unwraps and sheathes the sword, then wraps it again. Blue Morel tells them they have at least a day before the portal closes, he asks them to come outside and rest. The party is led outside to a pavilion and given a chance to rest and recover from their wounds. The sky seems brighter and the greenery around the castle seems better.
After the party has rested for what seems like a night, the king appears, escorted by his entourage. He looks better, even his left arm seems to be returning to normal. He thanks them for their efforts and apologizes for the harm that has been done during his madness. He asks them to retur to their lands and take the sword away, he hopes they will destroy it. As a gesture of thanks, he presents each of them with a clasp of a leaf of emerald dust, with gold veins. It shows his favor to other faeries and creatures of sylvan descent. Summer court fae will know he is in their debt, even Winter court faeries may give them some distance. He has one extra gift; he touches Raidne and Anna in the forehead and they learn a new spell. The king explains it will allow them to open a portal into the Feywild and gives them some cautions in its use. He apologizes to Harper that he cannot give her the same gift, be he feels her lord might not appreciate it. He bids them farewell. They travel to the portal and return home, but the forest seems different. Raidne and Pancho both feel time has passed. it's still summer, but plants that had flowered are now past bloom and others have started. They return to town and find it quiet without the other adventuring groups. The inn is back to a normal pace and in asking the innkeeper for rooms, he learns that in the two days they were in the Feywild, two weeks have passed. The party decides to get the rest of the day and a good night's rest and leave for Opal in the morning.

GM Notes
I originally started the session and got completely off my plot and the party ended up in Opal, trying to buy magic items and finding a Deck of Many Things and Ring of Spell Turning, then I realized I had bypassed the adventure location! So I handed out two chips for railroading and reversed back to leaving the Torre monastery. I promised them when we get back to Opal, those magic items are still waiting…
*- I changed the wording slightly while making notes to make it more clear.
I had written a summary for the second half, and the page crashed when I tried to save it. So I'm rewriting a summary. I may have to go back again to see what I forgot.

Silly Quotes and Smart Remarks
Discussing the Favor of Torre that automatically heals someone when they go to zero hit points
Jack "The plot armor is getting thick"
Jim "Don't worry; I have plot armor piercing bullets"

There are a few gnomish druids
Stacy "They're garden gnomes!!
Jim "Ha. Ha. -1 chip"

Talking about who does and does not know the truth behind the Cult of the Unchained
Jack "First rule of the eldritch creatures; you don't talk about the eldritch creatures"

The ram men turn into goo
Stacy "Can we save a sample?"
Jim "Someone blows their nose and you want to keep it?"

Discussing fighting the ram headed ogres
Jack "It was a rambush"

Chmiel played this week and there were more puns than I could count or record…

Raidne scouts the Forest King's tree castle from above and is trying to see through the leaves and branches into the interior
Jack "I can see the Forest King through the tress"

While Raidne was in eagle form, I put an eagle counter on the map and Brittany was zooming it around
Brittany "Whoosh" moves the eagle "Whoosh"

Jim is describing the placement of the ram-ogres guarding the castle gates
Chmiel “They’re all the way ogre there
Jim “-1 chip”
Chmiel “Dang it!”

Listening to the sword's song about rage and violence
Jack "So, Metallica, got it"

Looking behind the curtain in the throne room
Brittany "We’re in the Emerald City!"