My youngest demanded that we continue the adventures of Rose the Druid, and the quest to recover the five Forest Gems to restore the magical woods. So we did!
Play time: 1 hour
Characters: Rose the Druid (2)
To the Green Island
Druid Rose set out smartly toward the Green Island to find the third Forest Gem. At the top of the trail she found a huge bottomless ravine in her path. With a little work, she cleared the earth from a tall tree’s roots and made it fall across the ravine, and so she crossed without incident.
At the bottom of the trail, she found the sparkling Mirror Lake. Huge blue crabs skittered about beneath the reflective surface, and Rose worried that they were not friendly. Then across the lake she saw a girl trying to wrestle a small boat away from a giant blue crab.
Rose transformed into a hawk and tried to carry her companion, Mittens the Jaguar. But she wasn’t strong enough. So she left Mittens behind and swooped over the lake to help the strange girl save her boat. But the blue crab was still hungry, so Rose grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her into a narrow cave where they were safe.
The girl introduced herself as Marina the princess of Green Island. She explained that Dekah the giant had stolen the Blue Gem and taken over the island, forcing Marina to catch crabs to feed her.
The Giantess Dekah
Rose led the way deeper into the cave and up to a hole somewhere on the island. She found three scared rabbits near the hole, but she soothed their fears and helped them up to the surface. But then the giant Dekah attacked and ate the rabbits.
Rose was angry, so she popped out of the hole and used her sling to knock the Blue Gem out of the giant’s hand. Then she ran across the grass, grabbed the gem, and leapt back into the hole. But the giant grabbed her leg!
Rose gave her Forest Gems to Marina and told her to escape back to the Heart of the Forest. Then the giant pulled Rose out of the hole and demanded back her gem. Rose admitted that she didn’t have the gem, and the giant shook her to make it fall out. But Rose just dropped her gold coins and witch hat. So the giant agreed to let her go if she would fish for crabs for her. As soon as Rose was free, she turned into a hawk and flew back to the shore of the lake where Mittens was waiting for her. Success!
DM Notes
This was a slow session. My daughter swung between being very silly and very tired. I almost stopped the game in the middle because she didn’t seem very focused, but I decided to keep going and eventually we reached a solid conclusion and she got to show off some of her trademark creativity. So I’d call it a win in the end, even if it wasn’t the smoothest game we’ve ever played.
