[#11] The Tale of the Magical Brain Frogs
Or at least I think that's what it was. It's hard to remember...
Within this small hamlet, everyone wakes up knowing where they are but not how they got there. The croaking of the town’s inhabitants suffuse everyone’s thoughts as they piece together why they came here in the first place.
In this session the adventurers safely awake in the hamlet of Amauensia with no recollection of how they arrived. They must first recover their belongings, locate they person they were originally sent here to find, before defeating them after restoring their memories.
Setting:
This narrative takes place in the small hamlet of Amauensia. It is a small locale that rests alongside a river, and is shrouded in a heavy fog. The architecture is plain and simple, with around a dozen buildings comprising the bulk of the community.
This session is suitable for being part of a larger fantasy campaign, as the party starts off with amnesia and the narrative ending doesn’t have world changing implications.
Story Beats:
Finding their bearings
Locating their original target
Overcoming the frogs
Finding their bearings:
The adventurers are woken up by a chorus of frogs outside, and find themselves upstairs in plain, rough, and yet comfortable grey attire. They do not have any recollection of when they rested here, nor why they travelled to the area originally. They do not have any belongings on them aside from what they are wearing, but are otherwise unharmed.
They are able to make their way downstairs where a lady named Camille, who is dressed in a similar grey attire, is preparing breakfast. She does not seemed surprised when the adventurers cannot recall why they are here, as many who wander end up here where the townspeople take them in, providing food and shelter as is done.
If the characters don’t already know each other prior to this session, then that’s ok. Due to the nature of this session, established character backgrounds or personalities are not critical. This session may be ideal for new characters, as the player can have an inconsistent personality while the character “Sees what feels right”.
While the adventurers may not recall much about who they are or why they are here, they do recall that they had equipment before waking up. Locating this should provide clues as to why they were here originally.
Stepping out into the community, the adventurers can see that the majority of the hamlet comprises a single road with around a dozen buildings. The area is shrouded in a dense fog, and everywhere they step they can feel the eyes of tends of frogs that seem to permeate every available flat surface.
The frogs do not present an obstacle to the adventurers navigating the town though, and after some investigation will find one of their belongings being sold at a small general store owned by Aron. They genuinely won’t be familiar with how the items ended up at their store, but will insist that the items are to be sold as is done in this town’s way. If the adventurers become confrontational they will risk the rest of the town becoming hostile toward them before they have their equipment back. So subtler means are required.1
Breaking into the store from around the back, and making their way to the basement will reveal a cache of supplies taken from the adventurers, along with their original mission notes.
Locating the original target:
Locating their belongings, the adventurers find a small scroll detailing how they were to travel to this town. They were to locate and bring back the seventh child of city nobility who are not eager for their bloodline to be spread across the land unchecked amongst any peasantry.
In addition to mentioning that they’re not the only adventurers sent to locate this daughter a brief description is included: They liked to wear their brown hair short, had a tattoo of a star formation on their foot, grew up practically on the water down by the docks, and were formally educated in another language growing up.
The main residents of the town are:
Camille, whom the party have already met and offers to help them meet the local townspeople. They show concern that a child has fled their family and might be in danger.
Veronika, can be found near a fishing dock where they are signing a lullaby to the frogs in another language. They seem sad if the adventurers question them about family, but cannot say why.
Gabor, tending to a tea tree on the outskirts of town and placing the frogs strategically to protect it from flies. They have no time for the adventurers queries and hurries them away.
Jamie, on the fishing dock and making a poor attempt to keep the frogs away from their bait. They blush and shut right up once if they see Camille with the adventurers.
Aron, the store owner who is absently minded wandering around their store like they’ve misplaced something. They quickly, but gently, forget the question if asked anything
Rene, caring for a small pond of tadpoles; frogs nearby quieten down as if this is a nursery. They also show concern that a child has wandered far from home, and relates every question asked back to the frogs.
and Till, who is sowing seeds in a small garden near to Gabor. They stonewall every enquiry the adventurers make, no matter how innocuous.
The below table shows who has which distinguishing feature. The only person matching all characteristics is Camille, however when the adventurers turn to query them they are gone; replaced with a frog.
Overcoming the frogs:
The frogs all now stare. Returning to Camille’s house, the adventurers may find a door opened that they do not remember seeing before. Down a flight of stairs to a dimly lit basement it’s hard to hear anything except the sound of frogs.
Emerging into the main area of the basement, the adventurers find Camille surrounded by a circle of frogs. She tends to them quietly, muttering about how she remembers now although she wishes she couldn’t. If they stop and listen without interfering, they may hear how she created this village so that everyone who passed through could live peacefully without the interference of nobility who crave control.
At this point, the adventurers a decision must be made as to complete the contract or not. If they intend to take Camille back as per the mission note, then she and the frogs resist. She is revealed to be a witch, and the frogs have been enchanted to actively drain the intellect of others2.
If the decision is made to spare Camille the fate of being returned to their family, then a second band of hunters make their way down the stairs behind the adventurers and thank them for doing the investigation on their behalf. They are also looking to collect the reward, and are willing to kill the adventurers to get to it.
When the party return to the surface they emerge into a ruin and find that the fog is disbursed, the town gone. Camille still exists, however little trace of the other residents can be seen aside from a few curious frogs staring out from under a small tea tree.
What did you think? Any ideas, feedback, or do you intend to use this in a session? Let me know!
This session was originally written with D&D in mind, and the original prompt for this session was my friend Heidi misspelling “brain fog” as “brain frog”.
Cowritten/Edited with the assistance of Alsanna.
This is written with the full understanding that this will frustrate the players, however is not written with the intention of railroading them. The intent is simply to indicate that this is not designed to be a combative session yet
I had reskinned Intellect Devourers from D&D 5e in mind when designing this session.