A Baaaad Day (Mission Note)

The rag-tag group of Cadmus, Clink, Mortimer, Thaine, and Solaria were enjoying a surprisingly lax day-off out and about on the streets of Viveni when they were suddenly approached by a peculiar sheep carrying a spell scroll of Speak with Animals. Upon using the spell scroll, the party was able to understand what the sheep was saying. The sheep introduced itself as Finneas Fiddlestick, a powerful Transformation wizard of great renown, and his weird predicament. Before he could tell his story, the party was assailed by a Half-orc and his band of intelligent transformed animal companions who were bent on taking back the sheep for their 'Master Locke'.

The group was able to fend them off and protect Finneas where he then proceeded to tell his tale. Finneas owned a powerful artifact called the Wand of Transmogrification which can cast True Polymorph which he used in his great deeds. He was then betrayed by his now ex-apprentice, Ahbed Locke. Ahbed then used the wand against him in his sleep turning him into a meek sheep and imprisoning him in his own garden. Finneas was able to escape and found the guild whom he has heard about and asked for their help to take back what was rightfully his.

The party made their way to his tower just up north and an hour away from Viveni. The tower was cloaked in some kind of abjuration and illusion magic that makes it seem like the tower isn't even there. Upon entering, the party decided to sneak around using invisibility but was found out by the roaming transformed Giant Ape guards. A wild chase scene happened and the party made their way into the tower, after much difficulty, and confronted Ahbed. Just before defeat, Ahbed pulled out the Wand of Transmogrification and used it on himself. The wand whizzed, sparked, crackled, and popped, and turned Ahbed into an amalgamation of mouths, eyes, limbs, and goo called a Gibbering Mouther that started attacking wildly but was quickly dealt with.

Upon seeing the lifeless body of his ex-apprentice, Finneas reflected that if he treated him better, this might not have happened. He then examined the wand and found that Ahbed has modified and tampered with it somehow and that using it would be too unpredictable and risky. Finneas said that someone from his old college in Gardenhome might be powerful enough to reverse his transformation somehow. The party then turned to Executor Aerivandor. Making their way back to the Viveni guild hall, they found Aerivandor in his office and explained the entire situation. Aerivandor, very confident in his skills, was willing to take the risk and use the wand to transform Finneas back into his original form. He asked the party to leave the two alone should things not work out. With a loud bang and a bright flash of light, the room was filled by heavy black smoke. As the smoke cleared, Aerivandor was covered in soot and an old elven figure lay motionless on the floor. The elven figure was Finneas' original form and Aerivandor successfully transformed him back. Unfortunately the Wand of Transmogrification broke into tiny pieces rendering it useless. Finneas was filled with gratitude towards the party and the guild. He told them that most people don't know about this but he is also an accomplished tattoo artist using the 'Mambabatok' tattoo style. He offered to tattoo the group for free as well as extend a 50% discount to any mercenary from the guild during the limited time that he stayed there.

Upon returning to his tower, Finneas found Ahbed's notes detailing the experiments he did with the Wand of Transmogrification including: transforming his master into a sheep, turning his hired guards into intelligent beasts with keen senses to better protect him, and transforming a nomadic tribe of humans he ran into somewhere in the woods into a pack of wolves.