Caislen Campaign Notes

Mustardia is a magical Cloud Island home to an unspecified number of giants in primarily the Cloud Giant and Storm Giant categories. The known route to get there is to come across a magic bean and plant it to create a climbable giant beanstalk of fairy tale fame. The issue with beanstalks & cloud islands however is that the cloud portion can move around and away at any time, meaning the whole system is unstable and beanstalks may not always go to the same locations, or beanstalks in different parts of the world at different moments might lead to a cloud island that has moved in the time frame.

• When Mustardia is over a region of the normal world the surface below it becomes thick with low hanging cloud fog, limiting visibility to just 20 feet. This is the cue that it is present. Any outdoor space on Mustardia itself can also be limited to 20 feet visibility unless the giants see fit to make it otherwise.
• Magic Beans are scarce so you just have to know someone¹⁾ or the chances of getting to a cloud island of any sort by other means is pretty slim as they have magical enchantments that discourage even flying creatures from spotting them or reaching them.
• Mustardia gets its name from the ongoing harassment toward the DM by a certain player for hating mustard as a condiment. Associating mustard with many things trying to murder or confuse players seems fair.
• Mustardia is not a large place. It contains a dungeon that takes the form of a manor and a few outdoor spaces primarily, at least as far as the PCs know.
• Fact: The Feywild monsters and NPCs were chosen for this because the DM got into a pack of WizKids Feywild minis that looked fun.

The powers that be, which no player character really has any lore about at present, conspired with the help of the Warlock Well to bring about an Avatar For Mustardia. This avatar is known as The Dragon Of Mustardia and the role is filled by Mustard Mike, the oddball Dragonborn, would be land pirate, most well known salesperson of assorted mustard, and “Florida Man” vibe kind of guy. The role of Mike as the avatar is as of yet unclear, other than he seems to have fairly free range of his personal life outside of whatever he actually does for Mustardia.

Mustardia Manor is a literal manor structure with many rooms, hallways, bathrooms, etc. It is magical in nature and supposedly the giants can make it shift and change itself. It exists as a test or puzzle for anyone who comes to Mustardia to contend with, like rats in a maze. The Party found it²⁾ inhabited by creatures and NPCs associated with the FeyWild. Doors were made of metal and had various difficulties to pick locks on, most of them had writing on them indirectly hinting at what was behind them. A knight guarded the entry to the manor yet welcomed the party inside, even insisting he could answer questions for them if needed. The first chamber had a couple of statues of hands of giants, in which one hand had 3 poker cards in it, all sixes. The other hand empty. Players proceeded to open doors, encounter NPCs, monsters and exhibits. In each room they found a poker card, with a goal to beat the trio of sixes in the main entry area.

• Monster Rooms each contained a Feywild creature of some sort of irritating nature to fight.
• NPC Rooms belonged to one of the 4 NPCs present as underlings of the giants. The NPC however did not have to be in its actual room and may have been encountered elsewhere in the manor.
• Exhibit Rooms existed as displays showcasing areas in the game world that the giants, who enjoy collecting information about the world below, set up. A handy plot tool to give information about events and places elsewhere for later. e.g. “Goldvale was founded by dragons.” A phrase discovered in one room.
  • Ancient Painting Of Jules - a relevant plot object found here by The Party in the display room for Crompse. It is a critical piece of the Crompse Causal Loop.
• DM's Note: Map of Mustardia Manner is the Arcknight Highborne Manner map set.³⁾

There are 4 NPCs that work as servants for the giants. Collectively their names equate to the Jack & The Beanstalk “Fee Fi Fo Fum” phrase. Each has some issues with the work place or their coworkers.

• Sir Fee - Bullywug Knight
  • Only NPC to leave Mustardia with The Party, so see extended entry about him as he's evolving.
  • Guard at the door to Mustardia Manor when first encountered.
  • Personal room is basically an indoor pond & spa.
  • Acts like a courteous Lawful Good knight.
  • Dislikes the Goblin's hording, the Myconid's hive mind spores, and the cynical fidgety style of the Harengon.
  • Does not like that the giants seem to micro-manage him.
• De Fi – Feywild Goblin (Pronounced like “defy”, or just “Fi”.)
  • A shady maintainer inside the manor. Prone to being less than helpful for visitors.
  • His personal room is a horded collection of junk which irritates anyone just seeing it.
  • Constantly accuses everyone of stealing his stuff.
  • Dislikes the pompous chivalry of the Bullywug, the Harengon's attempts to touch his things & invade personal space, or the Myconid's belief system that property is communal.
  • Hates when anyone asks for anything at the last minute.
• FO – Harengon Birgand (acronym F.O. for “Fuck Off”)
  • Basically a coked out bunny person / crackhead that's not coloring with a fully deck of crayons.
  • Personal room has a clockwork bunny sculpture that randomly bangs on drums and sets off bells, which probably doesn't help keep FO calm but he loves the thing(Think Energizer Bunny).
  • Dislikes the Goblin's attempts to lock up all the neat shiny things in the manor, the dampness that the Bullywug insists on living in which is really bad for keeping certain powders from clumping, and the rooted stillness(fungal meditation) of the Myconid is absolutely alien to him.
  • Gets really upset when people don't follow instructions on medications.
• FUM – Myconid Adult (acronym F.U.M. for Fungus Underling Man)
  • A tranquil meditative Shroom person, who comes from a fungal hive mind, but is currently detached due to distance so spends a lot of time sending out invasive spores to try to get in the heads of those around him, which irritates everyone. No one else ever wants to do the hive mind thing, unsurprisingly.
  • Personal room has a dank earthy smell to it and a slowly expanding spore garden.
  • Has mixed feelings about the presence of a Red Cap (fungal monster) in the manor.
  • Dislikes the Bullywug because they keep different levels of moisture in their rooms & the Bullywug's croaking irks FUM when it is trying to meditate.
  • Dislikes the Harengon because of its constant movement, instead of FUM's preferred stillness.

The Giants living on the Cloud Island of Mustardia seek knowledge and don't interfere much with those below, primarily observing aside from a few that are either invited or lured up, usually via the beanstalk method. The Party has met two Cloud Giants while adventuring here, known as HOJ & EETH. Both represented on the game table by mustard bottles with glued on googly eyes to keep with the theme. They are but two of a few giants that live on Mustardia, and at least one of the other giants that lives there is a Storm Giant.

Of special note the giants have what we shall call for lack of a better term, a “cloud stone”, which is a stone(really boulder) that looks like it is made of cloud material yet is somehow solid an has the magical appearance of having a “silver lining.”

• This stone is the closest thing to matching what Eyrun uses as a holy symbol. Since she is a Goliath with Cloud Giant ancestry this could end up being relevant or at a minimum helpful. Is there a shared concept of a god or religion possibly stemming from this?
• The Party needed healing and when the giants let them touch the stone they were not only healed but got the effects of a long rest too.
• No one asked much about the cloud stone, they just seemed content to touch it and gain benefits from it while present.
• However/See Also: Eyrun was gifted a ring made of the same material.