Defeat your demons with Dungeons & Dragons: An investigation of the resurgence of D&D

Oooh, those are actually pretty tough questions... but the first thing to comes to mind that kinda answers both is a story from my current campaign, which I have actually written about before at length, but will copy here for you:

Anyone else have something fun or cool to share about their campaign?

Sure! I recently played a central role in a grand deception engineered by my party's DM over many sessions, that took the rest of the party completely by surprise. It was glorious, but it's probably going to be pretty long to explain, since it requires a bit of background, and lots of backstory to understand. I have no idea if anyone will appreciate it, but I feel like some creative writing today anyways, and will try my best to make it entertaining. :)

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Background:

We are playing a 5E based custom setting, with custom classes developed by our DM. The world he created (click for map) is loosely based on Norse mythology (he is Swedish), with significantly less population and technological development than standard D&D. Think Scandinavia during the early Middle Ages, but with magic being real and myth/legend being closer to reality, and you won't be far off. And since we are all experienced roleplayers, he has also tweaked the 5E mechanics so that it's significantly harder; Healing magic is extremely limited and natural healing takes longer, magic is not as powerful and regenerates slower (no short rest = get all spells back), and food/water/exhaustion is now a major factor... all of which means we can't be nearly as "gung-ho" as you can be in most other D&D campaigns, since spells need to be used sparingly and being wounded actually takes time to recover from. In other words we need to rely on roleplaying significantly more and avoid combat at all costs, if possible.

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Now, on to the actual story:

Our party was formed by pure chance when they all just happened to be in the area of a remote, but moderate sized village that came under attack by a large group of bandits. Bandits who were later revealed to be cultists of some sort when they managed to destroy the ancestral tree of the Goddess Iðunn located just outside the village by blowing it up using a dark ritual, despite our party's best efforts to stop them.

With the village burnt to the ground, most of the more capable villagers dead in the battle, and the magical protection provided to the area by the ancestral tree now gone, the remaining villagers and their Vala (priestess) decided to try and make their way to the Temple of the Harvala (high priestess) several months journey away by foot. Our party, being the ones who had saved most of the villagers from being burned alive, were elected to lead them there. It was also revealed to the party by the village Vala that one of the village children, whose power had manifested during the battle against the cultists, had also had a prophetic dream about this attack and the end of the world, and so it was imperative that she reach the Temple, no matter the cost.

So thus began our quest, an absolutely grueling trek with a refugee train in tow, through the incredibly dangerous wilderness of Folkheim. (click for campaign map - we started at #19 and are trying to make our way to #7)

Food, water and rest were in short supply throughout the journey, with mortal danger lurking around every corner. Refugees were lost, killed and injured along the way (over many sessions). The village Vala even sacrificed herself at one point to prevent catastrophe. Our party was seriously wounded on many occasions trying to protect everyone. And tensions were running high as a result of all this hardship, with personality clashes between our characters growing more frequent, especially when critical decisions needed to be made. All of which came to a head one day in the aftermath of losing a large group of refugees to a powerful nature spirit.

This spirit, in the form of a giant Fox, had kidnapped the large group of refugees and killed/eaten several before the party found their location and managed to kill the Fox spirit. After defeating it, it was revealed that the reason it had captured the refugees and kept most of them alive was so it could feed them to its cubs, which were now nowhere to be found. The surviving refugees were gathered up and taken back to where the remainder were camped. And while the rest of the party seemed content with the outcome, Finna (my character) being a Seiðr (half Alfir, half nature spirit), decided she couldn't just abandon the defenseless cubs to the their fate. So in the middle of the night she snuck back to the cave where the Fox spirit had been, located the cubs, bundling them up in her cape, and headed back to camp.

Upon returning to camp it was discovered what Finna had done, and one of the other party members, completely convinced the cubs would seriously endanger the party and refugees, got extremely angry and a huge argument broke out. And knowing that my character and another party member wanted to keep them, this party member decided to take matters into their own hands and attempted to kill the cubs while I was still holding on to them. This went pretty much as expected and things came to serious blows between us, though thankfully not fatally for the characters or the cubs. Eventually we were separated with one of the other party members holding on to the cubs for now, and the next morning a "village" meeting was called to sort it all out. We both were allowed to plead our cases, and afterwards a "vote" was taken by the remaining refugees... it turns out they were split exactly 50/50 on the issue (we tied our persuasion rolls!).

It seemed that we were in a stalemate, until it was revealed (thanks to some quick thinking by our DM) that the tradition of the region was that familial prestige be taken into account when a vote was split on serious village matters like this. So one of our other party members, who wasn't involved in the initial fight and who also happened to be a Vala, was called on to determine which side of the vote had more "prestige". This put them in a bit of an awkward position (our DM made a hidden roll and told them in private which side had won), and after some deliberation it was announced by her that the cubs would have to be left behind. But my character, being unwilling to simply abandon them, decided to go with the cubs instead. It was an emotional goodbye, especially after such a long time traveling together (about 10 sessions), and eventually my character left the party, but not without some parting gifts from her to the others first; A magic cloak for Ragnhar the Berserker, a magical amulet carved from a shard of the Iðunn tree for Alfhild the Vala, and a rotten, maggot infested Vetyr (gnome) head for Tekla the Grimr, who had tried to kill the Fox spirit cubs. ;)

Several days later (midway through the next session), the party encountered a Jarlarikir (the Jarldom of the region) Ranger on horseback out in the wilds (my new char). It turned out that his reason for being so far from home was that he had been tasked with discovering the whereabouts of the population of several villages in the area that had mysteriously disappeared. Unlike the village the refugees had come from, these villages had not been attacked, but seemingly just abandoned with absolutely no trace found of the villagers that had resided in them. And the most recent village to have this happen, which the Ranger was now heading to, was only a few days away in roughly the same direction the refugees were already heading. Since the refugees were incredibly low on water and food, and the village the Ranger was heading to likely had both, the party decided to go with him.

A few uneventful days later, spent mostly getting to know the Ranger, the party left the refugees camped in a location a safe distance away and made their way to the village. Upon entering the village and exploring it a bit, it was made pretty clear they would not be finding any food for the refugees here, as absolutely everything edible was completely rotten away; the unharvested crops in the fields, all the fruit in the orchards, and even all the food in the cellars was completely spoiled. It was obviously not a natural rot either, since the village had supposedly not been abandoned long enough ago for that to have happened yet. However they did at least find a well, which appeared to have clean, clear and untainted water.

Much like the other villages this had supposedly happened to, no trace of the villagers could be found; no major tracks leading out into the wilds, no signs of violence anywhere, no possessions had been packed up in the huts. It was as if everyone had just vanished into thin air. But after a more thorough investigation, the party did discover a major clue in the cellar under one of the huts; a makeshift altar with a desiccated corpse bound to it, and dozens of carved, wooden, humanoid figurines surrounding it. Dark magic still lingered in the air and tainted the place, so rather than stick around, the Ranger gathered up all the figurines in a sack, and they all quickly headed back to the refugees.

A few volunteers from the refugees were then taken back to the village with the party to gather as much water as they could, and then they returned to the camp to settle in for the night. However shortly after the sun set, a giant flickering light could be seen in the hills to their north and the party decided to investigate. After a few hours journey in the dark, they found themselves at the edge of a giant crater. And inside the crater was a giant, unnatural fire with no visible source of fuel and a grotesque, horned statue, with dozens of hooded figures dancing around them both. The party tried to sneak in close enough to capture one of these hooded figures on guard around the perimeter, but it went incredibly poorly and it was only due to the Ranger's quick thinking, imitating the sound of a nocturnal woodland creature out foraging, that the party was not discovered. Rather than risk trying again, the party fled back to their camp.

The next morning it was decided that whatever the hooded figures were up to, their numbers were too great to risk finding out, and the party's original mission to get the refugees and girl prophet to the Temple was more important. The Ranger reluctantly agreed to join them on their journey, so long as afterwards they promised to help him deal with the strange hooded figures that likely had something to do with the missing villagers. They agreed, and so it was that the party and refugees set out once again towards the Temple of the Harvala.

Several more uneventful days later, with the water collected from the village long gone, and the refugees also now near starving after weeks of only meager foraged rations, the Ranger (after rolling a great survival check) suggested they make a detour to a garden spring (the DM informed us) that he had once heard about. However, (the DM explained) this was no ordinary garden spring. It was one known to be guarded by a powerful, albeit seemingly benevolent nature spirit, and in order to enter it, an offering would need to be made to appease it first. The party agreed it was worth a shot, (not that they really had much of a choice at this point), and decided try to gain entry to this garden.

Upon arrival, the party discovered a massive, impenetrably dense hedge wall in the middle of a forest. It was to this wall that they offered their gift, inserting a shard of Iðunn tree one of them had collected, and after some time an opening large enough for several people to enter appeared in the hedge. The party chose to leave the refugees behind, just in case it was dangerous or a trap, and made their way through hedge as a winding path slowly opened up before them (and closed behind). After several tense minutes following the path, it finally led to a huge, hedge-walled, open area. And in its center was a large freshwater spring with countless fruit trees surrounding it in all directions, and dozens of wooden huts scattered around the area, with large vegetable gardens in front of them all. Tending to all of this was a small village worth of people, many of whom who excitedly rushed up to greet the party. It turned out that many of the people living inside the garden had been there for their whole lives and had never seen the outside world before, but occasionally new people from the outside world would be granted entry to join them. And when asked about the spirit, the villagers spoke of it fondly and almost reverently, saying it would appear from out of the hedge-wall from time to time in order to come drink from the spring, but that it was quite aloof and almost never interacted with anyone, nor would it ever appear when called.

After spending several hours inside the garden investigating the place and speaking to more villagers, the party decided it seemed safe enough to bring the rest of the refugees inside. They explained their situation to the most prominent elder villager, asking him if he thought the spirit would allow this, and he said it might but that it would probably require another more significant offering before it opened up the hedge-wall again. Thanking him, the party left the garden, making their way back through the hedge path that opened up for them as they reached its boundary, and when they finally exited to the other side they found themselves right where they had first entered, with the refugees camped just a few feet away. Explaining the situation, the refugees excitedly agreed to enter the garden with the party and everyone got packed up. The party then offered the magical amulet carved from the shard of the Iðunn tree to the hedge, and after several moments the hedge path eventually opened up once again, but this time it was significantly larger, allowing the refugees to enter several abreast at a time.

Once inside, the refugees were greeted enthusiastically by all the villagers who had gathered to wait for them, and an impromptu celebration was held. Music, dancing, merriment and bountiful amounts of food was prepared. It was a joyous occasion, and was the first time in over a month of (in-game) travel since the party and refugees had fled their village that they felt safe and relaxed. It was also the first time they finally had some substantial food in their bellies and all the fresh spring water they could drink, and so after the party everyone slept soundly that night.

The next morning it was collectively decided that the refugees would remain in the garden, and the player party would continue on to the Temple of the Harvala with the girl prophet. Or at least that was the plan, but unfortunately for them the girl didn't want to leave, and when the party tried to convince her it was for the best, she angrily ran off into the orchard surrounding the spring. The players gave chase and eventually caught up to her near the edge of the spring where she was found quietly weeping. Not wanting to scare her away again, Alfhild and Raghnar, who had gotten to know her the best over the month of travel, approached her calmly and tried to console her. Eventually they managed to convince her to return to the refugees so they could continue discussing things... but while this was going on, Tekla noticed something strange under one of the fruit trees; Several human fingers sticking out of the soil with the flesh still on them.

Alarmed, the Ranger ushered the girl away a short distance to keep her from seeing it, while the rest of the party began furiously digging, eventually exposing a human corpse with its skull caved in. Realizing they may have made a grave mistake in coming here they started arguing about what to do, and it was only after several minutes of this that they realized the Ranger hadn't said anything yet, and when they asked his opinion they saw that he and the girl prophet were already gone. Rushing back to the refugees, they began desperately searching for them but they were nowhere to be seen. But who they did find instead made their heads spin. Finna, the ousted Seiðr (my old character), was amongst the refugees loudly demanding to speak to the rest of the party. When she saw them, she ran up to them yelling that that they were all in grave danger; the Tulsa spirit residing here in the spring used human corpses to fertilize its garden, and so they needed to grab the refugees and girl prophet, and leave immediately. And they explained to her that the girl prophet was missing, along with their new Ranger companion.

It was then that they all heard wheezing laughter, and turning towards the sound they saw the elder villager, who they had talked to before, approaching them while continuing to laugh. As he got closer, the clothes and flesh began to slip from his body, slowly revealing the Tulsa underneath; A hideous creature, with meaty pink flesh and weeping sores all over it. In a breathy whisper, the Tulsa explained to the party that it was too late to flee. It had the girl hidden away, and the refugees were now under its control from having drank the water from its spring, which it demonstrated the truth of by pointing at the ground, which caused all the refugees to collapse at the same time, and then pointing to the sky, which caused all the refugees to quickly stand again and look up. The spirit then admitted that it hadn't counted on being discovered so soon, and that the party members' strong wills were the only reason it didn't yet have control of them as well (the DM had secretly made charisma/constitution checks to see if any of the PCs would have succumbed, and they hadn't). But that regardless, it was too late, and while it didn't want a fight so would let the party leave, the refugees are the girl were staying in the garden with it. And also threatened that if they didn't leave and tried to fight the Tula would have another of its minions kill the girl.

Finna then stepped forward and told the Tulsa that she had spoken to the Þyrnir, a horned "demon" in the burning crater to the East (me and the DM had been doing separate RP sessions on off-days), who had revealed to her that the Tulsa had "broken the faith" and so was sentenced to die. And while the Þyrnir could not breach the hedge-wall, it intended to starve the Tulsa out, which was why it had captured all the villagers in the surrounding villages and turned them into wooden figurines. The surrounding villages being where the Tulsa slowly cultivated her endless supply of "fertilizer". It was a long game, but one the Þyrnir would likely win in the end unless the Tulsa did something to stop it. So Finna suggested that if the PCs could kill the Þyrnir, the Tulsa allow them to take the girl prophet and refugees with them. (After a terrible persuasion roll) The Tulsa refused, but said if they did succeed in killing the Þyrnir, it would at least return the girl prophet to them, and if the party agreed to those terms the Tulsa would even send its most powerful minion to help them defeat the Þyrnir and its devotees. It was then that the Ranger (now being RPed by the DM) appeared through the crowd of refugees.

The party reluctantly agreed, our Grimr using one of her abilities to create a sacred pact with the Tulsa, ensuring it could not renege on its promise or be cursed, and we all headed out with the Ranger to go kill the Þyrnir.

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And that is where we left off last session. :P

p.s. We eventually managed to kill the Þyrnir with the Ranger's help, but one of our party (Alfhild, our Vala) died in the process, and I would have died too if not for a Fox spirit rescuing me (who I had been carrying with me disguised as a squirrel). Afterwards we returned to the spring and considered taking on the tulsa too, but it was way too powerful, so we instead just took the girl prophet as promised, and eventually made our way to the temple of the Harvala, where we were recruited by the High Vala to try to stop a War that was threatening to break out.