# Morlanda Journals



## Chimera (May 21, 2005)

This Story Hour is for *TigerBunny*'s _Morlanda_ Campaign, which we began a short while ago.  We play the second and fourth Saturdays of each month and have played three sessions as yet.

I play Talent (Fred) Ravenmark, a newly minted Wizard of the Scholam (a kind of Wizard's Guild and College and semi-Monopoly all rolled into one).  Talent is at once vain and arrogant; and terribly insecure.  The middle son of a family of nine children, son of local shopowners.

I am writing up each session, based on TigerBunny's excellent post-session notes, as if they were Talent's personal journal entries.  I invite the other players to post their own entries or comments with the simple request that they not be in answer to or in argument of Talent's own entries - as they are his private journals and not a public discussion.  There is every chance that Talent will not comment on things that don't directly concern him or may be completely incorrect about such things.  Given his nature, he may well have a completely off-the-wall understanding of something that I as a player understand differently.

We begin in the city of Banburyport on the 12th day of Greening in the year 284.


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## Chimera (May 21, 2005)

Session 1: Talent’s Journal

12th of Greening, 284

I’ve decided to start a journal.  Never done one of these things before.

My name is Talent Ravenmark.  Ok, ok, I was born “Fred” Ravenmark, but I really hate that name.  As I am the only member of my family to ever manifest a talent for the arcane arts, I have chosen ‘Talent’ as my new name.

The Ravenmark family is extensive in the Bixwater area and reaches into Banburyport, the capital of the islands.  My kin are skilled workers, farmers and merchants, but more commonly expert crafters.  The “mark of the Raven” is how we got our name and how we mark our products.  I’d wager that there isn’t a house in Morlanda that doesn’t have at least something with our mark on it.

I am the fifth of nine children of Eli and Mally Ravenmark, owners of a prosperous general store in Bixby, a town near the mouth of the Bixwater, a small river a days travel southwest of Banburyport.  My two brothers and four of my six sisters work in the family business.  Only Waysha (my financially challenged sister who is a Potter) and Tara have made their way outside my parent’s aprons.  Tara is a Paladin, the pride of the family (other than myself, of course).  Unfortunately, she headed off to the South Island just over a year ago and hasn’t been heard from since.


After my short visit home to Bixby, I’m back in Banburyport on a mission for the Scholam.  Seems that a cousin of mine has been recruited to help recover some books and other property from the house of Eralion, a now deceased wizard and member of the Scholam.  Amazingly, that cousin is *Cylexia Crossiton*.  (May the gods have mercy on us all.)  I’m supposed to meet up with her and a mutual “friend” of ours, the halfling *Nok*, at a less than reputable place called _The Ragamuffin Rat_ tomorrow morning.


The Scholam is THE organization for Wizards in the Islands.  We are the legally authorized possessors and workers of arcane magic.  Once my abilities became clear, there was only one path for me and that was the Scholam.  Fortunately, mom and dad were willing to cough up the money for my training, even over the objections of my jerkwater older brother John.

The Crossitons.  *sigh*  The Bixwater is thick with them.  The joke is that you can’t throw a stick without hitting a Crossiton.  The other joke is that if you throw that stick into a bush, you’re likely to hit TWO Crossitons getting to know each other better.  They’re the largest family in the region and are related to everyone.  But heck, I can’t make too many jokes about them, I have too many of them in my own family tree!

Cylexia is my cousin…of some sort.  I’m sure if we sat down and worked it out, we could come up with exactly how, but I’m also sure we could find more than one way in which we are related.  I don’t know her very well, but I know OF her.  She’s been a wanderer and a trouble maker since an early age, or so says my Aunt Edda, herself a Crossiton.  “Doesn’t have the sense to come in out of the rain” she says.

And Nok, our “mutual friend”.  I’m not sure I’d go that far.  I know Nok, sort of.  You see, I have a gift (among my many gifts) for languages.  As I grew up, I just sort of picked up a couple of them, including the Halfling tongue.  And since my mother has this unfortunate tendency to treat Halflings as if they were small Human children, it usually fell to me to deal with them.  If you were a Halfling, passed through Bixby and bought something at my parent’s shop, you dealt with me.  This is how I know Nok.


13th of Greening, 284

I met with Cylexia and Nok this morning at the Ragamuffin Rat.  Dingy place, filled with shady people.  Never really sure why they allow such places to exist, but I suppose even those people have to have somewhere to go.  I kept a close eye on my property while I was there.

The guy we talked to is named “Ratty”.  How appropriate.  Young guy who had to hide what he was doing from his mother, who runs the place I believe.

We were joined by three others that will make up our party.  The first of them is a new priest of Pelor named *Leothan*.  Seems like an upstanding fellow with a lot of road under his feet.  I think I’m going to like him.  The second is a young Mit girl named *Xilo* (pronounced She-low).  Carries a great big sword.  Most certainly a warrior of some type.  Good, because we may need one, but I’d feel more comfortable with someone more threatening looking.

The last is *Artemis d’Solique*.  A Behrundtishman who has the less than savory look of those whose chief aim is the acquisition of things that are not theirs, so to speak.  I would object to his presence if he were not an old friend of Leothan.

We are to head to a town called Fairhill and search for the place owned by the now deceased wizard Eralion.  I am to recover as many books as possible for the Scholam, which is laying claim to Eralion’s books and writings.  Lex is supposed to get us there and has a means to enter the place.  The rest of the party is to provide security and support.

One thing that concerns me is that there is apparently another Wizard interested in the stuff we’re going to recover.  A despicable man named Vortigren.  I’ve heard his name in passing, but know nothing of him.  Cylexia is afraid of him, says that he may be coming after her.  I suppose that means “us” as well, which may be why we’re all here.  You know, I hate this “I need your help against the guy trying to kill me” bit, but since I’ve been asked to do this on behalf of the Scholam, I don‘t have a choice.


14th Greening, 284

We left Banburyport in the morning, headed west toward Mindentown.  Not my favorite destination.  It’s a Mit town of some bad repute.  Our other choice, argued vociferously by Lex, was to head overland.  Yeah….sure.  You aren’t making me tramp through brush and streams for days on end when we can get there by road.

Along the way, we were warned that the Xib Muhc temple complex was not a safe place to stay, as there had been disappearances in the vicinity.  What a surprise!  No doubt the work of those seeking Human sacrifices or perhaps even slavers.


15th Greening, 284

We ended up heading south off the road to take one of Lex’s “shortcuts”.  An hour or so later, Nox returns from scouting ahead and informs us that we’re almost two miles off course.  Made me wonder where we’d be if we had taken Lex’s advice to head overland yesterday.

We arrived in Mindentown later in the day, having avoided the Xib Muhc temple completely.  Leothan, Xilo and I headed over to the Shrine of Light to check out the merchants while Artemis and Lex visited a Mit place called The Ball & Cup, the name pertaining to a barbaric Mit religious game.  Leothan and I learned that there was a group of Gnoll bandits along the low road calling themselves the Road Dogs.  Great.  This is just where we’re headed.  We also learned that Crimmor is plagued by Stirges.  Not something I want to have to deal with.  Deadly little suckers.

When we met back up later that day, Artemis and Lex were telling us how they had run into hostilities in the Ball & Cup and barely escaped with their lives.  Artemis claimed to have seen blood on the floor.  They suggested that we return to the place in force, but wiser heads prevailed and we sought accommodations elsewhere.


16th Greening, 284

Nok met up with us early in the morning.  Seems that he spent the rest of the previous day and the night at a stable, “talking to the horses” and making friends with the stable hands.  He told us that there were rather vicious horses belonging to the Cerem Puri in town.  They were born and raised at the temple and some of them go to live “with the smelly men” far away across the island.

We headed down the road and ended up at Bryden’s Farm, a local place known for it’s hospitality.


17th Greening

A leisurely walk took us into Sunden, Leothan’s home town.  Xilo and I went out with Leothan to visit his mother, a druid of some local renown who lived several miles north of town.  

Meanwhile, Lex, Artemis and Nok socialized at the Ciderhouse and made contact with some of Lex’s various extended cousins.  Seems even here there are Crossitons.

When Xilo and I returned to the Ciderhouse in the afternoon, we were treated to rather fanciful takes of Earalion and the town of Fairhill.  We are told that his keep collapsed about 18 months ago and is allegedly haunted, inhabited by a vampire, by evil spirits, blah blah blah.  The usual superstitious nonsense that people spew when they don’t understand the nature of a Wizard’s defenses.

Fairhill, on the other hand, is more intriguing if a little disturbing.  We are told that the town is run by one Shandril Deandressea, the very beautiful priestess of the West Wind, who supposedly has most of the town’s men in her thrall.  She is alleged to be very sensitive to the mere mention of Eralion’s name.  This concerns me, as she may try to interfere in our mission.

Sunden is not well organized and has no elected or appointed leaders.  Rather, it is led by the most respected (or perhaps most opinionated, depending on your point of view).  Karel and Magda seem to be the current “leaders”.

Magda was very reluctant to offer any help to Lex and this was a cause of some contention until I rolled into town.  Once Magda saw that a Scholam wizard (myself) was helping Lex, she became a bit more cooperative.

We were spending a friendly evening deep in food and drinks when two young men came tearing into the Ciderhouse.  The Brydens had been murdered!  To the (entirely unnecessary) horror of all, they described finding young Opal, one of the Bryden children, being eaten by the family pigs.  Within moments, the entire town was up in arms and ready to march on the farm.

With Leothan’s help, cooler heads prevailed and we agreed that we would go to investigate, taking only two of the local militia to assist us.  We suspected the possible involvement of Vortigren, but were more worried about having an unruly mob thrashing around in the dark shooting at each other.

Just as we were preparing to leave Sunden, I heard the flapping of wings and spotted a large and suspicious bird flying off into the darkness in the general direction of the Farm.  Immediately, I cut loose with my magic missile spell while Lex, noting my target, let fly with an arrow.  My missile struck the bird and knocked it for a loop, during which Lex’s arrow took it in the throat and dropped it.  We ran over to find and finish it.

(Note:  Man, what a slap in the face.  I cut loose with my best spell and barely touch it, then Lex drops the damned thing with one arrow.  The first time I’ve ever cast a spell against a living target and it did almost nothing.  On the other hand, I have a newfound respect for Cylexia.  She may not know where she’s going or how to talk to people, but if she shoots like that, I’m much less worried about the dangers of this trip!)

Anyway, we ran over to where the bird was flapping it’s death throes on the ground, just in time to see it transform into an Imp and fade away.  Damnation!  An IMP???  If this is the kind of thing Vortigren associates with, then we are in a lot of trouble.  Vortigren is way out of my league, way out of this group’s league.

On the positive side, the fury of the mob seemed to dissipate just like the imp.  The same people who had been clamoring for blood and willing to march en-masse on the Farm were now finding various excuses to tend to their own business.

We headed off to the farm at top speed, arriving there in less than an hour.  Lex and Artemis moved ahead as we got to the farm, while the rest of us hung back and waited for their signal.  We had no idea if anyone was still there or was long gone, but we were taking no chances.

Next thing we know, Lex and Artemis are calling for help and the battle is engaged.  So much for signals or waiting for backup!  As I ran forward, I saw three magic missiles fly out and strike Artemis, knocking him flat.  THREE MAGIC MISSILES!?!?!  I was near to wetting my pants.  This guy was definitely out of our league and one such spell could send me into the afterlife.  I crept forward, intending to cast a light spell on a crossbow bolt and fire it into his vicinity, but at the same time utterly terrified to expose my position.

Leothan, Xilo and Nok closed the gap fast and charged Vortigren through the brush.  If I had any questions as to Xilo’s value as a warrior, they were instantly dispelled when she suddenly grew to be over ten feet tall, with a sword to match.  Incredible.  The tough little girl just became a tough giant woman…with a sword.  Vortigren pulled out something and spilled the contents over his head, disappearing.  Thinking quickly, Nok ordered the dogs to go after him.  The dogs didn’t seem to have any problem smelling the invisible wizard and soon ran him to ground where he surrendered just as we closed in.


<End of Session One>


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## Finley DaDum (May 22, 2005)

*Leothan's notes on session #1*

Thanks for writing this up Chimera, I will add some comments here within the next few days. I will probably keep my notes pretty short, you covered it well, and Leothan isn't as much of a writer as Talent. If anyone out there ends up reading our adventures feel free to comment on my entries and style of writing in the end I would like take this as an opportunity to improve my skills in this area.

Leothans Journal:

10th of Greening:
Finally the day of my investiture, I took my vows today and formally pledged my life to the service of Pelor, the unending light.  My former mentor and teacher, Valishan Liadon looked on along with my Mother and Xilo a freind who has also recently completed training of her own.

Mother presented me with a massive Morlandan sheepdog, she has trained and named Gandalf.  I think she still sees me as a the little boy who got lost at night.  Still Gandalf's presence will be nice, reminds me of his dam, my Mother's constant companion Alabaster.


11th of Greening: 
I recieved a vision last night.  I saw the world laid below me and felt as it stood next to Pelor as he watched over the world.  Throughout the world I saw patchs of Darkness, warring with Pelor's constant light.  My eyes sought out my home, the 2 lonely Isles far to the west of the worlds largest continent.  There lie the Morlandas so far from the rest of the world that locals just refer to them as the north and south islands.  As I focus on the islands I notice Branbury Port my current location, then to the west my hometown Sunden, finally my eyes are drawn south where a patch of darkness threatens the town Fairhill nestled between Sweet Lake and the Ridgewood.

When I awoke I sought out Valishan and Bishop Theridon, we talked of my vision and its meaning.  They have agreed that I should go Fairhill and bring Pelor's light there currently the post is vacant.  The worship of the Four Winds still holds sway here, the superstitions and old ways still strong.  Though we do not wish to suplant these religions the word of Pelor should bring more hope and love these poor villagers.

Xilo has volunteered to accompany me, and I am very pleased.  The rumors I have heard all speak of growing darkness within the Ridgewood, Bandits and like most certainly and my vision leads me to fear worse.   I have seen Xilo at practice with her massive 2-handed sword, things almost as big as she is, but she wields it with sure ease and power, her presence will be appreciated.


12th of Greening:
Xilo and I purchased supplies for our journey today.  At noon I offered up a short prayer to Pelor and as I looked skyward, an eagle descended in lazy circle finally perching on the sign for a local tavern, the Ragamuffin Rat.  A sign from Pelor surely, we entered and noticed a single occupant, a Yehmeni and surely not a local.

I struck up a conversation with him, learing he was from Behrundt and named Artemis d'Sloque.  He's freindly, though seems more interested in Xilo, but he is talkative.  Artemis is awaiting the arrival of someone and then they are headed for Fairhill, a coincidence perhaps but Pelor provides.


13th of Greening:
The contact Artemis' was awaiting arrived, a young local Cylexia Crossiton she brought with her a Scholam trained wizard and halfling by the name of Nok he looks to be druid though from a sect more ordered than the one Mother confers with.  The Wizard goes by the name of Talent, bit of boast taking a name like that but he seems like he can back it up.  As we meet I jokingly refer to Artemis as an "old" freind not sure if Talent got the joke though seems overly serious at times.

Cylexia takes the lead here she has information on a Wizard named Eralion who died a few years back.  Seems he may have left some things behind in his keep and she thinks she can get in, claims that most of his stuff was locked away but she can get past these protections.  Though she's not sure rumors mention that he might have dabbled in the necromantic arts, my purpose for going there surely or at least one reason.  We talk back and forth and we agree we shall all go together to investigate.

Cylexia leaves to gather information seems that there is another interested party, a former apprentice of Eralion's named Vortigren, he is wanted for questioning in relation to a fire here in Branbury Port.  Cylexia returns frustrated with her conversation with the Wardenry commander Mikoros Bentos.  Not surprising Bentos is an officious oaf, who likes to have his ego stroked and Cylexia seems somewhat blunt when it comes to conversation.  I offer to talk to Bentos and Lex is happy for anything I can do.  I am able to pry loose more information, though I must admit I have to name drop a little, mentioning Valishan and implying that the Riders of the Long Road may have interest in the case.  We know a little more Vortigren was the likely culprit in the fire and he is believed to be tied to a pirate clan called the Sea Snakes, orcs by race and slavers by profession.  They likely helped him to escape Branbury Port.


14th of Greening:
We set of early in the morning there is debate about taking an overland route or sticking to the roads.  Cylexia argues for the overland route touting her skills and Nok's but the rest of us are hardly trained for that sort of travel.  To be honest I also argue for the route so that I can stop in to visit mother outside of Sunden which lies along our route.

We lunch in Duelle and I make a freind of a local bartender there more rumors of Bandits on the roads between Sweetlake and the Ridgewood.  We stop for the Day at the temple of the Four Winds, it is a safe place to rest.  We are warned that the temple of Xib Muhc on the outskirts of Minden Town is not safe.  This confirms suspicions that have been rumored within the Church of Pelor that the Sacrafices they practice are not entirely voluntary.  I am pleased to see that none of the party partakes of the various entertainments offered here, though not forbidden by the church they are a distraction that we do not need right now.


15th of Greening:
We agree to travel overland today as the countryside is mostly plains and we can save some time cutting the route to Minden Town as well as stay south of the Xib Muhc temple.  Nok is able to gather a few berries though it is early in the year, I assume he wants to make into Goodberries I wonder if he would be interested in Mom's recipe for goodberry travel bars between the honey, goodberries and apples I was salivating just thinking of em.

We arrive in Minden Town in the afternoon, we get a little more information on the Bandits in the Fairhill area.  We pick up more rumors about the area we are headed.  Lex and Artemis have a more interesting time apparently at a local bar.


16th of Greening: 
Nok gathered more information from some impressive looking warhorses stabled in the inn we were staying in last night.  We arrive at Bryden Farm and partake of their hospitality,  I remember the oldest girls though the youngest was born after I left Sunden to travel with Valishan.  I enjoyed helping the Brydens with the early morning chores its good to rise early with work to do.  

17th of Greening:
We travel to Sunded just a few miles away and decide to make a short day of it, I bring Talent and Xilo out to see my mother and beg some berries for Nok.  After a filling lunch and refills of Honeymead, mom's speciality, we head back to Sunden.  Cylexia's brusque style has put off some of the townsfolk, they seems much more impressed with Talent, when he returns.  I am happy to shrink to the background half these biddy's want to marry me off to their daughters.  Talent and Lex get more information on Eralion and Fairhill.  I am most intrigued by the defacto leader of Fairhill, Shandril Devandrassea, an elfin priestess of Wenta (one of the Four Winds).  She could be a rival or an ally, also has a history with Eralion, she has reacted very badly to his name we must tread carefully there.

Just as we were settling in for the night, two young travellers burst into the Ciderhouse.  They told a horrid tale of finding the Bryden's murdered, we agree to investigate immediatly and are able to calm the townsfolk.  As we leave the Ciderhouse, Cylexia's quick eyes pick out a bird in flight, I would have made nothing of it but Talent suspects a spy and his spell and Lex's arrow bring the bird down.  Their quick reactions are amazing I find myself hoping I won't dissapoint my companions, still I worry, I did not excell in my combat classes and I fear I may not be up to the task.  The "bird" showed its true form in its death throes, an a Imp! Vortigren is consorting with creatures from the Abyss.

My Description of the Battle at Bryden Farm to follow soon.


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## Chimera (May 22, 2005)

Talent’s Journal   (Session 2)

17th Greening

We take Vortigren back to the farmhouse and tie him to a chair.  We make sure that he sees his handiwork there and how unhappy we are with this situation.  We remove all his possessions and collect the bodies and horses of his comrades.  I feel somewhat like a bandit in relieving him of all his possessions, but I’ll get over it.

While Nok, the dogs and I keep a close eye on Vortigren, the rest of the group goes out into the farmyard to bury the dead.  We slaughter the pigs and bury them too.  Several comments about how it will be a while before any of us eat pork.

Two of the girls are missing.  This is a major concern for us.  We question Vortigren and he tells us that two slaver companions of his have taken them.  Acting suspiciously cooperative, he reveals that he knows where they are headed.  We try to get some rest here while taking shifts to watch this guy, planning to head into Sunden in the morning.

Vortigren is not in possession of his spell book.  Interesting.  He must have hidden it somewhere.  While that would have been a most valuable prize, I am somewhat comforted by the knowledge that he may not have as many spells memorized.  The Brydens clearly fought hard and I suspect that he had to use a number of spells on them.  

On the other hand, I found a couple of interesting scrolls on Vortigren.  Three spells of _Animate Dead_ and one to summon undead creatures.  Evil spells, these.  Leothan asked me about the scrolls.  I tell him that they needed further study, but could be very valuable if sold.  I refrained from telling him precisely what they were.


18th Greening

Vortigren continues to sing like a canary.  We take him in to Sunden where the locals want to execute him on the spot.  It takes a lot of convincing to get them to hold him for the Wardenry.  Pulling out Vortigren’s purse, I pay the townspeople 62 silver (from Vortigren's purse) for the trouble of guarding him.  But the situation is not good there and we still have our doubts as to whether or not he will be alive when the Wardenry arrive.  I tell them that we will hold them personally responsible, but that doesn’t go over well.

The next step is to get some horses.  We picked up three black riding horses from Vortigren and his companions, but they are temperamental and not easily handled.  We try to get two more in Sunden, but it’s the same old mob mentality.  It isn’t until I slap three small gems on the table that someone wakes up and offers us a couple of old nags.  They’ll have to do.  We saddle up and head for Widow’s Ford bridge, intending to intercept the two half-Orc slavers.

We arrive at the bridge and set up camp in a thicket.  We get some rest and scout out the area.  Around nightfall, two Wardens come along.  Sergeant Drin and Corporal Robyn.  Was quite a heart-stopper for us, as we had been waiting for two slavers and didn’t recognize these men until they got very close.  We speak to them for a while and convince them to send Corporal Robyn back to Sunden to take custody of Vortigren.  Would have been more comfortable if both of them had gone, but Sergeant Drin was intent on relieving a garrison down the road.  Before they leave, they warn us that Orcs have been raiding the area.

We take up positions in a large triangular pattern, hoping to spot the slavers as they come down the road or along the river.  Somehow, Artemis and Lex again end up in the point position and we have the same problem as at the farm.  No signals sent, no waiting for backup, they simply start shooting and engage the slavers while the rest of us are nowhere near.  Fools are going to get themselves killed doing that.

I break from the camp and run up the road across the bridge, arriving just after one of the slavers is killed.  The other attempts to charge through the brush on his horse to recover his fallen friend.  An even bigger fool, way too overconfident.  We surround him, but he holds a knife to Hyacinth’s throat and attempts to talk his way out.  No way we’re going to let him go with the girl.  Leothan negotiates for the surrender of Hyacinth.  We won’t kill him if he gives her to us.  But the half-Orc wants a message his companion was carrying and won’t leave without it.  We let him recover the message, he releases Hyacinth and starts to leave.

Nok casts a spell on some brush as the half-Orc passes close and it springs up and entangles the half-Orc.  I was somewhat annoyed, as my interpretation of the agreement was that we would let the half-Orc go.  I believed that we were not living up to our word.  But Leothan’s interpretation was only that we would not kill the half-Orc, not that we would let him go.  I’m still unhappy with this, as I had personally stated that we would let him go.  I’m going to have to watch my words more carefully if my companions are not willing to keep my promises.

Anyway, the half-Orc was thrashing his way through the growth, nearing the edge of it when I hit him with a weakening spell.  His strength sapped, he was unable to free himself.  By this time, Xilo and Lex arrived and the half-Orc surrendered.

We returned to Sunden, our prisoner in tow.  Returning the girls to a relative (along with the few family possessions we had held on to for safe keeping), we took our prisoner to Corporal Robyn.


19th Greening

Satiating the town of Sunden’s desire for blood, Corporal Robyn executed the slaver for his crimes.  Although I had argued for bringing him to Mindentown for justice, Corporal Robyn felt that his crimes were clear and that the people of Sunden needed to see some justice done.  Can’t say as I disagreed with him.

(As an aside, once this path had become clear, I spoke privately to the corporal.  I told him of the Animate Dead scrolls that I had taken off Vortigren and suggested that true justice would be to return to the farm, tie up Vortigren and the slaver, animate the dead Pigs and let justice be done.  A shiver and an odd look from the corporal was his only response.  I laughed and told him that it was just an idea.)

We volunteered to ride to Mindentown with the corporal.  He didn’t want our company, but we were quite insistent.  No way that we were going to see Vortigren escape custody now.  A day’s ride took us to Mindentown, where Vortigren was left in the hands of the Deputy Warden there.


20th Greening

We headed back to Sunden, then on toward Fairhill.

<End of Session 2>


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## Chimera (May 28, 2005)

20th Greening

Artemis decided to stay behind in Sunden to help a friend of his build an addition to her house.  (Player Note:  The Player missed the session and this was a great way to write him out for this session only)  We expect him to catch up to us in Fairhill in a few days.  Personally, given all the danger on that road, this seems like a poor idea.

About three miles north of Fairhill, we are ambushed by slaver Orcs in the woods.  A rough battle which we barely survive.  I jumped down from my horse and started looking for my scroll of Mage Armor only to find that I didn’t have one.  I was sure I had one at the time.  Sneaking a peak around the horse, an Orcish arrow caught me in the upper chest, just a few inches from my heart.  (Note:  Knocked him down to 1 hit point!)  I have never felt such pain in all my life!  Luckily, the adrenaline kicked in from all the fear and terror and I was able to remain conscious and seek help from Leothan.

Just after I left the cover of my horse and made a run for Leothan, Cylexia had some difficulties with her horse and went running into the woods after it.  I swear that we actually heard her tell the stupid thing to “sit”!  After the battle, we found her unconscious and bleeding on the ground with a huge hoof print on her forehead.  Leothan healed her somewhat and we took her into Fairhill with us.

At Fairhill, we got a rooms at the Cask & Flagon Inn.  While Leothan sought help from Shandril Devandressea, the rest of us met up with the Watch Captain and his Lieutenant.  We learned that a halfling couple had been killed by Orcs that very morning and they were organizing the militia to track them down.

I headed into town with the horse load of weapons and armor we had accumulated from the slavers, but could find little interest.  The town magistrate was indifferent at best to arming his people and the town blacksmith is a lazy drunkard.  I managed to get him to purchase a fine buckler we had recovered, which will be enough to cover our expenses for a while.

Spending some time with Gorintan, I discovered that the reason for his drinking is that his daughter Arialle has run off with some adventurers.  I didn’t know what to say, since I could be considered an “adventurer” myself.  I left the man in peace.

That night, Leothan and Xilo attended the evening services at the Temple of Wenta.  Leothan came back practically swimming in happiness, convinced that Shandril is blessed by the Gods.  Somewhat alarming to me, as it seems that he may have been charmed.  I vow to keep a closer eye on Leothan and stay clear of Shandril.


21st Greening

Rain off and on.  I spent the day making a scroll.

Nox and Lex signed on with the Militia, to see if they could help track the Orcs and gather information for our mission here.  Later that evening, I hear that they discovered Ogre tracks, causing the town to call off the search and fall back to their own defenses.

Xilo spent the day with Gorintan, helping him get caught up on his work.  Leothan was off and about getting to know the people of the town.  Along the way he says that he heard many fanciful tales of monsters and evil that supposedly plague the area.  Personally, I don’t believe any of them, as this is a prosperous town and could not possibly remain so throughout the many evils that supposedly plague it.

As I spent the evening sharing some cold beer with the locals (having cooled it nicely with my Ray of Frost spell), Leothan returned to the Inn.  He seemed bothered by some things, but I was deep in my beer at that time and had spent enough time thinking deep thoughts while writing my scroll.  I needed a break from all that nonsense.


22nd Greening

I spent the morning looking for another Wizard in the town.  By the gods, what a superstitious lot these people are.  One man sent me to another because he looked funny.  He sent me to yet another because something odd had happened once.  He sent me to a woman with a reputation for being odd.  She chased me off her porch with a broom!

Finally, I met up with Leothan, who was making the rounds.  Together we went to speak to Tianna, the town busybody, with whom he had spent the morning.  She is a wisewoman of sorts and capable of making a few odd potions.  She gave me the name of two individuals that might be able to help me with scrolls.  The second one had something I desired, which was a scroll of Obscuring Mist.  Too bad I don’t have the money to write that one in my Spellbook.

That afternoon, Lex discovered that the Coded buckler that we had taken off of the slavers was missing.  This prompted an all-out search through our possessions.  As we were beginning to do this, a local halfling named Linen or Lannen or Lanolin or some such walked up, handed it to her and asked if that was what we were looking for.  I think half our group was reaching for their weapons!

Lannet admits to being a “compulsive borrower” of things.  I call him a thief.  What worried me more was that he had figured out part of the code on the buckler, when myself and Lex were unable to do so.  I don’t like this at all.  This guy knows too much about our business and he’s been rummaging through all our stuff.  Cylexia jumps up looking alarmed, then puts her hand on her chest where the medallion lies under her clothing.  I noticed that Lannet took a keen interest in that move.  Clearly he’s in the employ of someone who wants to gain entrance to Eralion’s tower.

And just then, as if in answer to my thoughts, Lannet tells us that he is in Fairhill because he has heard that Eralion had amassed a lot of “dirt” on various people and he was hoping to get his hands on that information.  Great, just great.  A thief *and* a blackmailer.  He goes on to tell us that he has been out to the keep twice.  The first time there were bandits about and he left.  The second time it was deserted, but he couldn’t find anything worth taking.  He then offered to take us out to the keep and several of my companions were seriously considering taking him up on the offer.  I of course strenuously objected.  This guy is a thief and a blackmailer and no doubt would be leading us directly into a trap.  I pointed out that Artemis was expected to arrive that night or the next day and that perhaps we should wait for him.  The group agreed and we put off any decision until later.

<End of session 3>


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## Chimera (May 28, 2005)

Later today (Saturday, May 28th) is Session 4.  I should have that up in a few days at best.

Kind of disappointed at my fellow players.  _"We should do a Story Hour!"  "Yeah, someone should do a Story Hour!" "Yeah, that would be great!"_

And yet, only *Finlay DaDum* has posted the merest scrap of anything.  *Hatchling Dragon* decided that he didn't even want to read it (!!!) because he'd want to edit my posts (?!?).  The others, I have no idea.  They don't seem big on answering e-mails either, so maybe they're just not 'on-line' people.

Oh well, if it's only me then it's only me.

As of the end of Session 3, the group is as follows;

Talent Ravenmark        Human Wizard 2
Leothan                     Human Cleric 2  (Pelor)
Cylexia Crossiton         Human Ranger 1 / Scout 1
Artemis d'Solique         Human Rogue 2
Xilo                           Human Psi-Warrior 2
Nok                           Halfling Druid 2

And let's not forget our motley assortment of slaver horses, purchased nags, the blacks (warhorses trained in the Infernal tongue!), Nok's riding dog and our pack dog.


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## DanorDragonstar (May 29, 2005)

Chimera, you're doing a great job at this, and I am not sure how much Xilo could add to it, not that she would be much of a writer anyway.


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## Tigerbunny (May 29, 2005)

Hey, I don't want to jinx it! It's great to get the player's-eye view of my work.

At some point -- sufficiently after the fact -- I may add in some 'bad-guy viewpoint' material to fill in some gaps in the narrative.

Tell you what, gang... there may be some [small] cookies for those who contribute to the ongoing record of our adventures. Nothing big - on the order of card draws or a reroll - but a little cookie for contributions.


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## Chimera (Jun 4, 2005)

Talent’s Journal

23rd Greening

Artemis arrived in Fairhill late the night before.  We spent an hour or two updating him with the situation.  Kind of looked like he wanted to head back to the widow in Sunden.

This morning, Leothan and I worked together to create a scroll of healing.  A most interesting experience.  I provided the funds and the scribing, he provided the spell.  In return, he gave me a potion of healing that he had purchased.  A good exchange!  This will allow me to heal myself in the midst of combat if I need it (would have been very useful in that last fight!) or to heal Leothan or Nok in a pinch.

I started to feel guilty the other day about holding on to so much of the magic that we’ve picked up.  But then I realized that it is not like I’m keeping it for myself or, in some cases, like others can use it.  I’m the only one that can use the scrolls we took off of Vortigren.  The Invisibility dust….well, I think it’d have been used for nothing if another was holding on to it.  That’s something we need to keep for an emergency.

Mid-afternoon, we set forth with Lannet for the Keep, which is located about five miles from Fairhill.  After about an hour, there was some ruckus ahead of us.  Lex and Nok took off running.  The rest of us followed as best we could, passing the body of an Orc with Lex’s arrow sticking out of it’s back.  I muttered under my breath about Lex and her penchant for charging into battle.  Leothan swore out loud that she was going to get herself killed one day.

We caught up to Lex and Nok as they were taking cover, Lex climbing a tree.  Well so much for hiding, as the rest of us came crashing through the brush!  Just then, four Orcs came charging at us.  As we prepared to meet them, they began screaming in terror and begging us for mercy.  I don’t think any of us was prepared for that.  They threw themselves at our feet, crying and pleading.  Disgusted, we shooed them off to the side and prepared for bigger things - the Ogre and Orc cleric following behind them!

A short battle followed, as we blew down the Orc and Ogre with arrows and crossbow bolts.  Xilo took one swipe with her sword and cut the injured Ogre in two!  During the battle, Lannet snuck up to the cowering Orcs and killed two of them.  The others began running for their lives.  One of those got away but we stopped the other one before he got too far.

The prisoner was a Sea Snake Clan Orc named Genndu.  Leothan and I played “Good Cop, Bad Cop” very effectively and the Orc spilled his guts.  This Orc was part of the crew of the Venom, a Sea Snake slaver vessel, intending to beat Vortigren to his prize.  They arrived at the keep several days ago, but couldn’t find anything of value.  Knowing that the Black Skull Orcs would be coming, they set several patrols to watch.  Unfortunately for them, they never returned.  I’m thinking that one of those was the group that ambushed us north of Fairhill.  The Black Skulls arrived without warning and were able to enslave the remaining Sea Snakes, including this group.  They treated them very badly, as we could see.  

Genndu tells us that the Black Skulls are a ”deviant” clan of Orcs led by a Half-Orc priest named Tavik, the follower of a demon-god.  The Sea Snakes had been considering an alliance with them, as the Black Skulls offer a higher price for slaves than their usual markets.  He tells us that besides Tavik and his war chief, there are 17 Orc warriors at the Keep.  This is a bit more than we can handle.

Genndu further tells us that Tavik tried to get past some magic wards in the Keep but something stopped him.  He learned from his god that it was something in Fairhill that did this and so he had dispatched this group to scout the village’s defenses.  My heart sank listening to this.  This half-Orc can dispel magic wards and contact his god.  This too is well above our abilities.  This task gets more dangerous by the moment!

We asked Genndu where they sold their slaves, as slavery is highly illegal.  He told us that they sell them either at Southkeep (an old abandoned Mitlanyuli outpost) or to Khypris the Mage at his tower near Margan’s Folly.  We vow to deliver this information to the Wardenry at the first opportunity.

We stripped the Orc of his weapons and gear and turned him loose, extracting a promise to leave the area immediately.  We promised to hunt him down if we heard a single word of him harassing anyone in this region.

During this interrogation, Lannet managed to slip away unnoticed.  Little bastard, I don’t trust him for spit.  Just as we sent Lex and Nok ahead to scout, he returned, saying that he had scouted up to the Keep and the path looked safe.  I still do not trust him.

We arrive at the Keep minutes later and take some time for discussion.  We decide to  scout out the Keep a little and try to draw out a patrol or two, to see if we can cut down their numbers by ambush.  Lex and Lannet go ahead, entering in through a side door.  A few minutes later, they come running out to the ambush site, with no apparent pursuit.  They tell us that the guards were so lax that they managed to kill three of them before the alarm was raised.  Leothan and I simply looked at each other.  Lannet and Lex…the irresponsible twins.  A minute later, two armored Orcs come strolling down the path, looking wary but not particularly bright.  We surround them and deal with them rather quickly.

At this point, we argued about whether it was time to retreat to Fairhill or not.  Having roughly an hour left on my magical armor, I argued for staying, waiting a half-hour for the commotion to die down, then repeating the process.  

My tactic nearly got us all killed.

A half hour later, Lex snuck up to the back door again, only to find it in the process of being spiked shut.  Not good.  She resorted to taunting the Orcs, which led to them sallying in force over the nearby palisade.  As Lex retreated to the ambush site, that idiot Lannet sprang up and ruined the trap, attacking the first Orcs before they reached the kill zone.  Damn, we were in trouble!  Because just behind those four Orcs were the remaining Ogre, the Orc war chief and two more Orcs!

I pulled out a scroll and used Benign Transposition to switch Lannet and Xilo, who instantly grew to her impressive size and waded into battle.  Lex swung around and began engaging the Orcs as the rest of us filled the skies with missiles and spells.  Unfortunately, we had little luck and the battle began turning against us.  Leothan rushed forward to aid Xilo, who was taking some heavy hits.  Nok produced handfuls of flame and was flinging them at the Ogre.    Lex, hidden from our view by some brush, took a couple of arrows and had to retreat to drink her healing potion.  Things did not look well and I started signaling for a retreat.

Unfortunately, no one listened to me for vital seconds.  I could see that I was going to have to resort to more drastic measures here to keep my friends alive.  Pulling out one of the black magic scrolls I’d taken off Vortigren, I summoned three skeletons to a position right behind the lead Orcs, hoping that this would distract them sufficiently for my friends to escape.  The fools kept right on fighting.

The Orc war chief challenged Xilo and then started working himself up into a frothing rage.  Artemis at least began to listen to me, scattering caltrops in his wake as he turned and retreated.  Finally, Leothan cast another healing spell on Xilo and called for the retreat.  We began pulling back as best as we could, and I prepared to burn my valuable scroll to call up mists to cover our retreat.
With half the party bebehind me, I cast my spell, bringing up mists in front of me.  Unfortunately, as I was casting, we could see Lannet jump into battle against the raging war chief.  Fool.  Moments later, Xilo came running out of the mist and passed me going down the trail.  Now the only one we were missing was Lex.  She came running around the side of the mist, only to take an Orc arrow in the back, dropping her.  As Artemis and I covered him, Nok rode his dog over to where she had fallen and healed her.  They retreated past us and we all headed down the path at top speed.  No Orcs followed us and we made our escape.

Licking our wounds down the path, we heard from Nok that Lannet had fallen.  The last thing he saw before he turned and ran was one of the Orcs picking up Lannet’s body and carrying him toward the keep.  Just our luck and they’ll be able to heal up that thrice damned halfling and make him sing like a canary!  Nok also saw the Orc war chief keel over, but we aren’t convinced that he’s dead, especially not if his master can help it.

Sadly, I’m not sure that we managed to kill even one Orc in that last battle.  I burned up three scrolls and we consumed several potions, with nothing to show for it.  
A bit demoralized, we went back to where we had stashed some goods, picked up our stuff and headed back to Fairhill to tell them the bad news.

<End session 4>


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## petenik (Sep 21, 2005)

*Artemis' Excellent Downtime Adventure*

Greetings all,

I'm Artemis d'Sloque in the Morlanda Isles game.  I FINALLY got around to finding this thread, I apologize to Chimera for taking so long to get to it.  A funny thing happened at our last gaming session (#9 to be precise) -- during the game I had to take some time off because of a crazy month.  To facilitate this in game, Artemis went missing.  When he arrived, after some initial suspicions (Artemis being a rogue and a foreigner and all), the group went on our way to take care of Tavik once and for all.  Part of the journey had us visiting a town of dragonkin (Lizardfolk and Kobolds and the like) and, well, Artemis was something of a celebrity there.  Not wanting to get into a full discussion of the issue of why a handful of kobolds was following me around in awe, it was explained away as Artemis protecting the bounty hunter who captured him from "a big, crazy fish...eel...thing".

In the interest of providing the long version of the tale, I decided to recap it here.


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## petenik (Sep 21, 2005)

Everything was going so well! You had made some connections with the smugglers, had a few adventures, and now back to civilization. A few weeks ago a message reached you from Leothan by way of Corporal Robyn – asking you to come to his mother’s house in Sunden by the end of Raintide. That was 27th Suncrest.

2 days later, leaving Mistblossom, he caught you. Kol Tapok, a lizard-man bounty hunter who’d been dogging you for the last month. You thought he’d given up after you gave his kobolds the slip near Turtlebelly a week earlier. Turned out he’d just given you a bit of lead. What was his problem with you, anyway? As far as you knew, you hadn’t upset anyone near enough to have a price on your head, and Kol’s rep is that he’s strictly business.

Now, bouncing along behind him hogtied to a travois, head swimming with some damn dragonfolk poison or other, he’s telling you just that. “Not personal, Yehman. I follow you for weeks, you my kind of warmblood. Live in shadows, slinky, slippery. You no Sun-lover, either. But you worth lot more than those coins in your bag. And you be worth nothing to me if Chosen get you first. You lucky, Yehman. I gone fill you so full of tchong, you not feel anything that Black Skull bastard do to you anyhow. And when you dead, you stay that way, too. Not like if Chosen get you. So you gone give me those sovereigns, say thank you Kol Tapok.”

Black Skulls, eh? Maybe that half-orc priest decided getting a scorpion bolt in the guts wasn’t enough punishment. He must be rich, though, if you have a price worth more than the 150 sovereigns in your bag.

You bumped along through the moors all night, and most of the next, before you were loaded into a boat by a half-dozen squealing kobolds. The flies and mosquitos dined handsomely on you while Kol Tapok paddled through the maze of the swamps. In between singing to himself in the strange, multi-toned music of the dragonfolk, he continued to talk to you. “These Skulls, wish they still at Sweet Lake place. Was easier trip, no nasty fish, no Asshhlit’pak’du, no Three to worry about. But no, warmblood Wardens gone make things difficult. Good they kill so many of the Forsakers finding orc place, but bad for Kol Tapok when I want claim price on your head. Got to go Mist Isle, right under nose of Three, in deep lake where big ph’sshok fish live. And is long trip for you, warmblood. Those little bugs do like you, and I gone save tchong for when I give you to Black Skulls or you really be mad at me.”

Yeah. You’d really be mad at him. Because he didn’t drug you up now, so the bug bites wouldn’t drive you insane, so he could drug you up later when you might actually have a chance to escape. Awfully big of him.

It came out of the black water between the cypresses like a brown-and-yellow wave with teeth. Lots of teeth, and beady red eyes. Some kind of half-fish, half-snake thing. All you had time to do was gulp air into your lungs as the skiff pitched you overboard and Kol Tapok vanished beneath the water, locked in struggle with the monster fish. It was all you could do to keep your head above water, flexing your near-paralyzed body in spasms to twist onto a hillock of grass and muck. You could hear splashing in the distance… whatever that thing was, Kol Tapok seemed to be a bit much for it to digest.

Perhaps it’s the shock, perhaps it’s the terror, but feeling seems to be
returning to your rubbery limbs. Tentatively but urgently, you begin to
wriggle your hands free of your bonds. The splashing noises are coming
closer! As you work at your bonds, you catch a glimpse of something
brown and slimy roiling the surface of the water nearby… another monster
fish? A snake?

Free! Quickly, you undo the rest of your bindings and try to work some
feeling back into your leaden muscles. As you cast about yourself trying
to spot the skiff or some other way out of here, the misty twilight
parts and you see Kol Tapok, some 50’ away. He is struggling mightily
with a colossal eel-like monstrosity, twice his size. He seems to have
the beast mostly under control, but it isn’t quite dead yet – and he is
bleeding profusely from some nasty-looking bites.

There! The skiff floats only a couple dozen feet away from you, under
the vegetation. As you step into the water to make for it, though, you
spot that slimy brown back again. It’s another of the monster fish! And
it’s arrowing straight toward Kol Tapok, unseen.

As your well-concealed holdout knife parts the last of your bonds, you
see the fish pass nearby. Kol Tapok is oblivious to its approach – it
would be easy enough to leave him to feed the slimy horrors and make
your escape. But you’re in the middle of a strange swamp – and what if
he doesn’t lose? Better to have him owe you one. With a whispered curse,
you leap into the stinking water and stab at the monster, yelling
“There’s more of them!”

Before you can see whether Kol Tapok has even heard your warning, you’re
underwater. The thing is horribly strong, and its coils wind around you
like a snake, dragging you under as the jaws snap at your face. Again
and again, you blindly lash out with your knife, matching one slim steel
fang against its dozens of bony needles. You think it’s beginning to
weaken, but so are you… your lungs are bursting! At last, the creature’s
grip begins to slacken… but you cannot summon the strength to free
yourself… You’ve always heard that drowning’s not a bad way to go.



.......


....



..


AIR! It’s as if the hand of the Gods reached down and snatched you from
the waters. With a shuddering retch, the foul swamp water spills from
you, and a harsh voice speaks. “You think maybe you hatchling dragonkin?
Little tiny fang? Dive too deep for little warmblood lungs? But brave.
And for one who sell you to Black Skulls, too.” Kol Tapok is battered
and bloody, but as imposing as ever. “It seems that Semuanya does not
think you should be given to Black Skulls. She sends her hounds to tell
me so. And you, with your little hatchling fang, you even kill ph’sshok
that sneak up on me. Very brave, warmblood. The eldest of asshlit’pak is
not so easily slain – I am not food for Semuanya’s hounds – but you not
know my blessing.

“If you sneak away, I would hunt you, maybe I would kill you. Not good
for Kol Tapok’s reputation if his prey slips away. Semuanya says not to
give you to Black Skulls, but that not to make me let you live. You
brave like hatchling, that make me let you live. You try to help me,
that make me keep Dragon Lake from kill you. You still gone die, Death’s
Chosen find you. No harm for my reputation lose you to Aehana – I know
she from long time. She kill like fiit’k’k mist, that one. She and
Mister Death, they close.

“One thing I not understand, though, warmblood. Why Aehana want kill you
and other Fairhill heroes. You not important people, and she got no use
for dead-loving Black Skulls like Tavik. She kill him for Mister Death,
that I understand. She kill bunch of little heroes? Not make sense.”

Kol Tapok leaves you at the edge of the swamps, not far from the
Halfling town of Turtlebelly. As he poles back into the mist, his last
words to you are “Hide good, hatchling dragon. Death’s Chosen prob’ly
found your clutchmates already. Aehana say she know you come back to
Fairhill soon enough.”


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## Chimera (Sep 24, 2005)

*Player Update*

I had pretty much given up on the Story Hour.

Xilo and Leothan's players both posted here and encouraged me, but neither really added anything to the story themselves.

Lex's player read the first couple of sessions on paper, but doesn't read message boards.

Artemis' player didn't seem to respond to anything on-line, not even e-mails.

Nok's player, after talking up story hours no end, indicated that he would not even read this thread because he would "want to edit it".  Made me want to bash him in the head with a large book.  I'd say more, but Eric's grandmother wouldn't approve.

The GM, bless him, offered rewards if the other players would post.  But while I appreciated that help, it made me wonder what I was doing this for when no one else cared.

So I let it slide under the rug.

But since Artemis' player has posted something, I think I will at least make some effort to get the story updated.  What follows are sessions 5 & 6, which leaves me three sessions behind the tale when you add in tonight's session.


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## Chimera (Sep 24, 2005)

*Session 5*

23rd Greening, 284

We returned to Fairhill after the battle, showing off our trophies.  The townspeople were quite excited and quickly jumped to the conclusion that the difficulties were over and they could go about their business.  We were astonished.  There we were, looking much the worse for wear and carrying an unconscious and wounded friend, and these people ignored us when we said that it wasn’t over yet!

While I quickly retired to the Inn to rest up in case the Orcs decided to retaliate against the town during the night, Nok went to see the magistrate to let him know what was going on.

The rest of the group sought healing at the God houses, which were deserted.  Eventually, they found Kord, a cleric of Kord, who offered them aid.  He also offered them some magic corn cakes, which have a healing effect.


24th Greening, 284

We all got up early and headed out of town before dawn, hoping to get out of town before anyone noticed.  While we prepared our spells, Lex tried to convince the halfling locals that their settlement wasn’t safe, but they were determined to remain in their houses.  Oh well, you can’t rescue some people from themselves.

Well down the path to the Keep, we find a few hastily prepared traps, but Lex and Artemis easily spot them and we just go around them.

Arriving at the Keep, we sent Lex and Artemis forward to scout.  After some time spent circling the place, they returned to report that there were guards on the palisades and signs of the occasional outside patrol.  Unfortunately for us, Artemis reports that the tower door that we used last time is probably trapped.  Looks like we’re going to need to find another way in.

More unfortunately, this is where we all fell to bickering, spending over an hour arguing about how best to gain entry.  For some foolish reason, Lex kept insisting that she station herself up a tree along our likely line of retreat, to act as a sniper.  Made no sense to me at all.  Not only would she be largely removing herself from the fight, but if our retreat in that direction got cut off, she’d be trapped on her own.  For her part, Xilo argued that she should expand to her full size and then lift us, one at a time, onto the wall.  This was even more foolhardy, as we would be appearing one at a time for the full viewing pleasure of the assembled forces inside, without having any cover or avenue of escape.  Damn them, but the two fools kept up this nonsense until I was nearly certain that the Orcs had heard us.

In the end, they finally accepted my plan, which was to have Nok deliberately trigger the tower door trap, hoping to draw some attention in that direction, while the rest of us moved up to the palisade on the far side.  After a short delay, Xilo would pull down a section of the palisade and we would rush in, do as much damage as we could, then make our escape.

Unfortunately, once again one of our fools made mincemeat of our plan.

After Xilo moved up and ripped open a section of the palisade, Artemis and Leothan rushed in to engage the Orcs.  Lex and I moved up to provide supporting fire as Nok rounded the corner to join us.  Initially, we seemed to have caught the Orcs off-guard, though their numbers were more than we had anticipated.

Then…   rather than moving forward to engage the Orcs as needed, Xilo decided to be completely stupid.  She continued ripping down sections of the palisade, later reasoning that we might *somehow* need a larger avenue of escape.  This caught Leothan and Artemis completely off-guard and they immediately retreated toward the palisade rather than remain forward and be surrounded by Orcs.  Damn that Xilo, but if she can’t learn the proper role of a warrior in battle, we’re seriously screwed.

At this point, all hell broke loose.  Additional Orcs came out of the buildings.  Zombies began to shamble forward from the far side of the keep and a scorpion opened fire from the tower.  I managed to hit that Orc with a Magic Missile, but it wasn’t enough to stop his murderous fire.

As the Zombies come forward from the chapel, Leothan manages to turn them.  Unfortunately, Tavik almost immediately appeared from the chapel and rallied the Zombies.  Behind him, the worst imaginable thing appeared.  A large bear skeleton, dripping with frost and ice.  At the mere sight of it, I thought we were done for.

Fortunately for all of us, Leothan simply gripped his holy symbol harder, pulled himself up and shouted the most thunderous turning I have ever seen, the light of Pelor shining from his face and holy symbol!  Amazing!  Wondrous!  The Icy bear thing exploded in a shower of ice and bone fragments and half the Zombies fell to dust.  We might just have a chance after all!

But yet again, I am given cause for discouragement, as an Ogre and several Orcs emerge from the closest tower.  The Ogre manages to catch Artemis hard with it’s club, sending him flying.

Redoubling our efforts as I give the call to retreat, Nok casts his entangle spell upon the tall grass of the keep, to little effect.  I cast Ray of Enfeeblement on the Ogre, seriously weakening it as Xilo manages to catch it with a horrendous blow!

Sadly, no one listened to my call for a retreat.  More shear boneheadedness!  Xilo is being surrounded by Orcs while Artemis hides amid the rubble, trying to staunch his wounds and cease to be a target.  Just then, the Orc barbarian joins the fray, running straight at Xilo and taking a mean swipe that drops her.  Damn her hide.  The only thing that saved her was that Lex, Leothan and I threw everything we had at the Orcs around her, taking out most of them in one clean sweep.  At the same time, Tavok was the only enemy caught in Nok’s entangle, which prevented him from casting spells to aid his comrades.

The tide marginally turns in our favor, but I still believe that we need to retreat as soon as we can.  Damn shame that my comrades are too excited to listen to reason.

As Leothan moves up to heal and rescue the fallen Xilo, a shot from the scorpion hits Artemis square in the chest and he goes down.  No one can get to him to check on him or get him out of there, though, as the Ogre and a few remaining Orcs stand between him and the rest of us.

Then we get the break we need.

Tavok, unable to successfully cast any spells due to the grasses wrapping themselves tightly around him, calls off his few remaining soldiers and attempts to parley.  He tells us that he’ll let us leave in peace if we give him the medallion that Lex carries.  Lex then pulls out the fake medallion (Leothan having the real thing), holds it up and begins to negotiate with Tavok.  The rest of us use this time to clear our heads and figure things out.  Clearly we are NOT going to give him the real thing, but we are uncertain what we can do other than gather our fallen comrades and retreat.

Suddenly, Nok pulls an unexpected reserve of power out of his ass and throws another entangle spell (note: Dork Tower card use), which manages to catch the Ogre and Orcs.  A lucky shot from my crossbow then drops the Ogre.  Leothan, Lex and the newly refreshed Xilo hammer the Orcs and before we know it, the battle is over as Tavok breaks free and retreats to the chapel with his few surviving followers.

Damn me, but we did it.  Despite everything, we did it.

Checking on Artemis, we find him on the very threshold of death.  Three curing spells late and he’s barely able to walk.

Leaving the chapel alone, we search the closest tower, from which the Orcs had appeared.  Inside, we find Lannet bound and tortured.  Serves him right.  We also find a small amount of treasure, a couple of filthy rugs which might be worth something when cleaned, and a lot of equipment.  We take the lot and get the heck out of there as quickly as we can.

A long painful walk back to the halfling settlement and I collapse into a deep sleep.


End session 5


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## Chimera (Sep 24, 2005)

*Session 6*

25th Greening, 284

While Nok remains behind to tend to the wounded Artemis, the rest of us pack up before dawn and make a run for Minden town to sell off all this equipment that we’ve salvaged and pick up some supplies.  We wanted to get out of town early to avoid letting anyone know that we were back in town.  No sense spending the morning answering uncomfortable questions from Shandrill and others.

Along the way, we made a stop at the Widow’s Ford way station to speak to the Wardenry officers.  They informed us that the Wardenry was sweeping the fens looking for the Black Skull’s base, but had not been able to locate it due to stiff resistance from the local Troglodytes.

As we rode north, I used my Prestidigitation spell to clean the three elven rugs of the filth and grime that had been deeply impressed into them.  Dirty business, leaving a trail of slime down my legs and horse.  Perhaps a good thing that we were not being followed, or any fool could simply have followed his nose.  A very useful spell, this, but the entire experience left me dreading rather than looking forward to my next visit home.  Surely my mother would set me to work cleaning everything and anything she could get her hands on.  Heck, she’d probably take in cleaning just to keep me busy!

Arriving in Minden town just after noon, we got to business as quickly as possible.  At the armory, we spent a while haggling over our large pile of Orcish arms and armor.  At first, the proprietor didn’t want to give us much for any of it, wasn’t interested in a lot of it.  It got to be very discouraging and we were just considering walking away when a particular suit of black scale mail grabbed her attention.  It seemed to be in the style of a famed Mitlanyuli craftsman who disappeared roughly 25 years ago.  This peaked her interest and she took a harder look at several other pieces, deciding that they too were either his work, or that of someone trained by this craftsman.

She was so eager for more information that she made us a very good deal on the entire package.  Leothan was so pleased at being able to unload the lot that he sweetened the deal with arrangements to replace his and Xilo’s armor with better stuff from her shop.  All in all we were very happy with the arrangements.  It was good to unload several hundred pounds of arms and armor and walk away with enough money to outfit our group.

Just after this, I managed to find Luke Walton residing in Minden.  He being a former instructor in the Transmutational arts and the Scholam.  A few well placed words and some deference to the master and I was in!  Taking up his teaching role once again for my benefit, I was able to make a few minor trades while setting up a good relationship for future dealings.

One thing of note that I did learn from him was in regards to the Dust of Disappearance that we took off Vortigren.  Walton tells me that it was almost certainly made by Burl Macklin, a Halfling Sorcerer in Greenhill with black market connections.  Walton says that there is no real market for such things beyond the high level black market (such items being prohibitively expensive for such limited use), so he can only imagine that is where it came from.  Interesting.  We will have to further investigate this Macklin fellow when time allows.

Later in the afternoon, we move on to the Elven district to sell the rugs.  A bit of a surprise as half the district turns up to marvel at the rugs.  Within minutes, a collection had been gathered to purchase them for a good price, paid all in gems.  It seems that they turned out to be of Ressean handiwork, which is a rarity in the Islands.

Late in the day, we gathered together and headed back to Fairhill, moving as quickly as we could and arriving after dark.  We go straight to Durban’s Notch to avoid questions.  

Shortly thereafter, Nok arrives from a foray into Fairhill.  At first he is very quiet and clearly disturbed, but will not say anything.  At length, we manage to coax the matter out of him.  What we hear is very alarming.

Earlier in the evening, Shandril called a community meeting.  Nok hid nearby and watched the ceremony.  Shandril’s magic kettle was brough forth and made to glow by her magic.  One by one, the people of Fairhill came forward and laid their hands upon the kettle.  As they did so, the kettle began to glow brighter and brighter.  After doing this, each of them walked off looking dazed and blissful.  The last two to go forward were Laurel, who was rather strongly affected by the kettle, and Baran, who appeared to be pained by the experience.  They both argued with Shandril over whether this was really necessary, or was it all Shandril’s pride?

After everyone left, Shandril drew the golden light into herself and read from a scroll.  A portal in the shape of the Wheel of the Four Winds appeared and a golden figure with fiery eyes stepped forth.  She conversed briefly with it and it departed.  After it left, Shandril collapsed.

After a short time, Kord of Kord came to collect Shandril and help her get to her house.  He seemed very sad and disappointed with Shandril, telling her that it was not right to rely on the strength of others.

With this, we immediately set to rest and prepare for an early morning departure for the keep.  I figured that this would be our last shot at getting to the keep before Shandril lowered the boom and took steps to ensure that we made no further forays in that direction.  We had lied to and evaded her as much as we could in order to complete our mission.  We needed to get it done as quickly as possible at this point.


26th Greening, 284

Just before sunrise, we gather our gear and begin to head toward the path to the Keep, only to find Shandril and Arlen sitting on the fencerow waiting for us.  We paused and briefly considered heading for alternative paths, but as we had clearly been seen, there was nothing for it but to speak to them and pay the piper.

Shandril stepped forth and adamantly insisted that we not disturb the keep, boasting that she had set a guardian over it that we could not defeat.  She seemed quite angry with us and was in no mood to brook any opposition.  However, Leothan and I were not to be dissuaded from our mission.  I explained that I was on a commission from the Scholam to retrieve Eralion’s papers.  Leothan likewise drew on the responsibility of his pastoral duties to resolve the matter of the Keep.  We both explained that, as long as the keep remained, it would be a danger to the people of Fairhill.  A danger that we meant to put an end to, once and for all time.

Arlen then stepped to the fore, suggesting that we lie to the Scholam about Eralion’s papers, claiming that they had been destroyed.  He asked that we accept Shandril’s will and not disturb the keep any further, though it appeared obvious to all of us that he was only half-hearted in this matter.

For nearly an hour we argued, discussed, persuaded and explained that we would not be dissuaded.  We explored Shandril’s motives for not wanting us to go on to the keep until it was apparent why.  A spark of insight on Leothan’s part (a strange ray of sunlight alighting on his head momentarily as his eyes went wide) gave the truth of it.

Shandril was afraid.  She was feeling guilty.  Eralion had been her lover and she was torn and distraught over what had happened to him.  She was burying the truth of it from herself and the town, feeding on the assistance of all, doing everything and anything she could to avoid facing it.  Leothan convinced her that the only way out of this whole mess, the only way to end it, is for her to come with us and confront Eralion’s shade.  Reluctantly, she agrees.

Heading out to the keep, we saw no more evidence of Tavok and his Orcs.  I don’t know if Tavok fled after our last encounter or was dealt with by Shandril’s guardian.

When we arrived, we were immediately confronted by a Jann.  A tall, flaming figure that was clearly the guardian that Shandril had summoned.  It stepped forth in it’s might and denied us passage.  Shandril insisted that it step aside, to no avail.  Once summoned, it’s purpose was clear, and Shandril now lacked the strength she had possessed the night before when summoning it.

After a short pause, Leothan, Arlen and Shandril stepped forth as one, representing the Gods, the King, and the Summoner, in that order.  Proving their authority, they requested that the Jann allow us passage.  Reluctantly, it agreed, but with a caveat that Shandril would face a reckoning one day for her actions.  She looked quite uncomfortable at that idea.  The Jann also informed us that it had “dealt with” both the defilement of the chapel and the spiders than infested the northwest tower.  Whether or not that defilement included Tavok is the subject of some speculation.

Upon entering the cellar beneath the keep, Leothan placed Eralion’s amulet upon the seal on the trap door, causing it to dissolve.  We moved downward by rope into a circular chamber filled with equipment and 6 armored statues.  Unfortunately, once we had all arrived and begun to investigate the chambers, the “statues” sprang to life, or rather, unlife, revealing that there were in fact, Zombies hidden in the armor.

Leothan destroyed several of them with the power of his god, followed by Shandril, who turned the last few.  Xilo then set about destroying the Zombies the old fashioned way while the rest of us began searching the lab equipment that filled this room.  As Shandril and Arlen began rapidly rummaging through the materials, the rest of us saw that we too had better get cracking before any important papers were seized by the two of them and lost to us.  Leothan and I each spotted books we gathered, while Artemis found a small wooden box.  Later, Lex informed us that she had sighted Shandril pocketing a box or book of some kind.

There was a small adjoining apartment that was clearly deserted and a search turned up nothing of value or note.  We poked around a bit more, since this could not possibly be the entire complex.  A bit of a let-down until Nok noticed a trapdoor concealed under one of the desks.  Shandril was surprised by this, saying that it wasn’t there the last time she was here, but I’m not buying it.  I don’t think she’s being very honest with us at this point.


End of Session 6


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## petenik (Sep 28, 2005)

Excellent stuff, as always!  I've got some ideas for an Artemis journal that I'll try to flesh out and post this weekend.

"Artemis' player didn't seem to respond to anything on-line, not even e-mails."

Yeah, sorry about that.  PC problems and a period that I call "the bad phase" kept me out of online commission.  Hopefully I'm getting at least a little better regarding emails and such


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