# Eaglesford Campaign: "Strange Lights"



## Nail

My first story hour.

Yeesh.

Well, I won't promise much, but.....let's see how this thing goes.

Campaign Setting: _(read to the players)_


> You are all residents of the tiny hamlet of Eaglesford, on the NE edge of the decaying Kambron Empire.   You (the adventuring group) have known each other since you were young, and recently you've decided to get together and start "adventuring".  Some of you even know what "adventuring" means, amazingly enough, but only through stories and hearsay of the local populace.  (All start with 0 XP.)
> 
> The Empire is dominated by humans and their politics, but there are plenty of the other races (elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, and the "half-races"), even in the political positions of Lord, Steward, or Reeve.  But the Empire's concerns are far from the concerns of the townsfolk of Eaglesford - as long as the crops come in, and the orcs don't raid, life is good.  The last orc-raid was almost 20 years ago, and few can remember the last time the people of Eaglesford were conscripted into the Empire's military service.
> 
> Eaglesford sits in the middle of a growing temperate forest, with large areas carved out for agricultural use....although these cleared areas are getting smaller with time.  There are significant ruins throughout the region, both recent and ancient.  They have been explored by generations of local folk.  It's a story often told over kitchen-fires that the valley of Eaglesford once was the seat of an ancient kingdom, brought low by greed and trickery.  Present-day folk believe that their own straightforward honesty is what allows them to work the once-cursed land.


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## Nail

The Player Characters:

*Garret*: Halfling Paladin with riding dog
     Role, abstracted, in his own words:
"Garret, as a Holy Warrior of Morwyn, mounted on Bavic, his faithful dog."
"a skirmisher with the maneuverability he needs to move around the battlefield"
"charge in, deliver a staggering blow, then ride out of harm's reach."
"the 'mage-killer'.... with the goal of defeating an enemy group by killing their evil leader. 
"According to Morwyn's teachings, ...his role is to support the greater good"

*Riva Stormhand*: Dwarven Fighter/Barbarian
     Role, abstracted, in his own words:
"enjoys combat for the sake of combat, especially with  orcs, giants, and drow"
"is very loyal to his friends"
"a front-line fighter...[the paladin] doesn't get to have all the fun..!"

*Thaile*: Human Cleric/Rogue of Darmon(God of Rogues and Travel)
     Role: The cleric and party treasurer. 
"I search the bodies for treasure!"
"Are you gonna keep that?"
"Of course Riva didn't find anything...I search it instead!  
 DM note: I'm thinking of giving her the official title of "_Party Looter of Those Things which Need Looting_".  If there's a gem to be pried out of some jeweled altar, this is your woman.
 
*Tieran Lochslan*: Human Wizard(Necromancer)
     Role, abstracted, in his own words:
"Casting spells to ...protect the living, not to bring unrest to the dead."
"I can cause living monsters to run in fear, and I can pummel the undead at a distance."
"I'm also handy with a crossbow...like I said, I'm not very physically strong..."

*Rowan*: Human Druid
     Role, in her own words:
a little bit of healing, a little bit of magic, and little woodland creatures!
DM note: she's the woman who comes running when someone cries "Medic!"


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## Nail

*Session #1* (RL Feb 9th, 2003)

In Brief:

     The characters met at the Eaglesford Inn, to discuss what sort of "adventure!" they might undertake.  They've been talking about this all winter...._"Just think: we'll go adventuring!  What a cool idea!  Unique, even!"_ ....and yet even now they are undecided.   Each shared some of the local news and rumors they had heard as of late.  (_DMs note: each player started with a hand-out of a few local rumors and stories.  Some of them might even be true!_)

     At the table was the battle-eager dwarf, *Riva Stormhand*, a dwarven berserker, fingering the edge of his axe blade; *Garret Flatbottom*, holy warrior of Morwyn, ready to do his god's will; and *Thaile*, traveller of Darmon's paths, excited to explore the local ruins for their fabled treasures.

     After a short time, they noticed that a poorly dressed half-elf, going by the name "Laiden", was also in the Inn, talking up the innkeeper.  _(Laiden had previously approached Riva, asking if he "wanted to get rich".  He was a stranger to town, and said he hailed from the nearby village of Three Oaks - about two days journey to the east.)_  The human cleric Thaile approached the scruffy and ragged half-elf, and asked about the opportunities Laiden had offered Riva.  After a long discussion, which included, of all things, Thaile's opinions of the doctrines of her god Darmon, Laiden ended the conversation with a simple: _"I'm not sure you're ready yet.  Perhaps later, after you become more seasoned, we can talk again."_

     Confused (and slightly insulted) Thaile returned to her companions.  The three of them agreed to go to the old Palen Smitson farm, near which people had said they had seen "strange lights".  (They also left a message for their two missing companions to catch up to the party ASAP.)

      The party geared up and set out.  On the hedge-shrouded road, several miles from town, they entered the region of abandoned farms.  There were less people in Eaglesford than there used to be...and that trend showed in the number and age of the abandoned farmsteads the party trudged past.

     About noon, where the road narrowed and the tall hedges were even wider and more unrully, Garret thought he saw some movement in the bushes up ahead.  The party paused, and nervously discussed their options for a time.  Suddenly the hedge row immediately to their right erupted outward, and a stinking, humaniod corpse rushed at them, clawing and biting at Garret and his faithful riding hound.  

     There was a frantic skirmish, with warhammers and rapiers drawn and dwarvish curses loosed....but within a few moments, the thing lay in a crumbled pile at their feet.  Thaile examined the body.  It was a ghoul, one of the "hungry dead", and it's long decaying body was that of an orcish warrior.  Some of it's armor still remained on it's body.  Some of its trinkets too, which Thaile thoughtfully put in her pocket.

     More cautious now, out heroes proceeded toward the abandoned Smitson farm.  On the way, Thaile and Garret discussed.....well, not the types of walking un-dead, as you might suppose......but rather, when, exactly, the orcs had last raided this area.  Garret claimed it was almost 20 years ago; Thaile was sure of a number closer to 15.  Ahhh, the uncertainties of history!

*Session #1...to be continued!*


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## Jodo Kast

Fun!  Harkens back to more innocent days of gaming, when it was enough to roll up a character, meet your friends in the local inn, and set out for adventure.  I think this will be a good read, Nail.


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## Nail

Continued: Session #1

  The small party of adventurers continued along the narrow lane.  Up ahead, they again saw "something", lieing at the corner of an intersection.  Cautiously, they moved forward.

The "something" turned out to be the skeleton of some humaniod, probably an orc.  It was still, and did not animate and attack.  Nonetheless, Riva used his axe to "make sure".

A few feet away, on the other side of a hedge row, was the remains of a few more restless dead.  An orcish zombie, complete with funerary robes, lay to one side; two orcish skeltons lay in mud a few steps beyond.  It was clear, even with the party's paltry tracking skills, that a battle had occured here....although who the other party was, and where they had gone, the heroes could not be sure.   (DM's note: _No one has the tracking feat!  Aaarggg!_  )

Continuing on the over-grown lane, the party came across a combat in progress:

Three humanoid corpses stand at the end of the lane, clawing and biting at something in the hedge rows.  You hear one of the walking dead groan as it slams its arm into something hidden in the bushes.  Whatever the zombie's opponent is, it jabs back with a short spear.  Even from this distance you can tell the battle goes well for the undead.

The character's charged into the fray.  Once in battle, the characters could see that the undead were attacking a small humaniod creature, lizard-like in appearance, with a short scalely tail at it's back and pointed ears at the top of it's head.   It wore leather armor, emblazened with the symbol of a hand, palm outward, wreathed in flames.  Beside this strange creature lay another, unmoving.

The party quickly dispatched the undead, and just as quickly, the strange lizard-man fled.  Garret, mounted on his wardog, gave chase, calling after "Wait!  We're here to help you!  Just a moment, we...whoa!...hey where did that come from....good thing I ...ahhhhh!"

Garret found himself at the bottom of a shallow pit.  He had avoided one in his charge after the lizard-man, only to fall into another.   Fortunately for him, it's maker had not seen fit to line it with sharpened stakes........

The rest of the party rushed to help...... and they found that someone had been thoughtful enough to sharpen the ends of the log trap Riva fell victim to.

So much for consistancy.......

_End session #1_


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## Nail

.....A vistor?.........


By Darmon's boot-laces........will wonders never cease?

Welcome!

I hope I'm able to entertain you.  That, and keep a record of our game, of course!  Handy thing, this message board.  Now if only I could get the players to post......oh, wait, I haven't told them about this yet....perhaps there's a "cause" there......

This is a soon-to-be-unveiled surprise.  I wonder if they'll discover it before I tell them.   Adventurers should always explore the less-traveled by-ways.


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## Nail

Adventure Log from Session #2:  (RL Mar 9th, 2003)


_DM's note: Two new players!  We now have 5, a number I'm very happy with.  Keeps combats quick and role-playing memorable (and equitable!)._

The proud holy warrior of Morwyn, a brave halfling in his god's service, the paladin of the goddess of light and mercy, climbed up out of the dirt-sided pit.  After a moment or two of urging, his trusty wardog, Bavic, was out as well.  Fortunately for the paladin's ego, the rest of the party only caught up with him after he was able to scrape the sod out of his visor.

Once together again, Garret found the party more numerous than before.  The wizard Tieran Lochslan, and the druid Rhoen had finally caught up with them.  At last, the full group of friends could "adventure!" together.

The group saw before themselves the old farm of Palen Smitson, abandoned to the elements these last 8 (or was it 7?) years.  Palen himself had died in town a year or two after he was forced by old age to leave his homestead.  He had built this farm out of the trees felled on his land, stout hewn timbers, plastered and white-washed.  Even now the barn, the house, and some outbuildings were in good shape.

The party explored the barn first.  The barn doors were ajar, and Garret pointed out how they had apparently been forced open recently.  Nails ripped from their sockets and newly splintered beams gave mute testimony to the strength of the attackers.  

The ground floor of the barn was mostly empty.  No tools lined the walls, no crates or barrles lay stacked to one side.  While the rest of the party poked through the remains of rotted hay and old manure on the floor, Riva and Thaile climbed the stairs to the loft.  And no sooner had they stepped up to the huge piles of hay above....than the hay attacked!

From the piles of hay came bony claws, tearing at Riva's armor and flesh.  Riva had his axe and shield readied though, so he began to give as well as he got.   He trusted his armor to be sturdy enough to protect him.  Thaile recovered from the initial shock, then held out her holy symbol.  For the first time in her adventuring career, she called on the power of her god, Darmon the Wayfarer.  

*"Back, you skeletal wretches!  Behold the power of Darmon!"*

The bony hands (and the skeletons connected to them) retreated to the back of the loft...and Riva was furious!  His opponents were out of reach!  The dwarvish warrior burrowed through the hay after them, tower shield dragging along behind....

...but the mounds of hay held other skeletons, that had not felt the cleric's power.  They lashed out at both Riva and Thaile as they went past.  It was difficult to see the skeletons, hiding in the hay, and nearly impossible to turn them while they were hidden.  Rowan, with her trusty quaterstaff, and Terian, with his magic, joined the fray.  Garret stayed below, as there was no room for the paladin and his wardog in the loft, and he could see the fight was going well for his compaions.  A few blows from the druid and the dwarf, a well-placed Necromatic bolt, and an easy "turning" by Thaile of the finally-reveiled undead, and it was all over.

All over except for the looting, Thaile was quick to point out.


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## Nail

*Session #2, Continued*:  -- written by the druid Rowan, and occasionally interupted by a rude DM.......

.....of course, Riva required some healing from Thaile and Rowan.  _(DM's note: that's a growing trend....)_  Once finished, he discarded his tower shield and wandered off as the rest of the party discussed a plan of action.  


Thaile, Garret, and Tieran decided to check the layout of the rest of the farm.   It consisted of a well located near the barn, the small, locked hut, a two story farmhouse, a smokehouse, a small cemetery and a root-cellar.  A cursory examination of the well uncovered nothing of interest.  Riva and Rowan went from the well to a small hut located near the well.  



The hut door was strong and still closed and locked. The two windows were shuttered and had scratches on them as if something had tried and failed to get in. Riva decided that we had to see what was inside the hut. To that end, he determined that the best course of action would be to bash the door down. So, using his superior dwarven strength, he began the long process of bashing. Rowan stood watching.  



Meanwhile, the rest of the party was wandering around checking out the rest of the farm. They discovered that the cemetery had been disturbed, the stones overturned. Also, while it was known that four family members had died here, there were five stones in the cemetery.  



As they came from the cemetery toward the small locked hut, where Riva was still contentedly bashing away at the door, an arrow shot out of the brush, hitting Thaile. The arrow was poisoned!  Garret located the source of the arrow, a small crossbow, which had obviously been modified to be a trap. It was set up to shoot automatically when a tripwire was snapped. It seemed to have worked pretty well too. 

Garret took the trap and went to the small hut where Riva was still busily bashing at the door.  Thaile and Teiran were already there.  As they stood watching Riva trying to knock the door down....

_DM's comment:  The conversation went something like:_


> <THUMP!>
> *Rowan*: "So, I see Riva's trying to knock down that door.  Looks pretty solid."
> <THUMP!>
> *Thaile*: (nods, then adds) "You know, I could probably pick the lock......"
> <THUMP!>
> *Rowan*: "Oh, but look at how much fun he's having!"
> <THUMP!>
> *Thaile*: "True.  And look, he's got that cute look of concentration on his face....can't mess with that."
> <THUMP!>  <THUMP!>  <THUMP...CRASH!>
> *Riva*: (The door finally bursts open.) "There!  Done!"  (smiles, gestures grandly)  "Ladies?....."



....The hut was small, sparse, with simple furniture. It was neatly kept, but had obviously not been used in quite some time. A search of the room revealed a secret drawer in the small table. From the drawer came a small throwing axe of superior quality which came into the hand ready for throwing.  


Moving on to the main farmhouse, Riva, Thaile and Rowan went in the door closest to the hut. Garret and Tieran moved to come in the door on the other side. The main room of the house contained a dining table and chairs, broken and tossed around and a desiccated corpse which upon examination appeared to be that of an Orc. From this room one door led to a bedroom containing a broken bed and nothing else of real interest.  



The back hallway contained stairs going up to the second floor and down to the cellar. There were Orc corpses here as well. The corpses wore robes, jewelry, and fetishes that would be of some value to Orcs. Tieran took a fetish bundle from one of the corpses.  



Upstairs we found nothing of value and nothing jumped out and attacked us.  



Downstairs, we were completely unaware that anything was there until we were attacked. Riva was clawed and found himself unable to move. At this point, we also realized that it would have been wise to have a source of light with us. Tieran cast a light spell onto a copper and threw it into the room so that we could see what it was that we were fighting. They turned out to be two small undead reptilian creatures. We fought them for a bit, then, Thaile turned them and it became much easier to vanquish them. During the course of the battle, Tieran was also paralyzed and we were injured further.  

(_Another DM's interuption -  sorry Rowan!:
Thaile's chance to affect these horrible little hungry-dead was very small.  Very small indeed.  In fact, I had planned some fun, knowing the PC cleric would be unable to turn the "ghouls".  There was going to be all sorts of AoO-mayhem, as the PCs were trapped on a narrow stair, and the guy in front would be paralyzed and being turned into ghoul lunch-meat.  How would they survive?

How?  Pffft.  "We turn the undead, of course!  Did I mention I rolled a natural 20?"

Grrrrrr.....   _)


After this, our healing magic spent, we decided to go and spend the night in the small cottage before going into the root cellar. We did check out the entry to the root cellar and found dried blood on the steps, which further reinforced the wisdom of spending a night resting up and getting some healing back.  



Watches were set and the broken door was set up as a barricade in the doorway. Hmmmm, maybe we should have picked the lock rather than broken the door.....oh well.  



First watch was uneventful. Second watch saw some lights moving around in the darkness, but they seemed to be far away. Soon after, however, we found ourselves under attack by undead Orcs. The door gave us some protection and the shuttered windows were holding well. Thaile turned some of the creatures that ran off. Riva determined that he had to run outside and take care of the problem. Garret and Tieran also went out to fight. Thaile and Rowan remained inside the hut to defend there. In due time, the Orc were dispatched and we were able to spend the rest of the night uneventfully.  



The next day we headed back to town, as we were in no shape to take on anything that might be lurking in the root cellar.  



On the way back, we heard screams as we neared the Grigson farm. Garret charged forward and saw farmer Grigson running with an eight-foot centipede chasing him. It had already taken a chunk out of him. Garret, using his lance, charged the beast and skewered it. More screams turned us in the direction of farmer Grigson’s wife and son being chased by two more of the creatures. The child was badly hurt and fell as we arrived to lend aid. Garret skewered another one and the third was taken down by ??????. Rowan pulled the child out and gave him some healing and worked to neutralize the poison from the bite. She was able to bring him back to consciousness and advised the parents to put him to bed and keep him there until the healer from town arrived.  



The rest of our trip to town was peaceful. Thaile, Tieran, and Rowan went to the healer at the mill. After telling her of the centipedes, she was able to heal our wounds and then packed up her bag to go and tend to the Grigson child.  She asked the party to look after her Mill while she was gone.


Riva and Garret went to the town Warden and told him the whole story, from the Smitson farm to the centipedes. The Warden told them that the last time that the farm had been checked it had been fine, so this disturbance must be fairly recent. Then the Captain said that he would be sending out some men to deal with the farm and the centipedes.  


_End of Session #2_


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## Nail

*Inbetween: Post-session #2, via email*

Set-up: *Garret* and *Riva* have finished speaking with the Captain.  They leave the keep, and walk through the decrepit Eaglesford gate-house.  Through the archway, looking down the hill and path, they can see Mrs. Faegan's mill.  Their companions await them there.

There is no one around the gatehouse of consequence; perhaps one of the castle guard is on patrol in the gatehouse above them.  

The Conversation: Riva stops, then says to Garret:

_ "Garret, I think we'd better go back to see the captain.. 

"He felt the mission to the Smitson farm was pretty urgent -- that it be dealt with since he wouldn't wait -- and I think we should be there to help.. 

"Things might have changed just like we noticed on the way back to town, and I'm healthy enough to provide a strong fighting arm to do it.  You're faster than me, why don't you go get the others and I'll try and get the captain to wait for a few minutes until you come back.."_


Garret responds:
_ "I agree that our presence can make a difference, and if the others are up to it, so am I.

"But realize that what works for you and the Warden's crew won't cut it with the Captain. He runs a tight ship -- each member knows their place and depends on the others to do theirs.  You'll need to follow his orders explicitly or he'll send you packing.

"Look, leaving the issue that you almost died last night totally aside, I'm not sure what made you leave the defensible position we had  established in the cottage, but you risked ALL of our lives by heading out the door the way you did! Did you really think that we, as your friends, weren't  going to follow you out there and try to stand by you? Tieran and Rhoen were hurt pretty bad in the cellar, trying to save your hide, Mr. Statue!

"They knew as well as I did that to flee the cellar to save themselves meant handing you your death sentence. They didn't leave you behind, none of us did, though it took a lot out of us to inally bring those two things down.

"While you may have felt pretty good once you shook off the ffects of that paralysis and got some healing from the others, PLEASE try and take into consideration how the rest of us are doing before pulling another stunt like that. Where one of goes, we all go. That was something we agreed on in the last few days when we got serious about this "adventuring"  stuff. I know you're feeling "healthy enough to provide a strong fighting arm to do it". 

"After receiving the majority of Rhoen's magic this morning I would hope that's the case, but Tieran and Rhoen aren't! They're hurt  pretty badly and have used up the majority of their magic between last night's battle and healing you up again this morning. Mrs. Faegan has likely healed them by now. Still, SHE isn't traveling with us and our ability to heal each other is severely limited. 

"Just because you're feeling top notch doesn't mean that the rest of us are in a position to pull your butt out all the  time. If this keeps up it's not going to be too long before someone gets killed by your actions--and it's not likely going to be you.

"I'll go back and talk to the Captain, since I know him much better than you and I'm sure he'd appreciate our help. Trust me, he doesn't  think a much of the Warden and his crew, and I'm sure he still throws you into that lot. See if Mrs. Faegan has patched the others up. If they're willing we can all head up to the Smitson place with the Captain and his troops. I just hope everyone's planning on returning to town before dark. We could all still use
the rest!"_

Riva gets a bit flustered, and says:_
"Wait a moment.. look, the reason I left the cottage was for a very good reason.. those zombies, it was clear that they weren't going to go awayafter a couple of minutes.. I mean, look at the fact that those shutters had lots and lots of claw marks on them on the outside, and the fact that even after the others out front had been turned, the ones at the windows kept clawing at the windows.. so they're stupid and stubborn.. 

"All that activity if it kept up would attract more of the restless dead, intelligent dead, and we've already seen what a pair of those can do when I was paralyzed.. and then we would have been in a world of hurt.. and besides, there were only two of them, take those out and we'd have peace for the rest of the night.. not only that, but a couple of dead zombies at the windows would serve a very pointed message to any intelligent undead prowling about.. so you can see why I rushed out when I did to take care of those two zombies..  now, it so happens that I slipped in the mud and so one of those cursed-sons-of-orcs got in a couple lucky swipes with 'is claws while I regained my footing....but if it weren't for that, I'd have taken 'em both down!  It was something that needed to be done for the survival of the party, I'm not ashamed of that, and I'd do it again too.. and if I happened to have fallen in a necessary task like that, so be it, at least I will have helped preserve the lives of the rest of ye all....

"Th' other thing is that we know something must be creating these undead, I'm guessing here that one undead can create more, so that's another reason why I've been keen on getting them all in one go.. or as swift as possible... and that unfortunately takes a certain amount of risk.. undead are hateful evil creatures, and I will not easily abide their existence.. I grant that perhaps that passion of mine, especially in regards to cleansing that filth from the world, could lead me from time to time to ignore the rest of ye in the heat of combat.. I will try and keep that in mind better in future.. ye are all my comrades, but I can hope that ye see why I feel urgency here, even to the extent of taking extra risks.. undead are something I will not suffer to exist when I have the least ability in me to resist.. noone of us knows that better than me.. but I won't get into the whys of that right now, that's old history.. grrrr.. I will have them destroyed and whatever might create 'em.. 

"I will try to act in a more groupwise manner... that said, better head off to the captain as you were doing and I'll see to the rest of us.." _

The two of them part ways, off on their respective tasks.  Garret may have mumbled something about the likelihood of defeated undead getting away...but we may never be sure.


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## Nail

A Bit more about the PCs environs.....

*The Hamlet of Eaglesford*

_location:_ On the northeastern border of the once-great Kambron Empire.  To the north and east lie the Carpathian mountains, where a dwarvish kingdom still thrives; to the south lies the more prosperous regions of the empire, where human, elf, halfling, and gnome live in peace.  All about Eaglesford lie the ruins of the civilizations that used to call this broad valley home.  The empire’s decrepit fortresses are adding themselves to the stony remains, as the years go by….

_physical description:_ The hamlet is located within the ruins of an old castle, built here in the early days of the Kambron Empire.  The castle is in a terrible state of disrepair – much of the curtain wall around the castle has fallen in, and been replaced with a timber palisade, and the only livable part of the castle (the Keep) is in the western tower.  The village’s buildings and houses are within the stone and timber wall.  The only permanent building outside the wall is the Mill, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Faegan.

_population_: about 150, mixed race  (Human 41%, Halfling 20%, Elf 18%, Dwarf 10%, Gnome 5%, Half-elf 5%, Half-orc 1%)

TOWNSFOLK:

_“government”:_
Lord Aelric Surrell, of Eaglesford,  Gentleman of the Purple Order, Knight of the Kambron Embire  (human; wife: Elsa;  kids: Mina, Jelen, Thomas)

Captain Isareth Ennolad, Captain of the Castle Guard and Reeve of Eaglesford (elvish, a known warrior and wizard)

_“The Castle Guard”_

Sergeant Urgar Longtooth (half-orc, older, a “mean S.O.B.")

Sergeant Jullig Tealarr (gnome, older, very friendly; this is the guy you’d rather talk to…..)

Jared Mangelson (human, 19)

Karl Mangleson (human, 18)

Meloran Ennolad (elven, the captain’s younger brother, tanner’s apprentice)

Derun Stonebeard (dwarf)

Warden Kenneth Brenan, Protector of the Empire’s Borders (human, a ranger)

_“The Rangers”_

Ray Timbers (former warden; halfling, a ranger) 

Lee Smitson (human)

Gregory Hill (human, old, well-liked farmer)

_“merchant’s guild” – advisory role in Eaglesford’s affairs_

Mr. Oscott Burlywire, Owner of Eaglesford Inn (gnome, old, tricky but nice…; married with grown-up children)

Burain Stonebeard, leatherworker and wain-wright, also woodworker (dwarf, married with children)

Mrs. Melinda Faegan,  Cleric of the Great Church of All the Gods, owner and operator of the Mill (human female, married, husband Robert – sickly; no children) 

Mrs. Kayla Wiggins, Wizard of Eaglesford, owner of town stables (human female, widow, husband killed by bandits)

Jameth Smith, Blacksmith of Eaglesford (half-elf, stocky; married with 5 children)

Oalaf “The Lute”, Bard of Eaglesford (halfling; bumbling, rumored to be the stupidest person in Eaglesford)


_“other notables”_
Ralan Gregson (halfling, old farmer, married twice, very large family)

Bethany Salazar (human, Mrs. Wiggin’s apprentice wizard)

Hara Flatbottom (halfling, “Crazy Old Witch”, mystic)

Jingles Goldhill (young gnome, peddler in treasures and oddities, occasional visitor to town, has a half-orc guard)


EDIT: typos fixed, Mrs Faegan's cleric title fixed, Jingles added


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## DrSpunj

*Nice!*

Don't sell yourself short, Nail. I know I'm biased playing Garret, and that gives me a different viewpoint to read your story from than most, but I like what you've written! I'll have to remember that emailed conversations between Garret and others may find themselves worked into the story hour!  

It's always interesting to see how different people view the same situation. While most of what you told is correct, Garret would put a vastly different spin on much of it!  

Looking forward to Sunday!


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## DrSpunj

*Ouch!*

With today's session Nail is definitely on the RBDM path!

Our session ended with 3 of our 4 party members failing a Will save against a (presumably) save-or-die spell, with the 4th valiantly attempting to fend off at least half a dozen kobolds before succumbing to their very well-organized defense. While we didn't get very far into their hideout (as in, about 5'!) I have no idea how many there are, and Bavic (my trusty riding dog) is stuck at the top of a 40' shaft without any way of helping us. About as close to a TPK you can get without getting there.

WE ARE AT NAIL'S MERCY!  

(He's told us not to create new characters, but I'm going to put some effort in that direction nonetheless!)

Fun session, Nail! Thanks!

DrSpunj
aka Garret


----------



## Videssian

Heh, that and I think my dice are cursed.. I couldn't roll a save to save my life.. or Riva's life anyways.. 

I'm also going to put some effort in making another character.. in case Riva does in fact die as a result of these nefarious developments..  just in case!


----------



## Nail

*Re: Ouch!*



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> *
> WE ARE AT NAIL'S MERCY!  *



Never a good idea, I assure you....



> *He's told us not to create new characters, but I'm going to put some effort in that direction nonetheless!*




Let's just say this: have at least a new PC-concept handy......the start of next session will be a bit, err.....dicey.    (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)



> _Originally posted by Videssian_
> I think my dice are cursed.. I couldn't roll a save to save my life.. or Riva's life anyways..



You'll note that Garret also failed this rather important save.  He may be interested to know he did not fail it by very much.  Just a bit more and...(shrugs)....but we'll never know.  You (Riva) OTOH, failed it by quite a bit, IIRC.


----------



## DrSpunj

*Re: Re: Ouch!*



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> *
> You'll note that Garret also failed this rather important save.  He may be interested to know he did not fail it by very much.  Just a bit more and...(shrugs)....but we'll never know.  You (Riva) OTOH, failed it by quite a bit, IIRC.   *




Yeah, I was thinking about that on the drive home. With a Will save of +5 (thanks to Divine Grace and halfling luck) I figured I had slightly better than a 50% chance of making that save.

Oh well!


----------



## Videssian

Heh, rolling a 2 will do that..  then again, when I tried to make a fort save earlier, I rolled a 3... my +6 didn't help much there..


----------



## Nail

*Interesting Locales near Eaglesford*

_or “so, you want to plan a vacation, do ye?”_

To the Players:
The following is “commonly known”; it is accepted as fact by the local populace.  Your character may have conflicting or additional information.  The locations are alphabetized, for your convenience.


*Villages*
_Eaglesford_: a small hamlet, slowly being abandoned, at the edge of the Kambron Empire.  Produces some barley and oats for export.  Has a decent dwarvish brewery.

_Reedstep_: abandoned village, north from Eaglesford, along the River Liss.  Abandoned a few years after the last orc raids.  Rumored to be haunted.

_Scanton_: a hamlet, perhaps twice the size of Eaglesford, about 2 days journey south along good road.  Several in Eaglesford have family there.

_Tel-Anath_: Dwarven city, far from Eaglesford, deep in the Carpathian Mountains to the north east.

_Three Oaks_: a village, largest near Eaglesford (about 2 days journey).  On the terminus of one of the main roads of the Empire.  

_Wodston_: a tiny hamlet.  It _was_ a large village, until it was burnt to the ground during the last orc raids some 20 years ago.  It was rebuilt, but only as a hamlet.  Rumored to be involved with the local bandits in some way.  A saying: “_As sneaky as a tree in Wodston….._”

*Ruins*
_Alder’s Seep_: A spring, rumored to have magical properties.  What properties they are depends on who you ask….  When the orc raids happened, the orcs often camped either here or at The Garresh.

_Alderslook_: Several ruined towers, grouped in a circle, on a tall cliff overlooking Alder’s Seep (a spring).

_Boarshead Ridge_:  A large ridge overlooking the Meridan River, north and east of Eaglesford.  In the right light, the ridge looks like a boar’s head, complete with tusks (the ruins).  At the top of the ridge is a series of smaller ruins, one of which is a large tower.  Below the ridge runs the Dwarven Road.

_Crownell_:  Not well known, nor easily located, this is another huge complex of ruins.  Rumor has it that it is where the Troll King lived, before he was destroyed, long ago.  Another rumor is that the ruins are an ancient city, that rises and sinks into the swamp of the Aldersmere according to the phases of the moon….that is why it’s so difficult to find……

_Earogath, The_: a large ring of standing stones, with an “altar” at the center.  Widely believed to be where the witches and warlocks of old summoned demons to do their bidding.  Those connected to the nobility know that entering the area is strictly forbidden by imperial decree, issued some 300 years ago.

_Garresh, The_: A narrow canyon that passes through the Easthills.  Often the home base of orcish raiders, back when such things were common.

_Keprok_: a huge complex of ruins, probably of an ancient castle, near the village of Three Oaks.  Most of it has been carted away and used as building stones for nearby villages.

_Reedstep, Tower of_: A tower and ruins on a hill opposite the abandoned village of Reedstep.  The ruins are part of a large complex, which at one time included a stone bridge across the River Liss.

*Rivers and Roads*
_Dwarven Road, The_: The road that starts in the coastal city of Sjen, and winds it’s way north, eventually following the River Liss to it’s headwaters near Tel-Anath.  The road passes through Eaglesford, and passes beside Boarshead Ridge.  The road used to be very important and well maintained….100 years ago, or so.  Now merchants usually take other paths.

_Emperor’s Road, The_:  Starts in Three Oaks, and goes south and west toward the Empire’s heart.  The (lesser) extension of that road leads to Eaglesford.

_Meridan River_: Tributary to the River Liss, springs from the front steps of Tel-Anath.

_River Liss_: Main river of the area, capable supporting small rafts and boats near Eaglesford.  Springs from the Carpathian Mountains to the north.


----------



## Nail

*Session #3: How it ended.... * (RL March 16th, 2003)

Teaser, or _"We're all unconcious and in enemy hands??!!  ....please pass the barbeque sauce..."_

What Riva, Rowan, and Garret saw:







> Each of you, as you reached the bottom of the shaft, were able to see before you a large room.  The only light is from Rowan's torch, dropped as she fell down the ladder.  But even in the guttering torch-light, you were able to make out that the room must be at least 30 feet across, with a high ceiling.  The smell of freshly dug earth fills your nostrils, as does some other, acrid smell, warm and damp.....
> 
> In front of you, closing fast, are small figures.  They are charging you, weapons drawn.....kobolds, perhaps?
> 
> No time to decide.  You struggle to ready your weapon in time......you feel a lump form in your throat as danger presses in around you.....
> 
> And from behind all of this, a bigger danger......a low chanting that rises to a quick cresendo, and then...??!!!
> 
> Darkness.


----------



## DrSpunj

As opposed to Thaile who saw much the same thing as the last to descend, but got a chance to see the kobolds up close for quite a bit longer as they worked together to stab her repeatedly before she succumbed. Now dying (if not dead already, like the rest of us!) while the rest of us are just...sleeping?


----------



## Nail

*The Start of Session #3: "Rats!  Why did it have to be rats?" *
(Session of RL March 16th, 2003)

*Recap*:_Last session ended with the PCs back from the abandoned Smitson farm.  Garret and Riva had gone to fill in the hamlet's Captain on the "goings-on", while the rest of the party talked to Mrs. Faegan at her Mill, outside of town.  Mrs. Faegan had healed Thaile and Teiran, and then left on horse-back to go tend the Gregson's centipede-bitten child.

After the meeting with the Captain, Garret and Riva confered at Eaglesford's decepit gatehouse.  Garret would go to the Captain and offer the PCs services, while Riva would rejoin the party to ask the rest if they would be willing to go back to the farm with the Captain and his men.  After all, there's safety in numbers......_

*********************************

*Scene*: In the Captain's quarters, Garret is back, knocking at the door:

Garret: "_Excuse me, sir. _"

Captain: "_Yes?  Please, Garret, come in....Is there something else?_"

Garret: "_My companions and I have talked, and we would like to come with you to the Smitson farm.  We know the area, and we could point out what we saw, and where.  That should be useful to you._"

Captain: "_Hmmm….  Agreed.     .....My only concern is this: my men follow my orders.  I'd expect you and your new group to do the same if you accompany us.  That would include Riva Stormhand.  ...Could you vouch for him?_"

Garret: (pauses) "_I'll try...he has a good heart.  I'll explain to him that this will not be like working with the Warden.    .....By the way, what about the Warden and his men?  It seems odd that they checked out the Smitson farm only a few days before we did, and yet found none of what we later encountered......_"

Captain: (pauses, looks thoughtfully at Garret) "_I am aware of the problem.....The Warden and his men will not be accompanying us to the old Smitson place; they have other duties they need to perform._"

Garret: "_....Ahhh.  Okay then.  My party and I will meet up with you as you leave town.  Until then._"  (Garret walks out of the Captain's office, intent on meeting up with his companions at the mill.)

*********************************

*Scene*: The Faegan's Mill, outside of town, by the River Liss.  Three of the party stand just inside the door, waiting for Riva and Garret to return.  The massive mill stone slowly turns nearby, grinding winter barley to flour.   The party can hear the splash of the water-wheel as it turns outside.  Inside is dim and dusty, with bags and crates stacked about.  A door to a storeroom is behind them, while a walk-way stretches overhead.

Tieran, Rowan, and Thaile stand talking about the events of the past few days.  A few moments later, Riva comes jogging up.  He explains the plan he and Garret had: Join the Captain's party, and explore the Smitson's farm with them.  Thaile eagerly talks of finally exploring the root cellar....when suddenly, conversation is cut off by a high-pitched scream from overhead!

The party looks up to see a man, Mrs. Faegan's husband Robert, running along the cat-walk, with 2 dark, dog-like creatures chasing him.  (And yep: that’s his scream when things threaten to kill him.)  He screams again as another of these dog-beasts cuts off his escape!

Riva looses his axe and CHARGES up the stairs!  Riva's first swing CRASHES into the planking of the cat-walk, as the dog-beast it was meant for leaps out of the way.  Another of these beasts drops down behind Riva --  and he realizes these aren't wild dogs -- they're huge rats!  Their fur is black and matted, dripping with river slime, and their eyes gleam with blood-lust.  The two chasing Robert have already downed him, and even now are chewing on Robert's legs as he screams (yet _again_: what a whiner)!

Tieran and Thaile hurriedly load their crossbows, while Rowan charges after Riva.  Rowan's swings with her staff are too wide to connect with their mark, but they distract a rat long enough for Riva to land a killing blow with his axe.  Riva steps up to stand over the unconscious Robert Faegan.  The 3 foot long monstrosities will have to down him as well before they feed again.

Tieran, too, is making good on his opportunities: soon 2 more rats are dead, pinned to the wall or the catwalk with his crossbow bolts.  Thaile is having decidedly less luck...until a rat leaps at her, from behind!  (_"This is having better luck?"_)  She drops her ineffective crossbow and draws her rapier.  Her fellow party members can almost feel her frustration as her rapier proves as effective as her crossbow -- that is: she misses alot.

These rats are wily beasts!  Who knew?

Still....within a few more moments, Riva's axe and Tieran's crossbow bolts have cleared the catwalk of the over-grown pests.  Rowan charges down, and with a telling blow from her staff she hits the rat threatening Thaile.  Rowan's first hit!  (_DM's note:  The lovely women of Eaglesford were not rolling well this fight._)  The wound is harsh, and the rat flees through a large hole in the wall.  The battle is over: 6 slimy rat corpses litter the upper catwalk and the floor below.  

Rowan hastily climbs the stairs and tends to Robert Faegan's wounds.  He will live - barely.  Meanwhile, both Riva and Thaile begin to feel sick.  Rowan informs them: they've probably been infected by the rat-bites with "Filth Fever".  She tells them it will take several days for them to recover - as long as they rest completely, and don't ride off somewhere.

Rowan and Thaile both look at Riva.  

Riva: _"What?"_

Just then, Garret arrives.  "_Hey guys, I've cleared it with the Captain.  We can ride off with him as soon as.....whoa.....What happened here?  You guys alright?"_

* Session #3, to be continued*!


----------



## Nail

*Continuing Session #3: "Uggg….Doc, I don’t feel so good…." *
(Session of RL March 16th, 2003)

With the giant rats chased away and Robert Faegan stabilized, the party discussed plans.  Both Riva and Thaile could already feel the encroaching effects of the “flith fever”, and they knew it would take them at least a few days to recover.  Riva’s amazing fortitude not withstanding, the party would have to stay in town, at least for a while.

They took Mr. Faegan into town to his house, and had Riva and Thaile stay there as well, to recuperate.  Rowan tended them, while Garret went to do the party errands: the Captain must be told the news of the rats, and Mrs. Faegan (Eaglesford’s most capable healer) needed to be fetched from Gregson the Younger’s farm.  Teiran, after being assured his fellow party members were safe and out of danger, left for his study.

Garret, riding his trusty wardog Bavic, caught up with Mrs. Faegan just as she had reached the wounded child of the Gregson’s.  Garret told her the news of her husband’s injuries and the rat’s attack.  She received the news as calmly as she could.  She was especially thankful when Garret told her that her husband was stable, and in good hands.  Mrs. Faegan used a simple prayer to fully heal the child, gave the child’s parents instructions for their son’s care, then hurried off with Garret toward town.

By the time they had returned to town, the mill had been cleared of rodent carcasses by some helpful village folk.  Two young men stood near the mill’s front, spears and shields in hand.  They told Garret that no more rats had been seen, and that the Captain and his men had already left to visit the abandoned Smitson farm.  Garret hurried along to join Mrs. Faegan at her house, where the rest of the party lay.

Mrs. Faegan examined their wounds and checked their health.  “_Their wounds we can heal fairly easily_”, she said, “_but this fever they’re developing…it will take almost a week to shake off it’s effects, if we’re lucky._”

“_Do ya have any magical potions, t’ help us with th’ fever?_” Riva asked.

“_I do.  But not enough for all of you, I’m afraid.  I myself can’t make them…and they’re very expensive.  I have one magical potion that can remove any disease, and another that can cure wounds.  …..I’m afraid that’s all.  …And I’d rather save the cure disease one for any emergency._”

“_A good idea,_” interjected Garret, “_but, perhaps we could buy the wound-healing potion from you?_”

“_Of course,_” said Mrs. Faegan, as she finished tending to her husband.

Later, the party discussed their options, and went over what treasure they had accumulated from the battles with the restless dead.  Not much, but more than any of them had before they had started:  several gems and rings, two gold bracelets, a silver necklace, and a well-made throwing axe.  After some hesitation, Garret proposed they use the money to buy more healing potions, perhaps from “another source” he might know.

“_Yer aunt, eh?_” said Riva, “_That crazy old witch can make magical potions?_”

“_She calls them ‘infusions’_”, responded Garret, curtly, “_and yes, she can make them.  A fact you should be thankful for._”

The party agreed to give Garret a few gems and a bracelet to exchange for what ‘infusions’ his aunt might provide.  Garret set off alone toward his house.  Friends would not be welcome on this errand.  Even Bavic, his riding dog, was left behind at the Faegan household.  He usually stayed as far away as possible from the house he shared with his “aunt”.  The gossip around the hamlet was that his aunt was the reason the young halfling had first entered the service of the church.  Training to be a paladin of Morwyn took time.  A lot of time.  Time spent in the castle of the Lord of Eaglesford, and not at home, being yelled at by a crazy-woman.

Once Garret reached the house, he first went upstairs, to be sure the lock on his bedroom door was still closed and intact.  Satisfied, he descended the stairs, and heard the scrabble of old halfling feet approaching.

“_What're you here for!?_” screeched the old halfling woman.  Her hair was in grey scraggly tuffs about her head, held in place, as always, by bits of animal skins.  

Her smell almost over-powered Garret, as he coughed out a reply, “_My companions and I would like to purchase some of your magical infusions.  What do you have?_”  Garret had found out long ago not to mince words with his aunt.

“_So…you’re out adventuring, are you?_”  The old woman giggled and waved her arms about.  “_Oh, what fair young thing did you rescue?  Did you kill anything?  Anything try to tear your eye-balls out?_”  The old halfling turned her back to Garret and slouched off down the hall toward her workshop.  Garret followed, silently.

The two entered the old witch’s workshop.  Bunches of plants and various animal parts hung from the ceiling.  A small iron pot bubbled over the fire.  Abruptly the old woman whirled.  “_I suppose you didn’t keep their left hands, as I asked you to, did ye?_”

“_No, aunt.  I did not……_”

“_The left ones now, you remember!  The left ones!!!_” she yelled, spittle flying.

“_Yes, aunt.  The left ones….._”

“_And not the right.  Don’t bring me any right hands, now……_”  She nodded her head, and a satisfied smile crept across her face.

“_You have some infusions?...._” asked Garret, trying to lead the conversation back to less gristly topic.

“_Yes, yes.  I have four prepared.  Three are draughts that will close your wounds, should you get hurt on your ‘adventures’”_, the old woman tried to stifle a laugh.  “_Adventures!_” She cackled and smiled broadly.

Garret stayed quiet, looking at her expectantly.  The old woman composed herself and went on, “_An’ there’s one draught that’ll give you magical protections!  Protect you from what monsters you might be facing.  You'll need that, I warrant._”

“_I’ll take them all.  Here are 2 gems and a bracelet of gold, for trade._”  

The old woman took the treasures, looked them over closely, and then nodded her head, “_Yes, yes.  These will do.  Here you are then,_” she handed Garret four tiny pottery vials.  Three had blue-dyed wax stoppers, one had yellow.  On their sides were painted small black runes, which Garret couldn’t decipher.

As Garret turned to leave, the old woman shouted after him, “_Bring me the left hands, you hear?  Only the left ones!!_”

Garret hurried back to his friends.

* Session #3, to be continued*!


----------



## Nail

> _Attributed to Genghis Kahn_
> *The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy, to drive him before you, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in tears, and to gather into your bosom his wives and daughters.*


----------



## DrSpunj

*Well...*

I read the Genghis Khan quote and thought to myself, "I really need to reply to that." But I just can't think of anything to say...


----------



## Videssian

Yeah, I don't know what the best way to reply to it either.. things I could say about Genghis Khan and the Mongols and what similarities exist with certain more modern figures... well, wouldn't be appropriate to post here..

If he's an example of (or foreshadowing of) what the ultimate villian is like in this campaign (that we haven't met yet), it makes me want to play a paladin or militant cleric quite badly, as a mental counterpoint to these troubled times..


----------



## Nail

*Session #3: An Ending.....?*


(_DM's note: Boy, do I need some help with notes for this last part!  I've got the very end done, of course, but the begininng of this last part....the search for Laiden, the meeting with Jingles, the talk with the Warden's men.....is all muddled.   Rowan, help!!!!  Meeting notes?   ...Please!????_)


----------



## Nail

*Prelude to Session #4*


----------



## Videssian

now *that's* just a tease!   but what does it mean??

c'mon, the session is still 2 weeks away.. give!!!


----------



## DrSpunj

Videssian said:
			
		

> *now *that's* just a tease!   but what does it mean??
> 
> c'mon, the session is still 2 weeks away.. give!!! *




I think he's alluding to the fact that our party will be put into carbon freezing chambers that the kobolds have been working on under that farmhouse! 

That's exactly how *I* picture Riva immortalized in metal, anyway!


----------



## Videssian

or maybe we're to be sacrificed to the kobold god, and that image is of the idol beside the altar and it's the last thing we see!


----------



## Esiminar

Nail said:
			
		

> Snip
> 
> Abruptly the old woman whirled.  “_I suppose you didn’t keep their left hands, as I asked you to, did ye?_”
> 
> Snip
> 
> As Garret turned to leave, the old woman shouted after him, “_Bring me the left hands, you hear?  Only the left ones!!_”



Looks like someone wants to make some crawling claws.


----------



## Nail

Esiminar said:
			
		

> *
> Looks like someone wants to make some crawling claws. *



Welcome, Esiminar!  Nice of you to join us.  Please feel free to post your thoughts!  With reference to your post, let me add the following.

*Background the Players know but the miscellaneous reader would not:*

We're using the mythology (but not the complete cosmography) from the _Book of the Righteous_, by Green Ronin publishing.  The relevence?  Necromancy is strictly banned, and punishable by death.  Crawling claws are most definitely necromatic constructs......  Let us hope the old woman does not do such things.

As an aside: In the civilized areas, when someone dies, his corpse is burned to fine ash.  Even fallen foes should be cremated.  Burial is concidered a lesser form of necromancy, and so is banned in the Empire.   After all, why would the corpse be preserved but to "rise again"?  Is that not the very definition of necromancy?  Vile necromatic warlocks!  Feel the white-hot edge of the sword of justice, sworn to burn away........._err, sorry.  Got a little carried away, there._

As you know, the Empire is fading......we must stand together to preserve it's values!


----------



## Nail

Videssian said:
			
		

> *or maybe we're to be sacrificed to the kobold god, and that image is of the idol beside the altar and it's the last thing we see!  *



In my continuing effort to be a terribly theatrical, if unabashed, RBDM, I will add:

Videssian, part of what you say may be true.  Sad, ......but true.


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> *
> In my continuing effort to be a terribly theatrical, if unabashed, RBDM, I will add:
> 
> Videssian, part of what you say may be true.  Sad, ......but true.   *




And on that encouraging note from our friendly, neighborhood RBDM...I've already worked out my next character!


----------



## Videssian

Heh, so have I, mostly.. 

Whatcha going to be next?


----------



## zepherus

*Evil?  Moi???*

"Vile necromatic warlocks! Feel the white-hot edge of the sword of justice, sworn to burn away.........err, sorry. Got a little carried away, there."

Hey, now...condemning all those who practice the "necromantic arts" is outright discrimination!  Not all necromancers are bad...jeez, let a few bad apples raise the dead and turn them into mindless zombies, and all of a sudden everyone that can do it is an outlaw.

Oh well, I'll just call it "civil disobedience"!


----------



## Nail

Zepherus!   

Thanks for joining us!  Our friendly neighborhood wizard (Teiran) now graces these pages.  

I wonder if he'll be able to convince the locals that the undead aren't all that bad, once you get to know them.......


----------



## DrSpunj

*Well...*

Since Tieran wasn't with our party last session for the near-TPK, perhaps he can practice his art on OUR corpses!


----------



## Milo Windby

Great work Nail!  I'm very interested to see your kobold tactics.  My first 'dungeon' was a kobold warrens.  It would have been MUCH harder on my hapless PCs if I hadn't stupidly let one of them purchase a wand of magic missiles.  She killed all of my full plated kobold warriors with no effort whatsoever.  

Ahhh, there's nothing like the sight of a small lizard in full plate to strike fear in the hearts of PCs.



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> {SNIP}    At the table was the battle-eager dwarf, *Riva Stormhand*, a dwarven berserker,    {SNIP}[/B]



Sounds like a good starting point for a Dwarven Battlerager, courtesy of Badaxe Games?  I have one in the game I'm currently DMing.  Her major complaint is the inability to wear armor of any kind, getting hit a lot is not her favorite thing in the world.


----------



## DrSpunj

*Well...*



			
				Milo Windby said:
			
		

> *Great work Nail!  I'm very interested to see your kobold tactics. *




I'd be happy to give you the player-side version from Garret's perspective! Underneath a bed in an abandoned farmhouse we find a trapdoor to a deep (dark) 5' wide shaft with a ladder. This goes down ~40'. As Riva and Rowan (carrying a torch) head down the ladder rungs all "break" in an attempt to drop our heroes, the torch falls down the shaft illuminating...nothing, though it's obvious there is a room at the bottom. Though they catch themselves before falling too far and start climbing down they are both hit with a Will Save spell upon reaching the bottom of the shaft. They both fail and slump into unconsciousness. Garret and Thaile see this from the top of the shaft and head down to attempt a rescue. By the time we get to the bottom their bodies are gone and Garret, first down, also gets hit with a Will Save spell. He *also* fails and slumps into unconsciousness leaving Thaile to stand over him (at this point Nail mumbled something about only having 3 Readied spells! ). The torch still provides her with enough light to see that her back is against a wall, she's flanked by 2 spear-wielding kobolds, and has a tower shield wall (3 abreast) directly in front of her. The 3 tower shields are all rotated to the side in-sync exposing the kobolds holding the tower shields. Behind them are 3 Xbow-wielding kobolds who start firing away. She's a Rog/Clr and doesn't know what to do. She tried kneeling for one round to escape the Xbow bolts but that left her more vulnerable to the spears! She managed to take out one spear-wielder and move to the right 5', but that put her into Line-of-Effect for a Magic Missile cast from the dark part of the room. She went into negative HP and our session ended. 



			
				Milo Windby said:
			
		

> *Sounds like a good starting point for a Dwarven Battlerager, courtesy of Badaxe Games?  I have one in the game I'm currently DMing.  Her major complaint is the inability to wear armor of any kind, getting hit a lot is not her favorite thing in the world. *




I'm not sure if we're using Wulf's HOHF or not. Nail and I both have them. I've always wanted to play a Battlerager along the lines of Pwent from Salvatore's Drizz't books which is heavily armor dependent, so I couldn't use Wulf's version.

DrSpunj


----------



## Milo Windby

*Re: Well...*



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> *The torch still provides her with enough light to see that her back is against a wall, she's flanked by 2 spear-wielding kobolds, and has a tower shield wall (3 abreast) directly in front of her. The 3 tower shields are all rotated to the side in-sync exposing the kobolds holding the tower shields. Behind them are 3 Xbow-wielding kobolds who start firing away. She's a Rog/Clr and doesn't know what to do. She tried kneeling for one round to escape the Xbow bolts but that left her more vulnerable to the spears! She managed to take out one spear-wielder and move to the right 5', but that put her into Line-of-Effect for a Magic Missile cast from the dark part of the room. She went into negative HP and our session ended. *



Not bad at all Nail!  I wish I would have used some of these tactics with my kobolds!  As a fellow player I feel bad for the party though.  Sorry guys!


> *
> I'm not sure if we're using Wulf's HOHF or not. Nail and I both have them. I've always wanted to play a Battlerager along the lines of Pwent from Salvatore's Drizz't books which is heavily armor dependent, so I couldn't use Wulf's version.*



I haven't read any of those books yet, though I've been meaning to.  The plus side to Wulf's Battlerager is the AC bonus when threatened by multiple enemies.  It's just not always going to happen that you're being assaulted by five or six beasties though.

I'm eagerly awaiting the next session.  Do the brand new adventurers make it out alive or do their 'successors' have a party to avenge?


----------



## DrSpunj

*Re: Re: Well...*



			
				Milo Windby said:
			
		

> *Not bad at all Nail!  I wish I would have used some of these tactics with my kobolds!  As a fellow player I feel bad for the party though.  Sorry guys! *




Yeah, having been on both sides of the DM's screen, I'm both applauding and cursing the man! 



			
				Milo Windby said:
			
		

> *I'm eagerly awaiting the next session.  Do the brand new adventurers make it out alive or do their 'successors' have a party to avenge? *




I think we're on track for the next two Sundays. We're trying for every other Sunday but schedules keep making that difficult.


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## Nail

*Re: Re: Well...*



			
				Milo Windby said:
			
		

> *
> Not bad at all Nail!  I wish I would have used some of these tactics with my kobolds!  As a fellow player I feel bad for the party though.  Sorry guys!*



Hello Milo!  Nice to have an experienced story hour author drop by!

We play again this sunday -- I'm really looking forward to it.  I hope I'm prepared.  Lot's of RL has been getting in the way of my gaming.  Can't have that!  Back, you foul fiend of work, back!

I'd love to share kobold tactics.  Perhaps after a few more sessions, when the players are "finished".   I have to admit that I've learned of most tactics from these very boards, especially from *Nifft* and *SHARK*.  The truely staggering thing is how really nasty small, well-organized opponents can be.  I'm relatively confident the EL system in the DMG can't quite model this, other than "ad hoc".

As for the party's immediate future....they're a tough group!  I'm sure they'll think of something......
*



			I haven't read any of those books yet, though I've been meaning to.  The plus side to Wulf's Battlerager is the AC bonus when threatened by multiple enemies.  It's just not always going to happen that you're being assaulted by five or six beasties though.
		
Click to expand...


*Sure would have been useful here.  The only party member left standing was surrounded by 5 kobolds!


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## Horacio

I was seeking for more story hours to read and I found Nail's one... and I love it!!!

It reminds me the old times were adventurers were innocents, inns were the craddle of party's adventures and the only motivation to go kill bad guys was that 'adventuring' thing... Thanks for give me that back


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## Nail

Horacio's here!   Woot!


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## Horacio

Nail said:
			
		

> *Horacio's here!   Woot!  *




Thanks for the welcome


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## zepherus

*Technically, not a "T"PK...*

>>Teiran, after being assured his fellow party members were safe and out of danger, left for his study.

Well, since Tieran bugged out and left for his study, it can't be a Total Party Kill...how about a EPPK ( Eighty Percent Party Kill )? Who knew that homework could save your life?

But, I'm hoping that we come up with the mother of all saves, I just started adventuring with you all, and I don't want my next adventure to be an "out for revenge, it's payback time" thing...but, a wizard's gotta do what a wizard's gotta do!


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## Videssian

Well, at least it's a plot hook.. and you know the details of what happened before, so you could fill in the new PCs.. 'course, if any of us survive, they can do it too!


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## DrSpunj

*Re: Technically, not a "T"PK...*



			
				zepherus said:
			
		

> *>>Teiran, after being assured his fellow party members were safe and out of danger, left for his study.
> 
> Well, since Tieran bugged out and left for his study, it can't be a Total Party Kill...how about a EPPK ( Eighty Percent Party Kill )? Who knew that homework could save your life?*




Yeah. The pessimist in me says this is why Nail was able to *try* and reassure us with "Don't worry, it's not a TPK!". I didn't buy it because of Tieran's absence. That's why early on I was calling it a "near-TPK".


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## Nail

*Continuing Session #3: "Oh, I’m sure the Warden can handle it." *
(Session of RL March 16th, 2003)
Garret returned to the healer’s house, four vials of magical draughts in his pockets.  Inside, Thaile and Rowan were in the throes of the “filth fever”, but well cared for by Rowan and Mrs. Faegan.  It was clear the party would have to rest in town for several days…so what should the healthy ones do to spend the time?

The party discussed plans.  Perhaps some of their questions had answers right here in town, so they set about getting them.  

Rowan went out first, to search for Ray Timbers, a well-known halfling ranger in town.  He had previously served as the town’s Warden, and was known to be a good guide for travel through the valley.  Rowan had remembered that recently he had been hired to take a stranger north, and went to ask him about it.  Perhaps this stranger might be linked to the current troubles?

As usual for the hamlet’s rangers, she found Ray at the tavern.  He was sitting in at a corner table, talking in conspiratorial tones with another ranger, an old farmer named Gregory Hill.  As Rowan approached, they broke off their conversation, and welcomed Rowan to their table with a smile and an empty chair.  

Before Rowan could utter a word, Ray broke in,”I’m sure the warden can take care of this mess.  We looked over there before, you know, at the Old Smitson farm, and there wasn’t a thing wrong with it…..”

“Aye,” interrupted the old farmer, “we checked it our right proper a few days ago, an’ there was nothin’ wrong there.  But I’m sure th’ warden an’ us rangers will be able t’ handle it now.  Nothing to worry about, I’m sure.”

Rowanm cocked an eyebrow, and said, “Oh.  Well, that’s good.  ….Say, I was wondering, Ray, about that man you were guiding last week or so….where did he want to go?”

Ray looked surprised at the turn in conversation.  After a pause and a swig of ale, he said “What?  Oh, that was a while back now….he wanted to be taken up river.  Past the bridge, he said.  He wanted to be sure he could find it I guess.”  Ray shrugged nonchalantly.

Rowan wasn’t able to get much more out of the pair, so eventually she wished them good day, and left to rejoin the party.

Late that day, after Rowan had returned, the Captain and his men rode back into Eaglesford.  They had spent the better part of the afternoon at the old Smitson farm – and had been attacked by the walking dead!  There had been 5 “zombies” (as the Captain called them), and they had been destroyed.  When Garret talked to them, the Captain explained that they had found no other bodies at the farm.  They had even explored the root cellar and had found what the Captain called: “nothing”.

Garret followed the Captain into the keep, to a conference with the Lord of Eaglesford, Lord Aelric.  Both agreed that with the present danger, the eastern farmers should be brought into town.  It _was_ the beginning of the planting season…but with the walking dead about, and reports of goblin raids, Lord Aelric (and, implicitly, the Captain) thought it prudent.  Garret volunteered to help.  The next day, early in the morning, the Captain’s men fanned out across the eastern farmland, aided by Garret, riding his trusty war dog.  By afternoon, all of the farmers had been told, and Garret returned to Eaglesford.

**********************
Later, Rowan and Garret went again to Mr. Burlywire’s Inn, looking for news.  As usual, Mr. Burlywire was happy to see them.  He inquired after their adventures and their health, and asked if they’d be interested in meeting a new merchant that had recently arrived in town.  With a bit of spare treasure burning holes in the adventurer’s pockets, they eagerly agreed.

The merchant was a young gnome, well-dressed and groomed, who called himself “Jiggles Goldhill, peddler of trinkets and treasures”.  Behind him sat a large, well-muscles half-orc, a huge greatsword strapped to his back.  Apparently the body-guard’s name was “Grunt”; the name mirrored his demeanor.

The peddler asked after the party’s activities, and remarked about the riches to be found in the ruins of the area.  He brought out several items that he thought the halfling and druid might be interested in:
A braclet of wood and ivory, carved to show interlocking hands.  Apparently it could magically move small things from a distance twice per day.
 A ring of gold, with one inset white gem.  The ring’s power, said Jingles, was to allow the wearer to decipher magical writings once per day.
 A magical wand, with the power to find hidden doors and traps.  Jingles did not know how many charges it has left.
….Although mildly interesting, Garret and Rowan decided not to buy any of the items.  Garret looked particularly disappointed; visions of magical weapons had been dancing in his head, and these things…….were not that.  The pair instead traded the snake bracelet and the masterwork hand axe they had found for some gold and gems.  

Jingles promised to “be around” for a few more days.  Perhaps the adventurers would buy something later?  Garret nodded politely as they turned to go.
* Session #3, to be continued*!


----------



## Horacio

Good update!


----------



## Nail

*End of Session #3: "No Laiden, but plenty laid-low." *
(Session of RL March 16th, 2003)

_(DM's Note: We will be playing session #5 this Sunday.)_

After talking with Jingles, the gnomish peddler, Rowan and Garret left to search for the mysterious half-elf Laiden.  Previously, several of the party members had been approached by this poorly-dressed half-elf with offers of: _"So, ya wanna get rich?"_  Thaile was the last party member to talk with him, a few days ago at the Inn.  At thte time he had said that he might reveal more _"when you're more experienced."_  Now seemed like a good time to see what sorts of things he was up to.

Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.  They even checked the area across the river where he had been camped.....no Laiden.

Feeling a bit like they had missed an opportunity, the two returned to their fellow party members.
******************
By the evening of the fourth day, Riva and Thaile had shaken off most of the effects of the filth fever.  The party planned for the following morning.  Spells were picked, and axes were sharpened.  Teiran would have to remain in town for part of tomorrow, so the party sent him a note to tell him where they were going.

That evening, a wounded farmer galloped into town.  "Goblins!  Goblins at the Mangleson Farm!"  Worried farmers and town guards gathered around the rider, and helped him off his horse.  The rider was taken into the castle, and soon the news leaked out: the farms that the farmers had recently left were being looted by goblins.  The Captain tried to reassure the people.  He swore that he and those willing to come would ride to the eastern farmsteads tomorrow, to see what could be done.  The goblins would be driven from the farmlands.

The adventurers considered their options.  Should they go with the Captain, or explore the old Smitson farm again?   In the end, they decided to go to the farm.  There were questions there yet that needed answers.

The next morning they set out.  The walk was uneventful, other than the lack of undead corpses where there should have been some.  (Had they re-animated?  Where had they gone?)

After doing a quick survey of the farm, the party explored the root cellar. 







> _ From the Journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford: _
> .....Riva went first into the root cellar.  (IMAGINE! Riva diving headlong into danger!!!)
> 
> The passage was lined with shelves covered in broken crockery. It went straight for a short while then turned to the left. A lot of blood on the walls, but nothing else of interest .... just the remains of a large icebox and a dead end.  Basically, it was a simple root cellar for storage of foodstuffs for the long winter.  Riva and Thaile did search it thoroughly, but found nothing except blood and gore. Obviously several somethings had died here recently, violently, and messily.
> 
> After they came out of the root cellar, Garrett helpfully pointed out that both Riva and Thaile could use a wash. So, we went to the farm's well.   Thaile inspected the structure and determined that it was sound and indeed a well.  To inspect it further, we lowered down....who else but "Riva!", who searched extensively and found nothing of interest except water.



_
(DM's note:...and believe me, Riva was very disappointed!_

The party went over the farm again.  'Something must be here', they reasoned.  Soon, only the main house was left to search.  They tried its cellar first.

The cellar was small, with walls of timber reinforced dirt, just as they had last seen it.  The floor was packed earth, clawed and bloodied from the party's combat with the hungry dead days ago.  Perhaps the walls were clawed or dug as well, though not by much.  The bodies of the "hungry-dead small lizard people" were gone.  The room was empty.  Nothing of interest.  Not even the chance of a missed secret door.  Disappointed, the party trooped back upstairs.

Near the end of their patience, the adventurers searched the rest of the house.  After a time, and finding little individually, they came together to share their observations:
Only one bedroom ("bedroom #1!") had any furniture: a broken bed and an old rug.
The main room had dirt and sand on the floor -- more than might be expected.
The floor of the main room had claw marks on it.
The floor of bedroom #1 had claw marks on it.
Riva immediately began tearing up the floor of the main room with his pick.  It was slow going, but he looked to be enjoying himself. 

(WHACK!)

(WHACK!)

(WHACK!)

The others searched the rest of the farm again, while waiting for Riva to get through the floor.  Garret found the remains of burned bodies behind the barn, while Rowan found that the small graveyard out back had been smoothed over and partially restored.  (The Captain had said this was done by his men.)  The small hut was empty, as was the outhouse and smoke house.

(WHACK!)

(WHACK! ......splinter.......pry, pry, pry......)

Eventually, Riva had pried up enough of the floor boards to get a good look underneath....more dirt.

Undeterred, the party moved into the first bedroom.  This floor, too, would feel the wrath of Riva's pick.  As they moved the bed out of the way, Thaile heard a SNAP!, as if a string or wire had been broken.  They found the end of the wire tied to a leg of the bed, and a matching hole in the floor boards through which the wire had gone.  Underneath the bed and rug the floor boards were newer than those of the rest of the house.  With a WHACK!, Riva started his assault on that section of the floor.

(WHACK!)

(WHACK!)

Thaile: "Maybe a little more to the right....."

(WHACK!)

...An hour later, a gaping hole was in the room's corner, and underneath that was....a trap door!  Ah-ha!  This trap door, however, was iron-bound, and looked to be a match for Riva and his pick.  All eyes turned to Thaile.  She flexed her fingers, stepped in, and started working on the lock with her tools.  It took awhile, but eventually there was a dull "click", and the lock was open.  Riva reached down, and gave a hard pull.......

Under the trap door was a shaft made of dirt and timbers, almost 3 feet wide and over 30 feet long, with a ladder on one side.  At the bottom was only darkness.  Riva could make out a dirt floor, far below.

After a brief conference, Riva started down the shaft, with Rowan behind him.  They climbed slowly, with Rowan holding a torch, and Riva using his darkvision when he could.  But about 15 feet down the ladder, all of the ladder's rungs suddenly gave way, and both Riva and Rowan tumbled down the shaft.  Riva managed to grab a hold of the side rails, and maintained a slipping hold even as Rowan fell on top of him!  The dwarven warrior's strength is unmatched!!  But even his strength could not keep them from slowly slipping down what remained of the ladder.  As their companions watched from above, they saw Riva and Rowan land at the bottom, rise to their feet.....and then they slumped to the ground!  They were unconscious!

Quickly, Thaile and Garret tied a rope to the bedroom door.  Garret lowered himself down after their fallen companions, while Thaile and Garret's wardog Bavic stood at the top.  Riva and Rowan were no longer visible at the bottom of the shaft....they had been moved!   Thaile watched, as Garret reached the bottom....and then he, too, slumped to the floor!  There was no apparent cause.

What should Thaile do?  Her friends were down there, with....something.  They were unconscious and unable to defend themselves.  She was unhindered: should she run for help, or should she climb down after them, and hope that she was strong enough to resist whatever it was that had struck down her companions?  Perhaps they were already dead, and that going after them would be a hopeless climb down to her death....

_Well, what would you do, oh *noble adventurer*_??

* Almost done with Session #3!  Just a bit more left, I promise!*


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## Horacio

Good update!

Hehehe, funny image, Riva attacking grounds with his pick...


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## Nail

*The last bit of Session #3: "Should I stay or should I go now....." *
(Session of RL March 16th, 2003)

Thaile faced a tough choice: follow her fallen companions down into the unknown blackness, or......

Oh, t' heck with it: Down the hole!

Thaile quickly climbed down the rope.  She reached the bottom, and, standing over the fallen form of Garret (the noble halfling!), she drew her weapons.  From the shadows around her emerged many shapes, small humaniod shapes, shapes with pointed dragon-like ears and rat-like tails. 

Kobolds.  Fear seeped into Thaile like water into a leaky boat.

They had tower shields.  They had spears.  And boy, did they have alot of loaded crossbows!  They were packed around her; a deadly wall of weapons with only one target:

                         Thaile.

She ducked, she weaved, she dodged.  She struck out with her rapier, and healed herself several times with the divine magic of Darmon.  Towards the end it looked like she might even break through the kobold line.  She was bleeding from several spear thrusts and crossbow shots, teetering on the edge of conciousness, but she just might make it.....

Out of the darkness, from the back of the cave, a voice spoke eldritch phrases....and a missile of pure magic spun out of the blackness and slammed into Thaile's stomach.

It was done.

The world faded from view as she slumped to the ground....

* Really: That's the end of Session #3!  A TPK!  Amazing!  Can you believe it! ...Now what do we do?*


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## Horacio

TPK!!! 

TPK!!!!


OH!!!


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## Nail

*Hardly seems necessary with 3.5e almost out, but....*

I'm sure this is not at all relevant, especially after a TPK.   Here is a current list of our house rules and character generation methods:

{In brief, we are sticking with Core rulebooks (I - III), WotC class splat-books (only, not all WotC splat books, no FR WotC books), and _The Book of the Righteous_, by Green Ronin Publishing. }

*Ability Scores:*
 Generate your ability scores using the point-buy method in the DMG.  Your character has 36 points to spend.
*Races:*
 Human: To reflect their versatility, humans gain a +1 to any one ability score, and a -1 to any other ability score.  All other human racial abilities (extra feat, extra skill points, favored class) are unchanged.
*Classes:*
 Ranger has been changed.  HD: d8, BAB: as cleric, Good Saves: Fort & Ref,  Skill Points: 6/lvl, Bonus Feats:  1st – Track, 3rd - Select a "Ranger" bonus feat, 5th - Select a "Ranger" bonus feat, Favored Enemy: as listed in PH, Spells: as listed in PH.

 The “Holy Warrior” (Hwr) has been added, from “The Book of the Righteous”, by Green Ronin Publishing.  The paladin class is still available.

 There are no multiclassing restrictions on the paladin or the monk.

 You may start as a multiclass, using the “apprentice” rules given in the DMG.

*Spells:*
 I plan on changing Haste, Harm, Heal, Scry, and Teleport.  At this point, suffice it to say “they are changed”.  With luck, 3.5e will make the changes I have in mind…..


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## Nail

*What d'ya think?*

...and so Tieran found his companions on the road leading to the old Smitson farm.  He had managed to tear himself away from his studies, and had found a simple note tucked under his door, written in Garret's script.  It told him to meet the rest of the party at the Old Smitson farm; that they were going to explore it again.  Tieran had decided "better late than never", and had hurried toward the farm.  ....And now he had found his companions. 

What was left of them, anyway.

Their equipment, of course, was gone.  The corpses had been stripped of every last thing of value, right down to the gold caps on Riva's teeth.  What was done to his dear friends - how they had died...not even the necromancer could know for sure.  Disection experiments, perhaps?  Target practice?  Refinement of flogging techniques?  Who could say.

Pale-faced, Teiran arranged the bodies as best he could.  He went back to town, to get a cart and horse.  Whoever had done this would pay, thought Tieran.  The death of my friends will be avenged.........

Time to drum up some new party members.  "Should I try posting notices, or spread some coin around the bar?", thought Tieran.  "Perhaps if I went door-to-door......maybe hire some telemarketers?"


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## Videssian

Umm.. Nail.. it ISN'T april 1st anymore..


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## Nail

Oh....uh, right.  Sorry!  Missed it by a few days, did I?


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## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> *Oh....uh, right.  Sorry!  Missed it by a few days, did I?
> 
> *




Actually I think the lack of a catchy title is what tipped me off most immediately. 

DrSpunj


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## Nail

*this time: with a catchy title!*

*Session #4: "What's that, Lassie?  Little Timmy's fallen into th' well?" *
(Session of RL April 6th, 2003)

...and so Tieran found himself on the road leading to the old Smitson farm. He had managed to tear himself away from his studies, and had found a simple note tucked under his door, written in Garret's script. It told him to meet the rest of the party at the Old Smitson farm; that they were going to explore it again. Tieran had decided "better late than never", and had hurried toward the farm. ....And now he had found one of his companions...

The riding dog of one of them, anyway.

*Bavic*, the loyal war-dog of Garret, was bounding up the road toward Tieran.  The dog had his riding harness....but no rider.  Tieran suspected the worst.  Halflings don't leave their mounts easily.  After a moment of weighing the wisdom of going for help or rushing forward, and prompted by the insistent barking of Bavic, the wizard hustled toward the old Smitson farm.  Had his companions been hurt?  Were they already dead?  It would be another hour yet of travel before he'd arrive...

* Session #4: to be continued...*


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## Nail

*Session #4, continued: "The Pit of Death" *
(Session of RL April 6th, 2003)

Riva could hear the voices.  High pitched, yapping, and dog-like.... whatever they were, they were all around him, speaking a language he couldn't understand.  There were many of them, and as he clawed his way up into consciousness, he could hear them moving in front of him.  Riva opened his eyes, just a crack.

His eyes focused on the tip of a loaded crossbow.  The business end was pointed at his face by an armor-clad kobold.  Beside the one with the crossbow was another, armed with spear and tower shield.  As his eyes met theirs, the one with the shield yapped something loudly, but not for a moment did it take its eyes off of Riva.  A short distance away lay Rowan, similarly guarded, and across the 30’ wide room lay Garret and Thaile.  A kobold was leaning over Thaile...perhaps looting her body?  Riva couldn’t tell.

What Riva _could_ tell was that he was bound, hand and foot, gagged, and weaponless, ...and surrounded by vigilant enemies, their weapons at the ready.  This was a pit of death, filled with armed kobolds, and around the room’s circumference, 10 feet above the floor, were arrow slits, behind which Riva could see even more kobolds with crossbows.  Thinking quickly, he did what any captured dwarven berserker would do, given impossible circumstances and abundant foes: he _raged_.

From across the room, Garret saw his companion enter his blood-lust.  Garret’s view was only partially blocked by the group of four kobolds that surrounded him: a crossbowman, a shieldman, a well-armed swordsman, and what seemed to be a kobold sorcerer.  Garret found himself weaponless, bound, and gagged.  Garret glared across at Riva for a moment....and Riva held himself in check.  Riva was filled with battle-need, and yet he remained still, even as the crossbow aimed at him shook with nervousness.

The kobold sorcerer spared a glance or two at Riva, and barked an order.  The kobold swordsman approached Garret and removed his gag.  Then the apparent sorcerer spoke, his voice high-pitched and annoying:

"My name is Mulakikyip, and I am the leader of those that captured you.  As you see, your necromancer cannot help you now.", the kobold jabbed a thumb in Thaile’s direction.  "You are quite within my power.  If you answer my questions truthfully, I promise your trial will be just and your execution merciful."

From across the room, Rowan grimaced behind her gag.  _I’d rather not be executed at all,_ she thought to herself.

Mulakikyip continued.  "How many more of the walking dead are there?  How many more of the hungry dead?  Answer me!"

"I’m not sure," Garret responded.  "We’ve destroyed several of each…6 or 8 of the walking dead, 2 of the hungry dead...."

"Bah!  I did not ask you how many turned against you!  How many more are left!  Where is the necromancer that makes them?  How many more can he make?"

"I....I don’t know.  I _killed_ those abominations.  We’re not necromancers -- we’re against who ever it is that’s causing this!"

"Enough!  I will have no more of your lies!", snapped Mulakikyip, and with a curt command the gag was placed back over Garret’s mouth.  

The leader of the kobolds turned and strode across to room to where Rowan lay (while keeping a weary eye on the still raging dwarf).  Stripping off her gag he posed to her the same questions, and added a few more:

"Who is your necromancer master?"

"What does he seek?  What does he want from us?"

"Why does he send the walking dead against us?"

"Why are the undead attacking us now?  Why now?  How did he find us?"

Rowan, too, tried to convince Mulakikyip that she didn’t know the answers to these questions, and that the adventurers were actually trying to help rid the area of undead.  The kobold leader ordered her gagged again, and turned away, toward....

_(Nope.  Not toward Riva.  Are you crazy?!  Would *you* want to match wits with a raging dwarf?  ...Didn’t think so.)_

...toward Thaile.  She lay, unconscious and near death’s door at the far side of the room.  Mulakikyip leaned over her and began to cast a spell.  For an instant it looked as if Riva would leap up, bound and weaponless as he was, and try to prevent the kobold sorcerer from harming his companion...but he stayed himself again, and as he did so he could feel is white-hot rage reach its end.  Riva felt the weakness seep into his muscles as he relaxed.

Mulakikyip finished his spell, and laid his hands on Thaile’s wounds.  In an instant, they closed.  Thaile opened her eyes, to see Mulakikyip and several armed kobolds standing over her.

"If you move or try to cast a spell, I will kill you," squeaked Mulakikyp in the common tongue.  "Do you understand me?"  Thaile nodded slowly, and Mulakikyip continued, "I have just healed you.  Now in return you will tell me everything you know about your master, he who has been sending the walking dead against us."

"But....I’m not a necromancer, and neither is my teacher," said Thaile.   "I’m a cleric of Darmon....look....look at my holy symbol!  You’ll see that it’s true.  I want to destroy the restless dead, not create them!  Why do you think I’m a necromancer?"

Mulakikyip barked an order to his apparent lieutenant, a larger kobold wearing well-kept armor and weilding a short sword.  Thaile found she could understand their speech: it was draconic, a language she had picked up in her religious studies.  Her companions clearly could not understand the kobold tongue.

Mulukikyip said to his lieutenant, "Kytum-up, check her for a holy symbol.  Beware her tricks!"

Kytum-up leaned over Thaile, and found her holy symbol of Darmon: a disk covered in gold leaf, with a picture of a young man laughing.  The kobold took it from around her neck, and gave it to Mulakikyip, who examined it carefully.

In draconic, Mulakikyip continued, ".....a strange design, but recognizable enough....this must be some trick.  A cleric of Darmon would never stoop to necromancy.  We must test her further...but how....?"

At this, Thaile responded, in human-accented draconic, "Why do you think I am a necromancer?"

Startled, Mulakikyip looked down at Thaile. "You speak our tongue?  Humans are not as barbaric as I was taught.  .....I think you are a necromancer by your acts, witnessed by my scouts.  You were seen to make the walking dead bow down before you, as you did in the barn loft, those many days ago.  Do you deny that you did this?"

"I was channeling the holy power of Darmon the Wayfarer, and _turning_ those skeletons!  They were cowering because we had them cornered, and they had no where else to flee!  And we did the same to the hungry dead trapped in the cellar.  ...Your scouts must not be, well, err...." Thaile let the thought hang, rather than finish it.

Mulakikyip's eyes narrowed.  "There is a way of proving whether you are a cleric of Darmon, or an impostor.  His followers may change the spells they know into healing spells, while those that follow evil paths cannot.  You will cast a healing spell - on this kobold here, that you wounded - to prove your faith.  Should you try to harm us instead.......your death with be assured."  The kobold glowered menacingly.

"I understand."  Bringing herself up to a sitting position, she began to pray.  She could feel divine magic creep through her fingers as she brushed her hands over the kobold scout's wounds.  ...And the wounds vanished, as a far-off traveller might disappear over a rise in the road.  

Thaile looked at Mulakikyip, who nodded and smiled as only a dog-faced lizard could.  "You are indeed a wayfarer of Darmon.  I have been mistaken.  Most of you surface dwellers are not to be trusted, especially you humans, but perhaps I have found one or two that can be.   .....Kytum-up, unbind her and her companions.  The rest of you," Mulakikyip gestured to the kobolds standing guard over the adventurers, "back up into the warren.  Be on your guard.  I am wary of these surfacelings yet.   .......But perhaps it is unwarranted."

He turned again to Thaile, now unbound and towering over the 2-foot high kobold sorcerer. In surface common, Mulakikyip said, "It seems we have a lot to discuss.  Perhaps you can help me and my people......"


* Session #4: to be continued...*


----------



## Nail

_As a DM aside:_

It was quite possible for the players to screw this up and get themselves killed.  They needed to find a believable way to convince Mulakikyip that they weren't lieing.  (That, and the possibility of a raging Riva jumping the gun.  Nicely played, guys!)  My hope is the story conveys that sense of tension.

However, my comment about a possible dead party member (or two) wasn't from what might have happened during this encounter.  It was an encounter _after_ this one that had me thinking "possible PC death".

Hopefully that can be written up soon.


----------



## Nail

*Session #4, continued: "Mulakikyip's Story - Strange Lights" *
(Session of RL April 6th, 2003)
Now free of their bonds, but still without their weapons or other items, the adventurers talked with Mulakikyip.  Above them were the rest of the kobolds, perched behind arrow slits spaced around the upper wall of the room.  While they talked, a smaller kobold, who was introduced as Fikill-yip, worked on the ladder trap and the smashed trap-door above.

"So the undead have been attacking you for quite awhile?" Garret began.

"No.  The restless dead have only started attacking us these past nine days.  We have been here for longer than that....perhaps 3 months." Mulakikyip waved his arms around the earth and timber walled room.  "As you see our defences are not adequate.  Not even the living quarters are finished.  We lost much when we were forced to flee...."

Riva interupted, "You're new here?"

Mulakikyip nodded.  "You may have noticed some of the new construction in the human-house on the surface.  The floor that you destroyed, dwarf, was one example. We have been working hard to make this place our home."

"Why?" asked Garret. "Why did you move here, into the Empire's lands?  What forced you here?"

Mulakikyip sighed heavily, and looked down at his feet.  "We were attacked in our old home, beneath the Crown of Stone, by a strange light.  It came to slaughter us, even our females and eggs, and it was too powerful for us to resist.  It was a ball of floating light, and if it touched you, you died.  I saw it kill many, even my master, in this way.  

"When I saw this, I gathered those people and things I could and I fled....so many died....all of our heroes, most of our families.  All were murdered by the light.  And the irony of having to flee toward that great ball of surface light to escape the killing of the strange light is not lost on me."

Garret noded gravely, then asked, "The Crown of Stone?  Where is that?  I don't recognize the name." 

Rowan got out her map of the area around Eaglesford as Mulakikyip continued.  "I don't know what you humans and surface-dwellers call it, but it is an ancient ruined surface-castle, on the edge of a steep cliff, about 3 days journey from here..."

"Is there a spring?  A magical spring, at the base of the cliff?" asked Thaile.

"Yes, the spring is known to have some magical properties..." responded Mulakikyip.

"Alderseep!" interupted Thaile, "and the ruins are called Alderslook.  My teacher has told me stories of exploring the dungeons of that place.  But she never said anything about finding kobolds.  It's empty down there, she's said.  Lot's of adventurers have been through there...and you say you lived there?"  Thaile arched an eyebrow incredulously.

"My people are very good at hiding themselves", said Mulakikyip, his scaley chest puffed up with pride, "You humans are poor treasure hunters, and easily fooled."  Mulakikyip drew himself up to his full 2 foot 3 inch height. "And you aren't so great at fighting, either."

Before Thaile could respond, the group heard a viscious bark and growl from the top of the ladder.  Fikkill-yip had scrambled down the newly re-set ladder, and was now pointing up the shaft and whispering something to the kobold's leader.  Garret hustled over to the ladder and looked up.  Above he could see his war-dog, Bavic, peering down at him. 

"Bavic!  It's okay, boy, it's okay.  I'll be up in a second."  Garret gingerly tested a ladder rung, then turned to Mulakikyip. "Is this safe?  My dog is up there, but I don't want to set off the trap."

With a nod from his leader, Fikkill-yip scrambled part way up the ladder, fiddled with some hidden mechanism, then came back down.  Garret climbed the ladder, followed by Riva.  As Garret checked over his riding-dog, Riva glanced out the window, and saw.....

....Tieran, striding up the road toward the ruined farm house, a loaded crossbow held in one hand.  With a quick wave from Riva, Tieran walked into the house and into the room with Garret and Riva.

Riva spoke first.  "You missed alot.  We've found a secret kobold lair, got ambushed and taken prisoner, got interogated about necromancers, were released by the kobolds, and now were makin' friends with the little buggers!"

Tieran eyed Riva warily.  "Are you sure you're feeling alright, Riva?"


* Session #4: to be continued...*_More information is revealed!_


----------



## evildmguy

Good story so far!  Can't wait for the update!

edg


----------



## Nail

Wow, has it been a while.  Sorry!  I'm just finishing up a semester of teaching, and the end is always busy......

....a lame excuse, I know, but true!  So true!

And to top it off, the player in charge of note-taking has alreadry completely caught up an' posted her notes!  Now I'm the only one behind!  Bad DM, bad!

Next update will include combat - yes, combat! - with the restless dead.  _...And why are they so restless, anyway?  Bad tomb service?  Loud neighbors?  Avoiding the estate tax?  Out looking for a good time?  Led astray by some fast-talking chap with a briefcase?  Who knows!?_


----------



## Nail

*At last!  An update!*

*Session #4, continued: "The PCs test a theory" *
(Session of RL April 6th, 2003)

The party regrouped back in the kobold's lair.  The wizard Tieran, along with Garret's dog Bavic (helped with ropes and pulleys) now joined them.  Together with Mulakikyip (the kobold leader) and Kytum-up (Mulakikyip's "lieutenant"), they discussed what they knew, and what must be done.

It seemed as if the restless dead were attacking the kobolds, to the exclusion of others.  But why?  After some probing questions by Garret, Thaile, and Rowan, Mulakikyip revealed that when he had fled he had brought with him a sacred artifact, a rod of grey metal, tipped with a large figurine of a dragon, with wings out-stretched.  (Thaile's eyes nearly popped out as she examined it from a distance - it must be worth thousands of gold!)  The artifact had been with the kobolds for as long as any could remember.  It was a sacred item, a symbol of their god, Kikkik.  

...And indeed, when Mulakikyip withdrew it from the altar, the adventurers could feel its holy power - they suddenly felt as though the kobold sorcerer could lead them to any victory, no matter what the odds.  The artifact's power worked even when another held it; Thaile managed to persuade Mulakikyip to let her hold it for a moment.  As she grasped the rod, all the others -  even the kobolds - felt as though she could lead them to victory.  (_And in Thaile's mind, her thoughts turned to how she might keep the rod.  She was, after all, more worthy to use it...._)  Garret gently reminded Thaile to give the rod back to the kobold leader.

"Perhaps the restless dead have been sent to retrieve this idol," proposed Garret.  "Just imagine what a necromancer leader could do with this.  He must have some way of finding out where this item is....Perhaps we should test this theory?"

So the adventurers came up with a simple plan.  Tomorrow they would go to a different abandoned farm house, with Mulakikyip, his retinue, and the idol.  If the restless dead attacked the new house that night, they would know that the undead seek the idol.  To be safe, a kobold runner was posted at the old Smitson farm: if the undead attacked there, the adventurers would return to defend the kobold lair.

....But today's sunset was only a few minutes away, so tonight everyone would stay in the newly-fortified kobold lair.  The adventurers chose to sleep in the "pit of death" - the better to leap up and attack any restless dead that might come.

The unliving corpses and orcish skeletons didn't disappoint.  In fact, they came in droves.  

The first warning was the sound of timber being scratched and battered by claw and bone.  Then a ripping sound....followed by the sound of dead flesh desending a ladder, one rung at a time.  Below, the adventurers clustered around the ladder's base, helped by kobold shieldmen and backed up by kobold crossbowmen.  Mulakikyip, Kytum-up, and some other kobold heroes stood ready with spell or sword as well.

The battle was long, but thankfully one-sided.  As each undead came down the ladder and tried to _bull rush_ their way into an open area, they were hacked, beaten, ensorcelled, and turned.  In the end all lay in broken heaps on the floor.  Tonight, the battle had been won.

Tomorrow?   Tomorrow there was an abandoned farm to fortify and a theory to test.

**************
The next day the party found an appropriate abandoned farm, complete with ruined house, a moss-covered collapsed barn, and a narrow root cellar.  With the help of Mulakikyip and a squad of kobold workers, they readied what remained of the farm's house for the expected battle.  All the windows were boarded over, and outside of the only door they dug two parallel trenches, each almost 10 feet deep, forming a 5' wide cause-way leading to the front door.  Undead would have to march single file along this path to the door, where Riva and his hammer (among other weapons and warriors) would be waiting.  Kobolds with crossbows were placed at the top of the walls (the house's roof had long-since collapsed).  Tieran and Thaile joined them, perched on what remained of the rafters.  And Mulakikyip, holding the idol, was placed in the middle of the house, surrounded on all sides by his kobold warriors and their new allies, the adventurers.

They waited for night to come.

Several hours after sunset, one of the kobolds was the first to hear the now-familiar rustling, shambling movement of the walking dead.  They came from all sides, slowly, relentlessly, straight towards the farm house.  Crossbows twanged, voices were raised in challenge, and the battle was begun.

Riva downed the first walking-skeleton with ease, and the second and third came and were crushed without a thought.  But there were more....walking corpses, slouching toward them, garbed in pale funerary robes.  They came in waves, to attack those at the front door, to pound on the boarded-over windows, to try to scrabble their way over the timber walls that protected the living from the dead.  Big ones came too, corpses of creatures larger than mere orcs, still wearing the armor they were buried in.  Riva's hammer rose and fell, Garret's hammer lashed out again and again, and even Rowan joined the fray at the door, wielding her quarter staff.  The undead tried, again and again, to get in...but they failed, and were destroyed .... or turned by Thaile and forced to flee.

Riva heard, rather than saw, the next to join the battle: two of the hungry dead loped toward the house.  Their mouths slobbered and smacked, and their claws were out-stretched, eager for living flesh.  They leapt over the trenches and attacked Riva, standing in the door.  They scratched, clawed, and bit, and Riva could feel numbness enter his blood.  Before he was overcome, he managed to down one of the hungry-dead....but the other's paralyzing power was too much for him.  Again, as had happened in the cellar of the old Smitson farm days ago, his muscles stiffened and locked.  Thankfully, the hungry-dead didn't have much time to take advantage of the dwarf's paralysis; Garret stepped in and delivered the final blow that felled the ghoul.

(Somewhere in the background...Thaile, was it?.....someone said _"Oh dear, we've got a little garden dwarf again.  Anyone got a little red conical hat for him?"_)

But the frivolity was short-lived.  "I see another!" shouted Tieran, pointing of to the northeast.  From behind the remains of the barn lumbered another corpse.  But this one was different.  It was clothed in ornate (if rotted) funerary robes.  Around it's neck hung a gold chain and medallion, and on it's face....on it's face was a death mask, all of gold .  As it approached a feeling of dread came over the living ones in the old farm house.  The kobold crossbowmen froze with fear, unable to even load their weapons.  Even Mulakikyip was affected, and he cowered in fear, dropping the idol.

As the gold-masked undead shambled toward the front door, with a paralyzed Riva standing helpless in front of it, the corpse spoke.  It was difficult to make out all that was said, but the last part was clear: *".....It .....must ......be .....returned!"*

Then it hit Riva with one of it's arms, and sent the helpless dwarf flying.  It strode into the house, knocking others aside to get to the dragon idol.

Garret was the first to shake off the dread and attack....but he found his blows did little damage to the creature.  Rowan and Thaile found that their weapons were _completely_ ineffectual....so Thaile reached down and grabbed the idol, and tried to call on the power of her god.

"May the *power* of *Darmon* strike down this abomination!" yelled Thaile, brandishing the dragon idol.

....The gold-masked corpse reached out, and yanked the idol from Thaile's grasp.

"Errr....Right.  I guess that didn't work, did it?"

But Rowan the druid was on the thing in a split second, and using her stupendously average strength, managed to wrench the idol from the undead!  Amazing!

...Until the un-living corpse grabbed it back.  As Thaile tried (and failed) to grab the idol, the undead moved toward the door.  It looked like tonight, the restless dead would win.

Garret, of course, had other ideas.  You see, earlier that day he had built an unlit fire in the hearth, of dry wood and kindling, to use as light and possibly even protection in the case of an emergency.

Now was that emergency. ...And the undead abomination just happen to be standing in the middle of the tinder.  How fortuitous!  One lit torch later, and the corpse was on fire, flailing about and running toward the door.  (_DM's note: I had forgotten about the placement of the unlit fire!  The undead just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time._)

As it ran past, Rowan reached out and again successfully pulled the idol from the creature's grasp.  It continued on its fiery run out of the house....until Tieran _bull-rushed_ it into one of the pits that flanked the door.

Did I happen to mention the few vials of oil that had been poured into the pit just before the battle?   Hmmmm, sorry about that.  ....And the undead was pretty sorry about it too.  It managed to climb out.....but the oil-accelerated fire had done its work, and the corpse collapsed in a burning heap.

The night was won.

And Rowan, now holding the idol, thought, _"Do I really want to give this artifact back to the kobolds?  It feels good to be invincible....."_

* End of Session #4*


----------



## Nail

*Rowan gets the lime light?*

*Session #5: "Druid-speak" *
(Session of RL April 13th, 2003)
_The session begins just after the battle with the undead...._

All is quiet for a moment, as the heroes take stock of their surroundings.  The restless dead are either destroyed or driven off.  At the entrance of the decrepit farm house lies a pile of burnt and smoldering rags, all that remains of the thing that Thaile has called a "mummy".  Riva lies on the floor of the house, still paralyzed from the touch of the hungry dead.  Just outside the house, Rowan holds the dragon idol, and her eyes blaze with new-found authority.  And perhaps there are other undead out there, somewhere, waiting to attack.  What to do?

Loot the bodies, of course!  With Thaile in the lead, and Garret not far behind, their first target is the fallen mummy.  The mask and jewelry it wore are taken and carefully studied, and the various trinkets and treasures from the other fallen corpses are stowed as well.  Eventually Riva shakes off his paralysis and joins them.  He is especially taken with the workmanship (and the value!) of the gold and ruby dragon necklace the mummy wore.

While the adventurers happily paw through the remains of the dead, Mulukikyip (the kobold leader) and Kytum-up (his lieutenant) approach Rowan, and after a brief discussion Rowan reluctantly hands over the dragon idol to Kytum-up.  As Rowan walked away, she apparently didn't notice the two kobolds arguing...eventually Kytum-up gave the idol to Mulukikyip.  After this, Kytum-up followed his leader at a distance, a grim look on his face.

The adventurers and the kobolds eventually walk back to the old Smitson farm and the kobold lair.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, they find the lair had been left alone by the restless dead.  The adventurers spend the next day in the kobold lair.

_*from the journal of the druid Rowan*_


> We rested for the day, and discussed our next move.
> 
> While talking with the kobolds, Thaile recounted a story by Mrs. Faegan (Eaglesford's cleric).  The story says that about 17 years ago at the Garresh, a former Eaglesford cleric caused a marauding band of orcs to vanish through the mercy of Korak.  Mulakikyip laughed at that one, saying that the orcs vanished because they had summoned a demon and it killed them all!  He went on to say that we humans are so funny, thinking that we do everything.
> 
> Mulakikyip also knew that the goblins who took over Alderslook after the kobolds had left are of the Bloody Skull clan.
> 
> We discussed at length what to do about the "restless dead" problem, and determined that we needed to find the source of the undead and take care of it. (Overconfidence doesn't always come from the idol, I guess.) However, we were concerned about the kobolds once we left, since the attacks were happening every night and eventually, the undead would get through. The "Handyman Kobold" (What is it with kobold names, anyway?) had an idea though, that collapsing the house over the lair entrance would buy them about two or three weeks before the undead could get through.
> 
> That night, the kobold lair was attacked by undead again. We defeated them again, and we're positive that the dragon was what was drawing them.



The next day the adventurers helped the kobolds collapse the Smitson house over their lair entrance.  Before they did so, Mulakikyip asked Garret, and all of the party members, not to reveal the kobold presence at the farm, or to speak of the dragon idol the kobolds held.  The adventurers solemnly swore to keep the secret.

The party left once the house had been collapsed.  The kobold warrior Kytum-up was with them, to guide them to Alderslook, and help them in their mission against the necromancer responsible for the undead.  It would be a three day journey through the wilderness.

But first, the party decided to go back to Eaglesford, to resupply, to look into the doings of the hamlet, and to seek out what advice they could.  Once near the hamlet, Rowan decided to visit her master, the druid Greystone.  They would need a place for Kytum-up while in town (the locals would surely attack a kobold on sight...or run away screaming), and his place might be the only one.  (He was a druid, after all, wasn't he?  Aren't they supposed to be all accepting, and stuff?)  Garret reminded her that they had given their word to keep the kobold's lair a secret, and so she should try to tell Greystone as little as possible.  The party left Rowan on the trail to her master's grove, and hurried on into town.

Rowan knocked on the lintel of Greystone's hut, while Kytum-up remained hidden outside.  Her master had barely opened the door, when Rowan began:

"Hello Master Greystone! So, are kobolds evil?  Because things don't always have to be the way you think they are, right?  Who knows what kinds of things people say about other things they don't know anything about!  And especially if creatures you thought would be evil treat you well, and don't kill you, even when they have the chance and should, -- they might not be evil at all, even if you were taught that they're as evil as anything...  So, kobolds don't have to be evil, do they?"

Rowan took a breath.  A few moments of (blessed) silence passed, as Greystone examined his former pupil with a somber gaze.  "No, kobolds do not have to be evil," Greystone said.  "Why do you ask?"

"Well, we met some, you see...," Rowan began.  Her master remained silent as Rowan told her story, used to the way his former apprentice had with explanations.  It was a blur of words, like a bubbling brook running toward the sea, always moving, always twisting and turning and tumbling, and growing larger as it went on. In the end, after a few simple questions form Greystone (and some sort of detection spell from him as well), Rowan had told her master everything: about the kobolds, about their dragon idol, about the attacking undead.   Then Rowan introduced her master to the kobold Kytum-up.  Greystone spoke draconic, so the two of them talked.  Assured Kytum-up would be well cared for, Rowan left to join her friends.

Back at Eaglesford, the party found the hamlet an armed camp, with farmers walking the walls with old spears and ill-fitting leather armor.  Many of the farmer's families were camped out on the village green; some were even camped in the stables!  Asking around, the party found that the Captain and several of the town's more experienced guards were out trying to drive off the goblin raiders.  Many said they expected the Captain to return that night.

The adventurers also found themselves the target of questions from their friends and neighbors.  Following Garret's lead, the party members were careful to say only that they had fought and destroyed several of the restless dead, up in the vicinity of the old Smitson farm.  But simple stories are the first to be embellished in the re-telling:  Soon the entire hamlet was talking of Riva felling 5 undead in a single swipe, and of Garret calling on the power of Morwyn as he charged a hoard of ghouls on his war dog Bavic.

Thaile went to talk to Mrs. Faegan (the mill owner and cleric of the Great Church - the only cleric in Eaglesford; see session #3.)  Thaile asked if she knew any god by the name of "Kikkuk".  (Kikkuk is the name Mulakikyip had given to his god, the god of the dragon idol.)  Mrs. Faegan did not, but promised to see what could be found in her scrolls and books.

Garret went to visit Lord Aelric, but was turned away by the guard at the door.  "He's...not available, right now.  He'll be available tomorrow morning."  Eventually Garret was able to glean from the guard that Lord Aelric was drunk...a very unusual occurrence.  Garret vowed to keep this a secret, and promised to visit the lord in the morning.  "Better make that closer to noon," muttered the guard.

The party regrouped at Mr. Burlywire's inn, to catch up on local gossip.  They were treated to several drinks, and Mr. Burlywire was eager to hear of their adventures.  The party members told some, but did not reveal the presence of kobolds in the story.  The farmers, especially, asked to hear of the "Battle with the Restless Dead" several times.

Rowan left after a while to return to Greystone's hut.  She found him hunched over a table, still talking with Kytum-up, who sat straight-backed on a high stool.  As she found a place to sit, Greystone spoke to her with a serious tone, in the ancient druidic language: "I am concerned about your plan to go to Alderslook.  You and your friends may be doing more than you are capable of.  And yet, this kobold's people must be helped.  They *must*, Rowan.  They are important to the _balance_."  Rowan nodded, and kept her silence as she thought about his words.

Late that night, all retired to bed.  Much was on the minds of the townsfolk...

The Captain and his men had not yet returned.

*More of Session #5 to come!*


----------



## Nail

An authors aside:

You know, the biggest problem with writing this stuff is...well, ....the writing. 

Yeah, I know, an obvious observation.  But seriously, I had thought that I would have enough time to type out an episode or two, every few days or so.   Wow, has that not happened.  Life is busy, and curiously, it's far easier to _talk_ about getting time to write than it is to _actually_ write.  

Some kind of weird psycho writer's block thingy, I imagine.  Either that, or RL.   One of the two, to be sure. 

Let's see if I can "get over it".


----------



## Piratecat

Nail said:
			
		

> *An authors aside:
> 
> You know, the biggest problem with writing this stuff is...well, ....the writing.
> *




Tell me about it. I write like crazy for a few days, then _nothing_ for another week.  The trick is to take notes during fights and to vary your style enough that you aren't getting bored. If it stays fun, it's easier to write.

I'm really enjoying this, though. I hope you keep at it!!  It's fun, well-written, and there are kobolds with funny names. Ah, bliss.


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## Nail

*Thanks for th' kind words, PC.*

*Session #5, continued: "Planning to go to Three Oaks" *
(Session of RL April 13th, 2003)
_After sleeping in Eaglesford for the night_

In the morning, the party discussed their options.  They had agreed to seek out the source of the necromancy, it was true, but the adventurers were beginning to have second thoughts.  Rowan's master Greystone had warned them that they might be "biting off more than they could chew" if they went to Alderslook.  Could they defeat what they might find?  And what would be the best place to start looking?  Riva, especially, voiced the most concern over that last bit.  The defeating part...well, he figured that was a given.

They decided they need more information.  Their questions included:
Where had the restless dead come from: the Garresh or Alderslook?

Who was creating and sending the restless dead to retrieve the idol?

What was the real story behind the defeat of the orcish horde at the Garresh, and was that related in any way to the present troubles?

What more could the golden death mask tell them?  Was it magical in a way they couldn't detect?

And finally: do the goblin raids have anything to do with any of this?

The party split up to see how much the could answer in Eaglesford.  Garret went to the castle, to have lunch with Lord Aelric, while Thaile went to talk further with Mrs. Faegan.  Rowan went to talk with Greystone, and Teiran hit the books.  And Riva....?   Riva went to the blacksmith, to see about some new weapons and armor.  "Have to be ready fer all o' those restless dead we're gonna fight!" Riva muttered.

*********************
Garret's lunch with Lord Aelric was depressing, at best.  The nobleman paid little attention to either his meal or to conversation.  He just sat, his head propped up with one arm, staring into his soup and listlessly eating a few mouthfuls.  His wife, sitting nervously beside him, laid her hand on his arm, but said nothing.  Garret mentioned the adventures he'd had, and the farmers troubles with the goblins, but all he could get out of the lord was a sigh and a depressed shake of his head.  "Captain Ennolad will be back tomorrow," Lord Aelric droned, "perhaps he and his men will come to me with better news."  Excusing himself early from the table, Lord Aelric left the room.

*********************
At the Great Church's temple, Thaile was discussing religion with Mrs. Faegan.

"So the scrolls say nothing about this strange god I heard about, Kikkuk?" Thaile asked.

"Not much, at least," replied Mrs. Faegan, "He might be a corruption of the name of Korak, the God of the Forge, but other than that....."

"And Korak is a good god, so no evil would worship him, right?" asked Thaile.  "I _know_ he's a God of the Womb - the craftsman of the gods - but I've not studied his teachings much.  He hates necromancy as much as any, doesn't he?"

"Of course," Mrs. Faegan responded.  "All Gods of the Tree and Womb hate the curse of undeath.  That is why they give you the power to strike them down with your holy power.  I am sure they are pleased with what you have done these past few days.  Darmon the Wayfarer especially, I should think."

Thaile thought a moment, then brought out the gold mask from her pack to show Mrs. Faegan: "Could you tell me anything about this gold mask we found?  It was worn by one of the restless dead that attacked us....."

Mrs. Faegan looked over the mask, tracing with her finger the stylized dragons carved into its surface.  "I'm afraid I don't know much about these things, "Mrs Faegan said, with a hint of disgust in her voice.  "It's orcish; that's clear enough.  But I don't know much of their ways...they're savage beasts, after all....little sense studying thier barbaric habits.  They _bury_ their dead, you know, instead of cremate them, as is right."

Thaile let a frown creep over her mouth.  "Where would I find someone that might know more?  Are there any sages of this sort of knowledge close by?"

"Yes there is," replied Mrs. Faegan.  "In Three Oaks, the village to the west of us, is a sage by the name of Moira.  She styles hersef 'Sage of the Ruins'.  She would know much more about this sort of thing.....what there is to know about it, that is."

Thaile's face brightened, as she nodded. "Thanks.  Then I guess we should think about going there."

******************
That evening, the party gathered together once more.  The Captain and his men had still not returned, and the townsfolk were getting restless for news.  Garret had wanted to consult with the Captain especially.  The Captian might know more of the area around the Garresh and Alderslook, and might also know why the goblins were attacking.  

But they had limited time.  The adventurers were sure that the restless dead would attack the kobolds again, and even a collapsed farmhouse couldn't keep them out for long.  

And yet, they still didn't know where the undead were coming from, or why they were coming.  Thaile suggested that the sage Moira, the Three Oaks, could shed light on that.

"We need to move quickly, if we're going to get to the bottom of this," stated Garret flatly, as he looked around at his companions.

Tieran let out a sigh, then spoke, "I have another interesting development to report."  The wizard drew a small note from one of the pockets of his robe. "Last night, during the evening at Mr Burlywire's Inn, a note was slipped into my pocket.  I didn't even notice it until today, actually.  The note reads:







> _Want to get rich?  Meet me at Keprok in three days.  It will be worth your time.
> -Laiden_



That's only the day after tomorrow."  Tieran looked at Garret, then at Thaile as he spoke.  Riva was looking down, absently running his thumb along the blade of the great-axe his father had newly lent him.  Rowan tapped her fingers together.  For a moment or two, the neophyte adventurers were silent.

Then, almost as one, the party looked up from their reveries.  They would leave tomorrow for Three Oaks. 

By horse, that would be a day and a half journey.  Now: did they have enough money to get horses?  And would anyone be willing to sell?  Thaile got out the accumulated loot.......

*End of Session #5*


----------



## Nail

*A DM aside*

From the desk of the DM:

This last session (#5) was filled with all sorts of info and NPC directives and suggestions.  I could see the PCs being pulled this way and that....quite fun, from my perspective, anyway.    Good thing they're taking notes!

Afterwords, I wanted to be sure that the players understood how I was trying to run things.  That is: how could the players know what was "in-character" and whether or not I "was just railroading them"?  After all, we've only been playing for 5 sessions, and we all met over th' internet, so...who knows, right?  Maybe there's just one right way to do things, and th' NPCs are the DM's way of leading us by th' nose.

As a DM, I like to give the PC many options and paths, and let them decide, in-character and on th' merits of each, which to choose.   So I fired this off over email:







> _As an aside, I'd like to reiterate something I said at the
> beginning of this last session: Do not mistake the words and
> actions of the various NPC as "please go here" -type directions
> from the DM.  Following the directives of NPCs willy-nilly may
> lead you far down a deadly path....._



So, as a reader, keep this in mind too.  I may write it as if "it's the only way it could have gone"...stories often leave that impression.  But in gaming, nothing could be further from the truth.  I couldn't write this story without the players; they decide how this thing develops.

That's the fun part of gaming, really.


----------



## evildmguy

Greetings!

Love the updates!  Keep 'em coming!  

A few quick comments.

I understand completely with the write up.  I had started to do that for my current campaign but found a few problems.  When I went to write it, I got six pages into a PROLOGUE before I realized that I wasn't sure if I was writing a novel or writing up session notes.  I wasn't sure if I, as the DM, should do that much writing that doesn't involve the players.  So, I never did finish it or post it.  Obviously.  

Therefore, I understand the problems you are having in doing the writing.  (As PCat also said.)  I think the other problem was that I also didn't try and write up something until three months into it and I felt so far behind.  Then, when I wrote so much as background, I decided to just let it drop.  Ah, well.  

I also understand about the 'herding the PCs' as I try not to do that as well.  I sometimes give them too many options as then they just ask me, as the DM, what they should do.  That has taught me to give them only a few, one or two, options, with the understanding that if the adventure I planned is to the west but they decide to go east, that's fine with me.  I will deal with it.  

The current campaign is a great example of this and how things really work out well.  I had one idea planned and the group went a completely different way.  I adjusted to it and the campaign has been sweet, imo!  I really like how it turned out.  Not that I had a bad idea, per se, but it was really fun to let the players help shape the direction and ideas of the campaign.  

I liked your ideas about death and cremation vs burial!  I was thinking about stealing it if it works out for me!  

Great update!

edg


----------



## Nail

Hello All!

After our group's last session, I really got into a writing mood....but for the session we had just played (#8), rather than the one that needed to be written (#6)!  Arrrgggg.  So, I'll play a bit of catch-up here, and post brief summaries, part's of Rowan's journal (thanks, Rowan!  ), and odds-n-ends of the sessions between now and then.  There's some great stuff in Three Oaks I'd like to get to, especially the meeting with the Sage of the Ruins....but we'll see if I'll fit it in or not.

I should really get into the habit of writing stuff up immediately after th' session....it's fresher and more fun for me, as I bask in the after-glow of good gaming.

Most of this is already written, so I should be able to do a post-a-day for a while.  FWIW.

**BTW: Thanks for your comments, EvilDMGuy!  As you've DMed a few of these guys before, you know the shinnanigans they can get into!!


----------



## Nail

*Session #6 "On the Road to Three Oaks" *
(Session of RL April 27th, 2003)

_From the Journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_


> *May 25th: Eaglesford*
> Before we left, I went to Graystone again, to let him know that we were off to Three Oaks. He seemed concerned and puzzled.  Asked why we were heading there rather than going to Alder's Look. I didn't answer very well, I'm afraid. I don't understand - does he think Alderslook might be too much for us, or does he want us to go there right away?
> 
> Right before we left, Thaile asked Darmon to bless our journey.  A nice custom!  But she must not have included herself in the blessing: We had been riding for several hours when suddenly, out of the bushes came a huge insect (a praying mantis).  It decided that of all of us, Thaile looked to be the most juicy and tasty and grabbed her off of her horse and nearly killed her.
> 
> I cast an _entangle_ spell which did not work as I intended. The mantis was not affected by it, but the horses and some of the party members were entangled, like Riva. (Oops!) The horses that were free of the entanglement bolted, so I spent all of my time chasing after them. (I managed to catch and calm them later). Riva had dismounted at the first sign of trouble, but he had to make his way around the entanglement zone, which took a while. By the time he and Garret managed to get to the beast and kill it, it had mangled Thaile pretty badly and killed her horse. The cost of the horse, Garrett pointed out, would come out of my portion of any monies we got.
> 
> After getting Thaile healed up (Garret, a potion, and a spell from me), we were on the road again, Thaile riding with me. As we rode, I recalled that the Mantis is a swamp creature and the only swamp nearby is on the other side of Eaglesford from here. Very strange.
> 
> Twenty minutes or so farther down the road, we found a smashed wagon with a bloody harness and no horse or farmer around. The blood was a few days old and there was, nearby, an area where something large had bedded down (maybe an eight foot insect.....). We refilled our feedbags from the bags of grain in the wagon and went along our way.
> 
> Evening found us near Keprok. We camped at a campsite near the road.
> 
> First Watch: 	Thaile/Tieran: far off howling
> Second Watch: 	Rowan/Garrett: Howling, closer and off to the West. Not wolves, Rowan said.
> Third Watch: 	Riva/Bavic: Far off howling
> 
> *May 26th: On the Road Again*
> About mid-morning we saw the ruins of Keprok in the distance. We made our way through the woods toward the ruins, leading the horses since the forest was too dense to ride. After a while, we saw a single wolf loping toward us.
> 
> As it came closer, we noted that the wolf was black, emaciated, and breathing fire. Definitely not your normal doggie. I worked on controlling the horses (the wolf spooked them), while Riva and Garrett dispatched the creature. Thaile helpfully dumped water on it.
> 
> Tieran told us that this was a creature from another plane, again, not normal, not good.
> 
> Ascending the ridge to Keprok, we got our first real view of the ruins as we passed low mounds of rubble, and huge blocks of worked stone. Low walls and larger mounds that may have once been buildings surrounded us.
> 
> The woods end 60 feet or so from what was once the gatehouse. Beyond, the ruins were massive, going on for quite a distance to the next hilltop. We decided to move on to the next hilltop to get a better idea of what we were seeing and to get an idea of where Laiden might meet us.
> 
> As we moved on, we saw more piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Over to our right side was a much larger pile of rubble than the others. Thaile wanted to check it out, but we promised her we would stop on our way back. As we moved farther into the complex of ruins, we passed a pit to our left. It had an angled drop-off and Riva could tell that this had been used recently as a quarry. The rock was good quality limestone.
> 
> After a bit we reached a large, open, flat area, about 500 feet square. The remains of many campfires were here, and a few large trees still dotted the area.
> 
> Past the open area, the debris was much heavier, huge discs of stone, with fluted sides lay everywhere. We found that we needed to go around this area, since the horses could not go through.
> 
> Skirting around, we noted that the disc debris was scattered for about 600 feet. Near the crest of the hill was the partial remains of a tower, remarkable because it was almost intact. There was a recognizable doorway, and our path disappeared into the archway. We went around the tower and continued to the hilltop. More debris was there, but we got a good view of....well, large trees.
> 
> To get a better view of the countryside, Tieran cast Spiderclimb on Riva. Yes, a dwarf in a tree, remarkable sight for the rest of us. Most unnatural. Riva did get a good view of the countryside and the vast ruins. We stood in the center of three large foundations in a large circular area. Jumbled piles of rock marked where buildings had once stood. It looked to have once been a large complex of buildings with a wall around it.
> 
> After Riva climbed down, we made our way back to that mostly-intact tower and went in through the arch. Riva was eager to explore. Inside was a large circular room. A stairway in the center of the room led down into darkness, though it looked as though there had been recent work done here (fresh wood shavings). To the left, a circular staircase went partially up the wall, but had collapsed. Directly across from the entrance, another doorway, leading to a corridor beyond.
> 
> Riva moved forward to explore farther and found passageways and corridors, one tunnel collapsed, and as he moved on farther, stairs going down into, again, darkness. As he moved farther, he also found a 30 foot circular chamber with five exits. We decided that, intriguing as this was, we were not quite ready to explore any farther, being on a mission and all. So, we left the tower and headed back toward the large building that we had promised Thaile we would look into.
> 
> As we reached the large clear area, we were very surprised to see people with horses headed toward us. They seemed pretty surprised too. As we drew closer, we recognized Laiden, and two gnomes. One of the gnomes was familiar to us, Kale Burlywire, granddaughter of the innkeeper in Eaglesford and a known n'er-do-well. The other was introduced to us as Erkey Merryfeet from Woodston.
> 
> Laiden then took Tieran off to speak with him privately. He did not seem to like that we were all there. Afterward, Tieran said the Leiden had asked him to join _his_ group. Tieran had said no.
> 
> As Laiden and Tieran spoke, Kales and Erkey stood awkwardly with us, trying to make small talk. They were quite evasive about where they had been and what they had been doing recently. They did seem pretty excited to hear about the battle with the fire-breathing wolf though.
> 
> As Tieran returned to us, three more people were coming across the cleared area, A human fighter type, large and burly, who was introduced to us as Eric; a female elf named Drashi who said that she was an apostle of Zeinkeif; and a halfling, Cade Gregson, a relation of the Gregsons who were attacked by centipedes.
> 
> As night was fast approaching, we needed to make camp. We camped away from Laiden and his group, near the disc rubble area. We could see their fires from where we camped. Laiden and Eric came over to speak with Tieran. He told him that he knows of a secret entrance to treasure troves. He wanted Tieran (and the rest of us could come along, though he was not enthusiastic about that prospect) to join his party in exploring the ruins. We noted that Laiden is poorly dressed, poorly equipped, and really has very bad taste in wine, not exactly someone who one would think is able to find vast riches. He said that he had already located a magic item of great value, though he would give no farther details on that.
> 
> Garrett said that we all have urgent business, in Three Oaks and back in Eaglesford, and asked how long the exploration might take. Laiden replied that it would take a week or so, maybe more and would be much more exciting than stopping goblin raids on Eaglesford or whatever _lame_ things we were doing. He tried pretty hard to talk Tieran into joining him, but in the end, we all decided to stay together on our mission.
> 
> When questioned, Eric said that he had fought orcs in the South, but like the others was quite evasive about where he had been and what he had done.
> 
> Watches:	Thaile/Tieran
> Rowan/Riva
> Bavic/Garrett
> 
> *May 27th: Leaving Keprok*
> The night passed uneventfully and we all woke up. Laiden's party seemed to be waiting around for us to leave before they broke camp, so we headed out before they did.
> 
> We began making our way out the ruins of Keprok with, of course, a stop at the large building we had spotted on our way in. Thaile wanted very much to check it out.
> 
> It was a large, ruined building,  a curved structure twelve feet or so high, mostly collapsed into large piles of debris.
> 
> As Thaile moved forward a sinkhole opened under her, but she danced away with catlike grace. She moved forward again, looking for an entrance to this large mound. She found a stone arm sticking out of a pile of rubble, the workmanship was exceptional for a statue. Hoping to help, Riva climbed up on the rubble of the wall and fell back down, but being Riva, he climbed right back up again.
> 
> Another sinkhole opened up at Thaile's feet. This time, she was unable to jump back in time and fell into the hole. Once she was down there though, she was able to see an archway that we might be able to enter through. Riva climbed down to join her, his descent slower, and with less accidental tumbling.
> 
> As Riva reached the bottom of the pit, both he and Thaile were attacked by something that threw sticky nets over them. Both of them found themselves stuck to the ground as large spiders moved in to attack them.
> 
> As soon as the rest of us realized that this was happening, we moved into the pit to aid our friends. Bavic and Garrett were webbed as they went in.
> 
> Garrett burned the webs, freeing himself, Thaile, and Riva. Riva killed one, but was bitten.
> 
> I, as usual, attacked ineffectually (this time with a sling).
> 
> Thaile tried to retreat (run away, that is) but kept falling back down into the pit.  She fell down and rolled back into the pit three times!
> 
> Riva and Garrett managed to kill two of the four spiders and the remaining two ran away.
> 
> Everyone climbed out of the pit (even Thaile finally made it out) and we began moving on out of Keprok and toward Three Oaks.
> 
> Around noon we reached the road and arrived at Three Oaks shortly thereafter. It was the largest town any of us had ever been in. It was encircled by a stone and wood wall with the gates open. We were able to enter with out being challenged. We went to an inn near the gates, the Bird's Claw and rented two cheap rooms for the night, as well as stable space for our horses. At the inn we asked about Moira and were told that she could be found in the tallest tower in town. We also received directions to a jeweler and an armorer.
> 
> Garrett and Thaile decided to visit their respective temples first.




*End of Session #6*


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

*Good read*

As writers like to know they have an appreciative audience, I thought I would chime in and say that I am enjoying your efforts Nail.  

Bonus points for a character with the same name as my daughter.  Have to keep that "D&D players with brood" link from Milo's story hour going you know.  I was _this_ (imagine very small distance) close to having a Strongheart Halfling Paladin for the campaign I am currently in, so I'm really rooting for Garrett.


----------



## Nail

*Re: Good read*



			
				SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> *As writers like to know they have an appreciative audience, I thought I would chime in and say that I am enjoying your efforts Nail.*



Thanks! 

I've been hoping that the players comment more...but we've _all_ been busy enough as of late, that I understand if they only have time to read.  

*



			Bonus points for a character with the same name as my daughter.  Have to keep that "D&D players with brood" link from Milo's story hour going you know.  I was this (imagine very small distance) close to having a Strongheart Halfling Paladin for the campaign I am currently in, so I'm really rooting for Garrett.
		
Click to expand...


*
...And I'm sure he'll appreciate it....need it, even.  They are currently in the middle of a tough encounter, and I've managed to whittle them down to near the bone.  Even the berzerker dwarf is feeling the burn.

BTW, which of the characters share your daughter's name?  I hope that PC doesn't die soon....


----------



## Videssian

Why?   um..  are we in danger of  dying soon??   Riva, um... wants to know!!  

Great story hour so far Nail.. you're capturing the spirit of the campaign very well.. much appreciated..

Riva Stormhand
Dwarf Tank extrordinaire!


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

*Answer is...*



> BTW, which of the characters share your daughter's name? I hope that PC doesn't die soon....




Rowan.

I've used that name for my gaming characters, computer, D&D, or even PBEM, for several years now.  Sure, my characters are male, but I think it is one of those flexible names.  

In any case, shortly after my daughter's decanting, we were debating a name, and to my surprise, Rowan won my wife over.  Emily was the front runner for quite a while, but my wife looked at the baby in her arms and declared "she looks like...a Rowan".

I'm sure all parents will admit if they are honest that new babies look more like half lizard/half alien hybrids, or perhaps a sausage with a squashed head attached (that they are wrapped up to look like a sausage in a bun doesn't help).  Fortunately, she doesn't look like that anymore, but I'm told she does still "look like a Rowan" so everything is still good.  Apparently having your mother's eyes, your father's ears, and both of their chins (she is a "cuddly" baby if you know what I mean) doesn't look like an Emily.  Go figure.

My only problem is now I have to find a new name for my characters.  Not only is there a possiblity for confusion, I don't want Rowan's older brother to think I'm playing favourites.

Go Garrett!  Power to the Smiting Halflings!


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## DrSpunj

*Re: Answer is...*



			
				SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> *
> Rowan.*




Wow. I never thought of it that way. That's really cool!



> *
> Go Garrett!  Power to the Smiting Halflings! *




Thanks! Garret'll take all the help he can get! 

He doesn't have the raw power that Riva does but he's very versatile and usually always has an option or two to help the party out of whatever predicament they find themselves in (or, more likely, whatever predicament Thaile and/or Riva have PUT them in! ) I'm looking forward to Ride-by Attack and spells in the next couple levels to add even more flexibility.

Nail has obviously put a lot of thought into his game world and campaign, and it shows both here in his Story Hour and especially at the game table. I look forward to new parts of both in the weeks to come!

Unfortunately scheduling difficulties (much of it mine, sorry guys) keep us from gaming as often as I think all of us would like. Hopefully we can settle into a steady every other week thing before too long.

On a final note, I'm afraid Garret can't Smite, SpaceBaby. We're using Book of the Righteous and Garret is a Holy Warrior of Morwyn (Goddess of Charity, Mercy,...ummm... ...something else [EDIT: Gentleness! ] and Wisdom) and his gifts are related to Life and Guardian [EDIT: Correct!]. As such he can't Smite and he can't Detect Evil. I've honestly never played a Core Paladin, but watching several in action and DMing one currently, Garret is very different without those abilities; fun, but definitely different.

Keep the updates coming Nail! Rowan's journal entry is good stuff!

DrSpunj
aka Garret Flatbottom
Halfling Holy Warrior of Morwyn


----------



## Nail

As a bit of a distraction:

We are currently finished with session #8, and yet still in the midst of a difficult encounter.  (Our next meeting isn't for 2 weeks!  The agony!)  To speed the time along, allow me to post the "relative" hp and healing resources of the party members (for reference, they are all 2nd level):

*Riva*: lightly wounded.  Poisoned?  _Are you kidding?  He's a dwarf barbarian, for crying out load!  They drink that stuff for breakfast!_

*Garret*: light wounds, but only a bit of his "laying on of hands" ability left.  His dog, Bavic, is moderately wounded and negligibly weakened by poison.

*Thaile*: only light wounds, but moderately weakened by poison, and effectively out of healing spells.

*Rowan*: Severely wounded and moderately weakened by poison.  Currently the worst off in the party.  No healing spells left, I believe.

*Tieran*: Lightly wounded and moderately weakened by poison.  Yep, even the wizard at the back got hit a time or two.

Some of that might answer your question, Videssian (Riva).


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

> On a final note, I'm afraid Garret can't Smite




Not with the special ability perhaps, but I'm sure he can dispense righteous Halfling wrath on evildoers, backed by the might of a riding dog!

"If you can't run with the Big Dogs, then stay on the porch!"

That's what I meant.  Really.  



> Garret is a Holy Warrior of Morwyn (Goddess of Charity, Mercy,...ummm... ...something else and Wisdom)




That domain of "something else" sounds pretty flexible.  One can only imagine what the granted powers could be as a Cleric.  

More seriously, that was one of the more entertaining ways to deal with not recalling the entire set of information that I've read.



> Rowan: Severely wounded and moderately weakened by poison. Currently the worst off in the party. No healing spells left, I believe.




Please don't kill her off Nail!  Let her live! Do it for the cute baby!


----------



## Nail

*Very cute picture, SBI.*

I think I should send your daughter a nice big fuzzy-cuddly spider hand-puppet.  

Wha'd'ya think, guys?  Should Rowan have more spider friends visit?  :^)


----------



## Nail

*an email exchange*

*Part of Session #7 "Garret's visit to the Healing Halls of Morwyn, in Three Oaks" * 

_DMs note: Garret's player wasn't able to make it to this session, so we worked out some of what Garret did via email.  The following is adapted from that email exchange.  I’m not super-happy with the way I’ve snipped and edited it, so I may edit it some more over the next day or so. (And Garret, feel free to make criticisms and corrections.)_  ******************************************* 

*The Scene: Late afternoon of May 27th, In Three Oaks* 

Garret approached his god's temple, the Healing Hall of Morwyn.  In front, under the eves of a peaked wooden roof hung the sign of the crystal tear, his god's symbol representing the tears Morwyn shed for her brothers' fratricidal war.  The large double-doors stand open, and a guard with Morwyn's colors stands by the door. Garret doesn't recognize him, but the guard sees Garret's tabard and holy symbol and gestures for the halfling to enter. 

Inside the darkened hall are several rows of pews, an altar, and many doors leading off to smaller rooms. The area of worship makes up only a part of the entire building. This Hall of Morwyn is not a rich one, but certainly larger and better appropriated than the temple of the Great Church at Eaglesford. 

Near the altar stood a woman, simply dressed in a loose white dress and shawl.  She had been praying, but upon Garret’s approach she stopped and turned.  There is a palpable look of "goodness" around her....she is elven, with long grey hair and a clear face; a young woman in figure, but middle-aged in bearing.

As Garret approached, the woman spoke: "Welcome to the Healing Halls of Morwyn. You are a disciple of hers...a Faithful son of Morwyn, unless I miss my guess.  My name is Shinea, and I am the Holy Mother of this temple.  What can I do for you?" 

The two exchanged greeting and pleasantries, then prayed together for a time.  Later, Garret joined Shinea in a side room with Brother Otto, the Faithful Son that had introduced Garret to the faith of Morwyn.  Also in the room was another man in Morwyn's colors, an ugly human with black hair, pale eyes, and several nasty-looking scars running down his face and past his shirt-collar.  (Garret suspected the man might have orcish blood in him.)  The man nods once to Garret as he enters, but his face remains expressionless.

Garret approached his old friend first. "Brother Otto, it is good to see you again, and I am glad to have your counsel as well today."  Garret turned to the other gentlemen next, "I do not believe we've met before, sir.  I am Brother Garret Flatbottom, of Eaglesford."

As the two shook hands, Shinea spoke:  "This is Brother Urag, another faithful son  of Morwyn."    Brother Urag returned to his seat.  His face is stoic, unchanging and unreadable.    Shinea went on, "Brother Urag is recently here from travels in the north country in the Lady's service.  I am quite glad to have him by my side.  Ever since my loss this past year, I have been trying to find Faithful Sons who might share my burden here in Three Oaks." 

Brother Otto nods in grim agreement, as Shinea continues, "But this is old news which you have already heard, I am sure....  Tell us what has been happening around Eaglesford!  You mentioned before you and I prayed that the restless dead prowl near your home.  From where do they come?  How have you fared? Your news seems too urgent to stall with idle talk."

Garret said, "While I have not heard yet of your loss, and I'm anxious to hear your tale, I would appreciate you all listening to mine, for both help & guidance if you are able."  Garret went on to explain the battles they had had with the restless dead, but he did not broach the subject of the kobolds or their dragon idol.

Both the Holy Mother and Brother Otto expressed concern over the presence of the restless dead.  They explained that this is the direct result of the barbaric orcish custom of burying their dead, rather than cremating them.  Such a practice, they warn, can only lead to necromancy.  Brother Otto, in particular, expressed his out-rage at the Empire allowing this practice to continue.  Brother Urag says nothing.

Next Garret described the gold mask and the dragon necklace on the mummy and told them that they would be taking them to Sage Moira for her inspection and advice.

At this, the Holy Mother expressed concern.  Apparently "the Sage of the Ruins", as Moira is called, has an unsavory reputation within the religious community in Three Oaks.  Shinea warned Garret to be wary of her council ... although the Holy Mother admitted that Moira’s information is probably the most complete and accurate.

Then Shinea and Brother Otto bantered back and forth a bit about the mask and the necklace, but finally admitted that they know little about orcish culture, and can say little about either piece.  Orcs, after all, are not a race of the Tree, so little time is spent studying their meager and bloody history.  (Brother Urag again remains quiet throughout this exchange.)

Garret then told them of his opinion that the Undead are either being sent or are attracted to something in the northeast farmsteads of Eaglesford as that's the only place they've been found  

Shinea said they suspected a powerful necromancer must be behind this....who, though, they could not say.  (Brother Urag, of course, just looked even grimmer than before.)

The last necromancer they've heard about was an elvish woman by the name of Ghalele.  She had a tower in the north country, about a week’s journey from here.  She was defeated and destroyed 3 years ago.  Her body was taken by the Great Church for cremation and final rest.

The holy mother agreed that whoever is behind this must be seeking something. "You should find it first." said Brother Otto.  "Whatever it is should be found and brought at once to the Temple of Morwyn, here in Three Oaks.  Once this has been done, the Holy Mother will consult with the others in our church as to what must be done."

Garret agreed, then explained about the wider troubles at Eaglesford: the dire rat attacks, the giant centipedes, and the goblin raids.  Shinea told him that this may be part of a larger picture, as for the past year or two the giants and other barbaric races of the north county have been on the move.  Indeed, it was in a defensive action against these barbarians that the Holy Mother lost her protector, the faithful son Brother Salini.

Questions about the Garresh were met by stern warnings from the Holy Mother.  She warned that the area might be cursed by the Maker (the god Korak).  Brother Otto repeated the well known story of Brother Momont: that Momont, as a neophyte priest of Eaglesford, called down the wrath of Korak on a horde of orcish raiders, and destroyed them.  Brother Otto went on to say that Momont, now a leader of Korak’s church here in Three Oaks, is a man that can be trusted.

As the time with the Holy Mother ends, Garret asked, "Are there any messages I can  take to Mrs. Faegan or Lord Aelric?" 

The Holy Mother said, "Please tell Mrs. Faegan that there is much she and I should discuss.  Business has been left undone that should be done. I will visit Eaglesford soon, perhaps before midsummer, with the Lady's grace.  In the meantime she should feel free to call on the aid of the Healing Halls of Morwyn sooner, should Lord Aelric ask for it." 

"Go in Morwyn's grace, and may her peace be spread through you to all the peoples of the tree." 

They bowed, exchanged good-byes, and Garret left the temple.

*End of Garret’s part of Session #7*


----------



## DrSpunj

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> * Not with the special ability perhaps, but I'm sure he can dispense righteous Halfling wrath on evildoers, backed by the might of a riding dog!
> 
> "If you can't run with the Big Dogs, then stay on the porch!"
> 
> That's what I meant.  Really.  *




Ah, right! Well, right now the only "evildoers" we're plagued with are spiders, spiders and more spiders. They're of various sizes and make different squishing sounds as we wade through them, but I'll keep your well-wishes in mind when our party finds some non-eight-legged badness!



> *That domain of "something else" sounds pretty flexible.  One can only imagine what the granted powers could be as a Cleric.
> 
> More seriously, that was one of the more entertaining ways to deal with not recalling the entire set of information that I've read.*




It's Gentleness, and I've edited the earlier post. And thanks! I drive my wife nuts (and to embarassment occasionally) looking for a laugh all the time.



> *Please don't kill her off Nail!  Let her live! Do it for the cute baby! *




Very cute! I think this means that Rowan's next Animal Companion has to be a Giant Frog or Toad. Whaddya say to that Rowan? 

And Nail, your post above is a fine edit of our correspondence. Don't be so hard yourself. Take some time off from editing things like that post and figure out where we can find more treasure!


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> *And Nail, ....(snip)....Take some time off from editing things like that post and figure out where we can find more treasure!  *




Heh, heh, heh.


Anyway........  

I've tried writing up the rest of the visit to Three Oaks, but....  well, it somehow morphed into a preamble for the journey _away_ from Three Oaks.  Ah well.  Funny how writing can turn in unexpected directions, sometimes.  

So, dear reader(s), you'll have to deduce what happened during the rest of session #7 through the PCs actions in session #8.  Sorry.  (shrug)


----------



## Nail

* Session #8: "So...what did we get out of that?"*
(Session of RL May 15th, 2003)

The adventurers leave Three Oaks on the road for home.

Three Oaks had been an interesting side trip.  Thaile had gained her religious surname "Knot-holder" from the House of Darmon, and Garret was finally able to visit the Healing Halls of Morwyn and talk with the Holy Mother there.  Riva, of course, had found the best weapon and armor smith in town, and now wore the shiny new results of his visit.  (Was that a bit of extra swagger in his step?)  Tieran, too, had taken advantage of the opportunity, and now walked with a masterwork quarterstaff.  Rowan had met her master's master, the centaur Kaleal - and had even been invited by the red-haired centaur to dinner.

But they had come for more than this; they had come seeking information, and they had found it.  Some of it, anyway.  Pieces, really....and some seemed to give them even more questions than answers.  (Isn't that always the way of things?)

From the Holy Mother Shinea, of Morwyn, and from Kaleal the centaur, the adventurers had learned that the giants, far to the north, had started to stir.  Trouble was brewing in the north-country.

From Brother Momont, Wright of the Guildhalls of Korak of Three Oaks, and former priest of Eaglesford, they had learned his version of the events at the Garresh.  On that night 17 years ago, he had called on the mercy of Korak to destroy the encamped orcish hordes that would soon raid Eaglesford.  He had prayed, a lowly cleric from a tiny hamlet on the edge of civilization, and in the morning, the orcs were gone, only their tents and cook-fires remaining.  Other religious leaders, from the House of Darmon and the Healing halls of Morwyn, (although they had not been there to see this miracle) had backed up his story.

From Moira, they had found that the mask was indeed a death mask from some nameless orcish hero, buried near Alderslook some 40 years ago.  The necklace, too, was from that same time and place.  Apparently the orcs buried their dead in mounds and caves below Alderslook, presumably after their raids on nearby settlements of the Empire.  When Rowan had described the dragon idol and its powers (much to her compainion's consternation), Moira was able to tell them that it sounded much older, far older than the Empire.  Perhaps it was connected to an ancient cult the orcs followed; The Cult of the Dragon's Eye.  Such an idol, she said, would only be found in an ancient tomb of the past civilization that once thrived in this area.   It might be cursed, and if so she could remove the curse if they brought it to her.  (She even had offered to trade the idol for a magical cloak for Thaile.)

But this information had come at a price.  Both Garret and Thaile had been warned, by their religious leaders, that Moira was not to be trusted.  (And if Kaleal the centaur disagreed, what of it?)  The adventurers had learned first hand why this might be so....her manner was attractive, alluring, but aloof.  Somehow, in her presence they felt as if they should tell her everything, and her words sounded simple and reasonable.  They left feeling as if they had given far more than they had received.

But all of that was behind them now, as the gates of Three Oaks slipped from view.  Farmlands stretched out to either side, and the companions talked as they rode.  Thaile had the most to say of their visit.

"I don't trust that Moira, and now I'm beginning to not trust that puny kobold Mulu-kik-yip either!  Why do they have that idol?  We're pretty sure it's not theirs, right?"  She looked around at Garret, who nodded in agreement. "I'm not so sure we need to be 'rescuing' them from the restless dead.  I mean, that necromancer shouldn't get the idol, or Moira either, but I'm just not so sure the kobolds should have it."

"But I don't think we should take it from them. Not without provocation and a fair fight," said Riva. "It's the rules of combat, you know.  'To the victor goes the spoils'.  If they attacked us, then we'd get their stuff, but if they don't attack us, I don't see that we should take anything from them."

"Right.  Of course not.  All I'm saying is that I'm not sure we should be risking our lives over this, doing what the kobolds want us to do."

Rowan looked flustered, and spoke up, "But my master said these kobolds are important to the balance.  We need to help them.  The restless dead will...."

Thaile cut her off, "We need to talk to your master, too.  I've got some questions for him about this 'balance' thing you guys keep talking about.  I'd like to know what he _really_ thinks about these kobolds."

"We'll be back in Eaglesford soon enough," said Garret, soothingly.  "We'll get those questions answered then."  Looking at both women, Garret continued, "There are a few things, at least, that the kobolds will have to answer before we'll help them further."

The party continued for an hour or two, and the farms became fewer and farther between.  It was mid-afternoon, a warm spring day, and the clouds were skittering across the sky....

.....And that's when Garret and Bavic stumbled into the spider web stretched across the road.  (_Garret: "Note to self: watch the road instead of clouds while traveling!"_)  Almost at the same time, a spider emerged from the tree tops and hit Riva and his horse with a mass of sticky strands.  Riva and the horse were stuck to the spot!  

The spider attacked Riva from above, while the _raging_ dwarf desperately (and unsuccessfully) tried to break free of the gooey mess.  Tieran moved to shoot with his crossbow, while Thaile moved to help free Garret and Bavic from the other web.

Rowan did her best to calm Riva's horse, and then tried to cast a spell at the spider.  But her horse's movements were too much, and her spell was botched.

Finally, after enduring several attacks by the spider, Riva freed himself, and followed one of Tieran's successful crossbow shots with a blow from his great-axe.  Parts of the man-sized spider now lay strewn across his horse, his armor, and the road beyond.

The party cleaned themselves up and moved on, eager to get to their home village.

* More of Session #8 tomorrow!*


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

> I think I should send your daughter a nice big fuzzy-cuddly spider hand-puppet.



Hmm, let me do an inventory here, courtesy of an older brother and her father's sometimes criticized toy buying patterns:

Praying Mantis finger puppet?  _Check_ 
Scorpion? _Check_ 
Poisionous Tree Frog with squeeze driven extending tounge? _Check_ 
Scarab Beetle Squeeky toy (goes by the name Horus)? _Check_
Six legged alien with carapace and antennae (excellent for ease of holding by little ones it turns out) stuffed animal? _Check_ 

No Spider hand puppet it seems.  I'm sure we could find room in the menagarie.  It would fit right in!



> Wha'd'ya think, guys? Should Rowan have more spider friends visit? :^)



I'm wondering if my appeal has created the opposite effect.  Unless you're suggesting (Druid) Rowan finds several cuddly stuffed Spider toys in her pack.  I hear those wacky nature lovers like that sort of thing as a gift, presuming no actual spiders were harmed in the making of the product.



> Very cute! I think this means that Rowan's next Animal Companion has to be a Giant Frog or Toad. Whaddya say to that Rowan?



Thanks to both Dr. Spunj and Nail for the cute baby compliments.  I am of course extremely biased, but also think she is cute.  I certainly suffer a severe circumstance penalty (aka "the Daddy factor" ) when trying to make Will saves versus her "pick me up" or "drop everything and play with me" mind control powers.

You could do much worse than a giant amphibian.  Very good for scouting otherwise hard to navigate spots, and there's always the Dreaded Hop Attack for when combat starts.


----------



## Nail

*another daily update!...I'm offline for the weekend, so next update on monday!*

* Session #8: "Old MacDonald had a farm,  Eeek!  Iiee!  Eeek!  Iiee!  Oww!"*

(Session of RL May 15th, 2003)

As the adventurers moved along the road to Eaglesford, the forest around them thickened.  The last farm they had past was a mile behind them, and the spider attack a short time ago had put them on edge.  So perhaps it's was not surprising that this time they were able to spot the creature running toward them while it was still far away.  They drew their weapons in anticipation.

It turned out to be a sturdy-looking human girl, not more than 17, dressed in torn and bloodied clothing.  She was running toward them, waving with one arm and yelling, while carrying a small bundle in her other arm.  A live chicken, it turned out.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god....you've got to help me!" the girl sobbed.  As she ran up to the group they could see her shoulder and legs covered with scratches and wounds.  Her left foot and leg was swollen, with two prominent bite marks.

"Spider bites." Riva muttered darkly.  He absently touched his recent wounds.  Rowan carefully tended to the girl while she gave them her story.  Her name was Lissia Longwood, and she and her family had been attacked by spiders early this morning at their farm.  She had managed to shut herself in the chicken coop, and had waited in there until only an hour or so ago, when she had finally gotten up enough courage to make a break for it.  When she left, she said she had seen webs everywhere, and no sign of her folks or brothers or sisters.

"So, how many spiders were there?" asked Thaile.

"Oh, there were lots of them!  Forty or fifty, at least....and some of them were _this_ big!" Lissia stretched her arms as wide as they could go, while the adventurers looked on in amazement.  "Some of them might have been even bigger than that!"

Garret started to laugh, then choked it down to an amazed smile. "You said there were how many?  40 to 50?  Oh boy.  And you need us to help, and save your family and your farm?" 

The girl nodded emphatically, accidentally knocking off one of the bandages Rowan was wrapping her with. Lissia looked from face to face among the party.  "You're adventurers, right?  This is the sort of thing you can do, right?"

Thaile smiled and shook her head. "We had trouble with just four spiders, only a few days ago.  And lots of trouble with just one, back there," Thaile pointed back up the road to Three Oaks. "But with that many....We're really in for it, aren't we?"  Thaile looked from Garret, to Tieran, and back to Garret again.

"Maybe," Riva responded, standing on the road.  "But I look at it this way."  Riva gave a test swing with his axe through the air in front of him.  "My great axe needs more spider-splitting practice."

Lissia nodded and smiled at the dwarf in awed wonder.  Behind her, the rest of the party just shook their heads.

An adventurer's work is never.....

* More of Session #8 to come: Riva gets the battle(s) he's always wanted!*!


----------



## Nail

triple post!  Ouch.


----------



## Nail

ouch...part three of a triple post....boards were slow to respond, and I was antsy.


----------



## Nail

* Session #8: "Wow.  Is your farm under there, somewhere?."*
(Session of RL May 15th, 2003)

The human girl Lissia took the adventurers off the main road, along a well-worn wagon trail.  After 15 minutes of riding, the woods openned up in front of them, and they saw the Longwood farm.

The Longwoods were a prosperous and large farming family, and their buildings told the tale.  Nearest to the adventurers stood three houses clustered around a well, one of the houses only newly finished.  Behind these were a large enclosed chicken coop, a pig barn and sty, a few tool sheds, some out-buildings, a smokehouse, a farm kitchen, and at least two root cellars.  And at the back stood the barn, a long two-storied structure with a steeply pitched roof and big double doors.  It was quite a nice place.

...If it hadn't been covered with long, thick, spittle-colored spider webs.  Webs stretched from building to building, flowing out of open windows and doors, stuck to eves and steps.  The stuff almost completely obscured the chicken coop and pig barn, and partially covered two of the three houses.  They could make out the shapes of pigs, chickens - even a dog - coccooned in various places around the farmyard.

"Wow," entoned Riva, his great axe at the ready.  "And listen: it's too quiet.  Nothing is stirring.  I'm not sure how much 'saving' we'll be doing today...." His voice trailed off as he looked at Lissia.  Tears began to well up in the girl's eyes. Riva tried to recover: "But we'll do plenty of spider splitting, I'll tell you that."  He smiled weakly.

Thaile turned to the Longwood girl. "You'd be safest staying right here, with the horses," said Thaile.  "The rest of us will carefully go through the farm....."  Her voice trailed off as she saw Riva striding off towards one of the houses, while Garret and Rowan approached another.  Teiran, mainwhile, was eyeing-up the third house with his loaded crossbow. "Or, I suppose, we could just split up and be ambushed one-at-a-time."  

As if on cue, a swarm of tiny spiders lept at Garret and Rowan, out from a window of the house they approached. These were smaller than the one they had seen on the road; perhaps only a foot or two wide, with legs and mandibles out-stretched.   Garret raised a cry and loosed his short sword from his scabbard.  "They're going after Bavic! ....No, no, you ugly vermin! Attack me, not my dog!" Garret shouted.

Thaile shook her head.  "Anyway, stay with the horses!" she shouted over her shoulder at Lissia as she hustled off to join the battle.  

*More of Session #8 to come!*


----------



## Nail

*It's only a little spider......or two.....*

Alright, I'll admit it: They saw more than two of these things.   ...and yep, some were _over_ 5 feet wide.    ...and they hiss as you approach....

Did I mention all of the webs?


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

> Thaile turned to the Longwood girl. "You'd be safest staying right here, with the horses," said Thaile. "The rest of us will carefully go through the farm....." Her voice trailed off as she saw Riva striding off towards one of the houses, while Garret and Rowan approached another. Teiran, mainwhile, was eyeing-up the tird house with his loaded crossbow. "Or, I suppose, we could just split up and be ambushed one-at-a-time."




Priceless!  

If this is an actual in game quote, my proverbial hat is off to Thaile.

Small wonder the casualty rate is so high for adventurers, wouldn't you say?  Okay, I can see this being almost expected in Riva's case, but what infarcted the neurological processes (tactics ganglion) in the remainder of the party?

At least Garret and Rowan were sticking together.  Go Rowan! Go Garret!  Smite those spiders for the cute baby!


----------



## Gina

*Spiders Smitten*

The spiders have been smitten (smited...whatever) in the name of the cute baby. 

Of course, we still have to get through the night now. We'll see how that goes. 



Rowan


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

*It works?*

Smote?

So your Rowan has triumphed?  "Do it for the cute baby!" actually works?  Excellent.  

I must remember to try this on my DM, as my character is also called Rowan (character came before baby,  so the confusion is not intentional).  Something to remember if circumstances become truly dire.

I look forward to reading more about this foray of arachnid assault.


----------



## evildmguy

Hey!

So, have you guys not played?  Or is someone just behind in updates?  



edg


----------



## DrSpunj

evildmguy said:
			
		

> *Hey!
> 
> So, have you guys not played?  Or is someone just behind in updates?
> 
> 
> 
> edg *




We managed to get together at least 3 times this month! It's been a blast! Unfortunately our momentum has been lost and we're probably not getting together again for a couple weeks. Bummer! 

We're back in Eaglesford still waiting for the Captain to show his pasty white elven @$$ before heading out again. Details can come with the updates, which someone *IS* a fair bit behind in writing/posting!  And thankfully, it's not me! 

BTW edg, are you in or near the CR/IC corridor? I've seen more people than I guess I expect listing they're from Iowa, but I haven't MET many of them, it seems! I just recently spotted that KDLadage has listed CR, IA!

_EDIT: Wrong Smiley!_


----------



## evildmguy

I am currently in West Des Moines, okay not currently at this moment, but that's where my residence is.   

I like CR much better, though, as I used to live there for five and a half years.  It is doubtful that we will get back, though, and my wife and I aren't happy about that.  Not much we can do, though, because here is where the jobs are for us.   

btw, I know the charming host and hostess of your group, for whom I used to DM.  

edg, who is still hoping for an update!  *shameless plug*


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

No gaming for a couple of weeks?  An excellent opportunity for the DM to catch up and post the outstanding updates!  

Don't leave us hanging by a (spider's) thread here.


----------



## Nail

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> *Don't leave us hanging by a (spider's) thread here. *



<smiles>

RL is currently intruding into an otherwise idyllic gaming routine.  Currently there is a large hole in the wall of my basement.  It must be filled.   

Anyone got some duct-tape?


----------



## evildmguy

Will Duck tape do?  

No, seriously.  Our office manager/financial person brought me a receipt to sign in that the goods had been received.  I looked at it and couldn't help but chortle as it said "2 rolls Duck tape".  I stopped myself from fits of laughter, which I am glad.  It turns out the office manager wrote it!  I was awestruck at that.

He went and changed it and reprinted it and had me sign the new, corrected list.  I think I was still laughing.  

Duck tape!

*chortle*

edg


----------



## DrSpunj

*Read it & weep!*



			
				evildmguy said:
			
		

> *Duck tape!
> 
> *chortle**




I won't tell him if you don't, but just for your own edification...

http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/duckvsduct.html

Later!


----------



## evildmguy

Hmmmm.  

Well, interesting.  I didn't realize it had been the other.  I have always known it as duct tape and have used it for exactly that, as well as other uses!  

Ah, well.  As you say, I won't mention it to him!

*grin*

Thanks!

edg


----------



## Nail

*Session #8: "I wonder what's in this coccoon?"*
(Session of RL May 15th, 2003)


_From the Journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford, former apprentice of Greystone[_


> ....From the small one-story house Garrett and Bavic were attacked by a swarm of tiny spiders.  The spiders were smashed quite handily.  With Riva and Thaile along as well, we explored the rest of the newly built house, and smushed some more spiders along the way. In one of the two bedrooms, we found a young girl wrapped in a cocoon of spider web. Her name, we discovered later, was Louise. Lissia was overjoyed to see her, although she was worried about her condition. I gave her a small healing spell to stabilize her until we could tend her better.
> 
> The next house was a two story house, with it’s windows and shutters wide open. We noted that webs went into open second story windows as well as ground floor ones. Garrett, Thaile, and Riva moved forward toward the front door, burning webs as they went. Tieran stayed a bit back to watch for other movement as I moved to the back of the house to see what might be there.
> 
> In the main room of the two-story house a small fire still smoldered in the hearth. There were a table and chairs, a stair leading to the upstairs, and three doors to the back of the house, two open, one closed. Webs were everywhere.
> 
> I reached the back of the house and found a shuttered window.   I rapped upon with my staff to see if anyone was inside.  A man answered the rap and said that he, his wife, and their baby were inside, safe.
> 
> About this time, Thaile, Riva, and Garrett had reached the inside of the house. As they began to burn more webs, the little bitty spiders attacked again. Riva and Garrett despatched them pretty quickly. When we got to the back bedroom door, we let Gerald, his wife, and child out, to be taken over to Lissia and Louisa.
> 
> In one of the back rooms we found a few tiny spiders which fled and a large cocoon, soon determined by Garrett to contain a live pig. We set it free, but it didn’t move much.  Must not have taken the spider's venom well.
> 
> Then, being the foolish creatures we are (since we had had our backsides kicked by spiders before at Keproc), we ascended the stairs. Riva went first and was immediately swarmed by spiders, he was covered with the disgusting little buggers! (_*Note: If I NEVER see another spider as long as I live it will be too soon!!!*_) We worked on burning and killing the spiders as they attacked us. Tieran was picking them off with his crossbow, he was very much the archer that day, making the impossible shot over and over again!
> 
> Anyway, we fought for a while then made a strategic retreat down the stairs before heading back up and finishing them off. Oh, and it wasn’t all little bitty ones either, some of them were two and four feet across!
> 
> In the upstairs we found four more cocooned people. Two children, ages two and three, sadly, were dead. Their parents, Mikhail and Amelia were alive, but very weak.
> 
> As we came down, we were told that several were still missing and needed to be found. We did some healing and went on to check out the rest of the farm after sending Farmer Gerald and Lissia to Three Oaks to fetch help.
> 
> House number three was the largest yet. Inside, we found very few webs and killed two spiders and then rescued Aunt Harriet from the back bedroom. We also found a number of cocooned chickens, a few rats, and a dog, none of which could not be saved.
> 
> While Garret and Riva were taking care of the spiders of the Big House, I decided to be helpful (and kind of stupid) and start clearing the webs from the kitchen. Well, it seemed to be going pretty well until the two big spiders jumped out and bit me. I ran as the others came and cleaned them up for me. Again, Tieran was making shots he normally would only dream of!
> 
> We worked more on clearing the kitchen and finally found a mother and her 12 year old son, both weak but alive.
> 
> Checking another underground building we found the door jammed and Uncle inside, alive and well and hopping mad about the attack by the spiders! Four people were still missing and probably in the barn or the pig pen, both of which wer covered by even more webs than the houses.
> 
> We led the Uncle back to his family and told them all what we had found.  While we were talking, I realized where the spiders had come from...we had been attacked by spiders at Keproc, so we knew there were some there, but we had not disturbed them in a way to destroy their homes. However, we also knew that Laiden and his group were going into a supposedly secret and heretofore unexplored area.....so, perhaps they were routed by Laiden. The uncle agreed, saying that he had seen smoke from that direction the previous afternoon.
> 
> One mystery solved!




*End of Session #8*


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Ah, an update!  Spiders smited, and many (alas if not all) innocents saved!  

Time for the cute baby celebration dance!


----------



## Nail

Heh.   

All is not rosy yet...the PCs were severely beaten on in a follow-up combat.  Because.....

Remember that big barn towards the back of the farm, covered by webs?  And several family members are still missing....were could they be?  And what could make webs *that* big, anyway?



I'm going to use Rowan's journal a bit more here, as I'm so far behind in the action, the writing catch-up looks daunting.

Thanks for th' PC logs, Rowan!!!


----------



## Nail

*An attempt to re-create PC conversation....*

Here's how the last bit of Session #8 played out:

The Scene: The PCs have just regrouped back at the main house, and plan their next move.  The Uncle is standing with them, an old longsword in his hand, a rusty set of chainmail hanging from his hunched frame.  At a lull in the conversation, the Uncle pipes up......

Uncle: "Where did these blasted things come from, anyway?"

Garret: "I'm not sure.  There's been plenty of beast attacks happening resently near Eaglesford.... we were attacked by a giant preying mantis several days ago, on our way to Three Oaks."

Rowan: (Looks thoughtful while Garret speaks...then her eyes flash with inspiration)  "Wait.    ....I know where they're coming from."

Garret: "Are you talking to yourself again?"  

Rowan: (blushes) "No.  I'm talking to all of you.....  I know where they came from:  Keprok!  Spiders this big often live underground, and we found some of them up there, remember?"

Uncle: "You mean *you* stirred them up?"

Garret: "It's a possibility..."

Riva: "But we killed the ones we saw."

Garret: " ....And there's probably more.  You guys did open up that passage way by falling into it.  Maybe we let them out."

Rowan: "But they wouldn't just leave their lair without a reason.  Maybe someone else stirred them up.....maybe Laiden and his crew did this.  Remember how they said they had found a secret entrance?  Maybe they drove them out, somehow."

Uncle: "We _did_ see some smoke up on Keprok yesterday, early."

Garret: "And we've been in Three Oaks for the last 3 days, so that smoke wasn't from us.  Nope.  You're right, Rowan.  It could be Laiden, rather than us....."


----------



## Nail

Whew!  Summer!  Ya gotta love it.  As a college prof., I get summers off...if I'd like.  And this summer: I opted for work.  "What's up with that?", you may ask.  Hint: I have an old house with termite damage.  I'll let you _fill_ in the rest.

Anyway, I haven't updated in a while, so:


*Session #9: "Big Barn = Big Spider?"*
(Session of RL June 3rd, 2003)

(_Recap_)  The adventurers had gone to the nearby town of Three Oaks, to consult with Moira, the "Sage of the Ruins", a well-known (if not well-respected) source of information about artifacts found in the local ruins.  They had brought to her a golden death mask, taken from an orcish restless dead, and wished to know it's source and history.  They had learned it had probably come from the barrows beneath _Alderslook_.  This set of ruins was, incidentally, the same one the kobolds had claimed to have been chased out from by the "strange light".  (They had fled to the Smitson farm, carrying their dragon idol.)  Moira was interested in the party's story of adventure, especially when Rowan talked of the dragon idol "that we've heard about...  ..somewhere......".

The adventurers were returning home, when they were ambushed by giant spiders.  The spiders had "taken over" a nearby farm, owned by the family of Lissia Longwoods (whom they had met along the road, pleading for help).  They were now in the process of clearing the farm of the over-grown 8-legged vermin.

The adventurers had re-grouped at one of the Longwood's houses after rescueing most, but not all of the farming family.  Several family members remained unaccounted for: two sons, and the father.  Only the barn remained unexplored, and it was covered with stronger webs than they had seen so far.  Whatever spider was in there was really big, and really well defended.

******

The party was tired and wounded, weakened by spider venom from previous battles that day.  Thaile, the cleric, and Rowan, the Druid, were nearly out of healing magicks.   All needed rest and tending.  Yet there were people yet to be saved, and the longer the rescuers waited, the less likely those missing would be found alive.

There was only one thing to do.  As the sun set, the party readied their battle gear and advanced on the barn.



> _from the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> As we neared the barn, we worked on burning the outdoor webs first. Two dead horses hung, fully coccooned about halfway up the building. Thaile opened the barn door once we got to it; a bunch of small spiders attacked her and Bavic immediately.  We killed many, and the rest fled to the loft. As he burned more webs, two tiny spiders dropped onto Garrett.  They were killed quickly.
> 
> As we were busily burning webs, Thaile heard a whispering, non-human voice saying "I am bereft".  I didn't hear anything, and neither did Garret or Tieran.  All of us could hear the scutting of spiders up in the loft above us.   Could Thaile have heard something from up there?  She wasn't sure.  And what did "bereft" mean, anyway?  Thaile was growing nervous.
> 
> We cleared the lower level of the barn: stalls, hay mound, tack room.  Just little spiders (2 feet wide!) down here.  Ugg.  Then up the stairs we went, and by we I mean Riva, Garrett, and Thaile. Uncle James, Tieran, and I stayed below to help out if needed.
> 
> Riva was webbed as he moved up the stairs, but managed to get out of it and continued up, slashing the webs as he went. When he reached the top of the stairs, he was webbed again, swarmed with spiders, and bitten multiple times. For awhile I wasn't sure if the little buggers could even get under the dwarf's armor...but then he started staggering a bit and I saw red blood....I knew we were in trouble.
> 
> Garrett was webbed too, and bitten by larger spiders; and he was too far back to help Riva.  Then Garret shouted down to us: "There's a bigger one up here!  Really big, coming your way!"  Just then the biggest spider I had ever seen leaned obver the edge of the loft and bit Tieran!  Luckly Tieran managed to get out of the clutches of the spider, and made a run for it out the barn door.  Thaile must have wished she had followed Tieran, as she was the next to be bitten by that 10' wide monstrosity.
> 
> While we (the wizard, the cleric, and the druid!) were fighting the big monster, Garret was doing his best to get out of the webs and rescue Riva.  The dwarf was down on one knee, tiny spiders all over him, and webbed to the spot.  Garret was pretty desparate - we all were at that point - so he threw some oil over both himself and Riva and lit it.  The webs and spiders burned away -- and Riva fell unconcious from the burns he suffered.  Garret grabbed him, then jumped off the stairs to the ground below.  Good thing Riva could feel no pain; Garret and Bavic landed on top of him.
> 
> Thaile was badly wounded and out of spells, and so she ran out of the barn.  I followed, hoping to draw the big guy away from Garret and Riva....no such luck.  The huge spider turned and charged them....only to be met by Uncle James!
> 
> He gave them just a few moments, though.  With one bite from that monster's huge mandibles, Uncle James lay on the floor in a pool of his own blood.  _(DM's note: Mixed with spider venom!  Don't foget the greenish yellow spider venom!)_  Then the huge thing advanced on Garret and Riva!
> 
> Garret was sorely wounded.  Riva was unconcious.  With his last bit of holy power, Garret brought Riva to conciousness, hoping he, at least, could flee before the big guy got to them.
> 
> Riva flee?  Garret must have really been on the edge on conciousness himself....
> 
> Riva had dropped his greataxe on the stairs above.  Garret, too, was without a weapon, dropped when he grabbed Riva.  Riva grabbed his only weapon, some sort of hunting knife I guess, and lunged at the soft underbelly of the spider.  He hit!  He had put all of his power into the blow _(DM's note: *Power Attack*!)_ and held it with two hands as his arms sunk, up to the dwarf's shoulders, into the beast.
> 
> The huge spider stopped, shuttered, openned it's mandibles once or twice.....and sank to the ground.
> 
> Goodness gracious....  We had won!
> 
> Overall, it was a pretty ugly battle.   But in the end, we managed to kill all the spiders and keep the farm and outbuildings relatively intact.  We put out the oil fire on the stairs, and found the missing men. Only one of the sons was alive.  The others were just dry husks, wrapped in white.




The adventurers retired for the night to one of the houses with the survivors of the Longwoods family.  They shuttered the windows and bolted the doors, tended their wounded, and went to sleep.

*End of Session #9*


----------



## Nail

*Another update?  Dude, slow down......*

*Session #10: "Back to Eaglesford!"*
(Session of RL June 12th, 2003)

As the adventurers went to sleep, Lissia and her older brother-in-law returned.  (They had been sent to town to get help from the town guard.)  They had been attacked by spiders on the road, and had to turn back.  It had looked like many other farms were having similar problems.

The night passed uneventfully.



> _from the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> *May 31st*  At the Longwood Farm
> 
> Thaile and I went to the medium house to tend the wounded and poisoned. During the day, Thaile and I noticed that people who had been bitten by the spiders were stabilizing faster than they normally would, even those who were mortally wounded. Webbed people were healing more quickly than those who had not been webbed. I collected a large bag of spider silk to take back to see if I might find a use for it.
> 
> Tieran, Riva, Garrett (with Bavic), and Lissia went to check to see if there were more spiders and clear out any that were left. In the chicken coop, two tiny spiders dispatched by Lissia and Garrett. In the pig sty, one small spider, killed by Riva.
> 
> Afternoon came with nothing exciting happening. Riva made use of his skill as a weaponsmith to fix the family's crossbow.
> 
> Eventually, enough of the family was concious enough that they could thank us for saving them.  They wanted to pay us...but we told them it wasn't necessary.
> 
> Then Lissia, who had been following Riva around like a little puppy the whole time we've been here, started asking the rest of us if she could go along with us when we left for Eaglesford.  Garret didn't think it was a good idea, but Riva eventually convinced him that he'd train her in the ways of the warrior, and her Uncle (now healed and healthy after the huge spider attack) seemed really proud that his neice would "go out into the world and learn how to swing a sword".  Finally, we agreed to take her with us.
> 
> 
> That night was also uneventful. In the morning we headed back to Eaglesford.
> 
> ....And what do you know: that part of the journey was uneventful too!  I hope we can have more parts like that!





*More of Session #10 to come.....*


----------



## Nail

*Lissia's dissapointment......*

*Session #10: "Meanwhile, back in Eaglesford....."*
(Session of RL June 12th, 2003)

The five adventurers arrived back in Eaglesford late at night.  After some fuss at the late hour by the gate watchman, they were allowed through the hamlet's gate.

*Tieran*, wizard, went to his lodgings to study.

*Riva* (dwarvish barbarian/fighter), with the human girl Lissia in tow, went to his father's house, and stayed up most of the night, beer mug in hand, regailing his dad with stories of his battles these last 8 days.  (...And if the human girl had beer as well, what of it?  Dwarvish children would've been treated no differently....)   Lissia, eventually, fell asleep in a nearby chair, happily cradling the new armor Riva had given her.

Thaile (human cleric) and Garret (halfling holy warrior) went about checking with the notables of the town.  There was much news:
 The Captain and his men had returned from hunting goblins, badly injured.  One of his men, one of the Mangleson boys, had been killed in an ambush.  

 The Captain's group had rested and healed in town for a few days.  Yesterday the Captain (along with the Warden, the Warden's crew, Mrs. Faegan, and some of the town guard) had gone out again to search for goblins.  It was said they would go towards the Garresh first, and that they would be back in a week, if all went well.

 The goblins have been seen looting and burning farms east and south of Eaglesford.   Not, incidentally, in the direction of the old Smitson farm or the Garresh (to the northeast), but in the direction of Alderslook and the Earogath (to the southeast).

 Garret's aunt was (thankfully) nowhere to be found.

 Farmers had started moving their families out of Eaglesford, to the west, to live with relatives or friends.  The villagers were resigned to a long, drawn-out struggle with the goblins.

*Rowan*, druid of Eaglesford, returned to her former master's house.  She found Greystone and Kytum-up (the kobold warrior) gone.  A note, addressed to Rowan, lay on the table.  It said:







> _You know to whom I go to protect.  Do not be tipped from the balance._
> -Greystone




***

The next morning, the adventurers met to discuss plans.  That Greystone had gone to help the kobolds, there was no doubt.  But what should the party do?

While the rest re-equiped themselves, Garret went to have lunch with the Lord of Eaglesford, Lord Aelric.  Garret took Lissia, so she could tell her story of the Spider's attack.  He first taught Lissia a bit about "court ettiquette".  The girl learned quickly, if not exactly, what Garret intended.

The lunch went smoothly, but only the Lady of the manor was present.  She appologized that Lord Aelric "wasn't feeling well".  Garret exchanged what small talk he could manage, and then left, Lissia following meekly behind.

The party regrouped, and decided to go to the old Smitson farm.  Lissia was left behind, to train with the town watch.  "She needs some more experience with weapons before we take her with us," said Garret, "We'll be back soon, perhaps even tomorrow, and we'll see how she's doing."

......Lissia was disappointed.  She held back what tears she could, and promised the party she would "train as hard as I can!"

The party left to find Greystone.....


*More of Session #10 to come.....*


----------



## Gina

*Session 10? More to come....*

Oh come on! We're way past session #10! 

Ok, so you have this job and all.....Still, it's about to get interesting....

Will Riva find a way to get himself killed?

Will any of us figure out what exactly our plan is?

Will Rowan start using her druidic powers or just keep flailing around wildly with her quarterstaff?

Will Tieran continue to be the best mage/archer who ever lived?

All of these questions and more to be answered in the next installment of "Strange Lights"!

Or something like that eh?

Don't know why I needed to chime in here....but I had to!

Rowan the Druid


----------



## Nail

*internet clog......*

Hey there!

Sorry about the delay, for those 2 people out there that are reading.  Among other things, it's getting more and more difficult for me to post to ENworld...some kind of techno-internet thingy.  Anyway:

*Session #10: "Wait: Who is here, helping us?  You’ve gotta be kidding..."*
(Session of RL June 12th, 2003)

The adventurers arrived at the remains of the Old Smitson farm without incident.  The house lay as it had before, but surrounding it on the ground were muddy patches, trails of scorch marks, and signs of battle with the restless dead.

The small hut, between the well and the house, had been recently repaired, and the door re-hung on its hinges and locked.  The hut was opened (thanks to Thaile’s skill) and explored; it was stuffed with old pots, hanging bunches of herbs, and ceramic vials of foul-smelling liquids.  The party spent quite a bit of time thinking through what this all could mean.

Then Greystone strode out of the woods toward them, with Garret’s crazy ‘Aunt’ hobbling along beside him.

“What’cha all lookin’ at?!!!” the old witch snarled, “Get outta there!  That’s my stuff, an’ there’s no use poking around in it!  It was locked fer a reason, you big pests!  Out!  Out!”



> _From the journals of Rowan the Druid_
> ...Garret’s aunt was not so pleased at Thaile picking the lock.  The old halfling and Garrett had one of their usual conversations.  Halflings have strange family dynamics!  The rest of us talked to Greystone
> 
> Graystone said that the kobolds are important to the balance because they are different, not typical of their kind. They have a connection to the tree-born gods. They worship Kikuk and he suspects that is a name they have for one of the gods of the tree.
> 
> He had never heard of the Dragon’s Eye cult.
> 
> He told the “Brother Mamont version” of the happenings at the Garresh. He also mentions that the townspeople did have doubts about Bro. Mamet’s story, but the orcs were gone and the raids ceased, so they decided that it must be true.
> 
> Graystone also mentioned that Hara (Garrett’s aunt) is also a druid.  I have to say, I’m pretty shocked.  That old bat is a druid??!  Greystone says she was trained by his master, Kaleal the centaur.
> 
> Huh.  Will wonders never cease....




*End of Session #10 *


----------



## Nail

*a-posting we will go....*

*Session #11: "Wait: Who is here, helping us?  You’ve gotta be kidding..."*
(Session of RL June 19th, 2003)



> _From the journals of Rowan the Druid_
> 
> We spent the evening in the barn waiting for the inevitable attack of the restless dead. Garrett spent the evening with his Aunt Hara.  (How ca those two stand to be in the same, small one-room hut together?) Graystone recounted the battles of the last few days and how they had used water from the well to soften the earth to make some of his spells more effective.
> 
> The attack came at night as always. We were alerted by the watchers (two kobolds in the rafters) that the walking dead were on the move. Tieran found that his disrupt undead spell was working better than it had been recently and he was able to hit twice with it.  Riva ran out to take care of the one undead who came to get the kobolds.  (Against our better judgement, of course.  ...But telling Riva not to charge is...uhmm...not easy.)
> 
> Hara thought that they might be coming from the South. About an hour later, another undead came shambling up. Riva went out to take care of it. Riva, being a good and hearty dwarf killed it with a blow from his greataxe. It was also hit by missile fire.
> 
> One more came that night, I hit it with the sling (twice!) before Riva killed it.
> 
> The rest of the night passed without incident.
> 
> June 3rd
> Thaile asked the kobold archers with us if we can get into the Kobold warren through some secret way, since she had questions to ask. The kobolds said that they were sent aboveground to guard and cannot get back in.
> 
> We discussed the idol and whether there is a curse on it. Also discussed what we should do with it if we did get it. Garrett thought that the idol would, of course, be given to the house of Morwyn if we got it from the kobolds. Thaile thought that the idol would be much better off in her hands....it made her feel right, somehow....(what’s that look in her eye when she says that?) We ended the discussion with no real decision on what to do.
> 
> We still had no idea what we would do or look for at Alder’s look. The kobolds were there for years and years before they had a problem, so we were not entirely sure what had changed or what we should be doing or looking for. Graystone was no help either, having only an idea that the Kobolds were important to the balance.
> 
> Garrett said that Holy Mother Shinea said that there was a necromancer years ago, but she was killed. That was the last known activity of that sort in the area.
> 
> During the day, we slept as much as we could to be fresh for the night.
> 
> Thaile had a vision of clouds skittering across the sky while she slept.
> 
> In late afternoon, Garrett and Thaile heard prying noises. Sure enough, there were some undead out there going after the kobold warren, prying up boards from the area near the door. There were ten of them. Thaile turned seven of them (Go Thaile! Praise Darmon!).
> 
> Of course, there was a mummy as well. Riva, Graystone, Hara, me, and Tieran were all frozen in fear. So, Thaile and Garrett worked on taking it down until the rest of us came out of it. It could not be turned.
> 
> As we overcame our fear, Riva was tossed by the mummy and landed....on top of me!  I was not really happy about that, dwarves are heavy! After a while of trying to hurt it and not having any effect, Garrett discovered that using heal spells did damage to it. As we healed it to death, it spoke!  It said:
> 
> “My works will not be destroyed!”
> 
> We found a silver dragon amulet on this mummy which turned out to be magical, some kind of protection.  Thaile put it on for safekeeping.
> 
> Soon the turned undead began returning. Skeletons and Zombies, there were ten in all. Thaile used the power of Darmon to blast all but three of them to dust. The other were dispatched by Garrett, Graystone, me, and of course, Riva.
> 
> From one of the orcish walking dead we found a holy symbol of Rontra. We were very confused as to why one of them would be worshipping one of the old gods. Orcs, as far as we know, do not worship these gods. We discussed this at length, but were unable to come to any conclusions.
> 
> After the battle, we noted that Riva was ill. We couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong or what to do about it...and he was getting worse.




*End of Session #11 *


----------



## Nail

*3 posts, one day; I can walk and chew gum at the same time too!*

*Session #12: Deciding what to do.*
(Session of RL July 8th, 2003)



> _From the journals of Rowan the Druid_
> 
> *Night of June 3rd: Old Smitson Farm*
> 
> The hungry dead attacked us that night.  We were still wounded and tired from the battle with the mummy, so we had locked ourselves in the barn.  The four hungry dead ripped a hole in the barn door and charged us.  Riva killed two of them, Thaile turned one, and Garrett killed one once he reached us from Hara’s hut. I was paralyzed by one, and was hurt pretty badly before Riva killed it.
> 
> We repaired the door and went back to sleep.
> 
> *June 4th: Old Smitson Farm*
> 
> Early morning came and it began raining.
> 
> Riva was very sick and seemed to be getting worse. The sickness seemed to be coming from the mummy attack as his wounds from that were not healing and were in fact getting really yucky. I used the spidersilk poultice, but it was not helpful.
> 
> Garrett rode back to town.  He went to Robert Faegan to collect the potion Mrs. Faegan had that would cure the disease.  Fortunately, Mrs. Faegan had not taken it with her when she went with the Captain.  When Garrett returned, Riva took the potion.  We could see him start to improve almost immediately.
> 
> We relaxed for the day after fixing the barn door in a more permanent fashion.
> 
> Garrett and his aunt fought throughout the day, as she kept locking him out of her hut.  (Why did he want to stay in there, anyway?) The old woman was apparently tired of Garret’s comings and goings and wouldn’t let him back in.
> 
> That night there was no attack and we slept well.
> 
> *June 5th: Old Smitson Farm*
> 
> Riva was on the mend, the curing potion having done wonders for him and before long, he was his old self again, anxious to rush headlong into danger and probable death for some peculiar ideal of dwarven valor.
> 
> At midday we decided to get to the Kobolds so we could speak to Kitum-up. As we were pursuing this course of action a large walking dead (9 feet tall!) shambled into view. It was wearing armor and weilding a club. It whacked Riva hard and almost killed him (in fact, for a moment we thought that it had), it also came close to killing Tieran. It took all of us working together, but we finally managed to kill the thing!
> 
> We then finished digging down to get out a Kobold or two to speak with....oh, and to ask for some healing! We got directions to the kobold’s former lair in Alderslook (they drew us a map), some healing (Riva and Tieran were in pretty bad shape), and some information.
> 
> The kobolds said that they found us to be trustworthy, unlike most humans. This is why they gave us information on how to reach their warren in Alder’s look. We asked them about the idol and were told that they only had it for a short time before the white light came. Before that it was in the hand of their god, Kikuk. They had it three years before the white light came.
> 
> We discussed the idol at length and determined that returning it to the altar under Alderslook might take care of the problem of the undead, however, there are many goblins in the great swamp.
> 
> Kytum-up was chosen to come with us and the idol to Alder’s Look.
> 
> Night passed uneventfully.
> 
> *June 6th: Back to Eaglesford*
> 
> We returned to Eaglesford, leaving the farm around noon.
> 
> The captain still had not returned.
> 
> Lissia wanted to come along with us when we went out next time.
> 
> Night passed without event.
> 
> *June 7th: Eaglesford*
> 
> The captain and his group returned and went directly to speak to the Lord. He gave a quick speech, though....what was it, again?





*End of Session #12 *

_DM’s note: Rowan’s player had only 3 hours of sleep the night before this session.  Does her recollection of events show it?_


----------



## Nail

Did I mention we play session #17 in 13 days?  ...and here I am, working on typing up session #13.  I'm so behind!

There's some cool druid stuff coming up soon, though.


----------



## Nail

*4 story hour posts in one day...what other story hour author can boast as much?*

*Session #13: *
(Session of RL July 18th, 2003)



> _From the journals of Thaile, Wayfarer of Darmon, the Laughing God_
> 
> I’m a bit new at writing the journals, but as Rowan had mis-placed her pen (_ her player missed this session_), I’ll give it a try.
> 
> *June 7th*
> Noon : Captain returned to Eaglesford with his group. The captain and Lord Elric met privately. We joined Mrs. Faegan and the rest of the group to discuss their journey. Mrs. Faegan filled us in on some of their trip.:
> 
> First they went to the Garrish. They were attacked by _Shadows of Darkness_, which she was able to turn several times, allowing them to get out of the area as soon as possible. However, they were able to determine that the goblins are no longer at the Garrish.
> Encountered goblins and hungry dead near Alder’s Look.
> It looked as though the hungry dead and goblins were not working together
> They also came across some undead kobolds
> There were many goblins at Alder’s Look, but they had to watch close to see them, they were very well hidden.  The group didn't get close enough to Alderslook itself to check it out.
> While we were talking to Mrs. Faegan, I took the opportunity to ask some questions about other information we had collected to get her views. She said she never dealt directly with Moria. I went on to tell Mrs. Faegan about showing Moria the mask and that Moria linked it to the Dragon’s Eye Cult. Mrs. Faegan didn’t know anything about the cult.
> 
> Garrett and I went to the keep to try to talk to Lord and Captain, while Tieran, Riva, and Rowan went to the bar to have a drink and see what was going on. They ran into Jingles who had a few different items that we were interested in. He had some elven chain mail that Riva was interested in and some spells that sparked Tieran’s interest.  While they talked, Riva and Garret told Jingles of (only some!) of thier adventures so far.
> 
> Garret and I were unable to talk to Captain & Lord Elric, so they joined the others in the tavern. At the tavern Garrett tracked down Jarret (_one of the town watch that went with the Captain_) and got his take on what happened. While talking Garrett mentioned that they guy guarding the keep wanted a break. And he found the dwarf town guard… that has always been around, but just now happened to show up...
> 
> _(DM's note:  Arrgggg!  Okay, so I was missing a guard.....he was out doing his laundry, or something.....)_
> 
> After some more conversation with the group and Jingles we ended up buying 2 alchemists fire and 4 tangle foot, some scrolls for Tieran. The elven chain will need to wait for Riva as it was quite expensive. We also sold Jingles some half plate and a breastplate that we had found on our journeys. When Jingles took a look at the breastplate, he mentioned that is looked like it had been underwater for sometime, probably in a swamp.  More confermation the restless dead were coming from the barrows under Alder's Look, I guess.
> 
> Later in the evening the Captain came to relay some basic information that he was going to Three Oaks tomorrow to see the Lord there. He recommended that we head south to Alder’s Look to try to clean up some more of the goblins.  (_DMs note: He also said to be careful, as the goblins like ambushes!)
> 
> We spend the next four days in town so that Tieran could scribe spells and Rowan could brew some potions.
> 
> *June 11th*
> 
> Left Eaglesford in the evening as we had decided to travel at night. We headed south on the road to Earogath with Kytumup. Kytumup had the idol in his bag. After traveling for about 4 hours we ran into some goblins on the road. One of them was a mage that would ride in on a wolf, cast, and then ride away. After taking care of that group of goblins and searching the area we found a sack full of coins (about 100g/s/c) and a bundle on the goblin. The packet was full of sewing needles made of fine quality steel. We decided to walk until dawn and rest then.
> 
> *June 12th*
> 
> During the day we had an uneventful sleep. As we started our journey at dusk, we stumbled upon a group of goblins, cows, pigs, etc. in the middle of the forest. After killing one of the goblins in this battle it turned invisible. When all fighting had ceased Tieran and Riva tried to determine what made the goblin invisible, stripping it down to nothing an then chopping off each of it’s body parts. As each piece was detached it became visible, however the torso remained invisible._



_

*End of Session #13 *_


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## Nail

Right; that's enough of that, then.  Back to work!


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Excellent.  Strange Lights is back with a vengence!

Now that I can post again, it's time for another dance of the cute baby!

Don't you wish you had such a svelte youthful figure?


----------



## Nail

Woot!  SBI is back!


I'll post session #14 in a sec.....


----------



## Nail

*Lost!*

*Session #14: *
(Session of RL July 23rd, 2003)

The adventurers had driven off the last remnants of the goblin raiding party.  Two of the leader goblins had escaped on the backs of their pet wolves; several of the lower goblins had been able to run off, out of Riva’s darkvision range, and make their escape through the woods.

One of the leader goblins had been trapped in Tieran’s web, however, and had not fared so well.  Although the goblin had been able to turn invisible, somehow, a flaming sphere from Rowan had been close enough to him to finish him off.  Now the body of the former goblin commander lay in the midst of burnt webbing, still “invisible”, revealed only by the ash from the fire.  Riva strode up, with Tieran right behind, and made ready to dismember the goblin’s roasted corpse.

Why tear the long-dead goblin, limb from limb?

“Ta see what makes ‘im invisible, of course!” says Riva, as he gleefully severs one of the corpse’s limbs.  After each limb is severed, it becomes visible, until only the invisible trunk of the body remains.  Tieran discusses this strange occurrence with Riva.  What sort of magic could this be?  No decision is reached, although magical rings and amulets are definitively ruled out.

The rest of the party avoids this macabre magical investigation, and decides to search the goblins camp.  They find all sorts of common household items, presumably stolen from the farms around Eaglesford: pots, bowls, kegs of ale, books, nails....even entire window panes, bags of recently removed door hinges, and pots of fresh writing ink.  Rowan breaks one accidentally, and stains her boots and robe.  The rest try hard to suppress their giggles as she accidentally marks her face with the permanent ink.

Also found was a small locked wooden box, which contained a carved wooden comb with two garnets and a silver holy symbol of Anwyn (Goddess of the Hearth).  There is some other jewelry as well; in fact some of it Thaile recognizes as pieces that were sold by her family to the surrounding townspeople.

After completely searching the goblin’s stockpile, the party goes off a short distance and sleeps.  Watches are set.  

The night is interrupted by an attack by a large walking dead, wielding a greataxe and wearing a set of rusty armor.  The walking corpse was able to walk right into camp, practically stepping on Tieran, before the adventurers were organized enough to respond.  It swung its greataxe at Kytum-up, singling him out for almost the entire combat.  The only other person it swung at was Thaile, who tried charging the thing, only to be met with a hard slash of the axe.  (She wisely avoided its reach for the rest of the combat.)  Eventually, with the help of Riva and Kytumup, Garret was able to take it down with a ride-by attack.

Kytum-up, during the battle, had demonstated one of his abilities.  Barking out some sort of prayer in draconic, the kobold’s hands glowed with a warm light.  He touched the walking corpse, and damaged it.  Afterwards, Garret regarded Kytum-up with a new-found respect.  Perhaps here stood another of his own kind: a holy warrior.   But which god did he pray to?



> _from the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> *June 13th: Recouping at the Goblin Camp*
> Morning came with a soaking rain. We continued our search of the soggy goblin camp. The livestock were gone. In searching the area more thoroughly, we discovered the goblins had buried something. We dug up three chests of coins. 519 coppers, 683 silver, and 243 gold.
> 
> Tieran did some magic detecting and found that we had two potions of some sort. (A minor transmutation magic, and a minor conjuration magic). We also found that we had some masterwork weapons and armor. (further details on party treasure listing)
> 
> We spent the day resting and trying to stay dry.
> 
> Watches were the same as the night before. Night passed uneventfully.
> 
> *June 14th: Walking through the Woods*
> We began walking and saw a brown bear. I calmed it with a spell after failing to do so with natural skill.  I’m pretty proud of myself; that bear could have caused us serious trouble, even for Riva!
> 
> We came to a river, which seemed to be very wrong; there was no river that we should cross, given where we were on our map. We decided that we might be lost and traveling in circles. It had been overcast for several days, we had been travelling only at night, and Riva (our fighter) had been leading us. Thaile climbed a tree and saw that we were in almost precisely the wrong place...lost.
> 
> We traveled upstream to see if we could figure out where we were. Evening came and we were still lost. We made camp atop a hill, among the ancient trees. I really liked the trees; I’m pretty sure we’re south of the Earogath, a large copse of very ancient trees.  There's supposed to be some sort of treant living there, I think.  What was his name?  "Old Stump"?
> 
> As we were setting camp, a giant praying mantis came into view and jumped on Riva (who had been out gathering wood for a fire). It took all of us to kill it. Thaile was not happy about seeing the thing, having been so badly chomped by one before. This time I didn't cast _Entangle_.
> 
> We took our customary watches. By third watch, the clouds were gone. So, we had a better idea of what direction to travel in!
> 
> As we walked, Rowan got the feeling that someone was watching her, magically. It only lasted a few minutes. Lots of discussion of this and who or what it might be. We decided that it could be Moira, but we could not be certain.
> 
> We came to a stream and crossed it. We hit the road as evening came. Garrett was very concerned as we seemed to be farther off course than we should have been. He thought that the misdirection may have  come from the same source as the feeling Rowan had of being watched. Other theories were discussed as well, perhaps it was the Earogoth which has been rumored to cause travelers to lose their way that caused us to go so far astray, perhaps it was something at Alder’s Look, working to keep people away, or perhaps it was simply that the days and nights had been too overcast to get a good bearing on where we were.
> 
> Whatever caused it, we had found ourselves very near to Scanton, Thaile’s home town. The stream we had crossed was Alder’s Seep.
> 
> Thaile, Garrett, and Tieran went into Scanton to spend the night and check out what might be happening. Myself, Riva, Lissia, and Kytum-up stayed outside town (along with Bavic) and set up a camp.
> 
> The town gates were missing, armored people were standing around the area. They said that an owlbear had come out of the Aldersmere and torn the gates right off. Goblins have been raiding here as well. The Aldersmere seems to be spitting out all of it’s refuse they said. There had also been attacks in Woodston.
> 
> Garrett relayed a message from the Captain of Eaglesford, that Three Oaks will be sending Legions to assist with the goblin problem.
> 
> The town guards were not terribly thrilled to see Thaile, seems she was a naughty girl when she was last here in town. She says, "Oh, that was years ago...."
> 
> Provisions were obtained and after finding out that Jingles the Merchant was in town.  Garrett and Thaile decided to seek him out after a trip to Thaile’s family’s house.
> 
> Tieran settled down in a room at the inn to sleep and study in relative comfort.
> 
> Thaile and Garrett went to see Thaile’s mother, who was happy to see her daughter. Apparently her sister fell in with the wrong crowd and went to Frane, a city to the South. Her mother also appraised some items and told Thaile who they had been stolen from by the Goblins.
> 
> Jingles had nothing really new for us to buy, but did purchase one of the shields we had found. He also explained that the Earogath often causes strange things to happen on the road, he never camps anywhere near there himself, nor does he allow himself to be caught in the area after dark, it’s just not safe.
> 
> He was interested to know if we had found anything of interest. No, Garrett and Thaile said, nothing. Jingles knows Moira and knows that she gives him a fair price in their dealings. He also told us that the Alderseep does lead straight to Alder’s Look, but don’t drink the water, it comes from barrow mounds and is not safe.
> 
> That evening in the camp outside town, Rowan felt the watching feeling again. It lasted for about five minutes. She told whoever was listening in to leave her alone.
> 
> *June 15th: Up the Alderseep*
> In town, the clerical types went to do “the temple thing”, then all three went to see the blacksmith to sell armor and weapons. They sold the chain and purchased a masterwork shortsword for Garrett (315 gp, plus Garrett’s old shortsword). They also gave the blacksmith the bastard sword and the initialed armor that we had found, to give back to their rightful owners.
> 
> They went once more to see the captain and then met the rest of the party at the camp outside town. As we walked we talked to Kytum-up about Kikuk and discovered that he is the god of dragons and earth. We were still unsure of what it meant or if he was a god of the tree or one of the old gods, or something else entirely.
> 
> We followed the stream until about noon when we began to see large hills rising nearby. We could see at the crest of a hill a large, squat collection of broken towers. To get there, we would need to be on the other side of the stream. We estimated ourselves to be about a mile away. Kytum-up said that it would be better to enter from the back, by going around rather than traveling onward through the valley where we might be seen easily.
> 
> So, we decided to go around.




*End of Session #14 *


----------



## Nail

*Obscure movie references?  Nah!*

*Session #15: "They’re going after the medical frigate!"*
(Session of RL August 6th, 2003)

The adventurers were finally within sight of the ruins of Alderslook.  It had been a long time in coming.......

In front of them lay a shallow vale, dotted with low, tree covered mounds -- mounds that were said to be the burial places of the orcs.  When the orcs came to raid, years ago (17?  20?) they would camp here, and when they were finished they would bury their dead here.  (_Bury_ their dead?  How could even the most barbarous race have such a foul and necromantic custom?  How could their spirits go into the graces of the gods without being first liberated from their corpses by fire?)

Towering over one side of the vale was a huge cliff, perhaps 1000 feet tall.  Its face was pock-marked by innumerable crevices and caves, some of which, even from this distance, could be seen seeping water.  Some might even be called miniature water falls.

On top of the cliff was the ruins of Alderslook, it’s five towers simply broken stumps connected by crumbling walls.  The only way up was around to the side, on the gradually steepening tree-covered slope that ran up to Alderslook’s gates.  It was there that the adventurers were heading.

Somewhere up there....somewhere up there were goblins, lying in wait for them.




> _from the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> I’m sorry for how short this section will be...we’ve been attacked twice in one day, and all of us are heavily wounded.  I’m tired from all of the tending and healing I’ve had to do, on myself as well as the others.  I know we should have expected some resistance like this...but who knew they would send out parties of specially-trained ambushers to hunt us?
> 
> * June 17th: Goblin Ambushes*
> We broke camp and headed out. After a bit of travel, Tieran motioned to us that he heard something. None of us could see anything....but we had been ambushed before. As we discussed what to do, Riva heard something moving behind us. Goblins....with wolves.    Sigh.  Ambushed again.
> 
> Rowan and Tieran moved behind a tree for cover. There were lots of trees and shrubs, offering cover for us, but also for them. There was quite a bit of jockeying for position as we prepared to meet the goblins in battle. They seemed to be using flanking tactics, trying (and mostly succeeding) to surround us.
> 
> Tieran fell, near death as he was attacked by a goblin mounted on a wolf. Kytum-up moved in to heal him. Once he was feeling a little better, Tieran webbed a bunch of the little suckers and that helped a lot.
> 
> Rowan summoned a swarm of spiders.....yuck, spiders, but it had to be done.  Both Riva and Garrett did some charging around killing goblins...but it wasn’t very effective.   Thaile and Lissia did some killing of their own with crossbows as well. The second wave of the goblin attack was archers about 100 feet away. They shot one volley and ran away.
> 
> One notable thing in this battle was the use of a strange potion by the wolf-mounted goblins.  They drank a potion, then vomited some kind of stuff out at their target which then vaporized, causing a mist. The stuff they spewed also seemed to cause a daze effect upon the one caught, not sure if the effect was caused by the mist or by the spew.
> 
> We needed some serious healing.  Then we looted the corpses and felt somewhat better about things after that. At least we killed a few of them, but it would have been better if we had killed more. Garrett voiced concern about their tactics and how effective they had been against us.
> 
> We moved on uphill through steeper terrain. Sadly, we did not see the second attack coming.
> 
> Tieran and I were hit by archers right away. Both were hurt very badly, I went down, near death in the first moments of the battle. Tieran hit the ground in an attempt to save himself from the same fate. Thaile moved over to heal me.....overall, the battle was very much like the previous one. We were able to take some of them out, but for the most part, it was very much a hit and run thing. They targeted the spellcasters in particular in this case, really doing some serious damage.  Tieran was almost killed several different times...they seemed to be really focusing on him!
> 
> After we had apparently driven away the goblins, and used up most of our healing, one of them appeared only a few feet away from us, and shot Tieran with a poisoned bolt.  Then the little sneak got away, running faster than even Garret, mounted on Bavic, could go.
> 
> After the ambush, we discussed how we might avoid such situations in the future as we looked for a place to hole up and heal up. We found a nice cave with a small entrance near the face of the cliff. It was a little damp, but it was easily defensible and seemed to have a hole somewhere above to vent smoke from our small fire. We used brush to screen the entrance so that the fire would not draw any unwanted attention.
> 
> Thaile was poking around in the cave a bit and found some pottery shards. After examining the shards, she determined that they were parts of sarcophagi, about eight of them. They were very old, perhaps centuries old and had been quite large based on the size of the niches in the wall. They also looked as if they had been defaced. Perhaps they had been decorated with dragon figures at one time...
> 
> We wondered if they might have been ogres, since they sometimes work with orcs and we knew that this place had been used by orcs.
> 
> In the evening we discussed the goblin attacks and what might be going on with that. We discussed battle plans for the future and determined some strategies to try to keep from getting ambushed again. We also discussed what might be the overall purpose of the goblins, why they might be gathering so many mundane items and what they might want with them. We didn’t come to any conclusions, but we did give each other more to think about as we went to sleep.
> 
> We set up the usual watches, but nothing happened that night, thankfully.




*End of Session #15 *


----------



## Nail

Just wanted to thank, again, Rowan's player, for doing all the hard work and keeping these journals.  Really, there's very little that I have to write.  Thanks!!!

Next, I'll be posting a few emails that the players were passing back and forth after this session (#15) was over.  Strangely enough, the player's tactics were _far_ better during session #16.

"There will be no TPKs from goblins as long as I have _Briar Web_ memorized!"


----------



## Nail

*Player emails*



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> _Garret's Player, on the combat at the goblin's raiding party camp, before session #15_
> 
> Well, at least they weren't doing loads of damage. It really seemed as if they were so concentrated on defense that they weren't really much of a threat. Definitely fun, though!






			
				Nail said:
			
		

> _DM's email response_
> 
> Ooooo!  Those goblins are mad now!  All this talk of them not
> really being a threat makes them all purple with rage! (Or is
> that mauve...they have orange-grey skin with black, mange-y
> hair.)  (They might even break out in a greenish rash from all
> of that repressed underdog-ness, if given half the chance.
> They'd try to froth at the mouth too, but they can't quite
> muster enough spit.  They've concidered borrowing some....)
> 
> The goblins shake their puny, underestimated fists at you!
> They will have their revenge!   They will not be beaten again
> by a group of mis-fits twice their size and 5 times their skill
> level!  They will own joo!
> 
> -da DM






> _Rowan's Player's response (still before session #15)_
> 
> Ummmm.....I'm starting to feel a teensy bit sorry for the goblins.
> 
> Of course, that will end the first time one of them clocks me, I'm sure.






> _Rowan's player, after session #15, after her PC was alomst killed, twice:_
> 
> Forget that!


----------



## Nail

*Player's emails*

In the cave, the adventurers talk about the goblins:



> *Riva*:
> 
> Well, with all the stuff we've found, I'd say that the
> Goblins are under the control of another Person/Power
> that's setting up a hold somewhere.. or even a castle..
> hence things like doorknobs.. (for doors), needles (for
> repairing/making fabric), and such like that.. it might
> be that this is all happening up at the top of where
> we're heading to (alderslook?).. could be that a castle
> is being built/reconstructed there..   clearly the
> goblins are looting from homesteads in a wide area.. the
> type of stuff they're taking does rather suggest that
> they're taking what's necessary to make their own
> homestead (either for them specifically, or more
> likely for whomever is controlling them.. possibly
> a necromancer?).. it could also be that the
> purpose behind it is to set up a homestead(s) that
> from the outside look normal but inside are not..
> 
> Goblins are using standard sniping tactics.. to try to
> draw us into an ambush, to hit us where we're weakest..
> and it's working so far..  the only thing saving us is
> that our opponents (aside from that invisible rogue)
> were quite weak.. then again, maybe that's the point..
> (the weaker ones are there to give us encouragement that
> they can easily be routed, then we get drawn into
> their little trap as others attack us from behind and
> the sides)..


----------



## Nail

*Garret speaks.....*

And here's what Garret had to say:



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> It's the question on everyone's mind, though none of us are asking
> it out loud. Looking around the campfire it's easy to see why
> everyone's keeping quiet, and the wet walls of our "cave away from
> home" aren't doing much to lift everyone's spirits. We need to see if
> we can come to grips with our enemy, otherwise we're at too much of a
> disadvantage out here.
> 
> "Hey everyone, what's up with these goblins?
> 
> I mean, I have no idea what they want with all the paraphenalia of
> civilized living. What use do goblins have for sewing needles? window
> panes? brass door knobs?!?!? Much of it can be recast as weapons or
> tools or whatnot, but not all of it, and the arms & armor they have
> seem to be more than enough to get the job done so far! And I can't
> see them selling for any real gain, either. Maybe someone's directing
> them? And is going to try and sell this stuff back to the townsfolk
> or something?
> 
> But their tactics, I think we need to talk about those. I've been
> trying to figure out some of their overall strategy. I think I may
> have some insight into their organization, militarily-speaking.
> Our first couple encounters were along the roadside (before we got
> transported by that damn hill!). I'm not sure if we got jumped by
> patrols, goblins actually guarding the road, goblins returning from a
> farm raid, or what, but I don't think it really matters. Their
> tactics were the same: hit and run, multiple sides, spread us out and
> take us out one at a time. That's something we'll have to watch for,
> but I'll get to that later.
> 
> The next group is the one with the farm animals and stuff. That was
> more of a permanent stockpile, or mini-base, I think. I'm not sure,
> but I wonder if we just managed to stumble upon that and they weren't
> ready for us. That was the one battle where we seemed to upset them
> and were able to overcome them pretty effectively. They started out
> all attacking from one side, and then tried to flank us a bit, but
> our spells & weapons turned the tide a bit too quickly for them.
> 
> After that I think we started meeting either patrols that knew we
> were headed in their direction, or hunting parties specifically sent
> out to find us.  That's when the ambushes started. If Tieran hadn't
> recognized the danger over the slope back there, Riva would've been
> porcupined after reaching the top, directly in the line of fire
> of...what?...a good dozen of the buggers? Even he would've fallen
> under that onslaught after a couple barrages! These last couple
> groups have taken the time to find good, defensible positions in the
> foliage which has made it tough for us to effectively root them out.
> 
> Their spellcasters have quite a few tricks as well. In those
> battles along the road, Riva and I couldn't land a single blow! Their
> magic turned aside every thrust and swing we aimed their way.
> Thankfully since then their mages have seemed easier to hit. Though
> they have the means to increase their speed and even make themselves
> invisible, the worst they've thrown at us magically is that sleeping
> magic that hit Lissia & Rowan awhile back. Still, their pretty fair
> shots with their bows, and I'm sure they've got other tricks we've
> yet to see.
> 
> Finally, that marksman from this latest battle is a sign to me that
> we're making them nervous. That was a well-laid ambush, one that we
> walked right into again! He was invisible to start with (by his own
> magic or a potion I'm not sure), drank a potion to become invisible
> again, then was moving very fast as he skidaddled. He was a
> crackshot, so I'm not sure he was a mage, and with the quickness of
> his arrows I'm wondering if he was one of their trackers. Obviously
> the goblins are a bit worried as they seem to be throwing more and
> more resources to take care of their problem -- us!
> 
> I wouldn't be surprised if we find even more organized resistance
> as we head to the top. I'm wondering if they think we've gone, since
> our path to this cave led a bit down the mountain. Though I wouldn't
> be surprised if they are on their guard for the next couple days or
> so, or even if one of their trackers is trying to tail us to this
> cave right now. If we try some guerilla tactics we'll be at a severe
> disadvantage without a wilderness ranger of our own.
> 
> So what options do we have?
> 
> Well, for starters, I think we need to keep ourselves protected. I
> know all of the casters have some magic to help them with that, and
> all of us can make a point of Fighting Defensively or moving Totally
> Defensively to ward off as many blows as possible. The magic we have
> available is far better wielded against the goblins than it is to
> heal ourselves against their well-laid ambushes.
> 
> And that's the next thing. Rowan, are there any creatures of the
> forest that can help us? Let us know when some goblins are up ahead,
> laying in wait? Or that you could have fly over head and scout a bit
> for us? I'm sure their evil presence disturbs the animals and natural
> balance of the area. Perhaps we can try to listen for a lack of
> natural bird calls and such to let us know we're near them? This is
> your area, so please share your thoughts, but I'd be surprised to
> hear the goblins are treating the area with respect.
> 
> As far as our own tactics:
> Protect yourselves, either with magic, trees, bushes, or by keeping your guard up. Also, if you're being targeted by ranged fire, drop to the ground behind something.
> 
> Keep your eyes open for goblins trying flanking maneuvers.
> 
> Let's not try to cover the entire battlefield at once. Riva and I both have done a bit of reckless charging, usually in completely opposite directions, and often Kytum-Up in a third. That usually just means each of has found themselves getting fired upon by half a dozen goblins, and none of us is in a good position to take any of them out! I think we should work at sticking together so we can set up flanking positions and covering each other's backs. We'd probably do best to charge the leaders, either the marksman or the spellcasters, and leave the goblin troops to ranged fire or magic.
> 
> I think we'll do a lot better if we all work together to take down a single foe as quickly as possible. Anyone with ranged weapons can focus all their attacks on a single goblin or two until he's down or flees the battle. Riva, Kytum-Up & I can gang up on a marksman, spellcaster or wolf.
> 
> Try to take out the wolves when possible! A lot of the leader's maneuverability seems to come from those blasted wolf mounts. If we can take them out it should be easier to take out the leaders (barring their use of magic to speed themselves up, which is likely given what we've seen, still, how many trained wolves can they have?)
> 
> Tieran, your magical webs have done a great job of covering a good chunk of the battlefield for us. Keep it up, and try to web the leaders when you can; even if they aren't caught in the web, they spend valuable time working their way out rather than casting spells and causing us troubles.
> 
> Rowan, I think your entangling magic could do the same. I know you have some misgivings about using it after what happened on the road to Three Oaks, but you could literally take out half the goblins with your powers. I would ask that you do it early if you're going to do it at all, so we don't go charging into the area you want to affect, spoiling your chance at a safe casting.  Because your magic affects a much larger area, I think you're better off trying to affect as many goblins as possible rather than aiming for leaders. If you can place it such that 2 or 3 leaders are affected, all the better, but I'd rather keep our group safe. Any goblins you catch in the area will be less effective at firing their bows and easier for us to hit. Even if they aren't caught they'll be fleeing the area and not firing at us.
> 
> Our spell resources are limited, we'll probably only have enough magical power on a daily basis for one or two big battles, so we'll have to make our way to the kobold's area pretty quickly.
> 
> Save our potions when you can! We can usually count on our spells being replenished each morning, but we only have a handful of potions. Remember, both Kytum-Up and I can heal a bit as well.
> 
> Given all that, do people think we should rest all day to give
> ourselves a better chance of making it to the top the first time out?
> And Rowan time to see if she can find a companion in the forest? Or
> do we want to see if we can push through today?
> 
> I'm not sure if they think we've fled or not. If we went down a
> ways to get to this cave, they may not send out a hunting party until
> later tomorrow, as I'm betting they're on the defensive tonite and
> tomorrow morning, expecting us to attack. I'm guessing they've put 2
> and 2 together, and because of Kytum-Up's presence with us, that
> we're trying to reach the old Kobold area. If they have any decent
> trackers in their ranks, I'd imagine we've left quite a trail for
> them to follow us here, though the wandering we did getting here may
> make it a bit tough for them.
> 
> So who's next?"
> 
> <Turns expectantly to everyone else around the campfire.>


----------



## Nail

*Rowan*

Rowan's player wrote this response....



> Rowan, sitting quietly with her gray-green cloak pulled tightly around her to ward off the damp of the cave, listens to Garrett intently then offers her own opinion.....
> 
> "Goblins...I don't know much about them you know, but based on the little I do know, these tactics seem rather advanced for them. Garrett, your suggestions regarding defense are good, but that is your area of expertise, isn't it.
> 
> "Now, I think we need to look at the big picture with regard to the goblins.
> 
> "First, they have taken up residence in Alder's Look, quite soon, it would seem, after the Kobolds were forced to flee. Makes me wonder if somehow the goblins or whoever is directing them might have orchestrated driving out the kobolds.
> 
> "The goblins are raiding farms all around Alder's Look....we know of three Eagleford, Woodston, and the other village down Woodston way are being attacked. I think that it's a reasonable assumption that if there are other villages nearby, they are also being attacked.
> 
> "Creatures that normally live in the Aldersmere are leaving, being driven out either by the goblins upsetting their habitat, or by something else. I don't think that goblins just being there would be enough to drive these creatures out, but if there is something else there that is more powerful, it might be a force to do this.
> 
> "Among the stuff we found on the goblins was a holy symbol of Anwyn. Do these creatures worship Anwyn? Or perhaps they stole it from a cleric in one of the local villages.
> 
> "The reason the holy symbol seems to be important though is that they are taking very prosaic things. Anwyn is the goddess of the hearth. The things being taken are the items to make a home.....I don't really understand how it might go together, but it just seems that there is a connection there that I may or may not be making. It also might not be a connection at all. I do not think that they are intending to sell things back to the townspeople. Who does business with goblins? No one that I know of....
> 
> "I really think that something or someone is directing the goblins. It just seems that whatever is going on is far too well organized for it to be just goblins, but truly, I know very little about the creatures.
> 
> "Oh, about the misdirection....might have been the hills that we were camped on, but I also think that it could very easily have been that there is something at Alder's Look that does not want to be messed with.
> 
> "Well, that's my ideas for now. Hopefully, together we can make some sense of this."


----------



## Nail

*Riva*

Riva pipes up again:



> Another thought that comes to mind is that they could
> be constructing traps of some kind.. (though I'm not
> sure where the door handles would come into play in
> that)..


----------



## Nail

*Garret.....*

After Riva's comment, mutterings are heard about some strange force called a "RBDM".

After a moment, the adventurers refocus on what Rowan had to say:



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Garret stirs the campfire's embers a bit, glancing to make sure
> that Bavic is calm. With him resting near the cave's entrance, we
> should have a few seconds of warning if anyone approaches.
> 
> "Very good thoughts, Rowan. You remind me of something else
> I've thinking of.
> 
> Although we have a good theory about the Dragon staff attracting
> the undead, we're still just making guesses about the undead in
> general.
> 
> Are they being created by a Necromancer? If so, is this same
> individual also responsible for driving out the kobolds with the
> bright light? And organizing the goblins into an effective fighting
> force? And how does the staff fit into the picture?
> 
> If the undead aren't being created by a particular person, are they
> guardians of some kind? meant to retrieve the staff and bring it
> back to Alder's Look? If that's the case then the undead and
> goblins may battle each other, and we may be able to use that to
> our advantage somehow. If the undead come from other caves
> like this one, and we carry the staff to the top of Alder's Look, we
> may attract undead into the goblin's area and can let them fight
> each other! Unless the undead have a way to reach the kobold's
> area through some network of adjoining caves or something.
> 
> The creatures out of the Aldersmere are another good point. I
> doubt the goblins could effectively drive these creatures out of
> their habitats, but undead certainly could, and many of the
> creatures we've fought have been wearing tarnished, rusted
> gear. Remember what Jingles said about that breastplate? Like
> it was both damaged and somewhat protected by the swamp
> water. The creatures from the Aldersmere could be another
> source of trouble to the goblins, as I'd bet the creatures would
> attack anything they came across since they're whole natural
> eco-...ecolo-...ummm...cycle has been disrupted.
> 
> The goblins may be organized, but the more I think about your
> comments, the more I wonder if they aren't stretched a bit thin. If
> they're as numerous as Kytum-Up describes, they could easily
> send 50, 100 or more after us and take care of us once and for
> all. Instead, we keep seeing no more than 1 or 2 dozen at a time.
> Much of that could be because they have so many raiding parties
> out and about, but more of it could be because they're trying to
> protect the crown from random attacks by undead and swamp
> creatures, let alone whatever's left on this forested mountain
> itself (that was too strong or too dumb to be driven away by the
> goblins, the undead, or the swamp creatures).
> 
> Other than being on the look out for these types of creature's
> ourselves, I'm not sure if this changes our potential courses of
> action, though.
> 
> I guess our conversation has reminded me of one thing: if we do
> decide to harass the goblins for a few days rather than just
> make a dash for the kobold area, we'll have to move around a
> bit. Not only are the goblin trackers going to be looking for us
> eventually, but the undead are eventually going to catch up to us,
> since Kytum-Up is carrying the staff."


----------



## Nail

*Thaile....*

(Players Emails!)

Thaile speaks:


> As Thaile sits captivated by the fire and conversation, she adds:
> 
> 
> Let’s see, didn’t we also hear from Brother Mamont (the one who is said to have cleared the garrish of orcs with the help of his god Korak) that he did see a bright light. So what if the “bright light” killed all of the orcs and buried them in Alder’s Look to look after this idol that was made. I still wish we knew exactly how long ago that actually happened since everyone seems to have a different memory of those events…
> 
> 
> However, what if after that, the kobolds moved in to their area in Alder’s Look and found the idol – which was only supposed to be used by “bright  light”. “Bright light” then helped organize the goblins and had them help chase out the kobolds, but what “bright light” didn’t count on is the kobolds taking the idol with them. Since the dead – now undead are going after that to return it to “it’s rightful owner”, “bright light” has focused on helping the goblins become better tactically and sent them off on separate tasks. One group is out to gather all of the items needed from the farms to build a “house” for “bright light”, others have been sent out to protect the perimeter of Alder’s Look (probably where “bright light” is staying, and yet others could be out to see/follow the undead and see if they have found the idol. Did we hear from anyone in Eaglesford that had been out with the Captain whether the undead and goblins were found in the same areas? Were they indeed fighting each other as Garrett mentioned might happen?
> 
> What about Moira? How does she fit into all of this? She seemed extremely interested in the idol… is there anyway that she could be “bright light” and was just playing along with us when we were talking to her to see if we knew where it was?
> 
> I am also very interested in exactly who the kobolds that we are helping/working with worship and how that came to be, considering what we know about kobolds in general.
> 
> Also in the back of my mind is… if Rowan and Riva are correct and the goblins are getting all of these materials together to build some sort of a hearth for “bright light”, what the heck are the sewing needles for? Does “bright light” need clothes too?
> 
> Maybe all of this is far fetched and out of line… but it all seems a little fishy to me.


----------



## Nail

*Rowan....(player's emails!)*

Rowan responds to Thale's comments:



> It was Brother Mamont.....so, you think that maybe whatever is directing the bright light may be what is organizing the goblins....interesting and as possible as any of our other theories.
> 
> Personally, I think that the only way Moira fits into this is that she is a wizard who heard of a very powerful magic item and wants it. Mages tend to be that way (looks over at Tieran), except for you of course. (Smiles at Tieran)
> 
> It will certainly be interesting to find out what is happening. I think that the bright light was definitely used to drive the kobolds from their lair, of course, by whom, is the really big question. If we assume that whoever is behind that occurrance is behind the goblins being at Alders' Look and is also coaching them in tactics, it brings up another qustion.....if this person (or group) is using the goblins, why? If they are powerful enough to call the bright light and tactical enough to use the goblins, why don't they just do this themselves?
> 
> I am pretty sure that the idol was made by orcs (but I have been wrong many times before) based on things that the undead have said as they attacked. I recall one saying "My works will not be undone", and another said something about taking back what is "mine".
> 
> Whatever is going on, it's pretty big and nasty. I think we may be in way over our heads.


----------



## Nail

*Whew!*

Well, if all of that material at once doesn't scare you off, nothin' will.  I'm done fer today.....

Monday, I'll post the druids animal companion ceremony.  It's cool....and provides an unexpected result!


----------



## pogre

Nail said:
			
		

> Well, if all of that material at once doesn't scare you off, nothin' will.  I'm done fer today.....
> 
> Monday, I'll post the druids animal companion ceremony.  It's cool....and provides an unexpected result!




My kinda' gaming - enjoyed reading your tale. Hope your school year is going well too.


----------



## Nail

pogre said:
			
		

> My kinda' gaming - enjoyed reading your tale. Hope your school year is going well too.




Thanks!  I've enjoyed yours too.  Esp. the minatures pictures!  

I've tried to "expand" my DMing skillz by including paper-cut out minatures maps...but I'm afraid I've only got "counters" rather than minatures.  Easier to haul around, harder to look impressive.

For my players:  The next post is Rowan's animal companion ceremony.  In _with_ the desciption you have already seen are scenes that only Rowan was privy too.  I trust you all can keep Out of Character stuff separate.


----------



## Nail

*Rowan's Animal Companion ceremony, part 1*

_Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_, decided to get an animal companion.  ("A fuzzy wolf, please!").  Camped in a cave in the cliffs under Alderslook, the party waits, while Rowan performs the ceremony.  This is what happened.


*********************************


You are cold and wet. 

Sharp bits of pottery and angular rocks poke at you as you stir uncomfortably in your spot.

It's dark, with only a bit of daylight filtering around the brush piled by the cave entrance. There are the preparations for a fire in front of you....but Rowan has forbidden it.  It might frighten away the animal she is hoping to summon today. Riva grumbles about being frightening all by himself if this goes on too long... as the steady drip - drip - drip of the cave drums off his helm and rolls into his beard.

As you sit on the "least wet" rocks you can find at the back of the cave, Rowan has arranged herself in the middle of the cave, face towards the daylight.  She has laid out various bits of food, a broken piece of pottery with some water in it, and a bundle or two of fragrant herbs.  "What had she called that stuff again?", Garret thinks to himself, "....had some sort of "bug" name or another.....ah well, as long as it doesn't put Bavic off, and gets the job done....."

Rowan interrupts the thoughts of the others as she turns to speak, her small, usually shy voice sounding firm in this place, "Now remember, I am summoning an animal here. That means that an animal will come to me. Please don't kill it when it enters the cave! And whatever happens, don't interfere, things may look weird or dangerous, but it's all normal and I will have it under control, I promise!" Rowan looks around the cave and adds "Honest, this will help us....."

Riva tests his weapon's edge, just in case.

Rowan turns away, sits, and begins her prayers and meditations. Her chanting is quiet, but audible above the dripping of the cave. ...You can hear it, but her words are indistinguishable.....they sound old...they carry a pattern...they come and go, weaving themselves in and out of the sounds of the cave around you.  

You wait, and hope for what will come.

****************************

For Rowan, only:

Your ceremony starts smoothly enough, given the damp and uncomfortable conditions.  As you chant, you think to yourself  "If only this were all out under the clean open air, in the forest...."  Your memory of your first animal companion, the raven, floats back into your mind.  That ceremony was so easy, so fresh and new.

...You have been chanting for several hours.  Your companion's presence has faded from your mind.  It is only you, open to the forces of the earth and sky around you.....

....There is a presence nearby.  You can feel it.  Its heart beats.  It does not yet beat in time with yours...but you feel confident it will soon.

....There is something else.  There is a voice.  ...An old voice, a voice that speaks words without meaning.  It sounds like earth, like rock.  It's breath sounds like the wind passing over hills of stone.  The words of this voice are a rhythm, a beat of a ceremonial drum, a cadence that you cannot hold or understand....only feel as it passes around you.

....The animal heart that you heard before is beating, drawing closer to you, and it swallows the rhythm of the voice. It mirrors the beat and intent of it.  You do not understand the voice....it is too big for you....but the little heart, the animal heart, takes it all in effortlessly.  That is its nature.

The animal heart has drawn closer still.  It flows toward you as you call for it.  It will be with you if you ask for it.  It can teach you....it carries ancient secrets....if you do not turn from it.  It has seen so many turn away..... 

It is here.  You open your eyes.

******************************

For the remainder of the group:

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

....She has been chanting for hours.  The druid has been sitting, swaying slightly, in the center of the cave, her back to the rest of you.  Once in a while her hand darts out to pull in a sprig of herbs or a few drops of water, which she scatters around the floor.  The herbs mix with the broken sarcophagi that litter the ground, catching here and there on the sharp points of it.

Of course, she said it would take this long.  But.....sitting still is a chore.  Tieran lit a small candle, and reads his book with it, sheltering the pages from the drips from above.  Riva sits back, idly honing the blade of his greataxe... ...strange how the strokes of his sharpening stone keep time with the druid's chanting.  Thaile looks idly at the ceiling, searching for patterns in the twists and cracks of the rock.  Garret watches, and waits with patience.

It must be early evening, judging by the reddish light peaking through the round cave opening.  "No animal yet?", you hear Riva mutter.  Thaile looks over, and gestures for patience, then resumes her study of the dim cavern ceiling.  "Thank goodness for Tieran's candle", Thaile thinks to herself.  "Without it I wouldn't be able to make out that......"

There is a stirring in the cave.  Something moves.  Out of the corner of her eye, Thaile sees something move in the ceiling above her.  She looks again, studying....part has moved, somehow.  A sinuous crack is there, that wasn't there before.

Garret brings himself to attention.  A piece of pottery, perhaps once a corner of a sarcophagi....there is a long thin symbol on it, worn by the years....did the symbol move, just now?

Tieran looks up from his reading, and gently shuts his book.  He sees something move, maybe shimmer, near the cave entrance.  The lighting is terrible...but there is something there.  Tieran's hand closes around the stock of his crossbow.

Rowan's chanting has grown louder now.  She sways back and forth, casting small bits of things to her right and left.  You can all feel something drawing closer. It is long, it is dark, and it moves with the earth of the cave. Pieces of debris in the cave move with it...the bits do not move when you fix your eyes on them, but slip out of sight at the edge of your vision. They move back...and forth.....and here....and there..... They are still as shadow, and yet they move.

Riva crouches, tense, his hand wrapped tightly around his greataxe.  Garret has a hand about the collar of Bavic, the other hand holding his sword. 

Silence.

Rowan has stopped chanting.  Her arms are outstretched, and though her back is to you, you feel sure her eyes are open.

In front of her rises a shape.  A long, sinuous shape, black as shadow.  Its thin form towers over the sitting form of the druid, its eyes glittering in the light of Tieran's candle.

It lets out a low hisssssssssssss............

Rowan reaches out her hand toward it.........

....and with a sudden motion, the serpent strikes her, sinking
it's fangs deep into her arm.


----------



## Nail

*Rowan's Animal Companion Ceremony, Part 2*

*********************************

Rowan's thoughts: 

Suddenly, her  earlier words about this really being a helpful thing come back to her.  "....maybe I was wrong about that she thinks, "....should have waited until we were somewhere safer and more....wholesome...."  

"I wonder if this is a poisonous snake....I hope it doesn't kill me....maybe this is part of the ritual.......I hope it doesn't hurt any of the others....was this what I heard speaking to me? Is this what was coming to me? Many have turned away....I will not turn away....I will not turn away......teach me....ancient secrets....I will not turn away....."

(but she's still kind of frightened by this latest development....the raven didn't bite....)


********************************


DM’s secret note to Rowan’s player:

Warm up that d20, when you get a chance, and roll a Fort save.

...no rush.........

(Druidic Knowledge: Yup, this sucker's poisonous, and its poison does Con damage.  That is: Its poison could kill you, unlike the poison of those wussy spiders, which only made you weaker.  What wimpy little vermin, those spiders.....)


***********************************


The player rolls well....Rowan makes the Fort save.


***********************************

To the rest of the group, they see:

Rowan makes a small sound as the serpent strikes. Her arm jerks slightly in reaction to the bite, but she remains still aside from the involuntary movement, silent, waiting.....

Riva, whispered to Garret: "A snake, eh!  Y'know, me father always said they were good eatin'.. skewer 'em and marinate 'em in good dwarven ale and barbecue 'em.. a real treat that's common up over in the dwarven lands.. tunnels y'know.. well, something to think about if that snake gets to be a problem"..

Garret (just barely audible to even Riva)"If that snake has just killed her you can take what's left of it back to your pappy, because we'll be heading home straight from here!  Now, keep quiet and still!"


******************************


To Rowan, only:

Your eyes are open.

The snake's venom courses through your veins, but does not harm you.  It mingles with your blood, flows through your heart, passes into your mind's eye.  Its fire illuminates you from within.

Your eyes and the serpents eyes.  Locked together, you are  held by them, but not mastered by them.  You are the initiator, you have plunged into their depths, allowed entrance while the deadly venom courses through you.

The adder speaks to you, in a soft voice you've not heard before: "I am here, mistressssss......you call me from thissss place, the place of beginningsssssss....you survive my fire....I will protect you if you wishhhhh it."

Rowan holds out her hand, again. The serpent slithers up her arm, and wraps itself around her, under her cloak.  "Welcome, my friend." Rowan says to the serpent, suddenly happy that this creature has come to her. "I wish for your help and your friendship. I must come up with a name for you, if you have no preference of your own.....

The black snake speaks into Rowan’s ear, in a low, soft whisper:

"My name is Asmathiassssssss.... My fire burnssssss within you for a sssssshort time.... Only with my fire within you can we whissssssper together.....  Let usssss sssssspeak of ssssssssecretssssssssssss... What do you wish to know of beginningssssss, misssssstressssssss?"

Feeling under pressure, Rowan blurts out what questions she can think of: 
 "What began at this place, why is it the place of beginnings?"

 "Who built this place?"

 "What do you know of the dragon's eye?"

 "Do you know anything of the dragon idol that was removed from here by the kobolds who were living here before the goblins?"

 "Do you know what the goblins are doing here?"

 "Is there a reason that they have chosen this place over others?"

 "Is there a way in that the goblins don't know about?"'
The black serpent whispers in Rowan’s ear.....

"Sssssssso many questionssssss.....I do not know the answerssss to all of themssssss.......The great voice sssspeakssss to me, but I hear only piecesssssss.........

"This is a place of beginingsssss....beginingsss of my people, beginingsss of many otherssss....it is a sacred placesss, abandoned by the godssssss.....desssssecrated by the humansssssss...... tended by the children of the old onesssssss......

"The godssss hide thissss placessssss..........only one wantsssss it found again.........

"...The great serpent'sssss eye?  It issss a place of dreamssss at the beginningsssssss.......  Dreamssss now condemned by godssssss.....  It is ancientssssss......of an ancient race that once guarded these placessessssss.......it lookssssss to itssss children........many things looksssss to these children........dangerous thingssssssssss......bright thingssssss........there issssss hope in the eye'sssssss lightssssssss.............

"Thesessssss other thingssss you ask......I have not heard the great voice sssssspeak of themssssssssss......I will lisssssten......My fire in your blood fadessssssss.......I hope we can speakssss again.........."

The serpent's voice, his whisper, fades into nothingness.  He is wrapped around you, but only his animal intellect remains. 

You have recovered from the poison.


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Oh, and that is such a close match to a fuzzy wolf.

How each character spent the idle hours was an excellent touch, and really shows the variation of personalities in the party.

Riva should publish a cookbook.  Presuming he can read and write of course.  On the other hand, a picture book showing the ingredients and general preparation tasks for any number of reptiles and tunnel dwelling creatures would be a best seller for the hungry Battlerager in the field.


----------



## Nail

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> ... On the other hand, a picture book showing the ingredients and general preparation tasks for any number of reptiles and tunnel dwelling creatures would be a best seller for the hungry Battlerager in the field.




 

I'll be sure to pass that on........  (laughs)


----------



## Nail

*The party *can* sneak!  See th' proof!!*

Alright!  I’m finally beginning to catch up to our present game.  The following is session #16, which happened on a few weeks ago - Sept 4th - and therefore is still pretty fresh in my memory.  Since then we’ve had another meeting (session #17).  So I’m only one behind!

Thank goodness Rowan’s player takes such good notes.

The other thing that’s got me exited -- from a design standpoint -- is that the players have finally arrived at Alderslook.  I spent a great deal of time thinking about this place and its inhabitants.  I’ve got all sort of charts and stat blocks, showing me what’s related to what, and why.  I’m sure those of you that have written your own homebrew can empathize when I say "Thank god the PCs didn’t skip it!"

....’Cause if they did, I’d have had to hurt ‘em.  Bad.  Not that I would normally do such a thing.  

Right; enough blather.  On with the story:

*********************
*Session #16: Sneaking through the Gates of Alderslook?*
 RL Sept 4th, 2004

After Rowan’s animal companion ceremony, the party spent the night in the cave/tomb.  Morning came without conflict.

The night had no attackers, but it had left Thaile with a memorable dream.  She had dreamt of a silver dragon with outstretched wings ....that the dragon was some sort of septre, like the dragon idol Kytum-up now carried.  In her dream the dragon idol gave her wisdom, and the power to drive the goblins from Eagelsford.  She had felt that she should be the one to hold it.....then somehow the idol in her hands turned into a knotted ball of string. She was unable to unravel any of the knots, no matter how hard she tried. 

The party discussed this dream, but came to no firm conclusions.  Thaile even suggested that she carry the idol, for use in battle, but the others voted against it.  During the conversation, Kytum-up keep a sharp eye on Thaile, as if he suspected that she might try to steal the idol from him.  Thaile did her best to reassure the kobold that she would not.

The party started their uphill walk to Alderslook.



> _From the journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> After a bit of walking, Tieran noticed a goblin up ahead in the forest. The goblin did not seem to see us. It climbed into a blind in a tree. As it climbed into the tree, Tieran shot two magic missiles into it. At the same time, a bucket of ash fell from the tree, followed by goblin laughter. The goblin fell to the ground and it took several moments for his cohorts to realize that he had been killed.
> 
> Taking our opportunity to sneak up on them for a change we began to move toward the tree, Thaile silently melting into the forest, the rest of us.....well, significantly less quietly. As we began to move forward, we heard a goblin scream, they had apparently realized that the first goblin was dead. We continued moving toward the confrontation, using what cover we could.
> 
> Lissia picked one of the goblins off from the tree with her crossbow. The other archers were shooting and also trying to find a good position to shoot from. Asmathias, my new snake companion, left me and began to climb the goblin’s tree.
> 
> Then I made my big mistake of the day and let loose with a swarm of bats on the goblins in the tree. It did take a few of them out, but I forgot that once the swarm was there, I had no control over where it went. So, after the goblin who had survived the initial swarm attack fled, the swarm turned and attacked Asmathias and Kytum-up.
> 
> In the end, we killed the fleeing goblins, and drove off the swarm.
> 
> As we moved, slowly and carefully, using what cover we could so that we would not be ambushed again, Garrett saw another goblin. This one was bent over picking up firewood. Garrett charged and killed him before noticing the second goblin’s backside sticking out from the other side of the tree, also picking up sticks. Riva charged, but did not get to him in time. Fortunately Bavic, Garret’s riding dog, was able to bite and kill it before it escaped.
> 
> We continued to move on, very alert to possible danger. When we neared the top of the forested hill we could see parts of two towers. One looked relatively intact, the other had toppled, taking a large chunk out of the intact one. There were no battlements between the two front towers. As we moved closer and could see better, we could see a large debris field where the fallen tower had, well, fallen. Some pieces were very large, with windows still visible in the fallen pieces. The other tower rose about 40 feet into the sky, its top and roof gone.
> 
> I released Asmathias to seek. He came back after a little bit and let us know that there were goblins (or something, he doesn’t actually talk to me) but there were some sort of beings near the ruined tower.
> 
> We moved closer to the towers, still staying as much out of sight as we could. Luckily there was a lot of shrubbery for us to hide in. We saw a group of four goblins playing dice, noticed another goblin who seemed to be taking a nap under some debris. None of them noticed us.
> 
> As we moved closer, we also noticed that behind some shrubs there was a hole in the wall. Riva looked at it and marveled at the smooth cut of it, the sheer workmanship of this smoothly cut tunnel into the thick wall of the tower. The tunnel, he said, was very old, not recent. When Garrett and he checked it out, they also found that it was blocked, by debris which appeared to have also been carefully placed to block this entrance.
> 
> We inched around the tower.  I’m kind of surprised how quiet we were able to be, especially Riva in his armor.  We passed around the base of the intact tower - the chunk taken out by the other tower’s collapse had not gone all the way through the wall. These walls were obviously very thick indeed. It must have been quite a stronghold in it’s time. The courtyard also must have been quite magnificent in its time. The five towers surrounded a roughly circular courtyard. In the courtyard was a pit, mostly filled in and kind of crescent shaped. Two stairways led up to a platform. At about the center of the platform was the doorway to the center tower. That central tower was the main one, I’d guess....it was over 100 feet tall, even with it’s top knocked off! The other two towers, to the left and right of the center were in about the same shape as the first intact one we were skirting.
> 
> The dicing goblins were the first to notice us. Lissia picked one off right away! The others were also taken out by our archers. Of course, there were others, we heard them, but did not see them at first, then we realized that they had been hiding in the debris field where there was a lot of cover.
> 
> I used a spell to snare them in a web of briars. I feel somehow though, that the spell upset the balance of nature. I doubt that I shall be able to use that spell again. Still, it did buy us some time and helped us immensely at the time, since only one of the goblins was able to escape it. I know that I was glad of that because those goblins had nearly killed Tieran and me before.
> 
> _(DM’s note: I’ve since changed the spell, Briar’s Web, to have a 20 foot radius, and do only 1d4 damage, rather than 40 ft radius and 1d4+level damage.  I discuss those changes here .  Rowan’s welcome to use the modified spell whenever she deems appropriate.)_
> 
> Some other goblins ran away, but there were also archers in the tower we were skirting. Lissia was brought down very quickly, though Thaile healed her back up. Kytum-up was hit by a sleep spell and decided to take a little nap in the courtyard. We were all trying to get to the doorway that would lead us to the old Kobold lair.
> 
> We fought some of the goblin’s wolves too.  They charged us out of some cover off to one side, and did significant damage Thaile and Tieran. From the tower, I was hit by some kind of explosive jelly stuff that burned and kept burning for a little bit. Finally, after a while, we managed to kill the remaining goblins on the ground and make it to the tower door without losing anyone.
> 
> Even in this second tower, we can hear the curses of the goblins still up in the first one.  We might have to take care of them.....




*End of session #16*


----------



## Nail

A note to Riva's player, after Riva had dashed into one of the towers of Alderslook:



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> .....Even as you run into the tower, leaving the goblin screams and insults behind you, you can’t help but notice the work and the strength in the stone of this tower.  Its solidity is a palpable feeling, a quality that seeps into the cool air you breathe and the damp earth you tread.
> 
> You glance around as the rest of the party catches up to you.  The stones that make this tower are massive, grey, and fine-grained, not like the local rock.  It must have been quarried in the mountains -- each block perhaps 7 or 8 feet on a side -- then dragged here, rolled here, lifted here....the stones almost sweat themselves with the exertion of their quarriers and masons.  Then each was shaped and chiseled, to fit one into another, almost like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle!  Each stone carefully carved to fit exactly on top of the stones below and to its side ... you’re not sure that even the point of a freshly honed dagger would fit between the blocks.  No mortar holds these rocks together - only their weight and exact fit.
> 
> You are nearly staggered with the thought of it: nothing that you have ever seen compares!  No magic, no craft, no strength, no skill that you know of would have made this construction easy.  The shear labor of the task is almost too much to grasp!
> 
> And the age......the age of these rocks cries out to you.  The stone has worn well -- exceptionally well -- but you can see where a bit has flaked off here, or a few grains have worn away there.......  You are no expert, but these blocks must have been laid well before your grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather.  How could you not have heard of the craftsmanship of this place, or the people that built it?  Why do not dwarven apprentice stone masons make this a required pilgrimage, to see those great things of the past that they should aspire to?  Dwarven craft or no, this is a place that should be revered for its flawless, amazing, brilliant workmanship!  ....And yet, you’ve never heard any of that from the dwarves you know.  It’s just always been "Alderslook, that empty ruin on yonder hill", and nothing more.


----------



## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> A note to Riva's player, after Riva had dashed into one of the towers of Alderslook:




I wanted to mention this in the last session, but when I thought to do so, things were going at such a pace that there didn't seem to be a good time for it.. ah well..


----------



## Nail

Videssian said:
			
		

> I wanted to mention this in the last session, but when I thought to do so, things were going at such a pace that there didn't seem to be a good time for it.. ah well..




It's probably too late now...but I could remove it if you wish.  I had thought I had your permission to post it....sorry!

Still, be sure to bring this up in character next time we meet, so the others will have an excuse to know it!   

Strangely enough, the other party member seem not to notice the stone work like you do.


----------



## Nail

Here's the sort of stonework you see, *Riva*.


----------



## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> It's probably too late now...but I could remove it if you wish.  I had thought I had your permission to post it....sorry!
> 
> Still, be sure to bring this up in character next time we meet, so the others will have an excuse to know it!
> 
> Strangely enough, the other party member seem not to notice the stone work like you do.




Oh, that's ok, I don't mind you posting it.. it adds a neat touch to what's going on in Riva's head for those who wouldn't otherwise know.. and you're better at the descriptive stuff than I am..    And it gives Riva (me) stuff to think about.. and (heh), that's one reason that Riva's so keen on getting underground and why those creature made tunnels weren't so interesting to him.. any clues to the builders are going to be where the goblins haven't been.. 

That and Goblins just aren't worthy foes.. if Riva wants vermin, he can go hunting for them anytime..


----------



## Nail

Videssian said:
			
		

> Oh, that's ok, I don't mind you posting it.. it adds a neat touch to what's going on in Riva's head for those who wouldn't otherwise know..



Good.  I had hoped I hadn't posted it _too_ soon.



			
				Videssian said:
			
		

> That and Goblins just aren't worthy foes....



They try, Riva.  They try.


----------



## Nail

*Speaking of "trying".....*

Here's another picture of the sort of stonework Alderslook has.  The only difference is the size of the blocks (and perhaps the color, Alderslook is more of an off-white).


----------



## Gina

Videssian said:
			
		

> That and Goblins just aren't worthy foes.. if Riva wants vermin, he can go hunting for them anytime..




For not being worthy foes, they knocked Riva into that pit pretty handily....at least they are making the effort. 

Plus, they seem to be kicking Rowan's butt every time we see them!


----------



## DrSpunj

Gina said:
			
		

> For not being worthy foes, they knocked Riva into that pit pretty handily....at least they are making the effort.
> 
> Plus, they seem to be kicking Rowan's butt every time we see them!



Hey, now. Let's be fair, Rowan. Riva threw _himself_ into the pit! 

But they did do a fine job helping him back in there a time or two thereafter! 

And I think everyone else in the party has noted that Riva isn't raging and charging into melee like he was at the beginning of this trek. I'm sure Riva would try to blow off his Fighting Defensively tactics and lack of raging with some sort of "Oh, I want it to be a fair fight" blathering, but Garret knows cautious tactics when he sees them. He's not quite sure if Riva has learned anything on this trip or not, but Riva's actions recently are encouraging nonetheless.

Finally, despite Riva's protestations, they've been doing a fair job of kicking ALL our collective butts at different times. I think everyone in the party has hit the dirt at least a few times, whether it was because of damage, trips or sleep spells. We're holding our own but this hasn't been a cake walk, by any means!

Fun ain't it! 

Nail, are you stealing those pictures from that Indian? temple thread we were looking at awhile ago? If not, where are these? I'd like to reference them for my own game if I could!  Thanks.


----------



## Nail

Gina said:
			
		

> For not being worthy foes, they knocked Riva into that pit pretty handily....at least they are making the effort.



I must admit, I'm really having a blast playing the clever (but dumb), skilled (yet whimpy), sneaky (but very, very cowardly) foes the party has faced!

Oh, and Rowan: Goblins don't do the "effort" thing.  Too much work.    

(Hint: Remember the orcish graffiti you found on the walls of the tower?)



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Nail, are you stealing those pictures from that Indian temple thread we were looking at awhile ago?



Not quite, although I'm always inspired by seeing that sort of stuff.  In this case, I did a small bit of study of Latin - and South American civilizations in college, and the Incas have always struck me as cool.  As the web is a wonderful place, I knew I could google these images.  Have at 'em!


----------



## Videssian

I'm surprised that the stonework is as "bumpy" and contoured as it is though.. I mean, it'd be fairly straightforward to climb for a rogue.. it's not smooth at all.. unless the picture is just meant to show us how the stones fit together without mortar and the walls are actually smooth and sheer.

Heh, Riva has got to do something about his lack of missile weapons.. I mean, if we find a returning throwing axe, it's got Riva's name already on it!  *laughs*
(unless it's cursed of course)


----------



## DrSpunj

Videssian said:
			
		

> Heh, Riva has got to do something about his lack of missile weapons.. I mean, if we find a returning throwing axe, it's got Riva's name already on it! *laughs* (unless it's cursed of course)



Well, it may have Riva's name on it, but Garret will be using it! With his natural ability at throwing weapons and the utility of having a melee and ranged weapon all in one while mounted, a returning weapon is at the top of Garret's list. Well, I guess it's naturally behind any kind of magical weapon, but it's definitely second!

Take heart, Riva, you can keep the cursed one. Morwyn won't let me keep that one, but it should work just fine for you! 

DrSpunj


----------



## Gina

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Well, it may have Riva's name on it, but Garret will be using it! With his natural ability at throwing weapons and the utility of having a melee and ranged weapon all in one while mounted, a returning weapon is at the top of Garret's list. Well, I guess it's naturally behind any kind of magical weapon, but it's definitely second!
> 
> Take heart, Riva, you can keep the cursed one. Morwyn won't let me keep that one, but it should work just fine for you!
> 
> DrSpunj




Now children, don't fight over the returning throwing thingie that we don't even have yet! Of course, if we do find something like that.....well, Thaile or Rowan may want a chance at it too....you know how Rowan likes "stuff"!   

Rowan


----------



## Videssian

Gina said:
			
		

> Now children, don't fight over the returning throwing thingie that we don't even have yet! Of course, if we do find something like that.....well, Thaile or Rowan may want a chance at it too....you know how Rowan likes "stuff"!
> 
> Rowan




Riva thinks that the fairest way would be a little contest.  See who can hit a tree or something at gradually farther ranges.. that'd work! 

After all, that would determine who's the most worthy!


----------



## DrSpunj

Videssian said:
			
		

> Riva thinks that the fairest way would be a little contest.  See who can hit a tree or something at gradually farther ranges.. that'd work!
> 
> After all, that would determine who's the most worthy!




Right, leave it to the dwarf barbarian/fighter to come up with a contest of combat ability that's "fair" (battlerager translation -> "I'll kick your collective butts!"). 
  

Garret believes the "most worthy" would not be the individual who won that contest, but the one who placed second, or even third. That way our party as a whole has a better chance at doing more collective damage. Spreading our resources around means all of us have a better chance at being useful. Piling everything on getting one of us the best attack and damage values means a LOT of overkill, something that we see quite a bit of everytime a goblin gets in front of Riva; "Does 17 points of damage kill that 1st level Goblin Warrior, Nail?"

Garret will be saying the same thing if we ever get a hold of some Gauntlets of Ogre Strength or any number of other items that many of us would like to have. Of course, they don't seem to be exactly laying around anywhere we happen to be. (The verdict is still out on whether they are where we are going, but Garret is definitely keeping his eyes peeled for a bit of loot!)   


DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

*I can put Cursed Weapons in the game?  Done!*



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> .....everytime a goblin gets in front of Riva; "Does 17 points of damage kill that 1st level Goblin Warrior, Nail?"



If  puddles of goblin gore could whimper in sympathy, they would be doing it now......


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail, does your last post's subject mean that you're now going to take any and/or all of Riva's suggestions as tacit agreement from the rest of us?

If so, I'm out! 

DrSpunj


----------



## evildmguy

*Some comments*

Greetings!

Love the story!  Love the characters!  Keep it up!  

As a gamer, I am personally not satisfied with the changes to Briar Web that the group has implemented.  It is up to Nail, of course, but I think I would have done it this way.  First of all, I guess I am indifferent to the radius.  Second, the fact that either spell takes someone out of combat doesn't seem bad because Sleep or Daze or Color Spray or Command or any other number of spells can do exactly that.  Third, removing or limiting the damage component seems to really change the intent of the spell, which is to stop attackers.  Perhaps a Spot check (DC 10) to notice the spell's Area of Effect so they don't go running through it?  For those caught, I agree that it does get high damage.  How about this?  10 damage - Armor bonus.  That way, it is deadly to unarmed, as it should be, but armored foes can nearly walk right through it.  Last, I do agree that damage should only be done on a "violent" action, such as attacking or running.  Allowing them move actions to get out is reasonable.  In any case, that's just my two coppers worth.  I just thought that the spell was changed too much.  

As for the adventure, good stuff!  Sounds like it has been fun!  

Dividing treasure:  Perhaps if there is any character who *doesn't* want something, they get to be the final vote on who gets an item?  I am not so sure about the idea of spreading things out.  If someone is good at something, it is better to "front load" them in DND rather than spread things out.  If a character ends up not using it, sure take it back from them!  Give it to someone who will!  However, if it makes them more effective, that's not a bad thing.  Unless you will be fighting goblins forever .  .  .  

Loved the pictures!  Really added some good detail to everything!  Can't wait for more!

Thanks!

edg


----------



## Nail

*Goblins forever!*






(small, sneaky voice)
"Ooooh...divinding th' treasure already, are we?  Oh sure, we do it just like that too......to the best goes the spoils!  The _weak_ don't get treasure...and if they did, they wouldn't get to keep it for long!   ...Heh, heh, that's for sure.....

"Why my good friend Glagger once took some stuff we got from some human brood we slaughtered.....he was always gettin' to the good swag before I could.....and this time he thought he'd get the pretty silver mirror before me!  But he wasn't strong or clever enough to keep it, we're you, Glagger! _(slaps a dried scalp dangling from his belt)_

"So I always say: Let the weak and slow ones think they can have it!  Let 'em think they're sneaky enough ta get away with it!  Then, when they're asleep, you jus' slip up to 'em and......."


----------



## Nail

evildmguy said:
			
		

> Greetings!
> 
> Love the story!  Love the characters!  Keep it up!




Thanks!

As you might suspect, we love playing it!



			
				evildmguy said:
			
		

> As a gamer, I am personally not satisfied with the changes to Briar Web that the group has implemented.  ....(snip)...



Sure.  I can understand that.

The problem I have with the spell is that it's not comparable to other 2nd level spells.  It's just the wrong power level, even if you take into account the limitation (can only be cast outside).

One of the reasons its too powerful is the area of effect.  _Entangle_, the base spell, is the problem here....so changing the AoE of _Entangle_ (to 20 foot radius) changes _Briar Web_.

The second reason it's too powerful is the "no-save damage for _any_ action".  I could see changing that to a restricted list of actions: attacking, running, spell casting, etc.  ...But I decided to go with less damage (1d4 hp damage, no level adjustment) simply for ease-of-use.  I'm not firmly commited to this; it just seemed like the simplest fix.


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> The second reason it's too powerful is the "no-save damage for _any_ action". I could see changing that to a restricted list of actions: attacking, running, spell casting, etc. ...But I decided to go with less damage (1d4 hp damage, no level adjustment) simply for ease-of-use.



And this way the spell's flavor description still fits. After all, if you've just been completely surrounded and entwined with a bunch of sharp thorns, would you want to swing your weapon? Run around? Wave your hands while casting a spell? Of course you could do those things, but you'll take damage! 

DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

*Commando Raid on the Goblin Tower!!!*

*Session #17: Safe within the tower?*
(Session of RL Sept 17th, 2003)

"Wow.    .....Look at the stonework," Riva mumbled.

The others crowded in behind him, safe within the entrance hall of the second tower.  The hall cut 15 feet through the thick walls of the tower, then opened up into a circular room.  Stairs swept both up and down along opposite edges of the room.  Outside the passage, in the courtyard of Alderslook, a few stray goblin arrows plunged into the dirt.  There were a few goblin yells and curses, then silence.

"Come on, Riva," said Garret as he and his canine mount brushed past the dwarven barbarian, "we'd better go up these stairs quickly, and take care of the rest of the goblins above us."

Riva shook his musings on the stone work from his head.  "Up?  No, no.  Down.  We should go down.  We'll find the kobold's secret passage into their former home!  We'll be away from the goblins there, and be able to rest up and get our bearings.  ...And explore..." Riva turned his gaze down the stairs eagerly.

"Down?  Are you serious?" Garret looked quizzically at the dwarf.  "There are goblins above us, and I'll bet the stairs here lead up to the walls and perhaps to that first tower!  We can't leave goblins behind us!"

Thaile piped up, "I think we should head down.  We came here to bring the idol back, not fight some greasy goblins."  Her face wrinkled in disgust.  "I can already smell them in here.....uggggg."  Lissia nodded in agreement.

"We shouldn't leave known enemies at our backs," interjected Tieran.  Kytum-up barked assent.

"..And once we find the goblins, they'll be fairly easy to take care of," continued Garret.  "Their advantage was being protected in that tower!  Without that, we should be able to rout them easily.  Let's go up."  Garret urged Bavic up the first few steps.

"I don't think that's a good idea," rumbled Riva, planting his feet solidly on the first stone step leading down.


          The halfling and the dwarf stared at each other intently.


Still looking at Riva, Garret said, "Rowan?  You're the tie-breaker.  Three want to go up, three want to go down.  You're the seventh.  What do you think?"

All were quiet, as Rowan stirred uncomfortably in her robes.  Her eyes squinted thoughtfully for a moment, then opened.  "We'll go up.  I know we need the rest, and we did come here to deliver the idol, just like Riva said.  But I don't feel comfortable leaving those sneaky little buggers behind us as we go down.  Can we go up, Riva?" 

The dwarf clenched his jaw, then nodded curtly. 

Rowan's face brightened even more.  "Right.  And I'll lead the way!"  Rowan strode to the front of the party, lighting a torch as she did so. 

*************

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Rowan, Thaile, and Tieran would do a quick reconisance upward, and then come back to tell what they had seen.  The rest would stay below, to guard the ground floor entrance of the tower.

The stairs led up into a room much like the first floor: circular, with more stairs leading up.  Scattered about were bits of rubble and junk.  Like the floor below, there was a thick layer of dirt and mud on the floor....and there was also the "leavings" of goblins.  Rowan accidently put her boot square in the middle of a small mound of the stuff.  The place stank, and with no windows to allow air in.....the three adventurers quickly moved on up the stairs.

The next floor was much like the second, so the party hurried along.  Rowan quickly noted in her journal: "The third floor same, circular room; empty except for debris and stinky goblin things best left untouched."

The fourth floor, however, was different.  Two halls left this room, each openning out onto the top of the walls of Alderslook.  There were 8 window openings as well, each stretching nearly 15 feet deep to pierce the tower's thick walls.  They saw no goblins on either of the walkways outside, so they pushed on, up the stairs.

The next floor was the tower's last; the rest of the tower, that must have stretched far above them, had been knocked down long ago.  (That anything could knock down a tower with a 15 foot thick wall continued to amaze them.)  This floor had no roof, and the three could easily climb up upon the jagged remains of the tower's wall.

Thaile climbed onto the wall closest to the first tower.  The first tower, the one the goblins were in, had more of it destroyed; the top of it was lower than she was.  On the first tower's wall, above the door from off the rampart, Thaile saw three goblins crouched, holding between them a large barrel.  It took her but a moment to figure out that this barrel was positioned to drop on any that came to the first tower's door from the wall's causeway.

Carefully picking her way back down, Thaile motioned the others to rejoin her within the second tower.  The three adventurers talked over Thaile's discovery as they walked down the four flights of stairs to rejoin the others. They talked at length about their options, then desided to climb the tower..... 



> _From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> Riva led up the stairs with Garrett close behind. As they moved up, Riva heard some noises, scuffling sounds from above. Tieran cast _Mirror Image_ on himself and bravely strode up ahead of the dwarf and paladin to face the goblins on the fourth level. There were three of them and Tieran killed one right off with his burning hands spell. He injured the others. The two survivors threw vials of alchemist’s fire at the floor at Tieran's feet, injuring him a bit.  But now there was a big fire between the rest of us and Tieran!
> 
> I ran up to bash one of the goblins. I jumped over the flaming area of the floor and missed the goblin with my quarterstaff. Riva jumped over the flames behind me and whacked at the goblin too, but missed. The goblin, now facing me _and_ Riva tried to escape by jumping into the stairwell. He found himself face to face with Bavic, who killed him with a quick bite. That left only one more little goblin who I managed to finish off with my staff, since he had been injured by Tieran’s spell.
> 
> We moved upward to the fifth floor. Thaile moved to the walls to peek over and see what was happening on the other tower. She was less well hidden this time and found herself the target of several arrows as she got to the top of the wall. So, Thaile, Tieran, Lissia, and I started working to pick them off. Unfortunately, they were under cover, so there was a lot of shooting and not much hitting. Lissia did pick one off though. Thaile shot the barrel of stuff. (Tieran thought that it was probably oil in the barrel.)
> 
> After a bit, the goblins retreated down into their tower, so we moved back to the fourth floor where the others were. After a short discussion, we decided that our best course of action would be to charge the other tower and get the goblins that way.
> 
> So, across the ramparts to the other tower we went, Riva leading the charge! The oil was no longer a problem since the goblins were inside and not manning it. Our charge was ended abruptly when Riva fell into a big pit inside the tower. I was right behind him and managed to stop before tumbling in myself.




This first tower was the one from which the goblins had first attacked the adventurers as they crossed the courtyard below.  The only entrance into it was from this wall, some 40 feet above the courtyard.

This tower was in much worse shape than the second tower.  The inside had mostly collapsed and had filled with rubble.  Since then, some one had removed much of the rubble from the inside closest to the entrance -- making a pit, inot which Riva has just fallen. On the other side of the pit was a low wall made of rubble.  Goblin archers were hiding behind it, and now shooting at the party members in front: Rowan and Thaile, strangely enough.  Garret and Tieran stood helpfully in back, almost completely out of the fight.  



> _continued from the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford._
> 
> I wanted to get out of the doorway and tried to move across the narrow ledge to the window adjacent to the door. I froze on the ledge, making myself a wonderful target for goblin arrows. (I'm glad most of them missed!) Thaile and Lissia took shots at the goblins, but missed.
> 
> Riva tried to climb back up and would have made it if there hadn’t been a goblin spell caster (probably a cleric) about who dazed him (I think) causing him to fall back down with a resounding crash. Thaile and Lissia missed the goblins again, Riva climbed out of the pit and was shot with an arrow and, once again, dazed. He didn't fall in a third time, thankfully.
> 
> I managed to gain the relative safety of the window opening and loosed my snake Asmathias to help deal with the goblins. Then I summoned a dire rat to help with the goblins.
> 
> Riva came out of the daze and went after the nearest goblin, who had decided that it was time to get out of there. He did not make it, Riva managed to turn him into a slimy, smelly paste. The rat ran after one of the goblins, killing him as he tried to escape the tower via a rope spiked into one of the windows. The third one escaped down a similar rope from another window. Up on top of the tower, Asmathias found and killed a goblin, then headed for the goblin cleric. The rat also climbed up to go after him.
> 
> Another goblin snuck up on Garret and Tieran, who were outside the tower.  He apparently drank some sort of potion, and then threw up all over Garret, his war dog Bavic, and Tieran.  Then this stuff vaporized into some sort of fog.  The fog dazed Garrett; Bavic however, was able to move out of the cloud with Garrett still mounted. The goblin ran off, with first Lissia and then Garret (recovered) chasing after him.  They told me later that they got him.
> 
> Meanwhile, up on the top of the tower. Asmathias and the rat reached the clerical goblin -- who cast a fog spell of some kind.  I couldn't see what was going on, so I grabbed a ladder and started to climb up where my snake and this goblin were fighting. I knew my summoned rat would be gone pretty quickly.
> 
> The goblin cleric tried to flee, using a rope ladder near the edge of the tower.  He couldn’t go down though without opening himself up for a really good bite from Asmathias. I came over to help as they came out of the fog, but really was not much help..... I think the uneven footing must have thrown me off.
> 
> Anyway, to make a long story short,  the goblin cleric knocked me out before succumbing himself to the multiple bites from my trusty serpent. He managed to hurt Asmathias quite a bit too.
> 
> When I became conscious again, Tieran was there, holding an empty vial and asking how I felt. I was a bit cross and said that if that cleric had anything of value on him I wanted it. I felt bad as soon as I said it, but the darned goblin had almost killed me!
> 
> I helped Tieran loot his stinky corpse and we found a lot of stuff, some scrolls, two rings, some infusions, a holy symbol with a twisted silver dagger on it, a really pretty red crystal hawk figurine, a morning star with the same twisted dagger symbol, and a masterwork breastplate and heavy shield, both "Empire made".
> 
> Thaile, Tieran, and Garrett all agreed that the goblin's holu symbol was of Canarak the god of destruction, violence and rage. Seemed like a likely god to be worshipped by the foul little creatures.
> 
> We decided that we needed to find a defensible place to rest for the night, and after some discussion, settled on the tower where the goblins had so effectively defended against us. I received some healing and Kytum-up kindly healed Asmathias, saying it was an honor for him to do so. He’s such a sweet little Kobold really, I am becoming quite fond of him.
> 
> Oh, in the tower, we found rope of Elven manufacture. Strange. We took it with us, no use letting it go to waste.  (Why would the goblins have such high-quality rope?  Where did they get it from?)
> 
> We set up watches and settled in for the night. On her watch, Thaile saw two figures in cloaks exiting the tower that we had explored earlier. She listened to their conversation and reported the following to us:
> 
> Medium sized man: "I don’t think they’re going to move."
> 
> Small sized man: "They'd better move. If the legionaries come we’ll lose our supply line.  ...And then who will we sell to?"
> 
> Thaile later told us she thought she recognized the voices, or at least they were familiar in some way.  After thinking for a while, she said she _thinks_ that the voice of the smaller man might have been Ray Timbers, the former warden of Eaglesford!  But why would he be involved?  And the other man....could have been anyone, really...but it could have been Kenneth Brannen, the current Warden of Eaglesford.  Garret kept nodding as we said this.  (He never did like the Warden's crew, did he?)
> 
> And who's the "they" the men were refering to?  Us? Garret didn't think so.  He thinks the men meant the goblins, and that they are trading or dealing with them somehow.
> 
> In the end, as so often happens, none of us had any answers, only more questions.




*More of session #17 to come!*


----------



## evildmguy

Nail said:
			
		

> Thanks!
> 
> As you might suspect, we love playing it!
> 
> Sure.  I can understand that.
> 
> The problem I have with the spell is that it's not comparable to other 2nd level spells.  It's just the wrong power level, even if you take into account the limitation (can only be cast outside).
> 
> One of the reasons its too powerful is the area of effect.  _Entangle_, the base spell, is the problem here....so changing the AoE of _Entangle_ (to 20 foot radius) changes _Briar Web_.
> 
> The second reason it's too powerful is the "no-save damage for _any_ action".  I could see changing that to a restricted list of actions: attacking, running, spell casting, etc.  ...But I decided to go with less damage (1d4 hp damage, no level adjustment) simply for ease-of-use.  I'm not firmly commited to this; it just seemed like the simplest fix.




And I love reading it.  I will see the game board, if it is still up this weekend!   

First of all, again, the decision is yours.  I just like a good discussion just not at the table.  

Second, I personally don't find Entangle bad as it is written.  Players usually end up hurting themselves with it as often as helping.  Therefore,

Third, I don't find Briar Web bad as it is written.  I personally think that Druids need a better complement of spells.  I also think they should have good attack spells.  I just think this is a good defensive spell for them.  It just has a good offensive mode to it.  

Fourth, compared to some other spells, as seen in the 3.5 SRD, it has great potential but nothing over the top.  Since a party should be facing CR 3s by the time the spell can be used, they won't notice d4+3 damage.  They might notice it if they take it two or three times, but then they are stupid!    And, by the time it is d4+7 damage, those creatures won't notice that much damage either.  That's why I said only if they are only facing goblins will this spell be an issue.  Web's Escape or break out DC is 25!  Compared to that, 20 for Entangle makes this one seem easy.  

btw, that's one of the problems that I have with DND but this isn't the place for that.  

Fifth, that's why I suggested basing damage on (natural) Armor bonus.  Could probably include Shield and deflection bonuses as well.  I also think that only moving and avoiding them should be an option, which might be the only change to the spell I would make.  

Again, this is up to you.  I am just adding my coppers worth.  I am obviously tempered by my own ideas and wants to see in a druid.  I think they should have an offensive option because I think druids as extreme environmentalists is cool!  

Thanks!

edg


----------



## Nail

EDG: Thanks for your thoughts!  I'll see how things go with that spell.  Perhaps no changes were needed.  But concider: even higher level foes would have difficulty with that Strength or Escape Artist check.  And each time they try, they take damage.

(shrug)  We'll see.


----------



## Nail

*The End of Session #17: At Last!  The descent....*
(Session of RL Sept 17th, 2003)

The morning of June 20th came peacefully.  It would be a warm, cloudy day, perfect for travelling under the open skies.....  So the adventurers descended into the dungeon of Alderslook.

They left their refuge at the top of the first tower, and thoroughly searched each room of the second tower as they descended it.  

(_DM: "Oh really?  A complete and thorough search of each room?  Filled with mud, decay, and...ahem...worse?  Alrighty......"_)

They found nothing.

Once they were done, Riva pointed out the quality of the stonework. "Unless we're either pretty lucky or pretty good, we're not likely t' find much.  The masons here knew what they were doin'."

The party found the bottom of the spiral staircase one level below the entryway, where they had first come into the tower from the courtyard.  The room was circular, like each of the four rooms above, but this one had one hallway leading off into the darkness.  Rowan's and Thaile's torches could just make out a short stair in the hallway, and the hall continuing beyond it.  Riva took the lead.

"Is this the way?" Garret asked Kytum-up, as they started along the hall.

Thaile translated the kobold's reply: "Yes.  Down this hall, left at the room beyond, then a short distance around a bend."

The party stopped when the hall did.  Before them was a small rectanglur room, 10 feet across and 15 feet from side to side.  To the left and right were the smooth stone corridors, with the same stonework as the rest of the tower.  ...But across the room was an irregular opening, roughly dug.

Riva stode across the room to examine the passage. "This wasn't worked with tools.   ....Carved out, maybe.  Perhaps with claws....  No.  It looks too curved for that.....melted.  Yup.  This passage was melted through the rock."

The adventurers paused to digest this new information.




> _From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> We had a short discussion about how much scouting we should do. Riva thought that we should proceed directly to the Kobold lair, through the hall to the left.  (I was kind of surprised he didn't want to explore the "melted hall" any further!)  Garret, on the other hand, was concerned about things that might come up behind us as we cleared rubble from the door of the lair. Kytum-up assured us that the door to the lair was so well hidden that no one would ever suspect that anything was there, so the likelihood of anything expecting us to be there was small.
> 
> Still, Garrett wanted to be sure, so he, Thaile, and I went along the right-hand hall.  Riva and the rest of the group stayed in the room behind us. As we traveled along the gently curving corridor, we noted several more of the irregular passages piercing the walls. Garrett followed one of them and found that it curved back upon itself, coming out in another of the openings.
> 
> Eventually, the curved passage came to a medium sized room, with a semi-circular niche in one wall; the other side of the room was filled with rubble. We could see the corridor continued beyond the room, but we doubled back, checking the irregular passages to see that they all came back upon one another. In several of them we found old piles of metal... ...somethings... ...scales?  I took a few of them.
> 
> Tieran agreed with me that these things were scales of some sort, but more than that he couldn't say. He and Riva disagreed as to whether they scales were "shed" or the remains of a dead creature.  I suppose, since I'm the druid, I'm supposed to know about this stuff?  I don't know _what_ the remains are, but if they're related to the claw marks in the rock and the melted passages.....I'm not sure I want to find out!




*End of Session #17*

_Next time: I wonder what's around the bend?_


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> _Next time: I wonder what's around the bend?_



Garret does, too. And he plans to find out! 

DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

We have a new player joining us!  How does this mystery person show up?  ...It's a mystery, of course!  (Even to me....) 

I thought I'd post this snippet from an email to the new player from me, the evil DM:


			
				Nail said:
			
		

> ***Necromancy***
> I'm not sure what Garret's player told you, but in the adventurer's world, necromancy is considered the lowest and most despicable form of magic, and a sin against the gods.  Those that cause the dead to walk again are given neither mercy nor quarter.
> 
> Necromancers are hunted down, destroyed, and their bodies brought to the Great Church for cremation.  So great is people's fear of necromancy, that all dead, even an enemy's dead (even goblins killed in combat, hint, hint), are to be cremated, and their ashes spread on the wind.  Burial is thought of as a terrible sin, a desecration of the holy ritual of death.....recently the party has found that orcs bury their dead...under Alderslook!......Such rank heathen!


----------



## evildmguy

Oo!  Ooo!

I know the new player!  And, all I can say, is watch out because he always furgle boglets morg!  Tredg!  AAA!  Fre litf gosw!

gde


----------



## Nail

Wow.

Uhmmm.....I'm ...uhmmm....quaking in my boots?....


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> _So great is people's fear of necromancy, that all dead, even an enemy's dead (even goblins killed in combat, hint, hint), are to be cremated, and their ashes spread on the wind. _




Yeah, like we're going to be lighting signal beacons of our most recent victory, declaring to all in the forest and on the mountain that we are coming to kill them next. Sheeyah! Right!

Garret has thought several times about disposing of those goblin corpses we could in a more permanent fashion, but after talking briefly with Rowan decided that ending the threat of necromancy in the region (if possible) is a better long term goal (compared to the short term gains of burning a few enemy bodies here & there). Besides, by not burying them we leave them to the creatures of the forest & wild, which Rowan assured Garret was part of the natural cycle of things.


----------



## Gina

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Garret has thought several times about disposing of those goblin corpses we could in a more permanent fashion, but after talking briefly with Rowan decided that ending the threat of necromancy in the region (if possible) is a better long term goal (compared to the short term gains of burning a few enemy bodies here & there). Besides, by not burying them we leave them to the creatures of the forest & wild, which Rowan assured Garret was part of the natural cycle of things.




Rowan concurred with Garrett considering that all of the undead we have encountered have been of the orcish variety and seemingly they are more interested in the idol than helping out the goblins. So, leaving the goblins for now, while a calculated risk, is still the best course of action for now. 

We can burn the big, smally pile of Gobin corpses later. Maybe Riva's old pappy has a good recepie for Goblin stew or something like that. (Ugh)


----------



## Gina

Session 17 Notes on stuff we found, from the journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford.



> We found the usual smelly armor and weapons on most of the goblins, well made, actually far better than I would have expected of these foul creatures.
> 
> One of them had a coin bracelet, used for trade within the empire. Out here in the fringes we seldom see products of empire manufacture, and this trinket was interesting....it's certainly far better travelled than I am.
> 
> The goblin-cleric had a breastplate and shield of empire manufacture, both with maker's marks upon them. Riva thought that his morning star was also empire made, but there was no mark, only the twisted dagger symbol upon it. His holy sumbol had the same twisted silver dagger upon it.
> 
> Thaile and Garrett thought it the sign of Canarak, god of destruction and rage. Sounds just lovely.
> 
> The clerical goblin also had some potions and scrolls and one item that was far and away the best of the lot. A lovely little red crystal image of a hawk. I am very much taken with it, but it is a valuable item and not for one such as myself. Still, it is very pretty and sparkles in the sun.
> 
> OH, and lest I forget, the ropes that the goblins were using to climb down the towers was of elven manufacture. Imagine that! I have never even SEEN an Elf, yet we found ropes made by their hands. Imagine! We found five large hanks of it and took it along with us for it seems stronger and is definitely lighter than the rope we had been carrying!
> 
> Who knows what we shall find as we move forward into this ancient place....


----------



## Nail

We gamed last night!  Huzzah!

Our new player showed up, but was forced to play an NPC for the meeting.  Despicable DM!  Actually, the adventurers didn't get quite as far as I thought....which, in retrospect, shouldn't have been surprising.  

You see, I had a big-ole "adventurer threshing machine (TM)" waiting for them, and they got....well, they got threshed.  (Can you _do_ that to adventurers?  <shrug> Go ask the battlerager.)

We ended the session with some good, ole-fashioned information sharing.  Gotta love it when the adventurers start "getting to th' bottom o' the problem".


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

To: Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford
From: Rowan, CEI of SpaceBaby Industries
Re: Tactics

Earlier, you expressed some concern of not having made the most sound of tactical choices in the battles with the Goblins.  I'd like to take a moment to reassure you.  

First, those bats may have turned on you, but I doubt that was a worse result than what would have happened if they hadn't been summoned and managed to eliminate their original targets.  Optimal strategy?  Possibly not, but it beat doing nothing.  

Second, with all kindness to Riva, your party does not exactly come across as a collection of exemplary tacticians.  I recall a three way party split at a certain spider infested farm as one glaring example.

Thirdly, all of you survived, so your tactics couldn't have been that bad.  You'll know better for the next time, and that's what counts.

Finally, those bats hopefully demonstrated the myriad benefits additional mobility provides, especially against dug in defenders.  As you continue to grow in the path of the Druid, your ability to Wild Shape will allow you many options for circumventing what would be difficult terrain for the ground bound.  I've attached a sample form that has worked well for me.

Take Care,
Rowan

PS: If Riva ever "writes" the Battlerager Picture Cookbook, I would be happy to "proofread".  I hear our literacy skills are remarkably similar.  Do you think you could have flaps?  I love being able to open flaps and see a new picture.


----------



## Nail

ROTFL!!


----------



## DrSpunj

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> Second, with all kindness to Riva, your party does not exactly come across as a collection of exemplary tacticians. I recall a three way party split at a certain spider infested farm as one glaring example.
> 
> Thirdly, all of you survived, so your tactics couldn't have been that bad. You'll know better for the next time, and that's what counts.



I just have to jump in here and say that Riva's tactics (straightforward-charge-I-take-the-bait approach) were what started Nail's "adventurer threshing machine (tm)" (also known as ATM ) in motion. The rest of the evening was spent trying to recover from that move. While Riva took by far the most damage, he also received the most healing and actually slumped unconscious twice and was disabled an additional time IIRC, and most all of us were nearly equally "threshed" by the end of the grueling ~3 hour battle.

Garret was starting to think that Riva had learned some hard lessons about tactics, given his more cautious approach to things in the last few days. His fall in the tower pit and his headlong charge into this blasted ATM quickly dispelled any of those foolish notions. 

For those of you looking for RBDM tactics, let me jump ahead of Nail's next posting (I know, I'll hurry ) to describe the scenario. Imagine entering a 5' wide straight corridor near one end by climbing down a shaft. About 15-20' in front of you stairs descend for ~10'. At the bottom of the stairs ~1 inch of liquid covers the floor and extends the entire 20' to the end of the passage, blocked decoratively enough by a flimsy, red curtain.

The corridor is completely without light, and while some in our party are carrying torches, Riva and Kytum-Up (our kobold ally second-in-line) don't really need them with their darkvision. Leading our party (most of which are still at the top of the shaft), Riva heads down to the base of the stairs. At that moment, a goblin standing just behind the curtain pulls it open revealing himself, another goblin standing next to him, and behind them a ballista (huge Xbow) aimed directly down the corridor at Riva. The first goblin fires his Xbow at Riva, then the goblin with the ballista fires and hits him as well (oh, and the ballista bolt/javelin is poisoned). Finally, the last goblin fires his Xbow and pulls the curtain shut.

Now, anyone want to guess Riva's response?

As he steps off the stairs into the puddle, starting his charge towards the curtain 20' away, he is surprised by a number of things. First, the liquid is not water, it is grease or something of the sort that reduces any movement by half and requires a balance check to remain standing. Second, its 1" depth effectively hides numerous caltrops, at least one of which pierces Riva's soles reducing his movement by another half. So each 5' square now requires effectively 20' of movement. For a raging dwarf, he wasn't going to get too far on a good day.

This wasn't a good day.

The biggest surprise he received was finding four goblins very effectively hidden/concealed to either side of his position. They are situated in 5' corridors at right angles to the main corridor, with cover being provided by low walls. Much to his dismay, Riva missed Spotting them as he tried to charge past. That leaves him with 1 goblin on either side using a morningstar in flanking positions. Having faced them before, we are all familiar with their Sneak Attack abilities and collectively groan (as Nail gleefully cackles). That was two attacks, both with Sneak Attack damage. To add insult to injury, behind each of those goblins is another goblin, wielding a longspear, which is an additional 2 Sneak Attacks. Realize these positions also gave these 4 goblins a killing zone with one AoO each for anyone trying to move through/past Riva to get to the curtain goblins and ballista crew.

I'll leave it to Nail and Gina to flesh out the remainder of the battle, but suffice it to say, I think our party did...well...how did you put it?

We survived! 

Though I'm still not sure we're learning much! 

Have a nice day.

PS. Thanks for the pic, SBI! Cute!


----------



## Videssian

Heh, actually, the way Riva was thinking at the time is that he really *couldn't* go backwards because there were all those people in the way behind him in that narrow corridor. (and he didn't have enough movement).. And he didn't really want to get hit by that ballista a 2nd time. And if anyone was going to get hit by it, it'd best be him. If he *had* squeezed past, kytumup would have died.  So he thought, well, there's a few of them in that room up ahead with that ballista there, and it'll be a lot less dangerous if I'm in melee..  So if I'm going to get there nice and quick, best to charge!

Unfortunately, those goblins were a lot sneakier than he expected, and those 4 hidden *rogue* goblins just past the stairs, and the grease and caltrops covered by water from the stairs and for another 30 feet.. well, lets' just say Riva had a very bad day... Rowan learnt some new dwarven swearwords, let me tell you! 

It also turns out that if Riva hadn't raged after getting hit by that ballista, he would have died.  As it was, it was closer than he liked.   Riva has a lot more respect for goblins now!

Even if they still smell as bad as before...


----------



## DrSpunj

Riva, if you had enough movement to charge the length of that hallway, you certainly had enough movement to bullrush Kytum-Up 10' back up the stairs (there was no one behind him when the goblins first fired upon you, everyone came running just after that). That maneuver would have brought you into the upper part of the corridor, and since we couldn't shoot or cast spells at the ballista from up there, I'm sure the ballista and the goblins near it wouldn't have been able to fire upon you either. Even without knowing about the hidden/flanking goblins that would have been a better plan than you singly throwing yourself at them with the majority of us left behind at the top of the shaft! Who knows how many were down there waiting to pepper you with poisoned bolts! You only saw three, but another appeared to help load the ballista, and you don't know the layout of the place like Kytum-Up does. Those passages weren't new: I'm curious if Kytum-Up remembered their presence and/or whether his tribe used them as well for similar defensive purposes.

And apparently we all need to sit and have another pow-wow: these goblins LOVE ambushes! They LOVE being sneaky! If you didn't "expect" it before, hopefully nearly dying TWICE in a matter of as many minutes will help provide the evidence you need to be convinced! Every time we've encountered them they have (usually successfully) baited us into all sorts of bad positions: spreading ourselves too thin, leaving our more fragile party members out in the open where they become target practice dummies, circling around moving even faster than Bavic & I on those blasted wolves or with magic to flank us from an unexpected direction...I can go on if you need further reminders. Exactly which part of all of our encounters so far led you to believe they were going to stand out in the open in a long line and await our charge?

_Realizing just now that he's been getting louder and louder, Garret takes a deep breath, turns around, and heads off muttering a prayer* that he seems to be using an awful lot lately:_
Holy Mother, heed my prayer,
Lend me your wisdom,
So that I might see clearly;
Give me your PATIENCE _(this with a bit of extra fervor)_,
That I might bear what I see.​
* Common prayer of Morwyn, Book of the Righteous


----------



## Nail

The more astute readers may notice that Garret and Riva occasionally disagree on tactics.  

Speaking of learning, I'm learning some good "DM stuff" here too.  For one, how much game time a combat can take up.  As a group we're all learning little tricks to get combat moving more quickly (rolling attack and damage dice all at once, for instance), but I can't help but feel I need to work on some additional DM tricks.   That and this "appropriate treasure/EL" problem.  Hmmmm.

Still, this session (#18) was alot of fun (for me, at least  ), including the "interrogate the goblins" at the end.


----------



## Gina

First: Thanks SBI for the words of encouragement!  
Oh, and LOVE the butterfly look!

Second, tactics. Goblins and us. 

The goblins all seem to think with one mind (wonder why????) while we work as a collection of individuals rather than a well-oiled war machine! 

As I recall, Riva's plan was to move forward and "scout" the situation out. Unfortunately, he was caught in a cleverly laid trap. Given the way the corridor was set up, I don't think it would have made a lot of difference if we were all above still or if we had been directly behind him lined up in the corridor. I do know that had anyone other than Riva stepped into that square, they would have been dead since he took quite a bit of punishment AND some poison that he was able to shrug off with his dwarven constitution! (Which obviously comes from eating his old pappy's cooking.)

In the end, we were going to get caught in this one. Pushing Kytum-up back would have helped him, but the fact remains that in the heat of battle some of us make decisions that are, in retrospect, perhaps not the wisest ones we might have made. 

Overall, it was a well-laid ambush and I would hope that in the future we will take more care to investigate things more fully, but I also doubt that we will be able to complely avoid such situations. 

Rowan (who has earned the Wildshape ability and is itchin' to use it now!)


----------



## Nail

Gina said:
			
		

> Overall, it was a well-laid ambush....



Which, incidentally, take time to set up.


----------



## DrSpunj

Gina said:
			
		

> The goblins all seem to think with one mind (wonder why????) ...



Yeah, they do have _extremely_ Lawful tendencies for a bunch of Goblins, don't they? Hmmm....



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> Which, incidentally, take time to set up.



You mean like several hours of nocturnal work while some unsuspecting so-called heroes are left alone all night in a well-defended but broken tower?

Yeah, I figured as much.

Unfortunately we let Mr. Powder Keg lead again.


----------



## Videssian

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Yeah, they do have _extremely_ Lawful tendencies for a bunch of Goblins, don't they? Hmmm....
> 
> 
> You mean like several hours of nocturnal work while some unsuspecting so-called heroes are left alone all night in a well-defended but broken tower?
> 
> Yeah, I figured as much.
> 
> Unfortunately we let Mr. Powder Keg lead again.




Well, something tells me that we won't be getting much rest this time.. we ended last session with a combat done and some goblins interrogated.. but the RBDM isn't letting us ending the night with a nice restful sleep.. no, Nail has nefarious plans afoot, I'm thinking it might be a mad dash to the end.. we know from Kytum-up that after going down the long series of stairs that we see ahead of us that there's a large room,followed by another room, then a yet larger room..  methinks that there's just too many goblins that can fit in said rooms!   I don't know but next session should be verrrrrry interesting!! 

I suppose in a pinch if we needed to escape there's those two secret doors that we could use.. 'course, it might require some serious tunneling as the goblins didn't make use of them.. still, Riva does have a shovel..


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Yeah, they do have _extremely_ Lawful tendencies for a bunch of Goblins, don't they? Hmmm....



I should probably let this pass, but:

Huh?  What part of their actions have seemed *Lawful* to you?  Are all of their actions *Lawful*?  

"Of one mind..."???? Huh?


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> I should probably let this pass, but:
> 
> Huh? What part of their actions have seemed *Lawful* to you? Are all of their actions *Lawful*?
> 
> "Of one mind..."???? Huh?



All, no. Most, yeah, I think so. Especially recently.



			
				3.5 SRD said:
			
		

> Goblins have a poor grasp of strategy and are cowardly by nature, tending to flee the field if a battle turns against them. With proper supervision, though, they can implement reasonably complex plans, and in such circumstances their *numbers* can be a deadly advantage.



Each battle with them has shown an improvement in their tactics and behavior. The few we encountered on the road south from Eaglesford broke nearly after we killed the first one. Each successive battle has required us to take out more and/or take out the leaders of each band before the remainder scattered and ran.

Last session this pattern culminated with Garret and Kytum-Up killing the ballista crew and subduing the leader (your description, Nail, not ours) of the goblins. The 4 goblins flanking the water/caltrop corridor were in dead end passages with *no* chance of escape (since the secret doors in those chambers Riva believes are unusable or perhaps not even identified by the goblins), yet despite all odds they fought nearly "until the bitter end". Their leader was down, they had no chance of escape, they had lost their advantages of surprise and numbers when we had first their leader then Kytum-Up demand their surrender. Did they lay down their weapons? No, not until we had taken out 2 more of them (after another 30+" of real-time battle) and they were facing multiple ranged weapons at near point blank range.

These goblins are _exceptionally_ disciplined, exhibiting far more Lawful tendencies than any of us have reason to expect from them. They fight more like very well-trained army units rather than creatures whose advantages are limited to overwhelming numbers and ambushes.

Their tactics in the forest made sense: surprise & ambush us, then cut out when they'd either done enough damage and/or we took too many of them out to be comfortable.

Now they're utilizing near suicidal tactics. They have become far more organized (hence Lawful) and far more effective because of it. If they can keep baiting us into their traps, we might as well kill each other and save them the trouble.

Just my 4 coppers, of course!


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> All, no. Most, yeah, I think so. Especially recently.



There have been 9 encounters so far, so you've seen much of goblin behavior.  Let's break it down:

**********************
Encounter #1: "Bump into goblin patrol"
       Result: ran away after only a few losses.  Kept fleeing, then returning, then fleeing.

Encounter #2: "Run into Goblin camp"
       Result: ran away after a few losses, left PCs with most of goblin treasure.

Encounter #3: "PCs surprise Goblin Patrol"
       Result: ran away after substantial losses and death of one of the leaders.

Encounter #4: "Goblin rogues ambush PCs"
       Result: Ran away after a few rounds, even when the battle could have swung in their favor (mage, cleric, druid all down, fighters scattered)

Encounter #5: "PCs surprise goblin watch post"
       Result: goblin watchers don't signal main base, shoot a few arrows, then try to flee.

Encounter #6: "Goblin out gathering firewood"
       Results: goblins slaughtered

Encounter #7: "PC break through the gate house of Alderslook"
       Results: most goblins caught napping or playing dice, even with generally un-quiet PCs sneaking up on them.  Only those goblins out of reach of PCs (in tower) didn't flee.

Encounter #8:"PCs commando raid on the tower"
       Result: Although in a very strong position, goblins fail to capitalize on it.  Flee at first sign of real danger.

Encounter #9: "Adventure threashing maching"
       Result: Goblins surrender, but only when pressed.  Goblins in side passages not really "pressed", until that &^^%#&^ Web spell plus fire.
*********************

Dunno.  Doesn't seem very Lawful to me.  YMMV.


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> There have been 9 encounters so far, so you've seen much of goblin behavior. Let's break it down:
> 
> **********************
> <snip>
> *********************
> 
> Dunno. Doesn't seem very Lawful to me. YMMV.



It does. We have different viewpoints on the situation which makes it difficult for you to be objective, I think. The trend, even in your descriptions, gets more organized and more strategically disciplined.

You have the benefit of knowing why they stayed each round or turned and ran. I, OTOH, see their resolve strengthening over all 9 encounters until, this last time, we had them outnumbered, cornered, and overwhelmed...and they STILL didn't give up when pressed, OR try to flee. I'm more concerned about why they agreed to be placed in those dead-end passages to begin with, without at least some reassurance of a back door or plan for retreat (after all, even the goblins in the tower had those elven ropes to use, even if they were to stupid to use them earlier in the battle, but then, their leader was the last one standing, not one of the first to fall as was the case this last time).

Something has their backs up, and I would understand if that something is present and therefore more threatening than we are. That's how leadership through fear works. But if that's what's going on, we're not seeing it. We're there, in front of them. We're killing their comrades and taking down their leader. They're trapped. Continuing to fight under those circumstances seems outright heroic to me, and not something Garret expects from what he understands about goblins.

YMMV.


----------



## Gina

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Something has their backs up, and I would understand if that something is present and therefore more threatening than we are. That's how leadership through fear works. But if that's what's going on, we're not seeing it. We're there, in front of them. We're killing their comrades and taking down their leader. They're trapped. Continuing to fight under those circumstances seems outright heroic to me, and not something Garret expects from what he understands about goblins.




I think that what we are all starting to believe is that something or someone has these Goblins working for them and has been coaching them in battle tactics and has put the fear of the Unnamed One into them ensuring that they don't back down! They do seem to be acting as cohesive units, employing tactics that seem far beyond what one would normally expect from goblins. 

Of course, we also believed that all Kobolds must be evil and that evil clerics could not turn undead but rather, would control them, so we could be wrong and the goblins were following orders and figured that if they surrendered, we would cut them down where they stood, and thought that it would be better to go down fighting, since they did have a superior position and knew that they had done some significant damage to us. 

The point here is that our beliefs have been turned upside down over and over recently.....I think that part of the interesting element of this campaign (or sort of not really a campaign) is that what we believe IS so often not correct....makes us think that we don't have all the answers to everything!

I do think that the goblins are acting more disciplined as we move toward their lair, however, it could simply be that in comparison to us, they are pretty disciplined, because we certainly are not! 

It also appears that the goblins are under attack from various fronts....the undead have been attacking them, the captives said that the creature will kill them all....frankly, we may be the least threatening thing they have been up against recently!

Rowan, who only has a very vague grasp of tactics herself!


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> .... The trend, even in your descriptions, gets more organized and more strategically disciplined.....
> 
> ......You have the benefit of knowing why they stayed each round or turned and ran. I, OTOH, see their resolve strengthening over all 9 encounters...



Excellent analysis (from both DrSpunj and Gina)!  No complaints from the man behind the curtain.

As an aside: How does _resolve_ relate to alignment?  I do not always connect the two.  I know several Libertarians (for example) whose resolve to carry through a course of action is quite strong.


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> As an aside: How does _resolve_ relate to alignment?  I do not always connect the two.  I know several Libertarians (for example) whose resolve to carry through a course of action is quite strong.




In this case, resolve and discipline are kind of interchangeable I think. They are showing the discipline of seasoned soldiers, not cutting and running as we would expect goblins to do. To someone with miltiary training (Garret), I would think that this looks very much like lawful behavior. 

Rowan


----------



## DrSpunj

Thank you, Gina. I can go through the Goblin description again, and pull out SRD quotes from the Alignment section, but that's a fair summation.

Rereading things over again, I think this point is where much of our difference of opinion lies, Nail:


			
				Nail said:
			
		

> Encounter #9: "Adventure threashing maching"
> Result: Goblins surrender, but only when pressed. Goblins in side passages not really "pressed", until that &^^%#&^ Web spell plus fire.



And yet, even after that &^^%#&^ Web spell plus fire they STILL didn't back down, even after another of their number died of Asmathias' poison!

Anyway, I believe they were "pressed" from the moment we appeared and cut-off their escape.

Given the goblin description up above noting "strength in numbers" and "cowardly by nature", I am of the opinion that no sane goblin acting true to his nature would agree to any plan where he starts off being backed into a dead end corridor facing enemies that have penetrated this far into the goblin stronghold. I can see a goblin agreeing while his very strong, very angry, very deadly leader-type is standing there bullying him into it, but after that leader disappears, I would expect most to bolt and run to save their own cowardly hide.

The number of goblins involved in that combat was...8, right? 4 providing the flanking ambush, 3 at the end of the corridor, plus their leader manning the ballista. Our party contains...7. Hardly an advantage in numbers to bolster their resolve.

On top of that, the starting positions of the 4 flanking goblins was a suicide mission. If they don't have the individual strength, or strength in numbers to effectively beat us, and they don't have a way to escape, they're knowingly agreeing to fight until the bitter end. Since I can't believe they are doing so for the "greater good" of the goblin tribe, Garret is left thinking that they are following orders as extremely well-disciplined, well-seasoned troops do.

DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Since I can't believe they are doing so for the "greater good" of the goblin tribe, Garret is left thinking that they are following orders as extremely well-disciplined, well-seasoned troops do.



Hmmm.

Well, I'd like you to continue to be able to use the rules, logic etc. I'd like players to be able to "think ahead" of the situation, and as a player I've only found that possible if the DM has a reasonably structured setting.  I'm sure all of you agree.

So I really feel I have to address this "goblins = lawful" issue.  (Goblins are Neutral Evil, BTW.  Neither Chaotic nor Lawful.)

I disagree that the goblins are acting "Lawfully".

Of course, this whole discussion is tinged with an incomplete picture of the facts.  That's a given.

Setting that aside, I disagree that anything the goblins have done is a "suicide mission".  That phrase rather over-states the situation.  Without revealing too much, it seemed pretty clear that the ambush into which you stumbled had an excellent chance of killing you, and, for most invaders, would be an excellent way of defending their lair.  That the plan is not perfect, and has holes in its planning, discipline, and execution, should be typical of the goblin approach.

For example, the hiding goblins did not have to reveal themselves.  Them revealing themselves may have been caused by their belief they _could win_, and win easily.  In fact, there may have been other goblins, in other positions, that chose not to reveal themselves, again with that sort of "cowardly calculus" in mind.  You may remember that although your position at the "Intersection of Death"(tm) was bad, your position at other parts of the battlefield was not so bad.

The "backed into a corner" statement is accurate, though I think you should conceed it is your PCs that are doing the "backing".   You should also consider the intelligence (both accuracy and timeliness) the goblins have with respect to you.  A timeline might be helpful when thinking about this.  

I agree that the "seasoned" adjective is appropriate when applied to the goblins who ambushed you.  I do not agree that seasoned = lawful.  

The goblins you just encountered were better than those you've run into previously.  Why or how that is is up to interpretation and further fact-finding.  How many more of these "superior goblins" there are.....is also left for further fact-finding.  It is safe to assume there is not an indefinite supply.  I do, in fact, keep track of how many are killed, in what circumstance (surpirsed, slaughtered, etc), and where other groups might be.  I also do not treat goblin tribes as "one mind" or "one unit".  My hope is that your experience with the gatehouse up above might give hints in that direction.  You have noted various leaders and leadership styles, I'm sure.  Perhaps a question of why those goblins were up there, given the efficiency of this ambush, might have also crossed your mind.

Regardless, I always take these sorts of criticisms seriously, and I will carefully think over what the goblins are doing, planning, have available, know about their situation, etc.  I have some former gaming friends that I'll run this by as well.  We'll see!

.....I'm getting _way_ too serious here.      Game on, man!


----------



## Nail

*Back to the story!*

*Session #18: How to hurt a dwarven battlerager, in 6 seconds or less.....*

RL evening of Oct 1, 2003

Forming up into their usual marching order, the adventurers continued around the bending corridor, towards where their kobold guide told them was the kobold lair’s secret door.  

"Just around this bend here?" Riva asked Kytum-up, practicing his recently acquired draconic language skills.

"Yes. My people used the rubble of this place to cover it, so it is undetectable to you surface dwellers," the kobold holy warrior nodded sagely.  "Even those despicable goblins could not have found it.  As you see....waaahhh!"  <Crash!>

Kytum-up and Riva lay sprawled on the floor, unable to keep their footing on the rubble covered floor.

Rowan helped them up.  "Be careful!  That was louder than most of those dwarvish battle-cries you use, Riva!"  Rowan made a mental note to learn the dwarvish oaths Riva was using as he stood.

"What’s going on up there?" asked Garret, at the back of the party.  Even mounted on his faithful war-dog Bavic, he couldn’t see what was going on, what with the spacing of the others, the curving of the passage, and the lack of bright light..  Lissia turned to him, torch in hand, and shrugged. 

Grumbling, and moving a bit more slowly, Riva crept along, with the rest of the party in tow.  The stonework block passage opened into a room.  Riva looked within, using his _darkvision_; it was a small rectangular room, much like the one they had just left, with rubble piled high against the right and the left walls.  Another curving passage led out the other side.

Well behind Riva, Kytum-up had stopped, and had started gesticulated wildly and sputtering in draconic: "It was here!  Right here!  There’s supposed to be the pile of rubble here, blocking the passage!  ......That’s not possible....they didn’t know it was here....they moved it!  How could they find it?....We had covered it when we fled from the strange light....But we covered it well!  Filikik-yip helped!  How can this be?......"

Rowan and Thaile, behind the kobold, looked on in awe.  They had never seen the stoic kobold lose his composure so completely.  Rowan whispered to Thaile, "Looks like the ‘secret door’ isn’t as secret as someone thought, huh?" 

"What’s going on?" shouted Garret from the back of the party.

***

Within the room they found the stone block that served as the trap door into the kobold’s lair.  It may have once been cleverly hidden and covered in rubble.......but now it was bare, poorly fit over the hole, and painfully obvious.  The conclusion was unmistakable: the goblins had taken the kobold’s lair as their own, and now they lived down below.

Unwilling to leave any unexplored passages behind them, the party decided to explore the rest of this level of Alderslook, before descending to the next.  (_Rule #1 from the Temple of Elemental Evil: "NEVER adventure beneath a level you haven't cleared." (Psssssst!  The un-initiated may want to look here.) _  The hall beyond this room narrowed, choked with rubble.  Riva, given his large, imposing dwarvish stature, deferred to Kytum-up and the halfling paladin.  Kytum-up became stuck several times, but eventually the pair of (size Small!) heroes made it past the blockage.  As they expected, the hall curved for a short while, then opened again into another rectangular room, with the curved passage continuing on the other side.  (That passage turned out to be blocked, presumably because of the collapsed tower that was above it.)  To the pair’s right was an empty alcove, perhaps for some statuary, while to their left rose a stair, now completely sealed with ancient collapsed blocks.  When they listened carefully at the blocked stair, they could hear birds chirping, far off above them.

The two holy warriors returned to the party, and shared what they saw.  

"Not much in this level, eh?" asked Riva.  "Well, then, down we go!"  Riva wrenched open the stone serving as a trap door.  Below it was a shaft, perhaps 5’ long, that opened into the ceiling of an 8 foot tall hallway that passed below them.  Crude hand- and foot-holds had been carved into the rock; the climb would not be difficult.  Riva took the lead and climbed down.

At the bottom was a straight hall, 5 foot wide.  They had climbed through a poorly carved hole in it’s ceiling, 8 feet above.  In one direction, the hall ended after 10 feet in a smooth stone wall, with a mound of stone rubble in front of it.  In the other direction, the hall ran for 10 feet or so, then descended a steep stair.  Riva walked to the edge of the stair as Kytum-up climbed down the ladder behind him.  The stair was only 12 feet long, or so, and at the bottom Riva could make out three passages: straight, right, and left.  The halls to the right and left were narrower, and filled with stone rubble, the passage straight ahead was clear, but had a shallow pool of water filling it.

Riva and Kytum-up walked down the stairs.  And if their companions called on them to wait until everyone had climbed down, the dwarf and the kobold did not hear them.  

"Eh.  We’ll just explore a bit while they lower that halfling’s dog down," said Riva.  "Just to see what else there is......"

Standing on the last step of the stairs, the dwarf could now see the length of the hall straight ahead.  It was only 20 feet long, and ended in.....the dwarf scowled with uncertainty....the hall ended in a thin, red silk curtain!  Small white flowers dotted its surface.  As the light from his companions torch began to filter down behind him, Riva could see the silk cloth was stained and tattered, with large patches of mud along its bottom edge.

Of course, while Riva stood admiring the curtain, all sorts of things began to happen.

A thin goblin arm snaked out of the curtain, and drew it aside.  Standing behind it were two goblins, crossbows loaded and aimed at the dwarf.  One of them fired at Riva, scoring a hit....a sneaky hit, one that did far more damage to the battlerager than he expected!  But if that’s all there was....well, the dwarf could take it.  Sneaky or no, it would take far more than a few well-aimed crossbow bolts to take down Riva!

That’s when Riva’s eyes lit upon what was squatting behind the two goblin archers: one heck of a really big crossbow.  Wow, was this sucker big.  And it was loaded.  And it was aimed squarely at him. And yes, the tip of the ballista bolt was dripping with some sort of black icky stuff.

"Yep," thought Riva, as he gritted his teeth, "this is gonna hurt."

It did.  The ballista bolt slammed into the battleragers side.  Riva was still standing, and he had shaken off the poison, but still, no doubt about it: it hurt.

At that moment the other goblin crossbow man shot.  He must have been laughing a bit at the dwarf’s obvious pain, as his bolt sailed wide.  No matter; the goblin reached out, and shut the curtain.

"Hey now!" shouted the dwarf to the blank curtain wall in front of him, "You don’t get away that easily!"

The dwarf raged, hoisted his axe, and stepped forward to charge.

Then all sorts of other things began to happen.  
Below the inch pool of water, caltrops had been cleverly hidden.  Riva stepped on one, instantly cutting his move in half.

The bottom of the floor was covered with some sort of grease.  Riva nearly, but not quite, lost his balance.  ....And his move was halved again.

The walls to his right and left, the supposedly rubble blocked passages, burst open, to reveal a goblin to either side, wielding viciously barbed morning stars and well-crafted armor and shields.  They stood higher than Riva, and had a solid 'half wall' between themselves and the dwarf.

Behind the goblins with morning stars, standing on even higher ground (a stairs) were two other goblins, wielding long spears.  They seemed well trained in the art of fighting from the second rank.

.....and as if that wasn’t bad enough, all four (flanking) goblins seemed quite proficient in the art of the sneak attack.

While their brethren proceeded to cut Riva to ribbons, the two goblins behind the curtain drew it back again and, to add insult to injury, threw tanglefoot bags at the dwarf, alchemically pinning him to the spot.  Riva could see two other goblins quickly reloading the ballista.  It would be ready to fire soon.  The curtain closed again.

*************

Anyone want to volunteer for dwarf duty?

_More of Session #18 to come!_


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> Regardless, I always take these sorts of criticisms seriously, and I will carefully think over what the goblins are doing, planning, have available, know about their situation, etc. I have some former gaming friends that I'll run this by as well. We'll see!
> 
> .....I'm getting _way_ too serious here.  Game on, man!



Hey, it's all good! I think, though, we're going to have to respect that we have different views of their actions.

You are the only one blessed (hopefully) with a complete understanding of the situation. Garret can only deal with those facts presented and try to put them together in a way that makes sense. Early on, the goblins were acting as expected. The last few battles have, to me, shown them with very different tactics.

I will admit that a lot of my difference of opinion stems from the placement of those 4 flanking goblins. You're right that they didn't have to reveal themselves, and you're also right that they may have thought they had the upper hand. However, the tide of battle turned against them fairly quickly, AFTER they'd revealed themselves. Faced with opponents they couldn't likely beat (which I hope they realized after losing their advantages of numbers & surprise, as well as their leader) they kept on fighting LONG...let me say that again...LONG after I thought they'd give up or try to make a break for it.

Those were my thoughts _during_ the battle. Finding out immediately afterward that the goblins started out in dead end positions was a very nice powdered sugar icing on the cake. Goblins aren't the brightest, agreed, but given their cowardly sense of self-preservation I just can't believe most goblins would stay in that kind of position.

You think suicidal is too strong of a word. I don't use it lightly. *If* they didn't reveal themselves and *if* they weren't discovered and *if* they were able to stop a group of attackers that has not only made it through their patrols, camps, watchposts but penetrated the depths of their keep...*THEN* they would have nothing to worry about being up that creek without a paddle (or a corridor without an escape hatch).

I give them more credit than that. They aren't _that_ stupid, IMO. So I'm left looking for reasons why they'd agree to such a foolhardy plan. With Garret's training and background he believes they must be well-disciplined soldiers who are willing to lay down their lives following orders.

That's not a Neutral Evil type of creature.

DrSpunj


----------



## Videssian

A lot of good points have been made.. and Riva is sure eager to teach those dastardly goblins a lesson for that ambush of theirs..  But I have a question about the "ballista"..

What stats are you using for the ballista?  How much damage does it do, how is it reloaded, how quickly can it be reloaded, and what strength does it take to use?  How quickly can it be fired?

How heavy is the whole apparatus?  Since a pair of winches (if I recall correctly) are being used, and goblins are (usually) much weaker than 10 Str, how long would it actually take to prep it for fire?   And more importantly, who taught them how?

How heavy is it?  Does it have wheels to help them reposition?  Riva wonders if he has finally found a missile weapon worthy of his use?   *grins*

Is this technically just a large sized crossbow on a tripod?    We know it fires standard javelins, though the damage is greater...

(yes, I am a dwarf, and this is my portable artillery!)  *laughs*


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> ...... and *if* they were able to stop a group of attackers that has not only made it through their patrols, camps, watchposts but penetrated the depths of their keep....



Here's that assumption I was talking about. Replace "if they were able" to "if they knew".  



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> With Garret's training and background he believes they must be well-disciplined soldiers who are willing to lay down their lives following orders.
> 
> That's not a Neutral Evil type of creature.



Let me see if I understand: well-disciplined soldiers willing to lay down their lives must be Lawful Good?   (Setting aside, for a moment, the argument of whether or not they knew they were in grave danger.) Put another way: Can you see how their actions might be consistent with Neutral Evil?

In any event, it's only one encounter.  I'm sure I can redeem their Neutral Evilness, if I put my mind to it.  Working.....


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> Here's that assumption I was talking about. Replace "if they were able" to "if they knew".



Fair enough. That's very much within that "whole picture" concept you should have that I lack. I'm just giving my/Garret's viewpoint here.



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> Let me see if I understand: well-disciplined soldiers willing to lay down their lives must be Lawful Good? (Setting aside, for a moment, the argument of whether or not they knew they were in grave danger.) Put another way: Can you see how their actions might be consistent with Neutral Evil?



Absolutely not. I never claimed Lawful _Good_, just Lawful. On the whole, an organized group of individuals acting in concert that continues to work towards their agreed upon goal despite losing more and more of their number are...not Neutral Evil.  A group comprised of Neutral Evil individuals I can see organizing an ambush like this, but as soon as the tide of battle turns against them, I see them scattering. Those backed into corners I expect to scatter much earlier (perhaps as soon as their leader steps away).

Let me also answer you with another quote:



			
				3.5 SRD said:
			
		

> *Neutral Evil*: A neutral evil villain does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple.



Goblins without an escape plan don't fit this bill to me. As we've both said before, YMMV. 

EDIT: Clarified by adding Evil to Neutral since morality does affect the situation.


----------



## Capellan

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Absolutely not. I never claimed Lawful _Good_, just Lawful. On the whole, an organized group of individuals acting in concert that continues to work towards their agreed upon goal despite losing more and more of their number are...not Neutral.




While I would be surprised to see _Goblins_ act like this, I have to disagree that disciplined and ferocious defence of your home (or of anything you feel strongly about) is an essentially lawful act.  Elves are quintessentially chaotic, but I can readily see them fighting and dying with no thought of retreat, for the right cause.  Ditto any number of CE, NE or N creatures.  It's the fact that it's Goblins doing this - cowardly, sneaky types that they are - that is surprising.

Surprising, but not impossible.  Unusual circumstances lead to unusual behaviour.  At this stage, I'd just take it on trust that Nail has his reasons, and prepare yourselves for more tough fights in the near future


----------



## DrSpunj

Capellan said:
			
		

> While I would be surprised to see _Goblins_ act like this, I have to disagree that disciplined and ferocious defence of your home (or of anything you feel strongly about) is an essentially lawful act. Elves are quintessentially chaotic, but I can readily see them fighting and dying with no thought of retreat, for the right cause.



So can I, because they are Chaotic _Good_ creatures. Being good changes the equation significantly, IMO. I have a very difficult time ascribing such behavior to Chaotic Evil creatures, say Orcs, for example, without the presence of a strong, bullying leader leading the battle (and him I expect to bug out long before his flunkies are toast, if at all possible).



			
				Capellan said:
			
		

> Surprising, but not impossible. Unusual circumstances lead to unusual behaviour. At this stage, I'd just take it on trust that Nail has his reasons, and prepare yourselves for more tough fights in the near future



Right! 

I just don't want to be reading any more into their behavior than Nail is trying to portray. Early on when we ran into the kobolds he made it very clear that _these_ kobolds were acting very differently than what we know/heard/expect from kobolds in general. He made it very clear that the basics about any given race (like kobolds and goblins) generally follow the information found in the Monster Manual, and that if something happened different than what we expected, there was probably a reason for it.

Well, the goblins have been acting much different than I expect, hence my confusion. If it's purposeful and part of the story, great! I'll be happy to see the whole picture as it unfolds. However, a few early comments from Nail when I brought the issue up led me to believe we were seeing things differently.

As he said before: Game on, man!


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Well, the goblins have been acting much different than I expect, hence my confusion. If it's purposeful and part of the story, great! I'll be happy to see the whole picture as it unfolds.



Right.  I want y'all to be able to make logical deductions like that.

I've talked to another gaming friend of mine, giving him the complete picture, and although he's a great guy otherwise, he doesn't _completely_ agree with my interpretation.      Next time I'll ask *Capellan*! 

Ah well.

Tell ya what: we'll run this thing through the rest of the way, and then discuss how it "should" have been.


----------



## Nail

Videssian said:
			
		

> .....  But I have a question about the "ballista".....



It is a Size Large, Heavy, Masterwork, Crossbow, mounted on a battered (once masterwork) tripod. 

 One or two goblins have also kindly carved their names (or something) into the stock, as well as a few symbols that _might_ be human stick figures, with "X" through them.  There are 6 figures with "X" through them.


----------



## evildmguy

Was that a Goblin large crossbow?  Or a human large crossbow?  Did the goblins have proficiency in it?  Or was that another penalty?  

Sorry, not a comment about your DMing, Nail.  More a comment about the new complexity added into 3.5.  Not that you are using 3.5 but still . . .

Love the Xed out stick figures on the stock!  Funny!  Great stuff!  Thanks for posting!  Can't wait to read more!  

Have a good day!

edg


----------



## Nail

evildmguy said:
			
		

> Was that a Goblin large crossbow?



Hey EDG!

....I still want to know what to make of your comment about our new player....  

That was a large heavy crossbow.  (We are using 3.5e, including the new weapons designations.) The goblins could not use it "normally": it must be mounted on a stand, and the person shooting it must have a "helper".  It took one round for the two of them to load.  Given that, the goblin shooting it did not take a -4 to hit (size small creature, size large weapon).

Re: marks on the stock.
Who knows, maybe they need to carve a smaller, stouter figure on the stock, and an "X" thru it?


----------



## evildmguy

I don't know that there was anything to the comment of the new player, other than I know him.  The garbled stuff was an attempt at a joke that he stopped me from saying what you really need to know about him.  Obviously didn't work if it wasn't understood!   

Thanks for sharing the campaign!  Have a good day!

edg


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> Right. I want y'all to be able to make logical deductions like that.
> 
> I've talked to another gaming friend of mine, giving him the complete picture, and although he's a great guy otherwise, he doesn't _completely_ agree with my interpretation.  Next time I'll ask *Capellan*!



Who was also surprised _Goblins_ were acting this way. 



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> Tell ya what: we'll run this thing through the rest of the way, and then discuss how it "should" have been.



Deal! Just plan on setting up some real-life story-time with us players down the line, so we can appreciate the bigger picture of your story, and see the other side of how/why things worked out!

And how long is "the rest of the way" going to take anyway? Before we get to QUACK! your real campaign?

Thanks!

DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> ...And how long is "the rest of the way" going to take anyway?



Ouch.  I know that, regardless of what I say, the actual result will be different.  (shakes head)

I _think_ that you will all reach a major "decision point" in three meetings.

I think.


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Now before this very gentlemanly debate starts to degenerate, how about we change the topic?

Riva, I think I have the solution to your problem with these Goblins.  You're simply not using the right tool for the job, in this case the desired amount of physical protection.  Try this out, and you never need worry about caltrops and the like again!


----------



## Nail

*More of Session #18: "Hey DM: Are these Goblins Lawful, or what?"*

RL evening of Oct 1, 2003

Riva slumped to the floor, unconscious and near "death's door".

He was the toughest member of the adventuring party.  He could take the most hits, bar none.  In the past he had merely grinned at blows that would fell Thaile, Rowan, and Tieran, in one swipe.

Now he lay bleeding on the floor, pinned by alchemical goo, flanked by goblins who had cover and higher ground.  Indeed, only two other party members could be in a position in the hall to even see the tips of the goblin's weapons, much less the goblins themselves.  The rest of the party stood in back, useless.

Meanwhile, the winch of the ballista could be heard, slowly cranked into firing position, behind the red curtain at the end of the hall......



> _From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
> 
> Wow, that fight was long!  Bloody too!  I tried to help by summoning animals, but I couldn't put them anywhere but in the spot Riva was laying in.....the spot I'm going to call: *The Intersection of Death*(tm).  (I'm not sure why, but that "(tm)" seems to go there.....)  And once I summoned my animals there, the goblins killed them in an instant.  Even the small Earth Elemental that I summoned was pulverized before it could lift a stone finger.  I even sent Asmathias in there....he managed to bite one of the goblins.....but he was nearly killed himself, and came slithering back to me.  I nearly sent my serpent to his death!
> 
> We spent lots of time jockeying for position in the narrow hallway. The four goblins in the intersection passageways were nigh untouchable.  Good tactics.  I had never thought goblins to be so clever, but then many of our preconceptions have been overturned in the last few months.  Maybe they're getting tougher because we're so near their home.
> 
> I'm really glad we were able to take that giant crossbow (I think Riva called it a Ballista) out of the beginning part of the combat. On the second firing of the giant crossbow, Tieran used a mage hand spell to grab the bolt before it fired.  Then he annoyed the goblins for a while by poking at them with it.  Boy, those goblins got mad at that!  Meanwhile Thaile had gotten close enough to Riva to partially heal him.  Riva eventually was able to pull back from the Intersection of Death (tm).
> 
> After quite some time Garret and Kytum-up managed to get past the Intersection of Death(tm) and get to the curtain.  The goblins fired the ballista at Garret through the curtain, hitting him.  It also knocked down the curtain, nearly on top of Garret.  That meant I could see a place to cast my spells!  I summoned a wolverine into that area to help Garret and Kytum-up.  The three of them took care of the goblins there, and even captured their leader!  It took us a while longer to persuade the goblins at the Intersection of Death(tm) to surrender, but Tieran's _web_ spell plus a flaming torch eventually did the job......




The adventurers had prevailed!  Was there ever any doubt??!  
Riva sat, exhausted from his rage, and nearly unconscious.
Garret was sorely wounded from a ballista bolt hit.
Thaile was out of healing spells, and injured herself.
Tieran was nursing two nearly fatal wounds from goblin morningstars.
Rowan tended her injured serpent.  She, too, was out of spells.
...and Lissia tended Kytum-up's wounds, and also watched over the goblin captives.
(_Nope.  No doubt at all.  They're fine, folks!  Just takin' a breather!_)

The adventurers tied up their three goblin prisoners,  and then searched the area for loot.  They found several jars of magical potions, oils, and pastes, along with lots of masterwork equipment and weapons, all Empire made, and many with "markers marks" on them.  Thaile also found (and kept for safekeeping) some jewelry the goblins had hidden about.

Exploring the area they found the two side passages (The Intersection of Death!(tm)) each ended in tiny circular rooms, each with corroded metal markings on the walls.  Riva found old secret door in each, though neither worked now.  Past the ballista, the 5 foot wide hall turned sharply left, ran 10 feet down a set of rubble strewn steps, then opened up into another circular room, just like the ballista room above.  From this room was another 5' wide stair off to the left, this one 20 feet long or so.  The adventurers set the captured ballista at the top of these steps pointed down, and had Kytum-up and Riva man it.

The group decided to rest for a "night" here (even though it was probably noon up above).  Their healing was nearly gone, and all needed more.  As they were settling in, Riva noticed some movement near the trapdoor where the adventurers had entered. He, Garrett, and Rowan investigated and found that someone up above had thrown rubble over the trap door, effectively blocking the exit.

"We will find another way out," said Riva confidently. "Maybe I can pry open those old secret doors in the alcoves."

Kytum-up shook his head, "No.  The way we came in is the only way.  We kobolds know all of the secret ways here.  We are trapped."

"Great," muttered Thaile.

*****
The adventurers rested "the night".  No goblins disturbed their sleep, other than those that lay nearby, bound and well-guarded.

The "night" passed.  (But who could be sure, underground as they were?)  After casting more healing spells, the party decided to question their goblin captives.  Garret, the holy Warrior of Morwyn, Goddess of Mercy decided.......well, let's see how _you_ read it:

Garret: "What tribe are you from?  How many are there below?"

Goblin #1 (translated by Kytum-up, who has _intimidated_ this goblin): "We....we....we are the Tribe of the Bloody Skull.  .....There are ... hundreds more down below!  They'll attack you if you go down there...."

Garret: "Sure.  And we'll be ready.  Now, who are the leaders?"

Goblin #1: "We have several...... Cala-bleed is the most powerful......  Glebesh and Rag-lep are also very strong...."

Goblin #2: "Quiet, you fool!  Don't tell them any more!"

Garret: (glancing at the goblin who just spoke up) "Riva, take this second goblin around the corner over there, and beat him until he is unconscious.  Then do the same to that third goblin."

Riva: "No problem!"

Needless to say, Goblin #1 became even more obsequious and helpful.....

After a few more minutes of questioning the lone goblin, this is what they found:
They were chased from their caves in the swamp (the Aldersmere) by a bright light many months ago.

 Undead have been attacking the goblins here (they think that the undead come from the swamp)

The goblin priests have used the power of their god (symbol: twisted dagger) to turn or destroy the undead.

They steal mundane items to sell to people who come from a human town to the NW [Eaglesford?].  These people come every 2 weeks or so.  They sell the goblins all kinds of things. 

They also sell things to some orcs that live nearby.

All of these things surprise the adventurers greatly.  Orcs in the Aldersmere?  More reports of the bright light?  Goblins dealing with men?  A supposedly evil priest destroying undead with his god's power?

Whoa.......

*End of Session #18*


----------



## Flik

*Thaile has arrived...*

Hi all!! I finally caught up with all of this reading AND created an account for myself!!     This is all so new... but really cool! Ok, now that I have read through all of this again and refreshed my memory, I am creating a list of questions we (as a party) should try to find the anwers to.

Thaile
Cleric of Darmon
"What do I get if I heal you?"


----------



## Gina

Flik said:
			
		

> I am creating a list of questions we (as a party) should try to find the anwers to.




I'm working on my list as well....of course, much of it will be in incoherent Rowan-speak!

Rowan
Druid of Eaglesford


----------



## Nail

Alright!  All four long-time players are on the ENBoards!  Excellent!  

Now we just have to get the mystery player up here, an' we'll be set.



			
				Gina said:
			
		

> I'm working on my list as well....



Why don't you post some of these questions up here?  A "condensed list", as it were.

If Thaile's player is willing I'd like to post an email she send me about her character's thoughts and musings......


----------



## Flik

*Thoghts from Thaile...*

After questioning the captured goblins, Thaile walks off into a 
corner mumbling to herself. Those of you around her hear:

"I'm so confused, from everything that I have been taught, 
walking dead are evil. But if a evil holy symbol is used to "turn" 
undead and they react the same was as when I do it... how can that 
be. I thought that if an evil holy symbol was used that the undead 
would then be able to be commanded by the person holding the holy 
symbol. from the accounts of the goblins, the undead reacted the same 
way as when i turn. What could that mean? 
Let's see, I was also taught that all kobolds are evil, as they 
are not one of the creatures of the tree. However, the kobolds that 
we have been working with do not seem to be evil at all, in fact 
Rowan and Greystone both think that they are important to the 
balance. 
So if kobolds can be good, can undead be good too? If undead were 
good, then if an evil holy symbol was used to try to turn then, it 
would work, as the goblins said it did. We have run into quite a few 
undead on our journeys, but have seen no evidence of them being 
anything but evil. The times I was able to turn them they have run 
from us or simply blown up - as one would expect. 
But then again, maybe the "good undead" (assuming they exist) 
would only go after the evil creatures, thus staying out of our way. 
Then there are also these dreams I keep having. I need to 
remember to tell the group about the second dream. I am sure the 
knotted rope and my inablility to untie it has something to do with 
all of this, but heck if i can figure out what."

Thaile's mumbling fades as she settles down in the corner to pray to 
Darmon. While praying to Darmon she presents him with a list of questions, that she will later pose to her friends. But she figures that if Darmon wants to offer any advice/guideance/answers.. that would be great with her. The questions are:
Things to remember/consider for Eaglesford Campaign:

	Ray Timbers had taken a stranger up pst the river, past the bridge…. Who was this stranger? Could it be the person that was with him here the other night? (assuming of course that my guess of Ray is correct)
	Alderseep: do we know what the “speacial power” is said to be? Why the orcs would camp there when they used to raid – you know, about 15 years ago?
	Also what about Crownell? Could something be hiding there? Maybe that is why we haven’t seen the undead in a while now? What is the phase of the moon right now in comparison to what it was at Smitson farm?
	Ask kitumup, do you know other kobolds? Do you get along with them?
	Did we do a determine magic on the dragon idol?
	Mulakikyip’s rendition of why all of the orcs vanished referred to them summoning a demon – how would they have summoned a demon? What kind of demon?
	Why did Lord Aelric suddenly start drinking in excess?
	Another thaile dream: vision of clouds skittering across the sky while she slept
	When we fought the mummy it said: my works will not be destroyed! Does that mean that because we killed the mummy we killed the one that made the idol? (it was speaking in first person)
	Has Rowan felt like someone was watching her since we got to Aldersmere? When did it start? We should figure out who that is.
	Kikuk: god of dragons & earth – is there a god for this on the tree?
	From Rowan: Anwyn being the goddess of the hearth and then the goblins are stealing stuff that all has to do with making a home…..


----------



## Gina

After Thaile finishes her prayers, Rowan moves sit next to her and offers her dinner of jerkey and dried fruit since lighting a fire to cook on down here is not really practical.

This whole thing is confusing. I also thought that worshippers of evil gods could control the undead rather than turning them....but then, everyone we know, except for Graystone has said that Kobolds are all, without exception evil. Well, we know that Kobolds are not all evil....they seem to be creatures who want to be left alone to go about their own business. 

So, if the goblins worship an evil god, how do they turn undead? I know little of religion, but perhaps only some sects can control the undead.....or perhaps if they were created under the auspices of one god, they can only be controlled by an adherent to the god in whose name they were created?

Of course, this place is ancient. The orcs buried here are the ones who are coming as undead. I think that they are not so much good or evil as committed to a task. What if the undead have risen, not because they were created by an
individual, but because they were charged in life and in death to protect the dragon idol and this place? Perhaps they are guardians of this place and the goblins are defiling it somehow or they seek to protect the place where the idol  needs to go back to. We have not been attacked by undead for some time. I thought that the closer we came, the more attacks we would suffer, but the undead have left us alone for the most part......so, perhaps as we come closer to returning the idol to it's rightful place, the  undead will attack that which blocks us....it's a thought anyway.

Rowan pats Thaile on the shoulder and moves to her own bedroll, disliking the idea of spending a night underground rather than beneath the stars and sky. 

As she drifts off, she wonders about the creature that made the strange tunnels and claw marks above, hoping that it does not come to us in the night and resolving to ask Thaile to speak more of her dreams of skittering clouds and knots that cannot be unravelled.


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

> The "night" passed. (But who could be sure, underground as they were?) After casting more healing spells, the party decided to question their goblin captives. Garret, the holy Warrior of Morwyn, Goddess of Mercy decided.......well, let's see how you read it:




I read it as a great job, Garret!  By adventurer's standards, how can pummelling a Goblin into unconsciousness _not_ be construed as merciful?  Sheesh, it's not like there was any permanent damage.  

I'm also thinking the very merciful non-maiming, non-terminal pummelling was actually a bluff, given that Riva was supposed to take the goblin "around the corner".  You could use that as your new code phrase when you want to bluff or run some sort of Black Ops.  "Riva, you'll need to go 'around the corner' on this mission..."

I'm also very impressed, if not moreso, that Riva was so merciful in restraining himself to a pummelling.  



> and knots that cannot be unravelled.




Interesting.  Is there a city named Gordion somewhere in the Empire?

Excellent choice in your signature picture Gina/Rowan by the way.  There can never be enough cute babies if you ask me.


----------



## Gina

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> Excellent choice in your signature picture Gina/Rowan by the way.  There can never be enough cute babies if you ask me.




That would be my son Conrad....he's two now, but I love that picture, he was three months old at the time. Thanks, I figured that there couldn't be too many cute babies either!

Rowan


----------



## Nail

Tonight we play!   Woot!

What will the adventurers do? (_"I say we just quit this adventure, and go be sheep herders."_)   What questions will they ask? (_"So, DM: what's up with these freakin' Lawful goblins, eh?"_)   What additional challenges will they face? (_"...!!!!...Where did *That* come from?  .....and how do we kill it?_")

...All will be revealed.......at least, _I_ hope so!


----------



## Nail

Gaming was accomplished!  There was much rejoicing!

...Or something.  I got some _great_ looks out of my player’s last night.....Garret and Thaile especially.  Here’s hoping I can translate that into a decent write-up.

While I was doing said write-up, I found myself typing out a synopsis of the “story-line-that’s-not-a-campaign-‘cause-I-said-so”.  Here it is:


Synopsis:
    A group of childhood friends from a small frontier hamlet decided to seek out "Adventure!"  They were: Garret (halfling holy warrior of Morwyn), Riva (dwarf battle-rager), Thaile (human cleric of Darmon), Rowan (human druid of Eaglesford), and Tieran (human wizard)....and wouldn’t you know, but _now_ they’re up to their necks in this “adventure” stuff.....

    Following up on a lead for “adventure!”, the group stumbled upon the warren of a decimated kobold clan, who were (quite surprisingly) Good.  (Readers should note the capital “G”.)  These kobolds had been practically slaughtered, chased from their home by a strange light that could kill with a mere touch.  The kobolds that escaped fled with a sacred idol, a rod of precious metals and gems, capped with a dragon, with wings out-stretched.  This idol apparently was drawing the walking dead to the kobold’s new lair, and would soon overwhelm them.  

    The adventurers agreed to help the kobolds, and decided the best course of action was to return the idol to its original resting place in the kobold’s former lair beneath Alderslook.  They knew the lair used to be some sort of ancient fortress, and was currently inhabited by a group of goblins called the Bloody Skull tribe.

    After a few side trips and many challenges, the party of adventurers has managed to fight their way into the dungeons of Alderslook.  Those goblins they encountered have either been killed or driven off, but it seems clear now that the majority of the tribe is still down below them, down the stairs to the next level, further into the bowels of Alderslook.....


----------



## Samus_the_Lucky

Hello?  Is this thing still on?

 (listening for echo...)


----------



## Gina

Samus_the_Lucky said:
			
		

> Hello?  Is this thing still on?
> 
> (listening for echo...)




Yes...but Nail has been really busy! Hopefully, things will let up a bit!

Rowan


----------



## Samus_the_Lucky

Gina said:
			
		

> Yes...but Nail has been really busy! Hopefully, things will let up a bit!



 Ok, i will go back to waiting patiently.  Thanks.


----------



## evildmguy

Gina said:
			
		

> Yes...but Nail has been really busy! Hopefully, things will let up a bit!
> 
> Rowan




What about everyone else?  Has it been so busy that the players couldn't have talked about things?

Don't mind me.  Just wanting an update!  

edg


----------



## Nail

We're still playing!  And Rowan is still taking notes and making them available to her DM!  And her DM is still being a slacker!  

I'll see if I can't put some time aside after turkey day.

As a spoiler: The original 5 adventurers have lost one of their number!


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Nail said:
			
		

> As a spoiler: The original 5 adventurers have lost one of their number!




Noooo!  Say it isn't Rowan!  Be nice to the Druid, Nail.   I'd try to sway your mercy by regailing you with a cute baby picture, but I'm currently thwarted in adding attachments.

As always, looking forward to more of the story.


----------



## DrSpunj

*Call me a softie, but...*

I don't want this to put a damper on your Happy Turkey Day festivities, SBI, so I'll state that Nail is *NOT* referring to Rowan here.

'Nuf said.



DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

Softie!   

The loss doesn't happen for a bit in the story hour....I'll see if I can't write up a bit today.  And avoid grading the 59 exams stacked on my desk!


----------



## Nail

*An update!*

*Session #19: "Short Secrets"*

RL evening of Oct 16, 2003
The adventurers thought long and hard about what their goblin captives had told them.  These were the Bloody Skull tribe of goblins, driven out of their caves by the same strange light that had driven the kobolds out of Alderslook.  These goblins, lead by a goblin priest named Calebbleed, had fled to Alderslook and settled here, and had apparently begun some sort of trade between themselves and "some humans" nearby.  Thaile had seen a human and another (of one of the short races) leave Alderslook last night, and it had been agreed that these two were either the Warden’s men from Eaglesford, or perhaps the peddler Jungles and his bodyguard Grunt.  In either case, there would be much to discuss with Lord Aelric upon the party’s return to Eaglesford.

Garret and Thaile pressed the goblin captives about the lay-out of the rest of the lair below.  The goblins said that past the stairs (on which they were now sitting), there were three large halls, with several side passages.  The final large hall was "Calebbleed’s Place", perhaps a throne-room of some kind.  Apparently the goblins had been busy digging through much of the rubble below, looking for great orcish treasures.  They hadn’t found much....just several areas of "bad magic" that the goblins had learned to stay away from.

The adventurers got together to discuss their plans.

"This is likely to be a tough fight," Garret began, "We might loose someone.  This is their den, and there are lots of them.  The one person we can’t afford to loose is Kytum-up."  Garret nodded in the kobold’s direction.  "He’s the only one here that knows the way down further.  I think it’s best if we spread out that risk.  Kytum-up, could you tell us where we need to go once the goblins have been cleaned out?"

The diminutive draconoid paused, digesting what Garret, translated for him by Thaile, had said.  He shook his head slowly.

"I was instructed," said Kytum-up in draconic, "by my leader, Mulu-kik-yip, not to tell you surface dwellers where the final door was.  Once we had secured it, I was to thank you all, then ask that you leave, and that I alone was to go on."

Thaile paused translating for Garret, mid-sentence, a look of open astonishment on her face.  "You weren't supposed to tell us...." she began.

Kytum-up continued quickly, "It is not that we do not trust you......You surface dwellers have shown us that like any others, there is good in your races.   You have earned our trust in more ways that we can count.  But there are others that we still do not trust, and we do not know how they might be able to worm the information from your minds."

Garret was the first to respond, before Thaile had even finished translating the draconic into common.  "I can understand, but surely you can see the danger here?  We might not be able to find the entrance to your former lair if you fall in battle!  What will we do if you are gone?"

The other party members murmured agreement.

Garret went on, "Look: why don’t you pick one of us, and tell that one person the way to go?  I would be happy to volunteer for that duty."

Thaile translated this for Kytum-up.  The kobold slowly looked around the group, looking into the eyes of each, as if trying to measure the depths of their souls.  At last his gaze rested on Garret.

"Your idea is a good one, Garret, Holy Warrior of the Merciful Goddess.  I would that I could share my secret with you, and you alone.  ...But you do not speak my language, nor do I speak yours, so I will have to choose another."

The kobold’s piercing gaze traveled once again over the group.  As his gaze met Thaile’s, she blushed slightly; for just an instant her desire to hold the dragon idol flashed across her face.  The kobold’s gaze moved on, and rested on Rowan.  "I will tell Rowan," Kytum-up said softly.  "For now she alone will know the secret of entrance into my people’s kingdom."

Kytum-up and the druid went off a short distance, and had a hushed conversation.  (_And if Garret heard short snatches of what they spoke, what of it?_)



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> ....so, we went off away from the others.  Garret looked so disappointed!  I gave him a nod and a smile as I left; I hope he takes this well.  I know how much he likes to know what’s going on!
> 
> Anyway, Kytum-up started by saying that he was telling this to me because of the trust he has in my former master, Graystone.  Then he swore me to secrecy, fixing me with that penetrating kobold glare of his.  He is really quite intimidating for such a little creature.  Kind of like Garret, actually.
> 
> Kytum-up explained to me that the entrance into his people’s kingdom was through the throne room, high up in the pile of rubble.  I guess that the rubble from the collapsed ceiling is casually thrown and scattered about so that there's no entrance, really.....  I'm not sure I got his explanation; something about fooling magic that tries to find secret entrances.
> 
> After we clear away the rubble, we’ll have to go down a long flight of stairs, past all sorts of hallways and such.  He says his people calls this place "The Test of the Gods", but he’s not sure why...in fact he’s said he’s never even been in any of the side passages!  He told me the whole area is empty, though.  He told me that if we stay on the stairs we'll be fine - it's not a real test or anything.  Whatever kobold defences that were there were disabled by their flight from their home.
> 
> After the stair is some sort of huge hall, then another stairs leading down into the actual kobold homeland.  Sounds like quite a trip!  I was surprised that he called the lair a "kingdom".  He said thousands had been killed by that strange light...that it had slaughtered  his people, even the women and children!  I was also surprised by what he said the kobold kingdom would contain: breeding pits for rats, spiders, and centipedes (so that's where they were coming from!); fungus farms (yuck!); family houses and caves; swimming pools; dining halls; kingdom defences.....
> 
> I hope that the strange ball of light (or whatever) isn’t down there to meet us.  It sounds like there will be more than enough fun already.....




*More of Session #19 to come!*


----------



## Nail

BTW: It was at about this time that our newest player joined us!  He took over the character of Tieran, and I _believe_ he has intentions on pushing the character in a different direction.  Welcome, new player of Tieran!  Get an ENWorld messageboards account!!!

Tieran's former player had to bow out, due to scheduling conflicts.  That is, he started up his second gaming group!  He now DMs two groups; I play in one of them.  It's good to be a player!

Strangely enough, the monsters in his game always seem to attack the PCs in my game after a week or two.  Hmmmm.......


----------



## Nail

*Run down, run up!  It's the stairmaster exercise plan!*

*Session #19: "The Goblins get a Surprise"*
RL evening of Oct 16, 2003

"Quit yer yapping...err...Hey!"

Riva looked up from sharpening his axe at the top of the stairs.  A few short steps below were a group of goblins, casually walking up, talking in low tones.  They had bags slung over their shoulders, their weapons were stowed, and they shared looks of astonishment with the dwarven battlerager.  Obviously, neither of them had expected the other to be there.  And certainly not this close.

Riva stared at the goblins.  The goblins stared back.

The goblins reacted first.  Hoping to escape outside, they charged past Riva, past Tieran, past Lissia...and ran straight into Kytum-up, Garret, and the rest of the party.  The lead goblin tried to bowl the kobold over and rush past, but Kytum-up rebuffed him.  All drew blades, and the battle was joined.

Still in partial darkness, Tieran threw a flask of alchemist fire toward the rear of the goblin line charging up the stairs.  Thaile added to the goblins' confusion by casting a _hold_ spell on the goblin lead captian.  Then Riva waded in, greataxe swinging.  Within a few short moments the goblins that remained alive fled back down the stairs, with Riva, Garret, Kytum-up, Tieran, and Rowan in hot pursuit.  Slowly but surely, as the two groups raced down the stairs, taking one left turn after another, the goblin group was whittled away......five goblins....four goblins.....three goblins.....two goblins.....one goblin......

Thaile and Lissia stayed behind for a moment.  After the halfling and kobold paladins were around the corner.....they quickly and efficiently slit the three captive goblins' throats.  "So they won't cause us trouble later," muttered Thaile, as the once-farm-girl Lissia looked askance.  Once done, the two women hustled down the stairs, to join their companions in battle.

At the bottom of the long, twisted stair the last surviving goblin raced out into a large, pitch-black room.  Without hesistation, Riva followed.  (His raging and his darkvision should prevent problems, right?)  He was soon surrounded by surprised and excited goblins, their small spears trying their best to taste dwarvish blood.  Kytum-up too went into the great room, but the rest stayed behind in the stair-hall, waiting crucial seconds for Tieran to bring up the torch so they could see.  They could hear the dwarf and the kobold in the room, fighting hard.  Rowan paused for a few moments, focused her divine power, and summoned a dire wolf to appear at the bottom of the stairs. Once the torch light had reached the room, Garret rushed passed the wolf, on his mount Bavic, and lanced the first goblin he could reach.

The room in which they fought was roughly circular, 50 feet across, with a ceiling some 30 feet high.  Part of the ceiling had collapsed ages ago, and a huge mound of rough stone sprawled across the center of the room, forming a sort of hill.

Arrayed across the hill were 20 or 30 goblins, with bows, spears, or morningstars, and they surrounded the adventurers as best they could.  Rowan made that more difficult by summoning another wolf (regular size this time, thanks).  The goblins in front gave way.

But there were more goblins - many more - and they swarmed out of the two side passages of the room.  Thinking quickly, Tieran strode into the room, and cast his most powerful spell.  With a few arcane words and gestures, most to the room, including the side passages, were covered with a magical web.  Most of the goblins were stuck fast, and those few that weren't would be dealt with quickly.  And if the web should happen to catch on fire.....roasted goblin.  The goblins were defeated!  The adventurers moved in for the kill.....

(_At this point, Thaile's player turned to the DM and said, "Hey.  Your being awfully quiet.  You're not mad we're defeating them, are you?"  The DM looked up with a sort of distracted air, "What?  Oh no, not at all.  I'm just thinking."  An expectant silence fell over the table._)

.....and suddenly the adventurers heard dark arcane mutterings from the other side of the chamber.  In an instant, their side of the room was covered in a familiar magical web, trapping them all.  Then even more goblin archers came out from behind the pile of rubble, and they heard a shouted order in the goblin language.  

"What did it say?" shouted Riva, struggling in the web nearest the edge and the goblin archers.

"It said 'Everyone shoot the dwarf'," said Kytum-up grimly, as he too, struggled to free himself.

"Figures." muttered Riva, straining against the entrapping webs.

"Everyone!  Get out!" yelled Garret, "Tieran, use your torch to burn us a path to Riva!  Riva, light a torch and get out of there!"

Goblin arrows thudded into the stout dwarf as he complied.  Thaile and Lissia had at last reached the bottom of the stairs from their bloody business above, and they too lit torches to help clear a path of retreat for their companions.  It was slow work; even a brightly burning torch could only clear away a few square feet of the web at a time.  And any that were trapped in web burnt themselves to get free.  Riva's life-blood was draining away, through more goblin arrow holes than even Tieran could count.  The goblin arrows rained down.

Then they heard the dark arcane voice again.

It was a black, twisted phrase, which left a unclean feeling upon them.  The sound covered them in inky, cloying blackness for a moment, and the darkness of it caused their souls to ache.  Both Tieran, Riva, and Garret's war-dog Bavic nearly died from it.  They shook off it's effects as best they could, then fled up the stairs, counting their blessings that they had been able to carve a free path to Riva in time.

The goblins did not, apparently, follow.



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> ...So, in short, we escaped with our lives - and we managed to kill some of them.   But there were a heck of a lot more of them down below, and Riva is telling me as I tend his wounds that almost all of their arrows were poisoned.  From the look of the black goo around his wounds, I'd have to agree with him.  And there's also that goblin wizard to deal with.
> 
> We've talked about what happened below and what we should do next as I write this.  While we talk we're using our remaining healing magic.  I'm not sure we've made up our minds, but it's clear we've got to do something, and soon, because.....
> 
> Riva got into the room the farthest, and he says that he saw some humanoid figures hanging upside-down on poles toward the back of the room.  He thinks they're elves, and he thought he saw at least one still moving.   He also saw......he also thinks he saw that they didn't have any....that they have been scalped.    Scalped.    The goblins we've been running into up until now have always had little....scraps of stuff tied to their belts.  I guess I'd always thought it was bits of animal skins.  I guess I know different now....
> 
> ...
> 
> While we've been talking, Thaile's been going through the goblin loot we've found.  I put the caltrops on the stairs below us, and Lissia has got the ballista ready and aimed down the stairs, so I guess we're safe enough for the moment.  One of the things she's found is an ivory and wood bracelet of interlocking hands.  When Garret and I heard this, we looked it over; we're both pretty sure this was an item the gnomish peddler Jingles had offered to sell us a month ago.  It allows the user to cast the spell "mage hand".  How did it get here?  Is Jingles the one working with the goblins?  Could he have been the one Thaile saw last night?
> 
> There was also a brooch of orcish make of a dragon's eye, with a ruby center.  Carved around the edges are draconic words for sight and seeing.  I put the brooch on and began saying the words.  One of them activated it.....my sight was...different?
> 
> I look down the stairs......The caltrops at the base of the stair are moving.  Garret is at the top of the stairs, his back turned, talking to me.....he doesn't see what's coming up the stairs....!!!!
> 
> But I do.



*End of Session #19*


----------



## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> BTW: It was at about this time that our newest player joined us!  He took over the character of Tieran, and I _believe_ he has intentions on pushing the character in a different direction.  Welcome, new player of Tieran!  Get an ENWorld messageboards account!!!
> 
> Tieran's former player had to bow out, due to scheduling conflicts.  That is, he started up his second gaming group!  He now DMs two groups; I play in one of them.  It's good to be a player!
> 
> Strangely enough, the monsters in his game always seem to attack the PCs in my game after a week or two.  Hmmmm.......




Um, Nail.. don't you think that a 12-headed cryohydra would be a bit much to throw at us?  I mean, Riva's good, but is he THAT good?  *grins*

(seeing as how I'm ALSO in that same group that Nail plays in)


----------



## Nail

Videssian said:
			
		

> Um, Nail.. don't you think that a 12-headed cryohydra would be a bit much to throw at us?



Oh, don't worry, I'd never throw a 12-headed cryohydra at the party.

After all, Tieran specializes in fire magic.  Wouldn't want to make it _too_ easy....


----------



## DrSpunj

Nail said:
			
		

> Oh, don't worry, I'd never throw a 12-headed cryohydra at the party.
> 
> After all, Tieran specializes in fire magic. Wouldn't want to make it _too_ easy....



Given Riva's standard [lack of] tactics, just make sure it has Combat Reflexes! 

After you're sure which way you'd rule in that situation, anyway. I don't remember what side you ended up on in that Rules thread awhile back.



DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

*Now that I've waited long enough to lose all my readers.....*

Trying to post from home...for the first time ever!  If my connection hold up, this will be the first of three.


*Session #20: "Happy Halloween!  Calabbleed Introduces Himself"*

RL evening of Oct 29, 2003



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> We've done so much in the past few hours, that's hard to keep track of it all.  I was out for part of it....that makes it even more confusing.  And I'm not sure of the cost to us as a party; the cost to Garret, ....well, I won't say.
> 
> We had chased some goblins down into their lair, then been chased back up the stairs to near the Intersection of Death.  While catching our breath and tending our wounds, we decided to go back right away.  We might be able to save those elves if we got there quickly enough.
> 
> As Garrett began removing the caltrops so we could go down, I activated that ruby dragon eye brooch. I looked down the stair, behind Garrett, and saw a creature creeping up behind him. No one else seemed to see it.
> 
> It was a dark figure, in a black cloak. It looked like a halfling, carrying a short sword in its left hand. Its right hand was empty but clawlike, clenching and unclenching. It moved silently and very smoothly. As it came a step closer, I saw its head....bloody and hairless, with blood running down and dripping on the black cloak. The skin of it's face had been peeled away.  This beast had been scalped and flayed alive.
> 
> I decided to warn Garrett.
> 
> But it managed to close the distance in an instant, and attack with its sword, a claw, and even a bite!  It missed with all but one!!!  Only its sword hit, and only a glancing blow.  Its attacks had been precise, even sneaky; good thing only one of them hit!
> 
> After attacking Garrett, the little man ran down the stairs and dissapeared around the corner, calling out "Come and get me" as he ran.
> 
> We waited a moment, trying to determine what our best course of action would be...of course, as we paused, he came back and shot an arrow at us.  (It missed too.  Hah!)  Lissia shot back at him with the ballista, but missed. I cast a flaming sphere, but he avoided that easily. Then he ducked back down the hallway, again calling out for us to come and get him.  Riva charged.  The chase was on, so, we fell into line behind Riva, to meet our destiny below, whatever it might be.




*More of Session #20 to come!*


----------



## Nail

DM Aside:  The fun part here, for me at least, was starting the meeting out with a secret note to Rowan's player, while I say "You see...<hand note>....this."

Pause.  Rowan's player reads it, a pained look crosses her face.

Me: "Oh yeah.  No one else sees that but you, Rowan.  What are you going to do?"

<insert evil DM grin>

Rowan's player still has that note (hand written, so I have no copy!).  Perhaps she could post it here?  Please?

And yet, after all of that, my BBEG misses most of his sneak attacks!  Aaaargggg! 

"Hello?  Operator?  I'd like to report some missing sneak attacks?  They'd been planned for weeks, they would have done mucho damago, but instead.....nada.  Can I get a refund?"


----------



## Nail

*Most of Session #20 here...but no ending!  Not yet, my precious!*

*Session #20: "The Bloody Skull"*

RL evening of Oct 29, 2003

Down the adventurers went, down the narrow twisting stair, deep into the bowels of Alderslook.  This was the second time within an hour that they were running down the stairs...but this time, they weren't chasing a few miserable goblins.  They were chasing something that seemed to have come from the demonic abyss itself.  A bloody, flayed creature, the leader of the goblin tribe, a monster named Calebbleed.  It taunted them as they ran after it, sniping at them with its bow when they stopped to catch their breath.  Riva had several new, poison-laced wounds from the bloody thing's black arrows to show for it.

Near the bottom of the stair, the group stopped again, just around a corner.  They could hear below them the taunting of the demon-thing, as well as the muted whispers of his goblin horde.  They paused and prepared.  More healing potions were passed around.  Rowan cast _Bull's Strength_ on Riva, Tieran magically _enlarged_ Kytum-up, and Riva tried out an heretofore unknown potion, and found that it, too, was of _enlargement_ magic.  They were all still wounded from the previous battle, less than an hour before, but they were as ready as they could be.

Magically girded for battle, the party charged down the remainder of the stairs, out into the large room at it's base.

The goblins were ready for them, too.  While many of the greasy little things clustered around the doorway, confining the party behind Riva, rows of goblin archers let loose their first volley of arrows.  They flew thickly, but most failed to penetrate the towering dwarf's armor.  He strode forward, his greataxe making great sweeps through the packed goblins.  With a few more strokes, Riva cleared a path into the room, and Garret and Kytum-up charged out from behind him.

As Riva gave a feral grin to the goblins quaking in front of him, he heard a familiar arcane voice stab at him from across the room, from a source high up on the ceiling.

*"Die!"*

Riva, greataxe raised, looked up for a moment.....then slumped to the ground, unconscious, within easy reach of 6 goblins and their morning stars.  It was their turn to grin.

Each of them struck at the prone dwarf.  Crunch - Slash - Stab - Bam!   Each of them hit solidly, inflicting savage wounds on Riva.  And yet they could not kill him, even helpless as he was.  In a moment, Riva shook off the magic, got to his feet amidst a new flurry of goblin swings, and went back to work: "Time to kill some more goblins!"

Garret nodded agreement, and charged again into the pack of them.  Kytum-up held Riva's flank, his _enlarged_ sword and physique making short work of those goblins that tried to oppose him.  Indeed, neither Garret nor Kytum-up had been wounded more than a little.  Still, there were too many goblins.....

Rowan was doing her best to help.  She had summoned a dire wolf, and added a regular-sized wolf for good measure.  She loosed her snake companion, Asmathias, hoping it would be able to find that bloody demon-thing, Calebbleed.  Then she turned herself into a bear, and lumbered into combat.  (_Her first wildshape, ever!_)

Behind the druid was Lissia and Thaile.  They had set up the small ballista, and Lissia was shooting it as fast as they could load it.  Thaile used what spare time she could find to dart in behind Riva to heal him.

He needed it.

On the far side of the room, opposite the adventurers, was a ledge, high up on the wall.  Several goblin archers knelt there, goblin captains, with powerful bows and poisoned arrows.  Calebbleed too, walking along the ceiling, used his bow.  They shot arrow after arrow at the largest target, Riva.  It was taking a toll.

Riva teetered on the edge of consciousness.  Goblins barred his path to the archers.  There were too many....

Then again there were arcane mutterings, but this time, from a side passage.  And this time, instead of affecting Riva (who else but Riva?), the magic affected the goblins in melee with him; in an instant, four of them lay asleep in front of him.  Riva glanced around for a moment before dispatching the goblins, but couldn't see the source of the helpful magic.

Thaile darted out again, and Riva felt a new wave of healing energy pass through him.  Meanwhile Garret, Kytum-up, and Rowan carved their way forward.  None of them had been able to get to Calebbleed, _spider climbing_ on the ceiling as he was, so they concentrated on those goblin captains on the ledge.  Tieran, Lissia, and Thaile had been peppering them with cross-bow bolts, but they were hard to hit.

But the battle had turned.  The few remaining goblins broke and fled, whichever way they could.  The captains took their chances, and tried to climb down and run around the advancing heroes: one fell to his death, one was captured by Garret ("I surrender!"), and the third was able to escape back up the stairs.  Yelling in frustration, Calebbleed dropped from his perch on the ceiling......and unfurled his wings!!  He quickly flew out of the room, down a side passage the party had not yet explored.

The party to stock of their surroundings.

Below the abandoned goblin ledge, the adventurers could see three poles, each with a flayed, naked elf hung by the feet from it.  The taste of bile filled the hero's mouths.  While the rest of the party secured the room and bound their goblin captive, Thaile hurried over.  Only one of the elves was still alive (and unconscious); a young elven woman, scalped, and the skin on her back freshly flayed. Blood pooled on the ground around the base of the post.  

Thaile cut the elf down and tended to her.  She had little healing magic to offer.  As she bound the woman's back, she saw huge, fresh scars all along the woman's body.  Their meaning was clear; this wretched elf had been flayed alive, magically healed, then flayed again.  How long this had gone on.....Thaile shuddered.  She was having difficulty concentrating on her healing tasks.  She took a moment to seek solace in prayer to her god, Darmon the Wayfarer, traveler of roads both glorious and dark.

Garret had a grim look on his face.

"Riva, Tieran, Lissia; keep that passage covered that Calebbleed passed down.  Thaile, you and Kytum-up keep that other passage covered; that's where most of the other goblins went.  Rowan and I will take this third passage, and see if we can't root out the goblin that went that way.  We're not leaving any goblins at our back when we go to get Calebbleed.  Come on, prisoner, you're coming with me, to tell me what lies that way."

"My name is Glebesh," said the goblin captive, in well accented common.  "That way is bad magic.  You'll not be able to go that way, halfling."

Everyone looked at the tied up goblin, surprised.

"We'll see."  Garret pushed Glebesh along.


			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> We went down the corridor opposite from the one the Calebbleed had fled.  There was some sort of magic here; it was some sort of magical _fear_, but I was able to shake it off, and Garret seemed unaffected.  That "Holy Warrior of Morwyn" -thing, I bet.
> 
> Anyway, at the end of the passage we found ourselves in a circular chamber about 25 feet across.  The back of the room had been gone over with stone-cutting tools, or something .... we shall have to have Riva take a look at that later. Two corridors led off of this large room, one to the right, the other to the left.  I moved down the left corridor first, finding a large rectangular room with a stone bench around the edge. No goblin there, so I tried the room to the right. The room was the same except for the goblin cowering in the corner. Our captive Glebesh called out for him to surrender, but the greasy bugger chose to try to run past me. I killed him. Oh, I was still a bear and really enjoying it, I must say.
> 
> Back in the main room, Calebbleed kept popping around the end of the corridor and shooting at Riva.  The bloody bastard had some sort of _invisibility_ he could use, so he surprised Riva and Lissia a few times.  Good thing Kytum-up was nearby to heal him.
> 
> As Garret, the captive, and I moved back to the main room, Glebesh told us that beyond the main room, in the direction the mass of goblins had fled were the "orcish bedrooms".  He said there wasn't much to them. The other corridor led to the "orcish baths" (he snickered when he said this) and the throne room.




Calebbleed continued to shoot at them from the end of the other corridor, so all but Lissia and Thaile charged down the corridor after him.  (Riva felt sure the magic of his _enlargement_ would end soon.)

Lissia and Thaile were told to keep an eye on
the goblin captive Glebesh,
the other corridor with all of the escaped but still healthy and armed goblins, and
tend to the horribly wounded elven woman.

"No sweat," said Thaile. 

*The last of Session #20 to come!*


----------



## Esiminar

> Now that I've waited long enough to lose all my readers.....



I'm still reading and enjoying it all.


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> DM Aside:  The fun part here, for me at least, was starting the meeting out with a secret note to Rowan's player, while I say "You see...<hand note>....this."
> 
> Pause.  Rowan's player reads it, a pained look crosses her face.
> 
> Me: "Oh yeah.  No one else sees that but you, Rowan.  What are you going to do?"
> 
> <insert evil DM grin>
> 
> Rowan's player still has that note (hand written, so I have no copy!).  Perhaps she could post it here?  Please?




Ask and you shall receive:

*On a dark stair, under Alderslook*

You peer down the stairs....Garret's torch light glints off the metal caltrops scattered on the steps. He leans to pick them up....and there is something behind him. The dragon brooch allows you to see the horror behind your friend.

A dark figure is creeping up the stairs. It is small, halfling sized, wearing a large heay cloak, black as midnight. The halfling carries a weapon, perhaps a shortsword, in its left hand. Its right hand is empty, and clenches and unclenches, like the beating of a heart. The small man's movements are smooth and limber as he moves up toward your companion.

But his figure is not what holds your attention...that's not what makes your heart freeze.

It's head...

It's head is bleeding, hairless....its hair has been beeled away, and even now rivulets of blood run down, past its lidless eyes to drip upon it's cloak. The skin on its face has likewise been removed, carefully, strip by strip. Saliva drips from its lip-less mouth. 

The halfling, this little man, has been scalped and flayed alive. 

....and now it creeps up to the stair to do the same to you.


----------



## Nail

Calebbleed, King of the Bloody Skull tribe of Goblins


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Nail said:
			
		

> Calebbleed, King of the Bloody Skull tribe of Goblins




That's unpleasant.  I can understand your glee at tormenting Rowan.  Nasty DM!  Hurtsss the nice Druid with the impeccable name!

As you can see Nail, I'm also reading along despite your concerns.  Still waiting for news about Riva's Battlerager Picture Cookbook though.


----------



## Gina

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> That's unpleasant.  I can understand your glee at tormenting Rowan.  Nasty DM!  Hurtsss the nice Druid with the impeccable name!




Oh, it isn't just Rowan, he enjoys tormenting Thaile too! 

Gives her dreams that she doesn't understand, makes sure that as soon as she has the answer to one question, there is another one.....and she is REALLY grossed out by some of this stuff!

As always though, SBI, thank you for your support!

Rowan


----------



## Nail

*Thanks!*

It's nice to hear that others (besides my great players) are hanging around. Thanks! That's one of the big things that makes writing so fun (and difficult!).

As for Calebbleed:
  I don't normally go for the "vile" material, but I wanted it to be clear which side of the court Calebbleed was playing on.  Evil can come in many forms, and most of them ain't pretty.  Evil being something truely aweful is easy to loose sight of, especially with the cardboard-cut-out villians so common in fantasy.

Besides, our meeting was the day before Halloween!  

Overall, I'd like players to be able to make alignment judgements on their own...with the additional information from religion, gods, and the church.  For example, it didn't take Thaile's religious teaching to tell her Calebbleed was evil.  But her religious training does teach that kobolds and the walking dead are evil -- teachings that she has begun to doubt, as she sees evidence to the contrary.

Believe it or not, but the Cleric of Darmon is even beginning to think that some undead might be Good.....


----------



## Nail

*The End of the Big Battle*

*Session #20, part 3: "Calebbleed bleeds"*

RL evening of Oct 29, 2003

"I'm in front this time, Riva.," Rowan warned.  At least that's what she would have said, if she weren't in her _wildshaped_ form of a black bear.  What came out instead was a sort of moderated growl.  Riva took the hint, especially considering the plentiful injuries he had already sustained, and fell into place behind the bear.

The adventurers moved forward cautiously.  Calebbleed was no longer popping out and shooting his arrows.  He must be lying in wait for them, further ahead.  

The rough passage, formed from boulders of the collapsed ceiling, wound its way some 25 feet, then opened up into an intersection.  Rowan's bear-form nose told her that Calebbleed was down the narrow passage to the left.  To the right was a carved passage, 5 feet wide and 8 feet tall.  This one had apparently escaped the destruction that had caused the collapse, centuries ago.  For now, the adventurers ignored it, and pressed on through the narrower passage.

It ended by going past a pile of rubble and out into a huge and long domed hall.  They crept forward, and, as if on cue, Calebbleed leapt out from the pile of rubble and slashed at Rowan with blade, fang and claw.

And once again, as had happened when the hell-spawn had surprised Garret on the stairs above, most of his attacks were wide of the mark.

But still, he blocked the crude doorway, so that it was just he and Rowan, face-to-face.  Her companions could do little but crowd the passage behind the bear.

Calebbleed was unhurt, and a capable combatant.  Rowan was already wounded, without spells, and in an animal form she was still getting used to.  A smile crept across Calebbleed's gory visage, as he prepared to strike again.

Then Rowan bull-rushed him into a pit.

Her charge was ferocious and overwhelming.  The goblin leader was able to strike her as she opened herself up with her charge, but it was not enough.  She slammed him back over 10 feet, his claws scraped against the stone.....and then over he went, into a pit Rowan had not known was there.  (_How lucky is that?_)

Too bad the pit was only 4 feet deep.  Too bad for Calebbleed, that is.

The pit was more like a trough, about five foot wide, almost as deep, and extending nearly the length of the long room.  A trickle of water fell out of a round hole in the domed ceiling into the pit....perhaps once the flow had been enough to keep the pit filled, but now there were only a few inches of putrid water at the bottom.  Nowadays, it wasn't so much a "bath" as it was a goblin latrine.

As the goblin leader lifted his face out of the muck, Riva, Kytum-up, Garret, and Rowan surrounded him along the near edges of the pit.  If he got up, they would be able to take advantage of the opportunity, and attack.  The goblin leader thought better of it, apparently. He tumbled a short distance to get out of reach of those he could, then launched himself into the air.  Even with this, several of the heroes got off swipes at him as he flew past.  Retreating still further, Calebbleed flew down the length of the room, then dived through a large opening in the wall.



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> We quickly followed, noting as we gave chase all of the empty alcoves along the side of this room.  At the end of the room, what appeared to be the base of a large statue had been placed over a section of collapsed wall.   Perhaps there was something behind it, but of course we didn't have time to check right then.
> 
> We ran around the corner and into a room that was at least half-collapsed.  The place must have been maybe 100 feet long and nearly as wide at one time.  The front of the room was clear, with some stone "beds" along each side. At the "head" of the room was a raised dais with a huge stone throne. Perched atop the throne-back was our quarry, holding an empty potion vial.
> 
> Aargg.  He'd healed himself!
> 
> We rushed him.  Our trusty little (now magically big!) kobold blocked the only exit, while Riva, Garret, and I charged the nasty so-and-so.  We surrounded him, and hit him alot.  Me especially, I guess, 'cause then he singled me out for whatever time he had left.  His last shot hit me hard, and I found myself going down, losing consciousness. As the darkness overtook me, Riva's greataxe came down, and cut him in half.
> 
> Thus ends the life of Calableed, King of the Goblins.
> 
> Couldn't have happened too soon, if you ask me.





*End of Session #20 *


----------



## Splart

*Eeeeeeevil. . .*

Ah yes. . .  Back on the real evil streak again, Nail?

Ask him some time about Skyla the <ahem> formerly "Pure".  Those 4 spell casting heads from her former disciples embedded in her stomach still give me the heebie jeebies!    

--Venganza.


----------



## Nail

*Who....me?*



			
				Splart said:
			
		

> Ask him some time about Skyla the <ahem> formerly "Pure".  Those 4 spell casting heads from her former disciples embedded in her stomach still give me the heebie jeebies!



..and that one took a while to set up! 

 First, the PCs meet her, then she's kidnapped in mysterious circumstances, months later she is "rescued" by some NPCs, then she takes part in crucial negotiations between warring kingdoms (with the PCs acting as royal bodyguards), then...... muh - hah - hah - hah!    ....err, somethin'.

But I would never do anything like that to my present PCs.  Never.

Well, hardly ever.

P.S. "Splart", eh?  Good to hear from you!


----------



## Gina

Wow! We're only on session 20 here....and so much happens afterward.

After Session 25, party dynamics will change drastically!!!! 

Of course, it's not really my place to say why....but our lack of planning may have cost us more than we were prepared to pay. 

Rowan

Sorry, just couldn't resist putting this in!


----------



## evildmguy

Gina said:
			
		

> Wow! We're only on session 20 here....and so much happens afterward.
> 
> After Session 25, party dynamics will change drastically!!!!
> 
> Rowan
> 
> Sorry, just couldn't resist putting this in!





RUDE!  Give a journal or an entry or something!  Not, "oooo. things change coming up!"  

Rude!

 

Have a good one!

edg


----------



## Nail

evildmguy said:
			
		

> RUDE!  Give a journal or an entry or something!  Not, "oooo. things change coming up!"



Hey-ho!

I'll see if I can't get my act together either tonight or tomorrow.

See, problem is: there have been several changes.......


----------



## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> Hey-ho!
> 
> I'll see if I can't get my act together either tonight or tomorrow.
> 
> See, problem is: there have been several changes.......




*I'll* say!   it was hot and wet and Riva even had to go down on all fours!  And what was *that* doing *there*??  He'd never even seen one before!   And all to get some action!  *shakes head*

Pity the experience wasn't like he expected..  then again, he'd gotten so frustrated from earlier, it's only to be expected that he would be a tad premature and rush into things.. 

  

Riva Stormhand


----------



## Nail

*A new update*

Alright, here comes a doosy: all of Session 21, in one go.  It's long, but worth the read, I think.  Good character development (or some such dreck).  

Pity the poor players; I had been beating on them with non-stop combat for the last several sessions.  In this session, we did a drastic 180 degree switch: they had some major role-playing problems dumped right in their laps.  Big stuff - not for newbie role-players or for the faint at heart.  These were some real honest-to-goodness Role Playing challenges that did not involve swinging a sword (much!).

But don't worry too much.  They made it...and so will you.  



As an aside, allow me to once again sing the praises of our Queen of Note-taking-and-typing-up: Rowan's player.  I've borrowed quite liberally from her text.  Thanks, Gina!


----------



## Nail

*...the "change" we keep teasing about happens in session #22*

*Session #21: "Cleaning up Calebbleed's"*

RL evening of Nov 13th, 2003
The evil goblin king was dead, laying at the adventurer's feet.

A moment of silence.  

They had won!  They were all wounded, Riva was only alive because he was angry, Rowan was unconscious and near death....but they had won!

Garret and Kytum-up tended to Riva and Rowan's wounds, bringing them out of danger.



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> The beginning of this account I got from the others in bits and pieces.  I was unconscious for a time, and not part of any of my friend's decisions. Garrett gave what healing he had to stabilize me; Thaile would have to tend me later.
> 
> Tieran, and later the rest of the boys, looked at what the goblin king had on him. He was, first off, a particularly ugly specimen of his kind; maybe he had demonic blood in him?  He had a halfling-made magical shortsword named Silverleaf, a silver circlet of some sort of illusion magic, and his clothing looked like the usual, dirty, rather smelly, goblin garb, but felt like it might be chain mail; an illusion again.
> 
> While we were in the throne room, Thaile and Lissia questioned that captured goblin, Glebesh, and so they were surprised by a group of goblin warriors running past. Lissia killed two of them, and Thaile wounded one. The rest made it to the stairs and ran up.  At the same time another stream of female goblins, these hooded and carrying noisy bundles, ran for the stairs. Thaile and Lissia shot several of these before the stairway.
> 
> Then I guess Garrett and Kytum-up arrived, having heard Thaile shouting at the fleeing little buggers. Thaile told Garret what had happened, and so Garrett and Kytum-up stormed up the stairs; they found the goblins trapped in the corridor above. I heard that the two holy warriors slaughtered the whole lot, goblin females and children first, then the remaining goblin warriors, even after the greasy humanoids threw down their weapons and screamed for mercy.
> 
> There were still a few more goblin women and children hiding about, but Riva set about to herd them up the stairs, into the blades of Garrett and Kytum-up.
> 
> As I said, I was out for this part of it.
> 
> After all of this, we all regrouped, and Thaile was able to bring me to consciousness.  I noticed right away that Garret and Kytum-up were covered in goblin gore, more than just from our battle with Calebbleed.  ....I found out the rest later.  I guess I'm not sure what else to say about that.
> 
> Riva, as is his habit, wandered around the empty rooms, gazing raptly at the stonework. Thaile told me later that she had seen him wondering around, and had thought that maybe he was under some strange magic spell. "Naw, jus' lookin'." was the reply from the dwarf.  He told me later that he noticed that any artistry or symbols on the rock had been defaced with stone-cutting tools.  Even the faces of the collapsed ceiling blocks had been gone over.  Not even a speck of anything recognizable remained.  Riva says he's pretty confident the damage is all old.....how can he know all that?  All I see are stone walls and collapsed stone ceilings.
> 
> In a side passage, called the "orcish bedrooms by our captive, we found a young human man, perhaps seventeen years old, severely beaten and unconscious, as well as three horse carcasses, slightly rotted. They brought the boy back to the main room to be tended by Thaile, left the horse meat where it was. They noted that there were some other foodstuffs there as well. We started off to the pit room to wash up, but were distracted by the sounds of someone moving around in the corridor to the right of the one that led to the pit room.
> 
> We moved down the hallway and an elven woman stepped out and asked us to stop. She was older, scarred and bruised. Her feet had been crushed and healed, so she walked with a bad limp.  She had obviously been captive for quite a while.  She told us that it was she who cast the sleep spell upon the goblins and saved Riva's life. We asked her about the prisoners behind the statue base. She said that "the gnome" was the only one back there.
> 
> The woman's name was Kaezubeth, she said that she had been the cook for the goblins. Zook, the gnome behind the statue base, was the one who made potions for the goblins. Kaezubeth would not speak to Zook, she said that's because Zook had helped the goblins. Riva helpfully pointed out that by cooking for them, Kaezubeth had helped the goblins too.  She just glowered at Riva after that, not that the dwarf noticed.
> 
> We moved into the throne room, with Calebbleed's headless body, and set up camp.  Tieran and Riva both really wanted to explore that last "blank" space on our map of this level, the place of "bad magic".  Glebesh told them again, in his very fluent common (where did the goblin learn to speak like that?), that going there was a bad idea; not even Calebbleed had fully explored that area.
> 
> Of course, you can guess what that meant: Tieran, Riva, Kytum-up, and Garret went off to explore that corridor.  Yup, the whole male contingent of our party.  Thaile, Lissia, and I stayed behind, with the three people we had rescued.
> 
> Men.
> 
> So anyway, they moved down the corridor, which after a while ended with a deep pit, ten feet across. They could see a room beyond. Tieran used some bodily fluids to check the depth of the pit. He did not hear it hit the bottom, but he felt much better for having relieved himself.
> 
> As I said: Men.
> 
> Garrett found some narrow poles in the goblin lodgings some to make a bridge. Once Tieran was done heeding the call of nature, Garrett set up the bridge and started across it. As he stepped out onto the ground on the other side, it seemed to ripple and suddenly a dull red-hot glow shone up from the floor.   Tieran, Kytum-up, and even Garret's wardog took off running in mortal fear, and hid against the base of the statue in the pit room.  Some of the rest of us, even as far away as we were, were also overcome with fear.  Even our cleric of Darmon the Wayfarer.
> 
> Riva and Garrett looked at each other, shrugged, and continued on, curious to see what was in the room. Riva went across the make-shift bridge, after a moment of wondering if it would hold him.  A huge symbol filled the floor of the room, its lines glowing bright red-orange. (See attached picture!)
> 
> The room itself was much like other rooms we had seen, except that chisels had been used all over all the walls, floor,...even the ceiling.  The glowing symbol, though, was "below" the floor, somehow, and was shining through the rock.  (Light can do that?)  Riva began to say hello in various languages (and boy, does he know a bunch),....I guess he was trying to activate something. It didn't work on any ancient magic in the room, but it did annoy Garrett.  Even more ancient magic, I guess.
> 
> Garrett went to find everyone else and to ask Tieran about the symbol. Tieran had never seen that particular one, but did think that it was arcane. He copied it down and resolved to find out more about it once we were out of this place. The glowing symbol disappeared after a little while, and with it went the fear magic.
> 
> After we rested and healed up a bit,  Garrett, Riva, and Thaile went to move the statue base.  It wouldn't budge.  Eventually, after alot of manly grunting and a few choice words from Riva (in Terran, he says), it rolled aside. They explored the openning beyond, which led to a hallway with alcoves to one side, and a huge pile of collapsed rubble at its end. The room had been turned into a workshop with tables and chairs and a lot of equipment, but very messy, very disordered. Tables and chairs were upended and after a short search, a gnome was found hiding behind an overturned table near the pile of rubble. Riva called to her to come out, but she didn't. Tieran called out as well, Riva offered her food, but she still did not come out, he also told her that Calebbleed was dead and she was free. Tieran asked if there might be a healing potion here.  Finally, she whispered something to Tieran, but it was unintelligible. Tieran was pretty exasperated at this point, and yelled at her to get out of there and answer him.  She immediately stepped out from behind the table. She was ragged, thin, and pallid. She reached out for a potion, but accidentally knocked it off the table in the process, shattering the vial.
> 
> Riva and Tieran put out the fire (not realizing that doing this would ruin the potion cooking over it) and brought Zook back to the throne room.  Kaezubeth would not speak to Zook, and Zook spoke to no one without being asked a direct question.  Even then, her answers were so soft that we could not hear her.  I tried to draw her into conversation, but she seemed to be in a daze, or so traumatized that she could not, or would not believe that she was truly free.
> 
> Much later we found three more goblin females and one goblin baby that were still hiding in the rubble in the throne room. The females were tied up, though I allowed one of them her hands free to hold the infant. Glebesh, our other prisoner was tied up on the other side of the room from the females.
> 
> We also brought the more palatable food back to the throne room. Boxes of dried fruit were there, very expensive to get, but very good. There was other food as well.  I saw that the prisoners were fed and we all had a good meal.
> 
> The human boy came to after a while and we found that his tongue had been cut out. We found out from Kaezubeth that his name is Merrrick Gingsman, and he's from Woodston, captured last year, sixteen years old, the son of a farmer. He can neither read nor write. The elf woman Thaile had saved, who was still out, was the last of four adventurers who had come down here a week and a half ago. Kaezubeth did not know what had become of the fourth party member, but we had found the elf woman and two others in the main room on stakes, so.....it can't have been good.
> 
> Kaezubeth was from the Elvish village of Maylin, far to the West. She was traveling when her caravan was attacked and she was taken three years ago. Others were taken prisoner with her, but she is the last left alive. She was traded from tribe to tribe until ending up with The Bloody Skull tribe when they were in the Aldersmere swamp.  We were pretty eager to hear that she was there when the bright light came, killing many goblins. It also attacked "the beast", as she called Calebbleed, but Calebbleed was able to flee with his life.
> 
> Good thing we put a stop to that.
> 
> When we asked Kaezubeth about the people working with the goblins, she said that Calebbleed never allowed her around when he was dealing with them and he just called them a human and a halfling. They were always masked, with black cloth.
> 
> Questioning Glebesh, we found out that Makkesh was the one in charge up above. He was the one we killed in Tower 1, the one who almost killed me. Tower 3 he said was five levels or so, but they never used that one because while it gave a view of the valley below, it did not allow them a useful view. Tower 4, he said, is mostly collapsed like Tower 5. We also discovered that the Grinning Death tribe of Orcs currently inhabit the Garresh and that they have something called a "render" with them. Tieran thought that it might be a 12 to 14 foot tall creature with lots of eyes and four arms.  Sounds nasty.
> 
> We set up watches and bedded down for the night, planning on burning the bodies the next day.
> 
> Watches were uneventful, though on third watch, I did see some vapor rising from the rubble pile. I mentioned it to Riva, but forgot about it after that.
> 
> 
> June 21st
> The next morning, I went into the workshop area to brew some potions. Zook came with me, but soon I discovered that she was not very helpful, so I had her sit down and just kept talking to her. She's not very good company, since she doesn't talk much, but then, I talk a lot, so it worked out pretty well in the end. When the fire was put out, some potions that were nearly ready had been ruined, oh well. The equipment was very good though and I put it to good use.
> 
> Garrett, Tieran and Riva worked on burning the bodies. It was a very time consuming task, though Tieran helped it along with well-placed fireballs. He seemed to be having a lot of fun with that, far more than the task required.
> 
> The elven woman awakened, but was in a severe state of shock. She was able to tell us that her name is Faelan. She had little memory of anything that happened and her mind seems broken, perhaps her memory will return, perhaps not. She is definitely not able to care for herself yet.
> 
> At the end of the day, we regrouped in the throne room, the smell of burning goblin flesh heavy in the air. We looked again at the items Calebbleed had with him and decided who should use what items. Garrett laid claim to the Silverleaf sword and wanted to clean up the clothing-armor to see if he would like to use it. The two sets of bracers were claimed by Riva and Tieran, Riva choosing the ones with the goblin faces on them, which magically toughen his skin, but also caused him to look and smell goblin-like! (Ugh!  A goblin-like dwarf?)  Riva also laid claim to a magical composite bow and a magical greatsword. Tieran got the ruby eye brooch (that sees invisible creatures, I'm told) and the bracers of magical armor mentioned before. Thaile has the circlet that Calebbleed had, but doesn't know the command word yet to activate it.
> 
> Thaile asked Glebesh about the circlet and its command word and discovered that he was becoming worried about his survival. He figured that with what had happened to the others, he really didn't see any benefit to helping us out without some sort of assurance that he would not be killed the instant his usefulness to us was finished. (I can't really blame him for that, given what he has seen and heard, he has no reason to believe that we would behave honorably toward him.) He said that if we let him go, he will never go near humans again and will tell us the command word for the circlet before he leaves us.
> 
> This led to a discussion of where people want to go when we leave the fortress.
> 
> Kaezubeth would like to go to Eaglesford
> Merrick would like to go home.
> Zook and Faelan did not make any preference known
> Glebesh and the goblin females will be happy to survive and be let go into the Aldersmere.
> 
> We moved to the pit room to discuss what we might want to do next, so that the goblins and the others would not hear our discussion. Kytum-up was very nervous about them hearing any of it.
> 
> We discussed what to do with the prisoners. Kytum-up was not sure if it is safe for his people to return here, nor was he at all sure we should even return the idol. If we decided to return the idol, he wanted us to get rid of all the others before we uncovered the doorway so they wouldn't see the secret entrance.
> 
> This led to a discussion of the prisoners. Garrett and Thaile thought that we should just kill them outright, Tieran and Riva were uncertain which would be the right course of action, and I was against killing them since they had surrendered and were helpless against us.  I tried to explain to them that goblins, as unpleasant as they may be, are a part of the natural order and as such are a part of the balance of all things. Their response was that these goblins are Evil, with a capital "E", and deserve to die.....I guess  I believe that all creatures can be redeemed and I cannot stomach killing something simply for being what it is.  Garrett made a snide comment about me handing them swords as we let them go.....so I just walked away, telling them to do as they wished, since no one ever listens to me anyway.
> 
> 
> Amazingly enough, they decided we should let the goblins go!  In a day or two, when we're rested and I've made another potion of healing, we'll return to the surface.  We'd have to send the people we rescued home somehow before we went on, and as long as we were at that, we'd let Glebesh and the goblin women and baby go too.
> 
> I'm now writing this, fully healed and rested, and just finishing up the last brewing of this healing potion.  I'm so much happier over the group's decision to release the goblins.  It's the right thing to do; I know it.  Garret, though, seems pretty somber today.  I'm not sure why, although I think I've got a guess.
> 
> Thaile told me that at the end of the battle, while I was busy with one of the goblin sergeants and Garret had cornered Glebesh, Glebesh had said he would surrender if Garret guarantied his safety.  Garret had given his word to keep Glebesh safe, apparently, which is why Glebesh given up so easily.
> 
> Good thing Glebesh is still safe, I guess.
> 
> Safely bound too; I just went to check.





*End of Session #21 *


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> Pity the poor players; I had been beating on them with non-stop combat for the last several sessions.  In this session, we did a drastic 180 degree switch: they had some major role-playing problems dumped right in their laps.  Big stuff - not for newbie role-players or for the faint at heart.  These were some real honest-to-goodness Role Playing challenges that did not involve swinging a sword (much!).
> 
> But don't worry too much.  They made it...and so will you.
> 
> As an aside, allow me to once again sing the praises of our Queen of Note-taking-and-typing-up: Rowan's player.  I've borrowed quite liberally from her text.  Thanks, Gina!





Non-stop combat, oh Nail....we sometimes had as much as five minutes to regroup!

Queen of note-taking indeed....(blushes) just detail oriented from my previous life of drudgery as a secretary! But I was a good one! You should see my party treasure spreadsheet!   

Gina


----------



## Nail

*Rune on the floor in the "Bad Magic: Fear" room*

From Session #21 (above)


----------



## Nail

*Two of the people they rescued from the goblins*

These are the images I used for the "counters" of these guys on the minatures map.  (Sorry about the quality.)


----------



## Nail

*a new character!*

*Session #22: "Setting Them on Their Way"*

RL evening of Nov 25th, 2003

The party had agreed to rest, recoup, then head to the surface.  The people they had freed from the goblins needed to be brought home....and they needed care no one in the party could give.
  Kaezebeth, the old elven woman, was in the best shape of the former slaves.  Her only serious physical condition was her hobbled feet; the goblin king had apparently crushed, then healed them badly on purpose, so that she could only walk slowly, and only with great pain.
Zook, the gnome woman who made the goblin’s potions, was physically healthy enough, but her personality had been so savaged by Calebbleed that she was beyond care or conversation.  Zook would only whisper mono-syllabic responses to any query.  She just sat, rocking back and forth hugging her spell-book, and watched Rowan use the gnome’s equipment to make magical potions.
Merrick was clearly emotionally traumatized by his year-long ordeal, but he could not express it...his tongue had been cut out by the viscious goblin king.  For what reason other than cruelty, none could say.
And the flayed and tortured elven woman adventurer, “Faellon”, apparently, was in such a state of shock that she continued to cringe at even the gentle touch of Thaile’s healing.

Clearly the former slaves must be brought back.

And then there was the pesky problem of what to do with the captive goblins and their de-facto leader, the goblin sergeant Glebesh.  Garret had given his word that no harm would come to him.  What else to do with him, this far in the wilderness, but to set him free.  And without weapons or food, how long would the crafty goblin last, with three goblin females and a baby in tow?  This last, at least, was not the adventurers problem.



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> AS we went up, Garrett and Thaile were a little worried about whether goblins might still be above waiting to ambush us.  We moved upward, captives and others in tow.  Our entry had been blocked soon after we entered, so we’d need some way to take care of that. First, Riva climbed up and tried to move the large stone blocking the hole. He made a valiant effort, but he was unable to budge it even a little bit.
> 
> I decided to give it a try.  I cast Spider Climb, climbed up there, and cast Stone Shape on the block.  I got it unstuck, alright...of course, when a rock becomes unstuck from above your head, what does it do?
> 
> Yep, it fell on me, and knocked me back down the hole. In the end it turned out to be fine, though, with Thaile’s healing there...but I would have preferred the rocks not to fall on me.
> 
> We all climbed out and made our way up, exiting the second tower.  It was late afternoon and I know that I was very happy to see the sky and sun again. Being underground is not natural, whatever Riva may think!
> 
> We checked the courtyard for bad guys.  No such luck.  ..And the goblin and wolf bodies we had left behind were no longer there.  We probably should have burned them, but there is no changing the past!  Thaile in particular thought  they might come back as undead to harm us.
> 
> Thaile and Lissia went up to the top of the second Tower to look over the area. As they moved upward, they found themselves confronted by an elf on the stairway. He aimed a bow at them and demanded that they halt and state their business here. He also asked them who they were and where they came from.
> 
> Thaile refused to speak, though Lissia volunteered that we had killed some goblins.
> 
> The man had long blonde hair and was wearing shiny chain mail.  With the longbow still up, he asked again who they were and where they came from.
> 
> Lissia, ever helpful, piped up she was from Three Oaks.  Thaile guardedly said that she was from Eaglesford. He replied that he was from far to the West. He also pointed the bow downward, instead of at Thaile’s heart, indicating that he no longer felt obliged to kill her.  Lissia suggested that he come down and meet the rest of the party and asked him which god he follows. Thellyne, was his answer to the god question and yes, he would be delighted to meet the rest of the party, when he was ready to do so. He then went back up the stairs toward the top floor of the tower, after tossing back that his name is Mor’Elandi.
> 
> Thaile followed him up, surprised to reach the top floor and not see him anywhere, especially when he had been in front of her a moment before. After a moment though, he popped up out of nowhere.  A bit surprised, they looked over the valley to get a bearing on what was happening around the ancient fortress.
> 
> No goblin armies were in evidence, but as she looked, Thaile did see something going on at the bottom of the cliffs, about a mile or so away. Someone was excavating down there, doing some serious digging. Mor’Elandi sent his owl down to check it out. Thaile again invited him to come and meet the rest of the party, but he did not answer her and had disappeared by the time she reached the courtyard again.
> 
> Meanwhile, Riva and I had found another of the perfectly round holes in the outer wall of the fortress. It had been the goblin’s wolf den, with 45 pups and 8-12 adults.  Of course, we had taken care of that problem.  I continued through, followed by Riva to see the outside of the fortress. The cliff cut quite close to the wall, and from where we stood, we could see that Tower 4 was also mostly collapsed, the cliff face having come too close to it’s foundation. We looked around for a little while and then went back.
> 
> Back in the courtyard, Garrett, Kytum-up, and Tieran had gotten the command word for Thaile’s circlet out of Glebesh. He said that the command word was Calableed’s name and that it worked to disguise the wearer, to make him or her look like whatever they chose to. Zook sat quietly studying the spell book that I had noticed she had during the two days of potion brewing. She said it was her own and there was no need to keep it from her, though I did mention to Tieran that she had it. He asked to see it, but she didn’t want anyone to look at it.
> 
> Riva tried on the filthy armor that Calableed had been wearing and it revealed itself to be a mithril shirt, with Calableed’s name on it in gold links in infernal, which our well-educated dwarven battlerager was able to read.  (Where does he learn all of these languages?)  Riva informed us that it’s pretty expensive armor, but it will serve him well as we move onward.
> 
> Thaile arrived back soon after Riva and I did and told us that there was a guy up in the tower. Then she looked around and her “guy” didn’t show up.
> 
> Riva, Thaile, Tieran, and Garret explored the other towers, just to be sure that there were no nasty surprises lurking above. All of the towers were vacant, so we sent the goblins on their way and they wasted no time in getting out of there. I watched them go, since I didn’t trust Garrett to allow them to live. I worry about Garret, since he seems to have begun to see killing as an enjoyable thing rather than something that one should resort to only when necessary. The slaughter of the non-combatant goblins has been disturbing to me, it is not like the Garret I have known for so long to commit such an act.
> 
> When I rejoined the group we talked about who should accompany Kazubeth, Zook, and Merrick back to Scanton, since they would probably not make it there undefended.  I volunteered to go, since no one else seemed to want to leave, but after much discussion we decided that Garrett and Lissia would go with them, then Garrett would continue to Eaglesford to find out how things were going there.  We asked Zook for a look at her spellbook, but she didn’t want us to see it, it was hers, so in the end, we got her to give her word that she would help and not harm any of the travelers.
> 
> As we were discussing this, Thaile’s new friend finally made an appearance. Thaile introduced him to us and to my mind he seems overwhelmingly pompous, and so I have given him the name Pompous Elf Boy....or PEB, though I would not say it to him as I would not want to hurt his feelings.  I am a nice girl, after all.
> 
> We spent the night in Tower 1, where we had battled Makkesh not all that long ago.  The new guy (PEB) decided to stay with us and to accompany us below the next day.
> 
> We set watches and the night passed for the most part uneventfully. On third watch, in the early hours of the morning, well before dawn, I saw what might have been a torch below in the valley, but it was quickly gone and I saw nothing more. In the morning, I mentioned it to the others and remembered about the mist rising from the pile of rubble in the throne room. Kytum-up was quite concerned about the mist, but there was nothing to do for it until we got below and were able to find out what had happened.
> 
> We bid farewell to Garrett, Lissia, and the others and Thaile asked Darmon to bless their journey. Then the rest of us went below to find the Kobold kingdom and return the idol to its proper place. Oh, before we went down though, Kytum-up swore Mor’Elandi to secrecy, though he swore only not to reveal anything at this time. I still think he’s unbearably pompous and very bossy, but perhaps that is just his way.
> 
> We moved back down to the throne room and began clearing the rubble from the entrance to the Kobold lair. During the long process of rubble removal, Tieran went down to the room where the symbol had been and found that it was no longer there.
> 
> When he entered the room, however, it reappeared and he and Riva (who had accompanied him) both ran away, or rather, Riva dragged Tieran at the end of the rope that bound them together (Tieran had not wanted to fall in to the deep pit). So, Riva ran, pulling his new wizard-pull toy along the rocky and sometimes rubble-strewn hallways until they found a place to cower in fear for a while.
> 
> After the fear left them, they returned to the area and Tieran realized that he had hit bottom when Riva had dragged him through the pit. Oh, and the makeshift bridge was sticking out of the hole. It was an illusion of a deep pit when in fact it was a shallow hole, perhaps six feet deep. Tieran climbed down to look for secret doors or anything of interest, but found nothing.
> 
> When Riva returned, the rubble removal went somewhat faster, him being the strongest among us, but it was still a long slow process. Kytum-up had a specific order that stones had to be removed in as well, making the process take a little longer.  Kytum-up also insisted at being at the end of our line as we worked our way down.  He was filling in the passage behind us with stones.  I thought this was pretty strange, especially the way he did it; he just sort of “tossed” the rocks back while closing his eyes.  I really don’t get thay. Still, we finally worked our way down through the huge pile of collapsed ceiling to a hidden staircase.  It was mostly choked with rubble, so we had to squeeze and wiggle along.
> 
> We began to head downward, Kytum-up worried about the steam which was not normal. Tieran got stuck, so Riva had to pull him free (I guess Tieran needs to eat a little less!). We could not see more than a few feet in front of us. As Riva and Kytum-up reached the bottom of the stairway, a commanding female voice, strangely accented, came out of the mist. “Stop”, it said.  Then Riva saw a large snake, with the head of a woman, rise out of the mists.  It’s voice was strange; while I heard strangely accented common, Riva heard dwarvish and Kytum-up heard draconic.  Her body was that of a snake, very large, her head female, humanoid with flowing golden hair with black streaks, but it was ethereal, as if it were not all here somehow. (Later Tieran tried to explain other planes to me, but it made very little sense to me).
> 
> “Who is the initiate”, the snake-woman asked. “Where is your totem?”
> 
> We suggested that Kytum-up show the idol, which he did. This seemed to be the right answer, for the snake-woman continued.
> 
> “You bring others, excellent idea, for such a long journey.”
> 
> We were very confused and a little concerned about all of this as she continued. “Like all things there are nine, three by three, as it should be.”
> 
> The ethereal snake woman continued, “You stand in the beginning place; your path stetches out in front of you.  As you start, you must master the nine mysteries of beginning, each a pair of principles.  To your right, is the Mystery of Purpose.  To you left is the Mystery of Purity.  Which do you chose?”
> 
> We were pretty confused by all of this.  Tieran asked the snake-woman what lies ahead. Her reply was that “our masters should have taught us that”.
> 
> Wonderful. Yet again, we blindly wander into a situation that we are probably not prepared for and are not even sure what we are supposed to do. Oh well, guess that’s just what we do now, after all, we DID want to find something more exciting than Eaglesford.
> 
> We chose the path to the Right, the Path of Purpose. As we moved into what proved to be a maze of corridors, rubble, and rooms of various sizes, I mentioned that this must be the Test of the Gods that Kytum-up mentioned. Everyone stopped and stared at me as if I had suddenly grown an extra head and then they made the usual demands for more information. I told them that Kytum-up had mentioned this, but thought that it was of no importance as we would not be going there. Well, he was wrong....oh, and he was glaring at me for revealing the deep dark secret.
> 
> As we wandered through the steam-filled maze, we tried to keep turning right to keep our bearings.  We could barely see 5 feet in front of us from all of the steam. We wandered for a while when Kytum-up noticed that the idol had disappeared from his pack!  Thaile just about died when she saw that it was gone! We had seen no one, nor had we seen it taken, it was just there one moment, gone the next. We continued to wander still trying to keep to the right. We came upon a few rooms and then a rubble filled passage. So, we turned around and went back the other way.
> 
> We saw a large open area to our left. The ground was strange, rising in a cone, the stone looking oddly like a coil of rope sitting there, a mound in the center of the room, bits of the ceiling dripping down from above as if it had been suddenly melted and the ceiling of the room had pooled on the floor and then hardened again. It was very strange.
> 
> Riva climbed to the top of the cone to look around. When he came back down, he was hit by a blast of steam and heard laughter retreating from somewhere behind him.
> 
> We continued to wander, finding nothing of note, until we came to a dead end room with some rubble. On one of the pieces of rubble Mor’Elandi found a fragment of a carving of intertwined snakes in the same style as the idol.
> 
> As we continued to wander, Riva and Thaile both noticed that they were missing stuff and I caught a glimpse of something strange, with four arms, very quick.  The thief!!
> 
> I changed to a wolf and moved to the head of the line to try to find it, but I couldn’t catch the scent. Mor’Elandi suggested that we tie ourselves together, with slack in between to make sure that we stay together. So, we did that, me at the head, Riva next, then Kytum-up, Thaile, Tieran, and at the end, Mor’Elandi who imperiously kept telling us what way to go, even though he did not want to go first.
> 
> We continued to walk for a while, the mist obscuring our vision when I saw something ahead of me, a smallish female figure with wings (and big, fluffy clouds of steam). It breathed steam on Riva and me before running away. I began to chase it, but was having trouble, being tied to everyone else. Riva solved that problem by cutting the rope that tied me to him and then the rope that tied him to everyone else and the two of us ran on, trying to catch the steam woman.
> 
> As I dashed away in wolf form, I thought I heard Mor’Elandi say something about tactics.  Boy, does that guy sound like Garret, or what?




*End of Session #22 *


P.S.  DM’s note: If the gentle reader did not notice; Garret is gone!  Long live Garret!  In his place (with the same player) stands the elven ranger Mor’Elandi.  Welcome!


----------



## Nail

Whew!  I'm only ......hmmm......3 session behind!  And Gina has already typed up all of the notes!  Aaack!


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

Gina said:
			
		

> Queen of note-taking indeed....(blushes) just detail oriented from my previous life of drudgery as a secretary! But I was a good one! You should see my party treasure spreadsheet!




See, I *knew* I wasn't the only person who did this!  Oh sure, they mock me for my meticulous nature, but who knows what the running loot tally is, or what magic items were discovered?  Hah!  There's a summary of the more recent magic item distributions.  One of the players has an unfortunate habit of either forgetting to record things, or making such cryptic notations he subsequently has no clue as to what he's carrying.  How you can be that imprecise (shudder) I have no idea.

I also keep a nice running tally of all monsters defeated by the party, which is both listed in report format and graphed (layered bar graph by CR, pie chart for monster type).  Okay, that one is probably a bit more detail than most, but it was dirt easy to set up, and interesting to boot!  From C 1/6 Kobolds up to CR 20 Kuo-Toa and Illithids (lots and lots of class levels, don't ask), it's all there in colourful detail.  If nothing else, it provided statisical assistance for the Ranger and choosing viable favoured enemies.

Was that too much micromanagement detail?  

Switching tacks for a moment:  Nail, was Garret going to get in any ethical problems concerning his Paladinhood had he not honoured his word to the surrendered Glebesh?  Also, did you make any issue to the method the "remnants" of the tribe were dealt with in such a...final manner?  Surrenders, prisoners, and evil noncombatants are always such a sticking point with good characters in general, LG types moreso, and Paladins especially so.  Is Garret's Code much different than the standard PHB one, as I recall the class itself is different for him (no smite evil for example).

"Wizard toy".  Heh.

What caused the change in characters from Garret to PEB?  Looking for someone who could open the higher cupboard doors?  Finally, isn't calling an Elf "pompus" a bit redundant?  

Did Lissia leave the campaign, or is this a temporary absence?

Great double barreled updates - I look forward to more in the future.


----------



## Nail

That's "Wizard pull toy",...and yes, it was funny.  

Re: Garret's departure and his paladinhood
   I think *DrSpunj* should comment on this one.  Others too!


----------



## Gina

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> See, I *knew* I wasn't the only person who did this!  Oh sure, they mock me for my meticulous nature, but who knows what the running loot tally is, or what magic items were discovered?  Hah!  There's a summary of the more recent magic item distributions.  One of the players has an unfortunate habit of either forgetting to record things, or making such cryptic notations he subsequently has no clue as to what he's carrying.  How you can be that imprecise (shudder) I have no idea.
> 
> I also keep a nice running tally of all monsters defeated by the party, which is both listed in report format and graphed (layered bar graph by CR, pie chart for monster type).  Okay, that one is probably a bit more detail than most, but it was dirt easy to set up, and interesting to boot!  From C 1/6 Kobolds up to CR 20 Kuo-Toa and Illithids (lots and lots of class levels, don't ask), it's all there in colourful detail.  If nothing else, it provided statisical assistance for the Ranger and choosing viable favoured enemies.
> 
> Was that too much micromanagement detail?




I don't do the monsters defeated thing, but I take detailed notes and note party treasure and what happens to important items that we no longer have. I have the spreadsheet broken up into important personal items for each person as well. 

Must say though, the rest of them don't mock me, they are often glad of my notes, lists, and memory for seemingly trivial details! SBI, you and I are obviously kindred spirits!    



			
				SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> Switching tacks for a moment:  Nail, was Garret going to get in any ethical problems concerning his Paladinhood had he not honoured his word to the surrendered Glebesh?  Also, did you make any issue to the method the "remnants" of the tribe were dealt with in such a...final manner?  Surrenders, prisoners, and evil noncombatants are always such a sticking point with good characters in general, LG types moreso, and Paladins especially so.  Is Garret's Code much different than the standard PHB one, as I recall the class itself is different for him (no smite evil for example).
> 
> Finally, isn't calling an Elf "pompus" a bit redundant?
> 
> Did Lissia leave the campaign, or is this a temporary absence?




Strangely enough, Rowan was the only one arguing that the non-combatants should be kept alive....and she is NG, but I figured that by the nature of her Druidhood, she would believe that even goblins are part of nature, we had just slaughtered an entire tribe and while unpleasant, they did occupy a niche in the natural order of things. She also is of the belief that all things may be redeemed. 

Riva didn't care at all what happened to the non-combatants, he just wanted them to shut up! 

Thaile and Garrett were of the (stated) opinion that they "detect" as evil and are not one of the favored races (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Halflings) so they were not entitled to any mercy. I wonder if there would be repurcussions to paladinhood, but then Garrett left the party. 

Yeah, calling an elf pompous is normally redundant, but PEB is ESPECIALLY pompous! He also marks a departure, first major NPC/PC that Rowan has not gotten along with immediately!

I suspect that when we return to Eaglesford, Lissia will be awaiting us. After all, eventually Kytum-up will return to his people, while Lissia longs for a life of adventure!. 

And aren't you just dying to know about the REALLY big change coming up? 

Rowan


----------



## DrSpunj

*Ah ha!*



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> _The ethereal snake woman continued, “You stand in the beginning place; your path stetches out in front of you. As you start, you must master the nine mysteries of beginning, each a pair of principles. To your right, is the Mystery of Purpose. To you left is the Mystery of Purity. Which do you chose?”_





For Nail and the group, the above phrase is how I arrived at possibly facing 18 tests! "...the *nine* mysteries of beginning, *each* a *pair* of principles..." So that's 9 mysteries and 18 principles total. We've now passed two mysteries, but what 4 principles did they entail?



			
				Gina said:
			
		

> Strangely enough, Rowan was the only one arguing that the non-combatants should be kept alive....and she is NG, but I figured that by the nature of her Druidhood, she would believe that even goblins are part of nature, we had just slaughtered an entire tribe and while unpleasant, they did occupy a niche in the natural order of things. She also is of the belief that all things may be redeemed.
> [snip]
> Thaile and Garrett were of the (stated) opinion that they "detect" as evil and are not one of the favored races (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Halflings) so they were not entitled to any mercy. I wonder if there would be repurcussions to paladinhood, but then Garrett left the party.





Between sessions I had a chance to go back to the Book of the Righteous (BotR, which I read pretty thoroughly when I started playing Garret, but had not cracked open for months except for leveling mechanics! ) and reread/study the general sections in the front, Morwyn's sections, and the Holy Warrior section.

The BotR was pretty clear that Morwynites believed any race of the tree could be redeemed, and if they asked for mercy it would be given where possible. So if the party was battling Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes or Halflings, things would have been very different for Garret.

OTOH, the book (and therefore Garret's teachings, I confirmed that with Nail) is pretty clear that most other races (like Goblins & Kobolds) are inherently evil (or at least, not inherently good and/or deserving of the same considerations), and Holy Warriors of all faiths exist to help protect the races of the tree from them.

Now, Nail stated from the beginning that he was following _most_ of the BotR but not everything word for word, and our first adventures led us to a group of (what we believe to be) non-evil Kobolds, which challenged our religious teachings right off the bat.

Taking all that into account, Garret did a LOT of thinking as the party was assailing the goblins of Alder's Look, and came to some decisions.

Goblins are not races of the tree.
Everything Garret (and Thaile) have been taught about goblins says they are Evil (note capital 'E').
As a Holy Warrior of Morwyn part of Garret's duty is to protect the races of the tree.
Kytum-Up & his tribes are Kobolds, also believed to be Evil, but have proven themselves to our party to be exceptions (which one of them admitted to at some point). Kytum-Up seems to be a Holy Warrior as well, though we're still not sure (are we?) of which god he and his tribe worship, though it may be Korak.
Goblins may, as Rowan believes, be redeemable, however *this* tribe has done nothing but pillage, loot & burn communities and individuals in the area surrounding Alder's Look, and repeatedly attacked us and sought to do us harm. (Now admittedly, we're invading their home right now , but I'm thinking of when we were on the road headed south to Scanlon and were attacked, _before_ we officially started invading their home! ) Calabbleed _may_ have been pushing the tribe to do atrocities they were not comfortable with, however they did not rise up to remove him from leadership either, and always seemed to be enjoying it (if Nail's facial expressions can be translated to the goblins, anyway! ).
Garret DID give his word in the middle of the battle that no harm would come to the leader, Glebesh, if he surrendered, and Garret would have defended him against the rest of the party as long as Glebesh was acting honorably to fulfill his part. (To set the record straight from Rowan's accounting, Garret was never interested in killing Glebesh after Garret gave his word that Glebesh would be granted mercy, as long as Glebesh didn't act up.) This is the same thing he did with the goblins they captured at the intersection of death, and *THOSE* were killed very quickly by _Thaile_ before she and Lissia followed the rest of us down. It was then that Garret really started to do some soul searching about his options down in the bowels of Alder's Look.
Garret had no moral/ethical or religious problems killing the remaining goblins as they tried to flee to the surface, even when they asked for mercy and tried to surrender. He felt it was what was required of him, in line with his religious teachings, his faith, and himself (his alignment) as these goblins would likely continue to harm the races of the tree if they fled Alder's Look in such large numbers (though they might be quiet for a few years).
When Glebesh, the three females and one infant were all that was left of the tribe, Garret felt they didn't pose a significant enough threat, now or in the future, to necessitate killing them, so he was willing to follow Rowan's wishes and release them into the Alder's Mere. Though he has no knowledge of their life in the swamp, he suspects they may perish anyway, just trying to survive and rebuild their tribe.
Having said all that, Garret didn't feel any immediate repercussions from his choices as he rode off with Lissia and the refugees. Because he left at that point, I have no idea what happened with him. My plan for him was to return to Eaglesford, make a report to both the Captain and the kobold tribe at the farm, and if not immediately needed in the town's defense then proceed to Three Oaks and give another report to the Holy Mother of his order there, probably joining her as most Holy Warriors of Morwyn do (they don't really adventure much, he's quite the exception ).

As to _why_ I retired him? It wasn't something I did lightly. When I created him with the 3.0 rules set I was looking to try the Mounted Combat feat chain and had never played a Paladin before. Because of the difficulties in keeping your mount in typical dungeons, I specifically chose a Small race and dealt with all the dis/ads that came with.

He's a fun character to roleplay, but honestly, I didn't have much fun with him while roll-playing in combat. It's not just him, but the whole Mounted Combat feat chain. Starting out at 1st level with Mounted Combat was alright, as it helped protect Bavic, and the mobility was great. By 3rd level I was looking to actually *DO* something, though, and was really looking forward to Ride-by Attack.

When I got it, I was...less than thrilled. By that time 3.5 had come out, and although we made a couple House Rules to actually make Ride-by Attack possible, more often than not it wasn't something I could get to work. I don't fault Nail, but due to the positioning of my allies, or my enemies, or the terrain, I just couldn't set up a charge to use the feat nearly as often as I wanted to. When things did work out for me to make a charge, I would, of course, sometimes miss on the attack roll. When I did connect, because Garret wasn't all that strong (because of having to spread his Point Buy around to quite a few stats), was using Small weapons and until the END of his career didn't have a magical weapon, he would do very little damage. It was often painfully frustrating. 

By this time Mounted Combat wasn't all that nifty either, as Nail was forced into choosing between attacking Garret or Bavic. If the former, Mounted Combat wasn't used at all. If the latter, there was a very real chance that Bavic might die outright with as few hit points as he had.

From the beginning I wanted a Celestial Riding Dog as Garret's Special Mount, which would have made survivability a bit easier for Bavic, but that wasn't going to happen until 6th level, and that's when Garret would get Spirited Charge. Since charging wasn't working out all that often (see above problems with Ride-by Attack) I couldn't see Spirited Charge making things any better. 

Sooooo, while I very much enjoyed the non-combat side of Garret, in combat he was not what I was looking for, and I swapped him for Mor'Elandi during the session above. I'd been interested in playing somebody like Mor'Elandi for quite some time and many of the 3.5 changes made him not only viable, IMO, but better.

Any other questions? 

Thanks! And keep the posts coming, Nail. I'm looking forward to them! All of them! Especially last week's session! 

DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

*Hey!  What's taking so long, Nail?*

Tieran's former player, Zepherus, has hatched an Evil scheme:
Start up two gaming groups, get Nail into one of them, then trick him into DMing that one!

Aaack!  I've been snookered!

I'll be DMing his group through a (very) short adventure, starting tomorrow.  I'm aiming for two sessions, tops.  Meanwhile, my college semester began yesterday, so I'm now up to my beard in teaching chemistry and geology.  And, of course, there's my current game with *Our Heroes* to consider....

Fun, fun!

So....updates may be a bit lower on th' list than usual.  But never fear: I shall get to them, even if it means simply copying Rowan's wonderful notes, word-for-word.





			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> [/i]
> For Nail and the group, the above phrase is how I arrived at possibly facing 18 tests! "...the *nine* mysteries of beginning, *each* a *pair* of principles..." So that's 9 mysteries and 18 principles total.




That _might_ be right.  Heh. 



			
				DrSpunj said:
			
		

> The BotR was pretty clear that Morwynites believed any race of the tree could be redeemed, ......(but) that most other races (like Goblins & Kobolds) are inherently evil .....
> 
> Now, Nail stated from the beginning that he was following _most_ of the BotR but not everything word for word.....
> 
> Everything Garret (and Thaile) have been taught about goblins says they are Evil (note capital 'E'). .....(snip)....*this* tribe has done nothing but pillage, loot & burn communities...... Calabbleed _may_ have been pushing the tribe to do atrocities, .....(snip).....<but they> always seemed to be enjoying it (if Nail's facial expressions can be translated to the goblins, anyway! ).




Excellent post!  I've quoted only a few bits of it.

The only problem with the story hour format is that lack of nuance so easy to convey in the game.  It's hard to write down!  During the game I try hard to convey what any given NPC/monster is thinking/feeling at the time. Not every last detail, of course, but the mood at least.  (Usually "Kill the PCs!" is part of it.   )  I also spend a great deal of time before the game thinking out NPC actions and motives that have happened "off camera".  I love this part (it's not "work" for me), and its my hope it provides a solid foundation.

My goal is for the players to be able to "figure it out".  That includes alignment issues.  There are *absolute* alignments, and consequences for deviating from them.....but how mortals interpret the alignments.......


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> My goal is for the players to be able to "figure it out".  That includes alignment issues.  There are *absolute* alignments, and consequences for deviating from them.....but how mortals interpret the alignments.......




So, if I read this correctly, Rowan was the one in the wrong for asking that the goblins be spared because alignments are absolute?

I thought that I had a solid argument for why she was not in favor of killing all of them outright, but if the absolute alignment thing is true, then maybe I played it wrong. 

Gina


----------



## Nail

*I'm being vague on purpose...there's a hint about the game in this arguement.....*



			
				Gina said:
			
		

> So, if I read this correctly, Rowan was the one in the wrong for asking that the goblins be spared because alignments are absolute?



Nope!  Rowan was played perfectly, and her argument points are great too!  

BTW: "Consequences" may be the term that's throwing you.  Also, "absolute" does not mean "unchangable".


----------



## LiVeWiRe

Just wanted to 'de-lurk' for a moment and say that what I've read thus far is awesome!  

Granted, it'll take me a while to get caught up, but so far so good!  

I'm just disappointed that I haven't ventured in before now!  

LW


----------



## Nail

LiVeWiRe said:
			
		

> Just wanted to 'de-lurk' for a moment and say that what I've read thus far is awesome!



Err...Thanks!  We have lots of fun doing it!

But I'm not sure this story hour qualifies as "awesome", given the company it keeps here on the boards.   (Although I'm quite happy to hear it said! Complements always accepted!  )  For simply amazing storyhours, check out a few classics:
 Wulf's Storyhour 
 Sagiro's Storyhour Return's! 
 Jonrog's Darkmatter d20 storyhour, and, of course
 PirateCat's storyhour

Now that's some story-tellin'.


----------



## Nail

Random News Item:
   I finished DMing the first of two sessions with Zepherus's group.  I think things went pretty well (although I suppose *Videssian*, who plays Riva in my group, might have another interpretation).

In that group, our PCs discovered a portal to the city of Manifest (WotC setting of Ghostwalk).   Remember, I play in this group, so I get to say "our" when I'm not DMing.  For this short stint I decided to use a "quickie" adventure idea from that setting, and throw in a few mysterious twists:

The adventurers were contacted by a friend of theirs in Manifest, a "magic shop" owner, about a dwaven ghost.  It seems that this dwarf was recently killed, and will pay handsomely for someone to retrieve his body (and items!). Seeing as the cave is near the PCs base of operations, they agreed.  Adventure is at hand!

On the way to the cave, the elven ranger spoted some sort of bestial humaniod following them at a distance....but the others see nothing, and attribute it to the ranger's frayed nerves.  ("We're all gonna die, man!  Nail's DMing!")  The PCs do nothing.

In the cave, the PCs find new wooden doors and construction, simple but effective traps involving water and ogre skeletons, and finally an ambush by 5 giantish zombies wielding over-sized greatclubs.  We ended the session with everyone heavily wounded.  The wizard, played by Zepherus (the uber-DM) was nearly killed, along with the tank fighter.  Hee, hee!

...I mean, hey: if the wizard wants to walk into an ambush un-protected and get surrounded by 3 of those 5 Large zombies, who am I to complain?  

So, anyway: We had a good time. Oh, one more thing: I _hate_ the control undead (Sor/Wiz 2) spell.  Hate it.  All I'll say is: that puppy should have some sort of HD cap.   

......and now, in a few days, this group games again!  I must catch up with the writing!  But when......?????

Oh, right.  I could stop writing irrelevant notes like this one.


----------



## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> Random News Item:
> I finished DMing the first of two sessions with Zepherus's group.  I think things went pretty well (although I suppose *Videssian*, who plays Riva in my group, might have another interpretation).




Oh, I don't know, I thought it went pretty well.. I did discover that _Sever The Tie_ is a rather handy power, it really helped us out there!


----------



## DrSpunj

*Nail* really needs to work on this, but I can throw out a teaser or two for anyone anxiously awaiting him to update.


I just got home from tonight's session.
There was only one combat the entire night.
It involved only one PC and one enemy.
The PC died.  

Anyone wanna guess who the PC was? And the circumstances of their death?

*Nail* afterwards informed us (with a smile on his face) that the party had lost a PC a week (in the game world) for the last 3 weeks.

Keep bugging him for the answers (and an update or five)!


----------



## Nail

The funny thing was: I hadn't planned on killing any PCs last night. 

.....well, it's funny to _me_ anyway.....  

And I _did_ have several combats planned - but I hadn't concidered this one very likely.  The combats I had planned?  Cake-walks.  Really.

I will attempt to use Gina's most excellent notes to get some more story up here, today.

Now, even.


----------



## Nail

As another aside:

In Zepherus' game, in which I guest DMed, we had three PC deaths, out of 6 players.  We've just finished the adventure, so I'm handing the reins back to their rightful owner.  

I'm also kinda hoping my own PC lives thru next session.....


----------



## Nail

*At last!  An update!  (...or: Nail, don't quit yer day job.)*

*Session #23: "Buxom Billowy Babes"*

RL evening of Dec 10th, 2003

The adventurers were in a maze, hewn in the stone below Alderslook by ancient hands.  Everywhere there was steam and mist, hampering their vision, dulling their senses, dampening their mood.  Somewhere within the maze was their “purpose”,.....or so they thought.  Had not the strange “snake lady” said this way led to the Mystery of Purpose?  What this purpose was, and how they might find it....the adventurers did not know.

But forward!  Ever forward!  For surely, if they looked hard enough, traveled far enough, searched carefully enough, they would find something that would serve for a purpose.

Wouldn’t they?

Now much of their gold was stolen, the dragon idol missing, and they were being attacked by small winged females, elemental creatures made of the steam.  At last, a purpose!  The adventurers charged after their fleeing attackers, Rowan in the lead, Riva close behind.  To Battle!



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the Journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> 
> ....in my wolf form I ran after the "steam babe".  (And Riva followed me, of course!)  We ran ahead of the rest, heedless of the danger, so........well, things were going pretty much as they always do.
> 
> We heard it say something in a language neither Riva nor I understood (but that sounded like hissing steam), then it darted around a corner. I rounded the corner and found that it was there, facing me. It breathed scalding steam on me and burned my eyes terribly; it was difficult to see after that. I missed it, but Riva sliced it with his greatsword, wounding it heavily.
> 
> We could hear the rest calling out to us, trying to find us through the steam and the maze.  I could tell it would be a while before they could get to us.....but the steam-wench's friends got to us right away to help their sister.  (Sigh.  I wonder if charging off alone like this is ever going to get me into real trouble?)  But Riva was with me, and his greatsword was doing terrible damage to any of them within reach.  I tried to help with a few spells....but they kept breathing scalding steam at me!  After a short time I passed out from the heat.
> 
> When I came to, Thaile was standing over me, using her healing magic.  My friends had destroyed most of the steam wenches.  Only one had escaped.  Tieran cornered another one as I awoke.  She managed to fly past him and all of us after shouting something to Tieran. One of us needs to find a way to understand what they are saying, but as it stands now, we can’t.
> 
> We moved on once again, wandering through the maze of corridors.  A blast of steam came from behind Mor’Elandi , catching him, but not scalding him.  We tried to retaliate, but the steam babe fled back into the mists.  (Tieran keeps trying to correct me as I write this.  He says they are "Steam Mephits".  Whatever.  "Steam babes" is so much more appropriate, especially after we found out.....but that's a later part of this story.)
> 
> Thaile reminded us, as we walked on, to keep track of what we carry with us in case some more of it turns up missing.
> 
> We passed a cracked wall, with a large chunk of it removed. Tieran said that it was done magically.  Beyond this area, was a large room with several strange, triangular pillars. After looking at it for a bit, Tieran said that the area had been disintegrated....that the pillars were the remnants of walls that were now gone. Riva said that the damage was very, very old.
> 
> As we were moving through the steam-filled area, Tieran noticed the strange little creature (four arms, one leg) that had stolen some things before.  (I guess he could notice it because he had activated that magical dragon broach of his.)  It passed through Riva, Tieran said. Tieran shot a crossbow at it and the bolt passed right through the creature. It ran away and we chased it (well, Tieran chased it and Kytum-up, Mor’Elandi, and Thaile were all tied to him so they had to come along, Riva and I followed as well). Even though it could pass thru us easily enough, it went around ruined sections of wall and piles of rubble. Very curious. Tieran tried to stop it by casting a web, but the creature walked through the magical web as if it were not even there.
> 
> We decided that our best option would be to locate the center of the maze and that would possibly help us figure out what we were supposed to do. As we began to move, stopping to get our bearings every few minutes, one of the steam wenches breathed steam on us, scalding Thaile. It turned to flee as soon as it had finished.
> 
> We eventually found the center of the maze. It turned out to be the room with the conical mound of ropey, melted rock. Figures - we were there several times before. Of course, we had no idea what we were supposed to do. For a test of purpose, we've got no clue what our purpose actually is.
> 
> Once we knew that we were at the center of the maze, Riva climbed up to the top of the cone. The ceiling looks as though it was melted, and the cone was caused by the ceiling dripping down onto the floor and piling up there. Melted rock hangs from the ceiling in long icicle shapes.  Riva called them stalactites, and being a dwarf, he does know these things. Tieran said that this was magically done, instantaneous and long ago. Riva agreed about the age of the damage.
> 
> On the cone, I tried to soften the stone, but the spell didn’t work, though I suspect that it might have if my casting had been better, or perhaps if my connection to the energies of nature were stronger. I feel my connection to the natural world is less strong underground, surrounded by so much worked stone. After my attempt to help ended, Riva began to dig into the top of the cone. While Riva was digging, Tieran tried to detect magic on the area and found nothing. Thaile tried it as well and found something very faint, about a foot down, roughly dead center of the maze.
> 
> Riva moved to the correct place to dig and began to work on getting through the stone again. Another of the steam wenches came and breathed on us, not scalding anyone, but certainly reminding us not to let our guard down. We set up to watch each entrance and managed to be unmolested for the rest of the time it took Riva to dig through.
> 
> When he was finally through, there was a puff of white powder and a strangely shaped cavity in the rock. We later determined that the powder was the remains of the creature that had died in the hole we had uncovered. The cavity was the shape of the four armed thing that kept taking our stuff. There was nothing inside but more of the powdery residue of the hole’s former occupant, however, one of the pieces of rock that Riva had pried up had a magical aura and Thaile decided to try to open it (after briefly considering asking Riva to break it, but thinking better of that in the end). It popped open, revealing a gold ring with figures of giants on it. Hill giants to be precise. The magical aura was moderate, but neither Thaile nor Tieran could figure out what it did. Mor’Elandi also took a look at it. So, Thaile put it on and began trying to activate it. After a bit, she managed to do so and grew quite large.
> 
> While Tieran and Mor’Elandi had examined it, they determined that it was of early empire manufacture and so, was quite old. Mor’Elandi scooped up the remaining powder from the hole, wondering if perhaps the thing we had seen was a ghost. After some discussion, we determined that it was not undead or a ghost, but maybe from another plane....in the end, though, we still, as always, had more questions than answers.
> 
> We decided that our best option at that point was to try to find a place to hole up for the night and get some rest. We moved to a small room with only one exit. Then, using pieces of rubble, we constructed a wall across the doorway with a small tunnel leading inward so that those of us sleeping would be relatively safe. Those on watch would be outside the room.
> 
> While we were clearing rubble, we found some scratchings on a piece of rubble. It was a symbol, etched into the stone of six circles, stacked inside a downward pointing triangle. It looked somehow familiar to us, but none of us could place it. Riva said that it too was very, very old.
> 
> As we settled in, we decided that we need to figure out a plan to find our stuff and to determine the purpose of this seemingly purposeless test of purpose. (Oh, I bet I couldn’t say that three times fast!) We decided that the four armed creature can run through webs and us but cannot go through stone for whatever reason. The one we found (powdered) was entombed in the rock, so we could be pretty sure that they could not get out of rock.
> 
> The first two watches passed without event. Thaile and Riva were on first and heard the steam wenches, but they did not approach. Mor’Elandi and Kyt on second heard the same, obviously they know where we are. On third was me and Tieran. We watched as the four-armed, one legged thing appeared again, tore the dragon brooch off of Tieran’s cloak, and took off running.
> 
> Hey!  We need that broach to see you, you little.......




End of session #23

(DMs note: Gina wrote the lion’s share of this.  It’s a great journal entry!  Thanks, Gina!)


----------



## evildmguy

Um, did the group find anything NEW?

 

edg


----------



## Gina

evildmguy said:
			
		

> Um, did the group find anything NEW?
> 
> 
> 
> edg




Not yet, but soon. 

Yeah, it took us a while to find our purpose...

Of course, Session 28 is the one we played last night, where a PC died. Second one in as many weeks (game time)......sigh. 

Nail smiles so maniacally when he kills on of us too....you can just tell he enjoys it waaaayyy more than is natural!   

Gina


----------



## Nail

Heh.  Depends on what you mean by "new".

The quick answer is: "no".  They were spinning their wheels a bit during this session, in no small part because this was a tough puzzle to make sense of.  Another part of the problem is the (quite generally recognized) adventurer tendency to "charge!", and hope a target presents itself.  Our group is not the only one that does this.

Heck, _I_ do it too often when I'm a PC.  

....I hope that answers your question.  Perhaps a player can chip in.


----------



## Gina

evildmguy said:
			
		

> Um, did the group find anything NEW?
> 
> 
> 
> edg




Not yet, but soon. 

Yeah, it took us a while to find our purpose...

Of course, Session 28 is the one we played last night, where a PC died. Second one in as many weeks (game time)......sigh. 

Nail smiles so maniacally when he kills on of us too....you can just tell he enjoys it waaaayyy more than is natural!   

Gina


----------



## Nail

*Do I even _have_ a day job?*

*Session #24: "A Good Way to Tackle the Problem"*

RL evening of Dec 22nd, 2003



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the Journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> We caught up to the four-armed, one-legged, pale-skinned, strange-looking.....just what was this thing, anyway?.....little bugger.  As we did so, Tieran formed a brilliant plan.
> 
> I mean brilliant like “it involved a bright flash”, rather than “it was a good idea”.  I guess it would have been a great plan if it had worked as intended.
> 
> Tieran shot off a fireball, intending for it to burst far enough away so that we would not be inside it, but the one-legged thing would. Sadly, he didn’t realize that there was a wall in front of us, cloaked by steam, perhaps ten feet away. So, the fireball came back at us, burning both Tieran and I pretty badly.   To make it worse, the one legged creature avoided the flames completely!  He wasn’t even singed!    I smacked Teiran as soon as I had put out the flames on my clothing, asking him what he was trying to do.   Good thing he wisely kept his mouth shut -- because at the time, I swear on the leaves of Eliwyn, I would’ve turned into a bear and eaten him.
> 
> Oh, and to make things all that much better, two steam babes attacked us, while the four-armed creature escaped.  We were injured pretty badly, so we ran back to the relative safety of our little hole in the wall, and dove through.  Besides, I figured that our watch was probably done, and my friends might as well get up.  The steam babes (I mean: Steam Mephits!  Sorry, Tieran!) didn’t follow us, so after everyone was up, we gave an account of what had happened.
> 
> Then Thaile told us of a dream she had just had.
> 
> She was in a long hallway filled with steam.  She had spent a long time doing something, her friends (that would be us!) kept trying to help but were not helpful and in fact, made the process more difficult. She heard a familiar female voice say “What are you seeking, child?” then laughed.   Then it said, “I’m sure that you can’t get it that way.  Perhaps if you asked nicely, the little one would give it to you.”
> 
> We spent some time discussing the dream and what it might mean, we all had ideas, but in the end, as so often happens with such things, we came to no real conclusions, only more questions. Thaile seem particularly struck with the fact that the 4-armed thing wasn't "little".  Err, then what was the voice talking about, oh wise woman of Eaglesford??
> 
> We had a short discussion about what we should do next. We came up with several options:
> Speak with the Snake Lady and ask her what we should do next.
> Capture and question the one-legged creature.
> ”Talk” to the Steam Babes (with Thaile’s comprehend languages spell going)
> Check out the other melted rock piles
> 
> First we explored some of the other piles of melted rock.  While we were exploring one of them, another steam wench attacked out of the mists, but this time Riva was ready for her, and destroyed her in one blow. If Mor'Elandi has been keeping a proper count, there should be only one more left in the maze, probably.
> 
> Thaile used two detect magic spells on the mounds of rock but found nothing of interest.  The other mound, in a different part of the maze, also came up empty.
> 
> We also tried “asking” for our stuff back.  Kinda just stood there and asked, you know?  No response to that, though we didn’t think that there really would be.
> 
> We continued to wander, through corridors, rooms, and passages that we had traversed before. The one legged creature suddenly appeared and took Thaile’s new gold ring (the one that enlarges her). Tieran saw him take it and tried to stop it, but it bit him as he tried to grab the ring and then disappeared. We gathered into a corridor and discussed what to do next.
> 
> Then we had a bit of luck.  While exploring and clearing a collapsed side passage, we found an irregular chamber, part original hallway and part "dug out" area.  In the center was a pile of stuff -- our stuff!!  There was also a few other things!!
> 
> The one thing that was not in the pile was the dragon idol. So, we still needed a plan to get that back. We did end up with all of our other stuff back plus 168 gold pieces in unfamiliar coin. These coins were inscribed with a very old form of common and were, we guessed 1,000 or so years old, dating to the old empire. Also in the cache of items was a small book with a gold cover and arcane writings on it. Tieran’s eyes lit up as he saw it, a spell book, most likely magical, with a clasp. He said he would open it later on, when he was alone, just in case it was trapped.
> 
> We stayed in this corner room for a while, and saw that the steam is venting out through cracks in the ceiling. After a time, Thaile decided to go into the corridor with something of value for the creature to steal and see if she could catch it.  So, we set ourselves up to watch as Thaile made herself the target for the creature, or rather made her stuff the target of the creature. (We had a long discussion as to what and how much stuff she should have on her).
> 
> So, there stood Thaile in the corridor, wearing the dragon’s eye brooch.   ...And the strange bugger just appeared out of nowhere and took it!  As it hopped away, Thaile saw it carried the dragon idol, the object of her desire, in one of its hands.
> 
> What else could she do?  She began to chase it.  Mor’Elandi and Riva followed as well, trying to corner the creature. Of course, it winked out of sight just as they were closing in on it.
> 
> So, we set it up again. This time with the giant ring. Same thing happened. The creature grabbed the ring, Thaile shouted for it to wait and began casting, but the creature ran off anyway, with Mor’Elandi, Riva, and Thaile in pursuit, until it eventually disappeared. Riva and Thaile collided when it did, each of them thinking they had it.
> 
> After this, we tried a different idea.  We wandered about looking for that last steam babe. We found one and cornered it. Thaile had her comprehend languages spell going (that was what she was casting after asking the one legged creature to stop) so she understood that the steam wench was asking for mercy. “Please don’t kill me” the steam woman cried, as it cowered in a corner.
> 
> Tieran had another brilliant idea.  Actually, this one really _is_ good – not the “Flash –Bang!” variety.  He tried to pantomime that we had no plans to harm her....then he tried to explain (through gestures) that we were looking for the one legged creature with four arms. Since Tieran only has two arms, I stood behind him to illustrate the third and fourth arms. Mor’Elandi seemed to wish that he had never met us at that point, but I think it was quite clever...anyway, the Steam Wench understood, after a while.   It took longer than it should: these steam babes are real air heads.   Tieran says they’re vapid, whatever that means.
> 
> While the others were trying to communicate, I went to see if we could get help from the Snake Lady at the entrance. She gave me some answers, but seemed kind of horrified that we were so ill prepared for the trials. I didn’t bother to point out to her that the people who had set up the trials were long, long dead and that we really were unprepared.
> 
> The ghostly snake lady (her name is Slythia) was also surprised that the initiate (Kytum-up) had asked no questions.  I guess initiates in the “past” (whenever that was) had always asked questions of her.  Huh.  I thought we were supposed to do this on our own.....
> 
> When I asked about the steam, she said that someone had summoned some steam elementals, and that wasn’t allowed.  We should “fix it”.. She was unaware of any damage to the maze and said that it should be reported to the “masters” so it could be repaired. As I spoke to her I realized that she was a ghost, probably unaware that this place was long abandoned, the tests forgotten. I also remembered that the great church teaches that ghosts are undead and should be destroyed, but the teachings of temples are not my concern and this creature is here for a purpose, I think.
> 
> As I walked back to the others, I remembered a description of a creature called a Naga. I think that is what Slythia is, or rather, was.
> 
> When I returned to the others, they were getting through to the steam wench.  We began to look for the one legged creature as I gave them my usual concise account of my conversation with Slythia.
> 
> The elemental seemed less afraid of us now and came along with us, sticking very close to Thaile. She was, we discovered, surprised that the steam they had breathed at us could kill us.
> 
> First we checked the little room we had spent the night in. No stuff there, so sign of the creature. . As we moved along, the creature snatched a gold bracelet from Thaile.  The steam babe (Tieran’s calling her “Bambi”, for some reason.) saw it as it faded from view.
> 
> Finding that we were having little success in capturing the creature we decided that the initiate should ask some more questions of Slythia and off we went to talk to her.
> 
> As we went toward Slythia, we noted that there was hot water flowing from the other corridor, perhaps this was where the steam is coming from. Thaile and Kytum-up also became aware that Slythia was indeed a ghost. This seemed to bother them a bit, but they decided to ask their questions anyway.
> 
> We asked about the test of purpose.  Slythia said:
> “*The Mystery of Purpose is a wise choice to start; for without purpose, a journey has no meaning.*”
> 
> What about the creature that has stolen the totem?
> *You should get it back.*
> 
> “What is your purpose?” Slythia asked of us.
> 
> Thaile responded that our purpose is to return the totem to its place (and I think it still hurts when she speaks of returning it!).
> 
> Further questioning revealed the following:
> The creature cannot pass out of the maze
> The last initiate was long ago
> She is Slythia, guide of initiates
> Other totems were very beautiful, but she cannot remember what they were
> If killed, the creature can be replaced, but there should be no need to kill it.
> 
> She also asked “Bambi” why she was in the maze.  “Bambi” answered in her strange language (Thaile’s spell having ended, we couldn’t understand her). Slythia responded, “That should not be true!” and sent her off.   Slythia seemed angry that the Steam babe was in the maze at all. Our “Bambi” went off down the corridor and disappeared into the steam.   We never saw her again.
> 
> Slythia told us that the makers did not plan for the steam and we should speak of it to our masters when we are through. She can’t get rid of it, but she is certain that the Makers will take care of it. She seems unaware that these “Makers” are long gone.
> 
> We went back into the maze and continued to wander, looking for the creature. We wandered for hours, but did not see it. Finally, we decided to set up in its former lair and the adjoining room for the night. We set our usual watches and waited.
> 
> *June 24th*, in the Bowels of Alderslook
> 
> First two watches went without event, on third watch, it took an emerald pendant from Tieran who shot it with the crossbow but it faded into the mist.
> 
> We (Tieran and I were on first watch) noticed that it was carrying the stuff it had stolen in its hands. Tieran also spent a bit of time examining the new spellbook. He opened it then used a read magic spell on it.
> 
> It was the spellbook of someone named Turkosh, weighing ½ pound with 50 pages in it. 1 page per spell level needed to be used. Currently 25 pages used. Spells inscribed in two sections, the first were Turkosh’s spells, the second section was in Elvish script and bore the name Phalan Magere. After a bit of thought, we realized that she was probably the Elven girl we had found flayed in the goblin’s lair. She said her name was Fala, perhaps it was actually Phalan (Phala).
> 
> As we all woke up and prepared for another day in the steam, we began to formulate a plan. First, if the creature goes to the ethereal plane, and it seems that it must keep to the corridors, thus the walls of the maze must exist on its plane as well as here. So, if we used the dug out area in the small corner room, it stands to reason that if we pushed the creature over into the dug out area it could not move to its plane and would be effectively trapped.
> 
> So, we set ourselves up for our new plan.  We would hide in the areas dug out of the wall, an place a gold treasure in the wall.  When the creature appeared, Riva would bull-rush it into the dug-out area.
> 
> We set the gold mask at our intended ambush point and waited. The creature showed up and took the mask, then winked out before any of us could act. This happened twice!  We tried, but we were just too slow. Finally, we set it up a third time:  the creature showed up, Riva got the jump on it, and shoved it into the dug out area.  The strange creature tried to blink out but was unable to do so!
> 
> I suggested that we knock the creature out, but the consensus was that killing it would be better.  So they did that...   I am concerned that we are killing creatures often when there could be another answer.  In the case of the spiders, rats, Calableed, and the warrior goblins, it was necessary.  But this creature, while annoying, was really not a grave danger to us. I am also struck by the idea that the steam elementals may not have been trying to harm us at all, but rather may have been ignorant of the fact that they were causing us harm. It is a difficult line to draw.
> 
> In the end, we had all of our things back as well as the totem and we were ready to face the next test: the Mystery of Purity. But first, we decided to find a place to rest and discuss what had happened, as well as Thaile and Kytum-up’s misgivings about following the directions of a ghost.
> 
> Here ends the Mystery of Purpose!




End of Session #24!


----------



## Nail

Big one, coming up....


----------



## Nail

*I *think* my job has something to do with posting messages......*

*Session #25: "The Source Strikes"*

RL evening of Jan 7th, 2004

The adventurers spent the rest of that day, and all of the next, recouping from their trials.  They had completed one of the tests, and they knew there were many more.....9? 18?....Mor ‘Elandi was especially confused at the number of mysteries.

“I don’t understand,” complained Mor’Elandi,  “That naga said ‘9’, then she said ‘each a pair of mysteries’.  Does that mean there are 18?  Two times nine, right?”

Tieran shrugged.

While they rested, they talked about the meaning of the tests, and the quality of their “guide”, the ghostly naga Slythia.  Thaile voiced the concern that in following a ghost, a spirit of a restless dead, they were ignoring many of the tenets of their churches and the Gods.  Namely, that *All Undead Are Evil, and Must Be Destroyed*.  Rowan pointed out that this ghost had done no evil (at which point Mor’Elandi grumbled it had not done much good either).

To try to settle the debate, Thaile called upon her god, Darmon the Wayfarer.  Using a tiny portion of the power He had bestowed upon her, Thaile cast a spell that would detect the presence of Evil in the ghostly serpent woman.....and the spell failed.  It simply failed to function....almost as if it had been disrupted as it was being used.  (_That_ had never happened before.....)  Disgruntled, Thaile returned to the group and settled down in her spot.

After their respite, the adventurers gathered themselves together and approached the naga’s ghost.  The naga stood (or is that “floated”?) in the great stair-hall, blocking the way down, the way the adventurers knew they must descend to reach their goal of the kobold city.  Her face was placid, clam, soothing.....and yet the adventurers could almost see through her translucent form.  

As the party approached, Slythia smiled and nodded to them, “You are ready?”

“We’re ready fer th’ next test,” said Riva, fingering his axe.  “I hope this one has a bit more excitement than th’ last.  I don’t like mazes.”

“What can you tell us about the Mystery of Purity?” asked Thaile.

“I can say many things.  But I will start with this: Before you is the Mystery of Purity.  Without Purity, there can be no form.  But hear me, the font of all things is purest.”

The ghostly naga stopped.  The adventurers looked from one to another.  All were silent.

“That’s it??” Mor’Elandi finally asked, incredulously.

The ghostly naga said nothing, a smile on her beatific face.

“Right.  Well, in we go then,” said Riva, as he strode into the steam filled passage, the rest falling in behind him.  Mor’Elandi, as usual, took up the rear of the line.

The steam here was especially thick and hot.  Rowan felt they must be getting closer to its source.  The short, smooth passage opened up into a small room, its wall and ceiling partially collapsed and lying strewn about on the floor.  The floor was also covered with an inch deep pool of warm water, flowing in from under the rocks of the collapsed ceiling in front of them, flowing out onto the great stair-hall behind them.  The adventurers couldn’t see farther than they could reach, all the while bathed in thick steam, so it took them quite a while to pick their way around the room until they found an exit.  At the top of the pile of rubble was an opening.  It was more like a space between giant ceiling blocks than a passage, but it wound its way deeper into the area, so....the adventurers followed it.  (What?  Wouldn’t _you_ do the same?)

Beyond was another collapsed room, its partially intact walls showing it was once circular and 20 feet in diameter.  The slope of rubble down to the room’s floor was loose and treacherous; Riva, in the lead, slipped and tumbled down a short distance.  At the base of the slope the water was deeper, perhaps a foot or so, and lined with loose rocks.  Piercing the wall in front of them was a carved narrow archway.

As Rowan helped Riva to his feet, she could see some sort of light beyond the arch.  And then both heard a voice, deep and commanding.  It spoke to them in draconic:

*“Come no closer.  Or I will strike you.”*

The rest of the party squeezed through the passage Riva and Rowan had, and picked their way down the pile of rubble.  Only Thaile missed her footing on the way down.

The deep bass voice spoke again:

*”Leave.     Now.”*

Rowan stepped toward the door, and shouted “No!”

Thaile grabbed her shoulder, then spoke to the fiery light, “Why should we leave?  Why are you here?”

*”I bear the god’s will, and they will this place cursed.  The Sar-thak-con is closed.”*

“But we are here for the mystery of Purity,” Thaile pleaded, “We were sent here by Slythia to take the test of Purity.”

*”Slythia is dead.  I know this to be true.  The tests are no more.  Such is the god’s will.”*

“Well,” continued Thaile, in a hopeful voice, “maybe you could just _tell_ us about the mystery of Purity instead?”

Silence answered.

“Right,” grumbled Riva, “he’s not going t’be helpful.  Let’s get this Mystery over with.” 

Riva stepped into the steam filled room, just as Tieran magically enlarged him.  The steam was lesser here, although the heat was more intense.  Riva saw standing in the middle of the circular room a dwarf-sized figure in bronze armor with an old design, its head wreathed in flames.  In its hands it whirled a red-hot spiked chain, which lashed out at Riva the moment he stepped into the archway.  In a moment, Riva’s magical greatsword lay somewhere under the murky water, and Riva himself lay prone.  

Riva rose, drawing a dagger, and this too was instantly snatched from his grasp, and his feet again yanked from under him.  In between these strikes the fiery figure lashed Riva with his razor-sharp chain, once, twice, thrice.  Riva’s blood flowed freely.

Behind him, Riva’s companions were trying to jockey into position.  They could not enter the room themselves, as Riva, enlarged as he was, blocked their path through the arch.  They also could not see Riva’s attacker, just the red glow of his flaming head.  Mor-Enandi’s bow was useless; Kytum-up’s sword as well.  The spell casters tried spell after spell – Magic Missile, Call Lightning, Summon Monster – and all failed to do any damage to the chain-weilding creature.

Riva, hit innumerable times by the spiked chain, lay in the pool, near death.  Thaile reached out to him with a cure spell.  Riva’s eyes fluttered open.  He glanced up, and saw the fiery dwarf standing over him, whirling his chain.  Riva’s eyes hardened.

Riva struggled to rise, and Thaile reached out to pull him to safety.

The spiked chain struck.  There was a snap of bone and the wet sound of soft flesh tearing.....

....Riva collapsed to the floor.

Hurriedly, Thaile and Rowan pulled him from the room.  Riva was no longer enlarged; Tieran had dismissed the spell.  Thaile readied a healing spell, and applied it to Riva’s most grievous wounds.

No effect.

Thaile looked up at her friends, crowding around.  She paused, then spoke.  “He’s dead," a tear fell from her cheek as she spoke.  "Riva’s dead.” 





More to come......


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> *Session #25: "The Source Strikes"*
> 
> [Thaile looked up at her friends, crowding around.  She paused, then spoke.  “He’s dead.   ...Riva’s dead.”  A tear fell from her cheek.




And so the first PC dies.........and we still had to finish the Mystery of Purity!


----------



## Nail

.....okay, now I'm weirded out.  This is the *only* thread I can post to (and edit!).  I've tried everywhere else over the past hour, and this is the only thread that accepts my posts.

Wow.

I'll bet Kikkiut is angry with me....


<EDIT>I have, at last, discovered the problem: I was using the "cyberstreet" address.  I had been having no trouble a week ago, before they updated the boards.  Apparently the new version of the message boards *really* doesn't like the old address.  ...anyway, it's fixed.

I'll get back to this storyhour soon.....as long as you measure "soon" in terms of weeks.  First, I've got some kobold stuff to work on with the players.

What's that, you say?  Why do the players need to work on kobold stats and such?  Ahhh.....that is interesting isn't it?


----------



## Gina

*The Test of Purity Part 2*

Nail asked me to continue since he is still busy. I will not pretend that my account will be as interesting as his, but we'll be closer to caught up!

_From the journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford:_
Riva is dead. We were all stunned. He has come so close to death before and always managed to survive. It is hard to believe that he is gone, that we will never again hear one of his stories about his old pappy or his dwarven cooking tips. 

We took his body and withdrew. Tieran stayed behind a moment to cast a fireball into the chamber. It did not affect the warrior, but it cleared the steam for Tieran to get a good look at the creature and the room. 

The room was circular with a broken fountain pouring water from the back wall, the warrior stood in the center of the room, water boiling where it touched him, causing the steam. Tieran also thought that he saw something shiny in the water under the warrior’s feet. The walls were defaced by chisel marks as we had seen in other areas of Alder’s Look. 

So, with heavy hearts, we carried Riva’s body out of the chamber, through the crack, and through the outer chamber. We went first to Slythia who seemed sad at Riva’s demise, but was unable to help him, being only the guide of initiates as she helpfully informed us.  

I told her that she is dead and the makers are long gone. This did not seem to concern her at all, she simply stated again that she is the guide of initiates. She told us that the gods work in mysterious ways. Mor'Elandi muttered something less than polite about the helpfulness of that statement. 

She did tell us that he word he called the place “Sar-thak-con” means Font of Purity. Wonder what language that is. We will have to find out.

We set up camp in the maze where we had been before and spent a day in contemplation and planning. We even discussed leaving. Mor’Elandi thought we should leave, Thaile was uncertain, Tieran, Kytum-up, and I were all for seeing it through. After much discussion, we decided to stay.

We realized as we contemplated our situation that if Riva couldn’t survive in there, we needed to figure out a different plan of action. We figured that the goal was probably to get water from the source, which seemed to be the hole in the wall. Once there had been a basin to catch the water, but it was broken long ago and so the water was just squirting out. The water itself was potable and possibly had some magical powers, but we were not sure what they might be. The one thing we were sure of was that they would not restore Riva to life. 

We waited and thought and finally came up with a plan. Tieran and Mor’Elandi would go in with as many spells of protection on them as we could muster, which would possibly allow them to get the water out of the room without even taking a hit from the vicious weapon he wielded. 

June 28th 
On both Mor’Elandi and Tieran we cast: Invisibility, Cat’s Grace, Walk on Water, and Spider Climb

On Mor’Elandi we cast Silence (in a radius effect so they would both be silenced) and Shield of Faith. 

On Tieran we cast Sanctuary so that he could not be attacked easily.

Then we moved into the middle chamber. Mor’Elandi and Tieran moved forward, or so we thought, we couldn’t really tell, invisible, you know, and silent. 

As they moved into the room, we knew that they were away from us as we were able to hear our own breathing and the beating of our hearts. Our task was to stay there until he noticed or hit one of the two in the room, but Thaile and I realized that we could be more helpful than that and summon creatures to distract him. First, Thaile cast a Clairvoyance spell to see what he was doing, then we moved to a safe summoning location.

He seemed to be aware that someone was in the room and was looking around. Thaile summoned a Dire Wolf while I summoned three water elementals. The two were at the back of the room, we could see the water disappearing a bit away from the wall. The creature struck out wildly and some blood spattered from the direction Tieran had chosen to go. 

Thaile’s wolf arrived first and was hit several times by the creature. Soon after, the three elementals were destroyed, but Kytum-up saw his opening and went in to help with the distraction and to aid the others if he could. I began casting to call lighting to smite the creature with. 

Tieran made it back first, we know this because he cast a magic missile at the creature, harming it a bit, but negating his invisibility. He was bleeding, though not terribly injured. Kytum-up fought bravely, but was felled by the creature. Mor’Elandi picked him up on his way out of the room. 

By this time, I was ready to throw my first lightning bolt, but I never got the opportunity. As Kytum-up and Mor’Elandi left the room, the creature simply melted into the water, saying “Thank you, you may summon me once.” Or something to that effect. The water stopped boiling, the steam cleared. 

Apparently, we had completed the Mystery of Purity. I think it was the water being brought out from the font while the initiate was in the room and both leaving safely that ended the test. 

We searched the room and found only a large copper disc. It was perhaps two feet across and weighed two pounds or so. 

We left the room and went back to our resting spot, surprised that we had gotten through with no one dead. Kytum-up had needed several spells, he had been near death. 

The death of Riva still weighing heavily on our minds, we rested and discussed what we should do next. As we set watches, we were undecided as to what our next action should be. Mor’Elandi and Thaile thought that we should leave and go back to town for more help. Kytum-up and I were for staying and working on the tests. Tieran seemed also to want to go back to town. I know that Riva would have been for continuing on our course and completing the tests. 

We shall decide after we are rested. We must also burn Riva’s body, though I have cut a lock of his hair for his mother, or to reincarnate him should I find myself able to cast that spell before his soul has gone too far. 

We also looked over the copper disc and identified what symbols we could. 

Inscriptions around the edge (circular) and the middle (square) are part of the magic spell that binds the azer (Kerchik) to the disc. Moreover, the writing has a secondary effect, which we are unsure of.  It has something to do with the ritually defaced symbol at the disc's center

God Symbols:
Howling Wolf: we don’t yet know which god this might be
Fire: Anwyn
Crown/Triad Symbols: The Three Sisters
Owl/Sword: Maal
Skull/Soot: Mormekar
Road/Moon: Darmon (heretical, according to Thaile)
Lyre/Feather: Aymara
Anvil/Hammer: Korak
Wave/Shell: Shalimyr
Flaming Tree w/ 5 fruits: Asmodeus
Divided Orb w/sun rays : Urian
Sheaf of Wheat: Rontra
Axe/Circles: Terak
Eye/9 Circles: Zheenkeef
Tower/Key: Tinel
Teardrop/White Flowers: Morwyn

Some of the symbols are in current use, some are ancient and no longer in use. Others contain elements of current symbols along with elements which are not commonly used. 

The god’s symbols form a square, which surrounds a border enclosing four triangles with whatever was inside them ritually defaced. This seems to be what was what was binding the creature there. 

Eliwyn is not represented and we have one symbol that we have not associated with any god as yet, the howling wolf. 

It is also puzzling that Asmodeus is represented with the others. Of course, this thing is ancient, so who knows what the churches believed at that time. 

I also remembered my conversation with Asmathias, it seems so long ago, yet it has only been a week, perhaps two. I consulted my earlier journal entry to be sure that I have it right. 

"_This is a place of beginnings....beginnings of my people, beginnings of many others....it is a sacred place, abandoned by the gods.....desecrated by the humans...... tended by the children of the old ones......

"The gods hide this place..........only one wants it found again.........

The great serpent's eye?  It is a place of dreams at the beginnings.......  Dreams now condemned by gods.....  It is ancient......of an ancient race that_ _once guarded these places.......it looks to its children........many things look to these children........dangerous things.....bright things........there is hope in the eye's light.”_

So, I think that we may be on the way to the Great Serpent’s Eye, which is a place of dreams at the beginnings, which are now condemned by the gods. The place (Alder’s Look, I would assume) has been desecrated by humans (thus all the chisel marks on the walls). So, that would make Slythia and maybe even the Kobolds the children of the old ones. 

I wonder which god wants this place found again. 

By finishing these tests will we unleash something terrible upon the world? Or should we concentrate on the hope in the eye’s light? 

I have thought of this too much, I must sleep and think of it later. Still, the disc has piqued my interest, I must try my best to convince the others that we must continue. I cannot let this puzzle alone, I must know the answers, even if I die trying to find out.


----------



## Gina

*Session 26: We meet a new friend...*

*June 29th  
The Trials of Alder’s Look: After the Mystery of Purity*

We had discovered the Mystery of Purity, studied the copper disc, and spent the night grieving our lost companion. Riva was our friend and his loss weighs heavy on our minds. We discussed whether it was better to leave or to stay and work our way through the mysteries. In the end, we decided to continue on and leave if we found that we were in over our heads. 

We discussed the disc at length, disagreeing about what some symbols might represent before coming to consensus. The wolf was recognized by Tieran after he had slept. He said that he recalled it being an ancient symbol for Canarak, an evil god of destruction. He had also identified the twisted dagger symbol as being of this god. We agreed that the tree symbol probably was of Asmodeus, since the more we looked at it, the tree did appear to be flaming. 

So, off we went to Slythia to ask what the next part of the test should be. Once we reached her, Mor’Elandi asked again about all the mysteries. We ended up realizing that each of the nine mysteries would be a pair of principles. So, in all, eighteen tests to pass before we were done. So, not only are there more tests than we had thought, Mor’Elandi was right which is even worse. 

We followed Slithia down the stairs to the next intersection. As we passed down the stair, Thaile noticed that there were some strange, pivoting stones near the top of the corridor. Tieran examined them and determined that there had once been a stone door here, long ago disintegrated. 

When Slythia stopped, we saw passages to the left and right. Our next set of challenges were to explore the Mystery of Patience to our left, and to the right, the Mystery of Endlessness. We decided that if we were going to go through endlessness, we would need some patience. We chose patience. 

And patience it did take, for the passage was blocked with large stones! 

Kytum-up said that this was one of the Kobold’s traps, and that it shouldn’t be too large a blockage, perhaps ten feet or so in the corridor should open up, he thought. Inside would be levers and mining equipment. 

So, we began to move rocks. I changed into a bear and we used a harness of rope to help me pull some rock out of the way. On a very large rock, I used Stone Shape to make it smaller. We worked for hours and then went back up to the maze to rest for a night. 

*June 30th*
Back at working to clear the passage.

Thaile cast clairvoyance to a point fifteen feet beyond the beginning of the blockage. She saw darkness. We wondered if there was an end to the rubble, but kept moving rock, using my bear-strength and stone shape spells. 

We worked for several hours until we were through to a short corridor which turned to the left about ten feet after the rubble ended. So, Thaile’s sensor had been viewing the inside of the stone wall. No wonder it had seen only darkness. 

I moved first into the corridor, still in bear form, and turned the corner. I smelled something alive in the room. I also saw the bodies of four dead kobolds, dead a month or so, Mor’Elandi told us later. After a moment of looking, I could hear the others moving into the corridor behind me. 

I moved closer, sniffing, and found the area where the creature was. Of course, I was still a bear and unable to speak, so I did what I could, sitting back on my haunches and using a paw to point in the direction of whatever was hiding in the rubble. They didn’t catch on. 

I moved forward and saw a small kobold, hiding in the rubble, clutching a rapier. He was wearing armor and I could see a metal band on his head. He looked pretty scared. I sat back and let the others in. Kytum-up moved forward, looking first at the dead, then the one alive. 

Kytum-up recognized the small kobold. He called him Kefk and embraced him, exclaiming that they had thought him dead. Maluki-kip will be happy to know that he is alive, it seems. Kefk’s explanation of how he had survived was that he had prayed to Kikuk and his answer seems to have been that he did not die. The others got sick and died, but he did not. He has had no food or water, yet he still lives. Strange. 

I changed back to myself and offered the little kobold some food. He seemed to find it all very strange as Kytum-up gave him a quick overview of what had happened to the tribe and his own association with us, the surface dwellers. Kefk had never left the lair before, so he seemed quite interested in all of this. He seems to be very inquisitive. I suspect that he is also very young. 

As Kytum-up explained, Thaile and I examined the bodies. Thaile was able to determine that they had died of some magical dust that had caused throat-rot. Not a pleasant way to die, but also strange that Kefk was still alive. 

While talking with Kefk and Kytum-up we also gleaned some more information about the kobolds and the white light. Kytum-up’s tribe only numbered a few hundred, a sub-group within the kobold kingdom. The majority of the kobolds worshipped Kurtlemac (Tieran informed us that this would be a racial manifestation of one of the evil gods, probably Kador). When the light came, there was blind panic as it touched and killed many kobolds, though Kytum-up’s tribe did not lose anyone to the light. Interesting. 

In the confusion and panic, Kefk was separated from the rest of his tribe and ran into this room with the other four kobolds. The passage collapsed behind them, though he did not know if it had been triggered by one of the others or not. Since then, he has been here, first with the others, then alone with only the dead for company. 

Mor’Elandi seems very suspicious of Kefk, and I understand his caution. It seems odd that he survived here for so long. 

Mor’Elandi took Kefk to see Slythia, and to ask more about the mystery of patience. She was able to tell us little more though. Mor’Elandi gets so frustrated talking to her. I find it quite amusing indeed. 

We began working on clearing the rubble where Kefk had been hiding. We worked for a few hours, then left the rest for the next day. 

*July 1st*
We have been away from Eaglesford for less than a month, yet it seems much longer. 

We worked for a while clearing more rubble. This rubble was different, the rocks tabular in shape, definitely worked stone. As we cleared the corridor, we found that it led into a lager room. The rubble seems to have once been shelves that were set into the walls of this room. Here, as with other areas, the walls and high ceiling have been defaced. The shelves have been shattered and broken pieces lay scattered on the floor. As I moved to the far end of the room, to see where the doorway at that end led to, the others looked around in the rubble, coming up with a few shards of old clay tablets, smashed along with the shelves. 

The next room was much the same, a little larger, ceiling about 25 feet up, shelves which had once been on the walls, now littering the floor smashed to bits. The ceiling and walls had been defaced here as well. At the opposite end of the room, there was another opening, a doorway. Beyond, I could hear someone speaking in Draconic.  Of course, still being a bear, I couldn’t really say much, though I tried to gesture to Tieran, who was with me, that I had heard something, he didn’t seem to catch on. I really must work on a set of gestures that I can use to communicate with the others while I am an animal. 

As I moved on to the next opening, the others looked in this room for more of the tiny shards of clay. 
The next room was very large, the ceiling higher than I could see as Thaile raised her torch to give some light. At the far end of the room was the base of what had once been a large statue. Only the base remains, the rest utterly destroyed. The shelves from the walls of this room lay scattered in tiny pieces all around the room as well. 

The source of the speech we had heard was in the center of the room. A human sized figure in a cloak huddled in the middle of the room, looking at something on the floor. 

“Oh, this will not do at all. This is not the way it should be...” the figure said, over and over, seemingly speaking to himself. He sounded upset about something.

Kefk joined Thaile and I in the doorway and I turned back to my own form and moved slowly along the far wall toward the creature in the center of the room. Thaile, Kefk and Ktyum-up followed me into the room, staying at the wall near the door. I moved to where I was even with him and saw that he was indeed man sized, though his face was utterly featureless. No eyes, no mouth, only blank space where his face should be. He was also insubstantial, another ghost of this place, I guess. 

His hands pushed at a few of the clay shards, as if he kept trying to put them together, but his hands moved through the pieces, moving them almost imperceptibly. I thought that maybe he needed some help, so I moved toward him, reaching for the pieces, asking if I could help. 

This turned out to be the wrong course of action.

The man (or ghost) moved toward me, shooing me away as he told me that the test was not ready for the initiate yet. I must leave, he said. I backed up, but one of his hands hit me, hurting a bit and leaving me feeling as if I had lost some part of myself. I left the room quickly. 

Thaile and Kefk moved into the room as the man shooed me out. Kytum-up tried to heal it (to harm it as we had undead before) but his hand and his magic passed through the creature, leaving it unharmed. As I left the room, Tieran moved closer and, using a mage hand spell, moved the piece of crockery tablet toward the ghost. As the piece floated before him, he followed it back to where he had left the others. 

The other pieces were gone though. Thaile had pocketed them. She and Kefk were on the way out of the room by this time. The ghost went toward Kefk, touching him and hurting him as well, as he demanded the pieces back, still insisting that the test was not ready. 

Tieran decided to try to reason with him, after his first idea, casting “control undead” had no effect. The agitated ghost did not hear him at first, but Thaile was able to put his pieces back in place. He seemed confused at the appearance of an extra piece along with his old ones. Pleased, but confused. 

Tieran moved toward him, telling him that he cannot move the pieces, but that we can and would be happy to help him prepare. Tieran, who had collected all of our pieces, put the ones we had found with his and tried to help him. 

“The mystery has been ruined, it is not ready.” The ghost said 

As Tieran and Thaile spoke with him, we learned that we must put together one of the tablets (he called them the sacred scrolls). This was the library, he was the librarian until someone, he remembers little about who they might have been, broke in and destroyed the place. We noted that symbols which had once been on his robes had been removed, some torn off. 

Tieran cast detect magic on the pieces and fell down, stunned. So, we began to meticulously search the rubble for pieces of the clay tablet, each taking an area and working systematically to ensure that we picked up enough pieces. 

It took us five days to complete the tablet, searching and sifting through tiny pieces of rubble. 

*July 6th*
We placed the final piece in the clay tablet and it glowed briefly as the whole thing fused together. We all looked at it and all, in unison, fell down, stunned as we read the words engraved upon it in Draconic. Mor’Elandi, who can not read Draconic (or speak it for that matter), was looking as well and fell stunned too. 

When we awakened, we realized that in learning the mystery of patience, we were now able to concentrate more intensely, more easily. 

As we left, I used a stone shape spell to make a shelf for the librarian to rest the reconstructed scroll upon. As we left, he seemed a little happier, but still was fretting about the state of his library. 

We moved back to our camp for the night. We talked of many things. Kytum-up told us more about finding the idol. He and Maluk-i-kip had found it in a part of the lair they had not been to before. The hand of the god had been protruding from a wall, holding it. Maluk-i-kip had taken it from the hand and the voice of the god (Kikuk/Korok) had told them of the faith and they had taken the message back to the kobolds. They had converted several hundred before the light came and chased them out. 

In the morning we will go to Slythia to begin the next test....The Mystery of Endlessness. 

It sounds like it might take a long time to complete.


----------



## Gina

*Session 27: We decide to go up for a breath of fresh air...*

*July 6th: Afternoon* 
*Alder’s Look: We decide to go up for a breath of fresh air*
We completed the Mystery of Patience. The Mystery of Endlessness is next. 

We were walking back to our usual camping spot in the maze, when Thaile remembered the two dark figures we had seen on our first night at Alder’s Look. They were due back any time now. After a short discussion, we decided to go back up and see what was going on above us. Kefk was not very excited about seeing the above ground world, but he decided to come along anyway. 

We guessed that it was mid-afternoon, so we decided to go right away, so we could spend a night beneath the stars rather than beneath the earth.

We moved to the stairway and began the long task of removing the rubble and replacing it behind us. Kytum-up was adamant that we do it this way. It took hours of work to get ourselves nearly out. During one of our rest breaks, when we were getting close to the end, I heard some voices speaking. 

The voices were low and rough and spoke in Orcish. They were in the throne room. They spoke of looking for “them” (us, I think) and having lost the trail. They also spoke of retaking their homeland, saying that the king would sit “there”. They called themselves the Bloody Spear. They then spoke of getting rid of the bodies. I wondered what bodies, I thought we had burned all of the goblin bodies. 

Suddenly, I was awfully glad that Kytum-up was so adamant about putting the rubble back behind us as we went down. They were unable to locate the door down. 

I thought about sending Asmathias to seek, but then, I remembered that I can also be a snake. So, I changed to a viper and moved through the rubble into the throne room, after the voices were gone. 

It was dark in there. I could see very little. I crawled over to one of the biers and cast a light spell on it. The throne room was empty. I crawled in the dark through the orcish baths toward the large room. I ended up at the edge of a new pit. Interesting. Then, after hearing and smelling nothing, I went back to the throne room. 

I crawled through the rubble again and tried to tell the others that it was all clear. 

_Note to self: Really must work on some kind of signals for them to understand when I am in animal form, because they are not catching on._ 

After they got the message that it was ok to continue to clear the passageway, I slithered back out and took up a position at the doorway of the throne room, to listen for anyone coming. 

An hour or so later, the others came out of the hole and soon after it was covered again, as if it had never been there. 

I turned back into a human and we began to move toward the outdoors. We moved carefully, listening for sounds that might tell us we were not alone. We heard none. Mor’Elandi was following the trail of the orcs and it went up and out. We noted that the “new” pit I had discovered in the darkness was actually the pit in front of the room with the scary symbol. I must have gotten turned around in the dark. 

We moved through the large room to the stairway, then up, always listening for danger. We made it to the intersection of death, then up through the hole in the ceiling (our nice flat rock was gone). Then up to the first level below ground, then through the tower. We saw nothing new, nothing that seemed to have changed radically while we were below. 

Mor’Elandi had determined that there were nine orcs in the group we were tracking. One of them was wearing half plate. He seemed very anxious to follow them. 
Kefk, our new kobold friend, kept asking why we were going above. He seemed most disconcerted about the whole idea. He is not nearly as brave as Kytum-up, though I suspect that he has different skills. Still, Thaile was the one next to him as we came up and she looked as if she was tired of the questions about why we do not live as Kobolds. Finally, I told him that we are not kobolds and so do not live as they do. He still doesn’t get it, but hopefully, he will soon see that it is better to be in the sun and wind than in the darkness of caverns deep beneath the earth.

When we reached the courtyard in the center of the towers, it was dusk, we had an hour or so until dark. 

Mor’Elandi and I went to follow the trail of the orcs, while the others went to get a view of the area from the top of Tower 2. They didn’t see much of anything, except growing darkness over the valley below. 

Mor’Elandi and I moved on, his owl ranging ahead looking for the Orcs. We followed the trail to the edge of the keep, seeing that they had left and noting the direction. After she had gone about a mile, Mor’Elandi’s owl had, he thought, found the camp. 

As the others came down from the tower, we discussed what we should do next. Tieran and Mor’Elandi thought that we should go and take care of the orcs, since we might be able to catch them off guard. After a bit of discussion, we decided to go after the orcs. I suspect that it was more than an little bit significant that we had spent days picking through rubble and were just looking for something different to do. Well, we found some excitement.

We moved off through the forest, in the direction that Mor’Elandi’s companion led us. They seem to have a signal worked out, she flies back and forth and he follows to find whatever it is she has found. When he is very near his goal, she perches on his shoulder to let him know that they are there. Interesting. 

Thaile’s ever burning torch was our only light as we moved through the darkened forest. The others were having quite a time getting through, since the underbrush is quite thick in these woods. I, happily, do not have that problem. 

As we walked, Tieran informed us proudly that he has thunder balls today. We all smiled and nodded as we do when he makes such pronouncements. 

Kefk and Mor’Elandi scouted ahead, having better vision in the dark than the rest of us. They moved forward, finding the orcs by the loud voices from their camp. Mor’Elandi cast a shield spell, but unfortunately, they heard his casting. 

They moved out of their camp and fanned out to find us. They had a dog with them, it would be able to locate us with scent. Mor’Elandi tried to distract them by having his owl fly out as if it had been flushed by their movements. It didn’t work and they found him. 

He fled, leading them directly to us. 

As they closed, one of them fired an arrow, hitting Kytum-up. Tieran cast one of his thunder balls. It was actually, quite impressive, and felled at least one, maybe two of the orcs.

One of the orcs had a short spear, half plate, and was enlarged. He was near the back of the group though. There was also a spellcaster, though we didn’t determine which of them it might be. The archer and the dog stayed at a distance, shooting arrows at us to devastating effect, until Tieran cast a web, blocking his view of us. 

The battle was long and hard. I, once again, almost died, but in the end we prevailed. We had killed nine orcs. The archer had escaped. As they were fighting us, they called out insults and comments about clearing the homeland for the great king. I am not certain what this means, but it cannot be good. 


When we searched the area where we had seen the archer and the dog, there were no tracks from an orc, only the tracks of the dog. When we searched the camp, we determined that the dog had come from a different direction and had not been one of those at Alder’s Look. 

I wonder if the archer was a Druid. I suppose an orc could be one. It would explain the dog and the lack of tracks. 

In the camp we found two bags of goblin bones, maybe five or six bodies, partially complete, with skulls. I wonder what they were taking them for. 

In all, between the camp and the bodies, we found some coins, a very nice composite longbow, A chain shirt, not magical, but nice enough anyway, the half plate armor which is of human manufacture, with an image on it of a bloody spear holding some sort of bloody thing. Tieran was sure he saw the spell caster wearing, though it does not look to be magical. A greataxe of Cold Iron (Riva would have been so excited to see it) called “Black Metal Wedge”, a magical short spear with its name in orcish “Blood Stained”, and a magical belt covered with orcish writing and symbols for Strength and Power. Mor’Elandi is going to try it out and see if it can make him strong enough to pull Riva’s bow. 

_(End of Session 27)_


----------



## ledded

Cool campaign and Story Hour, I look forward to what happens next.  Great work.


----------



## Gina

*A Clever Plan that cannot fail!*

*Alder’s Look: Night
July 6th*

We defeated the orcs in the dark forest. Oh and I must remember to thank Mor’Elandi for deciding that it was a good idea to fight them in the dark! What were we thinking?

So, we went back to the ancient fortress and camped in the tower. A quick check of the area revealed that we were alone.  It was enjoyable to spend the night beneath the sky, feeling the cool night air on our skin. Kefk was very nervous, though after he dug himself a little burrow in the rubble, he seemed to feel much better. The noises of the night were strange to him and frightening. Thaile seems annoyed by his constant questions about what things are. I try to remember that this is all new to him, this is the first time he has been above ground in his life. I cannot even imagine a life lived without grass and trees, sky and sun. 

*July 7th*
Night passed without event and in the morning, Tieran reminded us that he had decided to call a familiar. So, we settled in for a day of rest while he did his ritual. 

I changed into an eagle and went to check the site of the digging we had noted before. There were no camps and no one there, but I could see that someone had been digging there recently. Mor’Elandi’s owl came with me. 

Then, enjoying the sensation of flight, I went to check the surrounding area, to see if there was a larger force of orcs somewhere nearby. 

I found them. Campfires were the first indication, then I flew closer. 

I regretted that action when I was hit by two arrows. They called out to the others that they had seen a mage-bird. How could they have known so easily? From the camps I saw, plus the number of other fires, I estimated that there must be 140 or so, maybe more, maybe a few less, but definitely more than we could handle on our own. 

When I returned, some of the others had been out looking for the human and halfling who had come before to trade with the goblins. They found no sign of them. 

Tieran was still chanting, so we discussed what to do next. The appearance of so large a force of orcs was troubling. Mor’Elandi was for going back to town, I wanted to go back below and finish the tests. Thaile wasn’t sure what the best course of action, Kefk wanted to go back down, as did Kytum-up. Tieran was unavailable for comment. In the end, we realized that either way, we were in trouble. 

We discussed what to do and came up with a very clever plan. We will leave in the evening and travel for a few hours, making sure that we leave a good trail, then camp for the night. The next morning, we will lay a trail looking as if  we headed into town. Then, a pass without trace spell will get us back to Alder’s Look and we can go below without detection. It cannot fail. 

It looks as though Tieran is nearly done with his ritual. He has a small bat with him now. He seems very pleased with himself. 

We will leave soon and lay the false trail. 

_End of Journal_


----------



## Gina

*Near Alder’s Look
July 8th* 
I don’t know what has happened exactly. 

I remember laying a trail to our camp. We spent the night uneventfully, and made our way back, intending to go directly below to continue the tests. 

The plan almost worked. 

We were approaching the great fortress, Alder’s Look, when I noticed a bird behaving strangely. A corpse-raven in a tree. It was watching us and was definitely not a normal bird. So, not thinking, I changed to an Eagle and pursued it. I got a few strikes in with my talons and a few strikes with flame before it landed and shifted to an Ape. I knew then that I should get out of there, but I waited a moment to cast one more flame at it. 

Then, I found myself entangled in the trees, unable to break free as it blasted me with lightning. 

I think I’m dead. That bitch orc-druid killed me. 

I watch as she tears at my body, throws my journal to the side, then takes all that I have from me, the magical orcish short spear, the disc to summon Kerchik. I hope that she doesn’t figure out how to use it. Bitch.  My few other belongings, bedroll, some coin, I really had very little with me. She comments rudely as her foul hands touch my things, then after she has finished, she leaves, triumphant.

Very soon after, my friends arrive. They seem shaken. They must have thought that I would prevail. 

Thaile and Tieran have been my friends since we were children. They look so sad. I want to comfort them, but I can’t reach them, I can’t touch them to tell them that I’m all right and still here, somehow. Kefk and Kytum-up look sad too. Mor’Elandi has that pompous Elven look about him. He always seems smug, no matter what the situation. I think he may not be happy to see me dead, but I can’t tell. 

I can still feel Asmathias....he is not dead, but a part of him is with me still, I know it. 

Mor’Elandi makes a quip about camp being quieter without me as they prepare to take my body back. Thaile remembers that I had spoken of reincarnating Riva when he died, but that I did not have the power to do this. She suggests that they locate Graystone to ask if it can be done and the others agree. 

I want to come back, but I have begun to hear the voice. The great voice is speaking to me, to all of the dead. I see them around me, walking.....toward....Alder’s Look. 

This is not what we have been taught. Right now I should be standing before Maal to be judged, Around me, I can see spirits, other ghosts all moving toward Alder’s Look, on their way to the great voice. In the distance I can hear their voices, calling out.....I hear Riva, he’s searching for something, but I don’t know what. He does not seem in distress, he is just seeking something. 

I must follow my friends. If I lose sight of them, I will never be able to return. I must return, I have things that I must do, must finish. I have to kill that orc-bitch. 

I follow my friends to the Kobold warren under Smitson’s Farm, then to Johnson’s Farm and the new Kobold warren. It seems that Maluki-kip did not trust us after all. As I listen to my friends and the Kobolds’ discussion it becomes very clear that they know a great deal more than they told us about Alder’s Look, the idol, and several other things. I am distracted by the great voice though, so I missed much of the conversation. 

I can see the idol very clearly, its aura is the same color as the voice, which calls to me, to everyone. We are the restless dead, but the restless dead are evil. I am not evil, not that I know of anyway. All of the dead can see it. I am sure of that. 

This is not what the afterlife is supposed to be, it is very different from what we have been told. 

The voice is neither good nor evil, it just IS. It transcends the concepts of good, evil, balance, law, even the natural order is less than this voice. It is more than morality....it is beyond my comprehension. I cannot put into words what the voice is like, though the nearest I can come is the voice is that of a shepherd or a gardener tending the souls who come to it. 

As I listen to the voice, I realize that it sounds a little like Slithia. I wonder who or what it is that wishes to tend to the dead. It is not the gods, that I am certain of. Rather it is something else, perhaps the children of the old ones that Asmathias mentioned to me when he first came to me. I recall that the place of beginnings, Alder’s Look, is watched over by the “children of the old ones”. Perhaps these children are the ones who tend the gardens of ghosts or spirits or whatever it is that we are. 

Even as I listen to the voice, I become aware that something or someone is trying to hide this place, hold it down and silence the great voice. Why? Well, that is the question, isn’t it? Perhaps whatever awaits us at the end of the tests will tell us that. 

The gods do not want this place found, they would prefer that the voice just go away. All of the gods save one, Korok. He wants this place found, of that I am certain. I recall that the Koroketh are the keepers of knowledge and great works of the hand, maybe if I can return to life, I can convince the others to go to the temple in Three Oaks and find more information about it and its origins. 

The tests...they are for the living, but I think that they may lead to the same place that they dead are seeking. The Great Serpent’s Eye. It watches and guards. I suspect that it might be our destination, but I know very little for certain. 

My friends are bedding down for the night. I listen to the voice throughout the night. It is comforting. 

The Kobold Lair under Johnson’s Farm

*July 9th*
The night passes uneventfully. 

Graystone comes and tells my friends that he was near enough to see my death, scouting the orc-tribes. Unfortunately, he was too far away to aid me. 

Reena is with him and she looks well. They both seem saddened to see my poor dead self. 

Graystone has more information about the Orcs and their movements and plans. 

The Orc tribe is the Bloody Spear. There are 300 or so total, but not all have come yet. They speak of their high king and his coming. Their Animal Master (the Orc Druid who killed me) and their First Warrior are in the midst of a disagreement over whether they should go to Alder’s Look first or to Eaglesford first. The Animal Master (Monkura is her name) wants to go to Alder’s Look. The First Warrior would prefer to destroy Eaglesford first. They may divide, which would be good, since they are a powerful force, with many animal masters among them. 

The Garresh is also home to an Orc tribe, the Grinning Death. Still, they are not moving and their war drums are not beating, so they are not as great a threat at this point. The Grinning Death tribe have a Render with them and are reputed to be led by a necromancer. 

The Orcs have moved into the area because of a prophecy, which includes the bright light. They want to return to their ancestral lands: Alder’s Look and the surrounding area. 

Graystone takes my body away, to see if he can find someone more powerful than he to cast a reincarnation spell and so bring me back to the world. Reena and my companions stay to see to the defense of Eaglesford and the Kobold warren. 

Reena is good at defending. She is a half-orc, born to a farm woman after an orc raid some twenty years ago. She grew up with her uncle, in a small hut in the forest. I met her several years while out gathering herbs. She saved me from being torn to pieces by a rather angry bear. I was not accomplished enough to befriend it yet, but I was able to befriend her. She is a mighty warrior and does errands and the like for Graystone and Mistress Hara. 

After Graystone leaves, the others decide to go to Eaglesford. Tieran goes to see Mrs. Wiggins, to see if she can teach him some new spells. Sadly, Tieran’s skill has surpassed hers and she has little new to offer. 

Thaile and Reena go to Hara, the halfling witch. In exchange for five vials of spider poison she identifies the potions that we had been unable to identify previously. 

Thaile then goes to Mrs. Faegen’s. She shows her the rubbing of the copper disc. Mrs. Faegen was horrified that Thaile had even come across such a blasphemy and said that it should be destroyed if we ever came across it again. The center areas, which had been ritually defaced, must have contained some even greater blasphemy. If we find it again, it should really be taken, on further consideration, to the great temple in Frane. 

In Burlywire’s everyone meets up again. The warden is there, bragging about his (highly improbable) exploits. Mr. Burlywire mentions that Kales has struck it rich and is living it up in Three Oaks. So, Leiden really did know where wealth was to be had. We also hear that the Lord seems much improved since Garrett came through and went on an errand to Three Oaks for him.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary, other than the fact that most of the local farmers are in town rather than in their fields as they would normally be. 

Orcs have recently attacked some outlying farms, but none have come to the town proper— yet. 

Thaile gives a somewhat edited account of the exploits of the party, taking the focus away from the Warden and his group for a time as the farmers listen eagerly to her tales. 

*July 10th*
Night passed uneventfully in town. I listened more to the voice, I do not tire of hearing it.

After leaving town, we see smoke from one of the farms. A group of orcs works at burning the place and they seem to be eager to draw attention to it. I follow as my friends move toward the farm. 

Battle followed, Kefk and Reena moving forward to the fray, while Tieran, Thaile, and Mor’Elandi drew the attackers to themselves, splitting the force. At least one of the orcs was a druid, based on the spells cast. 

My companions won this battle, but at least one, possibly more of the orcs escaped.

As they died, the Orcs' spirits rose from their bodies, moving joyfully toward Alder's Look and the voice. 

They are creatures of evil and should not be going to the same place as the rest of us, yet all of the dead move in the same direction. I wonder what is happening....


----------



## Nail

That's really cool, Gina.  I like the sense of perspective you're giving it.  The tone of Rowan is one of observation, rather than participation.......


----------



## Gina

*Kaufman’s Farm, Near Eaglesford
July 10th* 
At the farm, orcs vanquished for now at least, my companions loot their bodies, then burn them in accordance with religious tradition. How funny it seems to me, having seen the spirits leave the orcs’ bodies already. 

Moving toward town, I see the rats before my friends do. Unable to call a warning, I watch as large rats attack them. Tieran uses a flaming sphere to great effect, while Reena lays about her with the orcish battle axe that we found on one of the orcs near Alder’s Look. Mor’Elandi shoots two of them as well, using his bow. 

So, rats now defeated, they continue toward Eaglesford, reaching town near dusk. 

A quick trip to the captain reveals that nothing new or of interest had been discovered. 

Many, many birds fly above the town, circling, well out of bow range. Corpse ravens. 

Farmers and townsfolk speak of omens. I think that it is much worse than they imagine. 

*Eaglesford: Late Night
July 10th* 
Everyone settles for the night, Thaile at Mrs. Faegan’s house, Tieran and Mor’Elandi staying with Mrs. Wiggins, while Reena and Kefk bed down in Mrs. Wiggins’ stable. 

I am uncertain who to watch over, so I move to the top of Mrs. Wiggins’s house and sit, listening to the voice. Being a ghost is very strange. No one even knows you are there. If it weren’t for the great voice, I would be very lonely. 

In the darkest hours of night, all in the town are awakened by a mighty crash! Lightning rains down, striking people as they scatter and run. The gatehouse seems to be the main target, people run everywhere, guards leaving their posts in a blind panic to escape the lightning. 

Reena and Kefk run to the gatehouse to help the men inside. Reena is hit by one of the bolts of lightning as she runs, but escapes without major injury. They save several of them, only one dies that night and very little damage was actually done. Thaile rounds up some of the guards in the confusion and rallies them to return to their posts.

The dead man is confused as he rises from his body, but moves toward the voice calling to him. Humans, orcs, all move toward Alder’s Look. What is happening? Why are things so different than we have always  believed? Has it always been so, or has something changed that has caused this?

During the battle, nine corpse-ravens perched atop the roof of the keep. The Orcs must have many animal-masters with them. This cannot be good for the town or the surrounding area. 

The town settles back to sleep and morning comes with no further incident. 

*Eaglesford
July 11th* 
A quiet day in town. Mor’Elandi and Tieran spend the entire day scribing scrolls. Thaile assists Mrs. Faegen with treating some of the wounded from the attack last night. 

Reena goes with Kefk to Burlywire’s. Kefk has used the circlet we took from Calableed to disguise himself. He has become a halfling sized copy of...ME! Tiny, with curly red hair and my features. It is quite amusing. Even more amusing are Reena’s attempts to convince Burlywire that Kefk is not anything out of the ordinary. Even when he plies her with free ale she does not give away the truth, though he doesn’t believe a word she says either! 

The night is uneventful. I listen to the voice all night. It seems to be growing, swelling as more voices add to it. It is as if the souls moving toward the voice are being absorbed....joining with it. I wish I understood it all. If I go to the voice, I will understand, but I will not be able to come back. Deep in the night, I feel the tug toward the voice and the peace that it may offer, but I stay, my ties to my old life are still very strong. 

The corpse ravens still fly far above the town, well out of range of Mor’Elandi’s bow. 

*July 12th*
Another day like the one before. Mor’Elandi and Tieran scribing away, Thaile assisting Mrs. Faegen. 

Night is uneventful, no attacks, but still the birds circle. There are so many of them. 

*July 13th * 
My friends decide to go out and patrol the area around town, so, I follow. I feel that I must stay near them, or I will never find my way back. 

As they move down the road, hedgerows blocking much of their view of the fields, they find themselves suddenly facing an orc, battle axe still dripping blood. He seems surprised to see them too. 

Mor’Elandi and Thaile make short work of him. As they continue on, they find several dead orcs. They seem to have been torn to pieces. The bodies were indeed torn to pieces, upon closer inspection, it is also clear that something had been eating the bodies. 

I try to warn them about the centipedes, but I forget that they don’t hear me anymore. Kefk notices something moving on the other side of the hedgerow, a glimpse of movement and is lucky enough to be able to get out of the way when the first centipede pops out of its hole. 

Three more giant centipedes pop out and begin attacking. 

Tieran casts a web, but miscalculates the targeting a bit and ensnares himself as well as two centipedes. So, he spends a lot of time trying to get free while the centipedes attack him several times, he nearly dies, but Thaile reaches him in time. 

Mor’Elandi moves back to use his bow against them to great effect, while Thaile, too close to the creatures to cast effectively, USES HER RAPIER! Were I not already dead, I might have dropped from shock! Thaile likes to stay safely at the back, shooting arrows and spells! Even more amazing, she hits the creatures several times, clearing her way to heal Tieran as he hangs insensate in his own webs. 

Ultimately, after a long and hard fought battle, the centipedes are defeated and Kefk and Thaile loot the scattered orc bodies. Kefk notes that one of the centipedes wears a tag, which indicates that it was one of the ones that his clan kept captive. The others were wild, apparently. Kefk cuts off a few chunks of centipede to eat later. 

They didn’t have much really, a few coins, weapons, shredded armor....these orcs were badly damaged and not all of the damage came from the centipedes. According to Mor’Elandi’s examination, something very, very strong literally tore the orcs limb from limb.

The owl and bat see the trolls before the rest of them. Green, hideous swamp trolls, two of them, walking toward the carnage. 

Everyone moves back behind the hedgerow, hiding since Tieran says he is spent, his magic nearly gone for the day. So, they watch the trolls, safely unseen. 

The trolls come to the bodies of the orcs, looking carefully in the grass among the body parts and various bits of gore, obviously looking for something. They don’t seem to suspect that they are being watched, but then, trolls are not known for outstanding intelligence. 

One of the trolls isn’t as concerned with searching as the other, choosing instead to dismember one of the centipedes, eating some pieces, putting others in a sack to eat later, or so I assume. The other, meanwhile, keeps doggedly searching until he finds....a greasy rag. As he picks it up, it began to look like an amulet of some sort, but when he fastens it around his neck, it looks, again, like an old, greasy rag. I think only Kefk saw this, but the others may have seen as well. 

The trolls then wander off to do whatever it is that trolls do. 

And so, my friends continue their circuit, moving back toward Eaglesford. Along the road, they become aware that something is following them. 

They see movement at a spot nearby, off of the road, along the edge of the hedgerow and move toward that spot. They find a dead dog, killed, according to Tieran and Thaile, by some sort of undead which sucked the essence of life from it. Thaile feels very nervous about running into whatever killed the dog. 

Watching, I see the shadow rise, the form of the dog, black and unspeakably evil, moving toward them, waiting to pull them into its shadow. I can not warn them; I can only watch as it moves silently toward them, hoping that they will notice in time. 

The bat and owl fly about, watching for threats. 

The shadow moves through the hedgerow, attacking. Reena moves forward and strikes at it, Thaile turns it, but not before it drains strength from Reena. It runs away, attacking another animal once it stops fleeing from Thaile’s turning. 

So, back to town they all go. 

The ravens still circle overhead. The feeling of dread in the town is palpable, people speak in hushed whispers as they go about their business. Farmers stand in groups, unable to till their fields or even to venture far from the gates of the town.  

Reena goes to Hara, asking her aid in recovering her strength. Hara asks what happened and Reena describes the encounter with the dog, Hara says that it sounds like the “shadows of darkness” that the “fool captain” ran into recently. Reena notices that in Hara’s house is my body, partially wrapped in cloth, symbols drawn on the cloth, the smell of herbs and decay in the air. Knowing Hara as she does, Reena says nothing, leaving quietly, used to Hara’s somewhat unusual lifestyle. 

Everyone beds down, resting after the exertions of the day, each in his or her own place. Tieran and Mor’Elandi again share his room at Mrs. Wiggins’ home, Kefk and Reena in the stables, and Thaile in her own room at Mrs. Faegan’s. 

Again, late at night, all are awakened by a commotion at the gatehouse. Tieran and Mor’Elandi try to get to the front window to shoot arrows should there be a need, but they are hampered by Mrs. Wiggins’ insistence upon dressing before they enter her bedchamber! Mor’Elandi reminds her that she could sleep in her armor if she wants to and thus avoid wasting time. 

I suspect that he wastes his breath, Mrs. Wiggins does as she pleases and always has. 

Kefk and Reena begin running toward the gatehouse. Entering they find guards being attacked by giant spiders. So, into the fray they go, between them, killing the spiders and helping to stabilize the wounded guards. 

After helping with the wounded guards, Reena decides to take the spiders to Hara. On the way there, suddenly, she finds herself holding two very small spiders. They had been magically enlarged! So, she drops the dead spiders and instead goes back to the stable to sleep. 

After that, things settle down again, and the rest of the night is relatively peaceful. 

*July 14th * 
The next day, Mor’Elandi and Tieran spend the day scribing. Thaile works with Mrs. Faegen. 

Reena and Kefk volunteer to stand guard that night in the gatehouse. Their offer is accepted quickly and happily by the captain. 

Reena goes to Hara to get her strength restored and again sees my body, there on the table, now completely covered in the wrappings, symbols written upon them, the pungent smell of herbs very strong. Hara says she is almost done and is waiting for “that fool Graystone” to return so that they can perform the ritual. 

I wonder why she is doing this. She has never made any secret of the fact that she dislikes me, well, all of us, really, except Riva. She seems to like Reena though. I am glad for that since she has so few who care about her. 

Reena and Kefk sleep most of the day, in anticipation of watch duty that night. So, the day passes in quiet, though everyone in town is on edge, the birds still circling above evidence that something is certainly happening. 

I am becoming aware that my tie to my friends and this plane is becoming less important. The time in which the spell can form a new body for me to inhabit is becoming short. Graystone has not returned. Will all of Hara’s preparations be for naught?

Night falls, and again, in the dark of night, another attack. This time, Kefk and Reena stand watch in one of the towers. The attack, of course, comes in the other tower, I see a corpse-raven fly down and cast through the window. So, moving quickly, up the ladder they go, then over the gate to the other tower. 

Once there, they see the reason for the screams; a flaming sphere, burns one of the guards, while others lay, wounded already. 

Reena notices the corpse-raven outside the tower and, battle axe in hand, strikes at it, hitting it. It flies to another part of the tower, peering into another arrow slit. Thaile is out by this time, summoning a celestial dire bat which attacks the raven. Mor’Elandi and Tieran fire arrows at it as well, having rousted Mrs. Wiggins from her bedchamber once again. 

The bird is wounded, but escapes, flying upward to join its companions, high above Eaglesford. 

The rest of the night is quiet. The voice seems louder now. Soon, I will have no choice but to go to it if Graystone does not return. 

*July 15th*
In the morning, everyone regroups, planning to go “orc-ing” as Mor’Elandi calls it. As they set out, they see Hara  on the road with a wagon. On the wagon is a bundle, wrapped in cloth with markings all over it, smelling of herbs and, something else. The bundle is human shaped. My body. 

Graystone arrives as well, and bids everyone move quickly. This is the last day the ritual can work and it must be done in the place were I died. So, the wagon, and the small group of my friends moves along as quickly as the wagon allows, toward the place where I died...the place where I joined the ranks of the restless dead. 

The wagon trundles over the road, Kefk, Hara, and Graystone ride on the wagon, the rest walk beside and behind it. I walk beside Thaile, who doesn’t even sense that I am here. 

We begin our ascent into the hills and are stopped by the appearance of two trolls. Green and covered with trailing moss-like hair, they are the same two from the torn orcs. One has the greasy rag-amulet around his neck still. 

Reena moves forward to enter battle as Thaile and Mor’Elandi shoot arrows at it. Hara, Graystone, and Tieran prepare spells. Kefk moves forward with Reena to engage the trolls. 

The battle doesn’t last all that long. Flaming spheres, entangle, Kefk’s sword, and Reena’s battle axe all work in concert to produce the desired result: two very dead trolls. 

The trolls rise and move toward the voice. I still do not understand, but I wish that I did. Perhaps some day I will. The others take time to start the bodies burning and then move on toward our destination. 

We leave the wagon at the edge of the forest, unable to take it any farther into the dense underbrush. Finally, we arrive at the spot where I breathed my last. 

It looks peaceful, just a small clearing in a forest. 

They lay my wrapped body on the ground and all hold hands in a circle. I stand next to my body, not knowing what I should do at this point. Graystone produces a scroll and reads from it, concentrating intently as he does so. 

I feel....strange....

I see my old body fading away as a new one coalesces next to it, born from the earth beneath Alder’s Look. I see, before entering the new vessel, that I am going to be human, but I will look very different than I used to. As I take my place, I note that Asmathias is near, coming to welcome me back to life. 

I settle in....and take my first breath.


----------



## Gina

Thanks Nail for the compliment!


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## Nail

It's easy to give.  I especially like how you ended this piece:



			
				Gina said:
			
		

> I settle in....and take my first breath.



....like moving into a new home.  WE don't normally think of our bodies in that way; but I'd imagine someone who's been reincarnated would think _exactly_ that.

"Born from the Alder's earth......"


----------



## ouini

Long time lurker, here. I used to game with DrSpunj.

Gina, your story-telling is masterful. Honestly, great job.

Nail, your campaign is one of the best thought-out and unfolded I've ever seen.

Makes for deeply engrossing reading. It's a cut well above the norm.


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## Gina

ouini said:
			
		

> Long time lurker, here. I used to game with DrSpunj.
> 
> Gina, your story-telling is masterful. Honestly, great job.
> 
> Nail, your campaign is one of the best thought-out and unfolded I've ever seen.
> 
> Makes for deeply engrossing reading. It's a cut well above the norm.




Thanks for the compliment. Nail's writing is much better though. 

I am really enjoying the story as it unfolds from a player perspective too!


----------



## Gina

*In a small wooded clearing near Alder's Look...*

As the wrapped body faded away and the new one coalesced, growing from the earth beneath their feet, the small circle watched. The body lay for a moment, inert, lifeless, then, quite suddenly, there was life where there had been none. 

The body took a deep breath, loud in the sudden silence of the clearing. 

Rowan’s eyes fluttered open, staring straight up into the trees, her new face set in grim determination, she uttered her first words. 

“I’m going to kill that bitch”

Then, she sat up, slowly, as if wearing clothing that she was unaccustomed to and stretched her arms toward the black serpent winding through the grass. The serpent moved sinuously as it slithered up her arm and wrapped itself securely around her waist. Only after greeting the serpent did she look at the circle of people surrounding her. 

“Hi. Thanks for bringing me back.” She said, standing. “Did anyone bring me some clothes? Boy, do I have a lot to tell you guys!”

Rowan had returned.


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## Nail

Indeed.     

From a "at the table" perspective, we can already see the differences between the old Rowan and Rowan Reborn.  I will be interested to see how the Aldersborn handles the orc druidess differently than the Womanborn.

Let us hope the difference is substantial.  

We'll see.


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## Gina

*Session 31: The Birds*

Thaile remembered to bring my journal, though she didn’t remember to bring any clothing. No matter, Reena had extra and none of my old things would have fit in any case. 

So, here I am, reborn. I can no longer hear the great voice calling to me. I can no longer see the dead rising, but I remember it still. I shall remember it for the rest of my life, whatever a "life" is. I miss the voice, it seems too quiet here now, but I think that will pass, at least I hope it will. 

I was able to get a good look at this new body before I entered. It is very different from my old one, though still human. I used to be shorter with curly red hair. Now, I am tall, more slender than before and have black hair with a strange streak of pure white running down the left side. My eyes are very pale and gray where they were once dark brown. Asmathias has a thin white streak running down his back too. I think that it is an echo of the other world. 

But on to other things. Reena produced an extra set of her own clothing and I put it on. I also gladly put on the leather armor, studded with bone that they had taken from the orcish druid at the Kaufman farm. 

I thanked everyone for helping to bring me back, Hara just muttered about getting back to town, unpleasant old witch that she is. I wonder that she even consented to help at all. 

As we walked back toward town, through the forested hillsides, I began telling the others of my time in the other place and of the great voice. My telling was interrupted as I noted that there were many more small birds perching on the trees than usual. A moment later, I realized that they looked quite hostile. Graystone and Mor'Elandi had also become aware of this.

Nuthatches, Sparrows, Chickadees, Juncoes, and other small birds sat thick on branches, side by side, staring at us.  Then, in a sudden flurry, they were upon us, a roiling swarm of tiny birds, pecking and tearing at us. Even as Tieran dispersed the first swarm, three more came, engulfing most of us. The fight was hard, many of our weapons doing little or no damage to the swarms. Eventually though, all of the swarms were dispersed. Small birds littered the area, dead or dying. 

After the swarms were dispersed, Mor’Elandi commented to Tieran that he was trying to draw the swarms away from the group and Tieran kept moving back into their area. They bickered a little while about it as we continued on. Some things never change. 

We moved on, quickly to avoid being engulfed again. As we did, Graystone, Hara, and I discussed the difficulty of training so many birds to act as one in that way. The orcish animal masters, or Druids must be very skilled indeed. They seem to have a special affinity with birds, since their favored wild shape appears to be a corpse-raven. Interesting. 

We moved toward Eaglesford as quickly as we could, keeping an eye out for swarms of birds. We were not attacked in that way again and made it to a relatively defensible place to camp. First and second watches came and went without incident, but on Third watch a shadow-fox came and attacked. 

Reena took the brunt of the attack, losing a great deal of strength. The creature was finally dispatched, but it was very difficult. These shadows seem to be multiplying and that cannot be good. They are harder to defeat than the restless or even the hungry dead. 

July 16th
Morning came and we were happy to see the sunrise. I was happy to be able to commune with nature and feel the power of its magic within me. I feel more connected to this new body now, it is starting to be more natural, still it is odd to know that my own mother would not recognize me now.  

We moved out and by mid-afternoon were nearing Eaglesford. As we got closer, Reena asked Kefk about the rag-amulet they had taken from the trolls. Reena had told Hara about it and she wanted to see it. So, Kefk handed the amulet to Reena. 

What happened next was not good. 

Immediately upon grasping the amulet, Reena went into a rage, attacking the first target she found, which happened to be Kefk. He dodged her first blow and was only bruised. Tieran cast a spell that put her to sleep and good thing too, because she might have killed us all. 

Once she awakened, she was apologetic and embarrassed that she had behaved the way she did. We all assured her that we knew that it wasn’t her, but the amulet which caused it. 

We were near Eaglesford, but also near the Johnson farm, so we decided to go and check on the Kobold warren. It was near night anyway and it would probably be better to spend the night there than out in the open. As we neared our destination, we heard the sound of trumpets from the direction of Eaglesford. Apparently, the legions had finally come to the aid of the town. 

We made our way down into the warren and were met by Maluki-Kip and Kytum-up. After a quick explanation of what had happened in the clearing, they introduced the new me to them. Maluki-kip seemed quite disturbed by my rebirth, commenting that it seemed dangerously close to necromancy. 

I spent quite a while talking with him and Kytum-up about my time as a ghost and of the great voice. In the end, he accepted that I am not evil, though he still seemed disturbed about my return to life. I suspect that will be a common reaction among humans as well. 

We settled in for the night, sleeping in the large central chamber since we were certain that an attack would come. The kobolds told us that they had been under attack every night by shadows recently. 

This time the attack came on second watch, a huge shadow, a former swamp troll maybe, appeared next to Reena, taking a great deal of her strength right away. I watched, unable to do much to help. Thaile and Tieran used spells, Mor’Elandi did what he could with his bow, actually damaging the creature at least once, while Hara and Graystone worked to keep Reena up and fighting. Kytum-up used his healing to do damage to the creature and Kefk moved up to attack it as well. I even got in on the action, damaging it with some healing energy. 

Graystone was hit as he gave Reena some of her strength back, falling even as he helped her. The creature was defeated, but it took a great many of our resources. We settled down for the remainder of the night, hoping that there would not be another attack.


----------



## Nail

*Fun DM musings......*

Grawthic was tired.

It had been a long walk, much longer than the previous day.  He much preferred squatting in his slimy cave, watching the game trails as they wandered through the Aldersmere.  Lots of things would creep along those paths, trying to pass unnoticed.  Things that squeaked and gurgled when Grawthic ripped their arms off, or (even better) cried out for mercy as he gutted them....yes, Grawthic much preferred hiding in the muck and letting the food-things come to him. 

But that was before.  Before the goblins had fled, before the bad thing had come.

Grawthic didn't like the bad thing.  The bad thing hurt Grawthic, something the swamp troll wasn't used to.  It had taken him awhile, but Grawthic had made up his mind: he had to go to a place without bad things.  

He had heard from a friend, one day as they were clawing each other to ribbons, that beyond the hills were lots of food-things, things with soft skin and tasty bones that crunched easily when you bit them.  His friend's head, after Grawthic had ripped it from the shoulders, even promised that these food-things ran slowly, and screamed _very_ loudly when eaten.  Grawthic had liked that idea; he even gave his friend's head back to his body as a token of thanks.

But his friend hadn't mentioned how long the walk was.  By the Dark One’s left eye-socket, Grawthic did hate long walks. Especially up all of these gravely - rocky- stony hills.  Ground was meant to squish when stepped on, not poke and scrape and skitter about!

Night had come – finally! – and now was time to rest.  Tomorrow he would descend these hills, and shamble out into the soft-looking farmlands.  From here he could even see a settlement of some kind, undoubtedly filled with soft things to eat.

A bitingly cold chill snapped Grawthic out of his reverie.  Something cold, shockingly cold, had just touched his outstretched ankle!  He looked around, but saw nothing...except a small black thing, on the ground.  It was shaped like a small squirrel, but it was all black, shadowy...  Grawthic swiped at it, giving it a loud growl for good measure.  This little dark thing should go away....

His claw passed right through it!  The shadowy thing jumped at him again, and Grawthic felt the numbing chill pass through his side.  He lurched to his feet, and nearly stumbled and fell; his legs could barely carry him.  Grawthic tried to claw it, even bite it....but his attacks passed though it like a rock through the wind.  The little dark thing attacked him again, and again.  Nothing Grawthic could do would hurt it or stop it.  Fear filled his heart.

Its pale, red-glowing eyes narrowed for a moment, then it leaped again, straight for his neck.  He tried to ward it off, arms flailing, legs back-pedaling as fast as they could go.....he felt an overwhelming chill and despair as it passed through him.  All went dark ..... all was black .....all was gone.

Time passes.  The little dark thing is gone.  The dead-grey body of a swamp troll lies on a hill over-looking the vale of Eaglesford.

From the body, a dark, shadowy shape rises.....


----------



## Gina

*Session 32: The Kobald Warren, Eaglesford, and the Road to Three Oaks*

*Johnson Farm: The Kobold Warren
July 17th * 
Morning in the Kobold Warren found us alive but our magic somewhat depleted. Upon thinking about the shadow we had fought the night before, we realized that it looked like a troll, but did not move the same way, did not attack as rapidly as a troll might. Perhaps this comes of it being made a shadow, perhaps not. 

One of the Kobolds had been sent to scout above. He reported that there were corpse-ravens circling the area around the farm. Previously they had stayed above Eaglesford and the immediate area around it. This being an outlying farm, they had only passed over occasionally. 

So, we decided to stay for a while, venturing out after dark, since we couldn’t figure out any way to get out without being noticed and we certainly didn’t want to bring the orcish army down upon the kobolds, or us for that matter. 

So, we spent a quiet day. Mor’Elandi and Tieran scribed scrolls, Thaile helped tend to the wounded, Hara knitted, Reena slept and sharpened her weapons.  Kefk and Kytum-up, being at home, spent the day in various activities.  

Graystone and I discussed the orcs and their preference for birds. Seems odd that they choose a corpse-raven to change to when an eagle is a better choice in so many ways. The bird swarms were also odd, not magical, but probably trained birds. It would take a long while and a great deal of skill to train birds to swarm like that. I wonder if perhaps the orcs are bound to birds as a totem of some kind....could their animals masters specialize in a certain kind of creature? It would be nice to capture one of them and ask some questions, though I doubt that they would give much information. 

We also briefly discussed my rebirth and its ramifications. The people of Eaglesford, particularly the pious ones will never understand, so the consensus was that I should choose a different name to use in public. For now, I am River. I will come up with a more permanent name later, though to myself, I will always be Rowan. Maybe I should keep Rowan and instead call myself Aldersborn rather than Clearwater, since Rowan is not such an unusual name. 

Evening came and with it, rain. Between the darkness and the rain, we felt safe to venture out and toward Eaglesford, planning to spend the night in Graystone’s cottage and the relative safety that it would bring. 
Graystone seemed less convinced of its safety than we were, telling us that he had found a new place, on the other side of the river where it would be safer to live. 

So, we continued down the lane, hedgerows rising on both sides of us, throwing the road into even deeper darkness, their shadows pressing in upon us. Luckily, most of us are very familiar with the area, so finding our way was not a problem. 

As we walked, we talked quietly among ourselves, those of us in the lead not noticing anything amiss until we heard a shout from behind us. Black shapes had materialized out of the hedges on either side of the road and moved toward those at the rear of our group, Kefk, Tieran, Kytum-up, and Mor’Elandi. 

Before any of us could react, the shadows reached out and touched Kytum-up, weakening him almost to the point of death. They touched Mor’Elandi and Tieran as well, weakening them both greatly, Mor’Elandi more seriously than Tieran. Thaile was the first among us to regain her senses and do something. 

She turned the shadows. They fled into the night and we fled in the opposite direction, Reena carrying Mor’Elandi and Kytum-up. These shadows had once been orcs. 

We arrived, breathless, at Graystone’s small cottage and set up watches for the remainder of the night. 

*July 18th*
We awakened and worked on restoring Tieran, Kytum-up, and Mor’Elandi to health. Between Graystone, Hara, and myself, we managed to do so. Then, we began loading Graystone’s belongings into Hara’s wagon for transport to his new home. His living furniture was a bit of a shock to some of the others, though I am used to it now, but Kefk in particular seemed surprised when the chair he sat in needed to be watered!

When we approached Eaglesford, we were surprised at the changes in only a few days. The flags flying over the town indicated that the legions had indeed arrived. There was much more activity, farmers who couldn’t be in their fields had been put to work, building fortifications. 

There were soldiers standing, arms at the ready, farmers and townsfolk hauling timber and wood. They seem to be taking down some of the farmhouses near town and using the wood to build the barricades they are working on around the fjord and the mill. They are digging a ditch and driving stakes into the ground, using some overturned carts as cover while they work on it all. They are also clearing trees and brush nearby, presumably to eliminate cover for approaching forces. 

There were many fewer birds flying above the town and they still flew well out of arrow range. I suspect that they are so high because Mor’Elandi cast a spell once, a while ago, which enabled him to hit one of them at a very great distance indeed! It was really quite impressive.

As we approached, we were challenged by a legionnaire. He asked us who we were and what our business was here. Thaile, Tieran, Reena, and Graystone said that they live here, vouching for the rest of us as friends. Hara, being...well...herself, began to harangue and berate the young soldier for daring to ask us who we were. 

The young soldier called over several others to guard us while he went to get an officer. Graystone pleaded with Hara to keep her mouth shut when they returned. 

So, we waited until he brought back three other soldiers to speak with us. Two officers and a cleric of the Great Church. The captain of the legions and one of his officers spoke to us briefly, during which Hara was mercifully silent, and bade us move on and be about our business. The cleric, introduced as Matthew, seemed especially interested in Thaile. Apparently, he likes to convert other clerics to the Great Church. While it is none of my concern, Thaile seemed discomfited by him and inclined to avoid him.  

We entered town noting even more changes. Some of the town’s wall has new sections of tone. We were told that an empire wizard showed up, erected the walls magically and then was gone. Planned, the Captain of the legions assured the townsfolk, nothing to be concerned over. 

There is activity at the gatehouse too, they are doing something which requires a master carpenter’s services, so I know that my father is there. I saw my brother, Janek working there and wished that I could go and greet him and see father. I didn’t approach though, they would not even know me. I don’t think that anyone has even told them of my death. My rebirth would be troubling to them, I think. 

I wish that there was time to see my mother, but we have so much to do and we need to return to the tests as soon as we can. 

Eaglesford does not even seem the same town we left only a few days ago. It is certainly not the sleepy little village it was only a month or two ago when we first went out in search of adventure. 

Hara declared that she was not remaining in this town one day more with the legions here, so off to her home we went to collect her belongings. Lucky Graystone, she has determined to go and live with him! That should be interesting. 

So, we loaded her belongings. There were many very odd items indeed included in these. Most of them smelled very strange. I don’t even want to know what was in some of the parcels and bundles we loaded into that wagon. 

In time, though, we were underway again, headed out of town and West. As we moved slowly through the countryside, we noticed that this side of the river was much as it had been before the attacks began. Farmers worked their fields, houses and barns dotted the landscape and all was peaceful and as it should be. What a contrast it is to the abandoned farms on the other side of the river. 

Graystone’s new grove was marked by a small shack. It seemed even smaller by the time we had unloaded all of both Hara’s and Graystone’s things into it. I hope that they can get a larger place built soon, or they will drive one another crazy!

Oh, as we were leaving an odd thing happened. Thaile prayed to Darmon for a good journey as she always does, but when she finished and returned to us, she seemed different, odd. Then, as we left town, she seemed much more friendly to this Brother Matthew than she had been before, no longer uncomfortable around him. He spoke to her, saying: I hope to see you again, soon.” Oh well, I know precious little of the workings of the pious mind!

By the time we finished unloading, it was getting near dark, so we decided to stay overnight and leave at first light for Three Oaks. Most of us stayed outdoors, though Tieran managed talk himself into a spot on the floor inside the hut. 

Deep in the night, on third watch, I was awakened by Kefk. He head heard some kind of animal roaring or howling. I didn’t hear anything and, after a few minutes of listening, went back to my bedroll. As I was nearing sleep, the roar sounded again. A large bestial creature, I think, not one we have encountered before. I shall have to think on it more and perhaps I will know what it was. 

*July 19th*
We bade good bye to Graystone, Hara, and Reena and set off toward Three Oaks in the early morning. 

Around midday, Mor’Elandi and Thaile noticed a large group of goblins ahead of us on the road, weapons drawn, panting and winded. I sent an entangle spell to them, to keep them from rushing us. 

Tieran cast a thunder ball, which killed a bunch of them, while Thaile and Mor’Elandi pulled out their bows to pick a few off. 

As they were attacked, the goblins shouted warnings to one another. “They’re back! Watch out for their acid balls!” “Watch out for the big bastard!” and “Where’s the big one?”

They were panicking as we approached, some running off, the entangled ones struggling to get free, presumably to run off after their fellows. A few moved into the brush and shot arrows as they attempted to defend their tribesmen against us. 

It didn’t take us long to subdue the goblins. Most of them ran off into the woods, though we did kill several of them. We examined one of the wounded ones, noting that he had been damaged by a Briar Web spell. He told us that he and his tribe had been attacked by “bad humans” who were attacking and killing them. His tribe is the Hungry Crevice. 

I felt sorry for the little fellow. He is a goblin, true, and they generally cannot be trusted, but they still have a place in the natural order and should not be hunted for sport. We let him go and he soon faded into the forest, running as fast as he could. 

We heard sounds of battle down the road, maybe ½ mile, so we moved on, to see what was happening. As we approached, the sounds of battle died and we saw several humanoids on the road. A robed mage, two gnomes with weapons, wearing drab colors, a large human in dull gray plate armor, and a female elf, wearing plate as well. 

After a moment, we recognized them. Leiden and his group. I never liked him, nor do I much life Kales Burlywire. Of the others I know very little except that they have the bad taste to associate with Leiden. Eric is the fighter, Chalton the mage, Erkey the other gnome, and Drashi the elf woman is an apostle of Zheenkeef, as I recall. 

We made introductions. I forgot for a moment that I look so different, but then was introduced as River. Leiden and his group also had two goblins that they were holding captive. Apparently, their plan is to use them as slaves. They were mistreating them already. 

We conversed with them for a short while. Leiden taunting us about our lack of wealth and his and his companions’ fine equipment. We mentioned the spiders and the farms and he did not even have the good grace to feel sympathy for those killed as a result of their actions. 

We did get a few useful pieces of information from them though. 

The creature we heard was an Owlbear that has been menacing the farmers in the area, attacking the farms and killing the farmers. He and his friends seemed to be a little afraid of the creature, not wanting to run into it. 

In Three Oaks there is a wizard named Zamet, from the South who makes items for sale. Leiden referred to him as a “crazy bastard”. If Leiden dislikes him, perhaps he is a good man.


----------



## Nail

.....Laiden laughed easily.  His laughter carried through the forest clearing, but rang hollowly in the ears of the adventurers from Eaglesford.  Rowan's lip curled in disgust, and Thaile's mouth formed a tight line in her face.  For just a moment, Tieran's hands rested lighly on his spell-component pouch.

"No really," pressed Rowan, "What are you going to do with those two goblins you've captured?"

Laiden glanced over at his companion Erik for a moment.  The human warrior was an intimidating grey wall of metal in his adamantine full plate, his gauntleted hands firmly grasping the hog-tied goblins.  Laiden could sense rather than see Erik's gap-toothed grin behind the visor.

Behind Eric stood the priestess of Laiden's party, equiped with a fine set of steel full plate, the grapes of Zheenkeef on her chest.  Her hand loosely grasped her morning star, goblin blood still dripping off its tip onto the ground below.  Her other hand clenched and unclenched, like the slow beating of a heart.

Around Laiden stood the rest of his party; his two gnomish scouts and his elven mage.  An adventuring party to be proud of.  One of the gnomish scout's giggled as Erik's metal boot pressed down on a goblin's leg, eliciting a muffled cry from it.

Laiden looked back at the adventurers from Eaglesford, his smile never dimming.

"They're just goblins.  _Why should you care?_"


----------



## Gina

*See That's what I mean!*



			
				Nail said:
			
		

> .....Laiden laughed easily.
> 
> Around Laiden stood the rest of his party; his two gnomish scouts and his elven mage.  An adventuring party to be proud of.  One of the gnomish scout's giggled as Erik's metal boot pressed down on a goblin leg, eliciting a muffled cry.
> 
> Laiden looked back at the adventurers from Eaglesford, his smile never dimming.
> 
> "They're just goblins.  _Why should you care?_"




See, Leiden is just a big, giant jerk! Cocky arrogant butt-head. Here WE are trying to save the world, or at least our little corner of it......

OK, enough ranting, gotta get back to being heroic instead of getting rich!


----------



## ledded

Gina, Nail, great stuff, a really good read.


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

*Too long an absence*

To: Rowan, Aldersborn, Druid of Eaglesford
From: Rowan, CEI, SpaceBaby Industries

Forgive my long absence in responding to your excellent work.  I was pleasantly surprised to actually manage logging in today, the first time in a couple of months.  

Where to begin?  Such wonderful material to read.  One favourite that really stands out:

_Note to self: Really must work on some kind of signals for them to understand when I am in animal form, because they are not catching on. _

I also thought you narrative post demise, pre reincarnation was particularily well done.  An unusual perspective in a story hour, and a memorable one.

I was sorry to read about Riva; the Battlerager Picture Cookbook is now unlikely to ever be available.  Still holding out hope for his return somehow though.

Best of luck trying to defeat those nasty Orcs in general and the mean one who killed you in particular.  It might help if you have the right gear: I've enclosed an example of some excellent personal protection, and much more stylish than bone studded armour.  That sounds icky just thinking about it, let alone wearing it.


----------



## Nail

Saved spot: Story snippet later (I'd like a spot before Gina posts the PCs viewpoints)


----------



## Gina

*Wow! I didn't know they got that big!*

*On the Road to Three Oaks
July 19th*
We had finished our talk with Leiden and his group and moved on down the road, leaving them to their goblin torture. I wanted to stop them, but we do not have time to get into an argument about goblins of all things right now. Still, is it any wonder that the creatures loathe humans? 

We moved down the road, talking among ourselves about nothing in particular for perhaps half and hour or a little longer. Mor’Elandi suddenly motioned for us all to stop (not an easy thing as he likes to be behind us all!). He had heard the cry of a beast of some kind. We stopped, each of us straining to hear but there was nothing. 

We moved on for a while, with less conversation, more listening for the beast or whatever was out there. Mor’Elandi told us that he heard it again and he thought he saw something ahead in the trees. Something large, moving toward the road. 

We noticed it as well as we rounded a small curve in the road. There standing before us was quite possibly the largest animal I have seen in my life. Animal is probably not the right word. This must be the Owlbear that Leiden and his group had mentioned. It had the head and hooked beak of an Owl, large, saucerlike eyes and the body of a bear, covered in both fur and feathers variously. It was really much larger than I had anticipated.

Naturally, I decided to try to use my Wild Empathy skill to do, um, something. Actually, in retrospect, I really should have a plan for what to do if I manage to succeed and another for if I don’t in these situations. 

Nevertheless, I moved forward, telling the others that I was going to deal with it. 

For some reason, they looked at me as if I were insane. At Mor’Elandi's suggestion, Thaile cast Bull’s Strength on me, just in case I needed to fight as I headed off to meet the Owlbear.  

So, I approached the creature and looked at it, speaking calmly and with gentle authority, while looking it straight in the eye. 

It was MUCH bigger than I had first thought. Huge, in fact. 

It moved closer to me, sniffing me and circling, but not attacking. I kept on, trying not to betray the fear I felt at a creature of such a great size sniffing me, dried blood on its beak and feathers, as if it had fed recently. I kept speaking softly to it, feeling more than seeing the others making ready to attack once it bit my head off. 

It moved around me a little more, until it was between me and the rest of the group. Then it became distracted, apparently by how utterly delicious Kefk looked because it turned toward him with a low growl. I knew that I had failed in my attempt and that we were all going to be going to the great voice very soon. 

Kefk and Kytum-up were close to the creature, Thaile having moved back a bit and behind a tree where she could safely summon a monster to help. Tieran stood back farther, and looked like he was preparing to cast a spell,  and Mor’Elandi had moved to the side and into the underbrush. 

It hit Kytum-up, hard, then grabbed Kefk who struggled mightily, but was unable to get loose. I took a moment to cast Shillelagh and then moved forward to flank the animal. Thaile’s summoned creature turned out to be a Bison, which also attacked the creature. Tieran’s contribution was a fireball, which thankfully, did not hit me or Kytum-up. Kefk managed to wriggle free in time to also avoid being scorched. 

So, we fought the thing......it looked kind of betrayed when I hit it. I felt guilty, but it WAS trying to eat my companions. Then it hit me too. Mor’Elandi peppered it with arrows and the rest of us kept fighting. 

From Tieran we heard, “Feed it the Bison and run!”. 

We didn’t run, but kept fighting the thing, much to Tieran’s dismay. It had grabbed Kefk again and was trying to grap Kytym-up too. Then, with a final Magic Missile from Tieran it went down with a thud. 

We were all relieved except for Kytum-up who was extremely agitated about something. After a few moments, we realized that Kefk was still under the creature.  

It took us a bit of doing but we got him out. He was nearly suffocated by the huge beast and was very glad to be out from under it. 

Mor’Elandi and I examined the creature, fascinated by it. It had some marks which showed us that it had been caught in a fireball fairly recently. After examining it, we began to skin it. Inside the stomach we found a single gauntleted hand. We bundled up the heavy, bloody hide and the head and then followed Mor’Elandi. 

He had decided that we needed to find its lair.

So, we followed him through the forest, his owl flying ahead and back looking around. Eventually, we reached a clearing and the owl landed on his shoulder. The lair was ahead and there was another of the creatures hiding under some brush. There was a cave nearby that might just be their lair. 

We stood in the clearing, wondering and quietly discussing what to do. The Owl returned again and Mor’Elandi mentioned that the creature had not moved. The discussion continued, but I moved forward, anxious to see this creature. The owl had told Mor’Elandi that it was most likely dead. A moment later, I confirmed that by poking it with a nice long stick. 

It was much smaller than the other, which we had determined to be male. We soon realized that this one had likely been its mate. She was under some freshly cut (or torn off) tree limbs and in the center of what looked to be a fireball-burned area. I wonder if the tree limbs were removed by the male in an attempt to bury or hide the body of his mate. She was rather scorched as well as damaged from a Briar Web spell. We skinned her as well, taking the head too. 

After being assured by Tieran (who had sent his bat into the nearby lair) that all was safe and that there might be things we were interested in inside, we moved toward the open cave mouth. 

On the way we passed through a clearing where there had been a battle recently. It was obvious that the Owlbears had won. There were scattered remains and a lot of blood. Bits of armor and equipment littered the area, the pieces all very small. We moved toward the cave, glad that we had not ended up in tiny bits. 

The inside of the cave was grisly. There were pieces of bodies, we made out four.....a human male, a dwarven male, an elven female, and maybe an orc or half-orc. All were in pretty small pieces (except for the lower part of a torso, ugh), and partially eaten. There was also a nest. The others were interested in the pile of shiny stuff in the nest. I had eyes only for one thing. 

The nest contained a single egg. 

While the others were examining the pile of equipment, I took the egg and wrapped it carefully in one of my blankets, cushioning it with grasses and leaves and rigged my pack to keep the egg close to my body where my heat would keep it warm. 

Thaile was once again looking at me as if I were insane. I don’t understand why she does that sometimes. 

There were several interesting things in the pile, some gold, a set of damaged plate, a damaged mithril chain shirt, a backpack with some kind of strange magic on it, a gold medallion with a lion’s head on it, a sword, a shield, some damaged bracers, some gems, and a heavy shield. Tieran said that several of the things were magical: the mithril shirt, backpack, medallion, and bracers. 

We carried out most of the body parts and decided to spend the night in the cave, since it was defensible and relatively safe now that we knew that its occupants were dead. 

Watches went smoothly, though each watch heard small animals eating the body parts we had earlier carried out of the cave. Kefk encountered a skunk, but was not close enough to have a REAL encounter with it.


----------



## Gina

*Nice to see that you are back!*



			
				SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> Where to begin?  Such wonderful material to read.  One favourite that really stands out:
> 
> _Note to self: Really must work on some kind of signals for them to understand when I am in animal form, because they are not catching on. _
> 
> I also thought you narrative post demise, pre reincarnation was particularily well done.  An unusual perspective in a story hour, and a memorable one.
> 
> I was sorry to read about Riva; the Battlerager Picture Cookbook is now unlikely to ever be available.  Still holding out hope for his return somehow though.
> 
> Best of luck trying to defeat those nasty Orcs in general and the mean one who killed you in particular.  It might help if you have the right gear: I've enclosed an example of some excellent personal protection, and much more stylish than bone studded armour.  That sounds icky just thinking about it, let alone wearing it.




Thanks for the praise, the condolences upon the demise of Riva, and the good wishes in our upcoming battles against the orcs! 

I am still working on the signals to get them to understand in Wild Shape, but we have little down time!

Rowan


----------



## Gina

*Changes: The Longwood Farm and Three Oaks*

Morning came and Tieran decided to take another look at the magical backpack. He noted several things of interest about it. There was something inside the “dimensional pocket”. He said that the pack could hold much more than it looked like because it has some sort of dimensional pocket in it. However, due to it being damaged, he did not suggest any of us putting our hands inside since we might draw back a stump. So, he tried a mage hand to get the object out and was not surprised when it didn’t work. So, we saved that little mystery for later, when we could find someone to fix the bag.

We set out then, back to the road and on to Three Oaks. We estimated that we would reach the Longwood farm in time for a nice noon meal there. We were certain that they would welcome us, since our last visit had saved so many of them from death. 

So, we walked along the road, reaching the turnoff to the Longwood farm near noon. As we approached it, we heard the sound of hoofbeats. After a moment we decided that Kytum-up should hide beneath the mound of Owlbear parts on the travois we had rigged up from some tree limbs and blankets. 

We waited then as the horsemen approached, perhaps a dozen of them, carrying a banner with a symbol of the empire on it and a starburst design. Must have been the symbol of their order or whatever it is that soldiers have. 

They halted as they saw us, their captain speaking to us from horseback. The captain asked us our business. All of the soldiers seem to want to know our business, I suppose they ask that of everyone these days, but really, how many are likely to admit that their business is to spread evil and chaos throughout the land? Anyway, we told him that we were bound for the Longwood Farm, for a visit and then on to Three Oaks. The captain nodded, appeased for the moment and then seemed to notice the Owlbear pelts and heads on the travois. 

During our introductions, the captain seemed uncomfortable about me being a “Priestess of Eliwyn”, a druid. I don’t understand that, but who knows what is in the minds of people these days. Still, I know that there are others of my order fighting in the wars, so it is strange that he should be so wary.  

He gestured to the hides on the travois and asked what they were. We told him. He and his men looked rather surprised, seems that they had been charged to go after the Owlbear and kill it. 

A group of adventurers, led by a cleric of the Great Church, named Callan Daleson had gone out after it several days before. There had been four of them, Callan, a human, an elven woman, a half-orc, and a dwarven man. Sounded a lot like the bodies we found in and around the Owlbear’s lair. We told the captain as much. He looked surprised, but told us to go to Lord Philwen in Three Oaks to get the bounty on the creatures. 

Then, he and his group moved off to continue their patrol. As they did, we noted that most of the soldiers looked very young. They must be taking them on patrol to get them seasoned before sending them to the front. 

After the soldiers had gone, leaving nothing but dust behind them, we moved on to the Longwood’s farm. There were a great many changes since our last visit. The first of these was the large, wooden palisade that had been erected around the farm, there was a partially completed gatehouse, it was as if the farm were a village. Anyway, as we walked through the palisade, we saw that much was the same, but there were also great changes here. The houses, barn, chicken coop, and other buildings still stood, along with newer ones. There were also tents and pavilions, seemingly occupied by new people as well. Yes, the farm was well on its way to becoming a village. 

James Longwood, the elderly man who had been locked in the root cellar during the spider attack, limped forward to greet us, having been fetched by one of the children upon our arrival. I think the child’s name was Louise, yes, Louise Longwood. James looks well these days, he seems to have regained a sense of purpose with the recent wars and hardship. His time as a member of the legions shows plainly in his shiny armor and weapons, his bearing is dignified, his limp less pronounced than it had been before. 

He greeted us, and introductions were made. I had a moment when I forgot my new face and wondered why he did not recognize me. I shall have to get used to that, but it is difficult since in my mind and heart, I am still nearly the same person. 

He conveyed several pieces of information to us, after greetings were exchanged. 
 Lissia went North with Garret to fight at the front. 
 Two Centuries of Legionnaires are now garrisoned at Three Oaks
 The goblin problem has been dealt with
 Three Oaks is not as it was when we were last there, there are large military camps near the town, many soldiers in town and around.​
When we asked about the walls, he told us that they had been erected by a wizard in the service of the Empire, very much like the new stone walls in Eaglesford. The wizard who came was called Aramir, and he works with Moira in Three Oaks.  

I noticed some new construction under the main house, though no one mentioned it. In fact, they all seemed rather uncomfortable about us being there and certainly about us poking around. 

I got Thaile and we went inside the main house to take a look. As I distracted the farm people with some tales of our escapades, Thaile noted a chest that looked as if it had been moved a time or two to allow access to a trapdoor beneath. Still, there were too many people to check farther. 

We had a lovely meal and were soon ready to move on, hoping to make Three Oaks before nightfall. 

As we prepared to leave, I threw caution to the winds, turning to Uncle James and asking: 

“So, what is it you are building under the main house?”

There was a stunned silence as everyone turned to stare at us, well, me in particular.

Then, Uncle James took control of the situation, leading us a little away from the rest of the group. He asked us why we thought that they were building something under the house. I explained what I had seen that tipped me off to the construction and he told us that they had been told to keep quiet about it, and asked that we do the same. 

The area under the house was built to be a “safe house” for Aramir and other wizards. They don’t enter from the house and the Longwoods don’t know where they enter from. The room has been in use a time or two already, but if anyone becomes aware of its existence, it will be dangerous for the wizards who use the room as well as the Longwoods. 

Strange that Wizards need a place to flee to, I would have believed that their towers were sufficient. This makes me wonder if there is a similar place in Eaglesford, as payment for the wall there.  

Being the daughter of a carpenter is useful sometimes. I was able to give Uncle James a list of the things that had suggested to me that there was construction below the house. He seemed eager to address these issues, hoping, I guess to hide all evidence that the room even exists. 

We bid them good day and continued our journey to Three Oaks, arriving near dusk.  We moved quickly past the large military encampments toward the city gates. We were questioned upon our arrival, but the guards let us in after we answered their routine questions. Kefk stayed outside the town, Kytum-up coming in with us to see where we were staying. He and Kefk agreed to switch the circlet between themselves, which would allow each of them to spend some time in town. 

We arranged accommodations at the Griffon’s Claw inn. There were many Legionnaires there, relaxing, I guess. Something seems strange about the soldiers I have seen in town, but I cannot figure out what seems wrong. I shall have to think on it, perhaps it is simply that there are so many of them when I have seen so few soldiers in my life. 

The rooms were expensive, but Mor’Elandi used his elvish pompousness to great effect, getting better rooms and meals included from the landlord. We arranged to stay for five days. It seems a long time, but we have a great deal to do in town. Interestingly, the landlord was most eager to take gold. It seems that much business these days is done with letters of credit and he was not kindly disposed toward the practice.  

After we settled in, Mor’Elandi went about some secret mission of his own, Thaile went to the House of Darmon and to the Great Church, I went to the House of Korok, making an appointment with Brother Mamet for the next day at two in the afternoon. Tieran remained in the room, studying his spellbooks. 

*July 21st*
Morning came and we made our way downstairs to have a mediocre breakfast in the inn. Mor’Elandi told us he may have a lead on getting some of the damaged goods repaired. 

After breakfast we went to the castle, to gain the bounty for the Owlbears. We waited for a long time, Lord Philwen is very busy these days, it seems. 

During our wait, a young woman came to see us about repairing the damaged magic items we had. She introduced herself as Sorell, an assistant to Zameet. She was a mousy-looking creature, soft spoken and shy. She was, however, very willing to assist us. We sent the bag with her to be repaired, the armor and bracers needing an armorsmith to be repaired. 

We inquired about potions and scrolls. She said that she might have some potions lying about and we should come later to speak of them and possibly purchase them. Scrolls we might get from Damien or Zameet. 

She seemed almost in awe of Tieran. Strange, I have never been particularly in awe of him, but then, I have known him for a very long time and have seen some of his more spectacular errors in judgement. Of course, I must also admit that he has known me for just as long and has seen my own errors as well, and I suspect that mine are greater in number!

After a long wait, we were taken in to see Lord Philwyn. The Herald spoke for a while. I am not clear on what he said, after the first few minutes, I wasn’t really listening anymore. 

Eventually, the long-winded fellow gave up and Lord Philwen moved forward to ask some questions. The steward moved to take the Owlbear parts away. Tieran and Mor’Elandi stopped him and we moved into another room to begin negotiations. 

After negotiating for a while, we received two letters of credit for 1,000 gold pieces each in payment for the Owlbear pelts and skulls. When I questioned whether shopkeepers would take the letters of credit, the steward said that yes, they would all take them and did we know someone who was reluctant to do so? We moved on to see Zameet, saying nothing more about the letter of credit. 
Zameet had some scrolls available and was able to help us determine the command word for the ring of Enlarge Person that we have. It will enlarge one person, once per day for six minutes. Thaile suggested that I use it for now, since it might be useful in combat. 

Tieran will come later to speak with Zameet about what scrolls he will be purchasing. 

When we left the shop it was nearly time for our appointment with Brother Mamet at the House of Korok.


----------



## Nail

*Locale Description*

*The Town of Three Oaks*

*Location:* Near the northeastern border of the Kambron Empire.  East of the vale of Eaglesford, and the huge ruins of Keprok.  The local economy is based on farming, lumber products, and trade.

*Physical description*: The town was built along a prominent river bluff and its grove of oak trees.  At the time of the town’s founding, three great oaks stood at its center, giving the place its name.  (Only one of the original trees remain – casualties of giantish raids – but two other oaks have been planted to replace those lost.)  The town has many more trees than most human settlements, but in most other ways it is a typical large empire town: a merchant’s and artisan district, a garrison and castle, a temple district, a central market square and commons area, etc....but no one would call it a city.....at least no one that's travelled.

*Population*: about 4000, mixed race with human predominant (75%).  There is a significant population of dwarves, halflings, and half-orcs.  

*Government*: Ruled by a Lord and Gentleman of the Empire, Lord Fillowyn Serixson (human male, age 47).  Lord Fillowyn has a well-known court wizard, Magus Zaamatt, and an evangelical court priest (of the Great Church), Father Gareth Eisenhauf (human male, age 35).

*Local Notables the party has met*
Brother Mamont, Master Maker and Wright of the Guildhall of Korak
High Wayfarer Dinaed Haypenny of the House of Darmon
Holy Mother Shinea Elareth, Matriarch of the Healing Halls of Morwyn
Moira, Sage of the Ruins
Kaleal, Centaur Druid of Three Oaks
Jingles Goldhill, Travelling Pedellar of Trinkets and Treasures
Magus Sorell, Assistant to the Court Wizard of Three Oaks


----------



## Gina

*Many Days in Three Oaks...*

*Several Days in Three Oaks
July 21—July 31*
We had received our bounty for the Owlbear hides and heads and were ready to have all of our questions answered by the wise and learned priests of the Temple of Korak. 

It did not work out that way. 

The priest of Korok, the big “expert” on Alder’s Look and the area was Brother Mamont, the one who had supposedly called upon the power of his god to remove the orcs from the Garresh so many years before. 

I had a long list of questions to ask him. Sadly, he had no real answers, being too caught up in dogma even to think for himself. I am glad that Thaile is not like that, though I fear that she may soon travel in that direction unless we get her away from this city and the Great Church.

The orc tribe he dispersed at the Garresh was the Black Hand (at least he knew that much). 

As to Alder’s Look, it was built (in his opinion), for the worship of demons and other such abasements. He knew nothing of the area before the fortress was built nor of any history of the fortress. It was defaced by pious men due to its evil purpose. 

The Tests of the Gods are an abasement and evil. 

The children of the old ones would obviously be the Div. Though, they, not being evil would not be associated with Alder's Look.

We didn’t even bother showing him the rubbing of the copper disc. 

I mentioned that I had been “told” that when we die, we do not go to Maal, but instead move toward a great voice....bad idea to even mention this, he seized upon it like a dog with a bone. He demanded to know who had told me such heresy, I made up a name for my “teacher”. I am a poor liar, but he is a fool, so I think he believed me, at least to the extent that I was not arrested for heresy. 

At least we know that the folk of the temples are not the ones to seek information from. 

We asked Brother Mamont about the Temple of Zheenkeef. We had heard that it had been abandoned recently and wondered what had caused such a thing. He told us that the temple had burned to the ground in one of their drunken revelries and no great loss to the city. 

We went and set up an appointment with Moira. She may have some answers. Then, we went to work on our task of buying and selling things. Each day we were in town, it took much of our time to go from place to place searching for a good price on various items, trying to get the best price for what we had to sell. I found it tremendously dull, but went along anyway. 

The time for our meeting with Moira came and we were shown into her tower by Logan, her servant or apprentice or whatever he is. I am not certain what his function is, or even if he is a wizard, but he was very polite. 

Moira made her usual grand entrance, while Thaile looked somewhat disapproving. She is incredibly mistrustful of Moira, but then, she trusts the folk of the temples and I do not. 

I find it interesting that Tieran and even Kytum-up and Mor’Elandi seemed captivated by her very presence, but then, she is very beautiful. Still, they are singularly unimpressed by Thaile or myself, or in fact, any other female we have ever come into contact with. 

We spoke to Moira for quite some time. She seemed reluctant to speak openly with us, telling us more of “what the Great Church or the temples say” is true. 

She was able to tell us the Alder’s Look was built thousands of years ago, perhaps by a race related to the orcs. The current orcs are probably a corrupted version of the children of the old ones we have spoken of. 

We showed her the rubbing of the copper disc and she was quite interested in it. Ancient, she said, a summoning and binding spell woven into it. She had no more idea than we did what had once been in the center, before it was ritually defaced. If we recover the disc, she would be very interested in examining it. 

I showed her the drawing I did of the rune in the “fear causing” room in Alder’s Look and she said that it was a rune to cause fear and that she had never been able to find any other purpose for that room either, though it was strange. 

Still, she was amused by the story of Tieran being pulled by Riva from that room to the “orcish baths” like a wizard pull-toy. 

I spoke to her a little about my experiences after dying and she was very guarded in speaking of these things. She did not seem surprised to hear that I was the same Rowan, but then, she also said that she was with Kaleal when he scribed the scroll, so I guess it would not come as a great surprise. Still, she seemed not to be overly disturbed by my rebirth. 

She also seemed to know what Kytum-up was, as if she could see through the illusion the circlet bestows upon him. I wonder how she does that. We have been calling him “Ralph Needipin”. He prefers Ralph to Needipin. 

Really, she seemed very uncomfortable speaking of any of this with Thaile present. I determined that I needed to return later without Thaile. Mor’Elandi was in agreement and said that he would say nothing and return with me.

The next few days were spent mostly in buying and selling. Tieran was scribing scrolls, totally disinterested in what we buy or sell beyond scrolls for him. In fact when we asked him, his reply was this:

_“I am disinterested in matters of what we sell. In general we should sell all acquired items which can not be put to daily use by one of us. We should have magical weapons and better spells. Now, if you will excuse me, I will return to my scribing. By the way, Thaile, while you are out shopping will you pick up some nice looking shoes for me to give to the mage's assistant? I does not think I am very good at questions of fashion. Thank you. “

scribe...scribe...scribe...scribe...scratch_nose...scribe...​_
There was also the incident with the innkeeper. He was kind enough to bring Tieran’s lunch to him, since he had not come down to eat (busy scribing you know). Well, we’re not sure what Tieran cast on him, but he was quite groggy for several days and still won’t go anywhere near him for any reason. 

His dog, however, seems to adore Tieran and mounts his leg at any opportunity. Maybe its the gravy on his trousers, but in any case, the dog is near anytime Tieran is in the common room. 

I went to the animal trainer and he knew little of Owlbears, but then, I know little of them myself. He did, however, say that he might be able to find a buyer for the egg. I decided to think on it for a few days and get back to him. 

I would like to keep the egg, but I fear that I do not have the time to raise it properly. I could leave it with Graystone, but I am not certain what he would say about that. We did get a warming blanket made, magically to keep the egg warm though, so I do not have to decide immediately. 

Thaile and the others wonder why I am so interested in keeping it. I wonder why they do not see how wonderful it could be to see such a creature grow up!

Three days after our first visit with Moira, Thaile went to the Great Church to deal with the rag-amulet. Mor’Elandi and I saw this as a good time to visit Moira again. 

She was reluctant to speak at first, commenting that as it was dangerous to speak to temple folk, so it might be unwise to speak openly to close associates of such persons. 

I spoke more of my experiences while dead. She expressed concern that I may have been misled by evil gods or demons. I told her that I am certain that what I saw was true, but she did worry me a bit, made me wonder what would happen if my visions were false. 

She loosened up a little after that and we spoke of the tests. She said that there were several testing grounds, she had seen others, but never one that was active. She was very interested in Slithia and what had happened in the active tests. 

We asked her what she knew of the tests and of the building of Alder’s Look and others. She replied that in the early days of the empire, many of the records of such things were destroyed by the Great Church as it grew in influence. Most records of this time and times before have been destroyed. Those few which still exist are exceedingly difficult to locate. 

The other test she saw was in the North. From her description, it sounds very like the one in Alder’s Look. 

We spoke to her of Kerchick and the Mystery of Purity. She is certain that the orcs will not be able to summon Kerchick, which is very good. She was not able to tell us what the water from the font of purity might do, but she was able to tell us that with the font broken, its properties would be weakened. 

She listened to our tales of the Mysteries of Purpose and Patience and warned us that the next, the Mystery of Infinity (endlessness) would likely prove a challenge since it could drive us mad. It has something to do with contemplation of numbers, magic numbers. We should look to Tieran for this test, he will be the one best suited for it. 

The next two should be the Mysteries of Focus and Duality, or the Two. The last set of two are, as far as her research tells her, the Mysteries of Grace and Power. The final one is the Mystery of One. So, we know more than we did before, at least. 

So, as far as we know the mysteries are as follows, four sets of principles and then the final test:

Purpose—Purity
Endlessness—Patience
Focus—Duality
Grace—Power
One

We asked her about the Temple of Zheenkeef and her story differed slightly but significantly from that of Brother Mamont. She said that there was an altercation between the Zheenkeefans and the Great Church. Soon after this altercation, the temple burned to the ground.

The members of their order _are _ known to drink heavily, so it may very well be that their revelries got out of hand. 

We left Moira and went back to the Inn. Thaile and Kytum-up had returned from the Great Church, where they had taken the rag-amulet (from the trolls) to be dealt with. At the temple were Brother Mamont, Magus Zaamatt, and Father Gareth Eisenhauf Court Priest of the Great Church. 

They detected magic upon the item, lit some incense, and said that the item was evil and needed to be destroyed. Then, they took it away. Thaile asked a few questions but not surprisingly, received few answers only prattle about church orthodoxy. 

The next morning, I mentioned that Mor’Elandi and I had gone back to see Moira and that we had spoken to her about the tests. Perhaps I should never have mentioned it.


----------



## Gina

*An argument....*

Tieran, noticing that Thaile is preparing to blow up steps in first: 

We have traveled far enough to recognize water under the bridge. 

Had I known Rowan would have told Moira about the tests, I would have counseled against it. 

I think it naive to believe that Moira does not know how to find, penetrate and activate the tests. She is certainly of enough skill to hear our thoughts, should she so desire. The only obstacle which prevents her from taking the idol and a bunch of henchmen down to the throne room is her own sense of ethics which I cannot read. I do not believe she is above deception. 

Likely her appearance is altered to manipulate men. It is unnatural for mages to simultaneously attract elves, humans and kobolds. As I know you have noticed from our time together, most mages are average looking at best, Mrs. Wiggins aside. 

I strongly suggest we pull it together, get out of town and beat it back to Alderslook once our work in Three Oaks is done. 

The sooner we remove the idol from town the better. If we decide that we should take the gaseous route through the rock pile I would rather scribe scrolls in a barn or with the kobolds.

Rowan:
I didn't tell her anything about the tests except to ask about them. SHE KNEW that there were such tests. She guessed that there was one under Alder's Look. It would have been counterproductive to lie to her about it. She has also never been able to activate one of them herself. 

I don't understand why all of you think that it is better to lie than to tell the truth. 

And by the way Tieran, if this is what you think of other wizards, then I can only wonder what is in your mind. I thought that I knew you, but now I suspect that there is a darker bent to your imaginings. Makes me think that you may eventually turn on us, if wizardry is so very corrupting that power becomes the end of all. 

As to Moira's effect upon males....well, some women have that. I suspect that wizards, as the rest of us, come in more and less attractive packages in the same proportion as the rest of society. 

In any case. I shall refrain from speaking to anyone unless given express permission in future. That should solve all such problems. (Rowan, sits down, obviously angry)

Thaile, close to blowing her top, but trying to keep it under control turns to ask Rowan a few questions:

"Why did you go behind my back? At a minimum I think we should have talked about this. If you felt it was better to go back without me, maybe that could have been arranged. We are a team and have made some promises to keep this under wraps, which is the main reason I didn't feel that we should tell her everything. 

She does have her own agenda and now that you have told her where the tests are and where we are going, how can you be sure she will keep it to herself? That she won't intervene and take the idol to do the test herself?" 

She stops and takes a quick breath... 

"I understand the fact that you are not trusting of the church, and I respect that, but what makes you so certain you can trust Moira?

Rowan responds, growing impatient, her face flushing as she begins pacing the small room: 

You wouldn't have let me go without you. She wouldn't speak freely around you. I took Mor'Elandi along, even asked Tieran if he wanted to come, but all I got from him was a hmmmm and an OK. 

She has her own agenda true, but I'm pretty sure her agenda doesn't include killing us all to take the idol, if that was her plan, she could easily have disposed of us in her tower with no one the wiser. I suspect that she knew that the idol was there, she even saw through Kytum-up's disguise, I am sure of it. 

We now have more information than we did before, which will probably help us. Kaleal trusts her and I know that HE is trustworthy, thus it follows that she is relatively trustworthy too. 

The fact is that there was no one in this city to whom I could speak frankly about my experiences while dead. The churches would likely have had me killed, the regular citizenry would have recoiled in horror. 

What was I to do? Let it burn in my mind with no possible explanation? Wait until you fall far enough under the spell of the great church to tell them so that I will be executed for the greater glory of the church? 

In the end, the simple fact remains that none of you trusts ME at all. You all think me a fool and maybe I am. I don't even know who or what I am anymore. I thought to get some answers. 

I also wanted to know what might be coming so that we could be prepared. We went totally unprepared into the first few tests. We lost Riva because of not being prepared, several of us nearly died on various occasions because we were unprepared. So, forgive me for not wanting to see another of you dead at my feet and unable to do anything about it. 

I apologize and will never again take action without express permission. 

But, you didn't tell any of us what transpired in your meetings with the church folk either. I did not ask, I assumed that you had your reasons for going to speak with them. 

Oh, by the way, I sold my egg, so none of you need worry about the problem of carrying it about. 

Rowan tosses a pouch of gold on the table 

Now, if it meets with your approval, I am going to take a walk.  

Thaile runs after Rowan to continue this lively discussion.....

"Rowan, wait up... You are right, at this time I haven't talked with you (or the others) about my trip to the Great Church. That is because that is personal, and I need to figure some things out. At this time, it hasn't really affected the rest of you. 

Telling someone that not all of us have decided to trust about our mission and the kobolds does affect the whole group. We have made some promises to the kobolds to keep this secret and up until now we have done a pretty good job of keeping those. 

One of the things you mentioned is a bit different though.. your experiences when you were dead and wanting to talk about those. 

I do understand your right to go and do that with whomever you chose, not needing any consent from me or any of the others. I am sorry that you didn't feel you could talk to me or that you do not trust me to not to go the church. Your friendship means the world to me, or I would not have even considered bringing you back. 

Bringing you back from the dead goes against everything I have been taught by the churches, but it is you, yourself that has taught me to be more open to different possibilities. For example, ultimately it was you that got me to trust the kobolds and see that they may be something other than what I was taught. The reason I decided to help bring you back is because it was your wish and that alone carried a lot of weight with me. I know I give you a hard time for all of your chattering, but you have excellent ideas and I do listen and take them under consideration. 

I am sorry you feel that your view does not count and that we dismiss it lightly. I, for one, do not. It just makes me open my mind more to hear it and to take it under advisement. I for one, like the fact that we do not think exactly alike - otherwise life could be quite boring. 

As far as the egg, I am sorry you felt you had to sell it, I know how strongly you felt about trying to raise it. I was willing to see it back to Eaglesford and see what Graystone thought of the whole idea. Whom did you sell it to? 
Rowan, are you willing to try to talk about all of this?

Rowan walks for a while, her face red, her shoulders set. Finally she sinks down under a tree and looking down as Asmathias pools himself in her lap. She says nothing for a while as she strokes the snake. When she does speak her voice is low and calm, she sounds tired.

I wouldn't have asked you about the church. I thought that you would tell when you were ready. We had asked about the tests, Moira had guessed that there was one under Alder's Look, I confirmed it. She still doesn't know how to get there. She cannot detect the door by magical means and I doubt she's up to several hours of digging. 

It took us six hours and WE knew where the door was. Not once did the word Kobold passe my lips in conversation with her, though she made it clear that she knew what he was. Clearly she can see past illusions. 

As to telling her of our mission, we don't really even know of our mission.....the tests, well, as I said, she had already guessed that there were tests below Alder's Look, we simply confirmed that. 

Now we know what the tests will be....at least in part. 

The first two principles are Purpose and Purity. We have passed both of them. 

The next Patience and Infinity or Endlessness, we have passed Patience. She says that Endlessness can drive one mad and we should look to Tieran for help in this mystery. 

Then come Focus and Duality, and the final pair are Grace and Power.....the last is the Mystery of One, she doesn't know what it means, but this is far more than we knew before. 

None of the tests have ever become active for her as they have for us. I suspect that if she went to them, she would  see deserted and destroyed tests. For whatever reason, we have been chosen for this. Though I could be wrong about this. 

I feel very certain that she doesn't pose a danger to us and is better to have as an ally than an enemy. What she seeks is knowledge, knowledge for one such as her is power. I suspect that she also has her own problems to worry about. After all, wizards are making bolt-holes to hide in and she is definitely nervous about something. She is also going to see Kaleal soon, at the front, to the North. That might be enough to make anyone nervous.

The fact that she is trusted by one as venerable as Kaleal means a great deal to me. He has traveled with her as I have with you and the others, so I suspect that he knows her better than most in this city. Do I trust her? Not entirely. 

The only people who I trust with my life and those of my loved ones are you, Kytum-up, Mor'Elandi, Tieran as long as he is not sending a fireball blindly ahead, Graystone, Reena, and perhaps even that crazy old witch, Hara. It is a very small number. 

I truly believe that I have not endangered any of us. 

I spoke to her of my death and rebirth. I was taught the same things that you were about religion, about death. It was a great shock to me to find that it was false. Moira even asked me if I were being misled with false images sent by evil gods. I do not think that this was the case, but it is something that I must consider as time goes on. It was a very strange time and it changed me in ways that I do not understand. Do you know, I cannot even go to my mother? She would see a stranger, but Moira recognized me behind these new eyes. 

If we thought exactly alike we would all be dead, for Riva would have insisted that we all think like him! (Rowan laughs a bit at this). We would forever have been rushing forward to do battle before we were ready. 

I sold the egg to the animal trainer because I do not know if I will survive these tests and it seemed wrong to leave it for Graystone if I should not return. If we survive, I do not know that I would have the time to see it raised properly, so I gave it up. It deserves to be raised by one with enough time to see to it and one who wants it. This is not the time for me to do such a thing.  

Rowan there are a couple of things that you have said that are bugging me and I want to talk through them because I think they affect the way we will interact as a group in the future. 

You said a couple of times (once to me and then to Tieran as well) that you will no longer talk to anyone with out express permission from the group. 

I think that is over the top. I don't think that you should take it that far. 
I think as a group when we are talking about our mission it should be a group decision what we tell someone. When we are talking about things that are personal and affect mostly us, like my dealings with the Great Church or your wanting to talk to someone you trust about your experiences when you were dead. I think it is fully an individual decision. I don't want us to go to extremes.  

The only thing we ever talk to outsiders about is our mission, unless we are purchasing things, so it is likely better for me to say nothing in most situations.  

Clearly, both you and Tieran think that I am a poor judge of character and this may be. The fact is that we will be seeing no one except for shadows and orcs in the coming weeks, so this will be moot anyway. 

I also understand that you feel we can trust Moira and you may very well be right. I certainly trust her more because you feel this way, but I am still a bit leery I must admit.  

I have said over and over that I do not trust her fully, however, it seems that both you and Tieran think that she is some creature of evil, ready to kill us and take the idol from us. Is there no middle ground between "She wants to kill us all and take our stuff" and "While she has her own motives and reasons, she can still be of assistance to us?". 

Things are not always black and white!  

One of the things that happened after we were last in Three Oaks is that you felt "watched" on our journey. I always had strong suspicions that Moira was behind that. 

Now if you trust her, maybe you would say she was watching us to make sure that we were safe and considering nothing else really came of it, so maybe that is it. I think that as we leave Three Oaks this time, you should really pay attention to if you feel that and then we should watch to see what kind of things happen around the times that you feel you have been watched. 
At the time, I thought it could be Moira. The one watching still could have been her, but I have also wondered if the watcher was someone or something else. 


The feeling came upon me more and more as we neared the Aldersmere. It could be the watchful eye that I felt while I was dead. I truly don't know. Whether she was watching us or not, she has not taken action against us and has no real reason to, unless you believe her to have so black a heart as to wish to kill us and take what we have. The fact remains that we will not give up the idol without a fight. 


And, as I have said before, if she wanted to take it, we had it with us at her tower. She could easily have overpowered us there in her own home and taken it with none the wiser. If she were so black-hearted as all that, she would not have thought twice about it. 


My personal feeling is that she probably knows more than she is telling us, but not much more. She seems to be eager to gain more information about the tests and we may well be a conduit for that information. Slithia indicated that there are many totems, it may be that Moira can get her own totem and proceed through the tests herself at a later date. 


Also, you keep saying that we would rather lie than tell the truth. Aside from Moira at this point we have not told the entire story to anyone. I would not consider this lying, rather protecting ourselves. I have been extremely careful what I have told Mrs. Faegen and those at the church because I know much of what we have found goes against their beliefs. I fully trust Mrs. Faegen she has been a great teacher throughout the years, but I am not sure what her reactions would be to the whole truth and to protect ourselves as well as the kobolds i have leaned toward the side of caution. I am just trying to clarify what I see as a difference between lying and being cautious. 

There may be a difference between lying and being cautious, but there is also a point where we have to trade information for information. Now, if you believe that none of the information I received was of value, fine, I made a poor decision. It was not the first and will likely not be the last. I am flawed as we all are and do make mistakes at times. Would you tell me that you have never made a mistake, what of Tieran, Riva? 

Mrs. Faegen seems less trapped in dogma than others of the churches, but the fact remains that she knows little that can be of assistance to us, so it is not the same situation. 

Maybe lie is a stronger term than I should have used, but the fact is that between trusting all and trusting none, there must be a middle ground or we shall never get any information! Why did you even permit me to go to Moira in the first place if you are so certain that she wishes us harm? 

I still stand, however, that I have not given all that much away. For her to find the way down would take a long time. We KNEW exactly where to look and had trouble locating it. She knows for certain now what she suspected before, that there is a testing ground under Alder's Look. 

You said that Moira already knew about the tests but she herself could not activate then. Did she know that an idol was required to activate them? Did she have an idol and still was not able to activate them? I strongly believe that if she took the idol from us that she and her group could also activate the tests. What's your take on this? 

Actually, we did not speak at all of the totem or of the need for one. We primarily spoke of the tests and what they were about, what we might be facing as we move forward in them. We spoke more of what Asmathias said to me when he came to me and what it might mean and of the children of the old ones. If Brother Mamet had proved to be of sufficient intelligence to be helpful to us, I might have discussed the very same things with him. 

We also spoke of the other testing grounds and the fact that the defacements were done by the Great Church in the early days of the empire. 

It seems that they were quite eager to destroy such things with magic. Alder's Look resisted the magical destruction which is why it was done with chisel and hammer by hand. I also think that this is possibly important information. 

It seems that you and others would see us go in blind rather than share information. 

I also suspect that if Moira wanted to activate the tests herself, she could find her own totem, but in point of fact, that word was never used, nor did I ever mention that the tests seem to have become active due to the dragon idol. 

What it all comes down to is something my mother said a lot when I was little and afraid to do something. If you take no risk, you gain no reward. 

In future I shall probably just stay in the wood when we go to towns, since I seem only to cause trouble. 

The rest of you should discuss this. If you feel that my breach has been too terrible, then tell me to leave and I will go my own way with no ill will. 

Let me know your decision before it is time to leave, if you would be so kind.  


Rowan and Thaile walk back to the Inn in silence only to find the others waiting to continue the conversation. 

Thaile brings them up to speed on what has been said, as Rowan sits, staring out the window, absently stroking Asmathias.

Tieran begins, seemingly picking up from his previous comments:

With regard to Moira, I have little to base an opinion of her morality. I have rarely been to Three Oaks and have only met her fleetingly. Certainly she is interesting and I hope evolve a professional relationship with her. Under the pressures of time, however, I am viewing her with caution. 

Rowan, the heart of a wizard is unlike that of a druid. The behavior of druids is motivated by a desire to seek balance and harmony with nature. You are drawn to trees because they are peaceful and giving. Thaile, the heart of a cleric is also understandable. Clerics serve the doctrine of their god(s). 

Wizards, on the other hand are much less predictable. The path to greatness is long, tiresome and sometimes outright dangerous. Why would someone pursue such a life? In my experience, wizards are drawn to their art by either curiosity or power. Just think of how controlling Mrs. Wiggins is. Her motivation is certainly not curiosity!

As for me, the motivation is curiosity. I am fascinated by the interplay of energy and matter. Curious wizards generally protect life. (The dead can only share the secret of their entrails.) 

Curiosity may be Moira's bent, also. Often curious wizards are reclusive, paying little attention to that which is ostentatious. How would it serve such a wizard to have a tower, fly a flag and wear an amulet which alters her appearance, I do not know for certain that she possesses such an amulet, it is merely speculation. Thus, I suspect Moira may be preoccupied by power. This may or may not help us. 

Vote you off our band? Oh, pleeeaaazzze. I think the city is getting to you. 

As for the innkeeper's dog... Are you sure he is not the Orcish animal master? Think about that next time he mounts your leg!  

As to Mor’Elandi’s opinion: 

Everyone is an individual and has to make their own choices as to what's best. Not only best for them as individuals  like Rowan talking about her time being dead with Moira, Thaile's discussions/trips to the Great Church) but also what's best for us as a party. With the exception of Kefk, who has made it clear time and again that his priorities lay with himself and his clan, Mor'Elandi does not feel anyone in our party would willingly endanger another with their actions or inaction. Whether everyone necessarily agrees with the choices made by another is another matter entirely, but they are entitled to make them in the first place.

Moira, through arcane means and/or her relationship with Kaleal the Centaur Druid, knew much of our adventures and current plight before Rowan said anything beyond what we all brought up in our first trip to her. She let us know that she knew Kytum-Up was a kobold (how his guise was penetrated I'm unsure), Rowan's death & rebirth into her current form, etc.

Since we were confirming firsthand what she'd already heard secondhand (or through arcane means or whatever) and offered her some new information of our own I do not feel our party owes her much of anything though she did confirm the presence of the tests, their number and titles, and an occasional tidbit about a specific test. The issue of the idols was *NEVER* brought up, nor was the exact location of the entrance to the tests or the kobold tribe's city. I think the information we gave her was a fair exchange for what she shared with us. If we decide to call it quits right there, I don't believe she'd be unhappy with what she's come away with.

On the other hand, if we are committed to bringing her new information with our next adventures in the tests, then I think she would be willing to make sure we have the means to acquire that information for her. 

Of everything that has been mentioned or is possible, I think Tieran's plan of using his magic to allow us to move down the rubble-filled stairs from the throne room to the tests in gaseous form is an idea well worth considering. For that we need six scrolls and I don't think any of us relish the idea of spending nearly another week here in Three Oaks or back in Eaglesford giving Tieran the time he needs to prepare them. To that end, I think it's worth bargaining with Moira and her wizard. We know what she wants, let's see if she can help us with what we want or think we need.

The worst case scenario I honestly feel will happen is that she says she's not interested. After all, she can scry on us and or likely take anything we have if she really wants it already. I think her motives are pretty straightforward, really, all things considered: she's after secrets (as so many Tinelans are). What she does with those she has we can't begin to know or control, so why worry?

**********************
_From the Journal of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_


> So, arguments completed, we asked Moira and Logan if they could provide us with two scrolls of Gaseous Form, while Tieran would scribe an additional four, prolonging our stay by a few days, but allowing us to make a clever plan that can not possibly fail to get us into Alder’s Look unmolested!
> 
> During the last four days of our stay, I spent some time brewing potions. Kefk and Mor’Elandi left a few days before the rest of us were ready, taking the supplies that Kytum-up had purchased for the Kobold tribe to them.


----------



## Gina

*Leaving Three Oaks*

*At Long Last We Leave Three Oaks
August 4th*
As we made our way to the city gates, I noticed a woman who seemed to be watching us. I tried to follow her, but she was deep in conversation with someone. I could swear that I had seen her before, but I may imagined it. In any case, we did not see her again as we set off on our journey. 

The road was busy near town, but as we moved farther from Three Oaks, traffic thinned out considerably. We walked, two aside, talking quietly among ourselves, enjoying being on the road again after nearly two weeks in town. 

Suddenly, Thaile rose straight into the air, shrieking! Before any of us could react, she was twenty feet above our heads! She rose high above our heads as we struggled to comprehend what was happening. 

Tieran, activating the orcish brooch, could see the creature. It was large, he said, human-shaped and it was lifting Thaile farther up. Up she went, thirty feet, thirty-five...it was hitting her as well. 

We stood helpless, hearing her screams but unable to do much about it. Tieran was the only one who could see anything, so he cast spells at it, but aside from blindly striking at it, there was little Kytum-up or I could do. 

As I cast produce flame and hit it by aiming close to where Thaile was held, another person moved into the fray. A tall young man with red hair, armored in chain mail, leaped from the top of the hedge, landing near us. 

Thaile had, by this time, recovered enough to try to escape. The creature allowed her to do so and she dropped forty or so feet to the ground with a sickening thud. The creature, Tieran informed us, had gone to the other side of the hedgerow and he could no longer see it. 

I moved through the hedge and was hit by it. Hard. 

It nearly killed me before I was able to get away, across the road and into the hedge on the other side. 

As I retreated (or rather, ran like a frightened rabbit), Kytum-up, Tieran, and the red-haired man were just topping the hedgerow. Tieran said that the creature was gone and they climbed down to where Thaile, having healed herself was doing the same for me, though I was in no mood to leave the relative safety of the hedgerow. 

Thaile said that the creature had spoken to her. It said “Tamen Arbroth”. None of us knew what it meant, but all of us knew that we didn't want to face that creature again. 

The red-haired man introduced himself as Torsten Longwood. We asked if he was related to the Longwoods who lived nearby and after a short conversation, we determined that he is Lissia’s older brother. He had until recently been at the front in the North, fighting the giants. 

We decided that a night at the Longwood’s was a good idea, since we had taken quite a beating already, so we began to walk toward the farm, Torsten along with us. 

As we walked, Torsten fell in beside me, asking if I was a priestess of Eliwyn. Odd question, but I answered him that yes, I am a Druid of Eliwyn. He waited until we were a good distance ahead of the others and asked the following question:

Is it right to save a child of a monster race of the parents have been slain by humans?

Can such a child be redeemed?

It was in that moment that I knew that Torsten and I are going to be great friends. 

I answered that, in my opinion, yes, it is right to save that child, since it is innocent of any wrong-doing. Killing such a child would do no one any good. 

All creatures with free will have the chance of redemption, in my opinion. I also told him that others likely would have differing opinions. 

His follow-up question was much harder to answer: Why do the “good” gods grant powers to clerics who perform evil deeds? 

I was unable to answer this one, thinking of Garrett, Kytum-up, and the slaughter of the non-warriors of the Goblin clan. 

I told him of this event, not mentioning any names, and he seemed unsurprised by it. In fact, he seemed as if he had seen all of this and more in his time in the North. I also told him that we had come across a tribe of creatures deemed evil by most who turned out to be very different indeed. About this time, I noticed Thip (Tieran’s bat) perched on my backpack, so he knew what we were speaking of. 

Torsten said that he had seen priests commit evil acts many times in the North. It had sickened him. 

We walked in silence a while, moving toward the farm and a quiet night’s sleep. Torsten was quiet, deep in thought, which seems to me unusual for a warrior, Riva not having been so given to introspection. 

As we drew closer, I bade Torsten ask his question of Thaile and Kytum-up. 

Thaile said that she did not know the answer to either question anymore. So much has changed and so many new questions have been raised since we set out on our quest for adventure. I think she preferred it when she believed that all of the answers were there for her in the church. 

Kytum-up looked distinctly uncomfortable at the question. I suspect he was thinking of his part in the killing of the goblins and perhaps of his own tribe. According to all we have ever been taught, all Kobolds are evil, yet his tribe is not, they have changed, been redeemed by their change of worship. 

After asking us to speak of it to no one, Torsten confided in us that he did rescue a giant child and that she is at the Longwood farm, being cared for by his family for now. Her name is Dagda. 

As we moved on, down the road to the Longwood’s, Torsten stopped us. A two person blind was nearly concealed in a tree, two archers ready to loose arrows upon us. They greeted Torsten and let us pass. Soon, we were at the still-unfinished palisade surrounding the farm. There seemed to be even more people than before, as if all of the local farm families were gathered here for protection.

If the farms do not produce, it will be a long winter indeed. Their crops will be in the fields, but if the orcs decide to destroy them or the farmers are unable to tend to the harvest, there will be starvation. 

The Longwoods greeted Torsten like the long-lost son he is. They were all happy to see him. We spent a quiet night and I got to meet Dagda. She is very like any human child I have ever known, just much, much larger. She does not know her own strength, but she is delightful. I played with her for a while in the evening before bed. 

Torsten’s father and Uncle James made ready a small house for Thaile and I to sleep in, not wanting us (delicate flowers of womanhood that we are) to have to sleep with men who might have less-than-honorable intentions. I pointed out to them that Kytum-up is not human (he looks to be halfling right now) and Tieran is a wizard (and we all know about wizards!). 

Still, both gave Torsten very stern looks before time to retire. I found it very amusing. I noticed him staring at Thaile tonight over dinner. How amusing.


----------



## Nail

I must admit, I really like how alot of the "personal stuff" has been able to come out. Rowan's tone of voice really comes through here.  (Can you imagine trying to bounce a baby giant on your lap?)

We didn't have much in the way of combat (the players were very business-like, and resolutely skipped as many side-tracks as they could).  Plenty of Q&A though - and perhaps some problems and mysteries are a bit clearer.  There's still plenty of in-character discoveries left - secrets revealed, connections made...that sort of dreck - that should provide suitable enjoyment.

Our group is in summer hiatus now.  We just finished several weeks of once-a-week gaming nights, but now we'll have to suffer through roughly a month without.  I'm out of town for the next two or three weeks myself.  Have a good July, everyone!


----------



## Gina

*On the road again....*

*August 2*
Night passed without incident. After a hearty breakfast, we were off, moving again toward Eaglesford. 

We were making good time, travelling along the road quickly and with little conversation when we heard a horse coming. It was moving fast and would be upon us soon. 

The others moved off the trail, not wanting to be run over. I stood at the edge of the path, ready to jump away if need be. The horse galloped into view, a man in the uniform of the Legions stretched low over the horse’s neck. I stepped out, hailing him. 

The horse stopped. The man did not. 

SMACK! Right into a tree, head first. 

I calmed the horse, as Thaile tended to the now unconscious soldier. He had two orcish arrows stuck in his back as well as a brand new head injury. 

Thaile healed him and he came awake with a shout about orcs and an ambush. 

It took a few moments to get a somewhat coherent story from him, but it seems that there was an ambush, “hundreds” of orcs attacking ahead about half a mile, maybe more. He was bound for Three Oaks to get more help. 

He remounted and rode fast toward Three Oaks. We moved forward, to see if we could aid his comrades in their battle, hoping that hundreds was an exaggeration. 

We heard the battle before we saw it. We moved into the underbrush to gain a bit of cover as we heard the battle. We moved closer and were able to see orcs coming toward us. 

We could see several ogres, the big, scary creatures. I took the time to make my self larger and stronger. Made my quarterstaff magical as well as taking a moment to call lightning too. It took a while, but finally, I was large and ready for battle not taking any chances this time. I seem to have become more cautious of late.

Torsten had already rushed into battle and Tieran was using spells to great advantage, tossing a fireball at a group of orcs who drew bows on us. 

Thaile summoned some spiders which took care of one orc handily, then she pulled out her trusty crossbow which allows her to fight from a  distance. 

The orcs and ogres holding the legionnaires were not moving toward us, in fact, they seemed to be toying with the soldiers until we drew closer at which point they began working on killing them rather more seriously. 

I moved into combat as well, using my quarterstaff and lightning. Torsten fights with a strange weapon, a two headed hooked hammer. He says it is gnomish, but I have never seen a gnome big enough to wield the one he has. 

After a while, dead orcs and ogres littered the area and three of the four legionnaires were dead. We had vanquished our foes, but too slowly to save those who needed our assistance. 

We paused a moment to gather our thoughts as Thaile and Torsten prepared to loot the bodies of the fallen orcs.


----------



## DrSpunj

Well, at least now I know what kept you guys busy up the road. I thought you were just being lazy and/or sleeping in pretty late given how far I had to come back to find you.  

Nice job, *Gina*!

DrSpunj


----------



## Gina

*Q: How many Orcs can there possibly be? A: A lot.*

*August 2nd * 
We had paused a moment to gather our thoughts as Thaile and Torsten prepared to loot the bodies of the fallen orcs.  

The surviving Legionnaire’s name was Larissa. She was badly injured, so I healed her while the others moved toward the bodies of the slain orcs. 

Our moment was indeed just that though, I had scarcely had time to cast a healing spell on Larissa when we heard running feet and a familiar voice calling “Keep running!”. 

Moving to the road Torsten and I saw Mor’Elandi and two legionnaires running toward us, fast, pursued by four more orcs. 

Mor’Elandi and the soldiers ran right past us, stopping somewhere behind Torsten and me, in the brush. The orcs charged up to attack us. 

Backed up by our archers and Tieran’s spells, Torsten and I acquitted ourselves well in the battle, and soon these four orcs were dead as well. 

We left Kytum-up with the three Legionnaires while the rest of us moved up the road to see the aftermath of the battle Mor’Elandi told of about. 

It was a scene of carnage. 

Twenty or thirty bodies lay around the clearing where they had been ambushed. After a few moments, we realized that these were the very same soldiers who had left the Longwood’s not far ahead of us. All of the bodies had been stripped of valuables, weapons, and armor. A few dead horses lay about as well. 

After a quick search, we realized that the Captain and the Wizard were gone. The clerics who had traveled with the patrol were dead and all were accounted for except the Captain and Wizard. We assumed that they were taken by the orcs for some purpose.

Mor’Elandi found a trail indicating which way the orcs had gone, but after a bit of debate, we decided that we needed to get the soldiers to the Longwood’s and take care of the bodies before following the trail. 

The dead orcs were all of the Bloody Spear clan. They are ranging farther from Alder’s Look, moving closer to Three Oaks. 

Either there are many more of them than we thought or Alder’s Look will be sparsely defended with their forces so divided. The former would be very bad, the latter, very good for our mission. 

We divided the bodies into two groups, orcs and humans for burning. Burning the bodies took a long time and by the time we were finished the forest was beginning to fade into the semidarkness of late afternoon, orange sunlight filtering through the trees. 

The forest is truly beautiful at this time of day and I would normally have taken time to admire it, but this day, I worried more about reaching the farm before another attack. 

So, we moved as rapidly as we could manage toward the Longwood farm. Torsten and Kytum-up took the lead this time and led our little column resolutely toward our destination. 

Suddenly, we spotted an orc standing at attention on the side of the road, partially hidden in brush. He did not seem to have noticed us yet. 

Kytum-up moved to the side as Torsten charged forward. Both came to a sudden and awkward stop. We all paused, unable to see anything that might have stopped them.  

After a moment, we realized that the reason for the sudden stop was that they had both run directly into the web of a big spider. 

A second later, we noted that the big spider was home and seemed to think Torsten a tastier meal than Kytum-up, since it chose him to bite first. He let out a cry as the spider bit him, then, working his way out of the web, Torsten killed it. 

We cut Kytum-up out of the web. His dignity seemed wounded but he was otherwise intact. Torsten required a bit of healing, but was mostly fine. The orc ahead had not moved at all. 

We moved forward, cautiously, and found that he was dead, probably killed by the spider, held in place by the web wrapped around his body. He was, as the other orcs had been, of the Bloody Spear clan. 

We arrived at the farm at nightfall. We set up our watches, prepared to set out in the morning to seek the Captain and Wizard from the legion. 

During second watch, a commotion was heard at the gate. Thaile and Mor’Elandi were on watch at the time. 

A farmer burst into the compound, injured, screaming that his wife had been taken by orcs. He was hysterical.

Mor’Elandi thought to calm him by smacking him. 

Thaile helped by joining Mor’Elandi and together they chased the hysterical, wounded man around the compound for quite some time, two of the farm boys joining in to subdue him. 

Eventually, they subdued the farmer and upon rendering him unconscious took him to one of the bedrooms and tied him to the bed. 

When I asked them later why they had chased him, their answer was that he wouldn't answer their quesitons and they were trying to "calm him down". I am continually amazed at the clear thinking and wisdom of those around me. 

Having awakened enough to see the last of the “fight”, I took over from there, tending to his wounds and untying the poor man. He awakened an hour or so later and was able to tell me a little about what had happened. 

He and his wife were asleep in their house. They had been warned to leave, but had chosen to stay. The orcs had come and taken his wife. He had tried to stop them, but had been wounded in the process and had then come for help. He then told me of being attacked by “crazy people” upon his arrival here. 

I gave him my word that we would recover his wife for him, backed up by Thaile who came in to check on him. He wasn’t all that happy to see her, and given the circumstances, I understood why. 

We all went back to sleep, getting a little rest before first light.


----------



## Gina

*Rescuing the Farmer's Wife*

*August 3rd*
Morning and again we were at the Longwood’s. Again, we were to be delayed in moving on toward Eaglesford and then Alder’s Look. Still, after a bit of discussion, we realized that we all were of one mind. The farmer’s wife DID need to be rescued and we were the only ones up to the task right now. 

So, we went to Jeren Elgon’s farm, leaving its owner in the care of Torsten’s mother and aunts. 

On our way to the farm, Thaile and Tieran noticed something odd about Mor’Elandi. He had a distortion of some sort above his head. After a few moments (during which none of US could see whatever they were discussing) they determined that it was a scrying sensor. Someone was watching us. 

Mor’Elandi was singularly unconcerned and pointed out that there was little we could do about it in any case. So, we moved on toward the farm where Mor’Elandi could pick up the trail of the orcs. 

He did pick up the trail in short order, determining that there had been five or six regular orcs, two or three ogres, and a few bugbears, but no more than three. They had taken many things from the house and the largest of the group had left carrying the woman, most likely. 

So, knowing that they had a good start on us, we moved on, following the trail. As we moved on we paused occasionally to let Mor’Elandi ensure that we were following the trail accurately. 

We felt that we were getting close, when out of nowhere, I felt a tremendous whoosh of wind hit me. It staggered me, doing a lot of damage in one strike! 

Tieran activated the orcish brooch and helpfully informed us that our windy friend was back. Lovely. 

I moved away and it hit me again. Between us, we managed to drive it off again. Well, more accurately, I looked for a place to hide while the others drove it off. 

After it was gone, we worked on getting me healed again and discussed the creature. It had said nothing to me, but then, it WAS pretty busy trying to reduce my new body to a paste. 

We wondered though if it is a wandering creature or if it has been summoned. We came to no conclusions and moved on, feeling an urgency to complete this mission before moving on. 

As we moved, we noted a few corpse ravens circling in the sky, very high. There were only two to be seen though and they were quite far away. 

Mor’Elandi moved forward, ahead of us to scout. He found the orcish raiders, about 300 yards ahead, camped in a clearing. He could hear them talking and laughing. 

Mor'Elandi gave us a description of where they were and a general layout of the camp after we moved back to prepare ourselves for battle. 

I gave myself and Torsten each a Bull’s Strength spell, then gave myself a call lightning and a magic whacking stick, deciding to wait to enlarge until we were closer to the fight. 

Then, we began to sneak toward the encampment. We managed to get pretty close before we were noticed by one of their patrols. 

Mor’Elandi threw out an Entangle spell, while I sent a Briar Web to another small group of them. Tieran augmented the Briar Web with a Black Tenticles spell, effectively taking three of the orcs out of the battle. 

Torsten rushed in to engage the two enormous ogres. One of them began singing as he moved toward the fray. 

A singing ogre, well, that was JUST what we needed to make our day complete! 

Mor’Elandi and Thaile set themselves up to pick the orcs off with arrows. Torsten had rushed into battle with the two ogres, one of the guards was moving toward Tieran who was off by himself somewhere in the back and I was moving forward, preparing to move into battle. Kytum-up moved forward to engage the patrolling orc, intercepting him before he got too close to Tieran.  

Tieran got the two large ogres and part of the tent in a fireball. A moment later, the singing mercifully stopped as Torsten took down the orcish bard. 

The other was still there though and he looked injured, but still menacing. He took a lightning bolt and looked a little worse after that. 

The flap of the now-burning tent opened and a dog came running out. It looked rather fiendish and it went straight for Mor’Elandi, but was unable to attack him as he had the foresight to have a Protection from Evil active upon himself. So, the dog followed him, snapping and snarling, but unable to attack. 

The large ogre was hard to take down and it took some time. During the battle, once things were under control, I espied a figure exiting the tent, carrying a human shaped bundle. It was the farmer’s wife, still struggling feebly. 

I moved closer, being able to move through the forest more easily than the others and nearly caught up to him. He kept running, I pursued, reaching him and whacking him a good one. He dropped the woman and tried to flee. Lightning bolts dropped him soon enough. 

The woman was injured and had been abused most horribly. The orcs had raped her, repeatedly it seemed. As I looked at her, I understood more than I had before why Reena’s mother cannot bear to look at her. The poor woman’s clothing was in tatters, most of it gone. 

I pulled out some clothing for her to dress in as Thaile and Mor’Elandi arrived to help tend to her, the rest of the orcs dispatched. Her eyes were awful to look at, quiet sobbing the only sound she made. 

We burned the orc bodies and got the farmer’s wife and ourselves healed as much as we could. I wonder at her mental state, she doesn’t speak, doesn’t seem to react to anything. I worry about her and what will happen to her. I feel terribly sorry for her and her ordeal. If we had gone after her last night, perhaps we might have saved her this horror. 

We traveled back to the Longwood’s, intending to go on to Eaglesford the next day. 

When we arrived at the farm, Thaile stayed with the woman and I went to speak to her husband, trying to explain what had happened to her, asking that he be gentle and patient with her. When she went to him, he patted her awkwardly. 

I still fear for her sanity. I wish there was something I could do for her. 

That evening, we saw corpse ravens flying above. None were directly above the farm. James Longwood thinks that they were near Keproc. I wonder if Keproc is part of the “Orcish Homeland”.


----------



## Videssian

Torsten thinks back on his recent past.. the events which had so changed his life and caused him to end up the company of this diverse group of folk..



They had come with overwhelming force, in the middle of the night, using their huge
greatswords like threshing scythes, cutting down groggy soldiers like ripe wheat.  They
had used magic; they had appeared inside the stockade walls, everywhere at once.  The
battle, such as it was, was decided in a few moments.

You came to the next morning, tended by an elvish matriarch of Morwyn, only one of her
gentle eyes visible behind her own bandages. Around her lay the survivors of the giantish
raid, including the Captain.  The Captain's face was a mask of grief, anger, and shame.
He was unwounded.  You, too, felt the shame of it.

The next day, the Captain brought the survivors together. His words were brief,
but charged with rightous anger.  We will not be taken so easily, he said.  We will
not be defeated by these ogres, he said. We will make them pay, he said.

Days later, you and your fellow troops were overlooking a cave, deep in the north
country, far from the battle lines. The Captain had lead you here; no Legionnaire
general had given the order.  This was the Captain's fight, not some pansy Empire
general's.  The generals had ignored them, the Captain said, and now things had to be
taken into our own hands.

Your troop starts the raid early, before dawn....the Captain gives the order, and
you attack.  The cave's defence is light, and taken unawares.  Only after a string of
successes do you realize that you are raiding a cave that giantish families
(women and children) have been hidden. There are no giantish warriors here.  This is not
a military victory; this is a punative slaughter.

The women and children fought bravely, but your troop over came them.  You (along with
the others) are ordered to "leave no survivors"; that would include murdering
those that had surrendered.  Most of the troops do just that, their hatred and anger
filling them.  Some of your fellow brothers-in-arms even smiled beautifically as they
covered themesleves and the dry ground with giant gore.

There was a small gianish child laying curled at your feet.  She was crying, and holding a
ragged cloth doll beneath her. You are angry at the giants, to be sure.....you
know them to be a cruel and viscious race...they are winning this war, and they
slaughtered your brothers-in-arms.....but you could not bring yourself to do it.  For
some reason, you put away your weapon, loisted the child (she's big!!), and slipped
out of the cave.  The girl-child offered no resistance.

You headed back to the the place of your own childhood - your parent's farm.  "The
captain will have noticed my absence", you mumble to the child in your arms, "but
will he assume that I was ambushed and thus dead? Or will he consider me a deserter? 

"Or even worse, did he see me take the giant child and so declare me an enemy?" 

Other dark thoughts skitter across your mind as you travel.  It's a long journey;
It's mid-July before you reach your father's home.  It has changed quite a bit...but
then again, so have you.

It doesn't take long to convince your parents to take in the Giantish child.  You hope
that years forward, if the child can be raised with kindness, perhaps he will not
have the savagery of his kin. Your mother agrees - but your Uncle does not.  Still, you
were able to pacify him with tales and stories from the north country. Besides, you said,
work that requires teams of oxen to do would be light work for an adult giant.....

"If we can hide her for long enough." mutters your uncle.


----------



## Nail

Good stuff, Videssian!

Torsten will be a fun character to watch.

For the gentle Reader: We've had a bit of a "summer vacation" for this group for the last 6 weeks.  Six Weeks of no gaming!   Aack!!  This Thursday we'll stop that horrifying trend.

Currently the party is at Greystone's....Gina's notes haven't quite caught up to that point....and at a significant decision point.  Do they check on their home town of Eaglesford, which would mean dealing with the besieged farmers and the legionaires, or do they skip it and move directly to Alderslook, hoping to take advantage of the orc's disarray?  

Alderslook holds the promise of an end to their self-accepted quest of returning the kobold's dragon idol.  Eaglesford would mean more battles with orcish raiders and their druidic Animal Masters.  Which to choose?

<DM shrug> I dunno which they'll take.  Only 3 days to prep!


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> Currently the party is at Greystone's....Gina's notes haven't quite caught up to that point....and at a significant decision point.  Do they check on their home town of Eaglesford, which would mean dealing with the besieged farmers and the legionaires, or do they skip it and move directly to Alderslook, hoping to take advantage of the orc's disarray?





Oh, gee...just looked at where I left off...I do have more notes done than that, just forgot to post them (d'oh!). 

Guess I should take a look then....(wanders off to look for her notes file.....)


----------



## Nail

Oh, you do?  Great!  Thanks!!

I'm doing my best to "read up" and get back in the game.  We missed all of July, right?  That one shot we did in the middle there has kinda confused me.  For awhile I was thinking "....and then mephit will.....oh, wait a minute: wrong PCs!"


----------



## Gina

*August 4th*
Morning came and we took to the road again. 

As we traveled, we noticed that all of the farms we passed were abandoned. In some fields crops grew, in others they had been burned. Some farmhouses stood, some were burned to the ground. All in all, it was most distressing. I become more and more worried about winter and how the people will feed themselves if there is no harvest this year. 

As we moved on we spotted a scattered group of orcs. They seemed to see us as well, becoming more alert preparing to rush us. 

I decided that this was a perfect time to try a spell I have recently mastered. I told the others to stand back and cast Spike Growth. Suddenly, as the orcs began to rush us, they discovered that they were slowed considerably by the intense pain in their legs and feet as they trod upon the spikes. 

Seeing what the orcs were experiencing, Torsten and Kytum-up decided to stay back and watch. The orcs never even reached us in this battle, finding themselves injured before they could get to us. Tieran caught several with a web/thunder ball combination while the rest were picked off by arrows and lightning. 

We moved on, after the orcs were dealt with and finally found ourselves crossing the stream that marks the edge of the Eaglesford area. Soon we came upon the path to Graystone’s new grove. Near the road, his bear crouched, waiting to attack any intruder. 

Luckily, he recognized us and led us to the small hut in the grove. The door was closed and strangely colored smoke drifting out of the chimney alerted us to Hara’s continued presence there. From the look of the area, Hara has pretty much taken over the hut, leaving Graystone to the outdoors, though there is another hut being built on the other side of the grove. 

We introduced Torsten to Graystone. He told Graystone about his dilemma and that the giants are winning in the North. Graystone seemed surprised that things were going as badly as Torsten indicated.

Graystone informed us that Reena is in town, helping with the defense. He also told us that the orcs recently raided the keep itself. They stole all of the healing potions Mrs. Wiggins had stored and did a great deal of damage to the stores, as well as killing several guards. The mill also burned down in this raid.

We told Graystone about the hiding place built under the Longwood’s farm. He was very suspicious about this, he knew that things were getting bad, but that indicates to him that things are much worse than he thought. He went on to say that when he last visited Kaleal Oakenstaff  he was rather taken aback with how badly things were going  generally, in the north. He had not realized, for instance, how many giant raids there had been.....nor how many of these giants are apparently spell casters.

"And now, with all the orc trouble around here.....although you all seem well-equipped to fight the orcs here in Eaglesford. Your victories seem easy, as you tell them. Perhaps you should stay nearby to help defend your hometown."

Our victories over the Orcs have not been easy exactly, though we have developed better tactics for dealing with them as we learned how they tend to attack. We also have found that it is better to engage them in small groups, separating them if possible, rather than taking them on in groups. We have also gotten extremely lucky. 

The hidey holes are very troubling to us as well, the fact that the one under the Longwood farm has been in use is especially troubling. Since there was a wall built in Eaglesford, possibly by the same spellcaster who put up the stockade at the Longwood's, there is likely a similar bolt-hole in Eaglesford. My father and brother might know if there is such a place, I told Graystone.

I also mentioned that Moira thought that the Giants had recently become better organized as well as my own observation that the legions seem to be more sparse than before. In Three Oaks, there were very young soldiers and very old ones, but few in between. The legions we met on the road were ill-prepared to deal with the orcs, most being killed, though it seems that they may be taking officers and spell-casters prisoner (only evidence of
this is the incident where the captain and the wizard were gone, carried off). 

Torsten interjected a comment that it is possible that the bolt-holes are being used by the officers and wizards of the Legions, that they would save themselves and leave their troops to die at the end of Orcish spears. I hope that is not true, but given other things he has told us, I cannot deny that it might be true. 

Staying nearby is an option, but I do believe that it is important to finish the tests. The orcs are sweeping territory faster than we thought they would and managing to do a lot of damage in the process. I believe that the end of the tests will find us in a better place to help out on a broader scale. Plus, now the orcs are spread out, if they range from Keproc to Alder's Look. We may never have a better chance to get back in. 

As it stands now, the Orcs will win, unless we can find an advantage. The tests may give us that. If they do not, well, eventually, the second orcish tribe will join the battle. We cannot hold out forever against them. I seriously doubt that there is even enough of a food store to last through winter with the farms abandoned. Before the end of winter, I think that either the Orcs will be defeated or we will. 

In the morning, we will talk again and decide what action we should take. Thaile is distracted, she seems as if something is weighing heavy on her mind, but then, we all have ponderous thoughts these days. The lives of so many may hinge on our actions, or not. At this point, we cannot be sure of anything. 

I miss being sure of what is right.


----------



## Nail

For those keeping score at home: The second orcish tribe Rowan writes about is called "Grinning Death" in orcish.  

Don't they sound friendly?

They're rumored to be camped in The Garesh, a narrow gap in the Easthills called by the locals "Cursed by Korak".  According to Greystone, the tribe probably is lead by a necromancer or two, and has a "Render".  

No word yet on what a "Render" is.....

So far the PCs have only been playing with the Bloody Spear tribe of orcs.  They've played "cat's cradle", "hopscotch", "tag",...they've even squeezed in a quick game of "capture the flag" with these playful Bloody Spear guys.

("flag" -- "farmer's wife"....ahhh, what's the difference....)


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> So far the PCs have only been playing with the Flaming Spear tribe of orcs.  They've played "cat's cradle", "hopscotch", "tag",...they've even squeezed in a quick game of "capture the flag" with these playful Flaming Spear guys.
> 
> ("flag" -- "farmer's wife"....ahhh, what's the difference....)




Um....Nail? 

According to my notes, the Orcish tribe is called the "Bloody Spear". 

Now who the heck are these Flaming Spear guys?


----------



## Nail

Gina said:
			
		

> Um....Nail?
> 
> According to my notes, the Orcish tribe is called the "Bloody Spear".
> 
> Now who the heck are these Flaming Spear guys?



Crap.  Fixed.

.....got the "Grinning Death" part right, though.


----------



## DrSpunj

Just thought I'd post (for those that are lurking) that last Wednesday's session brought another death. Though Rowan is high enough level to cast Reincarnate now, there were...difficulties...with that approach this time around.

You'll have to wait for the Story Hour update for more specifics as I was forced to leave the room for a time.

Thanks!

DrSpunj


----------



## Nail

....the really "kicker" was: this death was not of some trivial death.  It significantly shifts the direction of the campaign.  Not that any PC death is insignificant (example: Riva's death sucked too.), but that with this character gone, the entire gaming experience and flow of events will be different.

Moreover, the "death-causing bad guy" very nearly completely succeeded in his plans....something I had not expected to happen.   (Aww, come on you other DMs out there: do you ever _really_ expect your bad guys to succeed?)  Now that we've finished session #39, I'll have to go back and figure out how my NPCs will react to the almost complete success.

Cool!


----------



## Gina

*Coming Soon...*

I really want to know HOW these NPCs will react.....hmmmm....a hint perhaps?


----------



## Nail

...and I hope the "hint" isn't poorly taken!  An old friend of mine just emailed me to say my previous post seemed awfully harsh.  Sorry!  Not my intent.  

This last session just gave us all alot of changes to account for, DM and players alike.  That's sometimes expected...it's one of the outcomes that makes this game fun.


----------



## Nail

*Session #39: "It’s Been a Long Road Back"*

RL evening of Aug 19th, 2004

The meeting started with a summary of past events amongst the players and DM……..  Wow, has it been a while!  Fortunately, we were able to piece together the previous sessions, in no small part because Rowan’s player keeps good notes!  Thanks, *Gina*!

The PCs passed the night at Greystone’s (and Hara’s) hut, deep in the woods northwest of Eaglesford.  The next day they had decided they would head towards Alderslook, avoiding Eaglesford (and potential conscription into the Empire’s forces there). At last, they hoped to finish their mission to return the kobold’s dragon idol to it’s original resting place!



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the Journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> *August 5th *
> Morning found us all alive and ready to go.  How about that?
> 
> While we readied breakfast, Graystone shared some more information about Eaglesford.  There had been several orc attacks, including the one on the keep itself. A large Ogre (seemed to be called Turk by the orcs) had been instrumental in some recent attacks and is a fearsome and vicious foe.
> 
> There have been no attacks in the past two nights though we all expect that there will be more soon.
> 
> Mrs. Faegen, Mrs. Wiggins, and Reena arrived soon after breakfast, as we were preparing to leave. While we gathered our belongings, they discussed the local situation with Graystone. They mentioned several names as they spoke of forming a group to patrol the area around Eaglesford, to take more decisive and aggressive action against the orcs. Graystone mentioned that even Hara was joining their merry little band.
> 
> Hara’s response, shouted from inside the hut was, “I said no such thing! Damned inclusive Druids!”
> 
> I suspect that she will be joining them anyway. :
> 
> The others in Greystone’s group will be Duren Stonebeard’s twin sons (back from the dwarven kingdoms, I guess!),  Meloran Ennolad (the Captain’s younger brother, a tanner’s apprentice as I recall), and Mrs. Wiggins’ new apprentice rounds out the group. I haven’t met her yet.
> 
> I hope that they can do some damage to the orcs.
> 
> Mrs. Faegen suggested that we avoid Eaglesford proper. Seems the legions are, shall we say, aggressively recruiting. Or rather, taking any able bodied person they find and impressing them into the service of the Empire.
> 
> We went around Eaglesford, taking the long way through the forest. Eventually, we found ourselves at the river Liss with a problem. None of us can swim very well, particularly in armor. …So, Thaile cast a water walking spell on everyone but me. I became an eagle and flew above them, over the river. Corpse ravens flew overhead, but far away, at least for now and in fairly small numbers.
> 
> As we prepared to move down the road, toward Alder’s Look and our destiny, whatever that may be, Mor’Elandi saw something flying toward us. It was, he said, large.   The rest of us saw nothing, so we moved forward along the road, thinking we could make some good distance toward our goal before moving off the trail and being slowed by the undergrowth in the forest.
> 
> As we moved on, suddenly the creature Mor’Elandi has seen dived over the tree tops and attacked!  It was shaped like a dragon, but with no fore-limbs. Winged, flying, and pretty darned big.   It landed directly on Torsten.  I summoned a Dire Wolf, while Thaile and Kytum-up moved up to engage it.  It had Torsten pinned to the ground, but it was still able to attack Thaile as she rushed up to help! It injured Thaile pretty seriously and nearly killed Torsten before he managed to break free of the grapple (with my Dire Wolf’s help!).  By this time we had wounded it pretty badly (thanks to arrows from Mor’Elandi and magic from Tierna), so  it took to the air as soon as it was up, flying away from us.
> 
> The others told me to chase it. I suspect that they don’t recall what happened the last time I chased something by myself, but they were insistent, so I went after it. I tried to finish it off, but wasn’t able to hit it. I tried produce flame, but it turned out to be immune to fire. Not wanting to meet the “mommy” it was calling out to in Draconic, I decided that I should just get back to the others.
> 
> I stayed in Eagle form, not wanting to have to explain to them why I didn’t finish the thing off, as if it were that easy. I’d like to see how one of them does on their own and with no backup!
> We walked the rest of the day, actually, they walked, I flew. As we moved off the road and into the forest, we noticed that the corpse ravens were flying over the area we had been in. It looked as if they were searching for something, probably us.
> 
> So, we moved on, making camp in a small clearing at dusk. Thaile healed Torsten.  She healed herself a little bit too, but not completely; she assured us that she would be fine.
> 
> ************
> 
> It was second watch when it happened, after midnight, in the darkest time of the night.
> 
> Thaile and Torsten were on watch, the rest of us sleeping.
> 
> Torsten found himself suddenly lifted into the air, unable to speak while an unseen hand grasped at his throat, tearing the dragon eye brooch from his cloak. Thaile noticed that something was amiss a few seconds later, and shouted to awaken the rest of us as Torsten was dropped into a tree by the creature.
> 
> It picked Thaile up then, grabbing her, hoisting her high into the air, and spoiling the spell she was casting.
> 
> The rest of us woke up, and tried to help. Mor’Elandi picked up his bow and took a shot at the invisible creature…but he hit Thaile!  The creature kept lifting her higher and higher, she struggled, but was, as before, unable to break free.
> 
> I wildshaped into a leopard, while Tieran hit the creature with a Glitterdust spell. Suddenly, we were able to see it!  It was a large humanoid creature, made out of roiling masses of vapor.  It was squeezing Thaile now, and pummeling her. Tieran, Kytum-up, and Tieran shot it with arrows.   But some of the arrows kept hitting Thaile, even as the creature was hitting her!  I summoned lightning and hit it after it began to rise into the air….then one more squeeze, and Thaile was unconscious.
> 
> Mor’Elandi destroyed the creature with his next volley of arrows ….but at least one of them hit Thaile too.  As the creature disappeared, it dropped Thaile’s lifeless form 50 feet to the ground.  She landed with a horrible thud. I changed back into my own form, hoping against hope, and checked; Thaile was dead.
> *August 6th*
> 
> Tieran informed us that he had figured out what the creature was. It was not, as he had suggested before, an elemental, but rather a creature called an Invisible Stalker, often used for a specific task by an evil summoner.  It would either seek something specific or follow an instruction. He also said that he thinks that we killed it.
> 
> Mor’Elandi recalled that it had spoken before it died, saying to Thaile, “I must take you to Tammon Erbroth.” It repeated this phrase several times and the name again: “Tammon Erbroth” before it expired.
> 
> Great. More enemies. We don’t even know who or what this one is and Thaile is dead. The creature always attacked her first, so our guess is that it was after her. If only we knew why.
> 
> We divided what she had been carrying among ourselves, preparing her body for burning. I thought about it for a time and decided that she would want to return to us;  and, more to the point, I could not bear the thought of her not returning. If only she had healed herself after the battle with the dragon-thing, she might have survived this attack.
> 
> We burned her body, keeping a lock of her hair to aid in her rebirth.
> 
> As dawn broke, we were discussing how to proceed. We determined that we should get Thaile’s rebirth started as soon as possible. I was pretty sure that we could find what I needed to perform the ritual in the forest, so with instructions to the others as to what we were looking for, we headed off in different directions to locate the necessary components.
> 
> We met back at our camp at mid-afternoon. We had all we needed (and then some) to complete the ritual to reincarnate Thaile.
> 
> The others stood in a circle and I prepared my casting, setting out the herbs and the lock of Thaile’s hair. As I began to cast, I heard or felt, I am still not sure which it was, the Great Voice.
> 
> “Aldersborn, what you wish to do may be done when the time is right.”
> 
> I was also somehow aware that Thaile’s spirit was not ready yet. I suppose it was a great shock to her, being a cleric and all. Death is not what she expected, if it is anything like mine was. Still, it is comforting to know that in this place, the earth of Alder’s Look, the ritual need not be done within a week.
> 
> I guess it is the “place of beginnings” for a reason.
> 
> I stopped the Ritual and told the others that Thaile is not yet ready, but we can do the ritual anytime as long as we are here, at Alder’s Look. They looked at me strangely, but accepted it easily enough.
> 
> We moved on a bit, making a cold camp at dusk. We were all rather somber, having lost another of our number. For Tieran and me, I think it was the worst though. We have known Thaile for nearly all of our lives. She was our voice of reason, the one who often stopped Riva’s frequent headlong plunges into disaster both as children and later as adults.
> 
> Riva. It occurs to me that I could still bring Riva back, I believe that since he died here, as long as we are here, I can bring him back, if I wish to. I haven’t a part of his body, but I don’t recall that we burned his remains, so we might be able to....ah, too much to think of tonight. I must try to get some sleep now that my watch is over. Time to wake Torsten.
> 
> *August 7th*
> Morning came, the skies overcast, reflecting our mood, we moved on toward Alder’s Look.
> 
> I cast a Camouflage spell that covered all of us and we moved toward the ancient fortress. Actually, it went pretty well, we were not seen, nothing chased or tried to kill us as we approached the keep.
> 
> We passed the rubble field of the destroyed tower and moved into the courtyard. There were freshly killed orc bodies, bloody and broken littering the area. Someone had done our work for us, but who?
> 
> We moved into the tower where the entrance to the areas below awaited and we froze at the sound of voices, moving up the stairs above us. Two voices in goblin, speaking of “finding” someone or something. We didn’t stick around to find out what they were talking about, we simply moved toward our goal.
> 
> The hole in the floor was still there, open. Down we went, moving cautiously toward the Intersection of Death. No one was there. Our footsteps and the soft rattling of our equipment as we moved sounded incredibly loud as we moved through the deserted corridor.
> 
> We passed the alcove where the huge ballista had been hidden behind a red silk curtain and moved to the next alcove. We moved slowly, cautiously, expecting to be ambushed at any moment. The corridor to the stairs was dark and silent. I recall seeing Calableed sneaking up on Garret there, at the end of the corridor. Only the dragon’s eye brooch allowed me to warn him.
> 
> The stairs were also quiet, turning corner after corner as we descended them, I recalled our chase down them and then our retreat back up after being routed by the goblins in the chamber below. We were nearly killed in that first battle with Calableed’s main force.
> 
> The large room at the base of the stairs was deserted as the rest of the keep had been. We moved on to the room the goblins had called the “Orcish Baths”. The stone that had blocked Zook’s laboratory was rolled aside, revealing the doorway. To the right lay the doorway to the throne room and beyond to the Kobold kingdom and the tests.
> 
> In the doorway to the throne room there were pieces of....something. Trolls. Three of them, lay in chunks of various sizes. We wondered why they did not regenerate. Tieran thought it had something to do with the amount of damage that had been done to them. Mor’Elandi disagreed and they bickered for a time before deciding that it didn’t’ really matter anymore, dead trolls are dead trolls. There was also a lone dead orc lying on the pile of rubble.
> 
> We were at the doorway. We could use our scrolls of Gaseous Form and go down to the tests, or we could clear the rubble, replacing it behind us as we had done before.
> 
> We decided to work on the rubble, since we were alone, saving the scrolls in case we needed to make a quick get away. Of course, how fast can it really be if Tieran needs to read each scroll over one of us before he can escape?
> 
> Oh well, we cleared the rubble, replacing it carefully behind us.
> 
> It was very easy to get down here. That worries me.




End of Session #39!


----------



## Nail

***A Happening Some Days Ago***

A dark chamber, made of stone.  Its blocks cunningly arranged into geometric patterns.  A smooth floor, newly polished, with a silver and iron pentagram inlaid into it.  Braziers of brass are lit at each corner, red smoke seeping out of each into the still air.  Heavy air lingers in the corners.

A man speaks.

“Come forth, my servant!  Come forth and do my bidding.  There is someone I seek, and I call you here to find her!”

The air stirs in the center of the chamber.  A small rip in the fabric of existence opens for a moment, and out of it rushes a blast of wind.  The wind rushes around the inside of the pentagram for a moment, then stills to near-nothingness.

The summoned creature whispers.

“I will do….. what you ask, ….if your payment ……is fair…….”

The man speaks, “You see it there before you.  More than fair.”  

The man adjusts his robes for a moment, as the wind creature whirls around the treasure laid out on the floor.  There is a pause….. then both, for the moment, are still.

The man speaks again, “Here is what you will do:  Find the young human woman called Thaile; there on the floor are some aids to help you indentify her.  She has left Three Oaks this morning, and is traveling to Eaglesford on the main road.  Find this woman, and kill her.”

The man pauses, as he tries to hide his smile.  A moment later, composed, he continues, “Then bring her body, and all of her belongings to this spot.  Let no one see you enter here.”

The wind-creature speaks, “So it shall be done…..”


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> ...and I hope the "hint" isn't poorly taken!  An old friend of mine just emailed me to say my previous post seemed awfully harsh.  Sorry!  Not my intent.
> 
> This last session just gave us all alot of changes to account for, DM and players alike.  That's sometimes expected...it's one of the outcomes that makes this game fun.




No, just made me even more insanely curious than usual. 

Now we have even MORE questions that we need to find the answers to!!!

I didn't think it was harsh at all, but I did think it was funny that we spoiled your plans a little bit (slightly-evil grin).


----------



## Nail

Gina said:
			
		

> ... but I did think it was funny that we spoiled your plans a little bit (slightly-evil grin).



Excellent.

As an aside, and (I know its hard to believe) completely unrelated to the happenings of the previous session:

Thaile's player has just started a new (exciting) job, and its timeschedule doesn't match with our playing schedule.  (DrSpunj had a similar problem, but we are able to work around it.)  We've known about this for a month or so, and we all knew this would be the last time Thaile's player played with us...at least for a while.  Going into the meeting, all of us (myself included) thought we'd probably have to have Thaile leave the party to "go visit mom", or some such.

Needless to say, we no longer have that side trek to figure into the plot.

All of us hope that Thaile's player can rejoin us ASAP.  Thanks for gaming with us!


----------



## Flik

*Ok, so I'm dead....*

It has been a long time since I have read the board.. .however, I guess this will be my main link to the group for a while...

WHO WANTS MY BODY/STUFF?!!?!?!?! There are so many questions.... all I want are answers  IS that so much to ask?!?!!?


----------



## DrSpunj

Flik said:
			
		

> WHO WANTS MY BODY/STUFF?!!?!?!?!




Hmm. If past behavior is any indication I'd say Tieran is the one most likely to lay claim to your body (or at least parts of it!). Eewww. 

As for your stuff, we didn't really divvy everything up, did we? I think Torsten took Calableed's Armor, and Kytum-Up already had the circlet. What else did Thaile have?


----------



## Gina

DrSpunj said:
			
		

> Hmm. If past behavior is any indication I'd say Tieran is the one most likely to lay claim to your body (or at least parts of it!). Eewww.
> 
> As for your stuff, we didn't really divvy everything up, did we? I think Torsten took Calableed's Armor, and Kytum-Up already had the circlet. What else did Thaile have?





First. EWWWW No, we burned her body as per her religious beliefs. Tieran may have been eying it, but Rowan didn't let him touch her!

Now....the other stuff.....

Calableed's armor and the amulet of health +4 Torsten laid claim to....

Tieran snatched the Handy Haversack, with all contents. Though we will have to decide what we need to reallocate. 

Thaile's personal stuff is in the haversack, waiting for her eventual return. She's just not ready yet. No, not ready at all. 

When we DO reincarnate her....wonder what she'll come back as...so many possible forms!


----------



## Gina

This space intentionally left blank


----------



## Gina

Flik said:
			
		

> WHO WANTS MY BODY/STUFF?!!?!?!?! There are so many questions.... all I want are answers  IS that so much to ask?!?!!?




You know, I want to know that too....I also suspect that at least one of us should have rolled better as we were leaving Three Oaks...

Interesting that it was Thaile and her stuff personally they wanted. I am thinking someone from one of the temples! But that's just me. 

Filk, at least you know that Thaile is following us and will see all that happens!


----------



## Nail

Gina said:
			
		

> You know, I want to know that too....I also suspect that at least one of us should have rolled better as we were leaving Three Oaks...




Ah well...Sense Motive checks can be a real bear.......


----------



## Flik

*Wanted Dead or Alive...*

So does anyone have ANY guess as to who Tamon Erbroth is??


----------



## Gina

Flik said:
			
		

> So does anyone have ANY guess as to who Tamon Erbroth is??




Maybe the true name of one of the Great Church Bigwigs? 

I don't know, but we are definitely gonna try to find out eventually!

Heck, Thaile will need to come back to mete our her revenge!


----------



## Nail

....my heart skipped a beat, reading those last two posts.....  I need to read more carefully on my first run-through before I assume I know what they wrote.


----------



## Nail

Great session last night, guys!  That last combat was quite a doozy.....


----------



## Nail

*while Gina is busy typing up the notes......*

*Memorandum*
*To:* All employees of Big Bad Monsters, Inc.
*CC:* DM
*From:* Aereckea'Raith-Morden, President & BBEG of Big Bad Monsters, Inc.
*Date:* 9/17/2004

*Re:*Tieran’s magic capabilities

It has come to our attention that the tasty human wizard in the party from Eaglesford has learned a new spell.  While not normally a concern to us, due to our tremendous size, invincible armor class, and hefty elemental resistances, this new magic must cause us to re-evaluate our overall combat synergies and strategies.

Apparently this puny human (see recipe, p. 23a, How to Cook Adventurers) has learned how to make himself or his tasty comrades invisible, even as they try to poke us with their pathetic farm implements.  This could be troublesome, as normally this invisibilty doesn't last after they try to poke us once.  This new spell that we will be "seeing" (for lack of a better term) might even last over a minute - long enough for them to cause trouble.  I believe the wyvern mother said it best: "More trouble than a gang of pixies with a roll of scotch tape!"

We propose that we draft a statement demanding that this new "Greater Invisibility" spell is unfair, and send this to the DM (Lord of Plots).  Surely he will realize that such magic cannot be allowed.  It makes these human pip-squeeks too powerful....and decidedly more difficult to crunch.

Therefore, please begin the draft process.  Those without opposable thumbs should write by dictation (not to be confused with disection).  Initial drafts will be expected by monday next.  In the interim, please brush up on the skill "sniffing out weasel-ly humaniods you can't see".


----------



## Nail

*the beginning of the middle.....*

*Session #40: "Back to the Tests of the Gods"*

RL evening of Sept. 1st, 2004

At last!   --> back to a regular meeting schedule of every other week.  Summers can play havoc with gaming.  

Last session ended with a PC death: Thaile, one of the last of the original party.  (FYI: Only Tieran remains from that original group. 3 deaths, 2 character changes)  The surviving adventurers decided not to reincarnate her; her spirit seemed too troubled to accept the offer.  Perhaps later.

Now the party had entered the ancient ruins of Alderslook, and had burrowed down to the “Test of the Gods”.  Muluka-kip had first called it that, almost 3 months ago, when he had asked the adventurers to return the dragon idol to the once-homeland of the kobolds.  Now Kytum-up, holy warrior of the strange kobold god Kikkit, carried the idol, accompanied by the Eaglesford adventurers.

The adventurers had been here before.  Some weeks ago they had passed through the “tests” first stages: the Mysteries of Purpose, Purity, and Patience.  They had left only for a “quick supply run” – and ended up spending over a month fighting orcs and other villians.  Two of their number, Thaile and Rowan, had been killed, and one had left (Kefk) while another joined (Torsten).

It was a different group that walked down the broad stairs towards the Mystery of Infinity.  Sythia, the ghostly naga guide of Alderslook, waited for them.

“I am happy that you have returned, initiate.  It shows strength of spirit to return after so long a time.”  Slythia’s voice sounded warm, despite its ghostly ring.

“What is that!” muttered Torsten, looking at the large ghostly snake (with an attractive humanoid female head!) that blocked their path.  His hands tensed on the adamantine hooked hammer he carried.

“Oh.  Right.  Sorry about that, Torsten!” Rowan stepped between the two.  “Torsten, this is Slythia, the Guide of Initiates here in....err...the Test of the Gods.   Uhmm,...we didn’t tell you about the tests either, did we?”  Rowan smiled meekly.

“You did,” replied Torsten, his grip relaxing slightly.

Rowan nodded, then her face brightened.  “Why don’t you ask Slythia the question you’ve been asking each of us?  Maybe she’ll have a new answer for you.”

“Sure,” said Torsten, as Mor’Elandi audibly sighed and sat down noisily on the stairs behind them.  “My question is kinda complicated...its something I’ve been thinking about for awhile....and I’ve asked all sort of holy people what they’ve thought about it.....okay, here it is: ‘Is it right to save a child of a monster race if the parents have been slain by humans?’”  Torsten looked up at the naga’s humanoid face expectantly.

“What a strange question,” mused Sylthia, laughing lightly. “There are no monster races.  Why ask such a question?”

“Uhm..” Torsten’s face creased with a thoughtful frown.  “No monster races, you say?  You see, monster races are those that are not of the Tree.  You know, the Tree of Life.”

Slythia looked confused, “I don’t know what tree you might be talking about.  You and your kind did not come from a tree, nor did any of the others I see here....”

Rowan broke in, and explained that the Tree of Life’s name was Eliwyn, and that the five mortal races came from the fruits of the tree: humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings.  All other races were not the blessed of the Gods.

Slythia’s laughter tinkled like wind-chimes as she heard this.  “This is a good story that you tell.  But as I’m sure you must know, it is not the truth.  This place in which you live was built by the creator.  It is he that made all things...these gods that you speak of certainly did not.  The creator is the reason we are all here, and it because of him that these mysteries you now explore exist.”  Slythia shook her ghostly tresses in confusion, “I do not understand how such strange stories can exist.”

A moment of silence passed, and Rowan could be seen nodding her head with a half smile across her face.



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the Journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> *August 7th *
> 
> We’ve finally got a chance to talk with Slythia again, and now I’m as convinced as ever that the Gods are not to be trusted.
> 
> After Slythia answered Torsten’s question, lots of other ones came to me.  Is this Creator the Kobolds’ Kikkut?  Is the Creator the Nameless One, the god from whom all the others are supposed to have come? Perhaps so, since this is the place of beginnings. That would mean that the “Old Ones” might even be the gods we ourselves worship, since they came before even the Div. But then, what do I know of religion. How I wish we had Thaile here to help us unravel this mess.
> 
> Eventually Torsten asked Slythia how priests who do evil keep their powers.
> 
> Again, the naga seemed confused, and declared that she doesn’t like this church that we speak of. Humans seem to have made a mess of things since the last initiate passed through, according to her. She worries about the humans.
> 
> After a while of talking with her, I remembered that I needed something and excused myself.  I ran back up the stairs to the maze section from the Mystery of Purpose.  I knew we had left Riva’s body in our little hidey hole. He smells much worse in death than he did in life. I cut off a chunk of his beard and tucked it into a belt pouch and got out of there as soon as I could. I think that I can still reincarnate him.....maybe I’ll give it a try, sometime.
> 
> We talked to Sylthia for a little while longer, then we moved on toward the Mystery of Endlessness. As usual, Slithia was shocked to see the rubble choking the entrance to the test. She, of course, demanded that we remove it, because it “should not be there”.  I don’t like this “not noticing” thing of hers too much.  She didn’t notice the entrance was collapsed before we got here?  Hello?
> 
> I went into bear form and Mor’Elandi and Tieran attached the rope harness to me and we began moving rocks. It took a long time.
> 
> After a short stretch, we found a doorway of sorts. It was a stone door-frame fitted right into the corridor; the corridor continued beyond, filled with rubble.  Tieran called it a “threshold”.  Okay....  We took care not to go through it until after someone examined it. Then we figured Torsten should go first, he is, after all, the warrior.
> 
> Tieran, Mor’Elandi, and I looked together at the runes on the doorway, determining that it has something to do with planar travel. Tieran did a detect magic on it and decided that was a really bad idea. Very powerful magic. He had quite a headache after that. I was less than helpful until I turned back into myself, seems that they still don’t get what I am trying to tell them when I’m in animal form.
> 
> Torsten stepped through the doorway and we could still see him on the other side. He stepped back and we figured it was fairly safe for the rest of us. So, we moved to the other side of the doorway and cleared the rest of the rubble. It was all pretty small stuff and went quickly.
> 
> As we moved the last big one out of the way and stood for a moment to catch our breath, suddenly something leaped out from behind the last of the rubble! It was a strange looking thing, definitely unique. It was babbling and shrieking and then it bit me, twice before anyone could react!
> 
> Mor’Elandi readied an arrow, but was unable to get a shot off with the narrow corridor and so many people between him and the creature. Tieran used a magic missile, to avoid all that “people in the way” nonsense. His missiles slammed into it, but it still attacked me. Torsten stood behind me and was unable to do anything until I moved out of his way, but Kytum-up took a shot with his crossbow and the creature crumpled.
> 
> We dragged the corpse out to show Slythia and asked her if it belongs here.
> 
> Slythia helpfully told us that the creature is called a “Chaoskin” and is made of chaos. Oh, and it, like the rock, the steam wenches, and many other things, should not be here. She was pretty indignant about the whole thing, but then, she seems pretty particular about what is allowed down here and what is not.
> 
> The thing looked like it was made out of parts left over from several creatures, a clawed paw on one hand, a pincer on the other, weird furry patches. Very strange and very unnatural.
> 
> We went back into the hallway of the Mystery of Endlessness, through the magical threshold, along another short hall section we had cleared of rubble, and out into some kind of large chamber, filled with mist. Tieran kept muttering something about “ethereal mist”. I guess this must be part of the ethereal plane. We moved along the wall to the left finding that it curved, but when we should have been behind the hallway we just came through, given the curve of the wall, we weren’t. Space seems different here.
> 
> We backtracked to the door and found it easily enough. We also noticed something we had not seen before. At the end of the hallway was an arch, which we had unwittingly passed through to get out here in the mist.  On the defaced arch were metal clamps. Sixteen metal clamps each embossed with the symbol of one of the gods. The clamps were also of various metals, copper, brass, cold iron. They seem to have been put on the archway after it was built, they are clearly much newer. We tried, but were unable to pry any of them off, so we left them be and moved on into this “room”.
> 
> We attached ourselves together with rope as we had in the maze during the Mystery of Purpose. We attached the end of the rope to a smaller rock, with a light spell cast upon it, sort of an anchor behind us. We moved into the mist, looking, listening, trying to figure out what the test might be when we heard a cracking sound, as if someone had broken a large and very dry stick. It was accompanied by a flash of blue-white light.
> 
> Torsten had not noticed the sound and light because he, at the front of the line, was looking at the floor. Where most of us were still standing on worked stone, he found that the ground ahead (and under him) had changed to a more spongy ground. We turned 90 degrees to face the direction the sound and light had come from, after noting the difference in the ground.
> 
> As we turned and stretched ourselves out, we heard babbling and shouting. Two Chaoskin moved in on us, attacking Torsten while another moved up to attack me. They each got in a bite before we could react. As they attacked, we heard noise from behind, three more were closing, moving toward Kytum-up, Mor’Elandi, and Tieran. Mor’Elandi downed one before it could reach any of us.
> 
> Tieran cast a spell, but it fizzled when it struck the creatures.  Meanwhile Torsten, Kytum-up, and Mor’Elandi seemed stunned by the babbling and just stood, dropping their weapons, allowing the creatures to attack them. Oh, and we were all tied together, making it much more difficult to fight. I took some time to untie myself. A Chaoskin took hold of the rope, trying to unbalance me. It failed. I saw an opening to attack it and it went down with a blow from my quarterstaff.
> 
> Asmathias bit one, Tieran, Torsten, and Mor’Elandi were bitten by the creatures attacking them. As the creatures attacked, Torsten, Kytum-up, and Mor’Elandi seemed to come out of their dazed condition and picked up their weapons to defend themselves. Torsten whacked one right away and Kytum-up shot one that was menacing Tieran with his crossbow.
> 
> Tieran used his flaming sphere spell -- and found that fire doesn’t seem to affect them as much as it does most creatures. Mor’Elandi fired arrows with his usual speed and precision, taking several down from afar. I managed to hit one really well, pretty much squishing it. It was most satisfying, since that very creature had just bitten me. About the same time, Torsten whacked one so hard that it turned into a rather gory paste.
> 
> The one Chaoskin left was dispatched quickly and we prepared to move on, in the direction of the noise and flash.
> 
> Tieran had other ideas however, asking if we could stop here for fifteen minutes while he changed some spells around. We agreed, but were not surprised when a few minutes into this little break we heard the crack and saw the flash, followed soon by six more of the creatures. This time we also noticed a whispering sound, just before the crack.
> 
> We moved into position and prepared for the arrival of the latest batch of these things.
> 
> Mor’Elandi took out the first one we saw. Kytum-up missed with his crossbow bolt as one ran toward him while I cast a spell (Brambles) to make my quarterstaff a little more effective. The other Chaoskin ran forward and attacked. Luckily, this batch seemed a little less effective, missing each of us.
> 
> Torsten was stunned by the babbling, dropping his weapon. I moved to flank one of them, but missed anyway. Kytum-up hit one, Tieran burned one with his flaming sphere, and Mor’Elandi peppered another one with arrows.
> 
> Torsten came out of his stupor and retrieved his weapon, and whacked one of them after two of them had clawed and bit him. Asmathias hit one, I missed another, while again, Mor’Elandi used his arrows to great effect.
> 
> Torsten, feeling better by this time, took two of them down and hurt a third with his gnomish hammer. There were two left and we finished them off quickly, preparing to move again in the direction the noise and flash had come from, hoping to reach the source before the next attack.
> 
> We moved quickly and soon saw a metal disc bolted to the floor. It seemed to be made of bronze, held to the ground by six silver bolts. It looked very like Kerchik’s disc, two feet in diameter. Tieran told us that Bronze is a good “planar” material. Mor’Elandi told us that if anymore attack, we should keep at least one alive, since they don’t seem to come until all the previous ones are dead.
> 
> As we drew close we heard a loud voice.
> 
> “Leave or the Lords of all spirits will destroy you—there will be no more initiates!”
> 
> We didn’t leave. Instead, Torsten moved forward, his gnomish hammer ready to pry the bolts up. Before he could get close enough, 16 disembodied hands reach upward from the disc, ripping open....well, space. Six more Chaoskin dropped out.
> 
> The voice spoke again too.
> 
> “Followers of the True Faith; Followers of the Gods—LEAVE!”
> 
> Each of the hands bore a symbol of one of the gods on its back. They disappeared as the creatures tumbled out onto the floor.
> 
> The voice again spoke to us: “Followers of the Spirits—Come! We will show you what your spirits are made of!”
> 
> Mor’Elandi let fly with arrows, and wounded one of the creatures. Tieran, noting that the creatures were nicely grouped for his convenience let fly one of his famous thunderballs. One of the creatures fell, all but one looked to be injured by it.
> 
> Torsten charged one of them, hitting it. Kytum-up brandished his sword and wounded one. The creatures attacked then, two of them biting and clawing Torsten. Another one missed Tieran.
> 
> Asmathias bit one of the creatures as I moved forward to try to grab the disc. It was bolted down securely and I was unable to budge it.
> 
> Tieran used an acid splash on one of them, hitting it. Torsten stood....stunned again by the creatures’ babbling! He took claws and bites from two of them again. Both Tieran and I were bitten by creatures. Mor’Elandi was missed, and Asmathias sunk his teeth into a another one, his poison weakening it.
> 
> Mor’Elandi stepped back, then killed the one in front of him with arrows. Tieran withdrew, badly wounded. Torsten came out of his stupor and hurt one of them a little.
> 
> Kytum-up hit one, then Asmathias got a bite in on another as it moved to follow Tieran. When it reached Tieran it bit and clawed him.
> 
> The two attacking Torsten both hit him, Asmathias moved to attack one of the creatures attacking Torsten was I moved the body that had fallen on the disc and cast bull’s strength on myself to try to get the disc up before more of the things appeared. Torsten tumbled out of danger, pulling out a healing potion as he did so.
> 
> Kytum-up took one of the remaining two down, whacking the other, which took another swing at Torsten.
> 
> I tried again to move the disc and failed. It was really bolted down securely! Mor’Elandi moved to aid me, but even together we were unable to move it.
> 
> Tieran threw his staff, hoping to knock out the last creature. He missed, but Torsten managed a swing that took it down.
> 
> Torsten moved up and used his hammer to pop each of the bolts holding the disc down. As he pulled the last one, we heard the whispering sound and realized that it was about to activate again, even though the last creature was still alive.
> 
> The last bolt popped and we were able to grab the disc and head for the door. Actually, we each took one step and found ourselves at the door. Very strange, we had gone much farther.
> 
> We took another look at the clamps and found that two of them were loose. The clamps, Tieran told us, radiate a strong aura of abjuration and conjuration. The disc has a lingering aura of the same. As Mor’Elandi and Torsten worked on prying the clamps off, Tieran and I went to see Slythia, disc in hand.
> 
> Slythia did not like the disc or the idea of the clamps. Neither was supposed to be there. She explained that removing the disc was not part of the test, we were supposed to see the “outside”. So, we realized that the test was not over, actually, we had not even begun it.
> 
> When we returned to the others, two clamps had been pried off. None of the others would budge.
> 
> We saw a flash and heard a crack from a different direction. This flash was green, where the other had been blue. We also heard hissing from the mist.
> 
> Now what?




End of Session #40!


----------



## Nail

Only one session behind!  

In the next session: Literally _Tons_ of fun!  The lastest paleontolgical evidence points to about 6.5 tons, actually.  Of course, with the planes being what they are, the feathers might add a bit extra.  Let's round it off to 7 tons.  Sound good?


----------



## Nail

*an anarchic what?*

*Session #41: "The Mystery of Infinity, part 2"*

RL evening of Sept. 15th, 2004


Last session, the players got their first taste of the Mystery of Infinity (or “Endlessness”; Slythia, their ghostly naga guide, has used both turns of phrase).  Magical disks, apparently put there by the defilers of Alderslook, were hidden around a misty, other-worldly plain.  While active, the disks would summon extra-planar creatures to attack the party....and presumably could do so for as long as the heroes were there.  The only way to deactivate these disks (once found, of course!), was to use a magical weapon to hammer out the spikes that held the bronze disk to the ethereal floor.   ...All the while being attacked by summoned monsters.  Sounds fun, no?

.....somebody must think so, at any rate, as the characters stick around after another of the gates has activated.

<silliness= movie quote> *Incoming!* </silliness>



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the Journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> *August 7th *
> 
> We heard hissing from the mist. There had been a green flash and the familiar cracking sound from straight ahead. Tieran made Torsten invisible. As he did so, a creature charged out of the mist, straight at Kytum-up!
> 
> It was a large, a lizard-like thing (later I realized it was type of dinosaur: a Deinonychus), however, it also had some fur and feathers on it. Very strange.
> 
> Torsten attacked it, becoming visible as he did so. I cast Barkskin on myself, while Mor’Elandi activated his bracelet of Cat’s Grace. Kytum-up, faced with a creature many times his size, whacked it.
> 
> Tieran cast a ray of frost, hitting the creature and damaging it a little bit. The creature must have decided that I looked more tasty than Kytum-up because it turned toward me, lashing out with its foreclaws and hitting me hard!
> 
> A second one appeared out of the mist and attacked Torsten, hitting him with a foreclaw and then giving him a slap with its tail. A third one moved into view as Torsten stepped out of the way of the first creature.
> 
> I cast produce flame and threw a bit of fire at the one attacking me. It didn’t do nearly the damage I had hoped, in fact, I don’t think it did anything. Check. Fire doesn’t really work well on these things, but it does work.
> 
> Mor’Elandi moved back a bit and shot his bow. The three arrows struck home and damaged the first creature. Kytum-up hit the first one as well, hitting twice!
> 
> Tieran threw a fireball, which caught all three dinosaurs. Sadly, it didn’t do the damage it normally would, all three still stood. They all looked hungry too.
> 
> Torsten took a mighty swing at the dinosaur he was in combat with. It went down under his attacks. Two left.
> 
> The one that had been attacking me decided that Torsten looked like a better target and turned to him, hitting him with claws and tail. Kytum-up hit it once, and I threw another ball of flame at the third one that arrived. Mor’Elandi dropped the one fighting Torsten with three well-placed arrows. Good thing too, since Torsten nearly dropped his hammer and missed his attack badly!
> 
> Kytum-up faced the third dinosaur and looking resolute, hit it hard. Tieran followed up with a ray of frost and the creature fell.
> 
> We got out of there as quickly as we could, not wanting to meet any more at that moment.
> 
> A check back a few minutes later revealed that the creatures were rotting away very quickly. They would be gone before long.
> 
> We settled for the night in the first chamber of the library from the Mystery of Patience. Healing, some food, and the beginning of a plan made us all feel a lot better.
> 
> Mor’Elandi was dejected that only two of the clamps came off. By his reckoning that meant that if two clamps came off with each disc, we needed to retrieve seven more to get all sixteen clamps and then begin the test. Given our performance in previous tests, well, it might take a while.
> 
> Tieran, who was studying his spellbooks, suddenly looked up, a familiar and manic gleam in his eye. “You know”, he said, “I have been steadfastly trying to improve my invisibility spell. This morning as I was pouring over my book I saw a hidden relationship between the elements of illusion and force. I was not able to memorize the improved version of the spell tonight, but tomorrow, I should be able to cast an improved invisibility. In the midst of battle, Thip will be able to carry a spell to you which will allow you to continue to fight while invisible. Unfortunately, the effects are not long lasting, perhaps the amount of time it would take me to fire 8 bolts from my cross bow. Of course be mindful that we wont be able to see where you are either, least you be the unwitting recipient of a thunderball.”
> 
> "Right", muttered Mor'Elandi, "like being visible to you really had any relationship to our chances of being caught in the blast in the first place." Then he shook his head and went back to making another arrow.
> 
> I shall certainly keep this in mind though, it would be useful to be invisible to step out of battle and heal myself before moving back in to hit them unseen.
> 
> Our plan evolved after Tieran’s announcement though. We decided that our best bet was for Torsten to be invisible and move with all speed toward the disc, hopefully prying it up while we were dealing with the first wave of whatever had been hissing in the mist. The invisibility would give him some protection from anything else that might come.
> 
> It seemed like a good plan. Of course, even our best plans sometimes do not go as well as we might wish them to.
> 
> *August 8th *
> 
> We moved back through the doorway, noting that the mist seemed a little lighter now. Torsten was still visible for the moment.
> 
> The expected green flash came, accompanied by the cracking sound.
> 
> We heard hissing. Tieran turned Torsten invisible and he moved away, presumably toward the next disc.
> 
> We held our positions and waited for whatever was making the hissing sounds to reach us. Thip flew above, looking for our attackers. Tieran told us that there were two and they were coming, fast.
> 
> It didn’t take long for them to reach us, this time we faced Megaraptors. Much larger than the ones before. They closed and attacked. One missed me (thankfully) while Kytum-up moved around to flank it.
> 
> Tieran cast a Thunderball and looked crestfallen when it did no damage to the creatures! I cast Shillelagh on my staff. Mor’Elandi hit the creature Kytum-up and I were flanking with three arrows.
> 
> The creature attacked me, but left itself open so that I could get a swipe in at it. I missed.
> 
> The second creature hit me, doing a lot of damage. I needed to step back. Tieran waited, figuring out what to do as I cast Flame Strike, catching both of them in it.
> 
> Asmathias bit one of them as Tieran made his decision and sent a Fireball to the raptors. They both caught it and were damaged farther.
> 
> Mor’Elandi’s arrows flew straight, two hit the first raptor, taking it down, the third hit the second raptor. Kytum-up healed me a bit as I hit the remaining raptor with my quarterstaff. It was a good hit and it made me feel better, injured as I was.
> 
> Mor’Elandi’s arrows again bit into the raptor’s flesh, dropping it. Then, he moved in the direction of the flash. Torsten was there somewhere, hopefully, with the disc. We heard some roaring from that direction though. Whatever it was sounded really, really, big.
> 
> Kytum-up and Tieran followed Mor’Elandi while I held back a moment to quaff a cure moderate potion, figuring that I was of no use to anyone if I dropped dead.





Torsten reached the disc, happy to be invisible, feeling confident that he would be able to reach his magical hammer below the disc and pop the bolts well before the others finished the battle. He could hear the sounds of battle, maybe he would be able to help them out, once he got the disc. 

He slid his hammer neatly beneath the ground, came up under the disc and popped the first bolt. 

A buzzing sound had begun. The disc was activating. Damn. 

The sixteen hands came up and opened a hole in reality. Out came a HUGE creature. A dinosaur Rowan had called it. This one was much, much larger than the others. It also seemed to sense where he was, even invisible. It bit him, grabbed him and before he knew what was happening, he found himself moving headfirst down the creatures throat. 

Torsten had been swallowed whole. 

He moved and found that he could get a little bit of movement and hit it as it swallowed him, but it wasn’t enough to make the monster let him go. He moved down its throat, he felt the acid of its stomach upon his flesh, felt his clothing dissolving as it began to digest him. There was something large and hard in here with him, felt like a shield maybe. 

He cut his way out as the creature roared. He tumbled out of the hole he had made, rolling to his feet, acutely aware that his invisibility was seriously compromised by the amount of blood and, ugh, other stuff on him. 

The creature looked over at him. 

Torsten tried to scramble out of the way, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. He was grabbed and bitten again. 

He was dying, he felt his tie to his body fading even as the creature moved his limp form to its mouth, biting and swallowing again. 

He was among the spirits. He could see what was happening and he could hear a voice...



			
				Rowan said:
			
		

> *From the Journals of Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford*
> *August 8th *
> 
> It wasn’t pretty, but we got to see a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex chew and swallow the last few pieces of Torsten’s corpse.
> 
> Mor’Elandi pulled himself together first, and shot three arrows, hitting it with each.
> 
> Tieran skidded to a stop as he saw the enormous dinosaur. “An Anarchic Tyrannosaurus”, he muttered as he began to cast Evard’s Black Tentacles to slow it down, at very least. Kytum-up stepped up beside him, looked at the creature and then charged toward it.
> 
> I moved up behind them, having been delayed by the potion but arrived just in time to see Mor’Elandi’s arrows and Tieran’s spell. I began to cast call Lightning.
> 
> Kytum-up was moving toward the creature. It looked like it was in pretty bad shape, even as it turned toward Kytum-up, to meet his charge. It closed with him, but wasn’t able to attack.
> 
> Kytum-up bashed it. Tieran followed with some magic missiles, Mor’Elandi with three arrows. I finished my casting and blasted it with a lightning bolt. Not my best effort ever, but every little bit helps.
> 
> Tieran’s flaming sphere was easily avoided by the monster, but it did miss Kytum-up when it tried to bite him. Mor’Elandi’s arrows, coupled with another strike from Kytum-up took the creature down.
> 
> Mor’Elandi cut the creature’s belly open the rest of the way and the remains of Torsten’s body tumbled out. I cut a piece of hair from his head and tucked it into a pouch.  (I hope I don't mix Torsten's with Riva's!)  Then I grabbed Torsten's hammer and moved to the disc. Kytum-up followed me as Tieran and Mor’Elandi stayed to examine the corpses.
> 
> I got to the disc and slid the hammer underneath to hammer out the silver spikes. I couldn’t get the leverage. So, I cast Bull’s Strength to give me that extra push. One bolt popped, then another. The third took a few tries. Kytum-up was telling me that he could try, but I kept on.
> 
> We heard the humming, buzzing sound....the disc was preparing to activate again.
> 
> I popped two more bolts. The last one was in tight, it took several tries as the buzzing increased. Finally it let loose and we grabbed the disc and bolts, moving toward the exit.
> 
> Suddenly, a simple step and we were there, back at the gateway. Four clamps were loose now. We pried them off and moved out of the room. We carried Torsten’s body with us.
> 
> Slithia looked sad as we moved out. She spoke of us losing one of our number and said that we could use the library to bring him back. He, she said, was ready to return, the others (I assume she meant Thaile and Riva) were not ready yet.
> 
> We laid Torsten’s broken body in the library and I prepared my herbs for the ritual. As I prepared, I listened to the others talk about what had been in the dinosaur’s stomach. There were four diamonds. Tieran took them to be used for the Stoneskin spell. A large adamantine shield had been inside as well, undamaged.
> 
> Finally, I was ready, so we stood in a circle around Torsten’s body and I began to chant.
> 
> The ritual took about ten minutes, during which Torsten’s old body faded into the ground, replaced by a new one. I’m not sure how it happened, but the new body was not human.
> 
> Torsten took his first re-born breath, then reached up and felt his new face.
> 
> “I feel different” he said, “My face feels different....I was dead, right?”
> 
> We stood, staring at the orc Torsten had become.




End of Session #41!


----------



## Nail

*an Anarchic Tyrannosaurus, of course!  What else would it have been?*







Torsten says: "Its much bigger than it looks, on the inside."


Tieran says: "Wha'd'ya _mean_, it's immune to sonic damage?!!!"


Mor'Elandi says: "Read my lips: five foot step!"


----------



## Nail

*and just in case you missed it....*

an anarchic velociraptor!






Guaranteed to charge!


----------



## Gina

Nail said:
			
		

> Torsten says: "Its much bigger than it looks, on the inside."
> 
> 
> Tieran says: "Wha'd'ya _mean_, it's immune to sonic damage?!!!"
> 
> 
> Mor'Elandi says: "Read my lips: five foot step!"




Rowan says: "Wild empathy? Not a chance! I say we just shoot at it from a long way away until it stops moving!"


----------



## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> Torsten says: "Its much bigger than it looks, on the inside."




Heh!

Torsten's *actual* quote was:  "I thought it smelled bad.. on the *outside!* 

*laughs*


----------



## Nail

Another successful gaming night!  In this next session, the PCs encounter a set of challenges a bit different than they are used to.....and that causes a few problems for them.

In the end, however, the PCs prevailed.  Of course!   As you might expect --  given Tieran was in the party -- at least one blindly-targeted fireball was involved.    

I'll post a picture or two after we get the session's notes up.


----------



## Nail

*Session #42*
Real life: evening of October 11th, 2004

_From the Journals of the Aldersborn: Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_

*The Mystery of Endlessness Part III*
August 9th 

Torsten is now an orc, at least physically. Inside though, is the same Torsten we have known, only his body is significantly different. I think that because we reincarnated him so soon after his death, he has changed less than he might have otherwise. 

He is, however, not one to dwell long on the implications of his change. Very soon after discovering his new form, he suggested that we move forward on our quest. So, we discussed a plan, which direction to go, all the usual things we discuss before going into a test, even knowing full well that our plans generally fall apart very quickly. 

In the end, our plan was to find the disc and get it as quickly as possible, trying to leave Torsten free to take it while the rest of us fight whatever is in store for us today. 

We moved in, Torsten and I leading, the others spread out behind us. We heard the familiar CRACK and saw a flash of light, orange this time. We moved toward the sound and the light, hoping to get close before whatever had come through got to us. 

Mor’Elandi alerted us to a humanoid figure on the ground, directly ahead of us. It was speaking. As we drew closer, we all saw the creature for a second, just before a bank of fog appeared, obscuring it. Mor’Elandi moved back as the rest of us moved toward the fog and the creature. 

What we saw was a little surprising. It was a short humanoid creature, with bright red hair and bells on its clothing. It looked like a clown. An anarchic clown, Tieran informed us. Clowns, not so hard to deal with, we figured, though the arcane words we heard from the fog did little to reassure us. 

I moved forward, activating my belt of Bull’s strength. As I moved, the arcane mutterings stopped and large yellow tentacles sprouted from the ground, entangling Torsten, Kytum-up, and Mor’Elandi! They would have had me as well if I had not moved forward. Tieran was behind the affected area, staring into the face of the red clown who shot at him with some kind of noise-making device. It did not seem to affect him though. 

Torsten and Mor’Elandi tried to break free of the tentacles, but failed. Kytum-up succeeded though, moving out of the area. Tieran tried to dispel the tentacles, but failed. 

I moved to try to help Mor’Elandi break free, but as I reached him a swarm of bats appeared, engulfing both of us. From another direction, a bolt of greenish energy came toward me, but missed. 

Tieran began casting a spell, but was disrupted by the red clown who cast a magic missile at him. Mor’Elandi was being crushed by the tentacles, but Torsten had managed to break free for a moment, before being re-entangled. Kytum-up, who was free now, shot his crossbow at the red clown, but missed. 

I stayed in the bat swarm for a moment, trying to free Mor’Elandi again, but I failed and moved out of the swarm. As I did, I heard the mutterings from the fog bank and a Dire Ape appeared in front of me. Recalling my last encounter with an ape (when that orc-druid killed me), I decided to move back. 

Mor’Elandi and Torsten were still entangled in the tentacles, struggling furiously, but making little progress (so much for Torsten’s new orcish strength!). The swarming bats nearly obscured Mor’Elandi. 

The red clown seemed to be waiting for Tieran to start casting again, so Tieran decided to just shoot it with his crossbow, but he missed. Torsten finally managed to break free of the tentacles and moved out of the area, coming face to face with the summoned Dire Ape. Mor’Elandi, seemingly encouraged by Torsten’s escape, renewed his efforts to free himself, unfortunately, he was unable to manage his own escape. Kytum-up moved closer and shot at the red clown and missed. 

I decided that Torsten could handle the ape and moved toward the red clown. From the fog bank, another spell hit Mor’Elandi, Faerie Fire, I think, blinding him and making him stand out, even in the midst of the swarm. The red clown, seeing that both Kytum-up and I were closing on him, cast a Mirror Image spell. Suddenly, there were four red clowns, where only one had been before!

Mor’Elandi was still unsuccessfully trying to escape the tentacles and dodge the swarming bats. (Writer’s Note: Nail was rolling EXTREMELY well and drspunj was rolling....well, not nearly as well!)

The ape moved toward Tieran, but missed him. Torsten followed the ape, missing as well. Tieran took a step away from the ape then cast one of his signature Thunderballs at the red clown. It did not affect the creature. Damned anarchic clowns. 

Kytum-up charged toward the four red clowns, hitting one of the images. Now there were three. 

More arcane mutterings alerted us that another spell was coming and another large bank of fog appeared at a right angle to the other, with a small space between them. 

Seeing the Kytum-up had the red clown well in hand and that Tieran was in danger of being hurt by the ape, I moved toward it, casting Shillelagh on my quarterstaff. Mor’Elandi’s struggles with the tentacles were growing more feeble and again, he was unable to break out. The bat swarm did, however disperse. The ape attacked Torsten, but missed. 

We saw a small blue figure run between the two fog banks, moving from the first one into the recently created one. A blue clown. The red clown took a step back, and with a maniacal laugh, cast a spell at Kytum-up. It had no effect, in fact, Kytum-up just looked at him as if he had told the worst joke ever. The clown looked a bit nonplussed by this. 

Torsten attacked the ape. It dropped from his second strike. 

Tieran sent a fireball into the bank of fog, shouting out “The fog is an illusion!”. 

Mor’Elandi went limp in the grasp of the tentacles, hanging from them like a child’s doll. 

Kytum-up moved again to attack the red clown. He hit two images. Only the real clown remained and he was starting to look a little nervous. 

From the newer of the two fog banks, came more arcane mutterings. Tieran started, screamed once and crumpled to the ground, dead. 

I moved back toward Mor’Elandi, intent upon removing him from the tentacles. 

Torsten found himself the lucky recipient of a new swarm of bats. The red clown tried to tell Kytum-up a joke again, but he didn’t get it. 

Torsten moved out of the bat swarm and into the fog bank where he saw a blue clown and a green clown. He attacked the green one, because he was closer. Kytum-up missed the red clown as the green clown, having been hit by Torsten, cast a cone of bright colors at him. Torsten was unimpressed by the swirling colors and continued to move purposefully toward the clowns. 

I finally got Mor’Elandi out of the tentacles and poured a cure moderate potion down him. He felt much better and we began to move around the tentacles toward the red clown. 

Torsten attacked the green clown, hitting him twice more. The clown, not liking this cast magic missiles at Torsten. The swarm reached them then and engulfed both Torsten and the green clown. The blue clown cast a cone of bright, swirling colors, stunning Torsten. 

The red clown and Kytum-up continued their standoff each missing the other. The blue clown cast a grease spell at Torsten, or rather, his weapon, but it didn’t work. 

I moved toward Kytum-up and the red clown. Kytum-up missed with both of his attacks. 

The red clown took his usual step back from Kytum-up and cast another spell. But, like the others, it had no effect. 

Mor’Elandi took up his bow and shot three arrows, missing the red clown with all three, but then, he had been nearly dead just a few moments before. 

I continued toward the red clown, intent on helping Kytum-up finish him off. 

The green clown cast another spell at Torsten, Daze, I think, but it failed as these things often do. The red clown attempted to cast, but failed as well. 

Torsten, no longer stunned, attacked the green clown. As his second attack struck, the clown laughed and then shriveled and was gone. Only a greenish gold coin remained where he had stood. The blue clown cast magic missiles at Torsten. 

Mor’Elandi again shot thee arrows, missing with all three. 

The blue clown, apparently out of spells, began to run away. 

I attacked the red clown. I missed!  Kytum-up sheathed his sword and just leaped at the clown. He grappled with him, until the clown managed to wriggle free and stood up. 

Torsten chased after the blue clown. Mor’Elandi shot the red clown and hit him twice. I stepped back and cast Flame Strike on the red clown. He was not as badly damaged as I had hoped, but he didn’t look at all well afterward either. 

Kytum-up began grappling him again and this time, the clown was unable to escape the determined little kobold. 

Torsten charged the retreating blue clown and hit him. Mor’Elandi finished him off with three well-placed arrows and the blue clown laughed and shriveled until there was only a blue tinted gold coin on the ground. 

I cast poison on the red clown and he also laughed, shriveled up, and became a red-tinted gold coin. We picked up the coins and heard the now-familiar crack and saw an orange flash. Looking at our reduced numbers and wounded state, we grabbed Tieran’s corpse and got out of there with more haste than dignity. 

Clowns. Chaotic, Anarchic, Extra-planar, _Gnomish_ clowns. Ugh. 

We passed Slithia and told her of the clowns. She seemed sad that Tieran had died, but outraged that such creatures were in the tests. 

We went to the library and laid Tieran’s body out in preparation for me reincarnating him the next morning. I took a moment and tried something that I had been working on and managed to contact his spirit. He was a little confused, but much less upset than Thaile had been, but then, Tieran is pretty calm about most things. He said that he was eager to experience rebirth. He also said that what had killed him was a spell called “Phantasmal Killer”. 

So, we set watches and went to sleep, wondering what that last orange flash had produced. 

August 10th 
I looked at Tieran’s body, the face I have known my whole life and wondered what he would look like when this was done. I hoped that we wouldn’t see another orcish body. I began the ritual, the others standing around the body and as I sprinkled herbs and chanted, I saw a new body forming as Tieran’s form melted away. 

The new body was much shorter than Tieran had been. As it took shape, the wizened features became clear. Tieran was going to be a gnome. 

A gnome.  

The irony wasn’t lost on any of us.

He took that first breath and then sat up, as always, not particularly upset by anything that happens. He looked around and then down at himself and commented that his robes weren’t going to fit anymore. 

We cut his robes down, showed him the clown-coins and then waited for him to study his spells. He said that each coin would summon one of the clowns once, very strong conjuration magic, he said. He even figured out the command word to summon them, and tucked the coins away for a time when we might really need them. 

Then, we went into the Mystery of Endlessness and those damn ethereal mists again. This time, we paused outside the portal to make ourselves, stronger, and to have my call lightning spell ready. 

We moved forward, alert, knowing that whatever had been summoned by the flash the day before was waiting, lurking in the mist. Our wait was short, the creatures rushed us as soon as we were all clear of the portal. 

They moved forward, strange creatures, almost spiderlike, but huge and with nine legs each. There were two of them and they were moving toward us. 

Tieran cast invisibility on himself and moved away as the first of the creatures reached us. Mor’Elandi moved back and shot one arrow which missed its mark. I hit the creature with my first lightning bolt and the creature began to retreat. 

A second one ran up from the other direction, but seemed to trip over its own legs and stumbled to a halt near Mor’Elandi who took a step and shot three arrows into it, which killed it. Torsten charged the retreating one and killed it with one well-placed blow.  

We felt fairly confident, we had certainly fared better in this battle and we knew what direction we needed to move in. Torsten ran in that direction, the rest of us following a short distance behind. 

Torsten reached the disc. As he began to place his hammer into position to pull the first bolt, the humming began and then the loud, booming voice spoke:

“FOLLOWERS OF SPIRITS—WE WILL KILL YOU”.

The buzzing intensified and then the sixteen hands came out of the disc, ripped a hole in space and with a flash of orange light pulled out the strangest creature yet. It was a humanoid figure, sort of. It had one head and three bodies attached to that one head. All three bodies were covered in arcane symbols. 

Kytum-up moved up and shot a bolt from his crossbow and hit quite well. It began casting a spell and then disappeared. Tieran arrived on the scene, gnome legs being significantly shorter than his human ones. I couldn’t see him, but I heard his footsteps as he ran near me. 

Torsten got the first bolt out, just as yellow tentacles began to sprout around him. Kytum-up ran up and looked around, trying to determine where the creature had gone. I cast a dispel magic on the tentacles, but it failed to dispel them. 

Mor’Elandi moved up as well, casting about for the creature. Tieran tried to _dispel_ the yellow Tentacles as well, but also failed. Torsten found himself grabbed by the tentacles and unable to pull the next pin. 

Kytum-up shouted “Spread out!” as he moved away, still looking for the creature. 

Mor’Elandi felt suddenly fatigued, soon after we had heard some arcane words spoken. Torsten fought the tentacles, but was unable to free himself. I had heard the words and knew where the creature seemed to be. A lightning bolt of mine did hit it, but did not do as much as I had hoped. 

Mor’Elandi hit with one of three arrows immediately afterward. Tieran cast his own tentacles spell on the creature, but it escaped being grabbed and moved out of the area. It moved incredibly fast. 

Torsten broke away from the tentacles and managed to pull the second bolt before being grappled again. 

Kytum-up shot again, hitting the strange man three times. It cast glitterdust, blinding Tieran.  I moved away from the others, trying to figure out where the creature might be. 

Mor’Elandi also tried unsuccessfully to locate the creature. 

Tieran, on the other hand, simply cast a fireball in the direction he believed the creature to be in. 

The still-invisible creature, charred and dead, dropped. Tieran had hit it AND managed not to kill any of us in the process. 

The tentacles stayed though and Torsten struggled with them for a few more moments before Tieran dispelled them. 

Then, it was a matter of a few more moments while Torsten pulled the rest of the bolts. While he did that, we looked over the body of the dead “Chaos Man” and found three magical tin whistles. Tieran said that they would work like scrolls, each of them covered with arcane symbols. One of them had the Phantasmal Killer spell that had been used on Tieran, he seemed very excited about that. 

Torsten pulled the last bolt and with a step we were back at the portal. 

This time only one clamp came loose. So, we have removed seven of them. Nine still remain. 

We went to the library to pass the night in safety. After we had finished eating our trail rations, Mor’Elandi held his bow up, studying it carefully, nearly talking to himself as if lost in thought. 

“Similar to Tieran's improved understanding of Invisibility magic recently, I believe I have discerned a way to make my arrows fly truer and with more force, but it involves bonding and communing with my bow of choice using arcane forces...”He then looked up, again acknowledging the group's presence, “The details are not worth going into, but I would like to put this theory into practice ASAP. I'll likely spend the day here as it is very conducive to such meditation and communion, if the rest of you feel comfortable giving me some privacy.

What say you?

I answered that we can certainly take the time to let you do this. We can use the time to alter Tieran's robes too. One more day in the greater scheme of things will not be so much, especially since we are NOT leaving again until the tests are completed.

Tieran nodded absently, studying his spellbooks and muttering about anarchic forces. 

Kytum-up agreed that any advantage we can gain will be worth the time. 

Torsten added his own agreement as well “Aye, I agree.. We are down here with no real way out until we complete this. Best to do it with any advantage we may hold.. A day is worth the trade, if it means that you will be more capable in the battles ahead.”

And so, we rested the night, knowing that the next day would be restful for all but Mor’Elandi. 

*End of Session #42*


----------



## Nail

Red Anarchic Gnomish Clown


----------



## Nail

Blue Anarchic Gnomish Clown


----------



## Nail

The "Chaos Man".....otherwise known as the Final Guardian of the Orange Keystone.

Or something.

Hey, it was a slow day.....


----------



## Nail

Playing Tonight: Back into the Mystery of Endlessness!  (More suprises await the PCs, I promise!)

When, oh when, oh when will it ennnnnndddddddddd..................


----------



## Nail

*My, does time fly...*

Wow.  

A month has passed since I last up-dated.  That's crazy stuff...I swear it's still October.  Where did November go?

Must have been fun, right?    


As usual, I'm using the notes typed up by our excellent player/note-taker Gina.  Thanks!  I've just toyed with the text a bit before posting it here.  Gina's really gotten organized about this: she now keeps a round-by-round melee tracker as well as jotting down all of the role-play/plot info.  Truely, we are in her debt.


----------



## Nail

*Almost there.....*

*Session #43*
Real life: evening of October 28th, 2004

_From the Journals of the Aldersborn: Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_
The Mystery of Endlessness Part IV

*August 11th* 

Mor’Elandi spent the day in the second chamber of the library, chanting and meditating. Torsten practiced with his weapon, I worked in getting Tieran’s robes cut down to a better size for his new form. Tieran worked on scribing a new scroll, figuring that another dispel magic would be a useful item for us, given our recent difficulties. Kytum-up paced a lot – he’s quiet when he does this.  Quiet and intense.

*August 12th*
Once again into the Mystery of Endlessness!  All of us cast spell in preparation: Mor-Elandi invoked _Protection from Evil_ and [/i]Expeditious Retreat[/i], Tieran cast [/i]Invisibility_ (and a host of others I didn’t get to see!), I cast Barkskin, Bull’s Strength, and _Call Lightning[/i] .... you never know when a quick lightning bolt will do the trick!. 

As we stepped into the test area, we saw that the ethereal mist was less dense than it had been before. We could see now that we were standing on a circular stone platform surrounding the portal. The stone block floor is worked into a sunburst pattern and at intervals, we noted colored crystals at the edge of the platform. Blue, green, and orange crystals sit in the half of the platform where the mist is less dense; these must be the “keystones” we’ve been able to uncover so far.  Each of the crystals has chisel marks around it, as if the defilers of this place had tried to remove them and failed. They must have put those nasty “summoning” discs over them after being unable to remove the colored keystone. (There are bolt holes in the stone where the summoning discs were held down. )  Based on the arrangement of the colored crystals we’ve uncovered, there are probably three more stones left to find and free.

I find it interesting that the things that have tried to kill us were designed by the Great Church.  The Great Church was the one who defiled this place. The tests appear to have been designed mostly as mysteries to contemplate, but they have been turned much more deadly by people who would “protect” us from these mysteries. Whatever is at the end of these tests must be very interesting indeed, to have caused such hatred and fear in those people. 

As we examined the crystals, we heard a loud CRACK! The flash was red this time. We moved in the direction it came from, wondering what we would be facing this time. 

Torsten was in the lead, running ahead of the rest of us, intent upon reaching the disc and getting it up quickly. He heard the noise first, a snuffling sound, whatever it was, it sounded pretty big. 

We moved up behind him and saw the creature we would be facing. The mist was darker around the large beast, making it difficult to see. It was roughly dog shaped, but there the similarity to any familiar animal ended. The creature had no head, no eyes, only a gaping maw where a head should have been. There were teeth though, lots of them. It had armored plates bolted to its body and was covered in long, dangerous looking spikes. All in all, a very unpleasant creature. 

“Why can’t we ever run into nice, friendly bunnies?” I wondered as I moved toward the beast, though, not too close, since that armor looked pretty tough. 

The creature (a Chaos Dog?) loped toward us, darkness radiating from its body.  Mor’Elandi shot three arrows, but each bounced off of its grotesque armor. Kytum-up hit it once, just as Tieran cast Evard’s Black tentacles, centered on the Chaos dog.   The creature tried (and failed) to “lick” Tieran with its spiked tongue...that thing could extend out from its body over 20 feet!  Torsten, seeing what we were up against, moved to the edge of the tentacles and held position, waiting for the creature to attack, though hopefully out of range of the tongue. 

While it was trapped in the ‘Tentacles, we used ranged attacks as best we could.  It resisted my lightning bolt magic easily enough (darn it!), and it kept strugging off Mor’Elandi’s arrows.   Kytum-up’s crossbow bolts seemed to do fine, though.  Torsten just waited for the thing to escape the tentacles.

As the tentacles grappled the creature, it managed to do....something, turning its head, well, gaping maw in the direction of several of us.  We could feel a wave of dark energy, a brief moment of fear, and then it passed.  All of us were fine,......err, except Mor’Elandi, who I guess was overcome with some sort of magical fear.  He even dropped his bow as he fled.  I thought elves were tougher than that....we’ll have to go searching for ours after were through here.  

The chaos dog finally escaped the tentacles, so Torsten closed with it and attacked.  I tried to hit it with a spell – Poison” – but I missed.  Tieran’s _magic missile_ spell didn’t miss, though, and the creature fell.  Like the others we’ve killed, this one quickly began to decay and rot.  (What a strange effect this place has on corpses....)

Tieran and I waited for Mor’Elandi while Torsten and Kytum-up moved toward the disc, hopefully to get it up and out before anything new came through the portal. We heard the crack and saw the flash, but none of us sensed anything nearby. 

Tieran and I moved toward the flash, figuring that Mor’Elandi had seen it as well and would move in that direction. As we arrived, Kytum-up and Torsten stood watching the disc. The cracking sound came and a flash and only three hands rose, and disintegrated, falling in a shower of red sparkles. 

I thought that the disc’s power had failed and it was the perfect time to pop it out of the ground.  Sadly, I was wrong. 

As I rushed to the disc, the sixteen hands of reddish energy flew out of the bronze disc. Two moved up, and with a CRACK, ripped another gate in the fabric of reality.  The other fourteen.....flew towards me!  They grappled me, and dragged me towards the opening.  The smell of brimstone and fire was getting stronger.

Mor’Elandi hit one of the hands holding me with an arrow, which caused it to vanish in a puff of red sparkles. I wild shaped into a crocodile, to better resist the hands. Torsten and Kytum-up moved toward the disc and the rip in space, intent on destroying the hands that were holding the gate open. 

Tieran, thinking fast, put up a wall of ice between me and the hole! Mor’Elandi took out two more of the hands with arrows and I resisted their efforts to pull me, holding my position. I used a lightning bolt ...but I only mangaged to injure myself.  Arrg.   

Tieran fired off a fireball. All of the hands were unaffected...I, on the other hand, am not immune to fire.  Ouch! 

Mor’Elandi took out one more hand, ...and hit me too.  Ouch – again.  The hands tried to pull me toward the end of the wall, but I was able to resist their pulling and hold my position. I snapped my powerful jaws at the hands, but missed, still, not moving toward the opening was good enough for the moment. 

Tieran moved up and cast burning hands. All of the hands were fine, but I, of course, was injured.  (Did I mention I’m not immune to fire, Tieran?)  Torsten and Kytum-up finally made it to the planar gate, only to see a fiendish fish leaped out of the lake of fire on the other side of the opening.  It flopped around at his feet, but otherwise did no harm.  Kytum-up shot one of the hands holding the gate open. Half of it closed up as the hand vanished. 

Mor’Elandi hit two more of the hands grappling with me, and hit me again.  Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!   The remaining ones managed to drag me closer to the end of the wall, though I fought furiously against them. Tieran cast a ray of frost, but it had no effect. 

Torsten pulled the first pin holding the disc to the floor. Kytum-up hit the other hand holding the portal open and suddenly, it was closed, though the diabolic fish was still flopping on the floor next to Torsten. 

Mor’Elandi sent his arrows flying and dispatched two more hands. Two went flying away, to reopen the portal to Hell while the others continued to try to drag me toward it. I bit one of them and Mor’Elandi took another one away with an arrow. 

Only two hands held me and I moved back toward the group, biting one of the two remaining hands. The last was taken off of me by Mor’Elandi. 

The two that had returned to reopen the portal were easily shot by Kytum-up as Torsten worked on the pins. 

Soon, the pins were all out and with one step, we were back at the red jewel. This disc, the one that had been covering the red keystone, was heavily corroded. 

In speaking to Slythia, we’ve figured out that the Chaos Dog is actually a daemon called a “Canoloth”, from the place she calls “the Outlands”.  (Tieran mumbles “the outer planes, you mean?”) The diabolic fish was a “Spikefish” and was indeed hell spawn. 

We spent the night in the library again. I used a stone shape spell to create another hammer so we could get the discs up more quickly. 

*August 13th*
We moved back in, knowing that only two discs remained. We moved in the direction of the two remaining jewels on the stone platform and were rewarded with a CRACK and a yellow flash off to our left. We moved in that direction, prepared for almost anything. 

Mor’Elandi moved ahead of us to scout. We all heard a strange keening melody. Torsten and Kytum-up were captivated by it and moved forward, weapons hanging loosely by their sides. I began a summoning spell. Mor’Elandi held his arrows until he could be more sure of what we were fighting. 

The strange melody came closer as Tieran and Mor’Elandi waited and Torsten and Kytum-up moved closer. I finished casting and a dire wolf appeared. Then I moved forward. 

The wolf began moving closer to the singer, unconcerned with attacking anything. 

Suddenly, the tune changed a bit and Kytum-up stopped, looking confused for a moment. Torsten continued his march toward the source of the music. 

Then, both Kytum-up and I began moving toward the music as well, as Torsten shook the effect off and began running toward the presumed location of the disc. Tieran moved forward on his own, trying to see what we might be up against. Mor’Elandi also moved up, still uncertain of what we were facing. 

Kytum-up and I found ourselves suddenly forward of where we had been, with no real memory of how we had gotten there. We were able to see two creatures: one a glowing mass of metallic tentacles, the other a sticky mass of metallic tentacles.  So many masses of metallic tentacles!  Torsten attacked the glowing one (which was the one singing) and hit it. It grabbed him with its sticky tentacles and then changed the tune again. He escaped its tentacles and moved toward the sticky metal creature. 

Tieran cast a grease spell on Torsten, making him harder to grab next time while I cast an Ice Storm in the area, pounding the creatures with hailstones, somehow managing to miss all of us. 

Mor’Elandi found himself facing a strange, oily mass of metallic tentacles. It had tumbled toward him wildly, seeming to be not quite in control of its direction as it did so.  Mor’Elandi backed away from it, and shot it three times with arrows. His arrows seemed to dissolve as they hit it. Acid. It was covered in viscous acid. 

The sticky metal creature hit Torsten, who then struck back, hard. Unfortunately, his weapon stuck in the creature and he had to spend some time freeing it. 

Kytum-up scored two hits on the sticky one, Tieran moved toward the glowing one, though the sticky creature took a swipe at him as he passed. I moved up to the glowing mass of metallic tentacles. 

Mor’Elandi shot the dull metal thing in front of him again, three hits. It went down in a jumble of dull metal. 

The glowing one changed its tune again, while the sticky one hit Torsten. Kytum-up moved toward the glowing one, leaving Torsten to deal with the sticky one on his own. Torsten pulled his weapon free after a brief struggle to do so. 

Tieran cast Burning Hands on the glowing one, killing it.  The strange keening stopped. My summoned Dire Wolf finally shook off it’s stupor, and attacked and killed the remaining metallic tentacular creature.

As we stood to catch our breath, we noticed that the shiny creature was made of platinum. Tieran took out his haversack and began tossing pieces into it, since they would be of great value, should we ever leave this place. The rest of us moved forward, toward the disc. 

The flash and crack were not long in coming. Torsten ran ahead to combat whatever was awaiting us in the mist. 

He saw two masses of multi-colored tentacles. One was standing right smack on top of the disc. The other was ten feet or so from it. Both were quite large. 

The first one wiggled its tentacles and Torsten found the ethereal mists around him form into more large masses of tentacles!  These new summoned creatures hit him hard, several times.

The second one wriggled its tentacles and I found myself in much the same position as Torsten, being attacked by 2 more ethereal tentacles. 

We began to attack the “ethereal tentacles”, leaving the multi-colored tentacle-creatures on the disk alone.  These creatures could disarm us, trip us...and if they hit, we could feel the sting!  After a short time I turned into a crocodile to help avoid the trip attacks.  Torsten wasn’t so lucky; he had been tripped, and was now down on the ground and flanked by two of the ethereal; tentacles.

Eventually we destroyed 3 of the ethereal tentacles, and breathed a sigh of relief...until the multi-colored tentacles summoned 3 more!  They were wearing us down, and we were getting nowhere.

Kytum-and Mor’Elandi began concentrating their arrows on the multicolored tentacle creatures, while Tieran tried to soften them up with first a sonic thunderball (immune!  Arrg!) and then a fireball (“That got ‘em!”).  I managed to get close enough to take a swipe or two at them myself.  All the while, we had to ignore the ethereal tentacle creatures pounding on us.

With all of the abuse, and no one to back him up, Torsten was knocked unconscious.  He was still under the effect of my “fast healing” spell, though, so he recovered quickly.  Then he “played dead” long enough for the ethereal tentacle creatures to move away.

Finally one of the multi-colored tentacles went down, and its summoned ethereal tentacles disappeared.  I finished the other multi-colored tentacle creature off with a tail slap, and si it, and its two summoned ethereal tentacles evaporated.

Torsten drank a potion of healing, then he and I (using my magical stone pry-bar!) popped off the disc. 

With a single step, we were back at the yellow gem and through the portal. We pulled four more clamps and moved to the library to prepare for the last battle before we could begin the test. 

*End of Session #43*


----------



## SpaceBaby Industries

> Clowns. Chaotic, Anarchic, Extra-planar, Gnomish clowns. Ugh




Great storytelling as always Gina.  

Nail, I'm not sure exactly what you're sniffing from the spice rack when you come up with these ideas, but I do hope you aren't driving or operating heavy machinery at the time.


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## Nail

SpaceBaby Industries said:
			
		

> Nail, I'm not sure exactly what you're sniffing from the spice rack ....



 

Nice to read from you again, *SBI*!

This mystery, the Mystery of Infinity (or "Endlessness") was great fun to write up, in part because of all the cool monsters I could have brought in -- and the templates I could use!  I'm only sad it had to end....    

...I'm sure my players don't share my opinion.    

It was also during this section that I had to wrestle with a large problem in 3.5e: in order for the encounter to be of an "appropriate CR", the caster levels of the monsters should be substantially lower than those of the PCs.  That's quite disappointing, actually.

So...the EL of the encounters turned out to be a stroke or two higher than one of "typical challenge".  (shrug, grin)


----------



## Videssian

I wanna say one thing about this past session:

RBDM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tell ya, I only wish I knew what's ahead of us given what we've seen already!!


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## Nail

*Session #44*: The Mystery of Endlessness Part V

Real life: evening of November 10th, 2004


The adventurers from Eaglesford readied themselves for the final push.  They had been _slogging_ through this “Mystery of Infinity” – indeed, it seemed almost endless at first – for days.  Each time they entered the ethereal doorway, they were attacked (and berated!) by summoned creatures.  Each creature had, in it own way, tried to warn the adventurers away from removing the bronze summoning discs.  

...Of course, some of the monsters’ methods of “warning” consisted of trying to eat whichever hero was closest.  (....and it’s hard to talk with your mouth full of adventurer, so we’ll pardon their enthusiasm.)  The party had so far ignored their warnings.

Still, the heroes from Eaglesford had been able to remove (“pry up”) 5 of the six discs so far.  It was clear there was only one more to go; the rune-covered ward covering the violet crystal.

Before the adventurers entered the Mystery, Slythia –the patient, ghostly Guide of Initiates – told them that something was different, something had changed since the previous day. Given how corrupted the tests had become, the naga offered to help the adventurers if they required it. 

“Gee thanks,” muttered Mor’Elandi under his breath as the group walked away, “that’s very helpful....now.” 

“Shhhhhh!”, Rowas hissed, “it’s nice of her to offer.  Don’t be mean!”

The adventurers cast their preparatory spells, and stepped through the archway, Torsten in the lead.



_From the Journals of the Aldersborn: Rowan, Druid of Eaglesford_

When Torsten stepped through, a tiny sprite with gossamer wings confronted him. She waved her tiny finger in his face and said, “You shouldn’t be here, go back!”   I guess it had some kind of magical effect, as Torsten started nodding and looking slack-jawed.  Tieran, invisible at the time, confirmed my suspicions as he muttered, “charmed”.

Torsten, in his usual friendly way, asked the creature “why?”   The rest of us took the opportunity to move through the archway and onto the ethereal platform.  Once I could see the 3 creatures more clearly, I realized the creatures were Coeur Eladrin, -- angels, very good. Interesting. 

As Mor’Elandi and I (and I assume, the invisible Tieran) moved forward, one of the tiny creatures followed us, overtaking us quickly. Mor’Elandi asked the little creature “What message do you bear?”. The creature’s high, musical voice answered quickly. They wanted the clamps replaced on the door and us out of there. 

With a few deft motions of her tiny hands and a few words, Mor’Elandi was suddenly a good friend to these tiny creatures, willing to help them in any way he could. I moved on toward the disc, hoping to get it before something else came out. I hoped that Tieran was with me. 

Mor’Elandi had moved back to speak with the Coeur Eladrin and Torsten. They asked them to put the clamps back. Torsten had forgotten that they were in Tieran’s haversack, so he went to look for them in the library. Mor’Elandi went to Slythia. 

He asked her if she could dispel Tieran’s invisibility so he could get the clamps and replace them on the door for his new friends. After speaking to him for a few moments, Slythia dispelled the charm instead.  She told me later that Mor’Elandi was himself again instantly.  “I’m fine.  Thanks.”

Kytum-up asked the two angels at the gate what they wanted, why they were here. One of them tried to charm him, but failed. The other one was still following me as I moved toward the disc. She kept telling me to stop. 

I asked who posted them here. She answered “The gods destroyed this place for your protection.” 

“Well, in destroying this place, they seem to have made it more dangerous.” Was my answer. 

Slythia tried to dispel the charm on Torsten and failed as he passed, dejected that he had not found the clamps. He asked her where they might be. She pretended to think on it for a moment while he waited. 

Meanwhile, I was walking toward the disc, Tieran was still invisible and Mor’Elandi was nearly caught up to us. The little angels were still tormenting us, telling us to go back, that this was all done for our protection. 

Mor’Elandi, free of the charm now, asked one of them why she had been posted here. She answered that she was here to guard against the spirits. He asked why, if she was guarding against the spirits, it was called the test of the Gods. She thought about this and began to look confused. 

Mor’Elandi continued, mentioning the things that have been coming out of the gates, courtesy of the gods. Nasty things, evil things. 

She said that she and her sisters were set to guard by Fionali (who we knew as the 6th child of Aymara and the patron angel of stringed instruments). 

Mor’Elandi continued, asking if the gods put the wards here? Are they then, allowing these creatures to come through? 

Suddenly, the first of the creatures went “POOF!” in a puff of multi-colored sparkles. 

Her sister was made of sterner stuff though and continued to harangue us. She told Mor’Elandi that he must have been very mean to the other one, to make her go “poof” like that! She also said that no one should take the purple seal. 

“Why is the purple one so important?” Mor’Elandi asked. 

A few moments more of conversation and the little angel dissipated like her sister. From where the two had been, we found two strands of silvery hair from each. Each strand was magical, we knew as we picked them up. Each could cast either Cure Serious Wounds, Heart’s Ease, or Vision of Heaven once. Could be useful as we move forward in our endeavors. 

Meanwhile Torsten had had his charm dispelled by Slythia and was moving toward the disc and talking to the third tiny angel. She cast a spell at him and sparkly dust fell over him. He felt sleepy for a second, fatigued thereafter, but was able to continue moving. 

He told her that she and her sisters must be the demons, since they were summoned by the discs. She thought about it for a moment and then went the way of her two sisters. Torsten noticed the two silvery hairs she left behind and picked them up. 

We regrouped and began walking. After about seven minutes, we heard a crack and saw a purple flash. 

Even as we began to move toward the flash, we saw fire in the sky. As it approached us, moving quickly, we saw that it was humanoid, winged, with black wings and flaming swords where its hands would be. 

Tieran, always a great source of information, muttered, “Sword Archon, Angel of Death”. 

We did not feel very confident after that. 

As it flew toward us, the Angel of Death spoke in a deep and resounding voice.

*“I AM REMAYLE, ANGEL OF DEATH, YOU MUST LEAVE!”*

Torsten took the warning seriously and ran.

The Angel of Death dived at me, slashing with his sword arms as he flew by.  Not only did he _really_ hurt me, but I felt parts of my spirit ripped away! As soon as I could, I ran with the rest back to the archway, and back to Slythia.

Thankfully, it let us leave. 

While we healed and rested, we asked Slythia about the creature. She didn’t know much about the creature, other than “it should not be in there”. While we were on the topic, we asked her again about the Gods of the Tree.  I even mentioned the Dark One, calling him by his ancient name Kador. Slythia was confused by us calling them “gods”.  She explained that they were just spirits, spirits from the “outside”.

“These beings you mention are just spirits.  And they come from the Outside,” Sylthia said, “Why is it that you worship them?  Don’t your ancestors and the other spirits of the world provide for all of your needs?”

Slythia eventually restored the parts of my soul that were lost.  I’m very greatful!! But she seems faded as if the effort had cost her a great deal. 

We retreated to the library to rest, heal, and plan. 

*August 15th*

We knew that he was there, waiting for us. We also knew that we needed a clear plan of action. So, as we approached the portal, Torsten invoked his ring of Enlarge Person and his belt of Bull’s Strength. We moved into the room, Torsten in the lead, moving in a group toward the disc. 

The Angel of Death was quick to respond. Kytum-up invoked the Bless spell from Thaile’s prayer bead, Torsten quaffed a Zook’s Zip potion, allowing him to move more quickly and we took up our positions, grouped around Torsten with him between us and the Angel of Death. 

The Angel charged Torsten, and missed! Torsten got in a good whack on him. I cast Vigor on Torsten, to help him recover the wounds he would undoubtedly be receiving soon. 

Tieran cast Protection from Good and Mor’Elandi cast Heart’s Ease from one of the Coeur Eladrin hairs. 

Kytum-up hit twice with his crossbow, though the arrows bounced off. Torsten was ready when the Angel attacked next, moving to meet the attack while shielding the rest of us. He was hit hard, but managed to damage the Angel as well. 

I cast Ice Storm at the Angel, but did not cast well enough to overcome his resistance to magic. Mor’Elandi became invisible, thanks to Tieran and shot three arrows at the Angel of Death, hitting with all three. 

Kytum-up cast a cure spell on Torsten as Torsten stood ready for the next onslaught. He did not wait long as the Angel turned and flew again at him, charging and hit him with his flaming swords. Again though, Torsten hit him as well. 

I cast a cure spell on Torsten while Tieran cast Stoneskin on him. Mor’Elandi shot again, hitting twice. 

Kytum-up moved to heal Torsten some more, laying on hands. 

For his part, Torsten prepared to meet the Angel’s attack with one of his own. The Angel though, stopped and healed himself. I began summoning some assistance for us. Tieran cast greater invisibility on me. 

Mor’Elandi’s arrows flew true and hit the Angel again. Kytum-up healed Torsten again. He had taken a lot of punishment from the creature. 

The angel flew again at Torsten, who met the attack with one of his own. The Angel missed, Torsten did not . My summoned Air Elemental moved to intercept the angel and managed to hit it. I began to summon a second one. From Tieran, I could hear the sound of a summoning spell as well. 

Mor’Elandi hit with two of his three arrows, Kytum-up hit with one of his two bolts. Torsten held, awaiting the next charge. The Angel did not charge though, choosing to heal himself instead. Clearly, our attacks were taking their toll. 

Tieran and I both finished our summoning, and another Air Elemental appeared from my spell, a fiendish Hippogriff from Tieran’s. The hippogriff missed and my elemental was unable to intercept the angel again. 

The Angel charged again and Torsten hit it as it did so. It also cast a spell at him, he resisted it, feeling as he did so that if he had not, he would likely have died. 

I threw my spear and hit. The _poison_ spell in the spear went off and the Angel crumpled to the ground. 

Within a few moments, all that remained of the Angel of Death were three black feathers. We picked them up and realized that like the silvery hairs, these were potent magic items. From each feather we could cast Slay Living, Mark of Justice, or Revenance as a tenth level caster. Each could be used once. 

Also lying there was a belt. Ktyum-up put it on. 

We moved toward the disc, walking for six or seven minutes. As we saw it, we hard the crack, saw the purple flash and saw the opening appear in space. 

From the rip, a pair of woman’s eyes came through. Just eyes, huge and watchful. They hovered over the disc. 

Tieran and Mor’Elandi stopped, waiting to see what would happen next. 

The eyes looked reproachful as a female voice intoned “You must stop this thing that you are doing.”

Kytum-up paused, waiting. I moved toward the disc, under the eyes and tried to pop out one of the pins. Torsten, right behind me, did the same and also was unable to pull one out. 

Tieran and Mor’Elandi moved closer, watching the eyes. 

The floating eyes looked at Torsten who was suddenly quaking in fear, cowering. Kytum-up moved closer to bolster Torsten’s resolve. I worked at pulling a bolt, but was not strong enough to succeed yet. 

Tieran began casting a summoning spell. Mor’Elandi fired. Three arrows passed through the eyes. They looked at Mor’Elandi, harming him and ...making him cruder, somehow.  He started shouting obsenities at the eyes as he shot arrows at it.  Most of the words were in elvish....but I was surprised how many I could guess from my knowledge of other languages.  I guess cussing out an enemy is easy to understand.

Meanwhile Kytum-up used a silver hair to dispel Torsten's fears. I managed to pop the first silver bolt with my magical stone hammer. Torsten, perhaps still a little shaken, was still unable to pull a bolt. 

Tieran finished his summoning, placing a fiendish ape in front of the eyes, though the ape missed its attacks. Tieran also tried _magic missile_, but couldn't overcome its spell resistance. Mor’Elandi was able to hit once with his volley of arrows. 

The eyes stared at me and I found myself confused, not sure where I was or what I was doing. Kytum-up grabbed my stone hammer from my hands and began to pull up a bolt while I babbled incoherently. Torsten was still trying to pull that first silver spike. meanwhile Mor'Elandi, Teiran, and Tieran's summoned ape tried in vain to wound the incorporeal eyes. 

The eyes bore down on Torsten and said, “*Go away.*”...and he started walking, a confused look on his face.  Kytum-up and I continued to work at pulling on of the silver spikes with my magical stone hammer.

Mor’Elandi missed with three arrows, an unusual occurrence for him. The voice spoke again, the eyes focusing on Mor’Elandi  “Stop that right now!”. And he chose .....not to stop.  Go Mor’Elandi!

I pulled out another of the silver bolts holding the disc down. Torsten ran back and pulled the third bolt. The eyes looked at him accusingly, and it shouted,  *“HOW DARE YOU!”*  The force of her gaze was so intense that it wounded Torsten - I could see his skin blister and tear - and he said later that it felt as if some of his confidence was drained away as well.  As fast as we could, Torsten and I pulled the remaining silver bolts out.  The disc popped up, and the rip in reality winked out.

The eyes faded away, the voice whispering sadly,  “You fools, you don’t know what you’ve done.” 

We found ourselves standing on a circular platform in the middle of a huge void dotted with tiny balls of light.  (Tieran guesses it was the Astral plane.)  These “stars” surrounded us and our island of stone, with the portal into this mystery at the center.  At the edge of the platform, evenly spaced around the circle, lay the 6 crystals we had uncovered: purple, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

As we looked, the stars began to resolve into patterns.  We began to understand a bit of the structure of all the plane of existence.  We could even see bits and pieces of what was going on in each of these infinite numbers of planes.  There were great armies, mighty warriors, and endless battles, all fighting over one thing.

Us.

Us, as in the residents of the prime material plane.  That doesn't seem very good.   

Tieran, Kytum-up, and I understood so much more, suddenly. Mor’Elandi had been reflecting on something else, as he is wont to do anyway, so he missed it. 

Meanwhile, Torsten had gone insane.  The strain of seeing so much, and of seeing how tiny we all are must have overwhelmed him.  He nearly flung himself from the platform.....but we stopped him, pulling him through the portal and back to Slythia. 

Slythia was able to help him and we moved to the library, to spend a night there and decide which test to go to next. 

*End of Session #44*


----------



## Nail

Alright, done with The Mystery of Focus!

We finished it Wednesday night, minus one of our players.  Apparently he had some sort of "work" to do so that he can "keep" this thing he keeps calling his "job".  Sheeeeesh.  Get yer priorities straight, buddy!   

.....anyway, Tieran was there, even if the player (and his CHARACTER SHEET!!!  HINT, HINT!!!!!) was not.  Because of this, and the fun twist that happens at the end, we're not going to post the end part of the Mystery of Focus.....at least, not until we get a chance to spring it on him first.  (heh, heh, heh....)

_(Aside: Thanks, Videssian!  Always aim t' please!)_

The Mystery of Focus took two sessions (that surprised me; shows what I have yet to learn about pacing!), so we'll post the first session (#45) complete.  Then we'll post part of session #46.

I hope.  Errr...when I get around to it.....you know, all of this writing is makin' me tired....(owww!, why did Gina just elbow me??).....


----------



## Nail

*Onward!  To another adventure!*

*Session #45*: The Mystery of Focus Part 1

Real life: evening of November 24th, 2004

Now finished with the Mystery of Infinity, the adventurers from Eaglesford rested in the ancient ruined library.  They left the ghostly librarian alone as much as they could – he was busy trying to push tiny flecks of smashed clay tablets together with his insubstantial hands.  Best leave him to his work, kids.

The next day the adventurers went back out into the long stairway that connected all of the Mysteries of the Initiate.  They looked back, up the broad, straight stair.  They could make out the smaller corridors to the right and left on the previous stair landing.  One passage led to the Mystery of Purpose, in which an “ethereal filcher” had tried (and succeeded! ...for a short time) to steal the kobold’s Dragon Idol.  The other lead to the Mystery of Purity, where the fire elemental Kurchik had killed their dwarven companion *Riva*.  They had left Alderslook for a time after that, in part to recover from the loss.  Still, those first tests were finished.

Mysteries one and two: Check, check.

A stream of water flowed out of the Mystery of Purity and trickled past the place they were now standing: between the Mysteries of Patience and Infinity.  The corridor to their left led to the ancient library, its insane face-less librarian, and the Mystery of Patience.  They had completed that one easily.  Mystery three: Check.

The corridor to their right led to the strange inter-dimensional platform and the Mystery of Infinity.  By removing the bronze-disk “capstones” –- put there, apparently, by the desecrators of Alderslook – they had freed the place for its original, ancient purpose: as an observation post looking over the entire multi-universe.  A humbling and mind-exploding vista, and not without cost: both Torsten and Tieran had been killed during the exploration of that Mystery.  Fortunately, Rowan now has the power to _reincarnate_ her fallen companions.  Now Torsten stood next to her as an Orc, and Tieran had quickly accepted the fact that he was a gnome.

Stll, the fourth Mystery was finished:  Check.

Slythia, their ghostly Guide, had told them there were nine Mysteries...or something.  (Mor’Elandi still couldn’t make it out, precisely.)  They had completed four.  The next pair was further down the broad stair.  Slythia led the way.

“As we go,” Slythia began, “I feel I must let you know that there is ....something different, now.  You’ve changed something about this place, something substantial.  I also feel as if a fog has been lifted from my mind, and I can think more clearly. I can see now how much of this test has been desecrated....”

“...about time,” mumbled Mor’Elandi to no one in particular.

“What was the last thing you remember?" Tieran interupted eagerly, "Do you remember what happened long ago?”

“I....think there was something...something the Masters were telling me,” a frustrated look passed over her face, “but I’m afraid I can’t remember what it was.  Something was happening outside of this place that shouldn’t be.  Something bad.”

“Do you remember the Masters?” Rowan asked, “What did they look like?”

“Yes, yes I do remember them. They looked a lot like...well, like your Torsten here, now that he has a new form.  'Orc', you call it?  The Masters were quite a bit less ugly though, if you pardon the expression, Torsten.”

“Haven’t seen my reflection yet, so no harm done, Slythia,” came Torsten’s easy reply.

Mor’Elandi looked more troubled.  “Great.  Orcs as former Masters,” muttered Mor’Elandi.

“Maybe this really is their homeland after all,” mused Rowan.

The adventurers descended the stair to a new pair of side-passages.

“To your left,” announced Slythia as she pointed with her ghostly tail,” is the Mystery of Focus.  To your right is the Mystery of Duality.  Since it is clear the Mysteries have been violated, and that you are here to put them right, I will help you more than I would for a regular initiate.  I suggest you experience the Mystery of Focus first, as many have found it easier than that of Duality.”

The adventurers quietly discussed it amongst themselves, then nodded their agreement.

“When you enter the Mystery of Focus, there will be a path.  Your goal is simple and straightforward: *Stay On The Path*.  Let nothing lead you astray.  Stay on the path _regardless_ of what else you see or hear.  Is that clear?”

“Stay on the path,” repeated Mor’Elandi, with a side-long glance at Torsten. “Got it.”

“Sounds pretty easy,” Rowan chimed in brightly. “We can follow any ole path.”   

With another wary glance at Tosten, Mor’Elandi led the way down the narrow passage into the Mystery of Focus.

*More of Session #45 later!*


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## Nail

More of *Session #45*: “All we have to do is follow this path?  This’ll be easy!” 
Real life: evening of November 24th, 2004

_from the Journals of Rowan, Aldersborn_

We moved along the 3 foot-wide corridor.  Its floor was carved to look like an ornate carpet, with narrow borders along the side.  We all guessed this was the “path” Slythia was talking about.  Mor’Elandi took extra time to study it’s pattern and markings – hoping, I guess, that he’ll be able to spot any changes the desecrators of Alderslook may have made.  No doubt they’ll try to lead us astray.

The hall opened into a semi-circular room with many exits. Four corridors, four doors, and a blank archway directly ahead indicated exits. The path was clear, it went to (and under!) the stone wall and the wall was, we noted, newer than the rest.  The arch had been defaced -- all the symbols chiseled away. The rest of the room was similarly defaced, as nearly everything we have encountered here had been. I sometimes wonder what it must have been like before.

In any case, our path led through the stone wall. We settled on the stone path to wait as Torsten began bashing through the wall with his adamantine hammer. It took a while, but he got through. Behind the stone wall, there was..... an iron wall. 

Torsten took a bit longer to get a hole hacked through the iron wall. As he got an opening large enough to see that there was another stone wall behind, a magical rune was exposed...and then everything went dark for me. Tieran also succumbed to the magic.  Everyone else resisted its effects.

Then Tieran’s spirit seemed to rise from his body. 

Tieran’s spirit began casting, and was hit by Kytum-up and Mor’Elandi. The spirit lost his spell and Torsten dealt a blow that sent him back to his body. 

Torsten returned to wall bashing, while the rest tried to bring me around.  After awhile I awoke; Tieran took longer.  He wasn’t wounded from our battle with his “spirit”, but he did say he had a terrible headache. 

After Torsten cleared the barriers, we moved into the next room, through a long passageway. This chamber was large, circular, and had corridors leading from all directions. The floor had been chiseled away, the path impossible to see, at least to my eye. 

Mor’Elandi, however, looked at the floor for a long time. Then, he began to move, following the path that lay beneath the defaced stone floor, somehow, he could still see it, as if the magic of the place were still there, glowing within the stone itself, showing us the path that those who defaced this place had worked so hard to hide. 

We followed Mor’Elandi through one of the many defaced archways and found ourselves on a wider path, passing through a chasm. The path itself was fifteen feet wide, with steep drops on either side down into magical darkness.  The chamber was wide enough that we could not see to the outer walls.  We moved forward, glad that the path was wide and easy to traverse, confident that things were finally going well for us. 

Suddenly, directly in front of Mor’Elandi and Torsten, a huge creature rose out of the rock of the path itself!   An Earth Elemental, and a big one at that. Tieran acted first, casting Enlarge on Torsten. The Elemental pushed Mor’Elandi, knocking him prone, though Torsten got a strike in as it went past. Another rose from the walkway, and knocked me back.

Mor’Elandi regained his feet, even as the elemental struck him. Torsten attacked and connected with one of his attacks, chipping the creature, slightly. I wildshaped into an eagle and took off, moving upward. 

Tieran cast his Elemental Gem to the ground, calling out the command word as he stepped to the side. An Earth Elemental rose from the gem, this one on our side. It hit the one nearest Tieran. Kytum-up stepped back from the elemental in front of him; his attacks seemed useless. The first elemental struck at our elemental, but missed, the second struck at Kytum-up and also missed. Then another earth elemental appeared and pushed Mor’Elandi off the path. He tumbled down the steep embankment and came to a stop just before impaling himself upon the razor sharp stone spikes that covered the floor of the cavern. 

He stood, looking up through the murky light and shot an arrow, narrowly missing one of the elementals. Torsten, still above, hit the first elemental four times in rapid succession. A few more chips fell off of it. 

Flying above, I began casting, planning to begin raining lightning bolts down. Tieran cast greater invisibility on himself and Kytum-up missed on his attack as our elemental smacked the newly arrived one. 

Torsten and one of the elementals traded blows. Meanwhile our elemental was being pounded by one of the others and the third hostile one tried to bull rush Kytum-up off the path. He failed, the little Kobold standing resolute on the path. 

Mor’Elandi took a five foot step along the base of the path, trying to find the right angle to shoot from. Torsten, with a mighty effort, attacked the one he was fighting and it crumbled into a pile of rock and earth. I flew over and hit the one at the rear with a lightning bolt. Our earth elemental was able to take the second hostile one down. There was one left. Kytum-up hit the third and moved away.

The remaining hostile elemental attacked ours and hit it with mighty blows. 

I was still flying and heard the sound of wind right before a whirlwind nearly sucked me up. Another large elemental, this one of air, was moving toward the group on the bridge. Tieran threw a _thunderball_ at it, but it kept coming.  Meanwhile the earth elemental pushed Kytum-up off the path, sending him tumbling down the bank on the opposite side from Mor’Elandi.  Torsten hit that elemental hard, I threw lightning at it, while Tieran cast magic missiles into it. It crumbled under our combined effort. 

Kytum-up picked himself up and, drawing his crossbow, moved in the direction we had been moving, paralleling the path. 

The air elemental sucked up Torsten and the still-invisible Tieran and began whirling them around. Then Mor’Elandi, with three well placed arrows, destroyed the air elemental. 

Torsten pulled Mor’Elandi and Kytum-up back onto the path and we moved forward again, alert to any further attack. None came, but we did come to an area where a fifteen foot chunk of the path was gone. 

I flew over, Torsten jumped. The rest crossed with ropes and Torsten’s help. There was some talk of tossing Tieran across, since he is so small now (a gnome!), but he chose to cross via the rope instead.  We moved through a narrow corridor to the next room. 

After we crossed the gap in the walkway, we noticed that nothing on this side was defaced. I turned back to human form, since we still have that communication problem when I’m an animal. 

The path was clear in this room, a raised stone walkway leading through a roughly rectangular chamber. The walls were covered with arcane symbols. Tieran followed us, trying not to look at the symbols, but still seeing the powerful spells inscribed into the walls. A few hours of study would teach him so much, he muttered. ....But we moved on though, none of us deviating from our task. As we left the room, I heard a sigh from Tieran and a whispered comment about returning. 

As we moved along, through another corridor, narrow with a low ceiling, we saw light ahead. As we drew closer, the light grew brighter. Soon, we were aware that there was a large light source ahead in the room we were approaching. From the flickering, it looked like fire. 

We could see a door on the far side of the room as we moved to the door of the fire-lit room. The path turned left, following the left-hand wall.  The door out of the room was straight ahead...I guess if we had left the path, we could get through the room more quickly....so much for the quick and easy way. 

We moved into the room, following the path. In the center of the room stood a woman made of fire. A fire elemental we thought. She spoke as we came in, first in Celestial, then in Common: “Come in, come in! We should talk.” Her voice was the whisper of flame. 

Mor’Elandi cast protection from fire on himself. The rest of us, foolishly, did not.

“Now,” the flame-woman continued “there’s no need for any of that! I have much to offer you. I could infuse your weapons with power—come here and I’ll show you!”

Mor’Elandi looked over and asked if she could come to us, on the path. She moved to stand near him, as he stood on the path. She spoke to him, trying to convince him that we can help one another. She would give us power, for our weapons, improving our armor, and in return, some day in the future, we would owe her a favor.  Mor’Elandi began to move on, followed by Torsten and the rest of us in turn. The woman, her name was Feirvida, REALLY wanted to help us though. 

Mor’Elandi, sensing danger, moved quickly, reaching the far door via the path very quickly. Feirvida looked at Torsten and informed him that she was going to help him. Suddenly, his hammer seemed to have a mind of its own and hit him. 

I ran then, trying to make the door. Feirvida wanted to help me as well and she hit me and I caught on fire. Tieran, who was now invisible, moved behind me, but she clearly knew where he was and hit him too. Invisible people are much easier to see when they are on fire. 

Kytum-up moved then, and Feirvida missed him. Torsten struggled as he moved, dragging his recalcitrant weapon along with him. Feirvida hit him, but his clothing proved resistant to the fire. 

Mor’Elandi fired three arrows at Feirvida, missing with all three. She moved forward to forcibly enchant Kytum-up’s items. He deftly dodged her, so then she attacked me and Tieran. She hit both of us. Tieran, casting defensively, teleported to an area just behind Mor’Elandi, on the path outside Feirvida’s room. I ran, taking another hit from Feirvida, but I got out of the room. 

Torsten was still fighting his weapon for control, but he moved and managed to avoid her attacks. Kytum-up moved quickly out of the room. 

Mor’Elandi moved out of the room and began helping Tieran put out the flames on his robes and hair. I put out the flames on myself, then moved on farther down the corridor. Feirvida sent flames into the corridor, starting Tieran on fire again. Tieran slumped to the floor, but Kytum-up was near and was able to stabilize him and while Mor’Elandi put out the flames. 

Torsten moved out of the room as well, regaining control of his weapon as he moved out of the room. We heard Feirvida give a scream of rage as we all left. 

We found a relatively safe area of hallway and set up a sort of camp. We needed to rest and we needed to get ourselves healed before we could handle any more of the denizens of Alder’s Look. 

*August 15th*
We rested for the day, spending most of our time in sleep or meditation. We needed a lot of healing. 

*August 16th*
We moved on, healed and ready to see what lay in store for us. 

Ahead of us, we saw a split in the path. It moved around something, a small island in the center of the two halves, like a road cut around a tree. In the center, on a small stone platform stood a medium size figure.  He looked like a muscular human, but from the waist down he seemed to be made out of wintry winds and blowing snow.  Tieran whispered that this was a Djinni, from some elemental plane of cold. Very dangerous.

The djinni asked us to help him. He said that he had been there for quite a long time and would be grateful if we would free him. He said that he would grant each of us a wish if we would do it. 

The only catch: to free him one of us would have to step off the path.  Uh-huh.

Tieran and Torsten began discussing ways to free him without stepping off the path. Menawhile Torsten talked with the Djinni, who said that he had been bound here by three mages, long, long ago. He didn’t know how long; he lost track after the first thousand years. He had no great regard for Slythia, though he did know she was dead. 

We felt sorry for him, but in the end, we needed to move on, to hew to our purpose which was the path. We promised to come back, if we could to help him. He did not think we could, but we will try. 

We moved past him and into another narrow, tunnel-like corridor. 

*End of Session #45*


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## Nail

X-mas vacation is over, but now snow-delays threaten our little gaming group.  

<desperate voice> When will we game????


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## Videssian

Nail said:
			
		

> X-mas vacation is over, but now snow-delays threaten our little gaming group.
> 
> <desperate voice> When will we game????




Tomorrow I hope!!  

*hopes that Auril frostmaiden cooperates, CE though she is*..

heh!


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## Nail

Aack!  The ice genie has carried out his vengence upon us!  Cedar Rapids is buried in snow and ice!

.....and our gaming session is canceled.  Rats!


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## Nail

For our fans...both of 'em....  

We've hit a bit of a dry spell, and have missed the last _three_ meetings. Ugg.  Currently my withdrawl symptoms are only minor - curling up in a fetal position, drooling uncontrolably, etc - and I am patiently waiting (by pulling out my fingernails, with a plumbers wrench) for our next meeting on Feb  2nd.

Hopefully sometime before that Gina and I will be able to get a bit more of the story up. Random "bumps" from both our fans might speed the process.


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## Splart

*Post more stories!*

Consider yourselves bumped!


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## Nail

A Bump?

Good grief, look....we have a bump!  Quick, ye story-gnomes, out with the pens and paper!  What?  You say that Tieran's player _still_ hasn't made it to a meeting (63 days and counting), and thus the Great Secret(tm) cannot yet be revealed?  That's awful; have Tieran's player flogged by a Prismatic Roper immediately.

......What's that?  You say you can find neither hide nor hair of the maleficent wizard, as he's off to some medical conference or another??   Aaaarrrrrrggggg!  Will he make it to tomorrows meeting, even?

Only the ice genie knows........


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## Splart

*Hey!*

The deal was, I bump, you post more of the campaign!  Gimme more story!

--Splart, the impatient


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## Nail

*Finally: A Regular session or two!*

Note: Tieran's player missed this session, so his Pc was played by Mor'Elandi's player.  You may note a difference in our fine wizard's style....

*Session #46*: “Clouds of Uncertainty” 
Real life: evening of December 8th, 2004

The adventurers from Eaglesford walked away from the ice genie, his increasingly less-dignified pleas still audible behind them.

"Please free me!  Please!  Hey, come on: _Please!!!_  I'll give you anything!  Seriously: Anything!  I'll grant whatever wish you'd like!  _Please_ free me!....."

They hesitated for a moment, then continued on.

The narrow corridor, it's floor carved took look like an ornate carpet, went on for some time.  Occasionally it would take a sharp bend or turn, but it would always return to its straight course.  The PCs grew bored of the monotony.

Then the sharp-eared among them (that would be the elf ranger, obviously) heard a low sound in front of them, a long way off.  It was stationary; it only got louder as they approached.  As they got nearer they could tell is was the sound of fast, loud wind.  Finally they could see an archway at the end of the corridor, and then beyond only dark, roaring emptiness.

Teiran inspected the archway.  "A planar portal", he mumbled.  His friends strained to hear him over the wind.  He looked out into it,  beyond the archway.  "Probably to some portion of the elemental plane of air."

The path, the intricate stone floor, continued out into the wind.  The party's light showed the path going straight for a time, then leaving the ground and spiraling upward.  Once it left the ground, the narrow path was unsupported, only 3 feet wide and an inch thick.  And, Tieran noted ruefully, there were no railings to help steady a climber in the wind.

"Oh great," Mor'Elandi voicing what the rest were thinking, "that doesn't look difficult to walk on at all......."

_from the Journals of Rowan, Aldersborn_
A moment of discussion led us to a familiar plan. We tied ourselves together with rope.  If one of us fell, the others should be able to help him up. We made the knots so that we could get free if need be, quickly. I wildshaped into a mountain lion, preferring the stability of a four footed form in the wind and on the narrow stone path. Torsten went first, followed by Mor’Elandi, Tieran, Kytum-up, and then me, as an anchor of sorts. 

We walked up the spiral, winds buffeting us as we did so. A big gust came and knocked Torsten off one side of the twisting ring; Tieran fell off the other side. Mor’Elandi was caught between the two: luckily for him, they each fell to a different side or he might have gone with them. A bit of tugging and pulling later and the two were up and walking again.  After a short time Torsten fell again....this was becoming dangerous!  

Of course, things got worse.

Torsten spotted something on the path above us. It looked like some sort of oozing semi-liquid mass. It dripped down...and then took flight!  It was a multicolored cloud of something, -- flowing and undulating as it flew through the wind. 

Mor’Elandi shouted “Rainbow Cloud” and “Be careful, they’re deadly”. (Just about usual, I would say, as if the other things we’ve faced in recent days haven’t been deadly.) We kept moving up, a little more slowly, waiting for the thing to attack, hoping that it might just let us get to the upper portal. Besides, what could a cloud do to us? We really didn’t want to find out. 

Mor’Elandi knelt down and shot an arrow at the colored cloud as it drifted toward us, moving independent of the winds. He hit it, but then it moved over him and Kytum-up, hiding them from our view for a moment. Tieran, always cool under pressure; moved—behind me. Mor’Elandi moved out of the cloud and shot three arrows into it. Two hit the cloud, unfortunately, one hit Kytum-up, as evidenced by the thud and the Kobold grunt from within the cloud. Kytum-up, still held within the cloud, did something, though we weren’t able to see what it was. (He probably healed himself, since that arrow had hit him hard!). 

The cloud let Kytum-up go then, dropping him on the path and moved toward Torsten and Mor’Elandi. It engulfed Torsten, lifting him off the path; Mor’Elandi was able to avoid being engulfed again. 

Torsten hit the cloud from his position inside it. I cast Freedom of Movement on myself, since it looked as though I might just need it. There was another one coming. 

Tieran stepped back further and cast Greater Invisibility on himself. Mor’Elandi moved away from the cloud while Kytum-up stood, babbling incoherently in Draconic...I guess the cloud must have affected his in some way. The first cloud began to constrict Torsten while the second engulfed me. Torsten, still within the first cloud struck it once. For my part, I used my mountain lion form and bit and clawed the cloud, even managing to rake my claws into its surprisingly solid mass. 

Tieran cast Magic Missile at the first cloud and it dissipated, leaving nothing behind except Torsten. Mor’Elandi shot three arrows at the second cloud, hitting it once and me, still within the cloud twice. (What a shock! Mor’Elandi injured me accidentally yet again! I am beginning to wonder if I have an ethereal target painted on me!)

Kytum-up untied himself from the rope and began running, fleeing upward. The second cloud moved away from me toward Torsten just as a third arrived and moved over me, magically confusing me. A fourth cloud was coming, but could not reach us yet. Torsten hit the one approaching him while I felt magically compelled to flee down the spiraling path. Tieran cast a thunderball, catching two of the clouds within it. Mor’Elandi followed up with three arrows on the one that had not reached us yet and it collapsed. Kytum-up continued his flight upward, while the cloud he was fighting engulfed Torsten. The other one moved right up to Mor’Elandi but was unable to engulf him. 

From inside the cloud, Torsten struck but didn’t manage to do any damage to his cloud. As I ran, it came into my mind to attack someone. So, I struck at Tieran, invisible or not, I scented him in my path.  I missed him and he teleported away from my teeth and claws. 

Kytum-up seemed to come to his senses and began to run back down toward the rest of us. Torsten moved out of the cloud and hit it. The one by Mor’Elandi tried to engulf him but failed. I stood still as Mor’Elandi took a step back, and with three well-placed arrows disintegrated his cloud. Ktyum-up reached Torsten and the cloud he was battling and hit it. 

The cloud attempted to engulf Ktyum-up as it constricted Torsten, but it failed. Torsten, still inside the cloud attacked it ...and destroyed it!  All these strange clouds were finally gone.   A few moments later, I regained my senses.  Tieran, ever helpful, explained to me that these things that had attacked us were called “Living Spells”, and are the product of warped magic.  Great....I was just happy Tieran didn’t blame me for trying to bite him!

_End of this entry in the Journal of Rowan, Aldersborn_


*More of Session #46 to come!*


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## Splart

*Good, good. . .*

Keep the updates coming!  No fair playing and not posting!

--Splart


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## Videssian

Some stuff happened.. poor Torsten is feeling like a ping-pong ball.. but I won't spoil the surprise.. it's a long way (mentally) from the farm where he grew up though, let me tell you..


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