After replenishing their strength with some cinnamon buns, the Birdcrunchers strode into Bottled Solutions to confront Nisk Tander, whose defective antitoxin had (indirectly) cost Rotfen his life. Tander shrieked and promised restitution, including goblin-sized armour for twenty-one guards.

Overhearing the commotion was Cyrdak, the boyfriend of their friend Sir Jasper. He invited them for a drink at Cracktooth's when they were done with Tander. Over some beers they told him of their recent activities and arranged to tell them again in puppet show form. This was arranged for the following Toilday (this conversation happening on an Oathday), with profits being split between the theatre and the Birdcrunchers.

Shakkk and Girzig went to visit Lord Scarnetti to thank him again for the gifts that he had given them, and tell him about everything that they had been doing. They invited him to the puppet show, but he said that he was busy. He also said that if they ever did another such show they could consider talking with him first instead of dealing with such a person as Cyrdak.

While eating lunch at the Rusty Dragon, the Birdcrunchers heard that an expeditionary force of the Hornhead goblins (who usually live northeast of the Mosswood) had moved into Thistletop. This was considered completely unacceptable, and the broles immediately went out to retake their lair.

The Hornhead goblins are known to have several unusually strong members, and it turned out that both Fogbreath (who was very ugly, had big claws, and could breath ice) and Zugtrag (who was unbelievably fast) were there. Through great heroism the Birdcrunchers were able to kill Zugtrag and two of the guards before being driven away. Fogbreath's icy attack destroyed the bridge, so the Birdcrunchers are considering another assault while it is still down (and before the next day, when Fogbreath could breathe ice on them again).

PCs:

Girzig (bard 4)
Kezug (psion 3)
Rotfen (cleric 2)
Shakkk (rogue 3)

Recovering from their earlier defeat and collecting a wayward Seven Tooth cousin, the Birdcrunchers felt prepared for Fogbreath. They decided to take him by surprise, and so swam down to the underwater entrance to Thistletop. They arrived in the cave with the painting of the mountain face, and walked through the sarcophagus room. When they got to the room with the big golden pillar they discovered the bodies of four goblins, killed a couple of days previously by something with big claws.

Proceeding cautiously further, Kezug called out, "Watch out for the trap!"

"Okay," replied Shriggy, bounding ahead.

After the other goblins lifted the portcullis and helped the be-glaived Shriggy out of the pit she had words to say to Kezug about the quality of his warning.

Rotfen wanted to check out the chapel, and he discovered that his attempts to desecrate it had been cleaned away. The heroes looked around, and though they couldn't find anyone living anywhere on this level they thought that they heard something moving around.

They climbed the stairs that led to the trophy hall, but when they rattled the (locked) door at the top the goblins on the other side screamed.

"It's back! It's back! Quick, get reinforcements! Help me drag something else up against the door!"

The heroes weren't sure what to do, and then their darkvision stopped working. The goblins on the other side of the door screamed even more loudly.

What followed was a long and difficult fight. This didn't prevent a Birdcruncher from occasionally standing next to the door at the top of the stairs and saying something to scare the Hornheads on the other side, but the combat taxed the resources of the heroes considerably. It turned out that their opponent was a nerizo [ToH p. 122], sent to Thistletop for some purpose, possibly related to freeing someone held captive. The heroes damaged the nerizo considerably and it fled.

Unsure what was going on and weakened by the nerizo's poisonous sting, the heroes decided to retreat back to shore. They descended, but one of them heard movement on the other side of the golden pillar as they were passing it. Investigating it revealed a short hall with three sets of double doors, as well as the badly-injured nerizo. They quickly finished it off.

Before they investigated further they decided that they were long overdue for their night's sleep, and headed back to shore. They slept until late morning, ate what they could find, and swam back. Some Hornhead goblins saw them swimming and shot at them. There was much cheering when the Birdcrunchers submerged.

Some puttering around finally let them get the doors all open, and the last set showed an apparently empty room with a big firepit. Initially reluctant, the Birdcrunchers finally just rushed in. The barghest in there made for a very tough battle, and in the end it was down to it versus Shakkk. With a prayer to Gorum that included some vague promises if he granted her victory, she struck Malfeshnekor with a critical blow. It was enough.

When Shriggy regained consciousness she was very excited about the permanent firepit, which seemed perfect for a rotating barbecue spit. She has claimed the room and plans to convert it into a temple dedicated to the worship of food.

PCs:

Girzig (bard 4)
Kezug (psion 3)
Rotfen (cleric 2)
Shakkk (rogue 3)
Shriggy (fighter 2)

Leaving their barbecue pit behind (after snacking on the roasted corpse of Malfeshnekor), the Birdcrunchers went back upstairs to deal with the remaining Hornhead goblins. Fogbreath proved a bit of a challenge, between his breath weapon and his claw attacks, but once he fell the remaining goblins were dispatched fairly quickly (in spite of their food having been laced with barbarian chew).

This done, the Birdcrunchers sat around pondering how to fix up their new fortress. Among other things they knew that they would require baking facilities, so the tried to figure out how those should be built. Eventually they fell asleep.

Of particular interest, the equipment of an elf and a dwarf adventurer who had tried to drive away the Hornhead goblins turned up in one of the rooms. Their bodies were nowhere to be found, but their gear proved interesting. Shakkk, as quartermaster, claimed the elf's purple boots, green cloak, and jaunty cap. Shriggy claimed the dwarf's Boots of Stomping.

In the morning, Rotfen made the bridge whole again and the crossed it. When a couple of Mosswood goblins were nonchalantly watching them leave the most coveted goblin lair they realized that they needed better security, so the killed the Mosswood goblins and burned the bridge. Confident that surely nothing could infiltrate their lair now, they returned to the Birdcruncher caves.

There were more power struggles among the goblins for the position of quartermaster, ending with Shakkk saying that she hadn't wanted to be quartermaster anyway.

Sandpoint Savories made a lot of money soon afterward, as the spoils of Thistletop transformed themselves into pies and pastries. The Birdcrunchers also started making inquiries about construction workers available in Sandpoint.

Meanwhile, the date of the puppet show at Sandpoint Theater drew ever closer.

PCs:

Girzig (bard 4)
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1)
Rotfen (cleric 3)
Shakkk (rogue 3)
Shriggy (fighter 2)

Yea! Puppet show!

O-pen! O-pen! O-pen!

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write all this. We really appreciate the thread.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write all this. We really appreciate the thread.

At the Birdcruncher caves, the heroes collected five other goblins as apprentices. The ten of them called themselves the Dragoncrunchers, and headed to Sandpoint with the promise of cinnamon buns.

Upon arrival, Shakkk told everyone else to wait right where they were (at the corner of Market Street and Rum Street) and she'd be back with the cinnamon buns. Two of her cousins (Dox and Shriggy) announced that they'd go with her to Sandpoint Savories and help carry everything. When Kezug mentioned that he needed to slip down to Voon's, Shakkk left Girzig in charge of the apprentices.

On the way to the bakery it became clear that one apprentice (Gargrog the Tracker, a recent emigre from the Mosswood goblins) was following Shakkk and company. Repeated admonishments failed to dissuade him, so rather than delay cinnamon bun acquisition Shakkk let him trail along. Sandpoint Savories was delighted to see the Birdcrunchers, and had prepared a large number of baked goods against the possibility of their visit.

Girzig, meanwhile, wasn't having a lot of success herding the goblin apprentices. She realized that she'd lost one (Gargrog) and started looking for him, so another (Sir Nogzag the Brave, who had become a great admirer of Sir Jasper during the rescue mission to Thistletop) took the opportunity to run down the street looking for a place to eat. This took him past the Goblin Squash Stables, still missing a large section of its front wall, and the sight of the pickled body of Chief Whartus of the Bonegrinder goblins sent him into a panicked run. He made it into the Rusty Dragon, where Ameiko made caustic comments until Sir Jasper arrived and bought him a beer.

With two apprentices missing, Girzig decided that she needed a drink. She told the three remaining apprentices to follow her, and set out for the Dragon. Two of the three set out on a different course, but by then she had lost patience, so she and Tigglum (cleric of Gorum) set out for the Dragon without them. Sadly, when she told Tigglum not to look inside the Goblin Squash Stables he did the opposite of what he was told, and fainted. Rolling her eyes, Girzig left the unconscious goblin outside the stables and went on to the Dragon alone. She met up with Sir Jasper and Sir Nogzag and had a drink and some food. It turned out that Sir Jasper knew all about the upcoming puppet show at the Sandpoint Theatre and was quite looking forward to watching it.

Sergeant Kirsaleg the Marching Specialist marched down Rum Street, leading Brignargot behind her. They were some of the only survivors of the Thistletop goblins, and had joined the Birdcrunchers once it became clear that they were a band that a) could defeat Ripnugget and Nualia, and b) ate a lot of food. Heading down Rum Street, they saw a sign with a fairy riding a cat, and investigated inside.

Arriving back at the corner of Market and Rum, Shakkk and company discovered that nobody was waiting for them. They'd brought back about ten percent of the food that they'd purchased (having eaten the other ninety percent already), but with nobody waiting for what they'd brought they decided that they'd better not risk it getting stale, and consumed it.

Shakkk moved her group to the Dragon, and Kezug collected the two young goblin women from the Pixie's Kitten, and everyone (except Tigglum, who never turned up again) met at the Dragon. Sir Jasper left, and the Birdcrunchers tucked in to some stew and beer. They argued over what they wanted to do, and decided that since they'd never actually explored the catacombs beneath the Glassworks after sticking their heads in once that they'd go look around in there. They didn't let Ameiko know their plans.

There was a brief delay outside the Dragon while Girzig decided to try out her new pipes of the sewers. Several hundred rats from around southern Sandpoint ran out into the streets, where they stood and watched Girzig rapturously. Various longshanks screamed, while others laughed, and still others joined the Birdcrunchers in killing them. Once they were all dead, Girzig dealt with much of the mess and smell with prestidigitation. Many Birdcrunchers ate some rat and felt fortified. A couple felt a little bit sick, but shrugged it off.

Heading to the glassworks, they found it locked with a big sign on the door. Shielding her eyes from the writing, Shakkk set to work opening the padlock. Once inside, Kezug directed Shriggy to the brick wall that she needed to bash down. Apprentices were herded, miscellanous other walls were bashed, big rocks were thrown at fragile things (and other goblins), and eventually the group made it through to the tunnels leading to the catacombs.

Arriving at the place where last time they'd been ambushed by a weird thing standing guard, the group argued for a while and then sent Shakkk ahead to look for a pit trap. While she was looking, two weird things emerged from a cave and attacked her. Between her and Shriggy though, they didn't last long. Looking into the cave, they saw that an elaborate wall was blocking off most of it, and that there was a rope dangling from near the top next to a sign.

One of the Birdcrunchers has the ability to magically protect himself from having his soul stolen while he reads things, so he moved to the front and checked out the sign. It said, "Do not ever pull this rope for any reason!"

Pulling the rope brought down the entire wall, behind which were eleven zombies.

After the fight, the group moved down toward the cold lava room, where last time they'd fought a strange, scaly, flying thing. When they opened the double doors there was no sign of that, but there were four more of the strange creatures with the broken jaws. During the long fight that followed, the flying thing appeared out of nowhere and disappeared again a couple of times, but while the Birdcrunchers succeeded in killing everything else (including a fiendish spider and a fiendish scorpion that appeared out of nowhere) they never managed to kill the flying thing.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 2) [also played Tigglum]
Girzig (bard 4) [also played Brignargot]
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1) [also played Gargrog]
Shakkk (rogue 4) [also played Sir Nogzag the Brave]
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 1) [also played Sergeant Kirsaleg the Marching Specialist]

With four unconscious comrades in tow, the Birdcrunchers (plus one) returned to Sandpoint. There were some shopping requirements, but eventually Shakkk, Kezug, and Dox ended up at the Rusty Dragon. When they walked in they saw their old friend Spicy Rose (a fisherwoman who is one of the militia members who helped rescue them from Thistletop). She introduced them to her cousin, Ariel, a sailor who was staying with her for a little while.

Ariel was clearly bored with Sandpoint but was interested in adventures and treasure hunting. It came out at one point that she was actually an escaped pirate wanted by Magnimar authorities, but Rose was trying to ignore that fact.

Ariel introduced the Birdcrunchers to Grom, a half-orc half-hobgoblin wearing a mask. Grom was working as a bounty hunter on a commission from a halfling family in Sandpoint. Apparently their daughter, Brimby, had left Magnimar about a year before with a hero group named the Grand Mithril Troop, and in spite of her promises to write hadn't written. The Troop was led by a woman calling herself Captain Jazravil, an old acquaintance of Ariel's. (There apparently had been some theft happening, but it wasn't clear whether Ariel or Jazravil was the actual thief.)

Grom had tracked the Grand Mithril Troop north to Sandpoint and had determined that they had left for the local landmark known as the Wisher's Well and had never returned. The Birdcrunchers, having nothing better to do and not wanting to stay in town for the mass funeral commemorating those militia members who had fallen fighitng the Hambley Farm monsters, decided to tag along.

The Well was oddly well-preserved for such an old landmark, but the group quickly got down inside. There was a very large room, mostly flooded, that contained (in addition to the bottom of the well) three big cisterns connected by odd pipes. An oversized staircase led to an observation platform.

The staircase looked precarious so the group just swam to the platform. It was covered in mud that was kept in place by a small ridge, and here the water level was only about a foot. Able to breathe and walk easily, the group started across the muddy platform.

Almost immediately, four human-sized shapes rose out of the mud. Kezug quickly damaged them, and they ran to each other and glommed together to make two larger figures. They attempted to look like the adventurers, but they weren't very good at it. The fight was long, but in the end the mud fell back to the floor and the group persevered.

There were two oversized doors, each with a small crystal shaped like a seven-pointed star next to it. One of the doors led to a hall, and within the room was filled with a red mist that didn't seem to spill out into the hall. The mist held four figures (including both Captain Jazravil and Brimby) motionless.

Dox poked at the seven-pointed star, and the mist drained away. The formerly-motionless figures shook themselves, saw the new arrivals, and shouted at them to leave the treasure alone. Shakkk didn't like the sound of this and charged into the room, but Grom tripped her on the way past.

The two halflings and the dwarf looked normal once the mist was gone, but Captain Jazravil's skin was red and drippy. When Grom tripped her the goop on her skin sizzled on his guisarme's haft.

Meanwhile the Troop was confused. Shouts from Grom led them to believe that he was their ally against the goblinoid intruders, but then he kept knocking everybody over (goblins and Troopers like). Finally Throjek (the dwarf) had had enough and started whacking Grom, albeit with the side of his greataxe rather than the sharp bit. Captain Jazravil took out two of the goblinoids with a hailstorm, but then Ariel was there stealing back her ioun stone.

Things got confusing. Everybody was fighting everybody. All the goblins were down and Ariel and Jazravil got into a cat fight. Most people just watched until Grom interfered, and suddenly Jazravil was dead and red smoke was pouring out of her body.

Soon a babau was standing over her corpse, and then it merged into Grom (whose skin immediately started to get red and slimy). Suddenly the Troop was following his orders and the goblins (as they healed and got back up) weren't sure who they were allowed to fight (so they pretty much just fought everybody, including each other).

In the end, the surviving Troop members were allowed to leave, Brimby promised to go home to her family, Grom stayed possessed by the babau, and the goblinoids decided not to explore any of the other rooms beneath the well. They managed to find some ancient Large weapons though, and kept some of those.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 2)
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 4)

Guest NPCs:

Ariel (ranger 2, fighter 1)
Grom (barbarian 2, fighter 1)

This totally rocks! Love it.
Wondering what happened to Smashoar and I guess Dox and Rotfen are being played by the same Player?
Great job on doubleing up characters. Man I love RP only sessions

This totally rocks! Love it.
Wondering what happened to Smashoar and I guess Dox and Rotfen are being played by the same Player?
Great job on doubleing up characters. Man I love RP only sessions

Rotfen and Dox are played by different players. Rotfen's player played Flunk for a while during Rotfen's time in heaven. Several people have played Jorvak, depending on the situation.

Thanks for the kind words!

I guess Dox and Rotfen are being played by the same Player?

Moonday morning arrived, and four Birdcrunchers had breakfast in the Rusty Dragon. Shakkk and Kezug told Girzig and Rotfen about their adventures down the Wisher's Well, and Shakkk showed off her new sword. Ameiko asked her not to wave the large sword around indoors. Shakkk also said that she had learned that pirates bury their treasure on land, and she was planning on digging it up.

Looking around for a nice sandy area, they decided to start digging on Chopper's Isle. Shakkk explained that Captain Chopper was a famous pirate who only had one hand and had an axe on the stump of his other arm. Kezug went back to the Birdcruncher caves, but the other three started digging. Rotfen concentrated on exploring the burned remains of a ruined house on the island, while Shakkk and Girzig dug on the shore.

Soon Gorvi the half-orc made his way over to them, and told them that they couldn't dig up the island. He said that there used to be a guy named Jervis who lived there, and he killed people. When the Birdcrunchers persisted Gorvi left.

Within half an hour Sheriff Hemlock was there, accompanied by two guards (Ileana Magravi and Merin Vargil). He explained a bit about the history of the Chopper, and convinced the Birdcrunchers to help bury what they had uncovered. Then (trying to ignore the laughter from Magravi and Vargil) the sheriff accepted Rotfen's invitation to retire to Sandpoint Savories for something warm and baked. He warned the Birdcrunchers, however, that they shouldn't mention the morning's activities while in the bakery.

Shakkk asked the sheriff if he'd be attending the puppet show the following day, but he was uncertain. When Rotfen wasn't sure that he could afford to buy everyone a cinnamon bun Sheriff Hemlock paid for four then went on his way. Rotfen then found his money and purchased four dozen.

The group picked up Kezug from the Birdcruncher caves, then went back to the Wisher's Well. It didn't take long to realize that someone had beat them back, and had looted the rooms they had missed the previous day. A Birdcruncher tracker confirmed that whoever had been there went to Magnimar, so they mounted their goblin dogs and rode for the city.

Several hours later, they roped up their goblin dogs outside of town and approached the city gates. They said that they worked with the sheriff of Sandpoint and that they were pursuing some criminals, and requested the guards' help. One guard asked them to wait while he checked with his superior, then came back and said that someone was coming to meet them.

Soon a squad of ten guardsmen were there, telling the Birdcrunchers that they were under arrest for murder. They said that an agent of theirs had informed them that three giantkin goblins named Shakkk, Dox, and Kezug were suspected of being the Star Killer. One of the justices would give them a trial and a fair result was sure to be handed down, if only they would accompany the guards.

The Birdcrunchers can run very quickly, and they made it back to their goblin dogs without taking more than minimal damage. Rotfen threw some rocks, but (deliberately) missed the guards.

It was very late when they made it back to Sandpoint, but after a good night's sleep they were up and preparing for the puppet show. Rotfen and Kezug went back to the Birdcruncher caves and roped up fifteen goblins to form a choir. Shakkk and Girzig prepared for the show by playing with the puppets that Nifrat had made.

The puppet show was scheduled for noon, and the Birdcrunchers were at the theatre an hour ahead of time to prepare. The sheriff showed up and asked to talk to them. Rotfen and Kezug went with him. He took them to the garrison, where a Magnimaran guard pointed at Rotfen and identified him as the one who had attacked his squad. Voices were raised, and Sheriff Hemlock quickly cut off the shouting match and asked the Magnimaran guard to wait in the next room. He then heard the story of both Rotfen and Kezug. Shaking his head, he released them for the puppet show.

Cyrdak introduced the first of the two shows, "Rabbit Raising Dos and Don'ts", and there was much applause. Sheriff Hemlock and the Magnimaran guard had arrived and were watching. The show was performed to much laughter and applause.

Next up was the goblin choir. They sang a song about how they had wanted to watch the puppet show but were forced to wait outside in the snow. [note: It was a sunny and warm autumn day without any sign of snow.] There was much laughter and applause, and the goblins were hauled back outside.

Cyrdak then introduced the second show, "The Second Coming of Rotfen", which detailed Rotfen's journey to heaven and the instructions he received there. This was generally confusing to people, who preferred the show about the rabbits.

[note: One of the players had created puppets, and the shows were actually performed.]

Afterward the Scarnettis invited the puppeteers to a reception in their home. Titus said that he regretted that he couldn't attend the show in the Sandpoint Theatre, and inquired about the possibility of having a show put on in a venue of his choosing. Girzig promised that this could happen. Titus went on to ask for a favour, namely killing and eating the Star Killer in Magnimar. He said that his family's retainers and even one of his cousins had been targeted in recent days, and he wanted the killer stopped.

The Birdcrunchers discussed their next move, and decided that they needed to deal with the weird fungus in the basement of Foxglove Manor before they did anything else. Their goblin dogs didn't want to get very close, so they tied them up and advanced on foot. After fending off undead ravens they went down the well and back to the fungus room, where Rotfen became infected with the phage. They decided that they couldn't do anything permanent about the fungus yet, but they destroyed as much as they could

PCs:

Girzig (bard 4)
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1)
Rotfen (cleric 3)
Shakkk (rogue 5)

Wealday dawned on Sandpoint, and Girzig, Kezug, and Shakkk had breakfast at the Rusty Dragon. Jorvak Deverin joined them there, and told them that the Magnimaran guard was insistent that they all return to the city and face trial. Jorvak was of the opinion that this was actually the best option, since their innocence ensured that the trial would exonerate them, as it had his friend Tsuto.

They were enjoying another round of breakfast when Ameiko gave them word that the Goblin Squash stables had caught fire and collapsed in the night, killing many horses. People were digging through the rubble, and weren't sure if anyone had been inside.

The Magnimaran guard was particularly unhappy about this, since his horse was among those killed. When he found out that a goblin resembling those who had attacked him in Magnimar had been seen entering the stable he immediately added charges to those being leveled against the Birdcrunchers. The discovery of an unconscious goblin (near the corpse of Deverin Hosk) within the wreckage of the stable, however, led to those charges being dropped against those who apparently hadn't been inside.

Before leaving for Magnimar, Girzig and Shakkk made a request of the Scarnetti family that they provide alternate legal counsel so that the Birdcrunchers would not have to depend solely on Jorvak. They promised to do what they could.

At Magnimar, the Birdcrunchers waited outside of town while Jorvak made arrangements. Soon there were also representatives of the Scarnetti family, and the latter secured a safe location in a townhouse for the visiting goblinoids while they awaited their trial.

Kezug requested that he be tried separately from Shakkk and Girzig, and Justice Ironbriar granted his request. With Jorvak as his legal adviser, Kezug presented his defense and swore while under the effects of Abadar's Truthtelling that he had not committed the star murders. Grom testified against him. Justice Ironbriar convicted both Kezug and Jorvak of being accomplices to multiple murders, and sentenced them to death.

They were offered a final chance to redeem themselves if they would only sign on with the Black Arrow ranger company, after which they'd be assigned to fight giants near Claybottom Lake. This sounded terrible, and they chose to activate a number of psionic tattoos and make their escape. They were nearly caught, but Jorvak managed to flee while carrying Kezug's unconscious body.

Holing up in Tsuto's townhouse, Jorvak reeled from the implications of the corrupt justice system in Magnimar, and arranged to magically warn the remaining Birdcrunchers.

Ultimately, it seemed that fleeing Magnimar was the only real option. The four ended up heavily disguised and on a ferry sailing up the Yondabakari River. They eventually made a stop in Wartle, and Kezug and Jorvak stayed behind playing Towers while Shakkk and Girzig went to the Lean-To and drank Bog Grog. While there, they were astonished to meet their Uncle Grubstep, who had been living in Wartle for several years. He proposed that he accompany the Birdcrunchers wherever they were headed next.

They've decided to go toward the Iron Peaks. They've heard that there are giants there to fight, and that sounds wonderful!

PCs:

Girzig (bard 4)
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5)

Guest NPC:

Jorvak Deverin (aristocrat 1, cleric 2)

Wonderful posts; how do you retain your sanity though, with regard to the way that they keep on wandering off the script?

Too funny Tbug. I love how the ability of the Birdcrunchers to evade capture!! Go Goblins Go!

They need a "We didn't do it" song!!

CJ

Yea! The puppet show happened!

Whee!

Wonderful posts; how do you retain your sanity though, with regard to the way that they keep on wandering off the script?

The way I see it is that I'm running a home campaign. This isn't really any more work than I'd do in a game where I made everything up from scratch, and it a) gives me a great, rich setting, b) provides a detailed overarching plot that keeps chugging along in the background while the PCs goof off, and c) gives me something to talk about with other GMs here on the Paizo forum.

I have no problem with writing games for my players, and this is actually the first time I've tried something as ambitious as an adventure path. I fear that I might lost interest if all I did every game was read boxed text and roll combat dice; I'm much more engaged when I get to extrapolate what's going on and how the story is affected by unexpected actions on the part of the PCs.

The PCs even have a different "object of the game". I told them when they were creating characters that their parents and grandparents had decided to leave the Birdcrunchers and find a way to the afterlife without dying, and that the goal of the PCs was to go join them. Suicide wasn't allowed, but once everyone made it to the afterlife then they win. Of course, when Rotfen died he saw his dad in the afterlife all comatose and with a seven-point-star-shaped hole in his torso, so now they're thinking that they might need to do some stuff before (or possibly after) getting to "heaven".

Too funny Tbug. I love how the ability of the Birdcrunchers to evade capture!! Go Goblins Go!

Next session: an entire village of gnomes!

Yea! The puppet show happened!

Whee!

Thanks, everyone, for the comments and kind words!

The remaining members of the Company of the Old Light joined their fellows in Whistledown, bringing alarming news. It seemed that the Lord Mayor of Magnimar had been assassinated, and a seven-point star branded onto his body. Justice Ironbriar has sentenced the members of the Company of the Old Light to death for his murder. The Hellknights are seeking them.

In Whistledown, the Company learned more about the Bleaching and the way that gnomes always try to experience something completely new. They applauded the impromptu puppet show put on by Shakkk and Girzig, and discussed the breeding of swamp ponies (which the goblinoids strongly discouraged), the dietary disadvantages of an all-fungus diet, the training of mosquitoes, walking only on one's hands, being swallowed whole, fencing using Large daggers, adventuring equipment made exclusively out of blown glass, and many other things.

Kezug was wearing his medallion with a seven-pointed star on it, and a gnome approached him and told him that it was supposed to be kept secret. The gnome conceded that it didn't matter so much any more now that Paradise had sunk, but that it was the principle of the thing.

Tsuto Kaijitsu was helpful in keeping the goblinoids out of trouble, and earned the gratitude of some locals by helping out with some problems they were having with denizens of the Mushfens. For the most part though, the group avoided too much exploration after they heard rumours of a low-level gnome sorcerer who became a worm that walks.

A ferry trip took the group to Ilsurian, where they kept their ties to Magnimar a secret. Before long a ferry made out of an enormous turtle shell arrived, and they sailed to Turtleback Ferry. There Jorvak went to stay with his aunt, the longshank members of the Company (including Tsuto, who's only half-longshank) stayed at the Turtle's Parlor, and the goblinoids began attempting to discover how one of them could become mayor.

They asked about local ruins, because they liked to break them. The locals begged them not to wreck Skull's Crossing, since that would kill many innocent people. The goblinoids made no promises, purchased mining tools, and set out on the road north. They were asked to drop off a cylinder at Fort Rannick along the way, and agreed to do so. The goblinoids set out, leaving their longshank companions behind.

After crossing Skull River, Shakkk heard what might be an injured animal. Arguing over whether to free it or eat it, the heroes tromped toward it. Girzig recognized it as odd for an animal, perhaps possessing the qualities of a beast befriended by a druid or ranger. Shakkk quickly sprung the bear trap, and hoped that the bear would help defend against the barking dogs rapidly approaching.

The dogs were accompanied by a giantkin humanoid, but this one seemed to probably not be related to any of the PCs. There was a fight, and in the end only the four goblinoids were still alive. A bonfire was built, and the ensuing feast was enjoyed by all.

The giantkin's trail wasn't too difficult to follow, and soon the heroes approached some sort of clearing. To their horror, however, it seemed to be guarded by some sort of scarecrow. Remembering Mumble from the tower beneath the Irespan, they approached with extreme caution. Just as they were managing to burn one they spotted another; fortunately they managed to burn both scarecrows before provoking a reaction from them.

The same was not true of another giantkin who saw the smoke. "Rukus! Is that you, boy!?"

Most of the PCs hid, but Shakkk used her hat of disguise and answered in the affirmative. A fight ensued, and soon a second giantkin lay dead in front of them. They looked toward the house.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 3)
Girzig (bard 5)
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5)

"Rukus! Is that you, boy!?"

CJ

The Birdcrunchers approached the farmhouse with their usual lack of stealth and caution. Shakkk remembered to check the front porch for traps, and even found some, so they knew that they ought to be at least a little careful going forward. The first room contained a pit trap in front of a couch, which disappointed them because they particularly liked the way that longshank bits had been incorporated into the upholstery and were looking forward to trying out sitting and jumping on it.

The first room they examined past the entry room contained a very large woman and some undead folks. There was a big fight, and in the end the very large woman vanished. She was quite unhappy that she kept getting burned and had no idea what the source of the burning was.

By this time Shakkk was blind and feeling sick, and she knew that she had been cursed. They trudged back to Turtleback Ferry through the unending rain, and made contact with the mayor, Father Maelin Shreed. He had some scrolls that he was willing to use to help out Shakkk, and she compensated him for his expenses. People in the village were increasingly scared of the heroes, particularly when Shakkk started randomly digging holes around town trying to find pirate treasure.

Eventually they dove into Claybottom Lake and investigated the wreckage of Paradise. They fought off a giant gar and retreated to the surface, ignoring the dead longshanks and taking a little bit of gold with them.

The next morning they set off through the rain to resume sacking the farmhouse with the interesting couch. Their plan for today was to stay several hundred feat away and destroy the house with large rocks. (Their giantish heritage gives them a certain amount of skill with this.) They were ambushed by several residents of the house on their way there, but made short work of them. Soon they were in position, and big rocks hurtled toward the buildings.

Mammy Graul flew in and made one more appearance, but everyone was in fine form today, shrugging off almost every spell she cast. Finally she screamed in frustration and disappeared. More residents of the house were flushed out and dispatched, and eventually the enormous pile of boulders that the heroes had spent hours gathering proved to be enough, and both the house and the barn collapsed into piles of rubble.

The goblins cheered and danced. They have decided to spend the next week or so picking through the rubble.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 3)
Girzig (bard 5)
Kezug (psion 3, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5)

As Wealday drew to a close, Shriggy approached her cousins as they sorted through the farm house's rubble. They caught up on some news, then had some food and went to sleep.

Oathday was largely spent working their way through the remains of the collapsed cottage, though at one point they found themselves fighting off tendrils of some buried plant and eating it. The only real excitement of the day came when Mammy Graul appeared in the skies above them, casting a spell and diving toward them at high speed. They braced themselves but she dove straight past them, burrowing into the earth. Less than a minute later she was back, flying away and grasping a wooden rod she'd obtained from below them.

Fireday was much more exciting. Late in the morning a squad of longshanks rode up through the rain, all on horses! Both the longshanks and the horses were covered in black metal armour, and there were lots of devilish faces all over everything they had. The warchanter identified them as hellknights.

The chief hellknight rode up and demanded that the Birdcrunchers surrender to her at once, so that she could return them to Magnimar to face justice for their foul murder of the previous Lord Mayor. Kezug spoke up and said that the real criminal was Justice Ironbriar, who was completely crooked and who should be investigated instead of them. The hellknight promised that if they surrendered themselves to her and returned quietly to Magnimar then she would personally scrutinize Justice Ironbriar and all his dealings, and if he indeed proved false in his judgements then she would put a stop to such things in a very permanent manner indeed.

The Birdcrunchers listened to her, then attacked. At first the fight went very badly for them, and the horses in particular were quite fearsome. They were pulling out every resource they had, and Dox remembered that he had a Staff of Frost with a few charges left. He dropped an ice storm on the hellknights (and one of his cousins) and this proved very effective indeed, so he did it again. Soon the horses were bamfing out, and the dismounted knights were less threatening. As the last knight prepared for his death, he slipped some parchment into his horse's saddlebags and dismissed it. Then he raised his sword and shield, faced the Birdcrunchers, and was slaughtered.

In evaluating the loot taken off the bodies of the hellknights, Dox pointed his detect magic at the ruins of the farmhouse. He quickly pinpointed the location of the sources, and by Starday noon they had been extracted (along with some coin and jewellery from within the chest holding the magic).

Meanwhile, Shriggy had been busy with some of the armour that had been retrieved from the late hellknights. Procuring some paint, so created a pleasant pastoral scene over the devil's head on the breastplate of one of the suits of armour. She then donned it, confident that its source would remain unrecognized.

Shakkk, using her hat of disguise, took on the role of the hellknight officer. To aid the deception, she took to calling everyone a scurvy cur (even though she had never heard the hellknight officer use the phrase). The rest of the Birdcrunchers held on to a length of chain, and Shakkk marched them into Turtleback Ferry and demanded to be told where the other prisoners were so that she could put them all in one place. She became momentarily distracted when the patrons of Bottoms Up gave her free beer, but soon she was at the place where the longshanks from Sandpoint were being held. She insisted on a prisoner transfer and marched them out of town.

When she dropped her disguise she was astonished to see the dismay on the faces of the longshanks. They had been hoping that the hellknights would solve their problems with Justice Ironbriar for them, and now that hope was lost. Led by Jorvak Deverin, cleric of Abadar, the longshanks turned around and marched back to Turtleback Ferry to turn themselves in.

Shrugging and the hopelessness of longshanks, the Birdcrunchers decided to pay a visit to Skull Crossing dam. Bypassing the trail up to Fort Rannick, they slogged through the mud and the rain to get to the dam, chortling about how they had scared longshanks by claiming that they were going to destroy Skull Crossing. When they arrived, they saw some ogres destroying the dam.

The Birdcrunchers were incensed. First, they knew that they were totally going to get blamed for this. Second, if someone else was destroying the dam then it meant that they wouldn't get to do it. Third, the crack was big enough that they had no idea how they were going to fix it.

Using a wand of spider climb, they crept up past the staircase and onto the dam. The ogres on the western side of the control house saw them, of course, and sluggishly moved into combat with them. The Birdcrunchers were confused that there were troll markings on the stairway but ogres on the dam.

Things became clearer when a pair of trolls emerged from the control house to take advantage of the confusion and attack the ogres. Sadly for them, the ogre chief was nearby and struck them with terrible blows.

Things looked bad for both the trolls and the Birdcrunchers until one of the ogres shouted out that the troll chief was approaching. Dox, wielding a Large bastard sword, was face to face with the ogre chief and losing the fight badly. Suddenly his grandmother stepped into flank and finished off the foe. She turned out to be the chief of the Skulltaker trolls, and welcomed her grandchildren to her home. Shakkk asked her for cookies, and got an ogre leg.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 4)
Girzig (bard 5)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 1)

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 4)
Girzig (bard 5)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 1)

Oh, and awesome as usual tbug, this has lasted far longer than I would have thought possible.

GO BIRDCRUNCHERS GO!!

Birdcruncher goblins made an appearance in my Burnt Offerings table on Saturday. Of course, as goblins they were quickly dispatched save one who was captured -- and later turned over to Sheriff Hemlock for questioning (the party was out recon'ing Thistletop prior to their eventual assault).

Hemlock's response was, "And what exactly do you want me to do with this?"

CJ

So given their trollish and goblinish nature what is the effective level of the PCs?

Oh, and awesome as usual tbug, this has lasted far longer than I would have thought possible.

GO BIRDCRUNCHERS GO!!

Thanks again for the kind words!

Having dealt with the exhausted ogres on the western half of the dam, the Birdcrunchers turned their attention to the more lively-looking ogres on the eastern half. Five ogres there were busy attempting to further damage the dam.

Grigmurta (aka Grandma) invited her grandchildren inside, where they were introduced to the four remaining trolls who had been living there before she arrived: Alyana, Breyonga, Chembliha, and Devishda. The other trolls were surprised by the presence of male troll-kin, but Grigmurta assured them that her boys would be leaving the next day. This caused a number of speculative glances to be cast toward the male Birdcrunchers.

Grigmurta told her grandchildren about the arrival of the ogres, their attempts to damage the dam, and the series of attacks and counter-attacks. She also explained about how she had coordinated a cooperative effort to repel Black Magga when she attacked, though the truce was short-lived.

"Ha ha! I bite ogre's head!" agreed Breyonga.

The Skulltakers were tired but determined to save their home, and their chief's grandchildren were enthusiastic about helping them. They told the five women that they could just watch while the younger generation took care of things. Grigmurta joined them on the eastern side of the bridge.

The ogres noticed this and stopped their demolition efforts to prepare for battle. Shakkk was becoming fairly skilled with her Large giantbane longsword, and charged toward the ogres, shouting her battle cry: "Grandma! Look at me!"

Unfortunately for Shakkk, her sister and cousins decided on ranged attacks and so all five ogres concentrated on her. Before long she was lying unconscious on the wet surface of the dam. An ogre moved toward her and picked her up.

Unwilling to watch her granddaughter get thrown over the edge, Grigmurta charged the ogres. She got into melee and did considerable damage, but Shakkk was still thrown over the side. Soon Grigmurta was down, and her grandchildren were on the move, as were Alyana and Breyonga.

Before long Grigmurta had been thrown over the side as well. Shakkk's fast healing helped her enormously, and she was able to entangle herself twenty feet before she hit bottom, though the resulting jolt dropped her back unconscious.

The Birdcrunchers all still had spider climb active on them, so they left the remaining ogres (now badly injured) to Alyana and Breyonga and began their sprint down the side of the dam. Grigmurta wasn't instantly killed by massive damage, but she was unconscious and began immediately to drown.

There followed a lot of frantic scramblings, and many desperate spellcastings. At one point a big chunk of ice materialized beneath Grigmurta, propelling her to the surface, but she soon slid off and began to sink again. In the end, however, her grandchildren reached her before she expired. They all recuperated on the island beneath the dam before making hike back up to the top.

In the meantime, Alyana and Grigmurta were arguing about the dead ogres. Alyana wanted to decapitate them and take their heads directly to Wet Papa Grazuul, but Grigmurta claimed that her pregnancy meant that she was craving brains and couldn't help eating them. In the end she ate two of the brains and then they took all five ogre skulls downstairs to Wet Papa Grazuul.

Grigmurta rolled her eyes when she found out about this. She explained to her grandchildren that a number of the problems experienced by the Skulltakers stemmed from the fact that her subjects insisted on worshipping Wet Papa Grazuul as a sort of god, insisting on taking him tribute and listening to him if he ever said anything (though mostly he just said "skulls"). She indicated that it would be very helpful if her grandchildren could somehow address this problem.

Eager to please their grandma, they went down and looked at the pool. They didn't see any way to solve the problem though, so they went back upstairs to sleep.

The female trolls were pleased that there were males present for the night.

In the morning the Birdcrunchers went back downstairs, bringing with them a burning skull they'd obtained from Nualia's office in Thistletop. Using it as a lure, they managed to get Wet Papa Grazuul out of the water, at which point Shakkk's skill with her giantbane longsword showed itself again. With Dox providing her flank, she did an enormous amount of damage. Wet Papa Grazuul tried to dive back into the water, and the Birdcrunchers finished him off when he started to move.

Taking his fork and using her hat of disguise, Shakkk impersonated Wet Papa Grazuul when the Skulltakers came downstairs for a visit. She told them that he (Wet Papa Grazuul) was needed in heaven but that he'd return when the Skulltakers had made a big enough pile of skulls. They were very sad but also impressed, and they left to go back upstairs to find more skulls.

That dealt with, the Birdcrunchers cleared away the debris and started exploring everything nearby. Through one of the old doors they found a withered devil, Avaxial, who seemed despondent until Kezug introduced himself by name. Drawing himself up to his full height, Avaxial started to curse Kezug for imprisoning him for ten thousand years, and shouted that this was far outside the deal. Kezug told him that it was technically permitted, and that Avaxial should discuss matters with his servants, and then he left.

Avaxial was a bit confused, but started offering all sorts of tempting powers to the Birdcrunchers if they would 1. release him, and 2. sell him their souls. Shriggy is seriously tempted.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 4)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1) [also played Breyonga]
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 1) [also played Alyana]

...The ogres noticed this and stopped their demolition efforts to prepare for battle. Shakkk was becoming fairly skilled with her Large giantbane longsword, and charged toward the ogres, shouting her battle cry: "Grandma! Look at me!"

...Unwilling to watch her granddaughter get thrown over the edge, Grigmurta charged the ogres. She got into melee and did considerable damage, but Shakkk was still thrown over the side. Soon Grigmurta was down, and her grandchildren were on the move, as were Alyana and Breyonga.

...

And you threw Granny off the dam!!

My hat is off to you tbug!

I can't wait to see what comes from the Birdcrunchers messing with devils.

CJ

My hat is off to you tbug!

I can't wait to see what comes from the Birdcrunchers messing with devils.

In the meantime, Alyana and Grigmurta were arguing about the dead ogres. Alyana wanted to decapitate them and take their heads directly to Wet Papa Grazuul, but Grigmurta claimed that her pregnancy meant that she was craving brains and couldn't help eating them.

The Birdcrunchers congregated in Gorger and Chaw's cave. He knew that they were the boss troll's grandchildren, and he was a little afraid of them. As they were discussing what to do about the pit fiend's offer, their companions from the Company of the Old Light started climbing the stairs. They were there to recruit the Birdcrunchers to help them liberate Fort Rannick from invading giants.

There was a lot of talk. Finally Girzig and Shriggy went and asked their grandmother for permission to bring some humans in who could help prevent the dam from breaking further. She approved, but assigned Breyonga to accompany them

Breyonga, Girzig, Shriggy, Saldra, Jorvak, Tsuto, and Zegrem all descended to Wet Papa Grazuul's demesne. Breyonga urgently wanted to do whatever it would take to bring back Wet Papa Grazuul, and was told that she needed to help get them through the double doors behind all the skulls. She made a path, opened the door, and went through.

Beyond was a chamber that included a circle around a pit fiend named Avaxial. Breyonga asked him if he could bring back Wet Papa Grazuul, and Avaxial said that in fact he could and that all it would take was for Breyonga to break the circle around him. Breyonga moved to do so. Seeing this, Jorvak jumped into the other circle, and suddenly there were bright lights and strange energy patterns. Soon Avaxial was a pile of dust and Jorvak was feeling weak.

The noise level within the room rose rapidly, and soon no matter how loudly they shouted people couldn't hear each other. They went back up to the top of the dam and spent what might be considered a restful afternoon there. Some of the trolls were intrigued by the presence of males.

Later that day the entire group went to Fort Rannick. Some of the Birdcrunchers started throwing rocks at the fort, and before too long the gate opened and four ogres came out to see what was happening. There was a long fight that ended with one ogre running back to the fort and the heroes helping their wounded leave the field.

While resting that night they were disturbed by the arrival of a herlekin (Book of Fiends, pp. 168-69). It tried to talk to them, but nobody could understand it. They killed it and ate it with its own fork.

PCs:

Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1) [also played Breyonga]
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 1)

Guest NPCs (by two guest players):

Saldra & Jorvak
Tsuto & Zegrem

The Birdcrunchers decided that they'd discovered the perfect plan for killing the ogres in Fort Rannick, and that they should keep using the exact same tactic over and over until they achieved complete victory. The humans went back to Turtleback Ferry, and the Birdcrunchers headed to the fort.

Gathering large piles of rocks, they started heaving them at the walls. Just as last time, the gate soon opened and a squad of ogres rushed toward them. Just as last time, most of the Birdcrunchers were soon down and needed to be helped in order to escape. They left some dead ogres behind them though, so they were convinced that continuing this scheme would eventually bear fruit. More importantly, Kezug had animated the severed hand of Aldern Foxglove and infected someone with it; he was confident that the residual ghoul fever would soon kill all of the ogres in the fort.

Wanting to give the ghoul fever time to work, the Birdcrunchers looked around for something else big to conquer. Hook Mountain loomed large, so they started climbing it, stopping occasionally to bicker. Once they reached the snow line they had a big snowball fight.

Warchanter Girzig spotted some smoke coming from a cave, and she and Shakkk headed inside. They convinced the guards that they were emissaries from Mammy Graul and that they needed to talk to the boss, but only after they'd eaten supper. After a while all four Birdcrunchers were in a room filled with anvils and forges, and they ate some pig with the ogres. They were then taken to Barl Breakbones, the stone giant in charge of the ogres. Kezug's prominently displayed Sihedron medallion caused Barl to pause and ask who had sent him. Kezug answered that no one had sent him but that he was looking for Kezug. Barl hesitated, then said that in a week a caravan would be taking weapons to Jorgenfist and the Graul boys (ie the PCs) could accompany it if they so chose. They accepted the offer and said that they'd be back in a week.

Warchanter Girzig had previously told them of an enormous staircase called the Storval Stair, and they were all convinced that this was the place that they needed to be next. She told them that it was home to harpies and trolls who fought each other, and they decided to side with the trolls against the harpies.

Four arduous days of climbing through the Iron Peaks used up all of the charges on their wand of spider climb and brought them out onto the Storval Plateau. Exhausted, they quickly fell asleep. This was short-lived, as before too long a land shark erupted from beneath them and tried to consume them. Soon they were consuming it.

A day's journey across the plateau brought them to the top of the Storval Stairs. On the far side they saw what looked like an inhabited building, so Girzig went on ahead to great them. On the way she saw a stone giant near the top of the stairs themselves and she called down to greet him. He came up and demanded to know who she was and why she was there. She introduced herself as Girzig, and the stone giant told her not to put on airs and call herself Karzoug. She insisted that she really was Girzig, and the stone giant transferred his club to one hand and slapped her with the other. She drew her sword and combat was joined.

The fight was short. Soon three other stone giants emerged from the building and started throwing rocks. The Birdcrunchers rapidly surrendered and denied everything that Girzig had said. Once again their giant heritage helped them, as the stone giants were under instructions to allow all giants free passage and direct them to Jorgenfist. The guard was still annoyed by Girzig and demanded a gift before the Birdcrunchers would be allowed to leave. Kezug promised to give all four of them moving tattoos, and this was deemed satisfactory.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 4)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)

I can see that there is a real need with this group/campaign to know the ENTIRE AP intimately.

Those crazy Birdcrunchers.

CJ

Yes, I'm trying to make sure that I keep the entire path in mind while I'm running them.

The Birdcrunchers agreed to travel to Jorgenfist and report to Lord Mokmurian, but they seemed a touch scatterbrained in their travel plans. Since a relief guard had just arrived with supplies, T'mar the stone giant decided to escort them there.

T'mar was motivated to move quickly, since he wanted to get back in time to join Teraktinus and his elite scouting party. That group had a reputation for always getting a lot of loot, and T'mar wanted in on it. He pushed the pace as much as he could.

Along the way, however, the group was attacked by Skaldigrondax the blue. The dragon burst from the ground and nailed three of them with lightning. T'mar charged the dragon while the others scattered, and was soon unconscious on the ground. The fight was a very close one, and it was very nearly the end of the Birdcrunchers. In the end though Skaldigrondax was badly hurt and burrowed out of combat.

The Birdcrunchers had some terrific luck and determined the location of his lair, and raced on ahead. Once there they (being by now fully healed) waited for him to emerge. (The unfortunate thing about blue dragons is that even though they have a burrow speed they don't have tremorsense, so he had no idea they were waiting in ambush.) The second part of the fight was swift and brutal, and Skaldigrondax fell before them. Shakkk made his head into a hat.

After many dragon steaks, T'mar managed to convince them to forge ahead. They approached the Valley of the Black Tower and T'mar told Cinderma about the puny new recruits. He then took them to Chief Oriandian, leader of the Crannochs, hoping to run off to find Teraktinus. The laconic giant, however, was having none of it and T'mar had to deal with everything himself.

Braving the song of the tower guards, T'mar waved to them and one flew down to greet him. He explained that he had new recruits, and the group was allowed inside. Two enormous birds watched them closely from the top of a tall spire, and a large bear stood guard in front of another building. T'mar led them to meet Colonel Zanmekar, who welcomed them to Jorgenfist and escorted them and T'mar to the Chamber of the Sihedron, where he left them in the care of Lokansir.

T'mar was sent off to find one of the lion sisters, and the Birdcrunchers were told to each choose a pillar and allow themselves to be shackled into place, after which they would undergo the ritual of empowerment. They were told that at the culmination of the ritual they would be branded with Lord Mokmurian's mark: a seven-pointed star. They chose pillars and discussed where they each wanted to be branded.

Soon T'mar escorted back one of the lion sisters, and he slipped off to look for Teraktinus. Though he discovered that the scouting party had already been selected and was in fact down by Muschkal Lake preparing for a morning departure, T'mar managed to use some of his spoils from Skaldigrondax's lair to bribe someone into assigning him a riding bear, and he was confident that this would be sufficient to secure himself an additional spot on the team.

Once they were secured, Seleval (the lion sister) began the ritual. It took a while and left the Birdcrunchers exhausted and branded. They were delivered back to the Crannoch tribe, where Chief Oriandian assigned them the task of hunting up some food. He sent a young stone giant named Manion along to gather up their game. During this time Girzig and Manion became very friendly, and upon their return to the Crannoch tribe Shriggy presided over a wedding ceremony and Manion was welcomed into the Birdcruncher band.

The next morning Manion took the (other) Birdcrunchers to meet General Galenmir. He interviewed each of them and then told them to travel to Hook Mountain to take supplies to Barl Breakbones and collect any new weapons that he has forged. The general promised that he'd give them another assignment when they returned.

PCs:

Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 1)

Guest NPCs:

T'mar and Manion (same player)

The Birdcrunchers never fail to confound and delight.

How do they like their shiny new tattoos?

Go T'mar! Have fun storming the castle!

Many congratulations to Manion and Girzig on their nuptials. But what will Nifrat say?

I can't wait to see what these whacky goblins get up to next.

Excellent post TBUG, keep up the good work.

CJ

The Birdcrunchers never fail to confound and delight.

How do they like their shiny new tattoos?

Many congratulations to Manion and Girzig on their nuptials. But what will Nifrat say?

I confess I was taken completely off-guard with this one. A guest player was playing Manion and the ceremony was performed by Shriggy, so this was one of those times when I left the table and topped up everyone's drinks while they role-played.

The Birdcrunchers, including Manion, had received their orders from General Galenmir: travel to Hook Mountain and collect whichever weapons were ready. Though they were hoping for bear mounts, it was quickly made clear that they simply had to make their own way there as best they could. Fortunately Manion knew of a few trails that giants sometimes used through the Iron Peaks.

Toward the end of their second day out, they saw five ogres approaching carrying large crates. One of the ogres recognized the Birdcrunchers, identified them as some who had attacked Fort Rannick, and commanded his squad to charge. It turned out that he was Jaagrath Kreeg. The Birdcrunchers fought the ogres and killed them all without even asking so much as what they were doing out in the Iron Peaks.

The crates turned out to be full of weapons, and this led to an argument among the Birdcrunchers over whether to return immediately to Jorgenfist to successfully accomplish their mission or else press on to Hook Mountain. One of the four crates got thrown over a cliff before the matter was settled. The Birdcrunchers headed further through the mountains toward Hook Mountain.

Manion was perplexed by everything that had been going on. He didn't understand why they had fought other servants of Lord Mokmurian, but since the other guys had started it then clearly they must be rebels.

Things got murkier at Hook Mountain. The Birdcrunchers made lots of noise, so a guard came out to investigate. It was one who had seen them before, and another fight ensued. The Birdcrunchers employed various tactics to lure out more and more ogres, but eventually this stops working. Apparently there is a lot of conversation taking place within the mountain, but it isn't very audible to eavesdroppers.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 5)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 3)

The snow stopped falling early in the morning. Shriggy prepared her spells for the day, and the rest of the Birdcrunchers discussed tactics and strategy. They devised an elaborate plan, and then Shriggy charged the cave entrance.

As she approached one of the ogres who had been on watched shouted, "Here they come!" and pulled her head back into the cave. As the Birdcrunchers came into view they were met by the sight of Barl Breakbones's stone giant bodyguard, four ogres, and a large woman who was snake from the waist down. The Birdcrunchers backed up, but the guards didn't follow them.

Soon they were taunting the residents of Hook Mountain, and tossing rocks at them through the cave mouth. As Lucrecia watched in horror, her tactics dissolved and ogres and a stone giant when racing out into the snow to do battle on ground chosen by the enemy.

"We had a plan! We had tactics! You never listen! I hate you all!" she shouted.

"I hear you!" said Kezug.

The tide of battle went back and forth, but eventually Manion died the superior numbers. Before the remaining Birdcrunchers fell, however, all but one of the ogres had been slain, as had the stone giant. Lucrecia then accepted Dox's surrender.

Dox was tossed into a deep pit alongside Korgg, an ogre who had been working as a blacksmith but who had tried to rebel when most of the other ogres had been killed the day before. Barl Breakbones nearly killed him too, but Lucrecia protested wasting the resources. While everyone was regrouping, Korgg and Dox managed to escape.

In the meantime, Kezug, Shriggy, and Girzig were setting up an avalanche over the cave mouth. When Dox and Korgg made a break for it and the remaining guards (which, by this time, consisted of two recently-zombified ogres and an undead human) set after them the snow came crashing down. Lucrecia and Barl made it out in time, but some of the undead were trapped inside.

Things looked to be going okay until Barl Breakbones started flying and enervating people. Then the Birdcrunchers' morale brole and they scattered. Shriggy and Girzig were captured and hauled back inside to be tossed in the pit.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 5)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 1)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 3)

Guest NPCs:

Manion and Korgg (same player)

Meanwhile, the messages that Jorvak Deverin had been sending out started to bear some fruit. Jolar "Jolly" Scarnetti, a young man recently convicted of a crime he didn't commit, fled to Ilsurian and arranged to meet Jorvak and his friends there. They compared notes and determined that they needed to confront Justice Ironbriar. Jolly had determined that the justice was under some sort of mind control, and the group hoped that together they would be able to restore him to his proper self.

After a journey downriver, the five landed on Kyver's Islet. They had taken care to disguise themselves to as to avoid capture by the guards (since all of them were wanted by the law and had been sentenced to death). Saldra, for instance, had shaved off Zegrem's beard and was wearing it in order to pose as a circus performer.

Jorvak was most distressed by the layout of the sawmill. He felt that the path traversed by the wagons in and out of the building was far too restrictive, and that such sharp corners deserved a redesign. He set to work planning out some new architecture while the others slew cultists. He'd rejoined them by the time they'd worked their way up to Justice Ironbriar though, and cast protection from chaos on him.

Ironbriar screamed and backed away, having been freed from the mental influence that had been over him for months. Jorvak quickly explained the situation, and the justice agreed to be bound and taken to the Temple of Abadar. Soon the story was confirmed; the justice had indeed been magically assaulted and influenced, and every judgement that he had made since that occurred was automatically given an appeal. The Company of the Old Light was quickly exonerated, as was Jolly Scarnetti.

PCs:

none

Guest NPCs:

Jorvak Deverin (aristocrat 1/cleric [of Abadar] 3)
Saldra Jarrep (commoner 1/sorcerer 3)
Tsuto Kaijitsu (rogue 1/monk 3)
Jolar Scarnetti (aristocrat 3)
Zegrem Valdemar (aristocrat 1/fighter 1/paladin 2)

Things are looking up for the Company of the Old Light. But not looking so good for the Birdcrunchers.

CJ

Korgg and Kezug met up at the bottom of a ravine. The other Birdcrunchers were unconscious, and Korgg was getting cold. While they were looking for a cave where they could light a fire, two mongrelmen called to them and invited them into a crack in the cliff. Gribgrakgrilgrob had the arm of an ogre ending in a crab claw, and she was interested in acquiring Kezug's genes for her next child. Hoobie had the head of a minotaur and the jaw of a lizardman but no ogre bits, so she set her sights on Korgg.

There was much discussion.

The next morning the four of them set out to return to Hook Mountain. Kezug had convinced the two mongrelmen that there was superior breeding stock being held prisoner there, and they were willing to help with a rescue attempt to determine if this was true. They recalled their ancient prophecy, which said that two giants named Karzoug would lead this tribe of mongrelmen to Gakenbode, which is a city of paradise for mongrelmen. They felt that "Korgg" and "Kezug" were close enough to "Karzoug", and decided to risk following them.

Korgg's plan was to lure Barl Breakbones out into the cold by himself by shouting into the cave that he knew a very funny joke, and that he didn't want to spoil Barl's opportunity to tell it to the others so he had to come out by himself. Three undead (Lamatar Bayden and two ogres who had been animated by the hag covey) came out instead, but Korgg and the mongrelmen made short work of them.

Pressing inward, Korgg confronted the three hags in a place where they could only fight him one at a time. Lucrecia stood back casting spells, and soon Korgg was on the floor convulsing with laughter. Gribgrakgrilgrob and Hoobie moved up, and Lucrecia tumbled past them and started in on them with her rapier and dagger. Hoobie was quickly slain, and Gribgrakgrilgrob held to life only because her rage kept her going. After Briselda the hag threw her into the burning pit, however, she expired.

Lucrecia tired of Korgg's laughter, and stepped up and began draining his wisdom away. Before she got all of it, however, he stopped laughing and bull rushed Briselda into the pit after Gribgrakgrilgrob. In spite of his heroism, however, he soon joined the growing group of people at the bottom.

The people in the pit included Girzig and Shriggy, who were being held prisoner by Barl Breakbones until he could figure out why they, giants branded with the Sihedron, were attacking him. He needed to be sure that this wasn't treachery from Jorgenfist. This was particularly good news for Korgg, since Girzig the warchanter was able to heal up many of his wounds (though not the wisdom drain). As an expert climber, Korgg was able to carry both Girzig and Shriggy out of the pit. They ran away.

An hour later, the Birdcrunchers were back at Hook Mountain, fully healed. Barl Breakbones had discovered that though none of his remaining minions were capable of healing, the loot taken from the Birdcrunchers included some magical potions that were passed around, curing the worst of the injuries. The two remaining hags were on guard as the Birdcrunchers approached, and Korgg repeated his offer of telling Barl Breakbones a private joke. When this didn't succeed he began taunting him.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but Barl will never hurt me!"

Lucrecia's voice came out of nowhere, offering a truce. They would return the Birdcrunchers' equipment and cede Hook Mountain in exchange for free passage away. The Birdcrunchers turned them down, and charged. Grelthaga the hag quickly fell before them, and Larastine (the remaining hag) retreated as quickly as she could.

The final fight was monumental in its heroism. Larastine was quickly felled, and Korgg was hit with a ray of enervation, and many spells were flying all over the place, as was Barl Breakbones. The tide turned when Barl flew over to Korgg and critically smacked him with his earthbreaker. For a moment it seemed that Korgg would survive even this blow, but then the sheer mass of injury done to him overwhelmed him, and he fell dead to the ground. Barl Breakbones began casting animate dead.

The Birdcrunchers remained long enough for Shriggy to raid the equipment stores for her favourite belt and axe, and then they all fled.

PCs:

Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 1)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 3)

Guest NPCs:

Gribgrakgrilgrob (mongrelman barbarian 2) (died)
Hoobie (mongrelman ranger 2) (died)
Korgg (ogre ape totem barbarian 4) (died)

The Birdcrunchers need to start issuing red tunics to their guest NPC's.

CJ

The Birdcrunchers need to start issuing red tunics to their guest NPC's.

thelesuit wrote:

The Birdcrunchers need to start issuing red tunics to their guest NPC's.

I know! I really liked all of these NPCs, too. If I could just bring myself to cheat a little then my favourite characters could live a little longer, but somehow I'm just too mean. Killing four in one weekend seems excessive even by my standards, though. At least Zegrem got raised.

CJ (former Tsuto)

Tbug this is an amazing campaign. I just read thru it today and have been LMAO!!!!!!Kudos and all that. Great Job.8). (I don't think I've ever had a group that could pull this off.)

Thanks, Chakka! We're having an enormous amount of fun. :D Doing the path backward has a lot of entertainment value. We play every other weekend, and the next game is Jan 9. I'll post the synopsis some time after we're done.

I'll have to see if I can scare up the video that got made of the puppet show.

As the Birdcrunchers huddled in Hoobie's cave they discussed possible options. Kezug was firmly of the opinion that they had to make sure that nobody from Hook Mountain survived to tell Lord Mokmurian about them, but everyone else was bored and wanted to do something different. Since none of them actually had any plans, however, they decided to do things Kezug's way. Besides, they were out of food and he said that they could eat Barl Breakbones.

On their way back to Hook Mountain they encountered a longshank woman all bundled up in furs. She said that she had some food, so they took her back to their cave. As she began shedding layers Girzig tried to start a fire by whacking bits of mostly-burned wood with her fire whip, but never actually got one going. The woman introduced herself as Lucrecia, and from the waist up she looked exactly like a smaller version of the snake woman who accompanied Barl Breakbones. She gave them some beef jerky.

Girzig and Shakkk explained to her that they were sad because there wasn't a lot of food, and they wanted to go where there was more food. Lucrecia told them that she wanted to leave too, but that she needed to shed some ineffective company first. The Birdcrunchers all nodded sagely at that point.

Having promised them much gold if they killed Barl Breakbones, Lucrecia agreed to lead him up a certain trail through the mountains, and she'd arrange for a certain cart to fall over the edge, distracting him. She left, and the Birdcrunchers went to sleep, their stomachs still mostly empty.

The next day they set out for their ambush spots. This, of course, called for the "Marching Through the Snow" song, which was performed with great gusto. Eventually they settled in and waited. At the appointed time Barl Breakbones was surprised at his equipment cart tumbling down the cliff, and the Birdcrunchers ambushed him from their perch above.

Somehow the Birdcrunchers had forgotten that Barl Breakbones could fly, and were thus surprised when he started ascending toward them (drawing his wand). After a few exchanged between his enervation and Dox's fireball, however, he started flying away. Desperate, the Birdcrunchers threw everything they could at him. When he was still descending toward the cart at the end of their throws they started to run away. To their surprise, Barl ploughed headfirst into the rocks below, and this was enough to bring the Birdcrunchers down to feast.

After gathering up the loot, which was mostly just the remains of their equipment that had been taken away from them when they had been captured, they started back toward Turtleback Ferry. After a couple of days travel they arrived, and Shakkk immediately started planning the assassination of the mayor so that she could take over. This plan was dropped upon the arrival of stew.

Uncertain what to do next, they bickered. Kezug decided that he wanted to go to Magnimar. Eventually everyone else decided to follow Kezug. They booked passage on a ferry.

In Ilsurian, Shakkk was showing off the tiara she'd taken off the corpse of Lamatar Bayden. She said that it would be good practice for when she was king. Some longshank admired it, but said that she wasn't as pretty as he was. She challenged him to a fashion show, and soon many people in town were working to put together an exhibition of martial prowess. The entry fee was 10 gold coins, and cover charge for getting into the tavern hosting it was 2 gold. Shakkk entered, Girzig watched, and Kezug and Dox went to a nearby tavern and had a beer until it was over.

Displaying her Large longsword and her tiara, and using her hat of disguise, Shakkk put on a very good show. In the end she was second prize, and was awarded 35 gold coins and a pink ribbon.

The Birdcrunchers left for Magnimar.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 6)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)

YAY!! Barl is dead.

Go Birdcrunchers!

I'm sorry I missed the fashion show.

CJ

The Birdcrunchers spent a great deal of money on caramel bananas, and then hit on the idea of getting the vendor to teach them to make them themselves. He charged 150 gp for the lesson. After a couple more purchases they set out for home.

To their surprise, there were a number of Licktoads dancing with some of the Birdcrunchers. As the returning heroes drew their weapons and prepared to slay the Licktoads their friends and family reacted with confusion. They reminded the PCs that the Birdcrunchers and Licktoads were traditional allies and that they had always been close friends, and it was uncalled for to try to kill them. The PCs were momentarily puzzled, then shrugged and got on with the party.

They also went back to Sandpoint that evening, and found a susprisingly unhostile reception. People were wearing goblin-style hats (tuques with stuffed goblin ears and some random item attached to the top) and generally welcomed them to town. They discovered that the Goblin Squash Stables (which had burned down) had been replaced with a horse jail. They heard that there was a guard posted outside the library, to make sure that none of the books got out and ate goblin souls. (The Birdcrunchers don't care if a bunch of longshanks lose their souls.)

They slept in their basement suite, and upset their landlord (Olmur Danvakus) with all of their noise. As Fireday morning dawned they set out to reclaim Thistletop, completely ignoring the warnings that it was now defended by the Sandpoint Devil. This lasted until they were almost at the island, when the Devil itself flew in, baying and breathing hellfire. The Birdcrunchers scattered in terror, but not before Dox was felling by a phantasmal killer.

The survivors regrouped in the Birdcruncher caves. Two of them were still under the effects of the hellfire breath, and they realized that this was probably going to last for a long time. They mounted their goblin dogs and rode as quickly as they could to Magnimar. There they went to the temple of Abadar and had the curses lifted, then they rode back to Sandpoint.

Though it was late in the evening they decided to return to Thistletop. They recruited Sir Nogzag the Brave and Sir Jasper, and set out. The got much closer to the island than they had before, and discovered that most of the brambles on the close side of the bridge had been cleared away. Spikeflesh bugbears were patrolling, and four of them fought the Birdcrunchers before they could approach. Once the guards were defeated and the Birdcrunchers got close to the bridge there were more bugbear sentries. While engaging them the Birdcrunchers saw the Sandpoint Devil rise from the Thistletop enclave and fly toward them.

The fight was long and very hard fought. In the end, however, the Birdcrunchers were victorious. The Sandpoint Devil was finally dead, though the conflict had cost them the life of their cousin Dox.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 6)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 1)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 1)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 3)

Having slain the Devil occupying Thistletop and seen its bugbear worshippers fleeing in terror, the Birdcrunchers turned to reviving Dox. They preserved his lifeless body by placing a Sihedron medallion on it, and went to their friend Vorvashali Voon. Voon was happy to get out of town, since his sister was there reordering his shop (after purchasing his debt away from the Sczarni), and he wasn't liking all the changes.

Voon arranged for a ship to Magnimar, where they all boarded the Flying Cloud and sailed for Korvosa. After several days at sea, they passed into Conqueror's Bay and toward the city. Captain Creesy moored the Cloud in the Jeggare River and the passengers boarded one of the boats (the Fiendish Reefclaw, manned by Begari Tzumi) and were brought to town. As they docked, Begari gave them each a token that they could redeem in Domina Square for a free meal. It seems that one of these is given to each arrival in Korvosa during the tricentennial.

The Birdcrunchers felt that this was as good a starting place as any, so they got directions to Domina Square and went straight for the food. Various vendors were selling types of food indigenous to the region, and the group got as many samples as they could. Arnalla, a guard hired by King Eodred II to supplement security during the tricentennial celebrations, talked to them at length about their own culture, and they ended up agreeing to run a cultural booth of their own, starting the next day.

Kezug went to the temple of Asmodeus and enquired after having his cousin raised. Shakkk went to the temple of Abadar and asked the same question. Kezug received a lower quote, but Shakkk received a free sugar cookie while she was waiting to talk to someone.

Girzig was approached by a Korvosan Guard. He admired her fancy sword, and said that there was an opportunity that evening to use magic weapons to send fire into the sky to explode, but that most weapons couldn't hold the spells that would make that happen. Hers looked like it could do it, and if she liked he'd take it and have the spells cast on it and bring it back in an hour. She leapt at the opportunity, but was chagrined when several hours passed without it being returned.

Kezug was able to use locate object to determine that her sword was in Citadel Volshyenek, the headquarters of the Korvosan Guard. Although a grouchy guard with a unibrow tried to send them away, they eventually were able to get an investigation into events and Girzig got her sword back. Braddikar Faje, the guard running the confidence scam, managed to escape in the process.

The group stayed the night just outside of town, and returned the next day. Walking through the city gates didn't give them new food tokens, to their disappointment.

Soon after the reached the temple of Asmodeus, Dox was up and walking around. Meanwhile there was a rat pestering Voon outside, and it kept turning invisible every time he tried to kick it. Soon a voice whispered in his ear that the rat could be dispatched in exchange for a future favour. The offer was quickly and gratefully accepted.

Shakkk had heard that there was a place where the king could be challenged to single combat, so she secured directions to Exemplary Execrables. Sure enough, there was someone there in a cardboard crown who was fighting all challengers. The king and the challenger would choose between a battle axe and a longsword and attack each other. (Both were merciful weapons.) After a quick fight, Shakkk defeated the wearer of the crown and declared that she was the new king. She happily spent the afternoon defending her title, and even won some money in the process. She was later crushed when she showed her crown to Arnalla and was told that it didn't entitle her to sleep in Castle Korvosa.

As the Birdcrunchers and Voon were leaving Korvosa to return to Magnimar, a cat (with a name tag that said "Sniggle") jumped on Girzig. She shrugged and took it along.

Upon returning to Magnimar, Voon and Sniggle took a different ship to Sandpoint and the Birdcrunchers headed out on foot. When they got to the Brinestump Marsh they headed in, intent to kill some Licktoads to try to revive the old feud.

They found two Licktoads who were hiding. The Licktoads gestured for the Birdcrunchers to hide, too. Suspecting a trap, the Birdcrunchers kept their distance. This turned out to be a mistake, since Vorka was in the area. She nearly dropped Shriggy before the latter even had a chance to react, and soon all of the goblins (Birdcruncher and Licktoad alike) were scattering and fleeing.

Once they regrouped, Shakkk demanded to be brought before Chief Skilmut. They were brought to the Licktoad homes, and Chief Skilmut wandered out of her hut and asked what the commotion was. Shakkk immediately challenged Chief Skilmut to single combat, with the winner being the chief of the Licktoads. Skilmut accepted, and chose for her weapon the preparation of swamp toads. The duelists were given an hour by Warchanter Jalt of the Licktoads, during which they could hunt swamp toads and prepare their dishes.

Challenger Shakkk prepared two dishes. First, she created a stew of swamp toad, brought to a nice simmer. Second, she roasted a swamp toad and served it with barbecue sauce that she had brought from Korvosa (which broke the rule of only using ingredients that she had created herself, but Warchanter Girzig vouched that Shakkk had created the barbecue sauce herself so Warchanter Jalt allowed it).

Licktoad Chief Skilmut prepared four dishes. First, she offered sliced fried swamp toad, served on the skin of its natural predator, the swamp viper. Second, she offered swamp toad stew, containing roots. Third, she served swamp toad beer, using beer she herself had previously brewed. Finally, she had a large canvas sack full of live swamp toads and she invited the judges to reach in and pull out a toad and eat it.

The judges for the duel were the two warchanters (Jalt and Girzig) as well as Kirgrik (the Licktoad second-in-command) and Shriggy. Jalt voted first and chose Skilmut, but said that he really liked the barbecue sauce. Girzig voted for Shakkk. Shriggy voted for Skilmut. Kirgrik voted for Shakkk.

Jalt proposed marriage to Shakkk, but was denied. Chief Skilmut proposed marriage to Girzig, and was accepted. Shriggy conducted the ceremony then and there, and the happy couple went back to the chief's hut.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 5) [also played Vorvashali Voon]
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 2)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 2)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)
Shriggy (fighter 2, cleric 3)

After the traditional wedding food of blood soup (made with beets, beer, and anything else the goblins could find), the Birdcrunchers headed back to Sandpoint (leaving behind Chief Consort Girzig of the Licktoads). They went to sleep in their basement suite, and a bit before dawn before Girzig was there, hungover but away from the Licktoads.

Kezug went to the garrison and asked to speak with the sheriff. When told that he was sleeping, Kezug insisted that he be woken up. Reluctantly, one of the guards went at fetched him. He returned, and one of his legs was in a cast. Kezug quickly told him about the patrol of stone giants heading toward Sandpoint, and Sheriff Hemlock snapped fully awake at that point and gave orders to raise the militia.

Girzig went and scouted around and even climbed the Old Light, and she saw that something large and red was flying over some very big people who were moving stealthily toward town. Shrugging, she went back home and had a nap.

Less than an hour later, the guards on patrol noticed something happening at the north gate. One of them imposed on the priest to start ringing the bell in alarm, and soon people were groggily opening windows to see what was happening. Meanwhile, several stone giants continued their assault on the northern gate.

Soon the Birdcrunchers and Girzig were out of bed and racing toward the disturbance. There was much running around and fighting, with magic flying around and even some smacking with Shakkk's Large giantbane longsword. Things got really hairy when Longtooth, the red dragon they'd seen at Jorgenfist, overflew the town and started setting buildings on fire.

The Birdcrunchers and Girzig finally managed to catch up with Longtooth just as he set fire to the Hagfish. Using all their resources, they finally managed to blind and stun Longtooth for three rounds. They poured on all of their combined attacking abilities, and just in the nick of time managed to slay him. By then the stone giants were in retreat, either out of fear or just because they had what they wanted.

In the aftermath they learned that several longshanks had been taken prisoner, including their friend Voon and Gaven (who makes beer).

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 5)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 2)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 2)
Shakkk (rogue 5, fighter 1)
Shriggy (fighter 4, cleric 3)

Birdcruncher goblins made an appearance in my Burnt Offerings table on Saturday. Of course, as goblins they were quickly dispatched save one who was captured -- and later turned over to Sheriff Hemlock for questioning (the party was out recon'ing Thistletop prior to their eventual assault).

They were suitably impressed and disgusted by the ingenuity of the intestine lasso.

Distressed at the loss of their friend Voon, as well as people involved in making beer and cinnamon buns, the Birdcrunchers set out for Jorgenfist to rescue them. As they marched across Varisia one of them remembered that they should have ridden their goblin dogs. Fortunately, Chief Skilmut of the Licktoads and Nifrat the Warchanter had collected the goblin dogs and brought them, along with a cart containing a few kegs of beer, many empty kegs, and some other presents.

After a long trip to Jorgenfist, their priority was to sneak into Longtooth's lair and raid it for the treasure that they knew was rightfully theirs. Among the loot they found a description of Longtooth's security efforts, including a mention that some goblins had gone in one of the caves in the ravine and not come out, and recommended that some undead be put in there for guarding purposes. The group declared that this was their destination.

Shakkk snuck into the lower of the two caves, and found that there were three blue two-legged dragons sleeping in there. She also found a very shiny jewel on a pile in the middle of the room. Using all her stealth, she managed to slay two of the dragons while they slept. Sadly, she was unable to also kill the third before it woke up, and she sprinted out of the cave with it flying behind her. A fight ensued, and soon the third dragon was dead.

They decided to check out the other cave before night fell, and were unhappy to meet the three gargantuan undead spiders in it. In the end they managed to destroy them all, and Shriggy took great pleasure in pushing their corpses into the river below. She was careful not to hit any goblin dogs or goblins.

Clearing out the webs at the back of the caves allowed them to locate a secret door, and they went into the passage beyond. Before long they encountered some odd fey with smelly caps and very stylish boots. The fey recognized them as people similar to "Bigbid's sleepers", and an argument ensued between various fey about what to do about them. The broles helped resolve it by attacking them. Before long the fey were dead, and Kezug animated three of them to follow along behind him.

Eventually they heard someone singing up ahead in goblin. Shakkk and Girzig were astonished to see their father, Bigbid, turn a corner. There were many hugs and stories exchanged, right up to the point where Shakkk mentioned that Girzig had joined the Licktoad band. Bigbid started to cry, and ran off. They found him telling the whole story to their mother (a brole like themselves), who was unconscious and covered in runes. Next to her was her sister (the mother of Kezug and Rotfen), similarly unconscious and covered in runes.

After much talk and a night's sleep, the snuck out into the caves. They went past some ogres in one room, and some stone giants in another. The stone giants had a bunch of prisoners, including Arika Vertin (a maker of cinnamon buns). They ignored them and went to where Bigbid said that there was a tunnel down. He had heard that there might be a backdoor to heaven down there. Unfortunately, the tunnel was guarded by two trolls. The group killed them, but were immediately set upon by a lamia. Before she died she called for help.

PCs:

Dox (sorcerer 5)
Girzig (bard 5, ranger 1, pyrokineticist 2)
Kezug (psion 4, spellmaster 1, cerebremancer 2)
Shakkk (rogue 7, fighter 1)
Shriggy (fighter 4, cleric 3)