elcaleebs ROTRL Group journals (may contain spoilers)


Campaign Journals

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After reading through another GMs Campaign thread (UseplanB), I decided to approach my crew to see if they'd be interested in doing something similar. Unfortunately, we've just completed Book 2, so we have some catching up to do, and there may be some missing details in the first bit.
This is from memory, and after losing the first copy, is going to be significantly shorter.
Session numbers may not be 100% correct either, but will hopefully be better documented from now on.
As in UseplanBs journal, character posts are optional, but bribes of special re rolls will be granted for players contributing.

And for the story so far, spoilered so it doesn't look like a bajillion words

Chapter 1

Session 1:
Swallowtail festival
Session 1 was with 2 new players, Sarah the Sorceress and the half orc Bard I am going to call Clerg. Mostly making characters.

Session 1 started off with the two seperately enjoying the festival. after listening to Father Zantus give his speech shrieks were heard in the distance, and a yelp sounded from near where Sarah and Clerg had been standing, as a couple of goblins hidden under a wagon jumped a stray dog, slitting its throat. The two fought the goblins off, Sarah using a mirror to attempt to blind one, then trying to lasso another with a length of rope, while Clerg attacked with his whip. Near the middle of the battle, they were almost ambushed by a goblin leaping off the roof of a nearby building, but he missed and broke his neck when he hit the ground. Clerg then tied up one of the Goblins for questioning.


Session 2:
Swallowtail part 2
Clerg took the goblin into a nearby building to be "questioned". He was never seen again (Player lost his character sheet)
Sarah, following the sounds of battle, made her way to a wagon covered with several goblins. Here she joined with Ragnar (Fighter), Rothgar (Fighter), and Agronox (Oracle). Nurr (Ninja) hid in the shadows and just watched the fighting.
This fight was going fairly poorly, until Sherrif Hemlock ran through, striking down a goblin as he passed by, turning the tide for the group of heroes. Nurr continued to watch. The party polished off these goblins, then heard a scream coming from near the Rusty Dragon. They rushed over to find Aldern Foxglove, his dog dead, slain by the Goblins. The party handily defeated these two, rescuing Foxglove, who gratefully promised a reward. The party then introduced themselves to eachother (except Nurr, who was still hiding) and split up to find lodgings for the night. After describing all the inns in town, they all went to the Rusty Dragon.

Session 3:
Glassworks
The next morning, as the party is having breakfast, they are approached by Nurr. “Hi, I’m Nurr. I’m a ninja” is the actual quote. The party kind of ignores him, then Foxglove barges in, inviting them on a boar hunt. Nurr follows despite not being invited.
When they find the boar, they dismount, and Sarah smashes the boar with a mace, because magic is for suckers.
They return with the boar to the Rusty Dragon and have a feast.
Later, Rothgar is lured into the basement by Shayliss, then chased out by Ven Vinder. Nurr is stopped in the street by a woman with a baby and a child. She is yelling for help, because a goblin ran into their closet. Her husband chased it, but has not come out. Nurr goes in to investigate, finding the dead husband. While turning the body over, a goblin jumps out and attacks him. Frightened, Nurr drops his katana and runs away, eventually finding Sarah and Ragnar. Covered in blood, Nurr asks Sarah if she would fetch his katana for him, it would seem he forgot it somewhere. She agrees, and her and Ragnar head to the house. Outside, the goblin is latched onto the woman, stabbing downwards as people around panic. Sarah smashes the goblin with her mace, but it is too late for the baby. She goes inside and finds the katana, then takes it to the Red Dog Smithy to try to sell it, but is turned away after being told the weapon is too recognizable and obviously stolen. She then hides the katana under her bed. When Nurr asks her about his sword, she successfully bluffs and says she’s never seen it.
The party wakes the next morning and meets downstairs for breakfast. After waiting for some time with no service, they check the kitchen to find the crying halfling with a letter to Ameiko. Outraged at the delay in their breakfast, the group storms the Glassworks, breaking through the front door and slaughtering the goblins with in. The party heads to the basement (looting the open safe on the way) to try and track the goblins, while (Ragnar or Nurr, can’t remember) stays behind and throws all the bodies (worker and goblin) into the furnace.
Meanwhile, Dwarven cleric Gronad has made his way to town, late for the Swallowtail festival. He hears rumors of heroes in town, and wishes to assist them in the goblin smashing. He makes his way to the Glassworks, goes in through the BACK door, through the furnace room that shows no signs of conflict, and into the basement. He arrives just as the open the door to find Tsuto. Tsuto punches Agronox in the throat, dropping him unconscious, then tumbles away around a corner. The party splits up and starts looking for him. Someone hears a door latch click, and they head to the room where they find Tsuto has slit Ameikos throat. A couple of rounds of combat ensue, and Tsuto dances past the group and makes a break down the tunnel. Gronad steps in to heal Ameiko. The party decide not to pursue, instead guarding the passage while they get Ameiko out and some guards in to post a watch.

Session 4:
Catacombs of Wrath
The party rests up, then heads down to investigate the tunnels. One heads to the beach, where they find many goblin tracks and signs of boats. Sarah runs back to the inn, retrieves Nurrs katana, and returns it to him, saying that she found it on her way back. Nobody believes her. They explore the other tunnel, with Ragnar in the lead. They encounter the first Sinspawn, Nurr identifies it, but does not tell anyone. Ragnar is struck with wrath. Then Rothgar fumbles and hits him with an arrow. Then Sarah fumbles and hits him with an acid splash. Good times. The party pauses at the statue, and briefly argues over who is going to take the ranseur. They explore the remaining tunnels, finding the room with the floating items (they did not take the bird) and fighting the mutant. The mutant took Agronox down again, and Gronad fell in a zombie pit. Then he climbed out, and fell in another one. Then he climbed out… and decided the zombies weren’t worth the effort. They found the pool with the Vargouille and Gronad drank the water. They found the altar outside the temple, and Gronad drank the water. He immediately started vomiting for several minutes. The party enganged the quasit with 2 players missing (their characters were watching the tunnels), Agronox was killed in the fight, Rothgar was brought to negatives (and accidently summoned his eidolon, which he believes to be the spirit of his brother, thus unlocking his Summoner powers), Gronad was… vomiting. Nurr was hiding in a corner (feared). I gave Ragnar and Sarah Perception checks to hear the combat, and rolled 50% to see which would join… in the end Ragnar ran into the room and decapitated the quasit in a single strike. The party then made their way out of the catacombs, and tried to sell the dress, and when no one would buy the dress covered in blood, they threw it away. Ragnar then decided he hated the party, for being jerks and hitting him in the back, and left to pursue a life of fishing, eventually getting capsized by a fiendish dire lobster, never to be seen again. (He lost his character sheet #2)

Session 5-6:
Godsmouth Heresy
I didn’t think the party was up to Thistletop yet, so I added in The Godsmouth Heresy.
Gobber the barbarian, sole survivor of a Black Arrow Patrol ambushed by Ogres, came to Sandpoint to try to redeem himself in the eyes of his fallen comrades. He spoke to the sheriff, who told him about a crypt that seemed to have been robbed during the raid. He joins, the group as extra muscle, and they begin exploring the crypt of Father Tobyn. The party finds a hidden door partially open, and follow it down into an old temple complex. They make their way through the complex, while Nurr gleefull loots the “Treasure” and an “obviously magical sword” that no one else seems to notice. They find some Thassilionion runes and writings that Nurr manages to partially decipher, but doesn’t tell anyone. After a couple of encounters, the party rests for the night. During the night, Gobber wanders off to relieve himself and falls into a pit, never to be seen again (He lost his character sheet #3) The party continues exploring, finding the human cleric/treasure hunter Maximo cowering in a crypt, having abandoned his comrade to a different type of sinspawn. They find the small tunnel dug with goblin-made tools that leads out to the beach. Seeing this, they deduce that the goblins stole the body, but then decide they don’t really care and continue exploring the complex. The eventually find a mad alchemist and his corpse bride. After defeating the alchemist, Maximo takes the zombie under his protection and is keeping her in his inn room. He also contracts Ghoul fever at some point, and doesn’t tell anyone.

Session 7-8:
Thistletop
Sherriff Hemlock asks the party to take care of the city while he leaves for Magnimar to get reinforcements. The party buries Agronox, then spends a night recupertating, and heads of to Thistletop the next morning, without telling anyone. They charge in to the group of goblin refugees, who try desperately to surrender/flee, but are all slaughtered. They then decide to explore the Howling Hole. While Rothgar and Sarah are lowered in, Gogmurt and Tangletooth attack from the nettles, nearly killing Gronad before Maximo and Nurr kill the cat. Gogmurt retreats back to his lair. Meanwhile, Rothgar and Sarah are fighting the Bunyip. Both are almost killed before the bunyip goes belly up. I don’t think they broke the bridge, but I feel like someone almost fell? They managed to sneak through most of the upper layer of thistletop and kill the goblins, however Maximo got knocked out by the horse. The group, not wanting to lose their progress, holed up in a tower for the night, while the goblins fortified the chieftans room. Maximo has his ghoul fever tick and dies during the night, rising as a ghoul (His first ACTUAL character death, after which he stopped coming). Sarah uses a charge from her Wand of Control Undead on him, and they have a new trapspringer. Sarah agrees to parlay with Ripnugget, who lays it on pretty thick concerning the slaughtering of unarmed refugees. The party is just starting to feel guilty when a couple of goblins jump down out of the ceiling and attack her. A heated battle follows, but Ripnugget is quickly killed. Rothgar claims his dogslicer. The party heads downstairs to find the bugbear consorting with some goblin ladies. The goblins cower as the party overwhels the bugbear, and flee up the stairs shortly after. The party looks down a passageway that appears to be a bunch of rooms, but decides to go the other way. They enter the temple and fight the Yeth hounds in a fairly simple battle. I believer Nurr is the only one who got affected by the fear, and ended up huddling in a room upstairs with the goblin harem. They then found Lyrie and took her down with ease. Down on the third level, Rothgar is able to find and disarm the trap (apparently Nurr the ninja did not take either of these skills), and the party encounters Nualia in her research room. The fight is hard, with several people including Ghoul Maximo going down in the negatives, but they eventually prevail. Rothgar claims the bastard sword, Gronad claims the breastplate. I try to explain to him it is designed for a woman, he does not mind. I show him the picture…. he still wears it. The mental image is horrifying.
They continue exploring, dispatching the shadows with ease (mostly because I forgot that normal weapons can’t hurt them) and then finding the giant hermit crab when Nurr decides to go diving for treasure. A round later, he is almost squeezed in half, as the rest of the party wails on the crab. Still, they press on, finding the hidden door and learning the mechanism. Going through, they immediately open the door to the south, and start to explore the room. Mal makes himself known. Gronad and Nurr move in to attack, while Rothgar and Sarah attack from range. Mal Charms Rothgar, who punches Sarah unconscious and nearly kills Nurr with an arrow before snapping out of his trance, yelling for everyone to leave the room, and pulling the doors shut. The party attempts a hastey retreat, only to be stopped on the second floor by Orik and Tsuto. Someone (Rothgar?) announces that Nualia is dead and demands surrender, at which point Tsuto goes into a rage. Initiatives are rolled, Orik goes first, and stabs Tsuto in the back (literally), killing him. He says he’s glad to finally be done with these people, that the pay was not worth the job, and the party decides to let him go free. They then return to Sandpoint, bloody and battered, terrifying the townspeople that another goblin raid is coming. They all go to bed.

Session 9:
Downtime
The players spend a couple days of downtime in Sandpoint. Rothgar goes on a couple dates with Savah between shifts training as a sailor, Sarah rents a corner of the clothing store to start a jewelry selling business, Gronad works out a bunch, and Nurr has a vault installed in his hovel, and exchanges all his coins for the copper coins that the party has collected, then puts them in his vault. Hemlock returns to town.


Chapter 2

Session 10:
Murders in Sandpoint
Urlian, a hunter and trapper from Turtleback Ferry, has come to town for trade. On arriving, he notices a bunch of guards and the sherrif milling around the mill, cordoning it off as a crime scene. He starts asking the sherrif questions, when the party arrives, answering a summons from the Sherrif. Hemlock shows them the note written to Sarah and signed “His Lordship”, and asks if they could invstigate. They agree, and start by questioning Urlian. When they are satisfied he is not the murderer, Hemlock mentions that he has Ibor Thorne and Ven Vinder in custody, and that there is a man name Grayst who was found at a similar crime scene a few days past, being held at the asylum just outside of town. They enter the mill and begin investigating. They check the bodies, find a few clues, and Rothgar finds a trail leading out the second story window. He climbs out the window, follows the tracks to the water, steals a rowboat, crosses the river and starts searching the other side of the river. Without telling anyone. A couple minutes later, the party notices him missing, looks out the window, and sees him on the opposite side of the river. The party splits, some going to help with the investigation, others going to question Ibor Thorne and Ven Vinder. The party uses staggeringly bad diplomacy with Thorne, who refuses to tell them anything. They then ransack his house, and decide to investigate Choppers Isle, where they find a burnt down shell of a house, but no clues. When a haggard and beaten up farmer rushes in the gate spouting insanity about living scare crows, the party ignores him, decides the murder is unsolvable and gives up. Another murder happens, and they remember the guy at the asylum. They go to visit Grayst, who mentions Misgivings before going crazy trying to get to Sarah and getting himself murdered. Nurr, being a ninja scholar, knows exactly where this is and almost the full history behind the building. He tells the party where it is.

Session 11-12:
Foxglove Manor
The party makes their way directly to Misgivings, not noticing the twitching scarecrows on the way. On arrival, they have Sarah knock on the door and start yelling, trying to lure whatever creature out. Nothing happens, so they bash the door in. They split up and begin searching the house. At one point, Urlian grabs Gronad and starts dragging him out of the house, but is stopped by Rothgar in the main entry before getting out the door. Hearing a sobbing noise from upstairs, the party decides to investigate, opening up doors but not investigating rooms on the way. They break down the door to find the revenant of Iesha, and Gronad identifies it and explains it’s significance. They are debating whether or not to kill it when Nurr decides he is going to take the pretty mirror. Iesha rushes past them and goes straight to the basement, the party in pursuit. They pause briefly in the laboratory, and Sarah see a vision of Aldern getting torn apart by ghouls. They continue to follow Ieshas wailing, stopping briefly to destroy some ghouls. They get to the ramp and Nurr, the ninja, is first to try to make his way down. He fails, and slides all the way to the bottom, shattering the mirror he was carrying. The remainder of the party crawls down to the door, and Nurr manages to make his way back up. They enter the room to find the Skinsaw Man standing over the body of Iesha. Gronad is overcome with a desire to eat the fungus off the wall, and contracts the plague, while Nurr faces off with the Skinsaw Man in melee and the remainder of the party attacks from range. Nurr becomes paralyzed, and Gronad moves in to try and help him. Gronad becomes paralyzed. Everyone else is still firing from ranged, so the Skinsaw man does a coup de gras on Nurr, slitting his throat and licking the blood from his blade while Gronad watches paralyzed. Rothgar, enraged at seeing another of his … friends?... fall steps in and slashes into the enemy. The skinsaw man gets a couple good gashes in on Rothgar, but then Gronad is unparalyzed and strikes him from behind. Sarah then walks in and finishes him off with her mace.
The party explores a bit, taking down the bat fairly quickly, and split up once on the main floor. Gronad decides to explore the attic, Urlian and Sarah decide to explore the 2nd floor, and Rothgar decides he wants nothing more to do with this place, and takes Nurrs body outside. On the second floor, Urlian starts to get flashes that he has done something horrible, picks up a dagger from a desk, and kills himself. Sarah backs away, goes upstairs to find Gronad. Gronad asks where Urlian is, to which she successfully bluffs “I thought he was with you?”. At this point they hear a shout from the bottom floor, as Rothgar races back inside to escape the carrion swarms outside. Gronad and Sarah race downstairs, “finding” Urlians body on the way. Gronad takes the body, and the remaining party meets up in the entryway. Gronad goes outside to confront the carrionstorms, while Rothgar and Sarah attack from range inside the house. The party eventually manages to drive off the birds, and hustles back to town.

Session 13:
Magnimar
Gronad goes through a couple days of feeling sick, then better, then worse. (He had Ghoul Fever and Vorels Plague) He eventually managed to cure himself of the Ghoul Fever, but was surprised when he continued to be sick. He received some extra restoration from the temple, and the following day was able to cure himself of his remaining illness. During this time, a friend of Urlians comes to town (Elrohir, human fighter, formerly Urlian), and starts looking for him. He runs into a magus named Skippy (Formerly Nurr) who has been sent to recover an artifact from the ruins beneath the city, and asks him if he knows where to find Urlian. Skippy decides this is a better use of his time, and decides to quit his job searching for artifacts and help this complete stranger track down another complete stranger. He asks Sarah, who at first ignores his question, then vomits on him and runs away. (she was also infected with ghoul fever, but didn’t know it, I had told her she felt sick). He then manages to track down Rothgar, who is in the process of digging graves for Nurr and Urlian next to the grave of Agronox. Elrohir and Skippy help with the burials, and Elrohir starts going on a bender, waking up in a gutter the next morning with his grappling hook missing.
After a couple days of rest, the party decides to follow their lead to Magnimar with their new friend Elrohir and his weird friend Skippy. Those who have horses lodge them at the stables. Skippy realizes that he only has 2sp, and makes a deal that if he does not return to claim his horse in 2 weeks, the stables can keep it. Sarah makes her way to her childhood home to start gathering information on the location of the townhouse and doesn’t tell anyone. Rothgar hires a bunch of orphans to gather the information for him. Gronad goes looking for discount enchantments, finds a shop called “Jimmies Enchantatorium”, where he commissions an enchanted greatsword and gets a super deal on some dex gauntlets (of fumbling), which he eventually gives to Rothgar. Elrohir and Skippy decide to look for information on the townhouse by going to the museum. Surpriseingly, the museum does not house any relevant information.the townhouse by going to the museum. Surpriseingly, the museum does not house any relevant information. They ask around about finding a “Magic Club”(like a dance club, not the one you hit people with), and learn of one called “The Bongos of Midnight”, however on further investigation and a break-in attempt, it is not open at midday. Later, an orphan appears with information for Rothgar, leading him through the winding streets and eventually to the townhouse. Rothgar scouts the place for a couple hours, goes back to tell the party of his discovery, and heads back to the house with Skippy in tow. They climb over the wall and successfully hide out in the backyard overnight. Gronad and Elrohir rent rooms at an inn called “The Slippery Eel”.
In the morning, Sarah meets with Gronad and Elrohir at the inn, who then show her to the townhouse. The party decides to split up, sending Sarah and Gronad in the front door, while the remainder wait at the back door. Sarah knocks on the front door, only to be greeted by Aldern Foxglove! Sarah is estatic, thrilled that he is not actually dead… he invites them in for breakfast. Sarah asks to use his restroom and he says no, it is under renovation. They sit at the kitchen table, and Aldern excuses himself to help his wife with the cooking. A few minutes later, the back door opens, and Sarah and Gronad appear, telling Rothgar that they had to leave quickly, as they had been caught breaking in and the town guard was on the way! Sensing something was not quite right, he yelled out, alerting the real Sarah and Gronad, who come in to the kitchen to see themselves. They managed to kill one of the creatures, but the second excaped through the shadows. Searching the house, the party finds hints that the sawmill just outside of town has something to do with the murders. The party decides to check it out in the morning. Gronad and Elrohir go back to their rooms, Sarah goes home, Rothgar goes to scout the mill, and Skippy sleeps in the backyard of the townhouse.

Session 14:
The Sawmill
A masked man sneaks in to the Elrohirs room while he is sleeping, waking him. Elrohir jumps out of bed, grabs his sword, and kills the man. He then goes next door to Gronads room, and they decide to throw the body out the window. The next morning, guards come questioning them, causing Gronad to almost attack them. Turns out the man was some minor noble, and Elrohir and Gronad have been warned against leaving the city while the investigation is ongoing. They are left free, as the guards are eventually persuaded it was self defense.
Rothgar spent most of the night watching the sawmill. At one point, he saw a man come, hand something to one of the “guards” posted outside, and leave. Shortly after, a man came out of the building, and walked out into the woods. A scream ending in a gurgle was heard, and the man soon returned. Rothgar followed the tracks, finding a campsite and a murdered woman. He slinks back to the sawmill, and opens fire from the bushes, dropping a couple cultists before retreating back to the city. The next morning the group gathers and launches a full assault. Sarahs player was absent and waited outside in case reinforcements came. Highlights include Rothgars Eidolon Argo falling into the gears of the water wheel. I kept the fight with Ironbirar as a solo boss fight, and it was a mess. He used Suggestion on Skippy to request some fresh cookies from town, and Skippy happily obliged. Remembering he had no money, Skippy made sure to stop and loot the cultists on his way out. Gronad then grappled Ironbriar, making it much harder for him to cast spells. He still managed to use his mask to get a confusion off on both Elrohir and Rothgar before getting pinned. Elrohir and Rothgar started beating on themselves/each other/Gronad until Rothgar managed to break free and summon a pit under Elrohir, causing him to fall in. They knocked Ironrbair unconscious, waking him a few hours later when Skippy returned with a box of fresh cookies. He told them all about Xanesha and how she had charmed him, and begged them to let him go, promising never to be seen again. The party agrees, rests the night, and heads towards the Shadow Clock. Gronad stops on at Jimmies to pick up his Greatsword (+1 greatsword, with +2 to giants and -2 to orcs) and finds his brother Cronad who decides to tag along for the battle, and Rothgar goes to the temple to have his cursed gauntlets removed.

Session 15:
The Shadow Clock
The party slowly enters the shadow clock, Rothgar leading, Skippy bringing up the rear. They start searching through the rubble around the base, when a creature leaps out of the shadows, critting Skippy with its scythe, technically killing him. I gave him a fort save to be dropped down to -9 and bleeding, and he succeded, and stabilized the next round. The group managed to wear down Scarecrow enough that he ran and jumped into the ocean. They continued searching the rooms at the base, but found nothing. Elrohir waited at the bottom, in case the Scarecrow returned. The started up the stairs, spreading out once they realized how undsound they were. As they were about halfway up, a bell fell from above, crashing back and forth, knocking Sarah off the stairs. She managed to survive the fall, barely. The remainder of the party hurried up the rest of the stairs, not wanting another bell to fall, and slaughtered the 3 stalkers at the top. After some healing, the party made their way to the roof, Where they saw an unidentifiable flying demon. Skippy took a shot at it, determined it was an illusion… and didn’t tell anyone. The party was then attacked from behind by Xanesha.(I took away her flying ability, as I figured she was tough enough). Xanesha lands a nasty crit on Cronad, and on her next term Charms him. The demon swoops down and spews fire on the party, and Rothgar realizes it is an illusion, and calls out to everyone to ignore the demon. Sarah and Skippy launch spells at Xanesha, but have a hard time being effective. Rothgar continually misses with his bow. Xanesha turns Sarah to Stone, and Rothgar pumps a couple arrows into Cronad, technically killing him (I gave him a fort save as above, and he succeeded.) Skippy moved in to melee to use touch spells quite effectively. Xanesha laid into Gronad, finishing off his brothers work. I gave him a fort save as above, but he failed. Skippy backed away from Xanesha to stand on the edge of the building as Rothgar finally managed to strike with his arrows, dropping the Lamia. The remaining party members (and Elrohir now) use some potions to revive Cronad, gather the loot and journals from Xanesha, and leave the tower. Cronad takes off with his brothers corpse, ignoring the objections of the party. The party looks through the notes, and notice what appears to be a plot to kill the mayor, but they don’t tell anyone about it. (yet)


We are starting back up on Friday after an in between books break, so figured I should post the group make up. I'm hoping to have at least one character journal posted of the past 2 adventures before starting on the next.

Current player characters (past ones)

Cronad - Dwarven fighter and brother of Gronad, found in the streets of Magnimar after initiating a tavern brawl. Joined the group on request of Gronad to help with whatever was inhabiting the Shadow Clock. Currently MIA with Gronads corpse.

Elrohir (Urlien) Human Fighter and friend of Urlien who came to Sandpoint looking for him, only to find he had been "killed in battle" at Misgivings. Heard the party was seearching for those responsible and pledged his aid.

Gronad - Dwarven Cleric, sent to Sandpoint to observe the Swallowtail festival, but arrived late and missed it. Upon hearing of events that had transpired, he sought out the party and gave assitance, joining them.

Rothgar (Agronox) - Human Fighter/Summoner One of a pair of Shoanti brothers exiled form their tribe, Rothgar made his way to Sandpoint to find passage to new lands, but got caught up in events beyond his control. Believes his eidolon to be the spirit if his dead brother.

Sarah - Human Sorceress/jewler from Magnimar who came to Sandpoint to try to make trade during the festival. When she got a taste of adventure, she decided it was preferable, and has relegated jewlery making as a side project.

Skippy (Nurr) - Aasimir Magus sent to sandpoint to study Thassilonian ruins beneath the city and retrieve any artifacts he may find. Decided to quit after a day on the job and become an errand boy?


March 6 2015
A bit of recap after a bit of a hiatus, and the players were off to rest. Sarah went back to her house, while the remainder headed back to the Slippery Eel. Elrohir and Skippy stopped to examine a statue of a man fighting off a giant sea creature. Elrohir remembers hearing rumors that this statue will grant a boon to people who recite a phrase in Aquan and shares this information with Skippy. Neither of them know Aquan or the phrase, so they carry on to the inn.
Arriving at the inn first, Rothgar heads up to his room and starts reading through the journal. He makes note of the list and what seems to be a plot to assasinate the Lord-Mayor. As he is sifting through the journal, a note falls out, implicating something similar occuring at a nearby town.
While Rothgar is sorting through the journal, Elrohir and Skippy arrive at the inn to see a couple of guards waiting out front. As they attempt to enter, the guards stop them and start questioning Elrohhir as to his and Gronads wherabouts. (he had been told not to leave town) Elrohir tells the guards that Gronad is dead, and they immediatlly start questioning him, implying that he is responsible. He manages to calm their suspicions, and successfully bluffs that he had not left town. The guards allow Elrohir and Skippy inside.
Once inside, the bartender, feeling sympathetic to our two unsung heroes, offers them a free drink, to help them sleep. Both accept the drink, and start to feel tired afterwards. Elrohir heads up to his room, while Skippy stays in Gronads former room. They each have dreams of soaring over a vast ocean, rapidly approaching a beautiful city where they now everything is going to be great. Just as they are about to reach the city, they wake up.
Meanwhile, Rothgar makes his way to the Arvensoar to talk to the watch captain after unsuccessfully attempting to wake Elrohir. He tells her about the lamia they had slain on top of the Shadow Clock, and she sends some guards to verify. After some time, she is able to persuade Rothgar to at least show her the evidence of an assination plot, and sends more guards to warn the Lord Mayor and captain of the guard. The first guards return and confirm the death of the Lamia. Rothgar heads back to the inn and rests.
The party spends part of the day recuperating. A messenger arrives from the Lord-Mayor, inviting them to a feast in a weeks time. Rothgar heads out to the sawmill to take another look for anything they may have missed or any sign of Ironbriar, but finds nothing. Skippy heads to the temple of Erastil for healing. When he tells them he cannot afford to pay, they offer to allow him to work it off. He makes a 25 gp donation (which is actually almost all of his money) and spends the morning sweeping the steps of the temple. He then goes back to the inn for another drink.
Elrohir spends his morning practicing swordplay in the street. As he leaves the tavern, a guard informs him that there was a development in his case the previous night, and he was no longer under surveillance. A short while later, an young boy rushes past him and into the inn. He tells the innkeeper he is looking for Rothgar, and it is urgent. Elrohir approaches and offers his assistance, at which point the boy tells him that the Creepers have made off with Rothgars dwarf friend, and taken him into the Gecko piling. Elrohir asks the boy if he is referring to Cronad, and he says "something like that". Elrohir leaves a note with the innkeeper to tell his aquaintances to come to the Gecko Piling to rescue Cronad.
Gronad finds him self on top of the Shadow clock. It's much different now though... everything is colorless and blurry. He looks around, seeing the dead body of the lamia. He tries to search it, but his hands pass through the body. He turns around, confused, and sees a shadowy woman dancing in the moonlight. She beckons him to follow her, and leads him down out of the Shadow Clock and into the Geck Piling, eventually reaching a room wherin lies two stone slabs, one covered in blood, the other having a dwarf body on it. Off to the side, he sees a tattoed man in a cell. He tries to call out to the man, but does not recieve an answer. The woman silently beckons him closer to the body, and as he approaches, he starts feeling drawn to it. Just before he is sucked into the body, he recognizes it as his own. He opens his eyes, and things are back to normal-ish. He tries to break the bonds holding him to the table, but is unable. Seeing him move, the tattoed man calls out to him, surprised that he is alive. He mentions that whoever brought them here took another dwarf off the second slab through the steel door at the end of the room. They spend some time trying to figure out what's happening when Elrohir arrives and removes Gronads bindings. They look around the room and start to discuss what they intend to do when Skippy and Rothgar arrive. Rothgar distrusts the tattooed man (Cronads new character, Calliend) but Gronad manages to talk him into releasing him. They decide to check behind the door, and find that it continues into what appears to be a much larger complex. They check the first room, where Elrohir notices what appear to be peepholes on the northern wall. Rothgar opens the door at the end of the corrider and sends his eidolon through, only to have it attacked by a couple of Creepers (one of these guys is going to have to carry dynamite...tssssss) Argo took the brunt of the attacks while the group peppered with ranged. They took down the thugs quickly, and moved into the larger hallway, where they realized the scope of what they were getting into.
Next session Friday March 13 (dun dun DUN)


I woke up on top of the clock tower where where we fought this demon serpent. Everyone was gone except the corpse of the serpent. I don't remember us killing it. The group must have finished it off, but why did they leave me here? I reach for the carcass in front of me but my hands go right through it. Not really understanding what is happening I notice a woman. She signals to me to follow her. She leads me down the clock-tower, through the city that eventually leads to a questionable alley. She opens the door and in front of me I see two stone slabs, one is empty but quite bloody and the other - well it was me. As I approach myself on the slab I feel myself being sucked towards the slab.

I wake up once again, but now I am on the stone slab all tied up with a massive head ache. I am not sure what is happening, but I know that something is wrong. A man in the jail cell tells me that they took a dwarf down the stairs, but didn't look like he was in good shape. I quickly realized that it must have been Cronad. As I struggle to break the bonds that are holding me to the slab Elrohir walks in the room and is surprised to see me. He unties me and soon after Rothgar and Skippy comes into the room. Everyone seems so surprised that I am alive. I am not sure why, I was with them not to long ago. They said something about being dead...

The man in the cell explains what he saw, the group distrusts him but I have no reason to distrust him. I need to find Cronad... and apparently my gear! I have no idea why I am naked. Elrohir says that there is a piece of metal sticking out of my head, it must be the source of my head ache. I have no time to worry about that I need to find Cronad. Rothgar lends me Demonb@*+$ and a cloak


(Elrohir, half-elven fighter, March 6th session)

On the way back to the Slippery Eel, after bravely holding the line at the base of the tower whilst my comrades fought a monster, I noticed a statue commemorating a battle against monstrous sea creatures that had been modified by evil magicks. Although I recalled that rumor had it that I could slay sea creatures if I recited a verse in Aquan, I could not recall the verse; nor, for that matter, speak Aquan.

Skippy and I arrived outside the inn, where, to my dismay, I saw two guards standing watch. They noticed me, in particular, and began asking rather uncomfortable questions regarding my whereabouts and implied that they were still investigating me. I thought they had no real evidence of murder, since I had clearly acted in self-defense and the fellow was acting insane (all I did was toss his carcass onto the street after he failed to kill me), and proceeded to lie about having not left town.

I got away with it and entered the tavern, where an obviously sympathetic barman gave me a drink on the house! It was lovely, and immediately upon finishing it I went to sleep. I think it was a magical beverage, because I dreamt of swimming in a vast sea, closing on a wondrous city, and when I woke, I was all wet! Aside from feeling fully refreshed, I think that the dream was real!

After waking and puttering about a bit, Rothgar came by and talked about meeting with some higher-up, the watch captain, I think. He mentioned showing her the documents, and gave me some items for safekeeping. Oddly, although the town where Urlian and I lived was mentioned in the papers that he showed her (and that I saw before we came back to town), I felt no urgency surrounding the situation.

After a nice man came round and invited us all to a banquet for saving the Lord Mayor, I went out to practice my swordplay. The guards outside told me that I was cleared of all charges! I have to remember to buy Rothgar a drink for that. Maybe one of those dream beers... Anyways, I practiced for a while when a little scruffy kid came up looking for Rothgar. I told him that he had gone out for some of his 'alone time' and he told me that the dwarf we had been traveling with had been caught!

Shocked that Cronad, who had abruptly left with his brother, had been careless enough to get taken by bandits, I decided to investigate the 'gecko pillar' myself, and told the urchin to leave a message for Rothgar, Sarah, and Skippy.

I arrived at the pillar without incident and discovered a way inside. After a short walk, I was confronted with an impossible sight: Gronad, alive! Worse: Gronad, utterly nude! I cut him free, paying little heed to the tattooed man in the cell. Gronad did not seem to understand what had happened to him; strangely, he also had what appeared to be a metal band attached to his head. He did insist that Cronad had been taken further in, and that the tattooed man had told him so. I didn't like the look of how much blood was on the empty slab next to Gronad's, but I (and obviously Gronad) had survived severe injuries before.

The others arrived in short order, and after a brief discussion, we decided to push forward and get Gronad some clothes, as well as find his brother. We brought the tattooed man with us (Cally End is his name, I think) and soon were in an obvious trap room; peepholes on a wall indicated that we were likely being watched. Rothgar, sensing that we were made, rushed forward and sprung the trap: two ruffians attacked his creature Agro, but we were able to slay them without too much difficulty. As Gronad grabbed their stuff to make himself decent, we prepared to continue on, to find his missing brother.


Lamashan 19th, 4707 AR

We limped down from the top of the Shadow tower, the demons blood dripped through the cracks of her roof retreat and coated the stairs in shades of crimson, ahead of me I watched Cronad carry Gronad away. His dead lifeless eyes staring back at me as he lay slumped over his brothers shoulders, even though we hardly knew Cronad, Gronad was his brother and as much as I would like to have buried him myself, perhaps even next to Agronox and the others, it was his brothers right to take him.

Instead I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as I hobbled down the street back to the Slippery eel, at some point I realized I lost the others and arrived at the tavern / inn by myself. Up to my room I went, shedding my gear at the foot of my bed as I collapsed exhausted, I wanted to sleep but my mind was still racing from battle and all the events that lead to it. I lay there replaying what had happen over and over trying to make sense of it all when decided it was best to clean and sort my gear to calm my mind enough to fall asleep. First I tended to my own things, cleaning and sorting my weapons and armor, breaking opening a ration as I did, too tired to go down stairs for a real meal. Then I looked to the items recovered from the demons body, her spear, snake skin armor an ring and her journal. It was then the demons journal fell to the floor, picking it up a sheaf of paper slipped out drifting to the floor, as I picked it up I quickly realized it was a list of names she was planning to murder or has murdered, and worst yet it seemed she was not working alone. I strapped on my weapons belt and bolted out the door, quickly looking down stairs for one of the others, I returned back to their rooms to see if they too were trying to get some sleep. Sara would have been my first choice but not having a clue where she lived I decided on Elrohir, I banged on his door several times calling his name. After a few minutes of silence and fearing the worst I removed my lock picks from my boot and gained entry for myself, he was sleeping soundly in his bed. I remember at first gently nudging him then as my voice got louder I decided to try his wash basin, even doused in water he seemed impossible to wake.

Running down stairs I asked the barmen if he knew where I could find the guards, because my friend up stairs may have been poisoned, realizing who I was he explained to me that he gave him a drink at his request that would ensure a full nights rest. Distrustful of his answer I instead asked if he could point me in the direction of the nearest guards, he told me a few were stationed outside the tavern, keeping tabs on Elrohir for some crime they think he committed.

Running out and after a quick introduction I explained who I was and what I had found, after a few questions regarding Elrohir and the “drink” he was given, one of them escorted me to the captain of the watch. I did my best to explain to the watch captain what I had discovered and what we had been through without given her all the details, suspicious of corruption in the city. I could tell she wanted to believe me but I must admit the story even sounded farfetched to me, I could tell she was sincere and she looked as though she really did want to help. So I gave her the full details, of the Demon, the Mill, Lord Foxglove and sand point, astounded she immediately dispatched a few guards to check the tower and promised to keep me in the loop of what was going on. After a stern warning about corruption and the promise of vengeance if required I left, feeling as though I had done what I could given what I knew. Returning to the Inn, at long last I was finally willing and able to fall asleep, tucking my Goblin Kings dog slicer under my pillow for good measure, I drifted off to a peaceful and natural sleep……..


I’m in the process of going back and writing all of my “old” journal entries, it will take some time to catch up but here is Book one, enjoy.

Pre-Session 1:

“The memories of our past safe guard our future”

My life is changing, life its self is every changing, yet I feel a strong undeniably powerful connection to the past, more aptly my family’s lineage. Perhaps it’s the visions, glimpses of what could be, I have been having them since I was a small boy ….

I always loved the smell of fresh parchment paired with dark leather, even before I lost the gift of sight, but now with enhanced senses the smell was simply intoxicating. This book was originally intended to server as a makeshift history lesion for my brother, something he never had time for, after what happen at the trial I thought it important to preserve our own history instead.

“The road” (more back story coming soon)
…..

Rova 23rd 4707 AR,
He is changing, we are changing more than even I realize, the roads have been kind to us but perhaps it was a life time of living a life in the steps or perhaps the “trials” we endured that have prepared us for this moment. Our journey so far, has been a journey that has carried us hundreds of miles from all we know but has be met with minimal hardships, and for that I thank the gods. Each step we take weighs on my soul however, and I feel an ever increasing burden I must shoulder, not because of the “what” I left behind but more for ”who” I left behind. Surly my father regardless of his actions at the trial would be first among that list; he is still my father after all, but also my fathers, father and his and so on and so forth. Our family’s history is deep, and is what shaped and molded us into the people we are now, and I long to be reconnected with it once more, and worse yet I feel my brother does not yet see the importance of this.

To him this whole ordeal has been an entirely different affair, the road was all he ever wanted even if he didn’t know it himself, he never was one for history, or ceremony. Even as a small boy he would stray away from the pack, always seemed more comfortable on his own, and as a man he was never seen. Always off scouting this farthest reaches of our father’s territory, gone days, weeks at a time. And though I’m sure he miss’s home, he can’t hide the smile each morning when we break camp and set off even further away from home, always further away.

And I know he feels responsible for what happened at the “Trial”, something we never speak of but by the way he caters to me in his own way, giving me the last of the meals, doing more than the “fair” share of chores around the camp. And the fact that he always steps to the front of me whenever things look as though they might get rough, even though he has half my skill in melee combat even without my ability to see.

Tomorrow should be an interesting change of pace, we will be passing through a small town, still much bigger than anything we would build in the tribes but small by the mainlander’s standards, I think they call it Sandpoint.

Session 2:

Rova 24th 4707 AR,
The sun was starting to drift from the sky above; I remember beads of sweat pouring down my face as we neared the city gates, as I said it was smaller than some of the other towns we have stopped at but that was always the way he liked it. Sandpoint sat nestled into a small cove along the ocean, and it was some time since we had a hot meal and a chance to shake the dust from our bones and was a welcomed relief from the endless journey we were on.

As we neared the gates I watch my brothers hands subconsciously drift towards his many blades, but he managed to resist as he maneuvered in front of me. It was my firm hand on his shoulder that brought the obvious to his attention, the gate were wide open, and no guards could be found, stepping though the gates we could hear the sounds of battle behind the walls. Tightly gripping his bow my brother and I ran into the town, trying to find the source of the noise, only to find the entire town in conflict, the town’s people were running about gathering loved ones hurriedly locking themselves behind closed doors.

Guards were running around spears grasped tightly in their hands their fear was practically palpable, a sudden and frightened scream of a small girl turned our attention to the right. Inside what was the towns square sat a large covered wagon, and was crawling with Goblins! A large heavy man wearing heavy iron armor carrying a large metallic weapon strode without hesitation towards the goblin noise, followed by the lighter foot falls of a woman or older child; I could make out the faint cadence of arcane words being intoned for a spell. The goblins recognized the danger a moment to late as a gout of fire fanned out engulfing the wretches, several goblins leaped down from on high some still on fire. One of the Goblins jumped a little too close to the duo and before it realized its error was cut down by the large warrior. I quickly called upon my maul bringing it from thin air and took up position back to back as my brother drew two arrows from his quiver firing them off in quick succession. Though both missed there mark they struck the hardened oak of the wagon with tremendous force, successfully driving the remaining goblins from their perch given those inside a chance to get away. With the goblin attention split between the two separate groups we were at a bit of a standoff both sides swinging when the other got to close probing for weakness in order to land a solid blow. I heard the movement of a humanoid sized man approaching fast from behind the goblins; I made a few hasty swings to keep their attention firmly on me. The sickening sound of a cleaning slicing blade was my cue, and I lunged forward striking the last goblin standing on our side of the square, as I listened to the unknown swordsman foot falls run off I heard another pair of arrows leave my brothers bow. His exhale was my cue the battle was over, but another scream had us running in another direction, this time the four of us ran, my brother and I leading the charge.

The moaning cries of a grown man could be heard as we approached, but were quickly replaced by the snarls and yips of a pair of goblins and one of their hounds.
I remember an arrow moving past my head as I feinted one direction before leaping up bring my hammer down upon the shoulder of the lead goblin, the cracking and snapping of his bones filled the air, as the goblins air left his lungs for a final time. As I readied for a counter attack, a yelp sounded from the goblin hound followed by the twang of a crossbow, the encounter was over.

The sobbing man introduced himself as Aldern Foxglove between sobs and thanked us for help as he slipped inside a nearby building promising a reward for our actions to follow.

As my brother recovered what arrows he could from the goblin corpses the large man introduced himself as Ragnar a local sell sword and his travel companion Sara, an sorcerer passing through the region from Magnimar. The four of us walked about the town a few more minutes in silence taking in the chaos and damage the goblins inflicted before splitting our separate ways to find lodging for the night, eventually we all settling on the Rusty Dragon. After a light meal provided for free by the young lady who ran the bar, we retired to our room, I feel comforted as I lay here writing this down, listening to my brother re string his bow and lay out his equipment for the morning. I know he will try to slip away early morning to get out of town and back onto the road but I must convenience him to stay a little longer. I must give fate a chance to show him his true potential and lay down the road I know he must take.

Session 3:

Rova 25th 4707 AR,
As suspected, the next morning he did his best to get us out of our room and onto the open road as fast as he could; I played up some battle injuries from yesterday and took my time gathering my things. By the time we “slipped” out of our room, the sorcerer named Sara was already sitting at a table, and called us over as we entered the common room. I believe my brothers contempt to do so went unnoticed as we sat down, not much was said while we waited for the waitress to return, she took our orders and when Ragnar joined us we quietly ate. It was around this time when a light footed smaller man approached our table and introduced himself as Nurr, he was something he called a “Ninja”. My brother and I sat quietly waiting for the others to respond not knowing the meaning of his title but the moment was interrupted by the arrival of Aldren Foxglove. He returned as promised and sat down a small bag of coins as he made introductions once more, after some brief table talk he beckoned us to follow him outside where he had horses waiting for us for his “boar hunt”. As we sorted out our mounts he explained the hunting grounds and began an nonstop barrage of questions, from the four of us, five including Nurr who decided to come along. When it was our turn to talk, my brother told him more or less the truth on how we were travelers on a journey to see more of the world, though he omitted nearly any detail that would allude to our past. The stories of the others were interesting; Ragnar was born of the area, and was just returning back to Sandpoint after months on the road, Sara was from a much larger city south of here known as Magnimar, she came from wealth, and Nurr I gathered was some sort of local Scholar.

After some time we dismounted our horses and proceeded on foot, having never been much of a hunter this was somewhat new to me; my experience was mostly in humanoid combat. But my brother was at home though somewhat annoyed by our chosen tactics and lack of stealth, I could sense an outburst coming from him when a rustle in the underbrush to our side alerted us of an attack. A large boar came rushing from the brush and before more could react it was upon us, though our weaponry was slightly unorthodox for a boar hunt in the end it was Sara who caved in its skull with hit from her mace. Our emotions where high after the ordeal, we’ll all save Foxgloves who was several feet behind us and as white as a snow hair, we decided the boar would make a good meal for the Rusty dragon. I was just happy I could convince my brother to return back to town.

We ate well that night, boar and endless mugs of ale was all that was needed to make my brother forget the road, we spend nearly the whole night with the others listening more than talking. Though as some point my brother caught the attention of one of the local woman and spent some time telling her something only the gods could be sure of.

Rova 26th 4707 AR,
The next morning I woke up to find most of my brothers belongings in the room, it was still morning but was getting closer to noon than I would have liked. I took some time to write down the past days events before heading down stair for some leftover boar and bread, I could hear the town through the walls and the overall atmosphere was warm. After some time I made my way outside, slowly on my own I wandered the streets before hearing the sounds of an argument, at first I was content to leave it be but when my brothers voice was heard I made haste to its source. By the time I arrived he was backing out, his hand axe drawn laughing at the large man following him, it turns out he was caught sleeping with his daughter and was trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution, somehow he though his axe would help.

After retrieving my brother we decided to retire back to the inn for “one more” nights rest before hitting the open road, I humored him in this though I felt we would not have the morning he had planned.

Rova 27th 4707 AR,
Still early in the morning we gathered our belongings and successfully “slipped” out of our rooms and down into the common are unnoticed by the others, good byes were never my brother’s speciality and he wanted to make some good ground before noon. The common area was quiet and not quite finished with that boar we stepped into the back to help ourselves to a little more and some bread for the road. Only we found the young Halfling, Ameiko our hostess employed crying, she explained to us it was from Ameiko’s father a brute of a man inviting her to the glass works for a meeting last night. Only she never returned and the Halfling expected foul play, I consoled her as best I could while we waited for the others to come down stairs.

Collectively we agreed to look into this as a group once we explained what we heard, it being the least we could do for Ameiko after the kindness’s she offered in the inn.

The Sandpoint Glassworks were not far; as we approached the group noticed smoke billowing from the stacks so we knew there would be people inside, however we soon found the doors locked. My brother inspected around the building and decided he could gain entry from the beach side entrance using a trick with the locks he picked up from the raids our tribe would conduct. With an audible click we were inside and we quickly realized that everything was not ok; once the yipping and yelping started I summoned my hammer for the battle to come. I lost count of how many we killed in that first encounter, there seemed to be an endless stream pouring from within, my arms went nearly numb from swinging such a heavy weapon. Arcane magic could be heard mingled with the hum of arrows and shouts and screams that followed every battle. As the pace began to slow, my brother ran off after a retreating goblin, who was making an escape into the basement, not ready to divide the group, the two of us waited at the foot of the stairs while the others caught up. During the excitement of the battle I never noticed the putrid stench of death, but now the smell of burnt hair and flesh was nearly overpowering.

Once again whole our group descended into the bowels of the Glassworks not know what to expect, there was no telling how many goblins took refuge there after the attack but it was clear it was to be there last stand. The halls were silent, we moved door to door, my brother checking them for any dangers before myself or Ragnar opened them. I remember being given the ok, my muscles tensed as I griped the handle and flung it open moving inside in an attempt to catch off guard who ever if anyone was inside. As I stepped in, hammer at the ready I could feel a presence to my side and then I was stuck with tremendous force. …..

It took me a moment to remember where I was, instantly I could feel the presences of my brother standing over me, I lay there silently as he and the others spoke with another, a voice I did not recognize. The man introduced himself as Gronad a traveling Battle Cleric who was clearly late for the Sandpoint Festival, something we had in common. He seemed sincere and was offering a prayer on my behalf to mend my wounds when I raised a hand, waving him off, having healing magic of my own. He told us the entire town was talking about the heroes of Sandpoint and the rumors were flying about the battle with in the Glassworks, after he was given directions he came as fast as he could to offer his assistance. My brother trusted the man, vouching he was just in time to save Ameiko’s life, after her throat was slit by the man who knocked me out and then fled down an tunnel leading far from the Glassworks. A journal found in his room identified him as Ameiko’s brother and Nurr mentioned her father was a victim up stairs encased in molten glass. We decided that the tunnel could wait; my brother and I stood guard while the others escorted Ameiko back to her inn and informed the sheriff on what we had seen. Several guards returned within the hour and relived us of our watch, the element of surprise far removed we seen no harm in resting the night before heading deeper into the tunnels to see where they would lead.

I awoke from a dream last night, thought writing that down I know it to be untrue, Rothgar …. This will be my final entry, I do not know all the details but I do know that I will not have the time to make another entry into this book. I know you feel guilty for what happen at the trial, in truth it was always meant to be. You need to let go of your burden, and embrace the gifts that you have by now just realized, it was because of these gifts our father was forced to hold the trial. But it is also because of these gifts you will do great things, you will see many deaths before your time is through but also will save many lives, listen to your heart and remember I will always be with you, looking out for you, standing over you. Your loving brother Agronox.

Pre Session 5-6:

Rova 30th 4707 AR,
My world has become a blur of thoughts and emotions, days and nights bleeding into one another and still I can’t make sense of what happened what was happening. My mind replays the events over and over, but the images are fleeting like the fickle flames of a camp fire always changing shape and direction. I can’t help that I feel responsible for what happen to Agronox, it was because of me that our Father held the trail that removed us from the tribe, and started us on this journey many months ago. If I only fought harder I could have perhaps avoiding the pain I am feeling at the loss of my brother, and if he only told me the truth I could stop feeling betrayed after reading through this damned book.

Lamashan 1st 4707 AR,
A half dozen times I tried riding myself of this book, convinced I could move on without it, but every time I leave it behind I find myself unable to think of anything else until I retrieve it. It is the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing on my mind as I fall asleep, perhaps it’s because this is my only link to my brother, or perhaps his spirt commands me to put quill to parchment on his behalf, I don’t know. Still, as much as I hate this book I can’t help but feel at peace when writing in its confines, it is like Agronox is here in the room with me, watching over me like he always did before.

Session 4:

Lamashan 2nd 4707 AR,
I am finally going to try and explain what happened on the day of my brother’s death, try to tell the story of his final battle, and try to understand what and where “he” came from.

I remembered it was early in the morning on the 28th of Rova, 4707 AR, as usual I woke up and started getting ready and Agronox did the same, it was like he never really slept, he always just got up when I awoke. We were the first down to the common room, and ate a bit of food Ameiko left aside for us while we waited for the others to come down. Gronad the Dwarven Cleric was next and then quickly followed by Ragnar, Nurr than Sara, we ate in silence our minds preoccupied with what was down that tunnel.

It was still early when we made it to the Glassworks, Sandpoint was asleep perhaps not even aware of what we were really doing at this point. Neither the guards on duty at the front doors or the entrance to the tunnel said a word to us as we approached and made our way by, they only nodded in our direction but it was clear they appreciated the danger we were taking on their behalf. Once inside I took the lead, I stalked ahead of the group quickly and silently following the tracks left behind whilst looking for any traps or surprises that may have been left behind. We followed the tunnel for some time, at some point we came across a split in the tunnels, on one side I noted the human footsteps and the other dozens of goblin sized tracks. We decided the goblins were the bigger threat to the town and followed them for some time more until they lead to a beach some distance removed from Sandpoint’s city limits. It was clear they boarded boats and departed at least initially in a westerly direction, but we could find no sign of them otherwise.

It was at this point Sara mentions she forgot something back at the Inn and would meet us at the split in the tunnels in a few moments; it is only now I realize that this would be the last time my brother felt the warmth of the sun on his face. Sometime later Sara returned she claimed she found Nurrs sword on her way back, one he lost a few days ago, it was clear she was lying but was none of my business.

The second tunnel carried on for some distance more and seemed to dip lower into the earth, it seemed to grow colder before stopping at what remained of a brick wall with a gaping hole. Ragnar insisted he take the lead noting something about his armor being thicker than mine, I stood aside without complaint. At first in such tight quarters our group was ineffective, not more than twenty steps into the room Ragnar was under attack but some creature that called the darkness his home, it was a tooth and claw and made attacking it nearly impossible. When it started to draw blood, I could wait no longer, I waited for an opening and fired, no sooner did the arrow leave my string, did Ragnar change position my arrow grazed his shoulder, soon after a glob of acid flew from Sara’s out stretched hands and hit Ragnar in the back. He howled in pain as he swung with rage dropping the creature, if it was not for the confined space I fear he would have turned on me thereafter. It took our group some time to find our battle cadence, room by room we cleared in this dark and dreary dungeon, religious artifacts and carvings were everywhere but I just focused on the darkness ahead. The five of us wandered the hall’s stopping every now and then to comment on an carving or to argue on who wanted what, it was these times I would scout a bit further ahead, leaving the whispered voices behind, knowing full well my brothers foot falls where behind me. I never did like this religious, spiritual non sense, this whole place made me feel uneasy and as far as I was concerned the sooner we moved on the soon we could leave. Everything down here was mutated and strange; some rooms had odd items floating in thin air, others just enraged creatures that wanted to make us there meal. All of us were cut and bruised at some point in time, some worse than others, Agronox was laid low by some twisted deformed creature. While Gronad was attacked by some winged beast while drinking dark waters from a fountain, much to our surprise he got sick thereafter and we had his rancid smell to add to the aroma of this foul place. It was soon after Gronads sickness that Ragnar and Sarah decided to stop and to study some carvings on the wall, we only walked a few hundred feet ahead of them when another winged beast attacked. Though only small the devil like creature tore into us with claw and spell, its size made it hard to hit and its skin turned away most weapons. Another wave of nausea removed Gronad from the fight, and Nurr panicked backing into a corner in fear, by the time it turned my way I was already bleeding from several wounds. As my vision began to blur, I fell to the ground watching helplessly as the creature turned on Agronox, blow after blow he landed but to no effect, the creature laughed as its claws tore the throat from my brother. Hardly able to stay awake, I remember seeing a strange and powerful creature appear out of nowhere pouncing on the devil responsible for my brother’s death. The two creatures howled in both pain and rage, flesh was torn from bone on both sides, and with his back turned Ragnar stepped into the room at last, nearly cleaving the creature in two with one powerful blow. As he stood off against the second mysterious creature it took all the strength I had to craw in between the two and wave him off, feeling some sort of unfamiliar connection with the beast. Once I was sure Ragnar understood I crawled to my brother, for long moments I lay partially atop him trying in vain to wake him, but there was too much blood on the floor. I was so distracted I did not even notice Gronads healing magic begin to restore my vision and bring color and sound back into my world, I looked to him silently begging him to do something, anything for my brother, but he could only shake his head in disappointment. Agronox was gone.

I could hear it’s breathing across the room; it just sat there scanning the room with its claws and maw covered in blood, a strange rune with a faint glow etched in its forehead. I took one more look at my brother before regaining my feet, my head ponded as I stood but I never took my eyes off the creature as I walked over to retrieve my falling gear, my legs still coursed with pain from injures that were just moments ago grievous. I remember Gronad asking what it was, what it was doing here, where it came from, and with each question I just shook my head. I told them I didn’t know, I felt it was here to help, I felt it was a good thing but I did not know, we sat there in silence for a few moments before leaving the room. With the help of the others I hoisted Agronoxs body unto my shoulders, it would be a slow walk out over here but this was something I felt I needed to do. As we left the room, so too did the “Creature”, silently he followed us through the catacombs, its eyes ever scanning the room, waiting for something to happen, it stopped when I stopped, it moved when I moved.

As we moved down the tunnels, the basement to the Glassworks in sight, something in my mind told me to turn around, I don’t even know how to explain it, but as I did I watched the “Creature” still walking towards me, just fade into mist before disappearing.

The guards still stationed at the tunnel entrance, welcomed us back with warm smiles and a raw of cheer, but it quickly faded when I came to view, my brother up on my shoulder, his blood covering my body. Many hands moved to help but I restrained there action with my gaze, telling them no help was needed. Once we were free of the Glassworks, I parted ways with the others, Gronad and Ragnar moved to follow, only wanting to help, but I shook my head once more. I thanked them for their help and told them I would return, but for now I needed to do this on my own.

Sometime early the next morning, as the sun was coming up over Sandpoint harbor, I staggered back into town, my hands and face covered in dirt from the grave I dug for Agronox with my bare hands. I was beyond tired and desperately needed rest; I walked back to the Rusty Dragon, up to our room and fell into the only bed in the room. As I drifted off, all the memories of the previous days, weeks and months flooded past me, bringing forth a torrent of emotion and just before slumber finally claimed me my hands brushed up against my brother’s journal left under his pillow.

Session 5 – 6:

Lamashan 3rd 4707 AR
This morning I found that Sandpoint’s goblin troubles were far from over, it seems that during this “simple” raid, multiple goblin groups were sent out, and sheriff found another problem he hoped we could help with. It seems that during the raid the goblins broke into one of the towns crypts stealing the remains of one of their beloved oracles. We meet with the current oracle that filled us in on the details and decided to follow the trail; their tracks were easy to follow leading us directly into an hidden passage deep below the earth.

Along the way we encounter several creature most of which were undead, down there the walls were etched in ancient “Thasilonian” ruins and symbols. A language spoken by the ancestors of this land, or so Nurr told me.

The crypts were endless, we seen our fair share of battle, many suffering cuts and wounds, along the way Gobber was separated from our group and never heard from again, but near some crude tunnels dug by what looked to be goblin tools we found a frightened explorer, named Maximo. He was a cleric of “blank” and was tracking the goblins with a friend when they followed them down into the earth, after being separated from his friend he took refuge in one of the rooms until he re-gained his strength. Finding his friend dead a short distance away, he decided to follow us till we were back on the surface.

The tunnels were confusing often we doubled back over our own tracks, trying to make sense of the layout, but eventually we came across a loan alchemist living down here, experimenting on the undead. He claimed to be close to mastering death but had nothing to do with the goblins, but refused to say anything else, agitated by continued presence he commanded one of his abominations to remove us. We have come too far to be brushed aside by a mad man, and after a short battle he was killed along with his experiments. Surveying his lab we found a prison of sorts nearby, with a loan woman sleeping on a bed on the other side of a open pit. After securing safe passage across the pit we found out she is was already dead, when her eyes fluttered open we were all shocked, we instantly thought the worst with weapons at the ready, but it was clear she was not hostile. Taking piety on her Maximo convinced us she would not harm us and shrouded her in his cloak promising her safety.

Eventually we returned to the surface, empty handed save for a few trinkets found below we went back to the Rusty dragon for an nights rest before making out next move. Somehow once again our only lead was goblin tracks in the sand …

Session 7 – 8:

Lamashan 6th 4707 AR
My hands are shaking as I write this down; I’ll do my best to remember everything that happen over the last few days. On the morning of the fourth we ate breakfast together at first we ate quietly but eventually we addressed what was on all of our minds, Thistle top, the goblin stronghold mentioned by the sheriffs Ranger Shalalu. With no other course of action, we decided after breakfast we would gather our gear and head off.

It was good to be back on the road, and after a few hours of travel I started to see signs of goblin tracks, many goblin tracks, I also even managed to catch a few glimpse of “him”, silently stalking along behind us. We were upon the goblin stronghold quicker than expected, the tracks were in the dozens now and it was clear this was there staging point for the assault on Sandpoint and future attacks sure to come. The brush there was thick and made travel difficult for anyone bigger than a child, or goblin, perhaps that’s why they liked this area so much. Before we realized it we were set upon by a band of goblins, they came at us in all forms; most had weapons, though some abandoned them for some reason mad with rage they just ran at us with their hands waving in the air, goblin tricks. For a few seconds I was worried we might be overrun but they did not put up much of a fight, as they drew closer “He” immediately sprinted past my position, tearing into the goblin hoard.

In the midst of it all it became started to become clear to me, the way “he” fought, the way “he” and I would move about the battle field, each feeding off each other movements, covering each other’s flanks before lashing out with our own separate attacks. He fought exactly like I did, exactly like Agronox and I did, after the fight while the others checked the goblins, for what I’m not sure of, I went to secure the perimeter and called out, “Agro” cutting myself off short lost in the moment but to my surprise he followed. “Agro” … perhaps this was my brothers way of looking out for me, a spirt of sorts, like the ones we used to talk about as kids, eternally bound together, watching my back. I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but I feel better thinking that “he” that Agro is somehow my brother’s spirt here for my protection.

The area appeared to be a holding area for goblins, they were camped out but nothing permanent, Gronad spotted what looked like a trail covered in thick brush. As he and the others cut away at the brush clearing an opening for the rest of us, me and Sara checked out a natural pit that looked like it could have been used as an well. It was hard to see but when Sara conjured an magical light we could tell it opened into a much larger chamber, there was even a ledge down below. Convinced there was more to this I tied off a rope and started the climb down, I had to swing a bit to reach the ledge, but once down we could see this chamber splintered in several different directions. Sara noticed it first, a glowing, shimmering reflection of something down in the pool of dark waters, perhaps reflecting off the magical glowing ball she summoned. With no apparent threat, I removed much of my gear and clothing before diving in, it took me several tries but I managed to recover a few discarded items and some loose coin. I was on my way back out when Sara’s face revealed everything I needed to know about the situation, a huge creature roared as it sprang from the waters, attacking. She hurled bolts of magic at it buying me the time I needed to pull myself onto dry land, I rolled over to my bow, quickly firing off a shot before it dove back under. Its next attack was directed at Sara, it could build up enough speed to remove most of its upper body from the water giving it the reach in needed to attack us on the small ledge we clung too, again we fought back and so it went on for several more moments before finally we brought it down. We decided not to press out luck and called down to the others to help her up, at first we got no response before Gronad peered over the edge. It was not until I was up that I realized that they too had their own battle, apparently an goblin using magic attacked them, coming and going from the thick brush before they finally killed off his massive pet cat, and drove him off.

Gronad tended to our wounds, nearly depleted of all magical power we thought it best to rest up before going further in, once again the element of surprise already ruined by the fleeing magical goblin. Gronad, Agro and I stayed behind while the others went back to town to rest; we pulled back a few hundred meters and took watch throughout the night.

In the morning when the others returned, they brought back Shalalu with them, needing an guide to find their way back and she also expressed interest in seeing the goblin position for herself.

It was early when then brush gave way to a rickety wooden bridge, crossing a twenty foot span to an island of sorts on the other side, it looked to be a few hundred feet below to rocky waters. On the other side was a fairly sizeable yet crude fortress built from debris and flotsam belched up from the ocean, it seems the goblins had their selves a fortress of sorts.

We knew that once we started we would have to hold the bridge till the others could cross, unsure at this point how many the bridge could hold at once, if any. The quickest and most agile, I volunteered to be the spear head of the group, and Agro and I charged across the bridge.

No sooner did I step out onto the bridge did the goblin alarms sound, the twang of bows and whistle of arrows hummed in the air and it was a blessing to the gods I was left unscathed. Agro and I hugged the walls of the fort offering us some protection while I fired back killing a few of the archers and successfully keeping their heads down. When I heard the noise I already knew what would come next, as the gates lowered, and with my group still on the other side they planned to overrun our positon, killing me or forcing me over the ledge.

I tossed aside my bow and removed my axe and shield, Agro and I took up position and as the gate crashed to the ground we stepped in, giving us some protection from the towers. We were surrounded, goblins on side’s, back to back me and Agro fought till my arms went numb, and my body felt like lead. I was sure I was about to join Agronox when final few goblins ran off, I leaned on the wall trying in vain to keep my shield level when the others ran up behind me. A cool surge of healing energy washed over, a sure sign Gronad had arrived, we took a moment before pushing further into the fortress. Clearing through the towers and halls, most of the keep offered us little resistance; the rooms were mostly filled with rubbish and debris, though one room was stacked with crates of pickled pickles, for some odd reason. The court yard was a challenge, the goblins and there dogs made effort to push us from the fortress but our combined force was simple too much for them, with most of the upper levels clear we were in desperate need of a rest. We backtracked to one of the towers, from here we could maintain a strong position and keep watch if any of the vermin tried to escape in the night, watches were posted in twos but I doubt anyone really got any sleep.

It was early morning with Sara and I on watch, Agro was off somewhere slipping away sometime while I slept. As I sat up in the tower keeping watch on the bridge looking out for him, he suddenly appeared beside me, as if out of thin air, he silently lapped the enterers of the tower a few times before laying down at my side.

With the sun on the rise we were about to wake the others when Maximo started into a coughing fit, it was nothing at first but quickly grew more violent, spurts of blood followed. Sara and I watched on in horror, as in a matter of seconds he chest ceased to rise, he was dead, we shouted out to Gronad, who woke as expected with a look of fear in his eyes, reaching for his blade. By the time Gronad was at his side there was nothing to be done, it was a poor start to our morning, but in light of it all I am surprised more of us never fell to that accursed fortress.

Breakfast was quick and quite, we sorted out our gear and took from Maximo what may be needed for the fight ahead before readying ourselves to leave our sanctuary. As Gronad reached for the door, a gasp from Sara spun us around, in the corner, covered in his cloak, Maximo began to stir, little movements at first but then with a fierce growl he sprang to his feet. Quick thinking and fast on her feet, Sara pulled out a wand she had found on one of our other adventures, firing off a black Smokey ray, Maximo struggled at first, but soon stopped in place. With a sigh she told us he will be under her control for the time being, now that he is undead. Not quite sure how to feel about what had just happen, I let it going, hoping he could be more useful to us in death than he was in life.

The fort was empty, we could hear the goblins from somewhere within but the halls and rooms we cleared remained so, with only two rooms remaining we pushed on hoping to be finished and back to Sandpoint before nightfall. A large set of double doors ahead were well reinforced, and could have easily gave us more than a moment’s pause if the goblins wanted too, but to our surprise they were unbarred and when we gave them a push they opened with ease, we were all more than a little stunned with what was inside.

Sitting upon a throne of debris was a slightly larger than normal goblin with even a crow on his head, he introduced himself as Ripnugget the leader of this clan, and was more than willing to talk to us and what we planned to do about the slaughter of his people. At first no one spoke, since when did goblins say more than they wanted to eat you or don’t hurt me, but Sara took the lead, trying her best to get some useful information from king Ripnugget.

He told us his people attacked us after we stormed there gates and only after we killed the goblin refuges that have been camped in the fields beyond his kingdom. Sara stepped forward trying to appeal to the “king” why the rest of us still stood silenced, stunned at what was happen, when suddenly a wolfish grin spread across the “kings” face. Without warning several goblins dropped from there hiding spots in the rafters above and attacked Sara, Ripnugget too sprang to his feet and boarded a giant lizard that dropped down in front of his “throne”. The others moved in to the aid of Sara while Agro, Shalalu and I took on the “king”, he fell much sooner than his lizard and without much trouble the battle was over. As I removed the arrows never shattered on impact I also took Ripnuggets blade, they called it a Dog slicer and this one was surprisingly well-crafted.

The last room we had to check was little more than a stairwell and privy’s, and even for privy’s this one’s smell would not soon be forgotten, it was here before heading to the lower levels Gronad spotted a crack in the wall. Reaching over the foul abyss he slid aside the hidden door revealing a chest containing the spoils of King Ripnugget and his tribe, we closed it back up and retrieved it on our way out.

At the bottom of the stairs we could have went in several directions, the first door we opened was another troubling sight to forget, several goblin women were “pleasuring” a bugbear. Clearly caught off guard, he gave us all the time necessary to bring him down without any real threat.

The goblin women we let go, as we cleared the room, from here we a handful of room to check so we choose a set of double doors leading that lead into what appeared to be a chapel of sorts, it was also clear we were not alone. A howl unlike any I have ever heard before split the relative silence, sending waves of fear through my bones, it took everything I had to fight back and line up a shot. The creature responsible was a strange demon dog, later told to be a Yeth hound, my arrows bit at its hide, but was hard to do any real damage, Gronads blade did not seem to have this problem. At some point during the battle Nurr must have run off, I remembered seeing him enter several minutes after the fight was over with a bewildered look on his face, while the others searched the room.

Surly our presence must have been know, the many battle with the goblins the day before, the fight with Ripnugget this morning and now the hounds but no one came out to greet us, perhaps they thought the element of surprise was better than fleeing or working together to drive us out.

As we crept down the halls, room by room it was silent, when out of nowhere a fan of flames washed over nearly our entire party, I dove out of the way and readied myself for the coming attack, but seeing only a small framed woman on the other side of the flames. An arrow took her high in the shoulder as Agro and Gronad cleared the distance, I’m not sure what her plan was but I’m sure she expected more from herself before she fell to the floor. Sara began searching her body while I looked after what could have been a rather nasty looking trap down the hall.

No sooner do I disable it did we hear another female voice from down the hall, she was calling out to who I assume to be the dead caster on the floor seemingly unaware of what had just happened, as we crept closer she stepped out in all her glory.

Even with the grotesque deformed demon arm, she was a beautiful women, her armor was very open to the imagination her sword however left little to think about and its purpose. Under different circumstances I may have tried to make of go of her, but her battle cry forced my hand, she was strong, perhaps even stronger than myself or Gronad. It was not an easy fight, but in the end with several of us laid low on the ground, she was brought down, Maximos twisted corps was nearly sliced in half never to rise again. Once Gronad patched us up as best he could we pulled what was useful from her still quite beautiful corps, not that I would be into that type of thing. I took her sword for myself, a worthy trophy from an worthy opponent.

Gronad for some reason thought her armor would be a good fit, its funny how a shapely women could make that armor so seductive and impressive, while an hairy perhaps even slightly overweight dwarf left nothing but scared image’s seared into the mind.

The rest of the complex looked to have been abandoned, the tunnels went from hewn stone to rough cavern walls pretty quick, dust and cobwebs took the place of tapestry’s and goblin art?

Undead tried their best to bare a path, and even though there Smokey ghost like forms were hard to hit, but Demon B&++@ my newly acquired sword seemed to work just fine. Further down we went we found a large water logged cavern that was home to an giant golden helmet nearly as tall as myself, unfortunately for Nurr it was also home to thee biggest crustacean I have ever seen, as Nurr soon found out. Its tough shell, only made stronger by its armored home made it difficult to bring down, but well placed strikes by Gronad and arrow and spell to the eyes seen it fall, his helmet still remains there.

The last room we encountered worth noting was actually a well-kept stone chamber, its door was in the form of a wall of golden coins fused together into a giant wall, Sara informed us that it was just an illusion. The scripture written on the wall lead us to believe that by giving up some gold it would open, and unfortunately it did for inside was a creature to terrifying to describe.

A large fire pit dominated the center of this room and beyond the glowing bed of coals the creature waited. Gonad lead the way with Agro and Nurr on his heels, while the other waded in Sara and I attacked from range, at this point we were all pretty badly wounded but things were about to take a turn for the worst.

I don’t know what came over me, one second I was aiming up a shot and the next I could not stand the sight of my companions, they were attacking my friend and I needed them to stop. Sara never knew what hit her, I balled up my fist and in one powerful blow knocked her out, I then knocked an arrow and fired dropping Nurr to the ground in the door way. It’s hard to explain but it was Agro’s “voice” in my head that snapped me out of my state, he screamed at me to shake it off, to fight the urge to kill every one of my companions, which at this point I nearly have.

Suddenly realizing what I had done I ran forward dragging Nurr free of the door and screamed to Gronad to retreat, the demon took one last swing at him before he ran through the doors. Quickly we worked together to shut and seal the large heavy doors, the creature howled in rage and trashed at them but it seemed there was little he could do from his position.

Gronad looked at the arrow in Nurrs back and Saras unconscious form, and though nothing was said I knew he had known exactly what had happened, though under the guile of magic I was ashamed of my actions that day and feel no better now.

We helped Nurr and Sara to their feet and decided we had enough of Ripnuggets fortress and made for Sandpoint, retrieving any treasure we left behind.

On our way past the goblin Harem, Amikeos brother Tsuto and a human mercenary later know to be Orik block out path, a wicked grin spread across Tsutos face as he seen our reaction as we realize who he was. But we were no longer the same people that we were the first time we had met Tsuto. As much as I wanted revenge for what he did to Agronox and his part in his death, I called to him, giving him his first and only warning. He did not care to surrender and when I told him he would only add to the bodies we left behind in this fortress, holding Demon b*@%& as proof he flew into a wild fit of rage.

But the even the ever quick Tsutos, the man that felled Agronox in a single blow did not expect what was to come next, and when Orik appearntly sick of his employment with the Deamon women and Tsuto, took his blade and forced it nearly to the hilt in Tsutos back, he knew his time was over. A Spray of blood spewed from Tsutos mouth as Orik removed his blade and threw it to the ground in front of us, raising his hands as he did so. Telling us he was done with these people and if allowed to leave this land never to return he would, perhaps it was not clear but in our current shape we may not have survived that encounter at all, so with much gratitude we agreed.

Another threat to Sandpoint over with we walked back to town, again with the body of another fallen companion in hand, I can’t yet tell if we are good at this and facing nearly unsurmountable odds, or perhaps we should just call it quits and leave this to some other group yet unknown. Either way I doubt Sandpoint or this region is done with the likes of us.

Session 9:

Lamashan 8th 4707 AR
As I write this, I am sitting in a newly created shelter, just outside Sandpoint giving me just the right amount of freedom I need to stay sane. Agro is at my side sleeping and I am looking down on an ever growing pile of weapons pulled from the dead hands of friends or enemy’s, the demon b!@@%’s sword, King Ripnugget’s dagger, and my brothers forge hammer. I can’t tell if I’m honored to have these to fine weapons, or disturbed that I do, I do know that I will use them to the best of my ability until they too are pulled from my hands. I just hope that I do not add to many more to the list before that happens…..


Rothgar Mountain-Fire wrote:

I’m in the process of going back and writing all of my “old” journal entries, it will take some time to catch up but here is Book one, enjoy.

** spoiler omitted **...

Enjoyed very much, thanks!


March 13 2015
(Lamashan 20th, 4707 AR)
Rothgar and Argo investigated the 2 exits in the current hallway. While they were searching, Sarah arrived, having found the note left for her at the inn. Rothgar returns from the northern passage and informs the group that there is a pile of treasure there, then heads to the south, where he can hear a crackling of energy from the room beyond. As he enters the room, a mephit crawls out of a tent made of scrap metal/armor, surronded by a circle of lightening. He commands Rothgar to remove all of his metal. As Rothgar contemplates this request, Gronad moves up behind him, while the remainder of the group hangs back. Seeing the movement, the mephit unleashes a lightening bolt, scorching both Rothgar and Argo. Argo flies over the lightening and tears into the mephit, while Rothgar and Elrohir finish it off with arrows. They take some time to fly some of the nicer armor and weapons out of the lightening field. Skippy attempts to study the field and gets a 6 on his knowledge (engineering) check. He learns that lightening is made of electricity.
Rothgar continues down the passage here, followed by Skippy and Sarah. They find a double door, so they turn around and head back. Elrohir and Gronad decide to go back and check out the treasure pile. They find a small pouch off to the side containing some of Gronads old gear (a ring and a necklace). As they are about to start digging into the pile, the remaining party turns the corner. Sarah casts Detect Magic on the treasure, and determines that it is an illusion. She tells the group that it is fake. Gronad doesn't care and tries to grab the treasure anyway. The wall in front of him collapses, and though the stones clang off of his armor, Elrohir is buried in rubble. Behind the wall stands a grey render. Gronad suffers a rend attack, and Elrohir takes a couple bites as he tries to get into position. Once it is dead, the party takes some time to heal, mostly through potions.
Rothgar and Agro continued cautiously through a hallway littered with broken darts and half-sprung traps, finding a couple dead goblins, but continuing past them. Elrohir checked the bodies, found some schematics, and handed them over to Skippy, who determined that they were plans for traps the goblins had been building. As he explains his find to the group, Rothgar continues into a room containing a cauldron, some paintings, and three bone pillars of bubbling liquid. He VERY cautiously walks through this room, and stands guard on the opposite side. The rest of thr group comes in, studies the paintings for a while, then finds an alcove with a key surronded in amber, some lead, and some different colored powders. They decide that some combination of liquids and/or powders might melt the amber, so they throw it in the cauldron, and start pouring liquids in. Nothing happens. So they study the paintings again, and decide on a combination. It turns the amber to gold. They start throwing all the lead in, and 5 of them turn to gold, the 6th lands on the bottom of an empty cauldron. They consult the paintings again, and make another combination. The gold melts away from the key. They take the key, but decide they want to make more combinations. So they mix in another batch, and the room is filled with acidic smoke. Coughing and wheezing a bit, they decide to roll the dice again, this time creating a portal to the negative energy plane. They throw the remaining chunk of lead in, and it disintigrates. They pour some more liquid in, and it disappears, along with the portal. Not yet disuaded, they mix another combination, creating 4 potions of cure mod. They then decide to mix the last powder with the liquid of the same color and nothing happens.
Rothgar and Argo scout the surronding hallways, and the party eventually enters the library. Elrohir takes some time to look at the books, determining that they are all referencing how to awaken the Seven Swords of Sin. He shares this information with whoever will listen. They make their way up to another door. After Rothgar checks it for traps, Gronad walks up to open it, however the door opens itself before he has a chance. Rothgar, Argo, Gronad, and Elrohir start searching the room while Sarah and Skippy stand in the doorway. They determine that the cauldron full of molten stone on the opposite side of the room is some sort of animated object, but can't discern its function. They also notice a couple of magic items in a firey pit in the middle of the room. Sarah summons a celestial eagle to swoop down and fetch the items. It burns to death. Rothgar desummons Argo and summons an Air Elemental to collect the items. It burns to death. Rothgar summons a Fire elemental, it falls into the pit, but does not burn to death. Sarah and Skippy decide they want to have another look at the library, and start walking off. As they do, the door slams shut, the floor tilts up and greases itself. Rothgar slips, sliding to the edge of the pit. The cauldron fires balls of lava at the group. Gronad tries to jump the pit, but slips in the grease and almost falls in the pit. Elrohir starts banging on the door and yelling for help. Skippy rushes over to inspect the door, and it opens. The room goes back to normal. Rothgar notices the fire is out, and jumps down to gather the items. He attempts to climb back out, but fails. Gronad throughs down a rope, but Rothgar is too panicked to climb it, so Gronad and Elrohir pull him out.
They carry on to the next room. As Gronad is about to open it, Sarah casts Open/Close and opens the door. She casts detect Magic, and finds many Reverse Gravity traps. The party navigates around them and heads downstairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, Rothgar and Agro slink forward and check the doors in the hallway. Rothgar hears the sounds of someone from behind the second door, and calls the party forward. Gronad opens the door, and sees Cronad laying on a surgical table, his torso cut open and organs in the process of being removed. He rushes over to the table, as the room fills with a thin, violet fog. The party stumbles around for a minute, then start laying into eachother/themselves as a man in a surgical outfit casts Confusion on them. Gronad charged at him, but was stricken by an Ennervation. Most of the party continues attacking each other/babbling incoherently. The Doctor then tossed a Glitterdust into the hallway, blinding Sarah and Elrohir. Then the dice gods smiled on Elrohir. He managed to act normally (25% chance), succeed an acrobatics check to move, successfully hit vs AC, successfully hit vs displacement (50%) AND successfully hit while blind (50%). The doctor was sad, but not out. He cast Limp Lash, paralysing Elrohir, but it would not last as Gronad smacked him in the face, dropping him. The party continues smacking each other for a couple rounds. Gronad then decapitates the Doctor, and takes some time to mourn his brother, and stitch up his torso.
They decide to press on, checking the door they had passed, finding some strange machinery. Skippy manages to dechipher the instructions, and they put the body of the Doctor in to test it out. An hour later they had some special liquid in a vial. They backtrack to the Doctors room, and head through the room containing his test subjects. They walk through the thorny room, noticing the Shambling Mounds, but they do not engage them.
They enter a room that contains a room with the room. They study the markings on the walls, and determine that the inner room is likely filled with at least 1 swarm. Rothgar rigs one of the doors to jam shut, while Elrohir and Gronad attempt to open the other. They end up having to wait for Rothgar to come back around and open it for them. Inside they see a sarcophogus, with writhing runic beetles swarming around it. They formulated a plan. They were going to create a Flaming sphere inside the room on top of the sarcophogus, use Open/Close to open the sarcophogus, then close the door, letting the sphere burn up any bugs that came out. Rothgar went around to the other door to brace it, just in case. They popped the casket open, and a swarm of scarabs poured forth, filling out a funerary shroud into a humanoid form. Skippy became paralyzed in fear as Elrohir pushed the door shut, bracing it. The creature rammed into the door, screeching as it burned inside. Elrohir managed to keep the door shut at first, however the creature soon broke through, slamming into Elrohir. He struck back, slicing into the creature, as Sarah summoned a scorching ray, igniting the shroud as it collapsed. The remaining scarabs scurried back into the sarcophogus. Elrohir digs through the beetles, finding a handful of gems and other goodies. As we finished the session, Elrohir suddenley felt weak, as some of his being seems to have turned to sand.


I'm getting tired of these mind alliterating monsters. Don't they have anything better to do they mess with my mind? We went deeper in this labyrinth trying to see if we could find Cronad. As we progressed forward we found evidence that they, whoever "they" are, brought him these tunnels. First I found his half-plate, strangely though, in the middle of an electric field. Argo was kind enough to fly the suit over. I noticed the markings uniquely belonging to Cronad. Not sure where my gear was, I donned the armour and pressed on.

I double backed with Elrohir to a pile of gold that was laying on the floor south of where we were. I found a pouch with my ring and amulet. Who does this pouch belong to and why was my ring and amulet in here? Someone mentioned that the gold was fake. I knelt done to investigate and as soon as I touched the place where the gold was the wall broken down on top of my and Elrohir. Luckily I got out of the way, but it looked like El got smacked on the face. Poor guy, doesn't look like he can take much of a beating. A large monster of some sort was in front of us. I managed to get a solid hit in with the bastard sword that Rothegar lent me, but soon found myself in locked his the creatures hold on me. I took to severe blows to the body, I thought for an instance that I was going to die, but my armour and, luckily, my limbs were still attached. The rest of the group managed to drop the creature. I had to expend some of my spells to regain whatever health I had when the group found me.

The next few rooms were uneventful, between finding goblins that set off their own traps and cauldron that allowed to various magical mixtures. We managed to open some sort of portal to the negative energy plane. Not sure how useful that would have been, but I am sure we could have done something interesting with it.

We eventually came to a room where my brother Cronad laid cut open with his organs spilling out of his body cavity. I did not expect to him him alive, but to find him like this... desecrated state. I wanted to rip the man or monster that did this to him! I rushed into the room, dropping the only weapon I had on me to examine the body. Shortly after entering I found my head to be filled with odd visions, commands, it was almost as if someone was controlling me, but not at the same time. I regained momentary consciousness and in a fit of rage a summoned a great sword... I didn't even know I could do that. A human was in the corner, laughing at us (I think). Luckily, we managed to take him down. Rothegar wanted to questioned him, but I figured since he was responsible for my brothers death that he would not have the joy of being kept alive and so I cut off his head. I am sure the group would disagree with my decision, but it was mind to take. Skippy found a letter though that looks like Cronad was sold by someone else. I have find out who this person is... I was avenge his death.


Good post!


March 19 2015
(Lamashan 20th, 4707 AR, cont)
Had to swing a day early due to scheduling conflicts.
The party, quite injured and feeling nervous, decide to check just one more room before heading up to the surface to recover. They open the door to small wind tunnel, behind which is a room containing a vat of orange liquid and a second, shattered vial. A man with a claw-arm stands in the room, staring at them. Initiative. Everyone holds action. The bad guy holds action. More holding of actions. Gronad walks in, and a swarm of dust and smoke attacks him, infesting him Uses a Hero Point to reroll, still fails. Rothgar tries to shoot an arrow through the wind tunnel, but it gets pushed aside. Elrohir and Argo rush at the guy, While Skippy summons a flaming sphere in the middle of the room and then leaves it there, doing nothing. Sarah hangs back and casts Detect Poison and yells hello at the guy. No poison.
Elrohir manages to take down the thug single handedly, because Rothgar and Argo can't hit anything. As the thug falls, a swarm of particles escapes his body and infects Elrohir. Gronad and Elrohir gradually feel themselves losing control of themselves, but decide to check out the cauldron in the next room. Gronad turns the key, and his head is engulfed in water. No one seems to care much. He sees his parents and remaining family in their home having supper. Meanwhile, Skippy is franticlly searching the documentation in the room to try and find a way to help Elrohir and Gronad, when Sarah has a sudden revelation (Hero point for a hint). Everyone but Gronad and Elrohir leave the room, and they smash the orange vial, filling the room with acidic vapor that kills the creatures infesting them.
They decide to press on. They enter a large room with a small lake and a rowboat. Sarah, Skippy, and Gronad climb into the boat while Elrohir waits on shore. Rothgar decides to fly across the pool on Agros back, when Agro notices a shape rapidly rising in the water. A black dragon bursts out of the water, snapping at Agro. Gronad and Skippy get off the boat just as the water elemental next to it capsizes it, dumping Sarah into the water. Skippy casts Shocking Grasp on the elemental and runs away. Gronad runs away. Elrohir Runs away. Rothgar and Agro start to run away, but notice Sarah is still in the water, so lands on shore and takes a defensive position while Sarah swims to shore. Then they both run away.
They rush back into the town, where Gronad takes his brother to the Temple of Pharasma and secures permission to bury him. Sarah goes home, Elrohir goes to Deadeye Lodge to try and heal his disease, and Rothgar and Skippy go to bed. Skippy has more dreams of his majestic underground city, this time actually making it there and seeing members of all races hanging out together, having a good time. Something about it seems very real to him, but before he has a chance to do anything, he wakes up.
The party spends the day healing up, recovering, and finding a new weapon for Gronad. They decide to wait a second night before returning to hunt down Cronads killer. Skippy feels a craving for more of his happy juice, but decides to head to the temple of Iomadae, hoping to find some way to control these addictions. He is told that he is indeed suffering from an addiction, and can either sweat it out, or recieve magical assistance. He opts for magical healing and shells out the cash.


Lamashan 20th, 4707 AR

My morning started off so well, the memories of the shadow clock still fresh in my head, I went for a walk outside of the city, free of the confining walls and ever persistent noise the city has to offer. I left a few of the Demon’s items with Elrohir for safe keeping and took off for the morning, when I was sure I was on my own, I called Agro and channeled enough energy to clear his wounds, siphoning a little for myself so I could walk without pain. I’m still unsure as to where Agro came from but I feel a great comfort when he is near.

Closer to lunch I dismissed Agro and went back to the city, as I was heading back upstairs the barman flagged me down, handing me a note that explained my dwarf friend was taken to the Gecko pillars. He told me the “others” had already left and then gave me directions as to where I could find them; I walked as fast as I could without drawing attention to myself, more than I already did. The Pillars were all that remained of what was quite possibly the largest bridge in the world; quit quickly I found a single door leading inside and quietly pushed it open.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed several things all at once, to my sides was Elrohir and Skippy, in the back corner a man covered in tattoos stood behind bars and on one of the two massive stone slabs in front of me lay Gronad, naked and very much alive. Now I always tried to maintain my stoic barbarian presence but I’m sure at this moment I stood mouth agape like any other townsman here. As Gronad sat up and spoke to us, I started to come to terms with my surroundings, I removed my cloak and Demon b+!#! and passed them to him as I moved closer to the only other door in this room. “What is this place, what happen”, both of my questions were met with shrugs by Gronad, mentioning something about a dream and only now waking up. Elrohir’s keen eyes noticed what looked like a piece of metal imbedded in the side of Gronads head but he did not seem concerned only just now realizing his brother was missing. The man in the cage,Calliend said the other dwarf was taken through that door, and that he too just woke up not that long ago, claiming to have been hunting demons in woods outside the city.

I did not trust him but Gronad insisted we release him so we could go find his brother, while the others release him I called Agro to my side and together we went through the door. The complex was much bigger than it seemed from the outside, a long and very wide hallway stretch out before us only ending in another door. As I scouted ahead, Elrohir called ahead pointing out the many now obvious holes in the walls to our side; this whole room was a trap! Agro and I rushed to the door on the other side, desperately throwing it aside to get out of the hall before the trap could be sprung. As Agro moved through two men struck out for either side, there first attacks only glanced off Agros thick hide; I leaped back firing off a pair of arrows at the one on the right, while Agro tore into the one on the left. The fight was over before we knew it; while Agro stood watch I quickly stripped what gear I could off their bodies offering it up to Gronad. Waiting for Gronad to dress, Agro and I examined our options, both halls branched into more choices, but mine held some promise.

Peering around the corner, the room ahead opened into a large semi natural cavern, the faint smell of ozone was on the air and the crackle of distant lightening could be heard, Agro padded softly across the smooth stone floor. As I cleared the corner, a voice commanded I hand over all my metal belongings, as I paused to search the origins of the voice my muscles tightened as an arc of electricity cut through the air, skewering Agro and I, nearly dropping me to a knee. Across the room in the corner sat a cage of sorts, made from crystal pillars interwoven with arcs of lightning, behind the wall of pure electrical energy an odd flying demon like creature crouched, its maw open preparing for its next attack. Agro broke into a gallop, his muscles coiled before springing into the air, putting his newly formed wings to the test, as the creature followed Agro’s arc in the air, I fired off two rapid shots. The creature howled as both arrows found there mark, his vision focused on me for only a brief second, but that was all Agro needed, he dived down from on high landing atop the creature claws and teeth ripping and tearing into its flesh. Another arrow pierced the creature, shot from someone behind me, the creature back away from Agro as best he could snapping at the air, desperately trying to create some distance. But Agro’s shrugged off the attacks, and moved in for the kill, even from across the room I could hear the creatures neck snap, confirming the kill.

From My position I could see bits and scraps of armor, but it was Gronad that recognized his brother’s chest plate amongst the creatures hoard, Agro grabbed what the others wanted before flying back over the electrified cage. I took a moment to lay a hand on Agro, transferring some of his wounds to myself, than I drank a potion of healing to wash them away. We pushed out once more clearing the way, silently ahead of the group, and on and on it went, our little group once more thrown into another adventure, wounds still lingering from our last.

We moved with haste spurred on by Gronads fear for his brother, more than once I had to silence Gronad, who took to yelling out for Cronad, and though I felt his pain, it was the group’s wellbeing I was protecting.

Whoever was in charge of this complex did not seem to be around; instead they used traps and caged beasts to guard their complex. Treasure seemed abound for the taking but not without the payment of blood, door’s would close on their own sealing us in the room to deal with the traps and guardians they contained. Floor would tilt attempting to deposit us into fiery pits, paintings and riddles on the walls were used as keys or clues as to what this place was, and even contraptions that could use one’s life essence to produce magical curing elixirs could be found.

It was in such a room that Gronad found his brother, opening the door we found Cronad lying on a table, naked and torn apart, Gronads arms fell to his side his sword and shield clattering to the floor. He ran over his brother stricken with grief, Agro and I took to searching and securing the room in case whoever did this was close by. The mad man’s attack surprised us all using magic to cloud our judgment, while we all tripped over ourselves, attacking each other or doing nothing at all. Unable to set an effective or proper offensive he continued to launch more and more bewildering spells into our midst. The entire fight became a battle of wills, each of us struggling to sunder his magic to gain an opening for attack, in time we proved victorious but at the cost of most of our magic reserves.

After the battle, while Gronad grieved for his brother while Skippy and Sara examined the notes of the mad man, and the contraption in the other room, they found out that bodies placed within could be drained of their life essence in exchange for elixirs of healing. They even tried it on the remains of the mad man that perhaps created it, though I am in no hurry to try that elixir.

Once ready to travel again, we pressed on; the room ahead contained many magical beasts imprisoned in cages, presumably waiting their turn to be experimented on. Beyond that was a garden of sorts, with great pools of acidic water, guarded by earth elementals, not unlike the ones I too could summon for protection. Given the nature guardian’s a wide berth we walked past them without conflict into the room beyond, here we found a tomb of sorts with a sarcophagi covered in beetles inside. Having dealt with swarms of creatures before we came up with a plane, securing the doors, Skippy summoned balls of flame in the room while Sara used her magic to open the Sarcophagi; the rest of us held the doors shut. The creature inside shrieked in pain at first, then began slamming the doors in an attempt to bust them down, I heard Elrohir grunt as the door on the other side burst open. By the time Agro and I came around the corners, Skippy was cowering in fear and Gronar and Elrohir was in a heated battle with some form of undead. I used my magic to speed up the others while Sara scorched the creature with beams of fire; with a magically hastened furry of blows Elrohir battered the creature to the ground, returning it to its beetle form. Quickly searching the sarcophagi we left the room in a hurry, we all bled from numerous wounds, we walked with limps and winced from bruises, but we pushed on. Back tracking we only had a few rooms left of this floor to clear before we could head back upstairs, though with Cronad found all that was left was to find out who ordered his capture, without that Gronad would never truly rest.

At some point Gronad bound past me and Agro, I could see him just up ahead and knew the pain and rage he felt blinded him to reason, but when he reached for the next door, flinging it open without a seconds thought, something had to be said. As I picked up the pace I was about to pull him aside when we both heard something with in, deciding it could wait I let Gronad lead the charge. The room ahead was not very large, inside stood two pillars of glass, one was broken in half and the other held a swirling orange mist, the room its self was cut off on either end by an curtain of wind blowing from the walls. As Gronad entered we could see only a single man, his back turned to us he seemed to pay no attention, instead focuses on the book shelves lining portions of the walls. But as Gronad neared, dust kicked up from his footsteps causing him to choke, then the man turned around his face was twisted and his arm deformed similar to the demon b~$*# of sandpoint. Something was said, I could not make it out due to the wind but Gronad charged, I seen my opening and fired off a shot, more testing the wind wall to confirm my suspicion then to hit my target, it was no surprise when my arrows was swept away harmlessly. Sara and Skippy refusing to go enter the room cast there magic’s from beyond the wind wall while Elrohir, Agro and I moved in to assist our wayward dwarf. As I moved in something inside of me told me to use the walls, and to my surprise I could walk on them as easy as any could traverse the ground, from my new advantage I fired multiple shots but it took some time to land a hit, not quite used to my new angle of attack. Back and forth it went, the man moved with surprising speed and seemed to shrug off most hits until luckily Elrohir landed a powerful blow with his great sword dropping the man.

At first no one said anything, but it was clear by the look on Elrohir and Gronads face something was wrong, Skippy broke the silence asking if they were alright, they shook their heads no. Though both of them were unsure of what was happening they knew something was eroding away there life force from within, and felt compelled to do something about it and quick.

We started searching the rooms as quickly as possible, tearing at the book shelves, searching the tables and the man’s body, looking for anything that could help, but it was Sara that figured it out. She somehow determined that it was the dust that caused the “sickness” and the wind walls kept it inside, and perhaps releasing the swirling orange gas would kill the “dust”. Having nothing else to loose, Gronad and Elrohir gathered around the last remaining glass pillar while everyone else moved out of the room, after the crash of breaking gas we could hear their screams. But as the door opened we were surprised to see them still alive though both were covered in acidic burns blistering their skin, more potions of healing were used to wash away their pain.

Ready to press on we all knew we had very little fight left in us, but so far this entire complex seemed to be little more than traps or guardians, so we felt confident we could disengage if necessary. The next room opened into a massive cavern split in half by a sizable lake, on our side was a single row boat and on the far side we could see the cavern continued, taking advantage of our space, I climbed on Agros back holding on for dear life as he took to the air. I felt reasonably safe atop Agro while I watched over the others climbing into the boat, it was not until we started crossing the lake did the creature attack.

Noticing a disturbance in the water, I was just leaning over Agros side when from the depths I seen it mid motion, rising from the water a large black dragon leapt into the air, jaws agape ready to snap shut on Agro. But agile as ever, Agro managed to maneuver us out of harms suffering only a minor gash from the dragon as he sped across the lake, in one deft move I jumped from my position atop Agro clinging to the ceiling while firing an arrow. Below the others began climbing out of the boat onto dryland but before Sara managed to get free the boat was flipped over as an large water elemental made his presence known. Enrage as his failed ambush the Dragon spat a great stream of acid towards those fleeing the boat engulfing both Gronad and Skippy, while the water elemental attempted to drag Sara under. Covered in acid, Gronad and Skippy spread out learning from their mistake, Gronad looks as though he is about to attack when all of a sudden he drops both the Demon b!~*! and his shield running from the room in fear. I fired a pair of arrows in an attempt to lure the dragon’s attention but they harmlessly deflect off his scaly hide, I look up just in time to see both Skippy and Elrohir take off, leaving Sara alone to defend herself.

Desperately thinking of something that could be done to help Sara, arcane words seem to form themselves in my mouth, uttering the last syllables time seems to slow. I dropped to Agros back and with magically enhanced speed we cross the lake, once on the other side we took up defensive positions, yelling for Sara to run.

Without hesitation she seized the opportunity given by my distraction, running from the room, I moved to follow silently asking Agro to snatch up Gronads fallen gear as I ran. Without question or complaint Agro followed my request knowing full well the he would suffer the full wrath of the dragon and elemental by his self. Before we even cleared the corner I realized my error in letting Agro stay behind, the pain and suffering he endure would be my fault, and there was nothing I could do to take it back. But even before I turned to run back he appeared before me, fallen gear in hand, it was then I realized I could call Agro in times of dire need, across great distances.

With nothing left us in us, we found Gronad and made for the surface, well beyond our limits for the day. We decided we would rest for the night before going back to the pillars but quickly learned we were far to hurt for a single nights rest.

It has been two nights now, we are rested and ready to return in the morning but it is clear Gronad still shoulders the burden of his brother’s death. He left early this morning, hands full of gear and spoils of battle only to return with a gleaming dwarven war axe, and a clear look of determination, I do believe we are going to kill a dragon tomorrow, or die trying.


I buried my brother today. It should have been the other way around. I'm the eldest. The young ones shouldn't be the ones who die first. I need to find out who did this to him... to me. I have a feeling that if Elrohir didn't come when he did I would have been a goner, but why did my brother have to die. How did he get there, in that mad man's room?

If I had to guess, the labyrinth of of rooms and traps that we have encountered was placed there for someone's pleasure. None of the rooms we came across made any sense. A mummy, a vat of magical liquid, acidic water? On top of that we came across a room with a trapped black dragon. Of all things. Rothegar set off the being from his sleep flying above and if wasn't for a lucky dodge of the dragon's breath I'm pretty sure I would still be down in that crazy room.

Nevertheless, I have no real intentions to go back down unless it leads me to the one that is responsible for the death of Cronad. I will take some time with my renewed desire of crafting before we set out on our next adventure. This time I will be ready for whatever lies ahead.


A little behind on posting this one

Lamashan 21th, 4707

The group spends their day in town resting, selling loot, and telling everyone that they saw a dragon under the city. Gronad crafts a wand, Rothgar arranges the purchase of a boat and Elrohir wanders around exploring the town. Rothgar goes to the Avensor and tells Captain Accaccia about a dragon in the city, but that he is going to kill it, tomorrow. The Captain is confident that, should he fail, the city would manage to put the creature down. Skippy finally makes his way to the Bongos of Midnight bar, the casters only bar that I invented before I found the Magnimar setting book. He goes up to the bar and orders a glass of Milk, afraid that anything else will send him spiraling into alcoholism. Unfortunately, a different kind of Milk is the specialty of this bar, which he doesn’t notice until he is drinking it, recognizing the taste. He questions the bartender about it, and then starts telling everyone he sees about the dragon that he had seen. He gathers some useful information from the other patrons. The bartender comes by and drops off another glass of Milk, stating that it was ordered for him by a man across the room. Skippy ignores the drink, and heads over to introduce himself to Kaleb Valdemar. They chat for a bit about dragons, and the dream city of Ilvarandin which Skippy has seen in his Milk induced dreams. Kaleb seems very interested, questions Skippy for a bit, and asks him to let him know if there are any more developments. Skippy leaves and heads back to the Slippery Eel. Sarah decides to go out in the middle of the night and search the bushes for Easter Eggs (?) and is attacked by a group of thugs, killing them all. She then cuts off one of their ears, and heads to the Slippery Eel to show off her trophy. Everyone is disgusted. Everyone but Rothgar goes to bed. Skippy has more vivid dreams of Ilvarandin, up to actually landing in the city and saying hello to a couple people before waking up. Rothgar keeps a watch on the Gecko pillar overnight.

Lamashan 22st, 4707

The next morning everyone wakes up and no one knows where Rothgar is. Skippy vaguely remembers something about a boat, so Gronad leaves to search “the docks” for Rothgar. Skippy, Sarah, and Elrohir make their way back to the Gecko pillar, where they immediately find Rothgar. They wait a couple hours for Gronad to show up, and then head back into the dungeon. They find Caliend pouring through the notes in the library, and ask him where he has been. He says he hasn’t left, and then offers to help track down Tirania. They head back down and approach the dragon, spreading out. Today, they attempt to talk to the dragon, and he agrees to let them pass, telling them that if they kill Tirania it will free him. But if they try to come back across the pool without ending Tirania, he will eat them. They agree.

Not wanting to disturb the water elemental, Agro flies the party one at a time across the lake. Gronad senses something magical at the bottom of a trench up ahead, and walks up to look in when a pair of Chuuls jump out and attack. One manages to grab Gronad, and puts him in his paralytic tentacles before attempting to drag him under the water, but it is killed by a punch to the head by Caliend before it gets too far. The party licks their wounds by the trench, while Skippy uses mage hand to take a brooch and a pair of gloves from the bottom of the trench. Rothgar heads into the next room, and is pushed back by an unknown force. The party continues licking their wounds, and Rothgar is pushed back more. Someone casts detect magic and sees a magic aura floating in the air. Gronad tries to grab it, but something seems to be blocking him. Caliend throws his cloak over the square revealing a humanoid form. It is then clubbed, stabbed, scorched, frozen, bitten… and disappears, leaving a ring on the ground under the cloak.

They continue into the next room, made of metal with several switches. Everybody except Agro and Skippy is inside the room when Rothgar attempts to open the far door, causing the entryway to seal shut, walls of fire split up the party and 3 fire elementals appear in the room. This is where we will pick up next time.


Lamashan 22nd 4707
The party is split up, surrounded by fire and elementals. While some try to fight off the elementals, others start turning the switches, and Skippy tries to pry the door open with a crowbar. Once the switches are all flipped, the doors open and the elementals and fire walls disappear. (I changed this from the written adventure to do the opposite of what was intended) Carrying on into the next room, Rothgar noted something strange about the grate, and managed to disable the mechanism that would have triggered a trap. The party avoided the grating altogether. Rothgar and Agro checked both exits in the room. Rothgar heard chanting coming from one room, so they went the other way.
They opened the door to find a portal of an ancient battlefield, littered with corpses. From the corners of the room a Xill and a destrechan attacked them, but they were barely a speedbump. Rothgar and agro scouted the next hallway full of statues, and were attacked by a pair of cockatrices. (I removed the eladrin that were supposed to be here because I didn’t think they made sense.) Agro was bitten by one of the cockatrices, but only suffered minor damage. Rothgar peeked around the corner and saw two red dragons bathing in a pool of lava. The party decided to backtrack and go the other way.
They back tracked to the room with the chanting, and opened the door to see a group of cultists channeling behind a thick cloud of smoke. A large, winged, demon creature stepped out of the smoke and attacked. The party fought of the Vrock. While Skippy launched a couple fireballs at the cultists, Rothgar and Sarah finished off any injured ones with ranged attacks. The Vrock laid some heavy damage on Elrohir, Caliden, and Argo before falling. Argo then found a secret door to the south, and the party investigated it, finding a bunch more information on the swords and the awakening process.
Then they entered the north door, where a Stone Giant was chained to a couple pillars. He started demanding his release; however the party demanded questions of him first. The giant implied he was chained up for betraying Tirana, and that there was only one Red Dragon, not two as Rothgar had reported. Gronad stood in the back, hurling insults at the chained giant until the giant had had enough and, frothing at the mouth, ripped his chains out of the pillars, collapsing them onto Rothgar and Agro. The giant then focused his attacks on Gronad, who only managed to survive by using a journal point to reroll one of the giants’ attacks.
After felling the giant, the party healed up, burning out Gronads wand, and headed back to take on the one, lone, red dragon. They first attempted to talk with it, though when it found out they intended to harm “Mother”, it threatened that he and his friend would burn them to a crisp. Realizing that the second dragon was in fact an illusion, Caliden attempted to rush past him into the next room (seeing a woman performing a ritual with a bunch of swords), only to have an effreeti come out of the pool and create an incendiary cloud in the entrance, followed by the dragon shooting a cone of fire into the smoke. The party moved out of the smoke, only to have the efreeti summon a hand of force to try (and fail) to grapple Gronad. The dragon took a bunch of attacks on the party, wearing them down, but eventually fell, taking Gronad with him. The efreeti created a wall of fire splitting the party up, while Elrohir dragged Gronad out of the flames, and the remainder of the party finished of the efreeti.


Lamashan 22nd, 4704 AR

It has been two nights now and we were all ready and waiting outside the pillar, but it was clear Gronad still shouldered the burden of his brother’s death for as he approached; he held a gleaming new dwarven battle axe tightly in his armored hands. Whatever was about to happen, whoever was about to die, I’m sure Gronad was more than ready to battle a dragon, I only pray I too am given the same courage when the time comes.

The pillar were exactly as we left them, to my surprise no traps were set, no ambush waiting it seems the thieves who call this home either don’t know or don’t care we were here, confidant that whatever awaited us would end our endeavor. As we prepared for battle in the halls outside the dragons chambers, we heard a noise from another room, Gronad and Skippy went to check it out returning with Caladin in tow, hearing of our exploits he too decided he would see this to the end perhaps finding out why they took his captive.

Ready for the fight ahead, I was surprised as any when Gronad decided to give the dragon a chance to live and stepped into the room, the dragon’s roar could be heard from the hall, but no screams followed. As Agro and I filtered into the room I could hear Gronad offering our terms of service, if the dragon let us pass we would kill the ones reasonable for his imprisonment and let him fly away so long as he harmed no one on his way out. The dragon agreed so long as we knew it was a one way trip unless Tirania was killed, the water elemental was another story and was outside the dragons control. I convinced Agro to ferry us across the lake one at a time to avoid the water elemental all together, as Agro made his last trip across with me on his back, someone wandered to close to the stream of brackish water barring our path ahead. As we rounded the corner we could see two huge creatures spring from the water one of them throwing its weight into Gronads shield, they were tall and had massive shells like that of a crustacean. We quickly moved surrounding the creatures as best we could, stopping them from getting a proper footing on dry ground. Caladin moved quick and delivered power blows with his fists, cracking the shell of one, its roar was deafening. I jumped from Agro whispering a spell that let us move and attack much quicker, it was several moments before we managed to bring one of the creatures down, the other quickly followed hopelessly surrounded. While Gronad saw to our wounds Sara noticed something down in the water, using his magic Skippy managed to bring it to the surface, it was some sort of magical broach.

Unconcerned with such trinkets, I moved ahead of the group walking into a hallway leading to a set of stairs, but as I walked forward something hit me in the chest, its powerful blow pushed me back knocking the wind from my lungs. Looking around I found nothing that was unusual but then was stuck again, this time moving off to the side, shouting for Sara to use her spells to detect magic. And I was right; in the center of the hall was a strong magical aura, Gronad approached in an attempting to touch, move or slash whatever caused the aura but to no avail, removing his clock Caladin tossed it into the hall, settling on top of whatever it was giving the aura form. Being able to see what we hit made it much easier and whatever it was quickly dissipated, but I fear Caladin may need a new cloak.

The hallway opened into a large circular stair well, each step floated in the air held by magic making it quit awkward to traverse, I secured my grappling hook and rope in the doorframe to make it a little easier as we climbed down. While I waited for the others to descend, I checked out the room beyond, calling on my magic to cling to the ceiling I could tell this room was another trap, strange levers adorned several pillars in each section of this T shaped room. As I approached the door, I checked it over for traps or locks, confidant there were none I tried the catch, instantly the door behind me closed, sealing both Agro and Skippy out. Curtains of flames sprang from the ground and ceiling dividing the room into three sections and in each section a fire elemental appeared, the heat quickly became unbearable and I was certain we were in trouble.

I did what I could to create space, backing into the corner as I let two arrows fly there fletching’s busting into flames as they impacted the fire creature, out of the corner of my eye I watched Caladin move to the lever flipping it, with no noticeable effect. Through the flames I could make out Sara on her own doing what she could to bring down her elemental, Gronad yelled in pain before screaming “flip the switches”! Our elemental move closer slamming his fiery fist into my chest, my skin blistered and hair singed nearly causing me to fall from the ceiling, I mentally beckoned for Agro, and like before in a puff of smoke he appeared, claws flailing into the creature. And then they were gone, the curtains of flames retreated the elementals vanished and the doors opened, I climbed down from the ceiling nodding in Gronads direction in appreciation for his quick thinking.

The room ahead was large and dark with a large iron grate dominating its center, from the doorway I could tell nothing good would come from it, so Agro and I crept forward, and on closer inspection I determined I could stop it from opening, sealing whatever was inside. After securing the grate Agro and I each took a door one to our left and one to the right signaling for the others to come inside, from behind my door a chorus of voices could be heard chanting, and from Agros nothing. Convinced we would be better off clearing our backs before dealing with whatever was behind the door I moved back across to the room to join Agro.

It too was dark inside this room, and like the previous room this one too had a portal in its center, but this one was much more than just iron, but before I could get a closer look movement of two demon like creature caught my eye. In a single quick reaction I fired off an arrow seconds before Agro leapt upon the first of the two creatures, it did not even have time to react before it was missing large chunks of flesh torn by Agros claws. Caladin, Gronad and Elrohir moved into the room, surrounding the remaining creature while Skippy, Sara and my self-finished off the other, after the fight I returned my gaze to the portal. It looked almost like a mirror but instead of showing your reflection it showed a distant battle field occupied by the two creatures we just had killed, there they fought each other, hundreds of corps of both races littered the field. By the time the others came to see the portal I moved on to the door on the other side of the room, ensuring it was clear of traps before Agro and I moved through.

Agro heading to the right while I went left, somewhere in the distance the faint sound of bubbling liquid could be heard the heat was stifling, but before I rounded the corner Agro mentally warned me of a pending attack. Without thinking I spun on my heels firing off two quick arrows at the shadowy forms to the left and right of agro, the arrows narrowly missed Gronad who now was just stepping into the hall. Both arrows stuck hard, burying themselves nearly to the fletching. Without breaking stride Agro pounced on one while Gronad ran in finishing the other with a might swing of his war axe. While the others secured the other hall I silently crept up the wall and further down the hall, to my surprise I made out the form of not one but two, large red dragons mulling around a pool of lava. Without hesitation I quickly backed down the hall mentally telling Agro to keep the others away, when I got closer I told them what I seen and suddenly the door with the chanting did not seem like such a bad idea. With little protest from the others we decided the dragons could wait though Sara was quit eager to stay and fight. We choose the other door.

Once we were back I listened at the door to confirm they were still chanting before we stacked up on either side, with Gronad, Elrohir and Caladin sticking to the center. Opening the door revealed a rather large room that was nearly fifty feet across, at the far side of the room on a raised dais stood half a dozen robed figures all chanting with hands held high. Taken advantage of their distraction and with the pressing need to remove myself from the large group framed in the doorway I whispered a quick spell, enhancing the groups speed and attacks and quickly ran along the ceiling to one of the far corners. A cloud of billowing smoke nipped at my heels coming from the center of the room, rising from the smoke was one of the biggest demon like creatures I have ever seen. It was a large bird shaped thing that was bigger than a horse, with large claws and a razor sharp beak, it let out a feral shriek as it stepped towards the group. Elrohir was the first to react and moved in driving his spear into the creature abdomen but the shimmer of a magic indicated the presence of magical shielding, absorbing most of the blow. As more and more moved up to get within reach of the creature, they too found there hits were largely ineffectual against the magical wards the creature had in place. Undeterred by our attacks the beast lashed out with talon and beak wreaking great havoc on those foolish enough to get close. One such attack caused Agro to mentally cry out in pain struggling to stay on his feet, when all of a sudden a violent and powerful ball of flames shot out of the door way engulfing the group of cultists on the dais.

Screaming as the flames charred there skin several fell never to rise again, the magical wards on the demon began to fail, following Skippys cue I dropped two more with arrows to the throat and chest, and again the demon began to slow and weaken. No longer confidant and struggling to fend off the others the demon started to scream more in terror then bloodlust but it did not take long for the party to quickly tare into the creature dropping it into a quivering pile of blood and feathers. It was a hard fight to be sure and took several moments for Gronad to mend the more grievous wounds. Again Agro and I split up and while Agro and the others explored the room, I checked out the other door in this chamber, it was large and I was sure I heard something behind it sobbing. Once Gronad was at my back and I could see the others were finishing up with a secret chamber I opened the door prepared for what was beyond.

Inside the room chained between two massive stone pillars stood a giant, upon opening the door he bellowed for us to let him free, his screams echoed around the room bouncing off the stone walls. Once I was sure he was in firmly imprisoned I cautiously walked in the room, stepping to its front while Agro went to its rear. I could tell Agro was uneasy with this whole situation and was ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

“Giant, why are you locked up here, tell me who it was that did this to you” my voice felt small in the giants presence, it took a moment for my words to register with the giant. He stopped struggling enough to look down at me and say “a sorceress b!!*! called Tirania did this to me, I defied her and so she had me chained! Like a dog!

As large and powerful as this giant was it was no dragon, but with his aid we could have a chance, and either way we had one or more to kill unless we wanted to make this place out home. So I decided it was worth a shot in recruiting the giant to our cause at first he seemed to listen even explaining to us she had but one Red dragon in her service, but I could tell something was not right. The more I tried to explain the more I tried to assure him we meant no harm, the more the giant grew enraged, words were failing me and I knew it, as I moved closer explaining I would unlock him Gronad picked the worst moment to help.

I don’t remember the exact words used but something was said about Giants and Dwarves and the giant lost it, he screamed in furry and tore at his bonds,the pillars groaned in protest and I looked up just in time to see the stone pillars snap showering me in chunks of debris. By the time I regained my senses the giant, was using his chains to great effect as whips, flailing Gronads shield and all he could do was brace his himself and hope his shield could take the assault.

I looked about, the others were still clinging to the doorway and I needed to find room to work my bow, but the giant and his chains were too close, but when Agro leapt upon his shoulders biting and clawing at his neck I found my distraction diving out of the room. I rolled to a stop spinning around firing off a well-placed arrow, the Giant barley managed to block with its arm he howled in pain, Elrohir rushed in to Gronads defense jabbing his spear up under the giant ribs and Calaidn wasted to time smashing into the giant’s legs with powerful bone cracking blows. The giant screamed, in pain as blade and fist hit there mark, he raged in furry as Gronad stood in defiance against his onslaught. Battered down to one knee Gronad clentched his jaw refusing to fall before the giant did but with group’s full attention firmly centered on the giant both spell, and blade laid him low. But the victory came at a heavy cost nearly depleting the groups newly acquired wand of healing which at this moment was keeping the party on its feet. Though nothing was said, I believe even Gronad realized his error, antagonizing the giant the way he did, for he would wear the bruises from that battle for many weeks to come.

If we had any chance in getting out of this hellish place we needed to kill at least one dragon, and as bad off as we were we still needed to find and kill Tirania, back tracking once again we returned to the lair of the red dragon. As we traveled the halls I took a moment to look over our group, taking into account our wounds and assessing our strengths, fighting a dragon cannot be easy, and if we were to have any chance at all, we would need to be prepared. But that was just not our style.

Just as we had left them the dragons sat together, bathing in a pool of lava, however as I scanned the room, ensuring there were no other hidden surprises, one of the dragons became more and more transparent, it became clear the giant was telling the truth, there was only one dragon after all. We spread out as best we could having learned our lesson from the black dragon and readied ourselves for the push, the plan was to spread out and surround it, make it choose its targets and limit the amount of people caught in its deadly breath weapon. As I cast a quick spell to speed our actions, I was surprised to see Gronad push his way past me, I silently cursed him for so easily giving away the element of surprise. He stepped out into the open and called out to the dragon as he did with the black, the dragon craned its graceful yet powerful neck around lifting itself up to its full height. Their conversation did not go as planned I could hear him pleading with the red dragon as he did with the black, promising we would release it once we killed Tirania, but unlike the black the red did not take to this idea.

“You want to kill my mother!” the red roared, “I will consume your flesh and (Efreeti) will burn your bones!”

And then suddenly the dragon disappeared, Gronad disappeared, the lava pool and the room faded away my world was replaced by a thick almost dense fog, at first I just listened trying to figure out what was happening but when it started to get hot, unbearably hot I knew something was wrong, and then my skin started to blister as the air its self-caught on fire. Without thinking I scaled the wall and ran, a huge gout of fire shot underneath me even indirectly its heat was over powering, I heard the screams of those caught in its deadly path, by the time I cleared the fog I was nearly in the center of the room, only a dozen paces from the red, who seemed to have been joined by a red skinned humanoid standing in the pool of lava. I mentally screamed for Agro as I fired off a quick shot, out of the fire and smoke Agro appeared as he slammed into the side of the dragon, claws and teeth tearing at its thick scales trying to find a weakness. Somewhere near the back of the cavern, beyond the smoke a beam of blue ice and a trio of magical darts shot out striking the dragon, and from within the fog I could hear Gronads battle cry. Again I fired my bow, this time a few of my arrows bit deep, below me on the ground I could see Calidin trying to get an angle on the dragon but was made difficult with half its body still in the lava pool. Again more magic more battle cry’s from our party and more screams both in pain and rage from the dragon, it seemed like an eternity passed as we battle the creature, but when the dragon turned my way my heart sank. Beyond the dragon I could see Elrohir dragging the lifeless form of Gronad off to the side, and I knew I now had the creature’s full attention but as he turned his head I could see in his eyes his fight was soon over. With new found confidence I lined up my next shot but before I could fire the dragon lurched forward, his legs buckled under his immense weight his head slammed down hard on the cavern floor; I watched the life of a dragon drain out as he closed his eyes.

Remembering the red skinned humanoid I looked up just in time to see Elrohir skewer the creature through the back, as Sara and Skippy blasted it with magic, it body tiny by comparison to the dragon slid off the end of Elrohirs spear.


Lamashan 22nd 4707
The battle with Tirana, AKA Why I Gave Out Hero Points

The party looked in to the next room, seeing some stones on one side of a canal, and an arch over the canal leading to a slightly higher platform where a woman performed a ritual with a few swords. As they watched her, a cloud of red and black sprouted tendrils; drawing one of the swords into it. Gronad investigated the stones on their side of the room, discovering that they imbued the room with several magical effects. While investigating the last stone, he heard a soft whimper come from the wall nearby, but, unable to find the source. He called Rothgar and Agro over, who found a kobold hiding in the wall. The kobold agreed to help them by shutting down the source of the magic. Agro and the kobold made their way back to the Black dragons’ pool, where he demanded payment for crossing this time. Agro attempted to persuade the dragon to let him cross, but the dragon believed it was a plan to escape without fulfilling their bargain, and would not let him by. Eventually, Gronad came up and managed to persuade the dragon to let Agro and the kobold pass for a reduced fee, and the dragon agreed. Gronad returned to the group where a minute later, the humming in the room stopped, and the force field went down.
The party bunched up to cross the bridge when the force field went down. Unfortunately, Tirana won initiative, and was able to drop a fireball right in the middle of the group. She then hit Rothgar with a disintegrate spell, and he failed his save, used a boon to reroll, failed again, used a Hero Point to roll again, and succeeded. She summoned a quartet of nightmare bats to block her as the party rushed across the bridge to engage. Skippy threw a fireball back at her, inflicting almost no damage… except to Caliden, who then got knocked out by the bats. In retaliation, she turned Skippy into a bunny, and fired lightning at him and Elrohir. Those that could moved closer, and started trying to fight off the bats and hit her. She uses her next round to Slow the party, countering the Haste that was affecting them, and shoots an Empowered Scorching Ray at Rothgar, who gets hit by one but uses remaining boons to force her to reroll the attacks. Skippy shoots a lightning bolt back at her, and Gronad and Elrohir move in closer.Elrohir gets blasted by a geyser. She creates a pit underneath her, levitating over top of it. Rothgar summons a swarm of giant frogs to attempt to grapple her; Skippy fires another lightning bolt at her. She does not enjoy this, and attempts to kill the bunny, but doesn’t quite manage. Gronad brings Caliden back to his feet, who rushes at Tirana, caving in her skull under his fists.
The party spends some time studying the swords, and the magic items on her body. They decide to take her body with them in case the dragon wants proof of her death. They make their way to Tiranas hidden room, and rested for the night.
Lamashan 23rd 4707
The next morning they decide to check a couple spots they had passed, leading to a fight with two abyssal goblins riding raptors that tore the party up pretty good. They looted the goblins, and decided to make their way out of the dungeon.

Next session TBD


I'm glad that is over. I finally avenged my brother's death, although I think it has cost me trust from my companions. They do not seem to be all too happy with ways of things after they found me.

My highlight, well that I was took out that traitorous giant. I can't believe that Rothgar wanted to amend with that dirty beast. Now that I think of it, why was there two dragons in that basement... or a giant. That is not their natural habitat. Something was really off.

I am not sure what is coming up, but I think I should rest up and wait for the group to fill me in on what is next.


Lamashan 23 4707

The party exits the dungeon, splits up, and meets back up at the Slippery Eel after running a few errands. As they sit around drinking, they hear a large commotion from the street. Looking outside, they see the black dragon from below, tangled in a net in the street, with Guard Captain Accaccia and a handful of guards rapidly approaching. The party rushes outside and manages to distract/disuade/blind the guards long enough for the black dragon to break free and escape. Capt Accaccia is infuriated, stating that the dragon and eaten three people and should not have been freed, though she does not arrest them at this time.
the party spends the next couple of days in town selling and purchasing gear and supplies and preparing for the Lord mayors feast. Rothgar manages to raise the funds to purchase a small ship, keeping the current crew. Elrohir attempts to research the swords, but is unable to find any new information.

Lamashan 26 4707
The gang meets up for the feast at the mayors house. They go in to see him chowing down on a giant turkey. Rothgar keeps trying to take some turkey, but is pushed away by the mayor. Elrohir opens a bottle of wine, and the mayor demands he hand it over, and chugs it. Elrohir opens a second bottle of wine for himself.
As guests start to arrive and mingle with the party, Skippy finds himself conversing with Kaleb Valdemar about his dreams of the hidden city. Gronad walks into the conversation, killing it. The mayor makes a speech thanking the heroes for their help stopping the monster and the assisination, and asks the group to meet him in his chambers later. Gronad leaves. After the feast winds down, the remainder of the group meet up with the mayor in his office, where he is gorging on more food. he tosses them each a sack of gold, stating it is a thanks for stopping the assisination. He eventually works up to offering them a job. Fort Rannick, home of the Black Arrows, had not been heard from in a couple of weeks, and he offers the group 750gp each to investigate. Elrohir agrees on behalf of the group, and they get some more details about the area around the fort and it's commander. They make their way back to their rooms. Rothgar heads to the dock and asks if the ship can make a stop at Turtleback Ferry on it's next delivery to Kaer Maga, and the current ship captain, a man named Gorvin, agrees, though the crew will have to put in extra shifts to accomplish this. Rothgar agrees, and puts out for extra rum rations as compensation.

Lamashan 27 4707
The gang meets at Rothgars ship to begin their journey down the Yondabakari.


Lamashan 27-Neth 4 4707
The party travels to Turtleback Ferry. Gronad is suddenly afraid of water, so he goes by horse, alone, while the remainder of the party goes by boat, using Rothgars connections. The boat party arrives half a day earlier, and finds that the riverbanks are swollen, townspeople are shying away from them, and the rain has intensified. Many people have gone missing, there has been no contact with Fort Rannick in about a month, and a couple weeks ago the Paradise barge was sunk, probably by a sea monster or wrathful god or something.
Elrohir meets up with his girlfirend Tillia, the school teacher, and after a bit of catchup heads to his parents house, where his mother tells him that his father has gone missing since just before the Paradise sank. She suspects he went to Magnimar for help, without telling anyone, herself included. Elrohir finds this hard to believe, but doesn't disuade her.
Sarah heads to the Turtles parlour, where she asks for a room. The innkeeper offers her a room for 5 gp. She says no and leaves, heading to Bottoms Up where she is given a seat in front of the fire to dry off and a glass of mead.
Rothgar spends some time searching the outskirts of town looking for a place to make his camp. Having heard horror stories of both the Ashwood and the Shimmerglens, he decides that the Kreegwood would make a good spot. He starts to set up camp, but notices a crude net/scythe trap nearby. He contemplates staying, but decides to move camp to a safer spot.
Gronad arrives to town and heads first to Bottoms Up, ordering a mead and asking about stabling. While there is no commercial stable in town, he is pointed to the farms on the edge of town, where he may be able to keep his horse. He goes to one of the farms, meets a boy named Jerak and his mother, and offers 10gp to stable his horse for a week in the barn. They agree, and Gronad heads back to town. He makes his way to the Church of Erastil, where he helps an injured villager, and speaks to Mayor Shreed. The mayor explains the issues going on in the area, and Gronad manages to secure lodging for himself and Sarah on the floor of the church.

Neth 5 4707
The party meets up early, standing in the rain outside of the inn before heading up towards fort Rannick. Gronad fetches his horse, while Rothgar flies ahead on Agro. He hears a yowling noise, like an animal in pain, and sees a cougar with it's leg caught in a trap. He moves in closer to get a better look, signalling the party. Elrohir approaches the cougar, which sits patiently, looking at him and whimpering while he unsuccessfully tries to pull the trap open. Barking dogs and low singing are heard in the distance, and as Rothgar pops the trap open, a pack of dogs rushes out of the forest in a flurry of gnashing teeth. Elrohir and Agro manage to fend off the dogs, but then a lumbering ogre-ish creature with a giant finger in place of one of his arms comes barging out of the forest, impaling Elrohir on his spear (crit into unconciousness, near death). Rukus goes down quickly afterwards. Gronad tends to Elrohirs wound. They find a ratty blanket covered in Black Arrow badges on the body, and notice the cougar, limping slightly, walking towards the way the Ogre came from, looking back at them, then taking a couple steps, looking back, etc. The party decides to follow the cougar,who leads them to a clearing containing a dilpatated barn, rundown farmhouse, and sickly looking corn field. Rothgar flies Agro onto the roof of the barn and, peering in a hole in the roof, sees 3 ogrekin passed out around a still. He motions for the remaining party members to come forward. As they approach, a below is heard from the corn field, and Crowfood the ogrekin barges out, catching Gronad with a slash of his hook. Rothgar sees the three ogres in the barn stand up, and tries to create a pit underneath Hograth, but Hograth manages to jump to the side. Hograth and Jeppo make their way out of the barn and charge the party, while Sugar sneakily climbs on top of the barn to get at Rothgar. The party trades blows with Hograth, Jeppo, and Crowfood, eventually taking them down with only 1 casualty(Gronads horse). Agro and Rothgar team up to bull rush Sugar off the roof, where he lands on the ground to be dispatched quickly.
Due to time constraints, we left off with the party beginning to scout out the barn.


It's been a few days since the dragon encounter. I'm not even sure how it got out of the dungeon that it was bound to. The town guard are probably not happy with my decision to defend the dragon and to let it go - I know nothing to the town, but at least the dragon let me go by his lair to avenge my brothers death.

This cursed rain. A few days out of the town of Turtleback ferry it started to rain and didn't really stop the rest of the way. I suppose i could have hop on the boat that Rothegar acquired. Ha! Ya, maybe if they had drugged me and liquored me up.

A few hours out of town I ran into some town folk... they all looked weary of me. Perhaps they haven't seen a dwarf, or better yet a dwarf on a horse! That would be a sight to see I'm guessing. One of the rumors is that the town's pleasure's barge sunk a few weeks ago. Not sure if that is relevant to the reason why we were sent, but this whole treck seems to be odd. When I got into town I found Sarah in the tavern, she eluded to the whereabouts of the party. Knowing there wasn't much happening there i set out of find a place to shelter Bambi.

Little later on I found the town's priest to see if he had any information. He was kind enough to let us stay in the temple that night before we head off to the fort. I cannot put my finger on it, but there seems to be odd links between the disappearance of people, the rain, the sinking of the barge and the lack of connection with the Black Arrow. This will be an interesting adventure indeed.


Neth 5 4707
Most of the party goes in the barn and explore the catwalks. Gronad stays outside to pull teeth from the ogrekin??? Elrohir firsts asks Skippy to check the door for traps, and Skippy gladly agrees, and finds no traps. Elrohir opens the door into a room filled with web, and sees 3 men chained up in one corner. He asks Skippy to open the locks. Skippy tries and fails. Skippy then remembers he is a magus, and NOT a rogue, and calls for Rothgar. However by the time Rothgar makes his way into the room, the pet Ogre Spider has become impatient waiting for his lunch, so it attacks, poisoning both Elrohir and Skippy before falling. Both are severely damaged by the poison, to the point that Skippy needs to be carried out of the room by Rothgar, and Elrohir requires Sarahs help to move out. Once the party and the prisoners are outside, they interrogate the prisoners briefly, learning that they are a all that remains of a patrol from Fort Rannick (Jakardos, Kaven, and Benedir are their names). The fort has been taken by ogres. The party send the emaciated men back to Turtleback ferry with Shalalu, and Gronad restores some of Elrohir and Skippys ability damage. They decide to scout out the building some more before deciding what to do next, and Rothgar sends Agro to look in the windows, starting with the attic. Agro is eventually spotted by Maulgro, who rushes to the side door off the kitcen. As Maulgo opens the door, Gronad comes up and attacks him. He starts crying. So the rest of the party proceeds to kill him. Lucky, seeing his brother killed by a group of adventurers, runs off yelling and crying to hide. Gronad, Elrohir, and Sarah slowly move in to the kitchen when a trio of ogre zombies shambles into the adjacent room. At the same time, Mammy materializes outside the barn behind Rothgar, Skippy, and Agro. Gronad and Elrohir engage the zombies, while Rothgar fires arrows uselessly at Mammy. She debuffs their haste, curses Agro into ineptitude, and then paralyses him. During this time, the door leading downstairs opens up, allowing 2 donkey rats (Chuckles and Drooler) to rush out and flank Sarah, nibbling away at her, followed by Hucker, who comes out swinging, taking a good slice out of Skippy. Once Gronad and Elrohir finish off the Zombies, they turn to help Sarah with the rats, only to see Hucker swinging away at Skippy. Gronad jumps in and starts cutting into the ogre, taking a couple blows in return. After a couple swats back and forth, Hucker withdraws back into the basement, just as Mammy, attempting to escape through flight, gets struck by one of Skippys fireballs and plummets to the ground. The party races downstairs after Hucker, finding him in a room full of fungus and plant matter. Rothgar enters the room to take a shot at him, but is attacked by a huge plant creature (named Muck) errupting from the ground. The creature grabs him in its mouth. Gronad races in to try and help, but is paralyzed by one of the creatures tendrils. The creature swallows Rothgar, who is now also paralyzed, and as the remainder of the party tries to free him, Hucker charges in, slashing at Elrohir. Sarah manages to take down the Tendriculous with a scorching ray, as Skippy and Elrohir finish Hucker. They then fail a couple attempts to get Rothgar out of the Tendriculous (piercing weapons to cut something open??) but in the end, everyone is alive, though not necessarily well.


I’m a bit behind on my journal entries, this will catch me up a bit and the last few weeks should quickly follow. Enjoy.

**** Still inside the Gecko pillars ****

We took a moment to regain our breath and heal up what wounds we could, we knew what was coming next, and we just didn’t have any idea how hard of a fight it was going to be. As ready as we would ever be we peered into the room beyond, a subterranean river split the room in half, a narrow stone bridge provided access to the other side. As we slowly moved up we could spot the “B+!~# sorceress” at the back of the room, performing a ritual with a host of blades floating in the air around her, every so often a black tendril would appear out of a cloud of mist absorbing one of the blades. I quietly climbed up the wall and leveled my bow, while Gronad stepped into the room, a faint humming sound could be heard resonating from within, appearing to originate from three floating stones spinning around the room. As the group moved into position, I maintained the higher ground watching Gronad inspect the floating stones, while keeping an eye on the Sorceress, she did not seem to care.

I noticed Skippy drop into a defensive position, seconds before the small creature caught my eye, it was a Kobold partially hidden in a small crack in the wall, “Don’t eat me!” it barked eye fixed on Agro, who was creeping towards the creature.

“Witch has many tricks, I open bridge I stop magic, you kill witch, don’t eat me!” the Kobold squealed, again the sorceress seemed to be unaware.

Skippy stepped forward, blade drawn, wisps of magic dancing along his fingers “what are you talking about creature? What tricks does she have?”

“The bridge is blocked by a magic wall” Gronad said, finished with the stones and joining the others gathered around the Kobold. All the while I watched as more and more grouped together, my bow leveled on the sorcerer.

“I stop tricks, I stop magic! I open bridge, don’t eat me!” the kobold squealed again, hopping from one foot to the other.

In his deep and gravelly voice Agro growled “I’ll take him to stop the magic, and if he’s lying, I’ll eat him” he said with a toothy grin and he turned to me awaiting approval, with a nod the two of them ran out of the room. All that was left for us was to wait for the magic wall to fall and finish this place once and for all.

While the others gathered around the bridge, some taking up position behind the floating stones, casting spells and readying there gear, I waited, my vision bouncing in and out of Agros head using his eyes to following his progress.

When the magic wall dropped all hell broke loose, and the seemingly unaware sorcerous unleashed her full fury in a blitz of magical power.

A grate ball of flames exploded in the midst of the group gathered at the bridge, engulfing them in flames, electing cries of pain, I drew back my bow but before I could fire a sickly dark green beam cut through the air, slamming into my chest.

I could feel my body being torn into a thousand pieces, I felt more pain then I thought possible and knew my time was at hand, I thought of my brother and Agro of the group I would leave behind, who without my help may die here beside me. And just as quickly as the pain started it stopped, washing over me like an errant wave creeping over the sides of a ship, it was gone.

I shook my head trying to erase the memories of pain and thoughts of death and took stock of the room just in time to see Caladin race across the bridge running head long into four large man sized bat like creatures. Caladins fits moved in a blur striking the creatures with unrelenting force, at the same time Skippy must have finished a spell releasing his own, ball of flames that detonated on the sorcerer. The flames exploded outwards but seemed to wash over her with little effect, Caladin however was not so lucky, and looked as though he might drop at any second.

I regained my composer and fired off two arrows, both going wide missing my mark, as Gronad and Elrohir move to Caladins rescue. Safe behind her wall of bats, the sorcerer concentrated her power on Skippy who thus far was the only one who managed to hit her, in a fluid and graceful motion she began to cast another deadly spell. Within the same instance she waved her arms transforming Skippy into a small bunny and simultaneously skewering Elrohir and Skippy with an arc of lightning, we were losing this fight.

I continued to fire arrow after arrow with little luck while the others waded through the bats fighting for every inch they moved closer to the Sorcerer, she continued her assault, stripping the party of their magically enhanced speed while firing a pair of fiery rays in my direction. For the second time this fight I thought as though I may die, but for some reason I was able to stay on my feet, but my vison beginning to blur. However if something good was to come of my pain, her focus on me gave bunny Skippy the opening he needed to hit her with his own lightning bolt, this time she screamed in pain.

Finally free of the bats Elrohir and Gronad moved closer in an attempt to flank, but Elrohir wandered to close to a dormant geyser, it waters erupted tossing him aside, meanwhile Gronad narrowly avoided a pit opening below the Sorcerer who carelessly levitates above it.

I forced myself back into the fight and try to even the odds; I concentrate my magical energy’s summoning forth four large magical swamp frogs, who immediately lash out at the Sorcerer with their sticky tongues in an attempt to grapple her.

My plan fails, a magical force field sprang into existence protecting her from my frog’s attacks, but again distracted Skippy lets out another powerful lightning bolt this time clearly weakening the sorceress resolve.

Furious at Skippys continued harassment she again try’s to blast the little bunny into oblivion, only at the last minute realizing that Gronad had healed Caladin who was now soaring through the air, her last sight in this world was of Caladins Elbow seconds before is smashed through her skull. Caladin landed on the other side of the pit rolling to a stop, in exhaustion.

Having survived our most brutal encounter to date, we decide on postponing our encounter with the Black dragon, guarding our exit, until we had a bit of time to lick our wounds. We found a defensible room to wait out the night, while those that could poured over the magical blades and equipment found off the sorcerers body, trying to find what they could to aid un in the fight ahead.

In the morning we were pleased to find the dragon had left as promised, though more than one in our party wanted to risk the water elemental to see if the dragon left his hoard, I declined to offer my help, wanting nothing more than to leave this cursed place.

Somehow I was roped into checked out a few of the corridoes we passed on our way in, to our surprise we were ambushed by odd horse sized wingless dragon type creatures, with feral demon like riders, it will be the last time I go against by better judgment for the good of the group for we barely managed to leave with our lives.

Once free of the Gecko pillar we all retired to the Slippery eel for a warm bed and warm food, still early in the morning we decided a few drinks would not hurt in celebration to those lost and to our own success. No sooner did my lips touch the ale did we hear a chorus of screams followed by a loud crash, I rushed to the windows as Gronad and Elrohir ran out to the streets.

The expression on their faces would have been comical under any other circumstance, if it was not for the fact they were face to face with the Black dragon we let loose. Tangled in nets the beast trashed. From down the street Captain Accaccia and a handful of guards could be seen quickly approaching, the dragon pleaded to be released promising never to return.

Seeing only the loss of life that would occur from fighting a dragon in a confined city street I use the magical horn I found in the Gecko pillars to release a cloud of mist buying the dragon enough time to escape.

The captain is infuriated at our choice, my choice by I shrug her off having already warned her of such an attack, and too tired to deal with the situation, I step back into the Eel and rent a room for the day.

My recent brushes with death have left me thinking about my own mortality and even though I know I could be happy with my new companions adventuring, I feel as though I need to set my own plans in motion. In the morning I will fly back to Sandpoint with Agro to retrieve the gold I have hidden away to purchase my ship, and from there I will decide my future in this group.

Lamashan 26th 4707

The last few days have been pleasant, I managed to gather the necessary funds to buy my ship and was pleased to have the official records in my hands, stating that I was the ship’s owner and allowed to trade with the City of Magnimar. Unfortunately once given so much gold the previous ship’s captain could find no reason to continue to sail and instead wanted to retire from the sea. He did however offer up his second mate who was more than willing to accept the promotion after we worked out a few details.

I would act and serve as second mate to the captain, until a time we both agree would best serve the ship and her crew, in exchange he would run the ship in efficient and professional manner that would benefit both our interest, carrying out all jobs that were arranged ahead of time.

With nothing planned for a few days I spent most of my time on my ship, offering what assistance I could while literally learning the ropes. When not on my ship I was with Agro, flying the sky’s getting better acquainted with the lay of the land. While Gronad and Sara saw to selling off any of the magical and mundane items we no longer required I saw little of Skippy or Elrohir until the night of the Mayors banquet. It was as I expected, though the food was good I had little interest in the people, all of which I found to refined from a life time of luxury.

Sometime before the end of the night we were called into the private chambers of the mayor were he offered his thanks for our efforts and we were given the biggest sack of gold I have ever seen, I had enough to buy two more ships!

He also asked if we were willing to take on another job, having already proved ourselves more than capable of handling ourselves, Elrohir worked out the details with the mayor agreeing to travel to his home town of Turtleback ferry to see why the fort posted there has not been heard from, in exchange we would receive nearly a thousand gold each.

Before resting that night I brokered a deal to have my ship take us there on their way by, in exchange for some bonus coins and an extra share of rum for the crew, I feel he was a bit reluctant but willing in the end.

Lamashan 27, 4707

We gathered at the docks, our gear stowed away and ready to set sail for Turtleback ferry, Gronad refused to board my ship, instead preferring to ride by horse, it wouldn’t be any slower but the swamps were a dangerous place. Noticing a clear change in his attitude since his and his brother’s death I decided it best to ignore him and instead performed my duty as second mate. During our voyage in exchange for a bit of gold and my quarters for the trip Sara also agreed to craft me a pair of magical stones that would allow me to keep in contact with my ship when away. It felt good to be on the water traveling up the Yondabakari River, the ship gave me a sense of comfort and freedom I have never felt before, and in time I would introduce the crew to Agro.


Neth 5 4707
The party finished searching the Graul homestead, finding and killing Lucky who had been hiding in a corner. Elrohir finds what he believes to be remenants of his father in the basement, and buries them outside. The party has a lenthy discussion about burning down the farm, but decides that the smoke may alert the ogres at Fort Rannick, so they decide that they will come back and burn it down later.
Benedir, hearing Mammy crash into the ground, decides to turn around to investigate, bringing his small group with him. Finding Mammys smoldering corpse, he stabs it, then gathers some items from the area. He then meets back up with the rest of the party.
After deciding against a massive fire in the middle of the forest, the party heads back to Turtleback Ferry, discussing tactics for retaking the fort with the remaining Black Arrows. They spend a day and a half in town recuperating, during which they help sandbag the flood areas, and Elrohir tells his mother that his father is dead. They then head out to Rannick with a plan to split in 3 (please correct me if I miss any details here guys)
Rothgar, Sarah, and Kaven are going to fly up to the Eagle Aerie, where Kaven will sneak down to open the secret doors into the fort with ranged backup from Sarah and Rothgar. Jakardos and Shalalu will stay outside and try to use hit and run tactics to lure some ogres away, while the Skippy, Gronad and Elrohir will follow Benedir through the tunnels, smoking the lizards out into the fort.


Yesterday we went upstream to investigate the whereabouts of the blackarrows. We were attacked by an Ogre and a pack of wild dogs. Not sure why he attacked, but a dead Ogre is a good Ogre so I was happy with that. Unfortunately it looks like the Ogre have settled in around these parts. We later found a house with what seems to an ogre family, but inside there was a bunch of odd looking ogrekin folk, with extra limbs and split wounds. Although, it looked really odd I did not care much of the place or the people. We slew a few more ogre, a spider and what looks like a large plant. Skippy and Elrohir looked pretty sad looking by the end of it all, I think the spider injected some venom in them.

We also managed to free a few of the surviving black arrow guys that were captured. Tomorrow we are planning to take back the fort that the black arrow lost.


Neth 7 4707
Assault on Fort Rannick Part 1
Note: I had a friend playing the NPC Characters (Jakardos, Shalalu, and Kaven), so I could focus on the many ogres. I do not take responsibility for their actions.
The party refined their plan somewhat before enganging, and split into 3 groups. Jakardos and Shalalu were to wait outside the south gate for a signal from the cave group (Benedir, Skippy, Gronad, and Elrohir), and then were to relay the signal to Rothgars/Sarah/Kaven on top of the Eagle Aerie. Sarah cast Gaseous Form on Kaven to help him remain undetected as he snuck through the fort to open the secret passage. Gronad and Benedir flushed the lizards out into the courtyard near the barracks while Skippy and Elrohir blocked them from exiting elsewhere. The lizards ran into the courtyard and were quickly slaughtered, causing enough noise to rouse the ogres from the barracks into the courtyard. The battle devolved from there. At the entrance behind the barracks, Skippy was throwing fireballs and lightning at the ogres while Elrohir held the door against Minktusk, Agro dropped Sarah off on one of the towers, where she ended up going toe-to-toe with Jolly Kreeg, Rothgar fired shots from the Eagle Aerie - I put this at some 500 feet or so - and killed two ogres. He then had Agro land him on a central tower, where he had a hard time hitting anything. Gronad and Benedir rushed through the passageways to the northern door (Benedir fell off the bridge on the way into the ravine) and enganged Karly-Lop Kreeg here. A quartet of ogres rushed out the gate after Shalalu and Jakardos. Despite the messy, chaotic, prolonged battle (21 Ogres, 12 shocker lizards, 6 PCs, and 3 NPCs) the party prevailed somehow, though greiviously wounded. They healed up using what magic they have left, and are discussing taking the keep.


Lamashan 29, 4707

So far the trip up river has been dull, slow and uneventful, and I love it! Even though I miss having Agro around I have not reached for my bow or blades in several days, most of the crew has started to accept me now, though we all know I’m not ready to take over any time soon. The captain is a funny man, and reminds me a lot of the tribesmen of home, but through his rough act you can tell he cares for his men.

Neth 3, 4707

This is my last night on my boat for a few weeks, in the morning my crew will resupply with fresh rations and move on to make there delivery on time, and part of me wish’s I could join them. But for now my place is with these others, though I don’t even like all of them, I can see the good that we are achieving as a group and the danger and excitement is like no other. In the morning I will call out Agro and explore the area, leaving the others to sniff out the clues with in the town, though I could get used to life on a boat, it’s the exploration that thrills me and Turtleback and its surroundings are all new to me.

Neth 4, 4707

My flames crackle and hiss on the somewhat dry wood that I managed to find tucked up under a rocky outcropping high up on a bluff. It is just me and Agro out here all alone and even though I know Kreegwood to be a dangerous place, I have not felt more at home in a long time, I know now this is what I will do for as long as I’m able. I will spend my time divided among my crew and my ship and exploration, and adventure with my group, for as long as they will have me. Out here I may only ever be a heartbeat away from danger or death but each moment is time I relish and hold dear.

Turtleback is everything I thought it would be, but wetter and colder, it seems for the last several day or weeks it has been raining, the waters are becoming a threat for the people and there way of life. The town its self is small and must resemble a beacon of hope for all those around, for the lands surrounding Turtleback are harsh and unforgiven. I flew around the area for some time this morning, happy to be away from the others feeling the wind rush around my face as I took in everything that was around me.

There was the swampland of Shimmerlgens, but even without the heavy down pour it would be a horrid place to make camp, the dark and dangerous forest of Ashwood rumored to be home to ghosts, that much I gathered before setting off. And of course you had Kreegwood, where I decided to make camp for the night, Kreegwood was home to the Ogre and giant folk, it was rough terrain for most, but Agro and I we could bypass most of that.

It took me some time to find a location that was both remote and protected enough for me to spend the night, even with my vast experience in the wilds and Agros natural talent for survival, it took us some time. Our first location seemed perfect but, that was its intent, not more than fifty feet from where we started to camp was a rather nasty looking Scythe trap, it did not take long for us to change locations.

Eventually I settled on a rocky bluff higher up in the hills, from here I could secure my back to the cliffs and even managed to find an outcropping that would serve as a shelter from the rain, with little work I found game for the night and carefully hide my flames from sight. I settled in for the night after securing my perimeter and placing down a simple enchantment that would warn me of danger.

Neth 5, 4707

Early in the morning I did my best to hide my camp and flew back to Turtleback, for the first time ever I choose to land Agro in the middle of a town, right outside the Inn the others were staying at. There were not many people around but those that saw us surprisingly did not seem to care too much, perhaps it was my companions company that put them at ease.

The others passed along what information they found, it seemed we had little to go on; the Rangers of Fort Rannick who were tasked with defending the area have not made contact in several days. It seemed simple enough, we would trek out to the Fort, and I would fly ahead scouting and providing cover when able, while the others fought the mud of the road.

It was not far from the town did we encounter our first obstacle, it started as a low screeching noise, but on further inspection turned out to be a smallish hunting cat stuck in a trap. While the others moved in to investigate I circled the area a few times before touching down, I arrived just in time to see a few of the others fail at opening the creatures trap, sometimes brute strength was not enough. It took a little doing but I managed to pop the mechanism in the trap releasing the cat, all the while my hand axe was close in case it attacked.

But it turns out it was not the cat we had to worry about, from deeper in the woods we began to hear a god awful singing mixed with a cacophony of barking and howling, it seemed to bounce and echo off the trees making it hard to pinpoint its origin. By the time we took up a defensive position they were on us, several large and feral looking hounds darted between the trees and underbrush, on their own they were more of a distraction or nuisance but that was all part of the plan. Crashing through the trees a large lumbering ogre came into view, he was hideously twisted and deformed, but that did nothing to slow him down. Dealing with the last hound, Elrohir turned at the last second, but not quick enough to deflect the Ogres large spear, in one powerful blow Elrohir was laid low.

But with the element of surprise spent, the ogre could do little else, by the time he could mount another attack he was surrounded and killed by the seemly overwhelming fire power of our group.

While Gronad saw to the party’s wounds, Skippy noticed the cat never fled once the battle started, and it seemed as though it wanted us to follow in the direction the ogre had come from. Agro and I took to the air while the others followed the cat, who would limped through the woods stopping every so often so the others would catch up before moving again. On the horizon the woods gave way to an open field over run with poorly tended crops and vegetation, in the middle was a large dilapidated barn and farm house. I flew around the clearing a few times before landing softly atop the barn, while the others moved up; I dismounted Argo and crawled to the edge of large hole in the barns roof.

Inside, I could barely make out the forms of three sleeping ogres, surrounding a crude make shift still, they were fast asleep but our group was hardly known for its stealth. As if on cue a cry from the fields started the battle, rushing from the tall grass another large and deformed ogre darted out slashing Gronad across the chest; his thick armor softened the blow.

As the group shook out some surrounding the ogre while others created distance to work there deadly magic, I summoned fothr a gaping pit at the entrance to the barn hoping to catch or hinder those inside from joining the fray. Largely ineffectual the ogre poured from the barn, I began raining down arrows while Agro leapt from on high teeth and claw rending flesh. The battle was quickly turning in our favor, over powered and out matched the ogres fought to the bitter end having no hope in wining this fight, as I contained to rain down arrows, Agro screamed out in alarm.

Off to my side, one of the ogres had managed to climb the barn, and was nearly on me but as always Agro came to my rescue. With a running leap Agro soared up into the air, his powerful wings closing the distance quickly as he brought his full force into the side of the Ogre knocking him back several feet, leaving it tittering on the edge of the barn. Unscathed from battle I knew my arrows would not be enough to kill it out right I was left with one option, as quickly as I could I charged forward landing a devastating drop kick to the ogres abdomen with enough force to throw him over the edge.

With a thud he slammed into the ground, before he could recover Gronad and Elrohir were upon him with spear and axe.

The farm stead was quiet, we half expected more to follow, more ogres to rush from the fields or from within the barn but it was silent. Elrohir and Skippy moved deeper into the barn, using the cat walks to the right while Sara took the left, Gronad seemed content on pulling teeth from the ogres, while Agro and I provided look out from the roof top.

I only caught bits and pieces of the conversation but after Skippy was asked to check for traps I decided they could use my help, but by the time I got down there they were stepping inside a room at the back of the barn. From what I could see the room was filled with cobwebs, and there seemed to be prisoners caged inside, but before they could free them a spider the size of a horse climbed out of its nest below.

I fired a few arrows into the beast while Elrohir and Skippy battled the creature, both were severely poisoned in the fight but managed to survive, Gronad made his way back at some point and offered to tend to his wounds as best he could. But still leaving Skippy barley able to hold his own weapon, weakened with poison.

Across the fields we could make out the farm house, several dozen tracks lead both to and from the barn to the house indicating that there were more inside, but how many we had no idea. Agro took the lead, gliding in at a downward angel and stealthily creeping around the outside of the farm house, relaying what he saw back to me. It was clear at least a few more where inside but the exact number was hard to tell, still several meters out someone in the window spotted our approaching party and called out alarm to the house.

I quickly cast a spell to hasten our actions and took up a flanking position ready to fire on anyone leaving the house. Wasting no time Gronad used his magically enhanced speed to rush into the house, nearly cleaving an ogre creature in two, though it looked to only be a child, the others were quick to follow him inside.

As the group moved in Agro and I caught an Ogre trying to flank the party, Arrow and claw quickly took it down, but the trap was already sprung, from behind us a large and very round Ogre woman appeared by magic.

Surrounded by enchantments making hitting her nearly impossible she used her magic to counter my own, while flinging lightning bolts into the rest of party around the doorway. Skippy did enough magical damage to encourage her to flee and a final fire ball brought her to the ground like a fiery meteor.

By the time Agro and I made it inside most of the resistance was cleared up, those capable of pressing on split up in small teams, clearing and exploring the rest of the house. That in its self-proved difficult, the house was ripe with crude but clever traps, who’s blades and spikes were covered in layers of rust and … other things.

In one such room, before Agro could even get his barring he was knocked down a pit concealed by a sofa by an ambushing ogre. I managed to keep it at bay long enough for Agro to return and rip the creature to shreds, but not without sustaining great injury his self, but it was the basement that caused us the most grief. We ventured deeper into the farmhouse the basement stank of rotten meat and what I guessed to be ogre shit, a series of open doors lead me to a back room, where I faced off against what I hoped to be the last reaming ogre. He stood there his crude and cruel ogre hook in hand calmly waiting my approach, but I was too close to being finished with this foul place to see the danger. Out on my flank a plant like creature launched from the back of the room, I pride myself on my speed and agility but even I was too slow, in one move it picked me up and swallowed me whole. Before I could even react my muscles went ridged and I was paralyzed, its juices or saliva was melting away at my armor and exposed skin and I couldn’t even scream.

By the time I was cut out of the plant creature my armor and skin were unrecognizable, if it was not for Gronads healing magic I don’t know what I would do, after finishing with the house it was a long sore trek back to the town for rest we desperately needed.

Neth 7, 4707

The last few days have been spent in and out of consciousness, our party’s wounds were to severe for Gronad to handle on his own, but the town clerics were more than willing to help us out, after being told we rescued some of the missing rangers from the ogres. Once I was able to remain standing I saw to Agro and eventually scouted out the Black arrow keep a little, I kept as much distance as I could as to remain unseen but it was clear we were in for a fight.

Once back I reported my findings to the others but it was one of the rescued Black arrows that really gave us hope, not only were they willing to help reclaim the fort but they knew of several entrances, some of them hidden from plain sight.

I’m not sure as to what the morning will bring be it life or death it was too soon to tell, but it was always the night before a big battle I found little sleep, perhaps writing down my thoughts well help me chart the course ahead.


Neth 7 4707
Assault on Fort Rannick Part 2
The party explored the courtyard, checking all of the buildings for any remaining ogres but finding none. They spend some time discussing their next moves while patching up. Rothgar counts the skulls and heads around the courtyard in an attempt to determine whether there may be any prisoners left in the keep. With information provided by the remaining Black Arrows, he determines that there are less skulls than total members of the black arrows, even after counting the ones from the Graul farm. They spend some time discussing lighting a fire in the tunnels to smoke out the ogres, but decide not to risk it in case there are prisoners. They instead attempt to barricade the main doors, leaving Jakardos and Shalalu outside to watch them, and proceed through the tunnels into the prison. Opening the door, they find the prison to be opulently decorated. A red haired woman stands in the room holding a glass of wine. She greets them warmly, and introduces herself as Lucrecia. Elrohir speaks with her briefly, and is surprised to learn that she recognizes him and knows his family from Turtleback Ferry. She tells them that her lord has heard rumors of their strength, and would like to offer them an invitation to join them. The group questions why and how she came to be in the keep, and, once learning that she was working with the ogres, initiate combat. Lucrecia shifts into her natural lamia form and manages a whirling attack of slashing daggers, and, as the party moves in to attack, Kaven steps up behind Sarah and stabs her in the back. Lucrecia calls out to him, congratulating him on a job well done betraying the Arrows, and dimension doors away. The party turns and looks at Kaven, who drops his weapon and begs for mercy, repeating "she made me do it!" The party remembers the previous lamia forcing Cronad to kill his brother through magic, and decides to show him some mercy, for now, though Berendir does rough him up a bit. They lock him in a cell and force him to strip before heading upstairs.
At the top of the stairs, the group opens a door to see an infirmary covered in gore and caranage. An exceptionally large ogre with his face half shaved off (Silas), bone showing in places, stands in the corner, grinning and roaring as the party enters. They decide he must be undead, and move in to attack. He cuts into Elrohir fairly deep, and just as they take him down, a door bursts open down the hallway and hurls a headless body at Rothgar, who attempts to use his gloves of arrow snaring to deflect it, but does not succeed. (I was unable to find information on improvised wepaon damage, if anyone can point me to it that would be appreciated, I ended up having it do 1d8+str damage) Rothgar summons a rhino to successfully charge the ogre, however from around the corner something strikes the rhino and it disappears. Gargavan charges up and smashed Berendir, but Skippy throughs grease under him, which Sarah lights on fire. A couple more hits and Gargavan goes down. 2 more ogres come barreling from around the corner, one squished into a chestplate, the other a bulging chain shirt with links ready to snap, each balancing a helm on top of their heads. They are quickly taken down by Rothgar and Berendir. The party searched the ground floor, finding nothing of intreset, and informed Jakardos and Shalalu that they were moving up. On the second floor, Rothgar and Agro check the doors in the hallway, hearing a dripping noise coming from one, and the crunch of glass from another. They choose to open the 3rd door, where they see a desecrated chapel, the lamia from below, and the largest ogre they have ever seen.

Next session: June 19


Neth 7
Assault on Fort Rannick Part 3
This final battle pretty well took the entire night.
As the party opened the chapel, Lucrecia told Jagreth that these were the ones that killed his brother-sons. He flies into a rage and charges into the group as Rothgar looses a couple arrows at him and ducks around the corner. Jagreth reaches over Gronad and lands a solid hit on Sarah, while Elrohir is charmed by Lucrecia and commanded to block the doorway. She yells at Jagreth to leave Sarah and Elrohir alone, as Mok'Morian wishes to have them, and Jagreth focuses his next attacks on Gronad, dropping him unconcious. A door opens up behind the party and 2 ogres attempt to smash Skippy in the back. He jabs twice at one with his rapier and lobs a fireball into the room behind Lucrecia, shrouding her and Jagreth in flames. Another door opens up around the corner where Rothgar sees an ogre with a set of metal jaws strapped on his face reach through the door and strike him with his hook. He then gets very tired and falls asleep, causing Agro to disappear. Berendir fires a couple arrows at the ogres behind Skippy, which allows him to move over to wake up Rothgar. Elrohir is also able to shake free of the charm, and lays into Jagreth with his greatsword, landing a solid hit. Jagreth is not impressed, though Lucrecias Haste makes him feel a little better, as he returns the attacks on Elrohir, nearly dropping him. Dorella shoots a lightning bolt through Hookmaw, Skippy and Berendir. Berendir kills the second ogre as Skippy steps in and lays a couple of spellstrikes on Hookmaw, staggering him. Sarah manages to bring Gronad back to his feet, who hands her his quicken rod and heals himself some more. Elrohir, barely standing, and Berendir finish off Jagrath, and Gronad moves in to intercept Lucrecia as Sarah fires multiple Scorching Rays into her. Lucrecia does a full hasted attack on Gronad, resulting in 3 hits and 2 crits. Without rolling damage, Gronad dies outright from the barrage of knives. (he uses 2 hero points to cheat death) Rothgar summons a Hound Archon behind Hookmaw, and between himself and Skippy they manage to take him down as Berendir fires arrows supporting both groups. Then things start to get scary. Lucrecia moves into the hallway and does another full attack, splitting attacks between Elrohir, Sarah, and Berendir. Elrohir goes down. Sarah goes down. Berendir is injured badly. As Dorella casts hideous laughter on Berendir, Rothgar dives around the getting a lucky and perfectly timed crit on Lucrecia, killing her. Down to just Rothgar and Skippy and a summond bear, Dorella attempts to use Confusion to distract them long enough to escape. Rothgar fails, but Skippy succeeds, and launches an acid arrow into her, killing her. Rothgar drops his weapons, dismisses the bear and tells Skippy and Berendir (who managed to stop laighing) to run, then walks up and punches Skippy in the face. Skippy and Berendir run.
A few moments later Rothgar calls out to them that it is safe to come back, so they do. He has gathered a pile of loot, and has begun looking over it, unable to do anything for his fallen allies. Skippy takes the wand of Cure Mod off of Gronad and uses it to revive Elrohir, Sarah, and Gronad, in that order. The party searches the remaing area, finding no more ogres, and decide to rest here for the night in the Guest Rooms.
In the early morning, Skippy, who is on watch, heres a large crack and crash from the north. Looking towards it, he sees part of Skulls Crossing has collapsed, and a gushing torrent of water and debris comes pouring out.
Next session 24 June


the crew was staring down the barrel with surrounded by Ogres from the room to their left, which are about to attack and there was Lamia and the head-Ogre about to pounce on us as we opened the door directly infront of us.
There were two Ogres inside the left room and our team decided to split the focus between the Ogres and Lamia & Head Ogre. Berendir shot arrow at the Ogres within the left room and he killed it. The other Ogre in that room was taken down by Agro. Now that, that room is free, Berendir turned his focus toward the monster and the Ogre facing him infront. He did a somersault to avoid getting a wild swipe by the Ogre since at that point, it reached quiet close to the entrance of the door. Berendir then shot an arrow at the Ogre but it only grazed past the shoulders of it and failing to inflict any major wound. Meanwhile, Agro and Rothgar opened the door which was at the beginning of the adjacent hallway, only to find two more Ogres inside. One of the Ogre, with its mad rage, shot a lightning at our crew, and we all received a blow of it causing wounds to each of us. Rothgar take down one of the two Ogres. Meanwhile, Berendir was caught off-guard and receives a slash from Lamia. Rothgar came to rescue and he took down Lamia. Rothgar is hit by confusion spell, just as he took down the ogre that hit us all with lightning earlier. To avoid getting hit by confusion, Elrohir started running away but he got back when Rothgar called out for help. His confusion spell is cleared off by Sarah and we resume the conquest by looting the rooms.

Elrohir took a watch while Skippy slept and recuperated. When Skippy’s turn came up for watching, he hears a large crack and crash. He speculates it must the crash of the dam and wakes up the party.


Neth 8, 4707

The next morning we set off, as per usual I flew above and ahead of the group, scouting and providing over watch for any Ogre patrols who might be venturing out far from the fort its self. As we drew closer we stopped short and much like the raids my people and I have conducted a hundred times in the past we went over the battle plans one last time to ensure everyone knew their role. The plan itself seemed solid, with the roots collected by the Rangers we could herd out a group of shock lizards living within the caves; this should provide both distraction and serve as our “Shock troops” to soften up the ogre defensive. Once distracted Agro would carry as many as he could to take higher ground and we would hopefully have enough momentum to quickly slaughter the remaining ogres.

In order to ensure maximum success we created a three pronged attack that if executed correctly should give us multiple avenues of attack and escape as well as higher ground. Once we were all satisfied on our different parts we broke off into our separate groups.

As planned Sara, Kaven, Agro and I would take the Eagle Aerie awaiting a signal from the cave group below relayed by Jakardos via lit torch. I was the first to land on the Aerie and to both my surprise and pleasure I found it abandoned, quickly sending Agro off to retrieve Sara and Kaven. Visibility was difficult at this distance but from our position we could see several ogres milling about the fort, the closest of which was nearly five hundred feet away. This proved to be the most difficult part of the raid for me, with Sara ready and waiting on Agros back we could do nothing but wait for the signal and for all we knew the Cave party was caught and slaughtered in some hidden part of the base unseen by our current position.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before the signal was given, I could have cursed the gods when I noticed it came in the form of a flaming arrow and not the lit torch we discussed previously, the arrow sailed out from Jakardos’s wood line, providing both a signal for us and the ogres alike. But we ran with it, the moment the arrow was seen I cast Haste on the Aerie party as Sara finished her incantation on Kaven turning his body into a living gasses cloud. We waited several tense moments before he reached his mark at the door, releasing the shock lizards herding them into the courtyard, Agro and Sara used the distraction to shoot out from the tower gliding silently as the night to a castle tower below.

From this distance I remember thinking the Lizards looked small, and I began to question my actual distance from the courtyard, but it turns out they were just laughably small. Before Sara and Agro even landed on the tower below the Ogres were rushing out of the buildings and slaughtering the lizards without recourse. I managed to fire off a few lucky shots hitting an ogre or two and even knocking one from the battlements nearly five hundred feet below.

From on high I could see balls of flame explode from behind the barracks engulfing several ogres, by the time Agro made his way back up for a return trip I managed to drive two more arrows deep into another Ogres back.

Had Agro been a creature from this world he may have grown tired, but to his credit he showed no outward sign of exhaustion from his many flights, the second he touched down I was atop him and we were speeding back down the mountain.

By the time I made it over the keep its self I could see several battles breaking out all over, as planed this battle was chaos but it seemed to be working in our favor. On the battlements Sara was throwing flaming rays at anything in sight, with a few Ogres already burned and chard at her feet. Outside the walls a group of Ogres hoping to run down Jakardos and Shalalu were cut short in a hail of arrows and both Gronad and Skippys group were still under siege by two of the largest Ogres I have ever seen. I was torn and unsure on who needed help first, but in a last second decision Agro and I formed a plan.

I whispered a prayer to the gods and summersaulted from the back of my saddle, as Agro sailed past a tower on a collision course for the behemoth of an Ogre attacking Skippy and Elrohir.

Falling through the air, I trusted in my innate magical ability and practically shouted the arcane words that arrested my fall, letting me float as light as a feather down to the tower below. The moment my feet touched the ground two arrows left my bow in rapid succession.

As Gronad and Benedir quickly become surrounded one of my arrows grazed the large Ogre, but the second was one of the most powerful shots ever fired from my bow, slamming hard into the Ogres back allowing Gronad to follow up with the killing blow. And just as my arrow hit so too did Agro, bringing his full weight to bear slamming into the back of his target all teeth and claw, the two traded blows but it was Agros scream I heard the most, even at this distance I knew he was in pain.

I raced along the battlements to get a better angel to assist my friend but by the time I was in position Agro was already moving towards the front gate, where the last two Ogres remained. As he pounced on one I shot at the other, and like that the fight was over, somehow we managed to take back the courtyard.

Looking around I noticed Gronad leaning heavy on his shield axe buried deep in the skull of his large ogre, Sara was limping down from her tower, its stone scorched in flames, and Elrohir was using Skippy as support as they limpd out of the tunnels, practically climbing over a mountain of Ogre corps. We all knew there was more, and I know we have not seen or killed our last Ogre but I can’t help but smile at all we have lived through and done. We more or less started out as group of strangers banding together to defend a town, yet together we have slain demons and dragons, Goblin hoards and Ogre clans and even though we have had our own losses I would not trade this memory or any like it for all the gold in the world.

Taking a few moments to regroup, I open the gates letting Jakardos and Shalalu in the courtyard while the others started search the bodies for loot, unconcerned with looting I did a quick head count of human bodies I could find in the courtyard, most of which looked to have been eaten. After confirming with the Black arrows I figure there may still be prisoners somewhere in the keep but am unsure, either way I convince Jakardos and Shalalu to take up position on the towers above to give us cover incase the ogres attempt a counter assault.

Once Gronad finishes using his magic to heal our wounds we decide on how we are going to attack the keep proper, the thought of starting a fire in the caves below to smoke them out comes to mind but we don’t wish to cause any harm to any prisoners that may still be inside. In the end we decide to use the tunnels and come up from the bottom.

Inside the tunnels Berendir leads us through the small and cramped maze reeking of lizard shit and mold but as we get closer to the jail the scent changes to some unknown but pleasant smell wafting through the air. After checking the doors, Elrohir steps up enters the room followed by Berendir and Gronad; from down the hall I hear them speak to someone with a female voice and am surprised to see that jail is decorated in lavish designs. I signal for the others to hold back while the others talk to whoever it is but the sounds of battle quickly break out. Agro darts past me into the room trading blows with his target inside. I move up just enough to see what we are fighting and am surprised to see it is one of the snake creatures that attacked us on the bell tower in Magnimar. Before It can counter attack Agro I dismiss him back to his home plan and summon fourth a great beast of the plains, the creature charges into the fray attempting to rundown its pray. As expected the snake woman easily dodges the lumbering beast and readys her counter attack, from behind me I hear Sara cry out in pain, I turn around to see Kaven drop his blade, now covered in blood.

“I surrender!” he shouts the look of fear on his face, “She made me do it!”

Having witnessed this before with Cronad and Gronad, if it was possible to force two brothers to fight then this too could be true, from the jail I could hear the others say the snake creature had disappeared. I took a moment to cast a spell that could detect magic and the auras they leave behind, and even though I could not determine the origin of the spell I could see Kaven was or had been under some sort of magic effect. I told Skippy and Sara what I had found and both of them cast their own spells to confirm my theory, it turns out he was under the influence of some sort of enchantment spell, forcing him to do another’s bidding.

Berendir wasted no time in assessing the situation and met Kaven with a stern right cross before taking him in custody saying that the punishment for treason is death.

Knowing there were more Ogres out there and that this was not the place or time for a trial I brought up the fact that we happen to be conveniently close to a jail, the others agreed to lock him up until we could devote more time to the matter, after stripping him bare and finding a suitable cell we moved on.

I decided on using another summons to give Agro a rest, he had taken a beating in the courtyard and it was clear he was not yet at full strength, as a group we were also down to magical wands for healing, so it would be hard to completely restore his injures. As we moved up the stairs to the first floor of the keep, I concentrated my energy and summoned forth another protector; unlike the last this was not a mere beast of nature but was some sort of divine being. It took the form of a tall powerfully built human but with the head of a dog, in his hands was a beautiful yet powerful looking great sword; I could see great intelligence in its eyes as it scanned the keep. The celestial guardian raised it sword pointing at a few points in the keep, as if it could see through the walls and took the lead, it did not take long to find its prey.

Shortly after stepping into what looked to be the main hall of the keep the guardian stopped just outside a battered wooden door, its muscles tensed and his grip tightened around his blade. I looked back to ensure the others were ready, it only took a nod for the guardian to step into battle, opening the door it was clear this is the room he was looking for.

Across the room was another large ogre but unlike the others this one appeared to have shaven parts of his skin off his face down to the bone, he turned to face us as the door opened his eyes devoid of emotion but his lips were curled into a cruel and wicked smile.

One by one we filed into the room, Gronad leading the charge, followed by Berendir and Elrohir each attempting to maneuver the ogre into position, but the ogre would not take the bait, knowing it held tactical advantage with its reach and strength. But the guardian did not care, with a great howl it charged the ogre his great sword held high, quicker then he appeared the Ogre dodged the guardians attack and followed up with his own. But that was all that was needed for the others to move in, summoning forth his own spear Gronad jabbed the ogre through its side, followed by own Elrohirs spear and Berendirs arrows.

As I lined up my shots, a noise from further down the hall caught my attention but I turned too late to react, I just stood in awe as another powerful Ogre joined the fight bursting a door from its hinges. The ogre first threw a human head down the hall, I watched as it bounced off the cobblestones leaving splattered stains of blood and gore in its wake, but it was the fast moving shadow following the severed head that caused alarm. Again too slow to react I was bowled over by a human corps, hurled nearly forty feet from down the hall, as Quickly as I could I regained my balance I returned fire managing scoring a few glancing hits.

The Ogre in the hall was quickly joined by two more lumbering hulks, these two appeared to be trying on human sized armor tearing and starching the links in the chain armor to near bursting. Finished in the room my summoned guardian charged into the hall but was quickly cut down, I followed up his attack with another summons, the horned best from the plains I used before. Even though the great creature landed a powerful gore attack it too was cut down, its sides pierced by massive javelins before being finished by an Ogre hook.

Skippy and Sara managed to burn down the first Ogre with their magic while Berendir and I landed powerful shots to the two remaining ogres dropping them with a single shot each.

Again Gronad tended to the wounds with his magical wands but it was clear we were stretching out selves thin, while the others searched the remainder of the ground floor I recalled Agro, beckoning him to help. Once we were all gathered we sent word to Jakardos and Shalalu that were taking moving to the next level.

The second floor was much smaller than the first and completely silent; Agro and I stalked from door to door first checking them for any signs of traps before taking a moment to hear if there was anything inside. The hall was a kind of reverse “L” shape with the first of the three doors available to use near the top, hearing sounds from both of the rooms near the bottom of the “L” we decided to clear our exit first.

Opening the door a crack we could make out a sort of makeshift altar adorned in blood and scraps of human remains, I stepped aside for Elrohir to take the lead and as he nudged the door open the rest of the way we were greeted by the snake woman from the basement and now the largest Ogre I have ever seen.

I was the first to react this time; I fired off two quick shots at the Ogre before diving around the corner, letting the other thicker armored types move in. Elrohir heaved his great sword behind his head and through it with all his power at the Ogre, I could hear it clang off the floor before magically returning to his hands for a second throw, this time forcing a scream of pain from the Ogre lord.

I watched as Agros hind legs tensed, I knew he was waiting for the perfect moment to leap into the room with claw and tooth when the doors behind me bursts from its hinges. I turn to see the door to my left filled with the forms of not one but two Ogres and the door to my right framed by a large ogre with a set of metal jaws wired to his face. Metal jaw swiped his ogre hook my way, with no room to dodge I took the full force of the wicked weapon, only my armor kept my insides intact, I was readying an counter attack when I heard the arcane words being chanted from behind Metal jaw and then, my world went black.

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The wind of the open sea sent strands of hair across my face as I walk the deck of my ship, up in the air Agro circles around us in lazy arcs, stretching his wings as he glided through the air. In the distance I heard the noise of an explosion, instinctually I reach for Urilan my trusted bow but I realize it was not there, I have not worn my weapons in many months. Unarmed I decide to go below deck to find the source of the explosion, though I found it odd none of my crew reacted to it in any way. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness below deck as I step off the narrow stairs, rounding the corner leading further below deck, somewhere in the ship i could hear a great wail of pain. Turning about attempting to find its source I came face to face with the Ogre with the metal jaws, he reached for me pulling me towards his open maw.

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I hear the sounds of battle all around me before I will my eyes open, looking up I see Skippy fending off metal jaws as an arc of lightning cuts through the room hitting Metal jaws, Skippy and more as it continues on its deadly path. My feet push off the flagstone in an attempt to create distance between me and the ogre, even as I move force my energy to summon forth that same celestial guardian I used before. In a flash of light my protector appears his great sword already cutting the air slashing a great gash in Metal jaws back; Skippy spares me a sidelong glance before launching his own deadly attack on the now distracted ogre. His rapier moves with magically enhanced speed striking the Ogre not once but twice, but all that was just the feint Skippy needed to ready his next spell the ogre did not have a chance to react before the spell took hold, dropping it to the ground. My guardian turned its attention to the caster in the room, a female Ogre quite gifted in magic as I regained my footing, but my summons was no match for her and with a simple incantation she willed the creature to disappear pitting her magical power against my own and wining.

I concentrate every ounce of strength I have left to summon forth one last creature, this one taking the form of a great bear, the beast lumbered forward rearing onto its hind legs before slashing and biting at the Ogre sorceress.

From around the corner I heard the screams of Elrohir and Sara cut short as the snake woman bursts into view in an astonishing display of melee carnage turning her attention on Skippy with a powerful enough blow to drop him to one knee. At the same time the Ogre woman somehow manages to fend off the bear long enough to cast some form of magic on Benerdir dropping him to the ground in a fit of laughter helpless to defend his self.

With only Skippy and me left standing I vowed to go down fighting as I knocked an arrow onto my bow, even before I released the arrow I knew this was our only chance, it had to be enough or this would be our last battle together.

From the very first time I have ever used a bow in all my years as a hunter, raider or adventure this was without a doubt the best shot I had ever made, the arrow sailed through the air in a perfect arc before sticking deep into the creature’s chest.

The snake woman let out a furious howl before dropping her blades collapsing to the floor, joining her Ogre lord and nearly all my adventuring companions. The harsh guttural words of the Ogre Sorceress pulled me back to the fight as she cast her last spell, I could feel her magic edging into my brain and it took everything I had to resist. I returned fire with my bow scouring a powerful hit as Skippy followed up with his own magic knocking her to the floor with an acidic arrow.

I had just enough time to drop my bow and blades and dispel my summoned bear before the Ogres magic took ahold of my free will, through gritted teeth I yelled for Skippy to run!

Trapped inside my own body I watched in horror as I stepped forward smashing my mailed fist into Skippys face, I could tell it hurt and I knew he wanted to defend his self but instead he pushed me back enough to run, bringing Benerdir with him. I could not resist the magic as I pressed one managing one last hit before the two off them out paced me, I remember the feeling a rage and confusion wash aside as I regained my senses, once again in control of my body.

I called to the others telling them it was safe, while I checked over the bodies of the fallen for anything that might be used to heal our companions, but found I was lacking in the skill for such magic. While Skippy and Benerdir healed the others I called back Agro in case we were not yet done with the Ogre menace. Once we were all back to our feet we limped on, each and every one of us battered and beat to our very limits, we knew we only had to push a little further before we could rest.

It did not take long for us to secure the rest of the keep, we were fortunate enough to have been finished with the ogres, but sadly we found no other surviving Black arrow rangers. Even with Gronads healing none of us were looking forward the trek back to Turtleback so we decided we would bunk here for the night though finding a room unspoiled by the Ogres was nearly impossible.

With the Ogre threat stopped all that is left is to find out whom that snake woman worked for and what they were planning for Turtleback ferry, the name she mentioned over and over is unfamiliar with me. Either way I feel the morning will at least bring a small measure of safety for the people of Turtleback and it brings a smile to my face knowing I was part of the group that made it possible.


Elrohir

Neth 4

It's been a long time since I've been home, but already coming into town I have seen that something is wrong. It's been raining for most of our approach on Rothgar's ship; I can see that the waters are much higher than normal for this time of year. Now we have finally reached Turtleback Ferry. We all disembarked quickly and I spotted Tillia in the crowd, running to meet me with a smile on her face. I embraced her and spun her around happily, forgetting for a moment that I was in town on a mission. Fortunately, Tillia was always practical, and as we chatted, she informed me of several troubles in and around the town. Lucrecia's pleasure barge sank in the middle of the lake, drowning many. Fort Rannick had not been heard from for some time! This confirmed our party's fear that something was amiss. Ogre attacks were likely responsible for some of this misfortune, but couldn't be responsible for all of it. After informing the party of the short version of what I'd learned, I bid farewell to them and Tillia (who was on her way to teach the schoolchildren) and visited my mother.

Mother looked happy to see me, though she still seemed to be burdened by the worry plaguing the town. At least, that's what I thought, until she told me that Father had gone missing! She said she thought he had gone to Magnimar to alert the Lord Mayor to Turtleback's troubles, but I, having just come from there with no word of such trouble, felt a gnawing dread in my heart. I decided not to worry Mother further unless I found out something concrete, but I did arrange to sleep at home that evening. She told me that my brother, Elros, was with the townsfolk helping with sandbags, so I went and helped with that for a while. Gronad and Sarah found me and informed me of Mayor Schreed's concerns, and we agreed, with the others, to set off in the general direction of Rannick, across the river, early the next morning. There was heavy ogre activity in the forests, so I was concerned about Rothgar, but he's always been able to take care of himself. I did not immediately inform the rest of the group about my father's disappearance, as I was still processing it. As I went to sleep that evening in my parent's house, listening to the unseasonal rain on the rooftop, I wondered what tomorrow would bring.


Elrohir--got a few lengthy ones to go, but this should help me get caught up.

Neth 5

This has been a dark day.

Morning came early; as we gathered by the inn, it turned out that Skippy, for reasons known only to him, had slept outside, in the mud and rain. I mentioned that my father had gone missing; however, nobody seemed to hear or pay attention. We set out in the general direction of Fort Rannick to discern why all communication had ceased. Shortly after crossing the bridge out of town, across the increasingly swollen river, we discovered a trap with a cougar inside; it looked suspicious, but I attempted to free the animal. When brute strength failed, Rothgar jimmied it with a pick. Shortly after doing so, we encountered hunting dogs, led by an ogrekin. I helped slice up the dogs before the ogre lunged at me with his spear. I felt a searing pain and everything went dark.
...
Next thing I knew, I was being roused by the others in the party and admonished for getting in too close to the ogre. Properly chagrined (for I carry not only a greatsword and falchion, but a spear as well), I pulled myself up and fell into step with the others, as the cougar, newly freed, led us up the path. Shortly, we emerged into a field with a farmhouse, barn, and cornfield. Rothgar flew ahead on Argo and lighted on the roof of the barn, signaling to us that there were ogrekin inside. As we approached, though, another ogrekin charged out of a field on our right and attacked Gronad. Drawing my spear, I went to attack the snarling creature as the ones that had been inside the barn also burst out. In the confusion, Gronad's horse was slain, and Gronad injured, but we slew the cornfield creature and his compatriots in the barn.

While investigating the barn, Skippy and I came across imprisoned Black Arrow militia. Eager to know what had happened, we moved to free them along with Rothgar. However, at that very moment, a gargantuan spider lowered itself from the ceiling and bit me! I felt the poison coursing through me, slowing my reflexes and wit, but managed to cut deeply into the spider before Skippy and Rothgar managed to finish it off (Skippy taking a bite himself in the process). Skippy reacted worse to the poison than I did; he was scarcely able to stand without support from Sarah. She and Gronad helped remove some of the nastier effects of the poison, but to be fully cured we were going to have to return to town.

We did manage to free the prisoners, one of whom which is the 2nd in command of the Black Arrows and Fort Rannick! He and his fellows, including an elf named Barandir, looked in need of a good night's rest, but we needed questions answered. Through Jakartos, the leader, we learned that Fort Rannick had fallen to ogres, and his patrol had been nearly wiped out attempting to retake it. We decided they should head back to town to rest, and we would consult with them about retaking the fort later.

After sending the Black Arrows on their way, we headed in towards the farmhouse. We accidentally roused what appeared to be hideous, overgrown ogrekin children; Gronad promptly slaughtered one, and the other ran into the house wailing. He and I moved further in, wary of ogres; I was fully cognizant of what sort of things happened to those who they caught. Behind us, we heard a guttural bellow, but in front, a group of ogrekin moved into view. Brandishing my spear, I moved in, quickly realizing these were undead creatures. I tore through two of them and Gronad took down another; glancing behind us, I saw that a huge one had burst from a door along with large rats, and was attacking Sarah. Gronad and I waded in again, absorbing more blows, but hurting him badly enough that he ran back down the stairs he had come up. Looking out the window, I saw an enormous, fat monster floating in midair; it was another ogrekin, this one clearly a magic user. It looked severely wounded, and tried to flee just as Skippy raised his hand and uttered an incantation. An enormous fireball suddenly exploded directly on top of her, and it, and her speed, threw her down to the ground ablaze and in pieces.

We moved further into the house, trying to ignore the horror of what we were seeing as we examined everything. Down the stairs, we followed the sound of the whimpering ogre-thing until we cornered him. As we moved in, however, a massive pile of vegetation seemed to take shape and lunge at us. It swallowed Rothgar whole, and was after Gronad as well before I, Sarah and Skippy brought it and the last big ogrekin down. I cut the thing's stomach open, spilling its guts and freeing Rothgar, who was in the process of being digested. Our magic users quickly got them up and running, and we continued our exploration of the house.

The basement had three rooms, and in the third my worst fears were confirmed. There, stretched out but still recognizable, was my father's face, removed from his body. They had killed and likely eaten him. Enraged, I moved off to find the ogrekin child only to see that he had already been slain by another member of the party. Instead, I returned to the basement and carefully wrapped my father's face, before bringing it outside and burying it by a tree. The others seemed to finally comprehend that my father had died as I requested that we burn the building to the ground. Behind us, one of the Black Arrows had returned; Barandir. He and Rothgar strongly advocated against burning the building, as it would likely alert any ogres at Fort Rannick. Instead, we decided to return to town and plot our assault. I want to make them pay for what they've done to my family!


Neth 9 4707

As a child of the tribe I remember growing up the tales of great warriors and leaders before me, we would sit next to the fire as the sun dipped below the earth and my mother or father would tell Agronox and I great tales till slumber eventually found us. In the morning my brother and I would re-enact the tales as games, I usually took on the role as the villain or some helpless person as my older and much bigger brother came to my rescue or defeated me in single combat. It was not until I was much older, a young man of the tribe that I realized that the tales my peoples used were some parts myth and some parts real. The tales I grew up on were life lesions passed down from one tribesmen to another in order to impart there wisdom on those that come long after them, and I realized how horrifying the world could be.

In all my years, over anything I have ever seen or had done, that creature that attacked us in Turtleback ferry this morning was by far the worst thing I could have ever imagined, far surpassing any tale I have ever heard. That creature is surely a shattered fragment of the deepest darkest nightmare ever dreamed up by the gods above, and its furious and horrifying image shall forever be imprinted on my soul.

I thought today was going to be a good day, not only for our group but for the people of Turtleback ferry, it’s true the Black Arrow rangers are all but shattered but in tern we exacted a sort of revenge and surly killed off a large portion of the Ogres that lurked outside the town.

It was early dawn when Skippy nudged me awake, the floor of the keep made somewhat better by piling filthy blankets was still cold and unforgivably hard, and though I would much rather some shelter created in the wilds Agro and I were far to injured and sore. Looking around I noticed the others aroused from their sleep in a similar fashion, but it was the look on Skippy’s face that told me something awful had happen. Given us a few moments to rub the sleep from our eyes he broke the news telling us that a few moments ago while on watch he heard a tremendous cracking sound before witnessing the damn far above the city crack. Water was on its way towards the town and it did not look good, quickly I jumped to my feet reaching for my armor and weapons, and we all at once started talking about what to do.

As a whole we decided that the best course of action was to warn the people, who by now must already be feeling the effects of the busted damn, Agro and I was to fly as fast as we could manage in the thunderstorm outside while the others came along behind us as quickly as they could. Gathering the rest of my gear I wasted no time, running out to the roof to summon forth Agro from his home plane, to my surprise when he appeared he had nearly doubled in size. Seeing the look on my face as I backed up, clearly confused at his new and even more impressive form, he spoke into my mind, reassuring me everything was ok.

Hearing the others inside I went back in and called for them to come see, I must have sounded like a child given a new toy by his parents, the excitement in my voice uncontrollable. After witnessing Agros new form I climbed aboard taking my seat near his shoulders just behind his head, looking around I asked Agro if he would be willing to take another. Confidant he could carry more, even in this storm I asked Elrohir and Gronad to join me, for the look of worry on El’s face was clear and Gronad could assist with any healing needed in the town.

Once they were firmly in place, we took off ahead of the others, Sara and Skippy would follow as best they could on the road below, Berendir would hold down the fort so to speak, in case we needed to evacuate the town’s folk back here. As we flew through the air I could feel Elrohir squeeze my sides holding on for dear life, every time Agro banked or was buffeted by a stiff wind I thought as though my ribs would crack.

Arriving at the town our worst fears were realized, the water had already flooded up the banks of the lake and into the town, all around people were clinging onto any structure still standing or floating at the mercy of the strong current. I found a spot to touch down Elrohir and Gronad before taking to the air once more, in an attempt to find others more in need of our help. Floating in the center of town I spotted a group of school children clinging desperately to a small boat. Agro was maneuvering down to the boat when a great black snake emerged from the waters climbing up the side of the vessel.

With all the speed he could muster Agro dived down, his large powerful claws out stretched for an attack but before we could intercept the snake reached out coiling it’s self around a small child squeezing the life from its body. Enraged Agro slammed into its side with all his fury, tearing and ripping shreds of flesh from the snake, using the force of the attack I rolled over his shoulder landing on the boat between the snake and creature bringing my bastard sword Demon-b*@$! down with a powerful swing. Clearly in pain the beast snapped out its body with astonishing speed and before I could react it was coiled around me, crushing me so tightly I fought to keep the air in my lungs. Agro again tore into the creature as Elrohir just now arriving pulled himself up into the boat and slashing the snake nearly in two, even dead it took a few moments for its muscles to relax enough for me to wriggle free.

Catching my breath I watched as the town cleric magically strengthened and nearly double in size heave and pull another small boat through the town, children and townsfolk piled high inside.

I climbed back atop Agro and we made for church, after dropping me off on its roof, Agro flew down to a side window where he assisted town’s folk in climbing out to safety. From atop the church I scanned the town for any more threats while the others helped any they could escape the waters.

A sudden and powerful tremor struck the church causing me to nearly topple over its edge, looking around in panic I was relieved to see it was only a massive log that was caught in the waters, but it was clear the church was no longer safe. Looking around for my safest route down from the roof I become awestruck when I notice a large and powerful looking form rise from the blackness of the waters below.

The creature continued to rise higher and higher into the air pulling its self-up till it is nearly towering over me atop the church’s roof. I’m not sure how long I was standing there in awe but it was Skippy lightning bolt that snapped me back to reality, the power arc of magic seemed to dance across the creature’s skin to no effect. Dangerously close to the behemoth I fired off a single arrow as I ran across the leaning roof top and dove off the side to land hard on Argos back below. From my our current position I could only see a small portion of the beast from behind the corner of the church but when it let out a hellish roar I could see it spit out a noxious cloud of poison that clouded my view. I struggled to resist the poisonous fumes but could not fight it, my mind went blank and I had a hard time remember what it was I was even doing in the town. By the time I shook off the mind altering effect of the poison the creature was again towering over me and Agro, it lashed out with great speed and power, its fangs and tentacles biting and slamming into me, wracking my body in pain. When the creature pulled away I felt as though it was talking with it pieces of my soul, Agro must have felt my pain and backed away before taking to the sky, putting as much distance as he could between me and the creature.

By the time I realized what was going on I mentally conveyed my plan to Agro, before rolling backwards off his back enacting a spell that allowed me to drift slowly down to the raging waters below. With me somewhat safely away, Agro turned back for the others in an attempt to give them a chance to get away, due to my wounds and the furiosity of the waters I could do nothing but fight to stay above the water, a fight I was sorely losing.

By the time Agro came back for me, with Gronad on his back my lungs were on fire from holding my breath as I relentless kicked to keep from drowning. Scooping me up in his talons Agro flew to the tree line on the edge of town where we touched down among the others, Elrohir was nowhere to be seen. They told me he died fighting the creature, which fled into the waters still clutching Elrohirs lifeless body.

We agreed we would get as many people as we could to the relative safety of Fort Rennick before night was upon us, and then figure out our next move. While the others gathered the townsfolk Agro and I took to the air so see if anyone else needed our help before flying over the lake looking for any sign of the creature or Elrohir. I’m not sure if I was happy or sad we found no sign of our fallen friend, but I was relieved the creature seemed to be gone.

By the time we got the people back to the Fort it was getting late in the day, Agro and I doubled back to the town to see if there were any more survivors that were left behind when we spotted a lone man limping down the road towards the fort. As we got closer I was confused and elated to see it was Elrohir, somehow still alive though just barely. After landing it took some time for him to even speak, he was clearly in a lot of pain and shock from the battle with the creature, in his eyes it looked as though he was still fighting it.

After climbing on Agros back and drinking a potion of healing a little color returned to his face, he explained what had happen before he was knocked unconscious by the creature and how he awoke on the shore hours later. Before returning back to the Fort we decided it best to look for any fresh game in the woods around the fort, eventually retuning with a pair of wild boar Agro and I managed to run down.

As the people worked to clear the garbage and debris from the shattered and broken fort so that they could rest and eat it was clear there was still much to do, with many questions unanswered. And from the looks on their faces one thing was for certain all of us here knew we were lucky to escape with our lives after encountering was surly must have been a god.


Rothgar beat me to it today...

Neth 8
The Flood
Skippy awakens the group, informing them of the precarious state of the damn and river. Berendir, Skippy, Sarah, and Elrohir go downstairs to and interrogate Kaven regarding the scrolls and his tattoo of the Siderhon Star. They manage to get little information from him, and decide to head to Turtleback Ferry to check on the flooding. Rothgar, Gronad, and Elrohir fly atop Agro, while Skippy and Sarah start off on foot. The flying group arrives first, and starts evacuating people to higher ground. They encounter a boa in a boat attacking school children and rush to assist, however they are too late for one child. The snake grabbed Rothgar and attempted to constrict him, however it was killed by Elrohir before doing too much damage.
The party contiues evacuating people, seeing Mayor Shreed, enlarged with translucent antlers jutting from his head, hauling a ferry full of people from the chapel to higher ground. Agro hovers near the window and starts taking people out of the chapel when a large mass strikes the side of it. A gigantic pleiosaur-like creature erupts from the water, spraying the area with a noxious gas, befuddling the party. They begin to act strangely, but it wears off quickly. Sarah casts Haste as Elrohir rushes forward and climbs back into the boat to push back the beast. It takes a chomp out of Rothgar as he dives off the chapel roof onto Agro, then does a full attack on Elrohir as everyone else backs away. Rothgar dives off of Agro into the lake, sending him back in to try and resuce Elrohir (currently grappled and unconcious), however the creature has other plans, and commands Agro to fall from the sky. The creature then takes it's prize and descends into the depths of claybottom lake. Elrohir uses cheat death and stuff happens. (leaving this to you to share, if you want)
The party speaks briefly with Mayor Shreed, and starts ferrying people up to Fort Rannick. On a final trip back, Rothgar notices Elrohir limping up the road, and picks him up, taking him back to the fort.


Skippy woke up the crew. He explains them about the sound he heard from the Dam. The crew first decided to go back to the prison where Kaven is held up. The interrogation of Kaven, did not yield much fruit and they decided to attend to the immediate need to check up with the status of the Dam and help the people if there is a need.

Rothgar summoned Agro and they picked up Gronad and Elrohir as they decided to fly to the Turtleback ferry. Berendir, does not like Sarah and so when Sarah decided to walk to turtleneck ferry and wanted one more person to accompany her, he happily declined the offer and decided to stay put. So, Skippy joined Sarah as they started walking through the tunnels and head to the turtleneck ferry.


Neth 8
Short game this week.

The party works on calming the villagers through healing and food, except for Sarah who decides to start pumping villagers for information using Intimidate checks. She utterly fails her first roll and ends up scared of a certain town street sweeper. During this time, ROthgar takes Agro out over the dam to scout it out, finding a handful of ogres chipping away at it. He heads back to Rannick and collects Elrohir and Sarah, taking them back to the dam while Berendir and Gronad follow on horseback. Rothgars crew lands on top of the dam and engages the ogres led by Malgrus Kreeg, while Berendir and Gronad climb into the cave and take outthe ettin Gorger and Chaw. Some minor looting occurs, a door gets busted in, and Agro, Rothgar, and Elrohir walk into a room covered in fungus, strewen with ogre parts. Agro spots a troll hiding in the fungus, and threatens to eat him, at which point the remaining 3 trolls emerge from their hiding places.


I think I will try to write more candidly instead of recapping the events in my journal, trying to capture what Gronad would write if he even cared to write about his adventures.

Gronad wrote:

The last few days have been a blur... I am sure I will be missing some details. Ever since I got revenge for Cronad's death it seems all I am doing to going around in circles. Why do I even go on with this group? I am fighting for what? Sure they are good group of fighters, but I have nothing left to fight for at the risk of being swallowed up by a giant sea monster to save a town that I have no connection too.

I guess this is how mercenaries live, from coin to coin. The bigger the coin the bigger the risk, the higher change some barbarian will claim your family heirloom and name it with the late owner's name.

On a positive note, I got to smash in a lot of ogres. I have no love for those abominations. We cleared out an old black arrow fort for the ogres barely. Still not sure why they were there though. I think it's something we are going to look in. At least I get to kill some more of those bastards.

We are back at the fort with the town villagers, the are planning some kind of attack on the ogres that are up on the dam. They are pretty determined. I guess I will tend to the wounds of the villagers, while they come up with their grand plan. Luckily, no only is hurt badly, I think people are just in shock of losing their village. It's possible that they may be able to salvage their homes now that the waters have receded. I guess only time will tell.


Neth 8 still

Apparantly I did not hit submit and this was just sitting open for 3 days .

Rothgar quickly manages to talk down the trolls, explaining that the ogres were dead and the party had no intention of harming the trolls, only to stop the dam, their home, from bursting. The trolls agree to let the party investigate, so long as they promise to leave Wet Pappy Grazuul alone. They agree, then begin to explore Skulls crossing. Rothgar, Elrogir, and Sarah investigate the upstairs. They find and loot a small cache of treasures belonging to one of the dead trolls. Meanwhile, Gronad and Berendir head down stairs, where they see a pool of slime covered water. Berendir notices something moving under the water, so Gronad throws a rock at it. a few seconds later, the remainder of the party comes down the stairs, and a rock is flung out of the pool over their heads. They decide to leave the pool alone, for now. Rothgar and Elrohir head to the eastern door, opening it to find a room containing a pile of skulls and a scale model of the dam. As Elrohir inspects the model, the pile of skulls shifts and arises as a large scorpion like creature. Elrohir, Rothgar, and Berendir panic and run away in fear, while Sarah blasts at it with magic. Agro tries to sneak in the back door and get it from behind, but is grappled, and then frightened, and Rothgar chooses to dismiss him. Gronad races into the room to attack the creature, but with it's target gone, the creature turns on him, grabbing him in its claws. The party tries to beat down on the creature, but have a hard time affecting it until Berendir lands a crit with his bow. the creature, enraged, attempts to snip of Gronads head, but something stops this from happening. Before the creature is able to turn and continue its assault, Rothgar pops into the room and gets the killing blow with an arrow.
The party investigates the model some more. Berendir finds a pale lavender Ioun stone. When it is revealed that the stone can absorb magic, the party decides to cast spells on it until it breaks, suspecting it is what is stopping the dam from functioning. It is not, and shatters into a fine dust.
The party checks the western room but finds nothing of interest. They then open the southern doors, where at one end lies a pile of ash, and the other lies a dead-looking devil. Sarah identifies the creature as a Pit Fiend, and the wetting of pants commences. Elrohir and Sarah approach to get a closer look at the thing, and it reaches out towards them, gasping, requesting its freedom. Elrohir starts bargining with the devil for it's freedom, but Rothgar talks him out of it, and they flip a coin to see who would enter the second circle. Rothgar "wins" and has a level drained. The party then walks past the trolls unmolested and heads back to Rannick, making plans for a trip to Magnimar.


Gronad wrote:

Well, I can't really explain what happened today... a lot of ogres, trolls and some weird scorpion like creature and to boot. Strangely, I feel like I shouldn't have come back from that battle. At one point the scorpion creature had my neck in his grip and as it squeezed I simply passed out. I was sure I was a goner. No one is talking about it either so I guess nothing special happened.

Next we found a demon like beast stuck in a summoner pit. I am fairly certain that if it was at full strange we would have been destroyed. I suppose it was a good thing that it was stuck in that pit. The group wanted to negotiate with the demon to power the dam. Damn fools. Do they not understand the power that those creatures can hold? I guess they managed to power the dam, not idea what they did or how they managed it. All I know is that Rothegar and Elrohir looked sickly pale. Perhaps they are cursed for negotiating with the demon. I should keep a close eye on them. Hopefully they won't turn on the group if they were possessed.

I suppose we will be on our way now. We have fulfilled our agreement to the mayor. El looked like he wanted to protest our imminent departure. He mentioned something about ghost in the woods. I am a little fed up with unnatural creatures, but I have no reason to reject he plea. I will talk to him in the morning and see if I can assist him before we leave this hellish place.


Neth 9 4707
As Agro landed in the court yard, dozens of people were milling about in different stages of pain and suffering, children, old men and woman, over all there must have been nearly fifty people soaked tired and hungry crammed inside this broken fort that was covered is blood and gore.

As Elrohir slid down from Agro’s back, Benerdir came over to give him a hand, noticing the two boars slung over Agros back he offered to find a spot to cook them up. Looking around I felt every bit as tired and drained as the people around me but I could not sit around and do nothing, with Agros blessing we decided it best to scout out the damn. With a might leap and a few powerful flaps of his wings we were air borne again, and for the time being I was at ease, if not a little light headed.

It did not take long for Agro to reach the damn, on his approach he gained a little extra altitude as to avoid any conflict that may be waiting for us. The damn itself was a massive beyond any comparison I had, it was constructed out of giant slabs of black rock. Giant skulls adorned the top, one of which was cracked open and broken away, the source of all the flooding water, and from on high we could spot several large creatures that appeared to be smashing away at another skull.

Their appeared to be four creatures and for a brief moment I considered attempting to take them on by myself, but in the end I settled for a closer fly by on my return to the fort, they were Ogres and large ones at that.

As we headed back I was unsure if they had seen us, and for once I was thankful for the dark and brooding overcast skies, Agros dark scales blended in nicely. As the fort came into view Agro landed on the upper roof next to the bell tower I slept in the night before, and as quickly as I could without looking panicked I ran down to the courtyard below. It took me a few minutes to spot one of the others but alas I found Elrohir resting on a wall, telling him to find the others I returned back to the tower to ready my gear, I would need extra arrows.

It was not long until we were all together again in the keep, we’ll all of us save Gronad who was too busy mending the wounds of the town’s folk below, I told them what I had discovered. We all agreed we needed to check this out, if the ogres succeeded the damage it caused could risk the lives of hundreds who make their home along the river. Regardless of how much pain or suffering I’m sure we were all feeling we would endure it longer and push on.

With Elrohir and and I on Agro’s back we took off, while Gronad and Benerdir followed behind on the last remaining horse Gronad rescued from the town. I we flew back to the damn I hoped we would be back before nightfall, this place was bad enough during the day.

Agro choose an angle of approach that would keep us hidden as much as possible before attacking, allowing us to come up behind the ogre’s and trap them in the middle. With the air rushing past our ears Agro timed Sara drop perfectly, barley touching before taking off over the Ogres heads leaving her behind on the fortress like structure atop the damn. Before the lumbering hulks could react El and I we were nearly two hundred feet further down the damn, and Agro was back in the air.

I wasted no time sending off two arrows at the closet Ogre, nearly dropping him to a knee, stuck between a rock and a hard place the Ogres charged weapons held high, but they had some distance to cover before we were in any real harm. I had shot nearly a half a dozen arrows before the ogres were in range were close enough for Elrohir to use his great sword. While El kept the Ogre’s at bay, I tried to focus my aim on those closest to El as to keep him from being overrun.

Elrohir returned in kind, wrapped in metal plates he went toe to toe with any foolish enough to try swinging his magical great sword with abandon. Lining up my next shot I heard Agros voice in my head, he was close and was bringing Gronad and Benerdir with him. Further down the damn I caught a glimpse of an Ogre turning on its own kind and swung his hook cutting a large slice down its back, unsure on how to take that I kept up my fire.

Just as the last remaining Ogre charged up on Elrohir Agro came up over the ledge landing just out of reach, Gronad face planted off Agros back while Benerdir jumped down moment’s latter firing a stream of arrows as he did. Another of my arrows went wide missing the Ogre as Agro unencumbered traded blows with the hulk before unleashing his full furry tearing the throat from the creature sending it to the stones.

Agro El and I approached the keep nestled atop the damn, after Agro helped Sara down from the roof we saw to checking out the doors while Sara and Gronad searched the ogre’s bodies. With a little help from El and I Agro leaned on the doors enough to snap the metal brace holding them shut, as the dust settled he walked in flanked by Elrohir and I. The room looked to have been most overgrown and abandoned the walls covered in thick mold and vegetation. As we crossed the room Agro was heading for one of the many door’s when we spotted a Troll in the corner of the room, hidden behind the overgrowth I told the creature to stay back in its own tongue, Agro threated to eat it if it moved. Perhaps we should have spent more time looking around, out from behind us and all around several other trolls came out from hiding, we were surrounded.

I could both see and feel Agro’s muscles tighten thought our mental link but to his credit he was restraining himself from attacking, slowly I took a step toward Elrohir while I raised my bow above my head. In the trolls native tongue I told them we were no threat so long as no one attacked and explained our only interest was to protect the damn. Slowly we spoke until finally they agreed to let us explore their home so long as we all stay clear of their “Wet pappy grav”, who or what that was I didn’t know but agreed to their terms. Calling out to the others to join us I specifically called out to Gronad and explained to him our tenues alliance with the trolls and to be on his best behavior, reluctantly he complied.

It did not take long to spread out and explore the first level, aside from the entrance room there wasn’t much to find, apart from a small stash of treasure hidden within a wall and the stairs leading down. By the time Agro and I finished up stairs Gronad and Sara had already moved down, we found them standing and staring into a pool of water, Gronad claiming to have seen something in its depths. Agreeing to keep our distance until necessary El and I explored one of the three adjoining rooms, aside from another pool of water and a gleaming pile of skulls in the opposite corner, a scaled map of the damn was the only point of interest. As I stood guard Elrohir inspected the map, to our surprise and horror the pile of skulls quickly assembled into a horse sized scorpion, already rearing to attack. The sight of the creature sent chills down my spine and I could feel its magic work its way into me, I did all I could to resist but was already too weak from previous battles. Failing to overcome the fear I ran from the room, doing all I could to get away from the creature.

I was nearly up the stairs before I regained my senses confused I ran back towards the room where I could hear the others fighting and was nearly back when I caught a glimpse of Agro pinned in the creature’s claws, screaming in pain. Mentally I pleaded with him leave to return to his home, and as much as he fought to stay the pain was just too much and he disappeared.

Immediately I called forth another creature to aid our fight, out of the whirling mists a powerfully large grizzly bear stepped forward before picking up its pace into a full on charge. As the bear neared I could sense the scorpions magic ebbing at the bears mind eroding way its confidence forcing it to run in fear, I could feel the bear trying to resist but in the end like me it ran off in fear.

Without another target the creature grabbed Gronad, and all his armor and strength could not stop the beast from squeezing the life from him. Elrohir, Brendeir and I attacked with bow and blade while Sara blasted it with spell after spell, for a moment I thought we lost Gronad before the creature finally fell. While Gronad saw to his near grievous wounds Sara and El found a small stone with in the map that had the ability to absorb spells. Figuring we could recharge it with our own magic she used a few charges from one of her many wands on the stone, but it just turned to dust.

We continued to explore finding very little in the room opposite ours until the last room revealed something very interesting indeed, to the left and right of this small room were two cages with some sort of summoning circle in each cage. On the right side was a pile of ash’s but on the left was the remains of some sort of demon creature, I let the others take a closer look having spent enough time with both demons and undead to press my luck. On further inspection they found the creature still breathing though it was barley a shadow of its former self, Sara called it a “Pit fiend” and said they were used as generals of the demonic armies.

The creature had enough strength left in its weak and frail body to explain he was a prisoner summoned by the creators of the damn long ago, and it was his life force that powered the damn its self. It asked to be released so that it could return to the underworld to gain its strength, and in return it would grant us a powerful boon, it also revealed that another of his kind was summoned long ago but was too weak to withstand the ritual and was drained of all its power as he motioned to the dust pile in the other cell.

As the others talked about setting it free I inspected the cell finding out how to open it, and after a brief decision about the outcome of the damn bursting we decided that one of us would enter, forgoing a portion of our soul to save the damn and the people it “Protected”. A coin was used to determine who would enter and in the end I won the toss, the easy part was stepping into the circle the good that would come from this out weighted the bad. Standing there I watched a group of friends look on with both fear and respect as the device drained portions of my soul to fuel its engines, outside we could hear the floodgates open releasing the waters and easing the pressure on the damns fractured walls.

We left the complex passing the trolls and making out way back to Fort Ranick, we used the time to talk about what would come next, our job was done regardless of the outcome and it seemed we would return back to Magnimar. But something did not sit well; we really didn’t have a clue who or what was behind Ogres attack’s besides a few strange names whispered by their crazed followers and it was clear there was still much more to uncover. In the silence of our travels I could not help but feel like we had all suffered more than enough for this cause, perhaps we have done all we could and it is our time to fade from memory to live out what was left of our lives in peace.


Neth 8
After the party returns to Fort Rannick, Elrohir proposes to Tillia Henderson, who accepts on the condition that he promises not to die. He agrees.

Neth 9
Elrohir has a strange dream at night, and awakes with a butterfly mark on the back of his hand.
Rothgar, Elrohir, and Skippy decide to explore the strange lights in the Shimmerglens by flying over top on Agro. They notice that Whitewillow appears to be the source of the darkness, and land a ways from it, approaching on foot. They land near a still pool of clear water, and after throwing some leaves and twigs and rocks in it, leave. They make their way towards whitewillow, shadowy figures appearing in their perhiperals the whole way there, but manage to arrive unscathed. As they stand at the edge of the clearing, Skippy contemplates lighting it all on fire and leaving. Nobody thinks this is a good idea.
As they enter the glade, a ghostly creature, limbs torn off, arises from the pool. It's beauty blinds Rothgar and Agro, and while Elrohir and Skippy talk with the creature, Rothgar repeadetly says "I'm Blind", but no one cares.
They learn that the creature was a nymph, and was the lover of Lamatar Braydan, who was killed by ogres and taken to Hook mountain. She explains she was also killed when attempting to save him, and she has tried to reincarnate him with her, but is unable to for some reason. She pleads for the party to find out what has become of her love, and they agree. Elrohir and Skippy start to get on Agro when they finally realize he is blind. So Elrohir leads the group out of the shimerglens, past an ancient derelict ship, and back to Rannick where Gronad is able to remove their blindness.
Elrohirs wedding takes up most of the evening, with all the party except Gronad attending. He is too busy burning ogre bodies. Everyone enjoys the reception, and Sarah gets drunk off of ale salvaged from Turtleback ferry. Jakardos and Father Shreed discuss sending people to relocate some houses from Turtleback to the outskirts of Fort Rannick.
Neth 10
The party treks to Hook Mountain, with Rothgar guiding from the skies. They arrive to a cave billowing black smoke, with two ogres guarding the entrance. They kill one, but the other runs deeper into the cave calling for help.


Neth 10 still
The party gives chase, stumbling into a crossroads pile with ogres and a hill giant. Skippy decides to be a front line fighter for the day, then is almost immediately cut down by an ogre hook crit. (cheats death with hero points) The remainder of the party polishes off the ogres and gets Skippy back on his feet.

They clear out the forge room, and fill it with water, causing the forge to crack irrepearbly. They also investigate the pit and contemplate stealing the armor off a giant statue, but decide to press on instead, entering a room with 3 hags gathered around a cauldron. The hags Split the party with a force cage, but are unable to do much else before the group wipes them out. The party realizes that a coven of hags has the ability to control weather, and they may have a lead.

Night finishes off with the age old debate of Left path vs Right path.


Neth 10 still
The party makes their way into the old altar room, where they see a corpse slumped up against the altar. On closer inspection, the body lashes out at them for a couple rounds before being destroyed. Gonad and Elrohir figure this is probably Lamatar Bayden, and they cut off one of his hands to take with them.
They continued into the next room where a stone giant sat in a throne, guarded by a second giant. The party engaged and took the bodyguard down, and Barl dropped to a knee and begged for mercy. All the party except for Elrohir and Sarah had been Feared away, and Elrohir refused mercy. Barl tried a last ditch ray of exhaustion on Elrohir, but was killed shortly after. The party then found the note mentioning an incoming raid on Sandpoint.

Meanwhile, Joe Flynn, corsair and privateer, has been on shore leave in Sandpoint, where he is just stepping out of the Pixies Kitten to the sounds of alarm bells ringing.

To be continued after the in between books break.


And we are back!
Neth 10, still!
The party debates over the importance of the note, coming to odds between Rothgar, who wanted to go ASAP to aid Sandpoint, and Elrohir, who wanted to inform the Lord mayor of Magnimar first. After debating some time, the party decided to split, with some flying to sandpoint on Agro while the remainder went by boat to Magnimar. Then, while preparing to leave, Sarah found a scroll of teleport in her backpack where it had been sitting for several weeks, and informed the group. They unanimously decided at this point to teleport to Sandpoint, but only after stopping in at Fort Rannick and returning a piece of Lamatar to Myrianna at White Willow. While Gronad, Skippy, and Sarah prepared themselves at Rannick and send a courier to Magnimar, Rothgar and Agro dropped Elrohir off near the White WIllows glade, where he approached alone and returned Lamatar to Myrianna. Myrianna thanked him and disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a somewhat bewildered Lamatar Bayden to get caught up with Elrohir. As the discussion summed up, Lamatar presented Elrohir with a lock of his hair, granting him the Nymphs Muse blessing. They then gathered up and teleported to the Rusty Dragon.

Meanwhile, in Sandpoint, most of the townsfolk are going about their day as per normal. Several townspeople, however, noticed a large amount of smoke coming from the north. Sabyl Sorn and Ven Vinder immediately went to consult Sherrif Hemlock, while Brodert Quint chose to take a closer look, seeing large figures move between the trees at a distance. Quint also reported this to the Sherrif, who decided at this point to investigate further. Upon arriving at the walls and seeing a handful of giants in the distance, Hemlock began tasking out those with him to start gathering people and preparing to evacuate into the tunnels. A handful of townspeople stayed behind to assist in a defence, along with the town guards and militia. Hemlock, Quint, and Vinder stayed at the North gate, Savah Bensky and Naffer Vosk at the east bridge, and Daviern Hosk and Hannah at the South bridge, with Sabyl Sorn, Ameiko Kajitsu, and Madame Mvashti around the Cathedral to assist where necessary.
The first spot assaulted was the North Gate. the giants there pelted the defenders with rocks, killing several militia and severly injuring Ven Vinder, who had to fall back for healing. Between Quints fire magic, Hemlocks polearm, and the many crossbows of the militia, the remaing giants fell fairly quickly, but not before the second group attacked the Tanners Bridge. 2 giants driving dire bears ahead of them quickly began making short work of the militia here, to the point where Vosk and Savah lit the bridge on fire. This only temporarily delayed the force though. As they arrived on shore, the troops pulled back, hiding in the alleys around the buildings. Seeing the bridge on fire, Daivern Hosk raced his horse up to assist, arriving just in time to see a dire bear disembowl Savah. Meanwhile, Ameiko snuck into the allies to assist Vosk, and managed to take down a dire bear between the two of them, while a third bear broke into the tannery, causing a quickly ending scream from inside.
During this assault, a red dragon flew in from the north, breathing fire ineffectually on the Garrison and snapping up a townsperson who had not made it to the evacuation yet. Hemlock and Ven Vinder gathered some troops and Sabyl Sorn and headed down to assist the Tanners bridge, leaving Quint and some troops to man the gate.
The session ended with the PCs arriving at the Rusty Dragon to the muffled sounds of battle.


Neth 10, the day that never ends.
The party pushes their way out of the Rusty Dragon to see a REAL flying above the city, breathing fire down on the cathedral. Gronad, Rothgar, and Elrohir mount up on Argo while Sarah recovers from the teleportation with Skippy to guard her.
At the North Gate, Quint tells the militia with him to take cover from the dragon, however as soon as he does a group of ogres barges out of the woods and rushes the gate. He manages to disperse them with a couple spells, then gets back into cover.
Meanwhile, another pair of giants crosses the south bridge, held only by Hannah and a handful of militia, though Daviern Hosk is making his way back. As the giants begin to cross the bridge, Hannah creates a cloud of fog over it, then has her troops light the bridge on fire. She then steps out of the fog to attempt another spell on a giant, and is struck with a boulder, then falls to a club soon after. Daviern Hosk arrives about this time and charges the second giant as he climbs onto the bank.
The party flies towards the cathedral, firing some shots down on a trio of giants bashing their way through town, only to be pummeled by a barage of boulders, forcing Argo to fly in between buildings for cover. Seeing the east bridge under attack, and figuring it was on the way to the dragon anyway, Elrohir and Gronad dismount here to help with the bears and giants here. Elrohir notices smoke rising from one of the noble manors to the south, but does not tell anyone. They find Joe Flynn, who had been recruited by Sheriff Hemlock, fighting alongside Ameiko, trying to take down the giants. Hemlock falls in battle and chooses to play dead for the time being. With only one giant remaining, Rothgar takes to the air to try and lure the dragon to the group. However, the dragon has moved on to the Sandpoint Theatre, and lit it aflame. Heavily injured by the dragon fire, Cyrodak Drokkus flees south on a phantom horse. The dragon begins to make chase, but is distracted by a frosty arrow fired from Rothgar. The dragon turns to chase his new target, getting a snap in on him, before Rothgar manages to "crash land" near the other party members.
Dragon landed with a load earthshattering thud as our heroes stood and gazed at the creature before them.


Neth 10... so close
At the south bridge, Daviern Hosk tries to fend off one of the giants, managing to weave and manouever his mount to avoid several strikes, but is eventually knocked off the mount. The remaining militia retreat into nearby buildings to strike from within.
As the dragon lands, Rothgar moves into a nearby building and Elrohir takes cover behind another. Skippy, who had been running towards teh dragon for some time now, appears on the far side of the map just in time to see the dragon shoot a spout of flame at Gronad and Tsutko (the ninja that had been chasing the dragon all through town), who proceeds to rush at the dragon. In the back, Joe Flynn and Ameiko keep whittling down the last giant, while Hemlock slowly stands and gets into position to strike him, eventually managing to kill him. Tsutko goes invisible and sneaks in to flank the dragon as Rothgar and Argo reposition themselves around the other side. the party peppers the dragon with shots and lightening, to a point where the dragon takes off, threatening revenge. Skippy, Gronad, and Rothgar then take to the skies southward, in an attempt to stop the giants at the south bridge. As soon as they are in range Skippy launches several fireballs at the giants, injuring them and killing Daviern Hosk, Hannah, and several unconcious militia members. The group lands briefly and quickly finishes off the giants, then notices the fire to the south and hearing the sound of a war horn to the north, and take off again, choosing to go south to the Noble Manors. They arrive to see tracks of a wagon heading out of town, and follow it for a short time, finding a trio of giants pulling a wagon laden with barrels and rugs and artwork. Skippy yells at them in Infernal, and though none of them understand, they all throw rocks at him, injuring him greatly and nearly knocking him off the mount. They take off and head towards where the horn was sounded, spotting a trio of giants moving to cross the river at the mill on the way. They move to intercept, dropping into combat around a warehouse. As the party tries to pick at the giants from range, Agro rushes the larger of the three, and is almost instantly pummeled into oblivion. The other giants lob boulders at Rothgar, forcing him to retreat off the roof, leaving Skippy alone up top. One of the giants manage to climb onto the roof, as Skippy lets loose some more lightning, killing a giant, before jumping off the roof and faceplanting into the street below. Gronad charges the giant, taking an extremely painful blow from his heavy pick, but holds on, trading blows with the giant. Tsutko made leap onto the roof, rushes across, and lands behind the large giant, surronded by copies of himself. Gronad then learns the importance of journal boons, as he nearly dies several times due to Teraktanus' pick assaults, he burns through his boons, though he still ends up unconcious. With the dwarf down, Big T turns his focus on his other assailant, ignoring the inept anklyosaurus that Rothgar had summoned behind him. He unleashes a storm of blows at Tsutko, squashing two of his clones and striking him once, but is soon dropped by an arrow as Rothgar jumps out of his hiding place to joing the battle again.
The sounds of battle over, a handful of people who had not been evacuated in time look out of their shelters, as the heroes find a bag containing a large, charred rock on the body of the head giant.


Neth 10... finishing moves.
As the party looks around at the destruction surronding them, they realize that, though the sounds of battle had ceased, that fires were still blazing throught the city. Rothgar summons a handful of water elementals and sends them to the fires, while Joe Flynn and Zukuto (i've been spelling his name wrong previously) organize bucket brigades to help with the fire at the cathedral, and Gronad and Sarah help move bodies to the graveyard after some debate about burning them was shut down. Elrohir starts looking over the bodies of the giants and, finding one still alive at the north gate, sends runners to bring the rest of the group to him. After the fires are put out, Rothgar "borrows" a horse from the stables and rides out of town, scouting for any other signs of giants. Finding only tracks, he returns to town, where Elrohir, Zukuto and Joe are interrogating the giant. Elrohir agrees to let the giant go, but insists on escorting him a couple miles out of town. The giant agrees, and provides some information on Jorgenfist and the purpose of the scouting party. As they part ways, the giant gives a better description of Jorgenfist, and thanks Elrohir for his freedom.
The party (minus Rothgar) then heads to the Rusty Dragon where they start drinking, even though the bar is closed. Ameiko eventually returns to check out the damage, and is surprised to see a bunch of drunken heroes in her tavern. Zukuto makes a pass at her, but is rejected. The party requests rooms, but Ameiko tells them she has already promised rooms to those who've lost their homes in the raid. She invites Elrohir, Sarah, and Gronad to stay at her manor. Sarah agrees, Elrohir asks if his two new friends can come, and then agrees, and Gronad walks ouot looking for Rothgar. He eventually finds Rothgar camped out on top of Choppers Isle, and gets a lift up and stays the night with him.
That night, Rothgar and Elrohir are afflicted by bad dreams. The remainder of the party sleeps normally.
In the morning everyone wakes up and gathers outside Scarnetti Manor, looking for clues. Zukuto apologizes to Ameiko for his behavior the previous night, and she says it's all fine, it was just bad timing. The group "aquires" some horses from a youth manning the stables, and heads north to where the giants had been camped. After some time scouting, they decided to chase down the giants with the wagon. With Rothgar and a crew flying overhead, they manage to track down the giants after several hours. During the encounter with the giants, one of them threw a barrel at Rothgar, which shattered, causing a limp, unconcious man to land on top of him.

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