MasterKenobi's page

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!

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, 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.