Today was a day that felt like it would never end, our time in Turtleback was over and a new threat had made its self-known, with a little luck and a lot of blood we managed to push on once more, coming up on top once again. For now we have luck on our side it seems.....
It did not take us long to get back on the road the following morning, Gronad and Skippy packed up and road off on a horse while Sara, Elrohir and myself took to the skies on Agros back, scouting the road ahead. The trip its self was not long, it was much harder for those on the ground because of the terrain and elevation but shortly before noon we were all together not far from the mouth of a huge cave. The air was thin up here making it hard to breath, having not fully recovered from the draining effects of the Dam or the water creature I had a harder time than others, but with a little divine magic from Gronad I was able to adept.
We approached the cave cautiously, from on high we spotted sentries and plotted a course that would allow us to get as close as possible before choosing our time to strike. Skippy was all too eager to use his magic on the unaware Ogres, so when the time was right we unleashed our full furry. Agro and I were the first to react and before I even had an arrow knocked in my bow Agro had leapt into the air, I marked my target and fired three shots in rapid succession, two of them landing hits. To my left Skippy launched a pea sized ball of flame that erupted into a giant ball of searing scorching death and seconds after Agro landed ripping and rending the Ogre to shreds. In the confusion of battle we lost track of the second Ogre and only now caught a glimpse of him running deeper into the caves, we had just lost the surprise. We wasted no time moving up and into the cave, its massive tunnels winding its way into the mountain. The walls of the tunnel were lined with the bones of a giant creature unknown to any of us, and near the back of the tunnel before it turned in another direction a massive hundred foot statue of a giant stood guard. The detail of the statue even at a distance was clear, its body and armor was of a strange stone I could not identify and on its neck was a Sideron medallion like ours but the size of a shield.
We all admired the statue in passing as we moved deeper into the caves, from inside the relentless sounds of metal on metal clanging could be heard, and thick wisps of smoke escaped from down the hall. The tunnel forked left and right but only one path was passable, the other ending in a giant pit whose depths were far beyond our vision, but we did not have the time to check it further. Stepping out from the crossroads ahead several Ogres and one very large hill giant emerged in full battle gear, they spoke no words before they rushed our party, screams of battle filling the air. As the two parties clash the dark hallways erupt into the chaos of battle with both steel and magic ringing out, blood was spilled from both sides as each group fought with increasing fury attempting to gain the advantage. I could feel the heat from Skippy’s fire on my face even from the back of the group where I stood unleashing a torrent of arrows, it did not take long. The whole battle was over with in a minuet but any true warrior knows it feels much longer than that, we stood there, drenched in blood; equal parts ours and giantkin catching our breath as we processed the scene. Skippy leaned heavily on the walls, blood flowing from several wounds as Gronad saw to his healing “You make this look easy” Skippy says under his breath, referring to the frontline fighting.
After a moments rest we press on, the path ahead split off into two main corridors both left and right, with a third path going straight ahead, though it looked too small for the giants to properly use. From here the sounds of the metal on metal was nearly stunning and our eyes were stinging from the thick clouds of smoke billowing from the room to the left. We approached cautiously expecting the worst only to find it was clear of any fighting forces, inside was dozens of work stations surrounding an enormous giant sized forge. Hundreds of arms and armor were scattered about, clearly in preparation for a large scale attack, the giants were mobilizing for war. After a quick search we pressed on, but not before Gronad used his divine gift to flood the forge and in a great puff of steam the forge cracked, at the very least temporary interrupting the giant’s plans.
With the forge taken care of we pressed on, I walked passed the center path Agro and I flanking either side of the wide giant sized hall as we crept to the edge of the intersection. From behind me I could hear some of the others trying their best to maintain a stealthy approach, others not so much. Satisfied this area was secure I let Agro hold the intersection while I caught up with the others, as I neared the back of the party I heard a voice not belong to one of us spit out what sounded like a vile curse followed by a cackling sound, and then it all went silent. I looked to Sara and Skippy as I pushed past only to find what they must have already known, a nearly invisible wall had cut us off from Gronad and Elrohir, inside we could see the two fighting with reckless abandon. The creatures they fought turned out to be hags, who resembled almost trollish woman, but for all their size and strength there true power was their magic, but up close in an enclosed space with Gronad and El, they didn’t stand a chance. By the time the wall fell Gronad had healed there wounds and was ready to press on, as we made our way back to the intersection Gronad said “The rains should stop now, they were controlling it”. I remember smiling at the news, somehow during all the chaos and death we had been surrounded by I must have become somewhat accustom to the daily constant down pour.
I mentally cued Agro on, letting him know we were ok and were on our way out, by the time we caught up to his previous position he had already ventured deep into the darkness, and even for his size was as silent as death its self.
As we move through the dimly lit corridors we are met with another intersection heading both left and right, we move left as Elrohir took up the rear guarding our backs until he thought it was safe to take his place at the front. The wide hall opened into an even larger room with a massive stone alter prominent at the back, as we move cautiously closer we notice a human body splayed out atop the alter.
We edge closer, all of our weapons held firmly in our hands, muscles coiled tight ready to unleash our varied forms of death within a seconds notice. Our time together as a group has been met with many dangers and weeks and months of this life had trained us to trust our instincts, so when the body began to stir it did not take us long to verify it was truly undead before we attacked.
For an undead creature it was quick, a testament to the once great skill it must have had in life, but before it had a chance to draw back Agro was in midair, his claws and fang ready for the pounce. And even though I knew this was Lamatar Bayden the former leader of the Black arrows I did little to restrain Agro, it was clear Bayden was long gone. To our surprise the undead manage to get a quick attack off before Agro descended and even though it pierced his thick hide it was not enough to stop his onslaught. With claw and tooth Agro ripped into the life less corps that was Lamatar as the others maneuvered into position, far beyond help I unleashed my own arrows taking carful practiced aim to avoid my dear friend. It did not take long to send Lamatar back to the grave, hopefully this time to find peace.
As the others checked and secured the room my eye caught notice of the bow laying on the stairs before the alter, it must have been powerful indeed to so easily pierced Agros hide, it even left behind crystals of ice adding further injury to his wound. I remember feeling its weight as I picked it up, it was heavier then mine but I knew it would aid us greatly in the battle ahead.
As gruesome an act as it is before leaving Elrohir removed one of Lamatars hands to bring back to his grieving undead dryad, I left the room before his blade chopped down severing bone.
Into the shadowy darkness once more we all knew this was coming to an end, like many times before we were battered and bruised but pushed on, holding just enough back for one more fight.
We were not disappointed.
Up ahead, on the edge of the darkness sat a giant upon a massive stone throne, he looked troubled at our sight but still did not move, as we drew near a second giant made his presence know. Charging out of the darkness a massive tower of muscle and bone rushed our way, with a weapon held high it was clear his intentions. The party wasted no time, Agro lead the charge flanked by both Gronad and Elrohir, while Sara, Skippy and I concentrated on the giant now standing giant before the throne.
Agro and the giant met head to head and even as his teeth tore into the giants flesh, the giant returned with bone crushing swings from his great club. Feeling Agro’s pain I quickly released him back to his home plane before his injuries caused any more pain, and for a moment the giant just stood confused. Taking advantage of the giant’s distraction Gronad and Elrohir moved in and managed to score a few good hits.
I turned my attention back to the other giant preparing to unleash a second volley of arrows when I realized too late he was casting a spell, I shouted out to the others but was again to slow. Even from across the room I could feel the giant’s magic worm its way into my mind releasing every fear I have ever had all at once. Against my will and to my shame I dropped my bow and ran from the room, I ran as far and as fast as I could until the feeling of dread gave up its grip on my will. By the time I made it back to the room the fight was over, I could not hear the conversation but I could see Elrohir speaking face to face with the sitting giant leader. I looked around finding the others still on their feet, if not breathing a little heavy. I sheepishly picked up my bow and found a place to sit while watching the two talk, in my moment of solitude I called out for Agro, asking him to return to my side. Even before he appeared I could sense his pain, he had taken the brunt of the warrior giant’s attacks, but as the swirling dark mass solidified regardless of his pain he still looked his happy self, though I admit you really needed to know him first to see it.
Sitting at my feet, I concentrated my energy on closing his wounds while the others looked about the room; Agro was nearly mended when something about the giant’s posture drew my attention. I stood up retrieving my bow when the giant made his move, with surprising speed he stood up his arm outstretched as he cast one last spell a last ditch effort to inflict pain on our group. A crackling black beam of power shot out narrowly missing Elrohir as he deftly side stepped the attack, bringing the full force of his blade across the giants midsection. The giant howled in pain as it stepped back falling to one knee, blood and viscera freely flowing to the floor as it reached out in vain to grab Elrohir before it fell to the floor.
I looked about the room noticing the faces of the others doing the same, and without word we all went back to what we had been doing moments before, this was our way of life. We lived moment to moment amidst the chaos never knowing when we will have breathed our last breath or ate our last meal; it’s a harsh and sometimes unforgiving life. But through all the darkness it’s not hard to see the light we help bring into the world, through our pain and suffering others are given a second chance at life.
We all continued to search the room, taking our time to catch our breath when Sara called us over to her and Elrohirs location, among the giants other items of value, a note was found written in giant, a tongue she and I understood.
She read it aloud as we approached; the letter was addressed to Barl the giant leader telling him that contact with a person named “Teraktinus” has shown that a human city called “Sandpoint” could be hiding what they were seeking. And that Teraktinus will lead several giants as well as the Dragon on a raid into the town, and that Barl may be required to help with their retreat to “Jorgenfist” by using his Ogre slaves to cover their retreat, Signed “M”
I realized as she read the letter a feeling of both dread and rage had crept into my body, urging me to return to Sandpoint to aid in its protection. I looked to the others faces as they came to terms with the information Sara read aloud, without hesitation I spun around calling Agro to my side as I began loading up the items of value the others thought we should take. My mind was racing, a plan formulating in my mind to fast to fully comprehend, “Gronad, Elrohir” mount up I said sternly as I adjusted the last of the gear of Argos back.
To my surprise they both just stood there, not in defiance but more in confusion and for the life of me I could not understand why they were not moving more quickly. “We need to move now! We have no idea when this attack is happening, if we move now we may be able to get there in time to help” I said.
But still they just stood their staring at me. At last Gronad started to move towards Agro with a shrug of his shoulders saying “So what’s the plan here, I’m not getting on no boat!”
I cracked a smile at Gronad before turning to the others once more “I understand we are tired and sore and have been though more than our fair share, but Sandpoint needs us, and I can’t do this this by myself.”
“I’m in” Skippy said, only half paying attention as he looked over the notes given to him from Sara.
Stepping forward Sara says “I’ll do what I can for Sandpoint.”
I look back to Elrohir, who just stood there looking at the others for a moment before saying “Rothgar of course you have my help, but we need to think this through, Turtleback ferry and what’s left of the Black Arrows still needs our help, my wife is homeless and I don’t feel comfortable with a crazy undead dryad living so close.”
I nod my head as I swing myself onto Argos back before saying “Ok, then come with me I’ll drop Gronad off at the fort while Sara and Skippy take the horse if we move quickly I can take you back to the dryad before they return to fort Ranick. When we are back Sara and Gronad can join me on Agro and we will fly for Sandpoint and I’ll contact my ship to pick up the rest of you when its ready, until then you can do what you must with Turtleback.”
“What about Magnimar, we still need to explain all of this to them” Elrohir says as he reaches up to Gronad for a helping hand onto Agro.
I nod in agreement “Well the ship will have to pass the city on its way to Sandpoint you can easily inform them then, but please let’s go, if we push ourselves we can make it to Sandpoint in a few days, so long as long as Agros up to it”.
The hallways were wide enough for Agro to trot out, before we reached the mouth of the cave he had already taken to the air and we were on our way for Fort Ranick, I only hoped we would make good time. We sailed down the mountain side making amazing speed, and only touched down atop the fort briefly allowing Gronad to dismount before taking flight once more; a little lighter and faster we continued our downward arc passing what remained of the town and back into the swamplands that lay just outside of Turtleback. It took us sometime to find the exact spot where we met up with the Dryad the day before, everything seemed to blend together but alas we found it and Agro touched down just shy of the Dryads water pool.
“This one is on you” I say to Elrohir as I motioned towards the pool, “It did not work out so well for me and Agro last time and I think we will hang back.”
Elrohir flash’s a quick smile at me while he slid off Agros back, “Alright, I’ll just face the crazed undead dryad myself then” he says as he walks off, trudging through the swamp.
We kept El In site the whole time, and after a while he returned, none the worse for wear and we returned to the skies once more, on our way back I used the “Sending Stones” Sara had made me to contact my ship and explain the situation.
Just outside the Fort the others could be spotted in the courtyard gathered as planned, Agro touched down just shy of the group as Sara came to our side, an old weathered scroll in her hand.
“I think I have something that may help” she said holding up the scroll, “It’s a scroll of teleportation, with this I’m reasonably sure I can take the five of us to Sandpoint, we can go now if you wish”. She said looking to the others her gaze lingering on Elrohir who by now had slipped off Agro’s back and was walking towards his wife at the base of the keep.
I nodded my head at Sara before asking the others if they were ready and made sure Gronad had informed a runner to tell Magnimar of our actions.
“A runner has been told to make ready and the keep knows as much as they need to, for now their fight is over” Gronad said looking around at what was left of Turtleback ferry crammed in the destroyed remains of Black Arrow keep. Stepping closer and in a much lower tone he says “we should move on to Sandpoint as soon as possible and stop whatever the giants are planning before looking for this Jorgenfist, this needs to end.”
I let his words sink in as I too stop and look at what has become of the town and keep, we have come too far, lost too much to stop now, my irrational fear for Sandpoint’s wellbeing begins to creep back into my mind before I find myself halfway to Elrohir’s side. As I approach his wife says something I can’t quite hear and he spins around greeting my arrival, a worried look on his face.
Before I have a chance to speak Elrohir says “I know Rothgar, I know we need to go and I’m ready but you must know it’s hard for me to leave what’s left of my family, for a town I have never been too. But I will help you as you and the others had helped me here” with that he gave his wife one last kiss and walked past me to join the others in the courtyard.
As I turned to join the group Elrohir’s wife touches my arm and with the softest of whispers says “Please bring him back to me” before walking away back up to the keep a muffled cry trailing in her wake.
As I approach the others Sara had already arranged them in a pattern to help with her scroll, she motioned to where she wanted me to stand before saying “You will need to dismiss Agro, I can’t carry him with us”. I mentally tell Agro I will call on him as soon as I can and let him return to his home while Sara begins the incantation, I expected more from the spell but in a flash the keep and the people of Turtleback ferry where gone, instead we were in a familiar place, the common room of the “Rusty Dragon Inn”. The room around us was empty, chairs and tables over turned, food and flagons scattered on the ground, and we stood there in silence alone in the common room when we heard the sound, a Dragons roar.
Collectively we ran for the door, stepping out into the bright sunlight squinting through the light to see what was going on around us, it felt like I haven’t seen the sun in years as my eyes adjusted to the light I could see plumes of thick black smoke rise into the air from several places around Sandpoint. I wasted no time in calling on Agro while the others prepare their gear, once Agro was happily at my side I address the group telling them I was taking Agro up into the sky and those that wanted to chase after a dragon were welcome to join us. As I climb up on Agro I notice without hesitation Gronad and Elrohir que up behind me waiting their turn to do the same, when we are all situated on Agros back he looks back once to confirm the others are far enough away before leaping to the air.
From on high I begin to get the full scope of damage done to Sandpoint, the giants had attacked from several places and the Dragon had already set fire to more than a few buildings, Agro plotted a course chasing directly after the beast its self. We sail over the city finding few people in the streets, fortunately Sandpoint had time to leave before the attack began, up ahead I see a pair of giants attacking what’s left of the city guard, before I even have time to speak I felt Agro adjust his course towards the giants. I inform the others of Agros intentions and ready myself for the assault, as we descend I can feel Agro tense in preparation of the attack. Dust kicks up as he lands, his hind legs haven’t yet touched the ground before he started his barrage, his claws and maw ripping into the exposed back of the unaware giant. Unsteadily I take aim at the next closes target and let loose a trio of arrows at the now charging Dire bear, it roars in pain as falters its step. I feel the weight shift off Agros back as Gronad and Elrohir jump off, each of them taking up position on their own targets; howls of pain tell me they hit their mark. As I prepare my next shot I get a sidelong glimpse of the red dragon flying overhead and I mentally prod Argo to give chase, I shout down to the others to finish up and get ready for my return, Gronad flash’s me a toothy grin at the prospect of battling a dragon and goes back to making short work of the wounded Giant. As I take off into the air, I notice a few others on the roof top battling the other giant nearby, a woman with a crossbow and a man throwing what looked to be a shield.
Once again in the skies Agro moves with haste chasing after the impossibly fast dragon as it continues its path of destruction across Sandpoint seeming unaware of our presence, a few hundred feet to its rear I took careful aim letting loose a single arrow, at this range while flying I did not expect to hit. In a flash of blue light I watch my arrow dig in the Dragons side, with a howl of rage and pain the large bulky creature maneuvers around with once again impressive and unbelievable speed and begin to clear the distance to Agro and I. We were still a few hundred meters away from the group when the Dragon caught up to us, I could feel his presence before he physically attacked, Agro moved in just the right way at just the right time to absorb most of the damage. We used the dragons attack to our advantage using the momentum to “knock” us from the sky hitting the ground hard just in front of the party, over selling it just enough to make the Dragon believe we were an easy kill I just prayed he did not use his fire breath.
Silently I curse as the dragon used caution, seeing through our trap and wheeling around to land just north of our ambush, Agro took to the sky as I dove head first into the nearest building just before gout of fire consumed the streets. The road was still thick with smoke when Gronad made his approach, completely insane but to his credit he faced the Dragon head on, swinging with reckless abandon. I called for Agro as I ran into the street firing off a quick arrow as he swooped down picking me up, he already read my mind as only he could do and started to wheel around behind the dragon. By the time I landed the others had joined the fight, Elrohir sticking to his usual defensive nature throwing his sword from afar, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky signalling Skippy’s arrival. I hit the roof hard coming up from a roll with an arrow already knocked, Agro continued on land behind the dragon, unleashing his full fury and seemingly out of nowhere a new comer joined the fight, a man mostly veiled in black wielding a vicious looking short blade landed a few hits on the dragon eliciting screams of pain.
Clearly surrounded the dragon unleashed one last time spreading his carnage amongst all those around him before taking to the sky’s once more, this time he was heading out of town. We caught our breath for but a moment before I shouted across the street for Gronad and Skippy to climb aboard Argo, I knew we would never catch the dragon so instead we turned our focus back to the giants still remaining in the town.
To the south smoke was still thick in the air and even from afar we could see a pair of giants smashing open buildings, emptying their contents into massive sacks slung over their shoulders. Before I even turned around to inform the others I watched a tiny pea sized ball of flames fly by my head rapidly expanded as it closed the distance to the giants, at its moment of impact it was nearly twenty feet in size and engulfing the giants in flames. I followed Skippys attack with a pair of arrows each one catching a giant in the upper torso; they stumbled and fell to the ground dropping the now burning sacks to the streets. We continued on to the next fire, this one across the bay in the Noble district, a part of the town I must admit I had no idea existed.
Due to their size it was hard to miss a giant even at a great distance, and trio of giants pulling a massive wagon was even harder to miss. We were nearly four hundred feet out from the trio when we heard a massive horn from somewhere behind us back with in the town, we didn’t know what it meant but all of us felt it required our attention more than the fleeing giants. As Agro turned around I vowed to track down these giants and seek vengeance, I knew they would be easy to find, however I did not expect Skippy in all his wisdom to shout obscenity’s to them as we were flying away. This was met with a pair of throwing stones, one of which clipped Skippy hitting him firmly in the shoulder and nearly knocking him from his saddle. I doubt that’s a mistake he will soon forget.
We traced the path of wreckage back to its source, several giants were quickly making their way out of the town by the time we found them, Agro set us down behind a river side warehouse for some cover and we readied our attack. With a well-placed shot I started the skirmish not yet knowing what we were in for. It didn’t take long for the giants to spot me, and even less time until I was wishing I let Gronad start this fight, a pair of throwing stones obliterated the section of shingled roof I was using as cover and sent me reeling to the edge nearly causing me to fall off.
Gronad held his ground hoping to draw their leader away from the others; this particular giant was much bigger than the other’s armed with a nasty pair of war picks, and from the looks of things he was completely focused on one thing, the Dwarf. While Skippy Agro and I dealt with the two smaller giants Gronad did his best to hold off the leader, thankful he had help from the man in black who drove off the dragon with us. By the time Agro was freed up to help he was hurt in a bad way and even though he was nearly dead he charged the giant without caution ripping a sizeable chuck of flesh from the giant’s side. But if the giant cared at all he didn’t show it, he simply turned his full attention to Argo and in a blur of motion of whirling steel turned Agro to mist, sending him back to his home plan of existence in agony. I had no time to lament for my friend and quickly summoned forth another beast, forcing all my remaining energy and rage into something that could exact my revenge. The creature that answered my call was massive, covered in a thick shell like hide adorned with spike like horns the size of spears but proved largely unless. While the giant wailed in rage as it split its attacks between the nearly dead Gronad and the newcomer I limped around the side of the building to get one last clear shot before succumbing to my injuries. Once I had a clear line of sight I steadied my aim and fired my arrow catching the giant in the neck the arrow sinking all the way to the fletching, the giant dropped his twin picks grasping his neck as blood spirt between his fingers soaking the ground nearly a dozen feet away. As the hulk fell to his knees the rage in his eyes begin to fade but not before his eyes locked onto Gronad who by now was holding one of the giants war pick’s, their magical nature allowed them to shrink down to the dwarf size and in a single powerful swing the giant fell to the ground, truly dead, with his own weapon firmly buried in the top of his skull. Taking a moment to rest Gronad took a seat on the giant’s back, while he looked around at the others, “So who needs healing” he blurts out half laughing half wincing in pain.
After some much needed healing we worked together as a team to put out as much of the fires as we could, Gronad and Elrohir helped put together a bucket brigade with the others while I summoned massive water elementals to douse the flames. After the fires were under control I borrowed a horse and did a quick patrol while the others searched for any survivors in need medical attention. On my way out of town through the northern gate the new comer who introduced himself a Zukuto, was trying to question a captured giant who was left behind nearly dead. I was going to stick around and assist but once Elrohir arrived on scene I continued on with my patrol, ensuring a counter attack was not out there waiting for us.
I wasted no time with my scouting mission, checking the perimeter and returning to town just before night fall, by the time I got back the others had reunited in the Rusty dragon and looked as though they were having a good time. But it didn’t feel right, the town fought off a giant invasion and with our help drove them off but I couldn’t shake the feeling they would return, so I spent the night up on Chopper isle to give myself a clear vantage point in case they returned. With any luck in the morning Agro would return and we could track down where the giants had gone, then we will have to figure out where we can find this Rune lord and end this once and for all…
As I was about to turn in for the night I was joined by Gronad, who I heard wandering around the base of Chopper island looking for a way up, knowing he would never make it up on his own I assisted him with a summoned flying creature. We spoke little, each of us processing what had happen and what was to come in the days ahead and eventually fell asleep.
A few hours after arriving back at the fort Elrohir gathered us together in the court yard, we were all weary from the ordeals at the dam but he said it was important. Once we were all gathered he told us of his plan to marry his lady friend from town, apparently this was something they planned to do at a later time but could no longer wait for. The ceremony and feast to follow was only a few short hours away and I thought I would try and find something for them to eat other than the boar I caught the day before. I came back with a few quails that I cleaned and stuffed with pouches of gold, it was not much but I didn’t think the bird could hold anymore. The wedding its self was short, the mayor of Turtleback spoke on their behalf and oversaw the ceremony. It was a nice distraction but I could not help but feel the entire event was brought on by our groups many encounters with death, I only hoped Elrohir would soon put down his blade and live a happy peaceful life.
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Neth 9
I woke the following morning feeling somewhat better though still drained from the previous days battle, over breakfast El and I talked about what work had to be done. The fort and the town had come together as one, and last night during the wedding the mayor had announced he would be taking control of Fort Ranick and relocating the town Turtleback closer to the fort. We decided we would stay on and help the town for a few more days before heading back to Magnimar, I decided the best way I could help was be to scout out the area and ensure no more Ogres were coming down to attack. After breakfast I gatherd some supply's for the day and saddled up on Agro when I was approached by Elrohir, he asked if we could check out the swamp more importantly the lights that could be seen glowing in the night. Having no other real direction I agreed but before we took off Skippy waved us down and asked to join us, shortly their after the three of us were up in the clouds flying for the swamps that surround Turtleback ferry.
It did not take us long to get there, we circled the swamps several times before finding a clearing to touch down in a few hundred meters away from a large tree nearly in the center of the swamp that seemed devoid of all rain fall. Once on foot we spread out and moved on the tree as we pushed our way through the underbrush I was overcome with an odd sense of dread, strange shadows turned to grasping hands in my mind but I shook it off. As we approached closer and closer to the tree I looked down the line to ensure my companions were all together when all of a sudden a women rose from a small pond of water at the base of the tree. I only managed a glimpse of her but that was more than enough to completely entrance me with her beauty, in all my years in the wild I never seen anything quite so beautiful. The image of her beauty was so vivid and powerful that I was struck blind; sensing my discomfort Agro maneuvered to my side and it brought me a measure of comfort knowing he was next to me but the fact I could no longer see in such a potentially hostile place as this was beginning to scare me. In the end I knew Agro would die defending me if need be, once I heard the others speaking to the woman I became more at ease from the sounds of it she appeared quit mad but not hostile. It was difficult to hear the whole conversation but she kept going on and on about her lover and the ogres cave high up in the mountain, we told her of the attack on Ranick and she begged us to explore the caves and bring him back.
With the location of the Ogre war parties known we regrouped to set out, It was then I explained to the others I could not see, to my surprise Agro also had no vision but for whatever reason he remained calm, perhaps his other senses allowed him to function at a level he was comfortable with. Regardless it seemed our quick flight to the swamp and back just got a whole lot longer so Elrohir and Skippy plotted a course back to the fort and we began walking.
Together we took our time and safely navigated out of the swamps, it was nearly nightfall by the time we made it back to fort Rankick and I think all of us were wet tired and with a new found appreciation for Agro’s flight. Shortly after arriving both Gronad and the mayor joined us and began using their divine gifts to restored our vision, at which point we were joined by the others to discuss the Ogre cave.
With a clear path set in motion we retired for the night for some much needed sleep, in the morning we would set out to finish what the Ogres had started here in Turtleback
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.
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.
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 s%## 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.
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.
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.
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 s!#&, 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.
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.
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.
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’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…..
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……..
