Session Date: 09/21/08
We cleared out of Galduria quickly. When you run a con it is important to know when to leave. Unfortunately for us, we stayed one con too long and Kinkade and I literally left town with the guard on our heels. It took us until the middle of the night before we lost them. We were going to go to the Swallowtail Festival at Sandpoint anyway; it just is that we will be heading there sooner than expected. You have to love festivals – many people with lots of money drunk on ale -perfect for two halflings with quick hands like Kinkade and me. We will work the festival and then move on…
Day 1
Level 1
On our third day in town, the first day of autumn, the Swallowtail Festival starts. It starts at 9AM in the morning with a couple of windbags giving speeches. Of course the Sheriff, warns the people to be careful, bad news for us. He tells the story of some serial killer named Chopper. The sheriff sounds like a fun guy. We try to stay away from the law anyway, but we will avoid this guy like a plague. Cyrdak Drokkus, a human bard that owns the theater in town provides some levity and promotes his new show. Father Zantis officially opens the festivities, inviting the crowd to come back at dusk for the consecration of the new cathedral (let me mark my calendar for that one!) and the crowd is off.
At noon, a horn is blown, and Father Zantis tells some religious story about the previous temple that burned with the previous cleric in it. This guy and the Sheriff make quite a pair. Serial killers and burnt priests-you can’t get any more light-hearted than that folks! Father Zantis thbrows down a thunder stone and then then releases hundreds of swallowtails. Little kids start chasing the butterflies, excellent! Little kids running around means inattentive parents! Lunch is free and Kinkade and I never turn down a free meal!
As the sun begins to set, Father Zantis again takes the stage (will this guy ever shut up!) As he begins his speech, women start screaming and strange, shrill, chants are heard. A dog falls to the ground with its throat slashed. I see a female goblin, licking the blood from her dogslicer, looking for her next target. Some cleric-looking guy steps up and hits the goblin with a starknife. A surly looking dwarf then steps up to the goblin. A missile-looking light comes out of nowhere and hits the goblin, followed by an arrow. I decide enough is enough and go up and gut the goblin who falls down dead at my feet. We still hear the chanting, however, and try to determine where it is coming from. Kinkade points out where he thinks the source of the evil chorus is coming from. The cleric starts to run to that direction. We soon see two goblins try to set fire to some of the tents set up for the festival. My compatriots that were attacking the goblin that I put down now turn their attention to the tent-burners. The arrow-shooter launches an arrow at one that somehow became bruised. It looks like we have a mage in the mix. I decide to head to the tent-burners as well. I see Kinkade out of the corner of my eye casting a spell. We hear the cleric say that there are a whole bunch of goblins around the building. The dwarf gets in one of the tent burner’s faces and swings his sharp looking axes but miss the agile goblin. We hear the cleric scream out in pain and he is quickly surrounded by goblins. A half-orc takes a few steps and misses with a small ax. The guy with the bow also misses. I see Kinkade cast a spell at the goblins surrounding the cleric. The cleric attacks the goblin right in front of him, but is taking hits from the goblins that are surrounding him. The dwarf is still swinging his twin blades but not connecting. The goblins ignore the dwarf and attack the half-orc causing him distress. The cleric is being severely hurt by the goblins surrounding him. The archer drops his bow and draws a sword and swings, but misses. I step up to the goblin that the bowman tried to hit and connect with one of my daggers. Kinkade casts a spell and puts three of the goblins to sleep. The cleric seems to heal himself from his wounds by calling on Desna, which just happens to be Kinkade and my deity-nice! The dwarf puts one of the goblins down, but gets hit by the one goblin still standing. The cleric is still taking damage. I start finishing off the sleeping goblins one by one. Kinkade dazes one of the goblins. The cleric takes his revenge on the remaining goblin in front of him. A missile of light hits one of the goblins-thanks mage! As I finish off the last of the sleeping goblins, the bow-sword man attacks the goblin in front of the cleric. Kinkade dazes the same goblin he danzed before. The dwarf and half-orc surround the dazed, remaining tent-burner. I try to stick the goblin that is in front of the cleric but miss. Kinkade keeps dazing the goblin between the dwarf and half–orc, both of whom quickly finish him off. The bow-sword man finishes off the last goblin in front of the cleric.
Kinkade and I start “rolling the bodies” as discreetly as possible. I hear the bow-sword man say that he thinks that the goblins are from different tribes which he thinks is unusual, information to stow away for future use. We hear a yell from the direction of the White Deer tavern, where Kinkade and I have been performing nightly; and see a goblin riding a goblin dog killing a dog. Immediately we see four more goblins, one of whom is eating a small child, ganging up on a nervous man holding a sword. The bow-sword man (I think he is a ranger) shoots the goblin munching a piece of small child. The mage is doing his part causing damage. The dwarf rushes up and tries to hit a goblin, but misses. The Ranger shoots an arrow at the meanest looking goblin. I go up and try to stick one of the goblins, but I miss. Kinkade is performing, cracking jokes, which makes us all feel better. The mage casts a spell and a goblin looks worse off. A goblin comes up to me and hits me with his dogslicer, which hurts. The Ranger shoots another arrow at the boss goblin. I stick the baby-eating goblin that is right in front of me. Tillman, the cleric, offers prayers to Desna, and my wounds look and feel a whole lot better. The half-orc strikes the goblin in front of him. I think the Mage hits the goblin in front of me and the goblin falls dead. The Ranger shoots at the goblin that is attacking the guy behind the barrel. I see Kinkade casting a spell. Tilman implores Desna for more healing and I feel much more better. The Mage kills another goblin. The goblins that are attacking the man turn tail and run. I kill the last goblin standing.
The man behind the battle introduces himself as Aldern, and thanks the Ranger, who is called Sharp, profusely. He is a noble and offers us a free meal. Kinkade promotes our show (thanks little brother!) The rest of our battle-friends fight over what to do with the horse slicer and while they do that, I lift a potion of cure light from the body of the goblin that was doing the chanting. Kinkade notices that the sheriff has captured a goblin alive, and they are dragging the captive to the garrison. Tilman takes his leave of us, probably to put on some armor as he just had his robes on. The rest of our companions go up and introduce themselves to the sheriff, while Kinkade and I try to blend into the background.
The Mage, I think his name is Morpheus, tells the Sheriff that he can speak the goblin tongue and can help with the interrogation, The Sheriff, he goes by the happy name of Belor Hemlock, agree. Morpheus asks the goblin what it was doing in town. The goblin said that the leader would kill them if they did not burn the town. Morpheus asks who the leader is and is told that it is a longshanks (which from what I understand is what the goblins call humans, elves and half-elves). He says that there is a secret is in the graveyard. He does not know the longshanks name.
Kinkade and I head to the graveyard to see what the secret is and we find that there is a grave that was dug up. The grave belonged to Father Tobin, who was the cleric that died five years ago in the temple fire. We head back to town and let Tilman know about the grave. Kinkade decides to let sheriff Hemlock know our discovery. I want to avoid the Sheriff, but Kinkade will not be dissuaded. Sheriff Hemlock is surprised at the news as the fire was ruled accidental and the only victims were Father Tobin and his daughter, whose body was never found. They thought at one point that it was Chopper, the serial killer that Father Zantis spoke about earlier in the day, but that theory was dismissed. The Sheriff also tells us that Father Tobin’s daughter was adopted, and was unnaturally beautiful. Morpheus thinks that maybe she was plane-touched, whatever that means. She was in training to become a priestess of Desna. Kinkade surmises that the Goblin raid was a distraction and that the case might not be closed on the temple burning….
Session Date: 10/05/08
Besides the Goblin raid things were quiet in Sandpoint for the next few days. Kinkade and I spent our days gathering info and meeting allies while performing at night. Tips were flowing slowly at first then started to pick up. Good thing too-I would hate to leave Sandpoint this early.
Day 2
Level 1
As we wander around the town the next morning, people seem to know Kinkade and my name. We seem to be known more for our deeds against the murderous goblins instead of our performing skills. Hero-worship doesn’t fill the pockets with silver! We head over and perform at the orphanage, since we were orphans ourselves, we like to give back. The kids thoroughly enjoy the performance. The people that run the orphanage give us a free meal-which Kinkade and I greatly appreciate. It is nothing more than some gruel and bread, but it reminded us of our youth all the same.
A young woman named Shayliss stops us as we leave the orphanage. She is small by human standards but is still quite tall to Kinkade and me. She tells us that her father, Ven Vinder, has been so occupied with her sister Katrine that he hasn’t done anything with the rats in the basement of the General Store, which the family owns. She wants Kinkade to come and help clear out the rats, alone. Kinkade says that we are a duo and it is either both us or nothing. She goes with nothing. Her loss. Kinkade and I go over to the General Store to see if we can help with the rats any way. Ven Vinder disputes everything Shayliss told us-he has no rats in the basement. Hero-worship doesn’t fill the pockets, but it might end up filling the bed. We both decide to steer clear of Shayliss as she seems to be trouble, and Kinkade and I don’t need trouble.
We head to Risa’s place-which is a favorite tavern of the locals. Kinkade speaks to the barkeep, Besk, who is Risa’s son. He asks Besk if he can perform and Besk readily agrees (Maybe hero-worship does fill the pockets!) Kinkade starts his act and, considering the local crowd, makes some pretty good money. We hear from the locals a lot of the gossip. Some think that Tobin’s daughter wasn’t even in the temple when it burned down. Some think she was having an affair. We see the mage, Morpheus, come in and sit in a quiet corner reading a book. He does not drop any coins in to the hat! Seems like someone has forgotten our help with the goblins!
At the appropriate time, we go to the consecration of the new cathedral, which is a lot more subdued than the ceremony that they had planned for the previous day. The wholetime everyone is on the lookout for Goblins. Thankfully they do not interrupt this ceremony. Since it was late and our bellys started rumbling, we decide to take Aldern up on his offer for a free meal at the Rusty Dragon.
Aldern greets us hardily and orders up a spread. He gives the ranger, Sharp, 50 gold pieces to spread among us. He talks about his home in Magninar, and invites us to his house and a boar hunt. A boar hunt? Outside? In the woods? Kinkade and I look at each other and we both think the same thing. Kinkade thanks Aldern profusely but politely declines. At the end of the generous meal, Kinkade and I head back to the White Deer for our evening performance. Aldern only seems to care that Sharp is going. Aldern seems to be particularly concerned with Sharp since it was Sharp that had saved his hide during the goblin fight.
Day 3
Level 1
We go to Grocer’s Hall, which is run by a halfling named Olmur Danvakus. Olmur is involved in the local farming guild. We ask him about the nobles. He says that the falling out between Ameiko Kaijitsu and her father, Lonjiku Kaijitsu, was due to her going adventuring. He tells us that a lot of people do not like the Scarnetti clan. He also tells us that the Kajitsus are the richest nobles. The Deverin family has controlled most of the town, continuing with Kendra Deverin who is the current mayor. She was engaged to a man that was killed by the serial killer, Cutter. I ask about Shayliss and am promptly ignored. This suits me just fine as it is good to go unnoticed. Kinkade asks again a few moments later and is told that “she gets around”.
We next go to the Hagfish to see what the deal is with the fish that we keep hearing about. The Hagfish is owned by one-legged man named, Jargie Quinn. There is an aquarium with a hagfish named Nora in the tank. Anyone that can drink a tankard full of water from the tank gets a pouch full of coins and their name carved into the ceiling. Jargie tells us that in the 10 years he has been doing this, there have only been 28 names carved into the ceiling. It costs 1 silver piece to enter. We were followed into the place by the severe-looking Dwarf from the goblin fight. The Dwarf goes by the nickname Edge. He told us his full Dwarven name, but I don’t remember it. Kinkade pays the entry fee for Edge, who downs the tankard and throws it up just as fast. In the spirit of sibling rivalry, I put up Kinkade’s entry fee. Kinkade can’t keep it down either and up it comes! Kinkade, not to be outdone, puts up my entry fee. Of course I can’t refuse the dare! I cannot even finish the tankard before it comes up. Edge tries again and throws up what little of his stomach contents remains. Kinkade uses this material in his comedy act and it is a hit!
Day 4
Level 1
We decide to “case” the Scarnetti Manor. We look to see what kind of traffic is entering the manor and the condition of the servants. We also want to see what the security is for each of the manors.
As we head to do our second show at the White Deer we see our Goblin-killing friends. Apparently Edge is honored to be a part of Kinkade’s act that he brought the others to check it out. We hope that he is honored and has not brought “back-up”. Kinkade and I walk over to the group to exchange greetings when a woman runs up and asks for help. She says that her son has been bitten by a goblin! She said that her husband was back at the house to try and find the goblin. When Kinkade and I hear the word “Goblin”, we decide to investigate as well. When we all reach the house, we find it deathly quiet-which does not bode well for the husband. We head to the boy’s room in the back of the house, checking each room as we go. In one of the rooms Edge sees the body of an adult male and a dog- most likely the husband and family pet. Edge enters the room and hears a munching sound coming from the closet. He grabs the human body and pulls. A screaming goblin is pulled along with the body. He swings his dogslicer at Edge and misses. Edge hits the goblin with one of his axes. Sharp swings and misses. The goblin hits Edge and Edge returns the favor. I look in another of the rooms to see if there are anymore goblins, but don’t see any. Everyone tries to help Edge out with his private battle with the goblin but is unable to. Edge finally finishes the battle by putting down the goblin. It looks like the goblin had been trapped in the house since the festival. We later learn the widow and her family have relocated to Magnimar.
Day 5-6
Level 1
We spend 2 quiet days in town performing and “casing”.
Day 7
On this day we see Shalelu, who is a well-known elven ranger. She only comes to town every six months; however, she only left town a month ago. She rushes to the garrison and tells Sharp that she has some important news for the sheriff. Sharp rounds all of us up and we also head to the garrison. She tells us that she hates goblins and that there a 5 major local tribes, and they were all involved in the raid on Sandpoint. The fact that they were all working together disturbs her. The sheriff asks all of us a favor. He wants to go to Magnimar for helps and he wants us to stay around and keep an eye on the town in his absence. Kinkade and I look at each other and think the same thing – Us? If he wants two Halfling entertainers to keep an eye on the town that is fine with us. We both think it is like the fox watching the hen house, but whatever! Kinkade says that him and I will keep an eye on the gate closest to the White Deer so it does not interrupt our shows. She says that she will come to the White Deer to tell us all about what she knows about the local goblins. Kinkade asks if she will stay for the show and she agrees-my little brother-always drumming up business.
Even though I would like to think that the trouble with goblins is over, I have a bad feeling…
Session Date: 10/19/08
Author’s Note: Kinkade will now be referred to as Samson in all subsequent posts.
The glassworks was quiet, and pardon the cliché, too quiet. What secrets did the place hold?
Day 8
Samson, Edge and I are enjoying our morning meal at the White Deer when Morpheus, Sharp and Conrad enter the dining area. Morpheus relates that this morning, at the Rusty Dragon, Bethena Corwin, the matron of the Inn, tried to wake up Ameiko, but she was gone. She found a note from her half-brother, Tsuto, asking her to meet him at the glassworks. It has something to do with their father. We all decide to head over to the glassworks, since the sheriff did tell us to keep an eye on things. Edge and Sharp hope that goblins are about. Samson and I are looking for clues about the Kaijitsu clan.
We go to the Delivery Entrance that the note told Ameiko to go to. I listen but don’t hear a sound. I don’t see any traps and Edge bangs on the door the same sequence of knocks that the letter said for Ameiko to use. After a few seconds without any response, I disable the lock and the half-orc, Conrad, opens the door. It looks like there was a safe in this room holding glass-making materials, I can only guess because it is now mostly empty. That is all right, though, I’ll wait until we find the money safe! There are a bunch of doors. Samson and I start listening to the doors. Samson hears goblin behind one of the doors and before I can even react, Edge has the door open. There are about eight goblins in the room standing over the bodies of several men. The goblins are busy dismembering the men and did not even hear or see him open the door! We begin our attack. Sharp starts working his bow, doing some damage on the goblin horde. Samson casts a spell, The half-orc starts pounding on the closest goblin with his fist, but does not seem to be hurting the goblin. I go up and stick one of the goblins with one of my daggers. He then turns around and hits me with his dogslicer. Ouch! Sharp keeps up his barrage of arrows. I try to take down the goblin in front of me, but I only get one hit with one of my daggers. The dwarf takes one of the goblins out of commission as he crumbles to the ground, bleeding out. Conrad seems to be trying hard, but not connecting. Tilman cures some of my wounds and I feel so good, I take out the goblin in front of me. The monk finally connects with a goblin and makes him feel pain. Tilman asks for Desna’s aid and I and the dwarf feel a whole lot better. Morpheus and Samson have been casting spells. I step up and try to stick another goblin, but I miss. I swing again and miss as well. The two goblins in melee combat with the party are looking really bad, but we just can’t bring them down. Edge finally brings down one of the goblins and then rushes off to engage the other group of goblins who have been throwing spears. I just can’t seem to hit the goblin in front of me…but it seems to be alright because he can’t seem to hit me either. The monk finally finishes off the goblin in front of me and I coup de grace the goblin right next to me. We then pursue a goblin that had left the room. We don’t want him to get too far ahead and warn his friends.
I am getting ready to coup-de-grace another one of the goblins when I hear my brother make an awful sound on his fiddle, which usually means “Oh-no the gig is up, we have to get out now!” Since we are not performing, I assume he must have seen a goblin. I run in his direction. There was a goblin in the room near the delivery entrance we had started in. He seemed to have opened a door and run down some stairs. While the rest of the party pursues the goblin down the stairs, I decide to check out the other door in the room to see if there are any other goblins in the area. I open the door and notice that it is just a storage room with no other doors. I decide to head down the stairs. I hear Samson behind me start his performance and I feel better. I see Tilman who tells me that he found Ameiko in the room straight ahead of me. I go and see how she is doing, and when I enter in the room, I see that she is tied and gagged on the floor. I free her from her restraints. She thanks me and tells me how evil her half-brother is. I tell her if that is who my companions are fighting in the next room; she won’t have to worry about Tsuto for much longer. I start heading into the combat and I see a half-elf and a goblin under siege by our party. The goblin falls as soon as I get there, and Ameiko’s half-brother falls soon after. Ameiko tells us that Tsuto was running the raids, but there was another human that was actually running the goblin tribes. He would not tell her who that person was. Apparently Tsuto was black mailing their father, him being a half-elf and all. On Tsuto’s body, we see the plans for the raids that had occurred, and more alarming, the raid that is too come. It mentions Bugbears, a quasit, and something called a Malfeshnekor. I think this is more than what Samson and I signed up for! We also find erotic drawings of the dead cleric’s daughter. I guess she is not dead after all!
We follow a tunnel underneath the glassworks and sharp finds some goblin tracks. We decide to tell the mayor what we found. After our meeting with the mayor, Samson and I head back to the White Deer to get ready for our show. As I check my pockets, which I am prone to do every few moments. A habit that one picks up after picking quite a few pockets! I find a note “inviting” me to join the guild or else. I look around and don’t see anyone near me and I tip my hat to my unseen “opponent” for a job well done….
Session Date: 11/02/08
The problem with Rogue’s guilds is that there are too many rogues as members!
Day 8
After the performance, I find a note in our room instructing me to be at the bottom of the cliffs at a specific time-alone. That’s it. That is all the note says. Samson says that he will accompany me, which causes me to laugh. “Look at the brevity of the note. If it was a bard’s guild, there would be poetry or something.” I tell him that if I am not back within two hours to gather up the gang and come look for me. At the appointed time I am approached by a humanoid dressed in black. I am instructed to pay 25 gold upfront and then 1 gold a week. Before I can ask any questions, he disappears! I let Samson know what he said and we have to decide if we want to “pay the piper”.
Day 9
At daybreak we all meet at the White Deer for a hasty breakfast. We want to further explore the tunnels underneath the glassworks, especially since Tstotu’s journal mentions something about a quasit sending “her freaks up from below via the smuggling tunnel in my father’s glassworks”. Now I am not too sure what a quasit is, but Morpheus seems really sure. He says that quasits are not fully hurt unless the weapon is magical or made of cold iron. We look at our weapon inventory and realize we are painfully short on both types of weapons. We decide to check at the nearest shop to see if any can be had in this town. He is all out of cold iron weapons, except, now here is the funny part, a small sized dagger! Our measly party treasure would prevent us from buying anything magical. I put the gold on the counter and walk off with a shiny, new dagger. Bring on the quasit! Off to the tunnels underneath the glassworks we go.
As we are exploring the tunnel a hideous creature pops out of a side opening and swings his claws at Edge. He misses horribly. Edge returns the favor by taking a chunk out of the beast. The beast connects on Edge with one of his claws. Conrad and Edge switch places and continue to pound on the beast. I try to tumble past the beast, but I am unable to do it. The beast bites me and I feel a rage come over me. I just want to get at the creature and I just can’t think strategically. Edge grabs me and pulls me back out of the way. Sharp continues to launch arrows at the thing. The beast is brought down in short order, thanks to Edge and Conrad constantly switching places and pounding the beast. After I finish raging, I sheepishly tell the party that this was a sin spawn and since I was bitten I was affected by a wrathful bite which just put me in a rage. I am greatly embarrassed, but the rest of the party seems to be amused by a little Halfling trying to pound a sin spawn.
We next come across a red statue of an angry lady. We don’t know who she is. She is holding a book with a seven-pointed star imprinted on the cover. Sampson says that it is a Sihedion rune and it marks the schools of magic from the seven runelords. Apparently there was a Wizard-King who decided to share his power. There were seven schools of magic and seven corresponding runelords that were the recipients of the powers. The seven schools of magic apparently also correspond to the seven deadly sins. We believe that this statue is one of the runelords. Will we come across six more statues?
There is a door in the room. I listen to the door and it sounds like the language that the sin spawn we were fighting earlier had spoken. Sampson confirms that they are speaking Thessalonian. I look and see that the door is not trapped or locked and move out of the way so the fighters can do their thing. That was my intent, but as soon as Edge opens the door I rush in and stick the nearest beast. I guess I am still a little angry at what the last sin spawn did to me. Edge follows behind me and attacks another one. The one that I attacked bites me, but I shrug off the wrathful bite. “Not this time!” I yell. I stick the sin spawn again. He tries to retaliate, but misses. I put the sin spawn down. “That will show him”, I say over the corpse as his companion is also quickly brought down.
We come to a huge room with a pool in the middle of the room. There is a platform at the end of the room with a smaller pool. On the platform hovers a quasit, or I guess the quasit mentioned in the journal. The quasit flies into a rage. We quickly head into the room as she summons a sin spawn from the pool in front of her. The sin spawn attacks Conrad connecting with his bite and his claws. The quasit summons a spider in front of Sharp since with his bow; he is the biggest threat to her. Morpheus kills the sin spawn with his summoned longsword, and I attack the spider, since the quasit is flying out of the reach of my cold iron dagger. Edge joins me in attacking the spider. The spider bites me and I feel that I might be poisoned, but I shake it off. Morpheous enlarges Conrad so that he can hit the quasit. I kill the spider. Conrad chases the quasit around the room until he grabs a hold of her. The sight of a super tall half-orc chasing around a little quasit is actually funny! I try to stab her with the cold iron dagger but miss. Morpheus hits her with magic missiles. I finally connect with the cold iron dagger. At that point, she goes invisible. This causes Conrad to lose his grip on the little thing. I swing but I just hit air. Sampson spends some time casting detect magic and finally points out where the quasit is. Conrad grabs the quasit again and I hit her with the cold-iron dagger. Tilman walks over and finally finishes off the quasit.
So much for the quasit and her freaks, now all we need to do is find the bugbears, the dead cleric’s daughter, and something called Malfeshnekor!
Session Date: 11/16/08
I have no problem fighting goblins, but multi-armed mutant goblins is a whole different freak show!
Day 9
Level 2
Morpheus and Samson consult and determine that the pool in the room was a lesser rune pool. Each pool corresponds to a rune lord and to one of the sins. These guys sure like all their corresponding stuff. If a lesser pool can produce sin spawns, I would hate to see what a greater pool produces. I look at the pulpit in the room and I don’t see anything. I search it for secret compartments and I don’t find any. I didn’t think a quasit would have any coin, but it doesn’t hurt to check.
We continue our search of the dungeon. We come into a cold room that has 11 pits in the floor covered with lids. There is terrible wailing and shuffling coming from within the pits. “Sounds like zombies”, Tilman states. Like that will make us feel better. Out steps a mutated goblin. He tells us to leave the lady’s chamber. Yeah right! He vomits acidic blood at Edge and causes him some pain. Edge feels nauseated for a second but continues on. Morpheus summons his magic hand to wield his long sword. I rush into the room. Edge rushes into the room and takes a swing at the mutated goblin but misses. Conrad moves into the room and also swings but misses. Kinkade comes into the room. Sharp hits the beast with an arrow. The mutant goblin hits Edge. I go behind the mutant and try to hit him with one of my daggers but miss. Tilman channels positive energy and helps us and hurts the zombies in the pits. Samson cures Edge, while Sharp hits the beast with another arrow. The beast hits Edge and really hurts him. I get a good hit on the thing. Tilman does another cure. Edge retaliates and misses. Conrad pushes me out of the way and hits the beast and kills him, er it. I find a small, silver dagger on the body, and put it on my belt.
Before we camp for the night we finish off the zombies that are in the pit. We have a peaceful, restful, night.
Day 10
Level 2
We awake and continue on our exploration of the dungeon. We come to a door and I determine that the door is not trapped or locked. Edge opens the door and sees a pool in the middle of the room. I ask if I can check out the floor around the pool and as I step into the room a floating head shrieks. A floating head! First a mutated goblin and now a floating, flying head! What funhouse did we enter! I enter the room and wait for the thing to come near me. Conrad enters and gets right below it. Tilman comes in and throws his starknife. Sharp seems paralyzed with fear. The head floats down to bite Conrad, who hits the thing first, but still gets bit. Edge finishes the thing off.
We explore the rest of the dungeon, find nothing, and go back to town to report. The sheriff is back in town with some raw recruits. We don’t know if the recruits are more afraid of the prospect of fighting goblins or Sheriff Hemlock. We go see Brodert Quink, a sage in town, and ask him what he knows about the runelords. He says that originally the runelords were good, but then turned evil. They pretty much ruled the world. There was a continent out in the waters off of Sandpoint that sunk. He believes that the light house was a war machine, but no one believes him. He believes that we found the wrath rune lord’s shrine. Red, angry statue and a pool spewing forth sin spawns – ya think!
We stop off at the theater and Cyrdak invites Samson and I to open up his new hit show that he is preparing. We show him a book that we had found in the dungeon that no one can read. He tells us that the book was written in Abyssal and tells how to kill the monsters in the book. He buys the book from Samson for 85 gold.
Day 11
Level 2
We decide to head to the Thistletop shrine to see where Tobyn’s body was burned according to Tstotu’s journal. Tobyn’s body seems to have started this mess and seeing how it is our only lead at the moment-it seems our next, logical step. Sharp leads the way keeping a wary out for goblins as he follows their tracks. We find a place where the goblin tracks seem to end in a wall of thickets and briars. I take a look and see a secret door. I tell Edge how to open the door and inside a small tunnel we go. Sharp finds a branch of the tunnel with the most goblin tracks and that is the one we follow.
We come to a clearing and find four goblin dogs. Sharp and Edge put one of the dogs down quickly. Two dogs take a bite out of Edge. I move up into position to flank. Edge swings but misses. Sharp drops his sword, takes out his bow and fires an arrow. Edge gets bit by another of the dogs and unlike the previous bites; this one seems to have an affect. Tilman casts a spell. I get behind one of the dogs and bury my dagger in its flank. Samson heals Edge, while Conrad puts the same dog that I hit down. A goblin and cat come up behind Morpheus and Tilman and attacks them. Sharp turns around and launches an arrow at the goblin but misses. Tilman hits the cat and the cat lets out a shriek. I hit the dog that is in front of me. Samson greases the goblins flaming sword, but the goblin still manages to hold on to it. Conrad puts the other dog down. Sharp shoots an arrow and misses. Tilman swings at the cat and also misses. I move up and hit the goblin with my dagger. Conrad moves up, but misses the goblin. Morpheus launches a magic missile at the goblin. I try to tumble past the goblin and the cat but I get hit anyway. I return the favor by hitting the goblin. Samson heals Conrad. Conrad swings, but misses. The goblin disappears in the thicket and tells his cat to run. He asks us why we are here and we tell him that we are here to see his king. He tells us where King Ripnugget is and we tell him to clear the way because any goblins we find-we’ll kill. He tells us that Ripnugget was a good chief until he started listening to the longshanks lady. He wants us to get rid of the longshanks lady – as if we needed convincing – she’s trying to turn herself into a demon! We head to the king’s fort. We are not happy to make deals with goblins, but we realize Tobyn’s daughter is the biggest threat.
Making deals with goblins! I can only imagine what will happen next!
Session Date: 12/07/08
As we warily and wearily camp for the night, I have a nagging feeling that I have to do something. Then it hits me – tonight is the night that my membership into the local rogue’s guild is due! Since I am out saving the town, I am assuming they will be understanding…right?
Day 11
Level 3
We come to a 60 foot rope bridge that leads to the Thistletop Shrine although it looks loke a bunch of ruins to me. You know what they say…one man’s ruins is another man’s shrine! There are several goblin and goblin dogs on the other side, oblivious to our presence. The rope bridge sways unsteadily back and forth. Edge starts running across the bridge-that crazy dwarf, and almost makes it across before the goblins sound the alarm. I take out my shortbow and hit one of the goblin dogs milling around on the other side of the bridge. Tilman next crosses the bridge followed by Conrad. Sharp lets loose an arrow that sails over the bridge and hits one of the goblins on the other side. Samson casts sleep at the goblins on the other side. The goblin dogs group up and attack Conrad, their jaws drooling for his blood. The other goblins throw their javelins at Conrad (probably too afraid to get between the angry half-orc and their snarling dogs). I try to shoot one of the dogs again, but miss. Edge attacks one of the dogs. Tilman kills one of the goblin dogs,and starts praising Desna. It is a bad time to be a goblin dog as Conrad puts another one down. The dogs retaliate by attacking Conrad as a blood-thirsty pack. Sharp shoots one of the dogs as he crosses the bridge, killing it. Morpheus tries to daze one of the goblins still standing but is unsuccessful. Edge and Tilman gang up on the remaining goblins as javelins start raining down on the party from two towers overlooking the bridge. There is one goblin dog still standing and it is attacking Conrad. It seems his contact with the dogs is causing Conrad to break out in a rash-I hope Tilman knows a cure. Edge takes out one of the remaining goblins leaving just one standing, but not for long. Conrad takes out the last remaining goblin dog. I go up see that the door is not locked or trapped and tell Conrad as much. He goes and opens the door and we all quickly enter-especially to get out of the range of the javelins.
He sees about six goblins in the room waiting there with their javelins ready to be thrown. We get win-Javelins from the outside, javelins on the inside. Only one of the javelins hit Conrad. Sharp shoots into the room hitting one of the goblins. Samson casts lullaby, hoping to put some to sleep shortly. Morpheus tries to daze one of the goblins, but doesn’t seem successful. Edge slams into a group of three goblins, while Conrad slams into the other group of three. Edge yells out in his thick dwarven accent that it is even-he has three and Conrad has three! The goblins attack both Edge and Conrad furiously. I guess they feel that they have some kind of advantage with their numbers. Sharp takes out one of the three goblins that are in front of Conrad, leaving just two goblins. I stick one of the goblins in front of Edge with my dagger-bet he didn’t see that coming! Edge then finishes him off. Conrad furiously puts another one of the goblins in front of him down. Two goblins open the door in the far end of the hall and run into the room. Another set of doors open and two more goblins rush in. This excites both Edge and Conrad greatly as they both feared the goblins were dying much too fast. I kill one of the sleeping goblins that Samson put to sleep, while Edge attacks the two new goblins that just entered the fray. Conrad attacks the other two that have also entered, Sharp kills the remaining original goblin. I tumble behind the two goblins and hit one of the goblins in the back with my dagger killing him. Edge quickly finishes off the other goblins that Sharp is not plucking off with his bow. Morpheus finishes off the last remaining goblin with a touch attack spell.
I decide to explore one of the towers and fortunately, do not come across any goblins. I check the other tower and don’t find any other goblins there either. Maybe we killed all the goblins here and King Ripnugget has fled. That was wishful thinking as I see a courtyard with four goblin dogs scratching at a door. We decide to attack the dogs-like there was a chance we wouldn’t? Conrad rushes in and draws first blood. Edge follows up with a vicious attack. I step into the courtyard and stab one of the dogs in the flanks. Sharp kills another of the dogs with his deadly bow. Edge attacks the dog that I had hit. I finally put the dog down. The two remaining dogs have not been hurt so Edge rectifies the situation by dropping one of the dogs with a savage attack with his Axe. Conrad flanks with Edge and hurts the remaining dog. Morpheus kills the dog with his summoned hand holding his longsword. I find a chest with some jewels and coins and a trap I failed to disable that almost took off my hands, much to the hooting and hollering from my “sympathetic” comrades.
I come across a locked door that I hear goblins behind. I unlock the door. Edge enters the room and goes right up to a nasty looking goblin riding a gecko. We assume that this is King Ripnugget. I enter the room and make my way to a less mean looking goblin-as if there is such a thing. A goblin war-chanter starts singing her horrible song and her allies seem to take comfort in it. As if any one can take comfort in that cacophony! The king and his gecko miss Edge, and the goblin in front of me misses-so far, so good. Conrad rushes up to the war-chanter but misses in his attack. Sharp hits the war-chanter with an arrow. Edge misses the king. I swing at the goblin in front of me but miss. It seems like this battle is at a stalemate with neither side inflicting any damage. Sharp hits the war-chanter again. The goblin in front of me hits me. I hear Tilman chant a healing spell and I feel as good as new. Conrad kills the war-chanter and I am grateful not to hear her horrible song any more. Edge misses the king. I hit the goblin in front of me. The goblin in front of me misses me. Conrad hits the king. Morpheus does a touch spell that damages one of the goblins. Edge hurts the king. With both Conrad and Edge attacking him with furious blows, I don’t think the king stands much of a chance. I swing at the goblin in front of me, but miss. It seems that we are just going back and forth, but I am keeping him from helping his besieged, endangered, king. Sharp is raining arrows on the king, and more often then not, they are hitting their mark. The king, knowing that his time is near and angry, growls defiantly. The goblin in front of me misses as he glances over at his wounded king. Conrad hits the king and it is evident to all that he is not long for this world. Morpheus kills King Ripnugget with a magic missile. Edge hits one of the other goblins and kills him. I guess seeing their king fall has taken some of the wind from their sails. I hit the goblin in front of me and Sharp, to my relief, finally puts him down. The last remaining goblin soon joins his king in the great beyond.
Day 12
Level 3
Morning comes and we decide to explore the lower levels. I find a room where I hear four goblin women complaining about the succubus. I ask the goblins to surrender but they continue their shrieking. Edge rushes in and kills one of the goblin women. Morpheus and Conrad kill another one. Edge kills another of the women. Samson opens a door and finds a bugbear behind it! Needless to say, Samson takes off. The bugbear shoots an arrow that brings Morpheus down. I try to position myself behind the bugbear ready to do some damage. Edge hits the beast solidly. Samson greases the bugbear’s flail, but he manages to keep his grip on it. The beast really hurts Conrad. Sharp steps up and tries to hit the beast but misses. I try to backstab the unsuspecting bugbear and miss. The beast misses sharp as Conrad misses him. With all of our focus on him, the bugbear soon succumbs. We assume that this Bugbear is the Bruthazmus mentioned in Tstotu’s journal.
Let’s see…Tstotu? Check! Ripnugget? Check! Quasit? Check! Quasit Freaks? Check! Bruthazmus? Check! Looks like all we have left is Nualia and Malfeshnekor…Hopefully.
Session Date: 01/04/09
Day 12
Level 3
While our to-do list is getting shorter, I am not sure I am liking what’s left!
We ask the remaining goblin woman for information and surprisingly, she is not forthcoming. I jab her with my dagger and she shrieks in pain. I ask her again, and still nothing. I tell her in goblin that we killed King Ripnugget. She does not believe it until Sharp produces King Ripnugget’s head. (I am sure glad at that moment that Sharp’s friend likes to keep pickled goblins!) Her whole attitude changes and she starts to come on to me. I am asking her questions and she starts to rub against me! It makes it easy to pick her pocket, unfortunately for me, she has nothing. I ask her where the succubus is and she says it might be in the temple. She says that besides Nualia, there might be two other “longshanks” with her – a man with a big sword and a lady finger-wiggler. She says that there are not many goblins left – I could have told her that the way we have been going through them! She says that there are only goblin babies left on this floor and her and her companions were the “wet-nurses”. She keeps asking if I want to make Halfling-Goblin babies with her-Yuck! Once we determine that there is no additional information that we need from her, I nod to Edge, who raises his ax. As soon as the lady goblin sees the raised ax, she begins to shriek and grabs on to me tightly and will not let go. Edge looks confused on how to kill the goblin without harming me! I shake my head no and quickly pull out my daggers. A look of shock comes over her face as my daggers plunge into her flesh. She falls silently to the floor.
We go into the nursery and Edge quickly and efficiently kills the goblin babies in their cages. Finding nothing else in the other rooms nearby, we decide to find the temple, kill the Succubus and her friends and be on our merry way.
Further down I hear padded movement behind a door-either of the four-legged kind or the succubus is wearing slippers. I am sure it is the former and not the latter. I check to see if the door is trapped or locked and determining that it is neither, motion to Edge to open the door. Edge slams against the door, opening it. He takes a step in and two ugly dogs start baying. This seems to unnerve Conrad and Tilman as they both run off to a side room. Edge holds the line as both dogs focus fully on him. One of them gets tangled in his legs and the sturdy dwarf goes down! He stands up and only one of the dogs is able to attack. I move to behind one of the dogs but I am a little disorientated and cannot effectively attack. Morpheus is busy shooting magic missiles at the dogs, and Sharp steadily fires his arrows. Edge puts down the dog that Sharp and Morpheus have been wounding. Edge then steps back to get healed, leaving me alone with the dog. The dog is not stupid and turns around and bites me! To add insult to injury, the dog trips me! I am not able to even stab the thing! I stand up, try to stab the dog and am quickly bit and tripped again! This is getting quite embarrassing! Samson comes over and heals me and I am mighty grateful! I get up and I am angry! I stab one of my daggers into the dog’s heart and down he goes! I find out later yeth hounds and to that I say – good riddance!
This looks like the temple as it has all the temple thing – alter a big angry-looking statue. The only thing it doesn’t have is a succubus or “longshanks”. Two yeth hounds-That’s it. Considering the source of our intel, we aren’t very surprised. Samson and I search the statue in the room and determine that it is just a statue-a creepy statue, but a statue just the same. Samson sees a secret compartment in the alter and I try to see if it is trapped. I didn’t think it was until the blinding burst and the searing pain in my hands. For my troubles I find
Behind a door further along I hear some voices in common, unfortunately they seem to hear us as well. We decide to go back to the temple and set up a trap. We get in position and wait a few moments and...and…nothing! Conrad sneaks up to the door, flings it open and glimpses a man in armor and a bastard sword as he runs back into position. We wait a few moments and…and…nothing! Why won’t they come into this nice trap we laid for them! That is the one thing I can’t stand – enemies that will not cooperate when you are trying to kill them! I finally hear the clanking of armor, but instead of moving towards us- and our trap, the sound seems to be going away from us! Edge takes off after the mystery fighter, but does not seem to catch him. We search the temple for secret doors but don’t see any. Edge finally comes across a room that has no visible exits. Where the heck did this guy go! We search the room thoroughly and finally find the secret door. I trigger the opening mechanism and the door slides open going down some stairs.
We finally come to a narrow corridor and even though I am checking for traps, I miss another one and just miss be crushed by stones, sliced open by glaives, and dropped down a hole. Another example of why I am not having a good day with my traps. I figure out the trap and disable it. I come to a door past the trap and hear voices. This is it boys! I let the fighters know and get out of the way.
As soon as we open the door, I hear the baying of dogs, and for some reason, this time it feels me with dread. Conrad enters the room and tries to attack the fighter, but misses. Samson enters the room and gets behind Conrad, ready to heal him. The Succubus attacks Conrad along with the fighter. Sharp enters the room and shoots the fighter. The succubus casts a spell at Conrad and he seems very weak. Edge enters the room but his attack misses. One hound attacks Conrad and takes a wicked bite from his arm, the other hound attacks Tilman hurting him as well. Sharp takes aim at the mirror images of the wizard, but does not seem to dispel any of the images. The succubus hits Conrad and he is hurting. The fighter also attacks and damages Conrad. Edge really hurts the succubus. The Succubus returns the favor by really hurting Tilman. Conrad tries to hit the succubus but misses. Sharp also tries to hit the succubus, but unlike Conrad, he succeeds. The succubus hits Tilman and he looks really beat up. This is a bloody fight that is sure keeping Tilman and Samson busy with healing. Samson casts a spell and the fighter falls down and starts laughing. I really hope that is due to the spell and not our fighting ability. Edge really damages Succubus. I, no longer scared of the two yeth hounds, tumble behind the succubus and bury my dagger in her thigh. The dogs missed in their attacks on Conrad and Edge. Sharp hits the succubus and she is looking really worse for wear. The Succubus takes her revenge against Edge by really hurting him. I try to backstab the succubus, but I am unable to find a weak spot. Sharp keeps launching arrows at the succubus. The Succubus hurts Edge. I bury my two daggers deep in her back and she keels over dead. Sharp now turns his attention to hitting the mirror images of the mage. She reads a scroll and flies out the window. The fighter, still laughing, surrenders.
The only one left on the list is Malfeshnekor and I really hope that he hasn’t been released!
Session Date: 01/18/09
Day 12
Level 3
When I tell my brother of the meeting with the guild-master, he remarks how unfortunately for the guild-master, Halflings have long memories. We both make a pact that someday we will visit the guild-master-on our terms!
We enter a room with a pillar that looks like gold coins! Can you say trapped boys and girls? Samson and I carefully make our way to the pillar which Samson confirms is magical. He says that he is thinking it is from the illusionary school of magic and that he does not think it is really gold coins. He stares at it for a few moments and says that it is only a pillar of stone. I knew it was too good to be true even though I still see the coins! My mind begins to calculate the value of the coins until I remind myself it is only stone! Samson sees a slot for gold coins on each side of the base of the pillar, which I miss because I am still fixated on the “gold pillar”. I try to figure out how this whole thing works and it is too complicated for me. We each put a coin in the slot and the pillar descends into the floor. There is another door in the room that we are still in, and we think it might be better to check this door first. We don’t want to leave anything behind us.
The door opens to a room has some sarcophagi in it. There is also a statue of the angry rune lord that we have seen throughout this area. As I approach the statue we get attacked by shadows. I take a step back and attack the shadow closest to me. Sharp lets an arrow fly and also hits the shadow. Conrad comes up and attacks the same one. That will show that silly shadow! Tilman comes up and hits the same one. The shadow remains even after all this punishment! Samson starts singing and our resolve is strengthened. The shadow grabs me and I feel weaker. Sharp finishes off the shadow in front of me with a well places arrow. I step up to attack the next shadow and do some damage. Morpheus has a ray of frost spring from his fingertips and damages the shadow. With all of the attacks on the shadow, it soon dissipates. I attack the final shadow and that one also dissipates. Samson and I check out the statue and Samson finds a secret compartment with a wand of cure serious and a few scrolls.
We find a secret door in the room and away we go. We come to a room with treasure in a shallow pool. There is a huge helmet for a giant in the pool-I hope we don’t come across the owner of that thing. As we study the room and the treasure, the helmet starts to rotate around. Sharp fires an arrow as the helmet starts growing legs! Looks like we found some crab’s home! The thing attacks Conrad as Morpheus casts a spell at it. I go up and try to attack it but can’t seem to find an opening. Sharp shoots an arrow that misses. Conrad hits the thing as it really hurts him. I still can’t find an opening. Sharp misses again, but Conrad delivers a withering attack. This is shaping up to be a personal battle between Conrad and the helmet-beast. Morpheus casts a magic missile at it. Edge does some damage and this thing is looking weak. Conrad finishes the angry beast off and we discover that it was indeed a giant hermit crab! Looks like we have dinner for tonight!
Day 13
Level 3
After feasting on crab and a good night’s rest, we decide to check out the rooms behind the “coin” pillar. We find a throne room with a ghostly visage of the statue- guy in there. He is sitting there saying the same things over and over again. Samson determines that it is a permanent illusion spell of the guy addressing his subjects – fine with me! There is no treasure in the room that we find. We leave the windbag to his repeating speech and explore onward.
We come to a room that has some kind of flame pit in the middle. Too bad we did not know about this room last night-we would not have needed to build a fire to cook our crab dinner. As I approach the flame pit I feel searing pain as something unseen attacks me. Luckily, my brother comes up and heals me. I can now see the four-legged beast as it attacks me again briefly before I lose consciousness. Edge attacks the beast in vengeance. Tilman reaches out, grabs my ankle and teleports me out of harm’s way. Sharp fires an arrow that misses its mark. Morpheus casts cat’s grace on Sharp to help improve his aim. My brother hits me with another healing spell. The beast really damages Edge. Edge damages the beast but only inflicts minor damage. The wounds that Conrad inflicted are healing but Edge’s magic ax seems to do all damage. We quickly determine that only magical weapons can hurt the foul creature. Since I don’t have any magic daggers, I decide to wait behind the lines and see if I can be healed some more. Morpheus shoots a magic missile at it and the beast sure feels it. Edge, healed up, gets back into the fight. The beast almost brings Conrad down, but the tenacious half-orc barely keeps his footing. Sharp steps up and hits the thing with his bastard sword. I decide to use my magical shortbow, but miss. Morpheus cast true strike on himself. I shoot another arrow but miss. Tilman and Samson are busy keeping the party up. Morpheus hits him with a ray. The beast turns his attention to Edge and severely punishes him. Sharp finally puts the thing down with his magnificent sword. We learn that it is an advanced barghast, Malfeshnekor!
Day 13
Level 4
We spend the rest of the day making sure we did not miss anything then head back to town. We deliver our prisoner, Orik Vancaskerkin, to Sheriff Hemlock and tell him our tale. It is after dinner at this time and Samson smiles and says, “it may be too late to run errands all over town, but it is not too late for a show!” We quickly head over to the White Deer, down a hasty dinner, and on we go. The last few days of dungeon-crawling took their toll as the crowd was appreciative but not enthusiastic. Conrad caught the show, but seemed too busy downing pints of ale to notice. I keep checking my pockets, expecting another note from the local rogue’s guild, but nothing. After the show Samson and I easily fall too sleep in our room – perhaps too easily.
I wake up and I am bound tightly to a chair with a light in my eyes. I try to wiggle free but quickly realize that it is no use. “I didn’t get my payment!” an unseen voice finally announces. “I was out of town, but I am willing to pay.” I reply. Yeah, saving the town was more like it so you can have your precious guild, you son of an ogre, is the reply I wanted to give. “Where is my money?” the unseen voice asks. “My brother has it.” I reply. Of course the answer I wanted to give went something along the lines of “Silly me, I forgot to get while I was being abducted in the middle of the night! “I want my money by tonight, and by the way it is double 50 gold initially then 1 gold every week, and let me show you what happened to the last guy that did not pay me.” He pulls out a dagger and a hand is immediately shot into my area vision-a hand missing a pinky. “One finger for every day that the payment is late: How many traps will you be able to disarm without fingers?” the guild-master chuckles. As long as I have enough fingers to plunge my dagger into your heart you troll spit! I wisely keep that nugget to myself has I am unsure if Tilman can reattach fingers. “I want to pay you, truly I do, but we do get called out of town a lot, you know, business for Sheriff Hemlock and what not. Where can I leave the payment if I am unexpectedly called out of town?” With the light in my eyes, I can not see, but I could swear the guild master flinched at the name of the sheriff. “Leave your payment on the table in your room tonight, and if you do leave town tonight for the sheriff, you will be doing so without your armor. We are taking that mithral shirt for collateral.” The chuckling starts again, now joined by others in the room. “What are the benefits of joining your guild I quickly ask as a deep slumber again begins to overtake me. In a sneering voice the guild master answers, “Right now, your life and the privilege of performing in our fair town, later, once we trust you, maybe some jobs or information – maybe.” The darkness of sleep comes over me.
Samson wakes up and notices I am no longer in the room. He frantically searches the room and angrily rushes down the stairs to the tavern part where he sees Conrad sleeping in a corner, a half of pint of ale in each hand noisily sleeping off his night of drinking. I lie in the other corner also deep in slumber, only from magical means, not the alcoholic means of Conrad….
Session Date: 2/1/09
Day 14
Level 4
We were almost set to leave this town when another crises erupts, one that seems somehow linked to Sharp.
Samson and I go see Brodert Quink after my “nap” and tell him about our adventures. He is very intrigued and wants to hire someone to take him there. We offer to take him there as we are not going to turn down an easy job. We ask him about the runelords and he tells us at one point they used good virtues with their schools of magic which turned to neutral virtues to finally evil virtues. He starts rattling on about how he thinks the light house is a runelord war machine, and Samson and I begin to understand why most of the town thinks the old geezer is crazy. We interrupt his wild theorizing and ask him what he knows about the local guilds, especially the thieves’ guild. He says that we should ask Cyrdak Drokkus, the playhouse owner or the Sheriff. Before he can resume his wild speculation of the light house we bid our farewell and head to the theater.
Sharp goes sees his ranger friend, Daviren Hosk, and gives him the head of King Ripnugget. Daviren is most appreciative and says that he is going to mount the head on his wall. I wouldn’t have this guy decorate my home, but different strokes.
Morpheus goes and buys some scrolls; he wants to add them to his spellbook, which considering how well he casts them in battle is fine with me. Edge and Conrad go to the hagfish to try their luck trying to drink from the tank. They both become sick as dogs! They spend the rest of the day drinking so apparently it didn’t hurt their thirst too much!
When we ask Cyrdak about the thieves’ guild his normally jovial face turns to the rare frown. He tells us what he is paying and it is a lot more than us, of course he does own a theater so that might explain it. We ask them who is behind the guild and either he doesn’t know, or does not want to get involved. He suggests that we go see Sheriff Hemlock for more information. Now I definitely do not like to involve the sheriff in our affairs, especially any activities my brother and I might partake in when we are not entertaining, but Samson feels it is our best option right now.
We go see Sheriff Hemlock who tells us that he thinks, but cannot prove, Jubrayl Vhiski is head of the local chapter of the thieves’ guild. The guild is headquartered in Magnimar. He thinks Jubrayl actually owns the Fatman’s Feedbag instead of Gressel Tenniwar, but Gressel will tell you otherwise. The Sheriff tells us that Jubrayl is bad news and, he adds deviously, if Jubrayl somehow went missing, he would not be all that shaken up over it. We respond cryptically that we will see what we can do.
That night we leave the money on the night stand and set up for our performance. Conrad is watching the front doors and Sharp will be watching the window into our room. Morpheus will keep an eye out in the audience. He will be casting see invisible so he can see all the seen and unseen audience members. Edge will act “passed out” in the room to see if anyone comes in. We see Jubrayl enter the inn, sit and watch the show for a little and then head up the stairs to our room. Samson messages Conrad to come in to the inn as he obviously missed Jubrayl coming into the inn and he messages Edge to be ready. As Jubrayl places the mithral shirt on the table, Edge “wakes” up. Jubrayl steps into the shadows and “disappears”. Sharp, outside, hears “somebody” hit the ground near him. He shoots an arrow but it hits the side of the building. Sharp looks but sees no one out of place in the street. Jubrayl has “disappeared”.
Edge brings down my armor and we all decide to head to the Fatman’s Feedbag where we are greeted by a surly barkeep. After Samson pokes fun at him for a few minutes, the barkeep, Gressel, asks some patrons to show us out. I don’t think anyone is showing this group anything. Conrad grapples the thug that tried to put a hand on him. Sharp throws a punch on the thug coming up to him, but misses. Edge also throws a punch and smacks the thug in front of him. Samson and I get away from the patrons trying to grab us. Morpheus steps back and casts web at the guy after him. The thug in front of Edge throws a punch, but hits Edge’s armor and really hurts his hand. Conrad punishes the guy he has in a headlock. Sharp tries to throw another punch but misses. Samson casts a charm spell on Gressel, who stops the bar fight. He tells us Jubrayl has a room upstairs and that there is another entrance into the cellar. He even buys us a round on the house!
I sneak up to Jubrayl’s room, but find nothing. We find out from Gressel that Jubrayl is friendly with three guys and they received a letter and haven’t been around in the last few days.
Since by this time it is late at night, we decide to call it a night, but we decide to take precautions in case Jubrayl retaliates.
Day 15
Level 4
The next morning, as we head into the common room, we see one of Sheriff Hemlock’s deputies. He says the Sheriff would like to see us after breakfast. We finish breakfast and head over. The Sheriff tells us that Gressel sold the Fatman’s Feedbag last night. That was shocking as we had just seen the guy a few hours before! If that was not shocking enough, the Sheriff tells us that Gressel turned up on his doorstep with his throat slashed and a note claiming that it was a present for Samson! I guess that was his reward for talking to us. Looks like at some point we will have to speak to the new owner, some guy named Jasper.
He also tells us reminds us of the “late unpleasentry”. Considering that everyone in this town reminds us of it, it is kind of hard to forget! He tells us that he thinks that there is another serial killer in town. There were two dead, mutilated bodies found in the saw mill. A man named Harker and Ven Veder’s older daughter, Katrine. We remind the Sheriff that two bodies does not a serial killer make. “How about another three bodies?” the sheriff retorts sarcastically. He tells us that there were three con men that were killed at Bradley’s barn and he shows us a note that was found on the bodies. We find out that these were the same three men that were linked to Jubrayl, the same three men that have been missing for the last few days. Looks like that mystery is solved! The note reads:
“Messrs. Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe- A deal has come about that I need capital in. It involves property and gold, and though I am not at liberty to tell you the exact details, it will make us all rich. Come to Bradley’s Barn on Couger Creek tonight. We can meet there to discuss our futures. – Your Lordship”
The Sheriff confirms that the murders are connected because in the same hand writing is a note found with the saw mill bodies addressed to Sharp. That note says: “I do as you command, Master” and it is also signed your Lordship. Sharp is repulsed by this and can’t understand what he has to do with any of this.
We decide to head to the saw mill and both bodies are horribly mutilated. The body of Harker has the “runelord symbol” carved into his chest. Sharp finds humanoid tracks that lead to the river. There is a strong smell of death which Tilman believes is from an undead. We speak to Ven Veder but did not get much information.
Ibor Thorndoes, the other man that works at the mill tells us that Harker was “cooking the books” Well that surely gives the owner of the mill motive, but what does that have to do with serial killers?
Between a deadly thieves’ guild and a diabolical serial killer, we sure are in the thick of things!
Session Date: 03/29/09
Day 15
Level 4
Scarecrows and ghouls terrorizing the countryside so soon after the goblin raids? Looks like this town is sure unlucky!
The Sheriff tells us that there was a survivor from the barn attack, a body guard named Grayst Sevilla that had accompanied Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe, and he is currently in the sanatorium. We decide to see if we can get any sane answers from him. We find him in his room, which is not much bigger than a cell. He keeps muttering about razors, too many teeth, and someone with the lovely name of the skin-saw man. The crazy man looks at Sharp and somehow recognizes him! He says that he has a ‘message’ for him. The dead bodies are important signs so that Sharp will be remembered. That he is preparing a place for Sharp! With that he falls on the floor in a fetal position. Sharp reacts angrily and is just about to ask the man what the devil he means when the crazy man rises and starts to tear out of the straight-jacket! He looks at Sharp with hatred in his eyes. He pushes me out of the way which is fine by me and hits Sharp. I stick both daggers in him and he crumbles to the ground. Tilman looks at the body and confirms that he had “Ghoul Fever”. We take the body, along with the other bodies from the previous attacks to Father Zantis so that he can properly dispose of them. We don’t want any ghouls running around town.
Samson realizes that the crazy, dead guy had mentioned “the misgivings”, and that is what the locals call the Foxglove Manor. It is about 4 miles from the town. We decide to head there when a deputy motions to us and tells us to follow him as Farmer Grump has come into town acting strange. He is mumbling an old varisian nursery rhyme about a scarecrow:
Mumble Mumble Scarecrow,
Alone in the maize.
Sleeping in the daytime,
A stitched man he stays.
But when the moon she rises,
Up Mumble gets.
He shakes his hands at first
And moves his feet the next.
And when the dog is snoring,
And when you’re fast asleep,
Mumble Mumble Scarecrow
Will find you good to eat.
He says that the farmers of the area have seen walking scarecrows. He says that a family had been attacked at the Hambly farm. Farmer Grump says they even ate the dogs! Some in the party, upon hearing that the dogs had been killed, assume goblins (although I think this is wishful thinking on Edge and Sharp’s part). Some think it might be ghouls (wishful thinking on Tilman’s part?) Goblins, Ghouls, or walking scarecrows-either one we’ll be ready. We decide to head the Hambley farm first and see which one it is.
As we near the farm we come across a scarecrow. We do a quick look, see that it is not out of the ordinary, and we start to follow the ghoul tracks that Sharp found to the farm buildings. I think he was a little disappointed that it was not goblin tracks. As we approach another scarecrow, the thing starts moving! Since it is still daylight, I guess Farmer Grump’s little ditty about the Scarecrows coming to life only at dark was wrong! As we get closer we realize that it isn’t a scarecrow at all-but a ghoul in farming attire tied up on the Scarecrow stake. The original scarecrow is in a pile by the stake. Could this be one of the dead farmers? I will say this, if keeping a ghoul on your scarecrow stake doesn’t keep the crows away, I don’t know what will. Come to think of it, a ghoul would keep most creatures away! Sharp shoots an arrow and impales the ghoul. I get in position to do some damage. Conrad gets hit by the ghoul and doesn’t move. He stands there frozen in place. Morpheus disrupts the thing and it is all over for the ghoul from there.
As we continue to the buildings we see another “scarecrow”, only this time it is asking to be untied. Tilman says that it looks like this unfortunate soul is just beginning to succumb to ghoul fever. Mr. Human-Scarecrow-Ghoul says that his name is Hambley and he owns this farm. We ask him how big his family is in case they have already succumbed to the fever. He says that he has a wife and three sons, but his wife was torn to bits. He isn’t sure where his sons are, and I get the feeling he doesn’t really want to know. He says that Creasby is the leader of the ghouls that attacked him. I didn’t want to tell him that if Creasby is already a ghoul, knowing his name won’t help him. We are about ready to put manacles on him in order to take him to town to see if he can be cured, when three ghouls start coming out of the fields. Conrad and Edge move up and form a line. The ghouls rush up to the line and the battle begins. Conrad, Edge, and Sharp put one down. Morpheus shoots a magic missile at one of the remaining ghouls. I secure the farmer with the manacles. Sharp puts one of the remaining ghouls down with his accurate arrows. The last remaining ghoul seems to be a little more stubborn, but finally falls under Conrad’s fists.
We get to the barn and I scout it out. I believe that there are about four ghouls in the back of the barn amid human and animal carcasses. I guess we are about to interrupt their dinner. I go to the back of the barn and look in through the boards and confirm the number of foul smelling ghouls. I tell the group what I saw and Edge decides to march to the front of the barn and “call” to the ghouls. They begin coming out to their doom. Samson makes me invisible and I get into position. Morpheus shoots a scorching ray at the one ghoul that seems to be hanging back. One of the ghouls slams his heavy fist into Edge and he stops moving. Tilman calls upon the power of Desna and two ghouls head to the back of the barn. Conrad goes up and smacks the remaining ghoul still on the line. The two ghouls come back up and I attack one of them. One of the ghouls is brought down leaving two ghouls facing the line. Tilman calls on Desna again and the two ghouls flee again. Conrad goes up and attacks the ghoul that is still hanging back. For some reason he seems different from the other ghouls. I tumble behind him and get in position. Morpheus shoots him with a magic missile. Samson uses a scroll to “unfreeze” Edge and he joins the fray. Conrad comes up and finishes off this super-ghoul. With the super ghoul down, the remaining ghouls cowering in the back of the barn are no match. Around the neck of the super-ghoul we find a key with a symbol that Samson identifies as the Foxglove symbol. Seems like all roads lead to Foxglove!
I decide to scout the farm house and find a mutilated corpse with another key, the rune that was carved into the other bodies is also carved into his chest. Of course there is a note to Sharp. This one says that he is responsible for all this. The manacled farmer identifies the super-ghoul as Creasby-who we find out is the caretaker of, no surprise, the Foxglove manor.
We take the farmer and another farmer that we had found to Father Zantis to see if they can be healed. He seems to think he can do it, but we tell him to let us know if he can’t and we will do some ghoul exterminating.
Day 16
After a hasty breakfast we check in with Father Zantis since Conrad and Edge weren’t feeling well. Tilman takes a look at them and says that they have a mild case of ghoul fever. I have seen what a serious case of ghoul fever can do and I would hate to see what a mild case would do. Tilman and Father Zantis each cast restorations and cures them. We ask Father Zantis if he knows what causes ghoul fever. He tells us a Master Ghoul or a Ghast can do it. Luckily for Edge and Conrad, we did not face one of those.
Sampson finds out that Foxglove manor was built 80 years ago. The first Foxgloves died of disease. It was vacant until several years ago when other Foxgloves moved in. The parents died horrible deaths and the children were sent away. The son came back recently to resettle the manor. His name was Aldern Foxglove-the same Aldern Foxglove that Sharp had saved from the goblin dogs a few weeks ago. The same Aldern Foxglove that Sharp and Conrad went hunting with. Looks like we might have found a connection! If that didn’t sweeten the pot, we also hear that the manor is haunted and there might be a bat-like creature that lives in the caves under the manor. No wonder why it is called the “Misgivings”
We put aside any misgivings about heading to the Misgivings and go on our way. (With that bad line is it any wonder my brother is the comedian of the team?)
Session Date: 04/05/09
Day 16
Level 4
Aldren was a lot of fun when he was alive – not so much after he died…
We arrive at Foxglove without incident. Somehow I think that this is going to be the only part of the day without incident. We come to a sad-looking well a few yards from the manor house. I see a passage at the bottom of the well that seems to head to the house. We decide to lower Edge down the well since he has dark vision and can see if anything is “living” in the tunnel. As he approaches the water he smells decay and decomposition. The tunnel leads to a small chamber. I decide to be the next one down in case there are traps. Of course I want to be the next one down in case there is any treasure on what is decaying, but I will keep them that to myself! I am 60 feet down the shaft and have 40 feet to go when Conrad and Sharp accidentally let the rope slip; at least I am going to hope that it is accidentally. Samson grabs the rope and holds on with all his might when Sharp grabs him and stops my fall, rather roughly I might add. I am lowered the remaining 10 feet down slowly and safely. After seeing my ordeal the rest of the party decides to rest a little while Edge and I scout out the chamber.
We see many carcasses in the chamber including three humanoid bodies. We also see strangely, the carcass of a horse. I am hoping that it is not one of our horses. Edge and I are about halfway through the cavern when a huge bat flies out of the opposite tunnel and attacks Edge. Edge stops moving just like he did when he was attacked by the ghouls. Is this bat undead? I start to drag Edge back into the tunnel and hope to stop the bat’s progress. The bat attacks me and hurts me, but unlike the dwarf, I do not freeze up. The rest of the party comes down and I am pinned to the wall by Morpheus, which is fine with me since Morpheus is disrupting this thing. Conrad kicks at the bat’s face, which make the bat angry. Tilman is channeling his positive energy which helps heal Edge and I, but hurts the bat. Samson uses his cure serious wand and taps the bat killing it with its healing power. Samson identifies one of the bodies as Shaz “redshiv” Bildger, who terrorized wagon trains. Samson remembers that bringing proof of his demise brings a 500 gold piece reward.
Edge comes across another cavern that has four, foul ghouls in it. Conrad and I rush into the room, but I am too tied to attack. The monk, with his longer legs has no such issues and attacks. Sharp enters the entryway to the cavern and fires an arrow. The ghouls move up and attack Edge and Conrad. Conrad gets hit and stops moving. My brother starts performing and our resolve is steeled. Edge shouts out that he has a plan on destroying the ghouls but misses the ghoul in front of him. Somehow, I don’t think that was part of his plan. Sharp fires another arrow and brings a ghoul down. Tilman calls on Desna and the ghouls are reeling. Edge strikes a ghoul with his axes and a ghoul goes down. Morpheus continues to disrupt the remaining ghouls. I tumble and put down the remaining ghoul by sinking one of my daggers into it.
We go through another tunnel and come across another large room with what looks like four goblin-ghouls in it. This makes Sharp extremely happy and he quickly fires his bow. There is a well-dressed ghoul sitting on a chair in the back of the room licking blood off of a dagger. The goblin-ghouls move up and attack, while the well-dressed ghoul just sits there. The well-dressed ghoul looks at Sharp and seems to know him. Sharp seems to be pretty popular with the ghouls! He puts on a mask and then looks exactly like Sharp. Not only do ghouls know him, but now they want to be him? Edge pushes a goblin-ghoul out of the way so that Conrad has room to move in. Conrad comes in and attacks. Tilman comes into the room and calls on Desna, whose positive energy hurts the ghouls. The one well-dressed ghoul seems to really want a piece of Sharp, or himself, I don’t know which. Conrad gets hit by a ghoul and doesn’t move. Edge puts a ghoul down and flanks with me. I stab with my daggers but miss. Tilman calls on Desna again and the ghouls are really starting to hate that name. Morpheus casts shocking grasp on the faux Sharp. The Sharp look-a-like goes up and attacks Edge and he stops moving. I sink one of my daggers into a goblin-ghoul and he crumbles to the ground. Tilman casts remove paralysis and Conrad and Edge are free to move. Sharp fires an arrow at his doppelganger but misses. The ghoul in front of me hits me with one of his claws and I can’t move. Edge attacks the Sharp look-alike. Tilman unfreezes Conrad and our front line fighters are back in the fray. Sharp hits his mirror image. The evil Sharp goes up and hits Morpheus and he stops moving. Conrad takes all his frustration out on one of the ghouls and it falls to the ground. Samson casts a spell and the remaining goblin-ghoul dies or re-dies-I am not sure what the proper terminology is. Tilman uses a healing wand and really hurts the remaining “Sharp” ghoul. Conrad finally puts the phony Sharp down. As we search the room and find the following note:
Aldern—
You have served us quite well. The delivery you harvested from the caverns far exceeds what I had hoped for. You may consider your debt to the Brothers paid in full. Yet I still have need of you, and when you awaken from your death, you should find your mind clear and able to understand this task more than in the state you lie in as I write this. You shall remember the workings of the Sihedron ritual, I trust. You seemed quite lucid at the time, but if you fnd after your rebirth that you have forgotten, return to your townhouse in Magnimar. My agents shall contact you there soon—no need for you to bother the Brothers further. I will provide the list of proper victims for the Sihedron ritual in two days’ time. Commit that list to memory and then destroy it before you begin your work. The ones I have selected must be marked before they die, otherwise they do my master no good and the greed in their souls will go to waste. If others get in your way, though, you may do with them as you please. Eat them, savage them, or turn them into pawns—it matters not to me.
—Your Mistress, Wanton of Nature’s Pagan Forms
Looks like it is on to Magnimar!
Session date 2009/05/03 (DM posting, Mac is on vacation)
Day 17
Back to Sandpoint, reported to the Sheriff and sold stuff. Split the gold and got ready to leave for Magnimar.
Day 18, 19
Road trip to Magnimar
Day 20
Arrived Magnimar. Found out that the City Watch put the bounty on Redshiv so headed (bad pun!) with Revshiv's head to the Tower. Got in to see Captain Acacia Uriana of the City Watch. Turned in the head and claimed reward. Talked with her and found out little about the rogue guilds. Night scales, and an 80 year old woman. Showed notes and letters, and she gave us a writ to investigate Foxglove townhouse. Went through the house, killed to *really* ugly and found his cache including legal papers about the manor and references to the Brothers of the Seven, the Seven's Sawmill, and deed to the Manor.
Went back to City Watch and reported to Captain Acacia Uriana what we found. Found an Inn in the Lowcleft district and went pub hopping. Did not get much information, but Samson remember that the Brothers of the Seven were related to the Skinsaw Men, and the deity Norgorber. Went back to Inn and went to bed.
Need to figure out what to do on the morrow....
(DM note... Bard 5th level "lore master" and take 20 on one knowledge skill once a day gave him 32 on Knowledge(history) and rolled total 28 on Knowledge(Religion) **dang** !!!)
Session Date: 05/17/2009
Day 21
Level 5
A Judge walks into a sawmill, sounds like the start of a joke, but after we got through with him, Justice Ironbriar wasn’t laughing – wasn’t doing anything for that matter.
Sharp and Samson head over to the Silver Shore district to see what they can hear or is it hear what they can see? Samson hears that there seems to be a lot more sawmill workers than are necessary. Either lumber is in great demand, or there is something not right. Based on our experiences, I’ll go with the later. They next go to the Rose & Rake and hear a rumor that one of the justices of the town seems to spend a lot of time at the saw mill. Unless the guy is building a house, that seems kind of odd. Upon hearing that, Sharp and Samson decide to find out who the justices are, and more importantly, who that particular justice is. They find out the justices of the town are as follows:
Lord Justice Argentine
Justice Ironbriar
Justice Irminrick
Justice Aludini
Justice Aelfgyth
Justice Ansith
Justice Wilfrid
Justice Cadmon
Justice Nothgyth
Justice Thrydwulf
Justice Tondhere
Justice Vedry
Justice Albanederiel
They go speak to Captain Uriana, but she has been sent out of town. Since she is out, they decide to see if her second in command, Lt. Rhonyc, is available, but he is not. Wow! We were big deals in Sandpoint, now no one wants to give us the time of day! Samson makes friends with the desk sergeant, a man by the name of Leomyer, and he tells them where the courts are. They spend the rest of the day observing the judicial proceedings. It must be a relief to Samson to be a spectator, since there have been a few times when both of us were “active participants” in the judicial proceedings.
Conrad, Edge and I also try to see what information we can gather, but we don’t gather too much. Conrad and Edge seem to more interested in sampling the dwarven ale instead of hearing the local scuttlebutt. To tell the truth, I am more interested in generating “alternative revenue” then to really listen. Samson is not happy with our lack of information; but lucky for the party, the information that he and Sharp gathered more than made up for it.
About 9PM, Sharp sees two men, who do not look like saw mill workers, enter the lower level of the mill. Samson makes me invisible, and I sneak down to the door. The door is locked, but after a few seconds it clicks open. I make my way around the water wheels and find a ladder heading to a trap door. I make my way up the ladder, and open the trap door ever so slowly. I scout the second floor and don’t see the two guys and knowing that my invisibility is about to run out I head back out. Samson, Sharp and I decide to keep an eye on the mill for the rest of the night.
Day 22
Level 5
Sharp notices Justice Ironbriar leave the mill at 6am. Bingo! Looks like we found our justice. Samson decides to ask our new best friend, desk sergeant Leomeyer, any information that he has on the ‘honorable’ jurist. We had already heard from our few days in town that Ironbriar was appointed by the previous Lord-Mayor. Leomeyer tells Samson that Ironbriar lives in the city and like his fellow justices, is harsh. Great! I love harsh Judges! We determine that Ironbriar is scheduled to be in court today. Leomeyer does not know or care or is too afraid to tell Samson where Ironbriar lives. Samson hits the streets and uses some gold and all his gifts of perception to find out where Ironbriar lives. He finds out that he lives in the Silver Shore district. Samson makes himself and Sharp invisible and they decide to look into the magic-emanating windows of the house. They notice nothing out of place for a Nobleman’s house.
I spend the day at the courthouse resolved to follow Ironbriar in his travels. About noon, he leaves the courthouse for a very ordinary lunch at one of the local taverns. At 5PM, a very nobleman-looking carriage pulls up and takes Ironbriar home. Besides being at the sawmill til dawn, this guy is not only ordinary (for a nobleman’s standard), but dull! We all decide to meet up at the sawmill that night and arrive about 7PM.- The same time that Justice Ironbriar shows up with 2 other men.
Sharp and I sneak down to the door on the first floor. Sharp sees a man through a crack in the wall. That Sharp sure has good eyesight! We decide to call Samson over to see if he can charm the night watchman. Samson opens the door and casts his spell. The spell works, however there is another man in the room. Samson convinces his new ‘friend’ to not get in our way as the party storms through the door. The man reaches for his weapon and a mask, which Samson casts grease on. The man starts heading to the upper level in order to call for reinforcements. Conrad tries to grapple him, but the man slips easily out of his grasp. Samson casts sleep at him, but the man is still standing. Conrad tries another grapple and succeeds. I come up and try punching the guy. We are trying to subdue him just in case he is not an evil baddie, but some schlub working the night shift. The man reaches out and hurts Conrad – I guess this is not any ordinary watchman. Sharp stabs the man with his longsword causing him to become unconscious. I put the manacles on him and we all head to the top of the ladder. I search the prisoner but only find the mask and a war razor. What would a night watchman be doing with a mask any way?
After going up about three floors and not seeing a soul in sight, we finally run into resistance. There are nine people in a room. We learn later that they are priests. Funny – when I think of a temple – sawmills don’t usually come to mind. A few of the priests command Conrad to fall to the ground, which he does. Edge levitates up to the combat, but just then Justice Ironbriar appears and tells Edge to flee. Is he the head cleric of this evil order? Conrad on the ground still manages to kick out at one of the priests surrounding him. The priest thinks the monk is an easy target and strikes at him repeatedly. Edge tries to flee, but Conrad trips him. I usually don’t like to see party members fall to the floor, but in this case, I think I’ll make an exception. Ironbriar walks over and touches Conrad causing him great pain. I shoot an arrow at the Judge but miss. I am not the bowman that Sharp is. Tilman calls on Desna’s healing power. Samson casts grease on the floor which causes some of the priests to fall down. If we are going to fight laying on the floor, so should they! Tilman casts a spell and Edge no longer wants to flee. Morpheus casts haste and I plug a priest with two well placed arrows. Conrad, up on two feet now, swings behind enemy lines using some pulleys and gets into position. Samson casts another grease on the floor while Morpheus tries to dismiss any magic on the Judge. I shot my Shortbow and put the priest that I wounded before down- Maybe Sharp should start giving me lessons. Edge, his dwarven pride wounded, viciously attacks puts the Judge and puts him down. Tilman grabs me and ‘hops’ behind enemy lines, but with Ironbriar mortally wounded, the remaining priests do not have a chance. I search the Justice’s body for some evidence of the Justice’s evil inclinations but only find an ugly mask, a well made war razor, and a wand Tilman and Samson seem very happy with.
We will have a lot of quick explaining to do before we find some time to visit the Shadow Clock – Yes I know that was bad – luckily Samson is the comedian of our act
Session Date 05/31/2009
Day 23
Level 5
There is an old saying that a broken clock is right twice a day, while that is true, I also know that a clock with a lamina matriarch in it can’t be right.
Early this morning, Samson and I forge a note that says that the sawmill is closed and we post it on the door. We definitely don’t want to be standing over the body of the Justice when a score or more sawmill workers show up. We leave Edge, Conrad and Sharp at the sawmill in case there are a few workers who don’t buy our “proclamation” and want to force themselves in. Samson heads over to see Captain Uriana, who is due back in town. He runs in to our good friend, Leomeyer, who tells him that Uriana just got back into town last night. Samson tells Uriana what we saw at the saw mill and the shock on her face is evident. She wants to go the saw mill immediately, but first she stops at the temple of Abadar, god of cities, wealth, merchants and law and grabs her friend, Yrmel Rohrig, a cleric. Yrmel seems more scholarly than some of the “battle-clerics” that we have seen. When we tell her about “Wanton” she thinks it has something to do with the goddess Lamashtu.
We also ask her what she knows about the shadow clock. She tells us that the clock was supposed to be a really nice structure, but was never fully completed and has since fallen into complete disrepair. Many people believe that the tower is about ready to fall down. I am not sure, but I think I might see a tear in Edge’s eye when she describes the poor engineering job that was done on the tower. Some local drunks think they have seen creatures come in and out of it. Now most times drunks are unreliable, but every once in awhile you get a morsel of truth. In trying to find those somewhat reliable drunks, we decide to hit the taverns to see what “tales” we hear.
One drunk mentions a flying serpent that flies into the top of the tower. Another drunk says over and over again that she was gorgeous when we ask him what lives in the clock tower. I don’t think this guy is talking about the winged serpent – unless this guy has a thing for winged serpents. Universally we hear that there is something creepy about the tower. We hear that there is a first floor with a circular stairway all the way to the top. The clock hasn’t worked in years and the time is ominously stuck at 3:00.
Day 24
Level 5
Before we “hit” the clock tower, we stop off and see the good Captain, who tells us that we should proceed to the clock tower with all haste as there is starting to be some questions asked around town. We explain that our industrious mage, Morpheus, needed time to make some wands. I am not sure how to make a wand, but Morpheus locked himself in his room for almost two days to do it.
As we enter the clock tower, Sharp notices some tracks. There are some humanoid, but there are some tracks that Sharp had never seen before. Morpheus identifiers those as belonging to a fleshy construct. Almost using that has an introduction, a huge, fleshy construct with a big scythe and human heads on his belt rises up. Morpheus summons a longsword to attack the foul beast. I move up to be in a better flanking position. Conrad rushes up to attack, swinging with his fist, but the swing is wild and misses. Tilman also gets into position. The beast takes a huge chunk out of Conrad with his scythe, Sharp fires an arrow and hits the beast but it does not seem to hurt it as much as he thought it would. Edge hits the beast and gets revenge for Conrad. I continue to work my way around the battlefield. Tilman moves and calls a healing plea to Desna. Conrad savagely throws his fists and feet at the fleshy beast hurting the creature. The beast staggers and tries to counter-attack but fails miserably. Samson greases the floor under the creature but he keeps his footing. Sharp moves closer into position. Conrad hits the beast hard. Morpheus misses with his magical longsword. I stab the beast with a little damage. Tilman heals Conrad. Samson casts grease again, and the creature falls to the floor. As the beast stands up, Conrad kicks him. The beast turns around and hits me and I feel pain. Edge misses again. I stab the creature again, but he had hurt me more than I had hurt him. Conrad pounds the thing with his fists. Tilman casts another healing burst and I feel a lot better. Samson casts grease again, but the beast keeps his footing. Edge takes a savage beating. Morpheus hits the thing with his magical longsword and the beast falls to the ground in a pile of flesh-yuck!
We search the ground and find some magic items, probably belonging to the ‘heads’. We will gladly take anything that can help us fight the fighting serpent. We look at the stairs and we all come to the conclusion that these are rickety steps and we will probably have to spread out. Halfway up the stairs, we hear a bell start to creak and suddenly falls and hits Tilman on its noisy descent to the ground. Luckily he is able to grab on or else he would have fallen with the bell to the floor. As we approach the top, we see three ughothols. Samson casts rage on Edge who slams into the first ughothol swinging his axes viciously. I shoot an arrow at the last ughothol doing some damage. Sharp also shoots that one and between the two of us we hope that we can cause him to fall to the ground. Conrad launches his dagger, but all the dagger does is fall all the way to the ground. The lead ughothol hits Edge only hurting him a little bit. Morpheus casts a magic missile at the beast that is dueling Edge. I shoot another arrow at the one I hit before. That beast doesn’t look so well. Sharp hits the beast we have been hitting and it looks really bad. Edge wins the personal duel and the beast goes flying down the shaft. The two remaining ughothols hurt Edge and Conrad. Morpheus shoots another magic missile. I shoot another arrow and the beast that Sharp and I have been hitting and the creature follows its comrade down to the bottom of the tower. Edge puts the remaining beast down.
As we reach the landing where the ugothols were, Samson sees another set of stairs and decides to investigate. He climbs up the stairs until he realizes that he can’t hear himself perform any longer. Morpheus correctly surmises that it is a silence spell which causes Samson great anger. Want to see a bard get mad? Then cast silence. I am made invisible so I can scout the area out. I get half-way past the onyx, winged angel that is perched on the top of the tower and I can hear sounds again. I see a fine nest made up of nice pillows and other luxurious materials but no winged serpent. Maybe she flew the coop! I send a message to the rest of the party to come on up! As Conrad approaches the nest, a winged serpent looking lady appears and stabs him with a spear. Apparently she was invisible too! Sharp shoots an arrow, and even though it seemed like a good shot, it missed. Edge rushes into the fray. Conrad tries to grab her, but misses. Sharp shoots another arrow but misses. Edge steps to the creature and misses. I try to stab the creature and I also miss. We are all missing horribly, unfortunately, she isn’t. Samson casts dispel magic, and hopefully this slithery thing will be able to get a hurting. The creature stabs Conrad again and he falls to the floor dead. Tilman casts a bull strength on Edge and he tries to go to work, but misses. Sharp misses as he lets another arrow fly. Looks like even though we are dispelling her magic; we are still unable to hit her. The serpent lady now goes to work on Edge. Tilman bestows a curse on her and she does not seem as fluid in her movements. I finally hit her with one of my daggers doing a little damage. Morpheus casts greater magic weapon on Sharp’s arrows. Sharp starts firing his enchanted arrows and now she is feeling pain. I stab her again with one of my daggers. Tilman tries to cast a searing light but she seems to absorb it. Sharp keeps shooting arrows at her. Edge finally launches into a vicious attack that puts the lady serpent down.
We search the nest and find a list of names for the Sihedrion’s sacrifice. There are names that we recognize from Sandpoint and some from here in Magnimar. Some of the names have been crossed off- already sacrificed and some names haven’t. Two names on the list are incredibly shocking – the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar and…Me! Apparently all the names on the list are there because they are greedy people. I resent that! I never rob any poor people, only the wealthy!
We return to Captain Uriana and let her know about the battle. We show her the list and she appreciatively tells us that she will inform the Lord-Mayor. Samson and I do a show and call it a night.
Day 25
Level 6
The next morning we are surprised when an attendant from the royal court interrupts our breakfast. The Lord-Mayor is greatly pleased that we saved his bacon (sorry, it is breakfast after all) and requests our attendance for the evening meal. I’ve never been invited to a Lord-Mayor’s house before, I have invited myself plenty of times, but never have I been officially invited.
We spend the rest of the day calling in every favor we have to bring our comrade Conrad back to life. Yrmel asks a high-ranking cleric of her order to cast the spell, which he reluctantly agrees to do. He reads the scroll, performs some elaborate hand gestures and Conrad springs back to life. Even though he is still battered, he wants some ale. He and Edge go off to a tavern to ‘celebrate’.
That night we are treated to a great feast. The Lord-Mayor and I seem to bond as we are somewhat like kindred spirits having been on the list and all. We let him know that we’ll be in town for a few more days if there is anything he would like us to do. He says he will keep that in mind.
A few days ago, we could not even see the second-in-command of the guard, now we have high-level clerics using scrolls to bring us back from the dead, and dine with the Lord-Mayor! Not bad for a few days work!
Session Date 06/07/2009
Day 26
Level 6
An unresponsive fort manned by an order of conscripts in giant and ogre country…Doesn’t sound like its going to be a simple mission to me.
We wake up the next morning full and a little hung-over, but happy. My brother and I decide that we will spend this day investigating the Night Scales since we were sidetracked by evildoers. We hear from a disinterested bar keep at a seedy tavern that the best way to find information about the Night Scales is at Beacon’s Point and Rag’s End. Since it is late and we have a show to do, we resolve to visit the lovely taverns of Beacon’s Point and Rag’s End the next night.
Day 27-Day 29
Level 6
After two nights of bar-hopping the seedy taverns, we do not find out any information; not surprising for a shadowy thieves’ guild. As we recover from our previous night of taking in the local, seedy, scene, we see a troop of the guard come into the inn that we are staying at. I get nervous when I see the guard because usually when the guard comes looking for my brother and I, it is not good for us. The leader of the guard troop says that the Lord-Mayor would like to see us. The Lord-Mayor, Haldmeer Grobaras, tells us that he has a job for us. Whew! What a relief. Between this Lord-Mayor and the Sheriff of Sandpoint giving us jobs, I might have to rethink my fear of authority figures. He tells us that there is protectorate of Magnimar by the mountains called Turtleback Ferry. No one in Magnimar has heard a peep from either Turtleback Ferry or the nearby fort, Fort Ranic. He told us that years ago that area was plagued by giants, ogres, and their stinking kin, and that a group of rangers called the Order of Black Arrows was sent to protect the town and establish a fort. Two thoughts flash in my mind: Why doesn’t our little band have a cool name like Order of the Black Arrows and how much are we getting paid? Grobaras answers the second question by giving us each 300 gold. Everyone seems happy with the amount, and I was too until I saw all the other gold and jewels that the Lord-Mayor also kept in the chest. Hey! There is a reason Grobaras and I made the “greedy” list. We ask him how far is Turtleback Ferry and Fort Ranic and he tells it’s a 9 days by horse or 7 days by boat. We opt for the boat and find a captain that will take us to Pandaka which is about a days travel from Turtleback Ferry. He is sailing tomorrow which gives us one more night in the seedy tavern in which we gather no further information.
Day 30-Day Day 36
Level 6
After a quick breakfast we head to the boat. On our way there, Sharp sees his mentor, Shalelu Andosana, who we became acquainted with during our time in Sandpoint. She says that she wants to come along for a personal reason. When we press her a bit further, she says she wants to “check” on someone. Samson sees a mixture of concern and anger on her face. We readily agree, and I can’t help but wonder if she had gone to the Lord-Mayor and asked him instead of us, would she also been offered 300 gold? After an uneventful 7 days on the water, we arrive at Pandaka - the end of the line as far as our boat travel is concerned. Pandaka is a real small fishing village. We ask the constable what he knows about Turtleback Ferry and he tells us nothing new: ogres, giants, Black Arrows and so on. They have seen Turtleback fisherman on the lake plying their trade, but they have not spoken to them. He tells us that a pleasure boat sank on the lake about a month ago, and when we say pleasure we mean gambling and other illicit activities. We grab a room, and put on a show.
Day 37
Level 6
We spend all day traveling up to Turtleback Ferry. We are an hour from Pandaka when seven brigands step out onto the road and tell us that we are on their road. Excuse me. I think that they are on our road. Once we inform them of their misinformation, it is on. Samson casts Cat Grace on Sharp who gets ready to fire his bow. The leader of the highway men, dressed in clerical garb, wiggles his fingers at Morpheus. His assistant, who is dressed more like Morpheus instead of a cleric, also starts wiggling his fingers and a huge hand appears in front of him. The rest of the brigands surround Conrad. Five brigand archers suddenly appear on the side of the road and take aim at their serious threats, Sharp and Shalelu. Sharp is up for the challenge and takes aim at one of the enemy archers, plugging him with arrows. I tumble into position. Morpheus casts shield on himself using a wand. Samson casts a silence spell to a spot just behind the wizard and cleric. The evil cleric and mage move out of Samson’s silence spell, which is bringing them that much closer to Edge and Conrad. The evil cleric casts hold person at Edge, but it doesn’t work, as Edge shakes it off and becomes that much angrier. The evil wizard casts touch of idiocy at Samson, and my brother doesn’t seem as battle-savvy as he had been a few moments ago. Conrad beats on the brigand right in front of him. One of the brigands misses me, but the other one hits me. Sharp and Salelu continue their devastating fire at the archers who are firing at them. I seriously hurt the highwayman that I am flanking. Morpheus casts a Magic Missile at the hand that the mage had summoned causing it to dissipate. Edge steps up and hits the one that I had just hit putting the badly hurt brigand down. Samson casts grease but the baddies keep their footing. The evil priest casts a spell but there is no affect to either Edge or Conrad. A brigand steps up to the place where his fallen comrade once stood. They are doing their best to provide a barrier between us and their cleric-leader with his mage-lieutenant. I get smacked by two of them and missed by a third. I am still standing but I am hurt. The cleric bestows a curse on Conrad. Tilman casts a healing burst and I and the other wounded in the party feel a lot better. I kill another one. Edge steps up into the gap that the evil brigand had just stood, and Conrad, him, and I are forming our own battle line. Edge hurts the evil cleric who is trying to rally his few remaining troops by joining his troops in melee combat. His archers are faring no better under the accurate fire from Sharp and Shalelu. The evil mage shoots a magic missile at Edge. Conrad attacks the cleric but misses. The Cleric in turn misses Edge with his short sword. I get hit by one of the brigands. Sharp gets hit by arrows from the archers that he and Salelu are dueling. I tumble behind the cleric and stab him with one of daggers. Edge finishes the cleric off, demoralizing his evil band of outlaws. Samson tries to cast a magic missile out of the wand but he doesn’t fully know how to use the wand yet. The evil mage suddenly turns invisible. Conrad smacks the guy in front of him. The remaining brigands now become confused since their mage disappeared and they miss us on all fronts. Sharp and Shalelu finish off another of the archers, and the remaining archers look scared. Sensing victory, Tilman rushes up into melee combat. I try to stab one of the outlaws with my daggers, but I miss horribly. Edge swings at the brigand in front of him and puts him down. Conrad also swings but misses his brigand. The four remaining highwaymen turn to flee. As one of them passes me, I stab him in the ribs and he tumbles down dead. The other three manage to escape. Tilman looks at the body of the cleric and identifies him as a cleric of Norgorber, the god of charm, death, evil, knowledge and trickery. Sharp uses all his ranger knowledge to see if he can track the invisible mage. After spending a couple of hours looking for the evil mage and his cohorts all we have to show for our efforts is an abandoned camp.
We arrive in town just before it turns dark, weary but glad in the knowledge we took care of a band of outlaws. The mayor of Turtleback Ferry is Father Maelin Screed. He is cleric of the village church which is dedicated to Erastil. He tries to show that he is happy to see us, but I think he was getting ready for his night’s repose and didn’t want to be here. We show him the body of the dead cleric and tell him about the cleric’s outlaw band, and he now seems genuinely glad to see us. We tell him that the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar has not heard anything from him. He tells us that Ft. Ranic is where the reports come from. As a matter of fact, he adds, they haven’t heard from the fort in a couple of days. They chalk that up to rain making the roads impassable. He tells us they used to have a lot of trouble with ogres and giants, until the Black Arrows showed up. He tells us that some of the Black Arrows were forced to join the order or go to jail. Sounds like some situations my brother and I had been in. Luckily we always successfully deserted first chance we got.
Samson and I put on a show to the few souls in the tavern. While we are putting on the show, Samson notices a seven pointed star tattooed on the back of a patron. It looks like the seven-pointed stars of the rune lords that we saw in Sand Point. The patron’s name is Gilbert and he is a local fisherman. At first he is not forthcoming with the tattoo but after much commotion and a charm person spell, we find out that he spent a lot of money on the Paradise, the pleasure boat that sank on the lake. He had spent so much time and money there that he became a “preferred” customer. He says that him a few other men in town got the tats, but they are all keeping it quiet since they do not want their wives to know how they got them. I trail him as he leaves the tavern and he goes back to his rather ordinary abode with his ordinary wife.
Day 38
Level 6
As Samson is in the local shop, he sees another guy with the same tattoo. In fact it is the owner of the shop. He is no more forthcoming than Gilbert was the night before, but after Samson charms him, his story is similar. We set off for the fort, and after a couple of hours we cross the river. A short time later, we hear a muffled murmur of pain. With Sharp in the lead, we head over to the source and see a black bear with its foot caught in a trap. Sharp tries to calm him, while I quickly spring the trap. Sharp tells us that the bear is the companion of either a Ranger or a Druid. Either way I hastily move away from the bear as I do not want to be lunch. Samson heals the bear as 5 dogs and an ogre-kin type attacks. He says that his name is Rukus Graul and we shouldn’t have involved ourselves in his business. He rushes up and attacks my brother really hurting him. Edge rushes up and pounds the ogre. Morpheus casts a fireball at him and his pet dogs killing 2 of them. The remaining dogs leap into the fray. Sharp hits one of the dogs with his longsword. I tumble behind one of the dogs and stab it in the flanks, killing it. Conrad tries to hit the ogre, but misses. The ogre swings at Edge hurting him quite a lot. Edge, angered by the hit slashes him with four accurate ax swings. The remaining dogs take off as Sharp drops Graul. Samson finds on his body a ragged piece of cloth that has 5 patches with the Black Arrow insignia on each one, looks like he was hunting more than bear. The bear points us into the direction of a trail and seems like he desperately want us to go in that direction.
If you would have told me two months ago that I would be taking directions from a bear, I would have told you that you were crazy. Now, however, it seems to make perfect sense.
Session Date: 06/21/09
Day 38
Level 6
I guess ogre-kin have to come from somewhere and it looks like these ogre-kin are with their mammy!
We follow the bear, passing by some scarecrows made with human parts. What the heck is it out here with scarecrows made from body parts? Give me the city any day! The bear suddenly stops and we see a beast 150 feet away. When the beast sees us, he, or I think it is a he, howls at us. Conrad rushes up and swings, but misses. I decide to also rush up since the thing is occupied with Conrad. Sharp hits the beast with a well-placed arrow. Edge rushes up and since the beast dislikes ax-swinging dwarves more than half-orc monks, he changes his object of his attacks. I get right behind the thing and get my daggers ready. Morpheus tries to cast ray of enfeeblement at the ugly brute, but it seems to have no affect. Sharp and his mentor are shooting a barrage of arrows at the creature. Edge hits the thing and the ogre-kin, Crowfood falls dead. Man-that was one ugly ogre-kin!
We see a farmhouse and I decide to go take a look. There are gruesome carvings in the pillars and a rocking chair made of bone. Ah! I guess this is where Crowfood and Rukus made their happy home. As I start heading into the house, the bear seems to want us to go the barn first. The bear seems to know what he is doing, so we decide to check out the barn first. There are three of those ogre-kin in there hanging out by a still and I don’t know if Edge is more excited at seeing the still or at the prospect of killing ogre-kin. Jeppo, Sugar, and Hograth are the names of the soon to be departed beasts. Samson casts cat grace on Sharp who, even with the extra help, misses, but Salelu doesn’t. The creatures rush to Edge, and Edge drops one. Sharp drops the other. The last remaining one soon joins his ugly kin wherever ugly, brutish, ogres and their kin spend the hereafter.
As soon as the battle ends, a large spider falls to the ground and bites me and I suddenly feel very weak. Conrad rushes up and attacks it. Morpheus casts a scorching ray at it, burning the eight-legged menace. Edge rushes up and joins in the fray. Sharp and Shalelu fire a barrage of arrows at it. I get into position ready to return the favor to the nasty arachnid. Tilman casts a healing burst and Samson casts a magic missile. The spider bites me again and I fall to the floor and unable to move. Conrad launches into a flurry of blows solidly connecting on all attacks. Morpheus also hits it with a magic missile. Edge hits the spider with his ax hurting the big bug. Sharp and Shalelu fire another barrage of arrows at it and the spider, Biggin, crumbles to the ground. We find three humans, badly beaten and unconscious. Tilman casts a few healing bursts to get our new allies and the rest of the party up to snuff. The bear seems really interested in one of the strangers whose name is Jakardros Sovark. Apparently, the bear is his companion. His non-animal companions are named Kaven Windstrike and Angmack, who only seems to speak Shanti. Shalelu also seems to be interested in Jakardos. Which I assume is a different interest than the bear’s. As soon as Jakardos notices her looking at him, he says her name and falls to the ground crying. Okay, this is awkward. He says to her that he was glad she survived. He tells us that there are some more ogre-kin in the house and they answer to an ogre-kin named Mammy, a spell caster. He also tells us that ogres have taken over the fort. Wonderful! It could not be something easy as someone at the fort forgot to write! He wants to avenge his fallen comrades and asks for arms and amour. As he nuzzles the bear, he says that the bear is his and its name is Kibb. We finish our well-met’s and how-do-you-do’s and head back over to the farmhouse.
I look at the door, and I don’t think I see any traps but as soon as I touch the handle spikes swing down and hit me. To make matters worse the floor of the porch I am standing on becomes spiked. How I missed that, I’ll never know. I walk into the room and as I step into the room I barley miss a collapsing floor trap. I don’t see anything in the now visible pit, and I listen at a door and don’t hear anything. I do see that it is trapped, however, and disable the trap. I also see a fireplace in the room, and don’t see a trap or a secret door in it. I open the door and walk into the corridor. Behind one door in the hallway, I hear shuffling, while the other doors I hear nothing. Edge goes to the door that I heard shuffling behind, and finds the trap that I miss-Sorry about that! We find three undead ogre-kin in the room and Mammy. Edge rushes into the room and attacks the nearest undead ogre-kin. Conrad and Kaven also rush into the room with Conrad hitting one of the undead beasts. Morpheus moves up and casts a targeted dispel on Mammy. Sharp and Shalelu start working their rhythmic barrage. Tilman casts a healing burst. Samson casts silence on me and I tumble into the room so that will stop Mammy’s spell-casting. Conrad starts pounding on Mammy. Edge drops one of the undead beasts while Morpheus casts a magic missile and kills another. Sharp fells the last one. Mammy then disappears. I guess whatever spell she casted didn’t need sound. We check the rest of the house and find nothing. We think Mammy might have teleported to the barn and head there.
As we step outside and head to the barn, we see Mammy floating in the air surrounded by 4 undead ogre-kin and 2 live ones. Sharp and his archer cohorts start shooting a hail-like storm of arrows. Morpheus steps out and casts haste. As soon as Morpheus showed himself, Mammy made him the target of her spectral hand. Apparently spell casters don’t like other spell casters. Morpheus casts a magic missile at the hand and it disappears. Conrad goes up and hits one of the undead, which Tilman informs us are zombies, which means that his nunchucks don’t do as much damage as they should have. The archers unleash another barrage. Mammy’s minions form a battle line and meet our advance. Mammy shoots a fireball out of a wand which she throws away after she casts it. Our row of archers takes the brunt of the fireball. Edge slashes at the zombie in front of him, and since his axes slash, it takes the full brunt of his attack. Conrad goes up and grapples Mammy but she had cast displacement on herself and it doesn’t work. Samson starts a performance and all of us benefit. The archers fire another barrage dropping a zombie while Kibb fells another one. Morpheus casts magic missile at Mammy. I try to stab Mammy but miss-stupid displacement. She hits me with a magic missile from the wand. Edge puts down another of the zombies. Conrad hits Mammy savagely and she floats to the ground dead.
As our small army heads to the fort, I can’t help but think that if I wanted to join a militia, I would have joined one long before now-and in a safer town to boot!
Session Date: 07/19/09
Day 38
Level 7
I think that these tattoos are more sinister than just preferred customer symbols!
As we start going through Mammy’s loot, Samson notices that Kaven also has one of them “special client” tattoos from the boat. Samson asks him about it and he chalks it up to just foolishness. Samson doesn’t believe him and when he confronts Kaven, Kaven decides to take off. He doesn’t get far before Conrad tackles him. His compatriots are dumbfounded until Samson shows them the tattoo on his shoulder. Jakardros takes this particularly hard and threatens him on the pain of death to tell what he knows. Kaven spills that at first he was charmed into helping, but at some point didn’t need to be charmed. He looks Jakardros in the eye and admits that it was he that gave away the fort’s defenses. Jakardros face twists with rage and he plunges his knife into Kaven’s treacherous heart. Jakardros looks around at the party and says simply, “Leave him to rot”. He gets no argument from the rest of us.
We decide that if we hurry, we can be close to the fort by nightfall and away we go. We make camp a few miles from the fort and discuss our strategy. Jakardros tells us that there is a secret entrance to the fort near the waterfall. The only caveat is that there are shocker lizards in one of the caves behind the waterfall. I don’t like the sound of shocker lizards. Jakardros tells us that we might be able to smoke them out by setting fire to bitter bark. We are all weary after our battle with Mammy and our hasty hike, and sleep comes easily that night.
Day 39
Level 7
This morning we fan out to find some bitter bark. Interesting enough, none of the rangers can find it – but Morpheus can! That night Conrad and I swim to the cave directly behind the waterfall. We see no one there and Edge comes over next. Angmack makes a sound on his way to the waterfall and we hear noise coming from the parapet. There is an ogre coming. After a few tense minutes we hear nothing more and resume the crossing. I am made invisible and start scouting. I see two lizard looking things that I assume are shock lizards. Morpheus casts a spell and the two lizards head to where their kin live. We decide to follow the lizards to the cave that they live in and put operation “smoke lizards” into effect. I bypass the cave that they are in to get to the secret door on the other side of the room so we can direct them through that door. As I open the secret door I see a lady who begins to angrily look around the room. The rest of the party starts the smoke and I start making my way across the room. As I start to the door, the lady casts a spell that looks like a spell I have seen cast on Conrad. I get about halfway and the lady casts another spell causing her eyes to glow. Conrad rushes up to the door of the room ready to take care of the mage-woman. The woman changes shape and looks like the worm-looking thing we fought on top of the clock tower. Not one of those things again! She rushes up and attacks Conrad. Conrad tries to hit her but misses. Edge also misses, but Sharp doesn’t. Tilman grabs Edge and “hops” to behind the snake-lady. Samson casts dispel magic hoping to take her protections off. Her eyes stop glowing, which since no one is invisible, does not help us to much. Conrad misses with another attack and he really looks frustrated. She touches Conrad and it seems to affect him. Edge hits her with one of his axes, and slashes her back in revenge for what she did to Conrad. Angmack shoots an acid arrow at her. I dig one of my daggers deep into her. Conrad swings his nunchuks at her and finally connects. She returns the favor by touching him again. Edge solidly hits with one of his axes on her shoulder. Angmack shoots another acid arrow at her. Sharp fires a shocking burst arrow at her and it lands solidly into her chest and she falls down dead.
We were just supposed to smoke out some Lizards – not fight a spell caster. This mission does not seem to be starting well!
DM posting. Campaign has ended for various reasons.