Compilation of DarkSasha’s Golarion Campaign (Beginning in Magnimar)
((Journal is as written by the player of the Bard and future Pathfinder, Falathar.))
My character’s name is Falathar. I, along with other Elves, have been sent on a mission by the Elven Queen Telandia Edasseril. We have trained with and joined the Pathfinders in an effort to learn more about ancient Thassilon. Our findings will be written up for the Pathfinders in addition to reporting to the Queen.
Falathar has learned of a manuscript by Brodert Quink from Sandpoint, which purports that the “Old Light” (lighthouse ruin) was possibly used as a weapon in ancient times. The society evidently discredited these claims and I cannot find a copy of the report in Magnimar’s Pathfinder Hall. Further, the leader of the Hall, Pathfinder Captain Eando Line had left before I arrived. His departure was somewhat mysterious. He was “recalled” to report to the Decimvirate in Absalom!
I find it odd that he left after discrediting Quink. There is another structure on the point south of Magnimar known as the “Lady’s Light”. Recently, it has been abandoned due to an influx of Boggards in the area. The society has no other information on that structure, except that it is old. I wonder if the two structures share a history and purpose?
Other unique events in the area:
• 9 years ago the executioner in Magnimar killed his family. He was tried and executed that same night. The presiding judge later committed suicide.
o I wonder who replaced him and who they might be associating with?
• 5 years ago at Sandpoint an artist killed 25 men, women, and children.
o While in Sandpoint I would be interested in the circumstances and if there is any connection to the investigation by Quink?
• 3 years ago
o White Astrid kills a Linnorm and becomes the first woman Linnorm King. There were rumors in how she did this.
o Also, about the same time Ileosa Arvanki married the much older King Eodred II of Karvosa.
o Is there any connection between these two events?
• What role is the association of merchants in Sandpoint in all of this?
My overriding interest is in the “Old Light”. Thus, I will be traveling to Sandpoint with the next wagon train.
Erlig’s response:
“Well, I suppose I could use a drink.” Erlig will ask for the cheapest beer.
“I don’t know much about any Thassalon or other old stuff, but I have met White Astrid. She didn’t really kill a Linnorm. She was acclaimed king after she tamed one. It sits at her side in the great hall when she wants to impress someone, although I wouldn’t want to be alone with it. I think that it is tame like a wolf that you would never turn your back on.
About the wagon train to Sandpoint, I kind of need to find some work; do you think that is why captain Skelig sent me to the pathfinder hall?”
Journal entry:
Falathar and Erlig met at the Pathfinder Lodge in Magnimar. They got to know each other at a nearby Inn where Falathar’s performance paid for the meal and ale. They joined a caravan traveling to Sandpoint. Erlig drove a wagon to earn his way.
The caravan consisted of three wagons. The first held some tough looking Varisian men led by Jabral, who did not socialize with anyone. The second wagon contained a Varisian couple. The third was the one we traveled on. It was here that we met Strabmenos (Strabo) a cleric of Calistria and Paladin named Samson. The trip was uneventful the first three days, except for the on and off rain.
The fourth day started out from a Ranger outpost where the men in the lead wagon bought something in small package from the priests. Later that day we found the road blocked by a large tree. On one side was a thicket and the other side of the road was a stream. The men in the lead wagon got out and we also went on alert. Out of the thicket stepped 6 men. The lead boldly commanded, “You know the drill, put your valuables on the ground and you won’t be hurt!” The leader of the Varasian’s responded, “How do you say it in common, oh yes…Go (expletive deleted) Yourselves!” Meanwhile, other highwaymen were noticed moving in the thicket.
The men from the lead wagon hit five of the highwaymen, including the leader with darts. They dropped immediately clutching their throats. The leader of the Varisians smiled and winked back at us. His men move the tree out of the way and continued on the trip. The Paladin, Sampson had been running up, but was too late for the fight. He wanted to take the bodies into town, while the cleric tried to relieve them of any valuables. This led to a heated argument between the two. Falathar talked to the two in an effort to diffuse the situation. The bodies were loaded into the wagon and Sampson paid the freight for them. We took the arrows.
During this time at Sandpoint and in the “White Deer” an Inn , where Rain, Agrint and Parlay. They were individually observing the crowd. Rain is asked by the Innkeeper, Garret if she knows Shaloo? “Yes, why do you ask?” quizzed Rain. “You look like her,” Garret replied. Rain, “She is family. I am looking for her.” “Well,” Garret stated, “She left some time ago. She tends to come and go!” Rain asked Garret to “tell her Rain is looking for her.”
Agrint left the Inn not being comfortable indoors and not understanding what was going on. Rain and Parlay met and talked awhile. They then left to set up camp at the same place as Agrint.
Arriving in town we were met with a sign with a mirror attached:
Welcome to Sandpoint.
See yourself as we see you.
A dwarf, town militia met the caravan just inside the town. The Varisians quickly departed to the left or South to a building not too far away. We explained what happened on the way into town. We asked about where we could get rooms. We were told of two, the Rusty Dragon and the White Deer. The Rusty Dragon is owned by a female bard, so Falathar went to the White Dragon first. Everyone accompanied him. After a few songs, they found only one room available, which Sampson rented.
The Innkeeper, Garret, was quite a source of information. Jabral and his men are part of the local Scarni or thieves. “Stay away for your own health!” There is a festival schedule for the next morning to dedicate the new cathedral. It also is the Festival of the Swallow’s Tail. The Cathedral is across from the Inn . Garret served succulent peppercorn venison along with plenty of ale. He is Shanti, but is wife is not. She is the cook and their daughters serve the customers. About this time we met Parlay.
Erlig inquired about the availability of work. Garrett informed us that there is a Glassworks, Lumber Mill, several logging companies and farms in the area. Many would have work available. The docks are always looking for labor. Sampson asked if the guards need help and was directed to talk with the sheriff. The sheriff is Belan Hemlock. Falathar learned that Hemlock and Garret are cousins (both Shanti). Garret thinks that is cousin has turned from the Shanti way.
We learn that today is the anniversary of the “chopper”. His last victim was the sheriff who had been slated to marry the Mayor, Kendra. That is how Hemlock became sheriff. The mayor’s cousin Wade was also murdered. He had been partners with his brother, who now is the sole owner of the business.
The town was founded 40-years ago by four families from Magnimar. Sannetti's who run the logging. Devon who has the farms and brewery. Blinitz who run the jewelers and glassworks. Lastly, Valdimar who have the shipyards. They tried to drive the Varisians away, but failed. The town allows the Varisians to live and work there. They also pay for the Varisian temple and Seer.
Erlig and Falathar left for the Rusty Dragon and met the owner Amiko Kijitzu. Falathar enjoyed her singing and then performed himself. This earned him a discounted room, which he shared with Erlig. Erlig was able to secure employment at the Rusty Dragon starting the next morning. The Rusty Dragon is the oldest Inn . The house specialty seems to be fish with a sauce.
Meanwhile, Strabo has gone to the local “house” across from the Rusty Dragon. There he performed his clerical duties by instructing the girls in how to better serve their clients. He teaches by example on an individual basis. After performing his “pious” duties he paid to have one girl seduce the Bard and one to seduce the Paladin. He pointed out the Bard to the first girl and took the second back to White Deer and the Paladin.
At the White Dragon Agrint and Rain return to the Inn where she introduces him to ALE. Parlay and Rain show Agrint what metal weapons are. He keeps comparing the metal blades to his bone and stone blades. They meet and talk with Sampson and Strabo. After a short time they decide to check out what is going on at the Rusty Dragon. Where the first girl has been trying to seduce Falathar. His perception leads him to wonder why a “painted” girl is trying to pick him up instead of finding a customer. Falathar talks with the girl for sometime in an effort to glean information. He also notices Amiko’s displeasure at seeing the girl. When the others arrive with the second girl accompanying the paladin, Amiko has had enough and tells her to leave. “You know better that to ply you business here!”
Strabo can’t figure out why Falathar hasn’t fallen for the girl he had arranged? He is rather taken back by it. When it is clear that Falathar will not be taking the girl to his room, he asked Erlig if he would like to go with the girl to her room. Like any good 17-year old he readily accepts. The rest of us retire to our rooms or tents for the night.
The next morning the town is buzzing with anticipation for the celebration. Mid morning everyone is in the town square where they are greeted by Mayor Kendra. She tells a joke at the “Town Tanner’s” expense, which everyone chuckles over (well, maybe not him). She welcomes us “In time you will learn to love us…spend money and we will learn to love you!”
Next, the leading merchant makes his remarks. He dresses, acts, and talks in an exaggerated flamboyant manner. His joke about equipping the new cathedral with a gold chamber pot does not go over so well! He is crass, but too important to jeer. He is followed by Sheriff Hemlock who warns that he has put on extra town guards for the next four days. Hemlock has a clean shaven head with a tattoo of the Hawk (a Shoanti clan), but is wearing Chelaxian clothes and armor. “Keep the peace or …!”
The next speaker has lace cuffs, velvet boots and bold clothes. He announces that a new production, “The Harpies’ Curse” will take place tomorrow night at the town theater. You won’t want to miss this! Come one, come all!
Last the priest, Father Zantos who seems very young. His holy symbol is a Silver Butterfly. “It is time for a new beginning – let’s get the feast underway.”
Falathar’s Song of his first impressions of Sandpoint:
Welcome to Sandpoint
When you enter Sandpoint you come across a sign,
There mounted a mirror you will find.
It is to see yourself as they see you,
Oh, Welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
Mayor Deverin does openly welcome you,
She enjoins you to lighten your burdens,
By spending all your coin,
Thus they are prepared to like you!
Oh, Welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
Sir Korvaski for the Mercantile League,
Does boldly proclaim the glories,
Of the structure they have made,
It has chamber pot of gold!
Oh, Welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
Sheriff Hemlock is really very hospitable,
He and his men are ready to provide,
Room and Board at the Jail,
If you will step inside!
Oh, Welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
Cyrdak Drokkus has a new play for you,
He encourages all to come and see.
For he calls it the Harpies Curse.
At the theater for all to see!
Oh, Welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
Father Abstalar Zanus is the priest of Desna ,
He happily leads the celebrations.
It is the time of the Swallow Tail Butterfly,
Festival to entertain the masses!
Oh, Welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
Perhaps the real reflection would be for the town to see,
The mayor wants your money so the Mercantile League can spend it,
While perhaps the golden chamber pot is the only throne Korvaski is fit to sit!
The sheriff charges you to behave, while the Szcarni are still free!
The real performance is not in the theater, it is around for all to see!
So as the priest condones this frivolity,
It is time for the town of Sandpoint to reflect and truly see!
Oh, welcome to Sandpoint,
What will you see?
((My players: Elven Bard – Falathar, Ulfen Wizard – Erlig, Cleric of Calistria – Strabomenos, Paladin of Iomedae – Samson, Shoanti Warrior – Parlay, Shoanti Shaman – Agrent, Half elven Ranger – Rain, Dwarven Fighter – BronPak, Varisian Sorcerer – Cameo))
((Apologies to readers for my lack of time to edit the first of the bard Falathar's journal entries. I shall endeavor to edit them in the future, though not correct misconceptions and omissions deliberate or not by the writer.))
Journal 2:
The festival was held oddly enough along Festival Street, this stretches from the new temple down to the waterfront. Along the way all the inns have set up food booths with free food. The theater has set up a stage outside on the street. There are various games and entertainments offered. The archery contest down at the waterfront and toss the Goblin were very popular.
The archery contest was to shoot “The Sandpoint Devil.” Rain, a local ranger demonstrated her prowess with the bow with two outstanding shots. Even the Shoanti, known for their skills with a bow, could not best her score! Fortunately for those with lesser skills, the event was held shooting at targets out in the water. Those near and not so near misses did no harm other than splashing into the water!
A local farmer was heard to say that it was three-years to the day, that the Sandpoint Devil had picked up and carried away one of his cows. Falathar also gleaned that it is bad luck to see the Devil. The Sandpoint Devil is said to fly over Sandpoint in warning before tragedies, murders, and shipwrecks. He further heard it said that the Devil is the son of the widow Agatha Leeds. She used to live north of town and was rumored to practice the dark magics and consort with evil beings. When she wandered into town while with child, she avoided all questions about her pregnancy. Weeks later, Leeds’s home was found reduced to cinders with its owner missing. Soon after, the first sightings of the Sandpoint Devil began.
The Shoanti were eager to compete in the Goblin Toss into the Fire. Their ardor was diminished once they learned that they would not be tossing real goblins about! The “goblins” turned out to be large bean bags, which were tossed at holes in the wooden target painted like a fire. Still, they did compete demonstrating their strength, albeit muttering how much better it would be with real Goblins. Time would show, be careful just what you wish for!
They came across a scholar leading local children carrying paper boxes towards the temple. Falathar hailed the man and learned that he was their teacher, Master Ilsoari Gandethus of the Tundarok Academy . It is a school and orphanage. They have recently been studying zoology. They had caught swallowtail butterflies to be released at the close of the festival. During this time a man with ink stained clothing rushed up to Master Gandethus rambling on about how he was right and everyone else wrong about the ancient Thassilonians. “Fire from Heaven” – “I knew it, I knew it” and so on rambled the man. His speech was so disjointed that it was impossible to follow his thought(s)! The man then rushed off into the crowd still exclaiming. Master Gandethus apologized for the man, one Brodert Quink, a scholar who no one can really understand. Falathar realizing that this was the very man he traveled to Sandpoint was at first taken back. By the time he recovered from the man’s unusual manner, he was unable to catch up with Quink.
Next the group came upon the “Dragon Races”. The dragons were local lizards which the competitors tried to make run down the course. The Shoanti did not have much luck in this, but one warrior was seen picking up the lizard. “It will make good dinner” in his opinion.
Ameiko was seen talking with a ½ orc. We overheard her say “Of course I didn’t believe he would go through with it…” Her voice trailed off. Later, we spotted a tall dark figure, possibly an Elf talking with Titus Scarnetti (head of the Scarnetti family). The Elf quickly seemed to disappear into crowd. We also overhead the local farmers complaining that several grain mills had burned down recently. This left only one mill in town, which just happened to be owned by the Scarnetti family. A man was seen driving a cart into an alley. He emerged on foot and disappeared between two buildings. We then heard about the Goblins raiding the junk yard and stealing some items. These items were from the construction of the temple and had been “mistakenly” thrown away!
We left for the closing ceremonies lead by Father Zantos. He had just started when a shrill squeal rent the air. There as a flurry of movement and a stray dog was slashed repeatedly. Goblins! It looks like the Shoanti will get their wish after all. We attacked the goblin killing it. A scream issued from the alley. We raced toward the alley and found a female goblin taunting mocking us. She had three male goblin fighters with her. She cast a grease spell, which slowed some of the group, but we persisted in attacking the Goblins. The goblins were quickly defeated with light injuries being taken by the party.
Next, a girl’s scream and that of a horse in terror came from the direction of the White Deer Inn. Fearing for their new friends the party rushed down towards it. There they found a Goblin riding a large dog as he directed his small host of goblins. He cut down a horse with a wicked looking weapon. The Shoanti, the paladin, the dwarf, and the young Erlig engaged the Goblins in melee combat. The bard, Falathar began a song, which heartened the party. Their prowess with their weapons seemed to improve and do greater damage. The ranger Rain once more demonstrated her prowess with the bow, by a magnificent shot that took out the goblin on the dog instantly.
One of the goblins charged down Falathar, before he could react. He was quickly dropped to the ground bleeding profusely. Strabo again cast some type of spelling dealing damage to several of the goblins, in particular killing those already dropped by the other fighters. Even BronkPack held his own as a fighter, his axe laying waste to the nearest goblin (so I was informed as I was unconscious at the time). Erlig having dispatched his goblin rushed over and bound Falathar’s wounds.
((After a lengthy hiatus, I am going to start posting these again. Note that there are plenty of spoilers, not only for the Rise of the Runelords adventure path, but other side treks I have added to accommodate my 9 players and to make this more of a sandbox style campaign than it was written to be. My players so do not like to be lead around by their nose rings. It is better to give them options and let them choose which way to go.))
Journal 3:
The goblins are vanquished just as Parlay catches up to the party. He is carrying two bloody and hairy things, the hair of each being slightly different. These he tosses into a fire saying something in Shoanti. Meanwhile, Agrent kneels over the fallen and prays “May your journeys be swift and your packs light to the land of the unseen and unheard, where your burdens are set aside and the Great Spirit welcomes you, where you can finally be at peace.” He admonishes “Do not celebrate the deaths of these unfortunate creatures. Celebrate that you lived and the Great Spirit preserved you. They were trying to defend their homes and clan just as we were. It is done!”
Agrent then pulls his obsidian knife “Shame to waste all this meat. Anyone ever eat Goblin?” To which Bron replied “I likes ‘ta’ kill me some goblins, but can’t see eatin’ em. He then moves off to do a security check and get some real food.
The Sheriff comes running up from the far side of town with a few armed militia trailing behind him looking like he just came from his own fight. He nods to Bron and looks the other two Shoanti in the eye. People begin to relax as it appears the goblin menace has ended. Some carry the wounded and dead into the new cathedral where Father Zantus has begun to set up a hasty triage. This is also where they bring Falathar. As they do so they look at the conscious members of the party with varying degrees of gratitude on their faces and worry for the fallen.
Agrent stares at the sheriff for a moment and then begins cleaning and dressing Parlay’s wounds in the manner of the Shoanti. He then turns in silence to allow Parlay to dress his own wounds. Neither shows any signs of pain unbefitting a true warrior. They then take each other by the forearm “Ahk dharanok ekbit roark…Ahit on’niklit, Nalharesti.”
Having finished with the battle wounds, Agrent returns his attention to the sheriff. He wants to track the goblins path to/from the town. “Surely these Shamek did not grow up from the ground. Do you have any notion from which direction they came?” The sheriff tells him that they will wait for Shalelu to return from the hinterlands. “She is our expert on goblins.” Agrent argues it is foolish to wait, but the sheriff is unwavering on this! Agrent then proceeds to the temple to assist in the triage of the wounded.
Erlig returns to the Rusty Dragon’s food booth, where he finds Ameiko and her partner Bethana. Asking if there is any food left, Ameiko points him toward the kitchen “Assuming the nasty little runts haven’t found the kitchen in the Rusty Dragon!”
Meanwhile Rain goes in search of the first place the goblins were spotted. Muttering to herself “That just don’t make sense. Gobs don’t behave like this.” She is bent on ferreting out what happened, and not to mention the same with the goblins.
Strabo finished his conversation with the noble, Aldern Foxglove of Magnimar, who had been unhorsed by the dog riding goblin. He inquired of Strabo “incidentally, who stuck that goblin dog rider with a single arrow? I didn’t see who, but that was an amazing shot. I’d really like to meet that person!” Strabo invited him to join the group at dinner, where he would “make the proper introductions.” With a lecherous smile Strabo then left to attend the wounded at the temple.
At the temple he searched out and found Falathar unconscious form. He cast a cure light (very much on the light side) on Falathar, which brought him back to consciousness. Grinning rather sheepishly, Falathar thanked Strabo, while inside loathing that he was now in Strabo’s debt! Upon rising, Falathar cast two cure lights on unconscious victims in an effort to revive them.
About this time Bron noticed Rain heading off. He approached and asked if he could join her. Before they had gotten very far Agrent arrived to assist in the search. They find that there were five groups of goblins. Three groups evidently came into town hidden in wagons under tarps. In fact, the group had seen one such wagon parked in an alley just prior to the attack. The man who drove the wagon left on foot and disappeared between two buildings. One group of goblins came in through the town gate, but there was no sign of a fight at the gate. This information highly incensed Bron “how the hell..!” The fifth and final group came in over a low wall at the cemetery. There they were joined by a human. A grave was dug up and the coffin empty. It belonged to the former priest Father Ezekiel Tobyn, killed in the fire of the former temple some years before. His ashes are gone. The grave next to his (his daughter) was left untouched. The human accompanied the goblins as they made their escape.
A fuming Bron left Rain and Agrent as they continued tracking outside the town with a parting “I’m goin’a get “ta” the bottom of this!” He found out from the next morning that Wyrick, town militia had been assigned to the gate by which the goblins had breached the city. He found Wyrick heading to the Hagfish. Whereupon, Bron hailed him. As Bron questioned him, Wyrick’s answers got more and more suspicious, when he suddenly bolted down the street. Immediately Bron sprinted after him, but alas a dwaven sprint is no match for a quick young man. Bron shouting for him to stop or someone to stop him, took a shot with his crossbow. I do not wish to impugn his prowess with the bow, but several people no where near the culprit were forced to scramble away from the errant shot.
Bron saw Erlig knocking down the Rusty Dragon’s booth and shouted for him to grab the traitor. Erlig not quite sure what was going on was hesitant to start, but then took up the chase keeping Wyrick in sight. Erlig yelled back at Bron to hurry up and he kept on Wyrick across the bridge and down to the noble’s houses. He did an admirable job of following the traitor right up until he lost sight of Erlig by a noble’s house. By the time Bron came huffing up out of breath, there was no hope of finding Wyrick. Bron’s attempt to chastise Erlig for letting him get away were so punctuated by his breathless gasping, it was comical!
Rain and Argent followed track back up the trail the goblins at taken on their way into town. The trail leads them back to their very own camp, which the goblins had despoiled on their way into town as an added bonus. To add injury to insult, the goblins had urinated on and around all of their (Rain, Agrent, and Parlay) belongings. This is where the five groups of goblins had met up before attacking the town. They had moved towards the ocean and the road on their way into town. They had formed two parties – one consisting of two tribes and the other formed by three tribes.
Agrent suddenly went on the alert at the sound of careful footstep coming towards them. He motioned silently to Rain to take cover, and then from behind a bush notched and arrow. A figure emerged from the East, which turned out to be a female Elf. A quick word of greeting from her to Rain in Elvin. Rain motioned for Agrent to lower his weapon. They switched to common at Agrent’s request, but words between Rain and the Elf were clearly strained. Agrent later learns that they are half-sisters, and the Elf’s name is Shalelu.
Shalelu has been tracking goblins for several days. They have attacked a farm and a wagon train between Nettlepoint and Mosswood. A stallion was stolen from the merchants. While this alone is unusual, even more so is that the goblins are cooperating between tribes. Even tribes that are mortal enemies are working towards common targets. Shalelu is worried about where they will strike next, to which, Agrent and Rain inform her of the attack on Sandpoint. Agrent is all for tracking them back, but is informed that a bugbear is protecting and working with the goblins. Still, Agrent would have gone after, but was finally convinced that more would be needed to defeat the bugbear on his own ground! With that concluded, their turned back into town to report.
That afternoon a town hall meeting has been called. The mayor calls the meeting to order. It is clear that someone brought the goblins into town! She introduces Shalelu an unofficial member of the town guard. The mayor hails the outsiders (us) as the newest town heroes! The mayor reports that Sandpoint is not the only attack by goblins in the area. She relays the information about the attacks between Nettlepoint and Mosswood. We learn that the stallion stolen was being delivered to Ethram Valdemar, one of the four town founders.
Next Shalelu steps up to speak. “I hear there is a crack shot around here!” She goes on about the “Fecund and Salacious little runts, Gobos.” As to the goblins, she notes that the Mosswood and Longshanks Clans were already beat up from their traditional interclan fighting. Still, they joined three other tribes in the raids between Nettlepoint and Mosswood as well as here in Sandpoint. The goblins appear to be working with Big Bosses and a Bugbear. Two goblins were captured alive and will be interrogated after this meeting.
Next sheriff Belor calls upon Bron for a report. Bron notes that five groups of goblins attacked the town. Three groups snuck in under cover in wagons to various parts of town. A fourth group came in over a low wall into the cemetery, where they were met by a human. This group dug up Father Ezekiel Tobyn’s grave and stole his ashes. Whoever led them to the grave, left with the goblins. The fifth and final group came in through the main-gate. The sheriff “sent me ‘ta’ talk with Wyrick the gate’s guard.” Bron relays how Wyrick’s answers got fisher and fisher. Then suddenly, he “run off like a thief.” Bron thanked young Erlig for his help in chasing Wyrick, but they lost him down by the noble’s houses. At this point Voldemar and Scarnetti have looks of horror etched on their faces!
After the meeting concluded, Agrent joins Bron and returns to the place Erlig saw Wyrick disappear. Agrent follows the trail into the house, which belongs to the Kaijitsu family. No one is home, but there is a rear entrance opening out on to a narrow path down the cliff to the sea. Bron remarks that he will have to check out the Hagfish that Wyrick had been about to enter that morning.
The group meets at the Rusty Dragon to talk. It seems to all that Falathar is going out of his way to antagonize the dwarf Bron. Finally, Bron has had enough and takes Falathar outside promising the group that he will not lay finger on the bard owing to his already beat up condition! Outside Bron wants “ta know, just what is your Problem!” Falathar reminds Bron that he was the town guard that met the wagon train that he, Strabo, Sampson and Erlig had come in on. He saw that Bron did not stop or interrogate the thieves led by Jubrayl Vhiski. Bron demanded what proof Falathar had that they were thieves? “Strabo overhead Jubrayl and his men talking about the ambush on the trail was a dispute with them over territory. Fortunately, Jubrayl and his men didn’t realize what large ears Strabo has, nor his knowledge of languages!” Bron vehemently denied having anything to do with Jubrayl or the Szcarni in town. Falathar informs Bron that he believes him. “Why did ya have to go and get me dander up” instead of just asking Bron exclaimed! To which, Falathar replied with a sly grin, “It is far harder to lie when a man is so angry, he can’t think straight. I apologize for doing so to you, but let me make amends. The ale is on me!” With that Falathar reached down and claps Bron on the back and they strode back into the Inn . Everyone was surprised to see them return and Falathar no worse for the wear. Not only that, but they were smiling too!
The discussion at the Rusty Dragon reveals many things of interest concerning the goblins. Much of this was contributed by Shalelu. The five groups of gobos are Bird Crunchers from the Devil’s Platter, Licktoad (good swimmers) from the marsh, Seven Tooth (hero is Horoous), Mosswood (large tribe), and Thistletop from the Nettlewood Cove (they are in league with the bugbear). The Bird Crunchers and the Licktoads are sworn enemies, and yet they both joined in the raids. Although, they attacked different areas of Sandpoint. Shalelu goes on to give us some insight into Goblins and their beliefs:
1. Horse Hate: Goblins excel at riding animals, but they don’t quite get horses. In fact their hatred of all things horse is matched only by their fear of horses, who, tend to step on goblins who get too close.
2. Dog Hate: Although goblins raise horrible rat-like creatures to use as mounts (and ride wolves or worgs if they can get them – goblins are quick to explain that wolves are NOT dogs), their hatred of ordinary dogs nearly matches their hatred of horses. The feeling is mutual, so if your dog’s barking at the woodpile for no reason, chances are good he smells a frightened goblin hiding in there somewhere.
3. Goblins Raid Junkyards: Garbage pits, gutters, sewers…anywhere there’s garbage, you can bet goblins are nearby. They’re weirdly adept at crafting weapons and armor from refuse, and are fond of killing people with what they throw away.
4. Goblins Love To Sing: Unfortunately, as catchy as their lyrics can be, goblin songs tend to be a bit too creepy and disturbing to catch on in mainstream society.
5. They’re Sneaky: An excited or angry goblin is a noisy, chattering, toothy menace, but even then, they can drop into an unsettling silence in a heartbeat. This, matched with their diminutive size, makes them unnervingly adept at hiding in places you’d never expect…stacks of firewood, rain barrels, under logs, under chicken coups, in ovens, etc.
6. They’re A Little Crazy: The fact that goblins think of things like ovens as good hiding places reveals much about their inability to think plans through to the most likely outcome. That, and they tend to be easily distracted, particularly by shiny things and animals smaller than them that might make good eating.
7. They’re Voracious: Given enough supplies, a goblin generally takes nearly a dozen meals a day. Most goblin tribes don’t have enough supplies to accommodate such ravenous appetites, which is why the little menaces are so prone to going on raids.
8. They Like Fire: Burning things is one of the great goblin pastimes, although they’re generally pretty careful about lighting fires in their own lairs, especially since goblins tend to live in large tangled thistle patches and sleep in beds of dried leaves and grass. But give a goblin a torch and someone else’s home and you’ve got trouble.
9. The Get Stuck Easily: Goblins have wiry frames but wide heads, and live in cramped warrens. Sometimes too cramped.
10. Goblins Believe Paintings and Writing Steal Your Soul: The walls of goblins lairs and ruins of towns goblins have raided are littered with pictures of their enemies. They never draw pictures of goblins, though – That’s mean. Writing steals words out of you head. You can’t get them back.
We also learn the items that were “accidentally” thrown away in the junkyard and latter stolen by the goblins. These include lumber and tools. If goblins are good a piecing together junk, just what are they going to be building with good lumber and tools? Bron also informs us that no one claims the wagons used by the goblins. To Strabo “no they’re not the wagons you came in on.”
Next Day (Journal 4):
The town went about its business the next day. Falathar cast a cure light on Agrent and Bron to finish healing their wounds. Everyone else in the group has recovered from the battle. We divided up the value of the goblin’s equipment. Each received 54 GP.
We met later at the Rusty Dragon. We listen to a story by a Noble, Aldern of Magnimar of how he got drunk and was sentenced to a month in prison by his friend Justice Nightbriar. For a few moments he was devastated until the Judge broke out in laughter. Aldern tried to talk with Rain, making a fool of himself. He got Strabo to invite Rain to a Boar Hunt for him, which she found interesting.
A bard performed a chant about the Legend of Kazavon. Orcs were overrunning the countryside. He was a knight who answered the call and led the army and defeated all enemies. However, he was a tyrant who took over and ruled with an iron fist. His shield bore the mark of a blue flamed skull. A real hero, Mandravius Wielding the sword Serithal challenged Kazavon. It was a hard fought battle. At one point Kazavon transformed into his true self, a blue dragon. All thought it would be the end of Mandravius, but he prevailed and slew the dragon! It is said that the shade of Mandravius is bound to protect the land for eternity.
We turned to the problem of the goblins. Shalelu will be tracking accompanied by Rain and Agrent. The rest of us agreed to go with them, as a larger party has a better chance of success in regions we will have to travel. It seems that the goblins are trying to use overwhelming force in the Mosswood and Nettlewood. There are dangerous creatures in the marsh including faceless stalkers. These can assume the shape of anything or anyone. There is also a frog like creature that prowls near the roads. We turned in with the agreement to start out the next day.
Falathar and Erlig were roused from sleep early the next morning by a frantic Bethona, Ameiko’s partner. She was beside herself and rambling about the kitchen being empty and no food prepared. We finally were able to get out of her that Ameiko was missing. When she checked her bedroom the bed had not been used and she found a note from Ameiko’s brother left behind.
The note stated that her brother thought that their father may have been involved with the goblin attack. He didn’t want Ameiko to talk with anyone, as it would not go over very well if it were to get out about their father. He wanted her to come over to the Glassworks at midnight. She was to knock a code at the service door. Erlig and Falathar hurriedly dressed and were moving towards the Glassworks, when they came across Bron and Parlay. They gave them the condensed version of events, and they joined in.
Upon reaching the Glassworks we examined the area by the side door for footprints, etc. We found a set of small footprints on top of the general set leading up to the door. The door’s padlock was open and hanging by its hasp. We went in to the building, but did not find anything unusual in the first room. Bron called out, but there was no response from the interior rooms. After Erlig checked a stairway leading down and did not hear anything, we opened the doors to the production room
It was full of goblins breaking things and an Half-Elf (the one we saw in town just before the attack). There were bodies all about the floor (looks like employees), and one on a work table. The body on the table is a man in nice clothing, which has had molten glass poured on it. The Half-Elf called out to the goblins to “attack!” The fight commenced. Erlig could not get to the fight from behind the others, and Bron ordered him to go get help.
Parlay and Bron attacked the nearest goblins. Parlay hit his in the chest with a spear staggering the goblin. Bron used his war axe to deal a vicious blow on the goblin nearest to his position dropping him to the ground. Meanwhile, Falathar started to sing, which seemed to encourage the party. The Half-Elf began to chant in Goblin. The next round Bron stunned another goblin and Parlay missed. Falathar launched an arrow at the Half-Elf at 125’ that was sure to hit, but the elf reached out and caught the arrow in his hand. Erlig returned and cast color spray without any noticeable effect, while Bron and Parlay each dropped another goblin. Falathar again shot an arrow, but missed badly (he was still shaken by the Elf’s catching the first arrow). The fight continued with Parlay dropping another, while Bron dealt a heavy blow to one. Even Erlig managed to hit a goblin with his crossbow.
The Half-Elf ran to the far door and opened it. There were no goblins left near Bron, but Parlay got one who tried to run. Parlay ran up and cut down the last goblin. Erlig joined Falathar in missing with arrows. Bron tried to bind the wounds of the goblin, but failed to stem the bleeding. Falathar stepped up and was able to bind the goblin, which was the last one breathing. Parlay ran up to the door the Half-Elf has disappeared into. Bron went back outside and set the gathering militia to around the outside to the front of the building. Erlig was going to tie up the wounded goblin that had been stabilized by Falathar. Falathar was going to follow Parlay.
Journal 5:
Parlay, followed by Falathar and Erlig raced after Tsuto, the Half-Elf. He made an incredibly rapid run to the seaside cliff and without slowing did a somersaulting dive down to the beach. There he landed on his feet still in a flat out run. At the same time Rain, Shalelu and Agrent companied by the seer Niska Mvashti came around the bend of the beach. Rain and Agrent watched with amazement the acrobatics of Tsuto until they heard Parlay shout to stop him. Erlig tried to shoot Tsuto with an arrow, but missed. His shot was followed in succession by shots from Parlay and Falathar, who met with no better luck. Rain and Agrent recovered their senses and each launched an arrow at Tsuto with both scoring hits. Tsuto then sprinted into a cave hidden in the clefts of the adjacent cliffs.
Bron came chugging around the bend of the beach at this time. He had run around the point in an effort to cut-off Tsuto. Rain and Shalelu chased after Tsuto into the cave. It was too dark for Agrent, and he remained outside with Niska. Bron finally caught up and ran into the cave after the others. His superior darkvision allowed him to move faster in the smuggler’s caves, and he overtook Shalelu and Rain quickly. He managed to spot where Tsuto had gone through a door. Rain tried to open it without success. Bron then tried and realized that it was barred on the other side. He began chopping it down with his battle axe.
Meanwhile, Erlig questioned the militia about were the cave went. He was told it ended under the Glassworks, but there was another branch that led to Junkers Beach. Even though the militia thought the way to the beach impassable, Parlay yelled down to Agrent to go and guard that way. Erlig had already started back at a full run to the Glassworks. Parlay and Falathar would follow as soon as they were sure that Agrent had understood their hails.
Erlig arrived at the Glassworks with two militia members. He followed them to the stairway leading down into the basement. They heard the approach of rapid footsteps coming up the stairs. The militia took up positions at the top of the stairwell, with Erlig just behind. They then saw Tsuto leading two Goblins up the stairs. The goblins were carrying a parcel wrapped up in a cloak about the size of large child or small adult. Erlig cast Color spray into them. They all dropped to the ground with Tsuto stunned and the Goblins unconscious. Not being able to tie up the goblins, Erlig opened their throats with a quick slice each. Parlay and Falathar arrived at this point and unwrapped the cloak to find an unconscious Ameiko inside. They untied her and Falathar cast a cure light on her, bring her back to consciousness. She was mumbling repeatedly “Oh Tsuto, what have you done?” Parlay successfully bound and gagged Tsuto using the very rope used to bind Ameiko.
The search of the workroom found several parchments written by Tsuto. It seems he is infatuated with a “girl”, who everyone thought dead. She was the adopted daughter of the priest whose ashes were stolen at the graveyard. Tsuto’s rambling notes seem indicate that she is a succubus and used her father’s ashes to perform a ritual to complete her conversion. The notes also indicate that another, more deadly attack is planned against the town with the objective of destroying it and all in it! Further the noted show that the Bugbear Bruthazmus is part of the plan. This is where Bron and the others reached us. Seeing the fight was over, he went back and led Niska through the caves into the Glassworks. Niska believes from the description the girl is a demon. Rain found a girl’s journal by the cave entrance. Parlay took out the gag to question Tsuto, who promptly spit in his face. Parlay responded by punching Tsuto and leaving him barely conscious. Falathar tried to question Tsuto, but could only get out that Nualia, his girlfriend would save him. To repay Tsuto, Falathar quietly cast ghost sound and presdigitation. Tsuto heard and felt insects swarming all over him for sometime after!
Erlig helped Ameiko up and walked her back to the Rusty Dragon. They were accompanied by the party and were met by a overjoyed Bethona – “You found her!” Bethana took over and walked Ameiko up to her room. Erlig took it upon himself to go into the kitchen and whipped up a sumptuous breakfast for all. Taking his lead from Erlig, Falathar took it upon himself to tend bar and see everyone supplied with ale.
Once the late breakfast was consumed, talk turned to the morning’s events. We had found that the dead men at the Glassworks were the night-shift workers. The man tortured on the table had been Ameiko’s father. We discussed Tsuto’s parchment notes. The first showed how the raid on the town was planned; it also noted with satisfaction that few Thistletop Goblins had perished in the raid. He also records that the town “deserves a real burning.” The second parchment seems to be various ideas for a planned attack on the town. While the favored option is an overwhelming land attack, Tsuto was pushing for his “girlfriend” to bring up her “freaks” (quasits) from below in focused strikes. He was able to convince everyone, but Bruthazmus the bugbear. His “girlfriend” seems to be removed from the discussions with something going on down below in the lower chambers. It looks like she is trying to release someone or something called Malfeshnekor, which she believes will be under her command. She assured Tsuto that “we won’t need to worry about being subtle, and he hopes she is right! It looks like the final plan is to attack the Rich first and disrupt the soldiers by attacking the walls. The third sheet is full concerned with his “lover.” “My love seems bent on going through with it – nothing I say convinces her of her beauty. She remains obsessed with removing what she call her ‘celestial taint’ and replacing it with her mother’s grace. Burning her father’s remains at Thistletop Shrine seems to have started the transformation, but I can’t say her new hand is pleasing to me. Hopefully when she offers Sandpoint to Lamashtu’s Fires her new body won’t be as hideous. Maybe I’ll luck out. Succubi are demons too, aren’t they?”
In addition to the items found on Tsuto and the goblins they also found a tent made of deerskin and smelling slightly of urine.
Each of us received 426 GP in value. Agrent bought the thieves tools, as his own had been stolen by the goblins. Falathar purchased the Flute. The party agreed that Strabo would keep the potion of healing with the other one for party use. Agrent with a grin turned to Parlay, “Hey does this tent look familiar!” Yes, it was Parlay’s tent that had been taken during the goblin raid.
The mayor and sheriff came into the Rusty Dragon and once again they thanked us on behalf of the town. They have decided that Sheriff Belor is going to travel to Magnimar to ask for help in defending the town. The mayor cannot leave without risking a takeover by one member of the council (she did not want to go into it, but I expect that there is more to it!). The Sheriff has appointed Bron to be the “under” Sheriff in his absence. Falathar suggested that a guard be placed in the caves below the Glassworks to guard the tunnel leading towards Junker’s Beach. It was quickly agreed to be a good idea by the mayor and sheriff.
Agrent went to “talk” with Tsuto at the jail. He threatened him with various tortures, but Tsuto remained defiant. “Go on; kill me, my Nualia will save me!” Agrent assures Tsuto that he is not going to allow him release by killing him, but will prolong the torture on and on. Agrent details some of the things he plans, such as cutting off fingers. At this point Agrent forces a wood splinter under one of Tsuto’s fingernails, but the screams alert the guards. They tell Agrent that he cannot be allowed to cause great bodily damage, and he assures them that he will not. Still, Agrent cannot get Tsuto to reveal anything. He tosses cold water on Tsuto to revive him and takes out a hammer to use on a finger. Tsuto finally broke and blurted out that he had warned Ameiko not to be in town when Nualia attacked. He tried to get her to join with them. Tsuto’s group is at Thistletop. Tsuto seemed to regain some composure and stopped answering questions.
Strabo arrives and offers to help. He places his hand directly on Tsuto’s chest and says that if he does not answer the question, he will burn down through the chest to his heart! Tsuto still refuses to answer, but he is clearly frightened. Strabo cast a command – “Where are the chambers of his friends in the caves? Is Nualla still there?” Tsuto “At the bricked up passage at the midpoint to Junker’s Edge. She it still there!” Strabo then “feel my hand burning through to your heart!” Tsuto begins screaming in pain! Agrent and Strabo walk out assuring the guards that it is only in Tsuto’s mind and no lasting damage is being done.
Meanwhile back at the Rusty Dragon Falathar and Erlig go up to check on Ameiko. Falathar cast a second Cure Light on her. She looks much better with only some bruises showing. Satisfied that she will be alright, Falathar goes back down to talk with the party in the common room. Erlig stays behind to talk with Ameiko about the Glassworks. “It looks like it belongs to you now.” He details the bags of silver and gold dust along with the two bars of gold, which he believes belongs to Ameiko. Ameiko asks Bethona if she would like to run the Rusty Dragon, which sends Bethona back into tears along with her consent. After Bethona left the room Ameiko turns to Erlig and tells him what she is going to say can’t be written into a song, with a nod of her head to the door by which Falathar had departed. Erlig assures her it won’t. “The gold and silver were payments to Tsuto by my father to keep quiet. It seems that my father was involved in some way with the attack on the town.” She goes on about how hard it was for Tsuto growing up with everyone knowing that her father was not really his father. Tsuto has always believed that his “father” had something to do with their mother’s death. “The gold and silver belong to your party; I don’t want or need it!” She also wrote a note and handed it to Erlig for the merchant to give the party whatever they needed being they were going out to help the town. Erlig told her it wasn’t necessary, but she would not take no for an answer. He assured her that we would not be excessive and take advantage of her generosity.
Journal 6:
Erlig arranges for a masterwork dagger to be made, which will be ready for him the next day. The rest of the party replenishes supplies and covert their extra gold into gems, weapons, etc.
We are called to a meeting the Mayor’s Office. Kendra starts the meeting by addressing Bron “What do you think we need to do to protect the town?” Bron replied that there is a plot against the town lead by a Succubus along with goblins and a bugbear. The half-elf Tsuto is one of the conspirators and is in love with the succubus. They lead the raid on the town. They and their henchmen seem to have a great hatred for the town and free will.
At this time Cameo seeing how Parlay was dressed in Shoanti style blurted out “You wear those in public?!” This started up an exchange between the two, which was quickly halted by a cold stare from Bron. Bron then continued “There is a much larger attack coming, and there are Varisians involved. It was a young Varisian boy that brought Ameiko the message, and Wyrick the town guard who let the goblins in is Varisian.” He goes on to tell how the girl that has become the succubus was shunned by the town. Further, there is a bugbear and all four tribes of goblins have joined forces against us. Right now the succubus and her minions are down below the glassworks in the caves.
Bron laid out a course of action. He will lead a raid down into the caverns. He noted it was suggested that a “Remove Curse” be cast on Tsuto, but it is not worth the effort. He announced that “Tsuto will be put on trial and killed!” To which, Sampson objected “How can you have a fair trial with the verdict already decided?!” Mayor Kendra and the council have decided that the miscreant be sent to Magnimar for trial, they have no judge in Sandpoint. Bron is in favor of the trial, but “we can’t weaken the town defenses to escort him!”
The discussion ranged freely with Sampson taking the high road of justice, and Strabo suggesting that we kill Tsuto and send his corpse to Magnimar for trial. “Surly, there is someone in Magnimar that could do a raise dead on him for the trial.” The mayor wants to wait until the sheriff comes back with reinforcements. Agrent “give Tsuto to me, I take care of him” with a wicked grin. Sampson is against both suggestions and again demands a fair trial for Tsuto. Falathar suggests using Tsuto for a shield as we clear out the caves, but no one else wants to! Finally, Bron decides that Tsuto will stay locked in the jail with two guards.
We turned to discussing strategy to clear the caverns below. Bron wants to seal the exits prior during the attack. Sampson ventures that the militia should be enough to hold the entrances, but Bron is sure that they are not up to it. Agrent suggest sealing entrance at Junker’s Beach with “red stones you call bricks.” Bron replies that there is not enough time to allow the mortar to set. “What mortar is?” asked a bewildered Agrent. Falathar suggests building a fire in the cave at the exit. Bron wants to double the town watch, the mayor would agree if “you can magic up the men,” we don’t have enough! Bron decides that all watches will be two men, with only one being a Varisian (Looks like the watch will be watching the watch!). The mayor asked Bron “Do you think there is a Szcarni link? Bron noted that Wyrick is Varisian and he let in the goblins.
It was finally decided to place the town on high alert. We arranged for some citizens to dump stones down into the entrance at Junkers Beach in an effort to block that exit. We will be the block on the other. Falathar urged the group to act now “Nualia is trying to raise Malfeshnekor, why give her time to do so! Rain noted that the bricked up entrance was opened up when she and Shalelu passed by.
Rain reads from a journal, which belonged to Nualia. It is titled “Nualia’s diary.” The first entry is Erastus 18, 4698 – her father was making her birthday cake, but when she went outside boys from the academy threw rocks at her, calling her a freak. She was hit, bruised and bleed some. Her father consoled her saying “no one else is as gifted as I am and that my silver hair and violet eyes are a blessing from the goddess Desna . He says I am an angel.”
On Ruthona 1, 4700 – she hid from taunting girls in a bathroom at the school, but the girls piled up furniture blocking her inside. She was not found until late that night by Mr. Jervas, who had been making pretty wooden birds for the stairs. The boys and girls continued tormenting her.
Pharast 24, 4700 – the traders at the market always stare at her. One day an old woman snipped off one of her braids with scissors. “Your silver hair will bring me luck.”
Gozran 5, 4700 – walking down Cliff Street a dozen farmers surrounded her. They wanted her to cure them of rashes and boils, etc. They wanted to know when to plant their potatoes “like how should I know.” One claimed that she was blessed and could drive away the voices in his head. Once again, someone pulled out some of her hair.
Gozran 15, 4700 – her father is sending her to Windsong Abbey on her 17th birthday, much to her dismay.
Calistil 3, 4701 – she met a boy from Magnimar. His name is Delek Viskanta, and he was nice to her treating her just like any other girl.
Calistil 29, 4701 – Delek threw rocks at her window to rouse her. They walked on the beach under the glassworks. They made love in a cave there. Delek told her he loved her and that he will take her to Magnimar.
Erastus21, 4701 – her father is set on sending her to Windsong Abbey. He doesn’t like her hanging around with Derek. He tells her that she must remain pure. Too late, she thinks she is pregnant. She told Derek when they met later that night. Derek told her he is leaving her and called her a whore. He never loved her and called her a fool and stupid girl.
Erastus 22, 4701 – Her father yelled at her calling her a harlot. She was sent to pray to Desna , but gave up without a response after 3 hours. She is convinced that Densa thinks she is worthless. Nualia still loves and hate Delek.
Ruthona 2, 4702 – Nualia doesn’t know what has come over her, she is so angry. She has been having weird dreams, which are terrifying. Her father would not let her go out because of the Chopper, but she believes it is because he is ashamed of her.
Ruthona 23, 4702 – She snuck out of the church that night. It was dark and she came across Mr. Stoot who had dropped some of his carved birds, which shattered. Nualia helped him pick them up. He told her that she was still beautiful to him and not to go out in the dark. Nualia then went to the cave she and Derek has used. She stayed for a few hours.
Adbdious 26, 4702 – She writes that they killed Mr. Stoot. Calling him the Chopper and accusing him of killing Mrs. Deverin’s fiancé and cutting off her arm. She could she Mr. Stoot’s house burning, but does not think he did the crimes. She keeps having the dreams and doesn’t feel well. “I think the baby knows I’m upset.”
The last entry is on Abadius 27, 4702 – “something is wrong. I’m so sick, something is wrong with the baby. There’s blood, it’s too soon, I’m only 7 months. I saw dad talking to that butcher Hannah, I don’t want to lose my baby. Dad won’t even look at me, what is he doing talking to her! Desna please make the pain go away, save my baby, please. I’ll never do anything bad again.”
((Thanks to the person who wrote this journal and posted it for others to use.))
The party departed for the glassworks leaving behind their extra gear. We entered with Bron going first in the dark with his Dark Vision. We followed using torches and Falathar casting light from his Wayfinder. Agrent is second in line looking for traps using the light generated by Falathar. We passed the torn down brick entrance. The passage curved away, first left and then right. We came across a stone door on the right side of the passage. No traps were detected. The door was marked with the symbol for Wrath or Evocation. Various members of the party tried to force it to open (opens in) without success. Finally, Parlay succeeded in opening the door.
This passage leads to a split. We heard approaching noises from the right side passage. Two monsters approached, we have never seen anything like them before. Parlay and Sampson had enough composure to quickly attack them, but both missed badly. Agrent felt “rage” briefly. The first round had Erlig cast Mage Armor. Parlay sent a wick arrow shot into the second monster. Agrent scored a hit on the second monster. Bron manage a Critical Hit on the first monster. Cameo hit the first with a magic missile, while Strabo cast Luck on Parlay. Sampson held his initiative not being able to reach the monsters. Falathar started chanting which all found to be heartening. The monster scored hits against Bron and Agrent.
The second round had Erlig winging the first monster with an arrow and Parlay hitting the second monster. Agrent followed with a hit on number two, dropping it. Bron dealt a hit to number one dropping it too. Strabo delivered “Killing Blow” on the downed monsters. Falathar had stopped singing after the first round, but all felt heartened for a time after. He then tried to listen for other enemies, but the group’s commotion prevented success.
Bron gave Agrent four goodberries and ate four himself. Falathar cast a Cure Light on Agrent fully completing his recovery.
Yet another song by Falathar the Bard:
House of Sandpoint Town
(To the music of “House of the Rising Sun” and my apologies to Eric Burden and the Animals)
There is a house in Sandpoint town
They call the Kaijitzu Glassworks
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God Tsuto is now one!
His mother was a philanderer
She loved an Elf that’s true
His father a two-faced man
Down in Sandpoint town.
Now the only thing a Glassman needs
Is some sand and red hot fire
And the only time Tsuto’s satisfied
Is pouring molten glass on dad.
Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what Tsuto has done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the house of Kaijitzu Glassworks!
Well, I have one foot on the scaffolding
With a rope around my neck
I’m going down to Hades now
To suffer in pain and torment!
There is a house in Sandpoint town
They call the Kaijitzu Glassworks
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God Tsuto is now one!
Journal 7:
The next passage on the left had visible rumble a short distance in. This led to a 20’ wide by 10’ deep room. It was full of the ruble from broken urns and pottery. It has a door on the right side. Agrent checked the door for traps. He then tried to shove it open, but slipped and collapsed. Sampson stepped up to the challenge and muscled the door open with a mighty shove! It revealed a hallway leading in, which turned to the right. Before we left the room, Falathar noted that all the stones in the room walls were marked with the symbol for Wrath. He also noticed that the door was marked with a slightly different symbol. The symbol had a figure between the two upper points consisting of a sideways 8 with a dot above and below it. Sampson found the door had a handle on the backside. Agrent and Rain determined that the monsters’ tracks had come up to the door and then left.
We passed through the door and Agrent observed that there tracks from the monsters on that side too! Bron, Rain and Erlig remained behind in the main hallway on alert. Strabo and Cameo stayed behind the advancing members. The hallway behind the door turned first to the right and later to the left. This led to a hexagonal shaped room with life-sized statue of a woman holding a pole weapon. Falathar recognized the statue was that of Alaznist, Runelord of Wrath and the ruler of Bakrakhan. The weapon the statue was holding is real! Oddly, neither the statue nor the weapon shows any signs of age. Falathar noted a faint detection of preservative magic on them!
Meanwhile, Rain now heard sounds coming from further in on the main hallway. She moved up and found that the sounds were coming from a hexagonally shaped room. The same room the rest of the party had found. Realizing it was the party making all the racket, Rain once more turned to guard the hallway muttering about clumsy party.
Agrent is determined to get the weapon and lassos it. He is pulling the rope without effect and Parlay comes up and asks “what you doing?” “We get weapon” was Agrent's reply. They are trying to topple the statue much to Falathar’s dismay. “Don’t damage it as it’s priceless!” Agrent’s puzzled reply “If it is not worth nothing, why me worry about damage?” While an exasperated Falathar tries to explain to Agrent the value of this rare find in perfect condition, Parlay strikes the statue’s arm with a hammer! Fortunately, the hammer did not damage, but loosened the calcium buildup holding the pole arm in the statue’s hand. He and Agrent managed to free it.
Parlay and Agrent admired the pole arm, which turned out to be a ranseur. Falathar was able to do a successful appraisal and determined that it is a masterwork weapon made from cold-forged iron. Parlay began practicing with it. During this time Bron was admiring the stone workmanship of the statue. He and Falathar are relieved that the shoanti had not damaged it. Falathar is convinced that it is an important discovery, which the Pathfinder Lodge will want to know about! He begins sketching the statue and the room, while trying to get the party to realize the “true value” found here.
Back in the main hallway Rain continues to explore. It continues on past the side hall leading to the statue room and then ends in about 30 feet. There to the right side is a tunnel dug with just enough room to crawl through. She follows it to a vertical opening surrounded by porcelain. Rain has found the ancient lou. Bron catches up to her and hears the sound of snarling coming from above. The hole is in the shape of a seat. He looks up through it into a low ceiling of a darkened room. Bron motions to Rain that it is time to leave.
The party in the statue room was busy checking the exiting hallways. One they came in on and the second leads back to the main hallway. The third goes up a set of stairs and the fourth led to a door with the symbol again. Sampson is checking it out the door and notices that it was opening! Reacting, Sampson hit the monster with a mighty blow and moved back in the hallway, while Falathar winged it with an arrow. The first round found Parlay scoring a hit followed by Sampson hitting and dropping the first monster. Falathar started singing and once more the party was heartened and seemed to be more adept at scoring damage. Meanwhile Strabo held his position and Cameo just held. Again Parlay scored a vicious hit on a monster, which was accompanied by an arrow hit by Falathar. Agrent held his position hoping to get into the fight, but there was no room.
At the same time in the tunnel Bron turned to face the monsters following him and Rain back by the exit. Rain had gotten out of the tunnel into the hallway, but not before suffering a claw attack. Erlig stepped up and cast Color Spray past Bron at the two monsters he could see. It did not seem to have any effect on the monsters, while Bron missed with his first swing. The tunnel was so narrow there was barely room for one person to face one monster at a time, this helped plug-up the monsters. Rain tried to carefully shoot an arrow past Bron, but missed the monster badly! Bron’s second swing was a tremendous blow that staggered the first monster.
Back at the doorway Parlay again reached over Sampson and used the long reach of the Ranseur to hit the monster. Falathar launched an arrow and scored a solid hit. Sampson followed up with a hit dropping the monster. Back in the tunnel dropped the first monster in order to get to the next. Agrent had noticed that early in the fight he heard monster behind the door run off, which was shortly followed by the attack on Bron. Realizing that there must be a path leading to the tunnel, he raced in to attack the monsters in the rear. Parlay ran over to the tunnel to help Bron, but missed on his first attempt. Erlig bound Rain’s wounds. Agrent made it to the ancient privy and dropped down into the tunnel. He used all his skill in a back attack on the monster and still he missed!
Meanwhile, Strabo stood on alert watching the exits, while Cameo stayed in the middle away from the action. Falathar decided to follow Agrent’s move and went through the door. The hallway exited onto a raised platform, which the surrounding walls held cells. A Stairway led down on the left, while another led down from the center and turned left towards some of the cells. The third stairway led to the right and that is where Falathar heard the sounds of battle! He hailed Sampson to come in and join him in the large room.
Bron and Parlay both hit and dropped the monster on their end. Finally, Agrent struck home with a mighty blow dropping the last monster. The party regrouped and Falathar cast his last Cure Light on Rain telling her to stop whining. The group decided to follow the tunnel the exited the statue room and turned left to a long tunnel. We followed it some distance with it bending at a 45º angle to the left twice in succession. This opened into a room about 30 by 40 feet.
The room had a small shrine sitting in an alcove to the left. It was surrounded by stagnant water. Strabo tried twice to purify the water without success. The shrine was sitting on black marble. Sampson detected evil coming from the altar. There is a set of double doors leading out of the far corner of the room. It has the Wrath Symbol with the infinity mark split across the two doors.
Journal 8:
A short stairway leads up to the double doors. The impatient paladin threw his weight into opening the doors under the assumption that they were barred. Much to his surprise the door flew open revealing a large room. It was about 80 x 120 feet. The far end is curved holding a raised dais. It has curved stairways on either side rising 20 feet. There is a triangular pool in the rear middle of the dais, which is bubbling. A round pool is in the forefront of the room. It has spikes holding up what may have been a statue. The walls are covered in rune carvings in ancient Thassilonian. The room is unusually cold! Sampson senses four demons inside.
The four demons rush up to attack Sampson, who is at the forefront. One manages to bite his arm, which suddenly causes him to feel a deep anger. The monsters in the rear turn an eye on Agrent and Rain. At the rear of the room a small flying demon, a Quasit, is hovering over the altar. She shouts “how dare you invade…” She begins casting a spell speaking in a language not heard for thousands years, which Falathar recognizes as Thassilonian! It sounds totally different from the various theories propounded by scholars! Bron and Parlay moved up to support Sampson with each scoring hits. Agrent manage to hit one with an arrow, while Erlig cast mage armor on Bron. Rain missed with an arrow. Falathar began to sing heartening all. Cameo cast a Magic Missile into the Quasit, but it did not seem to affect the Quasit or interrupt her casting. Strabo managed to cast luck on Rain.
The monster managed to bite and claw Sampson, which dropped the Paladin bleeding from his wounds. Erlig cast Daze on a monster stunning temporarily. Parlay dealt a might blow to his monster dropping it. Agrent moved up to protect the unconscious Sampson and dealt a blow to the monster there. Rain feeling particularly lucky launched another arrow, but fared no better this time! Bron managed to hit the monster, which tried to return the favor without success. Falathar following her lead also missed the Quasit with an arrow. Strabo cast a Cure Light on Sampson. Who is now stabilized, but he is still unconscious. A giant spider appears and the Quasit disappears.
The monsters lying on the ground stops bleed and the wounds seem to be closing. The two monsters still up attack Sampson and Bron, but miss badly. Parlay and Bron repaid the monster each with a solid hit. Erlig tries casting a Ray of Frost on the monster, but it does not seem to affect them. Rain aims and launches an arrow, but still can’t hit anything. Falathar again follows her lead and misses with another arrow. Strabo cast a second Cure Light on Sampson, which brings him back up although still suffering from his wounds.
The two downed monsters get back up and into the fight. In the background we can hear the Quasit casting again. The spider missed in its attack on Bron. Parlay switches to sword and klar “It’s time for some bloodletting!” He scores against the spider. Agrent cracks open the spider’s skull, but it keeps on going. Rain finally scored a hit with an arrow into the Quasit, which goes on casting. Amazingly, the arrow slowing works its way out of the demon leaving no trace of damage. The Quasit is still casting. Sampson hits one of the monsters, while Bron hit another staggering it. Falathar encourage by Rain luck, launches an arrow into the spider scoring a hit and dropping it! Strabo moved up. Cameo now out of magic missed with his crossbow. The Quasit’s spell goes off and a giant rat appears.
The rat tries to bite Bron, but Dwarves are hard to hit! Meanwhile, the Quasit again disappears and we can hear it casting. One of the monsters also tried to attack Bron, but missed again. Parlay launches an attack with sword and shield and misses with both! Agrent hit his monster dropping it. Rain on a streak hits the rat in the eye with an arrow dropping it! Bron killed the monster in front of him! Sampson cleaved the downed monster killing it. Strabo ran up to the dais near the altar. The Quasit appears and attempts to spit on Strabo, but just misses! Parlay, Agrent and Bron move up towards the altar. Strabo channels negative energy into the invisible Quasit and hears it scream in pain and anger! Overcome by events Cameo rushed into the middle of battle.
The Quasit briefly appears dropping blood into the pool below and then disappears again. Parlay notices that the blood does not extend beyond the pool and calls it out. “She is still there!” Erlig crits the Quasit with a blind crossbow shot, which does not work its way out. Agrent caught the Quasit with his grappling hook and tries to hold it. Back on the floor Rain hits a monster with an arrow, which was followed by a shot from Bron. Even Falathar scored an arrow hit on the last monster. Strabo manages to cast his net over the Quasit. Even Cameo gets in on the action hitting the monster with an arrow.
The Quasit tried to spit onto Parlay and missed. She screeched in terror as he attacked with the ranseur hitting her. Erlig hits the monster with a bolt. Agrent tried to pull the Quasit down, but the hook comes loose. Both Rain and Bron missed with arrows. The monster manages to bite Agrent, which sends him into a blind rage! Back on the altar Sampson managed to grab the net to help Strabo hold the Quasit. Falathar launched an arrow into the last monster, which was a critical hit, dropping it. Cameo cut the monsters throat to kill it.
The Quasit tried and failed to break out of the net and spit on Sampson. Fortunately, he was unaffected. Parlay hit the Quasit twice finally killing it. Meanwhile, Agrent ran around in a rage clubbing the bodies of all the dead monsters for several minutes. He finally recovered his senses and joined the party examining the demon. Erlig detected magic from the little dagger carried by the Quasit. He appraised it as a masterwork dagger of at least plus one. She is wearing a holy symbol around her neck, which detects as evil. It looks like black glass. Falathar recognizes the symbol is that of Lamashtu the demon goddess of monsters.
Journal 9:
The party secured the doors shut with rubble, upon which Parlay slept. Strabo tended to the wounded, while Agrent followed by Parlay set the watch. After eight hours of rest those of the party tended to their required devotions and study. Meanwhile, Falathar tried to match sounds to the carved Runes keeping in mind the Quasit’s uttering’s in Thassilonian. He did not have much success, but was able to determine that the Runewell was the triangular pool on the altar. It required a blood sacrifice, which he thought was the blood the Quasit had dripped into the pool to summon demons. Falathar shared this with the group much to the interest of Cameo.
Cameo walked up to the pool and pricked his finger to drip blood into the pool, much to the dismay of the party! The pool began bubbling and boiling and then a demon came out of it staring at Cameo. As the pool again calmed, the demon said something, which Falathar was able to translate as “Orders?” Cameo ordered it to protect him and not harm any party member, but that was not enough for Sampson. The paladin, being highly incensed in the presence of an evil demon, launched into a full attack dropping it instantly. It fell back into the pool, while the rest of us looked on. The pool did not bubble so we determined that the blood of a summoned demon did not fulfill the required blood sacrifice.
The party returned to the statue room and followed the passages through the cell room. It led to an about forty by eighty feet with a curved wall at the far end. The room contained eleven pits covered by wooden grates and had a door on the left wall. The ceiling was vaulted and twenty feet high. We could hear strange shuffling sounds coming up from the pits. This was secondary to the armed Goblin standing in the middle holding a long sword, a hand axe and a dagger simultaneously. Normally, this would be impossible, but he was aided by the fact that he had a third arm to use!
The battle commenced with the Goblin missing in his attack on Bron, who had moved up into the room. Bron repaid the goblin with a stout blow. Sampson scored two hits with one a critical. Falathar started singing, which seemed to inspire all. Finally, Cameo cast a magic missile into the Goblin, which dropped it unconscious. The goblin was starting to heal, which incited Sampson to finish off the abomination on the ground.
We checked the eleven cells and found that each held a zombie. Sampson detected these as evil and was all for killing them. We managed to talk him into continuing with the investigation with the assurance that they would be taken care of later. The longsword recovered from the goblin is masterwork and detected as magic. The dagger was determined to be steel coated with pure silver. The hand axe was also of masterwork quality.
Falathar checked the room for secret doors and successfully found one in the middle of the curved wall. It opens to a ten foot hallway leading to a spherically shaped room of about ten to fifteen feet in diameter. The wall was metallic red and pulsed with magic, which were identified by Falathar as a Levitation Spell. Floating about in the room were a book, a dead raven with maggots, a wine bottle, a scroll, and a twisted iron device with a forked tip. Strabo was able to use his whip to capture the items and pull them out of the room.
The scroll is that of Burning Hands cast by a third level caster. The bottle is that of a local wine with a recent date, which is considered a fine vintage. The twisted iron object is a magic wand. The book is titled “The Army of Light” and which Falathar is looking forward to reading. Finally, the dead raven is just a dead raven.
The party decided to check out the door back in the zombie room, which lead away about twenty feet. There was rubble at the end of the passage, which opened into a circular room. The staircase led up to the right and down to the left. The staircase going down is block by rubble. The staircase goes up to a door, which we believe leads back to the statue room. The roof is sagging and cracked. This seems to be under the tower of the old light house. We retraced out steps to the statue room and followed the passage leading up.
This passage led to a room with a pool in the middle. The pool is lined with skulls and there is blood on the floor. There is a door on the far side, which we surmise leads to the circular staircase going down. Parlay and Bron entered the room and each was immediately attacked by a floating head with tentacles. Fortunately, the biting attack by the heads failed. Erlig moved up the stairs to support. One of the heads started screaming, which paralyzed Cameo, Strabo, and Agrent. The other head managed to bite Bron, but he was able to resist the poison. Parlay swung and missed, while Bron managed to hit one. Rain scored a hit and Sampson really laid into one dropping it! Falathar started singing again heartening all. Erlig tried to hit the remaining head with an acid blob, but missed. The head manage a weak hit on Parlay, who also saved against its poison. The head tried to fly out of range, but Parlay repaid the attack with a solid hit dropping the head!
Parlay tried to open the door, but failed to budge it. Bron threw his weight behind Parlay’s efforts and they finally managed to open the door. Yes, it did lead into the stairwell. We then conducted a through search of the remaining tunnels, but did not find anything. We returned to the surface to report.
The town guards had been looking for us. Shalelu had come back into town, reported and left again. She said some Licktoads were killed off by boggards. Old Megus has returned. We went to the village priest and informed him of the zombies. He assured us he would take care of them.
Note from Sheriff Hemlock: To Mayor Kendra Deverin of Sandpoint,
I have run into bureaucratic stumbling blocks here in Magnimar. I was given the run around and feared either loosing valuable time in my attempt to convince each higher level clerk that the situation for us in Sandpoint is serious enough to have an impact on Magnimar. They seem to forget that they need our raw lumber, fish products, farm produce and other things. The loss, temporarily, of the Glassworks has fortunately had an impact however, it seem some official was awaiting a fancy glass decoration that was evidently ruined when the goblins murdered the night workers. Now I have about 8 to 10 semi useful but unskilled warriors assigned to me from the training barracks of the Magnimaran guard. Once I get them all outfitted, I will be bringing them to Sandpoint where we will need to train them further so they can start to take over guard watch duties. It seems we have had some added assistance from one of the higher ranked Justices of the Magnamaran courts. Justice Ironbriar has agreed to see the case of Tsuto for murdering his father Lonjikyu Kaijitsu. He has requested that Tsuto immediately be sent by ship to Magnimar where he will be imprisoned in The Hells along with the guard who was involved in catching him and any witnesses to have their statements taken by the court clerks. I know this puts us minus a valuable guard captain but it is only temporarily. The court has agreed to pay for passage back to Sandpoint for each person once their statements have been taken. I will be traveling back and be in Sandpoint by tomorrow with our green recruits.
Signed , Belor Hemlock
Note for Erlig: By ship a note arrives written in Skald (Ulfen language).
"I have been suffering from a cold that none can cure since the day I brought you to Magnimar from the north. As each day passes it grows worse until now I cannot even rise from my bed. It is clear now from the priests who have tried to cure me that I have been cursed and that it cannot be broken by their spells. I am soon to die and I wish that you take the artifact that I was intending to bring to the Pathfinder Grand Lodge in Absalom in my stead. Come to my townhouse in Magnimar and retrieve it. If I am able to speak to you I shall attempt to answer any questions you have. I have asked that a note be passed to the Pathfinder lodge in Absalom as well."
The note is signed in a shaky hand "Skeleg the Ripper"
There is no greater dishonor for a warrior to die in a sick bed instead of in battle.
Journal 10:
Mayor Kendra Deverin shared a letter she has received from Sheriff Belor Hemlock. It seems that he has not had great success in convincing the Officials of Magnimar to aid Sandpoint. If it wasn’t for one official who’s fancy glass decoration order (destroyed by the goblins at the glassworks), we would not have received any help at all. They are sending eight to ten unskilled warriors from the training barracks. Sheriff Belor is arranging their outfitting and then will bring them to Sandpoint. They will need further training here prior to being assigned to guard watch duty.
The sheriff also informs us that Justice Ironbriar has agreed to take the case of Tsuto for the murder of his father. The justice wants the guard (Bron) and all those who helped capture Tsuto brought to Magnimar to have their statements taken. Magnimar will pay for the return transportation. The sheriff will arrive tomorrow with the green recruits. After much discussion we have decided that we will leave immediately for Thistletop. Once we have assessed and/or eliminated the Goblin threat we will then make ourselves available for Tsuto’s trial.
The group sold the weapons we recovered in the tunnel fight. Each member earned 958 in gold. Cameo purchased the iron Wand of Shocking Grasp. We then contacted the priest, Father Zantos about putting the Zombies down. He agreed to accompany us down to the tunnels. Upon reaching the Zombies’ room Father Zantos took out his butterfly shaped Holy Symbol and implored “Desna, destroy these foul things!” The zombies became agitated and started screeching! Parlay brought fifteen bottles of oil with him. Rain poured one down a pit and set a zombie on fire. She was followed by Parlay, Bron, Sampson and Cameo doing the same each on a different pit and zombie. Agrent looked on hurling insults at the zombies. Meanwhile, Strabo lassoed a zombie, which promptly jerked down momentarily. Falathar who had been holding position, moved up to protect Strabo.
The next round had Rain and Rain moving up to drop oil and burn two more zombies. Sampson came to Strabo’s aid and helped him hoist and smash the lassoed zombie into the bottom of the wooden grate and hit it with his sword. Falathar played his flute in a comedic accompaniment to match their actions. Cameo lightly winged his zombie with a crossbow bolt. Father Zantos again called upon Desna, which dropped the five zombies that had been damaged by the party. The party continued with Parlay and Bron using oil to drop the last of the zombies.
Rain talks Agrent into searching the zombies’ pits, but he draws back up at the horrendous smell. Shaking her head and muttering Rain goes down to search the pits. Falathar switches over to playing a funeral dirge while she sorts through the rags. Bron joins her in sorting through the eleven pits. Rain did find a dagger, but neither she nor Bron found anything else. Once they finished their search, Falathar cast prestidigitation on both Bron and Rain to clean them up. This was more for the relief of the party’s noses as for the benefit of the two scroungers.
Agrent talked the party into going into the circular stairway to try and remove the rubble blocking the way down. Falathar looked on not doubting that it would take weeks or months to accomplish the task, but did not think the party would believe him until they experienced the futility of the dig. After about an hour Bron convinced them that we were wasting their efforts. His experience in tunneling indicated that extensive timber shoring and months of effort would be required to clear the stairway. After a brief discussion we returned to the surface, and received Father Zantus’s blessing and thanks.
The party arranged to buy horses and supplies in order to go after the goblins at Thistletop. The owner of the stable has always held a deep hatred for the goblins and their raid has infuriated him. He gave us a twenty percent discount to assist us in our efforts to end the goblin’s planned attack. Falathar’s inquiry about buying a carriage was met with resounding laughter “Where do think ya are – Magnimar!” He then spent some time with the horses to sense their nature. He selected a light warhorse, which he has named Dúlin (Nightingale). Bron selected a pony in accordance with his stature, while a couple of the larger and heavily armored chose heavy warhorses. Bron and Cameo then visited the latter’s grandmother for advice. She advised them to hold true! Bron then left a letter for the sheriff informing him where we are going. As we are getting ready to leave Agrent is still worried about the lower levels under the town, but we convince him that the greater threat is from the goblins!
The party left town and reached the Thistle River in about two hours. Agrent and Rain searched for the path to take us to Thistletop. After several hours Agrent was successful in finding the trail, while Rain met with greater success in finding patches of nettles. We moved as far as we could for the evening and setup camp. The group took turns on watch. The third and last watch held by Rain and Falathar was interrupted abruptly. Falathar had heard the muffled sound of approaching footfalls. He awoke and alerted the party to the approaching danger, just in time to face an attack by a party of Goblins. They launched an arrow attack missing everyone, but the bard Falathar who had spotted them!
Parlay and Agrent ran and leaped up onto their horses. Rain was able to hit one with an arrow dropping it. Falathar repaid the Goblins kindness with an arrow that did five times the damage to the goblin. Cameo shot a Magic Missile into another goblin with minimum damage. Strabo channeled Negative Energy stunning one of the attackers. Sampson charged up to within ten feet of the nearest goblin. It looks like there are five goblins in this raiding party.
The mounted Parlay and Agrent charged down two of the goblins! Parlay dropped his with a viscous blow, but Agrent missed badly. It must be harder to do than it would seem to be? Strabo used his whip to trip one of the remaining goblins. Agrent finally hit his goblin dropping it! Falathar hit his goblin with a second arrow; while Cameo used Magic Missile with minimal effect (he is consistent). Sampson managed to cleave the stunned and prone goblins. The last goblin was getting away with arrows missing until Falathar scored a lucky shot at 100 feet, which critically injured the goblin. It dropped in death to end the fight.
We check the area, but did not find any additional signs of Goblins. We must have gotten them all. The party recovered sixty short bow arrows, which we divided up. We also found they had six short bows, six Dog Slicers, and Six sets of leather armor. The party then returned to rest.
That morning we continued on in our quest to find the goblins at Thistletop. We reached a place where briars and thistle grow so thick as to block any view ahead. Waves can be heard breaking on the beach in the near distance.
Journal 11:
That morning we continued on in our quest to find the goblins at Thistletop. We reached a place where briars and thistle grow so thick as to block any view ahead. Waves can be heard breaking on the beach in the near distance. The brambles and thistles grow up and over the top in most places. We found an opening through the barrier by lift the branches at one point. The interior was over grown forming tunnels of briars and thistles with only about four feet of height clearance. This put everyone at a disadvantage except our resident dwarf. Parlay and Erlig took our horses back up to a safe location, while the rest of the party pushed on!
Agrent found tracks of goblins, dogs, and a large cat. That is when a Firepelt (large cat) leaped out to attack Bron. At the same time a ball of fire flew by barely missing Agrent. Rain’s quick reaction sent a blind arrow shot past the corner and scored a hit. The paladin Sampson moved up, but barely missed hitting the cat. An infuriated Bron struck back with a solid hit on the cat! Agrent tried to shoot the cat, but missed with his arrow. The bard Falathar started singing to encourage the party. Our cleric Strabo held position, while Cameo fired off a Magic Missile dealing serious damage. (Practice makes perfect)!
The fight continued with the cat trying to trip and bit Bron. It did manage to claw and bite knocking him down! A second ball of fire laced out hitting Rain, the caster evidently took offense at being hit by her arrow. Bron from a prone position delivered a crunching blow to the Firepelt. Falathar cast Ghost Sounds to create the illusion of a warhorse crashing up through the briars towards the fight! Bron’s prone attack and the sound of a dreaded horse proved too much for the cat the goblins. They ran away with the goblin squealing in terror. Just to make sure Falathar cast a second Ghost Sound of a charging warhorse in the direction of their retreat!
The party moved back outside the tunnels with discursion being the better choice than foolhardy blundering about. Strabo tended to Bron and Rain. He gave them each a potion to heal their wounds. Bron gave Rain some goodberries and ate some himself. They are back to almost full health. Everyone except Argrent moved back to the horses. He stayed behind to search and track the tunnels. He did hear a rising howl that came from a fixed location the like of which he has never heard before. He also determined that number of goblins have been gathering and building defenses around Thistletop. Agrent heard the chilling howl one last time before returning to report to the party.
Agrent and Rain then joined up to scout the cliff and see if there was another way into the goblin stronghold. They made an extensive search, but found no path possible down to the beach below the cliffs. Their report to the party caused considerable discussion as to whether to continue the search or return to Sandpoint. We finally decided to cross the Creek and try the northern cliffs. We left the horses hobbled to graze and moved down river towards the sea.
Agrent and Rain scouted ahead first and found a way down the cliff to the beach. Rain covered Agrent, while he climbed down the face. There he saw Thistletop in the distance. It is a large outcropping of rock forming an island, which resembles a massive head! It is connected to the mainland by a rope and wooden bridge stretching some one-hundred feet across, and about eight feet wide. They returned with the report. Once more, the party argued to climb down or not to climb down. It would be impossible to surprise the goblins guarding the bridge in a direct assault. Finally, Bron recalled that the cliff below was rumored to hold several caves. That was enough to convince the party to try and find a way using the caves.
We followed Bron and Rain back to the cliff and lowered them down. Their search quickly found an opening to a cave with just shallow water across the entrance. The returned and signaled for the party to come down to the beach. Everyone was eager to get down to the beach with the exception of Falathar. He only agreed to be lowered down by have two ropes tied to him. The entire party managed to reach the beach in safety and seemly undetected.
We moved off to explore the cave with Bron leading the way in. It leads to a domed chamber of considerable size with a vent at the top. There is an opening continuing in on the left side. Of far more interest was a ledge along the far wall with an oversized seal lying on it. He was watching us with considerable interest. Bron called the party forward just when the seal gave an unearthly howl. It was the same sound that Agrent had heard from the distance near the briars. It struck terror in our hearts with only Bron, Erlig, Cameo, Parlay, and Agrent managing to control their emotions! The rest of the party ran away like scared rabbits!
The seal then dived into the water to attack Bron dealing him a solid hit. Erlig cast Mage Armor on Bron, while Agrent moved up to attack the monster over Bron’s head. Parlay launched an arrow into the beast. Cameo cast Mage Armor on Agrent. The seal then tries to attack Bron a second time, but missed with its bite. Erlig tried to shoot it with a crossbow, but did not manage a hit. Agrent and Bron each dealt successful attacks against the beast. Parlay missed with his sword, but hit with his klar. Cameo hit it with a Magic Missile. Agrent hit it again, this time dropping it. He immediately began to skin it!
Mean while for the next half minute Rain followed by Falathar, Sampson, and Strabo ran away in sheer terror. Each seemed to have been affected to different degrees. The paladin Sampson was the first to recover his wits. His recovery was quickly followed by Rain and Strabo. Falathar continued his run in terror for another couple of rounds before finally coming to his senses!
Journal 12:
The party searched the cavern and found bones, armor and weapons. It looks like the Goblins have been sacrificing individuals down through the opening in the roof of the cavern. The bones include goblin and human and range from adult down to child (the children’s bones seem to be goblin). The bones are scattered about by the seal as it consumed the flesh.
The party explored the tunnel to the right. It exits to the open in two locations. The open fissures meander around with overhanging cliffs above. There are narrow beaches along some areas in the undercut cliff face. One fissure leads to a cliff face that has an opening sealed by a wooden door. It would seem to lead back to the open sea.
Agrent decide to climb the cliff face. Upon reaching the top he tied a rope around a stump. He then dropped the rope down to us. He was startled by whispered voices very near his position. The darkness and his very stealthy movements had concealed him from the Goblin guards. Finally, he was able to distinguish two pair of eyes staring out between wooden slats above him. The goblins were drawing their bows while staring down at the party. Agrent tried to motion Rain in warning, but the goblin shot her with an arrow. Rain moved to the beach and tried shooting an arrow without hitting the goblin. Erlig shot his crossbow and scored an amazing hit, dropping the goblin! Agrent smashed through the wooden barrier and dealt a stunning blow dropping the second goblin.
Now that the threat was handled Agrent noticed that his knot tying the rope looked suspect! He quickly retied it before someone risked their life climbing up. Again he heard Goblin voices approaching, but was able to tie the rope securely. As Agrent took cover Parlay began climbing up the cliff face using the rope. Upon reaching the top he placed the Goblin bodies against the barricade facing out and covering the broken section. Meanwhile, Rain started climbing, but quickly slipped back down. Agrent launched a sneak attack and dropped another Goblin from behind. Parlay tried attacking with his pole arm and managed to launch a Goblin up and over the barricade. The Goblin may have survived Parlay’s weapon, but did manage to survive the sudden stop down at the bottom of ravine. Seeing that surprise was no longer a concern, Falathar started singing to hearten the party.
Down below Strabo was intent on climbing the rope, but met with no better success than had Rain. Erlig decided to cast Mage Armor on him. He felt that Strabo was going to need all the help he could get! Parlay failed miserably in his next attempt to hit a Goblin. Down at the rope Cameo decided that he would be the next to climb. However, even with Strabo’s help Cameo failed in the attempt! Falathar continued singing and notched an arrow, but never was presented with a target. Parlay and Agrent tried to hit Goblins, but missed! Erlig and Sampson try to assist Strabo in his climbing attempt, but he only makes it up part way and is stuck. Bron tried to assist, but had no better luck.
Parlay chops up a Goblin while Agrent hit it dropping it! Two more Goblins approach them. Agrent and Parlay each drop another Goblin. The last living Goblin runs off screaming an alarm! They follow the Goblin in pursuit! Meanwhile, back at the rope Strabo is still stuck. Falathar is sung out for the day and is amusing himself by taking bets as to where Strabo will hit when he falls! Parlay decided that Agrent could handle the pursuit and returned to the rope. Strabo was able to climb up with Parlay’s assistance, thus spoiling the betting below! Strabo ran off to follow Agrent. Sampson was the next to try and climb, but failed on his first attempt. Up top Agrent was losing ground to the escaping Goblin who could run upright, while he had to run in a crouched position. Finally, Sampson is jerked up to the top of the cliff by Parlay!
Agrent is attacked by the Firepelt. A ball of fire laced out barely missing Agrent at the same time. Parlay turned over helping on the rope to Sampson and rushed towards the sound of Agrent’s fight. Cameo was successfully pulled up by Sampson. Sampson then tried to pull up Bron, but failed badly! Strabo caught up to Agrent and channeled Negative Energy into the cat. In the process he also hit Cameo with it! A party of Goblins has made it out onto the bridge to attack. Agrent is hit a second time by the Firepelt. Seeing this Parlay dove in to intercede himself between the cat and Agrent. Back at the rope Sampson was barely able to pull Bron up! Cameo hit the cat with a Magic Missile. Bron was able to reach the fight quickly as his less than tall stature did not hinder is movements in the thistles. His first attack missed.
Back at the cliff we tied up the packs and armor into a net with Erlig, which Sampson quickly fails to haul up! Back at the fight Cameo hit the cat with a second Magic Missile. It seems that he is getting the hang of it with improved damage on the second one! The Goblin Druid sent a ball of fire from his concealed position, which hit Parlay. The Druid ran off with the thistles parting magically for him. An enraged Parlay dropped the Firepelt. Cameo blasted a Ray of Frost into the thistles after the Druid. Bron ran up to the spot and started smashing the thistles in an effort to follow the Druid. Strabo cast Negative Energy into the brush and was satisfied to hear the Druid “eck” in pain.
Meanwhile, back at the rope Sampson finally hauls up the net with the gear without Erlig. Rain ties the rope securely around Falathar, even if wasn’t so sure of her knot. Sampson fails in his try to haul him up. The Druid popped out around a corner brandishing a Flaming Scimitar, which missed in his attack on Parlay. Falathar decided that he could not depend on help and managed to safely climb up the cliff a third of the way. Bron missed in his attempt to hit the Druid, but Strabo was able to use his whip to disarm. Parlay then slammed the Druid into the ground. Bron hit him with a solid blow. The Druid looks pretty beat up. The party hears the Goblins shouting from the bridge. Falathar reached the top with Sampson’s help. Together they pulled Erlig up. Parlay dealt a blow to the Druid while wrestling with him. The Druid is unconscious! Erlig ran off to join the fight, while Sampson and Falathar hauled Rain up the cliff. Back at the fight Bron delivered the “coup de grace” killing the Druid. Parlay immediately set about scalping him!
Falathar upon joining up with the party cast two Cure Lights on Agrent. He is now up, but not fully healed. We bound the party’s wounds and collected the weapons, armor, and other items. This included a bone wand (adjuration) and an iron wand (evocation – flameblast). There were also two potions that detected in the transmutation school. The druid’s cloak, armor, and three arrows all have magic as detected by Erlig. He also had a sling and a pouch of stones. We collected ten sets of cruddy leather armor and dog slicers.
Journal 13:
Throwing caution to the side Parlay, Sampson and Strabo raced across the rope (goblin hair) and wood bridge. Much to their dismay the bridge was trapped and parted nearly dumping them down into the sea. By some miracle they managed to save themselves and grab hold of the dangling remnants of the bridge. This they climbed up only to be met with two Goblin dogs and ten archers set on open towers on either side of the entrance to the stockade. A close scrutiny of the structure shows it was loosely constructed from parts of ill-fated ships that had broken on the beach. It has the appearance of having been put together over many years.
The archers began peppering the party with arrows. The members of the party, each in their turn, returned fire with arrows of their own! All that is except Falathar who sang to encourage the party on! Agrent dove in and swam across the water to tie a rope to the ends of the bridge. He then swam back across. Meanwhile, the three who were trapped across with the Goblins continued to be peppered with arrows and attacked by the two dogs. Somehow, they managed to survive with Parlay and Sampson moving out of arrow range. Strabo was overcome with an urge and moved up close enough to hit the nearest tower with a Negative Energy Burst as gifted to him by his goddess. Sampson broke open the front gate only to be met by six Goblins who look a little worse for the wear! It seemed that Strabo’s energy burst had seriously injured the defenders! The Goblins guarding the gate were soon vanquished with the party’s archers taking out the remaining archers on the other tower. Only two of the Goblins managed to retreat down the stairs into the stockade. The party is ready to attack, once they figure out how to get the rest of the party across the broken bridge.
Journal 14:
The three across the gorge moved into the courtyard of the stockade. They found several doors on the inside walls of it. Parlay checked the right tower to make sure the goblins were dead, and to recover his dagger. In short order he found his dagger and determined that all five goblins had been killed. He then noticed two goblins riding dogs in an interior courtyard. Alas, the same goblins noticed Parlay and hit him with an arrow. Parlay being more than slightly annoyed, sent an arrow through one of the riding goblins. Not only did it kill him, but it pinned the dead body to the back of the howling dog.
Back at the main party Agrent tied off a rope and tossed its free end down to the water. He then took a second length of rope and dove into the sea. After swimming across he climbed up and tied this rope to the dangling end of the bridge. He then swam back to the shore side and tied the two ropes together. Agrent then swan back across and climbed up to the end of the bridge. He was then able to climb up to the top of the bridge and cliff using it, where he joined Parlay, Strabo and Sampson at the stockade.
Parlay sent an arrow into the second goblin dog rider with the same results. A second dead goblin is pinned to a second dog racing around that courtyard. He took a couple of shots at the dog and managed to hit it on the last try. Across the water the rest of the party drew up the severed bridge and reattached it to the shore side. At Falathar’s suggestion Rain, being the first person to cross was tied to a safety line. Once across she tied off the rope. Falathar began tying a rope around himself and the safety line. During that time Erlig, Cameo and Bron moved across the bridge in turn. Finally, Falathar moved across the bridge, but had to take more time to untie himself from the safety line. All the while dogs yelping could be heard in the distance.
Strabo now opened the door to the left tower backed up by Rain. He surprised the two goblins inside. Strabo took advantage of the surprise and upended one of the goblins into an open pickle barrel. Rain took the opportunity to launch an arrow into the second goblin. That goblin distracted by Strabo using the first goblin to churn the pickles missed in his attack on Rain. Rain repaid him with a solid arrow shot. All this while Strabo keeps churning the upended goblin in the pickle brine!
Agrent opened one of the doors leading out of the courtyard to find a stairway going down, but no sign or sound coming from inside. Sampson backed up by Bron tried to open another door, but found it barred from the inside. They heard a voice from within grunt “I hear you knocking, but you can’t come in!” Up above Parlay leaped from the tower onto the roof of the interior stockade building. At the second tower the goblin Rain was fighting tried to make a run for it. She promptly dropped him with an arrow, while Strabo continued diligently churning with his goblin until he was sure it was dead.
Agrent check the next door and found it opened into what smelled like a pigsty. He wasn’t far off in his assessment as it was a filthy room serving as a barracks. Up on top Parlay was trying to listen for goblins, but now finding any starts pealing back the roof. Sampson with Bron’s assistance tried to force open their door, but failed badly! Strabo and Rain both failed individually and together in attempts to open the door leading out of the tower. Meanwhile, Agrent opened the door under the tower that Parlay had climbed.
Finally, Sampson with Bron and Rain assisting manage to drive the door open at last. Inside they observed a Goblin wearing a crown and riding a giant gecko, a female goblin singing, two goblins riding dogs, and a whole host of goblin warriors. Erlig cast Color Spray past the front row into the goblins. He managed to stun the two goblins riding dogs along with one of the dogs. The goblin with the crown drank a potion. The goblins in the rear fired arrows, but only managed to hit Bron through the doorway. Erlig tried to hit the gecko riding goblin with a crossbow bolt, but missed. Sampson swung his sword at the goblin atop the dog trying to hit both. He did cleave and drop the goblin, but missed hitting the dog. Bron took a mighty swing at the stunned rider on the stunned dog and missed! Falathar tried to interrupt the casting of the female goblin bard by casting Prestidigitation to tweak her nose. It did not even faze her. Cameo tried to hit her with his crossbow, but met with no better success. Rain moved out to join the fight, while Strabo climbed onto the roof and moved towards Parlay’s position.
The Crowned Goblin riding the gecko urged it into a leaping attack with a short sword, which fortunately missed Sampson. He then had his mount leap back away from the fight. The female bard scored a hit on Erlig using a crossbow. Rain sent an arrow into the crowned rider. Palay had managed to open a small hole in the roof over the room full of goblins. He hit one goblin with an arrow. Erlig used his crossbow in an attempt to return the favor to the female bard. Alas, he missed again! Bron finally hit the stunned goblin riding the dog. Sampson dropped that goblin and hit the dog too! Falathar switched to his bow in attacking the bard, but his arrow missed. Cameo scored a hit with a bolt on one of the goblin warriors. Strabo scrambled into position on the roof directly above the room.
The goblin bard fired another bolt at Erlig, but did not manage to hit him this time. One of the goblins had seen Parlay shooting through the roof, and screamed out to his comrades in warning. One of them manages to wing Parlay with an arrow. About this time Agrent attacked from behind the goblins through a doorway. He had managed to flank the goblins using a passage coming from the tower. He delivered a decisive hit. Sampson stepped up and tried to cleave the nearest goblin, but missed badly in his excitement. Parlay second shot through the hole missed, now that the goblins were alert to him. Erlig tried in vain one more time to hit the bard with a bolt. Falathar met with no better success with an arrow shot at her. Bron managed to strike a deadly blow dropping the remaining dog. Cameo next attempt with his crossbow failed. Strabo up on the roof channeled Negative Energy down through the roof. His attack caught all but one goblin who was fighting with Sampson.
Journal 15:
Unfortunately, several Goblins managed to bull-rush past Agrent at the side door. They were then able to flank the right rear of the party outside the main door. Parlay tagged the Gecko from atop the roof. Cameo then dropped the Gecko with a crossbow bolt. Its rider took damage from the fall off the ceiling. The rider tried to get to Parlay, while Agrent bashed and dropped the Bard. One of the Goblins that flanked the party managed to hit Rain with a short-sword. A startled Rain then back stepped to shoot her attacker, but she missed. Back at the front of the party our Dwarf Bron took another hit and was left dazed! Agrent missed in an attempt to hit the King. Parlay dropped off the roof into the adjoining courtyard. Erlig scored another hit with his crossbow, and dropped another Goblin! Our Paladin, Sampson, reached out to pull Bron back from the fight. After which, he scored a tremendous hit right through the Goblin’s black heart. Falathar took up his rapier in an effort to defend the rear of the party, but could not manage to hit anything. Strabo cast negative energy through the roof down into the room again. Cameo still with adrenalin surging from dropping the Gecko, missed with an over-excited crossbow shot.
The King in bloodlust grunted to Agrent, “I rip your throat out with my teeth!” Then he managed a hit on Agrent dropping him! This allowed the Goblin King to escape out the side door and run towards the tower stairs. The Goblins at the rear of the party missed in their attacks on Falathar and Sampson. The Goblin began to cheer and start running and miss in an attack on Rain. Rain manages a skillful shoot with her longbow, which dropped the Goblin archer. Parlay rushes up and pushes Falathar aside and kills the Goblin outright, much to Falathar’s relief. Erlig hit another Goblin with a bolt. Seeing Agrent down in the room, Sampson called out to Strabo, “Stop, one of us is down in the room!” He then launched a successful attack on the nearest Goblin. Falathar tried a shot with his elven short bow, but missed badly. Strabo dropped down from the roof, while Cameo missed with another bolt.
The king ran up the tower steps. He took one look at the rooftop expecting to see Strabo, but the roof was clear. One of the Goblins dropped his bow to run away, but Parlay stopped him, “Whoa little fella!” Two of the Goblins tried to gang up on Sampson, but it is hard to hit an armored Paladin. Rain shot the remaining war dog and killed it! Agrent stabilized by some miracle, while lying unconscious on the ground. Parlay killed the “little fella” and moved up in the fight. Erlig scored still another hit with his crossbow! Bron quickly ate some Good Berries, and restored his condition enough to function. Falathar used all of his skill and missed again with his bow. Strabo ran into the room. Falathar got off another shot and somehow not only hit, but dropped the Goblin archer! Cameo took heart and scored a solid hit with a bolt dropping another Goblin.
The Goblin King seeing his men fall like leaves from trees in an autumn storm, did what all “good” goblin do in a situation like this. He jumped down over the wall from atop the tower and ran away! Parlay dropped the last Goblin standing. Bron tried to heal Agrent's wounds, but fumbled it in his demised capacity. Strabo strode over and successfully bound Agrent’s wounds. Falathar climbed up the tower, but could not see the fleeing king. He then took up station to keep watch below. Sampson went over to the door leading to the stairwell to the lover levels. After check to make sure no one was there, he closed and jammed the door shut. Sampson then ventured out into the back courtyard, where he found one remaining war dog. He dispatched it with two hits, and then rejoined the party.
We gathered up the weapons and equipment of our fallen enemies and searched the complex. The main fight had taken place in the “throne room.” The king’s throne was covered in pelts of dogs, horses, and Firepelts. It had dog and horse skulls on it. The wall had dozens of iron spikes protruding each with an impaled hand on it. We found a door hidden by pelts behind the throne. This led to the king’s bedroom. It held a rickety desk, chair and a bed with stained silk sheets on it. Falathar found a silver holy symbol hidden under the pillow. It has a 3-eyed jackal’s head (the symbol is for Lamashtu the goddess of monsters).
We found another door hidden behind the pelts on the walls of the bedroom. It opened to a small foul smelling room. This has a hole in the floor used as a toilet. A padlocked door stood on the opposite side. Parlay pounded on the lock with his war hammer. Eventually, the lock shattered. He opened the door to a small closet containing a sea chest. The chest was also locked and weighed about 200 lbs. This was brought back into the throne room.
A search of the room beyond the left tower held a large cage. Inside was severely wounded horse, which had been tortured by the Goblins for some time. Sampson released the horse, fed and watered it. The horse followed Sampson like a puppy after that! Rain tended to the horse’s wounds as best she could. It is looking much better. A further search located the armory. The last room searched was the mess hall. It held foul horse meat and other meat, including human!
The party decided to keep watch and heal up as an enrage mouse could have dropped several of the party without much effort. The first watch was set with Falathar and Erlig. It was uneventful at first, but late in the watch they heard scratching noises coming from behind the jammed door. They silently awoke Parlay just in time to see the door thrown open by a warrior backed up by a Bugbear. The warrior attacked with a heavy flail missed Parlay. Parlay leaped into the fight shouting the alarm, but missed with both klar and sword. Erlig and Falathar hastily fired arrow, but both missed in their excitement! The party except for Agrent awoke. Strabo cast “Bit of Luck” on himself. Bron quickly drank a cure light potion.
The Bugbear attacked Parlay shouting, “Where’s the elf?” He was wearing a necklace of ear both human and otherwise. In his zeal to locate the elf, he missed in his attack on Parlay. Parlay did not miss with his attack. Rain moved over and scored a critical hit with an arrow on the creature. The human warrior moved up past the Bugbear to attack. Bron charged and missed. Erlig missed with the crossbow, and Strabo missed with “Dazing Touch.” Cameo, Sampson, and Falathar also missed in their attempts to hit.
The Bugbear seeing the way things were going, bugged out running down the stairs. The warrior did not see this as he was engaged with Parlay. Parlay missed with his attacks, but Rain put an arrow into him! The warrior wounded Parlay and then called out, “You attack the one next to me…Bru?” Bron missed him, but Erlig caught him with an Acid Splash. Strabo managed a touch, but the warrior saved versus Dazing Touch. Cameo missed with a bolt, but Sampson hit him with a moderate strike. Falathar and Rain both managed hits with their respective bows. Parlay dealt a solid hit. The human warrior dropped his weapon, “I surrender, don’t kill me! They aren’t paying me enough to get killed!”
Falathar placed the point of his rapier under the warriors chin and began to question him about what was below. Although, Sampson was not happy with Falathar’s methods, the rest of the party took no exception. In fact, most were quite willing to assist if necessary to loosen the enemy’s tongue. We learned that the chambers below held the Succubus, the Bugbear, the Goblin Harem, goblin children with their matrons, demon dogs an Lyrie a female wizard. There is at least one other exit from the chambers leading down to the beach.
((The party members have now achieved 2nd level))
Journal 16
The party moved down the stairwell and found it opened into a hallway. A quick check found two rooms opposite of the party. The first room was the nursery and held all of the Goblin children. The next room was full of Goblin women. The hall had four other doors with each opening into a different direction. Each of the doors was check for any sounds coming from the other side without effect.
The party after much discussion and dissent decided into dividing into two groups. One would remain at the hallway as a rear guard, while the second checked the passage behind the eastern door. The door opened into a cavern, which had three linked sections. The misgivings that had been expressed over this plan were quickly realized as they entered the last and largest section only to be met by a Tentamort (land squid)! It immediately attacked that half of the party. The ferocity of the multi-tentacle monster had all present regretting their decision to cut their fighting strength in half. The fighters were quickly being overwhelmed by the many attacks of the Tentamort. Cameo evidently decided that he could do the most good by engaging as many of the tentacles as possible to free the fighters up. It did have that effect allowing the fighters to overcome the monster. This was small relief to Cameo who was rapidly being squeezed into jelly!
The rear guard of the party decided to follow the passage leading north from the hallway. They heard sounds coming from a passage leading east, which turned out to be the other half of the party. A quick discussion re-evaluated the previous decision to split the party and decided that we would move as one unit.
We moved past the hallway intersection and opened a door. This was a work room of some type. A search found tools suitable for excavating and a list of Thassilon relics found. There is a second door leading from the room, which we spiked for the time being. Erlig and Falathar spent extra time searching, but all they found was the ancient symbol for Greed. It looks like a clasping hand.
The party then returned to the intersection and check out the double doors on west passage. The doors were originally carved with the symbol for greed. The ancient carvings have been chiseled over with profane images of grotesque pregnant women. We passed back down the hallway to the hall at the stairwell. We took the west door and found it opened into the jail. One wall had six cells with skeletal remains locked within. It had two more doors leading from it. The first led to the jailer’s quarters. There we found six keys, each of which opened a single cell. Rain and others searched the cells, but did not find anything of value. The cells held primarily Goblin remains, but they did find some that look human.
We returned to the double doors and upon opening found a temple. At the far end on the raised dais, was a statue on a black stone. The statue was recently caved and installed. The carving is crude, but very disturbing. The statue is a pregnant woman with a Jackal’s head. There are scratches on the distend belly. It has bird like feet and a tail. Her left eye is glowing red and the right blue. It is holding two Kukri. Behind the statue is a stone font with frothy water. Columns line both sides of the temple leading to the dais. Braziers are emitting smoke and light into the room. There are carvings of countless monsters feeding on humans.
Falathar searched the room in an attempt to detect magic. The two Kukri are glowing with magic. Upon hearing this, Parlay tried to smash the hands of the statue holding the weapons. He was not having much success, when Falathar found out why. He determined that the magic was from the school of illusion. Bron then tried to hit the weapon with his war hammer, but it just past through the Kukri. Parlay then tried to touch the weapons. Falathar pulled out his flute to play a comical accompaniment to match their efforts. Meanwhile Rain and Agrent had moved into the room with arrows notched. We noticed that the altar had ashes on it. Sampson was incensed by the statue and was determined to topple it. He finally succeeded! He and Parlay dragged the statue to the opening above the sea. They sent the abomination crashing into the waves below.
We decided to return to the area by the workroom. The next room held a table and slate. It had a map of Sandpoint on it. Bron check the next room, which was small and covered with pictures in blood and paint. It has a side view of Thistletop. It looks like a the Goblins had an “art” gallery. Bron returned to the rest of the party in the map room. There they found a list of events. The next attack will happen after the “whispering beast” is tamed. Falathar had decided to search the “art” gallery and found a hidden door on the far wall. It opened on to a set of step leading down to a landing and continued down to the right from there.
We formed up to move down the steps. These turned right once more and opened to a stone door standing ajar. It was coved in chisel marks, which look like gems had once covered it. Upon opening the door we were greeted by the Bugbear firing a bow at us from the far end of the room. The room was sixty feet long and thirty wide with two columns running down the middle. There were two alcoves on each side holding statues. The statues are partially damaged, with some now leaning against the sides. Each statue is that of a man holding a Glaive.
Bron and Parlay moved into the room using the columns for cover. Agrent ran up behind them. Strabo touched Sampson with a “Bit of Luck” and Sampson then moved up behind Parlay. Erlig and Falathar moved up the first column, while the others had continued to the second. They were followed by Cameo and Rain just as the Bugbear “bugged” out.
The door behind which the Bugbear had disappeared, led into a narrow passage. It has an alcove on both side and one at the far end. There are two doors, with one on either side about thirty feet in. The passage rises about five feet as it moves east. Each alcove hold a statue with a glaive and the floor was smooth and clean. Bron leaped into the passage, but felt the floor start to move. He jumped back just in time as two portcullis dropped out of the ceiling forming a trap where he had been standing. At the same time the statues began slashing the space with their weapons for a couple of rounds. The floor then opened, which would have dropped anyone on down into a cell below. After which, the floor closed up and the portcullis rose to reset the trap! Agrent worked on the trap for some time, before finding the trigger and disabling the trap.
Bron, Parlay and Agrent moved on and listened at the doors. The door to the left had some small sounds emanating from within. It was kind of a muted bubbling sound. Agrent could not detect any traps on the stone door. Sampson then pushed the door opened. It was round room with a stone ledge of red marble. There they found teeth, bones, books, and jars. There were also three chairs and a bubbling stone cauldron in the room. The cauldron was full of a blue bubbling liquid. Strabo found journals and notes detailing the religion of Lamashtu. The room was magically lighted by two skulls. A detect magic on the cauldron found it produces pure, clean water.
Agrent check the other door on the right wall of the hallway opposite the round room. Again, he detected not traps on the door, nor heard any sound coming from within. Sampson opened this door and found a room about twenty feet deep and sixty feet wide. It narrowed at the left end which was plugged by a large boulder caved like a stack of giant coins. The far wall has double doors in the last twenty feet. Agrent checked the boulder and found no traps. Sampson then checked the boulder trying to see if it opened. Agrent followed the wall leading to the double doors checking for traps. He stopped at the doors listening and heard the sound of someone or something pacing behind the doors. He spiked the doors, while the rest of the party checked out the room. Falathar was able to determine that the boulder is really a door. As we got ready to open the double doors Strabo gave a Bit of Luck to Sampson once more. Bron had mage armor cast on him.
The front line fighters opened the doors only to see number of figures moving around ready for us. The Bugbear was in the back row next to a woman with a wand waiting for us. The front row had the Succubus and two Demon Dogs. The room is fifty feet deep and thirty feet wide. There are two alcoves on each side wall and one alcove in the rear wall. The dogs wailed a terrifying howl, which sent Rain running away in terror. The rest of the party managed to resist the spell of the howl. Bron attacked the Succubus, and scored a critical hit! Parlay scored a hit with the ranseur. Bron was bit by one of the Demon Dogs, while the second missed. Agrent launched an arrow at the mage scoring a solid hit. Erlig did not have the same success with his cross bow.
The Succubus taunted us “You fools, you sided with Sandpoint…!” She sent a wave of negative energy draining health from Parlay, Bron, Agrent, Erlig, Strabo and Sampson. The bugbear shot Strabo. Strabo moved back behind Parlay and attempted to disarm the Succubus. He did manage to pull the sword out of her hand. Sampson missed as Falathar started singing from behind the corner, which heartened all! Cameo cast magic missile at the Succubus. The mage shot a magic missile at Bron from her wand while the two dogs missed biting Bron and Sampson. Meanwhile, Rain continued her panicked flight.
Bron missed, but Parlay scored a solid hit on the Succubus. Agrent missed in his attack, while Erlig hit the mage with an acid splash. The Succubus cast again draining more energy from Bron, Parlay, Agrent, Strabo and Sampson. The bugbear shot Parlay with an arrow. Strabo dropped to his knee and Sampson scored a hit on the Succubus dropping her. Falathar heartened by his own song, managed to hit the mage with an arrow. She dropped her wand, “I’m just an archeologist… don’t kill me!”
The dogs missed with their next attack and Bron hit the second dog. Parlay missed, but Agrent shot the Bugbear. Erlig scored a critical hit with a bolt. Bru shot Erlig to payback the hit. Erlig dropped unconscious, however Strabo was able to stabilize him. Sampson scored cleaving the second dog and dropping it. Falathar buoyed by his success on the mage, managed to score a hit on the Bugbear. Cameo followed with a “Magic Missile” into it too! The remaining Demon Dog missed biting Bron, who replied with his own hit on the dog. Parlay followed with a vicious hit on the dog. Agrent missed shooting the Bugbear, who replied with a miss of his own on Agrent. Strabo switched to his cross bow, but missed hitting. Sampson moved up to attack Bru scoring a hit. Falathar cast cure light wounds on Bron, who looked dazed. Cameo used his staff to send a magic missile into the Bugbear.
The next round had the remaining Demon Dog fail in trying to bite Bron. Bron and Parlay each hit it. Bru dropped his bow and drew his flail hitting Sampson. Strabo bravely ran up and cast a cure light wounds on Sampson. Falathar surprised everyone by scoring another hit on Bru, who was most surprised of all as he dropped unconscious. Cameo missed with a bolt shot at the remaining dog. The dog then bit down on Bron, who repaid it with twice the damage. Agrent shot the dog, while Strabo hit it from the rear dropping it dead. Sampson began chopping up the bodies to make sure they could not regenerate. Falathar took the mage into custody.
Journal 17
We took stock of our condition and consolidated our position. Sampson performed lay on hands twice on Erlig who was conscious. Falathar cast a cure light wounds on Erlig and Agrent, while Strabo did the same on himself. Strabo then used his healing kit to bandage Parlay’s wounds. About this time Rain came to her senses deep in the thistles, she immediately returned hoping the party was still alive. One look at her unkempt state, Falathar cast a cantrip to mend and clean her clothing. He also cast the same on Erlig whose clothing had been rent and bloodied in the battle (not to mention his person). Parlay and Strabo went to check on our prisoner up at ground level.
Parlay and Strabo reached the prisoner. The prisoner was either asleep or unconscious when they reached him. Parlay was determined that this skilled swordsman would never be able to inflict damage again. He therefore stomped down on his thumb and finger crushing them! The prisoner woke up screaming and pain complaining about his treatment. Strabo “set” the prisoner’s fingers, but did so in a way that they would not heal correctly. Parlay and Strabo then escorted the bound prisoner down to the party. On their way back they found the Goblin women had escaped by diving off into the sea, and they had abandoned the five Goblin children still in their cages.
Falathar surveyed the chamber where the fight took place. It appeared to be a crypt. It contained a statue of a stern man holding a glaive and a book. This he recognized as Karzoug, the Runelord of Greed and the King of Shalast. The “grasping hand” symbol found caved throughout the site is his symbol. It also stood for the school of magic, that of Transmutation. The six pointed star symbol recovered is the ancient Thassilonian “Sihedron” and symbolizes all seven of the ancient schools of magic.
We questioned Lyrie, the mage we captured. She claimed to have tried to join the Pathfinders, but had been turned away. Falathar sensed that she truly resented the Pathfinders as she exclaimed, “you are just going to steal my work and publish as your own!” Falathar assured her that while he was interested in her discoveries, he would be sure that she received the credit. This seemed to placate her to some extent and the conversation became far more civil. She had been studying the nature of the giant head, which is the island known as Thistletop. She has determined that it is the head of Karzoug. Falathar wanted to know what happened to the Thassilonian artifacts from the list of objects she had found. Lyrie replied that they were sold to fund her continued search of the site. Lyrie sought the objects to learn the power of ancient Thassilon and didn’t believe that Falathar only wanted the knowledge and not the power. Falathar sensed that Lyrie is amoral and would do anything in her quest for power.
The questioning then turned to the subject of the Whispering Beast. Lyrie said that Nualia was obsessed with finding it. They believed it is locked beyond the sealed door that looks like a boulder carved with giant coins. Lyrie seems to be truly terrified at the thought of opening the doorway. The party’s general consensus was to leave sleeping beasts lie undisturbed. Parlay and Agrent want to dump the statue of Karzoug into the sea much to the horror of Lyrie and Falathar. They explain how it is a priceless relic, which scholars will want to study. This led to a lengthy discussion between the mage and the bard as to whether the power of the ancient Thassilonians had been the source of their downfall. Unnoticed by them the two Shoanti hauled out and dumped the statue into the sea.
The party then took up the question of Strabo’s prisoner. He is planning on taking the prisoner to Riddleport, which is the home of pirates. The prisoner in an attempt to find leniency claimed that “For the record, I did not kill anyone from Sandpoint.” Agrent is for letting him go without weapons in the forest. Parlay said that Strabo can “get round things for him in Riddleport.” Sampson questioned as to whether it is a proper official in Riddleport that Strabo is taking him? Or is it just a crime lord? As the prisoner tried to defend his actions, it came out that he had killed an Alchemist for giving him a potion that failed to turn a woman to love him. Cleg Zincher (the “official” that wants him) also sought the same woman’s affections. Lil, the lass in question, is either a follower in Calistra’s temple at Riddleport or a prisoner there. It depends on view – Strabo believes or wants us to believe the girl is there of her own free will and accord. The prisoner disputes this and several of the party seemed to believe him. He states that Strabo just wants to “get in good with the high priestess there!” That is one point that Strabo did not deny nor even give a solid response to.
Journal 18
((Much of this session was involved with identification of loot gathered and distributed to the party.))
We moved up to the second level to rest against the recommendation of Parlay and Falathar who pointed out that the bottom level was easiest to defend with only one door to guard. However, the possibility of sleeping in a bed on silk sheets was too enticing for Agrent. One wonders if he is being corrupted by “civilization’s” comforts. We set a watch and rested up. Much to the relief of Parlay and Falathar the night passed without incident.
After morning devotions the party continued with the healing process. Falathar cast a cure light wounds on Bron and Parlay. After which we identified the items recovered from the fight. We also took Lyrie’s spell book, which she has agreed to teach Erlig. In fact, so eager was she to teach and he to learn, they spent the night together in hard “instruction!” We also discovered to Rain and Falathar’s outrage, that four of the arrows taken from the Bugbear were elf bane!
The theme of the discussion then turned to the disposition of the Goblin children, who are feral at this time. There was a suggestion that they be taken to town to be trained as servants. Others would release them into the wild, while the Shoanti would like to play “Goblin Toss” with real Goblins.
Very nice read :)
Very nice read :)
Yay! Someone's actually reading my walls of text.
Thanks for the nice words.
((The next pair of adventures are interludes that occured during the 2010 holiday season. The first, in which just over half of the party particpated, began with a letter recieved by the Ulfen member of the party, Erlig; and leads to an adventure I modified from the PFS scenario "Frozen Fingers of Midnight," so spoiler warnings for that one. My faithful journal writer (Falathar's player) was absent for the "Frozen Fingers" interlude so all he caught were the introduction and whatever snippets the rest told him about upon his return.
The second adventure is a slightly modified version of Nick Logue's "Hangman's Noose" in which the party gets to meet Justice Ironbriar for the first time. The smaller half of the party who were absent for "Frozen Fingers" participated in this adventure as players, while the rest took over the roles of some of the vast array of NPCs in that adventure. Journal 19 begins the set as a denoument of Burnt Offerings and an introduction to the city of Magnimar.))
Journal 19
We returned to Sandpoint to turn over the prisoner Orlik and make our report. The party spent two weeks in training with Erlig continuing his intensive study regimen with Lyrie. Rain had a letter waiting for her from the noble Aldern Foxglove. He had to return early to Magnimar and could not wait for her to join the hunt. He conducted the hunt with his own men, but found them poorly suited as hunting companions. Foxglove hopes that he and Rain may meet in the future for a hunt!
We journeyed by sea to Magnimar to deliver the prisoner Tsuto and sell the items collected on our adventure. Sampson and Falathar pointed out to Agrent the massive monuments as we approached the port in Magnimar. It is a city with about 16,000 in population with trade between Cheliax, Riddleport, and Absalom being the primary economic engine. Agrent can’t understand how we could live in a city of this size and “this smell!”
We traveled to the marketplace to sell our items. Some of the party inquired about buying items. Strabo wanted to meet with the Princess of the Market, a Varisian. Her major domo, Jarst refused to allow the party to see her. Strabo being highly incensed put out the word, Jarst will now pay double at the brothels, so swore Strabo. We returned to the ship and conducted Tsuto to the town guard.
Erlig found a letter waiting for him from Captain Skeleg that brought him to Magnimar from his homeland. He wants Erlig to get some item to cure him. It seems the captain has been cursed. Erlig went to see the captain, but was turned away by a guard. The guards are Olfen warriors. They say Skeleg is ill “no visitors!” Erlig went down to the docks to Skeleg’s ship, but was turned away by more Ulfen guards. He then went to the nearest tavern, the Rosie Fingers catering to sailors and found some of the crew. Hans said the guards kicked them off the ship. He tells Erlig that Skeleg “got into something he shouldn’t have!” It was some sort of Pathfinder business. Someone has cursed the captain. The locals won’t help and the crew couldn’t get past the guards. The captain is being held at Greydog Manor. Erlig asked if any of the crew were up to freeing the captain. They’re not fighting men, but a couple may help. Erlig bought Hans some drinks and left a little gold for their tab.
Meanwhile, Sampson delivered the ashes of the priest to the Temple of Desna for proper burial. Falathar made his report to the Pathfinder Lodge.
((Spoilers!!))
The Hangman’s Noose
On the way back to the Pathfinder Lodge Falathar came across children playing. They sang “Wealday, Wealday, Hangman comes for you, Ole Broke-Neck Mord, gonna hang you too!” It recalled to Falathar that hangings in Magnimar are always held on Wealday (Wednesday). The song prompted him to recall the story surrounding Mord.
Jarbin Mord was the hangman for a court outside of Magnimar in a former Cheiaxian colony. He lived with his wife and son in the attic apartment above the courtroom. About ten-years ago his wife and son were brutally murdered in the apartment. A trial was held which found Mord guilty. He was hung the same day on the very scaffold he had hung so many. Shortly thereafter, the court building was closed. Over the years the city had tried to sell it, but each time the sale fell through! It seems that the building was now haunted. The nearby buildings were also abandoned over the years for similar reasons.
A trio of heroes entered the building about five-years ago to excise the spirits. The leader was a well known cleric, Father Kellnor handsome with his blond locks and crystal blue eyes. The warrior – captain was an imposing Dwarf called Grisdom Twin-Axe. The third was a noble Sashrala Vortrum, she being a wizard. They were held in high esteem by the local populace and were assured of being successful. They entered the Silver Shore Courthouse to much fanfare at the fall of dusk on the fifth anniversary of Jarbin Mord’s hanging. The crowd outside waited the next morning for the victorious return of the trio. Alas, the next morning only Grisdom emerged. His eyes had been gouged out and he was carrying a macabre lantern. It held the severed head of the female wizard with a lit candle stuck in her mouth! Grisdom babbled incoherently. The only intelligible phrases: “Hangman, neck for a neck!” “Hate never forgets!” “Show me the way out!”
Falathar shook off these dreary thoughts and returned to the lodge. They rest of the party had not returned. Never the less, he enjoyed a pleasant meal with an excellent vintage wine. As Falathar lay down to sleep he recalled the children’s song. The dream of a cloaked figure entering the small attic: A voluptuous woman with dark features sits in a rocking chair and knits a sweater for a small child. She looks up, alarm on her face, as the figure closes, its back display to Falathar as it advances toward her. Slowly the alarm changes to horror as the figure looms over her.
Sleep falling from their eyes Strabo, Bron, and Falathar find themselves in a dilapidated courtroom with several people they did not recognize. The light outside is that of the falling dusk. The room is covered with dust and looks as if it has been abandoned for years. Each of the three had awakened from a dream. Everyone is sitting the jury box. The three are sitting with a Dwarf called Hammer Grind, a Halfling mage named Blossom, an ancient Gnome called Jester, a ½ orc, a “lady” dressed in a red dress with a opal necklace named Patricia Riggs, a Paladin Sir Record Cole, a hobgoblin thug Malgrim Hurkes, and a drunk man with a monocle Killiam Palthreth who has seen better times.
Everyone was surprised to find themselves in the abandoned courthouse. As we talk it becomes clear that everyone except Strabo, Bron and Falathar sat on the jury that found Jarbin Mord guilty 10-years ago. Falathar shared his memory of the story with Strabo and Bron. He recounted his dream, nightmare or vision to those present. Falathar’s description of the woman in his dream matched that of the Mord’s murdered wife. Strabo and Bron had also experienced dreams prior to finding themselves here.
The courtroom has its high bench covered in muslin next to the witness box. The chair in the box is tipped on its side. There is a painting of the Goddess Iomedae fighting Norgorber, Asmodeus and Calistria. There is another image of a face feasting on guilty souls. There is a table covered in muslin. It seems to have something underneath the covering. The half orc wants nothing to do with this and rushes to open the door. Immediately, an axe flies out from under the muslin on the table spinning towards the half orc and the door. He barely manages to duck aside, but is still sliced on the cheek as the axe lodges in the door.
We learned from the original jurors that Jarbin Mord was not allowed to testify at his own trial. His lawyer did not seem very competent. This did not seem to bother the jurors as Jarbin was definitely guilty! The prosecutor was Alistair Wade and the trial was presided over by Judge Silman Trabe. We also learned that the Paladin and the “lady” have since been joined in marriage.
The ancient clock in the courtroom struck 7:00 PM. The horrific sounds of a terrifying murder issued from the clock chilling all present. A Strabo the Halfling exited the courtroom. They crossed over to the entrance to the second courtroom and opened that door. A swarm of dead black crows flew down to attack them at the door. Strabo managed to Channel Negative Energy into the swarm, but only a few fell. He quickly stepped back as the Halfling Blossom slammed the door shut.
The dwarf managed to pull the axe out of the door and it no longer seemed possessed. He tried vainly to hit the door. Finally, the Hobgoblin used the axe to hit the door. It did no have much of an effect. He then pulled out a spiked chain and knocked a chunk out of the door, but there is an eerie fog outside. They stepped out through the door, only to immediately reappear coming back in another exterior door! We advanced the hands on the clock to the morning, but they snapped back instantly. It looks like whatever brought us hear is not ready to let us leave.
Falathar did a sweep using Detect Magic, but he only found the lady wearing a plus-one ring of protection. Accompanied by Bron he entered Judge Trabe’s chambers. There was a plain oak desk with a volume of Magnimar Law on it. The book rose up “punish the guilt.!” “Those we entrust with justice must be above reproach.” “Those who fail to serve justice blindly shall reap what we sow.” After this the book fell back to the desk no longer animated. We found a scroll containing light, mage armor, magic missile, and shield.
The entire group returned to the first courtroom. There we learned that the three missing jurors are dead. It was their seats that Strabo, Bron and Falathar found themselves sitting in. We discussed why the spirit of Mord might want us there and thought he might want to deliver his testimony, which had been excluded from the trial. Therefore, we went back to out seats in the jury box and called out for Jarbin Mord to take to the witness stand. Nothing happened in the courtroom, but Strabo heard the sounds of death beyond the door to the gallows.
Several of us ventured upstairs to the attic to view the scene of the crime. Something else the original jury never did. On our way to the stairs we passed the doors of the jury deliberation room, privies, and the iron-bound door to the gallows. We stopped at the other judge’s chambers and opened the door. There was a skeleton in the chair with an iron spike chain around its neck. The skeleton of a dog lay with cracked ribs on the floor. The gnome went in only to be attacked by the dog. Falathar reached in and jerked the gnome out of the room. Bron smashed the dog with a solid hit. The dog tried to attack Bron, but missed. Bron smote it again dropping it with a second hit. A search of the room found that the judge had penned a note just before his murder.
Most Honorable Lord Justice
Bale Argentine.
It is with great remorse that I script this. The chaos of our time has eaten many innocent souls, but this one was lost no to catastrophe, but to an evil deed of injustice. Lies have killed a man this morning and I for my part did nothing to stop it. My esteemed colleague Silman Trabe knowingly sent an innocent man to the gallows, as I stood by silently. I only hope that Jarbin Mord’s soul may find some rest if the truth comes out
The note seems to have been interrupted by his murder. There is a blood stain on the lower right corner. We also found a potion bottle containing a cure light and two flasks of transmutation. The judge’s skeleton had a dagger silver with emeralds on the hilt. Falathar did not detect any magic beyond the potion and flasks. Bron, Strabo and Falathar immediately noticed the weapon used to kill the judge is the same type of spiked chain used by the Hobgoblin.
We moved on to inspect the jury room on our guard, but were not attacked this time. Strabo demanded of the lady who had caught up with us “What are you not telling us?” He tried to charm her only to find she was trying to charm him. We showed her the judge’s note. Tears came to her eyes “the poor man if he was innocent?” Falathar studied her and perceived that this was a total act on her part. Bron stared at the painting of the judge hanging there. His vision or dream suddenly returned:
The judge condemned Jarbin Mord to hang by his neck. Silence fell over the courtroom. Several members of the jury including the Hobgoblin, half Orc, Gnome, and Lady openly smirk. It is evident that the Gnome wasn’t a drunk back then.
Back to the present – we grilled the four about their motives at the trial. The Gnome had been made a fool of at a party. It seems that Mord’s jokes were better than his. The Halfling Blossom hated Mord for carrying out her father’s hanging. The Hobgoblin laughed in Mord’s face as he died on the gallows. We tried to press the lady for her motives, but did not want to raise her husband’s ire.
As we climbed the stairs we were informed that the only eye witnesses was the cleaning lady who had found the bloody crime scene and Jarbin Mord’s friend Sveth the court clerk. Most of the jury stayed behind as we investigated. Blossom for one seemed terrified.
We found the attic apartment in shambles. The mattress on the bed was shredded and bloody. The bed frame was broken. There were bloodstained toys on the floor. A shadow in the curtains of the room attacked the party. She materialized when attacking only to turn back to a shadow after. It is Marlene Mord’s spirit. Strabo tried to talk with the shadow without success. Bron, however, called out imploring her “tell us what you want us to know!” A dark woman steps into the room. Her skull is split open. She dances in a swirl with her scarf and touches the Hobgoblin, who screamed as the life drains from him. The blood stained toys started advance on the party and we could hear a child chuckling. Strabo asked “Are you the child that was killed? Does your mother have something to say?” Strabo sees the vision of Marlene Mord stabbing her attacker on the cheek with her knitting needle. The Gnome sees an iron key hanging on the wall.
Bron called out “If you stop being aggressive, we will stop being aggressive.” The shadow dissipated and the toys dropped to the floor. We began searching the room. The Gnome pointed out the key, which we took. A pouch of containing gold and silver coins was found behind the headboard. A knitting needle with a blood stained tip was under the bed. We returned to the second floor to search. The clock downstairs struck 8:00 PM issued the harsh staccato whisper like a strangled man. Malgrim Hurkes the Hobgoblin was then attacked by his spiked chain, which wrapped around his neck strangling him. We could not get it off his neck before he died.
Once everyone was back on the ground floor, we began asking if anyone involved had a scar on their check. The prosecutor was recalled having a scar on his check. It turns out that he was the one who assembled the jury and rushed the trial. We asked where Alistair was these days. It was then that Killiam Palthreth removed his fake walrus mustache and monocle and revealed himself to be Sveth the court clerk. Sveth recounted that Alistair had threatened to kill him. He believed the judge and prosecutor used the Hobgoblin to tamper with the jury. It was then that the half Orc said it was true, and he showed us his foot missing toes. The Hobgoblin had done it. Sveth revealed that Bob Malice the defense attorney had been dead for eight-years. He claims that the prosecutor lusted after Mord’s wife and wanted her for himself. He then showed us Mord’s letter:
I have served as an angel of justice my entire life. I shall have mine. Even if it be I death, justice shall be mine. Sveth, my only friend, you will find this when you clan the cell. You are my avenging angel now. Bring those liars and fools back to me after I swing, so that I might have my justice. Ten years to the day, then they will pay, my soul shall stay until ten years to the day. When the true murderer of my beloved Marlene and boy Gabe swings from my gallows as I did, on the tenth anniversary of my hanging, then at long last I shall be free.
J.M
We grilled Sveth for some time. Asking how he managed to get us here? How did Strabo, Bron and I come to be there? To which Sveth would only say that he has some abilities and that Mord must want us here to find justice. Sveth also said the judge and prosecutor would be here soon. He had sent a note to each from the other. The notes threatened each other with what they know. They were to meet at the old courthouse or they would reveal the other to the world. Sveth is sure they will come. Several of us decided to use the time until then to search upstairs.
We opened the offices used by the attorneys on the second floor. Falathar moved to search the desk when a giant leech rose up to attack him. Falathar moved to defend himself, muttering “I thought they said there were no attorneys up here!”
((Spoilers!))
Hangman’s Noose 2
We opened the offices used by the attorneys on the second floor. Falathar moved to search the desk when a giant leech rose up to attack him. Falathar moved to defend himself muttering “I thought they said there were no attorneys up here!” He managed to avoid the leech’s lunging attack, but his own sword thrust just bounced off the rubbery skin of the leech. Bron stepped up to attack, but his blow also bounced off. The cycle repeated with the same results. Then the leech managed to hit Falathar. This incensed Falathar, who then managed to drive his rapier through the leech’s skin. Bron swung his hammer, but missed completely this time. Falathar seeing that help was needed began to sing to encourage Bron. This encouraged Bron allowing him to strike the leech and kill it outright.
Falathar cast a cure light wounds on himself to restore the damage received from the leech. He continued the search of the desk drawers, but more carefully this time. Using his rapier, Falathar opened each in turn. He and Bron found two red scarves of Varisian silk, numerous debtors’ vouchers, and a receipt for 12 fire opals. The opals were purchased two-months prior to the murder of Marlene and her little boy. Bron and Falathar called for Sveth to come upstairs. He informed them that this was the desk used by the prosecutor.
We moved on to the side room and found two wardrobes and a trio of couches. One of the wardrobe’s doors stood open. The doors to the second wardrobe flew open and the corpse dressed in the faded blue uniform of the bailiff stepped out. It moved somewhat jerkily as if it was a giant marionette. It had an axe protruding from its chest. As the bailiff attacked we could hear a child’s laughter coming from above. It managed to hit Falathar with its first attack. Bron and Sveth missed in their attempts, but the ½ orc Halgrak threw his hammer (carpenter’s) scoring a hit. Not even waiting to see the effect, Halgrak dove out of the room in terror.
The fight continued with the corpse hitting Falathar a second time. Sveth missed again, but Bron scored a solid hit. This dropped the Bailiff’s corpse. Once again, Falathar cast cure light wounds on himself. “This is getting old!” The searched the room. A nice throwing axe was found in a chest. The weapons rack held two nice crossbows and a case of bolts. It also held four each of sheath daggers, chain mail, and shields. We also found a potion, which Falathar identified as healing. Last but not least, there were five sets of manacles.
We then were interrupted by the corpse reforming and moving to attack again. Bron dispatched it with a mighty blow. It exploded into dust! He then called out to the little boy’s spirit, “We are not here to hurt you, don’t hurt us!” Move laughter issued from above. Bron “Don’t make me tell your mother!” Then silence ensued from above. Bron, Sveth and Falathar continued to search the second floor. We found a jar containing severed toes. Upon exiting the side room Falathar found the half orc watching nervously. He tossed Halgrak his hammer “you might need this yet!”
Meanwhile downstairs the Paladin was lecturing Patrisse in the hall for not telling the truth. “I’m done with you!” Then Sir Rekkart stomped off towards the lit chandelier in the court room. He was followed by the Gnome. A ghastly noise issued from Mord’s gallows room. His shadow passed through the door, which cause the gnome to flee crying in terror. “Mord’s here, Mord’s here!”
Mord’s spirit reached out to touch Patrisse, which caused her to scream and writhe in agony. Her skin began to age rapidly. Her beauty faded as the skin wrinkled. Finally, she collapses her charisma drained by Mord.
Upstairs we asked Sveth if we should go down or wait? He replied, “They’re all dead.” Falathar asked, “Can he understand us?” Sveth cautioned “don’t get in his way! That one screaming deserves it. They will all get what is coming to them!” Bron “some were just there” Sveth’s response “He wants his vengeance.”
Bron was not at pleased with Sveth or his attitude. “If Mord tries to kill me, I – will – kill – you! You were the clerk of the court and you allowed him to be falsely convicted. You are the one that brought us together.” With that we moved down the stairs to the first level.
We were greeted with the sight of an 80-year old looking Patrisse moaning about her lost beauty. The paladin and the gnome were over in a corner talking animatedly. Tablark swung his axe at Mord, who then reached out to touch the dwarf. It drained a bit of charisma instantly, but it was hard to tell it on the dwarf. He does seem dazed and confused. Patrisse crying about life not worth living took out a dagger and plunged it into her own chest. Whether it was a perfect shrike or the fact she had so little life or will left in her, Patrisse died instantly.
Ebin, the gnome, excitedly in his high pitched wail to the paladin, “It’s Mord. He killed your wife – she is about e-i-g-h-t-y y-e-a-r-s o-l-d!” Sir Rekkart replied in anguish, “I let her die! I let him die! I’m not worthy to be a Paladin!” Ebin squeaked in terror as Mord moved slowly towards them, “You have to fight him!” Sir Rekkart in resignation, “You’re right. I will go out!" He rushed out the door into the hall and attacked the spirit of Mord. He poured all his skill into the swing and scored the maximum hit his skill allowed. All to no avail as Mord reached out to touch him. Thus draining much of his charisma, which is so essential to a paladin. Then Mord faded from sight again.
Bron leading our group moved out towards center of the hall. “Spirit of Jarbin Mord I call you.” Turning on the spot he continued, “We are here with you friend Sveth, the Clerk of the Court. Some of us had nothing to do with your death.” Mord reappears and slows to a stop. “We know that an injustice was done to you! We know that some of these people here were evil to you. Some were just stupid! We believe we know who is responsible for your death as you do! They denied you a fair trial and executed you!”
Mord in a croaking voice, “Who? Alistair Wade or Judge Trabe? He killed her and my boy! He needs to hang! If they show you can listen in on my justice.” Mord turned slowly to face the dwarf Tablark, “You are stupid.” To Sir Rekkart Cole, “You are a fool, but not worthy of death. Bring the Halfling to me!” Strabo stepped up to defend Blossom. Mord pointed to her, “You are guilty as charged.” Blossom blurted out in a hysterical sob, “You killed my father. You got what you deserved!” Mord’s spirit sadly replied, “It was for a murder he committed on a second storey robbery.” The shadow then turned to Bron and Falathar, “Mitigate all you want. I give you two hours. The guilty must hang!”
The paladin had recovered his senses and asked for the key to the gallows. He then drew himself up fully and walked over to the iron-bound door. He inserted the key and opened the door fully prepared to face what might be there. He was determined to die as a paladin should have lived. He strode in followed by Ebin, who almost looked like a shadow. The cold of the gloomy lit room cut through to the bone. The gallows rose before them with the air still about it. A single creak of the stair, then another as Mord ascended. Mord with his head in a black bag at an odd angle reached for the noose. It then turned to face Sir Rekkart Cole. The gnome propped the door open. Sir Rekkart’s eyes glazed over white, and he started to move towards Mord. Ebin pleaded, “Wait, you didn’t do anything wrong!”
Sir Rekkart anguished reply, “I was the worst of it. I let an innocent man die. Patrisse lied to me and I did not detect it. I unknowingly voted unaware of her lies!” To the dwarf who had caught up, “You thought then this man is condemned for all eternity."
Falathar enjoined, “Alistair bribed her to lie and influence you!” To Mord he implored, “He meant you no ill will!”
Sveth volunteered that his defense attorney had died in a mugging some years before.
We were interrupted by a shuffling sound coming from outside of the gallows room. A quick check showed six zombies shuffling up the stairwell towards us. Each of the zombies had a noose about their necks. Ebin squeaked “get them!”
One of the zombies called out “Blossom” in a voice that reminded her of her dad!
The fight began in earnest with Bron pulling the gnome back out of harms way. The paladin rushed out and killed one with one blow. Tablark hit one with the axe. The zombies managed several touch attacks. Bron hit one with a solid strike. Falathar had pulled out his bow muttering “so much for two hours”, but missed with his first arrow. The paladin missed hitting this time due to his diminished skills. Bron managed another hit along with Tablark and the Paladin (who dropped his). Falathar managed an arrow into one of the creatures, but they reached out and missed. Bron hit his again, dropping it. Falathar put an arrow into the Halfling zombie. Sir Rekkart dropped another zombie until only the Halfling was left. We followed it moving towards Blossom. It called out her name, to which, she asked “Dad?”
Bron commanded, “Jack Blossom stop!” The zombie dad kept moving towards Blossom. It reached out to grab Blossom about the throat and began choking the life out of her. Seeing that reason wasn’t going to work, Bron gave a mighty swing of his war hammer. He knocked the zombies head cleanly off its shoulders. Strabo reached down to raise the fallen Blossom. “It’s time you made your peace with Jarbin Mord!” The clock struck 10 o’clock. Blossom said to Mord, “The murderer must die!”
It was then we head the sounds of two men arguing just outside the courthouse doors. “You agreed never to say anything. Where does this note come from?” The half orc Halgrak walked over to the doors and opened them. There he found an old man with a paunch belly and a younger man with a beard. The two pulled out weapons and began fighting each other. Halgrak just stood by and watched bemusedly. The younger man launched an attack wounding the old man, who backed into the courthouse. The younger man followed. Halgrak demanded, “Are you done? Why are you here?” Neither of the two men answered as they took in the scene before them.
The younger man exclaimed, “What is this, some kind of joke?” The older man “No, I don’t want to be…!”
Halgrak and Strabo want a pound of flesh looking at the two men. Halgrak attacked Alistair with his hammer scoring a critical hit. Bron steps up to block the old man from fleeing towards the door. Blossom attacked Alistair too and dropped him to the ground. Mord appeared, “Why did you judge me guilty?” Strabo cast command on Trabe. Judge Trabe confessed that he received two bars of platinum from Alistair to judge Jarbin Mord guilty.
Bron ordered “Justice” Trabe to proceed to the gallows. There Trabe mounted the stairs with Halgrak and Falathar’s help. After stumbling up the stairs Trabe put his own head in the noose. It pulled tight by itself! The stool shot out from under his feet and he swung to his death. Bron “May God have mercy on your soul.”
Falathar then bound the wounds on Alistair and cast cure light wounds to bring him around, much to Strabo’s consternation. “Why are you healing him instead of killing him outright. Vengeance is due!” Falathar reminded him that we are here because of a miscarriage of justice and he would not repeat it.
Alistair was to be questioned, judged and a just sentence executed. Regaining his senses Alistair denied any misdeeds. Falathar asked about a scar on his cheek and how he came about it? Alistair said it was nothing. Then Falathar pulled out the blood-stained knitting needle, “Do you remember this and how it gave you that scar?” Alistair started to squirm looking about for a way to escape. Bron called out, “Jarbin Mord, do you duty!” At that, a rope wrapped around Alistair’s neck. It jerked sharply breaking his neck delivering final justice!
Silence fell over the courthouse. Peace had at last returned to the courthouse and the spirits of Jarbin Mord and family had gone with justice served.
The remaining Jury Members, Sveth, Strabo, Bron and Falathar stepped out of the courthouse into a dark, but calm night. We walked about two-hours to reach our inn.
Franckly I still have not read your story but as I do with almost all that seems to me valueble of notice in the campaign journal session I copy it on word and usually when I find time (generally during summer period) I print it and finally start my reading.
Lately we have so many good works (expecially from Paizo) that's it's difficult to be in the "valuable to be read things" but your work dark sasha seems, from the few parts I have seen more then that... So thanks and please continue with that...
Franckly I still have not read your story but as I do with almost all that seems to me valueble of notice in the campaign journal session I copy it on word and usually when I find time (generally during summer period) I print it and finally start my reading.
Lately we have so many good works (expecially from Paizo) that's it's difficult to be in the "valuable to be read things" but your work dark sasha seems, from the few parts I have seen more then that... So thanks and please continue with that...
Oh, awesome. I hope you enjoy it. Here is another one for you.
((Spoilers!!))
Frozen Fingers of Midnight
Wherein two shoanti, a paladin of Iomedae, a half elven ranger, a Varisian sorcerer and an Ulfen exile help save the life of an Ulfen pirate and Pathfinder. The paladin is beaten into a “lawful coma” according to the shoanti Parlay while the rest survive intact.
Erlig an exile, not for what he did but for what he can do, is the leader of the group.
It is in Sandpoint where the message reaches Erlig.
By ship a note arrives written in Skald (Ulfen language).
"I have been suffering from a cold that none can cure since the day I brought you to Magnimar from the north. As each day passes it grows worse until now I cannot even rise from my bed. It is clear now from the priests who have tried to cure me that I have been cursed and that it cannot be broken by their spells. I am soon to die and I wish that you take the artifact that I was intending to bring to the Pathfinder Grand Lodge in Absalom in my stead. Come to my townhouse in Magnimar and retrieve it. If I am able to speak to you I shall attempt to answer any questions you have. I have asked that a note be passed to the Pathfinder lodge in Absalom as well."
The note is signed in a shaky hand "Skeleg the Ripper"
Erlig does not need to be told that there is no greater dishonor for a warrior to die in a sick bed instead of in battle.
Unfortunately it takes Erlig a few days to respond to the request for aid. When he finally does he comes into conflict with unknown Ulfen guards who have taken over Skeleg’s townhouse and are attempting to turn all visitors away. Erlig sends his friend the paladin to negotiate with the men while he and his other companions sneak into the house through a second story window. Once inside they discover Skeleg still alive but on his death bed with a body servant to attend him. They clear out the unwanted guards in short order and ask Skeleg what has happened.
Skeleg tells his tale of an ill-omened Ulfen funeral of a war leader named Haldyr. It is an ancient tradition amongst the Ulfen people for a war leader’s chief wife to accompany him into death. However, this wife was not Ulfen, but Irrisen and a sorceress. She had no wish to die and was able to convince Skeleg to help her in exchange for the Lantern of the North, a minor artifact in the horde of Haldyr ready to be sent down into the deep along with all else of his possessions, including his wife.
The group learns that Skeleg is cursed and that they will need to procure the lantern that the son of Haldyr took from Skeleg’s home and shine its light upon a certain tapestry which now bears the image of the Ulfen’s funeral ship frozen solid in an iceberg. They also learn that one of Skeleg’s men tried to enter the ship through a portal that appeared when the lantern’s light shone upon the tapestry. And that Skeleg allowed Haldyr‘s wife, the witch, to take her husband’s ship and leave for wherever she wished with his wealth and crew.
Upon hearing that they would be facing an Irrisen witch, the shoanti Parlay sets about canvassing the Magnimaran sewing supply shops to locate knitting needles made of silver. According to him, “the only way to kill a white witch of the north is to shove silver needles in her eyes.” Rain, the half elf, protests this “logic” saying, “shoving knitting needles of any kind into someone’s eyes can kill someone.” But the Shoanti will not hear of any dissent and purchases several for himself and his fellow shoanti, Agrent.
Thus well supplied, the party sets out to rescue the Lantern of the North from Haldyr’s son, Bengeir. Who is holding forth at a warehouse on the docks near a tavern the Rosy Fingers, frequented by Ulfen sailors who stop in Magnimar to resupply or look for other ship crews to join. First they send in Agrent, who is a fine swimmer to scout the scene, which he does admirably. Being wise in the ways of his people, Erlig knows these men will not simply hand over the Lantern. So he seeks to gather some fellows who hadn’t shipped out yet after being abandoned in Magnimar’s dock district by Skeleg. These fellows he finds. With words and ales he persuades them to stage a riot to distract Bengeir’s guards while the party sneaks to the top of the warehouse looking for ways inside.
All but the paladin Samson are able to reach the top of the building before Bengeir’s men exit the building. In panic at being seen before they have gotten themselves into position, those atop the structure fire at Bengeir, who they can see through the skylights on the roof. This leaves Samson alone on the ground floor outside the warehouse when Bengeir’s men exit and see him there. The surround him, and even as Bengeir himself is taken down, Bengeir’s men hew down the paladin. Once the paladin is down the men make for the ropes the party left behind to climb back down. But they are all shot down to a man before they can reach the top of the structure. One Shoanti puts it down to “height superiority” saying that often ensures success. The other shoanti looks down in pity at the paladin, who due to his phenomenal stamina has stopped bleeding to death on his own, and says, “Fair fights are for fools. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics are poor.”
Back at Skeleg’s townhouse the group positions the retrieved Lantern and opens the portal to the ship. They enter and discover the ship is locked within a frozen iceberg. They find Haldyr’s crew, now turned into zombies and Haldyr himself turned into something worse. After dealing with the undead they move to the other side of the ship that had been blocked off by the ice.
As they enter the witch’s living space she seeks to disarm them with words. This proves to be not the best course of action for she is interrupted in midsentence by a screaming shoanti warrior with a silver knitting needle in each hand. He is on her and trying to stab her eyes out with them before she can react. She beats him off and steps back to cast color spray dropping the mad shoanti into unconsciousness. Unfortunately this gives the rest of the party time to position themselves wide enough apart that she cannot target more than two. She is only able to drop the Varisian with a spell before the rest can bring her to an unconscious state. The shoanti with the needles picks himself back up and promptly shoves his needles into her eyes, thus snuffing out her life.
In triumph the group decides they had better leave the Lantern aboard the ship as it might end the curse and it might also prevent a curse upon them. With the Lantern returned to the ship and the group retreating back to Magnimar, they call the day a success and head back to their Inn wondering where the other members of their group have gotten themselves.
(In which a great many things are resolved, reported on, purchased, and lost as well as a few important personages met by the party. (Spoilers for Hangman's Noose and Burnt Offerings are sprinkled within.) Many kudos and thank yous to Benjamin Bruck for his creation of the Chymick in last year's RPG Superstar competition! I made up my own statistics for them as well as their purpose as hunters of the ubiquitous glass spiders in the tunnels of the Irespan. I also made up statistics for the spiders as sort of modified glass golems. You can lead a horse (or adventurer) to water but...)(By the end of this session, approximately half of the party has attained 3rd level.)
Journal 20
Upon our return to the Inn, we recounted the night’s adventure to our companions. It being too late to return to bed, we decided to break our fast a little early. The cook was none too happy to interrupt her morning baking to fix our breakfast! We gave her a few silver coins to recompense her for the disruption. Her attitude improved at once and we enjoyed a hearty meal. It was then that we learned of the Mayor’s new 20% tax on the sale of all magic items. He claims it is to hire more town guards owing to the clamor about the increasing murder rate these last few years. The party decided not to sell our magic items at this time. Several of the party took various magic items for their own share of the treasure.
Strabo accompanied by Falathar left to sell off some of the party’s potions. Once they reached the Alchemist’s Shop, Strabo strode up to bargain with the owner. Falathar stood back and seemed to idly play his flute. The owner inquired how much Strabo wanted for the potions. To Strabo’s answer of 400 in gold, the owner only laughed and offered 100 gold. It was then that Falathar began playing a tune that seemed to fascinate the Alchemist. “Did I say 100, I really meant 300 Gold,” the bemused ((befuddled I think he means here)) man exclaimed. Strabo readily accepted the offer. Once out of the shop Strabo turned to Falathar with a knowing look. “Did you just influence the shop owner with your song?” Falathar just replied, “sometimes a little ‘soothing’ music make things go your way.”
Meanwhile, Bron decided to see if he could find someone to enchant his war axe. He found that there were two in town capable, one human and one a gnome. Bron preferred dealing with a human and sought him out. The wizard was overloaded with jobs already and suggested that Bron seek out the gnome. Much to his chagrin, Bron asked for directions and sought out the gnome.
Bron entered the gnome wizard’s shop and found a flighty little gnome. The gnome seemed preoccupied, but his interest perked up when Bron asked about getting his war axe enchanted. The gnome said it would take about two weeks and cost 1500 gold. “Of course I would be willing to drop the price 500 gold if you were to do a little job for me,” the gnome slyly suggested. It seems that the wizard has a contract to produce a large number of golems for a new queen in the south. The wizard is short on one of the items needed to enchant the golems. The essence needed in contained in the bodies of Chymicks. These are little constructs that lived beneath the foundations of the ancient bridge. “I only need a dozen.” The wizard tried in vain to convince Bron. “They are only about this big,” gestures the gnome, using his hands to indicate a small creature. “You just put them in a bag. Oh, you don’t have any glass items on you? They tend to chew through glass like it is water!” Bron did not believe the gnome’s claims that it would be easy. Bron agreed to pay full price and left his war axe with the wizard.
Bron returned to the Inn to find a summons from the Judge to attend Tsuto’s trial. The party immediately followed the bailiff to the courthouse. We were ushered into a courtroom. Judge Ironbriar entered the court. He is a very tall distinguished elf with jet-black hair. That the town wisely chose to invest justice to an elf greatly impressed Falathar! “Maybe these humans have some merit after all!”
The bailiff called Under-Sheriff Bron of Sandpoint to the stand. Bron swore before Abadar and the Court of Magnimar to give true witness. The judge placed a pyramid shaped crystal on his bench. Judge Ironbriar tapped it once and it began to glow casting a soft luminescence about the bench and witness stand. “In the zone of truth, state what you saw,” he commanded.
Bron began, “It has been awhile… Our village was attacked by a band of goblins. During the course of events we entered the glassworks owned by the accused’s family. We saw the deceased face down in a pool of molten glass. The defendant was present and on our entry began firing arrows at us. Then he fled – he was very acrobatic and hard to catch!”
The attorney for the defense inquired, “It says here in your report that goblins were present. Are you certain that my client attacked you?” Bron replied that he was certain it was him. “We also found documents written by him detailing the attack on the town.” Bron went on to explain how we later captured Tsuto and his allies below the town. There being no more questions for Bron, he was excused from the stand.
Next, a Monk from the monastery that Tsuto had been sent as a child for his education. He described Tsuto’s time at Windsong Abbey and what a wonderful student Tsuto had been. “Surely, there must be some mistake about Tsuto’s involvement in his father’s death?” The prosecutor asked if Tsuto had ever talked about his father. The monk noted that they had asked Tsuto about his family, but that he never would talk about them. “It is not that unusual.”
Next it was Falathar’s turn to be called into the zone of truth and the witness stand. The defense attorney asked him if Tsuto was the one to attack. He replied “Yes.” The attorney then asked, “How can you be sure Tsuto attacked in the midst of all the goblins attacking you?” Falathar calmly rejoined, “I saw him attack us several time during fight. As to Tsuto’s involvement in the goblin raid on the town, we recovered notes written in his own hand detailing the previous attack upon the town.” Falathar then read from Tsuto’s own notes that had been entered into evidence. The defense demanded evidence that Tsuto willingly participated in the goblin raid. Falathar then read out loud Tsuto’s note about his love for Nualia. “My love seems bent on going through with it – nothing I say convinces her of her beauty. She remains obsessed with removing what she call her ‘celestial Taint’ and replacing it with her mother’s grace. Burning her father’s remains at Thistletop Shrine seems to have started the transformation, but I can’t say her new hand is pleasing to me. Hopefully when she offers Sandpoint to Lamashtu’s Fire’s her new body won’t be as hideous. Maybe I’ll luck out. Succubi are demons too, aren’t they?” The defense attorney sat down with a defeated look on his face, “No further questions.”
The prosecutor rested his case and the defense attorney called his next witness. I call Ameiko Kaijitsu to the stand. Once she had taken the oath and sat down in the zone of truth, “Tell us what you know.” Ameiko, sobbing, recounted how her brother was treated by their father. Everyone knew he was not a full blooded Kaijitsu. He was openly ridiculed by other children. His father never held or treated him fully as a son. “Father was harsh in his treatment of Tsuto! He had a chance to better himself. Father paid for him to go to school. Still, he chose to come back to Sandpoint and murder my father!” The defense attorney then inquired, “Don’t you love your brother?” “Of course,” Ameiko replied, “but he still tried and succeeded in killing my father! Maybe he didn’t understand what he was doing…I don’t know!”
There being no further questions she was released from the witness stand. Neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorneys had more witnesses. Judge Ironbriar then addressed Tsuto directly, “Do you wish to come to the stand to defend yourself?” Tsuto defiantly retorted, “I don’t think I need to!” Then Judge Ironbriar announced his verdict. “Taking into consideration of the testimony and evidence presented, I find you guilty of the murder of your Father and your involvement on the attack on Sandpoint. It is the decision of this court, that you shall suffer life imprisonment in the Hells.” (the city’s prison)
Once Tsuto was removed from court, Bron addressed the Judge. Your Honor, we have a report on another court.” Bron then handed the clerk the written report Falathar had prepared about the Hangman. Judge Ironbriar asked, “What court?” “The Silver Shore Courthouse,” replied Bron. “You will find the court is now cleansed!” The judge stated that must have been some feat, “How did you do it?” Bron related how the Hangman, Jarbin Mord had left instructions for the court clerk to bring the jury back in ten years. He related how he along with Falathar and Strabo had been kidnapped to fill in for dead jurors. Bron presented the evidence we had gather including the note from other justice at Silver Shore, who was murdered as he wrote it. It seems that the prosecutor Alistair had been infatuated with Mord’s wife Marlene. He killed her along with her young son when she rejected him. It was Alistair who assembled the jury that same day. It was Alistair who used the Hobgoblin to intimidate the jurors that did not already have a grievance with Mord. It was Alistair who bribed Judge Trabe with two bars of platinum. It was Alistair who gave 12 fire opals to Patrisse to confound the Paladin, so he would not discover the truth.
Bron then related how we were able to reason with the spirit of Jarbin Mord. In fact, Jarbin Mord even pardoned several of the jurors. Once, Judge Trabe confessed his crime, he by his own hand placed his head in the noose. The spirit of Mord then kicked out the stool and hanged Trabe. We revived Alistair and presented the evidence that proved he was the murderer. We found him guilty and Mord carried out the sentence and strangled him with a rope. Judge Ironbriar stated, “Sounds like they (the jurors) were lucky to have you for an advocate. You are free to go.”
The party returned to the inn. Strabo received a note that a letter was waiting for him back in Sandpoint. Parlay asked Bron where he had arranged to have his war axe enchanted. He wanted to get his bow enchanted. Bron told him about the gnome wizard and where to find him. Bron did warn Parlay that the gnome was a strange little man.
Parlay arrived at the wizard’s shop. His senses were assailed by many strange sights and smells upon entering. Parlay was greeted by the gnome, who inquired why he was there. Parlay asked if he could enchant his bow. The wizard replied he could and it would cost 1500 gold and take about two weeks. The gnome slyly said that “I will drop the price by 500 gold if you perform a small task for me!” Parlay asked, “what do I have to do?” The gnome explained about needing twelve little Chymicks to complete a big job. He goes on to explain that the Chymicks are found in the underground passages below the foundations of the old bridge. “You just need a bag to put them in and don’t have anything made of glass on you!” He took Parlay down to the basement and opened a trap door. This revealed a passage the wizard had contrived to reach the old foundations. “Of course you will understand it will be best if you don’t mention this. The city powers don’t like people messing around down there. One hundred years ago some adventurers accidently released some spider creatures, which got lose in the city. Parlay then asked “why do you need this for the golems?” The gnome replied, “They are not motivated yet!” as he pointed to the motionless golems lined up in rows. “I get the essence from the Chymicks. It is what motivates them.”
Parlay dropped down into the passage. The gnome tossed down a sack, “Now, don’t forget, I need twelve. If you see a spider…you do have something to protect you? No glass?” Parlay took out his ink jar and a bottle and handed them back up. “It is against the rules to break into the foundations. Best if we keep this between us.” With those words from the gnome, Parlay moved down the passage. He had to wiggle his way through tight spots. Several other passages led off in different directions at various intersections. He heard a skittering sound up ahead. Slowly he picked his way in that direction. He was rocked with a deep “boom – boom – boom” that startled him until he realized it was his own heart pounding in the silence! Parlay brought out his ever burning torch once he reckoned he was close to the source of the skittering. The light from the torch reflected briefly off of bits of glass momentary, but whatever it was just seemed to vanish. He then heard the skittering anew in the distance. “How am I going to find stuff I can’t see?” he lamented.
Parlay, realizing the futility of continuing, decided to go back up to the wizard’s basement. The gnome was delighted to see Parlay return, “You got them” he eagerly squeaked. Then the wizard noticed the bag was empty and demanded why. Parlay complained, “They disappear, I can’t catch them.” Gnome said they only appear to disappear, “They are able to dimension door to move away.” Parlay wanted to know how the gnome caught them. “Oh, I just stun them with a spell,” the wizard said expectantly. The blank look on Parlay’s face drained the hope from the wizard’s face. Parlay “I just pay you to enchant my bow!” A dejected gnome said it would take two-weeks and cost 1500 gold. Parlay left his bow with the gnome who was muttering “I just have to get them myself.”
Two week later when Bron picked up his war axe. The gnome was very pleased to present it to him. He went on to tell Bron how pleased the merchant consortium was with the clearing of the Silver Shore Court House. Bron posed a question to the gnome. He had heard Parlay tell of his effort to capture the Chymicks. “What is the secret to capturing them?” “You have to use magic. Stun them or put them to sleep. Color Spray drops them – they hate that!” Bron asked about the spider things. The gnome said none have been seen for a while. The Chymicks eat the spiders and the spiders eat the errant adventurers. The spiders have bodies made of glass, which is so hard weapons just bounce off. “They do melt however,” smiled the gnome. “Are you sure you won’t help me?” asked the wizard hopefully. Bron declined which left the gnome walking off once again muttering. “Now what if golems had six arms…h’mm.”
At the Inn Falathar returned to his room and found that his pack had been gone through. He did a careful check, but only found “Thassilonian notes” compiled by Lyrie missing. Falathar sought out Erlig to ask if he knew where Lyrie was. Erlig said he hadn’t seen her yet that day. They went downstairs where Falathar asked the Innkeeper if he had seen Lyrie go up to their rooms. The innkeeper said that she had gone upstairs while they were out. “She didn’t stay up there very long. I thought she was looking for him,” as he pointed to Erlig. “After all, she has spent every night up there with him.” Erlig's ears turned bright pink. Falathar asked around, but no one seemed to know in which direction Lyiee was heading. He walked over to the Pathfinder Chapter House and asked them to send messages to the different pathfinders to keep a lookout for her.
((Beginning The Skinsaw Murders - Spoilers!!))
Journal 21
Bron and Parlay were hailed by a captain of the guard, Acacia Uriana. “Are you in Paladin Sampson’s party?” Bron and Parlay smiled at each other, “Sampson’s Party – Yes!” “Please tell him that his father wants to see him.” They inquired as to who was Sampson’s father. “Why, Commander Ismeir Odenburg, the head of the guard!” Bron did relay this to Sampson upon his return to the inn. Bron then left to find a masterwork war hammer.
Paladin Sampson went to his father’s office at the guard’s headquarters. His reception was cold, “The temple informs me that you went in for a magic blade. You are a Paladin. You have no need for a magic blade!” Sampson tried to explain that he wanted to “improve my ability to hit.” His answer fell on deaf ears. His Father admonished, “You need to pray more. Iomedae’s Paladin that used that weapon gave it up to fight the demons. I find your spirit lacking!” An admonished, but unrepentant Sampson returned to the Inn.
The entire party decided to return to Sandpoint via a wagon caravan. Several of the party members worked for the caravan to pay their passage. Falathar chose to pay for his passage. Remembering the meager fare provided on his last caravan, Falathar asked the Innkeeper to prepare a basket for him. It consisted of 8 fine cold meals that would travel well. He also had 4 bottles of fine wine included. He considered the forty-four gold well spent. “If I have to travel, it should at least be in civilized comfort!”
The trip started out uneventfully, but on the second day that peace was interrupted. The caravan approached a point where the road dipped through a ravine. A manor house was barely visible towards the sea coast, which looked to be in a crumbling state of disrepair. It is set back two miles from the road. Falathar was riding in one of the wagons when he spotted the trees of the ravine filled with black birds. Something was strange about their appearance. He called out to Agrent as he strung his bow in readiness. The birds rose up as one and raced towards the caravan. All of the party outside had been alerted by Falathar’s call and braced to meet them.
The birds looked to be undead and dove to attack the party. Everyone that was outside took some small injuries from the birds. Rain managed to down several of the birds. Sampson sprayed holy water against the flock dropping a good number. Agrent was able to down the few remaining birds.
A farm house was visible just off to the right of the road. It seemed very still – no smoke, no animals and no movement visible. It was late in the day and we decided to camp at the cottage. Rain and Agrent scouted ahead. They found the crops recently harvested. They hailed the house, but received no answer. Inside the cottage was torn apart. We found the bodies of a horse and cow in the barn. The bodies had been chewed on. Sampson tried to detect evil, but found none. Rain climbed the roof as a lookout. Agrent found the farmer’s body outside. We came running to find Agrent being attacked by a ghoul. Erlig sent a Magic Missile into the skull. Rain was next putting an arrow into it, which dropped the ghoul!
Parlay built a huge bonfire in the courtyard to burn the bodies. Agrent found a second set of tracks leading off towards the ravine. Sampson, Rain, Parlay and Falathar followed Agrent. They provided cover while he searched. The others stayed behind to guard the caravan, which consisted of a Varisian man and his daughters.
Agrent followed the tracks down into a ravine. There was a stream at the bottom swollen by the pouring rain. Rain tried to move along the stream, but slipped and fell into the raging water. She floundered and slipped repeatedly under the surface as the stream raced along! Agrent dove in and finally caught her and brought her back to shore. The rain had obliterated any remaining tracks, to we returned to the cottage.
Back at the cottage Sampson tried to cure his wounds using his Paladin’s skill to lay on hands. It had no effect. He cleaned his wound using holy water, but saw no improvement. Bron tried to bind up the wounds, but still no improvement. Sampson was definitely worried about the wounds being cursed. Falathar cast cure light wounds on himself with immediate success. He then did the same on Sampson. Meanwhile, Agrent moved off to perform a Shoanti ritual (something to do with dancing bare-ass naked in front of a roaring fire after drinking some of Falathar's wine, I thought). We set the watch and slept the night undisturbed.
The next morning Falathar pointed out the Manor House, which he recalled belonged to the Foxglove family. The family had experienced bad luck over the years. Aldern’s father and mother had died at the manor. The children were taken to Magnimar and the manor house had been left abandoned. Falathar seemed to recall hearing something about Aldern recently having been trying to reopen the estate. He had been hiring people to spruce up the manor house and put the estate back into production. The manor served for eighty years as the seat of the Foxglove domains. The rumor is that the manor is haunted. Falathar also recalled that a party of rovers was attacked in the area about three weeks ago.
Falathar is all for investigating the manor house. Several of the party were dead set against doing so, but a few seemed receptive to the idea. That was until Falathar related the legend about a monster that dwells below the cliffs behind the manor. Then the entire party joined in opposing the idea. “We will come back later,” barked Bron.
The party continued the journey and arrived in Sandpoint the next day without any further incident. Bron accompanied by the party reported to Sheriff Belor. We relayed the outcome of Tsuto’s trial and the attack on the road. The Sheriff has his hands full and orders Bron to lead an investigation into murders committed over the last two nights in town. He directs Bron to go to the sawmill where two were murdered last night. He also informs Bron he fears a greater evil than goblins has descended on Sandpoint. He showed note found at the scene:
Rain,
you will learn to love
me, desire me in time
as she did. Give
yourself to the pack
and it shall all end.
Your Lordship
The note looks like it has been written in the victim’s blood. The sheriff sent us off with the instruction, “Keep Rain’s name out of this. The town is worked up and some might blame her!”
We moved off to the saw mill, which presented us with a ghastly scene. The bodies of a young man and woman were still fresh. The man has a seven-pointed star carved in his chest. It is the symbol that represents all of the ancient Schools of Magic. The girl was Katrine Vinder. It looks like she was forced into the log splitter, where her body remains. The man’s had been hung on hooks set in the wall and tortured. His lower jaw is missing. There are several small claw marks on the body, which reek with the scent of rotten flesh. There is a tattoo of a raven. We found an axe with bloody finger marks along the handle.
The sheriff informs us the previous night 3 men were killed in a barn. Each with a similar star caved into the bodies. Falathar asked if the sheriff had found Wyrick yet. The sheriff heard that he might have gone off to Riddleport. Falathar then asked if the sheriff had seen Lyree come back through town, but he hadn’t seen her.
((Skinsaw Murders continued - Spoilers!))
Journal 22
We questioned the sheriff further on the details of the previous murders. It seems that two guards on the road into town were attacked by a crazy man. He was ranting about something, which seemed to the guards to involve the nearby barn. They detained the man and went to investigate the barn. Inside a gristly sight awaited them. Three bodies mutilated beyond recognition. Each had the seven-pointed star carved into their chests. One body had a parchment which turned out to be a message to men named Hortwell, Hask and Tabe. It was an invitation to attend a meeting at the barn to consider a business opportunity. “A deal has come about…come to Bradley’s Barn.” It was signed “Your Lordship.” The three men are rumored to be local conmen involved with the Szcarni.
Rain tried to track outside, but found nothing. Agrent being better versed was able to find faint tracks. These were barefoot. Each track showed blood carried away from the scene decreasing as they went along. Agrent bent to smell the tracks and notice the distinct smell of rotting flesh. The tracks lead to the river.
We went to the White Deer Inn to question Ibor Thorn the farmer who found the bodies at the saw mill. He was staring with a black look into his mug, when we arrived. “Ibor Thorn,” Bron called out.
Thorn looked up and sighed, “They said someone would have more questions for me. Awful, I can’t get the image of that poor woman out of my mind…I’m going to be sick!”
Bron told him to get hold of himself, “Why did you come into town?”
Thorn in exasperation, “I already told the sheriff! I don’t want to remember!”
Bron told him that he might remember more details in answering our questions. Thorn said he had come into town carrying a sack of grain to be milled.
Bron asked for details of his walk into town. “The farm is about a half mile that way on the road to Magnimar. It is the nearest farm to town.”
Bron asked how long he had been going to the mill. “Every day for the last fifteen years. That Harker was a greedy sort. Always charging more to grind the grain than the set price. He was stealing from Scarnetti! Maybe he found out.”
Bron asked if Thorn knew Katrine. “Not really, though I did see once in awhile working behind the counter in her father’s general store.”
Bron, “did you ever talk to her?” “I don’t talk to girl folk. My tongue gets all tied up!”
Bron asked, “Did the mill look the same this morning. “It looked the same outside until I opened the door and saw Harker nailed to the wall!”
Bron pressed on about anything he might have seen on his way into town. “Just the militia guards.”
Bron returned to asking about what he saw inside the mill. “It was as if someone had carved on his face and then pulled it off!”
Bron asked “Was the blood running out of his body when you saw it?” “I was afraid to get close. The woman had blood all over the place…when it’s my time to go, I don’t want to be put in a log splitter!”
Bron asked if it was unusual for Harker to be there at night? “He worked from dawn to dusk. Harker opened each morning and closed up the mill every night.”
Bron kept on asking questions. He had to keep Thorn from getting more to drink and not get sick until we were done. “What did you do when you saw the bodies?” “I screamed holy murder!”
Thorn mentioned that he saw the note written in blood on the wall. “Been telling anyone I met about the note and Rain!” Rain drew back visibly pale at that.
Bron cautioned him not to talk about the note or Rain. Bron asked if he had seen anything strange on the road? “No, but I saw the Sandpoint Devil about five years ago! Kind of a flying horse with these huge teeth.”
We asked if he knew anything about the Foxglove Manor House. “No, but we does call it “Misgivings.” Bron thanked him and paid the Innkeeper to keep Thorn supplied with drink today.
The party returned to the river to continue tracking the footprints. At first we had some success, but lost them leading into the marsh on the other side of the river. It was futile to continue, so we decided to go to the Habe’s Sanitarium to talk with the crazy man. Hopefully, he has recovered his wits!
On reaching the sanatorium we noticed a man working in the gardens. He inquired as to our business, to which, we replied out desire to speak with one of the patients. He took us inside and introduced us to Doctor Erin Habe. Dr. Habe was dressed in white robes. He is a wealthy doctor from Magnimar who settled in Sandpoint.
Bron explained that Sheriff Belor had sent us to speak with the man brought in the day before.
Bron inquired as to the condition of the man. “Alas, he is still very disturbed” replied the good doctor. “We keep him in a robe with long arms that tie down to his body.”
The doctor and one of his men unlocked the door to the main room. We went in and found a clean white room infused with the smell of lilac incense. Next we approached one of the doors leading off the room, which turned out to be the man’s room. The attendant unlocked the door. Inside we found the poor man wrapped in a robe with his arms tied back. He was huddling in the far corner sobbing. Falathar cast Remove Fear on him. Paladin Sampson did not detect any evil.
We asked Doctor Habe is he has any bite or scratch marks on him? The doctor remarked that there had been a bite, but it seems to have healed OK. Strabo noticed that his skin is pale and looks gangrenous about the healed wound.
The poor man is muttering about “razors…too many teeth…Skinsaw man is coming!”
Suddenly, the man seemed to gather his wits, and he rose and turned to face Rain. “His lordship said you would come. He made me memorize a message for you. He said if you come to his misgivings, you join the pack, he would give up his harvest!”
With that he ripped his arms free from their restraints. His face turned green and evil emanated. He attacked Strabo trying to get by to Rain. Strabo managed to trip him. Parlay pummeled him heavily and then backed to the wall pulling his dagger. Bron hit him with his war hammer, which dropped him unconscious.
Strabo bent down and shackled the unconscious man. Falathar cast a cure light wounds on the poor man to see if the effect of being a ghoul could be reversed. It did not have the desired effect.
Doctor Habe couldn’t understand what happed to the poor man. Strabo explained that he had been bitten by a ghoul, which finally turned him into one. We decided to seek out Father Zantos. Dr. Habe sent one of his men to fetch the good Father. Meanwhile, Strabo took a sample of the man’s blood. When Father Zantos arrived he confirmed the man had ghoul fever.
We asked if he could do anything for him? “Well, I do have a scroll of restoration, but it is so expensive.” He and Strabo returned to the temple to retrieve the scroll. We checked Agrent’s wound from the farmer, but it still looks to be OK.
On their return Father Zantos cast the spell using the scroll. The effect was immediate. The man’s skin returned to a normal color. He is resting and looks much better. Bron donated 500 Gold pieces to the Priest. We placed the unconscious, but recovered thug in a hand cart.
We took the main road back to town. The road was busy with farmers and their families straggling into town. We overhead one farmer singing:
…Scarecrow… Will find you good to eat.
We inquired with those with him if he had been bitten. “No, he is very disturbed. Things have come out of the croplands to attack. They look like scarecrows.”
They told us of the Hambley place. Something had happened so a “group of men went in, but only Old Grump came out! The Hambley folk attacked them. They all looked green and crazy. They even ate the dogs!”
Strabo noticed the smell of strong drink coming from the old man. The old man keeps mumbling the old Varisian nursery rhyme. We learned that their farms are one day out on the road to Magnimar. Bron and Strabo checked the people to make sure no one had been bitten.
We returned to town with the farmers. Two days ago walking scarecrows came out of the night. The Hambley farm was empty by the morning. It is about a half-day’s journey from Foxglove Manor, which they refer to as the Misgivings. The Hambley farm is one of the largest in the area.
We heard the rhyme again and again:
Mumble, Mumble, Scarecrow
Alone in the maze.
Sleeping the day time
Stitched man he stays.
But when the moon she rises
Up Mumble gets.
He shakes his hand at first,
And moves his feet the next.
And when the dog is snoring,
And when you are fast asleep.
Mumble, Mumble, Scarecrow,
Will find you good to eat!
We reached the town and left the recovering thug in the jail. Mayor Kendra and Sheriff Belor met us and insisted we come in to talk. They need us to investigate and find the source of this new trouble. We went over the recent events and the origination of the seven-pointed star. We discussed Foxglove Manor and the locals referring to it as the Misgivings. We then tried to talk with the thug, but he is as crazy as before. At least he is no longer trying to attack everyone. The party agreed with the mayor and sheriff that the matter seems to be centered on the manor house. We agreed to go out and try and find the source of the problem.
Erlig and Falathar stopped by Father Zantos and asked him for potions. He had two potions of Cure Light, which he gave us. They each gave him twenty-five gold and thanked him. Father Zantos gave us his blessing and we move on. Falathar visited the alchemist, a gnome named Vesnutt Parooh. He asked Parooh if he had any Alchemist Fire available. “Why, Yes I do! How many would you like?” Falathar bought three for sixty gold. He and Bron each bought six Tanglefoot Bags for a total of 300 gold each. They distributed these among the party.
Meanwhile, outside the Fat Man’s Feedbag Strabo had been approached by a group of Varisian men. One of them, Jubrayl walked up, “I got a message for you!” He handed Strabo a note. “Now get out of here!” Strabo left to read the note. It just had “Bring Him” written on it. Strabo recognized the handwriting (it is from his boss, the high priestess of Calistria, Shorafa Pamodae in Riddleport).
The party decided to ride their horses to cut the travel time. Erlig didn’t have a horse, so he inquired at the stable as to the cost for horse and tack. “I can let you have that one for 100 gold.” Erlig asked, “How much to rent it for a week?” “100 gold” was the answer. With a sudden understanding, Erlig decided to “buy” the horse and tack.
We left the next morning planning of traveling about two-thirds of the distance the first day. We continued to meet farmers making their way into town. Later in the afternoon Bron suggested we go to the Hambley farm. On our approach we noticed the large farm house sits close to the road. There were three scarecrows in the field near to the road. Several of the party took notice and were uneasy about the scarecrows.
Parlay was first to act by shooting a flaming arrow into one of the scarecrows. We heard an “augh” and the scarecrow’s head slumped to its chest. We could see that it was a human with straw stuffed into cuffs, neck and pants to make it look like a simple scarecrow. The skin had that awful green tinge to it. Rain shot the second scarecrow, only to see her arrow pass through it. It really was a scarecrow.
Bron tried shooting the third, but missed. While Erlig was loading his crossbow, Falathar launched an arrow into the third scarecrow. It popped up his head hissing at us. It leaped down to attack us. Parlay attacked it with a mighty swing dropping it in its tracks. It fell face down. Strabo examined it and found it was fully turned into a ghoul, while the first was in the latter stages of turning. We then moved up to search the farm house.
Journal 23
The party was led by Agrent and Rain on foot tracking, while the rest of us followed about twenty-feet back on our horses. There were two paths leading from the road, neither of which seemed to be heading directly to the farm house. Even though the fields had been harvested, the corn stalks remained standing about six-feet high. Agrent and Rain found a path leading to the southwest with many footprints. Some were booted, but most were barefoot. Remembering the bare footprints at the sawmill smelled of rotten flesh, Agrent bent down to smell these footprints. To his relief they did not smell of rotten flesh. His relief was not to last long.
Suddenly, the Paladin sensed evil coming at us from all sides. Out in front Agrent and Rain were startled by sounds of crashing through the stalks coming towards the party. Parlay started to move his horse back towards the road so as to have more room to fight. Erlig prepared by casting Protective Ward about himself, thereby boosting the armor class of all within ten-feet. Rain spun about and ran towards the party. The Bard Falathar broke into his song, which immediately heartened all. Agrent decided Rain had the right idea, and he turned to run back. Bron “Tis no way to be fighting atop a horse!” So he jumped down and drew his war axe. It was then that twelve ghouls rushed into view. Their ghastly green faces set on our destruction. Sampson had been holding for a target. Seeing the first ghoul he charged ahead on horseback and dealt a solid hit with his sword. Cameo cast Mage Armor on himself and readied for combat. Strabo sent a bolt from his crossbow into a ghoul.
Parlay scored a critical hit on a ghoul, which dropped it in its tracks. Erlig prepared to send color spray into the ghouls, but was holding until they came within range. Rain now safely with the party sent an arrow into a ghoul. Agrent cast shillelagh and prepared for battle. Falathar sent an arrow into one of the ghouls. Sampson’s second swing dropped his ghoul. Bron managed a hit on the nearest ghoul. Now, the ghouls had moved close enough to attack. First, Erlig sent color spray into three, two of which, dropped unconscious, blind and stunned. The unaffected ghoul tried to run by Parlay to get to Erlig. Parlay had a different idea using his ranseur to strike a solid blow. One managed to bite and claw Falathar inflecting serious damage. That ghoul then tried and failed to bite and claw Parlay. The next ghoul came at Parlay too. It missed in its bite, but one claw scrapped him for a minor wound. The ghoul coming at Rain managed to bite and claw her leaving her paralyzed and bleeding. Strabo managed to get his horse to charge down a ghoul. Cameo sent a magic missile into the nearest ghoul, which seemed to score solid damage. Two of the ghouls attacked Bron without any success.
Parlay tried to urge his horse to run down one of the ghouls going after Cameo without much luck. So he used his weapon to hit the ghoul again and dropped it in its tracks. Erlig sent a magic missile into one. Meanwhile, Agrent finally ready swung at his ghoul dropping it. Falathar pulled his rapier and stuck a ghoul. Sampson used his horse to knock a ghoul prone that was attacking Bron. Bron then hit the next ghoul. Strabo tried a second time to run down a ghoul, but the horse wanted nothing to do with it. He then used his whip to trip the one Bron hit. Cameo sent another magic missile, which did not seem as effective as his first. It managed to nick him with a claw. A second ghoul missed Cameo completely, much to his relief. One of the ghouls knocked down, managed to stand back up.
Parlay struck one dropping it, and then tried to ride between one of the ghouls and Cameo. However, his horse had better sense. Erlig tried to repeat his earlier success with color spray, but both ghouls were unaffected. Agrent dispatched one of the unconscious ghouls. Falathar managed to stab another with the rapier. Sampson managed to run down one ghoul and hit another killing it. Bron dropped his ghoul dead with a solid hit. Strabo got his horse to dance on a ghoul. One of the downed ghouls managed to stand up again. Another managed to bite Cameo, which left him paralyzed and bleeding. A ghoul managed to bite and claw Falathar. Fortunately, he is an elf or he would have been paralyzed. Parlay was bitten, but saved.
Parlay moved up to protect the fallen Cameo and struck the nearest ghoul killing it. Erlig switched back to use Magic Missile with a solid impact on another ghoul. Agrent managed massive hits with club and klar killing yet another ghoul. Falathar tried to impale one with his rapier, but missed badly. Bron swung and dropped his ghoul. Parlay dropped the last ghoul. Falathar stopped singing to conserve his voice.
Strabo used his healing kit and skills to clean the wounds of possible infection. Paladin Sampson used his lay on hands skill on all of the wounded. Falathar cast Cure Light on both Rain and himself. We then set about collecting the ghouls' bodies some of which were women and children. We used our horses to drag them towards the farm house.
We reached an intersection where the path diverged. It was then that anther scarecrow was seen next to the trail. Strabo reacted first with an arrow, but missed. Rain had more success hit with her arrow. The scarecrow screamed its death cry and slumped down. We found it was a woman turning into a ghoul. We added her body to the others and drug it to the house.
Upon reaching the house we searched the barn first. It has a unique feature. A massive twelve-foot high stone head canting of to its side forms one wall of the barn. Falathar was stunned to see its features are Thassilonian, but badly worn down by time. Inside we found a tangled stack of bones and the partially eaten bodies of cows, horses, and humans. The paladin did not sense any evil in the area. Our horses would not go near the barn. We moved the corpses into the barn with the intention of burning it and the bodies together. Cameo took umbrage at our suggesting we burn a perfectly good barn. Several of the party argued with him explaining that animals would not go into it again, but he persisted. The bodies are diseased and birds and vermin will become infected if they eat the flesh, still Cameo argued for sparing the barn. His arguments fell on deaf ears.
Rain, Agrent, Parlay, Sampson and Falathar moved to check out the farm house. One door is off its hinges and another stood open. No sounds came from within. We entered what seemed to be the kitchen. There we found the corpse with a parchment pinned to the tattered remains of a tunic. It read:
Take the fever in to you my love.
It shall be but the first of my gifts to you!
Parlay moved to continue his searched, but was interrupted by something coming at him. It was a ghoul, which Parlay attacked successfully with sword and klar. Rain sent an arrow into from the other side of the room. Agrent and Strabo attacked it at the same time. Strabo tripped it with his whip, while Agrent impaled it on his klar. The poor creature died hanging there. Its clothing though tattered seemed to be better than what a farmer would wear. We searched further and found a set of keys on a ring. Falathar wondered aloud if it might “be the caretaker from Foxglove Manor?” It was then he noticed a curious flower surrounded by thorns embroidered on his tunic. Rain recognized it as the “foxglove” flower, which confirmed Falathar’s assumptions.
We conducted a thorough search of the house. In the bedroom Rain noticed the floorboards creaked in one spot. She bent to examine the boards and found she could lift a section out. There she found a small chest. The keys on the ring did not open it, but we had found one on a farmer that did. Inside were 34 pouches carefully arranged inside the chest. In each we found 100 silver pieces. It must have been the life savings of the Hambley family, who had all been slaughtered by the ghouls and his lordship.
For anyone who might be reading my campaign journal, I have recently created a blog site for the use of my players. More journals have been added to the blog than are shown here.
Here is the link darksasha
I welcome any comments, suggestions, criticisms. No profanity is allowed however as I am trying to maintain a PG-13 presence. Though that does mean I have to edit posts by my players on occasion.
The party have completed the Misgivings in the Skinsaw Murders and are now ready to level up to 4th. They haven't decided yet what they will do after leveling, but I have plans for them regardless. >:)
Link to my blog for character journals and backgrounds: darksasha
If Richard Pett is observing, I'd like to thank him for helping me creep out my party, particularly the one who was the target of Aldern's obsession.
After a brief hiatus at a local boarding school and military academy, the gang are back on the trail of Foxglove's creepy associates known as the Brothers of Seven.
Link to my blog for Wednesday Night's Society shenanigans: darksasha
Still good stuff, keep up the good work :)
The Brothers of Seven driven off along with their mistress, Xanesha, the party heads towards Riddleport at the behest of the party's priest of Calistria and Riddleport native, Strabomenos. Upon hearing that the docks and lower city suffered some damage from the tidal wave that struck, Strabomenos wished to see if there was anything he could do to find out what happened or help. The ship the party sailed upon stopped at the island known as Devil's Elbow to pick up a group of dwarves from the Gas Forges who had gone to the meteor struck island to gather "star metal."
Falathar's Journal continues: link darksasha