Kara was able to convince the three prisoners that it was in their best interest to apprentice to the church of Erastil and help Jhod to reestablish their faith in this area. I was unsurprised by the proselytizing, but surprised at the results themselves.
Once again Oleg purchased the various goods we had liberated from bandits and the like during our travels. We are finally getting our backlog of gear to be sold cleared out.
Kestin presented us with a new request, but no charter to back it up, from Brevoy. They would like for us to eliminate the threat from the Stag Lord and his bandit forces. Like we needed more to do?
Over the last three mornings, I have employed the gifts of Sarenrae to plumb the depths of my companions’ souls seeking out a hint of banditry and evil within them. I was both delighted and confused to discover the lack of any truly evil intentions from my compatriots, most especially from the devil, or is it demon? I will employ the next three days in a further effort to determine if they fall towards the spectrum of those who do neither good, nor evil.
Some weeks past we had recovered a crudely drawn map with an image of a tree on it. A tree that looks like a claw. Today we discovered that tree. Banden stopped us some distance away, and after Nolq had cleared the area, we discovered several items, including a magical wand, which might prove useful to our cause in the near future.
A little later in the day, we came upon a great expanse of river, which had across it the remains of a damaged bridge. On the near side was a bell, with a sign declaring this to be “Nettles Crossing” and that for service one should ring the bell. Across the river were the remains of a burnt out hovel, which presumably was once the bridgeman’s home. It was believed by our naturists that the burnt out building had several months of overgrowth on it.
With no other course of action readily apparent, the gnome rung the bell, which apparently called forth a figure from beneath the waters of the river. It had a stench of moistened death, and a feeling of dread came over me as it approached. The figure spoke to us, saying “You are not my tormentors. Throw the Stag Lord in the river.” It was my belief that this was a reasonable request, since we already have a request from the Swordlords to eliminate the Stag Lord, that this would be an opportunity to get two birds with the proverbial stone. However reasonable the request might have seemed, it became apparent the group had other intentions. Volg stepped forward drawing his weapon and struck it exclaiming “Pow, die you fiend,” which seemed particularly ironic coming from him, and when the creature struck him back a telling blow, in my mind I added the same words from the creature’s mouth. After Nolq and Kara bombed and channeled respectively, I commenced a song of battle. I wasn’t sure why we were fighting, but suspecting the thing to be undead, I assumed the others had their reasons. The creature again struck at Volg, and then backed across the water repeating its mantra that we were not enemies, and it only wanted the Stag Lord. I was relieved then when Volg mounted his horse stating, “clearly there are other ways to banish this thing.” Nolq threw another bomb and mounted up. I mounted and began to ride, but the creature came back ashore, swung and missed Volg, and it repeated its entreaty once more. This time, I heard clearly the name of Iomedae on the lips of Volg as he struck the creature. Some twenty seconds of this ensued, with my friends doing their best against the creature, and it dealing out damage to Volg who either healed himself, or was healed by Kara. As the creature eventually fell to the magics of Erastil in the form of floating crossbow, I detected that it placed a “Nightmare” upon Volg, who insisted he was fine, although I did inform the group of the curse. Of interest is that the goods, armor and weapons, carried by the vanquished creature, turned to water and melted away upon its defeat. I am starting to develop a hypothesis regarding Volg, but it will take me several more days, possibly a week, to confirm my theory.
The last two nights have been a series of fights that I hope to never relive. Two nights ago, we awoke to Banden screaming. I think I heard him calling to his mother, but could not be entirely sure. Recognizing the signs of a midnight attack, I commenced a generic song of battle, and arose. What I saw was a slight glowing creature with the faint image of a floating skull within its glow, and it was biting, or striking at the gnome. I identified it as a Wisp, and knowing that some would find the information useful, I informed them of its vulnerability to fire. The creature struck the gnome to the ground and disappeared. Volg made across the camp and set his hands lightly upon Banden, who awoke seeming much refreshed, and thankfully still alive. The Wisp then attacked Volg, and cried out in the language of the Unseelie Fey, “touché my opponent, I will kill your friends, and then you.” My contribution to the remainder of this encounter was to load several of the horses, as it appeared we were not going to be able to defeat the creature, which kept striking at the gnome and the devil, and with Kara’s assistance they were able to at least hold the line against the creature. I forget who, but someone had instructed that we were going to flee the camp, and so I mounted Mukhtar and was off. I was leading the reigns of Nolq’s horse when I left, but I was alone for some time. I managed to connect with Kara, Banden, and Volg, but was distraught at the idea that my trusty companion, Nolq, was lost and alone with such a creature in the dark.
As the dawn broke, we came across Nolq, who informed us that he was sure our pack horse had been devoured by the Wisp. Packhorses are cheap, rat companions are not, we can get another horse. We spent the day resting, knowing that our gear was back at the old campsite, and tomorrow we were going to retrieve it. However, during the night, we were again accosted by the same Wisp, only this time, not having depleted our resources, we presented a strong front against the creature, and were victorious quite rapidly, despite its several attempts to eat the horses as I was saddling them up.
With the creature defeated, it was an easy jaunt to retrieve our gear and press on with our missions of exploration, and apparently seeking the Stag Lord.
I should mention that my efforts at discerning the motives of my companions finally bore some fruit, as I learned that Nolq has no real predilection towards either morality or structure, but rather is the sort to take life as it comes. What can one expect from his kind? Additionally, Kara is the sort who can give or take the law, but is more focused on ensuring that the will of good is done. It is strange that we are kindred spirits.
27 Gozran 4710 AR: The Centipede and the Sootscales
Today I discovered two things, but my friends only one.
I learned that my gnome companion is goodhearted, but with no regard for the law or discipline and order, whatsoever. I think this explains a lot about the somewhat random behavior he exhibits regarding which forest creatures we can fight and which not. Understanding that his personality has such foibles will make our future interactions much easier, since I will not expect even remotely logical discourse and actions out of him. What bothers me however is that there is but one further inquiry for me to make regarding the character of my companions, and if that proves to be what I am now expecting, then I am travelling with an oddity of sorts, a fiend of the pits that has thrown off the shackles of the evil within his blood and turned to good. It is perhaps less interesting that he is a structured and lawful creature, as such is he who stood with the Dawnflower against the Rough Beast.
The second thing which we all learned today was that the scorpions which were so deadly in numbers weeks ago when we lost Stanislaw are no match for us when encountered alone. In the heat of the day, Bandenmoorroot announced to us, “giant bug, on my mark,” and he fired an arrow which struck true and marked the beast for us. It was not clear to me at first, what sort of creature it was, but later it became clear this was the same sort of whip-tailed creature that had killed our friend Stanislaw. My reaction was, as it usually is, to rouse my compatriots to battle with a martial hymn, but my recollection of such songs failed me briefly, but then I remembered a good one, more of a ballad really, “Men of Tarlech,” which did the job. Kara and then Banden again loosed arrows striking the creature, which charged at us, and knocked the gnome a blow from five yards away. Making his father proud, Nolq’s first reaction to the creature was to take a draught from a vial at his side. Volg moved forward and dismounted. With the gnome probably about to get scooped up and grappled by the creature, I hit upon my trusty grease spell as a tactic, but rather than greasing the gnome, as I have on many occasions, I greased the ground beneath the creature, which caused it to fall prone to the ground. Banden moved further up the hill to evade the creature, which lashed out striking his horse before arising. Banden again fired at the bug, but missed wildly. With Volg now near to it, the creature swung a blow at him with its tail, but was unsuccessful. Properly fortified with the brew from his belt, Nolq threw a bomb, but missed. Determined not to sit back and let the creature strike him from five yards, our devil pressed forward under fire, avoiding an attack, while delivering one himself, unsuccessfully. Again I greased the area beneath the creature, and again it dropped. Kara passed by me on her horse, getting closer to the others, and proceeded to heal everyone while excluding our opponent. As the creature was standing up, Volg struck it with his blade, which made it scream, only to follow with its own attack against the devilspawn. With the range now figured out, Nolq had no trouble dropping acid onto the creature, and pulled another potion to drink. His sort does love to drink. Volg delivered a final blow and the creature was defeated.
Shortly beyond the spot where we killed the creature, we came across a battlefield which reeked of death, and was littered with the bodies of mites and kobolds. I suspect the bug creature we killed might actually be akin to the one that killed Stanislaw and that it had survived an encounter in the fight between the two diminutive races.
Moving along, we encountered a cave labeled as “Oak Top Silver Mine,” which was surprising given that a kobold shortly emerged from the cave. Suspecting this might be their home, and having so recently found evidence of the enmity between their two tribes, I opened a dialog with the creature, who I afterwards learned was called Nakpik. I expressed a desire to assist the kobolds in their struggles against the mites, and he seemed quite excited by this, instructing us to wait at the entrance. Shortly after, we were ushered into the cave, where we met Tartuk, the leader of the tribe and a rather large and purplish kobold. Tartuk confirmed the state of affairs between his people and the mites, and I reconfirmed our desire for alliance and mutual assistance against our shared foe. We were lead much deeper into the old mine and witnessed the day to day life of the kobolds, including their treatment of a mite prisoner, who unfortunately died when Tartuk’s people were bringing him to us for questioning. In a large room, framed with wooden timbers, and decorated with banners and horsehide blankets, we saw a giant cauldron bubbling in the middle of the room. I suspect that 10 mites could be stewed in the pot at once, if one so desired, but that is just an estimate. After some discussion in which the kobolds demanded much, and offered little, it was finally agreed that we would attempt to retrieve an idol of their god, Tiamat, and return it to them.
I made no mention to my friends that the place had the air of an arcane lab of sorts, and that purple kobolds are not a variety with which I am familiar.
It has been two score and one days since Stanislaw was taken to Pharasma’s breast, but now he can rest lightly, as he is avenged. Shortly after dawn this morning, we swept down upon the great sycamore tree, like the flaming brand of the Dawnflower come to bring redemption by the sword to those who have opposed the light.
It took a brief search at the base of the tree to discover the passage into their dark domain, but once we had descended the ropes into the entry chamber, it was clear the stench of ages needed to be cleared out. Calling forth her light upon my breast to guide me in dark places, I cast my eyes about. Volg was already present, and with his infernal sight, he had joined battle against two occupants of the subterranean depths we had come to exterminate. Howling in fury, he struck down one of the mites with his giant blade, and as Nolq came into view and fired at the other, it ran off and jumped down a hole, no doubt to sound an alarm. Thinking quickly, Volg pursued immediately by leaping down the hole, followed by Nolq, myself, and Kara. When I arrived at the bottom I witnessed the devil warrior striking down another mite. There were a half dozen of the creatures here, and four of them moved to surround Volg. I drew my scimitar, and with her aid I struck a mite to the ground which had been surrounding my compatriot. Banden had completed setting some traps above and finally came down to join the fray, drawing forth his hammerhook, he waded into the fight. Kara fired her bow, and struck one of the creatures, but its flesh appeared to shake off the injury immediately. Indeed, only those of us with weapons of cold iron appeared able to deal much damage to our foes. I know not what enemies Jothan may have faced in his day, but I am thankful that the fey must have been among them, for his blade is most effective against their kind. Volg charged through the mites surrounding him, in order to catch the one he felt was their leader, with several swinging and missing as he moved. Three of the mites all swung at the gnome, but none penetrated his defenses. The leader went running from Volg, but he did not get far, as he was cut down in mid stride and fell through the root cover over a gorge down into the cavern below. Nolq took a drink of his potions, and Banden ran one of the creatures through with his weapon. Stepping to the edge of the abyss, Volg calmly informed us that two of the whip tailed centipedes were coming towards us up the wall. One of which struck him a blow. Nolq tumbled through the fray and prepared to fight the new threat, while the gnome dropped yet another ugly blue opponent. Kara called upon her deity to heal the group, and was able to raise up even the kobold prisoner, which had apparently been struck down by his captors once they saw us intruding. The kobold immediately began chattering its head off, which caused Nolq to try and tell it to shut up, and that we were here to “smite the mites, and get the kobold statue,” in the tongue of dragons. Volg healed himself, and injured the centipede, which failed to harm him in its return attacks. One of the mites injured the gnome, followed directly by Nolq throwing a bomb at the centipede and avoiding attacks from it and a mite in the process. The bomb struck the creature hard. The gnome struck down another mite, but Kara’s shot at the centipede was errant to the left. The devilspawn brought his blade down on the centipede, and I was certain it would fall, but it didn’t. Instead it hit back with equal ferocity. Finally, I deemed it time to call upon Sarenrae, and I dove into my trove of songs, and presented “Fight, fight, ye Kelleshmen, for the Crown-and-Lion Seeks to Destroy the Faithful,” which is a very long title for a song with such a simple message. Until the day of my sister’s wedding, I had only heard of such raids, but ever since the song has burned in my heart, and today I sang it for my sister, and for Stanislaw. I sang it in the auld Kelleshite, as it could not be fully appreciated in other tongues. Still, the beat and timbre of the music was enough to exhort my comrades to a greater effort in combat. Naturally Nolq’s next action was to quaff more drink, but he did it without being injured. The gnome dropped his hammerhook, and drew his bow, and plunked an arrow into the centipede. Kara moved forward and healed Volg, who exchanged a miss against the creature, for a hit from the creature. Realizing that the mites on the ground were still breathing in some instances, I began moving through them and delivering a final blow to each. Nolq finished off the first centipede with a bomb, but with the way now clear, its mate moved in to fight our warriors. The gnome fired and hit, followed by Volg who delivered damage to it. It retaliated against Nolq, who shot right back with a bomb. Kara healed again, and Banden hit with another arrow. Volg called upon “The Inheritor’s Might” and gave the creature a last blow, before it fell off the ledge into the pit.
MikMak, the rescued kobold, informed him that his mission here was the same as ours, he had come to retrieve the statue. We reassured him of our intent to do exactly that and to return it to his people. We searched around a bit on our side of the gorge, and found nothing. The gorge was roughly thirty feet across and forty feet deep, with a network of vines and ropes across it. Once we were prepared, the gnome made his way across the network of vines, only to be met by a mite riding on a gigantic tick followed by several other mites. As Volg went to climb across himself, I moved forward and sang him a “climbing son.” I only know two climbing songs, so I picked the one about the spider and the waterspout, and it seemed to calm him well, and he made it fairly far across the webbing. Nolq immediately started drinking, while Kara called forth a spiritual weapon, which immediately attacked and dropped a mite on the far side of the gorge. The tick rider failed to strike the gnome, but the tick got lucky and grabbed him. Volg completed his climb across the chasm, and I commenced mine, although without the song, as I find it doesn’t help to sing to myself in these situations. I wish it did help though, because I fell right through the webbing and felt my stomach up in my throat. Luckily Kara had a spell of falling prepared, which she cast on me, and I dropped gently to the ground. In such matters, going first appears to help, as when Nolq fell cross the bridge, she had no such help for him, and he hit the ground with a loud thump. Not seeing what was going on above, I searched the ends of the cavern quickly, finding nothing, I switched to a battle song for my friends, just a simple march. While the battle raged above, I cast a spell of speed upon my feet, and began climbing up the wall on the side of the mites. I could see that the gnome was in dire straits, he being pinned by the tick, which was gradually draining his blood. I immediately put a spell of grease onto him. Nolq, who was also climbing, bombed the enemy and killed two mites. The gnome was then able to wiggle loose of the tick, but was immediately pinned again. Kara then followed our trail and fell to the floor from the bridge. Upon reaching the edge of the cliff, I got across, drew my blade and commenced missing my attacks against the tick. Nolq dropped another bomb, while Banden broke loose and was pinned yet again. Volg reached in and healed the gnome, while I swung and missed again. Banden broke free of the creature, and drank a potion, of healing I believe. The devil missed the tick, but I was able to connect and do considerable damage, while Nolq dropped more acid onto the tick and adjacent mites. The gnome being free, he moved away from the tick, and was missed by the attacks that came his way. The tick then attacked the gnome one finally time, dragging him to the floor, as Volg struck the final blow to the tick. With assistance, Kara rejoined us atop the ledge and healed up the group. I made sure the enemies were all dead, and we moved on. The next cave of this complex contained only a few small centipedes and a mite, which were quickly dispatched by Nolq and Volg, followed by a barracks cave with five easily defeated mites. Had it not been for the tick and the centipedes, the mites were a very easy challenge, but I am not complaining. We did find the statue, and some minor treasures, and tomorrow we will likely return it to the kobolds, although with the way he is injured, Banden might not be in any condition for rough travel for the next several days, the tick drained a considerable amount of his blood.
Notes in the margin:
Is Volg a warrior of Iomedae? Actions and augury would say so. I may have misjudged him greatly and must make amends. Was I blind to his true nature, because of his outward appearance? Such narrow mindedness I would expect of the lesser creatures, I shall have to do better.
29 Gozran 4710 AR: A Day With No Progress
It has been said that a night of rest can cure most any malady, but this adage proved to be untrue for two of my companions last night. The curse levied upon Volg by the creature from the depths continues to gnaw at his soul, and each day, his eyes appear more gaunt, which is particularly creepy when added to his usual countenance. Bunden however, is also afflicted, but in a different fashion. The tick with which he grappled on yesterday, and which withdrew considerable amounts of his blood has left him very much weakened. Even after the careful ministrations of Kara, he was still considerably weakened. Due then to our weakened state, and the belief by several within the group (including myself I will admit), that there was a reasonable likelihood of duplicity on behalf of the Sootscale kobolds, we determined to take our time in returning the statue, and possibly even head back to Oleg’s to resupply. With those thoughts in mind, we headed out. It did not take long for the kobold MikMak to identify that we were not headed directly back to his warren. He became quite agitated, explaining the nature of the curse that had been placed on his people, and how a kobold per day dies to the curse, and apparently will continue to die, until the statue is returned. There was also some discussion about the relationship between the purple scaled kobold, Tartouk and the actual chief of the tribe. May She forgive me for wondering if possibly the best course of action was to wait a month, as surely the tribe currently has no more than 30 members, and to let the curse run its course, but She teaches that all creatures can be redeemed, even such as these, and so as the day passed, we were persuaded that going to Oleg’s should be delayed, and that the more appropriate course of action would be to save the kobolds from their plight. It being too late in the day then to arrive at the kobold cave in time, we did return back to the great sycamore, where the Mites had been removed, and are resting here for a second night. My watch is almost up, but earlier I did see and hear some riders outside the tree, but they took no notice of us and I did notify my companions. I believe I am getting the hang of this “on watch” stuff.
30 Gozran 4710 AR: Making “Friends” with the Sootscales
We awoke early this morning, shortly following dawnbreak. Her blessed rays reminding us that the dawn is greater than the dark, and while the dark is also inevitable, She will overcome. With that lesson in mind, I approached today with a light heart, intent on saving some souls from depravity, and setting the Sootscales on the road to redemption. Following the usual discussions, which involved more ministrations from Kara for the gnome, Volg tending to his nightmare induced problems, and Nolq brewing something noxiously entirely too close to the pan containing my breakfast, we set out to the abandoned silver mine, now inhabited by the kobolds. Along the way, I expressed a belief that the proper way to approach this situation, was to treat with the actual chief of the tribe, rather than the one that we felt was a usurper. This being the case, however, MikMak’s incessant whining about the curse, and Tartuk must have swayed some, for when we arrived, we did not go to the chief.
MikMak learned fairly rapidly, that poor Nakpik had already succumbed to the curse, which placed a heavy load upon his spirits from the beginning. We began following the kobold guides through the caves, and while I queried several times about which direction the chief was, and while we did get the answer that he could be reached by following one of several tunnels off to the left, those up front (Volg and Banden continued mindlessly following the guards, and we eventually came into a chamber, where the large purple kobold was prepared to receive us. I am unsure exactly where, but somewhere during this time Nolq had moved off to the left, in search of the chief. The kobold usurper pulled out a stick from his robes, most likely a wand I surmised, and was later proven correct, and demanded of us to, “show me the statue.” Volg began speaking to him, and the kobold attempted to cast a spell of fear onto him. If he knew, that which I suspect, he might have reasoned that to be a useless endeavor, but being just a stupid kobold he did it anyways. This belligerent action set about a chain events that, might have been avoidable, but at least nothing catastrophic happened.
Recognizing the hostile action and its perpetrator as a threat, Banden fired a precipitous shot with his bow, missing wildly. While I usually try and assess a situation before expending resources, I believed the assessment period was over, and this was clearly a hostile situation. I thought “The Woebegone Archer of Tiltubber” to be a particularly appropriate choice for a song, even if the words don’t completely match the title, but you can’t go wrong with the beat in the second refrain. Several kobolds stepped up and tooks swings at the gnome and I, but missed. Kara followed the lead, and called down the blessings of Erastil on our endeavor, while Volg, also called upon his god(dess?) drew his giant blade as he moved into position and brought it crashing down into the purple skinned one. It was obvious this blow had done much damage to the enemy. In moving to the enemy, he bypassed several minor kobolds, who failed to injure him. Stepping away from the demonkin, the purple kobold used his wand to hurl several missiles of force into Kara. Our gnome dropped his bow, and drew his hammerhook, and approached the enemy, leaving myself and Kara to hold the rear, which seemed unlikely at the time. Looking into my bag of tricks, I recognized that grease is rarely a bad option, but for the life of me I didn’t see any real threat to Banden which might warrant it, so I instead used it on the floor at the rear of the cavern between Kara and I and the host of kobolds coming to join in the fray. This immediately caused several of them (two or three I believe) to become unsteady and fall to the ground, which became a pattern over the next minute or so, as a comedy worthy of the finest theaters of Qadira ensued with kobolds slipping and falling, and trying to get at us. One of the kobolds did hurl a spear at the woman, but missed. I took a breath and expressed to the various lesser kobolds assailing us, that we were their friends, or at least wished to be, and that we had fought for, and obtained their statue to end the curse. At least one seemed impressed by my words, although he was already on the ground, so his tactical situation might have affected his morale to fight. Kara recognized the wisdom of my actions, and after applying some healing to herself, she also made entreaties to the various tribemembers. Some of the kobolds who had been up by the purple one when things began, moved in on Volg. I heard him exclaim that the caster kobold had disappeared, so I moved forward to see around the corner, but could see nothing. Banden pointed towards the area where he had last seen the enemy, and I sent a chord of shards in that direction, which I do believe had some effect. Two further spear-kobolds missed our cleric from the rear, but a third rushed up and did stab her, which she was quickly able to heal. With no idea where the purple one was, and no desire to truly hurt the lesser, Volg thumped one of them with his gauntlet, and it crumbled to the ground. I’m not sure he realized it, but it was MikMak who was thus mistreated. The gnome moved around, swinging at empty to space, to try and find the enemy. Looking across the cavern, at a likely and possible escape route, I hurled yet another grease into that place, to slow down the enemy should he attempt to leave. I am aware of magicks which can be used to see, identify, and/or designate the location of invisible creatures, and I believe that I shall have to look into just how those function for the future. Several seconds of further antics, between kobolds, and our party left more kobolds knocked out, and no further damage to us, however we could hear through the caves, the sounds of further kobolds apparently fighting with Nolq. I swear that rodent will be the death of us all, and certainly the death of himself. Banden looked to me and declared an intention to pursue down the back hallway, and so I dismissed my effect, thus allowing him to pursue. While the demonkin kept knocking out kobolds, Banden yelled out that he needed light down the hall. Why couldn’t he be a dwarf, they take far less maintenance? Kara met his need with her daylight cast upon a rock, and off again he was after the purple one, he hoped. We could hell talk and yells of parley from around the corner from Nolq and apparently the actual chief. We agree to parley, and Volg handed the statue to one of the remaining kobolds, who took it to the chief. The chief then smashed it, and declared the curse broken, and Tartuk banished. I am not exactly where, but Nolq was hiding, apparently having made himself invisible, and used his abilities to escape the rush of kobolds. We made an agreement with the chief to leave his domain, although we promised to return, as we intended to make a treaty or arrangement with him. We exited out the mine, through the back hallway, in pursuit of the gnome, only to find him in relatively bad shape at the end of the hallway. Apparently when he caught up, he had a tiger by the tail, and that tiger had since gotten away. The gnome and the rat moved moved out (following some healing for the gnome) to scout, but not before I enabled each of them to whisper to me from a distance, and I to them. In short, I believe this tactic can be useful, but we will need to explore how best to use it. Our two scouts were unable to find the kobold, although some trail was found. We went back around the mound to retrieve our horses, and returned to try and follow the tracks. After a short while, the tracks ended precipitously, with no further course of action readily obvious, we returned to the sycamore yet again. At least tonight my watch has passed uneventfully.
With everyone, except Volg, who still suffers nightmares, well rested this morning, we set out to finally look into this “Staglord” business as instructed by the Swordlords. Late in the day, we stopped when we spotted the fort, and moved to the side, to find cover from which we could scout the fort. With wooden walls more than forty hands high, scaling them is clearly not the best option. “Palisades” they are called, or so Volg tells me. I enjoy new words, even if they represent an impediment to my current goals. With a large gate in the middle of the “palisades” the place appears impenetrable to me, but the others are not so sure. As they were bedding down earlier, the debate was down to discussing the merits of a frontal attack via the pathway, which is watched, or from the hills to the side, which appear completely ignored by the defenders. Naturally, jokes about “what could go wrong” ensued. There is a third option to be discussed, which is a subterfuge option, but I believe that we might want to gather some information from those repentant bandits that were turned over to Erastil a while back. Perhaps they have ideas, or are aware of passwords and the like. At least we have several “staglord” pendants, which might add to a disguise. Time enough for those discussions in the morning.
We spent the bulk of the day today moving around and viewing the fort from afar. We were able to get a pretty good idea of the layout of the fort, their routines, and some of their personnel. We have laid out a plan for tonight. We will approach from the unguarded hillside, with the two scouts out front. I’m unsure what the exact plan is once we get closer, but the others are full of confidence. This is my first time attacking a fort, so I must trust those more experienced than myself.
I say “disastrous,” but by rights I should not be such a pessimist. We all survived, and are back safely away from the fort, and again have it under observation.
I will recount the events of the evening.
During the depth of night, when the fort’s occupants should be expected to be at their lowest ebb of preparation, we set out, with the gnome and the rat in the lead, somewhat ahead of us, followed by Volg and Kara and finally myself. It was a cloudy night, and I could see reasonably well out to a rod or so, while the others with their enhanced vision were much more at home than I in the dark. I’m told we made it roughly half way across the empty field to the fort, when we encountered several zombies. These zombies were putrid, and were erupting out of the ground at our feet. At first, I knew we had stopped, and Volg moved forward, and directed the forward two to fall back due to the attack. While I was unsure of the exact nature of the attack, I commenced a quiet pantomime to exhort my comrades in the upcoming fight, recognizing the need to remain quiet, and that they all would have no trouble witnessing my performance. I saw Nolq fall back and launch a bomb into the darkness. I held my breath awaiting the explosion, but was pleased when none came, as he had apparently used acid, instead of fire, also due to our desire to be stealthy in our endeavor. I saw Kara cast a spell of silence, for the same reason. I first saw the putrid flesh of the zombies when they came into my view and attacked both Kara and Volg. Volg struck back at his opponent wounding it grievously, but due to its horrid nature, it seemed to take little notice of the damage. Drawing Jothan’s blade while I moved, I finished off the creature that the demon had started in on. Nolq slew one with more acid, and yet another was dropped by Volg just after it had injured Nolq. I understand there had been a fourth, which I believe Nolq had handled with his first throw. I am unsure what Bandonsmoreroot was doing during all of this, but a decision was made to fall back towards the treeline.
While moving, four more zombies emerged and assaulted us. Again I started my silent pantomime. I was surprised to see Nolq fall away from the enemy, however without making any attacks. One of the undead moved in and swiped at me, but narrowly missed, as I leaned away. Kara called down the power of Erastil, and she burned much goodness into the corpses assailing us. This allowed Volg to destroy one, and I hit another. I saw the gnome moving in, putting away his bow, and drawing his hammerhook. Again I dodged the claws of my attacker, and again Volg attacked and dropped a zombie with his massive blade. Banden attacked and dropped the creature that was on me, and Kara and Volg teamed up to reduce the last to the corpse it should already have been.
We moved further back from the fort, and took some cover, as during this time fighting zombies, the occupants of the fort had commenced shooting fiery arrows into the field, presumably looking to find out what was making the racket in the field. Kara and I were huddled behind a large rock, catching our breath, when three more zombies erupted from the ground and attacked us. Kara healed herself quickly, followed by Volg coming in and attacking one of the ones on me. Both Kara and I were hit by zombies, but she was able to heal herself before two more swung at her and missed. Nolq dropped an acid bomb onto the zombie attacking me, which damaged the zombie, but also damaged me. I chided him on the subject later, but he was unrepentant. The last I knew a zombie struck me again, and I fell to the ground. I awoke to Kara healing me, and all of the zombies being gone. We made it back to the woods, healed up, and rested the night.
It is just after noon, and we spotted the Staglord today, or at least we assume we did. A hulking figure, with a helm adorned with antler could only be the Staglord, right? Tonight we will send Nolq in to scout the area fully before we make another attempt on the keep.
Last night Nolq snuck out under cover of darkness and was able to discern quite a lot about the workings of the fort itself. He got right up against the palisades, could see inside a little, and could hear voices, coughing, and the occasional sleeping fart from their barracks. While we already knew the basic layout, we did learn two things of note: 1) no zombies attacked tonight 2) there is no hidden entrance. I raised the subject again of using subterfuge, but was voted down. We missed an opportunity several days ago, as Norgorber’s Ascension Day was on 2 Desnus, which might have provided some cover for our subterfuge, but alas, the frontal assault will commence tonight.
It was a long hard fight last night, but as the Dawnflower sheds her light over us this morning, we have the comfort of knowing we overcame a great challenge. We are battered and bruised, but we are not broken, although most of us fell asleep with nary a thought for security as we were so exhausted, we nonetheless survived the night, and the prospects ahead of us are bright. If only Stansilaw was still with us.
Last night, we opened our attack with an archery attack against one of the towers. The plan had been for the archers to quickly take out the guard there, and that we could then scale the walls and enter the fort that way. As usually happens, Plan A was unsuccessful. The initial volley of arrows did not clear the tower wall, and the guard returned fire while calling upon his own compatriots. My friends continued to pelt the fortress with arrows, as I rushed forward, determined to take the walls or to die trying. Alas, climbing is not a skill I have mastered, and after several attempts by myself and Volg who had joined me, we were greeted by the sound of a portcullis opening off to our right, as the defenders chose to sally forth from their keep to engage us in combat. Our archers continued firing at the guards on the walls, while I followed Volg towards the now open gate, as in my horror emerged both an owlbear and a giant of a man. With the assistance of the archers Volg was able to drop the owlbear almost immediately, but as I came into view from the interior of the keep a man there took my measure and decided he disliked me. His visage was covered with a large horned helm, and he could be none other than the Stag Lord. He gave me the most awful stare one can imagine, and unleashed an arrow that dropped me in my tracks. I am unsure of the details from the next several moments, but when I was roused by Kara’s healing ministrations, I found that the fight had moved through the portcullis and into the keep proper.
Unable to get right into things myself, I was able to embolden my compatriots with a song of triumph in the face of adversity, and I saw both Volg and Bandenmooroot smile as the tune struck them, and they set about to revenge my discomfort at having been shot. I understand that one of the bandits, seemingly ready to make a coup against his former master took the opportunity to turn on the Stag Lord, and thus distracted the various bandits while our group continued to drop the others. It is perhaps for the best that the turncoat did not survive our assault, for what use have we of a man who will turn on his companions at the hour of their most dire need? A bit of a chase ensued through the keep as several of us moved to the rooftops and Volg chased the Stag Lord through the alleys inside the wooden palisade. Several bandits surrendered, and ultimate Volg crashed his blade into the keep’s former master, and we were victorious. The last things I remember from last night was a quick search of the place, in which we discovered some treasure, a secret tunnel into the keep, and learned of the existence of a “creature” beneath the keep.
This morning we will go beneath the keep and ferret out the creature and see just what we find.
The “creature” described to us by the bandit prisoners turned out to be nothing more than a deranged old man, seemingly with druidic abilities. It was a good fight, but the end was never in doubt, as my companions combined to set the old man’s mind and body to rest relatively quickly.
The others are digging graves, and once we’re done, we will leave this keep, board it up, and hopefully never return. We take with us, the two prisoners, who we hope to reform, as well as the Stag Lord’s body, which Volg insists we drop into the waters of the river to the northeast where we fought the water ghost some time ago.
Around mid morning, we arrived at the ferry, where after a few words were said, Volg dropped the Stag Lord’s body, both pieces, into the river. Almost immediately the watery ghost emerged and hooked his horrible hands into the body parts and dragged them beneath the deep. It seemed to thank Volg for his gift, and as he returned to the depths, a magic ranseur wafted up onto the shore. A ranseur? Who uses those? Well, we’ll make a use of it somehow.
We continued on to the kobold caverns, hoping to follow up with them and ensure they were on the road to not being a menace to the area, however when we arrived their caves were empty. The trackers determined they had probably left a week ago, and were unable to track them. We concluded that they have likely gone to Stanislav’s sycamore tree now that the mites have been eliminated, and we will follow them on the morrow.
As the Varisians would say, it was “no dice” at the sycamore tree. We have no idea where the kobolds may have gone, and so back to Oleg’s we will travel. Hopefully a long day’s travel will give us warm beds and Svetlana’s cooking for breakfast tomorrow.
This morning we were treated to a great breakfast by Svetlana. She and Oleg have been delighting in hearing our tales of adventure, although a cloud of sorrow comes over her face whenever Stanislaw is mentioned, I believe she fancied the poor lad.
We presented our report to Kestin today, and he has confirmed that there has been considerably fewer reports of kobolds in the area. Also, while he is convinced that the Stag Lord was defeated, he will need to take our two prisoners back to Brevoy so they can provide testimonials to the fact themselves. He has assured us that being truly repentant, they will be unharmed, and will return with him in a week or so. Additionally, Kestin asked us about several other matters, missing persons and such, and we answered with the truth to them as we knew it.
It is most unfortunate that we were unable to find Svetlana’s ring, perhaps we can help Oleg to provide a suitable replacement.
I want to apologize for the relative brevity of the last several entries in Zahir's journal. I attribute it to the following:
We played those sessions some months ago and I only now got to writing them as we are starting into Book 2
I cannot find Zahir's detailed notes from the actual fights at the Stag Lord's keep
the events following the Stag Lord's keep were handled via email as a house cleaning effort, before we moved on to Runelords for a bit
My excitement at building a kingdom has overcome my excitement for recounting past endeavors, but rest assured Zahir will continue his journal in the new stage of his story.
Shortly after the noon meal, Kestin returned with the two prisoners from Brevoy, a caravan of people and supplies, some excellent weaponry for Banden and Nolq, as well as a new
charter:
Be it so known that the bearers of this charter, having delivered the northern reaches of the Greenbeltfrom the scourge of banditry, having provided detailed maps of the lay of the land, and having done no small amount of work in the exploration of said land and the culling of hostile monsters and indigenous hazards, are hereby granted the right to rule. The nature and laws of rule are theirs to define, and the wellbeing of this new nation is theirs to protect. In accordance for providing a stable nation to the south of central Rostland, let there be a generous stipend of funds, support, and advice provided to this fledgling nation as a token of Restov, and Brevoy’s , goodwill, such that future relations between kingdoms might be mutually beneficial. So witnessed under the watchful eye of the Lordship of Restov and by the authority granted by Lord Noleski Surtova, current Regent of the Dragonscale Throne.
Founding a nation? Such as we are rarely given the opportunity to do this. Are we mere puppets to be manipulated by the Swordlords? Yes, I am certain they think we are, and perhaps we shall be, for a time, but we shall see what She decrees for the future.
For now, we have a kingdom to plan, and I cannot wait to see what fool we convince to lead this fledgling nation!
Just as every house and building requires a cornerstone, so too must every nation. It was logical that Oleg's be the cornerstone of our fledgling nation, as it has been our place of safety during the last months.
I should recount a bit of the last two weeks. Excited about the prospects of taming the lands, my compatriots conspired against me, and I find that I am nominated as leader of the new kingdom, or whatever it shall become. I do not feel all that kingly, so perhaps a monarchy is not what Riverstan shall be. Yes, we have combined the name of our fallen comrade and referenced the abundance of rivers in this area in the naming of our new land. And while Olegton will be the cornerstone of our nation, and possibly its economic heart, I feel a pull further to the south, and we will establish our capitol at the Stag Lord's old fortress, once we have expanded to it.
I'm certain my motives were far from transparent to my companions, but I delayed the laying of the groundwork to build up this city until the first day of the Dawnflower's own month. How better to revere her but to commence such an undertaking in her name, and on her day!
Our new land is well served with Volg as General, Banden as Councilor, Bokken as Grand Diplomat, Jhod as High Priest, Kara as Magister, Svetlana as Marshal, Nolq as Spymaster, Oleg as Treasurer, and Kestin has thrown his lot in with us as the Warden. I am a bit hazy on how Bokken became Diplomat, but I am assured that his hermitness will not harm us in the short term, and do we need much diplomacy so soon? Well, I will keep my eye out for a replacement for him.
Our fledgling nation is growing after just three months. In the next month or so, we have plans to annex an area of forests, with proper assurances to the Fey that we come not to despoil them, but to honor them and live in harmony with them.
It is with joy in my heart that I can recount that we successfully came to arrangements with Tyg-Titter-Tut who has agreed to become our Marshal. I have charged him with ensuring that the needs of the Fey within the lands are well met by the greater nation, and vice versa. Accordingly, we are building roads within the woods, although no living trees will be cut to do so, which will cause the endeavor to take a bit longer than originally anticipated. A cheap price to pay for maintaining good relations with the fey.
Svetlana has agreed to be our Diplomat, and Bokken was quite happy to return to his hovel.
A bit of bad news, we had a terrible earthquake last month that destroyed some buildings, but the people rallied, and the damages are being repaired.
Can I express that the paperwork involved with running even such a small place as this is astounding?
One more thing, General Volg's rapid efforts at relief and reconstruction following the earthquake were quite effective. A delegation from afar came to learn from his efforts, so we're making a difference!
Tyg came to me today to announce that his people we so pleased with how things were going in the forests that a large number of them had emigrated from other forests, and the nation's coffers were bountiful. This is excellent, and exactly what I had hoped would happen as we make friends in this region.
Next month we plan to lay claim to the area of the Stag Lord's fortress and create a city there, to be called Riverton.
The gold from the mine up north is helping a lot. We need to claim the silver mine as well, but that area is not yet completely explored. No time now, but soon.
Stanislaw's tree, and its surroundings have been annexed by Riverstan.
Banden is looking to lead an expedition east beyond Bokken's to claim some more plains lands for farms and such. How I yearn for a good sweet wine. Maybe we can grow some grapes in this land?
A great lightning storm struck Olegton, but it is being cleaned up. This has also caused a bit of unrest, but General Volg assures me he can start a building project next month and fix things right up!
As long as Zahir continues to draw breath, he will continue to write in his journal. Unfortunately he tends to adventure on alternate Tuesdays, so we have bit of a wait until the next installment.
I find that I made a promise and have not kept it up overly well.
I will aim to correct this, and bring things somewhat up to date in the next week or so.
Zahir and his companions have had many new adventures, so he will summarize them, and perhaps identify the state of the nation of Riverstan in his hournal entry.
I think perhaps I may speak for the rest of unwashed, unbeliever dogs when I
say that I look forward to the continuing tales of the great & good Zahir.
