| hoborider |
Beginning of Campaign up to 17 March.
The Fringe of the Age.
The age is winding to a close. Long have people lived in a state of constant struggle between races and borders. Some stability has come between the dwarves and humans. The Aiel have long since removed themselves to their Three-Fold Land. But the Seanchan, having solidified their grasp on the west, seek to expand their territory. They cling to their old ways of capturing and enslaving magic users using them as devastating weapons in border conflicts and as free labor in mines and other lowly work.
Our adventurers set forth from the town of Denhuar in a region on the north of Andor. A town of tradesmen and merchants. A town of smugglers and opportunists. It was here that the group happened to meet. Two of the group, a half-elf from New Seandar, and a business man from Andor, crossed paths by chance as the half-elf was being smuggled from New Seandar to a life of hope and freedom in the east. The business man aided in extricating the half-elf from Seanchan-controlled lands.
The town, 10 or so days south of the Blight, was attacked by Trollocs. The group rushed to the aid of the townsfolk. They rescued an older dwarf on the edge of town whose house had come under attack. The dwarf thanked the group and mentioned the sad state of defenses in the town and that the Mayor, who hadn’t been seen in a few weeks, was mostly to blame for the town not having a wall and better defenses.
The group went back to the town’s tavern and overheard a rather boisterous old dwarf by the name of Borin berating three other dwarves for not finding the mayor. One from the group approached Borin and Borin related that the Mayor had indeed gone missing on a trip to his Manor House and gold mine in the north by the Blight. Borin also commented on the fact that a Trolloc raid hadn’t been seen this far south of the Blight in generations.
The group agreed to go and locate the Mayor, Lord Dain, with Borin’s promise that the town council could find some way to reward the party. With that, the party set off north over land to the Manor House. This 10-day journey was fraught with peril and encounters with strange creatures.
Upon reaching the Manor, the group discovered it occupied by elves from New Seandar and partly destroyed. The group was caught while trying to scout the area and a skirmish broke out. The elves were handily dispatched, but the group managed to keep some survivors for questioning. The Senior Lieutenant let slip that he was there to meet a special guest, but was unable to say who or why. Some magical force was preventing him from revealing any more information. One of the prisoners showed the party where the entrance to the mine was located. The group also discovered a hidden treasure trove within the manor. There they discovered, amongst other things, two strange discs. The first was half white, half black with a sinuous line dividing the two halves into two teardrop forms (forming a Yin Yan without the dots). The second disc was a dull-gray metallic with a spiral pattern etched into it. Both were roughly 5 inches in diameter and an inch thick. The first disc radiated magic at a level that was nearly blinding. The second disc, the metallic disc, also radiated divination magic, but not to such an extent. The group was unable to discern the origin or functions of these discs but is holding on to them for the time being.
The group ventured into the mine after a nights rest and stumbled onto quite a scene. They followed the sounds of hammers ringing out to a small group of workers trying to clear a cave-in. These workers were less than hospitable and attacked, but were quickly killed. One of the party members, Ratchet, then overheard some voices and began to investigate.
This led to the discovery of a secret opening. He and another party member, Zetaya, wriggled through the tight space and overheard a strange voice speaking. This voice had the sound of a snake crawling over dead leaves and gravel and sent shivers down their spines.
The voice was that of a Myddraal speaking with someone. The group could only hear one side of the conversation, but it spoke of strange things. The Myddraal spoke about a girl, of her importance, and of the girl being taken to the Master. It also spoke about Carhein and that the Aiel were in hand and the invasion would begin as planned.
It was then that the two in the secret tunnel attempted to get closer and were discovered. The Myddraal ordered those in the cave with him to attack and melted away into the shadows. The fight was long and nearly cost the lives of Ratchet and Zetaya. Unfortunately the group had gotten split apart and the two casters, Dregor and Covajhin were out of the melee until near the end. In fact, Dregor, whilst trying to make his way to his comrades, charged headlong into a pit trap. Covajhin extracted him only for Dregor to fall victim to the fearsome gaze of the Myrddraal.
As the fight drew to a close, the Myrddraal stepped back out of the shadows to finish off the party. An older dwarf being held captive yelled to be released and one of the party rushed to spring him from his cage. The dwarf took up a sword and rushed the Myddraal, but not before it casually swatted at Zetaya, sending her flying through the air to collapse unconscious and nearly dead. The dwarf lashed out with ferocious skill and power and the Myddraal withdrew into the shadows again, but not before giving a dire warning, “We know you now, fear not, for we shall hunt you like hounds hunt a rabbit!”
The party, badly beaten, turned to this dwarf and discovered that he was indeed Lord Dain. Lord Dain spoke about how troubling all this was. Upon hearing that Trollocs attacked Denhuar, so far south of the Blight, Lord Dain was troubled indeed. He spoke vaguely about his fears of what all this meant and mentioned that the Trollocs may be using tunnels to travel undetected to the southlands.
Lord Dain was so troubled by the things heard in the cave he suggested delivering messages to all the kingdoms along the Blight border to warn the dwarves of a possible Trolloc incursion. The party agreed to deliver messages to various Borderland kingdoms. Lord Dain was to travel west to Maradon while the party travels east to Chachin and beyond all the way to Fal Dara at the Spine of the World. Lord Dain said he would draw up papers that could be presented to the gate guards that would provide them swift passage to the kings. Dain also promised to give the party papers that could be presented at any bank in the Borderlands or in the capital city of Andor (Camelyn). With these documents, the party could withdraw a large sum of gold in reward for rescuing Dain and delivering the messages to the Borderland kingdoms.
The party is still at Lord Dain’s manor house preparing for departure on a trip that promises to be long and arduous (and likely fraught with peril).
| hoborider |
17 March Entry:
Having made their preparations, the group bid farewell to Lord Dain and wished him well. They set off for Chachin, a city along the Blight Border, at a good pace. It seemed that the Light was on their side as the weather didn't hamper them and the foul creatures, which oft times raid south, left the group in peace.
Two days into the week-long journey to Chachin, the group met another band of travelers and shared a campfire with them. This band of travelers was an odd bunch with piecemeal armor and weaponry. They told the group that they were headed north into the Blight to find the lost kingdom of Malkier to find a hidden treasure. When the group questioned this, the travelers recounted a tale they had heard that an Oracle for the Empress of New Seandar had foretold the rebirth of the Dragon. Rumor of this spread south with the merchants and the King of Illian, so rumor had it, was preparing to call the Great Hunt for the Horn of Valere.
None in the group had ever heard of such a horn. The Travelers proceded to tell them the fables of how the Horn would bring back the dead heros to fight the Dragon who had caused the last Breaking and caused humanity to shatter. The group was skeptical and warned the travelers to stay out of the Blight, but the young band of travelers was undeterred.
A few nights later, closer to Chachin, the group happened upon another band of travelers. This group offered to share ale and spirits as well as a fire. The night passed and the groups both bedded down. Halfway through the night, Zetaya was awoken from her slumber in the trees by some strange sound. She looked down in time to see two from the travelers about to murder Covahin in his sleep. She raised the alarm in the nick of time. A battle ensued and all of the would-be assassins were quickly dispatched. A search of the bodies revealed drawings, rather crude, of all of the members of the group.
The group pressed on. The next evening, Covahin had a strange and terrible dream of a man in a strange room. The man was tall and broad-shouldered with wavy red hair. He was watching as Myrddraal tortured a young woman. Covahin moved and the tall man spun, surprised to find someone in this place. He lashed out, cutting Covahin's cheek and thrust powerfully. Covahin flew threw the air out of a dark tower on the side of a black volcano which was spewing forth hot ash into a wicked sky. Covahin fly over mountains and twisted lands to wake in his body - with a gash on his cheek.
After a long week's travel, the group arrived in Chachin and found an inn. It was busy, with merchants gambling at the tables. Ratchet sat and decided to try his luck at dice while the rest of the group found their beds. Ratchet's luck was good and he attracted the attentions of a sultry redhead.
The woman bought Ratchet round after round of drink and when the dicing was done, offered to buy him more if he joined her at a table. Ratchet agreed, but failed to notice the woman slip poison into his cup. Ratchet was unconscious in minutes.
The group woke the next morning to find Ratchet missing and no clues to find him. After a full day of searching, a member of the Merchant's Guild remembered having seen a woman matching the description of the sultry redhead leaving with her caravan early that morning heading north at a fast pace.
The group set out north and the trail led straight into the Blight. After a nasty encounter with two Darkhounds, the group finally caught up to the caravan in the middle of the night in a pouring rain. As they approached stealthily, they saw the first band of travelers they had encountered. They were arguing with the woman. Then the woman had her guards murder the travelers in cold blood. The group decided to strike while the iron was hot.
They slipped around to either side of the wagon, hoping to pin them down with crossfire.
...
To be continued.
| hoborider |
March 31st entry
...
Zetaya let lose with a barrage of arrows through the thick brush and pouring rain. The first few shots flew wide of their intended target. She is still getting used to her new bow. But the third arrow struck true. The melee had begun.
Mark quickly moved forward and hurled a javelin, scoring a glancing blow off one of the guards. Dregor and Covahjin maneuvered for better position. The guards rushed forward, one toward Mark and three toward Zetaya. The woman at the wagon screamed for someone to stay and protect her.
It was an intense fight. Zetaya was nearly killed and Mark was on death's door. Quick thinking by Covahjin and Dregor saved both their lives. At some point in the fight Ratchet managed to escape the box he was being held captive in. He did what he could to aid in the battle despite being nearly naked and unarmed.
The foes were vanquished; two were left unconscious and nearly dead. The group, badly beaten and exhausted, decided to take the wagon and head south out of the blight as quickly as they could. Unfortunately this was the Blight. Danger found them quickly enough. Dregor and a few others from the party quickly noticed two Dragkhar high in the air shadowing the party. Not long after that, a large monstrosity of an insect attacked.
The group dismounted the wagon, trying to find cover from which to attack. Unfortunately for Ratchet, the cover he found was not good enough and the insect attacked and nearly killed him. It attached to Ratchet's body, a long thin barb piercing his shoulder. Ratchet was left staggered and confused as the creature began draining his blood. The others reacted quickly launching arrows and arcane magics at it and the beast was quickly dispatched.
Now completely exhausted, out of spells and running low on everything else, the group tried to urge more speed out of the horses. But it wasn't long before the group noticed the unmistakable sounds of Trollocs in the distance and closing fast. Zetaya, who was driving the wagon, whipped the horses into a fury and the party was able to stay ahead of the horde.
Finally, at nightfall, the group reached the safety of Chachin's walls. Some from the group sought the comforts of a warm inn and a good drink. Others wanted to head directly to the King to deliver the message from Lord Dain. In the end, Covajhin and Mark found a dwarven guard who agreed to take them to the King.
The meeting with the King was brief, but the pair convinced the King of their story and the dangers as outlined in the letter. The King offered the group rooms in the palace with the promise to meet with them the next day. The King's advisor, an old weathered dwarf, took special interest in the half-black, half-white disc the group had found. It reminded of something, but the dwarf couldn't put his finger on what exactly. He did know that it was a symbol for the long lost Aes Sedai. Covajhin agreed to show the old dwarf the disc the next day as Dregor was currently in possession of hit.
The group was settled into comfortable rooms in the palace in short order (after a brief incident with Mark, Zetaya, and caltrops). The group, though exhausted and badly beaten, somehow felt stronger for having made it into, and more importantly back out of, the Blight. What they do next remains to be seen. Perhaps their fate is already written in Pattern. Perhaps they will make their own fate. Only time will tell.