November 05th, 202211/5/2022 Session 17: 11/12/2022
Dec. 08 0925 (10/08/0925) Steve was finally able to decode the cyphered book recovered from the cult’s complex. It was titled “The Revelations of Finis”. It explains how Finis come to be a start a cult for Bruzuz, and what his plans were. Finis had been receiving dreams from Brazuz ever since he renounced the Church of Ignimius after being beaten by a priest for laughing during a religious service as a child. It also explained that the affects of the glowing stone can be blocked and even reflected by certain types of minerals. The cult was building a dome over the glowing stone to concentrate and focus its affects, eventually with the plan of directing the deadly affects onto the towns of Ridgeside, then eventually the City of Urna. Steve and Sir Linus talked with Magnus and the council about the defense of Horsely against a future attack by Baron Robert the Blue of Great Orten. Sir Linus, who is less fanatically anti-wizard than the people of Ridgeside asked Magnus about the use of a theoretical wizard in the defense of Horsely. Magnus said that if there was a wizard in the army, it would be best to keep it secret. People can accept a lot as rumors, but when things are open and obvious some may not be able to let it stand. Immediately after this Sir Linus walked up to the Sorceress' Tower on the outskirts of Horsely and yield that he would like to speak to Lyra. The only response was a deep, painful throbbing from within Linus' bones that persuaded him to leave (Linus passed an Idn check). After checking in with the 'leadership' of Horesly, Sir Linus desired to speak with Baron Hudson of New Ash to see what his thoughts were about the political situation in the county. He didn't seem to have much to say, but when Sir Linus mentioned that he had brought 60+ soldiers from Selvatico, Baron Hudson offered to join Sir Linus in his campaign to stabilize Ridgeside if Sir Linus joined Baron Hudson's glorious war against the Lizardmen in the Spring. Steve's reason for coming was to check on the Old Baroness of New Ash, Baroness Baath whom the party had found practicing "dime-store necromancy". After the party was instrumental in overthrowing her Baron Hudson had her walled up in the palace. Executions, technically, can only be carried out by paladins, which is why Baath was walled up alive. Steve and Baron Hudson had a conversation steeped in innuendo and double talk, but amounted to Steve telling Hudson he was worried and wanted to check that Baath was dead and still in the wall. Hudson had a guard show Steve where Baath was, and would allow Steve to kill her. But when a brick was removed Baath was found alive and well with food, water, wine, candles, and bedding. A brick had been removed from the back wall of the 'cell' and Baath was very open that one of her many loyalists had been providing her with food and water. Steve and Baath talked. Baath was seemingly the best leader in the county before she was deposed and Steve asked her what she would do about the state of the county. Baath's advice was straight forward. Let me escape and return to Horsely and I can guide you through all these pitfalls. After all what you are trying to do in the County of Ridgeside is exactly what I did in the barony of New Ash. Starting with no claim to power take a dilapidated economically and politically troubled region and restore it to peace and prosperity. The former Baroness said, she did it once she could do it again.
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Session 16: 10/15/2022
Nov. 16 0925 (09/16/0925) The party waited for the appointed rendezvous that had been set with Jerrin Ilk and his bandits. Several horse-drawn sleds were prepared to bring food back to Ridgeside from Selvatico, and barrels of ab aurantiaco (Swift's concoction made from the glowing ore) were readied for transport. Before they left Swift instructed the Council in charge of Horsely that if Robert the Blue of Great Orten came in force, the village should simply give him the food he demanded since the party would be returning with enough food to replace any that was lost and feed Great Orten all winter. The caravan guarded by bandits faced little danger, except the weather which was unusually cold and windy. They had to back track to buy better shoes and socks for everyone, but in the end several NPCs suffered frostbite. Once in Selvatico, the caravan arrived at Bartolome, a town on the Spiral Lake. Jerrin started selling the ab aurantiaco, some people were sold straight ab aurantiaco, others were sold ab aurantiaco cut with potato starch, and some were sold pure potato starch. 3050g was raised, Jerrin's cut was 938g, and 1350g of food was bought to be brought back to Ridgeside. The party also sold the Hatchet of Adversary Marking to a local baron in exchange for the right to muster troops, 300g worth of wages paid to those troops, and 300g in currency. The party raised the following troops and support personnel; 30 Light Infantry, 30 Archers (10 with horses), 5 Light Cavalry, 2 scouts, an Engineer, a Priest (L3, Heb), and a glassblower. During this time the party also met Sir Linus Wooddfall the son of a defunct noble family. 100's of years ago they held a Barony in Ridgeside that was lost after some calamity. He is also returning with the party hoping to learn more of his family's past, and correct the political turmerol in the county. With a small army (and the Cult likely destroyed) the caravan was never in danger while traveling back to Horsely, although some combat took place during scouting. The march back to Horsely left the army frozen and miserable. They started constructing a camp, but will need time to recover. Once back the party learned that Baron Robert the Blue of Great Orten did in fact march on army of several hundred to Horsely demanding food. Because of the party's earlier directive Magnus and the council simply gave up their food and the surprised Robert the Blue simply took the food and left. But looking at the amount of food Robert took and the population of Great Orten, the party fears that he will soon be back. A Fight Too Early9/22/2022 Session 15: 09/17/2022
Nov. 13 0925 (9/13/0925) Having just killed the Flaming Man the party felt pressure to continue pushing into the valley. They know that the poisoned food they had gotten to the cult when having its affect right now… The party decided that Swift should scout the rest of the valley even though he is badly injured. Swift stealthily moved north and saw a small but very tall waterfall at the head of the valley. An artificially carved path ran up the wall of the valley and dead ended behind the mist of the falling water. Swift set off a trap while walking up the path causing a small section of the wall to collapse. This made the path impassable. He was able to dive further up the path and out of the way and was lucky to find a place he could hide (stealth) before Finis the Revelator and 2 other cultists came to examine the rock fall. The cultists cleared the rock fall to look for the body of the person who set it off, while talking about how it could not be a coincidence that this happened “at the same time everyone got poisoned”. After the cultists left Swift continued up the path, which ended behind the mist of the waterfall in a 10’ by 10’ carved passageway. When he tried to enter a Holy Ward was triggered delivering a powerful (silent) blast of negative energy that mortally wounded him. Because the wound was negative energy Swift was not bleeding but he could worsen his injury (unto death) with each attempt to move or fight. He was able to find a place to hide in the mist and shadow. Meanwhile… The rest of the party was still back in the Cave of the Flaming Man, awaiting Swift’s return. When they heard the sound of the rockfall, everyone decided something did not go according to plan and they would try and rescue Swift if he was still alive. Silas was clear that the party COULD NOT engage in a pitched battle—he had no Charges, Steve has already cast several spells, Traveling Matt had an injured leg that would slow his running, and they all were beaten up to some degree. The three heroes jogged as best they could to the path in the side of the cliff. Partway up the path they were spotted. Swift saw Finis, in battered plate mail and three other cultists getting ready to fight the party. He stayed hidden… but then Bezuz the demon made of nothing but a mass of squirming maggots, rounds a corner and looked directly at Swift. Seeing his chances growing slimmer by the second, Swift lashed out with surprise at Finis delivering a crippling and moral blow, but not an instantly fatal one. Swift could try and run or stay and fight. He choice to fight and scored another quick hit that this time did drop Finis. Swift turned to run but his mortal wound finally caught up to him and with a grimace of pain he slumped into unconsciousness. Steve, Traveling Matt, and Ex. Silias were within sight of the entrance as the three surviving cultists and Bezuz started to run out. Steve cast Icy Cloud on the entrance behind the misty waterfall. This injured all the cultists and Bezuz, but more importantly, every surface was coated in a wet frost as the mist froze. Two of the three running cultists fell from the narrow path and plummeted 70 feet to the rocky pool below. The third froze to death, as did Swift, if he was still alive. A heroic fight ensued between the injured and ill-prepared adventurers and Bezuz the Maggot Demon. Silas fought with his claymore and miracles, while augmenting Matt who tried in vain to push the Maggot Demon off the ledge. Steve created a Phantasm of a stereotypical Paladin who fought alongside Matt, but more critically he cast the 0th level spell Infest. When Bezuz attacked, maggots borrowed into the wound causing more and more trauma. But the nearby Infest spell attracted the maggots away from their targets—greatly reducing the threat from Bezuz’s attacks. Although the demon's ability to Summon Swarms of biting flies remained potent. With the help of the Phantasm and the Infest spell, Traveling Matt and Ex. Silas desperately fought Bezuz and were injuring the demon. Silas and Steve were looking for ways to extricate themselves from a fight they knew they were unprepared for. But when given the chance Traveling Matt got past Bezuz on the narrow ledge and RAN (in spite of his injured leg) to his nephew Swift (who was, unbeknownst to Matt, already dead). Tragicly Traveling Matt slipped on the wet and still icy ledge and fell to his death. The two surviving party member covered their retreat with the phantasm of the paladin, which fought on. But they soon stopped and realized that the injured Bezuz may have been killed by the Phantasm (its unclear how demons respond to phantasmal damage). With this hope, and not wanting the death of their friends to be in vain, Silas and Steve returned to the sight of the battle. They found Bezuz, now appearing as a man made of a thin web of maggots, seemingly feeding on Finis' body. Interpreting this as the Demon being severely injured and although he was badly injured himself, Ex. Silas attacked. With significant help from Steve's spells, Silas was victorious and slew the great demon. Entering the complex behind the waterfall Silas and Steve were able to find and kill the rest of the cultists who were suffering badly from the affect of the poison. Exploring the complex fully they found a supernaturally warded book and on Finis the Revelator's desk. They also found a large circular chamber with a dome made of stone blocks at its center. The chamber also had a vertical shaft in its ceiling but Steve and Silas did not approach--from Steve's Mind Reading of cultists, they believe the the large, dangerous, orange glowing rock is inside the dome. Steve and Silas were able to return home without incident. The Defeat of the Flaming Man8/31/2022 Session 14: 08/27/2022 Nov. 13 0925 (9/13/0925) Starting out in the mouth of the Phantasmagoria Cave, the party realized that the miraculous Ralrut’s Weed antidote they possessed could prevent the hallucinations caused by the cave. Everyone was injured but some miraculous healing and the Ralrut’s Weed allowed the party to enter the cave clear-headed to explore. They found the body of the creature that attacked them, it turned out to be Capt. Adel… But at least they recovered a magic dagger from the body. Continuing to explore they were attacked by some cryptic mollusks that looked like stalactites and fell from the ceiling. During the exploration, the preventative powers of the Ralrut’s Weed ended and, suffering from hallucinations, Traveling Matt almost killed Ex. Silas. The party, except for Steve the Sensible, continued exploring. The party also found a pool of clearly poisonous water and a 15 feet cliff. Surely under some mild influence of the cave, Swift repeatedly tried to splash some of the poisonous water into his waterskin and Traveling Matt decided to climb the cliff to save 1 minute of walking. Swift became poisoned and Matt was badly injured in a fall. When finally leaving the cave, the party had to run while under fire from the unerring firebolts of the Flaming Man across the valley. Steve used Levitate to quickly get people across a treacherous section of the switch back. The party was able to find defilade from the attack and rested for the night. In the morning Ex. Silas used most of his Charges to heal the party to a reasonable state and they planned a direct assault on the Flaming Man. Steve made an Illusion of Swift, Ex. Silas, and Matt. The illusion of Swift drew some of the fire as the group ran up another set of switchbacks to the Flaming Man's cave. The party, except for Steve who was slowed by maintaining concentration of the illusions, fought the Flaming Man at the cave entrance. Just being near the flaming man burned the hero’s flesh. The illusions took some hits that otherwise would have been directed towards a hero. Swift was able to dodge several of the Flaming Man’s attacks, Ex. Silas was keeping his fellows covered with divine augmentations and protections, Matt was landing powerful blows. The Flaming Man fled deeper into the cave (just as Steve was arriving). Although the party was badly injured, they pursued. Just keeping up, several twists and turns led the party into a chamber lit by a pool of semi-solid lava. Although exactly what benefit the lave would be to the Flaming Man was unclear, it was clear to everyone that the weakened party had to keep the Flaming Man out of the lava. Swift, being preternaturally agile, was able to speed up, jump over the Flaming man (getting burned), and try and block his path. At the same time Matt was able to speed up and heroically try to grab the Flaming man (getting burned) but failed. Unfortunately, the Flaming Man was able to muscle his way passed Swift (burning him) and get into the lava. In an act of divinely guided marshal skill, Swift threw his short sword at the Flaming Man, hit him, and knocked him out of the lava onto the ground!** Swift and Matt were both grievously injured during the ensuing fight. Ex. Silias was also badly hurt… Steve showed up right as the battle was drawing to a close. The party had killed the Flaming Man. The Flaming Man turned to ash leaving behind a perpetually flaming large mace-like weapon. The party explored the rest of the cavern. No living quarters or other treasure was present. The party did find a long slanted shaft leading to a flooded chamber. Deep in the flooded chamber Steve, an excellent swimmer, found a small rectangular pit carved out of the floor. The pit was lined with green and white tiles. On the floor of the pit were some 30-50 silver discs 3-4 inches in diameter. They all detected as being miraculous, but when one was removed that one remained miraculous, but the rest faded to mandate items. Once out of the water Steve found that the disks had elven script cast into one side of them. **Swift got a free attack because the Flaming Man ‘pushed past’ him. He used the free attack to throw his magic Short Sword of Hurling at the Flaming Man. Swift scored a critical affect and got the result ‘Knockdown” only because the critical affect resistant Flaming Man had already suffered 2 critical affects to the body. The Cave of Phantasmagoria7/24/2022 Session 13: 07/24/2022
Nov. 10 0925 (9/10/0925) The party started outside of Great Orten reevaluating their plans and objectives. They agreed that they needed to force Baron Robert the Blue to distribute to his starving people the grain he was hoarding for his spring campaign against Blythe. This would buy 3 weeks until the party could return to Selvatico for food (and an army). They cobbled together a plan to do this, identifying obstacles and accounting for them. The party would return to Horsely, get two carts, 8 guards, 10 laborers, and Pa. Able, return to Orten, steal the grain using Illusion, Friend, and Trance to neutralize the guard. Then take the food into Orten where Church soldiers and priests would escort it to the temple without Robert's men inspecting it. The last piece of the plan was thought of by Traveling Matt. The Priests of Orten would call for all the town to gather and pray in the temples. The Church would distribute what food they had, saying the town would trust in Valroon to save them from starvation. This would keep the mob off the street while the food was being moved (also making it seems quasi-miraculous when a shipment of food "from the temple in Horsely" immediately arrived). Although there were several complications the plan was accomplished. When Ice Snakes attacked the wagons on the way to Orten one of Horsely's solders was killed, Ex. Silas saved 2 others. Steve was able to frame the Cultist for the theft of the secret grain but maybe also converted the guard to that cult? The party returned to Horsely. Knowing that the poisoned food would be delivered to the Cultists on Nov 13th and likely eaten on the 14th (a cultural feast day and historical harvest festival) they traveled to the valley on the 14th. The trip was shorter then in the past due to the frozen ground, and few terror birds bothered them as they climbed the cliff. Once in the valley the rest of the party hung back hiding in a group of trees. Swift went to the look-out they constructed last time they were here and talked to the bandit Jerrin Ilk stationed there. Among other things the Bandit was able to tell the party a location where the monstrous spiders they've seen are 'based'. Swift scouted the lower section of the valley, identifying the Goblin Mine (with guards), the flaming-man cave, and a cave the party knowns nothing about. When Swift tried to scout deeper into the valley the flaming-man fired some kind of unerring flame-bolt, burning Swift from more than a quarter mile away. Steve created an Illusion of several goblins and sent them out to test the flaming-man. They found that the flame bolts were fired once per minute, their range was greater then the entire width of the valley. Then things took a turn, the Flaming-Man split, or created a smaller copy of itself. The smaller Flaming-Man started towards the party, who ended up separated. Ex. Silas, Swift, and Steve were able to link up but Matt sought shelter in the unknown cave. Silas, Swift, and Steve were able to kill the smaller Flaming-Man, and followed Matt as fast as they could. There was a powerful hallucinogenic affect inside the cave. A strong will could resist it for a few rounds, but its affect was inevitable... And something large was inside the cave repeatedly attacking and running from Matt who had no source of light. The mind-altering nature of the cave made it impossible for the PCs to stay together, move to a desired location, tell friend from foe, or even use items that were not readily available. Headway was slow, in fact the party couldn't really be sure if they were winning or loosing the fight, or even what they were fighting. Until Exemplar Silas had the idea to use his newly acquired Hatchet of Adversary Marking to supernaturally mark the enemy by causing him (her, it?) to glow. With that to focus on the party was able to consistently attack it, and defeat it. The session ended with the party injured, stuck in the entrance of the cave and unsure if there is anything else dangerous in the cave. Or anything of value for that matter. Note Before the party became wanted in Great Orten, Parson Shamus did some research into the maggot man that the party encountered and was unable to injury months ago. Ex. Correll of Great Orten viewed that research and relayed it to the party. Ex. Correll said, there was a wizard named Ossiak who lived in the Stallion Forest around the year 300. His lab was found and looted by a group of adventures in the 600s. One of Ossiak’s books that was recovered told the story of a demon being interrogated by the Church of Ignimius and giving up the name of a maggot-demon named Brezuz who, during Eshrenel’s Rebellion, took the form of a figure made of maggots . Wizards have tried to summon Brezuz from punishment or contact him several times throughout history, but all attempts have failed for unknown reasons. Return of the Basilisk6/26/2022 Session 12: 06/26/2022 Oct. 28 0925 (08/28/0925) The party got to work, Traveling Matt starting glassblowing to make the equipment needed to distill large amounts of ab aurantiaco and ab purpura while Durtanian the Dwarf made the grinding stone that was the key to completely separating the two powders. Meanwhile Swift and Pierce ran patrols around Horsley. On Nov 1st they were intercepted by a farmer who lamented that some giant beast had attacked his sheep and 8 were missing. Swift gathered the party. Upon investigation they found that the gate of the sheep pen had been smashed in by something that left 2 parallel scratches deep into the wood. No blood or gore was seen. An obvious yet indistinct trail led into the peatlands near Horsely. Following the trail, Pierce found a group of clear tracks before the trail left the peatlands. The tracks were of a very large and powerful tailed reptile, most were 4 toed but one showed a foot with only 2 toes. From the peatlands the trail led into the Stallion Forest. Swift led the way, but when he started to push through the brush on the edge of the forest, he found that its thin branched were wrapping themselves around his torso and left arm! He called for help and Matt and Ex. Silias ran up and all three hacked at the bush with their swords. Matt also became entangled and both he and Swift were being gauged and wrenched by the thorny stems. However, the carnivorous bush was destroyed before either was seriously injured and Pierce examined the remains of the bush and was confident that he could identify the plant in the future. The party pressed on and after cresting a small rise a monstrous beast came into view. A huge 20-foot-long reptile with 8 legs and a dinosaur-like head. When its gaze fell upon them Matt, Swift, and Peirce felt their joints stiffen and stabbing pains slice through their skin as slivers of their flesh transmuted into stone (failed an Idn check, resulting in -20% to most physical actions). Steve started casting Icy Cloud while the rest of the party ran forward, spreading out in a wide fan to surround the approaching monster. Swift charged up the center, but before he could land a blow, he met the stare of the monster and turned completely into stone (failed a second Idn check). Matt fared better and was able to strike the creature, clearly understood as a Basilisk by now, several times. He also succumbed to the creature's gaze and was petrified but not before suffering from the reptile’s crushing jaws and slashing claws. Pierce was badly outmatched, but held his ground delaying the Basilisk reaching Steve. One swipe of a claw had Pierce gutted and prone on the ground. Ex. Silias, clearly protected from the evil beast by Valroon, fought on and was never affected by the monster’s power. He was able to alternately cut into the creature with his claymore, and attack with miracles (Assault of Stones and Arrow). With the Basilisk’s rage focused on Silias, Steve was able to hit the Basilisk with his Fletched Javelin of Magic Missile, and several rays from Wribrum's Wand of Necromancy. The combined effort of the two remaining heroes eventually brought the monster down. Silias and Steve remembered the tail of Cullthurst the Crusader that they heard when they came to Horsely and how he slayed a Basilisk and brought back 2 of the creature’s claws. The story also told that he left 2 potions that could return life to a person that had been turned to stone. Those potions had become local relics and the party had seen them on the altar of the Temple of the Two Crusader in Horsely. Ex. Silias, Steve, and Peirce (saved by Ex. Silias) returned to Horsely and told Ex. Able and Ex. Lucus about the encounter. Able and Lucus thought through their founding myth and understood that THIS basilisk must have been the child of the basilisk killed by Cullthurst the Crusader. Seeing its parent killed, it must have bitten off two of its own toes mimicking what Cullthurst did to its parent’s body. Moreover Cullthurst, guided by Valroon, gave 2 potion that could reverse petrification to the temple… The exact number that would be needed by these present-day heroes 70 years later. Prophetic! The two priests returned to the site of the battle and used the potions on Swift and Matt. Back in the flesh, Swift cut open the basilisk body finding 8 gems, and two eggs, no larger and one smaller. Steve and Swift also cut off all 8 of the basilisk's feet, and took its eye's and some blood. The whole group found the basilisk’s lair—still occupied by a young basilisk. Steve badly wanted to capture it to use it as a weapon. Ex. Silias was strongly against that idea and Traveling Matt eventually killed the basilisk in spite of Steve's protests. With that distraction over, several magic items were found in the layer, the Goblin Clay Ring of Defense, The Hatchet of Adversary Marking, and the Gladius of Hurling. Steve also took the entire corpse of the young basilisk, a potentially ominous action totally overlooked because everyone in this party is constantly lugging around bloody chunks of monstrous corpses... The next order of businesses on the party's plan was to return to Great Orten and pick up the poison they were going to use against the Cult (via Jerrin Ilk). Outside the town, talking amongst themselves the party realized that they knew that if Robert the Blue was going to continue his war with Blythe in the spring he would need food... He must be hoarding food as the people of Great Orten starved. Swift snuck into town and checked up on his extended family, he found out that the party was wanted by Baron Robert the Blue for leaving with Durtanian the Dwarf. He also found the location of all the baron's estates outside of town. At one of the estates the party saw what looked like a commoner sleeping outside a grain silo. Sneaking up the silo, Swift found there was indeed a large among of grain inside (enough to feed Great Orten for some numbers of weeks). Finding this was fortuitous as no one remembered the Jack Feld (the poisoner) wanted to be paid in food. Swift snuck back into the silo and stole grain from a starving town to pay a man the party hired to create a large quantity poison which they were planning on giving to a sociopathy bandit. The party also started talking about modifying their plans. Favoring the idea of deposing all the leaders of the local communities and putting themselves in power... for the good of the people. Session 11: 05/28/2022
Oct. 25 0925 (08/25/0925) With the help of Jerrin Ilk, the party set up a plan to kill the Cultists, . The plan will goeth thusly;
Jerrin had Charles, one of his men, accompany the party to eventually set up a spot to watch the entrance to the valley. In the mean time Charles will be able to enter Great Orten in spite of being a known banditis thanks to his skilled with disguises. The party traveled south to Great Orten, and paid for their new dwaven-made armor--2 suits of chainmail and 1 suit of reinforced leather. The next day they tried to leave with Durtanian the Dwaven armorer (who had agreed to go and see the strange glowing rock) but were stopped by guards at the gate and questioned about where Durtanian was going. It became clear that the guards had been instructed not to let the dwarf leave town. Steve was able to convince the guard in charge to let them leave with the help of a Friend spell and the promise that Duranian would be back tomorrow. The party plus two traveled back the valley of the cultists. On the way they were harassed by Terror Birds, but with the trick of camouflaging themselves with brush to obscure their form from the air they were spared from most attacks. Ex. Silas also found that his new miraculous power, Arrow, was affective in persuading the Terror Birds to stop their attacks before they started. Along the way the party had to climb a 50’ cliff. One by one they climbed a rope set by Swift and were not attacked, although the reason seemed to be luck more than anything else. Once in the valley Swift found a path that was well traveled by booted feet and Charles set up a concealed place where one of Jerrin’s men could observe the path (and about 75% of the mouth of the valley). Knowing the way, the group approached the Cult's mine, it was guarded by 3 goblins. Charles disguised the party, particularly the dwarf, and the party confidently walked up to the goblin guards. Steve, wearing a cultist’s medallion, said “come with me we have a problem”. The goblins’ questions went unanswered, and they followed the party into the mine. Since they had already been in the mine once the party knew the general layout of the cave and were able to convince the goblins that they were cult members. Steve put one goblin in charge and asked him, "how will everyone know you are in charge". He replied that he would... “wear this sack as a hat!” Steve used Minor Illusion to make the hat a brown color the goblin liked (the sack was already brown). Steve asked the new goblin leader what problems the goblins had. He said that there were some stupid, smelly, dumb, goblins in the cave that were horrible, and that he didn’t like some of the food they had to eat. Steve said he would fix both those problems and had a group of goblins go into the mines and get the ‘bad’ goblins one at a time. When the goblins came out of the mine the Dwarf killed them. Nine goblins died. Locating the stores of unprocessed magical ore Steve gathered a gang of 17 goblins to carry over 200 pounds of the rock. On the way out the party stopped at the goblin food stores and discovered that the food the goblins didn’t like was actually preserved food from the caravan. So, the party took several hundred pounds of that too. On the way out the troupe of goblins made so much noise that the 3 bugbears that led the mine were alerted. One came to check on the noise. Swift had cut the supports of a wooden goblin-made bridge and when the bugbear stepped on it it collapsed. The bugbear was not badly hurt, the fall was only 12 feet. But it was shaken and didn’t do the best job interrogating Steve. And since Steve had read the thoughts of Tim the Cultist many times and know the names of most of the cultists, he was able to convince the bugbear him taking the ore was just a ‘schedule change’. The party, 17 goblins, a dwarven armorer, and Charles the disguiser, left the mine with a over a quarter ton of supplies. On the way back to Horsely, the goblins were panicked by Terror Birds twice and both times they scattered, many died even though the brush camouflage would have (probably) kept them safe if they had remained calm. Durtanian executed the remaining goblins before the party entered horsely. Back in Horsely the party decided to take the food they recovered to Great Orten (the people there are on the brink of starvation). Ex. Able agreed to come with the party and physically bring the food into town. The party thought they might not be welcome in Great Orten after leaving with Durtanian. On the way the party was attacked by white hairless 8 legged rat monster the size of large dogs. After the initial attack the monsters started to withdraw, seemingly after smelling the sweet meadow. Swift pursued the creatures and killed several more in the copse they used as a lair. Able was allowed into Great Orten and even convinced the guards not to inspect the cart of food. However shortly after entering the town he was mobbed by starving peasants. Things were growing more violent by the second. Swift was stealthed near the gate and ran in to help. He was stabbed along the way by a guard, but was able to bowl over several of the mob. Able cut his losses and literally ‘pulled the pin’ connecting the horse to the cart and had the horse pull him to safety. Swift was able to escape from Great Orten while the town guards were busy putting down the food riot. Several buildings were burnt, but the party left without knowing the full damage done by the riot. Before leaving, the party explained what happened to a guard, through a closed portcullis. The Return of the Hallowed Coven5/1/2022 Session 10: 04/23/2022
Oct 16th, 0925 (08/16/0925) The night of the 16th of October had come. The Day of Dread, of the entire year undead are at the peak of their power on this day. Ex. Lucus had warned the party that if the spirits of the Hallowed Coven were not laid to rest within the ceremony by this night they would rise again. So, the party, along with Pa. Able and Ex. Lucus, went to stand guard by the tiny graveyard the village constructed to perform the ritual. As the sun sank below the horizon a strong cold wind blow in and unnaturally snuffed out the campfire. Ex. Silas was in the graveyard’s chapel and heard the wind but oddly felt no affect from it. Traveling Matt and Ex. Silas ran to stand over the graves. With groaning and wailing, 5 green glowing spirits arose from their freshly dug graves. Four of the spirits appeared as skeletal humans in tattered clothes, but the 5th clearly had the form of a decomposing wizard armed with a spectral version of the wand that Steve recovered from the original graveyard before the bodies were moved to this newly constructed one. A brutal fight ensued, the spectral wand proved as dangerous as the real one, and the spirits were able to cause near blindness with a touch. Ex. Silas and Matt took the brunt of the assault and were both nearly killed. The battle took place within the tiny white picket fence that ringed the graveyard, it wasn’t until nearly the end of the fight that it became clear that the necromantic spirits were in fact supernaturally contained within the graveyard's boarders. Everyone left the area and Swift destroyed the last spirit with Blessed arrows. The party and other priests talked about what this meant and decided that the ceremony had worked but that the necromantic spirits might still be able to manifest every year of the Day of Dread. They wight not be able to leave the graveyard but the rays shot from the wand might be able to reach through the barrier. That was a problem for next year. All the damage delt by the undead was negative energy (which can not be healed miraculously) so Silas and Matt would need a long recovery. The party knew that some of Jerrin Ilk’s bandits were expecting to receive a payment from Baroness Baath the next day. And they wanted the opportunity to talk with them, but the two injured party members decided to stay behind. The party checked in with the new Baron Hudson who reiterated that he had no intention of continuing the agreement that the old Baroness had with Jerrin. All of New Ash’s money and resources were being marshaled for a spring offensive against the lizardmen of the Stallion Forest, but he sent 5 guards with the party to meet the bandits. Before the meeting, Swift and Steve gave each of the guards a dose of the purple powder (which Steve is calling ab purpura). Swift also snorted a dose. Swift and several of the guards seemed to handle it pretty well reporting increased focus (Perc +20%). But, as you will see, two of the guards had some noticeable side effects. Talking to the bandits was fruitful, in that they agreed to tell Jerrin Ilk that the party wanted to talk to him about the cult. Jerrin would meet them by a large hickory tree on the 21st. The bandits, did come off as villains and lamented that if the easy money from New Ash dried up Jerrin would likely order an ‘attack’. During that meeting, two guards almost got in a fight when one started to inch forward. Fearing some kind of reaction to the ab purpura Swift ordered them all to set on their hands and not move. Later Swift made in off handed remark to ‘make a note’ of something, and one of the guards panicked, screamed “I don’t have any paper and can’t write!”. Then preceded to sprint back towards New Ash. As this was strange behavior the bandits decided to leave. After returning to New Ash the guard was found in the stocks and said that he ran back into town to get a priest, the first person he could think of that could read and write. When the guard found the priest leading a service, he grabbed the priest and pulled him away from the alter yelling that he needed the priest to write a note for him. Swift and Steve told the Baron (a lie) that the guard was given some bad alcohol and that it ‘could have happened to anyone’. Swift and Steve almost died on their way back to Horsely when they were attacked by a swarm of scorpion tailed hornets. Steve drank his potion of flying and Swift ended up hiding in a flooded ditch, nearly freezing, and actually dirtying the 50g of new cloths he bought in New Ash. Once back in Horsely Ex. Silas and Uncle Matt were recovered enough that the whole party could travel out to the meeting with Jerrin Ilk. In that meeting the party learned a lot. Including that although Jerrin supplied the Cult with tools and miscellany, he had been growing unhappy with them and was not happy to hear the Cult had destroyed the Caravan. Thought Reading revealed that Jerrin was an immoral man that did not have enough food to last the winter and that he believed the Cult had something of value in their valley and that he was being cut out of it. There was some tension between Swift and Jerrin, but when Steve gave Jerrin a sample of ab purpura, Jerrin immediately saw its usefulness and was willing to help get it from the Cult. The Glowing Stone is Put to Use.4/1/2022 Session 9: 03/26/2022
Oct 14, 0925 (08/14/0925) The party finalized their deal with Durtanian the Dwarf to buy 2 suits of chainmail and 1 suit of reinforces leather. They made a plan to return in a week and then taking Durtanian to investigate the cliffs. Before the party left, Steve had the idea of buying scrap iron from Great Orten--who are near starvation and hence not that concerned about iron. And taking it back to Horsley, who are in need of iron because of the destruction of the caravan. Soon after the party started knocking on doors and offering to buy iron implements a father and 2 sons approached offering to sell a large amount of scrap, like farming implements and hinges freshly pulled from their frames. One of the boys seemed nervous and Steve thought that the iron could be stolen. Proving the reputation of the Mercenary Order true, Exemplar Silas bought the scrap at an even cheaper price then the scrap the party bought from the rest of the starving villagers. The party went to leave town and collect their weapons when the guards stopped them. Looking at the group, collectively laden with over 100 pounds of scrap iron, the guards asked if they knew anything about some very resent thefts… Silas was technically honest in reporting that they had no way of knowing the iron was stolen. The guards also had a problem with the fact that no taxes had been paid on the iron and the party didn’t have permission from Baron Robert the Blue to act as merchants. Fortunately, after a little back and forth Swift had the solution to all these problems. A bribe! The party left with all the iron (even the stolen iron) and 6 less gold pieces. The party had no combat encounters on the unseasonably cold walk back to Horsley. Of course, the party didn’t know that ahead of time, and felt a lot of pressure to get to Horsley without spending a night in the wilderness. This would require force marching (and passing a Fot +25% check), unfortunately Matt, Steve, and Swift all quickly failed to maintain pace. Against the wishes of Ex. Silas, all three decided to snort the powdered magical glowing stone recovered from the goblin caves to try bolster their ability to force march. Steve was eventually able to get the dosage correct but not before mis dosing all three of them to some degree. Traveling Matt took the orange powder and reported increased strength and endurance along with restlessness, agitation, a compulsive need to complete tasks. Swift tried the purple powder and reported increased concentration, focus, perception, and maybe Agility. None of which would help with force marching, so he also tried the orange powder. He reported increased strength and endurance but also greatly increased annoyance and aggression, nearly attacking Silas. Steve took the orange powder but massively overdosed and passed out; he did not have time to feel the physical affects but did have some strange visual changes that he thought gave him some deep insights into the nature of magic. It also wiped the spells from his mind, and briefly gave him a long range and powerful mindreading ability. He was able to hear the thoughts of the party, all of Great Orten, many goblinoids, and a group of humans to the northwest whose location he could pinpoint. These humans seemed dejected, and Steve caught the name of one of the humans--Turner the Patsy. Matt, under the influence of the orange drug, picked up Steve and insisted the party continue to Horsley. Dealing with Swift’s borderline violence and Matt’s forward drive tested Silas’ soft skills. But they made it back to Horsley without Swift attacking anyone, or Matt breaking a leg or blowing out an ACL. As a result of this experimentation, Steve was able to understand the ‘correct’ dosing of the powder, and Ex. Silas figured out a way to tell by physical examination if someone had taken either. The orange powder changes how a recipient’s vein react to pressure and the purple powder changes how a recipient’s pupils dilate. Once in Horsley they found that Tim the Cultist was no longer in the stocks, replaced by the town layabout and drunk Ronald Fallow. Magnus told them that Ronald had brutally murdered Jane, a woman he had off again on again relationship with. An investigation found that Ronald was putting a shelf up in Jane's house when he became increasingly manically obsessed, putting up more and more, less and less functional shelves. When Jane tried to stop him, he snapped—beating her to death with a mallet. Tim had been related to a root cellar and when interrogated said he caused to death and more would follow if he was not released. But the party was unconvinced. Later that night there was a loud crashing explosion near the PC’s house. Steve was the only one there at the time and he ran out and found that an Aldebaron’s Blast spell was shooting out of Benton Crowl's house every ten seconds. While running into the house to grab a large salt crystal that Benton was using as a spell component Steve was hit by a blast and was nearly killed, before succeeding and stopping the uncontrollable havoc. Again, an investigation revealed that Benton, was experimenting with magery. His father had taught him a little about the language Arcane. As a child he went out and dug up some of the burnt belonging of the wizard’s Ex. Purpose killed in his crusade. He found scraps of spell books, including an 80% complete copy of Aldebaron’s Blast. It was clear to the party that both Ronald and Jane were exposed to goblin’s magic powder. Steve could even detect it in samples of food and drink taken from the mens’ houses. The question was how did they get it? To the extent that Steve could tell, none of the powder or rocks he had were missing (he made no special attempt to inventory or secure them). Another detailed investigation showed that Laz, a herbalist and friend of Benton had been given the powder by the Sorceress and paid to put it in food or alcohol consumed by the two exposed men, or at least he claimed so. On the 14th the much anticipated ceremony to lay the spirits of The Hallowed Coven to rest was ready. The village had built a tiny chapel and graveyard and prepared a sacrifice of meat, fat, and two doves. The party had given Parson Able and Ex. Lucus the original (damaged) copy of the ceremony they found at the original grave site. Steve had used a spell to copy the text before it was damaged, but could not tell the priests this and keep his wizardry secret. So Ex. Silas said he had looked at the complete ceremony before it was damaged and fed the complete information to the priests. A crowd gathered for the ceremony. Ex. Silis assisted, but at least one mistake was made and a section of the ceremony had to be repeated. Later, during the ceremony, Steve used a spell to create a translucent illusion of a dove flying out of a burning brazier that two doves had been place in earlier. The crowd fled from the obviously supernatural apparition. Silas was able to steer the other priests into interpreting it as a good omen and a narrative was spun that the spirit of the bird would watch over the graveyard and give warming to Celestial Beings when needed. Steve's motivations were unclear. He later claimed he did this to bolster the village's faith in the protective power of the ceremony, which after all had to be stopped and restarted after mistakes where made. Steve's plan to sell the scrap iron to Horsley was thwarted by something unforeseen by the metropolitan wizard--Horsley has a barter economy and it's people couldn't supply enough currency to purchase the iron... In the end the party got what coin it could and sold the rest on credit. As we left our heroes a few loose threads remained. The village had to decide what to do with their prisoners. One decision was made for them when Tim was killed by a guard during an escape. But Ronald had murdered someone and Benton had engaged in wizardry. The party decided to not interfere and let the village council figure it out. There was also the matter of James’ death, his father was violently against James accompanying the party and no one has heard from him since James was killed while traveling with the group. Session 8: 02/26/2022
Oct 10th, 0925 (08/10/0925) As the party left the meeting with Magnus they heard a strange buzzing and looked up to see a large group of monstrous flies hovering high over the city. Each party member jumped into action yelling instructions to the village. Unfortunately, each was yelling a different plan and the party quickly realized that no progress was being made. Perhaps because there wasn’t time, the party didn’t try and unify their plans, instead they all ran in different direction accomplishing their own goals. Traveling Matt found a pile of firewood in the village square and dumped it in a location where a fire could be started. After thinking about starting a fire with a flint and steel he ran to the smith to get some hot coals. Ex. Silas ran to the Two Claws pub to get weapons and brought them to the guards from New Ash. Swift ran a circuit telling villagers to get in a building. Steve ran to Malena the village herbalist to ask for something that repel flies, in the same way that Sweet Meadow repels rodents. She suggested smoke, particularly the smoke of certain resinous woods or rosemary—and was able to supply 2 large bundles of rosemary. Returning to the village square Steve found Matt already trying to start a fire. Steve checked that no one was watching and cast Burning Hands into the firewood. The party was out of time as the flies descended. Ex. Silas and Bob (the head of the New Ash guards) defended villagers from one group of flies, while Swift defended a separate group. Steve continued to stoke the fire, adding the rosemary, and thatching from a nearby roof while Matt attacked approaching flies. After several rounds of struggle, Steve had the fire filling the sky over Horsely with smoke. The other party members had successfully engaged flies and saved many villagers, although one had a fatal injury and had to be miraculously healed. After the attack the party checked on the rest of the village and found that only 1 farmer had been killed before the smoke drove the flies off, but around 10% of the village’s livestock was killed. The cold weather would hopefully mean the meat would not be wasted. After the attack the party decided to head to Great Orten. They had heard that there was a dwarf there from whom good armor could be bought. The dwarf might also know more about the geology of the cliffs or purple glowing rock. Before they left, the party had Parson Able write them a letter of introduction, and Magnus wrote a letter with information about trade. On the way the party was attacked by a giant vole monster, having forgotten Meadow Sweet. The monster was easily taken case of. But the next fight did not go so well. While scouting, Swift saw a metallic glint in the shadow of a rocky outcropping. He snuck up to the rock and dimly saw two goblins and a kobold in a cave. When he stabbed and killed one of the goblins, the other screamed, followed by the kobold, followed by a few more goblins, followed by dozens deeper in the cave. Swift ran back to the party followed by 4 goblins and some 50 kobolds. As the group of goblinoids charged--Silas performed the miracle Assault of Stones, killing many. The remainder fall upon the party like a wave, knocking Silas and James to the ground. Silas was able to fight them off. But James was killed, perforated by tiny spears (two 01’s rolled on 5 attack roles)… Once in Great Orten it was clear that the town was not doing well. The roads and buildings seemed ill-maintained and beggars filled the roadways. When Swift started handing out food and money, a near riot was started among the hungry populous. The local Parson was forced to put down the rabble by beating them with short mace. With the letters of introduction, the party was able to get a meeting with the Blue Baron of Great Orten, several advisers, Parson Shamus, Chris the Baron’s Marshal, and the Dwarf Durtanian. The party told the group about their adventures (without mentioning their active role in Hudson becoming Baron of New Ash). During the discussion the Baron (through an adviser) was open to trade, and also verified what the party knew about Jerrin Ilk the Bandit. When asked if Durtanian the Dwarf would accompany the party to the cliffs, the Baron (himself) interjected that the dwarf would not be leaving Great Orten. Later when the party was about to talk to Durtanian alone they were surprised to hear that the dwarf seemed to be wholly indifferent to the Baron’s edict, and was interested to see the cliffs and intended to go there with the party. Dime Store Necromancy2/28/2022 Session 7: 01/29/2022
Oct 10th, 0925 (08/10/0925) After stabbing and ‘arresting’ Baroness Baath the party returned to the inn where they had fought and killed David. They hoped to find Sir Hudson there ready to take charge and fill the power vacuum. But when he was no where to be found, townspeople started milling around ominously, the party decided to return to the ‘palace’, a more defensible location. The party approached the back door leading to the dungeon (that they had already used), and was hit by arrows fired from arrow slits above the door. They apparently forgot that that had already happened to them once, they made no attempt to prevent it. The door was nailed shut and could not be opened. But the remaining guards were persuaded to flee when Swift yelled that the party had the Baroness and that David and many of the other guards were already dead. Our Heroes explored the palace but found a mob forming in the square outside. From what they were yelling at the palace it became clear that many in New Ash were interpreting what had happened as a coup by people from Horsely. And that the palace as now being occupied. The party had a guard they had won over explain to the crowd how Baroness Baath had been killing young women and drinking their blood, and that the party had rescued Martha, who had been missing for several months, from that fate. Showing Martha (who had her tongue cut out) to the crowd and the guard’s surprising eloquence, convinced those present that more was going on than they thought and blunted their desire to retake the palace. A smaller group, incited by the palace guard that fled from the party, remained. The party decided to try and talk to the local clergy to both calm the crowd and legitimize what the party did. But before much could come of it a group of men loyal to Sir Hudson arrived and were able to violently push the pro-Baath mob out of the square. The rest of the party talked with Sir Hudson about how to transition him into power with a minimum of blood shed (he was next in line to the Barony, and actually was ahead of Baath in the line of succession but was out maneuvered by her). Swift followed the pro-Baath mob and listened to their plans. What he heard was that the instigating guards were motivated by the (correct) assumption that once Sir Hudson became the Baron he would purge Baath’s most direct supporters, like her palace guard. Swift revealed himself and offered to take the men and their families back to Horsely where they could start a new life. The former palace guards agreed. Back with Sir Hudson, the party was being berated about the situation they put Sir Hudson in. He was glad to become the Baron but with Baath still alive and so popular (she was an extremely successful ruler and New Ash had prospered under her rule), there was going to be resentence and maybe a counter-revolution. Although Baath was clearly doing something unsavory with the missing young girls, the situation was unclear enough that supporters could believe it was simply torture or politically motivated killings. During the exchange Stephen said Baath was guilty of “Dime Store Necromancy” (an amazingly memorable phrase, if anachronistic). Hudson commented that if she was guilty of actual necromancy the Church would most likely execute her and she would lose popular support. Stephen replied that if the priests searched the palace in the morning, he was shore they would find evidence that proved exactly that. Swift snuck back into the palace and planted, in Baath’s room, a book that the party recovered from the necromancers’ graveyard (“Banric’s Explorations”). Framing her for Necromancy. He also stole two suits of Brigandine armor and some coins and jewelry. Sir Hudson gave the party and middle class house and 3 servants, as the party was planning on returning. The next day the party started the trip back to Horsely. All but 1 of the guards showed up to leave. 9 guards, 8 women, and 16 children returned with the party. On the way back the party was attacked by the giant vole monsters, but the monsters retreated after the initial attack. Swift continues to belief that carrying Meadow Sweet wards of the voles. The party was also attacked by a amphisbaena (a snake with a head on its tail), which poisoned Swift. He was able to neutralize the poison with some of the Ralrut’s Weed the party had. Once back in Horsely the party talked with Magnus about changing the governance of Horsely to be like Baroness Baath’s style of rule. Which they had learned about by talking with her after her ‘arrest’ and reading a history that she has written. Beauty is more than Skin Deep1/11/2022 Session 6: 01/08/2022
Sept 27th, 0925 (07/27/0925) The party found itself with the body of the dead necromancer Deedrum that would raise from the dead at some point in the near future, a graveyard that might spill forth more undead if left to degrade, a captured cultist, a very uncaptured cult trying to transform people into monstrous creatures, and someone or something killing girls in New Ash. Ex. Silas and Swift were both badly injured with wounds that could not by supernaturally healed. Swift need to spend 6 or 7 days in bed recovering, Silas less. During that time Steve continued his research into the purple glowing stone and learned that there are in fact 2 minerals making up the stone. One purple, one orange, both magically glow but the orange mineral’s glow can only be seen when it is alchemically separated from the purple. He also spent time learning spells from the goblin witch doctor’s spell book and started passively identifying the wand and awl found in the graveyard. Lastly Steve skimmed the books from the graveyard but did not talk about their contents to the party. While recuperating in bed Silas was able to discover that his miraculous claymore allowed him to automatically resist any supernatural affect caused by an undead that has been hit by the claymore. During the recovery period the party started to talk to Magnus, Parson Able and Ex. Lucas about how to deal with the problem of Deedrum and the unconsecrated graveyard. The priest believed that Deebrum would not be able to return for some time (at least the 11th). The party decided they had time to travel to New Ash before that time. First the party interrogated Tim the cultist with Thought Reading a second time. The most important thing found was that a local Bandit leader named Jerrin Ilk was supplying the cult with some material support. After the interrogation the party left for New Ash (on the Oct 4th) with James and Bethany. They stopped along the way at the unconsecrated graveyard and found that the erosion of the cliff was continuing, but slow enough that no more of the graveyard was immediately threatened. Traveling Matt noticed a strange rock. The rock turned out to the stumps of two human legs that had been turned to stone, a finger was also found nearby. The ends of the stone body parts appeared to be bitten off, not broken. The party was reminded of the story they heard soon after entering Horsley of a Hero killing a Basilisk many years ago. The Pub in Horsley is called the Two-Claws, and still displays 2 of the creature’s claws. This prompted the party to do a more detailed search of the area and Ex. Silas found the basement of an old, ruined building. Nothing was left on the surface and the floor was covered with inches of soil and grass, strange glassware could be seen 10’ under the surface. He shouted “Hey, I found something!” and all 6 people approached. However, when the weight of all 6 was on the rotted floor, it collapsed. Bethany and Swift jumped clear. Only James was seriously injured landing on and been impaled by some glassware. Most of the glassware was broken, Steve salvaged what he could, and Matt collected the broken pieces which he thought he could re-blow. Steve also found 3 broken vessels that seemed to have contained potions before they were destroyed. There were only drops left in 2, but the third had at least several ounces left. Who know what other treasures were destroyed when the collapse of that old floor? After spending as long as they thought wise searching, the party continued. They encountered and fought a bugbear that seemed crazed. After it was killed, they found that it was on the ‘rage drug’ the party saw in the goblin cave and they recovered some of the purple glowing powder. The fight went very well for the party. The bugbear chased Swift, and Swift timed it so the bugbear caught up to him just as the party was nearing. Swift them stopped and threw himself into the bugbear’s legs. In its enraged state it tripped over him and Ex. Silas and Matt scored some easy hits and eventually killed it. Upon entering New Ash the party talked to David (Baroness Baath’s lieutenant) and told him that they returned to New Ash to buy some armor, as Horsley has no armorer, and to keep the roads clear of the increased monster activity. David supported both these ideas. But he warned the PCs that a girl named Erin disappeared soon after they left New Ash and that many suspect them. It might not be safe for them here. That night the party set to investigating David, the Baroness, and the disappearance of the girls of New Ash. In quick order Bethany found that no one in town thought that the party was responsible for the disappearances. Swift eavesdropped on the Baroness and David by climbing a tree near the ‘palace’ and heard that the Baroness was concerned that the party ‘suspected something’. But that could mean anything… Swift also saw David enter a small back door to the palace using a key from around his neck and heard David and 2 guards talking inside about a prisoner that the guards were not allowed to see. The next morning Steve went back to the library in the palace and looked through the library for anything unusual. And noticed that the well-stocked library had an unusual number of books on medicine, beauty, and pharmacology. A page in one book was noticeably well worn, it detailed a tonic to increase beauty and vitality. Among the herbs and medicines that made up the tonic was fresh animal blood--to be drank. Swift went to talk to Sir Hudson, the brother of the Last Baron whose death allowed Baath to become the next Baroness. Although Sir Hudson couched everything in vague hypotheticals, he seemingly communicated to Swift and if Baath was guilty of a heinous crime, and a power vacuum opened up, he could step to file that vacuum. And that anything that happened that caused the power vacuum could be made legal retroactively. That day the party also made a pretense of needed to speak to David again and got him talking about the disappearance of the girls. Swift was listening in on his thoughts via the spell Mind Reading and Swift heard David thinking about how he attacked, knocked out, and drug off both girls. When David left, Swift stealthed and followed him without talking to the party first. The party talked about what they learned, and Traveling Matt suggested that the Baroness was drinking the blood of these girls as some kind of rejuvenator. Swift went back to his eavesdropping spot but learned nothing. After some time, he saw David leave the palace with 5 guards heading towards the shuttered inn the party was staying at. Swift started back to the inn which was just a short distance away, but staying stealthed, he was several rounds behind David with he arrived. David approached the front door with 3 men, while 1 went around to a side window and the last went for the back door. David feigned as if to talk but immediately attacked. The party was in a bad position and although Ex. Silas was ready for the attack, he was forced to hold David and the soldiers off for at least 1 round and was badly hurt. James was nearby but using his sling from a distance (a critical miss on his second attack caused him to throw his sling at the enemy, his most effective weapon). Steve went out the back door trying to get behind the group of enemies and ran into the soldier sent behind the inn, but was able to kill him with his magic javelin. Back in the main room Ex. Silas, Traveling Matt, and James were fighting David and 3 soldiers through one door and a single soldier through another. They traded blows. David had taken several hits but both Silas and Matt were badly injured. Steve worked his way around the building and used the necromancer’s wand to shoot a ray of negative energy at David badly hurting him and scaring away one of the soldiers. This turned the tide of the battle which ended in victory, just as Swift appeared from a darkened alley. David died (from a critically failed Tend Wounds check by Matt) but Silas was able to save one soldier. Swift ran to the house of Sir Hudson and told a servant, “Tell Sir Hudson the thing we talked about is happening NOW, and to bring men to the inn immediately”, and ran back to the inn to gather the party and grab the key from David’s body. The party entered the back door of the palace which led to a cross shaped hallway with 2 guards. One surrendered, but one was killed (actually reduced to exactly 0 hps). They opened the cell of the mysterious prisoner and found that it was Martha, very pale and weak, she had several deep cuts on her arms and wrists that were stitched closed and well cared for. The party was less horrified than they should have been to find she could not answer questions, her tongue had been cut out. Is it strength or callousness that hardens people to such things? As they are making this discovery, a door opening can be heard from the hallway and Baroness Baath in a sleeping dress and 1 soldier enter the scene. The Baroness was unarmed and seemed unconcerned with her physical safety. When confronted with her crimes she scoffed and argued that she made New Ash safe and prosperous, the men that ruled the other towns in the area engage in endless wars of vanity both with each other and the monsters in the wilderness which dooms their people to hunger and poverty while killing scores of soldiers and innocents in each generation. Are the lives of a few girls worth so much more? None of party was moved, and Swift replied, “you’re under arrest” and threw his dagger, hitting her is the shoulder. Her lone guard was no match for the party and even after being stabbed Baroness Baath was non combative and made one last attempt at reason saying, “If you really cared about what was good for my people you would leave them to my rule and go.” The party took the Baroness and one soldier who surrendered back to the inn where a small group of towns people had gathered, but Sir Hudson was nowhere to be found. You Can't Outrun the Night12/20/2021 Session 5: 12/18/2021
September 25th, 0925 (7/25/0925) The day after the party returned to Horsley Traveling Matt tried to turn the antlers of the Steel Stag into weapons. His efforts to harvest the antlers could be best described as… a tremendous learning opportunity. Matt ending up making a short sword for Swift, a [fletched javelin or Spear] for Steve, and a dagger for everyone in the party. At the same time Swift interrogated Tim the Cultist, with Steve listening in using the spell Mind Reading. Although an observer would have judged the interrogation strange and ineffective, with the help of Mind Reading the party learned a lot. It seems there may be only 12 cultists led by “Finis the Revelator”. The cult is using monsters to build a dome-like temple around the orange glowing rock formation. The purpose of this construction is not clear, although Tim thinks the end goal involves transforming many people into eldritch monstrosities. When asked, Tim did not have knowledge of the cult sending spies into human communities but did think about the fact that he had talked to James (the young shepherd helping the party) and Bethany Dawson. The party talked with both of them and found Bethany to be smart, curious, and industrious. The two recounted their interactions with Tim. Swift came to the conclusion that Tim was trying to ‘convert’ James by appealing to his want of adventure and Bethany by appealing to her dissatisfaction with her lot in society. Fortunately, Horsley is unusually egalitarian. Bethany turn out to not feel oppressed by her society, and the party has actively encouraged James to seek adventure (even against his father’s wishes) Before they had to turn in for the night the party talked to the village priests Parson Able and Ex. Lucus about the unconsecrated graveyard they found. The priests were able to find mention of it in the town chronicles, corroborating much of what they already knew and verifying that the unusual chapel dedicated to Pn. Gosfrid “The Grave Watcher”, was part of a ritual to contain the evil of the dead members of the Hallowed Coven. Disturbing the graves would likely disrupt the protective ritual. The next day the party traveled back to the unconsecrated graveyard, each carrying a bundle of sweet meadow. Swift believes it to repel the giant vole monsters. When they arrived at the graveyard the party found that the cliff had eroded further and one of the coffins was exposed 6 feet down the cliff. After an exhaustive search of the badly ruined chapel, a small simple book wrapped in un-fired clay was found. It detailed the ritual used to ‘seal’ the graveyard. The ritual could only be performed in a temple dedicated to Pn. Gosfrid which must be within 500 feet of the graveyard. It also required a “suitable sacrifice” and that all the bodies in question be properly buried. Realizing that the exposure of the coffin had likely broken any protection offered by the ritual, the party sprang into action. Half went back to Horsley and convinced the priests and Magnus to allow the party to bring the body of Deedrum the Animator into the village, bury it, and preform the ritual before… anything bad happened. Returning with a cart to hold the coffin, they found the rest of the party exhuming the grave. The party pushed themselves to complete the job. A claymore was found buried on top of the coffin, presumably the ‘suitable sacrifice’ used when the protection ritual was performed. The party got the coffin on the cart and started for Horsley. Everyone got more and more nervous as sunset approached. It was clear that they were not going to make it to the village before dark. At sunset the coffin shook, and a greenish, glowing smokey apparition flew up through the lid of the coffin with a shriek. The party was mentally prepared for a battle, but it was clear that only supernatural effort would affect the spirit. Before attacking with the newfound claymore, Ex. Silas Blessed Matt and Swift’s weapons. Steve used his magical javelin. The party’s attacks did seem like they were causing the specter pain (or the equivalent) but as the fight went on the image of the specter became clearer and it seemed to become harder to hit and quicker to attack. After several rounds the ghost of Deedrum flew off in the direction of the graveyard, seemingly overmatched. Even as He lay dying from his injuries Swift told the rest of the party to give chase, lest the creature return to the graveyard and animate the dead there. The party did give chase. Ex. Silas was able to destroy the foul undead even as it had begun summoning the rest of its coven. Running back to their fallen companion, Swift just came into view when he slumped limp to the ground. By all rights he should had succumbed to his terrible wounds while the party was gone, but somehow when Ex. Silas got to him Swift could still be saved. Inside the coffin Steve found 3 books, a wand, and an strange awl. He was very wary of the items and took them without touching them. Back in Horsley Pa. Able told the party that without the protective ritual, defeating the spirit of Deebrum with swords would only stop it temporally. Deebrum will return, but they don’t know when, or how. They simple don’t know enough about such evil. Something Foul Afoot in New Ash?10/14/2021 Session 4. 10/09/2021
September 21st, 0925 The day of the festival Steve enlisted Traveling Matt to acquire some soot from the blacksmith's shop, telling him that he needed it for continued research into the strange glowing rock and powdery drug recovered from the Goblin Cave. The village herbalist, Malena, approached Steve to ask the party to recover some supernatural herbs on their way the New Ash. Ralrut's Weed that can cure poisons and Soldier's foil which can stop bleeding. Malena knew where they grew (more or less) and described them to Steve. They grew about 2 miles outside of the village, but she viewed even that short distance as too dangerous to travel. The festival was originally Swift's idea and was meant to celebrate the defeat of the Goblins that had been harassing Horsely. After the party rescued the 12 militiamen (who were sent to investigate the orange glow in the western sky) from the Gnoll slavers, the already planned festival was repurposed to commemorate the return of the soldiers. The festival involved fires, dancing, and drink. During it Traveling Matt intervened when some local boys become TOO abusive to Tim the cultist, who is held in the public stocks (intermittently guarded). James ' father (named Benton) confronted Traveling Matt about the party encouraging James to follow them to a life of heroism and adventure (Benton's complaints were largely disregarded). And Swift piggybacked on a ritual that briefly lifted normal rules of decency to seduce a maid named Carilyn. Two days after the festival the party left on a trade mission to New Ash, first deciding to bring the goods on 6 horses instead of one large wagon. This would allow them to move much faster on the wet uneven ground. They were accompanied by a laborer, one of the militiamen they rescued (named Randy), and James who had been given a few days of basic combat instruction by Ex. Silas, and a spiked mace that Traveling Matt made. James once again showed his skill with the sling in a brief combat against 5 goblins. On the way to New Ash, Swift, scouting ahead, found an eroding earthen embankment with a piece of wrought iron fence hanging off the edge. Swift and Steve investigated and found an old cemetery with the foundation of a long ruined chapel dedicated to Pn. Gosfrid "The Grave Watcher". Which is unusual because Pn. Gosfrid's iconograph is only used in unconsecrated cemeteries which wouldn't have a chapel attached. Steve recognized few of the names on the tombstones as Necromancers. Although Steve wanted to try and find out more, the party pressed on. (see the comments) As the party neared New Ash the saw a large male deer drinking from a river. Wanting nothing more than a hunt Steve threw his magic fletched javelin at the stag, causing it to change the party. It was indeed very large with blood and water covering its mouth and chest. The stag had a huge rack of antlers, that were also covered in blood and bits of flesh. Most disturbingly its antlers seemed hard and grey like steel and shapely bladed. The great stag killed Randy the militiamen before it could be brought down by the rest of the party. Traveling Matt thinks the antlers could be fashioned into weapons, and the party drug the carcass into New Ash. New Ash seemed a prosperous community with a combination stone and wood wall, clean, paved streets, well build and maintained buildings with shingled roofs, a semi-literate populous, and a general sense of activity and commerce that Horsely lacks. The people of New Ash were impressed that the party killed the "Steel Stag" a monster that had prevented most people from leaving the town for several days. They also met Baroness Baath, the youngish female ruler of New Ash who although of common birth had led the town to prosperity after claiming the Baronship after her husband the Baron died in an accident. The Baron's brother, Sir Hudson, was the only other pretender to the title. Baroness Baath was thankful to the party and increased all the goods going back to Horsely by 1 part in 12. The party told her about the cult and how they seem to be creating monstrous creatures. When asked if anything strange had been happening around New Ash she said, except for the Steel Stag, only shadows and half-seen evils in the wilds. Someone in the crowd yield "what about Martha", but Baroness Baath moved on without addressing the issue, seemly slightly aloof. Afterword’s the party tracked down the townsperson that yield from the crowd. They say that Martha had gone missing 2 months ago. David, the Baroness' steward, bodyguard, and captain investigated and concluded that Martha had gone into the Stallion Forest to have a tryst with her Boyfriend Radcliff. However, Radcliff denied this, and much of Martha's extended family believed him. The party investigated for themselves and came to believe that Radcliff and Martha did indeed have 'trysts' in the forest, but they didn't have one the night of her disappearance. From Martha's best friend the party recovered love notes written between Martha and Radcliff. The last one was signed by Radcliff (none of the others were) and seemed to be written in a different hand then the bulk of the notes. Further investigation uncovered that Martha had met with the Baroness and was being considered to be a lady in waiting for the Baroness before her disappearance, and that David was commonly thought of as unsettling and weird among the young people of town. They say that he watches them in a way that makes them uncomfortable. Swift also tried to ease-drop on this Baroness' palace. At one point he found a room she was in but failed to learn any useful information. Swift was allowed in the Baroness’ library where he found out more information on the cemetery the party found, and magically copied a natural philosophy book about geology. (see the comments). The next day the party left but asked for a goods manifest. When it was provided, they asked that it be signed by David, when the manifest was returned, they compared David's signature to the handwriting of the last love note--Steve strongly believed they matched. More sure than ever that something was afoot in New Ash, but not sure what... The party left thinking that getting the trade goods back to Horsely was of upmost importance. As they left a teenage girl named Erin ran after them and said she wanted to go with the party (against her parents’ wishes) to Horsely to see her best friend Alison who had moved there 9 months ago to live with her arranged husband-to-be Clint. Because of the trouble since then, Erin hadn't been able to see her or send word. However, James and the laborer from Horsely, informed Erin that Alison ever came to Horsely. Aghast at the loss of her friend Alison was eventually able to answer questions and told the party that Erin had been asked to become a Lady in Waiting for the Baroness, but her parents had refused because they supported the Sir Hudson over the new Baroness. The party now urged Erin to come with them to Horsely, even though Alison is not there because Erin might be in danger from whatever plot is going on in New Ash if it becomes known that she came to the party and tried to leave. The party had her return home before sneaking out some time later to rendezvous with Swift. On their way home, Erin in tow, the party was attacked by two monstrous voles, barrowing up from the ground. Swift jumped on one of their backs, but the monster jumped back into its hole, injuring Swift. The rest of the party fought one vole on the surface, while Swift tried to stay alive fighting the other underground. In the end Steve saved Swift by jumping down into the vole hole and casting Prismatic Hands. Which no one but Swift saw. Traveling Matt suffered a wound that would have been fatal if not for Ex. Silas' skill at tending wounds. The party made it back with all the trade goods intact, weary but intending to return the New Ash. THAT WAS MY FAVORITE BLANKET!9/9/2021 Session 3. 09/04/2021 September 16th, 0925 The party started the day talking to Magnus. Swift talked about holding a festival to celebrate the defeat of the goblins, Magnus was hesitant but thought it was a good idea. Magnus set the festival for the 21st (a Holyday). Over the next few days the players heard about his planning which seemed to focus on games and dancing and deemphasized festing. Steve, via Silas, asked if concentrating all the towns efforts on building a wall was smart since the town had no one to defend after Capt. Adel and her 12 men were lost trying to learn what was causing the mysterious glow. The party also brought up the confused and ineffective defence that was mounted when the party first approached the village. Magnus thought about this and replied that it was a wise thought but without knowing more about the glow and what is causing the increased goblin and monster activity there was no way to judge the best course of action. The party had already been thinking of traveling to the source of the orange glow that could be seen most nights, so naturally they volunteered. The area where the glow seemed to be coming from was only a few miles away near to where a small river falls from the Pastern Cliffs. After getting advice and directions from Pierce, the party headed south then cut west. As they approached the cliffs, the party saw a large number of Terror Birds, large featherless bird-like monsters. They were only attacked by one, which had a wingspan of around 6 feet but convinced the party not to try and fight one of the larger Terror Birds that has a 20 foot (or more) wingspan. The party climbed a small (~30’) rather ordinary looking cliff before seeing the massive, perfectly vertical Pastern Cliffs. The cliffs are made of a strange rock that doesn’t weather normally but instead always fractures in sheets perpendicular to the ground. The ground above the small cliff was rocky and infertile. The river cut a perfectly vertical canyon into the Pastern Cliffs, about half a mile across. The ground in the canyon was much more fertile with trees, brushes, and grass, although the soil was filled with shards from the strange rock that makes up the Pastern Cliffs. As the party entered the canyon they heard a weak, hoarse voice calling to them. They soon found Nolan, one of the men that Horsely sent to investigate the glow, hiding in a low spot under a bush. He told the party his group had been attacked and captured by goblins and gnolls, who could speak Gent (the local human tongue). They were forced to mine a purple glowing mineral. Nolan escaped and fled the cave but Terror Birds had prevented him from leaving. He was going in and out of consciousness, was badly malnourished, dehydrated, and looked like he would soon die of exposure. The party tried to explore the canyon but was harassed by Terror Birds, often attracting several at a time. They were forced to stay under cover much of the time. But they were able to see the cave Nolan described (and one or two others). Swift attempted to scout the cave entrance, but only succeeded in attracting the attention of the goblin guards. The party set up a fake campsite hoping to provoke an attack from the goblins. They were able to kill two groups of 2 goblins, but they mainly attracted Terror Birds that kept destroying the fake camp and flying away with blankets and bedding. When the party finally entered the cavern, they walked about 100 feet into the passage and an arrow shot out of the darkness, hitting one of the PC’s. After moving up they saw that a large gnoll (8+ feet tall) was shooting at them from an elevated position. After a few rounds of back and forth with arrows and fletched javelins (including the magic one recovered in the Goblin Cave) the Gnoll was killed. But Swift was in danger of bleeding out. Just then 15 club wielding goblins and another gnoll (7+ feet tall) armed with a spear came charging down the passage. Steve and Traveling Matt were left to hold off the goblinoids, while Silas finished stopping the Swift’s Bleeding. Matt’s attacks, a Color Spray and an Assault of Stones were able to injure the gnoll and take out all but 3 goblins. The enemies fled but in the fighting both Silas and Matt suffered life threatening wounds. Luckily no more attacks were forthcoming and Silas was able to Tend the party’s wounds. Steve was ok, but Swift and Silas were reduced to 1 hp, and Matt could barely stand. In the midst of this a man quietly called from the upper passageway where the first gnoll had shot the party. His name was Tim and he asked the party who they were and where they were from. Silas answered, “Horsely”. Tim told the party that he was from Orten and was a counterfeiter awaiting trial that was offered a pardon in exchange for finding the source of the mysterious glowing, but he was captured by gnolls. Before the party could get much more information the gnoll yelled from down the passageway, telling the party to just leave and the groups could go their separate ways. Swift replied, “Give us the human slaves and we will leave”. The gnoll countered “half the slaves.” After only a second contemplation Swift yelled back “Fine”. But he never had any intention of honoring the agreement, and after 4 humans were sent down the passageway the party armed the starving captives, who were eager for revenge, and ran down the passageway until they could shoot arrows at the injured gnoll, who was grievously injured and knocked unconscious but not killed. Talking to the human prisoners, the party was told that the humans only ever saw 2 gnolls and that Capt Adel was taken away soon after they were captured. They also said that the gnolls tortured the prisoners asking them if they were “Conclave men”. Tim corroborated that they were looking for wizards. Not confident that all the dangers in the carven had been killed, but believing most had been, the party slept in a defensible location. During the night Traveling Matt put on a cloak he got off the larger gnoll as his blanket had been stolen by a Terror Bird, the cloak changed size to fit her. In the morning they explored the rest of the cavern. In a room near where Tim was first seen the party found a robe and wooden medallion of the type the maggot cultists were. It looked like someone had tried to hide the items. Steve quickly deduced that Tim was one of the cultists, and the group was able to apprehend him. They also found and rescued 4 more human captives. The captured gnoll was betrayed and murdered by Swift after an interrogation in which he pointed out that humans are the real monsters, lying and killing indiscriminately. Via a Friends spell, Tim told Steve that the cult was having the gnolls mine the purple glowing stone. He also told Steve that there was an orange glowing orb that ‘changed’ any living thing that got near it. The cult experimented with small things like bugs and animals, but later exposed Captain Adel and it turned her into some sort of monstrosity. Lastly Steve got Tim to explain how the cultists move around without being killed by Terror Birds, they simply carry something that obscures them from overhead view, which seems to mostly stop Terror Birds from attacking. Using that method the group was able to return to Horsely. Again Magnus and others seemed surprised that the party made it back, which is fair because most of the PCs were surprised that they made it back. Of course everyone was overjoyed that 9 of the 13 people they thought died months ago were still alive. One Porcucat and 30 Dogs8/23/2021 Session 2. 08/21/2021
Sept. 11th, 0925 The day after the massacre of the caravan, the party along with Cooky and Piers the hunter, went on their way to the village of Horsely. On the way the stopped by the town of Great Orton. Although the guards recognized Piers, the party was not welcome, and they went on their way after relaying the destruction of the caravan. Overland travel to Horsely was greatly aided by Piers local knowledge which kept the party off waterlogged ground. On multiple occasions he was able to guide the party around dangerous monsters both seen and unseen. The party come away with the strong impression that they would not have survived the journey without his guidance. The only violent encounter Piers was not able to prevent was at camp. Steve had just been swimming in an ox bow lake when he was attacked by a five foot cat-like monster with giant teeth and covered in foot long porcupine quills. The party came to his aid with little thought for their own safety, jumping, climbing, and repelling down a cliff face. Steve was alone with the monster (later dubbed the Porcucat) for only a handful of seconds, but by the time anyone could get to him he was face down in the water with a pool of blood spreading around him at an alarming rate. Together the rest of the party was able to kill the Porcucat, and Ex. Strongheart was able to save Steve with a combination of mundane and miraculous healing. After this near-death experience Steve revealed to the party that he was a wizard and the tragic reason he left the city of Honor. He also showed the party the wooden medallion that he recovered from the maggot-cultists. As the group of 6 men approached the village of Horsely a defense was mounted, but by the time the defenders gathered, and weapons were distributed the party was already in the village. In fact, one of the party members was even handed a spear to help defend the village from himself! Once in Horsely the party indeed found themselves welcome and they were allowed to sleep in the Two Claws Pub and given food in exchange for working to help build a palisade wall around the village. They talked to Magnus, the village’s de facto leader, Ron the town Blacksmith (whom Traveling Matt had met before), and the local Priests, Parson Able of Erend and Ex. Lucus. One day while laboring the party heard a scream, running to the source they found a shepherd boy named James, who reported that goblins killed 2 of his sheep, stole 2 more, and his shepherd-dog Holdfast was missing. The other laborers reported that events of this type were common, and they had known where the goblins lived for years. The party (and James) moved to head off the goblins, along the way they found two dead goblins seemingly killed by Holdfast. The party ambushed the goblins successfully and recovering the 2 sheep and Holdfast. The party decided to try and see if they would be able to attack the goblin lair directly, scouting it out Swift estimated that there were some 30 goblins and a like number of kobalds, with two leaders one of which might be a wizard or shaman. The party went back to Horsely to plan their next move. Realizing that Holdfast had killed 2 goblins on his own, Steve asked James, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the party and of attacking the goblin lair, how many such dogs were in the village. When James said there were 40 dogs, a plan was hatched to attack the lair with as many dogs as they could muster. Travelling Matt had the idea to have James help recruit dogs from their owners, a plan that worked well and the party ended up with an army of 30 mastiff type dog that had been bred for the defense of the village. The village wished the party well, but many clearly thought they would never see any of them again. But the army of dogs, backed up by the party, destroyed the goblins easily. During the attack Steve used Prismatic Hands to great effect, knocking out many goblins that were swarming Swift. Every goblin, even females and children, attacked until killed. Highly unusual for goblins who often flee even battles they could win. From the bodies and lair, the party recovered a reasonable among of coin, a magic ring and scroll case and well as a magic fletched javelin. They also found purple glowing rocks that the goblins had been crushing into a powder. Touching the powder made Ex. Strongheart feel agitated and highly jittery. Swift sniffed some of the powder and instantly felt hyper-agitated, flushed, on edge, reactive, and energized. Steve was intrigued and took some back to Horsely… Welcome to Ridgeside7/19/2021 Session 0+1. 07/17/2021
Sept 10th, 0925 Each of the party members had their own reason for being in the yearly caravan from the isolated Selvatico, to the even more isolated County Ridgeside. Very early on the morning of Sept 10th the party was sleeping in their tent when they were awoken by the screams of men dying. Something large smashed down the tent and the PCs struggled to get out. Once out they could see that the camp was being attack by a large number (20+) of hideous monsters. They looked like 5 foot maggots with cutting insectoid mouth parts and robust hairy exoskeletoned legs. Together the party killed the one monster attacking them. Looking around, it was apparent that the defenders of the camp were being overrun. The party killed at least 3 of the maggot monsters, one of which was supernaturally enlarged/matured by a robed figure at the edge of the battle field. Ex. Silas conducted himself particularly well with his bastard sword. Swift and Stephen were both rebuffed when they tried to engage one of the robed figures by themselves only to find out it's body was composed to a mass of maggots and other creeping things. Their weapons were useless and the maggot-man's touch was that of a swarm of flesh eating maggots. Although running towards the maggot-man, Ex. Silas was easily persuaded to flee along with the rest of the party, when they noticed that all the other members of the caravan were dead and the giant maggot-monsters were all around. Traveling Matt, Stephen, and Ex. Silas went one why, Swift (and his hound Trusty) went another. Swift found signs of several survivors, but only found one--the cook. He saw another ripped apart by some kind of animate bush as he tried to enter the Stallion Forest. The majority of the party took refuge on a rocky outcropping about a mile from the massacre sight. By nightfall the party had reunited, gone back the camp and saw that more robes figures (humans wearing tattered black robes) were there burning bodies, several slaughtered pack animals, and most of the trade goods (although some was trade goods were clearly missing). After the enemies left, little could be salvaged. That night, attracted by the smoke, a hunter named Piers from a village called Horsely approached the camp. He told party the following; after an earthquake some months ago there was a glow in the sky, after that monster and humanoid attacks increased and the village sent Capt. Adell and 12 men to check it out, none returned. Horsely is building a palisade wall but is now low on man power. The larger towns are swollen with people fleeing the increased attacks, and will not welcome outsiders. However Horsely will welcome 5 able-bodied men. The party agreed to travel the Horsely. (Piers also told the party that the Feudal lord of Great Orton may have stopped recognizing his fealty to the Feudal Lord of Blythe on Keyklee) Our Heroes as They Entered Ridgeside
Ex. Silas StrongheartA Mercenary Priest out to do good in the world. Silas volunteered to guard the caravan going to Ridgeside, a place he heard stories about from his father's travels. Traveling MattA traveling weapon smith that goes from village to village renting blacksmith's forges to make weapons for the locals. Traveling Matt paid to travel with the caravan to Ridgeside so he might ply his trade. He did the same thing last year, and didn't expect any trouble. SwiftA wilderness guide with family ties to Ridgeside, Swift was actually being paid to accompany the caravan to Ridgeside. He has only been there a few times and was hoping to get a better lay of the land on the trip. SteveA cart driver from Honor, casual conversation could never get a completely satisfactory answer as to how Steve came to be driving a cart on THIS caravan. Does he have some secret? Doesn't seem like it. But that's just what someone with a secret would want you to think. Archives
November 2022
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