The undead menace
How strange...
even if the stench of rotten flesh came to our nostrils, I thought that it would come from far inland, where is rumoured some unread activities. But in the end, we had to fight undead pirates on this very same peninsula.
This feel so wrong that pirates and undead would be together... unless a stronger power leads them both.
I do not see that happening, and that would mean that an undead force took over fort constance during the 4 days the pirate ship that attacked us set sails.
That would be far better for us that fighting a combined force, but I dread for the captives, if any, that were kept in the fort.
The group is holding so far. But I known nothing best that a common enemy to erase the internal conflicts. However, Leonardo refuses healing from Vistra and does not inspire us the way he did. I can only hope that the future will improve his behaviour.
[4 lines for auto gratification]
By the way, I feared that the poisonous sword I got would be useless against undead, but in the end, they just can't bear my awesomeness (one hit crit + 5 hit killing fire blast power + 1 kill by teleport/lightning power...man, I am good!)
[/4 lines for auto gratification]
even if the stench of rotten flesh came to our nostrils, I thought that it would come from far inland, where is rumoured some unread activities. But in the end, we had to fight undead pirates on this very same peninsula.
This feel so wrong that pirates and undead would be together... unless a stronger power leads them both.
I do not see that happening, and that would mean that an undead force took over fort constance during the 4 days the pirate ship that attacked us set sails.
That would be far better for us that fighting a combined force, but I dread for the captives, if any, that were kept in the fort.
The group is holding so far. But I known nothing best that a common enemy to erase the internal conflicts. However, Leonardo refuses healing from Vistra and does not inspire us the way he did. I can only hope that the future will improve his behaviour.
[4 lines for auto gratification]
By the way, I feared that the poisonous sword I got would be useless against undead, but in the end, they just can't bear my awesomeness (one hit crit + 5 hit killing fire blast power + 1 kill by teleport/lightning power...man, I am good!)
[/4 lines for auto gratification]
Session 30: Death and Decay
Scouting the Constance Peninsula leads to a troubling discovery - the presence of undead creatures West of the Cairngorm Peaks. How serious is the threat? And how is it linked to Bloodghost and the pirate gang?
Session 29: Constance and Prudence
The decision is made: if there are captives at Fort Constance, they must be rescued before the trail grows cold. Pressure, however, does not preclude prudence...
And you call that justice?
Today is one of those days in which the world does not make sense any more and a person you considered your friend and your ally backstabs you. And as an excuse, he says he does it in the name of justice.
After a mediocre interrogation of some of the pirates, Tyrion felt he had neither the skill nor the courage to obtain any information from their captain, so he decided to let this difficult task to a more skillful person: Leo. I myself would not have been able to go into the room of that monster, the animal who attacked the village where I lived merrily with my sisters and my mother, slaved my neighbors and friends, and talk to him as if nothing had happened. And I would not consider my friend anyone who could. Leo went there, obtained a valuable information about the origin of the attack to our village and showed him that he would not get away with what he had done. During the process, the cries of pain of that criminal could be heard all over the ship.
After he had finished, Leo came to us to inform us of the results. When Tyrion heard that he had killed the captain, he went mad, muttering some incoherent sentences about justice and lack of remorse. Then he went to the captain of the ship and asked him to judge Leo for murder... MURDER? He had simply administered justice. He had avoided that a pirate and slave trader would go to court and would not pay for his crimes simply because he has the gold (by the way, stolen gold) required to bribe one of those corrupt halflings at Marshport, the same halflings that did not move a finger when we told them that the pirates had attacked our village, the same halflings that had bought the slaves against their own law, simply because a wizard was paying well. Sorry, but in a place like that justice cannot prevail. A judge in Marshport or even the captain of our ship are not the right people to judge and condemn the pirate for his crimes.
Now the captain is going to judge Leo for being a good elf. And this trial (which is not only unfair, it is also dangerous for the peace on the ship) has been instigated by Tyrion. I am starting to wonder why a person that lives by the sword is suddenly so interested in the halfling legal system.
After a mediocre interrogation of some of the pirates, Tyrion felt he had neither the skill nor the courage to obtain any information from their captain, so he decided to let this difficult task to a more skillful person: Leo. I myself would not have been able to go into the room of that monster, the animal who attacked the village where I lived merrily with my sisters and my mother, slaved my neighbors and friends, and talk to him as if nothing had happened. And I would not consider my friend anyone who could. Leo went there, obtained a valuable information about the origin of the attack to our village and showed him that he would not get away with what he had done. During the process, the cries of pain of that criminal could be heard all over the ship.
After he had finished, Leo came to us to inform us of the results. When Tyrion heard that he had killed the captain, he went mad, muttering some incoherent sentences about justice and lack of remorse. Then he went to the captain of the ship and asked him to judge Leo for murder... MURDER? He had simply administered justice. He had avoided that a pirate and slave trader would go to court and would not pay for his crimes simply because he has the gold (by the way, stolen gold) required to bribe one of those corrupt halflings at Marshport, the same halflings that did not move a finger when we told them that the pirates had attacked our village, the same halflings that had bought the slaves against their own law, simply because a wizard was paying well. Sorry, but in a place like that justice cannot prevail. A judge in Marshport or even the captain of our ship are not the right people to judge and condemn the pirate for his crimes.
Now the captain is going to judge Leo for being a good elf. And this trial (which is not only unfair, it is also dangerous for the peace on the ship) has been instigated by Tyrion. I am starting to wonder why a person that lives by the sword is suddenly so interested in the halfling legal system.
Session 28: Sins of One, Sins of Many
When Tyrion raises the uncomfortable question of Szakeem's death at the hand of Leonardino, Captain dell'Fargo finds himself in a difficult position. Ultimately, the half-elf is forever tainted - paying the toll for everyone's uneasy consciences...
What a waste.
I thought Leonardino was a potential great leader with the warrior's code of conduct. Alas for us, he revealed himself as a violent psychopath lead by ego and emotions.
Our pirates captives started to talk. We had informations about the location and the organisation of their base and the fact that the enslaved elves had been taken there.
Although the pirates were receptive to logic and self-preservation, I feared their Captain was a different matter, specially because where I have no issue to free fishermen wanting an extra gold for food in exchange for information on a criminal organisation, I find impossible not to give the Captain to justice to answer to his heinous acts.
I thought that having bested the Captain and forced him to surrender, Leonardino would be able to extract more information despite any counterparts from us.
I believed in him and I trusted him.
For once, I was a bad judge of heart. His history caught up with him. I do not known whether what happened to him, the pirate attack on his village or his enslavement, made him do it, or as I suspect, he is following is own path.
But in the end, the Captain died by his hand. Several times stabbed to death... with obvious traces of torture.
I was shocked. Shocked by his lack of repentance, his lack of remorse and his lack of judgement: It seems the Captain asked for death in exchange for information. A Captain that had lost everything: boat, crew, freedom, reputation... and a Captain that was already heading to the hangman managed to escape justice.
Maybe I am even more shocked by the lack of reaction from Vistra who clearly heard the scream of pain of the Captain...and remained still. My dear Vistra, protector of the poor, the sick and the defenceless, what happened to you? What is this awful poison in your heart? What have you become? Did the horrors of this world taken your resolve? I hope not.
As I said, it seems that Leonardino is walking his own path... and that is not one I want to share.
I stated my case to the halfling captain:
"Captain,
I'd like to report that the pirate captain has been tortured and killed while handcuffed under the supervision of Leonardino. This is against all laws I known and recognise: this was murder and an insane parody of justice. Maybe here it is different but, as the only competent person about ship law, I call upon you to judge this case. I will respect and enforce any sentence you will see fit."
I do hope that Leonardino will see his errors and grow from them before it is too late. I dread the sentence that the captain will call upon him: either I will kill him or he will walk free and we will part ways..
I can only pray the gods we can avoid these two paths.
Our pirates captives started to talk. We had informations about the location and the organisation of their base and the fact that the enslaved elves had been taken there.
Although the pirates were receptive to logic and self-preservation, I feared their Captain was a different matter, specially because where I have no issue to free fishermen wanting an extra gold for food in exchange for information on a criminal organisation, I find impossible not to give the Captain to justice to answer to his heinous acts.
I thought that having bested the Captain and forced him to surrender, Leonardino would be able to extract more information despite any counterparts from us.
I believed in him and I trusted him.
For once, I was a bad judge of heart. His history caught up with him. I do not known whether what happened to him, the pirate attack on his village or his enslavement, made him do it, or as I suspect, he is following is own path.
But in the end, the Captain died by his hand. Several times stabbed to death... with obvious traces of torture.
I was shocked. Shocked by his lack of repentance, his lack of remorse and his lack of judgement: It seems the Captain asked for death in exchange for information. A Captain that had lost everything: boat, crew, freedom, reputation... and a Captain that was already heading to the hangman managed to escape justice.
Maybe I am even more shocked by the lack of reaction from Vistra who clearly heard the scream of pain of the Captain...and remained still. My dear Vistra, protector of the poor, the sick and the defenceless, what happened to you? What is this awful poison in your heart? What have you become? Did the horrors of this world taken your resolve? I hope not.
As I said, it seems that Leonardino is walking his own path... and that is not one I want to share.
I stated my case to the halfling captain:
"Captain,
I'd like to report that the pirate captain has been tortured and killed while handcuffed under the supervision of Leonardino. This is against all laws I known and recognise: this was murder and an insane parody of justice. Maybe here it is different but, as the only competent person about ship law, I call upon you to judge this case. I will respect and enforce any sentence you will see fit."
I do hope that Leonardino will see his errors and grow from them before it is too late. I dread the sentence that the captain will call upon him: either I will kill him or he will walk free and we will part ways..
I can only pray the gods we can avoid these two paths.
Berronar forgive me
Vistra, in prayer to The Mother Goddess:
"Berronar, Mother Goddess, guide me in these troubled times. I have taken a road I am not sure I can follow, crossed a bridge that is now burning behind me. "
The screams of Szakeem echo in Vistra's mind.
"I knew what would happen, the screams echoing from the lower decks just psychic screams hammering my mind confirming what I already knew. Szakeem was being tortured, and I tried to ignore them. Szakeem, a lawless pirate, murderer, kidnapper and who knows what other crimes could be laid at his feet, a hob-goblin rotten to the core and still the screams plague me. My pilgrimage was interrupted to aid in bringing the kidnappers of the elves at Leavendale to justice and free the elves that had been torn from their lives. But is this justice... we all knew Szakeem's crimes, we knew the gallows waited for him and so too would he have taken the information we needed to find the elves with him to his grave. "
Flashback: Vistra arrives with the others to where Leo has brought Szakeem, entering the room she is shocked to find Szakeem bleeding from several cut wounds, clearly dead. Turning to Leo she finds him covered in Szakeem's blood giving a grim image of what must have transpired.
Leo turns to the group and says "I have the information regarding the elves, Szakeem's request for the information was for me to kill him before he is hanged in Marshport."
"He wasn't lying, I knew from the way he said it and the predicament Szakeem was in that it was true, he had taken no pleasure from killing, but neither had he shown regret. But Szakeem was supposed to face justice in Marshport for his crimes. Leo isn't an evil man, his goal to free the elves is a noble sacrifice on his part but can we be the judges and the executioners. Had it not been one of the evil races that plague our world I know I would have stood against any form of torture, but can I condone such an act even against one such as a hob-goblin? Can I be angry at his death, while standing idle during torture? This is the bridge now burning behind me, have I turned from everything you stand against? It is in this I seek your guidance Berronar, and more I seek forgiveness and mercy if my path has strayed. "
The cost of honor
I stood there in front of the captain, as he nervously asked me once again why I had done it.
He did not seem able to grasp the meaning of my words when I told him once again that I had to stand by my word.
Obviously, the concept of honour and respect of the given word was extremely foreign to a halfling merchant, but I still found it surprising that he was so unable to understand my actions.
I would never break my word, and I had given my word to the pirate.
That very morning, Tyrion had looked at me and said:
"There are things I cannot do and I fear must be done. Do what you want with him, but get the information we need. The elves' lives depend on this. I'll be on the other side of the ship, out of ear range."
And he had walked away.
The priest had looked nervously around and simply muttered something about looking for something upstairs.
Adolfiel had held my stare and simply had said she would prevent the rest of the crew from coming below deck.
So after they had all left I slowly walked to the pirate's cell. The same pirate that had enslaved and killed my people. He had sold me to work and die in the mines. He had tried to kill all of us on this very ship. And he had almost succeded.
I knew that he would try to retain his pride, to remain defiant and to steal from us the only thing he had left, the information about the elves. He had lost everything and would seek at least some form of revenge.
I could only do one thing to stop that from happening.
I would make a deal with the devil.
I came in fully prepared to offer things that would have appalled my friends, because it would have meant betraying them.
After hearing my proposition, he proposed his own deal.
Sometimes, different minds reach the same conclusions. The pirate knew we needed the info, and he wanted something from me.
His deal was simpler, faster, very much his style.
If he gave me the information I needed, I would save him the trial, torture and hanging that was waiting for him in Marshport. He had no doubt that he would be hanged because he knew he was a thousand times guilty.
I accepted and gave my word.
Without hesitation, he told me who had the elves, why they had been taken, where and where I would find at least some of them. And stood there, waiting for me to do my part of the deal.
He knew I would not break my word.
And I didn't break it.
As soon as the rest of the group learnt about my actions, hell broke loose.
Tyrion threw a fit, gave a looooooong speech about morals, justice and ethics and walked away.
He came back later with a piece of news, he had made a formal accusation against me in front of the halfling captain.
For murder.
Technically, we had become his employees in the moment the pirates had attacked his ship.
I was bound again by my word and by accepting this contract I had to respect the halfling's word as justice.
Without a second of doubt, I accepted the trial. To do otherwise, I would have broken my word.
All this I explained once again to the halfling captain, but it was obvious that he did not like the responsability, he wanted nothing to do with it.
He had already proven to be too much of a coward to do justice himself on the pirate and now he had to decide on my future. He had heard everyone else's statements, but there was actually no dispute about what had happened. He had to punish me as he saw fit.
I stood there while the captain made up his mind, waiting for judgement.
I would not break my word.
He did not seem able to grasp the meaning of my words when I told him once again that I had to stand by my word.
Obviously, the concept of honour and respect of the given word was extremely foreign to a halfling merchant, but I still found it surprising that he was so unable to understand my actions.
I would never break my word, and I had given my word to the pirate.
That very morning, Tyrion had looked at me and said:
"There are things I cannot do and I fear must be done. Do what you want with him, but get the information we need. The elves' lives depend on this. I'll be on the other side of the ship, out of ear range."
And he had walked away.
The priest had looked nervously around and simply muttered something about looking for something upstairs.
Adolfiel had held my stare and simply had said she would prevent the rest of the crew from coming below deck.
So after they had all left I slowly walked to the pirate's cell. The same pirate that had enslaved and killed my people. He had sold me to work and die in the mines. He had tried to kill all of us on this very ship. And he had almost succeded.
I knew that he would try to retain his pride, to remain defiant and to steal from us the only thing he had left, the information about the elves. He had lost everything and would seek at least some form of revenge.
I could only do one thing to stop that from happening.
I would make a deal with the devil.
I came in fully prepared to offer things that would have appalled my friends, because it would have meant betraying them.
After hearing my proposition, he proposed his own deal.
Sometimes, different minds reach the same conclusions. The pirate knew we needed the info, and he wanted something from me.
His deal was simpler, faster, very much his style.
If he gave me the information I needed, I would save him the trial, torture and hanging that was waiting for him in Marshport. He had no doubt that he would be hanged because he knew he was a thousand times guilty.
I accepted and gave my word.
Without hesitation, he told me who had the elves, why they had been taken, where and where I would find at least some of them. And stood there, waiting for me to do my part of the deal.
He knew I would not break my word.
And I didn't break it.
As soon as the rest of the group learnt about my actions, hell broke loose.
Tyrion threw a fit, gave a looooooong speech about morals, justice and ethics and walked away.
He came back later with a piece of news, he had made a formal accusation against me in front of the halfling captain.
For murder.
Technically, we had become his employees in the moment the pirates had attacked his ship.
I was bound again by my word and by accepting this contract I had to respect the halfling's word as justice.
Without a second of doubt, I accepted the trial. To do otherwise, I would have broken my word.
All this I explained once again to the halfling captain, but it was obvious that he did not like the responsability, he wanted nothing to do with it.
He had already proven to be too much of a coward to do justice himself on the pirate and now he had to decide on my future. He had heard everyone else's statements, but there was actually no dispute about what had happened. He had to punish me as he saw fit.
I stood there while the captain made up his mind, waiting for judgement.
I would not break my word.
Session 27: Blood Stains
Tyrion and Leonardino take turns to question the captured pirates about the elves' whereabouts. Some useful leads emerge, but are they worth the price?
The Legend of Leonardino
Here is the strange story of Leonardino,
Leader amongst leaders,
Defying Dragons, Demons and the Shadow.
But maybe he was only a tiger of paper,
Because in him was mainly Bravado,
And the deeds were perhaps done by others.
Half breed of pure elf and purest human,
Lost between these two bloodlines,
Just made himself a fisherman,
To prove everybody that he could shine,
Amongst the ducks, he would be a swan,
But in reality, was he worth a dime?
We shall see
His first shot at being a hero,
Was when pirates attacked his village.
But he could only weep in sorrow,
Caught between violence and pillage.
He fell down without a blow,
And carried away like a bunch of sausage.
Taken captive in the pirate ship,
He cried for days below the deck,
Wobbly knees and trembling lip.
Having enough of this sobbing wreck
The pirates sold him for just a tip
It was either that or cut his neck.
Enslaved to do a wizard's bidding,
In a cave below his evil tower,
Everyday digging and digging,
Thought he was doomed forever.
But hope came anew in a bright morning
With those soon to be known as his followers.
A bearded dwarven priestess in a barrel
An elven wizard thirsty for knowledge
Akin to an ugly ranger named...something with "el"
Escorted by an aged drunken swordmage
All now shrouded in mystery's mantle
Whose sole use was the coming of a new age.
In awe of his mere presence
They fell for Leonardino's leadership.
Like their life found at last their balance,
A new goal: to follow his lordship,
Now known for his legendary sentence:
"Gentlemen, I am taking their ship"
His destiny was at last revealed,
His greatness in a word: Inspire
Against him, no evil stays undefeated,
Around him, every act becomes wonder.
Dragons, Demon and even Illithids,
Tremble in their skin and shiver.
He walks the earth and brings justice
Evil be warned! and be careful,
As from him you'll have no kiss,
His wrath and strength never restful,
Defying those who threatened peace,
He charges and shouts
(deep male voice) "you're beautiful"
WHAAAAAAAAT?
It does not sound right,
let's try it this way:
(gay style, singing)
You're beautiful, you're beautiful
I love your skin, its just too smooth!
Your fangs are white, be merciful!
Please don't kill me, I'm in my youth!
You're wearing silk, that's wonderful!
I'm just a worm, I offer truce!
Oh shit, oh shit, I'm gonna die!
Why did I charge, they never follow!
I would attack, but I'm just too shy!
That's too risky, I'll take a blow!
The boat is close and I believe I can fly!
Why do they laugh, it's not for show!
(normal flux)
Alas for the poor Leonardino,
Wanting to write a line in History
With the well deserved title of hero!
But nobody can change his destiny,
When Fate "blesses" you with Bravado,
You should just stick to comedy!
Leader amongst leaders,
Defying Dragons, Demons and the Shadow.
But maybe he was only a tiger of paper,
Because in him was mainly Bravado,
And the deeds were perhaps done by others.
Half breed of pure elf and purest human,
Lost between these two bloodlines,
Just made himself a fisherman,
To prove everybody that he could shine,
Amongst the ducks, he would be a swan,
But in reality, was he worth a dime?
We shall see
His first shot at being a hero,
Was when pirates attacked his village.
But he could only weep in sorrow,
Caught between violence and pillage.
He fell down without a blow,
And carried away like a bunch of sausage.
Taken captive in the pirate ship,
He cried for days below the deck,
Wobbly knees and trembling lip.
Having enough of this sobbing wreck
The pirates sold him for just a tip
It was either that or cut his neck.
Enslaved to do a wizard's bidding,
In a cave below his evil tower,
Everyday digging and digging,
Thought he was doomed forever.
But hope came anew in a bright morning
With those soon to be known as his followers.
A bearded dwarven priestess in a barrel
An elven wizard thirsty for knowledge
Akin to an ugly ranger named...something with "el"
Escorted by an aged drunken swordmage
All now shrouded in mystery's mantle
Whose sole use was the coming of a new age.
In awe of his mere presence
They fell for Leonardino's leadership.
Like their life found at last their balance,
A new goal: to follow his lordship,
Now known for his legendary sentence:
"Gentlemen, I am taking their ship"
His destiny was at last revealed,
His greatness in a word: Inspire
Against him, no evil stays undefeated,
Around him, every act becomes wonder.
Dragons, Demon and even Illithids,
Tremble in their skin and shiver.
He walks the earth and brings justice
Evil be warned! and be careful,
As from him you'll have no kiss,
His wrath and strength never restful,
Defying those who threatened peace,
He charges and shouts
(deep male voice) "you're beautiful"
WHAAAAAAAAT?
It does not sound right,
let's try it this way:
(gay style, singing)
You're beautiful, you're beautiful
I love your skin, its just too smooth!
Your fangs are white, be merciful!
Please don't kill me, I'm in my youth!
You're wearing silk, that's wonderful!
I'm just a worm, I offer truce!
Oh shit, oh shit, I'm gonna die!
Why did I charge, they never follow!
I would attack, but I'm just too shy!
That's too risky, I'll take a blow!
The boat is close and I believe I can fly!
Why do they laugh, it's not for show!
(normal flux)
Alas for the poor Leonardino,
Wanting to write a line in History
With the well deserved title of hero!
But nobody can change his destiny,
When Fate "blesses" you with Bravado,
You should just stick to comedy!
Announcement
Please heed notice,
the famous bard Aquilonius will present a once in a lifetime live performance!
(his perfomance will be posted after the representation).
A first time ever song titled: "Legend of Leonardino"
Follow by a debate: "Leonardino: real or fake?"
Free booze, no dress code. Come numerous.
the famous bard Aquilonius will present a once in a lifetime live performance!
(his perfomance will be posted after the representation).
A first time ever song titled: "Legend of Leonardino"
Follow by a debate: "Leonardino: real or fake?"
Free booze, no dress code. Come numerous.
Session 26: Walking the Plank
After a vicious and desperate struggle, Szakeem is vanquished and his ship captured - but both it and Veronika's Fortunes are ablaze with flames...
Gentlemen...
It was difficult to believe that barely some minutes had passed since the attack had come.
Even though we expected it, the attack still had caught us by surprise. We did not expect the pirates to be so bold as to attack under a storm, we did not expect the flame throwing machines and we certainly did not expect an assault so brutal.
In the first moments of the combat, all seemed lost. They approached very fast and assaulted the ship in two places at the same time. The goblin tried to stop the first wave coming on the bow, but he was unable to resist. I moved in to help him while Tyrion, Vistra and Adolfiel faced the attack on the stern.
They were too many, too strong and too organized. The flame throwing machines sent huge waves of flame on our deck and very soon the sails were burning, most of our sailors has fled under the deck and the pirates were on our ship's deck.
We fell under their blows as they worked together to isolate us and make us easy targets. Very soon Vistra, Tyrion and me were helpless and on the edge of dying. Although Adolfiel was shooting as fast as she could and hit many enemies, they kept coming. The goblin had retreated under the deck and was nowhere in sight. Only the captain of our ship stood still defiant, protecting the helm.
The pirates pushed on, thinking that this was going to be an easy combat. The thugs pushed on and moved in for the final blow. All seemed lost...
But the gods would not let us fail, our quest was too important. The slaves HAD to come back to the village.
So in that moment, slowly the wind changed direction.
The fire in the sails started blowing towards the stern and the smoke gave Adlofiel cover from the javelin throwers on the other ship. Tyrion and Vistra got breathing space and the cleric invoked on Berronar to help her protect the group. With her help, I was able to go back to the stern and get in formation with Tyrion and Vistra. Adolfiel kept shooting arrows in all directions.
The pirate thugs hesitated, they had lost the momentum that they had had at the beginning, but very soon with their captain coming along with them, they moved in for the kill.
The clash was monstrous. Arrows, swords, spells, manouevers, it took all we had just to stay alive and resist the wave.
Once and again Tyrion was hit, fell and got back up to stand firm his ground.
Once and again Adolfiel let herself exposed to attack as she kept on shooting arrows at the ranks of pirates.
Once and again Vistra gave healing to the wounded while blows were falling on her continously.
And we stopped the wave.
The thugs started falling, dying. The attack got weaker.
Suddenly, the pirate captain gave a shout and the remaining thugs moved back to the other side of the boat. They were getting back in formation, getting reinforcements before launching the final attack...
With a flourish, Tyrion struck the dying bugbear that had not retreated and as it died, it fell overboard.
As smoke filled my lungs and stang into my eyes, I paused to take a breath and looked around me.
I saw the deck covered with blood and bodies, the cries of pain of wounded pirates and sailors were coming from all around us.
From where I was, just behind the main mast, I could barely glimpse the bow of our ship. Szakeem and his thugs were retreating that way, trying to get space to fall in formation and launch a second attack. They were far from defeated, they still had many tricks ready for us and we had barely survived the last wave.
I looked to my left and saw the pirate ship on our starboard side. It loomed there still intact after all this combat, dark, menacing and huge compared to our own ship. More pirates were coming from its bowels to make a new attack.
It was beatiful.
I turned around, looked at my friends, smiled and said:
"Gentlemen, I'm going to take their ship"
And I ran.
Even though we expected it, the attack still had caught us by surprise. We did not expect the pirates to be so bold as to attack under a storm, we did not expect the flame throwing machines and we certainly did not expect an assault so brutal.
In the first moments of the combat, all seemed lost. They approached very fast and assaulted the ship in two places at the same time. The goblin tried to stop the first wave coming on the bow, but he was unable to resist. I moved in to help him while Tyrion, Vistra and Adolfiel faced the attack on the stern.
They were too many, too strong and too organized. The flame throwing machines sent huge waves of flame on our deck and very soon the sails were burning, most of our sailors has fled under the deck and the pirates were on our ship's deck.
We fell under their blows as they worked together to isolate us and make us easy targets. Very soon Vistra, Tyrion and me were helpless and on the edge of dying. Although Adolfiel was shooting as fast as she could and hit many enemies, they kept coming. The goblin had retreated under the deck and was nowhere in sight. Only the captain of our ship stood still defiant, protecting the helm.
The pirates pushed on, thinking that this was going to be an easy combat. The thugs pushed on and moved in for the final blow. All seemed lost...
But the gods would not let us fail, our quest was too important. The slaves HAD to come back to the village.
So in that moment, slowly the wind changed direction.
The fire in the sails started blowing towards the stern and the smoke gave Adlofiel cover from the javelin throwers on the other ship. Tyrion and Vistra got breathing space and the cleric invoked on Berronar to help her protect the group. With her help, I was able to go back to the stern and get in formation with Tyrion and Vistra. Adolfiel kept shooting arrows in all directions.
The pirate thugs hesitated, they had lost the momentum that they had had at the beginning, but very soon with their captain coming along with them, they moved in for the kill.
The clash was monstrous. Arrows, swords, spells, manouevers, it took all we had just to stay alive and resist the wave.
Once and again Tyrion was hit, fell and got back up to stand firm his ground.
Once and again Adolfiel let herself exposed to attack as she kept on shooting arrows at the ranks of pirates.
Once and again Vistra gave healing to the wounded while blows were falling on her continously.
And we stopped the wave.
The thugs started falling, dying. The attack got weaker.
Suddenly, the pirate captain gave a shout and the remaining thugs moved back to the other side of the boat. They were getting back in formation, getting reinforcements before launching the final attack...
With a flourish, Tyrion struck the dying bugbear that had not retreated and as it died, it fell overboard.
As smoke filled my lungs and stang into my eyes, I paused to take a breath and looked around me.
I saw the deck covered with blood and bodies, the cries of pain of wounded pirates and sailors were coming from all around us.
From where I was, just behind the main mast, I could barely glimpse the bow of our ship. Szakeem and his thugs were retreating that way, trying to get space to fall in formation and launch a second attack. They were far from defeated, they still had many tricks ready for us and we had barely survived the last wave.
I looked to my left and saw the pirate ship on our starboard side. It loomed there still intact after all this combat, dark, menacing and huge compared to our own ship. More pirates were coming from its bowels to make a new attack.
It was beatiful.
I turned around, looked at my friends, smiled and said:
"Gentlemen, I'm going to take their ship"
And I ran.
Sessions 24-25: Szakeem's Assault
After a week of tedious sailing, a massive storm in Thunder Bay heralds the arrival of captain Szakeem Wormblade - the hobgoblin pirate responsible for the raid on Leavendale. The pirate onslaught fills the decks with fire and blood - but the Gods have their say and the tide slowly begins to turn...
Bahamut, be prepared for thy servant
(A wobbly shadow in the dark streets of Mashport, it is nearly dawn and everything is calm... actually, not quite as asleep citizen are awaken by a shouting voice)
My Lord! Yes, you flying over there, hear my words!
*hips*
I do not pray often, but when I do, prepare your tavern girls and show your gold!
*hips*
Tyrion is in town ... and he needs to be emptied.
*hehehe*
We left this cursed halfling town and are prepared to bait pirates on their hunting grounds. I am accompanied by youngsters that never put a foot on a deck and not a hand on a dick!
(shut up, we are sleeping)
You shut up, bitch!
Damn ground, why isn't it flat?
I am likely to die, surrounded by midgets and unfuckables in cold waters, but bear witness...
(silence! somebody calls the gards)
Yeah! call them so they can hear me!
Bear witness!: I will bring so many of them down that their blood will crush open the doors of Walhalla for me. The cries of despair from the sluts of the world will deafened the gods themselves...
*hips...hooo, my head*
Tonight, I fucked without restrains, I drunk without restrains, I have gambled without restrains... that is my life, and Lord Bahamut, give me the same in the afterlife!
*Beuuuuuha* (noise of something liquid splashing on a wall)
But... if you can wait a couple of decades, that is fine by me!
*burp*
My Lord! Yes, you flying over there, hear my words!
*hips*
I do not pray often, but when I do, prepare your tavern girls and show your gold!
*hips*
Tyrion is in town ... and he needs to be emptied.
*hehehe*
We left this cursed halfling town and are prepared to bait pirates on their hunting grounds. I am accompanied by youngsters that never put a foot on a deck and not a hand on a dick!
(shut up, we are sleeping)
You shut up, bitch!
Damn ground, why isn't it flat?
I am likely to die, surrounded by midgets and unfuckables in cold waters, but bear witness...
(silence! somebody calls the gards)
Yeah! call them so they can hear me!
Bear witness!: I will bring so many of them down that their blood will crush open the doors of Walhalla for me. The cries of despair from the sluts of the world will deafened the gods themselves...
*hips...hooo, my head*
Tonight, I fucked without restrains, I drunk without restrains, I have gambled without restrains... that is my life, and Lord Bahamut, give me the same in the afterlife!
*Beuuuuuha* (noise of something liquid splashing on a wall)
But... if you can wait a couple of decades, that is fine by me!
*burp*
Session 23: The Stowaway
Finally setting sail from Fort Eyrie aboard Veronika's Fortune, the group discover an unwelcome guest with a score to settle...
Regrets?
Well, we manage to get out of this thief plagued city with a clear name, saved captives and information to pursue our quest. Unfortunately, the differences of the means to reach our goal that people are ready to use have appears in our group, to such an extend that Sarielle will part ways when we reach Mashport.
I had prepared a letter for the Captain of the guard in the event that we had to flee the city.
This was not the case as we had the opportunity to explain everything to the Captain and leave free of charges.
However, it was such a nice letter that I put it here:
My Dear Captain,
I have the regret to inform you that we have left your city despite your formal order not to do so.
As you may have learned, attempts at our lives have been made in broad daylight. Having been unsuccessful, they kidnapped our comrades staying at the inn, one of them having left dead in one of your street near the inn, while we were investigating to prove our innocence in the matter regarding the assault on the merchant Raukaus.
The kidnappers, a local criminal guild lead by a Halfling named longshamks and reporting to the infamous Rathos aka Bloodghost, threatened us to kill our comrades if we refuse to murder you.
We were cornered in a city that did not trust us and running out of options. We decided to fight. You may have heard about disturbances in the market district two nights ago, there was the guild hideout. We managed to leave with Longshanks but lost another comrade, an innocent renowned builder by the name of Mandin.
I have the regret that Lonshanks negotiated his freedom in exchange for the lives of our remaining comrades and information regarding our quest. As you may remember , we are tracking the pirates lead by Zakim who enslaved the elven villagers of Leavendale. I regret this because I could not bring this Halfling to justice. But you will surely agree that if our word is not good enough to prove our innocence in a merchant assault, it would have been unsufficient to bring down a notable of this city as a criminal guild master.
I have nothing to gain in explaining you this. I am truly ashamed that I cannot stay to clear my name because I have a higher motive right now. In the eventuality of me freeing the slaves without dying, I will come back and respond to whatever charges you will still hold against me.
As last words, I beg of you to be careful for your life. If the guild asked us to make a move against you, they will surely not stop there, especially if you intend to pursue your cleaning of your city.
In this, be wary of the sergeant that guarded the gate the day of our arrival and his crew, they are Longshanks men.
To conclude, we found the pirates contact in your city: the harbour master. he hides a list of possible target boats in a notebook hidden in a secret cache of his desk. We have discovered that the boat we intended to take is in this list. We are hiding in it and hope to repel a pirate attack and learn more to find the remaining elves.
With the hope that justice will prevail and honour regained,
Yours truly,
Tyrion
I had prepared a letter for the Captain of the guard in the event that we had to flee the city.
This was not the case as we had the opportunity to explain everything to the Captain and leave free of charges.
However, it was such a nice letter that I put it here:
My Dear Captain,
I have the regret to inform you that we have left your city despite your formal order not to do so.
As you may have learned, attempts at our lives have been made in broad daylight. Having been unsuccessful, they kidnapped our comrades staying at the inn, one of them having left dead in one of your street near the inn, while we were investigating to prove our innocence in the matter regarding the assault on the merchant Raukaus.
The kidnappers, a local criminal guild lead by a Halfling named longshamks and reporting to the infamous Rathos aka Bloodghost, threatened us to kill our comrades if we refuse to murder you.
We were cornered in a city that did not trust us and running out of options. We decided to fight. You may have heard about disturbances in the market district two nights ago, there was the guild hideout. We managed to leave with Longshanks but lost another comrade, an innocent renowned builder by the name of Mandin.
I have the regret that Lonshanks negotiated his freedom in exchange for the lives of our remaining comrades and information regarding our quest. As you may remember , we are tracking the pirates lead by Zakim who enslaved the elven villagers of Leavendale. I regret this because I could not bring this Halfling to justice. But you will surely agree that if our word is not good enough to prove our innocence in a merchant assault, it would have been unsufficient to bring down a notable of this city as a criminal guild master.
I have nothing to gain in explaining you this. I am truly ashamed that I cannot stay to clear my name because I have a higher motive right now. In the eventuality of me freeing the slaves without dying, I will come back and respond to whatever charges you will still hold against me.
As last words, I beg of you to be careful for your life. If the guild asked us to make a move against you, they will surely not stop there, especially if you intend to pursue your cleaning of your city.
In this, be wary of the sergeant that guarded the gate the day of our arrival and his crew, they are Longshanks men.
To conclude, we found the pirates contact in your city: the harbour master. he hides a list of possible target boats in a notebook hidden in a secret cache of his desk. We have discovered that the boat we intended to take is in this list. We are hiding in it and hope to repel a pirate attack and learn more to find the remaining elves.
With the hope that justice will prevail and honour regained,
Yours truly,
Tyrion
Session 22: Leaving Eyrie
In the cover of night, the group manages to board the Veronika's Fortune unseen. In the morning, some revelations offer new hope...
Sessions 20-21: The End of the Line
With Mandin dead and Longshank captured, the group's priorities begin to diverge... will their enemies use it against them?
Disaster at Fort Eyre
It seems wherever we go there is always something that bars our way. After having been able to free the slaves from the Towerat Poisson, through some gruelling trials against the Kruthiks, we planned on going to Fort Eyre with Mandin and his guards, grab a good nights rest before heading to Marshport to drop of the elves and Mandin's group and see where we would go from then on. As soon as we arrived in Fort Eyre things started getting sour, one of the guards at the gate tried to stir up some trouble and apparently we hit a nerve as they 'convinced' one of the merchants we had sold our kart to say we had beaten him and brought those charges to the Guard Captain. He put us under investigation, although with luck I think he was sensing something was up as I had told him that as a Cleric of Berronar I would never condone or allow such action to be undertaken. We weren't permitted to leave town, even after securing a ship that would bring us to Marshport and then further north past the Whitecaps. But it seems Evil forces were conspiring against us. After having talked to the Harbour Master regarding (Zhakiem) and the ship with brown sails, everything went from bad to worse. Ambushes were placed, with helpless women crying for help and turning on us when we came to the rescue, beggers looking at us with more than just eyes for our money, an Elite assasin tried to get rid of Leonardo and Tyrion who only with luck managed to escape and reach the city guards who chased the assasin away, Mandin and his guards were also kidnapped from the inn they were staying at, and worst of all we had to spend time in the sewers of Fort Eyre the smell worse than Gruumsh's own foul breath. Someone was spending a lot of effort to get rid of us, and we still had only an idea of where they would be located, in one of the houses near the market that had been scouted out by Adolfiel. After Mandin's capture we thought enough was enough, we devised a plan to try and get into this house and get back Mandin and his guards and stop this hunting of us once and for all.
Sessions 18-19: Dealing with Longshank
Having traced their troubles to a local criminal underboss, Tolg Longshank, the party agree to meet him. He then makes them an offer he thinks they can't refuse...
Under siege
The criminal gang made an attempt to kill us that very night, by setting up an ambush in an alley near our inn. We reacted well and were able to fend of the attackers, but did not take any prisoners.
As we returned to the inn, we realized that the ambush had been prepared by people who knew of our whereabouts and that we were under vigilance. That very night we setup a strong guard so that we could rest peacefully.
The next day was almost disastrous.
As we woke up we decided to go on investigating and trying to prove our innocence. We knew already that everything that happened in this town was seen by prying eyes and sent as information to a certain house in the marketplace.
Adolfiel decided to use the same methods they were using on us on that very house and spent the day learning about it. What she found out that day proved invaluable and probably saved our lives.
The rest of the group went on investigating around town. Mandin, the elves and the guards were to stay at the inn waiting for the permission for the ship to leave port.
As we had feared, there were spies all around us.
At a certain given moment we split up, with the cleric going to the house of healing and the mage going to the library. Tyrion and me were to go to the marketplace to look for Adolfiel and get the latest information.
At that moment, the assassin hit.
He had been waiting for us to relax our vigilance, split up and find a weaker opponent that he could easily defeat. He made a mistake by attacking us and not the cleric or the mage, because we survived his attack...barely.
As soon as we started fighting him, we realized he was easily powerful enough as to kill us both. Whoever wanted us dead had come to the conclusion that sending weaklings against us would not work and had decided to pay real money for real might. Thus, this assassin and thus, Tyrion and I were outclassed.
The combat tested us both to the limit. We were resourceful and competent, tried to team up, protect the other and profit from being two on one, but it was not enough, not today.
Very soon we started retreating and trying to escape cleanly. We combined our skills and performed manoeuvres that would have easily worked in normal situations.
The assassin followed us relentlessly and caught up with us over and over again. He poisoned us, made us blinded and paralysed, and run after us like an unstoppable tide.
We felt despair and tiredness dragging us down as the combat went on.
If this did not stop soon, we would be dead.
And finally, at the very last moment, the city guards finally appeared. They had come after the shouts and even though city guards are not known for their speed going towards trouble, they eventually got there.
As soon as he saw them, the assassin smiled, blinked at us, turned round and left, letting us live... for the moment.
The situation was very serious. We realized that we could not stay any longer on the streets, as the third attack would probably not miss again and someone in the group would fall.
We assembled the group in the local temple under protection from the priest. As we prepared to sleep, the balance of the day was bad, very bad.
Tyrion and I were spent, the ship was still blocked and we were still under accusation. We did not know who was attacking us nor how strong the enemy was and we did not dare to got out on the street nor return to our quarters.
But worse of all, the group was not complete.
The elves, Mandin and the guards were still at the inn, unaware of the day's events.
We could not go there to warn them, we were under siege.
The rope was closing around our necks and we were starting to feel it tight. In a few hours we would be choking...
As we returned to the inn, we realized that the ambush had been prepared by people who knew of our whereabouts and that we were under vigilance. That very night we setup a strong guard so that we could rest peacefully.
The next day was almost disastrous.
As we woke up we decided to go on investigating and trying to prove our innocence. We knew already that everything that happened in this town was seen by prying eyes and sent as information to a certain house in the marketplace.
Adolfiel decided to use the same methods they were using on us on that very house and spent the day learning about it. What she found out that day proved invaluable and probably saved our lives.
The rest of the group went on investigating around town. Mandin, the elves and the guards were to stay at the inn waiting for the permission for the ship to leave port.
As we had feared, there were spies all around us.
At a certain given moment we split up, with the cleric going to the house of healing and the mage going to the library. Tyrion and me were to go to the marketplace to look for Adolfiel and get the latest information.
At that moment, the assassin hit.
He had been waiting for us to relax our vigilance, split up and find a weaker opponent that he could easily defeat. He made a mistake by attacking us and not the cleric or the mage, because we survived his attack...barely.
As soon as we started fighting him, we realized he was easily powerful enough as to kill us both. Whoever wanted us dead had come to the conclusion that sending weaklings against us would not work and had decided to pay real money for real might. Thus, this assassin and thus, Tyrion and I were outclassed.
The combat tested us both to the limit. We were resourceful and competent, tried to team up, protect the other and profit from being two on one, but it was not enough, not today.
Very soon we started retreating and trying to escape cleanly. We combined our skills and performed manoeuvres that would have easily worked in normal situations.
The assassin followed us relentlessly and caught up with us over and over again. He poisoned us, made us blinded and paralysed, and run after us like an unstoppable tide.
We felt despair and tiredness dragging us down as the combat went on.
If this did not stop soon, we would be dead.
And finally, at the very last moment, the city guards finally appeared. They had come after the shouts and even though city guards are not known for their speed going towards trouble, they eventually got there.
As soon as he saw them, the assassin smiled, blinked at us, turned round and left, letting us live... for the moment.
The situation was very serious. We realized that we could not stay any longer on the streets, as the third attack would probably not miss again and someone in the group would fall.
We assembled the group in the local temple under protection from the priest. As we prepared to sleep, the balance of the day was bad, very bad.
Tyrion and I were spent, the ship was still blocked and we were still under accusation. We did not know who was attacking us nor how strong the enemy was and we did not dare to got out on the street nor return to our quarters.
But worse of all, the group was not complete.
The elves, Mandin and the guards were still at the inn, unaware of the day's events.
We could not go there to warn them, we were under siege.
The rope was closing around our necks and we were starting to feel it tight. In a few hours we would be choking...
Session 17: Beggars can't be Choosers
The streets of Fort Eyrie are a hornet's nest - and somebody stirred it...
Halflings and more halflings
The group arrived to Fort Eyre without too much trouble. In the road we had the time to get to know each other better and to broadly set up our master plan for the future.
The party seemed decided to go on searching for the missing slaves and searching for the pirate who took them away seemed the best way to do it.
Or intentions in Fort Eyre were to replenish our equipment, send Mandin, his guards and the three freed elves safely in their way and find some ship to take us north, at the very least to Marshport without passing through Poisson again.
This plan seemed sensible and not very difficult to accomplish. However, when there are halflings around, no plan works in a simple way.
The arrival to Poisson proved troublesome. We avoided paying the incredibly high "door taxes" for our cart by selling it to a local tradesman.
Up to that moment, our plans seemed to be progressing slowly but surely. We had good lodgings for the night, a passage in a big ship leaving the next day for Marshport and no problems of importance.
It did not last long.
Unfortunately, the guards did not like that we didn't bow to their corrupt ways and accused us of a crime that they themselves had committed.
The local captain, as good intentioned as he was, was also as thick as a brick and gullible as a sheep. He believed every word from the corrupt sergeant (we will have words, this sergeant and me) and ordered us not to leave the town.
He also ordered the ship to remain in port until things were more clear.
To make matters worse, the local criminal gang got wind of our interest for the pirate.
The clouds were gathering over our heads and we were not ready for the storm.
It took us some time to realize that this day's events would later spiral into combat, pain and death.
The party seemed decided to go on searching for the missing slaves and searching for the pirate who took them away seemed the best way to do it.
Or intentions in Fort Eyre were to replenish our equipment, send Mandin, his guards and the three freed elves safely in their way and find some ship to take us north, at the very least to Marshport without passing through Poisson again.
This plan seemed sensible and not very difficult to accomplish. However, when there are halflings around, no plan works in a simple way.
The arrival to Poisson proved troublesome. We avoided paying the incredibly high "door taxes" for our cart by selling it to a local tradesman.
Up to that moment, our plans seemed to be progressing slowly but surely. We had good lodgings for the night, a passage in a big ship leaving the next day for Marshport and no problems of importance.
It did not last long.
Unfortunately, the guards did not like that we didn't bow to their corrupt ways and accused us of a crime that they themselves had committed.
The local captain, as good intentioned as he was, was also as thick as a brick and gullible as a sheep. He believed every word from the corrupt sergeant (we will have words, this sergeant and me) and ordered us not to leave the town.
He also ordered the ship to remain in port until things were more clear.
To make matters worse, the local criminal gang got wind of our interest for the pirate.
The clouds were gathering over our heads and we were not ready for the storm.
It took us some time to realize that this day's events would later spiral into combat, pain and death.
Session 16: Dusk at Fort Eyrie
The party arrive at Fort Eyrie, but their investigations attract unwanted attention from both the guards and the local criminals...
Kruthiks, Magic and Ripping-Offs
Ill-prepared for the task at hand and with no clue of exactly what we were intended to accomplish, we entered the blood-reeking tunnels... We were soon assaulted by all sides by scary insectoid monstrosities, critters able to play the hit and hide game to almost perfection: the kruthiks.
As we proceeded further into the bowels of the earth, I pondered Sionas' words... what secret was he hiding from me? Could the caverns hide some powerful ley lines that would empower rituals conducted in the caverns? Was he summoning devils to his command, his red swollen eyes being a clue to his infernal interactions? Was it an area of wild magic, where no spell would work the same as usual? I decided to do some tests, out of the eyes of the spying guard that Sionas had sent to "protect" us... I started with silly cantrips and petty tricks but, soon, not seeing any effect to my spells, I decided Sionas had probably duped us, his demands not to use magic only some kind of twisted humour, and I decided to use any of the spells I had at my disposal.
And it was in due time, as in those caverns we almost found death at the claws and fangs of a Kruthik monstrosity, a gargantuan hive mother, surrounded by her horrific brood. The spy Sionas had sent with us died in that cavern, and we all could have perished, had we not used all our available resources in the difficult battle.
When, bloody and beaten, we exited the tunnels to tell Sionas of our success, the tricky wizard received us with anger and malice. He yelled at us, called us incompetents and told us that our use of magic had destroyed his experiments, a work of at least 30 years. He would not let the slaves free, even when we offered him more help to eradicate the Kruthik infestation and information on the wonders we had discovered during our travels.
We left Sionas' tower, intent on freeing the slaves using trickery, considering he would not free them otherwise. In the next days, the Halflings kept working in the tower, probably Sionas did not want to end abruptly his works at the tower, so that he would not angry them. We decided our best bet would be to make Sionas feel insecure by finding ways to make his position in Poisson uncomfortable.
So, while some in the group started spreading rumours that his treasure was false and running out, others tried to investigate further, but the only strange events were a couple of disappearances and some Halfling husbands cheating their wives: as days passed by it became clear that most Halflings, at least in Poisson, are cheaters by nature, and that their love of their Barrel of Ale god is lesser than their need to rip their visitors off. They overcharged us for everything: the food, the drinks, the rooms, the information they gave us...
We were desperate and clueless on how to proceed, when the slave that had helped us in the Kruthik lair, Leonardo, found us. He had been able to escape and had a plan: he would discredit the Wizard further and dupe the Mayor into calling Sionas for a meeting. With the wizard far away from the tower it would be easy enough to free the slaves. Tyrion then proposed using a cart to, disguised as merchants, enter the tower.
The plan seemed sound enough, so we gave it a try. Leonardo told the mayor that the wizard was running out of money, and convinced him to call for a meeting with Sionas.
In the morning, while the wizard rode to Poisson to meet the mayor, Tyrion, Leonardo and Vistra approached the tower disguised as merchants.
Unluckily for us, while approaching the tower, Leonardo was recognised by the guards at the entrance. It was not a big problem, as the guards were not in the mood for a fight, but Sionas had protected all doors magically and, unable to break them down easily, we aborted the attempt.
The plan had an unexpected effect, though, as Sionas grew paranoid. He decided that, as his works in the tower no longer had any sense, he would better leave before the Halflings realised that he was indeed running low on money. One day after a payday, and while the Halflings were paying attention to their Big Beer Barrel, Sionas packed his treasure and equipment and left the tower.
Part of the group had been monitoring the tower. When they saw the wizard leave, they waited some moments for him to get away, approached the tower and freed the slaves. The guards and Mandin decided to accompany us to Fort Eyrie, as they were now unemployed and would take Aygon's job offer.
As we proceeded further into the bowels of the earth, I pondered Sionas' words... what secret was he hiding from me? Could the caverns hide some powerful ley lines that would empower rituals conducted in the caverns? Was he summoning devils to his command, his red swollen eyes being a clue to his infernal interactions? Was it an area of wild magic, where no spell would work the same as usual? I decided to do some tests, out of the eyes of the spying guard that Sionas had sent to "protect" us... I started with silly cantrips and petty tricks but, soon, not seeing any effect to my spells, I decided Sionas had probably duped us, his demands not to use magic only some kind of twisted humour, and I decided to use any of the spells I had at my disposal.
And it was in due time, as in those caverns we almost found death at the claws and fangs of a Kruthik monstrosity, a gargantuan hive mother, surrounded by her horrific brood. The spy Sionas had sent with us died in that cavern, and we all could have perished, had we not used all our available resources in the difficult battle.
When, bloody and beaten, we exited the tunnels to tell Sionas of our success, the tricky wizard received us with anger and malice. He yelled at us, called us incompetents and told us that our use of magic had destroyed his experiments, a work of at least 30 years. He would not let the slaves free, even when we offered him more help to eradicate the Kruthik infestation and information on the wonders we had discovered during our travels.
We left Sionas' tower, intent on freeing the slaves using trickery, considering he would not free them otherwise. In the next days, the Halflings kept working in the tower, probably Sionas did not want to end abruptly his works at the tower, so that he would not angry them. We decided our best bet would be to make Sionas feel insecure by finding ways to make his position in Poisson uncomfortable.
So, while some in the group started spreading rumours that his treasure was false and running out, others tried to investigate further, but the only strange events were a couple of disappearances and some Halfling husbands cheating their wives: as days passed by it became clear that most Halflings, at least in Poisson, are cheaters by nature, and that their love of their Barrel of Ale god is lesser than their need to rip their visitors off. They overcharged us for everything: the food, the drinks, the rooms, the information they gave us...
We were desperate and clueless on how to proceed, when the slave that had helped us in the Kruthik lair, Leonardo, found us. He had been able to escape and had a plan: he would discredit the Wizard further and dupe the Mayor into calling Sionas for a meeting. With the wizard far away from the tower it would be easy enough to free the slaves. Tyrion then proposed using a cart to, disguised as merchants, enter the tower.
The plan seemed sound enough, so we gave it a try. Leonardo told the mayor that the wizard was running out of money, and convinced him to call for a meeting with Sionas.
In the morning, while the wizard rode to Poisson to meet the mayor, Tyrion, Leonardo and Vistra approached the tower disguised as merchants.
Unluckily for us, while approaching the tower, Leonardo was recognised by the guards at the entrance. It was not a big problem, as the guards were not in the mood for a fight, but Sionas had protected all doors magically and, unable to break them down easily, we aborted the attempt.
The plan had an unexpected effect, though, as Sionas grew paranoid. He decided that, as his works in the tower no longer had any sense, he would better leave before the Halflings realised that he was indeed running low on money. One day after a payday, and while the Halflings were paying attention to their Big Beer Barrel, Sionas packed his treasure and equipment and left the tower.
Part of the group had been monitoring the tower. When they saw the wizard leave, they waited some moments for him to get away, approached the tower and freed the slaves. The guards and Mandin decided to accompany us to Fort Eyrie, as they were now unemployed and would take Aygon's job offer.
Rescue success
Well,
it turned out that the wizard Sionas what not too happy with our performance. To be honest, I think that "not too happy" is an understatement, I would rather say that he was looking at us with murderous intent.
As we had to use magic to get rid of the insect queen ( or maybe because our own wizard had itching fingers... I understand myself), we destroyed what the wizard was looking for in the caves. Needless to say that he refused to free the slaves as agreed and we left, fearing that Sarielle's tongue would get us killed.
Of course, we couldn't let the slaves in this predicament and we planned to free them during a rescue attempt. We had some inside information when Leonardino escaped by himself and decided to act when Sionas would be in a meeting with the mayor. Disguised as workers, Leonardino and I came with a fake delivery of food with fake barrels to make the prisonners escape without the army of halfling workers noticing.
It went immediatly wrong as the guards saw throught Leonardino's disguise but thanks to our charisma and the belief in our just cause, we manage to convince them to let us in and discuss with their boss, Mandin. We were nearly discovered as the halflings made the barrel containing Vistra fall. Hopefully, I manage to cover the blunder and we went in.
It turned out that Mandin was being held inside the tower throught doors magically locked because of sionas' paranoia and with all the workers, it was not managable to break in unnoticed. we didn't know either what consequences could bring the breaking of a magically sealed door... my fear was a angry wizard teleporting right next to us.
Well, we decided to keep watch on the tower to wait for other oppotunities, especially as the worker's pay day was coming. We knew that the finances of the wizard were running low but we ignored to what extend. Desillusion came as the wizard paid the workers as scheduled... but no sooner that we feared we could never free the slaves, that we witnessed the wizard fleeing the tower under cover of the night. As we came checking, the guards were also packing with Mandin and told us that there were too much unrest with the halflings because of our stunts for the wizard to stay around.
We took the slaves with us and travelled with the guards to Fort Eyrie in order to find a boat to bring them home... and of course to put as many miles as we can between us and an angry mob of unemployed halfling looking for scpapegoats.
In the end, we did not heroically freed the slave through an epic fight against evil mages but considering the conditions, I am happy of the outcome of this adventure: slaves freed, no casualties for the innocents and all of us healthy enough too go on looking for the slavers.
To me, that was a full success.
it turned out that the wizard Sionas what not too happy with our performance. To be honest, I think that "not too happy" is an understatement, I would rather say that he was looking at us with murderous intent.
As we had to use magic to get rid of the insect queen ( or maybe because our own wizard had itching fingers... I understand myself), we destroyed what the wizard was looking for in the caves. Needless to say that he refused to free the slaves as agreed and we left, fearing that Sarielle's tongue would get us killed.
Of course, we couldn't let the slaves in this predicament and we planned to free them during a rescue attempt. We had some inside information when Leonardino escaped by himself and decided to act when Sionas would be in a meeting with the mayor. Disguised as workers, Leonardino and I came with a fake delivery of food with fake barrels to make the prisonners escape without the army of halfling workers noticing.
It went immediatly wrong as the guards saw throught Leonardino's disguise but thanks to our charisma and the belief in our just cause, we manage to convince them to let us in and discuss with their boss, Mandin. We were nearly discovered as the halflings made the barrel containing Vistra fall. Hopefully, I manage to cover the blunder and we went in.
It turned out that Mandin was being held inside the tower throught doors magically locked because of sionas' paranoia and with all the workers, it was not managable to break in unnoticed. we didn't know either what consequences could bring the breaking of a magically sealed door... my fear was a angry wizard teleporting right next to us.
Well, we decided to keep watch on the tower to wait for other oppotunities, especially as the worker's pay day was coming. We knew that the finances of the wizard were running low but we ignored to what extend. Desillusion came as the wizard paid the workers as scheduled... but no sooner that we feared we could never free the slaves, that we witnessed the wizard fleeing the tower under cover of the night. As we came checking, the guards were also packing with Mandin and told us that there were too much unrest with the halflings because of our stunts for the wizard to stay around.
We took the slaves with us and travelled with the guards to Fort Eyrie in order to find a boat to bring them home... and of course to put as many miles as we can between us and an angry mob of unemployed halfling looking for scpapegoats.
In the end, we did not heroically freed the slave through an epic fight against evil mages but considering the conditions, I am happy of the outcome of this adventure: slaves freed, no casualties for the innocents and all of us healthy enough too go on looking for the slavers.
To me, that was a full success.
When destiny looks at you
At that moment everything suddenly made sense, that was my destiny and my privilege. I would return to my family's name the honours it had always deserved. We would be respected again in Leavendale as we were in the past.
The gods had spoken by putting the whole village into danger and enslaving most of them. This is what happens when you embrace anarco-syndicalism and stop following the natural leaders.
During the first weeks after the attack, I had been too much in shock as to react. However, as time passed and the long hours of wait before the next work shift in the mines came, I came to the conclusion that I had been truly blessed. I had been trained all my life to perform a duty and until the day the slavers came, it seemed all my work, leadership and education were not needed or wanted.
But the occasion had arrived. Contrary to my father and his father, during my lifetime the whole village was in danger and needed its protector.
I would free all of them and bring them back to Leavendale so they could tell everyone what I had known all along, that anarco-syndicalism is wrong and that my family's rule is the best for them.
So when the adventurer's party showed up, it was not too surprising, the gods were merely giving me the starting push in my life's quest.
The first moments seemed encouraging, it seemed it would be easy enough to free the first slaves. Furthermore, it would be done by preforming a good deed that could also allow me to get to know better my helpers and see if they were worthy of coming along in my quest. I was unable to reach a proper conclusion, as it was not so clear.
They proved to be capable of winning a battle but seemed incapable of winning a war. Most of the Krucix died but almost all of us were nearly killed and we were unable to free the slaves. They needed a leader.
I was still captured, but the opportunity of having help outside the tower was too good to let pass. My relationship with Mandin and my family's famous diplomacy skills allowed me to set up a plan for a coordinated escape by sending the party a coded message.
However, the message was not well received and not well understood. They really needed a leader.
The plan was aborted and I had to think something else.
Mandin was growing uneasy. The mine seemed pointless, the halfling workers had an unquenchable thirst for easy money and could turn dangerous with a blink.
He agreed to let me go on one condition, that I would help him with my party if push came to shove with the Halflings.
And so I escaped, leaving behind three other Elves and vowing to come back.
Once I was able to contact the group of adventurers, I set in motion my new plan. The idea was to lure the wizard away from the tower so we could get in an rescue the prisioners. A simple negotiation with the Major provided the necessary time for a daring rescue.
The group's fighter suggested a classic Troy horse maneouver and I agreed on it. Well executed, the plan would be bold and fast, as good plans should.
However, the wizard had seen the intentions of our group and protected his site from any attack. We had to withdraw with a lot of information and no slaves.
Luckily, all our tactic defeats finally gave a strategic victory, as the wizard became more and more uneasy with his situation in Poisson. He felt the pressure of the group from the outside of his tower, but he had no enemy to fight, no target to aim at.
Pacience and prudence finally were our blessing. One night we saw from our vigilance posts the wizard pack and leave the tower.
We had been to him "like shadows in his dreams and had grown and grown inside his head until his will had given up".
Just like Son Tzo wrote in his "art of warfare against class 20 wizards" it should be done.
They needed a leader. And now they have one.
Without any violence, we simply entered the tower, freed the slaves and formed a new party with Mandin, the guards, the free elves the group of adventurers and me.
I pointed west and we all set off.
To Fort Eyre.
My quest had begun.
The gods had spoken by putting the whole village into danger and enslaving most of them. This is what happens when you embrace anarco-syndicalism and stop following the natural leaders.
During the first weeks after the attack, I had been too much in shock as to react. However, as time passed and the long hours of wait before the next work shift in the mines came, I came to the conclusion that I had been truly blessed. I had been trained all my life to perform a duty and until the day the slavers came, it seemed all my work, leadership and education were not needed or wanted.
But the occasion had arrived. Contrary to my father and his father, during my lifetime the whole village was in danger and needed its protector.
I would free all of them and bring them back to Leavendale so they could tell everyone what I had known all along, that anarco-syndicalism is wrong and that my family's rule is the best for them.
So when the adventurer's party showed up, it was not too surprising, the gods were merely giving me the starting push in my life's quest.
The first moments seemed encouraging, it seemed it would be easy enough to free the first slaves. Furthermore, it would be done by preforming a good deed that could also allow me to get to know better my helpers and see if they were worthy of coming along in my quest. I was unable to reach a proper conclusion, as it was not so clear.
They proved to be capable of winning a battle but seemed incapable of winning a war. Most of the Krucix died but almost all of us were nearly killed and we were unable to free the slaves. They needed a leader.
I was still captured, but the opportunity of having help outside the tower was too good to let pass. My relationship with Mandin and my family's famous diplomacy skills allowed me to set up a plan for a coordinated escape by sending the party a coded message.
However, the message was not well received and not well understood. They really needed a leader.
The plan was aborted and I had to think something else.
Mandin was growing uneasy. The mine seemed pointless, the halfling workers had an unquenchable thirst for easy money and could turn dangerous with a blink.
He agreed to let me go on one condition, that I would help him with my party if push came to shove with the Halflings.
And so I escaped, leaving behind three other Elves and vowing to come back.
Once I was able to contact the group of adventurers, I set in motion my new plan. The idea was to lure the wizard away from the tower so we could get in an rescue the prisioners. A simple negotiation with the Major provided the necessary time for a daring rescue.
The group's fighter suggested a classic Troy horse maneouver and I agreed on it. Well executed, the plan would be bold and fast, as good plans should.
However, the wizard had seen the intentions of our group and protected his site from any attack. We had to withdraw with a lot of information and no slaves.
Luckily, all our tactic defeats finally gave a strategic victory, as the wizard became more and more uneasy with his situation in Poisson. He felt the pressure of the group from the outside of his tower, but he had no enemy to fight, no target to aim at.
Pacience and prudence finally were our blessing. One night we saw from our vigilance posts the wizard pack and leave the tower.
We had been to him "like shadows in his dreams and had grown and grown inside his head until his will had given up".
Just like Son Tzo wrote in his "art of warfare against class 20 wizards" it should be done.
They needed a leader. And now they have one.
Without any violence, we simply entered the tower, freed the slaves and formed a new party with Mandin, the guards, the free elves the group of adventurers and me.
I pointed west and we all set off.
To Fort Eyre.
My quest had begun.
Session 15: Ins & Outs
As Sionaas is summoned to the Mayor's office, the group set their rescue operation in motion. As usual, however, things do not work out according to plan...
Corellon is the Lord
After having buried Streisan the way she deserved, we reached the town of Poisson. As soon as we got to the town, we realized that something wird was going on: nobody took care of the land, the prices were abusive and almost everyone was wearing some kind of jewels or other luxuries. Some peasants told us that a wizard had arrived to the town recently and that he had started building a tower. Apparently he was in a hurry and he paid really well. We had hardly had the time to look for a place to rest, when some villagers rushed into the town crying for help: there had been an accident in the tower and they needed a healer. Vistra offered her services and went to the tower. We all followed her to see how we could help.
The wizard, Sionas, and his foreman, Mandin, were trying to manage the chaos in that tower. The structure of the building was quite strange as below the tower the workers were digging some kind of artificial cave (it must be an offense to Corellon to build a house higher than one floor or that is digging a dungeon into the Earth... ignorants!). In fact, probably for this absolute lack of respect, the Lord had punished them with a terrible accident: part of the ceiling of the cave had collapsed and some workers were trapped.
The situation was so terrible, that Sionas and Mandin accepted all the help they could get and they led us to the place of the accident. In a dark cave, only with the help of torches, we could see some workers trying to help their friends out of a huge pile of rocks. The first thing I noticed was the difference between these workers and the rest of inhabitants of the town: the workers were much taller and of course more elegant than the halflings that ruled the small town of Poisson. As I got closer, I observed one of the workers who was kneeling while removing the rocks. He was tall (I would say taller than myself) and his hair was very long. The sweat covering his muscular torso shone in the orange light of the torches, making the tatoo he wore in the lower part of his back even more remarkable. I slowed down to admire that perfect body, that piece of art which nobody but Corellon could have created. Suddenly, he had finished piling up a small amount of rocks and he turned around to remove them and then I felt how my heart stopped: it was not the first time I had seen those green eyes, those perfect lips and those pointy ears. It was him!!! We had found him!!! I was so happy that I forgot our reason to be in that dirty cave. He looked at me and I saw a sparkle shine in his eyes when he recognized me.
Yes, he DID recognize me. I was not transparent any more. And even more: I was not transparent to him. When I recovered from the first shock, I wanted to talk to him, but it was already late: he whispered to me that he was there with some of the elves that had been captured by the pirates and that they were working as slaves for the wizard. Some of our friends were still under the rocks. I kneeled by his side and helped him.
Once we digged our way into the cave, we noticed that some kruthix lived in the cave and probably it had been them (and Corellon, of course) who had provoked the accident. Here we had a great opportunity to free our friends: we offered Sionas our services to erradicate the kruthix from the cave and, as a reward, he would free the slaves. He agreed, under the condition that no magic could be used in the cave. Unfortunately, we had underestimated the number of kruthix that were living in the cave so much, that we had to use all our resources to fight for our lives. That included Sariel using some spells. When we got out of the cave, Sionas was really upset. He was so angry that he did not want to let the elves go. Damned wizard!!
We decided to go back to the town and think how we can help our friends out of that tower. Now I have some time to reflect about the best possible solution to have Leo (well, his name is Leonardino, but he lets us, his very best friends, call him Leo) out of that awful place... and to imagine what would I do if I were the wizard (sigh).
The wizard, Sionas, and his foreman, Mandin, were trying to manage the chaos in that tower. The structure of the building was quite strange as below the tower the workers were digging some kind of artificial cave (it must be an offense to Corellon to build a house higher than one floor or that is digging a dungeon into the Earth... ignorants!). In fact, probably for this absolute lack of respect, the Lord had punished them with a terrible accident: part of the ceiling of the cave had collapsed and some workers were trapped.
The situation was so terrible, that Sionas and Mandin accepted all the help they could get and they led us to the place of the accident. In a dark cave, only with the help of torches, we could see some workers trying to help their friends out of a huge pile of rocks. The first thing I noticed was the difference between these workers and the rest of inhabitants of the town: the workers were much taller and of course more elegant than the halflings that ruled the small town of Poisson. As I got closer, I observed one of the workers who was kneeling while removing the rocks. He was tall (I would say taller than myself) and his hair was very long. The sweat covering his muscular torso shone in the orange light of the torches, making the tatoo he wore in the lower part of his back even more remarkable. I slowed down to admire that perfect body, that piece of art which nobody but Corellon could have created. Suddenly, he had finished piling up a small amount of rocks and he turned around to remove them and then I felt how my heart stopped: it was not the first time I had seen those green eyes, those perfect lips and those pointy ears. It was him!!! We had found him!!! I was so happy that I forgot our reason to be in that dirty cave. He looked at me and I saw a sparkle shine in his eyes when he recognized me.
Yes, he DID recognize me. I was not transparent any more. And even more: I was not transparent to him. When I recovered from the first shock, I wanted to talk to him, but it was already late: he whispered to me that he was there with some of the elves that had been captured by the pirates and that they were working as slaves for the wizard. Some of our friends were still under the rocks. I kneeled by his side and helped him.
Once we digged our way into the cave, we noticed that some kruthix lived in the cave and probably it had been them (and Corellon, of course) who had provoked the accident. Here we had a great opportunity to free our friends: we offered Sionas our services to erradicate the kruthix from the cave and, as a reward, he would free the slaves. He agreed, under the condition that no magic could be used in the cave. Unfortunately, we had underestimated the number of kruthix that were living in the cave so much, that we had to use all our resources to fight for our lives. That included Sariel using some spells. When we got out of the cave, Sionas was really upset. He was so angry that he did not want to let the elves go. Damned wizard!!
We decided to go back to the town and think how we can help our friends out of that tower. Now I have some time to reflect about the best possible solution to have Leo (well, his name is Leonardino, but he lets us, his very best friends, call him Leo) out of that awful place... and to imagine what would I do if I were the wizard (sigh).
Session 14: Don't Meddle in the Affairs of Wizards
As the party emerges from the Kruthik tunnels, they are faced with the wrath of Sionaas, who holds them responsible for his particular loss. Mandin, however, is somewhat more sympathetic...
A dangerous path...
The life of an adventurer often leads to dangerous situations, and the group, as an entity, emerges either strengthened or weakened out of it.
I am afraid that our group is slowly sliding along a slope that will lead to its demise.
Although we had a constructive start, and a successful group, the death of Streisand was a serious blow. It happened on our trip to Poisson under conditions that, I feel, should not be talked about. (What the fuck was she thinking? Going alone where we could bring her no support! Silly girl! I could only rush to see her legs being chewed off, stupid! Now it is too late, she won't learn any more).
Hum... anyway, I have witnessed the remaining sisters becoming more and more reckless in the following events. As we were exploring the caves under a wizard tower under construction, Sarielle was pulling the devil's tail by casting magic were she knew it was dangerous (we were warned not to use magic inside the caves) and Adolfielle was running from an encounter to an other without resting or healing.
It lead of course to another tragedy as a guard (Garmish) fighting with us died because we couldn't bring him healing on time. It could have been far worse as my last potion drunk at the last second made Adolfielle escape the jaws of death and Leonardino, also on the verge of dying, was rescued by Vistra.
Of course, all of this takes an even darker shade when I precise that we were fighting, at the same time, a horde of frenzied creatures along their beloved acid-blasting queen mother.
I am used not to this of my own protection, but I think I will have to slam my fist on the table is the group follows this hasty and dangerous path. After all, this is not only in battle that these kids need protection and guidance.
Oh Bahamut, give us the strengh...
I am afraid that our group is slowly sliding along a slope that will lead to its demise.
Although we had a constructive start, and a successful group, the death of Streisand was a serious blow. It happened on our trip to Poisson under conditions that, I feel, should not be talked about. (What the fuck was she thinking? Going alone where we could bring her no support! Silly girl! I could only rush to see her legs being chewed off, stupid! Now it is too late, she won't learn any more).
Hum... anyway, I have witnessed the remaining sisters becoming more and more reckless in the following events. As we were exploring the caves under a wizard tower under construction, Sarielle was pulling the devil's tail by casting magic were she knew it was dangerous (we were warned not to use magic inside the caves) and Adolfielle was running from an encounter to an other without resting or healing.
It lead of course to another tragedy as a guard (Garmish) fighting with us died because we couldn't bring him healing on time. It could have been far worse as my last potion drunk at the last second made Adolfielle escape the jaws of death and Leonardino, also on the verge of dying, was rescued by Vistra.
Of course, all of this takes an even darker shade when I precise that we were fighting, at the same time, a horde of frenzied creatures along their beloved acid-blasting queen mother.
I am used not to this of my own protection, but I think I will have to slam my fist on the table is the group follows this hasty and dangerous path. After all, this is not only in battle that these kids need protection and guidance.
Oh Bahamut, give us the strengh...
Session 13: The Hive
The adventurers explore the tunnel network and eventually stumble into the creatures' lair, where they face their most deadly opponent yet. Did they bite off more than they could chew?
Session 12: Into the Labyrinth
Numerous small holes are visible at the end of the collapsed mine shaft, clearly the work of burrowing critters. Following the attackers into their natural habitat, however, is a risky proposition...
Pressing Problem in Poisson
The Nerathian Temple
Those were terrible moments, huddled at the foot of the stairs that gave access to the Temple, spiders and hungry beetles blocking our way forward, the angry wyrmlings preventing a retreat.
With the booming thunder of the drakes' lightning shocks resonating in our ears, we used several flasks of oil to defend ourselves from the incoming beetle swarms and Adolfiel vented her fury on the critters, preventing them from becoming a serious menace.
Once we had rested some minutes, I had enough time to create a Tenser's Floating Disk and we carefully placed the body of our sister on top of it. As we still could hear the screeches of the dragons, we decided to explore the ruins. They seemed to be an ancient Nerathian temple, part of which had collapsed, probably due to an old landslide. The place was infested with insects, and several scary centipede-looking bugs attacked us appearing from tunnels they had burrowed through the walls and floor of the collapsing temple. We killed several before the rest decided to flee to their warrens.
In the temple we found an old altar with an indentation, some Nerathian tablets, a magical orb -which we placed in the middle of the altar, following the instructions of the tablets, but with no apparent results- and several other minor objects.
Scientific Notes
Today I have time to do some sketches - I am using a new book, as the original one I left at Ioun's chapel in Marshport to be copied there by a priestess-. Here you can see the horrible crocodiles that devoured poor Streisan and the centipede-looking creatures that attacked us in the temple. I have decided to name this new crocodile species Streisanorum Bocatae, in honor of my decesaed sister.
The Long Road to Poisson
The following day we left the ruins. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I could not avoid remembering when we three used to play near Leavendale's river and how I taunted Streisan and told her she could not run faster than her shadow and I could -of course using magic, but she was too young to know back then.
We followed the road, which at times could not even be called a path. Slowly, the ground became drier, and the swamp gave way to a beautiful forest where we found a nice tree to bury Streisan. We were preparing the digging tools when a screech alerted us to the presence of one of the blue wyrmlings that had attacked us the day before. I focused all my anger on the creature and she felt semiunconscious to the ground, where we quickly surrounded and almost killed it, but dragons, even young ones, are full of cunning and surprises, and this one survived our flurry of blows and, seeing itself in peril, decided to retreat to her lair to lick her wounds, even though Vistra, for a short time, was able to ground her again.
So we buried Streisan with her spear, and sent her body to the Circle, so that her soul can enter again the Wheel of Life, and with a final tear we said goodbye to her recklessness and to her playfulness, to her naivety and to her good and loving heart.
A few hours later we left the forest and reached a lonely hut, surrounded by a beautiful garden. We knocked the door and a halfling woman greeted us with good manners. She told us her husband was a lumberjack and that we could not stay at her place, as there was not enough place for a group of big adventurers, but we could sleep near her hut if we wanted. She invited us to tea and asked, as a favor, if we could repair the roof of her hut. While Adolfiel and I worked on the roof, Tyrion and Vistra shared a cup of tea with the halfling.
From time to time we heard flapping noises and saw big bats hiding in the shadows, but the woman assured us they were harmless. She also told us that Poisson was only half a day to the north, and that most of its inhabitants were working in the construction of the tower of some crazy wizard.
After the nice conversation, we made camp near the hut... We were awakened by some loud noises... the halfling woman was a horrible disfigured Hag! She had poisoned the tea, and even with the loud noise Tyrion was still snoring. Thankfully, Vistra's dwarven constitution allowed her to resist the effects of the poison and she had alerted us.
The battle was fierce. Every time any of us left the area illuminated by the campfire, she was attacked by the bats, so we tried to stay in the light, but there we heard the insidious thoughts the Hag tried to plant in our brains, and they provoked an agonising pain. It was a miracle that we survived, but we fought with all our resources and with a final push from Vistra, the Hag fell in the camp's fire, where she burnt like a dry husk, her horrible screams resounding in the darkness of the forest.
Pressing Problem in Poisson
After the attack of the Hag, the night passed uneventfully and we prepared for the final leg of our journey. After half a day of swift march, we started seeing some farms, all of them showed signs of being slightly unattended. We asked the occupants of a couple farms, and we learnt that they were inhabited by Halfling women, and that the men were "having fun" in Poisson, helping in the construction of a tower. All Halfling women wore expensive golden jewelry... it seemed the owner of the tower, someone they called Sionas, was a good employer.
We arrived at the main square of the village at dusk. The only inn of Poisson was surrounded by a multitude of tents, and several dozen Halflings were busy in and around the inn, spending their money in getting drunk as fast as their little mouths allowed them to.
The prices at the inn were outrageous and we couldn't even get a real bed, but we were tired of eating rations for three full days in a row, so we accepted the offer of the owner, a busy Halfling called Samner, and took our first nice warm dinner of the trip. I tried to earn some money for the group using my magical skills, but I was too tired to focus and I did not get much money out of the drunken Halfling builders.
We also asked for directions to Mandin's home, and everybody told us he lived at the construction site. We also learnt that the workers had been mainly digging what would become the cellars of Sionas' tower.
We were thinking about retreating to our tents, when a scared Halfling rushed into the inn calling for a cleric. The Halfling priest -probably these little creatures honour a Barrel of Ale above all- had prayed too much and seemed too tired after honouring the Barrel for what looked like hours, judging by his drunken stupor, so Vistra offered herself for help. The Halfling did not seem very convinced, but he had no other choice, so he finally told us that there had been a cave in at the construction site and Sionas needed help to rescue the workers. We all rushed to the Tower - a three mile trek-, following the Halfling, who was riding a pony, as fast as we could.
At the entrance to the tower we were met by Sionas. He was an extremely stern-looking eladrin. He told us that there had been a cave in while expanding the cellars of the tower and that he needed help with the wounded and with the removing of rubble. We followed him into what seemed like a constructed mine shaft, leaving behind some kind of elevator and descending into the depths following a long flight of stairs.
The end of the shaft had collapsed and we saw some people already working removing rubble. When we approached to help the workers, we were amazed when we got closer to them... They were some of the elves that had been taken prisoner in Leavendale! They seemed well-fed, but our surprise turned swiftly to anger when we heard their story...
Apparently, the captain of the ships that assaulted our village was a hobgoblin brute called Szakim, and he had sold the strongest elven prisoners to Sionas to work in the digging as slaves. They had not been tortured, but forcing an Elf to dig without seeing the sun and feeling the wind in the leaves of her forest can be considered a sort of torture. I confronted Mandin, who was the construction chief with the information, and he seemed to be ashamed of the events, but told us that removing the rubble and rescuing the wounded was of utmost importance now. Mandin also warned me not to use magic, as he feared that could have been the cause of the collapse.
While we worked helping our fellow Elven citizens, Sionas came from time to time to check the progress. He seemed genuinely concerned, so I tried to resist the urge of insulting him for his part in the enslavement of the Elves.
Soon, we started finding bodies. The first one we found was still alive, but his legs had been chewed off from knee down! There seemed to be more to the situation than the collapse, and our suspicions were confirmed when all the other bodies we found had similar marks of having been bitten by critters.
I spoke with Sionas, told him that the tunnels were obviously compromised and that he would need someone to clean the infestation before he could proceed with the construction works. In exchange for the job, I asked him to at least release the Elven prisoners, and he agreed with my demands, with the condition that we did not use magic while in the caverns.
One of the Elves said he would join us. We gave him some of the equipment we had found in the Nerathian temple, and we prepared ourselves to enter the dark and dangerous tunnels...
Session 11: Out of the Woods?
Though overcome with grief over Streisan's demise, the survivors march on through the forest toward Poisson, unaware that Fate has a surprise in store for them...
Farewell
After the fight with the elves, I had decided not to continue writing this diary. I was enjoying life, together with my two sisters, facing and defeating the world in its own terrain; it did not matter if it was an ice elemental, a clever gnome or a wild bear: we always prevailed... or I thought. Today life has hit us with all its cruelty and we have not managed to avoid the blow.
The day was evolving as usual: we were marching along the way from Marshport to Poisson, when we reached a damaged bridge. The bridge was broken in the center, having quite a large gap between its two remaining parts. While we were deciding how to cross the river, Streisan realized that the gap was not very long and simply jumped to the other side... when she realized that she was not there alone: a group of huge crocodriles were guarding the bridge and attacked her as soon as she crossed to the other bank. At that moment it was impossible for us to cross, so she decided to attract the attention of the beasts and run as fast as she could away from the river, thus letting us the space we needed to cross.
However, the coward crocodriles surrounded her. She fought bravely against the creatures while the cavalry was crossing safely the river... but this bite was more than she could chew. Before we could get to her, the damned crocodiles had bitten her leg and managed to make her fall. Once she was on the floor, they went on biting until they took her last bit of life out of her. Thanks to her we could get rid of the animals, but the price we had to pay was too high.
Now I'm writing these lines by my sister's corpse. It's strange: if I did not know what has happened today, I would say she is there resting, that she had being hunting and that the blood covering her arms and legs is not hers, but a bear's. Her face is calm and relaxed, because she knows she has served Corellon well. I am going to miss her.
The day was evolving as usual: we were marching along the way from Marshport to Poisson, when we reached a damaged bridge. The bridge was broken in the center, having quite a large gap between its two remaining parts. While we were deciding how to cross the river, Streisan realized that the gap was not very long and simply jumped to the other side... when she realized that she was not there alone: a group of huge crocodriles were guarding the bridge and attacked her as soon as she crossed to the other bank. At that moment it was impossible for us to cross, so she decided to attract the attention of the beasts and run as fast as she could away from the river, thus letting us the space we needed to cross.
However, the coward crocodriles surrounded her. She fought bravely against the creatures while the cavalry was crossing safely the river... but this bite was more than she could chew. Before we could get to her, the damned crocodiles had bitten her leg and managed to make her fall. Once she was on the floor, they went on biting until they took her last bit of life out of her. Thanks to her we could get rid of the animals, but the price we had to pay was too high.
Now I'm writing these lines by my sister's corpse. It's strange: if I did not know what has happened today, I would say she is there resting, that she had being hunting and that the blood covering her arms and legs is not hers, but a bear's. Her face is calm and relaxed, because she knows she has served Corellon well. I am going to miss her.
Elven Lament
Today has been the saddest day of my life, and weeks will pass until I am able to smile again at the sun... Streisan is dead! and life will never be the same.
As expected, the marshes between Marshport and Poisson were a foul place, full of mosquitoes and dangerous wild animals. The so-called road was a path overgrown with brambles and advancing was treacherous and tiring. The bridge was indeed broken, and the river was full of nasty-looking reptile creatures. I was preparing to create a Tenser's Floating Disk when I heard a loud crash. Streisan, in her recklessness, had not waited to carry out the discussed plan and had leapt a full 20 feet to the other side of the bridge. There she landed on a weakened section wich cracked, leaving her legs dangling dangerously close to the gigantic crocodile's maws. The creatures got into a frenzy at the sight and smell of such a tasty morsel and started to jump frantically trying to close her jaws around Streisan's legs.
She was able to get out of the crashed section into a kind of platform from which she would have been able to defend herself from the crocodiles while the rest of us crossed the river -she had a rope with her and Tyrion was tying it to our side of the bridge-, but she somehow got again in reckless-mode and charged wildly into the jungle, out of our reach and sight, the crocs following her in a feeding frenzy.
We crossed the river as quick as we could, but by the time we arrived we could only stop the crocs from devouring her completely. As the last of us were crossing the river, we were attacked by two blue wyrmlings. Luckily for us, there was a nearby ruined temple which entrance was blocked by a cracked stone slab. While Adolfiel and I maintained the dragons at bay, Tyrion and Vistra broke the sealing slab with the picks we had judiciously stored in our Bag of Holding.
Dragging the mangled body of our sister behind us, we could barely escape the lightning bolts of the dragons entering the dark ancient temple...
Time for a song to say farewell to Streisan, the "Friends Farewell":
As expected, the marshes between Marshport and Poisson were a foul place, full of mosquitoes and dangerous wild animals. The so-called road was a path overgrown with brambles and advancing was treacherous and tiring. The bridge was indeed broken, and the river was full of nasty-looking reptile creatures. I was preparing to create a Tenser's Floating Disk when I heard a loud crash. Streisan, in her recklessness, had not waited to carry out the discussed plan and had leapt a full 20 feet to the other side of the bridge. There she landed on a weakened section wich cracked, leaving her legs dangling dangerously close to the gigantic crocodile's maws. The creatures got into a frenzy at the sight and smell of such a tasty morsel and started to jump frantically trying to close her jaws around Streisan's legs.
She was able to get out of the crashed section into a kind of platform from which she would have been able to defend herself from the crocodiles while the rest of us crossed the river -she had a rope with her and Tyrion was tying it to our side of the bridge-, but she somehow got again in reckless-mode and charged wildly into the jungle, out of our reach and sight, the crocs following her in a feeding frenzy.
We crossed the river as quick as we could, but by the time we arrived we could only stop the crocs from devouring her completely. As the last of us were crossing the river, we were attacked by two blue wyrmlings. Luckily for us, there was a nearby ruined temple which entrance was blocked by a cracked stone slab. While Adolfiel and I maintained the dragons at bay, Tyrion and Vistra broke the sealing slab with the picks we had judiciously stored in our Bag of Holding.
Dragging the mangled body of our sister behind us, we could barely escape the lightning bolts of the dragons entering the dark ancient temple...
Time for a song to say farewell to Streisan, the "Friends Farewell":
"Aeons passed since our essence
from the Maelstrom of Chaos was fished
and in the beautiful Wheel of Living
we were allowed to roam free.
Our threads entwined for a long time
and so many moving moments we lived
now you wander the forest no longer
and the Feywild your home is to be.
Will you cross again the waters?
Will you again in the Circle live?
I hope I'll recognise your likeness
when the Wheel's next turn makes us meet."
from the Maelstrom of Chaos was fished
and in the beautiful Wheel of Living
we were allowed to roam free.
Our threads entwined for a long time
and so many moving moments we lived
now you wander the forest no longer
and the Feywild your home is to be.
Will you cross again the waters?
Will you again in the Circle live?
I hope I'll recognise your likeness
when the Wheel's next turn makes us meet."
Session 10: The Broken Bridge
Tragedy strikes as the group traverses the dangerous swamps between Marshport and the Hidden Coast...
Escaping winter
After several cold and damp nights, it was great to sleep in an enclosed area, with a nice chimney fire at our sides.
We all woke up with lots of energy and set immediately to search the tower. We realised that most of the ice encasing the building had melted away; we also found reasonable answers to some of the questions from previous days:
1- We found the portal on the tower's roof led to the mountain range near Wyllea. Obviously, Draigdurroch was obtaining his supplies through the portal, and that included wyllflower. Was he using the flower to power any mystical ritual or was he addicted to the substance?
2- The strange-looking crystals embedded in the tower's walls were spying glasses. Once the ice encasing the tower melted, we could use the crystals to survey the region surrounding the tower. It is such a good idea that I have made some notes, and I will try to use the same devices if I am ever able to buid a tower for myself.
3- Double doors in the ground floor led to a natural cavern with many passages going out of it. In the middle of the cavern there was a table with some maps. The maps detailed some of the passages, other passages were unexplored. It seemed obvious that Draigdurroch had been exploring the caves, and that they somehow led to what he thought could be Karse. I stored the maps in the Bag of Holding and made a mental note to do some research when back at Marshport.
As there was nothing more to discover in the tower and we did not want to explore the cavern maze, we left the tower -we closed the door and I used the Magic Mouth ritual to leave a joke-message behind: "Beware! This tower is now the property of the Four Queens and the Joker!".
In our trip back to Marshport we searched again the Goblin lair. There we met some bears rummaging through the food cases, and Streisan quickly charged them, without giving time to Adolfiel or me to try to calm the bears first -sometimes she is clearly too reckless- so the bears had no choice but to attack us and we had to kill two of them and force the rest of the family to flee.
We also met Aygon, but he did not know anything of interest about Draigdurroch.
Back at Marshport, we had to wait some days for the Mayor to receive us, so I used the time to keep on reading the books Aygon had lent me and doing some research on Karsus. In Marshport's library I found a book marked by some scribbled notes with what seemed to be Draigdurroch's handwriting. Apparently, Karsus was a very powerful mage or demigod that tried to become a god. In the process, the gods punished him for his vanity and destroyed his city, Karse. Reputedly, the city was full of wonders and Karsus' notes on his research to become a god would be priceless to anyone that could find them.
The Mayor of Marshport paid us very well when we told them that we had taken care of the Goblin menace, defeating some of the critters and making the rest scatter and flee the area. Then we told him we wanted to travel to Poisson and asked him if the city needed any adventuring work to be done in that area, but there seemed to be none.
We then asked for directions and learnt that there were two roads to Poisson. The most direct route crossed a river, but it was not maintained and nobody knew whether the bridge would be intact. The other longer route crossed some hills and would add one day to our trip. We decided to try the shorter route first, and discussed a plan to cross the river using Tenser's Floating Disk if necessary.
Finally, as it was Streisan's nameday, Adolfiel and I decided to buy her a gift. Adolfiel found a pair of boots that would be perfect for her, and we passed a nice evening, joking and carousing, oblivious to the darker days that awaited us...
We all woke up with lots of energy and set immediately to search the tower. We realised that most of the ice encasing the building had melted away; we also found reasonable answers to some of the questions from previous days:
1- We found the portal on the tower's roof led to the mountain range near Wyllea. Obviously, Draigdurroch was obtaining his supplies through the portal, and that included wyllflower. Was he using the flower to power any mystical ritual or was he addicted to the substance?
2- The strange-looking crystals embedded in the tower's walls were spying glasses. Once the ice encasing the tower melted, we could use the crystals to survey the region surrounding the tower. It is such a good idea that I have made some notes, and I will try to use the same devices if I am ever able to buid a tower for myself.
3- Double doors in the ground floor led to a natural cavern with many passages going out of it. In the middle of the cavern there was a table with some maps. The maps detailed some of the passages, other passages were unexplored. It seemed obvious that Draigdurroch had been exploring the caves, and that they somehow led to what he thought could be Karse. I stored the maps in the Bag of Holding and made a mental note to do some research when back at Marshport.
As there was nothing more to discover in the tower and we did not want to explore the cavern maze, we left the tower -we closed the door and I used the Magic Mouth ritual to leave a joke-message behind: "Beware! This tower is now the property of the Four Queens and the Joker!".
In our trip back to Marshport we searched again the Goblin lair. There we met some bears rummaging through the food cases, and Streisan quickly charged them, without giving time to Adolfiel or me to try to calm the bears first -sometimes she is clearly too reckless- so the bears had no choice but to attack us and we had to kill two of them and force the rest of the family to flee.
We also met Aygon, but he did not know anything of interest about Draigdurroch.
Back at Marshport, we had to wait some days for the Mayor to receive us, so I used the time to keep on reading the books Aygon had lent me and doing some research on Karsus. In Marshport's library I found a book marked by some scribbled notes with what seemed to be Draigdurroch's handwriting. Apparently, Karsus was a very powerful mage or demigod that tried to become a god. In the process, the gods punished him for his vanity and destroyed his city, Karse. Reputedly, the city was full of wonders and Karsus' notes on his research to become a god would be priceless to anyone that could find them.
The Mayor of Marshport paid us very well when we told them that we had taken care of the Goblin menace, defeating some of the critters and making the rest scatter and flee the area. Then we told him we wanted to travel to Poisson and asked him if the city needed any adventuring work to be done in that area, but there seemed to be none.
We then asked for directions and learnt that there were two roads to Poisson. The most direct route crossed a river, but it was not maintained and nobody knew whether the bridge would be intact. The other longer route crossed some hills and would add one day to our trip. We decided to try the shorter route first, and discussed a plan to cross the river using Tenser's Floating Disk if necessary.
Finally, as it was Streisan's nameday, Adolfiel and I decided to buy her a gift. Adolfiel found a pair of boots that would be perfect for her, and we passed a nice evening, joking and carousing, oblivious to the darker days that awaited us...
Session 9: The Clan of the Cave Bear
Having uncovered the secrets of Draigdurroch's frozen tower, and no longer subjected to the fearsome blizzard, the party travels back West...
Draigdurroch's Folly
Inside the tower, the cold was bearable and it was immediately obvious that it was abandoned and that it had been the residence of a wizard. As the source of the cold seemed to be in the roof of the tower, we decided to go to the top of the tower first.
Most rooms of the tower had no clue or interesting hint for us, but in one room of the tower we found the corpse of a Halfling dressed with peasant robes, and in another, that seemed to have served as a library we found a lot of information.
Apparently, the owner of the tower was a Dwarven wizard called Draigdurroch. He had been researching an entity called Karsus and searching for the ruins of a city called Karse. According to his frozen notes, the entrance to Karse could be found in a cavern complex below his tower, but it was a maddeningly complex maze and he had been painstakingly mapping the corridors and tunnels of the caverns for some time.
In his notes I also read that some faeries had warned Draigdurroch and threatened him with retaliation if he did not stopped his studies, but he had disregarded their warnings and attacked the faeries... judging the situation of the tower it had turned to be a bad choice.
I also found an interesting Red Book that seemed magically trapped and an amulet engraved with Draigdurroch's name. The amulet allowed me to control a magical floating disk that gave access to the tower's roof from a room with walls studded with strange-looking crystals.
As we arrived on the roof, we saw it was covered by an ice dome. The cold and ice seemed to emanate from a huge crystal embedded in the dome. There was also a chest from which open lid creatures of ice started emanating and charging at us. I had been waiting for this all day; my hands moved deftly and a sphere of fire materialized on top of the portal and started melting all the ice elementals entering through it.
At that moment, a gigantic creature of ice detached itself from the dome and fell in the middle of the group. The monster rushed towards Tyrion and grabbed him with its powerful ice fists and approached the chimney shaft of the tower's roof with evil intention in his eyes. Tyrion's eyes searched in full panick for an escape and a strange smile crossed his lips when he saw Streisan charging to the rescue... zup! and in the blink of an eye Tyrion was charging towards the monster while Streisan tumbled down the shaft, letting out a swear each time her head banged a brick.
The ice creature then went for Adolfiel, tired of being peppered by her arrows, and though Adolfiel managed to avoid it a couple times, he was finally grabbed ... and another of the sisters went down the chimney. More or less at that time Streisan appeared back at the roof, her head covered in blood, yelling with all the force of her mighty lungs, and foaming through her mouth -she looked like Bonpapá, a legendary Elvish character that leaves gifts to children in winter, usually climbing in and out of the houses through the chimney.
Already weakened by our attack and surprised to see that Streisan had survived her descent down the chimney shaft, the creature jumped out of the tower and lost itself in the wilderness.
We then quickly destroyed the crystal in the dome, then the deathly cold seemed to subside enough to make it bearable and no more ice creatures emerged from the portal. A short investigation showed that the chest had also some wylflower residue in it, near where the portal spiraled.
Anyway, we were too tired to think about all the mysteries the tower still contained, so we went to the tower's ground floor, made a big fire in a chimney and immediately fell asleep. I took the first guard turn, so that I could finish this chapter of the diary and think on ways to repay Tyrion's dastardly move... uuum, the wylflower offers a lot of possibilities... time for him to see the beauty of the elven body again...
Most rooms of the tower had no clue or interesting hint for us, but in one room of the tower we found the corpse of a Halfling dressed with peasant robes, and in another, that seemed to have served as a library we found a lot of information.
Apparently, the owner of the tower was a Dwarven wizard called Draigdurroch. He had been researching an entity called Karsus and searching for the ruins of a city called Karse. According to his frozen notes, the entrance to Karse could be found in a cavern complex below his tower, but it was a maddeningly complex maze and he had been painstakingly mapping the corridors and tunnels of the caverns for some time.
In his notes I also read that some faeries had warned Draigdurroch and threatened him with retaliation if he did not stopped his studies, but he had disregarded their warnings and attacked the faeries... judging the situation of the tower it had turned to be a bad choice.
I also found an interesting Red Book that seemed magically trapped and an amulet engraved with Draigdurroch's name. The amulet allowed me to control a magical floating disk that gave access to the tower's roof from a room with walls studded with strange-looking crystals.
As we arrived on the roof, we saw it was covered by an ice dome. The cold and ice seemed to emanate from a huge crystal embedded in the dome. There was also a chest from which open lid creatures of ice started emanating and charging at us. I had been waiting for this all day; my hands moved deftly and a sphere of fire materialized on top of the portal and started melting all the ice elementals entering through it.
At that moment, a gigantic creature of ice detached itself from the dome and fell in the middle of the group. The monster rushed towards Tyrion and grabbed him with its powerful ice fists and approached the chimney shaft of the tower's roof with evil intention in his eyes. Tyrion's eyes searched in full panick for an escape and a strange smile crossed his lips when he saw Streisan charging to the rescue... zup! and in the blink of an eye Tyrion was charging towards the monster while Streisan tumbled down the shaft, letting out a swear each time her head banged a brick.
The ice creature then went for Adolfiel, tired of being peppered by her arrows, and though Adolfiel managed to avoid it a couple times, he was finally grabbed ... and another of the sisters went down the chimney. More or less at that time Streisan appeared back at the roof, her head covered in blood, yelling with all the force of her mighty lungs, and foaming through her mouth -she looked like Bonpapá, a legendary Elvish character that leaves gifts to children in winter, usually climbing in and out of the houses through the chimney.
Already weakened by our attack and surprised to see that Streisan had survived her descent down the chimney shaft, the creature jumped out of the tower and lost itself in the wilderness.
We then quickly destroyed the crystal in the dome, then the deathly cold seemed to subside enough to make it bearable and no more ice creatures emerged from the portal. A short investigation showed that the chest had also some wylflower residue in it, near where the portal spiraled.
Anyway, we were too tired to think about all the mysteries the tower still contained, so we went to the tower's ground floor, made a big fire in a chimney and immediately fell asleep. I took the first guard turn, so that I could finish this chapter of the diary and think on ways to repay Tyrion's dastardly move... uuum, the wylflower offers a lot of possibilities... time for him to see the beauty of the elven body again...
In deep cold
The information that the gnome gave us led us to a barren part of the mountains. The cold weather and the snow started to become so dangerous that it became impossible to rest properly outside. Luckily, it did not take long before we found the origin of this evil and unnatural weather.
The wizard's tower was covered with ice as if a giant cascade had fallen on it before freezing. It seemed lifeless, but very soon we discovered that some evil ice creatures were guarding its entrance. They proved to be very difficult to defeat and I would have been in serious trouble (even more serious that usual, I mean) if Vistra had not helped me with her healing powers.
After accessing the entrance hall, we decided to explore the tower itself before further investigating the tunnels beneath it. The source of the cold seemed to come from the top of the tower, so it seem obvious to go straight up.
The tower was empty except for the lifeless body of a halfling, but we found a lot of information about a wizard that lived here and was doing some kind of evil investigation. In his logs he talked about getting supply of something to continues his investigation.
As we went up to the tower's roof, we finally found the source of the cold.
It was a big cristal encased in a dome of ice above the tower. Inside the dome there was a chest with a portal to somewhere horrible and a frozen monster. As soon as we got up on the roof, evil ice beings tried to attack us coming through the portal. They were pretty weak but they were many and they kept us busy until Sariel used one of her best tricks to block the portal. Unfortunately, by the time we realized that the portal was blocked, a new, BIG monster had had time to detach itself from the ice dome.
It looked like a giant frozen scorpion with lots of tentacles and spikes and ugly parts everywhere. It occupied most of the dome as it stood on the center of the tower's roof, perched on the chimney. We did not have a lot of space to manouver and its tentacles were very long.
Although the monster was very powerful, it became obsessed with killing Tyrion and that way we could prevent it from attacking my sister or the cleric, so the combat was going pretty well for us.
However our luck did not last long and the monster finally was able to grab Tyrion with two of its tentacles and lifted him into the air.
It was at that moment that Tyrion decided to use his famous and very appreciated teleporting ability. He had used it before to help others, and we all respected him for it. He had helped an elven mother and his baby during the attack on our village and he had freed Vistra from a giant spider's web. Every time before, he had teleported someone out of harm's way to put himself in danger instead.
This time, he teleported out of the ice monster's grip. It worked wonderfully, with only a small detail to regret.
By teleporting himself to safety, that cowardly sack of monkey dung teleported me into the ice monster's grab in his place.
The monster looked surprised for a second and then happily went on hitting me instead. When it realized I was too tough for it to kill swiftly, it simply rose me up on its tentacles and threw me down the chimney.
I fell three floors down to the kitchen, insulting Tyrion during the fall.
I could have taken a lot of damage, but my sister Sariel used another nice spell and I could start running up the tower without even a scratch.
It took me forever to climb back to the tower's roof, I had to climb threee floors and use a really slow magic elevator. However, I still had not finished insulting Tyrion when I stepped back into the roof.
The monster was almost dead by then, but it had managed to throw my sister Adolfiel the same way than me, down the chimney. When it saw me coming back to the fight, it grew afraid and ran away melting back into the ice dome.
As we stood there catching our breath, we realized that the cold coming from the crystal was so intense we could not resist it and would end up killing us. After trying to study it's properties, we saw it had been manipulated to alter it's powers and decided we could not control it, so we destroyed it.
The cold stopped being so dangerous so we had the time to think about the portal. It had not closed, but the evil beings did stop trying to come through.
We investigated a little more and found some Wyllflower near the portal, I think it is this stuff that was being supplied to the wizard. But why, I have no idea. So we just left the portal there, inside the chest, open to somewhere very cold and probably dangerous.
When we came down the tower, we were spent. Adolfiel had almost died with the combat and the fall. I also was so tired and so worried about Adolfiel that I decided to let Tyrion live another day and kill him the next morning.
A lot of questions remain open to me, as I go to sleep:
- What is the Wyllflower doing here?
- Where does the portal go to?
- What happened to the wizard?
- What are we looking for in the caves?
- Who manipulated the cristal?
- What is the frozen monster in the roof?
- What are the jewels in the walls of the corridors of tower?
- Where is Vistra going to find a new bodyguard?
The wizard's tower was covered with ice as if a giant cascade had fallen on it before freezing. It seemed lifeless, but very soon we discovered that some evil ice creatures were guarding its entrance. They proved to be very difficult to defeat and I would have been in serious trouble (even more serious that usual, I mean) if Vistra had not helped me with her healing powers.
After accessing the entrance hall, we decided to explore the tower itself before further investigating the tunnels beneath it. The source of the cold seemed to come from the top of the tower, so it seem obvious to go straight up.
The tower was empty except for the lifeless body of a halfling, but we found a lot of information about a wizard that lived here and was doing some kind of evil investigation. In his logs he talked about getting supply of something to continues his investigation.
As we went up to the tower's roof, we finally found the source of the cold.
It was a big cristal encased in a dome of ice above the tower. Inside the dome there was a chest with a portal to somewhere horrible and a frozen monster. As soon as we got up on the roof, evil ice beings tried to attack us coming through the portal. They were pretty weak but they were many and they kept us busy until Sariel used one of her best tricks to block the portal. Unfortunately, by the time we realized that the portal was blocked, a new, BIG monster had had time to detach itself from the ice dome.
It looked like a giant frozen scorpion with lots of tentacles and spikes and ugly parts everywhere. It occupied most of the dome as it stood on the center of the tower's roof, perched on the chimney. We did not have a lot of space to manouver and its tentacles were very long.
Although the monster was very powerful, it became obsessed with killing Tyrion and that way we could prevent it from attacking my sister or the cleric, so the combat was going pretty well for us.
However our luck did not last long and the monster finally was able to grab Tyrion with two of its tentacles and lifted him into the air.
It was at that moment that Tyrion decided to use his famous and very appreciated teleporting ability. He had used it before to help others, and we all respected him for it. He had helped an elven mother and his baby during the attack on our village and he had freed Vistra from a giant spider's web. Every time before, he had teleported someone out of harm's way to put himself in danger instead.
This time, he teleported out of the ice monster's grip. It worked wonderfully, with only a small detail to regret.
By teleporting himself to safety, that cowardly sack of monkey dung teleported me into the ice monster's grab in his place.
The monster looked surprised for a second and then happily went on hitting me instead. When it realized I was too tough for it to kill swiftly, it simply rose me up on its tentacles and threw me down the chimney.
I fell three floors down to the kitchen, insulting Tyrion during the fall.
I could have taken a lot of damage, but my sister Sariel used another nice spell and I could start running up the tower without even a scratch.
It took me forever to climb back to the tower's roof, I had to climb threee floors and use a really slow magic elevator. However, I still had not finished insulting Tyrion when I stepped back into the roof.
The monster was almost dead by then, but it had managed to throw my sister Adolfiel the same way than me, down the chimney. When it saw me coming back to the fight, it grew afraid and ran away melting back into the ice dome.
As we stood there catching our breath, we realized that the cold coming from the crystal was so intense we could not resist it and would end up killing us. After trying to study it's properties, we saw it had been manipulated to alter it's powers and decided we could not control it, so we destroyed it.
The cold stopped being so dangerous so we had the time to think about the portal. It had not closed, but the evil beings did stop trying to come through.
We investigated a little more and found some Wyllflower near the portal, I think it is this stuff that was being supplied to the wizard. But why, I have no idea. So we just left the portal there, inside the chest, open to somewhere very cold and probably dangerous.
When we came down the tower, we were spent. Adolfiel had almost died with the combat and the fall. I also was so tired and so worried about Adolfiel that I decided to let Tyrion live another day and kill him the next morning.
A lot of questions remain open to me, as I go to sleep:
- What is the Wyllflower doing here?
- Where does the portal go to?
- What happened to the wizard?
- What are we looking for in the caves?
- Who manipulated the cristal?
- What is the frozen monster in the roof?
- What are the jewels in the walls of the corridors of tower?
- Where is Vistra going to find a new bodyguard?
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