Shiny Doom Forum

[Jastermereel]

Session 22

Setting: Bet Kalimar

Adrian glances over at Naomi and asks about the strange changes she’s undergone. Naomi, realizing she’s still shifted, gestures at the crumbling ceiling with a claw-like hand and shouts, over the growing thunder, “Is this really a good time? Go get the stuff and get out of here!” Adrian, assuming she means Kandar, heads for the tunnel they entered from while Naomi sprints towards the far end of the room where the roach with the mouth of blood and emerged from, fearing the worst.

Rounding a corner, she spots Niss’s blood long before she sees him. His wounds are deep, but he is alive. She pours a healing potion down his open mouth while cursing his careless nature in Draconic. He awakens, still in pain, and thanks her, strangely also in Draconic. To the side of his head, Naomi spots a small ivory chalice, half buried amid the debris, and snatches it up. Upon closer inspection, only half is ivory, the opposite end of the hourglass-shaped chalice is rusty pockmarked iron. She pockets it and helps Niss to his feet. However, the moment of peace cannot last and is interrupted by a deafening crash as the support pillar, weakened by the blast, crumbles to one side and the ceiling beings to cave in. The pair takes off at full sprint towards the entrance. While they try to stay clear of the plummeting debris and the thick dust cloud, several sizable stones graze them before they manage to duck into the tunnel to the stairs.

Meanwhile, Adrian, having reached the library, examines Kandar’s body. While he is still bound, he is no longer living. In their absence, someone or something had repeatedly stabbed his helpless form. A thin scorch marks branch out from every wound, covering his body in a web of burnt flesh. Adrian peeks out the door into the courtyard and watches as trees, benches and a broad cobblestone path disappears into a massive sinkhole. Adrian yells out, inaudible over the din, “Are you guys ok?”

A burst of dust pours forth from the library stairs, revealing Niss and an un-shifted Naomi as it settles. The three gather and mourn the loss of their comrade, now buried beneath unknowable tons of dirt and stone. Adrian and Naomi explain about Ennostiel’s sacrifice to Niss, but also express their anger. Adrian especially feels that had Niss helped, and not gone missing at such a crucial time, Ennostiel might have survived. However, other, more pressing matters, draw their attention as they examine Kandar’s body together. Adrian makes a fairly uneducated guess that the assailant must have been a “Tree fire lizard”, but Niss, almost as ill informed, puts for that it was a “lightning scorpion”, a dangerous foe his clan allegedly fought on the plains. None are quite certain of what could have caused it in the library in such a short time. Adrian, sensing the danger is over, once again asks Naomi about her sudden, and short lived, changes in appearance. Naomi is tries to dodge the question, somewhat defensively, and Niss backs her up. Adrian drops the question, for now, though remains somewhat suspicious.

While they discuss the possibilities and mourn the loss of their comrade, the thunder of falling debris fades to an echo as the cave in slows. In the relative quiet, another sound can be heard: a sizable group is fighting just outside the university’s walls. At door at the south end of the library slams open and several guardsmen hurry inside. As they heal one another, a dwarf, apparently in charge, shouts orders to search the place for survivors.

The trio approaches the dwarf who introduces himself as Dolom, sergeant of the city guard. While Adrian extends a hand, Dolom steps back, avoiding physical contact. He tells the trio that he and his men had been maintaining the lock-down of the docks district, but had seen the bugs suddenly retreat en masse about half an hours ago. Taking initiative, he had his men push forward to take back several neighborhoods, but found minimal resistance. Other groups of guardsmen had broken off to escort a few survivors out of the area, but Dolom had his men push towards the sound of the cave in.

While the trio tells of their encounter with the infestation’s brood mother, Dolom directs his men to further explore the university and make sure it’s cleared out. He explains that all survivors are to be taken to an inn the guard had commandeered and kept there for observation for a few days. Naomi is suspicious of his motives and Adrian looks particularly reluctant to be kept in close quarters with the others for a stretch of time, but Dolom seems earnest. Neither sympathetic nor malicious, he is simply doing his job when he directs a few of the guard under his command to escort the party out of the district.

That afternoon, upon arrival at the inn, a young guardsman explains the situation to them: survivors are being housed four to a room, no exceptions. To maintain a safe space, all dangerous materials, magical or mundane are being confiscated. Adrian, further displeased at having to stay with a stranger, tries to hide the large great sword, but the guard only laughs at the attempted subterfuge and holds out a storage crate. Naomi is luckier with a more reasonable goal and manages to hide a dagger in the cuff of her boot. Most of the magical clothing, such as Niss’s healing belt and Naomi’s invisibility cloak, go unnoticed by the rookie guardsman who is distracted and disgusted by Adrian’s mummified elf-hand necklace.

The trio is directed down a long bent hallway. The door on the far end opens to a communal bathing space. In their room sits a girl, barely five feet tall wearing a cloak, larger than appropriate, covering a slightly tattered dress. Displeased by the filthy state of the exotic travelers thrown into her room, she looks at them with disgust.

Eager to entertain a new audience, Niss tries to amuse her with puppets and elicits a brief guarded smile before her unfriendly expression returns. Naomi asks her name, but is rudely rebuffed, as the girl barks back “None of your business.” Adrian launches into the oft-repeated diplomatic spiel for Dodera, apparently oblivious to the nature of the girl’s retort, “Hello Nunav Yorbizniss, I am Adrian of Dodera, a friendly…” but the girl appears uninterested. Niss asks if she, like they, is a survivor, but is rebuffed with the same hostile sarcasm that the others received. “I’m alive, aren’t I?” Adrian, tired of the rudeness, wanders off to the communal bath, but after realizing that the shaving razor was among the confiscated goods, returns to the room in frustration.

After a little while, a guard enters to deliver food. He looks carefully at each person in turn before handing them their dinner. Niss hungrily devours his, while Naomi and Adrian eye theirs suspiciously. After prodding at it a little, each discovers a short note signed with the stamp of the Andave’Cenda: “Good work in the docks. Guard freed up considerably. Expected to depart within a day or two. Contact us when you’re out.” The trio confer, attempting to find a modicum of secrecy in the cramped room to discuss the notes, while the young girl, seeing that the food is safe, hurriedly eats, before revealing and devouring another bowl she had hidden away earlier, neither of which contains a secret message.

Naomi, curious as to the nature of their situation, listens through the door at the hallway’s entrance, but the guards outside sound of fairly low rank and prattle on about rumors coming in from those clearing out the docks. Eventually, the group succumbs to sleep, even Adrian, who refused to take of the hide armor, which, while masterwork, is also thoroughly soiled, claiming to need it for modesty and decency.

As the sun rises, the quartet awakens and immediately begins to complain about the smell coming off Adrian. The girl declares, “I’ve seen cows that smell better!” Adrian insists that it’s simply a good manly odor, but does not convince the youth, who still suspects Adrian is hiding something. When the morning meal is delivered, Niss complains that the smell is making the food go bad, but the unsympathetic guard just tells him to eat faster. The remainder of the day passes largely without event, though Niss was bothered enough by the smell to fill Naomi’s clay helm with water and dump it on Adrian, twice. From the corner, the young girl quietly watches the others, gauging whose possessions might be worth the most.

The third day begins with cries of alarm from a neighboring room. While Niss and Adrian sleep through the noise, the shouting wakes Naomi and the girl up. Naomi’s keen ears catch enough to let her piece together what happened: apparently one of the survivors in that room had been a roach in disguise. However, the guard managed to take it down before anyone in the room was hurt. Awake earlier than expected, Naomi lies awake and notices Adrian’s scalp, normally clean-shaven, is unusually stubbly, but doesn’t think much of it. With lunch, comes news; the guard explains that they should be free to go tomorrow. However, tensions still run high over the stench, as even Adrian now admits to feeling fairly disgusting. As the others bicker and argue, the girl magically levitates a full water pail from the bathroom and dumps it on Adrian, shouting over them, “Shut up! All of you!”

Adrian, sick of the stench and the fighting, asks Niss to guard the bathroom door. While he is uncertain why such a strong barbarian would need a guard, he agrees. However, absentminded as he is, he soon wanders off and Naomi, needing to make use of the facilities wanders in. While Adrian is facing away from the door and Naomi pauses for but a brief moment, one thing is made clear: The burly barbarian with a chauvinistic streak a mile wide, is actually a woman.

Adrian, startled by the intrusion, clumsily throws her armor back on and runs down the hall, cornering Naomi before she gets back to the room, hissing at her, “If you mention this to anyone, I will kill you. A lot.” Naomi while surprised at Adrian’s tone, doesn’t seem at all bothered by the discovery, “Why would I care?” Adrian, marginally calmed by Naomi’s response still tries to impress upon her that word must not get out insisting that it must, absolutely must, remain a secret. Naomi doesn’t understand what has Adrian so bothered and asks, “You’re a good fighter, why should anything else matter?” Adrian explains, apparently thinking it obvious, “All good fighters are men!” though, admits that Naomi’s efforts with the crossbow in dealing with the brood mother were quite decent. While Adrian remains fairly distraught, she feels the need for silence is understood and the two return to the room. However, her anger rises again when she sees Niss sitting on his bedspread playing with his puppets and calls him an utter failure. Niss observes that Adrian smells much nicer, but doesn’t understand why she’s yelling, having long forgotten about guarding the door. The strange youth, watching Adrian gesture angrily in the sloppily donned armor, suddenly sees through the disguise. “You’re a girl! A pretty pretty girl!” she cries out, and collapses into a fit of laughter as Adrian turns purple with rage while denying the accusation. Naomi glares at the girl, and asks how her parents let her grow up without a trace of manners, but she snaps back , “They’re dead!” Naomi’s anger subsides, and looks on in unspoken sympathy. Niss, however, still doesn’t understand what everyone is shouting about, and returns his attention to his puppets.

A new member of the guard interrupts the conflict, and declares that they have an audience before the city’s council tomorrow. He had been told to find the group that had made their way to the core of the infestation, but expresses confusion having found only three of that group. While the young girl was not one of the intended invited, she arranges to tag along anyway, suspecting that there might be some reward involved.

As night falls on the city, the young girl decides that it might be her last chance to swipe something from this crew. However, she trips over the water pail while crossing the dark room waking Naomi. She returns the bucket to the communal bathroom, and returns after Naomi drifts off again. While her thievery skills aren’t quite as practiced as those of her mark, she carefully parts Naomi from her locket and slips back into bed.

Naomi wakes to find her locket missing and immediately suspects the newcomer who, in turn, claims it must have been Niss, pointing to the assorted glittering bits woven into his hair, but no one is convinced. Adrian demands that the locket be returned to Naomi and while the girl snidely remarks “Out of all the ones here, I’m the most honest…Miss!” she decides realizes that picking a real fight with the towering barbarian might be unwise and throws the locket back at Naomi. As she places the locket back around her neck, Naomi gives a nod of thanks to Adrian. Niss, remaining oblivious to the hostility in the room, exclaims “Yay! We’re all friends now!”

The awkward silence holds for the rest of the morning until a familiar guard arrives. Kardith, Heart of the Wall of was the first face Niss, Adrian and Naomi had seen upon waking up in Bet Kalimar little over a week ago. “I see none of you were listening when I told you lot to stay out of trouble,” he says with a smile of recognition. For the rest of the trip to the council, it’s the last time he seems to be aware of them. Mostly Kardith mutters to himself oblivious to his surroundings. From what the group can gather, most of the city’s guard boarded ships yesterday and started the long journey up the river to the North. Kardith seems displeased about having his men sent into battle without him and at being left shorthanded in the city and sent on “bloody useless errands”. Despite his immersion in his own thoughts, he eventually leads the way to the city’s council chamber.

Bet Kalimar does not have a single ruler, but is governed by a collection of the most powerful merchants, religious leaders and assorted influential movers and shakers. While most of the seats are filled, Adrian and Naomi note that a few are empty, including one with Jorasco’s name engraved on it.

The council explains that they’ve been collecting accounts from survivors of the infestation, looking for an explanation. While most of the small group of survivors simply found a place to hide and had little to say, yesterday, the council had talked with a trio of mages who had told them of a brave group of adventurers who should have quite a story to tell.

Naomi begins to tell of their time investigating the “plague” and their experience at Jorasco’s party. Gesturing to the empty seat, the council’s speaker explains that Lord Jorasco is wanted for questioning, but that city’s guards haven’t been able to find him since the storming of the docks. Naomi continues to tell of their journey through the sewers and the giant plants they found there, but Adrian keeps interrupting, apparently feeling the need to explain just how filthy and sewage-filled the sewers were. Niss also takes a moment to note the presence of the other living constructs in the sewers. The speaker appears surprised; no other survivor had mentioned them, and there was no trace below once the soldiers had cleared the surface. However, they do ask after Ennostiel, expecting her, and not the quiet street urchin who apparently tagged along. Niss tries to explain, but the council doesn’t quite understand what he means by “She was covered in poo, and exploded.” Naomi, renews her push to finish the story, covering the hoards of roaches in the docks, their encounter with the mages, and eventually their encounter with Kandar and the roach brood mother in the university, before Adrian interrupts to misidentify the hobgoblin’s wounds again. Pleased by the light Naomi was able to shed on the situation, the council responds in kind, and tries to answer any questions the adventurers may have.

Once both sides are satisfied with the story, the council’s speaker stands and declares, “Brave deeds are deserving of a reward, and yours have been so very brave.” He summons each of the adventurers forth in turn. “To Niss, an Amulet of Retributive Healing: never again choose between healing another and healing yourself. To Naomi, a Helm of Tactics: you know the need position yourself well in battle; teach this virtue to your friends, and you and yours will be victorious. To Adrian, a set of Bully Chains: while your sword may end a battle quickly, but your towering form may end it before it begins.”

The council’s speaker pauses briefly, uncertain about what to say about the young girl’s presence, before continuing. “To…um…you, a pair of Lightning Gauntlets: may they, um…your…may your enemies be shocked and surprised?” The rest of the council groans at the poor joke, but the speaker ignores them and continues.

He explains that while the adventurer’s belongings will be returned to them, one will be withheld: the ivory and iron chalice Naomi had found in the ruins of the university. The mages of the university had borrowed it and were studying its effects when the district fell to the infestation and was assumed lost when the university’s lower level collapsed. The council explains that it is an artifact as old as the city, and, as such, cannot simply be given away as a reward, no matter how grateful the council is. However, each of those responsible for saving the docks will be permitted to use it once. The young girl interjects that she should also be party to this reward as well, for the hardships she endured while trapped in the quarantine. The council, while not thrilled by the prospect of cheapening the reward, concedes and leads the quartet to an ornate fountain.

Each of those to be rewarded may use the chalice to drink from the fountain once, but with a warning: while the chalice may bestow a great gift, that gift comes with a price. Those who drink from the ivory half of the chalice, wishing for wisdom or wealth may find themselves poorer in unexpected ways, while those who drink from the iron half, thinking on their impending loss, may well be surprised by their boon.

Understanding the risk, each chooses to drink. Nissram, younger prince to the catfolk clans of the plains, drinks deeply from the ivory side, and finds himself feeling surer of himself and more inspired as a bard. As he steps aside, preparing to recount every detail of his journey, he notes that the details of the room fade from view a little. Adrian Kalios, barbarian diplomat of Dodera, drinks from the iron side, and coughs up a hard iron ring with the image of a ram’s head engraved in it. However, her move is needlessly course, making few friends among those of the council. Naomi, last of her clan save for one, drinks from the Iron side, and feels more single-minded and focused on finding her missing son. Though with her attention focused within, she stands for a time oblivious to the young girl waiting impatiently for her turn. Once she has the chalice, she wastes little time and dips the ivory side into the fountain and drinks deeply. Her’s stomach spasms and she spits out an amulet, much as Adrian did. Donning it, she feels her hands tense up; while they are accustomed to arcane energy, a baser force flows through them and she feels empowered by thoughts of more mundanely brutal methods. However, having been touched by the magic of such a powerful artifact from within, she also gained a resistance to imbibed magic, such as potions.

The council, having seen the impact that a small group of skilled adventurers can have on a problem, broaches the topic of another opportunity. With the troops on route to the goblin-filled lands in the northeast, the city is once again short-handed. Word has just come that citizens from Drellin’s Ferry, a small but influential trading town on the Elsir River, have been subject to attacks by creatures in the nearby woods. The town is not far from where the troops are headed, but the council does not seem particularly worried. However they seem to consider the town to be politically important and so wish to oil the squeaky wheel before it becomes a problem. To that end, they offer the adventurers a job; if they head north along the river and assuage the fears of Drellin’s Ferry, there will be a considerable reward in it for them.

Agreeing to think on the offer, the quartet gathers their belongings and departs from the council’s building into a courtyard open to the street. Adrian, pausing to savor the sensation of swinging a sword again, is startled to find a faint burning sensation coming from her pocket. She reaches in and pulls out a small forgotten metal disk, one Jorasco had handed to them at their last encounter. Then it was blank, but now, a small dot glows on its surface, pointing northward, towards the central districts of the city. Niss declares, “If something burns a hole in your pocket, I wanna follow it!”

Before a decision is made, a distant voice calls out Adrian’s name. Pitne, the wizard from the siege at the docks, is running down the street towards them with a sheet of paper in hand, “Adrian! So glad to see you made it out of there. I just received a reply and hoped I’d find you here to deliver it.” Pitne reads, “Good work Adrian Marmot-Herder Kalios, but Kalimar’s alliance unnecessary. Situation has changed. Sending envoy to Terrelton to debrief you. Rejoin your people. Prepare for war.” Having read it aloud, some of Pitne’s enthusiasm fades as he ponders just what “Kalimar unnecessary” and “war” could mean for the future and he excuses himself. Niss, apparently having missed those portions, starts laughing at Adrian’s honorific and makes a “de-brief-ed” joke, apparently having figured out what everyone was fighting about the night before.

As they discuss the meaning of the message, the glowing dot on the disk changes direction, swinging slightly towards the west. Niss is eager to follow where it may lead, but the others want to head to the market. Adrian is displeased by the fountain’s gifts and aims to trade it for something more practical and Naomi appears eager to go that was as well. The young girl explains that she also plans to liquidate the fountain’s gift, and decides to tag along with the others for a while longer suspecting there’s more wealth to be gained with them, having received two glittering treasures after spending three days in an inn with the trio. Niss follows along, keeping a close eye on the disk.

END SESSION 22

What do the length of these journals and the capital of Ireland have in common?
They're both almost doublin'!

So yeah, I had to take some liberties in adapting it since coming up with sufficient descriptive detail on the spot to respond to the free-from nature of a combat-less evening tends to slow it to a crawl. Consequently the recap grows in the telling. Story details aren't changed, though some phrasing may be added to accommodate a sequence as I seem to have fallen out of the habit of writing "they go to the council, get debriefed, get treasure, and go". Some are also deducted as there are only so many times I can write "Adrian/Niss/Ennostiel says something about poo." before I go crazy, and I"m nearing that limit.

And for reference:
Niss gained an Amulet of Retributive Healing, a +2 bonus to Charisma, and now has a –2 penalty to spot checks.
Adrian gained a set of Bully Chains, a Ring of the Ram, and now has a –1 penalty to Charisma checks.
Naomi gained a Helm of Tactics, a +1 on Will saves, and now has a –2 on her Initiative.
The girl, who has chosen to remain nameless for the moment, gained a set of Lightning Gauntlets, an Amulet of Mighty Fists, and now has SR 10 v. potions which means that for each potion consumed we roll a resistance check based on the level of the caster (presumed to be the minimum necessary).

Edit: Text was added in Paragraph 2 as per Naomi's observation. The new text, taking place after the word Draconic, reads as follows "To the side of his head, Naomi spots a small ivory chalice, half buried amid the debris, and snatches it up. Upon closer inspection, only half is ivory, the opposite end of the hourglass-shaped chalice is rusty pockmarked iron. She pockets it and helps Niss to his feet."
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Trool]

[HyperFerret]

Hehe I forgot some of the more amusing dialogue of the evening. : )

Ben, besides a few typo fixes I have only one suggestion to add to the last post. You talk about us using the chalice at the end of the encounter but never really covered us finding it in the first place. I think in game this happened as Naomi was rescuing Niss.

[Jastermereel]

Session 23

Setting: Bet Kalimar

The quartet heads off into the market district to spend a little well-earned coin. Always looking for a bit of a boost, Adrian picks up an armful of healing and bull-strength potions, but sells off her Ring of the Ram, preferring to hit her foes directly, not with a piece of jewelry. While still fearless, the memory of the brood mother’s jaws has her looking for a little more protection. Entering the store of a high-end armor-enchanter, her eye is caught by a set of studded leather. While the craftsmanship is unparalleled, the exact details and shape appear are fuzzy and unclear. The half-elf shopkeeper demonstrates its uses and Adrian, intrigued, purchases the set. She finds a changing room and happily trades in her old armor for the new +1 Blurring studded leather. As she turns to leave, the shopkeeper taps her on the shoulder, while standing across the room behind his counter. “I see you’re the discerning type of barbarian who doesn’t take a blow if it can’t be helped. Perhaps I might interest you in these”, he says as he raises his hands. A pair of bracers covers his arms with leathery sinews, looking as though they belonged beneath his skin, rather than above it. Intrigued and amused by the offer, she buys the pair of Greatreach bracers and heads off to meet up with the others.

Naomi, glad to empty her haversack of an assortment of valuable but impractical items, goes looking for familiar resources. Pleased at her experiences on the receiving end of Niss’s healing belt, she tracks down one of her own, as well as the Hide and Sneak potion pair she’d used prior to her encounter with the brood mother. She aims to save most of her treasure for a finer rapier than she can presently afford, but she can’t resist browsing through the wares at Trueshaft’s, a merchant famous for his fine arrows and bolts. While happy to use mundane ammunition most of the time, a Fountainhead bolt catches her eye and tugs at her purse strings. Buying just the one, she meets up with Adrian who gives her a set of mundane bolts, before pawning off the rest of the mundane items.

Niss asks Adrian for the mummified elf hand she found on Kandar, seeing as how she has little use for its limited telekinetic powers. She agrees, preferring direct brute force when possible, and passes it to Niss. He promptly braids it into his hair, much to the others disgust, and runs off to find a wand of Cure Light Wounds, hoping his limited magical experience might help compensate for the limits of his healing belt, which has been drained dry a little quickly as of late.

The girl, whom Naomi dubs Ominakna, a draconic word for “nameless”, follows the others. With the sack of gold she gets from selling off her Amulet of Mighty Fists, coughed up at the council’s fountain, she grabs an assortment of magical odds and ends. Much of the wealth goes to a tan bag of tricks, similar to, but stronger than, Niss’. Intrigued by Naomi’s new belt, she also picks up a healing belt. Lastly, for reasons known only to her, she buys a +1 Heavy Crossbow, and a Hat of Disguise, though does not immediately try the latter out.

After everyone seems satisfied with the market’s offerings, Niss resumes urging the group to follow the “compass”, now pointing North-East. Adrian gets a look of horror on her face, realizing that she forgot to talk to the council about Dodera, and tries to persuade everyone to double back to them now, but Niss is unusually persistent and Adrian yields. Naomi is also reluctant to go charging off to wherever it points, preferring to check in with the Andave’Cenda first, though without the young girl; however, the glowing dot appears to point towards their neighborhood anyway, so she agrees to follow it. Delighted with her new possessions, the girl follows along at Niss’s suggestion, but catches an irritated look from Adrian and says, “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want me around.” Adrian sternly requests, “Use the male pronoun please,” but the mischievous youth insists, “But you’re not a guy!” Niss cocks his head to the side and confusedly asks, “You’re not a guy?” but quickly dismisses it and focuses back on the compass as the others exchange indignant threats as they walk along.

Following the compass, the group comes to the door to the Andave’Cenda safehouse. The door is slightly ajar. “Ominakna” doesn’t quite understand why the others are surprised, but no one seems willing to explain at the moment. Niss carefully advances through the foyer to the library beyond while Adrian backs him up, keeping close behind him. Willing to play along for the moment, the young girl follows them, aping their movements. Naomi brings up the rear, but notices signs of a forced entry at the door.

Inside is a large open room, some fifty feet long. At one end, a dark stairway leads to the floor above. The other walls are lined with curtains leading to small alcoves. Three tall bookshelves stand in the center of the room. Above them the ceiling opens to a second floor balcony. A commotion can be heard upstairs. As Niss eases between two bookshelves, he finds the body of Elzedar, Anduin’s assistant. His body is covered with the same sort of wounds they’d seen on Kandar in the university. Niss expresses his confusion to the others: if Kandar was evil why would he have the same enemy as Elzedar? However, the hushed discussion is cut short when a deep voice echoes down, “Where are they?”

Choosing to investigate the living before the dead, Adrian, Niss and “Ominakna” quietly ease up the stairway while Naomi activates her cloak, and carefully climbs the bookshelves. While they wobble slightly, she manages to balance on top, standing eye-level with the second floor. On the far side of the room, Anduin leans against a table holding a dagger. Before her is a small dark creature. While he bears some resemblance to a goblin, there’s no mistaking him for one; his sturdy frame is covered with a thick black hide with traces of the darkest of blues where the candlelight catches it. He stands holding a scimitar before him facing Anduin, with his back to the stairs.

Adrian peers around the corner and sizes up the situation, but as she quietly advances on the small assailant, Anduin makes eye contact with her and tries to subtly warn her away. Uncertain as to how to proceed, Adrian glances back to the others in the stair to see if they’d followed. Suddenly, the short figure whips around and, with his jaw opening wide, appears to breathe a bolt of lightning at Adrian. She dives for cover behind a set of bookshelves, but finds the shock staying with her, causing burns up and down her arm. A crossbow bolt from an unseen assailant lodges itself in the spine of a book near Adrian’s head. Niss, realizing that the element of surprise is gone and unwilling to stay pinned down in the stairwell, runs for the set of bookshelves behind Adrian’s and starts trying to inspire the others towards bravery.
The young girl peeks around the corner of the stairs and with a wave of her hands and a few muttered words, the short assailant drops to the ground with an eruption of barking shrieks that must pass for laughter in his savage lands.

Satisifed that the one threat is out of the way, Naomi climbs over the railing and circles around to where the crossbow bolt must have come from, finding a similar figure holding a crossbow hiding in the shadows of a bookshelf. Less muscled, but equally armored, this figure has a dark gray hide covered with splotches of blood, some fresh, others caked and dried on. As she prepares to strike, Anduin throws her dagger at the lurking foe. The dagger flies through the air leaving a trail of flame behind it, but lands far from the intended target. The dagger reappears in her hand, but the act seems to have drained her and she slumps over a chair.

Adrian, eager to retaliate against her attacker, leaps out and slashes at her foe. However, he isn’t entirely helpless; while he can do little but roll about, every slice of Adrian’s massive blade creates a bright blue spark giving her a nasty shock. While she doesn’t relish the pain, Adrain doesn’t miss a beat as she continues to cut into her hysterical foe.

Niss rushes pas her and tries to revive Anduin, but while she appears conscious, all is not well and she doesn’t appear able to stand. The short shadowy figure makes a run for it, with crossbow loaded and aimed at Niss, but Naomi stabs him from behind causing him to stumble to the railing and spin around to face her. She darts forward, slashing at him with her rapier, keeping him off balance. The young girl in the stairway tries to land a shot with her crossbow, but the shot is deflected by the balcony railing.

Niss, suspecting that Anduin has been poisoned and realizing that time is of the essence, aims to finish the fight. Drawing his crossbow he takes aim, and pierces the thick hide of the cornered foe who falls over into the bookshelves. “Ominakna” casually walks over to him, steadies her heavy crossbow against the side of his head and pulls the trigger, ensuring that he wouldn’t be getting up again.

Naomi loots the remains of his failed accomplice. Behind his light crossbow, she finds surprisingly supple padded armor with silver highlights and a short sword made from a fang from a blue dragon. Intrigued by the lot, Naomi is disappointed to realize that none of it would fit her.

Adrian finishes off her prey and, as he stops laughing and starts bleeding in silence she moves over to Niss and helps him to lift Anduin. As the two of them carry her downstairs and outside in search of a healer, “Ominakna” takes stock of the falchion-wielding foe’s possessions. While he has no armor to speak of, his falchion, upon closer inspection, is also made from a blue dragon’s fang. In a small pouch by his side, he also carries a small silver disk, identical to the one Niss followed there. While she has little use for it, she is pleased to find that the treasures that Niss enticed her with are real. As she and Naomi follow the others, she asks who the wounded woman was, but Naomi leaves the matter vague, saying simply, “A friend. One who has helped us.” The two discuss the matter of the tracking coins, but can’t make heads or tails of the blank silver disks.

Adrian and Niss find a house of healing and an apothecary for Anduin. The healer convinces them he will do what he can they set off for the council while Naomi guards the door to her room against further attacks and “Ominakna” goes off to pawn her new treasure.

Adrian and Niss report to the council and, speaking on behalf of the group, agree to travel to Drellin’s Ferry on the council’s request. The council appears delighted to have the matter resolved and agrees to provide them with a small boat with some supplies to ease their travels.

Niss, on a whim, decides to tell the council about where Adrian and he have just been and starts describing how they’d “interrupted a burglary.” Adrian looks confused by his partial deceptions and begins to interrupt, but he just keeps talking right over her as he explains about the attack. The council assumes that it was just a few goblins, nothing that a guardsman couldn’t handle, and certainly below their concern, but Niss starts to convince them otherwise when he tells of their strange appearance and surprising abilities. However, when he finally piques the council’s interest they ask where the attack was, so as to start an investigation. Realizing that Anduin might not want the Andave’Cenda’s base of operations exposed, he recants and admits to the council that it must have been “just another goblin after all.”

Adrian steps forward, attracting their attention and professes how honored she is to be before the council again. She goes on to present her standard pitch for “Dodera, a friendly place” explaining their interest in developing further diplomatic relations. The council’s speaker appears surprised, and explains that while they knew relatively little of their northern neighbor, “it is always good to see a friendly face from a foreign place.” However, while Kalamar looks forward to forging an alliance, they cannot do so on a whim without having met more representatives. Adrian agrees that a full alliance will have to wait, but is delighted to have made a good impression with those overseeing the region. She and Niss excuse themselves to prepare for the mission ahead.

Regrouping with the others outside the house of healing, Niss shows uncharacteristic anger towards the others for having delayed their arrival at the Andave’Cenda with the shopping trip, feeling that if they’d arrived sooner, Elzedar might be still be alive and Anduin would not have been poisoned. Adrian reminds him that it would have been the first time his curiosity had saved lives and that previously it had resulted in him getting kidnapped. Naomi chimes in to remind him about the giant roach he’d run into, alone, just days before. Adrian continues, “Your curiosity doesn’t normally save a life. This would have been a first.” Niss is chastened, but still bothered by what happened.

Going inside, the group finds that Anduin is awake, but looking frail. She thanks them, but wastes little time on pleasantries and explains, “The Red Hand is larger and more powerful than anyone had thought. The city’s soldiers won’t be enough, but there are no more to send. You must go to the northern cities to prepare defenses. Find Norrow Wiston, the mayor of Drellin’s Ferry. He must be warned.” As she pauses, somewhat out of breath, Naomi asks if she’d found anymore more about Kale, the one who slew her husband and stole her child. Anduin tells her, “He is one of leaders, if not the warlord of the Red Hand.” While he sounds impossibly out of reach, Naomi is glad to know her target. The apothecary returns to the room and asks the group to let his patient rest.

While the others go prepare the boat, Naomi excues herself and goes off to loot the items from the attack on the Andave’Cenda and to make final preparations before leaving town. On her way back, she encounters a friendly face, Fierenze, the Shifter from the sewers. He appears delighted to see that the rumors were true that she survived the infestation and he tells her of the running skirmish he and the other Shifters had with the retreating Warforged after the hive collapsed. While some escaped, the Shifters managed to destroy their base completely and to loot what they left behind. “These now are yours,” he says, handing two strange items to her. The first is a gnarled mahogany rod covered with sticky amber ooze: a Rod of Viscid Globs. The second is less recognizable; a metal and wood sphere, roughly an inch and a half across with an intricately carved circular pattern. Sensing her confusion, Fierenze explains that it was all he could find of her friend. Thanking him, Naomi explains her intention to head to Drellin’s Ferry and to track down the one who has her son. Fierenze suggests she might drop his name with “a certain kind of people” up north if she needs a favor, though she should be careful in doing so. While he cannot go with her, he and the rest of the Wild Fang Guild will give her a hero’s welcome when she returns. With that, he disappears into the crowd.

Naomi rejoins the others, and, without further ado, they board their vessel, an oversized rowboat, and set off up the river Elsir.

Setting: Elsir River

Days pass as they make their way Northeast. While the quarters are a little cramped, save for nights by the shore, “Ominakna” seems to become a little friendlier, even going so far as to compliment Adrian’s endurance, “We don’t need to row with Adrian aboard!”. While Adrian does do much of the rowing, Niss tries his hand at it a little. Naomi spends most of the day sitting at the back of the boat, but doesn’t much care for traveling by boat, uneasy at the prospect of swimming should something go awry.

Mid-morning on the sixth day, a few hours from Terrelton, the quartet comes to a bend in the river. Thick vegetation starts to catch on the oars. Peering over the side of the boat Naomi spots something moving deep below them in the murky water, amid the tangled marsh grass: a scrag or river troll. She draws her crossbow and shouts to the others. Adrian starts rowing for the nearest shore of the wide river; while she’s eager to take on a dangerous foe, she’d much rather do so on solid ground.

Swimming up to meet them, the scrag crosses beneath them. As it does, the whole boat lurches and the boards beneath Naomi’s feet crack and splinter as water starts to pour in. Naomi runs to the front while “Ominakna” stays near the rear, readying a spell for the scrag once it pokes its head above the water. Niss tosses a small fluff-ball from his Bag of Tricks, figuring that another ally, no matter how small, couldn’t hurt, and, as the bit of fluff hits the water, he is delighted to see a badger appear and start paddling towards the scrag.

Two massive claws grab hold of the edge of the boat. While the young girl launches a orb of electricity at its slimy green nose, the scrag shakes off the shock and climbs aboard and cuts her badly. Realizing her talents might best be used standing a little further away and still alive, she runs toward the front with Naomi to stand behind their Goliath friend. Naomi tries to steady a shot as best she can in the rocking boat and grazes the rubbery hide, but the wound appears to heal up within seconds. Adrian stops rowing, draws her great sword, and turns to face the towering giant. However, before she can approach it, Niss throws a source token he’d been keeping in his knotted dreads. The cloudy glass ball lands near the feet of the scrag and shatters; tendrils of protomatter swirl and coalesce; arcane mists clear revealing a light horse, which is none to pleased to be looking straight into a wide toothy maw. Whether out of duty or fear, it rears up and strikes the scrag with its hooves while the badger, having climbed aboard, nips at its heels. However, it appears to shrug off their attacks and its jaws form a malicious grin as the weight of the summoned allies tips the boat backwards sending even more water coursing through the hole.

Adrian, not willing to squeeze past the horse, activates her Greatreach Bracers, and swings her massive sword in a wide arc, slicing deeply into the scrag’s side. While the wound begins to close up, it appears to heal more slowly than the minor cuts and bruises it endured thus far. Acting with more urgency the scrag slashes at the horse, grabbing it with a pair of massive claws and tears the short-lived beast in two, taking a bite before tossing the halves into the water for later. Naomi, remembering Fierenze’s gift, uses her Rod of Viscid Globs and launches a sticky orb at its feet, anchoring them to the bottom of the sinking boat. “Ominakna” unsatisfied with direct attacks tries a repeat performance of the laughing spell that served her well in the city; unfortunately, humor doesn’t translate well and doesn’t elicit even a chuckle from the scrag who keeps its toothy smile. Niss uses a little arcane magic to warm up for an inspirational story, but before he can begin, Adrian takes action.

She activates her new armor, blurring her outline and, summoning an inner rage, lunges towards the scrag. Swinging through a wide arc, rocking the boat, she slams her sword into the giant, cutting deeply into its waist. However, the wound begins to slowly heal up and, while still stuck to the floor of the boat, the scrag reaches out and grabs Adrian, biting and tearing at her, nearly doing to her what it did to the horse. She stumbles backwards, barely alive and bleeding profusely, but the others come to her aid. Niss and Nomi heal her while the young girl gives her the strength to fight on with a well-practiced wave of her hand.

Bleeding and battered, but with a renewed vigor, Adrian strides forward and strikes where precisely where she had before, cleaves her foe in twain. Its muscled torso tips backwards, leaving the legs stuck to the boat, falling back into the water, crushing the badger who had been nipping at its heels till the last. With balance renewed, the boat violently levels out again, causing Niss to fall backwards out of the front of the boat. Adrian reaches over the side and grabs her “little buddy”. Niss is thankful, but clearly unhappy about getting wet. Jumping back to the oarlocks, Adrian rows the half-submerged boat to the shore, getting close to wading depth as the rest of the boat slips beneath the murky waters.

The sun is high in the sky as the quartet climbs up the riverbank and dries off. With no boat and road in sight, the trip to Terrelton may take a little longer than anticipated.

END SESSION 23
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

An announcement and a question:

I will not be able to DM this Saturday. My grandmother passed away this past Monday and due to various Floridian laws and bureaucratic issues, the memorial service has been pushed back. I was supposed to be gone from Tuesday (yesterday) to Thursday/Friday, but now, I don't think I'll be leaving until Saturday afternoon. I'm sorry to throw this additional scheduling wrench into plans, but I don't have any control over this one.

As for the question: I was wondering if any of my group would mind if I posted the ongoing game recaps on a D&D related message board I follow. Other DMs have done so and have gotten valuable feedback. The only names would be character names, and I don't think there's any other identifiers. I realize they are sort of semi-public here, as our D&D section doesn't require you to log in, but we're in a quiet corner of the net, so I figured I'd check around before I escalated their visibility.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 24
Setting: The Elsir River

The mid-day sun dries the adventurers quickly as they heal one another and work their way alongside the river, looking for a way through the thick foliage to the road that must lie beyond. Not far from where they came ashore they find a dried riverbed, once a tributary of the Elsir River, branching off towards their destination. While the sides of the riverbed are steep and lined with vegetation, the bottom has only sparse tufts of grass.

After an hour or so of walking, the quartet comes across a small cave, extending deep into the embankment. Naomi pauses upon spotting a skeleton lying just outside the cave’s mouth; while it’s clearly been picked at, it looks fairly new from the condition of its clothing. Beyond it, partially hidden beneath some shrubbery, is a pile of assorted remains, mostly picked clean to the bone.

Still, Niss, ever curious, runs up to inspect the lone skeleton, but is startled by a small blue horned lizard just inside the mouth of the cave. He jumps back some twenty feet with the reflexes and speed of his kin, eyeing it with suspicion. His sudden movements startle it just as it startled him and its horns crackle bright blue with electricity, giving Niss, even at a distance, a powerful jolt in warning. Naomi and the unnamed youth run over to Niss. Naomi heals him up, while “Ominakna” levels her heavy crossbow at it and grazes it, just before the barbarian’s towering form hides it from view. Adrian raises her mighty great sword, but brings it down cutting a deep trough in the dirt, missing the nimble little lizard. Its horns charge with energy again, but, much to her surprise, Adrian is untouched.

However, a rustling noise from the opposite embankment catches everyone’s attention. Turning around, they spot a mass of vines and leaves slough off the slope and form itself into a vaguely humanoid form some seven feet tall. Shambling towards the young girl, it lashes out with a thick ropy vine and pulls her into its considerable bulk. Not wanting to be its next target, Naomi darts away and embeds a crossbow bolt in its broad form, narrowly missing the girl’s shoulder. Niss joins her, and with a little arcane assistance begins to self-harmonize.

“Ominakna”, straining against the constricting vines, activates her healing belt buying a little time. As Naomi lands another bolt in it and Niss attempts to inspire the others (apparently by reciting the recipe for a traditional catfolk salad), Adrian, activates her new bracers and, given a worthy opponent, summons up a battle rage. Unwilling to delay further, she swings again, cleaving through the little lizard, painting the cave walls with its blue blood, and stretching out her arms, slices through the thick vines of the girl’s assailant, but not enough to free her. Enraged, but reluctant to risk hitting the girl, Adrian sets aside her sword, approaches the mass of vegetation and grabs the leafy mass, prying the vines off long enough for her to get free and run to the others. “Ominakna” quickly grabs her crossbow and takes a retaliatory shot at the plant. Naomi, however, tired of chipping away at it leaf by bolt-riddled leaf, tries a new tactic and lobs one of the last beads from her necklace at it, engulfing both the plant and Adrian in a burst of flame. When the smoke clears, Adrian’s thick skin is looking a little singed, but the plant appears unchanged. Adrian tries to break free, hoping to put her sword to good use, but can’t quite get free of the vines. While her anger makes her stronger, she seems evenly matched with the plant, and neither manages to gain the upper hand until Naomi lands a corrosive bolt deep in its core, dissolving some of the vines at their source. Adrian takes advantage of its weakness and tears large clumps of plant-matter, loosing an earthy smell. Niss, sensing the moment is right, stops his inspirational recitation, steadies his crossbow, and lands a killing blow. The vines stop moving and fall to the ground about Adrian’s feet.

Naomi, unimpressed by Adrian’s fruitless struggles in the fight, swears something unflattering about her mother in Draconic under her breath. “Ominakna” wanders over to the skeleton and finds a few gold coins in the tattered clothing, an Everfull Mug, and a thin metal cylinder a hand-span in length with a wax sealed cap on one end. Cracking the seal, she opens the tube. Inside a piece of parchment bears a message, “Drellin’s Ferry requesting aid of Brindol Lions. Trouble in Witchwood. Scouts haven’t returned. Please send aid.” Having read the message, she tosses it aside. Naomi picks it up, shows the others and replaces the message in the unsealed tube. She suggests that when the group finds the road, that they head back down river to deliver the message to Brindol, but Adrian and the others want to press on to Terrelton and Drellin’s Ferry. Before continuing down the riverbed, Niss grabs a tattered broad rimmed hat from the messenger’s body and places it upon his head.

Walking along, the embankments disappear as the riverbed becomes shallower. Through the thinning foliage, the party spots a broad well-used dirt road and proceeds in an up-river direction. The area seems fairly dry, trading the riverbank’s lush dense vegetation for grassy plains, though large swaths of forest are visible a ways off.

Setting: Terrelton

The group can smell Terrelton before they can see it. Fenced in herds of cattle and livestock dot the fields and several large and foul-smelling tanneries sit on outskirts of town. For Niss, the stench brings back sad memories of his lost comrade Ennostiel, who often had a similar stench in her final days.

Walking into town the party can sense every villager’s eyes turn towards them with suspicion. However, it quickly becomes clear that Adrian is the focus of their attention as ranchers hurry their animals out of her way. While a few halflings were seen on the way in, Terrelton seems to be almost completely human, with certainly no trace of Adrian’s contact. Niss leads the others to the center of town, and Adrian tries to strike up a conversation with a merchant, but he fearfully looks away and whispers something to a coworker. Adrian can only hears scattered phrases, but picks up “the spy” and “of the forest”. Before she spots a woman in gleaming armor confidently walking towards her.

The woman introduces herself as “Leille, Cleric of St. Cuthbert, and the law about these parts” and, focusing her attention on Adrian, asks if she’s new around here or if she’s been in the area for some time. Adrian answers truthfully that she and her friends just arrived, and while Leille still eyes Adrian with some suspicion, she seems to relax a little and welcomes the quartet to Terrelton, explaining that someone who matches Adrian’s description has been seen lurking about the woods to the north of town. Adrian gives her standard Doderan spiel and excuses herself to go investigate the rumors with Niss in tow.

After Adrian and Niss have left, and the young girl wanders off to explore the town on her own, Naomi gets Leille’s attention. She explains what they’d found out in the riverbed and shows her the message tube. Leille seems to recognize Naomi’s description, commenting that she had thought that the catfolk’s hat had looked familiar. She asks for Naomi’s name but Naomi gives her a false name, Sityra, not eager to trust a member of the local authority. Leille accepts the name without question and summons a messenger to carry on where the last had failed, and politely departs without commenting on the contents of the message. Naomi scouts about town, looking for other shifters, but doesn’t have any luck.

By mid-afternoon Adrian and Niss are well into the woods. While they aren’t quite sure just what to look for, their questions are answered when another Goliath emerges from between a dense patch of trees sitting astride a rhinoceros with thick leather barding, moving with surprising stealth for a beast of its bulk. Adrian recognizes the Goliath from her clan. Gauthak the Oathkeeper is considered one of the most honorable living Goliath, known for keeping his word and making others do the same, whether for good or ill. He dismounts and, speaking in Gol-Ka, he greets Adrian and, with a somewhat amused look, acknowledges her “pet”. Niss, oblivious to their conversation, amuses himself with hand-made finger puppets.

Gauthak explains to Adrian that the Gnolls that had been encroaching on their homeland are no longer a threat. Not long after Adrian had left, they were utterly wiped out. However, their end came not at the hands of the Goliaths, but a massive army of Hobgoblins, who had swept out from the mountains, slaughtering the wild Gnoll tribes, stopping at the old borders. The peace had come at a price, the Hobgoblins requested that the Goliaths join them in an upcoming conflict; in return, the Goliath clans could have their old lands returned to them and, furthermore, would be granted great swaths of territory to their south. The clan’s elders, fearing the Goliaths would go the way of the Gnolls if they refused, have been calling back their scouts and diplomats to prepare for war. Gauthak pauses, sighs deeply, and reluctantly continues, “I was ordered to bring you back home to help fight for this Red Hand, but I do not trust them. Their word means nothing to them and if we ally ourselves with them, it will be our doom. Adrian Marmot-herder Kalios, I must ask you to disobey the council. I want you to stay in the field and find out what this Red Hand intends.”

However, he has a further request of Adrian before he may go. As he was instructed to bring her back, he cannot return empty handed; he would rather be exiled than defy the elders so openly. He suggests that perhaps Adrian was found slain by one of the larger roaming beasts of the forest while on route to meet him, and as evidence, he asks that Adrian hand over her large great sword.

Adrian recoils at the suggestion and quickly scrambles for a reason to keep it. Thinking quickly, she points out that it is not the same one she left Dodera with, and so would not prove anything, but her backpack is of Doderan make and should suffice as evidence. Gauthak nods and, after she empties it into a spare sack and hands it to him, he swings himself back onto his mount and returns to the darkness of the forest without another word.

On their walk back to town, Adrian explains what happened to Niss, but in vague general terms, suggesting to Niss that he and the others be cautious should they encounter other Goliaths. By the time they return, it is nearly dark, but Niss agrees to buy Adrian a replacement backpack, though has to settle for a saddlebag in order to match the capacity of the one she lost. The quartet regroups and finds room for the night. Adrian tells the others of her new mission, though is unsure what proof she could bring to the elders. Naomi flips up her eye-patch revealing her left eye, stuck forever in a reptilian shifted form at the center of a four-inch scar, and tells, with an uncharacteristically open display of fury, of what the Red Hand did to her and her people and why she hunts their leader. “What more proof do you need?” she asks Adrian. No answer is given, and the rest of the night passes in deafening silence.

Setting: The Dawn Way, on route to Drellin’s Ferry

Early the next morning, the four head out on foot to Drellin’s Ferry. The Dawn Way, the road passing through much of the region, trail is broad and curving, with deep ruts marking the passing of countless wagons, but while the four walk for much of the day, they see no wagons, nor anyone else. After cresting a small rise, the road descends and broadens a little. Through the trees, the ruins of a small farmhouse are visible on the side of the road. While it is hardly the first such site on the long walk, Naomi suspiciously glances about at the dense forest flanking the road, and spots several figures, Hobgoblins in armor, lying in wait.

She yells out, “Trap!” to warn the others and touches the clasp of her cloak, vanishing from sight just as a flurry of arrows is loosed from the trees, peppering the rest of the party. Niss, barely standing, heals himself with his belt, catching sight of a stocky dark red dog, with smoke trailing from its nostrils as it charges up the path towards them, whom he dubs “Smokey”. The young girl gestures at her outfit, appearing more satisfied at her defenses, though still wounded. Adrian, not one to dally with such preparations, scales the left embankment, trudges through the undergrowth and with a single vertical slice effortlessly disarms the Hobgoblin, who clutches at the wound, before rapidly bleeding out amid the shrubberies. Naomi tries to do the same on the opposite embankment, but while she catches her mark off guard, he is only startled and not stabbed as her rapier misses. Fortunately, he has no better luck with his sword. His allies, however, fearing Adrian’s approach, all focus on her and one borrowed the others’ luck, piercing her armor and her thick hide, embedding itself in her shoulder most painfully.

From around the bend, by the farmhouse, another Hobgoblin comes into view. His armor isn’t quite as heavy as that of the archers, but he appears better trained than the others, and certainly more confident as he draws two short swords and, holding them above his head, begins running down the road shouting challenges at Niss and the young girl who stand before him.

Niss starts to Harmonize, and steps back a little, leaving “Ominakna” first to face the attackers in the road. Unconcerned, she thrusts her palm at the smoking dog, launching a small blue orb at it. The orb catches the dog on the snout, killing it instantly before the body slides to a halt some twenty feet later, its head covered in frost. Pleased by her success, but reluctant to stand alone before the charging fighter, the youth backs up a few feet to stand beside Niss. Adrian continues to make her way through the dense undergrowth and takes revenge on the Hobgoblin who made the lucky shot, but is caught off guard when the last of the archers of that side draws a sword and takes a brave, but foolish, swing at her. While he draws blood, his allies on the opposite embankment aren’t so lucky. Naomi’s foe is similarly luckless; he followed her as she tried to flee, and while he has little success with his blade, she manages to give him a little scratch for his trouble.

Niss starts up with an inspirational chant even as the leader of the Hobgoblins bears down on him. “Ominakna” gestures with her other hand, launching a bright green orb, and while it hits him squarely in the chest, earning a growl of rage, he continues his charge daring her to try harder. Adrian thinks quickly and activates her armor with a final calm command before summoning up a rage from within. Towering above the nearest grunt she swings her sword in a low arc, cleaving through him at the waist without resistance almost as if he were an appetizer before her intended target: the boastful swordsman. Unfortunately, even with her reach, she misses him with the long swing, and is forced to leap down the embankment to defend the weaker duo. A volley of arrows land around her, narrowly missing their mark, as she stands before the blade bearer. He lunges at her, but she catches him with her sword before he can close the distance, cutting off his final taunt with a gurgling shriek.

Adrian stands perfectly still, sword still deep in the entrails of her foe; while it is unclear whether she is pausing to savor the moment or frozen by unseen magical means, the young girl walks up and heals some of Adrian’s wounds with a touch, though she is unable to restore her fully.

From further down the road, another dog, with tongues of flame flickering from its open mouth, leads another half-dozen hobgoblins around the bend, to join the three left remaining on the right side of the road. Spotting the slaughter before them, they ready their bows and move to ready a volley. The young sorcerer steps before the frozen Adrian, and draws a small fuzzy ball from a tan bag she’d been carrying, and tosses it into the woods near one of the archers. A warhorse springs into existence, rears up, and tramples the surprised hobgoblin in a single moment of equine strength. His neighbor meets a similar end when Naomi, tired of dueling a feeble opponent, thrusts with finesses, and pierces him through the heart.

Adrian shakes off whatever had affected her, but takes a moment to formulate a plan as the Hobgoblins take position. The last of the ambushers joins the others, as does a previously unseen hobgoblin with the look of a cleric about him, who stands behind their lines, shouting threats of whips and hot irons should they fail him. The septet of archers loose a volley at Adrian and though some miss narrowly, thanks to her blurred armor, four find their mark. Niss stops chanting, to come to the aid of Adrian; standing before her he calls upon a deep inner sadness and, with a mighty pout, creates a wave of grief that flows over the hobgoblin ranks. However, none seem particularly bothered except the Cleric, whose threats loose conviction as he stutters and stumbles over his words. The youth heals Adrian further, and her warhorse leaps down from the tangling underbrush, onto the path, and catches the lead dog with its hoof, though not lethally. Undeterred, it lunges and bites Adrian’s side with fiery jaws, scorching her gray hide as she runs past to engage the archers in melee. Activating her new, and much loved, bracers, she swings with at the ranks of the hobgoblins, cutting down three before her great sword catches on a bit of frayed tendon, stopping its mighty swing.

Naomi releases her wild shifter side, and uses her newfound speed to stand by Adrian’s side, healing her accumulating wounds. The dog nips at the horse’s hooves as the Hobgoblins release another volley, but only half manage to hit the dangerously close giant. The cleric, unable to heal the dead, reads from a scroll in a guttural tongue, calling another of the smoking hounds into existence behind Adrian. It opens its smoking maw wide and belches out a short blast of flame, which nearly drops Adrian at the feet of her enemies; through her strength of will as much as anything else, she remains standing. Niss joins the others by her side, dodging the attacks of the fiery hound, and heals Adrian, ensuring she can finish the fight. With a final mighty swing, Adrian cuts through the remaining hobgoblin archers, and the awestruck cleric, leaving a wide stripe of gore across the width of the path.

The masterless hounds, alone and surrounded, continue to fight, but only lightly singe Naomi before succumbing to a volley of crossbow bolts and the might of the towering warhorse. A peaceful silence returns to the road as the heroes heal one another’s wounds.
END SESSION 24

Let me know if you think I missed something. My notes are good, but with 4 PCs and 17 foes of four different types, and a horse in that last fight things were bound to be overlooked.

Also, a question: The ambush we ended with had a fairly high challenge rating, and it was complex to run, but what was your take on it? Challenging? Too hard? Too easy? Too much going on? Not enough ways to contribute? I didn't pull any punches, but as I get more experienced with certain elements of the Red Hand's tactics and their use of magic, things may get more and more difficult and I would like to get an early set of opinions.

Lastly, after checking with everyone involved, and formatting it for the web, I've cross-posted the campaign journal here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168749 so as to share our experience and learn from others'. With the exception of a few minor changes for clarity and some post-game annotations, it's just as it is here, but since I asked to do so, I thought I'd let you know where it is. I intend to keep posting here, but I hope to continue to cross-post there.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Almost ready with the newest update but a few quick questions and a note:

Niss: What did you blurt out to the town guard when they asked you to state your business? Did you convey the council's desire to help or the A'C's warning?

Naomi: You ordered "a double", care to come up with some sort of creatively named ale or brew that you got a double of while shivering in revulsion at the dwarf leering at Niss, or should I? Some ideas can be found here: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Types_of_Alcohol_%28Zyanya_Supplement%29 Don't worry about the price, but keep it within reason. This may be a well-stocked bar, but it's pretty close to the boundaries of Kalamaran civilization here.

All: Who was the spokesperson when recruiting Jorr?

I'd said at the session that we wouldn't be skipping a chapter because of a high-diplomacy roll. By the book, diplomacy isn't simply a matter of persuasion, but more of attitude, getting those who don't like you to like you better and those who like you to like you more. Neither it nor Bluff are equivalent to a mind-effecting spell. Norro was fairly indifferent to you on your arrival, was pleased that the council had sent help, and disappointed that it had taken the form of a motley crew of adventurers, rather than a mass of soldiers. Even if you had some proof of your being from the council (something he took on faith as the council sent nothing with you that we thought to mention), he can't evacuate the town on your word. He thinks there is a tribe of various nasties out there harassing his villagers and cutting off trade routes. They may threaten the town, but he hasn't gotten to the point of thinking he'll need to evacuate the whole town (maybe the sparse far-side so as to defend using the river, but not the whole thing).

I didn't want it to seem arbitrary (what was the roll, a 24?) but by the rules (as messed up as they often are) it takes a 15 to get from Indifferent to Friendly, but a 30 to go to from Indifferent to Helpful. While the situation allowed for him to provide you with some assistance, he isn't likely to ask "How High!?" when you say "Jump".

Similarly, a high bluff has its limits. I don't care if you manage to beat a DC of 95 when telling a king that he's really a waffle; he won't think he's a waffle. He'll just be convinced that you believe it, and likely throw you in the looney bin.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 25

Setting: Drellin’s Ferry

Niss looks down and at the two halves of the body of the hobgoblin fighter and picks up one of his short-swords for himself, recognizing their high quality. Feeling a tad overburdened, however, he passes off his trusty (and unused) dagger to Naomi, who suspects she’ll find a use for it sometime soon. For the next twenty minutes Naomi and Adrian, taking it easy after her rage-fueled slaughter, pick the corpses clean of anything of value including more than half a dozen sets of armor, most of the hobgoblin’s weapons, and an assortment of potions and scrolls and a strange holy symbol composed of five dragon heads. Exploring the remains of a small cabin off the side of the road, they find the bodies of the previous unfortunate victims of the hobgoblin’s ambush. Next to them, Naomi finds a bag of gold pieces and a crude diary, likely kept by the head hobgoblin, describing the day-to-day happenings over the past week or so, including a narrow escape by a lone wanderer with a broad-rimmed hat. Cramming what they can into Naomi’s Handy Haversack, and typing the rest of the mountain of loot to Adrian with rope, the group continues on to Drellin’s Ferry.

For a town of its size, Drellin’s Ferry appears well guarded. On the outskirts of town, a quartet of armed militia members call out to the party, “Halt and state your business, strangers!” Niss blurts out that they were sent to evacuate the town. A guard in chainmail, apparently in charge, seems concerned both by Niss’s words and by Adrian’s imposing presence. He gestures to one of the guards who runs off back towards the town. Adrian tries to give her standard spiel to the militia but they seem disinterested until a well-armored woman arrives.

Identifying herself as Captain Sorrana Anitah, she walks over to Adrian and tries to size her up. While Adrian is clearly well armed and is carrying enough extra armor and weapons to supply a small army, Sorrana detects no ill intentions from the towering figure. Satisfied that she, the catfolk and the two humans shouldn’t be any trouble, she waves them through, but asks them to stop by the town hall, as soon as possible. Adrian proceeds onwards silently, masking her reluctance to defer to a woman in authority.

Before tracking down Norro Wiston, Adrian wants to sell of what she can of the haul from the last battle. She is forced to spread the sale across several shops in town, as no single one is willing to take the whole lot; while the merchants would prefer to made sales rather than purchases, they are delighted to hear that the hobgoblins blocking the road were gone, and buy what they can as thanks as much as for the wares themselves. Adrian is simply glad to walk away several hundred pounds lighter and nearly six thousand gold pieces richer.

Not wanting to delay further, the quartet heads towards the town’s center near the banks of the Elsir River. A pair of thick ropes span the river and are affixed to the town’s eponymous ferry. Beside them, a line of ancient, well-worn stone pylons stick up out of the water, all that remains of the old bridge that carried The Dawn Way over the river. On the near bank, to the side of the old road stands the Old Toll House. Clearly older and sturdier than those around it, it now serves, among other things, as the town hall. Entering the building, the group finds Town Speaker Norro Wiston and Captain Sorrana.

Naomi and Niss try to explain the Andave’Cenda’s warning and tell Norro that there are vast hobgoblin hoards on the move. While Norro agrees that there is a larger than average band organizing the attacks on travelers and he is worried that the town could be overrun, he feels that if the council sent this quartet to help, then they should be able to take care of the threat, even if he had hoped for more assistance. Niss tries to explain that the threat isn’t simply little raiding parties and that the town is surrounded, but Norro doubts that Niss could have seen as much as he claims. He notes that Niss apparently came straight into town from along the vale and seems sure that the majority must be in the Witchwood across the river given that the town is the only reasonable crossing point for miles. Sensing that Norro would need more proof before taking the threat seriously, the party agrees to look into the threat across the river and requests Sorrana as their guide. Sorrana immediately rejects their request, pointing out that the town is largely defenseless without her, but she suggests they track down Jorr, a reclusive woodsman, as he knows the woods better than anyone. Considering the matter settled, the party departs to find lodging for the night.

Feeling somewhat frugal, the quartet steers clear of The Old Bridge Inn, but not so frugal that each doesn’t take their own room. Before turning in, Niss decides to try to entertain the townsfolk with some of his puppetry repertoire. While the crowd is mildly amused, still somewhat uneasy at the looming threat of further hobgoblin attacks, the dwarven proprietor Tharrma seems quite taken with his routine commenting, “You’re a bit scrawny, but…might well do.” Naomi, seeing Tharrma leering at Niss, shudders and orders a double of Drellin’s Frenzy-water, a strong locally-distilled spirit and downs it quickly. One by one, the members of the quartet find their way off to bed, with Niss last to retire to his own room after the bar is nearly empty.

In the morning, Niss wakes early and walks over to the center of town to the farmer’s market in search of an apple. Adrian takes her time shaving her head before leaving the inn, thankful for the privacy; it had been lacking since her time at The Broken Anvil when she first arrived in Bet Kalimar over two weeks ago. While Gauthak had not seen through her deception when they talked outside Terrelton, other goliaths might if greater care is not taken in the future.

Setting out, they arrange to be taken across the river by ferry; Drathgar, the ferry’s current proprietor, waves the standard fee in gratitude for their efforts. He comments that they’re some of the only travelers he’s had who want to cross to the far side of the river in some time; most folks had been fleeing from the rumored hoard. On the other bank, the young girl, apparently reluctant to cover the Witchwood on foot, buys a small dark-gray riding horse from Sterrel’s Provisioning along with a saddle and sufficient feed for a long journey.

Setting: The Witchwood

Picking up The Dawn Way on the other side of the broken bridge, the party travels at a brisk pace into the Witchwood. Every few miles an abandoned cabin is visible off the trail; while some look very old, others look well maintained, but all are clearly abandoned. All save one. Around noon, they come across a cabin, small but well built, with a wisp of smoke curling from a brick chimney. Behind the cabin flows a swift creek in which a small skiff sits, tied to a dock covered with an assortment of accoutrements for fishing and trapping.
As the party approaches, three stocky hounds charge out from under the cabin’s porch barking loudly at the intruders. Unlike those encountered the day before, however, these do not breathe smoke and flame nor do they attack. The hounds stop before closing the distance, but continue barking both warning the quartet to stay back and daring them to come closer. Adrian does not approach, but instead gives the trio the meanest most intimidating stare she can muster. In an instant the cacophony becomes a pitiful whimpering whine. A lean figure of indeterminate age steps out from the cabin door laughing. “Bravo stranger, I didn’t think anyone but I could get them to keep quiet,” he says, but he quickly turns more serious as his hand moves to a large sheathed knife strapped to his thigh, “Now, state your business. What do you want with me?”

Niss explains that Norro Wiston had recommended him as a guide to the Witchwood and that they were on a mission to deal with, or at least to scout out, the hobgoblins gathering in the North. Jorr is pleased to hear others will be helping rid his forest of the savage intruders and he offers his services as a guide, but his mood is fickle, possibly an effect of having lived alone in the woods for years, and he seems reluctant to help for free. He asks for ten gold pieces a day for his services as they’ll be heading into dangerous territory. The party agrees to his fee and, as they don’t quite have a destination in mind, Jorr suggests Terrak’nor Keep, and old fort half a day’s journey away. “While it’s fallen into disrepair in the centuries since it last saw real use, that’s where I’d be if I were they”. Niss agrees with Jorr’s advice, and suggests they might be able to scout it out by nightfall, but that they’d be at a disadvantage attacking at night, as only Adrian has reliable night-vision. Jorr makes preparations for his dogs in his absence, grabs the bare essential equipment and provisions for himself and is quickly ready to go.

After a few hours, the quartet plus Jorr, are deep into the Witchwood’s flooded lowlands where dense green forests have given way to a thick and fetid bog. Rather than try to trudge through the treacherous terrain, Jorr guides them to a rickety wooden causeway built just above the water level, narrowly winding through the mire. To one side of the causeway a wagon lies overturned, half submerged in the muck. Naomi spots a large reptilian head lying next to it, but just as she points it out to the others, it slithers back into the deeper waters.

Jorr stands back and watches to see how the others react. “Ominakna” rides forwards a little, pulls out her tan bag, and tosses a puffball out into the middle of the bridge. Where it lands a heavy warhorse springs into existence. Naomi hides beside the youth’s mount, watching for a response from the waters, but Adrian and Niss aren’t inclined to wait around to see what takes the bait, so they press on, squeezing just past the idle horse.

The reptilian head lunges forth from the murky waters beside the causeway, supported by a long muscular neck, and is met by five others, all apparently connected to an unseen body hidden somewhere below. Within seconds the heavy warhorse is reduced to a pile of meat and bone. Jorr yells out “HYDRA!” and both he and the youth loose crossbow bolts at the heads, but the shots lands somewhere in the marsh beyond. Adrian and Niss move further away from the flurry of heads and the remains of the horse. Niss moving to make sure Adrian stands between him and the Hydra, tries to magically enrage the beast, but it resists his efforts.

Naomi, sensing that she and the others might be in trouble should the Hydra come after them, uses her cloak to hide Jorr, the youth, and herself from view. While she invisibly darts past the remains on the causeway to join Adrian and Niss, Jorr jumps onto the back of the girl’s still visible mount and together they turn back the way they came. He shouts to Niss explaining that he’ll find another way around and to meet him near the crossroads at nightfall.

The Hydra climbs onto the causeway, pulling its bulky body out of the deep waters, but appears disappointed. To one side, its lunch vanished, and to the other it’s rapidly retreating. It briefly tries to catch Adrian, but realizing it can’t keep up, it returns to finish off the remains of the warhorse.

Jorr guides the youth and her horse through the witch trails, hidden paths weaving through the forest, keeping up a steady pace despite the rough terrain. Adrian, Niss and Naomi quickly find their way out of the marshes and back onto the trail. With more than a little luck, neither half of the party runs into significant trouble before reaching their destination. As night falls, the party regroups just off the crossroads, where The Dawn Way and The Old Forest Road meet.

While the rest of the party sets up camp, Naomi decides to scout out their target from a distance. While the light is fading, she manages to cut through the underbrush and find the mossy building. Atop a small rocky hill stands what remains of Terrak’nor Keep: a fifteen-foot high stone wall stretching some ninety feet on a side in a roughly square shape. A crumbling tower stands at one corner. A flickering pale green light emanates from its second story window and from within she can hear bloodcurdling screams. Suspecting it to be haunted and unwilling to go further with her limited vision she quietly withdraws.

Naomi returns to the others and reports what she has seen as they settle in for a long night in the midst of the goblin-occupied Witchwood.

END SESSION 25
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 26
Setting: The Witchwoods

That night, having pieced together some fragments of stories he had learned while on the road, Niss is able to tell the history of the keep, with a little help from Jorr. He explains that some two hundred years ago, not long after the fall of the kingdom of Rhestilor, a young ambitious lord named Amery Terrak’nor inherited the keep and had taken it upon himself to cleanse the Witchwood of any evil influences. His primary target was a tribe of forest giants: The Twistusks.

As Niss mentions the forest giants, Jorr gives a strange look towards Adrian who defensively tries to clarify that she is not a giant, but instead a goliath, but it is unclear if Jorr believes her. Waiting for the interruption to die down, Niss continues the story. While Amery had managed to drive the Twistusks from the woods and into the mountains, they soon returned in force. In a single night, Terrak’nor keep was breached and Amery’s force was slaughtered to a man. Amery himself was said to have retreated beneath his stronghold and died slowly from a poisoned wound. Some say his anguished cries can still be heard coming from his tower. Jorr nods and confirms that Niss’s story is how he had heard it too, but that he’s never believed the rumors of the keep being haunted. The group takes turns with guard duty, but the night passes uneventfully.

The next morning, the quintet forms a plan of attack. Naomi and Jorr will work their way up the side of the hill, through the brush, and wait by the hole in the south wall while Adrian, Niss and the young sorceress take a more direct route to the front door. The trio will then see just how much of a commotion they can cause to create a window of opportunity for the stealthier team to strike unexpectedly. Before the groups split off, Niss casts Message, connecting everyone to him, allowing members of the groups to share their findings with him and he to them while also allowing them to hear his inspirational chants and stories even when fairly distant.

Setting: Terrak’nor Keep

On the way up the slope, Niss notes that the trail is covered in the tracks of a number of humanoids and several large wolves. The keep itself looks much more rundown in daylight. The front gate and the neighboring watchtowers are nearly rubble, likely broken from the forest giant’s assault many years before. A rickety shack stands by a garden out front, but neither has been used much in quite some time.

Passing through the ruins of the gate, they find the courtyard is empty. A trio of giant skeletons and nearly a dozen boulders lie strewn about the enclosure, the remains of the battle long ago. Several closed doors dot the perimeter of the enclosure leading to smaller rooms, though some of the doors seem superfluous given the large holes the boulders have left in the walls.

Niss spots one such hole, a fairly small one some eighteen inches across, in the north wall and runs over. Peering inside he sees a stable and a pair of worgs who see him. The worgs start growling, but with a wave of Niss’s hand, one suddenly falls asleep. Niss quickly pokes his head in a little further and spots a goblin; while he’s clearly uneasy, he hasn’t yet looked over to see what is bothering the worgs. Niss quietly relays what he’s found to the others, allowing them time to prepare. However, while Niss is pre-occupied, the worg he left awake lunges for his head. Niss ducks back in the nick of time, but shrieks in surprise. Adrian crashes through the stable doors catching not one, but two, goblins by surprise. Her blade cuts the near one deeply, but not fatally. The two of them try to retaliate but miss and start hollering for aid in goblin.

Naomi, from her hiding place by the south entrance, hears a deep booming voice urging others to action, though in an unfamiliar tongue. She relays this to Niss while Jorr mumbles something snarky about the plan’s success. Niss and Marisol move to the middle of the courtyard, backed by a few boulders, and fire past Adrian to the rear goblin, but do little damage between them. Adrian, surprised to find such a small foe that could withstand a blow from her sword, tries again but with the aid of her Greatreach bracers and cuts the near one in half, but is unable to touch the one across the table from her. Unwilling to face the same fate as his comrade, the lone goblin darts to the side, ducking beneath another of Adrian’s attacks, leaps over the small stable walls and sprints to his Worg.

At the other end of the courtyard, four hobgoblin’s appear, two coming out of a door to the north, and two emerging from a large hole in the east wall, near Naomi and Jorr’s location. Niss casts Inspirational Boost and starts an stirring oration giving them courage and strength to fight their foes, while he retreats to the northeast corner near the entrance to the stable and far from the hobgoblins. The young girl opens her tan bag of tricks, tosses a puffball at the feet of the pair of guards to the north. A lion pops into existence before them, and eviscerates one in a matter of seconds. The other slashes at the lion with its sword, but only scratches it by comparison.

Adrian, aware of the struggle in the courtyard behind her, is still fixated on the lone goblin who has stubbornly resisted her efforts to chop it to pieces. In a murderous rage she runs over to the worg it has mounted and lets loose with a mighty blow. The two halves of the goblin fall to the ground, but Adrian was unable to cleave through to the worg. Enraged at the loss of its rider, it lunges at her and bites her shoulder, but is unable to drag her to the ground as it had intended.

A building at the southeast end of the courtyard rumbles, and monstrous creature climbs out onto its roof from within. With a body of a lion, but dark red, a pair of wings and a covering a spikes, the manticore pauses and watches from its perch, with a vaguely bemused look on its face, but it does not attack.

Naomi, sensing that the moment is right and that the distraction could not be more successful than it is now, checks that the new foes’ backs are turned, hides Jorr and herself from sight with her cloak and runs off into the room the hobgoblins came from. Inside, she finds the source of the deep voice in the form of a Minotaur, towering over her even while stands hunched-over shouting into the door to the tower. “Sir! We are under attack. We should secure the map!” At the north end of the long room, past half a dozen bedspreads and a pair of smoldering fire pits dug into the floor, she sees a pair of doors: through the open one she can see a hobgoblin guard fending off a furious lion, but the one to the left is closed. Unwilling to face a Minotaur alone, even with the element of surprise on her side, she doubles back out of the room, and carefully eases open the door to the building beneath the manticore. The room is dark, illuminated only by the hole in the ceiling above. The floor is littered with the broken remnants of the original furniture and scattered remains of several large animals. While she’s aware of the manticore above her head, Naomi keeps her eye on the room she came from, watching the Minotaur and trying to catch a glimpse of who he is talking to. Jorr, keeping an eye on the surroundings for signs of her movement, follows her inside.

Suspecting that song and bolt will not end this fight quickly enough, Niss stops his oration and charms the rearmost hobgoblin into thinking that his comrades have been plotting against him and must be slain. The lion grabs hold of the nearest guard and leaves bloody gashes as its claws rake across his exposed limbs. He manages to crawl out from under the lion, but is in poor shape to fight and his hopes fall as he watches his allies turn on one another. One guard slashes at the lion, but the other stabs his ally in the back, following the suggestion as if he were one of Niss’s puppets. Adrian, emerging from the stables, exasperated at having had such difficulty with lesser foes, locks her eyes on the manticore still watching the fight from the rooftop and finds it to be a worthy foe.

Naomi’s patience pays off. The hulking brute of a Minotaur steps away from the doorway and out of sight as a bugbear dressed in high-quality studded leather and a blood red cloak hurries out of the tower room and heads northward out of view. In that brief moment Naomi saw the emblem of the Red Hand emblazoned on his armor’s chest. She shifts and sprints after him. While the Minotaur waits in the barracks, his master hurries about in a neighboring room, previously closed. Naomi makes her way just inside and watches as the bugbear strains to free a map pinned to the table with daggers. She weighs her options and almost decides to let loose with her fountainhead arrow, but reconsiders as the ensuing spray of acid could destroy the map, invaluable and fragile evidence of the enemy’s plans. Instead, she draws her rapier, steadies her hand and thrusts deeply into his side catching him by surprise. The bugbear cries out in agony, but looking upon his assailant a look of recognition pierces through his pained expression. “You? I hadn’t thought we’d left any of your clan alive.”

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, the battle rages on. Adrian fueled by a powerful rage, activates her greatreach bracers, runs south past the young sorceress and her horse, and, reaching high with her greatsword, cuts a deep groove in the side of the startled manticore’s meaty head. It spins around, now quite engaged in the fight, and launches a volley of spikes from its tail at her, all piercing her armor, and one, her cheek, returning the wound. One of the guards near “Ominakna”s lion tries to regain a little stamina by swigging a potion, but in doing so he lowers his guard and suffers a clawed swipe by the lion for his carelessness.

Naomi’s eyes are locked on the bugbear, searching her memories of the night of the massacre for his face. Her focus costs her dearly, however as she forgets about the Minotaur behind her until his greataxe slashes down her back. As she cries out, the bugbear mutters and sharply gestures at her eyes with a pair of long fingers and her world goes dark; Naomi is robbed of her sight. Though panicked, she realizes that the bugbear must have part of the crimson talon band that wiped out her kin. She calls out “What have you done with my son!” and hurls a flurry of blood oaths at him in a coarse mix of Common, Draconic, and Shifter gutter slang unfit for the ears of man or beast.

The bugbear does not reply immediately, apparently savoring the moment, before sinisterly replying, “No need to get so riled up half-breed. He is being taken care of. We will be making the most of his bloodline in the days ahead.” Enraged, but nearly helpless, she activates her cloak, draining the last of its daily charges, and disappears from sight while carefully sidestepping into a corner of the room. The booming voice of the Minotaur calls out to his master again, asking for his orders. The hobgoblin demands only that he cover their escape. Naomi listens from her private darkness to heavy footsteps retreating from the doorway and the rustling of the map being folded up.

Niss, seeing Adrian in great pain, hatches a plan. He casts Expeditious Retreat on himself and moves towards the front gate, ready to lure a foe away, but before he can target his intended pursuer, the young sorceress repeats her success from Bet Kalimar. With a wave of her hand and a muttered phrase, the manticore, monstrous though it may be, falls to its side and lets loose with a barking laughter. Adrian reaches up and hits it again, severely wounding it, but finds it unsatisfying; healing herself with the Amulet of tears, she calls out to the Minotaur to face her if it dares. While she has not yet seen it, Jorr had passed along word of its presence from his hiding place somewhere in the keep.

As if on cue, the beast appears. It stands as tall as the enraged goliath, but its massive horns and thick hooves have it appear even taller. However, rather than charge towards the intruders, it simply blocks their path to the south passage. To the surprise of all, Niss shouts out “I’ve got this one,” but his casting of Mindless Rage on the beast doesn’t appear to have any effect on its demeanor. “Never mind!” he calls out. Jorr gives away his hiding spot, firing at the Minotaur’s furry flank, but the great beast ignores the pinpricks and holds its ground. Niss’s charmed hobgoblin, his previous prey slain, turns and takes a shot at the manticore. The youth, apparently tired of the unsettling sound of a manticore’s laughter, launches a bolt and silences the beast forever.

The lion finishes off the last of the hostile hobgoblins and turns its attention toward the Minotaur. Climbing over the various boulders, it closes the distance and swipes at the horned beast, avoiding a potentially lethal blow from its greataxe. Adrian activates her armor, blurring its outline, and slashes at the Minotaur - towering titans trading blows. With a single powerful strike it cuts the lion in twain, and tries to impale Adrian with it’s horns, but the awkward strike misses. Its brief resistance is cut short: a bolt from the young sorceress’s crossbow leaves it bleeding on the ground.

Naomi, hearing the bugbear mage shove the map into his bag, regains her nerve. Listening carefully, she tries to pinpoint his location and throws her dagger at his heart. Yet it is her heart that falls when she hears the sound of metal hitting stone. Only a sharp gasp from the bugbear tells her how close she came. His laughter fills the room, as Naomi is once again revealed, helpless before her sworn enemy.

Footsteps approach and a familiar voice in an unfamiliar tone demands the bugbear’s surrender. “You cannot get out alive. We have killed your Minotaur the flying thingy with spikes. If you stop now and go with us, we will not kill you” Niss stands in the doorway between the bugbear and escape. The sorcerer hesitates for a moment to ponder if the catfolk might be finished off in a single strike. It isn’t until Adrian appears behind him that the bugbear appears to accept his fate and surrenders.

END SESSION 26
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 27
Setting: Terrak'nor Keep
As the well-dressed bugbear slouches in resignation Naomi, still blind and pressed into in the corner of the small room, explains how the he, whom the minotaur called Wyrmlord Koth, blinded her, has a map of the Red Hand’s plans in his bag, and was among those who took her child.

Adrian, somewhat surprised, asks, “You have a kid? How come I’ve never seen him?” Naomi, not in the mood to spell out the details again exclaims, “Because he took him!” Still slightly confused, but confidant as always, Adrian steps up to Koth and demands to know whom he works for, but he remains defiantly silent. Naomi indignantly interjects, “We know who he works for!” She, in turn, tries to get him to spill more, but he doesn’t appear to care for her questions and says nothing.

Niss, seeing the gruffer approaches fail, tries a softer tone with the stubborn sorcerer, “You should give up your life of evil and do good and tell us where her son is.” While he appears no happier to be held captive, something subtly changes in Koth’s expression and he requests that he be brought one of the healing potions from his fallen guards. Niss, hoping it might help their cause, complies despite Naomi’s protests, though he withholds the potion until Koth, in no position to argue, relinquishes his bag and the rest of his magical possessions.

“Ominakna” quietly joins the others as Niss passes their captive the potion. He cringes as he drinks it, but his condition does not appear much improved. Niss, appearing generous, offers him another potion. Koth quickly snatches it up and downs it, failing to notice that the passed potion was an Elixir of Truth. Koth cringes again and complains, “That one seemed to help even less.” Niss, uses his wand of cure light wounds to heal him a little more.

As Niss heals Koth, the others reach into the bag of holding and remove and unfold onto the table a massive map of the region: a crude but fairly accurate representation of the Elsir Vale covered in scribbled notes in unfamiliar letters. Eager to get more information, Niss asks about what the Red Hand’s intentions are, but, almost predictably, only receives a threat from Koth in return, “When the Red Hand comes, you shall all perish beneath our might!” Naomi shouts out that she’ll kill Kale before then, but the hobgoblin laughs and ridicules the notion that she could stand against him.

Sidetracked by Naomi’s outburst, Niss asks Koth about her son. The bugbear just repeats the same vague answer about bloodlines as before. Naomi threatens him, conveying her rage even though she cannot see him, but he barks out a laugh, “You think you’ll find your brat faster with me dead?” However, he seems reluctant to push his luck too far and gestures at the map near the swamps of Lake Rhest.

Apparently satisfied with the hint, but unwilling to drop the topic, Naomi grills Koth on what happened the night her clan was wiped out. He explains, while remaining somewhat vague, that it was one of Azarr Kul's final acts before uniting the tribes. Naomi interjects, “Is that what he’s calling himself now?” Koth continues, but while he was present at the slaughter, his promotion to Wyrmlord came later, so he was not privy to his leader's motives for the attack. Asked again for details of the Red Hand’s plans, he keeps silent, but Adrian sees his eyes involuntarily dart to the map and she asks him what the notes mean. Koth simply laughs at them for not knowing “the tongue of the chosen people”. Naomi threatens to tear his “chosen tongue” out, if he doesn’t speak up. Jorr steps forward, noting he might be of assistance as he has some experience with Goblin writings. He examines the map and observes that while the hand that penned them clearly belonged to one of the goblin races, the notes are coded and he cannot read them. “When next we make camp, I might have a better chance of puzzling it out,” he suggests.

Adrian, worried for her people, asks for details of the alliance between the Red Hand and the Doderan people, but Koth doesn’t appear to know what she’s talking about and admits, with some regret, that he might simply not be privy to that information.

Naomi's pride keeps her from asking Koth to return her sight to her, but the others don’t share her priorities and demand he undo his spell's damage. He shrugs indifferently; while he was fine with spreading vague rumors of plans and past battles, he appears unwilling to actively aid his foes. They threaten him with violence to little effect, but when Niss suggests using an elixir of love on him, Koth snarls, “You would regret that!” with such vehemence that the idea is immediately dropped.

Satisfied with the initial round of questions, and confident that the town guard will have plenty more, the party binds Koth and proceeds to loot the corpses from the battle, stuffing almost everything except the bodies themselves into the bag of holding Koth had carried. Once readied, the group begins the long walk back to Drellin’s Ferry. Adrian carries Koth over her shoulder, regaling him with tales of the fine land that is Dodera. Jorr leads the way through the witch trails, being sure to avoid the swampy hunting grounds of the Hydra.

Setting: The Witchwoods
Around noon, after hours of winding their way through the thin dirt trails, they come across a small crumbling wall. While it might once have been part of a house or watchtower, now it’s barely more than a head-height pile of worked stone. Adrian and Naomi both pause upon hearing a rustling hooting sound. Jorr, apparently having heard it too, whispers to the others, “Owlbear” and gestures go suggest that that they give the ruins a wide berth as they pass. Adrian resists the urge to take on another powerful beast and tries to sneak past, but steps on a dry branch, splintering it with a loud crack. Almost instantly a head pokes up from behind the ruins. While it resembles an owl, it’s nearly two feet wide and the body that appears as it climbs atop the ruins looks more like that of a half-feathered bear.

Jorr draws his crossbow and gently guides Naomi behind him. She, in turn, passes her Rod of Viscid Globs to him and explains its trigger. Niss begins inspiring the others to cut down the monstrous foe, but it gets in the first strike as it leaps from the pile of stone to slash at Adrian with a feathered claw. Adrian drops Koth to the ground, triggers her blurring armor and draws her greatsword. The young sorceress aims her crossbow, kept at the ready from atop her horse, and buries a bolt in the beast’s amber coat.

Jorr, taking Naomi’s advice, levels the rod at the owlbear and launches a green gob of sticky goo, gumming up its feathers and gluing its hind-paws to the ground. Niss moves a bit further back from the beast and draws his crossbow. The owlbear manages to pull free, but while it is distracted, Adrian summons up her anger and swings wildly and with great ardor, cutting deep into the beast’s feathered hide. “Ominakna” scores another shot from the back lines while Naomi mutters angrily at her inability to help. Jorr, clearly pleased with the results from before, refastens the beast to the ground while Niss lodges a crossbow bolt in its neck. The beast wavers for a moment, realizing its end is near, takes a final swing at Adrian, cutting deep grooves into her gray skin with its sharp claws, before falling over with a mournful hoot.

In the quiet that follows, the cry is returned, though very faintly, from the other side of the ruins. Niss, peering over the top of the mound of stones, sees the bones of a worg and its goblin rider picked clean by the tiny beaks of a pair of owlbear young nestled within a crude shelter of braches and leaves. Adrian grabs Koth and begins the long walk back to Drellin’s Ferry with most of the others in tow, but Niss takes pity on the helpless offspring and uses a charge from his wand to heal the mother before sprinting off to catch up with the others.

Setting: Drellin's Ferry
The party returns to Drellin's Ferry near nightfall. While the rest of the party goes to find Norro Wiston and Captain Soranna, Naomi and Jorr track down Brother Derny, the town's elder cleric. While he cannot help her with her blindness that evening, he suggests that if she return tomorrow, after his morning prayers to Pelor, he might be of some assistance then. She and Jorr rejoin the group and see to it that the bugbear prisoner is locked up in the Old Town House's jail and kept under a close watch by the town's best guards. The group briefs Norro on their assault on Terrak'nor Keep and what they learned from the prisoner. Norro and Sorrana examine the map and, while it's details are still encrypted, the scope of the invasion plans, emerging from the Wyrmsmoke mountains to cover cities well past Brindol, makes clear the need to evacuate. Norro sends messengers to contact the town elders to form a plan and thanks the quintet for their efforts, asking the party to check in with him in the morning. Jorr and Norro, already acquainted from some time ago, get to work on deciphering the map. The others, exhausted after a long day, return to their rooms and fall asleep.

Early the next morning, the party helps Naomi return to Brother Derny. While he is happy to help, he does ask for a reasonable donation; while a few hundred gold coins would be a steep fee for one of the villagers, he keenly perceives that an adventurous group like the one standing before him, should have more than enough funds to cover his comparatively modest costs.

With Naomi's sight returned to it's previous condition, functioning, but still a little murky-eyed, the group returns to the Old Town House to find Norro and Jorr still pouring over the map. While they haven't teased apart all of the code, they have a better sense of the Red Hand's plans. Norro points to the north edge of the forest, “We think they'll be passing over the Skull Gorge Bridge here. If you lot can find a way to slow them down, that might buy us enough time to get everyone out of town.” Adrian suggests they could destroy the bridge, but Norro cringes at the idea. “That bridge has stood for generations and that trade route keeps this town afloat, but...if there are no other options, do what you must. But do hurry! Stop by Sterrel's on the far side of the river and let him know I said for you to be given his fastest horses.”

The party excuses themselves, but just outside the Old Town House, Jorr calls the party aside. “While I'd not thought to check before when we had the map in hand and a prisoner in tow, it might be worth your time to take another look around the keep. The old stories suggest that the young lord had greater wealth than looters have taken from the grounds thus far. I'd hunt for it myself, but you lot more than earned it yesterday and you’ll need every advantage to halt the hoard.” He gives them a little advice for following the Witch Trails they'd used yesterday, before disappearing inside to further decipher the map.

Setting: Terrak'nor Keep
After getting ferried across the river, Niss, Naomi and Adrian rent horses so that the whole party is mounted. By noon, they’ve followed the witch trails back to Terrak’nor Keep to see if Jorr’s notions of treasure were true. The remains of yesterday’s battle are as they were left, though clearly gnawed upon by some scavengers. Naomi starts her search in the largely unexplored tower room. Using her keen sense of sight in her good eye, she spots the edge of a secret door beneath a pile of rags and rubble. Beneath it lays a thin vertical shaft descending into darkness.

The small room at the bottom of the shaft can barely hold the quartet once the rest of the others join her with illumination. The air is stale and the party’s decent has swept a great deal of dust into the air. Slouched in the corner of the room are the skeletal remains of a human dressed in tattered chainmail. Along the walls are three gated alcoves. While Adrian is ready to bash through the locks, Naomi suggests a subtler approach, seeking to test her lock picking skills. Iit takes some time to release the centuries-old locks, but the reward is worth it.

The first alcove contains a set of ten iron coffers which hold, as Naomi gradually opens their locks, piles of silver, gold, and platinum coins as well as a few useless notes of credit and, just as old but much more valuable, the deed to the keep itself. The second alcove appears to be a sort of private study with assorted papers relating to the keep’s history up to the final assault; the last entry is a gloating account of the young lord’s last victory in driving the giants from the forest. The third alcove contains some of his personal trophies. From them, Niss quickly snatches up a glistening chain shirt. While patterns in its design suggest it was made by and for a hobgoblin of some importance, it appears to be made of mithral, which is practically unheard of for the goblinoid races. The young sorceress spots something more her style with a tall staff made of white oak engraved to look as though it were made of braided bands of holly and oak crowned with a unicorn’s horn, which she recognizes as a Staff of Life, admittedly one that has already seen much use. The rest of the contents are less practical: a leather gauntlet nearly as large as a keg of ale which, while primitive, still exudes an undeniable power; a necklace of two dozen forest giant teeth, and the bleached skull of a young black dragon.

While the others take inventory of the treasures of the three alcoves, Naomi investigates the human remains. An arrow as thick as a quarterstaff protrudes from his ribs. From the body’s age and the giant sized arrow, it seems likely this is the body of Amery Terrak’nor, the young lord who led the attacks on the forest giants nearly two centuries ago. While his armor is no longer of any use to the living, he still clutches a glistening rapier. The blade comes to an impossibly thin point, yet is surprisingly firm and the whole length shines with unexpected brightness in the dim light coming from the thin shaft to the surface. The grip is made of etched malachite with a simple but elegant mithral guard. Naomi wastes no time in breaking the extraordinary weapon from the stiff calcified grip of the skeleton. In disturbing the remains, she reveals that the young lord had been lying atop an elegant cloak, green with silver trim. While the style matches that of the rapier, Naomi doesn’t show much interest in it, but the young sorceress eagerly dons it.

The party climbs out of the dark hole and back atop their mounts before continuing north. Not having been shown where to find the northern witch paths they stick to the main road, keeping a cautious eye on the path ahead. While they carry a heavier load, none feel burdened by their find.
END SESSION 27

Session 28
Setting: Skull Gorge Bridge
Traveling along The Dawn Way road towards the Skull Gorge Bridge, the party happens upon a towering, but crudely made, effigy standing just off the road. A wide, well-tended, dirt path leads off into the forest beside it. Niss recognizes it as the work of some tribe of giants, but the group’s attention is still focused on the road ahead and none are inclined to investigate further.

As the afternoon creeps on, the road, fairly level thus far, starts to slope upward and the travelers gradually slow. The sound of rushing water can be faintly heard and, in the distance, the party catches glimpses of a large stone bridge. Rather than walk right up to it, the quartet dismount and creep forward through the undergrowth to get a better look.

Before them lies the Skull Gorge Bridge. The ancient construction of hewn stone forms a narrow span some ten feet wide and over a hundred feet long over the gorge. No other crossing is visible in either direction. A pair of tall stone towers flanks the bridge at each end and, on the far side, half a dozen tents are gathered around a thin pillar of smoke, likely coming off a fire pit. In each of the towers, a single bowman stands watching the road, and between each pair a stocky hound guards the way across with curls of smoke coming from their snouts. Atop one of the far towers, however, is a more fearsome foe: a shimmering, sleek green dragon. Though it appears to be resting in the afternoon sun, it doubtless is keeping a better watch over the bridge than the surrounding forces.

Adrian, a little intimidated by the idea of taking on what she assumes is the bulk of the Red Hand, suggests that they empty the town and ambush the forces when they strike there. Niss seems even more unnerved and quietly rants at the others, “It’s an army! With a dragon! We should make some rough terrain, go home and make biscuits!” However, after a short time they regain their nerve and start work on a plan of action. Niss suggests that Naomi might be able to scout out the encampment on the far side and, should they have any significant explosives, destroy the hobgoblins in the tents. Naomi seems reluctant to be sent out ahead of the others, preferring to lurk behind them, so Niss prepares a backup plan. With some assistance from his new chain shirt and his Vestments of Many Styles, he pulls together a passable hobgoblin disguise. Though it isn't clear what he plans to do with it, Naomi seems reassured enough to proceed with her task. Niss casts Message so she'll have a way to keep in contact with them while she quaffs her elixirs of Hiding and Sneaking, Shifts to reveal her Saurian heritage giving her a bit of a speed boost, and triggers her cloak to disappear from view.

Moving briskly, but being careful not to give away her position, she moves towards the bridge. The bowmen pay her no mind, and while the hellhounds seem to sense something and sniff about, they don't seem particularly bothered. However, as she passes beneath the dragon's tower at the far end, she hears it quietly mutter in Draconic, “Spies!” Taking a chance she darts towards the camp, spotting a few more hobgoblins sitting around the campfire, and darts into a smallish unoccupied tent.

Niss, seeing the dragon roused from its rest and suspecting Naomi could use a diversion, borrows a puff ball from “Ominakna”'s bag of tricks, runs up to the near end of the bridge, and throws the fuzzy orb at the feet of the hound, summoning a lion, which slashes at the smoking and startled hound.

Adrian, caught off guard by Niss’s bold spontaneity, hangs back to better prepare for what looks to be a tough fight and quickly downs a potion of Bull's Strength and draws all she can from her Amulet of Tears. The youth readies her crossbow, but keeps hidden in the brush feeling it unwise to follow Niss's lead.

After pausing for a moment to size up the strange situation unfolding below them, the nearest pair of bowmen raises an alarm, take aim and pierce the lion's hide with their longbows, choosing to fire at the overtly hostile beast over the unexpected hobgoblin interloper. The hound opens its jaws wide unleashing a jet of flame, singeing the lion. The other hound starts loping across the bridge, eager to engage the intruders while the hobgoblins at the camp gather their weapons.

The dragon responds more quickly and more definitively: taking flight from its perch on the far side, it rapidly flies over the chasm, swoops downwards on the nearside and belches forth a cloud of acid, reducing the menacing lion to a pile of bubbling bones, keeping the nearest hobgoblin alive; while fearsome and powerful, it does not appear to relish explaining friendly casualties, even those it doesn’t recognize.

Naomi takes advantage of the movement of the nearby troops to scout the largest of the tents, likely belonging to a more senior hobgoblin. Inside, she finds notes sent by Koth to this camp and reports to be sent to the larger hoard on the status of the bridge. Realizing that her invisibility won't last much longer, she readies her weapon.

Back on the south side of the chasm, Niss, acting unusually bravely, tries to goad the dragon into a Mindless Rage, but his spell, for better or worse, seems to have little effect and so he quickly reverses his plan and runs downstream a little ways while calling out, “Be our friend. It will be nice. You can do nice things to good people instead of working with those bad ones.” His offer doesn't seem to appeal to the dragon, but its attention is quickly directed elsewhere.

Unwilling to leave her friend alone on the field of battle any longer, Adrian activates her bracers, summons a great inner rage and charges the dragon. While it is still some thirty feet above the ground, her increased stature combined with the effect of bracers give her startling reach; with a fearsome shout she thrusts her sword into the vulnerable underbelly of her scaly foe creating a gory chasm between rows of emerald scales. The nearby hound leaps at her, but she cuts it in half from smoking snout to twitching tail in a powerful upwards sweep that ends, again, with her sword embedded deeply in the dragon’s belly eliciting an agonized roar that echoes up and down the ravine.

The young sorceress, wishing to keep the dragon in Adrian’s reach, tries to charm it with Tasha's Hideous Laugher, but the spell fizzles. The surviving hound, having reached the near end of the bridge in time to see it's litter-mate brutally bisected, skitters to a stop on the Dwarven stone, seemingly cowed. The hobgoblin bowmen have no such concern and take shots at the fearsome barbarian, but to little effect.

Realizing its perilous situation and lack of significant support, the dragon quickly retreats to its roost. While Adrian seemed perfectly at home cutting away while beneath it's fearsome form, something in its rapid retreat overhead rattled her to her core. She barely hears her massive sword clatter against the ground over her own thunderous heartbeat. Adrian “Marmot-herder” Kalios, Doderan diplomat and fearless barbarian, turns to flee the field of battle with terror in her eyes.

Naomi, watching five hobgoblins move to assist in the fight on the far side, leaves her hiding spot, takes aim at the nearby stonework and looses a Fountainhead Bolt. A geyser of acid erupts from where it hits the stonework, dousing the hobgoblins in a caustic spray. While most rush past, Niss manages to hit one with a Sleep spell, dropping the savage soldier in the middle of the ongoing acid spray. He tries to intercept and calm Adrian, but she is barely aware of his presence as she runs past him into the woods. As the sound of her scream trails off, the young sorceress casts Mage Armor on herself, expecting matters to get worse.

The nearby bowmen, no longer concerned with lions or towering gray giants, take aim at Niss, apparently no longer concerned that he appears to be a hobgoblin, but have little success, and only startle him as their arrows strike the dirt by his feet. The other hound closes and breathes a jet of fire at Niss, but its heart simply wasn't in the attempt, and barely singes his fur.

Realizing he stands essentially alone in the middle of the conflict, Niss triggers his long forgotten Armband of Elusive action, casts Expedious Retreat, and darts downriver, away from the hound’s snapping jaws. “Ominakna” bravely takes his place and smacks the hound on the snout with Lesser Orb of Cold, which draws its attention but fails to finish the fight.

Naomi, aware that the dragon has returned to her side of the gorge, re-cloaks and retreats to a small tent. While it did not see her, it seems to suspect something amiss in the apparently emptied campsite and lands near the fire. Its very presence unsettles Naomi, but rather than cower in fear, she draws upon a deep inner courage and lunges at the scaly beast thrusting her glistening rapier into its neck. It recoils in shock and pain at the surprise attack, but turns to face her with furious anger. In a flurry of tooth, talon and wing it drops the defiant rogue to the ground. Though she still lives, a single scratch could easily rob her bleeding body of life.

Aware of Naomi’s plight, Niss screams Draconic obscenities and attempts to drop the nearby dog with his crossbow while keeping his distance. The youth takes a more productive approach: she draws another fuzzy ball from the tan bag, tosses it at the ground and summons a hulking brown bear beside her, which in turn cuts the dog to ribbons. While the bowmen each land a hit on the beast, it doesn't seem bothered and roars in defiance as the hobgoblin reinforcements approach.

Adrian, now much farther away, rants to no one but herself and the trees, “I stabbed a dragon! A dragon! Why would I do that!?” and continues onwards, crashing through the forest.
END SESSION 28

Sorry for the delay on the recap pair. I need better fort saves. The first session notes were fairly hard to untangle, and the second session was held up by some sort of virus for the past week. I had to take some minor liberties with exact timing and the ordering of the questions in Koth's interrogation, but I think the essence is preserved. I'll wait a few days for comments and suggestions before cross-posting the final version.

Edit: I've reread both sections and revised them catching minor errors and an assortment of stylistic self-disagreements in the process. Hopefully #29 won't take as long.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 29
Setting: Skull Gorge Bridge

Unsure whether Naomi is alive or dead, Niss activates his Medal of Gallantry and runs toward the bridge. He manages to leap over the heads of the awestruck hobgoblin guards at the near end of the bridge; while most are awestruck by his sanctified aura, their sergeant is not and gouges his leg as he passes just over his head, but Niss ignores the pain and keeps on sprinting across the bridge to his fallen comrade without any harassment from archers on either end.

The young sorceress, cut off from her allies, relies on her animal assistance. While her bear charges the hobgoblin’s leader, tearing at him with newly crimson claws, she summons arcane assistance in the form of a fiendish centipede directly behind the line of guards. It uncurls and lunges for the guards, but misses. However, the hobgoblin guards have seen their share of horrors, and are unfazed as they slash at their flanking foes.

As he passes between the towers on the far end, Niss catches a glimpse of a green blur flying back over the chasm, but either it didn’t see him or it didn’t care, as the dragon does not turn to engage him and continues on to the south end of the bridge. Niss rushes to Naomi’s side and drags her into one of the smaller tents before healing her with his belt. Air rushes back into her lungs and abruptly sits up with a delayed cry of pain at her recent injuries. Niss helps her to her feet as they try to figure a way out of their situation.

Back on the south side of the bridge, the dragon plunges into the fray, biting deeply into the bear’s flank. “Ominakna”, glad it ignored her in favor of the more obvious threats, retreats back into the undergrowth. The tower guards launch a volley of arrows at her, but no one appears concerned enough to follow her. Once well away from the bridge, she finds her horse and takes off in the direction she last spotted Adrian, hoping to catch up to the terrified barbarian.

After some discussion of the merits of scouting out the lands north of the bridge in search of the army, or trying to make their way down-river to rendezvous with the others, Niss and Naomi settle on a straightforward but risky plan. While Niss prepares a distraction with an Unseen Servant spell, Naomi refocuses on her shifter heritage. Feeling ready, she uses the last charges on her invisibility cloak to hide them both, and the pair take off across the bridge at full sprint. At the far end they spot the bodies of a bear and a monstrous centipede lie near the guards, two of whom are returning to the North end of the bridge. Naomi easily leaps over their heads, but Niss, apparently a little winded from his prior run, barely manages to clear the gap between their shoulders; however the guards don’t seem to notice the sudden breeze and return across the chasm oblivious to the adventurer’s flight. Pausing briefly to pick up Adrian’s sword from where she dropped it, Niss glances back over the bridge in time to see the dragon pounce on the largest tent, fooled by the unseen servant’s antics.

Returning to find the youth’s horse gone, the pair remount, Naomi on her horse and Niss on Adrian’s, expecting that she’ll need a larger one should they find her. Following “Ominakna’s” trail, they eventually come across the others. Adrian seems to have regained her courage, though not necessarily her senses. Apparently either in denial about or oblivious to her own retreat, she insists that they return to the bridge and finish the beast off, “I want to go back there and kill that thing! Why are you all running away!?” Niss, unusually angry with Adrian, disabuses her of her delusions about how the battle went and calls her out on grounds of cowardice.

Naomi, wishing to avoid further conflict, calls attention to the messages and notes she stole from the hobgoblin sergeant’s tent. While they can’t read any of the details, they appear rather important and might aid in the defense of the Elsir Vale, even if Drellin’s Ferry is beyond saving. Accepting that Skull Gorge Bridge is too much for the four of them, they start back towards the doomed village. On route, the young sorceress tries to come up with ideas that might slow the army, but soon realizes that whatever damage the four of them might do to the trail would be easily undone by the much larger invading force.

Setting: The Witchwood

The setting sun is dimly visible through the dense forest when the quartet happens upon the crossroads with the crude effigy they’d passed earlier in the day. Without the morning’s urgency pushing them along, the group decides to take a brief detour down the broad side-road before making camp so as to avoid hobgoblin patrols. While the others prepare a small dinner, the youth spots a large fire not far off.

Carefully, she advances, peering through underbrush and from behind trees. Ahead, in a clearing, are the ruins of an old wooden fort. While it once might have dwarfed Terrak’nor Keep, with walls made from the tallest trees in the forest, is now merely a heap of mossy logs. Huddled within, over a large fire pit, is a hulking figure muttering to himself. Even bent over the pit, roasting a whole dire boar on a spit, he dwarfs Adrian’s normally impressive frame. Throwing caution to the wind, the young girl leaps from cover into the clearing, points at the massive smoldering swine and shouts, “Is that a real piggy!?”

The startled giant moves to stand and grabs for a nearby wooden club the size of a man, but he remains partially hunched over, apparently suffering from a bad back. Before he can react further, Niss, Naomi and Adrian, having followed the girl after noticing her absence, reveal themselves as well. The giant swings his club at the ground threateningly, but seems genuinely confused by the unusual forms of the intruders. Niss takes the lead in introducing himself and the others, miraculously managing to convince the riled man-mountain, who introduces himself as Warklegnaw, to lower his club, though doesn’t quite put him at ease. Naomi, keeping a close eye on the elder giant notices an odd tattoo shaped like a frowning tusked mouth on his forehead; recalling the party’s looting of the vault’s of Terrak’nor Keep, she rummages through her haversack and produces the oversized gauntlet they’d found. With an appropriate mix of fear and respect she carefully approaches and presents it as a gift.

While still a little shaken by the sudden appearance of the four travelers, a change comes over Warklegnaw. He smiles and thanks her for her thoughtful generosity and kindness. Clearly more relaxed, even pleased to have some company, he invites them to join him at the fireside to share in his dinner, apologizing that he cannot offer them the more succulent mean of an Owlbear.

After a hearty meal, Niss swaps stories with the giant: the giant shares with them tales of days long past, before the attacks on his people; Niss tells of the party’s recent travels and trials. At the mention of the recent battles with the hobgoblins, Warklegnaw grows angry and expresses his frustration at their militant intrusions into his forest. At the mention of the new larger groups due to pass through, he promises to help his new friends in drive the Red Hand from the forest.

In the morning, the adventurers ready themselves for the journey back to Drellin’s Ferry to deliver the news, both good and bad, but Niss wants to stay. While he would love to see the other giants that Warklegnaw will call to battle, he also is tempted to ask him for a ride, but thinks better of it so as to not risk injuring Adrian’s already wounded pride. He thanks Warklegnaw for his pledged assistance and his shared campfire and begins the long ride home.

Setting: Drellin’s Ferry

With a lighter step, the quartet passes through the forest without incident and spot the town as night falls. A small cluster of lights race toward the scattered buildings on the near side of the river: the torches of a goblin raiding party. Wasting no time, the quartet move to intercept. Beside a small warehouse, they spot a trio of worg-mounted goblins and a hellhound in the dim light torchlight.

Niss’s inspirational words ring out in the night as the two groups clash. The young sorceress strikes first and drops the hellhound with an icy orb. Adrian slashes at one of the mounts with great gusto, but only bloodies it. Naomi has more success launching a sticky green glob at one of the worgs with her Rod of Viscid Globs; while it ensnares one mount, the other goblins move to surround Adrian slashing and snapping at her. Chosing to aid beyond simple words, Niss launches a crossbow bolt and lodges it deep within one of the worg’s thick wiry fur while “Ominakna” shocks its rider with an orb of electricity.

Not satisfied slowly wearing her targets down, and still hurt by her defeat at the bridge, Adrian flies into a mad rage and, with a wild swing drops the entire raiding party, stopping just short of slicing her own allies. A second set of torches, visible not far behind the carnage, pause in the night and quickly retreat back into the Witchwood, apparently intimidated by the ease with which their initial force was put down.

A cheer goes out from across the river: Captain Soranna and a small band of the town guard were crossing to help and witnessed the fast fight. She welcomes them as heroes, but celebrations are cut short as the party explains about their defeat at the bridge. When Naomi produces the notes she stole from the sergeant’s tent, Soranna insists that they meet with the gathering town elders immediately to brief them on the situation.

They enter as Norro Wiston tells a group of the powerful and the property owners of the threat they face. After a short recap of the battle at the bridge, Adrian tries to put the fear of the Red Hand in them and insists that they must evacuate or perish; though she is considered a diplomat among her people, her scare tactics don’t convince anyone new. Niss, on the other hand, decides to try a subtler approach and presents the stolen notes and calls on Norro to present the map while he describes the movement of the Red Hand in the region. Whether by his well-chosen words or the weight of the evidence, the merchants and militia-members are soon in agreement: evacuation is the only sane response.

Over the next few days the once quiet town is a flurry of action; townsfolk packing up their most treasured belongings, merchants hiding away what they can’t take with them, and the town elders sending messages ahead to towns and villages along the Dawn Way warning them of the invading army. The quartet of adventurers, in contrast, remains fairly calm; after returning two borrowed horses, apologizing for the lost third, and finding the local smiths uninterested in their bags of bloodstained hobgoblin armor, most of the party settles into a comfortable seat in the tavern, while making sure the town isn’t attacked again.

Naomi tries to convince the town leaders to let her execute Koth as part of her vengance, but cooler heads prevail and they send the captive off in one of the first wagons to Brindol in hopes that he might provide them with further information on the Red Hand.

On the second evening, a rider stumbles into the The Green Apple tavern. Dressed as a soldier, she identifies herself as Teyani Sura, a Lion of Brindol. While she appears thoroughly exhausted, she feels compelled to tell Norro and, after brief introductions, the party of the peril that befell her comrades; she had been part of a patrol through the northern parts of the vale, but they were nearly wiped out in attacking a roadblock of hobgoblins and ogres. While in the north, Teyani had heard rumors of strange monsters in the swamps around Rhest, but the patrol had been uneventful until the roadblock. After quickly consuming a hot meal and arranging for a fresh horse, she rides off toward Brindol to deliver her news there.

Setting: Along The Dawn Way

On the third morning, the party departs, leaving the last few wagons in the protection of Captain Seranna. As afternoon turns to evening, the party returns to Terrelton. The town has mostly emptied save for an infirmary staffed by a pair of exhausted clerics who are helping to load a few dozen injured and elderly refugees onto the wagons. While Adrian takes the initiative in helping them get on their way, the others mingle with the villagers. Niss spots a sad looking young woman watching him from the back of the line. Her arm is in a sling and she appears unhappy. He cheerfully tells her to “turn that frown upside down”. She looks at him with sad eyes and asks if she might travel with him; She introduces herself as Miha and gestures to her arm, explaining that she was assaulted by a corrupt member of the town’s guard two days earlier and doesn’t feel safe traveling with the other refugees. Naomi, having heard her tale, is sympathetic and is inclined to help. As Adrian finishes helping to load the others onto the wagons, Niss and Naomi bring Miha’s request to the others. Looking over the party’s worn and dirtied garments, Miha offers them the use of her skills as a seamstress if they might provide safe passage. Adrian, unopposed, seeks to impress their new traveling companion proclaiming “I attacked a dragon once!” Without missing a beat “Ominakna” chimes in “and ran away!”, earning a hissed “Quiet!” from Adrian. The youth doesn’t object to their guest, but seems intent on demoralizing her, whispering “You’re still gonna die,” when Miha asks them of the impending horde.

Not inclined to dally in Terrelton, the party continues on the road until nightfall and makes camp by the side of the road. The rest of the day is spent on the road as the quintet makes their way along the Dawn Way. Miha seems interested in what the others have seen of the Red Hand; the messengers from Drellin’s Ferry had spoken only to Terrelton’s leaders leaving the town with vague and menacing rumors in the midst of the evacuation. Niss freely tells of their journey and battles, embellishing as seems appropriate.

After another long day of travel, they come across the deserted hamlet of Nimon Gap. Thinking they might make use of one of the buildings for shelter for the evening they head toward the largest of the buildings, but are startled by a loud crash. Four scruffy looking men in leather armor are gathered to the side of what was once a well-used tavern. Between them are the shattered remains of a full wine rack they’d been attempting to load onto a nearby wagon.

As Adrian approaches them, one calls out “Just keep moving! We’re working the tavern, you find your own place.” Adrian is not dissuaded and demands, quite forcefully, that they stop looting; apparently intimidated they retreat into the tavern, but are soon back at their task, hunting for anything of value they might take. Adrian follows them, and reasserts herself, but they argue, “It’ll all be lost to them hobgoblins anyway. Better we make use of it before they put it to the torch.” Reluctant to shed blood over a few bottles of booze, Adrian withdraws. “Ominakna” insists they should have killed them anyway, “just for the fun of it.” The quintet finds a relatively intact store in which to rest and take shifts throughout the night, not quite trusting the looters to keep their distance.

In the morning, Naomi wakes early to do a little scavenging and finds a few small caches of coins before the party is ready to set off down the road again. Later in the day, when Adrian finds out, she heaps scorn upon Naomi, but Niss and the youth convince her to be pragmatic about the matter resulting in an uncomfortable silence until they near Talar where the party makes camp outside the deserted town, avoiding having to deal with lingering looters.

In the morning, the party prepares for another long day of travel, but Miha is confused. She had though they were going to Brindol to meet up with the other refugees and defend the city; so she was quite surprised to find they had planned to cross the Elsir river and continue on to the town of Witchcross. They explain about the blockades Teyani Sura had told them about, and how Naomi believes her son might be there. Miha asks, “Why would one small boy be left alive amid the horde?” Naomi reluctantly replies, “The leader of the Red Hand may be my father-in-law.” Unwilling to continue on with them into such dangerous territory and unable to dissuade them from their path, Miha parts ways with the others. Before she does, however, the party asks if she might deliver a message for them. Naomi sketches the Andave’Cenda’s emblem and asks her to find those who might know this sign and to convey to them what the party has seen and done. Miha, nervous about finding someone from only a simple symbol, asks if such a task might be made easier.

Niss, both sympathetic and inclined encode any message sent to the Andave’Cenda, quickly writes up what looks like a handbill for a traveling minstrel show that she might post in a tavern: “Hear ye’! Hear ye’! The great cat-bard Niss and company will continue their tour from Bet’Kalamar and will be appearing at Rhest in one week’s time. Featuring bolsterful Doderan folk dancing and marmot juggling.”

While it lacks specifics, clarity and proper spelling, he hopes it might be enough to alert any active cells of the Andave’Cenda in Brindol to the party’s intentions. Satisfied with her reduced responsibility, Miha parts ways with the party amicably as they take the roads toward the ruins of Rhest.

Setting: The North Roads

By evening, they pass through the town of Witchcross; it appears that the warning the party sounded at Drellin’s Ferry was taken very seriously all along the Elsir Vale as the town is as deserted as Talar was. While the Dawn Way was skillfully paved, the road from Talar toward Rhest is less maintained and beyond the bridge at Witchcross, it is little more than a broad dirt path. However, as the weather remains mild and the skies clear, the party continues as it has, mostly on foot save for the young sorceress who still rides the horse she purchased at Drellin’s Ferry.

Near noon on the second day out from Talar, Naomi spots a broad wooden structure stretching across the road ahead. Recognizing it to be a roadblock as warned of in Drellin’s Ferry, the party pauses to plan. Niss combines his Vestments of Many Styles and a casting of Disguise Self so as to appear as a Hobgoblin. His plan is to pretend to be a bard of the Red Hand sent to entertain the troops; Adrian, he suggests, can pose as his armed escort, which, to her regret, serves as a reminder of her people’s current allegiances. “Ominakna” will simply be their captive who can assist with Niss’s performance. While they prepare, Naomi cloaks and sneaks up to the structure, noting a pair of guards on the roof, idly watching the road.

As the others approach with Niss on horseback, the guards snap to attention, but Niss’s cover story proves persuasive and he talks his way in through the front gate. Naomi slips in before the door is closed and re-barred. Inside, Niss repeats his story for the benefit of the half a dozen hobgoblins, including two soldiers of some higher rank who grant him permission to perform, glad for any break in the monotony of remote guard duty.

While sergeants aren’t particularly entertained, Niss’s promises of tales of slaughter and conquest enthrall the rank and file hobgoblins allowing the other members of the party to take positions around the room without arousing suspicions and, on cue, they strike. Adrian triggers her blurring armor, unleashes her rage, draws her weapon and swings with all her might at the ranking hobgoblin before her, sending a strong breeze through the air as she misses. Naomi attacks the same startled sergeant, but her weapon also misses its mark leaving her visible and frustrated. The young sorceress, glad to give up the charade, summons a fiendish ape from the lower planes existence; its ruddy fur bristles and it’s eyes glow red as it flails at the other sergeant, with the same degree of success as the others.

Outraged by their treachery, the sergeants call out to their guards to “slaughter the deceivers!” Preferring to let his men soften up the towering barbarian, one sergeant swings at Naomi, who proves every bit as elusive a target as he had. Two nearby guards attack Adrian; while one manages to lodge his blade deep in her side, another is gutted by Adrian’s furious flailing as he moves closer to strike.

Niss quickly changes his tune, happy to be inspiring his allies again and the battle tips their way. Naomi draws on the power of her Helm of Tactics and slides her rapier between his ribs, leaving Adrian to finish him off with a mighty swing that cuts clear through the sergeant and another pair of the lowly soldiers, coating Naomi in gore. While her fiendish ape tears into another of the hobgoblins, the youth hears low grunting and rumbling heavy breathing from the unbarred doors on either side of the main room. Most of the remaining guards converge on Adrian while two others, stranded on the roof, sniping down at the ape at the base of the ladder.

Suddenly, the side doors burst open; each frame is filled with the hulking and muscular form of an ogre. Each lobs a javelin at Adrian, but neither shot connects. Niss enchants one of the two left on the roof with a sleeping charm, causing him to fall into the room and land at the feet of the ape. Naomi, not eager to get caught between the ogres, drains the last charge from her cloak and heals herself before moving against the wall near one of the ogres.

Adrian, continuing in her wild rage, swings powerfully and cuts a line through the remaining hobgoblins and manages to disembowel the ogre beside Naomi. The youth, figuring her friends have it under control, moves to the sleeping guard who fell from the roof, positions her crossbow against his head, and lodges a bolt deep in his skull while her ape chases down the last soldier who had leapt off the roof. Niss and Naomi sit back and watch as Adrian finishes off the last awestruck ogre.

END SESSION 29

Also, for reference, you leveled up from 5 to 6 amid the evacuation.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 30

Setting: The Black Fens

The quartet search the roadblock for valuables in the aftermath of the massacre, but there’s little to be found beside the mangled armor and the oversized javelins; while the checkpoint was fairly well staffed for one so remote, it wasn’t well supplied. While Naomi cleans the remains of the hobgoblins off, Niss sketches a map of the area in the dirt based on information he’d picked up in taverns in the Elsir Vale: the road they are on, the Rhest Trail, circles the flooded ruins and should remain fairly passable for it’s full length, but if they want to go deeper, there should be a few old roads, now likely overgrown trails, that point toward the former city’s center. Niss advocates taking the cleaner trail around the rim of the city to scout out the area, but Naomi, less patient about careful exploration, argues in favor of a more direct route and persuades the others to take the harder road.

They leave the checkpoint with both doors ajar, but otherwise unaltered, and continue on, until finding one of the radial routes. However, what forked-off of the Rhest Trail as a packed dirt road quickly becomes just a moderately higher and drier line in an endless swampland. As they forge deeper over the course of the afternoon, the buzz of the surrounding life swells to drones out all thought. As the day’s light begins to dim, they come across the remains of a once-magnificent beast strewn across the path; what had been an owl the size of a warhorse is now a pile of feathers, brittle and broken bones, and a mound of flesh, partially eaten and still sizzling from some strong acid.

The youth, still on her mount, hangs back while the trio approach to investigate further and search for the tracks of what might have caused such carnage. However they need not look very hard: a nearby pool of murky water roils and bubbles as a sinewy green shape bursts from the surface. While at first glance it looks like a man-sized green dragon, it lacks front claws found on most dragons and it appears feral and lacking in draconic cunning. However, first glance is all the party needs: the youth and Naomi both pierce its glistening green hide with crossbow bolts before it leaps across the trail past the lead trio, spraying them with a green geyser of acid. While Naomi manages to evade the worst of it, Adrian and Niss are completely covered; Adrian cringes in pain, but it’s too much for Niss who collapses to the ground, acid eating through his hair and skin.

Enraged by the attack on her “little buddy”, Adrian wades through the muck and the remains of the owl and swings her greatsword, but on unsteady ground she makes a miss-step and the sword doesn’t connect with her foe. “Ominakna” lobs an icy blue orb at the beast, but also misses its nimble writhing form, freezing a moss-covered tree beside it. Naomi, concerned more with her friend’s safety, heals Niss and helps him to his feet. However, the slender and swaying foe is just as dangerous at close range and slashes at Adrian with razor-sharp spines at the tips of its wings and tears at her shoulder with a mouth full of acid-pitted teeth. It ducks back a few feet, but not out of Adrian’s considerable reach, but while she swings with more care than before, it nimbly dodges to the side of the blade.

Niss re-hatches a plan and, with more than a little reckless disgregard for his own life, casts Mindless Rage on the feral dragonkin and, for the first time, it works: something in its lizardbrain snaps, its nostrils flair, its pupils constrict and the world fades away except for the vile catfolk before it. “It works! Yay!” shouts Niss, though his pride fades to terror as the consequences of success sink in and he turns and runs towards the young sorceress.

Not unprepared for Niss’s self-endangering plan, the youth and Naomi wait for the beast to attack. When it does so, charging at Niss with great speed, Naomi lobs a sticky green orb from her Rod of Viscid Globs immediately arresting its charge while “Ominakna” smacks it on the snout with an orb of cold causing considerable pain. While Adrian had missed her chance to gut it as it shot by, she runs up to it now and shreds the scaly hide on its back. Naomi, catching it off-guard from the other side, thrusts her rapier deep, causing it to spasm in agony. It frantically slashes at the sticky bonds keeping it from its infuriating furry foe, but while Niss and the youth can’t quite land a hit with their crossbows, Adrian and Naomi’s combined flanking strikes quickly drop the beast to the ground before it gets one step closer to Niss. Naomi, realizing that it still breathes, plunges her rapier through the roof of its skull, and then wipes the gore from the smoking blade on the ground.

With the danger past, the more curious traits of the traveling band surface. The young sorceress experiments with acidic spittle dripping from the fallen lizard’s jaws and using it to test how acid resistant the beast’s hide is. Only after using her Everful Mug to gather a sizable quanity and pouring it on an undamaged patch of green scales is she satisfied at its own acid resistance, at which point she skins her fallen foe as best she can, saving its hide to make robes of later. Meanwhile Naomi uses her spare dagger to pry out some of its fangs. While she is successful, and wraps her trophy in a small scrap of its hide, the dagger she used is corroded beyond use and she tosses it into the swamp.

As the youth works diligently at skinning the beast, Naomi spots a small obsidian ring in a severed section of its digestive track; the ring is apparently unmarred by its time in the beast’s acid and appears Elven in its style and quality. Her curiosity piqued, Naomi inspects the owl carcass and around its intact leg, finds a jade band inscribed with the Elven letters for the name “Liokio”. As she plucks a feather from the bird as evidence of where the jewelry was found, a dark shadow crosses the site of the slaughter, followed by another, and another. Looking up, she spots five similarly giant owls, each with an elven rider. They circle the site twice, and land surrounding the party, staring with narrowed eyes. In a panic, Niss yells out, “I gutted nothing!”

END SESSION 30
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 31
Setting: The Black Fens

Each of the five mounted elves surrounding the party is dressed alike: leather armor dyed green and brown in patches to blend into the swampy environs. While all hold Elven longbows, none are directly threatening the adventurers, though their intenes stares are a little unsettling. Eventually, one speaks, apparently their leader, demanding, “Who are you? What are you doing in this marsh?” Niss senses that their questioner is uneasy and suspicious of the surrounding slaughter, but isn’t particularly angry or hostile, and so answers honestly about their hunt for the Red hand. Adrian chimes in delivering her well-practiced patter regarding Dodera and her diplomatic intentions, but when questioned specifically by the elf about what she is doing here, she answers simply, “Being diplomatic?”. Unsure whether she is dimwitted or being intentionally obtuse, he returns his gaze to Niss, and asks him about what happened to cause such bloodshed and their role in it. Feeling he has nothing to hide, Niss explains about finding the disemboweled owl, being ambushed by the dragon-kin and how they took it down. Naomi, suspecting there was more than idle curiosity in the question offers the obsidian ring, the jade band, and the owl’s feather to the elf. His expression rapidly shifts through relief and deep sadness before flashing back to his stern soldierly demeanor. After a moment’s thought, he requests that they return with him to his village. Each of the elves on the other owls shifts to make room for a passenger, while their leader’s owl gingerly grasps the young sorceress’s horse in its talons before taking off. As they fly through the rapidly fading light over the endless swamplands, Adrian tells tales of her times as a child herding marmots to the disinterested elf whose owl she shares.

Setting: Starsong Hill

After two hours of otherwise silent flight, a dimly glowing hill appears in the distance. Only slightly higher than the surrounding swamps Starsong Hill, as their guide names it, is covered with a dense grove of trees that cover the scores of small conical tents below each lit with a small lantern. One elf produces a sleek silver horn which produces a low wailing note like that of a loon’s cry as they pass near the edge of the hill. Near the hill’s highpoint stand three ancient trees each holding a larger wooden structure. The lead elf sets down on the elevated porch of the smallest tree house and, one at a time, each of the adventurers is deposited along side him before the other elves and owls, with the youth’s horse still in tow, take flight again and head for a cluster of trees near the edge of the encampment.

The lone elf asks them to wait where they are as he enters the tree-house. Below them, at the base of the tree, is a small pond. Looking closer, Naomi spots a massive crocodile carefully watching them from beneath the waters. The elf returns and beckons them to follow him inside.

Before them are another pair of elves. The older of the two, clearly ancient and wise, stands in flowing golden and green robes with a wicker headdress woven into her hair. Beside her sits a younger one in plainer garb; she appears to have been crying recently. The elder elf introduces herself. “I am Sellyria Starsinger, speaker for the Tiri Kitor. This is High Singer Trellara Nightshadow,” she says of the seated elf and, pointing to the silent one standing by the door, she continues, “You’ve already met Killiar Arrowswift, our Battlehunter.” She gestures to a set of nearby chairs arranged for the adventurers. “I understand some thanks are in order.” She explains that the ring and owl she found were those of Trellara’s brother, Lanikar, who had been missing. While all are saddened by his loss, the certainty brings some small comfort. “I would like to know more, however, about those who slew the fell beast. We do not often see strangers in our homeland. What brings you to the Blackfens?”

Niss again takes the lead in explaining what brought them to such distant locales, though allows the others to interject their own details as relevant. Adrian delivers her standard plea for Doderan diplomacy, leaving out her people’s current status as an ally of the Red Hand. Naomi explains her quest for her young boy, which earns a look of empathy from the mourning Trellara. The youth says little, save to try and crack a joke about hunting the Red Hand in the Black Fens, but Sellyria looks upon her in distain. “Among my people, children listen carefully for fifty years before trying their hand at ‘wit’.”

Returning to matters of personal importance, Naomi asks if the scouts had seen any sign of the Red Hand. Sellyria tells them that she knows what they seek, though not by that name. “To the west, near the center of the flooded city, a dark power has taken up residence in the old town hall. For several months, with the assistance of the lizardfolk, they have worked to establish a base amid the murky waters.” Sellyria pauses, sensing a question from Naomi, who asks if any of the elven scouts had seen a young boy at the base. “We have not been able to scout as closely as we would like. While we have been able to handle the lizardfolk in the past, we have kept our distance, lest we arouse the wrath of their new allies and bring ruin upon our people. However, from the shore we have seen a little. While they are not many, they are strong. Rare it is for us to fear a goblin, but never before have we seen one who could command ogres. For one to command a dragon, even a young one, is chilling.”

“While you are welcome to stay with us, our assistance has its limits. While we can guide you to the lake’s shore, our warriors must keep close to defend our village. I would ask that if you earn the wrath of this Red Hand, that you not lead them here; many more of our kin would die in a direct attack by such a force.”

She asks Killiar to escort their guests to the tents they have prepared. On the way, he requests their help in another matter. “The Red Hand is not the only threat we now face. To the north of Starsong Hill we have seen the corrupting influence of the cult of the Netameam. While the swamp smells of a natural decay, this group spreads poison and breaks the natural cycles. You have shown you can handle yourselves against the dangers of the swamp; might you assist us in the morning’s sweep to the north to help fight their influence?”

The party agrees, grateful for the elves’ hospitality and hoping for further assistance. Before setting down for the night, Naomi asks Killiar if she might be given a simple dagger to replace the one she lost to the razorfiend, “nothing fancy, just a spare.” He gladly provides one, and bids them goodnight.

Setting: The Black Fens

In the morning, half a dozen small groups of elves fan out into the forest, some on owl, others on foot. Rather than try to integrate the party into an elven patrol that has trained together, they are given their own direction to search in. They leave the youth’s horse behind, as it would be of little use in the treacherous moors. Before long, the shallow peak of Starsong Hill disappears from view behind a thick vale of trees. Before long, the quartet finds the ruins of a small stone shack and the rotting beams of an old gazebo. Fungal growths protrude from both structures and from the ground between. The air, no longer filled with the buzzing and chirping of life in the swamp, is perfectly quiet and still. Naomi approaches the gazebo, backed by Niss and Adrian, but she quickly realizes it is not as it seems; shingles slide against shingles revealing themselves to be the scales of a massive snake coiled atop the roof. Likewise, a large fungal growth to the side of the structure, while remaining still, appears to be watching their approach.

Reacting quickly from behind the others, the young sorceress lobs a sizzling green orb at the snake, causing it to writhe and rear back. Niss, darts back, away from the uncoiling form, and begins to self-harmonize hoping to provide inspiration to his allies so that they might defeat the vast serpent. Naomi too, retreats, but to fire off a shot from her readied crossbow, but it falls short and embedding the bolt in the wooden structure. There is now a gazebo with a crossbow bolt sticking out of it; it does not respond in any way. With a graceful slither, the snake makes its way off the roof, grabbing onto Adrian with its broad jaws and entangling her with its thick coils. The fungal growth raises up into a vaguely humanoid shape, though nearly twice the size of a man and with a broad cone extending from where the head would be. It lets loose a reverberating howl and fires a hazy plume of spores at Niss from the top of its cone, but misses narrowly.

Adrian struggles against the tightening coils, but lacks the leverage to break free. The youth launches a crossbow bolt at the new fungal threat and tears a chunk from its side with the sound of shattered wood. Naomi moves beside the snake and lodges a bolt though its scales, but it doesn’t give an inch in the assault on her Goliath friend.

Suddenly, badgers! A dozen of the small but powerful animals erupt from the ground between the stone shack and the gazebo; without a moment’s hesitation each claws through the muddy ground at the intruders with furious intensity. As the nearest of the pack nips at “Ominakna”’s toes it’s eyes are briefly visible: pure milky-white globes. However, the youth quickly closes them forever when she lodges a crossbow bolt in its skull, before darting back to Niss’s side. He injures one at range, but the small horde, joined by the slowly shambling fungal creature, advances on them undeterred.

Furious at her inability to help her friends, Adrian draws upon greater inner-strength and breaks free from the snake, tossing it aside. Naomi, seizes on the moment by catching it off-guard and stabs he thin blade deep into its side. As the horde passes near, Adrian lets loose with a furious and mighty swing and slaughters the lead badger, smashes he fungus into a cloud of spores, slices the snake neatly in two, and nearly catches Naomi in the wild backswing. Advancing into the midst of the mass of mindless mammals, she swings again and leaves the ground muddy with badger bits, slaughtering all, save one; larger and more muscular than the others. Behind it, previously huddled amid the other fungal growths in the ruins of the stone hut, another fungal figure is visible, slowly creeping away from the field of battle.

While Naomi and the youth advance on the final badger, firing off crossbow bolts, to mixed results, Niss lobs a small puffball toward it from his bag of tricks and summons, much to his disappointment, a simple rat. However, before the rat can make its summoner proud, the badger charges at Adrian and leaps for her neck, but she cuts it down before it can close the distance.

As all, rat included, give chase on the fleeing fungus, peppering its gnarled hide with crossbow bolts, it turns and ejects a cloud of gray-green spores at it’s closest foe, Niss, hitting him squarely in the face. He coughs violently for a few seconds before apparently regaining his composure, but instead of inspiring his comrades, he begins to babble completely incoherently. While the others are concerned for Niss, they remain focused on their foe and continue their assault.

Naomi and the youth continue to land bolt after bolt into the shambling fungus, each hit producing a resounding thunk. Niss’s rat, oblivious to the danger, runs up to bite into the walking plant, but is smashed beneath a heavy knotted fist. Eager to end the fight, Adrian pulls back and swings in a steep arc, slicing from its leg-like supports to the top of its spore-launching cap, and it explodes into a cloud of harmless spores.

As Niss quietly babbles to himself, the others scout out the surroundings. While there is no wealth to be found in any of the structures, Naomi skins the first of the slain badgers, the only one left remotely intact. Niss, once he’s regained his composure, takes a small sample, “an ounce,” from the mushroom growth on the wall of the crumbling ruins and Naomi follows suit. While Adrian doesn’t seem similarly inclined, she makes a point of explaining to them that she is “resisting their peer pressure”.

As they walk back to the Elven village, Adrian inexplicably makes claims about how her marmot herding had truly paid off that day.

END SESSION 31

And with that, we're up to date. Three sessions, about 13 pages in word, stretching from November 13th to February 5th. Well...I think it's three, but I'm not sure you got all the way from wrapping up Skull Gorge Bridge, the Giant, the evacuation, traveling from one end of the Elsir Vale to the other, and the road blockade in a single long session, or if it was split in two. It was in November, so if anyone remembers, let me know.

Either way, that just finished off page 96 in word.



Regarding the recent question of special armor, it should be available. I realized that some encounters were loot-light, others we'd just missed it on, and others went undescribed altogether, so you've got some magical swag coming to you. The elves will likely be quite thankful, and Mithral Chain Shirts with various enchantments aren't out of the question. It might not be free, but it'll probably be at a fairly steep discount.

Also, if anyone actually makes it this far in the reading by Sunday, could you remind me to mention Lanikar's funeral? It's not crucial, but might get lost in the shuffle.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

And for reference, the timeline from the beginning of this stage of the campaign (I’m working on a comprehensive one but it’s on a back burner). I’m trying to keep a regular timeline because other events are happening in the world around you; if Day 6 through Day 13 seem padded it’s because I wanted to speed through some mundane travel that session before we quit for a while and so accelerated what could have taken another full session of semi-random encounters sprinkled throughout the journey from nearly one end of the Elsir Vale to the other. Measuring by eye, most major villages are about a day’s walk apart. If you want we can toss some accelerated travel in the future by way of mounts again, but you aren’t The Flash so you’re not going to travel 150 miles overnight.

Day 1 – Journey from Terrelton to Drellin’s Ferry, Marauders Ambush on Route
Day 2 – Recruit Jorr, Scout out the Keep
Day 3 – The Battle of Terrak’Nor Keep, Return to Drellin’s Ferry
Day 4 – Back into the Forest, The Battle of Skull Gorge Bridge, Meet Warklegnaw
Day 5 – Return to Drellin’s Ferry, Convince Council
Day 6 – Evacuation Begins - LEVEL UP
Day 7 – Evacuation Continues, News from the North Regarding Roadblocks
Day 8 – Depart Drellin’s Ferry, Help at Terrelton, Pick up Miha, Camp on the Road
Day 9 – Deal with Looters at Nimon Gap, Sleep in the Town
Day 10 – Reach Talar and Rest
Day 11 – Miha Departs for Brindol, Pass town of Witchcross (non-event)
Day 12 – Travel (non-event)
Day 13 – Roadblock, Fight and Slaughter a Razorfiend, Meet the Tiri-Kitor Elves
Day 14 – Eradicate Ne’ta’meem Cult – This day not yet complete.

I won't necessarily update this post every time there's a new entry; I tend to keep more notes than I show, but I thought I'd post it to help get everyone back up to speed as to where we are and how things have gone thus far.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 32
Location: Starsong Hill

After being granted entry to Starsong Hill by the border sentries, the quartet reports on what they found. Sellyria, very pleased at their success, sends a messenger to alert the others. A low wailing tone sounds, similar to the one that signaled their arrival, beckoning the scouting parties home. When Killiar arrives, Niss shows him his sample of the fungal growths as evidence and tells him of the fight, and where the growths were. Killiar is initially surprised, but it only shows briefly before his usual stern and reserved expression returns. He expresses his thanks and quickly leaves to inspect the site.

Though they are still outsiders among the Tiri Kitor elves, their assistance with the fungal cult and their avenging of Lanikar’s death has earned them a place of some respect among the Tiri Kitor and with Killiar in particular, as Sellyria observes, as he is not one easily impressed, especially by those not in the tribe. She invites them to attend Lanikar’s funeral that evening; while they did not know him, their efforts are why he can be laid to rest.

Furthermore, as a token of their thanks for their assistance, she offers the services of the tribe’s craftsperson and enchanters to better equip the adventurers before they attempt to venture into the old city. Naomi and the youth both request to be better defended in the fight to come: the sorceress asks if they might forge armor that would not impede her use of arcane magics; Naomi, while similarly attracted to lightweight elven armor, asks if they might give it some of the elusive qualities of the wild Displacer Beasts. So Naomi is so enamored with the prospect of elven-made equipment that she commissions two more items, a pair of lizard-hide boots made for scaling walls and a pair of mithral bracers that might aid her skill with a rapier. Adrian, less enthused about sleek and shiny elven armor, and more than a little tired of being the target of so many hobgoblin swords and arrows, asks to be made a set of boots that might make her more nimble and fleet of foot. Niss, less picky than the others but always concerned for the health of his friends, asks simply for a better means of healing than his favored wand. While a sufficient wand should be available, the other items will take time to craft.

Location: The Ruins of Rhest

After noon, Killiar returns, having purged the ruins of the remains of the cult with fire, and offers to take the group out to scout from a safe spot on the side of the lake. While the sky is clear, the air is thick with the smell of decay and abuzz with the sound of marsh life. Some ways into the lake, stone ruins crop up here and there from amid the murky waters. The city may once have been the crown jewel of an empire, but now only two buildings remain partially intact.

The nearer of the two, about a quarter mile from the shore, looks like it was once used as a bell tower. Two floors still protrude from the still waters, though slightly askew, slowly sagging as the water weakens the foundations. At the top, the glint of sun on steel reveals the presence of a pair of hobgoblin sentries keeping watch over the lake. At the waterline, someone has built a wooden walkway around the tower, acting as a dock for three small boats.

Further out into the lake, a shorter but broader building sits half-submerged. It may once have been the town hall, but there’s little sign of what purpose it has been put to now save for a few traces of new construction Like the bell tower, it is ringed by a boardwalk and two large figures patrol its perimeter and that of a neighboring wooden enclosure. While the adjacent stone structure is almost completely hidden beneath the waters, the walls have been extended upward with a thick wall of logs some ten feet tall. From time to time, a chattering roar is audible above the din of the nearby wildlife. Though hard to make out from this distance, Naomi’s best guess is that the towering guards are ogres, but the sound is more like that of the razorfiend they fought the day before.

Killiar, wanting to make sure the quartet not stray too far along the shore, points to either side of their hiding spot. Not far off, a group of lizardfolk gather near a primitive hut. Beyond it, a respectable distance away, is another, and another beyond that all the way around the lake. Killiar explains that the lizardfolk had made their home in the swamp for many years, but the recent arrival of the Red Hand has drawn them all to the side of the lake to be closer to their “god”. Almost as if on command, a small group paddle from one of the distant huts on a crude raft. They pass by the watchtower without incident and disembark by the town hall climbing a set of stairs to enter. Before long, a tremendous roar issues forth from the ruins and the lizardfolk leap from the building, hastily scramble back onto their raft and paddle back to their hut as the ogre guards laugh.

Killiar, once satisfied that the adventurers won’t get into too much trouble where they are and that they know their way home, returns home to Starsong Hill. They stay for a few more hours while working on a plan of attack. As the afternoon light begins to dim, a human-sized black dragon climbs up from a hole in the partially collapsed roof of the town hall; on his back sits a goblin in gleaming armor. The two take flight and head off beyond the confines of the lake. Within a few hours they return, but with a crocodile in the dragon’s talons.


Location: Starsong Hill

Satisfied with the first day’s scouting, the quartet returns to Starsong Hill to find the whole tribe gathering around a pyre of branches and boughs being burnt in place of Lanikar’s body. All in attendance maintain a long somber silence as the wood turns to ash and is gathered into a small urn. After the ceremony, the camp takes on a more celebratory mood; there isn’t an elf in the tribe without a story to tell or a song to sing in memory of the fallen. Wanting to contribute, Adrian tries to compliment the fallen, but she misapplies stocky and muscular Goliath standards of beauty to the slender and graceful Lanikar. Understanding that she meant well, the elves respond with polite applause, but her diplomatic faux pas is soon forgotten as Niss, using only the bells braided into his hair, masterfully performs a mournful sonata as only a one-man carillon can, leaving those around him in awed silence. Elsewhere in the camp, Naomi, sits comforting Trellara. While initially reluctant to contribute, being acutely aware of her outsider status, she finds herself compelled to speak, making good use of her experience with the elven tongue, and gives a speech on the everlasting bonds of kin and clan, values that she feels the Tiri Kitor and her clan share. She tells of how Lanikar and his companion Liokio were selfless in their service to the tribe and how they now are safe in the company of their ancestors who watch over all, for all time. Her command of elvish is a little rusty, but most are pleased by the comparison to Naomi’s kin. The memorial goes on long into the night, but the young sorceress keeps her distance from it; were it not for the revelry, she might have been heard muttering, “Funerals are depressing,” while wandering about the periphery of Starsong Hill.

Location: The Ruins of Rhest

For the next few days, the party returns to the covered scouting location Killiar showed them and continues their observations, spending little daylight at the elven village.

The population of each of the Red Hand-occupied ruins seems fairly regular. Occasionally a messenger from the watchtower will visit the town hall, but he always returns to his post promptly. While it’s unclear just how many are inside, it is speculated that there isn’t room for more than a dozen for such a long stretch of time without losing some to infighting. The elves have kept their distance in the past out of respect for the former residents, but Killiar expects that the tower still supports the large and ancient bell used by residents of Rhest many years past.

The town hall is an even bigger mystery. Aside from the two ogres, the dragon and the goblin, it’s unclear what else resides inside. The first floor is completely flooded and while the third is partially collapsed and open to the sky, the walls are sufficiently intact to hide anyone in those rooms.

The dragon and rider are fairly regular regarding their evening routine. Rare is the night that they return without a meal or a trophy. Occasionally, other groups of lizardfolk gather the courage to seek a meeting with the dragon, but the result is always the same. The lizardfolk approach and leave unharmed; it would seem the dragon has little patience for their petty requests.

While never speaking above a whisper, so as to avoid unwanted skirmishes with the lizardfolk, the party plans how best to approach. With Niss’s experience with disguises, some of the party might be easily concealed as lizardfolk. However, leaving one behind on trip to the town hall would likely be noticed. Niss suggests either stealing or building a raft and cutting a hole in the bottom so that Naomi, kept hidden from view under a few cloth bags, might slip into the waters by the ruins without having appeared to have been on the raft at all. Various magical options are discussed, including the potential to walk above or breath below the dark waters of the lake.

As the week wears on, the weather turns from clear to cloudy to overcast, turning the already dreary swamp downright dispiriting; irregular patches of rain grow more frequent and signs point to a torrential downpour in the next few days.

Location: Starsong Hill

Returning home on the evening of the fifth day, the party is presented with their completed gifts. The young sorceress, eager to get her reward, hastily dons her armor. Instead of mithral’s normal silvery-white gleam, it has a sunset-colored sheen, and, once on, it partially fades from view revealing her traveling cloak beneath. It looks to have a slightly loose fit about the sides, but she seems pleased at the improved range of motion it offers. Adrian, more patient, gratefully receives a pair of soft-soled boots; while less rugged-looking than she’s accustomed to, they are more comfortable than any she’d ever worn; the craftsman presenting them expresses his regret at their imperfections as he has not had much practice with boots in her size. Niss is presented with his wand of healing: thin birch twigs finely woven around a narrow pale bone that once belonged to Liokio. Naomi is presented with her gift and her commissioned pieces last: her armor is much like the youth’s, but is better fitting and lacks the unusual hue; the only visible embellishment is in the weave of the fine silvery rings at the shoulders, which have been raised to suggest a pair of outward-pointing arrows; her boots have a scaly look as though made from the hide of a large lizard, though not of any kind she has seen; lastly, her bracers, mithral like her chain shirt, are embossed with the image of a tiny needle-sharp dagger of an identical make to the one given to her by Killiar on her first night in camp. Recognizing that the gleam from the rings might not be for Naomi’s inclinations toward stealth, the elves also provide her with a simple but well-made cloak. All are thankful, especially Naomi.

END SESSION 32

A few notes:

While it won’t have any impact on the gameplay, the items would taken some time to craft. While they might have a wand of a common spell available, gifts such as boots made for a goliath, or specific enchantments on armor take time. The DMG suggests about 1 day per 1000gp in the price. However, as you declared yourselves to be near the village for a some time, that wasn't a problem.

That said, I hadn’t expected “a week” of observing the lake. I’m not saying it was a bad idea, far from it, but I wasn’t prepared with a week’s worth of details. I’ve included those above, but I suspect we’ll hit a random encounter by the lake-side. Please try to act surprised. Oh, and yes, you'll have the items before then.

We haven’t played much with weather effects thus far, but I thought we might try it out. Severe weather is a mixed bag for adventurers. It may impede your attack, or it may hinder enemy communication and their counter-attacks. For reference, the following are the basic impacts of inclement weather:

Rain: -4 on spot/search/listen checks. –4 on ranged attacks. Visibility reduced by half.
Thunderstorms: -8 on spot/search/listen checks. Ranged attacks impossible. Unprotected flames are extinguished, and protected ones have a 50% chance of going out anyway. There is also a chance of lightning and severe wind.

I’d thought I might leave the error unnoticed, but with Niss’s knowledge of nature it wouldn’t make sense. While he was correct that bugbears and dragons have darkvision, lizardfolk do not, contrary to the assumption made.

Also, Adrian, nothing vital at the moment, but I was perusing the text in Races of Stone regarding Goliath’s polytheistic panoply and had some ideas. If you get bored, you might consider skimming the same.


And finally, two questions for everyone who made it thus far (and the rest of you, don't think you're off the hook).

1. Given that you're among the Tiri Kitor for about a week before what will hopefully be a significantly dangerous battle, is there any socializing you'd like to do? Messages to send, people to meet, wills to write, matters to research? You've got the time and resources.

2. While the general shape of the next few levels is outlined pretty clearly, though with a considerable degree of flexibility, I'm always looking to reshape things to work better. We've had 32 sessions thus far. Any favorite sequences? Memorable battles? Enjoyable socializing? Feedback, we wants it.

Edited Tuesday March 8th for grammar quirks. No substantial changes to the narrative.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 33
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
Late on the sixth day of watching the ruins of Rhest, the group hatches a plan to get a closer look at the Red Hand’s activities: at night, hidden by the rain, half the team will infiltrate the base in the middle of the lake walking beneath the surface so as to avoid the guard’s keen eyes. While Adrian is unique among the adventurers in that she can see in the dark like their foes, she doesn’t have Naomi’s knack for stealth. Niss and the youth will stay behind, but nearby in case the others need assistance.

As sun dips beneath the horizon, the day’s light drizzle turns to a heavy downpour. Illian Snowmantle, the Tiri Kitor’s primary cleric, casts Water Breathing on Naomi and Adrian. Returning to their familiar hiding spot, two try to find some shelter from the rain under a nearby tree on the marshy edge of the lake, while the mismatched duo wades into the murky rain-roiled waters. The dragon and his rider have left for their nightly hunt, but with the light fading fast, they’ll likely return within the hour.

The flooded streets form an eerie tableau; most of the walls have long been reduced to rubble, but some remain marginally intact, albeit algae-covered. Fortunately, most of the ruins seem deserted and the duo doesn’t encounter anything larger than the occasional small turtle. After close to half an hour of aquatic meanderings, Adrian pokes her head above the surface and spots the town hall; light spills from a doorway on the upper-floor, too dim to be visible from shore. The pair quietly close the distance to the wooden walkway. Adrian watches as two ogres patrol the boardwalk surrounding the structure. Though they seem tireless and unbothered by the heavy rain, they appear to have gone out of sync with one another leaving large gaps unwatched. At Adrian’s prompting, Naomi silently slips from the water, onto the boardwalk and partway up the stairs leading to the upper floor. Adrian follows but is not so quiet drawing the attention of the guard; from near the wooden structure at the far end of the boardwalk one of the ogres stops and shouts out, in broken draconic, “Go back shore. See dragon day next.” Masked by the heavy rain and half-hidden by the building Adrian is apparently mistaken for lizardfolk supplicants. Eager to avoid a fight on this visit, she leaps noisily back into the water leaving Naomi to her work.

Peeking around the top of the steps, Naomi finds the upper floor dimly illuminated by a pair of shielded lanterns. In the shadowy illumination she spots another pair of ogres, and the makings of nests for several others. The far end of the floor has collapsed forming a wide pit, likely where the dragon emerges from nightly. Unable to see a better way into the building from her hiding spot and risking discovery by a patrolling ogre, she activates her cloak and vanishes. Not far into the room she finds a pair of stairways leading downward. She quietly creeps to the lower level and finds herself nearly face-to-face-to-face with a two-headed giant. Each of the ettin’s two heads nearly brush against the ceiling of the room, but the beady eyes on the porcine faces are glazed over; while Naomi is invisible and quieter than a mouse, it’s unclear if it would notice anyone in its current state.

Looking past the brutish giant she spots three doors: the nearest is by the bottom of the stairs she took; another is similarly located on the opposite side of the room; a third wider one, across from the ettin, would seem to lead toward the dragon’s den from it’s placement. Trying the nearest door, Naomi gradually eases it open, keeping an eye on the inattentive giant. Peering inside she sees a meticulously clean and organized, but thoroughly unsettling chamber. Several small barbed cages line the far side of the room. Beside them sit two barrels of water and a bloodstained mop. In the middle of the room a hobgoblin, dressed in dark crimson leather armor, sits hunched over an assortment of dark potions and gleaming, twisted and painful-looking instruments. Behind him, standing idly in an alcove, stands a goliath as tall and powerful as Adrian, but slightly more slender. However, after the brief moment it takes Naomi to survey the room, the Hobgoblin turns to face the door.

Naomi doesn't wait to find out if he has keener ears than the towering ettin or if he'd spotted her by other means; she sprints halfway to the upper floor before she hears the hobgoblin call out to the ettin to leave the door alone. Relived that her cover isn’t blown, she tries the door by the other stairway. Peering inside she sees three large animals staring at her: a leopard, a wild boar, and a crocodile. After a moment, however, she realizes that the trio is stuffed, mounted and unlikely to attack. The room is otherwise unoccupied though clearly lived-in; a cot in a corner is heaped high with fine furs, a falcon’s perch stands in an opposite corner and the remains of a giant bat, partially cleaned and stuffed, lies pinned to a large table. A chest beneath the table catches Naomi’s attention; unable to resist her roguish upbringing, she tries her luck with a set of picks, but without much luck. Realizing her cloak’s magic expired she activates it again and goes back to exploring the town hall.

She tries her luck with the broad double-doors at the far end of the ettin’s room, but barely shifts them an inch before the giant, previously inattentive, stirs; one head looks directly at her, or through her, as it were, while the other looks to a massive stone club by its side, apparently made from one of the city’s many lion-headed columns. Not willing to risk a single blow from the towering mass of muscle, Naomi bolts for the stairs, dodges an unsuspecting ogre that nearly blocks her path, spots a further pair resting in neighboring rooms, and leaps down onto the boardwalk, narrowly missing another ogre on patrol.

Silently slipping back into the water she finds herself, once again, unable to see. Listening for Adrian’s less than graceful movements, she slowly swims over to where she thinks her ally is and taps her on the shoulder. Adrian is initially startled until Naomi remembers to drop her cloak’s invisibility. They briefly try to converse before realizing that subaquatic acoustics are less than ideal. Adrian leads Naomi a fair distance away from the town hall so that she might share her findings above the surface amid the ruins and the rain.

Naomi tells Adrian of the six ogres, the ettin and the deranged-looking hobgoblin. Adrian doesn’t seem particularly concerned until Naomi mentions the goliath she briefly glimpsed. Suddenly Adrian, much more interested in Naomi’s findings, demands that they go back to get him. Naomi is insistent that the two of them would not survive against the forces stationed there, let alone against the soon-to-return dragon. Adrian misogynistically dismisses her concerns, “You woman!” When Naomi insists that there’s nothing useful to be had in charging back in, Adrian raises her voice dangerously loud and accuses her of being racist against goliaths. Naomi counters that she’s not thinking about the goliath at all, but instead about “the giant with a club that could KILL ME!” Realizing that even in the rain their voices might carry, Adrian quiets her speech and flatly asks, “Will you come with me?” Naomi responds with an emphatic “Hell no!” Adrian, unwilling to go back to the town hall alone, leads Naomi to the watchtower to see if anything useful can be gleaned there, though she leaves a trail of grumbling bubbles behind her the whole way there.

This time around, Adrian stays submerged and simply points Naomi in the right direction to find the door. Naomi quietly climbs onto the boardwalk and feels around for the door handle. Easing it open she spies, in the dimly lit interior, a pair of hobgoblins. Along the walls there are beds for a full six hobgoblins and the smell in the air suggests they’ve not gone unused. A knee-high wall in the middle of the room surrounds a hole revealing the flooded lower floor. On the ceiling above it, a metal grate drips with water. Near one of the hobgoblins, a ladder leads to the floor above. Using the last of her cloak’s invisibility, she slips through the doorway unnoticed and carefully climbs up.

The upper floor is divided up into three rooms. A large iron bell dominates the main space. An old rusting chain connects it to a grate in the ceiling that lets the rain drip through to the grate below and through to the flooded basement below that. Beyond the broad bell stands a ladder connecting to the roof. To one side of the room a hole in the wall has been made into a makeshift garderobe, partially exposed to the outside to keep the stench from building up. Through an open door to one side, Naomi spots a hobgoblin resting on sacks of various supplies, which lie piled up around the room. The other small room, apparently reserved for a ranking officer, contains a bed and a small crate; Naomi fumbles with the lock for a few seconds, silently cursing her less-than-nimble fingers, before continuing climbing onto the roof. Only poking her head out for a moment, she spots a group of four hobgoblins. While equipped like the others in the tower, well-trained veterans, these seem unhappy to be keeping watch in the rain. The fourth appears to be a ranking officer. While he is less armored than the others, he seems no less protected; in one hand he carries a massive shield emblazoned with the symbol of the Red Hand: a crimson claw of a yellow sun. In his other hand he holds a very heavy steel mace covered with dark stains.

Realizing she has scant few seconds of stealth left, she moves to near the garderobe, readies her crossbow with an acrid-smelling redwood bolt and takes aim at the bell’s chain. In one fluid movement she lets the bolt fly and leaps backwards out into the darkness. The tip of the bolt explodes into a fountain of acid that starts to eat into the chain. Naomi’s dive isn’t quiet, but she manages to avoid hitting any of the ruins below the surface. Adrian sees her friend fall and moves to meet her in the foul water at the base of the tower. The hobgoblins move to look for the source of the splash, but their attention is soon drawn elsewhere: the off-duty hobgoblin screams out, having been awakened with a blast of acid.

Naomi anxiously counts out the seconds as she waits for the acid to destroy the chain, but the tower seems surprisingly quiet even with the hobgoblins running about. Then, the great bell rings out and her hopes fall. As the two crestfallen adventurers turn to swim to shore, the pealing modulates oddly. As Naomi pokes her head above the waters she hears a clamorous crash, followed by the screech of tearing metal and the sounds of panicked hobgoblins. While Naomi cannot see it, Adrian gives her an incredulous look before leading her back towards shore.
END SESSION 33
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 34
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
The two make their way to the western shore, keeping a wide berth of the town hall as they pass it once again. While the swampy edge of the lake is pitch black by the time they arrive at the rendezvous point, the four manage to regroup with a little help from Adrian’s vision.

The youth, hoping to learn about what waits for them in the middle of the lake, simply asks, “How did it go?” but Adrian ignores her question, glares at Naomi and mutters something about “merely wanting a distraction so I could go and talk to him.” Naomi shoots back about how she disabled the alarm bell, apparently trying to justify to Adrian what neither Niss nor the youth understand.

Eventually, amid a flurry of petty sniping, the essentials about what happened emerge. Naomi is able to give a detailed report on the strength of the force, but Adrian is possessed with a single-minded desire to speak with the Goliath in the town hall. “Ominakna” reminds her that her people had allied themselves with the Red Hand and might not be particularly friendly. Adrian equivocates on the matter of her people’s loyalty, unwilling to face the possible consequences of their choice. With a surprisingly constructive suggestion, the youth muses that Adrian might avoid a full assault by entering as a diplomat, no great stretch considering her original mission. Initially, Adrian thinks the plan would fail as she, through Gauthok, spread the rumor that she was dead. However the others persuade her pointing out that she need not pose specifically as the dead Doderan diplomat Adrian “Marmot-herder” Kalios, that the rumor, while started some twenty days earlier, may have not had time to spread through the far reaches of the vale, and Niss points out, should the ruse fail, she can always “introduce them to Mr. Punchy and Mr. Fisty.”

With cooler tempers, Naomi suggests that they should move away from the shore to avoid any patrolling hobgoblins or lizardfolk looking for what triggered the alarm. Niss suggests going back to the Tiri Kitor for backup, but Naomi reminds him that they’d promised not to return to Starsong Hill right after raising an alarm. Niss stands by his plan, insisting, “I’m just insane enough to try things,” and the youth seems to agree, though Niss is apparently saddened by the other’s reluctance to take his advice. Adrian simply mutters that “we”, meaning she, “should just take out the army ourselves.” Seeing the wisdom in putting things off for the night until clearer heads prevail, Naomi suggests they make camp so that her cloak might once again be of use should things go badly. The quartet begrudgingly agrees and finds as dry a spot as they can beneath a thick canopy of trees and take turns keeping watch until dawn.

In the dim light of the morning they finalize a plan. Adrian will act the part of a Doderan envoy to the Red Hand of Rhest so as to gain a foothold in the Town Hall with Niss as acting as her interpreter. The others will be present, but not given significant roles in the charade. As such a ruse will not last long, the four anticipate a slaughter shortly after. Should the battle not go their way, they will cravenly retreat directly to the Tiri Kitor in the hopes that the elves will be able to finish what the quartet begins. While there is little honor in such a plan, only the rogue cares enough to say so. A flaw quickly becomes apparent: an official envoy would not walk across the bottom of the lake and they do not presently have a boat. Suggesting they give their plan a little test first, they travel southeast along the edge of flooded city, until they near one of the lizardfolk encampments they’d spotted over the past few days.

The broad hut stands just above the waters of the lake, supported by wooden stilts. A thin wooden boardwalk runs around its rim, much like those by the Red Hand’s buildings, with a crude raft moored near its far side. To one side, a rickety watchtower extends some twenty feet above the surface of the lake with a single lizardfolk, languidly watching the lake while basking in the morning sun. Another appears to be preparing a breakfast of fish over a small fire. While Naomi and the youth hang back in the undergrowth, Adrian boldly advances on the hut as far as she can without wading into the surrounding waters. Niss follows close behind, shadowing her approach. She boldly calls out to the two lizardfolk in Gol-ka. The two lizardfolk, caught by surprise, spring to attention quickly snatching up nearby weapons, but Niss works to relax the situation, speaking to the lizardfolk in Draconic. While he works to keep pace with Adrian’s pronouncements in Gol-ka, Niss is unfamiliar with her people’s language and simply ad-libs a fake translation of her words requesting that they welcome “Aiden the ‘seagull-herder’ from the land of Golka.” He goes on to explain that Aiden is an envoy from a people allied with the Red Hand and wishes to inspect their efforts, but that she needs to borrow a boat to do so. Surprisingly the simple-minded lizardfolk are both aware of the Doderan people, at least their distinctive look, and their alliance with the Red Hand. Even more surprisingly, they seem persuaded by the slightly clumsy approach. The one who had been preparing breakfast, slides into the boat and paddles it over to Adrian. He seems taken aback when Naomi and the youth emerge to join the others, demanding “Who they?” However, Niss is able to assuage his concerns, explaining that they are simply part of Aiden’s entourage. He leaps into the water and slithers back onto the boardwalk, returning to his breakfast, pausing only to request that the raft be returned when they are done visiting the “black leader”.

The group slowly makes their way through the ruins of the city that protrutde from the dark waters, circling the town hall from a distance so as to approach from its front. Apparently Naomi’s visit on the previous night has set them on edge. Where two ogres lazily patrolled, four ogres now stand guard, spread out around the length of the boardwalk, keeping a watchful eye on the quartet on the borrowed raft as they approach. Using the same routine Adrian, with Niss “translating” into Common, requests an audience with the ranking officer. The ogres, no brighter than the lizardfolk, but more disciplined, demand that they keep the raft at a distance while they check. Niss suggests that they could dock and all go with him, but the ogre is clear, “You. Wait. Here.” While apparently persuaded, they aren’t particularly cordial. The nearest of the two visible ogres lumbers up the steps into the town hall while the other keeps a wary eye on the motley crew of the raft. After a brief wait, the ogre returns, and is followed by another pair of the hulking brutes who line up along the front of the boardwalk. Between them, a muscular serpentine form rises up and settles atop the crumbling wall of the town hall: a black dragon, of no great size, but imposing all the same, with dark leathery wings and a pair of forward-facing horns as white as bleached bone. On his back, just behind a spiked frill running down the beast’s neck, sits a hobgoblin. While small, he seems confident in his position. “Speak,” he demands.

While Adrian begins to reply in words only she understands, Niss explains that they were sent to investigate Doderan assets. “Who sent you?” Niss, thinking quickly, claims that they are their by order of Chieftan “Trailseeker”. The goblin appears unconvinced, “He has no jurisdiction here.” Niss, clinging to the lie, insists, “He did!” As the story crumbles, and the pint-sized warlord calls the prevaricating catfolk on his lies and demands to know who they really are, Niss panics and makes a desperate move. With a few muttered syllables and a strange gesture he charms the goblin using arcane magics and explains simply that they had come to speak with the goliath.

The dragon, who had remained fairly still until this point, undulates and tosses his rider into the room behind him, shielding him from further enchantment. Expecting trouble, Adrian draws on the power of her Amulet of Tears while Niss quickly tries to persuade the angered dragon of the same claims in Draconic, but realizing the futility, quickly starts an inspirational chant. Moments into declaring “We are friends! Not Food!” he is forced to duck as the dragon launches a spray of acid directly at him. Niss nimbly avoids the worst of it, though still gets a nasty burn, Naomi, standing behind him, catches the full force of the blast and is nearly knocked unconscious. The four ogres send a volley of javelins at Adrian and Niss, but most sink harmlessly beneath the waters of the lake. One catches Adrian in the thigh, but she seems unbothered by it, pulling out the hefty javelin and tossing it aside. While Naomi uses her healing belt to get a second wind, “ominakna” attempts to ensorcell the dragon with a dose of Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. The species divide appears too great to be bridged by humor, however, as the beast is not amused.

The raft rocks violently as Adrian, her outline blurred by her armor, leaps across the twenty-foot divide to the boardwalk. With a furious shout she swings her mammoth great sword catching both nearby ogres in a wide arc. As their severed torsos topple into the water, a small voice is heard from behind the stone wall, “What are you guys doing over there?” While the charmed goblin cannot see the slaughter, he can apparently hear the commotion. Niss quickly dazes one of the remaining ogres to keep Adrian from being flanked as the rest move in from the far side of the town hall, but the nearest closes the distance and hammers on Adrian with a mighty stone club with half of a lion’s face engraved in it. Apparently reluctant to get closer to Adrian’s fury, the dragon disappears behind the wall. The youth paddles the raft a few feet closer to shore while Naomi tags the Adrian’s attacker with a viscid glob from her rod. Once in range the young sorceress lobs a tiny fuzzy ball between Adrian and the entangled ogre, which, upon hitting the planks of the boardwalk, explodes into the shape of an angry lion, which tears into the astonished ogre. With the far end of the boardwalk covered, Adrian advances on the dazed ogre and slashes at him. He’s grievously wounded but manages to remain standing even after Niss tears at his ear with a bolt.

Suddenly a sound cuts through the din of combat: the ringing of a bell. A voice calls out, not out loud, but as if one of their own thoughts, “FLEE!” Though the others seem to dismiss it, Naomi recognizes the touch of madness in its tone from the unsettling hobgoblin she’d seen when scouting the night before. However, the moment of contemplation passes quickly. The ogres, apparently undistracted by the voice, strike back at the party’s advances. One, formerly dazed, lands a bone-cracking blow on Adrian’s side, while the other, still entangled, gives the lion a solid knock upside the head. While a lesser beast might have been knocked senseless, the lion fights back handily and tears into the ogre, though has some trouble with its thick hide. However, where the lion’s claws were insufficient, the youth’s crossbow penetrates nicely; a bolt between the eyes finishes the ogre who tumbles over the edge of the boardwalk, dropping into the water below.

Naomi, hoping to finish off the pair menacing Adrian, rips the penultimate bead from her necklace and throws it carefully past the duo. While the explosion is impressive, neither of the ogres seems particularly scorched by the flames. Adrian, having little patience for other’s magical tricks, triggers her bracers, gives a mighty swing and tears into both her foes, toppling the pair and clearing her half of the boardwalk. Confident the others can wrap up the last of the forward guard, she turns and runs up the stairs, hoping to find her fellow goliath. However, while the topmost level of the town hall is open to the sky, she is surprised to find it dark.
END SESSION 34
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 35
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
As her eyes adjust, Adrian begins to see the broad shape of the room. Naomi had described it as being largely open to the sky, but while the other ruins were brightly lit by the morning sun, the room is dark, as if it existed in a bubble of night. She cautiously walks deeper into the shadowy illumination, determined to find her fellow Doderan. Eager to keep up with his muscular friend, Niss quickly paddles the raft to the boardwalk and sprints up the stairs into the darkness, nearly running into Adrian. However, the last of the ogres has the same idea and lumbers up the steps darkening the opposite doorway. Adrian moves to intercept and slashes at the ogre with all her might, but the brute is too dull-witted to know when he is beaten and somehow stays on his feet.

Meanwhile, Naomi and the youth, left behind by Niss’s flight, prepare to follow, but before they can step onto the boardwalk, the raft rocks roughly. A slender black shape darts through the waters below and erupts from the water behind them. Naomi calls out “Dragon!” hoping to warn the others, but the dragon deftly lands on the edge of the raft and, with a swift and brutal lunge, bites Naomi, sending dozens of dagger-like teeth deep into her side, turning her shout of warning into a cry of pain.

However, the rogue is nothing if not driven. She limps to the far side of the raft and whispers to her armor while using her healing belt. Were the youth watching, she’d have seen Naomi’s epaulets flash as she appeared to jump a few feet to the side while staying completely still otherwise, but she her eyes were wisely elsewhere. Giving the dragon her full attention, she cautiously eases away from the dragon, eager to get behind Naomi, and again tries to induce mirth magically. As before, the dragon is not amused.

Niss, not eager to stand between his hulking friend and her senseless but strong foe, eases backwards down the stairs, loosing a bolt at the ogre-filled darkness, but his aim is thrown by his sudden re-emergence into sunlight and the bolt flies off into the distance. In retreating from one foe, he puts himself before another. The dragon, catching sight of the furry fiend who charmed his companion, opens his maw once again and smashes the fragile catfolk into the wall with a scorching blast of acid. Niss collapses on the stairs, his once luxurious pelt seared as the acid bubbles deeper and deeper.

Naomi tries to buy some time and sprays the dragon with her Rod of Viscid Globs. The ooze rapidly hardens over the onyx wings and holds the fearsome beast to the raft while Naomi runs to her fallen friend to inspect his wounds.

Realizing that the fight won’t be won without further backup, the youth draws upon her arcane magics and draws a magestic silvery hippogriff from the aether to join the lion on the boardwalk. While it slashes and snaps, it fails to significantly injure the entangled dragon. The lion’s claws are similarly insufficient.

Adrian, hearing the commotion, turns her back on the ogre and runs to engage the dragon. Not being one to leave a fight unfinished, however, she eviscerates the ogre on her backswing before tearing a deep gash in the dragon’s side. With a piercing screech, the dragon goes into a frenzy; its claws tearing into the hippogriff and its jaws tear a ragged bite out of the lion, dropping the proud beast. As the lion’s body quickly fades away, the dragon gains a further reprieve: Adrian swings her swordarm in a slow and deliberate arc and casts here greatsword out into the lake.

Niss regains consciousness to the sound of Naomi shouting, a little more closely to his ears than he likes, “ ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FRIGGIN’ MIND!?” As he opens his eyes, he sees the rogue, still holding the empty potion bottle that revived him, staring in incredulous rage as the disarmed barbarian moves to lie prostrate on the boardwalk with her hands over her head mere feet from the dragon.

Struggling to keep the dragon occupied, the young sorceress calls another silvery hippogriff to their aid, but it fairs only slightly better than the last at smiting the dragon.

Niss realizes the battle will soon be lost and sprints over to the newly summoned hippogriff, leaping over his prone friend and onto the proud winged beast. While his fear seems premature to some, he soon appears almost prescient. In a blur, the dragon snaps its sticky bonds with its claws and batters the other hippogriff into unconsciousness with its mighty wings. To make matters worse, the two-headed giant Naomi had seen on her scouting run emerges from the darkness of the upper floor and lobs a single javelin at Naomi. The wound isn’t mortal, but only barely so. The sorceress summons a final silvery hippogriff and both she and Naomi quickly mount the beast.

The next few moments are a flurry of wings. Niss’s hippogriff picks up Adrian in its talons, narrowly avoiding the freed dragon’s reach. With the dragon taking flight to pursue, the youth directs the mounts to flee in different directions, forcing the dragon to choose. While they soar quickly from the town hall, the dragon is quicker and, once within range, it dragon sprays another jet of acid, searing the majestic hippogriff’s wings. However, while neither the beast nor its cargo are fatally wounded. Apparently unwilling to stray far from its allies, the dragon breaks off pursuit.

The youth and Naomi get close to the eastern shore before the summoning spell starts to wear off. The hippogriff fades away just as they touch down, but neither has to tread water for long. Ever adaptable, the sorceress calls a shark into being and has them both towed toward the lake’s edge. They find themselves alone, without a lizardfolk in sight.

The others, meanwhile, fly more slowly, encumbered by the weighty goliath. Niss tries to guide it to fly low above the lake to lessen the impact of their eventual landing. Just as the claws evaporate from around her, Adrian regains control of her actions and lands, not gracefully, but well enough to avoid stony ruins. Lacking an external means of towing themselves to shore, Adrian slowly paddles home carrying her burnt “little buddy” and her wounded pride.

Eventually the four regroup in the shallows near where they had spied on the Red Hand for the past week and begin their walk back to the elves. Naomi weakly protests, reminding them that the elves’ request to not draw the Red Hand to Starsong Hill, but soon gives in; half of the group had been burnt with acid, others badly lacerated, and the strongest of them was deeply unsettled by the loss of control and the loss of her sword in the fight. Defeated, they limp homeward.

By early afternoon, they reach the outer perimeter of Starsong Hill, where they find Killiar, but he does not welcome them with open arms. He can tell at a glance that they had fought with the Red Hand, but without a trophy or a sign of mirth, it is similarly clear they were unsuccessful. Barring their way he demands to know if they have taken steps to hide their tracks so as to not lead the Red Hand back to the village.

Location: Starsong Hill
The Naomi bites her tongue, knowing that if they were indeed followed, their path would lead straight home. Adrian steps forth and declares, “We’re pretty sure they didn’t follow us…that much”. The youth, trying to contribute, calls out, “Yeah, the dragon broke off pursuit right away!” As others chime in to try to explain just what happened and just what went wrong, the youth starts pointing fingers at Adrian, “It would have been ok if she wasn’t such a coward.” “HE!” the burly barbarian bellows and her gray skin takes on a slightly reddish hue as she shouts her standard litany of death threats at the impudent young sorceress. While barely audible over Adrian, the youth continues to provoke her, “I’m the only reason you’re alive! You don’t even have a sword anymore.”
Adrian tries to safe face, “I was going to grapple it,” but the youth will have none of it, “You were prone”. The shamed barbarian tries to stutter out a retort, “I was…prone…to grappling it?” but is cut off by Killiar. Furious at them for putting Starsong Hill at risk, he tells them to go back out and not return until they have covered their tracks. Later that evening, if they do as they promised before, they will be allowed to enter. Niss tries to argue, telling him that if the elves had helped, the mission would have been successful, but Killiar does not respond. Adrian, almost broken by the day’s struggles, humbly asks for a weapon so she might defend herself in the woods and Killiar, not without mercy, tosses her a dagger; the tiny blade nearly disappears when held in her massive fist. As the quartet turns and heads back into the woods, Naomi whispers an apology in Elvish, but it is unclear if it is heard.

Once away from Starsong Hill, the party walks south a little ways, away from both the lake and the village, and makes camp for the day. Niss uses his wand to heal his comrade’s wounds, but argues that they should leave the swamps and return to the south. Naomi argues against him, still hoping to find her son in the Red Hand’s base. Adrian is similarly inclined, hoping to speak with the Goliath that Naomi had seen the night before. The young sorceress, indifferent to their concerns for kin and kind, suggests they leave as well. Adrian snaps at her, “Why are you following us anyway?” and another verbal scuffle ensues, but something in it turns Niss’s attitude around, for, by the time the dust settles, he seems dead set on recruiting the elves for the defense of the vale.

Late in the afternoon they start to make their way back, trying to avoid leaving a path from their campsite to Starsong Hill, though leaving their original trail from the lakeside. At the entrance to the village they meet with Killiar and Sellyria and once again explain the day’s events. Killiar, apparently resigned to the leaderless cacophony that erupts when the adventurers attempt to explain anything, stays quiet as they tell a patchwork tale. Apparently embarrassed by their original plan, the group lies, claiming that they snuck up on the base, but their cover was blown by magic, and the bell. Adrian and the youth try to explain it all, but by working together it comes out rather haphazardly. Skipping back and forth in the telling, and practically alternating sentences, they explain about the bell that they’d broken, but was apparently fixed, and how they killed a bunch of ogres, but the two-headed giant and the dragon scared them off, and how there was a Goliath there who might be a friend, or might be with the Red Hand, and how Adrian was under mind control. The youth suggests she might still be under, a sentiment Adrian vocally objects to, which once again leads to another round of petty bickering.

Eventually Killiar cuts them off after it’s clear that there’s no more to be learned from them. Niss once again asks for the elves’ help against the Red Hand. Killiar appears worried about the appearance of powerful magic users among the horde, but, after conferring with Sellyria, he tells Niss that he shall have his answer in the morning.

Once back in the village, Adrian seeks out an Elven blacksmith in the hopes of finding something more her size than Killiar’s spare dagger. However, the elves don’t generally make use of larger than average weapons, and, being more famed for finesse over force, they don’t have any greatswords about, but Adrian finds a bastard sword that has sufficient heft. She tries to haggle over the already minimal price, hoping to cash in on her heroics, but word has gotten around about the group’s retreat possibly endangering the village and the blacksmith only raises his price. She eventually accedes, and walks back to her tent, missing her old oversized greatsword.

While the others settle in to their tents for the night, Niss walks about the village for a few hours trying to rally support in the fight against the Red Hand. Few of the merchants are eager to join the fight themselves, but his finds more interested ears among the guard; several are unhappy with the course Killiar has set and don’t trust that the horde will pass them by. He and the guards become so engrossed in debate that they don’t notice the approaching dragon until it is nearly upon them.

A jet of acid carves a line through their ranks as the black-winged beast swoops low above their heads. Scores of elven torches set the rider’s armor glistening, but do little to illuminate the ebon scales of his mount. The dragon makes a wide turn and comes in for a second pass. Keeping close to the guards, Niss is caught in the spray burning the remaining fur from his flesh. Wracked with pain, Niss shouts out a bold taunt laced with arcane power.

In the darkness, the dragon’s eyes glow crimson with rage as it swoops toward the brave bard.
END SESSION 35

Session 36
Location: Starsong Hill
Too late, Niss realizes that he hadn’t thought his plan out very well. His acid-scorched skin crackles with every step as he sprints for cover, hoping to outpace the enraged dragon until help can arrive. However, while catfolk are fast, dragons are faster – a truth Niss discovers in a bright blinding flash of pain as razor sharp teeth close around his torso.

The surrounding elves fire volley after volley at it, but few if any of the arrows find their way past the thick scales. The goblin rider calls out to all within earshot, “Leave the ruins of Rhest to us!” Nearby torches flicker and go out, buffeted by the beating of powerful wings as the dragon takes flight again. However, as the pair departs, the goblin takes revenge for Niss’s lack of respect. He notches two barbed arrows into his bow as one, takes careful aim, and sets them loose; striking true, they pierce Niss’s heart, pinning his lifeless body to the ground.

Awakened by the commotion, the others rush toward the site of the attack, but arrive too late. Naomi desperately lobs an orb from her rod of viscid globs, hoping to halt its retreat, but the dragon is beyond her reach. Naomi and the youth follow Adrian as she wades through Elves running every which way tending to their wounded. Niss’s body lies in a clearing, unattended.

Adrian and Naomi are torn between rage and grief, but the young sorceress raises the gilded oaken staff she claimed from the ruins of Terrak’nor keep. Uncharacteristically somber, she wills arcane powers on a scale normally beyond her grasp; Niss’s flesh knits itself back together and downy fuzz sprouts from his newly healed hide. She bends down beside his head and whispers, “Here kitty kitty”. Air rushes back into Niss’s lungs and his heart begins to beat again, but as he opens his weary eyes, it is clear that the experience has left him changed.

Adrian reaches down and hugs him, but is careful not to be to rough with his frail form. Setting him back down she swears revenge on those who did him harm; “I’d like to see that happen,” the youth says, returning to her usual snide attitude.

Shortly thereafter, Killiar finds them, his features distorted by grief and rage. Furious at the outsiders for the tragedy they brought upon his people, he nearly orders them out of the village that instant. However Niss, still weak but possessed of sterner stuff any had thought, convinces Killiar that the danger was always there and that they have no choice but to fight it. Regaining his composure somewhat, Killiar permits that they may stay one last night, but, in the morning, they will return to the lake and see to it that the fight is finished, but not without some assistance. He and three other elves mounted on owls will join the party in the assault; he explains that the rest of the hunters must stay behind to defend against lizardfolk skirmishers who began testing the boundary of Starsong Hill since the dragon attacked. He hopes that if they can drive the Red Hand out, the lizardfolk will once again be fractured into smaller more manageable threats. With that, he bids them a restful night, but with a look that tells them they’ll need it.

Adrian and Niss begin to plan the morning’s attack, combining the best of what had worked before into an ambitious but likely effective strategy. Naomi listens, but does not feel the need to contribute; instead, she finds the arrowheads that pierced his chest, removes their shafts and prepares them as a necklace, which she offers to Niss. He carefully braids them into his hair, proclaiming that he “defeated death itself”, but cryptically adds, “Death has altered me.” The youth is less constructive; though only minutes before she had brought her ally back to life, she feels her skills inadequate for the impending battle in light of her failures earlier in the day and asks what she or the frail bard could hope to offer in such a fight.

After a brief and uneasy sleep, the four prepare for a final assault on the ruined town hall. With a minimal amount of haggling, they arrange for each of them to be granted the ability to breathe beneath the lake’s waters and a single potion of Invisibility and Owl’s Wisdom apiece in the hopes that they might resist the hobgoblin mage’s enchantments. Niss also acquires three small mouse skulls, each engraved with runes imbued with the essence of Silence. He has but to crush one to release its magics.

The elves part ways with the adventurers by the shore. Killiar and his owl-riders will wait there to let the strike team approach the base before approaching from the air to draw the dragon out. Armed with bows and tanglefoot bags, they do not expect to defeat the dragon themselves, but hope to buy the others enough time to take down the other ranking members of the horde. Killiar gives the four a polite nod, but says nothing as they make their way into the lake.

Location: The Ruins of Rhest
Naomi leads the way amid the flooded ruins, having made the aquatic trip to the town hall once already. Once beside its flooded first floor, everyone quaffs their pair of potions, no small feat while underwater and Niss, grabbing a pebble from the lake-bottom, uses the first of the spell-skulls to create a zone of silence around it. After a brief period of confusion, being denied sight or sound of one another, the party manages to regroup and climb onto the boardwalk, which they find stained with ogre blood, but otherwise empty. Not pausing to wonder what might have happened to such large bodies, the four work their way up the stairs in single-file, keeping in contact with their neighbor with Naomi leading Adrian who in turn guides Niss who is closely followed by the youth.

The hobgoblins who once held the belltower have been restationed in the ogre’s absence. Six wield bows, but don’t look as if they’re expecting a fight. A seventh, appearing to be their commander, waits at the back near the open pit. Unlike the others, he holds a unusually large shield bearing the mark of the Red Hand and leans on the handle of an oversized warmace bearing dark stains from battles long past. Opting to stay hidden for the time being, Naomi carefully leads the group past the guards and down the stairs to the lower level. The two-headed giant still watches over the stairs, but doesn’t notice the quartet as they shuffle about the room. After a few false starts, Naomi leads the others over to the room she’d previously found empty and eases the door open. Inside, the goblin that slew Niss stands beside a table carefully working on his preserved giant bat. Beside him, a small eagle watches him work from its perch.

The goblin looks up when he sees the door open, but when it begins to shut on its own, his eyes go wide and he calls out, silently. Niss nudges Adrian into action. While her bastard sword doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of her enemies the way her massive greatsword did, her sudden appearance catches the goblin off guard and he winces in pain as it tears a gash in his arm. Naomi pops into view behind him and, with the aid of her elven quick-strike bracers, plunges her rapier into his flank with the utmost precision, dropping him to the floor. His eagle swoops from its perch to attack Adrian, and while it manages to take a small chunk out of her shoulder and dodge her swings for a few seconds, a single successful hit is all it takes to slice the goblin’s pet in two.

Niss calls out a taunt, but, being silenced and invisible, no one hears or sees it; nor, for that matter, does anyone try to stop Naomi as she slits her vanquished enemy’s throat precluding any chance to interrogate him.

The unnatural silence in the room lets them forget, for a time, that time is of the essence in their plan. Naomi check the goblin for valuables. While his equipment is too small for any of them, a key he carries unlocks the chest Naomi had been unable to open two nights before. Beneath several sacks of gold and silver, they find a small wooden and silver box. While the box is empty, save for a letter in goblin characters, unreadable to any one still living in the room, a velvet-lined depression in the box suggests it once held something the size of a child’s fist. Vaguely unsettled by what it once might have contained, Naomi decides to move on and uses her cloak to, once again, hide Adrian and herself from view.

In the other room, the giant still stands guard, oblivious to what has transpired. Adrian and Naomi, still riding high from their easy victory expect to make short work of the dumb brute. Niss, thinking a little more clearly quickly opens and shuts the door to gain their foe’s attention. As the giant stumbles over to the door, Niss ducks out of the way but plants the silenced pebble on him to keep him quiet should escape up the stairs. However, once he is away from his rag-filled corner, Adrian and Naomi let loose from opposite sides of him, flashing into view as their blades pierce his hide. A single powerful blow from the two-headed guard’s greatclub nearly loosens some of Adrian’s teeth; it was meant to crush her skull but only serves to make her angry. Her next strike leaves him dead on his feet. His club slips from his fingers, and he topples to one side; though he hits the floor silently, the whole room seems to shudder with the impact. Releasing her anger, Adrian reaches down and picks up his greatclub: a large but irregular chunk of a stone pillar once adorned with lions in the style of Rhest’s buildings. While crude, it has more heft than the elven bastard sword.

With Niss’s silenced pebble keeping the rest of the world quiet, there is little to distract the stealthy quartet as they boldly eye the door before them.
END SESSION 36

Session 37
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
After quickly downing a potion of Bull’s Strength, Adrian slams the door open and bursts into the room. Inside, the room is as Naomi described: while impeccably clean at the moment, many evil deeds have within its walls. While Adrian’s arrival doesn’t warrant so much as a glance from the goliath chained to the wall, she startles the cruel master of the chamber. Working herself into a righteous fury, she shouts to the leather-armored hobgoblin, “You are a traitor to the Doderan people!”, seemingly oblivious both to the fact that he is not Doderan and that he cannot hear her. While her allegation has little impact, her massive stone club leaves quite an impression as she strikes her crimson-garbed foe. He’s still reeling from the blow when the youth lobs a small fuzzy ball toward him; it erupts into the form of a powerful warhorse, which knocks him to the ground with its powerful hooves.

Niss invisibly darts in and starts rummaging through the unconscious hobgoblin’s clothes for magical trinkets while Adrian works to free her compatriot. However, the chain seems less intended to restrain the goliath than to support him; the stoic grey-skinned warrior ignores her efforts and slouches against the chain, thoroughly dazed and unaware of his surroundings. Adrian’s initial efforts to rip the chain from the wall prove fruitless, but before she can muster the strength for another try, her attention is drawn to the open doorway.

The head hobgoblin stands in the doorway looking surprised. Whatever reason he had for entering the room becomes secondary as he runs to Adrian and swings his heavy warmace. Adrian braces for impact, but with the bone-jarring thud comes an unexpected blinding light. As her eyes adjust she finds herself outside on the boardwalk. Looking up, she spots the elven owl-riders swarm about a furious dragon. Making her way back to the roof she finds the half-dozen hobgoblins firing volley after volley of arrows at the giant owls high above, wholly unprepared for the sudden appearance of an angry barbarian in their midst.

Meanwhile, in the interrogation room, the captain of the guard trades blows with Naomi and the youth’s magically summoned horse. The young sorceress herself, still invisible, has snuck past the hobgoblin into the hall, shutting the door behind her. Niss, also still invisible, rummages through the interrogator’s pockets for loose scrolls and wands, even as the once-feared fiend lies bleeding. While Naomi had some luck in catching the captain off guard after vanishing from sight long enough to strike, she finds his extremely large wooden shield near impossible to penetrate past when he can see her strikes coming. He, however, finds her similarly difficult to hit even when she is visible. Fortunately, the horse, relentlessly striking with its hooves, gradually wears him down until Naomi manages to find an opening; her needle-fine blade severs an artery and he drops to the floor, bleeding profusely. Unwilling to give its foe a slow death, the horse single-mindedly continues to beat on his fallen form, and within seconds, renders him unrecognizable.

Beyond the silent bubble that surrounds them, Adrian struggles with the half-dozen hobgoblins. While she caught them off-guard, her initial swing was wild and careless and only served to alert them to the danger they were in while wasting a charge on her Greatreach bracers. Thanking whatever dark gods they worship to still be alive, the nearest pair draw longswords while the others launch their volley of arrows at Adrian instead of the owlriders, but their thanks is premature. With her magically enhanced reach, Adrian regains her confidence by depriving a hobgoblin of his legs with a heroically powerful swing and by bisecting a further pair with another mighty slice.

The remaining archers are further threatened when the youth, peering around the top of the stairway, summons another silvery hippogriff behind them. While it doesn’t drop its target, it tears long gashes through his armor with its long talons and beak. Unprepared for melee combat, two take their chances at lodging arrows into it at point blank range, but one is barely left standing after the majestic beast viciously chastises him for being so careless before it. His ally, preoccupied by the carnage before him, suddenly spasms and drops to the ground; the youth, appearing for the first time since entering the town hall, saw fit to give him a lethally painful shock, nearly drains her Lightning Gauntlets in the process. While she keeps her distance, uncomfortable with being finally exposed, her hippogriff and Adrian make short work of the remaining hobgoblins.
END SESSION 37

Session 38
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
As the last hobgoblin drops, Adrian looks up. Three of the owls are quickly retreating toward the shoreline, some without riders, but something else is missing from the sky; she calls out, “Hey, where’s the dragon?”

Coming in low and fast, as summoned by her question, the black beast soars over the ruined wall and slams into her side, knocking her into the pit. She makes a desperate grab for the edge, but cannot reach it, and plunges into the waters below. In the instant before she goes under, she catches a glimpse of a sizable treasure the dragon had amassed in the former library, but the vision lasts for the briefest of moments before she plunges beneath the surface of the lake.

To an outside observer, it would appear that the dragon found her fall side-splittingly hilarious, as, moments after the splash, the jet-scaled beast fell to the floor with raucous laughter. The youth, however, knows otherwise; a casting of Tasha’s Hideous Laughter finally ensnared her a dragon. She and her hippogriff approach their hysterical foe; piercing shrill screams briefly interrupt the roar of laughter as the hippogriff tears into its side.

In an instant, the noise stops. While the dragon is clearly still laughing, the room has gone silent. Niss, still invisible, decided to take a break from looting and come look for the others. As he left the lower room, however, Naomi heard something peculiar: the screeching of a razorfiend, like the one they fought in the swamp calling out, audible through the stone wall. She had heard it periodically call out in the past few days, but now something had it riled up. Inclined to investigate she darts upstairs, crashing into Niss, still invisible and paused at the top of the stairs. The sight of the dragon that had burnt her so many times nearly helpless on the ground blots out her curiosity; while the hippogriff tears at it with its talons and the youth bombards it with magical frost, she darts over and hastily shoves her blade at its side; while her thrust barely scratches the black scales, it feels good.

Niss, unwilling to trade his invisibility for a few quick stabs at revenge, moves to the top of the outer stairs to keep watch. From there he spots what had Naomi had heard: a pair of small green lizardfolk have managed to open the gate to the area beside the town hall ringed with a log-fence. They dive into the water beside the boardwalk a razorfiend emerges, stretching its small wings. While Niss, still holding the silenced pebble, cannot hear the dragon’s cries, the razorfiend can and starts to run towards the steps, but stops almost immediately. The zone of silence reaches almost to the pen’s door; suddenly deprived of its sense of hearing, the beast halts, and cocks its head. As it backs up and starts to circle around the town hall apparently hoping to pick up the trail again, but Niss, sprinting from the top of the steps, moves to keep it within the spell’s reach. When it moves, he moves. When it stops, he stops. Aware that, were it not for his continued invisibility, he’d be dead within moments, Niss takes great care not to tip off the razorfiend to his presence.

Out of sight of Niss’s dangerous dance, Adrian has climbed out of the water and into the dragon’s den. She calls out, “Need any help up there?” but hears no answer. She doesn’t hear the question either, for that matter, but fails to notice as her attention is fixed on the treasure around her. In her blood-lust, she barely sees the pile of gold as her attention is drawn to a large hammer leaning against the wall. Affixed to the end of a long steel haft sits a massive stone block. Unlike the rest of the treasure trove, the stone greathammer was not made in Rhest; it sits hundreds of miles from the Goliath weapon-smiths who had shaped steel and stone into a tool that could crush an enemy’s shield or skull with unparalleled ease. Picking it up, Adrian feels a slight vibration in the handle and can faintly hear a distant battle cry echo from within it.

Remembering her friends, and the dragon that had knocked her into the water to begin with, she runs upstairs and spots the others cutting the once majestic beast to ribbons.; Naomi withdraws her dripping rapier from deep within its flank just before Adrian slams her hammer down. Unmuffled by Niss’s aura, the sound of the dragon’s bones breaking is sickening. The youth tries to follow up with an orb of cold, but it fizzles on the dragon’s scales without effect. Her hippogriff has better luck cutting deep and exposing bone, but even as its beak closes on the beast’s neck, than it fades away as its time on this plane comes to an end. Naomi and Adrian both try to finish it off, but the long fight has tired them both, and Adrian appears to shrink in stature as her fatigue calms her. Fortunately, the sorceress, displaying youthful perseverance, slams a final orb of cold directly into the broken beast’s skull. Desperate laughing, lessened by a collapsed lung, slowly shudders to a stop as its eyes frost over.

Naomi, sensing the battle to be over, lays claim to its skin, but her words fade into silence and she feels a frantic tugging on her sleeve. Niss, struggling to keep ahead of the panicked razorfiend, has run back to his allies to warn them, and not a moment too soon. As Naomi points, the others look to the entryway as the dragon-spawn surveys the scene, acid dribbling from its jaw. Naomi draws her rod of Viscid Globs, takes aim, and lobs a sticky green orb through the air, but it stops abruptly, far short of its target; Niss, invisible but clearly marked by the mass of sticky ooze covering his torso, runs off to the far corner of the room behind the pit.

Triggering her black leathery bracers, Adrian pulls her newfound hammer through a huge arc in the air slamming it down in the space that the razorfiend had occupied just moments before. While designed by her people, the Greathammer was not Adrian’s weapon of choice when training, an oversight she now regrets. The youth scrambles over the corpse of the dragon and ducks into the stairwell, healing Adrian with her belt so as to not lose her best defense, and not a moment too soon.

The green and gangly foe leaps forward and vomits forth a spray of acid, badly burning Adrian and Naomi. While the barbarian manages to weather the blast, the burns are too much for Naomi and she drops to the ground, unconscious but badly wounded. Adrian activates her armor, hoping her blurred outline might save her skin, and runs over to the razorfiend. Its long sinewy neck lets it draw first blood on Adrian, but at close range she manages to bring her new greathammer’s power to bear cracking its ribcage and shattering its dorsal spines.

Behind her, the young sorceress bolsters the barbarian with the Staff of Life and borrows one of her less-than-secure potions to help revive Naomi. Still entangled, Niss tosses the silenced pebble over the wall behind him and into the lake, though the splash is inaudible. As the sounds of battle wash over him, he carefully makes his way along the rim of the pit and heals Naomi with his wand, reviving her. Her eyes open to the sight of the beast focusing its fury upon Adrian, slashing at her with serrated wingtips and snapping at her with its jaws. Adrian tries to counter with her greathammer, but still lacks the skill with it. Naomi, frail but wanting to help, uses her belt to heal and calls upon her feral heritage before nimbly ducking past the beast.

Niss drains his healing belt on Adrian, hoping to keep her on her feet long enough to finish off the dragon-spawn. The youth, however, changes tactics and takes a more proactive step, drawing another silvery hippogriff from its native plane to hers right beside the razorfiend. While it slashes at the unnatural creature, its claws have little effect. Its presence does little to draw the razorfiend’s focus as it continues its flurry of attacks against Adrian, missing occasionally due to her blurring form, but still dealing blows that would eviscerate a lesser champion. However, once Niss begins his long absent inspirational chants, the battle is all but over. Attacking from all angles, the motley band makes quick work of the frenzied foe, dropping it with a final icy orb from the youth.

A more natural silence settles upon the town hall as the quartet rest in the aftermath. The youth scours the dragon for anything worth taking; a ring from one of its talons looks useful to her, but an amulet nestled between scales on its long neck isn’t worth more than what it’ll bring at market. While Naomi starts to remove the dragon’s scaly hide, which she’d prematurely claimed earlier, others lay claim to other trophies: Niss to its teeth, and the youth to its horns. Naomi continues in her difficult task as Adrian returns to the dragon’s treasure room, followed by the floating mass of ooze that is all that’s visible of Niss. He watches as she crams armor, jewels, and gold alike into her bag of holding. When the room is nearly empty save for ruined shelves that might once have held ancient texts, Niss asks for a small iron box Adrian doesn’t have much interest in. Inside he finds a small fetish made of lion’s teeth and claws on a thin adamantine chain, which he quickly dons, against the advice of that small voice in the back of his head,

After a time, Adrian’s avarice abates and she remembers her imprisoned co-expatriate in the other room. She and Niss, and eventually Naomi and the youth, find their way back to the goliath prisoner. He appears just as they left him, leaning against the chain that holds him to the wall, eyes half-open, and unresponsive. The youth carefully gives him the healing potion she had lifted off of Adrian earlier, and while it helps close some minor lacerations, likely the work of the hobgoblin lying on the floor a few feet away, he still appears lost within somewhere. While the others discuss their options, she digs through the belongings of the torturer; while Niss already had his pick of assorted potions and a Heward’s handy haversack, the youth pockets his torture implements, though without a clear intention of using them, and finds three small paper packets of powder. Naomi asks to see the latter; her keen eye and her years as a rogue allow her to identify the contents as doses of striped toadstool poison. Between the two of them, they surmise that the goliath prisoner might have some of the same in his system, clouding his mind.

Unsure how to purge the poison from his system, they decide to wait and ask the elves. Before they return, however, Naomi, Niss, and the youth borrow one of the small boats to check the bell tower for valuables and any remaining hobgoblins. Adrian stays behind to watch over her helpless friend-to-be.
END SESSION 38

At long last, four of the missing sessions see the light of day. These date from April 9th to May 28th. Sessions 39, 40 and 41 should be finished soon.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 39
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
Niss, Naomi and the youth find the old bell tower to be deserted, it’s former inhabitants slaughtered atop the town hall barely half an hour past. The old iron bell lies half submerged in the waters below the first floor, contrary to the clamber raised in the battle the day before. As the trio explores the empty barracks, they find little treasure. A key the youth found on the captain of the guard opens a chest that had foiled Naomi on her initial scouting of the tower. Inside they find several small bags of gold coins as well as a pair of Potions of Fly. Naomi gathers what papers she can, hoping to learn more of the Red Hand’s plans, hoping to decipher them in time. Disappointed by the otherwise mundane and malodorous pickings, they do not linger long, and paddle back to Adrian who stands stalwartly by the drugged Goliath.

Having had more time to think, the youth considers that her Staff of Life may be able to heal Adrian’s clansman. Standing before him, she concentrates and drains the magic from the staff; what once was a powerful magical tool is now little more than a gilded walking-stick. Infused with its energy, the goliath inhales deeply and his eyes begin to refocus. As his gaze passes over those gathered before him his gray mottled brow furrows in confusion, but his tension abates slightly as his eyes settle on Adrian. While he does not appear to recognize her, the sight of one of his own comforts him, as does the pair of hobgoblin corpses sprawled on the floor.

He blinks hard and, after clearing some of the cobwebs from within his troubled head, introduces himself as Iavith Thaumalun, known as “Peak-Watcher” among the Goliaths. While his face was unfamiliar, Adrian recognizes his honorific; “Peak-Watcher” is a respected scout from her clan, but was rarely seen among his clansmen. Having spent little time among his people, he does not recognize Adrian, but knows her to be of his clan. As he and Adrian work together to undo his chains, he tells his rescuers of how he came to be among the Red Hand in the middle of a swamp.

He had been scouting for the main encampment of a tribe of gnolls who had been encroaching on his people’s territory in the Kakidela Mountains. After months of hunting, he found success, and a surprise. The gnolls had established a large and well-protected village on a plateau halfway up the Aggar Rise. Wanting to be sure before reporting home, he stayed and observed the tribe’s movements for several days from a sheltered crack in a tall peak. On the fourth day, a blood red winged shape dropped from above the clouds directly toward the village. As it pulled out of the dive barely above their rooftops, a dozen houses burst into flame. Within minutes, the village and mountain were burning and a few fleeing gnolls were all that remained of the tribe. While a few survivors were hunted down, Iavith hurried back to report what he had seen.

Not long after he returned home, a powerful hobgoblin came to the village asking to meet with the village elders. Calling himself Wyrmlord Kharn, he claimed responsibility for the destruction of the gnolls and offered an alliance. If the goliaths of Dodera would join him and his army of the Red Hand in his conquest of the Elsir Vale and the lands beyond, he could offer them vast swaths of territory and protection from any who would stand against them. Iavith cautioned the elders against taking up with Kharn, feeling that what he had seen was an omen of Vanua and that siding with the Red Hand would only lead to hardship and woe. However, Kharn’s show of strength won over the elderly leadership. Suspecting that Iavith might seek to undermine the alliance, Kharn requested that he personally aid the war effort as a scout for their operations in the swamps of Rhest. Shortly after he arrived, he was ensorcelled and drugged. In the weeks since, he had been interrogated about his people’s abilities.

Adrian is sure that his testimony will persuade the leaders to split from the Red Hand, but Iavith doubts that they will care much about what he says; he once was respected, but now he would be seen as weak and a failure. He commends her for putting his greathammer to good use; having been disarmed and captured, he no longer feels worthy of it. Not wanting to leave him without a weapon, Adrian leaves Iavith with her comrades while she makes a quick search of the waters around the town hall, hoping to find the greatsword she once wielded.

While resting for a moment, Iavith beckons to Niss. He confides that while captive, he had heard news of the war; some time ago the short goblin made mention of a tribe of catfolk that had been enslaved. While he himself was not involved, the shame on his face makes clear that he believes that his people were responsible.

Adrian returns triumphant and, after taking her Life-Drinker crystal from the pommel, she hands the greatsword to Iavith. While he still believes he has little chance of success, he vows to seek them out in their march to the front lines and do what he can to dissuade them. He recommends that Adrian wait before doing the same, telling her that only with strength and authority can she hope to change her people’s mind. Before parting, they exchange scrapings from their lithoderms, small hard bone growths on their thick skins; while neither expects to meet a mage who could let one communicate with the other, both see the wisdom in being prepared and feel that every bit could help.

After he departs, Adrian reluctantly returns with the others to the elves, though she wishes she could have traveled with Iavith to see her people once more. For reasons that elude the others, Naomi diligently disguises their passing as they trek through the swampy undergrowth to Starsong Hill.

Location: Starsong Hill
The Tiri-Kitor receive them, but do not share their sense of triumph; the village is in a state of mourning. Four elves died from their wounds the night before, and another while distracting the dragon in the final assault. While Killiar seems relieved when they tell him of their success, there is still sorrow in his eyes. Naomi and Adrian circulate among some of the mourners to pay their respects and apologize for their mistakes that led to this tragedy. Naomi gives the leadership of the Tiri-Kitor the pelts she took from the Goblin’s quarters for which she is politely thanked.

Sellyria thanks them for finishing what they had started with the Red Hand and pledges that as the lizardfolk collapse into infighting again, she will send support to Brindol to defend against the massing army. While she is pleased to be rid of the local threat, she seems eager to see the adventurers go as well and asks that horses be provided to speed them on their way.

Before departing from Starsong Hill, the four make good on their debts, though it takes much of the treasure they took from the Red Hand to pay for the potions that made that victory possible. As the horses are prepared, Naomi searches around for an elf who might translate the goblin papers she took, but none know the gutter language. One does, however, approach Niss to confront him about his new piece of jewelry. To Niss’s surprise, the elf, Illian Snowmantle, Tiri-Kitor healer and cleric, explains that the charm is no mere bauble, but a phylactery, a box containing part of the life-force of a powerful mage. He suggests, noting it’s composed of the teeth and claws of lions, that it belongs to the Ghostlord, the lich of the Thornwastes. Adrian, in an unexpected moment of moral righteousness, demands that Niss destroy it. She ignores Naomi’s suggestion that it might be more useful intact if they can find out more. Readying her greathammer, she raises her voice to a high shrill tone threatening that she would destroy it whether Niss removes it from his neck or not. Niss, however, is unflappable and tells her so. “I have been to the other side and back again. I have nothing to fear in this existence.” Her bluff called, Adrian can do little but stand down.

Eager to see them depart before more trouble is caused, Killiar hurries over with horses in tow. He returns the youth’s dark-grey riding horse to her and gives the others each a comparable mount: to Niss, a small but hearty bay; to Adrian, a powerful Clydesdale; and to Naomi, a sleek black stallion. As he guides them back to the Old North Road, he informs them that the Tiri-Kitor’s distant scouts last spotted the Red Hand just outside of Terrelton a few days ago. If the four of them take the road back down south, they can get to Brindol and be relatively safe, but the horde is expected to reach the city within three weeks. Alternatively, should they go the other way and circle around to the west side of the lake, they might be able to undermine the horde from behind their lines. After leading them back to the road, he bids them farewell, and quickly disappears back into the woods.

Finding a significant choice before them, the quartet begins to argue. Adrian, wishing she could have left with Iavith, want to find the goliath war council, but doesn’t know where to look. Naomi hopes that they can still find her son, but realizes that the trail died with the goblin ranger; however she clings to the hope that his letters may provide some clue. Niss, on the other hand, wants to find the Ghostlord in the Thornwastes to the south in the hope that he can be turned against the Red Hand. While he doesn’t know the exact destination of the lich’s lair, he feels they have a better chance of finding it than the band of goliaths. Adrian is on the verge of striking out on her own, but Naomi persuades her to stick with the rest of them as path ahead is dangerous and the council may be found on the way.

Together, for the moment, they start off to the far side of the lake. As they ride, Naomi buries herself in the work of learning the goblin language from the papers she stole.
END SESSION 39

Session 40
Location: Rhest
Having ridden to the far side of the lake, the party begins on the long road south. Making camp for the night, Niss thinks back to the maps they examined in Drellin’s Ferry and realizes that their path will take to the Skull Gorge Bridge. Wyrmlord Koth’s maps didn’t show what forces would remain at the bridge once their campaign began, but Adrian hopes to test her might against the green dragon’s once more.
In the morning’s light, Naomi has a breakthrough in her studies and translates the small lightly perfumed letter found in the small otherwise empty box in the goblin’s room:

Saarvith –
Take great care with the enclosed phylactery. I need not explain to you what the Ghostlord would do if he knew where I had sent his little bauble for safekeeping. Hide it somewhere safe – perhaps it could be trusted to your dragon friend’s keeping? Keep it hidden until Brindol is taken. Should it fall into the hands of someone who could return it to its owner, the consequences for our effort could be dire indeed.
Ulwai

With a renewed sense of certainty in his mission, Niss leads the others south. Even Adrian seems won over by the short note. Before long, they spot a blockade, much like the one they had seen the week before when heading to Rhest. Confident in their well-practiced ruses, Adrian leads the small band up to the front gate of the reinforced log structure. Speaking loudly, but in the tongue of her people, she has Naomi translate as best she can into Goblin. She declares that she was sent by the Goliaths with these three slaves to aid her in inspecting the Red Hand’s might in the flooded city of Rhest. To everyone’s relief, the hobgoblins seem fairly slow-witted and, believing their story, allow them to pass without incident.

On the road, Adrian tells Naomi of her people and ponders how best she might persuade her people. Thinking back to Iavith’s tale; while the elders had not been persuaded by his omens of Vanua, a harbinger of woe, perhaps they might be more receptive to symbols of Kavaki, a mythical guardian of the goliath people. While she herself has never believed the stories to be true, she asks Naomi if she thinks if wearing a pair of ram’s horns when appearing before her people might impress them. Naomi, being fairly diplomatic herself, suggests an alternative: if she paints the site of each of their battles with his mark, her people may see and hear of her power long before she confronts them.

Traveling further south, they pass a road that forks off to the west. Before it, the old road looks little used, but after it, the dirt is packed down from the passing of thousands of boots. More worried about the boot's destination, rather than their origin, the party does not investigate the western road further.

Location: Skullgorge Bridge
The bridge is visible from half a mile away. While the southern bank is wooded, the northern bank is bare, giving those in the watchtowers a clear view to the North. From where the quartet stop, Naomi can spy the glint of armor in the towers, and the sinewy shape of a dragon curled atop as before, but there is no sign of the tents that had housed the reserve guard when last she saw the bridge. Not expecting the dragon to fall for a simple ruse, the four prepare for battle. Approaching at a brisk pace, Naomi tosses Adrian a potion she picked up in Rhest. She grabs it but holds off on using it; instead she draws on her Amulet of Tears and downs a potion of Bull Strength. Niss casts Expeditious Retreat on himself, but keeps pace with the others and begins a chant to inspire his comrades.

As the dragon uncoils from the top of the tower, Naomi activates her cloak so as to avoid another direct fight with it. Niss, apparently eager for one, boldly shouts out “Leave now or die!” While his threat isn’t taken seriously at first, but, once Adrian rages and quaffs Naomi’s potion of Mirror Image, the dragon takes flight. When last it fought Adrian, it had frightened her off, but not before she wounded it badly; now faced with seven furious and towering barbarians the dragon appears deeply unsettled.

With the tower tops clear, Naomi shifts and activates her new scaly elven boots. With a sudden burst of speed she scampers up the side of the eastern watchtower positioning herself just behind a hobgoblin archer. He fires at the approaching barbarian horde, popping one of Adrian’s illusions, but as he looses, Naomi stabs him through the heart and shoves his body from the tower. His counterpart in the western tower hits the real Adrian, but barely scratches her thick gray skin. Arches at the other two towers, alerted to the threat loose arrows at Naomi, but both fly wide.

The young sorceress calls a silvery hippogriff from its native plane in the hopes of harrying the dragon in his flight, but the noble beast is unable to so much as scratch the flying lizard. Niss, meanwhile, runs past Adrian’s illusory army to hide at the base of the western watchtower, keeping an eye on the dragon’s movements with a spell at the ready. Adrian mutters her bracer’s command word, but otherwise waits for the dragon to make its move.

As predicted, the lithe green terror swoops fast and low so as to douse all of Adrian’s doppelgangers in its caustic breath. It opens its dripping maw, but, at the last moment, the catfolk catches his eye. Niss’s magic released, the dragon veers toward him with a sudden rage. In its furious folly, it swings low above the barbarians it forgot and twice Adrian’s hammer finds it and twice she smashes its wings. It clumsily lands but manages to grab Niss tightly in its jaws and squeeze.

Naomi, aiming to help but keeping her distance from the beast, vaults from one tower to the other and slashes at the other archer, but as he is better able to defend himself, she merely slashes at his off arm. He looses the arrow he had notched, but it misses her and he pays for his poor judgment with another nasty slash. Slow to learn, he draws his sword, for which she draws his blood a third time and slashes at her. While he finally draws blood, her riposte stops his heart.

Still keeping her distance from the towers, but not eager to see Niss suffer, the youth tries another well-practiced spell, but fails to make the dragon laugh. Her hippogriff moves in close and lands behind the dragon while Adrian’s army converge on him. As one they swing and swing again leaving the once fearsome foe a dazed and broken beast nearly ready to fall. Niss, released from its jaws, jumps back a few feet and tries to hit it with a bolt from his crossbow, but misses. Barely able to stand, it turns to face its attackers and sprays them with acid as it had meant to before dropping to the ground. The hippogriff takes the worst of it, though all the Adrians cringe from the minor burns.

Intent on leaving no one alive, Adrian and the hippogriff race to the other end of the bridge to deal with the other arches. The youth’s winged servant makes short work of its mark, but Adrian is robbed of her target before she reaches the top of the tower: having seen what the gray giants did to the dragon, the hobgoblin quickly tries to clamber down the tower, but makes a mess of it and falls to the ground. The hippogriff swoops down and finishes him before Adrian reaches the empty top of her tower.

While the bloodthirsty duo race about at the far end of the bridge, Niss practices with his dagger against the fallen dragon. To his frustration, its hide is tougher than he can pierce. Naomi, having descended from the tower, watches him make attempt after failed attempt, snatching trinkets from it between his strikes, but she quickly tires of watching the beast bleed out from where broken bones pieced its side and finishes it with a flourish.

After the hippogriff fades away and Adrian’s decoys pop out of existence, the quartet pause and rest for a moment. Naomi takes what she can from the dragon, including any patch of undamaged hide; she keeps an Amulet of Health it wore, but tosses Niss its Bracers of Armor, figuring he might have need of them if he plans to taunt another dragon. Adrian takes a different trophy from the beast. With great handfuls of thick green blood she crudely paints a pair of ram’s horns on the bridge’s towers.
END SESSION 40

Session 41
Location: The Witchwood
Across the bridge, the quartet find themselves back in the Witchwood, once again traveling toward Drellin’s Ferry. However, they find the forest much changed. While the trail wasn’t particularly well kept before, it now lies in near ruin. Large trees have been felled to block the path and clusters of large boulders sit half buried in craters as if thrown with unfathomable force, all suggesting a running battle between the Red Hand and Warklegnaw’s people. A few dead hobgoblins lie crushed beneath the logs and stones, stripped of equipment by the rest of the horde and stripped of flesh by the creatures of the Witchwood. Further along, they find a larger beast pinned beneath a tree that stands taller than Adrian even when felled. Its wings are broken and from the dark stain on the trail it looks to have lost a lot of blood, but the predators of the forest have been kept at bay by the fearsome cry by its not one, but three heads, each twisted evilly beyond their natural look: a mane-less lion, a horned goat, and a white dragon. To the surprise of all and none, the young sorceress declares that she wants it as a pet. Adrian, however, takes the wiser course of action and puts it out of its misery. Naomi glances up from the goblin texts long enough to suggest Adrian might want to take the goat’s horns before moving on. While the goat’s horns are long and twisted unlike the sturdy tight spiral of Kavaki’s ram’s horns, Adrian sees the wisdom in hanging on to them until a better option presents itself.

Before getting to the southern boundary of the forest, Naomi, more skilled with the tight Goblin runes every day, deciphers another of the notes from Rhest:

Wyrmlord Saarvith –
Yesterday we saw a small band try to retake Skullgorge Bridge. While they fled before our might, others may try again. I ask that you consider sending more men to your blockades. Soon we will march and these lands will fall to the Kulkor Zhul, but they should not know our strength until we strike.
Your humble servant,
Sergant Krusk

Naomi’s note brightens the party’s spirits as only an unheeded warning from one vanquished foe to another can do. However, as they reach the edge of the forest, an unhappy sight greets them.

Location: Drellin's Ferry
Drellin’s Ferry no longer has a ferry, nor much of anything else. Dozens of wooden buildings have been turned into piles of ash and the sturdy town hall is little more than pile of broken rock. A few smaller buildings at the edge of town have a wall or two intact, but little else of the town stands above shoulder-height. The horde did build one thing amid the destruction they wrought: a bridge. Logs from the witchwood crudely lashed together now provide passage from one bank of the Elsir River to the other. While it won’t likely survive a strong storm, it was sufficient to bring the Red Hand into the Vale. As the party crosses they find it crudely adorned with the heads of the enemies of the Red Hand. Those of a dozen or so humans who stayed and fought as well as the larger skulls of the forest giants run the length of the bridge, giving off an unbearable stench.

While they aren’t eager to stick around, night is fast approaching and smoke along the eastern road suggests they won’t find a safe resting place further along. They set up camp in one of the few stone structures that still offers a modicum of protection by the edge of town near a copse of trees while Niss mutters searching for a way to dramatically describe the fate of Drellin’s Ferry. He offers to take first watch and keeps toying with words as the others rest. Eventually he rouses Naomi for her shift and doses off as well.

Shortly before dawn, Naomi catches a glimpse of something moving stealthily between trees near their ruined shack, and then another, and another. She sets aside her goblin papers, and quietly rouses the others in time for them to hear a mighty war-whoop. Adrian, rightly expecting a fight, draws on her Amulet of Tears and blurs her armor before picking up her hammer. The young sorceress, thinking quickly, peeks around the edge of a wall and creates a glowing human shape out in the woods. While it does not confuse their foes, it does illuminate them. Two small groups of hobgoblins, lead by several hairy gray-blue creatures are approaching the party while another pair of hobgoblins are laying low a little further off with bows ready. Their escort looks like wolves, but darkly twisted; the front limbs seem almost human but with long claws, and instead of having a long snout, their faces are flatter and bear some resemblance to the hobgoblins beside them.

Niss, still a little bleary eyed, is quick to start up with a quiet inspirational chant, though he draws his crossbow in case the chant isn’t enough. A pair of arrows hit the ruins near the youth. Eager to reply, Naomi pulls out a vial she’d held in reserve. Taking careful aim, she lobs the vial of Silken Fire at the nearest group and catches a pair of hobgoblins and their two escorts in the blast. The forest lights up as a wide circle is suddenly covered in sticky burning goo. One of the wolf-like creatures grabs onto two of its neighbors and suddenly disappears, reappearing with them just a few feet from a large hole in the wall of the ruins. The one looks a little winded, but the other howls mournfully at the motley band within; its cry dampens Niss and Adrian’s spirits, though the others seem to just shrug it off. Even feeling a bit down, Adrian is ready to fight. She triggers her bracers and brings the fury as she slams her greathammer into the nearest hobgoblin with immense force. His armor crumples and his bones shatter as the hammer hits him and slams his body into one of the wolf-creatures. She swings again, but clumsily and hits only air.

Suddenly confronted with the other attack force jaunting into existence before her, the youth hastily summons her trusty silvery hippogriff. With a fast talon slash, it opens up the belly of one of the hobgoblins that had menaced her and halts the others in their tracks. Niss moves from his corner to see the others and dazes the other hobgoblin by the hippogriff while hiding behind the noble beast. It dutifully serves as a shield moments later when two long arrow shafts appear embedded in its hide. Watching as its team crumbles before it, the wolf-creature gives a mournful howl, but neither the youth nor her summoning are bothered by it. Defiantly she lobs a frosty orb at its stubby upturned nose, frosting over much of its face as it howls in pain. The hippogriff makes a few poor swings at the wolf-creature, but is nearly dropped by a lucky strike by the hobgoblin, having recovered from Niss's magic. Not content to simply re-daze it, Niss lodges a crossbow bolt in the soldier's shoulder.

Naomi, meanwhile, draws her rapier and prepares to help Adrian deal with her attackers, but they seem less determined by the moment. The one she wounded slinks off back into the woods, while the other covers the retreat by lunging at Adrian. While it lands a weak bite on her, she lands two mighty blows on it with her greathammer and nearly reduces it to a pulp. Naomi lunges forward to finish it off skewering it from eye to heart, hitting several other major organs between.

As it falls, the remaining survivors turn and flee. One, who had been left behind in the burning sticky goo, had just barely made it out of the mess Naomi had made when he sees his surviving allies turn tail. He has only a moment to turn and do the same before a towering gray barbarian emerges from the ruins and flattens him with a single mighty swing of a greathammer. As the last of the hobgoblins retreat into the trees, Niss calls out “run back and tell your fools to not attack us anymore! We’re gonna have the lich guy with us!” despite Adrian’s insistent shushing.

After things quiet down, Naomi shares the note she'd been working on when the hobgoblins attacked:

Nurklenak –
Request DENIED. Further contact with the lich is ill advised. He barely tolerates our presence as it is. You will have to learn your dark secrets from another. Do not, under any circumstances, come within 100 miles of The Thornwaste with the phylactery. His obedience is too valuable to risk on your curiosity. After Brindol, you may experiment with one of his creations, but you will not meet him, for all our sakes.
Ulwai

As the sun is nearly up, the party prepares to travel on rather than rest further.
END SESSION 41

I could not tell from my notes whether or not Adrian painted the site of the hobgoblin midnight ambush with the symbolic ram horns or not. If so, I can either edit this journal or have it start the next.

That said...caught up for the first time since April! Huzzah!

Edit: P.S. I may revise the goat/ram horn section more in the players' favor. Some depictions of the Chimera's goat head have bland straight horns, some have them as long and twisted like Twizzlers and others look like the the artist thought it was supposed to be a ram instead.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Session 42
Location: The Ruins of Rhest
The sun crests the eastern horizon, bringing to light the night’s skirmish. Adrian spends a few minutes painting rams horns with the blood of those she slew as the others prepare for the day. Scouting about the periphery of their camp, Niss feels a sharp, but minor, pain as a small pebble catches his temple. Looking to see where it came from he finds, hiding among the undergrowth, another catfolk who apparently had been trying to catch his eye.

Whispering and taking care to not be seen by the others, she introduces herself as Masara. While she isn’t particularly familiar to Niss he knows her to be of his tribe, but she recognizes Niss as her prince and seems quite relieved to have found him. What she tells him confirms Iavith’s tale: some time after Niss left the goliaths came with overwhelming force. They had not sought treasure, territory or carnage, just the capture and enslavement of the catfolk. Splitting the tribe up, they began using the women of the tribe as scouts, while keeping the children and the men of the tribe hidden away as hostages to ensure their obedience. While she has heard rumor that the men were sent to a powerful lich, there has been no word on where the children were taken.

Niss, eager to introduce Masara to the others, persuades her to tell them what she told him. While she appears extremely uneasy around Adrian, Niss assuages her fears and explains that Adrian was not among the goliaths of those who attacked their kin and, in fact, would like to persuade them to turn from their current path. Adrian asks if Masara knows where the goliaths are camped out. She tells Adrian that they are camped out in the hills near Nimon’s Gap, but she cannot risk leading them there; betraying the goliaths so openly would put the rest of the tribe at risk. However, she suggests that if she has a little time to prepare, she might arrange for them to find the camp through other means. Naomi requests that in the mean time, Masara spread false reports, so as to make their operations easier. Adrian also asks that she tell the clan of the ram’s horns markings that have been cropping up, so as to better spread her reputation. Without meaning offense, she casually adds a condescending sexist remark, not realizing that among Niss and Masara’s people the women, not the men, are the more skilled warriors, a mistake the rest of her clan likely made as well. Niss suggests that she meet up with them in the ruins of Drellin’s Ferry in ten days time to continue working on an alliance behind enemy lines. Before Masara departs, Naomi asks if she has heard anything of her son or her father-in-law, but Masara hasn’t; her perspective on the war is quite limited.

The Thornwastes
As the sun rises higher in the sky, the four take their leave of the ruins of Drellin’s Ferry, and begin the journey south toward the Ghostlord’s fabeled lair. Over the course of the day, the fertile fields of the vale turn to dry dusty plains and then to rocky desert. Late in the afternoon, the party happens upon a small doorway in the side of a sandy hill. Dismounting to enter, they find a small dark chamber littered with bones. At the far end, a doorway leads deeper into the hill. Niss eagerly bounds down the thin hall looking for potential treasure, but as he enters a room at the far end, an immense lion emerges from the wall and slashes at him with a ghostly claw. He nimbly dodges out of the way and begins to chant, inspiring the others to action, but he doesn’t move away from the monstrous undead creature and pays for it dearly. While its translucent claw passes through him, leaving no visible damage, he feels weakened by its assault. Adrian, responding to the call of her little friend, charges down the hall filling it with her bulk, and furiously swings at the ghost with her goliath greathammer. Instead of passing through it as its claw did to Niss, the hammer collides with it as if it were still alive, appearing to tear muscle and shatter bone. The youth runs up behind Adrian and casts Mage Armor, so as to better defend against the apparition. Naomi tries to contribute, but the hallway is too thin for her to squeeze past her friends. Niss retreats to the far corner of the room, evading another swipe by the lion. It turns to face Adrian and gives her an eerie stare, but she shrugs it off and with another two swings of her mighty hammer, the ghost fades away into wisps of green mist.

With the danger past, Niss doesn’t waste a moment before rummaging through assorted items he finds on an altar at the far end of the room. He dividing it up according to usefulness: Adrian is given a Headband of Stout Heart, Naomi gets a Lesser Crystal of Stamina, the youth receives a pair of Boots of Landing, and Niss keeps a Lifting Belt; while he still feels weak, his equipment doesn’t feel as burdensome.

As the sun outside is low in the sky, the party leads their horses into the antechamber and prepares to rest for the evening. Unsettled by the assorted remains, Naomi gathers the bones up and takes them outside so as to give everyone, herself in particular, a little more peace of mind. While the horses are uneasy in the tomb, they eventually settle down.

In the morning, the four lead their mounts outside and resume their journey through the waste. While Niss’s knowledge of local lore says little about where the Ghostlord’s Lair is within the wastes, the party finds their path a simple, though not particularly straightforward one. Deep ravines and box canyons force long detours and even the clearest of trails are often choked with briars. Shortly after noon, they find their path narrowed by dozens of thick rock pillars forming a tight natural maze. While it might be possible to ride the horses through, dismounting and walking them through is judged wiser. Adrian leads the way, but, passing between two stony pillars, she finds herself entangled in thick webbing. As she pulls at her bonds, the vibrations carry and shake sand-dusted webbing throughout dozens of the stony passageways. Niss begins to chant, almost as a reflex, while Naomi runs over to cut Adrian free, but can’t completely sever the thick ropey strand. Beyond the webbing she hears a loud chittering, likely the monstrous creature that spun the webs.

The youth, a little more cautious, summons a small earth elemental, and sends it off to scout around while staying just beneath the surface. It doesn’t have far to go, however, for as Adrian pulls herself free of the remaining strands a monstrous spider, nearly half-again as tall as Adrian with legs as long as warship oars.

Lunging forward it plunges two fangs into Adrian’s shoulder. As it draws back, something thick and green oozes from the wound, but Adrian doesn’t seem bothered. Niss weaves to the side to get a better shot with his crossbow while Naomi, more tactically minded, shifts, activates her elven-made boots and scales the nearest pillar. From there she makes her way, leaping from each precarious pillar’s top to the next, until she stands directly above the spider.

Adrian takes a pair of mighty swings at the towering beast: the first cracks its chitinous armor, but the second lands between two of its many legs and only gives the sand a good thumping. The youth commands her elemental to disrupt the webbing between the spider and her as she throws a small puffball from her bag. A rhinoceros appears, springing forth from where the ball lands, and, lowering its horn, crashes into the spider, slamming it into the rocky pillar. Sensing the moment is right, Naomi leaps into the air and lands on the massive spider, driving her rapier through its head.

Taking care not to get stuck in the webbing, the youth sifts through some of the lair. She finds a few desiccated and well-wrapped carcasses, but nothing of worth. However, she takes a liking to the skull of a dire hyena and stores it away until such time as she can fashion it into a hat.

It takes nearly an hour to coax the horses through the stony maze, but as they reach the far side they find a welcome, but imposing sight. In the distance, atop a low hill, sits an immense stone lion, its head reaching nearly a hundred feet above the desert sands. The four cautiously ride closer. As they near, they spot what seems to be a small dark cave between its massive front paws, in the shade of its head.

The Ghostlord's Lair
Niss boldly rides closer, stopping in the shadow of its left paw before dismounting. Adrian and Naomi follow suit, but the youth cautiously stays on her horse. Expecting to meet a powerful lich eager to have his phylactery returned, Niss runs toward the gap between the lion’s paws calling out to his presumably happy host. Fortunately for him Adrian follows close behind as a chaperone of sorts, for while Niss may have notions of a glass-half-full visit to the lich, the drunk and surly dwarf named reality has smashed that glass over a countertop and is preparing to thrust the jagged end at the hapless bard.

Roused by the noise, an immense horned serpent slides out of the cave at the base of the great stone lion. As it slides onto the stairs, a dozen powerful legs unfold from beneath it as a pair of leathery wings unfurl from along its back. “Fools!” it bellows in a voice deep and unholy as its dorsal spines hum and crackle. A bolt of lightning leaps from its horns and strikes Niss in the chest, stopping just shy of Adrian. The catfolk drops to the ground, his body wracked by uncontrollable spasms.

Thinking quickly, the sorceress decides that the best defense isn’t a good offense, but instead a good chuckle. She contorts her hands into familiar but mysterious shapes and calls out a few arcane syllables from long dead languages; the beast’s outline seems to shimmer for a moment, as if trying to defy her power, but it succumbs like all those before it, falling to the ground convulsing with a sound so feral and foul that only those of the lower planes could call laughter.

Naomi darts in and drags Niss out of harm's way. His body is covered with a fine web of burns and while the cobalt-colored serpent can't hurt him, a strong sneeze could finish the bard off. Never one to complain about an unfair fight, Adrian runs up and begins to wail upon the nearly helpless beast. Eager to contribute to the slaughter, the youth rides closer and tosses another ball from her bag of tricks into the cave behind their foe. As before, a charging rhinoceros emerges and begins to crack and splinter its thick dark blue armor. Off to the side, Naomi eases Niss back to consciousness, but rewards the youth and Adrian working together with a boost from her Helm of Tactics.

While Adrian and the rhino continue to hammer the hysterical wyrm, a ladder drops from the lion's mouth high above and a trio of hobgoblins descend, keeping their distance from the burly barbarian. While more lightly armored than the rest of the horde, wearing the lightest of twisted silk padding, they are no less eager to fight, hitting the ground with falchions drawn. The youth summons a trusty celestial hippogriff among them, hoping to keep them occupied, but as it cuts one with a gleaming talon, the hobgoblin retaliates with a blast of flame, burning it badly.

While Niss groggily stands and works to heal himself, Naomi ducks from behind one of the stone paws and hits the nearest hobgoblin squarely in the chest. Adrian silences the blue serpent with a final mighty swing, crushing its skull, and turns to confront the newer livelier threat. Taking aim at the one Naomi stuck in place, she gives it a solid thwack with her greathammer, but not only does he stay standing, but she gets a face full of fire for her trouble just as the hippogriff had. Without missing a beat the same hobgoblin turns and beheads the hippogriff, which promptly fades away. Another that she had thought was out of reach swings its falchion and a line of flame extends from the tip, stretching out and singes her. The third, not content to focus on the obvious threat, looks to the youth as well and, making a glowing flourish with its blade, sprays the two of them with a burst of fire.

Niss, a little late to the battle, starts to chant hoping to inspire his allies from behind cover. Eager to end things quickly, the youth drags another hippogriff from its native plane into the fray and it promptly eviscerates one of the trio. Naomi takes aim at one of the remaining pair, and while she wounds him, he remains standing for the time it takes Adrian to take one more mighty swing with her greathammer. The two hobgoblins hit the ground, but parts of them continue to rain down for a few seconds after.

Wasting little time, the quartet looks around and scour the bodies for valuables; the rhinocerous trampled most of the great legged serpent save for a strand of seven black pearls it wore on one leg. Naomi searches through the cave it used as a nest, but she finds nothing but a musty mound of crushed nettles and a pile of bones.
END SESSION 42

Yeah, it's a bit late (wanted to double check my travel timeline notes). If anyone gets around to reading it before tomorrow's game, remind me about the hobgoblin's loot...or just tell me to check my game notes from last time for a few other helpful bits.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

"I enter a dormant thread on the Shiny Doom forums."

"Roll a listen check"

"Lets see, with the modifiers that's...a...23!"

"You hear the thunderous approach of an Eight Session Update!"

At long last, it’s here! Eight, yes, eight sessions presented in needlessly verbose repetitive prose that’s had a nasty run in with Thesaurus Rex!

That said, some small details are missing: I can’t find any notes on what Ulwai’s loot was (in Session 44) beyond what Niss got. I thought there was a weapon she didn’t use and few of the group would bother with but…I can’t find it now. If anyone can remember or my notes turn up, I’ll edit it in.

Also, Naomi, you are out of Fountainhead Arrows, right? According to the game journal, you bought one (1) in Bet Kalimar, then fired it three (3) times: at the first battle of Skull Gorge Bridge, to disable the bell in the swamps of Rhest, and to weaken the Lesser Bonedrinkers in the Ghostlord’s lair. Not sure about how the math on that worked out.

Session 43 – September 3rd – Twice Upon a Time

Location: The Ghostlord’s Lair

Disappointed by the treasure-less squalor of the serpent’s den, Naomi goes through the pockets of the hobgoblins. Unlike most they’ve encountered before, these are only lightly armored, but they were better trained than most. Each has a pair of potions strapped to their side. Naomi grabs one of each to examine more closely later while Niss crams the rest into his bag.

Niss looks up to the giant stone lion’s jaws, where the hobgoblins descended from, and calls out, “We’ve got the phylactery!” There’s no reply, but, as no more agents of the Red Hand drop to attack, he considers it a fairly good sign. Grabbing one of the ropes the monks left hanging, he climbs up, followed closely by Adrian and, eventually, after making sure the coast is clear, Naomi and the youth.

From the inside, the mouth of the massive lion forms a covered balcony lined with stone teeth, each nearly as tall as a man. At the back, where the lion’s throat would be, stands a pair of massive stone doors. Pressing his ear to them, Niss calls out again, but doesn’t hear anything from the other side. Opening the doors, he finds another chamber, empty and darker. The walls are adorned with carvings of humans being mauled by lions and other scenes depicting the inhospitable Thornwastes. At the far end stand another pair of stone doors. He repeats his call and, hearing no reply, he continues on. The next room is darker still, as the only light comes from beyond them through the lion’s mouth, so the youth casts a spell, illuminating both the Phylactery and a small pebble she picks up off the floor. While the room is now brightly lit, there is little to see save for a spiral stair leading downward, deeper into the stone lion.

Niss and Adrian both suggest that Naomi lead the way, as she is more adept at sneaking about. However, she argues that as she cannot see in the dark and the room below lacks any natural light, she would have to carry one of the objects the youth enchanted, which would negate any attempt at stealth. So, as before, Niss and Adrian lead the way with the others close behind.

At the bottom of the stairs, they find themselves in another poorly lit room. It is fairly empty save for a low stone bench; the wall above it is carved with the image of a lion mid-pounce. Two doors lead from the room. Adrian, skittish about having encountered so little resistance after entering the lich’s lair, activates her amulet of tears, preparing for the worst. Feeling unusually bold, Niss moves to open one of the doors.

As his hand touches the door, the party has a moment of insight, something they might later describe as a flash of future memories. Misty hallways, grasping hands emerging from stony walls, flashes of lightning and a dark room filled with broken bodies and burnt flesh silent save for the sound of a young girl’s hysterical laughter.

Not one to be dissuaded by the horrific visions, Niss throws the door wide open. A burning falchion narrowly misses him, singing his fur. Just inside the door stands a pair of hobgoblins, much like those that they fought outside, but nearly twice as large, crowding the doorway; a third stands just behind them waiting for his chance to strike Naomi fires off a quick bolt at them, but it grazes its target, barely leaving a scratch. Niss quickly ducks out of the way to just beside the door and begins to chant, hoping he can help his friends better by keeping out of danger.

From the other room, another voice begins to sing; while it is uncommonly beautiful, the tone is angry and violent. Those who understand the language of the hobgoblins hear a dirge of menace and doom with a particular fixation on dragon fire.

The youth, no more eager to directly engage in combat than Niss, tosses a puffball on the ground just in front of the door and a lion pops into existence slashing at the giant hobgoblins. When its claws tear into one of the hulks, fire erupts from the wound scorching the lion’s mane. Adrian downs a potion of bull’s strength she had kept for a rainy day and waits for her chance to act once the lion either slashes its way further into the room or falls in the attempt.

From the doorway, one of the giant monks appears to channel energy from his very being out to the tip of his blade where it erupts into flame engulfing the lion. Adrian and Niss, hiding behind the door, are also caught in the blast. However, the conjured flames are weak and barely singe those it touches. The other monk attacks without such flair when striking the lion, but his falchion seems to glow as if just pulled from a forge.

While Naomi looses another bolt at the pair, Niss decides he’s still far too close to the fight and runs for the other door to see if he can find anything of use elsewhere in the stone lion, taking his share of the magical light with him. As he sprints past, Naomi angrily smacks him, but he doesn’t slow down. In the other adjoining room, he finds little of immediate interest: while the room looks like it has seen more use than the foyers they’ve passed through thus far, the atmosphere is thoroughly unpleasant. A low stone table sticks out of the wall opposite the door; atop it sits an assortment of tools and bits of tissue. A shelf above it is cluttered with jars and urns containing unidentifiable samples from crudely performed dissections. A dark pit in the floor by the wall is too deep to see into clearly, but a spattering of blood about its rim and the stench wafting up suggest that its used for as a corpse disposal. The only other way out is a closed door on the left wall.

Meanwhile, Adrian catches a glimpse of the room beyond the brutes in the doorway and spots the source of the singing: a hobgoblin with long braided hair with bits of metal and ivory woven into it in a style not unlike Niss’. The bard fixes her piercing blue eyes on the barbarian and shrieks what sounds like a spell at her, but Adrian doesn’t feel any worse for it.

A hellhound pokes its head between the legs of the towering falchion-wielders and breathes fire out the door catching both the lion and Adrian. While the lion tears at the larger foes, Adrian, tired of getting burnt without getting a piece of the action, flies into a rage; squeezing alongside the lion, she takes a swing at one of the hobgoblins, smashing his skull against the wall. The other hobgoblin backs away from the door, eager to avoid the same fate. Naomi and the youth continue to fire crossbows through the doorway and manage to take down the hellhound.

Niss returns in time to see Adrian push the advantage and squeeze past the lion into the room. With the added reach from her bracers, she lets fly with her massive hammer and shatters the bones of two clerics, who she hadn’t seen from outside the door, and a second hellhound they’d likely just summoned. The lethal arc she traced out in the air stops with the retreating monk; while she hears his bones crack, he remains standing and channels his pain into a burst of flame that scorches the rampaging barbarian.

END SESSION 43

Session 44 – October 1st – The Specter of Lloyd Bentsen

Location: The Ghostlord’s Lair

Surrounded by the dead and dying, the two towering hobgoblins try to counter Adrian’s destructive advance. Each slashes at the rampaging barbarian with a massive glowing falchion.

Standing beside the doorway, Naomi can hear her ally cry out and crash to the floor. Stepping to the side, she reaches over and heals Adrian back to consciousness, though just barely. Niss runs into the doorway to heal Adrian further, knowing that, with her unsubtle approach to combat, a single healing belt’s boost won’t last long. Back behind the hobgoblins, the hobgoblin singer repeats the same shrieking magic, but Adrian shrugs it off, just as before.

Hoping to distract the hobgoblin’s arcane support, the youth summons a hippogriff past the front lines, right beside the singer. While it causes quite a commotion, its claws and beak fail to find their target. Her lion steps over Adrian, who still lies prone, and slashes at the two brutes, but is similarly unable to draw blood. Beneath the beast, Adrian reaches for her hammer and attacks while trying to avoid hitting her furry cover. She breaks both of one attacker’s legs, dropping him to the floor, but she can’t quite reach the other in the same awkward swing.

He, in turn, swings his glowing falchion and disembowels the lion; Adrian cringes, expecting viscera to rain down onto her, but the summoned beast simply fades away. With the entryway to the room clearer, Naomi triggers her cloak, disappearing from view, leaps over Adrian and slips around to the other side of the last of the brawlers. Niss keeps out of view beside the door, but heals Adrian a little further, fearful that his stalwart protector came so close to death. Adrian, eager to see this fight ended, swings wildly from her place on the floor, and smashes the last of the massive hobgoblins against the wall.

The hobgoblin bard continues to sing and, with a particularly high note, Niss and Adrian cringe in pain, cover their ears and wait for it to pass. While focusing on her music, the hobgoblin was unable to properly defend herself against the hippogriff’s talons and pays for her efforts with a nasty slash across her upper arm. Another appears behind her and though it has the advantage the youth’s new summons fails to draw blood. Naomi, however, is able to catch her off guard, seeming to appear out of thin air with her rapier sticking into the singer’s chest.

While the wound is not fatal, it is enough to take the fight out of her. She throws up her hands in defeat, but still adopts a commanding tone when she demands, “Why have you come here? Have you brought my phylactery back to me?” Naomi, Adrian and the youth are unsure how to react; they were not expecting the Ghostlord to be a hobgoblin, let alone a fairly attractive one with a superior singing voice. However, Niss’s encyclopedic knowledge of the obscure knowledge wins out over his poor track record on spotting the obvious, such as the Red Hand insignia covering the front of her armor; “Lady,” he tells her, “I know liches and you are no lich.” Realizing her ruse failed, she introduces herself properly, this time as Ulwai Stormcaller, Wyrmlord of the Red Hand.

As Adrian realizes that hobgoblin isn’t the Ghostlord, but is instead a Red Hand commander, she tries to intimidate her into answering their questions, but Ulwai doesn’t seem particularly impressed by Adrian’s threats, even after having seen her strength in action. Adrian demands to know where the Ghostlord is. Ulwai adopts a particularly bored expression when it becomes clear that the muscular brute is also the most talkative of her attackers, and tells her, “Wandering about, back in the depths I expect. He doesn’t spend much time with us.” Adrian asks “Why are you here then?” The hobgoblin gives her a look of disdain; “You’ve made it this far; one of you must be smart enough to answer that on their own.” Unsure what how to question someone who isn’t even a little scared of her, Adrian shifts to a new topic and asks “What have you done with the catfolk?” “They were your people’s responsibility, not mine. Why don’t you ask them?” Figuring she may as well ask about everything, she asks after Naomi’s child. Ulwai rolls her eyes, “Really? What makes you think I know where little lost children are?”

Naomi, having long lost her patience with Ulwai’s unending arrogance, snaps over her callous disinterest in her son’s whereabouts and stabs her twice between the ribs. After the hobgoblin drops to the ground, Naomi ties her up and stops the bleeding, hoping she’ll be more open to questioning later. Once the captive is secure, Naomi quickly checks her for anything of value, taking the majority, but Niss nabs a badge worn around her neck stamped with the image of a sun rising over a fortress. The group explores two small rooms off to the side, but there aren’t any records of the Red Hand’s activities, though Niss does find an unfinished opera in Ulwai’s study; skimming through, he finds it to be a violent and cruel tale of Tiamat destroying five good dragons, but its quality is undeniable and so he tucks it away for later inspection, hoping perhaps to sell it to a collector.

While the others search the smaller rooms, Adrian is fixated on a statue in the main room. The wooden dragon stands taller than she does, with its five heads stretching nearly to the ceiling. It is painted in bold, glaring colors, with each head carved and painted to resemble one of the five types of evil dragons. Moving carefully, as if expecting it to strike, Adrian reaches for her greathammer, never breaking eye contact with the green head and with a mighty blow she turns the head to dust. Naomi stifles a giggle at the thought of the mighty barbarian feeling the need to take revenge on a statue for what frightened her in person.

Looking around, they find that Niss has crept on ahead. Adrian throws Ulwai over her shoulder and leads the others past the room with the stairs and through the room with the bloodstained pit to a thin curved hallway. They catch up to him just as he opens the next door. The new room is long and thin and everything within is bathed in an unpleasant yellow light coming from a circular pool near the center of the room. The rim of the pool is made of the scores of lion skulls, fused together with a dull gray mortar. A little beyond the pool stands a towering granite sculpture of a rotting lion. Half a dozen alcoves line the walls three to a side, and within each stands a hideous creature. While they resemble goblins, there is little left of them but skin and bones and, quite unnaturally, two pale tentacles sprouting from beneath each arm. As Niss opens the door, their haunted gaze shifts and they move towards him barring long fangs and spindly claws.

END SESSION 44

Session 45 - October 15th – Tit for Tat and Kin for Cat

Location: The Ghostlord’s Lair

Niss blanches at the sight of the pale abominations and slips behind Adrian. From there he tries to inspire his allies, what he figures is the least he can do for having picked a fight with the undead. Adrian unceremoniously drops and takes up a defensive position. Three of abominations shamble toward the door and slap at Adrian with their long tentacles; while the attacks hurt, none of them manage to grab onto her, though not for a lack of trying.

Naomi fires her last fountainhead arrow into the room amid the creatures and douses them all in a spray of acid. The youth tosses a ball of fluff and summons a large rhinoceros just past the doorway, which proceeds to knock the one in the front line around with its horn. Adrian, slightly inconvenienced by the beast in her way, squeezes past and finishes off what the rhino started, smashing the small pale creature into the wall and seriously injuring another in the process. Eager to keep Adrian between the shambling mob and himself, Niss heals his barbarian friend with his wand to ensure his continued protection.

His curative efforts come not a moment too soon; while the heavy-hitters had beaten them back at first, the undead surge forward again, slashing at Adrian and the rhino with their claws and, when their claws can’t reach, slapping them about with their tentacles, though none manage to grab ahold. Naomi supplements Niss’ efforts and heals Adrian again while her acid-spewing arrow eats away at the pale fiends.

Adrian and the youth’s rhino continue to double-team the pale creatures, with a little assistance from the Naomi and the youth’s crossbows. Niss struggles to keep Adrian standing; while their foes are rather small, they attack tirelessly and without a thought for their own safety.

Adrian, however, is being gradually worn down, and is getting hurt faster than her allies can heal her. Realizing she needs to end the fight quickly she triggers her bracers and swings with all her might. Tiny chunks of undead scatter about the room as she dashes them all to bits; all, save for one, which, having evaded her hammer, leaps up, latches onto her shoulders, and tries to sink its fangs into her neck. Adrian struggles to keep the hissing ghoulish thing at arms’ length, but Naomi has her covered and slays it with a final bolt from her crossbow.

With the fight over, Adrian slumps against the wall exhausted. Niss squeezes around the rhinoceros to mend her wounds, but then joins Naomi in checking out the room. Still a little shaken from their encounter with the undead, Niss is even less observant than normal and he barely glances about before heading over to examine the massive stone statue of a rotting lion rearing up on its hind paws. However, Naomi spots what Niss doesn’t: in the middle of the room, in the sickly yellow pool, floating just below the surface is a figure, a figure very similar to Niss. Unwilling to reach in to the glowing ooze with her bare hands, she wisely picks up one of the many chunks of the undead Adrian left scattered about and drops it into the pool. It doesn’t dissolve, but Naomi knows that there are worse things than acid and resolves to test further. All the while she keeps an eye on Niss hoping that he remains distracted by the statue, knowing that he would not be so cautious and could come to serious harm.

Adrian, however, is jumpy and when Naomi starts meddling with things she deems best left undisturbed, she downs a potion of Bull’s Strength as a precaution and walks over to see what new trouble is about to come their way. Naomi tries to keep her quiet, but when Adrian sees the submerged catfolk, she can’t help but call out, “Hey Niss! Check this out! One of your buddies!”

Niss rushes over to the pool and, without a moment’s hesitation, plunges his arms in shoulder deep, causing Naomi to cringe, and pulls out, much to his surprise and joy, his father. While limp and unresponsive, he is alive. Naomi takes off her elven cloak and wraps the unconscious catfolk in it.

Thinking Niss could use some time alone, Naomi borrows the phylactery from him, partly for the light spell he cast on it. She finds the youth in an adjoining chamber; the small oval room is unadorned and empty save for a black levitating sphere. Floating near eye level above a low dais, the three-foot orb appears to be made out of polished stone, possibly obsidian. Pale streaks flow over its surface, which, upon closer inspection, resemble ghostly lions. Naomi, ever willing to experiment, waves the phylactery around it; however, practicing necromancy is beyond her and nothing happens. She leaves the youth, who remains focused on the orb and, with Adrian as backup, goes exploring.

Backtracking for a moment, they find another corridor. A door at the end opens into a surprisingly comfortable room; after having battled their way through a series of chambers that have been either bare or filled with implements of death and dark magic, this small chamber would feel downright cozy if not for a thick layer of dust. A low divan sits against one wall, while the opposite wall is covered in shelves supporting books, small figures and jewelry. The remaining surfaces are covered with a wide range of lion-themed art (none of which involves death or decay). Under other circumstances, it would make for a quiet place to sit for a spell. Naomi isn’t interested in relaxing and instead inspects every inch of the room for loot. Not only does she find quite a haul, which she crams into assorted pouches on her person, but she also finds that the back wall swings freely to reveal a hidden passage.

The passage itself only runs for another ten feet, but figuring that even crazy necromancers don’t build intricately hidden dead-ends, she pushes on the far wall, which opens to a sizable though very dark room. The far end is filled with the gnarled branches of a single large tree. While the soil looks gray, powdery and sterile, the tree appears to be in good health, having grown to cover the walls, reaching nearly to both the secret doorway they stand in, and a more normal door on an adjacent wall. Six small shrouded bodies lie motionless at the tree’s base. Naomi moves to inspect the bodies, but her entrance to the room is met with a blood-curdling roar as a ferocious ethereal lion lunges from within the tree’s trunk.

It slashes at her, but instead of leaving bloody gashes, its claws pass right through her sending a shiver up her spine. She shudders and stabs at it weakly. While the rapier’s point pierces the lion’s ghostly flesh, it doesn’t seem particularly bothered. Hoping to avoid another chilling touch from the lion, she triggering her elven armor, for once not covered by her cloak, now gleaming in the light of the phylactery.

While Adrian can see no physical wound on Naomi, she can tell that her friend has been badly injured; she steps up to the beast and swings twice. Both strikes are well aimed, but while the first clearly smashes into the lion, the second passes through it as if it weren’t even there. Getting back into her stride, Naomi unleashes her inner animal, tumbles past the lion and stabs its flank, clearly causing it some pain this time.

The beast, unlike any living lion, gives them a withering glare. While Naomi stands up to it defiantly, Adrian is clearly hurt by it. Though she is unsure why, she seems to resent its attack on her; she swings at it again and again, but it as if she were attacking the air as the greathammer whiffs about harmlessly. Naomi senses that she must be the one to finish this fight and, with a little help from her Helm of Tactics, stabs at the ghostly beast once more. She strikes true and the once great beast roars a final time before fading away into nothing.

Opting not to check the shrouded bodies for any treasure, she gives each a solid kick, checking to see that they won’t rise and shamble after her when she turns her back, and tries the other door. The dark passage forks, though neither side ends with a standard door. Pushing against the wall on the left branch, the adventurous duo find themselves standing behind the statue of the rotting lion not ten feet from where they left Niss.

They brief him and the youth on what they have found thus far, but when they ask the others to join them in checking out the next passage together, they refuse. Adrian understands Niss wanting to be with his father, but makes a snide remark about the youth’s cowardice. The little sorceress replies that she simply has “a very good sense of cost-benefit analysis”. Confused and unable to argue further, Adrian heads back down the secret passage to try the other door with Naomi.

Pushing the door open, they find what once might have been a treasury, but has now clearly seen better days. The floor is a sea of torn paintings and shattered statues with a scattering of coins and broken glass. While the art can’t be salvaged, Naomi leaves no stone statue unturned and, with Adrian’s help, they uncover thousands of coins and a few interesting magical items, including a small exotic looking dagger shaped like a lion’s claw.

Naomi’s search also turns up another secret door leading to a similarly short passage. As she puts her hand against the wall on the far end, she finds that it feels unnaturally cold. After checking to see that Adrian is there beside her, she pushes it open.

Before them stands the Ghostlord. While he was once a man, little is left of that form. His body is extremely emaciated; his leathery flesh hangs loosely from his bones and is hard to tell from the ancient and tattered lion pelts he wears. The skin of his face is stretched taut over his skull and pale green flames dance in the pits where his eyes should be. While he is undeniably powerful, his body has wasted away.

His mind seems to have gone as well. He mutters to himself, appearing to have several internal voices that are in conflict. When Naomi and Adrian enter the room, his gaze passes over them, but it don’t stop, nor does his rambling. “More specimens?” “No, no! Too large and too weak. No better than felis diminutavae” “Another disappointment from the Kulkor Zhul.” “Forget them, there’s much to be done. Return to The Heart!” “But they expect…” “SILENCE! We are not alone!”

Gradually realizing that others have entered his sanctum, he works to compose himself. The other voices quiet down and in an eerily calm, but firm voice he asks them, “Who are you?” Adrian, wide-eyed and thoroughly unsettled by the lich, points to Naomi and replies, “She has phylactery!” He slowly extends his hand toward the rogue, palm up, and calmly commands, “Give it to me.”

Naomi hesitates for just a moment, thinking that she should bargain while she still has something he wants, but she decides that he will have it back one way or another and that she would rather be alive when it happens. As she places the small bauble in his hand, Adrian runs from the room. The lich hangs it around his neck and within moments he seems, ever so slightly, to relax. While he doesn’t seem like he has ever been truly relaxed, he no longer seems to be struggling to conduct his choir of inner voices.

Naomi waits until he focuses again before telling him, “We captured Ulwai.” His skin stretches into a rictus grin. “Leave her to me,” he commands, “and go.” He starts to pace, quickly forgetting that Naomi is still in the room. While she doesn’t want to linger any longer than absolutely necessary, she asks him, “Are there any catfolk here?” His thoughts return from places she dare not contemplate and he turns to look at her. He waves his hand and she hears the distant sound of stone sliding against stone. Naomi, content that she has done the right thing, tells him that they will leave the wyrmlord by the yellow pool, and then she leaves to collect the others.

She finds Adrian back with Niss and the youth. Niss’s father is still unresponsive. She tells the others about what transpired. However, instead of getting ready to go immediately, Niss turns indignant and starts talking about how he should get an undead army to help with his revenge. Naomi tries to persuade him that returning to the lich would be a bad idea and that demanding anything from him would be an even worse idea, but her words do not reach him.

He runs off toward where Naomi found the lich. Adrian and the youth run after him while Naomi sits with Niss’s dad. Adrian calls back to her, apologizing for having “messed up the plan.” Racing down the hall they can hear their friend make his demands. Hurrying through the last passage they find Niss standing boldly before the lich.

While clearly not threatened, the Ghostlord appears strangely curious as he tells Niss, “Please, stay. See what happens to the hobgoblin who last demanded that of me.” One of his other voices chimes in, apparently talking to the lich rather than to his audience, “Kill them. They aren’t good test subjects, but the pit needs feeding.” He begins to glow and the room is filled with an ominous hum.

Not waiting to see what a powerful necromancer can do, Adrian grabs Niss and the youth, throws them over her shoulders, and bolts out of the room. Niss hammers her with his fists in a futile gesture, screaming at her to go back as she runs down the hall. She tries to calm him explaining, “I saved your life!” but he accuses her of having enslaved his people. Adrian tells him that was her people, not her, who did so, but arguing with him is futile; he remains hysterical until they’re nearly in the giant stone mouth of the lion again.

From the high balcony Niss can hear the voices of his brethren. Looking below he spots several dozen of his fellow catfolk crouching in the shade of lion; though they shield their eyes from the bright sun, they are clearly glad to be out of the dark recesses of the necromancer’s lair.

Niss mumbles a little about wanting an undead army for revenge, but he is clearly happy to be with his people again. He scurries down the rope from the lion’s mouth and rushes over to meet them, letting Adrian climb down with his father. After a while, Niss remembers his traveling companions and introduces them to his tribe. While many show fear or anger when Adrian approaches, he assures them that she isn’t like the rest of her people and is just as outraged as he is at the catfolk’s treatment. Naomi lets them know that they have made contact with the women of the tribe, who have been acting as scouts for the goliaths, and that they have arranged for another meeting in a week’s time. Several of the catfolk mention a rumor that their children might be held in the Wyrmsmoke Mountains, but they had not heard anything since they were given over to the lich. Together, they begin the long walk out of the Thornwaste.

Location: The Thornwaste

As the sun sets, they stop to rest at the tomb they cleared the previous day. Using the final few minutes of twilight, Naomi deciphers the last of the messages she stole from the Red Hand’s base in the swamps of Rhest.

Saarvith –
The razorfiends must be ready within the month. See to it that Regiarix trains them. We don’t need them to have discipline, but I expect them to know hobgoblin from human. Regarding your request, I don’t care how you feed them, but we can’t spare any slaves at present; perhaps you might capture some elves of find lizardfolk willing to feed themselves to dragonspawn.
Kharn

While the contents of the note seem out of date, largely thanks to their efforts, the signature catches her eye, though she can’t remember why. The slowly sets over the barren dunes and Naomi retires to find a quiet space inside the now crowded tomb to sleep.

END SESSION 45


Session 46 – October 29th – A Short Rest

Location: The Thornwaste

In the morning, Niss finds his father to be awake. While barely able to move, he does appear to be improving. While the male catfolk would like to rescue more of their clan, their time beneath the lich’s lair has made them weak. Niss argues that they should make camp in the ruins of Drellin’s Ferry; from there they can hide in the forests on the far shore and wait for Masara to make contact. With all agreed, they start walking north again.

The way back to Drellin’s Ferry is long, and they still have the better part of a day’s travel ahead when they make camp that night. Niss checks in with his father who, while very weak, is able to speak. He tells Niss that he is proud of him for what he has become and how he has stuck to his calling. He wants to apologize for having rejected Niss for making his own choices; he explains that he realized the mistake he’d made in sending his youngest son away just after Niss left. By the time the tribe’s scouts had tracked down the traveling merchants, the merchants had already abandoned him. His father admits that their attempts to intimidate those merchants might have, indirectly, led to the goliaths descending on the camp. The days that followed showed him that Niss’ older brother would be unfit to lead the tribe; when first faced with the goliath threat he acted brashly and squandered their best warriors in futile fights and, when faced with defeat, he turned cowardly and tried to flee and abandoned the tribe before he was captured. Once they were turned over to the lich, his brother was one of the first to perish in the foul experiments. Niss’s father explains that before they were attacked and enslaved he had a gift made for Niss to help make amends. It has been kept hidden in the hopes that they might one day be reunited. He summons one of rescued catfolk to his side who reaches under his cloak and produces a silk vest; while it is covered in buckles and precious gems, it somehow looks classy rather than painfully gaudy.

Location: Drellin’s Ferry

In the morning, they continue on their way. The path is easier once they leave the Thornwaste behind them and find an old dirt road. Glad to be out of the lich’s domain, many of the catfolk run about, darting ahead of the party, exploring the grassy fields for a time, and then darting ahead again once they’ve fallen behind. While the weather is pleasant, they encounter no one else on the road; the Red Hand likely frightened off or killed any who lived nearby. However, their troops have long since passed by so the day’s journey is uneventful. They arrive at the ruins of Drellin’s Ferry just before nightfall. While it would be hard to defend well if they were attacked, the catfolk should have an easy time keeping out of sight once they’ve had time to scout the area.

The dawn’s first light finds Naomi practicing amid the ruins; she slashes and jumps about in a way that emulates the style of the hobgoblins of the waste, wrapping her movements in shadow. After a simple breakfast, Niss bids his folk farewell and hugs his father. He promises to see them all again soon and to rescue the youngest members of the tribe. The adventurers feel stronger for their difficult journey through the Thornwaste and head out along the Dawn Way hoping to find Adrian’s people.

END SESSION 46

Session 47 – November 12th– “It’s a Trap?”

Location: Along The Dawn Way

While walking eastward, Naomi spots a strange sight on the road ahead and quietly stops the others. Less than a hundred feet away a motley band of Red Hand troops trying to repair a wagon. A pair of two-headed giants, much like the one encountered in Rhest, are holding the wagon up while a quintet of hapless goblins try to fix a broken wheel.

Forgoing elaborate plans, Niss takes the initiative and drops two of the goblins with a simple sleep spell. The giants turn and, with an extra set of eyes apiece, quickly spot their attackers, drop the wagon, further splintering the wheel’s spokes, and start advancing with morningstars at the ready. The three goblins, less martially inclined, use the wagon for cover, hiding behind and under it.

The young sorceress throws a fireball in the giant’s path and while both are well scorched, neither seems ready to give up just yet. Naomi, feeling her skills are best used away from those with legs bigger than she is, cloaks and runs toward the goblins, keeping a safe distance from the hulking brutes. Adrian takes a more straightforward approach; pausing for a moment to give a command to her sinewy bracers, she runs at the her foes while flying into a rage and wallops the lead giant with her greathammer from a considerable distance. Niss keeps clear of the brawl and starts his familiar chant, hoping to bring this fight to a quick finish.
Unable to match Adrian’s unexpected reach, the first giant charges at her, but, in doing so, leaves himself open to a second strike of her hammer, which sends him flying into the dirt. The hammer’s swing catches the other one in its path, slams into him fracturing his ribs, but he isn’t intimidated. He closes the distance and responds in kind, but causes little lasting harm. The youth watches, but chooses to do nothing rather than waste a spell to mop up a fight that was clearly decided. Sure enough, with a final swing, Adrian clears the path to the wagon, smashing the second giant to the ground beside the first.

Naomi, meanwhile, has crept up on the goblins. From a short distance away she spies each of them quickly downing a potion. They give quick fearful glances around the wagon to see how the battle is going and loose an occasional crossbow shot, but, in their panic, none come close to hitting a target. One pokes out a little too far, however, and shrieks when one of Niss’ crossbow bolts pierces its shoulder. In the noise and confusion, Naomi makes her move.

A goblin hiding behind the wagon explodes into a bloody mist, as does the one hiding beneath the wagon. When it all clears, Naomi stands where the first goblin had been, with a coating of goblin bits, but without a scratch on her looking as surprised as anyone. She had attacked the one with a flying leap while invisible and had expected to catch him off guard for a single, hopefully lethal, strike. Instead, as her rapier pierced his chest, he detonated and the blast finished off his ally beneath the wagon, who had made preparations for a similar end.

As Adrian gets within range, the last of the goblins, having hid just far enough from the others to survive the blast, runs out from cover and lunges at her. She swats it out of the air long before it can reach her, but, like the others, its explodes, though Adrian isn’t much harmed by it.

After brushing some of the larger bits of goblin off her, Naomi inspects the wagon. The series of explosions damaged it beyond repair, but its contents are still intact: three sturdy iron coffers. While it takes her some time to pick the locks, their contents are a welcome surprise: three thousand gold coins and what looks like an equal value of assorted gems. Before they can divide the loot amongst themselves, Naomi finds a folded piece of paper tucked in the last of the coffers. It is a contract employing Captain Ervath Helmbreaker of the Shining Axe Company, a dwarven mercenary group some two hundred strong from Hammerfist Holds, to come to the defense of Brindol upon receipt of payment. The note is signed by Kerden Jarmaath, Lord of Brindol.

In light of the treasure’s intended purpose, the four adventurers find themselves divided over what to do with it. The conversation is long and opinions constantly in flux. One view is that they should simply keep it for themselves sot that they will be better equipped to defeat the Red Hand; others want to deliver it to the dwarves as the defense of Bridol will take every sword, hammer and shield that they can rally if they are to be successful; others, though notably not Adrian, suggest using the gold and gems to try to buy off the goliaths, thus brining an ally to vale’s defense while taking one away from the Hand. As time may well be of the essence they put the argument on hold. Adrian packs the coffer’s contents in her pack and they continue on down the road.

Later that evening they spot a strange scene happening outside a farmhouse just off the main road. A small gang of hobgoblins stands around cheering as an ogre bludgeons a pair of men tied to a tree. However, even Niss, with his legendarily poor powers of observation, can see that the two men are already dead and that the performance is meant to ensnare any conscientious passersby. Since the victims are well past the point of rescue, the quartet decides that they might as well try to slip by unnoticed. However, as the farmhouse is likely the best shelter for miles around and night is falling, they decide that it would be worth the slight risk to attack, so they prepare a trap of their own.

The young sorceress strolls down the road. As she passes by the farmhouse, she pretends to trip and conspicuously spills a small purse full of gold coins. The ogre wheels around and starts stomping toward the road, followed by the hobgoblins, who look eager for a new victim. Meanwhile, Niss, Naomi and Adrian watch her act from the cover of the trees on the far side of the road, waiting for the right moment to strike. They had not, however, considered that there might be more to the trap than what they first saw.

All at once, the trees are a flurry of activity. Two of strange humanoids appear out of thin air swinging large falchions at Niss, each badly wounding him. While their form is similar to that of a bugbear, they have decidedly draconic qualities; instead of skin, they are covered with black scales and a pair of heavy horns sprout from the sides of their heads. Niss takes a step back, triggers his Badge of Valor, taken from Ulwai, and starts inspiring his allies, to what he hopes will be his defense. He dodges most of their attacks, but one catches the elusive bard and nearly cuts him down. Naomi triggers her armor, hoping to avoid a similar blow, sets her feet firmly and tries to throw one of his assailants to give them some breathing room, but the fiend keeps his footing. Adrian, clobbers one of his attackers, enraged at the attack on her “little buddy”, though fails to take the black-scaled fiend out.

A fireball illuminates the tree line as the youth works to hold out as the plan falls apart. The hobgoblins perish in the flames, but the ogre charges right through and attacks. It misses with a clumsy swing, but the youth doesn’t want to give it a second chance lest its aim improve. She pulls a puffball from her bag and throws it to the ground. Within seconds a large brown bear is tearing chunks out of the ogre’s shoulders, drawing its attention.

In the trees, Niss keeps singing, but heals himself lest another lucky shot be his last. Naomi leaps into the air and crashes down on the horned attacker plunging her rapier through him from above. As he crumples to the ground, she nimbly ducks around his ally. Adrian makes good use of his split attention and attacks, but while her first strike audibly cracks his ribs, the second goes wide. Though in great pain, he turns and spits acid at Adrian; while her burns are painful, they are far from incapacitating.

Another pair of the black-scaled fiends appears near the young sorceress, though these tower over here, twice the size of the others. Strongly outnumbered and overwhelmed, she falls to their powerful blows. Niss, putting himself in great danger, runs to her and uses his wand to heal her, hoping that she survived; while it does her a world of good, she stays down and plays dead knowing how easily the brutes standing over her could finish her off if they thought she still lived. Her bear, however, has no such concerns and tears apart the ogre, before turning its focus to her attackers. They ignore the bear in favor of an easier target and, stepping over the youth, each take a swing at Niss, but barely scratch the dexterous bard.

Naomi nimbly dodges her own attacker. He overextends himself, leaving an opening for the rogue’s lethal counterattack. As he falls, she spots a large wolf-like creature hiding in the trees. Though it looks similar to the creatures that attacked them at Drellin’s Ferry nearly a week before with goblin facial features and strange joints to their legs, but this one is much larger. Before she can strike, it blinks away to appear by a similar beast standing behind Niss’ attackers.

Rather than run to her buddy’s aid, Adrian triggers her bracers and, with a single powerful swing, kills both of the towering black-scaled attackers from a distance, accidentally dropping one of the magically enhanced brutes drops onto the youth. Free to act once more, Niss quietly hums a strange discordant tune while rubbing his fingers together, as if playing the worlds tiniest fiddle, while the nearest of the flat-faced wolves an evil look; it shrieks as a ghostly white bow sinks beneath its fur and begins to saw upon its bones producing eerie music. The two giant wolves vanish and reappear down the road, sprinting away with Niss’ painful tune following them down the road.

He is glum, however. While they would normally rejoice at having triumphed over the Red Hand again, survivor’s escape taints the victory. The wolf-like things could report their whereabouts and bring reinforcements, but the quartet makes camp for the night confident that they can take on any who might return.

END SESSION 47

Session 48 – December 17th – A Domestic Dispute

Location: Along The Dawn Way

As the sun rises, the quartet prepares to set off again. Adrian, thinking that they might encounter some of her clan while moving behind enemy lines, finds a quiet spot to quickly shave her head.

Just before noon, Naomi hears the sound of marching feet in the distance. Gesturing for the others to wait, she scurries into the brush by the side of the road and creeps ahead. Not far off she spots the source of the noise: a hobgoblin patrol. However, the eight hobgoblins are led by a goliath, and they seemed more disciplined for it. Naomi reports back, but stays hidden in the underbrush. While Adrian wants to talk with the leader, Niss and the youth hide off to the side of the road away from Naomi, expecting they’d be less than welcome at Adrian’s meeting.

As the other goliath spots Adrian he calls out, “Clan brother! How wonderful to see you! We had thought you dead!” Adrian, though eager to speak with him is unsure how to react; while he is one of her clan, she didn’t know him well. Fumbling a greeting, she asks him to talk with her, away from his troops. Ignoring her request, he introduces himself as Nilak’eun and asks where she’s been. She feeds him half-truths about having been injured and then healed by a catfolk. “That one there?” he interrupts, pointing to bushes by the roadside. Niss happily dances out to Adrian’s side, but the Nilak’eun’s keen eyes stay on the bushes as he asks “And who is that then?” Adrian tries to lie about having kept a human slave, but not feeling sure of the details of her story, she pushes for him not to ask further. Unconcerned with the details of her companions, he asks why she hasn’t joined the war effort, and implies that living among humans in the south has made her soft. She doesn’t rise to the bait and instead, she asks again to speak with him alone. He walks over to her, followed by the hellhound, but orders his troops to stay alert and scout the underbrush. Each wields a long hooked spear and starts poking about, hunting for anyone else who might be hiding amid the greenery; Naomi stays perfectly still, hoping she isn’t spotted.

Adrian tries to persuade Nilak’eun that their people are on the wrong side of the war and that the Red Hand will stab them in the back. She lays out her case explaining that they’ve tried to kill her and that they had tortured Iavith Thaumalun when he questioned their intentions. He counters that he has seen no such treachery, only bold plans and the strength to carry them out. Adrian retorts that she doesn’t respect those who use their strength against her, though neither she nor Nilak’eun is entirely sure what she means. She tells him of the Red Hand’s alliance with a necromancer, confident that he would not wish to fight alongside one so evil, but instead he feels that to bend such a powerful being to your will is evidence of astonishing power. When she explains that she worked to break that alliance and that the Ghostlord will no longer fight for the Red Hand, he isn’t concerned, for if they had such great power before recruiting him, they must still it even without him by their side. Emphasizing the immoral nature of it, she argues that the goliath people should avoid such evils and be true to their roots; she tells him how she has seen the horns of Kavaki scrawled painted above Red Hand defeats and sees them as omens. He doesn’t sound impressed, nor does he see their path as evil, just a means to a necessary end, “The humans can have what they can hold, and we will have what we can take.” Desperate, Adrian again presses for him to join her and to stab the Red Hand in the back, but he scorns her suggestion, “That would be quite ungoliath. You’ve lost your way. You will follow me back to the camp and you will debrief with the elders. They will decide what is to be done with you. Your slaves will join the others in supporting our fight.” He calls to the hobgoblins to regroup and return to camp.

Hoping she will have a better chance with the elders, Adrian walks beside Nilak’eun with Niss and the youth by her side and a line of hobgoblins fore and aft. Before long, the youth tires of the ruse and, displeased with Adrian’s leadership, loudly asks, “Why aren’t we killing them?” Adrian kicks the youth, trying to silence her, but she is unwilling to risk returning to a life of slavery and darts toward the roadside. Niss follows close behind; he doesn’t have a plan, but having seen what the sorceress can do, he figures it would be healthier to stand near her than the hobgoblins. Nilak’eun snidely asks Adrian, “Can’t you control your slaves?” and barks orders to his hobgoblins, “Get them!”

A fireball explodes behind him, its flames enveloping the rear guard and scorching Nilak’eun. Realizing he’s been had, he shouts, “That’s no mere slave! We’ve been betrayed!” Torn between her allegiances and upset that the youth has forced her hand, Adrian callously calls out, “Fine! Kill her! I don’t care! But don’t hurt the kitty!” Niss, unpleased by her fractious attitude, loudly shouts, “I care! Hammer him, Adrian! It’s about time!” adding, with surprising venom, “I will eat his heart for enslaving my people!”

Naomi emerges from hiding to run to Niss’s side. Drawing her rapier she shifts to a more martial footing and is suddenly cloaked in swirling shadows.

Adrian, though still conflicted and angry, decides that she doesn’t want her fellow goliath harmed any more than necessary and tackles him while calling out to her friends to attack the hobgoblins. Nilak’eun, unwilling to sacrifice those entrusted to him, gives Adrian a mighty thump while giving an inspiring war cry to his troops. His hellhound sinks its teeth into her side, and the four hobgoblins not caught in the fireball do the same with their hooked spears turning her into a giant gray pincushion. Adrian, though wracked with pain, still manages to pin Nilak’eun on the ground. Niss drops two of the troops with a simple sleep spell while the youth surprises the others with the appearance of a silvery hippogriff. Naomi charges in and nearly drops one in a single strike, but he clutches his side in pain and soldiers on.

Nilak’eun frees his hands, but cannot escape Adrian’s strength, and demands to know why she turned against him. She flatly denies it, though it’s plain for all to see, confident that she is in the right, regardless of what the facts may be. So sure of it is she that she barely reacts as the hellhound takes another searing bite out of her. The two surviving hobgoblins draw short-swords and focus on more lethal threats. One strikes at the majestic and deadly hippogriff while the other slashes at Naomi with the last of his strength, but misses, and passes out on the ground, blood seeping from his wounds.

Niss and the youth both fire their crossbows at the hellhound, but one bolt misses and the other barely grazes its target. Naomi moves in for the kill on the last of the hobgoblins moving her sword in elaborate patterns in the air making it appear as if she held two rapiers; unable to defend against such skill, the hobgoblin breathes his last. The hippogriff does not wait until he hits the ground before feasting on his carcass. Adrian regains control of her captive and disarms him, tossing his weapon aside. As it land among the charred bodies of his troops, he looses the will to fight. However, the hellhound is not so discouraged and latches on to Adrian’s ankles, nearly biting through her tendons. Though her own jaws are clenched just as tightly, Adrian manages to ask Nilak’eun to call off his dog rather than scream out in pain. He mutters something in goblin, and, as the dog lets go and backs off a few feet, Adrian gets up off the ground, surveys the battlefield and asks him “Now do you believe us?” as if all that had transpired had proven her point about the Red Hand’s impending treachery.

Niss dutifully heals Adrian’s wounds, not holding her initial indecision against her, and then tries to pull the hobgoblins’ spears from her side. Among the group he is the wisest in the ways of medicine, but his skills are not sufficient for the task and he causes nearly as much damage pulling them out as they did going in, necessitating him to further drain his wand to heal her again.

Meanwhile, the youth systematically executes the unconscious hobgoblins. Both Nilak’eun and Adrian object, but she continues, simply saying, “They were slavers. They deserved to die.” Adrian, tired of her the youth undermining her at every turn, bitterly threatens her, “Know that I will bash your head in and you will not have your fireballs then. You ruined my attempts at diplomacy and…”, she stops to further berate Niss, “Stop looting them!” Having found little of value among the hobgobin corpses, he throws up his hands in protest, “I gutted nothing!”

END SESSION 48

Whoops...that's only 6. The 7th got cut off due to it being too much for one post.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Here are the rest. I should have noticed it when I posted but I was up until four over minor verbiage issues. I'm not kidding when I tell you the last note to review was the difference between Castellan, Majordomo, Steward, Chamberlain and Seneschal.

So here we are...the last of a +14K word update.

Session 49 – January 7th – A Goliath Failure of Leadership

Location: Along The Dawn Way

Adrian tries to persuade Nilak’eun to take them to the goliath elders, but he is still furious at the slaughter of his troops. Niss tries to play to his appreciation of strength by telling him of the black and green dragons they had bested, leaving out Adrian’s cowardice, but the goliath hasn’t seen any of the Red Hand’s dragons except it’s mighty red and is confident it that it is strongest and would eat them all alive. Niss counters by telling of the time he died and came back, showing that not even a dragon could keep him down, but Nilak’eun is less than impressed with the poor judgment that led to that fate. However, Niss’ banter does get Nilak’eun to open up a little and he describes his experience with the Red Hand:

“We had been receiving word of a massive strike against the gnolls throughout the day when, just before sunset Kharn arrived, flying into Kathaal from the west, riding on the back of a red dragon. He marched right up to the elders; his presence was such that none of us dared stop him. Without a word he threw down the head of Remmar Bloodfist, the head of the largest gnoll tribe. As one, the clan began to cheer; I’ve never seen anything quite like it, especially for an outsider. The night was spent in raucous celebration. He bested our strongest wrestlers and he could certainly hold his mead. The next morning he made the entire clan an offer: to join with the armies of the Red Hand and take the lands to the south. Even split between his forces and ours, the new territory would allow for generations of expansion. How could we say no to such a bountiful offer from such a mighty warrior?”

Adrian interjects, asking him to consider the harm that could befall the clan should such might be turned against them, but suggestions of treachery only serve to remind him of her recent actions and his willingness to talk evaporates.

Niss, desperate to return to a productive conversation, makes a considerable gamble; he claims, “We have important news that the council of elders must hear and, if it does not excuse our actions, well, there will be plenty of goliaths around to kill us.” Thinking for a moment, Nilak’eun finds the suggestion satisfactory.

The walk takes several hours and passes largely without incident, though the youth once asks to pet Nilak’eun’s “puppy”, referring to his hellhound; while he says yes, his ominous grin persuades her against taking such action. He takes a somewhat circuitous, apparently hoping that, should they survive their time there, they’ll have a hard time finding their way back.

Location: The Goliath Camp, near Nimon Gap

The war camp is large, with an assortment of huts and tents covering the hillside housing perhaps three hundred troops; however, to the party’s surprise, nearly half of those troops are hobgoblins. As Nilak’eun leads them through, they start to gather attention. Some of it is good, with many goliaths pleased to see that Adrian, contrary to rumor, is still among the living, but some less so, as members of the Red Hand recognize the four who have been a constant thorn in their side according to the rare survivor.

By the time they near the center of camp, they’ve attracted quite a following. A goliath of higher rank comes over to debrief Nilak’eun. Looking over the others, he asks, “Sergeant, what happened to the hobgoblins you left with?” Nilak’eun is about to reply when the youth chimes in, “They were weak and they wanted to stay behind,” cheerfully adding, “Also, I severed their heads.” The senior officer is shocked for a moment, but then regains composure and gets the details from Nilak’eun. Outraged at such a defeat, he sends Nilak’eun to latrine duty. Unsure whether to treat the small band as prisoners of war or as Adrian’s guests, he asks the non-goliath members to wait in a guarded cell, explaining that it’s at least as much for their protection given the many in the horde who want them dead.

Before leaving with the officer, Adrian asks Naomi for the various notes and maps they’ve stolen from the Red Hand, hoping that it may help convince the council of elders. He leads her to the center of camp where a large yurt, some twenty feet across, serves as the council’s chambers; Adrian is led to a smaller adjacent tent, apparently acting as an antechamber. The officer leaves her there as he goes to introduce her. While waiting, she listens through the walls hoping to catch a hint of her fate. “…with the rear guard have reported finding clusters of dead hobgoblins and crude sketches of Kavaki’s sign.” The briefing is cut short, however, as he officer who escorted her there as he quickly tells the council her arrival.

As she is led in to the large circular hut, she carefully watches the faces of the seven goliaths before her. Some look pensive, while others appear much more scornful. She recognizes a few, but she doesn’t know any of them very well, having spent most of her diplomatic career away from home. They dismiss the other officers and guards until she stands before them, alone.

Making the first move, she greets them and expresses deep regret for the incident with the trainees, explaining it isn’t how she meant to make her return. She reassures them that her loyalty has always been with the goliath people, and that her actions, strange though they may seem, are in line with that. She has found strong evidence that the Red Hand will turn against the goliath people and tells them of the massacre, “Those hobgoblins would have been a threat…had they not…um…been weaklings.”

Before she can try to clarify, one of the council asks, “And this evidence you claim to have found, it outweighs your dereliction of your duty to the clan?”

She responds with confidence, “As it suggests a danger to my people? Certainly.”

“And you had such evidence when you asked Gauthak to lie for you?”

She explains that while she had no hard evidence at that time, both she and Gauthak had suspicions that warranted further investigation. Since that time, she saved Iavith Thaumalun, who had been tortured in Red Hand’s outpost in the swamps and has taken notes from their officers that suggest they aren’t to be trusted, though nothing that provides rock-solid proof of an impending betrayal.

Sensing she has finished, the seven members of the council briefly confer with one another, and, as a consensus forms, one speaks for the others. “We too suspected they are not to be trusted, but we are not in a position to act. Their arrival came with news of the end of the gnoll threat, and a solid show of strength won over much of the clan. Kharn in particular, impressed many of the young warriors and the potential to expand our territory won over much of the rest of the clan. While we of the council wish to find new land peacefully, if we had opposed Kharn we would have risked fracturing the clan and losing all control of those who stood with him. Now, we are overextended and far from home leaving our lands at risk once again.”

He goes on to explain that both the Red Hand and the many goliaths who stand with them will expect her to be executed for her acts of treason, but the council would prefer to keep her alive so she may do what they cannot. “In the morning, you and your companions will be sent to the Red Hand’s mountain base to be interrogated, and eventually, after many weeks of torture, executed. However, we will arrange for you to have means to escape on route. If you can find Kharn and defeat him personally as our warriors watch, his hold over them may be broken. Once the Red Hand is seen as weak and not worthy of our people’s alliance support, we will be free to turn on them and once again act in the best interests of our people.” He emphasizes that Kharn’s followers must see him fall; assassinating him quietly would be seen as cowardly and there would be no proof of his defeat to weaken the resolve of his supporters.

With the plan established, they summon a guard back to the council room and have him escort Adrian to be locked up with the others. She reassures them that everything is all right before they are relieved of their belongings, though Naomi secrets a dagger and a lock pick away and the youth manages to keep her lightning gauntlets hidden beneath her robe. The goliaths also completely overlook the various magical items and trophies Niss has woven into his long dreadlocks. Quietly, so as not to alert the guards, she fills them in on the plan.

Location: Along The Dawn Way

In the morning, the four prisoners are manacled and loaded into a sturdy wooden wagon. A passing glance at some of the crates strapped to the outside suggests that their gear is being sent along with them and is presumably considered spoils of war. As the back door of the wagon is slammed shut and locked, Naomi spots that the bars of its window are not well secured. As the wagon trundles off to the west, they quietly plan an escape, though they wait until a few hours away from the camp before taking action, not wanting word of their escape to reach the encampment too quickly.

Naomi struggles with her the manacles that bind her, but eventually she slips free. Once her she has use of her hands, she pulls out her concealed lock pick and quietly frees the others. However, she doesn’t risk trying to pick the door’s lock just yet, lest she alert the guards. Peering out the back, she sees a pair of hobgoblins following the wagon at a short distance. After conferring with Niss, she starts work on the lock; the rear guards, hearing the faint clicking, move closer to investigate. Before they reach the door, the pair fall to the ground, victims of Niss’s sleep spell and are left behind as the wagon continues on down the road. After a time, Naomi is successful. She carefully eases the door open and peers to either side of the wagon. Four guards walk along the sides of the wagon, but haven’t spotted her: a pair of goliaths to the right, and a pair of hobgoblins to the left. Getting a boost from Niss she peers over the top of the wagon and sees another pair, one of each, sitting on the front bench guiding the horses.

A quiet discussion ensues about what should be done next. Niss suggests they try to get their gear back, but Naomi doesn’t see how the crates could be opened without alerting the guards. Adrian figures she can handle them either way, but is adamant about not harming the goliath guards.

Niss takes the initiative and tries to knock out the hobgoblin duo with another sleep spell, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect aside from a bored yawn. Undaunted, Niss tries again and is successful, but only on the front guard. The other stumbles over the suddenly slumbering soldier and, surprised and suspicious, stands silently for a second as the wagon moves past. Adrian gets ready to lunge and tackle him, but, at the last moment, she changes her plan at a suggestion from the youth; as the door passes the guard, she tumbles onto him, pretending to have fallen victim to the same sleeping spell and forcefully wraps her arms around him as if cuddling a sizable stuffed toy.

He shouts in surprise and the wagon slows to a stop. Niss slips out to check the left side’s crates just before the pair of goliaths reach the back of the wagon. They laugh at the hobgoblin who struggles to roll Adrian off him. She stays down to keep up the ruse, hoping to buy a little more time. Making use of Adrian’s distraction, Naomi carefully slips out to the other side of the wagon and starts hunting for her rapier, or anything that might help in the inevitable fight. The youth, however, is prepared for battle even robbed of her belongings; peering out the back of the wagon, she summons a hippogriff in the woods, hoping to further draw the guard’s attention away from back door. It charges out from cover and attacks the side of the wagon (leaving the goliath’s unharmed, as per Adrian’s wishes), but it stumbles on the road and merely crashes into the side of the wheel.

The sudden appearance of the hippogriff draws the goliaths’ gaze to the crates on the side, where Naomi is perched while she digs through them for her gear. “The prisoners are loose!” calls one, realizing that the laughable incident with the sleeping prisoner was part of something serious. However, as a large and angry magical creature is more of a concern than a single unarmed prisoner, he runs to take down the hippogriff with the help of the drivers. The other struggles to lift Adrian, but once brought to her feet she drops the ruse with a fury and sprints to the front of the wagon, shrugging off the grazing blow from the short sword of the hobgoblin she had tackled. “Hang on tight!” she calls out, aiming to take the reins. Niss’s search turns up her massive greathammer, but as it’s heavier than he can reasonably manage, he leaves it strapped to the wagon and climbs around to the driver’s bench. Naomi climbs onto the top of the wagon and helps the youth do the same.

Realizing they’re about to lose the wagon, the nearest goliaths turns and attacks Adrian viciously, hoping his allies can strike while her defenses are down, but none are close enough to try. Instead one of the hobgoblins climbs up onto the front horse to so as to stay close, if they get the wagon moving.

The youth, apparently somewhat skilled with horses, sets them to galloping while Niss uses a final casting of his sleep spell to put down the hobgoblin rider. Finding a seat, Adrian gives him a push and he topples off his mount, waking up just as the wagon rolls over him. Once well out of sight of the guards, they give the horses a quick rest so that they can break open the crates and properly gear-up again.

END SESSION 49

Session 50 – Jan 14th – “Wererat?” “There Rat. There Monastery.”

Location: The southern roads

Hoping to recruit the dwarven mercenaries with the funds they recovered from the stolen wagon, Niss considers his knowledge of the local lands and sets them on the roads leading south toward the dwarven lands. While he doesn’t know where the Hammerfist Holds are, he can lead them to the Monastery of the Sundered Chain, a day and a half to the south and they should be able to find their way from there. While the road is long, the journey is more comfortable than most in recent memory; there’s a wealth of rations meant for the guards in one of the crates, and, though riding behind enemy lines, they have the road to themselves as they travel south through the foothills of the Wyvernwatch Mountains.

Location: Monastery of the Sundered Chain

On the afternoon of the second day, they spot the monastery. The outer walls are fifty feet tall and run four hundred feet on each of the three sides of the compound. The Wyvernwatch mountains form the fourth wall of the courtyard. Two massive iron doors stand open in the middle of the wall. However, as the party approaches, the open doors seem less welcoming. Even at a distance, Naomi sees that the pristine sands have been stained crimson. Adrian hears voices speaking a form of goblin, though a crude dialect of an already crude language. They stop the wagon and climb down. Naomi uses her vanishing cloak, and creeps up to take a closer look.

Standing just outside the door, she finds a horrific sight: scores of corpses, some dwarf, some hobgoblin, and some completely unrecognizable lay where they fell in what must have been an hard fought battle. Some survivors sit around a few fires: a pair of well-trained hobgoblins and half a dozen small hairy creatures. The hobgoblins are idly keeping watch, talking of their shared distaste for the new troops. The other figures sit hunched over around the fires, gnawing on the bodies of the fallen; while they look similar to goblins, their bodies are covered in coarse black fur and their noses are longer and pointed, extending out a pair of sharp front teeth.

Naomi quickly returns to the others and reports what she saw. Adrian, proposes they again try to make use of the goliath alliance and bluff their way in. While Naomi and the youth hang back just out of sight, Adrian boldly marches in with Niss following close behind as her translator. While she confidently calls out in goliath, Niss tells the hobgoblins that she in the envoy from the goliath warband, here to see how things are going in the south. He hears one ask the other “Aren’t they the ones who attacked the bridge?” After receiving the translation from Adrian, Niss confidently reassures them, “No! That’s not us! That’s some other group!”

“Oh, sorry our mist…OW!” The first goblin had seem convinced until the other smacked him upside the head, hissing, “You idiot! Of course it’s them!” Each draws an impressive pair of shortswords. The goblins, eager for fresh meat, turn to charge, but are suddenly engulfed in flame; The youth had apparently seen that diplomacy had failed.

The nearest hobgoblin charges Adrian and gives her a nasty cut, with the other close behind. A hairy goblin, who had been sitting safely away from the others, tries to bite Niss, a target more its size, but misses the nimble catfolk. Another runs toward Adrian; it survived the blast, but its black fur has been burnt away.

Adrian takes quick step to the side and swings her hammer in a low arc; it barely slows as it smashes through the scorched goblin and slams into the side of the swordsman who attacked her. He doesn’t crumple so easily, but a second slam leaves him barely standing and knocks the fight out of him. Naomi, not one to leave things half-finished, drops him with her crossbow. Niss readies his crossbow while backing out of the melee, hoping to avoid being the hairy goblin’s next meal. The youth tries to cover his retreat with her crossbow, but misses his attacker and backs away from the door as well, leaving Adrian alone in the courtyard.

The remaining hordelings charge Adrian, but she comes through the whirl of blades and gnashing of teeth with only a small scratch. A downward swing of her hammer leaves a red and black stain on the sand where the last goblin stood. Naomi and Niss loose bolts against the last hobgoblin, drawing his attention away from Adrian briefly. The youth simply waits, impatient, but again unwilling to expend any more effort on the clearly doomed hobgoblin.

Doomed though he may be, he strives to go out fighting, and leaves Adrian with a nasty cut before she breaks both his arms with her hammer. Naomi, unwilling to let such a slow and painful travesty continue, runs in, shifts her footing, creating a whirl of shadows around her, and punches through the back of his skull with her rapier, killing him instantly. Amid the piles of burnt and broken bodies, Niss gives a triumphant shout.

With the agents of the Red Hand dispatched, they take a moment to look around. In better times, the monastery would be a marvel. Row after row of massive statues fill the courtyard, commemorating great dwarves of the ages, heroes of the battlefield and masters of the forge alike; the path between the gate and the Hall of Moradin, the towering red-roofed building at the center of the courtyard, is lined with smaller statues of the monastery’s castellan over dozens of generations, though many of their faces have been disfigured in the wake of the Red Hand’s assault.

In the ensuing quiet, they engage in routine looting of their foes. The youth takes one of the hobgoblins’ fine swords, while Adrian stows the others away in a bag for later sale. The rest of the equipment is unbearably soiled, smashed to bits, or both. Sensing Adrian is itching for another fight, Niss quickly heals her wounds before she throws caution to the wind and charges the entrance of the hall.

She slams the doors open with a mighty clang that echoes off the stone walls of the cavernous hall. The room is nearly a hundred and fifty feet across; an altar, in the form a stone anvil, sits atop a series of low steps in the middle of the room; while it was clearly made with great care out of the finest marble, it has been cracked and smeared with substances best left undescribed. Around the central dais sunken sections of the floor seat rows of stone pews; beyond them, at the edge of the room, a balcony runs around the wall ten feet above the floor. From the bodies strewn around the room, and the broken altar and pews, it’s clear that the battle didn’t go well for the dwarves.

A hobgoblin dressed as a cleric stands just behind the desecrated altar, startled by Adrian’s sudden entry. Two sergeants, standing atop the balcony to either side of the door, reach for their crossbows. Adrian, sizing up her foes, triggers her form-blurring armor, and flies into a rage.

The sergeants each loose a bolt, but only one finds its mark; the other skittering across the hard stone floor. The cleric kneels behind the altar and barks a few arcane commands; around him, bodies of the fallen dwarves stir, their flesh sloughing off and falling to the floor while their skeletons rise and march down the steps toward Adrian. However, before they’ve walked a dozen paces, a burst of flame turns their newly bleached bones black. A shriek from behind the altar suggests that the cleric was also caught in the blast.

Taking the cry of pain as his cue, Niss begins to inspire the others to fight. Naomi, standing just outside the door, uses her rod of Viscid Globs to glue the cleric to the altar, before drawing her rapier. Adrian wades into the fray, swinging her hammer wildly, and shatters the bones of the charred skeletons. The young sorceress, trying to keep those inside from getting a clear shot on her, leans against the doorframe, takes aim at one of the sergeants and proceeds to ruin his day with a small ball of acid. He tries to retaliate, but a single bolt can only go so far toward exacting revenge. The other sergeant takes a shot at Adrian and lodges a bolt in her stony skin, but she doesn’t seem to notice in her frenzy.

The once great marble altar slides to one side with a quiet grinding sound; all eyes turn toward the center of the room as hobgoblin reinforcements pour from a secret stair, fresh from looting below. A hobgoblin swordsman drops the sack he was carrying and moves to defend the cleric while four foul black-furred goblins split up and scurry to either side of the dais, hoping to flank those by the doors. Confident that the battle has turned in his favor, the cleric stabs a finger at Adrian and spits out a guttural string of curses. She does not, however, double over, wracked with pain, blind, bleeding, blistered and helpless; instead, much to his shock and horror, she just stands there and laughs at him.

He has but a few short seconds to experience fear; in a flash he ceases to be frozen in terror and ends up in the vicinity of burnt agony, as another of the youth’s fireballs engulfs the dais and all those around it. One of the rat-like goblins squeals in pain; another other collapses, little more than ash. The swordsman is badly scorched, but still stands stoically between Adrian and his cleric.

Niss, not wanting Adrian to stand alone against the horde, runs toward her, abandoning the cover of the doorway, and, with a flick of his wrist and a few melodic words, her already blurred outline starts to vibrate rapidly as if her every action were accelerated; he includes himself in the casting as well, feeling he’ll need every advantage he can get while standing exposed in the middle of the battle. Eager to use her new speed, Adrian sprints up onto the dais, brushing off the swordsman’s slashes as she passes him, and smashes the goblin and the cleric in a single wild swing.

Naomi, meanwhile, tries to finish what the youth started; running up the stairs to the balcony, she drives her rapier into the sergeant’s side, forcing him to reconsider the choices that brought him to this moment. His mind preoccupied, his body swings his sword, almost out of reflex, and scratches his attacker’s shoulder. He has but a moment to reconsider before she focuses her pain into a fiery blast that turns his heart to ash. If anybody were to pause in their fighting and listen amid the din of the battle, they might hear his last words before dying, “I…should have been a dentist!”

Two of the goblins, having narrowly escaped the inferno on the dais, circle round the outside of the room and set their sights on Niss, but before they can reach him with their slavering jaws, he tosses off a quick bit of magic and they pass out mid-sprint, sliding across the smooth floor. Naomi, pleased with her work on the one sergeant, leaps down the stairs and runs across the entrance to the base of the other set, just out of reach of his horrified compatriot.

The swordsman faces off against Adrian, slashing at her to avenge the death of the cleric, but he only gives her a nasty scratch before her great hammer puts his dreams of vengeance to rest. Unwilling to let Naomi have the last kill to herself, she sprints over to the base of the stairs, but even with Niss’ boost of speed, she can’t quite reach her victim.

The last hobgoblin fires a looses a panicked shot at Naomi, but predictably misses. The youth’s aim is better and her bolt pierces his forearm. Naomi rushes up the stairs and leaps into the air, stabbing downward with her rapier, but for all her attack’s style and flair, she doesn’t manage to finish him off. The hobgoblin backs into the corner, unsure whether to run or fight. Adrian’s greathammer puts an end to his indecision.

Before his remains can peel off the wall, Adrian has already begun to stow his swords in her backpack. Naomi, disappointed at not finishing him off herself, executes the two sleeping goblins, and meticulously cleans their tainted blood from her blade. Adrian takes the boots from the dead swordsman; more durable than most, they’re made from heavy leather with strips of iron protecting the toes and ankles with a smoky white crystal set above each heel. Niss opens the bag the hobgoblin brought up from below and claims one of the dwarven treasures for himself: a small silver chime that seems to be perpetually vibrating. Naomi reaches in and pulls out a surprisingly sturdy ice-blue glass rod bound with iron bands. The youth finds herself left with a pair of steel gauntlets adorned with scarlet enamel flames, but, not as pleased with her pick of the loot, expects to pawn it the first opportunity.

END SESSION 50
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.