This “session” is for notes and things that happened before the actual start of the game.
The characters were in a militia patrol traveling west along the Black River from Rivertown in Warden’s Vale when the heavens opened, the characteristic gray cloud replaced by a sea of twinkling lights (stars?), a red crescent shape (moon?) near the east horizon and a white full disk (another moon?) near the western one. No one recognized the moon and stars for what they were as no one had ever seen them before. Some of the patrol claimed to see a giant eye in the sky for a brief moment.
Abruptly, the earth quaked—much more than it usually does in Warden’s Vale, no stranger to earthquakes—casting everyone to their knees. Sergeant Wolfspear ordered a return to Rivertown, a few miles back east.
On the way back, three robed figures attacked, one of them a minor wizard. They were defeated with a bit of effort, with Darby’s shillelagh spell and Circe’s shield and axe work carrying much of the battle. The assailants, now deceased, were relieved of their gear, detailed under Treasure Acquired in Session 1.
After the fight, the patrol noticed light and smoke of fires coming from Rivertown, and the sergeant ordered everyone to clean up, fall in, and hustle back.
As the patrol approached, the fires seemed to be coming from the waterfront; they were thought to be caused by opportunistic arson, taking advantage of the earthquake.
Darby asked around and found that the arson was likely a cover for the theft of the leafy wand, a relic. It is said that it grows leaves constantly, and such leaves are useful in the concoction of certain potions.
A later examination of a holy symbol recovered from the assailants revealed it to be a holy symbol of Set.
Creation value is 15 gp (blank spellbook) + 100 gp per page filled, or 3,515 gp. This does not count the cost of acquiring the spells, which is typically 50 gp per level if copied from another wizard’s spellbook, or 25 gp for 1st-level spells bought as scrolls, 12.5 gp for cantrips bought as scrolls. Given to Caitu.
Total value of treasure (other than the spellbook): 27 gp for gear, sold at half price, or 13.5 gold, plus 100 gp in coin: 113.5 gp. Share value divided four ways (Caitu’s share is the spellbook): 28 gp, 3 sp, 7 cp, with 2 cp remaining.
The characters’ squad, after relaxing at the Shepherd’s Rest [a favorite among the militia, but they likely have few choices] and retiring to their barracks, find themselves on patrol again. While camping that evening, a young druid comes seeking aid in dealing with a pack of wolves that are seemingly ignoring the druid’s entreaties to cease attacking a nearby herd of cows. The squad was coming off badly, with Judokious brought down again and Darby nearly so, when the young druid sent a couple of the cows in to step in—and on—the wolves.
Divided by six with the 2 cp left over from the Session 1 division, each participant receives 16 gp, 6 sp, and 7 cp.
Sergeant Wolfspear announced to the patrol that they were being transferred to Wardenstone. In the morning, the patrol set out, crossing one of Rivertown’s southern bridges and following the west bank of the Red River.
The next morning, Darby and Judokious spotted smoke to the west. Sergeant Wolfspear ordered the patrol to investigate, and they discovered a fire behind a cabin in a copse of trees between the river and the Warm Wood.
The patrol saw a small wolf pup being savaged at the southwest corner of the cabin, but when the pup was flung aside, it seemed to have suffered no injury. Then a Large (dire?) wolf appeared, savaged and killed the mastiff, then picked up the pup and left, ignoring Darby’s attempt to calm it.
Finnian ran up to the south side window to the right of the door and looked in to see a face looking back at him. Yelling for the person to stand back, he broke the glass with the butt of his crossbow. Glenwen ran up to help, and after Finnian cleared the glass, she reached in and pulled out a seven-year-old girl named Janine, who said that her mother and father were still inside. Glenwen cast a minor curative spell on Janine and went to help Circe break down the south door.
Caitu circled around the cabin to the east and saw that the back of the cabin was completely in flames. He also noticed someone hiding near the tree behind the cabin, but couldn’t tell who it was until he—or it—moved from cover. The creature had the torso of a human but appeared to be an immense snake—perhaps ten to fifteen feet long—from the waist down. The snake-man followed the big wolf carrying what must be its kit into the woods in the north.
Circe and Glenwen broke through the cabin’s southern door as Sergeant Wolfspear broke through the west door. Soon, the sergeant carried out the father and Circe carried out the mother; Glenwen and Darby used cure spells to deal with minor injuries and smoke inhalation. The rest of the patrol turned to extinguishing the blaze.
Finnian asked Wolfspear if he was going to lead the patrol after the snake-man and the big wolf. He stated it was more important to report the incident than maybe getting killed following them and no one knowing what happened. (Finnian exhaled in relief; he never much liked wolves.)
The patrol took the now unhoused family back to Wardenstone.
In speaking to the father on the way to Wardenstone, the patrol learned that a compound of wooden palisades had been constructed in the Warm Wood. The snake-man and the big wolf later attacked the family’s cabin (although why the big wolf brought the pup along is unclear).
In Wardenstone, the patrol reported to Lieutenant Quill, who in turn directed Sergeant Wolfspear to report to the elderly and respected dwarf druid, Shady Mossbeard. His assistant, Todd Rattan, was also there. Circe got the impression that he wasn’t to be trusted.
Mossbeard wanted the patrol to investigate an island that suddenly rose from the Lake of Steam near Wardenstone. On approaching it, the patrol saw what appeared to be a stone building, no more than two stories tall, and a cage containing what appeared to be a young troll—likely a skrag, an amphibious variant of that species. He looked dangerous, hungry, and dangerously hungry. Since the sudden rise of the island left many fish beached, Finnian took one of the larger ones and tossed it to the young troll, who ate it. After repeating this five more times, the young troll surprised the patrol by speaking and saying, “T’ank you.”
It turned out that the troll, whose name was Karl, had been caged to keep him out of the building, which he called “the library”. Apparently, “the Librarian” didn’t like him reading the books. Further conversation led some of the patrol to surmise that the Librarian employed undead creatures as servants or guards, probably zombies. And so things stand…
The patrol entered the building—which did, as Karl said, indeed appear to be a library, and a vast one. One of the patrol beings (Finnian forgot if it was Caitu or Darby or Judokious) talked about detecting magic. Finnian asked how one “detected magic”…and wasn’t sure he understood the explanation. Nevertheless, he tried it out for himself—and it worked. He could see an aura radiating from the door in the back of the library.
Karl had described servants of the Librarian who looked dead, and five of these servants stood unmoving along the back wall. Glenwen examined them from across the room and confirmed that they were, indeed, zombies. Since they weren’t attacking, the patrol was content to keep their distance from them. After all, they weren’t moving.
That is, they weren’t until Finnian touched a book that described the eponymic works of one Morgan World-builder (which Finnian later took to calling the “Book of Worlds”, regardless of its actual title), at which time they moved. Startled, Finnian shot one with his crossbow and the fight was on. Circe leapt onto a table and bravely fought all the zombies at once, and with the assistance of the others felled all but one of them.
Then the “Librarian” appeared—or the former librarian, who was a ghost. Her hideous wail sent half of the patrol running in panic, leaving only Glenwen and Finnian to face her and the last zombie.
Then the building trembled, throwing many of the patrol to the ground. “The island is sinking!” Finnian yelled. “Back to the boat!” He then used an eldritch blast on the ghost. “Take that, you vile banshee!”
Further angered, the ghost floated up and reached for Finnian, who stepped back and retreated to the table where the Book of Worlds lay. He snatched the Book and retreated to the boat, but not before the ghost managed to touch him, chilling him to the bone. Glenwen suffered a grievous wound from the remaining zombie and fell back to the boat as well.
Karl and Sergeant Wolfspear had managed to collect the panicked patrol into the boat as Glenwen and Finnian arrived. The Librarian and the zombie could not—or at least, did not—pass the threshold in pursuit. The door of the library closed on the two as the Librarian scowled ferociously. The island and the library, whatever else it was, sank back beneath the Lake of Steam.
Before they rowed away, Karl (who was swimming alongside the boat) told the patrol that he was leaving. Finnian promised to get him a jug of fine ale. “Look for me in a boat in the lake. I’ll show two lanterns so you know it’s me. I’ll have that ale I promised you. And—thanks, Karl. I hope we’ll meet again soon. You’re a fine fellow, you are.”
Onyx and Topaz Goldenbeard, dwarven princes of the two dwarven settlements, awarded the patrol the items listed in Treasure Acquired in Session 4 as thanks for the services performed by the patrol so far.
They also awarded everyone a week of leave. During that week, Finnian trained with Sergeant Wolfspear (Achievement Unlocked: Finnian acquires Weapon Finesse!) and studied the Book of Worlds.
One of the excerpts from the Book of Worlds stated
Finnian wondered if that is what happened to his grandfather, Keiran. He also wondered if anyone has ever followed a Called person to see where he went. He decided he would ask Shady Mossbeard about it: the venerable dwarf would likely know something about that, given how long he had lived. He also remembered that Darby said that druids could be very good at tracking creatures and that she was studying the art. Perhaps Shady himself had tracked one of the Called…
After the week of leave, new orders have arrived: the patrol is to go to Black Rock Keep by the source of the Black River, west of Rivertown…
While approaching Rivertown on the way from Wardenstone to Black Rock Keep, the patrol was accosted by two wolves and a much bigger one, a dire wolf. The two wolves were quickly brought low, but as the dire wolf fell under Caitu’s magic missiles, a man-wolf creature appeared and bit Glenwen. It shrugged off physical blows but magic could hurt it, and it soon fled after being battered by Finnian’s and Caitu’s spells and invocations.
The wolves were skinned and the hides sold after reporting at Rivertown.
While strolling toward her favorite tavern, Circe was approached by a young boy who asked if she was a guard. Circe answered that she was. The boy told her that his mother and father disappeared. He overheard them talking in the upstairs drawing room at his home, he then heard a clicking noise, and they stopped talking, and they had vanished when he went into the drawing room.
Circe gathered the rest of the patrol and followed the boy to his house—which, as it happened, was a fairly well-to-do merchant’s house. The front door was not latched; the boy couldn’t remember if he had left it open or not.
The party entered the main hall. There, they found an unusual form of lighting: an ancient magical technique from a spell Caitu called continual light. Before long, the party was beset by rather large spiders, which attacked. After they were disposed of and entangling webs were cut away from Circe and Caitu, the group ventured to the second floor…
…to encounter two more spiders, which quickly fell to Circe’s blows. After searching the west side of the upper floor, Darby heard voices on the other side of double doors to the east. An ugly-looking humanoid opened the door when she shouted out, and a snake slithered past the ugly thing (later identified as an ettercap) out to try and fail to bite Darby. Magic missiles from Caitu and a splinterbolt spell from Darby sprayed the snake all over the hallway.
The ettercap proceeded to spit webs all over the hallway, entangling Darby. Finnian and Caitu blasted the beast with magic as Circe vaulted the railing to the first floor to move to cut off the creature’s escape from the back stairs. The ettercap entangled Darby, Judokious, and Glenwen in webs it spat. Glenwen broke free to go find Circe. The former was harassed and bitten by the ettercap, its poison making her clumsy. Caitu and Finnian harried the creature with spells and eldritch blasts, forcing it to retreat behind its webs to what was presumed to be a cache of healing potions from where it would restore its health to come out and harass Darby anew.
Circe encountered a priestess of Set protected by a magical ring of blades spell, but even with Glenwen’s help, she was overmatched and fell to the floor, dying. The priestess told Glenwen to let her leave or she would slay Circe just as Finnian arrived. Glenwen reluctantly acceded to the demands of the priestess and stood aside.
The priestess was a liar. Her ring of blades spell would have slain Circe in any case and did so, leaving her slashed, lifeless corpse behind. Finnian made to pursue her to exact vengeance for his fallen comrade in arms, but his sainted mother’s stricture of old against harming a female stayed his hand. (This is Finnian’s Acute Chivalrous Courtesy flaw doing its duty.) Defeated by his mother’s dictum, Finnian turned away and sought something that would serve as a shroud for Circe’s body.
The parents were found alive, bound in the ettercap’s webs, their cocooned son found long dead: it was, apparently, the child’s ghost that had asked Circe for help see Session 5); Sergeant Wolfspear told the patrol later that the boy abruptly vanished into thin air on the way back to the militia barracks and offices.
The parents said that the priestess of Set had questioned them about a magical ring, apparently part of a set (pun intended?) of rather powerful magical rings. The one in the parents’ possession was a powerful bane of undead (allows the wearer to turn undead as a cleric of their character level with a Charisma of 18 or their own Charisma, whichever is higher) [check me on this—KAA]. The priestess took it with her.
Or so she thought. She actually carried off a fake: a duplicate of the ring with a magic aura spell on it (no doubt periodically renewed), created to fool thieves.
The adventurers quickly realized that the priestess would soon learn that she was gulled. She would return. So would the adventurers.
But first, they must bury their slain comrade…
Price (Item Level): 22,000 gp (15th)
Body Slot: Ring
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) necromancy
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: —
The five blue gems on this golden ring shimmer faintly with power.
When activated, the ring of stars allows its wearer to command undead as a cleric of his highest class level or 5, whichever is higher. The wearer is treated as having a Charisma of 18 for this purpose only. As with turning undead, the wearer gets a +2 synergy bonus on the Charisma check if he has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion). This ring may be activated 7 times per day.
Prerequisites: Forge Ring, Heighten Spell, eagle’s splendor, command undead or the ability to rebuke undead.
Cost to Create: 11,000 gp, 22 days, 550 XP.
[This takes place between Sessions 6 and 7.]
The skies wept as Circe’s brothers- and sisters-in-arms stood by her open grave. They had acted as pallbearers; even Finnian tried to help, if most of the others carried the load. Sergeant Wolfspear stood in for the sixth bearer, since Circe couldn’t be expected to help carry her own coffin.
Now that simple pine coffin lay in the bottom of the grave as rainwater began to pool around it. Her body’s shroud was her mother’s hand-stitched patchwork quilt; her old stuffed rabbit and the aluminum-paged book of romance she had recovered from the Sunken Library laid on her chest.
The rain hid the tears but not the somber looks of Circe’s comrades. Each looked down on her final resting place, their thoughts whispering in their minds…
Glenwen tried to balance her sorrow with the anger she felt at the lying priestess of Set who clearly never meant to spare Circe, and with the knowledge that Circe had died in battle—an honorable end for any warrior in Thor’s eyes. She had earned her right to be seated in Valhalla, if that was her wish. She had differing opinions about how a warrior such as she should be sent to the afterlife, but respected the final choice. It wasn’t her place to gainsay the wishes of others. Thor would know his own.
Darby’s sorrow was tempered by her druid’s training. Death was the natural end of life, one that all standing by Circe’s grave would face one day. Nevertheless, it was hard to accept that of a fellow adventurer and good friend cut down in her prime.
Caitu’s face was impassive; Circe had been a headstrong soldier, but the circumstances of her end were most…unfortunate.
Finnian was almost as miserable as Judokious. They all had heard Circe’s battle cries and the clash of arms downstairs at the spider-infested mansion. He had arrived too late to help save her and couldn’t even avenge her—he had been unable to call forth the eldritch green fire to strike at her foe because of his mother’s compelling edict that he should never harm a woman. Guilt mixed with sorrow made for a bitter drink.
Jude, dressed in his very best clothes without his gambeson, swallowed back his tears, at least most of them, and was thankful that the rain hid the remainder. The warm and lively Circe, who had treated him so well—a friend and possibly more—was now cold and lifeless in her coffin, and his own life was just as cold for her passing. Looking around at the others in the squad he saw his pain echoed to some extent on all their faces. The priest finished his words, though they hadn’t registered on Jude at all. He stepped forward and dropped into the grave an origami shield, then he collapsed to the ground there at the edge of the hold. He was shivering; his hands were freezing cold and his fingernails and lips had a bluish tinge. Sergeant Wolfspear moved to help him rise and wrap a cloak around him.
They all watched as the gravediggers began to cover the coffin and stood until the last muddy shovelful had been placed. The diggers sniffed and trudged away as the mourners stood silent.
After another silent moment, Sergeant Wolfspear sighed and said, “I don’t know about the rest of you lads and lasses, but I could use a drink. Let’s go to a dry pub with a warm fire and toast Circe’s memory.” There was a murmured assent, and the rest followed their sergeant.
They met at The Two Rivers, a tavern popular with the militia of Rivertown. With the landlord’s consent, it was there that they hung Circe’s leonine shield and her battleax, with a wooden placard below that read “Circe the Lion-hearted”. Her comrades took turns telling what little tales they could about her and raising their tankards in tribute to the shield-and-ax emblem they made to her there.
Then, after another moment of silence, Finnian stood, raised his tankard, and spoke in verse:
A bonnie lass was Circe,
Ye all should know so well
Her smile would promise mercy,
Her axe delivered hell!
It was clear that Finnian was at least a little tipsy by then, but what he lacked in precision and meter, he made up for in enthusiasm as he reeled off stanzas describing Circe’s adventures with the rest of Sergeant Wolfspear’s patrol. Did he embellish events? He did indeed, or he wouldn’t be Finnian. But his verses, despite the occasional slurring of words, were compelling enough that even Sarge wanted to believe they were true.
Finally, Finnian reeled off the final verse:
Alas! That evil slashing spell
Showed no dram of mercy.
Farewell to thee, who fought so well,
That bonnie lass named Circe.
With that, he drained his tankard and slumped back on his barstool, not quite sliding off it onto the floor. “Just…just a li’l…coronach for Circe,” he muttered.
Sergeant Wolfspear cleared his throat. “I think you’ve had enough, son.”
It was the wee hours and fog rolled through the quiet streets of Rivertown. Sergeant Wolfspear was leading his patrol on an arduous journey from the tavern back to the barracks. Duty would come calling soon and loudly with dawn, and more than one head would regret the excess ale imbibed this night toasting their fallen comrade.
Finnian, as usual, was loitering behind the others. Ever since he became able to sense the eldritch, he found himself using it at odd and random times, and he was doing it now. Usually, he felt nothing, but this didn’t discourage his use of the talent.
Oddly, his magic sense tingled, and he caught sight of something faintly glowing in the fog. Was it a trick of torchlight? Was the ale playing tricks on his mind? He stopped and blinked at the apparition, and his eyes focused. He thought he saw the shade of Tymmae standing there, looking back at him. After a moment, another faintly glowing phantom faded into existence, standing next to Tymmae.
It was Circe.
She took Tymmae’s hand in her own, and they both raised their other hands and waved to Finnian, who waved back without thinking, his mind too addled by ale and what he wasn’t sure he was really seeing. Tymmae and Circe then turned and walked into the fog and faded from view.
“Finnian!” Sergeant Wolfspear barked. “Don’t be dawdling! Shake a leg!”
Finnian shook his head (and his leg) and hurried to catch up. Did he actually see what he thought he did?
With a wan smile, he decided that he did, ale or no ale. It was comforting to think that Circe would be looking after Tymmae even in death, and that they would not be alone in their journey to the next life.
After laying Circe to rest, the adventurers conferred to consider the question: “What shall be done with the Ring of Stars?” The priestess of Set would soon learn that she had a fake and be back to torture its whereabouts out of the owners. After discussion with said owners, they decided they would not be able or willing to guard the ring and turned it over to the adventurers of the militia to protect. It was decided that Judokious would carry it.
They reequipped and welcomed the new patrol member, Ohrenna Nirvan, a doughty warrior sporting a massive composite longbow she calls Stryker, the patrol sets out for Black Rock Keep again, following the Black River westward. Upon arriving, they report to the prince there, who tells them that they are needed to investigate a section of coal mine where two teams of miners totalling a dozen dwarves in all have gone missing. The patrol was to take along and protect two mine engineers.
It did not take long to find out the reason the miners did not return: the patrol was attacked by four cave wights. With the aid of the ring of stars, the wights were vanquished. The patrol retreated to recover and report and plan to clear the mine of the rest of the verminous undead…
None, but be sure to check Treasure Acquired in Session 6 for additional details.
The night after emerging from the mines, Finnian had…a nightmare. He didn’t speak of it except in the most general of terms, and was evasive if pressed for details, but he did say, “Arm yourselves with silver—there may be werewolves among us, spying for our enemies.”
Caitu had a letter waiting for him when he emerged from the mines.
Caitu, Honored Apprentice:
It is with a heavy heart I write to you. I feel the Calling pulling me. I fear I do not have much time before becoming overwhelmed.
I undertook a mission for Shady, to investigate what he believed to be a ruined keep at the far end of a dry riverbed. I found what I thought was the entrance but was stymied by a large tree that blocked my path, not allowing me entrance.
I have tried to pass this information onto Shady but I have been unable to contact him. No one seems to know where he is. I fear the worst.
My time is short. My books and home are yours. Please take care of Bettina. She is almost as promising a student as you were.
Sincerely,
Master Bhang
Another foray into the mines destroyed most of the cave wights, but one particularly large one that emerged from a pit in the floor of a southern chamber escaped back down that pit before it could be stopped. It was decided not to pursue it as it had gravely wounded Sergeant Wolfspear who needed more medical attention than could be rendered on the spot.
This time, upon emerging, it was Darby who received a message: she was asked to meet with a member of the Druids Council. He insisted that the ring of stars be turned over to the Council as it was deemed unwise that so powerful a magical item—indeed, one that could not be recreated in Warden’s Vale—should be in the care of a simple troop of militia. Darby extemporized by saying that she would have to take it up with her superiors and the actual owners of the ring; she was given one week to do so.
Upon relating this encounter to her comrades, suspicions arose immediately. Who was this so-called “Council member”, and what was his actual authority? Darby recalled seeing him once or twice at druid gatherings but never speaking to him.
Caitu and Finnian pointed out that it would be simple for a foe to approach magically disguised as that Council Member—who was, perhaps, a minion(Mini-onion?) of Set. After all, Circe had been killed by one who was trying to steal it from its owners in Rivertown. They certainly had not lost interest in seizing it.
It also seemed odd that the council simply didn’t approach our superior officers to have the troop relinquish the ring. Why avoid the chain of command and approach Darby directly?
Another consideration was that the ring of stars had been invaluable in fighting the cave wights and they were not yet completely vanquished.
It was decided to pass this up the chain of command. Darby and Ohrenna went to the infirmary where Sergeant Wolfspear was [literally] regaining his strength and reported to him in full, including all the suspicions and speculations his troops had.
None.
Wolfspear’s Company had much to ponder:
Bhang left his cottage and books to Caitu. He asked that Caitu watch over his last apprentice, Bettina. The books, at the least, need to be secured.
It was decided to continue to delay turning over the ring of stars and have a tiny lead-lined box made for it to hide it from magical divination while it was not in use. It was further decided to deal with unfinished business and pursue and destroy the large cave wight that escaped.
After descending into the unmapped pit it escaped into, the patrol encountered not just the wight but the aforementioned priestess of Set (who, also lacking a name, shall be called Up-Set (”Up Set and up yours!”) and two of her minions. Her minions were slain but the patrol was again forced to retreat from the wight while Up-Set made her own escape. (The wight was apparently bolstered by the priestess’s magic—“a Set-up!”). The wight pursued and levitated up the pit. As it cleared the top of the pit, a lucky shot by Finnian’s eldritch blast finally destroyed it.
Finnian thought to himself, I swore to me sainted mother I wouldn’a hurt a girl, but I’m sorely tempted to make an exception in her case.
The patrol reported in and Sergeant Wolfspear again went to the infirmary while future actions were contemplated…
600 XP for 3rd level
533 XP for 4th level
Further discussion took place on the points pondered in the previous session. Darby was once again approached by the so-call Druid’s Council “representative” who became quite insistent about turning over the ring of stars. He said that “steps would be taken” if it was not turned over at once.
Those steps began with a fire at a vendor stall in the village of Black Rock during the characters’ patrol of the same. It was a trap: that same “Druid’s Council representative”, accompanied by two lupine pests who turned out to be werewolves attacked when the first two characters ran up to the fire. It did not go well for the ambushers: only one of the werewolves survived to escape. A search of the corpse of the “Druid’s Council representative” yielded the first four items listed in Treasure Earned in Session 10 below.
During the fight, another person, not part of the patrol, joined in the fight against the werewolves and their erstwhile master. Her name is Vellena, and she claimed to be Circe’s younger sister. Small world. (Literally.)
After the fight, the patrol worked to extinguish the blaze. While pulling up the bucket from the nearby well to get water for that task, the bucket got stuck on something. Finnian, being the smallest, volunteered to go down. There, he found that the bucket had snagged on a collapsed wall section within the well. Behind this crumbled wall was a desiccated corpse of a humanoid that was likely a bit taller than Finnian and possessed pointed ears. This person (who was later assumed to be named Mirialis Yalillianthra because of one of the journals he was carrying) was carrying a backpack and a magical longsword. The corpse also wore magical boots and a magic ring. In the backpack were two scrolls and a journal. These items are further described in Treasure Earned in Session 10 below.
It was also noted that the “Druid’s Council representative” made a point of sending a werewolf after Judokious. This would indicate that this druid might have been in contact with Up-Set, who would have had a chance to see Judokious wielding the ring.
The character interactions between Vellena, Judokious, and Ohrenna are outside the purview of this event log.
The total treasure value, excluding the healing belt, boots of speed, and the ring of force field (as the last two exceed a share value) and deducting three 100 gp pearls for three identify spells, is 17,350. Divided four ways, 4,337 gold pieces and 5 silver.
There is point or two to consider:
World Type: C3
I arrived in Warden’s Vale through the Ruby Keep portal. Avoiding the guardian golems was more problematic than expected. There seemed to be some intelligence guiding them. This is unlike most of the other backdoor portals I have used in the past. Also, unexpectedly, Teleport did not work here.
Comments: Observing the Vale it appears to be one of the more stable creations of Morgan’s early work.
Temperature: Cool to cold but far from arctic. Thermal heating from lake in south moderates the temperature.
Population: About an even mix of Dwarves and Humans. A few hybrids also in evidence. Total population on the low side but seems to be stable. Perpetual overcast and low temps have led to some evolution in the races. All seem to have some cold resistance and humans have developed low light vision.
Government: Representative council with rotating chairmanship. Druids outside the council but influential.
Environment: The vale suffers from frequent earthquakes. It appears that the earthquakes at times seem to reset resources. The more severe the earthquake the more likely things are to be reset. No steady day/night cycle, time is kept by large clocks in each of the cities and villages.
Resources: Ample coal, precious and strategic metals and gems. Mythral and Adamantine are available in unusual quantities. Cold iron is almost unknown. Timber harvesting is controlled by the Druids. This has led to the use of coal as a means of heating for most areas.
Magic: Limited at best. Higher level casters seem to be more susceptible to the “Calling” than other classes. More on the “Calling” later.
Technology: Highly innovative. Steam power in use. It seems that the abundant adamantine has allowed higher pressure vessels than would otherwise be available. Seems many new items here. It bears further investigation.
General Notes: Have heard of rumors of a hidden library in this world that may contain an updated list of worlds. No luck locating it so far.
Have to Alter Self constantly to remain anonymous here as my race is not native.
Citizens of Wardens Vale are very reticent about talking about “The Calling”. It seems almost taboo to talk about. Its onset seems to be around 9th level. From what I can glean it seems to hit spell casters much harder than non-casters.
I have managed to follow one of the Called to the “Spire of Calling”. I have found myself unable to scry the tower itself. I have broken out my farviewer and am watching the base as he approaches. I see what seems to be servants of the snake god. Several of them guard the entrance to the staircase circling the rocky tower. At the called approaches they seem to scan him and when satisfied they open the gate and he mechanically climbs up. Levitating up I follow his progress. He gets to the top and pauses and then proceeds out onto a platform over an open pit. I can feel something coming. A smiling skull appears, a light flashes, and a desiccated body falls down into the pit. Shit I can feel his attention on me. I change into an eagle and fly away as fast as I can. I can still feel his eyes on me. I am going to have to find a way out of this world soon if I don’t want to become fuel for his obsessions.
“There is no Session 11!”
Dave hurt his back this week, so he awarded this as a consolation:
In the morning, Judokious did not show up for muster, and his bunk had not been slept in. His comrades split into two parties: Ohrenna would take Caitu and Darby to seek where Judokious participated in fights; the others would check the taverns in Black Rock. It was found that Judokious and Vellena had been to the fights and to at least one tavern. Two men were witnessed following them out of one tavern. The trail led to another tavern, the Low Roof Inn, but nothing new was learned there except that Vellena owned a house on the outskirts of the village.
Checking with the office of deeds did not locate a record of her having a deed to a house, and progress was stymied until what appeared to be a sign from Thor—at least to Glenwen, whose god is said to have ride in a chariot pulled by two goats named Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. A small, two-wheeled cart with no driver and drawn by two goats came out of an alley and trotted sedately to a large, three-story house with the door and windows locked and the curtains drawn. Darby’s trusty wolverine, Wally, detected the scent of Judokious at the door. Ohrenna and Glenwen bashed in the door and shortly were in a brief fight with two spearmen and a bow-wielding dwarf. One of the spearmen erred in stabbing Wally, which only made him angry; he savaged the spearman, and the other two fell in short order.
A cultist of Set on the second floor attempted to use magic to thwart his fate with no better fortune than the three on the ground floor. (Finnian attributed the success of he and his comrades to “me lucky shirt!”) There, we found the body of the house’s owner; he had been murdered and left on his bed.
But there was no sign of Judokious and Vellena, aside from Wally reacting to the former’s scent. After giving that some thought, Glenwen pointed out that if Wally smelled him at the house, then he ought to find him within the house. Finnian noted that there was probably a wine cellar or at least a root cellar that hadn’t been found; the deceased homeowner was certainly wealthy enough to have one.
This did the trick; Wally the wolverine quickly followed the scent to the kitchen, where a hidden panel was located and staved in.
Unfortunately, another cultist of Set was warned by the sounds of the splintering panel and raised a noxious cloud on the stairs, causing Glenwen and Ohrenna to reel in nausea. Finnian steeled his resolve, held his breath, and plunged through the cloud, blasting the cultist with eldritch green fire. They exchanged spells as Caitu chased the cultist about with a flaming sphere until the cultist surrendered as he had been offered. (He has been dubbed “Two-Bits” because he accepted quarter; also, he seems to know bits of magic from two disciplines, one divine and one arcane.) Two-Bits was gagged and tied; Judokious and Vellena were found imprisoned in a small room behind a tiny door concealed by the desk there.
Certain questions remain:
Total: 933 XP each for six level 4 characters
Share value (less the bracers of armor +3 given to Caitu): 1,711 gold pieces, 2 silver pieces
Darby received a summons:
Darby
You are hereby summoned to the Conclave of Druids.
You are charged with disobeying an edict of the Council and causing the death of Laverne, agent of the Council.
You are ordered to surrender yourself to the council on the 1st day of Icewrath. On the grounds of the sacred grove.
Ceruden
High Druid of Warden’s Vale.
On the way to Darby’s summons to the sacred grove in the Sleeping Wood, the adventurers were waylaid by two dire wolves and a werewolf—which (to Finnian’s surprise) did not take as long to resolve, despite getting a nasty bite from one of the wolves. Four minutes later, the company arrived at the aforementioned “sacred grove” to find several druids led by the so-called “High Druid” Cerudan. A protracted fight took place in which Cerudan—and eventually, his sister Katrina (who turned out to also be a werewolf)—fled. After the two other druids and two animal companion wolves were slain, the surviving druid surrendered.
Bonus: 50 XP per character level for those who participated in the Jude Kidnapping topic on the “Blast from the Past” campaign forum. Apply this XP before the following challenges, since it took place prior to it. (Darby was the only one who did not participate.)
Encounter experience totals:
2,458 for 5th level characters
2,667 for 4th level characters
Total treasure value:
11,396 gold pieces
Likely treasure value (after selling masterwork scimitars, leather armor +1, masterwork leather armor sets, heavy wooden shields, and excess healing belt):
9,955 gold pieces and 5 silver pieces
Likely share value (divided among six party members): 1,659 gold pieces, 2 silver pieces, and 5 copper pieces. If someone (likely Darby) keeps the scimitar +1, the remaining treasure value of 7,640.5 gold pieces is divided among the other five for a final share value of:
1,528 gold pieces and 1 silver piece.
The captured druid was questioned:
After taking their druid prisoner back to Rivertown, The adventurers had a lengthy discussion about what should be done. Somehow, the ruined keep mentioned in the final letter to Caitu from his master was revealed to be the Ruby Keep mentioned in the Journal of Mirialis Yalillianthra, so now there were several goals to be pursued:
Darby offered to use a circle dance spell she had recently learned how to prepare to see if Shady Mossbeard was alive and still in Warden’s Vale. He was, and she determined that he was unconscious but not wounded. The direction in which he lay corresponded to a cavern mentioned by the druid prisoner, in the eastern mountains past the Sleeping Wood.
Now that the adventurers knew that Shady was alive, his rescue became paramount. He could restore order to the Council of Druids and absolve the adventurers of any blame (as unlikely as that was) in harshly dealing with the renegade druids. Several doses of silversheen were purchased and the rescue expedition began. By the occasional use of circle dance, it was not too difficult to find the cave.
Getting into it was another matter, as the entrance was covered by what appeared to be a wall of thorns. Eventually, by the use of Caitu’s flaming sphere spell and liberal application of Finnian’s eldritch blast, the wall was cleared from the entrance.
Inside, the adventurers faced off against Katrina and Ceruden and his dire boar animal companion. A duel of spells and a clash of arms left Katrina and the boar dead and Ceruden fleeing deeper into the caverns. Chase was given, but he had vanished, so some of the group went to seek Shady. Judokious found him, apparently drugged into unconsciousness.
Ceruden then burst from hiding and fled for the cavern entrance, only to be intercepted and brought down by Glenwen by use of her boots of speed and her frost breath spell.
In addition to Shady, a litter of what appears to be wolf-pups were found. Did Katrina “drop a litter”, or are these real wolf pups?
Total XP for each 5th level character: 2,792 XP
Total treasure value in gold pieces: 27,050
Base share value (six party members): 4,508 gold, 3 silver, 3 copper.
Final Share Value (for Caitu, Finnian, and Ohrenna, who did not get items): 3,051 gold pieces each.
This interlude, read at the end of Session 14, is included here for further elucidation of Finnian’s character. I keep the Event Log; I can do this thing. 😋
Finnian is going to get into a (hopefully) brief bar fight.
What starts it doesn’t really matter. Perhaps Finnian is telling a tall tale some big lout didn’t like. For brevity, this hypothetical lout shall be named…Lout. Whatever the case, Lout should insult Finnian a few times. Finnian takes the insults in a good-natured stride.
Until Lout insults Finnian’s mother.
Anyone there who knows Finnian will probably fall deathly silent: they know that Finnian won’t stand for anyone saying anything bad about his mother. Finnian has had a few drinks himself: he’s not inebriated, as such, but his blood alcohol level is such that he’s taking a hit to Wisdom, which is his second worst attribute after Strength—and his worst attribute after drink.
Lout, conversely, has Strength as his primary attribute. He looks like a blacksmith who shoes a horse by placing four horseshoes on the ground nails up, picking up the horse, and dropping it feet-first onto the horseshoes. He looks like he has ogre ancestry. His muscles have formed a family and raised litters of baby muscles. Finnian’s head only comes up to Lout’s sternum.
Despite that, Finnian calmly walks up to Lout and, in a deceptively calm voice, asks him, “What did you say?”
Lout grins and repeats the insult, or perhaps uses one even worse, and follows up with, “Whaddaya gonna do about it, runt?”
Finnian, not thinking it through, falls back on his childhood method of scaring bullies—which, in this case, is probably less than wise. He sputters, “Do? What will I do?! I’ll—I’ll slap a curse on ye, I will!”
Lout laughs and looks back at his buddies with an expression that seems to say, “Lookit the funny little man.” Then he turns back to Finnian and leans forward. “Ya? And what are you going to curse me with, runt?”
Finnian hadn’t thought of this, so he improvises. “I’ll—I’ll—I’ll—” he stammers, and his eyes light on the half-full tankard in Lout’s right hand. “I’ll curse you to sobriety, is what I’ll do! Never again will you enjoy the taste of ale or beer or wine or any such thing! It will all taste like water to you, and never soften the harshness of your life! You’ll be stone cold sober until your dying day!”
Lout then grins and replies, “Your mother [insert killing insult here].”
He then leans back laughing as Finnian, losing his temper completely and does a backhanded slap on Lout’s broad chest. “That’s it! I curse you! I curse you!”
As fate would have it, unknown to anyone (including Finnian) until then, that backhanded slap is the somatic component for Finnian’s newly acquired curse of despair (DC 19 Will save). Lout probably doesn’t have a good Will save, but Finnian can keep slapping Lout’s chest, seemingly ineffectually, until it bites. (Even if Lout saves, he’s –1 on attack rolls for one minute, reset each time he saves.)
Once the invocation strikes home, Lout will decide it’s his turn and slap Finnian hard across the face, hitting (despite any –1 to attack rolls for story purposes) hard enough to batter through his DR 5/cold iron. Just “GM roll” maximum damage with the Strength modifier—hell, just “GM roll” a maximum damage critical hit. Make it look good. Give Lout Improved Unarmed Strike and Awesome Blow—screw nonlethal damage.
(If any other PCs try to intervene after that, Finnian will wave them off. “I got this.” Even though he really doesn’t know that he does.)
In any case, the blow sends Finnian reeling and sprawling back into a table. Lout and his friends all guffaw at this, and Lout raises his tankard to take a deep swig…
…and promptly spits it out as it tastes like warm water.
“Who switched my ale for water?” Lout thunders, then looks at Finnian, his expression a mix of anger and trepidation.
Finnian has been picking himself up off the table and shaking his head as if to clear it (and maybe using a charge from his healing belt). When he hears Lout’s complaint, the shock of it seems to sober him instantly; he looks in utter astonishment at Lout.
“You mean it actually works?!” Finnian blurts.
It is then, for the first time, that Finnian reveals…The Grin. (The Grin is not actually pictured here because doing so would violate several state and federal laws as well as the Geneva Conventions and at least three UN resolutions. But by way of comparison, in a hypothetical evil grin contest, this was fifth runner-up to The Grin.)
Finnian has grinned many times in the past—but never—ever like this.
The Grin started slowly with Finnian’s characteristic small impish smile, then broadened at an easy pace, until Finnian’s lips parted to show his teeth. But The Grin was just getting started. It spread, revealing more teeth than Finnian’s relatively small skull should be able to show. His eyebrows arch as The Grin reaches its apex.
The Grin, at its full intensity, makes the Grinch’s “wonderful, awful idea” smile seem like unflavored oatmeal. Dragons gasp in disbelief at The Grin. Sharks call their dentists and schedule cosmetic surgery. The Grin makes Satan look on with interest and take notes. The Joker only wishes his grin was as sinister. The Grin is the One Grin to Rule Them All, and in the Darkness Blind Them. This is a grin that says, “I’ve just thought of a dozen different ways to make you beg for the sweet release of death, each more amusing than the last, and—ooo! I just thought of another dozen even worse.” This Grin makes eldritch horrors roll sanity checks. On the SSSS (Seriously Scary Smile Scale), The Grin blows past Unsettling Smile, Frightening Grimace, and Evil Rictus and settles just beyond Oh My God Make It Stop. The Grin is basically an Intimidate check all by itself. Detect evil reveals an overwhelming aura—not from Finnian, just from The Grin. This is one seriously scary Grin.
The Grin fades. “Well now, laddie,” Finnian says as he brushes himself off and steps nonchalantly toward Lout, “it seems that you have but three choices. Either go through your bleak life stone cold sober, or be stubborn and see what worse curses you can get, or—” Finnian pauses for effect, “or—you can be a man and take back what you said about me máthair and apologize—and if you do a good job of it, maybe—just maybe—I’ll remove the curse.” Finnian holds up his hand (are those eldritch sparks of power snapping between his fingertips?) as he stands next to Lout and The Grin reappears. “So, laddie…what’s it going to be?” (Yeah, that’s an Intimidate check.)
Assuming Lout is not completely stupid (or fails his opposed check) and apologizes, Finnian dismisses the curse, and “…just to show you there’s no hard feelings, let me buy you an ale to replace the one you spit onto the floor.” Lout might just flinch when Finnian pats him on the elbow—he can’t reach his shoulder—worried, perhaps, about another curse…
[If Lout is completely stupid and succeeds on his opposed check, things are going to get…ugly.]
As curse of despair is an invocation, Finnian can dismiss it as a standard action like any other invocation. He’ll just assume that he can because no one has ever told him he can’t, and he’s never considered that he can’t in the few seconds since he discovered he actually had the power.
The Grin started as a joke here, but seriously, how does a five-foot-nothing shrimp like Finnian justify, story-wise, an Intimidate score of +16 at his current level? Four ranks, a +4 Charisma bonus, a +2 synergy bonus from Bluff, and +6 for beguiling influence is numerically very nice—but it doesn’t explain what about all that makes him intimidating. The Grin does.
Here is an interesting and disturbing story…
I decided to add a subtags field to the Intimidate macro as part of Finnian’s level 6 updates. This just added a bit of color; it displays “uses The Grin…!” after Finnian’s name at the top. It did not change anything about how the macro actually rolled that didn’t already exist since he was 2nd level.
Because I didn’t want to include the subtags field until 6th level, I kept a copy of the original macro in the Windows clipboard, but I kept pasting the wrong version in the macro field, so I ended up testing the macro four times without the subtag, and five times with it.
The four times I rolled without the subtag, I scored 17, 15, 18, and 23.
The five times I rolled with the subtag, I scored 31, 25, 27, 33, and 28.
No changes were made in the roll calculation—only in the subtags field. Two tests were made without it, two tests with it, then one test without it, three tests with it, and finally one test without it.
And yet the lowest roll with “The Grin…!” subtag exceeded the highest roll without it.
So even Roll20 agrees that The Grin is scary.
With the rescue of Shady Mossbeard, and the capture of one of the renegade druids and “Two-Bits”, one of the magic-using minion[ion]s of Set, there are a great many things to be discussed and questions asked.
Questions:
The patrol reached the end of their term of service and the “Dark Prince” (the dwarven prince with the dark hair, as opposed to his fraternal twin prince, who has blonde hair) awarded thanks to each member, along with 150 gold pieces of mustering out pay. Finnian asked the prince if he was interested in participating in the Sunken Library operation that he was planning.
Later, at the dwarven druid’s request, the party met outside of Rivertown at a grove, where Shady Mossbeard revealed that he was a werebear. (Or he is 8th level and simply used wild shape to become a big bear.)
The party then made preparations to return to the Sunken Library.
Once inside the library, four zombies and four shadows emerged to attack, the latter doing grievous damage to the party’s strength. Judokious used the ring of stars to seize control of two of the shadows and three of the zombies.
After the fight, Finnian negotiated with the Librarian of the Sunken Library, who imparted some useful tidbits of information:
Finnian then wrote a message to the Black Prince:
To the Most Esteemed Prince [insert other titles, names, and blandishments]:
Our expedition to the Sunken Library is a qualified success. We have negotiated with the Librarian to allow the perusal of a single volume without hindrance.We considered this and decided it was a fair deal for the following reasons: We could not be certain that the Librarian had other defenses, and I did not want to unnecessarily risk the lives of my companions.
This will allow us unfettered access to one volume one week from the date on this message, when the Library will be raised.
Since we can name the volume, we can ask for one that might normally be kept hidden. I have recommended the Atlas of Worlds; a companion volume to the Book of Worlds, which is being magically copied as I write this.
The only boon we ask for is the services of an able cartographer to duplicate the Atlas in detail to take away, with the intent of making two copies, one for your library and one for our study.
The druid Darby, who delivered this message, will wait for your reply, written or spoken. The one week limit imposed by the Librarian creates an unfortunate urgency, and I apologize for this.
Ever your servant,
Finnian Ruadhagáin
Totals: 2083 XP for 5th level characters and 1850 XP for 6th level characters.
To be determined, but probably at least a copy of the Atlas of Worlds.
“The Libary is Availuable for Today…”
The party returned to the Sunken Library. They learned the following:
This last volume could be important since the map that accompanied the journal of Mirialis Yalillianthra had an area marked “Ophidian Protectorate” on it, so we might be dealing with them soon.
After the caper at the Sunken Library was successfully concluded, Caitu received a ransom note. Bettina, his fellow apprentice under the Wizard Bhang, was apparently kidnapped. The instructions were that Judokious had to go to the Mucky Mallard, a dive in Rivertown, to await further instructions.
It was, of course, a trap, and so the party infiltrated the Mucky Mallard in disguise (helped along by Finnian, who turned out to know something about disguise). Finnian then accompanied Caitu into the Mallard and took a table.
As expected, nothing happened for some time. Then Finnian (of all people!) noticed someone slip something into Caitu’s pocket—presumably instructions about what to do to retrieve Bettina.
That, too, was a trap: the “message” contained explosive runes. Finnian managed to avoid much of the blast; Caitu bore the brunt of it. This annoyed him.
It was then that Iga Egeaugra (the priestess of Set known as “Up-Set”), another cultist of Set, and two thugs appeared to finish the job only to discover that the rest of the party was waiting for just such an occurrence. After a short, sharp fight during which spells flew, Finnian cursed Iga and bears were summoned by Darby, lightning was summoned by Caitu. Glenwen flanked Iga and dealt justice in the form of a warhammer strike, shattering the priestess’s skull—and avenging Circe.
As the dead thugs hit the filthy floor, the cultist tried to flee through a window, but the dire wolf that Darby summoned pursued him…
5th level characters receive 1,333 XP; 6th level characters receive 1,100 XP.
Caitu, Darby, Finnian, and Orena get 642 gold pieces, 5 silver pieces.
…only to become nauseated by a spell cast by the cultist. The cultist escaped despite Darby’s and Caitu’s efforts to find him. The rest of the group was unable to help because Judokious chose that moment to turn into a wolfman and had to be subdued.
This introduced a course change to the party’s planned journey to the Ruby Keep to seize it and determine if the portal that Mirialis Yalillianthra mentioned in his journal was still there and active. We had to see Shady Mossbeard at the druids’ shrine in the Sleeping Wood to see if there was a cure for Judokious’s affliction. There was, but the help of Lukan Garvon, a cleric of Thor had to be sought to remove the curse of lycanthropy from Judokious. This took a few days and 600 gold in “donations” (including tip).
From there, the group continued to the Ruby Keep. Shady Mossbeard had mentioned there was a “talking tree” there; this turned out to be a treant, who told them that the place was protected by unliving things and things of stone (likely undead and stone golems), the latter which could only be defeated by weapons made of “the black rock” (almost certainly adamantine). Because he liked Finnian, he mentioned that there was an abandoned mine to the north that used to yield the “black rock”. The group decided it was best to be properly armed and altered their plans: they would go north.
1,000 XP each.
None.
The group arrived at the “abandoned” adamantine mine the treant mentioned only to find that it was no longer abandoned: azer (evil flaming dwarves from the Elemental Plane of Fire) had moved in. (Their numbers are listed below.) They were evicted with extreme prejudice.
Finnian had a bad four-leaf clover.
1,450 XP for 6th level characters
Those who took no items get 4,723 gold pieces, 8 silver pieces, 3 copper.
Finnian’s share is 4,144 gold pieces, 8 silver pieces, 3 copper.
[This takes place between sessions 18 and 19.]
Finnian was miserable.
Oh, he was happy enough with the treasure; even if they couldn’t use all the weapons, they might be sold or reforged into something more useful. The crossbow and adamantine bolts at least gave him something he could use against the—what did Caitu call them? Stone golems?
But so much of just shaping the “black rock” was hard work! He didn’t have any magic that would help and everyone was stronger than he was. Dragging deadwood and moving loose rock out of the way so Darby might be able to use her magic to find more of the precious ore was not work Finnian’s slight frame was suited to do. But he had no magic to help—even his eldritch blast wouldn’t crack the stone of the mines. Darby could prepare much better spells to do that, anyway.
Glenwen made it all seem so easy. She was much stronger than Finnian could ever hope to be. And Darby was useful in searching for other treasure with one of her spells, and she could take eagle form to fly around and find deadwood, and take the form of a stronger animal when that was needed. She could even make the forge fires burn hotter to make it easier to melt and shape the adamantine. Of course, that meant the fire needed twice as much fuel because the magic made it burn hotter—more hauling of deadwood.
Caitu was more helpful than Finnian could be: casting shrinking spells on bigger rocks to make them easy to move and that ball of fire spell of his on the forge to quickly start a new fire. Ohrenna was busy retrieving suitable wood for shafts from the Sleeping Wood and fashioning adamantine arrowheads for them. Darby helped her on that, as well, by finding birds she convinced to give her feathers for the shafts. Even Judokious was more useful than he was! It was necessary work—Finnian just wished he could contribute more. Being small and swift with a few magical tricks wasn’t much use when there was heavy lifting to be done.
Finnian had been thinking that Glenwen should have a weapon worthy of a favored soul of Thor. A hammer is all very well and good, but it should be something special—something made of this adamantine, for example. Didn’t Glenwen tell stories about dwarves making some of Thor’s magic? She mentioned his hammer, his gloves, and his belt. Maybe the dwarves in Warden’s Vale could make a really good warhammer for Glenwen…
⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒
Orena and Jude keep wandering off to make out in dark corners.
Orena will also spend some time pulling all of her equipment out and laying it out in front of her, agonizing over what she will keep and what she will throw away to carry all the arrows her strength allows her to carry. She might even cry over some of it.
If anyone asks she will say…
"We're never coming back here. You see this?" she asks, pulling a raggedy bowstring from her pack.
“This is my first string, ever. I got it from my brother. He used it throughout all his training, right up until he was killed in duty to the Warden." She takes in a breath and blows it free. “I’ll never see him again. I mean, I lost him years ago, but once we leave…I’ll never see him again.”
She looks at the string and the rest of her equipment, and after hemming for a second she tucks the string delicately into a pocket on the keep side.
⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒
Finnian wasn’t the first to see Ohrenna in tears; others were listening to her. He arrived grunting and dragging more deadwood, visibly sweating, despite the comparatively meager load. He dragged it to the pile by the forge and turned to see the others around her. He shuffled wearily over. “What fashes you, lass?”
It was explained to him that Ohrenna was considering what to take and what to leave.
“Leave? Why leave any of it?”
This, too, was explained to Finnian.
“Oh. Well, we can think of a way to bring it. Maybe the talking tree can watch it for you while we deal with these golem-things that Caitu thinks are guarding the Ruby Keep. He says if there’s a portal there at the keep he can find it and tell how it works. If it works in both directions, we can come back here. That’s what I’m hoping, anyway. That’s why we’re going to all this trouble—it’s better than risking the Calling, if Mirialis Yalillianthra’s journal is to be believed.
Finnian grinned wearily. (Some may have flinched, but soon realized it was a grin, not The Grin.) “So,” he said as he turned to get more wood, “don’t lose heart…”
He shuffled a few steps and looked back, raising his eyebrows: “…they may want to cut it out…”
He took a few more steps, and looked back with another grin that wasn’t quite The Grin but was certainly Grin-adjacent: “…and they want to avoid a lengthy search.”
He shuffled out of the compound, chuckling in a rather unsettling manner.
Someone next to Ohrenna shook his (or her) head. “That boy ain’t right.”
⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒
Caitu stared at the adamantine. It wasn’t enough to wrap a boulder of reasonable size. It might be made into bands or chains, but that didn’t seem like the best answer either. He shook his head while he pondered the possibilities.
Finnian wandered over. “Ya look like you’re carrying too many rocks with yer mind.”
Caitu explained that he was considering his options for an adamantine enhanced boulder or two to use shrink item on.
“Spike it with nails.” Finian said.
“Adamantine nails versus granite?” Caitu wondered. “I don’t know if they’d stay in after being punched in. The only reason nails work with wood is because the fibers close back around the body of the nail.”
“I think Darby has a spell to make stone more malleable.”
“Darby, is that true?” asked Caitu.
“Yes”, she replied. “Soften earth and stone”.
“So, you could cast it, I could insert the nails, head first, mold the clay around them and finally, you could cast the reverse of the spell, or cancel it?” Caitu asked.
“No,” she said. “The spell is instant, and I don’t have a reverse of that spell.”
“Well, that idea is a bust.” Caitu said. “The impact would probably lose some power if the ball is malleable like clay.” He stared into the fires of the forge. A smile tugged the corners of his lips up. He waved his hand at the forge. “We’ll just have to harden the clay up the hard way.”
⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒
Darby took some time away from the others to just take a walk and collect her thoughts. So much had been happening lately that she wanted to think about what her next actions should be. She took comfort in the shadows of the trees for a little while, then decided to get to work.
The first thing that seemed important to do was find some things. She used the spell ‘treasure scent’ to see if she could find a vein of the metal that had been missed when mining for adamantine was going on here. It would be great if she could find some. If not, some copper, gold, and maybe platinum and some gems would be great. She could alert the others and tell them the location.
Her next project was to find fallen trees to get the forge going for the metal to be worked. It would not do for them to cut down living trees. She found an area with quite a number of dead trees. She called up a horse and enlisted the help of her wolverine friend and they dragged log after log to supply the forge in preparation for some serious work once the metals were extracted from the ground.
She could also search for whatever else the rest of her friends needed. Feathers for arrows and some other things. She could talk to some birds and convince them to part with a feather or two and her friend could have some fine feathers for her arrows.
⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒
Glenwen felt the weight of responsibility at the prospect of being the party’s leader. She was Thor's favored soul, and yet she is still a shepherdess-turned warrior-healer. She accepted the challenge, if the party would have her, and she proposed that the adventuring party go by the moniker, Arm & Hammer Heads, shortened to AHH for the relief they will bring to those they help. “This should work until another name emerges from our exploits,” she said, “hopefully a positive one!”
Glenwen is eager to have the adamantine warhammer for the coming fight with the golems at Ruby Keep. Finnian suggests that it be crafted by the famed dwarven weaponsmiths for a weapon worthy to be wielded by Thor himself—a weapon with a name. (Glenwen thinks: “Sister Sledge?” She will obviously have to think upon it a little longer.)
She grinned, playfully tousling Finnian's bright red hair, and said, "I have heard many stories of Thor and his alliance with another god. With your charm and quick wit, your tricks and unpredictability and yet sound counsel, you are very much like Loki. I'm glad you're with us." She suddenly felt an inward shudder, realizing how great their peril would be if he weren't on their side, but she doesn't say it aloud.
Glenwen mentioned to the magic users that a grease spell might be effective against stone golems, and she is delighted to learn that Caitu has it in his repertoire. She asks the druid Darby about spells that might be used effectively, perhaps for purposes of distracting or slowing down a stone golem. She also asks Judokious if he can "procure" spells of a similar nature. "Would a mud spell slow a stone golem?" she asks.
She praises Orenna for having arrows made with adamantine tips. She will be a powerful archer in a party of few warriors. Looking at the members of the party, she said, “We have a good chance against the guardians of the Ruby Keep. I would like to go to Thor's clerics to buy buffing spell scrolls, unless Caitu or Darby knows other places to get them that are close by, especially near the best dwarven weaponsmith. May Thor be with us!”
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While Jude really thinks sneaking off with Orenna is great, when he can he'll pitch in to help Finnian drag wood. While dragging a tree branch with Finnian, Jude asks “Do you have a deck of cards?”
After collecting the adamantine from the Azer Mines, the Hammers, newly armed with weapons constructed of that very durable metal, started out to the Ruby Keep to clean it out. Glenwen, the leader of the newly named “Arm and Hammers” party (Finnian keeps “misspelling” it “Arm and Hammerheads” or just “Hammerheads” for short”), was carrying her newly dwarvencraft warhammer whose head, handle and grip were made entirely of adamantine (the grip was wrapped in leather for comfort and easy handling). She named it “The Remedy”. (Finnian calls it “Unbreakable” because it had better be after all the work put into it.)
Thus armed, the Hammerheads arrived at the Ruby Keep to expel the current occupants.
It was not exactly a smooth operation.
First of all, the front door was heavily built and trapped with a fire trap spell. The spell was a nuisance but it took a long time to batter it open.
Beyond that was a short passage to another door. The passage was also trapped and Darby fell through a trap door and injured herself on spikes set into the floor. (She used her wild shape druid ability to take the form of an eagle to fly out.) Two others managed to avoid falling in by getting to the narrow ledges on either side when narrow openings appeared on the walls next to the ledges, through which zombies thrust spears attempted to force those on the ledges into the pit.
Once across the pit, two statues of shapely women bearing bastard swords came to life and started attacking. Adamantine arrows from Orena and hammerblows from Glenwen reduced one to rubble and damaged the other before a voice called it back. The voice was that of a spellcaster that looked as if he was past his “use by” date. He managed to trap the Hammerheads in a black tentacles spell; only Judokious managed to slip free of it. Caitu, his teeth gritted with pain, reached out to Finnian. “Take my hand, fool!” Finnian did so, and Caitu used dimension door to bring both of them clear of the grasping tentacles.
(Continued next session…)
The rest of the Hammerheads got free of the black tentacles spell and the group retreated. Finnian made a big show of saying in a panicky voice, “We can’t fight this thing! Run away!”—or words to that effect. (Using his Bluff score, of course.) Some of the group got a good look at who or what cast the black tentacles spell and it was decided that a little research about seemingly dead guys who can cast spells was in order. With this in mind, the Hammerheads traveled to the Temple of Thor in Wardenstone to make some inquiries.
On the authority of those asked, it was determined that the chief occupant of the Ruby Keep is a creature called a “lich”, some sort of spellcaster (probably a wizard) who voluntarily underwent an incredibly evil ritual to live as an undead creature beyond its years. Such creatures have a paralyzing touch. It was also learned that such creatures cannot be permanently destroyed unless the thing that houses its soul, an item known as a “phylactery”, is also destroyed.
It was quickly assumed that this would be very hard to find if it could be found at all, so an alternate plan was devised. Spells were prepared and the Hammerheads made their second assault on the Ruby Keep.
The main door had not been significantly repaired in the group’s absence, but a new guardian was in place: a massive construct of stone that struck heavily with two fists. Some of the party kept Glenwen healed as she disassembled the thing with blows from her new warhammer, assisted by adamantine arrows shot by Orena and a few bolts from Judokious and Finnian.
Now to hunt the lich…
…but first, he unleashed all of his minions on us: the remaining caryatid column, six zombies, and a mechanical bug that bit Finnian really hard.
Caitu used the ring of stars to turn half the zombies against the other minions while Orena and Glenwen tore into the rest. Because the lich was protecting his remaining caryatid column, the Hammerheads followed it down the stairs.
In a small room halfway down the stairs, the magically repaired column attacked again. After it was heavily damaged again, the lich, who had been lurking nearby invisibly, use dimension door to escape with it.
In the hopes that the lich had teleported down further, the Hammerheads continued down the stairs. They ended at the entrance to a cavern of winding passages. There they encountered several large, hungry bugs and reduced them to parts.
In that cavern, they also found the portal they sought. Unfortunately, Orena had to reach out and touch it and vanished. Caitu used an analyze portal spell and determined it was one-way. He also got a glimpse through the portal with the spell and realized she was standing there looking confused in a room with very large furniture.
A decision had to be made. Would the adventurers follow their comrade through a portal they couldn’t return through or would they abandon her to her fate? The party unanimously decided to follow her, leaving the world of Warden’s Vale behind…
Now, they seem to be in a room constructed for giants, and an odd snow globe with a landscape very much resembling that of Warden’s Vale rests on a nearby shelf, and some angrily arguing voices can be heard nearby…
4800 XP for level six characters
3792 XP for level seven characters
2000 bonus each for “escaping” Warden’s Vale
Treasure for Session 21…which turned out to be a cleaver-wielding ogress matron who had just put an oxen on the spit in the fireplace. On seeing the Hammerheads, she declared them vermin and demanded they leave immediately. Finnian and others remonstrated with her, pleading for her mercy, since they had just arrived in the world and ended up in her kitchen by accident.
Mollified, she still insisted the Hammerheads leave, and had her servant (and punching bag, from his bruises) show us the door. Brogg was his name, a rather roynish and fearful young fellow, who said that he would show the Hammerheads to the nearby “village of little people”, but was fearful of the “Master”, who supposedly likes to hunt, has fearsome dogs, and supposedly regards smaller folk as prey.
The village was more than a day away, and so camp was set up, and the rest was rudely interrupted by spiders with venom most deadly; Orhenna fell to it.
The next day the surviving Hammerheads reached the city of Tarnhold. The guards were unwilling to let Brogg in; but some fast talking and a promise to be responsible for him got him in. The Hammerheads stayed at the Pig in the Poke Inn (the only one that would let Brogg stay there) while they considered what to do next…
Rachashla, priestess of Aurora (in Tarnhold) sent a representative named Lark to fetch Brogg and his friends to speak to them about a missive sent by a hill giant chieftain demanding his properties (in the form of Brogg) and the “thieves that stole him”. The Hammerheads were asked to go out and deal with him…
250 XP each (ad hoc)
This is actually treasure from Session 21 finally divided, along with the proceeds from Orhenna belongings not kept by the party.
Total: 3,768.5 gold pieces for five characters.
The Hammerheads encounter four ogres and two hill giants at a farm they are trying to sneak up on and burn.
Later, they dealt with four hangman zombies on the way back to Tarnhold.
Experience by level:
For 7th level characters: 2,508 XP.
For 8th level characters: 2,033 XP.
Back at Tarnhold, there was much argument among the Hammerheads about how to deal with the “giant troubles”. After much heated discussion, it was decided to go to the giant’s keep and see about dealing with them by subterfuge. On the way, they were ambushed (for a given value of “ambushed”) by the creatures detailed below, after their bodies were counted and examined.
Totals:
1,867 XP for 7th level characters
1,467 XP for 8th level characters
Sellable treasure, kept magic items, and gold: 23,835 gold pieces.
Value per share (one-sixth): 3,972 gold pieces, 5 silver pieces.
With Finnian acting as a mysterious mercenary leader and magic user, he managed to use Bluff to gain an audience with the giant chieftain. After further lies, he convinced the chieftain that he had sensitive information that he might not want to share with his henchmen—to wit, that one of them, undetermined, was a spy for the adventurers causing him trouble.
About that time, he decided the “mercenaries” were more trouble themselves than they were worth and decided to bash the party. This was fine as the party was ready to bash him and his remaining henchman. In a tough fight, the Hammerheads gained the upper hand and finished off the chieftain and his guard.
The noise, of course, got the attention of other giants, who were pounding on the sturdy doors, which had been barred by the chieftain at Finnian’s suggestion. Finnian made an absolutely phenomenal Bluff check—a natural 20 for a total of 46—to convince the giants that he was the chieftain and had dealt with the troublesome mercenaries, and shouted through the doors that the other giants had better get out and look for the rest; they had friends out in the woods waiting to attack. (“Do it now or my hounds will snack on your balls!”)
Finnian, after the fight, was just barely standing (giants hit hard). While some necessary healing was taking place and a quick search for loot on the chieftain and bodyguard was underway, an ogre came out through a previously concealed door and tossed a fireball from a necklace of fireballs at some of the Hammerheads, including Finnian, erasing all his previous healing in the process. The ogre fell to a hail of magic and arrows, but revealed a possible way to rescue the slaves…and a possible escape from the giant’s keep…
7th level characters earned 3,675 XP
8th level characters earned 2,867 XP
After entering the secret passage (see Session 26), a moment was taken to heal. Glenwen forced a door in the corridor; it had been barricaded by the giant children within. They gave directions to the kitchen, which turned out to be west of the great hall. The Hammerheads reentered the great hall and found two giant warriors waiting. One was slain; the other was heavily wounded and fled.
At the kitchen, two of the three hill giantess cooks attacked and were slain; the third fled. The young ogre slaves fled when given the opportunity to be rescued; they also fled. Another young ogre slave was in the room that had the stairs down to the slave quarters; he fled as well.
The Hammerheads filed down the stairs to what they presumed to be the slave quarters…
7th level character receive 2,158 XP
8th level character receive 1,667 XP
…and found that they were right. The first room had giant-sized shelves full of manacles and chains and the like; there wasn’t time to examine them more closely because a dire ape entered the room followed by its hill giant keeper, the latter who fought briefly then fled the room to raise the alarm. This brought several bugbears into the room. Glenwen chased the keeper, who had given the alarm from his bedroom and took a potion of invisibility to ambush her.
After a merry melee, only one bugbear remained alive. He went by the charming name of “Eye-eater”; Finnian had used a deep slumber spell-like ability on him earlier, which explained his survival. Questioning him revealed several details:
It was decided to free all of the slaves, even the orcs; the latter were directed to take what food they could find in the kitchens above and move on; it would not be healthy for them to be found in the farmlands of Tarnhold. The formerly incarcerated humans and elf were taken back to Tarnhold, along with considerable loot.
8th level characters earn 2,433 XP each
9th level characters earn 2,100 XP each
Caitu retired from the Hammerheads to set up a magic shop in Tarnhold, using the proceeds from his share of the treasure acquired from the giants’s keep.
The Hammerheads begin to hear foul rumors about themselves circulating in Tarnhold and seeing handbills that call for them to be run out of town or worse. While discussing this at a local tavern, someone ran in calling, “Fire! Fire!”
The Hammerheads rush outside to see that it is Caitu’s new shop that is burning and that two flaming giant spiders, still at the shop, are to blame. Darby cast a cloudburst spell to quell the flames and prevent their spread. Four ruffians emerged from hiding as the other Hammerheads moved against the spiders. In the end, both spiders were defeated, disappearing as if they had been summoned by magic, and two of the ruffians were slain; the others fled.
Caitu was found dead under a table in his ruined shop, burned almost beyond recognition.
The Hammerheads vow revenge.
8th level characters earn 1,033 XP each
9th level characters earn 950 XP each