(G577 14/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI34

 

(G577 14/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI34

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. So far they have killed a dragon and rescued a magical maiden. They are now a bit stuck on the best way to rid the world of this pirate port.]

DAY 662 (24th Nightal)(December) cont ...

And so they had already had a grand morning arsing about in Port Dulok. They'd killed some guards, some standers by and set fire to some houses. So far so... good?

Meanwhile, my morning started with Fang coming to ask how his new friends were getting on. He'd conducted whatever business he had had and was after rejoining the fun.

I scryed Fenrir, got a fix on his location and risked a teleport. Happily it all went well and I dropped Fang off and then went back home. I would have liked to have helped, but I had a lot of jobs backing up at home for the wife and baby.

Before I left they asked me for some advice. Well, I have a real dislike for pirates after what they did to my friends at the Lost Refuge and as I had already killed off crews of three pirate ships as part of my revenge I was all for putting Dulok Harbour out of business. I advised them to do some scouting first, get the lay of the land first, get to know the big names in town, locate the slaves, that sort of thing. I think it fell on deaf ears though as it didn't involve volcanoes, krakenses or hordes of boars.

I left them arguing amongst themselves. In the end they put Fangin charge. She had a look about and noticed the other bridge, further down stream from the first one. There were Snake Heads guarding this bridge too, so they attacked them.

Daggers in the dark, Eldritch attacks were the order of the day again, with Fang charging into their midst wielding her axe. Fenrir used some Walls of Flames, and the chaos arrows fell everywhere making the melee very confusing.

Fang's left arm was turned to stone by an arrow, but other than that, another 20 tren were defeated.

An ogre looked at them from the other side of the bridge, but did nothing. Fenrir flew into the town and started hosing down the crowds from ten feet up with his demon magic.

Reinward shouted at him to stop, maybe remembering my advice from before, but unfortunately for him it was all unraveling.

Fang wandered over the bridge and into a pub. Fenrir was merrily blasting away at another squad of Snake Heads further into town. 'Why don't we go to the Temple?' he suggested, using their magical communication gems.

Maybe they ignored him, or they couldn't hear him over the screams. Fenrir came south and started setting fire to the buildings in the southern quarter of the port.

Reinward threw up his hands and went to join Fang in the pub. Fenrir burned more of the town, flying around the roof tops in full view of everyone. This attracted the attention of a local wizard known as Plimpo the Insane. Plimpo attacked with a fireball, but Fenrir hit him with an Elditch Spear in return and the wizard teleported out in a flash.

Fenrir continued burning the town. The denizens of Dulok ran around, fleeing the flames and sometimes firing up at him with bolts and arrows to no effect.

Another magic user attacked, a powerful dark elf sorcerer known as Tathdriirn the Bright. They traded spells, and the victory went to the dark elf as he hit Fenrir with some sort of death spell. Fenrir, just barely breathing, had enough energy left to teleport out.

Meanwhile, the pub that Reinward and Fang were sheltering in was starting to go up in flames. As they stepped out, Tathdriirn landed nearby.

Reinward skulked into the smoke and confusion, but Fang stood her ground as the dark elf approached her.
'You cut a fine figure, shrouded by fire,' he remarked to her.
'Would you like me to take you away from all this?'
'No thanks,' she replied.
'But I must insist!'
'I'm gunna show my falchion up yer arse,' she said crudely.
Tathdriirn realising he was dealing with a lout, sniffed and flew off into the smoke filled sky.

There were other people about that had not been killed by the fire and I suspect that the spell that had nearly killed Fenrir had been a Banshee's Scream.

Between the flames and the Scream, another two hundred denizens had been slain. The three of them met up again at the upstream bridge and Fenrir burned it down. He then did the other one as well.

Having at least made a start on destroying the town, in the most clumsy, ill-organised and cack-handed way possible, they teleported back to the dragon's lair, cracked open the hamper and had some lunch.

(G576 07/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI33

(G576 07/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI33

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. Instead of doing that though, they have slain a random red dragon instead.]

DAY 661 (23rd Nightal)(December) cont ...

The dragon slain and the caves cleared of enemies, Reinward and Fenrir exited the dragon's lair.

Irritator was still there, although he said he had been considering teleporting back to Yag Island to get help.

As they stood looking down on the lights of the port and wondering  what to do next the mysterious "dragon maiden" approached them from the jungle.

She introduced herself as Lady Langit Biru and she told them she was very grateful for being rescued from Moveld Cerdict, the red dragon.

She told them; 'He is a cunning old dragon and will have ways of resurrecting himself. I will go now and thwart those plans.'

Reinward, ever the contrarian, said that they could help him do that and he would be thankful to them for it. She told him in  return that he did not understand dragons.

They talked to her for a while and the following information was learned:

- She had been held captive for 50 years.
- The dragon had used the stone circle to gain power from her
- The town below, that they had to destroy had a population of about 5000. This she had learned from the tren servants.
- It was about half tren, and half a mix of lizardfolk, gnomes  humans, ogres, tabaxi and dark elves
- there was about 100 slaves and prisoners
- there is no central authority
- There are five big pirate crews working out of the port and they often fight amongst themselves.

She went on:
"This is an evil place. It stinks of troglodyte, and is full of refuse and dead bodies. The Tren themselves are escaped Yuan-Ti vassals that the  dragon scooped up and made into his own minions. The port became infested with pirates though and he couldn't be bothered with them any longer so he took the most intelligent of them and other than demanding regular tribute he  left them alone."

It was past midnight now so after the Lady had gone to make sure Cerdict stayed dead, the went back into the cave (which was now empty of wild boars) and unrolled their magic bedrolls and got some rest.


DAY 662 (24th Nightal)(December)

In the morning, in disguise, the three of them wandered down into Dulok and went and sat in the first tavern they found.

They sat and talked for a bit, but where unable to come up with a plan on how to destroy the place. The then wandered along a few filthy streets and found themselves at a place that had a name
that translates into common roughly as "the Temple of Extreme Unpleasantness".
As you might expect it was decorated with skulls and dead bodies were strung up in crow cages and the like.

The entrance to the temple was guarded by tough looking tren dressed in feathers and painted in blood and soot.
Fenrir went to talk to them, but was told to push off. He seemed puzzled that a seven foot tall monstrously evil lizardman dressed in bones and covered in blood didn't treat him in a friendly manner.
He tried again and the guard told him again to sling his hook. Fenrir then hurled insults at the guards and they attacked.

In the ensuing fight he killed about ten of them, and then in his anger he unleashed on the crowds in the square as Reinward watched on in dismay.

Fenrir killed about 80 people with Eldritch Cones and then another ten temple guards who had come from inside to fight him.

This was not how I would have approached it (i.e. I prefer to not use the "plan, what plan?" approach!) but it was definitely a start. 100 dead, just 4900 left to go sort of thing.

Reinward was wary though. 'Not this way, Fenrir, we need to do better than this.' So Fenrir teleported them back out of town.

'We need something smart,' chided Reinward. 'Like we could flood the town with lava from a volcano, or goad a kraken into attacking the place.'

There were no volcanoes though, and they had no idea on how to unleash a kraken. So in the end they changed their disguises and walked back in to town.

However, the bridge that led over the river was guarded by "Snake Head" tren mercenaries now, and they were pretty tough. They were also armed with Chaos Arrows, that they mixed in with their regular arrows.

The normal arrows could not harm Reinward and Fenrir and Irritator kept well back and used only magic missiles from a safe distance.

The chaos arrows did, among other things, turn Fenrir into a rabbit, but this didn't stop him casting Eldritch cones and blasts. Reinward shrouded himself in darkness and killed
many of them off one dagger at a time. To hold off reinforcements Fenrir put up a wall of flame that set some of the houses on fire. The Snake Heads were either slain or routed into the jungle.

If they were planning to destroy the town by killing its inhabitants one at a time, by my estimation they had so far dealt with about 160 of its citizens.

(G575 30/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI32

(G575 30/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI32

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. Instead of doing that though, they have been bothering a random red dragon instead. Fenrir has gone missing.]


DAY 661 (23rd Nightal)(December) cont ...

Reinward and Irritator remained outside the cave, arguing about what to do and whose fault it all was.

'I didn't see any traps at the entrance, so in you go.'
'What??' exclaimed Irritator. 'If Fenrir got snatched, then I'll get snatched for sure!'
'Irritator, Irritator, Irritator, this is your life. You have to take ownership for it.'
'What are you talking about? I never asked him to go in that stupid cave. How is it my fault I assumed you two knew what you were doing?'

Eventually even Reinward realised, as the rogue of the group it should have been his job all along, went back into the cave.

He found the trap that Fenrir had likely blundered into. Invisible or flying or not, the presence of any creature triggered it. He tried to disarm it, but by bad luck he triggered it and was teleported into a dark chamber.

He appeared to be in a stone box, about ten feet by ten feet. There was a small crack between two stone slabs. He shouted through it and attracted the attention of two trens, called Fronko and Eggsy.

They were not much help, but he did find out that Fenrir was in a box too, and just within shouting distance.

Time passed, and they tried various things. They still had their possessions with them, but magic didn't work. This also meant they could not get anything out of their bags of holding.

After ten hours of getting nowhere and feeling like they were both suffocating they decided to attract the attention of the Tren again.
Fronko and Eggsy were servants of the dragon and were friendly by tren standards. They did the bidding of the dragon, but not gladly, and felt sorry for all the beings that were caught in the teleport traps and left to die in the anti-magic boxes.

Fenrir tried to sweet talk them, offering gold for their release. The tren took the gold and ran for it. Blinking in the light of guttering torches they saw that they were in a cavern that had several large stone boxes, with counterweighted doors. Two large automatons guarded the chamber. They lumbered forward, but were easily destroyed by the escapees.

They then wisely blocked all the trap doors open just incase they ended up in them again and went to explore the rest of the network of tunnels and caverns. Sneaking around the eventually came to a chamber that held someone Fenrir recognised. It was the "dragon maiden" from his dreams.

She stood alone in a wide circle of black stones. She had a bed and a desk and a chair, but not much else.
'Just kick over one of the stones,' she told them, 'and I will be free.'

They did so, and she immediately teleported out of the cave.

The red dragon must have sensed something as it started stomping around the cave network. Eventually it cornered them in a cave off the main tunnel and while Reinward snuck through a wall with his Blink ability, Fenrir was roasted by a blast of dragon fire!

Reinward snuck around to get at the dragon's rear, but fumbled his daggers as his hand shook with dragon induced terror.

Fenrir was whacked and bitten at and injured so badly he used his boots to teleport over to where Reinward was.
Reinward used a wand to cast Grease, but it had little effect on this mighty creature.
Fenrir healed himself then held the dragon back while Reinward threw his deadly daggers. This was still not enough though and they were in danger of being a dragon's lunch when Fenrir  thought about some of the shards he had collected from the FAMP.
One would summon dozens and dozens of dire boars, in waves of up to twenty at a time. This he did and the dragon was suddenly beset by a horde of boars. They didn't do much damage, but there were so many of them that they pushed it back into the tunnels.
Fenrir kept them coming, and they followed it up into the other caverns, keeping on the pressure.

Now it was the dragon needed to retreat and heal, it broke for the way out of the caves. Fenrir and Reinward teleported back to the  cave mouth and 'headed it off at the pass'. Here it was slain, at the  entrance of its own home.

Thinking of me (how kind!) Reinward cut off the dragon's head and a roll of its skin, which were then stuffed into a Bag of Holding.

The horde of boars were ordered to scour through the caves and kill all automatons and tren servants that they could find.

I hope that the helpful sounding Fronko and Eggsy had left the caves by then.

(G574 23/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI31

 (G574 23/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI31

[Fenrir, Reinward, Fang and Irritator are in Baldur's Gate tracking down a magical egg that will - hopefully - turn him back into a kobold. They have been told to go to a place called Gifferzer Island.]

DAY 658 (20th Nightal)(December)

When Ishi had told them everything she could that would be useful they made to leave Kobold Alley. However, they were prevented from leaving by a crowd of racists that had arrived.
'Who took the kobold from the well?' one of them demanded. 'When it was us that put it there!'

Fang and Irritator went round the back to guard the flanks and Fenrir and Reinward took on the main force. Fenrir started by intimidating a gentleman known as Billy Bigballs and floating in the air.

A lady known as Stabby Sooz threw some daggers, but was killed instantly by Reinward using the same technique. Fenrir then 'hosed down' the crowd with an Eldritch Cone, killing five people instantly.
'Watch out, there are kids in the crowd!' warned Reinward. Fenrir took more care to kill only adults. Reinward used his daggers to take out those than ran for the side alleys as Fenrir cut down the others like stalks of wheat before a scythe.

When the local law enforcement arrived, a mercenary outfit known as the Flaming Fists, Fenrir turned on the charm and paid out 100 gold to smooth over the dozen or so Baldur's Gate citizens they had just slaughtered.

When asked for names, Fenrir gave his real name and Reinward told them "Fangornio, of Waterdeep".

After that they rounded up Fang and Irritator, bought some clothes that would fit them when they changed into walking lizards and teleported back to Yag Island. They then came to talk to me.

Learning about what they had just done I did wonder at how easily they had killed people that were misguided for sure, but still citizens of a good and lawful city. Had non-lethal force not been an option I wondered? I also wondered at what their reception might be if they ever returned.

Anyway, all they wanted from me was another teleport. They nearest I could get then was the pleasant southern port of Renkrue. You may remember I  visited this place at the start of my adventures on the Sea Wyvern as we sailed for Farshore.

I agreed to do it the next day and they went to get washed up.


DAY 659 (21st Nightal)(December)

Corhim's "Wizard's tower" was completed today. It is only the first three floors and built to a gnomish scale, but as with everything the dwarf mason's had built so far it was of excellent quality and looked great.

I met the egg hunters after breakfast. Fenrir told me he had dreamed of a "beautiful dragon maiden", but i could not help him with its meaning.

Fang wanted to stay on Yag for a while so I teleported the others to  Renkrue with no mishaps and hurried home to the wife as she needed some shopping done. I learned later that they did not hang about and quickly chartered a fishing boat to take them the rest of the way to Gifferzer. It was dark when the arrived at about ten in the evening.

They spent the night on the boat.


DAY 660 (22nd Nightal)(December)

Fenrir had another dream in the night. It was the same lady, but this time he could see she was in a cave. He tried to communicate with her but was unable to.

It was fried fish for breakfast, then they used Fenrir's magical folding boat to go to the island's shore. As soon as they crossed onto the land they turned into ophidians. This effect, I am lead to understand, is a variation of the "Serpentine Curse".

It was a secluded beach but the island was no more that 30 miles wide so the main city was not hard to find. The palace was the largest building in Fashib, so it too was easily located. The palace guards wore red feather headdresses almost as tall as themselves.

'Who the bloody hell are you?' demanded a guard.
'Who the bloody hell are you?' Fenrir shot back.
'Go away! Bloody fool!'
'I am Raz Lightningrod, Chief Vizier to the King of Westgate.'
This meant nothing to the guards who approached them with swords drawn.
'Throw these bloody fools in jail!'
Fenrir ran off as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Reinward remained and bluffed that he was a tradesman, unconnected to Fenrir.
'What is your trade?'
'I am worker of wood.'
'Why the bandages?' The guards had noticed Reinward's gnome knot armour that he still wore.
'I am a journeyman traveler.'
'From where?'
'From...er...elsewhere?'
'From Ruja?'
'...yes...?'
'Seize him! He is a spy from Ruja!'

Before anyone could be seized though, Fenrir returned and using his head for a change passed out some gold and asked to have a word with an 'advisor'.

The captain of the guard arrived, wearing an even bigger headdress that had  to be held up by a smaller ophidian with a stick at the back.
'I am Raz Lightningrod, Chief Vizier to the King of Westgate,' said Fenrir trying the same failed lie.
'Untrue!'
'Why do you think that?' asked Fenrir wondering how his slick lies could  possibly be failing.
'State your true business!'
'Uh well, I want to talk to Princess Senel. I have a proposal.'
'I'll bet! Twenty gold and I will take you!'

It was noon when they arrived in the presence of the Princess. In case you don't know Spirit Nagas appear as massive snakes with the faces of hideous women.
'What fools have arrived in my chamber?' she demanded.
'I wish your majesty greetings, it is an honour to meet you and be...'
'Get to the point!'
Fenrir got to the point and told them about Irritator and his desire for a magical egg to turn him back into a kobold.
'Keep your voice down,' she hissed and beckoned them closer. 'Who are you exactly?'
Fenrir told the same lies about being Raz from Westgate. Again she didn't really believe him, but she was happy enough to offer him an egg.
She slithered around them, sizing them up.
'I sense that you are powerful beings, and because of this the price will
not be cheap.'
She smiled and hissed. 'I wish you to travel to the island of Hargop, it is not far, and destroy a Tren settlement there. It is our island and there are hundreds of the filthy devils. Kill them all, and destroy their buildings!
Raze it too the ground! You'll need to watch out for their wizards and well ... there may be a dragon hiding in one of the caves.'

Fenrir and the others agreed and she cracked her tail before shouting.
'Excellent! Bring on the dancing female ophidians!'

They were then treated to an evening of what passed for entertainment in the palace of Fashib.


DAY 661 (23rd Nightal)(December)

What with all that carry on they only got a few hours sleep. Fenrir did have another dream of the "dragon maiden" though. In this one he saw he glowing with pale magical light.

Then, if you can believe it, he teleported over to see me at three in the morning! I was woken up by a weird little lizardman, drunk as a lord, wanting to ask me questions about "what is a Tren?"

As he transformed back into a human, I made myself some tea and consulted my books.

So we both learned that Tren are hybrids, a cross betwixt Troglodytes and Lizardfolk, first created by Yaun-ti to make stronger warriors than your average lizardman. They stunk like troglodytes, were almost always evil and chaotic, and usually worked in the service of more powerful or intelligent races.

He thanked me for this information and teleported back to the palace. They were all loaded on ophidian drinks and powders by now so they were coming up with some fairly wild schemes for what to do about Port Dulok (the town on Hargop they were meant to destroy), up to
and including;
"How about we mass polymorph them, like this island. Would that count?"
No it wouldn't, as Irritator reminded them. The princess had been pretty clear that total destruction was required.

At eight in the morning they decided to head over to Hargop, it was only ten miles. They couldn't come up with a sensible plan though, and talked about buying magic carpets and things.

Eventually Irritator sorted it out. "Why not Fenrir flies over first, the memorize a good spot, teleports back and fetches the rest of us?"

And thus it went, with them all on this new island by ten o'clock. They slowly turned back into their true selves. Fenrir and Reinward used their Hats of Disguise to look more like the dark skinned local humans.

Hargop was a small island, so from where they were they could see the port below them and a big cave in the mountain above them.

Fenrir, thinking of his recent dreams, decided to fly invisibly into the cave, forgetting about traps and that sort of thing, where having Reinward with him would have been useful.

The cave was a deep, a tunnel that went down into the roots of the mountain. He sensed he had set off a magical alarm as he pushed further in. Unwisely he decided to keep going.

Meanwhile, Reinward and Irritator waited at the cave entrance.
They waited. They then waited some more.
'What's the plan?' asked Reinward.
'I don't ever remember a plan being discussed,' replied Irritator tartly.
'We should go help him out?'
Irritator shrugged.
They gave it another five minutes then snuck into the cave.
They had not gone in very far when they heard a roar and a thundering commotion come from deeper inside.

Wisely, they both turned and ran out. As they found cover, a large red dragon flew out, growling angrily.
Irritator could speak draconic and translated.
'Those blasted Tren!' was what it had said.
It did a high level circuit of the island then flew back to the cave.
Again it growled something.
Irritator translated it as 'I'll check the traps.'

(G573 16/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI30

 

(G573 16/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI30

[All adventure parties are currently at the Barrow on Yag Island. I have recently had a baby daughter called Evi. Unlike Fenrir and Reinward this baby was conceived with a regular human woman - not some crazed witch or creature of nightmares!]


DAY 655 (17th Nightal)(December)

I don't know what I expected to happen after the birth of my child to be fair, but I wasn't expecting to feel so redundant. Sylvia has taken charge and basically shooed me out of my own home.

So, I wandered around the Barrow area and talked to the locals. Reinward was happy because he had just ordered himself a Wand of Greater Magic Weapon for the eye-watering price of 69,120gp.

Fenrir had also been increasing his already absurd amount of power by upgrading his Amulet of Natural Armour for the princely sum of 55,000 gp.

Fang bought herself a powerful Animated Shield.

All these purchases were made through Orimander in Sasserine.


DAY 656 (18th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir and Giselle went curtain shopping today.

I was allowed to spend some time with the baby.

DAY 657 (19th Nightal)(December)

All the magical items that had been ordered were picked up today. Wanting to try them out I guess Fenrir and Reinward approached me for a teleport to Baldur's Gate.

What had been happening was this: Irritator had been talking to them about getting some help turning back into a Kobold. He was currently a Halfling. All he needed to do was track down a kobold called Ishi Snaggletooth who could get her hands on a magic egg that would do this.

Now, as luck would have it, Fenrir and Reinward had met Ishi, and had asked Veddic to try and skrye her. They had no luck with that. Next they went to Camp Brave and asked the kobolds there. Nothing. Finally someone helped them by telling them there was a lizardfolk bard in Tamunza called Sleyvasxa the Trickster. He was able to tell them that Ishi was in Baldur's Gate.

I've never been to Baldur's Gate in actual fact, but I could take them to Riatavin and then on to Corm Orp. There I left them and returned home.

Fenrir then teleported them to Candlekeep. They then paid a Svirfneblin wizard 1000gp to take them, at last, to Baldur's Gate.

It was now evening, so the four of them got some rooms in a fancy inn and asked about for Ishi. Not locals, but very knowledgeable of how cities worked, Fenrir and Reinward learned that she was likely in a small cul-de-sac known colloquially as Kobold Alley.

Meanwhile Fang had a nice bath in her room. Once she was done she met the others at the bar. This was a fancy place, full of rich merchants and minor nobles.

While getting a drink at the bar she caught the eye of a fellow who introduced himself as Lord Myev. He tried to talk to her, but she wasn't really having it and joined the others at their table.

Paranoid as ever, Reinward went to talk to the Lord. Unsubtle as ever also he whipped out a mirror and presented it. Lord Myev recoiled in horror. Reinward became convinced the other man was a vampire.

He went back to the table and consulted the others. They started coming up with a plan. Before committing an accidental murder Fenrir went to check, and ordered some garlic bread. He offered some to Myev who held up a hand and said "I am not a fan of garlic bread".

Fenrir and Myev, both from the aristocracy, eyed each other up. Reinward started getting his daggers ready under the table. This made a statue in the corner move its eyes towards him.

'I have suspicions you may have a vampiric tendency,' Fenrir said in that way he has when he's had a few drinks.
'You got me,' laughed Myev. 'I'm a vampire!'
'I'm not judging.'
'Don't worry, I just drained a virgin. I'm full.'
Fenrir continued to be pleasant. 'Live and let live I say.'
Fenrir then went on to talk so much nonsense that was pro-vampire that
he had half convinced Myev (who I should add at this point was NOT a vampire, just a windup merchant) that being a vampire was actually pretty good.
'I've never met one,' said Myev. 'But it sounds like fun.'

Fenrir felt he had proved his point. Maybe not the one had been trying to prove to start with, but that didn't matter.

Myev was left thinking that it was Fenrir that was the vampire, but that it was fine as he was such a witty and charming chap.


DAY 658 (20th Nightal)(December)

The gang met for breakfast and then went along to Kobold Alley. It was cul-de-sac, surrounded by sagging slum tenements. In the middle was a dirty old well.

As they looked around they heard a weak voice coming from the well. Fang lifted the grate and peered down. It was a narrow shaft and very filthy.
Still, Fenrir decided to float down and take a look. However he got just beyond the rim and some sort of anti-magic field hit. He managed to clutch at the side of the well and hauled himself back out.
'Anyone got any rope?' he asked.
As the others hunted through their bags for rope he called down;
'Are you all right?'
'Not really,' came the reply, 'I'm stuck down a well!'

In the end Fenrir had to go buy 50ft foot of silk rope for 10 gold.
When it was thrown down they had another problem;
'My fingers are too cold... i don't think i can...can someone please come  and get me?'

Fang lowered Fenrir down on the rope and at the bottom of the well he found an old kobold lady called Tzenka. Fang then hauled them both out. Tzenka invited them to her house so she and Fenrir could get  cleaned up.

Not long after that Ishi turned up and they asked her about the eggs that would help Irritator.

Ishi was happy to see them, but explained she had a dealer that brought them from an island south of Chult and that he was now dead! The island was known as Gifferzer Island and was inhabited by Ophidians who were ruled by a royal family of Spirit Naga. To complicate matters even further, anyone setting foot on the island turned into an ophidian! This effect was temporary though.

The magical eggs themselves would permanently change anyone eating them into an ophidian, but Irritator reckoned he had a spell that would modify the egg to turn the eater into a kobold.

Their was only one town on the island, known as Fashib, this was where the royal palace was, and this was where the eggs came from.

Ishi warned them about Spirit Naga Royal Family;

"
These are nasty creatures generally. They are thoroughly evil, but will hand over an egg in return for a favour of some kind.
You can deal with Princess Senel. She's horrible, but is on the level.
"

It looked like this job was going to be bigger than first thought!

(G572 09/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) YI-B12

 

 (G572 09/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) YI-B12

[Myself (your humble narrator, Rollo the Druid), Reinward the Chosen One and Fangornio the  Barbarian are on a new adventure to retrieve a "Beacon" from the Chambers of Infernal  Malice (a better name for it being "The Chambers of Massive Bugs".]


DAY 638 (21st Uktar) (November) cont ...

Reinward and Fangornio decided to give the dragon a miss today and came over to where I was for a teleport.

We spend the rest of the day in Sasserine.


DAY 639 (22nd Uktar) (November)

We teleported back into the Dungeon this morning and decided to have a crack at this dragon.

I sent in a wave or two of crocodiles but they could not do much against it and mostly ran away in confusion. I cast some spells on Fang to make her stronger and she charged in. Reinward started throwing daggers. I got an angle on the beast through the doorway and cast a Sunbeam, but it bounced off.

Reinward also ran in and we all did our best to avoid its attacks and acid breath. It was Fan that landed the killing blow, a mighty chop with her falchion.

While the others looted the dragon's chamber, I skinned it, took its head and some of its more interesting looking internal organs for later study.

Amongst the treasure was the beacon we had been sent to find, so it was agreed to return home without further delay. The treasure was sold through Felia and later we went to Sasserine to find the fellow who was willing to pay us for the beacon.

He appeared to be some shady quest-broker, working for who knows, but he handed over the reward willingly enough and that was that.

(G571 02/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI29

 

 

(G571 02/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI29

[Many apologies dear reader! My journal is in disorder. These events that I am now recording jump forward from my adventure in the Chambers of Malice and I have yet to fully transcribe them. Anyway, we are now back with Corhim Sparkledingle the gnome  wizard, Fenrir the human warlock, and Dak the half-orc barbarian. But as everyone was around for the opening of the Crusty Gusset (sorry I mean the Kraken's Keg),
Fang was also here. I was around too, but mostly I was getting anxious about the upcoming birth of my first child.]

DAY 645 (7th Nightal)(December)

So this evening was the grand opening of the Kraken's Keg. This was Dak's enterprise. There was a sign at the bar that read "All Welcome Except Gyles Finchey". You may remember that Gyles was the innkeeper that kept on throwing Dak out of his bar for various acts of foolishness.

It was quite a small place and he'd spend enough money on it such that it was no worse than your average dock side tavern. We were able to just about fill the place with people from the Barrow. There was me, Lavinia, Sylvia, Jiggles, Fenrir, Veddic, Corhim, Griff, Fang, Felia. Basically everyone on the Island that Dak knew.

He kept on giving out free drinks, which was great. Some curious locals came and went. The people in this town are far from refined and a gang of ruffians sat down at one of the tables and started causing trouble, teasing the staff and knocking over drinks. Dak went and had a word with them and they settled down for a while. Then they had an argument and one stabbed the other dead.

The murderer was very drunk and was quite happy to fight Dak as well. Dak lifted him over his head to throw him out, but the ruffian vomited all over him. Dak then took him outside and tossed him into the harbour.

Corhim had followed them out and was concerned the man might drown, so he turned into a merman and brought him back to the surface. With a heavy sigh Dak then hoisted the drunk out of the water with a boat hook. He was then tossed into a rubbish heap.

When our evening was done, I teleported me and the wife back to Sasserine.

DAY 646 (8th Nightal)(December)

Heavily pregnant as she is, my wife is still interested in the doings of what we have called the LVTC (Lavius-Vanderboren Trading Company).

All four of the xebecs are refitted and crewed and are ready to begin. The trade routes have been worked out.

Lavinia has decided that the Blue Nixie will always be kept on hand as a personal vessel. I've a feeling she's planning a trip to Farshore after the birth.

I heard that a band of adventurers had turned up at Tamunza, full of high spirits and rich with loot from a successful quest they were now killing time in the port while their ship was refitted.

As a joke they were running a competition called: "Barbarian of the Year".

There would be a 10,000 gold prize to the winner (a fortune!) and consist of lots of barbarian based events.

Fang, Dak and Fenrir (not a Barbarian!) were keen to enter.

One more bit of gossip before I go to bed. Apparently Fang was going to go for a swim today, but quite a few people followed him down to the water to  see what he looked like when he got undressed.
I don't know why, Fang is hiding his (her?) gender. I shall respect her privacy. A jest is a jest, but she's obviously very sensitive about it.


DAY 647 (9th Nightal)(December)

The day of the "Barbarian of the Year" competition in the main square of Tamunza. It was great fun.

The contestants were:

Nardo Vauxlen - a grumpy half-dwarf. This whole thing was set up by his friends
Scritch Twoflower - a human lady. She had dark skin and a blank kind of face
Glax Rotter - a half-goblin from some God's forsaken place
Xender Gorpatch    - a young fellow just passing through
Fang - our lovely lady barbarian friend
Dak - Landlord of the Crusty Gusset
Fenrir - the only one not an actual barbarian

The events that had been arranged were all designed for comedic effect and included:

1. Most well oiled barbarian
2. The Smelliest Loincloth
3. Eating Raw Meat
4. The Most Impressive Rage
5. Chase the Wench
6. Throw the Axe at the Goblin, Most Impressive Slice Wins

I took a note of the scores, as shown below:

Fang                7    10    7    8    8    6            46
Fenrir                7    6    7    6    9    9            44            
Dak                    5    2    9    10    10    10            46
Nardo Vauxlen         3    9    5    9    7    9            42    
Scritch Twoflower     10    4    3    7    9    8            41
Xender Gorpatch        6    7    3    3    4    5            28
Glax Rotter            1    10    10    8    7    8            44


Fang and Dak came first equal so they decided to have a bare knuckle fight for the prize. It wasn't as much fun as Fang maybe hoped though, as she started with an almost playful punk, and then Dak tore into a tremendous rage and absolutely pummeled her into the ground. So Dak won the ten thousand gold and Fang kind of went off in a sulk.

The adventure party that had hosted the competition kept the party going all night. They still had plenty of money to spend.

Dak tried to sweet talk Fang, but even when he offered her half if his winning she was still in a mood. Maybe it was the double black eyes or the broken nose, who can say?


DAY 648 (10th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir dreamed of one of his babies this night. I believe it was the offspring of the union between him and Nexelmode. He would not tell me the details, but I can imagine it involved caves, fires and flashes of lightning.

Dak wanted to get his house a fixed up today. He  dotted about for a while, not quite sure what to do, but then Lavinia told him how to contact the dwarven masons that had built our house so he had Sparkledingle teleport him into Sasserine.

The local cooper and the woodcutter for the basic stuff but the dwarves were given a 500gp bribe to get ahead of the queue with a further 5000gp on offer once the work was done.

He told them to 'make the house nice. Stable, no rot. Fix the roof and walls.' He was told it would take about a week.

Also today Fenrir and Giselle hung out with Fang, getting to know her as they had not really done so, what with everything else going on.

Dak put a sign above the bar, something he'd made himself, proclaiming him to be "Barbarian of the Year".

    
DAY 649  (11th Nightal)(December)

Today I popped over to the Vast Swamp. It was nice to see them all again, my adopted tribe. They told me they had received some help from the War Wizards of Wayloon. Food, supplies and some magical potions.

Currently there are about 40 Sharptooth Clan lizardfolk living there. As well as 30 or  so from other friendly clans.

I healed the sick and injured and helped out for the day. I also mentioned that any  Lizardfolk that fancy being paid as guards, maids or servants can come to island.

They agreed some would be sent as it would be a good source of income.  Word would also be sent out in the local swamp area.

DAY 650 (12th Nightal)(December)

Today the dwarf masons completed the house of Fenrir and Giselle. They paid Veddic 12,000 gold to cover it in Hallow (with Dimension Anchor) spells.

Dak liked the idea of protecting his house like that and asked Veddic to do the same for him. In typical Dak fashion though he wanted to haggle about the price. In the end he annoyed Veddic so much he was told to go do one.

Dak then went to Sylvia who said she would do it for no less than 14,700 gold. He then got Sparkledingle to lie to Veddic that she was offering 13k for six Hallows. Needless to say, this didn't work.

I should also note that today another two room dwarf house was built from the local gneiss stone. These are nice buildings, built to a dwarven scale with a stone table, bed slab and fireplace.


DAY 651 (13th Nightal)(December)

Today Mr and Mrs Baleworth arrange a bank in Sasserine to give Fenrir, Sparkledingle, Dak and Levmeia 1000 gold each as a thank you for being rescued from the vampires on Bone Island. They then chartered The Sister and headed for Westgate.


DAY 652 (14th Nightal)(December)

Spent most of the day keeping out of the way while my wife and Sylvia got ready for the arrival of the baby.

Played Gnome cards at Felia's shop in the afternoon and had a few ales in the Krusty Cabbage in the evening.

DAY 653 (15th Nightal)(December)

It looks like the baby is due any day now.

DAY 654 (16th Nightal)(December)

A baby girl! Came in at a healthy six pounds.

We've decided to call her Eviline (after my mother), Gretchin after a famous lady
in Lavinia's family, for a grand name of:

Eviline Gretchin Lavinia Vanderboren

They are already calling her Evi for short.