War Thunder Poem

 

War Thunder by Graham Foss

He’s gotta grind

to save mankind

He's got all night

to do it right

He's gotta get it done

in a Pee-Fifty-One

Gotta make up time

in his One-Oh-Nine

Aint no waiting on the runway when the siren goes

And the engines roar on the bless-ed Beaufort

Radio chatter, son of mine

Close out everything else

This is your time

The past has gone, and the future awaits

This glorious present is all it will take

A connection maybe to your family lode

Fighting, for blighty all over the globe

In some kinda deep level maybe

this is felt but not known

Hands on the joystick and feet on the pedals

Hidden talismans of your ancestor’s medals

Locked in and clicked in

Tapping the keys on five tons of tin

Take off with hope

But there is only ever one ending

Crash and burn

Reload and relocate

Up again, in a One – Ten

Guns blazing, purple hazing

Dive down on the noobs like vengeance

No quarter given or asked for in virtual airspace

This is it, the zone, the play and the player

Time hardly passes up in this layer

Whizzing and whipping

Gangster tripping

The beat of the drum and the beat of the heart

Death and glory, over and over

The fighters take the lower skies

Pure instinct, pure reaction

Sometimes though.

‘Player two has joined the game’

The announcer proclaims

Higher, the bombers,

the crew poised in position for the run

Wiser heads, but slower, more measured,

The air thinner, the pace slower, but none the less tense

Vapour trails mark the passage of these rectangular beasts

Our young sons seek out their place

The perfect place in heaven

The perfect place to be free and unfettered

From lowly concerns, down on the ground

Games drawn out on Eton’s fields

Can very soon become a more serious endeavour

I hope not for this life

Let the games be games with your feet on the ground

The important things are the dull things

The everyday is at least a day

A philosophy too refined for such a young head

Know this instead

There is only the fight, the grind

The climb up the tech tree

In-game currency

Random battles, Pee Vee Pee

War is hell, with a low ping and a single digit frame rate

Like Lockheed we go sideways through sound

Aero-space-age warriors

Born for the sky

Do or die

Again and again and again

(G619 14/03/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL12

(G619 14/03/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL12

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now well into the forest. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]


DAY 730 1st Ches (March) continued...

The next way forward in the vaults of the Tyfellia Solis Reliquary was a set of stairs leading up into another gloomy chamber. Old Salty was tired of seeing his undead being treated like cannon fodder so Korinth had to lead the way.

The vault he entered was empty except for a sarcophagi and an old chest. The chest was trapped as he discovered when he tried to open it. A spring-loaded needle shot out of the lock and ricocheted off his armour.

Salty had now arrived and was interested in the sarcophagi. He pushed off the lid, but this also triggered a trap and a big slab of stone fell down on him. Painful as it was, just as with the chest, there was treasure inside.

A corridor in the east side of this chamber lead back round to the room where they had seen the large suit of armour. Korinth deduced it was a Shield Guardian of some kind and he knew they were dangerous when roused so they tried to sneak  around it to get to another door.

It was worth a try, but it awoke when they were halfway along.

The suit of rusted, moss-slicked elven plate armour heaved itself upright from a  pile of mulch. It didn't move with the grace of a living elf; instead, it jerked and creaked like a swaying branch. Thriving, violet-veined roots had burst through  the joints of the metal, stitching the armour together into a shambling frame.

Inside the open visor, was not a face - only a desiccated, grey-skinned skull  held in place by a dense weave of twitching vines. A longsword, fused to a hand made of briars, dragged across the stone with a sickening rasp.

Korinth attacked it, and at this moment one of the ettercaps that had run off earlier leapt in to join the battle.

Salty kept his distance and sent in his numerous giant undead spiders. These fell monsters did a lot of the work, killing off an ettercap and keeping the Guardian occupied while Korinth flanked it.

Korinth had poor luck to begin with, constantly losing his footing, swinging and missing and taking some heavy blows. He stepped back to drink a healing potion and rushed back in, only to get battered and sent rolling back. With half his undead force destroyed thing were getting a bit desperate and even Salty had to join the fighting, swinging his mace wildly around his head.

Indeed it was him that landed the killing blow, one that even he would have to admit had been a lucky one. Once the room had been scoured clean of loot they moved on to the northern door and the corridor beyond. As they moved from room to room they were attacked by more spiders of various monstrous sizes. These were slain in due course and some were added to Salty's collection.

The final vault of the Reliquary was full of giant spiders and thick with webs. It was entered via a set of narrow steps that lead down into a mass of broken furniture and dusty webs. At first Salty wanted nothing to do with it, but eventually Korinth persuaded him to stop being such a chicken. They had to cut their way through the webs and were attacked by the spiders that inhabited this area, but bit by bit they made progress until they had reached a display case at the back of the room. This contained the Jundarstone! They opened the case and swiped the stone before more spiders came and hot footed it back to the entrance were Egnol waited eagerly to receive the precious artifact.

That evening the two groups met up again and they set up a base camp at the foot of Klonis Tower. They lit a fire and set a watch. Their sleep was troubled as ghosts and other restless spirits observed them from the shadows.

(G618 28/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL11

(G618 28/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL11

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now well into the forest. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]

DAY 729 30th Alturiak (Feb) 

They broke camp in the morning and continued east into the heart of the Jundarwood. The going was slower, the forest darker. Bozor scouted ahead.

I got a little too close at one point. I was in the form of a black fox. Korinth saw me and pointed me out to Egnol. He said just to ignore me, but Korinth did mention that a black fox was a beast of ill omen, which is right enough, although in this case I had already done them a favour in the morning and set a false trail for the Children of the Final Dawn to follow.

Bozor came back west to meet them. He warned that there were swarms of biting bugs ahead. 'We'll be plagued by blood-sucking insects for a days travel in that direction,' he warned.

Forward was the only direction though so on they went. Old Salty, being dead, was untroubled by the bugs, but Korinth had a hard time of it. He cut two eye holes in a bag and put it over his head, but if anything that made things worse as they got inside and could not be swatted away.

The stopped for lunch and the porters gratefully dropped all the baggage on the ground and flopped down beside it. One of them flopped harder than the others and it turned out she was dead, bled dry by the insects!

The other three porters were too weak to go on and Bozor was knackered, so they lit fires and burned leaves to make smoke, which did a good job of keeping the bugs away, if you didn't mind inhaling smoke. They camped for two hours.

Salty wanted to raise the porter from the dead, but everyone else was dead set against it. Her name was Bekka and she had been a jolly sort of middle-aged lady and everyone wanted her left to rest in peace. He did it anyway.

Korinth searched her bags, but then Salty stripped her naked, cut her skin to make her remaining blood run and then marched her into an area where the bugs were at  their thickest. The bugs went into a frenzy, and horrible as it was, it did sort of work and allow them to break camp and make their way east again.

By three o'clock they were all starting to suffer again, so Egnol ordered another stop and they lit the smoky fires again. He also ordered Salty to put some clothes on the blighted remains of poor Bekka.

Korinth tried some things to ease his suffering, such as caking his armour in mud. None of it worked.

After an hour or so they continued on until a porter dropped to his knees and said he couldn't go on. Egnol ordered the fires lit again. The next time they set off they carried smoking torches, which helped a bit.

I had been following along in the form of a honey badger, so pretty much unbothered by the insects. It was clear to me that this plague of bugs was being controlled by something or someone. Salty came to the edge of the camp to stroke his chin and ponder his next acts of evil and I looked up at him in the bushes. He didn't see me and I risked coughing out a bark that could maybe have sounded like "look for a nest!".

Salty went back to the others and said, 'I think these beasties are coming  from somewhere or being controlled by someone! Let's skulk around and see  what we can see!'

It was nearly ten o'clock by now, but it was a good idea. He and Korinth snuck out of the smoke filled camp and saw a light in the distance between the trees. They followed it, but then lost it. After looking around they deduced that the bugs were drifting in from a particular direction so they went that way. Suddenly an ettercap leapt out of the trees and attacked! It went for Bekka first, but she was undead so its poison had no effect.

Five more ettercaps attacked, including a shaman who was controlling the clouds of bugs. Salty summoned some undead to hold them back and Korinth shot at the shaman. They killed the ettercaps one by one in a desperate struggle in the gloomy forest. The shaman called in a giant spider to help
but the lads were able to kill it as well. I was very upset at Salty for his treatment of Bekka and kind of wished he'd die (properly!) but he was too skilled at marshalling his undead forces and handy with his mace too.

When the shaman finally fell, the bugs dissipated. Salty animated the dead giant spider and rode it back to camp. He made quite a startling entrance.


DAY 730 1st Ches (March)

The broke camp in the morning. The bugs were gone, much to everyone's relief, but they still had to suffer the company of Old Salty who rode his undead giant spider like he was the king in a royal procession.

By now they could see the imposing Tower of Klonis looming up out of the forest, every so often visible through the dense tree cover. There was evidence of undead in this area. Flitting through the shadows were the remains of ancient elves - skeletons, zombies and the God's knew what else. Egnol told them all to leave these undead alone. As long as they were not attacked, the undead of this region were not hostile.

They were in the outskirts of Tyfellia, the ruins of this once great elven city could be seen poking out of the ground here and there. As they continued the ruins were better preserved, with some of the dwellings almost wholly intact under their covers of ivy vines.

Egnol explained what they were going to do next:
'I want to recover an artifact called the Jundarstone. We are going to have to split the party now as its location can only be accessed if certain actions are taken elsewhere. Bozor will lead a section to the ruins of the Academy of Mages and reactivate the Sphere of Galzatric. Bozor knows what to do. We think, we hope, that this will allow the deactivation of the defences that protect the Jundarstone - but only for about a day. I will lead the second section and it will be our job to enter the Tyfellia Solis  Reliquary to find the Jundarstone.'

He didn't tell them what he planned to do with the Jundarstone once he had it and no one asked. Most likely they were thinking of all the other treasure that might be held in the Reliquary. 

Anyway, Egnol's plan went into action in the afternoon. I followed the second section. They headed further into the city. There were undead flitting among the ruins but they kept out of the way of the party. Egnol followed a folded up map he had made of the area until they arrived at the Reliquary.

I didn't follow them, but from my investigations I can piece together what  happened next. The main building of the Reliquary was in ruins and stripped of anything of value - it was the deep cellars where they were head. They met no opposition until they entered the vault of the Jundarstone. 

Every corridor, door and room of this massive vault had once been home to the treasures  of Tyfellia, but now most of them were broken and worthless. Thick cobwebs coated  everything and had to be pushed aside to make progress.

There were undead lurking everywhere, so Egnol and Wrunas remained at the entrance to cover their rear, while Old Salty and Korinth ventured further in.

In the first chamber they were attacked by skeletons and giant spiders. Once these  were dealt with Salty raised one of the huge ones as an undead minion. There were  steps leading up into another big vault and looking through the doorway they saw a  large suit of elven armour standing in the centre of the room. They avoided that, and back down the stairs they followed a corridor to the west where another, smaller, suit  of armour stood against the wall.

As they approached, it came to life and attacked. Salty sent forth his undead host and in the ensuing battle Bekka was rendered properly dead again. As they poked at the armour, a group of ettercaps attacked from a room in the west. The heroes killed two of them, but the other two ran off. Our friendly tomb raiders caught their breath for a moment and then pushed on.

(G617 21/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL10

(G617 21/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL10

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now well into the forest, and exploring an ancient temple. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]

DAY 728 29th Alturiak (Feb) cont ...

Nukaliss may have been mental, but she wasn't mental-mental if you see what I  mean. She knew time was pressing so she gave a Potion of Lesser Restoration to Korinth so he could heal his vitals after being injured by the tough skeleton.

One of Salty's undead cultists was sent north to check out a corridor and its doorways, but even so Korinth managed to trigger a trap as he blundered around and was hit by spectral barbed vines.

They entered a central chamber where three large bells were arranged along the south wall. There was also a large pile of leaves blocking the way north. A shambling mound came from a set of stairs to the east and attacked them.

This was a large pile of rotten, but very angry, vegetation. They used the zombies to hold it off while they shot at it. This worked, but Salty lost two of his undead cultists.

Korinth went and looked down the stairs it had come from. It seemed to be another large room, choked full of bushes and undergrowth.

Salty sent a zombie down there and this provoked two more shambling mounds into attacking them. Nukaliss got involved this time and summoned two owl bear skeletons to fight the mounds. Meanwhile the other held back and shot there bows. Salty even got the kill shot on the last shambler with his crossbow.

They then went downstairs and beat about the bushes and found some treasure mixed in with all the garden waster and bones.

From the bell room they headed north into the largest chamber of the buried temple. It would have once been a really lovely altar room, but now it was all overgrown and covered in roots and vines. As they entered they were attacked by a fierce zombie-like creature. It was in fact a bodak, the remains of someone that had been killed by a touch of pure evil. It's mouth hung open down to its chest and its long arms terminated in twisted claws.

It tore into them and Korinth took the brunt of its attacks as Salty moved his precious undead around to press the flanks and Gravedigger healed his friends when required.

Korinth was badly beaten and being healed by Gravedigger when Salty got the finishing blow with his recently looted "Backbiter Spear". After they got their breath back they looted the chamber and found a mysterious orb - no doubt that this was what Egnol was interested in.

Still, they knew there was still treasure in this temple, so they went and rang the bells in the previous chamber until a hidden door grinded open to reveal a room full of more treasure. They had no opened all but one room, which lay behind a portcullis.

It was too heavy for them to life, but they did see a lever further down the corridor so with a grappling hook, some rope and a lot of patience they eventually got the gate open. The room down the corridor had a well in it - and a vampire who may not have been immediately hostile, but Salty took no chances and Turned it as soon as he saw it. The vampire turned into mist and wafted down the well.

With the temple now thoroughly explored they headed back to camp and arrived at three o'clock. The expedition then continued east until eleven and made camp in the dark.

Progress was slower now and they were all very tired. The unlucky porters were put on watch so those that had seen combat during the day could get a decent night's sleep.

(G616 14/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED15

 
(G616 14/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED15

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They have arrived at the  mysteriously deserted town of Everaska and have just recently opened a portal to the God's only know were while mucking about in the manor house of the Viers family.]


DAY 19 cont...

The lads didn't know where they were and had a thin grasp of what was going on but they knew they were in a dungeon and that meant there was treasure to be had!

The next chamber they came to was like an underground forest, chocked with roots and dark foliage. Here they were attacked by fiery skeletons that hurled magical bolts of flame at them.

Uthmar charged at the undead and started laying about them. Rogier cast spells at the back and Gravedigger managed to Turn two of them.

Rogier found that his poison bolts burned off the skeletons harmlessly so he switched to his trusty Cloud Of Daggers spell. Each time a skeleton was slain - it exploded! Our heroes soon learned to stand well back when they went off. After the battle they then hunted down and destroyed the Turned ones.

With all the excitement over they moved further into the cavern. They discovered a  dark overgrown graveyard.

They found a secluded place to rest and settled down for the night. Uthmar and Rogier spent a large portion of the evening arguing about the division of loot.


DAY 20

They broke camp in the small hours of the morning. Gravedigger had a look around. It felt like they were underground. The plants that had grown here were dried and desiccated. They were of no type of fauna that Gravedigger was familiar with.

While looking around he found a door in the east wall of the chamber. Rogier came over and "accidentally" opened it, just to annoy Uthmar, who came racing down to where they were and shouted, 'shut that bloody door!'

Gravedigger did as he was bid, but whatever was on the other side of the door had been awoken. Screeching and banging was heard, then hissing and rasping. Rogier shrugged and opened the door again. They were attacked by four ghouls. Gravedigger Turned the first two, who went running back into the darkness of the other chamber.

Uthmar grumbled at Gravedigger for some reason and used his Smite Evil on one of the other ghouls. As it died he remarked to the warforged, 'waste of a good Smite, that was!'

While that was going on, Rogier had destroyed the last remaining one, so they ventured further in. It appeared to be a large crypt. The Turned ghouls were at the back of the chamber and with a bit of trouble they were eventually dealt with.

Our heroes were all puffed out after that, as none of them had even had breakfast so they rested for a while. After that they investigated a door in the north wall of the crypt. Rogier warned that the door was trapped so Uthmar threw a dead ghoul at it, which landed on a  pressure plate and released an acid cloud.

Once open the door lead to a corridor, then to some stone steps leading down. They could hear voices coming from below.

Opening the door revealed a wide hallway that went east and west and opened out into large gloomy chambers on either side. Chained to the north wall was a ragged lady who looked up from here mutterings when she saw our heroes arrive and cried, 'praise the God's you are here!'

Uthmar at first shushed her, but then made some very poor taste jokes about the smell of urine coming from here. He then commanded Rogier to get her unchained.

However, as Rogier approached it appeared she had just been pretending as she leapt at him, brandishing one of those Ritual Sickles used by the cultists. Then another bunch of them came from the eastern room. Someone shouted 'Agnes! Pull the lever!'

The cultists were fanatical, but not strong and were easily slain by Uthmar and Rogier. Gravedigger found that all his spells just slid off them, he was having bad luck with his magic. As the last of them fell, they heard a low hum build into a louder noise and then a crack of thunder and a flash of lighting came from the east - then abruptly everything was silent.

Uthmar went east and saw that the corridor opened out into a large chamber to the north. At the top of the room were all sorts of strange equipment, some still sparking and smoking. A woman stood beside a wide table were some sort of hideous monster lay. Indeed by its description I would say it was a flesh golem, a being made from the stitched together parts of dead people, bought to life by magic and lightning.

Uthmar came back and told the others what he had seen. He and Rogier then distracted themselves with puerile jokes revolving around the size of the golem and the need to use magic to enlarge Uthmar's... well, I won't relate here what I don't understand. If there was a joke here I fail to see it, but anyway, they were drawn from such low banter by Gravedigger giving an "ahem" as the monster came down the corridor towards them.

Gravedigger tried a Turn, but the monster was a construct, not undead and the spiritual magic had no effect. When it came to fighting this horror, the jokes stopped and they got to work. For all their low humour I must admit they knew their business. Uthmar faced the monster and traded blows with it, while Rogier used his magic from a safer distance to injure it with fire and magical blades. Meanwhile, when Uthmar received a blow or two, enough to make him stumble, Gravedigger was on hand to heal him. Even so, the monster was very strong and managed to beat them back to the door they had come though. By this time they were all hurt and once they had all hustled through the door they pushed it shut.

Uthmar pondered for an irritatingly long time if he should take a Healing Potion or not. Gravedigger gave up listening to him about it and cast Bless, Aid and then Spiritual Weapon.

They then opened the door again and charged the monster. After more desperate fighting the monster lay slain, next to the lady that had released it.

(G615 07/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL9

 

(G615 07/02/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL9

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. This story is now taken up by Rollo the Druid.]

DAY 726 27th Alturiak (Feb)

Greetings dear and gentle reader! 
I hadn't known anything about what my friend Egnol had been planning  until he chartered one of my ships, the "Black Cat". Even after that I didn't know much, which is why I followed it to the coastline that bordered the Jundarwood.

I will now relate to you what I know in regards to this (ill-fated?) expedition. Some of it I witnessed with my own eyes, some of it I learned later and some of it I have made up based on my best guess as to what may likely have transpired.

Having said all that then, as I circled high in the sky as a sharp-eyed eagle I watched as the campsite on the beach woke up and they all had their breakfast.

The Black Cat had returned to the shore, but was making ready to leave west later in the day. 

Korinth went to speak to Egnol and was told something along the lines of:

"We are going to the ruins of Taefellia. It is under a curse, a curse that has raised the elves of the city as undead. I have researched for 30 years and finally I think I have a way of lifting the curse."

Hiring two necromancers seemed to make sense, Korinth supposed, given the mission, but he did wonder.
'Are we there to clear them out or help them?' he asked intuitively.
'We'll see when we get there,' was the cryptic answer.

Korinth then went to talk to Nukalis. Among other things she said:
'I think Egnol is going to try and do something stupid and I am totally here for that!'
And:
'I think he's planning to keep me and old Salty apart so our Turn's don't interfere with each other.'

Korinth then went to talk to Old Salty and relayed what he had learned. As they walked along the beach, a sudden cry went up. They were under attack! I wheeled in a little closer to what the battle.

Large gangs of people in robes and armour attacked from the north and the south. I learned later that they were from the a cult known as the Children of the Final Dawn,  an extremist group associated with Amaunator, the god of "order, the sun, law, and time".

The cultists wore robes, while the clerics wore armour. All wore tall round red caps. Our heroes went north to meet the main attack while the others went south to meet the other cultists in combat on the beach.

Blades flashed, maces fell and spells were cast. Old Salty cast Desecrate, then raised three of the dead cultists to do his bidding. But then a Final Dawn cleric turned his undead who went fleeing down the beach. The cultists were fanatical and all fought to the death. When Salty and Korrinth had killed all in the north they rushed south to help finish off the enemy there. It finally came down to the last cleric fighting Korinth who at first seemed to have the matter easily in hand, but then took an age to finish off his foe. In the end he slew the final cultist with a massive killing blow, which earned him a gentle round of applause from Salty and Ownkabey who had been watching from close by.

Now that it was all over, it was seen that two porters and a man called Ketric had  been killed. Ketric was a rogue, and would have been handy later on, but they did not  have the resources to resurrect him.

They looted the bodies of the slain, but not long after the Black Cat rounded the headland and signaled that another, much larger, group of cultists were heading in their direction! Egnol gathered everyone up and an hour later they plunged into the woods with everything they could carry.

They marched into the forest for the rest of the day, a group of seven adventurers  accompanied by four porters.

Myself and Jonathan kept an eye on them from a good height, but Korinth noticed us and took a pot shot with his bow. The blighter winged Jonathan! I had to heal him as he tumbled in the sky. Korinth noticed that and shot again, so I sent down an Ice Lance to see how he liked it!

Jonathan flew home and I landed not far away and turned into a fox. I watched as Egnol handed Korinth a potion of healing and told him, 'don't shoot at any more birds!'

In the evening they made camp. They could have done with a druid on this trip I think as there was a much nicer place just a half mile further on. Still, for a forest with a very sinister reputation the Jundarwood was very pleasant.
It was overgrown, but easy to pass through. The trees were mainly Holm Oak,  Cork Oak, Stone Pine, and Calid Chestnut, trees that grew far enough apart to make travelling through the forest as easy as walking through a park.

Ownkabey was a hobgoblin princess or something like that, I had no idea where had come from, but she apparently knew the forest and where they were going.
She was dressed in very fine armour and compared to some of the other nutters on this expedition seemed to be fairly normal in behaviour.

Nukillas on the other hand was manic in character, always making very bad-taste jokes and put-ons, wearing out the patience of the entire party. She was demented in some way, but then would any cleric of Asmodeus ever be considered sane?

I turned into a seagull later on and flapped away, then teleported home.

DAY 727 28th Alturiak (Feb)

I checked in with the expedition late in the afternoon. They were making good progress and had entered a more sinister area of the forest were the trees weremore gnarled and pressed in more closely. There were few animals in this region and a sense of foreboding pressed down on all living beings under the dark forest canopy.

They made camp at night fall and I happily left them too it, teleporting home for a nice cup of tea and a bath.

DAY 728 29th Alturiak (Feb)

I caught up with our heroes just before lunch today. It looked like Bozor was acting as scout, at first going forward to check the route, then going back  on their trail to check how far away the Children were.

It appeared Egnol thought they had time enough to explore a ruined Taefellian outpost and wanted to send some of his hireling to go take a look.

Salty and Korinth were to go and they could bring one other of their choosing. Old Salty wanted to bring Nukillas. Korinth was looking forward to a break from her incessant vulgar jokes, but Salty didn't want to learn any healing spells so in the end they took her with them. He promised to do all the Turning so Nukillas could concentrate on the healing.

Ownkabey gave them simple directions and after an hour's walk they arrived at the outpost. Egnol had told them they could take all and any treasure they found there except for any "orbs" they turned up.

They found the ruins of a small elven settlement. The only building that had not been totally overtaken by the forest was a stone temple in the centre.

At the ivy choked entrance they argued about who was to go first. As I studied these two more I began to realise this was to become a very familiar refrain.
'On you go then Korinth!' ordered Salty.
'What?' gasped the fighter in amazement. 'Send your undead in first, that is what they are there for!' Here he gestured at the six zombies currently in
Salty's employ - two undead kao-tua and four undead cultists.
'But you are the guy with the sword and shield, the front line! I'm a cleric and people like me are back line.'
'Maybe,' conceded Korinth, 'But those rotters are trap-fodder. Send them forward.'
'Hey, zombie lives matter!'
'They are not alive you... oh look out, here she comes.'
Nukillas had wandered over. 'What are you boys talking about?'
'Nothing,' growled Korinth. He then drew his sword and marched angrily into the temple.

In the first chamber they found some undead elven skeletons, temple guards who still stood at their posts after centuries. Salty turned and destroyed five of them. Two more swiftly fell to Korinth's blade, but the last one gave them more trouble.

It tilted is head, then snapped it back, gazing over all of them with blazing fire in its eye-sockets. Dark veins grew along the flagstones of the temple floor and around the skeletons legs, as if nourishing it. Their attacks appeared to have no effect. Nukillas tried to turn it, but nothing happened. The skeleton slashed at a zombie with its ancient sword and cut it in two.

It seemed indestructible, but its attacks were no more dangerous than any other  skeleton, so they stepped back out of the temple to discuss options. The skeleton did not follow.

Eventually they deduced that it drew its power from the inside of the temple so they went back in, ducked under its sword and dragged it out into the sunlight where they easily smashed it to pieces.

Watching all this, perched on a branch as I was, the bickering, the arguing and then the eventual execution of a plan that more or less worked, I couldn't help but compare them to some friends of mine. Korinth seemed to fill the role of the slightly more sensible one, similar in character to Fenrir who could be quite clever when he wasn't drunk. Salty was more like Reinward, always looking to cause trouble, always looking for opportunities for foolishness, overly cautious to the point of annoyance, but deadly when he had to be.

It's strange, I find, that the same sort's of fellows seem to enter into my life again and again.

(G614 31/01/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED14

 

(G614 31/01/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED14

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They have arrived at the  mysteriously deserted town of Everaska and have just recently entered the manor house of the Viers family.]


DAY 17 cont ...

Our brave heroes continued to wander around the house looking for useful things and any treasure that wasn't nailed down.

Gravedigger found a set of keys in a kitchen drawer that allowed them access to some of the rooms upstairs.

In the master bedroom he found a sinister looking journal. He translated the first page:

''
That which stands behind the world may be reached by those who dare to step sideways
''

Along the edge of the cover, in smaller script, almost like an afterthought:

"Do not read this aloud unless you are prepared to be answered"

It continued:

''
I write this not as confession, but as instruction.

The Other Plane is not distant. It does not lie beyond the stars nor beneath the earth. It exists beside us, pressed thin against our reality like breath against glass.
Most believe the planes are separated by vast gulfs. This is a comforting lie.
The truth is simpler, and far more dangerous: the Veil is weakest where people gather, where lives overlap, where faith, fear, and memory are layered thick upon one another.
A house will suffice.
A district is better.
A city is ideal.

The passage is not opened by force, but by alignment.
Time must hesitate.
Witnesses must be present.
And the reflection must be invited.
Those who fear possession misunderstand the process. The Other does not steal the self - it reveals it. What was taken from Veershade was not flesh, but certainty.

They stepped through willingly, though they will never remember agreeing. I record the ritual here so that it may be repeated, refined, and - if necessary - completed correctly next time.
''

None of them knew anything about what any of the above meant, although they all agreed it was a bit rum.

Gravedigger also noticed at the bottom of the page, written later, in a different hand, or  the same hand grown unsteady:
"I hear him now, even when the mirror is covered."

They went back to Lady Vier's camp and Gravedigger gave her the book and the translation.
'Oh deary me!' she exclaimed.

For reasons known only to himself Rogier decided to tried being intimidating and  demanding more money, going 'WOT!' and lurching at her in the most alarming fashion.
She gave them all 100 gold each. 
Gravedigger, rather ashamed of his companion's behaviour, handed his back later on.

Gravedigger then translated more of the book, sat at a table in the shelter of Lady Vier's pavilion.

He looked for the more pertinent parts, and translated them from Infernal.

''
I attempted the alignment elsewhere.
In the cellar. In the upper rooms. Even beyond the house.
All attempts failed.
The Veil does not tear twice in different places. It thins only where it has already been wounded. The entrance remembers.

To stand anywhere else is to knock upon a door that does not exist.
''

In the margin, cramped and irritated:

''
The circles are not redundant. Each serves a voice.
''

Gravedigger thought on this. The author appeared earnest, but it didn't tie in with any established religious thinking. There was no "Veil". There was a "Weave" and also the Plane of Shadow. Perhaps it was the name for one of these, or it was a name for an Alternate Material Plane as yet unknown, or an alternative name for an existing Plane in the established Cosmology.

Gravedigger talked to Lady Viers.
'It's all very good finding out the truth,' he considered. 'But where does it get us?
Do you think we could get all the people back?'
'I know not,' she admitted. 'But I think you should try the pentagrams. None of this matches up with our understanding of the other realms, but it could be interesting to find out.'
'Hah!' puffed Gravedigger. 'It is all the lies of demons and devils if you ask me! I was taught the Traditional Model in my seminary. It is well established.'

He did more research, late into the night and deduced that their were three pentagrams they should focus on:

Pentagram 1 — The Anchor - Runes of binding, devotion, and endurance
Pentagram 2 — The Voice - Runes of sound, names, and invitation
Pentagram 3 - Gravedigger wasn't too sure about this one, it looked like nonsense to him 

DAY 18

Gravedigger spent another day translating the journal.
Rogier helped when he wasn't arguing with Uthmar or trying to intimidate passing badgers.

Uthmar spent the day either napping or attending to his weapons and armour.


DAY 19

Our brave heroes returned to the manor house and the rooms with the pentagrams in them.
Gravedigger consulted the journal and arranged them all on the pentagrams he had deduced to be the ones required.

As the ritual began all the doors slammed shut and the air began to feel thick. The pentagrams began to radiate darkness. They found that they were now stuck to the spot. The flickering of the candles seemed to freeze mid flicker. Motes of dust hung in the air.

Next a voice said something in an unknown tongue, the floor began to pulse as if breathing.
It was all kicking off now, that was for sure, there was hardly anything of the sinister persuasion that WASN'T happening now. A mirror in the room clouded over, then cleared. The runes on the floor began to move.

Something dark moved in the mirror, then in blur of moving light and shadow they found themselves moved into the interior of some sort of tomb.

Rogier, without any hesitation at all, seeing a sarcophagi, went over to lift the lid so he could loot it. Gravedigger and Uthmar did not like disturbing graves and left him to it.

After searching the place for loot, they moved forward into another chamber that contained several chests. It was hardly a surprise to any of them that they turned out to be mimics.

A hap-hazard fight ensued, with our brave heroes eventually coming out on top. They then sat down and got their breath back for a while.

Eventually they stood up again and examined a door to the north. Rogier knocked on it and stood back. Gravedigger put his ear to the door.
'I hear hissing and clicking,' he informed the others.