Karma Kingdom (build 157)

 

My other labour of love (besides writing) is making this website:

 http://www.roztov.epizy.com/stw/generate.html

The idea is that while playing a sort of strategy game where you build a kingdom from the ruins of a wrecked realm, you also click through to charity websites (there are about 100 I have found on the internet).

 Each day you can save some land, some trees and donate to lots of different charities.

I've been doing it for a while now, but I've not managed to get much interest :(

I'm hoping that as I add more to it, people will want to play. 

I've learned as I've gone. I work with computers, but this project is the only one where I use html, javascript and php.

I'd love to get this project 'more out there'. Wish I knew how though! I spend too much time tinkering with the code and not enough time advertising 😀

Anyway, this is the notes for the latest build:

 
- fixed BUG #62 - Generate page now goes to the bottom
- fixed BUG #67 - magic jar is still affecting CO2 offset - should not
- added reference codes to help court debugging
- fixed BUG #69 - No Monkey bug
- Removed link to Beats4Change as the click leads to malware 

 

(G438 23/01/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR32

 (G438 23/01/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR32

[Now to return once more to my visit to Yacg'harr Island.]

DAY 520 (5th Eleasis) (August) cont ...

And so I went to visit Egnol Galeborn at his home. When I introduced myself as a 'fellow historian' he was delighted to invite me in and offered me tea and cake.

We talked for half an hour, about interesting but unrelated topics until we came to the subject of portals.
'Well, funny you should mention it,' confided the elf. 'There are many fascinating legends associated with Yacg,harr. There is a barrows of at least two kings here.
One is ancient and evil, while the other I only know as the King with the Emberblade. It is said the evil king's shade is restless and can only be defeated by the holder of the Emberblade. I have also heard that there is a broken or abandoned portal in the evil king's tomb, but well... you know how legends are. They grow, or combine with other tales until the truth is very hard to focus on.'
I nodded in agreement.
'Oh, there is a man you should talk to,' he went on. 'He is in the tavern, a scholar called Silas. He has spent his life searching for the Emberblade apparently.'

We talked some more, then I went to the inn to seek out this scholar. I noticed some ruffians lingering about, and the innkeeper told me discreetly that they were here in search of Silas also, men that he owed money to.

I was directed down a corridor (this inn was built into caves) and found the old chap in his room, in the company of his retainer Tabaldak, a half-orc barbarian from the Hordelands.

Remember that I was still in my guise (thanks to my Hat of Disguise) of 'Pierre the  Historian', a middle-aged Adept. Silas was happy to talk to me, but said that he could not leave his room as he was 2000 gold in debt with the men outside looking for him. I could not understand at all how he could have run up such a large amount, but there it was.

There were bars on the windows, but after nipping back and paying the innkeeper 10 gold for repairs, myself and Tabaldak bent them enough to get out. We skulked out of the tavern to a secluded spot.

I was beginning to wonder how reliable old Silas was, but he then revealed to me that he had located the 'Emberknight's Tomb' as he called it, that it was here on the island after all, and that he wanted me and Dak to go get it.

Small as the island is, it is honeycombed with caves and tunnels so Silas gave us precise directions to the barrow and off we went.
While we walked, Dak commented on my 'pet' rat and seagull, and mentioned that he had always wanted to own a snake.
An hour later we had found the cave we wanted and in we went.

After some tunnels we came to a junction that was inhabited by giant spiders. They were somewhat alarming at first, but I summoned some crocodiles and soon had the situation in hand. Dak shot one of the crocodiles with an arrow by mistake, revealing to me how inexperienced he was and also making me remember when I used to regularly shoot Raz on the backside in my earlier days.

From here the tunnel turned and led to a carved out chamber. My vanguard of crocs set off a crude sound alarm. We waited, but nothing happened.
There was a door at the other end of the room so I went and opened it. I saw a hobgoblin and a bunch of goblins. The hobgoblin attacked, blocking the door.

Rolanda, quick witted rat as she is, cast a Charm spell on the hobgoblin and told him to go wait for her in the corner. He gave her a lascivious wink and left the door way.

Next, I targeted one of the goblins and cast Baleful Polymorph. I turned it into a small viper and nodded to Dak. 'That's for you!'

He smiled and charged into the room to attack the other goblins. We made short work of them. While I killed their leader with a hypothermia spell, another was persuaded to surrender and another was slain.

This new chamber we were in was a burial chamber, with many small alcoves. It had been wrecked by the goblins. The goblin and hobgoblin that were still alive, were stripped of all their possessions, had their 'braces cut' and were sent on their way. Dak made no comment on my showing of mercy, one way or the other.

From here we found another tunnel that led off to a section that had collapsed. As the side wall was solid rock though, I was able to carve out a small side passage with Stone Shape.

In the next cave we were attacked by Gricks. They are large and nasty looking, but as I soon discovered, they are easy to kill.

Moving on, we discovered a large sort of shrine, carved out of the rock. A statue was at the altar and as we entered it came to life and walked over to block our progress. I turned into a hawk and flew up to the ceiling. The statue followed me but could not reach me. It went to stand beside one of the doors that were across from the altar.

I remembered I had one more Stone Shape spell left and tried it on the statue.
It worked! The statue turned into a giant egg, that rolled around rather forlornly but did not impede us in any way.

And so we reached the last chamber, beyond the doors the statue guarded and found the tomb of the Emberknight (or King? or both perhaps).

There was a stone sarcophagus and the grave goods were laid along side it.  And there was the Emberblade, the magical sword of (local) legend, radiating light.

We nabbed it and returned to Silas.

(G437 16/01/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA78

 (G437 16/01/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA78

[Now back to Fenrir, Veddic and Raz, who were returning to Westgate after slaying Hrarnok Sharkchum, and were about to make a new fried.]

DAY 492 (7th Flamerule)(July)

This part of the story of the Return of the King to Westgate begins with a young man called Reinward. He was from Waterdeep, but had recently left for reasons that are fairly murky.

He arrived on a fine Flamerule morning. It was warm, sunny and pleasant, and young  Reinward did not have a care in the world until he chanced to look down at his hands and noticed that on each of his wrists were five narrow red bands, rather like tattoos. He had no idea how they had got there.

Reinward wanted to find out what this could mean, and was drawn towards a nearby tavern to see if he could ask for the name of a scholar or bard. He entered the 'Clumsy Haddock' which the attentive reader may remember was where Fenrir found Whitey 'the Kid' prior to murdering him.

Some of Whitey's friends were there, youngsters between 14 and 16, dressed in black and junior members of the Night Masks. These were namely - Pat McGroin, Abbey the Book, Catsnack and their leader, Derna.

Initially though, Reinward asked at the bar, but all the talk was about the Whitey's recent death and the man that was rumoured to have slain him - Barry Shitknees. And so Reinward, out of curiosity, went to talk to Derna and company.

Soon they were his new best friends. Reinward knew very well that they were tricksters, intent on relieving him of all his gold and valuables, he had met enough of these types in the taverns of Waterdeep to know them when he saw them. He was happy to throw darts, gamble and chat for now, giving the name of 'Jim Bob' when asked.

Later on though, Reinward found himself backed into the corner of a booth and started to feel a bit claustrophobic. Derna would not let him get out, so Reinward tossed a gold in the air and squeezed out while the others scrambled to lay hands on it.

He then went to the piano, but since he could not play it he started to sing a Waterdeep sea shanty at the top of his voice. Since he was not terrible and it was not a song familiar to Westgate some of the tavern patrons turned to listen.

This did not stop Derna and his cronies though. who started to move towards the piano area. Reinward, getting somewhat panicked, leapt onto a nearby table, then jumped to another, then another, trying to make for the door. Tavern customers leapt up and shouted, and some threw mugs and bottles.

He made it outside though, and into the street, rather than running for it, he decided to relieve his bladder instead. It was in this condition that Catsnack appeared and attacked him. Derna was not far behind.

Young, and inexperienced, it was just as well for Reinward that the city watch was not far away. He was collared and taken to see Relleme Filchbatter, the young lady gnome of the Day
Air Watch who was stood in the square grooming Honey, her Celestial Bee mount. She cast Detect Magic on Reinward (she had learned good habits from her old boss Fenrir!) and was alarmed enough at what she saw that the young man was taken away and dumped in a cell in the Dockward Watch House.

Here he wasn't treated badly though, indeed he was given tea and biscuits. Later, the dwarf known as Rocky - the current leader of the magic users of the Westgate Watch came to see him.
'What's so special about you?' asked the dwarf gruffly.
Reinward shrugged.
'Roll up your sleeves, lad,' said the dwarf, then, 'what's this?'
Reinward looked at the marks on his wrists and said the he didn't know.

Later still, in the afternoon he was taken to see the leader of the Westgate Watch. 'Watch out,' warned the guard that ushered him in. 'Don't cross the boss, he is a total nutter and deadly dangerous!'

And it was here, of course, that Reinward met Fenrir Thunderstaff, who was currently  going by the name of Raziel Lightningrod, the leader of the Watch and Supreme Justice of Westgate.

Fenrir could feel a powerful Abjuration aura coming from Reinward's markings. He summoned Veddic who thought that the marks might have something to do with Illmater, the Broken God, whose symbol was wrists bound with red cord.

Reinward told them that he had no involvement with the god, and Fenrir didn't doubt him, but they went down to the House of Illmater anyway to talk to the head priest.

This was a man called Yatte the Godly and he was greatly interested in the lines on Reinward's wrists. He described them as stigmata, holy markings of Illmater.
He took Reinward off by himself and introduced him to a young woman who also had the markings. She was mute though, and since no one knew her name, they had taken to calling her 'Jane'.

Reinward tried to talk to her and she whispered in his ear;

''
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted,
By woman wailing for her demon-lover.
''

Reinward was confused, but he wrote it down, just in case. Fenrir decided to keep an eye on Reinward for the moment, so after lunch he took the young lad back to his town house.

Here Reinward met Gelly for the first time, but after some initial badinage she told him to 'fuck off'. She appeared to not trust him, perhaps sensing that he, like her, was a rogue. 'No one robs this place except me, capeesh?' she warned him.

Later in the afternoon Reinward was introduced to another of Fenrir's 'friends'. He had never met a teifling before, despite his background, so was somewhat alarmed by Random's large ram's horns that curled over and around his head.

Random was friendly though and examined the young man's wrists. 'Most interesting,' he said. 'I must talk to our benefactor at once! I shall come back tomorrow with news.'

(G436 09/01/2020 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) LR31

 (G436 09/01/2020 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) LR31

[Meanwhile, I was having my own adventures in the house of Durgen Hillstone, a man who had somehow managed to fill his home full of slimes and puddings.]

DAY 516 (Eleasis) (August) cont ...

I decided to have a quick look down the trap door. The ladder led to a room full of crates and a desk. The desk was for transactions and stock taking I think. I added these papers to the evidence.

There was a door, and inside the next, larger cellar chamber I saw a number of Gelatinous Cubes.
With my magic depleted, I closed the door and decided to go back upstairs and take the rest of the day off.

Myself and Lavinia are now camped out in the largest, least slimy room, with Rolanda and Jonathan keeping watch. I can hear them talking somewhere. I wonder what a rat and a seagull  find to talk about? Anyway, I'd better go to sleep - more slimes tomorrow!


DAY 517 (Eleasis) (August)

Our sleep was uninterrupted and in the morning I went back down to take care of the Cubes. It was not hard as each of them did not attack until they themselves were attacked. So a bunch of crocodiles made short work of them.

The room was full of crates and kegs, and also a hidden passage (behind a barrel) which led to some old tunnels. Down the tunnels I found a library, where there were more notes on what Durgen was up to. There were also blueprints for a machine he was making to extract gemstones from the magic crystal I'd seen mentioned in his other notes.

I raided the shelves and shoved a number of interesting books into my bag. I know this sounds a bit like theft, but believe me when I tell you - in the unwritten rules of the 'Adventurer's Code' this is perfectly acceptable, rather like the laws of 'salvage' at sea.

In the next, and final, room across from the library I found the room where all the nonsense had been happening. There was a giant machine and a big green crystal. As I entered the crystal began to power up, then I was struck on the chest by an arc of energy.

I was then pulled into the crystal and found myself on a strange island in a sea of sentient green ooze. In the middle of the island was an orb of ooze.

Puddings and Oozes came from the orb, but I had plenty of room, and turning into a bird I flew up into the sky and summoned up a veritable army of crocodiles. I called lightning from the sky to help out and soon all the oozes were obliterated.

Before I could land though, I was suddenly transported back to the cellar!

The big crystal seemed to be broken now, so after searching the room and taking all the treasure I found there (see note on 'Adventurer's Code' above!) I went back upstairs, gathered the troops and we all flew back to Westgate.

We found Ilde Balderk and told him the bad news, that Durgen Hillstone had likely killed himself and his family with experiments that had gone dreadfully wrong.

Balderk was very sad at this news, but did give us 500 gold as thanks. We wished him  well and returned to the manor.

We spent the evening out in the garden, sitting watching the sun set and discussing our ships. The Sea Wyvern, the Blue Nixie, the Black Cat and the Sister.
We both still like the idea of a 'base' and since Midpoint we both have now like the idea of an island (just not a horrible one!).


DAY 517 (Eleasis) (August)

Today we went to the 'Wolf' again and had food and drink with Rhemera the Flute Bard and Wellby the Spellmaster (or 'Ring Wizard' as he'd much rather not be referred to!)

I spent a lot of time asking around about islands in the local area and was told of a place called Yacg'harr Island, which was situated in the middle of the Shining Sea.

It had a small pirate port on it apparently and was only used by thieves and brigands as a place to hide from navy ships. It sounded an ideal place to use as a base, assuming the pirates could be kicked off.

Once back at home, myself and Lavinia discussed it further and I decided to fly over there tomorrow to take a look.

DAY 518 (Eleasis) (August)

It takes about ten hours to fly from Sasserine to Yacg'harr Island as I discovered when I flew there alone in the shape of a giant owl.

It was a small island with two anchorages. I could see one large, untidy and possibly piratical ship and a small town (or large village if you prefer) with an inn, a selection of houses and a few shops such as a chandlers.

In the disguise of 'Pierre the Historian', a scruffy middle-aged Adept, I entered the pub. I had a drink in a quiet spot and watched as a ship's captain and first mate came in. A grumpy, but good looking wench served me.

I wanted to talk to a local privately, so on this pre-text I asked the innkeeper where I  could find a tart. He told me to go three doors down.

I thanked him then shortly arrived at the door of a dwarf lady called Akal Disanz. I'm not sure exactly what she offered to passing lonely sailors and I didn't ask!
I paid her two gold coins to talk. I was interested, mostly, in the possibility of there being a portal on the island.
I was now determined, obsessed really, by the idea of having a portal on my 'base' just like at the Lost Refuge and Midpoint. If this island did not have one, then I would maybe try another island.

I wasn't expecting much, but to my surprise Akal told me that there were old stories on the island of a buried portal. She knew no more than that, but told me to go talk to Egnol Galeborn, an elven wizard, who was known as the unofficial historian of the island.

She also told me that their was no ruler on the island as such, it was effectively an anarchy, with no law keepers and no justice system. It was purely survival of the fittest.

(G435 02/01/2021 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) WA77

 (G435 02/01/2021 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) WA77

[Now to return to Fenrir and his fine friends who had just obliterated a pirate base on Hammerhead Island and although they had not found their target - Hrarnok Sharkchum, they were confident he could not be far away.]


DAY 491 (6th Flamerule)(July) cont ...

From the dead bodies that littered the pirate caves, Veddic raised 16 skeletons and stuffed them all into his Bag of Holding. It was starting to get a little crowded in there.

Meanwhile Fenrir went scouting, flying across the island, while invisible, to take a look at the town. Built almost entirely out of wood, it was an impressive size for a town that serviced (Fenrir assumed) only pirate ships.

He saw a group of people down at the docks and a man that looked like a Harbourmaster, but it was not Sharkchum. He then flew around until he spotted a building that looked like the finest dwelling in the town - like an island Governor's mansion. Built of wood is sprawled across a large, palm tree shaded, compound. It was heavily guarded too, with a dozen men at the gates and main door.

While Raz and Veddic walked along the forest path to the town, Fenrir entered the mansion garden and looked through some windows.

In the living room he saw three men. One was large, hairy and richly dressed. Another looked like a cleric of Umberlee and another was ever bigger than the first, and less hairy.
There was also a woman dressed as a tart, whom was addressed as 'Blamange'.

Fenrir called, 'Sharkchum's a poofter!' from outside the window. The biggest man went to it and looked out.
'What do you see, Tunny?' asked the other.

Suddenly a pirate called Carver, who Fenrir recognised from the caves, burst through the doors, yelling, 'we are attacked! The caves are being attacked by wizards and barbarians!'
'This isn't like last time when you were all drunk and thought a kraken was in the caves and it turned out just to be a fat seal?'
'No my lord!' pleaded Carver, 'Many are dead already! They killed Jonas and Kid Wombat and the Wedding Killer, oh and Little Jimmy Kidneys!'
The cleric left, going to his temple. The other two men went to nearby armour stands and started strapping on their fullplate armour.

Fenrir, thinking it would be a good idea to fight them before they were ready, burst through the window and attacked. Sharkchum and Tunny were not pushovers though, they turned into their hybrid wereshark forms and as the battle continued, they cased Fenrir into the hall and backed him into an alcove under the stairs.

Fenrir killed many of the wereshark guards as they entered the hall in waves, using blasts of his Eldritch Cone to sweep the area, sending blood and guts everywhere. Somewhere in the melee, Blamange was also killed.

Next to fall was Tunny. Although they were landing telling blows on Fenrir and he was badly injured, he was still able to use his Eldritch magic. Sharkchum kept at him, but was taken down by a Painful Slumber spell. Three minutes later Veddic and Raz turned up, stepping carefully over the piles of bodies that littered the smoking ruin of the main hall of the mansion.

They decided to leave, and Sharkchum was bundled onto the carpet with Veddic while Fenrir and Raz used Wind Walk. They flew west for five miles, but looking east they could see that they were being followed. Four manticores slowly gained on them, but when Fenrir turned back and killed one, the others flew off.

An hour later they saw sails to the east, three ships. They flew up into the clouds and hid for a while, and when they descended to take a look around they saw that the ships were now directly below them.

Fenrir took the Bag of Holding with the barrels of oil in it and headed down, staying invisible. He then firebombed the ships, setting the sails and decks on fire and sending the sailors scurrying to the pumps. Some return shots were fired, but nothing hit.

Fenrir turned invisible and they headed back into the clouds. Hours later, after flying north, they found a small island, not much more than a lump of sand half a mile across with a few palms on it. Here they landed, surprising a group of puffins that nested in the rocks on the shore.

It was noon though, so they didn't stop, but flew on and after another six miles they found another island similar to the first.

At two o'clock they made camp in the centre of the island, using the sixteen skeletons as guards.
Fenrir tied Sharkchum and then woke him up.
'You seem to have me at a disadvantage gentleman,' said Sharkchum who was apparently well spoken.

Fenrir talked, and threatened, but did not break through Sharkchum's calm demeanour. When he started stabbing the pirate though, Sharkchum took action, turning into a shark so that his bonds fell loose. Fenrir started kicking the shark, and instructed the others to do the same.

I find it hard to imagine the scene to be honest. Three grown men kicking a shark to death. Fenrir stopped. 'Oh, is he dead?' he wondered.

Veddic checked, and amazingly Sharkchum still lived. He healed him then cast 'Charm Person', poor old Veddic once again suddenly remembering he had a spell that would have been useful at the start - and would have at least have saved him the indignity of kicking in a defenseless sea creature!

Sharkchum turned back into a man and greeted his new friend. He still did not like the look of Fenrir and Raz though and started to back off out of the camp. Veddic may have used a Charm spell, but he was not as diplomatic as Fenrir and his simple threats had little effect.
Sharkchum was charmed, but he was not stupid. He ran for the seaside.

Fenrir decided to hit him with everything and channeled all his magic into a blast that literally blew the pirate to bits.
'Oh,' mused Fenrir, as they picked through the pirate lumps for clues. 'I thought he would  survive that.'

Luckily for them (very luckily!) they found a scorched and bloodstained letter that was addressed to 'Blackthorn, druid of Silvanus'.

It was now five in the evening. Two ships were seen in the south, heading for the island. Somehow they were being tracked. Fenrir went to take a look, they seemed to be burnt up, but still seaworthy.

Back at the island they put the skeletons back in the bag, then flew for a while (Veddic had no more Wind Walk spells). Once it was dark, they unfolded the magic boat and spent the night on it.

They were untroubled by pirates, manticores or anything else so perhaps it had been only Sharkchum that had been tracked.

(G434 26/12/2020 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) LR30

 (G434 26/12/2020 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) LR30


DAY 516 (1st Eleasis) (August) cont ...

Later in the evening me and Lavinia went to the pub (a place called 'The Wolf and Cat' to hopefully flush all my worries away in regards to the handover of Midpoint Island to the Confluence.

'The Wolf' is a large place and there were quite a few people in the main room. There is a stage and piano there so once it became free I played on it for a while.

A fat idiot called Brian went over to talk to Lavinia and didn't go away when I returned. I was still feeling out of sorts regarding recent events and not particularly interested in turning a drunk into a frog or something, despite how rude he was being to everyone, so I ordered a bottle of brandy and matched him drink for drink until he was sick and taken away. We then switched tables.

Later on a local merchant who knew Lavinia a little came to talk to us. His name was Ilde Balderk. We talked for a while and he told us that he needed someone to go along the coast and check on his friend Durgen Hillstone. Since I can fly, we volunteered to go to Hillstone's house in the morning.


DAY 517 (2nd Eleasis) (August)

It is maybe a days walk to Hillstone's house on the coast to the east of Westgate, but it does not take long as the giant owl flies.

I noticed an area of dead trees on the road, and black tarry substances bubbling. It is only now that I write this that I realise what it was that I saw, but at the time it was far below me.

The house appeared unmolested, but quiet. A large single-storey villa situated in a nice secluded spot not far from the sea. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I gently opened the door.

Leaving Lavinia outside to keep watch I ventured into the house. The first room I came to was a living room. The walls and floor were made of solid oak. The room smelled of mould and the fireplace was cold. The furniture was covered in a thin film of sticky goo, like slug trails. The bottoms of the doors were worn, almost corroded in appearance.

The next room was a dining room, where it looked like a meal had been eaten in a hurry. The silverware was corroded and there were signs of a struggle.

The next room, down a corridor, was a bedroom and I was attacked by three Ochre Jellies. These are large yellow slimes, dangerous in large numbers, but not the worst of slimes to combat. I summoned a load of crocodiles into the room and stepped out. The Jellies did not last long.

I walked past the kitchen and searched more rooms. I searched three more bedrooms, which all had en-suite bathrooms and which each contained a Black Pudding. There are much larger and nastier than Ochre Jellies, but again, they could not defeat wave after wave of summoned crocodiles.
It made a right mess of the rooms, but these abominations are best destroyed.

In the library and some of the other rooms I discovered letters and other papers that painted a picture of a money making scheme gone very wrong. It appeared Hillstone had been trying to make gems with a 'magical crystal'. Somewhere down the line though he had ended up with a house full of deadly slimes. It took a few magical scrolls and other things, considering it fair game as Hillstone wouldn't be needing them.

There was only one place left to check. The cellar. I got Lavinia to come inside while I went down the ladder to take a look.

(G433 05/12/2020 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) WA76

 (G433 05/12/2020 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) WA76


DAY 491 (6th Flamerule)(July) cont ...

Fenrir fired the first shot in the battle with the pirates. As Raz and Veddic came in on the flying carpet he blasted away at the sailors as they scrambled back into the caves to prepare their defences.

Once the other two had landed, Fenrir had already repelled the first counter-attack of crossbows and what he took to be summoned spectres.

One of the pirates used a wand of fireballs on them, but was quickly defeated.  Realising they were being soundly beaten someone from within the caves shouted;
'Release the Slaughter Sharks!'

These turned out to be giant floating skeletal sharks and did prove to be quite difficult to fight, but between the three of them it was not long before the cave they were fighting in was full of broken shark bones and dead pirates.

Another pirate released a room full of octopus-headed zombies, but these were easily defeated. The rest of the pirates fled the caves through an entrance that lead out into the forests of the island.

Fenrir, Veddic and Raz continued slowly inwards, and encountered some unusual characters. They were not threatening and Fenrir initially tried to talk to  them.
'Don't go near Fireman!' said one of them. Fenrir ignored this warning and approached the red-skinned man known as 'Fireman'.
The man exploded and the other two pirates in the room were killed. Fenrir and the others were barely scratched, heavily armoured and enchanted as they were.

They reached the entrance and could see the rest of the fleeing pirates, going  in all directions, but mainly across the island to the town. Two boys watched them warily from behind a stone monolith.

Fenrir and the others then turned and went back into the caves to strip it of treasure and check some of the side passages they had missed. In one room they found two prisoners, guarded by a female pirate who was happy to leave quickly in exchange for her life.

The prisoners introduced themselves as Lord Sanchez and Lady Vasquez.

Fenrir wondered where Sharkchum could be. He didn't seem to be in his ship or the caves they had just searched.

(G432 28/11/2020 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) LR29

  

(G432 28/11/2020 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) LR29


DAY 513 (29th Flamerule) (July) cont ...

Rolled in drunk back at the Vanderboren Manor, and pretty much loafed about for the rest of the day, discussing our plans loudly, with arms waving in the air.

Lavinia is in good spirits, revitalised by being back at home. The Manor has been well looked after while we were away. We were let in by a faithful old servant who was pleased to see the lady of the house return.

We discussed the Pie Shop, the Sea Wyvern and the Blue Nixie. The Wyvern is somewhere around, but the Nixie had just arrived in port. It had been trading up and down the coast and earned 20,000 gold which was nice.

Eventually we dosed off in the day room, then got up and went to bed.


DAY 514 (30th Flamerule) (July)

Taeghen Calaudra, our sun elf baker, has really been expanding the Pie Shop.
Bhula Jalamba, our butcher, helps, but Taeghen is the brains of the operation.

Rita, the ex-Lotus Dragon mercenary is still there, acting as a guard.

Taeghen has remodelled the place a fair bit and expanded it. There is a tea room now, attached to the place, where he sells his fancy pastries to old ladies in big hats.

He told us that Nobby popped in not so long ago to pick up 200 pies to help provision the Sea Wyvern on another run out to Farshore.

Oh, and Shifty did come back! As he had said he would, and sold his stake to Taeghen  (for a pittance of 800gp). Last he heard, Shifty was now a drunk in the gutter in  Sasserine. I wonder if that's true though. To be honest I'd rather not run into him again.

I asked how much a one-third share of the business was worth now and he said 300,000 gold as there are now six shops in the city! That cannot possibly be true though. He also wants to re-brand from 'The Pie Shop' to 'Sunbucks'.
I'll just let him get on with it.

Well, over cups of tea and elven scones me and Lavinia decided that Sasserine was probably the best place to raise a baby, considering we had a Manor to live in and a thriving business.

Turning in now, time to blow out the candle. I suppose it is good to be back.
It's good to feel at home in a place, but I think I will miss my family.
And my friends, Jiggles, Irritator and even that idiot Fenrir.
Well, Rolanda and Molly are here, and while good company, its nice to have someone to go to the pub with, or even an adventure or two.

DAY 515 (Fest Lathander) (July)

Nice as Sasserine is at this time of year, I had a big weight on my shoulders that I felt that now - urgently - I needed to get rid of.

Useful as a hidden island is that can be used to teleport anywhere, the cons far out-weighed the pros. Nobody but me could stand the place, it was haunted, a prison for much of the unspeakable evil of Faerune.

Even if I could get past that, and use the place as a sort of depot or hidey-hole, it would still be incredible selfish. What really needed to happen was for it to disappear and never be heard from again. A druid flying back and forth to it would only lead to more trouble.

I had a plan. I teleported to Waterdeep (500 gold to a wizard) and then flew out to Midpoint Island one last time. The fleets were there, but greatly reduced as they were now essentially guarding nothing.

I entered the 'pocket dimension' of the island, found Alfred and talked to him.
As I expected, he was only concerned for the safety and sanctity of the Island.
He cared for nothing else. I could see that any idea I had of colonising this place, or even using it as a lair was foolish.

The Island needed a new Warden. Not a human, but someone long-lived, patient and used to solitude. I teleported back to Waterdeep.

At eight o'clock I went to House Tesper and gained access to Lady Tesper.
We talked for a long time and I told her of the island.
'You are the young man who has involved himself in that whole island situation.'
She knew of me.
'Yes,' I admitted, then went on to tell her the whole story. I ended by saying,
'Do you know of any dragons that would be willing to take over as Warden? I think it would more suit a dragon - to be honest - than a human. When it comes to looking after an island of unspeakable evil, I mean.'

She agreed, and said she would contact me at the OJB later if she found a suitable candidate.

In the evening I went out to the pub with Corum and got pretty drunk. I was somber though, with the weight of the decision I was making. I admit that I went to see the genies to cheer myself up.


DAY 516 (Eleasis) (August)

After breakfast I left word at the OJB and returned to the Singing Sword to get back to being drunk.

A young man arrived and introduced himself as 'Steelheart'. He was one of the dragons of Waterdeep that go about disguised as men. He was of the Confluence, having been sent by Lady Tesper.

We flew out to the island together. I showed him about and introduced him to Alfred. Steelheart decided he wanted to become the new Warden and so he and Alfred went into the caves to get the tests ready.

'You sure about this then?' I asked the young dragon.
'This is a vast responsibility,' he replied. 'The Confluence want to do it, I mean, I want to do it too of course.'

He went into the caves, which gave me plenty of spare hours to be crushed with doubt and regret. Would the Confluence take care of this place? Would they use it for their own purposes? However good the intentions, the place was best left alone as much as possible.

It was too late though, I had made my decision and much as it tormented me it was really the only one I could have made. I am just a man, I have a life to live. I can't dedicate the rest of it to doing something that would be much better done by a group of long-lived, sensible (as far as I know anyway) and  powerful dragons.

Once it was done I could tell they wanted me to leave. I was furious, but I  never said anything. After all - it had been me that had save the Island (and probably the world) and it had been me that had handed it over to this dopey looking dragon!
Treasure or curse, it remained to been seen, but they now possessed something of tremendous power.

'Good Luck,' I mumbled as I stepped into the teleporter. 'Bye.'

And that was that.
'That's that sorted,' I told Lavinia, grimly, on my return.
'Aww,' she said as she rubbed my back. 'Cup of tea?'

(G431 21/11/2020 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) WA75

 (G431 21/11/2020 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) WA75

[And now to return once more to Fenrir and his campaign against the Vampires of Westgate.]

DAY 487  (2nd Flamerule)(july)

Today Fenrir went to work, and sat at his desk thinking about Nexelmode and the likelyhood that she was having his baby. He met with Veddic and got him to use a Sending Spell to contact her.

His message was:
"
Greetings Nexelmode. Fenrir here. Hope all is well. Ive been having odd dreams involving you, and wondered if all is normal. Not up the duff?
"

The reply came shortly:

""
I am the mother of the moon
sister of the stars
mother of the light in your eyes
I am powerful
Round with embryonic inherent
""

The reply was cryptic, but certainly seemed to suggest that what Fenrir suspected was true. He thought of going to visit her, but to what purpose? To slay her?

He decided to concentrate on work for today instead and put such unpleasant wonderings to one side for now. News reached him today concerning the 'The Knip Tanps Banditos'.
Some low level Night Mask's had been killed and the calling card of the Knips has been left (some pink underwear). He would ask Random about it later.

There was something else needing doing, so he went down to the Dockward to see about the ressurection of Sweetpea.
Her father was a drunk, but her mother worked as a clerk in an insurance office down by the harbour. Her name was Zetty Eggler, a hard put-upon woman. Fenrir talked to her  and they agreed to meet later that evening at Sweetpea's grave. Zetty would take along her son Yolob.

It was raining when they got to the graveyard and the grave diggers, once they had exhumed the body, took it to a small chapel in the corner. Fenrir had laid on some food, but only the diggers ate much.

Veddic performed the ressurection. It took 10 minutes and cost 10,000 gold in diamond dust, but Fenrir hoped this would put his trouble with the Dock Ward to rest once and for all.

'I'm alive!' gasped Sweetpea as she rose from her coffin. She avoided Fenrir and went to her mother. Fenrir could not resist a lecture though and told her in no uncertain terms to make sure and never bother him again.

He then went home, then on to Spectre Island to speak to Random. Cavu was also there but on his way out.

'What's going on with the Knips?' was one of the questions he asked.
'That's us providing cover for your actions,' confided Cavu. 'Hopefully any dead Night Masks that turn up will be blamed on the Knips and not on you!'

Cavu was on his way out though, with a group of adventurers known as 'The Bold Company'. Famous in Westgate and up and down the Dragon Coast they must have cost a lot to hire.
As any reader of local chapbooks knows they consist of:

'Brunch' McPickles - a human male fighter
Sack 'the Porridger' Voldiez - a human male wizard
Sunfire Palebird    - a half-elf female sorceress
Dorrick Steelblade - a dwarven female rogue
Hengis Stockpot    - a halfling male ranger

'Bit of a suicide mission out to annoy the Eastern Vampires along the coast,' said Cavu. 'Ours is not to reason why though, as they say. Any bother and Random will help you out. He has my complete confidence.'

Fenrir arrived home at midnight.


DAY 488  (3rd Flamerule)(july)

Today Fenrir, in the line of duty, had to go sort out a bit of trouble in the Eastern Quarter. A magical duel had killed several bystanders.

A large crowd had gathered outside the house of Devon Von Strone, a well known and powerful wizard. Fenrir went in the house, pushing aside the crowd and the gargoyle that guarded the door.

Devon was in his study, drinking brandy, wearing a beanie with a tassle.
'I was fighting an evil-doer!' insisted Devon. 'You should thank me!'
'The people outside are pretty angry,' observed Fenrir.
'I've commited no crime!' replied Devon pompously. 'I've safe enough here from the rabble.'
'Who were you fighting?'
'One of those horrid old Gulway Witches,' was the response. 'Dark hearted bitch.'

Fenrir sighed and issued a verbal warning which was very much not graciously recieved then went outside to cool down the crowd. Even his smooth tongue was not enough and he had to promise a sum of 30 gold per victim as compensation.

Someone threw a rotten tomato at him, and Fenrir flew up into the air and chased the hooligan off, born aloft by demon-smoke wings.

Later at work, Portia told Fenrir of his next target - a pirate captain known as Hrarnok Sharkchum. He and his crew were weresharks and based on Hammerhead Island that lay 120 miles east of Westgate.

Fenrir had Sharkchum scryed. He was on the island, walking through a small town towards a tavern. He seemed to be treated like a king by the locals.

After work he searched around town for a map of the island which he eventually managed to find and buy. He also bought a magical folding boat and Raz bought a Bag of Holding which they then stuffed full of barrels of lamp oil.


DAY 489 (4th Flamerule)(july)

And off they went! Veddic and Raz on the magic carpet while Fenrir plodded along on his impressive, but pedestrian demonic wings.

Fenrir had his magic map so they were not in any danger of getting lost, but it was slow going.

As the sun set, they unfolded the magical boat and spent the night on it. Unluckily for them though, a thunderstorm brewed up, and while the boat was perfectly safe, Veddic and Raz spent the whole night being sick.


DAY 490 (5th Flamerule)(july)

Fenrir, Veddic and Raz spent another day flying east, and again camped out on the folding boat at the end of the day.


DAY 491 (6th Flamerule)(july)

In the morning, Veddic, who I swear must be drinking all the communion wine (as this was not the first time) remembered that he had a useful spell - Wind Walk.

Using this spell they could all waft along at 60 miles an hour and could have easily have got them to the island in a mere two hours from Westgate.

Fenrir gave the cleric a long look, but was glad that the final leg of the jeorney got them to the island first thing in the morning.

The map he had been given appeared to be accurate and after a while he found the secret pirate cave where he hoped Sharkchum would be.

He found and flew through some illusuionary rocks into a large cave. He was invisible, but as he flew towards where a ship was anchored a little dog started barking.

Drummond the Intergalactic Man Servant and the Attack of the Giant Killer Robots

 

This book has now had the edit that it should have had!

Will put it on sale as soon as it is possible:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015LEW8U4