(G447 27/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA83

 (G447 27/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA83

[Meanwhile, just west of Cedarsproke things were going to take a bit of a turn for Fenrir, Reinward and the gang!]

DAY 498(13th Flamerule)(july) ...

It was decided it was time to leave. There were other doors that had not been checked, but it seemed wiser to get out of their as quickly as possible.

Raz, who is incredibly strong even without all the magic that was currently layered on top of him, carried the unconscious Blackthorn out with ease.

Once outside Fenrir cast Painless Slumber of the Ages on Blackthorn to make sure he was  totally out of it.
Ren was a little bit confused as to why they had not just killed Blackthorn and Fenrir explained patiently;
'We can't do that, they just come back. We need to do something else.'
'What then?' asked Ren innocently.
'Ahh, well, it's simple, now we just Windwalk out of here!'

But that did not work. Veddic tried the spell, but it turns out that an unconscious person cannot be moved once in gaseous form. They have to move themselves, just as if  they were walking. They can not be carried either as the spell targeted each person as a separate entity.

Once this became apparent, Veddic turned to Fenrir and shrugged.
'OK, change of plan,' announced Fenrir. Tulip the Pixie guided them back to a safe spot on the edge of the city, was paid another 10 gold and let go.
'Righto, wait here lads,' said Fenrir as if he wasn't just making it up as he went along. 'I'll go into town alone and sort it all out.'

None of them realised though, that the clock was ticking on an impending Night Mask counter attack.
Fenrir first went to a cooper and arranged to buy a barrel big enough to stuff an unconscious druid into. He then went to find a wizard capable of teleporting him and his friends. He found the house of Pweela, a young female elf that had been living in Cedarsproke for the last five years.
She offered to do it for 600 gold.

Fenrir then nipped back to the cooper and ordered the barrel to be lined with lead.
The cooper shrugged and got his hammer out.

Once that was all arranged, Fenrir, lugging the barrel, and in the company of Pweela headed back to where he had left his friends.

They had spent too long doing nothing though, which had allowed the Night Masks to gather a sort of quick reaction force and send them out. Just as Fenrir was  coming along the path, a group of villains teleported in.

There was a wizard, a sorceress, a rogue and two heavily armoured fighters.
In the confusion, Veddic and Raz concentrated on the fighters, but while this was going on the sorceress charmed Ren and he wandered over to her.
Then the female wizard teleported them all out (promising Ren 'beer and wenches' at the other end) leaving the fighters stranded.

The two heavys backed off and shrugged at each other, there was no point in fighting any more. As they started to wander off Fenrir asked,
'What's going on? Who are you?'
They were mercenaries and had not expected to be abandoned so they were happy enough to say;

''
We were hired from the Cockatrice Inn of Westgate. Some sort of emergency snatch job they told us. That's all you'll get out of us without a fight chief. We were well paid. Town over that way you say? Fancy a pint, Bert?'
''

And off they went. Fenrir was puzzled though, in the fight they had been protecting the sleeping Blackthorn. They had not expected it to be Ren that they Night Masks were after.

Veddic scryed Ren, and saw him with the three others that had snatched him.
They left a dungeon room and walked along a strange looking corridor. After that the spell faded, blocked by something.

'Can you teleport us to a dungeon room if Veddic describes it to you?' asked Fenrir.
'If it's an unknown dungeon then that's double the price,' replied Pweela nervously who had watched the whole incident from behind a tree.

Fenrir had a cleric, a barbarian, a druid in a barrel, a teleport. He could get there. What he did not have, which was so often the way, was any kind of plan  for what happened when he did.

Meanwhile, his knees trembling and his eyes covered, Ren was taken by some sinister  looking guards to the Court of the Night King. Ren did not know where he was, but he  felt like he was underground somewhere.

His blindfold was removed and he was presented to Orlak II, the Night King himself. If he recognised Ren from the party they had recently met at, he gave no sign. but then Ren was in a sort of disguise.

There were other vampires too, his captains and chief advisors:

Darklady Dahlia Vhammos - a vampire Blackguard of Shar
Phultan Hammerwand - a vampire Wizard
Tebryn "Shadowstalker" Dalael - a vampire Half-elf Wizard/Thief
The Twilight Knight - a vampire knight

Ren heard a voice through the communication stone he wore, it was that of
Veddic who was listening in to what was going on.
'Stall them,' said the voice.
Ren gulped.

'So this is the one that bares the Stigmata of Ilmater and is linked to some kind of prophecy?' asked Orlak, in a voice that sounded like the grinding of a stone coffin lid.
'It is,' confirmed Phultan.
'And those marks on his wrists, most strange,' mused Orlak. 'You are blessed by a god.
I wonder what his blood tastes like?'
'If you want to drink my blood,' squeaked Ren. 'Pass me a cup!'
As it happened there was a goblet on the table next to the Night King's throne, along with a two bladed dagger.
(Ren didn't know, but these were the infamous Argraal dragon bone cup and the Flying Fangs dagger)
'Hold your wrist over the goblet,' demanded the Night King.
Ren put out his wrist but then pulled it back.
'If you are not going to do it willingly...' warned the vampire.

Ren leapt back and took his knife from his belt and with a deep breath slit his own throat. What his plan was, if he had one, I have no idea of, but next he ran around the chamber, spraying blood everywhere.

At the sight of all the blood the vampires became aroused and all appeared willing to take a chance on whatever was flowing through Ren's veins.
The Twilight Knight got to him first, dominated Ren, then drank deep from Ren's wound. Ren's blood seemed to have some of the properties of holy water though, as the Knight suddenly hunched over and vomited it all back up again.

The Dominate spell lifted and Ren had free will again. Not knowing what to do, he started doing things that made little sense, such as attempting to steal the Twilight Knight's coin purse.

Darklady Dahlia attempted to Dominate Ren and failed. It looked like the vampires had had enough of Ren's antics.

'The last time I died, I exploded!' shout Ren in warning. They probably did not believe this lie. Ren was dying, his wound was still pulsing out blood, all down his armour.
'Shut up,' said the Darklady, as she touched him on the hand.
Suddenly he felt a lot better, still drained, but no longer bleeding, from the Cure Serious Wounds spell she had just cast on him.

The Twilight Knight left to get cleaned up.

'Stand still,' growled the King. 'And tell me about this prophecy.'
'I am the chosen one, and you should let me go, others I will bring my wrath down on you!' yelled Ren.
The Night King winced, already having had more than enough of Ren's company.
'Let's try something else then,' went on the vampire. 'Who is Barry Shit-knees?'
Ren shrugged.
'Is he a warlock?'
Ren remained mute.
'Do you want to die?' asked the Night King. 'If you answer my questions, you are free to go.'
Ren appeared dumbstruck.

'Enough of this nonsense, I am retiring to my rooms,' said the Night King. 'Take him away and clean him up. I'll decide what to do with him later.'

Heavily armoured guards came and took Ren to another room, with a bed, a wash stand and a jug of water. A female vampire spawn attended to him.

Reinward was having quiet a day.

(G446 20/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR36

 (G446 20/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR36

[While Fenrir and Friends were taking the fight to the vampires in Cedarsproke, I was descending  into the lower areas of the Nameless Monastery.]

DAY 533 (18th Eleasis) (August) cont ...

And so we descended into the lower levels of the Monastery.

This next small room we came to was lit by the flickering glow of two portals. A pink portal made up a significant portion of the floor, while a reddish portal mirrored it on the ceiling above.
The only other decoration was a large, faded tapestry on the opposite wall.

From behind the tapestry, we noticed a gentle orange glow. It was a third hidden portal.

Dak chucked a coin down the portal on the floor (a gold coin for some reason! He did get it back later though) and it disappeared from view. I stuck my arm in and nothing happened. I then  stuck my head in.

I could see another room, but I was looking up from the floor. It was a weird sensation as I was on my hands and knees looking down. It seemed safe enough though, so I clambered in.

It was a library, wooden bookshelves surround us, but strangely, other shelves seem to be stuck to the walls of the space, as if each wall had its own gravity.

Stranger still, there are even bookshelves on the ceiling! It seemed the whole space was one giant cube, though details of any other faces were hard to make out through some  sort of distortion hanging in the air.

Glancing at some of the books it looked like we were in the cookery section. Wandering the shelves we found another portal - a green one this time.

Using the same method as before we entered another area, that was totally dark. We heard a cackling sound, but the light of the Emberblade kept at bay whatever was making the noise. The light of the blade barely extended five feet, but it was enough to see the floor by and slowly we made our way around. This was another part of the library, and annoyed at us for some reason the ghost, or whatever it was, started throwing books at us with alarming force.
I'd not stolen any books so far, but the one it threw at me I decided to keep.

Eventually we made it to a yellow portal and going through it we ended up on the 'ceiling' of the cube we had been previously in. We walked about and looking at the shelves this seemed to be the Magical Book section.

In the central pillar of this area was a red portal, but it was behind shelves.
We pulled out the books, stacked them up, and pulled aside a shelf.

This portal led back to the room where we had first started, being the one on  the ceiling. Dak jumped down nimbly, but I stumbled and fell into the blue portal then sort of bounced up and down until Dak grabbed me.

So that left the orange portal on the wall. This lead to a simple room with shelves of history books on the walls and a blue portal in the corner.

We were in no rush so I took some time to read through some of the books. By the time I looked up again, five hours had passed. Dak was dozing off in the corner but I had learned a lot;

- the origins of the Monks who found these portals and now use them as handy place to store magical information, relics and stuff
- I looked for books on Midpoint island, but could find nothing
- I found a book on Yacg'harr island and the evil king that was buried there
- Also a book on Oghma

I copied some of the more interesting information into my notebook on these subjects, then we moved on.

The next room seemed different to the others, and contained empty weapon racks and  a pedestal with a scroll at its centre. Directly behind the pedestal was a deep purple portal.

I looked at the scroll and spectral tendrils began to come towards me. I've never had a good experience with spectral tendrils so I stepped back. It had not been written in a language I knew anyway.

Through the portal we came to another face of the cube which bore large pillars that  stretched upward into darkness. Displayed on hooks and racks were various clearly aged relics. Straight ahead, a short figure sat slouched on the steps of a stone slab, cradling a jar of some kind.

Suddenly, the halfling monk's gaze snapped upward, revealing an age-lined face and eyes like pits of tar. A wordless scream echoed through the room as the ancient  monk rushed at us wielding a sword that flashed blue and red.

The old fellow looked like he was under the influence of something so we tried  not to kill him. Dak used non-lethal blows and I summoned an ape to help with the monk bashing.

After a lot of jumping around, Dak landed a real wallop on the old chaps head, then my ape punched him right in the chestnuts, sending him flying.

He landed on his feet though, then looked at the jar and threw it to the floor.
He then seemed to wake up, said 'Howdy!' and fell backwards, out like a light.

Dak picked up the sword to admire it and I went to look at the jar. It was of smoked crystal glass. I couldn't tell what was in it, and dared not to touch it.
It seemed like it was of no immediate threat though so I went and attended to the old halfling.

A Cure Light Wounds was enough to bring him round. This old fellow then, was Bonzu Pippenpaddleopsicopolus, one of the original monks of whom I had just finished reading, and the person that had been in that picture we had seen.

He told us that the jar was a phylactery, and he had accidentally been possessed by a lich.

He was a charming little fellow, but inquisitive, nosey in fact.
He and the other Masters of the Open hand had, long ago, protected this place from a horde of Tlincalli. He told us this interesting story which I have recorded elsewhere.

Eventually we got onto the subject of what I was looking for - the artifact that unlocked the portal on Yacg'harr Island.

It was in his collection of relics, and he was happy to give it to me as we were now considered to be good friends of the Monastery.

The key, or whatever it was, was octagonal in shape with one pointed side, like an arrow, and a handle on top for turning.

Dak wanted to keep Bonzu' sword, but the monk asked for it back. The half-orc handed it grudgingly over.

After hearing some more of the old fellows stories we headed back upstairs and were given a couple of rooms for the night. We had a good few glasses of Gibi-Gibi and Jibi-Jibi before bed.


DAY 534 (19th Eleasis) (August)

This morning we teleported back to the split tree where we had left Irritator. From there we teleported to Westgate, then had to hire a wizard to get us to Riatavin.

There we had a nice lunch and using my boots we got the rest of the way to Yacg'harr Island. I took the portal key from my pocket and went to take another look at the hole it would hopefully fit.

(G445 13/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA82

 (G445 13/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA82

[Meanwhile, in Cedarsproke, Fenrir, Ren, Raz and Veddic are assaulting the Druidic Manor House of Blackthorn, Druid of Silvanus and member of the Night Masks (the Thieves' and Assassins' Guild of Westgate).]


DAY 498(13th Flamerule)(july) ...

Before the intrepid heroes descended into the depths of whatever lay below the Manor they decided to put out the fires that were spreading smoke throughout its halls.

Fenrir's Eldritch Blasts are not fire based, they are an ability unique to Warlocks, a bit like Magic Missiles that kill people with a magical 'force'. If you've ever seen someone hit by either of these spells though, they leave scorch marks, but not actual burns.

So, Fenrir may not have directly started the fires, but all that 'force' flying about had knocked over torches and braziers and the predominately wooden building was now properly on fire.

They did their best to put out the blaze, using expendable skeletons to go into the main room and smash up all the water barrels. This helped, and with the nearest fires at least, under control, they took the sloping tunnel, that Fenrir had found, down.

It was a low ceiling, narrow and steep passageway, that lead down for several hundred feet and switched back on itself several times. Once they got to the bottom they were maybe three hundred feet below the ground.

The first dangers they came to were two rooms full of traps. The first was a big pit of spikes with a narrow walk way around its sides.

'On you go then lad,' said Fenrir, pushing young Ren forward.

I think perhaps that Ren was not totally aware that in an adventure party it is the rogue's job to check doors and chest, look for traps, and disable them when he finds them. Ren was more used to cheating old ladies out of their pension, but none the less he went to look at the walkways and found that they were indeed trapped, set to fall away when someone stepped on them.

He disabled a trap and went forward, until he was around at the rooms exit. Three skeletons were sent first, but they fell into the trap when Ren, I assume accidentally, stepped back into the room and hit another pressure plate.

And on they went. The next job for Ren was a trapped door. He tried to disable it, but failed and was hit by a big splash of acid. His hair still sizzling he was then sent into the next room that contained four big pillars that stabbed out with spears whenever someone got too close.
After losing another skeleton, Ren tried the simple expedient of climbing over the pillars. This seemed to work, and while Veddic was a little clumsy in his full plate armour they all managed to make it across.

The corridor they followed swung around to the east and led into a store room where four vampire spawn were waiting. In a knee-jerk reaction Veddic instantly raised his Holy Symbol and turned them. All four spawn crumbled to dust.

There was a low-walled pool of water in the west corner of the room. The water was an illusion though and it hid a set of steps. Fenrir went down them into a corridor, invisible, that had six  alcoves, three on each side, in it.
All was quiet until he spoke into his magical crystal to inform the others of what he saw. At that point, six vampires all leapt out of their coffins in the alcoves and came to get him.

Veddic charged in and managed to Turn a couple of them. The others attacked Raz as he stepped forward to meet them. He held them off long enough for Fenrir to start doing them some serious damage, but he was badly drained by their blows, and weakening with every strike.

Ren was Dominated by one of the vampires, but before he could do anything naughty, the vampire was slain in the melee. Two vampires were slain in total, while the last two turned into gas and  wafted away as fast as they could.
The heroes did not pursue them, they were badly mauled and needed to heal.

Fenrir threw some garlic bombs in the corridor and they went back into the store room to rest and heal. Veddic cast Greater Restoration on Raz, and after less than half an hour they were ready to go back in.

Moving through the corridors, they caught glimpses of more spawn, but they fled before them.
Eventually they entered a large chamber where an elf maid was chained up on a raised area. Channels for blood were cut into the stone, that led down into stone pools. At the north end of the chamber was a massive ram's head carved out of the living rock.

The maid begged to be released, but the heroes had to fight two more vampires first. The vampires rushed in, but were soon beaten back, not being able to withstand the magical axe of Raz or the blasts from Fenrir.

They left the maid for later and moved on. A corridor led off to the east and a door on its east wall led to a room where a massive blood golem was being tended to by a vampire spawn.
'Oh, I wouldn't wake it up if I were you!' warned the spawn. The heroes thought this wise counsel and quietly shut the door.

The corridor ended at a door that opened into a large and richly appointed study. Here stood three vampires. From what I have been able to deduce later, one was a former paladin called
Lara and the other was an infamous vampire troublemaker called Lord Bloodwurst.
'You have done well to get this far,' he said drolly.
There was a little bit of further banter, then combat was joined.

It was swiftly over though, as again the combined might and magic of the heroes was too much for the undead. Well, I say that, but imagine Ren would have to admit he was perhaps the least effective of the four.

The biggest alarm of the battle was when Raz was Dominated. At that point things could have gone really badly for them, but Fenrir and Veddic wisely focused their attacks on the vampire that had managed to do it, and when it was slain Raz was released.

Vampires are cowardly by nature, and seeing their comrade reduced to ash, Bloodwurst and then Lara turned into gas and fled through a crack in the wall.

After looting this room they headed back to the large chamber, released the maid, who ran off, then went to the door in the western wall beside the giant ram's head.
Down a corridor they found a room where, after fighting past more vampires and spawn, they found Blackthorn, Tormstar (a Ranger and also a member of the Night Masks,
Fenrir had met him once before when he had first come to Westgate) and a vampire that I have since learned was called Hynel 'The Cramps' J'yelosea.

Hynel was slain in the ensuring combat, Tormstar teleported out and Blackthorn stopped fighting and backed off into the corner of the room. Raz sundered the druid's shield and then his weapon. When Blackthorn drew a knife, Raz grabbed his arms, then held him as the others battered him into unconsciousness.

Fenrir put manacles on their prisoners wrists and shoved a dirty sock in his mouth.
They had their man.

(G444 06/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR35

 (G444 06/03/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR35

[Meanwhile, myself and Dak were in search of the 'Nameless Monastery' in the Anauroch Desert.]


DAY 532 (17th Eleasis) (August)

We set off down the Black Road at a leisurely pace this morning. Myself, Dak and my various animals.
I find this a pleasant place, despite the fact that it is roasting hot during the day and incredibly cold at night, it has a majesty about it.
There is no shortage of life here either, and I'm sure if I looked I would find bountiful supplies of food and water.
Some people do live here, I am told, and the Zhentarim are meant to patrol the road, but we have not seen anyone, other than that odd warlock.

There are no shortage of dangers though, as we found out in the afternoon. A young blue dragon rose out of the sand and attacked us. Harriet (my dire lion animal companion) and Dak ran in to attack while I took to the air. They bravely held it off until I charged up a barrage of Lightning Blasts and from 600ft up rained down destruction on it.

I did try and talk to the thing first, but I felt happy enough to rid the desert of this danger and when it was dead, we looted it cache, skinned it and kept as much of its carcass as could be useful to me later (stuffed and mounted perhaps?). Myself and Dak divided up its teeth. It's skull was damaged, but I kept it anyway.

After all that excitement, the rest of our walk was uneventful. we made camp under the desert sky for another night.

DAY 533 (18th Eleasis) (August)

We discovered the Monastery today! It is a very large structure, and must be hidden magically somehow. It's main tower was easily ten stories high and there were halls and other structures that could have housed hundreds of people.

There was a wide set of steps that rose out of the dunes and led to the main entrance. We could see that stretching above its walls were the branches of a massive tree. There were countless birds of every colour nesting in its branches. Atop the steps stood two monks dressed  in flowing garb, their gazes held steady, guarding a set of massive iron gates.

I gave them a friendly wave and the one on the left nodded at me.

'What is this place?' asked Dak, the ever inquisitive.
'This is the prefecture of the wastelands, we have expecting you.'
Then the monk went on;
'Many people seek our monastery. What you seek may be found here. I am a lowly disciple.
Within you will find the masters, who will help you.'
'Any women?' asked Dak.
I cannot, at this stage, make up my mind whether Dak is funny or annoying or if he is trying to be funny or annoying or if that is just the way he is.

Anyway, we were led into a large oasis area, stuffed to the rails with birds, rodents, foxes and other small animals. Monks walked, or sat in contemplation. It was a nice place.

There was a well tended vegetable garden. Looking up at the big tree at the centre of this compound I could see what looked like Birds of Paradise. Much as I wanted to investigate the flora and fauna more, we where here with a job to do.

The monk that was guiding us said;
'We of the Nameless Monastery protect our relics from all but the truly worthy. To pass  through the doors of reverence, you must prove yourselves to the six masters.'

The 'Doors of Reverence' appeared to be the big ones to the north. We could see that on this carved stone door there was depicted a jolly monk hoisting aloft two huge mugs of  liquid. A roughly square section of carving appeared missing from the monk's stomach.

There were other doors, east and west, so we tried the one to the west first.

The next room we came to contained a large standing bar to the south, a lightless void to  the west, and a churning mix of elements to the north. Each wall also had a closed door.

Two burly monks sat at the well-stocked bar. They smiled widely as we approached, gesturing  for us to have a seat. One of them stood, pouring one glass of a clear liquid for his fellow  monk, and another for each of us. The seated monk raised his glass and downed it in one gulp. He then stared at us expectantly.

We drank. It tasted like whisky, but stronger and fruitier. It was called 'Gibi Gibi' apparently.
We drank again and again. One of the monks slid to the floor after his fourth.
On the fifth round, the 'Drunken Master' came out, a huge barrel shaped woman, who carried another bottle of something equally lethal. This stuff was called 'Jibi Jibi'.

On my eighth drink I collapsed to the floor, utterly rat-arsed. I gradually awoke, an hour or so later, and got a cup of coffee from Dak's ever filling mug.

I dozed for another hour, ate a bacon roll from the Provision Box and felt great. No hangover? Amazing.

The Drunken Master had left us a key and we tried it in the North Door. It opened and revealed a Wispy Wall of Shadows. We left it for the time being.

We tried the 'Elements Door' and within were four robed monks, cloaked in red, green, white, and blue. As we entered, they each extend a palm, above which floated a mote of fire, a chunk of  earth, a wisp of air, and a ball of water. They spoke as one: "To master magic, one must have mastery of all four elements. Which elements calls to you?"

I went for Earth to begin with. A boulder suddenly appeared and rolled towards me. I side stepped it, but the monk shook his head. The next one I pushed against, which seemed to be what he was after. I might not look it, but I'm fairly hefty so pushing against the boulder was no great feat for me.

Dak went for Air, and he was given a stone pin wheel to try and move with his breath. He blew and blew until he eventually got it to move.

Next I went for Fire, and I was told to light a torch that was wrapped in wet brown mould. 'Stand back lads!' I said and summoned a Flaming Sphere. It soon had it lit.

For Water Dak as given a bucket with an illusionary bottom in it and told to fill it with water. Eventually he managed it with his Everfilling Mug and his cloak wrapped around it.

And that was that, the next room we went to was in total darkness, but the Emberblade soon sorted that out. There were monks in here, who despite the fact that we could see them clearly, still went about a pantomime of sneaking about and spook us. Some tried to dispel the Emberblade magic, but could not.

I noticed they had pockets in their robes, so I grabbed one of the monks and picked his pocket, taking out a white bead.

At that point they stopped, they all bowed and one murmured, 'Well played'.

So, having finished with the West Wing, we moved over to the East. The first room we came to contained several leather punching bags hanging from the ceiling near the far  eastern door, a stark white door to the south, and a collection of three mirrors hanging  near a door to the north.

Dak was drawn to the punching bags. Six monks were here, and four came to fight us hand to hand. I cast some spells on Dak to help him, and summoned three apes to help in our battle.

The first four were easily dealt with, even though Dak was knocked flying a few times, but the last guy challenged Dak to one on one, so I dismissed the apes.

Dak put up as strong a fight as he could, but he was no match for this seasoned old monk who after a few powerful blows had the half-orc splayed out on the floor, out for the count.

They seemed impressed though, and healed us both up before we went on our way.

The north door lead to the 'Trail of the Sun' and here we mucked about with mirrors  until we had illuminated a dull gem on a pedestal in the room with light channeled  from the Emberblade.

(Top tip for anyone going to the Nameless Monastery - take a magic item that can cast the Daylight spell!)

The next door, the white one, contained twelve blindfolded and white robed monks. One (who wore a diamond around his neck) stepped forward, palms outstretched, and said;
"the work of this order demands sacrifice...one of you would do nicely."

When we questioned further he went on;
"We are the masters of the long death, we pursue knowledge of the dead and what comes  after."

Dak stepped forward, but when the monk said, "Do you offer yourself as a sacrifice?", the young half-orc bottled it and stepped back again.

As an experiment I summoned another ape and sent it up. The monk whispered into the diamond, then the ape collapsed and died.

That seemed to satisfy them though, so having completed all the trails we headed back to the wispy wall. The white bead got rid of that, and all the other bits and bobs opened up all the other doorways that lay beyond.
An impression of a skeletal ape was on one of them. He didn't have a happy look on his face.

We entered a large, simple room. It was uninhabited, and lined on both sides with racks of  weaponry. In the centre of the room sat a stone, the imprint of a seat worn into it from what  must have been countless hours of meditation. A small portrait next to the stone was the only other decoration.
The small portrait showed an exceedingly old halfling, his arms around an eccentric group of  friends. They look happy. On the back of the portrait was a small note that read:
"Howdy, Bonzu, hope you are well!"

There was a set of stairs leading down.

(G443 27/02/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA81

 (G443 27/02/2021 via Roll20 - AP, KT, JF(GM)) WA81

[After their encounter with the new Demonic residents of Westgate, Fenrir and his new friend Reinward have gone to Cedarsproke to find Blackthorn the naughty druid of the Night Masks.]

DAY 498(13th Flamerule)(july) ...

Reinward wandered out of the inn in the evening and went to find a tattoo artist. He found a half-elf called Kla the Ink who worked out of his home. It was late, but Kla was happy enough to work for gold.

Ren wanted his run in with Hella to be recorded on his skin so had the red band on his wrist that he had lost replaced with some red lettering which read, in the common tongue but in fancy script:

'Ring was taken by Hella the Succubus, No permission asked or given, 10/10, would try again.'

Meanwhile, Fenrir, Raz and Veddic were in the bar, watching a rich looking noblewoman arrive with her maid and a tough looking footman.

Fenrir had a vague feeling of recognition, but could not place her. As he was in disguise, she did give him a second glance, seeing only a merchant.

Ren returned around ten o'clock, while Fenrir was enquiring after Blackthorn. No one admitted to knowing him. He tried one of the serving wenches, turning on the charm;
'A druid called Rollo, a friend of mine, told me I should visit Blackthorn if I happened to be in the area...'
The girl turning white, said 'I don't know anyone called that!' and fled.
(It was a bit much to use my name I should add!)

Ren, getting frustrated at the lack of success, for some bizarre reason, climbed onto the table and shouted, 'Who here knows Blackthorn!?'

The other three all sighed deep sighs, but the angry looking bar man did say;
'Who's asking for him?'
'Err.. A friend said we should look him up?' replied Ren lamely, repeating Fenrir's line.
'Merchants are ye?' snarled the barman. 'Out of Westgate are ye?'
They all nodded.
'Well, you're not welcome here! Get out before I summon the guards!'

Fenrir jumped up and went over to the barman to smooth things over. Silver tongued as ever he managed to keep the rooms they had arranged and agreed with the barman to meet them privately in them after midnight. Ten gold coins changed hands.


DAY 499(14th Flamerule)(july)

'Look,' said Fenrir, 'I just want to know what's going on.'
'Well, he's a bad one right enough,' said the barman. 'In league with all sorts of evil.'
Doubtful at first, he went on to explain that Blackthorn was no longer welcome in Cedarsproke after the rumours of the company he was keeping - thieves, assassins and worse - had gone around the town.

'We might be able to do something about it,' nodded Fenrir conspiratorially.

'Huh, well, I want no part of that, but you'll need a guide to get to Blackthorn's house.'

Fenrir gave the man some more money and arranged a guide. In the morning, a small fellow called Tulip the Pixie met them for breakfast, then led them a couple of miles into the forest.

Ren, who was still in an odd mood said to Tulip, 'I thought all pixies were female?'
'Oh yeah?' growled the pixie. 'I'll do you at a treat lad, don't worry!'
The young rogue was then called every name under the sun by the furious pixie.

Before the argument could develop further though, the had arrived. It was more of a Wood Shaped cave structure than a house, but the entrance was guarded by four elven rangers.
'Who goes there?' called out their leader.
'Eandhehrt Dige' replied Fenrir, giving his current alias.
Blackthorn was not immediately available, so after half an hour or so an elf maid came out with four glasses and a bottle of wine.

Fenrir was suspicious though and had Veddic cast Detect Poison. The wine was indeed poisoned and as they looked up from the spell the rangers, realising they were rumbled, opened fire with their bows.

Arrows flew, but besides Ren, they were all heavily armoured. As the rangers fled backwards from Fenrir's onslaught of Eldritch Blasts and Raz's axe, summoned Crocodiles and Shambling Mounds came in to replace them.

It was a brutal battle, in the cramped halls of Blackthorn's Manor, but they hero's beat back the enemy, pushing further in, until they encountered two elf druids. Large boars were summoned, but these two were defeated.

Those that still lived, a ranger, a druid and the non-combatant maids and children were allowed to leave. One ranger, mourning the death of his beloved brother chose to end his own life rather than go on alone.

Raz and Ren searched some of the rooms, while Fenrir managed to find a hidden tunnel that led down into earthy darkness.

Assuming that Blackthorn was down there, they regrouped and healed. Veddic stuffed six elf corpses into his bag for later.

(G442 20/02/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR34

 (G442 20/02/2021 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR34


[Meanwhile, I was in Sasserine.]


DAY 523 (8th Eleasis) (August)

Since Dak seemed to be a permanent fixture in my life now, he accompanied me when I went into town to sell our recently acquired loot. He was beginning to suspect I wasn't simply some old adept, so I told him who I really was - a young druid called Rollo - and filled him in on some of the basics of my recent escapades.

We also went into town to get his amulet looked at. We'd started off with me summoning Rhemera (the bard that lives inside a magic flute that I own) to cast her eyes over it.
All she knew was that it was a;
'Wooden figurine, a bearded man playing a fluted instrument, a symbol of Oghma, God of Knowledge.'

Well, I could have told him that, one of my brother Corum's pals is a Cleric of Oghma after all.
We took a saunter to the Temple of Oghma and talked to a priest there.

He told Dak:
'Indeed, these figurines were only given to people who had performed an important service to the Church of Oghma and they can be used to gain a boon.'

Dak told us it was his mother's, although he apparently did not know her name. That's half-orcs for you though.

The priest studied the figurine further, getting out a magnifying glass to take a closer look.

'I can tell you where this was issued!' he reported. 'Cimbar, just south of the Sea of the Falling Stars.'

What Dak was going to do with this information he did not reveal to me.

I think he has gone off to the pub with some of the servants tonight or something. I am spending the evening with my lovely, but increasingly rounded, wife Lavinia.


DAY 524 (9th Eleasis) (August)

Spent the day loafing about at Vanderboren Manor, then went to the local tavern later on.

Molly seems to be doing fine in Sasserine. She likes to ride around on Stephen's back and scare the locals. She seems fully recovered from her kidnapping and adventures on Midpoint Island.

In the tavern Dak spent a good portion of the evening bragging about his adventures on Yacg'harr Island. While it is true that he did strike the killing blow on the Evil King, I was not entirely a by-stander. I did not correct him though, not wanting to get noticed.

I find it interesting to compare young Dak to another half-orc of my acquaintance - Shump is also a barbarian and a devote follower of Miliki. We rescued him off a pirate ship down Chult way and he's been a firm friend of mine ever since. He is a quiet and thoughtful fellow though, I wonder if he and Dak would get along?

Where is Shump now I wonder? Last time I saw him in Weyloon. He went his own way again after the Plane of Shadows. I suppose I could use a Sending if I was really interested.

I've no doubt the other half-orc I know - Drashnag would have not liked him, but that would be because he was an Eye of Grummsh, and they don't like anybody.


DAY 525 (10th Eleasis) (August)

Flew back to Yacg'harr Island with Dak again today.

Arrived at six o'clock and hunted out Silas. He had researched, or whatever it is he does, and found the location of the artifact we were after (to activate the portal in the Barrow of the Evil King) and said it could be found in the 'Nameless Monastery'.

This could be found in Anauroch Desert. It was hidden by some kind of magical means though and one was simply to set off on the Black Road and eventually the Monastery would find you.

As Sylvia, Corum and Jiggles were all unavailable I decided to go it - more or less - alone and only take Irritator for his teleports. Dak said he wanted to come, scenting more opportunities for adventure and things to brag about later no doubt.

I should mention, Sylvia has a 'Sending Round Robin' on the go at the moment where every few days she contacts:
Me, Corum, Jiggles, Irritator, Dad and Giselle.

Basically everyone that was involved with Midpoint Island.

We'll spend the night on the island and fly back in the morning.


DAY 526 (11th Eleasis) (August)

Arrived in Sasserine in the late afternoon on a favourable wind.

I've decided to release Stephen from service (for now) as he is not really suited to tropical climes. Molly is sad, but she understands.

So without any further ado, we teleported to Westgate, where we had arranged to meet Irritator and then teleported to Corm Orp (we had to pay for that one).

We spent the night in a pleasant pub full of halflings. Dak boasted to them all night. Irritator tried to fit in with his 'people' with mixed success.


DAY 524 (Eleasis) (August)

Teleported to Waterdeep. I think Dak's head is spinning!

Then went to the OJB (Old Jock's Brewery, where my brother Corum is based) and then went for lunch at the Singing Sword.

I took Stephen to the north gate, then a few miles beyond the wall from there and released him.
He'll make his own way back to Kryptgarden.

It's a shame, but probably for the best.

Spent the night at the Singing Sword.


DAY 527 (12th Eleasis) (August)

In the morning we flew to Loudwater, a town west of the desert and spent the night there. There are only two taverns and we selected the 'Enchanter's Ecstasy'.

The inn was chock-full of cutesy decorations such as statuettes of smiling wizards and enchanted novelties like talking clocks that spoke the hour in fluting voices, doors that thanked people who  opened them, and even illuminated chamberpots that could be used in the dark. The lobby housed a  fountain with statues of mermaids holding fish that continually spouted cascades of water.

I got drunk. Dak went outside and peed in an elf's garden.
'Get off my cabbages you dirty bugger!' came a shout from the darkness.
Dak was only a few yards away from an outhouse.

I think Dak is very confused, and clearly doesn't know where he is, from all the teleporting and flying. He was drinking all day on the flight and was already as drunk as a lord before we even landed.

Irritator was an obnoxious drunk little halfling, but he did manage to summon the bard on the flute and when the wizard was summoned too we got them as drunk as we could on strong spirits in the hour that they had before they went back.

I think I lost a few hours towards the end of the night as I don't remember how I got to bed.


DAY 528 (13th Eleasis) (August)

Hungover I flew east on the gentle warm updrafts that came off the desert.

In the early evening we landed and made camp, right at the Anauroch Desert's edge.

I then settled down to meditate and summon an animal companion suitable to the terrain.

I could hear Rolanda somewhere, trying to get some conversation from Dak and eventually giving up on him, before going over to chat to Jonathan the seagull.

DAY 529 (14th Eleasis) (August)

In the evening a Dire Lion appeared. I named her Harriet.

It was decided that Irritator would remain here, at this spot. He had no great desire to wander around in the desert with us, so we said we could always teleport back to get him if we needed him (and since I got my boots I don't need him as much as I used to).

So after we had had our diner the rest of us walked directly into the desert on the Black Road.
Apparently there was no way of finding this Monastery - it found you - and the trick was to just keep walking.

We did that until nightfall and made camp under the desert stars.


DAY 530 (15th Eleasis) (August)

We set off again in the morning and after four hours we came across a man stood in the middle of the road. He appeared menacing, although he was unarmed. He was hooded and only the bottom part of his face could be seen.

Around him were the bleached bones of various beasts, including something massive which turned out to be a tarasque. There was no shortage of humanoid skeletons either.

'Hello?' I called. 'Do you speak common?'
He did. He then demanded 300 gold to 'pass'.
I don't know what his problem was, and I doubt I ever will, and why he was guarding and empty bit of road, or why he didn't think we could not just go back or around him. I myself was interested to see what sort of challenge he would be, and I was beginning to suspect he was a warlock.

We went back 400 feet and I told Dak my plan.
'Take my Goggles of See Invisibility, old chap,' I told him. 'He can go invisible and fly, of that I have little doubt. I will fly and summon other beasts of the air to battle him. Your job is to keep your eyes on him at all times. It is of the utmost importance we stay out of range of his blasts. Got that?'
'Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?'
'Oh, you'll be fine. Just keep shouting out where he is and I'll do the rest!'

I turned into and owl and Dak got onto my back. We circled high above the man, and as I had predicted he vanished.
'300 gold or perish,' said a voice in our heads.
Well, I hate bullies, so I circled higher, determine to fight off the villain.
As an owl I could not talk though, so I glanced over my shoulder to see what Dak was doing. He should have been trying to locate the warlock.
What he appeared to be doing though, was squinting directly at the sun.

A huge beam of white energy went whizzing past Dak's head. Like something from Fenrir, but bigger.
I located the source, about 300ft away. I knew that I could fly faster than a warlock (a standard issue one anyway) so I swooped off in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile Dak's courage had all melted away and he had quickly shoved handfuls of his gold into a pouch and tossed it over the side.
I watched it plummet into the sand and burst open, and a moment later the warlock appeared, walked over to the gold and began to pick it up.

Well, I dare say Dak had been right, but I would have preferred to have put up more of a fight first!

We did not speak of it when we made camp that night.

Karma Kingdom - Alpha 0.4 b168

 

 

So, I'm calling this Alpha 0.4! The game now has an introduction on the GENERATE screen for people coming in for the first time now and with the new Main Quest that helps guide new players through the various things that you do in Karma Kingdom I'm hoping that - you know - people actually play it!

This game has been a labour of love now for 2+ years and I think it does everything I pictured it would do when I set out. It's clunky and much of it could be flashier, but I think its now got something to it. There is more going on than some mobile phone games I've played lately anyway. These clicker games have mastered the art of keeping you interested, the last one I played had a main quest too and it was purely that, that kept me wanting to see what happened next.

There is still much to be done. Most of the skills still dont to anything, must of the items still don't do anything. I've lots of ideas for new systems - Heroes, Equipment Slots, Heroes with Equipment Slots, Enemies and Treasure that appear on the main map, a proper Military system, an Employment system. All this can and probably will be added later. For now though I need to get people interested, which is proving very difficult! 

To play go here:

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