(G533 02/09/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA121

 (G533 02/09/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA121

[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same. As of right now - the coup had begun!]

DAY 551 (5th Eleint)(September) cont ...

And so the Westgate coup rolled on. Fenrir did what he could to smooth things over and Reinward made sure everyone could see that the Crownbearer of Ilmater was supportive of everything, but it was not long before Palla the Light took charge.

She had been in the city a lot longer then the others and had a vested interest in the coup being a success. Fenrir and Reinward helped as much as they could but at the end of the day, neither of them cared. They just wanted to discharge the task that Cavu had given them and leave the city as soon as they could.

They set up the centre of the coup in the Merchant's Tower. Messengers came and went. Troops were moved here and there. Places were put under guard. People were arrested.

The coup leadership moved from Fenrir and Reinward to Palla the Light,  Lady Sunrise Tylanna of the Seventh Rose, Gwendeth Thavalar and Mintassan the Magnificent.

Simply put, Fenrir and Reinward knew that they could sneak off if things went belly up, whereas these others lives and the lives of their friends and families were at risk, which sharpened their focus a good deal.

Meanwhile, Veddic had called in the company of Kossuth paladins and clerics that had been promised. They helped out, but it was openly known that Kossuth would want this favour returned later.

Raz, my old barbarian chum, now (and this seems funny to write!) in his role of King of Westgate, just waved his magical sword around when it was  required and struck a heroic pose whenever needed. There was not much more anyone could ask of a King after all and he filled this role admirably.

DAY 552 (6th Eleint)(September)

The centre of the coup worked tirelessly night and day. Anything at any moment could set Westgate off into bloody street battles, or a full on war between the noble houses.

Somehow, for today anyway, it all held together. The sight of the entire mercenary army of Westgate patrolling the wards and the gates did tend to focus people into making no sudden moves, but this could not be a  permanent arrangement, something would have to give.

Fenrir learned later that Gelly had left the house at Wizard's Cut. No one knew why. Perhaps it was too hot for her now, or perhaps she had decided to go back to the Night Masks.


DAY 553 (7th Eleint)(September)

The city continued to wait. The army patrolled the streets and the coup plotters held court at the Merchant Tower.

News came from the east - Several farms had been burned, and dozens killed.

Reinward said, 'send garlic!', but they heard later it had been goblins doing it.


DAY 554 (8th Eleint)(September)  

Today Urlyvl Athagdal pushed passed Palla the Light and her guards to talk to the leaders of the coup.

He was polite but said, 'This wont stand. How can this work? Are you waiting for the noble houses to swear fealty to this upstart king of yours? I for one will do no such thing!'

'Off with his head!' cried Reinward, ever one to smooth over trouble waters with a well placed word of calming diplomacy.

'I see you have selected your court jester at least,' said Athagdal dryly.

He talked with them for several hours, diplomatic negotiations that thankfully centred around keeping things peaceful and free of bloodshed.

Fenrir realised that the situation with swearing oaths to the king would have to be sorted out eventually or there would be a full blown constitutional  crisis. It was thought they had at most four months before that would happen and Fenrir was fine with that, he planned to be long gone by then.

It was also agreed that all the noble houses could 'open their gates' to allow trade again. It was risky as they could now send out armed men, but better than keeping them bottled up until they exploded.

Today Random turned up and was introduced to the plotters as his old persona Nebulus the Rascal, a well known Westgate Merchant.

After a brief explanation to King Raz, Nebulus became Prime Minister Nebulus.

That evening there was a big event scheduled at House Malavhan. It was decided to let it go ahead, so that it looked like things were going as normal - i.e. the normal life of the city could continue.

This event was 'Hail to the Heroes' Feast. Each year it was a great place for the noble houses to meet and strike deals. There were lots of drunken (and sometimes violent) games, the biggest of which was called the 'Grand Melee' where everyone that entered was given a wooden sword and the last person standing was declared the winner. Their was also the 'The Lock Box of  Goregnasher' which was a test of dexterity and cunning.

King Raz and Queen Thistle were there, being shown around by Random (as Prime Minister Nebulus). He was doing a good job, but Fenrir had a small sense of pride noting he was not as smooth as Fenrir had been when this had been his job.

Fenrir tried the 'lock box' puzzle first and did ok, but could not get it open. Reinward tried next and very nearly did it, but failed at the last twist of a hidden key.

The main event of the night was the Grand Melee and they both entered. The rules were - no magic, and no magic items. Everyone was armed with a  wooden sword.

They both did well and Reinward took out several of the fighters with his tumbling and surprise attacks but he was eventually flattened by a powerful female barbarian.

Fenrir lasted a little longer, partially due to his warlock powers of fast healing which he insisted he 'couldn't switch off'. This meant that twice he was knocked to the ground, out like a light, but each time he stood back up again. On his third laying-out though he decided to stay down.

The final champion was the female barbarian, with Fenrir the runner up and Reinward winning the 'audience favourite' award.

Fenrir won a Bag of Tricks (Rust) and Reinward won an engraved masterwork silver dagger.

(G532 12/08/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA120

 (G532 12/08/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA120
    
[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same.]


DAY 551 (5th Eleint)(September)

Around three in the morning a small stone was thrown at Fenrir's bedroom window.

After going invisible, Fenrir twitched back his curtains. He saw a dark, cloaked figure in the street below.

Fenrir flew down behind the figure and said 'Hello,' and called his  magical armour.
'Are you trying to get my attention?'

'I wish to talk to you, but first show yourself,' said the other mysterious man.
'You first,' said Fenrir.
'Very well,' said the figure who then pulled back their hood. 'I am Orlak 2, you may know me as the Night King... I'm just here to talk.'

Reinward was in one of the upstairs lavatories and hearing the voices looked out of the window.

The Night King said:
''
I watch you come and go. I have spies everywhere. I see where you go and who you talk to. I have a sense of what you are planning. Who you work for is a mystery but I can live  with that. I'm offering you one last chance to walk away. My offer is this. You leave, I get the crown. You get one million in gold.
''

Reinward reacted to the vocalisation of "One million gold" and nearly choked on his own tongue. He banged the window shut, the banged it open again.

They both heard the noise from the house and turned to look. Fenrir shrugged.

The Night King went on:
If not, then I have all the night masks of the city hounding your every step and an army waiting in Blackrune for my word to attack.

Fenrir: A generous offer ... but you strike me as a man of measure, someone who makes  plans that are not short term. You make long term plans.

Night King: You could say that.

Fenrir: I would be keen to avoid any trouble. Let me do what I need to do, then I'll leave.

Night King: What is it you need to do?

At this point Fenrir was fairly open about the scheme he was involved in to overthrow  the government and replace it with Raz as king and Thistle Thavalar as queen.

Night King: I see. You will leave after that then? But obviously this Usurper king of  yours will stay.

Fenrir tried his best to give the vampire a bit of the old flannel. Maybe it worked as  the Night King then made another offer.

Night King: Very well. After you are "done", you give me the crown. Raz becomes a  vampire and I give you, let's say - half a million.

Fenrir: We keep the crown for now.

Night King: I must insist that I have it. Unless I also make Reinward a vampire.

Fenrir:  So... right. Um, if Reinward was a vampire, would he be under your control? Didn't you once drink his blood and it made you sick anyway?

Night King: That was when he carried the Blessing of Ilmater. Since he now has the Crown he has lost the blessing. And you need not worry, he will retain all of the sense that he already has.

Fenrir thought about it for a moment or two. Maybe Reinward wouldn't mind being a vampire, after all it made you more powerful. 'Let me think about it,' he said finally.

'I'll be back tomorrow night to hear your answer,' replied the Night King.

In the morning, Fenrir and Reinward had a big tasty breakfast then went to the Temple of Ilmater.
They talked privately to Sir Loric, as they were interested to know if he had any advice on avoiding the effects of a vampire bite.

He was puzzled, but wanted to help and fetched some holy texts to see if they offered any help.

Eventually he said:
'Well, there is nothing I know of, but in theory it might be possible to get a magic item that allows you to go through the process of vampirisation without becoming fully lost and evil. But I must advise most strongly, Chosen One, to not even consider it. It would be a grave mistake to try something so risky and it would surely be a sin before the eyes of Ilmater.'

They then decided to go talk to Gwendeth. They were being followed and tried various tricks to shake them off and while they thought they had been successful they were still paranoid about it and spent some more time than they maybe needed to on the streets of Westgate getting suspicious of everyone they saw. In the end they decided to go to the Thavalar mansion anyway.

They met Gwendeth and Fenrir asked if the wedding could be brought forward, ideally that very day!
'Thistle would have to consent,' said Gwendeth.
'Who gives a fuck?' asked Reinward.
Gwendeth looked daggers at Reinward then with ice in her voice said, 'well do as you will then, but it is hardly the best start to a marriage.'

Fenrir decided to give her some sense of the urgency required by telling her about his recent chat with the Night King. Remember though, that Gwendeth was an old lady, not a fellow adventurer, which may account for the fact that she had a panic attack and fainted.

After a good deal more faffing about getting the old biddy back on her feet, Thistle was brought in and persuaded to marry Raz as soon as possible.
'Marry me then!' she growled.

Fenrir went out to buy some rings, spending a whopping 10,000 gold on each one.

This left Reinward by himself for a while to bring his particular brand of chaos to the proceedings. He located the mansion's cleric - a man called Pyter Cheyeff, a Cleric of Tyr. He could not be rushed though.
'It cannot be sooner!' he cried. 'Their are pwoceedings! Ointments and unguents that must be pwepawed! Otherwise the mawwiage will be void. It is weally not wealistic to do it a moment sooner!'

'Oh really?' said Reinward. 'See this crown, chief? That means I'm the Chosen One. Get things moving pal.'

'Your crown means nothing to me as a Priest of Tyr!' cried Cheyeff.

'Oh yeah?' said Reinward, suddenly with a dagger in his hand. 'Just a totally random question here, but do you know how you would get Resurrected if you needed to be?'

Reinward waved the dagger in Cheyeff's face.
'You don't frighten me!' he squeaked before running away.
Reinward followed as the cleric ran down a corridor, his vestments flowing.
'Leave me alone, you wuffian!'
Reinward caught hold of the cleric at a bend in the corridor.
'Unhand me you, you wascal!'
There was a tussle and the elderly cleric fell to the cobblestones.
'Guards! Guards!' he cried out.
Some guards arrived promptly and they all then went to see Gwendeth in her chambers.

So when Fenrir returned with the rings there was a big shouting match going on between all the members of the wedding party. Still, even Fenrir's silver  tongue could not make the 'ointments and unguents' arrive any sooner and Cheyeff would not be budged.

In the end they summoned Veddic, who flew in on his magic carpet.
'Crossbow wedding is it?' he asked with a smirk. 'The Church of Kossuth can provide an express service you require.'

The whole service only took two hours, in one of the mansion's halls. A brazier was dragged in to allow the 'Combing of the Flames' which was the only vital part of the ceremony, or so Veddic said.

With Raz and Thistle spliced, Fenrir decided now was the time to 'hit the button' on the coup and just do it.

Towards that end his next port of call was to visit Palla the White in her guardhouse.
'It's happening now!' he declared. 'Seize the Merchant Tower. We'll get  the married couple there.'

Still rather confused about the whole 'doing a coup' lark he asked Palla for some advice. They talked and decided it would be best to surround the mansions, castles and estates of noble families that would balk at the coup. These people were:

Ibana Trant - 100 mercenaries to be deployed.
Urlyvl Athagdal - 50 men to keep close watch
House Bleth - 500 mercenaries to camp outside their castle
House Cormaeril - as above

Men to be stationed at:
House Ssemm
House Thorsar
House Urdo
House Vhammos
and the Merchant Tower

Palla said, 'So we march now! I will get things going with the army. You do your bit too! Don't leave me hanging.'
'Err, ok sure!' replied Fenrir.

Runners were also sent to:
House Malavhan
House Thavalar
The Lathander Temple
Mintassan the Magnificent
... to inform them that tonight was the night.

At six o'clock they went to the Watch house to start the curfew. The army would enforce it, but arrests would be passed on to the ward sergeants.

Then they went to the Merchant's Tower, which was already surrounded by a company of mercenaries. Palla was there.
'Slight problem,' she told them. 'Ibana Trant has barricaded herself in the top of the tower.'

Near the top there was indeed a barricaded door. A guard was at the door
who shrugged. 'She won't come out.'

They decided to co-ordinate. Fenrir would go back down and fly outside, while Reinward blinked through the door. It all worked except that as soon as she saw Reinward she leapt out of the window!

Fenrir was too far away to catch her, and she plummeted to the ground below and died instantly when she hit the cobbles.

There were screams from the crowd. The mercenaries held them back.

Once they got into the room they could see that there were still two serving girls in there.
'The nightmares caused it, the nightmares!' one of them cried.

Reinward looked at the girls. The one that was not crying seemed to have a knowing look on her face. He pointed her out and Fenrir cast his eyes over her. He Detected Evil about her and when she saw he was looking at her she smiled and winked at him.

'Right, take her away,' he said, but as she was dragged past. 'Hey what are you arresting me for?'
'I'll deal with you later.'
She leaned in and hissed at him, 'hey don't be like that. I'm Night Parade!'
Hearing that he motioned the guards away. 'False alarm, let her go!'

Downstairs it was all a bit of a chaotic mess, but Palla seemed to be dealing with it, so they decided to attend to the important matter of what could possibly be in the Westgate treasury. It was situated in a vault under the tower and with the key taken from Ibana's fresh corpse they were able to gain access.

Inside they found:

- Ledgers, with many debts, to tune of 50 million, mainly to the Iron Bank and nearby Kingdoms
- Ledger with may credit notes / IOUs etc - from noble houses, merchants, ship companies to tune of 5 million
- Chests of gold and treasure to the tune of 50,000 gold
- Various object d'art worth 50,000 gold
- 6 magic items
- lots of worthless junk
- many letters, notes, books, nothing of any worth

Palla had come down to check up on them.
'Don't be tempted to take anything,' she warned. 'This all belongs to the city.'

Reinward had a good look around in the vault and found a secret door. It lead to a narrow corridor with another door at the end. The far door was trapped as Reinward found out when he tried to go  through it.

After he had been healed up by Veddic, Fenrir cast Knock and the door opened. Reinward gamely went forward again and poked the door with a stick, but in the end he got Fenrir to float through and find the disarm switch on the other side.

Once it was all safe they all went in to take a look. On a dais in the middle of the chamber was a dagger - a magical weapon famous in Westgate - known as the Shifter's Sorrow.  Reinward didn't know what it was called, but it looked valuable. As he reached for it he heard Palla clear her throat behind him.

'Ah well,' he said. 'It can always wait.'

(G531 22/07/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA119

 (G531 22/07/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA119

[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same. Just recently they have been drawing into an investigation into a strange death outside Nabulee’s bazaar. They now have a suspect - Mortimer Yorman.]

DAY 549 (3rd Eleint)(September) cont ...

With his memory back while he was within the protection circle from Reinward's crown, Nabulee wrote a note to himself to go to his vault to find an item that would restore his memory permanently via a Remove Curse spell or such like.

Meanwhile, Fenrir and Reinward had arrived at Mortimer Yorman's house. The old man met them in the atrium. It was as basic as they get. There were not any fancy fountains, sculptures, paintings, or other adornments that the wealthy people of Westgate normally had to impress their guests. Two simple wooden benches sat against opposite walls, and a large stone chimney was in the back of the room.

There was something off about Mortimer, but they couldn't put their finger on it.
'I've been at home all day! he protested. Fenrir detected no magic - most odd considering the old man was meant to be a wizard.

As Fenrir talked to him, Reinward searched the sparse room. As he approached the chimney he heard a muffled 'WoooooOOOOOooooo....'
How odd, thought Reinward as he lit his lantern and then shone it up the chimney. All he could see was what looked like a sort of lingering smoke about half-way up.

Curious, Fenrir came to look with his Devil Sight. He too could see a sort of smoke swirling around up there.
'If there is anything up there, I suggest you come down before I open fire,' he announced in the voice he used when in his role of Commander of the Watch.

When nothing happened he shot an Eldritch Blast up, and then it all kicked off. Five spectres came shooting out and when they attacked, so did Yorman. It didn't taken the heroes long to wipe them out though. The spectres were swept aside by Blasts and the so called wizard Yorman cast no spells, simply attacking with his fists.

After that, Reinward jammed the front door shut and the went to explore the rest of the house. They looked in the dining room, and the other rooms downstairs before moving up to the first floor.

Soon the found (the real!) Mortimer Yorman in his room. He had a Wraith Hound with him and they both attacked, but they were quickly wiped out by more Eldritch Blasts and some precisely thrown daggers.

Then, having hardly broken a sweat they went on to loot the rest of the house, including the Library, the Office and the Attic.

The Attic seems was a storage room and some sort of wizard’s laboratory. Multiple barrels, crates, and old furniture lay in the corner of the room. A well-equipped workshop occupied the rest of the attic.

A mortally wounded human that looked exactly like Nabulee lay on an operating table in the  middle of the laboratory. He suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.

It was another one of Yorman's strange golems and it attacked them, but again, was quickly defeated.

With all that done, they returned to Nabulee's Bazaar. He was very happy that the situation had been resolved. Over a few glasses of wine Fenrir told him about the coup he was planning and Nabulee was happy to join it. He told them he would send a message to Mintassan the Magnificent  to bring him onboard too.

Before leaving the area Fenrir had the Watch take control of Yorman's house.

Back at his office at the main Watch Barracks he was told of a commotion at the docks. A ship called 'The Silver Angel' had just arrived from Cormyr. It contained fifty paladins and ten clerics of Lathander, all armed to the teeth!

They were here for the coup of course, but no-one had told Tonian Hearth, the harbour master.
'We can't have all these armed men here!' she said to Fenrir when he arrived. 'Not with all the politics between Westgate and Cormyr right now, this could be a huge diplomatic incident!'

'Uhh, it's part of the on-going effort against corruption...' he tried.

As he tried to smooth things over Palla the White and a company of mercenaries arrived.
'What's all this?' she asked.

Fenrir was lucky, he had forgotten to tell anyone about all the foreign forces he had been inviting into the city, but he had reacted in time and was able to use his smooth tongue to sort it all out. It did take hours though and he had to throw around some more bribes.

When he and Reinward got back home in the evening he was told by Jasper that Urlyvl Athagdal was in the drawing room waiting for him.

Athagdal had a lot of questions about the disappearance of Dreydal Trant and even though Fenrir, as we know, possessed a huge amount of charm, his lies were not believed.

The facts were plain - he was the last person to see Trant alive and he was kidnapped by a warlock literally just an hour after that. Fenrir had no alibi, didn't deny he had been there, and could only shrug and say, 'it was some other person that flies around stuffing people into bags!'

Athagdal asked what his intentions were and Fenrir gave his by now well practised talk on "restoring the honour of the city" and "clearing out its corruption". Athagdal put down all these arguments, saying "the democratic process is what does that, not murders and kidnappings, the Gods know we had enough of that in the past."

Fenrir: I only want to improve the lives of everyone and prevent a wave of evil engulfing  the city.

Athagdal: We all want that, we just differ on the method. I am far from the only one that  thinks you are responsible for the disappearance of Trant.

Fenrir: I can't help that.

Fenrir had been pretending that he had an investigation into Trant's kidnapping in full swing and Athagdal asked for details on it. Fenrir waffled some nonsense about Athagdal also being a suspect.

At that point Athagdal grew angry. 'Preposterous!' he declared.
'You'll hear more on this!' he said as he left the house.


DAY 550 (4th Eleint)(September)

Fenrir was not rattled by Athagdal's threats. He had bigger problems and besides, more than anything else, he was looking for an off-ramp . Despite his charm and skills at lying and disseminating, he did not like politics and just wanted to get the coup done and then hand it all back over to Cavu.

Court life was nice as a distraction, an occasional party or dalliance, no more than that. He lacked the imagination, the cunning and the perseverance to be able to manage all the details required to live in a world of whispers, blackmail and gossip.
Frankly, it bored him. He most enjoyed being in some dungeon somewhere, blowing monsters  to bits and stealing their treasure.

'The sooner this is done the better,' he told Reinward at breakfast. 'I just want to get out of Westgate now to be honest. I can't be bothered with all these Dragon Coast nobs getting into my business all the time.'

Reinward didn't really mind what happened as he was certainly as lost as Fenrir when it came to managing the finer points of a coup.
'As long as I get to keep me crown,' he remarked as he shovelled in his eggs and bacon.

Today they did the rounds, seeing Palla the White, the force of Lathander paladins and clerics, Mintassan the Magnificent, Gwendeth Thavalar and Jenner Fields.

Veddic told them:
'Jamella Dotrok informs me thus; We have a squad of 10 clerics of Kossuth, 10 paladins  and 10 monks ready to go. Just say when and we'll teleport them in!'

Another guard was lost today. Shot in the street with a poisoned bolt.
Fenrir upped the wages of the others.

In the evening a mysterious letter was left at the door. It gave off a magical aura. Veddic cast Dispel Magic on it, but when the letter was opened it appeared that the message had been erased by the spell.

Reinward then went to give the guards a telling off.
Reinward: Hey! You just bring in any letter that arrives?
Guard: Yeah ...
Reinward: Not any more! Just let them pile up outside!
Guards: Ok ...

Today (they learned later) Raz was attacked near the Thavalar mansion.
A squad of Night Masks shouted at him, saying "The so called King!" and went for him with their daggers. He killed eight of them.

(G530 09/07/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), WF, OL, AL, FF, DL) K5

 (G530 09/07/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), WF, OL, AL, FF, DL) K5

[This is the fifth part of the story I heard from my brother Corum about an unlikely band of adventurers known as the 'The Habibi Club'. They were:
Ewiz the Great a human wizard, Sir Buttskii a gnomish bard, Tate a halfling rogue, Kayne a human sorcerer, Goobus a rather fat human bard, Gilbert a human monk and Walter the White a half-elf druid. They had now met my father at the Kryptgarden Estate and had made their way into the forest to confront a baddie called Zallater the Half-fiend Durzagon.]


DAY 4 cont ...

While all the nonsense at the crypt was going on, Wendy the Wizard and Goobus the Bard had arrived. They had been on a special mission, but had hurried to catch up, not wanting to miss any of the excitement.

Just as they were coming up to the under-construction tower in the forest, little Tate had succeeded in opening the gate of the crypt. Some sort of Mutated Displacer Beast leapt out and attacked them. Just like regular displace beasts this was a large cat with four sort of tentacles on its back. Usually these were used to create illusions, but this one had the power to teleport people!

It leapt about and teleported away Wendy the Wizard, then Tate, then Goobus, then Gilbert and then finally Walter the Druid.

They found themselves in a dungeon room. In reality they had not gone far, no more than 200 feet away, but at that moment they did not know that. They were underground, in a small chamber made of freshly cut stone. It had that 'new dungeon' smell about it.

In a corner of the room was a weird looking idol, a squat monkey sticking its tongue out. There was an offering bowl in its hands. It all looked very magical. Tate was the first to go over and he put three gold in the bowl. He felt slightly stronger! Like he could take more hits during a fight. Walter, seeing the magic hit Tate in a positive way went over and put in a whopping fifteen gold! He expected to get a greater effect for the money but he appeared to get the same. He put in another two, but nothing happened. Goobus was next and he put in three. There was now 28 gold coins in the bowl!

Tate shrugged and took the lot. Everyone stood back, but nothing happened. Well not in any obvious way. Tate was obviously the sort of young scamp that liked to take risks.

Wendy the Wizard, always on the look out for opportunities to be silly went up to Tate and said in gruff voice - "Gimme the money!" and swung with her staff.
Tate was angry and kicked her in the knee (he was a halfling fighting a human after all). She was hurt but did nothing more than step back and shed a single tear.

Tate laughed and went over to the other side of the chamber where he had spotted some mushrooms growing. While he was doing that, Gilbert - a more sensible sort of fellow - went over to one of the doors in the room and tried to open it. It was locked so he kicked at it until it burst open.

After taking a few mushrooms, Tate joined the others in leaving the chamber and went  forward down the corridor. As a rogue it was his job to check things out first, and he did his job very well by triggering a trap that fired darts at him. He yelped in pain and stepped back. He then stepped forward and triggered the trap again! He had a lot to learn about dungeons.

They were all going off in different directions at the junctions they found, but Walter was the first of them to open another door. Inside were three zombies. He called the other over and drew his scimitar as the undead attacked.

Goobus played his lute and sung a stirring battle-song, its magical power helping all of his friends. Wendy stepped inside and blasted a zombie with a Magic Missile.

Walter was swinging wildly, what he lacked in swordsmanship he made up for in wild enthusiasm. Unfortunately one of his swings hit the wall and his scimitar broke.

Gilbert came rushing in and started kicking and punching, driving back the zombies. Wendy used an Acid Splash spell and Tate tumbled in after everyone.

It was a large melee now, and when they all pulled together it really looked like  they made a good team, surrounding the zombies and slaying them one by one. Gilbert felled two of them with powerful kicks sending the zombies flying into the wall to lie their silent and motionless.

From this chamber, they moved on down the corridor and opened the door to the next. Inside were three kobolts. They were armed with swords and spears, but were not threatening.

'Can we pass?' asked Walter.
Initially they asked for 10 gold for each of the kobolts, but this was negotiated down to 24 gold total and a nice song from the bard (Goobus).

Tate offered them some "hot chicks", whatever that meant, as he did not have any roast  chicken in his pack, but the kobolts seemed to like the idea and this brought the price down to 20 gold and a song.

Walter continued talking to the kobolts, but Tate had lost interested. He started skulking around behind Walter, trying to find an angle for a quick pick-pocket.
'Stop that!' cried Walter in exasperation.
Tate had had enough of negotiations and didn't want to part with any of the money he had recently pilfered from monkey's collection bowl.

Tate kept skulking and Walter kept turning to keep him in his line of sight.
Finally he got so annoyed he swung at the annoying halfling with his staff.
Tate stepped nimbly aside and drew his dagger.
'It's like that is it?' he said as he stabbed with the blade.

Everyone else stepped back as the druid and the rogue now started fighting.
Tate was ever the troublemaker and seemed to be enjoying provoking the druid, but Walter had finally lost his temper with the annoying little halfling and he was trying to hit him as hard as he could.

Still, it was stunning to everyone when Tate took a misstep and put his head in the way of one of Walter's wild swings. The crack of wood on skull was very loud and Tate hit the floor like a bag of potatoes. He was stone dead, his blood and brains leaking out across the tiled floor. There was gasps of shock from the others. Walter went over to see what he had just done, as  surprised as anyone that he had just slaughtered his adventure-mate.

Let this be a warning to other young adventurers. The Monkey God does not like to be stolen from, even just a few gold coins - and its revenge while it may come from an unexpected source - is always certain!

(G529 08/07/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT) YI6 / HAR2

 (G529 08/07/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT) YI6 / HAR2

[While waiting for his next assignment in Sasserine, Corhim Sparkledingle has been having adventures in the world of Harmony. He got there by using a magic ring given to him by Orimander, a gnomish wizard. He has already recovered the Coral Gem on behalf of his patron - Mr Honeycutt.]


DAY 585 (8th Marpenoth) (October) cont ...

Mr Honeycutt was delighted to get the Coral Gem back into his possession. It was late evening now so he gave an address to a house and a key to Corhim and told him he could treat the place as his own.

It was a nice house, the right size for a gnome, with lots of small rooms, comfy  nooks and cosy parlours. There was a sort of housekeeper in residence - a pink nert (the pink nerts were known to be a roguish caste) called Polly Pendrake.

There was a small library and several nice bedrooms. Corhim looked at some of the books in the library but they were all written in languages that he could not read.

Polly brought him his supper and after that he went to bed.

DAY 586 (9th Marpenoth) (October)

As Corhim ate his breakfast Mr Honeycutt rushed in. 'I have just heard that the Crimson Gem's location has been discovered!' he gasped. 'Can you go today? Time is of the essence!'

Corhim shrugged. 'Sure.'

'Excellent! I will give you directions to the Old Oak Grove, where you should meet with Elowen Greenleaf and find out more from her.'

'Can I go to the shops first?'

'Oh well, yes,' said Honeycutt, his whiskers twitching. 'I suppose so. I will write you a note for Mrs Tinkersprout. If you go to her shop you'll get a good deal if she knows I sent you.'

Corhim was much like Reinward in this regard - he loved the shops! And he spent a long time looking around, looking at interesting magical items and planning out all the things he would buy when he had the money.

He also liked that Harmony was built for beings the size of gnomes. He was used to living in Waterdeep, which was human-sized and it was a new experience for him to not have to reach for door handles, jump up steps and to be able to use a latrine there was no danger of falling into!

Eventually he was ready and looking at the map he had been provided with it looked like the forests were not far from the outskirts of Harmony.

As he headed west he saw that the forest was filled with lush colours from the plants and wildlife that fill the area, but as he  went further he saw evidence of the strange colour outages. The same sinister magic that was dulling the city have struck here too — fading the flowers and  greying the leaves.

After one hour of walking he entered the Old Oak Grove. He heard a cry of alarm and what sounded like arrows whistling through the air. Near the Old Oak, he saw a small sapling with a tiny, frightened face flanked by two gnarled thorn bushes (they were twigblights) that look threatening.

The thorn bushes were nasty and aggressive and too string for Corhim to fight so he summoned ten badgers to do it for him.

Once they were dealt with he helped the small awakened sapling with a  potion of Cure Light wounds (which I should note was given grudgingly!). She was Elowen Greenleaf and she was dressed in a Sapling Scout uniform that included a green sash with stitched-on badges.

She told Sparkledingle:
'I'm  involved in a matter of great importance! Mr. Honeycutt has entrusted me with a mission to find the Crimson Gem, one of the six Gems of Power. But there’s a problem, and it’s why we need the help of someone like you. The gem is guarded by the legendary Scarlet Sentinel, and no one knows how to get past it! All I've got is this tattered map!'

Elowen showed the map to Corhim. It illustrated the rough location of what could have be a cave mouth or doorway.
'Those are lemon drop trees,' she said point at the map. 'That must be where we need to go - the Lemdrop Ledges! Some say that, long ago, temples were carved into the cliffs, and I've often wondered if the rumours were true.'

Corhim also noticed some cryptic glyphs are drawn next to the doorway on the map.

As they began their journey, he realised that he really needed a weapon of some kind. He had really been stuck until he had summoned those badgers, so he picked up a big stick and decided to use it as a club.

Elowen reckoned it was a two-hour hike from the Old Oak Grove to the Lemondrop Ledges. They noticed the colour outages extend into the wilderness. Even the animals were noticeably duller, and some are now just tones of grey. They also noticed a chimeric fox that seemed to be following them.

The fox followed them for a distance, curious as to where they were going. After two hours of walking they had to admit they were lost, and as it got dark they decided to make camp in the forest. The fox sat down and watched them.

Corhim and Elowen consulted the map, now totally lost and unable to find the  Lemondrop Ledges.
Much to their surprise the fox spoke. 'I know where it is, it is four miles west of here.'

Corhim had forgotten to buy food when he had been at the shops (too busy drooling over magical items he could not afford!) so they ate some of Elowen's Sapling Scout cookies. They were ok, but Corhim wanted a proper meal.

'Can you get us something?' he asked the fox.
It left the camp then came back with a dead rabbit which it dropped at Corhim's feet.

Neither of them had lit a fire before, or skinned and cooked a rabbit so it took them a long time to make something hot and edible.

Corhim asked Elowen how she had came to be. She told him that she was an awakened shrub. A 'Fortune's spindle' plant that had been awakened by ancient druid magic that dwelt deep in the forest.

The split the watch and Corhim studied for four hours by the light of the fire when it was his turn. It was a quiet night.



DAY 587 (10th Marpenoth) (October)

In the morning the Fox took them to the Lemdrop Ledges and eventually they began to smell the scent of fresh lemons as they reached the top of a bluff  covered by Lemondrop trees. Sheer cliffs fell 100 feet from the bluff into the  ravine below.

These deciduous fruiting trees had silvery bark, distinctive spiky, green leaves, and clusters of small, lemon-sweet fruit. Birds, bees, and other forest animals loved these fruits as it gave them a boost of energy.

Corhim took 12 lemons from the trees. After that they started looking for the temple they had come to find. As they did so though they were attacked by twigblights again! Corhim cast Colourspray and Elowen slashed at them in terror, using her dagger.

The fighting was brutal and while they were the winners they were both badly scratched up. Elowen was trembling, she was shaken badly. Corhim tried to comfort her, but did it clumsily. She shook her head and went to look at the cliffs again.

Corhim was annoyed at her and said, 'Hey! Do you feel bad about the fight?'
'Well, yes!' she said, as if it should have been obvious.
Corhim felt targeted. 'I helped you! What skills do you actually have anyway?'
Elowen was furious. 'More to the point what skills do you have? All I saw was flashing light and glitter! It was me that had to fight them.'
'Now listen..!' spluttered Sparkledingle. 'Soon I will learned much more powerful spells!'
Elowen sobbed and walked off. 'You're horrible!' she cried.

Later he went to talk to her again.
'Well, we are here now, we may as well go get that rune we came for. I'll need your help.'
'It's not a rune,' she said sulkily. 'It's the Crimson Gem.'

They eventually spotted the entrance to the temple on the other side of the ravine using Elowen's spyglass. Corhim then flew across the ravine, carrying Elowen in his arms. She was not heavy.

On the other side was a thin ledge and a doorway. The doorway to the temple was a  bas-relief archway carved into the cliff. The bas-relief comprised leaves, flowers, and plants of all different varieties.

It took them a long time, but eventually they worked out that the runes on the map told them what flowers to press on the door. Foxglove, Spiderplant and Catspaw was  the answer.

Cautiously they ventured inside. The air smelled dank and stale as they looked into a  dark tunnel that lead into the cliff. Colourful pictograms on the either side of the tunnel showed a variety of scenes: happy nerts frolicking beside a well from which a  rainbow of colours pours forth; the city of Harmony being built; an amulet that had six colourful gemstones in it; and a scene of a great library being built.

It was not long before they found their way to the chamber of the Scarlet Sentinel. They approached the entrance. It was
a circular, 75-foot-diameter room with a 20-foot-high domed ceiling.

In the centre of the room, they saw a faintly glowing red gemstone hovering above a 12-foot-tall  statue of a warrior that sat atop a stone dais. The gemstone’s glow dimly lit the room. On the floor, a large red circle etched with strange sigils surrounded the statue and extended across most of the room, leaving only a 5-foot wide path around the edge of the circular chamber. As if sensing their presence, the statue’s eyes snapped open and glowed red.

The Scarlet Sentinel was made from blood onyx and depicted a strange, humanlike creature with  elongated arms and fangs that jutted from its wide mouth.

Corhim was scared and it was a long time before he worked up the courage to get the gem. The easiest way would be to fly above the statue and grab the gem, but he was nervous of what would happen if he did so. He wedged doors, tried various spells, but in the end he had no more excuses and he just had to do it!

Using a Fly spell he went as fast as he could to whizz over the statues head and get the gem. It swung an arm at him and it hit! He was badly bruised but he bravely went on and nabbed the gem and flew back as fast as he could.
'Leg it!' he yelled at Elowen as he headed for the door.

And so it was, after a long but uneventful journey they made their way back to Harmony. Elowen was excited to see Mr. Honeycutt again and while she was happy that the mission had been a success she was still smarting from what she felt had been harsh treatment from Sparkledingle.

Still, Mr. Honeycutt was overjoyed at the return of the Crimson Gem and wanted to know everything about the adventure while he scribbled copious notes in his black notebook.

For their troubled, he awarded Elowen with a shiny badge of merit for outstanding service  and promoted her to Sapling Scout First Class.

To Corhim, he gave a pouch containing 200 gp and invited him to join the elite ranks of the Lorekeeper Society. As Corhim already had a Lorekeeper pin he did not need another one.

Finally he went home to get a much needed bath and a nice cup of tea.

(G528 24/06/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA118

 (G528 24/06/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, KT) WA118

[Fenrir and Reinward have been tasked with staging a coup in the city of Westgate to stop the evil vampire lord the Night King from doing the same. Just recently they have been trying to hide all their nefarious schemes from the city authorities.]


DAY 548 (2nd Eleint)(September) cont ...

After Judge Nylo had left, Jasper came to Fenrir to tell him that one of the house guards had been found dead out in the city.


DAY 549 (3rd Eleint)(September)

Fenrir and Reinward were lost. They did not know how to perform a coup attempt and were finding it hard to grasp the full picture. They had been tinkering around here or there and getting some people on-side but had only the vaguest of notions what to do next.

It did not help matters that (to steady their nerves perhaps) they spent a good deal of each evening drinking.

In the morning though, they decide to go and find Mintassan the Magnificent. If they could get him on their side then that would count for a lot within the wizard community of Westgate, or so they hoped.

Just as they were approaching his large house and magical emporium they were startled by loud screams of agony and terror. When they looked to see where they came from, they saw a young fashionably-dressed man on the ground, his pants stained with blood. Another man of  lower status was trying to save him, yelling for help, but to no avail.

The young noble stopped moving, and shortly after, a beetle-shaped creature drilled out of his  chest in a burst of gore and blood. Fenrir and Reinward watched in astonishment as the beetle then reverted back to being an inanimate beetle-shaped brooch.

They talked to the other man. His name was Liam Roogs. He was a domestic servant working for the Littlehorn family. The young man who had just died was his master, Aaron.

Fenrir, as Commander of the Watch, took charge of the situation and after summoning some watchmen he questioned Roogs further.

They learned that Aaron had found the brooch in the auction room of Nabulee’s Bazaar of the  Extraordinary (which shared a building with Mintassan the Magnificent's House). Aaron’s behaviour had been odd. He had noticed the scarab early during the auction, but had waited until everyone had left to pick it up. Aaron was an honest person, but he had seemed intent on stealing the brooch.

A few minutes after they had left the auction house, Aaron started to scream and fell to the ground. He convulsed for a brief moment, and then the scarab burst out of his chest.

To Roogs's knowledge, the Littlehorns didn't have any enemies. He suggested taking to Lord Archibald Littlehorn.

Fenrir would do that, but first he wanted to see Nabulee at his bazaar. It appeared that Mintassan the Magnificent was his business partner and was renting out part of his large house to Nabulee.

Just then, the man himself appeared! Nabulee was an overweight, eccentric-looking man with scruffy fiery hair. He came bursting out of a nearby door and ran toward them with a preoccupied look. He was wearing a blue tunic embroidered with silver and matching pants, and was holding a gold-inlaid sceptre shaped as a dragon. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he gazed at the scarab on the noble’s chest and sighed.

Fenrir and Reinward talked to Nabulee.

His name was Nabulee el Jasafir. He was a merchant from the desert city of Calimport who had packed up his Bazaar of the Extraordinary and taken it to Westgate.

The brooch that killed the Aaron was a scarab of death. He was pretty sure that it belonged to him, but he didn't know how Aaron could have acquired it. This brooch was supposed to be safely stored in an extradimensional vault that only Nabulee could access.

Nabulee was very nervous as he realised the implications of what had happened. 'Please!' he pleaded with the Commander of the Watch. 'Aaron’s father, Archibald,  is a ruthless man! Lord Littlehorn will want someone to blame, and he’ll make sure this person loses his head. I don’t want to die for something I didn’t do!'

Fenrir tried to calm the merchant, but he carried on in a panic, 'I'm absolutely certain I didn’t take the scarab of death out of his vault, even accidentally. If I had picked up  the cursed brooch without taking special precautions, I would also be dead. Please, I beg you, Commander, I will help any way I can, just make sure Archibald doesn't chop my head off!'

'It's me that chops the heads around here,' said Fenrir drolly. He then waved over some watchmen to have the body taken away. He then assured Nabulee there would be a thorough investigation.

They started at Lord Littlehorn's house. Aaron’s father was overcome by grief when he learned that his son had died.

Archibald Littlehorn was a handsome man in his late fifties with salt and pepper hair. He was tall, slender, impeccably groomed and wearing elegant clothing.

Fenrir vaguely knew of the Littlehorns. They were a modest noble mercantile family known to be rich, but with no interest in politics.

Reinward (an expert in this matter) asked if Aaron could be resurrected but apparently this was impossible because of something that had happened when he was younger.

'I have many envious competitors,' said Littlehorn. 'But I don't believe any of them  would kill Aaron because none of them would have anything to gain from my son’s death. It surely is the fault of Nabulee, who was careless and let a dangerous magic item out  of his sight!'

After that they returned to the 'Bazaar'. Mintassan was still away on business and his part of the house was locked up. The wing of the house given over to the Bazaar was what they were interested in though. It was of an impressive design. White marble stairs dominated  the large lobby, and exquisite paintings by some of the most talented artists in Westgate adorned the walls. Discreet mosaics broke the monotony of the walls, and oriental-style hanging lanterns made of pure silver filled the room with a warm yellow-orange light.

Here they met a lazy old dwarf lady called Jasmin Metalwart.

From the lobby they moved through to the auction room. Everything in this room had been done to impress. The solid marble table behind which the auctioneer stood,  the varnished pews for the clients, and the stained glass windows depicting scenes of Calishite battles all added to the impression of luxury and opulence.

Beyond the auction room was an equally impressive stairway, Nebulee met them here and took them down to his vault where all his treasure was stored.

There was an archway filled with swirling orange-brown smoke is a portal that lead to  his extradimensional vault.
'I'm the only person that can use the portal,' Nebulee explained. 'My valuables are  completely secure in the vault. It’s protected against teleportation, and a magical ward negates charm spells and possessions within.'

There was a large iron golem guarding the portal.
'Mugabu here is ordered to attack anyone who tries to approach the portal. This is a precaution in case someone wants to destroy the gateway out of spite,' went on the merchant. He then went into the vault and returned to let them know the scarab of death was back where it was safe.

'I don't know how it got out!' he cried. 'I've a good memory, I would remember removing it. You need special gloves, you can't just casually pick it up, it would kill you!'

Fenrir asked some questions of Mugabu who answered in a grinding metallic voice.
'I defend the vault. *GRIND* Nobody other than Nabulee, came to the extradimensional safe  these past days. *WHIRR* Nabulee came to the vault once in the morning and multiple times  in the afternoon to recover various items. *BEEP*'

Back upstairs they questioned Jasmin Metalwart. She was a housekeeper and had spent her morning cleaning the auction room and lobby. Fenrir noticed she was wearing a magical ring.
'I don't know what your talking about!' she said putting her hand behind her back.
(They later learned it was a Ring of Reduction and she used it to have sneaky naps in small hidden places!)

She seemed to prefer talking to Reinward and told him;
'A man came to see Nabulee in the morning. At that time, I was getting cleaning  supplies in the broom closet under the stairs. I didn’t see who it was. I did overhear a conversation though. The man sounded angry at Nabulee. He said something about not being paid enough. Nabulee then asked him to keep his voice down and invited him to his office. They then went upstairs, but I doesn’t know what happened after that.'

Next they interviewed the house butler, a man called Ronald Walrut.

He'd been working for Nabulee for a couple of years and had been out all morning running errands.
He told a strange story:
'I could not credit it, but I saw Nabulee running through the streets,  a couple of blocks away from the auction house. His shirt was stained with blood!'

Fenrir and Reinward explored the rest of the house and noticed that there were two wine glasses that had been used recently and no-one could account  for it.

'I certainly wasn't running around in the street covered in blood!' Nabulee declared. 'I was in my office doing paperwork, then conducted the auction when I came down stairs... and yet... I do feel I have a gap in my memory. I do not recall drinking wine with anyone.'

They asked him about the raised voice that Jasmin had heard. He appeared to genuinely believe that he had been alone all morning.

They were starting to think that some villain had done something in the bazaar then blanked Nabulee's memory about it.

Reinward hit upon the idea of using the Crown of Baleforte to cast 'Magic circle against evil' - and it worked!

Nabulee's memory came flooding back.

'Why yes! I remember now. It was Mortimer Yorman, one of my suppliers. He came to see me in the morning. We argued over a payment. While we talked - yes that's right - the alarm in my vault went off. Then Yorman cast a spell and... I awoke tied to a chair. He then cast more spells on me... Well, I can tell you where that rotter lives anyway. I'd say you need to talk to him!'

Mortimer Yorman's house was not far away, so they finished up and headed over to see what he had to say for himself.