(G629 29/08/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL17

(G629 29/08/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL17

[The no-longer undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake and Korinth the Sellsword have been hired onto the Sea Wyvern, which is on its way back to Farshore.]

DAY 761 2nd Tarsakh (April)

The Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern set off from Yag Island just as dawn was breaking. There had been delays yesterday but they were on their way now. I had very mixed emotions. Lavinia felt she had no choice but to go with the ships but I wasn't so sure. Evi was just three months old! But the plan was for me to teleport myself and daughter to Farshore once the ships had arrived and also, I could still go back and forth to the Nixie via this method, every day if I wanted to. Teleports were not without risk and I didn't really fancy ending up in another plane of existence while holding a baby!

Also, the LVTC was doing well, but what with all that was going on I have had to hire some management:

Master Corvin Voss, Factor and Trade Master                
Captain Elaina Marr, Fleet Master                
Harrick Pindle, Senior Clerk                

This will eat into the profits, not that it matters much I suppose. Also, I was barely keeping a lid on all the nonsense going on in the Barrow Colony. Camps were feuding with camps, there had been a spate of thefts and we had to set constant guards because of all the rogues coming up from the
port and causing trouble. What I needed to do was elect a mayor and wash my hands of the lot of them.
I was beginning to long for a life of adventure again!

Anyway, enough of my problems, this part of my journal will focus on the  adventures of Salt's Wake and Korinth. As the two caravels headed out into the open ocean Salty followed in his smaller vessel. He then scuttled the ship and sent his two undead kao-tua down with her. So long and farewell brave Guppy and Codpiece!

As he stood on the deck, hoping that his sacrifice would be enough to keep Umberlee off his case he realised he had no small boat to use to get over to the Sea Wyvern! The Wyvern swung about and he was hauled on board with a gaff-hook.

He sloshed over the deck and into his cabin to dry out.

DAY 762 3rd Tarsakh (April)

This second journey of the Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern was less eventful than the trip I had been on so, to skip on a bit ...

DAY 772 13th Tarsakh (April)

Today I had a sneaky little trip to the Cashta (The "FAMP") and got my hands on 6 shards.

The mages of Cashta were crazy if you ask me. One of the shards appears to be so powerful I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm going to bury it somewhere I think.

DAY 799 9th Mirtul (May)

Today the ships entered the Bay of Chult and had to pay a tribute to Aremag the dragon turtle that lived there. A thin man in a black cloak arrived on a fast boat to collect it. Amella wasn't happy about it but eventually she handed over a bag of gold. The price of doing business in the region.

DAY 800 10th Mirtul (May)

Today the Sea Wyvern arrived at Port Nyanzaru. The Nixie was already there. Lavinia had already arranged supplies with her brokers in the city and the ships were loaded up with even more barrels of food, tools, clothes and all manner of other kinds of equipment.

DAY 801 11th Mirtul (May)

Today Salty and Korinth were enjoying a humid evening at The Thirsty Triceratops,  an open-air tavern famous for its potent, fermented honey-drink called tej.  The tavern was packed with merchants, mercenaries, and dinosaur handlers. In the centre of the tavern, a massive, scarred gladiator named Koru was boastfully showing off his prized, leashed pet: a highly trained, feathered Deinonychus called "Ripper."

Some other locals were playing a game of "Ziggurat" (a dice game) next to them and it got heated. A losing gambler flipped the table in frustration. A heavy clay jug of tej flew through the air and smashed directly on the snout of Ripper.
The dinosaur screeched, snapped its leash, and immediately leaped at the nearest  target - which happened to be Salty! Koru, enraged that "foreigners" were threatening  his prized beast, drew his weapons, and roared for his drinking buddies (two local thugs) to back him up.

While Koru attacked Salty, the dinosaur went for Korinth. The thugs also waded in, drawing knives to get sneaky stabs in with. Salty returned fire with touches of Inflict Critical Wounds. The thugs went down, then the dinosaur and the gladiator. Bloodied and panting for breath in the heat they looked around at the other patrons who had scattered to the edges of the tavern. Salty saw a sneaky looking halfling scamper off out the door and waved, 'see you later pal!'

Salty didn't mind a rogue going about his business, but he got more interested when a rich looking merchant suddenly cried, 'my coinpurse! I've been robbed! A handsome reward for the man that catches the thief!'

The sneaky halfling was a rogue called Tali. She had used the brawl as a smokescreen to rob the merchant. Salty spotted her in the crowd outside and they gave chase!

She led them a merry dance, through some baby dinosaur pens, across a market and over some rooftops until they cornered her in an alley. She begged to be spared and handed over the purse. Salty opened the purse, it contained gold, a diamond and a magical looking jade broach. He generously gave the gold to Tali and sent her on her way.

Salty was interested in finding the jewels value so spent a few hours hunting around  Nyanzaru for a suitable place to do so. Eventually they arrived at the Jewel Market, but it was full of swindlers so they moved on to the Grand Souk.

A talkative local told Salty;
'Oh, this is the city's massive central market. It doesn't have a dedicated magic shop, but you will  find it packed with individual stalls. Because of Wakanga's monopoly, the merchants here are restricted to selling  spell components, herbal remedies, and minor consumables. And watch out as the Souk is also notorious for snake-oil salesmen peddling fake magical fetishes and counterfeit amulets to gullible adventurers.'

Salty had a nose for trouble so he then dragged Korinth along to Wakanga's villa. Wakanga was a merchant prince of magic and lore. He didn't have a store front. Instead, wealthy buyers and adventurers were invited to his extravagant villa in the Merchant's Ward. He held the absolute monopoly on spellbooks, scrolls, potions,and magic items. He was known to be very friendly to adventurers and often traded magical gear in exchange for lost Chultan lore, maps, or rare artifacts.

Salty met one of Wakanga's agents and said;
'I recovered this from a thief. I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands.'
The agent didn't believe a word of it.
He said, 'I know who this belong to, I can give you the address.'
Salty was a bit put out because he really just wanted to sell it, but he took it along to the address anyway. Korinth stopped to buy food and drink from street vendors along the way.

There were a lot of armed guards at the address and our two erstwhile Wyverns had to surrender their blades at the door. The merchant they had seen at the tavern brought them through to his day room.
'We got back some of your stuff,' said Korinth and the purse was handed over.
'What about the gold?' he said as he opened the purse.
'Oh I gave it to the thief!' admitted Salty. Korinth put his face in his palm.
'You did what!?' spluttered the merchant.
'It was only a hundred gold!' shrugged Salty.
'More like eight hundred!' cried the merchant.
Salty started to argue but the merchant held up his hands. 'No more! You foolish northerners can please leave my house!' He then tossed a purse of gold at them.

Outside on the street they counted it out. 340 gold. Better than nothing.
'What a grumpy man!' declared Salty.
'Why did you tell him you gave all his gold away?' asked a puzzled Korinth.
'So what? It was only a hundred!'
Korinth shrugged, he knew there was no using arguing.

They then went to Wakanga's villa and Salty bought an Amulet of Health.
He had to borrow a hundred gold from Korinth!

(G628 15/08/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL16

(G628 15/08/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL16

[The no-longer undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword.
They are now at the top of the Tower of Klonis where there is a stand-off.
The fate of Tyfellia, the Jundarwood, and the whole of the Shining Sea, hangs in the balance!]


DAY 732 3rd Ches (March) cont ...

The Cultist cleric backed up to a pillar, she was aware her life was at risk, and a wrong word in the wrong place could bring her death. Groups of people started talking amongst themselves, as factions began to form.

Salty talked to Nukaliss, the nutty yuan-ti cleric. She said;
'Egnol's plan is all soppy, we should keep this place undead. The world doesn't need more fancy-pants elves! What we should do is take charge and spread our evil all over the land!!'

Meanwhile Korinth talked to Egnol.
'We've a horde of undead below us. Regardless of what we decide, how do we deal with that?' he asked.
'We can lure them away,' mused Egnol. 'Then we can enact my plan.'

Salty teased the porters with getting them to lure away the undead as they were being lazy, but in the end Spider Climb was cast on Korinth and he scuttled down the side of the tower.

With Korinth gone, Salty could see that Nukaliss was gearing herself up to do something rash. He wasn't sure if he would join in if she made a power-play. He was sensible  enough to realise it was worth knowing where Wrunas stood on the current situation and he went to talk to him. The minotaur's opinion was simple, 'I trust Egnol!'
Salty bantered with the big dumb slab of beef, but Wrunas was right, Egnol was reliable while Nukaliss was a lose cannon.

Korinth reached the bottom of the tower and could not see the lich king who had been tossed off the top of the tower earlier. He then went to the tower doors and caused a ruckus. A few undead came and he cut them down. He yelled and banged his shield and soon he was being pursued by a great many skeletons and zombies. 
He ran all the way around the base of the tower and back to the door again. He entered the tower and using all his strength pushed the doors shut and jammed it with beds from the guard room. He then ascended the tower again, killing off the few remaining undead as he went.

At the top of the tower Salty was bringing things to a head. He could see Nukaliss was getting ready to attack Egnol, who was in conversation with Bozor and the other elves.

Salty went and talked to the cultist. She was a fanatic, the Final Dawn were clerics but they did not believe in resurrection and very much disapproved of what Egnol planned to do. The cult would do anything to stop him.

Seeing that the lower rooms of the tower were now safe, Salty went down and talked to the ghostly Prince. He then unwisely brought him back up with him! The Prince jumped up onto the altar and was resurrected. He then said;
'Well thank you for bringing me back! I am your monarch and ruler so now I will take charge!'
Engol looked up at the ceiling and sighed then gave Salty a withering stare.

Korinth had arrived back by this time and looked at Egnol and then looked at Prince Ferlane. He motioned with his thumb to say "shall I kick him out the window?" Egnol waved the idea away, although he did seem tempted!

Salty added more chaos to the scene as he next brought up Lady Shae Emeralla (the undead former queen) and dumped her on the altar too! She then started arguing with the Prince about who should take charge of the city.

While all that kicked off he brought up Captain Thaelir, who was also resurrected. Egnol pleaded with him to stop, but he had lost control of the situation as Salty went about restoring most of the old Tyfellian court. A limb or a skull was enough to bring someone back and by the time he'd finished the top of the tower wasn't big enough to hold the 40 or so people that were now alive.

Egnol was at a loss. Korinth joked,
'Hey, if it works with just bones, you could eat a chicken, put its bones on the altar and you get another chicken! That's a business opportunity.' Engol scowled at him, but said nothing.

The restored Tyfellian court had the Guard Captain take the cultist away to be put in a cell and eventually everyone went down a few floors and set up camp.

DAY 733 4th Ches (March)

Egnol's plans were all still in disarray. To simplify his life he told all his hirelings they were free to be paid off and to leave.
He explained to Korinth,
'I was planning to bring back the clerics first, to help summon food and water for the next tranche, but now I have to deal with the Prince and the Queen and its a total mess!'
'I can stay and help if you like,' offered Korinth.
'That would be good. I'll send everyone except you and Bozor back to the coast.'

And so Ownkabey went back with Salty, Nukaliss and the porters. Everyone was well rewarded with purses of gold, even Nukaliss who had been on the cusp of betrayal only yesterday.

We now skip on ten days in this tale...

DAY 743 14th Ches (March)

I wasn't there, but I heard that a force of Cultists attacked the Tower. However by this time there were lots of powerful elves about the place and the Final Dawn were easily repulsed.

I had eyes on Salty, and during this time. He seemed to mainly be enjoying being alive again and was doing what pirates with pockets full of gold liked to do the most - namely drinking, gambling and whoring.

DAY 750 21st Ches (March)

Korinth arrived back on Yag Island today and word got back to me about how Egnol was getting on. He had built up a group of clerics and magic users and was using them to start to rebuild Tyfellia. One by one they were using the altar to bring the elves back to the land of the living. Not all wanted to come back, but most did. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.

Salty was now back in his rented house with his undead fishy retainers in the basement. I heard sailors talk that he was worried about going back out to sea. He was a Chosen of Umberlee and they were meant to be undead. He didn't fancy being dead again and had really learned to appreciate having all his bits and pieces functioning again!

I had Jiggles do an investigation into him and his former crony Vaelis Crowe. They had killed a Derro local during a scrap down at the docks and were the main suspects in the death of a spy called Donglepart. There were suspicions that they were responsible for other deaths - but well - this was business as usual in a port like Tamunzah. What bothered me the most was the disappearance of Keletch. There was no evidence that Wake and Crowe had done it - and yet - both me and Jiggles had a bad feeling about it.

If Keletch was dead, then he was better off staying that way. He had been reincarnated twice and I think if he was dead for a third time, then it was just meant to be! Poor Keletch - may the God's look over him, wherever he is.

I was to meet both Salty and Korinth in person for the first time ten days from this date...

DAY 760 1st Tarsakh (April)

Worrying news from Farshore had been coming in for the last couple of weeks. The colony was running very low on supplies and if they were not helped out soon then disaster would surely strike.

And so I've been left holding the baby while over the last ten day Lavinia took the Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern to Sasserine to load them up with supplies. One problem was crewing the Wyvern. Nobby and the rest of the crew had been having adventures for ages and had a big supply of gold that was burning holes in their pockets!
They wanted some time off to relax in Sasserine, probably for months. So I called in my share of the ship and would put her to use along with the Nixie, just like the old days when it was me and Raz that had set off on her.

The plan was that Lavinia would be on the Nixie as before and Amella, who we found in Sasserine and sobered up, would be Captain of the Sea Wyvern again. I would stay on Yag Island to watch over things here. And our daughter of course! Evi was about three months old now and as cute as a button. Sylvia said she would stay on for a bit longer, which was very kind, but she had a life back Waterdeep that she had to get back to at some point.

Anyway, as Nobby et al were on holiday I helped get the crews together and hired on  none other than Korinth and Salt's Wake! My reasoning being that Korinth was a reliable fellow despite his rough appearance and ol' Salty was better when put to use, rather than causing trouble on the island.

NPC and Character Generator v148

 

I have updated my NPC and Character Generator tool :)

Now with octofolk! 

Use it here:

https://roztov.epizy.com/dd/NPCDD.html 

(#0004 12/09/2026 STAR TREK LOG via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

 (#0004 12/09/2026 STAR TREK LOG  via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

[The six escapees from Jargo prison are no longer prisoners and have been
accepted into the crew of USS Voyager.]

[JDay: 3][Since Caretaker: 183][GDay: 204][Earth: October 26, 2371]

In the morning Janeway called Larry and Sorik into her day room and offered them their first away mission:

''
We had an incident on board and some of our technology was stolen. Stolen by the Kazon-Nistrim. We've recovered all of it, but before we leave this area I'd just  like to check some Kazon bases for reverse engineered copies, just to be on the  safe side. Federation technology in the hands of the Kazon would be a disaster  for this whole region so it's best to check.

We've detected a secret Kazon research base on a planet called Palek in the Mumbanjo System. Go there in your Sikarian ship and have a look. Take it easy at first, just scout out the area. It looks like your ship is fitted with scanners that will be  able to detect Federation technology. So initially scan from orbit. Then, if you find some, you have permission to enter the base, either by stealth or force and retrieve our tech. Standard Federation rules of engagement apply. Consider this a test to determine if you being a consort of Voyager is going to work out.
''

Larry transported back onto the Nemo (what they were now calling their courier vessel) and told the other (non-Starfleet) crew members what the plan was. They all seemed happy enough to help out, as it had been Voyager that had facilitated their escape.

Later in the day, after all shake-down and smoke tests were completed they headed off to their location - Planet Palek in the Mumbanjo system. It was almost 10 LY away, but at Nemo's might cruising speed of Warp 8, they would get their "swiftly and in style".


[JDay: 4][Since Caretaker: 184][GDay: 205][Earth: October 27, 2371]

The crew were getting more familiar with the Nemo was they cruised along at Warp 8.
They looked around all the ship's systems, gaining familiarity with them.


[JDay: 5][Since Caretaker: 185][GDay: 206][Earth: October 28, 2371]

They arrived early in system and set up a discreet orbit around Palek.
This base was used by the Kazon-Nistrim as a secret research facility, where they reverse engineered and studied - mostly stolen - alien tech.

Palek itself was a jungle planet, and besides the base there was no civilisation of any kind. The highest native form of life was beetles, of which there were countless trillions.

They entered the atmosphere a few hundred kilometres from the base and Baby piloted them "nap of the earth" until they got close enough to walk. She only hit a couple of trees on the way there!

Once landed they snuck up on the base and observed it from the tree line. No one had binoculars, but it was clear security was lax. The base was one large squat dark structure with a dual phaser turret on the roof. The main entrance was unguarded and the hangar bay doors were wide open.

The away team were armed with Star Fleet issue phase pistols, but they had also retained their more powerful Nimiri phasers for an extra kick if they needed it.

Cautiously they entered the hangar. W'ang then cautiously walked up to the door at the north end of the hangar, but as she approached it, it automatically opened to reveal a bunch of Kazon guards and none other than the Base Commandant!

Phasers were drawn and a desperate firefight ensued. The command centre was down a ramp from the hangar so both side popped off shots that were poorly aimed, but even so, soon two of the guards were down and W'ang collapsed, badly shot up.
Larry bravely ran to the door and dragged her off to the side where Nettlenex swiftly stabilised her with her med kit.

The phaser battle continued. Sorik was using stun shots, which was a decent thing to do, but Glorto and Baby were using their Nimiri weapons already. They just wanted it all to end as quickly as possible. 

One by one the guards were taken out and the commandant ran away through another door at the back of the command centre. The gang entered and searched the place. The Kazon guards were wearing good combat armour, so they took it off the corpses and put it on themselves. They had a feeling they were going to need it, now that the element of surprise was lost.

(#0003 05/09/2026 STAR TREK LOG via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

(#0003 05/09/2026 STAR TREK LOG  via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

[Six prisoners are escaping from Jargo Prison. They are now outside on the spaceship landing pads.]

[JDay: 1][Since Caretaker: 181][GDay: 202][Earth: October 24, 2371]
Continued...

The six escapees suddenly found themselves outside and unguarded for the first time since their arrival at the prison a year ago. The air was bitter to the taste, and harsh in the lungs.

They had selected the ship they wanted to steal. There were bigger ships and more heavily armed ships here, but the Sikarian Courier they wanted to take was the fastest.

They moved slowly at first as they knew the area would be guarded. A group of guard dog bots came at them, running from their resting spots and firing flechettes at the escapees when they came in range. The gang took cover and returned fire with their Nimiri phasers.

Once the dogs were dealt with the ran towards the courier. As they crossed the airfield they saw a Nimiri patrol ship take off and then strafe another part of the base.
(This was the Cacophony's parting shots).

The Sikarian Courier was long, thin and sleek, a vessel designed not only for Spatial Trajector travel, but also very fast Warp.

Once inside, Baby the pilot sat at the pilot console and started her up. She was used to operating larger Babi-Ijo supply barges though and she managed to bonk the hull on the side of another ship on the way up.

When they were out of the atmosphere and high-tailing it to a decent enough distance to Warp they were hailed by Captain Janeway of the USS Voyager.

She introduced herself and her vessel and asked them to do the same in return. All she got in reply was a whole lot of cross talk as everyone tried to answer at once.
'I can see you are busy, call me back when you have sorted things out,' she said.

Baby hit Warp and they skidded to a halt outside the Kieper Belt area of the system. She then put them into orbit around a Pluto sized planetoid.

They all then spent the next couple of hours looking around the ship and the cockpit.
Baby remained at the pilot station, Larry took the captain's chair and Sorik manned the science station. W'ang checked over the weapons at another station, while Glorto had a look over the engines and Nettlenex had a poke around in the med bay.

After that they hailed Voyager. Janeway and Tuvok beamed on board. After introductions they were all invited to come over to Voyager for a chat.

Baby, Nettlenex and Glorto were locals so after a brief welcome from the Captain they were sent to the canteen to get some food. Janeway then interview the three former Starfleet officers one by one.

She pulled up the file for Larry. He had been Honourably Discharge from Starfleet a few years ago, so Janeway offered him a provisional reinstatement to Ensign as part of the Voyager crew. He accepted and was initially to med bay to be checked over and then to Belana for instructions.

Next she reviewed Sorik's file. He had been posted as Missing In Action some time ago.
He also wanted to join the crew of Voyager, and waffled on a bit about wanting to study all the latest technology on board. 'All in good time,' said Janeway who then sent him the same way she had sent Larry.

W'ang too had been Honourably Discharge, but she had no desire to be recommisioned and told Janeway she wished to remain a civilian. She was sent for a check-up and then to the canteen.

In medbay, Larry and Sorik made indifferent impressions on the Doctor and Kes. When they got to Engineering Belana was dismissive of them, but Sorik at least made a good impression on her.

Eventually they made their way to the canteen and joined the others. Here Neelix was  very happy to see some new faces. Sorik did rather rub him up the wrong way, but he soon became good friends with Larry and even promised to try and do him a special breakfast (of Square Sausage) the next morning. He also liked W'Ang, but in a quieter way.

Later they were all issued some equipment. Everyone got some spare civilian clothes, a Comms badge and a Datapad.

The two Starfleet officer also got a uniform, a phase pistol and a tricorder.
They were also issued some Replicator Rations.

At the end of the day they were assigned some cabins on board and they all gratefully retired for the night.

[JDay: 2][Since Caretaker: 182][GDay: 203][Earth: October 25, 2371]

In the morning they were all given breakfast. Larry even got the nearest equivalent that Neelix could give him to a Lorne Sausage! He found it tasty even though there was no meat in it.

Later in the day Captain Janeway met with them all and discussed what their next steps would be. She wanted to keep on the good side of the Sikarians by offering to return their lost ship, but anticipating they may have written it off she told them they could keep the courier vessel for now and operate it as a consort vessel in the same way the Cacophony and the Aeroshuttle were.
She organised the transfer of some supplies:

60 days of rations
6 changes of clothes
50 assorted underwear and socks
1000 litres of drinking water
Sikarian dictionary
3 tool kits
5 med kits

The last thing she told them was, 'and chose a name for her! Something suitable, reflecting
how she was your salvation perhaps.'

(#0002 22/08/2026 STAR TREK LOG via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

(#0002 22/08/2026 STAR TREK LOG  via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

[Some prisoners are escaping from Cell Block K in Jargo Prison.]

[JDay: 1][Since Caretaker: 181][GDay: 202][Earth: October 24, 2371]
Continued...

Larry used his computer skills to open the door with the control panel.
The gang cautiously entered a corridor that was strewn with broken furniture and other junk. They had a plan, a plan that they had been working on since the start - if the opportunity ever came, they would make their way to the landing pads and steal a ship!

The quickest way was through the canteen, so after picking up some batons and knifes to defend themselves with they made their way there.

Sorik went to open the door, but it was locked and his attempt to work the control panel only made it go into shutdown. Larry used his skills again to render the panel inoperative and open the door.

There were some Nimiri guards here, armed with batons, who charged to attack the escaping prisoners. The savage melee resulted in many injuries but in the end, three guards lay dead from multiple stabbings and another lay half-unconscious. Sorik did a nerve pinch on him and made him fully unconscious.

Larry went to the serving area and ate some food. He saw a balaxion covering underneath the counter, who kicked a medkit over to him.

Sorik raised an eyebrow at W'ang and brushed some dirt off her shoulder. He then went to investigate the canteen guard station that had its emergency shutters down. He went inside and was shot at by a wounded guard who was slumped on the floor. The phaser missed and Sorik leapt over to pinch the guard in the neck.

Sorik then argued with Larry about using the console in the guard station to do clever things with the doors, to open their way to the landing pads, while locking all the others. Larry said it didn't matter, as he could open any door they came to and closing doors would be mean to the other prisoners who may also be escaping. In the end they just left it, although Sorik said this was "illogical".

They made their way to the space port departure lounge, raiding a weapons locker on the way for a Nimiri phaser each.

They were really cautious at the door, and it was good that they were as a number of guards lay in wait with phasers, waiting to shoot and kill any escaping prisoners that came their way. The gang had gone over this scenario many times in their plans so returned fire from cover. In the fire fight all of them were injured but eventually they killed off all the guards. Nimiri phasers have no stun setting and even worse than that they fired explosive pulses that left large bloody wounds.

Nettlenex used the medic kit to patch up everyone and after getting their breath back and collecting ammo they made their way outside to the landing pads.

(#0001 04/07/2026 STAR TREK LOG via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

(#0001 04/07/2026 STAR TREK LOG  via Roll20 - GF(GM), AP, KT, AD)

[JDay: 1][Since Caretaker: 181][GDay: 202][Earth: October 24, 2371]

Supplemental Report on the Assault on Jargo Prison. Note that these events took place after the Cacophony raided the nearby supply depot. (See main report).

Here is the file on Jargo Prison:

''
Jargo Prison is situated on a rock planet in the Sarlac System. It has 200  guards, 100 admin and 5000 prisoners.

It also has a large stockpile of confiscated spaceships parked on landing pads or just in the dusty rocky ground outside.

It is used by the Nimiri to hold alien race prisoners that have wandered into their systems without permission. They are often held to ransom.

Apart from the prison the planet is uninhabited.

The prison is a low, squat concrete structure with 20 cell blocks, canteens,  workshops and internal exercise yards.

There is also a small space port that services the prison.

The air is barely breathable outside, and combined with the solar wind, any escaping prisons would expect to be dead within a few of days from oxygen  starvation or radiation sickness.

However, there are watch towers and a battery of surface defence weapons to shoot at anyone attacking the prison from space. There are also patrols of robotic sniffer dogs that have flechette weapons to cripple escaping prisoners.

The Nimiri guards are the dregs of Nimiri military society. They are generally either weak or stupid, but not generally evil.
The current Prison governor is progressive by Nimiri standards and has set up systems of rewards for the prisoners to keep them as content as they can be. So they are paid for having jobs in the kitchens, the workshops, the gardens and the like.
''

Cell Block K of Jargo Prison has cells for twelve.
Cell 1: Larry Cautious, Human Male, former Starfleet Ensign (Operations).
Cell 2: Sorik, Vulcan Male, former Starfleet Ensign (Science).
Cell 3: W'Ang, Klingon Female, former Starfleet Ensign (Tactical). 
Cell 4: Baby Chowder, a female babi-ijo pilot
Cell 5: Nettlenex, a female talaxian medic
Cell 6: Glorto Bangbucker, a male balaxion engineer
Cell 7 to 12: six kazon-ogla prisoners.

The non-kazons had been in the prison for about a year and had become friends.
How the Starfleet people came to be here as not yet been determined.

Chaos had broken out in the prison. The assault on the supply depot had drawn out many of the guards and a wall was breach in two of the blocks. Somehow all the cell doors opened and everyone stepped out into the corridor. The kazon-ogla, ever the violent and stupid race, set upon the others with their
fists. There then ensued a brutal close-combat fight, with fists, feet and improvised weapons. Nettlenex grabbed a steel toilet brush and wielded it like a mace.

Chowder found a glass globe in Sorik's room and put it in a sock and used it as a club. While the others fought, Sorik managed to get his hands on the neck of one of the Kazons and administered a Vulcan nerve pinch.

After a few minutes all the Kazons were battered into unconsciousness and the others went up to the guard post to see if they could escape from the cell block.

(G627 27/06/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED19

(G627 27/06/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED19

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They are currently beyond the portal they entered in the manor house of the Viers family and exploring the tombs and chambers they have discovered here. Recently they have left the dimension they were in via a portal and had a fight with some baddies and zombies.]

DAY 21 cont ...

Our brave heroes continued on their way towards the horrible looking city. As they got closer they could see it looked like it had been built on a volcano. There were broken up areas of rock, rivers of lava and clouds of steam where a river of water met the sea of lava the city lay next to.
Despite all this people seemed to live here! When a building burnt down they would build another one from the remains.

There was no wall or gate, so they entered through a slum-like area where the dregs of the city resided. The low buildings were made from raw cut local stone, but sometimes they could see some older, dressed blocks that had been engraved with demonic looking depictions and sigils.

Following a main road into the centre of town they discovered a market. The people here were a mix of all the races, but mainly tieflings, then the next most common being humans.

Our three heroes, being dressed in less shabby attire and with an air of innocence and wonder about them attracted glances, but no one they had met so far wanted trouble. Gravedigger pulled up the hood of his cloak anyway.

The market had stalls in its middle and shops around the sides. There was an inn on its eastern edge called the "Crimson Flame".

They entered and talked to the tiefling barman and rented some rooms for a few silver coins, which was apparently just as legal tender as back in Faerune.

Uthmar and Rogier then took all the loot from Gravedigger, a big bag of arms and treasure and went to sell it in the market. Despite being the one that had carried it Gravedigger was not interested in its value and told the men they could keep all the gold they got from the sale.
It took a while for the greedy fellows to understand that the warforged really meant it.

They were gone all day, haggling away in the market for hours and hours over every sword, every bit of armour and every trinket. This gave Gravedigger time to ask around and find out the following:

- As he has suspected they were in Avernus
- The city they were in was called Diaballon
- There had been a group of folk come through recently, they had set up camp
    beside the coliseum
- There was a lot of traffic between the camp and the coliseum
- Nasty characters were keeping the camp closed off

It was late in the evening when the others returned, with jingling coins purses and smiles on their faces.

'I think I may have discovered what happened to the people of Everaska,' said
Gravedigger.
'What? Who?' asked Uthmar as he approached the bar. 'Innkeep! What do you have that a goliath can drink around here? Uthmar got a thirst on!'

HEXWORLD - Day 1 to 7

 

Randomly drawn Magic the Gathering cards and the main characters judgement (hopefully!) produce “emergent storytelling” (for instance think The Sims, Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress etc).

I’ve also borrowed a style from Dennis E. Taylors Bobiverse books, where the first person POV moves from character to character.

Let chaos ensue!

HEXWORLD (2605)

Day 1 – Spawning Breath

We always just lived with the concept of the total destruction of our world, you know? It was just one of those things you put to the back of your mind. The Mage War had ended in an uneasy truce and the Six Spheres retreated to their towns and cities, towers and universities, and eyed each other with mistrust – well you know all this already.

So, when I woke up naked looking up at the night sky my first assumption was that something along those lines had gone terribly wrong. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then jolted, shook my head and spat as I realised, I was rubbing ash into my face. I stood up and looked at my hands in the moonlight. I then looked up at the moons. They were still there at least.

What could have happened? My last memory was of being at work. One of the apprentices had rushed in and said something like “they’ve only gone and bloody done it!” and then there was a blinding light coming from outside.

At that moment I’d been running some tests on a null cabinet down in the lab, one of the faulty batch that came back from… oh well, I suppose that’s not important, but anyway I’d always thought to myself should the end ever come, you know, if Ulmania ever went too far with one of their experiments and caused a thaumatological catastrophe then if I happened to be working on a null cabinet at the time I could step inside it and ride the whole thing out safe in an enclosed anti-magic null field.

Which, as it turned out, was exactly what I had done, and now here I was. Where was the cabinet? Where were my flipping clothes? Where was I?

You get the idea. I looked around. The sun seemed to be rising, so I waited. As the light came, I could see I was standing on a strip of white ash about twenty metres wide. On one side was a wall of fog and on the other was green dewy grass. Well, it was an easy decision, and I headed for the grass. When I felt the cool water droplets on the soles of my feet I reached down and ran my hands through the blades then used the water to clean my face.

As the sun rose, I could see more of my surroundings. The grassy area I was in was not completely flat; there was a higher area not far off and something low and square sat on top of it. Assuming it was the cabinet I walked towards it.

It was the cabinet, I guessed, when I got there, but it had been half buried in the ground and was full of water. It looked clean so I first drank from it, then washed. I looked at myself in the glistening water. A middle-aged man with a blonde beard. Oh yes, I thought, that same stupid looking face survived the end of the world then.

I sat down and leaned against the side of the well, facing the sun. What now? I wondered. Starvation probably. I tried to think what could had happened to rupture the world like this, but I had no idea. I was just a lowly Grade 3 Safety Inspector at the Greynold University, I barely knew what was going on in my own facility, let alone anywhere else. At least we took Health and Safety seriously at good old GU, not like those slapdash buffoons over in Ulmania.

‘Dang it!’ I said to myself. ‘Grade 3. Never rose higher in all my years. Always a disappointment to mother. Oh dear, poor mother, where can she be now?’

After a while my stomach rumbled.

I stood and leaned over the well to scoop up more water to at least put something in it. As my hand went to the darkness of the well, a small rectangular object bobbed to the top. It was a Mako Tablet, like the ones we used to store spells in before spellbooks became fashionable.

‘Huh,’ I said to myself as I turned it over in my wet hands. It was reddish in colour and had something written on it. ‘Oh, it’s in Makadot. Something something, breath. Something, fire?’ I muttered. ‘Some sort of fireball spell? That’s no bloody use to me!’

I fished about in the water, but there was nothing else in there, not unless I wanted to go diving for them.

As to the Tablet, I could cast it of course, any apprentice could do that, but what was the point? Maybe I could use it as a rescue flare or something? Or light a fire if I ever found some fuel for it.

From my vantage point, even though I was only a few metres above the grassy plain I could see that it extended out about half a mile in all directions, terminating in the ashy border and the wall of fog. Something had saved this small patch of land. And me of course. Had it been the null cabinet? Why was it buried in the ground?

I spent some time walking from one end of the patch to another. I wasn’t used to missing meals and I was hungry. It was like a pasture, short tufts of green grass, nothing that I easily eat, but there were some nettles on one corner of the patch and a clump of alliums in the other.

And that was it. There was nothing else! I lay down in the grass and looked up at the sky. The day grew hotter and I moved to what little shade the well offered. I worried, fretted and eventually fell asleep.

Day 2 – Clutch of Currents

I woke with a start. I was all cramped up and cold from sleeping naked outside. I stood, shook off my fatigue and stretched. It was hours before dawn, so I ran around the well a few times to warm up. My insides felt hollow, never in my life had I gone a full day without food. I patted my round belly. ‘Don’t worry my friend, filling you is my first priority!’

I went to the well and drunk some water with my hands. Something small and rectangular bobbed up to the surface. Another Mako Tablet! I picked it up and held it up to the moonlight.

I had no idea what it was, some sort of dispelling magic I thought. Dawn broke and in the morning light I scoured my small haven for food. I chewed some nettles and dug up an allium bulb which I cleaned in the well and ate.

This was ridiculous I thought. I’m still butt naked! I went up to the edge of the grassland and looked into the mists. Every so often a wind blew away some of the fog and revealed slabs of broken stone, cracked and cratered ground. I crossed the ash boundary and, in an experiment, took one step inside. Then stepped straight back out again as my bare skin was lashed with ash and dust from a wind that seemed to blow only on that side of the ash line.

‘Oh, stuff you then!’ I grumbled as I returned to the well and washed. As the sun rose, I warmed up, it was another fine sunny day.

With nothing else to do I tried to apply my Health and Safety mindset to my current predicament, but let’s face it, I was humped.

I wondered though, I had collected two Tablets now. Perhaps tomorrow there would be another one?

Day 3 – Thornweald Archer

My name is Daisy, I am of the Brambleweed Folk. I was in the militia, a well-trained and respected member of the Queen’s Guard. I remember being on guard at the citadel gates when there was a blinding flash and I entered a state of dreamless sleep. When my eyes opened, I was standing in a meadow. I stumbled and a small strange naked old man backed away from me.

‘Steady there!’ asked the man, hiding his acorns with his hand. He spoke Layduc, the language of the folk of Gulberry. My people were on good terms with them, but alas it was not a tongue I was overly familiar with.

‘Are you an elf? I thought it might be when I cracked the tablet.’

‘Brambleweed,’ I informed him.

‘Oh lovely! A friend then?’

‘What devilry is this?’ I asked.

The man backed further off. ‘Chill out, my dude. Short version, someone blew up the world.’

I paused to look the man over. He was unkempt and dirty. He had leaves and grass in his beard and hair.

‘Have you been here a long time?’ I asked.

The man smoothed down his beard self-consciously. ‘Um, just two days. I always keep my hair and beard long. I’m a mage. I’m a…’

I looked over his shoulder then walked off. I was drawn to the swirling mists that appeared to surround us.

‘Er, got any grub old chum? I’ve not eaten in days.’

I had my packed lunch in bag on my belt.

‘Eat it all,’ I said, handing it over. ‘I am not hungry.’

He looked dubiously into the bag. ‘Oh, elf food,’ he muttered, eyeing the dried fruit and nuts. ‘You know, I’ve been craving a hotdog all day. A really greasy one from the vendors on Hoggle Square. I never usually used to care for them, but oh boy I could go one now. Er, I mean thanks, I’m very grateful!’

He started to eat hungrily.

‘Only a little at a time,’ I warned. ‘Your human stomach may rebel against too much natural food in one go.’

‘Of course,’ he said as he munched. ‘I don’t wish to be a burden, but do you have any spare clothes? I’m stark naked and I’m getting sunburnt. My name is Harlo by the way, I’m a Safety Inspector at Greynold University, well I was…’

‘My name is Daisy,’ I told him. I then took off my coat and handed it to him. He talked much more throughout the day. Most of it I did not understand.

Day 4 – Primal Plasma

I had a good nights sleep wrapped in Daisy’s cloak. He wasn’t a talkative sort of chap. I thought he was a palace guard or something. He’d stalked all around our little enclosure, but he was none the wiser than me as to what was going on. Was this the only patch of our old world left? Who knew!

In the morning the Mercari Tablet that bubbled up to the surface of the well was blue in colour. Another summoning spell, but for some kinds of elemental. I put it with the others. No self-respecting Safety Inspector would summon some random water elemental without being sure he could control it.

My hunger came back by evening. I tried talking to Daisy, but I felt like I was no more than a yapping dog to him. His command of Layduc wasn’t great either. I spent most of the day speculating, mainly to myself about what I thought had happened. Daisy contributed little to the discourse. Whenever I thought about mother and the cats, a tear would well up in my eye. I didn’t want to cry in front of the elf though, so I spent my time trying (and largely failing) to remember my Makadot. Who knew, maybe tomorrow I would summon a hotdog vendor?

Day 5 – Act of Aggression

As was now my habit I drew a Tablet from the well. It was reddish in colour, the writing looked as if it had been hacked into it.

Today I suspected that Daisy was thinking of striking out into the mists. Although we were both pretty much in dire straits, I didn’t want to lose my only companion at the end of the world.

‘Listen man – I mean, elf - it seems random, but each morning a Tablet comes out of the well. Give it one more day before you risk your life, maybe?’

He nodded in agreement, then spent the rest of the day digging up edible roots from the grassland, which we then washed and ate as our only meal that day.

Day 6 – Tazri, Beacon of Unity

My name is Tazri, commander of the army garrison in Bachara, the second largest city in Wohen. When the end came, I was stood on the parapet of Bachara Cathedral looking over the city. Oh woe! I saw the world gobbled up, a wall of light that came over the hills and sped down into the outskirts. In another few seconds it was crossing the river. I turned and shouted, dropping my helmet, but what could I do? The light hit and I died. Or I thought I did, because my next sensation was a warm breeze on my face and the feeling that I had awoken from a long and dreamless sleep.

A small scruffy man naked except for a cloak, and a stern looking elf were looking at me.

‘Hi there!’ said the man. ‘How do you feel?’

‘What happened?’ was all I could manage.

‘Good question!’ said the man with inappropriate joviality. ‘I’m currently thinking it was the Ulmanians. That they set off a thaumatological chain-reaction. Just a guess.’

‘How?’ I said, then I choked and coughed and slumped down beside what I realised was a well.

‘There is water in the well,’ said the man. ‘We’ve no cups I’m afraid., We are on pretty meagre quarters at the moment. Ah, it’s safe to drink. Me and Daisy are thriving on it. My name is Harlo.’

‘I’m…’ I coughed again.

‘General Tazri, right?’ asked Harlo. ‘That’s what I hoped I’d translated the tablet as. I’ve heard of you. Bit of a legend down your way I am led to believe. I think I attended a lecture about one of your battles at the GU. Oh well. I’m sorry. This is it. No point in giving you a tour, it’s just me and the big fella…’

I held up my hand to stop the mage’s prattling. ‘Just, give me a minute.’

Day 7 – Flickerform

Today’s Tablet looked a bit situational to me, so I just stashed it with the others. Daisy searched our tiny domain one more time for food and we divided it up amongst the three of us. Two onions each, washed down with water from the well.

‘No food in the well?’ asked Daisy.

‘No,’ I admitted. ‘I think it is a sort of phasing spell. Not much use, currently.’

Tazri, who was a practical sort and seemed to be handling things pretty well today, asked, ‘you cannot summon food? I thought that was something you University mages could do.’

‘I wasn’t in catering!’ I snorted. ‘Ah, I mean, I was a Safety Inspector. I was more into, you know, the advanced stuff.’

Tazri gave me a withering look. She was hot stuff alright but not used to dealing with underlings like me. She clearly respected Daisy a lot more than me. Well, she’d just have to take me as she found me, and after all I was the only one that could fenagle the tablets.

In the afternoon she removed her plate armour and lay in the sun, her rich deep dark skin soaking up the rays. I hope I summon someone I can chat to or swap riddles with soon, these guys are no fun! Oh, and some food before we start having to draw lots.

(G626 23/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED18

 
(G626 23/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED18

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They are currently beyond the portal they entered in the manor house of the Viers family and exploring the tombs and chambers they have discovered here. Recently they have left the dimension they were in via a portal.]

DAY 21 cont ...

As the swirling energy of the portal snapped shut behind them, the first  thing that hit them wasn't the sight, but the sheer, agonizing assault on their senses. 

The air was blistering hot and burnt in the lungs, thick with the choking stench of sulphur, rot, and scorched metal. A low, rhythmic thrum-like bass line of a  monstrous, cosmic war engine vibrated straight through the soles of their boots, rattling their teeth.
 
They stood on a jagged precipice of blackened, obsidian rock. Ahead of them, the ruins of a titanic city stretched across a fractured basin. Rivers of liquid fire snaked through shattered plazas of dark stone, casting a sickening, flickering glow over everything. Overlooking the carnage was a  colossal, spiked citadel, its jagged spires tearing into a sky choked with ash and bleeding a dark, oppressive orange. 

A bloated, blood-red eclipse hung overhead like a dying eye. Massive, rusted iron chains hung from broken towers, their cages swaying creakily in a howling, superheated wind. This was a realm built entirely on suffering, forged in heavy-metal violence, and designed to crush the spirit.

Rogier felt the ambient noise here was an oppressive, discordant drone. The wind whistling through the jagged iron ruins sounded like a choir of screaming voices, and the air was so dry that trying to speak or sing left a bitter taste of copper and ash on his tongue.

Uthmar felt the sheer atmospheric pressure like a physical weight pressing down on his shoulders. The heat radiated off the basalt floor, baking through his armour. 
Looking up at the colossal, defiled architecture, the absence of anything holy was a palpable, freezing void against his chest despite the roaring flames.

Gravedigger felt his internal sensors immediately spike, alerting to extreme ambient temperatures. The sulphurous air carried a gritty ash that threatened to gum up his joints and gears, while the aggressive, jagged geometry of the city's architecture felt completely antithetical to natural creation — built purely to trap, torture, and destroy.
 
Gravedigger tried to take stock of where they were. He had never been on a different plane, but felt that they certainly were on one now. Could it be Avernus? He wasn't sure, even his reasonable knowledge of the Planes had not prepared him for this.

He then lead the way across the iron bridge from the portal they had just come through. The bridge crossed a lake of lava and led towards the city in the distance.

Once they had reached the other end of the bridge two sinister figures stepped out from behind pillars. 'Ah new toys,' smirked one of them.

They were humanoid in size, with an elven look about them, but with an evil edge. They gave the heroes a "hard stare" then attacked. Rogier responded with a Cloud of Daggers and Gravedigger sent in a Spiritual Weapon.

Meanwhile Uthmar sauntered into the fray. One of them slipped past him though and unleashed a devastating attack of several nasty blows that sent Gravedigger to the ground, almost gasping his last breath. Uthmar killed off the one that he had been fighting and Rogier healed Gravedigger. The other one then ran off and it was chased by the Spiritual Weapon which finished him off.
'Welcome to hell boys!' was the last words out of his mouth before he died.

The portal, the bridge and the pillars were all inside a large cave. From the mouth of the cave they could see over the precipice to the ruined city. They decided to rest before leaving the cave and found a shadowy area to camp in. 

After they had got themselves back to strength, they headed out, along a dusty path towards the city. They were soon beset by zombies, lead by a Graveyard Revenant.

'I'll do a Glyph of Warding!' whispered Rogier before sneaking up on the undead. But then he had to turn and come back again when he remembered that that spell took an hour to cast. He then cast Shatter instead and Gravedigger got the Spiritual Weapon out again.

There were quite a lot of zombies, so Rogier broke them up a bit by using Hypnotic Pattern which sent four of them into a trance. He then managed to land a Command spell on the Revenant and ordered it to run away.

Uthmar and Gravedigger were able to slay the remaining zombies in a somewhat more
leisurely fashion after that.

Amazon Kindle - Free Sci-Fi book - Free from 15th to 19th of June

 

Ten short sci-fi stories.

Get it free here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Space-Librarian-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B00X8RLP3S

Karma Kingdom version S-Alpha 2.0 b226

Getting ready for Steam!

Updates:

 Steam Version:
- Starting screen size set to: 1920 x 1080
Both Versions:
- FIXED BUG #535 - Lake and Reefs should now have "Click Here" I think Ocean too, and jungle
- FIXED BUG #538 - Also Wrapped Food and Potion of Restoration
- FIXED BUG #539 - Buckets of Water ? Link was comment out - not sure why
- FIXED BUG #541 - Barking Mad link has changed to: https://barkingmadinc.org/click-feed/#
- FIXED BUG #544 - Bowls of Dog Food has 'Click Here', but is still active
- FIXED BUG #554 - there are [TOOLS] tagged items that should also have [CRAFTED]
- FIXED BUG #558 - Morning Sunlight should go to no button when cast as its a one shot deal
- FIXED BUG #563 - Have skillups for planting grasses and trees.
- FIXED BUG #572 - Not many actually wearable items are tagged as such
- FIXED BUG #582 - animals or animal food rewarder is +1 too many!
- Spells now have tabs for Levels - should make the spellbook easier to manage.
- Four new chest types for the Generate Page. New Items etc.  

Play here:

https://roztov.epizy.com/stw/index.html

 

 

(G625 16/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL15

 

(G625 16/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL15

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now making their way up the Klonis Tower, fighting undead as they go. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]

DAY 732 3rd Ches (March)

In the morning they looked out the big Klonis tower doors and saw that there was easily two hundred undead gathering in the square in front of the tower, with more shambling or drifting in all the time.
'Shut that door!' hissed Egnol. 'And keep it shut!'

'Oh right then,' replied Salty. 'So what's the plan? I mean, what's the end goal?'
'I'm not going to tell you, because I don't trust you,' said Egnol.
'Like that is it? So who does know the plan?'
'Never mind that.'

Salty then went around some of the others, trying to find out what this assault on the tower was all about. To be honest, I could largely guess what was going on from who Egnol was and from what they had done so far to get there.

Salty asked Wrunas, who said he had indeed been told the plan. He couldn't remember any details though. 

After breakfast, the assault team headed back up. Before they went up to the next level the two tame shadows were sent up. After ten minutes though, they had to go look for them. At first Korinth thought they were being attacked by a giant undead librarian, but in actual fact they were just talking to him.

Salty barged past and addressed the librarian, who answered in elven.
After a bit of discussion a chain of communication was set up. Korinth talked to Nukillas, who talked to the shadows, who talked to the librarian.

'We mean no disrespect to your library, we just want to keep going up,' said Korinth.
'Very well,' rasped the librarian from under the hood of his cloak.
'Who cursed you?'
The librarian drew in a gasp of breath, then delivered a speech that lasted a long five minutes. But by the time it got translated to Korinth, it has been abbreviated to, 'oh, a baddie cleric did it.'

A bit more chat revealed that the "curse" had been an attempt to make the people of Tyfellia immortal, after the tragic death of the king's family, but - as is so often the way, the magic backfired. I'm not so sure, there are lots of legends like that around this neck of the woods, but maybe it was true.

Salty asked about the Orb known as the Jundarstone that was so vital to Egnol's Plans.
The answer was returned to them that it had been part of the magical process all those years ago that had cursed the city.

Korinth noticed that as the talk went back and forth Nukillas had a big grin on her face, like the cat that had got the cream.

Before they went on, the librarian gave them a book each.
Salty got a book called "The Fatal Kiss".
Korinth got a book called "Death of a Friend".
Nukillas got one called "My Brother's House".

Salty detected that all the tomes had Enchantments on them.

So for the next floor the shadows were sent to scout ahead again. They quickly came back down stairs saying 'nope!'

Korinth had no choice but to slowly edge up the stairs himself. He entered a room that contained the usual array of broken windows and encroaching vines, but also four mirrors, positioned north, east, south and west. Into one of them the ghost of Prince Ferlane gazed as he brushed his long elven hair.

Korinth shrugged and continued up the stairs, but he just ended up at the bottom of them again, teleported by magic or the curse of the tower.

Salty came up and talked to the prince who said, 'you dare address me in that ghastly human common tongue?'

Salty did dare, and asked what was going on. Without taking his gaze from the mirror the wraith said, 'I tell myself the old tales. Alas! We all mourned for our mother, and the madness of our father. But was it so bad back then? The old tales and legends give me some comfort...'

Next Salty went and looked in a mirror, but undead as he was, even he was given a case of the willies. He then tried the stairs, but the curse was even greater on the undead and he landed back where he had started, badly shaken.

Korinth thought the ghost was enthralled by the mirrors, which was indeed correct. Salty then had a good idea (for a change!) and talked to the ghost about one of the books they had been given "My Brothers House".

For the first time the ghost broke its eyes away from the mirror and looked intently at Salty. 'Come close so I may look you in the eye.'

Salty was having none of that and went and hid behind Nukillas. Korinth stepped forward. He had an inkling of what was required. The book he had been given had been "Death of a Friend".

'Ahh,' he stumbled. 'Well, a friend of mine, a mercenary, was decapitated in battle recently.'
'Indeed?' asked the Prince in great delight. 'The flank exposed? A fatal error? Or perhaps it was betrayal?'

Salty was enjoying watching Korinth squirm and elbowed Nukillas.

As the Prince stared into Korinth's soul, his will broke down and Korinth began to cry. 'He was a friend, but he was not a good man! He killed children and made me help him do it!'

'Good! Good!' cackled the Prince. 'The truth revealed at last. You may now pass up the stairs.'

Salty smirked at Korinth. 'Need a tissue for those tears, you big baby?'

Nukillas went next, and told of when she burned down her brother's house and killed his family, when she was first getting into "the demon stuff".

She too broke down into tears, but as she stepped over to join Korinth she gave him a wink. They had been crocodile tears, she had not cared about the tragedy in the slightest.

It was now clear to them all the ghost of Prince Ferlane feasted on tales of regret, the more horrible the actions the teller had taken - the better!

Salty, who's soul was probably darker then anyone in the entire tower just could not play along. He made up stories about kissing his love farewell before the sinking of his ship, and various other stories he had of regret, but where he had not been at fault.

The Prince was growing tired of Salty's evasions so eventually the salty old villain blurted out 'I once woke up with a dead prostitute in my bed! Wasn't my fault though!'
Whether truth or fiction, the Prince was interested.
'Ah yes, you may have no memory of it,' prompted the Prince. 'But she had marks on her neck didn't she? Don't deny it!'
'Err...,' muttered a confused Salty.
'And she wasn't the first was she? Quite a coincidence don't you think? So many of them dying in their sleep next to you?'
Salty made a brave face of it, but even if the accusations were true or not, and undead or not, the sinister ghostly magic of the Prince had an effect on him.
'Very well,' said the Prince to a dewy-eyed Salty. 'You too may pass.'

And so our brave adventurers ascended to the last room but one. And here an ancient and undead lich - King Nooras resided, flanked by Tree Blights that acted as his guards.

The first thing that happened when they got there was Salty being dominated by the undead king and attacking Korinth. It didn't last long though as he shook it off in just a few seconds. Salty tried Turning the king again and again, but the lich just shrugged it off.

To make matters worse, corrupted tree ents emerged from the bushes and vines in this room and attacked. Korinth was badly battered and had to retreat to take a healing potion. Nukillas also came over to heal him as vines lashed around everywhere seeking out victims to cut and strangle.

Salty turned himself into a huge bone devil and fought off the ents, the floors of the tower room creaking with their combined weights. While all that was going on the King managed to hit Nukillas with a lightning bolt that sent her flying to the wall in a bloodied heap. Korinth rushed him and as pushed him again and again until they were teetering on the edge of a broken window. With one last heave, and as vines and blights lashed all around him, he threw the lich over the edge and down into the square below where he landed in the crowds of undead.

Korinth dusted off his hands and nodded. The foliage all slithered away and they had time to heal up Nukillas before she bled to death.

Resting seemed like a good idea after all their exertions, but twenty minutes later there were sounds of fighting below. 
'For gods' sake!' sighed Korinth as he picked up his sword.
A few minutes later Egnol and everyone else from downstairs came running up to join them.
'What's going on?' demanded Korinth.
'Some fool threw a lich out the window and all the undead went berserk!' puffed Egnol.

They all then rushed up the to the top room of Klonis tower and barricaded the stairs with whatever they could find. It wasn't a big room, about 40 feet in diameter. There was an altar on the north side and Egnol went over to it. Everyone else crowded in, even Wrunas who was a real danger to the buildings stability.

Egnol took the Jundarstone, performed some magical rituals that he read from his notes and then placed the stone on the altar. Magic hummed into life and the altar crackled with eldritch flame.

Wrunas had carried up two dead porters with him, and one was placed on the altar. After a minute he came back to life. He hoped off and another was put in his place, with the same result. Next the shadows lay on the altar and became two young elven acolytes.

'Me next!' said Salty as he lay on the altar. And with that old Salt's Wake became the handsome young man he had once been. As he stood up the barnacles fell from his skin and the seaweed fell from his hair. He was happy to be alive again, but I wonder what Umberlee will think of it? After all, it was her that had selected him as one of her
chosen.

There was no one left undead in the altar room now, but there was a horde of them banging on the barriers below. No one knew what to do, and Egnol bid them wait while he thought what to do next.

After half an hour of Egnol reading through his books and notes a cleric of the Children of the Final Dawn teleported in. She stumbled and gasped, 'it worked!'

She stepped back to take in the scene and then appealed to everyone, 'Stop this madness! The dead should stay dead!'

Salty, Korinth and Nukaliss all exchanged glances. No one moved. 

'Your Cult should just stay out of this!' demanded Egnol. Seeing mostly blank  looks he said to everyone else, 'this is what we came here to do! This is what you have all been paid for! I've worked towards this goal for thirty years, to bring back Tyfellia. The Children of the Final Dawn won't stop me!'

'The undead should be put to rest,' countered the cultist. 'Not brought back again. No good will come of this! The undead must be destroyed!'

The freshly minted Salty stood watching this power-play with his hand on his chin. Nukillas had sidled up to him and whispered in his ear, 'there is a third way you know, ignore both these fools and become rules of our own city of the undead! Think of the power we would have! Trust me, I've looked into it, there is a third way where we get all the treasure and power we desire. You and me
Salty, what do you say?'

The fate of Tyfellia, the Jundarwood, and the whole of the Shining Sea, hung  in the balance!

Amazon Kindle book - "Miss Take" free from 8th of June to 12th of June

 

 

Amazon Kindle book - "Miss Take" free from 8th of June to 12th of June

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Take-J-H-Foss-ebook/dp/B08RD1VM51

 

Miss Take - School Teacher by day, Cat burglar by night! 

 
A thief discovers a dead body in the house they are robbing. This sets off a chain of events that 
leads to a bloody gang war on the dark winter streets of Edinburgh.
With crime lords and the police dogging her every step, Miss Take must user her skill and wits
to find the killer and prove her innocence.

(G624 09/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL14

 (G624 09/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL14

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now in the ruins of Tyfellia at their final destination - Klonis Tower. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]


DAY 731 2nd Ches (March) continued...

Salty, Korinth and Nukillas having cleared the first half-dozen floors went up the stairs to the next one. On the next floor they met the wraith of Captain Thaelir, the Last Commander of the Klonis Guard. In a harsh whispery voice he demanded, 'declare your banner!'

Korinth stepped forward and said, 'uh, I'm currently under the banner of Egnol. I follow Tempis, God of War.'

'We are the Guards of Klonis. I am Captain Thaelir, we follow the banner of the Guards of Tyfellia.'

The Captain made it clear to them that he would not let them pass. Salty suggested looking for some old uniforms or badges, which was not a bad idea, but they didn't really find anything so went back down to talk to Egnol.
He handed them an insignia of the Council of High Tyfellia. 'Try this,' he said.
They asked if there was a useful phrase or greeting they could use.
'Try saying "Hail, Brother of the Forest", suggested Egnol.

They left Nukaliss and took Wrunas up with them as he had the ring in his nose that allowed him to speak elven. The minotaur had to watch his step as he was very heavy in his full-plate armour and the floors were old and weak.
"Tell them you were adopted!" joked Salty and Korinth as they went back up the stairs.

It wasn't a bad plan at all, but Salty, being Salty, argued with Wrunas as to what to say. 'Tell them your watch is over', he said to Wrunas.

The wraith guards were not buying it, but they had certainly not run out of things to try when Salty said flippantly, 'oh well, choppy choppy then!'

Whether it was in jest or not, Wrunas bellowed. 'Yeah! Choppy Choppy!!' and charged the wraiths. And so the fighting began. Salty tried a Turn Undead, but the Captain seemed to possess some sort of resistance that he passed on to his men.

The other two wraiths had magic items, one a Lantern, and the other a magical "Mini Ballista" that they fired like a crossbow, but that did much more damage.

It was a reasonably demanding combat and it took a while before the three wraiths were defeated. Battered and bruised they went back downstairs to cadge some healing potions from Egnol.

The swapped out Wrunas for Nukaliss and went back up. The next chamber had been a shrine and contained another wraith and some shadows. Nukaliss rebuked the Wraith and took  control of the undead shadows.

The next floor would have been an arboretum at some point, but now it was very overgrown and home to some leafy zombies and two shambling mounds.

Nukaliss sent up the shadows, but they were not much help. Salty lurked on the lower floor while Korinth fought the mounds on the stairs. The undead cleric then summoned a troll skeleton and let it take Korinth's place for a while.

After the battle Salty told of the shadows for being useless (!) and they apologised.
The shadows were more chatty than your usual undead. They had been former acolytes of the shrine, one male and one female elf.

Once more, everyone was a bit the worse for wear, so they went back to the ground  floor to rest. Egnol said, 'of course, but keep your voice down, there are about a hundred undead milling around outside.'

Salty peaked out the door and to him it was like seeing a well-stocked buffet. In the end though he decided it would be better to leave them alone and Korinth heartily agreed.

Ownkabey and the porters were put on watch and everyone else got some sleep.

(G623 02/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED17

 (G623 02/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED17

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They are currently beyond the portal they entered in the manor house of the Viers family and exploring the tombs and chambers they have discovered here. Recently they have explored a bank-teller area and fought a clay golem.]

DAY 20 cont ...

After all the excitement they'd been having the men decided it was time for a rest. They went back to the teller area and set up camp. A watch was set and they rested for the remainder of the day, sharpening blades, fixing armour and eating rations. There was no sense of night and day here, but eventually they felt it was time to bed down and sleep, so they did so.


DAY 21

They arose early in the morning. Gravedigger and Uthmar had not rested well and Rogier reported that he had woken with a strong sense of dread.

Back they went to where they had left off and Gravedigger approached a door in the west wall of the side room they had passed through the previous day. He wondered if it might be a door to outside, then he noticed a window high up in the northern wall. He stood on a crate to look out it. He saw nothing but an ink-black void. Uthmar, who was a man of unlimited talent and knowledge, was also of course an expert in windows, and so he pushed Gravedigger aside so he could take a look.

The window was sealed in to the wall though, like a ship's portal and could not be  opened. Gravedigger went to the door again and opened it. The next room was a study. In its centre was a finely carved table, and at the opposite wall a middle-aged man sat at a desk. He had a long beard and appeared engrossed in whatever it was he was doing.

Gravedigger went and sat at the table.
'Oh make yourself at home why don't you!' muttered the man.
Rogier went into his whole 'Wot!?' intimidation routine, but the man ignored him.
'Why are you here?' asked the man.
'We don't know how we got here, but we are just here,' answered Gravedigger, the only one of our three heroes that could interact with people like a grown-up.
'We came through a portal. What is this place?'
The man didn't answer. Instead he asked, 'Eh? A portal? How?'
'Pentagrams.'
'Yes! Pentagrams on the floor!' said Rogier, joining the conversation. 'In a house in the town of Everaska.'
'That's unusual,' said the man. 'Well, if you've not worked it out already, this is a pocket dimension.'
'Like inside a Bag of Holding?' asked Gravedigger.
'Yes, precisely.'
'Why are you here?' went on Gravedigger. 'Are you aware the place is full of mad cultists?'
Meanwhile, Uthmar was eying up the desk, probably wondering how much it was worth.
'My name is Gravedigger, who are you?'
'My name is Mal'keyth,' replied the man.

Gravedigger went on to tell more of his story of the events that lead up to them arriving in this place, the cultists, the missing townsfolk and their quest to find them. In return, Mal'keyth told them some more of his own circumstances.

'I'm not the first resident of this study. This was something that was set up before  I came to be here. But wait... with regards to townsfolk passing through this place I might be able to offer some insight...'

He then reached for a book and flicked the pages to a passage.
'Yes, here is an account of some travellers. It says that they went through a green portal... ah, here it is. There is a concealed door in the tombs, back where you arrived. Go back there, find the secret door and follow the corridor to the green portal.'

'YEAH, WHATEVER!' butted in Uthmar. 'Listen, do you have any MAGIC ITEMS FOR SALE?'

Gravedigger rolled his eyes. 'Who wrote that?'
'I don't know,' replied Mal'keyth. 'The author does not reveal his name.'

Gravedigger and Mal'keyth went off to talk away from the annoying goliath and the uninterested bard. Mal'keyth revealed he had been in this place for some time, and (whether any of it was true or not) he said he was "just interested" in the place. He spoke Common and was from Tamar, on the Golden Way back in Faerune. 

The children were getting restless though, Uthmar was banging his head against the door in the southern wall and Rogier was playing the opening bars of a sea-shanty on his lute over and over again.

Gravedigger opened the door and it revealed some stairs leading down, but they did not explore them and instead went back to the bank-teller area. They carried on through that to the garden and pushed through the dead bushes to the back of it and discovered a well. Uthmar unwisely dropped a coin into it and was immediately rewarded with a bunch of purple tentacles that shot out and started lashing about.

Uthmar was alone when that happened, but Gravedigger came over to help with the tentacle whacking. Rogier had wandered off. Despite not having instigated all this Gravedigger suffered the worst. He was grappled and crushed against the wall of the well, and pretty much stayed there until Uthmar and a late to the party Rogier killed off the tentacles.

Their scattershot exploration of the dungeon continued. They returned back through the teller area yet again then to the stairs and the corridor beyond.

They discovered an area of jail cells. In one of the cells was "one of them", one of the mysterious sort-of-humans they had been encountering. Rogier set him free. Another room was discovered that was full of smelly beds. No one had a huge desire to search through all the crusty sheets.

And so finally they went all the way back to the tomb that they had arrived in and searched for the concealed entrance that Mal'keyth had told them about. When it was opened they followed a long corridor to a big chamber.

Gravedigger had a good look about and he could see that there were signs of the passage of feet. A good many people had travelled this area.

The passage then turned north to a cavern that had a lake of poisonous looking green liquid in it. A rope and chain bridge lead across to a ledge on the other side. Wagon wheels were chained above the lake in many paces, all with human remains tied to them. 

Once over the bridge they entered a passage way that led to a really big room where some golems were standing and the "Cultist Hyrophant"

'Come, follow me!' called out the Hyrophant, who then cackled and stepped through a portal right at the back of the chamber.

But then the golems all came stamping towards them. 
'Talk about mixed messages,' muttered Gravedigger.

Behind the two golems was a zombie ogre. Maybe they were not aggressive thought Gravedigger who called 'Coo-ee!' and waved.

Gravedigger was very wrong of course, and so they fled back over the bridge. Rogier cast a Glyph of Warding at the north end, which may have helped make one of them fall into the lake. It could be seen in the faintly glowing fluid though, as it stopped up and started walking towards the southern shore.

Gravedigger had a plan. 'Shoot and move - and follow me!'

So they did just that, moving, then shooting off spells and missiles, then running off again as the golems and ogre lumbered after them. They went all the way back to the narrow window at the base of the garden and all squeezed through it. The dull-witted golems were too big to fit through and to dumb to do anything other than stick an arm through the window and lash it about. One by one our heroes finished off their enemies from a safe distance.

After that, they went all the way back to the big room with the sinister looking portal
in it, and without any other options presenting themselves, they stepped through it.