(G312 15/04/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) WA2

(G312 15/04/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) WA2


DAY 284 (19th Nightal)(December)

Arahel spent the day in the tavern as she was not prepared to do anything until her armour was ready.

Fenrir went into town to do some clothes shopping as he only had the outfit he had arrived in and wished to present a more dashing figure around Westgate. Among other things he bought a very fashionable hat. In Westgate the height of fashion was a wide soft hat with feathers around it.


DAY 285 (20th Nightal)(December)

Today Arahel's armour was ready to be picked up and the cottage they had rented was also ready for habitation.

The cottage was close to Thessar's House. Thessar was a retired mercenary who now spent his time telling stories and drinking beer on his porch as well as acting as an agent for sellswords.

Fenrir wisely arranged with a local locksmith to get new locks fitted of the most excellent quality on the front and back doors.

The moved in the gear they had taken with them from Pedestal, including a magical 'Field Provisions Box' which could feed up to fifteen people and several horses a day.

They spent the rest of the evening settling into the cottage. Harvel would not be moving in with them.

DAY 286 (21th Nightal)(December)

Today Harvel decided to earn his fee and start looking into getting Fenrir and Arahel 'in' with the
Night Masks.

To that end he went to look for someone known as 'Rudolph the Snitch' (asking a friendly watchman that he knew called Lushyr Myan) and eventually found him in a crows cage hanging from a gibbet on the  southern road into town.

Harvel tried to bargain with Rudolph - a good word with the watch in return for help contacting the
Night Masks. Rudolph only wanted out of the cage though. Harvel walked away, probably expecting to be shouted at to come back, but in this case his bluff was called and Rudolph remained silent.

What he didn't know was the Fenrir had followed him, with Arahel as a wee puppy in his pocket. Invisible and flying they witnessed the whole exchange. When no one was looking Fenrir turned visible then walked up to Rudolph and agreed to come back and release him that night in return for his help. Rudolph readily agreed.

Meanwhile Harvel went to the Bent Mermaid and tried another of his informers, a man known as  Shady Doug. He arranged for Doug to meet his 'clients' then returned with Fenrir and Arahel who were back at the cottage.

After some haggling they agreed to pay 200 gold for an introduction to a mid-level Night Mask and a 'Red hot tip' for the noon race at Bleth Track tomorrow - a horse called 'Two In the Pink'.

They next located Yntar Shieldblazon, a bard, in another tavern and Fenrir asked him a few questions about Yuan-ti in the city. Yntar remembered some trouble with them about ten years ago, involving the Fire Knives (an assassin's guild) and activity in the 'crypts', but said he would  need a bit more time to gather more detailed information. They agreed to meet again the next day.

They went back to the cottage after that and in the evening Fenrir went and rescued Rudolph. When you can fly and be invisible this is no task of great difficulty, although it was noticed by people on the street. Westgate does have an aerial 'Giant Owl Patrol' but they were not called out.

Back at the cottage Rudolph was very grateful to Fenrir for saving his skin. He went on to say he would gladly help get them friendly with the Night Masks and that he just needed to go sort out a few things and he would meet them the next day at the Bent Mermaid.
He left the cottage, skulking out into the dark night.

All this time Arahel had been in bed.

DAY 287 (22th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir spent the morning at the race track and was delighted that when he bet 1000 gold on his horse it came in first! Since it looked like the race had probably been fixed though he had trouble with the bookies, but did get all his winnings in the end. He made an enemy of one of them though, a tough fellow called Hrumkle the Bookie.

At the Bent Mermaid, Shady Doug had also made a packet so when they met him he had a girl on each knee, a cigar in his mouth and a feather boa around his neck.
'Good day at the races lads?' he called as they came in.

They talked for a while and Fenrir asked if Doug had seen Rudolph the Snitch. He then hinted that he, Fenrir, had rescued him. Doug then said,
'Well, if Rudolph was in a crows cage then he was there because the Masks wanted him there. They would have rescued him if they wanted to. He wasn't called "The Snitch" for nothing you know. He'll have legged it, be well away from the city by now. Next time use the old noodle eh?'

Doug then went on to tell them to meet a man called Tormstar the Scarred at the Spitting Cockatrice at midnight that night. It was just down the road from their cottage in fact.
Doug also warned Fenrir to make sure and give Tormstar a good reason for why he wanted to join the Night Masks as they would be highly suspicious of someone from out of town.

On the way back they located Yntar Shieldblazon again and in exchange for a few coins learned that the yuan-ti had been seen around a place on the docks known as The Silver Star warehouse.
This had been ten years ago though.

Harvel spent the rest of the day 'doing the rounds' then found a good spot to watch the  Spitting Cockatrice from.

DAY 288 (23th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir and Arahel walked down the road to the inn they were to meet Tormstar at. Arahel was in the form of a weasel.

One of the guards at the door said, 'Here mate, no weasels.'
Fenrir replied, 'Ahh, I'll just put it round the corner...'
He then went around the corner and Arahel jumped into his hat.
It also took a small bribe to get in after that.

While he had a drink at the bar a very attractive woman came to him and said, 'Follow me.' Fenrir did as he was bid and was lead to a private room upstairs where he was met by Tormstar.

Perhaps the ale he had been drinking was stronger than he had thought, because if he had had a plan at all, it evaporated into beer fumes.
He told Tormstar that he and his two companions wanted to join the Night Masks and Tormstar asked, 'Where are your companions tonight?'
He replied, 'If you don't mind I'll keep that under my hat.'
Arahel giggled a tiny weasel laugh from her hiding place.

Fenrir then said he had come from Waterdeep and was on the look out for new ventures. He then went on to display his ability to fly and to turn invisible.
'All very good,' said Tormstar. 'But this isn't a knitting circle. If you're companions want to join then I have to meet them.'
'Well,' said Fenrir lifting his hat. 'This is Arahel.'

Arahel hopped down, then turned into her normal form of a green skinned girl.
'Ah, a kiloren, I see,' said Tormstar. 'And your other companion?'
'...wishes to remain anonymous.'
Fenrir went on to explain about Harvel and wishing to be helpful wanted to inform Tormstar that Harvel now worked for him and anything he had done in the past against the Night Masks could  perhaps be forgotten about. Tormstar hadn't heard of him, but did say,
'Bring him here, and your other friend. Then we can talk again.'
Fenrir realised he had put his foot in it. He had meant that Cavu was the "third man" but he had no idea who he was. Also, he pondered later, it might have been best not to mention Harvel at all.
'Well...' he said. 'Our third member is out of the city, perhaps I should have mentioned him...'
'You seem like powerful people, you look more like adventurers than thieves to me. Find a crypt and raid if for treasure. That's my advice.'

Fenrir then went on to talk in terms of an alliance, rather than joining the guild and Tormstar said, 'You can hire the guild if you need something stolen, or something killed.'
'What about information?'
'Yes, that too.'
'What can you tell me about Snake Gates?'

At this point, dear reader, you may be forgiven for letting your jaw drop open as Fenrir casually revealed one of the main reasons he was in the city to a powerful member of the local thieves' guild!
Be that as it may, Tormstar did reply, 'I'll see what I can do. Come back tomorrow.'

Fenrir and Arahel walked back to the cottage, the young warlock thinking to himself that if Ozborne had been around he would be getting a telling off by now. That wily rogue was much better at this sort of thing, Fenrir reflected.

And so, obviously, he unwittingly led the Night Masks right back to his house. Harvel, who had waited outside the Cockatrice in the shadows observed a stealthy figure follow the warlock and druid all the way back.

Harvel snuck up on the figure who lurked in the trees by the cottage. He noted it was a female.
'See anything interesting?' he asked.
'I don't know what you are talking about,' she said, but she did leave.
Harvel noted that she was dressed in leather armour and had a knife on each hip.

He then went inside to talk to Fenrir who told him that he'd made rather a mess of everything. Harvel was not too happy about his name being dragged into things but did realise that while he
had the protection of Nebulus he was safe from the Masks.

It seemed that Fenrir was off to his usual rocky start, but perhaps, like in Waterdeep, he would find a way. Gertrude always seemed to have faith in him to not necessarily do the right thing when it came to it, but to at least do the thing that moved things in the direction that she was hoping for.
What was her plan? Who knew? Not even Cavu at this stage. Gertrude played the long game and she did  indeed move in mysterious ways, her wonders to perform.

(G311 01/04/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) SS19/WA1

(G311 01/04/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) SS19/WA1
 Meanwhile back in Pedestal.

DAY 280 (15th Nightal)(December) continued ...

[Merlock Tomes continues his report]

This is the conclusion of my report. The group of adventurers known as the 'Buffalo Bunch' entered the chamber occupied by Fadheela and her cohorts and a melee ensued.

At the same time as they entered Dwerry Gentile finally revealed her true evil nature and turned on the others. I did not know this while I was in the Spike, but I have since learned that she was in fact a Vanguard of Sertrous agent known as Wathuss.

Fenrir had had previous dealing with her I am lead to believe, back in Waterdeep. Back then she had been the chief Vanguard agent and in a war of nerves and intermittent raids on each other's hide outs she had battled to keep Fenrir and his friends following the trail to Pedestal.

She, of course, had failed in that, but had at least infiltrated their group and in one last throw of the dice attacked them in the rear while they were occupied with Fadheela and her minions.

It was a brutal combat. To begin with, sensing that now was no time for messing about, Arahel for once used her head and summoned up a bunch of crocodiles (and a single wolf). They went in and engaged the grimlocks that surged forward in the first few moments of the battle.

Dwerry, or Wathuss rather, fire off two fireballs that blasted Arahel dead and Durz nearly so. Fenrir was injured too, they were all crammed in too tightly. Durz tried to get at her, but she avoided his blows as she fled down the corridor back to the stairs. When he was overcome with a torrent of magic missiles he chose to flee before he too was killed.

Meanwhile, in Fadheela's chamber Billi and Fenrir battled a bloodhulk. These things are immensely strong and it killed many of the crocodiles. Fenrir blasted at it and Billi shot it until it had taken so much damage it could hardly stand. At that moment, the wolf, which had been skulking about trying simply to stay alive nipped in and bit the bloodhulk in the leg and killed it.

While all this was going on Fadheela, who was a medusa, was trying to petrify Billi and Fenrir but she had no luck with that at all. Fenrir then blasted her once and Billi killed her with a single arrow through the heart.

The room cleared Fenrir rushed into the corridor to discover Arahel was dead. Enraged. he blasted at Dwerry with his magic, channeling everything he had into it. It knocked her down onto her knees, exhausted and badly injured. As she opened her mouth to plead for mercy he killed her off with another dreadful blast.

As they got their breath back, unexpectedly Maaril the Dragonmage (of Waterdeep) teleported in with four sellswords and two large gargoyles. Fenrir recognised him and took a step back as Maaril ordered his men to loot the corpse of Fadheela and to gather up the body of Dwerry.
From Fadheela he took a key and a staff, then without a word of farewell they all teleported out of the room once more.

Not entirely sure what all that had been about they then looted the chamber of all its treasure, gathered up Arahel's corpse and exited the Spike through Fadheela's secret door.

Next they went back to the Dripstone Inn where I gather Es Sarch brought Arahel back to life by some  mysterious means. From what I heard, the process that he uses is rarely pleasant and falls a long way short of being what a cleric would call a Resurrection.

That night, from what I gather, the Bunch arranged selling the massive amount of treasure they had  looted from the various places they had raided, again with Es Sarch.

They then spent the night in the Inn. The next day they left town.

I saw no need to confront them as they had essentially done us a huge service by clearing the  Necromancer's Spike and proved themselves to be pretty tough customers. Despite the fact they had much money and valuable magic items about their persons an attack on them would require so much resource to hardly be worth it.

They certainly killed Elessarwa Nledoor, but it may be better to let Es Sarch think for now that his little plan worked. It will require careful thought before moving against him.

Billitoppe, Durz, Arahel and Fenrir should certainly be punished for their crime, however I  recommend subtlety and not a direct attack.

Dwerry is dead and will most likely stay dead.

Here ends my report.

DAY 281 (16th Nightal)(December)

[Back to Rollo's Journal]

That's all I managed to get a hold of from the report by Merlock Tomes of Pedestal.

From what I gather though, Billi and Durz decided to head back to their mercenary company where they probably planned to have a six month bender with their newfound wealth. Berum went with Durz, her husband.

Fenrir and Arahel, an odd couple of travelling companions, left Pedestal and went across the Oceanbrigde to the Earth Node where they teleported back to the King's Barrow. From here they once more emerged at the Kingsholm Cemetery and walked back down into the town and went to get some food and drink at the Coronet and Cabbage. Cavu was waiting for them.

While they ate in his room he said,

'Well, I guess mixed success there. We knew Maaril was an interested party but rather hoped he'd stay out of it. Getting the staff back from him will require subtlety, so I think we'll try a few diplomatic approaches before resorting to .. ahem .. brute force and ignorance.
If you want a job in the mean time though I can give you one. Sort of... all a bit vague at the moment, but Gerty, bless the old girl, has got a real bee in her bonnet about a place called Westgate. She hasn't told me what's what, all I know is that she wants a base established there initially. I can provide transport and some funds to get you there and a contact. Interested?'

They shrugged and agreed, 'Why not?'

Within a few hours Cavu had organised some transport, a female human wizard called Thjodhild who teleported them to just outside of Westgate.

As instructed they first headed to the village of Ferbone that lay about five miles south of the city. Here they asked for and found a lady cleric of Sylvanus known as Weynay the Worrisome.

She was the cleric of a temple on the edge of the village and when they explained who had sent them she said,

'Oh right. Cavu sent you? I've never met with him, but a friend of mine vouches for him. My friend said that he can be trusted up to a point and that he aligns with Sylvanus generally. Very well, I can help you. Go to the Purple Lady and ask for Nebulus the Rascal. He's an old friend of mine and owes me a huge favour. Tell him you are calling it in. He can help you. Don't let him fob you off or give just a little bit of help. He owes me big time and he is stinking rich. Get him to help you
with advice and such in Westgate. He'll be a big help getting to know the place and making contacts, he has a finger in every pie in the city. He's a good enough sort really, but don't trust him, not to begin with anyway and don't flash any obvious wealth or magical items in front of him, he's a terrible crook and you'll only put temptation in his way. Other than that, good luck and let me know how you get on! And come back any time if you need any restorations or such like!'


Although they could both fly if the wanted to, for perhaps no other reason than to enjoy a nice walk through the snowy fields and copses of the Dragon Coast they arrived at Westgate again as it grew dark. They had no great problem with gaining entrance and after asking around for a shop that dealt in magic items, headed to Gondeth's Magery and arranged to spend some of their money.

Once that was all done they went to the Purple Lady Tavern and 'Festhall' to meet their next contact a merchant known as Nebulus the Rascal.

He was signing documents as they entered. Two scantily clad wenchs also reclined on couches at the back  of the room. The rear windows were open and the sound of the street and the docks gently wafted inside on the icy winter breeze. Despite this though the room was warm from the well banked fire in the stone fireplace.
Nebulus was a short fat man with a bald head. He was well dressed, as you would expect from a rich merchant in fine furs and with a gold chain around his neck. He seems pleased to see them.

'Come in, come in! Have you eaten? Are you hungry? I've got in a shipment of spices from Calimsham. I've been cooking with it ever since! Some lamb? Some chicken? Girls, bring up some food and wine for my guest!'
He eyed up then said to Fenrir,
'Can I also offer anything for your, servant? Pet? ...Daughter..?'
He sounded serious, but Fenrir wasn't so sure,
'My name is ... ah, Raziel Lightningrod. My companion is a young lady of independence and intellect  known as Arahel.'
'Does she speak?' asked the merchant.

They talked for a while longer, Fenrir was in no huge hurry to start Cavu's mission just yet and preferred to go back down and arrange his dinner and a room.
He opted for the luxury version with all the 'extras' while Arahel went for a more basic arrangement.

Here now I will introduce someone new, a man called Harvel who had lived in Westgate after arriving from the Dale Lands about a year ago. He was a middle aged man who sported a red beard that was peppered with grey. He was watching Fenrir and Arahel, not just because he was the sort of fellow that watched strangers out of habit, but also because he was employed by Nebulus to do so.
He'll be playing a prominent role in this tale as it moves forward.

DAY 282 (17th Nightal)(December)

Having now established a 'base' in the Purple Lady and after a night of having relations with the tavern prostitutes Fenrir ate his breakfast that morning with a sense of achievement.

Both he and Arahel spent the day relaxing. They certainly could not be blamed for doing so as they were still tired from all the fighting back at the Spike and the travelling the day before.

Meanwhile Harvel did some asking around town and discovered that they had arrived by teleportation.
He past this information on to Nebulus.

DAY 283 (18th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir and Arahel went back to Gondeth's Magery to check up on their magical armour orders then wandered back to the Purple Lady.

Waiting to meet them was Cavu. He had a girl on his knee and was singing her a love song.

When they could talk in private he said,
'Oh, the whole Maaril thing was kind of Billi's fault. Well, I don't blame him. He was given a Stone of Sending by an agent of Maaril, probably that Jolly Underhill character and then he gave it to Dwerry. She used it to feed lies to Maaril, so who knows what he thought when he teleported in and grabbed the staff and key. If he uses magic to speak to her or bring her back I dare say he'll learn the truth. He is no friend of the Vanguard, but then, he's no friend of ours either. Next time, put your back into it Fenrir old chap, if you'd managed to bring her onto our side then we would have the staff, the key and a valuable asset in the form of Wathuss herself. You seem to think the only way to seduce a woman is to stick your spear in her, one day remind me to teach you how to treat a lady properly. Well, I suppose we dealt with Fadheela and are a step closer at least.'

He then gave them one thousand gold and told them to buy or rent a property then find a faction in Waterdeep they liked the look of and join it.

'This is the priority. She still hasn't told me what is going on, but it seems very important. One other thing, not quite so important but anyway...  Maybe you've figured this out and maybe you haven't but Gerty gets really excited about Snake Gates. All the time I've worked for her she's been on the look out for them and I suppose that's why she's up against the Vanguard so much.
Anyway, she think's there is one either in Westgate or near to it and she'd like you to find it. I've got no more information than that, but you are resourceful chaps. Make very very delicate enquiries, you don't want to draw the Vanguard down on you. After all, they will probably not be happy that you thwarted them in Pedestal. See if you can't find where it is and then report back.'

Fenrir tried not to giggle when Cavu described them as resourceful. Didn't Cavu realise they were idiots?

Harvel had managed to eavesdrop on this conversation and report it back to Nebulus. It didn't really matter though as it was not long before Fenrir and Arahel were back talking to the merchant, seeking his counsel.
They discussed the city and the factions that were in it to some extent then Nebulus told them to go downstairs and ask for his man Harvel who would be able to guide them around the city as and when required.

Harvel took them to his office, which was not too far from the tavern. It was a small terraced dwelling, a room downstairs he used as his office with a living area above it.
Harvel made his living as a sort of private investigator, a similar sort of role to Merlock Tomes I suppose.
He'd take any work he could get though and arranged a small fee to be paid to him much to Fenrir's displeasure.

After discussing the city factions (more on that later) they decided to look at  property in the city. Harvel introduced them to his own landlady, a woman known as Hildigunn. They settled on a cottage just outside the western walls and arranged it to be cleaned and staffed by a housekeeper.

They then went back to the tavern for the rest of the evening.

(G310 25/03/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL5

(G310 25/03/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL5

DAY 342 (9th Alturaik)(February)  cont ...

It was about two in the afternoon when we headed up to the church. After talking it over with  Ashlyn it appeared she really wanted to see how her pals were doing before tackling anything else.

At that time I was sort of thinking they were probably fine. If they were as tough as Ashlyn I  doubted they could have come to much harm.

On the way there we were attack by three of the tough sort of zombies you get in these parts and then a further set of nasties that we later identified as ghasts. They were unpleasant but a good dose of Searing Light, Magic Missiles, Fireballs and bears did away with them.

Towards the end of the fight, for reasons that I cannot guess at Tie Pie launched a Fireball into the melee just as my bears were finishing off the last of the undead. Result, three dead bears.
Those poor things. I summoned a monkey and made it follow Tie Pie around for a full minute with a  little sad monkey face.

After that small tussle, although just a couple of spells had been used the pestilential sorcerer next insisted that we go back to the inn and rest so he could recover his magical energy.
I suppose we had killed off quite a few undead today anyway and since Ashlyn had nothing to say on the matter we went back to the inn.

I spent the evening deep in thought. After all the bother we'd had in the Plane of Shadows here we were in another dark corner of the world.

DAY 343 (10th Alturaik)(February)

I can hardly bring myself to write down what happened today, but I owe it to he who has fallen to collect my thoughts and commit them to paper while they are fresh in my memory.

In the morning, after breakfast, we headed back up the road to the church. As we approached it we could hear chanting, some sort of nonsense prayer.

We entered through the front door and I saw a figure at the altar across the main chamber. Now, I must have been thinking of nothing other than trying to offer friendship to this fellow as I failed to notice the large hole in the floor. What I mean is, I did see it, but I mistook the dark patch on the floor, thinking it a carpet or something. I had cast a Light spell on my scimitar but the shadows and gloom worked against me.
Anyway, as I fell I made a quick decision and turned an inelegant scramble into a graceful dive. If I was falling to my doom I would at least do it in style. Also perhaps I would be able to fly back up as an eagle and declare it had all been part of my plan.

In hindsight it is perhaps just as well I fell as I could have been the one that died when the man at the alter turned and used a Zone of Death scroll on the others as they entered.

Some of them felt the effect of the spell but managed to fight it off. Poor Mr Badgerington  wasn't so lucky and dropped stone dead on the spot. I felt the magical link severe between us as he died.
Badger had been my animal companion since I had first become a druid and had been with me all the way to Sasserine and back, Waterdeep and all those troubles and then at my side all through the expedition into the Plane of Shadows. Now he was dead and I was hit with a tremendous sense of anguish and loss.

I was also immensely angry. I turned into and eagle and flew out of the hole and cast a Polymorph spell on the priest that had killed Badger, but it failed to get him. He then jumped down the hole and I followed after.

Undead gathered above and the others dealt with them while I pursued my prey. The room below was dark and full of undead but I cared not. I cast Inferno on him, but he dispelled it. I then cast Hypothermia but it missed.

Yli fired arrows down at the undead from above as the others finished off the enemies they were facing in the main chamber.

I cast Arc of Lighting at my foe and it hit him, just as Sylvia and Ashlyn jumped down to join the fight below. I summoned bears and sent them into the combat. One was killed by two swift strikes from a large skeleton. Yli saw his target and shot at it, arrow after arrow finding its target.

I swooped and soared around the melee, summoning bears. Sylvia turned some of the undead, skeletons and other stranger things while Ashlyn methodically hammered away at them with her mace. It was turning into a brutal battle, but I didn't want it to end until I had slaked my thirst for revenge!

Druidy Stuff

The Old Druid

The old druid mostly stayed in and around New Tanaan these days, but just recently he had been venturing out more. He describe the experience of living in the suburbs as a 'living death' to his wife when she could be bothered listening to him.

'Yes, this is a great house and a great neighbourhood. And yes the kids are getting a great education, this is the Plane of Knowledge after all,' he'd say after a pleasant dinner. 'But I'm a druid. I have responsibilities back on Norrath. I have to be seen to be helping the cause, and besides wandering is in my blood.'

His wife, if she ventured an opinion would say, 'I'm not stopping you. I understand this. We can manage without you for a while if need be.'

She was not from Norrath. He wasn't entirely sure where she was from. She had come to New Tanaan as a baby and never spoke of her homelands. She had arrived back in the days the Priests of Discord were opening portals to here, there and everywhere, so it could have been one of many places.

He'd never given up the adventuring life and once the guild had broken up had done a fair bit of time-travelling, following the trail beaten by others more powerful than him through the Plane of Time, to the Void and then on to the old days around Antonica. He couldn't be bothered with that any more, he'd helped protected Oceangreen from the various plagues of Bertoxxulous and felt he had done enough.

As a consequence though, he'd brought back a lot of gold and platinum with him, ancient coinage not exactly stolen from the past, just... he saw it as more like letting the money take a short cut. Not only that, but masses of magical items, weapons and armour. Half of it he had sold to buy furniture and paintings for the house and the other half hung on the walls in his dining room that he liked to think of as his 'Hall of Honour' where all his trophies from decades of adventuring hung.

His wife called it the 'Hall of Junk'.

His life was cluttered, but the bank manager in New Tanaan loved him. He had more money than he knew what to do with, so when he went a wandering around Norrath it wasn't for financial gain it was merely for the enjoyment of it and the opportunity to do some good. All his friends had long since retired so he almost always travelled alone. Sometimes he hired a mercenary from the depot in town, a sly dark elf or a tough dwarf. Just recently he'd been travelling with a butch ogre wench called Tiktak. She wasn't much to look at, but was handy to have around when a horde of gnolls attacked out on the Steppe.

He'd patrolled the Steppe a few times now and the gnolls knew to leave them alone. Although the travelled fast, they did not travel lightly. He owned several magical bags that contained huge amounts of magical junk, who knew when you might need a magical firework stick right? Or two types of magic stones that would make lights appear around you, or an enchanted fishing rod.

The old chap had explored every nook and cranny there just recently and before returning home called in at Surefall Glade.

'Hello Corun!' he called happily as he emerged from the caves that lead to the glade.

'Leave the bears of the Glade alone! Oh... hello Roztov!'

'You and your bloody bears. You know, the bears where here a thousand years ago and I'm sure they'll be here a thousand more.'

'Not more of your time travelling nonsense!' groaned the game keeper.

'You should get out more.'

He now did all his trading here and he didn't really care that he was getting terrible prices. He gave half of it to the tribute master anyway.

For a long time he had kept a trader in the Bazaar on Luclin, but in the end he had paid her off. He was so rich now he couldn't be bothered with the trip up there to collect the money.

Later that evening he was getting drunk in the Ranger's Station with the other druids, when he realised just how comfortable with his life he was getting.

'I need a new challenge, lads. I've been slaughtering were orcs in the Loping Plains and clockworks onboard Fortress Mechanotus for months now. Is there anything happening on Antonica? What news of Crescent Reach?'

The rangers and druids nodded sagely, they were home bodies all, never straying from the glade any further than Qeynos, but they did pick up rumours from other travellers. One of them said, 'I hear they are at war again. The Grey Legion is back in the passes around Direwind...'

'Good enough for me!' said Roztov as he stifled a burp, 'I'll go take a look!'

One week later, after clearing it with the wife and hiring Tiktak he waved goodbye to his family and teleported right out of his living room and appeared at the druid ring that hid in a sheltered valley of the Direwind region of Antonica.

It would take a few days of travel through hostile terrain, but Roztov knew his way well enough having trekked all around the region in his younger days. Tiktak was not light on her feet, but had an all but unending endurance and kept up with her employer well enough.

***

Zryan was with his old pal Keshik, on yet another scouting mission up into the mountains to keep an eye on the Legions. Armies were forming again in the valleys and soon they would have to go back to Crescent Reach and inform the council. It was an old story, they had been at war for years and no matter how many times the Legions of Dyn`leth were beaten back it was not long before they were back, filtering down through the valleys of Direwind and into Sunderock Springs.

It was late in the evening and they were having their supper. They were very close to the Legion, no more than a hundred metres away, but they were experts at hiding from prying eyes and besides, this far up the Legion knew they were safe enough and posted no pickets.

‘That’s the last of the rations then,’ said Keshik as he stirred the pot that hung over their sheltered fire. It wasn’t much, just a few dried up old vegetables from way back in the Springs, stewed and made into soup.

‘We should go back tomorrow, while the mountains are passable. There is nothing to hunt up here, everything is diseased,’ said Zryan sagely to his friend.

‘I’m well aware of that,’ grumbled Keshik. ‘It’ll be a hard trek with empty bellies but perhaps we’ll meet a trader on the way.’

‘I doubt it at this time of year.’

Zryan was used to going without food, but he was getting old now, even for a drakkin. He was starting to think of retirement. The idea of his family and home life warmed him as much as the fire.

Just then he was woken from his revere when there was a sound from further down the valley. He climbed up onto a rock to see who approached. The other drakkin whispered up to him, ‘What do you see?’

‘A druid and an ogre. I think the druid knows we are here.’

And sure enough they were soon joined by an old fellow and his bodyguard.

‘Anything to spare in the pot?’ asked the druid happily as he sat down by the fire and warmed his hands.

‘Well...’ said Zryan. He knew druids were always laden down with food that they gathered as they travelled. It would be odd for them to be begging from strangers.

‘Don’t worry,’ said the old druid with a smile and nodded at the ogre.

She then reached into a satchel and began to pull out rabbits, vegetables, fruit and berries in vast quantities.

‘You probably don’t remember me,’ continued the druid, ‘Roztov is the name, and this is Tiktak. I used to come up here sometimes when I was younger. I remember meeting you then.’

The scouts nodded, even if this was true they didn’t remember, but then, a lot of adventurers came this way and they’d been up here on and off for forty years.

‘What’s going on further up?’

Zryan cleared his throat, ‘Uh, well. Grey Legion, hundreds of them, camped all the way up to the pass. They’ve occupied the watch towers too, probably all the way up to the Ashengate.’

The druid helped himself to a bowl of soup and as he sipped the hot broth he said, ‘If you don’t mind then me and the big lass will take a look tomorrow morning.’

‘Be careful then old timer,’ said Keshik. ‘The Legion don’t take prisoners.’

The druid just smiled and blew on his soup, ‘Oh, I think we’ll manage.’

The next day Zryan and Keshik watched from the rocks as the druid and his huge companion walked up the valley as if out for a morning stroll.

‘That crazy old fool is going to get himself killed!’ hissed Keshik in despair.

‘Do you think we should help?’

Keshik began to string his bow. Zryan nodded to his friend then jumped down from the rock he was perched on and quickly broke their camp.

Once he had gathered up all their gear he joined Keshik at the rocks.

‘Look...’ whispered Keshik in awe as he pointed up the valley.

The druid was at the first enemy camp. The Legionnaires were only just awake but they strapped on their armour and drew their weapons as the old man approached. The drakkin soldiers seemed more concerned by the ogre and approached cautiously. The druid began casting spells, calling down lightning and huge clouds of stinging insects. Crazed with fear and pain the Legionnaires fled.

Keshik turned to Zryan and said, ‘The old chap has got power. We’d better follow on!’

One after the other the druid hit camp after camp and with fire, lighting and insect swarms he either killed or drove off all the Legionnaires within. He was moving so fast that the scouts had difficulty even keeping up with him. So far the ogre wench had not even drawn her sword, she just plodded along after her employer carrying their bags.

‘This old fellow...’ gasped Keshik, catching his breath. ‘I can’t believe it. He’s driving them before him. Like a wolf chasing a flock of sheep.’

‘He may have met his match now though...’ said Zryan hoarsely. He had spotted a large group of soldiers coming down the valley at double time. Sergeants, clerics, mages, a concentrated counter attack.

The druid met them all head on, summoning up huge swarms of insects that turned the whole of the valley floor black. The counterattack broke in a matter of minutes before the plague swarm and fled back up the valley or jumped in the river.

For the rest of the day they followed the trail of destruction as the druid rampaged further up the valley and then one by one destroyed the forces that guarded the watch towers. Even the giants that guarded them were slain, falling down off the cliff side into the valley below, struck by sheets of flame and bolts of lightning.

‘He never stops!’ gasped Keshik. ‘He never tires!’

By evening they had reached the gates, guarded by two huge golems, each easily fifty foot tall. The druid paused and tugged on his beard as he pondered his next move.

The scouts caught up with him and did their best to get their breath back.

‘Good evening gentlemen,’ he said nonchalantly.

They remained silent in reverential awe, but surely, thought Zryan, he wasn’t going to tackle those giant golems alone?

The druid munched on a haunch of rabbit meat then washed it down with a bottle of beer.

‘Ok Tiktak old girl,’ said the old fellow, ‘Time to earn your pay. You take the one on the left and I’ll take the right.’

The ogre grunted and for the first time that day drew her swords from the scabbards on her back. Both blades glowed blue.

Zryan watched in amazement as the druid and the ogre ran down to the golems and took them on at full speed. Flames, lightning, ice storms, the druid threw everything at them. Meanwhile the ogre went toe to toe with them in combat. The battle raged on for tens of minutes, the magic lighting up the sunset over the mountains like a display of pyrotechnics.

First one golem fell, like a tree with a thump that shook the ground, then the other.

The druid and his mercenary were already running for the gates before the second one landed.

‘He’s not stopping!’ Keshik cried in amazement.

Together they ran to catch up the druid and got to the gates just as the entire Black Legion was coming to realise they were under attack, having just moments before thought they were safe as could be behind the golem defended gate. There were dozens of camps here and near a thousand Legionnaires, drakkin Legionnaires and orcish mercenaries. It was a slaughter.

The scouts clambered up onto a promontory of rock to get a better view of the battle.

‘He’s just... he’s just ripping through the camp. It’s a complete rout.’

Zryan could only nod in agreement as the battle raged on.

In one last desperate counter-attack, a hundred of the strongest Black Legionnaires charged at the druid, but he summoned up bears, fey, drakes and yet more hordes of insects to send them flying back in retreat.

The druid then wandered the area, from camp to camp, driving off the last holdouts and slaying anyone stupid enough to stand against him.

As the night wore on, the battle ended and the area was quiet, lit only by the flames of the burning tents. The scouts carefully approached the centre of destruction and found the druid sat on a supply chest rolling himself a cigarette. Behind him a large campaign tent fell over in flames with a muffled crash. The ogre warrior was wiping blood from her swords with a dirty rag.

‘I think we are about done now anyway,’ said the druid.

Zryan was not sure what to say, but eventually Keshik said, ‘Uh, thanks, I guess...’

‘Should make them think twice about coming down that far again anyway.’

The druid looked at the burning end of his cigarette in contemplation for a while. Zryan wondered what it must feel like to possess as much power as that. The druid had done them a great service, but he’d also sent a thousand souls on to the afterlife.

Eventually the old man flicked the butt end of his cigarette into the flames of the tent and stood up.

‘Well old girl?’ he addressed the ogre. ‘Home time.’

He looked over the scouts then said, ‘Want a lift to Crescent Reach? We can drop you off on the way.’

Zryan nodded. Five minutes later he and his fellow scout were back in their home city.

Roztov entered 103 Market Heights as quietly as he could, but his wife was awake anyway, cooking food for the next day.

‘Oh, your back,’ she said with a sniff. ‘You smell like burning.’

‘Ah yes. I think I’ll take a bath actually.’

‘Did you have fun on your travels?’

‘Oh you know. The usual sort of druidy stuff. If you happen to be boiling the kettle I’ll take a cup of tea, I’m absolutely parched!’

(G309 11/03/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM))

(G309 11/03/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM))

DAY 137 (wed) cont ...

[Collected Star Fleet Logs of the USS Voyager's Escort Ship - Cacophony. As compiled by LCARS auto generated routines]
[Debug note : Has someone been tampering with this?]

Log Continues ...

Kirk still had some time left in the day after the ritual to remove Mieon from Kevek's mind and put her in a Katric Arc.

He took a Skuttler Discharger down to Engineering and put in a request for it to be modified into a weapon. This had come from one of the ancient robots that had guarded the temple the Arc had come from. They told him to come back in a couple of weeks, at which point it would be 'Starfleet Ready'.

That evening he also had a chat with Celes and they agreed to keep their relationship on the down low. It was common knowledge that under these highly unusual circumstances (i.e. Voyager being lost in the Delta Quadrant!) and stressful time people were forming relationships that were strictly speaking against Starfleet Regulations.
As long as it was not openly displayed then it appeared the Captain was willing to turn a blind eye.
So, Celes, ever cautious, thought it best they met romantically only every three or four days and Kirk agreed to this.

DAY 138 (thu)

Kirk worked a standard shift on the Cacophony, supervising and helping with the many repairs needed onboard. Despite his and Dell's efforts they could not get the AI known as Adam James to move. The core seemed to function to a certain extent but was unresponsive.

In the evening he tinkered and reprogrammed his Engineering Bot.

DAY 139 (fri)

Kirk worked onboard the Cacophony once more.

In the evening he spent some time with Ceres at Sandrine's.

DAY 140 (sat)

Kirk worked onboard the Cacophony once more.

In the evening he tinkered and reprogrammed his Engineering Bot.

DAY 141 (sun)

Kirk worked onboard the Cacophony once more.

In the evening he tinkered and reprogrammed his Engineering Bot.

Today Voyager (with the Cacophony at her wing) arrived at an empty system with a very interesting Class D planet system. Early scans seemed to indicated a new element (the 247th one) and they went in to take a closer look.

Somewhat at a loose end while this was taking place Kirk was given the option of exploring the system while Voyager did some dull sciency stuff.

He opted to go check out a space hulk that had been spotted about 1 LY out from the system in deep space.

It took them 12 hours to get there.

Initially scans of the hulk informed them that it was a wrecked passenger ship once known as 'The Vele Swift'. They had no idea how long it had been here.

Scans detected life signs though, but no one responded to hails.

Kirk reasoned that perhaps someone was in need of help so he chose an airlock and had Patterson manoeuvre them up to it. They then went over to it in Environment Suits.
Finding it impossible to open they tried another and managed to use a Tricorder to persuade it to let them in.

Looking through the small window of the internal lock door they saw what looked like a humanoid shaped alien and its four legged alien pet. It took one look at them and ran off down a corridor.

As they entered the ship they were immediately attacked by aliens with Bowcasters, Duel Wield phaser pistols and melee weapons. The pets also savagely attacked them.
These aliens, they learned later were Bodarts, a savage species and very fond of piracy.

Ensign Kirk, Crewmen Dell, Ceres and Murphy made their way deeper into the ship, having a running fire fight with the Bodarts every step of the way. The battle went well for them until they met a much more powerful individual.

They could not see exactly who she was as she wore a sophisticated EV suit with a mirrored visor, but her figure was female. On either side of her were Bodarts using powerful alien weapons and shields. The female leader wielded a large and bizarre looking heavy weapon.

She seemed willing to talk at first and when Kirk asked her if she needed any help she said no and asked them to leave. As they headed back to the air lock though she let rip with her gun that seemed to be half phase rifle and half grenade launcher.
It ripped apart Kirk's shields and badly injured all of them, so much so that they only just made it back onboard the Caco.

(G308 04/03/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) SS18

(G308 04/03/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) SS18


[Back in the Necromancer's Spike in Pedestal, here are more notes from the journal of Merlock Tomes]

DAY 279 (14th Nightal)(December) cont ...

As stated in my previous report, my investigation into the murder of Elessarwa Nledoor had lead me to the overworlder gang known as the 'Buffalo Bunch'. These individuals were a powerful warlock called Fenrir, a fey druid known as Arahel, a half-orc barbarian known as Durz and a gnomish scout known as Billitoppe.

Following them to the Necromancer's Spike I saw that they were clearing the area of undead and monsters and thusly doing us a great service in that it would save us the bother of doing it later.

They had already cleared two levels of the tower and had found their way to the third. Here they entered a room of mirrors where they were attacked my three magical monsters created from the mirrors themselves.
The gang made short work of these creatures and showered glass shards all over the stone floor.

I should also mention that the six mirrors in this room were also magical and showed views of various places around Pedestal.

From here they continued down another corridor and through some abandoned rooms until the arrived at the Shrine of Orcus. Here they were attacked two fevers and a choker. These are quite nasty undead elementals but even so the gang made short work of them. It was a messy battle, with burning coals from the braziers being knocked everywhere. Once they had finished in here they went back to one of the smaller chambers and rested for the remainder of the day.

DAY 280 (15th Nightal)(December)

This was the Buffalo Bunches fourth day in the Necromancer's Spike.

Around about one in the morning they had rested enough and continued on their way. The only way forward was down some steps to the inner sanctum of the spire.

The steps were rotten and when Durz stepped on them they collapsed. He was not gravely injured though and the others were carried down to the lower area by Fenrir using his demonic wings.

Before them was a corridor with six alcoves along it, three on each side. In each alcove was a victim of Fadheela, all turned to stone except for one part that was still alive. One of the statues still had eyes that stared at them with madness as they passed, another had hands that seemed to reach out for help. There were two children as well and a strange angelic being, the only statue that was not a drow or a duergar.
The last and most horrible had a mouth that still screamed and screamed in hoarse terror.

At the other end of the corridor was a crossroads with four more statues. These were completely stone this time. There were doors in the north, east and west walls. Green light pulsed around the door to the west and every so often they heard the discharging of electricity.
This seemed to be the door where their next challenge waited for them...

(G307 18/02/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL4

(G307 18/02/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL4

[Back with Rollo and gangs adventures in the undead infested town of Barovia]


DAY 342 (9th Alturaik)(February)  cont ...

You may remember then, dear reader, that myself, Sylvia, Yli and Mr Pie were hacking away at undead nasties in the far away town of Barovia.
We had been on the way anyway, but we had also a been given a cryptic message had been sent by their Burgomaster, a man called Kolyan Indirovich. We'll get to him later though.

We entered the town square and saw that it was barricaded at each entrance except for the eastern one through which we had arrived.

Here we saw an armoured lady fighting a decent sized group of zombies. We met them with the usual
tactics, namely cleric magic, lightning bolts, arrows and bears.

There was an entomber in amongst the undead (the same sort of thing that Fenrir and his crew were to later face in the Necromancer's Spike) and I tried an Inferno spell on it, but with no effect.

Yli's arrows zipped expertly into the battle, between the lady and the bears, sniping the undead one by one. As I watched I saw that the lady was tougher than we'd first thought and not quite as urgently in need of rescue as I had imagined.
As she bashed one to death, Yli took the head off another with an expertly placed arrow and my bears fell down a well in their eagerness to get at the last of them.

Once the combat was ended we made out introductions. The lady was a cleric of Lythander by the name of Ashlin. She was a member of a small company that called themselves 'The Lightbringers'. Her companions were known as Fendrik and Mathilder, but they had gone further into town and up to the church.
They too were looking for the Sunsword.
Ashlin went on to say that she thought that a woman known as 'Madame Eva' might be able to help, but she lived west of town and presumably more undead prevented easy access to her.

Well, anyway, there was an inn here, inhabited by the living, so for safety's sake I popped back and brought the wagon, the driver and Geyven Tallmer to it. We then helped Ashlin and some of the villagers rebuild the barricade on the eastern edge of the town square.
The driver wasn't all that happy about entering the lion's den, as it were, but Tallmer doubled his fee and that placated him a little.

The cart and horses were stored away in Bill Drath's Mercantile and we went to wash the dust  from our throats in the Inn across the street known as 'The Blood on the Vine Tavern'.

(Looking at the sign it had once been called 'Blood OF the Vine Tavern' - Vampire theme pub?)

The main room was pretty well packed with about ten families worth of people, presumably chased out of their houses and sheltering from the undead. As we went in, two men came out.

I also noticed a man dressed like a nobleman in one corner, drinking wine from a goblet. Firstly, though I talked to Arik the land lord and arranged food and drink.

Once I had recovered from all the fighting I went over and introduced myself to the nobleman.
His clothing was expensive looking but stained. He seemed pretty relaxed considering everything that was going on, or just drunk perhaps.
When he said he would talk to me, but that 'talking was thirsty work,' I resisted the urge to walk away and ordered more wine. He opened up and sighing he said,
'My name Ismark the Lesser, my father was Kolyan the Burgomaster. His body now lies in the mansion. My sister is still there and refuses to leave the place. This all began in the church. It was Danovich. Then the zombies came. Fendrik and Mathilder went to investigate the church... Strad, is in his castle. He is a devil! My father stood up to him, with a Holy Symbol of Ravenkind... But one morning father was found dead by poison and the Symbol no longer worked. Erina, my sister, sits vigil on his body and will not leave the mansion...'

Poor Ismark seemed in a bad way and I felt terribly sorry for him. It looked like there was a lot to sort out in this cursed town.