(G578 21/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI35

(G578 21/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI35

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. After a couple of days they have made a bit of hap-hazard progress.]

DAY 662 (24th Nightal)(December) cont ...

Later, as they were finishing off their long lunch and discussing plans, the Lady Langit Biru arrived again. She asked if she could borrow Fang for a while, to help her with some heavy lifting, as part of her effort to stop Cerdict coming back from the dead.

Reinward, still willing to contract her on this said, 'Nah, let's bring him back from the dead, say it was all a miss-understanding and get him to destroy the town for us. What do you think Fenrir?'
'I'm not massively onboard with that idea.'
Lady Biru thought it was a bad idea but said, 'if you want to do that, it is up to you. Just let me know and I'll stop what I'm doing.'
I suspect Reinward was just trying to be annoying though as once it was accepted he backed down from the idea.

He then asked what her plans were after her task was finished. She said she had other matters to attend do, but would be able to help them later with anything she could be of service with.

She wandered out of the cave, taking Fang with her. Fenrir and Reinward decided to let Port Dulok settle down for a while before trying again.


DAY 663 (25th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir, still not sure of the best course of action, went to take a look at the port again from a high bluff on the east side of the town.

You may be puzzled at this point, dear reader, why he hesitated. Why, when he had so easily slaughtered a crowd of ruffians in Baldur's Gate would he be so concerned about dispatching a batch more in a place many many miles from any law or authority?

I will venture and answer if I may. We "adventurers" are a suspicious lot and when I feel my plans have gone array or I have fallen foul of some dire happenstance or event beyond my control I oft times think of a deity called Fate. It only exists in my imagination, and I picture it as a tall hairy being, much like a bug bear, who sits and laughs at my plans, looking down on my over his big hair belly.

For Fenrir I imagine this is also some entity, whom I would call "Consequence". For when he acts without thinking or puts into action a that have been ill-considered, or acts on impulse, he will later  be visited by beings and people that have been place in his path by the capricious hand of Consequence.

So now he stood and contemplated, though I may be able to destroy this place, what would the fickle hand of Consequence have in store for me? Little did he think of the consequences of what he and Reinward had done in Baldur's Gate. I would have thought the ramifications of that should have played heavier on his mind, but here he was in this place, in the morning, wondering what he should do.

Eventually he came back to the cave and reported back what he had seen in Dulok. Although a small portion of the town had been burnt down, it was generally going about its business. The bridges had been destroyed but there was a place were the river could be forded at low tide if you didn't mind getting wet up to the waste.

They disguised themselves as 'mid rank sailors' and sauntered into town. They found the streets in a mild level of chaos, so it was easy to get in. They went from tavern to tavern, buying drinks and talking to the locals. They learned more about the wizards that Fenrir had fought and more powerful locals - a coven of three tabaxi witches that lived in a house on the southern outskirts of town.

They learned a bit about Plimpo and he lived in a ruined castle to the north. The dark elf was not local and it appeared he had now left the port.

Reinward thought it best to deal with Plimbo first and so with that in mind they took a walk north and then west along the coast to have a look at his castle. It was definitely ruined, with its collapsed turrets and ruined gateway, but it was still secure. They walked along up the drive and Reinward so gargoyles hiding in the ruins.

They then walked further along to a watchtower, acting as if they were out for an evening strole.

When they returned to the taverns they found out what they could about the pirate factions and how the pirates related to the Tren.

Apparently about a month ago there had been some tensions between them all and a couple of dozen killings had resulted, but it had simmered down now.

At about eight o'clock they walked back Plimbo's house with the  intention of pretending to be "traders".

Fenrir shone a light into the gateway. Mobkin a Svirfneblin Rogue stepped
out of the shadows.
'What do you want?'
'To see your master.'
'He's busy.'
'Is he doing a poo?' asked Reinward.
'Cheeky twat.'
'Right right, can we wait?' interjected Fenrir.
'It's a free island.'
'I am, err,' said Reinward. 'The Quartermaster of the pirate ship Dementor.'
'Good for you.'
Fenrir stepped over all of that bluffing and turned on the intimidation.
'Show me respect or face my... wrath!!'
It had an effect on Mobkin, who got much more friendly.
He called over another Svirfneblin called Gringkid and had a message sent
to the "master".
When a reply came Mobkin went white and wrote out a note that he then gave
to them. He told them he master was not here, but at the Wanger Tavern and
they were to take this note.

It was in cant, but magically translated roughly to:

"
Salutations Sally,
Two wonderful treats for this brace of fine dandies
Blessing on your tremdous bosoms,
Mobkin
"

They tried giving 50 gold to send another note, but that didn't really go anywhere. Reinward thought that they were being lied to and that Plimpo was at home.

They went back along the drive then snuck around the back of the house. In the end it was not too hard for them to sneak  in, avoid the gargoyles (who seemed more interested in playing saucy games in the spare bedrooms) and deep gnomes. They found the wizard's main chamber. Reinward disabled a trap on the door and they burst in. Caught by surprise Plimbo was killed in a single volley of Elditch blasts and daggers.

They looted the chamber then snuck back out again. A job well done, they took their note to Wanger Tavern and met Slaphappy Sally. What happened next I will leave to the readers imagination but as I understand it there was a magical and non-magical option.


DAY 664 (26th Nightal)(December)

The next threat they considered dealing with were the three tabaxi witches that they had not seen yet, but that they had heard about.

Fenrir was always very good at finding the right person to talk to. After spending a bit of time and a bit of gold in the morning he got himself into the company of one of the witches' housemaids.

In hushed tones she told them that the witches were like cats, they are  distracted by shiny objects - in that they would be interested in any large displays of magic in the port, or new interesting visitors.
"And no one can defeat them," she warned Fenrir and the others. "Fireballs just wash over them. Magic arrows they pluck out the air and throw back."

Reiward was interested in this information and wanted to know how it was they the witches were "indestructible" but the maid didn't know.

Her final advice was that they kept their eyes on the sky and find  somewhere to hide if they saw the witches overhead on their broomsticks.

After that they found out about a group of beings called the  "blinking lizards". This lizardfolk were talked about as if they were ghosts. They were apparently a tribe of lizarfolk that had learned the ability to blink - as Reinward did with his magic items - which made them very hard to fight. They were not often seen in Dulok though.

Next on the agenda for today, they went to check out the buildings were the slaves were kept. It was a group of four houses behind a tall wall. There were guards and slaves, and about 100 or so poor souls kept in cells and locked rooms. They were mainly sailors and travelers taken from ships that had been pirated.

A plan vaguely forming in their heads they purchased a former ship's captain and a boson and took them back to their hideout in the dragon's cave.

Fenrir and Reinward had a vague plan for rescuing the rest of the prisoners. They asked the Captain about the boats in the harbour. The faster ones were pirate ships, but anything large was something they had just brought back with them. Some of them would still be seaworthy but most were used for spare parts.

'My ship is still down there, and still sails, the "Natural Knocker", as fine a ship that ever sailed in all of Faerune!' declared the Captain.

After lunch they got some clothes for the former slaves and went  down to the docks. The Knocker was still there although they did see a pirate onboard as a guard. Looking around they saw that even the wrecks were under guard, to stop the other crews from filching supplies from them.

'Over there is another good ship, ready to sail, and over there too! And I'll warrant they will still be supplied enough for weeks of sailing. They leave the barrels of food and water on board, from what I've heard, and only take it out when required.'

The Captain pointed out two ships, The Itchy Limpet and The Elegant Whale.

Reinward and Fenrir were still not sure. They talked themselves around in circles, trying to come up with a plan to rescue the prisoners and destroy the town.

'What are ye waiting for?' asked the Captain. 'Fire the town and  open up the slave house. It'll be chaos, but what else would ye expect?'

Even, so, the spectre of the God of Consequences hung heavily over their heads. Why rush it? After all, the pirates and the slaves were not going anywhere.

(G577 14/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI34

 

(G577 14/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI34

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. So far they have killed a dragon and rescued a magical maiden. They are now a bit stuck on the best way to rid the world of this pirate port.]

DAY 662 (24th Nightal)(December) cont ...

And so they had already had a grand morning arsing about in Port Dulok. They'd killed some guards, some standers by and set fire to some houses. So far so... good?

Meanwhile, my morning started with Fang coming to ask how his new friends were getting on. He'd conducted whatever business he had had and was after rejoining the fun.

I scryed Fenrir, got a fix on his location and risked a teleport. Happily it all went well and I dropped Fang off and then went back home. I would have liked to have helped, but I had a lot of jobs backing up at home for the wife and baby.

Before I left they asked me for some advice. Well, I have a real dislike for pirates after what they did to my friends at the Lost Refuge and as I had already killed off crews of three pirate ships as part of my revenge I was all for putting Dulok Harbour out of business. I advised them to do some scouting first, get the lay of the land first, get to know the big names in town, locate the slaves, that sort of thing. I think it fell on deaf ears though as it didn't involve volcanoes, krakenses or hordes of boars.

I left them arguing amongst themselves. In the end they put Fangin charge. She had a look about and noticed the other bridge, further down stream from the first one. There were Snake Heads guarding this bridge too, so they attacked them.

Daggers in the dark, Eldritch attacks were the order of the day again, with Fang charging into their midst wielding her axe. Fenrir used some Walls of Flames, and the chaos arrows fell everywhere making the melee very confusing.

Fang's left arm was turned to stone by an arrow, but other than that, another 20 tren were defeated.

An ogre looked at them from the other side of the bridge, but did nothing. Fenrir flew into the town and started hosing down the crowds from ten feet up with his demon magic.

Reinward shouted at him to stop, maybe remembering my advice from before, but unfortunately for him it was all unraveling.

Fang wandered over the bridge and into a pub. Fenrir was merrily blasting away at another squad of Snake Heads further into town. 'Why don't we go to the Temple?' he suggested, using their magical communication gems.

Maybe they ignored him, or they couldn't hear him over the screams. Fenrir came south and started setting fire to the buildings in the southern quarter of the port.

Reinward threw up his hands and went to join Fang in the pub. Fenrir burned more of the town, flying around the roof tops in full view of everyone. This attracted the attention of a local wizard known as Plimpo the Insane. Plimpo attacked with a fireball, but Fenrir hit him with an Elditch Spear in return and the wizard teleported out in a flash.

Fenrir continued burning the town. The denizens of Dulok ran around, fleeing the flames and sometimes firing up at him with bolts and arrows to no effect.

Another magic user attacked, a powerful dark elf sorcerer known as Tathdriirn the Bright. They traded spells, and the victory went to the dark elf as he hit Fenrir with some sort of death spell. Fenrir, just barely breathing, had enough energy left to teleport out.

Meanwhile, the pub that Reinward and Fang were sheltering in was starting to go up in flames. As they stepped out, Tathdriirn landed nearby.

Reinward skulked into the smoke and confusion, but Fang stood her ground as the dark elf approached her.
'You cut a fine figure, shrouded by fire,' he remarked to her.
'Would you like me to take you away from all this?'
'No thanks,' she replied.
'But I must insist!'
'I'm gunna show my falchion up yer arse,' she said crudely.
Tathdriirn realising he was dealing with a lout, sniffed and flew off into the smoke filled sky.

There were other people about that had not been killed by the fire and I suspect that the spell that had nearly killed Fenrir had been a Banshee's Scream.

Between the flames and the Scream, another two hundred denizens had been slain. The three of them met up again at the upstream bridge and Fenrir burned it down. He then did the other one as well.

Having at least made a start on destroying the town, in the most clumsy, ill-organised and cack-handed way possible, they teleported back to the dragon's lair, cracked open the hamper and had some lunch.

(G576 07/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI33

(G576 07/12/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI33

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. Instead of doing that though, they have slain a random red dragon instead.]

DAY 661 (23rd Nightal)(December) cont ...

The dragon slain and the caves cleared of enemies, Reinward and Fenrir exited the dragon's lair.

Irritator was still there, although he said he had been considering teleporting back to Yag Island to get help.

As they stood looking down on the lights of the port and wondering  what to do next the mysterious "dragon maiden" approached them from the jungle.

She introduced herself as Lady Langit Biru and she told them she was very grateful for being rescued from Moveld Cerdict, the red dragon.

She told them; 'He is a cunning old dragon and will have ways of resurrecting himself. I will go now and thwart those plans.'

Reinward, ever the contrarian, said that they could help him do that and he would be thankful to them for it. She told him in  return that he did not understand dragons.

They talked to her for a while and the following information was learned:

- She had been held captive for 50 years.
- The dragon had used the stone circle to gain power from her
- The town below, that they had to destroy had a population of about 5000. This she had learned from the tren servants.
- It was about half tren, and half a mix of lizardfolk, gnomes  humans, ogres, tabaxi and dark elves
- there was about 100 slaves and prisoners
- there is no central authority
- There are five big pirate crews working out of the port and they often fight amongst themselves.

She went on:
"This is an evil place. It stinks of troglodyte, and is full of refuse and dead bodies. The Tren themselves are escaped Yuan-Ti vassals that the  dragon scooped up and made into his own minions. The port became infested with pirates though and he couldn't be bothered with them any longer so he took the most intelligent of them and other than demanding regular tribute he  left them alone."

It was past midnight now so after the Lady had gone to make sure Cerdict stayed dead, the went back into the cave (which was now empty of wild boars) and unrolled their magic bedrolls and got some rest.


DAY 662 (24th Nightal)(December)

In the morning, in disguise, the three of them wandered down into Dulok and went and sat in the first tavern they found.

They sat and talked for a bit, but where unable to come up with a plan on how to destroy the place. The then wandered along a few filthy streets and found themselves at a place that had a name
that translates into common roughly as "the Temple of Extreme Unpleasantness".
As you might expect it was decorated with skulls and dead bodies were strung up in crow cages and the like.

The entrance to the temple was guarded by tough looking tren dressed in feathers and painted in blood and soot.
Fenrir went to talk to them, but was told to push off. He seemed puzzled that a seven foot tall monstrously evil lizardman dressed in bones and covered in blood didn't treat him in a friendly manner.
He tried again and the guard told him again to sling his hook. Fenrir then hurled insults at the guards and they attacked.

In the ensuing fight he killed about ten of them, and then in his anger he unleashed on the crowds in the square as Reinward watched on in dismay.

Fenrir killed about 80 people with Eldritch Cones and then another ten temple guards who had come from inside to fight him.

This was not how I would have approached it (i.e. I prefer to not use the "plan, what plan?" approach!) but it was definitely a start. 100 dead, just 4900 left to go sort of thing.

Reinward was wary though. 'Not this way, Fenrir, we need to do better than this.' So Fenrir teleported them back out of town.

'We need something smart,' chided Reinward. 'Like we could flood the town with lava from a volcano, or goad a kraken into attacking the place.'

There were no volcanoes though, and they had no idea on how to unleash a kraken. So in the end they changed their disguises and walked back in to town.

However, the bridge that led over the river was guarded by "Snake Head" tren mercenaries now, and they were pretty tough. They were also armed with Chaos Arrows, that they mixed in with their regular arrows.

The normal arrows could not harm Reinward and Fenrir and Irritator kept well back and used only magic missiles from a safe distance.

The chaos arrows did, among other things, turn Fenrir into a rabbit, but this didn't stop him casting Eldritch cones and blasts. Reinward shrouded himself in darkness and killed
many of them off one dagger at a time. To hold off reinforcements Fenrir put up a wall of flame that set some of the houses on fire. The Snake Heads were either slain or routed into the jungle.

If they were planning to destroy the town by killing its inhabitants one at a time, by my estimation they had so far dealt with about 160 of its citizens.

(G575 30/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI32

(G575 30/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI32

[Fenrir, Reinward and Irritator have been given the task of destroying the port of Dulok on Fashib by Princess Senel. Instead of doing that though, they have been bothering a random red dragon instead. Fenrir has gone missing.]


DAY 661 (23rd Nightal)(December) cont ...

Reinward and Irritator remained outside the cave, arguing about what to do and whose fault it all was.

'I didn't see any traps at the entrance, so in you go.'
'What??' exclaimed Irritator. 'If Fenrir got snatched, then I'll get snatched for sure!'
'Irritator, Irritator, Irritator, this is your life. You have to take ownership for it.'
'What are you talking about? I never asked him to go in that stupid cave. How is it my fault I assumed you two knew what you were doing?'

Eventually even Reinward realised, as the rogue of the group it should have been his job all along, went back into the cave.

He found the trap that Fenrir had likely blundered into. Invisible or flying or not, the presence of any creature triggered it. He tried to disarm it, but by bad luck he triggered it and was teleported into a dark chamber.

He appeared to be in a stone box, about ten feet by ten feet. There was a small crack between two stone slabs. He shouted through it and attracted the attention of two trens, called Fronko and Eggsy.

They were not much help, but he did find out that Fenrir was in a box too, and just within shouting distance.

Time passed, and they tried various things. They still had their possessions with them, but magic didn't work. This also meant they could not get anything out of their bags of holding.

After ten hours of getting nowhere and feeling like they were both suffocating they decided to attract the attention of the Tren again.
Fronko and Eggsy were servants of the dragon and were friendly by tren standards. They did the bidding of the dragon, but not gladly, and felt sorry for all the beings that were caught in the teleport traps and left to die in the anti-magic boxes.

Fenrir tried to sweet talk them, offering gold for their release. The tren took the gold and ran for it. Blinking in the light of guttering torches they saw that they were in a cavern that had several large stone boxes, with counterweighted doors. Two large automatons guarded the chamber. They lumbered forward, but were easily destroyed by the escapees.

They then wisely blocked all the trap doors open just incase they ended up in them again and went to explore the rest of the network of tunnels and caverns. Sneaking around the eventually came to a chamber that held someone Fenrir recognised. It was the "dragon maiden" from his dreams.

She stood alone in a wide circle of black stones. She had a bed and a desk and a chair, but not much else.
'Just kick over one of the stones,' she told them, 'and I will be free.'

They did so, and she immediately teleported out of the cave.

The red dragon must have sensed something as it started stomping around the cave network. Eventually it cornered them in a cave off the main tunnel and while Reinward snuck through a wall with his Blink ability, Fenrir was roasted by a blast of dragon fire!

Reinward snuck around to get at the dragon's rear, but fumbled his daggers as his hand shook with dragon induced terror.

Fenrir was whacked and bitten at and injured so badly he used his boots to teleport over to where Reinward was.
Reinward used a wand to cast Grease, but it had little effect on this mighty creature.
Fenrir healed himself then held the dragon back while Reinward threw his deadly daggers. This was still not enough though and they were in danger of being a dragon's lunch when Fenrir  thought about some of the shards he had collected from the FAMP.
One would summon dozens and dozens of dire boars, in waves of up to twenty at a time. This he did and the dragon was suddenly beset by a horde of boars. They didn't do much damage, but there were so many of them that they pushed it back into the tunnels.
Fenrir kept them coming, and they followed it up into the other caverns, keeping on the pressure.

Now it was the dragon needed to retreat and heal, it broke for the way out of the caves. Fenrir and Reinward teleported back to the  cave mouth and 'headed it off at the pass'. Here it was slain, at the  entrance of its own home.

Thinking of me (how kind!) Reinward cut off the dragon's head and a roll of its skin, which were then stuffed into a Bag of Holding.

The horde of boars were ordered to scour through the caves and kill all automatons and tren servants that they could find.

I hope that the helpful sounding Fronko and Eggsy had left the caves by then.

(G574 23/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI31

 (G574 23/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) YI31

[Fenrir, Reinward, Fang and Irritator are in Baldur's Gate tracking down a magical egg that will - hopefully - turn him back into a kobold. They have been told to go to a place called Gifferzer Island.]

DAY 658 (20th Nightal)(December)

When Ishi had told them everything she could that would be useful they made to leave Kobold Alley. However, they were prevented from leaving by a crowd of racists that had arrived.
'Who took the kobold from the well?' one of them demanded. 'When it was us that put it there!'

Fang and Irritator went round the back to guard the flanks and Fenrir and Reinward took on the main force. Fenrir started by intimidating a gentleman known as Billy Bigballs and floating in the air.

A lady known as Stabby Sooz threw some daggers, but was killed instantly by Reinward using the same technique. Fenrir then 'hosed down' the crowd with an Eldritch Cone, killing five people instantly.
'Watch out, there are kids in the crowd!' warned Reinward. Fenrir took more care to kill only adults. Reinward used his daggers to take out those than ran for the side alleys as Fenrir cut down the others like stalks of wheat before a scythe.

When the local law enforcement arrived, a mercenary outfit known as the Flaming Fists, Fenrir turned on the charm and paid out 100 gold to smooth over the dozen or so Baldur's Gate citizens they had just slaughtered.

When asked for names, Fenrir gave his real name and Reinward told them "Fangornio, of Waterdeep".

After that they rounded up Fang and Irritator, bought some clothes that would fit them when they changed into walking lizards and teleported back to Yag Island. They then came to talk to me.

Learning about what they had just done I did wonder at how easily they had killed people that were misguided for sure, but still citizens of a good and lawful city. Had non-lethal force not been an option I wondered? I also wondered at what their reception might be if they ever returned.

Anyway, all they wanted from me was another teleport. They nearest I could get then was the pleasant southern port of Renkrue. You may remember I  visited this place at the start of my adventures on the Sea Wyvern as we sailed for Farshore.

I agreed to do it the next day and they went to get washed up.


DAY 659 (21st Nightal)(December)

Corhim's "Wizard's tower" was completed today. It is only the first three floors and built to a gnomish scale, but as with everything the dwarf mason's had built so far it was of excellent quality and looked great.

I met the egg hunters after breakfast. Fenrir told me he had dreamed of a "beautiful dragon maiden", but i could not help him with its meaning.

Fang wanted to stay on Yag for a while so I teleported the others to  Renkrue with no mishaps and hurried home to the wife as she needed some shopping done. I learned later that they did not hang about and quickly chartered a fishing boat to take them the rest of the way to Gifferzer. It was dark when the arrived at about ten in the evening.

They spent the night on the boat.


DAY 660 (22nd Nightal)(December)

Fenrir had another dream in the night. It was the same lady, but this time he could see she was in a cave. He tried to communicate with her but was unable to.

It was fried fish for breakfast, then they used Fenrir's magical folding boat to go to the island's shore. As soon as they crossed onto the land they turned into ophidians. This effect, I am lead to understand, is a variation of the "Serpentine Curse".

It was a secluded beach but the island was no more that 30 miles wide so the main city was not hard to find. The palace was the largest building in Fashib, so it too was easily located. The palace guards wore red feather headdresses almost as tall as themselves.

'Who the bloody hell are you?' demanded a guard.
'Who the bloody hell are you?' Fenrir shot back.
'Go away! Bloody fool!'
'I am Raz Lightningrod, Chief Vizier to the King of Westgate.'
This meant nothing to the guards who approached them with swords drawn.
'Throw these bloody fools in jail!'
Fenrir ran off as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Reinward remained and bluffed that he was a tradesman, unconnected to Fenrir.
'What is your trade?'
'I am worker of wood.'
'Why the bandages?' The guards had noticed Reinward's gnome knot armour that he still wore.
'I am a journeyman traveler.'
'From where?'
'From...er...elsewhere?'
'From Ruja?'
'...yes...?'
'Seize him! He is a spy from Ruja!'

Before anyone could be seized though, Fenrir returned and using his head for a change passed out some gold and asked to have a word with an 'advisor'.

The captain of the guard arrived, wearing an even bigger headdress that had  to be held up by a smaller ophidian with a stick at the back.
'I am Raz Lightningrod, Chief Vizier to the King of Westgate,' said Fenrir trying the same failed lie.
'Untrue!'
'Why do you think that?' asked Fenrir wondering how his slick lies could  possibly be failing.
'State your true business!'
'Uh well, I want to talk to Princess Senel. I have a proposal.'
'I'll bet! Twenty gold and I will take you!'

It was noon when they arrived in the presence of the Princess. In case you don't know Spirit Nagas appear as massive snakes with the faces of hideous women.
'What fools have arrived in my chamber?' she demanded.
'I wish your majesty greetings, it is an honour to meet you and be...'
'Get to the point!'
Fenrir got to the point and told them about Irritator and his desire for a magical egg to turn him back into a kobold.
'Keep your voice down,' she hissed and beckoned them closer. 'Who are you exactly?'
Fenrir told the same lies about being Raz from Westgate. Again she didn't really believe him, but she was happy enough to offer him an egg.
She slithered around them, sizing them up.
'I sense that you are powerful beings, and because of this the price will
not be cheap.'
She smiled and hissed. 'I wish you to travel to the island of Hargop, it is not far, and destroy a Tren settlement there. It is our island and there are hundreds of the filthy devils. Kill them all, and destroy their buildings!
Raze it too the ground! You'll need to watch out for their wizards and well ... there may be a dragon hiding in one of the caves.'

Fenrir and the others agreed and she cracked her tail before shouting.
'Excellent! Bring on the dancing female ophidians!'

They were then treated to an evening of what passed for entertainment in the palace of Fashib.


DAY 661 (23rd Nightal)(December)

What with all that carry on they only got a few hours sleep. Fenrir did have another dream of the "dragon maiden" though. In this one he saw he glowing with pale magical light.

Then, if you can believe it, he teleported over to see me at three in the morning! I was woken up by a weird little lizardman, drunk as a lord, wanting to ask me questions about "what is a Tren?"

As he transformed back into a human, I made myself some tea and consulted my books.

So we both learned that Tren are hybrids, a cross betwixt Troglodytes and Lizardfolk, first created by Yaun-ti to make stronger warriors than your average lizardman. They stunk like troglodytes, were almost always evil and chaotic, and usually worked in the service of more powerful or intelligent races.

He thanked me for this information and teleported back to the palace. They were all loaded on ophidian drinks and powders by now so they were coming up with some fairly wild schemes for what to do about Port Dulok (the town on Hargop they were meant to destroy), up to
and including;
"How about we mass polymorph them, like this island. Would that count?"
No it wouldn't, as Irritator reminded them. The princess had been pretty clear that total destruction was required.

At eight in the morning they decided to head over to Hargop, it was only ten miles. They couldn't come up with a sensible plan though, and talked about buying magic carpets and things.

Eventually Irritator sorted it out. "Why not Fenrir flies over first, the memorize a good spot, teleports back and fetches the rest of us?"

And thus it went, with them all on this new island by ten o'clock. They slowly turned back into their true selves. Fenrir and Reinward used their Hats of Disguise to look more like the dark skinned local humans.

Hargop was a small island, so from where they were they could see the port below them and a big cave in the mountain above them.

Fenrir, thinking of his recent dreams, decided to fly invisibly into the cave, forgetting about traps and that sort of thing, where having Reinward with him would have been useful.

The cave was a deep, a tunnel that went down into the roots of the mountain. He sensed he had set off a magical alarm as he pushed further in. Unwisely he decided to keep going.

Meanwhile, Reinward and Irritator waited at the cave entrance.
They waited. They then waited some more.
'What's the plan?' asked Reinward.
'I don't ever remember a plan being discussed,' replied Irritator tartly.
'We should go help him out?'
Irritator shrugged.
They gave it another five minutes then snuck into the cave.
They had not gone in very far when they heard a roar and a thundering commotion come from deeper inside.

Wisely, they both turned and ran out. As they found cover, a large red dragon flew out, growling angrily.
Irritator could speak draconic and translated.
'Those blasted Tren!' was what it had said.
It did a high level circuit of the island then flew back to the cave.
Again it growled something.
Irritator translated it as 'I'll check the traps.'

(G573 16/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI30

 

(G573 16/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP, AD) YI30

[All adventure parties are currently at the Barrow on Yag Island. I have recently had a baby daughter called Evi. Unlike Fenrir and Reinward this baby was conceived with a regular human woman - not some crazed witch or creature of nightmares!]


DAY 655 (17th Nightal)(December)

I don't know what I expected to happen after the birth of my child to be fair, but I wasn't expecting to feel so redundant. Sylvia has taken charge and basically shooed me out of my own home.

So, I wandered around the Barrow area and talked to the locals. Reinward was happy because he had just ordered himself a Wand of Greater Magic Weapon for the eye-watering price of 69,120gp.

Fenrir had also been increasing his already absurd amount of power by upgrading his Amulet of Natural Armour for the princely sum of 55,000 gp.

Fang bought herself a powerful Animated Shield.

All these purchases were made through Orimander in Sasserine.


DAY 656 (18th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir and Giselle went curtain shopping today.

I was allowed to spend some time with the baby.

DAY 657 (19th Nightal)(December)

All the magical items that had been ordered were picked up today. Wanting to try them out I guess Fenrir and Reinward approached me for a teleport to Baldur's Gate.

What had been happening was this: Irritator had been talking to them about getting some help turning back into a Kobold. He was currently a Halfling. All he needed to do was track down a kobold called Ishi Snaggletooth who could get her hands on a magic egg that would do this.

Now, as luck would have it, Fenrir and Reinward had met Ishi, and had asked Veddic to try and skrye her. They had no luck with that. Next they went to Camp Brave and asked the kobolds there. Nothing. Finally someone helped them by telling them there was a lizardfolk bard in Tamunza called Sleyvasxa the Trickster. He was able to tell them that Ishi was in Baldur's Gate.

I've never been to Baldur's Gate in actual fact, but I could take them to Riatavin and then on to Corm Orp. There I left them and returned home.

Fenrir then teleported them to Candlekeep. They then paid a Svirfneblin wizard 1000gp to take them, at last, to Baldur's Gate.

It was now evening, so the four of them got some rooms in a fancy inn and asked about for Ishi. Not locals, but very knowledgeable of how cities worked, Fenrir and Reinward learned that she was likely in a small cul-de-sac known colloquially as Kobold Alley.

Meanwhile Fang had a nice bath in her room. Once she was done she met the others at the bar. This was a fancy place, full of rich merchants and minor nobles.

While getting a drink at the bar she caught the eye of a fellow who introduced himself as Lord Myev. He tried to talk to her, but she wasn't really having it and joined the others at their table.

Paranoid as ever, Reinward went to talk to the Lord. Unsubtle as ever also he whipped out a mirror and presented it. Lord Myev recoiled in horror. Reinward became convinced the other man was a vampire.

He went back to the table and consulted the others. They started coming up with a plan. Before committing an accidental murder Fenrir went to check, and ordered some garlic bread. He offered some to Myev who held up a hand and said "I am not a fan of garlic bread".

Fenrir and Myev, both from the aristocracy, eyed each other up. Reinward started getting his daggers ready under the table. This made a statue in the corner move its eyes towards him.

'I have suspicions you may have a vampiric tendency,' Fenrir said in that way he has when he's had a few drinks.
'You got me,' laughed Myev. 'I'm a vampire!'
'I'm not judging.'
'Don't worry, I just drained a virgin. I'm full.'
Fenrir continued to be pleasant. 'Live and let live I say.'
Fenrir then went on to talk so much nonsense that was pro-vampire that
he had half convinced Myev (who I should add at this point was NOT a vampire, just a windup merchant) that being a vampire was actually pretty good.
'I've never met one,' said Myev. 'But it sounds like fun.'

Fenrir felt he had proved his point. Maybe not the one had been trying to prove to start with, but that didn't matter.

Myev was left thinking that it was Fenrir that was the vampire, but that it was fine as he was such a witty and charming chap.


DAY 658 (20th Nightal)(December)

The gang met for breakfast and then went along to Kobold Alley. It was cul-de-sac, surrounded by sagging slum tenements. In the middle was a dirty old well.

As they looked around they heard a weak voice coming from the well. Fang lifted the grate and peered down. It was a narrow shaft and very filthy.
Still, Fenrir decided to float down and take a look. However he got just beyond the rim and some sort of anti-magic field hit. He managed to clutch at the side of the well and hauled himself back out.
'Anyone got any rope?' he asked.
As the others hunted through their bags for rope he called down;
'Are you all right?'
'Not really,' came the reply, 'I'm stuck down a well!'

In the end Fenrir had to go buy 50ft foot of silk rope for 10 gold.
When it was thrown down they had another problem;
'My fingers are too cold... i don't think i can...can someone please come  and get me?'

Fang lowered Fenrir down on the rope and at the bottom of the well he found an old kobold lady called Tzenka. Fang then hauled them both out. Tzenka invited them to her house so she and Fenrir could get  cleaned up.

Not long after that Ishi turned up and they asked her about the eggs that would help Irritator.

Ishi was happy to see them, but explained she had a dealer that brought them from an island south of Chult and that he was now dead! The island was known as Gifferzer Island and was inhabited by Ophidians who were ruled by a royal family of Spirit Naga. To complicate matters even further, anyone setting foot on the island turned into an ophidian! This effect was temporary though.

The magical eggs themselves would permanently change anyone eating them into an ophidian, but Irritator reckoned he had a spell that would modify the egg to turn the eater into a kobold.

Their was only one town on the island, known as Fashib, this was where the royal palace was, and this was where the eggs came from.

Ishi warned them about Spirit Naga Royal Family;

"
These are nasty creatures generally. They are thoroughly evil, but will hand over an egg in return for a favour of some kind.
You can deal with Princess Senel. She's horrible, but is on the level.
"

It looked like this job was going to be bigger than first thought!

(G572 09/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) YI-B12

 

 (G572 09/11/2024 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) YI-B12

[Myself (your humble narrator, Rollo the Druid), Reinward the Chosen One and Fangornio the  Barbarian are on a new adventure to retrieve a "Beacon" from the Chambers of Infernal  Malice (a better name for it being "The Chambers of Massive Bugs".]


DAY 638 (21st Uktar) (November) cont ...

Reinward and Fangornio decided to give the dragon a miss today and came over to where I was for a teleport.

We spend the rest of the day in Sasserine.


DAY 639 (22nd Uktar) (November)

We teleported back into the Dungeon this morning and decided to have a crack at this dragon.

I sent in a wave or two of crocodiles but they could not do much against it and mostly ran away in confusion. I cast some spells on Fang to make her stronger and she charged in. Reinward started throwing daggers. I got an angle on the beast through the doorway and cast a Sunbeam, but it bounced off.

Reinward also ran in and we all did our best to avoid its attacks and acid breath. It was Fan that landed the killing blow, a mighty chop with her falchion.

While the others looted the dragon's chamber, I skinned it, took its head and some of its more interesting looking internal organs for later study.

Amongst the treasure was the beacon we had been sent to find, so it was agreed to return home without further delay. The treasure was sold through Felia and later we went to Sasserine to find the fellow who was willing to pay us for the beacon.

He appeared to be some shady quest-broker, working for who knows, but he handed over the reward willingly enough and that was that.