(G208 08/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Al)

(G208 08/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Al)

DAY 219 (16th Marpenoth) continued...

Cale and Mathmoss ordered elaborate suppers and plenty of booze for their dinner. Cale danced to
the singing of the local 'bard' although perhaps he was a little tired and did not put on his best
performance.

Meanwhile Mathmoss had his eyes on the serving wenches and was heavily tipping the good looking one
in order to see where it might lead.

Cale drank until he was drunk and his youthful good looks attracted the attention of Margo the
Miller's daughter but by then he was too far gone.

Mathmoss had a dance with one of the local women until the singer was dragged home by his children.
Cale woke up and asked 'Where did the music go?' but then made every one happy by buying a round of
drinks for the whole room.

They finally got round to arranging rooms. The Miller's daughter wanted to meet Cale in the morning
but he just grunted and went to bed. Mathmoss had a much better time and took the wench, whose name
was Derndie, to his room for the night.


DAY 220 (17th Marpenoth)

Today was not going to be a good day for young Cale Cresthill but he wasn't to know that yet and
came down for his breakfast as normal. Mathmoss was there also, noticing that his new girlfriend
had risen early for work. Mathmoss thought she would make a good guide for the day though and gave
the innkeeper enough money to pay another village girl so Derndie could join them.

Once they left the inn to begin their investigations they noticed that they were being followed
by a boy and girl, the children of the singer in the inn. As strangers in the village, and such
odd looking ones, they were attracting attention.

They located the house that was the home of Freddorick. Cale knocked but there was no answer.
The door was found to be locked.

When asked who knew Fred the most, Derndie replied that he had been most friendly with Jaroo the
druid. So that was their next port of call. The little boy and girl still followed them. Their names
were Francie and Neely. When he saw them arrive, Jaroo gave them some money to get some food and they
scampered off.

Anyone appearing at the Grove was expected to donate something for the poor of the village. When
Cale checked his pockets for change he found that 50 gold coins had been stolen from him! He presumed
it had been while he was drunk.

Now, Cavu had told them to keep his name out of dealings with the people of Hommlet so when they
asked Jaroo is he had a spare key to Freddorick's house he was very mistrustful.

Mathmoss then went to the local temple priest to arrange a casting of the 'Zone of Truth' spell
for 120gp. Cale wasn't so keen though and voiced the opinion that 'It won't make any difference
to his attitude.'

Next they tried to enlist the help of Humperdink who was happy to lie on their behalf but was
told to tell the truth. Unfortunately though the truth was that he didn't really know Cavu and
Mathmoss and couldn't say for sure if they were trustworthy.

While Humperdink talked to Jaroo, Cale noticed a large black hairy ball snoring in the corner of
the grove. He went over to investigate but backed off when Mathmoss warned him, 'It's a bear!'.

They gave up on Jaroo and went to talk to Elem Oats the captain of the militia. They were faced
with the same problem though. They looked foreign. The villagers were mistrustful - and after all
who could blame them? There had been a lot of strange and dangerous characters through the village
just recently and the countryside was full of orcs, half orcs and northern barbarians.

Cale asked if there was a 'Criminal Underbelly' in  Hommlet. Oats slammed the door on him.

Another route of enquiry closed to them, guided by Derndie again they went and talked to Fred's
landlord. They had no luck here either, they were too foreign and dangerous looking.

They had a bite to eat at the inn for lunch and Mathmoss went to the local general store to buy
a sai (a type of dagger). Cale thought that breaking in to the house in the night was the only
way forward. While that would have been a good idea if they'd done it straight away, Mathmoss
pointed out the awkward fact that they had been round the whole village asking about the house
and would be prime suspects if the break in was noticed!

Cale suddenly announced 'I have an idea!'. It turned out to be a very bad idea. Four children
followed him as he left the inn but he gave each of them a silver and off the scampered.

Mathmoss shrugged and gave Derndie the nod. They then went upstairs to his room and had a much
better time than Cale was about to have.

Cale put another gold on the collection plate as he arrived in the grove but for reasons that may
have seemed sensible at the time he started threatening the druid.

This had the effect of turning the placid hairy lump in the corner of the grove into a huge clawed
killing machine which charged into Cale.

Three people who were in the grove fled as the fight began. Jaroo shouted at Cale to get out but
the dancer stood his ground, whacking the bear with the blunt end of his scythe.

Cale tried to talk to the druid to calm the situation down, but Jaroo continued to tell him to get
out of the grove. When Cale stunned the bear with one final blow, Jaroo mistook this for a fatal
injury. Crying 'No! Not Bear! Prepare to die!'

Still Cale did not leave or make any attempt to flee. Jaroo summoned four crocodiles (one of my favourite
tricks!) and set them on the dancer. Cale managed to Dervish Dance around them all though and very nearly
killed the druid before he could take on the form of an eagle and flap into the sky.

Again, Cale did not flee, although badly injured he stood his ground bravely, but was quickly savaged
to death by the crocodiles.

**
Now. Just to add my own thoughts on this incident. Speaking as a druid I feel sorry for Cale. His heart
always seemed to be in the right place, but he had a habit of making bad decisions. Diplomacy not being
his strong point he had tried to intimidate the druid. Not a good idea to a senior druid with years of
experience and indeed, within his own grove.
One would not walk calmly into the Halls of Justice and start threatening Hammer Lord Hykros Allumen
for instance.
So, you may argue who was in the right at this stage, but a bear is a savage animal and seeing its master
threatened in his own home it attacked. Cale should really have left at this stage, but this time tried
diplomacy, something he was not well suited to.
When Jaroo attacked it was only going to go one way and Cale should have used his expert skills in ducking
and weaving to flee the scene. Perhaps a nice big donation to the grove would have smoothed things over
after that? But instead he stood his ground and died. It is very sad that a young man from the northern
deserts, perhaps unfamiliar in the ways of southern druids, should end this way, but ultimately it was
of his own doing. In any event, to continue...
**

Mathmoss was roused from his peaceful sleep in the inn by Jaroo and Captain Oats. They told him to leave
the village at once. When he asked why Jaroo told him of the attack.
'It sounds more like you murdered him!', decried the ninja.

The following witnesses were called:

Mrs Murfle, the leather workers wife
Mr Weaver, the weaver
Mrs Hopps, the brewers wife

Like all small villages though, everyone knew everyone else and Mathmoss was deluding himself if he thought
the witnesses would do anything other than back the druid that had lived in their midst for forty or more years.
In fact, I am lead to believe Mrs Murfle was Jaroo's sister-in-law and Mrs Hopps his second cousin.

So, the mission falling apart, Mathmoss left town. He tried to at least retain Cale's possessions, but
these were confiscated. He paid the priest to cast 'Gentle Repose' on what remained of Cale and placed
in a box (after being partially digested by four crocodiles there was no need of something so big as a
coffin) and he left the village by himself, Humperdink now wanting nothing to do with him apparently.

(G207 25/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira)

(G207 25/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira)


DAY 217    (14th Marpenoth) ....

Once they had settled 'Clompy' into the stables and set up a watch schedule they settled
in to sleep. The child snuggled into the magic bedroll with Pensato.

DAY 218 (15th Marpenoth)

If the temple bell had anyone to ring it in Toadstone, it would have not long chimed four
in the morning when the child awakened and told Pensato that she needed to pee-pee.

Humperdink was on watch and when they did not return for some time he woke up Cale who
then woke up Mathmoss. The ninja took the lantern and went into the night to look for
them.

He worked his way round to the villages only inn and heard voices from within.
Looking under the main door he saw feet so climbed up the outer wall and quietly entered
the building via a window. The upper floor of the inn was given over to guest rooms
and the area was in darkness but he could see light coming up from the stairwell.

Creeping down the stairs he could see a gathering of twenty or so orcs around a stove,
cooking up some orcish food. One of them sniffed the air, as if it could detect
Mathmoss's scent. The ninja beat a hasty retreat.

When asked about what he had seen he replied,
'A ton or orcs! Pensato may already be in their cooking pot!'

Mathmoss and Cale returned to the inn and while Mathmoss went up and returned to the
stairs, Cale banged on the door,
'Whoever is in there! Come out with your hands up and I will spare your life!'
He then heard some hushed voices within.
He repeated his demand in all the languages he knew, knocking on the door and shouting.

Eventually an orc opened the door and asked 'Who are you?'
Cale instantly slew the orc with his scythe. One supposes it had not satisfied Cale in the matter
of meeting him at the door with hands raised.

Cale waded into the room to attack the orcs, but found that they all fled as fast as they could
out of the back door. He grabbed one though, crying out,
'Mathmoss we need a prisoner!'

The orc he grabbed was a juvenile female and struggle as she might, Cale had a good hold of
her. The others having fled, but Mathmoss caught two more orish children upstairs.

When questioned though it boiled down to this;

These orcs were part of the 'baggage train', women and children of the horde and part of the
Many Arrows tribe. They had been traveling with some warriors but had been attacked by
Waterdavian forces and fled. They had arrived at this inn just a few hours ago and were catching
their breath and having something to eat. They knew nothing about Pensato or the child.
The girl explained that she was actually a half-orc called Edna. She did not seem dangerous
in any way.

Humperdink was summoned and asked of he could track Pensato. He followed a trail in the dark
to the edge of the village but from that point on it was impossible.

Mathmoss went to bed, washing his hands of the whole affair. Cale took their only remaining
prisoner (the two other children having escaped) and dumped the half-orc girl on Mathmoss.
'You decide what to do with her.'
Saying nothing, Mathmoss untied her and shooed her out the door.

In the morning Humperdink examined the tracks again but they seemed to end mysteriously.
'I wonder though', he said, 'I have heard tell of a necromancer that lives in these parts.
Perhaps he had something to do with it?'
It seemed a bit thin though and lacking a better plan they packed up camp and head on their
way once more.

In the afternoon they arrived at the swampside cave of Glevenax, the old trollish sear that had
once told Oz and Alduin their fortunes.

It was still a large and reasonably well furnished cave and did not smell too bad considering that
a troll lived in it. Humperdink expressed no interest in getting his future foretold but Mathmoss
did and was instructed to bring a fish from the pond nearby.

First he stood for ten minutes, shivering wasted deep in the water, but found that his nunchucks were
poor implements for catching fish. When he returned to shore and started to make a trap Humperdink
approached him and said,
'What are you doing there, chief?'
'Fish trap.'
'Want to borrow my hook and line?'
Mathmoss left out a deep sigh.

Equipped with a fish he presented it to Glevenax. She spilled its guts out into a wide bronze bowl and
read the future there in. It wasn't all good.

'You will find a lot of treasure in the near future. But best make plans for a way to deal
with your impending death. A man of evil disposition will kill you. He is a tall, thin man, with
sharp features and protruding eyes.'

Mathmoss shuddered, then dried himself out by the fire.

DAY 219 (16th Marpenoth)

They set off in the morning and arrived at the village of Hommlet at eight o'clock in the evening.
Humperdink lead them to the Inn of the Welcoming Wench where Ostier Gundigoot was still the inn
keeper.

(G206 18/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 16

(G206 18/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 16

DAY 68 (fri) cont...

Kirk replicated three more drones bringing his total up to five. He also looked through the
shuttles records to see how easy it would be to weaponise them. It was possible but would take
too long. Instead he taped an industrial laser onto each drone alongside the camera. It would
cause a distraction at least and maybe dazzle an enemy if aimed right at his eyes.

He teleported out these Mark IIs out to join their kin over the skies of Schtackburg.

It was about 0400 hours when the drones converged on the street of Obser Varo. They managed
to narrow the Vidiian presence down to one building. No forcefield was detected.

They brought down the drones to a lower altitude and narrowed it down to the middle
three floors of the five floor building. Noxus teleported onto the roof and set up a
transporter enhancer, then scanned for the bomb. He was distracted by sirens below
him though. On hearing this, Kirk landed all the drones on the roof to keep them
safe.

Straining his ears Noxus could hear the sound of voices as people entered the building
from the street below. He scanned them, but they were locals, not Vidiians.

As he continued to scan he heard shouting, then a single gunshot from below. Kirk
teleported a Treebadian disguise kit and then teleported him to the forth floor.

On the landing he met a Treebadian female coming up the stairs. She was stern looking
and wearing a patterned wool jumper. Noxus, his mind racing to come up with ideas, bluffed
that he really needed the toilet.
'I need the toilet!'
'Do you live here?, replied the woman.
'Of course!'
'On this floor?'
'Not on this floor...'
'I'm Detective Stiva. You can't go downstairs just yet, see if one of your neighbours will help.'
Noxus knocked on the nearest door and a little old man let him in. Noxus pretended to go to the
bathroom.

The detective was still there when he returned though. She talked on her radio and Kirk was listening in.
'Suspect won't come out... Says he knows nothing about the drones..'
Kirk decided to break in to their radio and sternly intoned,
'Attention police. This building has a bomb at this level. I have detected it by the use of my drones. There is
another in Vanadis park. The drones are here to aid you in this crisis.'
The detective said,
'Unknown caller, identify yourself!'
'I regret to inform you I cannot. We removed the threat from Hummelgarden and disabled the bomb. I'm only trying
to assist the city and remove the imminent threat.'
'Please leave this frequency!'
'Please accept my help!'
'What help exactly? Please leave this frequency,'

While she was talking to Kirk, Noxus observed her use another electronic device, as if the were sending messages
or looking something up. Next he noticed a look of surprise on her face as she read from the device.
Kirk continued to reveal more of the Vidiian's plot and told her of the nuclear bombs that had been placed
around the city as part of their terror attack.
As she talked she walked down the stairs and she was replaced by another policeman called Heinrich.

More police arrived and went to the door of the Vidiians flat. Noxus and Kirk waited to see what
was going to happen. As people began to look out their doors to see what all the commotion was about
the police kicked their way in.

Kirk moved the drones from the roof and transported Noxus back to the shuttle.
Meanwhile the radio conversation continued,
'Mysterious person. Are you still there?'
Kirk could hear the click of a car door opening and closing.
'Yes'. Kirk went on to tell her about the Vidiians, the Phage and their organ harvesting ways.
'Who are these people? What country are they from?'
'That's not important.'

Noxus checked his gear and Kirk flew the drones to the park. Police helicopters followed them for
a while, but then held back. Scanning the park Noxus detected the residual effects of a forcefield
in the area. The Vidiians had been there recently.

On the radio they heard;
'In position now sir!'
'Stay off this channel!'

Ensign Kirk teleported to the southern most point of the park and approached the area the Vidiians
were in. He threw a dazzle grenade toward the bandstand.
Noxus approached from the west and threw incendiary grenades towards the Vidiian strong point.

Kirk sent in drones and one was shot down. It was hard to see the shadowy figures in the darkness
of the park but the Vidiians were definitely there and returning fire.

Using the cameras of the drones routed through his tricorder Kirk could make out that this area
was a pond with a path that went either side of it to a bandstand around which where placed dozens
of chairs.

Noxus threw another grenade, making a Vidiian run back to a darker location. For some reason known only
to himself Noxus then took off at the spring northwards, perhaps thinking to flank them, but in the
dark he ran headlong into a bush. He then changed his mind and joined the shooting.

Kirk continued to shoot at the Vidiians. It was a tense firefight as each shot gave away his location,
but each time he was shot at he then knew where one of the enemy was. In the end though, he was not enough
to take them all one and when they were both stunned by the Vidiian weapons they transported
back to the shuttle by the automatic return protocol Kirk had programmed previously.

Noxus was the first to regain consciousness. He could hear drilling coming from the side of the shuttle.
Looking out a window he could see that somehow they had come to be on the dockside.

He activated the shields and the people around the craft were pushed away from it. The cardassian then
had a bite to eat and a nice cup of tea.
He opened a channel to outside and talked,
'How may i help you?'
'The bomb goes off in minutes!', yelled back Detective Stiva, 'We killed the Vidiians , but we don't
know what to do with the bomb!'

Grasping the situation Noxus flew the shuttle up over the part and transported the bomb out into
space.

As they left the star system the Vidiian Warship poked its head out from behind a moon and approached
them.
'Stop where you are!', its captain demanded.
'We are the U.S.S Bikini. 0-6-0-6.' replied Kirk and other nonsense.
'Surrender!'

The warship was stronger and better armed than the shuttle, but slower, so they had not much trouble
avoiding it and heading back to Voyager.

DAY 69 (thu)

Ensign Kirk spent most of the return flight, while not asleep, writing his report and working on
his M.A.T.S.E project (the new name for T.I.T.S).

At 0600 hours they arrived at Voyager.

They reported to the med bay for a routine check up. Kirk submitted his Design documents to Torres.

(G205 04/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), LD) 15

(G205 04/07/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), LD) 15

Personnel File : Evoras
Race           : Vulcan
Dept           : Science Division
Rank           : Ensign (Specialist 3)

Evoras worked as a freelance deep space science researcher before joining Starfleet.
Her experience includes field operations, biology, zoology and anthropology.
After the Academy she worked on smaller vessels before joining the crew of Voyager.

(G204 27/06/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Alex)

(G204 27/06/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Alex)

DAY 216    (13th Marpenoth) cont ...

They talked to the orc lad a little more and he said:

'I was at the battle, but I don't understand it. Ask the old one over there if you want to know. I didn't fight,
I'm too small, just carried messages. My father is .. was .. a swordsman of The Hard Skull Tribe. My father says
that we are vassals of the Many Arrows tribe and that when King Obould said march then we were honour bound to
march. Honour brought my father to his grave... *sigh* .. well it was the death he would have wanted. Dying in
battle is better than starving to death in a frost covered cave in the mountains.'

Cale was adamant that they leave him there and that orcs could not be trusted although he did leave some food
and water. The lad asked if he could share his food with the old orc in the next cage but this request was
refused.

After this they traveled for two more hours. Their path passed close to a village, a few hundred yards away
through the trees. As they passed they heard a scream of pain.

Cale instantly starting running towards it, but once onto the main road a young man with a spear saw them and
yelled, 'Halt!'
They stopped and then he said, 'Now bugger off!', just as another scream was heard.
'We can hear people in trouble!, stated Cale.
The young man eyed the three adventurers. He saw a bard, an acrobatic type and a dancer.
'What are you? The fucking circus?', he asked.

They turned and conferred with Humperdink who told them,
'The village is called Govallen. It has strong walls. That lad over there is not local, he has a northern
accent. Most likely a hiresword or mercenary.'

Cale advanced on the man, who then took to his heels and ran for the village gate. As they got closer they
heard a woman scream.

Cale demanded that the gate was opened and a large armoured man with a bristly black beard and missing
teeth opened it.
'Well?'
'What's going on in there?'
'Go away.'
Cale stood his ground, 'I want to see in here.'
The mercenary leader gave a hideous smile and said, 'Well now. In you come.'
Pensato whispered a warning, but Cale resolutely advanced.

Before them was a dreadful sight. In the centre of the village the mercenaries were torturing the
villagers then slaying them one by one. The leader went over to a woman that looked like a tavern wench.
He picked her up by the neck and threatened her with a dagger,
'Where is the treasure!' he bellowed in her face.
She struggled and choked out a negative answer. The mercenary then stabbed her in the heart.

Horrified, Cale and Pensato had advanced into the village square. They didn't notice that they were
surrounded by about a dozen heavily armed mercenaries and that Mathmoss had vanished.

The chief, a human called Rankar, told them to surrender. They refused though and a fight began. Cale did
the best he could, dancing and whirling around the battle, striking with his scythe, and Pensato did his best
to help with his bardic magic, but surrounded and outnumbered the battle was not long in being lost.
(They did glance Mathmoss fighting elsewhere in an alley during it.)

Cale and Pensato were disarmed and pushed to the ground while Rankar tortured and killed two more locals.

Pensato managed to use his magical powers to 'Suggest' to Rankar that he should stop killing the villagers.
Rankar said, 'You know what. I'm going to leave the villagers alone now!'
One of the mercenaries was the designated healer, his name was Stef. He said,
'Boss! Boss! It's a bardic trick!' and knocked Pensato over the head with a club sending the poor fellow
senseless down into the road.
'A trick eh?', said Rankar, 'Well, I'll ask you circus folk then. Where. Is. The. Treasure?!'

Cale, serene and calm, answered that he did not know of any treasure.
'The orcish treasure!', demanded Rankar, 'What do you know of it? The orcs buried their loot somewhere in
this village before the army came.'
Cale ran this through his head but decided to give only the exact truth.
'I know nothing of the treasure.'
'OK, well, lets see if this makes you remember.'

As two men held his arm out, Rankar cut off the pinky finger of Cale's right hand.
'Where is the treasure?'
'I don't know where it is.' said Cale with exactness.

As Rankar's dagger pressed into his heart though, Cale decided that only answering questions with only the exact
answers was perhaps not working out that well for him,
'Uh! Um! But I do know where there is a orc that might know the location of the treasure.'

Once they had the directions Rankar sent some of his men back to the crossroads and after a few hours the
orc lad arrived at the village. It was getting dark when they returned and the first man back said,
'We killed the other orcs, but this kid was where the dancing fella said he would be...'

Rankar threatened the orc lad,
'Where is the treasure?'
'Don't tell him! He'll kill you anyway!', stated Cale.
'Shut up you!', growled Rankar.
The orc lad pleaded for his life,
'I only know it was under a tree in the orchard. I can't count, but the chief made me memorise this riddle!'
He then recited:

''
'Count from East and Count from North,
If you would dig up a bounty's worth,

Take first the number of legs on a donkey,
Then add the number of ears on a monkey,
Add again the number of eyes in my head,
And takeaway the number of wives I have wed.

Now I have counted the first number, lets go,
And counting from here the next number I'll know,

Begin with a dozen baker's rolls, tasty and hot,
Of prongs on a trident, subtract the lot,
Take off now the number when counting of basilisks legs,
And finally add the number when counting of chimera heads'
''

Rankar scratched his head. Cale didn't even try to work it out.
'A bit of a poet then, your chief.', said Rankar.
'He was a bard.' replied the boy.
'Huh, Stef, wake up that sack of dung.' said Rankar kicking poor Pensato.

Once awake though, Pensato solved the riddle with ease (or so he though initially).
'The answer is: 4+2+1-4 = 3 and 12-3-8+3 = 4'

'Right', said Rankar and lead them all out into the orchard. They then counted along three trees and up four.
His men began to dig by torchlight, but after they'd gone down six feet they gave up.
Rankar went over and grabbed Pensato,
'Guess again, bard...'
'Um!', gulped Pensato, 'Well perhaps it would be a baker's dozen, as in thirteen? That would mean the next tree
up!'
The men began to dig again and after a few feet they hit the top of a chest,
'We've got something boss!'
Rankar jumped down into the hole and opened the lid. The chest was full of coins! As he groped to get at them
though, his second in command, a man called Weynard, decided that a change of management was in order and since
Rankar was still somewhat injured from his fighting with Cale he chose this time to stab his master in the back
with his sword.
Ranker bellowed and leapt out the hole. Now it was mercenary versus mercenary as each decided who they preferred
as their master.

The orc boy fled for the village gate, Cale and Pensato not long behind him. Cale decided to get his manacles out
and at the gate grabbed the boy to handcuff him. But he only got one on before Stef and some of the other mercenaries
arrived, either chasing the prisoners or fleeing the battle. The orc lad fled into the village and was not found
again.

In a fine display of agility Cale snatched the sword right out of Stef's hand and then slew him with it.
He then injured another mercenary who then tried to ask for mercy, but Cale finished him off. All the while,
Pensato acted as an invisible helper, using his magic to be totally unseen by their enemies.

Pensato used up some of the last reserves of his magic to heal himself and Cale and they entered the village.
There were three mercenaries still in the centre though but Pensato snuck around them and finding their
weapons in a pile, took his rapier and threw Cale's scythe over to the dancer. It would have been impressive
if he had caught it, but he did not. The mercenaries, none the less, were easily defeated and they ran
for the eastern gate as the bulk of the mercenary force entered through the west, their management issues
seemingly resolved.

They caught up with Humperdink and the others and fled. After a little while Mathmoss joined them.
'Where the hell have you been?' they asked.
'Playing murder in the dark.' came the quiet reply.

DAY 217    (14th Marpenoth)

After putting some distance between themselves and Govallen they spend the night camped out in the wild.

In the morning they moved on, using the small trails between the river and the main road.

Around noon they arrived at the village of Trout Bridge.

A local warned them,
'Gah! The whole army is chasing the horde up north. After loot and glory!
But what about the stragglers left behind? There are desperate bands of orcs
scattered all the way up to Longsaddle. There are hundreds around Goldenfields.
Stick to the roads! Travel only during the day! You are as good as dead otherwise.'

'Pishposh!' Humperdink replied, 'I know better roads, the old smuggler ways. Much safer!'

That night in the village tavern Pensato told stories to entertain the locals. He also told a tale of unicorns
at the request of the little girl.

They set off again and late at night arrived at the abandoned village of Toadstone. They selected
a small hut by the river to set up camp, thinking that the tavern might be too dangerous a target for orcs
and bandits.

(G203 13/06/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, Mira, Alex)

(G203 13/06/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, Mira, Alex)

[And now, dear reader, is probably a good time to go back to Waterdeep for a while and write of things that
were going on back there. While I was getting more and more involved in things that were none of my business
in Cormyr, Waterdeep, of course, was still troubled and many interesting things were happening.

So, to start this next segment of these tales of adventure we must first go back a few days to two days before
Cavu joined Fenrir, Corum and the rest in their descent into the Undermountain. Cavu was a busy man at this
time and had many things to arrange. This is the story of one of those arrangements...]

DAY 215    (12th Marpenoth)

If you remember, one of the crew of the Sea Wyvern had been an athletic young man called Mathmoss. He didn't
stay as part of the crew very long, but had been present for a lot of interesting occurrences.
He joined us shortly after Retzal had left and helped out during the fight with the pirates of 'Purity's
Prow'. He'd been with us at Port Nyranzaru, been in the fights against the flotsam ooze, both of the giant
octopuses and the sea hag.
He'd been at Fort Greenock where we had fought the goblins and spiders. He'd been in the fight against the
pirate ship that had been Captain Crispy's previous command. He'd been with us when the Sea Wyvern and the
Blue Nixies had had their famous fight with the sea hydra.
Still, he pretty much left us without warning when we'd arrived at Renkrue. Perhaps he'd had enough fighting,
although he'd always seemed to enjoy leaping about in the rigging during the battles and using his strange
eastern powers to defeat his enemies.
Perhaps he's simply amassed enough treasure to want to go and spent it somewhere?

In any event, he was now in Waterdeep and had seen the Sea Wyvern anchored in the harbour and decided to
look up his old shipmates.

He found Lirith, Skald, Meree and Liamae still taking it easy in Warmbeds, Dockward. They had plenty
of treasure still and were having a good enough time relaxing. Nobby was at Hova Farm though, helping out
with the sick and starving there and Veddic was just about to leave for the Undermountain.

He said he was in search of adventure so they told him,
'Try asking for Cavu the Cursed in the Singing Sword. Veddic is always up there and getting into all sorts
of trouble!'

He thanked them and headed up to the Market Square. He noted that their were scaffolds and pyres in the
square. So it was true, he thought, Waterdeep is burning demon worshippers these days.

The other two gentlemen pertinent to this tale were already at the Singing Sword. They were Cale Cresthill,
a young dervish from Anauroch, his tribe had been broken up by the orc horde and he was in Waterdeep to
rest for a while before going back east, and Pensato, a young bard and storyteller from parts as yet to
be discussed.

Mathmoss entered the tavern at around noon and sat down at a table. Not long after a slight elven bard
came down from upstairs. Looking hungover he ordered some breakfast. Some patrons asked him for a song
and he strummed his lute and gently sung a few verses from Fenrir's song:


[ 'The Staff of Thunder' is presented in full elsewhere in my journal.]

...
There once was a building that brewed whiskey and beer,
But now is purpose is making devil's tremble with fear,
The Brewery Gang are now living with-in,
Fenrir Thunderstaff and his brethir-in,
...

Later two men came and talked to Cavu (for it was he) in low voices and left again. Later still, Mathmoss
observed another man come and hand Cavu a roll of paper. (I will take a guess and say this was my brother Corum!)

Pensato had not long arrived in the tavern and was interested to meet another bard. He came and sat with
Cavu and got him to talk of his 'troubles'. Just as he was getting into full flow, he suddenly jumped
up and said, 'Yes ok Mother, I'm coming. No need to shout!'

He left two gold on the table and told Pensato he would be back in just a minute. Astounded at the outburst
Pensato ordered more drinks.

Another man, grumbled a warning to Pensato along the lines of 'Watch what you are doing with that one!' and
left.

Cavu returned and talked to Pensato.
'I need someone to do me a favour and travel up river. My usual helpers are all getting ready for a trip
into the unknown and I am getting short of useful people. You seem trustworthy. Perhaps you and the tough
looking fellow over there [Indicates Cale] and the young fellow standing behind me pretending not to be
here [Indicates Mathmoss] could do this for me? I'll pay 200 gold each. I'm not usually in the habit of hiring
strangers in the tavern, but I'm in a hurry!'

Cale came over, 'What's this?' and Mathmoss shrugged and sat down.

'Who was the guy that just left?' asked Pensato.

'That was Alduin. He's a good fellow, but I think he misses home. He recently saw some things that are best
left unspoken of.. well you know what the city is like at the moment.. and I think it will take him a time
to recover. Which is a shame as he has been up the river before and would have been useful, but no matter.'

Cavu handed over the money,
'Buy what you need. I will go arrange a guide for you. If I can find him I'll send him right here. A gnome
called Humperdink. He knows the Sword Coast like the back of his hand. I need you to go to Hommlett and ask
for a cleric called Freddorick, he knows the location of a Yuan-ti portal. The last one from the troubles the
city had two years ago and the only one the Grey Hands did not close. It, I hope, leads east to a town called
Kingsholm and if all goes well I will soon need to get there as fast as I can.'

They spent the rest of the afternoon getting supplies ready for their trip east.

By four o'clock Cavu had returned. He then proceeded to get drunk and sing merry songs for the benefit
of the tavern patrons.

Cale, a splendid dancer, began to dance with the pretty girls of the Singing Sword. Seeing this, and liking
it Mathmoss pulled an elven lass from the crowd and joined the dance.

Cale and Pensato went to bed at a sensible time, but Mathmoss tumbled a local wench upstairs in his room
and was up half the night.

DAY 216    (13th Marpenoth)

Humperdink was just about ready to go when the all got downstairs for breakfast. Mathmoss had purchased
a horse, but the rest would be on foot.

As they left the city via the southern gate a madman shouted at them and all the other passing people.
His words were something like:
''
Beware the lord of serpents! The Living Lord of Serpents!  For countless eons he healed! The madness!!
The madness of his serpent demon form!! And yet, he prefers the serpent form! At least in Part!
Fear the lord of serpents!! Tremble mortals! The Serpent Lord! Aroo!
For he is a jealous lord and he is jealous of all other gods! Jealous! Wibble!
He wages war with a serpent staff and rod and - he comes! He comes!!! He will bring down every nation with
an army of serpents and monsters! Aieeee!!!!'

Humperdink lead them along the main road for a while, then onto a smaller road and then finally onto a small
track that followed the river. There had been heavy rains lately in this region, a blessing to the drought
struck farmers, but this had swollen the river and flooded the banks.

As they walked they saw a small child stranded on a muddy bank, cut off from the riverside by twenty feet
of fast flowing, churning, muddy water.

They didn't hesitate to try and rescue her though, and after many attempts at jumping and being pulled back
by rope, Mathmoss eventually got her to safety. Pensato did his best to sooth her and offered to tell her
a story, but when she said she wanted a story about a bear, he was tongue-tied. He knew a thousand stories
but none about a bear that were suitable for a four year old girl!

She was cold and shivering though, so Mathmoss wrapped her up in his magic bedroll. Humperdink lead them to
an abandoned farmhouse where they lit a fire and warmed her up.
Judging by her clothing they reckoned her to be a merchants daughter. When asked where she was from she
said,
'Number 6, Rusty Way, Goldenfields.'
'What does that mean?', quizzed Pensato.
'It's her address.', grumbled Humperdink.
'I ran away from some baddies!', gasped the little girl, 'Green with big teeth!'
'How many?' asked Cale
'Twelvty!'

After lunch they continued on their way, Pensato carrying the girl on his back.

In the afternoon they came upon a crossroads where nine cages had been placed, each of which had a dying
orc inside it.
One of the orcs groaned, 'Have mercy human! Some water...'
Cale questioned the orc who said,
'I was part of the horde, but my chief wanted to stay and raid more when they moved north. We were caught
and put here.'
Cale took out his water skin and drank from it to torment the orc.

They moved on and as they left the last orc called out to them. This one was smaller than the others,
'Hey! Humans! Take pity on me! I am just a child! I know where they buried the treasure! Half the
hordes treasure is buried not far from here. I can take you!'
'We care not for treasure!', said Cale with dignity and turned to leave.
'Uh! Wait just a minute!', said Mathmoss and Pensato simultaneously.

(G202 06/06/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 14

(G202 06/06/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 14


DAY 67 (thu) cont....

It was about noon in Schtackburg when they started using the shuttle to scan for Vidiian
lifesigns across the city.

This method lacked resolution though so they decided to set up boosters. Towards this end Noxus
replicated nine signal boosters (In dimensions - a tube about three feet long) and Kirk teleported
him to the roof of the hospital and set one up as an initial test.

It seemed to give clear readings of life signs out to about 200m of the hospital. It wasn't all good
news though, on the way back Kirk made a mistake with the transporter and instead of bringing him
back to the shuttle dropped Noxus in the river!

Much to the astonishment of a nearby tourist boat he trod water for a bit and then vanished when
Kirk got a good lock on him and finaly returned him to the shuttle.

They set up programs to interpret the data and put another booster on a taller tower in the centre
of the city. Kirk had a brain wave though and replicated some drones. Using existing templates in
the replicator for such devices he created a flying vehicle about 75cm square that had a rotor on
each corner and could lift the weight of the sensors.

They then transported it to a few hundred metres above the city and flew it remotely on its first
test flight. This went well so they replicated three more.

After the drones did a full sweep of the city the data showed that there were about 200 Vidiian's
in the city! Kirk let out a deep sigh, this was more than they could handle!

They used a communicator to listen in on the Vidiians coms. Next Noxus managed to get a lock on
a single vidiian and beam the unlucky being onto the shuttle where Kirk contained him in a
forcefield.

The Vidiian was naturally fearful, but refused to help them,
'I won't help you! Do with me... as you will!'

Kirk started to restrict the forcefield, crushing his victim,
'This is most uncomfortable!'
As the forcefield grew smaller the vidiian started to cry and wept,
'I have a wife and family you know!'

Kirk turned the forcefield black and left it alone for ten minutes,
'Release me, you buffoons!' cried the vidiian,
'We will release you, 30 miles up in space!', threatened Kirk.
'OK, OK.', pleaded the vidiian, 'All I know is that one of the bombers is called Borux, I can
tell you where his hideout is and where is meeting point is, but that's all I know!'

Kirk thanked the vidiian and teleported him 30 miles in a random direction. The poor fellow most
likely landed in the sea.

Next Kirk wrote a program to monitor the vidiians communicator for words like 'cell', 'bomb' and
'initiate'.

It was 6pm local time now so they replicated some food and ate. When it was time to get started on finding
Borux, Kirk sprayed himself in Treebadian odour and Noxus transported him to the roof of the bombers
building.

After he'd scanned it he was then transported inside to a living room. The scanner showed up some vidiian
tech but was otherwise empty. There was also two envelopes which he took back to the shuttle to translate.

They moved the drones to the address on the second envelope. Karlsvagen Street. It was now 7pm.

Scans showed a single vidiian lifesign and some tech. Kirk transported onto the roof. Noxus tried to transport
the vidiian out of the flat but accidentally killed him by dropping him in mid air.

Once inside the flat, Kirk searched it and found a large metallic suitcase. It was a bomb! A scan showed it to
be a small nuclear device. Noxus teleported it out into space. 20,000 km, the maximum range of the transporter.

Kirk came back to the shuttle. Shortly afterwards, at 10pm, they lost a drone. Kirk built another one and attached
a comms badge to it. Noxus tried to transport back the lost one's remains but could not get a lock on it.

They also overheard some comms traffic. One vidiian was warning the others to use forcefields to protect their
bombs. It seemed that Starfleet's presence was now know on of on Treebad.

The drones were doing their job though and located another house where two vidiians and a bomb were located.
This was on street called Brännkyrkagatan.

Once more Kirk beamed into the area to get more detailed scans with his tricorder. Out on the street, Kirk could see that
Treebadian police were using search lights. He assumed they were looking for his drones.

The detailed scans complete, Noxus's first attempt to transport out the vidiians failed and they starting to run from
their flat. His next lock succeeded and he transported the vidiians and the bomb out into space. Then he locked onto
Kirk and beamed him back to the shuttle.

Kirk beamed back the drones and tried to make them more stealthy, painting them matt black and covering up the flashing
lights on the boosters.

DAY 68 (fri)

The drones had already identified the next target. The Vidiians were in a park called Hummelgarden. Five vidiians and
the bomb were located in an ornamental garden near the middle of the park.

Kirk brought in the drones to get a closer look of the area. The lost comms to one of the drones and were down to three
again. There were a lot of Treebadian police at the north entrance of the park.

Kirk and Noxus transported to a spot a hundred metres or so north of the bomb. Noxus approached directly while Kirk
circled around. Noxus stepped on a twig though and the twitch vidiians started shooting. Kirk and Noxus returned fire,
a heavy firefight began. The vidiians had a force field around the small garden, this meant that Kirk had to find the
frequency of the shield before he could shoot into it.

Noxus was hit and took cover behind a tree. A vidiian hunted after him, but he beamed out. Kirk downed one of the vidiians
and then another, using his sniper phase-rifle. But the return fire was too heavy and he was out in the open, so, badly
injured he also beamed back to the shuttle.

The vidiian forcefield was preventing them from getting a lock on to it with the transporter. Kirk brought the drones
down lower and then lower still to try and scan the forcefield. Eventually they got a lock and beamed the bomb out into
space, but they lost another drone in the process.

Breathing a sigh of relief they moved the drones back up into the clouds. Noxus beamed up the forcefield generator from
the park and 300kg of machinery arrived in the small cargo area.