(G214 19/09/2014 via Roll20 - AP(GM), Mira)

(G214 19/09/2014 via Roll20 - AP(GM), Mira)

[This from another source...]

As so it was that, undaunted by her previous encounters, that Mirabella, accompanied by Sylvia,
continued clearing the undead infested basement.

They cleared the room of 4 skeletons, taking only minor injury and proceeded to open the door at
the far end, after checking for noise and traps. ( This was to be a tactic employed at every door
they encountered.)
This door led to a short, 10 foot long corridor, ending in another door. Again, the duo listened
and checked for traps, and they found no traps and heard no sound. However, when they opened the
door, they were confronted by 2 Ogres.

After a bit of back and forth combat and Sylvia receiving an extremely heavy blow that may well
have felled someone of a lesser constitution, the duo decided to lure the Ogres back to the pit
trap the previously encountered. With the Ogres hot on their heels, they managed to make it to
the pit trap unkilled. Luckily, the Ogres, being of a large size, were slowed by having to squeeze
through doors that they were able to run through. With the 2 ogres on one side of the pit and our
heroes on the other, they managed to kill one of them and heavily wound the second. However, the
second ogre then jumped over the pit and made to strike them down. Luckily, Mirabella was able to
dispatch the ogre with a number of well placed arrows, causing it to fall backwards into the pit.
After taking stock of their wounds, healing up and catching their breath, the duo retraced their
steps and searched the “ogre room”, and found a few items and some gold in a large pile of bones.
They then continued their search and entered a room that had some sort of feral beast in it.

Despite our heroes not knowing what it was, they managed to kill it. Mirabella noticed that her
blows were having no effect on the creature and only Sylvia’s magic weapon was having an effect.
During this battle, Mirabella was bitten a number of times.
This almost concluded their search, with only a couple or rooms left to search. However, in one
of the last rooms, they came across another Ogre!
However, our, now battle hardened heroes managed to dispatch it with relative ease and declared
the basement “clear”.

(G212 05/09/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira)

(G212 05/09/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira)


DAY 223 (20th Marpenoth)  (October)

In the morning they met up and planned the days activities. Between them they had a notion to
ask around Goldenfields and try and decern the meaning of 'MH'. What it could be and where.

Goldenfields is a large complex of farms centered around a fortified abbey. The wall around the abbey
encloses a small town of about fifty buildings including the inn they were staying in. Outside the
wall were ten farms of various sizes. Including the farmland the area of Goldenfields could be said
to be about twenty square miles.

Before the horde had arrived the outer farms were all prosperous and well populated, heavily patrolled
by mounted guards from the abbey. But when reevers from the horde of Obuld Many-Arrows had arrived the
farms had been abandoned and the farm folk relocated to the shelter of the abbey.

With the horde moving off though, the folk were drifting back to their burnt out houses and beginning
repairs.

Mathmoss said he would scout about outside the walls and leave the abbey and inside the walls to Cale.
So, they split up, saying they would meet up later that day at the Inn.

Now, what Mathmoss got up to, I do not know as he never told anyone, but I do know that Cale started
by talking to the innkeeper and then went on to the abbey. Cale decided to go straight to the top and
talk to Tolgar Anuvien, the Lord of Goldenfields.

The guards wouldn't let him into the main abbey building but a cleric by the name of Brother Maynard
came out to talk to him and offered him tea in a guard house.

Cale started talking and told of his story, of helping protect Waterdeep, meeting Mathmoss and Pensato
and seeking adventure had accepted a quest to go to Hommlett. He then told Maynard he was looking for
something called 'MH' that was not too far from Hommlett.

'Why do you not ask in Hommlett?' inquired the cleric.
'We were not made welcome there.' said Cale in rather an understated tone.

Maynard left and came back half an hour later with a dusty tome.
'Now, this text is rather out of date.', he said, 'But I think I know where your MH is. Firstly though,
if I could ask you to make a small donation to the abbey?'

Cale gave one gold, but when Maynard raised an eyebrow he made it up to ten.

'Very well. MH must mean "Moat House", this is a ruined building about half a days journey from Hommlett.
According to this historical text, it was once a forward base for a group known as the 'Cult of Elemental
Evil'. They were interested in subjugating all the lands in this area and building a Temple to their evil
god. This never happened as Waterdavian forces came and put a stop to it.
The Moat House fell into ruin and this book makes no more mention of it. I do know, from my own knowledge
though that the Cult of Elemental Evil were a splinter group linked to another evil group called the
Vanguard of Sertrous. You may or may not remember the yaun-ti incursions of two years ago? I am lead to
belief this Vanguard had something to do with it also. Does this help?'

Cale nodded and said that it did. He thanked Maynard and went back to the inn to wait for Mathmoss.

At noon he had his lunch in the main room. He noticed a cloaked and hooded female figure watching him
but did not approach her. When he went to his room, after a few minutes there was a knock on the door.

The women came in and sat at the table.
'Who are you?' asked Cale.
'My name is Reva. What business do you have in Goldenfields?'

Cale gave an evasive answer. He noticed that she fiddled with a ring and he felt a rush of magic wash
over him but he resisted it.
'You are strong.', she said, 'But look into my eyes.'
Cale looked everywhere but her eyes and resisted another urge to go against his will.

She leant in to kiss him and he grabbed her, wrestling her to the ground. She clawed at his face but
missed. She then seemed to fade and blur, but he retained his grip on her and she could not get free.

Cale pinned her and tried to grab at her sword. She cried out in some language he did not recognize.

A hooded man burst in and cast a spell that broke Cale's will.
The man said,
'Come with us, calmly and in silence.'
Cale could no nothing other than what the man suggested.

He was lead through the streets of Goldenfields to a house on the north west wall. He was lead downstairs
into a cell. He saw that is was a reasonably large chamber, with three torches on the wall providing light.
There was a woman chained to one wall and what appeared to be a sleeping heap of clothes on the other side.

Reva asked all the same questions she had asked before. Who had sent him. Why was he here. But Cale was no longer
under the power of the suggestion and remained evasive.

She warned him,
'You are better off talking to me. If the master comes down to question you, then you'll be in a bad way.'

She left him in the cell for three hours.

He looked at the chained female and saw that she was unconscious and covered in blood so he left her alone.
Now, perhaps an adventurer with more initiative might have tried to heal her wounds, or investigate the pile
of clothes, or take a torch from the wall or anything indeed to try and escape, but Cale was often prone to
bouts of passive indecision and merely calmly waited until his captors returned.

And so, later in the afternoon Reva returned and asked,
'What is your business in Goldenfields?'
She was met with silence, so tutted and turned to leave, knocking on the locked door to be let out.
Cale went in for the grapple once more and grabbed her. She slashed at him with her long nails.

Two snake headed men change into the room and one of them bit Cale in the arm. He felt poison course
through his body, but his strong constitution fended it off.

'Just let me go!', hissed Reva, 'You don't realise it, but I'm your best friend here! And also the least of a threat.'

Cale went for the dagger at her belt but couldn't quite get it. The two snake headed men tried to get a hold
of him, to drag him off Reva but he was too agile and his grip was too strong. They drew their scimitars and started
to whack him with the flats of their blades.

I should imagine their was an element of comedy in this struggle as Cale held onto the woman and dodged blows from
their swords. When a sword struck him it would clunk off his head or shoulders.

Both of the men also managed to bite him again, which was less amusing and as he weakened the woman suddenly turned
into a snake and slithered out of the door.

Cale took the opportunity to leap out after her though, and once he was free to use his fancy footwork there was
no catching him. He was straight up the stairs, shouldering doors out of the way and smashing out of a ground
floor window before the snake people could react.

The crash through the window was all his system could take though and he landed in an unconscious heap in the
street.

He awoke on a bed in a small room. There were three other beds in the room and weak autumnal light filtered
in through a single high window. Brother Maynard gave him a smile and came over.
'What happened to you?'

Cale told him everything he remembered. He gave the location of the house he was held captive in.

'Well', mused Maynard, 'It sounds like you encountered Yuan-ti. The Vanguard are here in Goldenfields then?
That is worrying. We owe you thanks then, for alerting us to their presence.'

At six o'clock Cale found that he was very weak from the poison in his system and Maynard advised him of what
his options were. Magical restoration would be expensive, but a stay in the hospital would be much cheaper.

He had is stuff sent over and organised a message being left for Mathmoss.

At nine o'clock Maynard informed him that the house had been raided, but had been empty. There was a dead
woman in one of the cells with her throat cut but other than that nothing.

At ten o'clock a guard captain came to take his statement. Cale told the whole story, including the fact
that Cavu had sent him.

(G210 22/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Al)

(G210 22/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), Mira, Al)

DAY 220 (17th Marpenoth) (october) cont....

And thus, Mathmoss left town on his horse. He went back towards Waterdeep on the main road for about
two miles.

Now, to refresh your memories, you may remember that about a month ago (DAY 196) Fenrir had spilled
his guts about the location of Gertrude the White to none other than Meleghost Starseer, joint head
of the Waterdeep Inquisition.

The results of this are not fully known to me, but one of most interesting things about this tale is
that Gertrude herself appears in it.

While riding along the main road, in the misty distance he saw a lone figure dressed in white robes
and leaning on a staff or spear. As he got closer he could see she wore a blindfold but seemed not
to stumble.

Now, Mathmoss is not usually in the habit of helping old ladies but he must of sensed who he was
dealing with because after talking to her and finding she was on her way to Goldenfields he offered
to accompany her.

'You know it is very dangerous around here, how can you find your way if you are blind?' he asked
'Oh, I am not blind!', she replied, 'I wear the blindfold because I am tired of the smell around
here. I can see perfectly well with my ears.'
Mathmoss didn't know what to make of this, but even went so far as to allow her to ride on his horse.

By the end of the day they arrived at the outskirts of Goldenfields. They stopped at an abandoned farm
and Gertude took great interest in the box that contained what was left of Cale.

'Open it.', she said.

Once open, she begane a divine ritual, the bit of corpse began to reform and before Mathmoss's eyes
Cale was reborn, dressed only in bloody tatters.

He was confused at first, but Gertrude reassured him.

All cale could remember of death was tight rows of orchards with streams snaking across a perfectly flat
plain. In the distance he had seen perfectly laid out cities and roads but had not got close to them
before he had been ushered back to the material plane.

He borrowed some clothes and a scythe from the farm.

Gertrude gave some advise to Cale before toddling off to the gates of the abbey at Goldenfields,
'There is greatness in you, young man. If you are true to yourself, to your inner goodness, then you
will achieve wonderful things.'

Cale nodded in thanks and rested for a while to let it all sink in.

As it approached midnight they too headed for the town gates. There were twenty mounted guards
at the front of the gate. They were a little wary of these new arrivals at first but once they
had talked for a while, their commander wrot them a two-day pass and let them in. He recommended
that they stay at the Boar's Skull Inn.

DAY 221 (18th Marpenoth) (October)

Cale borrowed some money from Mathmoss and opted for the common room. During the night a drunken
old tramp first tried to kiss him and then to rob him.

Cale snatched the dagger of the old man when it was drawn, but gave it back. When the tramp started
shouting another man in the room yelled,
'For God's sake, shut up!' and whacked the old man over the head with a chamber pot.

In the morning Cale tried to wake the old tramp, but he was incoherent. He lay the dagger beside the
old man and left.

Cale and Mathmoss had breakfast then went and purchased a chain shirt from the armoury. They then
headed back to Hommlet.

That night Mathmoss broke into Freddorick's house with ease and after looking around found some
copied out journal entries, which read:

***

26th Flamerule 1376DR
'And so they left today. Osbourne seems determined and ready for anything. I wish him well in his
quest to get all the clues he'll need for Kingsholm but I do wonder if he's as clever as he thinks
he is. Alduin seemed lost and a long way from home, but strong at least, good in a fight.'


5th Eleasis 1376DR
'I sent a letter to Dana today. If she comes to Hommlet we can travel together. I think I have a good
idea where the last Yuan-ti portal is.'

12th Eleasis
'Dana arrived today. Good to see her! She brought news from Waterdeep. Apparently Fenrir Thunderstaff
was freed and pardoned, but later the Thunderstaff Villa was attacked by gargoyles. Links to Yuan-ti?
This was the fellow that was linked to Osbourne and Alduin. Also some stories of an attack on a villa
in Castle Ward. A house that was being used by the Yuan-ti, or so Dana thinks.
What does it all mean? Do I even want to know?'

8th Elient
'Word from Waterdeep is grave indeed! Orcish Hordes and Luscan pirates. And all that on top of famine
and disease. My research into finding the last of the Yuan-ti portals is finally done and I have
located it. As we had suspected all along it is not far from Hommlet.'

10th Elient
'My spy in Waterdeep informs me that the Sea Wyvern is back from Candlekeep, but Osbourne Tern was
not onboard. What transpires now? I wonder if they found Marten? So many questions! This means they
only have Bertran to find now. I wish them luck, but I cannot wait any longer. I will start gathering
supplies now. And pray.'

27th Elient
'I don't know if me and Dana are ready for a delve into a dungeon, but it seems the best idea. The
Yuan-ti are hot on our trail. Whatever Osbourne and Alduin have been up to really has them stirred
up now! I think they will be here any day now and I need to pre-empt them. Who knows what is on the
other side of the portal? But I have a nice surprise to give them, so I can only hope we survive.
I think even getting to the portal will be hard if what I have heard about the MH is correct.'

***

After that they set up camp in the forest about half a mile from the village and off the road.

Mathmoss took the first watch and slithered up a tree. A few hours later a man dressed in plate
armour and a dog approached the camp.
The man said to the dog, 'You were roight, Ted! There is someone there!'
Ted then looked up at the tree and the man shone is lantern on Mathmoss.
'Can I help you?', inquired the ninja.

The man seemed puzzled but said, 'You know, you'd be much safer in the village.'
'Who are you?' countered Mathmoss.
'My name is Sir Martinus, Holy Knight of the Order of Aster.'
'Oh well, my name is Bert. Him on the ground is Ernie.'
The man looked them over, 'Bert and Ernie eh? You look like outlaws to me.'
Mathmoss shrugged.
Seeing nothing more to be gained from this the man bowed and left.
'Come along Ted. I'll bid you fine gentlemen travelers good night.'


DAY 222 (19th Marpenoth) (October)

At three o'clock in the morning the camp was attacked by what they could only identify as big
hairy wolf type things. Cale fought them from the ground while Mathmoss shot at them from the
trees. Once they had killed four of them the other two ran off.

It was to be a rough night for them, as an hour later a nice little fox turned up and started
sniffing at the dead wolf creatures (as a druid I would guess these things were wargs). Cale
put out a friendly hand to it, but it suddenly turned into a huge dragon!

They ran for it after that and set up camp somewhere else as the dragon ate up its tasty early
breakfast of four fresh wargs.

They set off once more for Goldenfields and arrived back at the Boar's Skull last thing at
night.

(G211 29/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 18

(G211 29/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 18

DAY 75 (wed)

xxxxx

Action Report from Neelix to Captain Janeway: Planet Unnamed Class M.

Firstly I would like to ask permission to name the planet Kirk-Evoras. Due to their bravery in
saving my poor old Biaxial while we were on the planet.

Anyway, my dear Captain, we set off for Kirk-Evoras, leaving Voyager at 0700. It took 6 hours to
get there. Good old Biaxial is slow, but steady.

At 1300 we landed on a carefully selected verdant area of the planet, packed full of fruits, vegetation
and grains. We quickly loaded up many crates of food before the incident occurred.

I don't know if it was because Evoras was using some of the vines as target practice for her phaser, She
is certainly a good shot and seemed to have fun shooting the branches and catching the fruit as it fell,
but once the smaller wildlife fled from the noise, it maybe attracted the attention of larger animals.
Firstly we were attacked by large hairy jungle hounds. I would have helped fight them off, but a troop
of monkeys leapt onto the Biaxial then got into the cargo hold and I went in to chase them out.

I did notice though that while Kirk was shooting the hounds, Evoras was perhaps a tiny bit confused as
to which weapons to use and swapped from her dual wielded phasers to her swords and then back again.
Once she'd sorted that out though she joined in holding back the hounds.

A few were stunned but more came and then two gigantic hairy jungle bears! They made a terrifying noise
and their attack drove Kirk back to the ship. He threw an incendiary grenade in an attempt to hold them
back. Along with the bears I could see, flitting in and out of the undergrowth, tall blue skinned alien
hunters. The shot at us with arrows as long as spears, but not many hit anything vital.

Evoras was cut off and made a run for the doors and attempted to jump over a hound to get in, but ended
up prone on the gangway. She scrambled up and got in.

When a flaming angry bear got into the cargo bay things got a bit crazy. It lashed out at random, killing
monkeys and injuring Kirk and Evoras.

I got into the cockpit and called through to ask if I should take off. Ensign Kirk yelled back, 'Yes!'
so I closed the cargo bay door and lifted off. I heard a lot of commotion back there but in the end Kirk
and Evoras killed the hound and bear. That just left the frightened monkeys to deal with.
The whole place was full of smoke and smelled of burnt bear. I really should clean out my air filters.

I flew level at 200m for a bit, but then noticed one of the alien hunters was clinging onto the ship
and trying to break into the cockpit window with a rock!
'Raise your shields!' suggested Kirk, but sadly Biaxial has no shields so he opened the cargo bay door
and with Evoras holding onto his belt leaned out to shoot at the hunter.

I skimmed along at treetop level while Kirk shot at the alien and ducked back in as rocks were thrown
at him. When he was badly injured the alien howled and leapt off the ship and landed in a treetop.

After that I went straight up. Kirk stunned the monkeys with grenades then we tossed them out in a
clearing further away and went into orbit.

I put the dead hound and bear into cold storage. It would be a shame to waste good meat after all.

We got back to Voyager at 2000. All of us reported to med bay for a check up and to get our wounds
dressed.

End of Report.

xxxxx

DAY 76 (thu)

Today both Ensign Kirk and Ensign Evoras were both on duty.

Kirk got off at 1900 and went and spent two hours helping out in Engineering, trying to earn brownie points
with Torres.

Evoras has volunteered for extra duties so worked in the med bay between 1900 and 2100.

DAY 77 (fri)

xxxxx
Summary of Court Martial of Ensign Paul Kirk.
Presiding Officer : Captain Janeway.
Prosecutor : Lt Tuvok
Defence       : Cmdr Chakotay

Kirk prepared with Chakotay from 0600 to 0900. At 0900 the proceedings began.

The charge was:
'Behaviour unbefitting to a starfleet officer. During the investigation into Vidiian activity on
the planet of Treebad-3 Ensign Kirk used torture to procure information from a Vidiian prisoner
and then teleported the individual into the sea which most likely resulted in his death.'

Kirk's defence boiled down to,
'I was aware it wasn't starfleet, but I had to do it to protect Treebad. The ends justified
the means.'

Tuvok's argument boiled down to,
'There are two distinct charges here. One of torture, which while not palatable is logical. Millions
of lives were at stake. But once the information was gathered the prisoner was no longer required. Kirk
endangered the prisoners life purely out of mischief. I have calculated that given the distance the Vidiian
would have to swim he was 98% likely to have died as a result.'

Noxus was called for the defence and told of the events as he had witnessed them.

The judgement:

(extract)
Janeway : 'Do you have anything you have to say before I pass sentence?'
Kirk    : 'I needed information quickly. Their were bombs about to go off.'
Janeway : 'That was one thing. But why the transported misuse? You already had the information you needed.'
Kirk    : 'I felt it was the safest way of continuing with the mission.'
Janeway : 'I'll do you a favour and take you on the benefit of the doubt and choose to believe you didn't
just lie to me there Ensign. No. It was nothing more than a wanton act of cruelty. You could have a great
career in front of you Kirk if you temper your Behaviour. Reflect on your actions. I hope you make better
decisions next time.'

Sentence:

The Court Martial entered into Permanent Record. On Report for one month. Stopped Relicator Rations
for seven days.

xxxxx

Still, Kirk and Evoras were big hits in the messhall that evening. The bear meat was delicious!

DAY 78 (sat)

Ensign Kirk worked in Engineering and on his MATSE project.

Ensign Evoras worked in the Science Lab. There was an endless supply of data on the Data Quadrant
to categorize and analyse. While scanning through some of it Ensign Kim got lucky and found a wormhole.

Voyager scanned it further and found it to be very small, no more than 30cm wide. A probe was sent
in and got stuck, but Engineering reckoned it could be used as a message booster. It was thought it
would be crushed in 72 hours though.

Chief Torres and Ensign Kim worked together to figure this out and messages were sent out. A response
was received from the Alpha Quadrant.

After much 'science stuff' Kim and Torees managed to get some voice comms and talked to someone who
admitted to being a Romulan onboard a science vessel by the name of Talvath.

Talvath was initially rather reluctant to talk or even believe he was being hailed from a Federation
ship in the Delta Quadrant.

Luckily, thought Janeway, I have two Romulans on board who can back up our story. Videk and his wife
had left just yesterday on a run to a Norlot system. They had gone with some Starfleet officers in
a shuttle. It was meant to be a routine visit but they could not be currently reached by subspace
comms.

Captain Janeway decided to throw together an away team and sent out the Aeroshuttle to go fetch
them.

(G209 15/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 17

(G209 15/08/2014 via Roll20 - JF(GM), AP, LD) 17

DAY 69 (thu)....cont....

At noon they were both discharged from med bay at full health. Noxus went to mooch around the cargo
bays with QM Conner and Kirk went to his quarters. Finding them empty though he then went and chatted
to Neelix who mentioned he was going to a trading post near Gorbatt-2 soon.

Kirk also talked to Lt Andrews about MATSE and his 'Kirk Alpha' programms. He got the message that
he needed to get more into Torres's good books if he wanted official help with his projects but Andrews
let him have a couple of free hours a day, skipping some training to do his research.

At dinner time Kirk talked to Kes in the messhall and Noxus continued his charm offensive and used some
of his precious rations to buy Crewman Del a chocolate sundae.

Next he replicated a book called 'History of Humans : A beginners guide for alien races' with some vague
notion of talking to Torres about it. She dismissed him though and said,
'I thought you were a hairdresser!'
She'd been awake for 48 hours working on the Dilithium Refinery and was in no mood for people presenting
her with their personal schemes.
When Kirk approahed her about MATSE she yawned in his face and said she hadn't read it yet.

DAY 70 (fri)

Kirk was on duty at the D6A while Noxus hung around and did a few haircuts at the hairdressers. In
some ways this scheme of his - of cutting peoples hair - was working, in that he seemed a lot less
threatening as a hairdresser than he did as a cardassian spy.

At lunch time Kirk was called to one side by Lt Andrews and informed that he was to be courtmartialed.
Kirk was surprised to hear it, but Andrews told him it was because of the torture and probably slaying
of a capture Vidiian (The one that Kirk crushed in a forcefield then teleported out to sea).
Andrews agreed that it seemed that while that was a court martialing offence it was not a problem all
the Vidiian's he had killed during firefights.
Andrews seemed to be on Kirks side anyway and relayed the trial would be in one week and the Captain
would be the prociding officer.

Kirk called up Tuvok to be his defence officer, but it turned out he would be the procecutor so he
asked Chakotay instead and he agreed.

While all that was going on, Noxus was badly beaten by Seska and a gang of ex-Makia starfleet personel
in a quiet corridor as he returned from the hairdressers. He woke up in med bay, it seemed not everyone
was prepared to let him be.

When the doctor asked him what happened he made up a story of falling down a ladder. He went on to
ask the doctor to revert him back to a Cardassian, but the doctor strongly advised against it, suggesting
that this would really stir up the Maquis on the ship at a time when the were still trying to integrate
with the rest of the crew.

That evening while he was preparing his case, Kirk was notified by Neelix that he would be going with
him to Gorbatt-2. Noxus would also join them as co-pilot.


DAY 71 (sat)

Neelix's ugly cargo ship was called the Baxail. They set off at 0600 hours, arriving at a trading moon
that orbitied Gorbatt-2 four hours later.

xxx
Gazeeter Entry:
Gorbatt-2 is a Class M planet only recently descovered warp. They allow trading with alien races on a moonbase.
The Gorbattians themselves run the moonbase. They are large and hairy but peaceful enough.
xxx

Neelix lead them to a trade bazaar close to the space port. They loitered around near Neelix for an
hour or so, but Noxus grew bored and wandered off. Five hours later Kirk was nearly asleep, nodding
off while sat on sacks of grain.

Noxus found himself near a slave market, slavery being legal around Gorbatt. He spend some time
looking around the stalls, but had forgotten to bring money and his attempts at barter ended in
failure.

Just then a green skinned female alien ran up to him, 'Help me! Help me!'.
She was a runaway slave and was being chased by a burly Gorbattian guard. Ever the gentleman Noxus
pulled her through the crowd away from the guard and pushed her down an alley.

He then stopped the guard who pulled out a baton and attacked. When the guard pulled his gun and
found that it had jammed Noxus took the opertunity to run down the alley as well. More guards
were coming though.

The alley came to a dead end with only one door. Noxus barged through it and found himself
in a dark and smoke filled area. Small gorbadians were running around with laser rifles and
electronic style armour. He could hear a lot of gun fire in the place and the sounds of a lot
of running.

Not really realising where he was, he shot back at the small gorbadians and even went so far as
to throw an incendiary grenade. Sprinklers went on and the lights went up. A voice called
from a door, 'Over here! Fire! Exit this way!'

Noxus went through the door and entered a cafe area. It slowly dawned on him that he had been
in a childs laser-tag game area. When the police and fire crews came and questioned him he
was arrested.

Kirk and Neelix found out about this when the Gorbadians came and told them to come and get
him. Forms were filled in, the trade negotiations cut short and they left as swiftly as they
could.

Four hours later they arrived back at Voyager.


DAY 72 (sun)

The next day Kirk could not resist writing a scathing report about Noxus and his incederay grenade
being used in a child's play area.

He was on a half day. During his shift the Captain came in and discussed a few things with Lt Andrews.
When Kirk asked what it was about, he replied, 'Don't worry, it wasn't about you.'

Andrews went on to say he had read the MATSE Design Spec. He liked it on the whole he said, but
the problems will not come from the technology, which is all in existance in various forms, but
from the culture of Star Fleet. He explained,
'Star Fleet has gradually became less miliatry in out look. We could all go about in big mech suits
and carry massive cannons, but this is not the way Star Fleet wants to portay humanity to the rest
of the galaxy. Voyager is a science vessel, not a military one, so first you must break through
that barrier. I think you are right though, for what it is worth, we need a heavily armed force
to deal with all the dangers of the Delta Quardrant. One that doesn't care what we look like, but
just cares about saving us from destruction. You'll need to get this past Torres to get it in
production. She is incredibly busy at the moment so won't see it as a priority.'
Andrews gave him a smile, 'You'll need to bake her a cake to get on her good side, assuming she's
got one!'

Noxus, meanwhile, was cutting hair and planning plans. In the evening he started work on a Holo-program
for a dark and very hot room...

Both of them followed with interest what was going on currently on the ship's internal messaging
system.

Commander Chakotay had spotted a nebula on long range scans. Not finding Neelix's latest coffee
substitutes from Gorbatt very palatable and wanting to increase the ship's energy reserves she
declared, 'There is coffee in that nebula!'

At 64 million km Omicron particles were detected.

Closer to the nebula cosmic dust was attracted to the ship. They came to a dead stop at a distance
of 7000km, but it was discovered the transported could not penerate the nebula.

At max shields and full thrust, Voyager entered the nebula and the barrier closed behind them.

Noxus was in the messhall while all this was happening and noticed Neelix and Les kissing in the
kitchen.

Everyone on board felt thumping resonate around the ship as things started to hit the hull and
drawing energy away.

Voyager reversed coarse and hit the barrier. At this point the Captain raised the Red Alert and
Kirk reported to the D6A.

Phasers were used on the barrier but it was undamaged. A torpedo ruptured it though and Voyager
slipped back through into open space. 11% energy reserves were reported as lost.

Kirk went off shift at 2100 hours. He heard from one of the Delany sisters that Tom Paris had
a sort of party going on in the holodeck so he went along to take a look.

It was program Paris-3, an 'olde worlde' Franch tavern called Sandrine's. Kirk played some pool
and chatted to the Delanys.

Meanwhile Noxus took his monkey to the med bay and asked for medical data on it. The doctor
sighed and transfered all existing data on it to his datapad. Noxus then spent the rest of the
evening in the company of his monkey.

DAY 73 (mon)

Kirk reported to the D6A at 0700 hours. The Doctor and Torres had, apparently, worked out that this
'cloud' was a living entity. Kirk spent the rest of the day standing to, at Yellow Alert as the ship
returned to repair the damage it had done.

At 1300 the ship re-entered the nebula. Voyager was put on Red Alert and the shields went up. Kirk
felt a lot of rumbling at the D6A. Noxus remained in his quarters, confined there, as ever, when any
kind of alert was on.

Various things happened on the bridge and the ship was hit by beams from the entity. Engineering
vented fuel and the thrusters were put into Emergency Shutdown. Once things had settled down
the Captain ordered a damage report.

Kirk formed part of a damage repair crew that were sent to fix Electro-plasma leaks on Deck 14 and
the Optical Data Network.

Noxus was slightly injured during all the tossing about and reported to the med bay.

Already tired, but lots of work to do, back at the D6A, Kirk was happy to see Neelix and Kes come
around with trays of snacks and nibbles. Having missed lunch, he tucked in.

Once more Kirk found himself waiting on station while the bridge crew tried to figure out what to
do. In the end it was the Doctor who solved the problem by suggesting the hole in the 'cloud' was
'stitched' by phasers like sutures in a wound.

A Class 4 micro prope was launched as a diversioon and Voyager went in to repair the wound. There
was a lot of rumbling and tossing about on all decks. Once the wound was successfully healed though
they returned once more to open space.

Energy resevers were down 20%. It was 2200 hours.

Kirk was tired, but decided to go try Sandrine's again and was surprised to see Noxus also there.
Noxus was trying to make friends by the look of it, with mixed success.

Kirk tried to get in with Torres, but didn't come across well.

DAY 74 (tue)

Kirk reported to the D6A at 0700 hours. He and Crewman Anderson were sent right down to Engineering
though to help with repair work. Torress seemed to be quiet impressed by Kirk's work.

Noxus spent the day cutting hair and felt that he really was making headway (sorry!) into appearing
less threatening to the rest of the crew.

Still, after his last away mission disaster, Neelix didn't really trust him. He was planning another
supply run and while he was happy to have Ensign Kirk come along as an escort he prefered to try
out someone new. Since they would be landing on a jungle area of a planet to pick up fresh fruit
and veg, Ensign Evoras, an expert in zoology and biology was assigned.

(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.