AAR: [EVENT] River City Ransom (2021-01-30 1900 GMT)

[Lashana]

Name: Amhrán Fili
Date of Last Game Played: 1/16/2021
Circle: 5
Discipline: Troubadour
Unique: I can turn a mighty fine phrase, lover of fine snacks and meals. Still adjusting to a life of adventuring w/out a comfy bed and homecooked meals.
Research Rank (Step 12+2 karma/+15 w/20sp for library access)
Item History Rank (Step 12+2 karma/+15 w/20sp for library access)

[Montaugh]

Name: William Carver
Date Last Played January 29, 2020
ECR: 11 (1,051,975 LP)
Race: Human
Discipline: Scout 11, Thief 7, Journeyman 5, Cavalryman 6
Quote/Unique: I'll get you there and back again.
Notable Abilities:
Talented: Scout, Stealth, Ranged/melee/mounted combat.
Items:
Potions: Kelia's Antidote (1), Booster Potion (5), Kelix's Poultice (1), Halt Illness Potion (1), Healing Potion (3), Last Chance Salve (3)
Mounted: Huttawa named Charlie and he's sworn, He might also swear.. I don't have animal talk yet.
Downtime:
Perception step (9)
Versatile Forge Weapon Rank: (9) Step 22
Versatile Research Rank: (7) Step 20, Step 23 with library Access
Versatile Item History Rank: (5) Step 18.
(Karma spent with Applied versatility)

[Xzandrate]

AAR: River City Ransom
GM: Xzandrate, Pub, Dvarim, Drew
ECR: EVENT
Difficulty: Hard

Player Rewards:
ECR Hard reward for the following players:

ECR Player
---------------
3 Arphen
4 Barag
5 Dale
3 Nergae
4 R'edtarian
5 Amhran
7 Bloodbeat
8 Vralino
9 Zivilyn
9 Thorkell
9 Vlolkir
9 Sandrin
10 Norg
11 Karl
11 Zil
11 Daldorer
11 Xeviouz
12 Dubhan
11 William

Journal Reward: 5% of ECR H LP award, 25% of ECR H silver award (ask in Discord if you need help)

GM Rewards:
Dvarim 12H
Strata 5H
Patrique 3H

Downtime:
Discounted Discipline training if you are below the Circle of the listen teacher for the Discipline.

Discipline Player Circle
----------------------------------------
Air Sailor Sandrin 8
Archer Karl 10
Beastmaster Karl 9
Cavalryman William 6
Elementalist Zil 11
Illusionist Dale 5
Nethermancer Daldorer 11
Scout William 11
Sky Raider Vlolkir 9
Swordmaster Vralino 7
Thief William 7
Troubadour Amhran 5
Warrior Xeviouz 11
Weaponsmith Thorkell 9
Wizard Dubhan 12
Shaman Zivilyn 8
Gauntlet Norg 10

Spellcasters can find the other casters of their discipline here to reach out for spells they may want to trade:
Elementalist: Zivilyn(6), Barag(4), Zil(11), Vralino(5)
Illusionist: Dale(5)
Nethermancer: Zivilyn(5), Bloodbeat(7),Daldorer(11), Dale(1)
Wizard: Dubhan(12), Zivilyn(7)
Shaman: Zivilyn(8)

Talent Knacks: You can learn knacks from other players at half price, ask in discord who may have the knack you are looking for.

Activity Player Rank-Step
----------------------------------------------------------------
Forge Armour Thorkell R11-s26(28 for Metal)
Forge Weapon Thorkell R11-s26(28 for Metal)
Item History Thorkell R10-s24 ***Daldorer R8-s20 - extra successes reduce IH time
Research Daldorer R12-s44 (Librarian: Extra Successes reduce Research Times)
Animal Training Zivilyn R10-s20
Craftsman Thorkell R0-s33(35 for metal objects)
Alchemy Dubhan R4-S14
Booster Potions 1 per day(2 days min)
Small Light Crystals 1 per day(2 days min)
Kelix' Poultice 1 per day(2 days min)
Kelia's Antidote 2 days for 1
Healing Potion 2 days for 1


Summary:
The Sourge assaulted with a boom, a rock falling upon the niall with hydras emerging from it and a citadel descending from the sky while undead swarmed from the northwest.

The hydras caused damage to the city, but the adepts managed to quell them all. High above, the citadel was assaulted by the Argeir, pushing through the swarms of creatures, someone fell just before the explosion caused the citadel and the Argeir to begin careening towards the ground. To the northwest, the adepts worked to defend allies while they evacuated the residents and brought to the safety of Garlen's followers.

As the adepts caught their breath, Astral Space errupted from the south where the person had fallen from the Argeir. Pillars of dark magic could be seen cresting over the city. The Raven Queen had arisen and was looking to anchor herself with the pillars

Adepts visited each pillar and were met by a number of evils.
At the Pillar of Gluttony the adepts again rescued citizens as they were being fed to the maws of Gluttony. The Pillar devouring all within it's purview, physical, magical, or otherwise.
The Pillar of Wrath was to the north and attacked outright, however the backlash was great. Goading the attackers to give into Wrath.
The Pillar of Sloth was surrounded by a miasma of sorrow and fatigue. The heroes fought creatures that tried to lure them to sleep and weaken their spirits.
The Pillar of Envy saw a creature of Hate born from a fallen Scourge member defending Envy while the magics were taken by crows.

The sounds of crows echoed and screeched through Kampung Gajah, though eventually they were silenced. The Queen of Crows was held off this day.

The Citadel of the Scourge was seen descending somewhere in the mountains north, the last of the undead and cultists were cleaned up by the Throalic army.

House V'strimon ships arrived with more troops and supplies, the rebuilding has begun. The success of the assault will be determined in time.

[Sharkforce]

From the Journal of Zivilyn, Windling Magician: River City Ransom

AKA "[A] profound lesson in the metaphysics of the soul", my ass!

So, first things first, skin shift sucks, no matter what the other Nethermancers say. I'm not sure if my face will ever feel the same again. I didn't learn anything, and while I'm sure that was partly because I was too busy being rearranged, I didn't learn anything from it happening to Vlolkir, either. I cannot help but suspect that there are better ways to learn than torturing someone by ripping their skin out of place and sticking it where it doesn't belong.

Apologies, I've been rather busy of late. Setting up emergency Shelters, Heating Food and setting out Plant Feasts, Snuffing out fires, persuading Spirits to help... my bones ache, and it's not just from that stupid pillar. Passions, I'm getting ahead of myself again, aren't I? Well, I suppose I shall share my part of the story of the defense of Kampung Gajah. Traditionally I list who was along on an adventure, this time it seems like a veritable who's who of Adepts; I must confess, some of these I never met in this case, but I am assured they were present: Arphen (a Human Scout?), Barag (Dwarf Elementalist?), Dale (an Illusionist, Human I think?), Nergae (I understand she's a Beastmaster... Dwarf?), R'edtarian (Human Warrior?), Amhran (Windling Troubadour?), Karl (an Archer, Human I think) and Reuben (a very large bear), Zil (Windling Elementalist), Daldorer (Obsidiman Nethermancer), Xeviouz (Human Warrior, Dubhan (Dwarf Wizard, who has been my teacher from time to time), William (Human Scout and everything else), and Charlie (his Huttawa friend)... I think that's everyone who weren't in a group with me? Honestly, it is too soon to gather information effectively about this. The destruction and reconstruction have left us all rather exhausted.

Anyways, in addition to those above were Bloodbeat (T'skrang Nethermancer), Vralino, Thorkell (who has learned to be a Warrior since I last met him, I think), Vlolkir (Troll Sky Raider), Sandrin, Norg, Haze, and myself of course, who were initially assigned to deal with one of three threats approaching the city. We had gathered because we'd heard of a coming attack by the Scourge, but could see no sign when out of the sky a massive stone dropped with an equally massive door on it, crashing into the River. I don't know just how much damage that must have done to the Niall, or how many homes were in the river where it struck... I hope not many, but I fear that the Scourge would not have been so kind in their choice of destination.
To make matters worse, the door had hydras coming through. I'm sure Vasdenjas is pleased to hear that at least some of the ones that got away have been dealt with. He's probably not so pleased that they weren't prevented from escaping in the first place. Personally, I'm glad I didn't have to face them... a hydra is a most fearsome opponent, with terrible poison and a bite that can tear you in half if you're not lucky. I know there were many on the citadel when last I saw (although I suppose that could have been the work of the illusionist). I believe that task was assigned to our most experienced and renowned Adepts.

News also reached us of a mass of undead things coming towards us. I haven't been able to get a good description of them yet, so I'm not sure what variety, but for them to reach the city while it was being ravaged by hydras would have been disastrous. Our least experienced Adepts left to handle it, and managed themselves ably from what I hear. I should like to learn more of this threat, as I fear that some may have gone into the wilderness around the area and I fear for Skyreader Island should they arrive; I can only hope that we will be afforded some protection by the river, as I cannot be there to protect them now.

For my group, we were assigned to the Arngeir (no surprise there with 2 Air Sailors and a Sky Raider among us while the rest had nothing of the sort) and tasked with striking at the flying citadel to close the enchanted door leading to the river. The cultists had learned something since our last visit, and shielded their twisted Air Spirits with gargoyles that withstood the earthen shot much more readily. A large warrior-ish sort was also present, an Ork I think (I didn't get a terribly good look at him, it was pretty chaotic and he was only up close for a short while before we favoured him with a more direct route to the ground far below us). There was another cadaverous wyvern there, which Norg jumped onto and delivered a quite severe beating. Hopefully the local troops were able to finish it off before it could do much damage, as it (along with most of the Air Spirits) did not give chase to us, but rather headed for the town. I wish that we could have stopped them, but we had our own job to do, and had to trust in others to do theirs.

The citadel was much as I remembered it, guarded with lightning-spitting cannons and with great grasping vines dangling below it which tried to tear at our ship as we approached. We fired a volley or two at the doorway that we could see on the citadel, but it became obvious that we weren't going to do enough damage to destroy it. We did at least drive the cultists waiting to enter the door away from it with that first attack. We backed off, and called on the two smaller airships carrying a supply of extra earth shots for our cannons; Sandrin had a plan based on what he knew of pre-scourge attacks on Theran sky fortresses where either an entire hold's worth of shot was poured onto them or an airship was used to ram them, and it involved great risk to us. We bid our crew fairwell as they transferred themselves onto the smaller ships and loaded us up with all the cannon shot we could carry.

Sandrin, Norg, and Thorkell piloted the ship (no, that isn't a mistake; it seems that Vlolkir is not the sort of Sky Raider that pilots airships or something?) while I prepared for the worst and distributed Metal Wings to those of us still on board. We took the Arngeir above the fortress and were taking quite a beating, but they surely were not prepared when we dumped all of that exploding earth shot onto them. It was hard to see much in the massive cloud of dust and debris, but we seem to have gotten the door shut, and may have brought the fortress itself down; It was last seen going northward and losing altitude.

We had our own problems, however. You might be thinking "But how could you tell that you did so much damage to the fortress when you couldn't see through the dust cloud?" Well, our blast had done so much damage that a huge chunk of the blasted fortress came right up and holed our hull, heavy enough to outweigh all the ammunition we had dropped on the fortress. It was not looking good, but Norg wasn't letting the ship go down without a fight, and he was not going to let some silly inanimate object cause him problems. He smashed it to pieces with his bare hands, tearing off great chunks of it which Vlolkir hastily hurled overboard, until finally with a crunching and tearing the rest of it fell back out the bottom of our ship. Sandrin in the meanwhile had been doing his best to guide us to land in shallow water rather than on land (that only helps if you're going slow enough, which we thankfully were once the stone was gone) while Vralino and I did our best to hold the ship's Elemental enchantments together in the face of all that damage. The Arngeir took some heavy damage, but I think they'll be able to repair her, and she will fly again.

We set off to get back to Kampung Gajah, hoping to help clean up any remaining attackers and perhaps put out some fires (I haven't needed my Snuff spell since I learned it, but it was looking like now was the time to use it), but no such luck; we had barely been there a minute when the Astral went wild. I wasn't using Astral Sight at the time, but those who were reported back that it was like being blinded. Even those of us not open to the Astral could feel an ominous air of ill portent hanging over us. And then the crows started coming. Townsfolk from all over came rushing to where we Adepts had met to organize the aftermath to report that pillars were erupting out of the ground all around the area.

My blood went cold. We had been looking for four pillars around Skyreader Island and had not been able to find them; it seems now we know that we did not search far enough afield. A Horror had arrived to torment the town, and we few Adepts were all that could confront it. Four pillars meant we needed to split into four groups; Sandrin joined another group, and honestly I'm not sure where Vralino went. Poor girl probably couldn't navigate in a city that doesn't rearrange itself constantly. In any event, we were sent more or less to the northern edge of the city to find and destroy one of the pillars. From the rantings of some captured cultists, it seems that the pillars were called wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth, and from what I can tell ours was wrath.

Even standing near it made my blood boil and filled me with anger. It was guarded by a few more gargoyles, and some fiery espagra that looked to my eye like the variety found in Death's Sea. The espagra had spines that radiated such heat as to harm our warriors' weapons, got fiercely angry if they were seriously wounded, and held no regard for their own safety. The gargoyles were extraordinarily tough. The pillar was the worst. I could feel it striking at my mind, seeking to form a connection when I went somewhere it could see me; thankfully, I was able to fend that off, but at the last moment it got through my defenses and tore at my body instead. The horror had also been striking out at us on occasion, but did not seem to be able to harm us.

Vlolkir had initially charged the pillar, got his insides put on his outsides while barely putting a dent in it, and decided that the construct would be easier to deal with if its protectors were dead first. Fortunately, once we all had Ferret Reflexes and Bloodbeat did something that scared them senseless it was much harder for the gargoyles to hit us (though not before taking a vicious hit from one of them). The espagra seemed to be less affected, and tore into Thorkell, knocking him off his feet and then rendering him unconscious. Haze skirted around the edge of the combat and caused as much havoc as he was able, while I wove up a fine Water Spear and restored some health to Vlolkir and Thorkell. Between the two of them they cut down the last of the pillar's minions while some attempted to flee (and were torn to shreds by onrushing crows, which just goes to show that a horror doesn't care if it is feasting on its own foolish minions).

Lastly, we went after the pillar. I went in first, being the least injured of all of us. Bloodbeat was close behind. The pillar was quite resistant to everything we did, although I did manage to call up a Unicorn Spirit that gave it a good kicking. And then it Skin Shifted me. I do not have words to describe the pain, but contrary to what some people might say, I did not learn anything at all about the metaphysics of the soul (mostly I learned about how much it hurts to have something tear at your skin and rearrange it). Thankfully, Vlolkir and Thorkell came in behind me after taking a moment to catch their breath and went to work tearing it down. I sent another Unicorn its way, decided that I didn't want to be Skin Shifted to death, and let them finish the job while I took cover to catch my own breath. I got the last hit on whatsisface up on the Arngeir, that's plenty of glory for one day I think.
The other groups reached their own pillars and destroyed them around the same time as well, from what I could tell. The horror was banished, but much of the town was in ruins, and we may never know how many lives were lost. This does not feel much like a victory, no matter what you might call it when you hold the battlefield after the war. Victory to me looks an awful lot like people without homes not knowing where their loved ones are and fearful of the sky.

Eventually, help arrived from Lake Ban, and the Throalic army showed up to offer assistance. Too late. We were all too late.

[kaetaur]

A Push Back against the Long Night: A brief Journal Entry by Arphen the Elven Scout.

The Throalic army called out for Adept to protect the city of Kampung Gajah. Benneth Shalecraig was in charge of the operation in an attempt to keep the city from being overrun by a cult trying to return us to the Long Night. I was born at the end of the scourge and would prefer it to not return. The thought that I could do nothing to save this large town or small city is abhorrent to me. A large group of us set off in airships to Kampung Gajah. Scouts had spotted a floating fortress heading toward the city and we all watched for it as best we could. It was noted on the horizon and seemed to have disappeared. I looked to the skies for it and was unable to see it until it fired upon the city.

This is where things get confusing as reports came in that an army of undead was also attacking and that the Throalic Army was doing what it could to keep them back. The bolder that landed had a door in it and I saw many draconic heads come out of it. I have never witnessed something like this and from books I read it was either a Hydra or a number of drakes, later reports would confirm it was a hydra. A ship full of Adepts were sent off to try to get the floating fortress, basically a small city on a flying mountain, to either leave or crash. I am most assuredly not one to wish to fly the friendly skies, never mind one filled with a flying Horror Fortress. Some other people were assigned to fight the Hydra and I am glad it was not me as I am not quite as the circle to handle such a difficult creature. Myself, Barag, Dale, Nergae, R'edtarian, and Amhran were sent off to handle the Undead troops that made it through the lines, protect and rescue the people, and do our best from keeping things from getting worse.

We were instructed to rescue Namegivers from the river and do our best to keep the undead from overrunning the people of this town. There was a questor of Jaspree there and I was given his name and in the rush to help the stunned and injured I do not recall it. The river water was running rapidly and many stunned T'Skrang were on the shore. All of us noticed undead approaching and we did out best to save all the lives we could. I could not see everything that was going on through the undergrowth. The things I can remember with be written here in a hodgepodge order so I can remember what was ultimately important. Amhran let us all know that she is able to magically support us should things not quite work out as planned. As the Undead approached We ran forth to meet then and I did my best to grab people. Nergae sent her wolf to protect Amhran. Red, Nergae, Barag, and I marched east. Spells are a mystery to me and someone cast a spell that allowed us to walk faster, which considering the vegetation made a difference. I grabbed a child and ran back. Dale and Amhran were do what they could to protect the Questor. Red Disappeared from my sight and later I noticed him fighting the tall undead thing that was withering plants as it travelled. I saw a skeleton devouring children and thankfully Thystonius guided my arrow and I slew it. Barag grabbed the children that were nearly consumed by the skeleton and brought them to safety. Nergae rescued another child when her wolf named Snacksize, or was the name Dumpling or Jelly Donut, whimpered as it beset upon by three undead. Nergae flung a child at me and I flung a salve back at her as she ran off to save Dumpling(Yes that is the name). The situation was looking pretty tough when Dale released a fireball and many undead were slain. I remember something about Red and Amhran fighting the undead that would wither vegetation and I am not surprised that they slew it. Everyone should fear that mighty jelly eating windling for if she ends up behind an enemy, it dies.

After rescuing who we could and keeping the Questor alive the undead left and we ran back to meet everyone. As we ran back the hydra was slain at some point and someone was partially if not completely swallowed. The Airship fell from the sky and the the behemoth was smoking a listlessly moving away. Once we were back in the presence of Benneth we were informed about the four pillars that were around the city and split up into groups to stop whatever nastiness was happening with them and hopefully destroy them.

As we reached our pillar, our group decided to approach cautiously. I noticed a emaciated creature just outside the short range of my warbow. Let me tell you I am so happy I spent the 200 silver on this bow between being able to save those children and how far we had to move up in order to destroy this pillar. The town was in flames with half destroyed houses everywhere and there was visibility to most things. I shot at it and it ran toward a giant two-legged sideways mouth with stabbing tentacles. This maw with legs was eating incapacitated name givers that the other beast was bringing to it and vomiting's out. The emaciated creature was taller than a horse with long sinewy legs and the skin clung to its ribcage. A long neck leading to a bizarrely shaped mouth. There was no real head just a giant swallowing mouth at the end of this neck. As it swallowed people the belly of the beast distended holding the now incapacitated namegiver. I started shooting at any one of them I could see that was either close to that maw or attempting to devour anyone I could see. One nearly swallowed Dale and we managed to keep it from getting him all the way down his mouth until Dale fought his way free. We saved who we could and fought the Maw until it was defeated. Everyone started to talk about who should rip down the pillar while others moved the injured away. I suggested that we use some rope. We took climbing chains and linked them together and attached it to the pillar. We built a barricade so we would not get covered in astral puss as we attempted to pop the zit of summoning the Raven Queen. It worked and we set about helping the injured while we hoped the other teams tore down their pillars.

[Serespar]

Description for Novice Table

The Team
Amhran the Windling Troubadour, Arphan the Elven Scout, Barag the Dwarven Elementalist, Dale the Human Illusionist-Nethermancer, Nergae the Dwarven Beastmaster (accompanied by Dumpling the Wolf and Wiz the Cat) and R’edtarian the Human Warrior formed a team of irregulars to assist with the wounded after the attack on the River City.

In Act I, the party discovered Rala App’ressa, a t’skrang questor of Garlen, and rescued a large number of civilians as they washed ashore at a bend in the Coil River after the giant Hyrda Gate was dropped on Kampung Gaja by the Scourge’s flying citadel. While the Throalic army fought an undead hoard to the north west and the V’strimon navy fought strange Scourge creatures in the water to the south, the heroes held the line as more and more undead and River Nori broke through.

The irregulars were startled when there was a surge in the astral and all the undead stopped attacking at a massive Raven’s Call, bowed, then began to march toward the badly damaged city. The heroes escorted the questor and the wounded to safety, then reconnoitered with the other adept teams to see what new horrors were striking the beleaguered port.

In Act II, the party moved through the burning ruins and discovered the Pillar of Gluttony, surrounded by horrific astral predators Named the Mouths of Gluttony. They worked as a team to defeat the foul beasts as the predators gorged themselves on civilians, feeding battered citizens to the Maw of Gluttony in a horrific Blood Magic harvesting process.

After taking down the Maw in a terrible fight, the exhausted heroes worked together to pull the pillar from its socket in the astral construct used to stabilize the summoning ritual of the Raven Queen. After the explosion, they began the painful process of helping the survivors to safety in the hospital camp set up outside the remains of the town by Rala the questor of Garlen. There, they met back up with the other adept teams and learned of the hydra battle, the airship fight over the Scourge’s flying citadel, and many other acts of heroism.

The grateful survivors of the Scourge’s attack will never forget all the heroes did to save them. They mourn their lost, care for those still with them, and Remember: In the darkest hour the adepts came, the Throalic Army came, the V’strimon Navy came – and the twisted, broken Namegivers corrupted by the Horrors Could Not Stand Against Them.

[verse86]

Thorkell's Journal:
I have fought many times and even briefly died. Never have I felt quite such dread as I did when we spotted that thrice damned castle heading west over Dviel. Word was immediately sent to Kampung Gajah which seemed to be the general direction the castle was heading. I immediately packed up and left myself. Poor Jarl will need a long rest and the finest oats for his tireless effort to carry me to Kampung Gajah.I made it with barely a day to spare.

It seems the Scourge had planned a three pronged attack on Kampung Gajah. Waves of undead crashed upon the armies and overwhelmed them such that their defenses resembled a leaky dike. A large magical door was dropped in the river to release the hydras we saw when last we scouted out the castle. Finally more aerial enemies were coming from the castle.

I have never seen so many adepts assigned to a task before. For my part, I was assigned to a team with Bloodbeat, Vralino, Vlolkir, Sandrin, Zivilyn, and Norg. Considering that both Sandrin and Norg were along, it was no surprise that our job was to take an airship named the Arngeir and deal with the flying monsters and try to close the door on the castle to prevent any more monstrosities from being unleashed upon the town.

As we set out I could not help but feel a wave of nostalgia and dread. I would feel this again before the day's end. We had handled the flying threats previously by smashing through their defenses and continuing onward. The Scourge had obviously learned since our last attempt and placed sturdy gargoyles as the the phalanx to protect the corrupted air elementals this time. They also seemed to be guided by a man on a cadaverous wyvern who I can only guess was a Swordmaster. While our more accurate companions were able to hit their marks, the damage was minimal against the tough exterior of the gargoyles. The swordmaster tried to demoralize us from a distance. I used my abilities to help bolster Norg who had decided to take up a position on the bowsprit to be as close to the enemies as possible. This meant I was now out on the bowsprit as well. I don't know if it is the Air Sailor or the Gauntlet in him, but that man does not fear death. He jumped off of the ship onto the wyvern to fight the man. Then when the man jumped onto our ship, Norg smashed the wyvern and jumped back. I guess since he is built like a mountain, he is not afraid of hitting the ground. For my part, I may have some training in air sailing, but I am no Air Sailor. I have no magical means of slowing my descent. This fact was all I could think of when an elemental buffeted me with air nearly sending me plummeting. I have never gripped anything quite as strongly as I held that bowsprit that day. Between Bloodbeat's frights, Zivilyn's magics, and everyone else's weapons we were able to break through and destroy over half of the flying forces. Sadly the rest got through and were last seen heading towards Kampung Gajah.

We had another task ahead that was more important, though. As we came closer, the familiar lightning cannons started firing on us again. Sandrin, Norg, and I helped dodge the blasts as best we could and found the magical door. Unfortunately it was too large for anything we had on hand to deal with. Our thoughts turned as they always do to "if violence doesn't solve your problems, you're not using enough." We returned to our companion airships and took all the extra ammunition they could spare. We performed a bombing run over the castle dropping all our acquired ammunition and explosives. I can't say I saw that the door was destroyed. I will say that I'm not sure if even Upandal could have built a door that would have survived the blast I saw, though. It detonated with such force that a boulder size chunk of stone crashed through our keel. Panic ensued. Zivilyn had thought ahead and given us all a means of flight in case of this eventuality. Norg did not seem willing to part with this ship, though. He proceeded to smash the stone to pieces until it loosened enough to fall out. Zivilyn and Vralino aided in the effort by maintaining the elemental magics that kept the ship aloft. With the extra weight now gone our descent slowed and Sandrin was able to perform a crash landing in the river. The last we saw of the castle, it appeared to be slowly descending to the north.

We immediately left for Kampung Gajah to see how we could help. Just as we regrouped with the other adepts, a wave of dread swept over everyone. Our astrally sensitive members described it as painful blinding light. Once again a feeling of terrible nostalgia washed over me. In the sky was a large black bird made of many other birds. This was the Raven Queen. Reports started coming in. It appeared that the Scourge had created some pillars that were able to summon her. We immediately split into four groups to go deal with the pillars.

Bloodbeat, Zivilyn, Vlolkir, and I were sent to deal with one tower. In all the chaos, I'm not sure where our other members were sent. At the time I remember thinking that Vralino would at least be okay since she seems to thrive on chaos.

We found our pillar, but it was guarded by gargoyles and some extremely heated espagra. Vlolkir hoped to end things quickly and immediately went for the pillar. Bloodbeat had already taken a beating so I stayed back to protect her and deal with the monsters. Vlolkir decided the pillar was too sturdy to take on alone and came back to help us. As I got closer to the tower, I felt an overwhelming rage welling up inside me from the tower's influence. I struck out with my newly crafted weapons slicing down foes as best I could. Their heat seemed to warp my blades and reduce their effectiveness, though. Zivilyn empowered me further with a boar spirit that drove me into even more of a frenzy. Unfortunately, in my agitated state I forewent my more defensive style and ended up on the receiving end of vicious claws. The next thing I remembered was a splash of cold water waking me up. Between my aching head, the effects of the tower, and the effects of the boar I was seeing red. It took all my willpower to temper that flame into a heated point that I could control. We finished off the enemies while a few fled. Zivilyn decided to charge the tower with us. Vlolkir and I having been at the front of most of the attacks took a moment to heal before continuing our assault. Zivilyn decided the direct approach was not for him after his nose ended up on his ass. Vlolkir decided attacking the protective encasing was the more shrewd approach. After he broke away most of its armor, I was able to strike at the crystal core, finishing it. As the crystal dissipated, it let off a bright red flash. We had seen two similar flashes as we fought, but did not have much time to reflect on them. As we headed back we saw a final green flash and the Raven Queen disappeared.

As an after battle report, I will say my Warrior training has been effective. I was finally able to incorporate Master Shieldfall's defensive style with a twist of a second weapon. I am quite happy with how Urðr and Skuld have turned out. The key is to maintain my calm and focus. I let the rage overtake me and paid for my folly. It seems through all my efforts, word of my crafting expertise spread. It feels like every adept came to me with a forging request.

We were able to stop the assault, but the damage was still immeasurable. Upandal, guide my hand as I help rebuild this city in shambles. I also feel bad for being involved in the destruction of the Arngeir. I've been reading up on a troll moot called Swiftwind that have the best dakkar builders and enchanters. Perhaps they could teach me how to repair the Arngeir.

[redwraith]

After several adventures and investigating the cult the Scourge for Throal, I decided to take a break and spend time with my family at the clinic. My mother took this opportunity to introduce several young ladies to me. I think facing down a pack of undead was safer than facing my mother's marriage schemes.

Then one day we got word that The Scourge were going to attack Kampung Gajah in mass with a plan to unleash a wave of horrors on the city. All adepts and military personnel were asked to race to the River City to help with the defense. I joined the rest of the adepts and raced to the city. I noticed several legendary adepts amongst us who were also racing to assist the city and it's people.

Soon after we arrived a floating castle appeared above the city and several adepts joined the crew of the Arngeir to assault the floating castle. On the ground the local defenders and the army that was able to get to the city engaged an undead army which the cult had some how produced. Then two massive hydra's were magically transported down to the city and I was very glad that others raced to face those monsters.

There were survivors of the initial attack who had been thrown into the river that needed to be rescued and healed so a group of us headed to the river along with Rala a local questor of Garlen to heal the civilians. Amhran, Barag, Arphan, Dale, Nergae and myself started to carry the survivors to Rala when we noticed that a group of undead had slipped into the city and were hunting the civilians.

I rushed the first ghoul that I saw who was about to devour a child. Unfortunately the ghoul was only interested in the child even after I hacked at with my axe. Luckily the spellcasters followed me into the battle and finished off the ghoul before the child was killed. I quickly noticed several more undead in the jungle. I would need to provide a distraction so the civilians could be escorted to safety so I rushed into the thick of it with no idea how many undead there were and what my allies would be doing behind me.

After attack another group of undead I noticed some spells flying here and there along with a pained cry from Dumpling the wolf companion of Nergae. Nergae disappeared as she raced to aid her wolf companion. I had no time to think as there were so many undead ahead of me and an unknown number of civilians in the jungle.

Just as I was thinking that I was alone fighting off the undead one of the ghouls I was facing stiffened and grunted. It was at that time we both noticed the least likely of my companions to be in the front lines, Amhran. Now I knew our situation was dire. During the fighting there were times that lady luck seemed to reach out her hand to assist me and keep me from harm. Amhran seemed to have a smirk on her face when I looked confused about the sudden turn in my luck...

After defeating the undead closest to the river and the survivors I felt something unnatural which is saying something when you are knee deep in undead. Then Amhran and myself noticed an undead creature approaching that didn't seem bothered by the heavy vegetation since it's presence drained the life from anything close to it. I had to face off with it as everyone else behind me was busy rescuing people or finishing off the undead that I had missed. I just hope lady luck, Amhran, doesn't fail me now.

During my fight with this new undead creature it tried to drain my life force and I was able to avoid it a couple of times but it was able to latch on at one point. The sensation of having my life force sucked out left me cold and very injured. Amhran and I were able to slay the monster and a couple of other minor undead before we saw more approaching from the north. Both of us were feeling drained so we raced back to the beach to gather as many as we could and retreat.

Once I was able to see the beach I noticed my allies were thinking the same thing I was but were also battling some River Nori, undead creatures that struck from the water. I grabbed a near by T'skrang child and retreated with the others.

We gathered ourselves along with Rala and the civilians we escaped the undead attack. Between Rala and a healing potion from my lady of luck, Amhran, I was healed up to continue the fight.

We started to move into the city to clear it of any undead we found and rescue more civilians when we came across several humanoid creatures that were swallowing people and taking them towards a pillar of evil where another larger creature who was eating them.

We approached cautiously as our visibility in the burning city was poor and we didn't want to run into an ambush. Which turned out to be a good thing as several more of the gathering creatures appeared out of the smoke. We killed them as we came across them as we made steady progress towards the pillar. One of these creatures attacked Dale and was able to swallow him. We all turned our attention to freeing him before he was consumed. It took us much longer than any of us, specially Dale wanted to free him and defeat the creature.

Once Dale was freed, Amhran noticed the creature by the pillar was about to start feeding on some children so she rushed him to free the children. The rest of us approached and started to engage the rest of the creatures and the Maw of Gluttony. It was at this point that I noticed that the pillar was buffing the creatures and some times even debuffing us. It seemed rather random and luckily none of us were hindered too badly.

After we defeated all the creatures the pillar of evil was still there and according to our spellcasters connected to the astral and it was a powerful connection. We needed to destroy this pillar but none of us wanted to be close to it when we destroyed it as that much tainted astral energy wasn't going to be healthy.

Someone asked if we had any chain or rope, luckily on a previous adventure we assisted some merchants who provide reduced prices on adventuring gear and I picked up a climbing kit with rope and chain. Some of the others had some chain as well so we tied it to the pillar, gathered some debris together as a barricade and pulled the pillar over hoping that would break it's connection to the astral. Once the pillar was toppled there was an explosion of astral energy which luckily none of us were close to but left us all feeling queasy.

Soon there after we noticed several other explosions of astral energy around the city and the assault was stopped for now. After we destroyed the pillar we gathered some more civilians and guided them back to Rala's camp.

Once there an older T'skrang approached me and thanked me for rushing to save his son on the beach. I told him that no thanks was necessary as we all were working to save his son and as many people as we could. He told me a story of his grandfather who was a renowned T'skrang adept who was know for his speed and affinity for fire. He told me that neither his father or himself had shown any abilities as an adept and his sister who did inherit the adept ability turned towards elementalism rather than the martial disciplines. He insisted that I take his grandfather's armor as I would make better use of it than the chest it was currently stored in. He and the rest of his family insisted, once I saw The Southwind crystal ringlet armor I realized that this was a special gift.

The grieving, and rebuilding would take a long time after this horror backed assault, reminding me of the need for adepts to protect against the horrors that were still lurking around Barsaive. I'm going to stay in Kampung Gajah for a little while to assist in the recovery of the city but before that I had to find some jelly pastries for my lady luck.

[Waijhou]

Jan 30, 2021
From the journal of Xeviouz, Human Warrior/Horor Stalker

I have encountered the Scourge before. WHen trying to claim the right from the Trolls to continue using my shield. The Scourge had driven the trolls out of their moot and were trying to make away with the three Drakars owned by the moot.

The Scourge has been continuing their campaign to bring back the horrors and now it seems things have come to a head. The citadel the Scourge control is heading to a town called Kampung Gajah, to destroy it. The Throalic Expeditionary Force has 3 air ships to send to Kampung Gajah as soon as possible. Adepts for all over Barsaive are headed to the town to put a stop to The Scourge once and for all. I, am one of those adepts.

We arrive at Kampung Gajah and no sign of the Scourge yet. Scouts are sent out to find them. Second day as we are milling about a large boulder lands in town having fallen from the sky. Examining the bolder, we notice a door. After a few minutes the door opens and a draconic head pops out. THen another, then another. Hydras! A run comes up and says undead are seen headed toward the village. We are quickly assigned tasks and head out.

My team, consisting of Dubhan, Zil, Daldorer, Karl Tomson, William Karver and myself. We are moving at top speed towards the docks to deal with the Hydras. I seemed to run faster than the rest of the team and arrived at the docks to fined 3 giant hydras coming through the harbor smashing things. I immediately tried to engage them to slow them down from killing the villagers but I was chomped on by a hydra and grappled in its mouth. THe rest of my team made short work of the Hydras, I seemed to have missed almost the entire battle sitting in the stupid Hydra mouth. I like to think I keep the beast occupied so it couldn't do any further damage to the town. The spells of Zil, Dubhan and Daldorer as well as the archery of Karl and william were most impressive. Ruben, the small honey bear the Karl found in the woods one day has grown into a monster of a bear. I am glad I am friends with him.

As we gather back in the center of town, talking to the other groups of adepts, we tell of our adventures and victories. THen a large flash from the south. THose looking on the astral are blinded. Villagers are terrorized. They are reporting that there seems to be 4 pillars have shown up around the town. THere seems to be a large entity covering the town, a sense of dread coming from it. I am sent to the south to clear a pillar along with Dubhan, Daldoer and William.
Upon arrival at the pillar, it is surrounded by bad bad things. A couple clouds of ravens, giant spiders, skull fiends and a person, looks like a name giver. Daldorer says his name is Hate. We join battle. The horros and horror constructs are brutal. They fight hard and dirty disabling my sword arm, trying to web me. We are able to destroy all the horrors and smash the pillar. We head back to town and are greeted by the other adept teams. All were successful.

[predajey]

The following is a recollection from Vralino Hammer-Shield, an 18 year old Ork girl who grew up avoiding society. By this time, her father has been missing for a couple months. The text remains unaltered to maintain its authenticity (Certain terms and names written wrong to keep in character). It is written in Or'zet.

So after I found the creature that killed my father, I started putting my life back together. Orfen was a lot of help with that. As I began tending to the responsibilities that I had neglected with the orphanage and the infirmary, I felt calm and content. It was the first time I had felt this way in a long time, even though my father's corpse is still on display in the orphanage. Thankfully Thorkell tended to the smell of death. I guess the view of the Ogre helped. Thankfully Trayckid made sure it was visible on my every route through the city. I guess I'm starting to become more predictable. Still, a reliable schedule was welcome. I remember scrounging around for adventures and other jobs given to Adepts.

It was when my schedule began getting interrupted that I decided to pick up my spear once more. Our supplies for the infirmary and orphanage came from all over Throal. Favors from other Adepts I had met along the way made it affordable to get higher quality resources than Trayckid could find provide. One such route had been disrupted. We typically see a caravan from Kampung Gaja, but our supplier was so delayed with this latest shipment, I felt the need to investigate it in person. Unfortunately, I was detoured towards Throal. Upon arrival, I found every Adept I had ever met present, spoken to by some dude named Sangin. Apparently there was a massive threat approaching Kampung Gaja? I'm so horrible with current events. Nevertheless, I volunteered myself, hoping a rapid resolution would reinstate my source of diapers, juices, and crumpets. Crumpets are crunk.

It didn't take long before the gravity of the situation hit me, the first time I felt such seriousness. Or any seriousness. My adventures were always so light hearted and lacking in danger. It seems that if we were unsuccessful with this endeavor, I'd never get those crumpets. Or cookies. I guess I could make do without the juices and diapers. There was no time to think about that. We had a giant floating castle with a portal directly into Kampung Gaja. Luckily we had Norg and Thorkell with us. There was a new up and coming Adept I had heard of named Bloodbeak. It'll be great to see what kind of spell slinging I should look into next. I mean, she's a necromancer and I'm an elementalist, but there's bound to be some overlap, right? I'm kind of disappointed she wasn't more raptor-like. You'd think with a name like Bloodbeak, she'd actually have a beak, at least. We also had Zivilyn. I remember he gave me a bit of training a few times. I wonder how he's developed? And of course there was that Sangin character I was talking about earlier. He really knew his air ships. Did I mention I was put on the airship team? I mean obviously. These people probably worship me and Thorkell. We rescued an entire civilization of windlings! Not that it mattered this high up. Windlings only fly to the tree tops from what I've seen.

We succeeded. I wasn't there for much of it, but Kampung Gaja is safe. We were approaching a group of gargoyles and some air elemental voodoo dolls. There was another Swordmaster. He led the enemy. I did what I could to soften him up as we approached. Norg was typical Norg: he chased the Swordmaster off his moderately deformed wyvern. Most of my team was knocked on their asses a couple times. Thorkell nearly fell to his death. I stayed on my feet the entire time. I was casting spells, kicking ass, and I even tried to strike the Swordmaster. He was so deft at dodging physical attacks. I think he might have been a circle 11. Anyways, we kicked his ass, and I knocked his unconscious body off our airship. I wish I could've dealt the killing blow, but I think that can be attributed to Norg. The group then dove into an intense debate on how to deal with the portal on board the floating castle. We ran a bombing run, and the resulting shrapnel perforated the ship we were on. I followed Zivilyn's lead to bolster the magic that kept it afloat. Norg punched the giant rock that was lodged into the hull. Sangin steered us towards the river. We crashed down in the river. I was knocked unconscious and when I awoken, I was inside the airship! The room was on its side, with the door laying on the riverbed. Water had filled up to leave about 10 feet of air. I dove under to see if I could swim to the surface, but with the distance, I would be guaranteed to die. I thought I was done. It was either suffocate or drown. I think I prefer suffocation. I hear it's just like going to sleep. A couple days went by. I spent most of my time sleeping. As I began having difficulties thinking straight, the room began to rise. Air started filtering in through the windows. I fell through the door in the world's worst water slide to find myself surrounded by T'Skrang. They were responsible for recovering the wreck of the ship. I'm glad they were more focused on this entire ordeal rather than sending my diaper orders. I need to check in on Orfen. She's been getting stir crazy with the orphanage and the infirmary. She's been trying to get out on her own adventures. I need to be in Trayckid for that to happen.