Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

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Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:56 pm

10 Raquas
Hired on as a guard for a caravan of settlers heading out from Throal. Lareth and Anfalon don't strike me as the smartest of leaders. Only 25 humans to start a new town out in the wilds? I wish them well. If there's hope for them, then there's hope for the Buunda Boys.

11 Raquas
Our first day out of Throal. Two brothers, Vah and Zot, got into a scuffle. The other adepts tried to break them up before anyone even drew blood. Cleary these ujnort don't understand what a real fight looks like. If they had intended any harm, there'd have been some broken bones and eye gouging.
My fellow guards are Heartscry, a Windling Illusionist; Krel Tor, a Troll Nethermancer; and Ceadda, a Human Warrior. Three of us are quiet, but Heartscry tries to make up for it by sticking her pointy nose into everyone's business. She was able to find out that Vah and Zot's father had run the market in the Hall these Humans grew up in, and did not treat his customers well. Wish I had known these folks before, we could have knocked over his store and everyone would have been better off for it.
Heartscry and I will take first watch, Ceadda and Krel Tor the second.

12 Raquas
During the night, a sneak managed to take a sword from Rosario, one of the Humans. They placed it in Zot's tent. Odd, though, that we found their tracks so easily. It didn't seem likely to us that he was the thief, but Lareth banished him anyway. Heartscry told him to follow along, a couple hours behind the caravan. She had tried to talk to his brother, but was brushed off. We're pretty sure he knows who the sneak is.
During the long walk south we kept an eye out for any suspicious behavior. Setting up camp for the night, we noticed that Kirtar, a dirt poor fisherman, had suddenly gained a tent. He'd slept under a wagon the night before. Now, he was the proud owner of Zot's tent. We have ourselves a suspect for Vah's accomplice.
We worked out a plan to catch the real thief. I'm going to hide on the roof of one of the wagons during our watch, while Heartscry will be big and obvious.

12 Raquas (again)
The plan worked. Vah made some furtive attempts to get out of his tent, each time seeing Heartscry fly by, and cowering back inside. Once he figured out her big and obvious pattern, he snuck out and met with Kirtar. Vah handed Kirtar a sack of silver, rewarding him for 10% of Zot's stolen wealth. With both culprits caught red-handed in the middle of camp, I needed a little ruckus to wake everyone up, so I shot Vah in the foot.
Sure enough, he started screaming, bringing Loreth, Anfalon, a buck-naked Ceadda, and everyone else out of their tents. Faced with the possibility of walking back to Throal on two broken feet, Vah started to waffle. Faced with my glowing red finger on his breast, Kirtar was more than happy to turn in his boss. Loreth booted the two of them out of the caravan and apologized to Zot.

14 Raquas
Mid-day, the trail we were following suddenly ended. The Scouts who were supposed to be showing us the way must have gotten into trouble. With a little luck, we were able to find one of them. He was delirious, his skin discolored by a venomous bite. We administered a poultice and continued down, trying to find his partner.
We encountered a creature, something called a Dappled Brithan. It was kind of like a big furry Troll that crawled around on all fours. Extremely territorial, we had to prove our worth to it. Ceadda answered its challenge, and though he nearly got himself killed, his tenacity allowed him to knock it unconscious. We had a Scout to find, so we didn't stay to skin and butcher it.
Down by the river, we saw something called a Bog Gob, a hideous gray lumpen thing, gnawing on the bones of the other Scout. This was apparently not normal behavior for Bog Gobs. Then it attacked us. We'd've easily handled it, but it had a Blood Raven friend and Ceadda managed to step on some snakes that attacked us. Heartscry was able to keep the Blood Raven occupied and even cast her Displace Image spell on the other two, but that just meant the snakes went after me. That poison was seriously harsh and I blacked out for a moment, but we were able to defeat the monsters and recover the Scout's body.

15 Raquas
We've delivered the settlers to their new home. They offered to let us Name it, and Heartscry Named it Borgan's Rest, after the Scout who lost his life helping them get there. I'm still worried that Lareth will too-quickly rush to judgment in the future, but that's their business, not mine. We headed back to Throal and left them to their work.

18 Raquas
Back in Throal. We detected no sign of Kirtar and Vah. I hope they didn't get attacked by a Horror.

Other PCs:
Heartscry, female Windling Illusionist
Krel Tor, male Troll Nethermancer
Ceadda, male Human Warrior

NPCs:
Lareth, large Human blacksmith, leader
Anfalon, small Human tailor, his wife
Vah and Zot, angry brothers
Rosario, sword owner
Kirtar, lying liar who lies, fisherman

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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Mon Sep 25, 2017 3:25 am

1 Sollus:
Arrived at Braden's Rest. Chatted with some townsfolk. Met a Troubadour who had elected himself Town Drunk. More people have already moved here in the last week. Maybe we *should* be moving the Buunda Boys out here.

While in the tavern tent, we heard a bloody scream and the two guards were killed by a mob of Bog Gobs. Clearly they were not very good guards. We ran out and Ibon discovered the Bog Gobs were some sort of Undead, making the decision to slaughter them pretty easy.

Unfortunately, while we were fighting them, another Bog Gob made off with Lareth on a riding boar. We were too occupied with our opponents to be able to rescue him, but we managed to dispatch our foes. Ibon succumbed to their damage, however, limiting our ability to rescue Lareth. I brought him back around, fulfilling 1/3 of my debt to Heartscry, but night was falling and we chose not to pursue.

2 Sollus:
We dragged the Troubadour by the scruff of his neck along with us. For someone who claimed that he wanted to discover new villages, meet new people, and earn fame out in the world, he seemed a pretty useless cowardly drunk. We found a Bog Gob that was different from the ones we've been fighting and were able to communicate with it, mostly through pantomime. One of its Tribe had become a Questor of Raggok and begun to raise an army of Bog Zombies. This new Gob took us to its village, whereupon we were furnished with two Bog Gob scouts to take us to the new problem.

We decided to do some advanced scouting that night due to the strong possibility that Lareth would not survive another night. I snuck ahead, discovering that the Questor was torturing Lareth in a ruined tower. Not willing to waste another minute, I tried to summon my allies with my bullseye lantern, but was spotted. The Bog Zombies gave chase, but did not abandon their site, and let me go.

We approached again, breaking into a run when Lareth's screaming reached a new pitch. I attacked the Questor while Thane circled left and Ibon circled right. Krel Tor raised a Life Circle of One, which we lured the Bog Zombies into, allowing us to kill them all. We skinned the boar and I harvested its hide and tusks, feasting on its body for dinner.

Other PCs:
Ibontu, Obsidiman Warrior
Krel Tor, male Troll Nethermancer
Thane Cawdor, male Troll Sky Raider

NPCs:
Lareth, large Human blacksmith, leader
Anfalon, small Human tailor, his wife
Zot, general store owner
Several Bog Gobs, names unintelligible

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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Wed Sep 27, 2017 3:33 am

10 Sollus:
We return to Borgan's Rest to help them explore the Coil River and reopen trade with the T'Skrang of the area. Lareth asks us to convince the useless Troubadour (whose name, apparently, is Traugott) to help them negotiate with Bog Gopolis. Alari worked his Swordmaster magic to outmaneuver him into going.

We then negotiate passage toward the T'Skrang Kaer with the two boys who have built a boat, and spend some time decorating it with our various Artisan Skills. I carved a figurehead in the style of the Theran Galleon St. Maarten, while Ceadda carved the name into the prow. He did a real hatchet job of it, though, and it looks kinda like "St. Fartin'".

I tried to start negotiations with Sylvester and his crew, but my T'Skrang companions "helpfully" assisted and managed to raise their fee to 25 Silver. Alari and Ceadda covered it.

11 Sollus:
We head North, using our boat to check and see if any closer yet navigable section of the river contains sunken T'Skrang villages, but to no avail. Alari and Rir'Sha seem to recall that the T'Skrang built a structure near a bend in the river that we should keep an eye out for.

12 Sollus:
We travel South, ending our day's journey at a bend in the river where we think the T'Skrang might be. We see movement in the water, but see no fish.

I take first watch with Ceadda. The T'Skrang take second watch.

13 Sollus:
Another day south, another bend in the river, this time with Homophagic Crocodiles! They attack while the two T'Skrang are on watch, dragging Alari off the boat and under the water. Ceadda wakes up, and, naked, helps Rir'Sha fight off the one on him. I help Alari get free of his attacker, only to line up a perfect shot on the crocodile and...my arrow bounces uselessly off of it. The naked warrior falls unconscious, but we are able to defend his body, even as yet another crocodile attacks.

14 Sollus:
I spot a crazy T'Skrang on the side of the river and we go to meet him. He says
E wrote: "I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?"
and we discover his Name is E.

E takes us into the jungle where we see a pair of stone hands, palms out, and he reads
E wrote: I am always hungry, I must always be fed, The finger I touch, Will soon Turn red.

We touch a flaming torch to the hands and the doors open. Down the halls he leads us, through an impenetrable maze, to a wall of fire. He reads
E wrote: What is as light as a feather, but even the world’s strongest man couldn’t hold it for more than a minute?
I blow on the wall of fire, and it poofs. Yay. We begin to worry he has gotten lost and Alari convinces him to take us to the Kaer. We arrive at a wall of air now and he mumbles his way halfway through a poem, and the two T'Skrang in our group manage to suss out the rest of it:
E wrote: When young, I am sweet in the sun.
When middle-aged, I make you gay.
When old, I am valued more than ever.
We puzzle over it for a minute and I ask Alari for his bottle of wine. I take a sip as tribute then spit another mouthful onto the barrier, causing it to dissipate. He takes us through a long art gallery, filled with statuary missing bits and pieces to a dull metal wall.
E wrote: It can pierce the best armor and make swords crumble with a rub, yet for all its power It can't harm a wooden club.
We acquire some rust and apply it to the door and it crumbles to dust. The lack of elemental synergy is disturbing. At last, we arrive at a stone door with the following words:
E wrote: Three lives have I. Gentle enough to soothe the skin. Light enough to caress the sky. Hard enough to crack rocks. What am I?
I lick the door and it vanishes.

Before us likes nine cylinders, nearly identical, and a set of balances. We can only use the balances twice to find the one cylinder of different weight. Eventually we find the answer and then E goes to sleep until the fourth hour because he's old and crazy. Good thing I insisted we keep a watch. He took us to a room with a blazing hot sun and told us not to walk into the sun. So we end up napping all day instead. Crazy old coot.

Once inside, the T'Skrang of the Kaer awoke. We met with P'Tlomais, their...er...queen? And she assigned Y'Zechran to be her Ambassador to Borgan's Rest, and he looked properly perturbed at the quality of our boat. More market share for them, I guess.

Other PCs:
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Alari Fleetfin, male T'Skrang Swordmaster
Rir'Sha, male T'Skrang Scout

NPCs:
Lareth, large Human blacksmith, leader
Traugott Leo Eichel, Human Troubadour
Slyvester, male Human Ship owner

Occupants of the Kaer:
E, T'Skrang Hermit, who we found awake and alive outside
Y'Zechran, their Ambassador
P'Tlomais, their queen

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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Fri Sep 29, 2017 4:13 am

21 Sollus
We're passing through the Throal Mountains to visit the mysterious figure known as the Wolf Father. Moore thinks he's some sort of Horror, Heartscry thinks he's some sort of Passion. All I know is that he's summoned Alari and is fighting a swarm of blood bees, so it seems like a good idea to go see him and lend a hand. The Iceclaws are under constant attack from the blood bees, and helping them will help secure a large swath of territory.

22 Sollus
We stop at Iceclaw Moot to see how they're doing. They've developed an effective tactic of pinning the blood bees to the rocks with the spears while others hack at their bodies.

We see a demonstration of this in the middle of the night as they dispatch an invading semy of bees.

25 Sollus
On the far side of the river, we are greeted by a party of wolves who take us through a maze of twisty passages all alike. They take us into an opulent library filled with books and treasures. A human welcomed us, taking the role of the Wolf Father, and offered us accomodations.

26 Sollus
The Wolf Father asked us to retrieve a journal of some kind from a Theran manse that has been infested with killer apes. Our payment is whatever else we find there, which he implied would be substantial, which of course means the book is incredibly valuable.

We follow one of his wolves through the woods to the manse and find it crawling with gorillas and monkeys. They've knocked over several trees to build a palisade, blocking all entrances except the front gate. A troup of babboons ambush us as we try to get in, but they were quickly driven off. The interior is dark, far too dark for Ceadda and Ibon to see, but Alari has a light quartz that helps them out. I do my sneaky ambush thing and shoot several apes in various rear-facing organs. There was an awkward moment when we explored the main hall and several apes tried to sneak-attack August, slipping away afterward, but I nailed one in the hamstring and he ran off.

He ran off to go get their boss, who came crashing in through the doorway. Alari and Ceadda faced off against him while Ibon stumbled around in the dark, crashing through a window into an atrium, trying to flank it. August squared off against the sneak-attacking ape but they all fled when their master was knocked out. The lead ape was humongous, with red glittering gems studding its flesh that we harvested for Alari to wear as Blood Pebble. All the others collected magic items, but I was left with nothing but the journal to show for our efforts and the Wolf Father plucked an Elven Warbow out of thin air to reward me for mine.

Moore thinks he's a Horror, Alari thinks he's a Dragon. I bet on Passion.

Other PCs:
Alari Fleetfin, male T'Skrang Swordmaster
August Rey, male Dwarf Cavalryman
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Ibontu, Obsidiman Warrior

NPCs:
The Wolf Father

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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:09 am

15 Riag
August Rey has received a charter from the Throalic government to explore the Granite Keep, a pre-Scourge outpost they are thinking of garrisoning to help protect the expanding Throalic frontier. The Keep was overwhelmed during the last days before the closing and they have no idea what shape it's in - or what's happened to the bodies of the fallen. They've hired us to explore the ruin, examine it for martial suitability, and clear out any dangers. He's put together a posse of toughs and I'm gonna help guide them to their destination and keep them from biting off more than they can chew.

17 Riag
For two days, I have led the party Southwest. I can't shake the feeling that someone else is out here. Others have reported hearing voices across the open plains at night, but we haven't found anything. We'll be proceeding more carefully tomorrow. We don't know who else is out here, and we know that not everyone will make for pleasant company.

18 Riag
As we started to set up camp, I heard the voices again and was able to follow them to a wooded thicket where a group of Humans were setting up a camp of their own. They bore the same sigil of Raggok as the Bog Gob cultists we'd encountered near Borgan's Rest, several days to the East and several weeks in the past.

I reported back to my compatriates. They wanted to immediately ambush and kill the cultists, but I persuaded them that perhaps some could be spared and arrested. I don't like the idea of killing any Namegiver who hasn't tried to kill me or mine, and I was able to persuade them. This did not mean that we were not expecting combat - I snuck ahead and managed to get on the far side of them so that we could get them from both sides.

We approached and Ceadda made some seriously terrible smalltalk. It was painful to hear and painful to watch. It was like he had no idea how to talk to people and -- even worse -- no idea how to accuse someone of being a Cultist of Raggok. I managed to resist the urge shoot someone as they slowly pulled him in with offers to sit by their campfire and join their company, sure that any minute they would try to ensorcell him, when the unexpected happened. Their apparent leader, a fellow by the Name of Myren, pulled Ceadda in close and asked for a rescue. Enraged, they slit his throat and combat began in earnest.

Outnumbered though we were, we had them outclassed and though they threw packets of paralytic poison at my allies, we were undeterred and able to slay the remaining cultists, comfortable with them having met the quite low bar of "trying to murder us". We brought Myren back and questioned him about the group. Apparently one of the nearby Kaers had fallen completely to Raggok's sway and were even now recruiting new membership on the surface. They sent roving patrols across the countryside to take others back to their lair, dead or alive. Myren grew up in the Kaer but was no devotee, and we had finally provided him the means to escape. The cultists had recently repaired and occupied a pre-Scourge fortification that we had to neutralize - The Granite Keep.

19 Riag
We don the robes of the slain cultists in an attempt to get in through the front door of the Granite Keep. August was disguised as a Human, riding one of the pack horses that we had captured. Ibontu and Shadow Stalker lay on a litter that we dragged, playing the role of captured Namegivers that we were bringing back for forced conversion.

We had been warned that sentries would be up and that undead eagles patroled the skies, but we did not realize quite how adept the eagles would be at spotting us. Whatever flaw existed in our disguise, they saw through it and divebombed us. It took some time for us to get the hang of fighting them, as I was the only Ranged attacker we had, but I was able to wing two of them and the rest of the party took out the rest. The battle was not without cost, however. Shadow Stalker fell and could not be roused. I applied my Last Chance Salve to him, which did bring him back, but by then we could see a party sallying forth from the Keep, and we were in no shape to fight.

we fled, and they followed, and we could only hope that our potions could heal us enough to be able to give us the edge we needed to survive. I managed to hide myself in the shrubbery as they passed, allowing me to again harry from behind as they engaged the fighters. Ceadda struck their leader with a mighty blow, but they were undeterred, and two broke off to fight me. Now able to bring his full Cavalryman Talents to bear, August charged one of them but missed, joining me as the two Warriors took on the leader and one grunt.

Visions flashed through my eyes of Warriors who could not be brought back because I spent our only Last Chance Salve on the cat, but the decision did not need to be questioned - August with the cat was an effective combatant. August without the cat was surely dead. Things were pretty dicey at one point, and one grunt even attempted a hostage negotiation, but we got the drop on him and managed to rescue our comrade. Exhausted, but having defeated their strongest fighters, we trudged back to the Keep to try and bluff them out.

August nearly blew the whole thing by getting too insistent with his demands. They called his bluff and he wasn't willing to negotiate or back down, but I took over the shouting and gave them two hours to clear out. They cleared out.

26 Riag
We've cleared the keep of the fallen, their pyres burning high and late and stinking into the night. No Raggok patrols returned - warned off no doubt by our cleanup attempts. The fort is suitable for occupation now, so we return to Throal. Someone's gonna have to find this Kaer and knock some sense into these hoomons.


Other PCs:
August Rey, male Dwarf Cavalryman
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Ibontu, Obsidiman Warrior

NPCs:
Myren, the reluctant Cultist
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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:20 am

3 Teayu
We're heading into the Mountains to smoke out a Blood Bee Hive. August and Varis have convinced everyone to carry sacks of salt for protection from blood bees. I suspect it might be some kind of hazing ritual, but salt is useful so I bought it anyway. Naturally it rains.

4 Teayu
August and Ceadda hear Blood Bees in the night, but nothing attacks us.

5 Teayu
Lots more Blood Bees in the night, flying to and fro, particularly in the direction of the Iceclaw Moot. They're probably all dead.

6 Teayu
About an hour from the Trollmoot, a swarm of Blood Bees attacked us. A Blood Wasp and six minions flew in. I killed two right away but they managed to sting Shadow Stalker. Varis very effectively unleashed his Lightning and we mopped the rest up.

We raced the sun to the Iceclaws and found them in outright war with the Blood Bees. Another Blood Wasp and four Blood Bees greeted us at the door. Shadow Stalker leapt up onto a house with August on his back and engaged the Blood Wasp. We made relatively short work of them, but he ended up on the far side of the house and was then ambushed by two more Blood Wasps. We were able to rescue him, but Shadow Stalker had been knocked out and Varis was temporarily paralyzed in the action.

We gave August a bit of a dressing down about running off on his own and then sat down for a hot meal. He wants to use his damage shift talent on us, but he's just not loyal enough to us for it to be a serious consideration. He doesn't have our backs.

This engagement was a retaliation on the Trolls for trying to attack the Blood Bee Queen. The good news is, we know where she is. The bad news is, most of the Trolls are in rough shape. We'll have to decide in the morning whether to mount our raid or take a day to rest.

7 Teayu
With Varis fully healed, we spend the day heading West to the Blood Bee Hive. We coat ourselves in the ridiculous salt and I coated some of my arrows with it as well.

We discovered a massive underground hive complex with eight entrances. Blood Bees would periodically leave the hive and attack us until August charged forward to attack a lone Bee and they unleashed their Ambush on him. As he was nearly overwhelmed by the swarm, he and Shadow Stalker escaped, and the Bees switched their atention to Ceadda.

That's when the Blood Bee queen erupted out of the ground and joined the fray. I hit her with an arrow and Varis blasted her and some of her minions with a Desperate Lightning Bolt, but things were looking pretty grim for Ceadda.

I dumped the last of my Karma into a True Shot with a salt arrow aimed at her blood sack, and her abdomen erupted and shriveled at the same time, tearing her body to pieces. The remaining Blood Bees became listless and the hive was easily wiped out afterward. We burned the bodies and destroyed the remains of the hive and headed home. I need a bath.

Other PCs:
August Rey, male Dwarf Cavalryman
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Varis, male Dwarf Elementalist
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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Mon Oct 30, 2017 1:12 am

7 Doddul
The Wolf Father reached out to me that he had located a necklace he wanted and that if I got it for him, I could keep any other loot I found on the way. This sounded suspicially like certain mob "requests" I've received in the past, and he doesn't strike me as one to piss off deliberately, so I grabbed some of my friends to go "take care of it". Jexel is late to the party.

10 Doddul
We arrive at the Iceclaw Moot and stay the night. They tell us of the tower they have found, which has been taken over by harpies. The place is surrounded by bear traps. This is where the Wolf Father wants us to do his "favor".

12 Doddul
The Iceclaws have built a cargo elevator that we can take down to the Serpent River's shores below. When we reach the tower, I lay down some covering fire while Jexel tries to explore the tower. He's able to mark the location of some of the traps before we are set upon by Harpies. I manage to wing the first one and keep it trapped on the tower, but a bunch come down and harry us. In my haste to get a clear shot in, I step on a bear trap and nearly lose my leg. I feel dumb.

With most of the harpies dispatched, we begin climbing. I thought it would be prudent for me to remain on the ground and continue to provide cover fire, but we decide that climbing all as a group would be preferable in case my help is needed to dispatch any creatures on the roof.

While we are climbing, the harpies fly down and try to taunt us into falling. They land some doozies (mostly about Ceadda's mother), but we push through. Up on the roof they have chained up some sort of huge winged lion that charges forward and threatens to knock us down to our dooms, but we manage to keep our wits about us (even as the harpies tell us more horrible things about Ceadda's mother), and eventually the winged lion is dispatched. Around its neck lie the jewels the Wolf Father wanted, and buried in the filth and detritus of the harpy nest, we found several magical items worthy of research.

13 Doddul
His "favor" done, we bid leave of the Wolf Father and return home to Throal. Varis will commune with our treasure and see if he can convince it to let us know its secrets.

Other PCs:
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Jexel'thalas, male Elf Thief
Varis, male Dwarf Elementalist

NPCs:
The Wolf Father
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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:34 am

6 Strassa
Clem Dawnmist sent a word to the Adepts who explore the wilds that some sort of carnival had come to Borgan's Rest and that everyone there was acting weird. It didn't mention Lareth banishing anyone, so that is definitely a sign that something weird is going on. I grab some of the guys and we head South to check it out.

8 Strassa
While setting up camp for the night, a shadowy figure claiming to be Piabach's came up to us and told us that his fair had been highjacked and if we recovered five items for him, it would free his faire. Creepy.

9 Strassa
Borgan's Rest is festooned with scarecrows, ravens, decorations of all kinds for the otherworldly faire that has taken over the town. The people within wander about with glassy-eyed idiocy and seem to not recall our previous interactions. When pressed, they seem to even forget the current interaction we've been having. Even Laurence's usual imperviousness to the world around him has been overcome and he has been highjacked by the faire's otherworldly magic. Lareth was consumed by the desire to forge, crafting flaying daggers of the like the Cultists use, but thinking only of their use on pumpkins.

Felsic and Jexel saw some faire games whose prizes they thought might be the items we're looking for. Felsic drank a foul potion and held it down, winning a magic rock, and Jexel solved a puzzle cube and won a sword. Bortruk entered a battle of wits and managed to Taunt his way to victory, being awarded a miniature Airship Oar. There was an Archery contest that I won easily, too.

Some looky-loos in the town tried to get me locked up in the stocks for ten minutes and Ceadda tried to egg them on, but I refused and for a moment felt a little sick to my stomach, not unlike the curses those Harpies threw out at us. At that point, another spectral form appeared, looking suspiciously like Vah, asking if we were having a good time.

I overheard some folks casting about looking for a mighty Warrior, so I volunteered Ceadda for the role in revenge. They had a log swinging on a rope that people were taking as a blast to the gut, but Ceadda sidestepped and cut the rope with his spear, taking the prize, a tattered overcoat.

The spectre reappeared and brought the scarecrows to life and they and the ravens attacked. I shot a raven and told my friends to set the scarecrows on fire. The ravens ganged up on Ceadda, but he was able to survive their flurry of blows and destroyed the first scarecrow. Bortruk Taunted and Distracted the second scarecrow, allowing Jexel to slip in behind it and double-team it with him. The crows surrounded Ceadda but we were able to kill enough of them that the rest ran.

After a brief rest, a glowing floating figure came into the town and begged me to dance with it. As we did, it began to drain my life force. I tried to connect with it, but in its hunger, it ripped at my flesh. The rest of the group stepped in to save me. Things were tense for a while, its body was not as there-there as we would have preferred. It floated up to snipe at us from a height. I asked Bortruk for an assist but he panicked and ran and so it was all up to me. I poured the last of my Karma into the shot and banished it to the realm it came from.

Floating in its place was the spirit of Vah, the one who'd betrayed his brother, which quickly floated northward into a cave. I snuck into the cave after it, quenching my thirst with a booster potion, and beheld a collection of dead bodies. Within, we heard chanting, and the chanting figure transigured into some sort of spirit-Brithan-abomination, sending energy out into the corpses to animate them as Cadaver Men.

The spirit-Brithan-thing charged Ceadda, who was able to kill it with assists from Bortruk, Jexel, and myself, but not without several of the Cadaver Men becoming enraged and felling Felsic, who was holding off a group of them so we could focus on it. Two of the Cadaver Men came after me; I slayed one and the other slayed me, but my Death Cheat Charm woke me and I was able to defend Bortruk and Ceadda while Jexel destroyed the foul book that summoned the creatures we fought. I crawled over to Felsic and was able to revive him with a Last Chance Salve.

We returned to Borgan's Rest and were relieved to see that the people had been freed of the cursed faire that had enslaved them.

Other PCs:
Bortruk, male Dwarf Air Sailor
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Felsic, Obsidiman Scout
Jexel'thalas, male Elf Thief

NPCs:
Celembrian Dawnmist, male Elf Redneck
Piabach, scary shadow monster
Last edited by etherial on Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:28 pm

1 Veltom
Some Dwarf hired us to retrieve something from his Great-Great-Grandmother's Tomb. Guy's Named Gordad Treasureborn, and he's the head of the Cubrews Trading Alliance (Newly Formed). Guy seemed completely overwhelmed, I'm not even sure he's aware he posted the job.

5 Veltom
A moaning noise woke us in the middle of the night and we geared up for battle. A Demiwraith wandered into camp and attacked Ceadda. We made short work of it, but it remains a bad omen. Even the undead aren't that stupid.

6 Veltom
We stumbled across an encampment of Cadaver Men. They tell us they had been Raised and Enslaved by Ivon and Tabythe, the leaders of the local village on the doorstep of the Kaer they grew up in. We agree to look into it.

Unfortunately, the guards of the town didn't take a liking to me and wouldn't let us in. I attempted to sneak in to grab one of the magic amulets that they were using to control the Cadaver Men, but I got spotted and nearly killed trying to get back to safety.

7 Veltom
I argued that we should go talk to the Cadaver Men and confront the town with the facts, but August reminded me that we've been hired to bring something back to Throal and wants to see if we can sneak into the Kear to get it.

10 Veltom
After several days of running around in the muck, we determine that there's no way into the Kaer. We tried to bribe another group of merchants to get it for us, but to no avail. We return to Throal unable to complete the job. Good thing Gordad's not organized enough to get revenge on us.


Other PCs:
August Rey, male Dwarf Cavalryman
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Varis, male Dwarf Elementalist

NPCs:
Gordad Treasureborn, male Dwarf Merchant, head of the Cubrews Trading Alliance (Newly Formed)
Last edited by etherial on Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Excerpts from the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk

Post by etherial » Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:30 pm

20 Veltom
Some "wealthy merchant" has hired us to bring him back some special ingredients. He did not tell us his timeframe, which is insane, however, so we'll have to push hard or we'll have another failed exploration mission on our hands.

24 Veltom
We've made it to the Servos Jungle, hunting Globberog for their slime glands and Crakbills for their paralyzing glands.

The Globberogs we found were being followed by some Harpies. The Harpies made life difficult for a while but abandoned us to our fate as the Globberogs slowly started digesting everyone but Varis. I had managed to gain the attention of the one that had wanted to eat him, costing me a lot of stickiness but allowing him to Earth Darts the two of them to death. The only thing that kept me alive was my new Fireblood Talent, allowing me to regenerate the blood the Globberong was draining from me.

We pressed on, hoping to meet our insane deadline, finding a small flock of Crakbills at a fork in a stream. Ceadda bravely took 2 of them on himself while Felsic, Varis, and I took the other two on. Once Ceadda was paralyzed, however, his two foes came after us and things were a little dicey for a while but we came out alright.

28 Veltom
We returned in time to get the bonus on delivery.

Other PCs:
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Felsic, Obsidiman Scout
Varis, male Dwarf Elementalist

NPCs:
Skorot, male Dwarf Merchant
Last edited by etherial on Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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