Game Session Recaps

[frenzied67]

Episode 135 Naza the 8th, 1032 C.E.

Since Lord Bercel was currently going through copies of the papers the party had retrieved from the slaver stronghold, the party reviewed what was to be the next problem they wanted to tackle.  With Grynn and Jolrael abstaining due to time constraints, Leiya and Enkili forwarded the idea of going to Onastia to free Miria from Knjazir Erbolg.  Blaylocke advanced no reason to not go ahead with that plan.  The idea was to have the bastion personnel begin to check into this duke from the north’s information when their current tasks were over.

A review of what the party knew came to the following: Miria was being held in Deros Kaden an Onostian city.  Knjazir Erbolg fields a banner with a black falcon on a field of crimson.  His reputation is nasty, though he has the ear of Onastia’s emperor.  They may be related as the Knjazir title is equal to that of a duke or baron.

Dismayed over the thousand plus miles of sea travel they would have to undergo just to get into the northern lands, Blaylocke decided to check into people who may be able to transport them via magic.  His first stop was at a local bardic college.  Since his name was so renowned through the land, they asked Blaylocke to prove that he was indeed Blaylocke Anvilarm.  The instructors however were not convinced by the song they made the Dwarf sing to prove himself.  This forced Blaylocke to hand over eight tickets to his theater to see The Folly of Frodendahl as a bribe that might prove his credentials.

This graft was enough for Altos to hear Blaylocke out.  This man, however, was not interested in a monetary deal with the party.  Altos wanted a favor for a favor as he was eager in acquiring an urn lost in an ancient castle’s basements, a basement which was now part and parcel of The Freehold’s sewer system.  The man warned of a gigantic frog like creature that killed anyone who ventured into the sewage tunnels under the city.  This may be the giant frog creature the party had barely escaped from in their first visit to The Freehold, when they had been framed for murder.

The urn is supposed to be of a golden metal with a series of spiral like etchings around the body and may be part of a greater treasure. Lore is discovered about the froghemoth, it has a bite attack and two tentacle attacks.  They also have resistance to fire and electricity, though electricity can stun them.  They are also not very dexterous.  Some have been recorded in nature attended by Bullywug followers.  The site of the ancient castle was where Umber Square now stood, so that is where the heroes went after switching spells, quaffing special drinks, and making other preparations.

Finding the grate down was easy enough, and on climbing down they found themselves on a platform over the sewer sludge.  As agreed upon, Grynn and Jolrael were to remain on the platform, then follow at a later point (IE. they were not playing today.)  Leiya did cast Water Walk on everyone, but she reserved Aid for herself, Enkili, and Blaylocke.  The priestess also bestowed herself with a Death Ward.  There were four tunnels, east, south, west, and north, but the party had no idea which way to go.

They chose the eastern path at random and set out.  About eighty feet down they came to a T intersection that ran north and south.  Trying to sneak they turned south, this route ran for about thirty or so feet before there was a crossroad.  The passage continued south, and east, but the path west opened into a large space.  Curiosity pulled Enkili into the room, Blaylocke and Leiya followed.  After sneaking forward for a bit, the fighter realized that this open area that continued on beyond their sight was perfect for a giant creature like the froghemoth.  Turning back they didn’t make it far before they saw a massive wide mouthed head squeezing through the entrance.

Though it ducked down under the murky sludgy flow, it soon rose as it knew stalking was no longer necessary.  Blaylocke and Leiya found themselves face to face with the froghemoth.  Leiya raised her hands and tried to bind the froghemoth with a Slow spell, but the magic refused to adhere to the rubbery hide.  But as the froghemoth’s eye stalks turned to the priestess, Blaylocke hit it with his Raulothim’s Psychic Lance.  Ever hear an amphibian scream?  The bard then danced away from the hulking creature without repercussion, and for added flair he granted Enkili one of his Bardic Inspirations.  Enkili stepped in with The Sainted Sword and left three deep cuts in its blubberous hide.

Moving back near Blaylocke, Leiya then hit the froghemoth with a Guiding Bolt; limning the creature in targeting light.  The bard hit Enkili with a Haste spell, just as the monster shook off the dazed state Blaylocke had left it in.  It bulled by Enkili like the muscle bound fighter was a reed in the wind, but slight Leiya checked it from bullying her aside, it was forced to take a route wider than it had wanted.  Ripples rolled into the room from the archway to the east, and from the darkness from within the chamber, but the heroes had more than enough on their minds to take notice.  Enkili landed a parting shot on the frogehemoth as it moved away from him.

The extra movement meant the froghemoth was unable to attack anyone, but it brought both Blaylocke and Leiya under threat.  Metabolism at double speed, Enkili plowed into the huge creature and so caught it’s attention that he was able to allow Leiya to escape it’s reach. He then did the same for Blaylocke with another use of his Maneuvering Strike feature.  The fighter then landed two more attacks while his friends set themselves safely out of the froghemoth’s reach.  That last attack removed the hulking froghemoth as a threat entirely.

Yet as the dead monster settled into the sewer muck, another began to squeeze into the room from the passage the party had come from, and a third froghemoth’s eye stalks rose from the sludge from within the chamber.  As the monster from the east closed with Leiya, Jolrael came prancing atop the waters into the chamber, his quick eyes ascertaining the situation.  Leiya surrounded herself with her trusty Spiritual Guardians spell.  But even as the little angelic sprites began to tear into the monster, it bit Leiya causing her to lose control of the magic; despite her training to keep her mind focused through pain and distractions.

It’s tongue lashed out and tried to draw Leiya into the creatures wide maw, again her physical strength and desperation kept her from becoming prey to the creatures merciless endeavor.  A tentacle hammered Enkili, knocking his armored figure about while wrapping him around, while another appendage thumped on Blaylocke.  The bard was able to keep his attention on maintaining his Haste spell.  Unable to close with the closest froghemoth, Enkili took his fury out on the tentacle holding him in place.  Though his second attack missed, the other three hit, his third strike was virulent enough that he frightened the massive creature (Intimidating Strike).

From his place of nigh safety to the north and just inside the arch, Jolrael upcast Ice Storm on both froghemoth’s.  He changed the spell from freezing winds and ice blocks to one of flickering lightening and falling ice chunks.  Both monsters suffered from the spell, but the nearer froghemoth suffered more than the other; it was stunned.  Blaylocke upcast his next Raulothim’s Psychic Lance and hit the nearer creature with it, as pain made it temporarily insensate, the bard chose to back into safety near the north wall.  He also granted Enkili another Bardic Inspiration.
The southern froghemoth surged through the sewage and tried to bite Enkili, but the fighters violent movements against the tentacle holding him caused it to miss.  It’s tentacles went for the bard, with one miss but with one hit as well.  The bard was looking worked over….

*Well another week under out belt.  Our next game will be March 1st, where we expect Ghosttusk to join us, as Ramsay Cowlishaw was able to late in this game.  Remember, once these froghemoths are taken care of, our party still has to locate this ancient chamber and it’s valuable urn and other riches.  Frenzied67 signing out this February 22nd.

Episode 136 Naza the 8th, 1032 C.E.

Grynn entered the chamber by squeezing passed Jolrael, and after a quick glance around, the priest upcast a Spiritual Weapon sending it to the least damaged froghemoth.  The Spiritual Weapon hit, but Grynn’s crossbow shot missed badly (nat 1, grumble).  Since the froghemoth facing Leiya was staggered by a spell effect, she walked away from it, then cast Flame Strike on the creatures.  Despite all odds, the most hurt creature survived (made it’s save).  The arrow Blaylocke sent sped over the hurt froghemoth, so the bard then healed himself a bit with Healing Word.

The damaged Froghemoth shook off the addled state it had been in, realized it’s prey had moved, then followed Leiya north.  It pounced and swallowed Leiya whole.  It then lashed Grynn and Jolrael with it’s tentacles, grappling them both in place.  Knowing he was about to hurt Blaylocke and Grynn, Jolrael muttered an apology to the two then cast Thunderstep.  While the boom rattled their bones, and hurt the froghemoth, the sorcerer teleported far to the south of the chamber.  Grynn saved, but a magic coin in Blaylocke’s back pack faded, it’s magic protecting the bard from the full effect of the thunderous magic.  The froghemoth also did not take the full brunt, but it did lose half it’s prey.

Enkili, shocked by seeing Leiya being swallowed, moved from between the two flanking froghemoths.  He turned on the one Leiya was in and cut twice, killing the hulking figure.  He then turned on the remaining froghemoth and rained two attacks on that one.  The fighter then Action Surged and rained another series of attacks on the surviving monster.  The last froghemoth disengaged, sank into the muck and seemed to swim away.  Blaylocke, Grynn, and the fighter turned on the dead froghemoth preparing to open it up and retrieve their friend.

However, the last froghemoth surfaced next to Jolrael still hungry.  The poor sorcerer was bitten savagely and swallowed.  From it’s esophagus, Jolrael upcast Rime’s Binding Ice.  This did not free the man, though frog like lips and tongue took freezer burns; and muscular action moved the sorcer deeper into the monsters digestive tract.  Still under the effects of Haste and Water Walking, Enkili raced over the sewer water and closed with the last froghemoth.  A flurry of strikes with The Sainted Sword, with one critical, ended the monster as a threat.  Then the men began the process of retrieving their engulfed friends.

After checking to see if anything valuable was in the monster’s gullets, the party retraced their steps to the entry chamber.  There they rested for an hour, bandaging their wounds while listening to Blaylocke’s Song of Rest.  The choice of directions was casually pondered while they rested, but when they gathered themselves to go, Grynn began the ritual to cast Augury.  He tried the north passage first and got a nebulous result after asking if this was the direction they should go.  He tried the same spell to the west and had no result at all, the same for the south passage.  When he cast Augury on the east hall, he again got the same both weal and woe response as he had gotten from the northern hall.  All this took up forty minutes of time.

Feeling that the urn they sought was north or east, they took the northern route as they had already gone east, then south before.  They came across two staggered intersections, a hall to the east then one heading west.  The path continued north, and because of some irregular features along both the east and west walls ahead, they chose to continue north.  The features they found happened to be grates set into the walls.  Beyond those they could make out wide halls and mucky water; the halls were fifteen feet wide.

Enkili attempted to pry some bars loose or apart, but his attempt was halfhearted.  As the passage north ended a few dozen feet from those grates, the party turned south and moved to the eastern side passage they had passed before.  Blaylocke, who was leading, noticed that there were stones along the south wall that did not match the rest of the sewers make up.  He announced that there was a walled up entrance before them.  After poking around a bit, the bard discovered a possible mechanism that could allow them to pass through, but he had to use his thieves tools to trigger it.

A second attempt was required before Blaylocke made the wall roll up and out of their way.  The room beyond was raised up above the flow of sewage, full of cob webs, skeletal remains, sarcophagi, and having four square supports holding up the cieling.  The stones making up this chamber were older than those used to make the sewers in this section.  Blaylocke entered and looked around first, then he moved to allow Enkili and Leiya into this chamber; Grynn and Jolrael remained out in the corridor.

A large stone box dominated the west of the rectangular room, and this drew the bard onward.  Enkili moved south to a skeleton and a coffin.  Leiya moved to cover both men, but her eyes caught sight of engravings on a nearby coffin, and off the big box itself.  As her eyes took in the motif of an undead champion defending the room they were in, she also felt a wave of cold roll in from the west.  Her warning to her friends came just before the scrape of metal against stone, and the rattle of bone on bone.  Some webs were pulled free from the western wall as something moved there.

Knocking an arrow, Blaylocke waited for a target to reveal itself.  Grynn moved into the room and saw where his friends were looking, but he had not heard Leiya’s warning.  Leiya stepped away from the pillar she had been next to, which brought Jolrael into her view.  Having everyone in her sight, she cast Spiritual Guardians and surrounded herself with miniature angels.  Enkili displaced and moved up to flank Blaylocke, his sword ready to receive any assault.  Sensing the heightening tension in the chamber, Jolrael squeezed by Grynn and readied his sling with his new walloping bullets.

Two points of light glowed from a rusting helmet as an armored figure moved from the shadows to close with Enkili, baleful eyes promising wrack and ruin on the party.  Blaylocke’s arrow did not slow the undead figure, and despite an attempt to parry him, Enkili slashed the figure before it finished closing.  Jolraels missile wizzed by everyone, letting out quite the pop as the bullet detonated against the western wall.  A malevolent chuckle emanated from the dire figure before the room exploded into fire.  The spell was not a Fireball, and was extremely more potent than that staple spell ever could be (Hellfire Orb).

Blaylocke was close to being dead, everyone else was also so tattered that the idea of running passed through everyone’s mind.  Still smoldering, Grynn cast Aura of Vitality; using the spell to channel healing energies into Leiya.  Barking a Smite spell, the Death Knight struck Enkili with its longsword.  The fighter’s mind was assaulted by the magic, making Enkili less than efficient for several moments.  Moving away from the front line, Blaylocke fished out a Potion of Greater Healing and quaffed it.  With a quick vocalization, he also touched Enkili with a Healing Word spell.

Seeing her friends struggling, burned and hurting, Leiya knew she needed to buy everyone time.  Forming her Wall of Force spell into a globe, she encompassed the Death Knight with the magic shutting it off from dealing any more damage.  Not wasting any time, Jolrael reached into his gear and pulled out a Potion of Greater Healing; he sighed in relief as some of his pain was negated.  Pacing in front of the globe glaring at the undead locked within, Enkili quaffed a healing potion with one hand while smearing dust and cobwebs into some of his other wounds (second wind) with his left hand.

Grynn used his Aura of Vitality to channel healing energies into Blaylocke, he pointed out a key that was hanging around the creatures neck.  Realizing that Leiya was not going to drop the Wall of Force just yet, Enkili drank another potion and began to look for keyholes in the big stone box he was near.  Plumbing her brain, Leiya guesses more than realizes that they were facing a Death Knight.  Her Healing Word removed a swath of blisters from Blaylock’s fine Dwarven features.
Jolrael guzzled another potion, as did Blaylocke.  The bard also imparted one of his Bardic Inspirations on Leiya….

*Well, that is it for this Sunday (3/1/2026).  We are still stuck fighting this monstrosity who almost dropped the entire party with one spell.  Enkili would not have survived another smite, so again owes his life to Leiya’s ingenuity.  We have a pickle in our group, next Sunday, the 8th of March, is supposed to be our next game.  This is Ghosttusk’s off week, as he too hosts a game.  However Long John has a function, and Ramsay Cowlishaw has a meeting next week.  Xura and Frenzied67 will be the only players available.  We are going to play a oneshot instead of advancing our campaign understaffed.  Yay, a day off from writing a recap!

Episode 137 Naza the 8th, 1032 C.E.

Watching the creature glare at them balefully, Blaylocke decided to plumb the depths of his knowledge.  He figured out that they had encased a Death Knight inside the Wall of Force. Between telling the party what he dredged up, the bard placed a Haste spell on Enkili.  As she drank another Potion of Greater Healing, Leiya decided to hit Enkili with another Word of Healing; and because of a feature she had, her spell graced her with a bit more healing.  After pushing against the wall of its magical prison, the Death Knight settled down to examine each party member one by one.

Tapping into his Aura of Vitality to add some more healing to Enkili, Grynn queried whether anyone had the ability to banish their foe back to the Shadowfell.  After replying no, Jolrael angled himself to get an unobstructed view of the Death Knight.  He also asked a question.  Would fire hurt it?  Abandoning looking for a keyhole in the big stone box, Enkili moved over to the bubble to look into the Death Knights visor.  He began to taunt the creature by inquiring how it could have fallen so far out of favor with the god it once dedicated itself too. The fighter liked how he was now the things point of focus instead of the clerics.

Adding the level of it’s mother’s disappointment to the list of taunts, Enkili continued striving to keep the Death Knight’s hate centered upon him, knowing that the Wall of Force would soon end or be dropped.  He also drank down another Potion of Greater Healing. Blaylocke also fished out another healing potion and consumed it.  Grynn began to tell the group about his Dispel Evil/Good spell, wondering what it would do to their enemy.  Even as the cleric expounded on the spell, he directed life giving energy from his Aura of Vitality to Leiya.  Jolrael brightened as he considered then acted upon his own gambit.

Pulling out his Coin of Birthright, the sorcerer called out that he forgave the Death Knight; the coin fell away into dust like particles that blew away on a psychic wind.  His words reached the undead.

“Your words have reached the void of my soul, but lost the dark nature of damnation. Your doom is inevitable, but not by my hand as a matter of favor.”  This prompted Leiya to ask it if it sought redemption.  It’s nugatory response was too quick.

“No, I wish for the pain.”  Leiya did not like the unhinged timber of the Death Knight’s laughter.  Grimly she downed her last Potion of Greater Healing.

As his last act with his Aura of Vitality, Grynn gifted Blaylocke with some healing; the Halforc cleric then cast Dispel Evil/Good upon himself.  Hefting his mace, Grynn moved to take position just north of Enkili in front of the Wall of Force.  Warning everyone that her barrier spell was about to come down, Leiya moved behind Grynn and Enkili and cast Protection from Evil/Good on the fighter.  As the Wall of Force fell away, the Death Knight muttered something in a blasphemous tongue and his sword was sheathed in a corrupted darkness.

Before anyone could even blink, the Death Knight rained blows at Enkili.  The Fighter’s armor and moves kept two attacks from reaching flesh, but the third attack hit Enkili and hurt him badly.  A flare of midnight sickness pulled vitality out of the fighter with the smiting attack. Leaning from behind Jolrael, Blaylocke launched another Roulothim’s Psychic Lance at the Death Knight.  The burst of damage staggered the Death Knight making it lose its Staggering Smite spell on it’s longsword.

Realizing that he would catch Enkili and possibly Leiya in his spell’s effect, Jolrael darted west until he was directly south of the Death Knight, and his friends were no longer between him and his target.  The sorcerer then upcast Aganazaar’s Scorcher and gauged how the foe reacted to the fiery splash in it’s side.  Though he had intended to rip the key away from around the Death Knight’s neck, Enkili changed his mind and sought to disarm the failed paladin of it’s damnable sword.  Three disarm and one trip attack all failed to strip the longsword from the Death Knight’s hands, but the thing’s armor and form took serious damage.

Grinning at the distress he was causing the undead, Enkili Action Surged and continued to rain blows.  This time his second attack stripped the longsword from the Death Knight, as his third attack the fighter hooked the sword with his left foot and launched it between Leiya and Grynn to strike the northern wall beyond the clerics.  His last attack was straight forward but did not kill the undead.

Sensing that the Death Knight enemy was nearing it’s end, Jolrael transmuted his next Aganazaar’s Scorcher into an electrical attack (Aganazaar’s Shocker?).  Even the undead dance and contort under the influence of lightning.  As the Death Knight fell it began to crumble into dirt as though time and decay were trying to catch up for lost time.  Everyone heard the key hit the stone floor as the slain Death Knight reverted to dust.

In the stunned silence that followed, only Enkili and Blaylocke moved.  They both went to the longsword and began to examine it; they were too sanguine to contemplate the mortality that had almost been taken from them.  Blaylocke declared that it had magic infused into it, but could not determine what the sword could do.  He also was able to determine who their foe had been when he had been a living paladin.  Meanwhile, as the bard was sussing out the history of the weapon, Enkili gathered the key and got the others to help him locate the keyhole in the big stone box.

Inside the stone box, they saw the urn with spiral script, a batch of coins, some gems, and other items of interest.  Grynn cast Beacon of Hope, before casting Mass Cure Wounds on the party.  Among the loot was a dusty breastplate that had not caught rust from the humidity of the sewers, a three inch cube, a jade game board with golden playing pieces, and a few scrolls.  Blaylocke was able to figure out that the Death Knight had once been Lord Garrick Bloodstone, but was stymied by the sword.  It was hiding it’s nature from him, though he did figure out that it was some form of Sword of Answering.  The cube turned out to be a Cubic Gate, a powerful magic item….

*The rest of the items will just have to wait until March 22nd to be revealed.  Not bad, almost everyone had been one or two hits away from dying, then Leiya saved the day with her Wall of Force.  Now the party will have to learn what the Bardic College has planned to assist their travels to Onastia.
** Note, it was a merchant who arranged passage on the ship, not the Bardic College.  The bards had facilitated introducing the party to Altos, a discrete broker of rare commodities.

Episode 138 Naza the 8th – Gurthos 8th, 1032 C.E.

Dragging the spoils of their sewer raid back to their home, the party’s next task was to figure out what they had brought back with them.  One of the first items they cast Identify on was the urn itself.  The lore that was dredged up was disturbing.  The Sanguine Urn keeps whatever is poured into it as fresh as it was when poured.  But if blood was poured into it, all sorts of dark benefits could be had, almost entirely of a necromantic nature; including how the Urn made the user dependent on blood and slowly transformed them into an undead.

Altos was himself disturbed to learn the nature of the magic item, but he still took the urn and refused to indulge the name of his patron.  Back to the treasure, the heroes had also liberated 310 pp, 4700gp, 6711 ep, 10487 sp, 43729 cp.  One blue sapphire.  A breastplate +3.  A cubic gate that was tuned to Erath (the prime material plane), and six unknown planes; Blaylocke had his bastion workers begin to research this particular cube.  Three fire opals.  A scroll of Blight. Scroll of Compulsion.  Scroll of False Life.  A scroll of Passwall.  Then there was a scroll of Summon Fiend.

This last scroll made Leiya exclaim that it needed to be destroyed; she was seconded by Blaylocke who had almost been as fast as she with his distaste of the vellum.  If they had expected demurrals from their companions they did not receive any.  Even those who had a nose or taste for money said this mystic missive had to go.  They used it to light a fire as they continued to discover what all they had.  Another gem turned out to be a star sapphire.  There were also two yellow sapphires as well.  The Sword of Answering they had continued to resist identification, bastion folk were tasked to unravel the mystery blade.

The jade game board with golden playing pieces had no magical nature, just intrinsic value.  The fast transportation the valiant crew had bartered for turned out to be “a very fast ship”, named Seasprinter.  They also learned that it would arrive in The Freehold within three days.  This caused a few kinks in the heroic crew, some of whom were not ready to depart, then they were told that the ship would come around again.  A word choice chosen implied that this ship would arrive three days after they declared that they were ready.  This gave everyone the chance to train and direct their bastion facilities for another month.

Blaylocke’s people used magic and good old fashioned research to uncover information on Jolrael’s strange back tattoo.  The lines and icons always seemed to shift, but the tattoo was verified to be a living map applied to his back.  What his back displayed was the ever changing topography of the dreadful The Vast.  The only constant on Jolrael’s back map was the settlement rumored to be within.

The bard’s people also figured out the Cubic Gate, a week later.  One side was tied to Erath.  The remaining five sides opened into realms of dread and evil.  Fuath, a realm of chaos and evil, Khazdurn the abode of gluttonous Iiyolgult, Haznaa the reputed prison of vile Thurm and noble Ainri, Andhuin the gateway of death, and Slabhrai where the Lord of Vengeance sat his throne and schemed.

A week later and the bard’s crew also unraveled the Sword of Answering’s hidden facts.  "This blade is known as The Back Talker that speaks not, it corrupts like a sickness, a harvester of brutal madness, a gleeful singer of slaughter."  From the sounds of it, between this ill blade and the curse of the Sanguine Urn, Lord Garrick Bloodbane had not stood a chance of not being corrupted by evil.

This is the tale of Garrick Bloodbane’s fall:  Garrick was born to the ancient Sialar noble family. This noble house was known for their charity, kindness, and stalwart support for the Mendanene crown. Through an unexplainable cause, however, a taint seemed to grow within the bloodline over time, through which members of the Sialar line would deteriorate in character and virtue, devolving into sadistic madness. Over the years the Sialar lineage would become known as "Bloodbane" in reference to the madness that seemed to befall each male heir.

Garrick was thought to have escaped the curse that seemed to haunt his kin, and through great acts of valor and piety, became hailed as a paragon of virtue and a hero of the realm. This changed suddenly at the time of his inheritance upon the death of the family patriarch. His decline was profound and thorough, as he became increasingly callous to those beneath his station and was eventually stripped of his standing in the Holy Order of the Falcon. In the final years of his fall, rumors circulated among the common folk of his cruel debauchery, which apparently culminated in an open slaughter of numerous honored guests in his dining hall. It was said that Garrick "Bloodbane" was in full regalia when he disappeared in the tunnels below his keep.

With no heirs or desire to posses the site, Sialar Keep stood in empty disrepair. In the following years, gossip told of a hidden treasury in the tunnels beneath the keep, which would attract aspiring adventurers and would-be treasure hunters. After a series of bloodcurdling sightings and tragedies within the keep, the structure would be razed to the ground by fearful citizens.

In time, with no treasury found, the remaining tunnels and chambers were cleared and eventually incorporated into the growing city's sewer system.

Enkili’s spies also completed several missions during the month the heroes were training.  The first dirt they uncovered was the fact that merchants around the inland sea were moving large amounts of weapons and armor north; a hush seemed to be surrounding these activities so the military shipment’s end destination(s) remained unrevealed.  Also a man named Sess had been making inquiries about the party throughout the city, this person’s intentions had not been shared to anyone.  Another rumor had tickled the agents curiosity; apparently a red robed assassin had been captured by the guard before they had accomplished their mission.  No one seemed to know who had been targeted.

Enkili sent his spies forth to learn what they could of Altos’ unnamed patron, a week passed before reports trickled in.  Evidently a Freehold magistrate named Te’a Velorum had purchased the urn as a wedding gift for Furmanor Sergey Mikhailovich.  Sergay happened to be the Emperor of Onastia’s favorite nephew.  Next the agents were sent to learn about this Sess character.  Turned out the man had been Riardon’s contact in Solare from the Black Knives crew, who was now in The Freehold dodging the Silent Cutters, a local crime gang.  Several in the group thought it would be prudent to bring Sess in to have a dialogue.

Next the fighter had his spies inquire about the red robed assassin.  To everyone’s dismay their friend and benefactor Lord Bercel had been the intended target of this Graveblade Brotherhood member.  The assassin had been stopped, but not before Lord Bercel’s buttler had been slain, and Captain Olsan Zunyn had been injured and taken ill.  Leiya volunteered her services to the brave young Captain and discovered that a dual poison was eroding the gendarmes health.  Her spells and ministrations not only diagnosed the officers malady, but achieved what lesser healers had been unable to do.  A life had been preserved.

This infamous brotherhood, the Graveblade Brotherhood, only work for the most powerful members of society.  Who had hired them?  Why had they struck out at the party’s benefactor, Lord Bercel.  Enkili is of the mind that the slavers were behind the assassination attempt, but the game ended before he could voice said opinion….

*That was it for this narrative.  We will reconvene March 29th by starting off with some more papers and paychecks.  As stated above our characters leveled up after fighting several froghemoths and a deathknight, and this episode was dedicated to maintaining our bastions.  All the information above was generated by our characters various bastion facilities, yet did not cover every aspect of our bastions.  Some facilities, naturally are not research oriented; some generate goods and services, food, or protection.  Our crew need a vault or two.

Episode 139 Gurthos 8th - Gurthos 15th, 1032 C.E.

*Today's synopsis is brief.  Ramsay Cowlishaw and Xura missed todays game, which may or may not be for the better.  We did start off with some papers and paychecks by levelling up Grynn.

Enkili tried to seek out Sess to see what the man wanted, but Riardon's old contact from Seddaria's capitol was not to be found.  Indeed the evidence within the inn suggested that the man may no longer be among the living.  The new proprietor of the Burned Candle Inn and Tavern was cleaning up the mess of a torn up establishment.  Evidently several score thugs had shown up looking for Sess, and as a few members of the gang went upstairs the rest began to attack the establishments regular patrons.  The innkeeper's father had been slain along with four other members of the community and two foreigners from the far south.  Witnesses claimed the assaulting gang left with a man bound and in a black hood.

The heroic group put out the call for their promised ship, and as before, they were told that The Seasprinter would arrive in three days time.  As Grynn made sure to study the bastion as the end point of his Word of Recall spell, Blaylocke and Enkili tried to track down the Silent Cutters.  While they did recieve clues from locals, none of the rumors that reached them led the party anywhere.  Not even Grynn could help locate this volatile criminal gang.

Frustrated by their lack of progress trying to locate Sess or his possible abductors, the party packed and went to the docks early the morning of Gurthos the 11th.  The Seasprinter was a sleek looking three mast sailing vessel that was built low to the water.  Glowing sigils adorned the stern, the deck, and the three masts as thaumaturgic symbols were drawn on the strange black and red sails.  Captain "Mocker" looked more pirate than merchant sailor, but he ran a tight crew.

After stowing their gear in the quarters provided, The Seasprinter launched.  Nothing special happened until they were three hours from the docks.  Captain "Mocker" Megronin did not mind the party watching him prerform a strange ten minute long incantation on the mainmast.  When the spell took, water and sky blended ahead of them in a spiral.  As water and air merged into a long stretching churning tunnel, the ship allowed itself to be pulled into the strange maelstrom.

The first mate (unnamed) asked Enkili if he would join the captain and his officers for dinner that night.  Naturally this made Blaylocke and Grynn suspicious, yet when the fighter returned, he refused to answer questions.  This happened again the next night, as The Seasprinter continued through the furious tunnel, this time the fighter did not return to his quarters.

Grynn was suspicious in the morning when some of the crew announced that they would be arriving at their destination in about an hour.  Both he and Blaylocke wondered where Enkili had been all night.  Neither man had heard when their big friend had gathered his gear in the night.  They found him when they arrived on deck.  When asked why the crew was armed, Captain "Mocker" informed them that Onastia's port cities had a poor reputation for greeting foreign sailing vessels.

When the spell was released from the ship the vortex tunnel collapsed in slanting rain.  Instead of the frigid north, Blaylocke and Grynn found that The Seasprinter was surrounded by a dozen other vessels in a tropical sea.  All of those ships bore the Chained Wings symbol on their main sails.  Captain Mocker gestured at Enkili and the fighter turned on Blaylocke and Grynn drawing The Sainted Sword forth.

Grynn surrounded himsel with his trusty Guardians of Faith spell, but Enkili knocked the priest out after a series of attacks and an action surge (three crits were delivered).  Blaylocke hit the nasty captain with his Roulothim's Psychic Lance, but was himself met with a shower of arrows.  Running from Enkili, the bard was netted by the villanous crew of the Seasprinter as slavers from the other ships began to clamber aboard....

**Well this is where we must leave off for this week.  If not for two failed saving throws, this tale may have turned out different.  Our only hope lies with Leiya and Jolrael who will join us next  Sunday April 5th.

***Attention all players, you have been duped by an early April Fools Day joke.  The tale that is now written in purple was a fabrication for a game that never happened.  Everyone who missed the March 29th game, nothing has changed, you have missed nothing.

Episode 139 Gurthos 8th - Gurthos 16th, 1032 C.E.

After signaling that they were ready for the Seasprinter to pick them up, the party spent a day going through all the treasures they had accumulated but had not divided up.  The new Bags of Holding were put to good use as several magic items were taken, potions handed out, and most of the gems pocketed as emergency party funds.  Each of the five also received a bank script good for 100 platinum pieces, again as a hedge for funding; since they were not taking horses, they would need money to rent or purchase transportation in the north.  Enkili stayed at Lord Bercel’s as extra security for the nobleman; the cunning lord had also hired extra bodyguards and beefed up other security measures.

Efforts to contact Sess proved fruitless.  It was surmised that the rogue was only interested in reaching Riardon and not anyone from the rest of the group; or he was too busy dodging the local underworld to realize that they had been reaching out.  Mid morning the Seasprinter pulled into port.  The party boarded as the crew finished unloading some cargo and began to take other goods aboard.  Around mid day the ship pulled out and sailed for several hours.  Then for some reason, the anchor was dropped and the heroes were asked to stay in their berths for the night.

The coastline and even the waters were different in the morning when the anchor was reeled in.  Instead of land being to their north, terra firma was now to their west, the water was darker and more primal than that of the inland sea.  They were now in the eastern ocean. Soon they turned into a port city.  When the party learned that they were in Lunport, they confirmed that they were truly in the eastern ocean.  The ship exchanged goods, then left the port city only to anchor well before nightfall.  Again they were asked to remain in their allotted quarters.

In the morning the bemused party found themselves pulling into Sulport, another Seddaran Coastal city that should have been many days away still.  This time, as the crew offloaded cargo, and took on more goods, Blaylocke, Jolrael, Grynn, and Leiya began to actually examine the ship.  Cleverly worked into the woodwork, rope, and sails were sigils, runes, and glyphs that were associated with Quendi god of the seas.  This examination continued even as they heaved out of port, sailed for a few hours, then anchored again.

The more astute members in the party put their heads together after hiding in their quarters and speculated that this ship might actually be a gift from the oceans divine lord to the captain and his crew.  This time when they woke, the group discovers that there is no land in sight. Instead of sailing that morning they were made to wait.  After a few hours the pilot ladders were lowered though there were no boats or ships in sight.

Heads bobbed to the surface of the waters and the slight figures of Elves began to clamber aboard.  Instead of the pale hair and lavender eyes typical of most Shandeeran elves, these specimens mostly had black eyes, and green hued hair (though there was many more hair and eye color schemes with these strangers).  They all sported webbing between hands and toes and gill lines along their necks.  Enkili was astonished that such a thing could be, aquatic elves had never even been a rumor in Al’Madii.  Again goods were exchanged during the parley with the sea Elves.  After the fey beings returned to their watery world, the Seasprinter sailed for a few more hours before the anchor was lowered.

Jolrael offered his services to the captain, but was politely refused.

That morning the party found themselves pulling into a port along an eastern facing shore.  Initially it was assumed they were now in the western ocean, but they soon found out that they were now in Durond on the island continent of Gora.  Though many races were seen, the predominate people were taller sturdier Elves native to this land.  Valley Elves. Gora’s shore was still visible when the Seasprinter lowered her anchor for the night.  They hove to into Northshore Seddara shortly after breaking their fast the next day.  The next morning they pulled into Hodren, a Brandti port city; goods are dropped off and taken aboard.

A storm befell the ship shortly after pulling out from Hodren, and a call came from the crowsnest as a huge form briefly surfaced within the limited sight of the ship, “Swimmer to starboard!”.  For several hours the ship plowed through the storm where little rain hit the Seasprinter’s decks, and the waves barely made the ship toss; periodically the big form was seen broaching the surface.  Sea serpent or dragon, they were clearly being stalked.  While this made the adventurers nervous, the crew continued about their tasks with little sign of ruffled features.

When the beast did make its run at the ship, the skies opened up with a huge bolt of lightening.  With a cry of pain, the dragon sank into the waters and disturbed the ship no more.  The captain and crew eyed the party as if they had not liked them witnessing what had happened to the aquatic monster.  When the party woke the next morning they found themselves pulling into Nodren Port in the ice locked north of Brandt.  Their last night aboard the ship found them waking as they pulled into Deros Kaden, their destination in Onastia….

*Here we leave off from the game until April 19th.  Now our heroes have to find the residence of an evil duke and rescue the urchin girl Miria from his clutches.  An international incident is about to happen, which means our crew needs to do their research and proper surveillance.

Episode 140 Gurthos 16th, 1032 C.E.

Peering over the Seasprinter’s rails, the party viewed the port of Deros Kaden with mixed feelings. Leiya, who was a citizen of this nation did not look at all homesick or glad; her inscrutability jaundiced her companions view. The city was vast, but not as vast as some of the Seddaran cities they had journeyed through. The center of Deros Kaden was given over to a fortress type structure that Leiya called a kremlin. This was the home of the Graff, the man holding Miria.

This kremlin also held the cathedral of the state religion which had enforced status over the religions of Erath’s deities; prominence without dominance. Surrounding the fortress was the business district, almost seeming to hug the walls, or at least the walls helped shape the districts uneven encirclement. Haphazard and lesser in quality of construction were the residential and market districts that fringed the well built business buildings.

The heroes stirred from the view when the mooring lines were drawn taught and it seemed as if the gangplank was about to be dropped. The Seasprinter’s captain intercepted the party and held forth a scroll. With weighing eyes he informed them that this scroll, when burned, would summon the ship and crew back to pick the friends up. The Seasprinter would arrive three days after the scroll was burned. They asked him if there was an inn that he could recommend as Jolrael stashed the scroll among his gear; they were told that the Harp and Vine was near and would serve their purposes.

After debarking they moved down the pier intent on entering the city proper, but a commotion arrested them in their tracks. An unusually large black rat dashed out from piles of cargo sitting at on side piers, city guards pelting after. The dirty creature practically scuttled over Leiya’s feet before jumping over the planks edge and into the water. Unlike the rats they had seen before, this rodent specimen did not surface and dog paddle for the closest shore; instead it kicked its legs in tandem and swam down staying submerged, leaving a slick of oil and muck in its wake.

Leiya bent down as if brushing the tracked muck off her shoes, but as she straightened her companions saw a translucent red gleam in her hand, a palm sized ruby. Half a dozen guards bumped the party aside as they ran to the dock’s edge; they all raised crossbows and began to fire, reload, and fire again until they had all emptied their quarrel cases. As the soldiers wasted their ammunition Jolrael looked at Enkili and simply said “Wererats”, the fighter nodded and repeated the word “Wererats”.

For several moments the soldiers milled about along the edge of the dock, rarely did they speak in the common tongue, but their expressions and overly tense body language informed the heroes that they were unhappy. Leiya conveyed how the were expressing their reluctance to report their failure; another clue that the royal in charge of Deros Kaden was not a benevolent man. Surprisingly, as the soldiers forced themselves to leave the pier, Leiya ran after them and conversed for a few moments. They replied tersely as if their problems were greater than the query she laid upon them. The way they waved her on told her companions that she had asked if it was safe for them to proceed.

Jolrael and Enkili began to search faces to see who was paying them undo attention. The sorcerer noticed several large rats that tracked their movements exclusively, before he saw a wet man resting on a crate on an adjoining pier; he too watched no one but the heroes as they left the docks and waded into the town proper. That man slunk away to hide behind more stacked crates when he noticed Jolrael scrutenizing him.

From the number of stares he received, Enkili realized that people of Mandagar may be a rarity in this part of the world; in actuality he may have been the first of his people to come this far north. They wondered how Grynn and Blaylocke would be received, both men were still on board the ship knowing where they would be meeting again, but Dwarves were also a rarity in Onastia. Leiya had been a small town girl, so she was not aware of the prevalence of Halforcs in her lands. This was her first visit to Deros Kaden, despite her brief marriage to an Onastian nobleman.

Some of her reluctance to be in her homeland stemmed from the mysterious disease that had claimed her husband, she let slip that she suspected politics may have killed her man as the disease symptoms were not in any of the thousands of tomes she had studied after taking her vows. Soon the group realized they may have taken a wrong turn, Leiya had to ask directions. Their course was easily corrected.

The Harp and Vine was a rare building as it was also comprised partially of stone in its construction, in a sea of wooden structures. Inside the two story building they found the inn to be modestly decorated with just a hint of ostentation. It did look quite comfortable. As they were learning the layout and accommodations of the establishment, Blaylocke moved through the doors; a smile coming to his face on seeing his friends.

They discovered that the Harp and Vine had four private rooms, but two were already spoken for; the empty rooms were not adjacent, the earlier renters wanting less neighbors. The fare the inn would provide would mostly consist of nuts, breads, and other fare that could be stored for many seasons without spoiling. They had a local tea, cider, beer, and wine offerings for beverages.

After renting both available private rooms the party began to debate how they should actually sleep. Blaylocke was eager to introduce his friends to a new spell of his, an extradimensional space that would offer them more safety than a common inn could. The problem with that was all the Bags of Holding and Heward’s Handy Haversacks they all had. Leiya put everyone back on track as accommodations was secondary to the gem the possible wererat had dropped, making Jolly and Blaylocke work on figuring out what this ruby she had taken was. Indeed, it had a magical dweomer about it.

Blaylocke relied upon his education to discern what their prize was. After studying the gem and finding fine lines, almost threadlike, comprising the stone, he realized they held a Ruby Weave Gem. This was a magic device that could replace costly consumable spell components with any of its three magical charges; each charge could replace the material of up to five hundred gold pieces worth, and it had three charges. Arcane or divine, this gem would work on any spell that required costly consumable components….