Kill Them All

Deicheamh 12 - Deug 6, 6638; next holiday, Wintermas, Dara 1

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • [name], the Lion
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gimli Trollriver, Dwarven Fury
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

The party journeyed to both cities of the Northern Dwarves, aka Mountain Dwarves; in Dundrende Klippe, they sold the Eyes of Petrification and the library staff for a pretty penny. Caranthir picked up a henchman, a Dwarven Fury named Gimli Trollriver. Then, off they went, following the wise words of an elder dwarven librarian - one of the Seekers. He pointed them to the locations of a good few items, and told them a bit about the Instrumentalists. Eventually, the group set off for Norston, then from there to the capital of Mareten, Slohaven.

After murdering some wild goats along the way ("I said herd, not hurt them!"), the group made it to Slowhaven, albeit with a few stops due to bad weather. In Slohaven, the King rewarded them with 50,000 gp (which was scoffed at by Caranthir), and a pair of amulets. The amulets will safely teleport anyone to the location of the other amulet. He thanked them for a job well done, and the group let once again, this time for a quick jaunt across the sea to the (much warmer) island of Malvados.

Once there, the group took a few hours to rest and relax, then headed inland. They found a haughty man directing groups of workers; after a brief verbal battle, Quetgar turned him into a fine pink mist.

A few other workers sounded an alarm; as the battle was joined, most of the group used dust of disappearance to vanish outright, and crept in among the soldiers as they advanced. Mor Gibs, meanwhile, wished for a spell. A "Summon Battle Kraken" spell.

The battle, predictably, did not go well for the unprepared Instrumentalists. They were woefully outmatched, even with their high-level casters nuking hexes with fireballs, and getting off a lucky disintegrate on the Princess. Even so, they managed to wear down the party; when two tall, well-built men in white robes arrived and began firing both arcane and divine spells, Ms. Gibs decided to use the second of the wishes she had collected, and wished for everyone to be at full health and power. Instantly, the party - including the not-so-disintegrated Princess - were at full health, though stripped of any previous magical health or might. Gróin grumbled about losing health from that wish, but the others were pleased to be alive.

The battle continued; one of the dark Nobiran wonderworkers (for that is what they were) fired off a spell and mired the attacking bunker in sludgy mud, blocking exit or retreat; the other created a wall of flesh, which terrified poor Gibs until the Laurita Turned it, forcing the grasping hands to retreat back into the ground.

At this point, the wonderworkers were on the offensive. They were confident in their spellcasting, and had plenty of spell slots to fire off. And then... tragedy. From about 300 yards in the air, Mor Gibs summoned four berserkers. He aimed them at the Nobirans below... and struck his mark. With a scream and a splash, one of the wonderworkers was permanently mixed with the poor barbarians. The other wonderworker was dispatched by a renewed Quetgar, and suddenly, the battle was turned.

The remaining mages tried to run, but were all captured and eaten by Caranthir. A few soldiers managed to escape, and one of the high level clerics used some very expensive jewelry to protect himself, restore one of the wonderworker, and teleport away, bringing another, lower level cleric with him.

Shrewfully, the party realized that the disintegrated-then-restored princess was likely out of her contract a little early. Indeed, she was; death tends to do that. However, due to her not unpleasant handling, she decided she would stay on and assist them, at least for the time being, or until something better came up. Besides, that whole "ocean" thing really freaks her out, and she'd be glad to get a ride back across. Fae and water... don't mix. Except for trolls, but trolls are just weird.

The battle over, the party gleefully set about looting the ruins. The ruins, as it turned out, weren't as ruined as they might have seemed; though the outsides looked as if they would crumble away at a touch, the insides were surprisingly well maintained. Apart from a number of sleeping quarters and storage areas (which were ransacked for their contents: jewelry, gems, and other treasure, including of course cold, hard, cash), they discovered a number of heavily secured treasure rooms. While locks and metal doors might have slowed the team down, with no one left to harass them, they could take their time and really destroy those doors. Inside, they found piles of magical loot. Helpfully, most items were well labeled! That is, apart from a large room with a sign over the door: "Unsorted Magical Items". The items found are below. Every item listed is magical, and did not detect as evil, apart from the very first item on the list, which seemed to be quite chaotic:

• Special Items:
  • The Motherlode stone (the gray scale)
  • The Pen of Artemis
  • Elrik's Water Boots
• Weapons:
  • War Hammer +2
  • 2 War Hammer +1
  • 2 Sword +2
  • Sword +1, light 30' radius
  • 3 Sword +1, +3 versus summoned creatures
  • Sword +1, +2 versus spell casters
  • 7 Sword +1
  • Crossbow Bolts +1 (Quantity: 19)
  • 2 Bow +1
  • 3 Axe +1
• Armor:
  • 4 Shield +1
  • 2 Shield +2
  • Plate Armor +2
  • Plate Armor +1
  • Leather Armor +2
  • 2 Leather Armor +1
  • Chain Mail Armor +1
  • Banded Plate Armor +1
• Staffs and Wands:
  • Staff of Healing
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 17 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 14 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 9 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 5 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 17 charges
  • Wand of Detecting Magic with 5 charges
• Rings:
  • 3 Rings of Command Plant
  • Ring of Protection +1
  • Ring of Regeneration
  • Ring of Spell Storing, containing:
    • lvl 2: Glitterdust
    • lvl 3: Protection from Normal Missiles
    • lvl 5: Contact Other Plane
    • lvl 6: Disintegrate
  • Ring of Spell Storing, containing:
    • arcane lvl 2: Stinking Cloud
    • divine lvl 3: Cure Blindness
    • divine lvl 5: Create Food
• Misc. Items:
  • Amulet versus Crystal Balls and ESP
  • Boots of Traveling and Springing
  • Crystal Ball
  • Cube of Frost Resistance
  • Drums of Panic
  • Elven Cloak
  • Flying Carpet
  • Medallion of ESP
  • Rope of Climbing
• Potions:
  • Potion of Animal Control
  • Potion of Clairaudience
  • 2 Potions of Clairvoyance
  • Potion of Climbing
  • Potion of Diminution
  • Potion of Dragon Control
  • Potion of Fire Resistance
  • Potion of Giant Control
  • 2 Potions of Giant Strength
  • 2 Potions of Growth
  • 2 Potions of Healing
  • Potion of Heroism
  • Potion of Human Control
  • Potion of Levitation
  • Potion of Polymorph
  • 3 Potions of Speed
  • 2 Potions of Sweet Water
  • Potion of Treasure Finding
  • Potion of Water Breathing
  • Oil of Sharpness
  • Poison
• Scrolls:
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Ancient Zaharan): Sleep (1st lvl), Magic Mouth (1st lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Nobiran): Levitate (2nd lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Nobiran): Remove Curse* (4th lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Nobiran): Wall of Iron (6th lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Old Elven): Protection from Normal Missiles (3rd lvl)
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Common): Restore Life and Limb (5th lvl), Find Traps (2nd lvl)
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Dwarven): Snake Charm (2nd lvl), Glyph of Warding (3rd lvl), Detect Evil* (1st lvl), Flame Strike (5th lvl), Detect Evil* (1st lvl), Bless* (2nd lvl)
  • 4 Scrolls of Ward against Elementals
  • 8 Scrolls of Ward against Lycanthropes
  • 2 Scrolls of Ward against Undead
• And 5 Treasure Maps.
• Additionally, in the room of unmarked items:
  • 6 Crossbow Bolts
  • a Shield
  • Plate Armor
  • 4 Staffs
  • 3 rings
  • a Crystal Ball
  • 4 Helms
  • a pair of Bracers of Armor
  • 3 Potions
  • 2 Scrolls

Near the Motherlode stone was a sheaf of notes; most of it was quite illegible, but a few sections seemed at least slightly readable. The few readable lines say:

• Odd interaction with metal/magic
• [indecipherable] properties of magenetics?
• Interaction with [smudged] HIGHLY reactive, suggest caution, and keep the blasted thing away from storms!
• Impossible to attain samples, exterior is impervious to instruments
• Copper?
• Reversing the neutron flow doesn't even make sense, you [torn from attempted erasure] simple-minded [page is torn completely]

Additionally, there are a few piles of various alchemical supplies; glass jars, copper wiring and tubing, and shavings of various metals.

Gróin, eager to collect the full set, pulled on Elrik's boots. They fit snugly, warm and dry. As he stood, he suddenly found himself looking down on Elrik again. This time, Elrik was aboard a ship; a storm tossed it about, flinging it headlong into a rocky shore. Battered by the waves, Elrik clung to the ship's mast as the ship foundered. As the ship turned on its side, a huge wave caught it, slamming it through the shoals and tearing the ship into pieces! Elrik didn't wait for another wave; as the water streamed past, he ran through the shoals, jumping from jagged rock to jagged rock... and sometimes, it seemed, onto nothing but the water itself. Finally, he reached the shore, and threw his arms around a boulder. The wave crashed against the rocks behind him, leaving naught but a gentle splash by the time it reached him. For just a moment, as the tip of the wave touched the boots, there was a blue glow...

Elrik's Water Boots: provide Water Walking at will; additionally, provide complete immunity to magical water damage.

• XP from Treasure: (weighing in at 762.5 stone)
  • Money:
    • 4000 Electrum weighing 4 stone
    • 5000 Gold weighing 5 stone
    • 5000 Platinum weighing 5 stone
  • Gems:
    • 2 Black pearl worth 2000gp, weighing 2/6 stone
    • 1 emerald worth 8000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 1 ruby worth 1000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
  • Jewelry:
    • 18 amethyst cylinder seals depicting religious scenes, worth 1200gp, weighing 3 stone
    • 14 carved ivory netsuke and figurines worth 1000gp, weighing 2 2/6 stone
    • 2 emerald regalia worth 14500gp, weighing 2/6 stone
    • 1 topaz-studded gold regalia worth 5000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 8 opal cameo portraits and intaglio erotic tableaux worth 800gp, weighing 1 2/6 stone
    • 6 platinum reliquaries with crystal panes worth 3000gp, weighing 1 stone
    • 1 diamond-studded platinum regalia worth 13000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 1 ruby regalia worth 8000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 1 Wrought orichalcum regalia worth 1000gp, weighing 1/6 stone
    • 199 jade carvings of heroes, monsters, and gods worth 39,800gp, weighing 33 1/6 stone
  • Other treasure:
    • 6 2HD monster carcasses worth 240gp, weighing 6 stone
    • 6 6HD monster carcasses worth 720gp, weighing 6 stone
    • 6 8HD monster carcasses worth 960gp, weighing 6 stone
    • 10 barrels of fine spirits or liquor worth 200gp, weighing 160 stone
    • 2 bundles of rare fur pelts worth 1000gp, weighing 10 stone
    • 2 crates of armor and weapons worth 450gp, weighing 20 stone
    • 2 crates of glassware worth 400gp, weighing 10 stone
    • 2 crates of monster parts worth 600gp, weighing 10 stone
    • 133 ingots of precious metals worth 39900gp, weighing 266 stone
    • 2 jars of spices worth 1600gp, weighing 2 stone
    • 350 monster feathers worth 1050gp, weighing 14 stone
    • 12 pieces of ivory worth 780gp, weighing 8 stone
    • 102 rare books worth 15300gp, weighing 51 stone
    • 5 rolls of silk worth 2000gp, weighing 20 stone
    • 117 typical fur capes worth 11700gp, weighing 117 stone
• Total Treasure Worth (once sold): 232,200 gp
• Total XP from Treasure, currently applicable: 57,000
• XP from Encounters:
  • 13 goats (65)
  • 1 lvl 5 fighter (500)
  • 100 lvl 1 fighters (1600)
  • 10 lvl 6 mages (13200)
  • 5 lvl 9 dark clerics (12500)
  • 2 lvl 13 mages (10800)
  • 2 lvl 13 neutral clerics (8800)
  • 2 lvl 10 shamans (5900)
  • 2 lvl 12 Nobiran wonderworkers (13200)
• Total experience: 123,565
• XP per PC: 14,537
• XP per Henchperson: 7,268

The rest of the experience will, as always, be rewarded upon the sale of the treasure.

Redcaps Are Not Very Nice

Deicheamh 4-11, 6638; next holiday, Wintermas, Dara 1

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

Ok, well, I haven't done a write-up, so here's what you get. I'll update this later. Meanwhile, the party got inundated by Redcaps, ran away, and eventually made it to the planet of the dwarves - the ancient homeland. From there, they managed to get to the dwarven city Dundrende Klippe. On the bright side, they managed to sell everything else.

Treasure yet to sell:

• platinum regalia encrusted with flawless blue diamonds (1 stone, 20000 gold)
• platinum regalia encrusted with flawless black sapphires (1 stone, 60000 gold)
• emerald regalia (13000 gp)
• platinum reliquaries with crystal panes (24000 gp)

• Experience from treasure sold in the City of the Winter Fey:
  • Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald: 5333
  • Rig, GQ, Gianna: 3133
  • Midnight, Faufe: 1567
  • Elenora, Laurita: 2667
• Experience from treasure sold in Dundrende Klippe:
  • Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald: 18449
  • Rig, GQ, Gianna: 8889
  • Midnight, Faufe: 4444
  • Elenora, Laurita: 9224
• Experience from treasure found: N/A
• Experience from encounters:
  • 292 Red Caps (2 defeated, ran from the rest: 76)
  • 9 giant centipedes (72)
  • 6 Gargoyles (810)
• Total experience from encounters: 938
• XP per PC: 125
• XP per henchman: 63
• Gold per PC (from sales): 18257 gp, 1 silver, 4 copper

Fairy Firing

Naoidheamh 29 - Deicheamh 4, 6638; next holiday, Wintermas, Dara 1

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

In the City of the Northern People, the group sold rather a lot of their stuff; while they were waiting, they spoke with a rather large paladin, who agreed to hunt the undead Kraken and its vampire master come the spring. They also bought a few items from a certain gnomish marketeer, though once again opted to forego the Staff of Staff.

Finally, it was time to go. The party hurried straight to the Court of the Winter Fae, to hand over the letter given to them by the king. They left on Beastnight, avoiding most of the merriment.

Upon arriving in Fae territory, they were, indeed, given safe passage, and a place to sleep. The next morning, they were awoken by a knocking on the door. A messenger brought them something he claimed they ordered - a coat of chainmail. But such chainmail! The links were so small, it felt like cloth; it was so light, even a thief like Sorvald could wear it. Which he did. As he was putting it on, a letter fell out; on it was written, "Go to the Court of the Winter Fae, and accept the offer presented to you by the Queen."

Sorvald, however, saw the paper a bit differently; to him, while wearing the armor, the paper read, "You must keep this paper. Trust!"

In the "o" in the world "you" was a familiar symbol - that of the Seekers.

When they were summoned to the court, they company gave the letter to the Queen, who read it carefully, then handed it off to a courtier. Looking over the group carefully, she said, "Many seek power from the Queen of Elves; others seek revenge, or mercy, or redemption. I can grant all of those, of course, and more... but what is it you seek?" She looked from one to the other, listing off their inner desires: "Power, of course; battle... a nice ale... hmm. Perhaps I could offer a choice, then. A game?"

She gestured, and a form rose lazily out of the pile of rugs on the throne beside her. "Mmm... plaything, mother?"

The princess of the Winter Fae was, like her mother, radiantly beautiful. Playfully, she tiptoed down the steps. "Hmm... a game... I will grant you a thing of Power, in trade for... a life. Yes! Such a pretty thing, life. I will kill one of you, instantly, irreversibly; in trade, you will be granted a thing of Power, a object of Worth, one without equal. Do you agree to this bargain?"

As the others considered the offer, Sorvald saw the scrap of paper change, this time reading, "Accept. Sacrifice. TRUST." A different cortier brought out a scroll to sign, the bargain written upon it in triplicate: "In trade for instantly and irreversibly killing a member of your party, the Princess of the Winter Fae will bestow an item of Power upon the remaining members of said party." The courtier offered a slender knife, with which to prick the finger of the sacrifice, and bind the agreement in blood...

Sorvald volunteered (though, as Caranthir noted, he would have been picked anyway, poor fellow). After he pricked his finger to sign in blood, the princess did the same. And then, with a giggle, blasted him with a ray of death, instantly killing him. With a lick of cold flame, his body disintegrates until nothing remains. The armor fell, empty. The princess laughed, turning to her mother... who was already on her feet. She hissed, "Foolish girl!"

As the princess stopped, confused, there came a sharp crack! A few yards away, the cold floor creaked and groaned, then split open. A warm breeze drifted from the opening, and the sweet smell of summer flowers; suddenly, Sorvald stood up from the crack, completely whole (if somewhat exposed)!

The princess gasped, turning back to her mother, her eyes wild. "No... no! You... they cheated!"

The beautiful Winter Queen stood, and the room grew dark at the corners. A sharp blast of chill blew through the room. She gestured at her daughter, sending her from her presence, then with a bow, addressed the party in a calm, if somewhat frigid, voice. "My daughter has broken her promise. Her power is gone, and she is yours to do with as you will, her and her things, for 33 and 1/3 days. Her life is yours."

Slowly, the queen sat. A courtier came to escort the party to the princess's chambers. Inside, they found the princess, still lying where she flung herself on her bed. Around the room were a collection of magical items, which the party gleefully helped themselves to:

• A necklace of adaptation
• Elrik's Cloak: provides total immunity to cold/cold-based magic; additionally, leave no footprints in snow, and does not slip on ice.
• The Graystaff: a narrow staff of granite and iron, it functions as a +1 staff, and allows casting of Unseen Servant at will, and Mass Invisibility and Nondetection once a day. Merely holding the staff causes detection spells, ESP, Scry, etc. targeting the user to fail, though the scry-er will know that the wielder is shielded. However, when using the staff, you will not be able to remember your dreams. The staff is flat on two sides, and rounded on the third. Usable by divine casters only. It grows and shrinks to fit its master.
• Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Elven): Conjure Elemental (5th lvl), Magic Missile (1st lvl), Locate Object (2nd lvl), Control Weather (6th lvl)
• A map to a "treasure hoard", found along the cliffs in the Wild Plains. A note written on the map in Fae reads, "Not worth the effort."
• Potion of Shrinking
• Potion of Sweet Water
• Potion of Oil of Slipperiness
• Wand of Fear, with 8 charges left in it.
• A plain looking knife +4
• A very, very nice looking woman's undergarment, casually hanging on a hook labeled, "Wonderbra."

Additionally, the wooden mail is +2, for a total of 2 stones at AC 6. The spell within has been used.

No XP or non-magical treasure was earned this time.

• Remaining gp from treasure hauls, as yet unsold: 167000 XP
  • Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald: 23782
  • Rig, GQ, Gianna: 12022
  • Elenora and Laurita: 11891
  • Midnight and Faufe: 6011

The City of the Northern People

Naoidheamh 25-29, 6638; next holiday, Beastnight, Naoidheamh 35

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Mor Gibs, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

The party carefully stacked up what items they were bringing with them, and what items they were leaving behind. The magical trunks seemed quite heavy... but, alas, they were locked tight, both physically and magically. Careful teamwork finally opened one of the chests. Inside, they found... dirt. Thousands of tiny vials, each filled to the brim with dirt, and labeled with careful lettering. The inside of the box seemed to have a device that operated as a wand of locking; seconds after the box was dispelled, it would re-lock itself. It seemed that it required both dispelling and unlocking for it to open. Realizing that the boxes held, not just dirt, but the dirt of nearly every land around - something vampires need, to sleep on the earth of their homeland at least once a month. With that in mind, the party lined the boxes up near the door, dispelled the lot of them, and shoved them to the ground, where the contents shattered inside.

The magical treasures were quite interesting:

• 2 potions of dragon control (2/6 stone)
• 4 potions of human control (4/6 stone)
• 1 potion of invisibility (1/6 stone)
• 2 potions of speed (2/6 stone)
• 1 scroll (arcanist: level-1 floating disc; level-5 cone of cold, contact other plane, hold monster, hold monster) (Nobiran) (1/6 stone)
• 1 scroll of ward vs. elementals (1/6 stone)
• 1 scroll of ward vs. undead (1/6 stone)
• 1 treasure map (1/6 stone)
• 1 spear +1 (1/6 stone)
• 1 war hammer +1 (1/6 stone)
• 1 +2 longbow, discovered through mundane means; it seems to fire a second arrow as well! (1 stone)
• 1 wand of polymorphing
• 1 Wand of Dark
• 1 Wand of Protection from Good, Sustained
• 1 Rod of cancellation
• 6 packets of dust, guessed to be dust of disappearance (1/6 stone)
• 8 packets of dust of appearance (1/6 stone)
• 1 set of Eyes of petrification
• 1 ring of what was later found to be Protection from Good
• 1 ring of summon dragon... which called a dragon, who asked for the ring.
• 1 Folding Workshop, worth 120,000 gp! (6 stone)
• 3 as-yet unknown scrolls
• 1 as yet unknown rod
• 2 as yet unknown staffs

Finally, electing to leave 1600 stone of beer behind (minus whatever the party drank), the party set out. But as soon as they reached the exit to the tower... a voice laughed down at them from the storm. The ice in front of them shook, and party suddenly realized that the tower was surrounded by a small lake. And something in that lake... moved.

Cautiously, the dwarf headed out over the water, only to be grabbed by a writhing tentacle! Quetgar dove in, slashing madly at the beast, and managed to tear the arm off the creature, but more tentacles wrapped around him, beginning to pull him under! Not only that, but Quetgar felt the strange water burning his skin!

The beast splashed above the surface of the lake - it was a kraken! And not only that - but an undead kraken! The party hacked and slashed, and Quetgar barely managed to free himself, missing being swallowed by fractions of an inch. Cold, wet, and understandably nervous, the party dragged themselves deep into the tower to regroup. Quetgar described the burning water, and GQ realized what it was - unholy water! It was a lake of unholy water!

Not wanting to face the beast again, as it likely had fully healed itself, Caranthir decided to try to fly overhead, as quickly as possible. He managed it, rocketing over the beast; the others followed, one at a time, and eventually made it to the other side unscathed. As the storm whirled and screamed, they trekked back through the maze.

On their way to the Northern City, they passed a young white dragon and a pair of frost salamanders; they also ran into a large caravan of monster hunters, who were quite interested in Caranthir. They opted to buy a potion of dragon control instead, as well as the monster parts and animal horns they had collected.

Finally, the party reached the Northern city; thankfully, the weather held long enough for them to arrive. Hours after settling in, a blizzard swept through the city. As they circled overhead, they were met by a pair of riders on pegasii, and directed to enter by the gate. Just inside, they saw the statues dedicated to those who defended the city during the beast wars: an elf, leaning on a staff, and holding a glowing orb; a dwarf, the Hammer of Thor hovering over his shoulder, and a serpent-staff in his hands, sat mounted on a battle-ox; a polar bear, standing tall; a human fighter, his sword thrust skyward; and a thief, head bowed, a knife in his outstretched hands.

After finding a place to sleep, the party began selling their items the next day. The staggering number of items was far beyond the basic market stalls, and so the party had to head to the Merchant's Guild. For a small fee of 12 gp, they were allowed to list what they had for sale. It took a bit, but the merchants available were able to process 35021 gp worth of items - which included selling some spices in the main market. That XP, as well as that from the traders, and the XP from the coins, are figured below. Note that selling this stuff takes a full week; you're stuck in town until then, or at least someone is.

• Experience from treasure sold: 70181
• Experience from encounters:
  • 1 kraken (fled)
  • 1 young white dragon (ignored)
  • 1 caravan with 250 people (peaceful)
  • 2 frost salamander (4200)
• Total experience from encounters: 4200
• Total experience: 74381
• XP per PC:
  • Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin: 10586
  • Sorvald: 9746
  • Gianna: 6203
  • Rig, GQ: 5363
• XP per Henchman:
  • Elenora and Laurita: 5113
  • Midnight and Faufe: 2681
• Total gold acquired: 70181
  • Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald: 12,182 gp and 5 silver
  • Rig, Gianna, GQ: 7150 gp, 6 silver, and 7 copper

Yet to sell are:

• 1 emerald (1000 gp)
• 1 jacinth-studded gold regalia (1 stone, 11000 gold)
• 1 opal-studded silver jewelry (1000 gold)
• 1 platinum regalia encrusted with flawless blue diamonds (1 stone, 20000 gold)
• 1 platinum regalia encrusted with flawless black sapphires (1 stone, 60000 gold)
• 6 amethyst cylinder seals depicting religious scenes (7200 gp)
• 1 Facet cut imperial topaz (4000 gp)
• 1 flawless diamond (4000 gp)
• 1 Black pearl (2000 gp)
• 1 emerald (1000 gp)
• 1 emerald regalia (13000 gp)
• 1 sapphire regalia (5000 gp)
• 1 opal jewelry (3000 gp)
• 3 platinum reliquaries with crystal panes (24000 gp)
• 12 alabaster and jet game pieces with jeweled eyes (10800 gp)
• Remaining gp from treasure hauls: 167000 XP
  • Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald: 23782
  • Rig, GQ, Gianna: 12022
  • Elenora and Laurita: 11891
  • Midnight and Faufe: 6011
• Current weight of treasure (not counting magical treasure): 10 st, plus 70 st of gold, unless it's kept in another form (copper, silver, electrum, or platinum)

And, as an added note, I'll be quite glad when you get all this sold off, because it's a huge pain trying to keep track of who gets what XP! I really hope Will didn't toss anyone else's coins into his banking bag; if he did, then he gets to figure out who gets what!

Not So Continual Light

Naoidheamh 24-25, 6638; next holiday, Beastnight, Naoidheamh 35

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Good Question, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

Climbing cautiously up the ladder, the party began looking around the room. The ceiling was much lower - only 20 ft. The room was filled with carefully organized crates and boxes. A summoned Hero poked around, and found something on the west side of the room - something very, very big! He managed to return with an emerald, and the party decided to retire for the night, in the hopes that they could regain their spells.

Overnight, there was a sudden, tremendous crash! And then another, and another - something was trying to smash its way into their insta-fort! Gróin let Quetgar out, and he tore into an iron golem! Gróin quickly reinforced the building.

Eventually, the great beast was destroyed... but a few hours later, a second golem dropped through the ceiling onto the stone structure, and smashed another fist into it. Quetgar tore into the new monster, shrugging off the molten bronze splashing out of it, and soon the creature was destroyed.

Finally, after sleeping in, the party decided to brave the upper room. As they lit Continual Light spells, a voice called out to them. It was angry that they had killed his pet dragon. Caranthir refused to believe that the enormous dragon could be anyone's pet, and said as much. For the next several minutes, the party huddled together, throwing the occasional fireball or Continual Light - only to see the light being snuffed out, almost as fast as they could start them.

Finally, growing bolder, they struck out; they killed a vampire, and injured another. But then, they were assaulted by invisible creatures; fighting, they managed to destroy them, as well as several more vampires. But the main vampire was not visible, and no longer calling out taunts. Caution at the forefront, the party searched the room, finding doors in all four walls, but no sign of the vampire. They found four caskets, presumably for the four vampires, and a fifth, covered in gems, for the elder. Inside was a book - a diary, of sorts. It seems the vampire was not joking; he raised the dragon from birth. He was, in fact, the creator of the tower...

• Experience from treasure:
  • 1,000 electrum coins (1 stone, 500 gold)
  • 4,000 gold coins (4 stone, 4,000 gold)
  • 5,000 platinum coins (5 stone, 25,000 gold)
  • 1 emerald (1/6 stone, 1000 gp)
  • 1 jacinth-studded gold regalia (1 stone, 11,000 gold)
  • 1 opal-studded silver jewelry (1/6 stone, 1,000 gold)
  • 1 platinum regalia encrusted with flawless blue diamonds (1 stone, 20,000 gold)
  • 1 platinum regalia encrusted with flawless black sapphires (1 stone, 60,000 gold)
  • 2 bags of loose tea (10 stone, 150 gold)
  • 450 casks of beer (3,600 stone, 4,500 gold)
  • 12 4'x4' magically locked chests (486 stone each; 5832 total)
• Total experience from treasure hauls:
  • This haul: 127,150 XP
    • 14,128 XP each for Rig, Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald, GQ, and Gianna
    • 7,064 XP each for Midnight, Faufe, Elenora and Laurita
  • Last haul: 31,565 XP
    • 3,507 XP each for Rig, Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald, GQ, and Gianna
    • 1,754 XP for Midnight, Faufe, Elenora, and Laurita
  • Haul before that: 80,916 XP
    • 16,183 each for Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, and Sorvald
    • 8,092 for Elenora and Laurita
• Total weight of treasure (not counting magical treasure, but counting previously gained treasure): 9778 st (you're going to need to leave some of this behind...)
• Experience from encounters:
  • 1 Iron golem (5900)
  • 1 Bronze golem (4600)
  • 5 Invisible Stalker (5500)
  • 4 vampires (7360)
  • 1 ultra ancient vampire (fled; 3100)
• Total experience from encounters: 26460
• XP per PC: 2940
• XP per henchman: 1470

Additionally, there were: 9 potions, 9 scrolls, a spear, a war hammer, a longbow, 2 staffs, 3 wands, 2 rods, 14 packets full of dust (separated into two groups), a pair of lenses in a box, 2 rings, and a large case.

Finally, there was an jet black box, wrapped in black cloth. Inside were the fingers and thumb from a hand, preserved in wax. One finger was wearing a plain metal ring...

Dragon Me Down

Naoidheamh 18-24, 6638; next holiday, Beastnight, 9/35

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Good Question, the Wonderworker
• Gianna, a Gnomish Trickster

The party flew onward... two flying characters, a mage and a thief, crossed their path; they also broke bread (well, whale blubber) with a caravan of 30 men. Later, a group of 21 skeletons was quickly turned. A group of bugbears wandered past, but didn't see their camp. 15 hoarfrost zombies were destroyed, and finally, they reached the edge of the blasted wasteland around the tower.

They were able to fly a good way in, close enough to see the tower... but a raging storm kept them earthbound. Gróin, with his fancy wind-proof hat, managed to get a little farther, but in the end, even he had to turn back. That meant traveling through the maze on foot...

Inside the maze, they found 15 mastodons; a cheerful conversation with Rig convinced them the party was no harm to them, and they were able to get a general idea of how to get out of the maze. They warned the group of a huge dragon, and a "bitey bat man". Rig thanked them, and they once again moved on.

A group of 10 thoghrin were camped in the maze; they were put down quickly, leaving a fair amount of treasure behind. Continuing on, they fought two frost salamanders, a pair of cave bears, and found the tunnels of a number of remorhaz. Finally, their trek was complete - they had made it to the tower.

Inside was nothing but a winding stair; up and up it went, finally coming to a stop in a room full of illusionary treasure. A huge stair lead upwards, and a door opened to the outdoors. The stair, unlike the others, was well-worn. And at the top... waited a dragon. A massive, 120 foot long, white dragon. Giana, alarmed at the creature, immediately went for her go-to, and tried to seduce the beast. Unfortunately, her finger-guns must have misfired, as the dragon was absolutely unimpressed. It probably didn't help that the dragon was female, either...

After some whispered conversation, the party decided that they could take the beast. They began their assault; the dragon breathed a blast of frosty breath at them, and Giana fell! The thief fired an arrow of dragon killing... and missed. Quetgar, being Quetgar, dashed around to the back of the beast and dug under its massive scales, trying to destroy it from behind. The dragon turned, raining down blows, but managed to land only one. The party pressed their advantage, and in only two rounds of combat, the monster lay dead atop its treasure.

Of course... that wasn't the only thing in the room. Caranthir, wondering at the lowly amount of gold, asked everyone to search for hidden doors; and, indeed, a door was found in the ceiling. Quetgar leaped up, caught the latch, and opened it, causing a ladder to extend. At the top, he found piles of dusty boxes. Turning to tell the others, he barely missed being shoved out of the loft! He spun to see a man in a tattered cloak, sporting some rather interesting teeth... a vampire!

Quetgar had a bit of experience with vampires, and quickly slid down the ladder to the ground...

• Experience from treasure:
  • 2,000 Silver (2 st, 200gp)
  • 1,000 Platinum (1 st, 2000gp)
  • 1 crates of monster parts (5 st, 300gp)
  • 1 crates of terra-cotta pottery (5 st, 100gp)
  • 2 pouches of saffron (30gp)
  • 3 crates of armor and weapons (30st, 675gp)
  • 3 crates of glassware (15 st, 600gp)
  • 6 pouches of wolfsbane (60gp)
  • 12 rolls of garishly dyed cloth (48st, 120gp)
  • 208 animal horns (42st, 3160gp)
  • 6 amethyst cylinder seals depicting religious scenes (7,200gp)
  • 63 typical fur capes (63st, 6300gp)
  • 1 jar of dye (5st, 50gp)
  • 30 bundles of bear pelts (90st, 450gp)
  • 1 Agate (25 gp)
  • 1 citrine (50 gp)
  • 1 lapis lazuli (25 gp)
  • 1 malachite (10 gp)
  • 1 Facet cut imperial topaz (4,000 gp)
  • 1 flawless diamond (4,000 gp)
  • 1 topaz (500 gp)
  • 1 alexandrite (500 gp)
  • 1 bronze jewelry (160 gp)
  • 1 jacinth (1,000 gp)
  • 2 lapis lazuli (50 gp)
• Total experience from treasure (once sold): 31,565 XP (which is 4,509 XP each for Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, Sorvald, GQ, and Gianna, and 2,255 XP for Elenora and Laurita.)
• Additional treasure from before: 80,916 (which is 16,183 each for Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, and Sorvald, and 8,092 for Elenora and Laurita.)
• Total weight of treasure (not counting magical treasure, counting previously gained treasure): 322 st
• Experience from encounters:
  • 2 NPCs (ignored)
  • caravan of 30 men (traded)
  • 21 skeletons (273)
  • 17 bugbears (ignored)
  • 15 hoarfrost (1200)
  • 15 mastodons (friendly)
  • 10 throghrin (800)
  • 2 frost salamanders (4200)
  • 2 cave bear (640)
  • 1 massive, venerable, white dragon (20250)
• Total experience from encounters: 27366
• XP per PC: 4561
• XP per henchman: 2280

As a note, a Bag of Holding: is large enough to fit an object that is 10' x 5' x 3'. Regardless of what is put into the bag, it weighs a maximum of 6 stone but holds up to 100 stone. I'm going to assume the 10' x 5' x 3' measurement is the size of the object that can be placed into the bag; nothing that doesn't fit within that space can fit into a bag of holding. However, any amount of treasure can fit, up to 100 stone. At the moment, the treasure available is 322 stone; while the original amount (66 stone) fit in the bag just fine, the new treasure just isn't going to fit, unless you can source two more bags of holding.

Next, magical treasure! Not all of it has been identified; one item was identified as cursed, and all items are magical.

• 3x Treasure Maps; one to a cliffside in the Wild Plains, one near the Mountain Dwarves, and one in the desert, just over the Ridge.
• 7 potions, yet to be tested
• Scroll of Ward against Elementals
• Scroll of Ward against Undead
• 3x Rings, untested
• 2x staffs, untested
• A bag, untested
• Boots of Traveling and Springing
• A shiny helmet, untested
• 3 swords, one of which is cursed, untested
• 3 arrows, likely +1
• 1 dagger, untested
• Ring Mail Armor, untested
• 2x shields, untested
• Leather Armor, untested
• A black box, wrapped in cloth; locked and untested

Last but not least, new characters starting at this point will begin with 64294 XP and 160,000 gp, which can be traded for magical items. Remember that you can "frivolously spend" gold (donating it, burying it, throwing it in the river, burning it as an offering, sending it home to your family, etc. - anything that essentially wastes it to no benefit to yourself) to build up bonus XP for your next character.

Hot and Cold Running Encounters

Naoidheamh 6-18, 6638; next holiday, Beastnight, 9/35

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Good Question, the Wonderworker
• ???, a Gnomish Trickster

After a night of flying, the adventures landed to begin setting up camp. However, before they could manage it, the ground beneath their feet began to sink! Most of the crew took to flight immediately, leaving the ever-capable Quetgar and the inexperienced Sorvald to fend for themselves. Quetgar waited until one of the sinkholes revealed a multi-legged monster, and struck - only to be burned by the intense heat radiating from within it! Already down to half hit points, Quetgar headed for the others. The beasts followed; before Caranthir could fly down and pick him up, one of the monsters swallowed him whole! Laurita used a distance healing spell to heal him and a good thing, too, as the intense heat from the monster was cooking him quickly! Between the boulders and other spells from Gróin and the freezing breath attacks from Caranthir, the monster was quickly dispatched. Quetgar was snatched away by Caranthir... which left poor Sorvald alone with the monsters. It was barely one hit before the poor thief was laid out on the ground. As the three remaining monsters tried to split the poor fellow, Gróin fired more rocks in their midst, and eventually, the creatures were dead.

Once their white-hot skin had cooled, the party ripped them open, lugging out the treasures the huge beasts had devoured. Inside, they found a veritable treasure-trove, including some magical objects (listed at the end, for space reasons).

Flying on, they encountered four frost giants, who used their shelter as a lovely chair for an hour, and a few days later, managed to outrun five wraiths. And then... they met three dragons. After some quick thinking, Caranthir managed (somehow) to convey to Elenora that he was willing to trade the lives of a few of his compatriots for free passage. Alas, the dragons didn't get their meal. The two sides attacked simultaneously, the dragons managing to cast a fireball and some buffing spells. Quetgar leaped onto the back of the largest dragon, and did some heavy damage; the other two dragons attacked, but were unable to budge the lizardman, and soon, the eldest dragon was plummeting to the earth. Caranthir promised to heal the dragon, if the others would not pursue them; the dragons agreed, and the party flew off into the night once more.

They passed over three frost salamanders, and then, during a windstorm, they caught the sound of singing on the wind. Someone was singing "A Whole New World" - and moments later, they caught sight of a good-looking gnomish woman, riding a flying carpet beside a snake wearing a turban. She plowed into Caranthir, and, sliding across his back, pointed at Quetgar. "How you doin'?"

Quetgar, taken aback, was enchanted by the gnome. Quite literally; her words charmed him! Caranthir was not as impressed, but the rest of the party seemed happy enough to let her join their motley crew. Flying on, they encountered a group of 80 hoarfrost zombies, which Gróin happily Turned. On they went, finally coming to the marked treasure: a cube of frost resistance. Quetgar, unused to the bitter cold, hugged the device to himself and refused to let it go.

Now, as for treasure... There were two swords, one a +1, and the other a Sword +1, +3 versus summoned creatures Sword +1, light 30' radius; an Axe, tested to be at least a +2; two Scrolls of Ward against Elementals, a Scroll of Ward against Undead, a scroll of Scroll of Ward against Lycanthropes, Boots of Traveling and Springing, a Potion of Treasure Finding, and of course, the Cube of Frost Resistance. Other treasure is detailed below.

• Experience from treasure:
  • Clothing, 4 stone total:
    • 1 rich fur cape (1,300gp)
    • 1 rich fur cape (1,400gp)
    • 1 rich fur cape (2,100gp)
    • 1 rich fur coat (6,000gp)
  • Jewelry and Gems, 1 stone total:
    • 1 Black pearl (2,000 gp)
    • 1 emerald (1,000 gp)
    • 1 Alabaster jewelry (700 gp)
    • 1 chryselephantine jewelry (400 gp)
    • 1 emerald regalia (13,000 gp)
    • 2 Fine wood jewelry (900 gp)
    • 1 ivory jewelry (700 gp)
    • 1 scrimshaw jewelry (16 gp)
    • 1 sapphire regalia (5,000 gp)
    • 1 opal jewelry (3,000 gp)
  • Carvings, statues, etc., 11 stone:
    • 3 platinum reliquaries with crystal panes (24,000gp)
    • 12 alabaster and jet game pieces with jeweled eyes (10,800gp)
    • 21 jade carvings of heroes, monsters, and gods (4,200gp)
    • 1 statuettes (1 stone) (800gp)
    • 3 statuettes (4 stone) (3,600gp)
• Total experience from treasure (once sold): 80,916 (which is 16,183 each for Caranthir, Quetgar, Gróin, and Sorvald, and 8,092 for Elenora and Laurita.)
• Experience from encounters:
  • 4 remorhaz (19,200 xp)
  • 4 frost giants (avoided)
  • 5 wraiths (evaded)
  • 3 dragons (10,670 xp)
  • 3 frost salamanders (avoided)
  • 4 frost giants (ignored)
  • 9 hoarflesh (720 xp)
• Total experience from encounters: 30,590
• XP per PC (except the Trickster): 6,094
• XP for the Trickster: 120
• XP per henchman: 3,047

The treasure haul is quite large; most of it should sell in the village of the Northern People, but some of the larger items may need a different city. The reliquaries, especially, will likely need to be sold to a church. The XP for those items will be given out once the items have sold.

Additionally, new characters starting at this point will begin with 62014 XP and 160,000 gp, which can be traded for magical items.

And one final note... things are beginning to happen in Mareten, and across Mor-Thir; actions and reactions. The party has gained some significance, and are fairly recognizable now, at least the core group.

Hark, A Quest!

Ochdamh 2 - Naoidheamh 6, 6638; next holiday, Beastnight, 9/25

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Good Question, the Wonderworker

The party bought some supplies at the Guard's Day celebration, then moved on to visit the King, hoping to destroy the Scale in his keeping...

Upon visiting the king, Caranthir noticed Luce was acting strangely. He had a suspicion... and it was confirmed. Luce was, in fact, a princess, the daughter of the king. Hypothetically, she was staying at some resort, but surely that ruse wouldn't last much longer. Her 18th birthday is in January, and quite a lot of important stuff happens then. Caranthir promised to keep her secret.

The king refused to allow them access to the scale. He did, however, mention a quest that may strengthen his trust... a quest to the Queen of the Winter Fey. However, the party was given a letter of passage; no Winter Fey were allowed to harm them, as long as they did not harm any Winter Fey.

Along the way, they met and killed three wyverns, avoided a couple of basilisks, and found an 8 headed Hydra, which Quetgar decided to bomb. While his aim was true, the hydra was, unfortunately, a regenerating hydra! Beheaded in a single round, only a couple rounds later, it sported new noggins, and continued sprouting replacements until it had a total of 12 heads! After many rounds of combat, and a few lucky strikes by the bothersome beast, Caranthir decided to call it a day. He and Quetgar took off, leaving the now 12-headed hydra alive.

The next night, they were attacked by another fearsome creature - a frost salamander! Its intense cold aura injured several of the party, but it was eventually vanquished. Not long after, they came across 16 zombies, trudging wearily through the snow, and ended them quickly. They camped near a village of trolls, but parted peacefully.

• Experience from treasure: none
• Experience from encounters:
  • 3 wyverns (4800)
  • 2 basilisks (avoided)
  • 1 8 12 headed hydra (escaped)
  • 1 frost salamander (2100)
  • 16 zombies (464)
• Total experience: 7364
• XP per PC: 921
• XP per henchman (excluding those that remained behind): 460
• XP for new players: 64557

Shenanigans

Seachdamh 16 - Ochdamh 2, 6638; next holiday, Guard's Day, 8/3 - tomorrow!

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Sorvald, Thief
• Good Question, the Wonderworker

While making their way through Roundrock, the party ran into two interesting people - the young man Sorvald, a thief who had recently definitely not run away from home, and Good Question, a Nobirian Wonderworker, servant of Coyote. Having heard of their exploits, the two newcomers were interested in joining the party. The Nobirian happened to own a map, which she happily offered to share; Caranthir, his dragon-like greed bubbling to the surface, offered to fly the two of them to the site of the treasure, while the rest of the party, fueled by Gróin's pleading, headed to the Mareten Wall to buy some more of those amazing mini-potions.

Bilkthistle Wanderthrust's Magical Funhouse

Seachdamh 8-15, 6638; next holiday, Guard's Day, 8/3!

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator

Finally, the party reunited. Rig, having spent some time hanging out around town, relayed that there was an interesting new dungeon discovered somewhere nearby; after some discussion, the party decided that they would take a look. As it turned out, the dungeon was... well, an interesting place. A funhouse, actually. Created by a mad Gnomish wizard.

Let that sink in a moment.

The rooms, it seems, were full of jump scares, puzzles, and various horrible tests. Two different tests included "basically doing nothing," in fact. One room sported a portion of a chess board; scraping the pieces across the board, the group managed to awaken a level 1 fighter by moving the pawn out of order, and a level 5 fighter, mounted, by moving the knight out of order. They didn't manage to awaken whatever was behind the queen and the bishop, much to my dismay, and their joy.

Not long afterwards, the party came across a room with a table full of potions; each person was to choose a potion, then drink it. Choosing from a rainbow of odd potions - none of which were anything the dwarf or gnome had run across - the party chose the following colors:

• Rig choose green; upon drinking it, he turned a bright shade of purple.
• Llarm chugged a solid black potion; his eyes lit up, projecting a 90' beam of light.
• Faufe drank a smokey potion; his health suddenly fluxuated. His max health will change by 1d8-4 each day.
• Caranthir drank a white potion; something happened, but he wasn't quite sure what.
• Rhea drank one of the invisible potions, and gained a familiar - an undead snake! (As a giant python)
• Elenora chugged the infrared potion, and was suddenly able to speak and understand Draconic and Nobiran... but forgot Common.
• Gróin drank a shimmering potion; his beard began to grow - so quickly that he must shave twice a day, or suffer a -1 to his attack throw!
• Laurita, finally, drank a purple potion; she realized that the taste of meat was unpalatable, and can now only eat fruit or vegetables.

Wandering through yet more puzzles, they party managed to gather some magical treasure! Though two items were damaged, they did gain a pair of Eagle Eyes, a potion of Restore Life and Limb, a wand of Lightning Bolt, and a wand of Fireball. Eventually, the party made its way to the exit, where Luce was waiting. Happily, they found a small trove of treasure - piles of mundane items, along with a Staff of Wizardry, a Wand of Fear, a Helm of Teleportation (with no teleportation spell active), a shiny helm they decided was likely a Helm of Change Alignment, and a Necklace of Adaptation!

• Experience from treasure: none
• Experience from encounters:
  • 1 knight (lvl 5 fighter: 200 XP)
  • 1 pawn (lvl 1 fighter 10 XP)
• Total experience: 210 XP
• XP per PC: 38
• XP per henchman: 18

The Temple of Thul-Gaal

So, last week I had a dream. No, seriously, it was a real dream of GMing an RPG. The rules were a bit fast and light, and there weren't any dice rolls... more of an interactive cinematic sort of thing. But that's beside the point. I have, in the course of the last week or so, come up with the beginnings of a one-shot. Or some-shot. A short campaign.

When I first started writing it all down, I was pretty excited - this would fit into the current campaign, and be a lot of fun. For me. Because I would kill everyone. I realized that maybe, just maybe... that wouldn't be fun for everyone else. So, I took a step back, and decided that I would tweak a few things so it would become a one-shot, where people wouldn't care if their characters get absolutely slaughtered.

Now, I still have some tweaks left, and a few puzzles to work through, which is perfect, because you guys have some work to do, too. You need to make up some characters.

Your character must follow these guidelines:

• Roll up character stats
  • Roll 3d6, five times, to make a column of stats; repeat to make 5 total columns
  • Choose a column; you may use the chosen stat column in any order
  • You may trade 2 points from a non-primary stat to add 1 to a primary stat
• Choose a character - any character class from the original list
• Your character starts with:
  • 620,000 XP
  • 815,000 gp
• You may trade gold for:
  • Normal equipment, mounts, etc.
  • Any magical item, at its base price
  • A chance for random magical items
    • Trade 1,000gp for a 15% chance of two magic items of a random type.
    • Trade 3,000gp for a 25% chance for a weapon or armor, a 25% chance for a potion, and a 10% chance for a miscellaneous magic item.
    • Trade 10,000gp for a 50% chance for four randomly determined magic items, one random potion, and one random scroll.
    • Trade 30,000gp for 1d4 random potions, 1d4 random scrolls, and a 50% chance for six randomly determined magic items.
    • Trade 100,000gp for 2d4 random potions, 2d4 random scrolls, and a 75% chance for each of the following: 1d3 swords, 1d3 armor, 1d3 miscellaneous weapons, 1d3 wands/staffs/rods, 1d3 rings, and 1d3 miscellaneous magic items.
    • Note: You may trade a (random) scroll or potion for two (random) recipes.
    • If you have the core rulebook, you can roll up your own magical items; however, I have a spreadsheet that does it instantly, so if you want to trade for magic items, let me know and I can do it automatically. If you want to trade scrolls/potions for recipes, tell me before hand, so I can roll recipes instead.
  • As many henchmen as you'd like
    • Roll up each henchman as a character
    • Trade 1 gp for 1 XP (a henchman with 100,000 XP costs 100,000 gp)
    • While henchmen can have henchmen, you cannot exceed the number of henchman your character is allowed in total (4, plus Charisma bonus, plus any proficiency bonus)
  • Creating magical items, new spells, ritual spells, constructs, etc.
    • To create a magical item (etc.), you must:
      • Purchase a library
      • Spend the money for the item/scroll/potion
      • Make any rolls required for research, etc.
      • Note: failed rolls still use money!
• Mages and other studious casters begin with 50% of their spell list generated randomly, and the rest chosen.
  • Researched spells (see above) count as a chosen spell
  • If you want to replace a randomly chosen spell, it costs 1,000 gp per spell level to replace; you may choose any spell you have as a scroll or recipe.
  • If you do not have the spell as a scroll, it costs an additional 500 gp per spell level to buy the spell. Only spells in the spell list may be purchased; spells not on the spell list must be researched (see above).
• Wishes will be neutered for this one-shot. They are allowed to be cast as any spell, or the reverse of any spell, instantly; they also allow a character to be resurrected, returned from another dimension, or cured of an affliction (insanity, possessed hand, etc.), but they cannot be used as an open-ended "true wish".

Whew! What a list! If you have any questions, let me know. I'll wait to run the one-shot until everyone has a character rolled up, spells and all. Also, if you want to roll up any number of backup characters, that would be awesome. I'll have some upper-level characters created, probably, so nobody is left out, but if you want to make your own backups, go for it.

Long ago, in a land far away, an ancient temple was built in the wastelands...

The temple belonged to an ancient race, the Thrassians, cruel, dark creatures, with scaly skin and terrible claws, with great leathery wings and horrible sharp teeth. These Thrassians ruled the land with iron fists, but like all terrible rulers, they were vanquished, and their ways were lost to history.

These days, the Thrassians of old are but legends; stories told by old soldiers to frighten the new recruits, and told by parents to get their children to bed or to eat their vegetables.

Nonetheless, the stories (at least most of them) are true. And, deep in the Desert of the Dead, our heroes gather to face the greatest threat these ancient monsters ever built: the Temple of Thul-Gaal. Undead - and worse - prowl its dark hallways, and magical traps pervert the very earth on which the temple stands. The tower is hidden behind a ridge of mountains; inside is an ancient volcanic desert, devoid of life. During the day, wind blows through the desert and shifts the sands, obscuring the path to the temple, but never burying the temple itself; that site juts out of the landscape like the hellish claw of an enormous demon...

Few have returned from the voyage; the dizzying heat, the blinding dust, and the unforgiving rocks have claimed countless lives. Only those who turn back from the temple's gates have survived, and even those have faced staggering casualties. No one who has entered the temple has returned to tell the tale.

Even so... stories persist of a treasure in the temple, unimaginable wealth. For ages, adventurers lost their lives in pursuit of that treasure; soldiers, mages, clerics, and thieves left and never returned. And yet, they must; as the adventurers stop coming, the undead grow restless. Like a cat sharpening its claws, if there are no adventurers to lay them to rest, the undead creep forth, raiding villages and destroying lives and livelihoods. It has come to the point that those nearest the temple feel they must step in and destroy the temple, or die in the attempt...

Zaharan Thieves and Grek Trieb

Siathamh 9 - Seachdamh 8, 6638; next holiday, Guard's Day, 8/3!

Special intro: Sorry for the late writeup - I've been very busy working and writing other blogs!

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator

The party elected to continue their journey by sea, without stopping to repair the ships. After avoiding two octopodes, they reached the southern port of Cehennem Limani. Selling the treasures they had pilfered from the pirates, they decided again to not keep their ships. They remained docked, but aboard the ships; the city seemed somewhat hostile...

It was a good decision. During the first watch, two dwarves and a human, all thieves, boarded the ship. They were successfully intimidated by the dragon, realized they "were on the wrong ship," and left the way they came.

During the second watch, a second group of thieves arrived; two elves, two humans, and a dwarf. The elves and humans were killed quickly, and the dwarf was pinned by Caranthir in dragon-form, and surrendered.

After a bit of discussion, Caranthir suggested the ships cast off immediately. The four pirate ships (manned by ex-slaves) were able to oar their way out quickly, but the sailing ship was a little slower to leave port. As it was creeping away, a voice called out of the darkness. A group of four men and women stood on the dock. The leader called, "No one escapes from Semih Iravani!", and the fight was on.

These men and women were much stronger than the others; as the leader walked out onto the water, another vanished, and a third took to the air on a broom! The fourth began fiddling with something in his hand. The nightblade on the broom flew over the ship and tossed a bottle of military oil onto the deck, then pulled out a bow. The leader stepped forward and flung a stone at the spellcasters, ending the priestess's spell before she could cast it. The man on the shore finished his ritual, summoning a djinni! Caranthir, in dragon form, took to the air, making it as far as the nightblade and loosing a breath of freezing air. On the deck, the priestess took an arrow from the shore, while Gróin took a slingstone to the helmet, losing his spell!

The party was beginning to get worried as the high-level thieves took them on. Suddenly, a figure appeared on the bow - the man who went invisible! With a grin, he swung his sword! The white mage fled for safety, injured by yet more sling stones, as the thief battled it out with Gróin. The djinni turned into a whirlwind, hurting Gróin and the others, but of course, Luce was unharmed by the magical wind. Caranthir managed to down the flying nightblade, and grabbed her broom as she fell; Gróin injured the thief on the boat, and he dived overboard. The leader took a Dispel Magic to the face, which turned off his water walking - he fell into the water with a splash.The djinni, meanwhile, was destroyed by Gróin's magical attack.

Even as the leader reactivated his water-walking (as it turned out, he had a ring), Caranthir flew down and blasted him with his freezing breath, killing him on the spot. He returned to the ship and reverted to human form, only to be chopped to within a single hit point by the invisible, back-stabbing thief! He turned and cut him down. Back on the shore, the lone survivor drank a potion of Gaseous form and fled, leaving his stuff behind.

As it turned out, the thieves were quite well-armed, with plenty of magical items; most of them were identified on the spot, with others being identified at Cliffport later.

Two days later, the party landed again in Pueblo de Puerto, then continued on. A day after leaving the port city, Caranthir and Rhea split off from the party to fly due east, towards the islands. They landed on Fuega, a tiny island with a tribal nation on it; the natives welcomed the visitors, especially when they learned that they wouldn't be stealing from them. The next day, Caranthir and Rhea circled Vulka, an inhospitable island littered with sharp rocks. Invisible, they swooped over the island... and found a dragon turtle! The creature lived on the island; it fired a cloud of steam at them, but they were too high to be touched. After spending a few more hours searching the opposite side of the island, the duo found a treasure, and carted it back to the ship.

Meanwhile, the ships encountered yet another two octopi, which fled, and four giant squid, which were quickly killed by well-aimed catapults. Finally, they landed in Cliffport, just in time for the Brightest Day celebrations (for those that weren't there, any light or healing-based spells were 3/4 the price, so a Healing potion was 187 gold instead of 250). Arnborg Anvilaxe, the dwarf Caranthir restrained, left the party here, to continue on her own way.

As the celebration ended, a skinny, dirty ogre walked up to Caranthir and handed him a letter! While somewhat difficult to read - the entire letter was written in what looked like a child's handwriting, and was also stained with something somewhat greasy - it turned out that the party was summoned to aid a tribe near the river, who were being harshly treated, accused of a crime they didn't commit. They were willing to give an artifact of some power in trade for assistance. So, Gróin, Caranthir, Rhea, and Laurita flew to their aid.

First, however, Caranthir wanted to make a wish; he found a wish, and did so, meeting 6 clerics along the way.

As luck would have it, they were off by a few miles, and happened to land near the home of none other than Lady Dracull! As long as they were in the neighborhood, they decided to drop in. The Lady was pleased to see them, and offered them a meal; interestingly, the Lady also seemed to be quite pregnant. Hmm...

After leaving the Lady with an offer of help, should she ever need it, they party once again journied toward the river, and the Grek, er, Trieb. As it turned out, the tribe was a tribe of ogres! They seemed friendly enough, though, and Caranthir was happy to help in trade for magical items. They went to visit the "bad guys"...

...Who turned out to be human. A cleric, a mage, a thief, and a fighter had banded together to drive the "evil" from the land. The cleric, Brother Dellus, is on the warpath to recover a holy relic of great significance for his order; it was stolen from their temple not long before, supposedly by a group of rampaging ogres. The fighter, Sir Tainly, was possibly even more obnoxiously full of his abilities than Caranthir; the two did not hit it off well. In fact, that evening, Caranthir sent Rhea to assassinate the knight in his sleep; she only managed to awaken the mage, a dour, gaunt man by the name of Graybeak, and learned that he was really, really powerful. As the four were leaving the camp, they met a rogue named Wag Lightfoot, presumably the leader of the thieves. The camp seemed to be about 75% fighters, a handful of mages and clerics, and the rest thieves. An odd lot, to be sure.

The next morning, Gróin and Laurita flew off to find the cleric's temple, while Caranthir and Rhea left to confront the knight. Caranthir demanded a trial by combat - if he won, the knight would leave; if the knight won, Caranthir would leave. The knight snubbed him into accepting a duel "to the death" (or close enough), and the fight began. As the two hacked at each other, the knight managed to land several blows, doing considerable damage; Caranthir, however, had the better armor, and eventually knocked out the knight. Clerics rushed in to save him, and Sir Tainly was able to recover after a night of bedrest. Brother Dellus, however, flew into a rage; his holy mission was to save the relic, the promise of a knight be damned! The mage, somewhat eager for a rematch, backed him up. Caranthir left the camp, irritated that the knight reneged on his word.

Meanwhile, Gróin was having much better luck. He found the temple - a tiny building with barely a path near it - and was invited in for bread and water. Brother Al explained the real story of the holy item:

Some time before, the old cleric had left on vacation, and had taken Brother Dellus with him. As the old cleric left, Brother Al and Brother Bodh made a bet. Brother Al said, "I bet you thirty silver that every time the old relic [meaning the head cleric] wobbles out the door, everybody freaks out, and nothing gets done until he gets back. Write that down, Brother Bodh!"

Brother Bodh, having the flowery language of someone with too much time and ink on his hands, wrote the following: "When the holy relic leaves its seat of power, chaos will grip this place, and all tasks will fail until the relic is returned."

When Dellus and the "old relic" returned, Bodh and Al were out drinking. Apparently, the old cleric went to town to pick up some supplies, just as Sir Tainly arrived, invited himself in, and asked if anything valuable had gone missing, as there were ogres in the area. Brother Dellus checked, and indeed, a sacred cup was missing! Dellus panicked. He tried to look up what the chalice was for, but only managed to find the pages Bodh had written, which drove him into an even worse panic as he put one and one together to make twenty five, and thought the missing chalice spelled the end of the world for heir monastery. Just as he was having a breakdown, Al and Bodh arrived. Seeing Dellus upset over the missing chalice, Al nudged Bodh and muttered, "Thirty silver."

While this remark was intended as a means of settling their bet, Dellus took it to mean that he was a traitor and had sold out his friends. Dellus swore not to return without the relic, and took off with the knight.

The holy relic, however, was nothing more than a gilt-covered cup with fake gemstones on it. The holy words written on the bottom of the chalice, "In campis feram", meant nothing more than "Made in the Wild Plains", poorly translated into Nobiran.

Gróin and Laurita found the nearby village that sold the chalices, and bought six of them. The shopkeeper immediately shut and locked his doors, and fled out the back, holding more gold than he had ever seen in his life. Six pieces! They returned to the knight's camp, and Laurita discovered the true thief - one of the thieves under the employ of Mr. Lightfoot, in fact. They guided Brother Dellus to the room, and managed to catch the nimble (if quite smelly) thief moving it around a few times. It's hard to pocket a chalice when someone is watching its location, magically. Mr. Lightfoot persuaded the fellow to give it up, and Brother Dellus nearly broke down in tears. Ignoring the rest of the camp, he immediately fled home, to restore the, er, cheap knockoff trinket to its rightful place. Next to the magnet in the shape of Mejasta, the shot glass with a picture of the King on it, the spoon with a painting of Cliffport, and other trinkets collected by the old cleric on his journeys.

The ogres, meanwhile, were jubilant, and true to their word, they offered the party two magical items. The first was a helmet; the ogres let the children play with it. The children would climb a tree and leap off, floating to the ground like a feather. When Gróin tried it on, he was rewarded with a vision! He watched Elrik, the world's greatest explorer, climbing a cliff; he lost his footing, but somehow, he managed to land on the ground unharmed. His back to a howling wind, he dusted himself off and kept going. The helmet, it seems, not only allows the wearer to cast Feather Fall at will, but is also immune to all wind-based damage! Additionally, there is no penalty to attacks when levitating or "gyrating" in the air (Elrik, as you recall, is the owner of your magical map, and the world's most famous explorer).

However, that wasn't all. The ogres began chanting, something that sounded like "Ooga Chaka, Ooga chaka!", and the town elder slowly walked towards the group, holding a ring. As it turned out, the ogres were actually chanting "Ogre Chakrum", a heavy throwing blade. This chakrum was blessed by many shamans, resulting in a magical +1 bonus. The heavy blade can be used by anyone with strength +0 or better, and the ability to throw darts or knives. The blade is quite heavy, and thus deals 1d8 damage, but requires two hands to throw.

Whew! What an adventure!

• Experience from selling stuff, from last time: 1504 for PCs, 752 for henchmen
• Experience from encounters:
  • 2 octopi (escaped)
  • Level 3 Dwarven Delver, level 4 Dwarven Delver, level 1 thief (283 xp)
  • Level 6 Dwarven Delver, level 5 Nightblade, level 4 Nightblade, 1x level 1 thief (1523 xp)
  Semih Iravani, lvl 10 thief (1550 xp)
  • Juan-Pablo Aguilar, lvl 9 thief (1300 xp)
  • Eluned Melruth, lvl 9 nightblade (1900 xp)
  • Brin Eveningfall, lvl 6 nightblade (820 xp) (fled)
  • 2 octopi (fled)
  • 6 roc, ignored
  • 4 giant squid (2280 xp)
  • 6 clerics (passed)
  • 3 werebears (avoided)
  • Sir Tainly, lvl 10 knight (2250 xp)
• Experience from treasure: 6834 xp
  • Total experience (give or take): 18740
  • Experience per PC (Gróin and Caranthir): 4685
  • Experience per henchman (Luce, Rhea, Elenora, Laurita): 2342
  • Special experience:
    • Caranthir: 10000 (stealing gold!)
    • Rhea: 5000 (helping steal gold!)

  • Mundane weapons: 33 arrows, 19 bolts, 28 bullets, 1 Arbalest, 2 Battle Axe, 1 Bola, 1 Composite Bow, 1 Dagger, 3 Leather Armor, 3 Nets, 1 Sap, 1 Shortbow, 1 Sling, 2 Staffs, 2 Swords, 3 Whips
  • Mundane stuff: 2 pints Ale/Beer, 3 Backpacks, 1 lb Belladonna, 4 Blankets (wool, thick), 2 lb Candles (tallow), 1 lb Candles (wax), 1 lb Comfrey, 2 pairs Dice, 3 Flasks of Oil (common, 1 pint), 2 lbs Garlic, 2 lbs Goldenrod, 1 Grappling Hook, 1 Hammer(small), 1 Lantern, 1 Rations (Iron), 3 Sacks (large), 1 Sack (small), 3 Thieves’ Tools, 6 Torches, 1 Water/Wine Skin, 5 lb Wolfsbane
  • Magical stuff:
    • -2 Leather Armor (cursed)
    • Arrows +1 (quantity 24)
    • Broom of Flying
    • Elven Library scroll
    • Gauntlets of Ogre Power
    • 2 Holy Water(1 pint)
    • Horn of Blasting
    • Ring of Invisibility
    • Ring of Water Walking
    • 2 Shield +1
    • Shield +2
    • Spell Book (Burning Hands, Hold Portal; Continual Light, Alter Self)
    • Spell Book (Choking Grip, Floating Disc, Hold Portal, Magic Mouth, Protection from Evil; Continual Light, Deathless Minion, Detect Evil, Detect Good)
    • Spell Book (Darkness, Burning Hands)
    • Spell Book (Light, Magic Missile)
    • Sword +1 / +3 versus summoned creatures
    • Sword +1 / light 30' radius
    • Wand of Detecting Enemies (11)
    • War Hammer +2
    • Ogre Chakram (+1 throwing chakram; 1d8 damage)
    • Elrik's Air Helm: Immune to wind-based magic; additionally, wind does not affect the wearer, there is no penalty from levitation/gyration and the wearer may feather-fall at will.

Plains, Wagon Trains, and... Sailing Ships?

Còigeamh 23 - Siathamh 9, 6638; next holiday: Brightest Night, Siathamh 35 (the Summer Solstice; Lawful characters receive a +1 to all rolls!)

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Grogg, the White Mage

The journey from the elves back to civilization was fraught with peril - give or take. On the first day, they encountered either terrifying antelope, which Quetgar was unable to capture. Two days later, they shot down three giant flies, hovering over the decomposing corpse of an ox.

Two days after that, as the party was setting up camp, two figures entered - a witch named Quiet Heart, and her companion Serkan Soroush, a Zaharan Ruinguard. They camped with the party, and left before dawn.

Finally on the road, the party encountered four terrible beasts - gorgons! The battle was fierce, and Zarc was turned to stone, but eventually the creatures were slaughtered. The next evening, the gang encountered - or rather, was encountered by - a gang of desert ogres. The ogres, none too bright, couldn't figure out how to make their way around the stone camp, until Quetgar eventually managed to convince them to walk around. Even then, it took much experimentation before they believed him.

Summerset passed with little fanfare; out here in the wilds, few are around to celebrate such civilized holidays.

Not much later, they ran into a medium sized warband of orcs, headed north; the orcs, feeling generous, suggested a minor tax of 3,000 gp. Caranthir offered one of the gang leaders a +1 sword, worth 5,000 gp; the leader graciously accepted, then turned and told the other leaders that he had decided to let them pass with no tax at all. Orcs aren't super smart, but the other leaders guessed something was up; as the party strolled past, a rather uncivil war broke out between the various gangs. Hopefully that won't come back to bite them later.

Finally, they made it to Kanka Sehir, one of the twin cities of the Shining Sea, the only human cities apart from Mareten that survived the Age of the Beastmen. Though over a hundred miles away, they could still see the enormous mountains to the south, and the gap that leads between them. After un-stoning Zarc and purchasing a few useful items, including some things from a rather shady shopkeeper, they chartered a small sailing ship.

They set off in the morning with a brisk breeze at their back; they had hardly gone half a day's journey before they spotted the writhing tenticals of two octopi. Unwilling to fight such monsters, they avoided them handily. The next day, however, they had no such luck. They were spotted by four galleys - pirate ships!

As the lead galleys opened fire with their catapults, Zarc and Quetgar dove into the water, and Caranthir shifted into his dragon form. The sailing ship had but one catapult. As the boulders crashed into the ship, Quetgar began shredding the outer planking on one of the rear ships. While the ships traded catapult fire, Zarc and Quetgar punched holes into two of the ships, eventually gaining access to the ship! Caranthir, meanwhile, wiped out the entire above-board crew of one of the ships, then turned and wiped out half of another.

By the end of the battle, only one of the ships was undamaged - the one Caranthir had wiped out. The others were listing in the water, gaping holes letting in the ocean... Caranthir, meanwhile, after tossing the last of the pirates overboard, asked the slaves to stay on; the slaves responded affirmatively, pledging their lives to the creatures that rescued them from slavery. 216 slaves survived.

The pirate ships, meanwhile, contained quite the treasure haul; the party had plenty of time to count their treasure while the crew of the sailing ship and the ex-slaves from the galleys enacted repairs. A little over two hours later, the ships were ready to sail again. The ships are as follows:

• Singing Maiden (chartered): 77 max shp, 71 current shp (max until repaired in drydock)
• The Lusty Wench (captured): 76 max shp, 67 current shp (max until repaired in drydock)
• Thunder Bucket (captured): 76 max shp, 64 current shp (max until repaired in drydock)
• The Angry Strumpet (captured): 76 max shp
• Sea Scourge (captured): 76 max shp, 70 current shp (max until repaired in drydock)

The ships need repairs, and there is enough treasure that it would be fairly dangerous to attempt the high seas... so, now what?

• Experience from Encounters:
  • 8 antelope (escaped)
  • 3 Fly, Giant Carnivorous (60 xp)
  • Quiet Heart, level 11 Witch, and Serkan Soroush, level 9 Zaharan Ruinguard (avoided)
  • 4 gorgons (1600 XP)
  • 12 desert ogres (avoided?)
  • 57 Orcs, 11 leaders (bought off, fought each other: 790 xp)
  • 2 octopus (avoided)
  • Pirate Fleet: 4 Small Galleys with 40 sailors, 80 marines, and 240 slaves (2400 xp)
• Treasure:
  • 2000 Electrum, 3000 Silver, 2000 Copper (820gp)
  • 1 Bone jewelry (9gp)
  • 1 shell jewelry (90gp)
  • 1 onyx (50gp)
  • 1 jade (100gp)
  • 1 jet (100gp)
  • 1 Aquamarine (500gp)
  • 1 diamond (1,000gp)
  • 106 animal horns (2120gp, 21.2 st)
  • 9 bags of loose tea (675gp, 45 st)
  • 7 barrels of fine spirits or liquor (1400gp, 112 st)
  • 24 bottles of fine wine (120gp, 4.8 st)
  • 20 bundles of fur pelts (300gp, 60 st)
  • 3 crates of armor and weapons (675gp, 90 st)
  • 6 crates of monster parts (1800gp, 30 st)
  • 5 crates of terra-cotta pottery (500gp, 125 st)
  • 5 gallons of lamp oil (10gp, 2.5 st)
  • 8 ingots of common metals (8gp, 4 st)
  • 1 jars of dyes and pigments (50gp, 5 st)
  • 12 jars of lamp oil (240gp, 72 st)
  • 1 rich fur cape (1800gp, 1 st)
  • 40 rolls of garishly dyed cloth (400gp, 160 st)
  • 5 rugs or tapestries (25gp, 24 st)
  • 3 sets of engraved teeth (210gp, 0.03 st)
  • 33 sticks of rare incense (588gp, 0.33 st)
  • 3 vials of rare perfume (225gp, 0.03 st)
  • Total weight: 756.89 stone
• Total experience from treasure: 820 (now), 12995 (when items are sold)
• Total experience: 5670 xp (plus 12995 xp when items are sold)
• XP per PC: 667
• XP per henchthing: 334 (all henchmen)
• Treasure per PC: 205gp (plus 3248.75gp each when items are sold)

Additional treasure: Potion of Extra-Healing, 2x Potion of Speed, Scroll of Ward against Lycanthropes, Sword +1.

Return of the Elves

Còigeamh 10-22, 6638; next holiday: Summerset, Siathamh 1 (the celebration before the Summer Solstice on the 35th)

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Grogg, the White Mage

After finally making it to the city of the Elves, the party cautiously surveyed the scene. After escaping from 5 wooly rhinos, of course. They spent the first day walking around the city, and sending Flit over the wall. They found no signs of life; whatever dangers the city held, there were no indications as yet.

They set up camp, and were interrupted by a party of four individuals - though they didn't realize there were four of them. Caranthir was quickly pushed to one side by Rig; his method of diplomacy would likely get the party in trouble. After a tense standoff, the leader, Sinem Husseini, laughed them off, and headed towards the high wall. The party watched her and her friends group together and float up the side of the wall. Any attempts to scry on them were blocked - it seems they had a spell or a device to block it.

In the morning, the party set off to explore the city. The city itself was surrounded by a gently curving wall, tall and ivory. Inside, the buildings were tall and graceful; though it seemed the city was entirely abandoned, there was a distinct lack of decay. Apart from one or two buildings that had been pushed aside by trees, the entirety of the structure was oddly untouched by time. The front door of the central keep was unlocked; inside, the party found footprints, leading two directions.

Carefully, the party followed the prints, eventually finding a room where a campfire had been built. Still, nothing jumped out at them; it seemed the structure was entirely inert. They wandered the halls, eventually finding themselves going down a spiral staircase. In the darkness of the new area, the group lit a wand of light, and surveyed the area.

With no footprints to follow, the party struck out at random. The first corridor was traced with names; tens of thousands of names. What they meant, no one knew. Moving through the long corridors, the party was slightly confused by the odd layout. Long hallways, with the occasional cross-hallway; blank marble walls, and granite floors. Eventually, the light went out, and the party realized that the walls glowed with a dim blue light. Caranthir, tired of wandering around, heaved his sword at the wall, cracking it open. As he did so, there was a rush of wind. Inside the wall, suffused with blue light, he found a corpse - though, oddly, it was not decayed! He hauled it out. Whatever this creature was, it seemed to be in some kind of magical sleep. One quick Dispel Magic from Gróin, and the creature was sitting up, confused.

After some discussion (involving Llarm and a helmet of understanding languages, and a staff that could speak languages), the party learned a little of what had happened.

Long before the Age of the Beastmen, the True Elves that decided to stay in Mor-Thir learned of its coming, and decided that they would have to go into hibernation to avoid it. It was planned to last about 1,500 years; the cities were protected, enchanted to keep anything living or undead out, and the elves were placed in stasis. However, something must have gone wrong; the elves were not awoken at the end of the Age of the Beastmen, and have been sleeping for nearly twice what they should have!

The creature they rescued - a True Elf - was merely a gardener, and understood little of the stasis process, or of the Age of the Beastmen. He only knew of a coming disaster. Finally, the party decided it was to move on. They struck out in the direction they thought was the stairs... and missed. They did eventually reach the wall, but as they did, they saw the other tombs opening, and elves of all shapes and sizes climbing out! By the time they reached the stairs, a large number of rather angry looking elves had climbed out of their stasis pods and were holding some rather nasty looking weapons.

Caranthir, realizing that perhaps these elves may be a little out of their league, managed to keep things civil. He remained polite, answering questions and asking a few of his own. Finally, he agreed to visit the ruler of the city. Upstairs at the ruler's chamber, the lead guard knocked several times, before opening the door himself - and found the ruler with a knife in his chest! He was murdered! Though the party was initially suspected, one of the elven casters cast a field of truth on them, and soon proved their innocence.

They spoke with the caster, a motherly looking woman who was much less harsh than the guard. She explained more about how the stasis worked, and how troubling it was that it hadn't ended on its own. Caranthir told her about the other party they had encountered; she nodded. It seems that they had discovered at least some of the members of that party. Meanwhile, elves of all sorts were working on restoring the city; the others would be found soon.

The guards brought two members - a fellow in a robe, who previously had a hawk on his shoulder, and an elf woman - a nightblade. The woman wasn't struggling, but the robed man was alternating between crying and trying to cast spells. They had been caught trying to escape. Caranthir offered to assist in making them talk; he suggested a new invention, the "Decanter of Endless Waterboarding," but any offers of assistance were refused. The nightblade quickly gave up her friends, admitting that it was the warlock who killed the lord of the city. The warlock tried to cast another spell, then burst into tears again.

Outside, two more members of that party were actually making good their escape; fireballs exploded and plants surged upwards as the fighter and a mage reached the top of the wall. Laughing, the fighter leaped over the top of the wall - and was repulsed by a blast of energy! A faint sizzle of lightning raced around the top of the city. A huge forcefield! Angry, the fighter and mage were forced back-to-back. When the guards arrived, it was over quickly; the two were bound and brought back.

The two prisoners were lead to a small jail area; the elf was tossed into one cell, and the warlock the other. However, the warlock didn't seem to be able to be contained! The guard tossed him in, activated a force-field over the door, and the warlock dashed through like it wasn't even there. The guard tested it, but eventually just tied up the whimpering warlock. The party turned out his pockets, finding a silver dagger, 5 darts, a blank spell book, a small vial of plain water, a ring with no enchantments, a blank scroll, and most of a pound of wax candles. The nightblade's pockets held more value: along with her leather armor, bola, shortbow, 12 arrows, and 3 silver arrows confiscated by the guard, she held a spell book with Burning Hands, Alter Self, Charm Person, and Continual Light. She also had a Medallion of ESP, a scroll of Ward against Elementals, some candles, a crowbar, a pair of dice, an ounce of ink, manacles, a purse with platinum and gold, and 6 torches.

Conversation turned to the scales - the reason the party was there. The elven mage mentioned the scale they kept; usually, it was guarded by a group of a dozen White Elves, elves specially tasked with caring for the scale, but for whatever reason, they could not be placed in stasis; no one else existed that knew about the scale itself. She would, however, take them to see it.

The scale resembled a huge teardrop diamond. It glowed with a pure, white light, shining from the center of an enormous room. The room was a huge half-sphere, 120' in diameter. Caranthir nodded to Luce and handed her one of the party's many +1 swords. After removing her armor and magical items, she inched forward, and finally touched the sword to the diamond. There was a flash of light, nearly blinding; when it dimmed... nothing seemed different. She returned, and handed the sword to Caranthir with a shrug. He broke it over his knee; it seems the enchantment on it was gone! Though it seems that the enchantment on Luce's armor was gone, as well, which was strange since she wasn't wearing it. After some experimentation, it was discovered that Luce hadn't lost the enchantment on her armor - she simply couldn't use it! All magical items in her possession were inert. On the other hand, magical items didn't seem to work on her, either; enchanted swords acted like mundane swords, and spells seemed to ignore her completely. The scale, it seems, had made Luce absolutely immune to all magical effects.

The extent of the non-magical power Luce had been granted was tested over the next week. Meanwhile, Llarm took that time to ask a few questions of the outer plains; the first questions he asked came back, "Ask Again Later," but the second ("How can we destroy the diamond scale?") was answered, "1 2 3 4 5 6 7, do the rest to sent it to heaven!"

The party assumed that this meant that the other scales should be destroyed first; Laurita Gomez, who was very knowledgeable about the scales, agreed that interpretation was likely the most correct. Which meant that it was time to find the other scales...

• Experience from Encounters:
  • 5 wooly rhinos (evaded)
  • 1 level 12 fighter, 1 level 10 elven enchanter, 1 level 10 warlock, 1 level 8 nightblade (avoided)
• Experience from encounters: none
• Treasure (from the other party, graciously given by the elves):
  • +1 leather armor, bola, shortbow, 12 arrows, 3 silver arrows
  • 2x Shield +1
  • Axe +1, Sword +2
  • Blank spell book
  • Spell book with Burning Hands, Alter Self, Charm Person, and Continual Light
  • Spell book with Burning Hands, Alter Self, Clairaudience, Conjure Ooze, Adaptation, Chameleon, Continual Light, Chimerical Force, Dimension Door, Cloudkill, Choking Grip, Deathless Minion, Fireball, Fear, Cone of Paralysis, Detect Magic, Detect Good, Fly, Giant Strength, Curse of Swine, Light, Detect Invisible, Gaseous Form, Growth of Plants, Enchanted Container, Magic Missile, Detect Secret Doors, and Growth
  • Amulet versus Crystal Balls and ESP
  • Medallion of ESP
  • Potion of Longevity
  • Scroll of Ward against Elementals
  • 1.5 pounds of wax candles, a crowbar, a pair of dice, an ounce of ink, manacles, a purse, 6 torches, 10' pole, 1 lb of garlick
  • 20,477 gp in an enchanted containers
  • 2x enchanted containers
• Extra experience:
  • Reawakening the first city of the True Elves: 5,000 xp
  • Becoming Pristinely Ungifted (Luce): 1,000 xp
• Total experience: 5,000 xp
• XP per PC (Rig, Caranthir, Gróin): 1000
• XP per Henchman (Llarm, Rhea, Luce, Laurita): 500
• Additional XP for Luce: 1000

Additional notes: Luce, as a Pristinely Ungifted, is absolutely unaffected by any magic whatsoever. This includes magical armor and magical weapons, both for an against her; all weapons used by or against her are considered +0, regardless of bonus. All armor used by or against her is treated as mundane +0 armor. Targeted spells like Magic Missile cannot target her. Area effect spells like Fireball do not damage her. All potions except mundane poison are treated like normal water. Magical items in her possession revert to their mundane state until they leave her possession; intelligent magical items feel no time passing. Scry does not work on her; the caster will not even know she is protected, as with Nondetection. If a caster scrys on the area near her, the caster will not see her. True Seeing cannot detect her; to a caster using True Seeing, she will appear invisible. She is immune to non-mundane poisons and diseases (such as Mummy Rot or dragon's blood poison). Creatures hidden by the Inaudibility or Invisible spells will still be inaudible or invisible to her. Further, while she can attack/be attacked by enchanted or summoned creatures, constructs, and undead, no magical effects (such as a Chaos Beast's insanity or a banshee's scream) can affect her. She cannot interact with incorporeal creatures at all (nor they with her).

However, she can be affected by some effects. A dragon's breath attacks will work, as it is a physical effect, as will a hell-hound's breath attack. The magical bonus from an enchanted bow used against her will apply, but not the damage bonus. She is invisible to any magical vision (including wards or traps), but will still trigger physical traps (ie, a trapped door). She cannot teleport, nor can she be magically healed.