Speedrun

A'Chiad 15-Treas 1, 6638; next holiday: Dragonning, Treas 35 (the spring equinox)

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
  • Sal Rrentath, Thrassian Gladiator
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator

Rig, as noted, headed to Forreston, to sell his wares; Caranthir and Quetgar stayed in Wallace, while Gróin and Llarm headed to Riverbend to study the books (and learn new spells). Quetgar learned what his ring does (finally), and took down a rather angry woolly rhinoceros that the ring summoned. Eventually, the party regrouped in Wallace, then headed out into the chilly winter. Due to luck or cold, there were few travelers on the road, apart from some chilly snakes. Once they reached the forest of the Winter Court of the Fae, however, they began running into quite a number of other creatures. They met - and avoided - an 8-headed hydra, and were greeted by five Sylphs, who sneeringly took their money as tax. The sylphs seemed very much on edge, however, and not in a mood to fight. Others had already told the party that the fae were all abuzz; why, however, they did not know. Something about a hunt?

Luce and Elenora's birthdays went by; Luce, offhandedly, mentioned that she finally turned 18.

Braving blizzards and frigid temperatures, the group traveled on, and encountered a group of goblins, easily dispatched. They eventually reached the Winter Court itself; a gleaming, cold city, full of strange creatures. They were again taxed, and sent on their way, making sure not to camp inside the city.

Moving on, the crew met a friend - the silver dragon! Rhea was irritated that the dragon could see through her invisibility; True Seeing will do that. However, the dragon - who had taken the name, "The Reader" - decided to join up with the group, at least until the far edge of the forest. As they continued on, they saw 8 Rocs wheeling overhead, and ran into 40 pixies. The same group, as it turns out, as had gone to see the ocean many months before! After a brief conversation (and some misunderstanding over the pixies' iron allergy), the pixies gave their blessing to the party, and went their merry way.

Not long afterward, the party reached the Bridge; a huge, magical structure, and the only bridge that crossed the cold, dark river below. The enormous Istrom River, swift, cold, and dark, rushed under the bridge. The river itself is nearly a mile wide; the bridge, easily 60 feet wide, looked like a thread hung over the icy water. Chunks of ice rushed past, some the size of houses. Within moments, the Bridge Trolls had blocked their way. The trolls were huge! The smallest were 11 feet tall; the largest was easily 16 feet tall, and carried a huge sword. After combing through the carts, they exacted their toll, and the party was free to pass, breathing a sigh of relief as they did so.

Not long afterwards, the group met another party, returning from a mission in the far north; Arvel Lharithlyn, a (male, level 9) Elven Spellsword; Girkle Ratchetgrill Tinkertech, a (male, level 8) Gnomish Trickster; Génesis Rivera, a (female, level 8) Fighter; Tofflely Buzzspinner Wibbleburp, a (female, level 7) Gnomish Beastmaster; and Bramak Silisk, a (female, level 7) Wolfwere - or, rather, tigerwere. Rig and Tofflely bonded immediately; Rig showed her his collection of war-badgers, and she showed off her collection of battle-sheep (a horse and a lizard). The elf, realizing how difficult it would be to go through the land of the Winter Fae, asked if he could accompany the party to the edge of the forest, and from there to move south through the Summer Fae lands. Caranthir agreed, and the (now much larger) band set off together again.

Finally, they reached the edge of the Winter Fae lands; the elf's party bid farewell, as did the silver dragon, who wished the party good luck. Finally, they had reached their destination - that of the intersection of the tower lines. It took all of the month of Dàrna to reach it... will it be worth it?

• Experience from encounters:
  • 5 pit vipers (talked down peacefully; 190 xp)
  • 1 8-headed Hydra (avoided)
  • 5 sylphs (avoided)
  • 39 goblins, 9 leaders (299 xp)
  • 8 Rocs (avoided)
  • 40 pixies (talked down peacefully; 520 xp)
  • 25 dire trolls (avoided fighting)
  • (Quetgar, Caranthir, and Zarc only) Woolly Rhinoceros (600 xp)
• Experience from Treasure:
  • Trade (8,684 gp; Rig Bigny and his henchmen only)
• Total Experience: 1009
• Experience per PC: 112
• Experience per Henchman: 56 (note: this applies to ALL henchmen except the Metal Man)
• Additional Experience:
  • Caranthir, Quetgar: 240
  • Zarc: 120
  • Rig and his henchmen (except Llarm): [whatever 8,684 gp of trade equates to]