So Two Old Gods Walk Into A Temple...

A'chiad 17, 6640

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, bat familiar
  • Clench, Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, Panther
  • Noona, 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
• Laurita Gomez, Priestess
  • Herman Thorpe, Ectomancer
    • Baelnar Grimtor, Dwarven Sapper
• Crolack, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Kurt Steinbacke, Dwarven Deep Monk
• Saphira Moonstone, Gold Skinscribe
  • Pentzkin Singletossle Pocketspringer, gnomish beastmaster
  • Alun Tsornyl, Sylph Ranger
• Aingeal Bàs Eleonara, Witch

In the strange BNaaN city at the point of the 'arrow', Crolack, Laurita, and Rig (along with their henchmen Herman, Baelnar, Noona, and Kurt) investigated the reports of an Old God being worshiped there. They found a temple - later known to be a temple to Wairangi, God of Pigs. The cleric outside freaked out at the sound of Laurita's talking club, and the men inside the building seemed loathe to give out any information, preferring to communicate via unanswered questions. Moving on, the group spoke to a cleric of another nearby temple - again to Wairangi, but this time Wairangi, God of Fools. Narrowly missing a face-full of pie laced with a rather nasty spell, they moved on.

They found a pub, thankfully rather more normal than the strange priests and worshipers of Wairangi, and ordered some stew, beer, and information (and learned that the local economy used Shells, worth about 2 copper each). The barkeep directed them to a local, who lead them to a house at the edge of the city - the house of a shaman, an elderly woman. She told them the way to Wairangi's main temple, but warned that the priests there were real, and likely to cause quite a bit of trouble for them.

Instead, the adventurers decided to head to the mountains, where another Old God was rumored to be worshiped. Teleporting near where they heard the temple was, they were quickly met by a group of griffons; Rig managed to talk his way out of fighting them. That night, they set up camp, but were interrupted near midnight as the sky rumbled and... cracked! The clouds sheared apart as if a massive earthquake were taking place! Rig and Baelnar were deafened by the roar, though thankfully only for an hour or so.

Traveling on in the morning, the keen eyes of the party spotted a handful of bugbears waiting to ambush them! They spoke, managing to communicate through spells, and convinced the bugbears that they were very powerful... through using the Godstaff to turn a pile of rocks into gems. They were lead inside the mountain, where they realized this was no small encampment - there were over 200 bugbears inside! They were taken to King Egrim, Dragon Slayer (with the skull of a dragon to prove it), an enormous bugbear - Dire Bugbear, actually. The king offered them a deal; he would help them on their mission, if they would help him kill a pair of storm giants. The party quickly agreed, and left... intending to never go near the giants at all! Hopefully they would never see the bugbears again...

After about half a day's walk, they finally made it to the temple, a massive structure on top of a mountain. The moment they stepped into the path carved up the side of the mountain, the wind stopped; somehow, through the shape of the path, the wind naturally blew around them. The dwarves marveled at the intricate details carved into the solid stone; everyone marveled at the impressive steps, carved at different heights, so everyone was comfortable walking up them. Even though the steps went on for nearly a mile, the walking seemed easy.

At the top of the steps, they found two massive doors. Knocking, they heard a gong-like boom; the doors were built such that even the lightest knock was amplified. Moments later, a small window in the doors opened, and two eyes peered out. After a moment of hemming and hawing, the voice greeted Laurita in Mehastan! She was somewhat startled, but quite happy to hear her native tongue. The man at the door then proceeded to greet each member of the party in their own native tongue - no mean feat, since Dark Dwarf is hardly well known! Satisfied that they meant no harm to the place, the man opened the doors. The doors rolled sideways, easily enough that he could move them with a single hand, even though they were easily 30 feet tall and 40 feet wide stone doors.

Inside, he asked that they store their weapons and magical items, as those were not allowed inside the temple. They did so, making sure to remove the items from the bag of holding just to show off. The man didn't seem terribly impressed.

Inside, they saw countless creatures, all steadily working on projects - carving, building, lifting and carrying all over the temple. Not only that, but beside the humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes, there were numerous beastmen - goblins, orcs, even bugbears and trolls! The man lead them to a Hall he called the Hall of History, and hurried them through, explaining bits and pieces of the Hall to them. It was, as the name suggests, the stone-carved history of the temple. The beginning depicted the split from the mainland, well over a thousand years before; it continued, every 15 feet or so a full year of events. Some events were large, stretching into multiple years, while others were tiny, a few square inches of wall-space. They walked on for nearly 45 minutes as the hall wound around and down (that's 3 miles, if you're interested). Finally, at the bottom, they came to a dead end, where a group of workers were tunneling out the next portion. They were directed by a large man - a giant, really, at 10 feet tall, though without the proportions of a giant. He was swinging a massive hammer, though through careful flicks of his wrist, he controlled the impact beautifully, carving rough shapes out as he tunneled! A loud gong sounded as they reached the workers, and they put down their tools, packing up and cleaning the area. Their guide introduced them: Manu, The Hand of God, neutral god of labor, construction, and work ethic.

Somewhat stunned, the party greeted him, not having expected to meet an Old God working in a mine shaft - even one as beautiful as this. He laughed, and explained some of his work. With a mighty clap, he teleported everyone to the surface, where a huge meal was already prepared. He introduced them to another Old God: Burli, Lawful Old God of Health, Constitution, and Manliness. He was dressed in... well, traditional lumberjack attire. It seems he and a few of his followers had been clearing trees, farther down the mountain. Together, Burli and Manu explained why the Old Gods were so... well, small. The other gods the party had met were huge, towering creatures.

The Old Gods were the prototypes, extensions of the very foundation of the world, individual personifications of characters themselves. They built the world, and shaped its foundations, but left the actual development and oversight to others. They gave up their mighty forms for something a little more practical, and gave up their hordes of righteous followers for the chance to actually be a part of the world. Unlike the gods the party had met previously, the Old Gods can act directly on the world, rather than being forced to act through their followers. As evidenced by the huge Temple that Manu is still building. Unfortunately, some of the chaotic Old Gods refused to give up their power, and stuck around causing trouble. Wairangi was one, but Manu and Burli kept him in check.

After a long discussion, where the Old Gods asked after Kaos (and if he still had Manu's Pick), and told stories of some of their old friends, they had a restful night's sleep in the temple, then said their goodbyes, gathered their stuff, and teleported to Nock, the more civilized city at the far end of the arrow... in the midst of a huge storm!

List of Old Gods known and met:

• Lawful Old Gods
  • Old Mother, supposedly a six-legged cow, and Goddess of Earth, Strength, and Cattle
  • Chaos, God of Order and Intelligence
  • Odin, God of Wisdom and...?
  • Burli, God of Health, Constitution, and Manliness
  • Gyda Dyn (Glance Left, Glance Right), God of Thieves, Conmen, Charisma, and Get Rich Quick Schemes
• Neutral Old Gods:
  • Manu, The Hand of God, god of labor, construction, and work ethic
  • Hinengaro, God of Mathematics, Science, and Truth-Seeking
  • Moenga Moe, God of ...?
• Chaotic Old Gods
  • Wairangi, the Fool, Old God of fools, pigs, and ignorance
  • Sof Zamd, God of Sand, Feebleness, Heatstroke, and Dehydration
• Additional not-so-old-gods
  • Ooze Becky, Cubic Grace, Who Digests The World, goddess of... well, whatever gelatinous cubes are goddesses of
  • Görünmez, the Unseen One, god of Invisibility, Minding Your Own Business, and Staying Home.

• XP from Encounters:
  • 8 Griffons (3520)
  • A huge village of bugbears (none; escaped)
• Additional XP from (knowingly) meeting Old Gods: 1000 XP each PC, 500 XP each henchman
• XP for each PC (Crolack, Laurita, and Rig): 1704
• XP for each henchman (Herman, Baelnar, Noona, and Kurt): 852

The Fifth Horseman

A'chiad 16 - Treas 3, 6640

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, bat familiar
  • Clench, Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, Panther
  • Noona, 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
• Laurita Gomez, Priestess
  • Herman Thorpe, Ectomancer
    • Baelnar Grimtor, Dwarven Sapper
• Crolack, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Kurt Steinbacke, Dwarven Deep Monk
• Saphira Moonstone, Gold Skinscribe
  • Pentzkin Singletossle Pocketspringer, gnomish beastmaster
  • Alun Tsornyl, Sylph Ranger
• Aingeal Bàs Eleonara, Witch

Continuing the exploration of the strange rooms, Aingeal moved to the room full of items. As she was looking, Laurita used a Rod of Cancellation to un-freeze poor Saphira. After perusing the displays, she grabbed a wand, then a staff; and, spying a rather old, twisted staff made of bone, picked that up too. She and the others looked over some of the other artifacts further in - an ancient pick, a strange flask (which Saphira kept), and a number of other objects. Eventually, having found all they could find, they sighed and moved towards the darkened doorway. After trying a few things, like Continual Light and Dispel Magic, nothing seemed to work, so they shuffled forward, feeling their way through the darkness. It continued for a short way before a trench; they bottom was only about 5 feet down. After some careful climbing and jumping up and down to make sure there was no trickery at work, they each climbed down... and the trench immediately began sinking into the ground!

After a few minutes, a band of light suddenly flashed into the room; a moment later, and they were stepping out into a lush garden, full of... tomato plants? The various vegetables seemed well taken care of, orderly and free of weeds or damage. On the other side of the garden was a doorway, and a man stepped out, greeting them somewhat reservedly. Seeing the staffs in Aingeal's hands, he asked if he could have the ornate staff, then immediately spent a charge from it to Command Aingeal to return the two staffs where they had come from. She did so, though grabbed another wand on her way out, the sneakthief.

After some polite conversation with the young man (who introduced himself as Ronnie, though mentioned that he was also known as Kaos, Ancient Old God of Order, and one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse), the merry band was sent on their way, teleported to BNaaN, a strange, magical continent...

As long as they were there, Saphira decided to have her tattoos replaced... a process that would take six weeks. While they wait, Luce, Elenora, and Crolac have had birthdays... And, some information: two Old Gods are known of on BNaaN, one that lives in the mountains, and one that lives in the far village. One final thing of note: as the days pass, the weather changes, but the weather in BNaaN is... strange. Winds blow that give flight, for instance. How odd.

• Old gods found or heard of thus far:
  • Kaos, God of Order and Intelligence
  • Old Mother, supposedly a six-legged cow, and Goddess of Earth, Strength, and Cattle
  • Gyda Dyn (Glance Left, Glance Right), God of Thieves, Conmen, Charisma, and Get Rich Quick Schemes
  • Hinengaro, God of Mathematics ,Science, and Truth-Seeking (it was his flask)
  • Moenga Moe, God of ...?
  • Sof Zamd, God of Sand, Feebleness, Heatstroke, and Dehydration
• Additional not-so-old-gods heard of:
  • Ooze Becky, Cubic Grace, Who Digests The World, goddess of... well, whatever gelatinous cubes are goddesses of
  • Görünmez, the Unseen One, god of Invisibility, Minding Your Own Business, and Staying Home.

• XP from Encounters and Treasure: None
• XP from finding an Old God: 1,000 XP each, and 500 XP per henchman.

Time Flies When You're Having Kingdoms

A'chiad 23-Cheathramh 23, 6639 (yes, that's month 4; we skipped right past Dragonning and King's Day); next holiday, Summerfest, 6/1.

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Noona, 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
• Craydos Silverskin, the Gold Skinscribe

Last week, we left Gróin and crew three days out from the yet-unnamed city founded by Caranthir, which I've decided to call Caranthopolis to save on typing. As it happens, they had just encountered three chimera, and said chimera were very, very hungry.

Gróin quickly made a stone structure as the chimera closed, then tossed some dust of disappearance onto himself, and laid out some heavy justice. Two chimera managed to roast some targets, but the battle was over before they could land more than a blow or two.

A single wyvern slowed them down not a whit, and soon they made it back to Caranthiropolis. After reorganizing some treasure, the group left Caranthir to his city-building, and set off to clear out another hex: that of Gróin! Unfortunately... Gróin's hex was much, much more difficult to deal with. Unlike Caranthir's "Oh, gosh, some moose, whatever shall we do," Gróin had to deal with a huge group of remorhaz (16, plus another enormous one!) and 310 kobolds (including both a high-level shaman and a witch doctor), two hunting dogs, and four giant ferrets. Which, after the shaman did some casting, became three giant ferrets and one frickin' enormous ferret.

Gróin attempted to talk to the leader; when things went badly, Quetgar attempted to assassinate him... only to find that he was an illusion! The throne dropped into a pit, leaving Quetgar to dive to the side, and battle was joined. As everyone else rushed in from the sidelines, Quetgar started cleaving through ten kobolds at a time. Gróin managed to nuke quite a few, and even Sorvald was shooting arrows into their midst, even managing to kill the witch doctor. Another kill after that, and the shaman had had enough; he dispelled the area around the magic carpet, causing Sorvald to reappear and the carpet to plummet out of the sky. Then, of course, forty kobolds crowded around to get their boots in, including one that suck-punched him between the legs and knocked him down. The shaman, expending the last of his tricks (he managed to cast Protection from Good on himself early on, which saved his life), cast Poison on his hands, then turned himself into a (non-fire-breathing) chimera. One of his poison-ladened claws slashed into Sorvald, instantly dropping him.

Meanwhile, Craydos' hydra was cleaving through any creatures who got close. Gróin blasted a line of kobolds with a horn; Quetgar managed to take out most of the back piece of the map. Gróin, seeing his friend fall, dashed to his side; the flames wreathing his body flared, scorching the 40 kobolds clustered around his body, burning them to death! Within moments, the remaining kobolds were dead. The few that tried to flee were run down and slaughtered. Gróin quickly cast Neutralize Poison on Sorvald, bringing him to life; unfortunately, he didn't have time to cut out his flames, and Sorvald, at a single hit point, was killed once again. Gróin stepped back, allowing others to heal him; this time, he woke unburnt.

The third encounter, fortunately, was the same caravan of nomads; they had passed the forest, and decided to keep going, to shelter in some caves in the mountains, as their shaman predicted some nasty winter weather. Gróin invited them in for a meal, and was able to feed most of them with a spell. A little smooth talking later, and he made some new friends who would be willing to trade - 14 wagons with ten times that many fighters, not to mention all the civilians.

The six mile hex around the entrance to the Plane of Earth cleared, Gróin and friends headed north to the dwarven cities of Dundrende Klippe, and the capital Stromsloja. They spent a month selling treasure, gathering knowledge, and in Gróin's case, speaking with the clerics of Thor. He desired a miracle, in two parts: first, that the effects of Vigor be cast upon him permanently, and second, that he be granted an Orb of Voice Transference - that is, a linked pair of orbs that allow one person to speak to another, even at vast distances. The clerics, after conferring amongst themselves, concluded that the time and effort to ask for a miracle may be better used in speaking with the wizards of Mareten, as they had created similar orbs before.

Gróin lead the party south and east, through the pass, and eventually made it to Mareten (I rolled encounters, and apart from a few animals, there weren't any problems!); Craydos, eager to set eyes on the Book of Holding Llarm has been using, uses it to research a new spell, which I forgot to write down, somehow. However, his attempt is a success! While he was studying, Gróin continued selling treasure, eventually pawning it all off.

The magical treasure gained from the remorhaz and kobolds is as follows: 4 Crossbow Bolts, 4 Potions, 7 Scrolls (2 detect as evil), 3 Rings, 1 Rod, 1 Staff, 2 Wands, 5 Swords, 2 Shields, 1 Spear, 1 Cloak, and 3 Treasure Maps.

But that's not all! Long ago, Faufe, Llarm, and Clench were left in Slowhaven. Llarm has been researching spells, but Faufe rounded up some treasure and left to make a lot of money. Only three days into his trip, he's already met a hydra and a group of sea dragons; the hydra was killed, and the dragons (luckily!) were freaked out by what they thought was a trap, and fled. Hopefully, the rest of his trip will be more serene!

Meanwhile, Caranthir continued to work on his land, improving it and attracting more people. The XP below doesn't include Caranthir, nor does it list the XP he earned from taxes. Additionally, Caranthir's kingdom is ahead; it's at 6/1, aka Summerfest, aka Siathamh 1st.

Gróin's new kingdom has begun, as well, at least the exterior area. New dwarves are showing up to build forts and homes, even in the dead of winter.

• XP from Encounters:
  • 3 Chimera (3900)
  • 1 wyvern (1140)
  • 16 remorhaz (36000)
  • 1 huge remorhaz (4800)
  • 272 kobolds (1360)
  • 28 leaders (196)
  • 8 sub-chieftains (80)
  • 1 very over-powerful witch (440)
  • 1 also too-powerful shaman (440)
  • 4 weasels (860)
  • 2 hunting dogs (30)
• XP from treasure (which was all sold, and I'm not going to bother listing it all)
  • 326,217gp, weighing 328 5/6 stone
• Total experience: 375,463 XP
• XP per PC (Gróin, Quetgar, Sorvald, Craydos): 68,266
• XP per Hench (Rhea, Gimli, Laurita): 34133
• Cash per PC: 81554 gp and 25 copper
• Additionally, the other items sold, which means:
  • Additional XP for Gróin, Sorvald, and Craydos: 22,022
  • Additional CP for Laurita, Rhea, and Gimli: 11,011
  • Additional cash for Gróin, Sorvald, and Craydos: 37533 and 33 copper (plus one more copper up for grabs)

Time is a little screwy right now. Rig, Llarm, and Clench are currently sitting at 12/24 of 6638, right after everyone got back from the Pointless Tower; Caranthir's kingdom just hit 6/1 of 6639, while Caranthir, Elenora, Luce, and his troops are waiting at 5/1 to start clearing some more land. Gróin and Laurita, Rhea and Gimli, Quetgar (and Zarc, though he's holding the fort elsewhere), Sorvald, and Craydos are parked in Slowhaven at 4/23, and Faufe is nearly a year behind, at 8/20 of 6638! Hopefully, everyone can synchronize in the next week or so.

To help with that, I'm going to start putting together an online kingdom-tracker, because there are a lot of numbers to crunch, and sometimes things like natural events play a part, but it's a huge pain to do all the kingdom stuff every week and ask everyone else to wait around. Automating it should make things go a lot faster.

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

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.

Luce In The Sky With Giants

Treas 27 - Còigeamh 10, 6638; next holiday: Summerset, Siathamh 1 (the celebration before the Summer Solstice on the 35th)

It took a while for me to come up with the title - or rather, to narrow it down. Other contenders were "All's Fae In Love And War" and "If You Can Dodge An Encounter, You Can Dodge A Fae Sword". I tried, and failed, to come up with a title-worthy pun on the fact that the storm giants could host them because their castle had mushroom.

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 spending a day in Sao Agua - and running into Grogg, a which mage who had somehow become very lost - the party decided to strike off towards the far west, to investigate the crystal scale, and the lost home of the ancient elves.

The going wasn't easy; along the way, they came across a village of trolls, and were able to make the canny trade of two pieces of meat for 500 electrum pieces. Later, they came across a storm giant, who was pulling a thunderstorm behind him and obliterating random objects with lightning bolts. He had a pleasant chat with them, and went on his merry way. He mentioned that he had a brother out in the plains, and recommended visiting the magical mushroom forest, if the party had the chance.

The party edged around a village of orcs, and barely managed to flee from a large village of troglodytes. Several days into their journey, they came across another storm; this storm was much larger, and hidden in a thick fog. Suddenly, the fog cleared, revealing an enormous castle! The party moved forward cautiously, and soon ran into two huge figures - more storm giants! These giants, Choka and Hrooma, invited the tired travelers in for food, drink, and rest (and to meet their son, Chat). The party gratefully accepted. After a Mary-Poppins-esque accent via cloud-walking to the castle itself, the party settled in to trade stories with the giants. The main course was an entire elephant, cooked over a huge fire like a roast pig, complete with a trunk full of apples. Eventually, the party headed to bed.

In the morning, the party debated about using the giants to travel safely to their destination, but the giants declined; it was a family vacation, and they were planning on moving in a different direction.

It wasn't but a day later, however, that the party ran into an army - the remnants of a Winter Fae scouting party! Caranthir attempted to intimidate them, but the paltry force of the party was not enough to match the fair riders, at least in their captain's eye. Even Rig was unable to keep them out of combat. The sylphs fanned out, with a line of cavalry in front of a line of archers; the archers immediately fired on the mercenaries, and destroyed the entirety of Rig's archers. Gróin, meanwhile, charmed the commander; while he wouldn't attack his friends, and the lieutenants refused to stand down, he would not use his considerable magic to assist them. And then... Quetgar. First leaping in front of the second line, then vaulting over their heads, his claws and teeth - hastened by Gróin - tearing through them like blood-soaked tissue. In the blink of an eye, he had shredded half the squad.

After two rounds of combat, Rig's mercenaries were decimated, but still holding their own. The Fae forces were shattered; Quetgar chewed through three squads himself. The others slashed through the haughty faerie-folk, cutting them to ribbons, and receiving few wounds themselves. Two unharmed squads fled, high-tailing it back to Fae lands. The rest were slaughtered. In fact, Quetgar leaped away from the squad he was attacking, snapped the neck of the captain, then returned to bring down an entire squad. His actions terrified the Fae; those who fled will return will tales of horror... whether that is good or bad is yet to be seen.

The Fae dealt with, the party healed their few wounds and moved on...

• Experience from Encounters:
  • 71 Trolls (avoided)
  • 174 Orcs (evaded)
  • 297 Troglodytes (evaded)
  • 4 Storm Giants (befriended)
  • 134 sylphs, 56 sargents, 9 lieutenants, 1 captain (6625 XP)
• Experience from treasure: none
• Total experience: 6625
• Treasure:
  • 500 electrum (traded for 2 pieces of meat)
  • 1 set of silvered banded plate armor (150 gp)
  • 3 sets of silvered chain mail (360 gp)
  • 59 sets of silvered scale armor (5310 gp)
  • Silvered scrap (1455 gp)
  • 80 light horses
• Total worth once sold: 7275
• Total weight: 333 stone
• XP per PC: 697
• XP per Henchman: 349
• The Metal Man refunded 349 in copper.

Why Are You Dragon, Dungeon Wanna Win?

Treas 1-26, 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
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator

The party found themselves next to a clearing. The area was an odd, round shape, not as organic of a shape as one might expect. In fact, the trees at the edge of the clearing were bowed, the middles leaning away from the center. Even the grass and weeds grew more sparsely in the middle. From the center of the glen, a faint sound emanated, like wind blowing past a thin shard of glass, or a thin, sharp sword cutting through the air. As the party squinted at the center of the field, most found their gaze misdirected - sliding past to look at trees, or sinking to stare at the ground. Only Rig, Quetgar, and Elenora were able to pierce the veil of illusion.

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.

Merry Wintermas and A Stolen Song II

Wintermas, Dara the 1st - 21st

Next holiday: Darkest Night, Dara 35th, the winter solstice.

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
• 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
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

The night before Wintermas, the various members of the party went shopping for gifts; Caranthir bought some restorative spells and good alcohol, Gróin bought a fancy staff from a quirky gnome, and the others purchased a few trinkets here and there. Caranthir also found a new host-body for their trapped nightblade friend - a convict on death row. After placing the soul of a murderous ranger into a stone in the jail, her body was left in trade for the nightblade to inhabit. He wasn't particularly pleased to be inhabiting the body of a female, but it was better than being trapped for all eternity. He introduced himself as Elidyr Eyriendor, but turned down Caranthir's offer to stay with the party. He had been gone a long time, and needed to renew contact with the world. However, if the party needed his assistance, they needed only call and he would come as soon as he was able.

Deep and Dangerous

Deug the 24th - 28th (Wintermas 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
• 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
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

The party, unhindered by the attack of the overly-ego'ed Zaharan, continued their sweep of the dungeon. Continued exploration of the 7th level revealed 6 ghouls, easily dealt with, and a bone golem, only a momentary pause. Pilfering its magical swords, some treasure, and a scroll, the party continued its merry way. Soon, they found a scrawled map of the dungeon; following it, they quickly mapped the remaining rooms, and continued down the stairs. Unbeknownst to the party, however, they had released a group of five wraiths, which wandered along behind them. Let that be a lesson for you - never assume the floors above are truly empty. You never know when you've missed a secret room...

Songs, Spectres, and Strangers

Deug the 18th - 24th (only 5 days 'til Wintermas!)

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
• 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
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Gottes Segen, Cleric

Picking up from last time, Quetgar read through the golem's book; he reasoned that the golem was looking for its control stone in the well, and decided that he would try to retrieve it. Moving quickly, he dove in before the stone golem could catch him, and dug through the fine silt at the bottom of the pool. He found a small chalice, and buried under the silk, a large ruby! Leaping out of the water, he turned, pointed the ruby at the golem, and commanded "Stop!"... and the golem kept moving. Realizing that the commands in the book were written in Nobrian, he again commanded "Stop!", but this time in the ancient language. The golem creaked to a stop.

A Desert Jaunt

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
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Loriel Straight Arrow, Elven Ranger
  • Little Bandit, ferret

First, the party traveled to their employers, the other local lords (and lady). The journey was short and uneventful; they arrived the evening they left, in time for a large celebration. They met Lord Vincent Aldervat, a hawkish, conceited-looking man, though well-muscled; Lord Evan Elpus, a reedy fellow who had the odd habit of always standing behind people, as if hiding; Lady Christiana Vascelles, a late-middle-aged woman with a firm look of command about her; Lord Tomas Cordova, an obvious man of the earth, strong and rustic; and Lord Dunstan Kirkhill, a brawny, red-headed man with a bushy beard. After enduring several rounds of back-slapping from Lord Kirkhill and Lord Cordova, and even a thin hint of praise from Lord Aldervat, they dug in to the free food. Afterwards, thanks to some good negotiating, they managed to up their reward from 10,000 gp to 15,000 gp. Not bad for a few minutes of talking.

Do You Know the Way to Falach a'Bhaile

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Airsen Birdmaster, Airwalker
  • Sara, Airwalker (deceased)
  • Erik Stein, Dwarven Vaultguard
• Sneakily, Spy (retired)
• ???, Elven Ranger

I forgot to get the Elven Ranger's name - sorry about that.

Moving on from the treasure cave, the group moved north to the rumored location of the great Gnomish City. Travel was easy, and the days were warm and pleasant; the area was covered in deep, lush grass - perfect farming land. They passed several farms on the way. They arrived in the area, and began to look about for the location of the city. Rig managed to locate a small burrow, and chatted with a sleepy giant python; the python pointed them slightly west, and went back to bed. Soon, they found a strangely wooded area; the nearby area was lightly wooded, but this area was very heavily wooded. After a little more searching, they found what they supposed was the entrance. The path was fairly obvious; thick trees lined the edges, and even thicker undergrowth filled the gaps between. The path was shaded by the forest, though plenty of rich, green light filtered through. They trudged along, with the ranger moving silently through the forest, acting as a scout.

Weather and Holidays

I've generated the weather in Mor-Thir for the entire year; it varies by latitude, but as the party discovered, there are times it is just plain hot. So hot, in fact, that they had to travel at half speed, or risk heatstroke!

But apart from heat, what other weather exists?