Black Magic Woman

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'Employer - Baroness Longford of Longford on Barratry

Summary

The Baroness' daughter-in-law has taken up with foul pagans following the untimely death of her son in the Drow Invasion. She is clearly leading her people into dark demon worship. Fortunately she has a second son able to properly govern the lands of Benetor on Barratry. She wants some mercenaries to oust the demon worshiper and her supporters so that lawful rule may result.

Level: Low.

Party Members

Ignis A 7 foot tall Human Air Mage played by Fabio
Mungo Third Son Barbarian Human Warrior Skin Changer played by Michael M: War Leader & Herald
Boris the Orc Warrior/ Necro/ Loudmouth played by m haycock: NEW Leader.
Horton Mind Mage Human Skin-Changer played by Errol Cavit
Quentin Ulysses Ash Orc Templar Warrior Namerish played by Sean English
Poppy Human Fighter with Bob the Dog played by Karen D.
Note from Quentin Ulysses Ash.
Dear readers, please be advised while reading these scribe notes that "most" of the details are accurate, the descriptions of the party members are not especially of myself. The scribe, even though doing a tremendous job, has placed his own slant on my character which is based on what he believes to be true. So please read on with the modicum of belief.


Saga

Session 1

On 1 Frost we meet the Baronesses' retainer John who confirms that the daughter in law, is indeed wicked practicing foul habits including magic and dancing naked through the hills... we agree immediately to take the job on hearing the latter heinous crime, in fact forget to even inquire what the pay will be... Its all politics and the plan is to replace the dancing daughter in law with the Baronesses' second son, her first son having perished nobly & alone without significant retainers while facing down 200 orc's about to bust through a castle breach. There is no open hostility between the two women, but if my knowledge of womenfolk is any good inside they are glaring at each other like two cats in the same yard. The daughter in law is apparently an ex "adventuress", which to her mother-in-law no doubt has only one possible meaning..... Quentin - not only an orc but also a milk drinking woman fearing Holy Roller to boot, is against my advice elected party leader - last adventure Lady Nicola, lovely lass but a damned pre-Raphaelite held this role & it caused all manner of problems in conducting legalised banditry for some other noble lady. Our destination is the town of Goodbridge where 20 or so retainers reside in a castle guarding a bridge. I will be the War Chief (Military Scientist) & scribe.

After obtaining heavily discounted greater enchantments from the guild, not that I need one of course - it was more by way of reassurance for the others, Boris the Orc & I head out for a departure feast - to toast our gods but mostly to feast on large chunks of roasted meat, tell lies about our daring and meet the local lasses who are suitably enamoured after they see the colour of our silver. Quentin, Horton and the easily impressed Ignis a new adventurer and already picking up bad habits, are off to get an early nights sleep, drink a cup of warm milk & kneel in their slippers & dressing gowns to say their prayers. Sadly the ale turns out to be foul I've been cruelly cursed it dawns on me. A check at the guild's Namer's college reveals that some dodgy black myrrh has been used by the Ensorcerers Guild & that anyone who received a greater enchantment will have two curses. Mine are that the first cup of ale in a day will taste like crap & I will suffer from hives under the moonlight... Well there is good news amongst the bad - only one cup will taste bad. Boris & I head back to the tavern...

2 Frost Boris & I awake in the stable at cocks crow with the Hammer of Thor pounding our temples - Quentin's plan is to ride to our destination so we slept in the stable to ensure they didn't leave without us - it will only take a month each way. John the retainer is not present. he too has been partying - same as everyone in the guild aside from Quentin, Ignis & Horton - & has to be first located and then dragged from the temple of "The One Horned God" where he has signed up for eternal debasement. Turns out everyone is tainted by the dodgy "Greater" - as follows:

Boris- nightmares & spells will cause black spooky tendrils to arise form the earth.
Quentin - a stone will be permanently lodges in his shoe & will always make a bad first impression to others - although as he is a disapproving orc this is no real shock.
Horton - allergic to potatoes & will moult during shape changing - ever wanted to see a shaved cat?
Ignis - will fart while casting magic & contact with the opposite sex will make him change colour.

On reflection we elect to fly & are equipped with 20 hour flying spells. Food will be scarce so we all provision appropriately. I study maps & set way points.

Three hours into the flight we spy way below us 5 giant winged creatures herding people into a cave. We swoop down and engage in bloody combat with 5 griffons who fight to the death - its a near thing as they are damned tough. Everyone of our party stands their ground not giving an inch - you can forgive moral foibles such as an aversion to alcohol & women of easy virtue - in fellows who will back you in a fight!! The prisoners all flee the cave - after seeing our orcs probably & assuming we intend to eat them - but not before making an offering to us of their meagre possessions and running off into the hills . Luckily Quentin is overruled from returning the loot. A search of the cave by Boris' undead helpers uncovers various treasures.

Off we head, flying to our destination. Aquila & Aladar pass quickly beneath us. Boris & Quentin see an orcish fort. We see hordes of lizard creatures on the prowl below. We land 10 miles outside of Konigsberg after 18 hours flight and stay the night hidden in a copse. On awakening John the reatainer leads us as we head mostly by road toward Goodbridge taking about a week. On 7 Frost we note a large queerly rigged ship wrecked on a hill, about 90 feet long ( we are about 200 miles inland). A skeleton crew is noted on deck, and 4 angry minds inside.... There is elvish script on the side - which none of us can read. There is a large breach in the side with the lower deck exposed.

Session 2

Boris the Orc using his foul (but useful) skills at necromancy animates the 8 skeleton crew who walk creakily from the ship where he enchants them again with more foul magic to make them talk to us. They were an airship of Drow elves shot down by (good) elves during the recent battle. Aboard are 4 mages - a mind mage, a celestial and a necromancer & a number of relics & magical items. He tells 7 to bury themselves and keeps one as a servant.

We advance toward the ship feeling an evil chill that make us stiffer, robbing us of agility. There is a dark shadow all over the ship. Moving inside the wreck we come across a large room stinking of malevolence that has evil magical circles inscribed on the floor - one containing a five pointed star & the other a triangle... "Great circles of summoning!!" various of the magically inclined amongst us mutter. A spooky cowled figure emerges garbed in a white robe, a lion-skin belt, carrying a silver sword.. "Garbed in the robes of a Greater Summoner!" Boris exclaims - I'll take him at is word on that one although the colour scheme seems all wrong - I'd have assumed black with bloodstains & embroidered skulls - but no they apparently like white?!

One thing is not in doubt - that he desperately is in need of re-killing - he is of the undead (a lich or a demon at least I am sure.)

Poppy hurls beakers of holy water that set it aflame! Horton tries to seize its mind with his spells! Ignis attempts a lightning Bolt spell! I charge & smite & smite again - but each blow sends cold pain down my my body & I am drained of strength & life force until I fall to my knees... It seems my saga will be one of those shorter ones where the hero dies in the bloom of his youth which wasn't in the plan .....!! In desperation I call on the mighty Odin to let me stand on my feet & fight my foe .... strength fills me enabling me to rise and dispatch the fiend's soul back to the fiery pit it belongs.

Its body is dragged into the sunshine where it melts. Boris says it was a Night Gaunt which I assume is one of the most serious undead types. Boris' skeleton slave searches the ship revealing various bits of loot.

We retire a safe distance (3 miles away) and recuperate & debate how to fight the undead. Quentin the Orc reveals he is apparently more of an aspirational knight templar than a current practitioner & has no magical symbol or holy sword or holy words that will make the the undead retreat in a cowering fashion - he has not even chosen a god yet but simply hopes one of the holy orders will take him in.

"Well its not too late" I tell him encouragingly, "you could chose a decent god like Odin or his son Thor who will want you to drink, feast, ogle the shield maidens & encourage you to fight" (rather than moping around like some guilty teetotal shopkeeper with a bad case of the piles who has been caught by his mother, whom he still lives with, peeking into the women's bathhouse). But he is determined & will not budge. He should be more like Boris who knows that being an orc means - that whatever virtues he might possess & decent drinking companion that he is turning out to be - at heart he is an evil f$%$er & has gone into the race appropriate career of necromancy.

The next day 9 Frost we venture back to the ship & search. Magical Stone ballistae bolts as well as the usual sheets, halyards, spair sails etc are uncovered.

The cabin at the stern lower deck is a charnel house of dead corpses - probably slaves whose blood the crew used as fuel to run their ship...Boris turns 8 into zombies who remove the dead bodies.. little of value is found...

Climbing up to the top deck we enter what must be the crews quarters revealing a variety of treasures - well in excess of what a normal crew would receive - Drow pay well apparently. Its a wonder the guild sided with the good elves during the recent war - knowing the avarice of most of its members.

That only leaves the back cabin... it is sprung open to reveal 4 undead figures swathed in rich garments seated at a table playing at cards - the game of 'Bridge" according to the more courtly of our party. Apparently, Boris & Horton reveal later, they are furious at having to play Bridge for eternity. A deadly battle ensues where a combo of Poppy's holy water, Quentin's not yet holy sword, Ignis's lightning bolt, Boris' axe, Horton's mind spells; and most significantly my twin swords "Hope Crusher" the evil fiends are seen off...

Session 3

A trap door is opened in the back cabin to reveal more corpses - the dead through magic tell Boris the Necromancer they were to be used as sacrifices to power the Drow air-ship. Poppy using her "mana-vision" determines that the mana flow is from a break in the large magic crystal that covered the ships keel & previously powered its flight. Shards of crystal are retrieved.

A group of dwarves equipped with axes & mining equipment pass by - en route to a gold vein that has appeared in local river following geographical upheavals during the war they tell us. We share drinks. They sell several of us sharpening stones for 100 sp each.

We head to a distant Manor House where our employer the Baroness resides. En route we encounter a mysterious stern faced young woman garbed in white. Alana she tells us is her name. She is a disciple of a god "the Devourer" who despite the name is apparently aligned with the so-called forces of good & seeks to devour evil (I swear I saw Boris the Necro twitch when she said that although I could be mistaken). Poppy's mana-seeing vision determines that she is shielded by some magical force & may be genuine in her claim. She has some incomprehensible babble about how "things will continue as they have unless we want things to change" & "balance" & so I assume she is talking about republicanism or some other. We move on leaving her to her vigil.

We meet the actual guards to the Manor House who introduce us to our employer - the Baroness - a well dressed middle aged woman who looks haughtily down her long nose at us. She has the manner of someone descended from 100 generations of men who rode horses & wielded swords (although doubtless the odd silver-tongued Bard or overly handsome stable lad will have featured discretely somewhere in that list - they always do). The Castellan & trusted family retainer is Sir Gareth. She confirms that our job is to remove the "adventuress" & wicked pagan sorceress Rebecca (of Ashford) who resides with her coven of evil & wanton female followers in the keep of Crossbridge (5 miles away) worshiping the foul diety "Chantress" - who I've never heard of. Finally we negotiate terms - 25,000 silvers plus salvage rights.

While we talked Alana beat up about six of the Baroness's guards who attempted to detain her. Tough! I approach her again in attempt to uncover her intent - but she is equally incoherent about our actions being important and having consequences. She won't be pinned downed to specifics because that would affect free will.

Sir Gareth reveals some information: that the keep is heavily fortified, the walls are heavily guarded & 40 foot high. He and the party reject my No. 1 Military Scientist plan of a siege - damn that would have been fun . The party equally rejects my No 2. Military Scientist plan of a contest of arms with me v. Rebecca's champion - can't see why as the truth will always favour the victor.

Sir Gareth reveals that Rebecca was a commoner from Aladar originally & had studied magic at the SouthHaven Academy for Girls. Her parents reside in a nearby village. The son married Rebecca for love - which is the latest fashion. The Local Priest of the Western Church is Leon with his Bishop based in Konigsberg.

The white garbed Alana is it seems not a republican but a disciple of the "Reformed Spiteful Sisters of Perpetual Disonance" - a gang of disapproving shrewish harpies who promote temperance, bang cymbals incessantly & are aligned with the Michaeline Knights - obviously highly dangerous womenfolk - and no wonder she was unmoved by my "special look only for her" and (un)subtle flex of my biceps, on our first meeting.

The rest of the party (probably excluding Boris), damned surprising since I know the sort of things at least half of them have done on guild missions in the past (because I was there too doing the same thing ) seem to now have moral concerns that we should only depose Rebecca if it is lawful to do so - & are even prepared to reject the Baroness's 25,000 sp contract altogether if not. Quentin's upright & lawful virtuousness must have spread amongst them causing severe memory loss & a faux moral guilt that if they were honest, is imaginary. Now I'm no cold-hearted thug & have no illusions that this job is more about the ancient & noble tradition of a daughter in law in the eyes of an over involved mother being a conniving slut & who unlike mummy is hopeless at laundering golden boys smalls or cooking his favourite sweet-bread tart; than any particular crime on the part of Rebecca. However I don't know Rebecca, or her gods, she is a sorceress & I agreed to take the job - & we haven't even been asked to kill her?!?

An argument arises when Quentin, to my ears, imperiously instructs me that I may not speak during our planned audience with Rebecca (as part of investigating whether she deserves to be chased off) & this evolves into another argument over who should be the party leader. Quentin resigns as Leader & recommends Boris who is elected.

To help bemused readers, yes I did ask him to keep quiet and yes there was an argument to my shame.
But to put things into perspective I only asked so that he would not unintentional put the party in
jeopardy. But once I realized that the argument was taking place in the middle of the road with
farmers and folk all around listening to the party's rather loud conversation, a conversation
in which we, not just Mungo, were divulging our purpose for being here and our plans, I thought the
only good course of action I could take (Cause I think me being party leader was Mungo's problem.)
was to resign and hand the reins of leadership to the next party member, who would accept it. 
Thus quickly shutting down the argument, and we proceeded at a much quieter pace.

Quentin Ulysses Ash.

(... and ""poetic license"" of Mungo continues.)
If it wasn't for the surfeit of decent bards I would not have to do it all myself. 

Mungo. 

Quentin - his tusks still quivering with rage over my comments about the nature of orcs - asks that I tell truthfully if in my mind there is not a difference between he (Noble Quentin) an Orc & Boris the Necromancer also an orc? Hmmm - I weigh it up thoughtfully...... On one hand Boris practices a foul evil & unnatural type of magic but is a good drinking companion, humorous and generally reliable. Quentin is a noble, brave, doughty warrior in fact is probably similar in character to One-Hand Tyr the Fearless of the Northern Gods. BUT he drinks milk & goes to bed early & eschews the company of womenfolk... so its a draw then. "No difference" I tell Quentin whose reddish orc eyes just about pop from his skull in still increased rage. Being noble and decent, instead of swinging an axe attempting to remove my head, he states that he will not speak to me...

We stay the night at the manor. 10 Frost ' Our armour needs to be repaired which will take three days. Poppy, a Merchant, contemplates trade. We hear gossip at local tavern that Leon the Priest has taken up with a foreigner dressed in white.

A visit is made to Leon at his church. Poppy tells us her vision shows that a shield of red emerges from the temple and protects the village in a dome. Red is the colour of Michael the Angel Horton says. Inside Alana is with Leon who is an elderly ex Michaeline Knight. The Devourer is a new god aligned with the Big Four Western Gods. Leon, for a MIchaeline seems exceedingly reasonable & tolerant - he tells us Rebecca is a pagan & a witch but no worse than many & that you need to live and let live with pagans - Is he bewitched himself I ponder later? No apparently the party tells me - they (the Michaelines) get that way - i.e. obtain a modicum of sensibility if they live past 25 which is about 1 in 100 of them. Poppy tells us that the source of the red magic shield is Leon & that it comes from there gaze of a seraphim. Leon says that the Baroness has the better claim at law but as long as Rebecca acts in the name of her husband there are no real issues.

That night Horton & I in our animal forms (leopard & wolf) scout around the village discovering a war band of about 50 orcs armed with curiously crafted staves - dis-similar to the usual style of a quarterstaff - apparently magical staves its is revealed. They are camped in a wood about 2 miles outside the village . They may have been intending to attack the village but are deterred, probably sighting an ambush we set.

11 Frost

A Michaeline Knight, handsome beyond belief turns up to assist with the problem of the orcs ....

Session 4

His jaw is elegantly square with a cleft framed by perfectly set wavy blond hair that is never mussed. His brow noble & his eyes clear blue. You get the picture – however he is no milk sop or habitué of molly-houses as the thick muscle on his fore-arm and worn sword hilt attest. Praising the look of men is not my style... however if I admit freely that if he & I were sat on stools vying for the attention of the same bar wench, even after I regaled her with my most daring tale & despite his terminal blushing, inability to meet her eye and that he would be muttering prayers into his cup of fresh squeezed prune juice, he would have the edge. .. His name is Brother Empty Mind...short for "Empty Mind Breeds Heresey" and he is accompanied by 5 men at arms & a gross misshapen hunch-back creature - a "witch sniffer" - who doesn't much like the look of Boris, Noble Quentin, Ignis, or Horton - being either mages, and or orcs, and or a necromancer... Poppy & I, non-spellcasters, seem to pass muster...Quentin maintains a stiff upper set of fangs at this affront.

The Witch-sniffer informed us that Lady Rebecca is not a witch... which since almost everyone else in his eyes is, must be unequivocal advice.

Air-Mage Ignis by communicating with a falcon on the wing, scouts 10 orcs separated form the main troup watching from a hill. He watches them watching us.

We plan how to deal with the issue. Sir EHBH wants to front them bold as brass & ask them to move along or face his steel... an interesting tactic which aside from providing them with an unexpected morning snack, I cannot fault for daring. He is dissuaded.

As we plan further, town folk, peasants and dwarven miners are advised of the peril facing them and advised to seek shelter. In the grip of gold-fever, this advice is not popular or universally heeded. The Dwarves recognise the orcs from their description as being "Salamankari" - off plane mercenaries from a more advanced world. They are tough, organised, clever and rather like most elves, look down on inferior races (i.e. everyone). The staves are alchemical shooting sticks called "arquebuses" powered by "number 8 powder" - which is vulnerable to water. We think we need to capture one, question him & discover why they are here - most Orcish raiders, not having had the benefit of my studies in advanced Military Science, would have been unable to restrain themselves from pillage for 24 hours like this lot have.

Armed with this knowledge, as the dusk gathers, Ignis summons a Storm to put a dampener on their favoured weapons. Meanwhile Sir EMBH gallops around the village in full (shining silver) armour vigorously waiving his (brilliant) sword & rearing his (snow white) horse as a distraction to the watchers. Horton & I in Were-forms sneak up through the river to flank them, breathing water & out of sight ( Guildmember Lothar having been granted a wish for a previous Seagate party chose - GILLS??!!).

Distracted by the storm I pounce on one and wrestle him to the ground while Horton prepares a mind enchantment - Horton intends him to walk himself out of here of is own accord. One of the Orc's companions rushes forward armed, not with a spiked club or glaive, but a bag of jingling coins exorting me to release his friend - now that ain't natural Orc behaviour & thoroughly shocked, I comply. So we gather & talk with the Orcs - with Boris translating (Quentin has taken a vow of Orc Language silence). They are trapped off plane & need to get home. Aside maybe from steel which is rare in their world, we are too primitive for words & they are not too interested in our doings. They agree to remain peaceful while we arrange off plane transport.

The coins are revealed to contain trapped souls - some worthies perhaps unable to pass to the halls of Valhalla, to feast on mead & fight as Einherjar at Ragnorak. Quentin arranges proper release of these souls.

During our enquiries, a Dwarven Miner, tells us has a brother called "Mad Angus", a Rune Mage who lives 10 miles away on a hill & would know how to fulfil the task. "Evil Swine, Rune Mages" mutters Boris the Necromancer, which from his stern tone & the thoughtful scratch to his scabrous snout seems to be more than just "the pot calling the kettle black" - evil conjurers apparently fear still eviler conjurers - so they are no different from you & I really if you look at it that way.....

We travel out there, bang on a (hidden) door which located by Poppy and are greeted by an appropriately mad looking dwarf covered in alchemical stains & surrounded by puffs of coloured smoke. He is Mad Angus & he will do the job but wants as payment either: a basilisk eye or the base of a hydra neck or a giant amoeba or 6 lbs of black myhrr ( well we know where that will be going cheap - about 300 miles south at Seagate ). Everything seems too hard until someone pulls out a piece of the mana infested drow air ship keel & offers that to Mad Angus. "I'll take the lot & do what you ask", he agrees. It takes two days, but by 13 Frost Boris' undead helpers have carried the entire air ship's keel to Mad Angus' hideout.

Angus prepares a portal for the Orcs - offering us some of his special "moss ale" to slake our thirst. Aha! Dwarven Ale - nothing finer if you can get it. Apart from gold, Dwarves love nothing more - Boris, Ignis & I gulp down the mug.... before Quentin DA spells it. Too late - we fall to the floor in the grip of fantastic visions - a glimpse into the mysteries that await us beyond the living perhaps ?!? .. or perhaps not... I come to feeling downright queasy, experiencing an inner weakness as if masculinity & moral strength itself are draining from my body... "Don't worry," says a smiling Quentin to my gathering horror, "Angus' moss beer has just raised your magical aptitude!" "Oh crap, I swear in a fury, so this is what it feels like?!! "Thrice cursed dwarf!!! If Id wanted to be a weasel know it all, I'd be wearing a robe and snitching on my classmates for copying someone else's spell book !?! As I curse, and the others look generally pleased, Poppy negotiates a price for passage with the Salarmanki - a magic axe, a magic crown, magic leather armour 200 soul coins & some arquebuses.

The next 3 days 14-17 Frost are spent - either panning for gold - Poppy (also merchanting), Boris, Ignis, Horton training unarmed combat with the spiteful sister Alana (& learns a skill 1000sp) & I spar with the peerless & expertly martially skilled Sir EHBH. He practices fighting my two weapon attack, I learn how to force an opponent back a hex through cunning move (1000 sp). Of Quentin I am unsure....A plan is hatched - we need to talk to Rebecca - she is no witch & we are beginning to realise is too tough/ supported - e.g Sir EHBH to drive off. We need to find a solution or ditch the contract. We meet with the handsome Sir EHBH at his temple - whose pews have become very well stuffed with cow eyed womenfolk - from the young to matrons in their dottage - all grinning dopely at him & sighing. He seems oblivious. He arranges a meet with Rebecca (apparently unconcerned that he - like everyone with a big E - knows we have been hired to drive her out.).

We approach Rebecca's castle through village streets empty save for the odd tumbleweed. Batwings doors swing noisily on saloons, & frightened women drag errant children into cover. Village folk peer nervously through windows. The stage is set for a classic show-down between good(ish) us and (no longer really) evil - Rebecca. We walk slowly looking straight ahead toward the castle...

We are escorted in castle by servants & meet (formerly-evil Sorceress) Rebecca who is flanked by her attendants: a female Orc ( apparently "a real babe" according to Boris - but I think those tusks & fangs would still get in the way) & a tall thin other-wordly female - from Salamankar. No one moves a muscle & I say, "You know why we are here." She does & we talk. She shows no concern at our purpose, but reveals: her husband fought under Count Engleton in recent wars, her husbands body was never found, there is a possibility that if alive he was taken as a slave to Terranova, a body part if found might still enable his resurrection.... Options now seem clear....

Session 5

It is agreed we will first investigate the battle site. If Rebeca's husband can be retrieved then the whole mess will be resolved. It is 80 miles away, with roads to half way. Rebecca will loan us horses & guards to go to the end of the roadway & we will trek the rest.

None of this was on Quentin's mind apparently, as he makes his move - in like a robbers dog before Boris can blink and without so much as a blush he asks the "Lady" Orc for a 'token of her affection' - my jaw drops at his boldness, by Freyrs magic "sword"! At Lady Rebecca's counsel table & with a room full of people is hardly the place for that sort of carry on - but it turns out he meant something quite different than I imagined & just wants a handkerchief to hang from the end of his lance - she dissapears to her chambers, returning with a nicely carved spear head - that's an Orc for you - no fripperies...

We set off with mounts & an escort to the half way point. This is uneventful for 4 days until 21 Frost when we encounter a 10 mile wide crater (with imps apparently living at the bottom). The road ends here & our horses are left with Lady Rebecca's escorts. We give this a wide berth & travel by foot around the crater -22 Frost We encounter land that is desolate ruined & still has the leftovers from battle- the odd corpse of a man at arms, vultures, a wyvern still with a saddle attached etc. We avoid an apparent ambush set by 2 Drow disguised by invisibility on the third day (25 Frost).

A day later (26 Frost') we come across another crater - only a mile across - this is also the battle site & our destination. Poppy with her fantastic eyesight sees at the bottom - 3 humanoids - apparently necromancers & a large number of zombies - maybe looking for the same thing we are. They are evil scum & not worth trying to negotiate with so we charge in - Boris & Ignis sliding down the crater at increasingly perilous speed on a bone construction war sled made by Boris - & the rest of us by foot. The battle is vicious, bloody & everyone stands their ground, fighting bravely. I almost perish - being much faster than the others I get to the Necromancers (who are hiding behind perhaps 100 zombies & several walls of bones) hoping to slay them & "de-activate" their foul un-dead minions first, but am isolated. Boris' war sled worked well & is recommended as a tactic for someone in a similar situation. One necromancer flees but the other two are dealt to.

Two days (28 Frost) are spent excavating the battle site - using Boris' undead helpers - who have changed sides.

We find: necromancer magical robes, 8 x healing potions, invested bracelets, Rebecca's Lord's sword (he was here!), 2 x magical swords, 3 sets of plate mail, 1 x set of magical chain mail, stone javelins, magical barding, magical maul, mace, magical hand & a half sword, magical shield

By speaking with the dead Boris determines that the Necromancers had been contracted to come here & find a valuable item. No death spot is located. No one saw Rebecca's Lord die in the battle. He was seen taken captive - perhaps as a slave.

A magic glowing box is located that carries with it an aura of foul power - this must be what the Necros were after. The mages draw special circles of magical power around the box.. but before Boris can attempt to commune with whatever may be inside, a voice enters our heads of its own accord, chilling and arcane : We are told by tis entity: the box is the Soul Box of Lord Agrava a Necromancer of the Searing Doom Clan. He was alive at the Fall (30,000 years ago) & is obviously a super powerful & uber evil Drow Lord He arranged for the Necromancers to come here to retrieve the Soul Box. He has a ransom of 1000 slaves & his family reside in Terranova at the city of Haqar.

This gives us potential to trade for Rebecca's Lord.

Boris builds another sled & with zombie power we return uneventfully back to whence we came.

Session 6

Boris says: "We went back to the Baroness with the bodies and loot. On the way we freed a Village from the control of an imp. We then used the Elfven ways to go back to the guild then learned Drow (except for Quentin) and got some information on Terra Nova. Then back into the elf ways to go to Terra Nova and are about to meet something BAD in the Elf ways which will be a big fight." Horton says: "As we were heading back we rescued a town from a imp, reported our finding to Rebecca, bought holy water, bought cold iron case for the drow soul, went back to guild through elven portal, spoke with Alandis re: drow city, Learned drow at rank 8 in an afternoon with help of a good, and now we are searching for disguises to get into drow territory. in the process we met a black hole that gave us some word of advise".

Session 7

On 12 Snow while traversing the Eleven ways we find & enter the simple unmarked doorway that leads to the House of "Cloaks & Hats" - to pick up some drow disguises before we head to Dylath, Downtown Drowtown. Quentin will go as a slave - apparently no disguise would be good enough. Anyway - it is full of lifelike statues of various races, all labelled -e.g.orc, knights, giants, elves, DROW, etc dressed various clothes etc Eventually Ignis, by using a mirror works out that if the clothes are removed from the mannequins & donned; one takes on the appearance of what ever statue-creature initially wore them. We garb as Drow and leave. From hence forth we look like Drow in every respect. With no one present to pay, Poppy leaves milk & cookies - on the off chance that the owner is a 6 year old child with a pet cat...

Its through the portals to Dylath a Drow city. We arrive in what appears to be an abandoned building to the sounds of a procession outside - military leaders (man - drow), civilian leaders (woman- drow ), all marching and singing the praises of Bune - a dragon demon. It seems the old drunken skald Gygax got it wrong - I can confirm that the Drow don't all have black skin & white hair!!! A colisseum is nearby, as are many ziggurat shaped buildings. Everyone is dressed in the finest of urban garb - the sort where one would be laughed out of the town where I come from as a mincing fool - there is not a fur loin cloth in sight. Non-drow-race slaves are everywhere, sporting different coloured collars to designate their purpose is - e.g. entertainment, admin etc etc Other strange folk abound - including a 10 foot devil walking unassumingly through the streets ! However the overall impression is that the place has fallen on hard times.

Before coliseum is a large banner advertising, in three days time, a huge gladatorial event with the main feature being a bout with genuine "Human Knights v a Dragon Scorpion" - some strange & foul looking beast if the artists rendition is to go by, mind you he has done any equally bad job on the other team - with the knights looking like clunky dullards & sporting the sort of fanciful "evil villain" gothic armour that would not allow you to move your arms more than 25 degrees & with which you'd no doubt poke your eyes out from the unnecessary spikes everywhere & gigantic pouldrons.

A skanky carny-dwarf is lurking shiftily beneath the banner. He lets us know that for a few soul coins he'll let us (5 smartly dressed drow with money to waste on gambling - & Quentin the orc-slave in tow) into the cells to ogle & taunt the knights (doomed victims) pre- bout. We enter through tunnels to snear at them in their cells - calling them ugly oafs to maintain our disguise - as at the same time Horton uses his mind speech spell to try to communicate with them. We gather that Baron Alexander is no longer here - apparently escaped weeks ago & that we can expect something "Big" in there days. They are suspicious of us, but being knights & used to frequent bangs on the steel helm - could well be they are all an arrow or two short of a quiver

We learn from the guards there is a reward for the capture of the escaped slave & pretending to be interested, we demand to inspect the cells for clues. Quentin the Orc-slave with his DA spell discovers evidence of an invocation to Michael which created a magical "gate" for our Baron to make his escape from the cell.

We leave & debate what to do, sticking to the abandoned area where our portal was. While wandering about we hear a low grim voice from the shadows claiming to have seen us emerge from the abandoned portal house & telling us that we are not Drow as the portal is Drow-proof - aha le resistance we think for we are not bound in chains & led away! A meeting is set up at the nearby "Screaming Trent Tavern" later. Four rough looking human woman slaves enter. They are well muscled, broad of shoulder & stern gazed, - warrior women obviously but unfortunately not the sort I like who can (almost) match you drink for drink, eat half a roast boar and fall asleep snoring on a tavern floor. Their leader is called "Strike them on the head until they die" & they unsurprisingly, given their humourless aspect, are members of the "Reformed Spiteful Sisters of Perpetual Disonnance." There is a plot to spring 8 Knights from gladiator jail just prior to the commencement of the gladiatorial bouts in there days time. Gladatorial beasts will be freed from cells into the crowd creating panic at the same time the knight's cells are opened. The knights will flee through the sewers and to a jungle camp outside of the city.

In the two days prior to the great escape we lie low, check out the lay of the land and try to shop - but ewe are limited by our cash-flow. We have less than 1000 soul coins

On 15 Snow we meet outside the arena & the plan goes off without hitch. There is chaos with monsters, surprised Drow & slaves running everywhere. We make it through the sewers with the knights to le resistance's jungle fortress outside of the city.

Would you believe it after all the effort were have gone to, Lord Alexander is one of those stubborn self sacrificing noble sorts like Quentin & is very reluctant to leave le resistance & return to manage his Barony (thus enabling us to get our hands on our 25,000 sp fee) . On the other hand he may have just been more cunning than I thought and the prospect of trying to sort out his wife's mother-in-law issues was scary enough for him to get himself captured and hide out in Drow-town. A number of well argued pleas are rejected until ultimately the patriachal call of feudal duty to tend to his apparently adoring & dependant peasants is too much - & he relents. He will return with us through the portal to the lands of Benetor on Barratry to enable these underpaid hapless folk to toil ceaselessly in the fields, for him to afford to rule them...

This proves a little more difficult than we thought having entered the abandoned building - the portal door is opened to reveal.....nothing! no elven pathways to Benetor on Baratry! just a void! By Loki's pustulant & sulphurous buttocks! - we are stuck here. The magic types feverishly ponder all manner of spell to no avail. Those with nautical skill - Ignis & I ponder a highly dubious plan that involves travelling across country to the Eastern Coast & "sequestering" a ship from the Black Fleet and then sailing it to Seagate somehow unnoticed, unmolested & assisted only by Ignis' mighty 5 knot wind spell... Then, just as we start to lose heart Poppy proves her mettle with a Good Idea. We need to first travel first to the House of "Hats & Cloaks" - Of course! we had forgotten we still had the Drow kit! We visualise this destination & it works.

On the other side of the doorway is a large very polite Ogre. He is grateful for the milk & cookies but wants payment for the loan of our Drow disguises. His boss, the Devourer, is most insistent apparently.

For a while now there has been an unanswered question nagging at us - how, fearless & mighty Guild party that we are, precisely could we pull of an exchange for so monstrous an evil as the soul of a 30,000 year old Drow Necromancer in Drow-infested Terranova with his evil & powerful Drow minions ... & get to live, particularly in a corporeal form.

A solution has presented itself & the Devourer will be suitably gratified enough to accept the ancient & malevolent Drow soul as payment and to even offer us residual visitation rights ! - the ogre smirks menacingly & licks his lips at this but the unholy & monstrous Lord Agrava, Necromancer of the Searing Doom Clan is not quite so pleased to learn his fate...

We arrive via portal back in the Barony - but as we walk closer to the castle we see- it is beseiged by an army of 500 - 1000 elves/ orcs/ goblins and nasty humans... the odds seem roughly even....


Session 8.

On reflection they are probably too many to defeat by a single charge so reluctantly we decide to find out whats going on & reassess tactics. We don't recognise the flags of the besiegers or know their purpose other than that, by Thor's Hammer, they are evil swine & will not be long for this world. They possess two caged wyverns, are in the process of building siege machines - two weeks off completion by my reckoning ...& of professional interest to Boris, have a second camp by the village graveyard - aha they intend to summon the dead. Strangely, dwarves too are present cooperating with the besiegers including orcs & goblins - must be some real lower-dungeon-dweller types. No proper Dwarf worth his beard (excluding guild members) would, even with 20 flagons under his belt & some serious mead-goggles operating, have anything to do with those folk other than to demonstrate to them the error of their race via his axe.

It is 19 Snow - 4 days disappeared in the elven portal system. We elect to check on the situation of our allies starting with our employer Baroness Longford of Longford on Barratry & head South discretely - under as much cover as we can & hiding our tracks. On arrival it is clear we are not the first visitors. There has been a fight - blood has been spilt & there is damage to the Manor House - but no living person, including the Baroness, is in sight. A dead goblin is located under some bushes & Boris cranks up his perniciousl "talking to the dead" magic. We learn: the invaders are lead by a drow, the dwarves are not captives but mercenaries - imagine that the greedy burrowing swine, associating with the opportunistic likes of humans, orcs & elves for glory & a few grubby gold shekels (that rings a bell but I can't quite place what it reminds me of).... they have a necromancer, they have a fire mage, they are after loot & treasure AND the Baroness has been captured.

Hmm - better check our other allies. Brother Osric is next on the list. We travel to his camp where she has about 30 village folk protected by his magic umbrella of force. He tells us the besieging scum came by river from the East. He is unsure the whereabouts of Brother Empty Head & the Reformed Spiteful Sister Alana but is sure they have put up a good fight. We stay the night.

By morning 20 Snow we head South by the cover of the woods until after a few hours Poppy's keen hearing picks up the noise of a number of persons arguing ahead. We sneak up on about 20 woodcutters under the guard of 5 orcs. We charge in & after a brief flash of our whirling steel & spellcraft - quickly subdue the orcish overseers. Turns out they are not too proud to squeal on their leaders without even the threat of torture - which begs the question where can you get a decent Orc these days? - it used to be they expected pain & cherished a missing body part as it made them look meaner... It looks like now they are all going soft what with Quentin signing up for Holy Orders & this lot singing like a flock of canaries - next thing they will donning be silken undergarments & undergoing folk dancing lessons lessons... mind you it is useful information that they have & my complaint was more about declining standards: The Leader (of the invaders) is the Orc Grogmak (not a a drow). They are after the gold that has appeared in the rivers. Skrag is the name of their necromancer. They have a Shadowmage -called Scum. The wood they were gathering was for siege machines as advised by the dwarf mercenaries whose leader is Gregor. The human woodcutters were captives.

The orcs are bound & the woodcutters released. We go south over two days arriving in the village where we know Brother Empty Mind had travelled earlier intending to dispel an imp, 22 Snow.

(It seems that the imp may have been accidentally summoned by Boris as a side affect of using a magical item - best we keep that one under the hat around Empty Mind - he might not be so understanding. He has a fairly rigid view of right and wrong - as an example he is all for holding a fair trail & then executing the 5 orc captives exclaiming seemingly oblivious to whose company he was in, "the only good orcs are dea......" but before he can finish Noble Quentin {living Orc} intercedes firmly having given his word they should live & insists they should be imprisoned and perform work for the village as penance for being evil slavers. The woodcutters are likewise found something useful to do.)

Now we hold a war council, a bit quieter than the ones we have in the Frozen North due to the absence of brawling, singing of bawdy songs, imbibing of liquor & massed clashing of swords on shield boss - but despite these impediments Empty Mind has a few good suggestions as to how our smallish band shall win the battle : Lets take out the Necromancers to stop the flow of undead & release the Wyverns from their cages in the hope that they will wreak havoc on the invading army.

We travel back with Empty Mind toward Longford on Barratry. Poppy scans for the imp as we go ("a disturbance in the force" she calls it) as we go. After a while It is spotted sitting in a free, as happy as you please sunning itself - it can never get too hot for an imp I imagine... It is a squat powerful looking creature - a nasty little barrel of wickedness. We unleash all of our ranged weapons at once - including an extra strength lightning spell by Ignis. Not enough to kill it...

We realise we are not alone in the woods. Soon upon us & attracted by the racket of our attack on the imp are a fearsome band of 12 steel plate clad orcs armed with pikes & accompanied by a Giant wielding a massive spear. Seems they have been sent to track us down.

A bloody & vicious battle ensues.

Afterwards - the giant be-spelled by Horton's mind magic has run into the woods somewhere. Horton himself has been grievously wounded & is missing an eye. I have a bolt through my knee. The imp has vanished as has a "Spectral Warrior" summoned by Poppy using an invested item to take it out. Many orcs lay slain - as sadly is the peerless warrior Brother Empty Mind, still not a hair out of place but a black & bloody orcish pike is thrust through through his heart, dead enemies strewn at his feet & his bloodied sword lying nearby. An appropriately manly tear (one only that is) wells in my left duct at the sight of our brave fallen shield companion, "Bloody midges" I mutter, "Get stuck in your eye." - Quentin the Noble Orc looks the same way - something is stuck in his eye too - again only in the most properly manly & warrior like fashion. I reflect on the terrible waste - he could have had his pick from any tavern but instead chose to wear a hair shirt & take cold showers all year round - its too late to talk some sense into him now. We shall still hold a feast & toast his battle deeds though I suppose given his religious affiliations a burning longship is out of the question & we are probably too far inland anyway.

Before we even discuss this, a foolish enemy Orc still alive & greedier than most snatches for our fallen companion's finely crafted two hander sword intending to run off with it... there is a flash of light & the smell of hot myrrh in the air. Empty Mind's body has vanished & all that remains of the Orc is a set of of smouldering hobnailed boots. Empty Mind has been snatched by his god Michael & as for the Orc - I'd hate to think...

Empty MInd's sword lies there gleaming on the ground. "You'd better do the honours" I say to Quentin - certainly no one else is keen seeing what happened to the Orc. Quentin gulps, no doubt wondering to himself whether that token of affection he took from the Orcish "lady" has made him have impure thoughts and trying to remember if he had maintained appropriate standards of personal hygiene with his undergarments, reaches for the weapon. He flinches at the last minute but nothing happens - apparently he is sufficiently good enough to pick it up & hold it. A voice enters his head, he tells us later, asking him if he accepts the sword for the purpose of smiting down evil. Quentin says he agreed to take up the sword.


Session 9:

Its two days travel back to the castle, 24 Snow. By sneaking we observe 2 x sub camps - one around the town graveyard and the other with the wyverns.

Walled inside the graveyard are hordes of zombies an obvious necromancer, elven, better dressed & no doubt much more evil than Boris, some treacherous looking assistants and a couple of Orcish guards lounging laconically to one end. High walls & gates are designed to keep the zombies in being primed for the siege. Centrepiece on an altar is a monstrosity too foul for even Loki to father: a giant zombie construct priced together bits & pieces of flesh sewn, bolted & lashed together. It is bipedal with multiple sets of arms and would stand about 50 foot tall - a siege zombie. Its giant skull is prised open d & Poppy by her extra-vision & super hearing tells us the Necro is telling his assistant that the creature just waiting on a brain... but not to worry a donor is near at hand... We can't allow this beast to be awakened and unleashed on the castle so there is only one thing for it. Boris' slightly less foul necro magic builds a bridge of bone that arches over the wall which we mount & charge in to attack the evil horde. The zombies are relentless but mostly by Ignis's lightening bolt, "Hope Crusher" - my twin sword attack & Boris's axe, Quentins flaming holy avenger, & Poppy's holy water grenadoes, we get to introduce the necro to the afterlife in a manner to which he was previously unaccustomed. As he is beheaded to stop him coning back & looted, two orc guards are noted in the distance leading two human prisoners - the potential brain donors maybe... After a scuffle we release our employer - the Baroness with Sir Gerald. The evil assistants proved treacherous as anticipated - legging it at the first sign of trouble from us.

Boris is then able to take control of the zombies, who have been rendered aimless by the necros death and by exerting his will Boris instructs them to wander down the hill and attack the castle besiegers. Off they go (very slowly as is the way of zombies) arms held straight out in front. slowly stomping stiff leggedly down the hill, droning "Brains!" Brains!"

In the graveyard is a crypt that Boris is keen to explore. It is determined that it is dedicated to "The Fallen One" - a major demon or thoroughly evil power of some sort. Inside an altar decorated in sigils & symbols suggestive of great dark magic exudes a sickly glow the colour of puss. Quentin is insistent it be destroyed before we leave - it cannot be left standing...& none of us question him such is the foul power obviously at play here that even the not especially noble or pious want it gone. Trying to destroy it could be perilous though.

First Boris sends in a zombie servant who pours holy water on the shrine. There is a flash of light - the zombie is dissapeared but the altar intact. Hmm, we have to try a little harder with something more committed to smiting evil than a zombie directed by Boris.

Quentin offers his holy sword to Sir Gerald to smite the altar, his reasoning being that Sir Gerald is a knight (true) and a Michaeline of greater seniority and power to him (an honest mistake on Quentin's part - Sir Gerald was never a Michaeline ). Sir Gerald, obviously still noble of spirit, agrees & advances to smite the altar - duly destroying it & driving evil back to the dark pit whence it came. But to the horror of all, especially Quentin, Sir Gerald too is destroyed in the action - disappearing in a flash of light & noise with no remains left. The holy sword is intact. Quentin is contrite about what has a happened to Sir Gerald & disappears presumably to speak to higher powers/ his conscience.

Soon after , the Baroness is reunited with her son, Lord Alexander at the camp of the resistance - not entirely agreeably. They are all ecstatic, huggy & kissy for about 15 minutes, with cries of "Darling Mummy" & "'Babykins come to Mumsy "........ before being replaced by the sound of furniture being kicked with howls of rage being heard all over the camp along the lines of: "Mummy, you said WHAT about my wife?"Slut?" Witch?" ORGIES? You HIRED THE GUILD TO DRIVE HER OFF!!!!!! " This argument will rage intermittently for the remainder of our time here - for decades no doubt.

Quentin re-emerges divested of his armour and holding the holy sword aloft - I swear he was shrouded in a ring of light. From the solemn set to his fangs & his calm manner - similar to but not so comely as was the case with the well coiffed Brother Empty Head - it is clear his contrition was sufficient and that he has found his calling - he reveals he he is committed to the Angel Sammael - (who Boris tells me is the least good one but still as uptight as a fish's lower digestive parts.) Quentin states us that as a sign of his true faith he will fight without armour henceforth - & will give his mail to his Lady Orc sweet heart - too late Quentin, he should have done that before signing on the dotted line with Samm so she would still be able to properly show him her gratitude - after all he won't be living long enough now to come to his senses and backslide.

The next day 25 Snow we will attempt to do the same with the wyverns. We wait hidden until the majority of the party of 20 orc guards start to decamp - maybe off to join the castle siege - the direction from which we hear fighting. Apparently the zombie hordes, directed by Boris have only just made it! The two guards left on wyvern watch are overpowered & Ignis skilfully using his magic power of speaking to avian creatures seems to somehow befriend the freed wyverns and persuade them that there are lots of truly delicious creatures besieging our clients castle where upon, after chasing off the rest of the orcs, they very sluggishly flap there way over the ridge....to the same place where the cries of "brains! brains!" resonate.

We follow them over the hill to the castle siege area. The besiegers are having a change of heart in the face of zombies, wyverns and the opportunistic le resistance led by Baron Alexander and are fleeing.

Various part members loot he field. Papers are found that implicate the Drow Lord Prince Intervor as he crow leader behind it all. He still has some made design to take Konnigsberg,

A mighty feast is held where the dead are toasted and our feats are boasted - (still punctuated by occasional shouts of rage from Alexander )- although we will apparently still receive our reward..


Session 10

Over the next 7 days the following takes place: Poppy & Boris' zombies pan for gold in the river. The Baroness (Mother) & Lord Alex continue to scream at each intermittently - but each, doubtless from some form of guilt, pays us 25,000 sp which must be a guild record - getting paid twice but completely failing to complete the assigned task of driving off Lord Alexanders wife as contracted to.

A shrine has arisen at the site of Brother Empty Head's demise attended in the main by pious noblewomen who report to have been spoken to directly in dreams by Empty Head himself. He fairly much has it all Brother Empty Head - perfect hair, a warriors death & now a cult of rich women!

We pick up a new mission working with one Regar a Beastmaster who wants help in obtaining eggs from the nest of a Griffon. Pay will be we get to keep the gold wire nest that griffons's produce. We travel three days south searching for the cliff tops where they typically nest. Regar shows us that he is the Master of Beasts and can change parts of his body to take on Beast forms - e.g his hand can turn into a claw.

On the way Ignis manages to summon a Crow, a carrion bird whose particular dietary preference seems to be eyeballs & the privy part of men. Ignis forms a bond with it & it becomes a "familiar" creature, as mages on occasion have. The crow communicates well & advises that bathing in a certain pool gave it this ability. The pool will be explored later.

Griffon's are located overhead, they are tracked and eventually their caves are found at the top of a (500 ft high) cliff by an old fort. The area has mostly been destroyed by lava. Regar will climb up & we will provide a distraction so he doesn't get et on the job. The enraged griffons use the tactic of dropping giant rocks on us from height and we are forced to take shelter in the fort -where there is evidence of a last stand with the bodies of men & elves strewn about.

Ignis forms a plan. He will summon one griffon with an avian summon spell whereupon Horton will mind spell it get it to attack the other griffons - & not us..... There is a puff of smoke, a cry from Ignis of "oh C$%#!! ... & his spell has backfired. Its not all bad - he still succeeds in driving the griffons off and they are fleeing rapidly.... but on the other hand he has summoned a dragon, (gulp), a red brown beast puffing smoke who appears on the horizon flapping sluggishly & heading straight toward Ignis (us).

We decide to stand our ground & talk with the beast - legend has it that they are cruel creatures & can smell your fear but are susceptible to flattery - & there is nowhere we could hide safely if it really wanted to deal to us.

The dragon is enormous and powerful, landing before Ignis (who look very pale for him). Anyhow, by a mixture of Ignis' grovelling (in an unusually squeaky voice) & explaining it was all a just terrible misunderstanding "your unparalleled magnificence" , the general laying on of some masterful brown-nosing & toad-eating of the most cringe-worthy order - AND once again Poppy's cookies, the dragon is distracted & elects to not eat us.

The dragon flaps clumsily off in search of "hobbits" who Poppy has named as the source of more cookies... if the guild hobbits I have met are anything to go by, the dragon may have his hands full - & if not all enquiries by avenging bereaved hobbit family members should be directed to Poppy c/- the Guild !!

Regar is much relieved & returns down the cliff with a number of eggs & our reward: a gold spun nest & necklace found inside. We return too the Barony on 9 Ice.

On return we learn that Lord Alexander & Lady Rebecca have decided to return to Terranova to help the resistance & no doubt [unspoken] to relieve themselves of mother in law issues.

There is also a new job for us - a goblin with a white flag attached to a stick approaches cautiously. He is a messenger for the the "Thing" - a sentient dark sphere encountered previously - between 28 Frost & 12 Snow - wants to meet us - which we do so in the Elven Ways where it was first encountered . It has a cryptic message: "Enemies have made a grave error.You are to follow the path your enemy taught you back to the origins of these roads and bring back a thing, anything,.. but a real thing." Yes exactly, makes no sense at all but nevertheless but the more mystical of our party suggest that this means this means he wants us to got a plane of hell which we can access by portal.

We arrive in a nice layed out courtyard attached to a spacious & airy building very pleasant (hell belies its reputation from what I see here) with comfortable furniture laid out everywhere, the weather is warm (no not THAT warm - just pleasant). Poppy's magical vision determines that absolutely everything is an illusion - everything that is but a scroll we observe being scrutinised by a very attractive couple (aside from their backwards jointed legs). Succubus & Incubus, mutters Quentin darkly.. We hide and wait until only the succubus remains, and then with cunning team work mainly involving every male member of the party (except possibly Quentin) drooling open mouthed at her lusty come hither wantoness punctuated, just before we all volunteer for eternal slavery & eager carnal devotion to her every base whim, by Horton's telekinesis spell which wrests the scroll from her gasp at surprising speed... & Boris's quickly made bone construction blocking her path. Snapped out of our stupour by her angry shriek we leg it from hell racing through the illusionary "building" to the mirror portal and back into the elven pathways...

....Inside which (the elven pathways that is) we hear a rich & melodious voice booming around us & asking "Do you really want to take something that does not belong to you?" I don't even don't even know who it is & to be fair it really does have a point in that we have stolen his scroll. When that doesn't slow us, telling us in an equally melodious but much more threatening way that "Once I have slain your employer, I will come after you all!" & detailing the horrible acts he will wreak upon us.

You've got stand up to bullies (and anyway I have used my usual cunning nom de guerre as "Lathron the Elf"), so I reply, "Not if I slay you first !" - Someone THEN tells me that the voice actually belongs to Foras President and Lord of Seekers - some kind of major evil immortal - a bit like Loki but without the sense of humour. Foolish & hasty words on my part threatening to kill an immortal it seems - after all I was only really mouthing off in the manner of traditional pre-battle taunting - that is where you stand waving your weapon & bellowing dire threats and mortal insults at your enemies in reply to their threats & taunts - (no one takes it seriously & when the battle is over [if you are still alive & terms have been agreed] you shake hands, have an ale together, swap shields, compare wounds and tell lies about what took place)...

... but some folks DO take things more seriously than we do in the Northland because next thing you know we hear another voice - only that of THE Devourer wanting to take me at my word ( it seems I'm committed now) & wanting me (?!?) to sign up to his cult(?!) (Reformed Spiteful sisters - surely not?!) and slay Foras for him! Its nice to be taken seriously! Slaying Foras, isn't so much the problem (apart from being a little unlikely at this stage of my career ) as the down-at-your-mouth miserable existence the all seem to embrace - basically no wine, woman or song, small portions of vittles, lots of saying prayers on your knees & early to bed - besides I'm taken - Odin is my god. The Devourer attempts to haggle but I stand firm...

Thankfully the Black Sphere arrives to relieve us of the scroll made of the best Elf Skin Vellum which apparently has written on it Foras's song. The Black sphere asks us what we want and this is how we replied: Horton wants a new eye.

I want to be Master of the Hand & Half Sword.

Quentin wants better control of his Holy Sword.

Boris wants to Master Healing.

Poppy wants to be rid of a taint to her soul (& not to attract the attention of Foras).

Ignis want to see night as day.

As we hand over the scroll a dodecahedron ruby appears in its place. Placed in Horton's empty socket it functions as an eye albeit, he tells us, with a pink tinge & slight prismatic affect. Later he says he can actually see "untruths" with the eye. Ignis tells us that for him now there is no dark - or even shadows, just eternal daytime.The rest of us will have to wait & see what happens.

We follow the directions we have been given by the sphere and arrive back in the Barony... for me to be greeted by name - by a large glowing flaxen haired warrior woman astride a white horse wearing a winged helm - a Valkyrie, Odin's chooser of the slain! It seems things are getting a bit out of hand and premature.... after all I'm not even dead yet!

Session 11

"Greetings Honoured Valkyrie!" I hail her, respectfully - she really is most strapping and stern, held erect in her saddle by an attention grabbing sturdily constructed shimmering silver breast-plate - the embodiment of martial nordic womanhood personified. She regales that Odin himself is most keen for me to slay the demon Foras (immediately that is - rather than some unspecificed time in my future)and she has a magical spear, the bane of evil beings, the unholy & illusionists, to assist with the task.

As I reach for the spear, wishing secretly that a) the rest of the party were not present and b) I'd kept my mouth shut about telling Foras I'd slay him for at least a few decades..... & before she can pass on any personal messages or favour me with an admiring glance, she suddenly screams, there is a blaze of fire and she seems to dissipate before our eyes as the cackling Witch Sniffer, servant of the late Empty Head, appears from behind a bush....! I reach for Odin's spear ready to spit the repusculent zealot shouting, "prepare to die you fiend" I am filled with rage, as Boris & Quentin hold me back. "He hasn't killed her", Boris says - "just sent her back to her plane & besides this actually is the territory of the Western Church, not the Aesir." "Pick up your weapon and face me in single combat like a man" I cry, but he apparently is a coward, has no weapon and probably a eunuch to boot. So I have to content with cursing him & grinding my teeth. Anyway at least he can find Foras for me.

He has found us as he wants us to destroy a greater summoner who has summoned a a demon and a succubi. As I seeth & imagine dicing the sniffer into about 65 parts, he mourns the demise of our former battle companion, the noble Empty Head and the magical affect he used to have on pious women-folk who, despite is obliviousness, flocked to his sermons. The party over-rule my objections & we will assist this vile wretch in his task - but first we will venture to the nearest temple at a local village (4 miles away) to get some holy water.

Poppy, having conspired to set a dragon, addicted to cookies, on innocent hobbit-folk, is wracked by a guilty conscience and arranges for a warning to be sent to their village - with the passage of the time this is likely too late & should correctly read - "Beware of the dragon that just ate you" - but it is the thought that counts. Meanwhile a priest prepares a barrel - 12 lbs of holy water. After a large meal we stop for the eve.

The next day 12 Ice, the first thing we find after traveling to Goodbridge is a well dressed hobbit laid out flat on the side of the road - pale, gasping like a landed fish, his eyes agape & in a state of shock. And no, having been revived, he hasn't just been denied his third morning tea scone, he has discovered his hometown village is be-seiged by a dragon. Feeling even more guilty Poppy provides 4 gold prices for him to purchase flour & sugar - which hopefully will produce enough cookies to sate the beast for a while (about 40 minutes would be my guess from the size of its head!).

The witch-sniffer's nose starts twitching like a hound straining at the huntsman's leash & he heads toward the forest with an awkward % clumsy stride - something evil (other than he) is about. We follow.

A homeless brownie is located in the area of a ruined village that has been blasted by lava. Someone (or somethings) rotten & foul to the core are living in a sinkhole at the edge of the village. Poppy will rescue & re-home him

As silently as we can we lower ourselves down about 150 feet into the gloom - I attempt to re-aquaint the witch sniffer, having served his purpose, with his gods by kicking him in the head as he is lowered down - but this does not work - it seems his skull is twice as thick as normal. Ahead we see a shrine dedicated to the gods of Wicca with images of a maid, a crone & a mother. We hear voices chanting in drow as if a child were learning words in that language - "A is for agony, "B" is for beating C is for ... etc" Horton's via his magic ruby eye tells us - "everything is an illusion - its just a dingy old cave !" - gulp we know WHO is good at illusions - having been to his home in hell /& stolen a scroll from him.

...Only one thing for it - we burst around the corner charging a slimy ( & startled looking ) summoner ......& Foras President and Lord of Seekers, Evil Demon Lord himself . Odin's spear hums with power in my hand as if designed for this single purpose & despite my relative lack of skill with spears, it unerringly finds the target, smiting Foras again & again until he is slain at my feet/ leaking black stinking blood everywhere. As I momentarily imagine scores of Bards fighting over the "exclusive" rights to my saga, admiring womenfolk hurling their undergarments at me and a new more fitting moniker such as "Mungo THE Demon Slayer" or "Mungo Demon-Bane (Bait)", Boris quickly brings things back to earth with a crash, "Its only his avatar. He'll be back in a month" he says cheerfully... (but...he wont be any happier!)

The summoner cant surrender fast enough & babbling he is a decent fellow, completely innocent of any evil actions & only summoned the demon Foras to improve his language skills (which he intended to use for purely good reasons - yes exactly Drow for good purposes!?) & Foras didn't actually tell him he was a demon etc etc .... He confirms that the succubus is nearby... Horton's ESP spell detects an evil but bored mind nearby and we move to a room with a large bed & red satin sheets - its an illusion says Horton!! At the same time Boris feels the stab of the succubi's knife stabbing into his back.. we advance by shield wall determined to corner the creature, Poppy splashes holy water & Ignis sends a lighting bolt bouncing off the stone walls zapping her & ourselves. Eventually she is slain and rendered into a pool of black ectoplasm. That leaves the cowering Summoner... The witch sniffer will take him off for a swift trial (by ordeal) followed by an execution. I offer trial by combat v me (which is altogether a much more decent means of achieving the same result) but this is refused. A greater summoner kit (8000 sp) is located during a search - & we leave.

Our next task is to explore a magic pool which transformed Ignis's crow into an intelligent bird . It is two days travel to the pool via a borrowed wagon & horse & with the Crow as a guide - 14 Ice. The pool is large & has a reddish tinge. Its aura is VERY magical.

As we ponder the next step & Poppy sets up a picnic, we hear an eery singing. "Sirens" says the whole party in unison and various forms of ear plugs are stuffed in ears. Suddenly, rather than sirens, a huge unholy monstrosity constructed of about 15 sewn together springs forth & attempts to entice is into the lake with it... two Fossegrim appear on the shore of lake & could not be more pleased with what is going on... these nasty Fae ( water spirits adept at music with stringed instruments) apparently feast off the leftovers after the swamp creature has dined... Poppy persuades them to offer their "friend" a cup of water (holy!) to drink. The creature is then swiftly dealt to.

The Fossegrim are not too concerned - they say there is lots of food about - although "The King" ( apparently a troll) would like to know what is going on. Quentin DA spells the pool revealing that if you bathe in it - you will be changed

Ignis & Boris elect to bathe in the pool - which restores fatigue. Ignis dives into the pool but doesn't come up having seen a very friendly woman at the bottom whom he has "fallen in love with" .... I leap in & rescue him in the nick of time. (Boris , Ignis & I thereafter feel much more energetic - [+2 fatigue]).

Boris' "friend" is a "Nixie" (a comely water spirit) who apparently unaware of the harm she almost caused , emerges to talk to Poppy & is most impressed with her, apparently believing Poppy has 5 men under her control. We learn: she was not a Nixie until 5 months ago , but a young girl - Meredith of Clearwater, of a minor noble family from Konnigsberg. She tells us her family's carriage accidently crashed into the pool. The Fossegrim elected not to eat her (as with the rest of her family) following her transformation to a Nixie which helped attract "food". She is transformed back to human by Quentin's cure-all potion

The Fossegrim are chatty enough. They say the water changed 9 months ago following a ritual performed by elves. Boris summons & sends a zombie to the lake to see what it can find. It emerges with a total of five corpses .. & pulsating stone of strange colour. It has the effect of creating a high mana zone.

Session 12

Here at the final stage of this saga, one of the undercurrent issues of debate between us will be resolved by none other than Quentin the Noble himself, who with the assistance of the church of Sammael & trial by fire will provide conclusive evidence that Orcs are in fact intrinsically evil!

By Quentin's divination we learn that the pulsating stone is in fact the heart of a Fae Lord called Balor. It seems to beat every three seconds for there is a pulse of mana. Quentin himself, having been exposed to it while doing his divinating spell & seems damaged & has taken a bit of a queer turn, muttering barely audibly, "Bloooood... mmmmm!!!" while licking his lips, sucking his fingers and leering hungrily at Meredith & other party members..talking about eating the heart of his foe to give him courage - I can't fault him as there some folk in the North maddened by battle lust who swear by this technique....but certainly Quentin has reverted to racial type & apparently wants to eat us! .....However he is still not completely harmed as he is able to hold his holy sword without disappearing in puff of smoke like the orc who tried to steal it from Brother Empty Head's corpse... We decide to hand the Heart of Balor over to the Fae Court to deal with...

Returning to Goodbridge with Boris' zombie helper carrying the stone - (and such is the power of the stone that Boris the Necro's normally VERY compliant zombie helper reluctant to give Balor's heart up at the end of our journey,) Poppy with Fae vision locates a faerie grove. A picnic is laid out with plenty of liquor for they are greedy creatures who cannot resist such temptations. Eventually some Fae, small and fast are lured in and agree to take us to see their Queen.

We are led through a magic portal to a magical glade populated by strange fantastically dressed creatures all feasting - one legged beings, pixies, satyrs, brownies, etc They offer us food and drink which is declined as we have heard of the dangers related to supping with the fae... . The Queen appears as a tall imperious & lavishly dressed elf woman with dragon-fly wings who greets us cordially.

As we announce we have the heart of Balor with us (here & now) a silence falls over the gathering, some faint, others run... it seems there is no doubt that Balor was a particularly nasty sort...

But the Queen is happy to keep the heart, commenting drolly that it will be an impressive talking point at one of her parties ( & probably also for revenge as Balor killed her cousin). She rewards 5 of us (save Quentin who departs before this to do some serious praying) with fine goblets. We leave - finding a whole days has passed been though our time in the Fae Court was brief - 15 Ice. Quentin tells us of a legend he has recalled where an evil creature called Balor was split into two beings - 1 Belial & the other Sammael - whose teachings he follows but says it is contrary to church doctrine & obviously a pack of lies.

It is off to Konnigsberg by horse & cart, escorting the foul witch sniffer & greater summoner in chains and the Lady Meridith. We will need a flying spell to get back to Seagate for the guild meeting. We arrive without event on 22 Ice. It is not looking so grand as when Boris, Horton & I were here about a year ago - a shanty town has set in as a permanent feature. Poverty abounds. Folk fight over food.

Lady Meredith is escorted to her Aunt - the Margravaine Constantine De Winter who put us up in a good inn for our troubles. The foul witch sniffer escorts the Greater Summoner to city guards for his swift "trial." "That could be you", I say to Boris the Necromancer - there isn't to much difference really..

Quentin is concerned at the taint to his soul caused by exposure to Balor's Heart and approaches the tall scary black monolithic obsidian tower that is the Temple of Sammael. Boris & I stay outside so the following is recounted to me later by other party members. Quentin having explained the issue is told he needs purification by the flame. This consists of being bathed in aromatic oils prior to standing inside a furnace hot enough to have been lit by the flames of Loki himself until all the evil bits are burned off by the "flames of redemption" - which of course reduces most to a small piece of charcoal...

Quentin stands brave & silent in the flames (as bets are taken about how big slump of coal he will end up as) Other adherents scream - apparently joyous at the pain of the flame - weirdos!!. After an age Quentin's singed and charred body, with all evil burned off, but still alive - barely - is removed from the furnace, He will remain in the temple for the night. The rest of us stay in the Inn.

The next day 23 Ice it is clear that Quentin, now cleansed of all evil, is changed. He wears an amulet of perpetual flame about his neck, he is taller, more slender, his tusks & fangs are absent and the bowlegs are gone. Hs skin is fair, he is somewhat more handsome - in fact by Thors Thunder there is no longer a trace of orc on Quentin at all.......& he has been turned completely into a much more muscular than usual elf !! Ha I knew it - Orcs are all evil swine after all & none other Sammael himself agrees with me!

Dear Readers,
The fact is Sammael choose me as a follower when I was a Orc and, after going through the True
Form Ritual, I am still an Orc. I wear Sammael's holy symbol and I am a caretaker of a holy sword
which has been blessed by sammaelite priests. So Mungo's idea that Sammael agrees that all Orc's
are evil is untrue. I believe what has actually transpired was a test of my resolve, a test of
temptation. Cause if one can not be true to one's self then how can they light the way for others.

Quentin Ulysses Ash


Anyhow Quentin is greatly honoured as even Count Blitzkrieg, founder of the Church did not complete the cleansing by flame test.

I do not think Count Blitzkrieg is the founder of the Church of Sammael, but perhaps someone to
admire and to aspirer too.

Quentin Ulysses Ash

There is business to attend to: flying spells are negotiated excellently by Poppy for 600sp who also conducts trade of ribbons and lace fripperies. The miners amongst us unload their gold. Ignis looks unsuccessfully for a portable time keeping device (so he can tell night from day). A 2nd hand magic mace of slaying.. something? is bought with 500 sp party treasure. I purchase three excellent texts on matters martial that should assist in studying combat & warfare: 'The Way of the Charge" - which prescribes the charge as the best & only tactic - probably written by a Michaeline. "The Memoirs of Count Bltizkrieg" & "The Complete swordsman" for 150 sp.

.....and there is the hanging of the Greater Summoner - a very popular event which seems to have brought out every knight in a 50 mile radius, garbed in full combat rig with about 7 weapons each, hopeful of a last minute rescue attempt & a fight to the death versus a demon horde rescue team. To their mass disappointment the Greater Summoner simply meets his miserable end dangling on the end of a rope - & and the demon horde is a no-show. The fool - I offered him a mans death with steel in his hand and a battle cry on his lips but he preferred this.

We watch as he is taken by cart to be buried on the hill in a cemetery amidst a number of prominent stone monuments - (Ignis' crow was especially keen on eating a few body parts but does not get the chance.) We continue to watch after rituals are performed by Priests who depart as night falls. By midnight we note three hooded figures with spades. Odin's spear glows as does Quentin the Elf's holy sword. The battle is over very abruptly. The grave robbers unleash a necrosis spell upon us causing considerable harm - & then they all basically explode - (Hint: its not wise to practice dark magic in ground consecrated to the 5 western gods - they have no sense of irony whatsoever.) Amid a pile of graverobber gloop atop the Summoner's grave Boris finds a magical bone with charges of the necrogeny spell.

By the morning 25 Ice it is clearly time to leave. Peasants are rioting - so Ignis summons a rain - storm to cool their ardour before we depart by flight for Seagate - arduous but uneventful. We arrive home

So here ends this Saga of Mungo Thirdson. To summarise:

It has been a spectacular success beyond the imaginings of men & gods that will be regaled by bards for centuries to come, told to hordes of both the great and the unnecessary, the brave and the craven, to inspire before battles begin and at feasts to entertain the victorious, of how we six fearless warriors of the Seagate guild travelled to Goodbrdge in the North, braved drow, orcs, rune-mages, Greater Summoners the undead, faced numerous immortals, crossed numerous planes, visited Terranova and entered into the depths of hell itself:

- to prove as a fact that Orcs are all evil (but Boris is nonetheless damned useful in instructing his zombie helpers, wielding an axe & remains an excellent drinking companion);

- to learn that jealous mothers in law are not always to be believed BUT that family members can pay twice from guilt even if you don't complete the task;

- how Horton's permanent case of magic ruby eye lets him see to the truth of any matter & how his mind magic is strong enough to turn a giant;

- how Poppy's cookies are powerful enough to charm even an immortal (the Devourer) and a dragon (although hobbits may no longer be her friends) .. & how she knows the best use of holy water ;

- how Ignis will never know darkness, wields powerful lightening magic & is best friends with a carrion bird familiar that eats eyeballs;

- how Quentin is in reality an Elf with a holy sword - as he probably always should have been - & as Sammael made clear being an orc and good is WRONG...;

Unfortunately Mungo has finished writing the story before the story has finished. I have in fact
rejected taking the easy path to becoming a Knight Templar and under took the True Form Ritual.
I was born an Orc so it is just right that I should complete this task as a Orc.
I have prayed for forgiveness at the chapel of Sammael and hopes he will understand.
Also this Orc is Not Evil!

Quentin Ulysses Ash

- & how I met some Valkyries AND lived and then slew the avatar of a Demon President...... with a little help from Odin.

Buffs:

Rank 20 greater enchantment - all areas.

Rank 11 Heroism from Quentin; Duration: 120 mins, Fear Checks: +12, Reaction Rolls: +11, Defence Bonus: +12%.

Treasure:

Items

- Konnigsberg: Mace of slaying something cost 500 sp, 3 x military texts purchased by Mungo, trade by Poppy & gold miners, magic bone with charges.

Fae Queen - 5 magic cups - non ageing,

Effective of swimming / emmersion in Balor's heart / pool - +2 fatigue Mungo, Ignis, Boris,

Quentin - necklace of permanent flame - various elf physical features.

Golden nest - Griffons & necklace.

Holy Sword carried by Quentin, gift of Sammael.

Odin's Spear carried by Mungo, gift of Odin.

Griffon Cave magical mace, gold bracelet (500 sp), magic dagger, magic breastplate & pauldrons size 6, magic candlestick.

Airship Greater Summoners gear all magic: robe, hat, belt: nature is power, broad-sword (adds WP to strike chance), five black magic candles, a locked trapped chest, curvy dagger. Valuable loot from the crews quarters. Stone Ballistae bolts enchanted with geomancy. Loot from 4 x undead spell casters. 12 x Shards of magic crystal from ship keel. Dwarf sharpening stones - +1 to dam - 5 uses per sharpen.

Salamankari: 1 hand magic battle axe - +1 dam v lesser races +10 enchant weapon, a magic crown - reduce armour by 1 - rk , rk 10 mind cloak 15 witchsight, magic leather armour - SIZE 6, +3 pts/ 3 pts spell port 200 soul coins & some arquebuses.

Goldmining - Poppy, Boris, Ignis? Merchanting - Poppy.

Crater/ Battlesite : necromancer magical robes, 8 x healing potions, invested bracelets, Rebecca's Lord's sword (he was here!), 2 x magical swords, 3 sets of plate mail, 1 x set of magical chain mail, stone javelins, magical barding, magical maul, mace, magical hand & a half sword, magical shield.

Loot from Necro at graveyard outside Castle .

1 PB each except for Quentin.

Bonesmasher

This mace seems moulded from some dense black stone with red veins. It is larger than normal with a long haft and so can be used two handed for +10 SC and +1 damage. Against constructs (most lesser undead, golems, elementals, etc) it does an extra dice of damage. This weapon may not be enchanted by a weapon spell.

Wt 9 SC 65 D+7 CL C Use M Adds 3 to PS when used.

Value 3000

Trickster Dagger (Horton) This enchanted dagger is weighted and magiked for throwing. The dagger is more deadly in the hands of a troubadour trained in throwing knives of knife tricks or some similar ability. When so used the troubadour may add their effective rank in knife throwing to their rank in dagger for determining things like strike chance, damage, evasion and parries. If thrown by a troubadour the weapon will return unless it lodges (on an EN hit).

Wt 1 SC 45 D+1 CL A Use RMC Range PS+Troubadour rank

Value 2000

Centurion's Breastplate This breastplate will add 2 to the protection rating of any armour it is worn with up to a limit of 10. In addition it will add the wearer's rank in Military Scientist to EN. It can take one grievious hit and will then be ruined.

Wt 15 AG -1 Pr +2 (lim 10)

Value 2000

Heavy Pauldrons These will add 1 to the wearers protection rating up to a limit of 10. They will prevent any grievious injury to the neck and or shoulders but will be destroyed in the process. They also add 2 to MD.

Wt 10 +2 MD Pr +1 (lim 10)

Value 1500

Enchanted Candlestick While lit all those within 20 feet will sleep soundly and peacefully (no nightmares).

Wt 2 Value 500

Minor Belt of Strength When worn this belt raises PS by 1.

Wt 1 Value 1000

Pure white robe. This white linen robe may be worn over cloth, leather and maile armour. It adds 2 to the wearer's MA and reduces magic damage by 5. It will absorb on grievious injury which will destroy it.

Dominator This silvered broadsword allows the weilder to add their WP to their strike chance.

Wt 3 SC 55 CL B D+4 Use M

Lionskin belt This belt allows the wearer to add their MA to their PS for the purposes of carrying / ecumbrance and getting tired.

Wt 2

Mitre of Shielding When worn it will add 10 to MR and act as a mind cloak.

Ritual Candles (5)

These add 5 to the cast chance of any ritual used. The candle must burn for the entire ritual to work.

Hours 6 5 4 3 2 1

Drow Light Armour This exotic leather armour provides substantial protection at the cost of mobility

Wt 20 lbs, Pr 4 EN 4 SP 10 -2 AG

Drow Light Armour This exotic leather armour provides substantial protection at the cost of mobility

Wt 20 lbs, Pr 4 EN 4 SP 10 -2 AG

Drow Light Armour This exotic leather armour provides substantial protection at the cost of mobility

Wt 20 lbs, Pr 4 EN 4 SP 10 -2 AG

Drow Light Armour This exotic leather armour provides substantial protection at the cost of mobility

Wt 20 lbs, Pr 4 EN 4 SP 10 -2 AG

Wightblade (4) These short-swords have their SC modified by lighting conditions in the same manner as a dark celestial mage. They drain the wielder by 1 EN each minute. When used to attack they drain D-2 EN from the victim. Keep track of how much EN the weapon drains. For every 10 damage they drain the sword gains 1 WP. Once the weapon has more WP than it's owner they must resist vs special necromancy to avoid using the weapon in battle. Should the weapon have twice the WP of it's owner it will turn and slay them, raising the victim as a wight. Exposure to the light of the noon day sun lowers the WP of the weapon by 1.

Wt 2 SC50 D+4 Use MC Current WP 5

Magic Cup This silver cup may be used once per day. When used it will make a healing potion out of any potable liquid that fills the cup. The potion will cure 2D10 points of damage. The cup's capacity is half a pint.

Drow Reaper Crossbow

This light crossbow rapidly fires bolts from it's bolt box. Each time it is triggered it releases about five bolts. When used, such rapid fire may either add 25 to the SC against one target, strike up to three adjacent targets at -20 to hit each or hit a single target with three bolts. If the last option is used and a special result is gained then each only one bolt so strikes the rest hit for regular FT damage.

Wt 6 SC 60 D+2 Use R Range 60 CL A


Drow Reaper Crossbow This light crossbow rapidly fires bolts from it's bolt box. Each time it is triggered it releases about five bolts. When used, such rapid fire may either add 25 to the SC against one target, strike up to three adjacent targets at -20 to hit each or hit a single target with three bolts. If the last option is used and a special result is gained then each only one bolt so strikes the rest hit for regular FT damage.

Wt 6 SC 60 D+2 Use R Range 60 CL A

Drow Harvester Crossbow This heavy crossbow is designed for careful, precise shots. It suffers only half normal range penalties (eg =3 per 10 hexes beyond the first 10) and an assassin may gain their damage bonus using this weapon if they spend an extra pass action before firing. When doing so they may subtract their assassin rank from the dice roll to hit.

Wt 8 SC 70 D+4 Use R Range 300 CL A

Sacrificial Dagger If used to sacrifice a sientient entity the weilder may add one primary stat of the victim to their own until sunrise. A being sacrificed in this manner is unressurectable, their soul claimed by Murmer, the Marquis of Murders.

Wt 1 SC 60 D+2 Use MC CL A Grants death aspect

Axe of Slaying Inferiors This Salamakari Battle Axe does an extra dice of damage to inferior beings. Inferior, from a Salamakari viewpoint is basically any non-orc excepting hobbits (don't ask), things like demons / angels and greater undead.

Wt 5 BC 75 D+8 Use RM Range 8 Add twice rank in orcish to SC.

Stealth Armour This suit of dark leather armour provides a bonus to stealth of 20. It also provides some protection vs magic.

Wt 18 Size 6 Pr 3 Sp 3 +1 AG, +20 Stealth.

Kingly Crown This Gold band works when worn on the head without other adornments. This will lower PR by 1 to a limit of 4. While worn it provides a Mind Cloaking effect and grants Rank 15 Witchsight as per the Celestial spell.

Arquebus This is an early light firearm. To ready the weapon requires three pass actions after which it may be fired. While it has an apparently low BC the user may add their rank in mechanician, their PS-15 (lim 10) and their Spell MA bonus if they choose to spend 1FT (using a cantrip to light and control the fuse). A fire mage can add their rank in Pyrogenesis instead.

The weapon rolls two dice for damage. In addition to the normal rank modifiers a mechanician may add one point of damage per three ranks and a master mechanician can modify the weapon to do an additional dice damage for 2000 sp and a weeks work.

Using the weapon is not without some risk. The weapon will backfire if 90+mechanician rank is rolled. On a backfire roll 1d10.

1 - Weapon explodes: Also ignites other gunpowder charges. Take 2D10 damage plus D10 per 10 remaining charges. 2- Weapon explodes: Take 2D10 damage. 3-5 Weapon damaged: Add 5 to any roll to attack with this weapon and subtract 1 from any future backfire rolls. 6-8 Weapon overheating: Add 5 to any attack roll with this weapon. Will go away after 10 mins. 9-0 Dud charge. Reload to fire again.

Repairing a damaged weapon costs 50 sp per damage result and the services of a rank 3+ mechanician for a day.

The weapon requires charges of a No 8 Powder, An Alchemical concoction requiring the services of a rank 3 alchemist. It costs 50 sp to buy 10 charges which weigh 1 lb. Alternativly you can make it yourself costing 5 sp for 10 charges and about half a days work assuming you are an alchemist.

If ignited the powder bag will do D10 damage per 10 charges. Those in surrounding hexes take 10 less damage per hex distance.

When fired the weapon creates a hex of smoke which will persist for longer than the battle unless there is a strong wind this smoke will reduce strike chances of any fire action that goes through them by 10. If a hex already has smoke it spreads to adjacent hex.

Wt 6 lbs BC 40 D 2D Cl C Range 100

Lesser Mage Robes These robes count as armour and reduces all damage by 3 when struck. The wearer increases their MA by 2 and their WP by 1. The wearer may cast general knowledge spells in 1 pulse at a penalty of 10 to cast chance and for 1 extra FT. These robes are size 6. If worn by a smaller being they will incur a -1 AG penalty. They are also quite warm.

Wt 10 Size 6 Pr 3/3/3 AG - +2 MA, +1 WP

Necromancer Robes These robes count as armour and reduce all damage by 2. They add 1 rank to any general knowledge spell cast by the wearer (+1 rank if in the entity branch, +1 if a necromancer). If the wearer knows the Necrogeny Talent they may add it's rank to their purification rank. These robes are size 5 (elf), if worn by another size entity then there is a -1 AG penalty.

Wt 5 Size 5 Pr 2/2/2 AG - -2 damage on all drain attacks.

Invested Shadow Wings (Braclet) Rk 11 invested Shadow Wings BC 85, SP 41 mph for 6 hours

Ch 4 3 2 1

Invested Shadow Wings (Bracelet) Rk 11 invested Shadow Wings BC 85, SP 41 mph for 6 hours

Ch 4 3 2 1

Invested Spectral Warrior (Ring) Rk 12 invested Spectral Warrior BC 70

Ch 3 2 1

Waters of Healing Rk 12 Heals one natural poison effect or (D-4) + 12 damage. Potions 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Quicked Sword This Hand and a half increases the wielders IV by 10 and their AG by 3. It may be enchanted by a weapon spell.

Wt 5 SC 70 D+6 Cl B

Piercing Sword This Hand and a half treats all armour as if it were 1/2 value. It may also do A class criticals. It may be enchanted by a weapon spell.

Wt 5 SC 75 D+5 CL AB

Dwarven Steel Mail This maile tunic adds 12 EN and 12 FT to the wearer. It also provides 25 DF and a point of natural armour. While worn the wearer may not benefit from a defence spell or a Strength of Stone spell that increases EN.

Wt 36 Pr 9/5 AG -2 +12 EN,+12 FT +25 DF

Heavy Barding When fitted to a horse it provides 10 points of protection It increases the horses TMR by 2.

Mattock of Elvish Envy This magical mattock adds 3+Mattock Rank to AG and removes the AG penalty for any worn armour. Will not work for an elf. It may be enchanted by a weapon spell.

Wt 8 SC 65 D+8 CL C

Blessed Mace This mace will do an extra D10 damage vs unholy things. A believer in the Powers of Light may add their WP to the SC. An agent of the Powers of Light will never miss with this weapon (treat all miss results as a normal hit). It may be enchanted by a weapon spell.

Wt 5 SC 55 D+5 CL C

Bleeding Blade This Sabre inflicts a 1 pt FT bleeder on effective damage. If the victim recieves any type of healing the bleed effect stops. If the wielder is an assassin they may put multiple bleed effects on one target (lim Assassin rank). It may be enchanted by a weapon spell.

Wt 3 SC 70 D+4 CL B

Companion's Shield (Ash??) This Kite Shield adds 10 to defence. In addition the wielder may take one series of hits from one enemy intended for someone to their immediate left or right.

Wt 10 DF 10+5/Rank -2 MD

Combat Abilities

Force Back This counts as a special attack. The attack is performed as normal and the target must make a 2xPS check or be pushed back one hex. If they fail 70+PS thry are also knocked prone. They cannot be pushed through a wall but could be pushed off a cliff. While the target takes no damage the damage calculated acts as a penalty to resisting being knocked back by acting as an addition to the dice roll. This maneuver is best performed with a weapon and shield. If done so the attacker may add their shield bonus to the attack roll. When the target is pushed back the attacker may choose to follow into the now vacant hex for free.

Example: Aldwin attempts Force Back on an Orc. His strike chance is normally 110, but because he is using a shield, he gets to add the shield bonus as well, an extra 25 in this case as it is a kite shield and Aldwin is Rk 4 in Shield. His attack succeeds and the damage would of been 15. The orc must now roll under 2xPS and add 15 to the dice roll. This orc has 18 PS so if it rolls 21 or less it resists the attack (2x18-15=21). If it rolls between 22 and 73 then it is pushed back one hex. If it rolls over 73 then the orc is pushed back and also falls prone.

Stunning Strike This counts as a special attack. The unarmed attack is performed as normal at -20 to hit. If the target takes effective damage then they are stunned. The target never takes more than one point of damage from this attack. Only works on humanoids.

Example: Alana attempts a stunning strike on an Orc. She hits and rolls 9 for damage. The orc is wearing hard leather and so has a total protection of 5 (4 from armour and 1 for being an orc). The orc is stunned and only takes 1 damage.