Brastor goblin hunting
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Summary
Adventure: Brastor goblin hunting On Plane
GM: Bernard
Session: Autumn 817
Night: Tuesdays
Location: Birdlands, Massey.
Level: Medium/Low-medium
Party:
- Jaycey Played by Anne
- Kerry played by Helen
- Grizelda played by Jacqui (scribe)
- Kaeso played by Ant
- Elderan played by Ian (party leader)
Employer:
Duchy of Carzala
Mission:
A goblin tribe has been raiding farms along the south of Brastor for food & other supplies working from the Falgiso forest. They have proven too hard for the local guardsmen to catch as the Goblins have wolves that are specially trained to hit & run, and the local church knights are occupied in clearing the fields of ghouls that grew over winter so that the spring plantings can go ahead.
Rather than mobilise the army who are busy along the Dark wall the Duke has authorized a release of funds from the Purse, and the hiring of a guild party to deal with the matter.
The guild will be paying a lump sum in silver, along with some items recently acquired from the southern Alusia trade they suspect most guild members will find useful.
Silvered weapons are considered a minimum for the Brastor region in case of undead left over from the Dark circle, as that is a common occurrence, and silvered B or C class weapons are highly recommended.
Pay:
5,000sp each in coins.
Potion, Scroll & Pipe each from southern alusia regions. Effects may vary based on target.
House rules for this season
Unarmed will use Cestus base stats as a starting point, use unarmed rank still for rank bonuses. Over-strength like for a normal weapon, using a Cestus as well adds +2 DM, & any weapon-smithing or magical bonuses.
Spells over 20 are considered 20 for rank vs rank comparisons, and ranks beyond 20 treated as if enhanced in all areas.
Skills when appropriate one character may lead the entire party through the activity, only needing a single check.
Magic will not queue so multiple spells with similar effects may be active but only the best attribute for each area will apply, they do not stack, this includes shaped items not stacking.
Diary
Scribe will receive an EP bonus if the notes are up to date more than 24h before the next session, and the in game dates are correct.
Initial Brief
Chapter One
As usual, we began in a Guild Meeting Room. But this time the Guild itself was employing us, to help the people in Brastor who are being raided by goblins out of the Filigaso Forest. We were given a chit for the payment chest. Which we went to collect. Inside were five bags containing 5000sp each, together with five potions, five scrolls, and five etched pipes. All had some kind of enhancement magic on them. We took them to the Namers; and Acordia the assistant dean agreed to look over them. She told us that the potions would affect personal statistics (including height), the scrolls would affect magic in some way, and the pipes would affect weapon skills.
Jaycee, Alderan, Kayso and Kerry took the potions. Jaycee became a bit taller. I demurred since I did not think it would do much for me, and I did not wish to be any shorter. Then Jaycee read the first scroll and it crumbled, but not much had apparently happened. Kerry's shadow-wings spell improved. My rune shield changed so that it created a floating kite shield in addition to its usual effect. And there was something to do with my runestaff and the pyrogenesis spell. Alderan did not take the scroll. When we tried the pipes we found they allowed us to master one weapon group; I chose shields.
Meanwhile I got started on creating heart rune tattoos for the party, and we obtained greater enchantments from Aaron (Rank 13 greater covering four areas for three months cost 8800sp).
6 Thaw
Mr Tallfellow had asked to see us at the Binder's Hut. Which was actually quite big. It turned out that he wanted us to take a couple of golems with us to Brastor. These were 5ft iron golems. There was one for Alderan which he named Legolas, and one for Kayso that he named Thumpy. These golems could even talk. They were "samples" apparently, and Mr Tallfellow wanted to learn how well they worked out on adventure.
So Alderan summoned a cloud and we set off, after getting the maps out and debating the safest method of travel and route; avoiding the variety of magical menaces left over from various incursions. We decided to head through Braegon's Gap at a good height, and not worry about the cloud being a bit conspicuous. We spent an hour or two hanging on to the cloud as a minor storm tried to push us into the mountains. As a result it was more than nine hours before we landed near the town of Westgate. We flew over some parties of church knights heading into town, looking a bit battered. At the gate we were told to go to the Inn. We were expected. We also noticed a large healer's hall, and a surprising amount of artwork. There seemed to be quite a lot of town guards, most of whom were middle-aged or older. We spent the night in the Inn.
Chapter Two
7 Thaw
We went and visited an official-looking building on one side of the town square. A thin, elderly, gentlemen wearing squire's chains was working at a desk. He explained that the goblins were raiding farms and industries to the south-west. Five sites had been hit in the last few weeks. Not many people had been killed, but building materials, tools, animals, sacks of grains had been taken. The church knights based here were busy dealing with the winter ghoul harvest. The town guard have had difficulty dealing with the goblins because they were mounted on large wolves and moving too fast. Some may be dire wolves. Their warbands numbers twenty to thirty.
The sites which have been raided are:
Shoal Steading - herbs, roots, tubers. Winter beets. - 4th Ice
Bruin Steading - animal husbandry - chickens etc. - 16th Ice
Cook Family - logging on edge of forest - 26th Ice
Bucksmare - mining for copper and tin. Looking to start bronze casting. - 6th Ice
Girth Steading - running a ferry and fish-farming, using dams. - 2nd Thaw
The goblins appeared to have magical support and some ranged source of fire, maybe burning arrows. They were probably raiding out of the forest.
The healing hall was available to us, but only offered services to rank 4.
We decided to begin with the most recently hit site, the Girth Steading, perhaps five miles away. It seemed easiest to walk. We found the place, where about thirty people were working on rebuilding. We found Girst Senior who told us where the goblins attacked from, and the wolves howling and buildings set on fire. The humans managed to withdraw across the river.
The goblins had performed a pincer attack. The wolves rode past, and doors hacked down. It looked like axes. Meanwhile, the humans made a break for the river. We found arrowheads embedded in the ground - around 20 - it looked like goblins policed the ground. The fragments of wood showed arrow-flight magic. The heads were well-crafted cold iron. Blood splashes around the houses showed goblin and wolf blood. No goblins were apparently killed. They were fast, and clearly not weak. There were traces of an archery battery 300ft back. Then nothing. The goblins had hidden their tracks.
I summoned a bear spirit and sent him off to look for goblins. Meanwhile, we contemplated where the goblins might strike next on the basis of what they hadn't yet gone for. Bear came back and told me there were lots of human places, but not goblins or wolves.
So we went on, aiming for the quarry that had not been hit, by way of the mine that had.
We were told to be careful, because goblins had made a big mess of the mine, dropping grenados into the shafts, damaging the shoring. These humans had escaped by hiding in the mine.
I looked with spirit vision and sensed an enormous spirit of fire and water deep within the hill. I talked to it, but it knew nothing of goblins here, since the darkness.
We found the quarry next, where they were hacking out blocks of stone and loading them onto sleds and then onto wagons hauled by teams of oxen.
We planned to camp the night. I cast runes of sight, but saw no goblins, just the morning dew.
There were three watches:
Alderan, JC and Legolas the Golem
Kerry and Kayso and Thumpy the Golem
Grizelda and Bear
I set up a rune ward around the camp. Then Kerry read the night sky and got the following:
Burning and blood
Wind and water
Trees, trees, trees
The rest of the night night passed without event.
8 Thaw
After breakfast I checked a couple of other steadings with my crystal of vision. Then Alderan summoned a cloud so we could check the rest of the steadings. We did not see any smoke, but we did see a lake where two of the rivers met, and a collection of buildings south of two of the steadings. Neither was on our map, which was a bit peculiar.
Chapter Three
We flew on towards the lake. There was no sign of buildings. As we came down to land, we saw something a bit odd five miles to west and another anomaly five miles SSE, but were unable to identify them. We landed on the west side of the lake, among pink and blue flowers. The ground was squelchy, from a storm a few days back. The lake was clear as were the streams. We walked to the dam. It seemed to be a natural rock ridge. Then we looked at the pink flowers. They were actually the same species as the blue ones, just growing in more alkaline soil. Where the water came bubbling up into the lake there was something fizzing. But there was nothing magical. Perhaps an alchemist might know more.
So we set off for one of the anomalies. After an hour or so we came across a long row of stacked logs, not much more than knee high. Some kind of fence? Within was a campsite, and a drop to the brock beyond. The rangers found no humanoid tracks, only those of small animals. Abruptly as we explored... we fell into a cavern. Which was full of giant wasps. That spit fire. I got out, along with Aldaran (the others had managed to avoid falling in) and cast a rune wall across the hole, while Aldaran sent in some lightning bolts. With most of the party low on fatigue we ran for it, and the angry wasps did not follow. We healed up, making good use of the lesser healing rune, and had lunch. Then, we summoned another cloud, and set out for the second anomaly.
We found a wide flat rock which looked remarkably like a landing platform. There was a stream to the west that ran yellow, and a stream to the east that ran somewhat orange. The yellow water was murky, not magical, but it was toxic. The orange water flowed clear. There was a sound of splashing from under a lip of stone. There a strange pond, with yellow and orange streams mingling, and flying fish. These were "flying fish", but not magical, nor had magic impacted them. Alderan cast speak to avians, and found the mana was strange. The fish were saying to each other, "Fly, fly, fly, make them chase, make them chase, make them fall". I tried to touch them with my runestaff and almost fell. Apparently anything that fell was food. The orange stream was clear. Aldaran tested it, and weirdness happened. Some kind of magical effect, that was permanent until used.
Alderan: "The fish are talking about the one that got away".
We walked some distance, about half a mile away. Then I summoned my totem spirit and sent him to check the area. While we waited, Alderan summoned a cloud, and I divined enchantment on him. The Bear spirit did not come back. We flew to the Koch steading where we planned to spend the night.
Chapter Four
There was no-one at the steading, though it seemed mostly repaired. There were signs that the humans had recently left, not intending to spend the night here. We slept comfortably in an empty building.
9 Thaw
We awoke to a clearing sky, and the expectation of a hot day, and a light easterly breeze. We decided that today we would investigate the fog. Alderan summoned a cloud which arrived some time before nine-thirty, after rituals were done.
We did not land in the fog, but near it, perhaps a mile away. Closer it looked more like steam. As we looked around we saw that there was a broad marsh concealed by the green of pond scum, and decided it would be best to go around. Which took until about midday. We stood on a hilltop with a stream to the west, which ran beside the marsh, with much steam coming out. There was a patch of forest to the east and more marsh beyond. Alderan said that he could smell smoke, rotting meat, goblin and sulphur. As we approached it became apparent that the steam was coming from hot springs on either side of the stream. Closer and we could see there was a dam. Not a very well made dam. Not a beaver dam. Maybe natural... maybe goblins. We dropped down a small cliff, and found ourselves in marshy sulphurous smog. Alderan added that he could now smell rat as well.
Further on, approaching the dam, we could see fire pits, and beyond them, corpses with rats feasting on them (probably livestock). There were tunnels where the rats were wandering in and out. As we got closer, the rats fled, and we could see the corpses were indeed those of livestock, perhaps a week or two old. The tendons, long bones, and hides were missing, along with the good butchery meat. There were lots of rat tracks and some goblin tracks around the fires. Any that left the area had hidden their tracks.
I summoned the bear spirit, and asked it to find goblin. It found goblin around the fire pits, but I explained that I wanted living goblin. It did not find goblin in the rat tunnels, or the livestock corpses, or in the woods. Then it disappeared into the waterfall and did not come back. JC said she saw an illusion behind the waterfall, and we rapidly came to the conclusion that there be goblins hiding in there. We prepared, and JC and Kerry sneaked in. And came running out. There were a whole lot of goblins in there. And they had a least three spell-casters. Lightning-bolts. And a rune wall. Which we had no easy way to get through. We would have to take counterspells and hope to resist it. JC saw a circle of runes in there. Rune portal?
We decided to go and make the dam go away, so that the goblins' lightning bolts wouldn't be quite such a pain. So the golems were sent over there, but they weren't very smart. We learned that they needed their masters with them. And that the dam was far better built than it had appeared.
After a while as we waited, we saw a giant worm poke its head out of the cave. I put a rune wall across the entrance. It came straight through. Great. I put another one in front of it. The worm went through that one too. And then it attacked me. Between Bear and I, and JC who jumped down to help, we plainly hurt the monster bad enough that it retreated. But we were pretty hurt ourselves. So, we decided to finish the job of dam destruction, and then go back to town and report.
Chapter Five
Our report was taken by a Guard Sergeant who muttered something about, "Glad they didn't have the worms when we fought them." I was able to get access to an oven and made a batch (8) of restorative cookies and a batch (8) of giant cookies. The rest of the night passed quietly (and comfortably) at the Inn with reduced watches.
10 Thaw
The next morning I had to recharge the used healing runes, and then we headed out. As we left we were handed a pouch containing 500sp, labelled, "Payment for information and services rendered".
We decided to begin by determining if the goblins were still where they had been the day before. As we approached we could see that the fog was rather thicker than it had been the day before, possibly because it was much earlier in the day. We landed near where we landed previously. It was immediately obvious that the waterfall was gone, and there were obvious tracks of heavily laden goblins heading into the marsh. Whereupon the tracks disappeared.
So we cautiously explored inside the cave. Beyond where the rune wall had been was another magical barrier - an obscure ritual air magic called "air shell" that had four days to run. Inside that one was another effect. It was a scry shield, rank 10, that would remain there for the rest of this season. There was a fifty foot chamber, a tunnel, and another chamber full of barrels many of which were full of cured meat. Mostly donkey and goat. The chalk circle was gone.
By the fire-pits we found the fired remains of some wagons.
We loaded up the meat on JC's donkey cart and on our backs, and took all 2000lb of food to the humans at the quarry. We were very tired, but they were well-pleased. We spent the night there.
11 Thaw
We weren't able to start again until midday after that, which meant we could only search half the bowl. So we started with the side nearest the forest. We found the goblin trail, but almost lost it when the trail split, some heading to the hills and some to the forest. We slept that night in the vacated goblin cave.
12 Thaw
We followed the trail that headed for the hills. Around midday we spotted something by the stream perhaps two miles away. I pulled out the crystal of vision for a closer look. There was a cave that a stream flows out of, and tailings by the cave. No plants grew among them, so they must be recent. We approached, and I summoned the bear spirit to go and check it out. Kerry cast blending and we got closer, to about a thousand feet. We could see no sentries posted, but that did not that mean that there were none.
Bear came back and confirmed that there were goblins in that cave. Further, the hill was made of soft rock and was riddled with tunnels, at least one of which was big enough for JC. Kerry and JC, being the best at sneaking, went to investigate the cave. They came back with the news that there was a scry shield, but no sign of sentries. And a yellow rock that healer skill told me wasn't safe to rub against the skin. The stream was yellow, even before it reached the tailings.
We decided to take samples back to town for the alchemists this evening, and meanwhile check out the trail that led to the forest. Eventually, we lost the trail, but we could just make out a clearing in the direction it led. Approaching, we found a nice campsite area, which had obviously been recently occupied by goblins, more than once in the past week or so. We realised that finding the next section of trail would be getting difficult, and it was getting towards sunset. So Alderaan summoned a cloud and we returned to town. When we got to the Inn we found a couple of miners from the Backsmare clan who told us that somebody had been extracting metals from the rock. It was the alchemist's goop used in the extraction process that was poisonous. They used a similar process for their copper. The goblins could also be extracting copper, or perhaps silver, gold or zinc. From the size of the pile of tailings the goblins must have been at it for a couple of months. Before bed, I baked some more cookies.
Chapter Six
13 Thaw
Aldaran summoned a cloud and we flew towards where we had seen the cluster of buildings. Rapidly, because there was an impressive tailwind. The weather had taken a turn for the violent. There was a building with a pyramid roof that JC said was a large steading for several families. The square building was probably a stables. The rectangular buildings were barns - one of them had its roof staved in. As we inspected it more closely, we saw that the entire place was in a serious state of disrepair, with just some old farming gear inside. Looking for magic we soon concluded that the Dark Circle had had a part in the decay. The life had literally gone out of the place. Oddly, there was a lack of small insects and cobwebs.
When we tried to open the door to the second barn, the door disintegrated into sawdust. And the wind whipped it up into a dust storm. Only JC could see anything, and it was just basic animal gear much as we'd seen in the other barn.
So, we inspected the steading. There were shutters, and a people-sized door. Aldaran pushed it open, revealing more doors beyond. And little shuttered windows. JC tried to unlock the door, and a spike came out and poisoned her. Aldaran was able to cure it before it killed her. Soon we were inside. There was a big room, dominated by a thick pillar that went right up into the roof, and a pair of tables. The floor was wooden. Checking the aura of the first of the interior doors, on the left, I found it was decades old. We opened in and it led into a corridor with more doors. A door on the left led into a large communal bedroom. Stairs on the left led up... and then JC fainted.
From fear. There were ghouls dressed in farmer clothing. They were coming down the stairs and from the room on the other side of the corridor. There were eight in total. We pulled JC back from the stairs, and then fought them until they all went down. Only Alderan was badly hurt, but his healing runes keep him alive. On inspection the ghouls did not appear to have been the residents. But we could not stay here, because the place was so dead that it was slowly draining the life from us. We decided it was in the best interests of all concerned to simply burn it all down, and return to town.
Chapter Seven
It was only mid-afternoon, but the weather was closing in, and it felt like a good time for a rest. I spent some time baking at the communal oven, and in the evening we were regaled with tales of the war against the Dark Circle, and the famous Battle of Carlson's Switch.
Grizelda (in want of ingredients): "You're a Binder, you make shit, right?"
14 Thaw
Overnight the wind had dropped down to nothing, but the rain had not stopped, and had evidently settled in for the day, at least. We debated the best means of transport, and soon concluded that flying (or at least landing) in the wilderness would be too dangerous in this weather. So Kerry and JC flew off to Brastor Landing to buy three additional horses, and obtained riding geldings that cost 1000sp each. These were stowed in JCs bracelet for transport back to Westgate. Meanwhile I summoned an efreeti for me to ride. And we set forth, all mounted except the golems.
Four hours later, mid-afternoon, we arrived at one edge of the forest. We could make out some kind of structure just inside the wooded edge. We approached, still mounted, and soon saw that it was a small roughly hexagonal stone keep. As we got closer we could make out armoured entities on the battlements. But they did nothing, even as we got closer. JC said there was something odd about them. They did not move, were cold to infravision, and had no visible aura, or enchantments.
We approached, mostly on foot. The aura of the door said that it was primarily hardwood, not magical, and sixty years since it was part of a tree. There was no handle, and opened inward. Aldaran pushed on the doors. And inside was an armour-clad figure, exuding an aura of fear, which caused panic in some of those close to the door. Behind it minions in the form of armoured skeletons, some of which fired at the party from above. Battle ensued, and it was not an easy fight. The armour-clad undead alternated between casting spells and throwing its returning battle-axe (a thing that the party considered "shiny" and desired enough that we intended to press on with the engagement), as we kept battering at the skeletons. Eventually, my efreeti vanished from under me, having been banished, and I had to continue fighting on foot, JC at my side. By the time the skeletons were defeated and their armour-clad leader retreated, the golems in particular were badly damaged.
Chapter Eight
We healed up, and repaired the golems. Each of us ate a giant cookie, and I ended up eating three restorative cookies. I triggered my bear tattoo and put a rune shield on him. Kerry suggested we took a different approach, so we climbed up the wall and attacked from the top. This proved to be a mistake as soon as the top floor began to disintegrate under our feet. The golems had not been able to climb, and as the floor fell away, Kerry and Bear became separated from the rest of the party. This had the result that both groups were out-numbered and surrounded. Soon JC and Aldaran were both unconscious. The undead knight offered to take our surrender, and we had little choice but to concede.
Chapter Nine
We were stripped to our underclothes, clapped into iron manacles, and locked into cells, under the guard of skeletons. JC was still unconscious. Soon the black glow went away from the skeleton's spears. We were told that Alex would be here to see us soon.
About an hour or so later, just after JC woke up, there was a clatter of armour coming down the stairs. The undead knight introduced himself as Alex, and politely asked who we were. Turned out he wanted some of our life-force to restore the skeletons. And something else. Kayso had that something else - something he could use to make his golems better. In fact, Alex was remarkably reasonable. He did add that he would need to place a geas on us not to return for a year and a day.
One of the other undead came down, pointed a dagger with a glowing crystal at each of us in turn, and performed a ritual. We felt invisible strands linking as it pointed at us, and life force go out. We had each lost one permanent endurance and fatigue.
At about seven in the evening, Alex and his lieutenants returned. They took the shackles off, and led us downstairs into what appeared to be a natural cave, which Alex explained was connected to the tunnels under this area. There was the griffin and an air elemental, and five skeletons laid out on the floor.
Alderan and Kayso were instructed to assist. As was I. Towards the end of the ritual the magic slipped... There was a flash and a smell of brimstone. But somehow, it worked. The skeletons seemed quite burly as they got up, and had claws. According to its aura was a sentient animate, immune to fire, air and rune magic, had no specific vulnerabilities, and had permanent defensive and offensive. They had access to air, fire and rune magic.
After that, we were allowed our run of the tower. Alderan went exploring. I healed everyone up, with lesser healing runes. Then we set watches and slept.
15 Thaw
It was a clear spring morning with an easterly breeze. JC wanted to see if they have anything to trade. We went to see Alex. He asked what he could do for us. Aldaran asked if he could now leave. Alex reminded us that he would need to geas us first, but he trusted us enough that it would not need to be as strong as he had suggested earlier. If we tell people about the tower we must tell the truth. Alex was also wondering where the fire came from in the skeletons, but he could not divinate. I pointed out that as a Rune mage I could divinate. So I found one of the skeletons and did the ritual, learning that participating in the ritual were a greater undead, an air mage, a binder and a balrog. Alex said he didn't know that he was that close. Apparently our guild had released the balrog some years ago. Specifically the walking disaster area. Now, this balrog inhabits the volcano some fifty miles from here.
After that, we took off in a hurry. Then stopped to summon transport. A skeleton came to speak to us, because Alex was wondering what we were doing, and pointed out what we needed to do was either kill the dire wolves the goblins were using as transport, or the giant who was giving them instructions. The giant lives in caves near the goblin village, accessible through the tunnels.
So, we walked back to the clearing where we had found the goblins. There were dire wolf tracks - we estimated these dire wolves were quite big, as long as Grizelda in bear form, and probably taller. We found their trail after spending some time. About six days old. As we followed the trail into the forest, we soon realised that we ought to put the horses away on JCs bracelet, because the terrain was becoming difficult, the trees closing in around us. It was dark too, in this forest. We then realised we were having trouble finding north - and so was JC's wayfinder. There was an abundance of wildlife, small mammals, frogs, all sorts of creatures.
As we broke for lunch, I summoned a bear spirit. The bear said it was hard to find the way. There was old magic here. There were thin places. There were fey here. I thought it best to have the bear spirit scout ahead of us, and look for strange things. After a while the trail turned south-west.
And soon it came to dusk. We decided to make camp.
Chapter Ten
16 Thaw
It was a cold night, with patches of mist settled among the trees. Parts of this mist JC could not see through, and they proved to be magical, the nature of the magic being "mist". Kerry did not think it would be harmful. Wolves howled in the distance, in the denser forest. Aside from this and the other sounds of the forest, the night passed uneventfully.
We carried on, following the trail. By this stage, it had become more obvious and well-travelled, very like a game trail, except for diversions around the streams. After a two hours we could make out light among the trees, perhaps a clearing, half a mile ahead. We sent JC and Kerry ahead to scout. What they found was a charcoal-burners camp, manned by orcs.
We decided to try to talk to them, and sent JC forward (because she could speak a little orcish) with Kerry at her side in cat form. But as soon as they spotted her, the orcs ran into one of the buildings. Then a couple of arrows came her way, but missed. JC stepped back into the forest. There was movement in the buildings. Shortly, a wall of blocks appeared, followed by others. These were "walls of cinders". We decided to ignore the orcs, scout around, and look for the wolf trail. Which we did. It wasn't hard; the trail was deeper, and there were more goblin tracks.
Soon the forest became deeper and darker. Our sense of direction failed completely. There was mist everywhere, much of it magical. We could see no more than 25ft feet. Then, in front of us, there was a solid thorn wall. It was ritual magic, defensive and damaging, named "barrier of thorns", and it had been here for years. The only way through would be to force one's way through. I carried out a divination on it. It had been renewed by a blood sacrifice about three weeks ago. It could be opened by a password consisting of a fetish and a phrase. There was eight weeks duration remaining. It would resist damage, and regenerate over time. But there was no alarm. So I came to the obvious conclusion that we could just chop our way through, with our magical axes. Much less dangerous than trying to fly over. But it was tiring.
There was more dense dark misty forest on the other side.
Chapter Eleven
The trail continued on, leading into the forest, so we started walking. After an hour we came to a fork in the path. To the right there were lightly-laden goblin footprints, but straight ahead heavily-laden goblins and wolves. So we followed the wolves. After two hours we heard distant howling, which soon grew louder. We settled into the forest, and waited. There was a cat-like cry mixed in with the voices of the wolves. First down the path came a leopard, followed by four wolves. The cat ran on down the trail as the wolves went on the attack, running in, biting and running away in a most un-wolf-like manner. They seemed able to move quite freely through the forest that was almost impenetrable to us. Alderan cast lightning bolts at them. Soon, as I moved forward, I could make out a bigger wolf on the edge of the mist that was casting spells. There was healing magic, and some kind of ball of force... I must remember to watch out for Kerry's webs. Eventually, I managed to finish off the dire wolf, which was already damaged by Alderan's lightning bolts, and it went home in a puff of flame.
The wolves had well-crafted wolf-barding. Hmm... Anyhow, we decided to continue on and look for a place to camp. After an hour we came to a fork in the trail. To the left were wolf tracks, to the right were the tracks of heavily-laden goblins. Alderan decided we should follow the goblin trail, because the goblins must have stuff. After a while we came to a break in the trail. Alderan said he could smell goblin. A lot of goblins. And there was a giant footprint. A big giant footprint. Wearing boots. We sent Kerry to sneak ahead. She found us a spot where we could all take a look... It was a fortified goblin town set in the forest. There was a wall and a moat, and some kind of magical protections. There were caverns where they were apparently farming mushrooms and such like. We estimated there were about five hundred goblins. But no wolves or any place for them. We decided that five hundred goblins was just a few too many for us to take on, and decided to go for the wolves.
So down the other path we went. The wolves were living in a number of caves in a cliff... Three larger caves that we surmised were occupied by dire wolves, and five others. Darkness fell.
Chapter Twelve
We buffed with strength of darkness, smite, and JC made herself invisible. Then we sneaked into the rightmost of the caves, with JC looking around corners. There were goblins engaged in metalwork. We killed them all. They showed a particular distaste for the elves in the party. Bear did very well, closing on goblins and squishing them.
And then the wolves showed up. Kerry had conveniently placed a wall of starlight in the way. There were three dire wolves and a number of others. They sent in some kind of web, which slowed us down somewhat, and a spray of some kind of bolt spell. Then there was an explosion... I spent most of my time pointing my runestaff at whichever direwolf I had cast torment on. Eventually, they all went away. We then searched the area and found some items of use.
Epilogue
After quickly establishing that none of the loot was cursed, we headed for the exit, and when were outside, Alderan summoned a cloud. We climbed aboard, and flew over the forest in the dark, then followed the glimmers of moonlight on the river back to the town. We were asked to stay in the town for a few days just to be sure that we hadn't stirred up the goblins and no attacks were forth-coming. But nothing much happened.
I spent that time divinating the items. The crystal ball showed there was some sort of mine structure further up the Orange River - but the river was starting to look a bit less orange.
21 Thaw
We flew back to the Guild. We were debriefed by the Guild and by the Duke's representative, who was happy that we had accomplished our mission. So that was that.
People
Mil Sci
Mil Sci will receive an EP bonus for ensuring Combats run smoothly and quickly
Daily Pattern
- Sleep/Camp 10 Hours
- Travel 10 Hours
- Meals 2 Hours / 2 Hot meals + 1 tea
- Rituals 2 Hours
Purification 1hr
Ritual/Rune drawing 1hr
Meals 2hr
6 rune shield
10 willow healing
4ft hot meal
3ft tea
Total 11 back
Sleep gives 3/hr, 4/hr for Grizelda
29 for most, 35 for Grizelda
Hours of sleep for Ft recovery + Hot meal Ft recovery.
- Jaycey
- Kerry
- Grizelda
- Kaeso
- Elderan
Travel Magics
Caster & Spell: Kerry- Star/shadow wings
- Total speed: 37mph
- Duration: 4 hrs
- Ft cost per duration: 2 each
- Effective travel distance: 140 miles
Watch Order
Marching Order
Main body front:
Main body rear:
Tail Guard:
Formations
Single file:
Open area:
Buffs
Buffs listed in the table don't need to be detailed, other buffs not on the table must be mentioned at the time they are cast.
Y means always on, N/- means never on, 'Sit.' means when the party has time for buffs before a fight.
Weapon Spells which weapon/s it is going on normally should be noted also.
General notes.
-
-
Long Duration Buffs
Magic | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ft / Day | Jaycey | Kerry | Grizelda | Kaeso | Alderan | Thumpy | Legolas |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shadowform | 12 | 26 def half in close | 6.5 hrs | 12 Ft | Day | Day | Day | Day | Day | Day | Day |
Rune Shield | 9 | 14 def absorbs 2 dam | 10 hrs | 6 Ft | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Sit | Sit |
Willow Healing | 6 | Heals 3 en for 8 pulses | 12 hrs | 10 Ft | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N/A | N/A |
Warding with Runes | 6 | ??% chance spells stop, -??% to adepts MR to cross | 7 weeks | 0 Ft | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Giant Cookies | 6 | Adds 4 STR and EN | 10 hrs | ?? Ft | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | N/A | N/A |
Name | ## | Does stuff | ?? hrs | ?? Ft | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Short Duration Buffs
Magic | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ft / Cast | Jaycey | Kerry | Grizelda | Kaeso | Alderan | Thumpy | Legolas |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Light/Dark Sword | 6 | 7 SC and +3 dam to Dark/Light aspect | 11 mins | 2 Ft | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | N/A | N/A |
Strength of darkness | 9 | +6 str | 100 mins | 1 Ft | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit |
Smite | 10 | Max D10 four times | 15 mins | 1 Ft | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit | Sit |
Name | ## | Does stuff | ?? hrs | ?? Ft | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Map
Loot
SP
Items
1 magical staff - invested energy spray rk 10 5 charges 10000
1 magical staff - healing 7 points, 3 targets 5 charges 10000
Magical ice-cube - refrigerates an area can be put into weapon or armour 20000
8x magical grenados 5 x fog 2000 3 x energy web 3000
Magical trident - true-silvered returning wielder can learn trident to ten 20000
Skull & teeth - go on an animal 10000
Two pearls - of water-breathing 5000
Gifts
Calendar
Spring | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moonday | Duesday | W'ansday | Th'rsday | Frysday | Reapsday | Sunday | ||||||||
Candlemansa | ||||||||||||||
Thaw (10) | ||||||||||||||
1 | Guild Meeting | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The Carzalan Generals Ball | 6 | Left guild. | ||||||
7 | Started investigations. | 8 | 9 | Goblins in a cave. | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Farm ghouls | |||||
14 | Tower undead | 15 | 16 | 17 | Wolf caves | 18 | 19 | 20 | ||||||
21 | Return to guild? | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||||||
28 | 29 | 30 | ||||||||||||
Seedtime (11) | ||||||||||||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rites of Thunor | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||||
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Equinox | 16 | 17 | Eostre | 18 | The Seagate Spring Ball | |||||
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | ||||||||
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||||||||
Blossom (12) | ||||||||||||||
1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ||||||||
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Floralia | 22 | 23 | |||||||
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Walpurgisnacht |