Undead What Now?

Scribe Notes

Summary

GM: Bernard
Season: Spring 824 WK
Night: Wednesday
Location: Birdlands
Level: Medium

Party

1. Uthgard Elemental Giant - Played by Anne
2. BoomBoom
3. Callie the bard - Played by Helen
4. Vixen
5. Argus
6. Eledon

Employer

Lieutenant Lefrod and Sergeant Putrel

Mission

To Find and Deal with the Source of the Undead Brownies.

Pay

5000sp each

Scribe Notes

Into the Woods

Shortly after the guild meeting a member of guild security escorted me to a guild meeting room. Also escorted to this room was:

BoomBoom, an orcish Fire warrior, 

Calliope or Callie, a Human Bard Warrior, 

Vixen, an Elven Fire Warrior, 

Argus, a Dwarven Binder Utility Fighter, 

and Eledon, an Elven Ice Fighter. 

We meet with our actign employers, Lieutenant Lefrod and Sergeant Putrel who were running training exercises in the Forest of Arlynn near enough to the Ruby Waters. While running their training they encountered what was identified as Undead Brownies, which is naturally a cause for concern. Agreeing on the goal of our group and the payment for this task, we head out to read old scribe notes from the area and get ourselves prepared.

Heading out, via a wings spell from the Lord of Bats, we fly down to where the road meets the Forest. And head into Ruby Waters, we ask the local elves some questions before camping in the commons for the night.

In the morning, we headed around the lake looking for clues before heading our way into the forest. After walking for a while we encounter 3 Brownies fighting a boar. Throwing a glass explosion in to them Vixen follow up with

 “Who broke the tree”

 “You!” – Party 

Checking the now dead Brownies we learn that they are indeed undead, but the bodies don’t disappear on death like creatures of fey should. We also learn that the boar would rise on the next fey moon. So we dealt with it so it didn’t raise.

Following the brownie tracks we find a clearing with a ring of toadstools around the edge. Nothing seems to happen when a golem enters the circle. Knowing that the effect on entrance is conditional we decided to spend 2 days waiting to see if weather cleared enough to trigger or if it was time based. Getting nothing from this we headed east.

After a few hours we encountered a minotaur and Satyrs fighting another group of Brownies. After the brownies fall we attempt a conversation but lack a language of communication at high enough ranks, Argus asks for written information in hopes we can get it translated somewhere.

We also learn that the Brownies are Associated with Bifron and have no plane of origin tho there is information hiding there. We also learn that the Brownies are not true fey which is why they aren’t vanishing.

Translated Clues

We return to ruby waters getting there just after dusk. In the morning we go about finding someone to translate the scroll. We get it roughly translated to:

 The fey are undead cause the ‘realm’ (doesn’t read realm but is close enough) is corupted’

 Don’t know what corrupted it, could be an artifact, the leader of the realm has made a pact, or they have just become undead

We get the translation finished by about midday and decide to head back out into forest to the toadstool circle getting there at about dusk. When we arrive we find brownies lying in ambush. They get a few lucky hits and down a couple party members successfully running away with my magic axe in a flee. They were accompanied by a few undead satyrs and an undead fey caster that was elven-kin. Probably what they elves stay when they didn’t leave the feyworlds.

Into the Unknown

After the fight we set up camp to start healing a few Spec Grevs and to watch if anything happens with the circle. While camping we start to notice an slow increase in the number of entities coming through the portal. Once we were all recovered we started to investigate the circle more thoroughly for an activation method and worked out it needed 3 things, Moonlight, Mana activation and a Connection between us and the circle. We create a connection to the circle by bleeding onto the mushrooms. While investigating Argus picks up a corpse and carries it into the circle infecting himself which we promptly investigate aswell. Learning that the infect causes Disconnect from plane and has No visual change, which is why all the Brownies don’t look undead.

Having discovered the way to activate the circle we travel through the circle and begin to feel like we’re traveling through a Kaelidascope and after what feels like forever and no time at all we appear ontop of a mountain in a stone circle with a toadstool ring. Looking out we see a cloudless storm of Lightning, Hail and Hurricanes. At the bottom of the mountain on the north face appears to be an open face mine with potentially hundreds if not thousands of entities. Surrounding the mountain is a wasteland that spans for hundreds of miles. Beyond on the wasteland is Forests and Fertile lands to the West, A tall ivory tower to the North West, A black castle to the North and a thick rolling Fog to the SouthEast.

While taking in our surroundings we also note groups of Satyrs and Brownies attempting to scale the near vertical cliff faces of the mountain in the middle of the storms. As the groups progress upwards their numbers start to dwindle. There are also a number of other circles above the cloud height at various other spots on the mountain.

As we start to consider descending the mountain we note that progressing down seems easier than progressing up, the winds and Hail are less harsh, the lightning seems to strike further way though still ever present, as tho whatever force is creating this event is trying to prevent people leaving not entering. Seeing as we are on a plain of will we consider using it to create us a nicer route down than a thousand mile climb straight down, on trying this I am knocked over by an overwhelming force of will and a very minor change happens to the mountain. In the moment in my ‘fight’ of wills the groups of Satyrs and Brownies jump up the mountain in an instant. Shortly after that the whole plane shakes, rocks fill some of the mines and the wasteland shrinks minorly.

Making the choice that climbing seemed safer at this stage, both for us and Alusia we started our decent down the mountain. Meeting a group of brownies and a Satyr on the way down, the brownies are removed with a simple flick of Vixens magic, the Satyr takes one look at the party fixes its eyes on Eledon and uses the wind to take an all mighty swing at him, disappearing into the mountain with the wind.

After 5 hours of climbing we reached the bottom and the wind vanishes and instead are meat with stifling heat. We find ourselves a camp site to recover from the long climb.

Starting to explore

During the ‘night’ on second watch we spot ranks of skeletons approaching us. During the fight I fall to all 3 mages charging them to make me the sole target of all of them. I am told that Argus also died, due to giving an unfortunate command to his animated cloak to drag him away if he falls. This just so happened to be as a skeleton was standing over him. We also lost Argus’ animal companion Brutus to a Smoking Magma which makes the standing members of the party consider eating him and cause of the influence of the fey realm consider eating us to.

“You can eat the dwarf but not Uthgard” – Vixen

“That’s very long pork” - BoomBoom

With the Mages retreating and the last of the undead front line defeated the party proceeded to collect the fallen members and make the climb back up the mountain, which they notice they aren’t having such a hard time as the undead. After traversing back through the portal they make the hike back to Ruby Waters and a Healer arrives two days later to resurrect us. Argus wakes up feeling cold. Probably a by-product of the preservation method they used for him. With a quick trip back to the guild and a ritual with the elves to increase survival chances we’re ready to head back out again.

Returning back to the Fey lands we experience three quick succession quakes, there’s an extra quake. We head out the 3 large trees and fertile lands encountering a chasm 60ft wide and a couple hundred feet deep at the deepest. We fire arc across and continue on our way. Once we reach the lands we camp having just walked all day in 50-60* weather.

While camping Vixen sees dim lights in the distance. In the morning we notice the Wasteland has shrunk considerably. We head towards the site of the dim lights and encounter 3 centaurs who don’t seem to know much as what is going on beyond their lands as they can’t venture out into the wastelands. They do inform us that there is a group trying to keep whatever lives in the Black Castle inside. Having learnt what we can we decide to head towards the Ivory Tower on our trek round to the Black Castle.

On our approach to the ivory tower we walk up a precarious trail with a cliff either side. Once we reach the top we are greeted by two guards in plate armour and an awe-inducing elven-like being. We ask a few questions about the undead invasion and get told that we should be headed to the Black Castle. The elven lady gives us a look over and offers us a place to stay ‘for the night’. She leads to a combined workshop, dormitories, church building. During the walk the elven-like lady tells us of a group of other elf-like beings that are similar but not the same that are holding the black castle under siege.

At dinner we join the humans for dinner and the members of the party who can DA poked around a bit and discovered that the humans come up with Vampire Thrall. Out of precaution we drop to two watches of three people over night just in case. In the morning we have breakfast having survived the night. And then we immediately head out to the Black Castle and out of the Vampire Tower.

Working out it that it will take us about two full days of travel we come up with a plan to get the most travel under 50* heat will still having enough Fatigue to handle a fight should done occur.

Making the other side of the wasteland we come across a large chasm with a stone bridge that leads to the Black Castle. Camped on the wasteland side of the bridge is a small war camp.

The 'Dark' Lord

We made our way through a burnt forest which came through into a ring of tree stumps. Across the gorge was a 5 tower star castle with a large central tower made of dark stone covered in spikes from midway up. Catapults and Balista mounted on the front towers and Main Gate.
In the war camp we noted Trebuchet and catapults and enough tents to hold on a rough guess 100 entities depending on racial makeup of the army. As we made our way across to the forest edge a centaur made its way over to us. Upon meeting us there was a brief conversation over why we had turned up in which included we’d come to help. During the walk back we DAed the Centaur and learnt he was Undead, had been for an uninterruptible amount of time and had an Indirect association with Bifron.

A direct question to the centaur about how long he’d been undead made him take off running. Taking the hint, we took off running as well to the chasm fire arcing across. A group of Dwarves, Elves, Centaurs and a 10ft tall tree chased after us with assorted hailing fire. We briefly took cover from catapult fire behind what appeared to be ruins of a barracks. Making our way round towards the back.

A figure leant over the wall and asked who we were. After getting a response from Vixen he invited us up. Making our way up through various magic means we made the top of the wall. Greeted by headless suits of armor we took the standard DA action and got Major Magical Effect of Enhancement. Asking a question or two our skilled courtiers got the sense of frustration from the armored suit. It was at this point I questioned how much the Fey realm had been trying to trick us. It was expected with a realm run by fey, but this seemed like the fey were trying to trick us as to who was ‘evil’ on the plane. With how much this castle screamed evil and everything else was so inviting I wasn’t buying it anymore. Voicing this concern to the party we walked toward the central tower. Entering the tower there was this overwhelming fear and need to cleanse the evil. While most of us resisted this urge. BoomBoom succumbed to it. A quick control and talking to reigned him back in. In this urge BoomBoom had cast a Radiant Weapon of Flame which was well out of his wheelhouse so was turned off quickly.

At the top of the tower we met who we soon worked out was the Guardian of the realm who was currently being fought against. We learn that if he could leave he could use his power not just the control he’s been executing.

There were discussions about assaulting the camp outside aided by his 15 men. Our Military Scientists sat and watched the camps to assess what we’d be fighting. We ascertained they had a mix of Earth mages, necromancer and a Strong Air Mage and the large tree was some kind of Nature Mage, displaying Wiccan and Earth Mage traits. The troop numbers were ~2 dozen Centaur, ~2 dozen Dwarves ~1-2 dozen Elves (Harder to count due to glamours) and 1 large tree and 2 smaller trees. I also ascertained they had some lesser forces, some kind of lesser undead or something akin that they were keeping in tents and ‘feeding’ periodically.

Battle for the Black Castle

Taking 5 hours prep the Lord stepped off his throne. The castle shakes and losses something noticeably. The army outside starts to make noise and move. 30 minutes later the Lord and his men summoned a dozen and 1 giant centipede mounts. Crashing their way through 2 sets of walls and a few dozen skeletons. We Fire Arc a golem squad in behind the lord and his men to keep some forces off them for some time. Shortly after we Fire Arc ourselves into the fight landing on top of skeletons and a 6ft tree.

During the fight a horde of assorted sized salamanders turn up with giant magma elementals who slaughter massive hordes of skeletons that crawled out the ground in an obvious large gap in the camp wall, that we pinged as deliberate and probably a trap. At one point our own allied forces drop a collective of smoking magma grenados that we handed them on top of our heads, which is fine given we are running round with 2 fire mages. The Lord after losing a number of men and starting to take significant damage himself lets of a Lightning storm inside his Circle of Challenge.

We hold off and slay numbers of skeletons. Dwarves, Centaurs along with the 6ft tree we landed on and Vixen takes down a giant Frost Brownie wielding my Giant Ice Axe. When the Ice Brownie goes down it explodes into icy shards that drops Vixen to her knee, then seconds later an array of fire bolts explode out from Vixen smiting a number of Skeletons and Dwarves which given Vixen the energy to stand.

Having successful assaulted and broken the siege on the lords castle, I reclaim my axe, and we reconvene with the lord who at this point is starting to look less ominous. With no one left to will the camp into existence it starts to melt away around us. The lord, who is actually a Storm Knight, tells us that it will be best if we leave the plane so he can take aggressive action to clear the undead. We estimate it will take us about 24 hours to get off plane. The Knight lets us know that our bag to trinkets as payment will be waiting for us on the Alusian side of the portal. With that we headed our way into the Wasteland. The Storms around the mountain have grown large and violent. Not waiting to find out what happen we make our way through the portal and find ourselves in soft thunder and lightning above the portal with a very ornate chest, which turns out to be a mimic holding our loot. Argus wanting to experiment with his golems does a ritual with the mimic goo and the earth it soaked into. Which goes sidewards and the area starts getting struck by lightning and which point a few of us close the portal and make our way back to Ruby Waters.

Mil-Sci

Daily pattern

‘’How much time does the party spend sleeping, eating, traveling, doing rituals, etc each day’’

Travel Magics

‘’What travel magic options does the party have, how far per cast/or per day if duration is longer than usual travel time.’’ ‘’Can the party eat/sleep/etc on the mode of transport.’’

Watch Order

Day Watch. ‘’Used when stationary, or on a larger transport such as a ship’’
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Night watch
First - ??
Second - ??
Third - ??

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Double File	Single File

Buffs

Slumber Song - Callie's lullaby's give those sung to sleep an extra 2 fatigue per hour.

General Buff Notes

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

Long duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Ut	BB	Ca	Vi	Ar	El	Bor
Strength of Stone (Ca)	9	+9 to Str &/or EN	10 hrs	Str/EN	Str/EN	Str/EN	?	?	?	?
Armour of Earth (Elves)	15	+32% defence, 1 physical DR	Yes	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N/A
Mind Shield (Ut)	6	+22 vs Mental attack	13 Hours	Y	?	?	?	?	?	?
Fire Armour (Bb)	13	56 Ablative	14 Hours	Y	Y	?	?	?	?	?
Armour of Ice (El)	12	8pt Armour, 80 ablative	6.5 Hours	?	?	?	?	?	Y	?
Fire Proof(Bb)	13	v Fire	14 Hours	Y	?	?	?	?	?	?
			Hours	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Name (??)	##	????	? Hours	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Short duration buffs

Magic	Rk	Effects	Dur	Ut	BB	Ca	Vi	Ar	El	Bor
Dance of Swords (Ca)	6	14/7def 0 in close	210 Mins	?	?	Y	?	?	?	?
Quietness (Ca)	6	11 to stealth	210 Mins	Sit	?	Sit	?	?	?	?
Force Shield (Ut)	8	+13 Def	90 Mins	Sit	?	?	?	?	?	?
Weapon if Flames (Bb)	14	15sc 7dmg	19 Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Weapon of Cold (El)	12	13sc 5dmg	17 Mins	?	?	?	?	?	Y	?
Weapon of Flames (Vx)	15	16sc 8 or 16 dmg	20 Mins	?	?	?	Y	?	?	?
Name ???	??	????	? Mins	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Loot and Expenses

Brownie ambush

• True-silvered Damage adjusted Pole axes x3.
• Minor Caster trinkets.
• Glitter Bomb * 2.
• Wishing Water * 1.

Skeletal Death Horde

• 5 * Chainmail Rank 4, Size 6
• 2 * Partial Plate Rank 4, Size 6
• 1 * Black Bone Improved Plate, Size 6, w.f. 6. - 8 point Permanent Magic
• Misc Cold Iron weapons.
• 3 * Silvered Pike Rank 5.
• 1 * Amulet of Diamonds
• 1 * Amulet of Dark Jade - Negation
• 1 * Magic Bag - Summon Rats
• 3 * Potion Healing
• 3 * Potion Unarmed Enhancement

Trinkets From The Fey

Unidentified Assorted Trinkets

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
	7		8	Fight at the portal	9		10		11		12	Finish Spec Healing	13	Enter the Fey Plane, Midnight attack
	14	Climb back up the mountain	15		16	Return to Ruby Waters	17		18	Resurrection	19		20	Return from guild
	21	Ritual with the Elves	22	Return to Fey Lands	23	Centar encounter	24	The Vampire Tower	25		26		27	The Black Castle
	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