A Golden Eye on the waves

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: A Golden Eye on the waves
GM: Jono
Season: ~Summer 822 WK
Night: Starting Monday the 13th of December 2021 in Lynfield (Jono's place).
Area: Carzala and some tropical wilds.
Level: High
Info: Information from players for Jono
House Rules: Jono Quickness and Slowness
Playtest
Please note - Lowered specialisation to 1 per rank (from 3). See change log on last page of each doc.

• 47 - Thief - 3.1.2
  
• 33 - Assassin - 3.1.3
  
• 37 - Healer - 3.1.7
  

Party

Character	Info & collage	Player
Mungo	Northern Warrior/ Scribe/ Mil Sci	played by Michael McFadden
Boris	Necromantic Mage	played by Michael Haycock
Lila	Celestial/Air Mage. Leader	played by Kelsie
Rhiain	Ice Mage Human	played by Chris R
Cher	Binder Human	played by Sean

Employer

Syrene a friend of the guild.

Mission
Background - A Golden Eye in the deep.

• Part 1. Deal with issues about the Air Spirit & the forgotten city (outstanding from A Golden Eye in the deep).
  
• Part 2. Free the missing water mages, deal with the pirates.
  

Payment
Syrene will financially back a commissioned sea voyage to the area to a value of 35,000sp.

• Spell training for Thaumaturgies 5,000 sp each member.
  
• Spell training for Elementals 10,000 sp each member.
  
• Spell training for Entities 5,000 sp each member.
  

Training for warriors

Part 2 - I can't remember much of part one...

Loot

Loot so far in Jono's Google docs

Session 1

Part 1 (I was not the scribe) was the rescue of a djinn / elemental spirit bottle from a fallen city treasure trove located on a jungles island to the west-south-west many hundreds of miles away.

Part 2

Part 2 of a might epic adventure featuring a band of heroic shield companions against the most perilous unknown foe this side of the gates of Hel or even a barber - to rescue enslaved water mages from rogues who have the cheek to call themselves pirates - a very subjective and controversial term.

Turf's House

We are at Turf's home which is well fitted out. A number of items have been found thus far on the adventure- a sword, an axe, bolt of cloth which are identified by the spell of something or other by one of the spell casters,

• The cloth will affect the morale of troops in the hands of a military leader this depends on the wood used as a pole. e.g. Maple -x 10 mil sci rank
• The Tulwar does 2 d10 damage + can have spells on it
• The Axe – enchanted to not rust & can cut through things underload & of course a Genie bottle which contains.... Lila ? Anyway, in addition to rescuing the Sea mages; Syrene wants us to take the bottle to the plain of air... yawn... I prefer pickups to deliveries....

– We learn the pirates in question are as I suspected when the terms was used - actually just a cunning bunch of cowardly knaves - where I come from the term pirate is misused by southernesr to refer to just about anyone who hops in a longboat and goes raiding - which is just about anyone over 4 and under 95 years old - its all relative you see - how do you distinguish a pirate from anyone over 4 and under 95? Anyway, these knaves are rumoured to have bribed one of the snivelling enchanters who worked for the merchant's guild -like most mages (apart from my worthy companions) he had a strong streak of yellow running through him - anyway he has now legged it & is not to be found. Not to worry, Syrene knows the location of 2 of their hideouts, so we can plan our conquest.

It is explained we can locate the water mages by tracking down some magic reference books which will have information; through the use of the enchantment known as "locate".. Syrene knows an enchanter who can help.

Our Mission

Our mission after we have located the enchanter and sailed to where we think the book is to then find a copy of books which has some important magic powers... We will get a bonus for bringing Syrene's enchanter back alive. He is nervous weak & frail...arent they all though. A ship full of fighters and healers has already been sent out to rescue the Sea Mages - to huge unsuccess. They encountered six pirate ships – which were mostly sunk - and suffered many casualties. So it's our turn now.

We decide to use my mighty Knarr "The Sea Urchin" to sail to the islands. The Sea Urchin is scheduled to return to Seagate in 4 days from a successful raid by my fearless crew.

We know some cargo is located in somewhere called Kirkle. West of Kirkle there is a well-known pirate port of the coast of Palestrina.

We return to the guild for a debrief. Syrene equips us with the strength of stone armour of earth spell.

Eric in Seagate

On the way I am greeted by an old scallywag Seadog of good Northern stock -apprently an old acquaintance – can't quite place him- he is called Eric as are most of the men in the North - but I am sure we have stood together drenched in blood with the bodies of our enemies heaped before us, their armour rent their weapons broken, as we sang our battle songs... OR possibly we were in a tavern surrounded by empty cracked mugs while the bodies of the unconscious covered in spilt ale lay on the floor as we sang drinking songs - must be one of the two... but anyway he is representing family members of the slain crew members & is recruiting for a three-ship Armada. They plan to sail across the seas to seek a bloody vengeance from the foul scum & oathbreakers (bound to be) who have the cheek to call themselves pirates...

Ernest Black

First we will find the for the enchanter Ernest Black is his name – apparently hiding in fear of his life in some cellar of tavern in old Seagate town..

We go incognito to avoid attracting attention (that is we pull our hoods over our heads & cultivate an innocent look). On the way into town we see four horses tied on the side of the road = might be spies or an ambush but we are not attacked.Cher and I note 6 guarding the road armed with bows...a mix of orcs and humans... not that that means anything – some of my best friends are orcs – well I actually mean Boris - though he is only half an Orc -

We make it to the new constructed area & head to old Seagate – heading to toward which Ernest is staying ... we pass an old horse in the process of being slaughtered in the street - it's that kind of rough area – the inn is well battered – and has recently been scorched by fire. The place is damp & smoke-filled. A doxy gives me the eye and I return her a special look so as to not attract any attention - you have to play the part when in disguise. Downstairs in the inn a game of cards is in progress as is a combat between two armed men with clubs are being cheered on by a small crowd who have money at stake on the outcome. We ignore them tempting as it is & head toward the sub-basement.

I encounter another woman who says I have rescued her in the past .. can't recall but there are quite a few I've rescued - anyhow she warns me of a few bad uns in the area. Not really news – it is old Seagate after all. Outside the door are three scurvy thugs with their backs to us & holding weapons about to visit Ernest – up to no good. Look like our timing was right for Ernest. I grab two by the neck and bang their heard together (this attack was from the side technically & not behind just in case any detractors are reading). They die....whoops...a reflection on the poor state of villainry perhaps. A third is rendered unconscious, by a blow from Boris. We drag the dead bodies inside out of view. Ernest is a weedy old guy who from the empty flagons has been drinking heavily and is clearly the worse for wear,–

We visit Syrene and explain what has happened. We debate forming and alliance with the mermaid and the scallywag

The enchanter (due to his frail health and so he won't run away )is itemised by an evil Binder spell & placed in an unbreakable container only openable by a palm impression.

We talk to Syrene about rewards for completing the quest – there was some rubbish about magic training which seems of little worth so I ignored the details but more importantly she offers warrior training.

Sea Urchin

Four days later the Sea Urchin arrives .. with several Brandenburg customs men who my crew "mistook" for pirates... can't blame them after all who are the real thieves and parasites of the ocean...I'm all for taking the pirates/customs men back out to sea & giving them a first-class trial followed by a sea burial but am talked around by the party fearful of inciting war with all of Brandenburg (don't know how all of Brandenburg would find out) ... uh oh – anyway I have to pay a 10,000 bribe to shut them up – I reluctantly pay with an instruction to my crew that pirates are not to be brought back to Seagate in the future. Better to have a trial by combat at sea followed by a sea burial...

We meet my companion Eric whose crew has had a disagreement with some brigands. many of his men lie around with broken limbs and teeth. Turns out the spies were from rival merchant families - so we invite him to meet at Turfs place with Syrene - & to wear his best furs – we will discuss forming a super Armada to rescue the water mages...

Syrene has put on a banquet for us and Eric to toast our pre-victory – 3 dwarves, two elves, and some courtiers also attend. It's a great feast – though tame by northern standards - no fights or new blood feuds sworn & the dwarves are even friendly toward Boris the Orc.... skald a little & fine ales are drunk.

Dwarf deal & payment

We are approached by a dwarf merchant who wants us to transport some grainstones made by dwarves – 20 foot across & two-foot-high - but with magic can be squeezed into the Sea Urchin's hold I am told by Boris & Cher. My first mate negotiates transport for the stones to Adjutbar. or 13,000 upfront and a 3,000 bonus on arrival. I need some money back after being robbed by Customs...

Syrene strikes a deal with Eric & his companions to work under our directions for a fee of 10,000 sp.

Cher (who by the way is now in a human form rather than the sneaky standing lizard I know her to be, (though of course still a valued shield companion) slopes off with a mincing codpiece sporting courtier for a tryst – I am asked outside by a woman called Gertrude who I also apparently I rescued. She wants to show her gratitude...can't blame her really.

Later during the party, the Dwarves tell me that the millstone is prepared so as to deflect magic on one side – (this removes impurities from grain) so the sea Urchin will need to be reimagined everyday More importantly, some Ogremages are looking for the millstones - an air fire and a rune mage – they like all of their kind are cowardly knaves and don't hesitate to use nasty poisons... a great blessing from Odin it seems with some intra-voyage entertainment coming our way...

Eric says he has 55 men & three ships & 25 rowers – three rank two water mages. We arrange to meet Syrene at certain waypoints on our voyage– she makes 8 locations on the chart for us to meet at the end of each day of travel.

My water mage (rk 7) confirms that their ships are poor and that the other water mages have limited skills... so he strengthens the other ships

We prepare to leave

Session 2

Sail south from Seagate

We sail by night to the first-way point. Novadon We see Griffons / pegasus at night but we do not encounter them.

A camp is set already ashore with 25 staff and three big tents awaiting us. Elf horses (skinny pointy-eared ineffectual looking horses that is) are tethered. Syrene greets us with the two folk known as the elemental twins & a large person much too big to be a giant – Matt the Titan.

We receive armours of earth/ strength of stone.

Eric motions us to the shore to speak to our mermaid scout. He says she generally speaks in an ancient Northern tongue but will be able to talk to us. She is rather disappointingly draped all over in kelp & so lacks the traditional mermaid appeal. She doesn't appear to have a tail but then again we cannot see a tail because of the kelp but we are assured she is a genuine mermaid. The water mages are from the North – and are drowned goods worshipping priest sorts.... they too wear brown kelp clothing & are responsible for her being overly dressed.

The mermaid tells us that in actual fact the villagers who we understood commissioned the venture are really helping her rescue a relative, a water mage who has been captured, rather than the explanation we previously received – that she is helping Eric.

Missing watermages

The mermaid has "read" the stormy skies which foretold our coming - nice to know Thor is keeping an eye on the eye too. Anyway, the believes the water mages are being stolen as part of an evil master plan to raise an island from the depths of the sea. A huge be-tentacled creature is bound underwater on the island but if the island breaks the surface of the sea the creature will become unbound from the spells holding it... The creature guards a powerful treasure and if let free below the surface the creature will slither off into the depths leaving the treasure unguarded.... we are told there are no named items in the treasure horde. This will need to take place during summer Solstice... about a month away. The treasure is deemed a terrible treasure – apparently not just because its made only of copper or some lesser metal ... & it could do terrible things to those that have long lives – elves I guess... I'm confused? this all sounds good news - unguarded erasure on an island & only elves dragons and demons might be affected?

....the mermaid explains she has the power to bewitch many of the pirates when we encounter them & could drag them into the sea to their doom... but this could affect us too if we are not protected ... so we need to find some sort of protection... The mermaid says that I should refer to her as "the woman of the sea" rather than as a mermaid, as her identity is a hidden secret.

... back ashore we talk naval & boarding tactics with a group of old salts ... elsewhere a necromantic bomb is discovered. Lila meets one of the Yasmins & another mage

ON the island we see a stepped well that is 120 feet across apparently a transportable item. Inside are the Titan and Syrene. Syrene mews like a cat at the mention of the mermaid – clearly she does not like it. To protect against the mermaid's powers we are told rather than the time-honoured tradition of beeswax stuffed into our ears - a potion needs to be made out of an enormous amount of the herb lavender... I stuff some wax in my pocket anyhow just in case. The titan Matt agrees to seek out this lavender & provide a bag of it by tomorrow night. Boris meanwhile heals the injured sailors. Syren replaces strength of stone on 40 / armours of earth.

Sabotage at sea

We head south the next day...soon after which we note one of Eric's ship is taking on water ... Sabotage is confirmed by The Woman of the Sea who reveals a rusty iron trident head attached. This has caused the ships "strength" to expire. Cher divinities this when we arrive ashore at the 2nd waypoint at the end of the day & confirms it is a cursed item

...we guard the ships carefully that night. The leaky ship has been dragged ashore for repairs.

Charm

A cauldron of three sizes boil away smelling strongly of lavender. Three scarecrow men assist with the potion brewing The potion which will be applied to the skins of Lila and Cher 36 hours beforehand will make the crew lustful and be charmed by Lila and Cher rather than the Lady of the Sea. (There are side effects - by the 36th hour will be so crazed with lust that they will fight each other but this will stop them jumping into the sea after the Lady of the Sea ... which to me sounds like one of the world's worst plans compared with beeswax in the ear) - just is the case it all turns out to be a disaster there is an antidote which a blacksmith can manufacture....It is concluded that application of the potion 24 hours prior to meeting the pirates would be best

That night aboard the Sea Urchin Boris and I are awoken by a loud crashing sound - a nine-foot-tall golem creature with two spinning halves made of pumice stones / resembling an ogre is attacking a sailor – quickly he is dispatched.

Romance in camp

Meanwhile ashore Lila is being wooed by a cowardly bard/ gigolo tight trouser wearing opportunist popinjay – armed with a skinny sword! At the same time a pumice man has also attacked so where in the shore area. It is determined by the spell caster types that the nature of the magic creating the pumice creatures is necromantic....

The next day – the Lady of the Sea checks the hulls of our boats finding another rusty trident - more sabotage - she suspects merman mercenaries... she will look out for them...

We have a meeting where we reveal the crazy plan about the love balm which will be applied to each of the ship's captains & which will cause the crews to love their Captains and be immune to the Lady of the Sea's charms while she lures the pirates underwater and drowns them. There is much debate over what will happen in respect of the Sea Captains based on their preferences i.e. if the captains are girls who like girls etc

Testing the Charm protection

So we travel on the Lady of the Sea by a magic travelling wave to a beach site far away from our crew in order to conduct experiments & see how her magic affects us and the Captains.

The Lady of the Sea's starts singing and immediately upon which a storm blows up with lightning & waves, through which we hear a piercing howl ... we all save v her spell but feel weak at the knees... Lila and Cher's legs actually get slightly watery. The 3 x lady captains who like ladies are unaffected .... Boris & I see a horrible creature out at sea on a rock – Boris says it's the Lady of the Sea in her true form...but I don't believe him & suggest rescuing the Lady from this foul creature.... although no one else is keen - Leela and Cher say they only see a normal woman. The Captains who like ladies see a mermaid.

We head back to shore & the night passes ... a breakfast has been prepared. ... & we set sail. Leela seems to have been be-charmed by the bard with the tight codpiece - surprise

Kirkul

.... After 8 days at sea we arrive at Kirkul.... Ernest is unitemised & determines that the book is located in Kirkul. through the navigation technique called triangulation, we determine that the book is in an abandoned city...

Session 3

We are ashore in the southern part of the 5 sisters with our shore team. The abandoned city of Kirkul is inland on the edge of a desert five miles upriver...

Kirkul was destroyed by my Ivinian countrymen in 805 before they were overwhelmed by the Dark circle... followed by others It used to have a population of 30,000 but has been abandoned for 15 years. Undead & evil cults are used to live here.. in addition to ruin goblins

The ships are beached. Our campfires are shielded by darkness spells... we spot different lights on different islands where the survivors & lurkers dwell....

A seaman approached us asking for a miracle because 3 sailors have been affected by the Lady of the Sea & killed each ... I direct them to Boris the Orc who can raise the dead & does.

Scouting Kirkul

Syrene says the books somewhere in the city to the east of where we are beached ... there are hills between us and Kirkul... Our plan is to scout the next day from the sky in raven forms....

By night we post guards. Ernest Black has a crystal ball The water mage does a waters of vision spell which he scries through – to the south of the city there are some faint lights along the mouth of the river. He can see the river traveling 5 -10 miles in land from the south east. The city is only a few hundred meter across... he zooms in on the lights – the ruins of a port, broken ships, busted buildings & bonfires which provide the light. Occasionally there is movement a sign of life...

Syrene has put on a dancing troop (boys & girls) for entertainment & weak beer – not quite what we do in the North. Arm wrestling Cher gets up and dances – she is a good dancer - but I cant help thinking of her scaly tail....

A daytime scry by the water mage reveals a number of vessels – about 50 ft in length hidden along the river in earth caves on the river banks to the North of the City... it looks as if 3 ships have been actually buried along the shore. A watercourse flowing toward the city has been restored... possible earth mage work...

Lila sends her raven out but it is pursed by griffons ... I too head out in raven form but at high altitude due to my large raven form size... I observe some earthworks that have been cleared out to the Northwest of the City. There are the remains of large bonfires and lumber piles nearby. I note some griffons a mile below & avoid them.. they came from out of a building.... I also see some herds of goats which obviously been domesticated ... in the harbour area, there are the remains of six ships along the sea floor....

Scouting the offshore islands

ON my return the water mage invites us to scry the water. The centre island is loosely populated. The other two have small ports. There appear to be about 30 homes / hits on each – we would estimate a population of a few 100. Fishing boats scatter around the surrounding seas.

At the ports there are 4 small trading ships flying the flags of Azuria, Palestrina and possibly Taeko.

Talk to the locals

We elect to enter town...and talk to some of the locals... I navigate the Sea Urchin in through some tricky waters... we cant get all the way in and have to moor at the buoys along-side two other well-armed merchant vessels.. there are small boats going to and fro from the shore. Fifteen or so folk have gathered around as we land & we are greeted by a young man with a crippled leg. Crossbows are pointed at us as well as an 8 foot tall giant creature with horns – a monster rhino of some sort with an armoured tail. We have to leave large weapons aboard... we are directed to a money changer.

We meet a young woman who seeks work aboard. We offer her a meal and ale for advice.... & we arrive at a local tavern... she digs in.... and offers an uncorked cask of ale for 12 silvers... the young women is local who tells us.

Other islands

There is one island with an orc king called Crackskull - he has a 45 crew & took over the town. There are many interesting things in the mainland – recent activity involving a minotaur cult in the city. The griffon are more North. Pirates come and go. There is a crazy Firemage on the other island. There were diamond hunters and supply ships going up the river. It is well known there is the wreck of a diamond ship up river somewhere... In the river/ city is the treasure of the three water mage skulls Boris says we are looking pirates... She (Sue) wants to get off this island & wants to join my crew... so I hire her – she has an honest face and knows these waters & can navigate them well. Seems she knows a few water-mage spells too. Everyone on the island is hungry and scary due to Orc raiders to the west... & infestation by worms & tainted water... Sue has a 12 person sloop by which she has navigated up the river...avoiding the perils...everyone wants off the island.

just then 6 well-groomed men and women – the council – who want to sell some pearls to us... we are taken to the main trading post & lead downstairs to a basement where a much-locked chest is filled with six bags with pearls... they look great.. the pearls are farmed in the sea... they want 65,000 silvers. ... too rich for our blood but Syrene may be interested. The crippled man is a translator & a merchant - but only knows about three words in each – I hire him too. Boris fixes the cripple...

We will take a councilwoman plus her son with us and travel by ship back to our base camp to the east after the sun sets... patrols have been set.. we note that a rhino statue has been turned into an animated creature ... Sue and Earp Billick the former Cripple are astounded to see our base camp. Earp tells us he has a treasure map to a location up river opposite the city guarded by a creature that turns people to stone.

Return to Camp

We introduce the council member to Syrene... and explain their situations to her. After discussions, she agrees to transport the island folk to be taken in by the dwarves of the superstition mountains. She will arrange with Matt to clear the orcs. She can disguise us as minotaurs if we want. Boris goes with Matt to be turned into a minotaur.. he enters a labyrinth is gored by a minotaur & returns as a minotaur with 15 extra points & irresistible to women, a large "third leg", natural armour and some magic protecting ability...

Boris is horny

Lila and Cher tell us there are pheromones wafting off Boris the minotaur's that affect them driving them crazy with desire ...Matt knows of a nasty wizard who can make an amulet that will protect them from being bewitched by crazy minotaur lust... it happens

Blood Wizard

Matt vanishes with Lila, Cher and Sue to a wizards lab where a drop of their blood is added to an amulet by magic & they are safe from be-witching by Boris the Minotaur .. unfortunately Sue was not included in the amulet and is smitten by Boris the minotaur... Sue too is sorted out by Matt & the wizard with a minotaur free amulet....

Kirkul

The sun sets, the tide turns, we are guided by Sue up the river. Bonfires have been lit.. we are about a mile out from the city. Our scent is disguised...

Rhiain & Lila goes out scouting for scent removing herbs...While out ... encounters some pygmy centaurs with sharp teeth & weapons such as recurved bows... :Lila & Rhiain make it back but have been pierced by a few arrows... a foul concoction is manufactured from the herbs which is applied to our armpits to disguise our scent...

We approach from the North down wind. As Boris steps ashore he is surrounded by a herd of goats who seem attracted to him... he puts them to sleep through some spell...

As we sneak nearer to the city we see the fires which Lila, an alchemist... 300 yards out from the city, people seem to walk in trenches about 80 feet from the river – maybe a maze under construction – some creatures, undead maybe, can be seen on the other side...

Session 4

Undead

They are probably lesser undead – that is the smellier sort who take aeons to get out of your chain mail. From our position of hiding we see some people appear to have been emerging from the maze.. in minutes they excavate and reveal a ship – about 50 foot on the shore of the river – earth mage trickery I'll be bound - they then rebury through more earth-magery & the ship returns whence they came...

Edward Black is returned from miniaturisation and the solid-state by Cher's un-bindering. He is surprised by his new surrounding but still casts a location spell to identify the book we seek .. as we move along to triangulate we come across orcs guards focussed on playing knucklebones and not looking at us. We debate whether to slay them but Lila who I am surprised to learn is actually the party leader – ( I assumed we were in a battle & it was me following my recent studies in geopolitics at military scientist classes) - decides to walk past them.. Edward is poorly dressed in town clothes and moves sluggishly in his mage slippers... he is slowing us down...he shelters inside Lila's magic cloak

Labyrinth

Ahead we note a strange cobweb trap that funnels us into a central point... lair of the spider queen perchance!! Unfortunately, we turn around and take another route.

We hear chanting as we near the edge of the labyrinth. Boris the Minotaur checks he can still cast spells now that he is a minotaur & has hooves – he says he can but it's not as good as before.

We stealth along having buffed and prepared ourselves for conflict. I note an area with strange scratching with symbols in the dirt – a magic ward of protection – our magicians determine... There is a hum of magic on the wind that the women warriors in our group note & feel vulnerable to ...

As we prepare our arms in anticipation - I note Cher the lizard in human shape openly affixing poison to her weapons – to the approval of Lila - . I warn Cher that her battle victories will be unearned with no epics skalded in her honour & on her death she will likely be welcomed with open arms into the realms of Hel & Loki as a fellow coward and sneak... my warnings to Cher for her own good fall on deaf ears...

As we enter the maze we sense a shift...before we know it we are in open-air... a portal? I check the night skies with my magical tankard that reflects the night skies – by Loki's pustulant, sulphurous & scrawny buttocks (the view of him you are most likely to see as he legs it from combat ) we seem to be in Thionia instead of the Five Sisters way to the South... we hear a hypnotic chanting which seems designed to bewitch the shieldmaidens in our party - Rhianain, Lila & Cher... We are on the edge of a maze & see at least 35 writhing snakes dangling from maze walls ahead. We seem to be on the plateau of a mountain with white mists floating about

Boris the mighty minotaur

Boris the mighty minotaur will lead us.. ahead we see an enormous statue of a minotaur with a path running between its splayed legs. As we get closer we see a portcullis that covers the path... as we walk ahead we can no longer see one another due to mists... we move forward now with string around our wrists tying is together so we do not stray ...

We eventually enter a room which has nine passages connected to it... I check the night sky again .... We seem to now located be in the Alanic states! we follow Boris down one tunnel eventually arriving at a junction which shows signs of habitation – (actually people are living there) hammocks, people in hooded cloaks moving about in a 70 ft across room. They seem drowsy & distracted... we don't hear the hypnotic chanting... we sneak past with our best stealthiness ... noting 6 beautiful women who are obviously impregnated and some strange be-horned ogre women, barrels for storage and gibbets with corpses on the edges... probably hobbits by their size...although hanging seems a bit much just for stealing...

Lila through crafty magic trickery determines they are Ogre-magi who's most dangerous spell is involuntary impregnation...

Ahead we come across another chamber where attractive healthy female humans with Araby feature are nursing baby minotaurs - must be the au pairs.... Gossamer curtains shroud the room

Moving along through sneakery & stealth there is another room with about 100 folk engaged in a no holds barred minotaur & Araby human orgy.. There are 6 ogre magi guards with tridents and chanting coming from priests.. Cher is almost lured in by the seductive chantery ...Three women in red robes are inside metal cages....

Books seem to be stored off to the side – we sneak through some very slimy curtains to enter a large square room where we see - a stone statue of a man with a book (just a bit too realistic for comfort ... woman stands up on the other side of an alter with her back to us and a head of wriggling snake heads...a medusa!! Garbed in a gossamer silk bejewelled outfit she is searching through a pile of 30 books – she is about 40 feet ahead. There is a reading plinth that is six-foot-tall dominating the centre of the room.

Medusa

No fair fights with foul creatures that can turn our party to stone in the blink of glowing red eye = so Lila and I pre-emptively blast the medusa with a crossbow and axe respectively... zounds! by Thor's peerless ginger beard - it is all deflected to Rhiana.. who staggers with a stabbing pain in her back... The medusa throws the book she is holding at Boris...& combat ensues...She turns to faces us – just as I leap through the air and pounce on her jaws agape claws outstretched just as she is petrified by a spell from Cher... my landing was not soft & I am caught by a spell & feel petrification tingling but manage to shake it off... just as the medusa solidifies into a statue... poetic justice & cunning magery from Cher! BUT three foul creatures being 2 ogre mages looking creatures & a absolutely definitely a demon enter the room by sneaking and attack from behind, be-stabbing Lila in the back...there is a flash of light that fills the room emanating from the plinth. A huge gush of slimy liquid comes from the other side of the room.One of the three is a woman floating on an undulating swirl of diamond crystals. One has three minotaur's horns on the end of a trident. The other is a giant with club covered in writing snakes..

The magic chanting is in constant effect targeting the three shield maiden our & causing yhem - to need to save once per pulse or be lured to minotaur impregnation in the orgy room next door...

It is the mightiest of combats with our party resolute & defiant with not a backward step. The trident bearer gores me in the side... three crystalline spikes come shooting through the air from the floating mage blasting Lila. Rhian stabs mightily with her spear. Boris the Minotaur swings his weapon in minotaur sized scythes. Cher throws blistering arcane spells, Lila hurls an axe ...two of them flee vanishing and attack by blinking in and out ... Just as the giant snake-club wielder is about to be defeated after many mighty blows from all of us – he shoots a pile of 60 snakes from his club at Cher overbearing her... one hopes they will show her a little lizard to lizard professional courtesy – not giving an inch Cher swats them aside.... I castle with Lila and take on the trident bearer by grappling. The witch woman consumes a potion and magics up a crystal wall arounds her. Boris & I charge slaying her – she explodes in a sea of shards rending our flesh with mighty worthy wounds (all on the front) ...

As we scarf healing potions 4 new foes appear in the room.. Cher is instantly petrified to a stone statute.

Faced against such odds I reckon the cleverest tactic will be a fight to the death, invoking Odin's aid as we ( or at least I) march to Valhalla – a story of blood and death fresh on my mind ready to regale through halls.... anyway just as I'm thinking of which is the best tale to tell first to the cheering einherjar (Ive pondered this & concluded that clearly you've got to pace yourself – it could be a long time until Ragnarök & no one likes to hear the same story 80 times unless they personally feature in it).. Boris, obviously disagreeing with my master plan pulls out a special magic item from the depth of his backpack & we disappear to another plane with the statue of Cher clutched as we leave...

Slaves in the Bazaar? - Plane of Air

We appear in front of a slavers auction at the Bazaar on the plane of Air – familiar territory to Lila & myself – after some grumbling we pay off the auctioneer before we are sold into perpetual servitude...

We wander the bazaar & eventually we are met by a minion of Gurtan the exchanger who takes us to his master's court – full of fountains, plump cushions, plumber eunuchs and palm trees in pots ... We seek a remedy for the petrified Cher... which happens after an hour.

On request we are introduced to a reputable trader and re-enter the bazaar. Apparently a few of my Northern kinfolk have been here before - I am asked if I know Siegfried Nine Fingers or Olaf Haraldson who have racked up 600,000 sp in debts before scarpering.... Sound familiar but I answer with my sternest expressions "Err no actually we are definitely from the South." We are fed and entertained for several days as we recover....

Boris & I manage to sell some old wooden Fae cups ( which grant immortality at a cost) for 30,000sp & 25,000 a piece ...we keep straight faces & winking slyly to one another while the purchaser's back is turned - They have been gathering crumbs & mould at the bottom of our packs for years - & we didn't even have to bargain!! Having apparently fleeced the merchant through our innate Seagate cunning we are well pleased ( though a foul rumour reaching our ears later has it they were on-sold for 500,000 each) we negotiate for new items

Bazaar items

• An armourer will allow my dwarven armour to take spells.
• Boris exchanges items – his spell catcher is itemised a s a broach
• Rhian tries to negotiates to have her armour repaired and changed in shape....
• Cher trades items to modify her magic carpet to store flight.....

Lila is suddenly banished and ends up in a genie bottle... Boris rubs on it which causes her to suffer a 9 End loss. But Boris the Noble wishes for 9 endurance to be restored to Lila.

The Sultan of the Bazaar

A djinn, the Sultan of the Bazaar, with a heavily armed entourage, crossed tulwars, turbans & scraggly moustaches, shows up to discuss the bottle & demand an explanation. Lila explains that the bottle and its inhabitant were part of treasure She did not harm the inhabitant who ran off & left Lila as a bottle sitter. Lila is offered a reward - she refers to Rhiain's issue with her armour.

• Rhian's armour will be repaired and modified.

We are gifted a number of rabbit's feet.

On day 5 on this plane, full of sherbet, dates & lamb, soft from too many silk cushions, mesmerised by endless jiggling houris, we depart from the air docks.

Trapped in rock in Alusia

We travel by portal ... ending up ....on the top of a mountain embedded in stone up tour necks... to the side are a group of repusculent looking Orc Shamans (you know draped in skulls & bones, painted with weird symbols, missing various body parts)yowling away in their crude tongue, apparently preparing to make a ritual sacrifice - uh oh looks like we swapped place with the sacrifices....

I quickly shapeshift into a raven and wriggle out of the stone. I re- castle with others to release them. Looking the skies reflected in my magic tankard, we are now in the Ellenic states – about 250 miles from where we should be... we so leave the mountain flying....for about five miles toward Seagate ..that is until Matt the Titan who reads the future, arrives to return us to the camp. The stoned mage from the medusa's room is a Sorcerer called Wan. He was very impressed by the Sultan of the Bazaar helping us.

Back to Camp

Matt takes us back to the camp which is now on a different island just off the Coast of Palestrina – where they believe the Pirates are gathering nearby.

Neither Cher & Rhiain who were struck by the trident of forced impregnation are with child or at least with Minotaur, due to some magic powder that Syrene supplied.

We discuss next steps – seems the Sultan's daughter has somehow hitched a ride with us in the bottle... Syrene is very in favour of returning the djinn's daughter to the plain of air promptly

The Sultan is called & arrives after much whirling winds & an entourage of 150 swarthy be-turbaned minions ... the Djinn's daughter. She falls at his knees. He is much relieved to have her back. Minions are dispatched to punish her former captors

Lila is offered a reward – a wish. We need to think about it for day and a half...

Session 5

Session 5:

Lila's Wish

Lila is asked to place a stone on the ground representing each person's wish before the Sultan... inside a huge pavilion where the sultan resides with his court watching on intrigued ....carpets, cushion piles, filmy veils, turbans, tulwars, incense, pointy beards... She reveals our wishes

• Lila and Boris want to be able to turn into lightning bolts
• Cher wants to not glow in the dark ( to have complete control over her titan aura)
• I want the magic spear gifted to me by Odin the Allfather to be able to be enhanced by spells.
• Rhiain wants to be able to rank either her tower shield or her spear to a higher level...

Our wishes are granted and the Court dissipates back to the plane of air. Lila clearly highly respected for her aid to the Sultan & is invited to come to visit the Court – with her companions if she wishes (though maybe not with Rhiain the ice mage)....

Lila & Boris try out their new skills by trying to lightning through several ranks of sheep which - are singed as a result... more practice

Enchanter & Magical book success

We return to Syrene's camp. Standing before the camp followers & minions Syrene holds up the book of magic and shows off the enchanter (now un-stoned)... he tells us that three of the water mages we are seeking are 10 miles approximately to the North East of our current location - as is much of the Cargo...

Treasure Map

Having a little time we now check out the treasure map – which was previously received from the island inhabitants .... The treasure map gives off an aura of power & I see it seems to have hidden celestial bodies within it. Boris who is yet to return to his Orc shape.. seems to have a Minotaur's instinctive understanding of the map...

Syrene's troupe of dancers performs. Syrene's court seems to be in constant party mode. We are introduced to various notables of her acquaintance... Courtiers, the celestial twins, Richard of Tycho. Cher and Lila's gigolos (Cher's has charmed her one (Loeft) – from the western Kingdom – Lila's (Luca) is from the Luna Empire) sniff around....

While on our sojourn to minotaur land the millstones have been delivered to Adjutbar. Three boats remain....The Sea Urchin & others are expected back in 1 and a half days.

Wan the Enchanter

Wan the Enchanter offers to assist us ( I'm sure he is much happier that he is no longer in stone) Anyway he has crystal ball gazing skills at a high rank & can help us out to check out the pirates – it's hard to hunt down and kill your enemies if you don't know where they are...

The others turn in – but I stay drinking – until at 1 am I am interrupted by a boat of 6 fisher folk on the other side of the island were captured by pirates. The pirates were in 4 short-range vessels there were about 60 or 80 of them... there seem to have been...Boris is roused to heal their wounds.

In the morning Lila is roused... we are told two guards (rangers) have gone missing. The enchanter Wan by locate spell determines that they are 10 miles away.. seems our cover has been blown & the pirates know where we are.... a ranger says his rangering has determined that in the 4 stealthy individuals come ashore and stealth away the rangers... vanishing without trace. Syrene suspects they have been kidnapped. Matt vanishes & and reappears instantaneously with a blind seer dwarf who has been snatched amid porridge eating...he still hs a spoon & porridge is dripped all over his kilt & beard. He stares meaningfully (or at least points his heard toward a fire). He can see that the captured rangers are currently unconscious bound & under duress.

He also reveals that a small innocent child from a fishing village is passing on information by via a magic bottle delivered into the ocean and retrieved by some magic sea- creatures or whatever... The small innocent (who is a boy) takes a shine to Lila & tells her the sea creature are like frogs but the size of people & come ashore at nights. The child has been messaging the sea creatures (Frogs of the Depths) over which ships he wants to disappear and for the crews to be eaten and the ships are dully removed & the crew by the Frogs of the Depths. Hmmm there is something a bit unnatural about this lovely child that I cannot point my finger on - though the mages say he has an affinity for magic.....that must be it.!! Nevertheless, Lila decides to take him in - good luck to Lila though she'll probably wake up one morning drowned, lying on a lily pad with her feet chewed off & his lordship innocently licking his chops...

Wan is able to use special crystals that Matt has provided, to scry the pirates' hideout

• At their hideout is a temple from which a waterfall springs dropping 400 feet & flowing into the pirate bay... It is half a mile away on a headland. The temple is intact. Four guards are posted outside the temple with signaling bugle. The guards are not from the temple.
• 11 ships mostly cargo ships we can see are magically obscured by an illusionary forest...
• There is a 20 ft wide 200 feet jetty long with ships attached...
• There is a fort on the shoreline surrounded by a 20ft high (above ground) moat/ wall filled with ravenous-looking sea creatures.
• There is a shimmering dome of clear water over the camp. In the center is a strange statute petrified creature like an octopus – about 6' by 6' by 6' wide.

The Lady of the Sea comes ashore surrounded by her three kelp-covered priests, to help analyze Wan's scrying ( she can spend 30 minutes out of the water). She says the statue is the same creature we have been told of previously by the Lady of the Sea - the creature is from the outer worlds & a servant of great power & a water elemental whose powers have been channeled to create the bubble the wall and the jetty... she tells us the creature has been miniaturized as a stone statue (it's really 5 times as big in natural form) & awaits their foul ritual on the Summer solstice - during when the water mages will be consumed & the doors to the terrible treasure will be opened, the creature unbound from its stone form... ... she thanks us and bows before leaving to her marine home...

Apparently, we will need to steal the creature and take it back to the location of its treasure whereupon it will slither back to its guard duties.

Planning

We start our plotting & scheming.

We seek more counsel from the Lady of the Sea ... her priests are busy ritually drowning some sailors... as one does if one worships drowned gods.. She says the temple was originally dedicated to her people but has subsequently been raised out of the sea by an evil earth mage – she knows the temple goes down many layers all of which are likely above water now with the raising of the temple ... the water from the temple waterfall is water from the elemental plane.. Cher hears the Lady of Sea conversing with Lila's camp follower, the innocent child, in Surimi language asking if he has "disobeyed his oaths"...mysterious

The lady of the Sea then recommends us against trying to ally with the Frogs of the Depths .... Who are evil necromancers from the bottom of the ocean who eat people BUT she recommends allying with the creatures of the sea (merfolk who also eat people but closer to the surface of the sea).

Lila tries lightning bolting through water to test her power– seems it's not a great idea – although it leaves a trail of stunned fish on the ocean surface.

Syrene discretely hands both Cher and Lila a magic pin that will protect against the spy gigolos who have apparently be-spelled them.

Lila does a series of limited precognition spells to see the future & work out how we can defeat our enemies...

The best plan seems to be to that we zap into the pavilion by lightning bolt talent by a potion created by Lila & releases an air bubble from a magic seashell over the tent which will release the captured water mages from the charming that controls them & then move the squid creature statue within an air bubble.. a few water mages will die... One water mage seems to already be aware of our plan through some future seeing spell but has not spilled the beans...

Matt takes Lila back to the guild for alchemist assistance where she makes 4 lightning potions...

Lila's gigolo – the charming curly mustached bard wants her to wear a magic necklace which will allow him to find her wherever she is ... a stalker. I am about to have a word with him with the point of my spear... when he reveals he is a devoted follower of the mighty Freya who rides the skies in her chariot of cats (& who personally honored me with the Name "Mungo the Brave") Hearing this I have no choice but to reconsider my previous views ... he then tells me that Freya has even spoken to him about me... hearing this obviously I now trust hm completely. He is definitely not a slimy seducer & must really be a noble and worthy sort if he knows Freya & she spoke to him about me ...& no doubt his stalking Lila must for a perfectly good reason... all is forgiven...

Mermaid Temple

It's time to commence our attack. First Matt transports us instantly into an underwater cave full of grim looking mermaids armed to the teeth with spears & tridents looking into a silvery pool sparkling with magic - it is the temple from which flows the waterfall – the mermaids are seemingly doing divining magic. Matt casts translation and water breathing magics and all of us can understand the chief mermaid, priestess. She welcomes us but asks Matt the Titan to leave (he is from the Luna empire & doesn't have much time for gods & the like). We say we have been summoned by the Merpeople to assist. We are told need to get a magic seashell from some eels which will assist in our combat. She names us all heroes. There are gifts which will aid us in the future...

Call of Hero gifts

• Cher is given something to control her aura,
• Lila is given a girdle of protection to protect her from trials of seduction she will face in the future...
• I (Mungo) am given the skull of one of my enemies who I must bury at home or throw to the sea & face him again in combat ...
• a block of ice is given to Rhiain.
• Boris will be helped to master the belt of skulls he will recover from the enemy...

... we leave the priestess evading the eels. From under the surface of the water, we can see the guards from the pirate lair outside the temple – ready to alert the pirates below with their horns.

Temple siege

We charge the sieging guards (pirates)- I engage one of the guards who when he sits up is actually a high-level earth elemental definitely 60 feet tall & who after a few rounds of failing to hit me even once, he folds his arms and won't fight back... so I stop fighting him & to try to make him face me insult him with all the rock insults I can think of – "little pebble" "you are made of sandstone." "you are an airhead" the last which makes him pause in his tracks... The others are engaged in bitter combat... one of them foolishly releases a fire grenade setting everyone including three of the guards on fire...

The insult "airhead" got to the elemental who has turned its back on me & wiggled its butt like a young priestess of Freya (other than that Dwarf one I know of course) in heat... So I stick my spear firmly in his prosterior."(that is an actual spear of course) Enraged he starts trying to trample us & we continue to lay about our enemies with fell blows. One of the guards then, reached inside his cloak & removes a magic doll which he pulls the head off causing a magical surge bringing terrible damage to us all... (I was mainly stunned that someone would bring a doll to battle - who does that - not even the most junior of Valkyries?). Anyway he is rapidly dispatched when he pulls out a 2nd doll. The elemental's summoner dies & the elemental having gone feral for a spell is eventually finished off by ....Boris!?! ( which is battle poaching of the first order if I ever saw it - a serious offence & frowned on in most well mannered Northern societies) & after I had done Odin's share of the damage to it.. You can hardly skald before a feasting hall of cheering likeminded scarred battleworn warriors well soaked in ale, banging their helms on the table bragging about how you almost killed an 80 foot tall earth elemental, single handedly.. it doesn't have quite the same ring to it.. But Boris is a faithful shield companion so I'll have to bring it up as subtly as I can without resorting to blows next time we are drinking ... We find a sea shell and a broken doll parts & a doll squashed by the elemental ... before we return to the temple with the mer priestess...

Session 6

Session 6

Boris has been taken by Matt by magic to an Inn/ Smith in Brandenburg. He needs armour now that he is a 9' tall & 12 in Winter – he reports that the smiths were strange twisted orc & ogres – the armour comes with a "flexi-waistband for additional comfort during weight gain" & ablative armour... disappointingly given who manufactured it, it is deer hide - it has huge negatives to casting...

Preparations are made for battle:

We experiment with the magic orc war-flag & prepare poles for it. Honoured men are prepared to carry the flag. ...Lila prepares lightning bolt potions for party members ...

Boris is life-aspected & will fight better if someone err ...shags him... he is pretty much a 12 foot tall two legged ox so no takers....

It will be classic beach landing raid by us wth the other ships taking on the peer– A seer informs us he has seen that if we use the flag an inky octopus blackness will shroud us...multiple lightning bolt strikes...

We do other precogs - if we swim to fight in we will end up on top of the dome.... We learn it will be a death or glory beach landing invasion... we will only escape if we live through the battle.

I prepare a rapid delivery one stanza war saga of tremendous inspiration...

Sue the Ranger volunteers to carry the sea shell which will release the air bubble...

I end up delivering a stirring speech that has the troops hair standing on end from my ringing oratory for an hour. They all look transfixed

The mermaids will be singing her tricky song to lure the enemy sailors underwater

As we round the headland in convoy we see there are 8 enemy ships– three which are berthed. Some alarms are let off but it is too late as we bear down on them- one ships shoots dragon flames setting fire to one ship..

It's a magnificent landing – I stand on the foredeck clutching the neck of dragon's head my hair streaming form in the wind, the sound of my war song on my lips as I spring nimbly forward turning to urge on the our crew.

The guards have been surprised initially. The berthed ships are overwhelmed attacked by the other crew.

There is a wall of water & a giant bubble of water – water mages surround the statute... a strange dark air creature with tattered wings - a mermaid charm is flung at us...

Lightning bolt positions are scarfed and we & ( Sue the Ranger) flash in in lightning bolt form but taking tremendous damage to our foes who explode in purple trail of sparks as the side effect...

Only half of our foes have managed to pull in armour – the remainder have grabbed what they can... this looks like the start of a mighty hall burning raid if they had a hall

A mega hex of air is released from the seashell around the monster statute with us all inside.

There is an inky darkness outside the air bubblewith flashes of lightening outside the bubble...where Cher still is. Many foes perish form the lightning strikes. The water mages are freed from the charm That has hel them by the air bubble & look dischevelled but relieved....

I face down a dark elf armed with a shark blade thrusting Odin's spear into his scrawny chest... Lila flings her axe which has a sticky smear of cowardly poision on the edge. Boris castes a spell – Cher sticks a dagger between the (back ribs) of a grim foe... A sneak from behind tries to make him disappear from banishment magic ( he must think I have been sent from Asgard by Odin One Eye ). Water mages having been freed from start flinging magic... One of our foes, their leader yells "you fools take them alive." So I turn & stick a spear in him too... Sue dies a heroes death in battle.. their leader then hits me with a foul weapon that withers my leg..

Lila flashes about in lightening both forms ---- shifting the bubble away from the centre of the melee.... But she zaps back & forth.. Foes fall at our feet...Water-mages throw magic that grabs our enemies into darkness. We gather water mages, loot, pieces of sue.

We work out what to do next. If we remove the wall of water the charmed will be released. The water mages assisted by the sirens lay magic shells upon which we can sliede.

I chop off my own withered leg using maximum willpower & Odin's spears on Boris's advice... he stops the bleeding. It takes half an hour to get o to the shells

We have all the water mages plus two unconscious one It takes all of our willpower... & Lila's slippery floor spell from a special amulet which causes the statue to slide down toward the peer – which is made of water has dissipated. It s so heavy it takes 2 days to place the statue on a boat... it causes constant random unnatural bad luck if ever a bubble of air is removed... & bad luck as well

Cher in the crew members seems to suffer when they move closer to the statue.

65 sailors have been liberated. 60 died during the assault but were resurrected by Boris.

Some of the mermaids and some of the sailors get into a fight.

Syrene direct us by whispering wind to return to her cmap as soon as we can

He ship varying the stone is lying deep in the ocean.. we can stay afloat through mage current & other weather magic spells. After two days we make it back. A lagoon has been prepared that will prevent the statute from touching land. The ere are stone arches over the lagoon...

Lila's toes have been /her kness disclocating alling off from a death curse. She sticks her hand in a box with a while. Snake bites her hand causing pain and removes the curse...in fact her arms eels like it is bitten off..

The statue can be got back to its resting place. Syrene thinks that the poxy frogs people eating.

Syrene is please all the water mages have been freed. We work out a plan.

Session 7

Not much of importance happens after the main event although I face down two giant demon octopuses in a grim fight to the death, Lila gets death cursed... oh, and we find some loot after using a treasure map we found...

The water mages know how to do to transport the statue to the correct location - they reveal this after we spend ages trying to work out what to do.... the mages know because they transported it in the first place... boring logistics... yawn. Leave it to the water mages...

The strange boy's name is Ryn. Lila tries to persuade him to get the frog people to attack minotaurs – which will leave us free to loot treasure - I want to invade minotaur land which is not a popular choice .

The frog people will likely want someone to sacrifice to make it all work – orcs seem to be the favoured candidates -even Boris the Minotaur thinks so...

Matt teleports us all to a hot volcanic island. Cicadas and birds chirp in the trees. Suddenly Matt kicks Lila mistaking her request to find someone for a request to find an orc to sacrifice. Seems he has no truck with sacrifices...

Ryn leads us to the shore. Many shipwrecks dot the coast. This is the middle island where Ryn lives on... Ryn when found and spoken to agrees to help. He sends a note in a bottle into the sea for the frog people.

We will fly on Cher's magic carpet... 200 feet high 120 miles an hour to the orc island... ballistae bolts from orcs on the grounds.... We land uncomfortably on ground that is now covered in trenches & ws... we head up to the woods where we assume forestry patrties are.

Sure enough we come across a work party of orcs, and various slaves humans and dwarves as we travel by carpet. Lila throws a grenado of sleep magic. Six remain awake, many fall down, but some have run off & hid.

There are 21 sleeping prisoner. 2 prisoners so weak they have expired & 10 sleeping orcs. The prisoners are loaded on the carpet

Something is lurking in the trees – ominous. We fly off . The carpet fully loaded seems to be making hard work of it Some of us have to fly alongside the overloaded airborne carpet by other means. We spot some griffons in the distance but the ignore us & we ignore them. On our return to the island from where we came & we land...

The prisoners are taken ashore. Two of the prisoners have unfortunately been squashed by the weight of other bodies piled on top - generally they are all generally very unhealthy.

Suddenly Lilastarts twitching & shaking. She has been death cursed some how!!! Not sure how that happened ...Boris resurrects the dead prisoner to try to fix this - doesn't work. A divination spell determined she has been cursed to be a campion breeder, blindness, shakes, unnatural pregnancy.

Later alarms go off around the village. A large 15 foot octopus in spiked armour with a mace a gliave and several spears advancing from the ocean – I challenge it formally announcing myself by all of my honoured names & deeds..(Mungo the Humble so named by Odein himself etc...) (takes about a minute and a half to list it all even though in modesty I have shortened it all).....& the creature then .....runs off back to the sea... a fearsome monster of the deep it ain't... I'll have to give a false name next time so he wont run off...maybe something like Weakelf the Cowardly?

Ryn seems very emotionally bonded to Lila. We will go down to see the response to Ryn's bottle message tomorrow.

We shall shelter in an old inn for the night. We set watches. At a certain point in time we realise that we cannot see even counting for night fall - a darkensss spell!! I can smell something fishy like the three day old raw squid rings you get in some of the cheaper diock taverns – I assume it's the Octopus demon and I issue a challenge.. call it out as a sneak for coming at night and making us blind.

Sure enough there it is the same foul stinky 8 handed slimy armoured monster dangling from the rafters with three glaives & large spooky octopus saucer eyes –

We agree to take it (the fight that is) outside....It promises me on its honour as a monster that it will be single combat between it & I. Its name is Octclaw. Up close it is truely horrible creature - it wears the torsos of humans on its arms as armbands.

Meanwhile Lila uses a wind spell to blwo The darkness away....

Octoclaw claims it or she is going imperegnate me – (stupid beast mustn't be able to tell the difference between boys & girls) ... or by Thor's flint-hoofed goats - maybe octopus demons are both ? – not that it matters as I hardly want the foul creature to try it & see if it works...

Outside the foul beast reveals, what a monster's word is really worth, & that by single combat she meant she actually wants me to fight her sister first (who is an equally foul tentacled monster & who has snuck up behind me ) & then to fight her as well - if I live – But of cours!! how foolish of me! this all should have been obvious?!

Anyway the two identical armoured oathbreaking foul demon cowards ring-fence me with their slippery slimy tentacles draped around glaives & maces .... So its an epic battle to the death - I alone with Odin's own spear in my hand guided by his one eyed wisdom against two foul slimy slippery eight armed abominations from the bowels of Sea-Hel....ghe fight is all blood, slime, quivering mounds of cowardly sea-jelly tentacles & just as I am about to slay them?both with a single backhand slice of Odin's long headed spear..... the party chips in - despite my strict instructions to let me fight the two lying oathbreaking slime balls alone .... & anyway soon the vile monsters perish - with one Boris's spell reflecter broach throws its own demon magic spell right back at it & it perishes from its own death curse... really clever - this should happen to all spell casters ! The slimy coward octo-twin sisters vanish before we can loot them - demons for sure...

5 mins later Matt the Titan turns up. We tell we have killed demonic octopiusses from her... which he can see for himself

Lila explains her problem of being recursed & Matt then disappears by teleport with Lila underarm .She tells us later she was taken by Matt to a secret dwarvish stronghold somewhere in some hidden mountains& given a foul potion to imbibe. She was laid in the centre of a room & prayed over by dwarf priests.... Black inky soke poured off her. There were side effect - her ability to turn into a rock will not work for three months.... Her "seeing in the dark black eye worms", popped out of her eye balls - all shrivelled & dead on the stony floor. much worse her ...errr bowels were swollen full of gas... she was then steered toward the privy with the grim dwarves all holding their noses in anticipation....

Matt returns to us with Lila after two hours.

We now want to use the treasure map we found. Matt thinks our plan of diverting a river into the minotaur camp with the frog people attack will be a good distraction for looting ......& my plan for an invasion of Minotaur Town is vetoed...the flooding plan is set in motion & we set about securing loot.

We arrive at the treasure site as marked on our treasure map – we are at the entrance to a minotaur maze. Boris enters – a stone minotaur approaches ask us two riddles – behind the minotaur are chests of treassure.... Riddles are answered by the clever in the party, the minotaur lets us pass to the treasure he has guarded up until then: six preserved bear claws, A small doll, Several loaves of bread, a ring. An amulet a large round shields A small paket of broken glass. Potion bottle, a fur shawl, chain armour, Copper & silver coins.

We return to our camp. Sirene has a full on feast in our honour. Lots of entertainment eating, drinking and laughter. I recite a magnificent skald recognising the whole party as heroes - everyone one is cheered Syrene is pleased. During the evening she tells us the Elemental twins are able to tunnel everywhere through magic – interesting point. The capta in of Syrene's guard will write to Rihan's parents for consent to woo her.

Soit has been a mighty success with fame & glory brought to all. Water mages rescued. Enemies defeated. Alliances & friendships forged. Our names will be remembered honoured by the skalds & sung through the halls for years...

The end.

Buffs & Mil Sci

'A = Always on.

Long Term

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Dur	Bor	Lil	Cher	Mun	Rhi
Shadowform (Li)	15	+32 def melee, ranged; +16 def close	8 hrs
Ice Traversal (Ch)	20	Travel over ice and/or snow without slipping or sinking in. (+7 TMR on flat ice)	7 hrs
spell (caster)

Cher Morning Dance

1 MR% re-roll (or stun recovery) per day.

Short Term

Short Term - Cast as Needed

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Dur	Bor	Lil	Cher	Mun	Rhi
Strength of Darkness (Li)	12	+7 PS	130 min		Y
Feather Falling (Li)	6	Fall no more than 5'/pulse	5.5 hrs					N
Shadow Wings (Li)	6	36 mph, 126 miles range	3.5 hrs
Witchsight (Li)	7		4 hours
Lightning Strike (Li)	5	[D-4]+7, save for 1/2	5hrs
Barrier of Wind (Li)	4	20 def vs missiles, 15 in melee or close	150mins
Walking Unseen(Li)	6		7 hrs
Weapon of Cold (RH)	10	+11 SC, +4DM Cold Damage(doubled vs fire enemies)	15 minutes
spell (caster)

Senses

Ambush/danger senses/skills/magic

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Dur	Bor	Lil	Cher	Mars	Rhi
Sense Danger %							30%
Ranger Detect Ambush %		Base %, -5*OppRk, SpecArea +6%						50%
Thief/Assassin Sixth Sense %		BC 10+2xPC+5xRk

Misc Buffs

+ 14 % to strike chance if Mungo skalds prior to entering combat.

Watch Order

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Boris		Cher				Rhiain
Marseille				Lila				Boris

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Double File Cher Mungo Lila Boris Rhiain	Single File Cher Lila Mungo Boris Rhiain

Calendar

Summer
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
	Beltane
Meadow (1)
			1	Guild Meeting	2		3		4		5	White Lotus	6	Seagate Light Festival
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17		18		19	The Castellan Borderers Ball	20
	21		22		23		24		25		26	Seagate Crafters Ball	27
	28		29		30
Heat (2)
							1		2		3		4	Seagate Guildmasters Ball
	5		6		7		8		9		10	Seagate Races	11	The Duke of Carzala's Summer Ball
	12		13		14	Midsummers  Eve  (Faerie Day)	15	Solstice	16		17	Seagate Summer Fair Day	18	Seagate Summer Fair Day
	19		20		21		22		23		24	The Castellan of Brastor's Summer Ball	25
	26		27		28		29		30
Breeze (3)
											1		2
	3	Day of Death	4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17		18		19		20		21		22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30