Oh Not another Bard

Summary

Scribe Notes: Session – Summer 806
GM: Bernard Hoggins
Level: Low/Medium.

Party:

• WordSmith Mil Sci, Dwarf, Namer (Chester)
• Mira Stuart Human, Earth Mage
• Quarash Human, Wiccan
• Menolly Farstrider, Scribe, Elf, Earth Mage
• Elenna Human, E&E
• Human Illusionist
• Father Rowan Party Leader, Human, Wiccan

Job: Hired by Marvin to locate a wayward noble who went missing after going out hunting. On the Plane of Farwey.

Payment:

Meadow

Day 1 After the Guild meeting people gather in a meeting room. I meet some new people in the Guild, Word Smith, Quarash, Father Rowan, Eleanor, Human and old friend Mira. Marvin (who I helped rescue last time I was in Farway) came and told us that his Duke was missing. He was staying with one of the Orc Baron's and while out hunting he went missing. Him and his whole hunting party. We are to find out what happened, and bring the Baron back. We spent the afternoon shopping and getting prepared with spell help.

Day 2 We travelled through the portal Pretenco in the morning. I hate that portal, you come through absolutely exhausted. It was late evening,and we got lead through to the large guard house to sleep. The portal area has had some great upgrades on it. It is alot easier to get up the new ramp than the rickety ladder thing they had before. And there were even guards. We set up watches anyway, and during the second watch Human heard someone in the barracks next door. When he had a look he saw someone rummaging through guard chests. There were 2 figures in the beds not moving. He came back and woke us. When we made it back into the barracks the person was gone, out a window. The 2 figures are dead, guards we think. Both have been stileto'd in the heart, quick, quiet, lethal... We search the complex and find no-one anywhere. Very odd, and very eirie, no people. We try to follow the guy on foot. After much running about we come back and find a very confused guard. We spend some time checking the place out with magical means, the guards were hit by mental attacks and maze. Some more guards show up and they call more guards to secure the area. A count up is done. The Captain of the guard, and 3 other guards are missing. Even the portal gets some checking out. It seems there were some activity from this side but not much coming in, which rules out intruders that way.

Day 3 Eventually we get through all the questions and get organised to go visit the Duke. He looks well, in good health. The Duke we see is an illusion. Marvin is keeping up the appearance of him being present. We go over what we have found out with Marvin. When we ask more about the missing Captain he tells us that the chap has only recently been promoted. And when looking for the missing generic guards, it's discovered they are each from different shifts, one for each shift rotation. Looks like this was long term planning. Human mentions that the figure he saw in the night was fiddling with one of the guards chests, so we go back and check them all out. Some of the chests have false bottoms, but there is nothing in them. Clothing is missing from some of the "missing" guards chests. The missing Captain's chest had a trapped false bottom, which shot a needle out missing Quadash. There were ashes in the bottom section, a few scrapes of paper with cyphers on them and some general documents of the administration of the barracks. We are convinced they have done a runner, and it could be to do with the Duke missing. I finally get to use one of Briar's skills as a sniffer. We use some of the missing guards clothes for her to sniff and track. I take some with us so once we are out of town we can try and find a trail. One of the others has ways of contacting the "local underground" and see if they have heard anything about the missing guards. We set up a meet for later in the evening. Marvin organises letters of introduction for us, for when we leave Petrenco. He wont be giving us horses this time either... seems they don't trust us anymore. We can borrow them from a local establishment, and the bill will eventually end up at the Dukes. The horses are nice, standard palfrey's, very placid.

Day 4 and 5 and 6 We aren't too sure which way to go, west or east, or just straight through. We end up deciding to go straight through the gap between the undisputed borders.

On the evening of the 6th we are heading into the main part of the Barony of Arta. Not propering at all from what we see. The walls of the town are stone and mud, not shaped or anything. It's basically a defensive wall but not really enough to be useful under seige. We are met by a couple of border guards, they boringly confront us, and perk up a bit when we present our letters from the Baron. They eventually let us through, and Mira asks about good inns. The guards recommend the "Pissing Goat" but one look and it's kinda bad... We look for somewhere better. The people we pass are healthy in the town, but they are all very threadbare. When we eventually find somewhere, we get approached by a young boy, better dressed than the other occupants in the Inn. He has a message for us from "Bob". Message is that they know the Duke is missing and says it's not in our best interest to look for the Duke (in a friendly manner of course)

(some travelling, tracking some orcs, finding site of ambush, dead orcs, griffens turn up, help us travel in direction of kidnappers, (help! we paid them in good horse flesh and an Air mage), visit various towns etc. Briar tries flying, first time is fun but second time she falls out of the sky and gets hurt. Talk to a dolphin about a "really fast ship" that looks like our kidnappers, follow ship to a town) (me to add more here)

Day 21 We travel all day and end up in the town of Fulford, (every third bastard seems to be a bard or illusionist) we reckon over 2000 people. A river travels inland along the side of the town and reaches the sea. Much coastal trading and river trading is done here. There is a ferry the travels over the River Ful, very deep river. We go down to the river and check out the ships to see if any match the description we got from the dolphin. A big 3 master ship with a winged demon on the prow is sitting in the wharf. She is called "The Vengence" and is docked on a private, secured dock. We perve at the other boats in the harbour so it doesn't look suspious of our walk.

While looking for an Inn to stay the night in, we pass a lot of temples and shrines. Some are for light and some are for not so light beings. There are quite a number of dark demony temples including one to "he who shall not be named" (who? Sear? Why he's so cuddly). (Here's Why)
Father Rowan doesn't like this, doesn't like this at all. He does much muttering and pacing about. After settling into a nice Inn, he heads back and rains fire and earth shuddering quakes on that particular temple, trying to destroy it. We were blissfully in the Inn at this time and only knew something was up when he came back to the Inn, in need of healing. Once done he headed back and did more damage, leveling it to the ground. He then moved onto another temple, one to a being called Forneus, who we discovered was a Sea Demon or something similiar. The locals prayed there for calm seas and good fishing and the like. While Father Rowan was trying to destroy this temple a storm began to brew out to sea. After doing some damage he notices the storm. He tries to control the storm, and we run to batten down the hatches. His first attempt to control the storm fails, but he retries and is successful. The storm still arrives in town, but is much less ferious. As we prepare to wait out the storm I perceive shreaking in the storm. Father Rowen and I venture out into the storm to investigate and discover flying creatures in the storm. They are flying around, causing destruction on buildings, pulling off roofs, being a nuisance. I eventually work out they are harpies. Father Rowen hellfires some, kills some. I get to DA a dead one, and another sidewipes me, causing a stunning blow. Father Rowan takes out some more, hurting several more and they eventually move away from us.

(more combat, talking to dead harpies, seems they are summoned by a dragon. An air mage greeny blue dragon approx 120 feet long. Harpies live on an island out to sea, the dragon summons them once a week, to eat a few, sometimes attack things and they "visit" town on a regular basis to cause trouble for the locals.)

Next day, still stormy, Father Rowan goes back to the temple sites. The one he destroyed is still destroyed. The one he started damaging (the sea demon one) is completely gone and the ground is like it has been salted... wasn't us. Very odd. Father Rowan finds a local bard and hires him to cast a Legend of Land spell. While the bard is in the spell something goes horribly wrong, he twitches and then explodes into a shower of water.(Yeah! Can I get a helleluah). I DA some of the surviving goop of the poor bard (now a good Bard) and some of the area and discover that the ground has an anti-divination curse, which was on the bard.

Day 22 Father Rowan and WordSmith go visiting the local curse remover to talk about curses in general, and about local curses, the dead ground shrine and the dragon. It is worked out that the Anti fire, Anti divination spot that causes a vortex of water cast inside the person casting the spell, is what made the bard explode. The local decides to see what he can do about removing the curses.

Over dinner that night much discussion about what we need to do. Father Rowan is all keen to get in a boat, rowing out to sea, summoning the dragon and blowing it away! We steer the topics back to our job at hand, the missing Duke. Father Rowan decides (ha! we left his arse but he cuaght up) the dragon can wait another day and we will follow the trail of the mysterious crew from the demon winged ship.

We flee the city in advance of the mother of all magical storms.

(We travel up river, stopping in towns.

Human the Fool is arested for consorting with the Powers of the 72 in the only town in the land that seems to think this is a problem. Despite being pacted to a god (Helios, sun god on the plane of Gaia), Human's monkey/avatar gifted to him by his God is slaughtered. Party won't let Human burn city or even the keep. Human is released only after summoning his patron (who takes the churches side) and paying for a monument in the city and the promise to biuld a temple to the five back home.

End up on capital, invited to a ball. Dress up. Some visions. Leads. Dude in rich manor. Undead under the house. Big battle.

Celestial Magics are thrown at us, after a Blackfire from the Bad guy wipes most of his minions Human the Fool is killed by a Whitefire. One of the bad guys gets away.

Rescue the Duke and some others. Come home. Get paid.)You got paid, I got screwed - Human

Human seems bitter.

Why he shall not be named

On a pervious adventure The Ghoul Preservation Society Menolly learned the hard way why you don't use names for demons.
Seir sent an avitar to see what she wanted.
After Thorn had asked him to leave, she told Menolly she was not allowed to use that name again, thus Seir has become "he who shall not be named".
Parties are advised to be careful about mentioning Powers, on Farwey.