Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Private Prell (human male): A lithe private of the Fourth Eidolorn in his late teens. He's got baby blue eyes and peach fuzz on his chin. Prell is one of the more competent men in Doorjamb's unit during the War for Floivin Province, and is assigned to accompany him on the 'rear sweep' of Littlewolf, Cedarway and Ettinhead. Normally fights with chain mail and a pole arm, but Doorjamb has him change armor, so he ends up in a tight suit of Skull Collar leather...
Sergeant Lusker (human male): A grizzled older man in his leathers, he's got a missing left eye with scars all about his forehead, and so much facial hair that his beard has a beard. Speaks roughly, and has a skill at sneaking and stabbing, with no visible weapons aside from his empty, gross eyesocket and a crooked smile. Lusker is one of the more competent men in Doorjamb's unit during the War for Floivin Province, and is assigned to accompany him on the 'rear sweep' of Littlewolf, Cedarway and Ettinhead.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Session 27 (12/9/11)
The War for Floivin Province, Part II
*This session used an experimental mass combat system rooted in standard 3.5 D&D combat rules.*
Essel, Malarous 18th, 838 ID
The battle surges on into the summer night as the Skull Collars and Fourth Eidolorn collide in a massive struggle south of Livenoak, where the Frail Forest and Crown Pasture meet. Several of the PCs involve themselves as support to the superior military forces. After a few hours of bloodshed, the hobgoblin infantry under Ironballs is able to kill Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts. Meanwhile, the undead hordes press their advantage against Floivin Keep itself, and in the first major Last Eidolorn tragedy of the confrontation, Captain Reckon is overswarmed and slain by both zombies and skeletal troops en masse.
Ivric, Malarous 19th, 838 ID
With midnight comes no cessation of hostilities, and as desperation sets in forth both forces, the *Sudden Death Overtime* phase of the fight begins. Despite the lack of daylight, Lt. Langston's archers are able to defeat the Blooded Lash Air Cavalry as they dive and dart around the walls of the Keep. Lt. Wogg's Hydra Division manages to finally destroy Lt. Harmon Shast's conscripts of the Fourth Eidolorn, and the Wizards Elite under Prepostero lay low the Skull Collars' bugbear infantry and their chieftain, Greklik. The undead wizard Ogrous defeats Major Vanquo, opening up the East Gates of Floivin Keep for further abuse. In the Crown Pasture, the Skull Collar archers defeat Lt. Chorus of the Fourth Eidolorn in a deadly exchange of volleys, but Ryit the barbarian and the peasants under her command are able to defeat (and slay) Ironballs. Darkahn finds some loot!
Despite their tattered forces, Slab and Darkhan are able to combine what remains of their small host and dispatch the Skull Collar worg riders pursuing them across the pasture, and Langston and Luz do a number on the undead swell at the Keep. Sadly, there are a number of other friendly casualties including Belgin Hosspotch, Captain Tarl Treadmyr, and Command Doolan, all of whom can't hold back the forces from the Western Gate. Both East and West walls of the Keep crumble. Thankfully, the Skull Collars are finally defeated, with Mudgol and Vhelok taking some of their chiefs captive (Chizel, Lt. Wogg, Gusta and another unnamed goblin warlord). Those Fourth Eidolorn faces able march towards the Keep to assist, along with Captain Hoary, Major Scott Morrow (now the ranking officer in the Province) and several of the PCs.
And as the morning marches onward, the sun rising in the sky, the Mother of All Brawls begins in the streets of Floivin Keep, as a host of local heroes and soldiers converges upon a regiment of undead knights, zombie masters, hulking corpses, doppelgangers, an ebon-skinned giant and one unshakable, heavily armed ghost...
Casualties of War: Cmd. Doolan, Maj. Vanquo, Cpt. Reckon, Cpt. Vrask, Cpt. Tarl Treadmyr, Lt. Harmon Shast, Lt. Chorus, Belgin Hosspotch.
Heroes Left Standing: Cmd. Vhelok, Maj. Scott Morrow, Cpt. Hoary, Cpt. Kennel, Blake Bauerkroft, Mistlethroe, Lt. Bergothe 'the Boar', Conniff, Prelate Akstra, Pvt. Lamontaine, John 'Blow', Pvt. Odd Jon Stuckle, Pvt. Teckler, Skrel, Anenome, Apprentice Letoe, and the PCs.
PCs: Darkahn, Doorjamb, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
*This session used an experimental mass combat system rooted in standard 3.5 D&D combat rules.*
Essel, Malarous 18th, 838 ID
The battle surges on into the summer night as the Skull Collars and Fourth Eidolorn collide in a massive struggle south of Livenoak, where the Frail Forest and Crown Pasture meet. Several of the PCs involve themselves as support to the superior military forces. After a few hours of bloodshed, the hobgoblin infantry under Ironballs is able to kill Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts. Meanwhile, the undead hordes press their advantage against Floivin Keep itself, and in the first major Last Eidolorn tragedy of the confrontation, Captain Reckon is overswarmed and slain by both zombies and skeletal troops en masse.
Ivric, Malarous 19th, 838 ID
With midnight comes no cessation of hostilities, and as desperation sets in forth both forces, the *Sudden Death Overtime* phase of the fight begins. Despite the lack of daylight, Lt. Langston's archers are able to defeat the Blooded Lash Air Cavalry as they dive and dart around the walls of the Keep. Lt. Wogg's Hydra Division manages to finally destroy Lt. Harmon Shast's conscripts of the Fourth Eidolorn, and the Wizards Elite under Prepostero lay low the Skull Collars' bugbear infantry and their chieftain, Greklik. The undead wizard Ogrous defeats Major Vanquo, opening up the East Gates of Floivin Keep for further abuse. In the Crown Pasture, the Skull Collar archers defeat Lt. Chorus of the Fourth Eidolorn in a deadly exchange of volleys, but Ryit the barbarian and the peasants under her command are able to defeat (and slay) Ironballs. Darkahn finds some loot!
Despite their tattered forces, Slab and Darkhan are able to combine what remains of their small host and dispatch the Skull Collar worg riders pursuing them across the pasture, and Langston and Luz do a number on the undead swell at the Keep. Sadly, there are a number of other friendly casualties including Belgin Hosspotch, Captain Tarl Treadmyr, and Command Doolan, all of whom can't hold back the forces from the Western Gate. Both East and West walls of the Keep crumble. Thankfully, the Skull Collars are finally defeated, with Mudgol and Vhelok taking some of their chiefs captive (Chizel, Lt. Wogg, Gusta and another unnamed goblin warlord). Those Fourth Eidolorn faces able march towards the Keep to assist, along with Captain Hoary, Major Scott Morrow (now the ranking officer in the Province) and several of the PCs.
And as the morning marches onward, the sun rising in the sky, the Mother of All Brawls begins in the streets of Floivin Keep, as a host of local heroes and soldiers converges upon a regiment of undead knights, zombie masters, hulking corpses, doppelgangers, an ebon-skinned giant and one unshakable, heavily armed ghost...
Casualties of War: Cmd. Doolan, Maj. Vanquo, Cpt. Reckon, Cpt. Vrask, Cpt. Tarl Treadmyr, Lt. Harmon Shast, Lt. Chorus, Belgin Hosspotch.
Heroes Left Standing: Cmd. Vhelok, Maj. Scott Morrow, Cpt. Hoary, Cpt. Kennel, Blake Bauerkroft, Mistlethroe, Lt. Bergothe 'the Boar', Conniff, Prelate Akstra, Pvt. Lamontaine, John 'Blow', Pvt. Odd Jon Stuckle, Pvt. Teckler, Skrel, Anenome, Apprentice Letoe, and the PCs.
PCs: Darkahn, Doorjamb, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Session 26 / Online Session 26 (11/23/11)
The War for Floivin Province, Part I
*This session used an experimental mass combat system rooted in standard 3.5 D&D combat rules.*
Essel, Malarous 18th, 838 ID
The PCs head back inside Flabbergast Manor and Mistlethroe shifts the wandering wizardly college to one of its Floivin Keep anchors. Within, it turns out that the Keep is on fire due to some internal acts of arson, and the foreign invaders and humanoids are just about to press their own attack on the capital of the province. Commander Doolan orders all seasoned, able bodied men who have dealt with these threats to choose a second, and then take command of a combat unit. Luz is given use of the githyanki mercenaries, and his second is Skrel. Mudgol gathers what students of the Arkana Arkiva remain in the Keep, and his second is Apprentice Letoe. Darkahn is given a group of elven refugees, and his second is Jon 'Blow', the half-elf. Slab gathers up a band of shady individuals, and his former Stride-mate Anenome to serve as his second. Langston commands a unit of archers with Pvt. Teckler 'The Tickler' as his second, and Ryit Silverhand is given a group of peasants and farmers willing to fight, with Odd Jon Stuckle chivalrously offering to be her second.
Meanwhile, Doorjamb and the Fourth Eidolorn arrive through the Westermarch pass after the massive avalanche that was set off by the Score's explosives (purchased in Waddlewinch). About 66% of the Fourth forces remain, and Pvt. Puj is made Doorjamb's second. Commander Vhelok controls the cavalry, Lt. Bergothe 'the Boar' the Fourth infantry, and Lt. Harmon Shast the Tarair conscripts. In addition, there are several smaller units including Lt. Chorus' archers, Prepostero's Wizards' Elite (with Ultremis of Traeger as his second), Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts (Pvt. Cresk as his second) and a group of Eleste acolytes under the guidance of Prelate Akstra of Tarair. The Fourth Eidolorn moves south to engage the Ettenhead forces at Livenoak, while from further north, Captain Hoary (Blake Bauerkroft his second) and the recently rescued Maj. Scott Morrow move their units south from Ettenhead.
The other PCs must decide whether to enter the fray from the heavily besieged keep, flanked by large masses of undead; or return with Mistlethroe to the East shore of the Udders Well, where they will be in position to battle against the Skull Collar reavers which have come out in force. Langston and Luz decide to remain at the Keep with Commander Doolan's infantry, Major Vanquo's cavalry, Belgin Hosspotch and his halfling slingers, and smaller units managed by Captains Reckon and Kennel, and Conniff of the Cathedral of Blades. Mudgol, Slab, Darkhan and Ryit decide to take on the Skull Collars. The war commences, with our heroes pressed heavily in battle! After only a few hours, Mudgol, Slab and Darkhan have had their units almost entirely obliterated by the soldiers of Ironballs, Greklik and two companies of Skull Collar worg riders...
Meanwhile, Luz wades into hordes of undead east of Floivin Keep while buggering off a raid of Blooded Lash hippogriff riders who are harassing the city from above. Langston and Major Vanquo engage a unit of massive, hulking corpses under the command of the ghost knight the PCs have previously encountered. At one point, the ghost possessed Major Vanquo, who confusingly commands his cavalry to attack Langston, but the archer survives. In the West of the Keep, Captain Reckon and Commander Doolan do their best to stand against a horde of skeletal infantry and zombies, while an ebony-skinned giant looks on. Captain Hoary and Maj. Scott Morrow are waylaid by a unit of Pinewater kobold maulers.
Hours pass, and the first decisive blow of the battle is dealt when Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts slaughter the Ettin B'voon and his ogres at Livenoak. Kordek the hill giant is then pressed by the Fourth Eidolorn and inevitably destroyed by lethal magic from Prepostero. The Pinewater kobolds are destroyed by Captain Hoary's unit, and they press on to meet the Fourth at Livenoak. Meanwhile, most of the PCs are scattered about the Crown Pasture, fighting or fleeing from the Skull Collars. Mistlethroe, under heavy pressure, commands the Flabbergast Manor to once again disappear, much to the dismay of Mudgol, Slab and Darkahn who are all heavily wounded by this point. Darkahn retreats into the Udders Well, swimming for his life with Jon 'Blow', while Slab leads the worg riders off through the fields in a game of cat and mouse!
The Hydra Division is brought into play under Lt. Wogg (Gusta the ogre chef his second), and they engage Lt. Harmon Shast and his conscripts on their march south. With the PCs' small units scattered to the winds, the Skull Collars organize to face the Fourth Eidolorn and Captain Hoary. Doorjamb meets some random, ill fortune on the march while Mudgol uncovers 100 gold coins from some random stash! Lt. Wogg's hydra's deal massive amounts of damage to the Fourth Eidolorn conscripts before the rest of the march can arrive. Ryit and Mudgol move into position to assist their Tarair and Traeger saviors, and a great battle begins! Ryit's forces seem to oddly increase as more commoners leap to her cause at the behest of some good, dwarf cookin!
And at Floivin Keep, Belgin Hosspotch finally enters the fray, as his near useless slingers offer some ranged cover for the ground forces. But Langston and Luz remain hard pressed against incredible odds. Reckon, Vanquo and Doolan are all taking serious damage to their units. As the Fourth Eidolorn and Skull Collars commence their hostilities, Captain Hoary orders Doorjamb and his second to run a sweep of the villages of Littlewolf, Cedarway and the entrance to the Ettenhead itself...
PCs: Darkahn, Doorjamb, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
B'voon (ettin male): B'voon was an ettin chief serving as one of Ettenhead's chips in the War for Floivin Province. With a legion of ogres and the hill giant Kordek's legion, he was able to capture Livenoak with little resistance, as most of the inhabitants had fled. However, once the Fourth Eidolorn arrived to help liberate the province from the combined humanoid/Vhorinyr threat, B'voon and his unit were quickly slain by a ruthless charge from the Traeger conscripts under Captain Vrast. Within an hour, B'voon's entire unit was slaughtered!
Greklik (bugbear male): A bugbear warlord who serves below Chief Chizel in the Skull Collars. He fights with his peoples' traditional morningstar and has at least a dozen trophies around his neck to showcase his experience.
Kordek (hill giant male): A hill giant brute who served as one of the Ettenhead forward chiefs in the War for Floivin Province. Kordek was serving as a mobile infantry for B'voon's stationed forces at Livenoak. After B'voon was shockingly slain by Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts, much of the Fourth Eidolorn forces unified to take down Kordek and his ogres.
Lt. Chorus (human female): A weathered, thirty something soldier with two matched brown braids tied into loops down the back of her head, and several scars surrounding her brown eyes. Lt. Chorus is a seasoned archer who commands a troop of ranged combatants under Commander Vhelok of the Fourth Eidolorn.
Skrel (githyanki male): A gaunt, middle aged githyanki tactician who serves as Luz' second during the War for Floivin Province.
Oh yeah, and...
*This session used an experimental mass combat system rooted in standard 3.5 D&D combat rules.*
Essel, Malarous 18th, 838 ID
The PCs head back inside Flabbergast Manor and Mistlethroe shifts the wandering wizardly college to one of its Floivin Keep anchors. Within, it turns out that the Keep is on fire due to some internal acts of arson, and the foreign invaders and humanoids are just about to press their own attack on the capital of the province. Commander Doolan orders all seasoned, able bodied men who have dealt with these threats to choose a second, and then take command of a combat unit. Luz is given use of the githyanki mercenaries, and his second is Skrel. Mudgol gathers what students of the Arkana Arkiva remain in the Keep, and his second is Apprentice Letoe. Darkahn is given a group of elven refugees, and his second is Jon 'Blow', the half-elf. Slab gathers up a band of shady individuals, and his former Stride-mate Anenome to serve as his second. Langston commands a unit of archers with Pvt. Teckler 'The Tickler' as his second, and Ryit Silverhand is given a group of peasants and farmers willing to fight, with Odd Jon Stuckle chivalrously offering to be her second.
Meanwhile, Doorjamb and the Fourth Eidolorn arrive through the Westermarch pass after the massive avalanche that was set off by the Score's explosives (purchased in Waddlewinch). About 66% of the Fourth forces remain, and Pvt. Puj is made Doorjamb's second. Commander Vhelok controls the cavalry, Lt. Bergothe 'the Boar' the Fourth infantry, and Lt. Harmon Shast the Tarair conscripts. In addition, there are several smaller units including Lt. Chorus' archers, Prepostero's Wizards' Elite (with Ultremis of Traeger as his second), Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts (Pvt. Cresk as his second) and a group of Eleste acolytes under the guidance of Prelate Akstra of Tarair. The Fourth Eidolorn moves south to engage the Ettenhead forces at Livenoak, while from further north, Captain Hoary (Blake Bauerkroft his second) and the recently rescued Maj. Scott Morrow move their units south from Ettenhead.
The other PCs must decide whether to enter the fray from the heavily besieged keep, flanked by large masses of undead; or return with Mistlethroe to the East shore of the Udders Well, where they will be in position to battle against the Skull Collar reavers which have come out in force. Langston and Luz decide to remain at the Keep with Commander Doolan's infantry, Major Vanquo's cavalry, Belgin Hosspotch and his halfling slingers, and smaller units managed by Captains Reckon and Kennel, and Conniff of the Cathedral of Blades. Mudgol, Slab, Darkhan and Ryit decide to take on the Skull Collars. The war commences, with our heroes pressed heavily in battle! After only a few hours, Mudgol, Slab and Darkhan have had their units almost entirely obliterated by the soldiers of Ironballs, Greklik and two companies of Skull Collar worg riders...
Meanwhile, Luz wades into hordes of undead east of Floivin Keep while buggering off a raid of Blooded Lash hippogriff riders who are harassing the city from above. Langston and Major Vanquo engage a unit of massive, hulking corpses under the command of the ghost knight the PCs have previously encountered. At one point, the ghost possessed Major Vanquo, who confusingly commands his cavalry to attack Langston, but the archer survives. In the West of the Keep, Captain Reckon and Commander Doolan do their best to stand against a horde of skeletal infantry and zombies, while an ebony-skinned giant looks on. Captain Hoary and Maj. Scott Morrow are waylaid by a unit of Pinewater kobold maulers.
Hours pass, and the first decisive blow of the battle is dealt when Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts slaughter the Ettin B'voon and his ogres at Livenoak. Kordek the hill giant is then pressed by the Fourth Eidolorn and inevitably destroyed by lethal magic from Prepostero. The Pinewater kobolds are destroyed by Captain Hoary's unit, and they press on to meet the Fourth at Livenoak. Meanwhile, most of the PCs are scattered about the Crown Pasture, fighting or fleeing from the Skull Collars. Mistlethroe, under heavy pressure, commands the Flabbergast Manor to once again disappear, much to the dismay of Mudgol, Slab and Darkahn who are all heavily wounded by this point. Darkahn retreats into the Udders Well, swimming for his life with Jon 'Blow', while Slab leads the worg riders off through the fields in a game of cat and mouse!
The Hydra Division is brought into play under Lt. Wogg (Gusta the ogre chef his second), and they engage Lt. Harmon Shast and his conscripts on their march south. With the PCs' small units scattered to the winds, the Skull Collars organize to face the Fourth Eidolorn and Captain Hoary. Doorjamb meets some random, ill fortune on the march while Mudgol uncovers 100 gold coins from some random stash! Lt. Wogg's hydra's deal massive amounts of damage to the Fourth Eidolorn conscripts before the rest of the march can arrive. Ryit and Mudgol move into position to assist their Tarair and Traeger saviors, and a great battle begins! Ryit's forces seem to oddly increase as more commoners leap to her cause at the behest of some good, dwarf cookin!
And at Floivin Keep, Belgin Hosspotch finally enters the fray, as his near useless slingers offer some ranged cover for the ground forces. But Langston and Luz remain hard pressed against incredible odds. Reckon, Vanquo and Doolan are all taking serious damage to their units. As the Fourth Eidolorn and Skull Collars commence their hostilities, Captain Hoary orders Doorjamb and his second to run a sweep of the villages of Littlewolf, Cedarway and the entrance to the Ettenhead itself...
PCs: Darkahn, Doorjamb, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
B'voon (ettin male): B'voon was an ettin chief serving as one of Ettenhead's chips in the War for Floivin Province. With a legion of ogres and the hill giant Kordek's legion, he was able to capture Livenoak with little resistance, as most of the inhabitants had fled. However, once the Fourth Eidolorn arrived to help liberate the province from the combined humanoid/Vhorinyr threat, B'voon and his unit were quickly slain by a ruthless charge from the Traeger conscripts under Captain Vrast. Within an hour, B'voon's entire unit was slaughtered!
Greklik (bugbear male): A bugbear warlord who serves below Chief Chizel in the Skull Collars. He fights with his peoples' traditional morningstar and has at least a dozen trophies around his neck to showcase his experience.
Kordek (hill giant male): A hill giant brute who served as one of the Ettenhead forward chiefs in the War for Floivin Province. Kordek was serving as a mobile infantry for B'voon's stationed forces at Livenoak. After B'voon was shockingly slain by Captain Vrast and his Traeger conscripts, much of the Fourth Eidolorn forces unified to take down Kordek and his ogres.
Lt. Chorus (human female): A weathered, thirty something soldier with two matched brown braids tied into loops down the back of her head, and several scars surrounding her brown eyes. Lt. Chorus is a seasoned archer who commands a troop of ranged combatants under Commander Vhelok of the Fourth Eidolorn.
Skrel (githyanki male): A gaunt, middle aged githyanki tactician who serves as Luz' second during the War for Floivin Province.
Oh yeah, and...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Online Session 25 (11/1/11)
Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Lt. Poorly (human male): A gaunt, drunken Eidolorn officer who works out of Wattlewinch, he's got a broken pike that he's tied back together and constantly uses to support his sloshed weight. Has a few harsh words with Doorjamb who accuses him of his shortcomings.
Pvt. Cresk (human male): A thin soldier of the Fourth Eidolorn stationed in Traeger. Wields a light crossbow and leather armor. Accompanies Lt. Grizzlebeard and Pvt. Puj to the pass at the Vernal Wall, while they scout, then he sends word back to Captain Vrash at Traeger.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Lt. Poorly (human male): A gaunt, drunken Eidolorn officer who works out of Wattlewinch, he's got a broken pike that he's tied back together and constantly uses to support his sloshed weight. Has a few harsh words with Doorjamb who accuses him of his shortcomings.
Pvt. Cresk (human male): A thin soldier of the Fourth Eidolorn stationed in Traeger. Wields a light crossbow and leather armor. Accompanies Lt. Grizzlebeard and Pvt. Puj to the pass at the Vernal Wall, while they scout, then he sends word back to Captain Vrash at Traeger.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Session 25 (10/28/11)
Verne, Malarous 17th, 838 ID
Slab is confronted by the gargoyle tea attendant 'Earl', who promptly attacks him for breaching the Reargarden uninvited. The dwarf takes quite a few claws to the body, but decides against retaliating, instead relying on his companions to scale the wall and pacify the gargoyle. Finally, after several attempts, Mistlethroe gets up to the wall and orders Earl to bring tea for the PCs. They decide upon a course of action, and after failing to bust the lock to the Headmaster's Office, they decide to assault the Arkiva Assembly from the front doors, with Langston, Odd Jon and Luz taking up a flanking position at another door into the hall.
The githyanki mercenaries and two members of the Score are ready and waiting for the party, and a deadly battle ensues. Due to the Astral Plane's strange features, spells are able to be hurled at a faster rate than normal. It quickly becomes a fight of spell-flinging madness, with Mudgol and Mistlethroe engaging the red wizard Melek Tha and the efreet Flaming Fack, while the rest of the PCs fight off the hardened githyanki mercs wielding two-handed swords. At one point, Mudgol is pinned by an Evard's black tentacles and cloudkill simultaneously, and just barely survives. Darkahn's new badger companion is pelted to death by hailstones from the red wizards ice storm early in the battle. Several of Mudgol's magics sent towards the Assembly dais seem to fizzle out around an unseen barrier.
The tide of the battle turns when Mistlethroe uses phantasmal killer to miraculously slay the githyanki commando, and the red wizard and efreet have both fled through magic. The Manor has been regained, and the remaining githyanki survivors lower their weapons and propose a trade with the PCs: information for their lives. Mistlethroe agrees to terms, but insists that the PCs maintain a close watch upon them; then it's decided that the Manor will pay a fee for their protection once returning to Floivin Keep. The PCs take all the spoils of the fallen githyanki, including a pile of magical protection rings, magical medium breastplates and some masterwork composite bows. Mistlethroe manages to shift the Manor twice, the second time landing at the school's original construction site on the bank of Udders Well. Emerging from the Manor, the PCs see that, to the south, the Keep is on fire...
PCs: Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
Slab is confronted by the gargoyle tea attendant 'Earl', who promptly attacks him for breaching the Reargarden uninvited. The dwarf takes quite a few claws to the body, but decides against retaliating, instead relying on his companions to scale the wall and pacify the gargoyle. Finally, after several attempts, Mistlethroe gets up to the wall and orders Earl to bring tea for the PCs. They decide upon a course of action, and after failing to bust the lock to the Headmaster's Office, they decide to assault the Arkiva Assembly from the front doors, with Langston, Odd Jon and Luz taking up a flanking position at another door into the hall.
The githyanki mercenaries and two members of the Score are ready and waiting for the party, and a deadly battle ensues. Due to the Astral Plane's strange features, spells are able to be hurled at a faster rate than normal. It quickly becomes a fight of spell-flinging madness, with Mudgol and Mistlethroe engaging the red wizard Melek Tha and the efreet Flaming Fack, while the rest of the PCs fight off the hardened githyanki mercs wielding two-handed swords. At one point, Mudgol is pinned by an Evard's black tentacles and cloudkill simultaneously, and just barely survives. Darkahn's new badger companion is pelted to death by hailstones from the red wizards ice storm early in the battle. Several of Mudgol's magics sent towards the Assembly dais seem to fizzle out around an unseen barrier.
The tide of the battle turns when Mistlethroe uses phantasmal killer to miraculously slay the githyanki commando, and the red wizard and efreet have both fled through magic. The Manor has been regained, and the remaining githyanki survivors lower their weapons and propose a trade with the PCs: information for their lives. Mistlethroe agrees to terms, but insists that the PCs maintain a close watch upon them; then it's decided that the Manor will pay a fee for their protection once returning to Floivin Keep. The PCs take all the spoils of the fallen githyanki, including a pile of magical protection rings, magical medium breastplates and some masterwork composite bows. Mistlethroe manages to shift the Manor twice, the second time landing at the school's original construction site on the bank of Udders Well. Emerging from the Manor, the PCs see that, to the south, the Keep is on fire...
PCs: Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
Commander Kthan (githyanki male): A heavily armored and disciplined soldier who was in charge of the githyanki used to take Flabberghast Manor in the employ of the Score. He wielded a two-handed, silver sword in battle but was defeated by Mistlethroe who used a phantasmal killer to frighten the Commander to death.
Earl (gargoyle male): A petite, spiky gargoyle attendant enthralled at Flabberghast Manor who tends the Reargarden area, serving students tea and entertaining them when needed.
Flaming 'Fack' (efreeti male): Previously reported to be a dwarf in the ranks of the Arkana Arkiva, Fack was actually an efreeti in disguise, one of the more exotic members of The Score. He was defeated in the re-taking of Flabberghast Manor, but managed to escape in gaseous form out to the Astral. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Melek Tha (human male): a bald and heavily tattooed ex-patriate of Toul Tabor, Melek Tha is a prominent member of The Score who has confronted the PCs on a number of occasions using his violent magic and ram-headed, burning staff. Melek helped the Blooded Lash tribe breach the settlement of the Hud Horrn, and then also partook in the theft of Flabberghast Manor, in which he learned how to isolate the magical college in the Astral Plane and activate several of its defenses. Tha escaped once the battle went downhill, plane shifting back to (presumably) the material plane.
Commander Kthan (githyanki male): A heavily armored and disciplined soldier who was in charge of the githyanki used to take Flabberghast Manor in the employ of the Score. He wielded a two-handed, silver sword in battle but was defeated by Mistlethroe who used a phantasmal killer to frighten the Commander to death.
Earl (gargoyle male): A petite, spiky gargoyle attendant enthralled at Flabberghast Manor who tends the Reargarden area, serving students tea and entertaining them when needed.
Flaming 'Fack' (efreeti male): Previously reported to be a dwarf in the ranks of the Arkana Arkiva, Fack was actually an efreeti in disguise, one of the more exotic members of The Score. He was defeated in the re-taking of Flabberghast Manor, but managed to escape in gaseous form out to the Astral. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Melek Tha (human male): a bald and heavily tattooed ex-patriate of Toul Tabor, Melek Tha is a prominent member of The Score who has confronted the PCs on a number of occasions using his violent magic and ram-headed, burning staff. Melek helped the Blooded Lash tribe breach the settlement of the Hud Horrn, and then also partook in the theft of Flabberghast Manor, in which he learned how to isolate the magical college in the Astral Plane and activate several of its defenses. Tha escaped once the battle went downhill, plane shifting back to (presumably) the material plane.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Online Session 24 (9/28/11)
Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Private Norsel (human male): A soldier of the Fourth Eidolorn, he's rather clammy with bright ginger orange here muddled up under a tight-fitting cap. Norsel serves as a guard at the village of Wattlewinch on the Fogspan, and has a tendency to forget details.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Private Norsel (human male): A soldier of the Fourth Eidolorn, he's rather clammy with bright ginger orange here muddled up under a tight-fitting cap. Norsel serves as a guard at the village of Wattlewinch on the Fogspan, and has a tendency to forget details.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Session 24 Notes (9/23/11)
Aric, Malarous 14th, 838 ID
Once the Commander's Cup tournament ends, the PCs deliberate whether they should pursue Doughboy the Dreaded after his hostility towards Luz in the 3rd round. They decide against this course, instead readying themselves for Mistlethroe's mission to rescue Flabbergast Manor. Private Doorjamb is assigned to guide the Fourth Eidolorn on their march to Floivin Province, and separated from the other PCs once more, while Darkhan begins a meditation to attract a new animal companion. The rest of the group gets to bed early, so they can shop for items on the following morning.
Tault, Malarous 15th, 838 ID
In the morning, the PCs scatter to purchase items and prepare themselves for their strange journey to the Astral Plane. Potions are in short supply, but through Mistlethroe's contacts in the Wizards Elite, they are able to pick up a number of magic armaments. Mudgol identifies the magic monacle lens that Doorjamb has traded the other PCs (in return for their Charisma ioun stone), while Darkahan is ultimately successful in summoning a new animal companion, a badger. By evening, a number of characters have had items enchanted, and they move to collect them, before settling in early.
Varony, Malarous 16th, 838 ID
Mistlethroe takes aside Luz and Mudgol to explain to them some of the 'difference' in magic on the Astral Plane. He also debriefs the PCs as fully as he can: the Deans of the Arkana Arkiva have been defeated by an invading force of githyanki slavers and mercenaries led by at least two members of The Score: a Red Wizard (whom the PCs have previously encountered at the taking of the Hud Horrn), and a traitor dwarf student named 'Flaming' Fack. Lt. Langston accosts the gnome chancellor for his lack of precise details. Mistlethroe then explains the best he can about travel through the Astral, but informs the PCs they'll need 'hands on' experience. The party then proceeds to the Wizards Elite chantry in Tarair, and Prepostero sees them off. They grasp hands and Mistlethroe uses his plane shift spell...
They all appear in a silvery, pinkish void, and it takes some time for them to become oriented with 'steering', or 'falling' in particular directions. After some experimentation, Mistlethroe produces a device that allows him to 'track' the location of Flabbergast Manor on the Astral. He doesn't tell the PCs that they are over 50 miles away...but begins to 'fall' them in the proper direction. After what seems like an eternity of travel, the PCs encounter a glowing, bright winged being, who accosts them from a distance for traveling with an 'evil' problem, which it identifies as Luz the half-orc. The PCs ignore the warning (except Mistlethroe), and move along. Later that day of travel, they encounter a series of plummeting rock structures which Odd Jon Stuckle only barely manages to avoids...the PCs cannot rest or sleep as they travel, but they also don't feel hunger or thirst.
Verne, Malarous 17th, 838 ID
Using Mistlethroe's compass, they inevitable arrive from 'above' the Flabbergast Manor, their gnome guide and Mudgol seeing the familiar shape of their school. However, Mudgol accidentally falls too 'close' to the Manor, and activates a flight of gargoyle defenders from one of the active Eye Towers. The group flies off to safety, and the gargoyles do not pursue beyond a particular one mile radius. Mistlethroe believes that the Red Wizard has figured out how to implement the Manor's defenses, so an alternate access must be found. They decide to re-approach the place from below, 'falling' towards the rock and earth base which was transported along with the Manor when it originally left the Prime Material Plane. They decide upon an approach from a stream of water that exits from a vent below the school. Mistlethroe explains that this must lead to the Bath Works.
After managing to land on the undersurface of the Manor, Slab leads a reconnaissance up into the water vent, which inevitably comes to a stone grate. Since the vent is so tight, the PCs can't just break it from their position, so after scouting the next area with Mudgol's clairvoyance sensor, Mistlethroe and Mudgol dimension door into the Bath Works to enlist the aid of the magically bound gargoyle attendant Theo. Unfortunately, he's not that strong, so it takes him some time (and a crowbar passed through by Slab) to break the grates off and allow the PCs access to the Bath Works, which are heated by magically preserved igneous rock built into the floor, and supplied endlessly by a decanter of endless water built into the Bath. Luz expressed interest in breaking open and taking the decanter, but Mistlethroe throws a shitfit about how the PCs are NOT allowed to loot anything in the Manor without his permission.
Theo tells the party that the area has been relatively quiet, and then the PCs begin to systematically comb about the nearest empty classrooms, include an alchemy lab and the unused Pact Magic class. When they arrive at the West Arborage, Darkahn is surprised by a young human student who attacks him with a bookbag. They manage to calm the girl, and get information out of her. She claims that the githyanki and the enemy wizards are located in the central offices of the Manor, and that many of the instructors have been taken as slaves by the mercenaries, flown off in a cage carried by a large red dragon. The PCs set a course to try and circle around the enemy in the Manor, but first attempt to ambush a pair of animated mail boots that are stalking through the Students Wing West. Mistlethroe takes credit. The party, led by Slab, circles to the Sparring Yard, and then Slab scales the battlement into the Reargarden, running smack into another gargoyle attendant...
PCs: Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
Apprentice Letoe (human female): A rather plain but congenial young teenage girl with brown hair tied back in a bun. She's a student of the Arkana Arkiva who somehow survived the invasion on Flabbergast Manor. PCs encounter her when she surprises and attacks Darkahn in the West Arborage of the Manor. She claims most of the Deans were enslaved by githyanki and carried off somewhere by a large red dragon.
Theo (gargoyle 'male'): The bath attendant of the Flabbergast Manor, he is magically bound to the Bath Works area and cannot leave. He gets lonely sometimes, and seems to have a peculiar attraction to males...or whichever male seems to be the most comely at the time. Theo is a fairly menacing looking gargoyle, but he wears a white toga.
Once the Commander's Cup tournament ends, the PCs deliberate whether they should pursue Doughboy the Dreaded after his hostility towards Luz in the 3rd round. They decide against this course, instead readying themselves for Mistlethroe's mission to rescue Flabbergast Manor. Private Doorjamb is assigned to guide the Fourth Eidolorn on their march to Floivin Province, and separated from the other PCs once more, while Darkhan begins a meditation to attract a new animal companion. The rest of the group gets to bed early, so they can shop for items on the following morning.
Tault, Malarous 15th, 838 ID
In the morning, the PCs scatter to purchase items and prepare themselves for their strange journey to the Astral Plane. Potions are in short supply, but through Mistlethroe's contacts in the Wizards Elite, they are able to pick up a number of magic armaments. Mudgol identifies the magic monacle lens that Doorjamb has traded the other PCs (in return for their Charisma ioun stone), while Darkahan is ultimately successful in summoning a new animal companion, a badger. By evening, a number of characters have had items enchanted, and they move to collect them, before settling in early.
Varony, Malarous 16th, 838 ID
Mistlethroe takes aside Luz and Mudgol to explain to them some of the 'difference' in magic on the Astral Plane. He also debriefs the PCs as fully as he can: the Deans of the Arkana Arkiva have been defeated by an invading force of githyanki slavers and mercenaries led by at least two members of The Score: a Red Wizard (whom the PCs have previously encountered at the taking of the Hud Horrn), and a traitor dwarf student named 'Flaming' Fack. Lt. Langston accosts the gnome chancellor for his lack of precise details. Mistlethroe then explains the best he can about travel through the Astral, but informs the PCs they'll need 'hands on' experience. The party then proceeds to the Wizards Elite chantry in Tarair, and Prepostero sees them off. They grasp hands and Mistlethroe uses his plane shift spell...
They all appear in a silvery, pinkish void, and it takes some time for them to become oriented with 'steering', or 'falling' in particular directions. After some experimentation, Mistlethroe produces a device that allows him to 'track' the location of Flabbergast Manor on the Astral. He doesn't tell the PCs that they are over 50 miles away...but begins to 'fall' them in the proper direction. After what seems like an eternity of travel, the PCs encounter a glowing, bright winged being, who accosts them from a distance for traveling with an 'evil' problem, which it identifies as Luz the half-orc. The PCs ignore the warning (except Mistlethroe), and move along. Later that day of travel, they encounter a series of plummeting rock structures which Odd Jon Stuckle only barely manages to avoids...the PCs cannot rest or sleep as they travel, but they also don't feel hunger or thirst.
Verne, Malarous 17th, 838 ID
Using Mistlethroe's compass, they inevitable arrive from 'above' the Flabbergast Manor, their gnome guide and Mudgol seeing the familiar shape of their school. However, Mudgol accidentally falls too 'close' to the Manor, and activates a flight of gargoyle defenders from one of the active Eye Towers. The group flies off to safety, and the gargoyles do not pursue beyond a particular one mile radius. Mistlethroe believes that the Red Wizard has figured out how to implement the Manor's defenses, so an alternate access must be found. They decide to re-approach the place from below, 'falling' towards the rock and earth base which was transported along with the Manor when it originally left the Prime Material Plane. They decide upon an approach from a stream of water that exits from a vent below the school. Mistlethroe explains that this must lead to the Bath Works.
After managing to land on the undersurface of the Manor, Slab leads a reconnaissance up into the water vent, which inevitably comes to a stone grate. Since the vent is so tight, the PCs can't just break it from their position, so after scouting the next area with Mudgol's clairvoyance sensor, Mistlethroe and Mudgol dimension door into the Bath Works to enlist the aid of the magically bound gargoyle attendant Theo. Unfortunately, he's not that strong, so it takes him some time (and a crowbar passed through by Slab) to break the grates off and allow the PCs access to the Bath Works, which are heated by magically preserved igneous rock built into the floor, and supplied endlessly by a decanter of endless water built into the Bath. Luz expressed interest in breaking open and taking the decanter, but Mistlethroe throws a shitfit about how the PCs are NOT allowed to loot anything in the Manor without his permission.
Theo tells the party that the area has been relatively quiet, and then the PCs begin to systematically comb about the nearest empty classrooms, include an alchemy lab and the unused Pact Magic class. When they arrive at the West Arborage, Darkahn is surprised by a young human student who attacks him with a bookbag. They manage to calm the girl, and get information out of her. She claims that the githyanki and the enemy wizards are located in the central offices of the Manor, and that many of the instructors have been taken as slaves by the mercenaries, flown off in a cage carried by a large red dragon. The PCs set a course to try and circle around the enemy in the Manor, but first attempt to ambush a pair of animated mail boots that are stalking through the Students Wing West. Mistlethroe takes credit. The party, led by Slab, circles to the Sparring Yard, and then Slab scales the battlement into the Reargarden, running smack into another gargoyle attendant...
PCs: Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
Apprentice Letoe (human female): A rather plain but congenial young teenage girl with brown hair tied back in a bun. She's a student of the Arkana Arkiva who somehow survived the invasion on Flabbergast Manor. PCs encounter her when she surprises and attacks Darkahn in the West Arborage of the Manor. She claims most of the Deans were enslaved by githyanki and carried off somewhere by a large red dragon.
Theo (gargoyle 'male'): The bath attendant of the Flabbergast Manor, he is magically bound to the Bath Works area and cannot leave. He gets lonely sometimes, and seems to have a peculiar attraction to males...or whichever male seems to be the most comely at the time. Theo is a fairly menacing looking gargoyle, but he wears a white toga.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Arkana Arkiva
This post will be used to provide information on the various faculty of Flabbergast Manor in Floivin Province, including the Deans and instructors.
Dargyar (dwarf male)
Position: Dean of Transmutation, Instructor (Armorcraft, Weaponcraft)
Status: slain by githyanki on the astral plane, after imprisonment at Tashek're.
Dungunny (dwarf female)
Position: Instructor (Geography, History)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Earl (gargoyle 'male')
Position: former attendant of the Reargarden in Flabbergast Manor
Status: destroyed on the astral plane by the githyanki of Tashek're.
Ebronios (human male)
Position: Dean of Enchantment, Instructor (Wondrous Itemcraft)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Edlund the Pale (human male)
Position: Master Librarian of the Greater Archives
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
'Flaming' Fack (dwarf male?)
Position: former student and member of the Arkiva
Status: a former member of The Score, destroyed by the PCs.
Furblas (halfling male)
Position: Dean of Abjuration, Instructor (Alchemy)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Jolly Folly Hosspotch (halfling male)
Position: former Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva (838-842 ID)
Status: voted out and honorable discharged, traveled East for Grandmother Hosspotch; presumably still alive and well.
Koss Karn (human male)
Position: Dean of Necromancy, Instructor (Shadow Magic)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Letoe (human female)
Position: student, support staff
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Maph Mettle (half-elf male)
Position: Dean of Illusion
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Mistlethroe (gnome male)
Position: Chancellor of the Arkana Arkiva, Instructor (Ringcraft)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Mudgol the Undecided (half-orc male)
Position: former student, Attache to the Last Eidolorn under Lt. Banghorn (currently Cpt. Kennel)
Status: an active PC, Arkana Arkiva status under review.
Neveca (human female)
Position: Instructor (Nature Studies)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Rafael 'Aleheart' Lafferty (human male)
Position: former Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva (842-857 ID)
Status: unknown; but presumed dead somewhere in another time.
Sarge (gargoyle 'male')
Position: attendant of the Gymnasium in Flabbergast Manor.
Status: Sarge is bound to the Gymnasium of the Flabbergast Manor.
Schnoo the Sorcerous (human male)
Position: former Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva (822-837 ID)
Status: reinstated as Headmaster, replacing the missing Spurr the Meticulous.
Slurrow (human male)
Position: Dean of Divination, Instructor (Inscription/Scrolls)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Spurr the Meticulous (human male)
Position: Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva, Instructor (General Arcana)
Status: unknown; marched to Wintersbreath with the Last Eidolorn under Regent-General Gurd Gnarlbottom.
Theo (gargoyle 'male')
Position: former attendant of the Bath Works in Flabbergast Manor
Status: destroyed on the astral plane by the githyanki of Tashek're.
Thulthoom (human male)
Position: Dean of Conjuration, Instructor (Planar Studies)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Valkenna (human female)
Position: Dean of Invocation, Instructor (Wandcraft)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Dargyar (dwarf male)
Position: Dean of Transmutation, Instructor (Armorcraft, Weaponcraft)
Status: slain by githyanki on the astral plane, after imprisonment at Tashek're.
Dungunny (dwarf female)
Position: Instructor (Geography, History)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Earl (gargoyle 'male')
Position: former attendant of the Reargarden in Flabbergast Manor
Status: destroyed on the astral plane by the githyanki of Tashek're.
Ebronios (human male)
Position: Dean of Enchantment, Instructor (Wondrous Itemcraft)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Edlund the Pale (human male)
Position: Master Librarian of the Greater Archives
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
'Flaming' Fack (dwarf male?)
Position: former student and member of the Arkiva
Status: a former member of The Score, destroyed by the PCs.
Furblas (halfling male)
Position: Dean of Abjuration, Instructor (Alchemy)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Jolly Folly Hosspotch (halfling male)
Position: former Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva (838-842 ID)
Status: voted out and honorable discharged, traveled East for Grandmother Hosspotch; presumably still alive and well.
Koss Karn (human male)
Position: Dean of Necromancy, Instructor (Shadow Magic)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Letoe (human female)
Position: student, support staff
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Maph Mettle (half-elf male)
Position: Dean of Illusion
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Mistlethroe (gnome male)
Position: Chancellor of the Arkana Arkiva, Instructor (Ringcraft)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Mudgol the Undecided (half-orc male)
Position: former student, Attache to the Last Eidolorn under Lt. Banghorn (currently Cpt. Kennel)
Status: an active PC, Arkana Arkiva status under review.
Neveca (human female)
Position: Instructor (Nature Studies)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor.
Rafael 'Aleheart' Lafferty (human male)
Position: former Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva (842-857 ID)
Status: unknown; but presumed dead somewhere in another time.
Sarge (gargoyle 'male')
Position: attendant of the Gymnasium in Flabbergast Manor.
Status: Sarge is bound to the Gymnasium of the Flabbergast Manor.
Schnoo the Sorcerous (human male)
Position: former Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva (822-837 ID)
Status: reinstated as Headmaster, replacing the missing Spurr the Meticulous.
Slurrow (human male)
Position: Dean of Divination, Instructor (Inscription/Scrolls)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Spurr the Meticulous (human male)
Position: Headmaster of the Arkana Arkiva, Instructor (General Arcana)
Status: unknown; marched to Wintersbreath with the Last Eidolorn under Regent-General Gurd Gnarlbottom.
Theo (gargoyle 'male')
Position: former attendant of the Bath Works in Flabbergast Manor
Status: destroyed on the astral plane by the githyanki of Tashek're.
Thulthoom (human male)
Position: Dean of Conjuration, Instructor (Planar Studies)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Valkenna (human female)
Position: Dean of Invocation, Instructor (Wandcraft)
Status: currently active at Flabbergast Manor after liberation from Tashek're.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Session 23 / Online Session 23 Notes (8/21/11)
Evelais (Saint's Day), Malarous 13th, 838 ID
The PCs continue on throughout the Grazelands, following the Great Westermarch Road to the city of Tarair, where they arrive in the evening. The gatehouses of the city's various districts each blaze with a tall fire, casting a great deal of light over the nightscape. Langston approaches the guards, asking for the location of Commander Vhelok, who he is told might be in a meeting currently for his fighting tournament (scheduled the following day). Langston takes Darkahn with him to find the Commander and pass on the Floivin writ, while the others travel outside the city to the Tarair Chantry of the Wizards Elite. En route, a barbarian woman from the Long North, one Ryit Silverhand takes an interest in the presence of the half-orcs, and decides to tail them. Meanwhile, Doorjamb and Mistlethroe have arrived at the Chantry's Transit room, where they are met by chancellor Prepostero, a local wizard. They decide to go in search of Mudgol at once.
It doesn't take long...as Mudgol, Slab, Luz and Odd Jon are arriving at the Chantry just as Doorjamb the pair are leaving! Odd Jon and Doorjamb embrace, old friends, and the group decides to go speak in one of the local inns, at greater length. Ryit follows the curious group, bored as she waits for the tournament the following day. She is confronted by soldiers who mock her and make unwanted advances upon the barbarian, and a duel erupts. But Ryit quickly makes short work of her oppressor's blade, and is granted access to the city. She follows the group to the Winking Barrel, in the NE district of Tarair. Langston and Darkahn have been told to wait at the Brass Archer Tap, in the SW district, when Commander Vhelok finally comes to greet them. He takes their writ, offers them the hospitality of the city and Fourth Eidolorn, but says he will need some time to think it over (at least until morning), as the tournament is taking up most of his evening plans. Langston sends for a courier boy.
Odd Jon notices Ryit enter the Winking Barrel, and nervously decides to get his 'mack' on, at the encouragement of Slab and Doorjamb, neither of whom are highly interested in the plain and admittedly fearsome looks of the barbarian. She agrees to join Odd Jon for dinner, and the PCs discuss their plans. Mistlethroe will need the PCs assistance in re-securing the Flabbergast Manor, which is currently somewhere on the Astral Plane and taken over by members of the score, including one 'Flaming' Fack and a Red Wizard, plus several mercenaries from the Astral. It is agreed that they will reconvene the day after the tournament to begin their planning and assault, once the gnome can pinpoint the castle's exact location on the other plane. The PCs all seem rather confused about what the hell he's talking about...until the courier arrives, and they all pack up to find Langston. Most of the PCs decide to stay either at the barracks or the Winking Barrel.
Aric, Malarous 14th, 838 ID
Our heroes scatter about the city on errands before meeting with Vhelok at around 10am. The Commander had asked if two of the PCs could partake in the tournament, since there are two slots open and no Last Eidolorn representatives fighting. It is agreed that Luz and Darkahn will give it their best shot. Slab visits a local jewel, Randolf, brother of 'Glimmerin' Timm' to procure a stylish alloy beard-comb and some beard-jewelry. Doorjamb tries Smallsword Abbey for curative potions, meeting Prelate Akstra. But the cost is too high. Mudgol and Mistlethroe head back to the Tarair Chantry, so Mudgol can buy some components (and a dispel magic scroll) off 'Breather' Bem. Ryit and Slab take baths. Hell, it's about time! The PCs then meet with Vhelok who informs them he will arrange a force of 600 men (archers, infantry, cavalry, and a handful of wizards and clergy) to march on Floivin Keep two days hence, as per the writ. He can spare no more. The PCs are invited to join the march, but they must decline, since Mistlethroe requires their assistance the following day.
The PCs head off to the 5th Annual Tarair Commander's Cup tournament where they will fight and bet. Several of them, including Slab, Doorjamb and Langston come out with quite a bit of extra coin in their pockets. Darkahn makes it to the second round after killing a half-ogre Treeg by accident, while Luz makes it to the third round, losing at last to one Doughboy the Dreaded, who continues to beat on the half-orc after Luz surrenders, until stopped by the Wizards Elite referees. Doughboy goes on to win the entire tournament, defeating Baxter the Mighty in the final round. Luz, Darkahn, and Doughboy will not be invited again (Luz also accidentally slew an opponent, Lt. Vapri Thel of Melethesz). The complete results are listed below:
The Fifth Annual Tarair Commander's Cup
Round the 1st:
Lt. Bergothe the Boar > Linsey Cutforth (surrender)
Ryit Silverhand > Sgt. Wim Skithers (surrender)
Darkahn Gradak > Cpt. Treeg (slain)
Baxter the Mighty > Cpt. Dash Lagarr (surrender)
Luz > Lt. Vapri Thel (slain)
Pvt. Puj > Pvt. Rigley (knockout)
Lt. Strenna Knelrave > Lt. Harmon Shast (surrender)
Doughboy the Dreaded > Smote Nightling (knockout)
Round the 2nd:
Lt. Bergothe the Boar > Ryit Silverhand (surrender)
Baxter the Mighty > Darkahn Gradak (knockout)
Luz > Pvt. Puj (knockout)
Doughboy the Dreaded > Lt. Strenna Knelrave (surrender)
Round the 3rd:
Baxter the Mighty > Lt. Bergothe the Boar (knockout)
Doughboy the Dreaded > Luz (surrender)
Final:
Doughboy the Dreaded > Baxter the Mighty (surrender)
PCs: Darkahn, Doorjamb, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
'Breather' Bem (human male): A hunched figure with a ghastly presence, he has severe facial damage from what appears to be acidic burns. These have caused him to blind in his left eye, skin to stretch, hair to be sparse in graying wisps, and several holes in the sides of his jaws. He constantly gasps for air through these additional orifices, while his unkempt, long nails clutch at a necklace of bone beads, and a gnarled walking stick with the head of a ram. Bem belongs to the Wizards Elite of Tarair, and specializes in trading spells and components to interested peers and students (Wizards Elite, Arkana Arkiva, and other Eidolorn magic institutions).
Captain Dash Lagarr (human male): A handsome man in his late 20s, with a perfectly kempt mane of sandy blonde hair tucked beneath his helmet, a broad smile and greenish, watery eyes. His longsword is of immense quality, with a copperish tint to the blade and an ornate pommel. He bears the symbol of Eleste both on his shield and tunic, and walks with a humble but deliberate swagger. The popular paladin, from the Second Eidolorn in Rothe, surrenders to Baxter the Mighty in the first round of the Tarair tournament.
Captain Treeg (half-ogre male): A towering brute of roughly 8 feet, this ruddy skinned titan had a series of ornate earrings and piercings dangling from his face, and a carefully oiled and braided beard which hung below his neck. His eyes were reddish-brown, and his face pocked with a large number of scars and whiskers. The greatclub he wielded is carved of fine wood and engraved with scenes of battle, and his bulk nearly bristled forth from his scale armor. Treeg was an officer of the Fourth Eidolorn, slain unintentionally by Darkahn Gradak in the first round of Vhelok's tournament.
Commander Vhelok (human male): A tall and narrow man deep in his middle years, Vhelok has a well-oiled, enormous moustache that is braided half-way down his chest. His graying-black hair is also tied back in a top-knot and an array of rings hang from it, jangling when he turns. A scar runs from his left ear up his cheek to across his forehead, and his brows appear to have been singed off, with some burn residue. He wears a suit of spiked splint mail with a regular issue halberd, scimitar and crossbow. Vhelok leads the Fourth Eidolorn out of the city of Tarair, and agrees to lead an army of 600 to help retake Floivin Province, after being approached by Lt. Langston with the official writ.
Doughboy the Dreaded (human male): Clad in the thickest suite of full plate you’ve ever seen, nicked with a number of dents, this tall and broad-shouldered man doesn’t seem as if he wants to take any chances. His helmet remains shut, and he wears a tunic with the emblem of a hearth. He carries a heavy shield and a massive, block-headed warhammer of stone and steel. His introduction to the Tarair tournament read that he was the son of a poor baker, out to prove that even the most common man can wage heroic battle. Not once throughout the tournament did he show his face, not even after defeating the other finalist Baxter the Mighty. He defeated Smote Nightling and the Violet Whisper before facing Luz in the third round, but would not accept the half-orc's surrender, taking some cheap shots at him before the Wizards Elite restrained the armored clod. He was thus disqualified (along with Luz and Darkahn) from future entry to the tournament, but regardless he went on to defeat Baxter the Mighty in the final round, and claim the 5k gold prize and key to the city.
Kliko Moss (human female): A full-figured, middle aged woman whose hair is tied back in braids, her gray-green eyes seem sad, though she bears a near constant, nagging smile. She dresses in deep olive green robes over a leather corset, and has a scar on the right side of her neck from her shoulder to ear. The same ear seems to have been mildly gnawed upon. Kliko is the barkeep and part-owner of the Brass Archer Tap in the Tarair military district. A somewhat charming woman, she is nonetheless hesitant to allow the half-orc PCs into her establishment, but relents after Luz threatens to burn it to the ground.
Linsey Cutforth (half-elf male): A girlish waif with refined, brittle elfin features, he wears a suit of fanciful leather armor worked in floral patterns, and carries a daisy between his teeth. His pale blonde hair waves in even the slightest of breezes, and he gestures with his rapier as he speaks and bows. Somewhat of a local hero in Nobbish, Cutforth is a swashbuckler and the twin brother of a renowned officer (Leanne Cutforth) in the Third Eidolorn. He travels with his bard companion Smote Nightling, dancing and entertaining. Linsey entered the Tarair tournament but was made quick work of by Lt. Bergothe 'The Boar' in the first round.
Lt. Bergothe 'The Boar' (human male): A middle-aged man of enormous jowls and bristling mutton chops, he is only barely contained by the suit of black stained half-plate he sports. Well over 300 lbs. His right eye is covered with a dark cloth patch, and his ample brown hair tied off in a series of top knots. His teeth are browning but filed off, and the threatening heavy flail he carries has a reptilian appearance with a clawed pommel. 'The Boar', an officer in the Fourth Eidolorn, fought well in the Tarair tournament, defeating Linsey Cutforth and Ryit Silverhand before suffering defeat at the hands of Baxter the Mighty.
Lt. Harmon Shast (human male): A short and sturdy middle-aged man with a bald scalp and blocky face, his splint mail is adorned with studs and ribbons of commendations for his militia service. He carries a heavy pick in his left hand, and a shield in his right with a band of cheap jewels around its border. A local officer of the Fourth Eidolorn, Shast was defeated in the first round of the Tarair tournament, by The Violet Whisper.
Lt. Strenna Knelrave (human female): A woman of 30 something summers. She draws her name from both her unusual, natural eye tint and the hair she dyes up in a fanciful bun, but there is no doubt that her cool and appraising features are strong and attractive. She wields a pair of cruel morning stars with their hafts wrapped in leather bands, and a suit of gleaming chain. Strenna is a Third Eidolorn officer of some repute from Nobbish. She defeats Lt. Harmon Shast in the first round of the Tarair tournament, but surrenders to Doughboy in the second.
Lt. Vapri Thel (human female): Wrapped in deep blue garments which cover a shapely but lithe figure, this bronze woman’s eyes glinted out from beneath her turban with a playful and seductive lightness. A pair of scimitars with jeweled hilts were slung across her back, and a water-horn by her side. Thel was an officer in the Sixth Eidlorn of Melethesz, who entered the Tarair tournament. The dervish was unfortunately slain (though not intentionally) by Luz in the first round.
Prelate Akstra (human male): A tall, spindly man knotted with wiry muscles, he wears a white shift and cloak each bearing the symbols of the clergy of Eleste. He seems rather young, perhaps in his late 20s, with blondish hair and thick, brown eyebrows above his hawk-like visage. A silver-hilted longsword hangs at either side of his belt, and he carries a basket and horn slung over his shoulder. Akstra is in charge of the Smallsword Abbey of Tarair while his superior, Bishop Blaun is off fighting in Wintersbreath with the 4th/5th/Last Eidolorn host.
Prepostero (human male): An elderly man with an excess of long, snow-white hair, and a lengthy beard braided to resemble a ladder. Through this ‘ladder’, a mottled tan and silver tamarin swings and plays. The stone faced man seems not to pay any attention, often wiping his chalky hands upon his violet and brass-trimmed robes, or adjusting his mirror-faced spectacles. Prepostero is chancellor to the Tarair Chantry of the Wizards Elite, and also responsible for the comings and goings of the local Transit Chamber (which each Wizards Elite compound maintains for fast access to their peers).
Pvt. Puj (human male): Though he sports the tunic and emblem of a Fourth Eidolorn soldier, this young man is complete unarmed, wearing little more than a peasant’s attire and a lopsided cloth hat, though he appears otherwise to be in good shape. He grins cheerfully, with a muss of brown hair that hasn’t been clipped in many months, and some stubble forming on his cheeks and chin. Puj managed to defeat his fellow solider Private Rigley in the first round of Vhelok's tournament, but was taken down instantly in the following round by Luz.
Pvt. Rigley (human male): A young man in his late teens, sporting woodsmanlike colors above his studded leather armor. His dark blonde hair is tied back in several braids that hang below the neck, and he has a number of silver piercings in his ears and brow, which accent his green eyes. He carries a finely carved longbow and a short sword tucked into his belt. Rigley is a Scout of the Fourth Eidolorn, and entered the Tarair tournament, only to be defeated by his fellow solider (and monk), Private Puj in the first round.
Sgt. Wim Skithers (human male): A seasoned veteran in his 50s, wearing a heavily abused chain shirt and a glaive with several silvered goblin skulls adorning its haft. What remains of his hair is a graying black, his skin is reddish tinted from days of training out in the sun, and his nose is scarred and broken a few times over. His left eye is slightly milky, the right a piercing greenish-brown. Skithers hails from the First Eidolorn in Carbadi. He surrenders in the first round of the Tarair tournament, surrendering to Ryit Silverhand.
Smote Nightling (halfling male): A handsome halfling with amazingly prim sideburns and greased black hair, and a ruddy face of character upon which a pug nose and glimmering brown eyes shine. He wears a decorated chain shirt and carries a skillfully worked ranseur, with a dagger tucked into his belt. Smote is an orator and singer of considerable skill, and a kindly fellow, but probably had no right entering the Tarair fighting tournament, in which he was easily brushed aside by Doughboy the Dreaded in the first round. Smote hails from Nobbish, and is known to travel with the half-elf Linsey Cutforth.
The PCs continue on throughout the Grazelands, following the Great Westermarch Road to the city of Tarair, where they arrive in the evening. The gatehouses of the city's various districts each blaze with a tall fire, casting a great deal of light over the nightscape. Langston approaches the guards, asking for the location of Commander Vhelok, who he is told might be in a meeting currently for his fighting tournament (scheduled the following day). Langston takes Darkahn with him to find the Commander and pass on the Floivin writ, while the others travel outside the city to the Tarair Chantry of the Wizards Elite. En route, a barbarian woman from the Long North, one Ryit Silverhand takes an interest in the presence of the half-orcs, and decides to tail them. Meanwhile, Doorjamb and Mistlethroe have arrived at the Chantry's Transit room, where they are met by chancellor Prepostero, a local wizard. They decide to go in search of Mudgol at once.
It doesn't take long...as Mudgol, Slab, Luz and Odd Jon are arriving at the Chantry just as Doorjamb the pair are leaving! Odd Jon and Doorjamb embrace, old friends, and the group decides to go speak in one of the local inns, at greater length. Ryit follows the curious group, bored as she waits for the tournament the following day. She is confronted by soldiers who mock her and make unwanted advances upon the barbarian, and a duel erupts. But Ryit quickly makes short work of her oppressor's blade, and is granted access to the city. She follows the group to the Winking Barrel, in the NE district of Tarair. Langston and Darkahn have been told to wait at the Brass Archer Tap, in the SW district, when Commander Vhelok finally comes to greet them. He takes their writ, offers them the hospitality of the city and Fourth Eidolorn, but says he will need some time to think it over (at least until morning), as the tournament is taking up most of his evening plans. Langston sends for a courier boy.
Odd Jon notices Ryit enter the Winking Barrel, and nervously decides to get his 'mack' on, at the encouragement of Slab and Doorjamb, neither of whom are highly interested in the plain and admittedly fearsome looks of the barbarian. She agrees to join Odd Jon for dinner, and the PCs discuss their plans. Mistlethroe will need the PCs assistance in re-securing the Flabbergast Manor, which is currently somewhere on the Astral Plane and taken over by members of the score, including one 'Flaming' Fack and a Red Wizard, plus several mercenaries from the Astral. It is agreed that they will reconvene the day after the tournament to begin their planning and assault, once the gnome can pinpoint the castle's exact location on the other plane. The PCs all seem rather confused about what the hell he's talking about...until the courier arrives, and they all pack up to find Langston. Most of the PCs decide to stay either at the barracks or the Winking Barrel.
Aric, Malarous 14th, 838 ID
Our heroes scatter about the city on errands before meeting with Vhelok at around 10am. The Commander had asked if two of the PCs could partake in the tournament, since there are two slots open and no Last Eidolorn representatives fighting. It is agreed that Luz and Darkahn will give it their best shot. Slab visits a local jewel, Randolf, brother of 'Glimmerin' Timm' to procure a stylish alloy beard-comb and some beard-jewelry. Doorjamb tries Smallsword Abbey for curative potions, meeting Prelate Akstra. But the cost is too high. Mudgol and Mistlethroe head back to the Tarair Chantry, so Mudgol can buy some components (and a dispel magic scroll) off 'Breather' Bem. Ryit and Slab take baths. Hell, it's about time! The PCs then meet with Vhelok who informs them he will arrange a force of 600 men (archers, infantry, cavalry, and a handful of wizards and clergy) to march on Floivin Keep two days hence, as per the writ. He can spare no more. The PCs are invited to join the march, but they must decline, since Mistlethroe requires their assistance the following day.
The PCs head off to the 5th Annual Tarair Commander's Cup tournament where they will fight and bet. Several of them, including Slab, Doorjamb and Langston come out with quite a bit of extra coin in their pockets. Darkahn makes it to the second round after killing a half-ogre Treeg by accident, while Luz makes it to the third round, losing at last to one Doughboy the Dreaded, who continues to beat on the half-orc after Luz surrenders, until stopped by the Wizards Elite referees. Doughboy goes on to win the entire tournament, defeating Baxter the Mighty in the final round. Luz, Darkahn, and Doughboy will not be invited again (Luz also accidentally slew an opponent, Lt. Vapri Thel of Melethesz). The complete results are listed below:
The Fifth Annual Tarair Commander's Cup
Round the 1st:
Lt. Bergothe the Boar > Linsey Cutforth (surrender)
Ryit Silverhand > Sgt. Wim Skithers (surrender)
Darkahn Gradak > Cpt. Treeg (slain)
Baxter the Mighty > Cpt. Dash Lagarr (surrender)
Luz > Lt. Vapri Thel (slain)
Pvt. Puj > Pvt. Rigley (knockout)
Lt. Strenna Knelrave > Lt. Harmon Shast (surrender)
Doughboy the Dreaded > Smote Nightling (knockout)
Round the 2nd:
Lt. Bergothe the Boar > Ryit Silverhand (surrender)
Baxter the Mighty > Darkahn Gradak (knockout)
Luz > Pvt. Puj (knockout)
Doughboy the Dreaded > Lt. Strenna Knelrave (surrender)
Round the 3rd:
Baxter the Mighty > Lt. Bergothe the Boar (knockout)
Doughboy the Dreaded > Luz (surrender)
Final:
Doughboy the Dreaded > Baxter the Mighty (surrender)
PCs: Darkahn, Doorjamb, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Ryit, Slab
NPCs
'Breather' Bem (human male): A hunched figure with a ghastly presence, he has severe facial damage from what appears to be acidic burns. These have caused him to blind in his left eye, skin to stretch, hair to be sparse in graying wisps, and several holes in the sides of his jaws. He constantly gasps for air through these additional orifices, while his unkempt, long nails clutch at a necklace of bone beads, and a gnarled walking stick with the head of a ram. Bem belongs to the Wizards Elite of Tarair, and specializes in trading spells and components to interested peers and students (Wizards Elite, Arkana Arkiva, and other Eidolorn magic institutions).
Captain Dash Lagarr (human male): A handsome man in his late 20s, with a perfectly kempt mane of sandy blonde hair tucked beneath his helmet, a broad smile and greenish, watery eyes. His longsword is of immense quality, with a copperish tint to the blade and an ornate pommel. He bears the symbol of Eleste both on his shield and tunic, and walks with a humble but deliberate swagger. The popular paladin, from the Second Eidolorn in Rothe, surrenders to Baxter the Mighty in the first round of the Tarair tournament.
Captain Treeg (half-ogre male): A towering brute of roughly 8 feet, this ruddy skinned titan had a series of ornate earrings and piercings dangling from his face, and a carefully oiled and braided beard which hung below his neck. His eyes were reddish-brown, and his face pocked with a large number of scars and whiskers. The greatclub he wielded is carved of fine wood and engraved with scenes of battle, and his bulk nearly bristled forth from his scale armor. Treeg was an officer of the Fourth Eidolorn, slain unintentionally by Darkahn Gradak in the first round of Vhelok's tournament.
Commander Vhelok (human male): A tall and narrow man deep in his middle years, Vhelok has a well-oiled, enormous moustache that is braided half-way down his chest. His graying-black hair is also tied back in a top-knot and an array of rings hang from it, jangling when he turns. A scar runs from his left ear up his cheek to across his forehead, and his brows appear to have been singed off, with some burn residue. He wears a suit of spiked splint mail with a regular issue halberd, scimitar and crossbow. Vhelok leads the Fourth Eidolorn out of the city of Tarair, and agrees to lead an army of 600 to help retake Floivin Province, after being approached by Lt. Langston with the official writ.
Doughboy the Dreaded (human male): Clad in the thickest suite of full plate you’ve ever seen, nicked with a number of dents, this tall and broad-shouldered man doesn’t seem as if he wants to take any chances. His helmet remains shut, and he wears a tunic with the emblem of a hearth. He carries a heavy shield and a massive, block-headed warhammer of stone and steel. His introduction to the Tarair tournament read that he was the son of a poor baker, out to prove that even the most common man can wage heroic battle. Not once throughout the tournament did he show his face, not even after defeating the other finalist Baxter the Mighty. He defeated Smote Nightling and the Violet Whisper before facing Luz in the third round, but would not accept the half-orc's surrender, taking some cheap shots at him before the Wizards Elite restrained the armored clod. He was thus disqualified (along with Luz and Darkahn) from future entry to the tournament, but regardless he went on to defeat Baxter the Mighty in the final round, and claim the 5k gold prize and key to the city.
Kliko Moss (human female): A full-figured, middle aged woman whose hair is tied back in braids, her gray-green eyes seem sad, though she bears a near constant, nagging smile. She dresses in deep olive green robes over a leather corset, and has a scar on the right side of her neck from her shoulder to ear. The same ear seems to have been mildly gnawed upon. Kliko is the barkeep and part-owner of the Brass Archer Tap in the Tarair military district. A somewhat charming woman, she is nonetheless hesitant to allow the half-orc PCs into her establishment, but relents after Luz threatens to burn it to the ground.
Linsey Cutforth (half-elf male): A girlish waif with refined, brittle elfin features, he wears a suit of fanciful leather armor worked in floral patterns, and carries a daisy between his teeth. His pale blonde hair waves in even the slightest of breezes, and he gestures with his rapier as he speaks and bows. Somewhat of a local hero in Nobbish, Cutforth is a swashbuckler and the twin brother of a renowned officer (Leanne Cutforth) in the Third Eidolorn. He travels with his bard companion Smote Nightling, dancing and entertaining. Linsey entered the Tarair tournament but was made quick work of by Lt. Bergothe 'The Boar' in the first round.
Lt. Bergothe 'The Boar' (human male): A middle-aged man of enormous jowls and bristling mutton chops, he is only barely contained by the suit of black stained half-plate he sports. Well over 300 lbs. His right eye is covered with a dark cloth patch, and his ample brown hair tied off in a series of top knots. His teeth are browning but filed off, and the threatening heavy flail he carries has a reptilian appearance with a clawed pommel. 'The Boar', an officer in the Fourth Eidolorn, fought well in the Tarair tournament, defeating Linsey Cutforth and Ryit Silverhand before suffering defeat at the hands of Baxter the Mighty.
Lt. Harmon Shast (human male): A short and sturdy middle-aged man with a bald scalp and blocky face, his splint mail is adorned with studs and ribbons of commendations for his militia service. He carries a heavy pick in his left hand, and a shield in his right with a band of cheap jewels around its border. A local officer of the Fourth Eidolorn, Shast was defeated in the first round of the Tarair tournament, by The Violet Whisper.
Lt. Strenna Knelrave (human female): A woman of 30 something summers. She draws her name from both her unusual, natural eye tint and the hair she dyes up in a fanciful bun, but there is no doubt that her cool and appraising features are strong and attractive. She wields a pair of cruel morning stars with their hafts wrapped in leather bands, and a suit of gleaming chain. Strenna is a Third Eidolorn officer of some repute from Nobbish. She defeats Lt. Harmon Shast in the first round of the Tarair tournament, but surrenders to Doughboy in the second.
Lt. Vapri Thel (human female): Wrapped in deep blue garments which cover a shapely but lithe figure, this bronze woman’s eyes glinted out from beneath her turban with a playful and seductive lightness. A pair of scimitars with jeweled hilts were slung across her back, and a water-horn by her side. Thel was an officer in the Sixth Eidlorn of Melethesz, who entered the Tarair tournament. The dervish was unfortunately slain (though not intentionally) by Luz in the first round.
Prelate Akstra (human male): A tall, spindly man knotted with wiry muscles, he wears a white shift and cloak each bearing the symbols of the clergy of Eleste. He seems rather young, perhaps in his late 20s, with blondish hair and thick, brown eyebrows above his hawk-like visage. A silver-hilted longsword hangs at either side of his belt, and he carries a basket and horn slung over his shoulder. Akstra is in charge of the Smallsword Abbey of Tarair while his superior, Bishop Blaun is off fighting in Wintersbreath with the 4th/5th/Last Eidolorn host.
Prepostero (human male): An elderly man with an excess of long, snow-white hair, and a lengthy beard braided to resemble a ladder. Through this ‘ladder’, a mottled tan and silver tamarin swings and plays. The stone faced man seems not to pay any attention, often wiping his chalky hands upon his violet and brass-trimmed robes, or adjusting his mirror-faced spectacles. Prepostero is chancellor to the Tarair Chantry of the Wizards Elite, and also responsible for the comings and goings of the local Transit Chamber (which each Wizards Elite compound maintains for fast access to their peers).
Pvt. Puj (human male): Though he sports the tunic and emblem of a Fourth Eidolorn soldier, this young man is complete unarmed, wearing little more than a peasant’s attire and a lopsided cloth hat, though he appears otherwise to be in good shape. He grins cheerfully, with a muss of brown hair that hasn’t been clipped in many months, and some stubble forming on his cheeks and chin. Puj managed to defeat his fellow solider Private Rigley in the first round of Vhelok's tournament, but was taken down instantly in the following round by Luz.
Pvt. Rigley (human male): A young man in his late teens, sporting woodsmanlike colors above his studded leather armor. His dark blonde hair is tied back in several braids that hang below the neck, and he has a number of silver piercings in his ears and brow, which accent his green eyes. He carries a finely carved longbow and a short sword tucked into his belt. Rigley is a Scout of the Fourth Eidolorn, and entered the Tarair tournament, only to be defeated by his fellow solider (and monk), Private Puj in the first round.
Sgt. Wim Skithers (human male): A seasoned veteran in his 50s, wearing a heavily abused chain shirt and a glaive with several silvered goblin skulls adorning its haft. What remains of his hair is a graying black, his skin is reddish tinted from days of training out in the sun, and his nose is scarred and broken a few times over. His left eye is slightly milky, the right a piercing greenish-brown. Skithers hails from the First Eidolorn in Carbadi. He surrenders in the first round of the Tarair tournament, surrendering to Ryit Silverhand.
Smote Nightling (halfling male): A handsome halfling with amazingly prim sideburns and greased black hair, and a ruddy face of character upon which a pug nose and glimmering brown eyes shine. He wears a decorated chain shirt and carries a skillfully worked ranseur, with a dagger tucked into his belt. Smote is an orator and singer of considerable skill, and a kindly fellow, but probably had no right entering the Tarair fighting tournament, in which he was easily brushed aside by Doughboy the Dreaded in the first round. Smote hails from Nobbish, and is known to travel with the half-elf Linsey Cutforth.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Online Session 22 Notes (8/17/11)
Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
PCs: Doorjamb
Friday, August 5, 2011
Session 22 Notes (8/5/11)
Essel, Malarous 11th, 868 ID
After awakening, the PCs gather some supplies and prepare to hit the road once more for Tarair. Outside, Odd Jon questions the faith of Luz, who then proceeds to begin preaching in town, near the mad, babbling vagrant they encountered the day previous. Since he has very little idea of even his own religion, the babbling beggar maintains the attention of the crowd, who pity him and shower him with copper coins. Enraged, Luz makes as if to smash in the beggar's skull, but Langston and Odd Jon stop him in the act. Meanwhile, Betrys is mistaken for an armored harlot by Mudgol's 'roommate' the night before, a cloth-swathed two-hand sword wielding warrior who introduces himself as 'Baxter'. Betrys turns down the offer of coin for a gauntleted handjob...
After stopping in at Hosspotch Holdings for supplies, Langston pulls his troop together and they travel ever East. As the DM could not locate his random encounter tables, the journey went smoothly through the remainder of the Blue Barrens, with the PCs camping a few miles off from the Eastern Toll of the Fogspan.
Ivric, Malarous 12th, 868 ID
In the morning, they arrived and met with the Taxmaster Niffleguff, who lectures them on the rules of their crossing. Then the PCs travel for several hours until they find a dead, beheaded body and various signs of struggle and damage to the bridge. Char marks in the wooden surface. Searching the body, they find that the dead man carried a writ of the Gorgers' Guild, inspectors and carpenters who patrol and repair the Fogspan. They decide to take his body.
A mile or so later, the PCs are ambushed by a pair of small black dragons, who instantly use their acid breath in conjunction to wreak havoc in the ranks. Darkahn's animal companion Bloodwing and Betrys Othen are both slain in the encounter, but they manage to kill the sister dragon and then drive off the younger brother in defeat. Slab searches around and discovers a nest and treasure cache suspended below the Fogspan in that general vicinity, made of ivy, plants from the Gorge below, tattered rags and corpses. Bones, coins, and several valuable items lie about, including a scroll, a bone wand, and a buckler. They take the goods with them, including a strange leathery sphere, and then decide not to light the nest ablaze, as it might damage the bridge and attract the young dragon's mama. Sad at the loss of the priestess, they trek on several more hours to Wattlewinch.
When they arrive, Slab instantly pounds a bottle of Braulish whiskey he purchased at the House on the Barrens in Traeger. He becomes roaring drunk in short order, pissing off just about everyone. Langston returns the body of the dead Gorger, 'Mildrix' to the Guild, who offer him a reward and take the news of the dragons. They also speak with Lt. Despon, the local Fourth Eidolorn leader. He takes Betrys' remains to be interred at a graveyard down in the Gorge. Then they head to Cuffer's Cup, a run down, rotting alehouse and inn from which Slab is very quickly dejected for excess rowdiness. Slab the Inebriated, Luz and Langston all stay at the Fourth Eidolorn barracks while Mudgol and Darkahn take rooms at the cup, as does Odd Jon, after unsuccessfully trying to hunt rats for a new stew...
Evalais (Saint's Day), Malarous 13th, 868 ID
The PCs awaken, Slab severely hung over, to discover that the warrior Baxter the Mighty has arrived, the cloth-armored man Betrys and Mudgol encountered in Traeger. He has a flock of followers, who are excited to meet him, mostly children but some adults. Turns out Baxter will be competing in a friendly fighting competition at the city of Tarair, hosted by Commander Vhelok of the Fourth Eidolorn. Several slots are always held for skilled warriors outside of the Eidolorn, so Vhelok can test his troops' abilities against versatile fighting forms. The PCs attempt to hire Vhelok but he is too costly, and humbly declines. They then head over to Slute the Lender in order to try and pawn the treasures they've found, and he offers a lump sum, plus a pearl and 7500 gold (a veritable fortune) for the 'leathery sphere', i.e. black dragon egg. After Slab goes to Cuffer's Cup to apologize to the barkeep, he meets up with Langston and the PCs who have already left. After clearing the Gorge at last, they enter the Grazelands of Toul Tabor, stopping briefly to take tea and purchase potions off a traveling gnome apothecary, D'Loss Tarr of the Bederoon.
PCs: Betrys, Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Baxter the Mighty (male human): A large human with impressive jowls, he wears only black cloth armor padded about his figure, and wields a two-handed sword. Baxter is something of a celebrity in Toul Tabor, at least in villages surrounding the city of Tarair. He is known for his competitive fighting, and is often present at Commander Vhelok's fighting tournament in the city, where he is headed when the PCs encounter him twice...
Brackenmaw (male black dragon): A young black dragon 'defending' its nest from passersby on the Fogspan, he and his sister Ebonrood laid an ambush for the PCs during their crossing to Wattlewinch. Brackenmaw escaped the battle, flying down to the cover of Foggy Gorge, though heavily wounded.
Cuffer (human male): The barkeep and proprietor of Cuffer's Cup in Wattlewinch, the run down, rotting local inn and tavern. Looks to be in his 50s or later, with a massive underbite and fading crop of messy white hair. Cuffer knows local rumors and doesn't take any crap, as Slab discovers on a drunken stampede after the loss of Betrys.
D'Loss Tarr (gnome male): A tiny man with a frilly crimson shirt over black silk breeches and a leather top hand adorned in brass belts drives a large pair of burly, baying hounds along the road, from the front of a gaudy miniature wagon. Bells, lanterns and other accessories jangle and shine from the cart, and the balding gnome grins a lot from between wispy white mutton chops. An incredibly polite traveling apothecary from Melethesz who encounters the PCs en route to Tarair on the Great Westermarch road in the Grazelands. After sharing lemon tea, he sells the PCs some curative potions.
Ebonrood (female black dragon): A young black dragon 'defending' its nest from passersby on the Fogspan, she and her brother Brackenmaw laid an ambush for the PCs during their crossing to Wattlewinch. Ebonrood was slain during the fight, hurled off the bridge by a volley of magic missiles from Mudgol, but not before slaying Betrys and Darkahn's hawk Bloodwing in the encounter.
Jordyn Hosspotch (halfling male): An incredibly fat halfling adorned in fine garments of the merchant class, he has beady eyes and incredibly rare, sandy blond hair for his race. Jordyn runs the Hosspotch Holdings trade post in the mining town of Traeger in Toul Tabor.
Lt. Despon (human male): A stoic, middle-aged, droopy eyed soldier in the Fourth Eidolorn, he commands the detachment at Wattlewinch.
Mildrix (human male): An inspector for the Gorgers' Guild in Wattlewinch, he was slain while performing a routine sweep of the Fogspan for defects and damages. An earlier victim of the black dragons who later fell upon the PCs. Lt. Langston returned his corpse to the Guild and earned a small reward for his troubles.
Slute the Lender (human male): An almost skeletal looking human with numerous sores and false teeth, he is also bald and wears a fancy cap. The PCs question whether he's even alive, but Slute deals a lucrative business in buying, trading and pawning both legal and illicit items out of Wattlewinch. He purchases the black dragon egg the PCs found, reaping them a small fortune.
Taxmaster Niffleguff (halfling male): He's the toll-taker on at the East side of the Fogspan in Foggy Gorge, Toul Tabor. A robust halfling male of 50 summers, he wears a wide mantle and flowing gold-spun cape along with his glittery, white and gold robes, giving himself a broader sense of authority. Too-small, green tinted spectacles are perched on his upturned nose, and wisps of white hair adorn a neatly trimmed goatee. A pair of jewel hilted daggers are tucked into his belt, and a few scars grace his chin and fingers, the left pinky of which has been removed, though the half-dozen rings on each hand draw the eyes away.
After awakening, the PCs gather some supplies and prepare to hit the road once more for Tarair. Outside, Odd Jon questions the faith of Luz, who then proceeds to begin preaching in town, near the mad, babbling vagrant they encountered the day previous. Since he has very little idea of even his own religion, the babbling beggar maintains the attention of the crowd, who pity him and shower him with copper coins. Enraged, Luz makes as if to smash in the beggar's skull, but Langston and Odd Jon stop him in the act. Meanwhile, Betrys is mistaken for an armored harlot by Mudgol's 'roommate' the night before, a cloth-swathed two-hand sword wielding warrior who introduces himself as 'Baxter'. Betrys turns down the offer of coin for a gauntleted handjob...
After stopping in at Hosspotch Holdings for supplies, Langston pulls his troop together and they travel ever East. As the DM could not locate his random encounter tables, the journey went smoothly through the remainder of the Blue Barrens, with the PCs camping a few miles off from the Eastern Toll of the Fogspan.
Ivric, Malarous 12th, 868 ID
In the morning, they arrived and met with the Taxmaster Niffleguff, who lectures them on the rules of their crossing. Then the PCs travel for several hours until they find a dead, beheaded body and various signs of struggle and damage to the bridge. Char marks in the wooden surface. Searching the body, they find that the dead man carried a writ of the Gorgers' Guild, inspectors and carpenters who patrol and repair the Fogspan. They decide to take his body.
A mile or so later, the PCs are ambushed by a pair of small black dragons, who instantly use their acid breath in conjunction to wreak havoc in the ranks. Darkahn's animal companion Bloodwing and Betrys Othen are both slain in the encounter, but they manage to kill the sister dragon and then drive off the younger brother in defeat. Slab searches around and discovers a nest and treasure cache suspended below the Fogspan in that general vicinity, made of ivy, plants from the Gorge below, tattered rags and corpses. Bones, coins, and several valuable items lie about, including a scroll, a bone wand, and a buckler. They take the goods with them, including a strange leathery sphere, and then decide not to light the nest ablaze, as it might damage the bridge and attract the young dragon's mama. Sad at the loss of the priestess, they trek on several more hours to Wattlewinch.
When they arrive, Slab instantly pounds a bottle of Braulish whiskey he purchased at the House on the Barrens in Traeger. He becomes roaring drunk in short order, pissing off just about everyone. Langston returns the body of the dead Gorger, 'Mildrix' to the Guild, who offer him a reward and take the news of the dragons. They also speak with Lt. Despon, the local Fourth Eidolorn leader. He takes Betrys' remains to be interred at a graveyard down in the Gorge. Then they head to Cuffer's Cup, a run down, rotting alehouse and inn from which Slab is very quickly dejected for excess rowdiness. Slab the Inebriated, Luz and Langston all stay at the Fourth Eidolorn barracks while Mudgol and Darkahn take rooms at the cup, as does Odd Jon, after unsuccessfully trying to hunt rats for a new stew...
Evalais (Saint's Day), Malarous 13th, 868 ID
The PCs awaken, Slab severely hung over, to discover that the warrior Baxter the Mighty has arrived, the cloth-armored man Betrys and Mudgol encountered in Traeger. He has a flock of followers, who are excited to meet him, mostly children but some adults. Turns out Baxter will be competing in a friendly fighting competition at the city of Tarair, hosted by Commander Vhelok of the Fourth Eidolorn. Several slots are always held for skilled warriors outside of the Eidolorn, so Vhelok can test his troops' abilities against versatile fighting forms. The PCs attempt to hire Vhelok but he is too costly, and humbly declines. They then head over to Slute the Lender in order to try and pawn the treasures they've found, and he offers a lump sum, plus a pearl and 7500 gold (a veritable fortune) for the 'leathery sphere', i.e. black dragon egg. After Slab goes to Cuffer's Cup to apologize to the barkeep, he meets up with Langston and the PCs who have already left. After clearing the Gorge at last, they enter the Grazelands of Toul Tabor, stopping briefly to take tea and purchase potions off a traveling gnome apothecary, D'Loss Tarr of the Bederoon.
PCs: Betrys, Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Baxter the Mighty (male human): A large human with impressive jowls, he wears only black cloth armor padded about his figure, and wields a two-handed sword. Baxter is something of a celebrity in Toul Tabor, at least in villages surrounding the city of Tarair. He is known for his competitive fighting, and is often present at Commander Vhelok's fighting tournament in the city, where he is headed when the PCs encounter him twice...
Brackenmaw (male black dragon): A young black dragon 'defending' its nest from passersby on the Fogspan, he and his sister Ebonrood laid an ambush for the PCs during their crossing to Wattlewinch. Brackenmaw escaped the battle, flying down to the cover of Foggy Gorge, though heavily wounded.
Cuffer (human male): The barkeep and proprietor of Cuffer's Cup in Wattlewinch, the run down, rotting local inn and tavern. Looks to be in his 50s or later, with a massive underbite and fading crop of messy white hair. Cuffer knows local rumors and doesn't take any crap, as Slab discovers on a drunken stampede after the loss of Betrys.
D'Loss Tarr (gnome male): A tiny man with a frilly crimson shirt over black silk breeches and a leather top hand adorned in brass belts drives a large pair of burly, baying hounds along the road, from the front of a gaudy miniature wagon. Bells, lanterns and other accessories jangle and shine from the cart, and the balding gnome grins a lot from between wispy white mutton chops. An incredibly polite traveling apothecary from Melethesz who encounters the PCs en route to Tarair on the Great Westermarch road in the Grazelands. After sharing lemon tea, he sells the PCs some curative potions.
Ebonrood (female black dragon): A young black dragon 'defending' its nest from passersby on the Fogspan, she and her brother Brackenmaw laid an ambush for the PCs during their crossing to Wattlewinch. Ebonrood was slain during the fight, hurled off the bridge by a volley of magic missiles from Mudgol, but not before slaying Betrys and Darkahn's hawk Bloodwing in the encounter.
Jordyn Hosspotch (halfling male): An incredibly fat halfling adorned in fine garments of the merchant class, he has beady eyes and incredibly rare, sandy blond hair for his race. Jordyn runs the Hosspotch Holdings trade post in the mining town of Traeger in Toul Tabor.
Lt. Despon (human male): A stoic, middle-aged, droopy eyed soldier in the Fourth Eidolorn, he commands the detachment at Wattlewinch.
Mildrix (human male): An inspector for the Gorgers' Guild in Wattlewinch, he was slain while performing a routine sweep of the Fogspan for defects and damages. An earlier victim of the black dragons who later fell upon the PCs. Lt. Langston returned his corpse to the Guild and earned a small reward for his troubles.
Slute the Lender (human male): An almost skeletal looking human with numerous sores and false teeth, he is also bald and wears a fancy cap. The PCs question whether he's even alive, but Slute deals a lucrative business in buying, trading and pawning both legal and illicit items out of Wattlewinch. He purchases the black dragon egg the PCs found, reaping them a small fortune.
Taxmaster Niffleguff (halfling male): He's the toll-taker on at the East side of the Fogspan in Foggy Gorge, Toul Tabor. A robust halfling male of 50 summers, he wears a wide mantle and flowing gold-spun cape along with his glittery, white and gold robes, giving himself a broader sense of authority. Too-small, green tinted spectacles are perched on his upturned nose, and wisps of white hair adorn a neatly trimmed goatee. A pair of jewel hilted daggers are tucked into his belt, and a few scars grace his chin and fingers, the left pinky of which has been removed, though the half-dozen rings on each hand draw the eyes away.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Online Session 21 Notes (8/2/11)
Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Mersaun (human male): An elderly, hunched man who serves at the barkeep for the Leaping Knuckle Lodge. Keeps some whiskey and a club on his belt. Doesn't claim to know the woman 'Eyrene' who Doorjamb spoke to at the Lodge one evening...
Old Codge Myron (human male): A senile old mule-rider who is the last man to stay behind when Livenoak is assaulted. Doorjamb does not actually 'see' Codge, but here's him shouting about how he's going to destroy all the invaders single handedly. Has a gimp old mule with a wooden placard denoting his ownership.
Private Mackaraw (human male): A young Eidolorn solider stationed at Halehusk to guide refugees and stay alert for enemy troop movements. He remains behind when Pvt. Teckle rides off with Doorjamb to pursue the strange fugitives outside of Floivin Keep.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Mersaun (human male): An elderly, hunched man who serves at the barkeep for the Leaping Knuckle Lodge. Keeps some whiskey and a club on his belt. Doesn't claim to know the woman 'Eyrene' who Doorjamb spoke to at the Lodge one evening...
Old Codge Myron (human male): A senile old mule-rider who is the last man to stay behind when Livenoak is assaulted. Doorjamb does not actually 'see' Codge, but here's him shouting about how he's going to destroy all the invaders single handedly. Has a gimp old mule with a wooden placard denoting his ownership.
Private Mackaraw (human male): A young Eidolorn solider stationed at Halehusk to guide refugees and stay alert for enemy troop movements. He remains behind when Pvt. Teckle rides off with Doorjamb to pursue the strange fugitives outside of Floivin Keep.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Session 21 Notes (7/14/11)
Varony, Malarous 9th, 868 ID
The PCs decide it might be best to further explore the hidden hold they've found in the Vernal Wall, and so they press on, up thousands of crudely fashioned stone steps, deep up the mountain, until their way is blocked by a large, immovable stone slab. An unused torch sconce is discovered, but no secret mechanisms to pass further. They turn back towards the wooden lift, exhausted after so many thousands of steps. While taking a breather, they hear the sounds of whistling approach up the stairs from the entrance. Slab and several others decide to wait in ambush, and he is able to sneak attack the sole goblin, but the tough thing is only rendered unconscious. Lt. Langston decides to deliver a coup de gras, while Slab checks its rucksack, to find nothing but a handful of copper coins and a head of cabbage. Slab then disarms an alarm on the lift, and Mudgol uses several spells to determine how far up it leads. His locate object spies a winch about 150' up, after a clairvoyance at 200' fails. Odd Jon and Langston have reservations about proceeding any further, so Slab lights the wooden lift platform on fire with a flask of oil, and the PCs leave after the flame starts burning up the ropes.
As they near the exit of the pass between the Vernal Wall, the PCs spy the glint of steel in the late afternoon light ahead. Slab and Darkahn scout forward behind stone cover, and find a field of smaller boulders spread through the mouth of the pass. Suddenly, boulders are hurled at them, nearly missing! It appears the Skull Collars have set an elite task force about blocking the trade route out of Floivin Province, and the PCs are up to their neck in hobgoblins, bugbears, worgs, ogres, and a hill giant. In addition, a dozen goblins join the fray from a pair of hidden caves in shallow pools of water along the sides of the pass. It appears the Skull Collars have had such an ambush in mind, and perhaps used it before! The battle is deadly, the elite goblinoids and giants moving immediately to take Mudgol out of the fight, but the wizard is able to wreak some hell upon them. In the end, the PCs survive without any losses, but heavily banged up.
Looting the enemies, they find a heap of coins and javelins, and a lacquered wooden shield with a reddish pig emblem on it in the giant's bag, which Mudgol determines to be magical. After they impale the goblins and giants' heads on the various captured javelins, setting a grisly warning to those who would follow, they decide to camp out in the pass, taking the Northern ambush cave. Aside from a quickly dispatched goblin looter and a mysterious splashing sound nearby, the night is uneventful. The PCs have also noted that the southern hidey hole has a pass leading into the mountains, perhaps connecting with the hold they discovered earlier.
Verne, Malarous 10th, 868 ID
The PCs rise, distribute some healing spells and potions, and begin the march east, out of Floivin Province. The Frail Forest persists for many more miles, and as the new day fades, they enter the Blue Barrens. Soon they pass the Wetspar from the south, along the Westermarch Road, and while Slab expressed interest in exploring the submerged structure (in the Palepool), Langston decided they must march forward to the next town, to rest for another night. Slab relents, and they proceed, coming upon the mining community of Traeger late in the evening. The Fourth Eidolorn soldiers greet them with kindness, except the half-orcs who some suspicion is cast upon, and they tell them that Mudgol should meet with their local Wizard Elite, Teklos to register his presence and learn the 'ropes' of what magic is and isn't allowed in the towns and cities of Toul Tabor. Langston heads off with Mudgol but also arranges to meet Captain Vrask of the Fourth Eidolorn at the House on the Barrens, a local inn.
Most of the PCs move to get drunk, chatting up the half-elf barkeep at the House. Inquiring after whores, Slab is told to frequent the town's tavern, The Sapphire Glass, where some expensive prostitutes may indeed hang about. Instead, the dwarf gets ripping drunk, treating the local soldiers and patrons to a round of booze. Meanwhile, the barkeep, Bonn Dailor, is fascinated that Darkahn, an elf, is in his establishment, and invites him to chat later in his private quarters. Darkahn refuses, fearing sexual advances! Mudgol and Langston encounter a strange, muttering lunatic in the streets of the village en route to the Wizard Elite's house, and after offering up the Professor to touch, the lunatic attempts to devour it! Langston manages to save the amphibious familiar from a gastric prison, and they arrive at the Wizard Elite's house, asking for Teklos. It turns out that the guards were mistaken, that Teklos has moved on, and the present Wizard Elite is known as Ultremis. He gets Mudgol registered while chatting about the rules and about possible spell trades. He also offers to buy Mudgol's ring, to no avail.
Captain Vrast arrives and chats kindly with Langston and the others after reading their writ. He tells them they must continue along the Great Westermarch, crossing the Fogspan (a vast bridge above the Foggy Gorge), to Tarair in the Grazelands, where they'll find Commander Vhelok. He offers them coin to pay their toll on the Fogspan, demanding that they not attempt to traverse the swampy lowland itself. Langston retrieves Mudgol, and the other PCs trick the wizard into believing that room #5 is his for the night, when it in fact is the half-elf barkeep's! Finally, he heads downstairs and confronts the barkeep, who puts him in room #1 with a black-cloth waddled, snoring brute with a two-hander by his bedside.
PCs: Betrys, Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Ultremis (human male): An extremely thin, tall elderly man who speaks with grace and wears violet robes adorned in glittering star patterns. Ultremis is the recent replacement for Teklos of the Wizard Elite, who has moved on to serve in Wattlewinch where he can explore the local flora and fauna of the Foggy Gorge. Ultremis is an astrologer in addition to a wizard, and lets Mudgol in on the rules of the Province when it comes to offensive and defensive magics.
The PCs decide it might be best to further explore the hidden hold they've found in the Vernal Wall, and so they press on, up thousands of crudely fashioned stone steps, deep up the mountain, until their way is blocked by a large, immovable stone slab. An unused torch sconce is discovered, but no secret mechanisms to pass further. They turn back towards the wooden lift, exhausted after so many thousands of steps. While taking a breather, they hear the sounds of whistling approach up the stairs from the entrance. Slab and several others decide to wait in ambush, and he is able to sneak attack the sole goblin, but the tough thing is only rendered unconscious. Lt. Langston decides to deliver a coup de gras, while Slab checks its rucksack, to find nothing but a handful of copper coins and a head of cabbage. Slab then disarms an alarm on the lift, and Mudgol uses several spells to determine how far up it leads. His locate object spies a winch about 150' up, after a clairvoyance at 200' fails. Odd Jon and Langston have reservations about proceeding any further, so Slab lights the wooden lift platform on fire with a flask of oil, and the PCs leave after the flame starts burning up the ropes.
As they near the exit of the pass between the Vernal Wall, the PCs spy the glint of steel in the late afternoon light ahead. Slab and Darkahn scout forward behind stone cover, and find a field of smaller boulders spread through the mouth of the pass. Suddenly, boulders are hurled at them, nearly missing! It appears the Skull Collars have set an elite task force about blocking the trade route out of Floivin Province, and the PCs are up to their neck in hobgoblins, bugbears, worgs, ogres, and a hill giant. In addition, a dozen goblins join the fray from a pair of hidden caves in shallow pools of water along the sides of the pass. It appears the Skull Collars have had such an ambush in mind, and perhaps used it before! The battle is deadly, the elite goblinoids and giants moving immediately to take Mudgol out of the fight, but the wizard is able to wreak some hell upon them. In the end, the PCs survive without any losses, but heavily banged up.
Looting the enemies, they find a heap of coins and javelins, and a lacquered wooden shield with a reddish pig emblem on it in the giant's bag, which Mudgol determines to be magical. After they impale the goblins and giants' heads on the various captured javelins, setting a grisly warning to those who would follow, they decide to camp out in the pass, taking the Northern ambush cave. Aside from a quickly dispatched goblin looter and a mysterious splashing sound nearby, the night is uneventful. The PCs have also noted that the southern hidey hole has a pass leading into the mountains, perhaps connecting with the hold they discovered earlier.
Verne, Malarous 10th, 868 ID
The PCs rise, distribute some healing spells and potions, and begin the march east, out of Floivin Province. The Frail Forest persists for many more miles, and as the new day fades, they enter the Blue Barrens. Soon they pass the Wetspar from the south, along the Westermarch Road, and while Slab expressed interest in exploring the submerged structure (in the Palepool), Langston decided they must march forward to the next town, to rest for another night. Slab relents, and they proceed, coming upon the mining community of Traeger late in the evening. The Fourth Eidolorn soldiers greet them with kindness, except the half-orcs who some suspicion is cast upon, and they tell them that Mudgol should meet with their local Wizard Elite, Teklos to register his presence and learn the 'ropes' of what magic is and isn't allowed in the towns and cities of Toul Tabor. Langston heads off with Mudgol but also arranges to meet Captain Vrask of the Fourth Eidolorn at the House on the Barrens, a local inn.
Most of the PCs move to get drunk, chatting up the half-elf barkeep at the House. Inquiring after whores, Slab is told to frequent the town's tavern, The Sapphire Glass, where some expensive prostitutes may indeed hang about. Instead, the dwarf gets ripping drunk, treating the local soldiers and patrons to a round of booze. Meanwhile, the barkeep, Bonn Dailor, is fascinated that Darkahn, an elf, is in his establishment, and invites him to chat later in his private quarters. Darkahn refuses, fearing sexual advances! Mudgol and Langston encounter a strange, muttering lunatic in the streets of the village en route to the Wizard Elite's house, and after offering up the Professor to touch, the lunatic attempts to devour it! Langston manages to save the amphibious familiar from a gastric prison, and they arrive at the Wizard Elite's house, asking for Teklos. It turns out that the guards were mistaken, that Teklos has moved on, and the present Wizard Elite is known as Ultremis. He gets Mudgol registered while chatting about the rules and about possible spell trades. He also offers to buy Mudgol's ring, to no avail.
Captain Vrast arrives and chats kindly with Langston and the others after reading their writ. He tells them they must continue along the Great Westermarch, crossing the Fogspan (a vast bridge above the Foggy Gorge), to Tarair in the Grazelands, where they'll find Commander Vhelok. He offers them coin to pay their toll on the Fogspan, demanding that they not attempt to traverse the swampy lowland itself. Langston retrieves Mudgol, and the other PCs trick the wizard into believing that room #5 is his for the night, when it in fact is the half-elf barkeep's! Finally, he heads downstairs and confronts the barkeep, who puts him in room #1 with a black-cloth waddled, snoring brute with a two-hander by his bedside.
PCs: Betrys, Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Barthos the Babbler (human male): Impossibly aged, withered to a tan grapeskin, this hook nosed elder spits as he mutters to himself, casting angry and nervous glares about him constantly while he clutches a stinking, cow-hide bound tome in his arms. Some sort of waxed wooden sigil hangs loosely about his neck on a string of wooden beads, and he has discolored eyes: one reddish, one blue. In an altercation at Traeger, he almost eats Mudgol's familiar the Professor before Langston scares him off.
Bonn Dailor (half-elf male): A fiery haired, handsome half-breed with a square jaw and greenish, gelatin eyes, he tends the bar of the House on the Barrens with a pent wisdom. His hair is short on the sides, long in the back and tied into a massive square braid, and he wears a gold-trimmed apron over russet finery. He's particularly fond of elven visitors, and is delighted to speak his elven tongue when Darkahn arrives.
Ultremis (human male): An extremely thin, tall elderly man who speaks with grace and wears violet robes adorned in glittering star patterns. Ultremis is the recent replacement for Teklos of the Wizard Elite, who has moved on to serve in Wattlewinch where he can explore the local flora and fauna of the Foggy Gorge. Ultremis is an astrologer in addition to a wizard, and lets Mudgol in on the rules of the Province when it comes to offensive and defensive magics.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Toul Tabor Encounter Tables
Ardspear (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Nymph (1)
03. Wereboar (d4)
04. Centaur (d4+4)
05. Satyr (d5)
06. Dire badger (d5)
07. Elf company (d10+10 plus 2 3rd level sergeants and 1 leader of 3rd-6th level)
08. Assassin vine (d4)
09. Dire wolf (d4+4)
10. Pegasus (d2)
11. Dryad (d4+3)
12. Dire boar (d4+4)
Blue Barrens (2 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Sporebat (3d6)
03. Behir (d2)
04. Displacer beast (d5+5)
05. Death dog (d8+4)
06. Dire weasel (d2)
07. Dwarf squad (d10+10 plus 2 3rd-level sergeants and 1 leader of 3rd-6th level)
08. Dire hawk (d2)
09. Ogre (d8)
10. Terror bird (d6)
11. Athach (d4)
12. Bronze dragon clutch (d4+1 from age wyrmling to y. adult; d5 to determine age)
Brass Lake (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Dragon eel (d2)
03. Wererat (d5+5)
04. Bloodbloater (1 swarm)
05. Nixie (d4)
06. Dire rat (d20)
07. Otter (d12)
08. Eel (d2)
09. Snapping turtle (1)
10. Flotsam ooze (1)
11. Large diving spider (d5)
12. Huge diving spider (d5)
Dreaming Downs (2 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Rage drake (d2)
03. Chimera (d5)
04. Griffon (d5+5)
05. Locust swarm (d6+1)
06. Shifter (d4)
07. Goblin (d6+3)
08. Goatfolk (d5)
09. Worg (d10+1)
10. Ambush drake (d12)
11. Hill giants (d5)
12. Gorgon (d4)
Foggy Gorge (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Black dragon clutch (d4+1 from age wyrmling to y. adult; d5 to determine age)
03. Chuul (d5)
04. Shambling mound (1)
05. Ochre jelly (1)
06. Huge viper (1)
07. Lizardfolk band (d5+5 plus 50 noncombatants plus 1 leader of 3rd-6th level)
08. Harpy (d6+6)
09. Green hag (1)
10. Will-'o'-Wisp (d4)
11. Medusa (d4)
12. Gray render (1)
Grazelands (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d12)
02. Megatherium (d4)
03. Ambush drake (d12)
04. Terror bird (d6)
05. Ankheg (d4)
06. Bison (6d5)
07. Blink dog (2d8)
08. Death dog (d8+4)
09. Changeling (d4 plus 1 3rd-level leader)
10. Blood hawk (d12)
11. Dire rat (d20)
12. Dog (d8+4)
13. Goblin (d6+3)
14. Mongrelfolk (2d4)
15. Giant bee (d5)
16. Shifter (d4)
17. Goatfolk (d5)
18. Spitting felldrake (d5)
19. Wererat (d5+5)
20. Dire hawk (d2)
21. Boggle (d5)
22. Cockatrice (2d6+1)
23. Dire snake (1)
24. Indricothere (d12)
Palepool (1 in 10/3 hrs; 1d6)
01. Eel (d2)
02. Glaistig (1)
03. Merfolk (d3+1)
04. Nixie (d4)
05. Otter (d12)
06. Snapping turtle (1)
Stararbor (2 in 10/2 hrs; 2d12)
02. Green dragon clutch (d4+1 from age wyrmling to y. adult; d5 to determine age)
03. Bearhound (d2)
04. Wearbear (d4)
05. Aranea (d6)
06. Dire wolverine (d2)
07. Dire wolf (d4+4)
08. Werewolf (d5+5)
09. Black bear (d2)
10. Wolverine (1)
11. Krenshar (d5+5)
12. Pseudodragon (d5)
13. Kobold (d3+6)
14. Grig (d10+1)
15. Wolf (d10+6)
16. Large monstrous spider (d5)
17. Giant owl (d5)
18. Unicorn (d6)
19. Giant stag beetle (d10+1)
20. Owlbear (d8)
21. Pixie (d4)
22. Spider eater (1)
23. Dire bear (d2)
24. Treant (d4+3)
Several of the entires can be found in the Stormwrack accessory, Fiend Folio, Monster Manuals II or III.
02. Nymph (1)
03. Wereboar (d4)
04. Centaur (d4+4)
05. Satyr (d5)
06. Dire badger (d5)
07. Elf company (d10+10 plus 2 3rd level sergeants and 1 leader of 3rd-6th level)
08. Assassin vine (d4)
09. Dire wolf (d4+4)
10. Pegasus (d2)
11. Dryad (d4+3)
12. Dire boar (d4+4)
Blue Barrens (2 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Sporebat (3d6)
03. Behir (d2)
04. Displacer beast (d5+5)
05. Death dog (d8+4)
06. Dire weasel (d2)
07. Dwarf squad (d10+10 plus 2 3rd-level sergeants and 1 leader of 3rd-6th level)
08. Dire hawk (d2)
09. Ogre (d8)
10. Terror bird (d6)
11. Athach (d4)
12. Bronze dragon clutch (d4+1 from age wyrmling to y. adult; d5 to determine age)
Brass Lake (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Dragon eel (d2)
03. Wererat (d5+5)
04. Bloodbloater (1 swarm)
05. Nixie (d4)
06. Dire rat (d20)
07. Otter (d12)
08. Eel (d2)
09. Snapping turtle (1)
10. Flotsam ooze (1)
11. Large diving spider (d5)
12. Huge diving spider (d5)
Dreaming Downs (2 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Rage drake (d2)
03. Chimera (d5)
04. Griffon (d5+5)
05. Locust swarm (d6+1)
06. Shifter (d4)
07. Goblin (d6+3)
08. Goatfolk (d5)
09. Worg (d10+1)
10. Ambush drake (d12)
11. Hill giants (d5)
12. Gorgon (d4)
Foggy Gorge (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d6)
02. Black dragon clutch (d4+1 from age wyrmling to y. adult; d5 to determine age)
03. Chuul (d5)
04. Shambling mound (1)
05. Ochre jelly (1)
06. Huge viper (1)
07. Lizardfolk band (d5+5 plus 50 noncombatants plus 1 leader of 3rd-6th level)
08. Harpy (d6+6)
09. Green hag (1)
10. Will-'o'-Wisp (d4)
11. Medusa (d4)
12. Gray render (1)
Grazelands (1 in 10/2 hrs; 2d12)
02. Megatherium (d4)
03. Ambush drake (d12)
04. Terror bird (d6)
05. Ankheg (d4)
06. Bison (6d5)
07. Blink dog (2d8)
08. Death dog (d8+4)
09. Changeling (d4 plus 1 3rd-level leader)
10. Blood hawk (d12)
11. Dire rat (d20)
12. Dog (d8+4)
13. Goblin (d6+3)
14. Mongrelfolk (2d4)
15. Giant bee (d5)
16. Shifter (d4)
17. Goatfolk (d5)
18. Spitting felldrake (d5)
19. Wererat (d5+5)
20. Dire hawk (d2)
21. Boggle (d5)
22. Cockatrice (2d6+1)
23. Dire snake (1)
24. Indricothere (d12)
Palepool (1 in 10/3 hrs; 1d6)
01. Eel (d2)
02. Glaistig (1)
03. Merfolk (d3+1)
04. Nixie (d4)
05. Otter (d12)
06. Snapping turtle (1)
Stararbor (2 in 10/2 hrs; 2d12)
02. Green dragon clutch (d4+1 from age wyrmling to y. adult; d5 to determine age)
03. Bearhound (d2)
04. Wearbear (d4)
05. Aranea (d6)
06. Dire wolverine (d2)
07. Dire wolf (d4+4)
08. Werewolf (d5+5)
09. Black bear (d2)
10. Wolverine (1)
11. Krenshar (d5+5)
12. Pseudodragon (d5)
13. Kobold (d3+6)
14. Grig (d10+1)
15. Wolf (d10+6)
16. Large monstrous spider (d5)
17. Giant owl (d5)
18. Unicorn (d6)
19. Giant stag beetle (d10+1)
20. Owlbear (d8)
21. Pixie (d4)
22. Spider eater (1)
23. Dire bear (d2)
24. Treant (d4+3)
Several of the entires can be found in the Stormwrack accessory, Fiend Folio, Monster Manuals II or III.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Online Session 20 Notes (7/5/11)
Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Eyrene (human female): Slender, pale human woman in her late 20s with grayish/blonde hair tied back in a bun. She's a barmaid at the Leaping Knuckle Lodge in Livenoak, and drives a hard bargain for information. Doorjamb has paid her to vacate the town and flee for the Keep.
Private Pendel (human male): An Eidolorn guard stationed at Livenoak to watch over the remainder of the population who have yet to flee the humanoid hordes gathering in Floivin Province. Friendly and astute, he's over six feet tall with dark brown hair tied neatly back, a flat nose and stern brow.
Private Percy (human male): Another Eidolorn guard from Livenoak, he's stout and barely fits into his standard issue chain mail. Also pretty friendly, though he's picked on by the locals.
Squirt (unknown male): A shape-changing brute of a man, too tall and wide to be fully human. He is supposedly a druid from Littlewolf, with limited mental capacity. Doorjamb meets Squirt when he's in his favorite form, a large gray/white pig, big enough to pull a wagon, which he does for the dwarf Walt Stuckle.
Walt Stuckle (dwarf male): A bald dwarf wearing spectacles and packing an arquebus. He meets Doorjamb on the road between Livenoak and Halehusk, while escorting some dwarf children to Floivin Keep on a cart driven by the druid Squirt. Pretty old guy, but friendly. He does claim to be related to Odd Jon Stuckle, calling him his nephew or 'Little Johnny', but not having a very high opinion of him. Walt claims to have been a trader and tinker in the past, and offers Doorjamb a parting gift of Alkinarran wine and a magical phial.
PCs: Doorjamb
NPCs
Eyrene (human female): Slender, pale human woman in her late 20s with grayish/blonde hair tied back in a bun. She's a barmaid at the Leaping Knuckle Lodge in Livenoak, and drives a hard bargain for information. Doorjamb has paid her to vacate the town and flee for the Keep.
Private Pendel (human male): An Eidolorn guard stationed at Livenoak to watch over the remainder of the population who have yet to flee the humanoid hordes gathering in Floivin Province. Friendly and astute, he's over six feet tall with dark brown hair tied neatly back, a flat nose and stern brow.
Private Percy (human male): Another Eidolorn guard from Livenoak, he's stout and barely fits into his standard issue chain mail. Also pretty friendly, though he's picked on by the locals.
Squirt (unknown male): A shape-changing brute of a man, too tall and wide to be fully human. He is supposedly a druid from Littlewolf, with limited mental capacity. Doorjamb meets Squirt when he's in his favorite form, a large gray/white pig, big enough to pull a wagon, which he does for the dwarf Walt Stuckle.
Walt Stuckle (dwarf male): A bald dwarf wearing spectacles and packing an arquebus. He meets Doorjamb on the road between Livenoak and Halehusk, while escorting some dwarf children to Floivin Keep on a cart driven by the druid Squirt. Pretty old guy, but friendly. He does claim to be related to Odd Jon Stuckle, calling him his nephew or 'Little Johnny', but not having a very high opinion of him. Walt claims to have been a trader and tinker in the past, and offers Doorjamb a parting gift of Alkinarran wine and a magical phial.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Session 20 Notes (6/17/11)
Aric, Malarous 7th, 868 ID
After facing the undead invaders at Cedarway, the survivors regroup on the far side of the Pinewater. Luz, Mudgol and Blake Bauerkroft cross the river a few miles North to swing around and find Captain Hoary, while Slab rejoins the main host camping across the river. Belgin's surviving halfling scouts are sent to scope out the Frail Forest, while the rest of the party rests and uses whatever healing magic they can. The group stops to memorize spells and such before setting out once again.
Tault, Malarous 8th, 868 ID
The scouts return with word of a nearby ambush, sounds of battle drifting in from the Frail Forest. The PCs and Hoary's men run off to see what the trouble is, and encounter a scene in which a horse-drawn carriage of elves has been waylaid by a quartet of ogres and a forest troll. They've already chewed up the horse itself, while the family of Woolish Roodeye and their guide Darkahn Gradak are trying to hold off the ogres with missile weapons. The PCs attack quickly, first with ranged weapons and then closing in. They are able to slay 3 of the 4 ogres and the troll, but not before they make paste out of Woolish' wife Rishya and one of his sons Regis. Despite his protests, the PCs leave behind Woolish' wares, and after a group of them bury Woolish's fallen family members, they escort the survivors to Floivin Keep.
En route, they learn that Littlewolf has been sacked by giant-kin (ogres, etc), and that only the druids of Crake remained behind to protect the village while the Roodeyes and Reddenbalms fled. Soon they encounter a viper which is slain so that Odd Jon might cook up some new recipe. The PCs then arrive in Halehusk with due haste, and speak with Private 'Tickler' there about the skeleton guard that has been left behind. Langston is determined to gather the remaining guard there and bring them too to the Keep, but Hoary orders against it, since they are needed to guide further survivors. Once the PCs arrive at the Keep, they find a massive group of refugees outside the East gate, being slowly processed by the Guard so they can take stock of all in the Keep if it comes to siege. The PC soldiers are ordered by Major Vanquo to help keep order outside the gates, while Hoary and Langston journey inside to speak with Commander Doolan.
They learn from Doolan that their services are required for a number of possible missions, one being to track down a missing officer (Major Scot Morrow) and his men who have disappeared near the Ettenhead stronghold; the other, to journey through to Toul Tabor, to the city of Tarair and request the assistance of the Fourth Eidolorn Guard. Previous messengers have been deployed, but the Commander fears they have been sidetracked or slain en route. Langston and Hoary return to the PCs outside the keep after gathering supplies and ammunition. Langston is approached by Jon 'Blow', a smug half-elf bastard (son to the late Rishya Roodeye), who wished to join the Guard, and he is immediately deputized. Hoary talks Darkahn Gradak into joining the PCs for the time behind, as a tracker and guide, but the elf decides not to officially enlist. It is decided that they will take on both missions: Hoary, Blake, Belgin and their men will scout out the Frail Forest for Major Morrow's missing detachment, while the PCs and Odd Jon head to Toul Tabor.
Varony, Malarous 9th, 868 ID
The next morning, they set out, through Halehusk to Livenoak, where they stop to spend some time at what is the last functional village/town in Floivin Province outside the Keep. They bargain with a strange elf Lady Ravensquash for some potions, and get into a pathetic brawl and exchange of unpleasantries with a pair of dwarf gamblers at the Leaping Knuckle Lodge. Once their business is concluded, they head along the Great Westermarch road out of the Province to the East. They run into a Skull Collar mercenary who has been separated from his clan. A rambling hobgoblin named Githgol. They press him for information, but when he tries to flee, Darkahn Gradak shoots and slays him. The PCs press on through the pass towards the Blue Barrens, when they spy a cavern along the south of the Pass. They follow a number of tracks inside, and discover a similar lift to the one inside the Skull Collars' Hydra breeding hideout on the opposite side of the Valley. Perhaps the true hideout of Chief Chizel and his Skull Collars. At any rate, the PCs decide to press on to Toul Tabor, fearing to waste time here (for now).
PCs: Bethys, Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Commander Doolan (human male): A human male in his 50s, with creases and folds on his eyes and cheeks made worse by the recent stress of his position as military leader of Floivin Province. He's a tall man, his hair is whitish gray and thinning on his forehead. A finely crafted halberd is slung across his back, but he keeps a buckler and short sword at the ready.
Jon 'Blow' (half-elf male): A smug half-elf of average build with chestnut eyes and black, oiled and curly hair half-covering his mildly pointed ears. He's feebly attempting a moustache and carries a cudgel with some confidence. He's the bastard son of Rishya Roodeye and an unknown human lover, and survived the ogre ambush in the Frail Forest. Later, Jon is conscripted by Langston and joins the Eidolorn Guard, serving under Captain Hoary. Any resemblance to a George RR Martin character is purely coincidental.
Lady Ravensquash (elf female): A hunched, elderly elven female who sells charms and potions out of Livenoak. She's always trying to drive a 'hard' bargain, and actively seeks to accumulate the magical items she comes across. She also sells magical pets, though their true properties are yet undiscovered.
Major Vanquo (human male): Finely groomed and darkly handsome, Vanquo stands with broad shoulders, but hobbles on his left leg. His hair is set in a black widow's peak, but his grey eyes are cool and calculating. He prefers stylish banded mail to the standard Eidolorn chain, and wears a feather about his neck that is preserved in amber. Vanquo has a finely forged broadsword and a light crossbow crafted of bone. With Gurd Gnarlbottom out of the Province, Vanquo is now a second-in-command to Doolan.
Regis Roodeye (elf male): The younger son of the tailor Woolish Roodeye, a lad of bright blonde features and a once bright future...laid low by an ogre in the Frail Forest.
Rishya Roodeye (elf female): The wife of tailor Woolish Roodeye, she was known to take human lovers as her husband's sensual dalliances swung over to the male persuasion. The half breed Jon 'Blow' is her child by an unknown man. Rishya was mulched in the battle against the ogres in the Frail Forest. Her infidelities now a thing of the past.
Ruckum Roodeye (elf male): The older son of Woolish Roodeye, with a more swarthy build and flecks of dark brown in his otherwise blond locks. He survived the encounter with the ogres, and is now a refugee at Floivin Keep with his father.
Woolish Roodeye (elf male): A gaudy and rather flamboyant elven male in fine robes, with short cut, stylish silver hair flecked by streaks of gold and white. He is encountered by the PCs while under ambush from a quartet of ogres and a forest troll in the Frail Forest. He had hired the ranger Darkahn to lead his family safely to the south, but they were simply overwhelmed by the giant brutes. Thankfully the PCs saved the day, but he does not seem overtly concerned about his lost family...more concerned for his surviving wares, which the PCs leave behind at the ambush site as they guide Woolish and his son to Floivin Keep.
After facing the undead invaders at Cedarway, the survivors regroup on the far side of the Pinewater. Luz, Mudgol and Blake Bauerkroft cross the river a few miles North to swing around and find Captain Hoary, while Slab rejoins the main host camping across the river. Belgin's surviving halfling scouts are sent to scope out the Frail Forest, while the rest of the party rests and uses whatever healing magic they can. The group stops to memorize spells and such before setting out once again.
Tault, Malarous 8th, 868 ID
The scouts return with word of a nearby ambush, sounds of battle drifting in from the Frail Forest. The PCs and Hoary's men run off to see what the trouble is, and encounter a scene in which a horse-drawn carriage of elves has been waylaid by a quartet of ogres and a forest troll. They've already chewed up the horse itself, while the family of Woolish Roodeye and their guide Darkahn Gradak are trying to hold off the ogres with missile weapons. The PCs attack quickly, first with ranged weapons and then closing in. They are able to slay 3 of the 4 ogres and the troll, but not before they make paste out of Woolish' wife Rishya and one of his sons Regis. Despite his protests, the PCs leave behind Woolish' wares, and after a group of them bury Woolish's fallen family members, they escort the survivors to Floivin Keep.
En route, they learn that Littlewolf has been sacked by giant-kin (ogres, etc), and that only the druids of Crake remained behind to protect the village while the Roodeyes and Reddenbalms fled. Soon they encounter a viper which is slain so that Odd Jon might cook up some new recipe. The PCs then arrive in Halehusk with due haste, and speak with Private 'Tickler' there about the skeleton guard that has been left behind. Langston is determined to gather the remaining guard there and bring them too to the Keep, but Hoary orders against it, since they are needed to guide further survivors. Once the PCs arrive at the Keep, they find a massive group of refugees outside the East gate, being slowly processed by the Guard so they can take stock of all in the Keep if it comes to siege. The PC soldiers are ordered by Major Vanquo to help keep order outside the gates, while Hoary and Langston journey inside to speak with Commander Doolan.
They learn from Doolan that their services are required for a number of possible missions, one being to track down a missing officer (Major Scot Morrow) and his men who have disappeared near the Ettenhead stronghold; the other, to journey through to Toul Tabor, to the city of Tarair and request the assistance of the Fourth Eidolorn Guard. Previous messengers have been deployed, but the Commander fears they have been sidetracked or slain en route. Langston and Hoary return to the PCs outside the keep after gathering supplies and ammunition. Langston is approached by Jon 'Blow', a smug half-elf bastard (son to the late Rishya Roodeye), who wished to join the Guard, and he is immediately deputized. Hoary talks Darkahn Gradak into joining the PCs for the time behind, as a tracker and guide, but the elf decides not to officially enlist. It is decided that they will take on both missions: Hoary, Blake, Belgin and their men will scout out the Frail Forest for Major Morrow's missing detachment, while the PCs and Odd Jon head to Toul Tabor.
Varony, Malarous 9th, 868 ID
The next morning, they set out, through Halehusk to Livenoak, where they stop to spend some time at what is the last functional village/town in Floivin Province outside the Keep. They bargain with a strange elf Lady Ravensquash for some potions, and get into a pathetic brawl and exchange of unpleasantries with a pair of dwarf gamblers at the Leaping Knuckle Lodge. Once their business is concluded, they head along the Great Westermarch road out of the Province to the East. They run into a Skull Collar mercenary who has been separated from his clan. A rambling hobgoblin named Githgol. They press him for information, but when he tries to flee, Darkahn Gradak shoots and slays him. The PCs press on through the pass towards the Blue Barrens, when they spy a cavern along the south of the Pass. They follow a number of tracks inside, and discover a similar lift to the one inside the Skull Collars' Hydra breeding hideout on the opposite side of the Valley. Perhaps the true hideout of Chief Chizel and his Skull Collars. At any rate, the PCs decide to press on to Toul Tabor, fearing to waste time here (for now).
PCs: Bethys, Darkahn, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Commander Doolan (human male): A human male in his 50s, with creases and folds on his eyes and cheeks made worse by the recent stress of his position as military leader of Floivin Province. He's a tall man, his hair is whitish gray and thinning on his forehead. A finely crafted halberd is slung across his back, but he keeps a buckler and short sword at the ready.
Jon 'Blow' (half-elf male): A smug half-elf of average build with chestnut eyes and black, oiled and curly hair half-covering his mildly pointed ears. He's feebly attempting a moustache and carries a cudgel with some confidence. He's the bastard son of Rishya Roodeye and an unknown human lover, and survived the ogre ambush in the Frail Forest. Later, Jon is conscripted by Langston and joins the Eidolorn Guard, serving under Captain Hoary. Any resemblance to a George RR Martin character is purely coincidental.
Lady Ravensquash (elf female): A hunched, elderly elven female who sells charms and potions out of Livenoak. She's always trying to drive a 'hard' bargain, and actively seeks to accumulate the magical items she comes across. She also sells magical pets, though their true properties are yet undiscovered.
Major Vanquo (human male): Finely groomed and darkly handsome, Vanquo stands with broad shoulders, but hobbles on his left leg. His hair is set in a black widow's peak, but his grey eyes are cool and calculating. He prefers stylish banded mail to the standard Eidolorn chain, and wears a feather about his neck that is preserved in amber. Vanquo has a finely forged broadsword and a light crossbow crafted of bone. With Gurd Gnarlbottom out of the Province, Vanquo is now a second-in-command to Doolan.
Regis Roodeye (elf male): The younger son of the tailor Woolish Roodeye, a lad of bright blonde features and a once bright future...laid low by an ogre in the Frail Forest.
Rishya Roodeye (elf female): The wife of tailor Woolish Roodeye, she was known to take human lovers as her husband's sensual dalliances swung over to the male persuasion. The half breed Jon 'Blow' is her child by an unknown man. Rishya was mulched in the battle against the ogres in the Frail Forest. Her infidelities now a thing of the past.
Ruckum Roodeye (elf male): The older son of Woolish Roodeye, with a more swarthy build and flecks of dark brown in his otherwise blond locks. He survived the encounter with the ogres, and is now a refugee at Floivin Keep with his father.
Woolish Roodeye (elf male): A gaudy and rather flamboyant elven male in fine robes, with short cut, stylish silver hair flecked by streaks of gold and white. He is encountered by the PCs while under ambush from a quartet of ogres and a forest troll in the Frail Forest. He had hired the ranger Darkahn to lead his family safely to the south, but they were simply overwhelmed by the giant brutes. Thankfully the PCs saved the day, but he does not seem overtly concerned about his lost family...more concerned for his surviving wares, which the PCs leave behind at the ambush site as they guide Woolish and his son to Floivin Keep.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Online Session 19 Notes (6/1/11)
Here is a link to a .RAR bundle which includes all the .html transcripts for AIM online sessions 1-32.
PCs: Doorjamb
PCs: Doorjamb
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Session 19 Notes (5/26/11)
Aric, Malarous 7th, 868 ID
After Mudgol's fireball strikes the middledeck of the strange vessel while it passes between the two piers at Cedarway, the undead on board broadside the PCs and their allies with a pair of ballista and several crossbowmen. Ranged attacks are exchanged, and melee combatants leap from the vessel, including several two-headed skeletal giants and a leaping corpse with a garish sailors' outfit. The arcane robe-wearing navigator decides to launch the vessel on the West bank of the Pinewater, while Mudgol wreaks more havoc with a fireball to the bough. The Battle on the Pine truly commences when the undead in the middledeck and cargo hold, some ablaze, erupt to swarm the land. Several skeletal wolves and spell slingers also enter the fray, the latter conjuring up fiendish centipedes to attack the PCs on the docks. The ghostly figure glides to shore, while the navigator flies around the far side of the ship.
The PCs, halflings, fishermen and Eidolorn guard decide to form up a phalanx to protect Mudgol, Langston and the other ranged fighters, but it loses them valuable time in taking down the swarming masses of undead that approach. Bethys is able to turn and destroy a number of the corpses through the powers invested by Eleste (including the first mate), but many are simply too strong. A melee ensues, the PCs attacks proving most useless against the ghost, weaker against the skeletons and zombies. Everett Tasker rushes one of the undead ettins as it wades to the shoreline, breaking the line briefly. Luz, Wafflar Drull and Odd Jon Stuckle prove more effective, however, beating down the first with bludgeoning weapons. A turning point in the battle comes when the undead wizard lines up a lightning bolt that destroys a good third of the defenders' phalanx, and then chaos and individual combats break out.
Captain Hoary charges mightily against a number of undead, while Mudgol and others try to take out whatever they can. The enemy wizard manages to lay Bethys and Mudgol low, and the PCs are looking to be in a dire situation. The ghostly figure, who has at this point done little more than slay several of the Eidolorn soldiers and fishermen with a chilling touch, possesses Blake Bauerkfroft briefly, and he turns against Captain Hoary. Eventually, most of the undead make it on shore and to the PCs location, so they launch a last ditch, desperate effort to take two of the remaining rowboats and get as many as they can upriver to safety. Luz, Belgin Hosspotch, Odd Jon, Langston, Mudgol and Bethys make it to the boats, the unconscious being dragged there, with a small handful of halflings and soldiers, while the hard-pressed but heavily armored Hoary escapes running north up the West Bank, and Slab leaps the pier and swims to the far bank. The undead do not pursue, realizing they would be incapable in a foot or boat race.
Wafflar Drull was sadly slain in a heroic attempt to buy the PCs more time to escape on the boats, and Everett Tasker was also left behind. At last sight, he surrendered and kneeled in prayer before the ghost and its legion...
PCs: Betrys, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Captain Ogrous (undead male): An undead war wizard whose presence was crucial in routing the PCs and their Eidolorn allies. He was heavily damaged in the Battle on the Pine, so much that he fled for his life. Ogrous was not only the navigator for the stolen river galley, but a devastating wielder of destructive spells of lightning and frost, with an uncanny ability to remain in flight.
First Mate Hungered (undead male): Some sort of leaping, deadly mobile corpse with a predilection for paralyzing his victims. Hungered did not take much part in the Battle on the Pine, as Bethys was able to turn him under Eleste.
After Mudgol's fireball strikes the middledeck of the strange vessel while it passes between the two piers at Cedarway, the undead on board broadside the PCs and their allies with a pair of ballista and several crossbowmen. Ranged attacks are exchanged, and melee combatants leap from the vessel, including several two-headed skeletal giants and a leaping corpse with a garish sailors' outfit. The arcane robe-wearing navigator decides to launch the vessel on the West bank of the Pinewater, while Mudgol wreaks more havoc with a fireball to the bough. The Battle on the Pine truly commences when the undead in the middledeck and cargo hold, some ablaze, erupt to swarm the land. Several skeletal wolves and spell slingers also enter the fray, the latter conjuring up fiendish centipedes to attack the PCs on the docks. The ghostly figure glides to shore, while the navigator flies around the far side of the ship.
The PCs, halflings, fishermen and Eidolorn guard decide to form up a phalanx to protect Mudgol, Langston and the other ranged fighters, but it loses them valuable time in taking down the swarming masses of undead that approach. Bethys is able to turn and destroy a number of the corpses through the powers invested by Eleste (including the first mate), but many are simply too strong. A melee ensues, the PCs attacks proving most useless against the ghost, weaker against the skeletons and zombies. Everett Tasker rushes one of the undead ettins as it wades to the shoreline, breaking the line briefly. Luz, Wafflar Drull and Odd Jon Stuckle prove more effective, however, beating down the first with bludgeoning weapons. A turning point in the battle comes when the undead wizard lines up a lightning bolt that destroys a good third of the defenders' phalanx, and then chaos and individual combats break out.
Captain Hoary charges mightily against a number of undead, while Mudgol and others try to take out whatever they can. The enemy wizard manages to lay Bethys and Mudgol low, and the PCs are looking to be in a dire situation. The ghostly figure, who has at this point done little more than slay several of the Eidolorn soldiers and fishermen with a chilling touch, possesses Blake Bauerkfroft briefly, and he turns against Captain Hoary. Eventually, most of the undead make it on shore and to the PCs location, so they launch a last ditch, desperate effort to take two of the remaining rowboats and get as many as they can upriver to safety. Luz, Belgin Hosspotch, Odd Jon, Langston, Mudgol and Bethys make it to the boats, the unconscious being dragged there, with a small handful of halflings and soldiers, while the hard-pressed but heavily armored Hoary escapes running north up the West Bank, and Slab leaps the pier and swims to the far bank. The undead do not pursue, realizing they would be incapable in a foot or boat race.
Wafflar Drull was sadly slain in a heroic attempt to buy the PCs more time to escape on the boats, and Everett Tasker was also left behind. At last sight, he surrendered and kneeled in prayer before the ghost and its legion...
PCs: Betrys, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
NPCs
Captain Ogrous (undead male): An undead war wizard whose presence was crucial in routing the PCs and their Eidolorn allies. He was heavily damaged in the Battle on the Pine, so much that he fled for his life. Ogrous was not only the navigator for the stolen river galley, but a devastating wielder of destructive spells of lightning and frost, with an uncanny ability to remain in flight.
First Mate Hungered (undead male): Some sort of leaping, deadly mobile corpse with a predilection for paralyzing his victims. Hungered did not take much part in the Battle on the Pine, as Bethys was able to turn him under Eleste.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Session 18 Notes (5/13/11)
Ivric, Malarous 5th, 868 ID
The PCs carefully retreat back around the wedge in the Skunk Pass, so that the frightening legion they've spied will not be provoked. They deliberate on their next course of action, and Langston orders that the party march back to Hobfast to inform the Guard. On the way south of the Pass, they notice trails of smoke wafting up from further to the North, near the mouth of the Pass and the Shark Dunes. En route to Hobfast, the journey is uneventful as the PCs attempt to make sense of what they've seen.
Upon arriving, they inform Captain Hoary, Blake Bauerkroft and Captain Reckon about what they've seen, and the group holds a war conference while Belgin Hosspotch stomps off to tell Grandmother what he's seen. After reviewing the war map found in the Haunted Horrn, they come to the theory that the army of undead they've encountered will likely march unopposed straight to Hobfast, through Hobfast and to the Keep. They decide to send four pairs of halfling scouts, who can hide well, and get a better grasp of what the various enemy forces' movements are. One team is sent to Hud Horrn, one to Tarndim, another back to the Skunk Pass, and the last to Cedarway. The PCs dig in while they send out Wafflar Drull and Mayor Bauerkroft to draft recruits that can fight.
Evalais (Saint's Day), Malarous 6th, 868 ID
The first team of scouts returns to Hobfast before noon, well...one of them. His companion was picked up by a hippogriff while ascending the Haunted Pass to Hud Horrn, so its assumed that the Blooded Lash still reign over the fallen miners' town. No scouts at all return from Tarndim. It's later in the evening when the Skunk Pass scouts show up, and they report that a group of the skeletal figures the PCs had encountered have moved up to secure the very mouth of the Pass. Grandmother evacuates the residents of Hobfast while the PCs and Eidolorn guard make their plans. Word from the Keep is that Captain Reckon is to return with the refugees from Tarndim, Hud Horrn and now Hobfast, while Captain Hoary and his men continue to gather intelligence or engage/delay the enemy as they see fit.
The PCs decide that they might be able to hold the unknown legion at the shallow crossing of Midge Creek, so they travel there to get a better idea of what defenses they could construct. En route, they encounter a strange creature called a tendriculos, but it does not engage them. They end up staying the night, but before camping the fourth team of halfling scouts returns from Cedarway, reporting that the place has been overrun by kobolds and noone is left alive. The PCs leave Wafflar Drull to keep watch at the crossing while they return with the news. In the village, the final council is called. Bauerkroft has recruited a pair of handy fishermen to assist him in the defense of the village, while Hoary has his ten men, and Belgin has been ordered to assist with the remaining halfling scouts (including two of his personal retinue).
The PCs and Guard debate where best to assert themselves, and after a sobering evening of plotting and drinking at the abandoned Crimson Harpy, with the 'open bar' left for those staying behind, it is decided that they will take two small forces to converge upon Cedarway, where they have the best chance of routing the kobold intruders. Hoary, Bauerkroft and their men will take boats and Mudgol's familiar (to signal them when to land), while the PCs and Belgin's halflings travel by land to Cedarway. They get in another night of rest before making the trek.
Aric, Malarous 7th, 868 ID
Before enabling their two-pronged assault, the PCs decide to make a quick row to Tarndim across the Well and see what they can spy from a safe distance. They make use of Mudgol's familiar The Professor to scout about, and find signs of a disaster. The remaining Guard and civilians appear to have all been tortured by the Blood Eagle clan, some even given the 'blood eagle' itself by the docks. The Professor swims back safely to the boat and the PCs head back to Hobfast, where the toad is given to Captain Hoary for the assault. Everyone readies him or herself for the upcoming conflict.
The PCs set out to the Skunk Ridge, collecting Wafflar Drull along the way, who reports that nothing strange has happened. En route through the hills, though, Belgin spies an army marching at a distance, coming from the direction of Skunk Pass! The PCs try to give this legion a wide berth, essentially abandoning Hobfast and Tarndim to whatever fate might arrive. They head further east to Cedarway, and arrive late in the afternoon. Aside from some guard corpses, the small trade port seems abandoned. Even the Skunkside Tower is empty. The PCs head to the docks, where they spy a dreadful sight...a ghostlike figure astride a galleon just big enough for the Pinewater, along with a creepy looking crew. Mudgol recollects seeing the figure in the past...
A hasty and potentially dangerous tactic is decided upon, and Mudgol signals the Professor to have the Eidolorn Guard land on the West bank of the Pinewater. Then he stands upon the docks and launches a fireball into the middledeck of the oncoming vessel, right as it splits between the two piers flanking the river! Trouble is about to commence...
PCs: Bethrys, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
The PCs carefully retreat back around the wedge in the Skunk Pass, so that the frightening legion they've spied will not be provoked. They deliberate on their next course of action, and Langston orders that the party march back to Hobfast to inform the Guard. On the way south of the Pass, they notice trails of smoke wafting up from further to the North, near the mouth of the Pass and the Shark Dunes. En route to Hobfast, the journey is uneventful as the PCs attempt to make sense of what they've seen.
Upon arriving, they inform Captain Hoary, Blake Bauerkroft and Captain Reckon about what they've seen, and the group holds a war conference while Belgin Hosspotch stomps off to tell Grandmother what he's seen. After reviewing the war map found in the Haunted Horrn, they come to the theory that the army of undead they've encountered will likely march unopposed straight to Hobfast, through Hobfast and to the Keep. They decide to send four pairs of halfling scouts, who can hide well, and get a better grasp of what the various enemy forces' movements are. One team is sent to Hud Horrn, one to Tarndim, another back to the Skunk Pass, and the last to Cedarway. The PCs dig in while they send out Wafflar Drull and Mayor Bauerkroft to draft recruits that can fight.
Evalais (Saint's Day), Malarous 6th, 868 ID
The first team of scouts returns to Hobfast before noon, well...one of them. His companion was picked up by a hippogriff while ascending the Haunted Pass to Hud Horrn, so its assumed that the Blooded Lash still reign over the fallen miners' town. No scouts at all return from Tarndim. It's later in the evening when the Skunk Pass scouts show up, and they report that a group of the skeletal figures the PCs had encountered have moved up to secure the very mouth of the Pass. Grandmother evacuates the residents of Hobfast while the PCs and Eidolorn guard make their plans. Word from the Keep is that Captain Reckon is to return with the refugees from Tarndim, Hud Horrn and now Hobfast, while Captain Hoary and his men continue to gather intelligence or engage/delay the enemy as they see fit.
The PCs decide that they might be able to hold the unknown legion at the shallow crossing of Midge Creek, so they travel there to get a better idea of what defenses they could construct. En route, they encounter a strange creature called a tendriculos, but it does not engage them. They end up staying the night, but before camping the fourth team of halfling scouts returns from Cedarway, reporting that the place has been overrun by kobolds and noone is left alive. The PCs leave Wafflar Drull to keep watch at the crossing while they return with the news. In the village, the final council is called. Bauerkroft has recruited a pair of handy fishermen to assist him in the defense of the village, while Hoary has his ten men, and Belgin has been ordered to assist with the remaining halfling scouts (including two of his personal retinue).
The PCs and Guard debate where best to assert themselves, and after a sobering evening of plotting and drinking at the abandoned Crimson Harpy, with the 'open bar' left for those staying behind, it is decided that they will take two small forces to converge upon Cedarway, where they have the best chance of routing the kobold intruders. Hoary, Bauerkroft and their men will take boats and Mudgol's familiar (to signal them when to land), while the PCs and Belgin's halflings travel by land to Cedarway. They get in another night of rest before making the trek.
Aric, Malarous 7th, 868 ID
Before enabling their two-pronged assault, the PCs decide to make a quick row to Tarndim across the Well and see what they can spy from a safe distance. They make use of Mudgol's familiar The Professor to scout about, and find signs of a disaster. The remaining Guard and civilians appear to have all been tortured by the Blood Eagle clan, some even given the 'blood eagle' itself by the docks. The Professor swims back safely to the boat and the PCs head back to Hobfast, where the toad is given to Captain Hoary for the assault. Everyone readies him or herself for the upcoming conflict.
The PCs set out to the Skunk Ridge, collecting Wafflar Drull along the way, who reports that nothing strange has happened. En route through the hills, though, Belgin spies an army marching at a distance, coming from the direction of Skunk Pass! The PCs try to give this legion a wide berth, essentially abandoning Hobfast and Tarndim to whatever fate might arrive. They head further east to Cedarway, and arrive late in the afternoon. Aside from some guard corpses, the small trade port seems abandoned. Even the Skunkside Tower is empty. The PCs head to the docks, where they spy a dreadful sight...a ghostlike figure astride a galleon just big enough for the Pinewater, along with a creepy looking crew. Mudgol recollects seeing the figure in the past...
A hasty and potentially dangerous tactic is decided upon, and Mudgol signals the Professor to have the Eidolorn Guard land on the West bank of the Pinewater. Then he stands upon the docks and launches a fireball into the middledeck of the oncoming vessel, right as it splits between the two piers flanking the river! Trouble is about to commence...
PCs: Bethrys, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab
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