Clarify Rules: Health container rules have been changed. When you are hurt or use healing surges/action points you will put them into your containers.

Previously on The Heroes of Blackfield: Our heroes began their exploration of the dilapidated tower of the “Academy of Learned Gentlemen”, while a massive storm buffeted the keep with lashing rain and peals of distant thunder. The group discovered the slime covered clothing of the previous inhabitants of the keep, as well as the decapitated body (and extremely talkative brain) of the headmaster of the academy. He indicated to the group that there was a calamitous confrontation with an Aboleth Slime Mage who entered this dimension through a portal they opened into a far realm. After the brain-in-a-jar ran down its power source, the party wandered through the remains of the keep, searching for loot and knowledge. They ran afoul *groan* of the  squawking sentient Kenku ruffians in their nest amidst the dilapidated orrery high in the central tower of The Academy of Learned Gentlemen. They are currently engaged in battle against the remaining bird-men (who stole the brain-in-a-jar) as the unstable floor collapses and fires crackle around them.

—

Late Afternoon, Bahmsday, the 4th of Marden

Location: 2E — Orrery Gear Room (Poe, Froimos), 3E — Kenku Nest (Kailithe, Davros and Imp, Kurok),  4E — Observation Mezzanine (Barack, The Floating Dragonslayer Banner)

Kenku Battle!

• Barack (clutching the brain in a jar) takes a short hop towards the nearest Kenku, impaling it on his dagger. The mortally wounded avian tumbled over the railing and spiraled down through the weakened floor twenty feet below. With an acrobatic flourish, the halfling took a running leap and hurtled himself over the the creaky railing and across the ten foot corner gap,  landing deftly behind an unsuspecting bird-man.
• Kailithe glanced nervously up at the rickety orrery creaking roughly twenty feet over his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the filthy feathered creatures preparing to hurl a makeshift spear made in the direction of the tumbling thief. The wizard began to mumble under his breath, the words of power released the pent up energy of a magic missile. Its silvery form streaked across the smoky battlefield, exploding across the kenku, blasting him backwards, away from his acrobatic friend. That threat being dealt with, the mage proceeded to tamp down the adjacent blaze with a pile of wet straw, reducing the flames but producing prodigious amounts of smoke.
• Kurok drew one of his balanced throwing axes from his belt and hurled it up at one of the creatures still occupying the higher ground of the upper scaffolding. The lucky kenku noticed the missile and ducked aside at the last moment, the axe missed the bird by inches, took a small chunk off the tower wall and clattered to the ground. Cursing his aim, the dwarf moved to a better position.
• Froimos, groaning in pain, began to extricate himself from the orrery drive components. The edges of the upstairs floor that he fell through, him rained small bits of edge debris and burning straw embers down on him. Taking a moment to catch his breath and ascertain the severity of his many wounds, he found the time to toss off a word of encouragement to his adjacent friend. *cough* “Well Poe, if a fall like that couldn’t kill us, someone must be smiling down upon us eh?” The priest righted himself, the ringing in his ears fading a bit, “that there is my friend, and I think it’s time to get her attention a bit more directly, no?” The warlord retrieved his great-axe and limped back in the direction of the spiral staircase leading up to the burning nest.  “Let’s get a move on eh? There won’t be many of those damn birds left if we don’t get back in there”.
• Poe didn’t respond, his focus had turned inward as he reached out to his deity, the Raven Queen, as he began to imploring her for aid in their time of need. Above, on the smoky battlefield, the cleric’s faith coalesced in the form of a ghostly glowing shield, the Dragonslayers saw this and drew confidence from the symbol, safe in the knowledge that that their healer who recently smashed through the loose cobblestone floor must have survived the fall and was interceding on their behalf.
• Davros continued to pepper his opponents with rapid eldritch blasts and curses, “In Helios’ name!”. He directed his imp to fly up to savage the bird-man threatening Barack. The infernal creature dutifully obeyed his master, unfurled its webbed bat-like winds and took flight, moving into position to attack the unsuspecting kenku. With a hiss, the Imp lashed out with his barbed tail, piercing the bird’s feathery skin. The result was immediate, the kenku began to twitch and convulse, collapsing dead into a quivering heap on the scaffolding, a wicked looking orange liquid bubbling forth from its wound. At that exact moment, the warlock felt a surge of energy surge into his body, funneled through the strange glowing mark on the back of his hand.
• The remaining two kenku took flight, one of them darting out through one of the large holes in the conical tower roof to disappear into the stormy night. The remaining kenku, the largest of all the the birds seen, flew directly upwards and landed on one of the larger of the the orrerys astrological bodies. Casting an oddly intelligent gaze downwards, it begins to hack away at one of the four thick cables supporting the mechanical reproduction of Edarion’s solar system.
• The priest finished his prayer to the god of death. Looking up through the hole above him at the massive creaking bronze sculpture with the kenku ringleader hacking away at it he dragged the wounded Froimos to the side “trust me, you don’t want to stand there”. Seeing the severity of his friend’s wounds, he laid his hands on them and spoke a healing word.  Froimos felt a wave of refreshing energy pass across him, nullifying the intense back pain that he suffered from the fall.
• Barack cast a glance up at the heavy machinery lurching above his head. Reaching into his bandolier, he pulled out one of his wickedly sharp shuriken, hurling it towards the burly bird-man. It deflected off one of the smaller moons and cracked him on the beak, eliciting a load “Froak!” leaving him slightly dazed.
• Kailithe, seeing his opportunity to finish off the the kenku leader summoned forth a ball of flame which he flung upwards, sizzling past the wide eyed Barack to impact the center of the solar system thirty five feet above, unleashing a blast of intense heat. It partially melts one of the supporting the cables and sears away a significant amount of the kenkus plumage, but it was able to maintain a tenuous grip on the clockwork apparatus. Casting his gaze around the room, the wizard focused his mind on a safe location some distance away from the central tower, preparing to retreat there expeditiously in a worst case scenario.
• Sensing the possibility of a catastrophe, Kurok sprints towards a the safety of an outer wall while throwing another of his heavy axes upwards at the dazed kenku leader. The axe spirals off into the ceiling as the weakened ground collapses out from under the heavily armored dwarf. Kurok careens down to into the mechanical room, landing with a crash of dust adjacent to Froimos and Poe. Small cobblestones plink off the dwarf’s helm as additional dust and debris rains down on him.
• Froimos senses the same possible overhead catastrophe and slams himself against an adjacent rotting doorway. It splinters wetly and opens to reveal a musty dark room with a partially collapsed outer wall open to the elements and several scattered larger mechanical gears for the orrery machinery (2D — Orrery Supply/Vine Room).
• Davros yells out at the top of his lungs, “I strike you down in the Suntakers name!!” and ejects a massive blast of power from the iron tip of his outstretched rod. Crackles of dark energy erupt from the kenku leader’s sternum, wrapping around its flailing form; as reality seems to shift in an odd shuddering snap, a sharp stench of sulfur assaults the party’s nostrils as the bird-man is torn from existence amidst a splash of blood and feathers. A surge of pleasure and power washes over the victorious warlock; his imp fading from the material plane, oddly not claiming any of its owners energy upon departure.

 Combat Experience with the Kenku Bird-men 125 XP

Kenku Nest Loot:  Five gems worth approximately 100gp each, 250 gold worth of loose coins scattered about.

After putting out the remaining fires, taking a short rest and finding anything of value in the remains of the nest, the party split up to search the other unexplored rooms in the keep. Barack and Kailithe worked with a combination of magical assistance and skilled rope-work to better secure the unstable solar system above their heads.

While securing the rope on the ceiling, Barack poked his head out the gaps in the tower rooftop, he could see that the storm and lightning continued, but that the sun was already setting on the horizon. The rain-slicked and flooded valleys of the surrounding mesa was all that he could perceive. Sensing the possible value of the beautifully crafted brass and inlaid alloy planetoids (Streetwise Check = 19), the “entrepreneurial” side of the halfling decided it would be a worthy venture to collect several of the more easily accessible celestial bodies (The Three Daughters). Securing himself to the rope, he began to hack away at their weak connection points. He succeeded at disconnecting one of the three daughters (8lb Ornately crafted moon)

Location: 2D — Vine/Flower Room

Poe opens the door to the west of the Orrery Gear Room, revealing a dark room with boxes containing replacement gears and parts for the orrery mechanics. There’s a thin layer of dust and dirt across all objects in the room. The upper portion of the western wall has partially collapsed and the stones have been decomposed to a dirt-like consistency. Growing in the pile of dirt are an interwoven mesh of long ropey vines and stretching out across the wall and outside the open wall gap. A bed of large flowers (around 20) sprouting from the dirt pile slowly turned to face the party’s light source.  Davros (Nature Check — 20) doesn’t know what exactly the plants are, but he does recognize that they’re not normal in nature and possibly extraplanar/fey in origin. Davros sliced off one of the flowers as a sample; (Perception Check — Davros highest at 16) as soon as the blade passed through the stem, the flower rapidly wilted, an odd shiver of movement rippled back through the mass of vines.

The party discovered a section of the dirt that was dug up and re-covered. Moving aside the dirt, the party found another of the white crystals.

Location: 2H — Research Library

Poe notices a pool of thin slick layer of ooze leaking out from under the door to the north of the orrery mechanical room. Upon opening the door, it revealing a room filled with piles of sticky goo spread across he floor. Floor to ceiling bookshelves line the walls, filled with an extensive library of arcane and research related tomes and scrolls. The northern wall was melted/blasted in an outward direction with what must have been a massive amount of force. Water is cascading in through the rend and streaming across the floor, trickling down through the cobblestones. Kailithe hungrily pores over the largest library he’s ever set his eyes upon, a starving man seated before a kings feast. Many of the tomes and scrolls are thoroughly soaked (roughly 30% of them). Many of the identifiable books have labels focused on such topics as (Arcana Check — Davros highest at 26) Extradimensional Creatures, Portal Theory, The Far Planes, Demonic Entities and Astral Travel. Kailithe and Davros grab two random books each off the shelves regarding planar knowledge.

There are small stools and broken study tables scattered about the room. The walls are pockmarked with char marks and spell impact craters.  Two doors lead out of the room. The one to the east is currently open, the one to the west is closed. The eastern door leads to 2I — The Portal Chamber.

Location: 2I — Portal Chamber

Looking through the open doorway, a bluish light is visible, faintly emanating from a pentagram etched on the floor, a glowing red circle encapsulates the pentagram. Surrounding the arcane circle are seven white pedestals with a small recessed niche on top of them. Splashes of of slime are splattered all around the room outside the circle.

The party blew their signal horns and assembled outside the portal room to discuss their source of action. (2:31:01) Kailithe notices (Arcana Check 20) a series of containment runes around the doorway, their etched forms all look to be charred and broken.

Kurok spies a golden arch installed on the northern wall, a shimmering curtain of red energy contained within its frame. Faintly viewable through the dimensional tear is something other the wall that it’s embedded within. (History Check — Froimos Highest at 20) The warlord pipes up and reminds the group that the headmaster had told them the sad story of a portal summoning gone awry, allowing an aboleth slime mage to pass into our dimension. Kailithe notices a red focus crystal slotted into the side of the golden portal, walks across the room and pulls it from the slot; the shimmering curtain disappearing instantly. Deciding it was time to seek additional knowledge, the party slots one of the odd white crystals they had discovered in the alchemy lab into the charging slot for the headmasters brain jar. It disappeared with an acrid puff and the light in the brain tank began to shine brightly again.

Kailithe spends some time hanging around the room inspecting the intricate runic inscriptions that make up the circle of protection. It’s definitely a powerful containment sphere and tied directly into the 7 pedestals for it’s magical power sources. He also takes a sample of the green slime from the portal room in one of his glass vials and tucks it away safely into it’s pack.

—

Conversation with the Headmaster’s Head (err.. Brain)

“I’m back!” said the headmaster, “Pray tell, what did I miss? Oh, you found the portal room, well done, did you seal away the aboleth then??”

Party: Eh? No..

“Did you find the protection crystals to seal the portal then? They’d be small white crystal about the size of a small marble”

Party: Err.. Ooops what if we used one of them? Like to power your brain?

“Why would you do that!! We need them to seal the portal! There are seven of those crystals somewhere in the keep, when placed on the sealing columns, they’ll power the circle of protection, thus locking away access to this portal from the other side. ”

Party:  Er, are there more of them??

“No! And for that matter, how long have I been out? Have you met the kenku? Very smart, excellent musicians.. Anyhoo, when you find the remaining crystals and return them to the pedestals to seal away the power crystals. Unfortunately we only have six crystals now, we might try to make another one or simply perform the ritual with six crystals, although Ioun only knows how well that would work”

Party:  Could we make another one of them?

“Well, it did take a tremendous amount of intelligence, manpower and resources to create the crystals in the first place, but come to think of it, there is an extremely well stocked alchemy lab on the main floor near the entrance that should have the materials required to assemble a replacement crystal. You seem bright enough, perhaps you’ll be able to pull it off. Despite that, you’ll need to find the other five remaining crystals to go along with that one. When the attack occurred, the brothers took the powerrrrrr crystalsssss.. and disperssssseddd… themmm..   about.. the… keeeeeeeep.. (is it getting dark in here? I say.. Hello? Helllooo? Oh drat, not again..) ” (2:47:50)

—

The conversation ended, the party scattered to explore the undiscovered areas of the keep in search of the remaining power crystals.

Location: 2G — The Room

When party members open the door to this room, they observe:

Kailithe (Perception Check 21) sees a wholly uninteresting room. It’s just a room.

Kurok (Insight Check 18) Yep… Just about what I would have expected. Just a room.

Davros (Perception Check 20) Dark room, nothing interesting.

Barack walks in the room with Kurok (Willpower Checks 16 — 19) they look/search around and  think to themselves “Yep, that’s just about the most room-like room I’ve seen. Pretty boring actually..” Kurok decides to run into a wall. A few moments later he’s bleeding from his nose, ouch. He then moves into the center of the room and decides to yell. Poe, Kailithe and Davros hear the ruckus and come to investigate the wholly uninteresting room. So much drama over nothing, but it seems oddly OK.

Location: 2F — Lycanthropy Laboratory

Froimos breaks open an unopened room on the main floor revealing a sturdy table on the western wall is covered in odd instruments and the pelts of various oddly deformed furry creatures in various states of taxidermy and decay. A rack covered in slimy green lichen leans up against the southern wall, and a mass of cobwebs obscure something mounted around chest level against the northern wall wall.

Kailithe (Biology Check 31) identifies the preserved partially humanoid form in the corner to be a stuffed  werewolf, caught in mid-transformation. The wizard remembered that the fangs of a werewolf are potentially valuable to a buyer so he pulled the two upper canines from the creature.

A silver a spear, a hammer, a great-axe and a longsword can be recovered from the racks of weapons on the walls (non-magical, just silvered). Four silver shuriken and seventeen silvered arrows were found embedded in the target attached to the far wall and retrieved by the party.

The party performs a thorough search of the room (Kailithe Perception Check 23), and discover a 5lb silver bar that looks like it had fallen down off the back of the table. Approximate worth of 400 GP.

Location: 2A — Collapsed Tower with Rubble

Kailithe opens the door to reveal a (Kailithe Acrobatics-Balance Check 22) scampers to the top of the rubble pile in the wind whipped rain to the roof of the keep. He can see the three remaining conical towers and the main central orrery tower rising around him. The masonry is the worse for wear and covered in vines. Davros attempts to join the wizard on the rooftop  (Davros Acrobatics-Balance Check 10) but has a problem making it up the rain-slick rubble ramp.

Blinded by the rain and wind, Kailithe was caught completely by surprise when he stepped on a weakened section of the roof and it collapses out from underneath him (Acrobatics Check 8). Feather Fall — Landing 15 feet down, the wizard summons the arcane spell of Feather Fall to stop him immediately before impacting the floor. Small bits of roof tiles clattered to the ground around him and pelted the surprised wizard.

Location: 1D — Cobweb Filled Supply Room

The party opens the rotted door easily revealing a dark room half full of shiny wet cobwebs. Kailithe steps up to the front of the pack and releases a scorching bust of flame into the open doorway.  The room goes up like a candle, flailing tendrils of incinerated spider silk disintegrate instantly in a wave of heat and flash of light. Anyone unlucky enough to have their eyes open quickly slam them shut leaving the glowing afterimage of the wizards fiery blast emblazoned on the inside of their eyelids.

Several small remaining fires augment the light from Kurok’s magical illumination to reveal an ashen soot filled room that used to house stores for the keep. The dwarf steps gingerly into the room, testing the structural integrity of the wood and cobblestone floor.

Several small lumps and piles smoulder around the room, a blackened humanoid skeleton could be seen propped up in the corner. (Kurok Dungeoneering Check 15) The very dead/dessicated and curled up forms of many spiders can be seen among the soot in the floor. They look to have been dead for quite some time.  Kailithe scrapes off some of the extremely sticky spiderweb remains from the door, storing them in a small bag, which is now nearly impossible to open. (Poe Heal Check 17) The cleric identifies the remains in the corner as a small skeletal structure humanoid, possibly a halfling, who has been dessicated and fed upon by the spiders that inhabited this room. The skeleton looks to have been manacled to the wall by some now-rusty handcuffs.

Location: The Cellar

Backtracking back down through the magister’s quarters the party moved to clear the collapsed cellar stairwell.  “I got this”, the dwarf confidently stated while cracking his knuckles and effortlessly heaving up one of the massive stone blocks. After a half an hours worth of effort, Kurok finally broke a sweat and the pathway is cleared to the darkened cellar. Shining a light down into the darkness, the stairs can be seen disappearing into brackish water. Further into the basement, basement walls and beams can be seen emerging from the water and rising up to support the leaky ceiling. A fine green slime coats sections of the ceiling, similar to the slime surrounding the robes scattered throughout the keep.

The water looks to be around 5 feet in depth, where the stairs end at the submerged floor. Partially broken down walls raise out of the water and support the ceiling in various stages of dilapidation. It smells musty and slimy.

Location: 1F — Biological Sample Room

Three tanks of gooey liquid are set on the floor of this rectangular room, in hues of Blue, Green and Yellow. Across the the back wall of the room are arrayed a series of shelves containing a large variety of specimen containers.

Slime Battle!

 More details to come!

Note: Apologies in advance for any incorrect info here; this is an imperfect update as we are now so far afield from when these events happened. I’ll blame it on the newborn, 3 moves and building a new house. I know, excuses, excuses.. Let me know if I missed something you recall.

Players in Attendance: Jason Jurisch (Froimos), Dustin Haugen (Barack Tenderfoot), Jason Alway, (Kurok Stonehammer), Greg Sallee (Davros), Dominic Hirdler (Poe), Erik Rehpohl (Kailithe Solaceguard)

Previously on The Heroes of Blackfield: The party returned with the crown and Garok, spent time around town, outfitting the Blackfieldmice and securing their HQ from the miner renters.

• the faint smells of smoke, mold and a sickly sweet flower scent hang in the air. The sounds of rain and thunder are muffled by the keep but the sad state of decay in the stonework create hundreds of channels for allow for the rain to run through.
• The ground looks to be made of stone pavers, looks like it was laid over a cellar. The supports are giving way, leaving potholes in the courtyard that lead down to the basement.
• Small piles of abandoned clothes covered in an odd slimy substance can be seen scattered around the courtyard.

Previously on The Heroes of Blackfield: The “righteous” killing blow was just struck against Chief Shadow Raiser, and his body finally collapsed at your feet. His now immobile corpse began to slowly corrode to dust from the tips of his extremeties, spreading inwards and upwards towards the dark iron crown. After less than a minute, all that remains is a roughly orcish shaped ash pile.. Warlord Garok utters some words of reverence and begins to reach for the crown.

~~~

New House Rule — Theme Song! Every hero will choose a song as their “Theme Music”. Whenever it comes up in combat, they will receive a free Action Point to be used on their next turn, or  immediately, if the song comes on during their turn.

Rules

1. The hero has to identify their theme song before the song ends.
2. The action point must be used on their next turn. If a character opts to not use the action point, it goes away.
3. Only one action point may be used per turn.

Chosen Theme Music

Barack Tenderfoot — Head Like a Hole — Nine Inch Nails

Davros - Cantara — Dead Can Dance

Froimos — Gladiator Main Theme

Kailithe Starguard — The Passion (The Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack)

Kurok Stonehammer — The Gael — Dougie McLean (last of the Mohicans soundtrack)

Poe - Get Your Body Beat — Combichrist

Recap: The party hired a dig Wildcatter, Blodwin to lead them in the unmapped upper areas of the dig. Warlord Garok drank a potion to obscure his face and allow him access to Blackfield without anyone seeing his orcish racial features. The team entered the dig via elevator, got out on the unused upper floors and began to search.

~~~

Morsday, the 11th of Aelril — Unknown Time — The Long Unused Upper Area of the Dig, in search of the long lost Orc Tribal Settlement and the Crown of an Ancient Orcish Chieftain.

• Barack explores the deeper into the upper cave entrance, finds air holes and a groove worn into the bedrock, probably indicating lots of foot traffic. No prints can be seen ahead of him in the undisturbed layer of ancient dust.
• The party attempted to climb across a jury-rigged rope ladder to reach Barack
• Davros and Poe slipped and were hauled up
• Kurock swung across as the final transfer, slammed into the opposite wall (like a boss) and reverse rappelled up the wall.
• The tunnel eventually opened up into a roughly 80X60 cavern sporting two tunnel entrances, both of which are stuffed full of large heavy rocks (not a natural collapse) and a sooty pile of mining equipment adjacent to the left tunnel.
  • Barack dives into the refuse pile and sorts through the contents. He finds the remains of several large bellows, hoses, a firebox, burned mining tools, and a strange sticky sooty chemical melange dusted across most of the trash.
  • Davros investigates the chemicals left behind, finds that they’re not magical, and seem to be inert, yet slightly caustic.
• Kailithe clears off an area to perform another Hand of Fate ritual. The smells of burning magical incense and the dull illumination coming off his hastily scrawled ritual circle filled the cavern.
  • Question 1: What tunnel is the most direct route: The Hand of Fate pointed to the tunnel next to the refuse pile.
  • Question 2: Is the crown above or below us — The Hand of Fate pointed down.
  • Question 3: How far away is the crown — The Hand of Fate showed first one finger, then eight fingers, then it made the shape of a zero.
• The party settled into helping Froimos clear the rubble pile from the “debris” tunnel, after several extremely strenuous hours, only a small amount of progress was being made. (The rocks are massively heavy and unwieldy). The Dragonslayers decided to buckle down and just push through, ultimately taking around 8 hours before they finally cleared a small hole to the darkened cavern beyond.
• The walls and floor are covered with a sticky/sooty black residue. The tunnel gently slopes downward terminating in an ancient wooden gate occupying the entire height of the tunnel. Barack expertly catapulted himself off the heavy iron pull ring and crawled inside through one of the gates upper view-slits.
• Kailithe’s wizard light beaming on his brow, Barack can see that the door is barred from the inside with a large iron crossbeam. Also, there are two large piles of material under each of the windows. Bits of rusted metal, leather, bones and a dilapidated bow can be seen protruding from the soot strewn piles. (Dead bodies)
• The Dragonslayers passed their grappling hook through to Barack, allowing them to easily lift the heavy reinforced beam off the gate. Before the rest of the party entered the settlement, the rogue scoured the entrance area for traps, discovering and disarming two dilapidated tripwire traps just inside the entrance. 50 XP for Barack
• Beyond the gated cavern entrance, a large open chamber is revealed by the party’s dim light sources.
  • The Cavern is nearly 100 feet across in an irregular oval shape. There are 3 tunnels exiting the cave, and 2 smaller alcoves that looked to be filled with rotting piles or miscellaneous supplies.
  • Dozens of small piles are located around the large chamber. Closer investigation of one of the larger piles seems to hold the bones of a large and small humanoid (Parent and child?) arranged in such a way as to indicate that the creature simply sat down and waited to die.
  • After praying to his Deity, Poe receives a revelation from the Raven Queen: A vision of a busy underground settlement of Orcs being overwhelmed by a creeping black fog of death. Their souls winking out of existence one after another.
  • Barack asked about looting the corpses, but Warlord Garok responded (somewhat indignantly) that he didn’t want the final resting place of his ancestors desecrated.
  • Kailithe summons a small animated magical broom and sweeps away the soot from a section of the walls, revealing a form of pictographic cave drawings hidden underneath. Garok soberly verified that the drawings were indeed an ancient and primitive version of the writing used by his tribe. The section of drawings that Kailithe cleared detailed a part of the history of this tribe and it’s leader, Chief Shah-Doh Rah-Seer
  • Exploration Experience for discovering the secrets of the Ancient Orc Camp 100 XP.

• The Dragonslayers left the room via one of the caverns they believe to be in the direction indicated by the Hand of Fate. It spiraled down at a gentle slope, opening up to a small cave who’s walls look to have been partially mined into smoother walls. There is a rotted door hanging open across the room.
  • The walls are entirely covered with what looks to be a sequential series of seasonal military campaigns, depicting the recognizably crowned form of Chief Shah-Doh Rah-Seer. Oddly enough it looks as if there are several hundred seasonal entries, leading the party to believe that the Chief may well have exceeded the normal lifespan of the average orc.
  • There are more “Piles” (remains of Orcs) in this room, but they seem to be significantly larger than the previous occupants and contain more metal bits on their armor as well as superior weapons that seem to be in much better shape.
  • Additional rotted crates/barrels and bags are strewn about the room, as well as weapon racks with rusted and dilapidated weaponry.

• Moving onward, there are a series of branching corridors that split up the party.
  • Barack is immediately attracted to a massively overbuilt and armored door that looks to be as new as the day it was hung. The over-sized lock started involuntary salivation over the possibilities contained within. The 2 traps that he discovered did little to diminish his fervor. Barack successfully disarmed a large pit trap trigger, the second trap was barely disarmed before a dusty flint could spark a bag of unknown content embedded within the lock. 100 XP for Barack
  • Unable to successfully pick the lock (after breaking his best pick) Barack breaks out a vial of acid and dumps it on the lock, after carefully collecting the small pouch that the trap failed to trigger.
    
• Pendrynn runs into a large burial chamber, triggering an arcane ward and awakening the Red Crystal Heart of the Chieftains Crown.
  • The cavern is huge, and dimly lit by a red glow coming from an arcane circle surrounding a pedestal with a large pulsing red crystal.
  • Combat with the Chief and his Retinue.
  • The Chief awakens, stands up and challenges the Dragonslayers in an unintelligible language (probably ancient orcish). Once Garok enters the chamber, the Chief becomes incensed, shouts in anger and leaps into action.
  • The Crystal splits up, small pieces appear next to the various mounds of earth running in parallel lines towards the party. A red glow embraces each of the piles, as the earth around them is pushed aside by the zombified remains of the Chief’s Warband.
  • The crystal shards launch dark beams of necromantic magic at anyone foolish enough to stand close by.
  • The Chief summons his honor guard comprised of 4 ravenous ghouls.
  • Davros flanks the room in cover of darkness a launches a devastating attack against the individual shards as well as the crystal heart of the Crown of Immortality. It ultimately shatters under his relentless attacks.
  • The party defeats all of the Chief’s undead horde, however, every time they strike a killing blow to the Chief, his body continues to reanimate, until the final killing blow is landed from a righteous weapon, sending him to his true death.

  

• Defeated the Chieftain Shadow Raiser and his Undead Companions 600 XP.

Recap: The party after having successfully returned to the material plane and completed the Elder Council’s challenge have been promoted to the rank of “Hunters of Blackfield.”

~~~

Bahmsday, the 9th of Aelril — In the Elder Council chambers of the Town Hall.

• Davros handed off the translated (from Abyssal symbols) communique between the Marsh Wizard and the unnamed other party regarding strategic intelligence in the midlands. Detailed  descriptions of the economic interactions between the major civilization centers, geographic landmarks, etc.. This marks the first time the party has heard about:
  • Arborio — An elven settlement to the north of Port Flume, across the River Anwar.
  • Rockhome — A dwarven fortress carved into the cliffs along the River Anwar, northwest of Port Flume.
  • Sumacha — Coastal trading city located where the River Anwar spills into the Mer.
• The party takes advantage of access to the Honor Guard Armory. Crowley Brandham, the guard captain’s aged squire is also the minder of the armory and explained its intended nature. “Distinguished soldiers of Blackfield’s past upon retirement or passing contributed their arms and armor to lend aid for their brethren yet to come. The Armory’s motto is ‘Take One, Leave One, Pass it On’.” The armory is split into two stockpiles: Consumables and Artifacts. The party is allowed to swap one of their magical implements in exchange for an artifact after each major mission they complete for the Elder Council. The party is also allowed to withdraw up to 2 consumables during each of these visits as well. It seems that Crowley would also appreciate the donation of any other magical implements to the Honor Guard Armory.
• Elder Worthwords hands off a package of papers to Pendrynn in a small satchel.
• The party splits up:
  • All but Pendrynn head towards Findings. There they hand-off the last of the rider boxes discovered in Balthazar Grandy’s laboratory. Tristan identifies it as an advanced design from the ones the party had previously delivered to him.
  • The party inquired about a means to disguise “something” for a significant period of time. Tristan pulled a small tube from a shelf laden with potions. “The imbiber of this will have their facial features morphed to an unrecognizable degree for the span of a day. Drink the entire amount or else it’s won’t work properly.”
  • Pendrynn headed to his mothers house, and checked on the status of his comatose grandfather. Brogan continues in his catatonic state, not reacting to his grandson’s healing hands, nor the imploring words to Erathis seeking strength in battle for his heirloom blade.
• Kailithe and Davros worked on carving glyphs in the party chest and preparing it for mounting Davros’ dragon tooth dagger. (For use in future ritual summoning)
• After that, Barack, Kailithe and Froimos visit Barack’s orphan boys.
  • Kailithe teaches the group about basic hygiene and buys them some water barrels, bedrolls and candles for light.
  • Barack hands to Toad his excess chain shirt and two daggers. Toad waves in the direction of an abnormally large youth guarding their meager stash (approx 25gp)  “Maybe Clumpy can wear it”.

• The remaining members of the cohort headed out to Sooties, seeking the least social Dig Prospector to lead them in search of the remains of the long buried Orcish Settlement. The settled on a disheveled, heavily bearded and highly intoxicated creature who answers to the name Blodwin. For 10 gold, Blodwin will take the party into the dig to wherever they wish to go, no questions asked.

~~~

Pelsday, the 10th of Aelril — Morning — The final day of lodging in their militia barracks.

• Barack splits from the party for the day in order to share his “shady” contacts with Toad. They bounce from black marketeer to professional gambler and finally to Desand, fellow scout trainee, member of Raven Cohort and and longtime prank-rival of Barack. Through a subtle combination of coercion and bribery, Barack manages to convince Desand to aid the orphans by teaching them some functional “scout” skills.
• The remaining members of the Dragonslayers headed out of town to explore the local wilds to the Southwest of Blackfield,  before their planned meet-up with the Orc Warlord.
• While exploring the rolling hills, large flying creatures could be seen  fluttering amid tall cliffs to the south, where the lowlands become more clumped up in the face of the nigh-impenetrable mountain range barely visible in the distance.
• The party can see what looks to be 2 humanoids (one tall, one short) nearly 2 miles away heading in a general westerly direction and adopt a trajectory to intercept.

~~~

An excerpt from the diary of Brother Silverleaf, 12th degree Ascetic of the Order of the Hundred Brothers

The morning found us nestled into an abandoned warren, probably of a small burrowing animal, perhaps a badger or hedgehog. It’s logical to assume that the previous occupants were predated upon by the Griffon flock, rooked on the ridges above.

Fillian continues to grow in confidence as he learns more about the wildlife that surround us. His youthful exuberance is difficult to channel as of late, the boy should receive extra meditation classes with Brother Greenspears upon our return. Also, he continues to snore in his sleep, despite the breathing exercises we have been working on; dangerous in the wilds to be sure, we must continue to focus on that need in the future.

We spent the afternoon observing the interaction of the Greyridge Griffon flock. They seem to be stocking up on local prey in advance of a possible migration. The new hatchlings must be approaching maturity and their first flights. Flocklord Grazzard seeems to be flying with a noticeable injury to one of his wings, it’s possible that one of the younger Griffs challenged him? Three of the younger rooks weren’t observed today, perhaps he’s ejected them from the flock after a failed attempt to usurp the flock.

It was late afternoon when on our return we observed the black plume of Blackfield to the north. Fillian was first to identify our pursuers, a heavily armed group of Blackfield militia.

After if became clear that were were definitely being tailed, I found a hiding spot for Filian and confronted our visitors. Interacted peaceably, but in a confrontational interrogation style. Despite my indications that I wasn’t a threat to them or their city, one of the band (a fully-plated warrior) was unruly in typical Blackfielder style, threatening me with physical violence unless I left the area immediately. His movements belied his inexperience,  I did emply my quarterstaff in such a way as to disarm him without causing any physical harm, however, it didn’t diffuse the situation despite the demonstration of superior martial skill. Note: As other run-ins we’ve had with the Blackfield militia, they continue to alienate outsiders under the guise of civic duty. Surely they must see that they’re making no friends with these overtures? We must look into this further, perhaps sending a brother to the town to communicate this observation??

Other members of the party deflated the confrontation and called off their search for Fillian. Once the Blackfielders departed, I collected Fillian and continued our return trip. The remainder of the trip was uneventful aside from a quick detour to investigate an abandoned hunting blind. Based on the blood trails and lack of tracks away from the site seem to indicate that the hunters may have been” “collected” by the griffons. Make a note for our records, this area may be an unsafe griffon feeding ground until their migration.

~~~

Morsday, the 11th of Aelril — Late Evening — The Tailings Piles outside the Southern Gates

• The party walked all night to meet with Garok, who was waiting for them, hidden in the tall refuse piles.
• After sharing their plans with Garok, they handed off the potion and asked him to drink it. Garok questioned the lack of an exit strategy for their plan, but was goaded into drinking it by Kurok, who smartly questioned his courage. Immediatel after imbibing the brownish potion, Garok’s raven hair turned a dirty blonde, his skin lightened and his face melted to that of a slightly less orcish (yet oddly ugly by human standars) countenance.
• “You didn’t happen to see a bride for a hill giant have you?” they asked Garok, he just stared blankly back.
• The party managed to enter through the southern gate,met up with Blodwin in the dig upper grounds and made their way into the main shaft via Elevator 1.
• The party had questioned Garok regarding the location of the underground ruins.
  • History (Kailithe and Davros) — The Tribes used to live in caves that were accessible from natural entrances above ground (so aren’t probably too deep). Around 100 feet or so down is most likely.
  • Perception (Barack) — He noticed a few cave entrances with very distinct soot lines near the ceiling, possibly indicitive of long term cookfire use. Something Garok confirmed was indeed a part of their style of living.
  • Dungeoneering (Kurock) -

  Kailithe began his ritual to summon the hand of fate. They asked it 3 questions, that it had to anwer to the best of it’s ability:

  • Where is the crown? (Pointed town and at an angle)
  • How far away is it? (The hand closed, then held up two fingers, then four fingers, then zero fingers.)
  • Whats the most direct route to it that we can use? (The hand pointed back to the main shaft.)
• Barack attempted to jump over to another cavern, fell, but was saved by his magical slippers, which teleported him to safety.

Hylea is an Elven Enclave located deep in the heart of the Feywood. The “wood” elves here live primarily in earthen homes, sanctuary trees and in homes made from the woven tree branches. Treeshapers work to contort the trees into these useful configurations, live wood is never cut and processed. The Treeshapers can talk to trees to have them give up old limbs for use in crafting. The use of Fire is OK in the city, dead limbs are used and special alchemical materials are used to make them burn for longer periods of time. Additionally, special mosses, glowrods and glowspheres are used for lighting. Hylea exists in a cross-planar space shifting between Feywild and the Material plane. Visitors are welcome into the outer village, but not the inner-forest sanctum where the Eladrin Royal Family lives as well as the Druidic Treeshaper cathedral grove.

(Need Map)

Population

An unknown amount of Elves and a very small smattering of other races that have chosen to live in the elven method; one with nature.

Economy

The city is completely self-sustaining, and has little to no trade with the outside world. Very rarely individual elvish craftsmen will journey to other settlements to ply their wares and return with exotic components and materials. The vast majority of goods and services that trade hands within the town are not completed with currency exchange, but with bartering. Non-haggling bartering at that.

Government

Hylea is a communal society, where any decisions that affect the entire enclave are discussed openly and decided upon by communal consensus. These discussions can take a significant amount of time, some particular discussions as to the nature of the openness of Hylea have been under discussion for hundreds of years without a consensus yet being achieved. Although there is a royal line of Eladrin descended from the original founders of Hylea, they do not have any more of a vote than the average communal voter; although their opinions may bear more weight in the conversation.

Military

Hylea has no formal military structure. It is said that in the instance that the town were to be under attack, all citizens can and would bear arms to repel the threat. Due to their woodsmanship, rarely does anyone approach within several miles of the town without being detected, tracked and having advance warning reported to the town.

Society

Everyone in town is an independent soul tied together to improve the common good. They’re generally untrusting of outsiders, although generally a nice and friendly people.

Businesses

None of note

Notable NPC’s

King Elnio Hylest — Descendant of the original founding family of Hylea.

Queen Dirdriel Hylest — Royal married into the line of the original founding family of Hylea.

X — Hylean Trade Ambassador to Blackfield

Belariae Veronia — Glade Guard — Discovered the Dragonslayers in the Feywild

Recap: A warforged battle force from the Forgeworks began to assault the Mist Fortress where our heroes were holed up. With advance warning, heavy lines of defence were created with layered traps and channels to route the attacking horde. Things were going well and the party was able to repel the first several waves of heavily fortified hammerers as well as the iron golems and hammerer launchers that smashed their way up through the spiral staircase. Once the metallic growl of the steel predator pierced the sounds of clashing weapons, the party got their first real sense of danger. Kurock called for a retreat after a Steel Predator leaped behind them, downing the cleric and shredding their defensive line. Stepping through the portal activated by the green gem, the group found themselves assaulted by a nearly violent combination of lush smells, bright green tinged sunlight and a nearly overwhelming scent of nature.

~~~

Day 14 – Morning, Morsday, the 1st of Aelril – In the Murkendraw of the Feywild — In combat with a Rotwood Treant and two twisted Dryads

• Davros Superheated the sap in the Treant’s trunk, causing it to explode, spraying sticky hot splinters about the area
• The remains of the rotten tree toppled to the ground with a loud crash,  almost crushing the Dwarf and Halfling.
• Combat Experience for defeating the Rotwood Treant and Twisted Dryads  – 235 XP
• Short Rest.

~~~

Day 15 – Iounsday, the 2nd of Aelril – Traveling west In the Murkendraw

• Attempted to scavenge for food and water and failed.
• No rest.
• Decided to head south towards the Eladrin settlement Hylea. (Possibly Cross Planar?)

~~~

Day 16 – Meloren, the 3rd of Aelril – Departing the Murkendraw

• Successfully scavenged for food and water
• Extended Rest — 3 Watches

~~~

Day 17 – Bahmsday, the 4th of Aelril – Approaching an ancient forest roughly in the location of the Feywood

• Successfully scavenged for food and water
• Extended Rest — 3 Watches

~~~

Day 18 – Pelsday, Morsday, the 5th of Aelril – Entered the Ancient Feywood Forest in the Feywild

• Surrounded by massive ancient trees, the canopy stretches overhead seemingly hundreds of feet above.  Large tangled roots slow travel and the area is subject  only diffuse rays of light that filter through the upper canopy.
• Sounds of a heavy walking creature reverberated through the forest ahead of the party, Barack skulked ahead to investigate the noise. He saw a massive indistinct creature covered in moss, earth and seemingly rocks and plants. The party determined caution was the best decision and let it pass by.
• Extended Rest — 3 Watches

• Later that evening, Second Watch noticed something fast moving through the forest, Kailithe Rose to challenge the sound and was confronted by an Eladrin Glade Guardian. Kailithe was asked what their business was in the woods, and asked to stay here until later in the day.

~~~

Day 19 – Morsday, the 6th of Aelril –

• The Dragonslayers waited in the heart of the forest for the return of the Eladrin rangers.
• Successfully scavenged for food and water
• The Glade Guardians returned and indicated they wanted the orc, Warlord Garok to disarm. Garok pulled the party aside and spoke in broken common, indicating he would go along but only if the Dragonslayers helped him out.
• Garok believes that in the Tribal Ruins under Blackfield (in the Dig) there are ancient treasures including a crown, worn by respected tribal leaders of old. He believes that if he can bring it back to his people, it might help to pry control away from the more warlike members of the tribes. The party agrees to help him, and Barack goes as far as accepting the orc warlord’s request for a blood oath.
• The party was led holding a rope and a globe of darkness.
• Were led down the Greenway path, the main “street” of the community. The “town” is made up of a series of strangely shaped trees (intentionally grown into functional structural shapes) and earth homes nestled between sheltering root structures. The path in front of them is made of cobblestones nestled in grassy earth flanked with flowers, shaped hedges and wild trees.
• Exploration Experience for discovering the Eladrin Community Hylea – 100 XP
• The party was brought to the hall of vines, a natural amphitheater made from an arch of interwoven live tree limbs and vines. Waiting for them there was a large portion of the community who began to ask them a rapid fire series of questions that drilled into details at an alarmingly accurate and fast rate.
• Once the questioning was done, the party was released to explore the community, visiting the houses of individual craftspeople and inspecting their historical treasures, handmade oddities and extensive magical lore.

~~~

Day 20 – Iounsday, the 7th of Aelril –Somewhere in the Feywood

• In the morning, the boys were fed, and led out of town the same way they were led in, in the dark and led by rope.
• The Eladrin rangers dropped the party on the thinning eastern side of the forest and pointed out the direction of Blackfield, wishing them luck.
• The party moved slowly, exploring the forest, they stumbled across a Standing Stone Ritual Circle bathed in moonlight. After inspection, it was noted that the circle negated the need for ritual components for some rituals. (Specifically not working for the enhancement of items and man-made materials.)
• The party ultimately conjured a Hand of Fate, and asked it three questions:
  • Where are the Ambassadors of Erathis — It pointed due East.
  • Where is the master of the Marsh Wizard? — Indecisive, the hand was spinning around in random directions.
  • Where is Mir? — The hand pointed due East.
• After casting the ritual successfully, the moonlight bathing the standing stones dimmed significantly, it’s stored power diffused.

~~~

Day 21 – Meloren, the 8th of Aelril – Departing the Feywood, the Dragonslayer cohort wander across familiar territory, heading East to the Sootway.

• Explored the area, the party rediscovered the looted remains of the Coal Caravan wagon they found on their first foray outside Blackfield’s walls.
• The Party headed south, towards Blackfield’s back gate.

~~~

Day 22 – Bahmsday, the 9th of Aelril –

• Approaching the city stealthily from the tailing piles in the south, the party tells Garrok to stay hidden out here for 2 days, while the group reports in.
• Barack puts his hood up and approached the back gate.
• Led directly to the elders
• Questioning — What all happened
• The party mentions the request by Garok for the tribal crown of the orcs located in some ruins of the dig. Josia Navarro (Elder and chief engineer of The Dig) defiantly stated that it was the property of Blackfield, not that of a filthy greenskin beggar.
• The Dragonslayer Cohort  party is officially recognized and given the honor and title of “Hunters of Blackfield”
• Added Benefits: Allowed use of secret exit from the city, increased pay, access to the honor guard armory
• Notes: Keep your existence as hunters secret as well as your general doings, exposure puts the city and it’s citizens at risk of retaliation.
• Minor Quest Experience — Updated the Local Area Maps Surrounding Blackfield — 50 XP
• Major Quest Experience — Investigated the Mist Fens, found the source of the Metal Men and the secret behind the Rider Boxes — 50 150 XP
• Major Quest Experience — Became a Hunter of Blackfield — 200 XP

If a square is part of a shallow bog, it has deep mud or standing water of about 1 foot in depth. It costs 2 squares of movement to move into a square with a shallow bog, and the DC of Tumble checks in such a square increases by 2.

A square that is part of a deep bog has roughly 4 feet of standing water. It costs Medium or larger creatures 4 squares of movement to move into a square with a deep bog, or characters can swim if they wish. Small or smaller creatures must swim to move through a deep bog. Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog.

The water in a deep bog provides cover for Medium or larger creatures. Smaller creatures gain improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves). Medium or larger creatures can crouch as a move action to gain this improved cover. Creatures with this improved cover take a –10 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren’t underwater.

Deep bog squares are usually clustered together and surrounded by an irregular ring of shallow bog squares.

Both shallow and deep bogs increase the DC of Move Silently checks by 2.

Undergrowth

The bushes, rushes, and other tall grasses in marshes function as undergrowth does in a forest (see above). A square that is part of a bog does not also have undergrowth.
Quicksand

Patches of quicksand present a deceptively solid appearance (appearing as undergrowth or open land) that may trap careless characters. A character approaching a patch of quicksand at a normal pace is entitled to a DC 8 Survival check to spot the danger before stepping in, but charging or running characters don’t have a chance to detect a hidden bog before blundering in. A typical patch of quicksand is 20 feet in diameter; the momentum of a charging or running character carries him or her 1d2×5 feet into the quicksand.
Effects of Quicksand

Characters in quicksand must make a DC 10 Swim check every round to simply tread water in place, or a DC 15 Swim check to move 5 feet in whatever direction is desired. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown whenever he can no longer hold his breath (see the Swim skill description).

Characters below the surface of a bog may swim back to the surface with a successful Swim check (DC 15, +1 per consecutive round of being under the surface).

Rescue

Pulling out a character trapped in quicksand can be difficult. A rescuer needs a branch, spear haft, rope, or similar tool that enables him to reach the victim with one end of it. Then he must make a DC 15 Strength check to successfully pull the victim, and the victim must make a DC 10 Strength check to hold onto the branch, pole, or rope. If the victim fails to hold on, he must make a DC 15 Swim check immediately to stay above the surface. If both checks succeed, the victim is pulled 5 feet closer to safety.

Hedgerows

Common in moors, hedgerows are tangles of stones, soil, and thorny bushes. Narrow hedgerows function as low walls, and it takes 15 feet of movement to cross them. Wide hedgerows are more than 5 feet tall and take up entire squares. They provide total cover, just as a wall does. It takes 4 squares of movement to move through a square with a wide hedgerow; creatures that succeed on a DC 10 Climb check need only 2 squares of movement to move through the square.
Other Marsh Terrain Elements

Some marshes, particularly swamps, have trees just as forests do, usually clustered in small stands. Paths lead across many marshes, winding to avoid bog areas. As in forests, paths allow normal movement and don’t provide the concealment that undergrowth does.

Stealth and Detection in a Marsh

In a moor, the maximum distance at which a Spot check for detecting the nearby presence of others can succeed is 6d6×10 feet. In a swamp, this distance is 2d8×10 feet.

Undergrowth and deep bogs provide plentiful concealment, so it’s easy to hide in a marsh.

A marsh imposes no penalties on Listen checks, and using the Move Silently skill is more difficult in both undergrowth and bogs.

DM Notes: Verified levels for everyone, printed character sheets for all that needed them, still have some outstanding item related issues, need to solve for the future. House Rule: Checks = Minor Action instead of Standard Action.

Recap: Working their way down from the rooftop of the Fortress of Mists, the Hunter Candidate Dragonslayers battled their down through the Marsh Wizard’s living quarters, finally confronting Balthazar Grandy in his laboratory. Facing off against his titanic bodyguard, a massive metal juggernaut, our heroes fought as men possessed. Arcane explosions, living soldiers of flame, crackling electricity, the staccato of rapid fire crossbow bolts and the resounding peals of violently clashing metal echoed throughout the keep. Things were looking dire for the young adventurers from Blackfield, when the juggernaut collapsed to the ground, pummeled into submission by the unrelenting blows of the dwarf warrior. The Marsh Wizard fell soon after, his potent magical attacks stifled by the flurry of piercing strikes delivered at the point of Barack’s blade. As the dust settled, the Dragonslayers finished off their shattered enemies, licked their wounds, and began to feel the shaking ground of the approaching warforged battle force. It seems the true battle has yet to begin!

~~~

Day 11 – Early Morning, Meloren, the 23rd of Tyden – In the Marsh Wizards Shattered Laboratory

First Floor – Entry Door, Great Hall, Storage, Kitchen, Receiving Room

“The staircase opens to a great hall dominated by a heavy oaken table. A fireplace is built into the western wall of the room, filled with dry wood and ready to be lit. Adorning the mantel are the the mounted heads of several imposing beasts, several rusty implements of war and a gaudy looking helm sporting a rather large rack of antlers. Beautifully crafted embroidered tapestries run the length of the walls depicting grisly scenes of warfare between angelic and demonic forces. Six stone columns supporting the upper floors run the length of the hall.   Three closed doors are evenly separated on the eastern wall. The reinforced main doors of the fortress are visible across the room, the thick steel crossbar still in place locking them securely.”

• Pendrynn and Barack scouted down to the main floor, the heavy vibrations of approaching troops can now be felt through the flagstones beneath their feet.
• The party frees the orc warlord Garok, who arms himself with the over sized warhammer from the fallen juggernaut. He has a long conversation with Kailithe (in goblin/orc) about where he comes from (The Blackscale Tribe). He agrees to help the party fight their way out of the Mist Fortress, then he will return to his people.
• Kailithe and Davros study the portal and portal stones, opening Green and Blue portals. Davros feels a very “Nature vibe from the green one.
• Approaching the front door, Barack steps on a trigger plate setting off a spike trap; he leaps out of the way, narrowly avoiding the foot long sharpened blades that stab upwards through narrow grooves in the flagstones. It looks to be beyond Barack’s skills to disable.
• Froimos returns to the rooftop to check on the progress of the approaching force. It looks huge and only around a half-hour away.

• The remainder of the group barricades the downstairs with chairs and tables, loads up the stairs with caltrops, marbles, and shock-patches.
• Barack preps a bomb for when the troops approach.
• Kailithe pulls the rods from the head of the Wizard and warns the party to attack their heads (based on the compulsion rod)
• Kailithe pokes his head through the green portal as the sounds of impacts come from the rooftop and the main entrance (ramming sounds) .
• Everyone preps their weapons, Davros and Froimos unleash their blasts and repeater crossbow attacks against the first Forgehammer to show his face.



• Barack tests his halfling luck and dodges a critical hit against him, causing a the Forgehammer to critically wound himself.
• Pendrynn gets a critical hit to the head from a hammer and it blasts apart.
• Kailithe Flaming Burst on Forgehammers, Barack rolls out of the blast and he hits the 3 of them. One melts, the others scorched.
• Action Point, Force orb, blows one apart, heavily damages another
• Davros blasts tries to will out the imp, doesn’t happen
• Poe shields of faith, everyone feels the blessing of the Raven Queen and feels more protected.
• The sleek steel plated form of a Steel predator pounces into the fray, takes down Poe, viciously attacks Froimos, Kurock.

• The dwarf warrior recognizes the overwhelming threat and calls for a tactical retreat through the portal.
• Froimos reactivates the green portal and drags the unconscious form of Pendrynn thr0ugh the shimmering green veil.
• Kailithe steps through the portal
• Barack finished the last of the Forgehammers, more enemies coming through the wall and the stairs. Arms the bomb, back flip wave through the portal, barely missed bite by the steel predator.
• Kurok brings up the rear, slinging the unconscious Poe unceremoniously over his shoulder and leaps into the shimmering green portal.
• Combat Experience for fending off the Forgeworks Battleforce  – 150 XP (players not present receive 75 XP)
• The group appears in the Feywild, in the collapsed ruins of an ancient fortress. Deep purple light from the stars above illuminates the choking plant growth and massive bog.
• Exploration Experience for discovering the plane known as the Feywild – 100 XP (all players)
• According to Kailithe, time probably passes at the same speed as reality. Unlike in the Elemental Chaos and the Astral Plane
• Sounds teeming with life, loud jungle and wilderness sounds (8x louder/more varied that you’re used to), the deep purple of the night sky is illuminated by millions of stars, illuminating a massive bog surrounding the hilltop.
• The group stabilizes the inured, returning Pendrynn and Poe to consciousness. (Extended Rest.)
• Kailithe wrote an update on the messenger scroll to Blackfield. “Marsh wizard raised a small army that you couldn’t defeat, the composition of the army,  Marsh Wizard destroyed, they free Garok, the Warlord of the Blackscale tribe,  escaped through a portal to the Feywild, that help was needed to escape to return and want confirmation that this message was received.” No response after 8 hours.
• Kurok shares a shot from his flask with Garok, respect is kindled.
• Poe treats Kailithe, Froimos and Pendrynn for the Mist Delirium and they are fully cured.



• Kurock volunteers to stick his head through the portal, tries to put his head through and take a look. Takes 3 shots from his flask and steps up.
• Barack tries to insert the green gem into the slot on the portal, only to have it slide out of the hole and fall to the ground. It’s possible his bomb had disabled the portal in the Mist Fortress.
• The party decides to head west, in search of landmarks. (Theoretically, the Sootway would be in that direction, back in Moraenne.)

~~~

Day 11 – Mid Morning, Meloren, the 23rd of Tyden – In the Murkendraw of the Feywild

• Head west in the Murkendraw
• No encounters, no problems
• Kurok asks Garok if he’s a worshiper of Gruumsh, he indicates that he does, although doesn’t seem to fervent about it.
• Foraging — Kurok finds some, everyone else eats.

~~~

Day 12 – Morning, Bahmsday, the 24th of Tyden – In the Murkendraw of the Feywild

• Head west in the Murkendraw
• Poe, Froimos, Pendrynn, Kailithe, Davros and Barack fell into quicksand. Kurock and Garok hauled Pendrynn and Kailithe out of the muck by rope and grappling hook. Froimos was bitten on the leg (no damage) by something under the water. (If the party moves at 1/4 speed, they can avoid this hazard in the future.)
• Everyone assists Kailithe in his foraging: Failure.

~~~

Day 13 – Morning, Pelsday, the 25th of Tyden – In the Murkendraw of the Feywild

• Head west in the Murkendraw
• Found a pure fresh spring, completely invigorating, +4 bonus to the nature checks because enhanced senses.
• Everyone assists Kailithe in his foraging, he tracked down a small deer looking creature, fed the party. They kept hunting, couldn’t’ find anything more.

~~~

Day 14 – Morning, Morsday, the 1st of Aelril – In the Murkendraw of the Feywild

• Happy New Year! It is now the year 618 SR.
• The party celebrates the new year and smoking some of Davros’s funky stuff (Davros and Barack). The effect is enhanced significantly. They swear to the group that they can see small faeries flitting around the flowers, miniature doors embedded on some of the nearby trees and strange patterns in the mushrooms patches, almost as if they were sculpted/tended.
• The party continues to head west in the Murkendraw, no road was visible where the Sootway would be.
• Encounter: Blackwood Treant and two Dryads



• Davros Curses — No glow on his hand, preps flames of Phlegethos to respond
• Froimos remembers a bedtime story his father used to tell him, “The Battle of the Blackwood Treants”, where the hero defeated waves of animated rotten trees with a flaming sword. He warns the group that fire is useful against the trees.
• Barack pulls his magical cloak over his head when clawed at by the blighted dryad, maneuvering to a safe spot before reappearing. Davros is hit as well.

The Role-playing Experience Reward goes to Kurock for being Dwarvish and bonding with his racial enemies through the power of alcohol – 100 XP