Kaecil Anomander Kayessan

Kaecil Kayessan (a.k.a. Sir Kay)

" - High Elf. Decent caster as well as fighter. Will potentially be pursuing a joint venture in the sale of material components. Has the capability to determine any abilities bound to magical items. A valuable talent, to be sure."
— Imperial Consul Mona, in an infernal letter, sent by sea to the Iron Consulate,

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Healthy condition, tall and slender frame.

Body Features

Previously he had smooth skin with a few small scars he received during his long time as an adventurer on Idriell. A couple notable ones include a scar on the left side of his temple, which he received from a powerful archer who nearly landed a killing arrow shot on Kaecil.

Facial Features

Distinctive jaw and cheek bones and sharp features

Identifying Characteristics

At this moment in time his entire upper body is covered in a intricate tattoo markings which were burned into his skin by reading a lich's spell book. Both arms and the majority of Kaecil's torso is covered in scars and runes. Even down to the finger tips, and lapping down beyond the navel and towards the pelvis. Many runes lines and etchings curl up his neck, onto his chin and partially up and beyond the hairline at the base of his neck. He does his best through arcane assistance to cover these markings up.

Apparel & Accessories

Studded leather armour. Carrying a short sword and a spell-book strapped to his person. Necklace with an crystal arcane focus. He also carries a brilliant magical staff called Shard of El-ren

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Raised in and around the army. His father, Altan Kayessan, ran and operated a storehouse in the name of the Lazarian Empire attached to the legion that later became known as the Bonehunters, but at the time was known as the 8th Legion. Even though Kaecil showed an aptitude for learning magic his father trained him in the sword according to Elven tradition. Later Kaecil joined the 8th Legion and was assigned as Squad Mage to 9th Company, 4th Squad of the Lazarian Empire. He fought in a large number of battles and skirmishes. Eventually the close nit 8th Legion was officially dismantled, it was no longer part of the empire's army, as the region stabilized the need for the legion lowered thus it was dismantled. Instead of dissolving the legion then decided to become a mercenary and bounty hunter guild. Over time Kaecil learned of rumors about Idriell. Him being the curious and inquisitive wizard he set out for the rumored continent. Kaecil has traveled to Vareholm to make a name for himself. Kaecil has been living in Vareholm for2 whole years now.

Education

Well educated by his father and has learned several languages. However, his arcane knowledge is mostly self taught through books and real world experience.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Achieved first place in the single elimination magics tournament during Vareholm's 1st Grand Contest of Arms
Delivered the powerful and magical Hearthstone to the temple of the Raven Queen in Vareholm
Survived The Irdriell Roc attack and capture by the Mysterious Orc
Founded The Consortium together with Taur, Aamund, and Yuki.
Discovered the ruins of Aurlus Solarus together with a party of adventurers whilst retrieving an item for Pikyr
Fought and killed a young sea dragon which was claiming territory near Dragon Lake and Pikyr 's lair.
Fought and killed a dangerous demon called a Nabassu with a part consisting of SWAT (Survival, Weapons, and Tactics) members. This Nabassu was responsible for almost killing an entire party of adventurers, and it did manage to kill Varan Themenor

Failures & Embarrassments

Failed to save Varan Themenor during the Nabassu fight. This was the first time an adventurers died on Kaecil's watch.

Mental Trauma

The Irdriell Roc attack and following imprisonment has caused Kaecil Kayessan physical and mental trauma.

Intellectual Characteristics

Highly Intelligent

Morality & Philosophy

Believes that everybody upon first meeting every person should be treated kindly and deserving of respect. But is slow to truly trust those he has just met and will remain vigilant. He is generally good. And trusting of every person by nature. Has a large amount of patience and therefore usually slow to anger. However is you decide to make an enemy of him he will be unrelenting in his pursuit for revenge. His personal philosophy for the world that we live in, is that it is held together by forces of order and chaos. Good and Evil. He believes that without order nothing exist and without chaos nothing evolves. Thus the need that both exist in a state of balance.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Curiosity. Motivated by a search for more knowledge about the arcane arts.

Virtues & Personality perks

High Intellect

Vices & Personality flaws

His curiosity often leads to more trouble than not.

Hygiene

When not travelling in the wilderness Kaecil makes sure to always be relatively clean and presentable.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Member of SWAT (Survival, Weapons, and Tactics)
Member of Aryvandaar, an allied group of sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards.
Founder of the Obsidian Financial Holdings institution.
As a member of the Bone Hunters, you have access to a secret network of supporters and operatives who can provide assistance on your adventures. You know a set of secret signs and passwords you can use to identify such operatives, who can provide you with access to a hidden safe house, free room and board, or assistance in finding information. These agents never risk their lives for you or risk revealing their true identities. (Faction Agent background)

Family Ties

Altan Kayessan - father (alive) Sallannia Kayessan - mother (alive)

Religious Views

Holds to no particular faith but is known to occasionally pray to the Wanderer in his pursuit of knowledge.

Social Aptitude

Friendly

Speech

Well-mannered and well-spoken

Wealth & Financial state

Although Kaecil Kayessan is involved in many business ventures he is most often without much gold. His arcane research eats up most of his funds. These business ventures are founding the The Consortium, becoming a member of SWAT, and becoming a partner in the building and founding of a wizard's tower called Aryvandaar. Finally Kaecil started a financial institution to aid citizens of Vareholm, it is called Obsidian Financial Holdings.

Character Location

Vareholm

Current Location

Vareholm

View Character Profile

Species

Elf

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Squad Mage, Founder of The Consortium, Sir Kay, First of Eight

Year of Birth

75 180 Years old

Birthplace

Waterdeep

Children

Current Residence

Galloran's Hearth, Vareholm

Gender

Male

Eyes

Grey

Hair

Light Brown

Height

6'3" (1.9m)

Weight

166 lbs

Aligned Organization

The Consortium

Known Languages

Common, Elven, Dwarvish, Draconic, Deep Speech, (Can read most other languages through the use of magic)

Ruled Locations

Aryvandaar

Journal entry 36
242: Mon, Firewane 1st

Rods, Roots, and Rot

The following journal entry described the events that happened on the 1st day of Firewane in the year 242 Arias Dreisari returning from a recent trip informed most of the townspeople of Viktor Mock and his lair, a desolate cracked hole which was occupied by haunting flesh golems that were out of control without their master to guide them. An emissary from the Ooblex informed us that since the last time any of us were there that the dead bodies had formed into a horrendously foul creation , a grotesque looking dragon which spits insects. A rot dragon if you will. We were planning to go in that direction anyway, to deal with some of the remaining blight issues. So we figured that we could hit two birds with one stone and go deal with both of these issues. There was also talk that Evander was missing, our resident proprietor of Galloran's Hearth. A party, including myself, set out to deal with this set of problems. We first encountered Evander. Kind of by pure happenstance rather than careful tracking if we're being honest. We found him trapped in some kind of bubble encircled by a number of statues that looked similar in function as the barrier surrounding Vareholm in a way. It seemed he was stuck and trapped there. The statues carried important titles in accordance with Idriell history and we had to figure out which title was not supposed to be there out of three options. The statues titles were activated by pulling on the spears they were holding, the spears acted as levers. Once, after some deliberation, we found the correct one to pull and there was a flash and it released Evander. Evander was wearing some strange golden trimmed garb when he emerged but that is a story for another time. He handed over a rod to Caedus Ignis Letali a magical item which is capable of erecting a portable barrier. Dealt with that problem we set out further into the blighted forest to deal with the blight. We encountered some large blight trees which gave us a bit of a fight but we managed to prevail, rest up and continue on to search for Mock's lair and this terrifying rot dragon. The location wasn't difficult to find and we knew that once we got relatively close the fight would be on. Before we got there for some reason we were joined by a bat which settled in Yuki Woodbrink's bags. The fight with the rot dragon proved to be one of the more difficult fights in recent memory for me it was pretty hairy. Whenever we did damage to the beast it grew another head that would spew more of these small insects that could burrow into your skin so I stayed at a relatively safe distance from the dragon at all times. Once the fight was in full swing the bat reveal itself to be Alexander, a former adventurer who went missing, who now was a vampire and tried to fight us. He attempted to charm many of us and suck our blood and possibly worse. But as soon as the dragon was down we focused our attention squarely on him and destroyed him. Caedus Ignis Letali bathed him in the light of Dawn, while I attacked him with all I could muster. Once he was knocked out he turned to ash instantly, presumably because of Dawn's light. A lot happened in that fight and I wish I could describe everything blow by blow but that would take forever. What is important to know is that several of us, Yuki Woodbrink in particular, were very much in danger of dying this fight. In the end we prevailed somehow, yet much of the blight remains which tells us that the source of it still hasn't been dealt with properly. All we managed to do was root out a few weeds and rid ourselves of that foul rot dragon. I guess we'll have to see what happens next.

Journal Entry 35
On the 23rd day of the month Palesun in the year 242

Stolen from the field

The following journal entry described the events that happened on the 23rd of Palesun in the year 242 A few of the newer arrivals, Misbeth, Sylhorn, Thauder, Veszerd, and myself were enjoying some time off at Galloran's Hearth when a panicked farmer burst into the tavern screaming that his two children and another child have been taken by some beast or monster. Flustered we take a few seconds to process but then quickly follow the farmer to his farmstead. His ranch was located just half a mile outside of the protected area of the barrier. Once there it was quite apparent where the children were taken to, whatever made the tracks wasn't trying to hide their actions. We followed the tracks north, north-east. Keeping quick pace we arrive at a cave at the side of a cliff within half a day. The tracks lead further into the cave. Since there are lives at stake we try not to waste much time. In the cave we soon suspect that some arachnid colony has made its nest here, and we are indeed soon assaulted by various such eight-legged creatures. We also encounter a nasty and weird creature that I've only read about. A roper, it's called I think. Veszerd was unfortunately 'roped' by this creature and was knocked out. With Veszerd in trouble and the relative time pressure of the missing children (who knows how long it takes before they are eaten) I decide to apply some high level magic on the Roper. Turning it to ash instantly. Understandeably my fellows wanted to take a quick breather to recharge their energy but I urged them on because there were innocent lives at stake. We find another dark passage further into the cave, which is covered in spiderwebs. We try to burn them but for some reason it is very effective and the fire quickly threatens to burn whatever is in the caves beyond, possibly the children. Luckily Misbeth had a quick sleet storm spell ready to douse the flames before anything bad happened. We fight another bunch of weird looking creatures. Snake like things with beaks, Gricks. Having despatched them we almost immediately run into what seems to be the lair of these creatures as we find a bunch of ettercaps and giant spiders. We engage in a fierce battle. But I was stopped from finishing them off as one of the ettercaps threatened one of the children. If I took action against the creature it was obvious that it would kill the child before I would've been able to kill the ettercap. This standoff lasted for a few moments as my allies were still fighting the rest of the spiders. I was trying to come up with some kind of plan or solution, I could let the creature go and it probably would've released the child. But it wasn't meant to be as Veszerd for undisclosed reasons killed the child and the ettercap, by teleporting there and striking quickly with his sword. Only I saw this happen, and he hasn't given much of an explanation yet. But the wound he left on the child was quite obvious I don't think people will react favorably if or when they hear this news. I suppose he thought the child was beyond saving and wanted to spare him from any worse a fate. We did ultimately defeat these creatures and saved the other two children, that's something I suppose. But I can't help but feel sour after the turn of events at the end, even the couple valuables we found among the caves didn't really lift our spirits. Breaking the news was tough as well, but in the end we have to remember we did save two children that's something I suppose....

Journal Entry 34
Between the 12th and 15th of Rainmoot in the year 242

The Hoard/The Horde

The following journal entry described the events that happened in the days protecting the dungeon delving team from the automated defences of the city Aurlus Solaris

AAR Draft version

"A lot to name, but it started with these three headed skeletons looking creatures, that summoned more undead. The two generals? Were accompanied by a horde of various skeletons, several were dressed as a knight would." "Aye, then Christo made a brief appearance afterwards but was blasted away by a knight of the Raven queen, it looked a lot like Taranis." "So at the time the danger of fighting a dracolich was averted " "Then we had a brief moment to rest and set up some barriers and traps. Fortifying our position somewhat."(edited) "I believe, then we fought...the shadows and this woman specter who was exclaiming "elves!" for some reason." "We've dealt with these shadows before so I made sure to quickly get rid of them, they aren't hard to defeat but pose a very real danger to your well-being if they can get close to you." "Anyway afterwards we had another moment to rest, during which we explore the buildings a little but the search was interrupted by the appearance of two Iron Golems, and some ghouls or zombies I'm not sure what they were." "I can't really give you a detail description of the specter that appeared next, but it yelled your name Korrik, at that time the ageing effects afflicted some of the party. Daphne and Cayden being two of those affected." "Yes, he seemed pretty resigned about it even though we have cures available." "Ah yes, he did the same with us Korrik, but Cayden knew where he was because of his boon." "I briefly managed to stop him from using misty step, which trapped him in between all of us, which allowed for some serious damage." "Then when he disappeared again" "But we were ready and when he showed again, I managed to finish the job with a quick magic missile." "That guy was troublesome enough after the Iron Golems. Once again we had a moment to briefly rest, but the next battle was the most difficult. A bunch of gargantuan constructs appeared, six of them. And Christo. Christo engaged two of the constructs, not sure if he was helping us or defending the city but he had to deal with the remaining 4." "These things were massive, we had a lot of trouble fighting them, several people were scrambling from being killed, several went down multiple times. The recent arrivals especially had it tough. Thauder, Eirene, and Bohrrf. Daphne too, but she wisely stayed out of range." "I'll take your word for it, and don't feel too bad none of us were quite prepared for those things. Well, in any case we did manage to defeat four of those enormous constructs and Christo demolished the other two. Resulting in a brief standoff with Christo but he left us unharmed. I was fully prepared and expecting to fight him but was ultimately glad we didn't."

Journal Entry 25
Between the 4th and 9th day during the month of Lowsun in the year 241.

Through Mist and Shadow

The following journal entry details our expedition into the recently discovered Myrkand Realm.

Objective: Explore the Myrkand Realm
Party: Lady Mirabella Caleah, Traains Weck, Mordecai Conviction Avaricci, Alexander, and Kaecil Kayessan

During one of my previous adventures we stumbled upon some kind of stone circle much like the ones found before around Idriell, however this one, when activated transported us to some kind of demiplane. We had dubbed it the Myrkand Realm, naming it after one of the first elvish specters that talked to us and helped us get out of there, back to the material realm. This of course gathered some interest and many of us wanted to go back to explore this realm. Which we decided to do. We gathered a few willing and available adventurers and head for the stone circle again, armed with the knowledge of how to come and go with a magical activation stone. Out of everybody in the part Alexander and myself were the only ones that visited the realm of Myrkand before. Both of us informed the party that we couldn't eat anything in that realm for it would prevent us from coming back to our own realm. So the party tried to stock up on rations and headed out. The voyage to the stone circle was relatively uneventful. Only when we came upon Uthal's bridge we were attacked by a few swarms of ravens. The group made short work of these birds, and quickly continued the journey. This was the only thing of note that happened during our trip, it took us about two days to get to the stone circle (set up camp twice). Now the real work was upon us, we gathered in the stone circle and activated the circle with the stone, Alexander had a bit of fun at the expense of the group by making everybody compliment each other before he activated the circle. Once in the new realm we got a lay of the land to see if there were any landmarks we could follow. I flew up on my broom to check. I spotted a plume of smoke south of us. We all agreed that we would head in that direction. First, however, we decided to go to the tower in the north again to submerse ourselves in the strange basin of water restoring our physical forms. You see, this realm makes us appear somewhere between half specter and half skeleton (ooc: something like x-ray). The water restores it somehow. In hindsight we should ask if there is a way to reproduce the liquid. Afterwards we head south fairly quickly we came upon a small hut, which was recently attack, explaining the smoke we saw earlier. Inside we met another elven specter, named Lucy, standing over a dead human man. Turned out they were living together and were attacked by some kind of large beast. During our attempts to hepl she mentioned there were more humans in this plane and were in need of help. She pointed us further south. If we had been in the material plane you could say we were heading toward the Loneholm Ruin. Lucy, the elven specter, called it Faufnor. Instead we found a group of settlers in an intact and under construction Loneholm. The settlers mentioned they were transported to this place accidentally by one of their own. After much discussion as to what to do we decided to wait a while before heading back and trying to get these people out of this realm. For some reason they wanted to what for a harvest of the massive hallowed tree standing at the center of this settlement. The fruit is poisonous but also restore health to whoever that eats it. We managed to bring two of those fruits back to Vareholm proper. In any case we didn't have enough rations for the entire group to transport them back to the stone circle as it was a large group and it was a day or so travel away. Thus we decided to take one person, a young woman with us to see if we could restore her to her normal body and our plane. On the way back to the tower we were attacked by some vengeful specters, two of which were familiar to me as we fought them on our first trip there. Some kind of elven wraith warriors. The other foe we fought was a large troll but also appeared as a specter. I'm not sure if it differs much from the regular troll kind we find in our realm, in any case I didn't have much time to work out its strengths or weaknesses as Conviction and Traains made short work of the beast. I used a hold person spell to hold the wraith's in place and weakened for Alexander to wipe them out. Mirabella was too slow to act and was frustrated she didn't get to fight something. In any case we made sure the young woman was escorted safely to the tower. We try to emerge her in the water at the tower but nothing happened, at the time we feared we had failed. But we had one more thing to try. On our previous trip the elves said we needed our normal forms to be able to activate the circle, but that is just being able to activate it, not if it is needed to be transported back. So we gather in the circle, once we have restored ourselves to our normal forms, and activated the circle. And what do you know, it worked! The young woman got back to our realm, she still looked like a specter however. But Alexander and a few of the party had filled their water-skins with this strange liquid that restores our bodies and now tried again to restore her body to her, this time it worked, she returned to her normal self. To our surprise Lucy followed us and got transported back to our realm too. Thinking we had the solution at hand we tried to restore her as well, but to our horror and disbelief when we tried it she rapidly aged and turned to dust. Apparently she was stuck in that realm for so long she had long passed away and didn't have a connection to this realm anymore. Now knowing the solution to the problem we spend a couple days hunting and foraging to gather enough rations for the return trip for ourselves and the group of settlers still stuck in that realm. We go back in and this time bring back the whole group of settler except for 3 other who wanted to stay. One of which promised to harvest the tree and he invited us to come back every month to receive more of those magical fruits. Now that we got everybody back safely to our realm we escort them back to Vareholm so that they can have a peaceful place to live out their lives.

Journal Entry 8
Between the 7th and 9th day of Winterwane of the year 241

Journal Entry 8:

Description of events during the month of Winterwane between the 7th and 9th (28th of april 2018)

Out Of Character: What follows is a summarized account of the adventure group that went out into the wilderness to rid the area of dangerous creatures. It seems whenever I venture outside the settlement, trouble has a way of finding me. Not this time, this time I went to find it. And find it, I did. Alcohol and bravado are either an excellent or terrible combination depending on your particular outlook of life. Anyway, that is pretty much the catalyst for this story. Caelam, Tyrone, and myself were the only ones hanging around in the Hearth, knocking back a few ales, some more than the other. A quiet night hanging around in Galloran's Hearth, ale, and general boredom sometimes leads to interesting events. Tyrone, Caelam, and I, suffering from exactly such boredom, and sufficiently liquored up, grabbed our gear and headed out to scour the wilderness looking for trouble. Partly, to kill the boredom, but also also to do a good deed, by clearing the area surrounding Vareholm of pests. That was the idea. Thus the three of us headed east. The first sight we came upon was not the kind of trouble we went looking for. We saw a majestic elk, very large, light colored furs, surrounded by a herd of elk. We shortly debated whether or not to hunt them, but decided against it. After all these were harmless elk, natural creatures to this land. We went around them and continued. The next thing we stumbled upon was more like the type of trouble we were looking for. We spotted five skeletal warriors. Two of which were archers. Tyrone, charged with his warhorse straight into the thick of it. Caelam and I, hung back to take potshots at them from afar. After a short scrap we defeat the skeletons without too much trouble. Tyrone actually completely shattered one of the skeleton’s skull with his lance. At this point we were losing light so we decided to walk back to town, rest up, and head out again the next day, we’ve found that we didn’t do enough just yet. We were close to town, after all. The next day we encounter another large skeletal creature, it appeared to be a minotaur. The beast stood no chance by itself against the three of us. We quickly defeated it and collected a few trophies, a giant great axe and it’s skeletal head. Still feeling energized and confident we roamed around a bit more. In hindsight, letting Tyrone do the navigating was such a good idea, it felt like we were going in circles. We ran into 4 giant spiders, we engaged immediately this encounter was more to our liking it tested our abilities, and we were looking for a challenge after all. Ultimately we managed to the defeat these spiders and spend time to investigate the area. We find a cave where it seemed these spiders collected their victims, there were a few goblins, orcs, and a human wrapped up in cocoons. All were long dead. One thing we did find of note was we found a green sash similar to the one Kruger owns. Whilst we were digging through the area we lost focus and never saw the ambush coming. Four more giant spiders showed up to avenge their brethren. They took us by surprise and we hadn’t taken the time to rest yet and were pretty spent. The ensuing fight was brutal, I exhausted all my spells in trying to keep them at bay. Both Caelam and Tyrone went down, I was the last one standing. In a desperate attempt I had put two spiders a sleep to prevent them eating Caelam or worse. Luckily Tyrone’s horse is well trained and carried the unconscious cleric in a direction away from the fight. I couldn’t get to the two of them without going through the spiders. At this point the situation was dire, I was about to turn and run, but I couldn’t leave my comrades behind. What happened next was either pure random chance or fate because Taranis showed up. Apparently he had the same idea of wanting to explore the woods and clear it out of monsters and simply stumbles upon the fight. The timing couldn’t have been better he was able to revive Tyrone, and jumped into the fray after a full long sprint he simply walked up to the 2 sleeping spiders and punched them to death saving Caelam as well. With Taranis’s arrival the tide turned and we dispatched of the spiders, one of them retreated to the small cavern but we weren’t in the forgiven mood at this point. With all of them finally defeated we made our way back to town carrying our trophies from the previous fights and an added few spider fangs. Kaecil Kayessan, Founder of The Consortium, Squad Mage, 8th Legion, 9th Company, 4th Squad of the Bonehunters.

Journal Entry 7
4th Day of Deepsnow in the year 241

Journal Entry 7:

Description of events between the 4th and 6th day of the month Deepsnow in the year 241 (13/14th of april 2018)

Out Of Character: What follows is a summarized account of the adventure group that went to revisit the ruins found near Vareholm It seems I find nothing but trouble when I decide to head out beyond into the wilds. Well, I expect to find some trouble, it's uncharted territory after all. But, I certainly didn't think this would include a Cyclops and a nine-headed Hydra! But I'm getting ahead of the story. In my previous venture my party and I came upon a large city in ruins, at the time investigation revealed it to be Elvish in nature. We learned a lot about the history of Idriell whilst rummaging around in a tomb. Naturally, I wanted to go back there see what else might be found or learned in the ruined city. I posted a notice on the job board and quickly found some daring adventurers that wanted to accompany me. Each had their own motivations for joining, we all wanted to learn more about these ruins in some fashion. When we finally headed we had a pretty sizeable caravan. Kruger Ironside, a frequent compatriot of mine on these ventures. joined me on this trip. As well as Caelam, another sturdy fighter, someone who I've traveled with before, who is a stalwart and trustworthy ally. Casey, a cheery half-elf, joined the caravan, another good acquaintance of mine. Mona, a tiefling, traveled with us. A more recent arrival in Vareholm but well acquainted at this point. This was the first time I had the chance to travel with her so this journey was illuminating. The same is true for Taranis, a big human man, seems the brawler type, joined us as well. I haven't known him for long he seems like a good sort, similar temperament as Kruger. Talia, I have met before, but this too was the first time I had the opportunity to travel with her. She is a halfling paladin accompanied by her dog Dobi. Finally Khasha joined the group, truly a new arrival, her first time in the wilderness beyond Vareholm, a dragonborn, one of its kind in Vareholm at this point. Thus the party consisted of Kruger, Caelam, Casey, Mona, Taranis, Talia, Khasha, and yours truly. We left around the eleventh hour on a clear, sunny day. There was a foot of snow. Quite pleasant, apart from the harsh glare from the reflected sunlight of the snow. After a full day's travel we arrived at the swamp. We set up camp and everybody has a brief talk with each other, mainly catching up Khasha on the dangers in the surrounding area. Soon after we decide who keeps watch when. Kruger takes first watch with Mona and Khasha. Not long after the first watch started Kruger roused us from our slumber, whilst putting out the fire in an attempt to conceal our presence. We begin hearing large footsteps and realise what Kruger woke us up for, a cyclops was approaching our camp. Nobody makes a move trying to avoid a fight, the cyclops seemed docile and sluggish. Kruger attempts to parlay with the hulking creature, to no effect. The cyclops chucks a boulder at Kruger, the throw failed to hit Kruger. As Kruger exclaimed something in orcish the cyclops laughs at Kruger's remark. At this point we realise the cyclops is hungry and sees us as his next meal. We all brace for the worst. Talia runs out into the field whistling and throwing insults at the thing to distract it away from the group. Caelam shoots an arrow at the hulking creature from a concealed spot in the treelines. Mona, too, draws and fires an arrow at the beasts striking true. We're in the fight now. Casey throws more insults at the beast causing it some distress. At this time Talia casts some kind of spell whilst charging the cyclops on her trusted mastiff. Talia exclaims: "Nobody hit it! Get the cart and run!" I forgot to mention we brought a cart along in the anticipation of hauling back our prices out of the ruins. The cyclops somehow is affected by the spell of the little halfling paladin and turns tail and flees. I immediately follow her instructions and just in case the cyclops turn back around ready a spell that might hinder his approach. We all gather around the cart and retreat in the opposite direction of the cyclops, closer to our original goal; the river in the west. As we're running away we hear a loud roar of the cyclops, probably it realised it was duped by Talia's magic and tries to turn back around and find us, but we're long gone at this point. After about thirty minutes we decide to continue our interrupted rest. I take the second watch with Caelam. The third was is Taranis and Casey, the rest of the night passes without incident. We rise early to find a crossing over the river. Kruger has Aquilla, his familiar, look around the area for a suitable crossing. We eventually find one (at hex -5,-3) and place a Wanderer statue, made by Casey, to mark the crossing for future endeavours. We cross the river and head towards the ruins. We spot the stone pillar Jeb, of the frontiersmen, had told me about. It stands at around eighty feet tall. We investigate the pillar with the help of Khasha who climbs the pillar. The pillar looks scorched much like the ruined city itself as if it has been scorched by a cataclysmic magical fire, that was as far as I was able to determine. Whilst investigating the pillar Khasha activated some kind of rune stone which began to glow a soft light. We were able, based on a sketch, to judge it as a version of the Alarm spell. Additionally before climbing down Khasha was able to spot a castle in the center of the ruined city. The result of the alarm spell being triggered was that we saw a patrol of some kind coming our way. We avoided confrontation and set up camp a short distance away from the city. The next day we head into the city. The city is about nine miles wide, so it is obviously an enormous place we can explore. Based on the map Talia brought with her of ancient Idriell we know the city is officially known as Aurlus Solaris. We used her map to orient ourselves in the ruined city and ventured forth. Shortly after entering the city we encounter a group of Kenku. These creatures seemed to living in the city. They barred our progress in the city. They would only let us pass in exchange for retrieving an item they wanted and haven't been able to retrieve themselves. We were significantly outnumbered so we thought it wise to take them up on their offer. But in retrospect, if we knew at that point, we were going to encounter a 9 headed hydra, then we might have simply fought the Kenku instead. Regardless they brought us to the location where there item was located, they wanted a vase, don't ask me why because I don't know and personally don't much care since it didn't appear to be of any magical value. But I digress, the vase was located in a tower. As soon as we approach the tower and make way to cross the bridge over the moat, which surrounds the tower, we hear the sound of crashing water and of the moat it appeared, a 9 headed hydra. The Kenkus, wisely run for their lives and leaves us to our fate. Although our party is braver than the Kenku we all realise that this is a life threatening situation. The hydra immediately strikes at the group several receive wounds and Caelam goes down because of a particular nasty strike. Seeing the tower as our only hope of survival we hasten our efforts to make it in there. Most of us are able to reach the tower fairly quickly as we exchange damage with the foul creature. Talia made sure to revive Caelam before heading toward the tower as well. Casey was able to deal enough damage to finish off one the hydra's heads. Taranis picked up Casey and brought of them to safety in the tower. Kruger and myself stayed on the bridge to battle the beast and provide assistance to those still needing to cross. Caelam being the most important since he suffered the most under the brutal assault of the beast. Once again the beast struck Caelam and he fell once again much to our dismay. The hydra then focused its attack and Kruger and myself. Both of us were able to resist the onslaught. Kruger due to his armour and skill was able to withstand most strikes, suffering a little damage. I was able to withstand its ferocious attack through clever use of my defensive magic strategies. I'm sure that without my spellcasting efforts I would've been struck down. Our situation was dire, Kruger and I would easily be able to make it to safety inside the tower but we wouldn't and couldn't leave Caelam to fend for himself. Luckily Casey still had enough magic left to heal him in a last ditch effort from a distance. Moreover Talia, using a similar tactic as with the Cyclops, drew the attention of the hydra in the hope it would just attack her. That plan worked as well as we could've hoped as it lunged for Talia. Talia, however was in the tower, as we suspected the hydra smashed into a barrier. We thought that might've been the reason the Kenku weren't able to retrieve the vase themselves, so we were very fortunate that our suspicions were correct. With Caelam once again on his feet, and the hydra occupied with Talia, he sprinted into the tower and to safety. Kruger and I did the but not without attacking the hydra once more. Kruger attack it with his sword, and I cast my burning hands spell to damage it, then I cast misty step to safely make it into the tower without having the duck past the beast. Now in the safe embrace of the tower we were pretty much stuck, there was a plan to assault the hydra from the tower but the only opening, which allowed that, was the entrance. Frustrated by the turn of events the hydra simply settled itself at the other end of the bridge to wait us out. As the dust settles we hear a quick pattering of feet and out of nowhere an undead serpent, actually not a serpent more like a salamander looking creature jumped over the tower and attacked the hydra. The hydra stood no chance it was torn to shreds by the beast. The creature, as a final blow, loosened an electric storm at the hydra to put an end to the fight. All of us didn't move a muscle and stood slack jawed at the turn of events. Later it dawned on us that this salamander thing might have been the beasts we saw guarding the castle earlier. Once the skeletal creature was gone, hoping the danger is truly over we gingerly made our way back. We wrap things things up quickly with the Kenku, they give us a piece of plate armour. Plate armour! All that for some armour! I wasn't pleased, that is for sure, however considering we survived not just a cyclops encounter but also a nine headed hydra, I figured I should count my blessings. Perhaps the Wanderer bestowed some favor on us because of Casey's statues. Well, some of the others did manage to get some hydra scales and brought back a head of the beast so it wasn't truly without spoils. I just didn't find anything I was looking for. Perhaps next time. Our trip back to Vareholm was, thankfully, uneventful and thus ends this entry. Signed, Kaecil Kayessan, Squad Mage, 8th Legion, 9th Company, 4th Squad of the Bonehunters.

Journal Entry 4
between the 12th and 17th of the month Snowmoot, in the year 240

Journal Entry 4

Description of accounts between the 12th and 17th of the month Snowmoot, in the year 240. (Adventure date: 2nd March 2018)

*Journal entry written by Kaecil Kayessan during his recovery at the Vareholm shrine. It details the events between the 12th of Snowmoot and the 17th of Snowmoot. It is unclear to Kaecil exactly how much time passed after he lost consciousness when he was carried away by the Roc.* Where to begin? I’m struggling to exactly detail everything that has happened during my most recent outing into the wilderness, so much has happened. Somehow a pearl finding expedition ended up with me being snatched up by an enormous Roc, and being thrown in a cage in an orc camp. Only to end up waking up in a hospital bed with severe burn scars. I suppose, as with any tale, I should start at the beginning. Pearls. Yes. Pearls that was the catalyst for this adventure. I wanted to go out and gather pearls. I, myself, had a specific need for pearls in arcane rituals. It is used as a component in spells to identify an object’s properties and any spells that affect said object, or a creature. I intended to use this pearl to provide identification services for everyone in Vareholm. Thus I posted my notice and waited for any interested parties to show up. I had plenty of takers but ultimately my escort consisted of Irhtos, another wizard who I’ve traveled with before, Caelam a true fighter, Taur; a cleric knowledgeable in herbs and nature, and finally Wesley, another person I’ve traveled with before and I knew him to be a very capable fighter. Plus he had experience as a sailor and navigation. Skills that could turn out to be very useful in this venture. We gathered in Galloran’s Hearth for a quick round of introductions and the basic plan was laid out. Afterwards we set out toward the docks to ask the local fishermen for some directions. The stretch of coast we were pointed to ultimately didn’t require any water travel, so we hiked our way east along the coast in search of sandy beaches. The next few days were rather uneventful and was made up of a routine with setting camp and shelter then spending the rest of the day fishing for pearls. The first shelter was quite sturdy and will probably remain standing for another six months. A testament to Taur’s survival skills. The only thing of note during the first day is we saw a giant bird fishing in the ocean, this might’ve been the same Roc that attacked us but I’m not sure, it looked smaller. In any case the next day we move camp and repeat the process. Same for the third day, during we actually manage to find a pearl of significant quality that I can use. We found three other pearls over these three days but were not large enough but could be sold for gold. It was on the third day our luck seemed to turn. Before we got to the beach we were detoured and turned around whilst navigating around a cliffside. Trying to work back toward the coastline, we were attacked by seven wolves. Unfortunate, but not a real problem for the skilled crew in my company. Three wolves were killed, the others fled. Wesley managed to retrieve 2 good quality pelts from the slain wolves. During the night of the third day fish-men rose out of the water and attempted to attack us during our rest. Luckily our watch, Irhtos, was able to spot them in time. Although not quick enough to prevent from being backed into the tight space of the shelter. After exchanging multiple blows in this cramped space, my fellows landing some good blows, I managed to put the foul things to sleep with a spell. Wesley and I wasted no time in finishing them off. Thinking our problems were over Wesley and Caelam, very wisely in my opinion, chose to dump the bodies away from our shelter. Unfortunately this may have attracted the notice of a goblin hunting party, we had just fallen back to sleep, and yet again were roused awake by our watchman, it was Caelam's turn as watch. This time, learning from our previous mistake, we immediately spread out in a defensive perimeter. Ten goblins soon appeared from the edge of the treeline. A significant number, certainly not to be underestimated. However my companions again proved to be very capable and we managed to prevail. Irhtos and I fired arcane spells at the creatures. Whilst Taur was using the hut as a defensive barrier to lash out at them from a protected space. Caelam moved around the battlefield firing arrows and engaging them in melee. Once again I put some of them to sleep making the fight a little easier, and setting a few ablaze with a fire spell. Wesley, however, was truly a martial force during this fight. He moved so fast that even my astute eyes had trouble keeping up. Seven goblins were dealt a killing blow by Wesley. With all ten goblins defeated we decided we've had enough and heading back towards Vareholm. It was then when things truly started going wrong. We spotted a mysterious figure near a cliff. It seemed to be an orc shaman. He had an elaborate headdress made out of antlers, holding a staff with a bird skull on top. There was marking on his arm in the form of an orc eye. It seems to be an identifying mark of either the clan or this particular orc. Whatever the case I ended up being branded with the same mark at the end of this story. Not wanting any trouble we circled around the mysterious orc. Our efforts however were in vain. He tracked and followed us. We run we simply run. Because we hear the Roc coming toward us. Apparently the shaman had control of the damn bird. What happens next is basically a race toward Vareholm to, Wesley speeds ahead with our treasures. I gain some ground but trip and fall. It spelled my doom, the bird was on me snatched me right up. It goes dark for a quick moment. I hear some words being shouted by Taur and I regain my wits. I struggled free from the birds grasp not realising how high I'm off the ground already, this bird was fast, I drop and am falling. I had just enough time to cast feather fall on myself for a safe landing. Scared out of my mind I start moving toward the town but the Roc was on me again and this time I wasn't getting out, everything went black. The next thing I remember is briefly regaining consciousness during the flight away from Vareholm passing over a river. Once more losing time I wake up in a cage which was magically sealed, believe me I tried getting out. Ultimately it was the daring rescue of Whisper, Kruger, Kurt, and Neris that freed me and returned me safely to town. Actually it was Whisper who broke me out of my cage with great effort. In trying to break me free I was terribly burned and blacked out from the excruciating pain, next thing I know I wake up at the shrine in Vareholm suffering terrible burn scars and branded with that damn orc shaman sigil on my neck. Signed, Kaecil Kayessan (Bonehunters, Squad mage, 8th Legion, 9th Company, 4th Squad).

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