Team 2 26-50
Moving towards the plains ahead, the group find some high ground and rest for the night. On daybreak they scout the area once again hearing more roars in the near distance, wildlife skittering away, a heard of stegosaurus rush past. An enormous dinosaur can be seen swooping down and eating one of them, the party decide to engage.
A few sneak around the back to try and close it in and battle begins, the dinosaur lashing out some heavy hits with it's meaty tail. A few close calls later and the beast is slain and parts are harvested.
The next part of the journey leads the group towards the center of this crater where a large river winds through from one end to the other, an enormous waterfall several miles to their right and a vast lake several miles to their left. Making several short climbs along the way they move slightly up hill toward the waterfall, managing to avoid trouble for the most part but noticing the vast number of dinosaurs here. Reaching the waterfall they can see several caves behind it where the water drains although they are not able to make out where they lead. |Session 50 (5th December 2019) - Venk Springs
The group climb the rocky steps ahead of them and towards the top, encounter another pair of giant lizards, which they manage to kill much quicker than before. They then finish their climb to the top to another plateau and vast woodland in front of them, they also have some excellent views at such at height, of the rest of the island and can take in how expansive it is. Lizard tracks and drag marks can be seen leading into the trees and a well formed path to follow as well. Using their expertise at sneaking around, they venture for a couple of hours inwards, still heading towards the center of the island and encounter a clearing and several large stone bonfires as well as both bipedal and quadrupedal lizard tracks. Choosing to navigate the long way around they follow the ring of bonfires and contine on the other side towards the middle. A few more hours pass as they finally make their way to the edge of this forest and approach the massive chasm that is the center of Venk, staring down into it's foggy bottom. Naturally a combination of throwing themselves off, flying and magic sees them all reach the bottom of the chasm with varying levels of damage taken. They immediatley become immersed in the thick natural fog that coats them in moisture and manage to get off of the small rocky island they landed on and onto the main land mass around them. Hearing the sounds of large creatures in the distance, noisly roaming and breathing. Dancing lights are summoned to lead the way and the creatures shadows are illuminated, getting much closer the forms of several Brontosaurus are revealed. The slaughter begins, as they try to run the party are in hunt mode and the beasts are slain. Some exploration takes place and finding a path to higher ground, they climb a set of rocks and reach a much higher platform, by this time the fog has started to clear and darkness begin to set in. They see a group of at least six Brontosaurus across the way heading in the other direction, they suddenly pick up pace as the group feel the ground shake in the distance and hear an alarmingly loud roar. |Session 49 (26th November 2019) - The Crater
After a breif moment, another disfigured troll rushes towards the group from the treeline, busrting out. Blows are exchanged and this one seems to weaken slightly quicker than the first, it gets out some heavy hitting blows but ultimatley succumbs to the group might, and electric shocks. They move onward towards the towering cliff face behind the forest, arriving at the foot of it just after the sun sets. Further investigation reveals several ways up that are slightly less challenging than a steep vertical climb and they all make their way up in a variety of ways. Finding themselves on a little plateau in front of some much thicker woodland they decide to set up camp for the night with Syl and Jael keeping watch. When the sun begins to rise, a hoard of boars rush through the land at the bottom of the recently scaled cliff and in the much closer forest the sounds of various wildlife can be heard but not seen. Deciding to venture into this woodland, continuing to head towards the center of the island, it becomes clear that without the presence of the trolls the wildlife does indeed flourish. Tracks are picked up of various creatures some known and some unknown, and while it is overgrown it is much less swampy. After just over an hour of travel, they some across some short inclines ahead and Gerki spots a cloaked figure just up ahead. Interacting with the figure they learn she is Alvia, an aasimar, part of a group tasked with recording deaths in exchange for powers, a following some of the others remember reading about or studying. She is dressed in all black carrying an enchanted and rather large scythe, but appears quite friendly, making small talk with the group. Gerki climbs the large steps of land in front of him to look around and spots a lizard peering out from the treeline to his right. Alerting the others, more lizards emerge and the group prepare for battle, more and more giant forms emerge from the trees on either side and Alvia joins in the fight. Two incredibly large and tough looking lizard forms jump down from above Gerki and attack, pushing him off the ledge to the ground below. They eventually down these monstrous forms and have a rest period to gather their strength. |Session 48 (12th November 2019) - Ascending Venk After spending some personal time during the day, the group prepare for the evenings talks. Settling in, the heads of families arrive alongside their advisors and guards and sit around a large round table with the party. Debate ensues, some parts more heated than others but overall a level of restraint is upheld (with some help) and much talking takes place. All sides are heard and compromises are reached with Gerki leading the signing of a new treaty between the families for future peace and cooperation. After a long evening everybody heads home, the group discover another adventuring party had been staying upstairs and they get chatting when they recognise a few of them from the dragon fight months ago. As promised the party are granted a boat by Mr Hamlin for their part in finding the one responsible for the warehouse attack and for reaching peace. The boat isn't exactly elegant and some money spent on making it travel ready as well as hiring a crew, a few ballista’s and rations. They then set sail across the water to the island of Venk. After the relatively short journey they are faced with Venk's looming coastline, the island towering up from the centre and sloping down to sea level at the edges. Sharp cliffs and leering plateaus can be seen in the distance all broken off with tall forestry and plant life, but noticing a small 'landing area' the boat is attached to some rocks with rope and weighed down after (mystery crew member) forgot the anchor. The group leave the boat and begin to explore this unfamiliar land, evidence of other past travel is clear with bits of barrels, crates and fabrics across the shore and rocks. Only one track can be seen up a small cliff ahead of them, with sharp inclines on the other sides. The party ascend the small cliffs and find themselves in front of a large wooded area which seems to be where the tracks end. It extends quite far around on all sides but the rocks appear to make travel unsafe around the extreme corners of the woods. Opting for the safest route they head onwards into the forest aiming for a larger cliff face behind it to get closer to the center of the island. A severe lack of wildlife and activity has been noted by the party as the arrive in a deadly silent swamp land, completely overgrown with vines and moss. Making their way deeper still they come across an odd formation of rocks, mud and trees that seems to stand out slightly to the surrounding flora. A quick investigation is had and Nelia pokes it with her sword. The mound shifts and seems to double in size as the form of a troll uncurls and stands tall, letting out a rather large roar. This troll is unlike any seen before with multiple heads, limbs and body parts all covered in a slimly layer of plant growth, it lashes out at the party dishing out some damage with its many limbs and sharp teeth. It is heavily damaged but begins to regenerate, twisting at incredible speed to catch almost all of the party off guard with a flurry of claw strikes. However, it is not long before the group serve the creature its final moments, making sure it's dead by cutting it into small bits. They pause for a few seconds to get their breath back and hear the familiar troll roar and the sound of stomping feet coming towards their position... |Session 47 (7th November 2019) - Settling the Score
Entering the stronghold after eliminating all the guards, they find it now empty and take a look inside. They find information about the surrounding warehouses and where the Hamlin residence is (by the coast a few streets over). A few of the group explore some warehouses to harvest materials and the others find some hidden compartments with gold inside before all meeting up in the main space. They decide to check out the residence and making their way through the streets, manage to find it, however they are faced with the back of a walled mansion and grounds and decide it better to wait for daylight to speak with them. The party head back to the Happy Tarrasque and spend the night there. The next morning, more like lunchtime, they head off to the coast and then along to the grounds of the Hamlin estate. They arrive at a gate with two guards and manage to convince them to give them an audience with the Hamlin's, Gerki discovers the walls have a form of magical protection on them. Gerki and Eraz head in while the others wait outside and have a meeting with Gregory Hamlin who agrees that if they can find who is responsible for the attack on his people last night and try to ease tensions between the families then he will gift the group a boat for their troubles. They are pointed in the direction of the Turner family for a recent quarrel between the two families. Heading across town to try and meet with the Turner family, they are greeted with a large array of farmland and abandoned paddocks, they do see a centralized house close by and head for it. Syl begins knocking on the door, and doesn't stop while Eraz uses his familiar to scout the area revealing a small humanoid feeding chickens behind the house, heading over to discover a young girl who is instantly fascinated by the pseudodragon. She points them towards a barn ten minutes away where her parents are and Eraz leaves his familiar with the girl for the time being. Moving onward to the barn, they talk with her parents and other workers learning where the Turner's residence is (just along the road behind the barn) and they venture over to see a compound much smaller with a rather ugly five story house/tower monstrosity where the Turner's live. Two guards meet the party at the entrance and after some convincing and suffering of a bumbling fool of a guard, the group are allowed inside (minus the bear who Jael looks after) and wait on the bottom floor of the house. While they wait they decide to mess with the guard they don't like and Nelia uses mage hand to break some plates and slap him on the head much to the other guards amusements. They learn that nobody really likes him and he is just around due to a family commitment. After a few minutes they are lead upstairs where they meet Rogan Turner who appears far more friendly than Gregory Hamlin, who after a little chat, appreciates what the group is trying to do although is unsure why they are trying to resolve things. Telling people that Queen Elaris has sent them and having a royal insignia in their possession seems to convince them they are who they say they are and not trying to trick them. Rogan is happy for them to make that guard (now nicknamed shitclap) somebody else's problem and will help try and arrange a meeting tomorrow night of the leaders at the Happy Tarrasque. The group drag the guard out kicking and screaming towards Jael and she knocks him out to shut him up. They head back to the barn, borrow a sack, some rope and paper and give them some coin for the trouble. They shove the guard into the sack and tie it up, some of the party carry the sack to the Turner's and Eraz collects the familiar from the girl who is sad to see it go. The Turner's are told that the guard in the sack was responsible for the attack alongside some others. Eraz finds a boarded up magical supply shop and they break in to see what's there finding just some enchanted parchment and quills. They go back to the Happy Tarrasque to rest, Eraz spends 4 hours copying find familiar on to one of the bits of parchment, finds the young girl from before and hands it to her, telling her with lots of practice she can have her own one day. |Session 46 (29th October 2019) - Diplomacy
The group take a little while to rest after their Shadow Pines adventures, Jael gifts Nelia an enchanted shawl and then they make their south to Torrow. Leaving the cart and Melvin in Frea, the walk the rest of the way and approach Torrow to investigate the pirates and their issues as well as knowledge or means of transport to Venk to explore. The town resembles that of a ghost town, the number of people roaming the streets can be counted on your fingers. Many lights are on in the residential areas and some in the more commercial zones, but doors are shut, curtains drawn and noise almost non existent. The Happy Tarrasque remains open although without the familiar sounds of crowds and music and the owners are inside playing cards. The party are requested to join them and drinks appear as the play cards and talk. Information is gathered from the owners about the layout of town and what has been going on with the pirates and the current situation, learning that the five families have pretty much gone into lockdown on their respective land. Also learning that the Hamlin family are the main shipbuilders in town, they head towards their block of warehouses to find them all locked and chained up, the pathways between the buildings all boarded up as well preventing access. After a brief deliberation, Jael smashes through one of the barriers and they head down and alleyway that opens out into a slightly bigger side road. They sneak in the shadows and notice a few people darting from building to building in the midst of darkness, they make themselves known and all the noise stops and lights go out, they have a very hushed chat with somebody through a door and are directed towards the Hamlin stronghold although they are warned to stay away and leave. Ignoring this sound advice, they approach the stronghold which looks to be primarily made of stone, sitting a good 10-15ft higher than the surrounding buildings and heavily fortified. Nelia climbs a roof and is spotted by a guard on the rooftops. More guards make themselves known firing large bolts at the party from giant ballistas and the party fight back, some taking heavy damage but managing to silence all the guards both on roof and street level. The sounds have died down from inside the stronghold, door swung open, lights on but silence. The group reconvene on the ground and head towards the door... |Session 45 (24th October 2019) - Detectives
Following the aasimar into the heart of the woods they navigate around the shadow beasts until a rather large shadow portal is discovered, much bigger than the previous ones the group has encountered. The air is thick with swirling, foggy darkness and vision is heavily impaired. Several shadow creatures can be seen inside and familiars are sent in to investigate, within a matter of seconds the portal is activated and a giant shadowy presence detected within. A fight starts and a barrage of attacks strike the shadow monster land one after the other, and the immense necrotic energy felt among the group with a few aasimar falling in battle. Eventually the beast is slain though through no easy effort, the aasimar gather their dead and vanish in a glow of light, thanking them for their assistance. The group teleport back to O'Pax. |Session 44 (17th October 2019) - Nightwalker
The group takes a week of downtime as the queen sends several groups of guards out to investigate the pines and the goings-on inside, after several groups come back, a more detailed overview forms. The darkness does not appear to survive in the sunlight, the creatures within don't seem to leave the treeline and so are kept at bay. The sounds of the creatures and chaos inside reflected in the reports from the scout groups and other reports of screams, battle cries and strange lights seem to pique the queen's interest. The party decides to scry on a similar target to the shadow dragon and manage to form a successful connection, revealing several dragons, demons and shadows in the woods. As their target swoops down to feast on wildlife, a bright light strikes the creature in the back as it turns to see three humanoid figures surrounded by bright light. Some of the forms seem to have wings as they fly up towards the dragon with more beams of white light as the vision ends. Speaking with the queen she hazards a guess that this could be the work of the celestials sending the aasimar to do their work, the group find out the basics of the aasimar and the queen is interested for them to find out more. Syl teleports the group back into the pines where they fought the shadow demons and shadow dragons and they track the nearest source of noise and light, getting closer it sounds like a fight is taking place a few hundred feet away. Making their way into a clearing, the bright forms of three aasimar fighting off a shadow dragon become clear. They acknowledge the party and together make short work of the beasts, they heal the party and themselves before telling the group they were sent to destroy the evil in the forest under the instruction of their superiors. They are welcome to aid in their efforts but they suggest it may be best to leave them to it, the group choose to join them and continue towards the center of the pines. | Session 43 (3rd October 2019) - A Light in the Dark
The group finish off the shadow mastiffs and allow the shadow demons to pass, trailing them, Syl has a vision of many more appearing throughout the forest. They follow for a few minutes and the demons begin to spread out, meeting some others and forming a circle, as they begin to chant and cast a spell. A swirling black fog begins to swirl in the clearing and several of the shadow demons enter it, getting more intense the party to decide to try and intervene. The shadow demons blend with the fog and continue to cast their spells, the swirling fog dissipates and a spiky, shadow dragon appears and joins the fight. The dragon has some tricks of it's own, including invisibility and a potent breath weapon. The group manage to kill the beast but can hear more shrill roars in the distance...deciding to teleport back to O'Pax to get some rest and plan what to do next. | Session 42 (24th September 2019) - Shadows...
Making their way down south towards the Shadow Pines, the group decide to travel along westward and enter the woodland from the north. As they arrive they take a rest for the night and send Melvin back to O'Pax with the cart in the morning and they begin to venture into the treeline with a light black fog swirling outwards from within. The fog getting slightly more dense the further they go in, they are soon swarmed by tall trees and vision is heavily reduced. Approaching the end of the clearing, something catches their eye in the fog and as they advance, strange shadow creatures attack although they are easily fended off. The noise of battle seems to have attracted some nearby perytons and as they come in from each side, a large one swoops down on them and another fight ensues, the peryton's now slain. Moving even deeper into the shadows and almost chokingly thick fog they encounter some strange oozes before stumbling into some shadow mastiffs that try to savage the party, landing a few bites but not many. As this battle continues, Nelia hears some noises and goes to investigate. A large swirling portal of almost solid dark fog is swirling rapidly, bits of dark figures inside can be seen as the portal suddenly dissipates and three shadow demons stand tall and strong, seeing some of the party and a bellowing voice in their minds telling them to get out of their way. |Session 41 (19th September 2019) - The Fog
Boarding a ship (The Merlin) along with several other passengers and crew, they set off for Ethea. The first two days go by peacefully and without incident, the weather cloudy but not stormy and the currents mostly mild. On the third day, a few of the group and crew notice debris floating in the waters and upon closer inspection, it looks to be from another ship. After offering their services to the captain, the boat moves onwards with even more debris making it's way past the ship every few minutes until they reach the remains of a ship, very slowly sinking. Some of the crew jump into the waters to look for survivors along with Jael but all they find are a few dead bodies and evidence of cannonball damage to the ship. The captain tells the crew to prepare and test fire all the cannons and ballistas which they do as they ship moves onwards, slightly faster than usual to try and get to land as soon as possible. A few hours later, cannon fire can be heard in the distance and approaching the source, two ships can be seen engaged in battle. The one that clearly seems to be winning, is shoddily dressed as a pirate vessel with patchy black sails. The Merlin flings itself into range of the pirate ship and begins to fire upon it as the party spring into action! Brian and Eraz dimension door onto the pirate ship and set fire to it and some pirates, Nelia uses her wings to fly over, Jael swims over to the anchor and Syl turns into a water elemental, gliding towards the ship. A mix of fireballs, thunderbolts, water elemental things, anchors and cannonballs assaults the pirate ship, Nelia takes a pirate hostage after kicking him from the crow's nest, the other boat sinks and the crew swim to The Merlin as theirs vanishes. The pirate ship begins to sink and soon it's underwater as well, with everyone making their way back to The Merlin to regroup. The pirate questioned, revealing them to be younger members of the Hamlin family in Torrow, looking to prove themselves. The boat heads toward Westport and they arrive the next day around 3 pm in the afternoon. The group then make their way past the guild and through to O'Pax, noticing a strange black fog coming from the Shadow Pines along the way. Brian talks to Queen Elaris with a few of the others and prepares for his secret missions, the group are introduced to Gerki who will be joining them investigating the strange goings-on around the Shadow Pines. |Session 40 (10th September 2019) - Pirate Surprise
The group do a little shopping and head out to see the sights that Rayas has to offer. Making their way south west they check out the Yotan Ruins, the long-abandoned town that's overgrown with trees, vines and other plant life. Then moving on the take in the Hellir Chasm, the miles-wide gaping hole in the ground from a long-passed war between celestials and demons. When all that's done, they head up around the Redcrest Mountains to Dragontale, before making their way to the Boonpools for a nice relaxing day of soaking in the warm springs. Kleeck decides to head back home to the plane of air for a while and the group heads back to Dragontale for the night, where they meet Eraz who joins the party. They go past Blackwick and Salthaven to see what they are like and Jael gets to experience snow for the first time, they tell Melvin to go to Moondrake and they teleport themselves there, enjoying a week of downtime. They prepare to set out across the sea back to Ethea... |Session 39 (5th September 2019) - Holiday
A collective decision is made that the group could deal with having a change of scenery and ideas are thrown around as to what that could be, after a discussion Rayas seems the best option for a little trip. The swing by the guild and learn of conflicts in Torrow and an increase in attacks around the Shadow Pines before making their way to O'Pax where Brian asks the Queen if he can go across the sea to Rayas. She agrees but asks that he not be gone too long as he may be needed soon, with that they set off for Westport, carefully navigating around the Shadow Pines just in case of danger. After several days of journeying, they arrive in Westport and Jael heads off to find a boat. A boat leaves for Rays in four hours time which they board for 10 gold per person, it's a relatively good conditioned ship and the journey takes a little longer than usual with strong currents every now and then pushing them back but after five days and nights, they arrive in Ostburn. Sticking to the main roads, the group head to Doog, then Drake Cross and then onto Moondrake, across a large elegant stonework bridge, staying the night above a tavern. In the morning, Brian goes to visit his family and has a catch up, they also have a little shop around at Crazy Gabes Magical Emporium after learning of the tragic demise of old man Jenkins who used to run another shop closer to home. After getting a few new items from various places, the party thinks about what to do next... |Session 38 (29th August 2019) - Change of Scenery After browsing the wares the raiders have, they head back along the tunnels to the spiral stairway and upon reaching the top, the ground rises and seals itself and more water begins to flood in the chamber. Creeping along the tunnels agin they encounter two more giant lizards, a battle ensues and the creatures defeated. Syl remembering the helm of teleportation gets the group out of the Underdark to the cave beneath Maku Keno, no longer lit by flowing lava and eerily quiet, dark and smoky. Following the tunnels, they make their way to the hidden exit and moving the mechanisms the long tunnel is revealed and they emerge in the woodland just south of the mountains in the darkness of night. They make their way along to Arkin Cross, slowly getting used to sunlight again as the sun starts to rise and continue north, resting again before heading to Fooks the following day. Spending some well-earned downtime in the town, they individually seek out knowledge and training to better their skills. Reflecting on the information Rhia gave them about keeping an eye on the inventions and activity of the gnomes in Chu, the group decide that it could be worth checking out. They spend several days on the road, passing through the Yama Valley, through Raux, past the guild and to Chu. It is immediately apparent, the level of technology built into the very fabric of the town. After a little exploration and question asking they discover they appear to have made great advancements in mining technology as well as prototype air ships, both things powered by a mysterious blue powder Jael recognizes as Tokr although the gnomes refer to it as Karas, a powerful power source from the Underdark. |Session 37 (20th August 2019) - Daylight Again
Making a nice deal with the raiders for the magic items, the group agree to clear out a trade route in exchange for a discount. They rest up in the raiders tent which is a lot bigger on the inside than the outside would suggest and get ready to set out in the morning. The raiders reveal a secret tunnel entrance in the rock just off to the north of the camp and the party goes along with two carts and six raiders. The tunnel has the familiar feel of smooth carved out interior and magical lighting for about an hour then it becomes clear something has caved it in and they take a detour around. A further hour into the detour the passage finally links back up to the main comfortable to travel walkway and the raiders and their goods take a rest here while the party go to scout ahead. Moving slowly and carefully several hundred feet, a faint humming and whining noise can be heard in the distance as the tunnels open up into a larger cavern. After working out it sounds like a flock of small creatures darting about with a hum and whine, Kleeck goes back to the raiders and Jael where they inform Kleeck of the stirges and what they're capable of. Jael comes to join the group with the raiders not far behind and the group heads into the cave to get a better look at the threat. Kleeck dives out and the stirges divebomb for him, the rest of the party follow soon after and begin swatting the beasts into the flowing river below with a few near misses from the hammer! Once they have all been dealt with, it's clear they were feeding on a small pile of quaggoths. With no other threat being present, the raiders make their way across the cave and into another tunnel where they begin unloading crates down a quite deep looking hole in the ground. Speaking with the raiders, they give more information about additional raider camps across the Underdark and mark them on Jael's maps. The closest one to where the scissors were lost being near the quaggoth camp they saw yesterday. The group heads back through the tunnels, through the camp, through more tunnels and back into the large cavern. Navigating the awkward stone spiral they find their path and follow it as stealthily as they can. Managing to sneak past the camp, they come across a large cave opening in the side of the rock and judging by the map this is where the entrance to the raider camp is. This place is lit up with some incredibly bright purple mushrooms which Jael knows are poisonous to ingest. Squinting their way through the brightness of the cave, scratching and paddling noises heard around the corner, they discover a small group of lizards in a shallow pool of water. Jael jumps on the back of one of the smaller beasts and the larger one comes to its aid, one of the smaller ones is knocked unconscious and the others were slain as the other members of the group join the battle. Getting a better look at the area, a large hooded humanoid statue sits in the middle of the water and upon inspection, it looks as if it was once a grand water feature, Jael climbs it to have a better look and activates a secret switch revealing a set of stairs leading down under the water. Following this passage, they find a familiar magically lit tunnel which the follow to a familiar-looking encampment. There are no guars by this entrance but as they make their way down into the camp they are spotted as a female elf rushes over with a semi startled look and weapon drawn. Presented with the note from the other camp however the hostility is settled and they begin to ask about the scissors. The woman vanishes into a tent to speak with her fellow raiders, emerging ten minutes later with three others. They have the scissors and are willing to trade. Eventually, a deal is made for the scissors, trading a bracelet from Jael, the unconscious lizard upstairs and 1000gp. The group mention they are interested in more items and spending more gold... | Session 36 (13th August 2019) - Fawken Scissors
Preparing themselves for more combat, two sets of three quaggoths flank around the rock pillar in front of the party and battle ensues. Some of these beasts much larger than the former and deploying some mirror-image style tactics made this a slightly more taxing fight than before. The party defeats them with a mix of mammoths, hammers and blades. After having a little look around and deciding they were pretty exhausted, the group head back into the large cavern where they met the flumphs, barricade the entrance with rocks and take a long rest with Syl and Jael keeping watch. Feeling refreshed but a little hazy with all the green and purple glows of the underdark, they unblock the fortifications they made the day before and set out again into the massive underground cavern where they fought the quaggoths last time. Jael scouts the area out and reports nothing hostile in the surrounding area. The group decide to head southwest and follow a level track curving off slightly towards the west. They travel for just over an hour and pick up some humanoid tracks. Moving a further half-hour along they reach a fork in the passage and Jael opts to climb a spiral of rock leading to a passage much higher up. Making their way very cautiously up the rock and along the precarious walkways, they now have a much better view of the part of the cavern they entered from and can see a rather large camp of quaggoths west of that entrance (roughly 3 miles away) and despite now approaching a much more closed-off section of cave, the sheer expanse of the main cavern becomes even more apparent. Following this pathway along they reach a tunnel with humanoid tracks and magical lighting. The party is on guard and move around another corner where the tunnel shrinks and is evident that this passage has been deliberately carved out in places with torches lining the walls, this extends several hundred feet and the group decides to follow it to the end. Narrowly missing revealing their position, they notice a guard standing by at the end of the tunnel and after a few hushed words, Brian decides to say hello from around the corner as Nelia turns invisible. The guards rush around surprised and Brian manages to diffuse the situation and start a dialogue. They learn that these people are raiders to which Jael confirms knowledge of and that they harvest from the upperdark and sell things on the surface or deeper down into the underdark. The party asks if they have or might have heard about either the scissors or the orb that Mirael had and the guard (Anson) goes to check while the other guard (Rydak) keep a watch on the group. Meanwhile, Nelia follows Anson down into the camp and watches a group of them go through several crates to look for the objects and they do have an orb in their possession that seems like it could be the one but no scissors. Nelia contemplates some thievery while Anson returns to the group, selling it to them for 50gp. The party want to look through their items to see if there is anything they would like to buy and they are permitted to do so one at a time. Nelia remains inside the tent, invisible as Brian goes down to browse the goods, picking out a few choice items and getting ready to barter a deal. |Session 35 (7th August 2019) - Quaggoths & Raiders
The group begins the session staring into the large hole leading to the Underdark. Syl and Nelia having taken the path before, lead the way. They retrace their earlier steps going through twisting passageways and caverns, all the while descending further underground. Eventually making their way to the blockage caused by the worm previously, they set their explosives. The resulting explosion is massive, creating a giant hole in the rock. With the assistance of Kleeck, they make their way up to a higher passage and enter the large cavern. This is the place where Mirael and Elias were eaten by the worm and the carnage of rock and bodies still remains. Large boring holes into the earth are still there from the battle and the party descends into them, looking for any remains. They discover a lot of blood, scraps of clothing and equipment (including a torn bag of holding). Following the tunnels through leads them to another cavern, this one much more like a thin passageway curving into the distance. The sounds of rushing water in the distance, echoing throughout as they reach a crossroads. They spot a goblin ambush just in time and fight by the river and on the rocky ledges above. The goblins don't last very long and the group decides to follow the worm tunnels even further, leading into a cavern much the same as the first one they arrived in. Hundreds of feet across with large rock formations sprouting from the ground and walls. A group of flumphs are flying along the far end of the cavern and Jael goes to chat with them. They point out they are heading to the only exit big enough for a worm and note the tracks, the party decides to follow. The flumphs fly off and they enter their fist large cavern of the upperdark. It seems to span endlessly in all directions with all manner of stalagmites, stalactites, columns of twisting stone from floor to ceiling and a vast increase in the fungi and plantlife seem previously, giving the whole cavern an ominous green and purple glow illuminating everything and casting shadows. Several 'passageways' seem to go deeper into the Underdark while some appear to climb towards the surface. Jael informs the group these places usually connect all layers of the Underdark together and serve as a main travel route for those living below. Having a little exploration, Jael uses her hammer to try and smash through some of the smaller spirals of rock and with a loud echo smashes one to bits with a few swings. This seems to attract some attention and four quaggoths approach and attack the group who fight back (enter Geoffrey the mammoth), slaying them. There are more approaching and the sounds are getting closer! |Session 34 (30th July 2019) - The Upperdark
Jael alongside the Queen and her team have decoded a few bits of text, including two spells relating to the heart of a dragon. Jael, choosing to have the ritual performed on her to bind the heart of the dragon to her own. The ritual is a success altering her appearance just slightly... Queen Elaris sends a contact of hers (Brian) to assist the party for the time being. Welcoming the extra help they set out towards the guild, with Syl and Jael taking their now almost routine night watches. Brian signs up to the guild and the group gives their 'creature parts' to the researchers there. They notice only the rarest ingredients remain on their supply list as well as a selection of rare and exotic beasts. The work is complete and the guild is now fully finished with its expansion. The group head to Raux to check on their dogs and end up paying for 5 weeks more training across the board. By good chance, it is at this time that Rhia sends Nelia a message asking for an audience. They happily oblige and meet her, she wants them to be her eyes and ears when they are in other towns and cities and report back any info that might be helpful. She also specifically mentions the council are a little uneasy about Chu at the moment with the gnomes tinkering and tampering and asks to try and get some more information on that. Deciding that it's probably time they did so, they choose to head for the Underdark to see if they can find and recover the lost magic items and loot from months back. Moving south to the Groc Peaks they head in and go and see the powder specialist, deciding to spend some gold on black powder and some small bombs. They rest up and head out the eastern side of the range the next day. The group travel to Fooks next and have a few hours shopping and looking around before then heading to Odek. Leaving Melvin and their cart here they begin the trek north and cut into the badlands to visit Karnor in Mog. Approaching the large gates, the orcs keeping watch recognize some of the party from before and notice their amulets promising them access. A small team of bugbears pulls the gate up and they enter. Making their way down towards the battle arena they notice Karnor's shack is gone as well as a few surrounding structures with signs of destruction. Karnor appears behind them and mentions there was an 'incident' and show's them his new office. They ask to be let into the cave as they wish to go back to the Underdark and it is agreed as long as they have an escort with them. Two orcs, a bugbear and an ogre unblock the tunnels they filled in and they escort the party through the caves that look a lot more full than the last time they were here. They stare down into the rather large hole in the ground and prepare themselves... |Session 33 (25th July 2019) - Rituals & Recovery
After a little experimentation, the group work out how the runes work with the HIDE rune making the wall solid or invisible and the ACTIVATE freezing or unfreezing time in the local area. Using this to their advantage they can study beasts before unleashing them into the chamber. After fighting a spider that magically splits into more copies of itself (and capturing one) they uncover the shockingly large figure of the phase spider. This spider packs a little extra punch when it shifts but the party put an end to the creature, harvesting the bits of course. One of the chambers appears broken and has the remains of a long-dead cat-like creature inside, leaving one chamber for last. Making the wall vanish they see a glimmering large metal like scorpion suspended in the chamber, which they ready attacks against and set free. It frantically tries to deal some damage to the group hitting some fantastic eye beam shots and digging in with its claws. It plane shifts away before it can be defeated, leaving the group alone once more beneath the desert. Double-checking not to leave anything behind they go back up the ladder and raid the supplies in the workshop before making their way back to the sand filled entrance room. Kleeck helps fly people out as more sand begins to pour in, burying the hole they made to gain access and soon to erase most of the evidenced anything happened at all. They carefully (with Jael's guidance) make their way back to the main road with no encounters although some were close! They travel north to Odek to collect their cart and Melvin and press on to O'Pax to visit the queen and check out their new home, Jael messages the guild to get the heart sent up there to arrive at the same time as the party. They meet with the queen and she agrees to put some of her best people on the job of decoding the notes, a few highlighted items get priority as they seem to be related to dragons... |Session 32 (16th July 2019) - Mutants
As the group makes their way into the badlands, Syl has an urge to pull out his new sword and gets a vision of the team in the ruins, using black spheres and fire to access them via explosion. Using Jael's expert knowledge of the badlands they manage to avoid several encounters and reach the vast field of ruins by early morning where they find a stone structure to shelter in. Syl and Jael taking turns to watch, hear many sounds in the night but no dangers come close to the party. In daylight, they manage to explore some of the sites of ruins, although hampered by dust storms. They fend off some mephits and manage to locate where they think Ekash's underground chambers are. Syl recognizes the scenario from his vision although they don't have any black spherical devices, opting to use 4lb of black powder in its place. The resulting explosion reveals an underground chamber which the party enters. Making their way through a partially buried door, they find themselves in a large room with desk, lab tables and bookcases. They discover a secret hatch beneath the desk and a hidden room behind the bookcases. Deciding to take the bookcase route first they enter the room and are greeted with four large colourful orbs set into the stone. They work out that touching them all at the same time for about ten seconds causes a secret passage to be revealed and inside find Ekash's research notes which are encrypted. Going back to the hatch they descend into a small room with some runes carved into the walls, loosely translating as HIDE and ACTIVATE in elvish. Certain runes are pressed in certain orders and some interestingly mutated beasts are thrown into the room. The group battle a necrotic boar and a scorpion covered in thick webs and prepare for what else might be down there.... |Session 31 (11th July 2019) - Black Powder
Starting a new day at the guild, the group wait around for this mysterious chest that's to be opened at midday. An important looking figure makes his way in followed by two guild workers carrying the chest, it turns out anyone who can pull the sword from the chest may leave with it and everyone want's to give it a go. Forming a semi-orderly queue the party, as well as number of other groups line up to test their luck and Syl ends up pulling the blade from the chest like it was made of paper. The group head to Raux to meet with the council and learn that the council wants them on their payroll for some top secret operations in future and give them an amulet of sending (cast sending once per day) and mention they will be in touch. They head back to the guild for a couple of days of downtime before making their way to Westport to meet the writers Jael wished to speak to about her dragon heart. Syl learns his blade is known as Zordin's Blade while researching at the guild. Waiting for the Red Rooster to come into port, jael spots the writers (Acamo & Tarkio) from the descriptions given and lets them know she'd like to discuss the matter, they (along with Nelia) head to a seafront tavern and talk, Syl and Kleeck head for the library. Jael learns of an eccentric twisted elf who died over 400 years ago that was renown for dabbling is this kind of thing (Ekash Ashir). He and may other's lost their lives when a magical community mysteriously was wiped from existence in an enormous explosion of magical energy on the site where the Ruined Tower still stands. Syl finds out more about his new sword and learns it's part of the Dzala artifacts, a group of magical items that when combined make the user almost untouchable by magical and nonmagical means. Kleeck practices some basic magical ability to control the weave and scribbles down the ritual for finding a familiar although he needs some assistance. They stay the night in Westport in the Boozy Kraken and head out in the morning on a four day journey to O'Pax where they learn their house has been completed, Queen Elaris meets with the party and gives some more information on the magic settlement from long ago and more specifically Ekash and his emblem. The party head south past Odek and the markets to begin their jaunt into the badlands,.. | Session 30 (2nd July 2019) - Chosen One
The party drag their newest crocodile friend back to the gates and firmly affix it (with chains) to the end of the wall dangling off the cliff edge. They leave the cart behind and decide to go back in and do some more exploring. Making their way to the end of the road, they find themselves surrounded by hills, swampland and marshland. They decide on heading north to see what they can find and come across a much larger swampy area than before. A light mist rolls through the swamp and light rain begins to fall although not much makes it through the thick canopy of trees above them. They fight a small crocodile and awaken a shambling mound which they also destroy, sending the other crocodiles fleeing. Continuing north the reach some flat land where the tree line is much thinner and sunlight gets through, drying the party off a little. They reach a part of the flats where webbing can be seen between some trees and giant spiders seem to be making traps for some nearby beasties. They engage the four spiders, obliterating them with new hammers, firebolts and javelins. They head back towards the main path as night will be approaching soon but as they go back through the swamp lands, two large snakes attack, one from either side. A few bites and some shadowblade/core's heart/winged acrobatics later and one snake is no more and the other knocked out. Jael decides she wants to drag that back too and they get back to cart for night time, chaining everything up and having a nice long rest. Attempting to calm the beasts with food and stroking seems to work for the croc but not the snake as it angrily thrashes about in the cart. They both struggle a little during the journey and several odd glances are had as the giant crocodile is dragged through the city. eventually, they all end up at the guild several days later. They manage to sell the creatures alive for 500 gp because of their extra special environment along with some of the things they foraged in Kek. They learn the guild expansion is almost complete and they appear to be at least half stocked with everything. There are now sending stones available for 300 gp (1 use) or 1800 gp (infinite use but once per day) to buy from the guild. A couple of writers are due in a weeks time in Westport that may know a thing or two about Jael's interest in a dragon heart. In other interesting news a mystery box is to be opened tomorrow upon the owner's instruction which is causing quite a stir and many rumours to fly around. |Session 29 (20th June 2019) - Swamping
The group now fed and rested begin to make plans for what to do next. Their friends head off to the guild to take care of some business and Ereoss promises to make a weapon for Jael and leave it at the guild to pick up. As the party leaves the tavern a couple of guards catch them and upon learning they were the ones who dealt with the dragon, mention the queen would like to see them. The party decide to follow and are led into the royal compound near the abbey where they are told to wait in the compound. Shortly after, more guards come out and the queen follows, approaching the party and offering gratitude for their efforts. She says she doesn't have much to offer as their reserves have gone into the rebuilding of the town but offer them a plot of land where a building will be constructed for them and any future possible favours they might have she will be as accommodating as possible. The next step is to head to Odek to meet with their driver Melvin, horses and cart. They camp alongside the main path and eventually make it there where they do a little shopping, pay Melvin for another 10 days of service and then decide to head through the Yama Valley towards the guild. The elves helping to travel through the night by driving when Melvin needed a rest get them through quicker but they choose to spend a proper rest in Raux on arrival. Leaving for the guild early morning, they reach it in the afternoon. Jael goes to claim her hammer which is rather elegantly made and has a nice warm magical feel to it, she and Kleeck sign up for guild membership for a whole year and they go and browse the notice boards. There seems to be slim pickings and Nelia and Syl notice that as the guild is expanding in size so are the members, there seem to be a lot more 'adventurers' now than there were before. The only things the guild is still looking for is ingredients, materials, and creatures dead or alive. A lot of the easier items have been found but a lot of challenging ones remain, the thing that sticks out, however, is the staggering lack of live creatures brought back so far. After just slaying an ancient dragon how hard can this be? The group make their way back to Raux and rest the night, leaving especially early to travel to Kek, camping off to the side of the road with some shelter as per last time and waking early again to head over to the wooden walls and gate separating the land from everything else. Taking in the cliffs and sharp drops surrounding the river running below and the twisting nature of Kek itself the party go through the gate, closing it behind them and head further west. After about half an hour the land off the main path gets muddier and swampier, a mix of dead and seemingly very alive plant growth everywhere alongside several swamps and streams. Spotting a rather large swampy area they throw rocks among other things inside to see if anything is in there and sure enough a large snout appears followed by the head of a large crocodile. Jael gets her chain out, leaping onto the beast trying to restrain it and the others bombard it with attacks until it's subdued, they drag it out of the swamp and manage to get it back to the main path and the cart. | Session 28 (11th June 2019) - Gifts
The fight with Raphhar continues, the rest of the helpers meet their demise from an explosion of fire from the dragons mouth but in a stroke of luck, another group has shown up to help the party! Pouring inside the cavern they immediately join the fray trying to keep their distance and break through the tough hide and scales with little to no effect. Syl becomes an earth elemental and throws Jael on to the dragon where she begins to deal some impressive damage despite numerous attempts at being shaken off, the rest of the group keep aiming ranged attacks at the flying beast. Some incredibly lucky shots to the underbelly from both groups alongside Jael's efforts manage to weaken Raphhar significantly, who struggles to get enough power to unleash the fiery fury from its throat several times although managing to get out one or two before being forced to ground. Nelia slices the dragon with the Shadowblade along its underbelly with one deep long cut, one of the newcomers manages to fire an arrow of lightning down its throat and another douse the creature in acid, wearing it down but it refuses to give up. The dragon finally meets its end and is harvested by the seemingly innards hungry group. The cave is searched for anything (especially treasure) and nothing is found (especially treasure), looking around it doesn't look like the lair of a red dragon and surmise the lair and possible treasure must be elsewhere. The group heads back along the mountain pass, through the badlands and to O'Pax to rest up for the night, catch up with the new group and plan their next move. |Session 27 (06th June 2019) - Mountain Showdown: Part 2
Meeting back in Mog as agreed, they ask the orcs for some items to assist in killing the dragon and receive an array of goods. Syl is talking loudly (again) about killing dragons as he bumps into Jael, a rather tall drow barbarian, who seems interested in hearing more about said dragon. It does not take much convincing for her to join the party on this quest. Almost as if fate itself intended, moments later, a large bird-like creature dive bombs and lands in front of the group, introducing itself with a series of clicks and bird calls followed by some common which appears to be a relief with the others. Sent to complete a Rite of Passage by his home world he must master a series of tasks on the material plane to be fully accepted as an adult back home, this group looks to be the perfect way to start! Deciding the group isn't yet large enough they send a message to the guild and four more adventurers team up with them to make a supergroup of ten! They start to make their way into the mountains, utilizing their new friends flying skills and knowledge of the area to pinpoint several locations, further narrowed down by the knowledge from the scry session previously, the determine a likely location of the dragon. The dragon is spotted and in they go...into a large cavern with a few rocks scattered around the outsides and a seemingly still dragon in the center. Peering round to get a better look, beams of energy are fired upon the party from the corners of the room and combat ensues with the wizards. The dragon takes flight and a flurry of spells and melee attacks fly around the cavern, crashing on and singing everything they touch. The wizards are weakened by the party while the dragon causes destruction in the middle burning one of the helpers to an untimely crispy death. | Session 26 (29th May 2019) - Mountain Showdown: Part 1
The group climb the rocky steps ahead of them and towards the top, encounter another pair of giant lizards, which they manage to kill much quicker than before. They then finish their climb to the top to another plateau and vast woodland in front of them, they also have some excellent views at such at height, of the rest of the island and can take in how expansive it is. Lizard tracks and drag marks can be seen leading into the trees and a well formed path to follow as well. Using their expertise at sneaking around, they venture for a couple of hours inwards, still heading towards the center of the island and encounter a clearing and several large stone bonfires as well as both bipedal and quadrupedal lizard tracks. Choosing to navigate the long way around they follow the ring of bonfires and contine on the other side towards the middle. A few more hours pass as they finally make their way to the edge of this forest and approach the massive chasm that is the center of Venk, staring down into it's foggy bottom. Naturally a combination of throwing themselves off, flying and magic sees them all reach the bottom of the chasm with varying levels of damage taken. They immediatley become immersed in the thick natural fog that coats them in moisture and manage to get off of the small rocky island they landed on and onto the main land mass around them. Hearing the sounds of large creatures in the distance, noisly roaming and breathing. Dancing lights are summoned to lead the way and the creatures shadows are illuminated, getting much closer the forms of several Brontosaurus are revealed. The slaughter begins, as they try to run the party are in hunt mode and the beasts are slain. Some exploration takes place and finding a path to higher ground, they climb a set of rocks and reach a much higher platform, by this time the fog has started to clear and darkness begin to set in. They see a group of at least six Brontosaurus across the way heading in the other direction, they suddenly pick up pace as the group feel the ground shake in the distance and hear an alarmingly loud roar. |Session 49 (26th November 2019) - The Crater
After a breif moment, another disfigured troll rushes towards the group from the treeline, busrting out. Blows are exchanged and this one seems to weaken slightly quicker than the first, it gets out some heavy hitting blows but ultimatley succumbs to the group might, and electric shocks. They move onward towards the towering cliff face behind the forest, arriving at the foot of it just after the sun sets. Further investigation reveals several ways up that are slightly less challenging than a steep vertical climb and they all make their way up in a variety of ways. Finding themselves on a little plateau in front of some much thicker woodland they decide to set up camp for the night with Syl and Jael keeping watch. When the sun begins to rise, a hoard of boars rush through the land at the bottom of the recently scaled cliff and in the much closer forest the sounds of various wildlife can be heard but not seen. Deciding to venture into this woodland, continuing to head towards the center of the island, it becomes clear that without the presence of the trolls the wildlife does indeed flourish. Tracks are picked up of various creatures some known and some unknown, and while it is overgrown it is much less swampy. After just over an hour of travel, they some across some short inclines ahead and Gerki spots a cloaked figure just up ahead. Interacting with the figure they learn she is Alvia, an aasimar, part of a group tasked with recording deaths in exchange for powers, a following some of the others remember reading about or studying. She is dressed in all black carrying an enchanted and rather large scythe, but appears quite friendly, making small talk with the group. Gerki climbs the large steps of land in front of him to look around and spots a lizard peering out from the treeline to his right. Alerting the others, more lizards emerge and the group prepare for battle, more and more giant forms emerge from the trees on either side and Alvia joins in the fight. Two incredibly large and tough looking lizard forms jump down from above Gerki and attack, pushing him off the ledge to the ground below. They eventually down these monstrous forms and have a rest period to gather their strength. |Session 48 (12th November 2019) - Ascending Venk After spending some personal time during the day, the group prepare for the evenings talks. Settling in, the heads of families arrive alongside their advisors and guards and sit around a large round table with the party. Debate ensues, some parts more heated than others but overall a level of restraint is upheld (with some help) and much talking takes place. All sides are heard and compromises are reached with Gerki leading the signing of a new treaty between the families for future peace and cooperation. After a long evening everybody heads home, the group discover another adventuring party had been staying upstairs and they get chatting when they recognise a few of them from the dragon fight months ago. As promised the party are granted a boat by Mr Hamlin for their part in finding the one responsible for the warehouse attack and for reaching peace. The boat isn't exactly elegant and some money spent on making it travel ready as well as hiring a crew, a few ballista’s and rations. They then set sail across the water to the island of Venk. After the relatively short journey they are faced with Venk's looming coastline, the island towering up from the centre and sloping down to sea level at the edges. Sharp cliffs and leering plateaus can be seen in the distance all broken off with tall forestry and plant life, but noticing a small 'landing area' the boat is attached to some rocks with rope and weighed down after (mystery crew member) forgot the anchor. The group leave the boat and begin to explore this unfamiliar land, evidence of other past travel is clear with bits of barrels, crates and fabrics across the shore and rocks. Only one track can be seen up a small cliff ahead of them, with sharp inclines on the other sides. The party ascend the small cliffs and find themselves in front of a large wooded area which seems to be where the tracks end. It extends quite far around on all sides but the rocks appear to make travel unsafe around the extreme corners of the woods. Opting for the safest route they head onwards into the forest aiming for a larger cliff face behind it to get closer to the center of the island. A severe lack of wildlife and activity has been noted by the party as the arrive in a deadly silent swamp land, completely overgrown with vines and moss. Making their way deeper still they come across an odd formation of rocks, mud and trees that seems to stand out slightly to the surrounding flora. A quick investigation is had and Nelia pokes it with her sword. The mound shifts and seems to double in size as the form of a troll uncurls and stands tall, letting out a rather large roar. This troll is unlike any seen before with multiple heads, limbs and body parts all covered in a slimly layer of plant growth, it lashes out at the party dishing out some damage with its many limbs and sharp teeth. It is heavily damaged but begins to regenerate, twisting at incredible speed to catch almost all of the party off guard with a flurry of claw strikes. However, it is not long before the group serve the creature its final moments, making sure it's dead by cutting it into small bits. They pause for a few seconds to get their breath back and hear the familiar troll roar and the sound of stomping feet coming towards their position... |Session 47 (7th November 2019) - Settling the Score
Entering the stronghold after eliminating all the guards, they find it now empty and take a look inside. They find information about the surrounding warehouses and where the Hamlin residence is (by the coast a few streets over). A few of the group explore some warehouses to harvest materials and the others find some hidden compartments with gold inside before all meeting up in the main space. They decide to check out the residence and making their way through the streets, manage to find it, however they are faced with the back of a walled mansion and grounds and decide it better to wait for daylight to speak with them. The party head back to the Happy Tarrasque and spend the night there. The next morning, more like lunchtime, they head off to the coast and then along to the grounds of the Hamlin estate. They arrive at a gate with two guards and manage to convince them to give them an audience with the Hamlin's, Gerki discovers the walls have a form of magical protection on them. Gerki and Eraz head in while the others wait outside and have a meeting with Gregory Hamlin who agrees that if they can find who is responsible for the attack on his people last night and try to ease tensions between the families then he will gift the group a boat for their troubles. They are pointed in the direction of the Turner family for a recent quarrel between the two families. Heading across town to try and meet with the Turner family, they are greeted with a large array of farmland and abandoned paddocks, they do see a centralized house close by and head for it. Syl begins knocking on the door, and doesn't stop while Eraz uses his familiar to scout the area revealing a small humanoid feeding chickens behind the house, heading over to discover a young girl who is instantly fascinated by the pseudodragon. She points them towards a barn ten minutes away where her parents are and Eraz leaves his familiar with the girl for the time being. Moving onward to the barn, they talk with her parents and other workers learning where the Turner's residence is (just along the road behind the barn) and they venture over to see a compound much smaller with a rather ugly five story house/tower monstrosity where the Turner's live. Two guards meet the party at the entrance and after some convincing and suffering of a bumbling fool of a guard, the group are allowed inside (minus the bear who Jael looks after) and wait on the bottom floor of the house. While they wait they decide to mess with the guard they don't like and Nelia uses mage hand to break some plates and slap him on the head much to the other guards amusements. They learn that nobody really likes him and he is just around due to a family commitment. After a few minutes they are lead upstairs where they meet Rogan Turner who appears far more friendly than Gregory Hamlin, who after a little chat, appreciates what the group is trying to do although is unsure why they are trying to resolve things. Telling people that Queen Elaris has sent them and having a royal insignia in their possession seems to convince them they are who they say they are and not trying to trick them. Rogan is happy for them to make that guard (now nicknamed shitclap) somebody else's problem and will help try and arrange a meeting tomorrow night of the leaders at the Happy Tarrasque. The group drag the guard out kicking and screaming towards Jael and she knocks him out to shut him up. They head back to the barn, borrow a sack, some rope and paper and give them some coin for the trouble. They shove the guard into the sack and tie it up, some of the party carry the sack to the Turner's and Eraz collects the familiar from the girl who is sad to see it go. The Turner's are told that the guard in the sack was responsible for the attack alongside some others. Eraz finds a boarded up magical supply shop and they break in to see what's there finding just some enchanted parchment and quills. They go back to the Happy Tarrasque to rest, Eraz spends 4 hours copying find familiar on to one of the bits of parchment, finds the young girl from before and hands it to her, telling her with lots of practice she can have her own one day. |Session 46 (29th October 2019) - Diplomacy
The group take a little while to rest after their Shadow Pines adventures, Jael gifts Nelia an enchanted shawl and then they make their south to Torrow. Leaving the cart and Melvin in Frea, the walk the rest of the way and approach Torrow to investigate the pirates and their issues as well as knowledge or means of transport to Venk to explore. The town resembles that of a ghost town, the number of people roaming the streets can be counted on your fingers. Many lights are on in the residential areas and some in the more commercial zones, but doors are shut, curtains drawn and noise almost non existent. The Happy Tarrasque remains open although without the familiar sounds of crowds and music and the owners are inside playing cards. The party are requested to join them and drinks appear as the play cards and talk. Information is gathered from the owners about the layout of town and what has been going on with the pirates and the current situation, learning that the five families have pretty much gone into lockdown on their respective land. Also learning that the Hamlin family are the main shipbuilders in town, they head towards their block of warehouses to find them all locked and chained up, the pathways between the buildings all boarded up as well preventing access. After a brief deliberation, Jael smashes through one of the barriers and they head down and alleyway that opens out into a slightly bigger side road. They sneak in the shadows and notice a few people darting from building to building in the midst of darkness, they make themselves known and all the noise stops and lights go out, they have a very hushed chat with somebody through a door and are directed towards the Hamlin stronghold although they are warned to stay away and leave. Ignoring this sound advice, they approach the stronghold which looks to be primarily made of stone, sitting a good 10-15ft higher than the surrounding buildings and heavily fortified. Nelia climbs a roof and is spotted by a guard on the rooftops. More guards make themselves known firing large bolts at the party from giant ballistas and the party fight back, some taking heavy damage but managing to silence all the guards both on roof and street level. The sounds have died down from inside the stronghold, door swung open, lights on but silence. The group reconvene on the ground and head towards the door... |Session 45 (24th October 2019) - Detectives
Following the aasimar into the heart of the woods they navigate around the shadow beasts until a rather large shadow portal is discovered, much bigger than the previous ones the group has encountered. The air is thick with swirling, foggy darkness and vision is heavily impaired. Several shadow creatures can be seen inside and familiars are sent in to investigate, within a matter of seconds the portal is activated and a giant shadowy presence detected within. A fight starts and a barrage of attacks strike the shadow monster land one after the other, and the immense necrotic energy felt among the group with a few aasimar falling in battle. Eventually the beast is slain though through no easy effort, the aasimar gather their dead and vanish in a glow of light, thanking them for their assistance. The group teleport back to O'Pax. |Session 44 (17th October 2019) - Nightwalker
The group takes a week of downtime as the queen sends several groups of guards out to investigate the pines and the goings-on inside, after several groups come back, a more detailed overview forms. The darkness does not appear to survive in the sunlight, the creatures within don't seem to leave the treeline and so are kept at bay. The sounds of the creatures and chaos inside reflected in the reports from the scout groups and other reports of screams, battle cries and strange lights seem to pique the queen's interest. The party decides to scry on a similar target to the shadow dragon and manage to form a successful connection, revealing several dragons, demons and shadows in the woods. As their target swoops down to feast on wildlife, a bright light strikes the creature in the back as it turns to see three humanoid figures surrounded by bright light. Some of the forms seem to have wings as they fly up towards the dragon with more beams of white light as the vision ends. Speaking with the queen she hazards a guess that this could be the work of the celestials sending the aasimar to do their work, the group find out the basics of the aasimar and the queen is interested for them to find out more. Syl teleports the group back into the pines where they fought the shadow demons and shadow dragons and they track the nearest source of noise and light, getting closer it sounds like a fight is taking place a few hundred feet away. Making their way into a clearing, the bright forms of three aasimar fighting off a shadow dragon become clear. They acknowledge the party and together make short work of the beasts, they heal the party and themselves before telling the group they were sent to destroy the evil in the forest under the instruction of their superiors. They are welcome to aid in their efforts but they suggest it may be best to leave them to it, the group choose to join them and continue towards the center of the pines. | Session 43 (3rd October 2019) - A Light in the Dark
The group finish off the shadow mastiffs and allow the shadow demons to pass, trailing them, Syl has a vision of many more appearing throughout the forest. They follow for a few minutes and the demons begin to spread out, meeting some others and forming a circle, as they begin to chant and cast a spell. A swirling black fog begins to swirl in the clearing and several of the shadow demons enter it, getting more intense the party to decide to try and intervene. The shadow demons blend with the fog and continue to cast their spells, the swirling fog dissipates and a spiky, shadow dragon appears and joins the fight. The dragon has some tricks of it's own, including invisibility and a potent breath weapon. The group manage to kill the beast but can hear more shrill roars in the distance...deciding to teleport back to O'Pax to get some rest and plan what to do next. | Session 42 (24th September 2019) - Shadows...
Making their way down south towards the Shadow Pines, the group decide to travel along westward and enter the woodland from the north. As they arrive they take a rest for the night and send Melvin back to O'Pax with the cart in the morning and they begin to venture into the treeline with a light black fog swirling outwards from within. The fog getting slightly more dense the further they go in, they are soon swarmed by tall trees and vision is heavily reduced. Approaching the end of the clearing, something catches their eye in the fog and as they advance, strange shadow creatures attack although they are easily fended off. The noise of battle seems to have attracted some nearby perytons and as they come in from each side, a large one swoops down on them and another fight ensues, the peryton's now slain. Moving even deeper into the shadows and almost chokingly thick fog they encounter some strange oozes before stumbling into some shadow mastiffs that try to savage the party, landing a few bites but not many. As this battle continues, Nelia hears some noises and goes to investigate. A large swirling portal of almost solid dark fog is swirling rapidly, bits of dark figures inside can be seen as the portal suddenly dissipates and three shadow demons stand tall and strong, seeing some of the party and a bellowing voice in their minds telling them to get out of their way. |Session 41 (19th September 2019) - The Fog
Boarding a ship (The Merlin) along with several other passengers and crew, they set off for Ethea. The first two days go by peacefully and without incident, the weather cloudy but not stormy and the currents mostly mild. On the third day, a few of the group and crew notice debris floating in the waters and upon closer inspection, it looks to be from another ship. After offering their services to the captain, the boat moves onwards with even more debris making it's way past the ship every few minutes until they reach the remains of a ship, very slowly sinking. Some of the crew jump into the waters to look for survivors along with Jael but all they find are a few dead bodies and evidence of cannonball damage to the ship. The captain tells the crew to prepare and test fire all the cannons and ballistas which they do as they ship moves onwards, slightly faster than usual to try and get to land as soon as possible. A few hours later, cannon fire can be heard in the distance and approaching the source, two ships can be seen engaged in battle. The one that clearly seems to be winning, is shoddily dressed as a pirate vessel with patchy black sails. The Merlin flings itself into range of the pirate ship and begins to fire upon it as the party spring into action! Brian and Eraz dimension door onto the pirate ship and set fire to it and some pirates, Nelia uses her wings to fly over, Jael swims over to the anchor and Syl turns into a water elemental, gliding towards the ship. A mix of fireballs, thunderbolts, water elemental things, anchors and cannonballs assaults the pirate ship, Nelia takes a pirate hostage after kicking him from the crow's nest, the other boat sinks and the crew swim to The Merlin as theirs vanishes. The pirate ship begins to sink and soon it's underwater as well, with everyone making their way back to The Merlin to regroup. The pirate questioned, revealing them to be younger members of the Hamlin family in Torrow, looking to prove themselves. The boat heads toward Westport and they arrive the next day around 3 pm in the afternoon. The group then make their way past the guild and through to O'Pax, noticing a strange black fog coming from the Shadow Pines along the way. Brian talks to Queen Elaris with a few of the others and prepares for his secret missions, the group are introduced to Gerki who will be joining them investigating the strange goings-on around the Shadow Pines. |Session 40 (10th September 2019) - Pirate Surprise
The group do a little shopping and head out to see the sights that Rayas has to offer. Making their way south west they check out the Yotan Ruins, the long-abandoned town that's overgrown with trees, vines and other plant life. Then moving on the take in the Hellir Chasm, the miles-wide gaping hole in the ground from a long-passed war between celestials and demons. When all that's done, they head up around the Redcrest Mountains to Dragontale, before making their way to the Boonpools for a nice relaxing day of soaking in the warm springs. Kleeck decides to head back home to the plane of air for a while and the group heads back to Dragontale for the night, where they meet Eraz who joins the party. They go past Blackwick and Salthaven to see what they are like and Jael gets to experience snow for the first time, they tell Melvin to go to Moondrake and they teleport themselves there, enjoying a week of downtime. They prepare to set out across the sea back to Ethea... |Session 39 (5th September 2019) - Holiday
A collective decision is made that the group could deal with having a change of scenery and ideas are thrown around as to what that could be, after a discussion Rayas seems the best option for a little trip. The swing by the guild and learn of conflicts in Torrow and an increase in attacks around the Shadow Pines before making their way to O'Pax where Brian asks the Queen if he can go across the sea to Rayas. She agrees but asks that he not be gone too long as he may be needed soon, with that they set off for Westport, carefully navigating around the Shadow Pines just in case of danger. After several days of journeying, they arrive in Westport and Jael heads off to find a boat. A boat leaves for Rays in four hours time which they board for 10 gold per person, it's a relatively good conditioned ship and the journey takes a little longer than usual with strong currents every now and then pushing them back but after five days and nights, they arrive in Ostburn. Sticking to the main roads, the group head to Doog, then Drake Cross and then onto Moondrake, across a large elegant stonework bridge, staying the night above a tavern. In the morning, Brian goes to visit his family and has a catch up, they also have a little shop around at Crazy Gabes Magical Emporium after learning of the tragic demise of old man Jenkins who used to run another shop closer to home. After getting a few new items from various places, the party thinks about what to do next... |Session 38 (29th August 2019) - Change of Scenery After browsing the wares the raiders have, they head back along the tunnels to the spiral stairway and upon reaching the top, the ground rises and seals itself and more water begins to flood in the chamber. Creeping along the tunnels agin they encounter two more giant lizards, a battle ensues and the creatures defeated. Syl remembering the helm of teleportation gets the group out of the Underdark to the cave beneath Maku Keno, no longer lit by flowing lava and eerily quiet, dark and smoky. Following the tunnels, they make their way to the hidden exit and moving the mechanisms the long tunnel is revealed and they emerge in the woodland just south of the mountains in the darkness of night. They make their way along to Arkin Cross, slowly getting used to sunlight again as the sun starts to rise and continue north, resting again before heading to Fooks the following day. Spending some well-earned downtime in the town, they individually seek out knowledge and training to better their skills. Reflecting on the information Rhia gave them about keeping an eye on the inventions and activity of the gnomes in Chu, the group decide that it could be worth checking out. They spend several days on the road, passing through the Yama Valley, through Raux, past the guild and to Chu. It is immediately apparent, the level of technology built into the very fabric of the town. After a little exploration and question asking they discover they appear to have made great advancements in mining technology as well as prototype air ships, both things powered by a mysterious blue powder Jael recognizes as Tokr although the gnomes refer to it as Karas, a powerful power source from the Underdark. |Session 37 (20th August 2019) - Daylight Again
Making a nice deal with the raiders for the magic items, the group agree to clear out a trade route in exchange for a discount. They rest up in the raiders tent which is a lot bigger on the inside than the outside would suggest and get ready to set out in the morning. The raiders reveal a secret tunnel entrance in the rock just off to the north of the camp and the party goes along with two carts and six raiders. The tunnel has the familiar feel of smooth carved out interior and magical lighting for about an hour then it becomes clear something has caved it in and they take a detour around. A further hour into the detour the passage finally links back up to the main comfortable to travel walkway and the raiders and their goods take a rest here while the party go to scout ahead. Moving slowly and carefully several hundred feet, a faint humming and whining noise can be heard in the distance as the tunnels open up into a larger cavern. After working out it sounds like a flock of small creatures darting about with a hum and whine, Kleeck goes back to the raiders and Jael where they inform Kleeck of the stirges and what they're capable of. Jael comes to join the group with the raiders not far behind and the group heads into the cave to get a better look at the threat. Kleeck dives out and the stirges divebomb for him, the rest of the party follow soon after and begin swatting the beasts into the flowing river below with a few near misses from the hammer! Once they have all been dealt with, it's clear they were feeding on a small pile of quaggoths. With no other threat being present, the raiders make their way across the cave and into another tunnel where they begin unloading crates down a quite deep looking hole in the ground. Speaking with the raiders, they give more information about additional raider camps across the Underdark and mark them on Jael's maps. The closest one to where the scissors were lost being near the quaggoth camp they saw yesterday. The group heads back through the tunnels, through the camp, through more tunnels and back into the large cavern. Navigating the awkward stone spiral they find their path and follow it as stealthily as they can. Managing to sneak past the camp, they come across a large cave opening in the side of the rock and judging by the map this is where the entrance to the raider camp is. This place is lit up with some incredibly bright purple mushrooms which Jael knows are poisonous to ingest. Squinting their way through the brightness of the cave, scratching and paddling noises heard around the corner, they discover a small group of lizards in a shallow pool of water. Jael jumps on the back of one of the smaller beasts and the larger one comes to its aid, one of the smaller ones is knocked unconscious and the others were slain as the other members of the group join the battle. Getting a better look at the area, a large hooded humanoid statue sits in the middle of the water and upon inspection, it looks as if it was once a grand water feature, Jael climbs it to have a better look and activates a secret switch revealing a set of stairs leading down under the water. Following this passage, they find a familiar magically lit tunnel which the follow to a familiar-looking encampment. There are no guars by this entrance but as they make their way down into the camp they are spotted as a female elf rushes over with a semi startled look and weapon drawn. Presented with the note from the other camp however the hostility is settled and they begin to ask about the scissors. The woman vanishes into a tent to speak with her fellow raiders, emerging ten minutes later with three others. They have the scissors and are willing to trade. Eventually, a deal is made for the scissors, trading a bracelet from Jael, the unconscious lizard upstairs and 1000gp. The group mention they are interested in more items and spending more gold... | Session 36 (13th August 2019) - Fawken Scissors
Preparing themselves for more combat, two sets of three quaggoths flank around the rock pillar in front of the party and battle ensues. Some of these beasts much larger than the former and deploying some mirror-image style tactics made this a slightly more taxing fight than before. The party defeats them with a mix of mammoths, hammers and blades. After having a little look around and deciding they were pretty exhausted, the group head back into the large cavern where they met the flumphs, barricade the entrance with rocks and take a long rest with Syl and Jael keeping watch. Feeling refreshed but a little hazy with all the green and purple glows of the underdark, they unblock the fortifications they made the day before and set out again into the massive underground cavern where they fought the quaggoths last time. Jael scouts the area out and reports nothing hostile in the surrounding area. The group decide to head southwest and follow a level track curving off slightly towards the west. They travel for just over an hour and pick up some humanoid tracks. Moving a further half-hour along they reach a fork in the passage and Jael opts to climb a spiral of rock leading to a passage much higher up. Making their way very cautiously up the rock and along the precarious walkways, they now have a much better view of the part of the cavern they entered from and can see a rather large camp of quaggoths west of that entrance (roughly 3 miles away) and despite now approaching a much more closed-off section of cave, the sheer expanse of the main cavern becomes even more apparent. Following this pathway along they reach a tunnel with humanoid tracks and magical lighting. The party is on guard and move around another corner where the tunnel shrinks and is evident that this passage has been deliberately carved out in places with torches lining the walls, this extends several hundred feet and the group decides to follow it to the end. Narrowly missing revealing their position, they notice a guard standing by at the end of the tunnel and after a few hushed words, Brian decides to say hello from around the corner as Nelia turns invisible. The guards rush around surprised and Brian manages to diffuse the situation and start a dialogue. They learn that these people are raiders to which Jael confirms knowledge of and that they harvest from the upperdark and sell things on the surface or deeper down into the underdark. The party asks if they have or might have heard about either the scissors or the orb that Mirael had and the guard (Anson) goes to check while the other guard (Rydak) keep a watch on the group. Meanwhile, Nelia follows Anson down into the camp and watches a group of them go through several crates to look for the objects and they do have an orb in their possession that seems like it could be the one but no scissors. Nelia contemplates some thievery while Anson returns to the group, selling it to them for 50gp. The party want to look through their items to see if there is anything they would like to buy and they are permitted to do so one at a time. Nelia remains inside the tent, invisible as Brian goes down to browse the goods, picking out a few choice items and getting ready to barter a deal. |Session 35 (7th August 2019) - Quaggoths & Raiders
The group begins the session staring into the large hole leading to the Underdark. Syl and Nelia having taken the path before, lead the way. They retrace their earlier steps going through twisting passageways and caverns, all the while descending further underground. Eventually making their way to the blockage caused by the worm previously, they set their explosives. The resulting explosion is massive, creating a giant hole in the rock. With the assistance of Kleeck, they make their way up to a higher passage and enter the large cavern. This is the place where Mirael and Elias were eaten by the worm and the carnage of rock and bodies still remains. Large boring holes into the earth are still there from the battle and the party descends into them, looking for any remains. They discover a lot of blood, scraps of clothing and equipment (including a torn bag of holding). Following the tunnels through leads them to another cavern, this one much more like a thin passageway curving into the distance. The sounds of rushing water in the distance, echoing throughout as they reach a crossroads. They spot a goblin ambush just in time and fight by the river and on the rocky ledges above. The goblins don't last very long and the group decides to follow the worm tunnels even further, leading into a cavern much the same as the first one they arrived in. Hundreds of feet across with large rock formations sprouting from the ground and walls. A group of flumphs are flying along the far end of the cavern and Jael goes to chat with them. They point out they are heading to the only exit big enough for a worm and note the tracks, the party decides to follow. The flumphs fly off and they enter their fist large cavern of the upperdark. It seems to span endlessly in all directions with all manner of stalagmites, stalactites, columns of twisting stone from floor to ceiling and a vast increase in the fungi and plantlife seem previously, giving the whole cavern an ominous green and purple glow illuminating everything and casting shadows. Several 'passageways' seem to go deeper into the Underdark while some appear to climb towards the surface. Jael informs the group these places usually connect all layers of the Underdark together and serve as a main travel route for those living below. Having a little exploration, Jael uses her hammer to try and smash through some of the smaller spirals of rock and with a loud echo smashes one to bits with a few swings. This seems to attract some attention and four quaggoths approach and attack the group who fight back (enter Geoffrey the mammoth), slaying them. There are more approaching and the sounds are getting closer! |Session 34 (30th July 2019) - The Upperdark
Jael alongside the Queen and her team have decoded a few bits of text, including two spells relating to the heart of a dragon. Jael, choosing to have the ritual performed on her to bind the heart of the dragon to her own. The ritual is a success altering her appearance just slightly... Queen Elaris sends a contact of hers (Brian) to assist the party for the time being. Welcoming the extra help they set out towards the guild, with Syl and Jael taking their now almost routine night watches. Brian signs up to the guild and the group gives their 'creature parts' to the researchers there. They notice only the rarest ingredients remain on their supply list as well as a selection of rare and exotic beasts. The work is complete and the guild is now fully finished with its expansion. The group head to Raux to check on their dogs and end up paying for 5 weeks more training across the board. By good chance, it is at this time that Rhia sends Nelia a message asking for an audience. They happily oblige and meet her, she wants them to be her eyes and ears when they are in other towns and cities and report back any info that might be helpful. She also specifically mentions the council are a little uneasy about Chu at the moment with the gnomes tinkering and tampering and asks to try and get some more information on that. Deciding that it's probably time they did so, they choose to head for the Underdark to see if they can find and recover the lost magic items and loot from months back. Moving south to the Groc Peaks they head in and go and see the powder specialist, deciding to spend some gold on black powder and some small bombs. They rest up and head out the eastern side of the range the next day. The group travel to Fooks next and have a few hours shopping and looking around before then heading to Odek. Leaving Melvin and their cart here they begin the trek north and cut into the badlands to visit Karnor in Mog. Approaching the large gates, the orcs keeping watch recognize some of the party from before and notice their amulets promising them access. A small team of bugbears pulls the gate up and they enter. Making their way down towards the battle arena they notice Karnor's shack is gone as well as a few surrounding structures with signs of destruction. Karnor appears behind them and mentions there was an 'incident' and show's them his new office. They ask to be let into the cave as they wish to go back to the Underdark and it is agreed as long as they have an escort with them. Two orcs, a bugbear and an ogre unblock the tunnels they filled in and they escort the party through the caves that look a lot more full than the last time they were here. They stare down into the rather large hole in the ground and prepare themselves... |Session 33 (25th July 2019) - Rituals & Recovery
After a little experimentation, the group work out how the runes work with the HIDE rune making the wall solid or invisible and the ACTIVATE freezing or unfreezing time in the local area. Using this to their advantage they can study beasts before unleashing them into the chamber. After fighting a spider that magically splits into more copies of itself (and capturing one) they uncover the shockingly large figure of the phase spider. This spider packs a little extra punch when it shifts but the party put an end to the creature, harvesting the bits of course. One of the chambers appears broken and has the remains of a long-dead cat-like creature inside, leaving one chamber for last. Making the wall vanish they see a glimmering large metal like scorpion suspended in the chamber, which they ready attacks against and set free. It frantically tries to deal some damage to the group hitting some fantastic eye beam shots and digging in with its claws. It plane shifts away before it can be defeated, leaving the group alone once more beneath the desert. Double-checking not to leave anything behind they go back up the ladder and raid the supplies in the workshop before making their way back to the sand filled entrance room. Kleeck helps fly people out as more sand begins to pour in, burying the hole they made to gain access and soon to erase most of the evidenced anything happened at all. They carefully (with Jael's guidance) make their way back to the main road with no encounters although some were close! They travel north to Odek to collect their cart and Melvin and press on to O'Pax to visit the queen and check out their new home, Jael messages the guild to get the heart sent up there to arrive at the same time as the party. They meet with the queen and she agrees to put some of her best people on the job of decoding the notes, a few highlighted items get priority as they seem to be related to dragons... |Session 32 (16th July 2019) - Mutants
As the group makes their way into the badlands, Syl has an urge to pull out his new sword and gets a vision of the team in the ruins, using black spheres and fire to access them via explosion. Using Jael's expert knowledge of the badlands they manage to avoid several encounters and reach the vast field of ruins by early morning where they find a stone structure to shelter in. Syl and Jael taking turns to watch, hear many sounds in the night but no dangers come close to the party. In daylight, they manage to explore some of the sites of ruins, although hampered by dust storms. They fend off some mephits and manage to locate where they think Ekash's underground chambers are. Syl recognizes the scenario from his vision although they don't have any black spherical devices, opting to use 4lb of black powder in its place. The resulting explosion reveals an underground chamber which the party enters. Making their way through a partially buried door, they find themselves in a large room with desk, lab tables and bookcases. They discover a secret hatch beneath the desk and a hidden room behind the bookcases. Deciding to take the bookcase route first they enter the room and are greeted with four large colourful orbs set into the stone. They work out that touching them all at the same time for about ten seconds causes a secret passage to be revealed and inside find Ekash's research notes which are encrypted. Going back to the hatch they descend into a small room with some runes carved into the walls, loosely translating as HIDE and ACTIVATE in elvish. Certain runes are pressed in certain orders and some interestingly mutated beasts are thrown into the room. The group battle a necrotic boar and a scorpion covered in thick webs and prepare for what else might be down there.... |Session 31 (11th July 2019) - Black Powder
Starting a new day at the guild, the group wait around for this mysterious chest that's to be opened at midday. An important looking figure makes his way in followed by two guild workers carrying the chest, it turns out anyone who can pull the sword from the chest may leave with it and everyone want's to give it a go. Forming a semi-orderly queue the party, as well as number of other groups line up to test their luck and Syl ends up pulling the blade from the chest like it was made of paper. The group head to Raux to meet with the council and learn that the council wants them on their payroll for some top secret operations in future and give them an amulet of sending (cast sending once per day) and mention they will be in touch. They head back to the guild for a couple of days of downtime before making their way to Westport to meet the writers Jael wished to speak to about her dragon heart. Syl learns his blade is known as Zordin's Blade while researching at the guild. Waiting for the Red Rooster to come into port, jael spots the writers (Acamo & Tarkio) from the descriptions given and lets them know she'd like to discuss the matter, they (along with Nelia) head to a seafront tavern and talk, Syl and Kleeck head for the library. Jael learns of an eccentric twisted elf who died over 400 years ago that was renown for dabbling is this kind of thing (Ekash Ashir). He and may other's lost their lives when a magical community mysteriously was wiped from existence in an enormous explosion of magical energy on the site where the Ruined Tower still stands. Syl finds out more about his new sword and learns it's part of the Dzala artifacts, a group of magical items that when combined make the user almost untouchable by magical and nonmagical means. Kleeck practices some basic magical ability to control the weave and scribbles down the ritual for finding a familiar although he needs some assistance. They stay the night in Westport in the Boozy Kraken and head out in the morning on a four day journey to O'Pax where they learn their house has been completed, Queen Elaris meets with the party and gives some more information on the magic settlement from long ago and more specifically Ekash and his emblem. The party head south past Odek and the markets to begin their jaunt into the badlands,.. | Session 30 (2nd July 2019) - Chosen One
The party drag their newest crocodile friend back to the gates and firmly affix it (with chains) to the end of the wall dangling off the cliff edge. They leave the cart behind and decide to go back in and do some more exploring. Making their way to the end of the road, they find themselves surrounded by hills, swampland and marshland. They decide on heading north to see what they can find and come across a much larger swampy area than before. A light mist rolls through the swamp and light rain begins to fall although not much makes it through the thick canopy of trees above them. They fight a small crocodile and awaken a shambling mound which they also destroy, sending the other crocodiles fleeing. Continuing north the reach some flat land where the tree line is much thinner and sunlight gets through, drying the party off a little. They reach a part of the flats where webbing can be seen between some trees and giant spiders seem to be making traps for some nearby beasties. They engage the four spiders, obliterating them with new hammers, firebolts and javelins. They head back towards the main path as night will be approaching soon but as they go back through the swamp lands, two large snakes attack, one from either side. A few bites and some shadowblade/core's heart/winged acrobatics later and one snake is no more and the other knocked out. Jael decides she wants to drag that back too and they get back to cart for night time, chaining everything up and having a nice long rest. Attempting to calm the beasts with food and stroking seems to work for the croc but not the snake as it angrily thrashes about in the cart. They both struggle a little during the journey and several odd glances are had as the giant crocodile is dragged through the city. eventually, they all end up at the guild several days later. They manage to sell the creatures alive for 500 gp because of their extra special environment along with some of the things they foraged in Kek. They learn the guild expansion is almost complete and they appear to be at least half stocked with everything. There are now sending stones available for 300 gp (1 use) or 1800 gp (infinite use but once per day) to buy from the guild. A couple of writers are due in a weeks time in Westport that may know a thing or two about Jael's interest in a dragon heart. In other interesting news a mystery box is to be opened tomorrow upon the owner's instruction which is causing quite a stir and many rumours to fly around. |Session 29 (20th June 2019) - Swamping
The group now fed and rested begin to make plans for what to do next. Their friends head off to the guild to take care of some business and Ereoss promises to make a weapon for Jael and leave it at the guild to pick up. As the party leaves the tavern a couple of guards catch them and upon learning they were the ones who dealt with the dragon, mention the queen would like to see them. The party decide to follow and are led into the royal compound near the abbey where they are told to wait in the compound. Shortly after, more guards come out and the queen follows, approaching the party and offering gratitude for their efforts. She says she doesn't have much to offer as their reserves have gone into the rebuilding of the town but offer them a plot of land where a building will be constructed for them and any future possible favours they might have she will be as accommodating as possible. The next step is to head to Odek to meet with their driver Melvin, horses and cart. They camp alongside the main path and eventually make it there where they do a little shopping, pay Melvin for another 10 days of service and then decide to head through the Yama Valley towards the guild. The elves helping to travel through the night by driving when Melvin needed a rest get them through quicker but they choose to spend a proper rest in Raux on arrival. Leaving for the guild early morning, they reach it in the afternoon. Jael goes to claim her hammer which is rather elegantly made and has a nice warm magical feel to it, she and Kleeck sign up for guild membership for a whole year and they go and browse the notice boards. There seems to be slim pickings and Nelia and Syl notice that as the guild is expanding in size so are the members, there seem to be a lot more 'adventurers' now than there were before. The only things the guild is still looking for is ingredients, materials, and creatures dead or alive. A lot of the easier items have been found but a lot of challenging ones remain, the thing that sticks out, however, is the staggering lack of live creatures brought back so far. After just slaying an ancient dragon how hard can this be? The group make their way back to Raux and rest the night, leaving especially early to travel to Kek, camping off to the side of the road with some shelter as per last time and waking early again to head over to the wooden walls and gate separating the land from everything else. Taking in the cliffs and sharp drops surrounding the river running below and the twisting nature of Kek itself the party go through the gate, closing it behind them and head further west. After about half an hour the land off the main path gets muddier and swampier, a mix of dead and seemingly very alive plant growth everywhere alongside several swamps and streams. Spotting a rather large swampy area they throw rocks among other things inside to see if anything is in there and sure enough a large snout appears followed by the head of a large crocodile. Jael gets her chain out, leaping onto the beast trying to restrain it and the others bombard it with attacks until it's subdued, they drag it out of the swamp and manage to get it back to the main path and the cart. | Session 28 (11th June 2019) - Gifts
The fight with Raphhar continues, the rest of the helpers meet their demise from an explosion of fire from the dragons mouth but in a stroke of luck, another group has shown up to help the party! Pouring inside the cavern they immediately join the fray trying to keep their distance and break through the tough hide and scales with little to no effect. Syl becomes an earth elemental and throws Jael on to the dragon where she begins to deal some impressive damage despite numerous attempts at being shaken off, the rest of the group keep aiming ranged attacks at the flying beast. Some incredibly lucky shots to the underbelly from both groups alongside Jael's efforts manage to weaken Raphhar significantly, who struggles to get enough power to unleash the fiery fury from its throat several times although managing to get out one or two before being forced to ground. Nelia slices the dragon with the Shadowblade along its underbelly with one deep long cut, one of the newcomers manages to fire an arrow of lightning down its throat and another douse the creature in acid, wearing it down but it refuses to give up. The dragon finally meets its end and is harvested by the seemingly innards hungry group. The cave is searched for anything (especially treasure) and nothing is found (especially treasure), looking around it doesn't look like the lair of a red dragon and surmise the lair and possible treasure must be elsewhere. The group heads back along the mountain pass, through the badlands and to O'Pax to rest up for the night, catch up with the new group and plan their next move. |Session 27 (06th June 2019) - Mountain Showdown: Part 2
Meeting back in Mog as agreed, they ask the orcs for some items to assist in killing the dragon and receive an array of goods. Syl is talking loudly (again) about killing dragons as he bumps into Jael, a rather tall drow barbarian, who seems interested in hearing more about said dragon. It does not take much convincing for her to join the party on this quest. Almost as if fate itself intended, moments later, a large bird-like creature dive bombs and lands in front of the group, introducing itself with a series of clicks and bird calls followed by some common which appears to be a relief with the others. Sent to complete a Rite of Passage by his home world he must master a series of tasks on the material plane to be fully accepted as an adult back home, this group looks to be the perfect way to start! Deciding the group isn't yet large enough they send a message to the guild and four more adventurers team up with them to make a supergroup of ten! They start to make their way into the mountains, utilizing their new friends flying skills and knowledge of the area to pinpoint several locations, further narrowed down by the knowledge from the scry session previously, the determine a likely location of the dragon. The dragon is spotted and in they go...into a large cavern with a few rocks scattered around the outsides and a seemingly still dragon in the center. Peering round to get a better look, beams of energy are fired upon the party from the corners of the room and combat ensues with the wizards. The dragon takes flight and a flurry of spells and melee attacks fly around the cavern, crashing on and singing everything they touch. The wizards are weakened by the party while the dragon causes destruction in the middle burning one of the helpers to an untimely crispy death. | Session 26 (29th May 2019) - Mountain Showdown: Part 1
Comments