A timeline of events in the Borromean Shift Campaign with players: Steve Dayley, Andy Delorey, Ryan Chambers, and Brian McNabb.
Mhurren, Tancred, Thari, and Akarui meet for the first time in line for an interview at Gauwis Keep in the Castle of Forodost. The job banner indicates temporary employment on a patrol of the Tanglewood March to investigate reports of ferocious animal attacks. They are interviewed by Riffin Bardaye, Captain of the Forodost Guard.
After leaving a successful interview with Riffin Bardaye at Gauwis Keep, the Thari and Akarui chase a boy posing as a thief through the market square and into an alley where they are attacked by two thugs. With some quick thinking and careful use of skills, the two convince the thugs to leave them alone and go on about their preparations for leaving Forodost.
Discovering the location of the reported wolf attacks, Mhurren, Tancred, Thari, and Akarui find more than they expected in the form of a large Dire Wolf who attacks them as they approach its den (and small offspring). The PCs defeat the Dire Wolf and only afterwards discover the pup they have now orphaned. After a long overwraught discussion about what to do with the poor animal, Mhurren takes action and performs a mercy killing saying that leaving it alone without anyone would be worse.
The PCs take a rest for the night after dealing with the Dire Wolf and making their way to where the Tanglewood Road branches off to the North from the Lake Road.
After making camp and then heading up the Tanglewood Road to the North, the PCs encounter a devilish trap. A scout hidden in a partially snow-covered lean-to to the east of the road pulls a rope and releases 4 deadly rats on the party. A carefully placed Thunderwave spell and some intimidating yells at the lean-to see the party victorious again. Yet, the mysterious assailant escapes to the north on his horse. The escapee is only identified as wearing a green floppy hat (later, they learn the scout's name is Kurst). Searching the lean-to yields an Arcane Lantern and a few other bobbles. The rats, surprisingly, have nothing of value on them.
The players find Eveth Rine stranded with a broken wagon wheel and a wagon full of fine furniture for sale in Forodost. The wagon has been pulled from Wyston by a spectacular draft horse that catches the eye of Tancred. They move in to help her, but are ambushed by four bandits hidden in the underbrush of the forest. During the ensuing fight, Tancred stops at nothing to calm and comfort his new equine friend. After the battle, the other Thari, Mhurren, and Akarui try to ascertain if the horse is "just a friend" to Tancred or something more. After the fight, the PCs interview (some may say extort) Eveth Rine about her situation. They learn that she has a daughter, Becky Rine, who has been threatened by Jared Hiford, aka The Red Scimitar, the leader of these bandits. She pleads with the PCs to help her and take care of the bandit leader and then look in on her daughter to make sure she is safe. After a gift of a magical horn and 100 pieces of gold, the PCs agree and continue up the Wyston Fork.
The PCs move to the North along the Wyston Fork until coming across an area of disturbed foliage on the Eastern side of the road. Investigating this wagon-sized disturbance, the PCs find the path to the bandits hidden camp. Ambushing a pair of bandits sent to search of a locket that Hiford dropped (locked with picture of Becky Rine inside that Hiford stole from Eveth Rine). They interogate one of the bandits to find out that Jared Hiford, the Red Scimitar sits in camp alone and was employed by somebody called Zatok. Also learned that the bandits were only here for a few days, but that reports of animal attacks in the area must have been occurring much longer than that. The PCs make it up the path to the bandit's camp and find Jared Hiford sitting comfortably by a campfire singing some sea shanties. Drunk on power and a fair amount of whiskey, Hiford attacks the PCs and dies for the effort. After the fight, the PCs find a piece of rolled up paper with rough drawings of each of them on it. How Hiford received this intel so quickly and who fed it to him is not clear.
The PCs make camp in the Bandit camp on the Eastern side of the Wyston Fork before heading for the Town of Wyston.
Three Kenku create a diversion of a crying man from a thicket off the road. Not completely fooling Tancred with his expert bird knowledge, but still managing to ambush the players and nearly ending Tancred's budding bird watching career. After a bit of healing to bring back Tancred from the brink, the PCs defeat the Kenku and find that they were mimicking an ambush plan written out in a note annotated by a person named Bek Irsu. There were no clues as to who Bek Irsu might be. The players then achieved a new level of skills and experience, ready to level up after their next long-rest.
Tancred, Thari, and Akarui camp in the forest on the outskirts of Wyston while Mhurren, seeking a bed, a beer, and a bitch, went into town for a good night's rest. In the morning, all of the PCs are lvl 2.
Tancred, Thari, and Akarui arrive in the Town of Wyston and start to look for Becky Rine. After a leisurely morning, Mhurren joins them. During their time in town, they interact with Lyre Penney, Fenton Grehill, the Mayor, and numerous shopkeepers and townsfolk. The townsfolk seem friendly, concerned about the recent animal attacks, and very healthy.
The PCs decide to head to the Kishuc Ruins along the Old Road that leads out of Wyston. They head out at night and arrive in the morning, taking on a scouting expedition up a ridge that overlooks Kishuc Valley and the ruins of the former capitol city of the defunct nation of Darana.
In the southern part of the valley, the PCs explore an Eothisian temple in surprisingly good condition. After sending a Xvart Wizard on his was and taking care of the wizard's other companions, they discover a secret passage into Kishuc Castle. They take this passage without lighting up a torch while Akarui stumbles around in the dark, as the only party member without dark vision.
Tancred, Akarui, Thari, and Mhurren arrive at the Kishuc Ruins with two goals in mind: 1) find Becky Rine, and 2)collect some purple mushrooms for Hartas Eveward back in Wyston.
After fighting off some bugs, visiting a waterfall, the PCs run across a slightly distraught Noge Stonescript and his expedition to study the fall of Darana. One of Noge's guards, Salder Gaunt was struck in the head by a falling building stone. The same rock fall also injured Noge's apprentice, Lita Chimsmit, who has a broken lower leg. Noge tells Akarui, Tancred, Mhurren, and Thari about the fall of Darana (or what he knows) and asks them to search for information inside the Castle ruins about the fall of Kishuc. He will split the remaining pay with them and has some other items they might find interesting if they bring proof to his office at the University of Hyton, in Hyton.
Entering the undercroft of Kishuc Castle through a secret passage, the PCs encounter several spiders. With some creative shape changing by Akarui, the lair and hiding place of a Giant Spider is discovered before it can attack them from the darkness. Defeating the spiders, the players rescue Becky Rine from becoming a future meal for the Giant Spider. Becky tells them what she knows about Kishuc Castle and that she has a way into a part of the castle that everyone else has forgotten. She says the key is related to The Tale of Old King Joseph.
Passing through the secret door in the Bas Relief carving behind the stone throne of the great hall of Kishuc Castle, the PCs make their way down the Kings Stair and into a lavishly carved and decorated chamber. In the chamber they find several dead skeletons and a message carved into a door above a skull. Figuring a way to open the door, their exploration takes a detour as a humming in their head that has been growing since the entered the castle gets the best of them. They decide to return later to explore the passage beyond the doors barred by the skull.
Placing their hands into depressions on the surface of a metal door that no one has been able to open, at least within the memory of Becky Rine, the players find a pristine armory. Within they receive a vision from Norta who reveals deeper events brewing in the The Kingdom of Fenlor and across all of Arathel that may reshape the foundation of the world itself. The message states that the PCs are the chosen of the gods to help stop the threat of Nenduriel. To aid in their mission, they receive gifts.
Thari, Akarui, Mhurren, and Tancred, after discovering a divine prophecy around their quest, enter the long, dark tunnel that lay at the bottom of the Kings Stair, behind the mural depicting tale of Old King Joseph in Kishuc Castle. As they move down the hallway, they are greeted with steadily decreasing temperatures, a glowing fog, and visions of the fight to save Kishuc Castle from unknown invaders coming through a portal. Entering the portal room, Akarui eloquently convinces a skeletal Captain of the guard that they are not foes, but there to defend the castle. The captain leaves the part with Sgt Winston who decides you are too much of a risk and attacks. Defeating these enemies, the players discover an un-powered portal, the existence of such they have never heard of on Arathel or anywhere on Quel itself. On a raised pedestal, they see a carved set of overlapping rings that appear to be some kind of control device patterned after the Borromean Rings that describe Quel's Magical Energies.
After their discovery their divine destiny to somehow defeat an upstart god, Ndu, "From on High", Mhurren, Akarui, Thari, and Tancred make their way to the entrance of the valley of the Kishuc Ruins to rest for the night.
After a long, lazy nap in the woods, the party makes its way back to Wyston only to discover a plume of smoke rising from the town. Rushing to see what is happening, the party is met with calls for help and a plea to save Fenton Grehill who is stuck inside his burning house. The party prepares to rush to action to save this elderly member of town who recently survived a bear attack when they hear sounds of banging from the SW portion of Wyston, near Harta's Herbs and Healing. Akarui stays and miraculously save Fenton while Mhurren, Tancred, and Thari encounter a group of Gnolls attempting to kidnap Hartas Eveward. A battle ensues, almost taking the life of Mhurren, but a deft pincer move by Akarui and some timely healing resulted in the rescue of Hartas from some unknown fate.
While the party is engaged with a still befuddled Hartas, Mhurren leaves and goes into Hartas' house to try and figure out what the gnolls were after. Inside, Mhurren finds broken chairs, char marks around door the were likely do to the fight between the gnolls and Hartas, Hartas' crystal and its broken chain, and the entrance way carpet is thrown back revealing a trap door to the basement. Mhurren, with the best of intentions, crawls down into an office like area with scrolls and a potion mixing area. On the western wall, two banners bracket a map of the Hyton area; one hangs slightly askew. Mhurren peaks behind the banner to reveal a thin crack and tunnel. The reconnaissance mission complete, Mhurren returns to the party.
A deep discussion with Hartas for Thari's next big seller tell-all book, the party discovers important information about the portal they discovered in Kishuc Castle.
Taking a rest to heal and gather needed supplies, Mhurren, Thari, Akarui, and Tancred decide to head out for the mine early in the morning to arrive a couple of hours past dawn at the mine.
The party makes the few hour hike to the Wyston Silver Mine in the wee hours of the morning. Upon arrival, they are greeted with carnage, death, and several gnolls both inside and outside of the mine itself. Before delving into the mine, Tancred meets a new friend, Genghis Khan, a large mastiff without a master who develops an attachment to the gnome. Fighting their way through the mine, the party encounters bat like creatures, rescues miners barricaded in a passage from a pair of gnolls, and several other gnolls going in an out of a natural cavern that seems to have been discovered by the mine company.
Entering a natural cavern covered with crystals emanating a slight blue glow, the party comes face to face with the leader of the Rampage Pack, Zatok Furybinder. Through a battle that stretches across two months, the party defeats Zatok, three skeletal gnolls, and a small creature that looks to be demonic in nature. After the battle, the party makes two fateful decisions. First, they decide to rush after an elder gnoll who left the cavern through a door to the east and second, in their haste they leave behind two injured miners in a cart, with plans to return and help them.
The party finds an ancient circular stairs that lead to an upper exit to the cavern where they fought and defeated Zatok Furybinder. The motifs of the fallen nation of Darana cover the walls of the stairs and path to the outside. Opening the door, they encounter Drokin 'Bloodgazer', the shaman of the Rampage Pack, who appears to be waiting calmly for them to arrive.
Travel back to Wyston. The PCs make their way back to Wyston from the Wyston Silver Mine with a difficult story of woe and triumph to tell when they arrive. They don't encounter anything strange or complicating on their journey.
Arriving in Wyston, Mhurren, Thari, Akarui, and Tancred tell the story of the events of the Wyston Mine to the inhabitants of Wyston. Many are relieved that the threat of Gnoll attack seems to be over and they thank the characters. Indeed, the mayor arranges with Shelan Carter to give them free rations for their trip back to Forodost. Yet, not all are happy with events. Rima Arnet, an 11 year old girl, discovers that both of her parents were brutally murdered by Gnolls and that she is now an orphan. Her life has been flipped on its head and she no longer has her parents to help her make her way. Luckily for her, family friends, will be taking her in and caring for her.
After fighting numerous gnolls, hiking many miles, and explaining the results to the villagers, the party is exhausted and sleeps soundly for the night in the Axe and Hammer Inn.
Having defeated the gnoll threat, but still unsure of how to deal with the impending threat of Ndu and how the portal system fits into all of this, they return to Hartas Eveward to report what happened. After unsuccessfully concealing that the party made a deal with Drokin 'Bloodgazer' to find a magical book in return for directions to where the Siqir crystals were taken by the gnolls, they learn of a secret, ancient archive of the Kingdom of Fenlor buried deep within Soul's Rest in Soulguard Mountain, just adjacent to Ambury Temple.
Thari, Tancred, Akarui, and Mhurren load up their gear and travel back to Forodost to report to Riffin Bardaye and receive their pay for the completed job.
The party reports their accomplishments in the Tanglewood March to Riffin Bardaye. They explain that bandits were staging fake animal attacks and that gnolls had attacked the Wyston Silver Mine. Additionally, a member of the Wyston community, Hartas Eveward was nearly kidnapped by the gnolls. The motivations of the Bandits and the Gnolls and any connection there were not discussed, but the party did convince Bardaye that the immediate threat had passed.
Throughout their discussion, the Captain looked weary and stressed out, as if he had not been sleeping well recently or been working very hard for some reason. Upon leaving the keep with their pay, the party engaged with a curious castle guard and learned that the wife and daughter of the Captain Bardaye had been in Ambury Temple for two years, comotose and not looking good. In exchange, the party told the guard that they had fought off gnolls in the north.
Akarui, Mhurren, Thari, and Tancred decide to rest up and perform some self-care for a few days in Forodost before moving on to Ambury Town in search of Garn Hobrook and entrance into the Soul's Rest caverns. Each member of the party took on their own goals:
Upon arrival at the docks in Ambury, the party surveys the other ships around them seeing many colorful sails marking different groups and types of transport. Amongst the many vessels, they notice a group of people disembarking from a ship with all black sails. The leader of the Syntyvä religion, Kesa Modwinn descends the gangplank and enters Ambury Town.
Descending from the Temple after searching Garn Hobrook's rooms and heading toward the The Blazing Violet, Tancred, Thari, Genghis, Mhurren, and Akarui were blocked by a group of humans, several with masks in common clothing, a robed man, and a bald guy with a Phoenix tattoo covering his scalp. The masked group tells the party that they were observed following Kesa Modwinn, leader of the Syntyvä Religion, and tell them to leave town or they will make them. The party's responds by saying that they will have to make them. The fight is relatively short and our group captures two men: Beorn Ephers and Alten Connors, a acolyte of the new gods.
Thari, Mhurren, Tancred, and Akarui make their way up to the Ambury Temple and ask to speak with Garn Hobrook, the friend of Hartas Eveward who they know is a member of the Arathelian Order. After the medical student in white robes (who they later learn is named Aryyn Gilwood) who greets them at the entrance to the building cannot find Garn inside, he asks them to wait and fetches Phillip Cays, a friend of Garn's and a ranking Parson of the Ambury Temple.
Phillip takes them inside and tells them that Garn has been missing for 3 days - at least at his best guess. He agrees to take them to look through Garn's room...(see full entry for search results)
To avoid the approaching guard, the party takes their captives, Beorn Ephers and Alten Connors up to the temple where they convince Phil to let them interrogate them in a classroom.
Our intrepid party makes it to the The Blazing Violet just before closing and find Violet Lapelis working behind the counter on the main floor.
After completing their interrogations of Beorn Ephers and Alten Connors, Akarui, Mhurren, and Thari, along with Alten, meet the sheriff, Brys Caldwell in the hallway and explain to him the nature of the attack by the Children of the Embers goons. In addition, they tell him of Beorn Ephers and convince Brys to take Beorn in for questioning.
Along with Deirdra Tarnack, Thari and Tancred enter the Three Stones Inn and decide to have a drink in this place Deirda describes as not a “locals” bar.
After a long day on the 17th of Varisan filled with religious and secular travails, they PCs awake to the cloud covered, early spring morning of the 18th of Varisan fully rested and feeling as if they have grown in their skills. Asleep at 3am, the party wakes and begins their day at ~11 am. They decide that their first move should be to check in on their appointment with the High Parson Agnor Mirophel, but on their way to the Ambury Temple a series of events changes their day (see full entry for details).
Tancred follows up on a hint from Aryyn Gilwood about entrances to the cave systems, changing into a salmon he swims his little tail up a dark, 20ft long cave.
In response to what Akarui saw after following Miru Oshiete from the Salty Clam Tavern to his ship, the Masayoshi - which Akarui translates as "Justice, righteousness, honor, and loyalty" all wrapped into one - he passes an ultimatum to Oshiete.
The ground shakes the Temple and town of Ambury as shock waves from some undetermined source travel from South to North across the area.
With Akarui done threatening Miru Oshiete and Tancred and Thari completing a recon mission below the waterfall, the PCs head to their meeting with the head of the Ambury Temple, High Parson Agnor Mirophel – Healing Hand, Guardian of the Rest, Watcher of the Stones, High parson of the Cleric Council. Expressing their desire to enter the archives at Soul's Rest and sharing what they know of Garn's disappearance and their concerns about the growing threat of the Children of the Embers, the PC's leave with an agreement of sorts to find Garn and remove the threat of Lenore Stavely one way or another. Once these two missions are complete, Agnor Mirophel will grant access to the archive.
Following a trail of Calabar Beans (i.e., Chop Nuts) off the main trail between Ambury and Portward where the players were hoping to enquire about Garn Hobrook, they are attacked by a group of robed half-human, half-animal beasts. With Mhurren tromping through the woods, Thari getting pushed off a cliff, and the beasts getting the jump on Tancred, it doesn't look good for the small band of adventurers. Yet, in the end, they triumph and attempt to interview a surviving man-beast to little success. Mhurren runs it through to stop its jabbering. After the fight, two events of interest occurred...
Tancred, Thari, Akarui, Mhurren, and Genghis make their way to the small town of Portward located in the shadow of Soulguard Mountain and the entrance to Soul's Rest. This sleepy town of ~100 residents hosts several buildings including a small tavern and a royal guardhouse just adjacent to the door to Soul's Rest. Interviewing the town's folk, including the Mayor Odo and the former owner of the Regal Respite, Aisa Freewater, the adventurer's learn a few tidbits of information...
After a night's rest in the Freewater Manse in Portward, the band of adventurers head down the path that approaches the backside of the Regal Respite to see what they can see. Nearing the Respite, they overhear two, hushed male voices: one of Jezoq Ghulam and the other of Bek Irsu.
Tancred, Thari, Mhurren, Akarui, and Genghis decide to make their way underneath the Regal Respite. Learning from the conversation they overheard between Jezoq Ghulam and Bek Irsu that they only have two days to save Garn, stop an event they believe will harm the town's villagers, and do something about the movement of the "nascent one", they have little time to lose and rush to action. Yet, Genghis seems to forget about the mission as soon as a squirrel runs across his path....
Moving into the sub-basement of the respite, the group follows the lead of Tancred and Thari who previously snuck into this same area from beneath one of Ambury Town's waterfalls. Passing out of a cold storage room and into cobblestoned tunnels, Tancred scouts about as a Rat and overhears two men (Milannos and Dylan) discussing the evening activities as they sort through robes of several colors. Tancred learns that a large event with "all of them" will be occurring that night with the Phoenix Amulets that members of the Children of the Embers being used to summon town devotees.
With Tancred's clever use of the Minor Illusion spell to emulate the voices of guards they see in the Respite basement, the sad tale of Andre, Brawn, and Jason begins as the group ambushes all three in quick succession, knocks them unconscious, and dumps their limp forms into the drainage tunnel they just left. "Onward to victory!" they whisper as they then penetrate further into the depths beneath the Respite.
Moving to the southwest, our heroes pass through a now empty robe room (Milannos and Dylan evidently moved on) and discover a guard outpost in the next room. Rushing the outpost with the stealth and precision the group have come to expect from Tancred (i.e., seen by the guards before he makes a move), they storm the guard station and are able to take them all out just before one of the human guards is able to unlock a gate at the southern end of the room. Careful to keep one of the enemies alive, they learn a few things from interrogating it....
Looking around the guardroom, Mhurren finds a set of keys and picks them up while Akarui spots a concealed switch on the floor that opens up a secret door with a pitch black passage crawling with spiders and damp with water infiltration. The group says "wow...how welcoming and homey!" and decide to brave the depths of the secret passage.
Stepping out of the dark, moist secret passage, the adventurers are assaulted by a wave of odors. Sticky and slow, the warm air invades airways and carries with it sweat, blood, feces, and fear mingled together in a putrid mix that leaves you staggered with its impact. The group finds a room of disgustingly dirty pits that act as cells with very heavy grates keeping them closed. Mhurren, through raw strength, is able to lift the grates and free three prisoners. Two appear to be from the Free Cities and one is Ander Yeoman. They learn a few things from the now free prisoners...
Genghis warns the group of something approaching and they successfully ambush a pair of guards looking exactly as the two prisoners from the Free Cities who they just rescued and what appeared to be a magic user covered in scales. They quick use of the moonbeam spell by Thari combined with very effective team work stopped the apparent magic user in its tracks and made quick work of the other two guards, one of whom surrendered as death approached. Interrogation of this creature revealed some bits of information including....
Making their way past the cell pits and into the infirmary for a check up with their friendly doctor, Aidan Turner, his assistant Isabel Gracelyn, and their friend Sharon Pendark, Mhurren successfully negotiates the return of Ander Yeoman's belongings while Tancred attempts to use his prestidigitation spell in new ways with Sharon, Thari stands guard at a door in the SW that never opens, and Akarui receives compliments on his leafy hair. In addition, the crew receives a suggestion from Aidan about a room upstairs where they might be able to rest for a bit without being disturbed.
Making their way up from the level of the cells and the infirmary, Tancred, Thari, Genghis, Mhurren, and Akarui with Ander Yeoman in tow arrive make the choice to head west down a corridor with a slightly ajar door and obvious scrape marks on the ground. At the end of the corridor, an oddly smooth wall is revealed to be a secret door that can be opened by a cleverly hidden button on the wall. Inside our heroes find a variety of materials including brass bars, gold and silver wire, some gold coins, a chest of white robes, and a poison needle trapped wooden box with a multi-colored Bangle of Memory Crystallization inside. In the relative safety of this room, the party takes a quick breath, but decide that they must keep moving.