Devon Tremaine
Devon Tremaine
Devon sports black hair in a pony tail to mid back, with a well groomed goatee & he has a small scar above his left eye. He can be quick to smile or scowl, depending on who he is dealing with. He stands just over 6 feet tall, with an athletic build. He wears a breastplate and wields his pick like it is an extension of himself when out adventuring. He collects lore about monsters and threats to civilization, often having just the right thing to deal with a threat! He likes to dress nicely when relaxing in a city with friends. His eyes are always watching and he very much enjoys puzzles of all kinds.
A Thaumaturge, fascinated by learning more about the world and the monstrosities that live within it, Devon looks forward to this journey with stalwart companions!
View Character Profile
Alignment
Lawful Good
Age
18
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Black
Hair
Long Black, usually tied in a pony tail
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Lightly tanned caucasian
Height
6' 1"
Weight
210 lbs
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The hunt for Kraw continues
The Tiger turned out to be an Undead Juvenile Sabretooth! It quickly bit Gabriel, using him as a chew toy. It then tried to flee with him in it's maw! We managed to catch it and get the bad kitty to drop him before it got away, but it was a near thing! We moved away from the fight area. As we did so, Tetsu noticed a larger Sabretooth in the distance. We moved further away, seeing it go sniff at the one we had just defeated, then move off towards the mountains. We continued traveling for the rest of the day without event. The following 2 days passed without event as well. The following day we came to the outskirts of Drevja. The outskirts, while seemingly empty, were intact. However, the center of town seemed to simply be a huge hole in the ground. We could hear some sort of constant tinkling sound coming from all around. We approached the hole to peer down into it. Below, we saw about 100 Zombie type humanoids methodically swinging picks at the walls some 20 feet or so down. They seemed to be digging generally NE towards the ocean. There was a cart in the center that they would occasionally put things into. The cart was on a path that led into a cave in the side of the pit. All told, the pit was the very large (several football fields in size). We backed off to talk about it, finally deciding to look around for an alternate entrance into the cave system. We spent 2 days searching, but did not find anything that might lead into the cave system.
The next morning we spent about an hour searching the remaining buildings, again finding nothing more of interest. Zarzuketgalom decided to shoot a crossbow bolt down near a small group of Zombies to see how they reacted. Only one took any notice of the bolt, picking it up to look at it, before dropping it and turning back to it's mining work. With this in mind he and Tetsu tied off some ropes and began climbing down from above the hole. The rest of the group followed. We had barely entered the cave before being attacked by 4 Zombie Bugbears. We finished the fight quickly, just in time to see a large bull headed humanoid rushing toward us! Devon recognized this as a Vampire Minotaur. It quickly had the front row back on their heels, but the group managed to take it out. We moved in to where the Minotaur had come from, finding nothing but the creatures coffin there. We rested, then destroyed the coffin before moving on. Exploring several passages we found most led to cave-ins or looped back on themselves. Only one passage led to a well appointed room. Here there was a bed, a desk with papers & a chest. Alyva found a journal written in Necril. We collected it to take back to Nyksund for translation. Vinia attempted to open the locked chest. She set off a cold trap that blasted everyone in the room. The rest of the group faded back while she again attempted to open it, assuming the trap was now expended. However, she again set off the trap. We took some time to heal everyone up, then talked about the best way to handle this. We decided it would be best to haul the chest out of here and work at disabling it elsewhere. Tetsu and Devon started to lift it, when Tetsu noticed a clicking noise from underneath. He called out to stop & they quickly set it back down. Now Vinia decided to try disabling the trap in place. This time, she was successful, disabling the cold trap and unlocking it. Inside the chest we found some fancy clothes, a sack of coins and a small box of gemstones.
We gathered the items and headed out of the cave, as there did not appear to be any other ways to go inside. We discussed our options, going back to Nyksund or continuing on to Bodo. We decided to continue on to look for Kraw or any clues as to their whereabouts. Once we rested a bit Gabriel realized he actually could understand Necril! He told us the book was written by Kraw. He mostly complained about the population not being converted fast enough in Nordarno. He spoke about looking for something he referred to as an "anchor". He stated he had to go to Bodo to report to his superior.
Zarzuketgalom, a New Hope!
We divvied up the loot we had found. Gabriel helped Devon pay for a magic rune for his weapon with his share! The group spent time on various tasks around town for a week. Tetsu and Vinia helped out with a barn raising on the edge of the city. While there, they met a Gnome (Tiefling) man. He introduced himself as Zarzuketgalom. He described himself as a follower of Magrim, the Dwarven god of the afterlife. He agreed to come back to have a drink with them at the end of the day, where he met the rest of the group. After some introductions and discussion they asked him to join their group. He readily agreed, agreeing to become another minion of Celeste.
After about 6 days we heard that the Gavel of Abadar, the other beginning adventuring group, returned as well. On day 8, we headed back towards Nordarno, then on to the area between Drevja and Bodo. Zarzuketgalom was happy to join us! We spent a cold, if uneventful, 7 days traveling. Our new companion, as well as Vinia's new training in Survival, helped a lot. Just before we reached Tuv again, they failed to find a sheltered spot. Half the group woke up fatigued. We approached cautiously, watching for any sign that the village had been over-run while we had been away for 3 weeks. We soon saw townsfolk, who rushed inside as we came into sight. We headed to the town hall, where Thorson was happy to see us. We could see clear signs of large claw marks in the posts at the front of the town hall. When Zarzuketgalom asked about the marks, Thorson told us that a large white bear had attacked, but noone had been hurt. We decided it would be best for us to destroy the Undead Polar Bear before it managed to hurt, or kill, someone. We spent the remainder of the day preparing, before heading out to track the bear.
After a good night's rest, we headed out to find the beast! Recalling that we had seen the bear to the west last, we confirmed with Thorson that the bear had gone that way. We soon found ourselves near the cave where we had found the body of Somerled, Hulda's husband. It had not noticed us, so we prepared and then headed in! Our battle strategy worked well. We defeated the creature with little damage taken. We took it's head and returned to Tuv to tell them the good news! The villagers were overjoyed to see proof of the destruction of the beast! They rewarded us & threw a feast in honor of the defeat of the bear. Tetsu told the story of the beast's defeat. We enjoyed the evening and a restful sleep afterward. The following morning we continued on toward Nordarno. We traveled, uneventfully, for another 8 days before reaching Nordarno. We found the village much as we left it, taking some time to visit the gravesite of Rubani, before continuing along the coast towards Drevja.
The following day we encountered 3 creatures lurching towards us along the road. These turned out to be Ghasts. We defeated them but not before taking a fairly good beating! We looted and burned the corpses, then continued onward, after taking some time to heal. Later that day we were attacked by a Sabretooth Tiger with Glowing green eyes!
Time to rescue some people!
We rested for the night at Hogni's home, without incident. In the morning Rubani and Tetsu both felt distracted "in a fog" so to speak. They felt well enough to continue on. Hogni led us outside the village to a hillside to the gem mine. There were 4 people standing in front of the mine entrance, seemingly completely motionless. Alyva wanted to try sneaking closer so she could cast a spell on the group. The group was not confident this would work, as we are not the stealthiest group... Rubani stood out from everyone else and made quite a bit of noise. All 4 of the "people" turned in Rubani's direction. As they grew closer, several of the group were able to identify them as Zombie Shamblers. We moved in and made quick work of them. Hogni offered to hide outside and call a warning to us if he saw anyone approaching. Entering the cavern we soon came to a 20 foot wide, shallow river running through the cavern. After several dunkings we managed to get to the other side. We found a wooden bridge on the far side, which we put into place before continuing further in. Before long we found some wooden cages with people in them. We could see a decaying humanoid holding a child in it's hands. A voice from further in said "Choose, the child dies or you become one of us". We immediately leapt to save the child! We were able to kill the Shambling Zombie & the Plague Zombie quickly, but then had a very bad time with the Undead who was giving orders. He wielded both magic and his scythe very effectively. Rubani fell to the scythe, cut nearly in 2. He died from the blow :( We eventually felled the Undead, then turned to saving the villagers. We found a note on the boss bad guy. It read "Convert as many villagers as you can" & was signed Kraw. The villagers were able to tell us the boss went by the name Shardoss. There were about 50 of them to rescue.
We healed up the worst off for about an hour, before we escorted everyone back to the village of Nordarno. They decided they should travel back to Nyksund with us. While they gathered what belongings they could find, we went back to the cave to burn the Undead corpses,, as well as Rubani on a separate pyre. We then returned to Nordarno to gather the villagers and headed on the return trip to Nyksund. Tetsu continued to fight off the disease he had contracted from the Festering Gnashers. It took a few days, but he eventually did fight it off. We arrived at Tuv without incident, where we collected Hulda and her daughters. We then continued on to Nyksund. We were ushered into the city by the guards. We were told by the guards to go to the Wolf's Lodge, the church of Erastil, where Anarzee Whisperwind was waiting to speak with us. We headed there right away. Arrving, we saw an Elven woman dressed in gleaming silver armor standing out front. She noticed us and hurried over to meet us. She said she was sorry for our loss, referring to the death of Rubani. We thanked her and she asked is we had learned anything of note. We showed her the note we had found on the corpse of Shardoss. She said the other group of adventurers had not yet returned. She then asked if we would mind looking into the creature named in the note, Kraw. We offered to look for the other group as well, since they had not returned. We asked if they knew anything about Kraw. Apparently, they had last heard that name as being off somewhere between Drevja & Bodo. This area lay beyond Nordarno, where we had just come from. We told her the types of Undead we had fought along the way. She gave us some magic to thank us for our help before she flew off. We then went to take some much needed downtime before heading out again!
Are we there yet? Do we really wanna be?
We journeyed onward, but soon heard the sound of howls drifting on the wind ahead of us. We heard the sounds off and on as we proceeded. As we approached a wooden bridge the howls grew louder. Several of us could tell that they sounded like Wolves, but somehow hollow. From across the bridge, a group of 6 Skeletal Wolves charged at us! We took them down without too much effort. We took some time to heal a bit and break the bones so they could not be animated again. We traveled a bit further before we saw a small white rabbit off to one side of the path, past a barricade. As we approached, it turned and we saw the blood dripping from it's mouth... We then noticed another and another and another and ... there were 10 all together. They quickly advanced on us, gnashing their teeth together! Vinia and Devon were able to identify these as Predatory Rabbits. We were managing them fairly well, then Rubani cast a positive energy healing spell. He killed almost all of them, leaving only 3, badly damage, creatures still moving. We quickly mopped up the rest. We took a bit of time to heal Tetsu, before looking to see if we could find any sign of people nearby. We found 1 corpse nearby. We decided to stop for the day, setting up a funeral pyre for the poor soul who had been killed and eaten by bunnies :( Gabriel was not able to find a good break from the wind, leaving poor Alyva and Gabriel fatigued the following day.
The next day we traveled without event. Gabriel was able to find a much better campsite that night! The following morning we saw a thick column of black smoke in the direction of Nordarno. We continued moving forward. As we approached the town we saw a large burning Skeleton moving about in a burning building. Past the burning building we noticed a group of somewhere around a half dozen floating heads patrolling. Several of us were able to identify the large Skeleton as a Burning Skeleton. We decided we could probably handle the skeleton, so we headed to fight it. This creature reacted differently than the other Undead we had fought, turning to fight whichever of us had hurt it the most. It dropped Devon and almost dropped Vinia, before we felled it. Rubani finished it off with a great swing of his sword, shattering it into pieces! We took some time to heal up, before creeping forward to see if we could determine if anyone recognized the flying heads. We were not very stealthy though, with the creatures suddenly turning and flying towards us! We eventually defeated them, but not before they had managed to drop Testsu and Devon. After we defeated these creatures, which we identified as Festering Gnashers, an old man with one arm opened a door nearby and waved us in. He told us he had been out foraging when the other citizens were taken away to a nearby gem mine. They had been taken by a "rotting" man and his companions. He introduced himself as Hogni, a former Ranger that lived using his skills to forage and hunt the land to contribute to the village.
Continuing on to Nordarno
After burning the dead, including the Skeletons, we traveled on using the remaining daylight. The night was uneventful, if cold. Traveling for another day we did not find quite enough shelter. The wind howled while we tried to sleep, though we were all hardy enough to shrug off any discomfort. The next day we found the weather starting to turn worse. We stopped to discuss what we should do, then decided to push on. Gabriel led our small band of budding adventurers onward into the blizzard. Soon, it became apparent we were lost in the white-out conditions. We decided to set camp. As we began to pull out our tents Rubani & Tetsu spotted a structure in the distance. They led our group towards it. Arriving we knocked & were greeted by an Ulfen woman. She quickly invited us in, introducing herself as Hulda. She and her 2 daughters, Signy and Thora, were anxiously awaiting the return of her husband, Somerled, who had gone out earlier looking for a great white bear they had seen periodically in the last little while. The bear had started to appear "odd" & look sick lately. She fed us a hearty meal while we waited for the storm to pass and her husband to return. After a few hours the storm did indeed die down. We offered to go look for her husband & headed out to do so. Gabriel led us in a meandering line to the north. After some time we spotted a Bear pawing at a cliff side ahead. Most of us could see blood on the Bear, some could tell it appeared to be rotting... We prepared for battle and advanced, until Devon took a longer look at this Undead Polar Bear and suggested caution. He recognized this was likely a very powerful foe and suggested they find a way up to the top of the cliff, where they could rain attacks from above. By the time the group found a safe way up and got there the Bear had wandered off. The group chose to backtrack to get back to the cave, rather than take the quick way down the rock face. We all squeezed into the small cave opening. We soon heard scratching coming from ahead. As we advanced we were attacked by a large Badger. We defeated it with minimal effort. Unfortunately, we found the body of an Ulfen man further in. He had died sometime earlier in the day. We recuperated for a bit and then bundled up the body, before heading back to the home of Hulda. She identified the body as her husband. She asked that we help with building a pyre for him, then help them get to the nearby village of Tuv. We readily agreed.
Hulda helped Gabriel find a good spot to camp that night. The following day we continued on to the village. As we approached a small group of buildings on the outskirts we heard some odd banging coming from them. We asked Hulda & her children to stay back, but fairly close to the group. As we approached the 3rd house we found the banging was coming from there. A wagon had been tipped against door. We called out to see if anyone was in need. A woman called back that she was trapped & asked for help. Runia and Tetsu leapt into action, pulling the wagon aside. Unfortunately, once the door was opened, it was clear that the "Woman" was some sort of Undead. She smiled with an evil grin and thanked the adventurers for their help. In the shadows behind her we could see more shapes moving. This turned out to be a Ghoul, leading half a dozen Zombies. Once again, the melee worked through which end of their weapons to hold. They seemed to be starting to figure it out... The back line was again very helpful while the melee kept them clear to cast their spells and throw their bombs. We searched the house the Undead had come from, finding nothing special. The other 2 houses were locked. We left them alone and continued into the village. We were met by the village leader, Thorson. He welcomed Hulda and her children. They offered us a pouch of gold for our help with the Undead. They were the ones who had trapped them in the house & were glad to have them destroyed. They offered to let us stay with them for the night & fed us well. We explained that we were on our way to the next village, Nordarno. We told them we planned to make contact with them and offer aid to anyone we could in getting back to the city. We also explained that if they felt overwhelmed here at any time that they should make their way back to Nyksund. They would be welcomed into the city. Thinking back on our fight, Vinia and Tetsu recognized the lead Undead as a Ghoul. This led Vinia to recognize that Alyva had been infected with Ghoul Fever. Vinia tried to help her fight it off, but with limited success... Alyva got worse the next day. Vinia again tended to the disease. Alyva again got worse... The rest of the party helped where they could around the village in the meantime. This continued for several days with Alyva sometimes getting better, sometimes worse. After the 5th day we talked it out and decided to borrow the sled from Hulda and pull Vinia through the day while she rests, so that she can tend to Alyva during the night. We hoped this would work out so that noone would be fatigued & Alyva would, hopefully, have the benefit of being tended to. This worked well for about a day, then suddenly Alyva took a turn for the worse. She got so we could not even wake her with healing. With Vinia's help though, she was able to turn it around and shake it off after a few more days. We got to the point of starting to build the funeral pyre, but were glad to be able to leave it behind, unlit!
The Adventure Begins
The adventurers each arrived from various places to volunteer to help with the Undead problem. Only Devon & Gabriel Tremaine arrived together, though Devon was pleased to see his cousin Alyva had come to offer her help as well! After making some introductions it was clear that about half the people here were an already established group, Abadar's Gavel, led by an Elven Bard, Dagiel Noroloth. The rest admitted to having no real adventuring experience, with only their willingness to help the city of Nyksund uniting them. The folks without a group agreed to work together. About this time a woman, introducing herself as Nora, came in to speak with us and explain how we could help. After she got our information and was about to explain in a bit more detail she suddenly stopped and looked towards the doorway. Turning we saw a man with obviously arcane robes standing there. He dismissed her and took over the explanation. He explained that the threat in the mountains was severe. He said to avoid them and just travel to the outlying cities to try to re-establish communication, killing Undead where we could, but staying safe first of all. When asked, he introduced himself as Lyco Macatus. Most of us had heard of him, he being the creator of the spell that protects the city from the cold. He told us to be extrememly careful of the weather outside the protective spell as well. making sure to wear cold weather gear & travel only during the day. He explained that the Iceborne Company would provide any mundane supplies that we needed. He asked us to get to know one another more, explaining a room had been arranged for one night at the Clansmen's Slumber, the finest Inn in the city. He then excused himself. We headed for the Clansmen's Slumber. Arriving there we were shown to our room. We dropped off our combat gear, then headed downstairs to eat. While we broke bread together we spoke about our world views & learned more about one another.
The next morning we were awakened by a rapid knock at our door. Opening it, Vinia found a Halfling woman with a cart load of warm weather clothing. She introduced herself as Poppy. She was very excited to meet us! It turned out she was a member of the Iceborne Company. She had a Raven with her that she named Coal. Alyva asked about where we should be going. She handed us a scroll with our orders, then wished us well and was on her way. Alyva knew the area of the Island fairly well. At this time of year she felt it would probably take about 3 weeks to get to Nordano, our first destination. Luckily, Gabriel had read enough about ways to survive in the wild that he could keep the rest of us from freezing to death. On our 3rd day out we found 5 odd mounds just off the trail. Investigating, we found that this seemed to be a family that had perished here. They had been killed by weapons & left off the sides of the path. We laid them to rest as best we could, considering the frozen ground. We had a discussion about whether we should do anything to try to stop this family from being turned into Undead. We ultimately decided to leave them, hoping they would be left to rest. About an hour later we came upon a wagon on it's side, with more mounds of snow around it. As we approached and started digging at the first mound, others stood up revealing Skeletons! We waded bravely into the battle. They are only Skeletons, right? Rubani was ganged up on, being knocked out repeatedly during the fight. Vinia shone in the fight, between throwing bombs that hurt the Skeletons & using her medicine skills to keep Rubani alive. Tetsu & Devon had a very hard time hitting them, while Gabriel's spells worked fine & Alyva's were mostly resisted.
After the fight we healed up, then searched and found some coinage. We took time to gather the bodies, depositing them in the wagon to form a funeral pyre.
Nyksund
Located near the base of the Wolftooth mountains, the city of Nyksund meets the bay of Otters and offers sea trade routes to the island of Handnesoya and its peoples.
The city itself was built on the trade of iron, easily accessible from the mountains and smelted right in the city. Today, these forges are less active, as mines grew more distant from the city, deeper into the mountain range. Other trades popped into place, lumber, fishing, and various crafting businesses born of the constant flow of goods through the city. It lies in a favorable trade route within the Ironbound archipelago, benefitting from the many ships passing through the area.
Nyksund is a typical Ulfen city, with mostly A-frame homes and lodges designed to shed heavy winter snows. At the heart of the city lies the great spire, Warmth’s Needle, home to the wizard Lyco Macatus. It is here that a power spell emanates, keeping out the unnatural cold that came with the machinations of Rimemaker Volmur. The city boasts a very large dock district, with ships of all sizes coming and going during the day. The narrowness of the bay as it flows to the dock makes any kind of nighttime passage dangerous. There are multiple taverns and two inns in this district, but as is typical for a wharf, the populace is a bit on the rowdy side.
A small island to the immediate northwest of the city is where the people go to pray, as it houses most of the city’s temples. There, Erastil, Gorum, Torag and Desna have temples, and other gods find smaller shrines throughout the city. Religion is important to the people of Nyksund, but does not dominate city politics. Brightly colored roofs adorn most of the city buildings, from businesses to homes alike. Given the normally dismal weather of the region, the colour adds a splash of interest and pride for those that call the city home. Multiple inns, taverns, forges, and other businesses dot the city, with no distinct areas being vastly different from others. 20 foot high iron-reinforced stone walls surround the original city, protection against raiders from long ago. Some of the city has spilled out past these walls, with more ramshackle houses making up a good portion of the extraneous areas.
Outside the city are a few farms, and a large forest that has been cleared between the city and the mountains. Mount Glittertind dominates the scenery to the east, as it rises up only a couple of miles away from the city to an imposing height of more than 5,000 feet. The city is ruled by a small council from the 7 clans that originally founded Nyksund. A city guard watches over Nyksund, and crime is generally low for a city of over 5,200 residents. Punishment for crimes tends to be harsh, with banishment preferred over execution.
Setting the Stage
For years, the Iceborne Company has traveled around the northern reaches of Avistan thwarting threats, saving innocents, and helping those in need. The company settled down 3 years ago in the Ironbound Archipelago, hoping to retire in peace.
As is the case with heroes, rest never comes easy, as a new threat to the islands emerged not too long after. An ambitious necromancer, Rimemaker Volmur, found an artifact within the island Handnesoya’s mountainous interior. Soon after, the city Nyksund and surrounding areas were plagued with unnaturally cold weather, and the undead ran free.
A powerful wizard in the city responded with a magical barrier he and his half-elven sister created, one that would keep out the weather, and he hoped eventually, the undead. He then enlisted the aid of the Iceborne Company.
The company took on the challenge, but soon found there were more infestations of undead than they could eradicate, and decided to focus on the more powerful foes, and ask local heroes to aid them by eliminating the less powerful undead.
You have heeded this call. While the company is powerful, they cannot be everywhere at once. Whether you live in Nyksund, one of the surrounding villages, or have simply found yourself in the Ironbound Archipelago, you have decided to step up and help the people of the island.
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