Timnothy Bramblethorn
Timnothy Bramblethorn
A portly halfling bard, looking to increase his collection of stories to tell around the fire.
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Alignment
Neutral Good
Age
35
Date of Birth
Narak 23rd
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Blond
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
2'11"
Weight
39
Ruled Locations
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The Wizard, The Maiden and The Djinni
28th of Aurun 1420 A.D.
Ladies and gentlemen I have returned, and do I have a story for you! It all begins right here in the "Nameless Tavern" where my companions and I were enjoying a quiet summer night. At least as quiet as it can get when Ferrak and Smitty are engaged in a drinking contest, which is to say not very quiet at all. As the two of them went on to drink each other under the table, the druid Caoimhe did her best to keep the property damage to a minimum, while I sat tuning my fiddle. The night grew late and most of the patrons had gone to bed when a mysterious stranger arrived into town.
He was an elder gentleman with white hair and a long beard. He leaned heavily on an old walking stick as he hobbled his way to a chair. He approached our merry band and introduced himself as Tervon Oldsmith. In his prime he claims that he was quite the accomplished illusionist, however these days he prefers to spend his nights in peace and quiet with his darling wife Seraphina. That is until his former assistant, Al'Salazim "Cursed be he" stole away with his wife in the night, and placed a necromantic curse upon poor Tervon's tower. Naturally we agreed to help by going to Tervon's tower and ridding the blight placed upon it. The wizard thanked us greatly and offered us payment up front for the task. He told us that we would find Al'Salazim "Cursed be he" Through a portal on the upper most level of the tower. Tervon implored us to hurry as he was convinced he did not have much time left in this world and only wished to see his beloved wife one last time.
In the morning we set out on our journey but not before purchasing some mighty steeds to speed us along. We had a long ride ahead of us but luckily we were un impleaded. after two weeks of travel we had finally reached our destination. At least according to our map we had. The tower in question was no where to be found, just a mighty oak tree in the middle of a forest. The tree was impossibly large with it's trunk being at least 200 feet thick. It was then that we remembered that Tervon claimed to be an illusionist. The oak must be the tower. Sure enough after some carful investigation (and someone remembering that the wizard gave us a password) The way was open.
After passing through the threshold we found ourselves in an open field with the tower standing tall at the center. Making our way to the door, we found it unlocked and unguarded, and so we entered. The entry way opened up to a large foyer. Along the walls were a collection of plinths with odd looking curios covered in glass domes. Some items were interesting to say the least, a tuning fork, a figurine of a knight and a dragon locked in combat, and strangely a stale loaf of bread that showed no signs of mold despite the dome that covered it had a thick layer of dust upon it. as a matter of fact everything was covered in dust. it was as if the place had been abandoned for years.
There were two paths that lay before us now, a flight of stairs leading up and a heavy looking locked trap door that we assumed led to a basement. Knowing that our quarry waited at the top of the tower we decided to leave the basement be and head up the stairs. On the second floor we found a hallway with a series of rooms along the wall. There were 7 rooms in total and each one had a name plaque upon the door. Sophia, Yolanda, Bell, Francesca, Renee and last but not least Seraphina. It seems as if Tervon had quite a busy love life.
Before we had a chance to inspect any of the rooms we were attacked, as spectral hands rose out of the floor to grasp at us. We now were in a fight for our lives against 6 banshees. One of the specters attempted to posses the druid Caoimhe, however her was was to strong and she forced the spirit out. After the battle we went to inspect each room and found them to be identical. A luxurious bed, a desk with a quill and ink well, and an odd looking plinth by the door with a strange looking groove carved into its surface, as if it were a slot to rest some sort of gem on top of it. It was then that we began to think that something was amiss. 7 rooms to house 7 women of which we were only told of 1 existing. Then there was the fact that we were set upon by the vengeful spirits of 6 women who rose up out of the floor. It was time to look into the basement.
And so we made our way down the stairs back to the first floor. The heavy iron lock was no match for Smitty's axe. We descended down the stairs and found what looked like a crypt. 7 coffins lined the walls, each one with a name plaque to match the names on the doors from the second floor, Including Seraphina. The coffins contained the magickly preserved bodies of the wizards former wives The fair Seraphina included. He did not tells us that she had died, only that she was stolen away, but there her body lay as peaceful as the winter's morn. 7 dead wives and 6 ghosts. Where was the soul of Seraphina?
To ensure that the souls could rest in peace, we removed the bodies from the cursed tower and burned them on a pyre. Now determined to understand what exactly was going on we returned to the tower and climbed to the 3rd floor. On this floor there were three rooms the first room we came to was an office of some kind. A large desk sat at the center and beautifule tapestries lined the walls, depicting desert landscapes and images from Nemthrazine folk lore. On the desk itself we found a brass oil lamp that gave off a faint magical aura. not finding much else of use here we took the lamp and moved on.
The next room was a library in which after a thorough inspection we found 7 journals, each one written by one of Tervon's former wives. They each described a similar series of events. Tervon was charming at first, wooing each of them in kind, sweeping them off their feet and whisking them away to his enchanted tower, attending to their every needs. After awhile however they began to notice that the tower was nothing more than a prison. They were never allowed to leave to visit family or friends. The wizard was fond of his trophies, and that is exactly what each one of his wives were to him, the perfect trophy wife. Even in death he preserved their corpses so he could look upon them and forced them to keep a journal so he could read their words.
There was still one room left to explore. A laboratory, not much of note inside. It looked as if a battle had occurred here possibly between Tervon and Al'Salazim "cursed be he" who I am beginning to wonder if he is truly the villain in this story. At the center of the room stood a shimmering gate way. A portal, leading where we did not know. What we did know that if we wanted answers to the many questions we now had, we had no choice but to enter and seek out Al'Salazim.
Into the portal we leapt and to our horror there was no ground for our feet to land upon. Down and down we began to plummet unable to tell up from down or left from right as the only land marks in sight were glimpses of floating islands in the distance. spinning as I fell, I could not see my friends but I could hear their screams. I remember thinking that this was the end of my journey when suddenly I saw a glimpse of wings. We were saved by bird like men, or men like birds. They called themselves Aarakocra, natives to this the elemental plane of air and servants to a being they call Queen Shaz. They were apparently all to familiar with the Wizard Tervon Oldsmith as we were not the first group of heroes he sent in search of Al'Salazim. They decided that the best thing to do was to bring us to their queen. Hopefully she could give us some answers.
It turns out that Queen Shaz is actually a silver dragon. I'll be honest I did not see that coming. She instead that we call her madam Shaz, not queen, and that the aarakocra are little more than pests to her that she keeps around out of pity. Needless to say she was not entirely helpful, refusing to even grant us audience unless we offered her gold in tribute. She did confirm some of our suspicions. Al'Salazim was in fact a Djinn who once ruled a large swath of this plane. He made a deal with Tervon many years ago during which time his territory diminished. When he returned he carried with him a large red gem humming with necromantic energies. He took the gem to his castle and has not been seen since, refusing to take any visitors.
Our time with madam Shaz had run its course (apparently she was charging by the minute) and so we took our leave of her, but not before she introduced us to a man by the name of Captain Napoleon. The captain agreed to ferry us to Al'Salazim's palace so long as we promised to take him with us when we returned to Verdraxis. After resting for a bit we set off in Napoleon's "Air Ship", and I use the word ship loosely. It was more like a bucket with a sail sticking out of it. Oddly enough it did its job and flew us to the location of Al'Salazim's palace.
In order to avoid the guards posted out front, we elected to sneak in through a window in the back. Being heavily armored and unable to sneak without sounding like a bull in an antique shop, Ferrak decided to stay inside Caoimhe's bag of holding. Don't worry we gave him air holes. making our way through the palace, we found it mostly empty save for a few guards with patrol patterns that were easy to avoid. We arrived at the throne room and sure enough there he was, Al'Salazim "cursed be he".
The poor thing looked absolutely drained as if years were taken from his life. He sat on his throne channeling energy into a massive red gem, the likes of which reminded me of the shards recovered from my previous adventure in Underhill. It even gave off the same necromantic aura. After some diplomacy on my part and the quick thinking of handing over the lamp that we found in the tower Al'Salazim was willing to bring everything to light.
Many years ago when Tervon the terrible was a young man, he cam to Al'Salazim to make a deal. he could travel to Verdraxis to gain power and influence in exchange for one human lifetime of service. Being that to a Djinn a human life time is but the blink of an eye Al'Salazim accepted his terms. Little did he know of the wizards deception. During his service to Tervon the terrible, he learned of the wizards plot to take on a wife, keep her locked away in his tower as his own play thing, and then when they were at the end of their life he would use the gem to draw out their soul and use it to extend his own life. Six times he did this and he was ready to do it again, However Al'Salazim could take it no longer. He broke the enchantment binding him to his lamp, stole the necromantic gem and escaped with it back to his palace in the elemental plane of air. Now he uses all of his energy to contain the gem that now houses Seraphina's soul, preventing Tervon the terrible from regaining his hold over her, waiting for the wizard to die of old age once his stolen time has run out.
At this point Al'Salazim knew that Tervon the terrible had only a few days left if he could not get his hands on the gem, and so we agreed to stay and help protect the gem for two weeks time. Our stay was... not nice. The food was little more than gruel and the beds were lumpy and our host was not at all gracious. Granted that giving the circumstances I did not expect much from him, he was after all using all his power to keep the gem contained, but he could have at least been a little nicer to us.
One day our rest was broken by a loud explosion coming from the throne room. Caoimhe and Smitty ran ahead to see what had happened while I stayed behind to assist Ferrak with his armor. When we arrived we found our companions in battle with a group of would be assassins sent by Tervon the terrible to take out Al'Salazim. They were prepared for the djinn and his guards but they were not prepared for us. It was a hard fought battle as both sides were evenly matched near the end the last thing a remembered was a loud explosion and intense heat before I fell unconscious. I awoke moments later with my wounds fully healed. The assassins were gone without a trace and I found my companions and I trapped in some sort of magical force field. Al'Salazim was unconscious outside this field, the gem drained of its energy laying at his feet, and floating in the center of the room was the ghost of Seraphina with a look of horror and rage upon her face. With supernatural speed she darted across the room assaulting us with her ghostly touch. It took everything we had to take her down and put her soul to rest.
When the battle was over Al'Salazim regained consciousness, and being true to his word opened a portal for us to return to Verdraxis, stating that he wished to never see us again. And so we made our journey home to Glenhaven. When we arrived we asked around at the nameless tavern to learn what had happened to Tervon the terrible. Apparently he had asked one of the barmaids to marry him to which she agreed. Lucky for her the old wizard was found dead the next morning, of a broken heart...
One Does Not Simply Walk Into the Black Marsh
2nd of Dium, 1420 A.D.
The following is a cautionary tale.
Our resident druid Caoimhe had the idea to relocate a nest of baby basilisks into the edge of the black marsh to the south west. I thought to myself that this sounded absolutely crazy, only a fool would enter that place willingly and not only that just to release a swarm of monsters that could turn you to stone with their gaze. Naturally I had to come along.
Joining us was the cleric Dwufe and the mighty Smitty so I had high hopes that all would be well. After discussing our plans we took to rest so we could leave Glenhaven first thing in the morning.
Unfortunately our sleep would not be restful as we were awoken by the sounds of combat. I left my tent to find a stranger clad in heavy armor and a blazing sword fighting along side the local guardsmen. The foe they faced at first glance looked to be a pair of owlbear, however a prolonged look would reveal the eerie truth. These were not just owlbear but creatures stitched together from various parts of other owlbear. Each limb had different colored fur and feathers from that of the torso, and the way they moved betrayed the fact that their legs were each of different sizes. I think one of them had two left feet.
The stranger began calling out for fire, to which Caoimhe quickly answered with her druidic magic, causing a bonfire to come to life at the abomination's feet, the left one.
The fire seemed to scare them off as the two of them went running into the night. Now that the commotion was over I came to greet our guest, however he still seemed quite on edge. He busied himself with ordering the guards around, telling them to fetch all the torches they could gather.
Eventually he calmed himself enough so my friends and I could speak to him. He introduced himself as Gregorith Sharp, a holy warrior in the service of Teyva the goddess of death. He and our cleric Dwufe had much to talk about as they were members of the same order. Mr Sharp had explained that he and his men were performing a sting operation against a cult who called themselves the Builders. A group of "scientists" who collect corpses, stitch them together and animate them into horrific flesh golems to do their bidding. They were in the middle of destroying one of their labs when the owlbear golems escaped.
From the looks of things the golems were headed towards the Black Marsh. When Gregorith learned that we planned to head in that direction he asked us to keep an eye out for his quarry. He agreed to stay at Glenhaven to rest, wait for his men who were still out searching the woods and help the guards should the golems return.
The rest of the evening remained uneventful as we managed to get a good night's rest, altho I was rudely awakened by ser Gregorith who was eager for us to be on our way. Can you believe he expected us to leave without breakfast! "Trail rations and water" he says! By Caden!
Anyway after I managed to sneak an apple for the road, we took a pit stop to the fair lady of the lake before heading on our journey. I'm not sure what boon Caoimhe and Dwufe received but I was reunited with a friend I failed to mention in a previous journal entry. A platapus that I have come to call Mr Quackers. Meanwhile Smitty had straight up disappeared. We could still hear him and definitely smell him and so the lady must have turned him invisible.
And so we set out on our quest to the Black Marsh on our insane mission to release baby basilisks into the wild. Now for those who don't know anything about this place, let me explain why this was such a bad idea. The Black Marsh is a place oozing with death. Nothing lives there and the land is so ripe with necromancy that the dead reanimate on their own. It's not the best place to take a walk in the park during the day much less spend the night.
As we made our way south west, we came across the footprints of the golems, and at some point they were joined by a pair of boot prints, likely one of their masters. We continued on four days until we reached the edge of the Black Marsh. We found as good a place as any to release the beasts as far away from the cage as we could.
I took our pony drawn wagon away from the swamp so that we could continue to pursue the golems without placing the old girl into harms way. I think Smitty was with me altho he was still invisible so I'm not sure. When I returned to the rest of the group they had come up with the bright idea of setting up camp in the swamp so as not to lose the trail. I knew this was a crazy idea but I had been out voted.
That night during Caoimhe's watch the sounds of combat could be heard in the distance. She woke up the rest of us, and when Dwufe used his devine senses, he said he could feel the presence of death all around us. I had to stifle an "I told you so" but luckily the shambling corpses were not interested in is at the moment. Instead they were making their way to the combat ahead. Leaving the comforts of our beads, we went to investigate in case it was someone in need of our help.
When we arrived at the scene, we saw the flesh golems and a black robed man facing off against a hord of shambling corpses. The golems were keeping the undead at bay while the man used his magic to channel lightning into them, healing their wounds. Using the confusion to our advantage, we positioned ourselves on the battlefield. As we stood our ground waiting for the right time to strike, the ground beneath us opened up as clawing hands attempted to grip at our ankles. I was too quick for them but Dwufe and Caoimhe were pulled off their feet. I still had no idea where Smitty was!
It was clear that we could not stay in one place for too long and at this point we had been spotted by the builder. He switched his focus on us with his spells while his golems continued to maul the zombies and skeletons.
Caoimhe proved to be invaluable as she conjured an orb of flame that she directed across the battlefield. As long as she concentrated on it she could cause it to dance about, clearing out some of the undead and dealing massive damage to the golems.
I decided to give her some cover by focusing my efforts on the mage. I had recently learned a few magical chords that could cause harm upon my foes.
Where in the nine hells was Smitty!
Dwufe came in to battle with one of the golems at this point, standing between it and Caoimhe with his shield raised. He called out to his God, and stretched out his hand as it crackled with necrotic energy that melted the flesh of the golem on contact.
The battle raged on for what felt like forever. For every zombie we killed another rose to take it's place. We had to keep moving out else the hands from below would take hold of us, but even moving was laborious as the swampy muck clung to our feet. All the while the mage continued slinging spells at is from afar.
Suddenly, above the chaos of the battle, a staying slicing sound could be heard. I looked at the mage who seemed to be in shock. And rightly so because standing next to him, bloody axe in hand was the mighty Smitty! The whole time he was making his way ever so slowly towards his target. Thanks to the boon he was granted by the lady of the lake he was able to slip right past the golems to deliver the killing blow to their master.
The lifeless body of the builder slumped to the floor but the battle was not yet over. We still had the golems and the undead to deal with. Smitty withdrew a massive club and wrapped it with cloth and pitch. Using his flint and steel he lit it like a torch and went into combat with the second golem, which had just finished killing the undead it was previously engaged with.
Between Caoimhe, Dwufe and myself we managed to finish off the first Owlbear as Caoimhe used her fire to burn it to a crisp. Giving the shambling dead a wide berth we turned to assist Smitty who was trading blows with the second golem.
Blood splattered and bone crunched as we fought on through the night. Fire burned away the undead that pursued us and even Mr Quackers joined in as he used his magical lightning breath to destroy three of the zombies behind me. It was at this point that he disappeared, but I have a feeling that will not be the last we hear of him.
Finally with a mighty thunk and the sizzle of burning hair and flesh, the second golem fell to the ground. The undead were still on us however so we decided to grab the corps of the builder and make our way out of the marsh.
The swampy ground was thick with mud but even still we were able to out pace the undead. Once we reached the edge of the swamp they lost interest and gave up their pursuit.
With our mission successful and our lives intact, we began our long journey back home.
The moral of this cautionary tale. If you ever decide to visit the Black Marsh for any reason,
Don't!
The Curse of Underhill
10th of Jali, year 1420 A.D.
Twas a clear day on the morning of the sixth day of Jali. The day star was just beginning to crest over the eastern hills as I approached the quest board. As I walked I could see one of the caravan guards pass me by heading towards the nameless tavern. A Dwergish ranger by the name of Janice Goldwell. I came to the quest board and sure enough I saw that Ms Goldwell had left a rather short but to the point letter, "urgent, haunted tower". My curiosity had been peaked and I quickly joined up with a group of dwerg who seemed ready to take on this task. Their leader was a cleric of Teyva by the name of Dwufe. He was quite a somber looking fellow dressed in the plain black and white tabard of his holy order, which was draped over his armor. He was accompanied by a druid named Caoimhe (pronounced key-va. I know it's odd but she insists that's how it's spelled). And lastly the mighty warrior known only as Smitty, welding a battle-axe just as large as himself.
We went to see Janice at the dining tent where she told us of our quest. While out on patrol one of her number, a half elf named Thomas Brimble, stumbled upon an old run down watch tower. Thomas was flustered when he reunited with Janice, claiming that he saw a ghost. They did not have enough time to investigate as Janice was scheduled to meet with family visiting the caravan, and so she was offering coin to anyone brave enough search the tower on her behalf. Naturally our cleric took it as his duty to lay any spirits to rest, and so we set out on our journey.
We traveled north west for two days following the map given to us by Ms Goldwell. It did not take us long to find the tower, altho it was oddly placed. Rather than being built at the top of a hill for better visibility, the tower was placed in the valley between the hills, as if to be hidden behind them. The ruin was old and covered in dust and vines, however the stone was holding up quite nicely. This was clearly of Dwergish craftsmanship and the rest of my party confirmed that the tower was roughly 30 years old.
As we searched the tower, the signs of combat became apparent. Chips in the stone and scorch marks along the walls indicative of a siege of some kind. Shortly after, Caoimhe exclaimed that she had found a secret door built into the flagstone floor. I could not see it but I have learned that if a dwerg tells you there is a secret door, chances are there is a secret door. It was sealed by magic and could only be opened with the right password. I tried the only Dwergish password I could think of but to no avail. As it was beginning to get late we decided to make camp for the night.
Taking first watch, nothing extraordinary occurred, much to my displeasure. I laid my head to rest and fell fast to sleep. In my dreams I could see the tower. Standing atop of it was a Dwergish maiden looking out from the crenellations across the hillside below. Her golden hair glistened in the moonlight, and her voice rang out as she sung her somber tune.
Here I stand, and here I wait
My eternal task, to watch this gate
Frozen in time, Althaea's doom
For now our village shall be her tomb
And so I stand forever still
Held by the curse of Underhill.
Suddenly I was awoken by the sound of grinding stone. I opened my eyes to find the ghostly apparition of the maiden from my dream floating above the trap door as it slowly opened, reveling the secret tunnel beneath. As quickly as she appeared the ghost was gone. The cleric Dwufe was the first to enter the path before us. I had no idea what was going on, but not wanting to miss out on the adventure I quickly gathered my things and took up the rear.
As we ventured forth into the dusty tunnel we could hear the baleful moaning of the undead ahead. We were set upon by Dwergish ghosts who shouted at us, demanding we leave this place. With a solemn prayer to his goddess, Dwufe was able to dispatch the ghosts as a burst of holy light pulsed outward from him. "They may be gone for now, but I can still sense their hatred. They will soon return." Said the cleric.
We hurried forward and soon the tunnel opened into a large cavern. I could hardly believe my eyes. Before us, built from stone was a town. Or at least the beginnings of one. There were not many buildings, a smithy, a tavern, a shop and a few houses nothing more, all of Dwergish make. The cavern was large enough to continue construction, and it seemed that was the intention, however the entire place was abandoned. As we searched the buildings, we were able to find the crests of the various clans that lived here, all of them Hildwerg including the most notable among them being the Brokenstone clan.
At the farthest end of the cavern we could see a red light piercing through the darkness. We decided to press on and investigate further, not knowing when the ghosts still haunting this place would strike again. As we followed the light to it's source, we came across a grizzly sight. The bodies of dwerg in armor befitting paladins of the Radiant Trinity were strewn about on the floor. Their flesh had long ago fallen away from decay. A pack of ghouls that look to have once been alfar in life were gathered around their leader, the vampire known as Altheae Liadon.
She was preoccupied with her attempt to destroy the source of the red light, a large Ruby placed on an altar by the wall. Her form was constantly shifting, corporal one moment, ghostly the next, as if she were trapped between realities.
When she noticed our presence, she and her minions immediately turned their attention to us. The ghouls rushed forwards eager to feast on our flesh while Altheae attempted to ensnare Dwufe and Smitty in a magical web. The web however was no match for their combined strength, as they managed to free themselves with ease. Dwufe called out to his goddess for aid causing most of the ghouls to flee while Smitty dispatched the rest with his mighty axe. Caoimhe provided ranged support by throwing enchanted stones at the enemy while I engaged in a battle of wits with the vampire.
Our eyes locked with one another as I attempted to inspire my allies. I could feel her magic intertwining with my own causing my spells to fail. It was a clever distraction on my part however, for while the vampire remained focused on me, she did not notice Smitty's axe coming closer and closer.
Now engaged in melee combat with Smitty and Dwufe, Altheae turned her attention on them, brandishing her claws and fangs. My spells proving to not be of use here, I drew my blade and joined the frey.
Even with her minions defeated Altheae proved to be a challenging foe in her own right. Her claws rended our flesh while her ice magic threatened to freeze us solid. Even as our weapons made purchase against her, we watched as the vampire's wounds began to mend before our eyes.
Finally the battle came to an end as Smitty brought his axe down to bare upon her neck, separating the vampire's head from her shoulders. Before the body could touch the ground it became incorporeal and was sucked into the glowing red gem. With another blow from his axe Smitty shattered the gem causing all the spirits trapped within to be free. The ghost of the dewrg maiden wearing the armor of one of the fallen paladins looked upon us fondly before setting off into the great beyond.
The curse was lifted and the day was won, or so we thought. By freeing the spirits within the gem we had unwittingly freed the vampire as well. We could hear her maniacal laughter echo throughout the cavern as her spirit was set lose into the world.
With our task complete, we licked our wounds and made our way back to Glenhaven. With Altheae Liadon free, it is only a matter of time before she strikes again.
New Beginings
11th of Lunesti 1420 A.D.
As my humble caravan traveled across the Gold road towards the kingdom of Gildnegard, we came across a curious sight. A group of adventurers were camped off the side of the road. They say they are here at the request of King Michael of the Aurunem kingdom to develop a new settlement and defend it from the vile forces of Lurgas. I decided to stay for a time and lend my aid. Perhaps I shall make a name for myself here. If nothing else it should make for a good story.
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