Barton Quagmire
Barton Quagmire
Son of a blacksmith father and a mother who had some local renown as a bread baker who was also gifted with the lyre, Barton grew up around tradespeople and musicians. An energetic kid with a vivid imagination and the gift of gab, he helped both parents and so has some skill with metal work and baking. But mostly, he has a particular skill with an axe as he and his siblings had to keep two fires fed with firewood.
Barton is the middle child of 5. An elder brother has stepped up to follow in Dad’s footsteps as a smith, and the sisters have helped develop the bakery side of the family businesses. Barton keeps Smith’s Tools with him as a part of his heritage.
But his heart wasn’t in following along after becoming enthralled listening to his mother play the lyre. As his ear for music improved, he got more interested in playing and started picking up every instrument that came his way, eventually getting pretty accomplished at the lute, horn, and pan pipes. At first entertaining friends and family, he grew into performing at nearby pubs and festivals. Growing into a young man with dashingly good looks, he became a popular entertainer and began to yearn for a bigger stage.
He took every opportunity to learn from visiting bards and quickly came to the realization that this was his calling. He became adept at storytelling, both in speech and in song, and his quick wit helped captivate audiences. Carrying a long sword and dagger created for him by his father, he has decided to take his act on the road and see his fortune in the wider world.
Barton has no particular interest in politics or religion except as it serves his role as a purveyor of news and rumor. He does have a particular interest in women and drink. He’s comfortable with common folk as well as the upper crust, flitting between their worlds with his accumulated knowledge of the world yet grounded in the common trades. He is a Jack of All Trades and passable at whatever new things he attempts.
Handsome and talented Bard
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Treasurer's Report - Reaver's Cave
I left out the matching sword and shield since it seems we may need to return them. Please see items below and let's discuss who should get remaining unclaimed in the next session.
Gold
Cash 2089
Silver Bars 60
Gold Ring 50
Circlet 250
Boat 5000
Resurection -1000
Total 6449
Party Share....................... 1289.8
Accumulated expenses...... -48
Net share................................. 1241.8
Items:
Mahogany Harp with Brass Strings Barton
Heward's Handy Haversack Griswold
Wooden Shield +1 Verx
two potions of healing. Verx, Oisin
Two potions of Superior Healing Giswold, Barton
One potion of Supreme Healing Dagos
Little Oversights, Big problem
Heroism. Cast it on our two damage magnets - every time before we go into battle.
Not doing this as we attacked the cannibal dwarves cost Verxatitus his life. I mean, yeah, sure, we bought it back, but still. Shouldn't have happened.
But man oh man what a fight. I got to cast a fireball! BOOM! I was hoping to take out the spell caster (Druid, I guess) but eventually we took him out. I was a little worried at various points, tho. Seemed like we were close to disaster a couple of times.
Also, cannibals are disgusting.
Need some time to think about all the bits and pieces of info we have. So much going on.
Treasurer's Report
Treasure GP
Reward for trade goods 200
Bounty for Monsters 200
Misc pocket change 86
Reward from Koto (on getting back to him) 200
Cash on bodies 42
Cash and gems in Felixia's rooms. 2000
Glass rod, arcane focus
Silvered short sword (Verxatitus)
Ceremonial silvered spear, nonmagical but is exceptionally crafted 150
Ruby holy symbol (of their evil cult) 50
Finely-crafted leather whip with a bloodstone handle (100 GP value) (Barton)
Candle of visions (see below)
The red glass sculpture of the Blood Goddess Marena 100
A book bound in blood-stained leather, titled Prophets of the Red Goddess 200
An assortment of gothic carnival masks and half masks 15
Monocle of Dark Vision (60 feet)
Cash & Equivalents 2728
Other 515
Total 3243
Party share 648.6 GP
Another cult...
...but this one seems a little more interesting if you know what I mean...
I have noticed that ghouls smell bad. Just sayin... Especially the giant ghoul we ran into after chasing down the witch who went through the hidden door. Technically we took it out pretty fast but we are kind of lucky we didn’t spend the fight vomiting our guts out.
I don’t think we were supposed to make it by those guys much less that fast. The witchy woman had already started in on her ritual (or floor show, whatever) with Rozalyn as the guest star. When we opened the door we were too far for anything but a crossbow shot from me. (I need to get some longer range spells the next time I train.) The fight was pretty quick once Griswold started off with a Big Bang and made the roaches scatter. Pity we didn’t realize there was only one way out so we could keep people in.
Except for the witch and a couple buddies who apparently had a magic way out with the pentagram. We have to find a way to finish our main bad guys before they escape.
Long story short, I got the girl, nearly killed Dagos (next time he gets the zheroism spell...), and otherwise helped the battle along. Now to figure out what it all means.
Or... I could let the other guys do that while I figure out how to turn that room into a nightclub.... decisions, decisions....
All right boys and ghouls...
We didn't really have time to wash off the goblin guts before getting a new adventure tossed at us. After checking in with Decius to get some of that sweet reward money (200 gp for bringing back the wagons of trade goods + $200 for clearing out the goblin nest) and learning that he'll pay a bounty going forward for monster ears, I went looking for Cordia only to find she was a bit distraught over her friend Rozalyn who has gone missing and seems to have been abducted, as have several other townsfolk.
Locals are quick to blame the local Kobald enclave, but it didn't seem right to us so we went and talked with the local leadership (after a stop in a place that serves rat stew... Hard pass). We've been offered another 200gp to solve this little mystery so off we went into the catacombs under Rennes.
Also, catacombs are creepy. Living up to their reputation. No sooner had we found our way in than we were set upon by ghouls. The front line took care of the first set, but then we got zombies, spiders and another animated suit of armor (had fun delivering the killing blow that that pile of rust). The Wand of Web has been handy, but it doesn't catch all of them.
And then this last door opened to reveal a witchy looking woman and an undead fella that put up a good fight. She disappeared fast leaving her buddy and a couple ghouls to cover her retreat. Should be interesting tracking her down...
Oh, and Verx gave us all titanium rings so I guess we're going steady now?
Treasurer's Report
Stuff to be distributed among party members:
Suit Full Plate, Black Enamel, Lightning bolt emblem, Roman styling. Very old but in great condition. (Verxatitus)
Breastplate +1; on the Hobgoblin. (Dagos)
Spear +1; on Hobgoblin (Blue metal head and runes down the shaft) (Dagos)
Eyes of the Eagle on Hobgoblin (Advantage on perception checks) (Oisin)
Climbing Potion (Griswold)
Healing Potion x2 (Verx, Oisin)
Healing, Superior (Dagos)
Healing Greater x2 (Barton, Griswold)
3 x 100 GP Diamonds (Oisin)
Augury Gems on Goblin Shaman (25 GP) (Barton)
Cash and Cash Equivalent = 2950 GP
Party share = 590 GP
Good day to not die
Actually, it was kind of a crappy day. After an unsuccessful attempt to draw some of the fort dwellers out, we did some overnight recon with Oisin changing his form while using my invisibility spell, and me also invisible nearby for support. He got the lay of the fort to help out planning. And then we woke to a downpour. Perhaps it helped cover our approach. Perhaps it helped contribute to the interminable debate on how to assault the fort. Perhaps it made me a little cranky and foolhardy as I found myself volunteering to scale the wall and open the gate, albeit doing so while invisible, but that's what I did. And that part went pretty well, if I do say so myself!
I got myself over the wall easily enough and carefully lifted the bar to unlock the gate. Opening it just enough to let the party know I made it in, I turned around to cast my first spell and hit a group of goblins with a Shatter. I guess Griswold follow up immediately after with a second one and that took out a good number of our foe.
Oisin and I then laid down the spike growth spells (I from the stored spell in my sword) and that helped a bit, but placement was a bit off. Need to work on that.
In the heat of the moment, I did forget to take cover behind the nearby wagons, but managed to avoid getting punished for the oversight. Wasn't long before I had a bugbear in front of me, though. This part of the fight is a bit of a blur, but it wasn't good.... I took some hits and watched as Dagos also took damage and it looked like things were going south. I was able to use Thunderwave to put some space between me and the bugbear and a nearby Manticore. This gave me a chance at what we will call a strategic retreat out of the gate. There I spotted Oisin who'd been knocked out. I grabbed him but Griswold had the better footing and so grabbed Oisin from me to get away from the battle.
Then I remembered my wand, just in time. The web allowed me to ensnare two of the combatants including the leader, a hobgoblin, and what turned out to be a rather nasty goblin. A third, spellcasting goblin (that's a thing???) managed to escape the web and was most troublesome.
Feeling a little woozy, I backed down the road a bit to join Griswold and Oisin. Was able to use my crossbow to help out with a few shots and to shout some encouragement to the party. Once the hobgoblin was down, I used Cure Wounds to bring Oisin back to consciousness. With all of us back in it, I can't say it was super easy, but we got the job finished quickly after that.
Looks like we have some wagons to return to merchants back in Rennes. And we will have a few coins to add to our purses. I'm curious, though, about the flight of griffins that passed overhead after the battle. We'll need to ask around for information on that.
And now back to Rennes for the really important work at hand - ordering my new lute!
Cheers!
Goblins everywhere
My head hurts.
So does my pride.
The day started off auspicious enough. We found the goblin fort from which the raids of merchant caravans have been originating. It's a well run place with well thought out defenses and discipline. Seems a bit beyond the typical goblin brainpower, but I guess we'll see who's behind it before long.
I used an invisibility spell to scout the area and made my way around the fort, skirting the woods. Couldn't see inside though, so we were left with a big hole in our ability to plan an assault on the fort itself. I also found a trap, complete with a tripwire, hidden among the trees, so we had to be very careful while sneaking around checking things out. I also was nearly discovered by a scout who barely missed me on his rounds. All in all, successful scouting even though we decided to hold off on an attack.
So we followed a party of 12 or so, bugbears and goblins and manticores (oh my). Attacked them just after dusk and I got to employ my web wand to try to control the 2 manticores. That worked ok. I'd hoped for better. And we got pretty hammered by stationary goblins with arrows, held in place by Oisin's spell. I had a hard time focusing for some reason and got knocked out a couple times. Hence the headache and the wounded pride. Gotta keep my head in the game.
Eventually we finished the fight, but the party decided to keep one of the goblins alive. And now he won't shut up. Can't tell if the information he's spewing is real or not. Hoping we find some of it useful.
Oh, and after talking with the luthier in Rennes, I took the time to gather manticore guts to make special lute strings when I get back there. Very exciting.
Treasurer's Report
Overall haul from the trip to the Spire:
Total GP: 1996 (including sale of great axes)
Per Character Member Share = 399.2 GP
Collected 10 potions of healing, already distributed
1 remaining scroll of Fireball that Griswold is carrying.
(Other scrolls for Silence and Invisibility were used up)
Got the girl.
That was quite the adventure! The little lord sent us to rescue his sister from the orcs out on the island of Gersey in a busted down strong hold long used by pirates and the like.
The planning session took quite a while, but everything ended up coming out very well in the end. Who would have thought "Sneak in, grab the girl, jump off a cliff, get rescued" would work so well? But it did.
I actually got more into the action this time and even a little direct combat. Used invisibility spells and scrolls, and a silence scroll to get us in and close to where we could find and liberate the princess. Once there, I led her out of the keep (this one is spunky, I like!) and used the feather fall spell stored in my sword (so cool!) to get us down to the beach so that we could bring the ship in.
Need to take some of that sweet sweet reward money and do some shopping now!
Well, there's that...
Beginning at the end, it's a shame passions ran so hot that a compromise could not be found. Understanding both sides with a preference for one, I do wish Oisin had kept his passions in check and not taken a clearly combative action. It seems his regret is going to take him on another path and I wish him well. Perhaps another day, older and wiser, we shall adventure together again.
We got to the bottom of the mystery in MÉLOIR-DES-ONDES, but the cost was painfully high. The cleric, Aleith, was using the voidwater to ensnare local townspeople and the anguish of our host, Terris, when he saw that his friends and neighbors had perished at our hands in the temple of Hades was heart breaking. I know not what will become of the remaining townsfolk who were drugged by the Cleric. I hope they find a cure.
And clearly, that voidwater mine is indeed a danger both to miners - though perhaps we did find the cause of their demise and removed it - and those who use the final product. It does not seem like a battle for us today, but I will be weaving the dangers of voidwater into my songs and stories.
I, for one, will be content to never return to this place.
Treasurer's report
I think I'm gonna like it here...
Dear Journal,
The White Shirt. There's a lot to like here. Maybe even a couple of handfuls to like here...
Where was I? So we cleaned out the goblin lair and headed to Malo with our merchant friend. Just when I thought we were about to get some real R&R after a couple of rough days, we see a very weird looking storm over Malo and the harbor. Come to find an unguarded gate and the sound of fighting. Walls were scaled with ladders and guards nowhere to be seen.
So we head inside the walls toward the light out and spot some orcs. Bad news. I managed to be singularly ineffective in fighting said orcs, but managed to provide some moral support, and a Cure Wounds spell, while the rest of the party beat down the orcs. We watched as the lead orc killed the last remaining oracle of the city, Vibius (who was apparently up to no good) and I tried to keep him in sight but he got out ahead of me too quickly. The guys chased him up the spiral stairs only to lose him when he apparently JUMPED OFF THE TOP AND ONTO THE BACK OF A GIANT VULTURE! That would have been so cool if it were one of us, but no.
So, then, we clean up and head over to the White Shirt. Which is, as I mentioned, a place I think I am going to like, a lot. Good little performance venue with a hot little bartender named Faleria. We hit it off quite nicely. She is quite the music lover.
I picked up a set of Pan Pipes. Having fun getting my chops back on those. Need to get out and upgrade the armor. Took a few painful shots and would like to remedy that.
Ran into Jacques Pescin of the College of Lore and started getting set up to make some regular visits to hone the skills. Looking forward to that.
I'm digging this little town!
Treasurer's report: Malo Storm
Post Orc/Storm accounting:
Took all the Goblin/Hobgoblin/Bugbear gear to Herius and in no time received 631 GP for assorted bows, shields, and weaponry. (I sold it all on the assumption that we would not want to save anything due to inferior quality to what we would generally use.)
In addition, we received 50GP for bringing Andolatius back.
Party share is therefore: 136.2 GP
[Edit: If you didn't already take it, the Voidwater was sold at the end of the session for proceeds of 50GP each. With that, the total comes to 186.2 GP.)
Remaining party loot:
1 Jade Frog (40GP)
2 Potions of healing
1 Voidwater
If anyone has anything different or needs to see the Excel sheet, LMK. -RH
Mockery kills!
Dear Journal,
I finally got to check “mock a bad guy to death” off my to-do list! Super excited, but I’m getting ahead of the story, right? Haha!!
After a bit of fun with our ranger, Dagos, who got shitfaced and yet still managed to track the goblins (well, there WERE a whole bunch of them, after all), we found the lair guarded by a couple of goblins and a frickin Bugbear. We took them out pretty quickly and snuck up the stream but that’s where the easy part was done. Also, this short bow is a piece of shit and I couldn’t seem to hit the broad side of a tavern with it today.
We managed to dispatch a pack of wolves and somehow avoid detection by the other inhabitants of the lair, but needed to retreat to heal up, get spells back, yada yada boring stuff while we plotted our return.
So we get back and there are MORE guards outside. I guess they figured out their wolves and guards didn’t just wander off? Muahahahaha!!!! So anyway.
Given their field of view it made sense to me to start shooting the big guy in the back and then take care of the little guys in front. Oh-sheen explained to me later this this was stupid. It did, however, work, in the end, pretty much. I mean, we didn’t DIE, did we?
Back to the story… Of course the whole mountain started spitting out goblins and bugbears and hobgoblins, oh my! We set up around the mouth of the stream and began to deal some death as each one emerged. Not finding that shitty bow to be any use, I started using my most vicious mockery to distract the villains. And it fucking WORKED! I mean, not all the time and not everyone, but one of those little assholes keeled over on the second try. I was SO STOKED!
Might have gotten a little full of myself, if I’m being perfectly open and honest. But I saw the shot and I took it. There was an opening at a moment when a bunch of them were grouped together and I ran in and cast Thunderwave again. It was like goblin/bugbear bowling the way they bounced around that cave! Killed THREE of them at once! BOOM! So awesome. Except for the part where I didn’t notice the captain off to my right just waiting to brain me. So, yeah, that was fun. Got knocked out for a bit but it’s all good now and just as soon as this headache clears up I am definitely writing an epic to commemorate the day!
Stoked by the new companions, too. We’re gonna need a catchy name. Maybe a banner and a tip jar with our sigil on it. Just throwing out the idea. Nothing firm yet. But how cool would that be? Yep.
Oh and I guess that merchant we ran into has some stuff for us to do and we found something that indicates some nefarious plot. Will figure that out after we get back and do a little shopping and a little more drinking, amirite?!?! Ha!
So it begins
Dear Journal,
So a few days ago I was on the road from Bruic to just get out for a bit, see if I could find a different scene, make a little coin in a new tavern or two when I heard a ruckus up head and stumbled on a goblin ambush. Something like 10 of them set upon a local noble and his entourage (I really should get one of those…) and it was not going well for them! A few other travelers also converged fortuitously to help out and charged in (well, some charged, some of us did our thing from afar) to fight off the little vermin.
I didn’t figure I would be much help in the thick of things but I spotted a couple archers up on high ground so I snuck up on them and blew them away with Thunderwave. Super satisfying watching them tumble off the edge of the cliff and onto the rocks. Also, do I know how to make an entrance or what!?!?! Ha!
I made my way down to the entourage after the other newcomers had dispatched a few of the foot-goblins. Healed up one of the guards who’d been knocked out. By the time that was done the fight was nearly done as it was down to a few archers up on the hill and those far better suited to that effort had it well in hand indeed.
Once we got a chance for some proper introductions I learned that our noble was a young man by the name of Titus, son of Caleti. His man Marcus had done well in the fight despite his two compadres being knocked down early, but it was certainly fortunate several of us happened along when we did. Perhaps it was divine intervention.
And then I met the travelers destined to be my new adventuring companions! Dagos the ranger, Verxititus (that name is NOT going to be easy rhyme for the epic songs that I am certain I’m going to be inspired to write!), Griswold the mage, Oisin (Note to self, sounds like Oh-sheen!) the druid.
Young Titus made us an offer of, well, not employment exactly, but… A letter of something or other. I should probably find out what that was. I kind of drifted off when they were talking about the details.
So anyway, we are off to find more goblins! Specifically, find where these wretched creatures came from and snuff out their lair. It’s going to be a grand adventure! Songs aplenty!
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