Campaign Recap: The Island. Chapter Three: “Can I ‘Power Word: Blah!’ The Birds And The Bees?”

A bird and a bee? No! It is not so!

May 8^th-17^th, 317 PE (June 18, 2016)

Roll Call: Rhys, FiCoNiCuZn, Alero, Deron, Argas, Lestazia, Rodney, Nunto, Warsong, Raymond

The party hung out in the City of Letters for an extra day, and FiCoNiCuZn became a member of the Alchemists Guild. Raymond volunteered to help at the local teaching hospital, and joined the Order of Saint Berea as a probationary member (This Order is dedicated to healing the sick and injured, no matter who they are). Alero and Nunto spent a long time at Fochlucan College (a Bard college), and Lestazia visited a very popular pawn shop and got some interesting information (she's a Rogue..do the math). Rodney made some useful connections at the Necroversity, a college dedicated to the arts of death and undeath.

After everyone had the chance to do things, they kept their appointment with Giselle the following morning, and consequently she teleported them to the Paths of Fate Inn, located on the Great Trade Road. Once there, they made the acquaintance of Tabashi, the hobgoblin owner on the inn, and the wily Calibrian merchant Grismacci, who operates the Trade Emporium across the road. Stories were exchanged, trades were made, it was a grand old time.

(The Paths of Fate is no stranger to these recaps. The inn is located roughly halfway down the Great Trade Route, and is situated at an equidistant crossroads linking the Four Young Kingdoms of Ardrovin, Aquitania, Calibria, and Thuringia).

The party met three other adventuring groups at the Inn, because that's the sort of thing that happens when you're in one of the more well-known inns on the continent during the Fourth Age of Heroes. They met the Crazy Badgers, an all-gnome group, the Moonlight Clowder, an all-catfolk group, and the Sable Glove, a pack of advenurers who seem to actually be more aligned towards evil. Warsong eventually ended up insulting Ember, an Ifrit Firedancer Monk, and hey, a new grudge was born, because many Barbarians are less than skilled at diplomacy and discretion! At least FeConNiCuZn made some good friends among the Crazy Badgers, who were fascinated by the appearance of an actual Deep Gnome from the under-world.

There was also an interesting conversation between Raymond, our highly principled Paladin, and Lestazia the Drow Rogue, about the morality of poison use. Raymond felt that no situation warranted the use of poison, even if the poison did nothing more than knock someone out. It ended with an “agree to disagree”, and Raymond’s request that she not use it in front of him, if at all possible. Just a nice little bit of role-playing and character development there.

The party eventually departed the inn and headed southwest down the Great Trade Road. They ran afoul of a group of marauding ogres who attempted to ambush the party, starting off with a truly pathetic javelin attack (ogres are notoriously clumsy). The resulting battle was very impressive, with Warsong doing a particularly great job of wiping out the bad guys, though Argas helped immensely with a well-placed Wall of Fire. In any case, the party showed some extraordinary teamwork during the encounter.

When the dust finally settled, there were only two ogres left, and they were in the process of running for their lives, taking opposite directions. One got away, conveniently shielded by the Wall of Fire. The other one tried to escape, but Raymond took out a bow and made an impressive shot, felling the ogre and proving the point that justice will always catch up with the perpetrator. You can run, but you can't avoid that arrow in the back!

As for the one who ran away, the party, always keen on finishing what they started, tracked it back to its lair, where a few more ogres were waiting for their fellows to return with loot and today's meal. Helped immensely by Deron casting Spike Stones inside the ogres’ cave, the battle was over practically before it began. The cave made a nice place to hole up and rest.

In the span of a few days, the party got a first-hand tour of the inns located down the Great Trade Road, starting off of course at the Paths of Fate, then the Lucky Mug, the Sapphire Dragon, and eventually, the Sign of the Eclipse.

The Eclipse was a, to put it politely, “roadhouse”-like establishment, filled with a lot of sketchy characters. It was run and owned by Plank (as in, "solid as a..."), a half-orc retired fighter, with a no-nonsense demeanor and an eye-patch.

As the party settled in, Warsong looked for someone to arm-wrestle with because there's no better way to relax after a big fight than to find someone else to fight, even if it's a friendly match. She found Gorf, a fellow half-orc barbarian who was willing to, but on the condition of there being a wager. If Warsong won, Gorf would pay her 5 gold pieces. If Gorf won, she would be his for an hour. Warsong, who apparently is quite the innocent, couldn’t quite grasp what Gorf was after. Her friends tried to explain it to her, hence the title of this recap!

(Let's take a moment to bring the uninitiated up to speed on what 'Power Word: Blah' is. While role-playing is heavily encouraged in our games, including not being satisfied with "I tell the NPC what happened" and making the player role-play the conversation, it can get a little tedious if the player finds themselves having to give the same little speech to each NPC he or she encounters. Therefore, we have Power Word: Blah, which means "I give this person the spiel I've already given the earlier person". This saves time and avoids the tedium of repetition. 

Hey, there's Power Word: Stun, Power Word: Sleep, and Power Word: Kill, right? This works!)

Once the biology lecture was over, she still went along with the wager, deciding that she simply wouldn't lose. Nunto, however, thought the wager was rather lopsided, and managed to use his powers of persuasion to increase the payoff. Gorf agreed, and put up his magic belt as a wager, one of those "Helps you carry lots of stuff" type of belts. Nunto and Alero then played some encouraging music for their barbarian friend, and Warsong won easily, got the magic belt, and her comrades cleaned up on side bets.

(The arrangement was just a little sketchy. Both participants had to divest themselves of any magical items that could give them an unnatural advantage. The bard music on Warsong's behalf was an unfair minor advantage, but I had to play it fair and not have any of the inn's clientele be wise to it, since none of them really have had any experience with the advantages of a bard's powers other than singing great drinking songs!)

Fortunately, the party fostered such a vast amount of goodwill that everyone in the bar considered them to be “one of us!”. Plank was impressed as well (especially since more rounds of drinks were ordered), and the party made a new friend and ally. Before the party left the following morning, Plank told them that a few days prior, another adventuring group had come in, and that one member, a monk with a fiery appearance, was asking about a half-orc female barbarian traveling with a large group of people, including some hobbits and bards.

Plank told the party that the group headed east from the inn, into the wild lands, going completely off the roads. The party’s plan, of course, was to head west along the old abandoned road informally called The Twilight Highway, as they made their way towards Slaughter Swamp. After they made sure Plank wouldn't tell the not-quite-nice adventuring band of their stay, the party set off down the Twilight Highway.

In their travels down the Highway, the party encountered a pack of ghouls, but the undead were quickly annihilated by a Fireball shot from Argas’ staff, expending 3 of the 6 remaining valuable charges. Not a bad investment.

On the following day, as the party continued down the broken old highway, they encountered a pack of 8 wolves, out on the hunt. The wolves approached the party, eager for fresh meat, but uncertain of exactly what to make of the party. Deron the Druid tried using Animal Empathy to quiet them down and send them off. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1, and rather than quiet them down, they were whipped into a homicidal frenzy, incorrectly assuming that he was trying to establish himself as their new Alpha.

Fortunately, as they raced at break-neck speed towards the party in a full-out high-speed charge, Deron cast a Spike Stone spell on the ground in front of them. The wolves were unable to stop in time and were consequently shredded (the simile I used was "like throwing a pork-chop into a chipper-shredder").

And that’s where we stopped; still on the road, kind of like hitting "Pause". Next time: Mosquitos! Fungus! Mud! Humidity! Reptiles! Mildew! Talking turtles!

Campaign Recap: The Island, Chapters One and Two

The new campaign started about four months (fantasy time) after the previous campaign ended. 

ROSTER- The Island

Augie- Rhys- Human Oracle (Dark Tapestry mystery)
Carol- FiCoNiCuZn- Svirfneblin Alchemist
Chris B- Rolof- Dwarf Fighter
Chris T- Alero Lightfoot- Halfling Bard
Dave- Giles Corey- Human Witch
Dibz- Deron Al-Asad- Human Druid from Komar
James- Raymond Du Puy- Half-Elf Paladin from Aquitania
John- Argas Tooken- Hobbit Wizard Enchanter
Katie- Lestazia- Drow Rogue
Nate- Rodney- Human Wizard, Necromancer
Nick- Nunto- Half-Elf Bard
Noelle- Warsong- Half-Orc Barbarian
Seth- Milo Millsbury- Hobbit Paladin

(Interesting party composition here. Lots of fringe types such as an Oracle, Witch, Barbarian, a Drow, and a Deep Gnome. Two bards, so that's unusual, and a LOT of short people. Not many overt tanks, and no Clerics or Rangers. Ouch).

Chapter One: The Island

May 1^st-3^rd, 317 PE (May 21, 2016)

Roll Call: FiCoNiCuZn, Rolof, Alero, Giles, Deron, Raymond, Argas, Lestazia, Rodney, Nunto, Warsong, Milo
The group departed Anchorage on the Lady Jayne, bound for the City of Letters, each with their own reasons for going. They weren’t the only passengers; there was also a group of fledgling adventurers called the Order of the Griffon, a snarly half-sea elf Rogue named Vislor Turlo, some ridiculous pirate type called Seawater Silas, a couple of Calibrian wine merchants, and a Zorian Inquisitor, whose presence can be directly traced to actions done in the previous campaign.

(In the previous campaign, the party went to the Theocracy of Zor and in the process of fulfilling their quest, freed about 20 "blasphemers" who were left to die in the Swamp of Condemned Heretics. The Zorian clergy has dispatched Inquisitors all over the continent to find the outsiders who dared interfere with the dispensing of justice to the heretics. Inquisitors are going to be a common sight for a while!)

During the trip, the ship chanced upon a dead body on a raft, clutching a small coffer with some valuable trinkets. The body was given a decent burial at sea, and the voyage continued. The coffer was filled with jewelry, but none of it radiated magic.

Unfortunately, in the middle of the night, one of the trinkets, which in fact was a cursed item (cursed items can’t be detected by simple spells; otherwise what’s the point?), transformed the Captain, First Mate, Ship’s Doctor, and Quartermaster into the living dead, specifically a special form of Draugr. This particular brand of horror spreads its curse immediately to a slain victim, raising the latter into a newly made Draugr, like a fast-moving infection.

(Anyone ever see the Heavy Metal animated movie? The vignette about the B-17 bomber?)

The characters hightailed it to the lifeboats, which is more than the other poor passengers managed to do, though some of their fates are unknown (no body no death?). Warsong had the honor of striking the very first blow of the new campaign, a 20-20-hit against the turned Captain, resulting in an instant kill. Nice way to start things off, eh?

(Suffice to say, I was impressed)

Argas actually went off on his own, entered the Captain’s room, got some stuff, and left via the Captain’s own personal dinghy. The two lifeboats cleared the Lady Jayne, leaving it to its fate. The survivors steered towards a flashing light on the horizon.

During the intense rowing, a pair of sharks made a beeline for the lifeboats and attacked, though they were repelled, helped out immensely by a bomb dropped down the gullet of one shark courtesy of FiCoNiCuZn. When the party finally made landfall, it was on the beach of a deserted island (not a desert island- the action is set in temperate latitudes), and it turned out that an ancient fort was the source of the flash of light, the glare from a parabolic mirror set up on one of the fort’s tower.

The party didn’t have time to catch their breath on the beach, as a giant rock crab emerged from the sand and tried to make a meal of them. They ended up defeating it, and turned the tables, using it as a food source, since it was becoming evident that the group would need to secure food until they could somehow get off the island.

The group walked to the old fort, explored it, and discovered that it was an abandoned Imperial outpost, evacuated when the Valgarion Empire collapsed three centuries back. The group read some documents deliberately left behind and realized that the departing troops left a cache of stuff on the off-chance that the Empire was restored and the fort was needed again. They found the stash and were able to access it thanks to an idea from Nunto. One of the things they found was a Folding Boat! Hooray! A way off the island!

The party also discovered that the fort had a graveyard, with a section set aside for burying violent criminals on unconsecrated ground. The party realized that about a half-dozen undead, the souls of these evil dead, still lurked on that cursed patch of land. Avoidance was recommended and practiced.

(Now it can be told; there were six wraiths there. Since they hate sunlight, the party would be safe in the daytime. If they wandered around at night, well..)

Finally, the group explored a hill on the island’s north-eastern quadrant, and ran afoul of a pair of sirens, who tried to charm the party but were thwarted by the bards. Despite one of the sirens launching a devastating sonic attack on the group, the latter managed to defeat them and grab some extremely nifty loot.

(I messed up here and should have ruled one character dead, but since it was my mistake, I let it slide. Besides, we were on the verge of calling it a night. I was more interested in being all murdery and stabby during the Draugr part).

It was about at that point that the group decided they had enough. They resolved to use the Folding Boat to sail back to civilization.

There were actually THREE ways off the island. The second was assembling the pieces of a pump scattered throughout the fort, repairing the damage done to a small sailing ship, the Swiftsure, which was sunk at its moorings, pump out the water, and leave. The third was to cool their heels on the island for another couple of days until a pirate ship arrived and a landing party made landfall in a longboat in order to bury a treasure chest.

Chapter Two: The Escape

May 4^th-8^th, 317 PE (June 18, 2016)

Roll Call: Rhys, FiCoNiCuZn, Rolof, Alero, Giles, Deron, Argas, Lestazia, Rodney, Nunto, Warsong
When we last left our intrepid group, they had decided that they had enough of the island, since the place seemed intent on killing them.  (Spoiler alert: It was!) They grabbed their supplies, stowed them on the Folding Boat, and sailed off west, using maps found in the fort to help with navigation.

Unfortunately, the island wasn’t done with them yet. See, ever since the party had approached the island, a colony of sahaugin had tracked them. In fact, the shark attack from Chapter One was carried out by sharks under the command of the hideous sea folk.

Anyways, the sahaugin saw the group about to escape on a boat (unknown to the party, a small band of sahaugin had already smashed the original lifeboats into kindling!), and did an en masse boarding, over twenty of them! Luckily, Nunto used his bardic powers of fascination to lull the vast majority of the sahaugin into inaction, buying the group the chance they needed to seize the initiative, so to speak.

(This move turned the tide of the battle before there was even a battle. Who says bards are useless?)

After defeating (or driving away) the sahaugin and their shark cohorts, the party resumed their voyage, reaching the City of Letters on the 7^th. Thanks to Derin using his magic staff to increase the wind, they managed to shave off a good chunk of sailing time, and thus decreased the likelihood of a sea encounter. Once there, they reported the loss of the Lady Jayne to the Imperial authorities and took up rooms at one of the better inns.

A Wizard from the Circle of Mysteries Arcane, Giselle, summoned the party to help her. Word of their survival of the Lady Jayne Incident, as it’s now known, spread fast, and she felt that the group had the tenacity, smarts, skills, and sense of responsibility to successfully handle her task. Giselle was researching the ancient Elven network of Ghost Stones that uses the Ethereal Plane, and discovered that several of them were somehow in use again after centuries, possibly even millennia, of inactivity.

(Giselle is a familiar face. She was at the Paths of Fate Inn at the very first Hawkhaven campaign. The Circle of Mysteries Arcane is the oldest, most powerful, and most respected mage guild on the continent).

There were two stones in particular that she wants to have reactivated, but they cannot be accessed via the Ethereal Plane; they had to be physically activated on this plan. One was located in Slaughter Swamp, a nasty marshy area on the borders of the Orc Kingdom that lies far to the west. The other was located eastward back across the ocean on the Spindrift Islands, near the pirate city of Dockland (otherwise known as Nelmar on the Sea, and a few other names that shouldn’t be mentioned).

(Think of Tortuga from the Pirates of the Carribean)

But there was one more task needing doing: the Elven Kingdom of Hanael contacted the Wizards guild a year ago and asked for their help in finding a cure for the wasting plague that’s been affecting select young Elven women for the past few years. After much intense research, the guild stumbled upon what they think is a cure: a potion made from a rare fungus called Avro’s Parasol, known to grow only in Slaughter Swamp. So, in essence, something in the Orc lands holds the key to the well-being of the Elves. Yay, irony! The guild needs ten pounds of this fungus in order to make enough of the cure for everyone (a little goes a very long way).

Giselle told the group that they could choose to go to either location first. They chose the swamp, so when the party is ready, she will teleport them to an inn on the Great Trade Road, a place called the Paths of Fate, and they can go west from there. Once they activate the gate, they should use it, and their next step will become obvious.

Also, Argas and Rodney joined the Circle of Mysteries Arcane as probationary members. Succeed at the two tasks, and they’re totally in as full-fledged members. 

Reflections On The Death Of A Friend

We received some bad news last Saturday morning. It began, as most of these things do in today's social media age, with an Instant Message. It became a "We need to talk on the phone, IMs aren't sufficient for this."

That's never a good sign. It's the modern-day equivalent of the land-line phone ringing in the middle of the night, an occurrence that most of us grew up fearing.

The news was bad. No, scratch that. It was horrible. A friend of ours had passed away suddenly in the middle of the night. Initial reports pointed to some sort of respiratory infection that quickly spread into his blood stream. He never even made it to 50.

What followed was what you would expect when someone passes away today; people slowly began finding out, posts reflecting sympathy, grief, shock, and loss hit the social networks. Plans were made (and still are, at this writing), announcements given, pictures and memories posted.

Over the week, I've read an enormous amount of these messages, despite how painful it could be sometimes. I'll be honest; I wasn't a super-close friend of his. My wife Carol knew him better by virtue of them working together over the years on numerous decorating projects for the haunt convention that the House of Terra participates in. And yet I was close enough to feel that loss. Personally, when I get bad news like this, I tend to be fairly okay immediately afterwards. It's only after a little time has gone by, at least a day, when things finally sink in and the grief hits out of the blue with the intensity of a sledgehammer.

There's been quite a share of sledgehammer blows over the week, I don't mind saying.

But there are two truths about this tragedy that I've come away with, and now you have them too...

First of all, the world has lost one Hell of a cool man. This guy had such talent, such skill, such creativity, such enthusiasm, such a fun-loving way about him, and now that's gone. This is a profound loss. Because of his passing, the world is a little less imaginative, a little less creative, and a little less weird. And if there's one thing this sad world needs in abundance these days, is more of us weirdos.

The nice kind of weirdos, mind you. Not the ones you'd find on an episode of "Criminal Minds". Just wanted to make that clear.

The second truth, one that I was reminded of, is that we never know when we've hit the end of the tour. Some of the posts I read said things like "We had plans to meet..", or "We were going to do this next month". We always think we have all of the time in the world, and we make our plans, confident that they'll come to pass. Then every now and then the rug gets pulled out from under us, and it knocks us off-kilter. We feel confused and powerless.

So what do you do with this? Two things. First, don't take the people around you for granted. They may be gone tomorrow. Or you might. This is not meant to foster fear or paranoia, but rather to remind us to enjoy the people in your life.

Secondly, if you have friends that you have had a falling out with over something that started off as a minor thing, but somehow escalated and got out of control, consider changing that. Sometimes, the stupidest things cause a rift between friends, and things get progressively worse until both parties are no longer speaking. That's when eventually someone takes a good look around and says "Wait, how did things so trivial become so toxic?"

Life's too short to break with friends over petty junk. Before you know it, one or the other is gone, and your last contact with them will have been animosity, bad feelings, and silence. Is it worth leaving things in such a state over something that really wasn't all that big a deal in the first place? Unfortunately, sometimes it takes something huge and tragic, like a death, to set things into perspective.

I experienced this back in 2000. That spring, a scary number of relatives on my father's side (including my father), were getting sick and/or dying. It made me realize life was too short, and I began mending fences with a handful of people I wasn't talking to for one reason or another. My efforts yielded mixed results, but by far the best outcome was that I began dating one of them and we eventually married. We've been deliriously happy ever since ::waves at Carol::

Of course, over time, there's been new incidents and rifts to take the old ones' places. That's inevitable, that's life. In fact, in order to prevent the "hypocrite" tag, I admit there's a half dozen former friends I don't talk to anymore, but the reasons are by no means petty. We all have those hopelessly deadlocked situations, and this message isn't meant to address those.

But then again, one should never slam a door completely shut, should they? There's always hope, and people change.

Okay, time to get back on track and wrap this up. Bottom line: life is too short and you don't know when you or people around you will no longer be around. Enjoy and appreciate the good times with friends and loved ones. Take a hard look at the damaged bridges you have with past friends and see if maybe, just maybe, some of those bridges can be repaired.

As for our friend, Christopher Silvia, 1966-2015, it was a pleasure and honor to have known him. It was a joy and an amazing experience to witness the creations he came up with (the man was a freaking MacGyver with a glue gun), and we will all miss him terribly.

Rest in peace, Chris.

Hawkhaven Pathfinder Campaign #4: Dead Man's Quest Recap 8

Deadman’s Quest Chapter 8: Maladera

December 16th- 24th, (August 29th, 2015)

Roll Call: Melora, Gunnar, Sassha, Izanami, Azarus, Gerik, Ragnar, Sverd

Sometimes, a recap just begs to be done as a short story. This is one of those rare times. Though much of the dialogue is made up, all of the events and actions did happen.

Maladera

Didn't have a good picture, so here's Nelson Muntz

The land was called Maladera, the Shunned Lands, and, among the more dramatic storytellers, the Land Where Hope Goes To Die. A land under an ever-present canopy of reddish-black clouds that blotted out the life-giving sun, nothing wholesome grew in the grainy black and gray soil.

The land, the ugly legacy of a mad wizard's foiled attempt at conquest, was desolation personified. The air was thick, suffocating, and humid, tinged with a faint odor of rot and the iron tang of blood and rust.

Eight figures marched stubbornly southwest through the desolate landscape, walking through the ominously named Valley of Shadows, making their way towards a distant and solitary shining amber-colored light. It was an eclectic group, hailing from all over.

Four of the strangers called Norgheim their home, the land of snow, frost giants, and ice trolls. Ragnar, also called Bloodrager, was born with magic-laced blood and the heart of a berserker. Next came Gunnar the Slayer, master of sword and bow, followed by Sverd of the Ravenfolk, a bird-like lover of precious, shiny things. Last but not least came Melora, a sorceress whose very blood was kissed with frost.

Gerik Alizar, a tiefling whose barbarian demeanor was tainted by a mindless battle-lust, and Azarus, a scholarly young necromancer both hailed from the fragmented kingdom of Lundar, a land known for providing history with a disproportionate number of explorers and adventurers.

But as for who traveled the farthest, that honor fell to two young women:  Sassha, an urbanized catfolk from the Plainslands and Izanami, from Nihon, the land of jade, samurai, and shoguns.  The catfolk’s gifts lay in stealth and trap-finding, while the Nihoni was a proud Monk of the Fifth Element, and hater of demons.

It was hard to believe that less than two months ago these eight were strangers to each other. Finding a dead would-be adventurer by the side of the road changed that. They gave the man a decent burial and appropriated his notes, which spoke of his quest to find the legendary Black Scrolls. Attracted by the idea of fortune and fame, the strangers joined forces and decided to take up the dead man’s self-appointed quest.

They found the first scroll in a cave under the wild hills of northwestern Lundar, the second encased in ice in the Graveyard of Ice Dragons in Norgheim.  Between finding the first and second scrolls, however, the group encountered Noro Goldentree, a legendary Elf of advanced age and power who lived in seclusion with his black cat companion in a huge tree in the densest woods of Hanael, the Elven Kingdom. A twenty-two century old relic of the Second Heroic Age, Noro had withdrawn from his people, having arranged his “death” so he would be left alone and forgotten.

The Elven archmage entertained the group as his guests. When they were ready to fetch the third scroll, he warned them about the hazards of Maladera, and gave them food and water, advising them not to drink the water or eat any animal found in the cursed land.

After four days of grim, joyless travel through the valley, the band finally stood at the base of a grand old tower made of crumbling black basalt. The only other features were an ancient door, caked in the orange rust of centuries, and the four windows at the top of the tower, from where the glow burned steadily. It was if a madman had erected a lighthouse far from the sea.

"So this is the Tower of Gluttony?," Gunnar asked, eyeing the tower doubtfully.

"According to legend, the Lich-Lord Aranaeus had a council of seven advisors, undead wizards like himself, and each had a tower," Azarus explained. "Based on the fact that this one is called Gluttony, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, I would wager that the towers of the other councilors are similarly named for the remaining sins."

Sassha eyed the two barbarian warriors meaningfully. "Then we should be fortunate that this is not the Tower of Rage," she observed. "That could have been unpleasant."

"Or the Tower of Lust," Izanami chimed in. "That would have been awkward. So does anyone have any idea how tall this tower is?", she asked, craning her neck upwards.

Azarus narrowed his eyes and made a few calculations. "I'd say about sixty feet, perhaps seventy," he replied. "Although I daresay the more important question is, how do we use the door? There seems to be no doorknob or lock, and the hinges are set on the inside."

"I am more interested in that light, and how it shines," Sverd croaked. " I will go have a look." He shrugged his cloak aside, flexed his back, revealing a giant pair of shiny black raven wings, as everyone around him took a step back in surprise.

"I thought those raven wings of yours were simply vestigial!" Melora exclaimed. She knew the ravenfolk were favored of Odin, but not like this!

"At first they were," he admitted with a throaty chuckle. "I have been quietly building up the muscles, a little each day, for the past month. But Melora, are you well? You look ill."

The sorceress staggered for a moment then sat slowly on a lump of black basalt that was at one time a gargoyle statue. "I am not sure," she massaged her forehead. "This land appears to be sickening me. It began two days ago. I miss the Ice Dragon graveyard."

Gerik made a face. "You miss that blasted place of snow, ice, and wind? The bitter cold? The dragons, ice trolls, and frost worms?"

Melora managed a weak smile and nodded. "Bitter cold, yes, but the air and land were clean and filled with life. Everything was in harmony with nature;  frozen nature, certainly, but wholesome nonetheless. This place is poison, and I feel myself weakened by the day." She waved at the door. "But I will be fine. I just need to rest here. Get the door open, fetch the scrolls, and let us be done with this place!"

Sverd, meanwhile, had flown swiftly to the top of the tower, and had himself a closer look at the source of light. The tower was cylindrical, the top floor tapering to a point. Sverd flew to the closest window, the golden light pouring out, and peeked in.

The light came from an oversized golden-colored ornamental stone, affixed to the pointed ceiling by means of an iron frame. Although Sverd's rogue's eye judged it worthless, the same couldn’t be said for the chamber contents. Jewelry and other trinkets were scattered all over the floor, tantalizingly reflecting the globe’s light. A jewel-encrusted skull lay on its side, next to a pair of black cylinders which were certainly the last of the Black Scrolls. But Sverd cared more for the trinkets and jeweled skull.

"Shiny!" he breathed, eyes gleaming with pure greed. He tapped the glass experimentally. Looking it over, he produced a dagger, banged on the glass with the hilt, but to no avail. The glass was as strong as steel.  Scowling, he reared back and brought the hilt down on the window with a more vigorous blow, but with the same results.

Annoyed, Sverd swore as he hovered in place. His greedy mind raced with plans for getting through the glass, each idea progressively more outlandish than the next.

His comrades below were having their own difficulties. The rusted door refused to budge, and there was no opening mechanism. "I cannot pick a lock that does not exist," Sassha purred. "Perhaps muscle is needed to subtly force the door open?"

Izanami pointed to Gerik and Ragnar. "The two of you have the best chance of breaking that door by virtue of your strength," she observed. "Strength which grows when you enter a battle rage, is that so?"

Gerik frowned doubtfully. "True, my brother in arms and I grow more powerful when we furiously engage a foe in battle.” He looked around, arms spread in a gesture of hopelessness. “But there is no foe here."

Ragnar crossed his arms and scowled. "I am not sure I could get mad at a door. Sounds silly, if you ask me!"

"Enough talk!" Gerik suddenly snarled, reaching behind him and undoing the battle-axe strapped across his shoulders. He held it up for all to see. "Solid adamantine!" he declared proudly. "This bastard will slice through ANYthing! Ragnar, my brother! Aid me with your hammer! We will defeat this door!"

Sassha put her hands on her hips and frowned. "So much for stealth and discretion!", she growled.

The two barbarians' weapons struck the door simultaneously with a resounding boom, and the old iron door sprouted a large gouge and a small dent, spraying orange and red flakes everywhere. "Again!" roared Gerik. The second stroke blasted the door off its hinges and it flew into the dark interior of the tower, landing unseen on the floor with a loud CLANG.

"And that's how we announced our presence to everything in the tower," Gunnar grumbled as he drew his sword, ready for anything. The slayer preferred more stealth, the chance to quietly observe his enemy before striking.

A blast of foul air burst from the open doorway, and the warriors instinctively moved aside. The air whooshed past them in a straight line, and struck the seated Melora full force, causing her to slump over. No one noticed this, as everyone’s attention was instead occupied by a gang of obese, mottle-skinned, gurgling horrors that spilled out of the darkness. Three of the intruders passed too close to Gerik, who rewarded them with deep axe cuts, thanks to the barbarian's sharp battle reflexes.

"What in the Nine Hells are these things?" Gunnar roared as he waded into the fray. “And why are they so fat?!”

Azarus wracked his brain, trying to remember. "They're called Sinspawn!", he pointed out, as he searched his mind for a good spell to use against the intruders.

"That's not very helpful!" Gunnar replied as he cut one of the grotesque things down with a single stroke. "But at least they fall easily!"

Above the fracas, in fact a good seventy feet above it, Sverd noticed the battle raging below. While part of him wanted to help, he really wanted the shiny things. "Besides," he reasoned aloud, "It looks like they have matters well in hand!"

He looked back at the glass, a tantalizing, taunting barrier between himself, the sparklies, and yes, as an afterthought, that one thing which was the whole point of this taxing journey. "Perhaps I need to get a running start," he mused. He winged away from the tower, then launched himself at the glass at full speed.

The rogue hit the surface with a resounding smack, but it remained unmoved. "Another try," he muttered, repeating the process with the same results. "One more," he croaked, though his head began to hurt and he felt dizzy.

Down below, the group had made short work of the Sinspawn. "That was rather easy," Ragnar observed with satisfaction. "But why do I suddenly feel the urge to eat?"

"Tower of Gluttony, remember?" Azarus replied helpfully.

Izanami held out a hand, palm upwards, and looked to the sky. "Why is it raining black feathers?" she frowned.

Everyone looked up and were rewarded with the sight of Sverd smacking into the glass, flying away unsteadily, circling back, and trying again. "What in the Nine Hells is he doing?" Gerik spat. "Has he gone mad? Or is he drunk? I’ve told him not to hit the mead when we were in the midst of danger!"

Sassha stepped up to the tower and then flexed her fingers, producing a very sharp set of claws. "I will find out," she purred, then leapt onto the wall and effortlessly scrambled upwards. She paused and looked back at her astonished comrades. “What, have you never seen a cat climb a tree before?”, she smiled as she practically raced up the side of the tower.

"Well now. That's something you don't see every day!" Azarus observed, and then looked over at Melora. "Everyone! Look! Melora is not moving!" The five rushed over to their stricken friend, who was slumped over in her improvised seat. "She still lives, but she looks so weak," Azarus observed.

"Land…poisoning…me," Melora slurred her words. "So hungry, so tired." The Norgheimer closed her eyes and lay down on the old statue.

"She is ill," Azarus observed. "But if we can get the Black Scrolls, we can leave here with all haste. My guess is, the less time we spend here, the better her chance of recovery."

Izanami's face was a picture of concern. "But why has she been affected like this? And will it happen to the rest of us? She said something about being hungry…"

"I feel hungry too!" Ragnar announced. "I want to eat everything in my pack, and wash it down with whatever liquids I am carrying! And that includes my lamp oil!"

"As do I," Gerrik chimed in. “And I don’t even have a lamp!”

Sassha, meanwhile, scrambled up the seventy feet of the black tower, eyes fixed ahead. "Don't look down," she muttered. "Let's not fall and have to test the old saying about cats always landing on their feet!"

Fortunately, she reached the top with no incident and perched atop a black stone projection that held a statue once. "Sverd, what ARE you doing!?" she demanded.

The ravenfolk halted his incessant insane war with the glass and stared at Sassha, trying to focus his eyes. "Shinies!" he blurted, pointing to the tower, addressing the middle catfolk of the three he was now seeing.

Sassha looked over the undamaged, seamless glass, then looked inside, seeing the loot that had enraptured the ravenfolk. Once she realized that there was no possible way to open the glass, she shouted down. "Gerik! Ragnar! I need your muscles!"

The catfolk produced a coil of strong silk rope. "Sverd, do you have rope? Preferably silk? The rope needs to be longer!"

Sverd was recovered enough that now he only saw two Sasshas. He reached for his pack, fished out his own silk rope, and managed to give it to Sassha on the second try. With a curt word of thanks, Sassha knotted the ropes together, tied one end securely around the projection, and let the rest drop earthward.

The two barbarians made short work of the climb, also making a point not to look down. The top was getting rather crowded. Sverd, for his part, remained hovering within reach of his friends.

“Do you have a plan, Sverd?” Sassha asked.

The ravenfolk gestured at the glass. “Strong men break it. I fly in, grab the scroll and the shinies,” he said simply.

‘That is going to make a lot noise,” Ragnar frowned. “It will attract whatever dwells in the tower.”

“Nah nah nah,” Sverd waved off the objection. He was still slightly dizzy from his window collisions but he rallied himself. “I have that magic bag, the one where you put stuff in and it never weighs more? That one. Window breaks, I fly in as fast as a..a…” He made odd gestures in the air with his black feathered fingers. “What’s that bird that flies fast?”

“A hawk?” Gerik offered.

Sverd snapped his fingers and pointed at Gerik. “Hawk! Yes! Fly in fast as a hawk, scoop up everything without stopping, fly out and to the ground. You all go down, we’re all together, then we LEAVE this cursed place! Maybe then my head will stop hurting!”

“I have to admit, it would probably work,” Sassha shrugged.

“Then what are we waiting for!?” Gerik roared, producing his adamantine axe. “Die, stubborn window!” Two blows were enough to cause the steel-tough glass to shatter, and before the shards even hit the ground below, Sverd raced in with barely suppressed excitement.

Meanwhile, an ancient evil intelligence brooded in the chamber, an evil so old that it had forgotten it had shed its humanity to follow its master into immortality by becoming a living dead. But that form crumbled as the centuries worn on, and the intelligence now lurked in the skull, hating life yet hungering for the life-force that would sustain it. “Dust of eons, eternal hunger,” the thoughts roiled and festered within the gem-encrusted skull. “Seek life, eat life, kill life. Dust of ages, power eternal, darkness forever, darkness for WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!.....”

Sverd swooped into the room and quickly, smoothly scooped up everything: the baubles, the scrolls, the jeweled skull, and did a graceful banking turn, flying back out the window. “SHINIES!” he croaked triumphantly as he waved at his friends. “Meet me down on the ground!”. Sverd banked downwards and went into a joyous power-dive, pulling up at the last moment and making a very respectable landing. “Scroll and shinies!” he exclaimed to Izanami, Gunnar, and Azarus, holding the bag aloft.

“You two go down first,” Ragnar suggested to Sassha and Gerik. “I will cover our retreat, just in case something comes into the light chamber, attracted by the noise.” His friends nodded gratefully and rappelled down the rope.

Everyone except the weakened Melora eagerly gathered around Sverd and the battered old leather bag. Sassha and Gerik reached the ground and joined in as above them Ragnar began preparing for his own descent.

“Friends!” croaked Sverd. “I bring you…the third scroll!” The ravenfolk opened the sack, but before he could reach in, the jeweled skull shot straight up in the air, screaming and howling in fury as the gems in its eye sockets and jaw ablaze with a sickly, purplish-green light.

For a split-second, everyone stared wide-eyed at the glowing skull, howling and hovering above the black earth. “ENEMY!”, Gerik screamed and charged at the floating head, striking it hard. Gunnar followed close behind and hit the skull with a sword stroke so hard that it actually made the skull spin in place like a mad top. The blow was so precise, so deadly, that it would have killed a normal man, but the skull appeared barely fazed. It stopped spinning and glared at the Norgheimer.

From his vantage point above, Ragnar saw the battle and realized something desperate needed to be done. If he were to let go of the rope, weapon out, he could use the momentum of his fall to strike at the skull hard from above, like a thunderbolt from Thor himself! It was perfect! He long maintained that Thor’s blood coursed through his veins, and what better way to show it? He let go of the rope, drew his hammer, bellowed a battle-cry, and hoped to Asgard that he could manage to move and tumble in such a way that he wouldn’t hit the ground at full force.

The impact was truly spectacular, not to mention surprising, a loud thunderclap followed by the sound of metal on bone. But as Ragnar tumbled away and sat up, bruised and battered, he saw to his disappointment that the skull appeared to have barely noticed the attack.

Sverd, meanwhile, still held the bag in his feathery black hands. He looked at the bag, then at the skull, then back at the bag. “Well, it worked once. Otherwise, it was an interesting life, but short,” he muttered as he came up behind the skull and pulled the bag over it. As quickly as it began, the fight was over.

“WHAT IN THE NAMES OF THE NINE HELLS WAS THAT!?!?” Gerik roared.

“Whatever it was, it was wicked,” Izanami replied as she helped Ragnar to his feet. “You could feel its hatred positively radiating from it.”

Sassha looked at the bag doubtfully. “Are we sure it’s contained? What if it tries to break out?” She debated giving the bag a poke.

“Floating skulls sounds like something you would be familiar with,” Gunnar turned to Azarus. “That necrowhatsis magic of yours. Well? Do you know what it is? How could it have shrugged off such a killing blow?”

Azarus thought back to the previous year, when he was apprenticed under Feldor of Heldren Keep, a respectable necromancer of some modest skill. Azarus and his fellow apprentices enjoyed their lessons, but they especially enjoyed it when Feldor instructed them on the more unusual forms of living dead. And searching his memory, he remembered what Feldor had to say about this particular entity.

“We are in deep trouble,” Azarus declared, flatly. “Magic cannot harm it save a handful of spells that we lack. It shrugs off all weapons except for a handful that we lack. Once upon a time it was a human wizard who became one of the living dead so to prolong his life. But even that form eventually fades, and all that’s left is in the bag. He cannot cast spells in the traditional sense, but has certain powers, including conjuring a massive whirlwind that flays its victims alive. This creature is completely evil and utterly mad, cannot be reasoned with, and when it escapes the bag, it will pull the souls from our bodies, imprison them in the gems, and devour them at its leisure. Our soulless bodies will turn to dust before a minute is passed.”

Everyone paled, mouths agape, and stared at the young necromancer. Nothing moved save the undulating motion of the bag, as the skull attempted to find the way out. “We need to leave,” Gerik noted in a classic case of understatement. “We need to leave fast.”

Melora, still reclining on the statue, reached out with a scroll in her hand. “Take this!,” she gasped. “Take this before I eat it!” The gluttony curse of the tower was eroding her willpower.

“Of course!” Azarus exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “The other scroll!” Before the group had headed off to Norgheim, their Elven host had given Azarus and Melora each a spell scroll that would instantly move everyone to a location the reader chose. The first scroll was used during the affair of the second Black Scroll. Melora, however, had held on to her spell scroll.

Azarus took the scroll and unrolled it. “Where do we want to go?”

“To the Elven trade city of Alverene!”, Sverd announced immediately, looking nervously at the squirming bag.

“No! Are you mad?” Izanami shot back. “Did you not hear Azarus? That horror creates a flensing whirlwind. Who knows how many innocents would die if this thing can us somehow? We would be bringing death to that city!”

“Back to Noro’s then,” Gerik suggested. “He’s an Arch-mage. Should that thing follow us, if anyone can put it down, it is him!”

Azarus nodded. “Yes. Good. Everyone gather round me. When I raise my hand, open the bag. Then close your eyes and hold on tight!” As everyone clustered around him, Gerik helping Melora to stand, Azarus narrowed his eyes and frowned as he tried to figure out the words.

“What’s wrong?” Gunnar asked. “Why aren’t you reading? Didn’t you do this once before already?”

“Yes, I did and it was just as hard to read then as well,” Azarus responded impatiently. “It is like reading a foreign language, but you are only familiar with everyday words. This is reading a detailed text, with big, complicated words and difficult ideas. Now hush!”

Azarus read aloud, each word vanishing from the parchment as the power increased inside the young wizard. There was no turning back now. Finally, he raised a hand and pointed at the bag. Sverd yanked it open and the screaming skull shot up into the air, eye-gems blazing. The group winced at the sight and sound of the flying skull.  “…aeNoronai, ke’arbohresas!”, Azarus shouted the destination as the scroll vanished in a puff of smoke and the little band of eight vanished, leaving behind a very confused hovering skull.

The shock of transition from a suffocating, foul atmosphere of death to cool, fresh air filled with life was a profound one, but welcome nonetheless. With a pop of displaced air, they materialized beside an enormous tree of great width and height, surrounded by an ancient, dense forest.

“Noro!” Gunnar, Izanami, and Azarus shouted.

“Midnight!”, Sassha added. Everyone looked questioningly at her. “I’ll shout the name of anything that is even remotely associated with him, if it gets us noticed faster!” she explained.

“Oh, hullo!” a voice from a leafy branch chimed from overhead. A black cat with arresting green eyes lounged lazily on a low-hanging branch. “You’re back!”, it purred, its tail twitching idly.

“Help!”

“..being chased…”

“Undead thing.…”

“Screaming skull…”

“…awesome power…”

“…we couldn’t defeat..”

“I DON’T WANT MY SOUL DEVOURED!”

“…..pursuing us…”

The barrage caused the black cat to rear back, then look up higher into the tree. “Are you hearing this?” he asked a patch of silvery white leaves.

In response, a figure appeared clad in a robe that radiated dazzling white light, wielding a flaming sword in one hand, a white wooden staff with a blazing green gem in the other. “Who dares threaten my land!?” the old elf roared in a deep, thunderous voice, shaking with fury. “Who dares threaten my home and my guests?!” His eyes, twin orbs of blazing fire, looked around the gathering. When nothing came forward to challenge him, his eyes returned to normal. “Where’s this enemy?” he asked, confusion on his face as he willed his robe to stop shining. He gestured with his staff at Gerik, who was still supporting the unconscious Melora. “What happened to the sorceress?”

“She fell sick because of the land,” Gunnar responded quickly. “And we engaged this hideous dead wizard skull thing, and …”

“Dead wizard?! We will talk inside in safety,” Noro cut in, willing his sword to cease flaming, then sheathing it. “Touch the tree and think of my house.” He vanished abruptly.

The visitors found themselves gathered in his main hall. With a wave of his hand, Noro conjured a large disk, bade Gerik to place Melora on it, and knelt for a closer look at her. He nodded to himself, and stood up, surveying the group. He waved his hand, and a comforting fire leapt to life in the room’s stone fireplace. Another wave of his hand made seven chairs emerge from shadowy alcoves, sliding across the polished wooden floor, and situating themselves around the large dining room table.

With a snap of his fingers, two wooden serving carts trundled into the room by themselves. One cart carried pitchers of cold spring water, bottles of wine and mead, and eight goblets. The other was overflowing with bread, cheese, fresh fruit, berries, and grilled fish.

“Sit. Eat,” Noro commanded. “It’s been four days, and I am sure you are sick of trail food. I will place Melora in a bedroom and make sure she’s comfortable. When I return, we will talk.”

“What of our pursuer?” Izanami asked as Sverd, Gunnar, Gerik, and Ragnar bolted for the food, though Sverd and Gunnar went for the mead first.

Noro smiled reassuringly. “My home is so well warded it would take the power of a god to find or breach it.You are safe. Relax now.”  He ascended the spiral staircase, the disk bearing Melora trailing behind him.

The seven comrades ate and drank in silence as they tried to sort out everything that had happened. Midnight sat on the tabletop, within reach of Noro’s elaborately carved chair, grooming himself, though occasionally eyeing the fish.

A few moments later, Noro rejoined the group, now wearing a billowy white linen shirt and matching trousers. His long hair, mostly white and silver with a few vestigial streaks of its original gold, was braided down his back. Wordlessly, he took his seat, scratched Midnight’s head and smiled at the group. “Melora is resting comfortably, sound asleep. Come morning, she will be right as rain.”

Sverd paused his practically non-stop drinking and looked at the elf. “What had happened to her?”

“There are two kinds of folk who use magic,” Noro explained. “Folks like Azarus and myself, who control magic by means of memorization of complex formulae, and folks like Melora, who have a natural-born affinity for magic. It’s in their very blood..”

“And me!” Ragnar declared proudly. “I have the blood of Thor somewhere in my ancestral line!”Izanami and Sassha exchanged knowing glances and rolled their eyes. Ragnar was forever speaking of his supposed kinship with the Thunder God.

"Just so," Noro agreed. "Though I daresay you would have been the next to fall, considering your own blood’s own affinity towards magic. Now, I want one of you to explain precisely what happened to you from the moment you entered Maladera until now. Leave out no detail, no matter how insignificant you may think it is. Azarus, you will narrate, please."

The young wizard was taken aback, but steeled himself and began the story, as Noro poured himself a goblet of wine. Azarus spoke for close to half an hour, while Noro listened with great interest and the rest of the group ate and drank. Midnight sat bolt upright, ears perked, green eyes wide.

"…and that's how we ended up at the base of your tree, screaming for you and the cat," Azarus concluded, and then took a deep drink of wine. He sat back in his seat and looked at the elf expectantly. Noro sat quietly and impassively, fingers steepled in front of his face.

Then suddenly the old elf burst into hysterical laughter, as everyone flinched at this unexpected reaction. His laughter echoed through the hall as tears rolled down his face.  Midnight tried to remain impassive, but couldn't resist, and inevitably joined his master in mirthful hysterics. In fact, the cat rolled off the table, landed on all fours, leaped back up, and continued laughing.

"You mock our ordeal?" Izanami asked, shocked and affronted.

Noro waved off her objection. "No, no, no, you do not understand. This is precisely the sort of thing that Midnight and I were doing with our own band of friends, only that was two millennia and two Heroic Ages ago." He turned to Midnight. "Do you remember the time we entered that throne room and found a Duke of Hell sitting there? I don't think I ever ran so fast in my life!"

"I seem to recall you screamed as well," Midnight chuckled, and Noro laughed all the louder.

"So you see, I am not laughing at you," Noro explained, when he finally composed himself. "You simply reminded me of a different time, long ago, and how many similar ridiculous mistakes I made when I was in The Life. Although I daresay I never popped a lich in a bag!"

"What is The Life?" Gunnar asked as he poured himself yet another mead.

Noro gave a small shrug. "It's what we used to call what you people refer to as adventuring. You know, exploring, adventuring, risking our lives, grabbing treasure, sleeping on the cold ground, eating bad tavern food, and having people and creatures constantly trying to kill us," he explained, with a wistful sigh. "I miss The Life." His gaze took on a faraway look for a moment, but then he caught himself, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Ah, but that was a lifetime ago! So!”, he slapped his palms on the table. “What will you do now?”

The group looked at each other uncertainly. “Well,” Azarus replied tentatively. “I suppose now we find a buyer for the scrolls.”

“I want gold,” Sverd chimed in.

Noro nodded. “Well, the scrolls are relics of godly power, which means they will fetch a handsome price, but will only be of interest to a priesthood, and I would ask you not sell them to any agents of evil gods. And the largest collection of faiths resides in…”

“The City of Altars!”, several of the band replied in unison.

“Indeed,” Noro nodded again. “So. My recommendation is, two days hence, you depart for the City of Altars. But as for tomorrow, it is the twenty-fifth of December, and the holiday called Yule. I would be honored if all of you would join Midnight and me for a day of Yuletide celebration; singing, storytelling, feasting…”

“Drinking!”, Ragnar added.

“Drinking,” Noro echoed. “Tomorrow we celebrate. The day after, well, I have a suggestion or two for the most expeditious route you can take to the City of Altars. But for now, you all appear ready to nod off. There are guest rooms prepared upstairs for you. There are also baths available, and if you do not mind me saying so, I would recommend you availing yourself of them,” he wrinkled his nose. “The foulness of Maladera is not limited to just spiritual corruption.”

“I don’t know if I will be able to sleep tonight,” Sassha shuddered. “The sound and sight of that skull will give me nightmares for days to come.”

Noro smiled reassuringly. “Just as Maladera is a land of corruption and death, the elven land of Hanael is place of peace, healing, and life. Your dreams will be safe, and your time here will allow the land to excise all effects of Maladera from your mind, body, and soul. Now off to bed, all of you.”

The band, looking quite tired, rose from their chairs and waved good-night to their host. Gunnar paused and turned. “Do you mind if I take one of those unopened bottles of mead?”

Noro made an expansive “be my guest” gesture, and the Norgheimer smiled his thanks as he helped himself. Sverd peeked out from behind the slayer and cleared his throat. “Ah, may I too have…”

“Yes!” Noro laughed. “Help yourself! Then get cleaned up and to sleep!”. The elf waited until the last person left the hall and the sound of the last bedroom door closing finally faded. He relaxed and sat back in his chair, closing his eyes and sighing.

“Well?” Midnight prompted. “What do you think?”

“By finding the Black Scrolls they have set events in motion that will put this world in big trouble,” the old elf declared.

“Big trouble?” the black cat sneered. “When is this idiotic world NOT in trouble? Stupid world! What have we seen happen just in the last few years? First, some idiots tried to bring back the Dark Lord Aranaeus himself. That failed, then someone tried to find the last Ironedge heir in the hopes of bringing back the Valgarion Empire. That failed, and then someone tried to bring back the kingdom of Lundar, and yes, that failed. What other hideous or annoying thing from the past could anyone possibly be trying to bring back THIS time?”

“An evil dead god,” Noro frowned.

“Oh,” Midnight replied, his ears instinctively flattening. “Oh, that is NOT good.”

“No it most certainly is not,” Noro replied grimly as he rose from his chair. “We may need more help. I must research a few more things, but then I have a feeling I must call a muster. We will be seeing old friends again, I wager.” Somewhere in the house, a clock chimed twelve. “The new day,” Noro observed as he ascended the stairs. “Happy Yuletide, Midnight.”

“Happy Yuletide to you too!” the cat replied, padding up the stairs alongside his companion of millennia. “And may we all survive long enough to witness a happy new year!”

Hawkhaven Pathfinder Campaign #4: Dead Man's Quest Recap 5 and 6

Deadman’s Quest Chapter 4: “Azan knows all…about dirt!!!”

December 1^st-4th, 316 P.E.(May 30^th, 2015)

Roll Call: Melora, Izanami, Azarus, Gerik, Ragnar, Gaspar, Sassha

It is a crisp morning in Chessex when the party meets up for breakfast in the inn. At last, the group has all four pieces needed to open the way further into the dungeon, so they travel through the hills. They arrive without any interruption and use the silver awl to open the way to the much older portion of the complex. In they go!

The first thing they see is a corridor decorated with a fresco depicting a priestly type reading from a black scroll, staring at the night sky which is filled with constellation forms of many deities. As the group admires this artwork, they hear the chattering of teeth, then see multiple pairs of beady red eyes reflecting off Gaspar’s light source indicating a whole bunch of hungry vermin. Dire rats, to be exact.

Azarus gets into position while Gerik rages, charges, and slips on a sheet of ice that Melora produced on the ground. (Cue the slide-whistle). The rats, now seeing an easy target, go right for the prone barbarian. The rest of the rats charge towards the remainder of the party. Azarus, Sasha, Izanami, and Ragnar start killing off rats efficiently. Gaspar casts Sanctuary on himself, walks onto the ice sheet, and promptly falls down, then suffers a critical hit from a dire rat. (More slide-whistle, please.)

Gerik, Ragnar, and Melora keep killing rats, while Gaspar heals himself and stands up. The rest of the rats run away via small holes set into the bottom of the wall, leaving the carcasses of 21 of their comrades.

(The rats may be gone, but their influence will linger on. You'll see...)

The group moves further down the hallway to a door without a lock and two alcoves to the

Slogan: "More stupid monsters included
than in any other TSR product"

north and south, each with a large statue of a winged woman in flowing robes holding a sword aloft. Each alcove also has smaller statues of different varieties of dragons, scattered all over the floor, metallic types on one side, chromatic on the other. Gaspar and Izanami check out the two statues, which come to life and attack the party.

(One of the only monsters from the original Fiend Folio that was worth a damn. The Caryatid Columns, ladies and gentlemen!)

Ragnar and Gerik hit the columns, but discover that their weapons are taking damage due to hitting solid stone. Azarus takes the white dragon statue collected earlier and puts it into one of the inlets in the alcove. Melora takes her entire turn to gather up the metallic dragon statues and put them in the inlets of the northern alcove, which emits a clicking sound when she finishes. Gaspar uses one of his time revelations to flicker in and out of time space (like a Blur spell) and gets into flanking position with Ragnar, the latter who suffers a nasty hit.

(I just LOVE enemies whose very skin causes adventurers' weapons to break, don't you?)

Ragnar, Sasha, Gerik, and Izanami finish off the battle with the columns. Azarus collects all of the chromatic dragon statues and puts them in the inlets of the southern alcove, which engages the last lock and opens the door at the end of the corridor while Gaspar heals Ragnar.

The group moves into the next room, adorned with several statues. They are depictions of several gods and goddesses of the world’s pantheon, specifically Adonai, Okham, Stentor, Talludrah, Athena, Pahns, and Duma, and the words "Honor the one that is different". After some discussion about each of the deities in question, Ragnar notices that only one of them is chaotic aligned. Given his background, he gives a slight nod to the statue of Duma which unlocks a secret door across the room.

(Those are the deities of, respectively, Law and Good, Common Sense and Directness, Law and Order, Honor and Nobility, everyone knows who Athena is, Intelligence and Knowledge, and Freedom, Good, and Liberty.

Sasha takes point in the next corridor and begins to search for anything out of the ordinary. She finds a pressure plate, but sets off the trap in an attempt to disarm it. The trap flings out caltrops on the floor in front of her. The group ends up collecting the caltrops and moving along. The group finds a statue with empty hands. Azarus places the cup in the hands and another door opens into a dark room with a very high ceiling.

Gaspar casts Light on Ragnar’s hammer, which he throws into the darkness revealing a ceiling 100 feet up full of webs and four spiders with a red hourglass on their backs. Naturally, they begin to descend on the party.

(Creepy bastards. The spiders, that is, not the party)

The spiders reach the party and engage them. It’s a pitched, furious battle, with Melora taking a nasty bite but everyone managing to defeat the huge vermin. Ragnar and Izanami decide to climb one of the columns in order to get Ragnar’s hammer back. They find a few wrapped up victims of the spiders and find some nice items on them. Feeling like they’ve done enough for now, the group decides to leave, though they take some time to bury the victims of the spiders in a spot outside the complex.

(There are tales of the dead being grateful for having their remains properly buried. Fortunately, Jerry Garcia is nowhere to be found).

On the last hour of travel back to town, the group runs afoul of a wandering chimera. Here we go again! Gerik charges ahead and draws first blood. Izanami and Ragnar follow up but only the former manages a hit. Azarus attempts to blind the dragon head but fails. In retaliation, the chimera’s dragon head breathes fire on both Ragnar and Izanami. The former endures, but the latter goes up like a Roman candle.

Gaspar casts Stabilize on the dying Izanami. Gerik successfully intimidates the beast and he and Ragnar land some good shots on it. Sasha hits with a sneak attack to the point where the beast is now teetering on death’s door. Azarus runs up with his Grim Lantern in hand, casting Burning Hands for the killing blow. After copious amounts of healing, the group makes their way back to the inn safely.

F-I-L..T-H-F..E-V-E-R! Aw hell the song doesn't fit

The group wakes the morning of December 2^nd and Melora, Gaspar, and Azarus wake up with a pretty intense fever. After some investigation, the group realizes that the three contracted Filth Fever from the dire rats they fought before. After a little healing from the temple of Duma, the three recover. The group decides to spend the day in town and do some shopping and recover from more wounds, also giving the sick people a chance to rest up..

(Those dirty rats...literally and figuratively!)

On December 3^rd, the group goes back to the dungeon in the hills. They arrive at the room they fought the spiders and continue on down the stairs. They enter into a room full of books, and meet two creatures whose arms and torsos are human, heads with ram horns, and what looks to be a caterpillar like lower half. They are psychpomps, and they engage the party in some nice civilized discussion. In the course of these talks, the group finds out that the psychopomps, nicknamed Yin and Yang, are servants of true neutrality who guard the library.

(I just love that name...psychopomp. Neutral outsiders, and these ones in particular are scholars. Not looking for a fight unless one is brought to them.)

Once the chatting is over, the psychopomps allow the party to read any books in the library. Even better, time practically stands still, so they end up gaining some skills. Ying and Yang tell the group that one of the black scrolls does in fact exist somewhere in the dungeon and it’s guarded by the entity who built the complex. They also mention that the second scroll is located in Norgheim. The party moves on.

..not to mention Spam-loving Vikings!

(Norgheim...land of ice and snow, herring, mead, the Aesir, longships, magic hammers, Valkyries, frost giants, and Viking kittens)

Inside this room are two doors, one with dials, and one featureless. Also inside the room are two skeletons encrusted with gemstones. The things come to life and engage the party the moment they walk into the room.

(Don't you love constructs made to look like undead? I sure do!)

Azarus and Melora attempt undead-affecting spells and they flat-out don’t work, which helps the group figure out that these two creatures are actually constructs and not undead. (See?) While the major combatants engage the constructs, Melora explores the side room and finds an urn with runes etched on it, so she uncorks it. This results in Melora releasing an earth genie named Azan, who is the creator of the complex, and pleased to be finally free. Melora asks him to take care of the constructs, which he does in short order.

(I love role-playing genie-kind NPCs. They are so bombastic yet subservient, humble yet egotistical).

At this point, the group looks to the dials on the door. Gaspar asks Azan in what year he built this complex. Azan tells the party and they input the number on the dials, which unlocks the door. At this point, Azan warns that the group will have to deal with an earth elemental and the very walls themselves. After that, the party must reason with the ego of Deysin in order to gain the black scroll.

The group also learns that beyond the urn room is a temple to Oghma that is protected by two old enemies of Deysin that he killed and turned into mummies. The group decides to pre-emptively attack the mummies and establish a secure base of operations in the temple. The barbarians rage and charge a mummy, which causes both to animate and attack. Azarus is able to gain control of one of the mummies and commands it to attack its counterpart. Sasha is struck with paralyzing fear from the mummies, but Melora grabs her and drags her into the temple, which removes the fear.

(Gotta love the old "safe zone within the dungeon" trope)

Fred the Mummy...IF HE WAS A WHORRRE!

Azarus, Izanami, and Gaspar make their way into the temple and let the mummies duke it out. However, the barbarians continue to try hitting but don’t really connect. The commanded mummy, who is now named Fred, defeats the other mummy with a little help from the barbarians. Fred then goes into the other room and finishes off the skeleton constructs that had been sunk into the ground courtesy of Azan. With all enemies dealt with, the group decides to rest for the night before tackling the final part of the complex.

(Fred!?!?!?!?)

On the morning of December 4^th. the group makes their way past the door with the dials. They move into another room with even more dials, six of them, that have the letters of the alphabet on it. Melora spells out “Deysin,” on the dials and the door opens, revealing one of the black scrolls on a pedestal. Inscribed on a plate in front of it in Valgarese, “Be sure of your actions.” Ragnar grabs the scroll and another message appears on the doorway in the place: "The wheels are now in motion. To get the second, seek out the keeper of mystery who dwells where immortals and mortals mingle freely."

(Nice going, Melora. Failure to use the dials properly would've resulted in Earth Elemental carnage. As for the mysterious words, they are directing the party to seek out the oracle in the elven trade city of Alverene, where elves and non-elves mingle and do commerce.)

 The group takes the scroll with them and makes their way back to Chessex.

Deadman’s Quest Chapter 5: Welcome To Norgheim

December 5th-11th, 316 PE (June 27^th, 2015)

Roll Call: Melora, Gunnar, Tolg, Izanami, Azarus, Gerik, Gaspar

The group wakes on the morning of the 5^th in Chessex having finished completely exploring the dungeon in the hills and now having one of the black scrolls. Given the information gathered after gaining the first black scroll, the group rides to the elven trade city of Alvarene in search of an oracle who might point them in the right direction to the next black scroll. The party arrives in Alvarene by early evening, enjoying an incident-free trip.

When they arrive at the city, the party is greeted by a guard who helps them find the Oracle of Alvarene. The oracle pegs the group as fated individuals of some sort and leads them into the back of his establishment. Once there, the oracle has a vision and begins to spout forth a prophecy involving the black scrolls and a war that is coming. The group’s first stop based on the prophecy is to go to the country of Norgheim, to the legendary Graveyard of Dragons, specifically looking for the Tomb of the Ice Wyrm.

(Oracles are not the most common sight in elven cities, which is why finding him was so easy.)

Wait..a setting where elves aren't sadly fading away?
That hardly seems right!!!

The Oracle tells them of a quick way to Norgheim via a ghost stone, located in the heart of the kingdom of Hanael. Since non-elves are forbidden from walking in Hanael, he bestows on each party member an invisible mark that makes them elf-friends. Before they leave, they do a bit of shopping and in the midst of the shopping, meet up with their late-arriving friend Tolg. Once rested, they head out in the morning, December 6th.

(Elves in my world forbid non-elves from entering Hanael proper. Only if the non-elves are somehow given the status of elf-friend can they be allowed to travel unchallenged. That arrangement is most rare.)

After some uneventful travel through the elven forest kingdom for a day and a half, they arrive at the ghost stone, only to find a black cat calmly watching them. The cat speaks , asking the group why they are there. The surprised party replies with a phrase the oracle instructed them to use: the oracle knows the guardian’s secret and the oracle will reveal it to all, should the guardian of the stone hinder the party.

This prompts the guardian himself to appear, who happens to be the very much alive founder of the kingdom of Hanael, Lord-Archmage Noro Goldentree. He invites them into his home and asks their story before letting them use the ghost stone. The party explains their purpose, and when they finish, Noro adds that his people have experienced some odd manifestations of a magical plague, specifically certain maidens, and no one knows why. Some say it has to do with prophecies of the dead god of rot and disease and that the party may have some part to play in dealing with this ostensibly dead god. The group rests for the night under Noro's hospitality.

(Noro is the second character I ever rolled up, way back in 1978. I would play him several times a week until the mid-80's. When I "retired" from playing and focused solely on full-time DMing, he had led the elves of my world into the deep forests to re-establish the elven kingdom, the above-mentioned Hanael. Now, about 2080 years later, he has retired into the deepest woods, having faked his death, and lives alone with his familiar, the black cat named Midnight. Noro is a 25th level Fighter/25th level Wizard, Chaotic Good, and 2224 years old. Noro's grandson Ansalor is now king of Hanael.)

Apparently the oracle at Alverene knows of Noro's deception and has no compunctions about spilling his secret. Noro himself is of two minds. On one hand, he wants nothing more than to be left alone with his studies, his star-gazing, and his hobbies, enjoying retirement and waiting for death to take him someday. On the other hand, he rather misses the adventuring life, being as how he started out as an adventurer when he was a young lad of 150. Thus, he feels a kinship with this new generation and sort of wants to help them and watch their progress. This contradiction is a source of frustration, much to Midnight's amusement.)

               

The group rises the next morning, the 8th, ready to make their way to Norgheim via the ghost stone. Before they leave, Noro gives them a small wooden cube with Secure Shelter cast on it 12 times, and a few scrolls for the arcane casters (Azarus and Melora). When the group activates the power of the ancient stone, they are instantly transported into a bleak, hostile, cold environment. They begin traveling east towards their destination. As the group slogs onward, they eventually run afoul of a dozen frost wights.

(And so began one of THE worst bits of dice rolling I've don in years. Seriously. My dice SUCKED. These frost wights are terrifying things. Instead, they resembled the Keystone Kops if they were made out of Kleenex. Fortunately, I have a lot more chances of showing what these bad boys can really do!)

The wights engage the party but either badly miss or slip on some ice created by Melora. Meanwhile, Tolg channels positive energy to wear down the undead, Gerik, with his nice new great-axe, downs most of their number. Azarus controls two wights and makes them turn against their own, and some timely arrows from Gunnar downs a couple. Izanami kills one and Gaspar supports with spells as well as phasing one wight out of time and space. All in all, the group handily beats the wights, earning a few new magical items. After this, the group travels a bit longer and then rests for the night in the magical shelter that Noro provided them.

I dunno, I kinda like it here!

(Okay, let's stop here and get an idea of exactly how awful a place this dragon graveyard is, bad dice notwithstanding.  Picture if you will an elephant's graveyard, but remove the word "elephant" and place "evil cold-based draconic types" in its place. It's also huge, about 100 miles long and 50 miles at its widest point. Now, this has been the dying place of these monsters for at least 3,500 years, and that's a lot of dead evil dragons. This means the land has been soaking up all of those evil death essences like a sponge, so the entire area has the necromantic equivalent of constant low-level background radiation. It won't hurt or interfere with the player characters, but it has other effects.

Now, consider if you will how many unscrupulous, grave-robbing types out there hear the words "dead dragons", and think "easy treasure". So, year after year, dozens of opportunistic, greedy, unprincipled types go up there looking for all of that unguarded loot, and instead find death. Then that necromantic energy kicks in, and they all come back as frost wights.

But wait, there's more...

It's also freaking DECEMBER, so the temperature rarely gets above freezing. Even worse, the sun never makes it over the horizon, so you have perpetual darkness- no sunlight. Not so good for living creatures, totally awesome for undead.

As for any kind of civilization, that would be about a week's slog to the south, to the appropriately named Fort Heimdall, which guards Norgheim's northern frontier from incursions of white dragons, frost giants, and ice trolls. So, good luck finding a safe place to level up without undertaking that fun trek.

And oh yes, let's not forget the aforementioned living monsters that range around here, such as the white dragons, frost giants, and ice trolls.

Not to mention the tribes of gnolls in the area...

And the ogre clans...

This is going to be FUN!)

Morning comes and the group presses on. At around 10 am, a white dragon catches up with and engages the group. The group gets in a few good licks, but the dragon uses its breath weapon, downing Azarus and seriously wounding both Gerrik and Gunnar. The group throws itself at the dragon, landing some blows while Gaspar revives Azarus. The dragon advances to Gunnar and bites him, making him fall. Gaspar attempts to phase the dragon out of time and is successful in taking the dragon out of reality for a couple of rounds.

(I honestly never thought that Dibz' oracle would amount to much, but this character is consistently kicking ass. I'm impressed. And hey, the party's first dragon kill! Of course, it IS a white dragon, and they are the weakest of the lot).

The group use this handy respite to heal back up and get into position, pouncing back on the dragon when it reappears. Melora slows the dragon with a spell, which helps to limit its attacks and Gerrik gets in the final blow, felling the beast. The group harvests the scales of the dragon and press on, stopping for the night when it gets too late.

Yeah, kinda like this....

Unfortunately, while comfortably situated in their secure shelter, a frost-fallen mammoth (basically an undead elephant behemoth), makes a beeline straight for the group's camp.  Gunnar and Gerik are on guard duty, and they see this huge undead thing charging right for them. Gunnar goes to wake up the group while Gerik does a banzai charge, alone, making a beeline towards the undead locomotive. After a brief, furious fight, the mammoth was in fact driven off, courtesy of Melora making it fatigued, and Azarus doing a Chill Touch, causing it to flee in panic. The group was in no shape to press a pursuit. They went back into their shelter to tend to their wounds.

(Turns out I screwed up here. Since the Frostfallen Mammoth is undead, it should not have been fatigued nor frightened. Let's call it a case of "last encounter of the night, DM was up too early and is starting to fade" syndrome. In game, let's say that the party's robust resistance and the spells being thrown around managed to distract it enough that it decided to wander off and lick its wounds. No worries; there's plenty more Frostfallen Mammoths where this one came from! But for the future, remember: and spell that affects the mind or Fortitude will not work. My bad!)

When we begin next, it will be the morning of the 11th of December.

(And the biggest problem the party faces is: where can they find a safe place to rest up and gain experience points? Remember, the nearest civilized locale, Fort Heimdall, is at least a week's march away. Good luck with that.)