Wiki Category: Journal (Page 1 of 2)

April 8, T.A. 1355

Fin stays behind to take care of his remaining brother and returns to his estate to console his bereaved mother. Meanwhile, Nils, Vyrus, Fasolia, and Rurik arrive in the city of Redmark to find the city overtaken by pillars of light which reach into the sky, and a gaping vortex spinning above the city that gives glimpse into the Chaos dimension. Bit of Redmark — stones, houses, and whole chunks of the city — are being pulled up into the vortex above. In the middle, there are some rocks that rose and then stabilized.

Our heroes first check in with  Princess Thalia. Landrum the War-Boar had protected Princess Thalia during an attack by Chaos Cultists. Princess Anastasia remains unfound.

Journeying into the city, airborne by their boots of levitation, the heroes intermittently are affected by chaos effects: nearly being pulled into another dimension, becoming beguiled by lotus plants, having their hair change color, and other odd effects.

The heroes arrive at the epicenter of all the disturbances — a floating rock that bears a sacrificial circle where Princess Anastasia is part of a Chaos Cult ritual. The heroes use stealth and guile to take out several cultists. Finally, when confronting the key villains performing the vile acts, they see a druid priestess as well as Fasolia’s archnemesis — King Menelaus.  Menelaus, after giving a monologue, turns into a hideous creature, his intent to usher in the Chaos forces from the 1st Age.

After an epic fight, the heroes prevail and take down the evil King.

In the aftermath, Redmark returns to normal. The heroes are given a ceremony where the Queen knights each of them and bestows property and honor upon the saviors of Redmark.

April 6-8, T.A. 1355

Nils, Vyrus, Fasolia, Rurik, and Fin arrive at the Roman camp north of Redmark, intent on finding the Princess Anastasia who is still missing, as well as rescuing Fin’s younger brother Logan (who was seen as a prisoner in the camp during Princess Thalia‘s scrying of the area.

The party stays hidden due to a spell cast by Vyrus, and using their boots of levitation, then approach the main tent in the center of the camp where they suspect Hadrianus is located. Fasolia unleashes a wind elemental who begins to wreak havoc and causes a distraction. Meanwhile, the PCs make their way to the prison tents, where they free Logan and 11 other prisoners. The heroes help the prisoners escape from the camp, but Logan remains behind, now armed and seeking vengeance on Hadrianus, who (it is sadly revealed) has slain Reese, the middle brother of Logan and Fin.

Entering the tent of Hadrianus, they see that things have gone quiet. Inside the tent, the air elemental has gone passive, apparently charmed by Hadrianus.

Hadrianus taunts the heroes, but the heroes return the barbs by revealing that Marcellus is dead. Hadrianus, enraged, transforms into a horrific spider creature and attacks the party.

The fight is dire, and one debilitating effect of the spider’s attack is causing multiple levels of exhaustion — in only a couple of bites, the creature could kill one of the heroes!

Hadrianus plunges the tent into magical darkness, but Fasolia uses magical lights to re-illumine the area.

Logan is on the verge of death (only 4 hit points!) when Fin hatches a plan; he jumps above the spider and dives down, pinning Hadrianus to the table. Fin inserts his immovable rod onto the creature’s back, making the creature prone and vulnerable! The heroes and the spider continue to battle, but the tides seem to have turned. Fin attempts a killing blow but misses spectacularly. No matter, Logan manages to land the killing blow, severing the creature’s lower jaw.

The dead creature has some vestage of spirit remaining and monologues in sepulchre tones, saying that while the plan to have Marcellus marry Princess Anastasia has failed, and the Roman invasion seems imperilled, their is yet a third plan that remains which will plunge the world into darkness under the control of the forces of Chaos. Hadrianus then dissolves into a swarm of dung beetles which burrow into the dirt.

Fasolia does an amazing air-bound performance (including magical pyrotechnics) to persuade the Romans (now leaderless, several centurians having died at the hands of the air elemental) to follow him. Most of the Romans believe him to be Zeus, and are afraid and break camp to return home. 20 Romans bow and vow to serve Fasolia, who they view as Zeus incarnate.

The heroes then make their way to Redmark, hoping to scry again to try and locate Princess Anastasia. It is morning as they approach the city. They are shocked to see pillars of eldritch energy burst forth from several locations in the city, beaming up into the sky. Meanwhile, clouds in the sky above are swirling, peppered with bolts of lightning. What is going on in Redmark?

April 4, T.A. 1355

Nils, Vyrus, Fasolia, and Fin finish exploring the temple of the Chaos Cult and find some loot before retiring to the inn to take a much needed rest.

The next day the party meets with Princess Thalia to see what is developing with the war only to find that Princess Anastasia has good missing! Thalia uses her crystal ball and finds a party of 6 suspicious men (with Marcellus among them) just north of the city carrying something like a bag.

Using their new-found boots of levitation, after some trial-and-error, they bound over the city wall and ambush the hooded group of cultist thugs. They carry not a bag with a princess inside, but instead are holding a blanket between four of them with a cat riding on top.

A battle ensues, and Nils ‘rescues’ the cat, only to find the cat is a shapeshifted Marcellus! Marcellus fights to the death. A curious torc which Marcellus wore is found to be a suicide device (unneeded since Fasolia’s thunder-wave killed him).

Now the heroes plot their next move — journeying two days north to sneak inside the invading Roman camp where they have found that Fin’s youngest brother is captive.

LOOT & XP

• Nils — The Bloodlust Axe: This magical axe enhances the barbarian’s rage, granting them increased strength and speed during combat. While wielding the Bloodlust Axe, the barbarian gains a +3 bonus to their attack and damage rolls while raging.
• Rurik — The Divine Medallion: This holy medallion grants the cleric the power to turn undead creatures and heal their allies more effectively. While wearing the Divine Medallion, the cleric gains a +3 bonus to their turn undead checks and their healing spells restore an additional 1d6 hit points.
• Fin — The Shield of the Champion: This magical shield enhances the fighter’s defensive abilities, allowing them to better protect themselves and their allies. While wielding the Shield of the Champion, the fighter gains a +3 bonus to their Armor Class and can use their reaction to block incoming attacks, reducing the damage they take by 1d6.
• Fasolia — The Lyre of Enchantment: This magical lyre enhances the bard’s abilities to charm and manipulate others with their music. While playing the Lyre of Enchantment, the bard gains a +3 bonus to their performance checks and can cast the charm person spell once per day without expending a spell slot.
• Vyrus — The Bow of the Hunt: This magical bow enhances the ranger’s abilities to track and hunt their prey. While wielding the Bow of the Hunt, the ranger gains a +3 bonus to their survival checks and can cast the hunter’s mark spell once per day without expending a spell slot. In addition, the bow deals an additional 1d6 damage to beasts and monstrosities.
• Boots of Levitation (6 pair): The wearer is able to move up and down through the air at will.
  — Vertical: The caster mentally directs vertical movement at up to 20’ per round.
  — Horizontal: The caster can push against solid objects to move laterally.
  — Weight: A normal amount of weight can be carried while levitating.
  — Usage: The enchantment may be used without limit of frequency or duration.

April 3, T.A. 1355

The heroes Nils, Vyrus, and Fasolia confirm plans with Princess Thalia to venture to the Dwarvish temple dedicated to Seknigag which is where the chaos cult supposedly have their lair. Princess Thalia manages to round up three guards to accompany the heroes. Princess Thalia also gives a vial of St. Crispin’s Holy Water, a particularly effective glass container. “It can be used only once, so choose wisely!” she says.

The party ventures to the Temple District, where they use a skeleton key captured from an earlier fight with the Chaos Cultists, and use it to enter the temple. Inside a chaos dwarf questions the PCs (who are disguised as Chaos Cultists). After some parlay, the heroes dispatch the pesky dwarf and then venture through the stairwell a temple complex far below.

Exploring a series of chambers, the heroes find cultists meditating beside various sarcophagi. After fighting the cultists, Fasolia senses vibrations emanating from each sarcophagus as well as a strange magical field surrounding the stone tombs. Fasolia then opens up large doors to a new chamber only to find a Chaos Priest and several cultists chanting a ritual around a huge stone tomb.

The summoning completes just at that moment, and a terrible Herald of Chaos appears and immediately mind-controls one of the soldiers. At this moment, the other sarcophagi open, and wights appear and join the fray.

Two soldiers have died, but the heroes fight valiantly against all odds. Fasolia is nearly dead but manages to produce the vial of St. Crispin’s Holy Water and sprinkles it around all the evil creatures around them.  The Herald of Chaos shrivels and dies, and the wights (who seem to be bound to the Herald) fall lifeless to the ground. The remaining cultists fight, but when only two remain, they commit suicide.

The heroes investigate the blood-soaked battlefield of the temple and ascertain that the Herald of Chaos was summoned using animal sacrifices entombed in the large sarcophagus. Nils removes the sad creatures’ bodies and takes them away to cleanse the foul chamber.

The heroes now ponder their next move and consider getting some much-needed rest!

LOOT & XP

• No loot.
• Heroes level up to Level 5!

April 1-2, T.A. 1355

Gilda Revealed to be Princess Thalia

Nils has just learned that Gilda is none other than the Princess Thalia.  She reveals that she has studies magic and has some illusionist powers. She had some time ago fallen into a coma and then was revived by the Amulet of Shinkara which had been retrieved by Vyrus and a few other companions. Upon being revived she could not remember the events that led to her coma. However, she had a bad feeling about Hadrianus after the coma. She told her suspicions to her mother the queen but she had no evidence of any wrongdoing. She took it upon herself to investate mysteries she was seeing in Redmark. Taking the illusionary form of the woman Gilda, Princess Thalia formed the MMM.

Earlier in the Day

After Dolena had returned, Thalia met with her mother, Queen Sophia and confessed her secret labors through the MMM and revealed the intelligence Dolena had gathered: the Western Reach was indeed on the verge of insurrection.  The Queen sent for Hadrianus to explain himself but he was not in the palace grounds.

Thalia then left, not content with the glacial pace at which her mother was taking action. In the palace library, from a secret room containing certain magic items locked away, she took a crystal ball.

Thalia’s Memory Returns

In this process, the remainder of Thalia’s memory returned. Weeks before, from a secret passageway, Thalia had been listening in on Hadrianus and overheard his plot. Hadrianus was speaking to his son Marcellus. Hadrianus said he wanted to rule the world. Hadrianus was a noble from the Western Reach who was an advisor in the Citystate of Redmark’s court. He aspired to marry his son Marcellus to Anastasia, the eldest daughter of Queen Sophia and King Consort Ghost Dancer. To pave the way for the marriage, he planned to foment various threats and unrest in order to make the case for marrying his son to the princess, for in return he will marshall his troops in support of the Queen and general safety. Once the marriage takes place, he plans to assassinate the Queen and elevate his son’s power, thereby displacing Sophia’s family’s control.

Thalia gasps upon hearing these revelations. Hadrianus discovers her and produces a wand and with a spell cast a hex that left Thalia in a coma and without her short-term memory.

The Crystal Ball

Pondering these new-found memories, Thalia returns to the MMM, and uses the crystal ball to spy upon Hardrianus whom she found to be a day north of Redmark meeting with an invading army from the Western Reach.

It was at this point she used the crystal ball to find out where Nils was: he was right behind her supposedly ‘asleep’.

Nils Returns to His Companions

Nils agrees to find his companions so they might all return to meet with the Queen. The heroes were en route to the castle when they were attacked by another group of cultists, this time accompanied by an evil priest. A fight ensues, and the cultists are defeated. One cultist is kept alive and charmed to reveal information. The cultists are part of the worship of the Chaos gods from the first age and are part of a plot to return the old dark gods to rule the world.

The Audience with the Queen

Arriving to meet with the queen, the heroes are shown to a war room where Thalia and the heroes give updates on events.

The situation is dire. The Redmark army is mostly gone, sailing with the Redmarkian fleet. They are two days away, and the sending stone which they use to communicate can be used at most once per day, so it will be a day before the fleet is alerted. Having been recently used, this means the fleet could not return until four days hence. The Roman army is one day away.

The Heroes’ Plans

The heroes think there is insurrection afoot in the city, possibly tied to the chaos cultists. They plan to use the trappings from the slain chaos cultist to infiltrate the chaos cult temple and find out what is going on. After that, the heroes are considering using Thalia’s power of illusion and their chaos cultist clothes to sneak into the Roman army’s camp and get access to Hadrianus.

LOOT

• No money, but some really sick looking skull-adorned chaos cultist attire.

March 24-April 1, T.A. 1355

The heroes who saved Maid Dolena arrived back in the citystate of Redmark on March 31st, and Dolena returned to the castle on April 1st.

Flashing back to March 24th, we find Fasolia alone in his inn. A page from Queen arrives and gives Fasolia an invitation to the court that day, saying they have questions they want to ask him. Fasolia arrives at the court, which is empty save for some guards, Queen Sophia, and her advisor Lord Hadrianus of the Western Reach.

Hadrianus says he has his own intelligence of disturbing happenings in the Oskarria. Fasolia recounts his tragic history: his true love, the daughter of King Menelaus,  was sacrificed as part of the king’s pagan beliefs as King Menelaus went to war with Dasarria to his west. On hearing of this pagan practice, Queen Sophia is shocked. “This confirms what I have also heard in rumors,” says Hadrianus. “My queen, we cannot allow this to stand.”

Fasolia is dismissed.  Time passes, and Fasolia has not been summoned to the royal court. Then on March 29th, Fasolia hears a great clamor in the street. Bells are tolling and crowds are milling throughout the city streets. “We’re going to war!” shouts a passerby. Fasolia makes his way to the docks to see the fleet of Redmark, over a dozen warships, laden with supplies and bristling with the spears and shining helms of Redmark’s army. Fasolia is desperate to join them, but a page arrives saying that Fasolia’s council would be sought as part of the royal strategy for the war. Fasolia returns to his inn, anxiously awaiting the next summons. Two more days pass. Fasolia was concerned about the delay but then on April 1st, the page arrives again, bearing 50 gold pieces and a note reading: “Enjoy a night out on the town, and we will be pleased to receive you at court tomorrow at 10:00am sharp.”

Meeting his friends Vyrus and Rurik, Fasolia shoots “Drinks all around!” As the merriment commences in the tavern, mysterious cloaked figures have entered the room. Fasolia walked to their table to offer them free drinks when the trio of figured throw back their cloaks and attack! The attackers are adorned with skulls on their clothes.

Cultist Attack in the Tavern

The Tattoo on the Cultist’s Neck

A battle ensues, and the three attackers are quickly dispatched.

Inspecting the slain foes, the heroes discover a mysterious arrow symbol tattoed on the neck of each.

The heroes ponder these strange foes and consider how to intercede to deal with Redmark’s looming war and their suspicions about Hadrianus.

LOOT

• 50 gold pieces given to Fasolia

March 28-April 2, T.A. 1355

After acquiring the ‘goat-hammer’ and older silvered weapons, Nils, Vyrus, and Fin make their way through the bizarre village, in search of Maid Dolena and Ser Landrum.

Happening upon a tavern they encounter a bar filled with mongrel-men in various, repulsive stats of lycanthropy. Some with a goat horn on one side, lizard skin, and mostly human parts. Others with different mixes of creatures and humans.

The heroes declare themselves to be the new barbarian slavers in town, going by the names of Greg, Grang, and Nolan.

Meanwhile, Nils is having visions of an evil swine-goddess named Squee’la who is a corrupt spirit hexing the goat-hammer. Its corrupting influence is having an effect on Nils but he keeps the hammer, seeing its (temporary) advantage.

Next, the heroes investigate the empty house of Boss Grogg. Nils with an epic animal handling roll befriends  Grogg’s ill-treated pet boar who becomes a loyal companion to Nils and the party.

Inside are two scrolls, one a spell of some kind (pocketed for later investigation). The other is called The Song of the Sow – a blasphemous hymn to Squee’la that inflicts the reader (Vyrus, the poor guy) with gluttony. Vyrus eats a plate of slop voraciously before the effect wears off.

Finally, the heroes make their way to the east side of a mountain as darkness falls. Traversing a cave that plunges deep below the mountain the heroes arrive in time to find Ser Landrum already sacrificed, but Maid Dolena is tied to an altar imminently to be sacrificed to Squee’la! An epic battle ensues.

The Battle with the Were-Swine Shaman

Soon Boss Grogg, his shaman Mungillion, and twelve swine-guards are dispatched. As they depart, the druid in owl form whom they encountered earlier congratulates the heroes and says their names will be remembered for defeating the foul swine-folk. The heroes rid themselves of the cursed goat-hammer (throwing it into a lake) and escort the traumatized Dolena back home to Redmark.

On the first night of their journey home, Dolena confides to the heroes that she did in fact find evidence of a rising insurrection in the Western Reach.

Once back home in Redmark, Nils names the war pig ‘Landrum‘ in honor of the fallen guard. Dolena (with clothes fresh-pressed from the ‘bag of folding’) and the heroes make their way to the castle district. Oddly, Dolena seems alarmed that an entourage escorting the dark-haired Princess Thalia passes them as they are on their way to see Gilda. Arriving at the MMM headquarters, Gilda is not there and a squire informs them she will not arrive until the next day, and to call again tomorrow. Suspicious, Nils hides and spends the night in the MMM chambers while his companions return home.

Nils awakes to see Gilda arriving. Unaware of Nils presence, Gilda is not using her cane and does not seem infirm. As she pulls out a crystal ball and begins scrying, scrolling through different scenes of various far-off places, she then seems to be trying to locate some individuals — the heroes. Through her crystal ball, she seems to have discovered Nils presence in her very room.

Turning to confront Nils who arises to confront her, Nils presses Gilda as to her identity.

Gilda demurs, then after pondering a bit she finally says, “I do need allies. I will tell you the truth.”

Waving a hand to dispel the illusion, Gilda’s appearance changes to that of a young, dark-haired woman Nils recognizes.

The Princess Thalia.

LOOT

• Scroll with arcane symbols (yet to be identified)
• Landrum, a war-boar companion

March 24, T.A. 1355

As our shrunken heroes continue to explore the plumbing of the archmage’s laboratory, they meet and join forces with another pair of heroes — Fasolia and Fin Greywolf — sent on the same search for the missing ruby ring.

As might be expected, searching a magical laboratory’s wastewater drainage is not uneventful. The party encounters a magical jellyfish, a giant (in fact normal) rat, and minuscule mysterious mushroom men before they also cross paths with what appears to be that same apprentice Margyle that sent them down the drain in the first place.

Their suspicions raised and their doubts growing about the real reasons they were sent on this mission and their likelihood of making it back safely and back to regular size, the heroes decide to follow the mini Margyle by moonwalking through a magic mirror only to find his corpse bearing a warning message for the archmage about a dubious visitor to the tower. At this point, Nils recalls the draft copy of a carrier pigeon note they had happened upon.

Nils deduces that Hekakil, a wizard from Kashpar, had arrived seeking an audience with the archmage. Margyle had sent a message to the archmage alerting him about the visitor, but apparently, Hekakil had fought with Margyle to get the ring, which fell down the sink during the fray. Hekakil must have ensorcelled Margyle and sent him down the drains to get the ring. Then Hekakil used an illusion to take on the form of Margyle and sought help from the Ministry of Moribund Malefections when the real Margyle didn’t immediately return.

After some internal debate, the five one-inch-tall adventurers decide to keep searching and find themselves faced with another group of those previously mentioned minuscule mysterious mushroom men, including one wearing a nice ruby ring as a crown.

The matchup between the members of the Ministry of Moribund Malefections and the minuscule mysterious mushroom men is indefinitely postponed after Fasolia the bard befriends the fungal king and as often happens during a friendly embrace, grabs the jewelry, and teleports back to the laboratory.

With Margyle dead and expecting the worst, the still one-inch-tall group found themselves back in the tower facing a full-sized angry wizard demanding that same ring. It was, in fact, the worst. As the party scatters like mice, Fasolia uses his only leverage and slips the ring on his really small finger (it magically fits).

This magic ruby ring that is the reason for this whole mission (its true name being the Ring of Ultimate Chambers) gives Fasolia knowledge of the layout of the whole archmage’s tower and the ability to open and close every door in the tower. On the off chance that one of those doors might provide at the very least a distraction or prolong the lives of our heroes, the bard decides to just open all of the doors.

The monsters that emerge from the opened doors do provide the needed distraction for just long enough for the archmage to arrive, having received Margyle’s warning. The archmage quickly regains control of the situation, sending the loosed creatures back to their rooms, detaining the wizard, and saving and enlarging our grateful group. Also grateful is the archmage for the return of his ring and he rewards each of the adventurers with magic items from one of his store rooms.

LOOT

All MMM members receive a 10 gp hiring bonus, receive money to upkeep a modest lifestyle (see the PHB for details), and can keep all the treasure they find. While adventuring, the heroes found a 300 gp diamond (sold for and split for 60 gp apiece). Also found were a magic rope (taken by Vyrus) and goggles of night vision (taken by Nils).

Heroes also get to choose one item from Table A and one item from Table B (once selected, that item is gone):

Magic Item Table A
Potion of healing (Vyrus)
Spell scroll (1st level)
Spell scroll (cantrip)
Potion of healing (Fin)
Spell scroll (1st level)
Potion of climbing
Spell scroll (1st level)
Potion of healing
Potion of healing
Potion of healing

Magic Item Table B
Spell scroll (2nd level)
Bag of Holding (Vyrus)
Elemental gem (Air elemental gem)
Keoghtom’s ointment (3 doses)
Potion of water breathing
Immovable rod (Fin)
Oil of slipperiness
Potion of resistance
Keoghtom’s ointment (3 doses)
Ammunition, +1 (20)