The Kingdom of Vanaroth is in a state of great tension in the eighth year of the reign of King Ailvar II. The War of the Feathers is long over, but the kingdom is still feeling the effects of the bloody conflict. Food is scarce as years of men being at war left many fields to fallow absent their caretakers, while early winters have destroyed many crops that were sown. The balance of power in the kingdom is shifting as some lords prosper in the aftermath of the war, while others strain under the weight of its costs, leading to mistrust and infighting among their rank. And debts of the war have come due, but without the requisite spoils that were expected to pay for them. All while an old enemy to the east senses weakness where there once was strength…

Whispers abound of strange happenings in the North of the kingdom. Storms of an unnatural character. A burgeoning insurgency coming seemingly from nowhere. Rumors of a strange fortress sending forth evil creatures of a kind before unseen. All as the spirits of those who died in war haunt the lands of their deaths feeding a growing fear among those who inhabit the north of a wicked god whose name is spoken only in the most hushed of tones…

At the same time Vanaroth’s most prominent religious order, the Church of the Sun God, Alastonal, is experiencing a schism, with two factions disagreeing vehemently on basic tenets of the doctrines that govern their many faithful. There is great uncertainty leading up to the Days of Dusk when the Frost Moon will eclipse the Sun and Alastonal’s power will wane…

Now, the kingdom’s lords vie for Ailvar’s attention each hoping that one of their daughters might catch the eye of the unwed king. Simultaneously the lords struggle to maintain control over their domains as food riots and corruption threaten to topple their lordships. Simultaneously, a nameless assassin spills noble blood for reasons unknown, further adding to the fear and mistrust. In response, King Ailvar II dispatches members of the mysterious Order of Inquisitors to the far reaches of the kingdom to restore order and investigate these agents of chaos that undermine the stability of his regime…

Each of you, for your own reasons, are in Twinport, a massive metropolis on Vanaroth’s western coast, and are seeking passage aboard a ship to Ruskport, a smaller port city in The Ruskland. Perhaps you know each other, perhaps you do not.

Brandon has come up with some house rules for this campaign, you can find them detailed here.

Session 01 October 18, 2020

• Larrel boards a ship headed for Ruskport
• Once aboard we met a follower of Alastonal, named Pom who paid the fare of Larrel
• Another taller fellow, dressed in heavy armor introduces himself as Nythel another follower of Alastonal
• The ship is crewed by a handful of seamen as well as a group of armed guards, the leader of which is named Eberus
• The crew sets sail and the passengers begin to explore the ship and get to know each other

• The group notices one suspicious character, wearing a cloak concealing is blonde hair, he is accompanied by a younger individual who doesn't leave his side

  • The two appear to be nervous or anxious and looking to keep a low profile

Session 02 November 1, 2020

• Followed Uhnad, a blonde haired cloaked figure to his cabin on the third level.
• Accompanied by Nythel, Larrel headed down to the lowest deck
• A Bloodhound (bounty hunter) named Fran Snowblight who is detaining a man with a bounty on his head pointed us to a back room where she had seen the cloaked figure enter earlier.
• After making introductions with a group of drunkards playing a game Larrel knocked on the door, after the knocking Nythel heard the man say "Bale, Bale hide!"
• The cloaked figure then opened the door and appeared to be concealing something behind the opened door, looking nervous Larrel introduced himself and the man seemed slightly put at ease. Without wanting to cause any anxiety, Larrel and Nythel left Unhad shortly after and mentioned to Fran that he potentially held a weapon, and asked if she would keep an eye on him.
• Larrel made introductions to Thalanul and Ahmein on the second
• Eberus heads down to the lower floor and approached the group of drunks, as he approaches the whispers in Uhnad's room abruptly stop.
• All of a sudden Nythel's dog begins to whimper and Nythel and Eberus turn around to see a storm brewing in the distance and notice the ship is heading perpendicular to the storm.
• Eberus heads to the second deck and wakes the Captain. Captain Emerus reaches the top deck and peers through a spyglass towards the storm, and immediately recognizes the severity of the storm and immediately begins barking orders at the crew to begin changing course
• The captain takes hold of the wheel and begins helming the vessel. Just as the captain takes control of the ship a large wave comes crashing over the deck which sends Eberus and Larrel to the ground.
• Larrel regains his footing and heads below to keep an eye on Uhnad among the confusion. Eberus Heads below and wakes the remaining crew to help
• One crew member is not accounted for, but Eberus recalled her being one of the drunks playing cards on the aft of the ship.
• Guage awakes from his sleep and begins binding a spirit. Nythel begins to tie down his donkey and brace for further impacts
• Ice begins to fall onto the ship in large chunks
• After a few minutes the boat begins to violently rock once more and the players feel a sickness stirring in their stomachs
• Larrel heads to the deck and begins ushering non-crew members below deck
• Nythel and Eberus help a passenger who slid off the deck climb back over
• As the boat continues to rock and to be buffeted by waves, several people are swept overboard and out to sea.
• The cracks that were forming on the main mast finally give way and the top portion of the mast including the crowns nest splinters and flies with the wind overboard
• Nythel Heads towards the captain to try to secure him and ensure he does not meet the same fate

• The ship begins to drastically lean to the port side and Larrel is hit by a large wave and sent overboard, but with the help of Eberus' spear is able to hold on

  • Larrel is able to cling on as Eberus pulls him back aboard

Session 03 November 14, 2020

• Larrel speaks with the ship's captain and as he does, notices large rock outcroppings dotting the water. Before anyone has time to react, the ship lurches to a halt
• The captain begins calling out to the passengers saying the ship hit a rock and everybody needs to get off before the ship takes on more water
• Larrel and Eberus go to the lowest deck and begin to gather everyone up to prepare to swim to shore
• Eberus carries one of the drunk crewman up to the top deck
• As all the crew and passengers begin to file up to the top deck, Loreleia suggests using rope to lower people
• We use the two lifeboats to send those who cannot swim ashore. All the crew and passengers begin to swim to shore.
• Loreleia, Larrel and Gauge begin to check the islands surroundings. We see evidence of previous shipwrecks in the area.
• Eberus and Nythel board the lifeboats and set out to find any surviving supplies on the ship.
• Larrel begins to usher people up to higher ground where they start making camp.
• Some of the military members offer to set up a perimeter, others begin to gather firewood and search for food.
• We begin to assemble the tents owned by Eberus, Nythel and Guage.
• Larrel casts Create Water to make 6 gallons of water placed in various containers collected from passengers.
• Many of the crew head out to find food (poisonous or otherwise)
• Eberus, Nythel and Guage return from the boat with supplies.
• Loreleia casts an audible Alarm with the password "Donkey" centered around the camp.
• Nythel and Eberus suite up in his armor and begin to head out with Guage to search for food. They find a bee hive and grapes
• The group then assigns watches

Session 04 December 21, 2020

• The group collects everyone inside the ring for the night and rearranges the tents to be out from under the trees to accommodate more people in the shade of the tree
• Larrel and Ves (The ship's first mate) take the first watch
• Their watch ends without any events, and Larrel goes to wake Eberus and Loreleia for their watch
• Part way through their watch Loreleia, Eberus and Ves hear what sounds like in-human laughter
• They wake Larrel and the rest of those who can fight and they position themselves just out of the ring of alarm
• It sounds as though there are multiple creatures out towards the north (approximately 100 feet away)
• As Eberus approaches, a gnoll-like creature jumps out from a bush and attacks
• Larrel awakes the rest of the camp and collects them by a tree for safety
• Nythel takes aim with his crossbow killing one creature and Loreleia moves forward to attempt to sleep one of the creatures
• Several more passengers join the fight and Eberus is bitten badly by one
• After Larrel heals Eberus, Loreleia casts a burning hands and kills one more of the creatures and lights another on fire.
• The creatures then flee
• The group then decides to set off after them following the tracks left behind.

• After quite some ways without finding much, Eberus finds a piece of wood on the ground, it looks like something used to fasten portions of a wagon together (like a wooden nail)

  • The group spreads out to search for more wreckage and Larrel finds a badly damaged wooden symbol of Alastonal also on the ground
• The group comes across an open air temple to Alastonal, which looks long since abandoned, it would have been a place of worship.

• The tracks move passed the temple but the group stops to investigate

  • The orientation of the four alters is wrong, they would normally be oriented to align with the sun on equinoxes and solstices but they are turned opposite to that, they appear to have been moved.

    • It seems to have been moved more recently than it was last used
  • Additionally the symbols to Alastonal seem to be deliberately destroyed or defaced in some way
• As Larrel proceeds forward he sees an alter in the back with an inscription: "For the glory of Alastonal, life's light" the inscription is badly clawed.
• Loreleia casts Detect Magic and detects one faint aura around the four pillars which is a divine spell.
• The group becomes uneasy about the situation and decides to head back

Session 05 January 21, 2021

• As the group settles in Guage runs up the hill panting "why did you all leave me back there?"
• The group returns from the temple and decides to move the camp there as a more defensible position
• Upon discussion with the group at large, it is proposed that we stay near the ship to hasten the repair process
• The decision is put to the group at large and the passengers largely side with moving to the temple while the crew mostly sides with staying by the ship (the first mate however votes to go to the temple)
• The vote breaks in favor of moving up to the temple
• Before moving the group, it's decided that the boat should be pulled ashore so the group assembles to help, after about an hour the ship is pulled ashore
• The group then heads for the ruins.
• Upon arriving the group rearranges the alter to face it's proper orientation
• The group also sends out people to scout the surrounding areas
• Eberus comes about a chest buried under some topsoil with a rusty lock
• Being without any lock pickers Nythel volunteers to break the lock, he quickly dispatches with it

• Inside the group finds what appears to be the secret holdings of the church who previously occupied the temple.

  • Inside is ~130g a golden chalice, a old looking wooden pendant to Alastonal (which seems out of place with the rest of the objects in the chest) and a leather-bound book titled "The teachings of (Saint) Tekkus"; it appears to be well used, somewhat old, and hastily written. Under closer inspection, Nythel determines that the books seems to have been copied
• Larrel decides to cast Detect Magic on the holy symbol found in the chest and finds that it is possesses a strong magical aura and is of divine magic
• After approaching the group with this information Pom volunteers to study the pendant

• As Larrel looks to mend some of the defaced symbols on the alter he notices a piece of parchment peeking out of a secret storage compartment under the lip of the alter. As he examines it he finds that it appears to be a journal. The first entry appears to be dated 919-7-23 (114 years ago)

  "They attacked the church again, all these festivals and the zealotry that accompanies them leads them to hate anything that's different. We cannot stay here, I need to find somewhere for us to go. We cannot stay here."

• The last entry is dated 985-12-6

  "Father Brimbore died peacefully in his sleep last night, though he saved hundreds of lives his greatest accomplishment was his mentorship of you Ethana"

• While looking around, the group sees what appears to be a building off in the distance and decides to investigate. Nythel and Larrel approach the building from the east and find that it is actually several buildings in a sort of village, long since abandoned and left in ruins

Session 06 February 4, 2021

• As the group approaches the ruined village, Larrel notices one of the trees (which is quite large) has some of its roots entangled with a portion of the ruble, seeming to indicate that this village had been left a long time ago

• The group finds no trace of recent inhabitants and decides to start investigating the buildings

  • In one of the homes Larrel finds a sigil of Alastonal mounted to the wall
  • Eberus and Larrel move to another house which we notice has the symbol of Alastonal emblazoned on a candelabra, the wax has all but melted away. The candelabra is very old (at least a hundred years old) and he notices that they are only of a select group made by priests in Analriun. Its design is also very unique and when all the candles are lit a depiction of Alastonal's face is visible in the amber glow
• On another barrel in the home, Eberus spots a brand which says "Saint Ahlandir's Stock Company"
• As the group approaches the next building, the something is clearly very different. In addition to being a two story house, there are wooden planks which block the windows and furniture appears stacked against the doors and there are slash marks (likely made by a blade) which line the inside walls

• At the farthest south edge of the village there is a graveyard

  • The oldest headstone we find is dated with the year of death as 921
  • The most recent headstone is for Father Brimbore December 6, 985
• The ground at the base of each of the gravestones is disturbed, with the ground sunken in many places
• The group decides to exhume the body of Father Brimbore, after a quick prayer the group uses Nythel's shield to dig up the grave. But there is no body nor remains to be found
• As the group decides to check another grave to investigate suspicions that the inhabitants rose from the group Guage hears several short blasts of a horn coming from the south (the direction of the temple)
• The group moves a rapid clip to try to make it back to the camp in time
• Upon arrival the group witnesses a scene of chaos, passengers and crew huddle together near the ruin of the temple. Some of them are bloodied
• One of the sell-sword marines Alzarin runs over panting and speaks to Eberus "They attacked… the wolf people, they attacked… they took two Tidoor ran after them… Rolbren is hurt"
• Among the missing are Tidoor, Tan, Glexum and the Prisoner which Frans was looking over
• The group decides to go after the Gnolls the tracks meander but have purpose seeming to know the lay of the land the creatures moved swiftly

• As the group pursues them they come across an object that Eberus recognizes: Tidoor's shield

  • On either side of where the shield lay, there are tracks which approach it
  • There is also a small patch of blood on the ground where the imprint of a body appears
• After a while the group comes across what looks to be abandoned fortress at the edge of a cliff-side overlooking the water, many tracks lead out from the fortress in all directions and we see many yellow eyes glinting in the moonlight
• We decide to head back to the camp and mark the trees subtly along the way to be able to more easily find it on return journeys
• The group decides to post more watches during the nighttime and as the night goes one they hearing howling and unsettling shrill sounds emanating from the distance

Session 07 February 26, 2021

• Though Nythel's watch ends uneventfully, around 3:30AM Larrel spots what appears to be a ship's mast off in the distance concealed by fog. Larrel wakes the ship's captain and the remainder of the main crew
• Eberus, Larrel, Lorelia and Captain Emerus venture down towards the shoreline to try to get a better look
• As they descend, the fog obscures more of their vision and the group decides to find higher ground among the ruins they are now surrounded by
• They spot a watchtower and decide to enter and try to climb up the dilapidated stairs
• Eberus successfully climbs the steps, but Larrel falls unable to get a good grip

• After some deliberation, the group decides to attempt to hale the ship

  • Lorelia casts Light on the tip of Eberus' spear of returning
  • Eberus then throws his spear as far as he can and in all directions, hoping the light reaches the distant ship
• After a while the group loses hope, and decides to head back towards camp
• In the morning the group decides to set out once more towards the abandoned fortress they had found the night before
• As the group makes their way through the forest, the come upon another altar
• Where the altar back at camp was defaced but not cursed, this altar leaves a sickening feeling for the whole group
• Larrel approaches and examines it's surface, he finds that there is dried blood spattered across its face
• The group surmises that the altar must be used for ritual sacrifices by the native beast-like creatures who had attacked their camp.
• They decide to hide, and wait for the creatures to return…

Session 08 March 11, 2021

• After arriving at the altar at around 1PM the group decides to head back to camp in order to get more people who can fight

• Larrel speaks to the group and says the plan is to have those who can fight join together and lay in wait for the Gnolls to return to the altar attack

  • In the meantime those who cannot or do not wish to fight will be escorted to the village in the hopes that the Gnolls will not be able to find them before the night
• Larrel, Nythel, Lorelia, Ves, Fran, and Alzaren (eventually Uhnad and his nephew eventually volunteer to join as well) volunteer to be part of the group to assault the Gnolls on the bluff above the altar
• The group escorts the non-fighting members of the camp to the village, although some seem disturbed about the condition of the village, none protest
• Fe (whose brother was among those who were captured) also timidly elects to come

• Lorelia casts an audible Alarm around the tree in the center of camp

  • She alerts everyone that the password is "Dirk", and that should anyone notice anything suspicious they can walk through the alarm without saying the password to trigger the alarm and alert the town
• The group then heads back towards the altar arriving without incident around 5PM

• The prevailing wind is coming from the south while the ruined fortress is to the east, the group decides to camp out and wait

  • Nythel heads to the east bluff to act as a look out to see if the Gnolls approach
• The group takes special care to hide themselves, Larrel has Fe accompany him while Behral climbs a tree (probably at the request of Uhnad)
• Around 9:30PM Lorelia notices a flock of birds fly out of the forest about a 1/4 mile to the east
• She casts Message and informs Nythel that the Gnolls may be on their way and to keep a watchful eye
• As 10:00PM rolls around Lorelia is able to spot some creatures coming from the east, she informs Nythel about the group
• She also whispers the information to Larrel who is able to spot 9 Gnolls in total, along with 2 creatures who appear to walk all fours, sniffing the ground as they go
• As the creatures arrive they begin to spread out (except one which seems to just stand still and survey the area)
• Uhnad, Alzaren, and Fran fire arrows at the Gnolls closest by, Fe also fires a shot but misses
• Lorelia casts Summon Monster II and summons a Fiendish wolf next to the Uhnad attacked, the wolf attacks dealing 5 damage
• Ves fires Nythel's repeating crossbow landing a devastating blow killing one of the Gnolls

Session 09 March 25, 2021

• Round 1

  • NPCs: One of Gnolls fires a crossbow bolt at Uhnad, despite missing he begins loading the heavy crossbow with extreme speed. Fran fires a shot at one of the Gnolls but it is only a grazing blow. Uhnad fires a shot at one of the Gnolls striking in the lower abdomen, the creature lets out a howl of pain and Uhnad fires again, this time missing. Alzaren shoots an arrow hitting one of the creature's arms, the creature whirls around, and clearly notices where the shot came from. Two Gnolls move into Nythel's threatened squares and he attacks them both dealing damage but failing to trip one of the Gnolls. Both Gnolls miss however. Fe with his bow and the arrow hits directly in the ground. Ves fires a shot but misses. One of the Gnolls lands a critical hit on the Lorelia's Fiendish Wolf.
  • Lorelia Attacks with her summoned Fiendish wolf, but misses, the casts daze on the heavy crossbow wielding Gnoll, but it seems unaffected.
  • Larrel: Moves forward and casts Bless on all the allies in the vicinity of the hilltop.
  • Nythel: Takes a full-round action to disengage.

• Round 2

  • NPCs: Fran fires a shot at a Gnoll striking it directly and the creature lets our a shriek. Both the Gnolls approach Nythel who attempts to trip them but fails. Fe attempts to fire the bow but hurts himself in the process. Ves tries to shoot the crossbow but looks puzzled, Nythel notices and says "You're not out of shots just shoot!" she shoots but misses. One of the Gnolls strikes another blow on Lorelia's wolf. Another Gnoll approaches Nythel who successfully trips it, but the third manages to get through and attacks, missing. One of the Gnolls attacks Nythel with an attack of opportunity missing.
  • Eberus: Joins the battle, arriving from southwest of the altar. He fires a spear but at the heavy crossbow wielder, but misses.
  • Lorelia: Her summoned wolf attacks but misses, and Lorelia prepares to back away once she is healed.
  • Larrel: Heals Lorelia for 8 with Cure Light Wounds.
  • Nythel: Withdraws from the three Gnolls engaged with him and moves towards the cliff. During the withdraw another Gnoll attacks Nythel who then kills the Gnolls with an attack of opportunity.

• Round 3

  • NPCs: A Gnoll fires a shot at Eberus, missing while another carefully avoids Nythel's chain and throws an axe at him. Several of the creatures attack Nythel they hit but are unable to pierce his armor. One remaining Gnoll attacks Eberus but is distracted by the Dancing Lights, missing what would have otherwise hit. Another attacks Nythel finally piercing his armor and drawing blood.
  • Eberus: Throws a precise spear which lands with lots of force and strikes the crossbow wielding Gnoll
  • Lorelia: Her summoned wolf attacks the Gnoll nearest it, and finally is able to hit but unable to trip. Lorelia casts Dancing Lights around several of the Gnolls distracting one.
  • Larrel: Moves forward towards the edge of the cliff looking to draw fire from the Gnolls
  • Nythel: Attacks the nearest Gnoll to him dealing a deadly blow.

• Round 4

  • NPCs: One of the Gnolls attacks Nythel hitting but is again unable to pierce his armor. The crossbow wielding Gnoll then lets out several short bursts from his horn, then gets on his mount and begins riding away, the rest of the Gnolls begin to withdraw as well. Alzaren, and Uhnad both land shots which strike two Gnolls as they retreat. More of the Gnolls flee, somewhat hastened by the sound of the phantom horn.
  • Eberus: Throws a spear at the mounted Gnoll, striking his shoulder, he clutches it in pain but remains on track.
  • Lorelia: Casts Ghost Sound to attempt to mimic the horn sound closest translates to "stay and fight you pansies!"
  • Larrel: Wait
  • Nythel: Successfully grapples the closest Gnoll. The Gnoll attempts to escape on it's turn but fails

• Round 5

  • DM: Uhnad lands a hit on a retreating Gnoll
  • Eberus: Charges one of the retreating foes and lands a fatal blow with his spear.
  • Larrel: Scrambles down the embankment and arrives at Nythel's side to aid in apprehending the last remaining Gnoll
  • Nythel: Successfully pins the Gnoll

Session 10 April 27, 2021

• As the group looks out across the field, having slayed much of the approaching Gnoll force, they begin to search the remaining bodies

  • The first Gnoll appears to be wearing studded leather and carrying 12 copper pieces
  • The second creature appears to be a Hyena
  • A Second Gnoll appears to be wearing studded leather, a light wooden shield and a longsword. The Gnoll also wears an ornate ruby Necklace, which Lorelia appraises and finds that it could be worth around 500 gp.
  • The third Gnoll carries studded leather, a battleaxe, one silver piece, and a sling with some stones
  • The fourth carries studded leather, a longsword, a shortbow, 20 arrows, and a strange necklace in the shape of a sword and bow, after a successful knowledge religion check Larrel find that it is the symbol of the diety Gora "The Destroyer".
• As the group finishes looting the Gnolls, Uhnad who had been keeping watch, calls out to the group that more Gnolls are coming.
• Not wanting to engage again, the group heads back to camp.
• When the group recounts the events of the day to the passengers, fear spreads at the mention of the diety Gora and the large Hyena ridden by the Gnoll's leader.
• Nythel, with the help of one of the ship's crew, ties up the captured Gnoll to the tree at the center of the village.

• During the night the group sets watches

  • Larrel and Nythel: During the watch Nythel notices a dark figure towards the North East of camp, hiding in a patch of bushes. As he makes noise to alert the camp the creature darts off into the shadows at high speed.
  • Eberus and Lorelia: Eberus notices a creature, this time in the East. As they stealthily approach, the creature appears to not notice. Eberus launches a spear at the creature hitting it in the shoulder, and Lorelia fires her newly acquired shortbow striking the creature as well. With a shriek of pain it sprints off in the distance. Taking one more shot each at the retreating Gnoll, Eberus misses with his spear, but Lorelia's arrow once again finds it's mark but the creature continues running.
  • Larrel and Nythel: This watch passes without consequence.
  • Eberus and Lorelia: Nothing eventful occurs
• As morning breaks over the camp the group decides to head back towards the temple. Uhnad moves out ahead of the group to scout the temple.
• As he returns, Uhnad found some tracks–probably left from the previous night–of what appear to be a couple of Gnolls.
• As the group arrives back at the temple Lorelia notices tracks leading up to, then away from, a pillar on the outskirts of the temple. Claw marks are visible all the way to the top of the pillar. Presumably a Gnoll climbed up in during the night to get a better look.
• As Nythel climbs to the top of the pillar he finds an Emerald atop a pedestal.
• Nythel with help from Lorelia manages to use the rope to swipe the emerald and its pedestal off the pillar.

• Nythel asks Pom if he is able to identify it, and after some time he casts Detect Magic on the emerald.

  • Pom finds that one strong aura emanates from the emerald.
• The aura around the emerald appears to be a primitive type of magic, neither arcane nor divine.
• The group decides to bury the emerald away from camp at the base of a tree which Larrel commits to memory.

Session 11 May 11, 2021

• Upon learning of the magical properties of the Emerald Lorelia grows suspicious of Ruby she had looted off the body of a dead Gnoll the previous day

  • After revealing to group that she had found this the previous day and kept it hidden, Lorelia brings the Ruby to Pom who agrees to cast Detect Magic on it.
  • Pom Determines that the Ruby also one strong aura centered on it of the same primitive magic source of the Emerald
  • The group decides it's prudent to bury the Ruby–like the Emerald–and decide to meander away from camp and pick a new tree under which to bury it. They decide to make the route confusing by pretending to be collecting firewood, to keep its location from prying eyes
  • They bury the Ruby like the Emerald, underneath a tree approximately 500ft from camp.
  • Lorelia casts Arcane Mark on the tree above both the Emerald and the Ruby

• Lorelia and Larrel set out to find oak trees–at the ship captain's request–to help rebuild damaged portions of the ship

  • Lorelia finds lots of oak in the surrounding area, but there appear to be several different kinds of oak in the area
  • After consulting with the ship's captain, we learn that swamp oak, holly oak, and common oak would make good ship building materials.
  • Larrel asks the group if any among them know how to identify oak trees, Fran smirks and makes a snide comment about those leading not being able to identify trees, but eventually agrees and successfully identifies some common oak and holly oak in the near vicinity of the camp
  • The group dispatches Nythel and Eberus to fell some of the oak trees and the ship's crew setup a perimeter
  • Nythel and Eberus begin cutting down trees, with Larrel now being able to point out the various types of oak.
  • While cutting wood, Fe approaches Eberus asking about the group's plans–if any–to attempt to rescue those captured by the Gnolls
• Nythel and Larrel's watches pass uneventfully

• During Eberus and Lorelia's watch, at two different times they both notice birds scattering from treetops about a mile away.

  • Towards the end of their watch Eberus and Lorelia hear distant sounds of drumming and howling from the Northeast
• The group assembles all those willing to fight and makes for sounds, fearing this might be a ritual sacrifice.
• Uhnad scouts up ahead and returns with information. He estimates that there are approximately 50 of the creatures are gathered around the alter where Tydor is tied up. There are what appear to be women and children in the crowd as well as one Ogre. None of the others who have been captured are there.
• Larrel and the group devise a plan. Larrel and Nythel will approach the group from the West–closest to camp–while the rest of the group wraps around from the East. Larrel will cast Enthrall to attempt to make the crowd oblivious to the rest of the party sneaking up to rescue Tydor
• The group puts the plan into action, bulk of the group heads to the East, while Larrel and Nythel approach from the West. However, As they approach Larrel is spotted by several of the creatures keeping watch around the perimeter and they immediately move to attack.

• Heavily battered from the attacks Larrel moves forward to cast Enthrall, as he does so he feels an uneasy feeling creep over him and hears a deep disembodied voice call out to him saying

  "You may atone later my child… For now you must do my work."

Session 12 June 02, 2021

"There you stand. Watching this grim spectacle. The night is still–or at least it would be if not for the howls, cackles, yips and growls of the Gnolls. Tydor lies bound to the stone altar, struggling against his restraints in vain as he nervously looks around. Drums beat steadily as a tall gaunt Gnoll with ruddy brown fur clothed in a tattered wine colored robe and a necklace of bones snarls incantations from a weathered black leather-bound book. She digs a single claw into the flesh of Tydor's cheek making him shudder in pain and struggle more violently against the restraints. The priestess–as she appears to be–spreads drops of Tydor's blood across the altar as she continues her snarling prayer. She is flanked on one side by a large black Gnoll thumping his longbow on the ground to the beat of the drums. On her right stands an ogre, who is staring at the altar with such giddy excitement that he seems unable to sit still, much as a child would, but far more grotesque. Having finished whatever foul prayer to Belchus she was uttering, the priestess then reaches for a crude jagged dagger with a gnarled wooden handle lying on the altar. As her clawed hand nears the pommel, the tempo of the drums increases and the howls, cackles, yips and growls of the others intensify to a crescendo–the bloodlust viscerally palpable from your close proximity. Tydor then slowly closes his eyes trying to make peace with his fate.Your own eyes then turn to Larrel. The priest steels himself for what lies ahead. It is now or never."

• Round 1

  • DM: Fe moves cautiously along the path. The ogre in the group attempts to heckle Larrel but is unsuccessful.
  • Lorelia: Begins to sneak towards the altar, moving up the bluff slightly and getting a wider view of the surrounding area.
  • Nythel: Moves towards an unaffected creature and attempts to shield bash it but misses.
  • Eberus: Walks forward along the lower bluff towards the altar sneaking past the enthralled creatures.
  • Larrel: Casts Enthrall on the crowd, attempting to captivate them as the rest of the party wraps around to free Tydor.

• Round 2

  • DM: An unenthralled creature fires a shot at Larrel. The shot flies true, and leaves Larrel staggered. Uhnad moves towards the altar, heading towards Tydor.
  • Lorelia: Wait
  • Nythel: Attacks the Gnoll behind him dealing damage
  • Eberus: Moves towards the altar arriving at Tydor's side
  • Larrel: Continues to speak to the crowd

• Round 3

  • DM: Several creatures attack Eberus and more move towards the center of the valley. Alzaren, Fran and others begin to retreat. The Ogre walks towards Uhnad and swings with rage. Uhnad swings his sword towards the club of the Ogre, disarming it.
  • Lorelia: Retreats from the engagement with the others
  • Nythel: Grabs Larrel and begins to retreat from the engagement
  • Eberus: Cuts the rope attaching Tydor to the post and grabs him
  • Larrel: Staggered, he decides to speak for the full round, resulting in him falling unconscious

• Round 4

  • DM: Uhnad takes Tydor with him and begins to flee the battle. Several of the creatures who are not enthralled attack Eberus and Lorelia as they retreat. Several attacks strike at Nythel, only one breaks through his thick armor
  • Lorelia: Moves towards the Ogre and successfully dazes the beast
  • Nythel: Continues to run dragging Larrel along with him
  • Eberus: Takes a wait turn telling Uhnad to take Tydor with him and run while he covers him.
  • Larrel: Fails his check to stabilize

• Round 5

  • DM: The Ogre regains its composure and begins to charge at Eberus. Several of the Gnolls fire on Nythel, piercing his armor, rendering him staggered. Much of the group begins retreating, Alzaren and Fran move to help Nythel and Larrel
  • Lorelia: Disengages from the combat with the Gnoll next to her running back down the bluff
  • Nythel: Becoming staggered he fakes his death and tumbles down the hill
  • Eberus: Wait
  • Larrel: Fails his check to stabilize

• Round 6

  • DM: The Ogre lurches towards Eberus attempting to grab him in a grapple but fails. Fran uncorks a vial of viscous liquid, and shoves it down Nythel's throat healing him.
  • Lorelia: Double moves, retreating towards the south west
  • Eberus: Double moves, taking attacks of opportunity as he flees tailing Uhnad and Lorelia
  • Nythel: Expertly climbs the embankment, carrying a healing potion to Larrel, healing him
  • Larrel: Flees
• The group flees capture, beaten but not broke, and the group takes solace in the rescue of Tydor whom everyone hopes may carry with him some information about the mysteries of the island…

Session 13 June 29, 2021

• As the group arrives back, much of the camp is already awake, sensing something was not right

• As the group recovers their strength, Pom offers to heal those in need

  • Pom proceeds to heal Lorelia, Nythel, Larrel, and Uhnad
  • Initially Uhnad accepts the healing on his arm but as Pom begins to moves his shirt off his chest to heal the larger wound Uhnad recoils are insits that he is fine
  • Larrel offers to heal Uhnad without removing his garments but Uhnad still insits that he is fine
• Tydor is reintroduced to the camp and gets a much needed meal
• Larrel addresses the crowd to inform them about the previous nights events
• Lorelia suggests that the group should maybe look to fortify the camp against a possible atttack
• The group places Fran in charge of building the defenses for the camp, she agrees and begins to rally help from people in the camp
• As night falls on the camp, the group sets up their watches

• The night passes uneventfully and the group sets out to begin fortifying the camp against a possible retaliation

  • The group begins to dig trenches along the north side of the camp
  • By mid afternoon two trenches have been dug and filled with spikes and by early evening the remainder of the trenches have been dug and spikes have been planted
• With the crew exhausted, the group decides to stop for the evening

• Lorelia, Larrel, Eberus, and Nythel decide to speak with Tydor

  • The creatures took Tydor to the ruined fortress at the edge of the island
• The moon was bright enough to allow Tydor to see through the sack they had placed over his head
• When they arrived, they brought him down several stories (2-4)
• It was dark and damp, close enough to the water to hear the waves crashing
• The cells we were kept in were very old, the cells were rusted so they chained them to the walls, not bothering to lock the gates
• Tydor was a prisoner of war during the war and admitted that the northerns had hatred
• They looked at the prisoners as though they were livestock
• As time went on they became more frustrated (especially the guards)
• Eventually two of the guards who were with them for a long time were taken off the watch and never returned
• One of the creatures named Ook used a staff and spoke common, they asked if anyone knew if they were missing, how they got to the island, what they were doing, if there were more coming and how many of us there were, what they knew about the island, they asked how many warriors we had, they asked about some jewelry that had been lost
• When last Tydor left, Glixum was deteriorating
• Ook and several other Gnolls, while commanding clearly still answered to another
• Tydor only saw her once, a 7-foot tall beautiful Human woman named Mahroga
• The Gnolls seemed to treat her with a mixture of awe and fear

• When Tydor was brought to the altar, he was brought alone

  • The Gnolls were on edge on the journey to the altar they didn't speak much and had weapons drawn
• Water would occasionally flow in the cell from outside, forming a puddle on the floor
• The waves on the outside sounded close, but not directly against the exterior
• When they caught the others they had a celebration, but as the days went on they grew more and more frustrated, as though they were waiting for something
• The Gnolls took an 'unnerving interest' in the prisoners, as though they were hungry
• The Gnolls ate mostly fish, and possibly some venison
• The prisoners were mostly fed fish bones, occasionally some hard tack scavenged from very old ship rations
• Didn't see any corpses or bones or anything
• Noticed that one Gnoll, who he thinks was called Gak carried a crossbow which he recognized the make up of from the war, they were typically used by merchants who didn't have much skill but had means. However, Gak appeared to have skill with the weapon despite never having seen him fire it, he handled it with expertise
• It seemed as though the dungeon itself was made by humans, the workmanship seemed similar to that he had seen in Vanaroth
• When guards would come to relieve those were currently on watch it seemed as though the guards on duty did not want to leave, the shifts were possibly 6 hours, however there was a lot of variation and the watches were irregular
• Ook appeared to have been a priestess following a religion
• When they searched the group, they took gold, jewelry, weapons and armor
• There were some younger Gnolls
• They appeared to enjoy the venison more than the fish
• They questioned Tan and Glexum

Session 14 August 12, 2021

• Under Fran's direction and with help from the survivors the camp fells trees and forms them into pikes. Trenches were then dug and the pikes placed in them forming a defensive perimeter around the temple
• The camp settles in for the night and the group divvy up watches for the group, with Larrel and Nythel taking the first watch
• Part way into the first watch the two hear deep, loud thudding sounds ending in the crunching of leaves and followed by the squeaks and yips that are unmistakably Gnollish.
• Larrel alerts the camp, directing non-combatants to move to the west, seeking shelter on the far side of the temple's embankment, while the still recovering group of figthers moves east–towards the sounds in the dark.
• The night grows quiet, and the sounds die out. After some time Alzaren motions to Larrel, pointing out a group of four Gnolls and a Hyena hiding out in the trees outside the barricade
• As Eberus sees the small party, he lets slip a spear which pierces his chest, directly through the heart, his blood drenched spear returning
• Nythel fires a shot at another Gnoll, but misses
• The remaining Gnolls let out screems and immediately turn tail and flee, leaving the body of their fallen commrade on the ground. Eberus and Uhnad search the body and find a battleaxe and a pair of manacles.
• The camp goes back to sleep while Nythel and Larrel take up their watch once more. This time Nythel hears the rustling of out in the distance, he waits listening for similar sounds and about 5 minutes later hears more rustling–quieter this time–in the same direction as before. Nythel asks Larrel to throw a rock in the direction of the Gnolls, he does. Nythel hears quiet yips followed by a low hiss then silence.
• As the watch transfers over to Lorelia and Eberus, Eberus notices occasional yips. Whenever the yips get too loud a low hiss comes out, followed by silence.

• Eventually Nythel and Eberus both spot several Gnolls in the treeline, they both fire shots at one of the Gnolls wielding a crossbow, this time it's Nythel's crossbow that finds its mark. The Gnoll is struck in the shoulder, yelps in pain, and retreats back into the woods. Several other Gnolls follow in panic, but a third Gnolls walks back more calmly. The group hears a hiss from the forest and the yelps cease.

  • Nythel recognizes the last Gnoll as the one who road the hyena and took charge.
• As the morning arrives, the ship's quartermaster approaches Larrel and mentions that the camp's grain supplies are running low, the camp will be out of grain in about a week. Lorelia speaks with Fran and asks that she go forage for food in the surrounding woods
• The group decides to attempt to begin peace talks with the Gnolls and decide to craft a letter, one of the members of the camp offers to help write the letter with his parchment and inkwell. Uhnad is tasked with firing an arrow with the letter attached at the Gnoll camp. The letter reads:

Meet tomorrow at midday, outside of the camp. Bring only a few, we wish to negotiate.

• As the group settles into the day, one of the sailors approaches the group "We might want to take shelter!" he pants. He points back towards the shoreline. "A storm is coming."

Session 15 August 25, 2021

• All of a sudden as the group is standing around a wall of wind buffets the camp with enough force to feel physical
• The group estimates that it will be only a few minutes before the storm makes landfall at the island
• It strikes Nythel as odd that such a powerful storm would have formed in the middle of summer, storms are rare this time of year and especially of this magnitude

• The group decides to split up in search of those who had not returned to camp

  • Eberus moves out towards the Gnoll camp in search of Uhnad

    • He gets the sense that because of the nature of Uhnad's mission, it will likely be difficult to find him, even in the best of conditions
  • Nythel moves into the forest in search of Fran
  • Larrel moves to the coast in search of those who went fishing by the beach
  • Lorelia stays by the camp to guide anyone who may have made there way back to camp but not to the group moving towards the tower
• Snow and sleet is carried with the wind stinging the faces of those who ventured out. Visibility continues to decline as the storm blots out the remaining sunlight.
• Eberus and Larrel both struggle to find the their stranded friends
• As he continues to search the forest, Nythel finds a set of fresh tracks presumably belonging to Fran he follows the tracks and eventually is able to find Fran and they head north waiting for a flare to be sent from Pom
• As Larrel approaches the beach he finds Sehler crouched over the body of Vastre who is bloodied and appears unconscious, Larrel walks up and casts Cure Moderate Wounds to heal Vastre and they all move for the treeline. Once there Larrel navigates the group towards the tower on the beach
• Loreleia continues to be bombarded by shards of ice and casts Mage Armor and moves from the treetop, taking cover by the altar
• Eventually Eberus is able to spot a set of muddy footprints he believes belongs to Uhnad.
• Uhnad, Eberus, and Larrel all meet back with the rest of the group at the base of the tower around the same time. The come back to a scene of disorder, many of the people in the camp have suffered cuts from shards of ice. Some of the injuries appear to be quite severe, with some suffering wounds to the neck and face
• Nythel and Loreleia both see a signal fly high up into the sky and believing it is the signal sent from the larger group, make their ways towards it.
• Eventually Loreleia and Nythel make their way back to the camp and arrive to the scene of Pom holding his staff upwards, shinning bright as day
• Eberus pulls Larrel aside an mentions that both Uhnad and Behral remained completely even improbably unharmed. Both Uhnad and Behral should have been harmed, Uhnad went out into the
• Eberus approaches the bard Neric who appears shaken, he asks if anything is the matter and the bard replies that he has seen many things, he is well traveled and yet, he has never seen what he saw in the storm tonight. He recounts seeing a women, in the heart of the storm with piercing blue eyes and a shock of white hair. Her facial expressions transition between agony, glee, and sadness and it seemed as though she was one with the storm, either causing it or controlling it. He mentions too that it was the same sight he had seen the day the ship was wrecked by a similar storm.
• Loreleia and Larrel approach Tydor. Loreleia asks Tydor to describe the women in the Gnoll encampment who seemed to be paid particular reverence. Tydor mentions that she was a beautiful, inordinately tall women with dark brown hair. Tydor believed she may have even had giIf Gnolls saw her coming they would move out of her way without her saying to indicating anything. The Gnolls would continuously shoot glances in her direction, wondering what she was doing.
• Larrel approaches Pom and asks if he noticed anything suspicious about Behral. Pom mentions that he noticed Behral seemed completely unharmed but didn't see anything first hand. It was Ves who brought up the rear the group and she helped escort Behral who appeared nervous without Uhnad by his side. She saw Behral be struck with ice, yet it never drew blood.
• As Larrel talks with the ship's captain, Nythel approaches Uhnad. Nythel asks if Uhnad had been successful, he replies that he had and that he only got as close to the Gnoll encampment as necessary but he did land the arrow into the door of their keep. Uhnad mentions that
• The group decides to stay at the tower for the night. Eberus points out that the camp will likely need to be rebuilt anyway so staying at the tower is the simpler safer option

• A schedule of watches is made in the following arrangement

  11:00PM - 01:00AM

  Uhnad, Behral, and the Captain

  01:00AM - 03:00AM

  Eberus and Nythel

  03:00AM - 05:00AM

  Larrel and Captain Emrus

  05:00AM - 07:00AM

  Loreleia and Ves

• The night passes quietly

Session 16 September 07, 2021

• The group decides to set out early in the morning to meet with the Gnolls. The group which leaves to go negotiate consists of Nythel, Larrel, Lorelia, Eberus, Uhnad, Behral, and Pom
• Larrel asks Fran how far she would guess that the Gnolls could smell the group by the tower, given that the wind is blowing in the direction of the meeting place
• The group makes their way to the location of morning meet, they make their way for the high ground in the region. At the crest of a nearby hill the group begins to get an uneasy feeling. Pom mentions that there is an strangeness to the air and at the top of the hill sits another altar, this one smaller than the one at camp
• To the north of the hilltop is a large cliff face which looks like it would be quite difficult to climb
• On closer inspection Lorelia sees an insignia of a skull, lacking a jaw, and pierced from below by a sword. The insignia, is carved into both of the pillars as well as the altar itself. Upon learning this the group decides to fall back. Pom says that the symbol is that of Gora, The Red Horseman, The destroyer. An evil deity who serves Belchus
• Larrel reflects on what Alastonal says and realizes that while he did not directly cause harm or deal violence to the Gnolls, he did aid in planning an attack which turned violent and resulted in the death of living beings, he begins to reflect in quiet prayer as does Eberus. As midday approaches Lorelia decides to cast Mage Armor on herself in preparation for the meeting
• Just as the group begins to wonder if the Gnolls would be showing up, they see a large figure emerge from the forest. As the large Ogre begins to approach, the group realizes that he is in fact the last of his party, not the first. The group consists of around a half dozen Gnolls, accompanying Ook, and the Gnoll who wields the large crossbow
• Eberus is the first to climb from the lower ground and stand along the path facing the approaching Gnolls. Larrel moves towards the front and begins to speak with Ook. They talk for some time, Larrel trying somewhat unsuccessfully to deescalate the situation. It seems that Ook has no interest in peace talks and keeps insisting that we need something to barter with to exchange for the prisoners who they consider to be just a good meal
• As Larrel struggles to get the Gnolls interested, Nyhtel speaks up. He begins with a threat of sorts, offering that if the prisoners are not returned and the violence does not stop that we will lay waste to the island burning it without hesitation, but Ook seems genuinely unphased by this prospect. Nythel then mentions that the group has found several jewels belonging to the band of Gnolls and threatens to destroy them if no agreement is reached. For the first time in the discussions Ook's cool disregard for the negotiations seems to crack. She appears scared, almost frightened at the thought of us having control of her gems and especially at the idea of them being destroyed
• Eberus, Nythel, and Larrel capitalize on this and begin to barter with Ook. After some back and forth the two sides reach a list of terms. The following day at midday a few of the humans will approach the Gnoll fortress, they will bring with them the captured Gnoll prisoner along with one of the gems in the group's possession. The Gnolls will bring their prisoners outside the camp to show that they are unharmed and being kept in acceptable conditions. When both parties are satisfied the group will exchange the Gnoll and the gen for a promise of an end to violence and night raids. Every day at the same time the humans are permitted to check on their friends until such a time as the group is able to repair the ship and leave the island. At this point the prisoners will be handed back to the group in exchange for the remaining gem (although the Gnolls don't know exactly how many we have).
• The group decides the best course of action is to return to the camp and send daily groups to the shore to work on restoring the ship, and have another group visit Tan and the other captives at the Gnolls' fortress
• Eberus, Nythel and ship's crew head down towards the water to continue work on the ship. As they arrive the find that the prior night's storm has battered the already damaged ship. The mast has been considerably damaged, the deck has been hit by large shards of ice, and anything not tied down has been tossed around.
• As Nythel boards the ship a small clump of what appears to be hair catches his eye. The hair is adhered to the corner of a handrail. Is it hair? No, not hair… fur.

Session 17 October 18, 2021

• Nythel leans over and tells Larrel about the fur he found and asks Larrel to cast Detect Magic, suspecting that another gen had been planted on the ship. However, the detect magic reveals no magic other than that which the group possesses.
• It is now late in the day, around 8 o'clock so the group decides to stop working on the ship for the day and head back to camp, the journey passes uneventfully and back at camp the group takes stock of the food stores. There appears to be around 60lbs of grain and 40lbs of meat among the camp, the group estimates the rations will last just over week if rationed. Eberus suggests that the group begin to setup hunting parties to collect meat and Nythel recommends fishing.
• Eberus approaches Fran and asks what she's come across in her search for food sources. Fran says she's seen dear tracks in the area, grapes down by the shore, and lost of acorns which can be roasted and turned into a meal that can act as a substitute for meat.
• Around 01:30 in the morning, as Eberus and Lorelia kept watch, they heard some faint of shacking in a treetop while the air is still. Eberus hides and moves silently towards the source of the sound but he is unable to see anything in particular. As they wake Larrel and Nythel for their watch, they relay this information and Nythel decides to throw a rock at the tree. However, as his rock sails through the branches, nothing further happens.
• The group awakens and begins to search for the red stone to bring with them on their trip to visit the captives. However, as the group searches, it becomes clear that Larrel does not know the direction to the stone and instead leads the off in the wrong direction. Eventually the group follows another path and Lorelia notices her arcane mark on the tree's stump. Lorelia and Eberus dig up the gem and replace the dirt back in the whole with care.
• They then set out for the Gnoll camp. In the group that goes is Eberus Lorelia, Larrel, Nythel, Uhnad, Behral and Fie. As the group approaches, Lorelia casts Mage Armor and Larrel casts Comprehend Languages. As the castle comes into view it is clear that the Gnolls see the group and while they seem unsurprised, they begin to ready their arms.
• Eventually, Ook brings out all the prisoners, they appear frightened and worse for ware however not all together harmed. As Fie goes to embrace his brother, Larrel attempts to cast Status on Glexum but is caught by Ook, and in a fit of rage she brings up that the group can't be trusted given that the group arrived and soon after the storm. Lorelia pounces on the idea of changing the suggests that the storm was caused by their mistress. At the mention of the mistress Ook gets quiet, almost timid.
• The group trades over the gem and as Ook is heading back into the fortress, Larrel understands her snarls as "take the eye back into the fortress".
• Back at camp, a group sets out to forage for acorns and another group goes down towards the water to learn how to fish, while the main group heads down to work on the ship. The ship's captain greets the group and says "Welcome! Shall we begin?"

Session 18 November 29, 2021

• Larrel offers to assist with finding a large straight piece of oak to replace the main mast. While Nythel offers to assist Ves in planking as he has some proficiency in armor making, Captain Emrus suggests there may be transferable skills between the two.
• Before setting out Larrel asks Emrus what he thinks the minimum height of the oak that would be required to replace the main mast, after some thought Emrus suggests a 30ft tree might be just tall enough.
• As Larrel is searching for a suitable tree, he comes across Rolben who was also supposed to be searching, but instead appears to be hunched over in something on the ground. Rolben appears troubled, Larrel asks if he's found something, he pauses for some time then raises an old, deteriorated, and rusted pair of manacles. Rolben says that they bare the crest of House Vessenlan, horseloards and one of the great houses who preside over the Eastmark part. The Eastmark is very far from the island and leading Rolben to suggest the group is likely on Isle Vorra, the sight of many great atrocities during the Lark-River War.

• According to Rolben's upbringing, House Vessenlan was the aggressors during the war when gold was found in Whiterock, they made excuses and played the political system to start the war in search of the gold. This island was used as an isolated prison before the creation of Summit Rock.

  • Summit Rock is the one of the largest prisons in the country, located on an island near the capital of Inalrion. Anyone who might be of slightly higher stature than the average criminal is sent there.
• After some time Rolben spots a tree that looks promising and Larrel goes to retrieve some additional help to cut it down and bring it back to the shoreline. Nythel and Eberus accompany him back to the site of the tree. On the way Eberus recalls that House Vessenlan has had a tenuous relationship with the country of Azbah, the country with whom the Lark-River war was fought.
• Eberus also recalls a very different history than Rolben had. He recalls that the Lark-River War was fought over an attempted coup of King Andrax III–also known as King Andrax the Wise–by the country of Azbah in an attempt to install a puppet King. During the fighting Whiterock was ultimately captured in an attempt to bring stability to the region, not in search of gold.
• By the time the crew fells the tree in question, the sun is starting to set and the group decides to make for camp. They arrive around 8pm as the camping is preparing dinner.
• The group decides the best way to transfer the large tree that will become the mast is to roll it along some samplings towards the shore. Nythel and Eberus begin to fell saplings, while Larrel collects twigs to make into the thatched roof.
• As night falls the group begin their watches. During Larrel and Nythel's watch Larrel sees a shape moving Northeast of camp. They throw a rock at it and hear brief rustling before it subsides. Some time later Nythel hears more rustling, this time to the West. Nythel follows the sound as they rotate around the camp.
• Larrel spots a medium sized creature attempting to get through the camp's Northern defenses. He moves to wake the camp, Eberus and Uhnad move towards the North side of camp. It appears the creature spots them and begins to back away, with some consideration Eberus launches a spear at the creature, and Uhnad follows with an arrow. They both miss in the darkness but Uhnad's second arrow finds its mark.
• Nythel rushes after the creature passing through the outer defense, calling out to keep the creature alive as he does. Larrel continues to wake the camp.
• Eberus gives chance to the creature along with Nythel. The creature appears to be stumbling and Eberus is able to gain some ground on it. As Larrel continues to wake the camp, Nythel is able to catch up with the creature and get it in a grapple. Here he notices it is once again one of the wolf creatures that have been around the camp. Nythel shouts that he heard more noise to the West and Eberus goes to investigate.
• No further noises are heard and Nythel brings the creature back to camp and applies his manacles. Upon searching the creature the group finds, he is carrying a vial with a suspicious liquid, rope, a trowel, a dagger, and a pair of manacles baring the same House Vessenlan crest.
• As the group contemplates what to do at their meeting with the Gnolls next, Nythel suggests they detect magic on the camp. Larrel casts Detect Magic searching for sources of the ancient magic the wolf creatures seem to wield…

Session 19 January 25,2022

• The group decides to wait resume watches and wait out the rest of the night, the remainder of the watches pass uneventfully.
• The captive Gnoll is bound in manacles and chained through two large tree stumps on either side of two stone pillars, making an escape very difficult.
• Ves, Eberus, Larrel, Nythel, and Lorelia head out to the ruined keep to meet with the remainder of the Gnoll forces. They agree to say nothing of the events of the prior night. The thought is that if the issue is directly brought up, the Gnolls will be waiting for our response. If we are too lenient the Gnolls will continue to push break the terms of our truce, if we are too harsh it might directly prompt violence.
• When they arrive at the fortress, there is a distinct lack of a welcoming party. The group is immediately suspicious of this and Nythel moves forward towards the walls, announcing his prescence as he does. Just as he passes the threshold into the keep, Gnolls poor out onto the walls from every nook, and begin to fire arrows and bolts primarily at Nythel, with a few finding other targets.
• Several of the Gnolls let out a volley, and one in particular we recognize as the Gnoll who is the right hand to Ook. One of the Gnolls lands an arrow on Nythel and he drops to the floor. As arrows strike the other party members they feel themselves getting tired, but are able to shake it off
• Larrel casts Enthrall and 8 of the 12 Gnolls visible fall under the effects of the spell. The remainder of the Gnolls continue to fire and several arrows land on Eberus and a few more on Larrel
• Lorelia casts Disguise Self and transforms into a Gnoll behind a bush, hoping to not draw attention from the other Gnolls along the wall.
• Eberus moves to pickup Nythel and begins to carry him at half his speed away from the walls. Gnolls continue to fire more shots at Larrel and a few at Eberus
• Lorelia walks out from the tree and casts Mage Hand to be able to cast Resistance on one of her allies from a distance.
• More Gnolls begin to approach from behind closing in on the group as Eberus and Nythel continue to fall back. Lorelia casts Resistance on Larrel heads towards the back of the group, also running from the group.
• Larrel drops the speech and darts after the rest of the group with Lorelia following close behind.
• As the group gains about 100ft of distance from the persuing Gnolls, the group makes one more fortitude save, and Eberus collapses.

Session 20 February 22, 2022

• Larrel casts Cure Light Wounds on Eberus, however he does not rally. It seems as though he should be conscious at this point but is not. Larrel then casts Delay Poison on Eberus who regains consciousness and is able to again carry Nythel on his shoulders.
• The group hurrys back to the camp fearing the worst. As they approach the see smoke billowing up from around the camp mixed with sounds of battle. The group sees two large humaniods with clubs fighting the in the thick of it.
• As the group arrives, Eberus lays Nythel on the floor and hurls a spear at the nearest giant, striking it. Lorelia then moves forward (still in Gnoll form) and motions to the troll attempting to indicate that there are more things to attack back the way it came… it looks confused but seems not stictly opposed to the idea.
• On his turn, Eberus throws a spear at a Gnoll standing 75 feet away but is unable to find purchase on it. Lorelia, having captured the attention of the Ogre nearest her, begins to lure him back and away from the battle, but also outside of the range of Larrel's calm emotions aura. Larrel casts Cure Light Wounds on Rolben who seems to have suffered some injuries to the head.
• Eberus throws his spear which pierces the Gnolls chest, leaving a trail of blood in its wake as the spear returns magically to Eberus' grip. Lorelia then moves further into the surrounding woodland and climbs up into a neighboring tree. Larrel motions to Uhnad, Fe, Tydor, and Rolben to make their way towards the remainder of the battle and see if they can aid the rest of the survivors.
• Lorelia casts Acid Splash and hits the Ogre. The Ogre looks shocked and picks up Nythel who is still unconscious and begins to run very quickly away from the fight. Lorelia makes an attack as the ogre sprints away, but misses.
• As the dust settles in the fight, Larrel leads the groud of Gnolls and the Ogre off away from the camp and convinces them to return to their camp before heading back. Back at camp Larrel heals Rolben before Uhnad mentions that Behral is missing.
• Uhad is adamant that he leave tonight before anyone can rest. Larrel and Eberus agree to follow.
• Nythel regains consciousness. He is without his armor, in a dark and dingey room, chained to a post with his arms above his head.

Session 21 March 15, 2022

• Taking inventory of the camp, it's clear that Fe, Tydor, and much of the rest of the camp are badly injured, and many of those who made up the camp's fighting group are in no condition for battle.
• Uhnad is still insistant that the group go after Behral and Nythel. Lorelia decides that with her limited access to spells that she should stay back at camp with the rest of the survivors.
• Eberus, Larrel, and Uhnad all decide to head out in persuit of the war party which they believe have taken both Nythel and Behral. The tracks are easy to follow and they arrive near the ruins around nighttime
• Once there, the group decides that they should probably approach from another direction, avoiding the front gate. It appears to be roughly low-tide, so the group elects to descend the cliffside down towards the water

• The group makes it down to the shoreline without issue and begins the journey towards the northern side of the ruins, about a quarter way around the fortress, Larrel notices the sound of the waves seem to be echoing, and the sound of voices seem to be eminating from below the fortress

  • The voices are not distorted, instead they seem to be echoing, as though being funneled through an entry way beneath.
• Looking around, Eberus finds a small opening along the foundation of the fortress. The group enters, moving quietlythrough the cave. The pathway is narrow and the air is damp and stale from lack of movement.
• As they continue down the path, the cave widens to a small room with what appears to be a cell on the north side. Uhnad presses forward into the room and motions back to the remainder of the group to be quiet as he advances. Eventually Eberus makes his way forward into the room to find a human behind the bars.
• On the east side of the room lies a sleeping ogre. Eberus quietly makes his way towards the cell, pulls out his set of thieves tools and successfully picks the lock to the prisoner's cell.
• Uhnad hands the stranger Vulcannus a weapon. Uhnad, Eberus, and Vulcannus all advance on the ogre, raising their weapons in a coordinated strike. Larrel, still waiting behind the wall is unaware of their actions. The group executes the orge in three fell swoops.
• With the Orge's corpse now lying on the ground Vulcannus motions to Larrel to move into the room. Larrel is horrified at the sight of the murdered Ogre, but the group presses on.
• To the north of the Ogre there is a small room with a shaft leading upwards. As Eberus approaches and looks up the shaft, he notices that it leads all the way up to the very top of the fortress, where he suspects the keep must be. He also notices that no where along the length of the shaft is there any entrances to other levels from within the shaft, it leads exclusively up to the keep.
• The group decides to instead head towards the hallway to the south, as they enter the hallway they see a gathering of Gnolls appear to be carousing and having a discussion among themselves, to the east of the hallway is a pathway with a large pit near its entrance with what appear to be jagged rocks along the bottom of the pit.
• Given their limited options and the fact that the ogre's corpse could be noticed at any time, the group decides to climb up the ladder in the shaft. Vulcannus leads the way and climbs all the way to the top and can tell that the trap door at the top has been left open. As he approaches, Vulcannus hears revelry and sees a large number of ogres and gnolls fighting, yelling, and carousing.
• The group decides instead to jump gap leading to a group of gnolls gathered around a table of cards with bottles of alcohol strewn across the table. Eberus makes it across the gap without alerting the Gnolls, but as Vulcannus jumps the gap the Gnolls hear and begin descending on the group.
• Two of the Gnolls move forwards towards Eberus but miss with their attacks, alcohol dulling their reactions. Larrel moves to intercept any Gnolls in the other room who might move towards the sounds of the conflict. Eberus lashes out at the Gnoll in front of him dealing heavy damage. Vulcannus attacks with his shortbow but is unused to the nature of the bow and misses
• The Gnolls continue to strike at Eberus but are unable to hit, Vulcannus again attacks with the borrowed shortbow, but is unable to land his mark. Eberus again attacks the Gnoll and manages to kill it.
• Two of the Gnolls approach from the other hallway and enter Larrel's aura, and both seem affected. After being dealt damage, and seeing his ally killed, the second Gnoll in the other room begins to run. Eberus pursues and launches a spear at the retreating Gnoll, but the spear misses.
• A third Gnoll in the Barracks notices Larrel at the end of the hallway and fires a shot from his crossbow, but misses. Fear creeps in as the group worries the escaping Gnoll will alert the war party above.

Session 22 April 4, 2020

• As the group proceeds further into the dungeon below the keep, Eberus throws his spear through the heart of the last gnoll and it falls to the group dead. Meanwhile, Larrel advances into the barracks to allow his aura to envelop the remaining two gnolls in the room and they appear to be calmed.
• Vulcannus and Eberus proceed deeper and come across a large old staircase at the end of a hallway the set out along. The stairwell also appears to what seem like marks from clawed feet. The group proceeds up the staircase while moving silently.
• Larrel stays with the gnolls until he believes his allies are out of earshot, and then backs up from the group of gnolls and moves to cross the bridge. He fails horribly and falls 15 feet into the pit and takes heavy damage, but is able to climb out, rejoin the group, and casts Cure Light Wounds on himself.
• The group moves up the staircase into a corridor similar to the one they had left behind. As the group is assembling to move through the hallway, Vulcannus sprints forward and is immediately shot with a dart and appears somewhat sickened.
• The remaining members of the group proceed forwards and see a gnoll rushing towards the group. As the gnoll gets closer to the group it appears to be calmed as it enters Larrel's aura. Eberus sees this and moves towards the left, opposite of the advancing gnoll. He sees another gnoll on this side and elects to not attack it, hoping it too will be calmed by the aura.
• As Vulcannus moves towards the gnoll on the right, he sees an ogre standing further back along the wall, seeing this Larrel moves forward to encompass the ogre in the aura and it appears affected.
• As Eberus moves forwards, he sees Nythel in cell off to the side. After great effort the group manages to crack one of the chains and are able to pull the chain loose. Nythel is able to get free from the restraints attaching him to the wall, but his manacles are still attached to his wrists and the chains are attached to them.
• Uhnad moves deeper into the room and finds another prisoner and alerts the group, Nythel, Eberus, and Uhnad act together to remove the door from it's hinges.
• As the group is deliberating, Larrel hears the sounds of gnolls coming from below, more than were there when the group left. Larrel tells the group and they begin to hastily reclaim their armor from deep in the room.
• In one of the other cells Tan, Fe's brother seems very ill but is alive. Tan is able to stumble over to Larrel with Eberrus's help and Larrel is then able to cast Cure Light Wounds on Tan.

• With the sounds of gnolls advancing, Larrel moves towards a ladder in the center of the room and climbs up it just enough to poke his head onto the next level.

  • The room is smaller than the prison just below but much more open, there are eight stone statues assembled in pairs at 90 degree angles all looking towards where the ladder enters the room. Each of the eight statues wears a hood and holds a book inscribed with the same symbol on it glowing a faint green.
  • Larrel casts Detect Magic in the area and finds 4 magical auras. 3 magical auras centered on the ring, one faint aura, and two moderate auras. In addition he detects one moderate aura eminating from Uhnad's sword.

Session 23 May 09, 2022

• Examining the rune, Larrel determines that the language of the runes is draconic. Vulcannus casts Read Magic and understands the writing on the ring as follows:

  Cross not the threshold

  Should you fear the cold

  Touch none of us twice

  But do be precise

  Once you’ve begun

  Nothing can be undone

  Only once we all glow blue

  Can anyone pass through

• After some deliberation, the group decides to prepare Comprehend Languages and to touch the statue nearest the right side of the doors. After doing so, touched statue and its neighbors illuminate blue. Vulcannus is able to understand the runes as representing the symbols of Athletics, Conflict, Courage, Rage Strategy, Strength, Tactics, and War.
• The group believes that each of the neighbors switches its color when touched, meaning that each of the statues needs to be touched once, and each of its since it has two neighbors, each statue will be toggled 3 times meaning each will switch to blue.
• The group proceeds with this plan and successfully switches each of the statues to blue. Eberrus checks the door for traps and finding none, proceeds to open the door.
• Entering the room, the group finds a number of weapon racks storing a disorderly collection of weapons. In the room, the group finds Nythel and Vulcannus' armor. At the far end of the room the group finds two Gnolls, looking surprised to see others in the room.
• Upon seeing us, one of the two Gnolls makes a dash for the next room, and the other is dispatched by Eberrus and Nythel
• As Nythel chases into the next room, he comes across three Gnolls, and a 7-foot blonde human woman. Eberrus enters the room in place of Nythel. The woman (who the group believes to be Mahroga) offers Eberrus a cup of wine, and pours herself one from the same bottle. Eberrus takes it and they both drink.
• Larrel enters the room and Mahroga asks him if he enters the room peacefully. Larrel responds that while their intentions were to rescue captured members of their party peacefully, that they had made poor decisions born out of fear and frustration from captivity that resulted in violence. Mahroga questions why then there is a member of the group (Nythel) dawning their armor in the next room. Larrel assures her that they intend to complete this interaction peacefully
• The remainder of the group enters the room and begin conversing with Mahroga she seems to be mostly speaking truthfully, but does refer to the Gnolls as her "servants". She ultimately says that the group would be allowed to leave peacefully with what they have and she promises no more harm would befall them. Nythel whispers to ask about Uhnad's nephew Behral. At the mention of Behral, Mahroga claims to have no knowledge of the boy, and that her servants don't always keep her appraised of what goes on. Upon a successful sense motive check, Larrel (and Uhnad) can tell she is lying. Nythel whispers to Uhnad asking for him to reveal what is special about Behral, Uhnad claims there is nothing special about him but Nythel can tell this is a lie. The group continues to negotiate and Mahroga even offers to give the group something else of their choosing as a token of good will, but clings to the lie that she doesn't know where the boy is.
• With neither group backing down, Larrel attempts to distract from the conversation and asks Mahroga how she came to be in this place, she says that she lost her mother and felt adrift and founded this place as a result. She also reveals that she has not lived her whole life on the island. With all options exhausted and Mahroga still not conceding any ground, the group toys with the idea of fighting, feeling left with no other options. Sensing this, Mahroga suggests that the party might not survive should they continue to search, and says "do not follow me", and leaves the room through the door behind her, leaving the party alone in the room with three Gnolls.

Session 24 May 25, 2022

• With Mahroga moving behind the door in the back, the Gnolls move to attack without provocation. Nythel moves forward towards the group of Gnolls, Vulcannus fires an arrow at one of the Gnolls, and Eberus kills one with a spear to the head. From the back of the room, opposite of the door Mahroga left through, an enormous undead creatures emerges and deals a crushing blow to Eberus. Larrel casts Cure Light Wounds on Eberus, and the Gnolls continue to attack.
• Vulcannus casts Produce Flame on the undead ogre before rushing towards the creature wielding the flaming scimitar. Nythel approaches the south side of the room and the undead ogre attacks. Larrel casts another Cure Light Wounds on Eberus. Nythel strikes the undead orge with his spiked chain dealing some damage.
• After fighting the ogre for some time, Vulcannus deals a deadly blow and the group decides to move into the back room where Mahroga retreated to. As Nythel opens the door, a volley of darts spray out, with Nythel and Eberus in the path. As they open the door, they see another zombie standing in the doorway, this one bares the symbol of Alastonal around its neck.
• As the zombie advances Vulcannus casts Divine Favor on himself. As Nythel and Larrel enter the room, they notice several zombies within the room, and two undead creatures on the right side.

Session 25 June 06, 2022

• Seeing the undead surrounding them, Larrel attempts to strike one of the zombies but misses, and backs out of the room. Nythel trips the undead to his right, succeeds and lands a strike and the tripped creature. The creature which Larrel had swung at moves towards the door, and closes it. The group hears rustling behind the door. Uhnad begins to back up from the door assuming it has been locked, Eberus launches a spear at the door which deals some damage to the door.
• Larrel grabs a piece of wood from the room and begins lighting it on fire in one of the pits near the door. Nythel tests the door's handle and confirms that it is locked, and steps back. Larrel moves the now burning wood under the door and notices that it stops as though there is something on the other side of the door stopping it from moving further. Nythel and Uhnad swing again at the door breaking it open, and shoving a bookcase on the other side down.
• Eberus moves into the room as does Vulcannus. As the group is focused on the undead, they see Lorelia appear in behind the grouping of undead. Nythel trips the zombie in the front and moves into the room. Uhnad also moves forward into the doorway and strikes at the downed zombie. Lorelia moves towards a table, taking cover and fires a crossbow bolt at one of the zombies.
• As Larrel moves into the room, one of the zombies lands a bite on his ankles, and Larrel strikes back. Nythel and Uhnad attack at the zombies and are able to deal heavy damage to the zombies.
• As the fight draws to a close the group begins investigating the room, they find a fresh tall skeleton whose skin and muscle appears to have been removed with a sort of blade. There is blood on the tables which appears to have been hastily wiped away. An iron maiden stands on the right side of the wall, it is clear that this room is used for torture and perhaps some kind of twisted dissection. There appear to be several barrels in the room one of which seems to be filled with a liquid the other seems filled with a heavy object. Several other 'operating' tables appear scattered throughout the room.
• The group moves a bookshelf aside looking for something behind it. Lorelia investigates the books and finds some of them appear written in giant. She grabs a few of the books from the shelf, one of the giant books, a book on plants and the natural world, and a spell book.
• All the while Uhnad is hacking away at the only door in the room along the left side. He makes a whole in the door and Larrel charges through busting open the door and arriving in another room, with the green hag like creature immediately to his right.

Session 26 June 20, 2022

• As the group is recovering from the fight they notice a barely conscious halfling, manacled to a wooden structure. Nythel begins to untie him from his restraints.
• The green-skinned hag creature lashes out at Larrel, dealing some damage. Vulcannus moves forwards towards the hag and lashes out with his scimitar. Eberus makes his makes his way towards the tied up halfling and manages to pick the lock on the manacles. Milo move to a chest nearby and quickly recovers his lost affects. Lorelia casts Mage Armor, and moves closer towards the fight.
• The green woman flees to the back of the room and disappears behind the barrel along the northern wall. Larrel moves forward and casts Detect Magic, and does detect the presence of magic. All of a sudden the two candles on the west side of the wall go out
• The group begins looking around the room for signs of the woman. They move with outstretched arms hoping the come in contact with her, but with no luck.
• They then spot a set of double doors on the far side of the room. There are a set of bars covering a window in the door. Through the bars the group can make out what appears to be a stockpile of treasure down the passageway.
• Yama decides to begin burning the wooden doors, but the process is slow and the group continues to search for the hag in the rest of the room.
• Larrel casts Detect Magic and begins to try to locate the source of the magical aura. After the three rounds of the spell, there is no aura to be seen. Larrel then attempts to rush at the last known location of the hag, missing as well.
• Finally, Eberus is able to locate the hag. but shortly after doing so, the two remaining candles in the room go out, plunging the room into darkness. The only source of light now is the fire burning at the base of the door.

Session 27 July, 05, 2022

• Larrel takes over for Nythel for guarding the door. Nythel moves to the center of the room, asking the others to move to the walls. After a few moments, Nythel begins to swing his chains around the room, but doesn't make contact with anything he doesn't expect to.
• Vulcannus moves to the center of the room and uses his whip, which has a longer reach, to swing around the room. The rest of the group fans out to the walls and as they do, Milo is slashed at by a pair of claws. The green looking creature emerges from the shadows as she strikes. Nythel moves forward and is able to trip the hag, dealing a heavy blow in the process. Lorelia casts True Strike, and draws her crossbow. Eberus moves forward and strikes with his spear, while Vulcannus moves in to strike with his scimitar. As the creature moves to get up, the group lets out a barrage of attacks but only Nythel is able to hit the creature, Lorelia reserves her true strike. Larrel moves forward and casts Cure Minor Wounds
• Milo thrusts with his rapier, dealing damage and slicing the creatures head off. He then moves towards the door and takes his time attempting to open the lock, but is still unsuccessful
• Larrel begins moving to the room where the undead orge came through. The remainder of the group collectively lifts the barrel and begins slamming it into the door. On the third swing of the barrel the door cracks under its weight. The new room houses a fair amount of treasure which appears mostly untouched, with a layer of dust covering most of it.
• In the middle of the room there stands a statue. Lorelia recognizes the statue as that of Margrave Granax V, of the Eastmark, also known as Granax the conqueror. Granax was the Lord of the Eastmark at the time of the Lake River War. The statue of the man appears quite old, but not as old as the fortress itself.
• Lorelia casts Detect Magic on the bulk of the treasure, and Vulcannus casts Detect Poison. They find no sources of magic or poison and the group begins to loot the room. They find gold and a Milo is able to pick the lock on a chest which contains a collection of scrolls which Lorelia notices are written in draconic.
• Larrel begins to search the remainder of the rooms on the floor. He finds the room which the undead ogre came from, he finds the room is mostly empty with a small collection of bones, and two vases. In another room to the west of the long hallway, there is a room with bones scattered, and a collection of small cages which appear to house some sort of animal bones
• Milo picks the lock on another chest, inside he finds a set of 16 silver gauntlets.
• Larrel begins to search the room which contains all the torture implements. On the north western portion of the wall, there is a small silver lever. Along the east wall, the Iron maiden appears to be open, but has not been used in some time. On the north wall, there appear to be several potions lining the wall, Larrel recognizes three potions of cure light wounds, and one potion of cure moderate wounds. The table that held the potion of cure moderate wounds appears to be clear of all dust as if it were recently used. Larrel pulls the lever and what appeared to be a small bookshelf on the eastern wall, slides open revealing a small room.
• Milo and Uhnad move into room and there appears to be a small cutout in the northern side of the room, which opens up into a small tomb. Milo moves towards the sarcophagus in the center of the room attempts to open it, without luck.
• Larrel moves further into the room and sees that there is a source of outside light peering through a small crack a pathway which appears to extend downwards, with a window looking out to the horizon. In the southern side of the room, Larrel sees Behral, in restraints. Uhnad comes running towards him but stops just short.
• Mahroga moves out from the shadows and puts a dagger to his neck. She claims that we killed her sisters, and when challenged she doubles down and suggests that we know of who she speaks
• Larrel asks how it is that she claims to have not known where the boy is and yet found herself here with him. Larrel calls her by the name Mahroga but she responds that she is not Mahroga and that if we intend to discuss with her, we should speak with her, and motions to the coffin in the center of the room, and says that her name is Ambraga, the daughter of Mahroga.
• The group attempts to negotiate for Behral but is not successful, she claims that she will have a daughter of her own soon (implying something about Behral is crucial to that plan but it is not clear what).
• Vulcannus moves to disarm her, but fails and Ambraga warns him not to try it again. Milo, hiding behind Uhnad, very silently loads his crossbow.

Session 28 August 11, 2022

It’s a standoff. The tension is palpable in the air. The beautiful yet imposing figure of Ambraga, as she calls herself, stands facing you with one hand up as a warning not to approach, while the other holds a wicked blade to the neck of Behral. She is much the same as you had seen her before, except gone now is her calm and collected demeanor. You see some wildness and desperation has crept into her eyes. It’s hard to know how long this stalemate will last, but you have little choice but to find out.

• Nythel again asks whether Uhnad will tell us more about Behral, he again refuses saying he would die for Behral, but wouldn't say anything more than because he is his nephew.
• As the group is thinking of what to do, Uhnad leaps forward slashing at Ambraga's shoulder with his sword, but she instinctively raises her arm up and blocks the strike. Nythel moves to put himself between Ambraga and Behral, but is stuck in the process.
• The porcelain skin of Ambraga's statuesque exterior begins to melt away as she seems to grow another foot on top of her already imposing seven foot frame. She now looks like an ancient female human but impossibly tall, with deep blue skin and filthy black hair. Her eyes glint with intelligence and cunning. Seeing the shock on your faces a slight smirk flickers across her visage. “Oh come now, you didn’t honestly think that there was nothing behind the pretty face?”

• Ambraga moves to strike at Vulcannus, dealing substantial damage, she strikes again at Nythel but doesn't pierce his armor. Eberus throws a spear hitting with deadly precision striking her directly in the nose severing it from her face.
• Larrel runs forward and administers one of the recently found healing potions to Nythel. Uhnad swings wildly but is unable to find purchase. Larrel moves to begin to free Behral, in the process he is attacked by Ambraga and is knocked unconscious.
• Uhad strikes again at Ambraga and is able to land one of two blows. Vulcannus moves to flank her but doesn't land a full hit. Lorelia casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Ambraga and succeeds. She falls to the floor laughing uncontrollably. Nythel rummages through Larrel's affects and pulls out a second healing potion and gives it to Larrel allowing him to regain consciousness.
• In a shocking display of ineptitude, Nythel strikes himself with his whip as he aims for Ambraga. Uhnad manages to bust the lock holding Behral in his cage, freeing Behral. Vulcannus steps forward and casts Burning Hands on Ambraga grabbing at her head, melting the skin and setting her hair ablaze. Her laughter transforms to screams as she draws her last breath.
• Uhnad embraces Behral and the group begins to search the room, they find a book laid open on the table to a particular page, but no one in the party is able to read the script. Nythel dog-ears the page that it is on and subtly pockets the book, taking care not to draw attention from Uhnad. Larrel moves to the far corner of the room and finds that it opens to a cliff face, dropping down about 40ft to the waters of high tide below.
• The group decides that they can swim to shore, and Larrel moves to the previous room and empties a barrel to use as a flotation device. Lorelia mentions that the group left a large amount of treasure in the back room but they agree to leave it. The group jumps into the water below. Lorelia casts Tensor's Floating Disk to carry Milo and Nythel, while Eberus uses the barrel as a flotation device.
• The group makes it safely to shore, just as the sun begins to rise over the horizon.

Session 29 August 21, 2023

Battered, bruised, and exhausted though you are after your harrowing ordeal in the ruined fortress, the long sunrise swim to safety doesn’t feel like a burden. It was only then that you realized the extent to which the captivity of your comrades had been weighing on you. Now it almost feels as if the cool clear water is washing away your stress and anxiety, lifting a great burden from your shoulders.Tan starts laughing maniacally. The laugh was inappropriate and visceral and genuine. Soon others joined in and there was a chorus of laughter for both no reason and every reason. Even the stone faced Uhnad let out a chuckle. The feeling is almost euphoric and it allows you to lay back and appreciate the sun rising over the water. How long would it take to finish repairs on the Sea Maiden? Would there be enough food? Would the Gnolls counterattack? These were questions for another time. Right now, life is good.

• As the group arrives back at the beach, the Captain greets the returning group with joy and relief. They exchange plesantries and the Captain relays that the repairs to the Sea Maiden are going well and that he expects them to conclude in no more than a week.
• Though the group is weary and at the brink of exhaustion, they still set watches to ensure no Gnoll retaliation catches them off guard. The watches pass uneventfully.
• Many of the former prisoners and members of the camp sustained injuries during the previous raids which have not yet recovered. Larrel spends much of his time after waking up tending to the injured and nurishing the sick.

• Milo recalls that just to the south of Twin Port lays a stretch of sea frequented by pirates and other bad actors looking to make some quick coin from unarmed ships making passage. As a result, the Sea Maiden is equipped similarly to other ships of the region. It boasts four stone throwers across its deck. Stone throwers are a more advanced form of catapult that tend to throw lighter

  • In addition this also contributed to Twin Ports size. It is geographically easier to police and manage, and thus serves as a hub.
• Larrel asks the ship's captain how confident he is that the crew can navigate back to Ruskport given that the ship was sent so far off course. The captain reckons that once they get on the water navigation shouldn't be an issue.
• The group figures out that they only have enough grain to last until tomorrow, but they will need to survive for another week. The group remembers that Fran had said that the acorns from the oak trees can be harvested, cooked, and ground into a sort of meal which would be edible.

• Eberus and Vulcannus head out on boats to do some fishing while Milo and Pom collect acorns to make the ground meal. Larrel spends some time tending to Rolben's injuries before collecting scraps from the beach to purify.

  • By the end of the day the group has collected an additional two days worth of food for the camp.
• The group sets watches for the evening. Larrel and Milo take the first watch, Eberus and Vulcannus take the second, and Uhnad and the Captain take the third. The first two watches pass uneventfully, but in the middle of the third watch Larrel is awoken by Uhnad, who says: "Priest, there's something out there…"

Session 30 September 12, 2023

• Uhnaad wakes up Larrel. He hears a rustling in the bushes approaching from the north. It sounds like only one creature attempting to not be noticed.
• Larrel wakes up the group and they make their way towards the north awaiting the creature's approach. After some time, the creature falls silent, the group agrees to wait, north of the camp to attempt to intercept it.
• In the meantime, Nythel wakes up the ship's first mate Ves to aid in dawning his armor.
• After about 10 minutes the rustling starts back up and it's clear the entity has resumed its approach
• With none of the group able to see, Vulcannus casts light on a nearby pebble. The spell casts a light on the surrounding area, illuminating a Gnoll who looks ragged, and wears armor, with an axe by its side.
• Larrel motions for the Gnoll to take a seat on a nearby rock and begins to ritual cast Comprehend Languages.
• Nythel motions to himself, says his name and motions for Larrel to do the same. Larrel says his name and repeats the pattern with the Gnoll. The Gnoll states his name is Gurko.
• Larrel attempts to repeat Gurko's name back to the group in Gnoll, in an attempt to establish understanding. This seems to work and Gurko says that he was attacked and driven out by the other Gnolls who believe he helped the group to enter the Gnoll encampment.
• The other Gnolls seem to think that since he did not attack the group while they were in the basement (since he was under Larrel's aura) that he must be aiding us. Fair enough.
• The group then makes their way to the ship, Larrel indicates the damage to the ship and draws in the sand 5 cycles of the sun and moons. Gurko seems to understand the group will be leaving in 5 days aboard the ship, and asks to come with the group. Larrel nods in agreement.
• Larrel and the party return to the larger group and many members of the group have fears about their saftey and don't particularly like the idea of the Gnoll staying with the group. Understandable. Larrel does his best to calm the group.
• Nythel wonders how the Gnoll will be treated by local law enforcement when it arrives in Ruskport. He recalls that each lord appoints an inquisitor, called a Grey Cloak who is supposed to be a neutral party, but may not be depending on the lord.
• Uhnad pulls Larrel off to the side. He mentions that he doesn't like the idea of the Gnoll being in the camp.
• Nythel confronts Uhnad and again asks him again if there is anything special about Behral, Uhnad again denies it and insists that there is nothing special about Behral, other than that his parents are dead and that he looks after him. He claims that Behral has no magical abilities and that he has no idea what Maroga wanted with him.
• Nythel and Larrel are both unsatisfied with this response and Nythel devises a plan to ask for Uhnad's help away from the camp, and while he is apart from Behral have Milo get close to Behral. Larrel also wants to ask Tydor if he heard anything during his time in the camp about Behral, or what Maroga wanted with him.

Session 31 September 28, 2023 Players: Aydin, Caleb, Cameron, Frank

• The captain mentions that all he needs now to finish the repairs on the ship is time and as much of his crew as possible. Larrel tells him that the group do its best to cover the watch of the camp, to allow the crew to focus on the ship's repairs.

  • The captain also mentions that he has concerns about Gnolls coming back to the camp in search of Gurko.
• Nythel speaks with Uhnaad and asks him to accompany him to cover Gurko's tracks leading to the camp. Uhnaad is suspicious but agrees eventually to acompany him without Behral.
• While Nythel and Uhnaad are away, Milo speaks with Behral, striking up conversation and asks if he has any idea why the Gnolls took him. Behral says that the Priestess mentioned something about a boy and possibly being too old. Behral says that Maroga spent most of her time in reading and moving back and forth between two rooms.
• This prompts Lorelia to retreive the book that she had collected from Maroga's lair. Larrel casts Comprehend Languages and begins reading the book. The book is written in dwarven text, and in the language of Giant. The book appears to be an instructive book containing rituals and various spells. The section of the book that was open at the time we collected it appears to be documenting the process by which a Hag might reproduce. The ritual appears to require a sacrifice of a humanoid child.
• Thinking that's the end of the story there, Larrel offers to Behral to discuss it more if at anypoint he feels inclined to. Behral then says something along the lines of 'yeah it was pretty bad, but not the worst that's happened to me'. Larrel pulls on the thread a little but Behral seems to shutdown quickly, perhaps saying more than he intended.
• The group then keeps watch and eventually Nythel and Uhnaad return.
• In the meantime, Nythel and Uhnaad are able to follow Gurko's tracks all the way down to a bluff which leads into a village. The village appears to be near but not directly next to the ruined fortress. The village appears to be Gnoll in origin. Nythel and Uhnaad decide this is far enough and elect to turn back, covering their tracks as they do so, arriving back at the camp late in the evening.
• Part way through Nythel and Larrel's watch Nythel notices some sort of creature moving in the distance, about a half mile from the camp, the group rallies the fighters and take up positions to intercept it on it's way to camp. Lorelia casts Light on a pebble and the group places it along the path to the camp. After a little while the rustling disipates and the remainder of the watches pass uneventfully.
• In the morning Lorelia, Larrel, Nythel, Milo, Eberus, Uhnaad, and Vulcannus set out for the ruined fortress to see if there has been any change. As the group is passing the old temple, they see two ogres rummaging through the camp, they appear to be looking for something.
• Combat begins…

Session 32 November 7, 2023 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Jeremiah

• The ogre steps forward towards Nythel, swinging a club at him but missing, similarly, Nythel attempts to strike the ogre but misses.
• Lorelia moves forwards and casts Hideous Laughter on the further Orge causing it to fall prone in a fit of laughter for 4 rounds
• The group is able to make quick work of the pair of ogres.
• Lorelia begins to search the body of the ogre to the south when she notices a burlap sack on the other ogre begins to move.

• Larrel then uses his staff to help the creature escape the sack. Once it emerges the creature is clearly some sort of cat, too large to be a house cat.

  • Larrel reaches into his pack and pulls out some food. The cat takes it cautiously.
• Given that the group is near the location where the magical emerald was buried, they decide to dig it up. The group finds the spot where it was buried and it appears disturbed. The group digs it up and Larrel adds it to his bag.
• The group decide to give the cat its space and not try to take it with them. If the cat follows, the group may decide to adopt it.
• The group then makes their way to the Gnoll Fortress, returning for the first time since the death of Mahroga. On the outside, the fortress appears abandoned with no sign of Gnoll activity.
• The group then decides to investigate the village along the beachside. They come apon a small village with animal skin roofs and as they take a closer look, it is clear there is some sort of commotion happening down in the village.

Session 33 December 13, 2023 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Frank, Trevor

• The group approaches the Gnoll village from a bluff, they can see on the outskirts of the village four ogre zombies approaching the village.
• The Gnolls from the village have come out to meet ogres and a fight seems to be brewing.
• In the middle of the village, there is a pit. In the pit, there appear to be three humanoid creatures. There is also a ladder leading down into the pit that appears to be pulled up from the ground, not allowing others access.
• The group advances towards the camp mostly stealthily. The approach the camp from the north side trying to stay far away from the colliding parties.
• Looking closer at the camp, it is clear that there are over a dozen women and children Gnolls seeking shelter in the village's great hall.
• Loreleia, (having the highest stealth scores) is volunteered as the party member to lower the ladder to release those in the pit.
• Loreleia motions to the individuals in the pit to not make a sound. After receiving their acknowledgment, she expertly lowers the ladder into the pit without making a sound.
• The three individuals then successfully and quietly climb out of the pit. As the group begins to exit the Gnoll village, a large Gnoll exits the central hall and yells something in Gnoll, seeming to recognize the escaping group.
• At this point, it is clear that the two groups on the outskirts of the town have begun fighting, distracting the rest of the Gnolls.
• The group accompanied by the three survivors begins to run for a nearby bluff, being attacked by a Gnoll with a bow as they retreat. Eventually the whole group makes it behind the bluff and the Gnoll does not seem to pursue them.
• Larrel looks over the three survivors and determines that they're malnourished with some minor cuts and bruises, but mostly intact. Larrel asks how the three of them arrived at the island. The two humans said that they were fishing when they got caught in bad weather and crashed on the island.
• The dwarf on the other hand says he was part of a group of four sent on a mission to recover an artifact from the fortress. The mission sponsor was one named Abix Shard, and the dwarf seems guarded about the mission. He says they never laid foot into the fortress itself but instead were ambushed by a pack of Gnolls and captured. He says the Gnolls killed the rest of his party, choosing to eat some of them, seemingly at random.
• Larrel tells them that their group is intent on leaving the island in the coming days and that they are welcome to accompany us. They are very happy to hear this and are glad to join.
• The group decide that it might be best to deal with the Gnolls/Ogres now rather than to return to camp and possibly be ambushed by them at a later point. They tell the survivors to accompany Volcannus back to camp while they handle the survivors of the battle.

Session 34 January 22, 2024 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Frank, Trevor

• It's mid afternoon at this point but the group decides that this is their best chance to address the Gnoll situation and either kill the remaining combatants or come to the Gnoll's aid and try to use that as leverage to form some sort of peace.
• As the party moves stealthily towards the combat, it becomes obvious that the ogre zombies are winning the fight. Only one of the four appears significantly wounded, while the Gnolls have taken heavy losses. Seeing this, the party decide to help the Gnolls, choosing to target the ogre zombies and hope that the Gnolls would take it as a sign of good will.
• As the group approaches Lorelia casts Mage Armor on herself.
• The group moves into position, choosing to target the closest zombie first. Nythel, Eberus, and Lorelia all take turns attacking the ogres and Eberus manages to land the killing blow on two of the four. Despite this, the orge's attacks are deadly, almost every attack that lands kills a Gnoll.
• Eventually, the group is able to kill the last of the ogres and begin a conversation with Uhk, who speaks common.
• At first she thanks the group, showing her appreciation for the help the group provided. But the accolades are short lived and she quickly brings up the humanoids the group liberated from their camp, asking for 60 gold as compensation.
• At this the group starts a discussion. We could either pay it, or (while they're still reeling from the battle) attack them and remove them from the board for good. However, Nythel proposes a third option: refusing to pay the price they ask and instead attempting to simply leave. This would put the decision back to them, forcing them to decide if risking more of their lives was worth the price they demanded.
• After being told this Uhk storms off, clearing irate, and leaves the rest of the Gnolls behind. After some time of silence (none of the Gnolls appeared to speak common) the group made good on their comments and walked away. The Gnolls did not pursue, or fight back.
• After some time traveling the group makes it back to camp, exhausted from the day's adventures and falls quickly and deeply into a night's rest.

Session 35 February 08, 2024 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Frank, Trevor

• Othag (the dwarf we rescued from the Gnoll camp) approaches the group and points out that there is a Gnoll in the camp. Larrel explains that the that Gnoll fled from his kind and is seeking refuge with us.
• Othag eases off and mentions the artifact that he was originally sent to find. A crown of some sort. He suggests that if the group goes back to the fortress, and finds the crown, he'll split the reward down the middle.
• The group deliberates and weighs the risk of further upsetting the local population, plundering precious artifacts and all.
• The group comes back to Othag looking for more information. Othag pulls out a drawing of a woman wearing a gold banded crown with a red gem in the center and a smaller gem dangling from the larger one.
• Larrel attempts to recall information about the crown, the woman and Lord Shard. He's unable to recall anything of the woman or Lord Shard. However, the crown is certainly of Eastern make, and clearly of a design that is several hundred years.

• Loreleia studies the woman in the image and based on the figure and earrings recognizes that the woman is some sort of nobility from Azba. Azba itself is completely ruled by women. Furthermore, based on the make of the crown, Loreleia recognizes that it is the crown of a queen, not lesser royalty. She also believes the crown is likely magical and of either the school of Divination or Abjuration.

  • Azba has been at conflict with The East Mark for some time and this island was involved in during the Lark-River war. A war between Vanaroth and Azba.
• The group agrees that it might be worth while to try to retrieve the crown, however they think it might be best to wait until the ship is repaired (one to two days by the captains estimate) to attempt to steal it.
• The group spends the remainder of the day foraging for food and helping with the ship's repairs. They then turn in for the evening, setting watches in the usual order.
• During a Larrel and Nythel's watch they hear a rustling in the bushes, and think a figure is approaching slowly and quietly.
• They both stay up into the next watch and all goes still for quite some time. They decide to investigate the situation before going to bed. Lorelia casts a light spell on the rock and Nythel walks around the area where the noise came from. He throws the rock a few meters ahead following. At some point the light from the rock glints off the eyes of a hiding creature who quickly darts off into the night.
• Nythel wakes Uhnaad who checks the tracks and concludes they were of a Gnoll. Likely a scout for the group. The group is satisfied and return to bed.
• In the morning the group awakens to the Captain and his crew eagerly making the final repairs to the ship.
• The plan is to leave 2 smaller water craft on shore, hidden from view and have the ship set off as soon as possible and drop anchor slightly off shore to keep it safe from any potential Gnoll counter attack. When the group returns they'll paddle the boats out to the larger ship.

• The group makes their way out to the fortress to attempt to retrieve the crown. They arrive after an uneventful journey and Larrel casts Status on Milo and Nythel. He then also casts Augury trying to discern whether retrieving the artifact will be good or bad.

  • The response from Augury was Weal (this action will probably bring good results)
• Milo ventures off confident in his success! He makes his way along the shoreline of the fortress taking the same path that the group initially took when they found Milo. He jumps the gap between two rooms (barely managing to hold onto the edge and not fall to his death), and makes his way up the stairs to the room his was held captive in. From there he climbs the ladder to a room with gems on the floor and statues lining the walls…

Session 36 February 29, 2024 Players: Aydin, Caleb, Cameron, Trevor

• Milo finds himself in the same room with the eight statues that the group found themselves in when they first adventured through the compound. However Milo had not yet seem the solution to the puzzle, and was struggling to decipher it.
• Larrel recognizes his confusion through the status spell cast on Milo and the group decides to go after Milo as it seems that he has not yet experienced any harm. The group is able to make their way to Milo without issue.
• They complete the puzzle with no trouble. Recalling that the statues can be touched in any order, so long as they are not touched twice.
• The group then makes their way to the laboratory where they found Milo to begin with. Milo recognizes that the room is not as the group had left it. Some doors are closed that were open and objects are not where they were last left.
• Undeterred, the group makes their way to the treasure vault they know to be in the south of the vault.
• The group decides to break into the locked treasure room. Nythel recalls that there are axes and weapons in the room to the east, with which the group could possibly break down the door. Eberrus and Nythel begin hacking away at the door, but while they do, Milo continues to attempt to pick the lock and manages to succeed first.
• Once inside the room the group moves towards the statue at the center of the room, and notices a crown resembling the one depicted in Othag's drawing
• Larrel wraps his hand in cloth and grabs the grown, as he pulls the crown from the statue, the group hears a subtle click. Assuming it's some sort of trap, the group evacuates the room.

• With the artifact in tow, makes their way back to the shore, sailing to meet back with the ship a few hundred meters from the shoreline.

  • Along the way, the group discusses with Othag the future of the artifact. After some discussion he agrees with the group that perhaps they should do more to look into the artifact before handing it over to his patron.
• Once aboard, the attitude among the survivor is jubilant. Everyone is thrilled to be off the island and heading to Ruskport once more.

Session 37 March 27, 2024 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Frank June 03, 1033 CT

As the ship sails away you look back at Isle Vorra. You arrived on the island as acquaintances at best and now leave as friends and comrades. You’ve endured much and learned much. But so many questions remain unanswered. Was Ambraga in fact the source of the storms? Is Behral really just an ordinary boy with some bad luck and an overprotective uncle? What happened to the Tekkite commune? What will become of the remaining Gnolls? As you ponder these questions the revelry on the boat begins. A group gathers around a burning brazier laughing, chatting, and drinking. Neric, the bard, leads the group in song, with Captain Emrus also singing some songs.

• Larrel speaks with the ships captain, he thinks the ship will arrive at Ruskport in roughly 2 days weather and repairs permitting.
• Knowledge of the Lark River war is not obscure but is not particularly mainstream knowledge.
• The war of the feathers, began 1019 CT and ended about 7 years prior, and has much more currency in the local zeitgeist and also involved Azba.
• Ruskport is a big city, and last the captain heard the government is in flux, the lady who ruled the city had taken ill, with her husband stepping in. However, in the shift in power there have been outbursts of crime, food shortages.
• Captain Emrus approaches the group and mentions that he's exceptionally tired and the first mate is… drunk, and asks if Nythel is willing to take the helm given that he has some law enforcement background. Nythel agrees and the captain heads below deck.

• Larrel approaches Neric, and asks what he knows about Azba. Neric says he's only been to Azba once, but it's a strange place. Only women own land, hold a seat in councils, command armies, and govern provinces.

  • Neric traveled to Azba for the simple reason of being able to tell a tale about it.
  • Azba's people claim to be on the path of enlightenment and progress. But ask the nobles of Vanaroth and even more so the Eastmark, they say Azba is war-like, expansionist, and hold grudges.
  • Whiterock–a town to the south of the Eastmark–was from the captured by the Eastmark during the Lark River war but recaptured by Azba during The War of the Feathers. This has been a stain on the pride of the Eastmark ever since.
  • Neric is not aware of a single instance of Azba's territory ever stretching as far west as the island

• The night begins to deepen and it's about midnight now and many of the merry goers have gone to sleep, when all of the sudden Nythel hears "vessel hail" coming from across the water, another boat.

  • We can either choose to respond truthfully that we are a merchant ship, but that could be dangerous if it is a pirate ship, but not responding could also be dangerous if it's a military vessel.
  • Nythel elects to pretend not to hear the ship asking the crew to respond with another hail…classic 'I know you are but what am I'
• Nythel heads below deck and finds the captain, rousing him from his groggy slumber and tells him that we've been hailed by a nearby ship, at that the captain springs up and heads above deck.
• Once the two reach the top deck, they hear that the other ship is threatening to attack if we don't immediately identify ourselves. Perhaps it's a military vessel, but it's not clear whose military
• Lorelia casts Mage Armor
• The captain hails the other ship stating that we are indeed a merchant ship bound for Ruskport. The ship responds

"This is Royal Vanaroth Ship Renegade, 36 mounted arms, 400 fighting men, Lord Allessar, a Vanaroth Commodore. Send your boat on board."

• Larrel offers to go aboard the other ship but first Lorelia suggests hiding the crown, and Nythel suggests hiding Gurko. Larrel heads below deck and tells Fran to take Gurko below deck as well and to lay low. Larrel then stashes the crown in a satchel and hands it to Eberus for safe keeping while aboard the other ship.
• As we approach the ship it is clearly heavily armed. With stone throwers attached along the deck. As the small boat approaches the other the crew of the larger boats throws down two ropes fastened with hooks, that Fee and the Captain anchor to either side of our raft and they begin to hoist up the boat.
• Once the boat is level with the ship's deck we board it and two highly armored individuals quickly usher us to the captain.
• Nythel notices that the ship appears new, and has limited damage. Minor damage to the hull suggests that perhaps this ship was battered by the same storm as ours.

The ship is new. The deck lacks the buildup of grime that years at sea inevitably brings and the hull lacks scars from previous battles. You do notice bunches of small cuts on the hull of the ship as well as numerous small patches on the sails. They are in little clusters and clearly recent. Perhaps the ship was hit by one of the same storms you encountered.

Once aboard you are ushered to see the man that you presume to be the captain. He appears to be flanked by a woman on his right and a man on his left. You presume that the person on his left is a man, based on stature and build but cannot be certain as the person is clad head to toe in armor. Two hand-and-a-half swords hang at his sides and a helmet obscures his face. The woman, conversely is clad in a simple grey cloak and robes. She has a sword at her waist and carries a quarterstaff.

• Lorelia eye's the three strangers.

  • It's difficult to make much out about the captain, other than his poise and half-orc origins
  • The woman is an inquisitor, who answer to the King of Vanaroth. Most nobles are assigned an inquisitor, often to serve in their stead. Inquisitors of the King in particular are often used as spies, assassins, etc. Inquisitors earn their cloak, progressing from Initiate to Acolyte to Inquisitor, but beyond that Inquisitors don't typically bear symbols of their rank. This one has it's cloak. Inquisitors are a rarity, it's not common for them to be seen out in public.
  • The armored individual carries himself as a Knight would. Lorelia recalls a story about a local Knight, Sir Alabas Mordir, taking several tournament wins, wielding two full sized swords as their weapons of choice, as does this Knight.
• The captain questions whether we are indeed the Sea Maiden, given that our manifest suggests that we should be have been in Ruskport nearly three weeks ago.
• Larrel offers to tell the captain more about their ordeal over some tea. The captain agrees and brings the group to a smaller meeting room and a few minutes later a sailor brings in some tea, although it is slightly cool.
• Larrel recounts the story of their journey to Ruskport, being trapped in the storm, arriving on the island, being attacked by locals, etc. But we mention nothing of the crown or specifics about the locals.
• The Inquisitor says to the captain "Let's see if they're willing to stand by that in the zone" and the captain asks if we're willing to testify to that. They party eagerly agrees.
• The Inquisitor then casts a spell that Lorelia recognizes as Zone of Truth, the captain then asks us to step into the zone and repeat the story. Larrel obliges, repeats the story to the satisfaction of the three in the room.
• The Captain then says "Then I suppose you won't mind if we search your ship?"

Session 38 April 24, 2024 Players: Aydin, Caleb, Cameron, Trevor

• On the journey to Ruskport, the ships watchman notices several creatures flying off in the distance, and they appear to be circling something in the water.
• The group alerts the captain and sends all those who are not essential below deck and decides to set a coarse for in that direction.
• As they go, two creatures swim up to the boat. They appear to be Merfolk and inform the party that one of their young has been captured by a group of harpies. The group decides to aid the Merfolk and tells the ship's captain to move towards the harpies.
• When they arrive the harpies have taken over a small island and at the boat's approach they fly out to attack. They begin producing a song which causes those in the area the fail to resist to forsake their saftey and move towards the sound.
• Eberus, Larrel, and Milo jump in a lifeboat and begin rowing towards the island, while Nythel stays in the boat, opting to fire the ships battlements at the harpies from a distance.
• Almost immediately, Milo succumbs to the song of the harpies and jumps out of the boat and into the water to swim towards them.

Session 39 May 1, 2024 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Trevor

• After Eberus successfully pulls Milo back into the boat to protect him from dangers of the water, the party gives chase to the harpies, pushing them back to the small island on which they'd captured the Merfolk child.
• After defeating the last of the harpies, the group found both the child, and a large wooden chest atop the largest hill on the island. Eberus picked up the child before opening the chest.
• Inside, the chest where a pair of boots, a shortsword and 157 gold pieces. Both the boots and the sword appear to be magical in origin with the boots appearing to be Boots of Stomping and the shortsword appears to be a Luck Blade.
• When examining the sword, Eberus notices that there are flecks of long-since dried blood on the sword's hilt.
• Skeptical that the items are genuine, the group decides to turn their focus to returning the child to the sea. They head to the shore of the island where several Merfolk are now gathered.

• Rynoc is the leader of the Merfolk in the area, and upon the return of the child, he bestowed upon us a shell inscribed with writing and affixed on a chord with pearls.

  • Rynoc explains that when called upon, any who dwell under the waves will recognize the necklace and provide aid where possible.
• Eberus asked the leader if any among their group is capable of detecting magical auras. The leader calls out for Lyndryth. A few moments later a female Merfolk arrives at the surface to examine the items, and she confirms that the items in the chest are the genuine articles. With the Luck Blade retaining only one of it's two wishes.
• Eberus asks Lyndryth if the group had experienced the storms. They have indeed dealt with the storms however unlike typical storms, the storms of late have not penetrated far down below the water's surface.

Session 40 May 29, 2024 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Trevor

Level Up 👆 5️⃣

• Othag asks if the group has made their minds up as to what to do about the crown and his patron who wants it.

  • The group agrees that they should setup a meeting with Othag's Patron, to hear from him why he wants the crown. However they agree the meeting should not be for a few days after the group arrives in Ruskport. This will give us time to look into what the crown does so as to not go into the conversation blind
• Eberus talks to the captain to determine which of Ruskport's docks we will be arriving at to be able to relay that information to Othag. Smoke docks are on the western side of Ruskport, the older more industrial side. It has several Inns and no doubt one or more of them will have room.
• Larrel–having taken a vow of poverty–always stays at locations with the cheapest accommodations. While in Ruskport, he's always stayed in the Sleepy Ogre Hostel.
• Arriving in Ruskport, the group notices beggars, lots of them, far more than would be expected even in a large city such as this.

• As the group is walking through the central square, a man named Barlon approaches. He says that his daughter Dary is missing, and has been for about a week. Barlon is a thatcher and sent his daughter up the street to collect payment from a client Jendee. He hands us a flier and says the local guard is of no help.

  • Barlon attributes the increase in the number of beggars to a bad harvest. The primary crop grown in and around Ruskport is wheat and with the bad crop, the city has relied more heavily on imports, causing prices to increase.
• Given that it is currently roughly the time of day that she went missing, Eberus suggests that the group retrace Dary's steps on her route to Jendee. Just outside Jendee's place there is a rusty grate which has been moved from its housing, and placed off to the side for some time. Given that it is getting late the group decides not to investigate further for until the morning.

• The group decides to stay at the Lich's Brew Inn. They order stew from the Innkeeper, and one large room for two nights that sleeps four. Eberus speaks with the Innkeeper and asks about any criminal activity in the town. He says that there exists some sort of illegal alcohol–and possibly drug–ring somewhere underneath the city's surface.

Session 41 November 11, 2024 Players: Caleb, Cameron, Trevor, Aydin

• Our bedroom is located on the third floor, with four beds
• The group decides that the missing daughter should take precedence in the morning over any sort of research

• Larrel recalls that there is a library called Meldock's Library, owned and operated by Meldock in the Smoke Docks, just past where Dary went missing. While he suspects that they would be closed now, they do open early in the morning.

  • Meldock does not turn a profit from the library itself, but instead sells his services as a researcher. The group thinks–depending on Meldock's discretion–they could use his services
• Nythel decides to camp out next to the grate for the few hours before they retire for bed and Larrel decides to join him. After some time the group begins to hear the sounds of chittering and movement that seems to grow in intensity as the evening progresses
• As the group gets ready to retire, they notice a large volume of beggars entering a door on the east side of the alley. Larrel recalls that it is the former house of Lady Tannon, the wife of a wealthy merchant who passed away some years ago. When he passed Lady Tannon turned her home into a place for the homeless and downtrodden to get meals and sleep in a bed

• As the party is getting ready for the morning, they overhear a conversation in the Inn's common room. 'The Lady Tlask falls ill, the second son takes over–he's always wanted to rule–and all of a sudden the "crops start failing"? I think its a load of bullocks, I think the steward is taking skimming off the top from exports.'

  • Eberus asks the with the theories about the thieves guild. He immediately gets cagey but mentions that there are more than one thieve's guild in operation in the city. But the man–named Soopen–says he hasn't heard of any increase in missing persons
• The group makes their way to Meldock's Library inside they speak with Meldock and request his research expertise. They first ask about Abix Shard, Olag's patron who sent him on a quest for the crown.
• Meldock mentions that the house of Shard serves Tlask–the rulers of Ruskport. The eldest Shard is a close confidant of Lady Tlask and a military leader. They are wealthy, powerful, and often found at court with the Tlasks. Abix is of noble birth, but as the second son lacks title and inheritance of the family's estate. Abix is now a wealthy buisnessman, who owns lots of property and operates several buisnesses, making him considerably wealthy. The third brother of the Shard family, instead took to military pursuits.
• Larrel then asks about the crown, trying to frame the question as though they do not yet have the crown but were tasked with retrieving it. Larrel pays him 5gp–more than the 2gp he had asked for–to look into the crown, it's origins, why someone might want it, and any particular magical properties it might have

• Eberus then asks if Meldock knows anything about the thieves guilds operating within the city and if any of them deal in human trafficking.

  • Meldock says that this sort of information could be dangerous to deal in, but he agrees to tell us what he knows. He says that while he's not aware of any human trafficking in the area but that if it were to be occurring, it would need to be happening with the blessing of the White Fists–the thieve's guild that controls the Smoke Docks.
  • The White Fist operate at a level of secrecy that is generally to the commoners, but some of their dealings are open, obvious, and notorious.
  • The group is lead by Ulum Vas, who owns many slums, and who's thugs take collections from the poor.

  • After some time, word of their actions made its way to the Lady Tlask. And around 2 years ago she had Ulum Vas arrested. However, on the night that Ulum Vas was arrested, 17 guards turned up dead in their homes. This reaction must have been planned in advance, and executed with perfect timing. Afterwards the Lady released Ulum, fearing that guards would desert their posts en masse.

    • At each location where the guards were murdered, a multi-colored glove was left at the scene. A calling card of sorts. Aftwards the town came to refer to those who committed the murders as The Painted Glove, suspecting that they were somehow in league with the White Fist, although it wasn't confirmed how.

• A blacksmith who we met on the ship to Ruskport (session 1)

• One of the guards aboard the ship
• Wields a bow with some skill
• One of the volunteers to join the group in an attemping to rescue members of the camp captured by Gnolls

• Nephew of Uhnad who does not allow him to be near any fighting
• Possibly important in some larger context
• One of the volunteers to join the group in an attemping to rescue members of the camp captured by Gnolls, although he remained safely out of danger

• Met on the ship to Ruskport (session 1)
• Captain of the ship bound for Ruskport

• Born in Whiterock
• Family had to flee due to persecution they faced in the

• Priest of Alastonal who died on December 6, 985
• Leader of the group of Tekkites who occupied the island and teacher of Saint Ethana
• Said to have saved hundreds of lives

• Met on the ship to Ruskport (session 1)
• A bloodhound holding a captive
• During the night raid on the island the prisoner she was holding escaped

• A priest of Alastonal who made fast friends with Larrel on the ship to Ruskport
• Offered to study and look after the pendant of Saint Tekkus

• One of the first people to settle in Analriun
• There is a stock company named after him

• Priest of Alastonal, preached service and works, preached against wealth and it's trappings, preached against greed
• Voiced the tenants of Revenant Alastonal before there was even a revenant sect, many of his teachings were enshrined in the core teachings of the revenant
• Tekkites were followers of the true teachings of Alastonal
• Preached communalism and Tekkites would often form isolated communities known as "Tekkite communes" would tend to live away from others and wouldn't be unfriendly towards others but would stay away
• Tekkites were sometimes persecuted and would form their own communes out of necessities

• Founder of the revenant sect
• Was a student of Father Brimbore

• A merchant who we met on the ship to Ruskport (session 1)

• Was a prisoner of war

• A passenger aboard the ship to Ruskport, who was acting suspicious
• Has a nephew Behral who he looks after
• Seems to have good intentions, but is even more protective of his Nephew than expected
• One of the volunteers to join the group in an attemping to rescue members of the camp captured by Gnolls

• The first mate of the ship bound for Ruskport, friendly although not too experienced in battle
• One of the volunteers to join the group in an attemping to rescue members of the camp captured by Gnolls