Westmist Session #92 - Insurrection!

The party now knew they were being watched by Jax; and it was possible he already knew what they were planning. So the time had finally come to put everything into motion, to usurp the March Baron and place Duncal in charge of the March Barony. Having the March Baron in town was a complication, but it was now or never. First order of business was brains. The two guards were relieved of theirs, and Kern set about distilling their grey matter to use in the cerebral shield. Meanwhile, Stonehell went into lock down. No one from the Stonehell Resistance or from Sir Janus' group were allowed to leave, and no one was going to get into their lair. Shortly after, Cal from the SR came to report someone or something was lurking just outside their defenses. The party moved out, and Erijay used her mini-meerkat and clairvoyance to scout. The spy proved to be a wererat. Erijay slipped forward and tried to charm the creature, but it sensed her attempt and slipped off into the darkness. A quick scout around did not reveal any more spies, so it was decided to just let the were rat go and focus on preparations. Which also included a mass of invisibility spells to shield everyone but Jasper from view when they moved on Westmist.

Because the plan was to have Jasper (who was unknown in Westmist) to present himself and the barbarians as mercenaries for hire to Lord Merdwyn. Having ingratiated himself into Lord Merdwyn's good side, the party and their supporters could strike by surprise and take out Jax and the March Baron. The Stonehell Resistance, Sir Janu,s and Duncal were left behind to await developments.  Jasper collected a dozen of the biggest and meanest looking barbarians, and with the party invisibly in tow, headed to Westmist. On arrival, it would appear they had been expected, for all the gates were barred and patrols mounted the walls. Hollering out to the guards, Jasper asked that Lord Merdwyn came out to parlay.  It took some time, but soon the March Baron (accompanied by Jax, Bazzrel, Liphanes and a gaggle of guards) appeared on the wall. He was immediately hostile, letting Jasper know he was aware of his connection with the party, as well as this act of invasion they've performed by bringing a barbarian tribe across the Great River. This was just the type of incursion the March Baron was supposed to guard the Kingdom against, and he had no intention of parlay. Riders had already gone east to inform the king and summon the royal companies to his aid.  Lord Merdwyn suggested Jasper take the tribe and the rest of the party and clear out before the hammer fell. And with that, he turned his back and left the wall.

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Jasper and the barbarians retreated to discuss next steps with the party. They decided to use a bigger stick, and Kern headed off to summon the whole Ram tribe and bring them in view of the town walls. Meanwhile, Duncal was collected from Stonehell. With everything in place,  the party now approached the walls and once more summoned the March Baron. He arrived again with his entourage, and this time Kern did the talking. He accused the March Baron of conspiring with Jax and his foul deeds, that the King would  be interested to here of all the terrible things going on in Westmist. He also shouted for all inside the walls to here that Lord Merdwyn was not the rightful ruler of Westmist, that the party had returned with Duncal, the rightful heir. Kern also threatened the March Baron with death and destruction if the barbarian hoard was released upon the town, and that the blood of all would be on his hands.Kern demanded Jax's head, and that the March Baron give up Westmist to Duncal. While Lord Merdwyn and Kern argued and negotiated, Jax could be seen getting more and more agitated. As Lord Merwyn began to bargain with Kern, Jax alternately looked angrily at the March Baron and glared with frustration at Kern and the rest of the party.

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Lord Merwyn reached an agreement with Kern. Duncal would take Westmist as a vassal of the Count Palatine and deal with the fallout from the Kingdom. The barbarians would be settled in the March Barony (and again Duncal would deal with the fallout). And Jax would be removed from power, and from Westmist, but would not be killed. At this point Jax exploded in anger, waving his hands to an apparently blank section of wall. There suddenly appeared there a women with red hair, hands moving as she cast a spell. Kern and Erijay immediately recognized her as Alia, an old foe thought long dead. Alia finished her spell casting and blasted the party with a lightning bolt. As the party moved to retaliate, both Alia and Jax disappeared in a cloud of mist and drifted out of sight. Chaos ensued, and the sounds of fighting could be heard inside the walls. Some time later, the gates opened and Lord Merdwyn emerged with the remainder of Jax's guard at sword point. He sealed the deal with the party, with one addition; that they take out Jax and Alia as part of the deal. Lord Merdwyn explained that Jax was a vampire. Even so, he had long served the March Baron faithfully. But it would seem power had gone to his head, and he had now turned on his old friend and mentor. Where Alia came into the picture he was not sure; she had been in the dungeons below the keep since her capture by the party almost two years ago. He had learned from Jax's guard that the vampire had discovered some old ruins or tunnels below the keep, and it is presumably there he and Alia had fled. Lord Merdwyn offered the Jax's captured men to the party as a token of good faith, and urged the party to hunt down the fugitives without delay. In the meantime, Lord Merdwyn would stay in charge of Westmist, and Duncal and the rest of the party's supporters were to stay outside the town until it was time to hand over power.

Westmist Session #91 - Back to Westmist

Just about midnight, Guy was surprised on his watch by a pair of Bear Tribe barbarians charging out of the darkness, spear leveled at the glum retainer. Dodging the spears, he whipped out his sword and skewered one of the attackers right through the belly. To Guy's horror, the wound closed over as soon as his sword was withdrawn, and the barbarian grinned at him before striking once more with the spear. As Guy struggled with the barbarians, the others struggled to wake up, Lomar being the first. The cleric  took in the scene, then ran around the fire, kicking as many of the others awake as possible. He followed this by calling on Salue to bless the party. Kern and Jasper opened fire with their crossbows, and Bjorn loosed a trio of magic missiles. And Erijay snored. As the elf maid at last arose from slumber, the two barbarians began to transform, taking on the shape of massive black bears. Maneuvering around, she blasted the two bears with a lighting bolt. This crisped one, and singed the other enough that it turned to run back into the dark night. Bjorn hasted  the party, which then headed off in pursuit, but the werebear fell quickly to a hail of crossbow bolts.

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With much grumbling about lost sleep, the party looted the bodies of some gems, admonished Guy, and then settled to rest again. And Lomar animated one of the dead as his personal servant. The remainder of the night passed uneventfully. With morning's arrival, the party started to examine some of the items recovered from the hanging tree. Lomar cast detect magic, and found that the mace, book and potion were magical. Lomar handed the mace the Guy, considering how much trouble the henchman was in when faced with a magical creature but no magical weapon. Erijay expressed interest in the book, and sat down to study. It, however, was not the great learned tomb she hoped; but instead drained away a little of her vitality and intelligence merely through trying to understand the indecipherable gobbly-gook. She was not impressed.

Packing up, the party made good progress during the day and had no unwanted visitors during the night. Next day they continued their journey. Reaching a point where the trees began to thin, they suddenly heard the sounds of beautiful female voices singing in the trees above. Erijay and Loamr we entranced, and moved under the tree to stare dumbly up into the branches. The others followed their gaze, and saw three creatures with the upper body of a woman and the lower body and wings of a vulture; harpies! The trio flew down and proceeded to slash at Erijay with their claws, the elf still too entranced to fight them off. Jasper and Kern opened up once more with crossbow bolts, but the fight ended quickly when Bjorn tossed a fireball into their midst. After picking some slightly melted jewelry from the smoking corpses, the party contiuned east and finally reunited with the Ram barbarians that evening. The next few days passed without incident, as the party lead the tribe through the foothills of the Western War Peaks towards Stonehell. There they set the tribe down in the box canyon next to the Stonehell entrance, where the party's secret entrance lay. Tzarn agreed to this arrangement for now, but let it be known that the sheep would have eaten out the small canyon in  about a week. After that, he would be leading his tribe out in search of better grazing lands if Kern and the rest of the party couldn't make other arrangements.

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Teaving Tzrn, the party headed back into Stonehell to meet with the Stonehell Resistance and Janus' men. They were still hail and hearty, and Barfirth reported no big problems in the weeks since the party left. They had continued stirring up the town, and seemed to have been successful in provoking Jax. The seneschal had clamped down harder on the town, effectively imposing martial law. Barfirth figured the town was split about three ways: a third that supported Jax, a third who who support a change, and a third who just wanted to go on with life and didn't care who was in charge. And as far as Barfirth knew, no one was aware of the plotters in Stonehell.

Needing more information about the situation in town, Bjorn and Erijay started casting invisibility on everyone in preparation for a nighttime raid into Westmist. The part slipped invisibly towards town, with Lomar's zombie servitor in tow. Leaving the undead in the marsh outside Westmist, the party first tried the town gates, but found them all barred for the night. Taking advantage of the wintery weather, they slipped around the wall and onto the frozen river, heading towards the keep. The plan was to waylay some of Jax's personal guard, take them prisoner and drag them back to Stonehell for interrogation. Silenced (thanks to Lomar) and invisible. they lay in wait. About an hour had passed when a patrol of a half-dozen of Jax's men in black and yellow livery appeared around the corner of the keep. Bjorn stepped out from cover and cast sleep, becoming visible but taking 5 of the men down right away. Then suddenly from behind the party came the sound of squealing and shuffling feet, as a half dozen rat-men burst out of the darkness and ran past them. Three surrounded Bjorn and and started slashing at him with their swords. Two others stood guard warily, seemingly aware the party was around but uncertain exactly where. Bjorn cast hold person on the remaining guardsman, then invisibility again. But the trio of rat-men around him had marked their target and continued to attack (albeit, with no success). The two other rat-men began to chitter very loudly; as if they were calling for help. Jasper, taking the silenced coin, rushed over to quiet the rat-men. This drew the attention of the remaining two, and they began to flail about with their swords in the general direction of the fighter. Meanwhile, Kern rushed around the fight, summoned the secret chest, and popped two of the sleeping guardsmen inside. The appearance and disappearance of the chest was the signal to everyone else to re-group and head back to Stonehell, picking up their zombie companion on the way.

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Back in Stonehell, the two guards were pulled out of the chest and interrogated under ESP probing by Erijay. They learned that the March Baron had actually just arrived back in town that day, along with the Company of Good Cheer. Lord Merdwyn was there to gather recruits to take back to the County Palatine of Overmarch, as his new realm was now under attack by the necromancers of Djall and their undead armies. Jax and his men had been 'recruiting' for the March Baron, but Lord Merdwyn was there hoping his presence (and ability to lean on the local gentry) might bring better success. The men also revealed that Jax was well aware of the party's little army in Stonehell, and had hired the wererats to keep them under surveillance. How Jax first learned of the SR the guardsmen did not know. However, everyone (Jaxs men, March Barons men and town guard) were all under orders to keep a close eye around the town and around Stonehell for the party's reappearance.

Westmist Session #83 - Consolidation

Kern and Erijay sat Duncal down and gave him back his clothes, and a stern lecture about running off into the mountains at the height of winter and gods-knows what fate. Duncal began to whine about the party not holding up their end of the deal, this whole usurpation was taking too long, he was cold and bored here in the mountains, etc etc etc. Holding Erijay back to keep her from throttling Duncal, Kern explained there had been some minor setbacks on the way, but progress was being made with the Stonehell Resistance Army (SRA) and their task of stirring up the town against Jax.

At this point, Kern and Erijay were joined by Lomar (and his retainer Guy), bringing the news from Stonehell. Which made them all think that perhaps the best place for Duncal was back in the dungeon, in the care of the SRA.Combining Sir Janus' band with the SRA would give them a bigger force, and keep Duncal out of trouble as a bonus. Duncal just about scuttled that idea though, insisting he was not about to go in 'that hole' again. Choosing bribery over force, a deal was struck with Duncal.  Agreement as reached  that everything would come to  fruition 'soon', and that once Duncal had been placed in charge of Westmist, he would stay just 3-4 months before taking his money and heading for "more civilized lands".  Kern, Erijay and Lomar also agreed to pay him 100gp for incidentals in the interim, and 5000gp as his final fee once he was free to go. In return, Duncal would go to Stonehell with the SRA and not run again.

That concluded, they carried Duncal back to Sir Janus, and then confronted the knight with the plan. Sir Janus was not happy at first, feeling it beneath his dignity to serve amongst such rabble rousers and lower class men. He agree to the plan only in the understanding that he, Sir Janus of Lacewood was in command. Which was agreed, but Kern wrested the agreement that there would be no romantic cavalry charges to fight the enemy in the open field. Sir Janus agreed (and Erijay confirmed he was being genuine with a little ESP), and so the whole band broke camp and headed for Stonehell.

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It was an uneventful, though snowy journey,  until the band had started to shift direction around the end of the Western War Peaks, to head east towards Stonehell. Above them in the thickly falling snow came a screech and the flap of wings. As everyone dove off horses and into cover, a pair of wyverns descended out of the blizzard, making for the now riderless horses.  Bjorn and Eijay loosed a fireball each, crisping but not killing the two creatures. One grabbed onto Sir Janus' horse, and began to fly away. Kern fired a crossbow bolt, and Bjorn and Erijay cast a cluster of magic missile, bringing both wyverns crashing out of the sky. Picking through the smoking remains, it was clear that Sir Janus would now be walking, as his hose did not survive the fall . Nothing of interest was found, but Erijay did cut off one of the poison stingers for possible future use. Figuring this must be the pair of wyverns that had bedeviled them before, the party decided it was worth stopping for day to go hunt down their lair and look for treasure. Erijay and Kern had information that the pair of wyverns laired atop a natural stone pillar somewhere in this general area. Resting overnight and memorizing new spells, the party started to search in the still thickly falling snow for the pillars. It look half the day to find them, 100 feet high on a ridge above them. Bjorn and Erijay cast fly and headed up. Erijay hit the jackpot right away; a jumbled nest of tree trunks with coins scattered amongst the bones and offal. Bjorn arrived and began shoveling treasure into the magic chest, while Erijay poked around some more. Her curiosity was rewarded with a scroll case (containing two treasure maps) and a wyvern egg! She slipped both into her pack for who knows what ultimate purpose.

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Side trek complete, the party continued on to Stonehell. There, the remnants of Sir Janus' band was joined in an uneasy alliance with the SRA. Barfirth took his demotion to second in command with grace, and all seem set for a successful merger (especially after Lomar broke out the wine and cooking spices for a celebratory feast).  Lomar, Erijay and Kern then discussed next steps, and decided heading out to recover the Cerebral Shield of the Gann should still be their goal. Before departure, however, they sent Guy into Westmist to run some errands (picking up potions from Synthini, gathering some supplies, visiting Thuridici the Sage with 1800gp from Erijay and a request to research the natural history of wyverns). Lomar and Eirjay meanwhile, slipped invisibly and separately to town on personnal business. Erijay went looking for an animal trainer to train a pair of minimerkats to use as her eyes and ears when scouting, and spent a few days in the hovel of Ona the crazy minimerkat lady, just outside the town walls . Lomar, meanwhile, headed to see Slate and check on the progress of his mechanical arm. The dwarf had it ready, but after the painful procedure of attaching the arm, it was apparent it did not work quite as hoped. Lomar, ever hopeful, tossed some more gold to the dwarf and told the engineer he would return in a month to try it again.

When everyone assembled once more in Stonehell, the party prepared for the winter trek across the Untamed Lands to find the Horn Tribe barbarians and the hidden halls of the Gann.  Heading out of town, they first bargained an old man out of his riverboat, and so the party took to the water. Slipping past the fortress of Amrath in the dark (and silence thanks to Lomar), the turned north up the Great River, assuming from their map  that it would take them to the foothills of the Black Spine Mountains. It unfortunately didn't, but instead led them back to the Western War Peaks from whence they'd just returned with Janus and Duncal. So they hauled the boat ashore, and struck out overland, following the edge of a dark, coniferous forest until they struck the Black Spine some days later. Following the mountain front north for several more days, they were passing through a boulder field when suddenly they were surrounded by an ambush of shaggy, wooly humanoids ...

Westmist Session #81 - Stonehell Revisited

With the sudden change in circumstances and location, there was much to keep everyone busy. Kern dove deep into his plan for a Stonehell based insurrection; Bjorn worked furiously copying spells; Gurruk took it upon himself to fill their hosts larder with fresh game; Rylee ministered to their spiritual needs; and Darnorth took the chance to study the mixed stonework through the dungeon.  This left Erijay and Lomar with little to do, as the expedition to recover the "Cerebral Shield" wasn't leaving real soon. So the elf proposed taking Lomar on a little tour of the party's previous haunts in the dungeon, and may find a little treasure and excitement.They were also able to convince a couple of the Stonehell Resistance to join them; Yar the over enthusiastic cleric of Saule, and Guy the moody man-at-arms.  And Fin the dog.

They decided first to visit Lachesis, for both Lomar and Erijay hoped she could direct them to some magical assistance within the dungeon. In particular, Lomar wanted to have his gelatinous arm healed, and Erijay was wondering what could be done about her somewhat surly and standoffish manner. So pilfering some gold from the party chest, off the expedition went. They easily and quickly found Lachesis in her rooms, and after some pleasantries (and disappointment on the spy-mistresses part that Kern was not present), they got down to business. Lachesis could unfortunately offer little direct help. For Erijay, she suggested trying the 'Wheel of Fortune" on the first level and trust to her luck. For Lomar, she directed him to the fifth level, down around the Vrilya, to a protoplasmic "Pool of Wisdom" that may have information on dealing with his affliction. Interview over, Rufus and Tusk directed the party out of the rooms to decide what to do next.

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Erijay recalled the gifts she had purchased for the Gentlemen Ghouls, so she dragged Lomar and the others along to recover them from their hiding spot, and then off to the back door of the ghouls home.  Unfortunately, she had misinterpreted a note on her old map, and they ran into a pair of hellhounds, newly spawned  from the eternal fire that guarded the back door. They party tried to retreat, but the hounds chased them down. In the ensuing fight, Yar was crisped by one hellhounds breath, and once more died in the party's service. They carried his body back to a nearby dwarven funeral room, and Lomar carefully scrunched up the body on one brier and said a few words over his fallen comrade. Looping around the eternal fire this time, they came to the ghouls back door and knocked. After a few minutes, the door was opened by a ghoul Erijay did not recognize. He was very haughty and very upset, as they were interrupting a dinner party. Erijay presented here gifts of fine glassware and new clothes, and tried to sweet talk her way into the dinner party, hoping to pump the ghouls for information. Alas, it did no good, as they were all turned away and told not to come again without first  sending a calling card ahead of their arrival. And please dress more appropriately.

Having hit another information dead end, they decided to head down one level and look for the "Pool of Wisdom". Taking first the main stairs, Erijay slipped on the elven cloak borrowed from Kern,and scouted ahead. At the bottom of the stairs she found the large portcullis shut, and could see with her infravision, figures moving about in the room beyond. Where once the hydras laired, there were now a pair of 10' lizards, and several Vrilya stood on the overlooking balconies. Going back to meet Lomar and Guy, Erijay studies the map again, and they headed north and descended via the elevator located there instead of taking a chance with the Vrilya. From there, they explored new ground, apparently more old mining tunnels like those encountered in the extra-dimensional mine. Cautious Lomar cast detect traps as they explored tunnels and chambers, but found nothing. They did find a small alcove filled with rusty bird cages though, and in each lay the dry mummified remains of a canary. Lomar, filled with the pity of Saule, stepped in the midst of the cages to bless the dead birds. When he did, he noticed one cage which contained a curious clockwork canary. Try as they might, they couldn't get it to activate or do anything, but Lomar was mighty pleased with his find and perched the the cage on top of his pack.

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 Further exploration uncovered rooms filled with old mining equipment and debris. In one direction came a strong animal and urine smell, so they avoided that room and headed the opposite direction. They soon encounter a dead end corridor. There lay a 10' cube, with perfectly smooth sides and no sign tool marks. Curious, the elf and cleric poured over the cube, looking for clues as to it's origin and purpose. Luckily, they weren't too intent, for Lomar noticed that animal/urine smell wafting down the hallway towards them. Turning around, they saw two fierce creatures, with the body of a cave bear and the head of an owl, approaching them. Fin rushed ahead to bite one on the leg, only to be crushed and torn to pieces by the fearsome beak. Lomar blinded one with his light spell, then cast sticks to snakes from his scroll. Meanwhile, Erijay fired a few crossbow bolts, then followed up with magic missiles, while Guy stood his ground with his sword. But Lomar's snakes delivered the coup de grâce, poisoning the last of the owl bears.

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Finding nothing of interest on the bodies, Lomar deduced that these might have come from the similarly foul smelling room encountered earlier. Which meant it might now be unguarded, so off they went to investigate. Sneaking in carefully, they surprised two owl bears caught in a moment of animal lust. Which Erijay rudely interrupted with a lightning bolt, and Lomar finished up when he turned his poison snakes on the survivor. Pushing aside the smouldering and frothing corpses, they rooted through the nest. They found 5000ep (of which 1500ep they could carry out), a vial with a bubblegum smelling liquid, and a scroll case clutched in a skeletal hand. In the case was a note:

         `Fredrick, the box with the items we found is buried in the alcove behind the stone cube`

Well, they knew where that was. So they headed back to the cube posthaste, stopping just long enough to grab a couple of old shovels from the mining detritus. Once there, a few minutes of digging uncovered a small metal box, latched but unlocked. Thinking this was a job for Kern, they popped the box in a pack and headed back for their HQ on the second level. 

Guy, impressed by the reward offered by Lomar, offered his services as a henchman to the cleric, grumbling that at least this employer hadn't`t gotten him killed ...

Westmist Session # 80 - The Best Laid Plans of Kern and Friends ...

With Kern's body slung over his horse, Erijay, Bjorn and Lomar headed for Westmist. There was some debate about sneaking into town to avoid notice, but in the end the party passed through Marsh Gate as usual, after an uneventful two day ride through the snow covered hills. Collecting Darnorth and Rylee (who had proceeded them to town), the first stop was the Church of the Three Virtues to see the Highest Virtue and have Kern's little death problem looked into. This Liphanes was able to help with, but when Lomar asked about his gelatinous arm, the obese clergyman had to regretfully inform the newcomer that such assistance was beyond his power. Leaving the church, Darnorth suggested Lomar check in with Slate, to see if the dwarven engineer could rig up some sort of mechanical or bionic arm (hopefully non-explosive). After some painful prodding of the arm, Slate took on the challenge, and Lomar left 700gp lighter and with instructions to return in a month for a prosthetic fitting.

Dropping Kern back at the house, Bjorn and Erijay headed to see Synthini the alchemist. After determining she had no potions available, nor salves to heal Kern's burn scars, Bjorn placed an ordered for potions of extra healing (paying 1500gp down on behalf of Kern). Erijay, meanwhile, inquired about learning some of the alchemists craft from Synthini. The tall lady was willing, but informed the elf that it would take 4 months of instruction and 4000gp. Erijay for now deferred her lessons, until things were safer in the town i.e. hopefully certified Jax-free.  Gurruk, meanwhile, took some of his cash and went to visit Thuridici the Sage, looking for information on magical trees and groves, something from which he could craft a magical weapon. He too left 1000gp lighter with instructions to return in 2 weeks. 

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Speaking of which, Darnorth, Rylee, and Lomar (with Riker in tow), went out on a bender to gather rumors. They found that things were not quite right in the town of Westmist, and an undercurrent of unnamed fears abounded. Also learned was the fact that Jax was rarely seem about these days, usually only in the evenings or on dreary days. People feared to go out late at night as those who did tended to disappear, just like the petty criminals and beggers the party had learned of earlier. The trio decided to test the danger of the night, and choose to wander home in the wee hours, acting loudly drunk. They did not get far before being confronted by a patrol consisting of two of Jax's men in yellow and black, and a half dozen of the March Baron's men-at-arms. While matters were tense, things didn't go completely downhill until Rylee announced, in response to demands to identify themselves,  that he was the "Mighty Arm of the Faith". Meaningful glaces were exchanged between the men, and the leader announced that the quartet MUST come with them to see Jax. 

After a little more fooling around, Darnorth, Rylee, and Lomar (with Riker still in tow) decided it was time to run; they didn't want to end up having their minds probed by Jax. Splitting up, the four fled in a hail of crossbow bolts, one of which dropped Riker like a sack of dead cats. Darnorth and Lomar scooped him up and carried him back to the secret tunnel into the house, while Rylee led the guard off on a wild chase through back alleys and then back to the house. He got inside and barred the door just as Lomar and Darnorth emerged from the cellar, and Erijay, Bjorn and Kern appeared from upstairs to see what all the fuss was about. As the guards pounded at the door and demanded entrance, others could be heard raising the town. Knowing they would soon have no choice but to fight and kill, or surrender and likely be killed,  the party gathered what they could and  fled through the tunnel. On the way, Erijay deep froze Riker's body with the Wand of Cold and hid it inside the secret tunnel. Once outside in the night air, they party rushed across town under one of Erijay's haste spells, headed for the wall. Almost there, they were seen by the guard, but apart from a few crossbow bolts in Rylee's behind, they made it over and into the night. Stopping to get Gurruk and Booh at the hovel, they then headed back to the familiar halls of Stonehell, thinking that hiding in that hole full of monsters was the best place to avoid detection for now. 

Entering through their still secret entrance, the party decided to hole up with their old henchmen/dungeon toll collectors. It took a few minutes to get them to open the door when they saw Booh, but eventually relented and let them all in. The party was careful not to let on that they were on the lam from the law. Darnorth went on a sweet talking mission to get them all on side first, while Lomar used his culinary talents to make the various beasts Booh and Gurruk brought back from the hunt into enticing meals for all. Kern recovered, and Erijay rewrote spells. However, the elf also cast a few well timed ESP to probe the minds of their hosts. Essentially, there was some suspicion on the part of the ex-henchman. They suspected something wasn't right for their former employers to be hiding out with them, and most harbored some level of resentment for having previously died in the party's service. So when time came a few days later for a couple of the men to go to town for supplies and news, Erijay's mind probe discovered the two planned to find out what news they could of the party and use it to advantage i.e. probably turn them in when they discovered what had happened. This info was relayed to Booh and Gurruk, who ambushed the two and ended that threat, returning with a tale of ambush by wolves for the rest of the henchmen/bandits. Meanwhile, Bjorn had cast invisibility and slipped back into town. Everything seemed back to normal, except for the wanted posters offering a 500gp reward for information leading to the party. He also discovered their house burned and the ruins tumbled into the cellars. A quick check of the secret tunnel showed that it was still intact and undiscovered, with Riker's icy body still there. He also discovered the Company of Good Cheer had arrived in Westmist, looking for the party. It seems someone had put together the coincidence of party's departure from New Breven with the disappearance of the Rathgold and Zana, and Quid and company were looking for some answers.

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Back to Stonehell went Bjorn carrying the news. A council of war was held, and the party decided on two courses of action. First, recruit the henchmen/bandits  to their cause and have them start fomenting insurrection in Westmist. Second, to carry through to recover the Cerebral Shield of the Gann. While it was less critical now that they were on the run, blocking their minds from Jax still seemed a good idea. Darnorth was once more elected to bring the henchman/bandits into the fold. A another rousing speech about freedom for Scotland Westmist, a sack of gold, and promises of further reward when they'd met their goal of putting Duncal in the March Baron's brought the henchmen/bandits to their side. 

Westmist Session #72 - Meat the Archmage, Sloth the Pig

• Erijay, Gort, Sir Thomas Chap and Jason decide to leave Bjorn under the protective amber force field to recover. They load him up with food and water, leave Jason's dog to guard him, and then head off to search for the Gate of the Silver Keys. Jason takes the brazier from Bjorn; just in case they need a 20' air elemental.
• Having searched the west wing of the chateau, they decide to head through the indoor forest to the east wing. Thankfully(?) no one is left alive from the previous encounter with the Wild Hunt, who had warned them against ever returning. 
• Passing into the garden, they party is attacked by a group of killer trees. Tentacle/vines lash out and entangle them, drawing the helpless adventurers to great toothed maws to be chomped.  

 

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• There is much (attempted) hacking and slashing of vines, but Sir Thomas and Jason are both slain. 
• At about this time, another trio of adventurers (Meat the Fighter, Sloth the illiterate cleric  and Dai-sen the Lawful warrior) appeared, and charge into the fray to help Erijay and Gort. Their combined effort destroys the woody menace. The two groups decide to join forces and search for a way out together. 
• The party treks across the forest, then realizes they forgot to search around the trees for loot. They backtract, find nothing (but recover the brazier from Jason's half eaten body) , and retrace their steps. As they reach the bridge over the stream, they find their way barred by a woman in green and amber robes. They try to talk their way past the woman (obviously another looney d'Amberville) and it works! She steps to one side and allows the party to pass unmolested.

•  Shortly after a quartet of badgers amble out of the woods and starts nipping at their heels. Meat punts his into the trees, a move copied by Sloth. Erijay and Gort get bitten and irritated,  and choose to pummel theirs to death. Jason, wearing his elven cloak, it not bothered by the badgers.
• Come to the door to the east wing. A trio of massive stones forms an archway around the door, and a continuous line of blood drips from the lintel. Gort, Jason and Sloth get through with no problem. Meat and Erijay get dripped on by blood, causing an odd magical tingling to them both.
• They open the door into a massive room with white marble floors. A throne sits back-on before them. Tapestries line the walls, and a skeletal honor guard stands along the north and south walls. Carefully walking to the front of the thrones, they see two regal skeletal figures sitting there. A line of skeletal coutiers line a red carpet, all frozen in various poses. 
• Meat approaches the throne, and is suddenly overtaken by some sort of mental possession. He twitches for a few minutes, then to his companions surprise ans horror, starts chanting words of magic. Sloth is turned into a pig, and before anyone else can react, Erijay is enchanted to attack her fellow adventurers. 
• Not sure what is going on, the rest of the party does the only thing they can; pummel Meat into unconsciousness and tie him up. Erijay regains control of herself; Sloth is still a pig. Dai-sen rips a jeweled mace from one of the skeletons on the thrones.
• They drag Meat into a side room, furnished and decorated in blue. When he regains consciousness they try to reason with him. Meat begins to again cast a spell, so they knock him out again and gag him this time.
• Erijay casts ESP when Meat wakes up. Finds out he has been possessed by the spirit of Princess Catherine (one of the skeletons on the throne). She was wife of Prince Stephen d'Amberville, but betrayed and murdered him, then married his brother Henri and claimed the throne. In his dying breath however, Prince Stephan cast a curse on his family. Catherine and Henri were utterly destroyed, but she was able to magic jar herself into the throne. When the party entered the room, she took possession of Meat so she could be free.
• Erijay also learns the Gate of the Silver Keys is in the dungeon below, and the two entrances to the dungeon are in the east wing and the chapel to the north of the indoor forest.
• They try to convince Meat/Catherine to break the spell on Sloth and bring him back to human form. She/he resists, so they cut off a finger. She/he then complies; Sloth returns as a cleric dumber than the pig he was. 
• Not sure what to do with Meat/Catherine, the party tries the next door. Beyond it is a white room, very cold, and with a giant 6-legged lizard thing staring at them. Door is slammed shut, and discussion ensues about what to do next. Suggestion made that Meat/Catherine be pushed into the room, then bar the door shut. Hopefully that will take care of at least one of their problems ...

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To be continued ...

Westmist Session #65 - Been Gone Long

... There was some discussion around whether it would be best to go straight after the big reptilian demon (which was Rylee's  preference) or try to recover weapons and armour from the old guardroom first. Even with the risk of having to fight more strange undead to get there, most of the others felt it would be better to 'load up' before fighting an extraterrestrial demon with a tendency to cause insanity in those around it. First off, Kern slipped forward to scout silently. He peered in the next room, and saw a dozen mineral encrusted skeletal figures working away at the mine, blocking the route to the guardroom. Backing up to confer with his colleagues, everyone decided it would be best to have Bjorn cast his invisibility spell on Kern, so he could slip past the ore bones and get to the guardroom.  As Kern moved forward however, he stepped on a dried bone, makes a loud 'snap' sound as he entered the chamber with the undead. This roused the evil creatures, but although they could sense the presence of the living, they couldn't see the invisible merchant, and wandered off in the wrong direction. Kern took advantage of this, and slipped forward into the next chamber, the guardroom. Here, a half dozen sets of skeletal remains lay on the floor, with armor and weapons scattered around. In one corner tied to a chair was another skeleton, dressed in leather armor and with weapons lying next to it on a table. Kern gladly slipped into a set of leather armor, and gathered as much weapons as he could carry back to his companions. The ore bones still had not returned, so the whole this time slipped into the guardroom to get what armor and extra weapons they could (they found latter that some of the crossbow bolts were bolts +1, and there was also a hand axe +1 amongst the dross).

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Now ready to take on the world (or at least a reptilian demon), they prepared to head west to search for the black stele. Before they left, however, Gurruk peaked around the other exit of the room to see what was there. In the next chamber he saw a ghostly procession of miners working the ore veins, overseen by a pair of desiccated taskmasters. He pulled back quickly, and was luckily not seen. The still invisible Kern slipped ahead to scout, and finding the ore bones chamber still thankfully empty, the rest followed. Tracking back toward the west, they pointedly avoided the large chamber full of undead and headed to the area just north of it. Kern was able to guide the party around another group of ore bones before leading them into large chamber. And here was the object of their quest. In the middle of the room was a pit, 15' deep. Sticking out of it at a 45 degree angle was a black stone, covered in strange alien carvings.  Though tempted to just go smash the thing and be done, everyone calmed down enough to plan how best to deal with the stele, and whatever consequences hammering away at it would bring. Darnorth examined some of the nearby tunnels, and was able to figure out how to collapse one with a few solid blows with a pick. That would close off one route of attack if they attracted any unwelcome attention. Then spells were cast: Riley cast a series of striking on various weapons, ans called down the blessings of Habuu. Erijay hasted everyone, then cast her mirror image for added  protection. Bjorn had similar plans, casting shield to protect himself. Erijay then approached the stele with the blessed hammer of Lughrin, Darnorth approached the weak tunnel with his pickaxe, and the rest took positions to cover the only remaining entrance and protect the elf so she could work on shattering the stone.

Swinging the hammer, Erijay struck the strange rock a telling blow. Her arms shook as the power of the alien thing pulsed through the hammer, and a small crack appeared in it. At the same time, Darnorth started hammering away at the weak tunnel to collapse it, while the rest stood in wait at the other entrance. Suddenly, a screaming roar was heard, and the reptilian beast partly materialized next to the stele. Darnorth's tunnel now collapsed in a rumble of rock and dust, and he and  Kern rushed over to cover Erijay. The beast waved it's four arms in the air and breathed a blast of purple fire  on the three, but Erijay kept hammering at the stone. Meanwhile, the rest could see a legion of undead marching towards them, skeletons, ore bones, zombies and others all lead by a grey, dessicated thing. It now looked grim, but with a final swing Erijay split the black stone asunder. Quickly, she tossed the hammer the Rylee so he could use it to call on Habuu to turn the undead. She joined Kern and Darnorth to battle the now fully materialized  beast. Swords bit deep, and it roared again, this time instilling deep fear in all. As it roared however, Kern and Erijay struck once more and with a final agonizing trash it dissipated into a cloud of pruple smoke and was gone. Suddenly the room around them began to pulse with a strange vibrating energy.

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While Kern and Erijay battled the beast, Riley raised the holy axe at called down the power of Habuu on the approaching doom. In the enter of the column, a mass of skeletons and zombies exploded into a cloud of undead dust and gore.  Raising it again and again, he drove off more of their attackers, while Darnorth and Erijay held the front line and Kern covered them with missile fire. Just as the strange vibration ended, they last of the undead were destroyed. At that moment, they noticed all the undead became 'normal' corpses. And of more immediate interest, all of their equipment returned! Well, almost all. Each noted some item missing, including Kern`s folding boat and ring of invisibility, Rylee`s eyes of the serpent , Bjorn`s magical dagger, and Erijay`s spellbook. While much cursing ensued, they were at least happen to have most of things back.

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Assuming the curse was lifted and they could now leave the mine and go collect Duncal from the trolls, they headed off. But first stopped by the huge forge room Kern had scouted earlier, just to see if the beast he`d seen there was the same one they`d just destroyed. It was, but it was not a wasted trip as they discovered a stack of gold ingots which slipped into his secret chest. Now though, it was time to get their reward, so without further exploration they backtracked to the troll halls. One more, the passed through the minotaurs room, again oddly unmolested by the creatures Reaching the troll halls, they confronted the two troll housecarls who stood guard outside the huge doors. The two seemed confused by their presence. Darnorth, listening in with his helm, overhead them trying to figure out who the party were as they seemed to remember something about a bunch of surface peoples visiting a long time ago. Kern managed to make himself understood by asking for Grammlemor, so the guards disappeared through the doors and soon came back with the old troll hag, her head under her arm. With her smattering of Common, she spoke to the party, and expressed surprise that they returned after being gone so long. Asked how long they had been gone, Grammlemor put down her head and started counting fingers, stopping at about 60. It would appear that time passed much more slowly inside the temporal distortion than they thought!

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Jarl Sveg and his bodyguards now arrived with Duncal in tow. He sent off some of his trolls to dig out one of the blocked mine tunnels, and they soon returned to tell the Jarl that the mine was now free again. True to his word, the Jarl turned over the scrawny heir, noting there`s enough meat on Duncal to make him fit for the stew pot anyway. The Jarl talked a little about where they might find some more slaves to work the mines, either gnomes or men. Rylee tried to recruit  the trolls to help overthrow the March Baron, but that didn`t go over well. The Jarl wasn`t interested in getting tangled up in surface wars; he would get the slaves his own way! He imperiously ordered the party to take Duncal and leave before he changed his mind, and seeing no reason to provoke a fight (or become slaves themselves the party complied. They headed back out through Stonehell, speaking amongst themselves about what might have happened in the two months they`d been gone. They decided that rather than go straight to town, they would hold up in Gurruk and Boohs (who miraculously was still there)`wooded hovel to question Duncal and to plan.
 

Westmist Session #64 - To the Mines!

Next morning, the Jarl's housecarls roused the party to prepare them for their foray into the old troll mines. When the Jarl and pair of Virlya joined them, Kern posed a few questions to the troll leader. Specifically looking for more information on the layout of the mines (was there a map?) and where the mysterious stele was located. Unfortunately Jarl Sveg could tell them little, as the discovery of the stele and summoning of the malign spirit occurred many years ago, and he could not recall details of the mine. Besides, undoubted many areas had become unstable and collapsed over the years so any map would likely be useless. He could tell them at least that the stele was discovered at the far western end of the mine. Kern also talked the Jarl out of a pair of the troll's sheep, to use as food on the hoof and/or bait when battling in the mines.

That done, the Jarl and his housecarls lead the party to the only mine entrance still unblocked (stopping at the infravision statue to get all the humans some night sight on the way). The entrance was right next to the elevator the party had been using, so they has to pass through the minotaur lair to get there. Which they were able to do without incident thanks to the two Vrilya who accompanied the Jarl. Once in the mine tunnels, the Jarl took his leave of the party and returned to his halls. The party, forming a marching order and hefting weapons, headed out. After just a few steps, the walls around them started to fade away. The next thing everyone knew, they were waking up in a large mined out chamber. Most notably, all their equipment and supplies were gone, and they were dressed just in old rags and equip with mining tools and lanterns. They were also not alone.  A half dozen skeletons, equip much like themselves, approached. The party prepared to do battle, and Riley began to call on the power of Habuu to drive away the undead fiends. Only to realize he had no holy symbol with which to channel the wrath of his god. And was unable to see in the dark anyway, as his infravision lens were likewise gone. So all raised shovels and picks and dealt with them the old fashioned way; smashing them. But these skeletons were tougher than normal, with bones encrusted in mineral deposits. One of the skeletons killed a sheep, and Darnorth vaulted over the other wooly creature to aid his embattled comrades. Lacking their usual armor and weapons, the skeletons hurt the party badly before the last one fell.

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After first aid and healing, the party looked around the room. A well stood in one corner, and everyone went to look, hoping their equipment might be in there. Alas it contained only scummy water. Erijay examined the skeletons, and noticed one was encrusted in minerals shot through with flecks of gold. She took one of the broken femurs to use as a backup weapon. But nothing else of use or interest was found, so the party prepared to head west, still hoping  to find the stele and deal with it. Having first dealt with a band of (thankfully) regular skeletons that wandered into the room, they passed out into the mine tunnels. These were all roughly dug and propped up with timbers. As the Jarl warned, they were also quite unstable, and the sounds of creaking wood and small rockfalls echoed around them. Following the winding tunnels, they entered another mine chamber. Darnorth saw immediately that the load here was not mined out, and veins of gold still snaked through the walls. For once though, the dwarf was uninterested in the shiny metal. He instead led the party out of the room down a slating corridor. And next thing everyone knew, they were back in the well room, with no idea of how they got there or how much time had passed.

So back down the tunnels they marched, heading west out of the gold-chamber this time. They immediately entered another open area, this one occupied by another group of skeletons. These undead were picking up rocks and placing them in a trio of mining carts, a task they stopped at once when the party appeared. Several picked up tools and prepared to attack, while the rest of the skeletons grabbed a mine cart and rolled it down the slope towards the intruders.  The cart slammed into Darnorth, throwing him to the ground. Rather than risk a knock down fight in their under-equip state, Bjorn cast a web spell to trap the ore carts and as many of the undead as possible. The rest were taken down by mining tools and thrown rocks.

Burning away the web that now blocked their progress west, they headed out again and once more broke into a mined out chamber. This one contained a small alter carved out of stone. Riley, wracking his brain to remember his clerical training, identified it as a shrine to Lughrin, the old god of miners. And behind it hung a silver warhammer, which the cleric recalled was the holy symbol of the mining god. Darnorth snatched the weapon from it's hook, while Kern examined the altar for traps. He found no traps, but did notice what appeared to be a hollow or hole under the stone. Gurruk bent down and started digging it out, and uncovered a trove containing flasks of holy water, 3 potions of extra healing, and a clerical scroll (bless, resist cold x3, continual light, striking x2). This fortunate find was shared among the group, and then Darnorth and hammer led them once more to the west.

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And right into trouble. Breaking into the chamber, the party encounter a large space occupied by dozens of the undead. Knowing better than to provoke a fight, they tried to retreat. But the evil creatures had seen them, and a group of the mineral encrusted skeletons turned to pursue. Kern and Darnorth bravely blocked to passage to allow the rest of the party to escape and look for a way to get around the undead filled room. On the way, Gurruk staked their last sheep at the far of the tunnel where the dwarf and merchant were fighting, then whistled to the pair to retreat. Which they did, passing the sheep and following the rest of the p[arty down a northward running tunnel. Thankfully, their pursuers were distracted by the easily reached living flesh, and the party escaped to the sounds of a bleating sheep being rendered to bits by the skeletons.

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Fleeing, they ran into a trio of zombie like undead. Like the mineral skeletons, these proved tougher to deal with than originally thought. One hit Darnorth with a swing of it's shovel, and a cold chill crept through the dwarf, who was slowed for the next while. But they were able to defeat the three, and head further to the northeast. They entered another chamber, this one showing signs of an old battle. To the west a strange purple glow was seen, so Kern crept down that way to have a look. There, a huge chamber was lit by a massive blast furnace that glowed with an odd purple flame. Outlined by the flame was a reptilian creature, 15 feet tall and with four arms and a horn on it's nose. And out of the room came a voice with a sound beyond space and time: "I hear you, but do not see you. Who are you?" That raised the hair on the back of Kern's neck, so he scuttled back to the party, who were getting ready to leave by the northern exit.

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Before they could move though, a strange knocking was heard in the walls. Listening carefully, Darnorth suddenly recognized it as a form of miner's code, used to communicate underground. The knocking told them "danger north, go south and follow instructions". Not sure if they should trust the message, but equally unsure if they could afford not to trust it at this point, they obeyed. They were led south and then back north, past the room in which they first awoke. Passing through another couple of chambers without incident, they now found themselves in one with signs of an old cave-in. And waiting  for them there was a ghostly spirit. The figure was dressed in miners gear and introduced himself as Mass Rapert. He had been one of the trolls human slaves, captured when the occupants of the Stonehell prison broke into the troll mines those many years before. He was in the mine when the stele was discovered, and saw the destruction caused by the evil spirit. He died in the chaotic infighting caused by  the twisted malevolent presence of the beast, but neither became undead nor was able to move on to the afterlife until the spirit is destroyed. He offered to help the party however he could. Asked first about all their stuff, Maas told them they were no longer in the same time and place as their gear. The presence of the spirit had ripped the mines free of Stonehell into a temporal distortion. All their worldly goods were back in their own reality, back in the dungeon. He told them to escape back to their own place and time, they had to use the blessed hammer of Lughrin to smash the stele that houses the evil spirits essence, and then slay the thing. Otherwise, it would be invulnerable to physical destruction. The hammer however, would only work in the hands of a righteous soul. Peering into each set of eyes, Maas finally settled on Erijay, saying "here is the righteous soul who may wield the hammer". So Darnorth dutifully listened to the ghost, and handed his treasure to the elf. Asking now about other weapons, Maas told them the old mine guardroom was located just to the north, and they could find some weapons and armor there. But they would have to fight more undead to get there ...

Westmist Session #63 - In the Halls of the Mountain Trolls

A few days were spent in Westmist while Bjorn rewrote some lost spells in his spell book. Erijay took the time to inquire about the lightning glove she has taken from the Vrilya. Asking the usual suspects, she found herself back buying expensive brandy for Bazzrel. The voluble wizard wasn't of much help, saying that the Vrilya were a nigh semi-mythical race of which little was known.  What little had been seen of their magic showed it to be different from the magics of the surface world. Following up on this comment, Erijay cast detect magic on the glove, and it glowed with an odd light. Much the same as happened when they had testing Kern's jumpsuit. What was the connection between the two?

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Meanwhile, Kern was back at the house when Riker announced that an officer from the King's Blue Company was at the door, demanding to speak with the head of the household. Kern complied, and the officer informed the master merchant that he was appropriating the house for billeting troops of the company. Thinking that that was going to put a crimp on their lives, Kern negotiated a deal with the officer. Rather than put the troops up in their own home, Kern offered to pay (no,no not a bribe) to house the men elsewhere. After some persuasion, the officer agreed and walked away with a 300gp 'housing allowenece".

With Bjorn's studies complete, the full party gathered (less Booh who was to large to fit in the narrow tunnels) and prepared to depart for Stonehell, aiming to recover Duncal from the mountain trolls. As they headed out of town, they heard rumors that the rival adventuring band who was now working with the March Baron had pledged 2000gp towards paying off the debt to the King. A act of philanthropy that had everyone in town singing their praises. It was enough to make everyone glad to be headed back into the depths and darkness again. And back they went, passing through the upper levels with little trouble, finding themselves back on the 4th level in the many pillared room. Following the map from the last delves, the party formed up (Kern scouting invisibly ahead) and headed towards the elevator down. And were stopped at once by the dropped portcullis, which stymied the attempts of the party brutes to open. Riley on the other hand lifted it with ease, and everyone passed through, heading for the room of mists. But were stopped short when a quartet of ogres emerged from that room. Darnorth tried to talk their way past the brutes, as the party was uninterested in risking a fight at this point. But the ogres were in a foul mood, tired of these surface interlopers passing through their territory. The four raised their clubs and charged, but three were felled quickly by a combination of lighting bolt from Darnorth's ring and swinging swords from everyone else. Seeing how quickly his comrades bit the dust, the fourth ogre surrendered. And the party accepted that surrender. Which was good, because at this point Gurruk heard a snuffling sound , and turned to see a huge cave bear emerge from the passage behind them. Thinking they could distract the bear, the party tried lifting one of the dead ogres and tossing it to the bear. Unfortunately, the brute was too big and Darnorth collapsed under the weight of the corpse. However, the bear wasn't too aggressive, but stood on it's hind legs and started to sniff and growl and swing it's head around. Pulling the dwarf out from under the corpse, and dragging their ogre captive with them, the party slowly retreated through the mist room.  To everyones relief, the bear stopped to feast on the dead ogres.

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Moving now into the large cave with the elevator, the party questioned the ogre. He told them his tribe lived in this part of the caves, ruled by one called 'Clacker". It was Clacker who was upset that the party was passing though his caves. To the west were the caves of the bezerkers. Asked about the trolls, the ogre said the trolls sometimes hired the ogres as guards and grunts. They party also learned that the trolls were great lovers of gold, and it was a gold mine they had dug in the depths of the mountain, mainly using gnome and human slaves. But some years ago, the slaves had dug too deep and released an evil spirit in the mines. To keep it in, the trolls had collapsed the entrances into the mine, and had been trying to figure out a way to regain their past glory and wealth ever since.

Grateful for the information, the party decided to let the ogre go as long as he didn't tell Clacker about them ("Ugg agrees. Say cave bear ate friends!"). That done, Kern sized up the elevator control panel and set the switches in the right order to de-energize the cage and set it moving. Back on the fifth level, the party sized up their map once again and figured they would look for a connecting route to the troll halls that didn't involve passing through the minotaur guardroom. The first branch led into a large chamber with the ruined remains of wooden furniture and mining implements. The exit to the west was blocked by fallen rubble. When Darnorth examined it, he noted that it looked like the tunnel was deliberately collapsed, not a random accidental cave-in. Erijay began poking around looking for a secret exit, but instead found a round stone plug in the floor,  about 2 feet in diameter. She and Darnorth grabbed some old miners picks from the rubble and (after Kern and checked it for traps) pried the plug up. Underneath was a shallow hole, and it it lay a pile of gold nuggets. Which were quickly scooped up (after a paranoid Kern again checked for traps) and distributed to the party. Rylee refused to take any, figuring that if they tried negotiating with the trolls, the creatures might not like the idea of the party pilfering their gold. If Rylee was empty handed, he could offer to be searched to cover the party's collective behinds.

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After digesting this bit of wisdom, the party realized there was no obvious way to bypass the minotaurs. In the hopes of sneaking past them, Rylee cast silence on a coin and gave it to Kern. Who then sneaked ahead to see what the minotaurs were up to. He found them clustered around the hook-hung bodies, tearing one to pieces and having a little feast. Figuring this was a good a time to sneak by as any, Kern waved the rest of the party forward. Under the cloak of the silence spell, they slipped around the corner into the room, and headed for the closest exit. One of the minotaurs smelled manflesh though, and the whole pack turned to face the party, snorting and steaming. They didn't advance though, so the party slowly backed out of the room and into the tunnel for which they'd been heading. Now past that obstacle, Kern once more took the lead, finding another mined out chamber. This one was largely empty, but for a boulder carved in the shape of a man in one alcove. The figure was crude, but dressed as a miner and carrying a pick and hammer. It was solid, except for the mouth which was a slot. Kern shone his continual light coin in the slot, and he saw it curved down into the boulders belly. Darnorth, out of curiosity,  dropped a coin in the mouth. He noted momentarily a burst of better vision, so Rylee tried it next. The cleric of Habuu immediately gained the ability to see in the dark. So the other humans (Kern, Bjorn and Gurruk) all dropped a coin in, and the party now proceeded without light sources.

Passing several dead end passages, Kern stopped at the next chamber to listen. Hearing nothing, he once more turned to beckon the party forward. And nearly put his foot down on a red jelly-like thing on the floor. Backing away, Kern retreated to the rest of the party while the jelly followed. Shooting at it with a crossbow bolt, Kern scored a hit. Which broke the thing into 5 smaller pudding which lashed out with pseudpods at the party. Who responded with a cycle of oil and torches until the things were dried husks on the floor. Stepping over them, the party continued on and Kern soon saw ahead a huge cavern. 20' high and stretching beyond the limits of his vision, from it emerged a strange sound; the sound of sheep and goats bleating.  The merchant slipped forward invisibility and silently (using the coin still). Further on he found a pen with sheep and goats, a set of double stone doors 15' tall, and a huge rusting rock crusher. And next to the rock crusher, two ogre like creature. Taller than ogres though, they wore crude metal and leather armor over thick, knotted skin. Each sported a pigs tail and carried a two handed sword. Kern now moved back towards the party to confer. Figuring these must be the mountain trolls, the party decided to slip forward and watch further before deciding what to do. Just then, anther odd creature burst out of the double doors. It looked much like the other two, but sported three heads! Two of the heads seemed to be in some sort of crazy argument (based on what Darnorth heard using his helm) while the third  called out to the other creatures, telling them to 'go join the feast'. With grunts of 'thanks Onkel Harold', the two left though the double doors. At which point, Onkel Harold went over the the sheep and goats in the pen, picked one up and started eating it alive.

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Figuring talking rather than fighting might be worth it this time, Darnorth stepped forward with a rakish smile, hopping the brute spoke Common. As in insurance policy however, Bjorn stayed back in the shadows preparing the ritual to summon an elemental with his censor, while Erijay began casting an arcane lock from her spellbook to bar the double doors and prevent any reinforcements arriving. Onkel Harold did speak rough Common, and Darnorth opened negations.  After a while, the three headed troll suddenly turned to go back through the double doors saying 'he had to talk to someone'.

The party let him go, and prepared for the worst. After awhile, heavy footsteps were heard on the other side of the double doors. Erijay quickly moved forward to hold them open so whoever it was didn't take offense at being trapped by her arcane lock. Out of the doors strode a multitude of mountain trolls, led by a huge one in a golden crown. Next to him stood another oddity, an old troll hag, holding her head under here arm rather than on her shoulders! The huge troll announced himself as King Sveg, and asked what the party wanted. Darnorth again spoke up, and offered to re-open the trolls gold mine by killing the evil spirit that inhabited the old workings. In return, the party wished only one particular slave of the trolls. Looking at the troll king's entourage, they spied the weedy Duncal, and pointed him out. Puzzled as to why they would want such a weak specimen, the King none the less (after consulting two Vrilya who were now seen in the mass of trolls) agreed to the bargain. King Sveg warned that it would not be an easy task. First, once in the mines, the party would not be able to leave until the demon spirit had been banished. Second, the spirit was immune to many spell (including those of Gammlemmor Olga, the troll hag with the head under her arm). Third, it also regenerated when hurt, ever faster than the rubbery skinned relatives of the mountain trolls.

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Undeterred, the party sealed the bargain. Rylee quietly dispelled Erijay's arcane lock, and King Sveg invited the adventurers to attend his feast now underway, and then to rest in his halls before heading to the cursed mines. To this everyone agreed, and they were led into the depths of the troll's halls to a huge banquet hall set with food and drink. And after feasting, they settled in for an nights rest before starting new in the morning.

Westmist Session # 61 - Here, There and Everywhere

... The four remaining Vrilya organized the party (joined at the last minute by Darnorth) and led them through the north door. Here they halted for some time, being told by the Vrilya the guards further ahead needed to be warned first; they did not like newcomers. As they waited, the party looked around the room. There was a table with papers all over it; a number of comfortable, but alien, chairs; and a thick rug on the floor. Sprawled on the rung the recently dead body of another Vrilya, and other signs of a struggle abounded in the room. Joined now by another six Vrilya, the party was marched out a door on the opposite side of the room, down a hallway and through another room. Here the lead Vrilya gave them a map, which showed how to reach both the troll halls and the elevator up. He also warned them once more to take care passing through the next room, as the creatures guarding it were vary of any non-Vrilya. With that, they all passed through the door into a roughly dug, irregularly shaped room. And were hit by a strong smell of cattle, sweat and blood. Along the east wall hung hooks dangling three fresh human corpses, and lurking at the edge of the dim light of a brazier were 5 creatures with the body of a man and head of a bull; minotaurs. A Vrilya warrior stood with them, talking to them in their own language.

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The Vrilya made signs that the party had better go, so after a quick discussion, they decided to head for the elevator and back to Westmist to recover and refit before taking on the trolls. They followed the Vrilya’s map (which distressingly showed the only way to the troll halls from the elevator was through the minotaur guard post) through the crudely dug tunnels  and were shortly standing by the elevator. It was a iron cage inside an iron frame, which rose through an opening in the ceiling and into darkness. Next to it was a metal box with 5 switches and a mass of wires leading to the elevator. Riley fiddled with the switches for a minute, and then he, Gurruk and the wolves stepped into the elevator. And were immediately electrocuted, as their fiddling with the switches had electrified the cage. Gurruk was able to leap free, but Riley and the wolves dropped to the floor of the cage and twitched as the power  flowed through them. Kern traced a few of the wires and set the switches to a different configuration. Thankfully the electricity shut down, although the smell of dead roasted cleric and wolf filled the room. And the cage began to rise, so the rest of the party piled in for the journey up.

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After a few minute, the elevator emerged into a huge cavern, too large to see the full extent of it. Around them were scattered piles of boulders and the remains of old fires.  Leaving the cooked wolves behind, Darnorth threw Riley over his shoulder and the party explored the cavern. Numerous exits left the chamber, and the party first tried one to the west. Encountering another chamber with multiple exits, Kern listened at all ways out, hearing the sound of ape-like hooting at one. They decided to go back to the elevator chamber to try another direction. Kern prepared to explore one that lead north, but suddenly a half dozen ogres emerged from it to confront the party. The party, in no shape for a fight right now, tried to parley with the ugly beasts. It wasn't going well until Kern offered them the cooked wolves in payment for letting them leave. That seemed to work, and the ogres were more than happy to take the free meal and let the party leave without a fuss. They even told them which way to go (south, not north because “Clacker” wouldn’t be pleased to see them).  The party didn’t need to be told much more, so south they went.

After dealing with a portcullis barring their way, and passing first through a strange mist and crystal filled room, they reached “T” intersection. Listening, Kern heard sounding of animal grunting to the east, so they choose the south exit instead. Shortly they entered a room with fire-blackened statue in the centre.  It’s two faces looked at exits to the north and south. Suspecting a trap, Kern started searching around the statue and found a pressure plate in the north west corner of the room. He jammed this one to make it non-operational and proceeded to check a little further on, finding yet another pressure plate. As he was taking care of that  one, the rest of the party was surprised when a small group of the gentleman ghouls appeared at the third entrance to the room. “Oh bother, not these cretins again” they sighed. Obviously they had heard of the party from their colleagues and were beginning to resent the constant uninvited intrusions by the party. They were making signs of hostile intent before Darnorth was about to placate them by saying the parties only interest was to get out with their dead comrade. That satisfied the gentleman, and they quickly shooed the party around the statue (“just walk right by it. It won’t hurt you, you fools”) who reached the stairs and scurried up and out of the dungeon without delay or further encumbrance.

Back in town, Riley was deposited at the temple for a little clerical assistance with that death thing. Kern received a message from Thuridici with information on the chest and the curse. The visage on the chest he identified as one of the devilish marshals, Malbec by name. That bearded devil carried a marshals baton with an orange tassel on the end which he was apt to swing around. Based on his research, something resembling the devils baton should allow opening the chest without triggering the curse. That made Kern thing of the key, which had an orange tassel on the end. Retrieving the chest from its astral hiding place, brushed it with the tassel and then opened it. No beard growth this time, so it would seem they had discovered the trick. Meanwhile, Kern also discovered two other thing, one good and one not so good. The strange crossbow he recovered from the Vrilya toll keeper proved to be a magical crossbow +1. He also found that his wondrous alien jumpsuit no longer protected him. However, he replaced the strange metal cube in the neck with the one Darnorth had recovered from the tower in Mor, and the armor worked again.

While Riley recovered and Erijay working on rewriting spells in her spell book, Darnorth, Kern, Bjorn and Gurruk decided to go meet with Sir Janus and fill him in on their progress on recovering Duncal. Getting their horses, they saddled up and headed into the mountains, reaching the site of Sir Janus’ camp on the second day. But neither Sir Janus nor anyone else was there. Several buildings had been burned down, others pushed over. Gurruk checked the area for tracks, and found a confusing mix of human and humanoid tracks at least a month old. Mixed in with them were some very large humanoid tracks, and those of some other unknown beast. Meanwhile, Kern’s eye came to rest on the burial mound where the dead from their last visit had been interred. It looked like it had been dug open, so he went over to investigate. Looking closer, it looked like the mound had been dug out from the inside. Scattered around the resulting hole were some human remains, but Kern immediately noticed something more important: Booh’s body was missing. Brains racing, they all realized that Darnorth’s wish must have brought the hill giant back from the dead! But where was he now?

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They decided to head back to where they first encountered Booh, in the ruined tower outside the gnomes mine. Riding hard, they reached there in a few hours. As they road up the path to the hanging valley and under the tower, a gnomish head popped over the battlements and challenged them to stop. Which they did, then questioned the gnome about Booh. No, they hadn’t seen the giant since he went off with the party (but they did find his treasure, thank you very much). Inquiring after Hulgi the gnome chieftain, they were pretty much told the gnome wouldn’t be at all interested in seeing them and that they should pretty well bugger off and not come back. Once again getting the feeling they were not welcome, they turned their horses around and head back down the path. But they were still interested in finding Booh, hoping the dim witted giant could tell them what happened to Sir Janus. Then they remembered their map showed a fourth abandoned mining village, just on the other side of the mountain from the gnome mine. So turning around again, they led their horses over a low pass, and found themselves looking down on another improvised camp. This one was much cruder that Sir Janus’s old camp, consisting of just the ruined buildings covered roughly with brush to make them barely habitable. A large fire burned in the centre, and Kern crept in to get a better look. He saw gathered around the fire a motley mix of goblins, orcs and scraggy dwarves. After a short while, they were joined by a large figure emerging from one of the shelters. It was Booh. Going back to report to the rest of the party, they decided to go back to Westmist of now and wait for Erijay and Riley before contacting Booh.

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Back in town for a few days, the elf and cleric were soon ready, and the party once more headed north. This time with extra horses to offer Booh to placate (or bribe) the giant. Approaching the same way, Kern crept forward again, waiting for a chance to tlak to Booh when the giant moved away from his companions. Watching the camp, the party also saw a human appear from one of the huts, with a stunning mane of golden hair and dressed in golden armor. But their focus was on Booh, who soon left the fire circle to answer the call of nature. The invisible Kern crept up to the giant and whispered his name. Which confused the poor creature to no end. As Booh started hitting himself in the head to drive away the ‘mad voices’, Kern sighed and removed the ring, letting the giant see him. Which once more startled the giant, who quickly became angry at Kern for all that happened in Sir Janus’ camp. Complaining that the party left ‘poor Booh all alone in the dark, and he never got his horse food’, the giant was stopped by Kern saying ‘well, we brought horses for you this time”. This cheered him up, so he followed Kern up to where the horses and rest of the party lay in wait. They question Booh about Sir Janus, and learned that when he emerged from the grave, he killed a few of Sir Janus’ men, then wandered off to join this new bandit group. Booh led them back to Sir Janus’ camp, where the bandits killed more of the men and took a lot of the treasure. As far a Booh knew, Sir Janus escaped, but doesn’t know where he went. Asked about the man in the golden armor, Booh could say only that his name was Lutrol, and that he could change into a beast.

At this point questioning stopped, for the giants companions had noticed his long absence, and were climbing up towards the party, calling his name ...