Westmist Session #47 - Strange Happenings

Drawing weapons, the party prepared to do battle with the gibbering thing. At this point Darnorth, Riley and Guruk suddenly disappeared,  leaving just Kern and Erijay to face the loathsome creature. It lashed out at Kern and bit deep with several of its fanged mouths. At the same time, the noise rose to a crescendo, confusing Erijay into inaction. Unable to handle the creature on his own, Kern put on the ring of invisibility. When the creature then turned to attack Erijay, he grabbed the elf and pulled her into the teleporter, and both were transported back to the finished halls. Not sure what to do now that half the party was indisposed, Kern and Erijay decided to at least explore a little more of the area.  First though, Kern went back to the trophy room where Morg had fallen. He wanted to collect the bagged lizards’ head.  Carefully tying the bag on the creatures head, he cut it off and added it to his collection of odds and ends. 

That done, they next checked the long hall, finding three doors along the left hand side. Opening the first, they found a long narrow room that paralleled the hallway.  Opposite each door was a pillar topped by a glass case, and each lit by a glowing brass plate on the wall behind. Starting at the far end, the first case contained a glass bottle with a very narrow neck. And inside was a small impish creature, which on seeing Erijay immediately started tapping the glass and asking “Mistress! Free me mistress!” Somewhat startled, Erijay questioned the creature, learning he had been trapped in the bottle by the wizard Malazar, who had built these halls. Questioned about the other glass cases, he said the last contained the ‘heart of the demon’.  All this time, the imp continued to ask to be freed, and promised to teach Erijay “strange magics” if she let him go. That seemed to convince the elf, so she started to lift the glass case. And received an electrical shock for her efforts. At this point Kern use a 10’ pole to simply push the case onto the floor, breaking it but leaving the bottle intact. Carefully, he broke the neck of the bottle, freeing the imp. Who immediately spoke some words of magic … and the elf and merchant found themselves looking at a pile of broken glass, unable to recall any of the events that led them to this impasse. And no one in sight to explain it to them.

 

http://monsterbrand.deviantart.com/art/Bottle-Imp-62860826

After a little head scratching, the two moved further down the room. The middle case was smashed, it’s contents missing. The last contained a red ruby the size of Kern’s fist. It didn’t take long for the merchant to knock over the case and retrieve the ruby while Erijay looked on from a distance. At once, Kern became suspicious of the elf, convinced she coveted the massive gem. Drawing his sword, he threatened Erijay, warning that the elf would taste his steel before she would get her hands on his precious treasure. Eyes on the elf, he backed out of the room and headed off to explore and find a way out with his find. Erijay at first tried to talk him into hiding the gem away for now so they could explore together, but when that didn’t work she instead followed him, silently, at a distance.  Then, when Kern was distracted, she entangled the merchant in a web spell. While Kern raged, Erijay used a 10’ pole to knock the gem out of his hand. It rolled off into the corner of the room, and Kern came back to his senses. After some hurried apologies on both sides, Erijay cut him free and they proceeded to explore the room, while taking care to avoid getting near the gem which now sat in one corner. The walls of the room they found themselves in were lined floor to ceiling with storage drawers and cabinet, large and small. There were perhaps a hundred or more. On the wall next to the door was an array of clear glowing gems, 24 in all. Kern tried to first open a drawer but found it was held fast, with no obvious locking mechanism. Surmising that the gems have something to do with it, he pushed one to see what would happen.  At once, the two doors started to swing shut and there was the ‘hissing’ sound of gas leaking into the room. Kern dove for a door, while Erijay jammed a 10’ pole into the opening. Between them, they were able to hold the door open a crack. Kern stuck his face out into the corridor while the elf struggled to open the portal and free him before getting gassed. It took some time, but eventually Kern was able to squeeze out of the room, and the door slammed shut behind him.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/05/article-0-044E734F000005DC-975_468x286.jpg

Looking for easier loot, the two checked the next room. There they found a spiral stairway going up (and ending at a blank stone ceiling) and a statue of a satyr holding a pixie in its hand. Closer examination showed that he statue sat on a track that led back to the stairway, and that the back was shaped to fit into the stairway entrance. While of interest, there was on obvious way to get past the blocked stairway, so they moved onto the next room. Here Kern carefully checked the door, and discovered a poison needle trap in the handle. Disarming this and then unlocking the door, the pair entered what was once an opulent bedchamber, now a little time worn. A massive canopy bed made of redwood stood in one end of the room, draped in purple silk. The walls likewise were hung with purple silk and black tasseled cords, while in the ceiling sat a massive crystal chandelier that glowed with magical light. A bookcase and desk completed the setup, and at the desk sprawled a skeleton in purple velour robes. Once convinced the skeleton wasn’t going to move on its own, Kern moved it himself, to find that it lay face down in a book. Pulling this away, he was surprised to find the book contained not paper but instead was studded with a mass of hooked suckers that had apparently been attached to the skeletons former face. While perhaps once alive, the ‘book’ was now desiccated and dead. Meanwhile, Erijay searched the bed and bookshelf. The bed reveled nothing of interest, and most of the books were long decayed and useless. One, however, still had some pages.  It seemed to be an innocuous diary, but reading between the lines the elf sensed it was actually instruction or directions to locate some powerful magical treasures.  Unable to decipher it at this point, she tossed it in her pack for future reference.   A search of the wall behind the bed also reveled what appeared to be a secret door, but neither elf nor merchant could figure out how to open it.

Which now left them with the storage room. Going back, Kern carefully open the door and confirmed the gas had dissipated. Going inside again (but again avoiding the ruby at the far end of the room), he decided to give the gems/buttons another try. But first barred the two doors open to prevent a repeat of the gas trap. And there followed a complexes series of combination of buttons and a complex series of consequences. These included:

•  Sounds of the doors locking and unlocking;
• Statue by the stairway moved along the track to close off the entrance; opened gain with another button combination;
• A ‘whoop whoop’ alarm sound several times;
• Release of globes/bubbles containing various slimes and moulds that attacked the characters;
•  Floor and ceiling moved to try crushing the intruders; opened up gain after a while;
• Several drawers opened, one of which contained some gold, gems and an old set of plate mail;
• A ‘schink’ sound from the bedroom, which on investigation proved to be one of the desk legs opening revealing a stack of platinum coins;
• And finally sounds of stone moving in the room with the stairwell.

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Investigation of the stairs again showed the side of the stairwell had opened just below the stone blocking the exit. Beyond was dirt, which Erijay dug out for a bit until breaking through to fresh air. Crawling out, the two discovered themselves back in the standing stone circle, next to a fallen stone that had blocked the original exit from the stairs.

While Erijay wanted to go back and collect some purple silk for her room, in the end both she and Kern decided to call it a day (or night since it was now getting dark). Especially since Darnorth, Riley and Guruk were still missing. The elf did examine the plate mail. It was of an old style, and on the breastplate was carved about 40 names. All were archaic, and there was space for one more. Undaunted, the elf maid donned the armour. It shrank to fit her smaller size, and in the empty space was magically carved her name.  There were no other immediate effects. And with they, the two went back to their camp (where luckily their horses were still tethered) and settled in for the night.

Westmist Session #46 - Under the Hill

During the night, the trio  of Erijay, Kern and Darnorth were surprised to see Riley and Gurruk (and one wolf) ride into camp.  Riley had finally been relived from duty at the temple, leading orisons of victory for the March Baron’s campaign.  Striking out to look for his companions, he also picked up some company along the way, a big burly fighting man by the name of Morg. Morg had recently arrived in Westmist to seek his fortune, on the run from some physical altercation with the circus owner he’d been sold to at a young age. And even someone with much more brawn than brain knew getting out of town would be a good choice to avoid pursuit. Riley had also picked up a pile of healing potions, gratefully received by the battered Kern and Erijay.

 

When morning came, the expanded group prepared to climb the hill once more. Kern warned the newcomers of the chilling sound at the top, but the three just sniggered behind their hands at the merchants’ fears. Reaching the top, all were able to shrug off the sound. Except Kern who kept the wax in his ears, and Gurruk’s lone wolf who ran off, never to be seen again. Down the tunnel went the six, passing along the cleared path through the fungus to explore deeper into the tunnels. In one side room they found signs of recent digging in the walls. While puzzling at first, the explanation was found in the last chamber, where giant ants were found digging for trinkets and treasure. The ants largely ignored the party, but moved to block access to (presumably) their lair when Morg headed in that direction. Riley decided to call on Habuu to grant him power of speech with the ants, and proceeded to questions the critters. He learned they were gathering ‘shiny treasures’ for their queen. He received somewhat ambiguous answers when he asked about any rings the queen may have. Further questioning confirmed the only part of this tunnel system missed thus far was the ants nest, and that if they backtracked along the tunnel they would soon come to a running stream.

Doing just that, they party found themselves up against the red and white fungus once more. Looking at their dwindling supply of crossbow bolts, they considered other ways they might get through the patch. Riley again called on Habuu to give him the power of plant speech, and the cleric entered negotiation with the fungus. He found what it craved was moisture, so in return for free passage, Riley agreed to bring water from the stream. Deal made, the fungus closed up its spore caps, allowing the party to pass.  A short distance down the tunnel, they came to a low bank, below which lay a stream and pool. Ready to fulfill the bargain with the fungus, the party started fillings helmets and water skins. But they soon noted something didn’t look right. The water in the pool seemed to coalesce into a collection of wavelets, and suddenly rose up into a 4’ wave that slammed into Erijay. Grabbing weapons, the party moved to defend the elf.  Morg found his sword had no effect on the elemental being, so he borrowed a magic sword from Kern to help with the fray. And absorb most of the blows once Erijay backed away from the melee, casting  a triple magic missile on the way. With great effect, the elemental was beaten back, and the pool was still once more. While some of the party licked their wounds, a few carried water back to the fungus, and Kern examined the pool. Scattered along the pebbled bottom he found a number of gems, which he quickly scooped up. He also found that there was no easy way to go upstream, but that the downstream end flowed into a low tunnel through which the party could pass. With no other obvious options, this is exactly what they did.

The stream emerged from the tunnel into another, larger pool. The stream branched here, one part going north and the other to the east. In both cases, the stream disappeared into the hill with no obvious way to pass. At the intersection lay an open patch of dry land, from which a small tunnel lead deeper into the hill. Heading that way, the party found themselves in another cavern. The floor was a mass of human corpses, all covered in a web of tendrils and vines. Morg probed one with his spear, and found the body did not seem to be flesh. But that action seemed to alert something, as the corpses were dragged to a standing position by the tendrils. The massive number advanced on the party, raking those in the front with their claws.  Riley tried to use the power of Habuu to turn the things, but to no avail. Given the overwhelming odds, the party decided to toss some flaming oil and then retreat back down the tunnel to make a plan of attack. A plan was hatched to give Darnorth the ring of invisibility so he could levitate over the corpses and see if there was some weakness they could exploit. The floating dwarf did indeed see an option; all the tendrils seemed to emerge from one point in the east wall. Attack there and they might take out the whole room of tendril corpses. While the party drew the attacks of most of the corpses, Darnorth hacked at the wall tendrils. It took quite a few blows, but when the final cord was cut, the tendril corpses fell back to the floor and did not rise again.

Battle over, the dwarf now noted the first obvious man made construction in this labyrinth. A small 10’x10’ alcove of red sandstone lay in the south end of the cavern.  Curious, he stepped in and promptly disappeared from sight. He found himself in another alcove like the first, which lead into a room with black a marble floor inscribed in white with a magic or summoning circle. In addition to another alcove with a white floor, two corridors exited the room. Not willing to explore further without support, the dwarf stepped back into the alcove and found himself back with his companions. The party wondered if perhaps they should all go through the teleporter, but Darnorth reported that something just didn’t ‘feel right’ about it and he wasn’t comfortable taking another chance.  Trusting the dwarf’s instructs, they headed instead further into the caverns. In separate rooms, they found a floor covered in red acidic ooze (neutralized when Darnorth dug a trench to flood it with water from the stream) and another room filled with thousands of small albino lizards. These crawled all over the party, licking their skin and generally freaking them out. Except Gurruk, who used his mastery of animal tongues to talk to the little critters. He didn’t learn much though; it seems the only thing on their minds was feeding on their sweat. But Gurruk did adopt one of them and brought him along once everyone was able to divest themselves of the rest of the lizards.

Backtracking, the party crossed over the stream to a new set of caverns. And here was yet another odd room. Partly built of finished sandstone, the floor was covered in a blue mossy substance covered with small bubbles or air bladders. After some investigation with a 10’ pole, they crossed the floor towarda a door on the far wall, making a squeeking/popping sound as they went. This attracted the attention of something in the far corner, as a protoplasmic mass of eyes and mouths rose up and started to quietly chatter at them. It didn’t seem a threat however, but the party passed through the door without delay anyway.  Here they found themselves in a room built of the same red sandstone and black marble floor that Darnorth had seen earlier. In one corner, however, was a square of white marble, while facing the door were two black marble thrones.  Closer examination of the thrones revealed they were covered in carvings of eyes and mouths. Darnorth bravely sat in the left hand throne. He felt some force trying to pull him away, but the sturdy dwarf fought it off and stood up no worse for wear. No one else was willing to try either throne though, so after some cajoling, all six stepped on the white square and found themselves teleported to the second alcove seen by Darnorth after his previous magical trip.  

Taking the northern exit, a short stroll brought them into a room with doors to the east and west and a large pool to the north. The water in the pool seemed to well up from below, but from exactly where no one could tell. Checking the west door, they found a parallel corridor. Checking the double doors to the east, they found the head of a massive blue dragon starting back at them! Thankfully it proved to be stuffed and mounted on the wall, along with a number of other creatures in similar condition (goblinoids, mermen, an 8-legged lizard with bag over it’s’ head, a half man/half snake thing, giant snake).  Spying another set of doors on the opposite wall, the party entered the taxidermic museum. Halfway across, someone noted movement above. The ceiling seemed to be settling  down on them  like some kind of giant manta ray! Those at the rear and front bolted for the doors, but Morg, Erijay and Darnorth were trapped beneath the thing. In a flurry of blades, they cut their way out, but not before the unfortunate Morg was smothered to death. Hauling his body behind them, the party continued through the second set of doors into a large chamber. The room was filled with a weird whale song humming, and in the centre was a circle of silvery metal strips handing from the ceiling. Inside the strips was a white alter. On top of it sat a ring on a red velvet cushion, all covered by a geodesic crystal dome.  Kern very carefully examined the whole area for fiendish traps, before boldly stepping inside the circle. He knocked the dome off of the altar and grabbed the ring, breathing a sigh of relief when nothing untoward happened. Except the noise stopped.

Exiting the room with their find, no one was sure what to do next. But someone came up with the brilliant idea of placing Morg’s body on the throne to see what would happen. Somehow no one could think of a reason to not do this, so back through the teleporter they travelled and dumped the bulky corpse on the black throne. His body instantly vanished, only to be replaced by another protoplasmic mass of eyes and mouths. This one seemed upset with its summoning, and began to gibber in a thousand angry voices …

To be continued …

Westmist Session #45 - Kicking Around the Untamed Lands

At first light the next day, Erijay and Kern were surprised to see Darnorth come bumping into camp on horseback. The dwarf had decided, with all the military activity going on about Westmist, to get out of town and follow the pairs trail into the Untamed Lands. Hopefully, the dwarf said, the rest of the party would join them once they were able to get away.  Partly reunited, the party decided to sift through the ruins of Barksis’ Hold for clues and collectables. They remembered Braksis saying something about staying away from the cellars on their last visit, so they immediately went looking for those cellars. A little digging in the charred rubble uncovered stairs down, which the trio descended. The cellar, through smelling of smoke, was still in good shape and filled with crates and barrels. In these they found a mix of food and drink, much more than would be need by an isolated inn such as the Hold. They also found crates with armour and weapons, all in hobgoblin style. That explained a few things. Also uncovered was Braksis’ retirement fund, a pile of coin hidden under a barrel and protected by a blade trap.

 Their curiosity satiated, the three mounted horses and continued west towards the Castle of the Golem. About noon, they were descending into a hollow when they encountered three ogres coming the other way. Both sides eyed each other warily, but when it was obvious the party presented to immediate danger, the lead ogre (Gor) was ready to talk. In broken common, he told them they were out hunting giant flightless birds (a brace of which each ogre carried). They were headed back to their home in the ‘ruins to the south’, but also said they moving out of those ruins to find new homes to the north because the ‘little men like you’ had paid them to leave. That raised three sets of eyebrows. Further questioning narrowed down their home to the ruins of Nasper where the party had scouted before, and the identity of the ‘little men’ as Jax and some of the March Baron’s troops. Before parting ways with the ogres, Kern paid them off with more gold so the brutes wouldn’t reveal that the party had learned from them details about the March Baron’s dealings.

Another couple of hours ride and the party found themselves nearing a small keep on a low rise to the north: the Castle of the Golem. Approaching, they first noticed a bloody mess of slain hobgoblins about a hundred yards from the gate. They looked to have been stomped to death by elephants. Approaching closer, they were now unnerved to see that instead of towers, the gate was flanked by two 20’ tall statues. And then even more unnerved when the statues heads turned to watch them. Cautiously they knocked on the gate, and after a few moments it was opened and they faced an unusual gatekeeper; an exceptionally tall man, ebony skinned, wearing nothing but a bejeweled loincloth, and with eyes with no pupils. Challenged by the man in a sepulchral voice, the party was able to talk themselves into an audience with Zoloren to deliver the mirror of aging.   Led inside, they found themselves waiting in a long hall with steps and a set of double doors at the far end.  After a while, the doors opened and another strange sight emerged. Out came a small frail man in crimson robes, sitting on a levitating ebony throne, which in turn was being pulled by four tattooed Zevistian harem girls in gauzy silks. Flanking all were two ‘guardsmen’ seemingly carved out of bronze or amber. Zoloren greeted the party politely in a voice of dry whisper, and the mirror was turned over to him.  To test it, Zoloren had his guards fetch a hobgoblin prisoner and exposed the unfortunate creature to the mirror with the expected aging effect. Satisfied, the archmage gave the party directions to the wish ring he promised in payment . He said to go north from his castle, and ford the Shinning River. From there strike northeast until three hills were encountered. There under one hill they would find the ring.

Business complete, Zoloren was about to leave when the party asked a few questions. Brushing aside questions of mundane matters such as hobgoblins and war (“I’ve seen men and nations come and go; I care not for those when I have my own realms and creations here”), he showed some interest in the Iza’ka artifacts the party carried. The cylinder and cube held by Darnorth he identified as some sort of power source. When told of the strange green cylinder they had seen in Mor, he informed them that it could be used to recharge the power cube and cylinder. With that, he impatiently motioned for the three to leave. Taking the hint, they quickly left and climbed back into the saddle to ride north. Making good time, they reached the river and rowed across in Kern’s floating boat and then struck north east. Just as the sun set, they reached the three hills as described by the archmage. Camping for the night, they examined the hills closer the next morning. Each was just about a hundred or so feet high, and on two could be seen some kind of posts or pillars. Climbing the bare hill first, Darnoth noted it was not natural, but seemed to be a man-made mound of dirt. A little digging confirmed this, but revealed little else. Climbing the next hill (this one natural according to the dwarf), they found at the top a large number of statues. These were all weather worn, and were placed in a circle around a central group of figures. They seemed to all be statues of men and women in arms and armor, and one of the figures in the centre had a hand with a ring extended and a crown on his head. Thinking that this might be the ring they sought, Darnorth tried to remove it. But it seemed part of the statue, and it took some chopping with the dwarf’s magical blade to remove. But it proved to be nothing but stone. Pushing the apparently useless statue over (a party tradition), the trio headed for the last hill.

This hill, again a man made mound, was crowned by a circular ring of stone. From the base flowed a small stream, where the party pitched a camp and staked their horses before climbing. Once at the top, they could hear a strange moaning/howling sound as the wind off the nearby mountains whistled between the standing stones. Erijay and Darnorth found the sound eerie, but Kern was absolutely frightened stiff by it. Literally, as the elf and dwarf found the merchant standing completely stiff and immobile. A bit of poking and prodding was followed by a collected shrug as the two decided to explore the stone circle while waiting to see what happened with Kern.  At the base of one stone, Darnorth discovered a narrow spiral tunnel leading down into the bowels of the hill. Finding little else of interest, they returned to find Kern still paralyzed. Hoping the condition would pass with time, the lugged him back down to camp, and Kern shortly returned to normal. So back up the hill they went again, and again Kern was frozen in fear. Back down the hill and a couple of hours wait latter, the wily merchant stuffed wax in his ears and the trio marched back to the top. This time with no issue. Heading to the hole, they tied a rope around Darnorth and the dwarf started to crawl down. And down. And down. Three lengths of rope later, he hit bottom and Erijay and Kern followed him into the dark.

The three found themselves in a rough dirt cavern. There was little to distinguish it, except on closer inspection the walls and floor were embedded with bones, bits of armor and weapons, and other battlefield detritus. Cautiously moving forward, they rounded a corner to find another chamber. This one was completely covered in a red fungus with white puckered protrusions. Three tunnels exited the room, so Darnorth decided to trudge through the growth. This set off a cloud of spores which made the dwarf cough and sputter, but caused no other harm. Rather than risk further exposure, the three brainstormed a plan to make a path. Noting that the spores came from the white protrusions, they decided to use bolts and arrows to set off enough to form a path. 40 missiles later this was done, and they headed for the first exit from the room. After just a few short feet they found their way blocked by a group of giant ants, behind which could be seen a small tunnel. Deciding to avoid conflict at this time, they headed for the next exit and soon found themselves in another chamber similar to the first. Sensing that this was not going to be a simple search, the trio elected to head back to camp to rest and plan a strategy to further explore the caverns on the morrow.

Westmist Session #44 - Invasion! ... And Lots of Running Around

With Bjorn left once more in Rikar’s care, Kern and Erijay turned their thoughts to next steps. The question at the top of both of their minds was the “what is the March Baron planning”. Once more putting aside any thoughts of following/confronting Jax or the March Baron alone, they instead hatched a desperate plan to ride for Sir Janus’ camp and see if he could provide any information. Sensing time was running short now that spring and the campaigning season has arrived, the two purchased swift horses, and left Sweet Jenny and Fin behind to ride hard and fast for the mountains. After just a couple of days, they found themselves once more climbing the hill towards the ruined village, having been briefly held up by a band of goblins on the way.  After a few tense moments with the picket, Sir Janus arrived on the scene and waved the two into his headquarters.  They first discussed Duncal. Kern updated Sir Janus on their search so far, and asked if the knight had a portrait of the heir (since none of the party had any idea what Duncal looked like). Sir Janus provided them with a locket, inside which was a small portrait of Durgan the Bold, his wife, and Duncal as a young man. Who unfortunately looked a little mousey and frail, causing Erijay to mutter under her breath that hopefully the young man grew up into someone a little sturdier looking or they were all in trouble.  Questioning Sir Janus about his plan once they did recover Duncal, Kern and Erijay quickly realized that while the knights’ heart might be in the right place, he obviously wasn’t a deep thinker and hadn’t considered in any detail how he was going to overthrow Lord Merdwyn. The best he could come up with was to use Duncal to recruit followers and raise a rebellion, and assume that the King would not intervene because it was all done out of “honour”. Overall, not very reassuring.

Next laying out what they knew about the March Baron’s activities, they asked Sir Janus if he had any news or information. Alas, he had little to offer in new information. He told them Jax was one of the March Barons’ youthful comrades, with a reputation as a man to help keep things quite at any cost. As for the March Barons’ possible plans, he could shed little light other than to say Lord Merdywn had made it clear from day one that Westmist was to be a platform to launch himself back into a position of greater power. As for hobgoblins, his men had reported none in the last few weeks. The few hobgoblin patrols seem to have disappeared from the hills.

Taking their leave of Sir Janus (having had a request for men to help them bluntly refused), Kern and Erijay headed back towards Westmist. However, just as they reached the end of the mountains and prepared to turn east, Kerns keen eye spied movement on the hills below them. Hobgoblins! Thousands of them! Marching towards Westmist! After a swift debate, discretion was chosen over valor, and the two tried to keep out of sight of the army until they could ride hard and warn the town.  Unfortunately, there was too little cover on the bare hills, and they were sighted by the first cohort. As Erijay cast a haste spell to now speed them on their way, a rain of crossbow bolts fell on them, nearly killing their horses. They survived, however, and moving with magical speed, they pulled ahead and reached Westmist at the crack of dawn (after riding through the night). And found the commons around the town mostly deserted; the troops were gone. Questioning the town guard as they entered, they learned Lord Merdwyn had received word that hobgoblins were marching on the Citadel of Amrath, and hurried his army west to meet them. Since the party had taken care of their base in Stonehell, no one had expected a hobgoblin force to come from the north. Mild panic ensued, as the town was defended by just the town guard, a couple of companies of peasants and one mercenary company in the Keep. Swift riders were sent to recall Lord Merdwyn, and a flurry of activity saw town gates closed and barred, townsfolk laying in supplies for a siege and barricading their homes, and everyone looking west hoping the army would return in time.

With nothing to do right now but wait on events, Kern and Erijay checked in on Riker and Bjorn. Riker, excited and nostalgic for battle, asked permission to draw weapons and armor from the house stash and attach himself to one of the companies. Given his leave, the old solider did mention Bjorn was acting strange in his recovering. Puzzled, Kern looked in on his henchman to find that the man’s face had started to elongate and he seemed to spend a lot of time twitching and snarling at them. And then they remembered that Bjorn had fallen to the fangs of the wererats. With haste, they bundled him onto a stretcher and headed for the Temple of the Three Virtues. There they were able to get an audience with Lanthan the Under Virtue (the Highest Virtue had ridden with the army). The sour cleric confirmed that Bjorn was suffering from the disease of lycanthropy and would soon become a wererat.  Asked by Kern if he could help, Lanthan agreed to cure the henchman of his disease for the usual fee.

That done, Bjorn was returned to bed to continue his recovery. Meanwhile, Kern and Erijay debated what they should do next. Kern decided to scout around Stonehell for the hobgoblins, but they were not yet in site. Various plans were hatched to get out of town and save their necks, dig deeper into the March Barons plans, etc.  In the end, they choose to sit tight for now and see what happened, confident they could escape if need be when the time came. And so they saw Lord Merdwyn march into town several days later at the head of this host, just hours before the hobgoblins debouched out of the hills. Not content to wait out a siege, Lord Merwyn marched out of the town and hit the hobgoblins before they could get organized. The battle that followed was brief and bloody, but the hobgoblins were well outnumbered and destroyed. The town breathed a collective sigh of relief and broke into a celebration of victory by troops and townsfolk. Erijay and Kern, however, took this as their chance to ride out of town when everyone was too drunk to notice. Leaving Bjorn once more with Rikar (who survived yet another battle) they picked up the mirror of aging from Aflain the Fence, planning to combine a scouting trip into the Untamed Lands with a stop as the Castle of the Golem  to deliver the mirror to Zoleren (and perhaps gain some information from the archmage on what was going on in the west). One days ride brought them to the Citadel of Amrath, to which they were given  shelter and rest for the night. The garrison, blasé as usual, pointed out the campfires of a hobgoblin army on the other side of the Great River. They were waiting for Lord Merdwyn to come with his army; meanwhile, the garrison was simply keeping watch on the hobgoblins.

Next morning, unable to cross the river under the eyes of the hobgoblins, Kern and Erijay headed north into the Marsh of the Whispering Mists. Their plan was to get far enough to be able to cross the river (thanks to Kerns folding boat) without being seen. Alas, that plan almost ended in disaster as they stumbled upon a lizardfolk war band and got tangled up in a messy fight. Erijay led off with a sleep spell which took out half the creatures. But then a combination of good luck on the part of the lizardfolk , and rusty melee skills from Kern and Erijay, left the pair in a dire situation. Badly hurt, and their horses having bolted into the marsh, Kern yelled to Erijay to hold his hand and follow him no matter what happened. The merchant pulled out a pair of pyrotechnic bombs he’d had Synthini prepare, and with a flash and bang he and Erijay were hidden in a cloud of smoke. Temporarily masked from the lizardfolks’ view, Kern slipped his ring of invisibility onto Erijay’s finger, and then relied on his own skills to hide himself from their scaly foes. Given a temporary respite, Erijay now cast a web on most of the remaining lizardfolk, leaving just one for her and Kern to cut down with their blades. Finishing the webbed and slept lizardfolk, Erijay next cast haste so she and Kern could chase down their horses. That done, they decided to get out of the marsh, cross the river right here and try to at least reach Braksis’ Hold to spend the night. This they did, but were greeted with a grim sight. The Hold had been recently burned to the ground, and hanging on gibbets in front of the ruins were a number of bodies. These they recognized as Braksis, his stable boy, and his servants. Below them was a sign that read “See the punishment for those who help the hobgoblins”. Disgusted by the sight, the two had little choice but to find somewhere in this grim place to make camp for the night and continue their journey in the morning.