Westmist Session #70 - The Last Supper (For at Least a Few)

Once more in bullets:

• Erijay joined the party after missing the original departure from New Breven.
• Heading north from the fountain, the path curved around again, going from northwest to north, then to northeast. The party hears the chattering of squirrels, and spots a half dozen large amber squirrls dashing about the oak trees that tower above.
• Gurruk noted they are not normal squirrels, a fact confirmed when Rylee sees one pluck an acorn, which promptly turns to gold!



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• Gurruk speaks to the squirrels. Finds that they do not leave this indoor forest, and the only thing they can turn to gold are the acorns. Squirrel agrees to come along with the party for a bit and act as a guide.

• Meanwhile, Kern has visions of golden acorns stuck in his head. Borrows Darnorth's boots of levitation and sneaks back to the squirrels. Observed they are carrying the golden acorns to a hollow in one particular oak tree.
• Kern levitates up to the hollow oak, and when the squirrels are off collecting, reaches his arm in and starts pulling out handfuls of acorns. Squirrels suddenly return; two start chattering at high volume and run off to the west, while three leap at the merchant and start biting and tearing at his nose and ears. Kern flails about, unable to knock them loose, while blood streams down his face.
• Rest of party hears much cursing, screaming and chattering. Their squirrel guide gets upset and takes off, saying to Gurruk that the "Wild Hunt" will be awakened. At this point, a hill off to the west splits apart, and out pours five riders; one a goat headed man on a giant elk, two cat-like humanoids on sabre tooth tigers, and two fox-headed humanoids on dire wolves. These charge down onto the party, with lances leveled. 

• While the rest of the party takes defensive positions, Darnorth stands out front to try reasoning with the Hunt. Says it's all a missunderstanding, Kern will put the acorns back. etc. 
• The Wild Hunt continues to charge, but stops with the points of their lances inches from the dwarf. The leader, Andre-David d'Amberville demands that they leave the forest. They learn he made the forest and protects it, and the party is no longer welcome. The Hunt escorts the party to the western door leading into the rest of the chateau. 
• Open door, enter a massive hallway with a red carpet over fine white marble floors. The walls and ceiling are covered in mirrors. The candelabras and chandeliers that line the passage suddenly light, sending out blinding flashes of light (and blinding Rylee and Gurruk). 
• Party investigates first door which leads into a huge kitchen filled with ghostly hobgoblin servants preparing food. The servants ignore the party, and nothing else of interest is found.
• Leave kitchen via a catwalk across the mirrored hallway, and enter a decayed banquet room.  A few moments after they enter, 2 dozen ghostly dinner guest enter through the south wall and seat themselves at a now visible ghostly table. There are place settings and name cards for each member of the party. Kern, Darnorth, Gurruk and Rylee and takes their places. Erijay and Bjorn decide to pass on supper. 

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• The ghostly hobgoblins begin to carry in the courses:
• Onion Soup and Amber Wine: Gurruk, Rylee and Darnorth all gain permanent new HPs. Kern does not partake.The wine cures Rylee and Gurruk's blindness.
• Tossed Salad: All four try the salad, and gain and loose 1-2points from various ability scores.
• Roast Beef, Rolls, Green Beans, Mushrooms in Wine Sauce, and Red Wine: Darnorth and Rylee try the bread: the dwarf no needs only half the usual nourishment, while the cleric now needs double. Several try the wine and Darnorth gets stinking drunk. All try the mushrooms, but Rylee fails a Save and rolls off his chair dead of toadstool poisoning. 
• Apple Strudel & Brandy: Kern, Darnorth and Gurruk try both. When they try the brandy, the Kern and Darnorth find themselves now incorporeal, and are compelled to follow the rest of the guests when they leave the table and pass through the solid south wall. Kern and Darnorth have disappeared. 

• Shocked by the loss of half the party, Erijay, Bjorn and Gurruk stumble out of the room. After a second look in the kitchen, they head down to hall, hoping to find something to help recover their fallen and phantasmal friends. Gurruk drags Rylees body with him.
• Erijay listens at the first door, and hears deep purring. They move on to the next door.
• There are no sounds behind the next door, so the party enters. The find a bedroom, and sitting on the bed are the ghostly figures of a man and a woman. These turn on the party and attack. Luckily the wraiths' energy drain has no impact thanks to Darnorths long ago wish, and they are quickly dispatched.
• A search of the room find a safe hidden behind one of the mirrors. Erijay checks it out, and notices it's trapped. Gurruk in  a rage tries to break it open, hoping it contains something to help Rylee. Instead he releases a cloud of spores, which kill him. Once the spores settle, Bjorn and Erijay check out the safe and find it stuffed with 5000gp. They take what they can, then drag Gurruks body over with Rylees.
• It getting late, the two remaining adventurers decide to settle down to rest for the night. When they do, a globe of amber light surrounds them. Deciding the day couldn't get much worst, the two largely ignore it and settle back to rest.

Westmist Session #69 - Dinner and a Dungeon

Dinner at NEW BREVEN KEEP:

http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/medieval-castle-3d-model/606535

• Kern, Rylee and Darnorth get invited to Lord Merdwyn's thanksgiving celebration at New Breven Keep. Henchmen not invited, but neither was Erijay. Humm ... wonder why?
• Hob-nob with a 'who's who' of the County Palatine of New Breven. Kern puts faces to some of the voices from the previous nights break & enter:
• Gwendel the Upper Baliff [women talking to herself about keep maintenance and magic].
• Lord Marshal Lucerne of Woodsedge [startled man on stairs].
• Fineous, the Count Palatine's Squire [half dressed boy who pilfered gold from chest].

• Darnorth challenges Quid (of the Company of Good Cheer, Lord Merdwyn's tame adventurers)  to a drinking contest and wins. Rylee hits on Gwendel, and she rejects him.
• Lord Marshal Lucerne tries to get Rylee to join him on an expedition to deal with some necromancers digging up bodies from the recent battles. Rylee is at first interested, but Lord Merwyn's offer (see below) takes precedence. 
• Kern  waits for his contact, Rathgold the Scribe, to go for a bathroom break. Follows him and tells him to meet the merchant tomorrow at the Wasp Inn, andto  be discreet. 
• Kern also pumps the two Wolf Tribe Barbarians present (Kicking Weasel [the Shaman], and Wrestles Bear on Full Moon [the Chief]) for information on the Blighted Woods and Goblin Market. Learns that the Goblin Market appears at random intervals in different locations, each of which is a crossroads with an iron post at the centre.
• Kern, Rylee and Darnorth meet with Lord Merdwyn after feast, along with the Company of Good Cheer (Zana, Ikar, and Silco; Quid was still passed out from drinking). Lord Merdwyn asks them to investigate the grand chateau in the Blighted Woods on his behalf. They agree, but only after Lord Merdwyn puts up a 5000gp 'bounty' in case the trip is a bust for the party.As party leaves, Zana sidles up to Kern and whispers something about "there are no secrets in small towns".
• Kern, disguised as the merchant Nero,  meets with Rathgold. Kern tells him that he will help the scribe get away with his wife when the time is right; Rathgold fears going back to Westmist as he knows Jax will read his mind and the scribe will then most likely be a dead man.  
• Kern asks Rathgold to provide a letter or other document that lays out Jax's "affliction". Rathgold says he will try, but Lord Merdwyn never directly refers to it's nature. But he does tell Kern for certain that Jax is not human.

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• Party gathers Gurruk and Bjorn, and following Lord Merwyn's directions head for the chateau. It's a huge manor house, a shinning mass of glass and ornate stonework, set on a low rise. A central octagonal building topped with a glass dome, two wings to either side, and a cross shaped wing on the back. No signs of life, but the grass is neatly trimmed.
• Windows and doors are obscured, so nothing can be seen on the inside.   Kern breaks a window; a grey mist drifts out, but view inside is still blocked. 
• Open front door, party marches in, leaving horses outside. Bjorn summons air elemental to fly overhead cover. Find themselves on a wide path leading through an indoor forest. The glass dome can be seen soaring overhead, and the sound of tinkling water comes from deeper in the forest.
• Following the path to a T-intersection, the party encounters a beautiful amber skinned women lying asleep on the ground. One of her arms lies over a unicorn sleeping with her, the other is thrown over a small chest. 
• Darnorth wakes her, and questions her about the forest. Learns that she has lived here as long as she remembers, and has no desire to leave. And tells party they will never be able to leave. This is confirmed by Kern, who goes back to the door and finds out that the grey mist now encircles the mansion. And is poisonous.
• Kern tried to bargain with her to get the chest, offers piles of gold bars. She's not interested. 
• Party moves on, heading west along a winding path. Encounter 4 grizzly bears. Rylee casts speak with animals to talk to bears. The ursine group confirms much of the lady's story (and lets slip that she is actually a gold dragon!). When asked about who owns the chateau, the bears refer to the 'human meat' that calls themselves the "d'Ambervilles".
• Leaving their beary friends, the party continues west until they reach an ornate door. Decide not to go through, but backtrack through the intersection again to explore to the east. Girl/dragon and unicorn are gone. 
• Come to a long bridge over a meandering stream. A goat-headed humanoid stands at the near end, facing away from the party. It speaks saying "Please don't eat me Mr Troll. My brothers, who are right behind me, are much bigger and fatter than I am". A gruff voice from below the bridge says "All right, you may pass. I'll wait for your brothers". The goat-man skips across the bridge, but when the party tries the follow, a huge troll crawls up from below and blocks the way.
• Party tries to bluff their way past, but troll attacks. It's claws and bite tear into Kern, leaving him bleeding heavily. In the meantime, "Mr. Windy" the air elemental, knocks a lot of the stuffing out of the troll, helped along by missile fire from Gurruk and Kern (once he gets out of the front line) plus sword blows from Darnorth. Troll goes down, and parry kindles a bonfire to burn the parts before they regenerate. 
• Party crosses bridge and continues on path, coming to a clearing with a pool/fountain in the centre. The fountain is shaped like three interlinked gargoyles with water spraying from their mouths. At the base of the fountain, across the pool, is a chest.
• Rather than risk wading the pool, Bjorn has Mr Windy fetch the chest. Kern tried to pick the lock. No luck. Rylee tries to smash it; no luck. Kern tries to smash it; no luck. Bjorn tries to smash it; no luck. Gurruk tries to smash it; no luck. Darnorth tries to smash it; no luck. Mr Windy tries to smash it; obliterates chest. This attracts another grizzly bear (which is calmed by Gurruk). Chest filled with gold and a large ornate silver key. Gurruk tosses one coin into the fountain to wish for luck.

Westmist Session #68 - Secret Agent Man (and Elf)

Another quick list this time:

• Kern hatches a plan to sneak into the Count Palatine's stonghold to make contact with the spy he has in Lord Merdwyn's household. Erijay and Bjorn go along for magical firepower, while Rylee, Darnorth and Gurruk go on a bender. But not before Rylee casts silence 15' radius on a pair of coins for the trio of burglars.
• Scouting the keep in daylight, Kern sees no way in other than the main gate. He figures out the guard schedule, and decides the best time to sneak in is just before the gates are closed at sunset. 
• Erijay goes shopping for a bag full of mice and oats. 
• Carrying the silenced coins and covered by invisibility spells cast by Bjorn an Erijay, the trio make their way up to the hilltop fortress. They breeze through the outer and inner gates as quickly as possible, just as the guards are preparing to bar them for the night. Several guards noticed the sudden silence , but shrug it off in the end. There is no pursuit.
• At the main doors to the keep, and the trio sees light coming though covered windows. To enter without being seen, Bjorn casts a phantasmal force to make it appear as if the door remains closed when they pass through it. Which is good, because in the great hall beyond the doors is Lord Merdwyn talking to several servants, who are setting up for a feast and celebration on the morrow.
• The group waits until Lord Merdwyn leaves through a door leading deeper into the keep. After waiting a short time, they follow. No sign of Lord Merdwyn, but there are tables covered in maps, patrol reports, etc. All the daily business of quelling a new land. 
• Go up a set of spiral stairs to the next level. Corridor rings a series of small rooms. The sound of a woman giggling and hanky panky comes from behind one door.
• Choose to ignore for now, and head for the next level. As Kern opens door from stairway, he's surprised to find a man, dressed in armor, on the other side. He too looks surprised by the door opening on it's own. Erijay flicks a mouse through the door to distract the man. Kern, Erijay, and Bjorn then quickly slip back down the stairs and hide in a linen closet. 
• No sign of the armored man, so they head back upstairs. They find a central hallway with multiple doors leading off. Light can be seen coming from below one door. Kern listens at door, and hears a woman taking to herself on the other side. A mix of administrative details regarding running the Count Palatine's household and keep, and the odd magical incantation.
• Checking the other rooms, they find a chapel, a martially appointed sitting room, and a pair of messy bedrooms. In one of the bedrooms they see a set of doors leading outside, probably onto the balcony/platform they'd seen from the courtyard.
• Up to the fourth and apparently final floor. Similar layout as floor three with a central hallway and multiple doors. In the hallway stand seven of the Count Palatines guard.
• Regroup and plan. Bjorn goes down several flights to stand guard. Erijay casts ESP, then quaffs her invisibility potion (having broken her invisibility spell by casting an offensive spell). She goes back up the stairs and attempts to pick out Lord Merdwyn's or Rathgold's (Kern's spy) thoughts while hiding in the stairwell.
• Meanwhile, Kern slips through the door (tossing the rest of Erijay's mice ahead of him to distract the guards from the fact the door is opening on it's own) and dives into an opening to the left. Which is a privy.
• Erijay probes the minds of both Lord Merdwyn and Rathgold:
• Rathgold's mind doesn't reveal much of interest, except for the fact he is planning on hightailing it with Kern's gold as soon as the opportunity presents. He fears Jax, knowing that he can read minds. And Rathgold knows his guilty mind will cost him his head.
• Lord Merdwyn of course reveals much more of interest. To Erijays surprise, there no hint of devious and diabolic plan. Upward mobility plans, ruthlessness and more than willing to take whatever chances and underhanded schemes he needs to get what he wants, yes. Evil, no. Lord Merdywn is really just trying to regain his place in the world, the respect and power and good name he lost to gambling. 
• She also learns that Jax is not fully human. No hint of exactly what he is, but that in Lord Merdwyn's mind his friend and confident has a terrible 'affliction'. Erijay also learns that Lord Merdwyn is wary of Jax, suspects he may double cross him at some point, even though he's done nothing like that so far and has always been loyal to his Lordship.
• Sir Wyder is dead. That was not Sir Wyder who returned from the wars. He fell in  battle, but Jax covered that up and somehow sent a substitute back home. The  plan was to keep the King from learning the truth about the much reduced  hobgolbin armies and Lord Merwyn's plan for the extra forces His Highness had  supplied. No details; it would seem it was a matter of "don't  ask, don't tell' between him and Jax. He just let Jax take care of it and didn't  ask too many questions.
• Lord Merdwyn also knows the party is in town, and is about to invite them to come see him. He has a task for them, to followup on rumors of a great manor house in the depths of the Blighted Woods. Erijay also learns that Lord Merdwyn does not quite trust them, suspects they are up to no good.

•  Having lingered too long already (thankfully the guards seem to be just waiting around for something or someone), the trio prepares to leave. Kern briefly contemplates going down the privy, but instead takes a chance and slips back to join Erijay in the stairwell. They collect Bjorn and head for the room with the balcony to slip out that way. 
• They find the door locked, so Erijay knocks it open. Unfortunately, the outer door is also locked, so Kern goes to work with the lock picks.  As he is working, a knock comes at the door through which they entered: "Ikar, Silco, are you there?". Erijay and Bjorn try to hold the door, but whomever is on the other side is too strong. They let go and the doors fly open. Standing there is a lad of 16 or 17, pockmarked face, built like an ox, half undressed. Looking around, the boy mutters something about 'how will I get her out now?". Then, with a sly grin, he opens a footlocker in the room and pulls out fistfulls of gold before leaving again.
• Breathing a sign of relief, Kern finishes with the lock. And fights the temptation of the foot locker full of gold. Bjorn casts levitate and ferries the others over the keep wall and onto the road below. Escapade over. 
• Next day, Kern goes looking for a place to buy potions. He finds nothing, hears an interesting tale  from one of the wenches at the Rusty Sword (Varla, a nice buxum lass). She'd was  told a story by one of the Wolf Tribe barbarians who dwell along the eaves of the  Blighted Wood. While getting sloshed on mead, he told her of a 'goblin market'  that sometimes appears in the depths of the wood. The goblins sell many strange  any magical items to anyone with enough coin.  He later learns from a another tribesman by the name of 'Runs on Night Wind', that the gnomes of the wood serve the Fairy Queen and know the secrets of immortality. Getting  them to tell you the secret is another thing ...

Westmist Session #67 - On the Move

Just a bullet list of highlight this time to keep track of what happened. I don't really have the time to write out a full report at the moment.

• Leaving Duncal with Sir Janus and his new mining/excavation operation, the party heads back to Westmist. While making tea at the end of his watch, Kern is surprised one morning by a band of albino apes that erupt out of a pile of old rock rubble 60' from the party's campsite. Half the apes get killed, one is charmed by Bjorn, and a decent into their lair uncovers an ape latrine and not much more. Kern also discovers the battery in his alien armor is dead.
• Charmed ape follows Bjorn home. There party sets up a put fight between the ape and Booh. The hill giant wins. Erijay is not impressed.
• Back in Westmist, Kern asks around town about the King's recently departed troops. Finds out they were recalled for some kind of punishment/grudge invasion of the Earldom of Neeth. Also rumors of other armies gathering in distant lands. 
• Stop in the see The Tongue, looking for guidance on their plans for the March Baron. "Find out whom you count as friends before you make too many enemies." 
• Look for more info on the poisoned ring they supposedly sold to Aflain. Confirmed the Pashnadi merchants story about killing Petra, the merchants wif,e and having to pay to have her raised. Aflain is under a bit of a suspicious cloud as a result, not helped by the fact that he is a 'foreigner'.
• See Synthini about some potions; pass on the potion of gold dragon control, but snap up the potion of healing. 
• Decide to take the youthful statue to Zoloren. Buy a pair of draft horse and cart, load up the statue, and head out of town. Reach the Great River and the fortress of Amrath and realize they no longer own a boat with which to cross the river. Bribe troops from Amrath to bring them across, promising a barrel of brandy when the party returns.
• Stop at the ruins of Bracksis' Hold to recover barrels of brandy from celler. 
• Get in to see Zoloren, with his golems and slave girls. Trade the gold he offers for two questions about magic items. 
• Find out that if they want something to guard everyone in the party from mental control, they should seek the Cerebral Shield of the Gann. The Gann was a secretive wizard from another world with a stronghold to the north along the Black Spine Mountains. Go north until they reach the camps of the Horn Barbarians.
• Kern asks about a battery for his armor. Zoloren tells him to seek out the Land of 1000 Wizards.
• Party tries to milk the archmage for more information. He takes offenses and makes moves to threaten the party. Party wisely leaves after refusing his offer of information in exchange for Eirjay.
• Encounter a band of 10 ogres shortly after leaving Zoloren. Carrying four humanoids to Zoloren. Figures are tied up and difficult to see if they are human, or what. Party experiences great anguish trying to decide if they should attack the ogres to rescue whoever or whatever they carry. Decide in the end the brutes were too tough to handle.
• Head for the new County Palatine of Overmarch to find out what's going on in Lord Merdwyn's new lands. Find the ruins of Nasper have been transformed into the town of New Breven. Head for a tavern, the Rusty Sword, which is on the island with the lords castle. Find it to be a popular spot with the off duty soldiers, who tell of the hard work underway to clear the land of monsters and make it safe for the new settlers. 

Updated House Rules

I've updated the house rules/rulings document. Additions are listed below, some of which have come out of play and a few that I've added because I like them and they may be needed at some time.

Casting from Spell Book: Unmemorized spells may be cast directly from a characters spell book. However, casting time increases from 1 round to 1 turn, and there is a 5% change per level that the spell will misfire and have no effect or a detrimental effect. This process also erases the spell from the book.

Thief’s Backstab: Can only be performed once per combat encounter, unless unusual circumstances permit the thief to “hide in shadows/move silently” again without being noticed by opponents.

Holy Symbols: A cleric requires a holy symbol to cast spells or turn undead.

Grenade Like Missiles: On a failed attack roll, the missile lands 5' in a random direction and affects anyone in that location, friend or foe. Roll 1d8 to determine direction.

Grappling: Attack as normal, without weapons. The successful attackers and defender both roll a combined number of d6's equal to their Hit Dice. On a tie, both parties struggle, neither able to take action. If the defender wins, he throws off all the successful attackers. They are stunned for a round. He may take his action as normal. If the attackers win, the defender is pinned and helpless.

Westmist Session #66 - What to do With Duncal?

With Duncal out of the dungeon and back in Gurruk's hovel, Kern sat the pasty lad down to gently break him the news: that his father was dead and his inheritance was gone. The merchant expected the boy to break down and cry, but his response was not quite what was expected:

“You mean I’m free? Truly free? The old goat is dead and I’ll never have to listen to him again? Oh joy, oh happiness, oh wonderful release. I could just sing ...” 

It seems that Duncal didn't think much of his Dad, or the idea that some day his would become March Baron of Westmist. He`d been a prisoner of the trolls for about 8 years, captured in Stonehell becasue he`d run away from home so he wouldn`t have to listen to his parents and become March Baron someday.

Kern, his aplomb slightly ruffled, recovered quickly and laid out the reason why the party had rescued him. He told Duncal about Sir Janus and the plan to overthrow Lord Merdwyn. The lad wasn't really interested in becoming Baron, but he did have a shrewd core beneath the whiny exterior.  After a little thought, he agreed to go along with their scam, at least for the time being (the hill giant lumbering over him probably helped with that decision.)  His price was to be looked after in some style in the interim, at when all the dust was settled from the coup d'etat, he expected a nice payout and would then disappear to a playboys life somewhere far  away from the mud and boredom of the border town.

While not exactly the outcome they had hoped after investing so much time, blood and treasure into Duncal's rescue, it was a win of sorts for the party (although  a few considered the best option at this point was to decorate the end of a pike with Duncal's head). Now the trouble was what to do next. There was some thought of taking the lad and heading straight into the mountains to find Sir Janus right away. But everyone soon realized they needed horses and supplies before doing so. And also needed to know what had happened in the two months they'd been gone. After discussing a variety of hair-brained schemes to get into town unnoticed (with Kern muttering something about "losing that damn ring" under his breath the whole time), they figured it best to just march up to the gate and go in the usual way. They left Duncal in Gurruk and Booh's care for now, and headed for town. Challenged at the gate by the guard, they noticed the guard now consisted of a mix of town guardsmen and men in the royal livery on white, not blue. The town guards recognized them though, and for a slightly usurious fee of 50gp, they were allowed in. Concerned about their house, they headed there first. It was still there, but a sheet of parchment was nailed to the door. Reading it, they found that due to two months of unpaid taxes, the house was about to be expropriated by the Crown. Tearing the paper off the door, they headed inside. To a quiet, dusty home, with no sign of Riker. Concerned, they combed the structure from roof to cellar, but there were no signs of foul play or intruders.

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Wondering what had happened to their manservant, the party scattered to scour the town and hunt for news. The eventually figured out that he had been arrested by Jax's men and was currently in debtor's prison in Westmist Keep. Looks like if the party paid their back taxes, he would be free. Except then Kern reminded them that the last thing they wanted to do is go near Jax now, since he would read their minds and the cat (i.e. Duncal) would truly be out of the bag then. Thinking of who could help them, they tried Synthini first. Handing over their last healing potion, the reclusive alchemist refused outright to get involved in any dastardly business. Rylee then decided to take advantage of his status as the "Mighty Arm of the Faith" to ask the Temple of the Three Virtues for help. The Sub-Virtue on duty heard Rylee's request, and was somewhat puzzled by the clerics reluctance to just go handle the matter himself. Rylee tried to dance around the issue, but the Sub-Virtue was puzzled why Rylee just didn't put his trust in the hands of Velas, lord of justice? With a sigh, Rylee took the young Sub-Virtue aside and explained the ways of the world, that sometimes mortals must take matters into their own hands. And that Jax wasn't exactly trustworthy. Awed by the senior cleric's eloquence, the Sub-Virtue agreed to take the gold, pay off the tax bill, and recover Riker.

The party hustled home to meet Riker, who arrived no worst for wear after weeks in a cell. He had a roof over his head, and three meals a day. What hardship is that? Worried that Jax might have planted a spy in their midst (especially when they found out the shadowy seneschal had spoke to their manservant several times while he was imprisoned), Rylee discreetly cast dispel magic on Riker, while Erijay cast ESP to read his mind. Which was thankfully blank as always. Apologizing for leaving him high and dry, they left a small trust fund of gold in Rikar's care to cover expenses should they ever again be absent for an extended time.

That taken care of, everyone headed out to beat about town and get more news. They learned that the king had withdrawn his company of troops to deal with some sort of issues on the kingdom's eastern borders. They were replaced by a half company of the King's White Company from the citadel of Amrath on the Great River. They also learned that a steady stream of new settlers had been passing through town, headed for Lord Merdwyn's new County of Overmarch, lured by the promise of free land and a new beginning. Wandering through the town square, they noticed a merchant set up, shilling wares from the far western lands. Intrigued, Darnorth went to talk to him. The merchant, Hallix by name, had taken advantage of Lord Merdyn's partial pacification of the Untamed Lands to push a heavily armed caravan in the strange land to the west known as the Land of 1000 Wizards. He brought back many odd items, but what caught Darnorth's eye's was a strange pair of weapons. Small metal tubes with a wooden handle. Asking for a demonstration, Hallix picked up the thing, pointed at a nearby wagon, and with a gout of flame some sort of missile shot out, struck and splintered the wooden vehicle. Impressed by the shiny metal and loud noise, Darnorth decided he had to have them, and managed to get the pair plus 35 missiles from Hallix for 1500gp. He also picked up as part of the deal, hidden among a pile of metal junk and widgets, a round power source similar to the one that ran Kern's armor. Darnorth then took one of the weapons and a few missiles to Slate, to see if the dwarven inventor could figure out how to make more of each (for a fee of course). The other he kept for himself.

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They also made a stop to see Afflain, to see if there was any word from Zoloren on their offer to sell the youthful statue. The Pashnadi merchant was furious when he saw them. Not just for missing their rendezvous and revenge with Gilmeshi, but apparently a ring the party had fenced to him had been poison. He had sold it to a merchants wife and it killed her! Afflain had to cough up a huge sum to have her raised and pay the fine! He was livid with rage, and threw Zoloren's written reply at them and kicked them out. At least Zoloren's reply was promising. The archmage wrote: “I have not become the sorcerer I am by giving away precious magic’s to anyone who asks. I will offer 3000gp in whatever form you wish. And if you desire a particular magical item, I can instead offer my centuries of knowledge and research  to tell you where you may find that for which you search." They filed that information away for now.

Headed back to home to prepare for their journey to find Sir Janus, they noted someone was following them. Wondering who it was, Darnorth used his ring to cast invisibility, then slipped into a side alley while everyone else continued on their way. As the shadowy figured passed, Darnorth reached out to grab him. Unfortunately, the dwarf stumbled and missed, and the figure turned and fled.

With town business done, they gathered supplies and horses and headed north into the mountain. Taking Duncal but leaving Booh (figuring Sir Janus wouldn't want to see the hill giant every again), they started at Janus' old camp and headed into the mountains. They followed a small stream that flowed in a pass between two massifs. Coming to a junction, they followed one stream into a hanging valley on the flank of one mountain. There they saw a small log cabin, in good shape but with no sign of inhabitants. Gurruk approached the door, and as he knocked, he caught in the corner of his eye something moving in the woods above the cabin. Which he quickly found was an arrow, which nearly took out his eye!  Maniacal laughter followed, as did another missile. Kern had Bjorn cast invisibility on him and slipped up the slope to find their assailant. Darnorth meanwhile took out his newfangled weapon, aimed up slope and fired. When the smoke and noise cleared, they could hear cursing and swearing,and a squeaky voice saying "stop, stop!!". Kern watched invisibly as a halfling, followed by a huge cave bea,r walked past him and down towards the rest of the party. The little guy, obviously shocked by Darnorth's weapon, surrendered. He was also obviously not all there, twitching and groaning and very paranoid and crazy. But they did learn that Janus had passed by here several months ago, but the halfling had driven him and his men deeper into the mountains.

So further into the Western War Peaks they went, encountering old and odd things along the way; an old stretch of dwarven highway,  a giant skull with an axe stuck in it, a freshly fallen meteor (from which Darnorth removed some strange silver-black metal). Exploring an old dwarf ruin, they encountered a group of dwarves from the Stonehead clan.They were searching this old dwarven delve, once the home of their clan. They were a bit evasive when asked what they were looking for, but when asked about Sir Janus, they noted they too had encountered the knight and his party. Sir Janus had tried to move into the old dwarf hold, but the Stoneheads had driven them off and further into the mountains.

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So further up the pass they went, passing a strange head carved high on the mountain side before coming to a second dwarf ruin. Here, Rylee decided to cast locate object, looking for Sir Janus' awesome warhammer. And lo, it seemed they had found him and the weapon, for the power of Habuu directed the cleric straight towards the dwarf ruins. When the party approached, a handful of guards appeared over the ruined wall and challenged them. The party was recognized though, and the guards fetched Sir Janus to come meet the party. After exchanging pleasantries and talking about what had happened over the past few months, the party suddenly surprised the loyal knight by presenting Duncal. Much kowotwing and 'my-lording' ensued, and when Sir Janus recovered his wits, he was prepared to mount up and ride to take Westmist with Ducal by his side right now. It took some time to convince him they could not count on a popular uprising to support Duncal's claim, and the best idea was to lay low here in the mountains until the party could further scope out the situation and come up with a plan.  Besides, they would need gold to support Duncal. Which gave Darnorth an idea. Thinking about the Stonehead clan, he suggested Sir Janus have his men starting digging out the old dwarf hold they were hiding in, to look for treasures that might have been left behind. That would provide some ready funds (and keep the knight out of trouble for now). While at first reluctant, Sir Janus agreed. One of his men was sent back to Westmist with the party to buy mining equipment (and luxuries for Duncal), and was then escorted back with the supplies. And now it was time to figure out what to do next ...

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.