Renaissance Festival, Anyone?

Anyone interested in making the trip with Sophie and I to the Sterling Festival before it ends in mid-August?  Given our other travel plans, the best weekends for us are as follows:

Sunday, August 1
Saturday/Sunday, August 7&8

Witchspyre Hill: Session 5

May 10 - 15 HR

Last session began with the surviving party members hiding below ground, waiting out the evening of May 10 after the ill fated battle with the spiders the previous day. Fortunately, the evening passed without incident, and on the following day, the survivors were able to make it out of the dungeon without encountering further danger. Bloodied but unbowed, the survivors started the two day journey back to Null's Harbor to recruit more members.

Once there, the survivors returned to Jack's Place in Sorrowside and made the acquaintance of the fighter Bian Fu, Wolfgar a cleric of Kord, and Abu Thistlestrike a portly and jovial Magic User with a taste for ale. After some discussions over hearty flagons, these three agreed to join the party. At this point, Igmar decided to go back to Steng's brewery to negotiate with the underworld figure and hopefully see what potential help the thieves guild might be able to offer.

At the brewery, Igmar sat down for a council with Steng and his mysterious, blue handed, sorceress companion. Igmar proposed that his party of adventurers would be willing to offer a greater percentage of the profits taken from Witchspyre Hill, if Steng could offer any additional assistance to their group. Steng claimed to be intrigued by this offer, but said that he would need to see greater evidence that Igmar's group was competent before providing any assistance. He told Igmar that he might be willing to offer assistance for a greater percentage of the loot, but that he would need to see evidence that the party was able to pull significant wealth from the dungeon. He then reminded Igmar that the party had agreed to pay him and the guild a full twenty five percent of treasure taken from beneath Witchspyre Hill. Just as the negotiations were concluding, the deformed Igmar surprised everyone concerned by rising to his feet, bowing, and presenting the lovely, raven haired sorceress with a single flower as a tribute to her great beauty. The blue handed woman's icy demeanor shifted for a moment from cool aloofness to amused curiosity as she thanked Igmar and accepted his gift.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party was back at Thumbless Jack's attempting to hire some new hirelings. Given that no hireling had as of yet returned from Witchspyre Hill alive, not many were willing to join the group. After some clever negotiations on the part of Thimble the Thief the group hired two individuals - Tuck, an over weight, somewhat asthmatic man wearing an ill fitting suit of leather armor, and Joboron, a shifty eyed drunken mercenary from parts unknown.

The following day, May 13, the group arose early, intent on resupplying and heading back to Witchspyre Hill. Before leaving, however, Abu wanted to visit Bytor's magic shop located in Maintown. While browsing in the crowded and cluttered interior of the shop, Abu asked Bytor, a lean and wiry individual, if he knew anything about the mysterious appearance of the tower atop Wichspyre Hill. Bytor shut the door of his shop, produced a bottle of wine, and confided in Abu that he did have in his possession something that might reveal crucial information about the tower, but that he would only trade it for magic. He was not interested in gold. He also cautioned Abu against getting too involved with the church of Wee Jas, though the mage turned cagy at this point and refused to specify why such caution was necessary.

While this discussion was going on, Igmar entered Hezroat's spice shop and asked the merchant directly if the deal regarding Bartok's head was still in effect. Attempting to bluff, Igmar claimed that others had also offered him money for the head of the missing adventurer. Hezroat, however, seemed to know that Igmar was bluffing, claiming that he could not possibly imagine why anyone but he would want proof of Bartok's death. When asked by Igmar why he wanted such proof, Hezroat emphatically said that he could not say, but did stress that the offer of gold for such proof was still in effect. Igmar thanked the merchant, purchased a pouch of Devil's Weed for his pipe, and took his leave of the merchant.

Their business in town concluded, the group began their journey back to the mysterious dungeon beneath Witchspyre Hill.

They resumed their exploration on May 15. The party made some further headway, mapping some more unexplored corridors and chambers, and finally uncovered what appeared to be some long forgotten tomb or burial chamber hidden behind a secret door. Within, the group made the acquaintance of the crypt's occupant, a horrible animated skeletal figure clad in chain mail and armed with a gleaming and oddly untarnished longsword. A desperate battle ensued when the horrific figure arose from its ancient undead slumber and closed with the group, its skeletal hand closing around Tuck's throat and chocking the life out of the the pudgy hireling. The figure appeared to be radiating some sort magical aura of terror and several members of the group began to flee. Even those who appeared resistant to the thing's horrid power did not all seem to want to engage it however. Thimble, for instance, chose to withdraw with the those who were fleeing while Joboron, quite drunk, refused to fight the thing and ran as well. Things looked like they might turn grim when the horrid corpse seized Wolfgar by the throat and began to strangle him, but Abu the mage crushed its skull with a sling stone and saved the cleric from certain death. Released from its fear effect, the rest of the party regrouped and proceeded to loot the tomb, recovering 1200 gold pieces and the skeleton's apparently enchanted sword. At this point, three ghouls emerged from the corridor and attacked. A fierce fight thus followed, but the party quickly gained the upper hand. Noteworthy in this encounter, Lilyth actually dealt the "killing" blow to each ghoul.

And this is where we left off. After dispatching the ghouls, the group decided to pull back to the surface and camp for the night the ground floor of the tower before proceeding. Thanks to all for a fun night of gaming.

140 xp each for all concerned.

Next Session

Jay has suggested Saturday, July 17 as a possible date for our next session. How will this work for everyone?

Friday's Session

On Friday July 2, we will be playing at Matt and Heather's home in ER. Thanks to them for graciously volunteering to host. We will begin at 7:00.

Witchspyre Hill: Session 4

May 6-10 1051 HR

Our last session began on the morning of May 6 in the year 1051 HR. After the very briefest of forays into the basement beneath the ruins of Leng's Tower, your party, consisting at this point of Igmar Houndhaven, Thimble, Pipstrelles, and the hirelings Steng and Doobin Bungbolt, decided to return to Thumbless Jack's in order to reunite with other party members and possibly recruit new adventurers. At Jack's, the party reunited with the fighters Lilith and Goram Ironfist (who apparently had waited out the zombie outbreak upstairs at the inn with a jug of Jack's best gnomish whisky). They also made the acquaintance of a new party member, one Pisspot Jenkins, a greenhorn who had recently decided to strike out upon the adventuring life to see what it had to offer.

After some discussion over hearty bowls of Jack's famous fish chowder, it was decided that it would be best to set out for Witchspyre Hill once again in the hopes of reaping even more and perhaps richer rewards. Before doing so, however, the party decided that some method for safely storing and securing its treasure must be found as it was becoming unwieldy to carry around so much coinage upon your persons. The party hit upon the idea of purchasing a structure in Null's Harbor and using it as a base of operations and a storehouse for its wealth. Thumbless Jack informed you that Steng, the owner of Steng's Brewery owned almost all of the free property in Sorrowside and it would be best to talk with him. Jack did, however, caution you that it was best to tread lightly and use care when dealing with Steng.

This advice proved to be well founded. After arriving at the brewery, you immediately realized that something was amiss. While Steng's was a working brewery,you saw no laborers at work, being greeted instead by six heavily armed thugs. Steng himself soon appeared accompanied by a beautiful, raven haired sorceress or magic user with blue stained hands. You quickly concluded that Steng was no ordinary brewer and that he may be highly placed in the local thieves guild. Negotiations proceeded and Steng suggested that he could sell you a small stone structure near the town's north wall for five hundred gold pieces. After examining the structure, you decided that you were in fact interested and sent Pipistrelles back to negotiate further with Steng and his mysterious blue handed companion.

Upon hearing of your interest, however, Steng became suspicious. How did such a group of neophyte adventurers such as yourselves have the coin to make such a purchase after all? Was it possible that you had returned from some adventure recently and had more riches at your disposal than you were admitting to. Not wishing to pay the tax levied by the guild on such swag, Pipistrelles lied, claiming that this was not true. But when Steng threatened to place him under a charm spell to ascertain the truth, the novice monk began to flounder, fumbling around with his words and finally stammering out that, while it was true that he had not told the whole truth, he had not actually lied.

This double talk did not satisfy the brewer and, after some increased pressure, the monk finally confessed that the party did in fact have a fair amount of wealth in its possession having recently returned from an expedition to Witchspyre Hill. Steng informed the monk that he expected his fair cut of this haul and sent a henchman to invite the rest of the party into the brewery to consider his demand.

It was at this point that things turned very ugly.

Upon hearing Steng's offer, Goram, the dwarven warrior shouted a profane challenge at Steng, drew his axe, and exhorted his comrades to fight. Pipistrelles kicked off the melee, introducing his staff to the skull of one of Steng's henchman and shattering it like a china bowl. Lilith followed suit, disemboweling another foe and spilling his smoking entrails onto the brewery's oak planked floor. Quick thinking Igmar also got in on the action and cast a charm spell upon another henchman. This early success was short lived unfortunately. At this point, one of your own henchman, Steng from Goat's Alley, switched sides declaring that he wanted no part of the fight. This treachery barely had time to register when the mysterious raven haired spell caster raised her blue hands and traced some weird runic shapes in the air before her, bringing a sleep spell down upon all of you and sending you falling into a crushing helpless slumber.

It should be noted that Thimble avoided this fate by quietly stealing away from the melee and fleeing across the burnt patch of Null's Harbor to Maintown.

The rest of you awoke tightly bound in a stone chamber, empty but for a flickering torch, beneath the brewery. Steng soon arrived and did not seem pleased. He informed you that as a price for lying to him and challenging his authority, he was going to take all of your gold (the wealth you had acquired from the recent sale of the great diamond to Jazzle the Jeweler). Furthermore, he expected you to pay a full twenty five percent of all future wealth taken from beneath Witchspyre Hill. Faced with little choice, you accepted his demands. But Steng was not finished. As payment for the loss of his henchmen, he had no choice but to take some your flesh as well. Drawing a dagger from his belt, he sliced off Pipistrelles's ear, sawing through the cartilage with several long strokes and cauterizing the wound with the burning torch. Pisspot Jenkins fared no better, worse perhaps. Annoyed by the neophytes contrary nature and smug back talk, Steng used a set of metal workers tongs to pry Pisspot's mouth open before cutting out his tongue with a pair of tin worker's shears.

Beaten and seething with resentment, you found yourselves released by Steng. You quickly headed back to maintown to meet Thimble, who incidentally had escaped with all of her wealth intact. Given the unfortunate recent turn of events, you all deemed it prudent to leave town as quickly as possible and journey back to the Stony Brow Hills to resume your exploration of the Witchspyre. The journey back to the hills lasted four days but passed without noteworthy incident. The screaming faces carved into the mysterious tower atop the hill loomed menacingly above you as you began the ascent up the steep sided, rocky edifice and, on May 10, you once again descended into the gloomy nether realms that unfold beneath it.

Your party decided to explore a region of dungeon that you had not previously visited. You soon came upon an incredible site, a great hallway, fifty feet wide and lined with granite pillars, its ceiling lost in darkness above. Curiously, the vast corridor was lit by ever burning torches in sconces mounted on the passageway's mighty pillars. Impressed by its magnificence and assuming that such a fabulous corridor must lead somewhere significant, you decided to follow the grand hallway to its terminal destination.

After following it for a short distance, you found that it opened into a large chamber containing a weird and horrific statue of a hermaphroditic naked woman. In addition to an enormous erect phallus, the bizarre artifact also sported a mouthful of fangs and two glittering emeralds for eyes. Unable to resist the lure of treasure, Goram Ironfist pried the emeralds loose from the statue but, in so doing, triggered some arcane sorcery that altered the very fabric of reality and, in a pulsing flash of light, changed his sex from male to female. Stunned by this odd turn of events, you continued to follow the grand hallway along its winding course through the dungeon.

After traveling for an hour or so and passing several side passages and doors along the way, you came upon an ominous sign, a dessicated web shrouded corpse lying in the middle of the great corridor. Not long after this, the party was beset by a pack of gigantic spiders that dropped silently on silken cords from the darkness above. A desperate fight thus ensued in the flickering reddish glow of the torchlight. Goram, Lilith, Pisspot, and Pipistrelles engaged the horrid monstrosities with steel and staff, while Thimble and Igmar engaged at range with bow and spell. While you did manage to fell three of the aberrations, more kept coming, silently and relentlessly, from the darkness above, and the tide quickly turned against you. Goram, Pipistrelles, Pisspot, and Doobin all met horrible fates, falling beneath the cruel, dagger-like and venom filled fangs of the giant spiders. Igmar, Lilith, and Thimble made a desperate and hasty retreat turning their backs upon their fallen comrades and fleeing for their lives. In fact, Thimble, a character who has proven herself to be quite good at escaping, even had to shuck off her backpack and leave over a thousand gold pieces behind in order to make her exit.

The three surviving characters did manage to make their escape and found refuge in some sort of abandoned and forgotten storage room and safely barricaded themselves within. This is where we left off. Once again, the party has been decimated and will undoubtedly need new recruits. This assumes of course that our three survivors can make it back to the surface. Thanks for a fun night of gaming everyone.

Experience: 653 each for Igmar, Lilith, and Thimble

Next Session

How does Friday, July 2 work for everyone for our next session?

What Kind of Polyhedron Are You?

As you prepare for our next session...In the spirit of full disclosure, my results are below. Strangely, it is fairly accurate. Especially about the dice. I've always had a particular fondness for the d4.

You are a d4: You are bright, perceptive, and driven. You would be considered a blessing to mankind, if you didn't insist on using your powers for evil. You are devious, deceitful, doubtful, and downright dangerous. Assassins can learn a lot from you. If your fellow party members knew how rotten you were, they'd go over and join the bad guys. Justified or not, you are meticulous in your ways: A poison for every person, and a dagger for every back. Much of your day is spent scheming or plotting. The rest of your time is spent trying to convince others that you're simply misunderstood.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Witchspyre Hill: Session 3

April 29 - May 6, 1051

Our last session was certainly full of grim surprises. Play resumed with your party still standing in the hall of statues, smelling the seared flesh of your fallen companions, and contemplating the fabulous diamond that you had just won at so dear a price. Eager to convert the gem into spendable coinage and badly in need of new recruits to replace your lost numbers, you decided to take the two day journey back to Null's Harbor.


The journey passed without incident.


Back in town, the surviving members of the party spent the night drinking and relaxing at The Green Griffin and it was there that they made the acquaintance of several new adventurers who had also been drawn to the port town by rumors of possible treasures to be had in the Stony Brow Hills. The party's ranked were thus filled out with new meat. The following day, Thimble the Thief, Goram the Dwarf, Fizbon the Magic User, and Pipistrelles the Monk lost no time in selling the gem to Janzal the Jeweler, but were surprised when Janzal urged the group to keep their possession and sale of the diamond as secret as possible. The adventurers were puzzled by the merchant's emphatic desire for secrecy, but the mystery would soon be cleared up.


Back at the Green Griffin tavern, the rest of your party was relaxing and enjoying a leisurely breakfast of homemade biscuits and salted cod when they were approached in the tavern by one Rayas, an acolyte of the temple of Wee Jas. Rayas expressed a keen interest in knowing as much as possible about the Witchspyre Hill anomaly and even offered to pay for valuable information. Seeing an opportunity to make a little extra coin, Igmar Houndhaven lost little time in turning a tidy profit by selling Rayas the copy of "A Theory of Gateways and Inter-Planar Rifts" by Judge Ofic Gundap that you recovered from the mysterious tower atop the hill.


Not long after Rayas took his leave of you, those of you in the Griffin were approached by yet another figure, a wiry shifty young man who introduced himself as Max. Max claimed to represent a local organization dedicated to the protection of merchants and tradesmen from the predations of criminals and wrongdoers. For the small fee of five percent of all wealth recovered from the Hills, Max guaranteed that his organization could protect you from any unfortunate acts of violence or criminality that might otherwise befall you. Quickly inferring that you were in fact dealing with the local Thieves' Guild, you agreed to pay Max his tithe from your sale of Gundap's treatise, but were very glad to have kept the recovery of the diamond a secret. Slightly unnerved by the encounter with the Guild, your party decided to leave town that day and head back to Witchspyre Hill in the hopes of winning more wealth and riches.


The first day of your journey back to Witchspyre Hill passed without incident, but on the morning of your trip's second day, things began to turn ugly. You arose on the morning of May 2 to find the hilly terrain of eastern Gnut shrouded in a dense, virtually impenetrable fog. Pressing on and closely following the steadily rising road you discovered an ominous sign, an abandoned turnip cart, stained with blood and left on the side of the road. You did not have to wonder for long about the answer to this puzzle. About an hour later, the zombies attacked. With little warning, a gang of the mindless walking dead came lurching out of the mist and attacked. Fortunately, the party's cleric was able to call upon the benevolence of his mysterious deity and drive the horrid walking corpses with the sheer power of his faith. Shaken but undaunted, your party pressed on, climbing upward into the rugged and craggy Stony Brows, finally arriving at the foot of the Witchspyre just before nightfall. Needing rest, you decided to sleep atop the steep sided conical prominence, just beneath the shadow of the mysterious tower. The setting sun shone weakly through the mists, hanging like a drop of blood in the murky sky as you set up camp.


The night did not pass well.


Shortly before midnight, the moaning sounds of the walking dead arose from the cold fog that cloaked the rocky slopes below your campsite. This gave little warning and, almost before you knew it, the zombies were upon you, lurching into your ranks, mindlessly driven by their obscene and unholy lust for living flesh. Within moments, Fizbon the magic user was slain. He had barely sat upright in his bedroll when one of the fiends bit into his throat and tore out his jugular. Perhaps the hen-pecked mage finally met something more frightening than his wife. The party's hirelings, Dent Footknocker and Filthy Pete, fell next, cut down while they impotently fumbled for their weapons. Beric called upon the power of his mysterious and unknown god once again, but alas, this time the power of his faith was not enough to turn back the shambling figures lunging from out of the fog. At this point, some in the party began to retreat to the shelter of the tower itself while others, Augran (sp?) the Dwarf and Biter the Fighter girded themselves with their tools of war and turned their steely faces to confront the undead menace. Unfortunately, their bravery was not enough to carry the day, and moments later, the rest of the party watched their last two fighters vanish forever beneath a grasping and clutching wave of putrefied flesh. Alas, the groans of the zombies could not drown out their screams. The rest of the party thus closed the tower door on a scene whose description is probably best left to the imagination.


The rest of the party, now consisting of Igmar Houndhaven the Magic User, Beric the Cleric, Thimble the Thief, and Pipistrelles the Monk spent a nervous night barricaded within the mysterious tower, keeping one eye on the outside door and the other on the stairway leading to the monster haunted under-realms below. Shortly after dawn, they nervously peered out of the tower, expecting the worst, but finding instead that the zombies had withdrawn, perhaps lured elsewhere by other, less fortunate prey. Lacking fighters, the most prudent course of action was to try and return to Null's Harbor and recruit more muscle. The journey back passed without more combat, but the distant moans of the walking dead occasionally met your ears as it drifted wraith-like through the dense, miasmic fog that still blanketed Northern Thrang.


When you arrived at the town gates on the evening of May 5, you learned from the guardsmen that Gnut had indeed been the victim of a zombie outbreak. While the walking dead often do wander from out of the Wargwood Forest to the north, occasionally they come in far greater numbers than usual. The last three days had witnessed just such an onslaught. Nevertheless, they reassured you that this outbreak was deemed minor by the kingdom's inhabitants and that King Haldric had swiftly ordered troops to quell the menace. The situation was supposedly already well in hand.


Once in town, the party decided to lay low and struck out for Sorrowside, the town's westernmost neighborhood frequented by adventurers, mercenaries, and other miscreants. You arranged lodging at Thumbless Jack's, a rowdy but friendly tavern, and put out the word that you were seeking swords for hire. The evening passed without incident for most of the party with the exception of Igmar and Beric who decided to hit the town and spend some of their newly acquired loot on wenching. This led to mixed results at best. On the morning of May 6, Beric awoke stark naked and penniless in the temple of Father Dagon, a sea god of sorts worshipped mostly by fishermen and sailors throughout the Thrangian Kingdoms. Apparently, deep in his cups and unaware of what he was doing, Beric generously donated all of his wealth and worldly possessions to temple. Frantic negotiations with the chief cleric of the place failed to rectify the situation and Beric was forced to return to Jack's Place to rejoin his comrades and nurse his hangover. Hopefully, he now has the favor of Father Dagon. Meanwhile, Igmar awoke as a prisoner, locked in a cell, in one of the western guard towers. He learned that, in a drunkenly belligerent state, he had argued with the watch over some trivial matter and had even attempted to ensorcel a guardsman. Needless to say, this was mightily frowned upon and the guard promptly clapped him in irons. Fortunately, the town watch is used to such shenanigans, especially in Sorrowside, and the rest of the party was able to secure his release with some smooth talking and the payment of fifty gold pieces to the officer on duty.


Back at Thumbless Jack's, the party secured the services of two new henchmen, Steng from Goat's Alley, a drunken, shifty eyed fellow with a horribly burned visage and Doobin Bungbolt, a strapping brute missing his two front teeth. Deeming it best to wait for the zombie outbreak to fully subside but still thirsting for adventure, the party decided to tentatively explore the ruins of Leng's Tower, an abandoned ruin in the town's burnt patch. Not much exploration was done, however. You descended to the entrance room of the tunnels below the tower looked around and decided to hold temporarily. This is where we left off. All in all, I thought it was a fun, if somewhat blood soaked, evening.


225 experience points each go to Igmar, Beric, Thimble, and Pipistrelles

Next Session

How does June 11 or June 12 work for everyone for our next session?

Witchspire Hill - Session 2

Dates: April 26-28, 1051 HR


Our second session began on April 26, with your party hundreds of feet below the surface of Witchspire Hill, peering into the monster-haunted gloom of the under passages that have appeared there so recently. Over the course of the next three days, you cautiously and methodically continued your exploration of the vast labyrinth searching for hidden treasure and attempting to make sense of the enigmatic structure.


Thus far, the dungeon has been reluctant to give up its secrets. Undead seem to predominate, though other vermin like monstrous centipedes, rats, and stirges appear to be in abundance as well. The complex also contains a variety of traps in the form of pits and dead falls, as was discovered by the much missed fighting man , "Murder," who had the misfortune of tumbling headlong into one such engine of death. The party did discover evidence that there may be more intelligent inhabitants of the under-realm as well. The corpse of a bipedal, toad like humanoid, clad in chain mail and a scarlet cloak was found, for instance. The identity, or even species, of this mysterious individual has yet to be determined.


The party also managed to translate the curious red leather bound book recovered from the upper tower, learning that it was a treatise entitled "A Theory of Gateways and Inter-Planar Rifts" authored by some one named Judge Ofic Gundap. The book was written in an unknown language.


As the exploration continued, even more curiosities began to be found. Perhaps one of the most baffling came in the form of an immensely long corridor lined with niches containing busts of humanoid heads. No two busts were the same and seemed to depict unique individuals, each rendered in exquisite detail. As if this were not strange enough, you noticed that one of these busts portrayed the startled visage of none other than Raylene Marybegotten, a former member of your party who you had seen slain before your very eyes just days before.


But on the morning of April 28, you discovered at the end of this hall of heads what was perhaps the dungeon's most memorable horror thus far. An enormous diamond hung suspended in mid air atop an elaborately carved pedestal bearing a sculpture of a leering, laughing devil. Before the pedestal, the floor bore an intricate, but scorched, sunburst pattern. When you approached the pedestal, the devil sculpture animated and claimed the diamond to be shield by a magical force field. In order to lower the field and recover the diamond, it told you, a single individual must stand in the sunburst and answer three riddles, the condition being that only the one in the sunburst may answer. Silas the Magic User bravely stepped forward, uttered a few obscenities, entered the sunburst, and listened to the animate sculpture recite its first riddle. Unfortunately for Silas, Bella the Monk, overcome with excitement that she knew the answer, blurted out a response to the riddle. The party then learned the consequences for answering out of turn as they looked on in horror as Silas was engulfed in a pillar of blinding flame; his screams of agony echoed down the long corridors of Witchspire Hill as his flesh melted from his bones and his eyeballs poached like eggs in his skull.


In response to this hasty outburst, Zizek the Magic User seized Bella and shoved her into the sunburst, demanding that she too answer a riddle. But while Bella knew the answer to the first of the statue's riddles, she failed to answer its second and thus found herself consigned to the same terrifyingly fiery death as Silas. At this point, some among you raised the possibility of leaving this puzzle trap behind and cutting your losses. But the lure of the fabulous diamond, hanging glittering in the air before you, proved too tempting to ignore and you pressed on with the perverse and deadly game. Thus began a grim procession as two more characters - Chalice, priestess of Veccna, and the much loved Brother Coin - entered the dreaded sunburst only to be immolated as those who had gone before had been. Spirits began to sink as the corridor filled with filthy smoke and the nauseating smell of burned flesh and rendered fat until, at last,Goram the dwarven fighter stepped forward and answered the statue's final question thereby releasing the diamond.



This is where we left off. In order to reap full xp for the gem, you must of course return with to civilization, but you are of course under no compulsion to do so.

194 xp for each surviving PC

Next Session

I will post a campaign update with experience points, but for now I just wanted to suggest either Friday May 14 or Saturday May 15 for our next date. Thoughts?

Witchspire Hill: Session 1

Date: April 22-25, 1,051 HR

Our first night of play began with our hardy adventurers arriving at dusk outside the gates of Null's Harbor, principle town of the the Kingdom of Gnut. Upon entering the town, the party lost little time tracking down the truth to the rumors that had been trickling down the coast road into central and southern Thrang. After some inquiries were made at The Green Griffon tavern, the party made the acquaintance of a local jack-of-all-trades known as "Filthy Pete," who claimed to have information about the strange goings on in the Stony Brow Hills and the stories that had lured the party to Gnut.

According to Filthy Pete, five months earlier, a mysterious black tower manifested itself one night atop a remote hill know as Witchspire Hill. No one witnessed any construction of the structure - it was simply "there" one November morning. Needless to say, the bizarre occurrence created a stir when news of it reached the Null's Harbor which lay just one day's march to the west. Unable to resist the lure, a local adventuring company known as "The Wild Boys" headed out to investigate. They returned to town one week later telling tales of an extensive network of tunnels, galleries, and chambers laying beneath the tower. Significantly, they also returned with treasure in the form of gold coins, gems, and some strange and foreign looking objets d'art. After resupplying, "The Wild Boys" headed out again to investigate "The Witchspire" as locals had begun to call it. That was late November.

As of yet, they have not returned.

Following the discoveries of "The Wild Boys," two other adventuring companies - "The Undermountain Boys" and "The Bronze Dragon Adventuring Club" - set out for hill hoping to recover additional loot. Not a single member of those groups have returned either.

Despite the obvious danger, our adventurers could not resist the lure of possible treasure to be found and quickly formulated plans to set out for the Witchspire on the following morning. After some negotiations with Filthy Pete, they managed to convince him to come along as a guide and even serve as a shield bearer for Igmar Houndhaven, one of the party's magic users. Filthy Pete offered to find an additional hireling to serve as shield bearer for Silas Graylock, the party's second magic user. Pete made good on his promise and returned the following morning with an affable if somewhat dim-witted bumpkin named Dent Footknocker.

Also at the Green Griffon, the party learned from three burly dock hands about the recent execution of Gnut's Queen. Apparently, King Hardric VII, current monarch of Gnut discovered that his wife, Queen Yvonne, had been cuckolding him with her music tutor. He promptly dissolved their marriage and had her executed. But because Queen Yyvonne was sister to King of Alfonso, ruler of the Thrangian Kingdom of Eknad, a political dispute has ensued. King Alfonso is not at all happy about the execution of his sister and tensions between Gnut and Eknad are nearing a boiling point.

The following morning, the party made ready to leave town by purchasing supplies and questioning some local merchants who had purchased some goods from the Wild Boys.

But while leaving Bytor's Magic Shop, the group's two magic users, Silas and Igmar, were approached by an indiviual identifying himself as Legas who claimed to be an agent of Hezroat, a prosperous local spice merchant. After cornering the two neophyte mages for a private conversation, Legas informed them that his master, Hezroat, would pay everyone in the party 100 gp each if they returned to town with the head of Bartok, leader of "The Wild Boys." Legas offered no information concerning Hezroat's motives in offering this deal. After some discussion, Silas and Igmar took the deal, but decided to keep the deal to themselves and not tell the rest of the party.

The rest of the morning was uneventful except for the actions of Thimble, the party's thief, who took the opportunity to pilfer a silver comb from a merchant's stall in the central marker square.

The trip to the Witchspire was uneventful and the party arrived late in the afternoon on April 24.

Upon investigating the tower itself, the party discovered what appeared to be a ransacked wizard's tower. Little was learned beyond that, but the group did find a secret compartment containing a scroll and book bound in red leather, both written in a strange and unfamiliar language. After camping for the night, our adventurers finally began their descent into the regions below the tower on the following morning.

There, the group began exploration of what they presumed to be a large underground complex. And sure enough, the complex was not uninhabited. Horrid undead in the form of ghouls and a strange bull headed skeleton assailed the party within their first hour of exploration. It was here that we suffered our first loss. Rayleen Marybegotten, a female fighter, was savagely gored to death by the bull headed skeleton during the desperate, torch-lit battle. Though shaken, the party decided to continue, and after stripping Rayleen's corpse of all useful items, they did just that.

And this is where we left off, poised on the edge of the unknown mysteries and dangers that lie beneath Witchspire Hill. Nice work everyone.

Experience Points Awarded: 43 points per character. 5 bonus points go to Thimble for her theft.

Next Date

I'll post a campaign update sometime in the next few days, but for now I'd like to throw out some possibilities for our next session. How does Friday, April 16 or Saturday, April 17 sound for everyone?

Welcome to the Kingdoms of Thrang

The Kingdoms of Thrang, also known as the Thrangian Kingdoms, are a collection of minor principalities, about sixty in number that lie along the eastern edge of the Great Western Sea. [Editor’s note: For those of you who have played in the Fallen Lands before, the northernmost part of Thrang lies about 560 miles due south from the town of Southwaite on the Hrothgar Peninsula]. The region is populated mostly by humans. Thrang is characterized by rolling hills and deep valleys. Its Kings and Queens rule from dark and ominous hilltop castles and forts. The climate is warm and temperate [similar to Northern Virginia in our world], but gloomy. The towering Somber Horn Mountains that comprise Thrang’s eastern border effectively block the moisture laden west winds that blow from the sea, making the region quite rainy and almost perpetually overcast.

To call the Thrangian principalities “kingdoms” is quite generous, in fact; most have a population that averages around four to five thousand souls. But kingdoms they are nevertheless, each ruled by its own monarch and attendant aristocracy. All of these minor kingdoms share a common culture and religion, one of the main reasons for conceptually grouping them together in the first place. Moreover, most of the Royal families of Thrang have intermarried over the years, thus strengthening and reinforcing the bonds that give the region its unique and distinctive identity.
Despite this sense of commonality, however, there is seldom peace in Thrang. The Thrangian Kingdoms are given to great intrigue and rivalry. Blood feuds, plots, schemes, and outright war are common in Thrang as its various petty monarchs vie and compete in the attempt to usurp each other’s power.

[Yyrg the Bald, chief historian at Canaladaer Keep, described Thrang as existing in a state of “perpetually controlled chaos.” These remarks were made in his famous treatise on the region entitled Mandeville’s Travels: An Actual Excursion to Thrang Along with Imaginative Speculations of the Lands of the Distant South which May or May Not be Ruled by Snake Men.]

There are several reasons why the region does not simply devolve into total anarchy or gradually coalesce into increasingly larger and more powerful polities as the various kingdoms annex each other.

First, the threat of outright war is somewhat held in check by the fact the entire region is threatened from without by even greater dangers that could potentially spell the end of all the Thrangian Kingdoms. To the north lies the dreaded Wargwood Forest, home and spawning place of hordes of foul undead. To the east, Thrang is bordered by the towering Somber Horn Mountains. In one sense, these mountains are a blessing in that they shelter Thrang from the predations of the fierce Gnoll tribes that rule the Pack Lands beyond them. But, the mountains are also home to their fair share of monsters. Each spring and summer, bands of mountain Trolls, Ettins, and primitive Giants descend from the Somber Horns to raid the eastern kingdoms. To the south lie the Pirate Holdings of Zed, another source of continual danger. Given that Thrang is surrounded on all side by such threats, its ruling monarchies have naturally come to a tacit understanding that whatever their potential grievances with each other may be, it is in everyone’s best interest to collaborate militarily at some level for the common good.

Conflicts between the kingdoms thus tend to involve assassination attempts, espionage, sabotage, duels, and other forms of covert subterfuge. Nevertheless outright war between kingdoms is not unheard of.

The second, and perhaps most significant cause, for the “stabilized chaos” that characterizes Thrang is the Church of Wee Jas, Goddess of Magic and Death. This church is the official, royal religion of almost every kingdom in Thrang. According to custom, the Thrangian monarchs all rule with the divine blessing of the Goddess and the church maintains major temples in every monarch’s court. The church must sanctify every royal marriage and coronation. Make no mistake though, Thrang is not a theocracy. The church’s power, while considerable, is mostly of the “indirect” sort. It has no power to pass legislation and commands little in the way of military power. Because they lack the strength to affect a complete takeover of power, the Magician Priests of Wee Jas must be content to manipulate the political landscape from behind the scenes. But it is in their best interests to maintain the current state of fractious squabbling among the Thrangian monarchs. The more those monarchs are at each other’s throats, the easier they are for the Magician Priests to control. A strong ruler, one who amassed considerable power and allies would be threat to the power of the church. Thus, the church maintains a highly trained cadre of clerical advisors who pour honey into the ears of Thrangian kings and queens, who subtly arrange a marriage here, a poisoning there, all in the name of maintaining the status quo.

To be sure, Wee Jas is not the only deity worshipped in Thrang. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of minor deities, are worshipped by the common people. Demon and Devil worshipping cults are quite common.

Our Game begins in the Kingdom of Gnut, ruled by King Hardric the Seventh, which lies at the extreme northwestern tip of Thrang. Gnut huddles under the eaves of the feared Wargwood Forest from which the walking dead are frequently known to wander. The villages of Gnut thus have good walls and stout gates. Merchants and travelers are advised to go armed and avoid the roads at night. There are wolves, zombies, and worse things loose in the dark.

You have come here lured by the promise of adventure and treasure. Vague rumors have reached your ears that strange things are afoot and treasure has been found in the Stony Brow Hills, a rugged and desolate region that separates Gnut from its eastern neighbor, the Kingdom of Zilb. These hills are home to many weird ruins, remnants of a lost civilization that predates the rise of Thrang. Some of these ruins may hold ancient treasures. Vague, partially formed, hints have trickled southward down the coast road and reached your ears, something about a mystery in the hills and the possibility of loot.

We begin with you heading northward on route to Null’s Harbor, a port town on the Western Sea and Gnut’s principle settlement. You are several hours from your destination. It is mid afternoon and a steady drizzle falls from the nickel grey sky overhead. It is April, the cruelest month. Pray that it not be for you.

Session 1 - The Fallen Lands (RSVP ASAP)

Date: Friday, March 19 2010

Start Time: 7PM

Location: DM's Home.

*Please RSVP in the comments as soon as you can. If you need an address or directions, let the dm know in the comments as well.

It looks like we are going to freeze the dramatic fight between "The Eight" and the goblins (and other?) inhabitants of Giantscrag and start our next round of Eime campaign sessions in medias res when we return to the Island.

Our next session, then, will be devoted solely to starting our next campaign in Ironbeard's "Fallen Lands" setting. In the coming days perhaps our dm can post and/or send any campaign-related information to the players?

Finally, it would be great if all the regular players in the group weigh in on the comments about their availability on this new date...I know many of you have responded negatively to the 3/20 date, but let's try to get a March session going before we slip into April.