Session 222: Charity and Kindness

It happened again. Sometimes it happens multiple times a day. Sometimes days or even weeks pass without it happening. But every time, it is the same. For me, it's not unlike the sensation of falling asleep, this strange power I have been given. The noises around me dampen, my attention drifts, then I fall into a reverie and see a scene before my eyes, the exploits of our dear Saviors of Orlane! It is so real: I can smell odors, hear sounds, sometimes even taste flavors! I have been told that my appearance looks odd to observers. My head lops to the side slightly, my mouth droops a little, and my eyes slip out of focus then go completely white. I don't know which deity has bestowed me with this gift, only that it feels divine and important to share what I see. So I retell it to any who will listen. Such as yourself...

Although our heroes are far away in the city of Hochoch, I can still see their goings on (even when they are not very exciting). I perceive Armatzi, Niki, Lalie, Titus, Lhoss, and Gnorcia. They are buying fancy food and drink for their treasure guard, Myr. Myr is a funny little creature. I have come in contact with him only a couple of times, but he is shrewd and all business. Finished with their business in town, Armatzi, Niki, Lalie, and Titus head out for Orlane (after Titus purchases a horse to ride out on). Lhoss and Gnorcia stay behind to train in their chosen specialties. 

Along the road back to us in Orlane, the party happens upon a group of downtrodden refugees. They are fleeing after a giant attack in Geoff. The poor dears ask to be accompanied on their journey to Ironguard Mott. The gracious and generous Saviors of Orlane oblige and then show themselves to be true heroes. Titus notices a man with a broken leg and cures it. The man is much relieved and quite thankful. Armatzi casts a spell to create food for all of the weary travelers and Tatania offers them some dried fruit from her stock. They all accept and eat their fill. Armatzi then offers a gold piece to each adult in the party which causes the grateful crowd to burst into hymns of St. Cuthbert. Tatania offers a glass bead to each child. Their spirits bolstered, the remainder of the journey passes with much more optimism that had been felt before encountering this benevolent group.

Back in Orlane, the group decides to venture out to that old place of death and danger: the barrowmaze. Upon departure, they are joined by two new party members, Maeve and Vayda. This group is a mix of seasoned and inexperienced adventurers. What horrors await them?

Midway through the Dim Forest, the group hears the distinct sound of footsteps. Not those of an animal or a large troop of people, but a disturbance in the brush from... who can say what? Lalie is able to detect evil at any time, simply by concentrating. And by Jove, she detects evil in this place. The sound of movement comes and goes. Lalie is determined to investigate, so she moves in the direction of where she senses the evil. Overhead, some branches break from their trees and ooze off. Lalie feels a wave of nausea at the sight. She momentarily loses her balance and drifts to the side, attempting to catch herself on the trunk of a tree. Instead of a solid tree to brace against, Lalie's hand pushes through into a rotten center. She pulls her hand out to find it covered in writhing maggots. Absolutely horrified and disgusted, Lalie shakes off the insects and rejoins the crew. She directs them to leave this place and move on to the barrowmaze.

Seasoned party members direct the newcomers to an entrance, but make no effort to show anyone how to solve the little puzzle that would allow entry. Maeve is a curious little jester and steps to the front. With a little manipulation of a prominent skeleton head, she reveals a staircase. After some walking, the group encounters a bricked off wall with loud moaning behind it. Lalie, the righteous cavalier, is determined to bash down the wall and face whatever is behind it!

The vision departs and my normal sight returns. I will go about the rest of my day, but I shall forever be your faithful storyteller, 

Vilma

Session 149: The Saviors of Orlane (Again)

The battle continues...

Feno slays a black skeleton while Kyro slays the necromancer Patrik. Gnorcia vaults onto the back of a zombie and absolutely shreds it with Vengeance. Unfortunately, this leaves her in a vulnerable position to be hit back to back (in the back) by powerful skeletons. Before she can drink a healing potion, she is struck again which knocks her unconscious and her precious vial is smashed. Feno kills another zombie, but finds himself beginning to be surrounded by undead. Kyro continues to fire deadly arrows from his perch in a tree. Arnd and Armatzi continue to flee in terror while Niki keeps her lightning spell brewing in the background until she can cast another strike. She steps up beside Feno to engage in melee using Mr. Paws.

On the other side of the lake, Lhoss has met up with the elves Dorian and Llywillian and a band of Gran March knights. She is exhausted and out of breath having sprinted at top speed, but is able to indicate with Thieves Cant that there are reinforcements on the other front. Niki rushes up to Gnorcia and binds her wounds to keep her from bleeding out. The heroes then do something they don't often do: they drink some potions that aren't just for healing! Feno downs a vial containing a potion of super-heroism and Lhoss hands Dorian a potion of hill giant strength. She then digs in the bag of holding and gives a magic long bow to Llywillian for the fight. Llywillian immediately fires a shot and takes down a zombie from the small group of villains who have broken off the main group to engage with the eastern front. Dorian moves forward to form the point of a defensive arc, flanked by knights, behind which Lhoss stands. Lhoss casts a sleep spell on the necromancer Tovio and is simultaneously hit by a magic missile cast by the same. She takes a small hit, but he takes a nap. Lhoss then lobs a vial of oil onto a zombie (and for once is a pretty good shot). Llywillian attacks and slays a steel skeleton which causes something strange to happen... the skeleton crumbles and all of the remaining undead creatures vanish like a mirage. The fallen necromancers also disappear; it seems some illusory magic had been at play. Even the damage each of the heroes had taken in the fight was illusory and Gnorcia stood up, well and whole.

With the enemies dispelled, the town was surveyed. Nearly every building to the west of the lake had taken some level of damage, up to and including being totally demolished. The buildings to the east had been fortified and were somewhat spared. Everyone gathered at the temple and learned the sad news that Ramne, the mayor, and the chief priest had been killed. The reunited saviors were pleased to see their entire party had survived. Some other villagers had been slain, some fled, women and children had been evacuated to the east. The jeweler and shopkeeper were among the missing. Priestess Misha had taken upon herself the mantle of leadership. She begged the Saviors of Orlane to find Nanor, Derik, and the cultists and defeat them for good. The group vowed to do so but first to help with the extensive job of cleaning up Orlane and making it a hospitable village once again

Session 147: When Dark Clouds of Trouble Hang Over Us

Day 8 of Patchwall:

As Feno and Lhoss nursed the still weak Jack back to health, Niki cast Speak with Animals, in order to understand the meows of her weak feline friend. While still weak, Kyro, having some sympathy towards him, offered a chunk of the displacer meat, which he gobbled up in eager haste. While the rest of the party heard just meows between Niki and Jack, the normally feisty feline relayed to Niki what had recently befallen him. While on a patrol near the borders of the Dim Forest, he was attacked and ambushed by a large horde of undead. He retreated to warn the people of Orlane of this growing threat. Once he warned them, he went back on an exhibition to fight the undead horde but was instead ambushed by a group of necromancers. They attacked him and cut off his paw, (which incidentally was the same paw that had the ring of Jack that allowed him to talk without use of Speak with Animals) and leaving him for dead. Upon finding Niki and the rest of the group he implored them to head towards the town of Orlane, because it was in grave danger. Following his tale, a healing spell, and a full stomach, he promptly falls asleep in company of the party. The group rests for the evening and discuss/digest this new information. They decide to ride to town in a hurry. 

Day 9 of Patchwall:

The group awakens to heavy rain and mist, that continues throughout the day. The rain slows the group down quite a bit, as they and their horses have to slog through the mud and muck of the trail. The group enters the Dim Forest, which has become quiet due to the rain. 

The rain has made the forest cold, as the group ends their day, finding the good resting spot they used on the start of their journey. They cook and eat more displacer beast stew and settle down for the evening. As they prepare themselves for the evening, each member of the group is hit with a sense of uneasiness at the edge of their senses. Not knowing how to describe it to each other, they brush it off and rest for the evening before starting their hurried journey back to Orlane. 

Day 10 of Patchwall:

The skies clear up a bit for the party, but the trail is still muddy and hard to traverse. They arrive near the outskirts of Orlane in the early afternoon and quickly see an unsettling sight. As they travel closer to the familiar city, they see signs of a struggle: what appears to be crimson blood stains along the trail, patches of torn leather and cloth, along with broken metal, seemingly from a weapon or two. Feno kneels down to examine the cloth and leather and discovers that it bears a close resemblance to the clothing worn by the Grey Hawk Knights. The knights were quietly observed heading in this direction while the party was near the town of Wood's Edge a few days ago. Seeing the signs of this recent battle, Lhoss and the group ready themselves for potential conflict. As they march forward, both Lhoss and Feno notice smoke and haze billowing from a nearby farmland. As they continue marching closer, they see piles of bones from some undead, the corpses of slaughtered livestock, with nearby farms and houses found gutted and burned to the ground. As they near the actual town of Orlane, both Lhoss and Feno pick up on the sounds of battle occurring. Whatever happened in the farmlands is occurring in Orlane right this moment. They move quickly and arrive in town, only to see a clash between undead and their friend Alan Clayborne. Alan, along with his wife and a few knights from Grey Hawk are battling against, ghouls, zombies and skeletons. The group ties up their horses (as they are not cavalry fighters), they head and attack the undead horde, saving both Alan and his wife, but some knights fell in the battle. They then move towards Rayne's forest house and are intercepted by foul creatures known as shades. Niki using her Call Lightning spell last battle with great success, moves the thunderous cloud overhead and blasts two of the creatures out of existence.  Lhoss destroys one herself, using her spell Continual Light, but not before the creature does damage both Feno and Arnd. The group examines the dead body of Rayne and his familiar, Whiskers. After paying their briefest of respects, they move south near the bridge. As they get near the bridge, their collective anxiety reaches a fever pitch. Just past the bridge is the largest collection of undead that the heroes have ever seen. 

Amongst their ranks, is Nanor, and Derek, both villains who have troubled the party for many months, if not years. Nanor and his minions mock the party. The battle between good and evil draws near...

Session 139: Closing the Pit of Chaos

The battle looks grim. With Feno fleeing and Arnd asleep, only Kyro, Lhoss, Niki, and Armatzi remain to fight. Lhoss calls out that the party needs to retreat and regroup. Lhoss attempts to shove a skeleton into a zombie with her staff and Niki tries to sweep another off its feet with her scimitar; both are unsuccessful in their disarming strikes. Kyro prepares to drag Arnd out of the room while Armatzi moves forward with the Fount of Law to shield the two of them. The presence of the holy relic causes all the undead to retreat a few steps and shudder. With no resistance, Lhoss, Niki, Kyro and Arnd retreat effortlessly from the room. Armatzi, however does not retreat and stares down the crowd of foes. He turns his head back to the group and mouths the words "I'm sorry, I have to do this" and presses forward to the pit. Arnd, ever filled with a sense of bravery and duty charges back into the room to assist Armatzi. The cleric slowly moves closer to the gaping maw, causing the skeletons and zombies to shiver and move mechanically away from him. The beholder screeches out "I will feast on your flesh!" but if this strikes fear into Armatzi's heart, he does not show it. Suddenly a bone golem bursts forth from the pit. The hole is a mass of twisting blackness and body parts with teeth and fangs inlaid, jutting inward. With a belch of putrid stench, two more bone golems emerge and jostle their way into position in front of the fetid chasm. One of the golem pushes a quivering zombie away and decapitates it in a swipe. The beholder laughs manically at the scene. Armatzi presses his advance toward the pit. Niki holds back, but Kyro joins Arnd at Armatzi's rear while Lhoss sprints off to try and catch Feno. She sees him in the distance just as the spell breaks and Feno turns to head back to the battle. Lhoss and Feno exchange an Elven high-five (perfect cracking sound, slight stinging sensation on the palm) and the two sprint together. Meanwhile, Armatzi has moved close enough to the pit that he feels confident he can toss it into the downward sloping crevasse. The onlooking party members seem to hold their breath as the orb arcs slightly up and falls toward the hole. The beholder follows the font with his eye stalks; the lesser demons freeze; the golems seem to recognize the power of the object and consider it while it sails through the air, then tip aside as if to let the now strobing globe of light pass by to its destiny. With a huge blast of stinking air, a force erupts from the pit and every person and creature in the room is stunned and thrown back, onto the ground. Even Lhoss and Feno feel the vile wind blow past them. In a blink, all of the enemies are defeated, leaving behind nothing but clouds of bone dust and piles of gore. All that remains of the Pit of Chaos is a deformed mound of black crust. While the rest of the party feels a great sense of relief and accomplishment, Armatzi receives a message from St. Cuthbert: the maze is not yet clean as there is a greater presence of Nerul to the East. The pit of Chaos had been masking this evil, but it is now evident. 

The light in the room has changed. The statues are no longer emitting an unholy light and are now each holding something in their arms. The group collects a few potions, a scroll, and leather armor. Kyro finds a gold ring set with a diamond. He peers at it curiously and then places it on his finger and appears exalted. The group questions Kyro about the ring, but he is secretive and refuses to remove it. Niki casts detect magic on the items and they all glow with magic. Jack appears, takes one look at Kyro, and immediately his hair stands on end and he begins hissing at the ranger. Kyro mentions to Niki that she needs to be nice to Jack and then the cat pops back out of sight. This whole exchange makes Lhoss extremely suspicious. She questions who Kyro serves and he replies that he serves Merrika, but this does not put Lhoss at ease. She insists that in order to trust Kyro and travel with him, he needs to remove the ring. Kyro acquiesces. He then discloses that the ring allows him to understand and communicate with animals. That seems harmless enough, why was he being so secretive about it?

On the road back to Orlane, the group sees an approaching figure. He is wearing patched brown clothes and has a brown beard and striking blue eyes. The group hails him and has a brief, but friendly conversation with the traveler. He identifies himself as a Wanderer and a worshipper of Fharlanghn. As he moves on, the group notices that the traveler moves with great speed. Behind, he left a small wooden chit; it is dark walnut and carved with runes.

Back at the inn, Lhoss overhears some townsfolk talking about a stranger that was ranting about the lesser pit being destroyed but boasting about the rise of necromancers. Lhoss inquires if it was the man they had met on the road, but no - this stranger was dressed in a black cloak. Lhoss imparts the news of their most recent success with the pit and then warns the townsfolk that this was an evil person and not to engage with him. They thank her and buy her a drink, which she happily downs.

Jack pops back into the inn and points to Kyro's new ring and identifies it as a ring of evil. It's possible, though, that Jack simply doesn't like the idea of another being who is able to know his thoughts. Jack and Niki bicker over which one of them is smarter and Niki points out that she has a skill that Jack does not: healing. Jack scratches her arm and then proclaims that Niki is right, he cannot heal. Feno orders a dish of chicken for Jack, which the cat gulps down with delight. The cat winks at the elf and indicates that a favor is owed to Feno. In fact, Feno is flush with generosity and buys the whole room a round of drinks. Lhoss sees the mayor in the crowded inn and passes on the good news that the pit has been closed. A cheer is raised and more drinks are poured as what is sure to be an evening of revelry begins in earnest.

Session 119: At last, a gelatinous cube

Feno, Niki, Arnd, Sergius, Lhoss, Chalkboi, and Kyro could tell they were in the vicinity of the Font of Law, but they had thoroughly explored the current corridor and found nothing. They decided to retrace their steps back to the obelisk room and search beyond the eastern door. Upon opening the door, Feno was greeted with an odd sight: beyond some rubble stood a man with his back to the group; one arm was raised and frozen in place as if to ward off or wave. The figure did not respond to Sergius' calls, which was... disturbing. The party took in the rest of the room and noticed the walls of dark granite and limestone, distinct from the rest of the barrowmaze, as well as a rusty portcullis. As Niki moved further into the room to probe with her 10' pole, she noticed an odd ripple in the air. Immediately though, she was able to discern its true form: a large cube of transparent material... and it was moving toward her! The jiggling form attempted to advance and engulf her, but Niki outmaneuvered it. She struck out at it but it was Feno that delivered the destroying blow, absolutely demolishing it. The human figure, no longer supported by the gelatinous cube, fell and revealed to the group that he had been half devoured by the goo. Upon close inspection, it was believed that the half-consumed man had been a member of the Band of the Black Hand. Ah well, no great loss.

Sergius was the first to begin exploring a passageway to the south. He found burial alcoves and limestone walls that turned into rougher walls. There were eight hallways, each containing many differently-shaped burial alcoves. The adventurers closed the door behind themselves, as not to be snuck up on, and worked together to systematically search the alcoves. It was clear they would not wrap up in time to be back to Orlane for dinner, so the group ate a hasty dinner of bland rations and tried to make quick work of the searching. The haul was impressive: a gold circlet, brass cup, circular polished stone, ivory carving, bracelet, fire opal, glass box, jade idol, earrings, copper inkwell, ornate plate, mithril brooch in the shape of an elven tree, necklace, coral, and a healthy amount of gold, silver, and electrum. Feeling good about the day's work, everyone was prepared to head back to town. Feno carved a small star into the wall as a reminder that he had been here.

Alas, behind the door, the way was not clear to depart. A swarm of three stirges barred the way with a pair of sapphire skeletons advancing in the background. Two of the enormous mosquito-like creatures attacked Niki and began to suck her blood. Arnd swung out with his throwing war hammer and squished one. Lhoss used her spider climb to hang from the doorway and strike down at another, killing it. Unfortunately, this put Lhoss in a vulnerable position and she was stabbed by both of the skeletons. Feno squished the last stirge. Working swiftly, Chalbkoi and Sergius felled the two skeletons, their sapphires glowing ominously. This group has fought enough of these skeletons to know that they can only be fully defeated if their sapphires are smashed. Kyro and Chalkboi cleaved one each and the valuable shards were gathered up. The group headed back to Orlane as night fell.

The treasures were tested for magic and two items proved to be imbued with powers - the brooch and the polished stone. The group decided to divvy up some of the magical items and potions they had acquired. Anyone willing to pay the price to identify a potion could claim it. Feno claimed two and Lhoss claimed one. In addition, the ring the group had previously found was identified as a ring of fire resistance and given to Sergius. The polished stone was determined to be a luck stone and given to Feno. The brooch was shown to turn any fine cloak into a cloak of elven-kind (and therefore decrease the odds of being perceived) and given to Kyro. The rest of the treasure was sold to the jeweler Haskall with the proceeds split among the party for a handsome payday.

Session 107: Sir Guy de O'Veargne and the Fount of Law

The sun rose into a clear sky on the morning of Day 13 of Goodmonth and a warm morning quickly turned into a hot day. Chalkboi, Niki, Armatzi, Zraith, Gnorcia, Loss, and Kyro ate a typically delicious Orlanean breakfast before making the trek to the barrow marsh. It was a sweaty journey through the countryside and farmlands, then tempered by the cool, eerie Dim Forest. The brief temperature respite was shattered upon entering the barrow marsh which was hot and humid with a fetid mist that smelled more foul than usual. There was already a noticeable feeling of weariness among the travelers. The group decided to descend into the barrow maze and find a quiet spot to eat their lunchtime meal.

After moving away from an area that had a rotten smell (probably from some decaying corpses of a previous battle), a portion of rations was consumed and adventuring ensued. Armatzi walked headlong into the first room the party explored and was immediately attacked by three crab spiders that fell from the ceiling. As has happened too often of late, he was poisoned and began to froth at the mouth. Niki engaged the spiders and Armatzi was pulled to safety and Chalkboi administered a cure poison potion. Gnorcia quickly slew one and Jack used his yarning spin to hold another. The spiders were all quickly slain and the party beheld a shrouded corpse with a dirty silver circlet. The headpiece was retrieved while Gnorcia and Kyro harvested the poison sacs from the spiders.

In the next room, two disturbed skeletons on stone slabs were present in a room with hunting and fishing frescoes on the walls. There was also a pile of debris where two bracelets were found. Then to everyone's surprise, a mongrel man peered up from the debris. He was a pitiful creature that was part baboon, part cockroach, with a lobster claw for a hand. He called himself Kalen and told a sorrowful tale of being cast out by his kind and seeking refuge in the barrow maze. He went on to share that his people were sacrificed on the alters by necromancers. When asked any information on how to find these necromancers, Kalen cowered in fear and refused to communicate. Gnorcia promised that we were here to destroy the evil presence and would avenge Kalen and his people. The group left him with some rations and a spare water skin. To their amazement, Kalen sunk back into the debris pile and became nearly impossible to spot.

As the party trekked to the east, they collectively felt a sense of doom, danger, and evil. Attentive to the warning, all were hesitant to move forward. Chalkboi and Armatzi then felt a sense of holiness that led the group to retreat to the west. Along the wall, Niki noticed a hidden latch. After Gnorcia checked it for traps, Niki triggered it to reveal a hidden staircase. At the end of the stairs, it appeared to be a dead end. But upon inspection, Lhoss found crack in the wall which revealed a hidden door. Inside, dark peat-colored water dripped from the ceiling and collected in a pool in the center. Surrounding the pool were many burial alcoves lining the walls. Zraith went for a swim in the stinking water, which stirred up three giant leaches. They attacked the party but were easily slain. The group found treasure in the alcoves and also the remains of a knight who wore a winged and visored helm.

Suddenly a human specter appeared and introduced himself as Sir Guy de O'Veargne. He told the tale of his mission to close the pit of chaos, a portal to another realm that was allowing evil and undead creatures to pass into the barrow maze. He was to use the Font of Law, a glowing orb, as a means to sever the connection. Alas, he was betrayed, murdered, and unceremoniously dumped before his quest could be completed. As he began to fade from existence, he bequeathed his helm to Chalkboi as a holy paladin of St. Cuthbert and charged him and Armatzi with finding the orb and closing the portal. Armatzi and Chalkboi then took great care and reverence in properly putting Sir Guy to rest in one of the burial alcoves.

Session 103: Day 4-11 of Goodmonth - Jack's Yarning Spin

The group gathered in the common room of the Foaming Mug on the morning of Day 4 of Goodmonth. As they all enjoyed their breakfast, several noticed that the bread was not as fresh as it usually is. Florin indicated that they had not received any fresh bread and had supplemented the offerings with especially fine jams and preserves. Hopefully the day-old bread could be overlooked? Lhoss remarked kindly that day-old bread in Orlane was finer than fresh bread anywhere else. Kyro started to equivocate that the group had eaten very good bread in Hochoch, but Lhoss shushed him. Jack requested a saucer of milk. Kyro raised an eyebrow and remarked "most cats are lactose intolerant!" With his usual quick wit, Feno retorted "most cats can't talk and levitate!" Jack took immense satisfaction in this exchange and gave Feno a high five.

Lhoss informed the group that after her near-death experience, she would need several days of recuperation and rest before she was well enough to go adventuring again. The rest of the party found themselves with time on their hands in the village. Feno walked to the shop to purchase a leather strap with Jack riding on his shoulders. Getting in the cat's good graces will apparently earn you some feline companionship time. Feno also found a place to gamble and had some fun without losing his shirt. Kyro took the opportunity to train in farming with Alan Clayborn. Gnorcia sought out and purchased a luxury cat bed (in the hopes that she could reclaim her own rented bed). She commissioned a perfectly-sized couch in Jack's favorite colors: navy, purple, and gold. He took to it immediately and curled up in a tight little ball. Success! Lhoss spent most of her time taking meals and retreating to her room with a few visits to her good friend, Velma. The rest spent their time and money enjoying the simple pleasures Orlane has to offer.

Day 11 rolled around and Lhoss finally felt well enough to venture out with the party. It was a hot, high-summer day. The sun was blazing, such that the cool of the Dim Forest was at first a welcome relief. But the spookiness of the place soon sent a different chill down their spines. The group pushed on until they reached the barrowmaze which then greeted them with a hot, fetid smell and orange hazy light. That's not all that greeted them, a horde of six skeletons, five zombies, and two ghouls crawled out of the muck and lurched forward to attack!

As Armatzi prepared his turn undead ability, he was viciously attacked by a ghoul. It unfortunately paralyzed him, neutralizing one of our greatest weapons against these undead. Fortunately the party was large with a variety of strengths. Gnorcia's dexterous skill quickly dispatched one ghoul and Lhoss targeted another with her magic missiles. Feno attacked and felled zombies with his deadly blade Icing Death, knowing it was less effective on skeletons. Jack did something unexpected: he levitated one of the ghouls and spun it in midair, neutralizing it as an opponent throughout the battle. Clever kitty! As the battle ensued, skeletons were the last of the enemies for the heroes to defeat. Lhoss remarked to Chalkboi that if he didn't have a blunt weapon to strike the skeletons with, even at half damage, Caliburn may still prove the best option. Indeed a powerful magical sword is capable of slicing a skeleton to shrapnel! Feno took note and instead of switching to his inferior morningstar, pressed his attacks with Icing Death and found it does just fine! He even finished off the ghoul caught in Jack's Yarning Spin. In the aftermath of the battle, Jack walked gently over and touched Armatzi's nose, immediately releasing him from the paralysis. Very, very clever kitty!

Session 95: Wealsun Day 21 through Day 4 of Reaping

As recorded by Gnorcia: 

Lhoss was determined to complete some thief training before traveling to Hochoch. While she was busy preparing for another day of practice and study, the rest of us decided to give up a little sleep and head back to the edge of the Dim Forest at night to see if we could attract and destroy the remaining ghouls that had been harassing farmers in the area.

I tried to convince the others to distract the druid, Niki, so I could kill a small animal and use the blood to attract the ghouls, but she quickly figured out my plan (Jack the cat was probably listening) and put a stop to it. With a big sigh, Feno pulled out a dagger and pricked his finger, dripping and flinging his own blood on everything as we entered the forest. The night was descending quickly and it was mere minutes before we sensed something evil coming toward us from the northwest. It was indeed a pack of ghouls with something even more sinister leading it.

Fear spread across our small group of heroes. I scrambled up a tree and Kyro followed suit. Armatzi and Niki stationed themselves behind the gnarled tree trunks and prepared to attack, but Feno and Chalkboi set themselves in the middle of the path, weapons ready. The ghouls ran straight for the bleeding Feno and only one noticed Armatzi, swiping at him as it passed. Before he was hit, the cleric managed to cast his turn undead spell on the pack's dark leader and called out, aghast at the creature's evil, fishy stench, "It's a ghast!" Jack took one sniff and dove into Niki's backpack.

The rest of us used arrows and darts to attack from a distance, doing some small damage to the horrid creatures. Armatzi cast turn undead again and one ghoul was feared back down the path into the forest, but it wasn't enough to stop Chalkboi from being hit by another. He was immediately frozen by the ghoul's paralytic poison. Feno swiped through one as the rest of us continued our barrage of darts and arrows. Fortunately no one was hit by friendly fire and the injured ghouls screamed horribly as thick blood poured from their wounds.

Once more, Armatzi cast turn undead and the remaining ghouls turned to run. Kyro and I jumped down to help with the chase as Niki cast an entanglement spell, trapping the remaining ghouls in vines. The ghast, however, was merely slowed by the vines and Armatzi determined to destroy it himself. Running around the edge of the entanglement, he scrambled against the forest's thick brush and branches. He even attempted to throw rocks at the ghast, as if somehow he could slow it further.

Feno thought to skip over the entanglement as he attacked a trapped ghast, but got his feet caught in the spell's twining vines. Niki casually strolled right through the vines and smacked down that ghoul, then headed for the last one that was screaming angrily and pawing at the darts sticking out of its rubbery head. Those were my darts and I wanted them back so I leaped over the vines and onto the ghoul's back, but slipped and fell into the mass of greenery. Niki then finished off the final ghoul just as Armatzi and the ghast reached the same point at the vines' perimeter.

Realizing there wasn't time to swing his hammer, Armatzi reached out with the power of the Gauntlet of St. Cuthbert and blasted the ghast with holy light. It crumbled at his feet and even Chalkboi managed to let out a cheer as the paralysis wore off and the vines soon retreated.

Exhausted and covered in the stench of ghouls, we retrieved what darts and arrows we could and headed back to Orlane, stopping only to leave a note on the door at Hans' farmhouse, telling him the ghouls were defeated.

We spent the rest of the week and the next happily enjoying our time with no undead creatures to battle and a joyful summer festival to celebrate. We were a bit too free with our coin and just as freely listened to the tales of too many drunken townsfolk.

Her training complete, Lhoss joined in the celebration and was warned by the townspeople to take great care to avoid altars because they were very dangerous. Armatzi was told to seek the pools in the barrowmaze for safety, and warned that the mutated creatures there would enslave humans. Feno heard that the entrances to the barrowmaze were trapped, while another dismissed the entirety of it, claiming the barrows were just mounded graves and the rest was all folk tales.

I plied stories from a few more folks, learning that they had heard of piles of magical items in the southern crypts, that a powerful evil warrior and his band used the barrowmaze as their hideout, and the oft-repeated story of an elven maiden recently freed from the barrowmaze. I also heard of runic tablets that would curse all who read them, but Niki was told that some runic tablets contain information and not just curses. We nodded and considered our own experiences with runic tablets both helpful and dangerous.

Chalkboi used his story of being paralyzed by ghasts to start conversations with several people who then warned him that tribes of humans live in the barrowmaze along with mutated people who were guarding powerful treasures, and the same story of a powerful evil warrior hiding there with his band. He also had his story dismissed by someone who, again, claimed it was all hogwash and the barrows were nothing but a valley full of old graves.

As the celebrations were winding down on the last day, we gathered together for a meal in the tavern when a short, hooded figure with a long nose poking out from its hood entered the room. It sniffed, then headed straight for our table. We immediately noticed that it smelled more-than-faintly of fish, but this time fish-loving Jack was not afraid and came out to sniff at the hem of its heavy cloak. The creature squawked quietly at the cat and pushed back its hood, revealing a beaked figure in black and white.

"Zraith at your service!" it said. "I have been sent from my brethren in the south to find a cleric known as Armatzi."

All heads turned to Armatzi, who was earnestly breaking up chunks of meat and vegetables in his stew. Sensing the group's silence, he lifted his eyes and recognized the figure before him as a penguin holding a staff in one flipper. Unruffled by the strange welcome, the waddling bird had nothing but attention for Armatzi, and quickly explained that his clan from the south had been experiencing strange visions and sent him as a missionary.

"I am here to accompany you on your journeys for one month," it finished with a snap of its beak, holding its head up at attention. Armatzi paused, then nodded and went back to his stew. We all laughed and welcomed the odd little bird to our party.

The following day, Niki bought a bedroll and Feno borrowed one from Hilja as we packed up our belongings and set out for Hochoch. We stopped to spend the first night with Hans and his family, celebrating the defeat of the ghouls. Days later, on the evening of day four of Reaping (or day four of the elven month of Goldfields, for those who don't know better) at the beginning of high summer, we arrived at Hochoch, exhausted and tired of eating dry rations. We followed the scent of roasting beef and soon found ourselves at the Swift Coin Inn, where we dined on braised beef, soup, and bread, before securing rooms and turning in for a more-comfortable sleep in real beds.

Session 88: The many riches of Osric and Breena

As she peered into the sarcophagi, Lhoss found herself simultaneously dazzled by the mountain of coins and wondering how on earth the group would transport it all. Luckily, Gnorica and Arnd appeared, swelling the party's ranks. Between Calbach, Tatania, Lhoss, Gnorcia, Arnd, Armatzi, Niki, Feno, and Hilja, all of the platinum and gold and much of the silver was packed up to cart back to Orlane. 

As the group exited the barrow maze, they encountered a bunch of skeletons. Between Hilja casting an entangle spell and Armatzi turning the undead, the evil creatures were quickly slaughtered. The rest of the journey was uneventful. The adventurers cleaned off the dust and rain from their travels and ate dinner at the inn, ending day 11 of Wealsun.

The riches were divided among the group and Armatzi, Hilja, and Niki were able to train to level up. The items gathered from Osric and Breena (armor, sword, shield, ring, bracers, crown) along with the red leather cloak were tested and all found to be magical. Ramne was able to determine the magical properties of each item (for a price). Many in the party found themselves so loaded down with coin, they bought valuable gems and jewelry as an investment and in an effort to lighten their loads. 

Session 81: An Education in Potions, Day 1 of Wealsun

The morning of the first day of Berrytime was warm and sunny. Feno, Aramaziti, Chalkboi, Gnorcia, Lhoss, and Tatania began their day in Orlane doing errands. Feno and Lhoss went to the shop and sold off some weapons (a throwing axe for Feno and a spiked long sword for Lhoss). Feno then bought a morningstar as to have a blunt weapon to use against skeletons (cue foreshadowing music). Wishing to replenish their poison antidote supplies, the group headed to the temple of Merikka.

At the temple, the team met up with Browning (a lesser acolyte). They were informed that he would be conducting all future commercial temple dealings. Browning listed the prices for healing potions and poison cures. The group decided to buy one poison antidote and place it in the bag of holding. Additionally, Feno and Gnorcia purchased a dose each to keep in their personal packs. Browning then told us that if we could obtain the valuable components of the potions (ogre mage blood or troll blood for healing potions and poison glands from spiders or scorpions for heal poison potions) we could receive a discount to purchase them. At this, Gnorcia's ears perked up. She produced several poison sacs that she had skillfully extracted from defeated spiders and was able to sell them for a hefty treasure. Looking at the vials for sale, Lhoss pulled out a few unidentified vials from the bag of holding. With a small gasp, Browning identified two as healing potions, with one being a super healing potion containing three doses. What a discovery! The group, stocked up, headed out toward the barrow marsh.

Even though this has become a well-trod path for our heroes, they were still struck by the business of the area with new builds and a few travelers passed on the way. Other than these merry sights, the journey was uneventful. As the party descended into the gloom of the barrow marsh, they were set upon by that familiar enemy: skeletons! (Repetition of foreshadowing music, now in a major key).

The undead monsters were quickly dispatched with and left in piles of burnt and broken bones. Lhoss turned to Tatania and said "Tatania, wanna see a new entrance?" and pointed out the new door that the party had discovered the previous day. It presented a significant shortcut to the part of the barrowmaze the group had been exploring. Being a quiet and relatively secured area, the party ate lunch and rememorized spells.

Moving on, the heroes found themselves in a familiar spot where they had encountered a melee between the cultists of Orcus and Set. Feno noticed a switch on the wall and, with encouragement from Lhoss, threw it. The wall disappeared to reveal several carnivorous flies. Disgusting as they were, the warriors slew them all quickly and skillfully.

Session 73: Hunting for Froglings

It was the afternoon of Day 13 of Flocktime, common year 576. With insufficient time for the group to make a day trip to the barrowmaze, and the village sufficiently explored, we all discussed what would be the best use of our remaining hours of daylight. Hochoch and Hookhill were deemed too far a distance to travel as we only wanted to occupy ourselves for one afternoon and prepare for the barrow marshes tomorrow. We all kept coming back to the bounty that had been placed on the froglings that have been causing trouble for the farmers to the north. The group (Armaziti, Gnorcia, Tatania, Feno, Lhoss, Hilja, Arnd, and Myrtle) checked in with constable Grover for more information and direction. He told us about two farms that had been having troublesome incursions. So, we set off to visit Frank Stone and Leighton Black. 

Farmer Stone had a cairn topped with a carved bear marking the pathway to his homestead. The farm looked quite prosperous with cows, chickens, and crops being tended to by field workers. The workers did not look up or acknowledge us, so we went to the handsome house (made of brick with a thatched roof) and knocked on the door. A loud voice called out and we were greeted with an air of suspicion by a large woman called Matilda. We assured her that we were here under direction of the constable so she nodded and went to fetch her husband. Frank Stone came to greet us and when he learned we were here to deal with the froglings, he was happy to share whatever useful information he could. Apparently, the attacks had been uncoordinated and largely unsuccessful. When the froglings breeched the fence line, the chickens had alerted the household to the danger and Frank and his sons had been able to scare off the invaders with a volley of arrows. It had been at least a week since the last attack and they had never seen more than five froglings  at once. We thanked the Stone family and left them to their duties as we continued on down the road.

The way to the Black farm was marked with two large oak trees. We followed a hedged path through a grain field to a clearing where geese, chickens, and hogs were penned. We could see a slightly dilapidated log farmhouse with a garden behind it and a rickety barn. Feno noticed a figure disappear into the shadowy barn, hopped a fence, and tried to sneak up to investigate. But since the yard was wide open, he was easily spotted and farmer Black yelled angrily at us, inquiring what we were doing on his property. We tried to smooth things over by explaining we had been sent by the constable, but Leighton remained irritable. He begrudgingly shared his experiences loosing chickens to the froglings. It had been only two days since his last attack, and by the frog spore and footprints, Leighton had identified the culprits and complained to the constable. Farmer Black seemed cautiously optimistic at the prospect of our adventuring band resolving his frogling issues. The constable had better be doing something, that's what he's paid to do after all!

We decided to track the froglings back through the brush the way we figured they had come. Armed with machetes, Feno and Myrtle bushwhacked through the wild shrubs. As we walked, our druid Hilja educated us on froglings, particularly where they are likely to be found. Then she mentioned that she knows a spell (locate animals) that could be particularly helpful in this situation. At the edge of a swamp, Hilja memorized and then cast the finding spell and indicated that they were burrowed in a small mud hut with a two by two foot opening. The party positioned themselves around the opening in an attempt to slaughter the creatures as they emerged. But how to make them come out? Lhoss suggested smoking them out. Gnorcia made a valiant effort at building a fire, but it sputtered and died out quickly. Then Lhoss remembered how the ants had poured out of their anthill and shot a magic missile into the opening...

Three froglings sprung out so quickly that nobody could react fast enough to hit them. Armed with crude clubs, one struck Armaziti and another hit Gnorcia. In retaliation, Armaziti swung mighty Melissa and struck the amphibian down in one blow. Myrtle split another down its spine, killing it and splattering Gnorcia in gore as she stabbed the third. Just as Tatania finished the last creature with a magic missile, three new monsters emerged. One managed to bite Gnorcia while the other two missed their attacks. After several misses from the team, Feno demolished one frogling leaving very little behind but a greasy smear. Lhoss and Arnd destroyed another with a one-two attack of magic missile and Bonesplitter. Tatania damaged the third with a magic missile and three additional froglings emerged. Lhoss shouted "we're gonna get so rich!" One of the emerging amphibians lashed out with its tongue and bit Myrtle, to which she exclaimed "I've been slimed!" Armaziti again squished one to death with Melissa and with a cry of "vengeance!" Gnorcia slaughtered another. Lhoss and Hilja did some minor damage to the last two who inexplicably began to do a little "hammer dance". Their audacious amphibious moves were not matched with prowess and they failed on their attacks on Hilja an Arnd. Myrtle and Arnd ended the battle by beheading and slaughtering the last two froglings.

In order to collect the bounty, the party discussed what they should bring back as proof of their work. Heads seemed too big; eyes, limbs, or digits meant they would have to collect all from each frogling which seemed like too much bulk to carry. It was decided that each creature had only one tongue, long and slimy though they may be, and it would be simple enough to slog them back to Orlane. Lhoss took it upon herself to cut out the nine tongues and loop them through her belt. The trip back to Orlane was quite quick and the group presented their trophies to Grover for the bounty, which was happily paid. Feeling like they had gotten in a good day's work, the group cleaned up for a bountiful dinner at the Foaming Mug Inn.

Session 72: The day we meet a lot of people and some don't want to talk with us

Continuing our investigations into the buildings and residents of Orlane on a sunny early-summer day in Flocktime, we headed next to the mill on the edge of the lake behind the Slumbering Serpent Inn. It was a large mill and the areas outside were scattered with children’s toys and farm implements. A couple of children playing in the yard looked up at us, stared a moment, then gave a friendly wave. Lhoss waved back and asked if their parents were there, and we then found Kenton, the miller, making some adjustments to the wheel. He grunted and inquired with a friendly, “Yes?” Lhoss told him we were checking in on the residents of Orlane and thanked him for the wonderful flour to make the bread we have been enjoying in the town. She asked if he has any interaction with visitors and he said that he only works with residents, farmers, and businesses, and doesn't have the capacity to serve anyone outside the town. We wished him well and next decided to stop by Ramne’s house, but found it closed up and silent, with no sign of Whiskers. Concerned, Lhoss peeked in the window and was comforted that everything looked tidy and cleaned up, and there was still a faint glow of coals in the hearth.

Stopping by the Slumbering Serpent, we spoke with Owen, who apologized yet again for not having any rooms. We asked about the swarthy group of adventurers dressed in grey who had apparently stayed in Orlane and seem to be adventuring in the Barrowmaze, but the busy tavern owner was distracted and simply said he would keep an eye out for them, then hurried off. The barmaids all also appeared too busy to chat so we headed out and went across to greet Alan Clayborn and his wife, who were headed out to lunch. From their farm we could hear work being done on a building to the northwest so we headed over there. We found a group of men taking out two walls of that farmhouse, as if preparing to expand the building. When we approached they looked at us suspiciously and as we greeted them they said, “Who are you?” and rudely stated that their master would not want anything to do with adventurers, and would only greet us at a time of his choosing. We left, determined to find out who they were working for. We also noted some land staked out farther north, as if additional farm buildings were being planned.

Heading east of the Clayborns, just north of the lake, we found more staked-out land, where it appears there will be some building in the near future. East of there we visited another little farmhouse, which has a large barn full of grains and produce. We could see a wisp of smoke from the chimney and knocked on the door. A man named Brutus answered and said they were preparing for lunch. We could see his wife and children inside and quickly asked if he had any troubles with frogmen. He said they had not, and that he said he would let us know if he met any. We left there and headed southeast down the road past Vilma’s house. At the next farmhouse we found a young boy out amongst the hogs, along with some hens and a rooster. He hailed us and said his parents were preparing lunch. Determined not to bother anyone else at their lunch, we decided to move on and visit the Foaming Mug for our own meal.

At the inn we ordered stew and sandwiches and noted a few of the townsfolk we had met previously were also there: the smith glowering over a bowl of stew, and the carpenter and his family eating a meal. Lhoss and Tatania seemed to quickly forget their vow not to bother people during lunch and decided to strike up a conversation with some others there that we didn't know. Tatania took me with her to sit near a man and woman we didn’t recognize, and she asked if they were from Orlane or if they were travelers. They said they were Marco & Nyla Dixon from Hookhill and were looking at building a farm in Orlane. We ate together without a lot of chit-chat but had a pleasant goodbye and said we hoped to meet again. In the meantime, Lhoss took Armaziti along with her and greeted a group of three men and a woman dressed in workers clothing. She introduced herself pleasantly, but they only gave sideways glances and proceeded to ignore them. Rebuffed, she sat Armaziti down at the next table and they noted that the group quickly and quietly finished eating and left.

On our way out we asked the barmaid Jillian about the group that had ignored Lhoss and Armaziti. She said they were workers renovating a building to the southeast, but that they had not been unfriendly to her. We asked about the people who were working on the building northwest of the Clayborns but she didn’t know anything specifically about them, and said that most workers are not local and are likely from Hochoch. She also made an observation that caught our attention, saying that the growth in the town seemed to be happening surprisingly fast.

We left the inn and walked east across the street where we found a prosperous-looking farm with weed-choked gardens. Some young men were working outside and looked up as we approached. They asked gruffly if they could help us and seemed a little unfriendly in their responses. They said they were the sons of the woman who owns the home and sure enough just then a stout woman appeared from the house. She wasn’t the friendliest with us either, but shared that her name was Mandy, her husband had passed away, her sons were working on the farm, and that they probably didn’t need any help from adventurers. We wished them well and headed south, noting lots of work being done on the farmhouse east of the carpenter’s shop where the silent group from the inn were indeed working away. The next building south also appeared to have some unfinished work being done on it.

We headed over to the carpenter’s shop. He appeared busy with much work, but was friendly enough to answer our questions when we asked about the farm northwest of the Clayborns. He said the master is a rich merchant but the man pays his taxes and the group just seems a bit aloof. Wishing him well also, we decided to head west again and check in on the mayor, Zacharius. He greeted us warmly and commented on the rapid growth in the area. He corroborated the carpenter's story that the rich merchant renovating the buildings near the Clayborns is a man named Marley, from Hochoch, who is looking to start a grain shipping business from Orlane. Overall the mayor seemed pleased with the recent growth of the area and impressed by the fact that Marley was willing to pay his taxes up front.

Zacharius couldn’t remember exactly who is renovating the other buildings near the carpenter, but said that workers like that are usually hired by wealthy people from out of town. He also commented that he hoped the town could attract a bower and a baker, and said that since the land is prime for farming most of the growth has been farmers coming to the area, and most of the new immigrants appear to have come from Hochoch. He noted that the growth has meant the constable could hire a few hands, and mentioned that we should talk to him about the bounty on froglings to the north. He also mentioned in passing that the growth overall seems a little unnatural and wondered aloud how the news of Orlane has spread so quickly and how so many people have arrived so speedily after the town was saved from the cult. He suggested we keep an eye out for any information about how that might be happening, and commented that another priest was also arriving at the temple within the week, and they will be building a shrine to St. Cuthbert—apparently with Chalkboi's support.

Session 69: Are Penguins Native to the Barrow Marshes?

Tatania, Gnorcia, Lhoss, Yldarb, Armaziti, Chaklboi, and Hilja were watching Arnd dig away at the grassy mound when Yldarb noted the slight progress we had made. Wait, where did he come from? Nevertheless, even though it was scarcely past mid-day, it was decided that the best course of action was to head back to Orlane and purchase the shovels and pick axes that would be needed to speed up the task.

With Armaziti leading us through the mist, we heard a clicking and came upon a trio of skeletons. Oddly enough, they were penguin skeletons. In my youth, I had visited a fair during Richfest. A curious old man had a menagerie of exotic birds he had collected in his travels. There were colorful and fearful birds, each in their own cages, but my favorite were the penguins. Those he let swim and jump in a large pool he had built for them. The inquisitive and playful creatures were not behind bars, as they could not fly away! Imagine! A bird that flies not through the air, but the water! I had not seen one since, but it so captured my imagination that scarcely a week had gone by that I hadn't thought about those magical birds. Thinking about having to fight the reanimated bones of such a lovely creature was a sad thought. Luckily, they were easily startled and Armaziti sent them running. They ran so fast, we were not able to pursue them and attack from behind. The rest of the journey to Orlane was peaceful and we were treated to a rousing song by Yldarb.

It was early evening when we came into town. Although the sun had not yet set, the shops were closed. While the rest of the party headed to the Foaming Mug for a hearty dinner of meatballs, carrots, and cabbage, I headed to the home of my friend Vilma. It was a relaxing evening of good food and conversation until Vilma abruptly issued a warning about the legend of dangerous alters in the barrowmaze. She was clear that the altars should not be touched as they would impart a great curse. A curse that would be brought back to the good people of Orlane. Feeling warned and a little sleepy, I headed back to the inn to sleep. 

The next morning, we had a delicious breakfast of bacon, ham, and eggs with fresh fruit. Kyro decided he would inquire at the temple to see if his persistent injury could be healed. It could, for a price. Between Kyro and Tatania, they came up with the amount and Kyro was restored to full health. As a thank you (and to earn some extra money), Kyro offered himself for some gardening work around the temple grounds. Being the son of a farmer, it is a native skill to him.

After a quick shopping trip, we had the shovels and picks we needed. Yldarb went to put them in the bag of holding, but found it to be in complete disarray. We spent some time organizing it and then headed back to the barrow marsh to resume our digging.

Session 67: Renewing the Resolve to Find Caliburn

On the morning of Day 11 of Flocktime, our group of Armaziti, Calbach, Arnd, Hilja, Tatania, Gnorcia, Lhoss, and Chalkboi awaken in the Foaming Mug Inn to a delicious breakfast. This refurbished inn is proving to be a welcome haven from our adventures. There is a restlessness in the group and some hesitancy to head back to the barrow marshes since we have had such terrible encounters, including losing one of our party in a vicious battle. A few are wondering if it is wise to continue our quest to find the legendary sword Caliburn when we seem to be stumbling around in the dark (so to speak). It is decided that we need to head to the temple of Merika and inquire of Priestess Misha if she can give us any more guidance.

Misha has very little new information for us, but she does inform us that the tomb is to the far east of the marshes and is guarded by magical wards and tests. The Tomb of the Sacred Blade (as it is named) is protected by the order of St. Cuthbert. Luckily we have a skilled Priest of that very order. Hopefully with these additional pieces, we can find and retrieve the sword. Misha adds that a new High Priest is set to arrive in the temple from Hochoch within 7 days.

Feeling somewhat buoyed and reenergized for our quest, we head out of town. On our way out, we pass many travelers headed into Orlane. The increased prosperity is a wonderful sight. The journey to the marshes is blessedly uneventful. We decide as a group to move toward the main entrance to the barrowmaze and then head due east. We will not stop to explore any mounds until we reach the eastern edge and from there we will work our way back, exploring and probing as we go to find the Tomb of the Sacred Blade. We pass (and ignore) a couple of mounds when we hear the distinctive click and clatter of a scorpion. These large insects are the apex predators of the barrow marsh and have proven formidable foes. Luckily, we face only one. It's a quick creature and immediately lands a blow to Armaziti with its claw and then stinger. Then in rapid succession, Armaziti strikes back with Melissa, Tatania blasts it with a magic missile, and Gnorcia delivers the killing blow. Gnorcia attempts to capture its deadly venom, but a slight fumble causes the poison to drip harmlessly into the swamp.

Pressing onward, we encounter two skeletons. Arnd and Lhoss tag team on one, causing it to fall into a harmless pile of bones while Tatania and Hilja crack the second one, resulting in an explosion of dust and shrapnel. Driven, our party continues east.

Session 63: Day 9-10 of Flocktime: A Replenishing Visit to Orlane

As the evening approached, our party decided to head back to Orlane. Along the path, we encountered a haughty cavalier by the name Zein. He was a bit put off by our haggard appearances (everyone looks a little bit rough after doing battle in the barrowmaze), but seemed intrigued by our adventuring. Zein mentioned that he had been looking for a group to join up with, so we offered to let him join us (as much as his busy schedule would permit).

At our usual resting place (the Slumbering Serpent), we were met by the proprietor Olwin. He was sorry to relay that there was no room at all. We decided to try the Golden Grain Inn, but it likewise was fully booked for the night. Feeling pangs of trepidation, we headed over to the Foaming Mug which had been renovated and opened for business. For many of us, this was the first time we had set foot in the place since we had discovered and slaughtered a den of troglodytes in the basement store rooms. But the inn had been transformed into a cozy respite where we all felt comfortable staying for the night, especially when we were served a delicious meal of chicken and bacon pasties with a side of braised greens.

During the dinner, Lhoss overheard a pair of farmers bemoaning the scourge of frogmen encroaching onto their lands. Lhoss and Tatania approached and attempted to get more information from them, but the two men seemed affronted by the incursion into their conversation. Lhoss attempted to smooth things over by mentioning that our group of adventurers (she may have invoked her favorite calling card "The Saviors of Orlean") had done battle with these same vile creatures in our attempts to cleanse the barrowmaze of the evils that possess it. That actually did put the men at ease and they relayed that these frogmen tended to hibernate (or brumate) in the muck and mire and then emerge in the warmer months to harass farmers in the outskirts. As a gesture of appreciation, the farmers bought a pint of ale for both Tatania and Lhoss. While the rest of the party retired for the evening, Ronan attempted to gather some additional information, but came up empty handed and eventually went to bed too. 

A delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, fresh bread, milk, and blackberry juice was served to all guests and our cadre wolfed down a hearty helping. There is always business to do in town, and today was no exception. We headed over to the jeweler, Tandid Schulp, to hock our wares for a hefty sum. Lhoss decided to head over to see Merit Lage at the village store to stock up on oil. Zein scoffed at her for using such a lowly weapon. Lhoss, in an attempt to get his goat, replied "wait'll you see what this stuff does to zombies!", but the man is positively unflappable. Others in the group stocked up on supplies. Gnorcia decided to buy some chickens from Hewitt Twain and as payment for their care, he receives half of their eggs. A tidy little transaction.

Lhoss, ever seeking the company (or even just the sight of) fellow elves, popped over to check if Dorian and Llewelyn were in town. Alas, they were not. But she did have a cheerful chat with the mayor who invited our troupe to dine with him when next we are in town. With business done, we headed out toward the barrowmaze.

Session 57: Day 28 of Planting through Day 8 of Flocktime: Lingering in Orlane

Our group (Ronan, Yldarb, Gnorcia, Tatania, Lhoss, Adelbertus, and Armaziti) thought our stay in Orlane would be a short one, but I think that we find that the cheerfulness of the town makes us look for reasons not to head back to the gloom of the tomb. At any rate, the group (save Armaziti, who was under the watchful care of priestess Misha at the temple) woke to an early lunch at the inn. We noticed that the town gets busier each time we return, with the only arrangements available to us being the common room of The Slumbering Serpent. In fact, all three inns (The Slumbering Serpent, The Golden Grain, and even The Foaming Mug) are filled with visitors. Truly, Orlane has returned to prosperity.

We headed over to the temple to check in on Aramaziti and found him snoring lightly. Misha had been able to lift the mummy's curse, but the cost would be substantial - 1,000 gold pieces. Many in the party balked at the price. Misha, sensing the burden and seizing on an opportunity presented an alternative: a holy sword named Caliburn is rumored to be in the barrowmaze. It is a lawful good intelligent sword and a holy relic of the order of paladins dedicated to Merika. Knowing our reputation, Misha offered a loan against the healing for the return of the sword. Some in the party suggested that the sword may be worth more than the 1,000 gold we would essentially be trading it for. But Misha intimated that such a sword would not respond well to back-alley dealings. It was decided that this noble side quest was a good trade to have our dear Armaziti returned to us in full health. As a show of his usefulness and gratitude, Armaziti used his gauntlet to remove the fear from our party.

Armaziti was healed, but still too weak to travel, so we decided to visit our friends in town and sell off some of the trinkets we have acquired. Unfortunately, Llewelyn and Dorian were off adventuring; Lhoss was longing for some elf company. Fortunately, Vilma is always welcoming with warm bread and hot gossip. Ronan went to the shop to stock up on oil and found that the price of oil had gone up due to increased demand. He also attempted to sell some weapons that he had taken from the slain followers of Orcus and Set. But as they were emblazoned with their wicked insignias, the shopkeeper didn't want them. But the blacksmith would take them off our hands for scrap. Better than hauling them around. Ronan also sold an arrowhead that was attributed to Hern the Hunter. It fetched a good price, so he next tried to sell an arrowhead affiliated with Nerul. Not only was the shopkeeper not interested, he appeared disgusted and almost offended at having been offered it. Lastly, we sold off the gold headband and scepter recovered from the mummy which were quite valuable! Feeling flush with gold, we determined that two in our party should get additional training, which meant another week in Orlane. Well, if we have to...

The morning of day 8 of Flocktime (or Violets if you're an elf - isn't that so much prettier?!) we headed back to the barrowmaze with Gnorcia a newly minted cutpurse and our priest Armaziti. It was an uneventful and pleasant enough hike until we settled into the oppressive gloom surrounding the foreboding burial grounds. Studying our maps, we decided to go to an area that was as yet unexplored. We found a room that held nothing more than a statue with no way in or out. Suddenly we were set upon by six clattering skeletons! 

Yldarb engaged first with his cursed staff. Luckily, he hit and did a nice bit of damage. Ronan missed with his swing while Tatania connected with one of her magic missiles exploding the enemy. With these three gathered around the doorway that separated us from the skeletons, there was no way for the rest of us to engage in melee. Sensing Gnorcia's desire to join the fray, Lhoss offered her a boost to get over and into the scrum. It was not a great hoist, but Gnorcia's dexterity allowed her to land in an advantageous position that she was unable to capitalize on. Adelbertus attempted to use a spell to turn the undead, but was unsuccessful. Armaziti, however, calling upon his advanced skill was able to conjure the spell and the skeletons began to flee. Taking attacks of opportunity, Gnorcia missed, while Yldarb and Ronan hit. Unwilling to let these creatures survive, we pressed our attack until we had crushed every last one. Smashing skeleton skulls? Just another day in the barrowmaze.

Session 56: Day 27: A Dreadful Evening Battle

We ate a quick dinner and determined that we needed to head out and back to Orlane for the night. As we paused to make a final survey of the room, Adelbertus noticed a light coming from the west and Calbach whispered that there was a large group of people approaching that looked like Band of the Black Hand. We quickly retreated inside and closed the door, which shut with a convincing click, and we could no longer hear anything outside the room. The darkness seemed to close in and shadows on the walls danced a little higher in the torchlight. As we sat to rememorize some spells, we were distracted by the gloom of the encroaching dungeon walls and it took a little longer than usual. “Safely” locked in there, we considered spending one last night in the Barrowmaze but eventually decided that would be foolish after the recent warnings not to do so. We determined to get back to Orlane. Since it was now over an hour since we had spotted the group with the torches, we used the key and Tatania’s knock spell to reopen the door. Peeking out, we could see what we thought to be a torch light reflecting off the walls to the east, but nothing else.

As we began filing out of the room in our marching order, Armaziti heard a sound behind him and turned to see a group of beetles with glowing antennae coming up quickly from behind. We all began to run and in the rush there a was a bit of confusion about where we were going. The rest of the group headed through the room to the west and turned down the hallway to the south, but Arnd and myself went past that hallway and were quickly overtaken by four beetles. I attacked one with my dagger, Vengeance, and did some damage, but Arnd swung and missed. More beetles had turned down the hallway following the rest of the group and Tatania hit one with a magic missile, Lhoss hit another with her dagger, and Armaziti quickly destroyed one with his warhammer, Melissa. Ronan swung at one but slipped in beetle gore and missed. Fortunately, Calbach shot an arrow that swished past Ronan and killed it. I swung at the beetle in front of me again, slicing its head right off, and this time Arnd connected as well. Some of the others then came back and began to attack the beetles that were on us. Calback shot another arrow and hit one as Lhoss swung and missed.

Just then, Armaziti yelled out that he could see yet another light coming toward us from the east. Anxious to take out the beetles quickly, Adelbertus slipped on some gore as he attacked, but Tatania shot another magic missile and destroyed the beetle he missed. Just then a large group of the Band of the Black Hand came running in, swinging their short swords and screaming that they were going to take everything we had! I counted eleven of them!

One attacked and missed Adelbertus but another hit him as two more attacked Tatania and injured her. Another entered the hallway where Armaziti was lurking, but missed him in the dark. Another pair of them jumped in to help that one and one hit the cleric as he was beginning to cast an attack spell, interrupting it. Tatania tried to hit the one in front of her and missed just as one of the two beetles that were attacking me managed to get in a bite and did some bad damage. Angry in the pain, I stabbed right through its chitinous head, killing it. Arnd—using what he keeps claiming is now his signature move—sliced the belly of the beetle in front of him, gutting it. Lhoss attacked one of the band with a magic missile and Calbach shot two arrows at the same but missed. Adelbertus quickly spun around and attempted to bash the two band members that were on his back, but also missed. One of them then hit him with their sword, knocking him unconscious as two of them attacked and hit Tatania, knocking her out as well.

The band pressed their attack, taunting the rest of us as they did, and we felt a fearful gloom settle in. Were we going to make it out of there alive?!? One of the band hit Armaziti, but those that attacked Ronan, Arnd and myself missed their attacks. Ronan threw a burning vial of oil and it hit a dungeon wall, splashing back and burning some of the Black Hand. Armaziti swung and missed one of his attackers just as I swung at the last beetle, slicing its head off. Arnd missed his attack yet again but as he did, Hilja, Kyro, and Adalaen suddenly appeared behind the band members we were fighting!

Encouraged by the sudden appearance of friends, Calbach grabbed his short sword, swung around, and attacked the bandit that was on Arnd, slaying him in one hit! Hilja immediately cast Faerie Fire on the three who were attacking Armaziti, bathing them in a purple glow and making them more vulnerable to attacks, and Adalean began throwing darts, nearly killing one of that group. Kyro quickly ran forward and bandaged Tatania, stopping her from bleeding out.

Armaziti swung and missed again, but Adalaen threw yet another dart, slaying that band member. Kyro then crawled over and bandaged Adelbertus, who was bleeding out in the middle of the hallway. As he did, Ronan backhanded one the the guys on him, then hit him in the head with his cudgel. Hoping to turn the tide of battle, I did my best to conjure a terrifying phantasm but apparently it wasn’t quite terrifying enough and none of the band believed my illusion. Curses! Calbach attacked the last guy on Arnd, killing him, and Arnd leaped forward in an attempt to kill one of them that was attacking Lhoss, but slipped on one of the beetles and missed his attack.

Back in the hallway, Adalaen continued throwing darts and hit another of the remaining two attacking Armaziti. The cleric turned to hold his shield against his attackers, but it was too late. They hit him and knocked him unconscious! The two attacking Ronan both managed to hit him again, but the two on Arnd and Lhoss missed. Adalean cast a magic missile, hitting one of the attackers on Armaziti just in time for Hilja to step forward and take him down with her staff. I screamed “Vengeance!” as I leapt on the back of another bandit that was pressing an attack on Calbach. The dagger plunged into the man's shoulder, taking him to his knees. Lhoss swung and missed just as Arnd attacked the other, finally scoring a hit with his broadsword, Bonesplitter.

His attackers vanquished, Ronan ran into the hallway to bandage Armaziti, and didn’t fail to notice Hilja there. He took his time, flexing as he twisted the bandages around the bleeding cleric and barely noticing another enemy who was still there and who took a swing at the distracted warrior. Ronan tried to retaliate but missed as Adalaen stepped forward and got in yet another hit with a dart.

Back in the other hall, two attackers remained standing, one on Lhoss and the other on Arnd. Lhoss took a final hit and fell, unconscious, as Kyro ran forward and attacked the other, hitting him from behind and taking him down. Angered to see Lhoss fall, I leapt on the back of her attacker, killing him. Calbach then sprinted out to Ronan’s defense and finished off the last of the band of attackers.

Exhausted from the battle, we dug through the bag of holding and used our one recently-discovered healing potion on Adelbertus. He immediately recovered but it appears his right knee is now so damaged that his ability to walk has been permanently slowed. Adelbertus in turn healed me, Tatania, and Lhoss, who also has a nasty gash in her side that looks permanent and will likely affect her ability to swing her weapon.

Anxious to get out of the Barrowmaze before anything else could attack us, we hurriedly built a stretcher for the bandaged but severely-injured and cursed Armaziti. He was beginning to mutter and twitch as if tortured by the undead. Terrified and running out to the dungeon entrance as quickly as we could, the group felt a shadow of fear come over us. We dragged ourselves and Armaziti as quickly as possible (which wasn’t all that fast) back to Orlane and over to the Temple of Merikka, arriving just before morning.

The guards must have been sleepy as they thought at first to turn us away, but we reminded them that we are the Saviors of Orlane and they scuttled off to fetch Priestess Misha. She soon came gliding out of the temple, looking a bit disheveled and sighed deeply as she examined poor Armaziti. Listening to our tale of the mummy’s curse, she pronounced that this was an untimely curse that would be a costly heal, but to leave him and come back tomorrow. I wondered if she was just irritable at being awakened so early, or if maybe she had been entertaining the Witcher in her quarters, but held my tongue.

Session 54: Days 21-27 of Planting: Rumors and Rest Before Return to Action

Our weary band of adventurers spent a week in Orlane recovering and bolstering their spirits. Lhoss especially needed to recover from the fear that is instilled by the horrors of the Barrowmaze. As many of the group have formed trusted friendships with townsfolk, they were able to pick up several snippets of information and rumors, including:

• There is a rumor that there are mutated people in the Barrowmaze that enslave humans. There are also undead encroaching on the mist and farmland nearest to the tombs.
• We have been fortunate to be able to travel back and forth between Orlane and the Barrowmaze, since we have learned travel is nearly impossible during the seasons of late fall to early spring. Being on the brink of the season of Violets, even frequent travel should not be too difficult.
• Allen Clayborne expressed his great surprise and distress at learning that we regularly sleep (or attempt to sleep) in the Barrowmaze itself. He warned us that it is far too dangerous a place to spend the night. We balked at traveling 8 hours each way every day, but Allen and his wife informed us that there is a more direct path we could take that would cut the hike down to 4 hours.
• Dorian Llewelyn informed us that through his scouting and adventuring he heard of an elven maiden who had been freed from the Barrowmaze and returned to her clan. We have not encountered other noble adventurers in the tombs, but it is good to hear of others who seem to be engaged in a similar righteous cause.
• We heard a rumor from the land of Furyondy (a great kingdom to the West) that the prince has been kidnapped. The lore is that the lands of Furyondy, Verbobonc, and Veluna (whose people worship St. Cuthbert) banded together and combined armies to defeat the vile temple of Elemental Evil. But it appears that the temple was not destroyed and something was left behind. There is talk that the capture of Furyondy's prince is a counterstrike.
• Whisperings of a strange organizing of hill, stone, frost and fire giants. It is highly unusual for giants of different sorts to work together. There are stories of these giants raiding lands in the West.
• We hear more details about Nerul, the evil presence we have seen represented so much in the Barrowmaze. Apparently, Nerul was previously defeated by his two sons, Set and Orcus. Their followers, the acolytes of Orcus and the necromancers of Set, are bitter enemies who are centered in the Barrowmaze. There is a reward for information about these two groups.
• Lastly, Aramaziti had a possibly prophetic dream that the goblin we most recently encountered in the tomb has moved...

So our group of Ronan, Calbach, Gnorcia, Aramaziti, Adalean, Tatania, Arnd, and Lhoss stocked up on supplies and departed Orlane early on a clear summer morning, day 27 of Planting. 

Allen Clayborne led the group out of town and pointed out the new path we should take. It was clear that we would need to do a fair amount of bushwhacking, so we made a hasty trip back to buy two machetes. Rotating the lead so no two persons get overly exhausted, we spent 5-6 hours cutting through brush. Within another two hours, we were at the outskirts of the Dim Forest, 500 yards from where we had previously descended into the tombs. While this first trip took 8 hours, we can tell future travels will be much shorter.

Returning to the gloom of the Barrowmaze, the party retraced its steps to the place Gnorcia was poisoned. Armaziti suggested we look to see if his dream was true. In fact, the goblin was no longer posted in front of the door. Piercing the unnerving silence that is generally observed, we heard the sounds of battle coming from behind the door. Eager to see if we could lend a hand to what we hoped would be another group of adventurers, we all pressed forward. What we saw was a puzzling sight.

We came up behind a group that seemed to be led by a cross-bred orc. Gnorcia's query of "do you need help?" was met with an annoyed grunt. The group was facing off against combatants that included some zombies, so at first the thought was to fold into their ranks and aid them in the attack. But Armaziti quickly and keenly identified one side as cultists of Set while the other side were followers of Orcus. They were both our enemies! There were already casualties on both sides, but we were in the enviable position of being able to backstab the acolytes of Orcus and lob attacks at the necromancers of Set all while they battled each other. The battle did not take long once we set ourselves to our task. Both enemy groups were quickly defeated with Lhoss falling to a vicious attack from the zombies. She was restored by Aramaziti, but suffered an injury to her right hand that will continue to hamper her in attacks going forward.

Looting of the corpses produced some coins, a spell book, a chain with a skull symbol, and some various, unimpressive armaments. The bodies were tossed into a deep pit that was already the final resting place for some other poor souls. The group decided to retreat to the room of Polis to heal and rememorize spells.

Session 53: Day 20 of Planting continues

Party members who needed to re-memorize spells did so in the room with the plinth, and the rest of us moved the Band of the Black Hand bodies into the room where Tatania had previously spent a lot of time searching and finding nothing, and we went through their pockets. Ronan and Calbach had also reappeared and rejoined the group. As we prepared to leave and head back to Orlane, we were surprised to find that Yldarb had changed his mind and no longer wanted to go back. He seems to have established a psychic link with the spear, and worked out a way to use it. It was all a little confusing, with him mumbling to himself as we questioned him, but eventually we decided that would be okay. We all stood again on the plinth for a blessing from Polis, then headed east down the hallway.

Lhoss soon got quite excited because she could see doors ahead that we had not opened before. We passed two rooms that we had been in before, and the doors were still cracked open. Beyond that, we found a hallway to the north and a portcullis that was down. Looking through, we could see a dingy old curtain, yellow in color, hanging from a bar, and possibly something behind it. Six of us worked together and we were able to slowly lift the portcullis and move into the room.

As we moved toward the curtain, we recognized the yellow as yellow mold. Ronan—who had been closest to the gap in the center of the curtain—suddenly vanished! We couldn’t see him anywhere and couldn’t hear or find him anywhere in the room. We all decided to move carefully through the curtain to see if we could find Ronan. Lhoss managed to bump the yellow moldy curtain as she passed it, and a piece broke off and fell to the floor, but thankfully no one was damaged by the mold.

In the room, we found that there was a large mirror and inside it we could see two Ronans, fighting! We could tell which was the real Ronan because the other appeared to be undead, with rotting flesh. As we watched in horror, they battled and Ronan eventually vanquished his foe and reappeared before us as the mirror shattered into pieces. He fell to one knee, panting from his psychic battle with himself, and clearly hurting. Armaziti healed him and we turned to look at the rest of the room. There was nothing there except the curtains and the now-broken glass.

As Armaziti rested and rememorized spells, Chiki set Chick-Chick outside the curtain and then seemed to be making strange moves toward Yldarb. It was as if he was trying to behave like a thief, and failing miserably. I shook my head at him.

We moved back out of the room and beyond the portcullis, to the east. Lhoss spotted a door and was excited to open it. I also got excited because the door had a lock on it and I wanted to see if any of my keys opened it! As I inserted the first key, a needle appeared, pricking my finger and poisoning me! I immediately slumped and everything got very confusing.

It seemed as if Armaziti took off my boots and rubbed a bud of garlic on my feet before casting slow poison. That was certainly odd behavior, and the smell of garlic was strong. Then Lhoss wrapped me up and carried me over her shoulder like a bag of potatoes as everyone ran out of the barrowmaze and up through the marsh and the Dim Forest. It seemed warmer than our previous march toward the barrowmaze, but maybe that was just the poison in my veins. I dozed most of the time because otherwise everything was swirling. Later, the group told me the following story of their adventures while I was poisoned.

A couple of hours out of the Dim Forest, I started twitching and appeared more sick. Armaziti stopped the group and rememorized the slow poison spell, casting it again, then rememorized two slow poison spells. In the meantime, everyone ate dinner before continuing the hurried march back to Orlane. About an hour out of the Dim Forest, I appeared even more sick. Armaziti cast another slow poison spell on me, and again when we were about 3 hours away from Orlane. It was the middle of the night when we got to the town and the group headed to the Temple of Merikka and started pounding on the gates. A guard approached and hurried to get Priestess Misha, who came running to the gate, grabbed me, and ran into the temple.

The party then abandoned me to my fate (certain that the priestess would cure me, of course) and went to the slumbering Serpent. They were surprised to find it was full, but were allowed to sleep in the common room. Everyone slept deeply from the march and did not awake until 11am. After breakfast, they returned to the temple and found me sleeping on a cot, snoring loudly. That part I know was a lie because my sisters all snore but I most certainly do not! Priestess Misha said that I nearly died, but she was able to heal the poison and would only charge 200 gold pieces for her services, and I would sleep for another four hours.

The group then headed to the jeweler’s and he offered 1305 gold for the Gold pendant with a large pearl and the Golden chalice with multicolor gems. Ramne was also summoned and he agreed to cast a spell on the skull that I had been carrying on a small leather bag on my belt. The group paid 100gp for him to evaluate it and learned that it can be used 12 times and when the magic word is said, it will cast a beam of light and potentially paralyze whatever creature it is pointed at, and it can only be used by magic users. The shopkeeper offered 4500gp for it and only Armaziti wanted to keep it, so the party voted to accept the offer.

Flush with money, party members with outstanding loans to each other quickly passed on the owed coins. When I finally recovered, I also repaid my party loan, as well as the 200gp for the cure poison potion used to save me. Overcome with regret for my impetuousness, I tried to give away the keys to prevent future mishaps, but the party insisted I keep them.

Session 39: A period of time and reflection Days 3 - 10 of Planting

After the party explored the area with the doomed adventurers, a discussion was made to return to Orlane, as Ronan was ready for more training in the crafts of fighting. The group decided to stay a bit longer in Barrowmaze before returning. 

The group then decided that the doomed adventurers should at least be removed from the wall (they were pinned there by spears). The stench was horrible, and the group was able to remove the first body but the second body burst open in a foul stench when it was detached, and Calbach and Ronan started retching. This disturbed the unnatural quiet of the tomb, and alerted something to the east. A pounding began at the door, which shortly gave in to the ghastly sight of three skeletons with glowing sapphires in their foreheads. 

Armatzi was able to turn the skeletons, and they started to flee. The group engaged them in combat, and the first fell to the ground, with the sapphire falling free. Lhoss and a new adventurer named Tatania pursued after the other skeletons, with Arn and another new character named Hoddour (another dwarf), went with them. Calbach, Ronan, Chikki, and Armatzi hung back. Armatzi detected a strange magic emanating from the gem. Something distracted the group, and Ronan grabbed the gem and put it in a pouch. About this time, Lhoss and company were able to take down the second skeleton, aided by magic missiles from Tatania. Unfortunately, the gem forcibly burst from Ronan's pouch, and rapidly reconstituted with the skeleton, fully ready for further combat, and the gem glowing a foul blue. 

Lhoss and company were able to take down the second skeleton, and the first skeleton was taken down again. However, the second skeleton then reconstituted, followed by the third shortly after. The party perceived that the gems had something to do with the skeleton's power, and so the group around the first began to smash the gem, Calbach finally succeeding - the shards shot through the passageway. 

The second skeleton was taken down, but as per tradition, Lhoss was also knocked unconscious. Hoddour tried an un-conventual technique of throwing the gem, which cracked. However it reformed again before the second gem could be destroyed, but the third skeleton was taken down again. After a bit more back and forth, Tatania was able to shatter the third gem, the second skeleton was downed, and finally its gem was destroyed by Calbach's mace. 

Lhoss was revived, but she suffered a damaged knee, which the cure light wounds proved insufficient to mend. She now has a pronounced limp, which slows her down a bit. With that bit of down news, the party decided to travel back to Orlane, which occurred without incident. The party sold some goods, and spent several days relaxing, talking to some of the villagers, training, and also doing some recruiting. Yldarb the bard joined the group, and recruited Chikki as a henchman. Lhoss recruited Hilja and Tatania recruited Kyro.