Session 32: Day 17 of Coldeven: Are All Dwarves This Mean?

 I (Lhoss) found myself briefly separated from the party, but soon was able to catch up and found that much had transpired in my absence. For one, a belligerent dwarf named Arnd who had joined our party took an immediate dislike to me. I had no immediate quarrel with the lad, but his rough attitude toward me disposed me to dislike him right away. I find myself enjoying "poking the bear" to get a rise out of him. Either I will have to win him over or bury my dagger in him. Time will tell how this will play out.

Our group healed up and readied our spells in anticipation of combat. We decided that we needed to return to the village for a few more supplies to adequately explore the barrowmaze completely, but we should do some more searching and set off toward the evening.

We headed northward and came upon a goblin, lazily leaning on a sign that said "No Crossing". He said that this part of the dungeon is under construction and we could not pass. Gnorcia spoke with the goblin and said that he is harmless. We gently prodded to see if we could move through, but were rebuffed. There were a few areas like this that had been set with a goblin guard that we were unable to proceed through. We decided to explore other parts of the maze that seemed available to us.

Gnorcia peeked through an open door and saw some broken tablets in a pile on the floor. I attempted to read them, but could only make out scraps. They seemed to tell about Nerul, Orcus, and Set. I saw a glint of silver beneath the pile. When I shifted the pile, I saw a silver war hammer. As the discoverer, I named the mighty hammer (as is my right). For such a majestic weapon, the appropriate name was obvious: Melissa. I gave Melissa to Aramaziti, as I could not wield it and he seemed the best candidate. Although he balked at the chosen name (I don't know why; Melissa suits the weapon perfectly), he was eager to put it to use. 

Gnorcia and I tried to pick a locked door. We were unsuccessful, so Chiki smashed it down with his mace. Behind the door was a robed skeleton with a bowl of platinum pieces at its head. I nudged the bowl away from the bones and Chiki swooped in and scooped up the loot. The walls of the room were painted with disconcerting frescoes of worshipers of Nerul. Feeling uncomfortable, we fled the room.

Rounding a corner, Calbach encountered five large glowing red beetles. One insect quickly attacked Martin, our torchbearer, killing him instantly. Poor, sweet Martin! In a wave of grief and rage, I cast a sleeping spell over the creatures and our party dispatched with them by stabbing and squishing them. Gnorcia realized that their antennae glowed even after they were dead. She quickly gathered up all of the appendages and gave them to those in our party that don't have darkvision to use in lieu of torches. In an impromptu funeral ceremony, I dragged Martin's body away from the slain beetles against a wall. I sang him a plaintive song to honor his passing. Overcome with emotion, the entire party covered their ears. I've never seen that form of mourning, but we all cope in our own ways.

Next, we entered a strange room with three colored pools: one red, one black, one purple. Gnorcia dropped crystal shards into the pools with no effect. I dipped a piece of bandage into the red pool. Again, no effect. I attempted to light the damp bandage, but it wouldn't ignite. Feeling that there was more to learn, we decided to leave the pools and return when we had a better idea what we should do there.

We approached a large portcullis that blocked our progress. Arnd thought he would impress us all by trying to lift it, but in the end, it took me, Arnd, Armaziti, Gnorcia, and Calbach working together to lift it. We progressed through and came upon five giant rats. The party took them down with some effort (and some damage). After their defeat, we discovered two platinum bracelets. In another room, I picked up two silver statues of robed women. Our aim of exploring the barrowmaze is twofold: find Derrik and gather treasure. At least one of our objectives is being met!

In another room we saw a ghostly figure that seemed to be reenacting their last moments before being killed. It was an eerie sight to see it looping what must have been a terrifying end. Aramaziti fortunately had the skills and knowledge to set this spirt free with a blessing. It seemed grateful to be released to the beyond.

The final room we entered had two corpses laying prone on the floor. I called out to them to see if they were truly dead. If you ask, they have to tell you. Otherwise it's entrapment. They did not respond. I tried to poke one with my staff, and the trickster devil sprang up! They weren't dead, they were undead! I was viciously slashed and lay bleeding on the ground. Luckily Gnorcia bound my wounds and she and Chalkboi were able to dispatch the two nasty creatures. With intent to return to the village, we healed up and rested ourselves.

Session 31: Day 17 In which we opened doors without Lhoss

After breakfast we found that Lhoss was mysteriously missing, but we just decided to go on with our exploration. We went back to the unopened door at the north end of the first hallway we had investigated. It was an oaken door with metal bands and no lock, set in a stone wall.

We opened the door, which swung outward toward us, and entered a room with pillars on two sides, a hallway at the north end, and another door on the south side, just west of the entrance. Calbach started to investigate behind the first pillar nearest the door and was surprised by a giant 10-foot-long rattlesnake, which hissed and then immediately bit him twice!

We all started slashing, smashing, and stabbing at the snake, and hit it a few times, but pretty quickly the snake managed to bite Calbach some more and poisoned him. Calbach finally managed to cut its head off, then stumbled to the floor in pain. Armaziti quickly pulled out a scroll from his pack and read it, healing Calbach completely.

Calbach carefully investigated around the other pillars across the room and found nothing. Chiki, Armaziti, Gnorcia, and torchbearer Martin moved to the pile of rubble in the center (which appeared to be collapsed from the ceiling) and Gnorcia poked with her staff at some coins in it, sorting through and finding 85 copper pieces, 10 of which we immediately gave to Martin for his daily payment. While we did that, Calbach looked around behind where the snake was and found a leather bag full of gems in what appeared to be the snake’s lair. We divided up the gems and the coin, and further investigated the rough stone walls but found nothing unusual about them.

Chiki mentioned that it would probably be a good idea to head back to the village at some point to pick up supplies such as oil and torches, as well as possibly hiring some more support, and we decided to finish out the day and then head back. Turning to the hallway to the north and found an alcove with another door in the west wall. As Calbach investigated the door area, he noticed footprints on the floor and noted that some appeared to be leaving the room.

Calbach opened the door to find a room that appeared to be a temple with a statue in a large alcove to the west side. The statue appeared to be Nerul, the God of the dead. There were inscriptions and tapestries on the walls and pillars, all of which appeared to be about performing rites and worshipping Nerul.

There was a faint sound which we investigated and as we got closer we could hear someone speaking dwarvish. It sounded like it was coming from the floor! We prodded the floor until it opened, revealing a dwarf named Arnd Cobblestone, who said he had fallen into a trap which then closed over him, and his cousins had abandoned him there. Calbach tossed down a rope and he clambered up and fell to the floor. He begged for healing and Armaziti complied. Calbach inquired as to what he was doing there and he said he was looking for treasure. We shared our quest for Naynor and he asked if we would be interested in taking him along. Armaziti gave him his extra mace and we agreed to supply him with some light armor as soon as we got back to the village. He said he was from the county of Ernst and came through Hochoch seeking treasure and adventure.

Arnd told us a tale about Nerul. He had two sons name Set and Orcus who attacked and dethroned their father. Arnd had heard there might be something in the barrowmaze with the two cults of Set and Orcus. 

We investigated the statue more closely and it appeared to be beckoning. There was also an altar with a bowl in it, at the base of the statue. I decided to see if it would do anything for us, and tossed in five coins. After a short pause, the statue moved, lifting an eyebrow! I got the feeling that more was needed, so I gave him 5 more copper, then a silver, and then a small gem. Worried about angering the god of the undead, we pulled a sapphire from the bag of gems Calbach had found, and added that.

Suddenly the coins and gems vanished and the statue animated, asking, “What is your question?” I said, “We seek a man named Naynor. Do you know where he is?” The statue responded “No” and then returned to a solid form. Chiki thought maybe we could ask it some more questions but we didn’t want to give up any more gems, and couldn’t think of any more questions.

From there we went northdown the hallway and through the door into a dim and more-dusty hallway. We could see dwarf-sized footprints that appeared to be gathering in the entrance and then moving to the north. There was also a door at the east end of that hallway. We could hear a muttering sound behind the door. I investigated and listened at the door, and it sounded like some people talking. We decided to peek in, and sent the people with lights (everyone but Chiki and myself) back into the other hall so they wouldn't give us away.

Peeking through the door, we saw a group of seven men in the room, dressed in leather armor with short swords at their sides, talking about their recent success plundering these tombs. Some were talking about going through the very door we were listening at, ands others talked about going back the way they came, through another door to the east.

We gently closed the door and went back to the other hallway, trying to decide what to do. Then we heard them starting to come through the door! I stepped back into the hall and asked, “Who are you and what are you doing?” The others followed me in and the man answered, pulling his sword, saying, “That be our business!” Calbach pulled out his bow and shot the first man, and Chiki cast a wall of fog spell behind him, causing some confusion in the room. We killed the first one and yelled into the room, asking them to back down, but they said that we would have to come in after them and face their swords. We barged in and attacked them, taking them all down more easily than we first thought it would be.

Calbach discovered a loose tile in the room, covering two bags of gold, which we quickly divided up, receiving 62 gold each. There was artwork on the walls with a funerary procession.

Session 30: A victory of law - Evening of Coldeven Day 16

 After resting and recovering in the burial room, the party - Lhoss (Leigh), Gnorcia (Lillian), Armatzi (Alex), and Chiki (NPC) were mutually surprised to find Calbach (Brad) back in their midst. There was some metaphysical discussion of how this occurred, and then the party began to explore some more, going northward up the passage. A graffiti message was found in an alcove that said "beware the pools". Also, an eye that seemed to be dead appeared in the wall, and examined the party. Gnorica tossed a dart a the eye, and it disappeared back into the wall. This seemed eerily similar to the mysterious eye that had appeared in the dungeons of Explicita the Naga. After a little discussion, the group moved onward.

Another entrance opened up to the east, and the party were surprised to see two crystal statues, carved to appear like unicorns. As they approached closer, the heads of the unicorns turned to face the group. After some discussion, Lhoss stealthily crept between the statues, but they took great offence to this, and attacked the party. Lhoss and Chiki were quickly knocked unconscious, and the party appeared ready to die an ignominious death, but a couple of things happened. First, the chicken that Chiki carries about as a pet let out a high pitch squawk, and the statues quivered. Second, Armatzi pulled out his scroll of dispel magic, and was able to destroy the statues with the potent spell. Gnorcia quickly scrabbled to collect many of the shiny crystal bits. 

Lhoss was able to detect a secret door that the status were guarding. Close examination revealed an indentation in the stone wall. There was nothing else noteworthy (the party looked carefully for any kind of trick or trap). Calbach was able to push the door open without much effort, revealing an inner room, with symbols and drawings of law and justice. Armatzi felt at peace in the room, and Chiki and Lhoss immediately stumbled to the walls edge to rest and eat (They had been healed by Armatzi, but needed time to recover). 

Further examination revealed a large mosaic, with a dais and pedestal upon it in the southern section of the room. A glowing gauntlet rested upon the pedestal. Calbach and Gnorcia worked together to examine the pedestal for traps, and how to obtain the gauntlet. Calbach lashed the two staffs of Gnorica and Lhoss together, and then attempted to pull the gauntlet off the pedestal. After failing spectacularly a few times, Gnorica gave it a try, and despite a height disadvantage, she was able to obtain the gauntlet after a few tries. When the gauntlet was removed from the pedestal, a blade sliced out, and would surely of disemboweled whoever had been standing there. Armatzi felt impressed during his prayer to go and get the gauntlet. He obeyed the direction, and was astounded to find the holy artifact: the gauntlet of St. Cuthbert. He put on the gauntlet, and immediately knew the powers available to him: detect magic healing, and turning the undead once a day; the turning power could also be used as a restorative on the party to restore faith lost due to the fear from the undead. The gauntlet also emits a strong light at command. 

After resting for a few hours (and recognizing the excellent location to rest - Armatzi recovered his spells twice as fast in the room), the party continued to explore towards the north. A section of four doors was found. The two closest doors, one on the west, and the other on the east, were examined first. The door on the right was ajar, and the party looked in to see a mess of rubble and bones. There were tiles on the floor that had curiously been crushed by a hammer in a pattern like a chessboard. Lhoss went into investigate, only stepping on the tiles that hadn't been crushed. After looking around for a time, a strange, invisible force lifted a broken tile piece and threw it at Lhoss, connecting. Lhoss fought down the fear that threatened to overwhelm her, and left the room. All of the party felt a shiver of fear come over them. The door was quickly closed with nothing further occurring. 

The party went to the north and checked a door that had been broken down. There were burn marks on the western walls and ceiling, and there were two rune tablets of clay on the ground. Lhoss went forward to examine them, and found that they had words that could possibly be read. However, a feeling of random chance came over her. Disregarding this feeling, she examined the first tablet, and found that it was a clerical spell of create water. She handed this over to Armatzi. The second tablet turned out to be a magic user spell of strength. Wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead for some reason, she retained the tablet and rejoined the party in the hall. 

The two western doors were examined; rather, the northern was, and it was determined to be locked. The second was also locked, but Gnorica immediately tried some keys she had on the lock, without looking for traps. She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead when the decision proved to be moot. The keys (which were found in Explicita's dungeon) proved to be useless. Chiki pulled out his battle axe, and used it on the southern door, making quite a racket. After about 30 minutes, the door was broken through (and very fortunately didn't attract any further attention). The room proved to be the burial chamber of three skeletons which also proved to be normal skeletons - another bead of sweat was wiped off the collective parties forehead. 

The last door in the north west fell to Chiki's axe - the noise again failed to attract any unwanted attention. When the door was clear, a feeling of dread came over the party. A golden sarcophagus was seen in the room. The party discussed for a bit and were almost ready to leave the room when Calbach decided to go in and examine the sarcophagus closer. He noted that it was painted wood, and had a seam to lift and open. However, his courage failed at that point, and he decided he didn't want anything more to do with the tomb. The party were all for this and retreated back down the hall. 

The whole time, the party had been using techniques of searching walls (at times) through a visual examination followed by searching for crevices, cracks, and such with their hands. Also, Gnorica and Lhoss probed ahead with their staffs (somewhat ineffectively as they were only 6' long). Calbach led the group though, and felt confident with probing with his foot. He soon found the folly of this by falling into a pit (Lhoss secretly grinned as she had had a similar experience earlier when Calbach was mysteriously absent). Amazingly, there was another human in the pit who was hysterical at first, but then very grateful for rescue. 

When he was pulled out of the pit, he introduced him self as Martin, a torch bearer. He explained that he had been hired in Hochoch by another party of adventures, all human. He related that their names are Darius, Elspeth, and Zach. He had triggered the pit trap and for some reason they had left him in the pit. He pledged his loyalty to the group, calling Calbach "My Lord" and addressing Lhoss as "My Lady". He offered to continue employment with the group as a torch bearer for but 1 silver a day. 

After a few yawns, the party decided to go back to the holy room of St. Cuthbert (as they now dub it) and rest for the evening. After resting and having breakfast in the morning, the group is eager for another day of adventuring in the gloom tunnels of Barrowmaze. 

Session 29: Day 16 of Coldeven, in the barrow maze

We found ourselves in a basin surrounded by trees that seemed to lean in and over it, making it darker that the world above the barrow, which was completely silent and gloomy.

We noted that the week of training must have included chicken training because Chiki’s chicken now sits comfortably on his shoulder. Unfortunately, his tunic is also stained down the back with chicken poop. Whiskers stood up and waved goodbye with one foot, then ran back down the path in the direction we came from. We all waved back and called out our thanks and goodbyes as he scampered off.

Looking around us, we found piles of hewn rocks, each cut roughly in the shape of a skull and stacked on top of each other in a cohesive but somehow disquieting manner, as if they should be adjusted. They were each about 40-feet around and 15-20 feet tall. Lhoss examined a couple of the piles and I examined another. Lhoss even touched one of the rocks for a moment but felt uneasy touching it, as if she did not want to.

We also noted six hills around us, all covered in scrubby grass. Lhoss examined one that was surrounded by 13 large chunks of solid granite and basalt, walking around it for at least 150 feet. There was an archway opening into that hill and many footprints along the pathway both in and out of it, along with some drag marks.

I examined another hill that had a few stones protruding from one side. There were no footprints around this one but as I got closer to examine the stones, five skeletons in shabby chainmail suddenly popped up and headed toward me! Chiki jumped in and three attacked him, doing some serious damage. The other two attacked me.

We battled the skeletons and Armaziti used his Turn Undead skill to fear four of the five away while we dispatched the last. We then chased down the other four and destroyed them, but not before two managed to run through the arch and into the large hill! We hesitated to chase them but Chiki barrelled in after them and the rest of us joined him, destroying them just inside.

I passed Armaziti a candle so he could see in the dark room. Looking around, we noted that there was a broken stone door and also a foul smell coming from the interior. A short stone stairway descended into a 60x60-foot area and we went down into it where we found four huge stone columns supporting the structure, and a 6-foot tripod with a block and tackle over a hole in the ground, with a tope descending down into the hole. Chiki commented that this was most likely the main entrance, then dropped a torch into the pit. It fell about 30 feet into a room and we could see it light up frescos on the walls inside.

Lhoss immediately gripped her dagger in her teeth and started lowering herself in. Chicki quickly followed, then Gnorcia and Armaziti.

Inside we found dust, rubble and silence. There was an unlocked door on the east wall and a passageway to the west with two more doors. Chiki stood guard at the hallways and Armaziti at the unlocked door as Lhoss and I looked around. We examined the faded frescoes on the walls and found they appeared to be religious and burial rituals along with writing in a language we could not understand. Some images showed people being disemboweled and having brains put in jars. Others showed demons leering over sacrifices, including the demon Orkus, a man-like creature with twisted horns, the lord of the undead.

Beneath our feet, the floor was worn ancient limestone covered with sand, debris, and bones, as well as footprints leading in both directions. The ceiling had more murals all the way up to the entrance hole, which was clearly not part of the original construction.

Finishing our examination of the room, Lhoss opened the door to the east and revealed a passageway and a pile of bricks that had been broken down and scattered around. Behind the bricks was a dim alcove with a few bones on the floor. 

Lhoss saw some archways farther down the hall and headed toward them but tripped a pit trap, falling in and taking damage. Irritated that she had not checked for traps, she tossed her rope up to Armaziti, who hauled her back up, and we crept around the pit trap and onward to the archways. Between them on the south was another brick wall, mortared in place and unbroken, extending 15 feet up. Lhoss tapped on it with her staff and it seemed very sturdy, even blocking all sound from that direction.

The hallway extended east through the second arch, and to the north was another hallway with an alcove and more broken-down bricks. I ventured quietly and carefully to peer into this alcove and got the impression that something had broken down the wall from the inside. Peering in further I could see bits of torn clothing and torn flesh!

Continuing up this hall we found another brick-walled area but this time could perceive sounds behind it, shuffling and scuffling. We moved quietly past it to find a narrow passageway across on the west side with no bricks walling it off. Lhoss snuck down this hallway and discovered it ended in a small room with ten octagonal alcoves, each blocked up with a skull. Examining more closely, she found the skull was wedged in, blocking whatever might be behind it.

Lhoss pried at the skull with her dagger and dislodged it, revealing a sparkle of coins, but she decided she didn’t want to be a grave robber so she left the coin and replaced the skull. I then decided I don’t have a problem robbing graves for coin so I barged in, took out the skull, and pocketed the 9 electrum pieces.

At that, Lhoss remembered that she owed Chiki some coin and decided maybe grave robbery wasn’t such a bad thing. She pried out the next skull to reveal 7 electrum pieces behind it. We continued along, checking for traps and prying out skulls, revealing 33 electrum in the first seven alcoves.

In the eighth, Lhoss found 9 more electrum but also a handful of rot grubs that immediately burrowed into her hand! Armaziti recognized what they were, ran over, and immediately cauterized her arm, killing the grubs. That was enough grave-robbing for Lhoss, so I broke into the last two alcoves and used an old goblin cap from my pack to retrieve 30 more electrum from them.

We decide to rest for three hours so Armaziti could memorize his healing spells again, but on the second hour, five blood-seeking sturges—small birds with bat wings, six legs, and pointy snouts—came flying down the passageway and into the room. Two hit Chiki, attaching themselves and sucking his blood. Another attacked Lhoss and another attacked me, attaching to us as well.

Hearing our screams, Armaziti stopped praying and grabbed his mace. I stabbed at one of them on Chiki, damaging it, and both Lhoss and Armaziti smashed at it as well, prompting Chiki to yell, “Why didn’t you use a sleep spell!” At that, Lhoss remembered her sleep spell, cast it, and the sturges all fell to the ground. We quickly squished them dead as blood spurted out all over.

We rested again so both Lhoss and Armaziti could re-memorize their spells and divided up the 88 electrum, pocketing 22 each.

Session 28: Day 9-15 of Coldeven

Our party bade farewell to Angos and Miratara. Angos received word that members of his family were in need of his help and attention. Miratara had grown tired of the adventuring life and wished to retire. We do not know if or when we will see them again; they will be missed.

The remainder of the party (Calbach, Chalkboi, Aramaziti, Chiki, Gnorcia, and Lhoss) spent the week preparing for the next adventure by training where available and asking around Orlane to gather as much intelligence as possible to decide what their next steps should be. Calbach trained with Alan Clayborn and became a Strider. Aramaziti trained at the temple of Merikka with priestess Misha to become an Adept. Gnorcia and Lhoss trained with the elf Llewelyn to become Footpads. Will this be enough to prepare our band for the dangers that we will face?

Lhoss investigated at the Golden Grain Inn and Bertram showed her Derrik's room where she found an iron ring, some writings, and clothing. She gathered these things in hopes of tracking Derrik. Calbach spoke to Ramne who offered us Whiskers to track Derrik to the Barrel Maze. Whiskers could get the scent off of Derrik's clothes. Ramne also revealed that Whiskers became a loyal companion through the use of the spell Find Familiar as well as training. Not much is known about the Barrel Maze, other than it is an ancient burial mound where ancestors of current Orlanians are buried. It is sunken in the Dim Forest and most townsfolk regard it as a dangerous place.

Chalkboi traveled to the garrison at Hookhill. He spoke to the captain about the raids that have been carried out at the hands of Nanor. It appears that Nanor is ruthless; reports from raided sites tell of very little left behind -- no bodies and little blood. Is he supplying slaves to the Wild Coast?

Intel on the Wild Coast slave trade is also thin. The area is unstable and the humanoids (orcs, goblins, ogres) lead regular raids. There is a hefty reward for an adventurer who will travel to the coast and return enslaved persons: 50 gp for each returned person as well as 250 gp to each adventurer who helps.

Our group discusses the options of pursuing Derrik to the Barrel Maze or traveling to the Wild Cost to free the enslaved. We decide that we had better follow our lead on Derrik before he slips away. On the morning of day 16, we embark on the trail toward the Dim Forest. The trail is unnaturally quiet and gradually descends into wetlands. Whiskers is a good guide and we are able to find the Barrel Maze. We come upon a monolith and prepare ourselves for what is to come.

Session 27: Day 8 of Coldeven, back in Orlane

Kytto and Jeffra James (the storekeeper and his wife) proclaim that our group are preferred customers and would receive a discount on almost anything in the store. When Kytto shows us his selection of silver daggers, we buy out his stock and order additional weapons; we know that silver is most effective against certain creatures. While others stock up on supplies, I walk over to Myron's shop. The tailor has mended my cloak and relays to me that there is good news at the Golden Grain Inn and we should head that way. As we are leaving the shop together, we run into our elf friends, Dorian and Llewelyn. Llewelyn offers to train the thieves in our party who wish to become more skilled. Dorian mentions that the mayor has some additional information for us. We decide to see the mayor on the way to the inn.

Mayor Zacharias Ormond tells us that the Golden Grain Inn is transformed. What had been the seat of the cult has returned to a friendly spot. Bertram has become his old self again. But, there is one whose demeanor did not change with the slaying of the naga: a man named Derrik Sleigh appeared to be leading the cult of his own volition. When he realized that the enchantment had been broken, he fled into the Dim Forest. In the rush to flee, Derrik left some notes scrawled on scraps of paper in his room at the inn. They mention barrel mounds and a familiar name: Nanor! Our first clue to deciphering the mysterious note left for us.

We make our way to the Golden Grain Inn. Bertram is full of apologies and serves us drinks and bread with butter. I apologize for casting a sleeping spell on him and we make amends. We ask him if he can show us the papers Derrik left behind. Bertram produces the notes and we have a discussion about all he knows over mutton stew, fruit, and more drinks and bread. Apparently Derrik was receiving his instructions from Nanor. Also, Derrik is a hired assassin. It is clear that Nanor is a foe who will need to be confronted. Our work here is not yet done.

We receive a message that Ronan is requested back at the Slumbering Serpent. But first, we need to stop by the temple of Merikka. Priestess Misha greets us warmly at the temple. Armaziti requests further training as a cleric. Misha agrees but presents us with some troubling news: some of the charmed villagers have been taken south to the Wild Coast as slaves. This is deeply upsetting to all in the group and presents a problem. Do we follow Derrik into the Dim Forrest, or make the long journey to the Wild Coast to break up the slave ring? Both seem like pressing concerns!

As we walk through the village, Vilma greets us and entreats us to have dinner with her. I've gotta say, it feels pretty good to receive so much praise for all our hard work! (It's almost as good as the heap of treasure we recovered.) We promise to eat with her tomorrow night as we have pressing business at the Slumbering Serpent. 

Ronan's message is delivered by Sir Bron from the garrison at Hookhill. There are reports of strange creatures coming from the mountains in the Duchy of Jeff. If Ronan is available to help, he is to report to the commandant at Hookhill. Ronan is willing to help, but feels as though he is also needed with our group. As we discuss priorities, the name of Nanor is dropped. Immediately, Sir Bron asserts that stopping Nanor should be the top priority as he most troublesome and leading raids. This is certainly good intel, but we are left to decide as a group what our next objective should be. While Armaziti trains with the monks, the thieves in the group train with Llewelyn to sharpen our skills for whatever lays ahead! 

Session 26: Morning of Day 5 of Coldeven, deep under the swamp

First thing this morning we went back to see about that angry little reptilian monster and as soon as it heard us it started making a horrendous racket again. Lhoss threw it some meat from her rations and it snapped them up, then looked at her hungrily and warily. I tossed it more rations but they didn't help much so Lhoss put a sleep spell on it. Angus snuck over and discovered that one of the keys I had found unlocked the collar! I knew those keys would be useful for something other than setting off traps! He loosened it so that the creature could eventually break free upon awakening.

We quickly headed toward the stairs up to the next cavern level and as we slogged through a particularly muddy room, we could hear the creature howling and moving through the caverns. We raced up the stairs and closed the door to one room behind us, piling up bodies behind the door to block it as best we could, and leaving a few more rations to try and slow it down a bit as well. We closed one last door to that room behind us as well and it gave us just enough time to escape across the underground lake in the boat we had left there.

As we ascended from the cavern we made an ominous discovery: the heads of the two troglodytes that we had killed in the swamp were staked just outside the entrance! With them we found a note that started with "Congratulations!" and named us all by name. It continued, "You have done well. I will see you in the future. Signed, Nanor"

We were more than a little disturbed and baffled by this discovery but in a hurry to get to Orlane. We headed headed back through the marsh that was part of the Rushmores swamp and then into the Dim Forest, which was still eerily-quiet. Ramne had to rest a lot but we were able to find a defensible place for the night and set up a shift of guards every 2 hours: Miratara and Angus, Chiki and Calbach, Lhoss and Ramne, and Gnorcia and Armaziti.

We saw no wild animals as we passed through the forest and were able to get to the main road and turn back toward Orlane without any trouble. We noticed that Ramne was pushing himself harder than usual and stopped again for the night. It was peaceful except for a distant howling in the middle of the night. Our journey continued and by the next night we were almost to the village, but decide to stop and camp again because Ramne was exhausted.

The next day as we got closer to Orlane,we started to see people out in the fields who hailed us as we passed. Arriving in Orlane, we immediately headed for the Slumbering Serpent Inn. The proprietress, Bilba, was overjoyed to see us and told us what had been happening in the village.

Bilba said that a few days ago the spell was broken and people miraculously began recovering. Lhoss shouted out, “That was us!” Bilba told us that she was most grateful for our help in destroying the naga and that we are always welcome to stay at the Slumbering Serpent for free, including meals. Chiki then demanded a bath, and we were all able to bathe and get all the nasty swamp mud off of us. Bilba retrieved all our clothing and belongings to have them cleaned, and dressed us in clean robes, then brought us a hearty lunch meal, including some of the best wines and bread from Orlane.

After eating, we traveled to the mayor’s house and he was also overjoyed to see us. He told us that all of the villagers who had been charmed had woken up as if they had been in a fog. Some have evil memories and some have a lot of guilt and have fallen into a deep depression because of the terrible things they had been forced to do. He said that the priestess at the temple has also recovered and feels enormous shame but has been engaging in cleansing the temple and is anxious to meet with us. The statue of the naga that was in the temple was removed and sold to pay for the temple’s recovery.

The mayor also declared a citywide festival holiday in our honor this coming week, with all the good bounties of Orlane to be shared. He said that the elves have decided to settle in the village and others of their elven kin are expected in the next few days, and have promised to bring some of their agricultural secrets to the village. He also shared that the merchant is expecting us and would like to reward us.

After leaving the mayor's house we hurried over to the temple and found that it now has a holier, cleaner look. The gardens have been worked on and tended. Much work has been done but there is still much left to do. Nisha the priestess apologized repeatedly. She recognized Armani as a cleric and offered him training for 750 gold.

Leaving the temple, we went to the jeweler and he appraised all our gems and jewelry for us, offering to do a one-time money exchange for no charge and a 90% exchange on the gems and jewelry.

We also met the shopkeepers and their sons who had previously been antagonistic to us and found they are now friendly. Even their sons came out and shook our hands, and they offered us a lifetime discount on most items. We all purchased some needed supplies, ordered others, and considered what else we might need to stock up on.