Meet 138, Adv 16, 10/18/25

Birthmonth the 30th, 289 of the 29th age. 8 PM. Eoghan seemed to be a bit more of himself on this day and we discussed a bit at length the averted adventure to liberate King Mombi’s Vice-queen. In fact the next day, Heatmonth the 1st, after we had set off on the Windshade. Darius talked to the ranger frankly. He admitted what happened, embracing an honest discourse and left nothing behind.

Eoghan seemed to understand, was not totally thrilled or upset about either. Eventually the matter was put behind us. Captain Twilick had put in all our supplies and using the Kaiser’s stipend, also paid for 4 additional days of food for us to take. We are going to set up a base camp at the southwest foothills of the mountains, on the river bed but safely enough away from any of the crazy wind issues or mountain predators.

It was about 3 PM when we brought the Windshade down. Some of his crew set up a simple series of blocks pre cut and notched for the skyship to rest in.  A camp was established and we bid the gnome captain a farewell for now. Where he was, he could feasibly stay there almost 2 months, which gives the party plenty of time to go to the mountain and eventually make their way inside and return.

Packs shouldered the group set off, moving up and down the hills and staying in the valleys when possible. After 3 or so hard miles, we were cresting the larger valley cleft to the mountain range. The wind was really buffeting us, hair wild and cloaks driven forward. We climbed almost 1000 feet up before coming over the top of the rise between the 2 mountains and were on the lee side of the 1st valley. The wind died instantly and we were able to find some sort of place for camp. The idea was we’d stay in the hut, but position it so it faced a rocky outcropping and no chance of the group being accosted at night. We slept well.

Heatmonth the 2nd we were on the go by 8:30 AM. At some point, Wilhelm stripped down and took Raven form. He flew east and north, scouting ahead and watching the sky. The wind was pretty fierce in places and he did find the peak in question, but as he flew closer he could feel a frightening. His avian senses were telling him a predator, and a large one, was in the area.

He flew back and after getting changed, let us know about the land between here and the Donnegarten peak as well as the feeling of a predator in the area. We opted to be on higher alert and continued to set off.

Around 2 we came to an area where a fire had burned about 2 acres of forest. Older burn, and somewhat regular in size and dimension. About 4 as we closed in on the mountain, Wilhelm changed again, this time to a black bear. He too felt a presence of passing into a predator’s hunting grounds. We stayed on high alert and it began to drizzle out. By 7:30 we were at the mountain’s base and set up camp again with the hut, once more facing to an outcropping of rocks to keep the door from being accidentally found.

We awoke the next day Heatmonth the 3rd and it was raining hard. Knowing that our time of the hut was not infinite (12 hours max per 24 hour period), Darius went out and set up some of the tarps we had to keep most of the rain off of us. It was not very well and the wind was driving. 2 Hippogriffs had flown by but kept going. And we stood out there, miserable but not going to climb the mountain while it was storming out.

Some regular and giant goats crossed our paths but by 12ish, the bulk of the storm had moved on. We cleaned up, Shim prestidigitated us, and we all linked up by rope. Then it was climb time. Darius, Connal, Eoghan, and Wilhelm all had a good idea on where the entrance to the Donnegarten system was (5,000 feet up). But the mountain was wild and untamed here. And even roped up, Shim and Wilhelm did trip and fall a few times, bashing face and twisting ankle.

We had to rest briefly at 4:30 and them kept on. By 7:PM, we found the entrance. 11’ high, 25’ wide. It was a ragged hole into the mountain itself. Hundreds of crushed splintered bones littered the outside and it stunk terribly like some animal lair. We went off a bit and found an area a few hundred yards away where we set up the Chime as well as the hut – deterring any predators from coming to the area and giving us the last chance to rest.

Heatmonth the 4th had us up and ready 5:30 AM. We broke fast, studied, and Eoghan went looking around. South of the cave entrance, he found 2 long 3 toed foot prints heading away from the cave. Each was a bit under 3’ in length and they were 7’ apart. No others. Something leaving the cave?

We drew up and entered. The cave sloped down, uneven ground at best. Ceiling was a rise and fall between 11 and 15’ of height. Lots of scat, bones, and uneven ground – we’d move half speed at best. Some green scales, lots of them, found on the ceiling and floors. Two passages out of here – east and south. Faint noise to the east.

Nate took out his Seshele Trident, raised it to his eyes, and looked through it. He got two visions – to the east was a 13” cave bear head on its hands snorting and looking. To the south, a 35’ long green scaled wyvern.

Damn it.

He let us know of the threats and we then proceeded to discuss at long length what to do and how to handle these foes. Heatmonth the 4th, 7:50 AM

2nd Campaign, Session 20. 10/14/25

5:40 AM, Icemonth the 19th. The group wanted to enter the kobold lair. Fjord shared with the party to the best of his recollection the size and placement of the caves. We looked it over and even if the kobolds were sleeping, approach would be difficult at best. We narrowed it down to just Gun, Fjord, and Nevah to sneak in, with the rest of the party to follow on and when they had been told the coast was clear.

The three, Halfling, gnome, and half-ogre snuck down the 40 feet of cave passage to the first main cave. There were kobolds to the left and right, half a dozen each. They were resting on small nests of dragged together cloth and other scraps. Across the way was a 13th kobold, in a chair, but after observing it for a bit, Gun was sure it was asleep. They pointed and signed which way to go first and working left to right, coup de graced each kobold one at a time, knife to the throat, ear, eye, muffling their grunts as each expired. It took time but when done, Gun snuck to the last sleeping one and killed him off.

We could see the 60’ deep pit here with the boulders and eye hooks in place that were part of the trap to catch the group earlier. Gun looked in the next room. There was a pair of passages on the east side heading south, and a larger chamber to the west where we could see some sleeping kobolds. And 2 large boars. Awake. Watching us. AND there was another kobold on the south end of the chamber also in a chair supposedly to keep watch but asleep as well.

We went back and talked, inspiring the rest of the party to close. We had the idea to use Atlas’ sleep spell to put a larger number of them asleep. So he had to move up. And we knew that missile fire was going to count. Somewhere in here we assumed Yandr was still at, and if Fjord was correct, was still chained up on some level. There was another guard on the other side of the room, also seemingly asleep.

Gun tried to enter, moving quietly, but the boars were getting excited at his presence so he turned and returned to the group. They got a plan together and at 6:25, they launched it. Arrows and bolts flew, followed by a sleep spell which took out some of the kobolds, but even Atlas knew it was an underpowered spell. A stab to a sleeping kobold took care of the guard and Cara joined the Halfling near the front line.

This noise did wake up Yandr. The paladin pulled the slack towards the boar we was chained to, and as soon as he could, he jumped up and launched himself at its back, knees pressed tight. It squealed and immediately took off, dragging the other kobold still chained to the paladin. We filled the air with arrows and bolts, while the few that were slept were wakened by other kobolds near them. Battle lines were swelling. A kobold guard tried to slow the pig but was yanked off his feet, while the other one smashed into the wall.

Yandr tried to angle his boar to breeze by the Halfling and pick up Gun, but they failed to connect and he rode past down the corridor. One of the kobolds badly wounded was heading for the wall to blow the signal horn. Cara sent Ply the giant rat to intercept. And then Atlas had a great idea, “Sorry, Cara!” and fired another sleep spell off, hitting the rat.

“Hey!”

This allowed the spell to go around the corner and encompass the guard trying to blow the alarm, sleep him and a few others. Yandr had wheeled the boar and was riding north back up the hall. He came to Gun, pulled the Halfling aboard the charging boar, and the animal trampled the nearest kobolds to death.

A mop up followed and then healing was dispensed. Yandr and Fjord went through the items still here. All magic items have been taken, but normal equipment was still here or on the kobolds in the area. The boar that Yandr rode he spent extra time with, rubbing and talking nicely to it. “This one is mine,” he said, looking down. “Mine.”

Cara meanwhile had cast animal friendship on one of them, hoping that well meaning intentions and a herd mentality would have the other 2 follow along. Total count so far? 20 kobolds and 2 guards. Yandr estimated the entire kobold enclave to be over 50. The rest were with the chief, probably west of here.

We cleared the room and by quarter to 8, had dropped every kobold body down the 60’ pit, leaving only blood stains about. 2 passages south, the both went to the same place, splitting up and joining together. Eventually the passages split again at the bottom of a 50’ cliff. The other passage had the same. Fjord took out the grapple hook, we tied rope to it, and then took a few turns hurling it up and dodging the falling thing before it stuck at the top.

The half-ogre climbed up, eventually rolling to the top of the cliff. There was an alcove here, 2 stools, and a rolled up rope ladder. He could faintly hear voices echoing down the long hall past here, kobold and distant. He whispered loud down to the party, dropped the rope ladder down, and checked the hall, seeing it joined with the other cliff. 2 stools here but no ladder. He ran back and slid down the rope to the bottom as the kobolds were coming close. They waved and shook the rope until the grapple let go. Then the party ran back north while the kobolds were complaining about “Where’s the ladder” according to Nevah who spoke their language.

We went back to the area by the beach and figured we’d go around this way. It was after 9 by this time so we were on alert. We followed the passage, passing the area that had been seeded with hot coals yesterday. We did find a side passage that we entered and explored. Dried fish, nets, a place for the kobolds to prepare food. We took some barrels of it, the nets, and went back to the beach, hiding everything in the alcove there for now.

We then went back and continued down the passage. We could hear some echoes, and maybe some water sounds? Glow was up ahead. Eventually we could see the passage had widened to easily 35’, but there was a 20+’ chasm there, filled with lava. 3 bridges of stone crossed over the gap. Each bridge had a couple of kobolds there, 2 of them with warning horns. The light from the lava was spoiling their infravision.

We did not want to risk a fight there so it was a sleep spell sort of plan again. We wanted to hit the middle group and hope the spell was strong enough to hit both sides especially the horn wielders. So we drew weapons, a bless spell fired off, we got ready, and at the extreme limit of the spell range, Atlas fired off a sleep spell – dropping just 2 kobolds.

Wtf?

Coming out from UNDER the bridges, basking in the heat from the magma, were 2 lava lizards! (1 had been put to sleep). The hissed at us, the kobolds drew up ready for the fight, and we took in the area before committing ourselves to charging. Icemonth 19th, 10:10 AM.

Meet 137, Adv 16, 10/11/25

Birthmonth the 21st, 289 of the 29th age. 7:30 PM, the group was in the Suds and Foam Inn and Hotel in Nightdale and were discussing the merits and flaws with the attempted mission to try and get Vicequeen Tensia from the Royal Estate and cruel ministrations of King Mombi Castian.

Eoghan was being constantly rebuked by the party. Patsy. Death wish. Unfair. What's in it for us. Not going to do it. Eoghan tried to explain that the mission was accepted and if need be, his word counts and he’d go on his own. It was a circular discussion for over an hour.

We had gotten an overview layout of the Estate here in town, plus what we had gotten as information from Adept Stacy and Ruffles Foxian. The Estate was roughly an acre - grounds are about 300' wide by 135' north/south.

There is a main road, King's Boulevard, that runs north of the Royal Estate. Across the Boulevard is a stretch of 4 acres called Lower Hill Park. It is there that Stacy is anticipating portalling the party to.

As for the Lightning Cart to get out of Freemanor, the party would have to leave the Royal Estate and travel west for 1/2 a mile to the Station. Ruffles Foxian will have a cart waiting for them there, just off the main junction so no one should notice it, and a pair of drivers ready to race them away and back to Nightdale.

The Royal Estate is 1 story for the most part, but there is a 2nd story on the east side of the manor house. A gazebo is beyond that. The Groundskeeper's cottage (Maurice Groundsman) is on the southeast section of the estate, and there is a separate barracks building on the southwest section of the estate. As for the normal people who take care of the estate when King Mombi is not there: Maurice Groundsman (Gnome), Poplar (Treant), and both Mr Peppers and Throatripper (2 Giant Minks).

King Mombi and the Vicequeen travel with an entourage of 12. We know it includes His group of 4 royal guard, 1 personal body guard, Kings thief, kings magic user, kings priest, Cook, valt, chamberlain, and the Vicequeen’s maidservant.

We just didn’t think it was a good idea. It was here that Wilhelm spoke up. He suggested that he could scry at the location, get more detail of the place. He had 4 reflecting pool spells at his fingertips, so we filled the tub with water and then using some of the bath oils, prayed to Shakak and began the scry of the place. First he had to center on us, then he flew the image northeast to Freemanor, then to Lower Hill Park, and then the grounds. One of the 8 trees on the property was a Poplar, so we pegged that as the Treant. Then he sieved into the 2nd floor and looked over the great room there and the spell failed.

We noted a brief pause as we scried, crossing the fence line. A latent ward was there but not active. Stacy had mentioned that when the king is there she cannot portal us onto the grounds. Since the King was not there, the wards were down. Good to know. Maybe the kings magic user establishes them when they arrive?

Wilhelm fired the spell off again and restarted it where he left off, the 2nd floor great room. He went through the 4 doors here, 3 were nice bedrooms and we guessed thief, magic user, and cleric. The last was the water closet – lavatory, bathroom, shower. He took us down through to the 1st floor where the great room was here, looking out the front and back doors. The spell ended and he cast it again.

We picked up Mombi’s room. Big bed, wall of fetish gear, cage, small bed in corner. Then another bed room we assumed was the body guards, another water closet, a servant bedroom, and then the dining room with a S table capable of seating 21. The spell came to an end again and it was the 4th and final one.

The last rooms were the kitchen and the pantry. Then he took a look at the barracks, could house 6. We then went to the groundkeep’s cottage where we saw a mink outside. Maurice was there and was running over a to do list of things he needed to put in place before the King arrives. We zeroed on it and saw mention of something about wards, security, lights, and heat at the basement.

We saw no basement. With only a minute left or so on the spell, we looked over the map and decided to try the gazebo. It was big, 20’ diameter. The other mink was sleeping under it, on a grated door. Bingo., We sieved through the door and saw a room with 30 to 40 odd switches, wheels, toggles, and the like. There were some latent power here not hooked up, and four long glass and copper tubes (like fuses) on a shelf below where they would be inserted to complete a connection.

Scry ended.

We had more knowledge now. Take down the wards from the inside? Sneak in and hide until the King arrives then lower the wards and dimension fold out? The minks were a problem. The Treant was a problem. There seemed to be little wary way to do it. Mombi was to arrive on the 23rd and would be there to the 29th. We forced a vote, blind. And ended up with 4 not to do the mission and 3 to do it. Eoghan was not happy and said he’d do it anyway if need be.

Eoghan suggested we rest and come up with a tighter plan tomorrow. As the ranger drifted off, a few of us were trying to come up with an alternative. What if, what if, the Groundkeep could NOT enact the wards because the magic fuses were missing? Would that be an option? He would send message to the King and the trip to Freemanor to use the Fey Fountain would not happen and then Eoghan’s mission could be squashed.

Wilhelm, Connal, Shim, and Nate all set off at 10 after nine. They went to the kennel where they bought 2 rabbits and a shitty wooden cage. Then they walked out of town, and traveled the 11 or so miles to Freemanor. The roads were empty and we got there about 2:30 AM on the 22nd. We avoided the watch by staying in the park area and eventually came across the King’s Boulevard to the Estate. A detect magic revealed no active magic on the fence.

We dropped 4 invisibilities on us, and in addition to 2 invisibility to animals and Connal drinking his potion of infravision, two of them crossed the road, hoisted over the fence, and were on the property, leaving Nate and Wilhelm to keep watch from the park. The monk and gnome (carried of course), crossed about halfway to the gazebo before Connal took out one of the rabbits and tossed it in the direction of the mink. It shot up and gave chase after the rabbit who ran west.

We slid under the gazebo, Shim fired off a silent portal spell, and Connal undogged the lock and lifted the metal door. We climbed down the stairs and he pulled it closed but did not lock it.

They went to the machinery which had enough of a glow to see by. Shim took the 4 fuses and we left 2 of the Lynching Dwarf toys from Tilani here, to give whoever would look around the belief that this were instigated by the elves. They climbed out of the hidden area, closed and locked the door, then tossed the 2nd rabbit at the now 2 minks who were eating the first one. They ran for the fence, vaulted over and rejoined the rest of the group across the street. We made our way west to the main gate and by 3:25 AM, were on our way back to Nightdale.

Along the way we dropped the fuses randomly in the woods. The night grew lighter and Wilhelm was growing exhausted, staggering and trying to stay awake. By 7 AM, Nate was having the same problem, the two of them weaving back and forth. Our pace slowed. Shim fell asleep being carried. Connal offered to slap faces to keep everyone awake. By 9:15 we wad arrived back at Nightdale, went to our room, ignored Eoghan and the others, and fell asleep with agreement to get up in 4 hours.

The rest of us kept Eoghan busy who wasn’t stupid and asked lots of questions, but truthfully, Darius and the others couldn’t really tell him what was going on. Eventually the rest of the party woke up by 2ish, they ate, and Shim directed the group to Townsquare to check out the King’s itinerary. For meetings, permits, heads of state things, his travel plans are often posted so courts can adjust to his schedule.

The space where it would say he was in Freemanor from the 23rd to the 29th was now marked as cancelled and that he would be here in Nightdale. “What did you do?” Eoghan asked. “Oh my! I guess he’s not going to be in Freemanor. So that means the mission is off.” The ranger was pretty mad. “You guys did something, what was it?” No one would agree to anything, just saying that it was a strange coincidence.

Eventually Ruffles contacted Eoghan and let the Ranger know that given Mombi’s concern over Tilani Elves taking a shot at him, he was going to forego his trip this quarter to Freemanor and stay here closer to home. Lady Amathea wanted to let him know that she was sorry and that if the situation were to change at some point in the future, she’d love to give him another opportunity.

Eoghan was not happy. At all. We boarded the Zephyr’s Windshade on the morning of the 23rd and Twilick set us off, heading all the way back to Bork Keep. We arrived on the 28th in the afternoon. During the time we looked over his maps and indicated where we were going to go next (Donnegarten). He mentioned that was Flyover country and those mountains had a lot of wind shear. He could fly over them, but weaving through them risked the Windshade. However, south of it was a clear area by a river. He could set up a camp there with the water supply nearby. Goblins occasionally run through the area but they are easily avoided and tend to stay underground.

We agreed, figured it was a day and a half from where Twilick suggested the camp and the Mountain. So we spent the next 2 days going through all that Bork Keep had to offer us. Picks, shovels, augers, oil, shields, bags, rope, anything and everything. We reorganized the Hut, cleaned it out and set it up tighter internally. With all our beds as well as the supplies and stuff we now had, the Tiny Hut’s 900 square feet interior was about 2/3rd full.

This was it, we were going to board the Windshade and set off on Firemonth the 1st in the morning.

Adventure averted.

Meet 136, Adv 16, 10/04/25

Birthmonth the 16th, 289 of the 29th age. The group went to the Therbaric School of Magic to see about making any sort of trade for weaponry or the like. A few things were presented and we made a few purchases accordingly. What we wanted to do though, was go back to the 5 schools and see about maybe having the opportunity to join.

We returned to the Thaumaturgy school (Bardarian) where we went through a variety of tests to measure our potential cunning. After a few hours we learned that a few of us might have the ability to attend the school. Base is 20 crowns and 2 months of effort.

We returned to the Long Horse Inn, arranged room and board for 4 days, and then for the next cycle of days, attended the other 4 schools accordingly. Perseverance, Logic, Bravery, and Strength. Each time there was a learning curve to possibly attend. A few of us were on the border and could possibly get a chance, but it was a 4 month commitment. We did not know if we were going to have that kind of time.

Finally on Birthmonth the 20th, Eoghan was approached by a gnome who wanted him (and a second of his choosing – he picked Shim) to come and meet with the Lady Amalthea (unicorn) about a possible mission. The 2 of them went to the east end of town where they had a chance to go to a forest clearing and meet with 3 figures.

The Lady Amalthea of course. Then there was Ruffles Foresight Foxian, Dweval’s 2nd son and one of the most powerful and influential gnomes in Nightwoods. And Stacy Willowbright, a gnomish Adpet of Urdlen, the god of bloodlust and hatred.

We learned that Stacy is the Vicequeen Tensia’s Elder sister. She was chosen without a chance to pass by King Mombi almost 3 years ago and the gnomish king has been using her cruelly all this time. Stacy has been trying to get her freed of the unliked king but so far no luck.

Lady Amalthea has put together an opportunity. It turns out that King Mombi is to visit the royal estate in Freemanor in 3 days for some showing the flag and to enjoy the waters of lust from the fey fountain there. His Vicequeen is to be with him. He is expected to stay there a week. He has a retinue of 12 that travel with him.

The group’s job, free the Vicequeen and head back to Nightwoods, then take off on their Spelljammer before the Skyguard can be summoned to stop them. When they arrive at Bypass Lady Amathea will meet them there and use her magic to regrow Eoghan’s hand. It means they will be banished from Nightwoods but they will have the thanks of most everyone involved.

Questions were asked. The moment the vicequeen is taken, a royal alarm and alert will go off, identifying the person who took her. At no point are we to permanently harm or kill the King. The goal is not regicide – but rescue. To sweeten the deal, Ruffles would make sure a temple and some orphanages to Lathander would be built. Stacy also had a way to transport us to a tree right outside the royal estate so we would not have to walk thorough Freemanor and risk being seen. As for escape, Ruffles would make sure a Lightning Cart would be available to the party as soon as they finished the rescue, regardless of the time of day or night, so we could race off back to Nightdale.

Eoghan could say no and there would be no negative implications, but if he accepts the mission and fails then that would be a negative mark. There are 4 powers that run Nightwoods, and even though the gnomes are the greater portion of it, they are not alone. The Fey, Centaurs, and Ents matter just as much.

Eoghan accepted the mission and left with Shim, heading back to the group. He soft sold it to the party, didn’t have some answers, and when we tried to find Ruffles, we had no luck as he was not staying at an Inn. The group eventually agreed to help Eoghan and we figured our first job was to head back to Nightdale and let Twilick know.

So we hopped on a Lightning Cart the next more, Birthmonth the 21st, and rode through all 3 towns, arriving back at Nightdale by 5 PM. We went to the Suds and Foam to get rooms again while a few of us went to the gnomish Captain and share with him what we needed.

He was…unhappy. But agreed to help. He did comment that we had done something against the Elven king some weeks ago, and now we were doing something against the gnomish king. Are these our missions? Are we making problems for the Kaiser? He agreed that the Windshade would be ready to fly by tomorrow and would wait for us to arrive as soon as we could.

Went back to the Suds and Foam, ate, and by 7:30 that evening, shared with the rest of the group what the plan was. We hoped to get a layout of the estate and maybe an idea of who is in King Mombi’s entourage.

2nd Campaign, Session 19. 9/30/25

Icemonth the 18th, 2:20 PM. Gun, Nevah, and Fjord crept to the south end of the cavern and listened hard both to the northeast and the south west passages. We heard nothing down either side however Gun was convinced that there was something to the northeast – a prickle on his skin, a faint shift of something on rock. Enough to alert the assassin. To the southwest at the limit of the infravision range the ground took on a change of heat from blueish green to yellowish orange. We discussed what it could be. Heat source? Steam vent? Not sure but we opted not to go and look.

Instead we drew up into roughly 2 across and started walking northeast, Fjord in the front checking every few feet for anything trap like. About halfway through, he did spy holes in the north and south walls of the passage, about ankle height. We discussed options and guessed that they might have been spike or maybe piton holes – right now though they were missing. The thieves in the group guessed they might have been trip lines but were now empty. We continued on with care.

After 60 odd feet there was a side passage that went south, perhaps 15’ wide, and the passage kept going again to the east but turning slightly southeast as the passage continued. Fjord was able to tell that maybe 50’ or so down the south side passage was another spray of heat on the floor. Gun was sure this is where the noise was coming from but the heat at the end of our visible range was ruining any further infravision.

It was decided that Fjord would go first, maybe cross the space to the other side. But when he stepped out, three bolts fired out – one punched into his leg, and the other two were mancatcher style, like a set of bear traps. And the cables on them were taut. And then we heard a barking command and WHOOSH – Fjord was yanked forward and dragged into the darkness. WTH!?!

Yandr stepped around to try and help find Fjord but again, three bolts were fired – one hit his shield and he splintered it, but the other 2 mancatcher styles hit him. He drew his sword, was knocked on his ass – and WHOOSH! Another party member was dragged ahead.

Fjord was pulled at a great speed, through hot coals, past a fuck ton of kobolds, up a thin slope and into a cramped cage where he hit with a thump, was crushed in, and then the heavy steel door was slammed closed and two pins were slid in and threaded in place. Two boars were dragging his cart past here and into the next room, kobolds around him, stabbing and beating at him.

Yandr had a similar experience, but sitting up he had some hot coals slide into his armor, he tried hitting the cable but no good, and he attempted to brace himself before hitting the cage but slipped and was smashed within, also beaten and the door slammed closed and pinned. He tried to attack but was unable to get a good attack in. They were dragged into the next cave past a big hole where boulders had been shoved down, providing the impetus to capture the group.

The rest of the party was unsure what to do. Sling stones filled the hall hitting at anyone who would dare to sneak to the next hall. Kobold voices were taunting us and we did not have a good idea to get through. As for the other two, they were confronted by the kobold chief, a painted warrior in chain armor and carrying a magical flaming short sword. There were 6 honor guard kobolds as well, also well armed and armored.

They grabbed out at us, wrapping Fjord’s right hand and Yandr’s left leg in tightly bound ropes, they were then attached to the boars and pulled taut, dragging the respective limbs out of the cages. The chief in poor common went to Fjord first and told him he had one chance, give up .. yes no? And Fjord was unsure, nervous, and said, “Brian…”

“Not Yes!” the chief howled and hacked down the sword, severing the three smaller fingers and about half of Fjord’s hand from his body, the enchanted blade cauterizing the wound. He was screaming, the group could hear it down the hall. The same was howled to Yandr who refused to give up and he too was struck, this time his left foot was 1/3 severed away, three smaller toes, boot hacked up, wound cauterized. The two men were in agony, crippled, and the chief talked to his people. They left 6 kobolds here as they went back to the other room – two on the boars, 1 watching the prisoners close, the other watching from a bit further away.

Gun attempted to sneak quietly past the entrance, heading for the other corridor curving to the south beyond this one, hoping it would link up. He went into the gloom, eyes peeled, infravision fired. After some 90 or so feet, he could see a 50’ slope of collapsed stone to a passage below this one. Not what he expected. But when he went to turn back, he heard a rattling noise and was surprised to see a 9’ rattlesnake here. It lunged at him, sinking its fangs into the halfling, and paralyzing him. He was frozen in place as it coiled around him, brought his legs together, and unhinged its jaw to bite, chew, and eat the halfling from the feet up!

The party wanted to go and find Gun, it's been too long, and we waited not answering the kobolds as they taunted at us. Eventually we managed to get past the passage and made our way down towards where the halfling had gone.

As for the others, it was not going well. Yandr managed a lay on hands on himself but he was bad off. Fjord tried to saw at the rope connecting his hand to the boar but it was difficult and then he gave up. Yandr tried to draw his short sword but the kobolds there beat at him until he was disarmed. Fjord then tried to undo the pins – but made each set tighter as he could not get the idea of left loosy righty tighty right – making it impossible for him to now get out. He would need a hammer to hit the pins, so he hoped to get his thieves tools out.

Yandr then tried to use a healing potion but was get just getting beat up for it so he drank it, pissing the kobolds off. They then saw Fjord try to use his thieves tools so hit him a bunch and took the tools away. Then Yandr hoped to set himself on fire and dumped a flask of oil on himself but he only managed to get half of it on him. Twisting and flopping around he tried to make a spark but couldn’t do that and they threw a bucket of water at him from the pig trough, diluting the oil. This was not working at all.

The Chief came back and talking to Fjord, said that he’d be a slave. So they heated up a branding iron, dragged him from the cage, took his stuff, and then pressed it on his lower right face and jaw. The smell of burnt flesh and pain was enough to knock him out – and he hit 0 hit points.

The rest of the group had gotten down to Gun and saw the snake had eaten him now up to his thighs. A few arrows were fired and the snake bit again, sinking poison into Gun before spitting him out. Hrimvir then came up and WHAM – flattened the snake’s head, killing it. But Gun died from the poison’s after effects. So Carl prayed to Odin and got the halfling back to positive hit points. But he was still paralyzed for at least an hour and a half. So we opted to carry him and start heading back.

Yandr wanted the Chief to save the half ogre and agreed to be a slave in his place. So they poured some rot gut down his throat but no luck. So the Chief gave a prayer to the kobold god and got Fjord back to 1 hit point. He was down to his underwear. Was given his crossbow and no bolts. Then the 5 honor guard kobolds escorted him back down the passage up the beach area, and ordered him to walk up the river or he’d be killed. Never return. So crying, alone, and crippled, he entered the water and started walking up stream, eventually getting to the 1st side beach area where he stopped and curled himself up, waiting and hoping his friends would come back.

The group had been hiding at the passage and saw all this. They waited for the kobolds to return and go back down the passage before daring to sneak past, go to the beach area, and head up the stream to eventually find Fjord. He was healed a bit and we talked about the kobolds, the chief, how many there were, and that Yandr took Fjord’s place so the half ogre would be let go.

The Chief explained to Yandr that they were here to keep the dragon, Netherithraxus, safe from being ripped off. Slavers from Highpoint, a woman named Vylaria, comes and borrows money from the dragon but never pays enough back. The Chief helps to keep the dragon’s hoard from being plundered. Since Yandr has his numbers, they were going to have him see the hoard tomorrow and compare it to the books. Sleep well, most likely kill you in the morning.

The group slept, resting early, and were up by 5 AM. We studied quick, made sure we were set to go, and headed back down the river, a few more endure elements were cast. We snuck up the beach and back to where the kobold lair was. We were discussing how we were going to go in there and take them out, hopefully while sleeping for now. 5:40 AM, Icemonth the 19th.

Meet 135, Adv 16, 9/27/25

Birthmonth 15th 6:30 PM, 289 of the 29th age. The group arrived in Sparkhouse, the seat of gnomish airship manufacturing as well as magical experimentation and research in the Gnomish kingdom of Nightwoods. We disembarked from the Lightning Cart and after asking around, found that a local inn called Long Horse Inn would cater to “Tallies” (non-gnomes/halflings/dwarves).

The city itself was situated in a clearing about 4 and a half miles in diameter. No building was taller than 70’ in height, and we could count 11 different wizard towers. There were no trees, and no birds, nor were there any airship docks. The center of Sparkhouse was dominated by the massive Moonspire, a single edifice 300’ in height that started at 40’ diameter and quickly narrowed to almost a needle like point.

Long Horse Inn was proprietored by a human name Lugari Long Horse. He’s the distant son of a magic using family who currently runs the Long Horse School of Alchemy here. We were able to arrange a room for all of us (at a very decent price) on the 3rd floor. Room 4. Dinner and breakfast included. We went up to take a look. The inside seemed larger than the room should be when looked on the outside. The beds were soft, blankets thick, pillows comfortable. Vibrating hooks shook the dirt from our clothes where it was whisked away by softly sucking vents below. Even a tub was here, warm water available on tap.

We went down to the Common Room, listened to the harpsichord playing minstrel, ate a really good meal, got instructions to the towers of magic. There are 11 – 2 for each school, and one for the school of Archmagery. The schools also didn’t correspond to ours or what we knew – Thaumaturgy, Alchemy, Magic, Sorcery, and Wizardry. There were no mentions of air, earth, fire, or water.

We were told about the Moonspire. At midnight, the moonspire collects magic sent down to it from a sister spire on the moon, powering the massive batteries, lathes, gears, and magics under Sparkhouse. On the moon? Apparently, ancient gnomes took a spelljammer up there, discovered the moon was a repository of untouched magic, but the chaos of it was too wild and when the ores were collected, it wrecked the ship. So a sister ship had been sent up to save the gnomes there and a big undertaking was employed. Using some thaumaturgic principles, 2 versions of the moonspire were created at the same time – one here and the other on the moon. Then at midnight the massive influx of magic would fire down here to be collected.

We went to the roof before midnight to watch it. Sure enough (others were there as well) at 1 minute prior to midnight the base of the Moonspire glowed in a red and purple light that made its way swiftly to the top where @ the stroke of midnight, a long shaft of brachiating lightning arced out of the obsidian sky and flared into the Moonspire, where it was channeled down the edifice and into the ground. For 10 solid seconds we could faintly hear humongous flywheels race up to speed somewhere below as well as some groaning before it all calmed down and the night was calm again.

Wow.

We rested well and the next day, Birthmonth the 16th, headed off to the magic district. Wanting to know a bit of what had been mentioned to us last night, we headed to the Bardarian School of Thaumaturgy where we got an education of magic and the 7 rules by a gnomish Thaumaturge named Mendainicus.

To gnomes, there is a different ordering of magic. Magic comes in two flavors – innate and learned. Everyone has some version of innate magic – whether it’s a bit of luck at dice, knowing when it's going to rain, able to make cookies perfect every time, even just remembering the words to jokes.

Learned magic – the Arcane version (doesn’t matter sorcerer or magic user) is derived from 7 principles. There are 5 distinct schools of magic.

Thaumaturgy is the first school and the magic user must exhibit cunning. What we know of as transmutation and necromancy are magics that fall under the umbrella of Thaumaturgy. There are 2 principles: The Principle of Sympathy – it dictates that Like Produces Like. And The Principle of Contagion – it dictates that Once Together, Always Together. Long and short the first means that affecting a small thing can affect a larger thing, and the second means that if you have a small piece or copy of an original, you can affect an original. A cunning mage can find connections and paths to really make this school work well for them, but over extending is possible to kill the mage.

Alchemy is the second school and the magic user must exhibit perseverance. The one principle is The Doctrine of Signatures – it dictates the Attributes Without Mirror the Powers Within. Long and short, every ingredient, component, reagent or the like has some version of a physical power that can be used to infuse not only potions and inks, but spells as well. The problem with potion making is that no matter how much preparation one puts into place, there is always a random factor that no mage can completely overwhelm, and each iteration of creation and brewing is a chance for failure. Even simple potions have 4 iterations of brewing, while some of the more difficult ones can have up to 14 steps of refinement.

Magic is the third school and the magic user must exhibit logic. What we know of as enchantment and evocation are magics that fall under this umbrella. There is one principle: the Maxim of Persistence – it dictates that Perfection is Eternal. Long and short, rituals must be exact and performed without error. Item creation, ritual magic, and synergistic magic with apprentices feature heavily here. A logical mage is needed here because the adherence to steps, logic, and able to function amidst distractions make a good practitioner to the School of Magic.

Sorcery is the fourth school and the magic user must exhibit bravery. What we know of as abjuration and illusion fall under the purview of Sorcery. There is a single principle and even in our time it is a known maxim: The Rule of Three: Thrice Spoken, Once Fulfilled. Mind control, charms, everything in magic has a three time price and it must be paid. It takes a brave mage to exhibit the level of control and discipline to be a skilled Sorcerer and is known as one of the more difficult schools.

Wizardry is the fifth school and the magic user must exhibit Strength. What we identify as divination and conjuration fall under wizardry. Two principles guide it: The Law of Ubiquity – it dictates that Flame Permeates All. And the Law of Dichotomy – which dictates Dominance or Submission. Long and short the first indicates that the act of piercing the veil of the prime material plane required the burning of something. Flame, whether within the mage of material component – something must be burned to weaken the fabric or reality for the magic user to slip through. The second says that in each transaction, there is a master and a slave – if you do not have the strength to get the answer or control you need, then you are the lesser wizard and risking much on your attempts.

We went to the Long Horse School of Alchemy where Alchemist Nain went through what was available, explained some of the ideas and needs of the typical alchemist, and we horse traded quite a number of items (including long held Bandersnatch rock skin) for healing potions, potions of heroism, portions of positive energy and the like. We then went to the Fire Style School of Magic where we talked with Hoses and we traded and purchased other items from them. Earring to talk to animals, rings of spell storing, rings of protection, even a girdle of masculinity/femininity. We did not get the bowl of watery death even though it was open to purchase – just seemed like a horrible idea.

We were going to go to the Therbaric School of Magic next as they generally make magical weapons, armor, and the like. As of now, it’s Birthmonth the 16th, 2:45 PM

2nd Campaign, Session 18. 9/16/25

Icemonth the 17th, 3:31 PM. Amidst the viscera of the torn up Cheese, the group hit the Owlbear with everything they had. Gun and Nevah peppered it with arrows and bolts, magic missiles flew, and Yandr was in the front, blades flying. Leggly was there, his coat rack smashing into the monster’s hide. But there was a rip of claws and Yandr was buffeted, slashed and hit. He splintered his shield and avoided a hug for his efforts. However he was bleeding wildly from the attack and used his paladinal powers to staunch some of the wounds.

We hit and tore, and another shield had to be splintered as the owlbear shredded Yandr again. The paladin was wavering and a heal spell had him up again. Leggly’s hat rack burst on the owlbear, falling apart. We reshuffled the line and Yandr was handed a shield to be borrowed for now. And it was a good idea as he was hit again and had to splinter again. More healing followed and the group shot, fired, stabbed, and slashed and finally the owlbear fell over dead.

As we were deciding on getting some feathers, Atlas and Thobar heard some noises coming down the hall. Buzzing and deep. They looked and could see a 4 count of 2’ diameter spiky angry looking robber flies. “Coming! Now!” We quickly redrew the lines and waited for them to come around the corner. Nevah shot, crossbow bolt ripping into one of them and sending it cascading back against the wall. Spears and other arrows followed and the flies were very quickly slain, leaving a last one to fly away fast.

We then went through the owlbear’s corpse. We scavenged feathers, claws, and even managed to carve out some bear steaks from it. With the secret door forced open in the berserker room, the party opted to stay here. We went back to the berserker room and gathered up bedding, food, weapons, clothes, and anything else we could get. Leggily, Fantas, and Neal set up camp while we checked out the cave beyond the owlbear.

Was a pool in here, brackish and muddy. No other way out. The pool was deep, spike on a rope test had it about 20’. But we couldn’t see lower than 4’ down, too much foul floating in the water. So we figured we’d check it out tomorrow.

Healing was dispensed, some scrolls studied, and we figured we’d get 1 good night rest. No one comes down to this section of the dungeon. In the time open, Gun figured he’d refine the giant wasp poin he had bee3n carrying around in the thorax all this time. Using Cheese’s old pan, he heated up the fire and began extracting the poison slowly. The vapors were pretty heady and the rest of the group already asleep were saved from the worst of it. But 5 hours of refining and extracting and Gun managed to get half a vial full – 5 or 6 good doses.

We all slept well and the next day, Icemonth the 18th, we had some Endure elements cast (thanks Hrimvir!), and then refilled our skins before going to the Octagon room. We went over the map and figured we’d try the bugbear area – especially since the door there was open. So Gun and Fjord went down a bit and at the limit of their infravision range, could see some amorphous blob talking. The language? Fjord was pretty sure it was trollish.

Nah, screw that. Heading back to the octagon, we decided NOT to go there. We could go to the hall that supposedly twisted all over but instead, we figured lets go to the last door at the 2nd octagon – the one that had some pressure behind it, pulling air in.

It was 9:25 when we got there and looked the place up and down. Decent sized beach and a 2 to 3’ deep stream, 35’ wide, heading from west to east. Fjord was the biggest in the group and he volunteered to go and check it out. We took 4 coils of rope and a big handful of pitons. A handy light spell on his spear doubling as a walking stick worked out. A much needed endure elements also followed. He dropped most of his belongings here to keep him from being weighed down and gave a nod to the party. Driving one into the beach here, we fasted a rope and Fjord began trudging upstream, wearing the crampons on his feet.

It started out difficult and then got harder. The slope was decidedly uphill and the current grew stronger the further he pushed along. At 50’ he drove a piton into the wall and made sure the rope was threaded through. But he could hear the water growing in speed and the pressure was getting worse. He was inching forward and in the dark – water was up to his waist and deepening. This was NOT the way to go. He thought that this eventually met up with the water that Cara almost fell down on the 1st level of the dungeon under the monastery. Cutting his losses, he turned and went back down with care.

Coming back to the shore, soaked but thankfully he did not note the cold of the water (thanks Hrimvir!), they discussed the path and he volunteered to go downstream instead. Cycling the rope around he held his spear up and trudged down the better direction. The water was about 2’ deep, moving but not like rapids – just fast, and it was cold (but he did not take heed due to the spell). It also sloped a bit but it was gradual to the half ogre.

After some 100 feet of walking he had left the glowing phosphorous fungus behind and found an outcropping of rock on the north side. A place to rest if need be. Dropping a piton here the group could hear his echoing pounding back at the main shore. He walked on. At 150’ another piton. At 200’ he found another outcropping of rock, this time on the south side. Stepping out to rest he looked down into the gloom. The water kept going.

“Brian…I should go check that out.” So. He untied the safety rope, kept a single coil of 50’ on it for himself, tied his grappling hook to the end, and walked on into the darkness – his light spell leading the way. The group was getting concerned, he had been gone over an hour and it’s been quiet down there. They opted to keep waiting, going through their belonging to make sure everything was packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Yandr looked at Gun’s map and shook his head. “Pretty sure you’re drawing this part upside down.”

The Halfling looked at the paladin from under his hat, brows risen. “I don’t come into your kitchen, boy, and tell you how to make soup.” After Yandr shrugged and walked away, Gun quietly turned part of his map over, top to bottom, and drew on.

Fjord kept going. He was doggedly going on, his great constitution keeping his trudging through the water and gravelly base of the river. He passed another shelf of stone but his spear suddenly went out. “Damn it.” He was in the dark and his infravision depicted everything in hues of blue green and blue – this was cold but he was willing to keep going. At 11:30ish he was 400’ down the river and opted to keep going. The rest of the group was now very concerned.

He moved on and he could see glowing up ahead. Phosphorous fungi like back where he had come from. A shore of rock. And a figure standing there – short but a decidedly heat source. He raised a hand and it disappeared – followed a moment later by lots of gonging sounds. “Damn it,” he muttered again as 2 of them appeared. He threw his spear but it cracked on the ceiling and was lost in the river. He turned and started heading back, the 2 from the shore following a bit before turning back – and the last thing he saw were lots more figures on the shore.

Cara volunteered to go down and see if she could find Fjord. She used another light spell and followed the rope, calling back often what she saw. At 150’ she came to the end of the rope, no Fjord. “He’s not here.” The group discussed lots of options and wanted to eat lunch before coming up with a rescue plan. Cara returned and the group sat on the shore eating.

Fjord’s great constitution was fading as he trudged back up the river against the current in the dark. It was almost 12:40 when he staggered out of the river, crawled up to the shore, and flopped on his back exhausted. Through his gasps for breath, he shared his journey, the shores, and the beach and other figures some 500+ feet away.

We let his get his breath and talked about it. Hrimvir would carry Gun, and Cara would carry Nevah – the gnome and Halfling too short to risk the fast moving water. The rest of us used up most of Hrimvir’s remaining spell slots – getting more Endure elements so the entire party was protected.

As for Leggy, Fantas, and Neal – this is where they bid farewell from Cara. They do not swim, have avoided this river for 5 years, and have tried it before. The cold makes their legs and feet hurt, go numb, then they fall over and risk drowning. They wish the Duchess well and after getting their belongings, wait on the shore to wave goodbye to the group.

We walked into the river @ ten after one and started walking along. We stopped briefly at each dry space before moving on again. The distance moved on behind us until about 5 after 3, we came to the beach and looked around with care. The area was big, 60 by 50 easily, 20’ tall ceiling in places. An alcove was on the east side where a crude alarm of crossed beams and hanging metal pieces hung to be smacked for alarming. Right now, no one was here. At the south end of the cave, there were 2 passages, easterly and southwest.

We decided to take the alarm gong apart. We cut the ropes and took the metal pieces to the river, tossing them in so the water would take them away. There was a fetish marking here, usually reserved for clan holdings. It was not goblin and the group suspected kobold. We know there are some down here and they know someone was in the river. Where they are now, we did not know. Icemonth the 18th, 2:20 PM

Meet 134, Adv 16, 9/13/25

Birthmonth the 10th, 289 of the 29th age. After making sure that all our larders were full, equipment purchased, items fixed, clothes cleaned, and training done, the group sat down and truly looked at their place in things. Right now, they had about 4 and a half months left to shut down the last 2 rifts, and one of them was in the Stronghold of Donnegarten – which we knew where it was. So we were ahead of the game.

With Godric’s passing, we had the Staff of Beetles that he had that only Shim could possibly wield, but given the size of it and his height, it was unusable by him. According to the map of the Ranadi Ympie that was given to us by the Kaiser, there were places in the ancestral gnomish homeland of Nightwoods that do not exist in our time. According to Twilick, Sparkhouse is the magical powerhouse of the Nightwoods Kingdom. So the thought was to go there (plus it’s important to Shim to see his homeland before the Theocrat takes over in 130 years or so) and sell or trade the item in question – and maybe see if there is anything we can do or be a part of.

On the 11th, we boarded the Zephyr’s Windshade and set sail from Bork Keep on the Spelljammer heading eastward to Borbute – the place where Wilhelm was from. We rose to 1500 feet in height and enjoyed the view and breeze. There are a series of inns the resthouses that the Kaiser reimburses the owners for putting up his envoy’s when they are out – and Twilick said that we can stay there or look for anyplace else if we want – but the costs would be on us.

The air was damp with the promise of rain and by 10 it was falling – big fat spring time drops which set Eoghan off. Luckily the gasbag kept most of the falling water from us but it was still a miserable trip. As we followed the road, we could see the Enderlyn River south of us and then beyond, the currently blasted lands that had been scoured by the Chaosstorm a month and a half ago.

The River widened and eventually the delta spilled out to the Borbuta Sea – a massive body of water that reached far south all the way to the kingdom of Daro. As for Borbute, Wilhelm was agog. The place was easily half again larger than in his time – most telling – the entire Wood Elven enclave north of town just wasn’t there! It was an arboreal forest but no elven settlements.

Shim was drawing it as best we could and eventually the ship landed. We were met by the dockmasters as we looked out. The airship docks numbered 12, and the sea faring docks had 2 or 3 times that number not counting the smaller piers for the skiffs and sloops. Tons of goods and passengers make their way from the tremendous sea port in all directions.

Some of us went shopping, Wilhelm took a few of us to places he knew in his time and outside to what would be his home area. A few elves were there, husbanding trees and organizing timber processing – but no expectation of any expanse of elven settlement. Captain Asher, Darius (and Rhygar), and Shimlagesh all opted to find their own place. Eventually settling on a 4 story fancy entertainment hotel known as “The Castle”. They arranged rooms, picked bathers (age and race), and enjoyed a wonderful meal while the local musician entertained everyone on the harpsichord. After getting a great night's sleep and some pleasure, the groups all reconvened the next morn on the 12th at the Windshade and we set off by 9:30 heading eastward.

We arrived at Ashak, another massive port city. This one does most of the trade from Orjam to the north where the quarries there send worked and unworked stones to Ashak for production and shipment. We once again stayed here at another inn sponsored by the Kaiser and on the morning of the 13th, the weather broke and we were off by 9 am.

According to Twilick, we could stop at Kontak, a small trade post town but with little amenities or press on but arrive after nightfall by Bypass, just outside Nightwoods. We opted for that, knocking a day of travel off and we enjoyed the ride. Shim had a question about Bypass. In our time there is no town north of it, but here a larger city known as Timberton exists as well as others.

Twilick told us that the 6 Peace Compact divides up the resources of the entire Ympire and dictates which race provides the larger portion of goods (40%) – gnomes volunteered for Timber and Wood products. So Timberton processes most of it for the Gnome King Mombi who then sends his required portion westward to the Kaiser.

We arrived at Bypass late, almost 8 PM, rested in the Inn there and were on the way by 9ish on the 14th. We took off and again hit 1500 feet. To the east we could see the massive green of the NIghtwoods – oaks, elms, and pines. Twilick let us know that we would be intercepted once we passed over the borders and Nightwoods Border and Protection would issue all of us (not Shim), travel visas. We had to make sure they were on us at all times.

3 strikes. 1st strike was 17 noble fine and a few hours incarceration. 2nd strike was 17 crowns fine and again incarcerated. 3rd strike was expulsion from Nightwoods, and wizard marked to prevent reentry for 17 weeks. The other rule was at no point should a non gnome start a physical altercation with a gnome. Ever.

Sure enough, by 11:30, 2 fast moving Spelljammers bracketed us between them, grapples were set and we were winched close. The Captain on Deck quizzed Twilick about his mission, and then had us all sign a visa. A special pen was employed that pricked the skin and we were making our mark in blood. This meant that visas were specific to each person and you could not use another persons. After they left we continued on towards the capital city of Nightdale.

The city of Nightdale was sizable, beautiful, and fairly large. The clearing was 3 by 3 and a half miles. Roads ran out like spokes of a wheel and concentric circles surrounded the city. We settled at the airship docks and disembarked. Getting directions from Twilick to the Hotel district, we let the gnome captain know that we would be here a week or 2. He was going to give his people shore leave and on day 3 (the 17th), would send a Message spell to Shim to get a heads up on when we wanted to take off again.

We walked through the main street. It was very wide, 45’ or so, and a set of mine cart tracks ran through the center of it. Many gnomes were about as well as some other races: human, elf, Halfling, orc. We also spied the odd stranger race. Fairies abounded here and there, and even a 13’ tall cherry Treant walked by. We heard some rumbling noise behind us and coming up the track was a set of 4 long carts, the first 3 holding seats, roof, and partial walls, room for 30 in each cart, the last was a baggage cart. The scent of ozone was strong and the wheels ground fast, sparks and discharging lighting flying about as the cart whizzed by at 15 mph and went off to the north.

“What the …?”

Asking the populace, it was a Lightning Cart and they circled the city. Stations were roughly every 10 minute intervals and a ride was about 50 minutes all around. Ride was free and there were a total of 5 of the Lightning Carts here in Nightwoods. Both Shim and Nate desperately wanted to ride one but we convinced them not until we got a place to rest.

We settled on the Suds and Foam, a hotel that catered to tall folk (not every place did). We talked to the Proprietor, a gnome named Madan. It started with Sir Darius looking for a room but when he heard that Asher was Captain Asher, the talk turned to the half elf. How are things at the front. Starlitzian Lizardmen and our encounters with them. And a big thank you for the Captain’s efforts and his service to the betterment of the Ympire. Asher ate it up and Darius was disgusted.

We got a room and after making sure that we had a chance to eat, we split up. Eoghan and Wilhelm were going to head to the south end of town where the city map showed various druid encampments. Shim and Natewere going to head off to the Upper class merchants area and see if they could find a magic seller. The rest of us were going to stay at the Suds and Foam and then rest.

Wilhelm and Eoghan walked south and then to the grove area, each of them taking their animals with them. Quickly they were surrounded by lots of other druids and rangers and the like. Including Centaurs. And more treants. And some seriously touched druid companions. We had the chance to meet with one of the organizers, a druid of the 6th circle named Gabin. He was pretty open with sharing the way of things after verifying the two of them were indeed ranger and druid.

Besides the Gnome King Mombi, there were 3 other powers in Nightwoods that share the rule. The Star Prince, the leader of the Fey. High Lord Sturgeous, Leader of the Centaurs. And Rootqueen Floraline, leader of the Forest (and treant). Mombi is not a very effective king. He is disliked by the populace and his edicts are strange and poorly thought out. He has 3 queens – 2 of them are cousins – one is his 1st wife, Loretta, and she runs many affairs of state. The 2nd is the Underqueen Aria, also a cousin and she is responsible for birthing children for the line. They have 2 so far.

The last is something new. Referred to as the Vicequeen, right now it is Tensia. She is the 3rd Vicequeen. The first one quit/retired after 2 decades, and the second one died. He picks them from the populace and they are Vicequeens because their job is to put up with King Mombi’s…vices. Which are said to be sexual, degrading, and sometimes violent.

We talked to the people for a while about Lathandar and at one point, Wilhelm was asked point blank about his blue color. He spoke of Shakak, Lord of Winter and the locals were pretty stoked to hear the visitors from afar and their stories. They ate and drank and eventually a unicorn, Lady Amalthea, came out of the woods and after talking to everyone, wandered up to the duo to speak with them.

They were blown away. A unicorn, right here. She asked questions about Eoghan and his missing hand and his adversity and getting over it. Then she turned to Wilhelm and asked more questions about Shakak. And they lead to other questions and stories. Between Wilhelm and Eoghan, they ended up talking about the Inserrat, the Cree Negishi, Hiawatha, the red and black brothers, Buffalo, Thunderbird, coyote, raven, and all the stories and things they had seen. The audience was rapt in attention and the Lady Amalthea thanked them both.

She did say that if Eoghan wanted the chance to get his hand back, a unicorn’s horn could regrow lost limbs or even bring back the dead. The cost is high and the magic great, but for a price paid, she might be willing to help.

She bowed and left and we were a bit of rock stars as the Lady Amalthea spent so much time with us. They burned a few hay effigies and the bonfires burned high. Alcohol was plentiful and smoking was encouraged. We did have a conversation at the end of the night with a gnome named Bevian. He was pretty stoned and identified Eoghan’s Lexi as a hellhound but quenched. If we wanted to fire her back up, kill a fire elemental and then cut out the heart and feed it to the hell hound – that should restart her fires.

Um thanks?

And for Wilhelm – Lord of Winter? Shakak? Needs to get something for it. Latent magic and all that. Need to kill a Frost Giant and then cut out its heart and eat it. Yeah – that’ll do the trick.

He got up and left, and Wilhelm did note he was wearing a druid disk but it was all colored in and had 3 concentric circles around it – fricking Hierophant druid – nothing higher. Was he fucking with us or telling the truth? Who knew!? They wrapped up and headed home by 1:30 to the Suds and Foam.

As for Shim and Nate, they walked to the nearest platform and waited for the lightning cart to arrive, which it did about 6 minutes later. They got on, excited, and inadvertently blocked a gnome from getting off. He was crass and muttered constantly. The two friends were rocked back when the cart took off, shim had hands up and yelling 'whee'. They looked about and got a heads up. Two engineers were on the roof with what seemed to be a set of rams horns, slowly pouring a drop or two at a time into an open funnel which in turn powered the wheels and sparked it off. Also, there was some sort of repulsion magic because anyone on the track ahead of the cart were shunted safely to the side before the cart could accidentally hit them.

stopped at the merchant’s district and walked up to the upper class area. Rug shops, loom makers, crystal ware, high end furniture, boots and cobblers. No magic shops. They wandered back to the station platform and got on, riding the Lightning cart around the city. Seeing others drinking openly, they stopped off at the next station and went to a local bar. They got a bottle of honey wine and a Shim lent his mug to Nate to get it filled with ale. They got back on another Lightning cart and enjoyed the ride, the gnomes, the speed, and Nightwoods.

They did see at the east end of town a different hub with a set of cart trails heading off to the east outside of the city. They asked about and learned that between the cities, there were also Lightning Carts that plied the roads. Good to know, it meant we could hit Foxmill and then eventually Sparkhouse and not have to take Captain Twilick for a ride. Cost was 1 crown for the rider, and 1 noble for each companion animal, child, or baggage material.

They got back to the Suds and Foam, met up with the rest of the group already there, ate well and we all went to bed. At some point we had to let Eoghan and Wilhelm in but we all rested. The next morning we all shared news about our day and agreed that a trip to Foxmill was merited now. Lightning carts went every 2 hours, next one was 10:30.

We paid our fare and rode east to Foxmill. The intercity lightning carts went faster – maybe 20 miles per hour. There were also 2 sets of tracks – one going east, the other west. At the half way point we passed the other Cart heading to Nightdale. By 12:30 we were at Foxmill. Foxmill is run by the 2nd most powerful gnome and gnome family – Dweval Bleach Foxian. Unlike King Mombi, he is well liked and he uses his influence and money to make the local gnomes lives better.  12:45 we were on the Lightning cart south to Deerwood, arriving at 3:45. Then at 4, we had the last Lightning Cart from there to Sparkhouse.

A food seller was plying the carts and a few of us took advantage of it. He had skewers of meat cooked and salted on a stick, and a flat naan type of bread rolled into a tube and wrapped in wax paper, filled with cooked and steamed vegetables. We ate well, a few of us thinking this was a deconstructed version of a gyro.

Sparkhouse loomed out and we arrived. There was no trees in a 4 mile radius circle around the town. Numerous towers, some squat, others tall, reaching 60’ in height abounded. No birds. Nothing flying. But in the center of town, a spire, starting at 40’ diameter, it rose up higher and higher, tapering to a point 300’ above the ground. The group leaned down to Shim to ask him about it and he shook his head.

“This entire place does not exist in the future. I’ve never heard of it. And in no place does that tower exist.” We also noted tellingly, there were no airship docks here. The Lightning Cart was rolling to the platform at 7 PM on Birthmonth the 15, 289 of the 29th age.