Meet 148, Adv 16, 2/7/26

Heatmonth 15th, 6 AM. After waking up and breaking our fast, we went through our supplies and then were going to set out. The assumption is that the goblins have been further establishing their dominance in the area so we wanted to check it out with care. Shim cast Invisibility on Nate and the budding thief slipped out and checked around. Could hear more goblin mining in the distance, and it sounded like multiple picks at a time. There was also a set of mine cart tracks here, running around the length of the room in the center, heading south and west and then north and west.

Dared to check around the corner to the north, Hellfire brazier was still there, and there was the start of a set of a gates at the northern exit for the chamber – and the western end of that chamber had the collapsed stones removed. The mine cart tracks ran off that way. And there was the sound of distant goblin voices. He headed back and shared what we learned. The consensus was that the goblin expansion was happening all around us and our window to slip out was fading and fast. We had to go.

We linked up, closed the hut, and made our way north, relying on the infravision people to guide our way. As we came to the brazier room, we paused long enough to make sure the coast was clear before sending Lexi in in both, drag the copper brazier to the side, but to feed on the hellfire within. She ate swiftly, dormant flames withing the hellhound firing up again. The rest of us ran north, through the not completed gate, across the stones, and to the waterfall chamber again, Eoghan and Lexi slipping out last but safely and better off.

We had heard from the Wolf Spirit that the Cree Negashi had made their way to the chasm where the Water Babies had offered them some succor. We figured this was as good of a place to go next, especially as it was hinted the water babies could possibly make it down to the city below.

However, as we came to the bridge, we fell victim to the cave fishers…again. And again it was Captain Asher who was hit, whisked up and away from the bridge. Damn it! This time we were prepared, sort of. Another weighty chest, and another feather fall took care of the insectoid, tearing it from its perch above as it perceived the Captain’s weight to be much larger than its own. But the space and drop was going to pull Asher down so Nate made a brave leap and knocked the Captain aside just in time, clutching his friend to keep from falling, as the fisher whistled past and smashed to the rocks below. “Hey! More food for the animals!”

The two friends settled down to the bottom of the chasm and Connal and Darius used ropes to ferry the rest of the party down. 7:35 AM. We approached the northeast section of the chasm where the water was pooling from the falls above. We could hear faint cries from the water. Eventually a young adult/teenaged figure came out, reddish tanned skin, long black hair. It talked to us after we convinced it that the Wolf Spirit and the Cree Negashi were our friends. There were more of them, they arrived some months ago but the goblins had attacked, wounded, and then eventually dragged its clutchmates out of the water, effectively stilling them. They were taken away somewhere. It has no love of the goblins.

It tried to describe the city area below, the falls down there, the massive pool, the goblins who come and get water, the guards and buildings. But we needed more information. It could swim not only down the falls, but up as well. But to swim any of us back up would not be possible except for Shim – the rest of us were too large and heavy. So Shim volunteered to go down. They held hands and Sim could feel sharp barbs connecting him to the water baby. And then he took a deep breath and was dragged under the water.

“It would be funny if we totally fucked up just now and trusted the wrong figure, huh?”

Shim felt himself dragged under the water, everything blurry and hard to focus. The lower half of the water baby was a mass of undulating tentacles, flippers, and fins, running out almost another 7’. The hit the drain hole and swam DOWN the waterfall, the Water baby kicking off just a moment before they would have smashed on the rocks about 30’ above the pool, and then dove into the spray to the water here. Shim resurfaced (maybe 35/40 seconds?), made sure his oilskin messenger bags were still closed (would protect his scrolls for 10 minutes before water would get in, spoiling them), and took a look around.

Hwa’Cha was the most obvious thing outside of the water, 90’ or so from here. Menacing tall tower of prepared missiles. 20 to 30 buildings down here, on both sides of the massive cave. Some 3 or 4 stories tall. Lolthian Spiders with riders were perched on top of buildings as well as walking the city. Easily a dozen goblins AT the pool. And another 2 to 3 dozen could see the pool should need be. Two buildings were nearest the pool – west was a forge or smithy on the bottom floor, 3 stories tall, east was an apartment building of some sort, 4 stories tall. A few windows visible.

Shim nodded to the Water baby who grabbed the gnome and swam UP the waterfall, dragging Shim behind, until we arrived at the top and made his way out of the pool. He stripped off some of his wet things and wrung them out, sharing with what he learned below.

We then spend some time talking about invisibility spells, how long we could hold out breath for, and the time between the water baby trip up and down the falls. The hope was enough of us could get down there and we could all fight as one, but the ability to stay underwater for that length of time was not possible. At all. Not for an all in one plan.

So that brought us around to the hut and nap spells. A few of us would go down ferried by the water baby, we would be invisible, then make our way to the tenement housing building and find a way inside one of the apartments and open the hut and get everyone out. It was a good plan. Captain Asher cast the spells, Invisibility was put in place, we sealed the hut, and we had an hour on the clock.

A few of us cycled down to the pool below, thanking the water baby and then figuring out our next options. We swam quietly to the east side of the pool, waited for a clear spot, and then when the coast was cleared, climbed to dry land all the while watching the hundreds and hundreds and goblins going about their business. We crept eastward to the building there and looked in the nearest windows. Some sort of bedroom, goblin sleeping. Darius led the way to the front of the building. There was a main door in, and on the 2nd and 3rd floors were some sort of overhang place to sit. There were a lot of goblins about. Shim was keeping time – 43 and ½ minutes expired.

We made our way to the front door and then pushed it in. Hallway, 2 doors left and right, stairs and the end going up to the 2nd floor. Garbage and weird smell. Noises in a few of the doors. We opted neither of the doors on the left as we know through the windows we could hear people inside. So the 1st on the right. Checked it out, locked. 55 minutes. Knock spell followed, pushed in, we entered. Foyer, smells of feet. Goblin woman, so very fat, sleeping on a shitty couch. 59th minute, no time – good enough.

Hut went down and opened just before the nap spell ended. We went in to check the animals, all friends up. Then some 1 year old goblin toddler stepped into the room and took one look at all of us. And Jarjar, Wilhelm’s Lynx, lunged forward as the kid began to yell and eviscerated it, tearing its throat out and then raking it, splitting the child in two. Blood filled the area and we all just looked around, counting to 5 to see if anything heard us. Darius turned to Wilhelm with a WTF expression and Nate was just slashing the air with one hand in a repeated be quiet, its over motion.

We looked over the apartment we were in. 3 or 4 room. Corpulent goblin woman sleeping, kitchen with some gruel looking crap in a pot, main bedroom, and a smaller closet like bedroom – with 4 other goblin kids in it in cribs. We guessed we were in some goblin nursery. Shit shit shit. Also, looking around – the apartment should have 2 adults in it – but there was one missing. We didn’t have much time.

Nate did suggest that maybe killing the goblins would be necessary and There was much discussion about not now, not in a fight, their fucking sleeping, and there are kids. Direct quote from Nate, “There is no such thing as an innocent goblin.” We did pick up the goblin kid body and put it in the couch under the cushions for now. “We can’t stay here,” we need to find another place to hole up.

Shim and Nate, invisible, went into the hall and up the stairs. They creaked and were in bad condition – limited to 1 person at a time. Another 4 doors up here 2 and 2, and then another stair going up. Some woman goblin was fighting with her kids and the fight spilled into the hall, another goblin from another apartment came out and helped ameliorate the situation. We waited and were not sure about this. Time was ticking.

Went back to the main apartment and told the group what was what. We had to risk going up to the 3rd and/or 4th floor. 3rd floor was partially lived in only 2 apartments had people in it. The 4th floor was abandoned apartments. There was a ladder at the end of the hall leading to the roof. The 2 friends crept that way, opened the jogging lock, and pushed it open.

City was laid out about them. There were at least 8 lolthian spiders we could see, and three of them were on patrol. They would travel about 1/8th of the city’s perimeter from the roof of the building or the walls themselves and then stay in place looking around. 300 goblins in total? We could see the far end of the warren had some sort of exit from the cave there so that was the ultimate goal – but there were at least 9 or 10 building between us and there.

A patrolling spider saw the open roof access and came over, closing it (locks from the inside). We waited for it to move on before daring to open in again and slip back in. We went back down to the 1st floor and told the group what was what. We figured we’d make the roof and then travel from roof to roof eastward and hope to make it out that way.

Then there was what to do here. Start a fire? Stage an accident? Nate was talking about options when a goblin kid saw us and starting yelling. Wilhelm being the closest ended up throttling the child as it was biting and scratching at the druid, choking the life out of it. Nate took care of the mother swiftly and the situation was getting out of control. “What the fucking hell guys?!” Darius asked. Captain Asher felt VERY upset inside from Maglubiyat and Eoghan was just, “They’re fucking kids, damn it!”

“Guys, no more.” “Its out of our control.” “No its very much in our control.” “It’s a series of unfortunate accidents” Nate assured as he set fire to the living room. “Let’s get going.”

“Sonovacrap..”

We left the apartment and ran for the stairs, pounding up them. A Few goblins that saw us tried to get in the way but were either intimidated to return to their home or just flat out stabbed (depending on who ran past) as we ran on. 3rd floor, 4th floor. Roof. 10:55 AM.

We emerged up here, smoke coming from below. In the excitement, we made our way west to the next building and jumped or tossed across everyone the 3 to 4’ gap. From behind us, Wilhelm could feel druidic magic being cast as multiple cloudbursts filled the apartment, guttering the flames. We crossed the 2nd roof to the next building, making us 8 buildings away from the end of the Warren. When multiple spotters saw us and the alarm was raised. We were 4 stories up, Spider riders and others turning our way, a bit over half way through the goblin City, at 11:15 AM on Heatmonth the 15th.

No where to retreat to. Do or die.

Hero time.

Meet 147, Adv 16, 1/31/26

Heatmonth 14th 9:00 AM, 289 of the 29th age. We left some silver for the wolf spirit before making the decision to head back to the Crystal caves and look in the pools there. We traveled beyond the area of the Negeshi and then made our way east to the dug out slope area. We hit a few of us with a Delay Poison on the off chance any of the poison using figures showed back up. Eoghan was able to identify at least 3 different prints, barefoot, smaller than man, dwarf sized. It tracked with what we had thought.

On the other size we walked through the crystal chamber to the pool and looked. Showed some night sky. After 12 to 15 minutes, the sky changed to another night sky, this one with 3 moons. It changed again and again every interval, always looking straight up at some sky. At some point the decision was to place a few silver at the edge, and when we looked back, the silver had gone, and the border of the pool spread out. Weird, but ok, made sense – sort of.

We went to the other chamber and looked that one over. Pool there was on the south side of the chamber, up against the wall. Eventually at this one we saw an earth elemental looking down at us. It pantomimed waving and then held up a piece of silver, holding it near the surface. Darius did the same with a silver piece. They got closer and closer and then touched the 2 at the same point. Suddenly they could hear each other. Elemental’s name was “Four” and had been watching the pool for a few decades plus.

There is a prince somewhere. He doesn’t know where they are or how to get back and forth. We eventually let the communication die and talked about what to do. Nate tossed something on the surface of the pool and it sort of shuddered. Then 30 seconds later a blast shot out, blasting every bit of magic active as well as spell possibility in every character. All anti magiced. Fuck. Also, the Creeper had been regrown from the blast according to Nate’s Trident.

We left to leave the area and on the way back, noticed the Cree area had been knocked down and destroyed. Cree were gone. Goblin voices, lots of them, and mining sounds could be heard south of here. 15, 20 of them? Where were the Negashi. We were no longer invisible and had no magic so the thought was to hide for now. We opened the hut and positioned it near the wall, hoping to keep its door hidden.

We rang the Chime and then waited. Goblins, 15 or so, came by about 3ish, and then another group came back, some poting bags of silver ore. Another 2 to 3 hours the same thing happened again. Ok, more goblins in the area, and more fighting types showing up. We were going to have to move and soon.

We left some silver here and some prayers to the wolf spirit who showed up. The goblins were expanding their area. Queen Helen Back assumed we were part of the Native American issue she’s been having and it is now reaching up to this area. A goblin territory marking totem had been established here and they were clearing out fallen stones and gathering resources. Negeshi had escaped and were hiding by the water babies (singular). There are 3 heroes that wolf knows about – Stoneribs, Ghostbear, and Geronimo. They are hiding now due to the perma-death problem of Queen Helen Back’s sword. Possible way down? Make friends with the water baby and maybe it can ferry us one at a time to the aqueduct area in the Goblin City.

We left it some silver and would continue to do so each day for Wolf to provide trout and fish for the party’s animals.

After the 6:30 patrol went by, we left the area and made our way north. There was a purple fire burning in a brazier here – Hellfire. Getting too close would sap our magic. We went back to the Negeshi area, set up the hut and chime again and hid out as of 8:05 PM, resting until Heatmonth the 15th, 6 AM.

Meet 146, Adv 16, 1/24/26

Heatmonth the 12th, 10:25 AM. We shared what we knew about the cosmology of the outerplanes, the inner planes, and the elemental planes. After making sure everyone had a good idea, we talked about where to go next. We did remember that in the past(future), Hiawatha had contacted Glooscap the Skinwalker in this chamber so we walked around trying to see if the shapeshifter was here as well and now. The answer was no.

Shim drew a picture for now and we headed back to the shaft heading back to the 1st floor. Being invisible helped as we walked past the stirges, and at the shaft, Shim and Connal went up, hoping to see if Coyote had come. It was 25 after 12 when they got to the top, using the 2nd Block and Tackle we had set up here. Keeping no light for now, they made their way to the shelf cave and climbed up there. Infravision showed the offerings were gone and the place looked like the shells had been moved around.

Eventually they took out the eternal torch and saw the place was covered…with dog crap. Everywhere. And Connal had inadvertently touched it and had it all over boots and cloak. No smell, but sticky dog crap. Coyote. They climbed down and thought they saw something running north at the end of infravision range. While they were talking about what it might be (Coyote?) there was some high pitched yapping and barking and then the roar of the irate and awakened cave bear.

Fucking hell. And the barking and bear were getting real close real fast.

They ran to the wall, took the block and tackle off, stepped off together and Shim activate Feather fall, the 2 friends escaping the coming bear and returning to the 2nd level with the group. We went back down the stirge slope, across the bridge, and the water falling room. It was here that Shim cast prestidigitation and the coyote shit was sent scattering in all directions, smelling but we were clean.

Talking for a bit, we wanted to get more arms from the cave fisher below. So we went back to the bridge and lowered 2 of the friends down. They were chopping and sawing at the legs, getting them off in pairs. But Eoghan thought he heard some drumming to the east, and came back and told us. We were getting the friends out of the pit when arrows flew out, hitting Captain Asher and the poison on it, knocked the captain out. Damn it! Darius tried to get close enough, shield blocking, and Wilhelm stepped up to slow poison on Asher when he too was struck and he too fell over knocked out. Drumming noise got louder and we dragged our friends to the south and through the cave entrance there.

We dragged our friends to the south and eventually the Cree Negashi. The made up a poultice for Wilhelm but had no interest in talking to any of us. We dragged them past here and to the corner room where we made a fire and rested, hoping to talk to wolf. Eventually Shim was lucky and the vicious spirit showed to him. He tried to get an answer but the wolf was not willing to answer some questions. When he showed the Desmondian Diamond, it tried to take it from him, violently biting his hand but the diamond did not move.

Got it to understand that we were hoping to get them all home and learned little more. But the wolf wanted silver and was willing to watch over us for now. The figures that attacked us? Followers of the black lord. They would be out for a day. We waited and eventually rested, noting our food stores were getting lower. Darius was talking about us maybe leaving and walking back to the Windshade if things didn’t change soon.

We slept, waking up on the 13th. We hung around until Asher and Wilhelm were able to move again. They had some fogginess in them, affecting their constitution and charisma. We fired off a pair of Lesser Restorations and then opted to rest again. We awoke the next day and healed, Heatmonth the 14th, shooting off another pair of Lesser Restorations, getting both of them pretty close to normal again. Shim shot off invisibility spells on the rest of us and it was time to decide where to go next.

We figured we’d go to the Mushroom chambers and the crystal Chambers there. The site through the crystal pool showed a different place. What if…what if it was maybe some of the elemental planes? Worth looking into. Heatmonth the 14th, 9 AM.

2nd Campaign, Session 26. 1/13/26 - Final

Restmonth 17, 195, A-30. The party spent the day at the Specularum, Exploring, Guarding, and Adventuring Guild talking with Comrade Brace about our original contract and the possibility of the next adventure. We asked specifically about the wording on Master Nevah Helpin and if he was due a share. By paper it indicated that even in his death he would be entitled to a share to be bequeathed to his family should they come to claim it. If it is unclaimed in a year and a day, the funds would be returned to the party.

We talked about what to give and decided the original bounty of 35 crowns per person would be enough. So we shelved 280 crowns on the off chance someone did come and then discussed the possibility of vaulting our coin here for some time.

We sold off as many gems and jewels as we could (Fjord taking a few in exchange for his share of the coin), paid Thobar his funds for the adventure, and then we split up taking care of things around town. Now that we had a large pile of coins, most of us were not interested in sleeping in flop houses and common rooms. So we spent coin on better inns, taverns, drink, food, and entertainment.

A few days after we did arrive, a Master Rarely Helpin, Cousin of Nevah, did arrive and look for us. Comrade Brace arranged the introduction and we gave a sanitized description of Nevah’s time and eventual death, not mentioning the dragon. There was no body, much the shame, but we did give him the 280 crowns and Cara gave him one of Netherathraxus’ teeth as a momento (again, not mentioning we killed a dragon). He was a member of the thieves guild and had done work for SEGA for the last 8 years on and off. He offered his services for our next mission and after some discussion (Yandr was the lone dissenting vote) was invited to join us in 7 weeks.

We hit magic shops and smithies, commissioning weapons and clothes, shelling out money for salamander skin clothing to prevent them from burning. Fjord haunted the lower class sections of Specularum, engaging in petty theft when the opportunity arose. Twice he was successful, getting away with items and avoiding getting caught. It was his third time that he was captured, tried, placed in the Day Stocks for 9 days, and then had a “T” branded on the back of his right hand, and had to pay 46 crowns in fines and fees.

Hrimvir wrote scrolls, every day., The Half Orc found friendship and camaraderie from the other half breed who had been kicked out of the Broken Lands and Oenkmar for not being “orcish” enough. The ghetto was a place of refuge and safety for their kinds. He did drink, smoke, and even found a few beds to warm up to. With the Sutur/Thrym festival of Sword and Axe coming after Airmonth, he was practicing and training for some of the strongman contests that would occur those days.

Yandr returned home, where he gave his tired mother 250 crowns, commissioning the local builders to add another room on the back of her home for her. He then went to the Mage’s Guild where he lorded to his brother, one of the Adventurers who returned 5 years ago with the Prism Crown, that HE was well liked, HE helped kill a dragon, and HE was not reviled. Lannis Offop still belittled his younger brother and made up wild tales about his skills and prowess. After that Lannis fell deep in his cup and found as many places he could go where his paladinial oath would not bind him – and he could drink, smoke, drug, fuck, gamble, and fight until he grew tired, slept, and did it all again.

Carl spent some time at the Monastery, going over the old scrolls and records, schooling himself on the history of Slavery in the area. Until 3 generations ago, Karameikos partook in generational slavery. However laws were passed and now the slavery compacts dictated that slavery could not be impressed on a human or demi-human personage. Only a monstrous race. And sinceOenkmar and the Brokenlands were not recognized by the Confederacy of Kingdoms, most of the slaves were orcish, ogrish, kobold, and lizardman. Goblins were recognized through Jector for the last 30 years, so goblins were not a slave race in Karameikos. As a member of the Confederacy of Kingdoms, Jector had adopted the same rules and laws. However, there was still and underbelly of slavery, and rich and powerful houses still kept and traded in them.

Gun spent time at the local apothecary, where enough of the locals knew him as a member of the Assassin’s Guild. He enjoyed some leisure time, talking to the patrons and workers, making himself a part of the fabric of the place. Eventually an opportunity did come up, Seems an Ogden, a peddler who does some work for the guilds, had been running his mouth lately, talking to too many people he wasn’t supposed to. The guild offered Gun a chance to…fix…the Ogden problem, but Gun was unsure if he was going to be successful and after a few days, no hard feelings, turned the job down.

Cara during the Equinox went with the local grove to harvest misltetoe, and although she did manage to get 4 pieces, the job was harder than she had expected it to be and would have to try again in 6 months. She learned better her skills in riding Mahogany, her boar, and even picked up a wolfhound that she was able to spend the better part of the two months training.

As for Atlas? He went home to Yarra and his 2 kids, Alan and Ruby. He gave 100 crowns to his wife to put in the house coffers and spent much of the down time enjoying just being a husband and a dad. As for his 2 kids, Ruby (8), hadn’t shown any magical skill yet, but Atlas and Yarra were hopeful, so Atlas stuck another 50 crowns aside to help pay for Ruby’s apprenticeship should she turn 12 and show an aptitude for magic.

The weather warmed slowly and the snow receded. The ice on the Dyrian Sea melted and smaller ships plied the waters. On the 15th of Airmonth the first of the big Cogs left the quay to bring tradegoods east and west and for us, if we were going to do this next job, the time was coming soon.

It has been my pleasure to take you from the start to the end of B5, Horror on the Hill.

Meet 145, Adv 16, 1/17/26

Heatmonth the 10th, 6:35PM. We thought that we should go back up. The area was just not worth the risk of being discovered. Connal climbed up, lowered the tackle, and then him and Shim pulled themselves up to the top to the 2nd floor. It was squeaking a bit so we oiled it up here. We realized getting the animals up here was going to be difficult. So a reduce animal spell was cast on Lexi, Pantrho, and Jar Jar. A speak with animals helped to explain to them to not freak out. Another cycle went up but at this point, the patrol was coming back.

We hid in the back while the goblins came. They fixed the chalk line, and then dropped a pair of spike strips, partially in the rubble, and again in the hall. But then they hit it with a camouflage spell to have it blend in with the ground – meaning we’ have a difficult time to spot it in the future. Once it was over and they left, Nate attempted to whistle that it was ok to send the tackle down, but the guys at the top did not know what the whistle went. Eventually someone came down and we gave the ok to get everyone out. Total time, 2 hours 15 minutes – that was our window.

We walked the long way back, past the former shadow area, through the narrow dug out tunnel, and then the Cree Negashi. Wilhelm spoke with them again, verifying we were still in good graces with the Wolf Spirit, and by 11:30 PM, had set up an offering of silver and fell asleep.

We awoke the next day, Heatmonth the 11th, a bit later in the morning. We did not heal again while sleeping but did dole out spells and then prayed. We figured to go back to the mushroom chamber where we would take advice from the Cree and maybe align ourselves with some of the spirits down here. We had heard from the patrol that the goblins had encountered 3 in the last 3 months, a bison (Buffalo), a large bird (Raven), and a man who took the brunt of the Hwa’Cha, and then ran on (Hiawatha?). Since we had seen a feather in the Mushroom chamber, we assumed that we would find that area might be important to Raven.

We left the cave, past the Cree, down the slope, beyond the water cave, through the crystals and windows to some other place, and then the mushroom chambers. The south one with the creeper had the plant monster 4 days rotting away, actually spurring on fresh fungal growth. The north one had nothing in it (except the mushrooms), but in the area at the north, we left 6 silver, a drawing of the original Edgar Narrymore, a blue rock, some pine boughs, and a hairbrush.

We then talked about coyote. Where would he be? That’s when we figured on 2 fold, the bear had a cave up to the east that we did not check out, and there was a chamber up there with lots of oversized beetles shells in it, the meat was scraped out and eaten. Coyote might we there, it was too high and cramped for the cave bear. But we would need some meat to entice coyote. That’s when we remembered the Cave Fisher at the bottom of the chasm. We could cut some of the limbs off and bring them with us.

So we went back through the mushroom chamber, the crystal caves, the waterfall room, and then the bridge – all still invisible. We used some rope and lowered Connal to the dead insectoid. We whacked off a large claw limb and then got out of there to avoid the strange single cry that was heard. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Up top we climbed slowly up the large ramp, the stirges unable to see us, getting to the top of the area and to the bottom of the 1st chimney. The block and tackle (the 1st one) was still set up here so we cycled our way up, (again over 2 hours), making it there by 3 PM.

We checked out what will be the lift control area. It was 15’ up, steeply sloped, and 20, 30 oversized beetle shells were here. We wanted to leave an offering for Coyote, so we put together another picture (this time on a shell), more pine boughs, the cave fisher’s arm, colorful stick, 4 3/4 “ nails, 10 pieces of silver, a toothbrush, and a silver fork. While here, a few of us were going to check out the area in the back of the bear cave, north of here. So still invisible, 3 of us made the walk, a light spell held tightly in Nate’s hand to illuminate the way.

The bear itself sounded like it was sleeping, and the rest of us went on to the north and east. The passage slowly narrowed from 20’ tall and wide on down. Ferns, plants, old deer carcasses. It got smaller and smaller. Scratches in the walls, 4 parallel led to something being pressed in here at some point. But at the end, a few very large copper dragon scales, a larger raven’s feather, and an oversized black stone obsidian sword. It was flint napped and very wickedly sharp, but also weighed 5 times what a similar sized sword would weigh. In fact, only Darius had the strength (if not the height) to use the weapon correctly. We took it back with us and Shim cast detect magic on it – and it showed up VERY magical for a split instant – and then it didn’t register at all.

We talked about it and the thought was this might be a Sword of the Unlikely Hero – a specific blade that is used for 1 thing. Maybe for Helen? Who knows, but we decided to take it back with us.

We cycled back down to the 2nd level, and then did the long walk all the way back to the wolf area. The place was still set up well for us and we left another offering for the wolf spirit. We then rested and awoke the next day, Heatmonth the 12th. There was some river trout here and some stew. The animals ate and we were on our way. We figured to go to the mushroom chamber and see if Raven had taken our offering.

It was some doing but by 9:50 we were there. The offerings were all missing, but nothing new here. So Wilhelm decided he would do a dance to honor and entice Raven to emerge. He bounced and bopped and gyrated and everything – it was awkward to watch and painful to contemplate. But at the end of the dance, Raven did come and time stopped for Wilhelm.

Raven shared some stuff with the druid, explaining more of what was going on. 3 plus months ago a rift rippled through the Astral plane, slapping the side of the Happy Hunting grounds and a number of the inhabitants of the native American paradise fell in. Besides the mortal followers, 6 animal spirit aspects slipped in as well, trying to save the denizens who were being rifted. Buffalo, Raven, Coyote, Wolf, Bear, and Owl. Being here was a mess, blocked from their home, they have only a fraction of their power. Bear, wolf, and buffalo all eventually came upon the goblins and engaged them, making the greenskins fight back.

Their leader was referred to as “That Sword Bitch” (Helen?) who not only had some enchantments around her, but was also stealing divine energy from the spirits lords. She had some demonic aspect that made facing her difficult. Buffalo had been slain, and the wolf spirit and bear had killed a number of the greenskins but were forced to flee. She had the goblins bury some of the passages on the 2nd level (that we had dug out), keeping the spirits of wolf and bear away. Wolf has been here on this level, and bear went to the 1st level where Ursa (the great bear spirit), hid its spirit inside the body of an actual cave bear up there.

Owl is hiding, most likely below. Coyote wanders about, slipping here and there, as does Raven. The sword bitch can see the spirits even when invisible and they have to step into the umbra to escape her magics and blade. To get home, there is a gate below, in a big cave. It spins, passing through the elemental planes as well as some others. Coyote swears if he could get it to stop spinning and hit it just right, he can center it on the Happy Hunting Grounds and they can get home. 3 times he had tried and 3 times he was unable to do it. He said there was something at the Pulsar Gate that he referred to as “the Feeder.”

As for the gods? Haztez? Hastel? Thunderbird? None of them came though, too strong and powerful. But some of the heroes? Could Hiawatha have made it, for example? Raven doesn’t know – he suspects he could – but being that he is not a god, if he dies here – he is dead. And will not return to the Happy Hunting Ground since he was already a denizen of it. He would just fade away – it's why none of the heroic figures of myth have stepped out – the risk of oblivion from the sword bitch was too great.

Right now she is holding power but getting riches, magic, and resources from the various elemental planes – and she is working them against each other. Fire vs water, earth vs air. If we want the chance to get through her, we would need to destabilize her control of the area – make the elemental forces no longer work against each other and maybe get some to work on overthrowing the sword bitch.

At this Raven left and time restarted. Wilhelm shared what he had learned and we figured it was time for us to go to the goblin city and engage them – maybe, but we needed to get through it and find the other elemental nodes (we know where water is but don’t think going to Princess Alecta would be helpful now).

Heatmonth 12th, 10:25 AM

Meet 144, Adv 16, 1/10/26

Heatmonth the 9th, 5:30 PM. It was getting later in the day and we weren’t sure if we were going to risk going down the passage and finding the goblin city or not. We were discussing what to do and where to go, noting the goblins had come down on patrol and were militant but didn’t seem to be fully expecting an issue from this side.

It was here that Nate brought up the Primordial dagger that we had found from the Creeper chamber above and that Connal had on his belt. The monastic was not prone to giving the blade up and Nate was itemizing reasons why it should be handed off – and to him. Shim and Darious took a further look at it, but outside of the fact it still had a honed edge and was very very old, there was no decay or rot on the blade.

Connal decided to try a few katas with the blade, and as he got into the strikes and slashes, the area around us, the entire Hut, began to flex and wobble, vibrating at a strange rate. Ok. He stopped and it stopped. 2 more time he tired and each time he got into actually strike actions with the blade, it made the area feel unstable.

We then tried a few cuts and stabs at one of the box lids. The blade went in deep when struck, but it didn’t cut and penetrate with only a gentle touch. We even tried tossing it a few times but Darius was big on stop throwing the millennia aged magic dagger please. Ok, so Connal gave the blade to Nate. And Shim used part of a spare backpack, some thong and cord, and a judicious use of a mending spell to make a crude yet functional sheath for the weapon.

We rested. The next day, Heatmonth the 10th, we woke up, doled out some healing (again, we were not healing while resting), and then by 8ish, were on our way. We travelled east, walking for some distance till we got to a larger cave. There were a number of banners here, most likely goblin clan markings. Stylized swords, fangs and eyes, wheel with a hammer, three suns over a pyramid, and a winged dragoon figure.

To the east we could see distant lights of the huge goblin warren/city, and a half dozen shriekers set up down that passage. To the south we could see the passage going on to some other cave. According to Shim, the south eventually led to the bathroom and the water area and a kitchen (with a killer door) in our time. We opted to go that way. About 20 feet down the passage, the sounds of the goblin city faded and then died away. Some sort of barrier was here, muting sound. It was bi-directional, so anything we might do down here was also most likely not going to attract the goblins.

The area was moist, air was damp, and there were scores of puddles all over the ground. Shim and Connal (being carried by the latter), still invisible, walked through the room while the rest of us sort of waited near the far end of the cave. They picked their way from dry spot to dry spot. It was slow going but they did eventually spot the opposite end of the chamber was some sort of reflective lights or something near the bottom of the wall. They chanced getting closer and closer. It was crystals of some sort, between 2 and 5 inches tall.

A big puddle was here and from the puddle a girly voice speaking goblin said, “Oh! You’re new! Can I have the safe word from the Eternal Queen Helen, please?” Connal didn’t speak the language and Shim did, but he was clamming up because what the hell was the password? The voice said, “Ok then,” after a count of 15 and the surface of the pool erupted and a 12’ tall, 3 and a half ton anthropomorphic water elemental strode out, looked decidedly down AT the two friends, and then CHARGED – hoping to overrun them.

Connal managed to turn aside, getting wet for the effort, as the elemental ran across the hall towards the rest of the party who were deciding to both hold the line and split up. Coming out of the pool ¾ of the way was an aquatic creature with blue/green skin, long slowing white and green kelp like hair, super sharp fingernail and teeth, and she was looking right at the two of them (ignoring their invisibility). “Go Wavey!” She called out to the water elemental who was being shot at by Eoghan, 2 of the arrows just flat out missing and the other hitting a bit. Darius and Nate were right there, with Captain Asher being inspire to step up with his enchanted blade, “I don’t think this is a good idea” and Wilhelm called to Shakak to dehydrate the hell out of the water elemental but ti shrugged off the magic attack and fought on, soaking Darius and Nate as the two of them stabbed and hacked at the elemental.

The aquatic girl, now identified as Princess Alecta, drew a short breath and spat a 20’ line of ichorous venom at Shim, striking the gnome in the face and blinding him from the caustic spittle. “Ahh!!” he yelled, his one eye now a blurry aching mess. “Fuck this,” Connal growled. As all this was going on, The Princess then pointed toward the battle and a 7’ wave rose out of the pool and RACED across the floor, 60’ to smash into Captain Asher, the blow powerful enough to seriously hurt the fighter, knock him down, and smother him, causing him to gasp, get a lungful of water, and actually start to drown!

The battle was going on and the Elemental did hit Darius once, the blow hard enough to kill 2 or 3 lesser men. Eoghan fired again, another volley of arrows not being very effective. Shim called out a summon spell, and a giant tick, the size of a beach ball, burst into the area and he had it attack the aquatic princess. It buried its head into her side and began to draw blood as Connal got a good shot on her. Not liking where this was going she encouraged “wavey!’ to fight on, and then called for “Grahad! My good companion! Help!” to arrive.

And a giant otter, the size of a fucking pony, burst out of the watery pool and attacked, biting and snarling and slamming at Connal, meanwhile Princess Alecta’s hair entangled the tick and she dove down into the water, taking the insectoid with her to drown it.

We had Shim blind, Asher down, and the battle NOT going our way, the decision came to back up and then flee. The monk outran the giant otter (barely), and Wilhelm called to Shakak to have the vemon affecting the gnome to be delayed for now (7 hours). This gave the Shim his sight back and he called out a summon spell, getting a bugbear in place which he sent at the giant otter to slow it down. At one point, seeing the horse sized Otter coming along our flank, Nate asked Rhygar if he was going to hold it off and the Half-orc warrior shook his head and said simply, “No.” “That’s fair,” was the reply.

The rest of us ran north for the exit of the cave. Darius detoured towards the fallen Captain, and using his enhanced strength from the girdle, lifted Asher by the back of the neck and one leg and HURLED him towards the exit ahead of the cavalier’s running, the body rolling by Nate who stopped along with Connal to drag him out of the room and Darius right behind.

We ran off down the hall, all the way back to the shaft, where Wilhelm spent some time forcing the water out of Captain Asher’s lungs and then using Dawn to get him awake. The Fighter/Cleric spent time puking up water as we filled him in on what had happened. Shim took us a bit away and used Prestidigitation to dry off the worst of us. It was about 9 AM – and this morning had so far sucked.

The Princess Alecta was looking for a password, but we did not have it. It was in goblin, but we didn’t know what it could be. Also, the chance of us NOT running into a patrol soon was pretty slim. We wanted to get past the Shriekers – three things – Light, heat, and movement. We figured invisibility would help. And as for noise, to quiet them, Captain Asher could cast Silence 15’ radius. But, we’d need 2 of them as the shriekers were spaced far enough away and on opposite sides of the hall. He had three spells.

The thought was to use a nap spell to help make the party invisible. We’d leave out Quiver, Lou, and Shim for now from the list – those 3 being carryable. He made 6 of us invisible for now: Darius, Rhygar, Connal, Nate, Eoghan, and the largest cat, Panthor. Connal offered to go back down the hall and wait outside the water area to see if the patrol came and if they went to talk to the Princess Alecta. If so, he might be able to hear the password.

We stayed here and when we could see lights in the distance getting closer, we opened the Hut and those NOT invisible quickly filed inside. The patrol came up to the area and looked around. One of them entered the shaft and looked up (not spotting the ropes or tackle) and then before they left, one of them took a bag of crushed chalk and sprinkled a crude line across the entirety of the hall. If anyone crossed it without looking, they will smear it.

They then went back, the Spider riding Shaman and the Lolthian Spider entering the cave. Connal stayed quiet and waited. They went up to the pool, the Prinicess’ voice came out, something was said by the Goblin shaman but being it was goblin, Connal didn’t know what was exactly said – except it was 6 words and the last one was Maglubiyet.

They only talked briefly and the Princess was talking animatedly. The Shaman waved her off, left the cave, and the entirety of the patrol went back to the city. Connal watched and the shriekers began to inflate as they approached but then deflated just as fast. He went back to the group and they cautioned him about the chalk. We were all together and shared what we learned.

We wanted to go and check out the city, but we needed the rest of us invisible to do it. Captain Asher cast Nap on the gnome and an hour later he was full of spells again. He cast 5 more invisibilities and Wilhelm, Eoghan, and Connal were each going to carry a cat, dog, and gnome. We snuck back down the hall to the shrieker area. Captain Asher took 2 stones and cautioned us, the Silence spell would be 10 minutes tops and that was it – after that if we were still by the Shriekers, it was noise time.

He cast the spell on each stone and then Shim hit him with an invisiblity and he ran forward, stone by 1 group of noisy mushrooms and 1 by the other group. We stepped past and at the top of the stairs just over there, took a look at the huge cave.

The cave itself was massive, hard to tell for sure, 180’ wide, 70’ across, 45’ tall. A river of water ran out of a chimney on the north wall to a pool in the city by at 18’ statue of Maglubiyet. 2 dozen buildings were here on both sides, some 3 and 4 stories tall. There were two war machines, each over 13’ tall, with scores of holes, on plinths to allow them to pivot. “Hwa’Cha,” Darius muttered, “Can fire a hundred bolts. Each. At once.”

And the goblins? Hundreds. Like a city worth. 300? More, less? About 1 in 4 ish were either children or parental – the rest? Combat ready if need be. At least 7 more of the Lolthian Spiders, some sitting on buildings, some crouched on walls. Goblins in leather armor and some in chain. A mix of lighting but not relying solely on infravision. More cavern at the end of this one?

And at the top of the stairs here, 2 ten foot tall columns and on each was a 10’ tall gargoyle, staring across the top of the steps to the other side, looking diagonally down so passing between them would put anyone in visual range of them. And a chain ran between the two of them from a collar on their neck, right over the top.

“Fuck,” was muttered. Shim dared a detect magic spell and the gargoyles eyes and mouths were magic. Alram of some sort. “Guys,” Captain Asher muttered, “Last 2 minutes on the silence spell – we going in or not, because we’re about to not have a choice.”

Connal shook his head, “No. Back up, Everyone, back. Not now.” We turned and invisibly went back through the silence area as the shriekers were billowing quietly until we were long gone and they deflated. We went all the way back to the shaft, watching the chalk line, and then still staying invisible, at 1:50 PM, discussed options.

We needed to get past the watchers, and the thought was to get up and over them somehow. We also needed some more information, and if we knew the password, maybe we could talk to the water person, Princess Alecta. The patrol, we guessed, was about every 8 hours – not exact but close enough. Which means the next one would be between 4:30 and 6:30 give or take. Before that time, Connal and Shim would go back to the Princess Alecta’s cave again and the gnome would hopefully get the password. The rest of us would stay down here and used the Chime of Warding – it would give us an 8 hour window where wandering monsters shouldn’t come in and see us – and if we camped in the back of the shaft, out of the way of the passage, we should be ok.

Time passed and by 4ish we all got into position. When we saw the lights again coming down the hall, we rang the Chime and the area around us grew dim and indistinct, shrouding up from wandering figures. The patrol closed and it seemed one of the striding goblins with a pike and the Shaman on the spider were the nominal heads. According to those who spoke goblin, they heard them discuss hearing a chime, nothing here now. Things have been odd. Eternal Queen Helen Back wants to make sure we aren’t being approached. One of them crossed the chalk line and looked around but the Chime had him turn and leave after only a few moments. They could not refix the chalk line as they didn’t have extra. The Shaman had apparently spoken with the Goblin Queen earlier and wanted some more information from Princess Alecta. They left and headed back west.

At the water cave Shim and Connal waited as the Lolthain spider and the Shamen entered. The spider was on alert and stopped near them, stabbing the wall and missing the monk and gnome by 9 inches (I missed by 1). Not finding them, the spider and shamen kept going until Princess Alecta’s voice came again from the Pool. “Safe word from Eternal Queen Helen, please!”

“By the Demon Lords of Maglubiyet,” came the reply. After that was a discussion about clearing up what happened and who the interlopers were. Princess Alectra explained about Grahad attacking a blessed of Maglubiyat and it popping away and that she was drowning a tick and it too popped away. And that Wavey got hurt but he’s ok now. The Shamen said that for the last 3 or 4 months, Eternal Queen Helen Back has been wondering where these interlopers have come from. There are 3 powerful entities, the spectral bison, the raven, and the powerful human. The bison was killed, and the raven escaped. The human had been hit by the Hwa’Cha, and hurt but kept running. It had been hunted and attacked and it scaled the walls of the shaft like it was walking. She had the caves above plugged up for now, but with this – The Eternal Queen needed to be told and would have to most likely escalate a response.

The Shaman and spider left and the patrol returned to the city and Connal and Shim went back to us. We broke the chime barrier so they can get in and we all shared what we had learned. Invisible still. But we had some knowledge of the area. Heatmonth the 10th, 6:35 PM.

2nd Campaign, Session 25. 12/16/25

Icemonth the 23rd, 8:30 AM. We awoke the next day feeling well rested. The Rosa Sisters made sure we had a good breakfast, a coat and boots for Illi, and good advice for us for the way back. We were a bit surprised to find that Fuckna Ahshit, almost a dozen hobgoblin followers, and the Ogre Clog all wanted to hitch the way back with us.

As we were walking, we learned a bit about early goblin ideas and politics. King Jector and the clans he ruled, attacked and overwhelmed the Duke Machete and the city of Kerendal over 50 years ago. With the Dyrian elves from the Dawnlands no longer around and in power, the goblin tribes had swollen over time and after an attempted purge by Duke Machete the Slayer, they had fought back and took over the human duchy.

Instead of doing as normal, putting everyone to the sword, looting the place, and taking the people left as food and slaves, King Jector instead made peace. He offered ships to anyone who wanted to sail westward to Karameikos, and anyone left was welcome to stay, but with the Goblin King as ruler. Enough stayed and the rest is history. Jector (formerly Kerendal) is a hub for industry and trade with any and all kingdoms along the Dyrian Sea.

But, not every goblin clan agreed with King Jector. The thought was the goblin kingdom would fail and they did not want to give up their ancestral ways and lands. So a number of clans did NOT bend the knee to King Jector, and continued to live as they always have. The Ahshit clan was one of them.

After 35 years though, too many of the goblin tribes have been proven wrong. About a dozen years ago, King Jector the 4th relaxed the rules and instead of an entire clan swear allegiance to the Goblin Throne, now they would accept individual goblins who wanted to join the kingdom.

Gavin had a plan to sack Guido’s Fort, after seeing Moray Vaco and Valeria of the Syndicate. He assumed their knowledge, skill, and wealth were atypical of the humans in the area. So attacking the fort would have resulted in much riches. He was also a coward and ineffective. Too many times he would “exile” goblins from his clan for challenging his rule (the hobgoblins who lived by the lake).

So Fuckna and the others want to go to Jector, bent the knee and take the oath of fealty to the crown, and then decide what to do next. No matter what, Fuckna wanted to talk with Yandr about both their gods and the concepts of knighthood.

With so many with us, and staying on the trail, we made good time with no interruptions or wandering monsters, eventually coming to the bat cave where we decided to set up for the night. Clog went in and smashed as many bats as he could for eating, and we gathered wood and pine boughs for fire and sleeping areas.

The next morning was the 24th, and according to Thobar, we were down to the last of our food. We left early and made excellent time eastward until we arrived at the beach. The three canoes were still here and the hobgoblins and Clog worked on making sure they were in good repair as well as carving and making new oars and paddles. Hrimvir helped out while the rest of us lit the signal fire and waited for Tila to come across.

The goblin fisherwoman and her sloop and crew of 2 arrived. We talked about the trip back, her towing the two canoes across the River Shrill, paying her and the hobgoblins paid as well. Then it was a 45 minute crossing to Fort Guido. The eponymous Guido, his 2 guards, and a 7 count of rangers came out to see us come back.

We talked to Guido, explaining to his that he would get 5 lbs of silver now and to leave us alone until the ship to Jector came back up river (the 26th) to take us down, and if he does leave us alone, another 5 lb bag of silver in 2 days. Done! We gave Tila a tip and thanks for her help ferrying us about as well. Gun spent some time with Llerana, and the rest of us relaxed.

The ship from Jector arrived on the afternoon of the 25th from Freebody Shippers and we arranged with the Captain the trip back down the River Shrill to Jector. He reminded us it was the last free trip and if we wanted to come back up to Fort Guido, it would cost us at that time. We were fine with leaving.

Icemonth the 26th we were loaded up, Clog and the hobgoblins as well, and we sailed down the River Shrill, arriving in Jector on the 30th of Icemonth. After tying up, we unloaded everything and followed the longshoremen to Freebody Shippers office and eventually the Sailing Master, Abraxas Salazar. The rotund ex adventurer listened to our tale and was happy the Freebody could help out. He would have a ship (paid for by the church of Aine) ready to go on the morn back to Specularum. He gave us a free token coin to use at the company brothel and about half the group partook.

During the winter months shipping is expensive and there are less boats plying the Dyrian Sea, but the Church of Aine had prepaid for the trip and after sailing out of the icy harbor, the galleon turned west and began the 17 day trip home to Specularum. We passed out of the goblin lands, to the former elven lands now overrun by the orcs of the Brokenlands, and then eventually Karameikos Duchy.

We arrived on Restmonth the 17th, tired, worn out, and 2 months, 10 days after we originally left. All of us made our way to the Specularum Exploring Guarding and Adventuring Guild (Sega). Once there the Church of Aine was summoned as well as a variety of members of the Duke’s court and we then proceeded to explain what we had done, the Monastery, the tomes, the table, and the treasures we had returned with. The only thing we glossed over was the death of Netherathraxus (not wanting to attract the attention of being dragon slayers).

The Church paid us the 35 crowns each for doing the mission, and we immediately returned it as a tithe and thanks (according to Yandr, we had considerably more than that now to divide up).

When it was over and we had been thanked, the Church of Aine was going to arrange steeds for Yandr, Carl, and Hrimvir as extra thanks (the paladin was due a steed and the other 2 were promised one by Aine herself through conduit of the table).

At this point, the leader of Sega asked a few of us to stay behind – Hrimvir, Yandr, and Cara. The ambassador from Jector, the Goblin Semirva, the ambassador from Oenkmar (The Brokenlands), the Orc Fire Champion Serus, and the duke's own mediator, Ambassador of the Eastern Reaches Empsi wanted some time with the group.

Given the high profile of their recent exploits and relative strength of the group, there was a problem. Raiders during the late summer and fall had attacked a number of seaside towns, taking citizens away. Slavers. Onwall, Seaford, Herring Bay. The Duke wanted the matter resolved. And the Goblins from Jector had also suffered. Both were offering to pay for the group to hunt down the slavers and bring the operation down and/or to justice.

There was word the group was known as the Syndicate (we had that name from the Dragon’s paperwork) and according to Ambassador Empsi, one of his spies has seen some missing citizens at a slave market in Highport, 5 days east of Specularum.

As for Serus, the Orc was here to Argue that his people had NOTHING to do with it (even though orcs had been reported as slaver raiders) and King Thor of the Orcs wanted to make sure that everyone knew the goblins are liars and cannot be trusted. When its all done, the orcs want to be just as recognized as a kingdom as Jector is, and maybe if they do, there might be less raids in the future. Maybe.

We dickered on the price. The mission would not be until the spring (month and a half from now) and would not use a Duke’s ship (to avoid the slaver operatives picking them up at the docks). Jector was willing to give 80 crowns per person, and Karakamekios settled on 136 crowns and 3 healing potions per person. Plus, they would outfit the ship and transportation as well as rations. Lodging was still the party’s job. In return, the group promised to return 10% of treasures found to the Duchy. The guild masters of SEGA also were going to make sure that Thobar would be available to go with them again, the master porter spoke well of the group and was willing to adventure with them again.

We had 6 weeks of down time here in Specularum to take care of our long absent homes, duties, and families. We would be parting out our coins on the morrow and decide what we wanted to do with our time – and if everyone was willing to go on the trip or hang up their swords.

2nd Campaign, Session 24. 12/9/25

 Icemonth the 20th, 5:30 PM. We had spent 6 hours going through the dragon’s horde and gearing ourselves up, moving things around, and maximizing our possible take away assuming we can make it back to Specularum. By this time, the 3 burning fires in the cave were still going strong but we wanted to see if there was a way out.

So we went to the south end of the cave and began walking down the tall and wide passage. Some 4 dozen paces away was a shelf with a number of scrolls and ledgers, a table, some graphite styluses, and a smattering of poor paper. The scratches on the furnishings and floor indicated that Netherathraxus had come down here many times, most likely to talk to whoever who come to the tables.

We spent a few hours going through the ledgers and the scrolls. It detailed (crudely) Netherathraxus’ horde accumulation and the Ahshit clan who was acting as the shepherd for the dragon. There were mention of parental dragons and the charge laid on the kobold and goblin tribes in the area to cater to the young dragon until their expected return. In 300 years there was no indication of that.

As for the horde, it shows a slow but steady climb as tribute was paid. At some point 2 or 3 years ago, a woman named Valeria from an organization known as the Syndicate, came to borrow money, 500 crowns, with a repayment time to follow shortly after. Further loan scrips showed she had returned, said she paid back the loan, and took another one out for her group.

But we had cataloged the dragon’s money and there was a discrepancy. Yandr totaled it all up and if you subtract the last 9 loans in total, that is the amount the horde was short. Valeria had been skimming from the dragon. She had come last time 2 months ago. Was she also skimming from the Syndicate? Who were they and where were they from? Future us would have to worry about it.

We walked down the cave for an hour, the passage heading ever northward, until finally, the air cooled and we came out in the snow on the side of a hill somewhere in the forest area. Looking at Gun’s map and relying on our sense of direction, we guessed we were east and north of the Monastery – like off the map off.

Going out in the snow and cold seemed terrible, so we turned and headed back, walking another hour until we arrived again at the Dragon’s lair. We laid out bedrolls and most of us crapped out, sleeping quickly. Cara and a few others were trying to gather up material to make a set of scale mail but the scales were difficult to harvest. Most of us fell asleep. Fjord kept trying, fucking up scales and stabbing himself in the process.

Icemonth the 21st we awoke late, our oil stores were getting low, lantern was refilled. We managed to get the last of the scales and were off by 9:45 AM. Before 11 we were at the cave and began walking south. Some endure elements were spread about, Gun was placed in the middle, and we started our walk. It was slow slow going, the snow drifted to almost 4 feet in some places, trees were thick enough, and the underbrush kept us from achieving any real speed.

Exhausted, about 2:30 we emerged crossways onto one of the goblin trails, giving us a chance to look over the assassin’s map. We climbed the local tree to get a look of the land around us. We guessed we were west of the long lake, north west of the hobgoblin encampment. From the elevated perch, we could see the waterfall area to the east, but it looked like some figures were there (Ogres?).

We talked about options and decided to walk south from here, trailblazing again, The witches’ cottage should be there. Eventually.

So we walked on in the snow until 2 or 3 party members just had enough of the cold. We could not walk on any more. We used shields and shovels to clear out an area to sleep. A few of us went out to get what dry wood we could find, getting a few lucky rolls in the process. We lit a fire, huddled together for warmth, and ate our dwindling stores of food. “Three or so days to go,” Thobar let us know.

We rested, watches kept, and slept as best we could during the night. Eventually some wolf calls rang out, getting slowly closer. Cara used her Dawn spell and woke everyone up. An arrow flew from the dark hitting the wood pile near us. Yandr called whoever it was to come closer. We read the note. It was from Fuckna Ahshit. And he wanted single honor combat with Yandr as promised. Yandr called for him to come out now and face him. Another arrow followed and he ignored it, calling out dishonor, not a good follower of Maglubiyat, and do it now.

Fuckna called back. Not now, in the dawn after breakfast. And be ready. More words were exchanged but the hobgoblin and the wolves did retreat.

We rested as best we could (not getting a full night). After the sun rose, Fuckha Ahsit, a dozen other hobgoblins, 6 goblins, 4 ogres, and 3 wargs came. The goblins were instructed to make an area to fight. Rules were the two of the warriors would fight without interference. Loser loses all they are carrying to the other. Anyone else interferes, the rules are void and the rest of the combatants join the fight.

One of the hobgoblin talked to Gun for a bit, setting up a side bet. Neither side likes their knight and there was some bonding over that. As for Fjord, the ogres here found him to be runty and made them vomitous. Hrimvir? Totally fine.

Yandr and Fuckna went to the middle and the battle rang on. Fuckna tried to go for some power attacks early but Yandr’s armor was too thick and heavy. So they danced around, hitting and trading blows. Most didn’t fall well, but bruises and exhaustion slowly climbed up. After 9 minutes, the Ogre, Clog, called for a break. The two of them healed with potions and then got ready to fight on.

Another 9 minutes of fighting went on. Yandr went through both of his shields and Fuckna did the same to his. A few solid blows did land, one of them shattering the paladin’s shield arm in a spiral fracture, making it hang useless. Both were badly hurt and after another 9 minutes of fighting the Ogre stopped it again. Yandr and Fuckna wanted it to end but neither wanted to quit. They settled on 5 more rounds of combat and if no winner, then a draw – their gods want more from them than just death.

So they struggled on until it ended. Arms were embraced and the ogres and hobgoblins ordered the goblins to break camp. We all were going to go south over the hill to the witches’ cottage to rest and discuss what comes next. Fuckna and Yandr found a strange camaraderie at this point.

Icemonth the 22nd at 9:30 we came to the magical clearing and Rosabella and Rosalinda were happy to meet with us. Illi had fleshed out, the young boy working on making cookies. A giantess was here as well, drinking tea and meeting with Rosabella. Pastries and drinks were handed out and we shared with the sisters what we could tell them without actually mentioning the dragon was now killed. They went to work on tattooing for Illi and offered to trade our blood stores with us for other items. We upgraded some staves, rings, and wands, gave them the blood, got some tattoos and a chance to read a magical tome. Hrimvir spent some time with the giant woman in the carnal sense and by evening, Illi was declared to be spell free.

We were going to leave in the morning. Fuckna and a number of the other hobgoblins were going to come with us to go to Jector and see what they had been missing following Gavin’s lead for so long.