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.

Meet 133, Adv 16, 9/6/25

Plantmonth 27th 9:00 PM, 289 of the 29th age. The group arranged to rest after a few of us had conversation with Steward Scotar Bork of Bork Keep. We expected to have some time here to rest and relax, a few weeks at the minimum. Many of us had felt our skills had improved and we needed to take the time to hone them.

In no discernable order, the group availed themselves of Bork Keep and what it could do for them. Unlike in our time, the lands around Bork Keep had a number of homes and crafting halls about the exterior of the stout walls, making it bigger than a town but smaller than a city for our needs. We took to visiting the shops when our days allowed us to, purchasing items now and again.

Shimlagesh took to visiting the Keep’s magister, an elven practitioner named Stehian Longmeadow. Shim not only wanted to study up and make sure he was well versed (rose to 7th level), but also the option for doing some spell crafting. Stehian, and his main apprentice Hamysh, were happy to help. Being there was a place to study and books to refer to, Shim would not be recreating the wheel so to speak, but it was still going to be a serious amount of funds.

Over the next 2 weeks he and Stehian and Hamysh worked on his magic missile spells again and again and again. Incorporating what he had seen the Speaker of the Sun do by infusing it with glass, he was able to put his own spin on it. Eventually the effectiveness of the spell outgrew its former rigid boundaries but to Shim, the cost outweighed the simplicity of it. From now on, Shim’s spell would be encompassing a kaleidoscope of fragmenting hard candies, making it do extra damage as it tore through the air.

Nate wanted the opportunity to hang up his halberd for some time and dive deeper into the world that Keira and his creche were a part of. Being out here there were no thieves guilds per se, but there were a group of scouts and agents that Twilick was able to guide the human fighter towards. A meeting was arranged with Duwastis, the main agent of the Southern Colors, a paramilitary group of gnomes, halflings, and humans who have made a number of forays across the Enderlyn River and into Starlitzian Lizardman territory.

He had to prove himself amidst the group of 30, eventually getting the nickname Swivel, bestowed upon him by one of the senior agents, Barry, a reminder to Nate to watch his surroundings all the time and keep his head on a swivel. The days were long and the missions mock or serious were difficult, but Nate learned a lot and honed skills he already had to a finer degree, eventually getting a membership scarf and admission to the Southern Colors Scouts.

We also had a conversation with Desmond (who did NOT know us in this time, 202 years in the past and has no idea about the diamond). We learned about the thoughts and portents of the Norns. The lack of true future site. The weave and trends. Desmond wants to make sure the group succeeds in what they are trying to do because according to the few nuggets he’s gotten from his daily divinations, their successes means his successes.

Desmond did bring a Speaker of the Dead, a Helian priestess named Timuryl Berylsdottr. She looked over godric’s body and was able to cast a speak with dead – getting us 2 questions and some conversation with the fallen wizard. He thought it over and wanted the group to use their 1 charge from the rod of resurrection for someone else. The group and its mission is more important that his specific life. Someone like Shim who is running the diamonds, or Darius or Connal who’ve been at this longer than anyone else. Or Eoghan who has gotten over so much adversity and keeps the group moving on. He also mentioned that Nathaniel was a friend who came out of no where and let him know that he would be missed. He mentioned that if his stuff was still back at home, Nate who started with nothing was welcome to all of Godric’s riches. And then his soul moved on.

And Captain Asher was frowning. Why wasn’t he mentioned? Seems he was left out. Someone did say that maybe it was because the Captain didn’t do as much as he could when he could but the matter was dropped for the most part.

Speaking of Asher, he brought the magic sword Doombringer to the Keep Smithy where he was directed to talk to Master Smith Hegenan. The middle aged orc looked over the weapon and whistled. This was a 5 or 600 year old heirloom elvish blade and needed lots of work to fix. Crafted of meteoric iron it was going to take time and funds (over a thousand) to repair. So Captain Asher haggled and traded the weapon in exchange for a set of field plate, scored black and festooned with colored piping and accents. Happy with his efforts he showed the group and Darius visited the smith with the Ankheg plates, getting a promise of a custom set of armor in 2 months of the plates.

And finally Darius, the fighter, talked at length with the Steward who directed him to Captain Felstone Wolvesbane, Cavalier of the Order of the Radiant Shield. The Half Black Orc took Darius in, the Steward willing to stand for him, and had him ride out after picking a steed to borrow. They rode across the country side (actually passing into Grymeria, or where it would be in our time, trippy!) talking about the knightly order, needs and wants, and what it means to actually take the spurs.

Darius worked hard for weeks, showing the Order (110 active members in the rolls) that he was able and capable. Eventually the time came that he was welcomed to the cavalier order. A ceremony followed where he took the knee and pledged himself to be a knight, noble and true. He arose afterwards and was welcomed to the Order.

With all we had done it was now Birthmonth the 11th and we could go to the next rip for the diamond (The Stronghold of Donnegarten) or since we were so far ahead of time, we could take a detour. We opted to go and visit the Nightwoods, the ancestral home of the gnomish kingdom. It was going to be between 6 and 8 days by airship but we wanted to go and take a look around.

2nd Campaign, Session 17. 9/2/25

With Derrywinkle the 3rd’s death, the remaining berserkers (currently eating the dead Derrywinkle) proclaimed that Cara, who had been identified as Duchess not 10 minutes earlier, their leader for now. So we talked to them for a bit, getting a lay of the land as well as some of Derrywinkle’s managing style.

There were 7 of them at 1 point, had been sent here from Jector to scout a place for a keep 6 plus years ago. Instead they followed some goblins they had captured and tortured to this place where they had been told great treasure was.  They pissed off 2 witchy women by taking their vegetables and laughing at them, getting told they would find their riches but then die there never to leave.

They did find the monastery and eventually got into a protracted battle with the goblins before falling down to here. 1 of their members had died in the combat. Then they explored around here for a while and lost another member and most of their magical weapons and armor and items in the Cave of the men who eat men.

There was a Monster in the dark that hunts but they avoid it. A corridor with giant flies and big maggots. They had a decent idea of the layout of many places but never found a way out. Derrywinkle figured it was either in the cave beyond the monster in the dark because there was a deep pool of water there. Or it was in the second octagon room where a corridor leads to an underground river but none of the berserkers could swim and never wanted to risk it.

We ate dinner and rested. The Berserkers seemed to have a distrust of the group (maybe mostly Gun.or not, hard to tell). They were Cheese, Leggily, Fantas, and Neal. We each took watches and made sure that at no point were the berserkers alone being up without one of us.

It was the next day, Icemonth the 17th and we discussed going to the Cave of men who eat men and get the magic items there. Yandr tried to get more information out of them but Cheese didn’t have much more to say. “They are men. Bad men. And they eat other men!”

We pulled the gate back and left the Berserker’s area. We wandered up the northeastern hall to the pool where we refilled our skins. From there it was back to the octagon room and we took the western door. It was an hour of slow walking and mapping. Passage went west, meandered north and then south, west some more and then a long slow passage north, north east. Eventually the passage came to a 4 way split.

According to Cheese and the others, the cave of men who eat men was to the west. The other 2 to the east, the south east one went to an area where there were a handful of bugbears who had been down here a year, and the north east one went to an area where sweepers were sometimes spawned from (Sweepers? We guessed it was the gelatinous cubes).

So we headed west. The passage widened and the smell of unwashed bodies and raw meat began to permeate the area. Bits of bones, trash, and garbage were on the floors and near the walls. The ceiling was slowly rising and the floor had a slope to it. Eventually the passage was approaching 25’ wide and running south and then west. The ceiling was 14’ up, and Nevah assured us the slope ahead was subtly steepening. Also, the effluvia from the rotting meat was making an oily sheen on the ground, meaning down is ok, but coming back up this way would involve some slipping.

We decided to find a place and drive a piton into the wall. Hrimvar had a couple of lengths of rope that he was going to tie together for us to make climbing easier up and down. However, on driving the piton, it made a hell of a lot of noise. Which had some screeching noises coming from down the corridor ahead of us. We drew up at the top of the slope, weapons out, ready to fight.

And coming around the corner were 4 man like figures. They were dirty, scabrous, mostly naked and had long nails. Two were loping across the floor, a short word and shield on their back – and 2 were running at use – across the damned ceiling. And each of them had a crossbow dangling on straps there. “Are you guys seeing this?!”

And then we fired. Gun and Nevah let bolts and arrows fly – at the ceiling running ones. And they were batted aside with ease. And in one case. . one was actually thrown back AT the party. “Are you SEEING THIS!?!”

They were also fast. Faster than most of us. Nah – we broke, running away. Hrimvar and Cara scooped up Nevah and Gun and we ran as the ghoulish figures were hooting and shrilling screaming behind us. Eventually at the 4 way split we ran a bit down the southeast corridor until we were sure we were not being chased and finally rested a bit. “Forget to mention something to us?” Yandr asked with anger.

“What? They were in a cave of men who eat men!?!” Cheese replied, hands pointing. “What did you expect? Derrywinkle always told us to just move on and accept the items were lost.”

“Whatever.”

We voted quickly and decided to take out the bugbears. “Straight fight. We’re good on fighting bugbears now”. We kept walking down the passage that traveled a bit to a “T intersection. Across from us in the “T”, was a cave. Cheese pointed to it and said the bugbears used that cave as their home. A detect evil got nothing. So we risked crossing and taking a look.

Definitely a warren. 3 bugbears would stay here, right now they were gone. We were thinking of messing with their stuff but decided it was best to leave it alone. So at the intersection, we could go north to the faint vinegar smell and maybe the sweeper area, or south which should take us back to the octagon room according to Gun. It was about 11 and we opted south. Sure enough, Gun’s map was right, we came out of the northeast door.

We broke for lunch and went over plans.

The thought was to go back to the other octagon room and go down the hall that had the evil behind it and maybe a secret door. So by 12:30 we were on the way. We took the south door around and past the corridor with the water. Then from there we followed the long sweep until we arrived at the other octagon chamber. We squared up to go through the south door when Cheese stopped us.

Listening he mouthed “Ogre” and we knew there was one down here. So we got our weapons out and were ready. The door opened and the ogre was there – not expecting us. It took a 2 count of arrows to the face, then a spear, sword, and a variety of other weapon hits. It was staggering and tried to shake it off, swinging its maul around to attack. But we were ready (and got initiative), and really tore into the ogre, killing it within a minute and a half. We went through its belongings (a few coins), its weapon was too big and awkward to use, so we headed down the hall after dragging it a bit out of the way.

The hall was very long and ended some distance away. The north wall was obviously a different type of wall (smooth, not rough) but no one could find the secret door (we all failed again). So it was sledge hammer time. We beat and smashed at the wall, chipping it and cracking stone. Yandr tried to point out the best place to hit it and the swingers admitted to hearing him but not striking that section of the wall.

It was 2:30 when we finally smashed through the mechanism, breaking it, and forced the door open. And it was back at the Berserker’s lair. “Are you…”

Cheese and Leggily looked around. “Huh! Didn’t know this lead here? Neat!”

Gun was checking his map and nodded. “Yeah. This makes sense. I can see how that passage led here.”

Yandr was incensed. “And you didn’t think to mention this before we walked all over the damned place?”

“Son, mapping isn’t always an exact science.” Gun lowered his hat and gave the paladin an up and down glower.

We figured while here, we’d take a look at the lair of the monster in the dark next. Gun and Fjord were going to check it out but Nevah wanted to come. “Can you walk quietly, boy?” “Yep!” “Brian…are you sure?” “Sure can. I’m Helping.”

The 3 of them went, and halfway down the hall after Nevah made his 5th inadvertent noise, they tried to get him to stop but he demurred. They were sure that something wasn’t there now, but infravision showed something big WAS just here and went south further into the cave. They headed back and we discussed it with the party.

We agreed to go together, weapons out and ready. Down the hall we went and then racing out of the dark was a 1600 lb ursine with a twisted beak and huge eyes, covered in diseased looking feathers. “Ah!!” Fjord screamed, falling over unconscious. “A bear! And an owl!” Even Thobar was frozen in terror.

It ignored our first missile attacks and took less damage from the blows that did hit. It swept its claws out and tore into Cheese, then its beak ripped his chest open. And as he was bleeding and screaming, it lifted him up, hugged him, and ripped him in half, showering itself and the entire front 2 ranks in the berserker’s blood and entrails. “HROO HAA!!”

Round. 2. Icemonth the 17th, 3:31 PM.

2nd Campaign, Session 16. 8/19/25

It was quarter to 7 on Icemonth the 15th, 195 of the 30th age. We discussed our next steps and figured we did not want to risk getting into a fight here and now. So we retreated to the room with the Giant Shrew. From there we returned to the octagonal chamber. The eastern door was open, a spear was jammed under it, and someone had drawn an arrow on the wall. There were also 2 dead goblins here, obviously killed from the fall.

We listened, heard nothing, and figured we’d try and remove the spear and then head east, following the goblins. Removing the spear was…pretty much impossible. So we instead followed the passage. It went east, looped around to the south and then west again, sloped for a bit, and there was a goblin camp here. Lots of crap on the floor, old food stuffs, marking and signs. But it was obvious they had moved on.

So we kept going and ended at the end of the passage – a dead end. We looked all over for a secret door (found none), and figured we’d camp here. A few of us went back to the goblin area down the hall and drove 2 pitons there. Then we tied a rope there with a few pitons wove in it as an alarm. Then we returned to the end of the hall, set up a rotation of watch, and slept.

It was Icemonth the 16th when we woke up. Healing was dispensed. On a lark, we checked over the wall and found that there WAS a secret door here, on the north side! Going back to our trip rope trap, we disassembled it, and then opened it up. Required some strength to get it to budge and a few attempts, but we managed to shove it high and look in.

Oval chamber, 20 x 45’ ish crude. And a number of dead stirges in here. 8 or so. It appeared that 3 of them were bloated from whatever they had attacked, but all had been slain. We guessed the goblins did it. Hrimvir pointed out that 8 stirges would be a challenge for us but the goblins had defeated them. Our guess was 15 or more goblins at least so we were at the ready. We went to the west end of the room and this time, found the secret door there with ease. By 8:50 we had it open and were heading on.

Passage went south and was curving east, Gun felt it might link up with the Octagon room at some point. There was a passage heading south but a vinegar smell was in there air. Plus we thought there was something ahead. Hrimvir outfitted one of the skeletons with a torch and sent it ahead. And it walked a short distance then stopped. Its torch went out and it seemed to be hanging there as its arm was dissolving away.

Nope. Back up. Now. Whatever was devouring the skeleton was coming after us. We went back to the secret door and ran in. We could either go out the other door or another plan. We shoved all the stirges to the north end of the chamber and waited. Whatever it was came to the secret door, and oozed through, changing its shape to fit. It was indistinct to make out, but 10 x 10 cube of some gelatinous material scouring the dungeon floor clean. The skeleton inside was almost entirely gone. And it was coming for us. Moving very slow, but coming.

We dumped a flask of oil on the stirges and set them alight – the light and heat changing the attraction of the scouring cube. It instead went after the carrion and we ran past. Yandr threw handfuls of coins at it to mark its edges. We then took the secret door and pulled it down, trapping the cube here.

We paused for a bit so Hrimvir could animate his last pile of bones (dwarven), and we were ready to go on by 9:30. We arrived at the side passage south and we had a few choices. Head east to what Gun was sure was the octagon room, head south and west, or head south and east. We discussed it and decided to head south and west for now.

Corridor went west and south, slowly pivoting east and angling down for a while. The distance passed behind us for a while until almost 150 feet away we came to a door. Fjord listened and was sure the door was not locked, trapped, and nothing behind it.

We voted to go BACK to the 3 way and check the south and east passage. So we walked the way back, turned to the new passage, and followed it. 20 paces and it turned north to a small cave with a pool of water on the east side. Cara tested it, convinced it was pure water and not tainted. But it was deep. We lit a stone and dropped it. 12” down? But nothing down there.

We went BACK to the long passage and took it to the eventual door. Where we opened it – to show a room 30’ octagon with 8 doors here.

WTH?

Ok, it was another octagon room, not the same. Gun was sure it was south and east of the other one. Also, we were sure there was no passage down here from above. We spent the time and listened to each one. We could discover 2 things, the east door had some hissing sound behind it, and the southeast door felt like moving air. A piece of paper at the bottom to test it out – east door the paper rippled out towards us and was damp. Southeast the paper was sucked tight to the door and floor. Ok, moving air on the south east. We wanted to wait on that one. The east was something else.

We narrowed down some ideas and went to the north door. It went north and drifted east, 40 paces and then turned sharper east. Also there was the same heat and hissing we heard from the eastern door. A faint slope up and then a “Y” intersection. Could go south to a passage..or east and north to a glowing chamber.

50, 60’ oval, a chasm on the north end of the chamber. Steam vent, billowed out rhythmically every minute. Superheated steam filled up 60% of the chamber and then cooled. A chest/box was a bit more than halfway across the chamber, a few chains wrapped around it. We figured to check it out but did NOT want to get burned. So we attached 2 grapples to ropes, gave them to the dwarven skeletal servant, and Hrimvir instructed it to enter the room and then place each grapple around the chain on the box. It would allow us to drag it back. Good plan!

It walked in, came to the box, but a 16’ long grey and red stony carapaced lizard burst out of the chasm and bit the skeleton in the midsection! Bones snapped and ground. And then it vomited up 6 points of lava mucus dissolving the center of the servant. “Go! GO!!” We ran away from the lava lizard and back down the hall to the octagon room where we shut the door and rethought our plan.

“I see the north and east corridors are done then,” Gun said, marking them off his map. We then decided to go to the north east passage after eating lunch. By 12:45 we opened the door and went in. Corridor went for a bit to the north and east, 70’, sloping down as it did so. It then turned northward and then back to the west. A section opened up to a sleeping area where it looked like an Ogre (our best guess based on size, smell, and druid’s estimation) would come and bed down. We left his stuff alone and kept going.

Corridor took a meandering path west, south west, and then south and south east – ending up BACK at the octagon room, this time the northwest door. “So I’ll just mark 2 more off my map, a’here.” Gun said, giving the group a side eye. Southest (some moving air), South, or Southwest. We voted south and checked it out, opening the door.

Passage went south 20, 30’ and then turned west, where the dusty and webbed passage went west (with a faint occasional nudge to the north) for hundreds of feet before it came to a dead end. “Brian! Ok people, let’s look for a secret door here.” The group spent some time looking and found…none! “There has to be one here.”

We busted out a sledge hammer and were talking about beating the north wall until it opened up when Yandr decided to detect evil – and got a ping! It was muted through the stone so no detail other than a definite single obvious evil being – 20 to 30 feet from the wall. We decided instead to NOT make a butt ton of noise and headed back to the Octagon room again. 2:25 PM. With 2 choices left, we went to the southwest door. Passage went southwest and then west for quite some distance but after 15 minutes of walking, Fjord decided to look for traps, just in case.

And found a pit trap! 10’ down, spikes at the bottom. Yikes! We got it to hold open and seeing a skeleton of some long dead guy down here, Hrimvir wanted it since we lost 2 just recently. So Cara with a rope was lowered down and she gathered the bones in a box. Then we came out and went back down the hall to the Octagon room again.

“There are a few doors in the 1st octagon room we didn’t check out,” Gun offered. “We should go look before opening the last door here,” Yandr suggested. So we left here out the west door and took the long walk all the way back to the 3 way split, and then east to the original octagon room at a bit after 4 PM.

Looking the map over – we had north, north east, south east (we had looked there and then returned), and southwest. So we decided southwest. We traveled along, the passage sloping down a bit, turning south, and the southwest. And we could hear voices again ahead. It was the same bersekers we had heard yesterday. Gun and Fjord said the passage past their chamber had continued so it must end up at this one. 5 of them and we did not want to risk it, so we turned and headed back to the Octagon room to discuss either another passage or find some place to rest soon.

While talking the door opened and the 5 berserkers had come, following us here. There were all men, human, tall and thin, looking like demented Vikings in rags and ruined armor, holding makeshift weaponry and appearing wild eyed and dangerous. The leader was wearing a crown made of a broken wine cask and sporting a filthy purple carpet as a cloak. “I am King Derrwinkle the Third! Lord of the Undercommon! Who are you !?!” The other 4 seemed barely restrained ready to attack.

We all dropped to one knee and genuflected. Yandr and then Cara took point on talking to the berserkers, placating them and admitting they were hoping to help out and be part of the kingdom. Cara offered the king some wine and he almost cried. Drinking it down he was thrilled and proclaimed her “Duchess of the Underland! Bringer of wine!” The others all cheered and Gun was vibrating. He took out some of his contact poison, applied it to something for the berserker to eat or drink, and Derriwinkle inadvertently poisoned himself, choking and gasping before falling over…Dead.

The others were stunned and we were expecting a fight (a few dice rolls later), but the others turned to Cara and proclaimed her their new ruler. “It’s what Derriwinkle would have wanted. It’s better this way.” They adorned her with the dirty carpet and looked over Derriwinkle. “May we?” they asked her, pointing to the body.

She nodded and the berserkers then tore Derriwinkle apart with their bare hard. Stuffing raw human meat into their mouths with wild abandon and practically bathing in the blood. “Meat! Meat!’ Waste not, want not! Bless our new Duchess!”

It was ten after 5, Icemonth the 16th, 195 of the 30th age. And we had 4 crazed berserkers at Cara’s behest.

2nd Campaign, Session 15. 8/5/25

Icemonth the 15th, 195 of the 30th age, 3:36 PM. Combat spread all over the room, two of Gavin’s personal guards were holding shields and protecting the hobgoblin king. One of them threw a spear into the combat, blasting the paladin, the shaft covered in red and black rune flames. The eagle continued to tear at Gavin who reached up and pulled the offending avian from his face, screaming at it as he ripped it to shreds.

The goblins had managed to get one lock engaged and the party outside squared up and charged the door, hoping to bash it open. They bounced off the surface and drew up to rush it again. Carl stabbed out at the locals, hoping to spread the damage and Hrimvar and Yandr were struggling to keep the hobgoblins back.

Finally the door was forced open and Hrimvar stepped into the breach to block it with his body. Gavin drank down a healing potion and Gun and Nevah fired into the room. Cara noticed that Thobar was looking back and asked what’s up. “Um… there are a lot of goblin voices. Coming this way.”

“Damn it”. She turned to the group. “IN! Let us IN!”

“OUT!” Yandr was yelling back, beset on 3 sides and bleeding hit points. “Out! Let us out!”

“More goblins coming now!”

Fucking hell. The group tore into the goblins at the door, sieving through cracks and spaces in the fight, getting swung at but holding their best. We pushed and shoved, swords and spears firing. Altas shot off another sleep spell and it took more of the offending goblins in the room down, allowing us a brief respite.

The hobgoblin guard with Gavin, his spear was enchanted and returned to his grasp, and he hurled it again, ripping into the fight. Bugbears swung and hobgoblins splintered their own shields. We could hear goblins in the hall getting closer and we managed to slam the door closed as arrows and quarrels flew into the room, shoving the locking bar down. Out hit point totals were dropping. Gun called for aid, and Thobar charged over to help.

And then Carl went down with a scream, knocked to the ground and moved to 0. We could hear fighting on the other side of the door as the goblins there tried to bust in. We were whittling away the enemy and when Thobar got to Gun, the Halfling didn’t need any healing. “Seriously?!” He then turned and ran off to help Carl.

And as the fight was going on, Gavin broken his morale and ran off the throne. His two guards went with him and he went to a secret door on the south wall, poured inside, and slammed it closed.

“What in Maglubiyet’s name?!?” One of the bugbears fighting us cursed and pointed. “Really!? You COWARD! You abandoned the throne!? One thing we never do it leave the throne and you ran!?!” They had no interest in fighting and we sort of sidled into a parley situation. Group was agreeing that we should stop for now. Goblins MUST have a king brave enough to sit on the throne at all times and Gavin has now made them kingless. Need a new ruler of the Ahshit clan and Moray Vaco could commune with Maglubiyet to help make it happen.

All hostilities cease for now. (Which we needed, there was a horde of goblins outside the door and we were almost out of everything). But Nevah took a different stance and went to kill a goblin. So the two bugbears hocked back and hurled their battleaxes at the gnome fighter. Knocking him down and killing him. “Cease means STOP!”

We used some elixirs to get him up, made peace with the bugbear (Leader here was named Auhjo./ Auhjo Ahshit), figured we had an hour or so. He would talk the goblins down, set up a conclave with Moray, there would be talk and a vote, and then they’d return.

As for Gavin? Kill the fucker, he’s a coward and fled his one job. They picked up a dead hobgoblin, placed him on the throne, and let the group know that by law, a goblin must sit in Maglubiyat’s chair. Auhjo then went to the door, convinced the goblins of what happened, and left (over 20 of them). We shut it behind him, locked it again, and then went to the door Gavin was behind.

We tore it open and had a fast fight with his 2 guards, killing them. While the coward king drank a potion of gaseous form and sieved up and out of the room through tiny cracks in the ceiling. We scooped up all the treasure in here, sweeping it into the bag of holding while the rest of us looked over the rooms in here – bed and guard chambers. Including the 2nd of Aine’s tomes!

 The goblin body in the throne had been dumped out and Nevah the gnome sat in there, surveying the place and muttering imprecations against all goblin kind. Eventually it was decided that we should take what treasures we had and make for the entrance – OR at least Moray’s area as if the goblins were all in the temple area discussing what was to happen, that place would be empty. Either way time was ticking and we had to go.

We left the throne room, down the long quiet hall, and then made the turn north where all the graffiti was. Something happened through,, the entire hallway pivoted down rapidly, and the group slid at a rapid pace 60’ down, through a spillway corridor, and ended up in an octagonal room! 8 doors out of here, and no way back up as the corridor then pivoted back up, leaving us trapped a full level down.

We took stock of ourselves, noted it was getting late, and then glanced down all of the 8 corridors. They went off in the distance, two of the southern ones had a slope to them, one going up, the other down. Eventually we decided to head down the northwest one. Passage went for a while, sloped a bunch, and ended up in a triangular shaped chamber with a mass of leather and other soft goods on the north end. Something was in there. We tossed some rocks – and it had shrews in them. Like 75 lb giant assed monster shrews.

Nah, no thanks. We followed the passage south and east from here and then ended up east. Passage went on and we could hear some echoes and lights ahead. Gun and Fjord went down to investigate – a bunch of crazed looking half starved people genuflecting to one acting as a king. At least it was an enclosed area that we could try and hole up in. It was quarter to 7 on Icemonth the 15th, 195 of the 30th age.

Meet 132, Adv 15, 8/2/25

And that ended the 1st adventure of the 3 planned to avert Ragnarok. We had 2 character deaths during it and the group will get a few sessions to putter around before heading off to the 2nd location - what they know of as the Stronghold of Donnegarten. However in this time, it hasn't been discovered by the dwarves and the entire place is raw. 2nd wind back adventure? Thief of Time.

Write up follows:

Plantmonth 24th, 12:10 AM, 289 of the 29th age. We talked about the plan and how we should get back down the Crater sooner than later. Things are not safe up here and we needed to go. Shim cast invisibility on himself again and once sure we were sage and ready, worked our way back to Cliffside to try and get to Remembrance Overlook. It was while trying to pass behind the Speaker of the Sun’s palace that we noted the passage here was guarded by two elves, neither relaxed, each on alert. We did not trust the trip passed invisible or not. Looking up, we decided to head back to the stairs near the House of Silk and Smoke and take the Cliffside walk at the top of the rise. We would be walking through the Canopy section of the city but it would be safer and less chance to run into a patrol.

Checking the stairs to be empty, we made our way up to the walk and then stayed along the edge for the mile plus until we came to the steps down. These too (WMC – all good!) were empty and we quickly made it to the floor. We did not want to engage any of the Vael Th’anar in the area so took the longer way around. We passed the looted souvenir station and then made it to the great stone gate. Wilhelm took out the rune key, arranged it to the door, and rolled the stone to the right.

We entered the crater and waited until we saw the door close again. 2:35 AM. We went to the crater and looked down. We opened the hut, ate a full meal, and then took out all the coils of rope. Shim took 4 and we tied here at the crater’s entrance. Shim used the cloak to turn to a bat and Wilhelm shifted form to a raven once more. Then we began the long climb down.

The long trip took hours and hours. The 3 friends made sure they went nowhere new, stepped only where they had been before. And left ropes dangling behind at every location and locale that merited it. At one point Wilhelm got forced out of animal form and had to use a spider climb spell at the last section. But by 9:40 AM we were back at the 7th level and rejoined the group in the Githyanki stronghold. We shared what we had learned above and we talked about our options on getting out and getting out of town. Right now though, the group needed to rest so they slept.

By 6 PM that evening they had woken up and we were getting ready to leave this area for the last time. They ate some of the food they had gotten from the Grocer out of the Hut, refiled their water skins, and made sure their spells were up to date and ready. By the time 7 PM came, the group began the long trek back to the surface.

Thanks to the many ropes that Connal had left tied behind, the trip back was not as arduous as it could have been. Nate, Darius, and he made sure each person was tied to the trailing ends and then hoisted up one at a time to the next level up. Then the ropes were sent back down and slowly the process continued.

At the corridor with the multicolored rain, most of us had a time going through but Nate and Captain Asher each got changed to Red and Violet – forcing them to stay in the area hand out in the falling water until their skin changed to tan – and that was good enough. Past midnight, making it the 25th, we had to cross the chamber with the rotting meat from the Leucrotta and Asher called on Maglubiyet to cover the area with a zone of sweet air so the party didn’t get ill.

We had just hit the 2nd level and had nothing left in the tank. It was 6:30 AM when we crawled into the Hut and rested. We awoke about 3:30/4 PM, ate, drank, and cleaned up before continuing our grueling ascent. Finally getting there about quarter to 5. We discussed options (again, not wanting to be at the top and seen). Wilhelm was our best bet to get the animals from the House of Silk and Smoke. He was the only full elf here and as long as he went there just like he was meant to, it should be ok.

The rest of us, thanks to Shim's very much repeated casting of invisibility, would sneak around the town and make our way to the airship docks where we would meet up with Wilhelm and then the entire party head to the farms and fields to await contact from Twilick on the pick up.

We wanted to get the door open but late enough that the setting sun should obfuscate our passage. So we waited till 7 when the sun was down, then we hit the surface, went to the door, and Wilhelm opened the portal. Before it went, we had treated the area with Silent Portal to mask the door’s opening as well as a darkness spell, to hide the soft light that came out from the door. Once outside we waited for the door to close and took stock.

It was a waxing moon, 5 days to the Full, and no clouds in the sky so visibility was plentiful – good and bad for us. As for the sounds of combat and whatever we heard the other day, it was mostly over. Wilhelm walked as if he had purpose away from Remembrance Overlook, heading east across the city. There were a number of elven guardsmen outside the Speaker’s Palace, being spoken to by the Most Blessed of Frey. He didn’t pause or look on, instead kept going. It was almost 8 when he arrived at the House and he went around to the side where the kennel was and made his presence known to the Kennelmaster.

He wanted the three cats, was asked his name, gave it, and was given a price of 1 gold per day, 8 days. 24 total. He also wanted the two dogs. “Oh? Whose are they?” “Godrick.” Fuck. “I mean Eoghan.”

The master was slow rolling at this time, looking Wilhelm up and down. Sent his apprentice in to go get some info. Came out and then addressed Wilhelm. “Godrick and Eoghan. Both humans. Stayed here a while ago.” He paused, “Friends of yours?”

“No. I hated them. Dirty humans. Killed them.” Patted the sword at his waist.

The apprentice was by the kennel with the bear in it but the master was thinking. “Listen. I know, dirty humans and all. Can’t trust them.” He agreed to let the 2 dogs go, another 16 gold. “But I want something for me.” He pointed to the blade Wilhelm was wearing. “Hate to call for help or what not. Give me that pretty sword there as well and you can go on your way.”

Wilhelm gave up the Lathandar blade, took all the 5 animals on leashes and leads, and left without hurrying away but making sure he was nowhere near the House of the stablemaster. He headed to the southeast and the remains of the airship dock where once he had a chance, lead the animals and himself under the docks and waited in the shadows for the rest of the party to show up.

As for them, they had a harder time, forced to side step and back track often to avoid the wandering guards and people. It seemed that the last bastion of resistance with Little Gorok had ended and the dwarves there had been either captured or maybe killed. The Battlewagon was still floating there on the west end of town and there were way too many people about. It was almost 9 before they exhaustedly made it to the airship docks.

Reconnecting with Wilhelm, the group of invisible friends and the druid and the 5 animals headed southeast into the farms, going through 8 fields before finally stopping and resting. It might have been about 10:30 when someone was heard wandering the fields, we guessed it was a refugee hiding out from elves. He or she wanted nothing to do with Wilhelm and left. By midnight Captain Twilick contacted Shimlagesh and they arranged a pick up in an hour. The Windshade came around the farms, nets out, and we clambered aboard, vacating the invisibility.

Twilick took us south to Bogon, let us know that the Kaiser and Council wanted to speak with them in Bork Keep, and that the Steward would be housing the group there while they got their bearing back. We arrived in Bogon at 10 AM, took on supplies and rested. Shim was looking at the possibility of siphoning one of the manastones into the Rod of Resurrection but realized it was most likely beyond his skill.

On the morning of the 27th we took off from Bogon and made our way to Bork Keep, landing by 7 PM. The Kaiser, Donnegarten, and his Council were there to meet us (the Tilani representative was absent) as well as Steward Bork. We then had a meeting and told the Kaiser what we could. We had to admit to some faults and Darius took the blame for some of it. We were given a stipend of gold to spend and were thanked greatly for our efforts. But we were exhausted and wanted to rest so by 9 PM on Plantmonth the 27th, 289 of the 29th age, we took what rooms the Steward had set for us and fell to an exhausted slumber.

Meet 131, Adv 15, 7/26/25

Plantmonth the 22nd, 1:05 PM, 239 of the 29th age. We doled out some healing but our reserves were damned low. After fixing the worst of our hurts, we gathered into a ragged line and made our way carefully across the glass strewn floor and away from the slowly growing and glowing root of the burgeoning Lifetree.

Once at the hall we walked slowly and with care through the ankle deep piles of busted glass until eventually we were finally past. Beyond there we came to the room that had the Shambling Mound – still filled with roots and growth, but nothing living within. We climbed and pushed, making our way out and then at the “Y” intersection, went back to the northwest to check on the two dead elves there.

Again, male elf killed by a shaft of glass in his chest and his eyes and mouth perforated by numerous shards, and an older grey elven noblewoman. We thought about taking them with us but decidedly ultimately to leave them for now. It was almost 2 when we arrived at the area of the inverted gravity. Without rope we relied heavily on Connal’s monastic skills and Darius’ strength. We had been toting around Godric’s corpse (more meat than body, but still hopeful) during this time as the party did a twist and hand off one by one.

Once on the ceiling, we walked on until we came to the far end of the inverted zone. From here it was a slow go as we passed through there, finally done at ten after 3. We traveled for a bit longer, arriving at the former Githyanki camp by 3:30. From here it was bandages and conversation on what we were going to do next. The first thing we had was a food problem – not enough of it. Wilhelm opted to switch to Murlynd’s Spoon and Connal had the ability to forego food for a while.

We wanted to make the climb up but without rope, we were at a limit of what we could do. Wilhelm had 4 spiders left for spider climbing and there was talk of animal form or Shim’s bat form to fly out but the shafts were too narrow to make it possible. Plus there was the Feyr to get by.

We brainstormed a bunch and came up with a possible plan. One, only 3 of us would try to get out. Connal (the best climber and can fall some distance without getting hurt), Wilhelm for the spell use and the fact he can change into a raven and hitch a ride. And finally Shim who was the smallest and lightest; but with the bat cloak can change form as well as his own spell use.

Then we had to get past the Feyr – and for that, they were going to bring Leomund’s Hut with them

. The idea was, as had been explained, it’s an extra dimensional pocket and when it is closed and picked up, the walls of the hut on the inside are open to the raw chaos of the Astral plane. Anyone within has a chance of being crazy and or attracting an astral entity. BUT – if the feyr was inside, it was more than possible that it could use the Hut as a gateway once it was picked up to go to the Astral plane.

With 3 limits on opening it, we risked one now to empty all the supplies and beds from the hut’s interior, for now storing it here at the Githyanki Thorpe. We split up foods, Connal and his group taking less, just enough to make the surface, leaving the left over for the rest of the party. The goal was to get to the surface, get some food and rope, and maybe some rescuers to come back down. 4 days was the hope – 2 to get out, 2 to get back. The downstairs group also ended up taking everyone’s oil and the spare lantern that Connal had – giving us 6 flasks. Along with Captain Asher’s 5 possible light spells each day we should have enough light for 12 or 13 hours.

As for Connal and his team, they suggested going to the dead Mimic and throwing it down the shaft for the rest of party to eat. Most of the group said no, they were not that hungry. “Yet.”

“Yeah, no.”

“You’ll see.”

We all went off to the shaft up from the 7th level and by 4:30, the two party members changed to animals, gripped Connal’s back, and as a Raven, Wilhelm called to Shakak for Connal to climb like a spider as the monk at one of the few remaining spiders.

He climbed up the almost vertical 90’ shaft to the large slope, followed it on hands and knees some 60, 70’ to the next shaft, and then climbed that one to the surface of the 6th floor. The rest of the group headed back to the Githyanki area. Shim and Wilhelm changed back and they walked north and west. At the chamber with the root, they studied the silver sap and decided to still avoid it still. We went down the hall to the dragon flies and even though Connal was willing to take some to eat, Wilhelm continued to speak for the strange nature down here and advised us to avoid fucking or harming them.

Walking past (very carefully), we continued north until we could hear the Feyr once again ahead of us. From here we spoke to it, letting it know of the Githyanki and they had moved on. They also sadly mentioned the rift had been closed. But – they did explain the hut idea and the Feyr had to think long about it before agreeing to do so. The group then approached, beheld the frightening otherworldly horror, and then opened the Hut. On its way out, it did touch each of them lightly, and the 3 party members each got a point of wisdom. Nice!

From here we went on to the cliff, climbed down, and went off to the Mimic room. Yeah, it was here and rotting slowly (along with the eyewings). The group moved to the Mimic (in a pool of weird juices), donned gloves, and began to push the 400 to 450 lbs dead blue and red oversized animated treasure chest. It was slow going, and the slope up didn’t help. It had the habit of gouging the clay floor and making our hands and clothes sticky.

At 5:35 we were at the cliff, 15’ up. We tied the last bit of scary rope (fraying and not to be trusted) that Connal had to the mimic and the monk was at the top, ready to haul back and lift. Shim made a summons – and got (eventually) a troglodyte. The foul smelling reptilian was told to lift the beast as high as it can while Connal pulled. The 2 worked together, the rope plinking and threads snapping, the Trog hoisting up, the stink on him getting terribly foul. But we pushed and yanked and struggled and the mimic made the top – and shim had the Trog disappear (but its reek lasted another 6 minutes).

Then they shoved and shoved and shoved until at 7:15 PM, they finally arrived back at the hole down beyond the silver sap. They tilted the heavy mimic over the hole, teetered, and let it fall. And fall it hid, rolling and smashing, it ripped the opening larger, clay flying all over as it built up speed. It crashed to the slope section where its momentum continued, sliding and rolling down the shaft to the far one where it free fell 90’ to the floor and smashed open, meat and wood and mucus flying everywhere. The group came to investigate and there was 400 lbs of smashed mimc down here.

“Who the fuck do they think is going to eat this?!” Darius wondered aloud. “It’s rotting and raw.”

From above the 3 friends yelled down the hall, “Good luck and you’re welcome!” and then moved on. The rest of us left the “meat” on the floor and returned to the Githyanki area.

It was 8 PM when they reached the hole to climb to level 5. The slope here seemed easier and Connal donned crampons, the 2 friends took on animal forms and the monk then climbed. It was slow going but he made it to the 5th level. From here we walked on, Connal’s everburning torch lighting the way. We passed the Banshee chamber, the winding halls with the dead elves, and after much walking, came to the area where the strange rain was falling from the ceiling. Shim reminded the group that the rain was a rainbow of colors and whoever it fell on was changed color as well. Last time we had Godric and his waterbane spell to get us through. Now, we had a baladrana and a fast monk.

With the other 2 tucked underneath and holding the folds close, Connal ran and got SOME of the waters on him – turning his baladrana and his helm brown – but the rest of him was unchanged! It was 8:55 at this point and the 3 friends opted to climb one more time here and then camp at the top of the shaft. This was another one that was sloped and with Crampons, Connal was willing to risk the ascend for.

It paid off and at 9:05 PM, we opened the hut, crawled inside, and fell asleep. Both parties woke up on the 23rd and breaking our fast. Healing was doled out and weapons and armor and belongings were looked after. Connal, Wilhelm, and Shim closed up the Hut and kept going. They picked their way through the ruins of the Neogi lair, wandered past the room with the oversized mushroom and then kept going on. The spirit stag was gone but the reek of the rotting flesh corrupting in the former chamber of the Leucrotta was sickening. So much so that Wilhelm was overcome with the heaves and began to vomit. He was hunched over, unable to stand and had to be lifted and dragged out of the chamber.

Even beyond there it took him 10 minutes to get his bearing back. There were a variety of cross and dead end chambers but the party had a pretty good memory for directions and eventually that managed to navigate their way through, coming to the chamber with the shattered glass and the thousands of ladybugs. Again, Wilhelm advised the group to NOT damage the insects and step carefully through.

By 9:30 AM they were at the shaft going up and climbing without aid was not an option. Using a diminishing number of spiders he and shim transformed to their animals and climbed on Connal who swallowed the arachnid as the druid cast Spider climb again. Level 3.

We passed our way through the passage and had a choice – the tinkling sound of the metal trees or the possible encounter with the oversized bees and the grizzly. We discussed it and opted to avoid complications so headed for the trees. Last time the sound was melodious and knocked us out for an hour, this time we were more prepared and some tallow helped us get through with no issue. Beyond there was the chamber that had the hydra in it, and then some passages before getting to the room with the glowing purple crystal in the ceiling and lots of pools of water.

By 10:20 we were at the bottom of the shaft. Hoping to keep some of our precious spiders, Wilhelm instead cast Bull’s Strength on Connal who donned his crampons. He risked the climb this time and with his two friends as passengers, made it to the top of the shaft and at level 2. The pass through this area was simple. The Nymph was gone (the pool still remained) and by 11 we were at the shaft going up to level 1. Another round of climbing and then through the very top floor and finally the final ascent and we were in the crater of Remembrance Overlook – the surface.

The dome was still in place and light was cycling through, but our ability to see out was compromised. We did remember that looking into the dome was possible from the other way. Shim cast 3 invisibility spells on us and we decided we would wait until nightfall before trying to get out So we pulled up the hut, crawled inside, and fell asleep).

The downstairs group had another round of create water in place and then ate their stores of diminishing food, checking off another flask of oil and another 5 light spells from Asher. As for Connal and his group, they woke up and it was dark. Time was a bit lost to them, not sure when it was. They also ate (their own food stores fading quick) and after some time, figured it was late enough to risk opening the door.

Last time we knew the door opened shed a bit of light and other than the sound of the rock crunching on the group as it rolled aside and back – that was it. 2 Minutes tops, and can be opened no more than once per day. Wilhelm took out the runes, went to the door, and after a time or two, managed to get them just right, and the door opened.

We snuck out (invisible), no one was on guard nearby, but we can hear yells and cries and what seemed to be siege engines going off. It was dark but strange lights (fires?) illuminated in the distance.

WTF?

We worked our way up the slope, past the shattered doors and looted souvenir shop, to Tilani proper. Upper Canopy, the tree area to the north had some fires burning. The roof of the Speaker of the Sun’s palace has two 40’ spectral fires burning from the upper minarets, giving the entire place a spectral aura. Roaming bands of armed and armored elves were stalking the streets and it seemed they were gathering up every non elf they could find, arresting them on the spot. Every so often a loud voice would demand “open up” and “Prepare to be arrested.”

It was the strange Battlewagon on the west side of the river that drew the most attention. Hovering 100 plus feet off the ground, it was unlike any of the gnomish ships we had seen to date. It had 8 cannon ports on each side as well as front and rear guns. A crew of elves were working the trebuchets on board, firing rocks down at Little Gorok below, the dwarven section of Tilani. The stout stone buildings were holding for now and the dwarves within were defending themselves but this was out of control.

“Let’s get to the docks, now.” We picked our way invisibly through the streets, dodging patrols and listening to the mess. Seems the Speaker of the Sun died at the end of our combat with his astral projection. And the projection was saying everything out loud that had been said in the fight. Shimalgesh and Eoghan stuck out heavily as well as the rest of the group. Agents from the Kaiser. Sent here. Entered the Crater without approval. And then astrally murdered the Speaker. The elves have decided to militarize and are in the process of expelling every non elf from the city.

And when we got to the docks, Captain Twilick and the Windshade were missing. The docks were a mess, water tanks ruptured, ropes all about. And that Battlewagon…it would have blown the Windshade out of the sky. “I thought all spelljammers were gnomish?” the group wondered. “What the fuck?”

With no ship, we had two things left to do. One, get rope. The docks had lots of it so we were ok here. Two. Get food. For us and the party still in the Crater.

“Animals.” Wilhelm reminded us. The House of Silk and Smoke still had his and Eoghan’s animals in kennels. “Another time, we won't leave without them.”

Not wanting to risk having to cast more invisibilities, we figured we’d get the food first. There was a greengrocer not too far from the docks. We went there, patrols were roaming but not here right now. The grocer was closed but the proprietor was hanging out the 2nd story window, light behind him, holding a bow arrow nocked.

We snuck up to the front but the fight in the distance obscured our sounds. Door was locked but 2 windows. Smash and enter? Not worth the noise. Shim had an idea. Hiding under the monks baladrana, he cast Summon Monster and got a wild, barbaric Elf. Rita.

She unlocked the door and we entered. Tossing open the Hut, we started grabbing whatever food stuffs we could, shoving them into the open door. Hearing us from above, Shim sent Rita up the stairs to take care of the Grocer. There was a fight up there, blows being landed, and then a cry following by something landing on the street in front of the place. We wheeled an entire barrel of pickles into the Hut and pulled it closed, retreating to the back of the Grocery.

The Grocer, dirty and limping, entered his shop, took out a short blade, and stormed up the stairs crying, “I’ll kill you bitch!” to the elf up there accosting his family. As we were leaving we could hear Rita and the Grocer fighting again before he once more cried out and was thrown out of the window a second time to smash into the street.

We were gone before the patrols were going to show up, heading back to the fields and the airship dock. Wilhelm looked through the stalks and grasses, finding small spiders quickly and pocketing them, refilling his pouch for the future. We then went to the docks and managed to coil up 10 coils of rope, opening the hut one more time (at our limit) today, transporting them within.

At this point Shim could hear a voice in his head. It was Twilick! The gnomish captain was an hour outside of town on the way to Aysle. They had to flee 2 days ago when the docks were overrun and the ship was in danger of being arrested and impounded. The Speaker had been working on an elven Spelljammer, reverse engineering gnomish components for years. It was not ready from cross country flight, but as an elevated combat platform? It was MORE than capable. The Windshade withdrew.

Most non elves were being rounded up. Blamed the party, the Kaiser, the dwarves, the gnomes, the humans. It’s a mess right now. Gorok contacted the Windshade, hoping to have them drop much needed crossbow bolts and supplies on the dwarven encampment here in Tilani but the Windshade couldn’t get anywhere near it and had to withdraw after getting a broadside from the battlewagon.

The ship's mage has been working on a messaging spell – good for 6 minutes. Casting it twice a day – at midnight and midday, hoping to get Shim. Success (it was obviously midnight). We let Captain Twilick know we were going to get the rest of the group and might be a few days. Continue to reach out and when we can, we’ll arrange an exact time to open the dome again and run for the ship.

Message spell ended and we were discussing heading back to the Crater now (it was after midnight so the limit of 1 per day was over). We had 38 days of food stuffs, 10 coils of rope in the hut, and 2 of the 3 of us were still invisible. Plantmonth 24th, 12:10 AM, 289 of the 29th age