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