Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

January 13th, 2018


January 1st, 2018

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s Jan journal entry

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“Well now that we have made it to the top of the building I can see that there are a lot of spider webs in the hole.”

“Wow even with all the burning there are still a lot of spider webs. I wonder if we can clear this out before fly ends.”

“Oh their goes Radella down into the hole. How brave of her”

“Well I see that Olmas and Qatana are brave as well. I guess we will destroy the webs after they finish killing everything. Oh well I’ll just wait here and provide backup support.”

“Holy crap Radella just lost a chunk of her strength”

“Oh shit Olmas just lost almost half his strength as well. I sure hope that they are both smart enough to get out.”

“Ok there’s Radella and now Olmas, why is Qatana still down there. Damn. Ok let see if I can get a wall of fire in place around her without catching her or her clothes on fire”

“That will work nicely, there is nothing like a good fire”

“That is one tall room, let’s put another wall of fire right there. Ok that will get the job done. I wonder if the fire with burn the drugs out of the air , it’s a good thing Qatana suggested life bubble. Once again the gods knew which spell that I needed.”

“That’s one room cleansed. Damn the next floor has webs as well. Should I just start with fire? Maybe I should save wall of fire for later.”

“Damn those spiders are big. My armor is not good enough for close combat. Over here is much better.”

“Well that’s what I get for not starting with fire. Burn”

“What the hell is with the lighting hitting everyone but Radella? Ok I better do some healing. Kali already put up the second wall of fire so now we wait for the burning to complete its job”

“Where did he come from? Oh good there aren’t any more spiders. Let’s see if I can remove a few of these illusionary versions of him. Ok now I can leave him to the others.”

“Wow he had an endless flask of sake, that’s pretty cool. That could be very useful.”

“Dasi are you still reading minds? Can you hear me now? I guess not. I wonder how he can tell between victims and those causing the harm. ”

“I wonder who built this grill going all around the room. This gives those up here a huge advantage. The skeletons down there almost seem to be walking with a purpose.”

“Redella seems pretty intense about the undead. I hope this new spell works well.”

“Oh that died quickly. I still don’t know if daybreak arrow is good or not. But they are dying quickly or is that actually true death.”

“I better follow Olmas and Qatana down there. Damn there are prisoners in cages. I better get the others in place before they do something crazy in the name of rescuing the prisoners”

“Come on, come on just open up stupid grate. I’ll just move the stone out of the way. That’s a strange look on her face, at least she doesn’t look mad. “

“Ok now we are all in place”

Character: Olmas

Annals of The Order of the Dragon

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as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Toilday, 27 Pharast

We arose early – scratch that.  We were hiding inside a rope trick.  We descended early that day.  With the aid of the previous day’s scouting, we knew exactly what we were doing and how to prep for it.  We had decided upon a top-down approach … that is, we had spotted a hole in the roof yesterday and thought that entering there might give us more surprise than the obvious front doors.  Fly spells were cast upon those who needed them (I used airwalk from Suishen). We were also bestowed with dark vision, life bubble, and delay poison. All of these would last 3 hours or longer, which, our experience suggested, would be more than enough.

Quietly arriving at the roof, we peered down.  What greeted us was a tangle of webs below.  Well, we were warned there’d be spiders.  Zos thought a vial of alchemical fire might help clear a path, and nobody disagreed.  Dasi began to sing and we all felt a bit more confident about our chances.  Nothing like a bard singing around a fire atop a deserted prison to inspire a bunch of travellers.

Meanwhile, below, a disoriented voice said, “Get that.”  Another voice responded lazily, “Why?”  I stood near the hole, waiting for something to come out so I could smack it.  Kali cast resist fire on herself, apparently a little concerned in view of our increasing use of fire.  Below us, the fires continued to burn the webs, unimpeded.  Peering over, we could see it was now a longer drop to the “floor”.  What we’d previously thought was the floor had simply been a thick layer of webs. “Intruders!” rose lazily from beneath us.

And a dagger flew up to hit Qatana. Ah!  Finally a battle!

But still nothing tried to climb up.  We could see figures moving around below, though, and I was sorely tempted to descend.  I was stayed by the fact that while the daggers wouldn’t hurt me much, I wasn’t sure what else may be in play down there. I reluctantly held my position at the top of the jagged hole.  Qatana pulled out one of our old fireworks and shot it down there, creating more fire and flashes of light. Looked like there might be 5 or 6 spiders down there, but between the flashing and their skittering to the shadows, it was hard to say.  Radella and Ivan broke out their bows and sent some pointed greetings down at the dagger-thrower.  Ivan also found a simple Spark would ignite webs, while Qatana continued to find more fireworks in her bag.

One spider died and audibly fell to a stone floor 20′ below.

Radella, Qatana, and I felt it was time to take the fight to them.  We had the delay poison still operating, so whatever poison they may have would not slow us.  This allowed all of us to clearly see that when the spiders skittered to the shadows …

… there truly were Shadows there.  They came at us as soon as we were on the floor, and as two of them touched me I felt barely half as strong as I had before.  Bad time to not have my distance weapon close at hand. Radella and Qatana were also affected and we all immediately returned to the roof.

It looked like Qatana might be attacked again before she could make it safely to the roof by creating a circular wall of fire with Qatana in the middle and the heat facing outside.  We suddenly realized this was a wonderful way to clear the room of creatures.  We used the wand of lesser restoration to get our strength back while the room below us was cleared of webs and sterilized. Kali sent down two fire elementals to help “attack the spiders”.  This seemed like overkill, but Dasi did remark that he could sense there was still things alive below us. As if by cue, a scream came from below and was cut off.

Ivan ended the wall of fire and we descended en masse.  As we expected, we found very little webbing and heavily charred bodies, as expected.  However, we did not expect, or rather forgot to think, that some valuable items on that level were also nothing but ashes or at best, charred lesser versions of their former selves.  We retrieved

[467] magnificent screen (charred)
[468] bolt of charred fabric
[469] charred tapestry
[470] pair of charred shoes
[471] pile of soot
[472] porcelain tea set with silver and platinum (400-500gp)
[473] jade dragon brooch
[474] 4 jade hairpins
[475] carved soapstone pig
[476] jade belt buckle with demonic face
[477] jade belt hook in the shape of a heron

We found the body of a female spider who had crawled away from the flames a little (and thus less badly burned).  She also had some things.

[478] potion of blur
[479] potion of CSW
[480] 8 MW daggers
[481] black porcelain mask

There was an opening leading down to the next level, and a quick glance suggested more webs.  Much to my surprise and almost delight, large spiders started coming up to attack us.  THIS is something Suishen and I could handle!

There was a brief but active battle, and words were exchanged.  It was hard to tell when we were being spoken to, and when we were simply overhearing parts of another conversation.  But I did discern that apparently the oni and the spiders had some sort of arrangement – the spiders lived here and a little below, while the oni lived farther below.

This time, though, a reply came up from below: a pretty nasty bolt of lightning hit Qatana, and then arced to the rest of us.  This inspired us greatly, and we redoubled our efforts by sending down spiritual allies and firebombs and the occasional flurry of arrows.  In response, Kali set up a lesser globe of invulnerability to block other rude surprises, and then installed another  wall of fire.

The mighty wizard then teleported up to our level, and this quickly became a strategic error.  Although he cast mirror image, those images fell quickly.  Kali did something new where she moved me right next to him and I was able to immediately smack him (well, his image.)  But ten seconds later I  unleashed a flurry of swings that put him down … and when he died, he took on this bizarre form of another spiderlike creature.  This time, at least, the goodies weren’t charred.

[482] wand, lightning [23]
[483] 4 doses of med spider venom
[484] dagger of venom
[485] MW blowgun
[486] 10 darts
[487] cloak of resistance +2
[488] endless flask of sake – 1 gallon/round, plus once/day drink for random potion
[489] silver sake cup
[490] magnificently carved Earth being eaten by a dragon
[491] silver mirror (~1000gp)
[492] 2 doses of opium
[493] set of keys

The fires had created a sharp drop to the floor below which, we could see now, and on the solid floor below there were spikes. Fortunately we all had fly or air walk running yet so we could easily avoid them, but falling from the opening above down to the floor would have been nasty indeed.

At this level, which appeared to have maybe been the corpse storage level, we saw a number of grates in the floor which allowed us to look into the level below us.  It was while quietly looking through these grates that we observed two creatures which looked to be some form of undead: skeletons that seemed to still have some intact organs.  Down below us, they seemed to be hunting, or maybe on aggressive guard duty for something.

Meanwhile, up here, we were finding miscellaneous items and gear among the corpses. In some broken cabinets we found

[494] 3 flasks (magic)
[495] saffron (~200gp)
[496] 4 opium pipes
[497] 8 doses of opium
[498] 3 bamboo chests
[499] string of ancient coins

Among the bodies we found

[500] MW nunchuks
[501] potion (magic)
[502] fine teak carving of a Tien nobility
[503] battered breastplate
[504] fine leather shoes, one with [505] small opal inside
[506] delicate silver snuff box in the shape of a turtle
[507] rhinocerous horn drinking vessel
[508] jade belt hook
[509] silver altar set with lotus flowers
[510] red lacquered trunk with 3 bags of silver and 2 of gold
[511] leather document case
[512] scroll (magic)
[513] plain wooden box with 10 opium doses
[514] elaborately carved jade and ruby pipe
[515] huge drum (magic)

We determined we could probably unleash quite a few arrows from above before a target could move away. Based on that, we decided to ambush one of the skeleton things at a time, while I stood by the circular staircase near the middle of the room in case anything decided to come up.  This worked marvelously; we were able to kill them both without danger, and (apparently) without anything else raising an alarm.

With the apparent danger removed, Qatana and I headed for the staircase to head down.

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for – Pharast 27, 4713

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Wealday, Pharast 27, 4713 morning
The Spirit Forest, House of Withered Blossoms

We were treated to a spectacular show of vegetarian delights in the wee hours this morning. The vines of ivy that cover the house sprouted shoots that rapidly spread and put forth buds which just as rapidly bloomed. The flowers opened and blasted out great poofs of pollen that engulfed the house, obscuring our view. Presently the flowers wilted and dropped, presenting us with the same scene that met us when we first arrived.

As soon as it was light we took to flight and hovered above the roof of the structure. A large hole had been blasted in, and peering down into the dim morning light we could see a wall to wall tangle of webs.

None of us much liked the idea of dropping down into that matted sticky mess, and so Zos tossed down a vial of alchemist fire.

Beorn chortled out a diabolic song of, “Burn, baby burn!” while my other friends tittered nervously before joining in the chorus.

A pair of voices wafted up, speaking in common.

“Get that.”

“Get what?”

“The fire.”

“Oh, hold on.”

Neither speaker seemed overly concerned that their lair was being set alight like a roman candle. Zos seemed to think the pollen from the flowers was some sort of opioid. It was a good thing Ivan and I had protected the party with Air Bubble.

We became a bit impatient and continued to set more webs on fire, and yet the only reaction we got was a somewhat disinterested exclamation of, “Intruders.”

Finally we saw a half spider and half humanoid creatures scuttle into view and Ivan, Radella and Zos promptly shot it dead.

Taking advantage of our active fly magics Olmas, Radella and I dropped down. This was a mistake. In addition to the spider things there were shadows, which floated over and began to sap our strength.

Ivan provided cover with a circular tube of flame and we fled back to the roof top, where Radella and I used wands of Lesser Restoration to undo what the shadows had done.

We then set about torching the space below with some serious fire. Soon most of the webbing had been burned out and I entered and verified that the shadows and spider creatures had either perished or fled.

Dasi said he had detected the thoughts of others below us… and moving down and out of the range of his ability to detect them. We then heard a scream suddenly cut off.

We searched the space we had cleared and found a stash of loot, mostly burned to char. Sometimes you have to choose between prudence and profit, and in this case most of us agreed the loss had been worth it. We did manage to salvage a handful of things, and found a few additional items on the one spider corpse.

[467-471] Scorched loot
[472] porcelain tea set with silver and platinum handles (400 – 500 gp)
[473] jade dragon broach
[474] 4 jade hair pins
[475] carved soap stone
[476] jade belt buckle depicting a daemonic face
[477] heron jade belt hook
[478] potion of Blur
[479] potion of Cure Serious Wounds
[480] 8 master work daggers
[481] black porcelain mask

There was a wide hole in the floor and more webbing beyond. While the others gathered the loot Ivan and I lit the area on fire using Spark.

Someone below called up that we should give up and leave. I called down that the oni had sent us to help out, but this sent the voice into a fuming rage — well, not really a rage exactly, but more like a “you’re really bumming me out, man, but lets not make too big a fuss about it, and could you go away and leave some munchies while your at it” kind of general unhappiness.

Apparently the spiders controlled the part of the house above ground, and the oni were supposed to stay below ground in the part they controlled, and we were putting a serious harsh on his mellow.

Large spiders clambered out and attacked, but we made quick work of them. We could see more half spider half humanoid creatures below, and so Olmas and I sent down spiritual allies to beat on them.

Things appeared to be going our way when a bolt of lightening arced up from below and struck me, and then exploded into a other arcs that zapped my companions.

Suddenly the humanoid in filthy silk robes that Kali seen with her Arcane eye teleported up to us, and was immediately met by a serious combination of psychology and extreme violence, but without the psychology.

In short, he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“Dude, ” squeaked Badger, “are you sure that air bubble spell thingy is really working? You sound a little spaced out yourself.”

“Badger,” I calmly replied, “I’m writing it that way so folks know how these guys sounded.”

We pawed over his corpse and removed everything of value.

[482] wand of Lightening Bolt (23 charges)
[483] vial of medium spider venom (4 doses)
[484] dagger of venom (magic)
[485] master work blowgun
[486] 10 darts
[487] +2 cloak of resistance
[488] flask of endless saki (up to 1 gallon per round): you can drink directly from the flask to get ethe effect of a random potion
[489] silver drinking bowl
[490] magnificently carved wooden ball depicting the earth and sky devoured by a dragon
[491] silver mirror worth 1,000gp
[492] opium (2 doses)
[493] set of keys

We could see nothing living down below and so we drifted down and explored, mindful of the spikes sticking up from the floor.

I found a series of iron grills set in the floor around the perimeter of the room, through which shown a dim light. I saw some sort of skeleton that still had its vital organs pumping and pulsating in its rib cage. It moved stealthily as if it were hunting something.

Meanwhile the others had been busy searching all of the debris that littered this level of the house.

[494] 3 flasks of liquid (magic)
[495] saffron — “I’m just wild about it!” Pookie said.
[496] 4 opium pipes
[497] opium (8 doses) — “Do you sense a theme here?” asked Timber.
[498] 3 bamboo chests
[499] string of ancient Tien coins
[500] master work numchucks
[501] potion (magic)
[502] teak carving of Tien noble
[503] battered breastplate
[504] fine leather shoe, one with an opal hidden within
[505] small white opal
[506] delicate silver snuff box in the shape of a turtle
[507] rhino horn drinking vessel with heron motif
[508] jade belt hook
[509] silver altar set with lotus motif
[510] red lacquered trunk: 3 bags silver, 2 bags gold
[511] tooled leather document case
[512] scroll (magic)
[513] wooden box with opium (10 doses) — “I feel trippy!” snickered Star.
[514] silver and jade opium pipe
[515] huge drum on iron stand (magic) — left on the floor

Nobody was too happy upon hearing about the skeleton thing below, and with all of us looking through the grates we found that there were two of them, and that they were patrolling along a set route.

We made a quick, but efficient plan. Most of the party would concentrate on one of the skeletons while Olmas guarded the circular staircase that led down, and I kept track of the other bony fellow.

The archers quickly blasted the one into flinders, and I charred the other with a Flame Strike before the others finished it off.

Where to go next? Well, down, obviously.

The others are fiddling with one of the grates, which lifts up just before a door in the metal wall.

Olmas and I are standing before the stairs, and he’s looking at me and I’m looking at him, and it is as clear as day that we’re heading down.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Pharast 27, 4713

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Pharast 27, 4713 (morning, House of Withered Blossoms)

We’ve taken the top tier of the pagoda, though we had to torch it until it was a blackened, hollow shell to do it. I am ashamed to admit that I was almost no help at all. I just could not make myself go into that hole knowing what was in there. That may have saved my life. These weren’t just giant spiders and they weren’t in there alone: shadows descended on my friends as soon as they entered. The poison they were ready for, but the life-draining touch of the shades took them by surprise and they were forced to retreat back to the roof. Olmas and Radella looked particularly shaken up. What if I had been down there? Would I even have made it out?

This thing I have—you can call it a fear or a phobia or a repulsion, as all of those fit—it goes back to when we still visited my grandparents in Korvosa. Their home is on the slope in Midland and it overlooks the docks and this strip of the Shingles that runs along the waterfront towards High Bridge. The shanties are a haven for spiders. Sometimes I would see them scuttling from rooftop to rooftop, darting in and out of the shacks people up there used as crude homes. One night when we were out just a little too late, a little too separated from the main crowds, two of them dropped in front of us. Mom skewered one and a city guard who just happened to be in the right place at the right time drove off the other, but not before dad was bitten. I completely froze in terror. That sort of thing sticks with you when you’re only ten years old.

We actually have worse—much worse—in Magnimar. Three-eyed, and three feet tall, the shriezyx are nasty, mean, and aggressive, which, given what I know about the runelords that supposedly created them was probably the whole point. It makes me shudder when I think about it, but fortunately they don’t make it up to the surface very often so, out of sight, out of mind, right? Also, the guard has had plenty of experience dealing with them so those that do make it up are handily dispatched (though the real trick is not burning the city down in the process).

A quick search through one of our tomes told us a little more about what we were dealing with here: aranea, a sort of half-human, half-spider hybrid that can assume the form of either one. They have quickly risen to the top of my list of most disgusting creatures. We’ve seen a lot of vile creatures, of course, but there’s something about a human/spider shapeshifter that just isn’t right. I mean, this shouldn’t even be a thing. Who thought this was a good idea?

And we’re still not done here. There’s—

(later)

If you want to have nightmares, try watching someone slowly burn to death. Not in flames, but blackening like a roast in an oven. Gods. Spiders or not, it’s a terrible thing.

We drove the surviving aranea to the floor below. Qatana and Ivan lit the webs underneath us; I hovered over the hole in the floor, draping it in a spell that suppressed magic  in order to limit their options. That’s when I saw they were grouped just a little too tightly.

I had to keep the opening covered with my spell, which meant I was staring down at them. It was my decision to encircle them with a curtain of fire. Mine. Trapped in a furnace that they couldn’t escape, and unable to penetrate the suppression field, they were helpless to do anything but be picked off and turn to ash.

Gods.

The man I saw the night before was the only one of them left. He put up quite a fight, but from what we can tell he was so high on opium that he didn’t really have a good grasp of what was happening. We tried to get him—and the other aranea before they burned—to surrender, but apparently we said the wrong thing because he became convinced we were allied with the hobgoblins and oni “down below”. We haven’t even seen a down below, but we also haven’t seen any hobgoblins so maybe that’s the why. From his semi-coherent ramblings we got a view of the larger picture of this place: the spider things hold the towers and the hobgoblins and oni dwell underneath.

Held the towers.

That may be premature. We aren’t done. Dasi senses more sentience in the floors below us. He says some feel like the minds of people who are trapped here, while the others exude a malevolence that suggests they’re the captors. And almost certainly more spiders.

There is ash everywhere. We have completely burned out the top half of the pagoda. I’d feel bad about that but the aranea were not exactly kind to it, themselves. They tore out floors, stripped the walls and rebuilt the interior as a gauntlet leading up to their den. I can’t imagine trying to take this place from the ground floor. But I guess that was the whole point. The oni can’t leave, and the hobgoblins can’t fly, so it was an effective defense.

Obviously, they never anticipated an assault from above.

Character: Zosimus

Magnum Opus: Volume 8, Chapter 1

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Welcome Student to the next installment of your learning.  Having demonstrated adequate proficiency with our past lessons, we shall first speak to a matter of utmost importance – resource management!

Do not roll your eyes at my text! This is a very important part of every experiment.  Assuming you have all your limbs and faculties still intact and you are reading this means you have survived the tests I have hidden in these texts so far and could distinguish poison from extract and not set yourself on fire.  It is time for you to use your time to advance your magical research and delegate the more mundane tasks to others, namely, assistants!

Assistants can come from a variety of sources both magical and mundane.  They will provide support before, during, and after you spend countless hours seeking to achieve the same level of mastery of this material as I.

The age of such assistants can be of critical import. Finding one young enough to recognize their place is important. Caution however must be applied as youth may subject you to degrees of impetuousness. There is a trade off to be considered as such chaos may disrupt your efforts or may springboard them to heights you did not consider.  Tread with caution but do not dismiss those who may seem too young for their wisdom may exceed their years.  Within them may lie great potential if they survive puberty and do not impulsively burn the valuable rewards of your efforts beyond recognition.

While I deliver this recitation on the the appropriate qualities of those who will serve you, a past event reminds me it is necessary to caution you about the proximity of madness to genius. Be wary of those with too much creativity or diversity in speech or mannerism as it may be madness in disguise.  While history has shown some of the greatest Alchemists were eventually afflicted with a deficiency of the mind, having such in support of your efforts will require you to monitor their behavior. If you are forced to work with such, it is important to quickly identify their calming triggers and keep them ready at a moment’s notice. This can often be achieved through senseless praise or if you simply feign agreement with their menial goals or acquiesce to their assumed importance in your work. Keep in mind when the research is complete, you can simply write them out of the written record of your accomplishments. 

Sometimes you will seek out assistants through traditional means and channels. I counsel you to not overlook those who may come from unconventional means. Only recently I discovered one such student when I came upon them harvesting essential materials from a fallen magical beast. They thought they were collecting such for their use before recognizing my alchemical acumen as superior to theirs, and thus immediately deferred to my control of the operations. Praise their initiative and recognize the value such an asset aligned in interest can serve in your efforts.

Others may simply come to due your bidding through the allocation of a simple bauble or two. This is where your prior instruction in the fabrication of basic alchemical potions and compounds will prove useful. A simple bagful of alchemical fire, for example, can delight the simple-minded and result in their application of such in accordance with your objectives. Anytime you can convince them to exert themselves for such simple things, you have made significant progress without expending great resources. 

It is equally important to recognize the value of those who can support your endeavors. If you are moved by such things as the performing arts, finding one who is skilled in the bardic arts to perform can be inspiring and help in moments where your skills may be challenged by the task before them.  The right application of music has been shown to hone focus when it is critical and can make the difference between success and having to find someone to regenerate a limb.

As one considers the tasks essential to the success of your research, you will eventually come to realize there are some very simple tasks requiring nothing more than strength. If an Ox could fit in your lab and had thumbs, it would suffice for most of these tasks; instead one must rely on the 2 legged version. This student, is a challenging task for one with limited abilities as you most likely have at this time; nevertheless you must continue to rely on such brutes to perform such tasks with as little interaction as possible least you find yourself spending too much time at their level of intellect.

Despair not student because as you are reading this tome, know that such engagements are coming to an end. There lies within your grasp the power to construct automatons to perform such tasks.  Through the right application of the formulas I am about to share with you, you can render such brutes obsolete…

Character: Dasi
Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Pharast 12 – 26, 4713

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Pharast 12, 4713 (evening, Forest of Spirits)

We’ve added both a traveler and a wagon to the caravan. It’s like there’s some conspiracy out there to keep me locked in a perpetual cycle of travel planning.

I haven’t seen very many armored wagons in my life. You would think mom and dad would have used them a lot but that’s not the case at all. As dad explained to me once, an armored wagon really draws attention to the fact that you’re transporting something valuable. And while they are certainly harder to break into (and steal from), they are just as easy to disable as any other wagon: you only have to kill the horses. That means they’re best for transporting dangerous cargo, where the armor helps keep something in rather than others out, or  important passengers or items that everyone already knows are inside but might need an extra deterrent to keep them honest.

This wagon falls into that first category. Our new addition is a gnome named Zosimus, and he is traveling with an alchemy lab the likes of which I have never seen.

I’m no stranger to gnomes. There are quite a few in Magnimar, and I spent enough time down in Ordellia that I got to know a few fairly well. In fact, I purchased a lot of my sarees from Grahaethelwin and Kyla. He’s obsessed with fabrics, especially those from south of the Inner Sea, and Kyla’s astonishingly talented as a clothes designer and tailor. Their shop is just this side of claustrophobic but what it lacks in space and room to breathe it makes up for in color and texture, it’s walls thick with bolts of fabric and the floor a maze of clothing racks (all Kyla’s tailoring). I think the only reason it isn’t more popular with human folk is the difficulty of getting in and out. And I suppose the vertigo.

Zosi is one of those rare gnomes with blue skin. I have to wonder if it’s natural or a result of experimentation with his lab equipment? No, I am not going to ask him.

He was traveling with a small group of people who apparently hadn’t gotten the memo that they shouldn’t be in here, and they were attacked by hobgoblins that the giants hadn’t already killed and eaten. We came along just in time to be too late to help them; Zosi was the only survivor.

He seems eager to join us. Apparently, he was just hired help and had no real connection to his companions except as a source of income (indeed, his primary concern was not that they had died, but rather that he’s now unemployed). He seems particularly eager to be going southeast. Obviously there’s a story there, but it’s not our business. As long as no one comes calling for him, anyway.

Tomorrow morning I’ll use a spell to create the parts we’ll need to strengthen the wagon’s undercarriage so that it doesn’t slow us down. We’ve pooled the weapons and armor from the hobgoblins and the dead men for use as materials.

That sounds rather cold, doesn’t it?

Pharast 16, 4713 (night, Forest of Spirits)

Zosi asked me about my family tonight. I told them that I grew up in Sandpoint, that we currently live in Magnimar, and that they run a merchant business there and have for most of my life. That got us to talking about all the traveling we did when I was younger.

Then, out of the blue, he asked, “Do they know what you are doing out here? What do they think about it?”

I didn’t answer for a while. What do they think about it? For sure, it’s complicated. They’re proud, but obviously scared and worried. And of course it didn’t get off to a great start. How to explain that?

“They know. When this all began, we had a … big argument. Actually, I should just call it a fight. There was a lot of yelling. I … It doesn’t matter. Things are better now. They are … supportive. But they worry. A lot.”

I spoke with them a few nights ago. I conveniently left out the whole mess with Prince Batsiakhar and I feel guilty about it because I promised them I would … that I wouldn’t hide anything from them. But that’s exactly what I did, right? I don’t know why. Habits are hard to break, I guess.

“Did you work in your family’s business at all?”

“Yes, sort of. I did some of the passage planning for a while. I can tell you don’t know what that is. It’s all about the logistics of how a ship goes form one place to another: the stops en route, customs forms at the destination, and similar logistics.” I smiled. “I was pretty good at it.”

“So why did you leave it?”

“I wanted a change.”

There was an uncomfortable pause as he just sort of looked at me. I knew what he was thinking but I wasn’t up for a conversation about it. “Yes, I am aware of the irony.”

He let it drop.

Pharast 21, 4713 (morning, Forest of Spirits)

We’ve encountered three spirits so far. The latest one was last night and he felt significantly more malevolent than the first, and from what Qatana described, the one they encountered while tracking the tiger as well. Fortunately, our plan to use positive energy seems to work and as long as you can hold them at bay they don’t seem to be a significant threat. But maybe the deeper in we go the worse it gets.

Pharast 25, 4713 (early afternoon)

We’re sitting in a small clearing in some of the densest forest I have ever seen. The trees are so close together that the canopy blots out the sky. Who would have thought that we’d be needing the caravan lights during the day again?

This clearing is a sacred place for the kami and I guess I can understand that. It must be beautiful here in the summer when the sun climbs higher in the sky, but even now we can see the light on the tops of the trees above and it’s a lovely sight. Or maybe I just miss the sky that much.

We’re waiting now for … something. I don’t know what. The other kami, I think. I get the feeling that Miyaro is not really sure herself.

I guess it wasn’t obvious why we’re here or what we’re doing in spite Miyaro’s claim to be working as their agent. We were challenged by what I assume is the guardian spirit of this clearing before being allowed to enter. He asked us why we were traveling through the forest, and pointed out that we aren’t supposed to be here. “There’s a better road,” he kept saying. Yeah, there is, but it will get us all killed.

Finally, Qatana just came out and said what we we’re doing and those seemed to be the magic words.

“You specifically seek to undo the oni of the Five Storms?” he asked, somewhat incredulously.

“Yes, we do.”

“Then you may enter.”

I guess we should have opened with that.

(evening)

Kami and small forest animals began arriving around twilight. It was just a few at first, peeking at us from around the trees but as the night settled in their numbers swelled until we were quite literally surrounded. Mostly they were, and I suppose still are, both cautious and curious. A few have risked coming close to us, but for the most part they have stayed back at what they probably feel is a safe distance.

Then one of them approached Miyaro. She translated as he spoke to us.

As usual, the price of admission is doing a favor for someone. I have this feeling that this is what the future holds for us and for Ameiko. Want to earn my trust? Great. Prove your intentions by doing this one thing. Said thing is never easy. If it was, it would already be done.

We are headed to a place called The House of Withered Blossoms. The kami of the Forest had sworn an oath to keep the oni of the Five Storms imprisoned there, but because these are divine bargains the rules of it were needlessly complicated and ultimately self-defeating. The kami weren’t allowed to enter this prison while the oni were within, and that meant they couldn’t keep an eye on what was happening.

Prisons, whether mundane or magical, are not foolproof. Escaping is really just a function of time, and the goal is to make that as difficult as possible through physical and social barriers so that the prisoner dies (or is released) before they find their own way out. And this is the fundamental flaw in imprisoning someone for eternity: they have infinite time. When you aren’t allowed to even look in on the prisoners, then you have also given them free reign to plot and scheme, and that just makes their job easier.

The kami can’t enter to investigate which means at least one oni remains inside. I know how this sort of thing goes. It only takes one oni to keep the kami out, and it doesn’t matter who that oni is or what their capabilities are so essentially they just needed a warm body to stay behind. If I were in the Five Storms’ position, I would choose the oni they are least likely to miss or need. So that is good news for us. The bad news is, these aren’t just random oni: they are what passes as leadership of the Five Storms. So even the loser is probably going to be a hard fight.

The kami can’t enter the House but they can go look at it, and so we asked them what we should expect to find there, other than an oni.

“Hobgoblins,” he said. “And spiders.”

…

Why did it have be spiders?

Pharast 26, 4713 (late night, House of Withered Blossoms)

The House sits in the center of a depression, and we’ve made our camp on the slope leading up to the rim. It’s basically a big pagoda, which would be unremarkable if it wasn’t encased in vines and wrapped with spider webs.

I used a spell to scout the towers from the comfort of our campsite, and I learned there’s a hole in the roof that we can use to gain entry without having to walk in the front door because why would we be so stupid as to walk in the front door?

Inside the tower are more spider webs and, in case there was any question about that, a bunch of spiders, though some of them appear to be spider-human hybrids of some sort. Because of course they are. A couple of levels down there is this filthy, grotesque and very large man. As the eye passed I saw him eat a spider that was scurrying across his face, so, point in his favor, but I am betting that’s all he’s got going for him.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get the eye into all of the building, but we have learned enough to know that we shouldn’t try to go in through the front door. Which we knew already, but it’s always nice to be validated. The plan tomorrow is to drop in through the roof.

The vines around the building have been treating us to a show. At sunset, these giant purple blossoms opened up, and as the night wore on they fell away into a snowfall of petals. That was followed by fruit that are growing at an impossible pace. It is eerie, beautiful, fascinating, and alien. And also filled with spiders.

Some people think the man I saw was the oni, but I am not convinced. The kami said their were both spiders and hobgoblins here, and I didn’t see any trace of the latter. Granted, there are parts of the tower I couldn’t get into, but I get this feeling there is more to this place than what we can see. A lot more.

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

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as written by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Toilday, 12 Pharast

Giants, tigers and bears. Oh my!

Well, no bears as of yet.  But hobgoblins.  For a feared and uninviting forest, this area sure seems to have a lot of things that “do not belong.”

We were carefully and reverently going through the Spirit Forest when we heard a commotion up ahead.  Slowing, we approached cautiously.  Ivan, Qatana, and Kali went ahead to see what the ruckus was about.  Ahead, a band of hobgoblins appeared to have attacked a wagon.  It wasn’t immediately clear how many of each there was, but it was a pretty good bet that Ivan, Qatana, and Kali would help the non-hobgoblin side.

They called back to us as Ivan shot four arrows, Qatana caused some snakes to appear, and Kali cast Slow on as many of the hobgoblins as she could.  I told Suishen to flame up but was wary that this could be a distraction for an attack on our own caravan.  Haven’t we gotten paranoid lately!?  Radella had the same thought, and fired off a couple of arrows herself before quickly moving to the rear of the caravan to watch for an attack circling back around.

Meanwhile, the hobgoblins were now not only fighting what was left of those on the wagon, but us as well, and we weren’t doing too badly.  Ivan pulled a surprise move, using telekinesis to grab one hobgoblin and throw him back near us. I moved up and skewered him and Kasimir chewed on him.  A web appeared, courtesy of Kali. Ivan finally moved in closer, and, convinced nothing else was coming in, Radella moved closer to.  I stayed to guard Ameiko’s wagon, but it didn’t take too long for the others to finish off the hobgoblins.

Suishen was, of course, pleased with my staying close to Ameiko, but my duty lies also with the remainder of the party.  Nothing ill happened this time, but the whole series of events has caused me to think hard about my duty to Ameiko and my duty to the rest of the party.

And then they found a small, purple hairedo person who hesitantly identified himself as Zosimus.  He was an alchemist-for-hire that was now an alchemist-with-no-employer, thanks to the hobgoblins.  All he really wanted, at this point, was to survive getting out of the Spirit Forest.  His abilities in dealing with potions (and other things contained by flasks) seems uncanny.  It would seem he’ll be joining us for at least part of our journey.  He gave Qatana a flask of cure light wounds. and she seemed to take a shine to him.

I suppose that because he’s a purple haired gnome, he seems less threatening than the mysterious Dasi.  But while it’s taken some time for us to warm to Dasi, Zos (as he told us we could call him) seems to be more readily accepted. Maybe it’s his small stature – he’s what, maybe three feet high?? – but I mean, c’mon, the man needed a shielded and armored wagon to do his work safely.  How can that not seem threatening?

Oh, and since he IS coming along, his standard-issue-armored-wagon would slow us down if we brought it as-is.  So we’re going to take the rest of today, and a good chunk of tomorrow to improve his undercarriage and make the wagon itself faster (and smoother – judging from Zos’ description of how he works, I suspect this is not a wagon we want jostled around!).

Wealday, 20 Pharast

It had been an uneventful week or so when, around midnight or so, Dasi called out.  Another spirit had appeared and seemed to want to move with Dasi, who was showing off his dance moves in simply eluding the spirit.  His avoidance (and no doubt Ivan’s mass cure light wounds) made it angry, and it eventually turned its attention to Kali – not really a better choice if it was looking for acceptance and flowers.  (Maybe origami flowers …)  Qatana’s use of positive channelling and greyflame finally made it fade away.

Of course this happened during the one two hour period I’m scheduled to sleep each night, so I barely had a chance to wake up, stand up, and grab Suishen before it was all over.  But I don’t think swords are how you defeat these shades anyway.

Sunday, 25 Pharast

This morning started with an interesting question for Miyaro. “How do you move through the Spirit Woods without running into all these spirits?”

You might as well have asked one of us “Why do you have two arms but tend to favor one?”  It was apparent this was a question she’d neither been asked before, nor spent any time pondering on her own.  She finally responded, “I just don’t – they don’t – it hasn’t really been a problem.  I’m known here.”

I don’t know if that question guided her thinking today, but by about midday she had led us to a clearing … an unusually quiet clearing.  The treetops here blocked the sunlight, but a feeling of … restfulness seemed to emanate from it.  What appeared to be a gate marked the entrance to it, while dense underbrush seemed to provide an enclosure around it.  With the sunlight blocked, the clearing was never brighter than twilight during the day.  The gate seemed wide enough to admit the wagons.

It would be unusual for us to stop this early in the day, but the place seemed to be a safe haven in a land where we’d seen none yet.

Qatana, of course, was the first to run to the gate, and suddenly a warrior appeared.  “Hail, travellers” it intoned.

“Hail warrior” responded Qatana.

“Where goes you?”

“Thru the forest, on the way to Minkai” replied Kali.

The warrior seemed unimpressed.  “What is your business?”

“We are just passing through. We have no business in the forest. We seek safe passage.”

“The road to the south, along the river, would serve you better.”

“That road,” said Qatana, “we believe to be controlled by the Oni, and they attack us when they find us.”

The warrior seemed interested again. “Do you oppose the Oni?”

“We actively seek to displace them from Minkai.”

If he could smile, I sensed he would.  But instead he stood aside. “You may enter.”

Once we were in the clearing, I could confirm. It was peaceful.  It was quiet.  It was … hmmm.  Watchful.  Now I was a little nervous – again, I realized we were now trapped.  If we were attacked, how powerful was that warrior?

As if reading my mind, Miyaro offered, “This is a place sacred to the Kami.”  She had been here before and said she found it restful.  So I guessed we were indeed stopping for the day.

As time passed, and the light faded more, I could have sworn I heard faint whisperings or rustlings.  At first it was just me but it didn’t take long before several others noticed it too. Miyaro seemed unconcerned: “The Kami are curious.”  After a while you could actually see the woods move – bits of the surrounding forest were entering the clearing and we were reminded that almost everything in the forest had an associated kami.

And at last, one deigned to speak.

Our statement that we opposed the Oni had drawn a great deal more attention than we’d thought.  The Oni, after all, had been imprisoned here in the Forest before escaping and taking over Minkai.  They had escaped from their ‘prison’ over 150 years ago, but the Kami didn’t really understand how.  By their original arrangement, they were forbidden from entering the place where the Oni lived while they were there, even now that the Oni had broken out they were unable to enter. That meant at least one remained.

They would consider it a favor if we could investigate.  One Kami in particular asked if we might be able to retrieve a bonsai tree that was tied to him – it had been taken by hobgoblins and thought to be at the House of Withered Blossoms – where the Oni used to be.  It is about a day’s travel away.

We are told there are spiders, hobgoblins, and Oni.  What’s not to like?

Moonday, 26 Pharast

We decided to leave the wagons and the non-combatants in the clearing.  Non-combatants included Shalelu and Ameiko and while Shalelu offered no arguments, Ameiko looked like she had something to say.  In the end, though, Suishen had more to say than Ameiko.  He seemed concerned that I would be leaving the heir unprotected, but I pointed out she was NOT unprotected.  In this clearing, the whole of the Kami were prepared to defend, and while many of them may be physically small, collectively they represented quite a power.  Gripe gripe gripe – he kept bringing it up the rest of the day. Twice I almost walked into a tree while arguing with my sword. What has my life become?

We arrived late afternoon.  We were of one mind in that nobody wanted to enter the building in the dark.  We would do a little scouting, sleep inside a hidden rope trick, and approach first thing in the morning. Kali sent an arcane eye out, revealing that there was at least one human-appearing person, and there were spiders around him.  While the eye looked on, he picked one off and ate it.  Ugh.  We found a room full of screens, as well as stairways.  The Oni appeared to be one floor below the top; that is, if the Oni had a spider like form with a huge clump on its back.

The ground floor had front doors made of bronze, but the roof also had a hole.  We figured that entering by the front door would be expected; so we’d enter through the roof via fly and airwalk spells and gain the benefit of surprise.

I’ll tell you this – watches are a lot easier when everyone is inside an extradimensional space.  The plants surrounding and covering the House of Withered Blossom seem to flower, fruit, and reset each night.  The smell in the morning was both pleasant and unpleasant … definitely distinctive.

Character: Zosimus

Magnum Opus: Volume 7, Chapter 4

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Welcome back student!

Now that you have broken the seal on the 4th chapter of the 7th volume of the Magnum Opus Alchemicae, you may continue your journey in learning of the great arts.

If you are on track, this should be your 11th month of study; any longer and you should revisit your commitment to the study of Alchemy.  The arts are no place for those who do no strive to achieve greatness.  Those with such levels of motivations are better suited to be wizards or other such slow minded careers.

Today’s lesson will focus upon preparation of a suitable environment for your experiments and the consequences of poor planning and inferior materials.

First and foremost, all experiments should have clearly defined goals. NEVER seek to explore without purpose nor allow others to influence the course and actions taken. Be wary of who you qualify as your peers when you consider which research to invest in; their mental inadequacies will be reflected in the advice they provide or recommendations they make. It may result in aimless wandering and catastrophic results causing harm to you or your equipment. Or maybe to others, if you deem such important.

Never allow others to influence the course of your inquiries if they do not merit your attention, or have a clear procedure in place.  Some may seek to tempt you with promises of fortune and fame; promises are ephemeral. You would not be the first alchemist to fall prey to promises of compensation upon successful completion of a task left with empty coffers when all is said and done.

Next, it is important to understand that all components have their place. It is essential to identify the purpose for involvement in the experiment.  You will need to test their mettle. Know how they will interact; where they will break; and what can corrupt their contribution to the activity. Some may be identified as volatile and must be handled with caution. Some may be singular in purpose, like a hammer, a giant hammer, – ideal for releasing flesh from a walnut shell but otherwise useless when dealing with more refined processes.  Some may involve a great deal of complexity beyond your control and thus be too unstable to work closely with. Some may hide greater secrets to be unlocked. Some may be still evolving and thus hold great potential. Some may simply be a pleasant luxury to expedite the long periods of waiting; others may be essential to the foundations to the success of the endeavor. Differentiating between these will take you years to master, or in my case, weeks. But in all cases, a hammer, is still just a hammer.

Testing the mettle of your ingredients may require you to expose yourself to situations of discomfort. This may include horrible smells, irritating rashes, periods of intestinal discomfort, or even mental distress or instability.  The importance of identifying components beneath your standards and finding ways to divest them from the experiment cannot be overstated.  At times it is best to allow a counter agent to be added to the mix and allow that reagent to remove the faulty components for you.

In the next chapter, we will discuss the importance of identifying the appropriate assistants to facilitate your experiments.

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for – Pharast 12 – 26, 4713

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Toilday, Pharast 12, 4713 evening
The Spirit Forest

We met a gnome in the forest today and he is following us in his wagon of many smells.

I’ve only known one other gnome, Elias, but from even the short time Zos has been around us I can tell he and E are as different as kale and cabbages.

Or cheddar and brie, as Timber suggested. Yes Badger, or gouda and parmesan. Or chevres and… guys, I think you’re getting side tracked on cheeses again. But yes, it is true: we did not bring nearly enough cheese with us on this expedition.

Where was I?

Right, we had not gone far this morning when we heard the sound of combat from over a rise before us. Kali, Ivan and I flew over to see what the trouble was and if it posed a threat to the caravan. We saw a group of hobgoblins attacking some people making a stand next to an over turned wagon.

Ivan swiftly placed a pair of arrows in one hobgoblin, while I created a pair of giant anacondas that began to throttle two of the attackers. Kali cast Slow on another.

It would have been better had we arrived sooner. Human bodies (and a few dead hobgoblins too) lay about. One of the humans took a blade to the head and toppled as watched.

So we stepped up our own attack. Kali caught one of the stinky hobs in a sticky web. Ivan used a telekineses spell and pulled another over by him, and Olmas and he treated it as a pin cushion. I closed in and bashed another senseless.

Soon the hob gobs all lay dead, but unfortunately all of their victims were no better off. Ivan used Deathwatch to see if there were any survivors, and that’s when we discovered our new gnome friend hiding behind a tree.

He suggested that righting his wagon was a priority because it might explode. I tracked down the horses that pulled his wagon, and soon Zosimus (“Call me Zos”) was explaining why he was in the forest with his now dead fellow travellers.

They were here to get something, or do something. Zos wasn’t sure. He was just a hired hand, who now wanted to get out of the forest alive. Thus when we said we were passing through to Minkai, he eagerly asked to tag along. Safety in numbers, and all that.

Zos has light blue skin and purple hair, in contrast with Elias’ green skin and complete lack of hair (I never thought to ask if this was natural or by choice). There were a fair number of gnomes in Magnimar, but I seldom went to the parts of the city where they dwelled, and so I cannot say if Zos is typical of his kind or not.

Huffy liked him right away, and that’s usually a good sign that someone is trustworthy.

It looks like we’ll spend the rest of the day and some of the next working on his wagon to ensure it (and he) can keep up with the rest of the caravan.Wealday, Pharast 13, 4713 morning
The Spirit Forest

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

This is how my morning began: with my friends singing to me. McLovin remembered. He’s good with things like that. I seldom remember on my own. For a while Kali used to do something with me, but then I went away and it’s been years since.

Wealday, Pharast 20, 4713 midnight
The Spirit Forest

We had another spirit visitor. This one was in the form of an angry man who materialized next to Dasi. Ivan cleverly used a mass curative spell, which visibly weakened it. It then menaced Kali, at which point I channeled energy a couple of times and the fade faded.

If nothing else these acts must in some way end the apparent suffering of these entities.

Moonday, Pharast 25, 4713 evening
The Spirit Forest, Kami Clearing

The forest has become more dense over the past few days, but only slowly such that if you were not paying attention you might have thought all of a sudden you were in a much darker and forbidding place than just a few hours before. The limbs of the trees are so close and interwoven above that the ground is bare of undergrowth and even snow. I rather much like it.

By mid day Miyaro had led us to a large circular clearing. A dense thicket of plants clustered around the forest’s edge, creating a barrier as effective as any wall.

On the near side of the clearing was a gate, and as we made to pass through we heard a voice say, “This is the place of the Kami.” Suddenly a warrior stood before us, blocking the way.

“Hail travelers. What is your business?” he asked.

He seemed put off by our answer of “Traveling south to Minkai,” and suggested the road would be a better choice for such a journey.

I countered that the road was controlled by the Oni, and that they had been harassing us. “Oh, why should they do so?” he asked. “Because we attack them when we find them.” I said. “Do you oppose the Oni?” he asked, becoming more interested in us. “We more than oppose them,” I answered, “we actively seek to end their control of Minkai.”

He then bowed and said, “You may enter.” But he did scrutinize each of us as we passed through the gate. As I did so a sensation of peaceful watchfulness washed over me.

Miyaro was delighted, and sitting down said, “Let’s remain here for a while.”

The day was only half done, and normally we would push on, but it was nice to escape the confines of the dark wood for a while, and clearly this place was special. We circled the wagons and made camp early.

Gradually we began to hear whisperings and chanting, but all Miyaro would say was, “It is the Kami. This place is sacred to them.” And then she flashed that smile of hers that could mean either everything or nothing.

Darkness fell and the voices of the Kami increased. Small animals crept to the edge of the clearing and gradually circled their way inward, along with small stones and bits of wood that seemed to roll in on their own. Small creatures peeped out from these creatures and objects. The Kami had arrived. One stepped forward and began to speak.

They wanted to know if we would assist them with an urgent matter concerning the Oni. At one time the Kami held the Oni imprisoned in the House of Withered Blossoms. But one hundred and sixty years before the Oni found a way to escape.

The way of the enchantment of their prison was such that as long as the Oni were present, the Kami could not enter. The Kami still could not enter, and so they knew at least one of the Oni remained.

“Enter this place and destroy the Oni such that we might enter and discover by what means the others escaped. In this way you will also aid your own purpose, for we know why you tavel to Minkai.”

The House of Withered Blossoms was some distance from the clearing, and we agreed to begin our journey in the morning.

Toilday, Pharast 26, 4713 evening
House of Withered Blossoms

It felt good to move about on our own two feet, although it meant the trek took all day. Miyaro led the way, as usual.

The House sat in the middle of a decayed patch of forest. The trees gave way to a corrupt garden of dead things and broken statues, and rising up from the middle was a tall pagoda made of white porcelain. Decaying petals of purple flowers littered the ground about it.

Dead vines clung to the building’s sides, but it looked like there were no windows at all. One large door was in front but we saw no other visible way of entering or leaving, except through the large hole in the golden roof.

Miyaro said that this was as close as she could come, and that she would return to the clearing. Before leaving she loaned us her fan, which was a delicately beautiful device that allowed us to send a message over a great distance, as well as making the bearer more persuasive.

Dasi gratefully took the fan, and then we got to work.

I cast True Seeing on Kali, and she used Darkvision and then created an Arcane Eye. Down through the hole in the roof, and past thick matts of giant webbing she sent it, passing by several half spider/humanoid creatures. Near the main floor was a human wearing filthy silk robes. Small spiders crawled over him and he plucked one off his arm and ate it.

And then the eye reached a door and could go no further. Kali sent it up and out and around to the door. Many small holes faced outward, but most were filled with arrows (“Poison arrow traps,” she murmured, “lots of them!”) before the spell finally expired.

Well, through the roof it is. But not until morning. Fortunately all of us can watch the house throughout the night to see if anything comes or goes. We had been told about the spider creatures, but also warned of hobgoblins, of which there had been no sign… yet.