Author Archives: Darren

from the life of Ivan Milner: first encounter with goblins

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===Sarenith 4711====

The goblin activity near Whisperwood moor has increase over the last few weeks. By all accounts it looks as if it is the same 8 goblins doing all of the raids. Everyone attacked remember the leader wearing an ugly red hat. To this point there have only been a couple of injuries but if something isn’t done someone is going to get killed. The families bordering the Moor have request a community meeting to discuss the issue. This meeting is scheduled to be held at the Wilson farm which borders the Moor and thus has been the center point for the raids.

Upon hearing the news I headed over to the Smith farm as it was the site of the last known raid. I had intended to try to track the goblins but from a distance I could see a dozen farmers walking around looking at the area. Even though none of them really know what to look at they still are looking at the ground. I bet they figured out that they were goblins. I check closer to the Moor but the heavy overnight rain had washed away the tracks. Walking along the Moor there are trails going into the Moor but it is not exactly safe to follow goblins into the Moor. It looks like we will have to wait for the goblins to attack again.

The other wandered around the Smith farm and then they all went home. For the next couple of days leading up to the meeting I camped near the Wilson farm watching for signs. After night fall I walked near the Moor trying to find signs of a fire. The night skies were clear but I never found signs of a fire. I was able to down a buck on the day before the meeting. I took the meat to the Wilson farm so that it could be cooked up for the community gathering and kept the leather for myself.

The community meeting while not under happy circumstances turned into a bonanza of food. When farming people get together food is always a priority. There were delicious strawberry pies, fresh bread, and beef stew. The food itself is worth the trip. After everyone had gotten there fill the meeting officially started.

There was talk of contacting Sandpoint or Magnimar to have them send someone to handle the situation. After awhile everyone agreed that neither Sandpoint nor Magnimar have been very helpful in the past’ that is unless there is a profit in it for them. In the past they have just sent mercenaries that want to be paid a large sum of money for even making the trip out to the farm lands. There was talk of a group of farmers going into the Moor to find them but it was pointed out that they are not prepared to go into the moor after the goblins. It was pointed out by Billy that the goblins are raiding every 3 to 4 days. So we need to catch them out in open farm lands. They decided to gather at the Wilson farm 3 hours before dusk for the next few nights.

On the first night I walked by the Wilson farm on the way to the Anderson farm. Several of us tried to explain that they need to stay out of sight but they wanted to have a show of strength. On the second night they hit the Anderson house. I decided to follow them back to there camp instead of trying to take out a couple of them and then running. The goblins grab some chickens then tried to open the barn but the Anderson’s had installed a latch too high for the goblins; so the goblins were only able to get away with some chickens.

I followed the goblins back to the moor and watched them take a hidden path. I had missed that path when I was searching before. I progressed very slowly as I followed them on the path. It would be dark soon so I can only go in a little bit farther. 150 feet down the path I could here goblins. I couldn’t go any further because I needed to get out before dark but it sounded like there was a camp up ahead. I worked my way back down the path to familiar ground. I made my way back to the Anderson farm which was now filled with the farmers that were waiting at the Wilson farm. When I told them about possibly finding there camp the idiots wanted to go into the moor at night to confront the goblins. I told them that I was not going back until morning.

By morning there were over 20 angry farmers at the Anderson farm. Word had spread and everyone wanted to get in on taking care of the goblins. I figured we would go in quietly and catch them off guard but this is beyond comprehension to farmers. These farmers went screaming into the moor looking for there camp. They found a fire still burning but clearly the goblins heard them coming and ran away. The young males were proud of chasing off the goblins but the elders stopped there celebration informing them that they had wasted a chance to take care of the problem.

The next goblin attack occurred 5 days after they were scared out of there first home. It has been a sunny day so the later afternoon was very pleasant. I arrived at the Smith farm as the 8 goblins were headed out with there spoils. I carefully followed then until we were about 150 feet from the farm but still over 1000 feet to the moor. With the goblins near the edge of my range I shot off two arrows at one of the goblins carrying a shortbow. The arrows hit there target and the first goblin dropped. The goblins stopped and started looking to see what happened. After they noticed the arrows sticking out of the first goblin the next two arrows were on there way toward the second goblin carrying a shortbow. One shot hit true but the second one missed. It was then that the goblins spotted me and started moving in my direction. I sent another volley of arrows at the second goblin; once again one hit and the second missed but that was enough to drop the second goblin. The goblins move towards me in a more aggressive manner so I stepped back and shot an arrow dropping goblin three. The goblins continued moving forward yelling something in there language. I stepped back and put an arrow in goblin four’s shoulder. The goblin leader yelled something in there language and moved forward; the others followed the lead. By this time they are within 20 feet of me and looking angry. I move backwards to put some extra space between us and then shot off another arrow at goblin four that missed. The goblins are getting more excited as they are closing to within 10 feet of me for a moment. I once again move back and fire an arrow at goblin four and this time the arrow hits true dropping goblin four. By this time the goblins are enraged with not being able to catch a single human. The remaining 4 goblins run up and surround me. In the hatred they failed to see that I was leading them back to the Smith farm. Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith and there son Milo surprised the goblins with attacks on goblin 5, goblin 6, and goblin 7. Goblin 5 turned in time to see Mrs. Smith hit him so hard that he slammed into goblin 6. Goblin 6 took at hit from Mr. Smith and did not look very healthy but he was still up. Goblin 7 was hit by Milo’s club but was still upright. Goblin 6 cut Mr. Smith but it looks minor. The goblin wearing the stupid looking hat panic for a moment as he realized they were out number. That was all the Mrs. Smith needed as her swing dropped the goblin leader as he was turning to run. Milo finished off his goblin and turned his attention to the last goblin. Mrs. Smith had the killing blow on the last goblin as her club connected with the side of his skull.

With a bounce in her step Mrs. Smith starts walking back to the farm “You guys throw these foul things back into the moor and I will get dinner ready”

We check all of the goblins to make sure they were indeed dead and search for anything valuable. The bodies were dumped into the moor to be reclaimed.

Dinner.

Ivan’s journal entry for November 2015

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=== Sarenith 23, 4712; later in the day===

We fought our way through to the goblin king’s throne room; I guess this is really the goblin chief. I looked down the hallway only to discover that there is no way that I am going to get into that room. These were not big rooms so I am not sure how we would all get into the room and have the space to fight. I stayed back and watched the gate through the doorway. My first real use of the bless spell. I know Koya really believes in the little words of encouragement before casting spells such as these but I couldn’t remember what I wrote down. Instead of taking the time to find the paper with the message I instead just decided that I am no longer going to even try to encourage people; the effect of the spell should be enough.

They allowed Qatana up front and she was the one to break open the doors. I couldn’t really see much but I did see the explosion as the fireworks engulfed a lot of the party. Qatana said that she after that did something called a channel to do a group heal. I think it is like my spell bless; where it bursts out from me. Whereas my spell only affects people that I trust her channel affects everyone within range. She said she has the ability to exclude some number of people. Through this discussion I learned from her that burst spells like bless or her channel are blocked by things like walls. So I have to remember that people around the corner will not get the goodness of the spell.

Those that could fit  inside the room finished off the goblins and the goblin chief. Ears have been removed and we have the head of the goblin chief. Someone found a hidden room and Olmas used his Axe to create a door way. Kali was on and on about the strange language on the box and some of the items. A fan in the chest provides a crude map of Brinestump march with X’s to mark spots. We decided to first go to the one towards the coast near by.

I found my arrows and mended them. I also found and mended Radella’s arrows. We have the goblin ears and the chief’s head. The chief was using a masterwork composite longbow. After discussion I am currently the holder of the longbow. Radella wasn’t sure if she could use a longbow. I really need one that adds my strength to the damage.

The longbow is not as good as the one over at the general store. The composite masterwork at the store had a stronger pull so that it would do more damage. They said that they had recently obtained this longbow for a good price; normally most people just by the standard composite masterwork longbow. The longbow I wanted was 600 gold; 200 gold more than the standard composite masterwork longbow. I originally went to pick up cold iron arrows. Alistair told me that when I go out into the world to get cold iron arrows to help against those pesky red caps. While I was there the clerk showed me these blunt arrows. When I asked why someone would by them she didn’t really have a good answer. She just told me to think about it as being able to punch someone from 100 feet away. I had money and could not resist. She also showed me blanches for weapons. It’s a one use type of thing that for me would cover 10 arrows. I was going to skip these until she explained that I would have to pre-treat with a hot flame to set it. It cost 5 gold to make 10 of my cold iron arrows to also have the silver trait. She explained it as getting through damage reduction of some creatures. Maybe someday I will figure out what to use silver on.

I still remember how much fun it was to create a hot flame to set the weapon blanches on the 10 arrows. It actually didn’t take that long and I kind of wish I bought more. I spent more time playing with the fire then actually applying blanches to the arrows. I will just have to carry around the blunt arrows and the blanched silver arrows until I can figure out when to use them.

Speaking of bows Rarallo has some supper cool bows. The last time I was there He showed me a +1 holy darkwood composite longbow that was ordered. When I asked about cost Rarallo said this cost 18,000 gold. How can anyone afford that much gold? When I asked him what holy does he told me that it does more damage to those that are evil and aligns the weapon good. When I asked how to you know if something is evil he just said “just wait for the Paladin to proclaim that it is evil”. I didn’t really understand. I thought if the bow is expensive then I will maybe buy some arrows. 50 arrows of holy cost as much as the bow; 18 thousand gold. He doesn’t normally stock holy arrows so I would have to buy all 50. Some things like fire arrows sell better so he sells them by arrow for 160 gold per arrow or 8,000 if you want 50. There was something called bane that he sold buy the arrow but only the version for animal. Turns out that some well to do merchants get together for hunts and they each secretly buy these bane animal arrows to get the edge. These bane animal arrows can be purchased for 160 gold each. If I ever get lots of money for magic bows I might need more then one. Oh, Rarallo also showed me this efficient quiver that would hold 60 arrows and store other things like extra bows. We went out back and Rarallo let me try a flame longbow and the efficient quiver. Way cool. This quiver actually lets you pull the arrow you want. For demonstration he had me shoot two arrows one blue and one red. This is really cool. When I mended his arrows with magic Rarallo suggested that maybe I should in the future consider learning to enchant weapons or magic items. Rarallo sells the efficient quiver for 1,800 gold; much more then I have. Coming from the farm I have a hard time figuring out how people can afford these things.

I am also carrying 2 of the 5 bane animal arrows that we found. I wonder if these were created by Rarallo. These plus the longbow are really on loan until we get to town and begin selling things.

Let see. Ok we headed through the marsh over to the “X” near the coastline. At the point where the “X” was we found a ship with some strange writings on them. The goblins were piled up out side and have been there for a couple of weeks. Some of the others did some searching inside the ship but they really didn’t find anything and this ship is dangerous and falling apart. There was some strange writing on the ship and even Kali could not read. Kali really puts a lot of importance in knowing languages. Once again in the goblin fort they kept speaking in some strange language so I had no clue what they were talking about. Supposedly I was supposed to know what the hell they were saying.

Finding nothing of interest we head out of the marsh. We headed over to one of the next “X” spots. We arrive just before sunset and discovered that the boney footprints come and go from a cave. We back tracked and made camp near the lost coast road.

=== Sarenith 24, 4712; ===

Morning arrived and I spent my 15 minutes of focus on energies of my spells to refresh. I looked over to see Kali and Etayne still focused on this task. I have been watching the other spell casters over the last two days to see how they perform this ritual. As far as I can tell Qatana prays similar to Koya. Kali seems to spend her time reading through her book and Etayne does some animal thing with her fox. It all looks so natural when they are doing there thing. What they do looks complicated. It looks like these people have been working on there magic for some time. The other three kept talking about what spells to memorize for the day and I don’t know what this means. When they ask me I just say that I have cure wounds, bless, and magic weapon. They seem to be oh ok so I guess that is the right answer? I have the spells that I can cast continually throughout the day and then those 3 spells. I keep practicing the new spells that I am trying to learn but I just haven’t yet gotten it correct.

The snare trap I set last night didn’t catch anything so rations for today. We broke camp and headed back down the path towards the bottom of the cliff and then over to the cave. On the second spider I moved in behind Ana and shot the spider. In the end Ana took her nice looking Greatsword and carved up the spider. I retrieved my arrow and used mend to fix the arrow. With a light source Qatana pushed her way forward. Sparna and Etayne checked out a path that led to a pool with a strange creature inside. I took a light over so Etayne could see but in the end Sparna pretty much took care of this thing. The others had a name for the creature but I don’t remember what they called it.

A little further down we found the large group of skeletons. I think it was Qatana who said that you need blunt weapons against skeletons. Ha how I found a use for those blunt weapons. So I out 5 in my quiver and held two for the first shot. The fist shots were dead on and took down a skeleton. After that it was the luck of the draw. I really wish I had that efficient quiver.

Qatana said “fall back” so I did. But then the rest of them had no way to fall back so I move forward. Qatana’s health was becoming and issue so I started to move in to help with healing. I indented to cast then step into melee to keep spell casting simple but Olmas backed up bringing the skeletons with him. Olmas was almost dead so I attempted a tricky defensive casting. It’s really hard and I wasn’t really sure if it was going to work. I either need to learn how to get better at casting defensively or stop doing it at all.

Olmas now healed he runs to the other members of the group to help them leaving the skeleton attacking me when I don’t have a melee weapon out. I took damage staying there to help him and he just runs off to find glory. Luckly Sparna stepped over to help out with the skeleton. I am not sure if Olmas running towards what he thought was a bigger battle or afraid of this skeleton. As we had defeated all of the skeletons I got after him about it and he just said that the others needed his help. I am clearly not running into melee to heal Olmas again; it is too dangerous. He has been almost dead twice in the last two days; he is on his own if it happens a third time. These skeletons didn’t have anything of value so I just repaired my arrows and put the blunt arrows back in my backpack.

Moving onto the next room we of course find a skeleton on another chest. He wasn’t moving so I took the time to pull two blunt arrows; At least I will get one good shot off. After several failed throws to get his attention Qatana throws her light rock and hits the skeleton. He stands up points at Olmas and says something that I do not understand. Olmas responds spouting some crap and steps forward. Sparna goes to disarm the skeleton and gets hit really hard before nicely disarming the skeleton. I was able to heal up Sparna after his bold move. This may have saved a lot of damage from this skeleton.

With the skeleton dispatched we found that his sword had some heavy magic on it. It was magic and did something special so it is even more expensive. From my talks with Rarallo it is worth 8000 to 18000 gold if purchased from a store; not sure how much they will buy it for. Even at half price this is a lot of money. We also have a number of other magic items that can bring in money as well. I didn’t pay attention to everything in either chest but I saw Qatana creating inventory and she has normally been straight forward on things.

We have a lot of stuff so we need to go back to town. It would be nice to check out the other ship but we figure that we would need a boat from town to get there. Once I get my one eighth of the loot plus what ever we find out the boat I will hopefully have enough to get away from Sandpoint and see the world.

Storytime: The abduction of Ivan Milner

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Sarenth 16, 4712 (Dusk)

On the way through Sandpoint as dusk approaches Ivan takes one of the back alleys on his way to watch the sunset. As he rounds the corner he sees this couple that appears to be having sex. He was about to take another path when he faintly hears a call for help, it was then that he realized that she was all beaten up and blood covered her mostly naked body. Ivan immediately slammed into this guy to get him off her and then proceeded to punch it out with him. Ivan saw her run out of the alley; the distraction gave the rapist time to round the corner and get away.  By this time help had arrived and they can now go after the rapist.

In a woman’s voice Ivan hears “filthy rapist” and then everything goes black.

As Ivan regains consciousness he finds himself looking up at a ceiling. His head is pounding and everything is still a little out of focus. The fire in the fireplace is providing the only light in the room as there are no windows. The door off to his left is closed and appears to be the only way in and out of the room. As Ivan attempts to move he suddenly realizes that he is sprawled out on a bed naked with his hands and feet securely tied to the ends of the bed. He quietly listens for any sounds from the other side of the door but he hears nothing. After several minutes of attempting to get free Ivan realizes that he is trapped!  Unlike the previous time he was tied to a bed naked Abby is not here to make sure he is safe. Over the next couple of hours of waiting Ivan could not help but wish that Abby would show up and free him.

The silence was broken as he hears people in the next room. The best he can guess there are several people in the next room and at least a couple of them are female. The door opens and he hears a female voice.

“Awe he is finally awake”

Three women walk into the room, the one talking is much over than the other two. Ivan is not sure but the other two look to be a few years older then he is.

Older woman says “There seems to have been a mix up here. Penelope says that you pulled Tobis Frederic off her and saved her. So I am sorry for hitting you on the head and tying you up. I have talked to the city guard and let them know of the mistake. We told them that you were injured and that we would take care of your injuries, It is the least we can do.”

Momentary awkward pause as Ivan waited to be untied but all three women just stood there. The younger two were clearly more interested in checking out the naked man then untying him.

Woman says “My name is Angela, this is my daughter Jennifer and her lover and life partner Samatha”

Short hesitation before Angela starts talking again.

“So we don’t actually currently have any of your clothes or equipment here at the house. With the rapist still on the loose it’s too dangerous for us to get them tonight and with the bump on your head it is just best that you stay here anyway. “

Pause

Angela “I have a confession. Samatha and Jennifer have never shown any interest in men at all and you are actually the first naked male that either has ever seen. Since you did not say anything when I asked and we already had you to tied to the bed naked I took this opportunity uh gently uh explore uh ” pause “with there hands”.

Angela “Ok I know that we should have waited and asked but I want Samatha and Jennifer to give me grandchildren.”

During this time Samatha and Jennifer are tracing the symbols on Ivan’s body with there fingers. In all of the confusion Ivan did not notice that Samatha and Jennifer were only wearing night shirts until they pulled them off.

Ivan’s eyes jump to the door as he wanted to get away but then back to the two naked girls. At that moment he realizes that this is no stranger then the shit Abby has been getting him into his whole life. He remembered one of Abby’s favorite Desna quotes “experience life in all its forms”. Clearly this qualifies.

Ivan “Ok then. You girls will need to get a lot closer”

Sarenth 17, 4712

After a night of passion all three of them slept in until mid morning. It was late morning before Ivan’s clothes and gear was returned. Angela informed Ivan is that

“The story told to the guard and everyone is that Tobis Frederic attempted to kill Penelope during a robbery. An unidentified man rescued Penelope and then slipped back into the shadows. It is all an exciting mystery. Penelope’s father has made everyone promise not to reveal the truth. Only Sheriff Hemlock knows the truth but none of his guardsmen no the real truth.”

Angela says “The Girls are right those are sexy tattoos” as she intently watches as Ivan checks to make sure all of his money and gear are accounted for. He puts his clothes and armor on then starts to head out the door.

Angela “They still have not caught Tobis Frederic so be careful in case he tries to get back at you”

Ivan heads over to the guard house to get the latest update on the status of Tobis”

Guard: “We haven’t captured him yet but if he is in town we will get him”.

Ivan starts walking towards the south bridge.

Ivan talking to himself “He must be heading to Magnimar to get away from the charges. He can only be a couple of hours ahead of me. I should be able to catch him before he gets to Magnimar and this time he will not get away.”

Ivan asks around to see if anyone has seen someone with Tobis’s description that headed out this morning.

Daviren of the Goblin squash stables “That sounds like the guy who paid for passage on the caravan headed to Riddleport. I think he said his name was Tobis. Can’t remember the last name he used.”

Ivan “do you mean Tobis Frederic?”

Daviren “Ya that’s it”

Ivan “Thanks”

Ivan continues to talk to himself as he walks away from the south bridge.

“Well I didn’t expect that. I would never be able to find him in Riddleport. At least Penelope should be safe now. I should tell her family that Tobis has left town. But how would I even no how to find them”

Ivan remembers that this morning after the final session with Samatha and Jennifer that they were telling him about the house that Penelope lives in with her parents. This was right after talking his ear off about how Angela and Sam are crazy about each other but neither will admit it.

With the general direction and description it takes Ivan about an hour to find the house. He knocks on the door and a woman answers the door.

“What. This is not a good time”

Ivan “I am here to check on Penelope and”

Out of know where this woman starts swinging at him.

Woman “You stay away from my daughter you bastard”

Ivan takes a step back and puts his hands out in front of him to defend himself as he makes his getaway.

Ivan “I’m going”

Ivan hears a woman’s voice from within the room “No Mom. Stop. He is the one who saved me”

Ivan backs up another step as this crazy woman leaps towards him with arms out stretched. This all happened so fast that Ivan wasn’t sure what was going on. The woman’s advance stops two feet away from Ivan and that is when he realizes she was trying to hug him. Ivan is now freaked out about this woman and he is very aware that an angry mother is very dangerous. He is just standing there waiting to get away.

The woman looks into Ivan’s eyes and says

“Your safe here. You can let go of my breasts now”

Ivan’s eyes shift from the woman’s face and begins staring to his hands now on her chest. He realizes that he had been using is hands to keep her away from him.

The woman starts to laugh saying “It’s ok I am not going to hurt you”

That is when Ivan realizes that he has not moved. Ivan jumps backward and drops his hands.

Ivan “I just want to tell you that Tobis Frederic left town. He paid for passage on a caravan heading to Riddleport”

Woman says “Well then come in and wait for my husband to come back. You deserve a reward for all that you have done. He is out looking for him and don’t worry we have lots of friends in Riddleport.”

Ivan “I don’t need a reward. I have to get going.”

Ivan hustled down the road to get some distance between him and that scary woman.

Ivan talking to himself “No good deed goes unpunished. I have earned a few drinks at the Rusty Dragon. Maybe Sparna will tell some great tale of his adventure in the real world. I need to remember to stay out of the alleys”

Ivan is walking through the street on his way to the Rusty Dragon.

Ivan hears Abby’s voice “Ivan STOP. Aren’t you going to help them?”

Ivan stops and looks around for Abby but his sister is no where to be found.

Ivan talking to himself “Great now what.”

The door 15 feet ahead of him on the right opens and two people walk out the door.

Jennifer “Hey Ivan. What are you doing here? Are you checking up on me or maybe you just miss me.”

Ivan hears Abby’s voice “You know what to do”

Jennifer “Are you ok Ivan? Oh this is my boss Sam.”

Ivan “So this is the Sam”

Jennifer “Yes”

Sam approaches Ivan and shakes his hand.

Sam “Glad to me you. I have heard a lot about you today. You know that Jennifer and Samatha are very special girls. “

Ivan “And so is Angela but she seems very lonely”

Sam “oh yes she is very special”

Ivan “So!”

Sam “She is special but I know that she is just being nice to me”

Ivan intimidates Sam “Look I know that you love her and the she loves you. She is not happy because she needs you in her life. You need to go to her and confess how you feel”

Ivan “Jennifer take Sam home to dinner and I will be there to make sure that these two idiots share how they feel about each other.”

Ivan continues walking down the street.

Ivan talking to himself “Fine if these idiots can’t confess affection for each other then I will force them. Oh my God. I just committed to going back to that house. “

Ivan continues talking to himself “Ok just take a deep breath. Everything will be fine if you keep your wits about you. You can do this. Just keep all your gear with you and make sure you have a clear path out the door.”

Ivan knocks on the door and Samatha motions for him to enter. He sits at the table taking the chair closest to the door with everyone in front of him. About 10 minutes later Sam shows up and is greeted by Jennifer. Ivan motions for everyone to sit for a minute.

Ivan “please sit down so we can talk for a minute”

Ivan waits for everyone to be seated and then begins to speak.

Ivan “Sam you know you are crazy about Angela and you need to tell her. And you Angela these girls tell me that you really like Sam as well. Life is too short to not be with the ones you care about”

Ivan “Sam do you trust these two to take care of your business tomorrow?”

Sam “Of course.They are like daughters to me”

Ivan “Sam you need to take Angela out for something to eat and then go somewhere and talk or what ever. Jennifer and Samatha will take care of the business so you can spend the whole day together!”

Sam and Angela get up take each other by the hand and head for the door. Sam turns around at the door.

Sam “No. I am sorry but there is something more important that we need to do first. Angela and I have already decided to get married and we both feel that our daughters come first! The midwife Hannah from Hannah’s told Angela that the next few days are ideal”

Ivan “No. I am leav”

Ivan looks down at the mug of ale that he has been drinking from and then all goes black.

Ivan slowly awakens with a headache. He opens his eyes to see a familiar ceiling. Again he finds himself once again sprawled out on the bed naked with his hands and feet securely tied to the ends of the bed. Samatha and Jennifer have there naked bodies press up against him. It appears that they fell asleep waiting for him or maybe they didn’t wait for him to wake up.

Ivan “Samatha and Jennifer wake up and untie me. I have to get out of here.”

Samatha and Jennifer begin untying Ivan.

Samatha “We didn’t want to tie you up but they insisted to make sure you didn’t lash out. The door is barred from the outside. Sam had it installed.”

Jennifer “we have enough food and water for the next 4 days. They will let us out in four days.”

Ivan gets up and checks the door. Clearly the person that installed this knew what they were doing. Ivan eats some bread and paces back and forth trying to convince Samatha and Jennifer to let him out. Samatha and Jennifer give Ivan a few minutes and then simply just pull him into bed.

Ivan “experience life in all its forms”

Sarenth 22, 4712

Ivan awakes as he hears a sound at the door. Looking over he sees that the door is open. Untangling himself from Samatha and Jennifer without waking them was a lot harder then he expected. He quietly moves into the next room where he found Angela holding his clothes.

As Ivan dressed Angela says “All of your stuff is there. Although we did lock you in it was for the greater good and clearly you are not worse for wear. Would you like some breakfast?”

Ivan looks up at Angela “No thank you, I am not hungry”

Ivan finishes dressing, picks up his bow and pack while heading out the door. After he gets to the next block Ivan checks to make sure he still has his money as he is going to need that this morning. He picks up his gear and heads straight for the Rusty Dragon.

Ivan talks to himself as he is walking to the Rusty Dragon:

“I am going to go have some drinks, get something to eat.”

“I have been temporarily blamed for a rape, Knocked unconscious, abducted, drugged, tied to a bed naked. Twice. And held against my will. Ok so I really didn’t try to get away but the door was barred from the outside. I could have just ignored Samatha and Jennifer. Who am I kidding being locked in the room with two naked women I didn’t have a chance.”

“I will get a room and spend it by myself. Tomorrow I will find a group of adventures and go do something exciting. No make that a group of male only adventures.”

Ivan reaches the door to the Rusty dragon and just stops.

Ivan “Who am I kidding. If I join a group of male only adventures it would just be my luck that that are all gay and I would have to watch my own backside. “

Narrator “And thus ends the story of The abduction of Ivan Milner”

Ivan’s journal entry for October 2015

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=== Sarenith 22, 4712 ===

As I entered the Rusty Dragon I immediately spotted Sparna but it took me a few seconds to realize that Qatana was also sitting at the same table.  I sat down with the group and ordered breakfast. It looks like the others had been there for a little while and the place was abuzz with take of the bound of 10 gold for each ear and a bounty on the Licktoad chief’s head of 500 gold. Ah Qatana hasn’t changed and simply stated

“I need money”

I of course quickly decided to join her in collecting goblin ears. Sparna decided to join. There were six others that I was not exactly sure what there capabilities were at the time. We were all ready to set out on this big adventure when Ameiko came over to the table to give advice. I have heard that she was once a great adventure and that is how she was able to purchase the Rusty Dragon. For some reason taverns almost have a spiritual vibe to me. This place fills up far more often then the church so maybe taverns are holy places.

Ivan signals the barmaid for another drink. She brings the drink.

Ivan “This is for the drink and this is for you. It can’t be easy dealing with all of these adventures”

Ivan looks the barmaid directly into eyes and pays for his drink and then gives the barmaid three silver. Ivan then goes back to listening to the discussion with Ameiko.

Ameiko has suggested that we find out what each of us can do. I proudly told then of my skill with the bow and suggested that I have access to some healing magic. I was supposed to be working on my magic; Koya did tell me that I needed to work on it until I get comfortable. I had a lot of fun with the spells that I can continually cast. Who couldn’t have fun creating water, creating light from nothing or breaking and then mending objects. I was just sitting there trying to remember the lessons from Koya when I notice that look from Ameiko. It would really help if I knew what that look was. My whole life Abby has been trying to teach me the different looks women can give you but they all look the same. He can never tell if it means pay attention, go way, or follow me to my room. Luckily Abby has simplified it and I should just always assume “Hey stop staring at my breasts”. So I focused on the beret in her hair.

I started thinking about the rumors about how she does not accept any sexual offers from the men in town. The rumor is that she has a lover. Recent experience makes me wonder if her lover is a man or if it is a woman. We decided to gather gear and head out to the warden in Brinestump Marsh to find out about the gobins. The rusty dragon was serving bacon today and I ordered some bacon and bread to have as lunch. The bacon is nice and crispy today.

I quickly purchased boots to repel water and then waited for other just outside the south bridge. Once again they covered the skills that each of us have.

The travel down to brinestump marsh was uneventful. We found the path that is supposed to lead the way to the warden. I had never been in the brinestump marsh before. It is not exactly safe for someone to go into the marches around here by them self’s. The trip to get to the wardens shack was fairly easy. I learned the Kali has a spell that cleans things and supposedly people, armor. The first bridge was slimy and dirty and she cleaned the bridge to make it easier to cross. I was the last to cross the bridge when I noticed that it was need of repair so I used mending to repair the bridge so that it will be safer on the way out. Kali and I repeated this cool trip on two other bridges. The warden should thank us for fixing his bridges.

As we got closer to the warden shack we discovered strange alien tracks on the right side of the path and what looked like Halfling and human tracks. It looked as though the human may have been chasing the Halfling but it was hard to tell. I thought that I was pretty good at tracking but it looks as if there are several that are significantly better then I am. They are considerably older then me so they obviously had more time to work on there skills. Anyway luckily the group is more concerned about collecting goblin bounties and not so much on putting an age limit on there companions.

We arrived that the warden’s shack earlier today. At first no one answer the door but then a Halfling answer the door all bloody and clearly injured. The others were trying to get information out the Halfling and I noticed a tension. At that moment I remembered that Koya had told me the true test of your magic mastery will be when you have to use it in a tense situation. I had to find out so I attempted to cast heal wounds and stepped forward to heal the Halfling. The great news as it worked perfectly and the bad news is that later we found out that this was not a Halfling but something called a stalker. I cast the spell stepped forward and put my hand on his chest to deliver the healing; exactly like Koya had shown me.

When Qatana basically pushed her way past the stalker I followed right behind her. Qatana was searching for mice. Not sure why but we did find a snake that seemed as though it lived here. The creature in the entry way seemed petrified of snakes and we found a room with caged snake food. This creature asked us to get rid of the snakes so I suggested to the Halfling creature that we could search the house and get rid of all of the snakes. He jumped at the idea of us getting rid of the snakes. Qatana and I went up stairs use the guise of searching for snakes. We had just finished a basic search of the three rooms upstairs when the stalker suddenly showed up. For some reason the others just let him go upstairs. I believe the others all attempted to climb the stairs to get to the Stalker but a single file stairway was a big advantage for the stalker. Olmas and Qatana were the only ones that could get into melee combat with this creature; I would think that the high buff people would have been able to keep him downstairs. I hit the creature with a very good shot from the bow. It was a hard shot being I have to make sure to not hit Qatana. I really couldn’t see the others but supposedly Sparna also helped kill the creature.

With the creature dead we again search the upstairs more carefully. I know that Qatana and I did not find the secret door initially but I am sure we would have found it. The real warden was healed by Qatana and very thankful for the rescue. He gave his magic cloak to us, it barely fits Sparna. Walthus also treated us to a wonderful meal; the stew was the perfect way to top off a bacon breakfast and lunch. I never realized that adventures eat so well. It took me a few minutes to get to sleep as I laid there for a little while listening to the interesting and wonderful night sounds coming from the swamp.

=== Sarenith 23, 4712 ===

Another wonderful breakfast from Walthus and we were on our way. Following the guidance of Walthus we travel all the way back out to the road and then down the other path to the Goblin fort. The trip was pretty easy up until we reach the fort. Well except the smells of the swamp.

The main gate of the fort had been pulled down. I think it was Sparna that said

“It was pushed down from the inside”

That must mean that something nasty attacked this fort and they did anything to get out. I don’t remember who but someone said that the goblins the left looked like they were being chased by skeletons. We decided to see who was still remaining in the fort. The pit in the center had some burnt bodies and it looks like we might get a couple of ears. Sparna climbed a short ladder and announced

“GOBLINS”

I moved around but could not see anything so I cast light on an arrow. Firing the arrow in the room provided light so that I could see and shoot. My two arrows seemed to have hit and now the room has enough light to see. It hit me when I had no target that I just instinctively cast the spell. That moment of pride vanished as goblins hanging out a window started shooting arrows at the party. Radella and I shoot back and those goblins were quickly killed. I have noticed that I was able to shoot two arrows in the same amount of time that Radella shoots one arrow. She seems to be better at a lot of other stuff but maybe just maybe I am actually a little better with the bow; Or maybe just a little lucky today.

The current goblins taken care of we press deeper into the fort. With the next wave there wasn’t any place to get a view to shoot. Olmas charged into the room so it must not be too many goblins. I was just keeping watch when Qatana ask me if I would mind going into the room and healing Qlmas. I cast the cure wounds spell, stepped into the room next to Olmas, and then touched him on the back just like Koya had shown him. Wow in just two days of adventuring I have used both techniques for delivering a Cure wounds spell. I was a little worried that in the heat of the moment that I would get it wrong. The last goblin was trying to get away I put an arrow in him but he continued to move forward opening the next door. He was just doing enough to avoid hits from the big weapons so I had to send another arrow at him to finish him off.

The others have found a room with a double door that looks to be barred. Looking around we clearly have enough muscle to get into that door. I don’t see how to help in the combat so maybe if we get everyone together I will try casting “bless”.

Ivan Milner, 16-year-old human Oracle of Battle

On a caravan trip to Korvosa in 4667 Ivan sr. met Ivan’s grandmother while traveling through the town of Harse. As grandfather tells it they fell instantly in love and she joined him on the caravan down to Korvosa and then over to Magnimar. By the time they reach Magnimar it was obvious that grandmother was not suited for caravan travel. In Magnimar they heard of the farm settlements to the northeast near the village of Sandpoint. On the journey to the farm lands is when Ivan Sr. met his life long friend Yahy. Yahy passed away just last year so these days Grandfather gets a little choked up when regaling his adventures with Yahy. As grandfather tells it he gave up his bow to be with the love of his life.

In 4684 Yahy’s Son Noah marries Ivan’s Daughter Sara and they start there own family. The twins Abby and Ivan were born 4696 and are the youngest of seven children, Ivan was named after his grandfather. On the morning of Ivan’s and Abby’s 10th birthday Ivan was having a hard time controlling the excitement about finally being able to go hunting with grandfather. Ivan Sr. had a tradition of taking the children out on there 10th birthday to teach them how to use the bow and hunting basics. His older siblings kept telling Ivan that it was going to be boring and that Ivan and Abby should humor grandfather. Ivan took to the bow as if he had used one all of his life, Abby was more likely to hurt herself with the bow but as normal she just enjoyed being with grandfather and Ivan. For the next 3 years Ivan spent every free moment practicing with bow and hunting skills learned from his grandfather. Abby mean time planned the crop rotations, designed new barns, and logically mapped where she expected Ivan can find game.  While grandfather, mother, and Abby supported his desire to hunt most of his family believed that he was wasting time.

Finally a teenager Ivan was a proficient hunter making extra money selling game to butcher shops in Sandpoint. Even though he was bringing in meat to the family and helping out on the farm it was not good enough for most of the family. Throughout the spring and summer of 4707 Ivan spent more time helping out on the farm but still he could not do enough in the eyes of his brothers. Abby just laughed at him when he complained about his brothers and slyly suggested that he might have better luck helping out the women. Abby loves the farm while Ivan can’t wait to get out and see the world. Abby always seems to know when Ivan is returning to the farm and he swears sometimes she can read his mind. Abby says that she is the brains and Ivan is the eye candy. When it come to the two of them Abby doesn’t believe in boundaries or modesty, its as if they are almost part of the same person.

Ivan, Abby, Sam and their other friend’s barely escaped the goblin attack during the Swallowtail festival in 4707. This was a celebration and he left the bow at a friend’s house. A group of them had to close up in a house until the Hero’s could drive off the goblins. If Ivan had just brought his bow with him maybe he could also be a hero and get away from farming. Sam and Abby started dating. Ivan quickly realizes that Sam and Abby are perfect for each other.

During the Giant evasion of 4708 Abby and Ivan were on the farm celebrating Sam’s birthday. Everyone on the farms hid from the giant army. The giant army was focused on Sandpoint so they escaped without anyone in the family being hurt. In the distance he could see the light of what he presumed was Sandpoint burning.

In 4710 Sam and Abby are married. By that fall Abby is pregnant with there first child. Even with all of this the bond between Abby and Ivan remains strong, sometimes it just included Sam. Ivan’s relationship with his father was so strained that he moved into Sam and Abby’s spare room. Ivan made a deal with Abby that he would not leave until she had her second child. By early spring Abby and Sam had a little girl that they named Patty. Late summer Abby once again was pregnant.  Life continued on with Ivan spending his free time either hunting or helping Sam and Abby with there farm.

On Ivan’s and Abby’s 16th birthday Ivan’s father announced that Ivan was engaged to the neighbor’s daughter, who happened to only be 11 years old. While she looked like a fully developed woman, she was still just 11 years old. It was at that moment that Ivan, Abby, and Sam realized his days as a farmer where over.

The next morning Ivan awakes to Abby sitting next to him with his packed bag in one hand and her week old son Gavin in the other. Stepping out the door Ivan found his mother waiting to say goodbye. Ivan gave his mother and sister hugs before heading down the dirt road towards the lost coast road. Abby and there mother stood there watching Ivan walk down the road until he was well out of sight. Although Abby always knew Ivan couldn’t stay on the farm she already missed him. Abby and her mother head back into the house where Abby brews a fresh pot of coffee.

At the lost coast road Ivan was jumped by a band of highway robbers. Everything went black and the next thing he remembers is seeing an old woman’s face seemingly talking to her self “Desna be praised he still lives”. At that moment Ivan was sure that he saw butterflies all around the two of them.

After a few minutes Ivan stood up and began to thank the traveling caravan for saving him but suddenly began to feel dizzy and Ivan felt intense itching all over is torso. He dropped his bow and began crazily scratching all over. After several tense moments it just stopped. Very confused Ivan reaches down to pick up his bow and it was gone! One of the guards found the bow off to his left and handed it back to him. At this point Koya asked Ivan to drop his bow to the ground again and this time it ended up 10 feet behind him. Koya immediately check Ivan for more injuries but to her surprise found what looked to be tattoos for what she believed were representatives of all of the known deity holy symbols all across Ivan’s torso.

Koya’s friend Kendric who was visiting from Magnimar was in town to pay respect for the passing of her mother. He had just returned from a trip from some foreign land to the south. Kendric and Koya help Ivan understand his new abilities. A couple of days after the attack Abby, Sam, and Mother show up with the children to make sure he is ok. Ivan explains what is happening to him and shows Abby the tattoos. Abby just tells Ivan that he has always had these gifts and the gods were just tired of waiting for him to figure it out.  Ivan really wanted to know why the gods did this to him but he now has come to understand that the gods and Abby work in mysterious ways. He has resolved himself that he will never know which god or gods gave him this curse/gift or why. Ivan once again said is goodbyes to his family as they head back to the farm.

Over the last few weeks Ivan has been making is way by hunting. On some evenings he heads to the tavern and buys a round of drinks for the caravan guards that helped save his life on the eventful day. They start telling fantastic stories of adventure during the many travels with the caravan. Ivan often ends up buying several rounds as he can’t get enough of the stories. The stories are fueling Ivan’s desires to get out on the road. Koya just tells Ivan that she will talk to Sandru about him joining the caravan when the time is right.

Sabin’s journel

We made good progress today. As expected everything is trying to kill us and there are a lot of them. Luckily we have slaughtered a lot of Karzougs guards, at least we hope we have. After getting my normal 2 hours of sleep I feel refreshed and I am able to do more. Today while the other slept I was able to learn the new spell “spell turning”. I had my GreatAxe ready to grab just in case. We have to wait until morning for Kane and Takkad to get spells again so I have some time.

This is likely the day we actually meet Karzoug. This is going to be very tough and a little bad luck could spell the end of all of us. I have prepared myself for the toughest battle of my life. He knows that we are coming and I have a feeling that he has been watching us to determine a strategy to get the upper hand, at least that is what I would do. With the knowledge that he may have been spying on us since we defeated “Carl Breakbones” it doesn’t seem like we have many secrets from Karzoug. Since runeforge I have been studying all of the high level spells that he might possess searching for ways to minimize the effectiveness of his spells. For the most part I simply can’t guard against them and he likely knows other spells that I have never heard of before. This all comes down to how do you defeat a historically powerful wizard? Physically get in his face and hit him with weapons. Stop him from casting spells.

I am betting that he is prepared for spells that attack him so I will instead focus on spells for personal buffs, a couple of hastes for the party and different spells to breakdown possible barrier or create them. I have a couple of just in case combat spells that I don’t expect to use. If it we me I would try to debuff the party, buff myself, and place barriers to control the situation.

We have found a lot of interesting places, the legendary xin-shalast, runeforge, and the library. I find it funny that the place with all of the books is somewhere that Sedjwick can’t get into without help. Ok if he knew the location of the complex and which direction to dig he could get back into the area with the library but it is going to take awhile. I had orignally just planned to add another 10 ft of thickness to the stone wall Takkad put up but then I thought it should be a little bit thicker. But then a passwall still made the wall useless and that was just not right. It turned into being something interesting to do after spending the day enchanting weapons and armor. Everybody wanted either a weapon or armor enchant so I continued to build on my wall, which took over a month to complete. We weren’t adventuring and I wasn’t getting into trouble, that should have been a clue that something was up. No one goes down past the reduce person field so I don’t think anyone knows about it, besides I made the library more secure so they should be happy. Trask and I routinely teleport people in and out of that place all the time so this does not effect our ability to use the library.

If I die and the rest of you are reading this you should know that it was indeed me that did it.

Sabin’s journal for january

We are all just Puppets in this world and the different puppet masters of this world just lead us around for there amusement. At least that is what it seems like sometimes. But where do the Rune loads fit into this cycle of puppets and puppet masters. Karzoug clearly knows that we are here and yet he does not send his legions after us, why. With the sihedron amulets and even the rings seem to provide him with a way to track us so before the detect scrying he could easily found us and sent his minions. There is no way we could have taken on all of these things at the same time. There must be a purpose in this that I cannot see. I do not see how killing off some of his most some of his powerful and trusted minions can be a benefit to him.

It has been a couple of days since updating the journal or the monster manual. The monster manual will have to wait as I do not have an open spell slot to case fabricate. We have met the humanoid slaves that have evolved an ability to blend in over the last 10,000 years. These people have been waiting these 10,000 years for someone to come save them. With there ability to blend in they could have left this place long ago. This is there home and I don’t seem them leaving even if we defeat Karzoug. The invisible vampire was no match for the group, except for having to passwall and stoneshape our way to his hiding place. He figured that 30ft of stone would protect him from this group. Sadly for him we embrace such challenges and you could see the enjoyment on Takkad’s face as he dug away the last few feet of stone missed by passwall. Takkad was able to play with stone and remove an undead creature from the world, all and all it seems like it was a good day for Takkad.

Our attempt to rest before going after the ice devil failed, he came to use. Luckily for us we were camped in a rope trick. In a bold move Trask dismissed the rope trick and I use feather fall to prevent any damage. As we were about to engage we once again heard Avia words that did not belong to her. He was warning the ice devil about our use to teleport. Even though he knew if was coming it still did not help. We got some good hits on the ice devil before he teleported away. We decided to pursue the ice devil back to where he keeps his loot and the Dread wraiths. As expected we teleport into the wraiths and began to engage. I got one good hit in on a wraith before Nolan finished off the wraith in front of me, Takkad and/or Kane were also channeling to damage these undead as well, I suspect it was Takkad. Wall of fire normally is frustrating in how it blocks access but in this case he used two of them to wall in the wraith. It made the battle easier. And Kane took the prize as he final was able to successfully banish something, and all of a sudden the ice devil was gone. So much for disintegrate.

The detect scrying cast earlier clearly indicated that someone is scrying. Kane suggested Avia put the sihedron amulet in here haversack. As soon as she did that the scrying stopped. Once again if Karzoug knew where we were why didn’t he send is legions? We found another of those sihedron rings but have to wonder how long until Karzoug start scrying on one of those.

The others had to sleep in late because we were up late. Takkad ask is deity about getting through the barrier. The answer was that you need to appear to be one of Karzoug’s trusted servants. That matched with the Quill proclaiming “The question is not why

he chose her, but why did she allow him to?” make me very concerned about using any of these items.

Again we use windwalk to move around the city in search of move of these rings. Following the lamia we found that there priestess was already high in the mount. We discover a rune giant that could be our next target for a sihedron ring. This is where everything somewhat went sideways. Rigal decided to check out the Giants house so Kane and I went with her and at the same time Trask with Avia following followed a set of rune giant that have just left his home. It is a good thing I went with Kane and Rigal as Trasks stupidity got him spotted. We did learn that the giants seem to be connected telepathically.  The bad news I that the big rune giant was getting his axe from the same room that me, Rigal and Kane were in. Dimension door and we were quickly away before the rune giant caught us. It is unclear if Kane and Rigal would have been able to hide if I wasn’t there, luckily they did not have to find out. Back to most of the party I find that Trask was indeed stupid while in windwalk form and got seen. Avia was about to take them head on and was in the process of transforming. I took the invisibility ring from Takkad in preparation for teleporting to Avia. I turned invisible and the moment Avia became solid I teleported to her, saying “All of the giants are searching and Trask is on his way back to the others. We need to get back to the party. I will guard while you transform. Once you are gaseous head back”. At that I again because invisible guarding to make sure no one attacked while she was transforming. Once she was on her way I transformed with the benefit of being invisible.

Back at the meeting place Kane and the other were making the area look unused. He provided the information on where we were meeting. Trask should feel relived that Avia did not beat him black and blue for being stupid. As soon as Nolan became physical form again he said “Lets go kill a dragon”.

Back to gaseous form and over to the Dragon. We arrive and I immediately began to memorize arcane eye so that we could scout. I had just started when the dragon appeared claiming to be able to smell us and that Karzoug does not employ humans. He was clearly referring to the humans in the party. For my trouble I was hit with lightning and the game was on. He seemed to disappear so Takkad cast true seeing and I cast the no cost see invisibility spell. I could still not see anything but I moved forward next to kane. Down the hall and around the corner I heard Takkad proclaim that the dragon’s were in here! I immediately began moving quickly to get there and on the way caught up with Nolan and Takkad so we DD to the dragon. Seconds later the dragon was dead from the collective attacks of Rigal, Avia, and Nolan. Rigal’s use of the arrow of dragon slaying cause the dragon to howl in pain, followed by Avia’s deadly blows that put down the dragon. Soon after words the younger dragon was put down. I did not even get attempt to hit either of the dragons or the ice devil before that. Lately I am noting more than someone to transport people from place to place.

With the dragons dead we find yet another sihedron ring, ring of invisibility, odd shield ring, and a ring of greater cold resistance. Nolan jumped at the chance to take this ring. In addition we have found the dragons treasure horde. We now have 4 sihedron rings and 3 sihedron amulets.  Since we have discovered that either will get through the barrier it looks as if we need to find at least one more. Although I really don’t what to wear any of those sihedron rings it may be the only way to get in. I really need to create the focus item for Analyze dweomer so I can analyze the barrier to see if there is another way.

 

Sabin Nov 2014 journal

Although we would have to wait until the next full moon we decided to go back to the area today to see if we can find the spot. Around the frozen lake/swamp we search in a unsuccessful attempt to figure out the path to Xin Shalast. Breathing was difficult and it was clearly draining away our strength. Luckily for us rope trick provided relief from the thin air. After spending the day and part of the evening trying to figure out how to find the way we decided to leave.

Trask attempted a teleport but found that it failed. A quick test with dimension door pointed out that there was something blocking teleport out of the area, the same thing likely would prevent teleport back into the area. Since wind walk was gone we decided to each use our own method to get down the mountain. I glanced over to kane and just said “you coming?”. I later found out that the others were still deciding on the best course of action. After the rest of them caught up with us several miles down river we had discovered that Nolan and Rigal were missing. We made it back to the frozen lake again and discovered the two of them trying to get warm and greatly affected by the thin air. Trask created a rope trick and we waited until morning to try once again to get out with a full range of spells. Even with wind walk we looped around a couple of times. We decided that we would all watch and follow Takkad out so that we make sure we are all together. We found a good place nearby for a teleport spot outside the crazy confusion area.

Now that we have scouted the area we have decided to come back the day before the full moon. Most of us have decided to get magic items to help with the breathing. The ioun stones were very expensive and I now feel very poor. Luckily Takkad was kind enough to buy me the focus for “sign of Wrath”, a loan. With time I was able to learn a number of new 6th level spells. Given the lack of funds I had to skip over spells that require the purchase of expensive focus to cast or require expensive materials. Although I could not pass up the spell true seeing even though I cannot afford the 250gp for the spell material. Instead I created 5 scrolls of Blood Money and have to hope that Takkad and Kane are willing to heal the damage and restore the lost point of health. I have determines that I can use Blood Money once for materials less than 500gp without affecting combat abilities. Given the Karzoug’s fondness for transmutation I have made a point to make sure to learn stone to flesh. Trask should still have the scroll so this will make it so that two of us have the ability just in case. The domineering weapons will protect us from 3 attempts to harm us with transmutation so this should just be a backup plan.

With all of the previous scouting the teleport back to the spot just down river of the lake was easy.  >From there we once again Wind walked back to the lake early in the day so that we would have plenty of time before moon rise. Takkad chose to sustain from food for days before moonrise to ensure that at least one person was in the proper state of mind. Turns out that he was able to see the path outlines by the moon light where as the rest of us could not. We found out later that true seeing would have also shown the path. Our new half naked friend was somehow getting information about us from her fey cousins down in the swamp. I clearly don’t understand these fey folk but she guided us down the path until the path narrows into an obvious trap point. Off in the distance we could see what looked to be fire light coming from a cave. Arcane eye showed that the cave was occupied by a group of giants and further checking of the other side showed another group of giants. It looks as if this is a great spot to throw/drop large rock onto anyone that dared to pass. Moving on down the road I found Xin Shalast. The glow of the fires in the city indicated that there are numerous creatures in the city. I could not tell if there are hundreds or thousands in the city. It could also be that they have every burning torch’s so it looked heavily occupied. About this time the arcane eye ended so I was not able to get into the city.

Rigal and Nolan had decided to not purchase magic items to help with the thin air so Trask took them back to the city so that each of them could purchase a necklace of adaptation.  This should have been a quick trip but Trask used up all of his available spell slots trying to successfully teleport to the city and back so they had to stay in the city over night. I don’t want to wait until morning we should be pushing forward but here we are waiting for there return. I have invisibility plus dimension door/teleport that I could use today so maybe I should scout ahead, find out some information. I could be back before the other return. But Karzoug may actually know that we are here so we should keep together.

Sabin’s journal entry for Oct 2014

The cold would had normally cut through the skin like a knife if not for the endure elements. Even with the magic to protect me from the cold I feel the need to get some cold weather clothing just in case. Up here on the cliff we found Karvek’s body, but it was oddly missing his feet. His angry ghost attacked us when we tried to pick up the body. At least this time the battle was quick and we were able to rejoin the party.

Disturbing howling sounds began as an odd snow storm descended on the party.  This howling seemed to be some type of magically affect as members of the party suddenly became fearful of the howling that was coming from several directions. The storm grew worse and at that moment the bard suggested that this could be the work of a powerful Druid. We decided to head back to the cabin to return the body and setup camp. Seemed like a good enough plan but sometime powerful Druids have a way of making one change plans.

The spectral brothers were once again united but in the beginning things did not look good. The brothers however seemed to be stuck in some battle of wills and it appeared that there was nothing that we could do to help the now spectral brothers. I could see the strain on Takkad’s face as he feverishly tried to find a way to free Karvek from his curse. In the end I can only assume that the external influences of the creatures were somehow keeping control of Karvek even in death.

Suddenly the howling was outside the door and I felt a chilling fear begin to take hold and then fade away. Others in the party were not as fortunate as I was and were greatly affected by this howling. If not for the great presence of Avia I surely would have been overwhelmed by this eerie howling. Kane heard what seemed to be something crashing through the window upstairs and Nolan and Takkad rush to the doorway and headed up the stairs. I was still gathering my wits about me but decided to take Avia, Kane, and the Bard to the upper cabin. There were sound the creature(s) that we assume caused the howling. Avia and I moving into the room and begin intense negotiations with the creature. After a couple of rounds of negotiation, the creature took a strong liking to Avia. The creature grabbed Avia and started to head back out the window. Takkad blocked the exit path of the creature allowing for further negotiations. Rigal provided the final hit to end the conflict with this creature. Moving Avia and Myself to the next room where the second creature was trying to take Trask out the widow. I ran out the door and around to flank the creature. Trask was able to get of a breath of fire that appeared to cause discomfort to the creature but still the creature started to fly away. I got a pretty good hit on the creaturee from my side and I think Nolan and/or Avia also landed good hits causing the creature to fall to its death. Although I am not really sure if the creature was even alive!

Down below it looks as if this was the cure for Karvek curse. Silas had been holding out on the missing pages that explained how to get to Xin Shalast. The missing pages dropped to the floor and I am pretty sure that the Bard was drooling as he picked up the pages and began to read them.

This will indeed be a tenuous journey that will require a heavy use of magic. Looking over Takkad’s shoulder I copied this from what he was writing in his notes.

  • Continue traveling up the Kazaron River to the second tributary, the legendary River Avah. 
  • The path is not one for the faint of heart, for there are no trails or banks, and the river boasts cataracts up to three hundred feet high. The waters of the River Avah are icy cold, but never freeze.
  • Follow the river up and the air will grow thin and the sky the deepest blue, until you arrive at the ice mists. At this point you will be very near the roof of the world itself, at the River Avah’s source. 
  • Here you must wait and fast until a night with a full moon. And then the remaining way will open to you.

 

Sabin’s July 2014 Journal

Today is the day we created RuneForge weapons. We gathered around and as the first weapon was energized Karzoug took over the statue and attempted to kill us. Luckily adamantine weapons are great against stone. The statue/golem was dispatched fairly quickly.

Analyzing the new magic on the weapons was very interesting. This should be very helpful in the days to come.

Dominant GreatAxe:

  • +2 moral bonus against transmutation magic, alas this does not stack with heroism.
  • The bane of the weapon affects transmuters and shapeshifters as a bane, provides an extra +2 weapon enchantment (+2 to hit and +2 dmg) and deals an extra 2d6 dmg.
  • Up to 3 times a day my GreateAxe can absorb a harmful transmutation spell. Looking over transmutation spells this should protect me from baleful polymorph, flesh to stone, and disintegrate.

Nolan had a great idea to make a different RuneForge weapon. We carefully gathered materials from sloth using an unseen servant to place in the runeforge with the quick silver. I was trying to figure out weather to place my cold iron axe or one of the other great axes into runeforge. Standing there in front of the runeforge I made the split second decision to not create a second runeforge weapon. The others gained a second runeforge weapon that provided fire resistance and bane to evokers and fire creatures. After creating the second weapon the others seemed to be distracted. The distraction seemed to be related to having two runeforge weapons and diminished combat skills. We found that putting the second weapon into a bag of holding or haversack provided enough distance or separation to relieve the diminished combat skills. Although it doesn’t seem very practical in combat to place one weapon into the bag just so you can get the other out of the bag.

Further looking at the new special ability on my GreatAxe I figured out that the RuneForge special ability takes up 2 of the 5 special ability bonuses that can be added to the GreatAxe. While I hadn’t planned to put any special ability on the GreatAxe until later this is a pretty cool special ability. If there is money and time after leaving runeforge adding the next enchantment bonus is still the right option for my weapon as the next level of regular enchantment bonus allows the weapon to be treated as a cold iron or silver weapon for the purposes of getting through damage reduction. It will take me 9 days and 9000 gold to add this next level of enchantment, more then I expected but I can not really complain about the free +2 special ability.

Nolan’s GreatSword should have the same weapon enchantment level and special abilities as my GreatAxe so I expect he will want to also move to +3 weapon enchantment to get the benefit of getting through DR. Avia asked about upgrading her weapon so I calculated the time and cost to 11,000 gold and 11 days. It just occurred to me to ask Avia how her bonded weapon paladin ability works on magic weapons. With the RuneForge special ability she has used up 4 of the 5 special ability units that can be place on a weapon. >From a standard magic weapon point of view she can now only put a +1 special ability on the weapon.

PAUSE FOR A FEW MOMENTS!!!

It would be really cool if her deity allowed her to ignore the normal special ability limit. That would awesome and the possibilities are endless. If I had that ability

PAUSE FOR A FEW MOMENTS!!!

What am I saying? I could never conform to the ridged rules that a paladin must follow. I am not sure I even understand paladins or the deities that they follow.  I am pretty sure that deities make up there own rules.

Hopefully we have some time after leaving RuneForge to do some upgrades. First on the agenda has to be the Armor upgrades for Kane and myself that were delayed to put the holy special ability on Avia’s sword.

There are going be a lot of challenges ahead of us to prevent the return of Karzoug from returning. As I wrote those words it became apparent that there is likely no way for us to prevent Karzoug’s return. We have to prepare as if we will face karzoug himself and that is a scary thought. With all of the magic that will get thrown around upgrading my ability to resist spells becomew important. Looks like it is time to have Rallo create me a cloak of resistance. Unfortunately I will have to live with just a +3 since that is the highest level of cloak that he is capable of creating. When we get out of here I need to go see about having him create this +3 cloak of resistance.

Pause for a moment look over in Trask’s direction.

Rallo needs to clearly understand that I want a plain looking cloak and not one of those frilly looking bright colored cloaks like the ones Trask is wearing. A plain brown or black cloak would fit the bill.

On the way back from creating our Dominant weapons we paused long enough for Takkad and Kane to attempt Break Enchantment too see if the gold fish change back into people. These are indeed a tough gold fish and it was not going give up easily. As it stands the score is gold fish 2 and Kane/Takkad 0. I considered learning Break enchantment to give another attempt but instead I learned fabricate from the spellbooks. Assuming that we are successful in our combat with the “mistress” this will be very useful for creating crates to hold non-magic items for shrink item. When I get time I also need to test creating master weapons and armor, not that I need anything. Maybe a new masterwork +5 strength composite longbow would be good to have to replace the +3 strength bow I have today.

I have this newly learned spell and an open spell slot. The possibilities are unlimited. I don’t have any of the bronze from the wrath Golem so will have to wait to create boxes to hold books. You know I should have used fabricate to update my journal entry. Well maybe that is a little wasteful but I have to try out the spell. I got it I will create my own manual on killing creatures. So I definitely include some giants, and dragons, and devourers, Lich

Sabin  puts down his journal and uses fabricate to create “Sabin’s guide to killing creatures”.