16/7 Funeral service of Lanikar, elf scout slain by a weird dragon-thing.
17/7 Cailyenna meets with Ilian Snowmantle, chief priest-monk of Corellon.
18/7 Travel by boat with Killiar Arrowswift to flooded ruins of Rhest at dusk. Attack lizardman hut on lakeshore, kill 6. Row into ruins under cover of night, attack belltower, kill 6 hobgoblin veterans and a bladebearer. Short rest in bell tower, spying on the old town hall.
While you are short resting in the bell tower, from the top of the tower Egg spots two ogres emerge from the top floor of the town hall and head down the two narrow stairways to the floating walkway, while two more emerge from behind the building and head upstairs - so at least 4 of them, all wearing crude iron & carrying heavy mauls. Looks like the ogres are on guard, but they don't seem especially alert (ogre Passive Perception is 8!)
Meanwhile Tess finds a thin rusty dagger impaled upwards through the rickety table she was hiding under, with 3 dead frogs impaled through the dagger point. It seems non-magical.
"A rickety wooden table and three chairs round out the room’s cramped furnishings.
A long dagger has been thrust up through the table from below, its thin blade protruding from the table’s center. No less than three dead frogs are impaled on the blade."
The hobgoblin veterans and their leader Korkulan have been staying here for the past few weeks. There isn’t much to do, so when not on guard duty the hobgoblins take turns playing games at the table. Their latest favorite game is one they invented called Stupid Frog, in which the hobgoblins take turns trying to impale frogs on a dagger blade stuck in a table. Most games of Stupid Frog are spent
trying to catch frogs that prove too smart for the hobgoblins and leap in unanticipated directions...
NPCs - Tiri Kitor
Killiar Arrowswift (m), Battle Hunter of the Tiri Kitor - fancies Tessele (PC)
Lanikar Nightshadow (m) - elf owlrider scout slain by dragon beast (RIP)
Sellyria Starsinger (f) - Speaker (leader) of the Tiri Kitor for 200 years, wise and venerable Druidess, friends with Bear the Druid (PC)
Trellara Nightshadow (f) - young High Singer of the Tiri Kitor, grieving for her brother Lanikar, friendly with Cailyenna (PC), who performed at Lanikar's remembrance service.
Ilian Snowmantle (m) - leader of the Monks of Corellon, and warder of Cailyenna's stepdaughter Cirila.
NPCs - Red Hand
Regiarix - a black dragon rumoured to lurk in the flooded ruins of Rhest, may have killed several Tiri Kitor including the father & brother of Malfurion (PC).
Saarvith - goblin name, identity unknown
Korkulan - hobgoblin bladebearer commander of the Bell Tower (RIP)
____________________________________
It is about a year ago that in making research at the national archives for my Histories of the Sun King, I by chance met with the Memoirs of Master Egg of the Brindol Irregulars, printed by the Red Mage of Dennovar. A principle work of that period. The title attracted my notice; I took the Memoirs home with the permission of the Librarian and devoured them.
It is not my attention to make an analysis of the curious work, but to satisfy myself by sharing them with my readers. The work itself, a picture of those times.
Alexander D.
15.7.1491 The Blackfens.
A monstrous beast half-crocodile, half-dragon springs from the swamp, we slay the brute swiftly. Just then Brother Bear appears, he calls it a razor beast and tells us the swamp has become infested with the brutes. He has been searching for us for several days.
Some splendid owl riding elves of the Tiri Kitor swoop down with my dear friend Uuah, the Copper Dragon. They are led by a chap named Killya Arrowswift and looking for missing fella by the name of Nightshadow. I pointed out that the slain razor beast might be the poor Nightshadow chaps last resting place, so Arrowswift sets right to it, opening up the razor beast's belly with his hatchet and rummaging through its smoking guts, where by the blazes he finds the signet ring of Nigthshadow (deceased). Case closed. One of the Owl ridders looked as if he was going to be sick, so I gave him one of my winning smiles.
At first, the elves seemed a little reluctant to parlay. It was just as Mother Superior Tuzhna from the foundling home had told me "strangers don't take kindly to those with drow blood." But after flashing a few more winning smiles and a short discussion about the weather. We were all excellent chums. So, I showed Arrowswift the Hobber invasion plans, to gain some trust you see, and wouldn't you know it he immediately points out a reference to a goblin leader in the area, Saarvith. Now we're onto something here thinks I, and that's when I notice, the usually chipper Cailyenna, quiet and keeping her distance from the Elves, I notice the suspicious glances the from the Tiri Kitor toward her. Bad blood, no doubt. That's when this Arrowswift chaps pipes up with talk about Crinti, and seemingly including me in the gist of it. Lathanders hairless sack, he might have something there because Cailyenna and I do have a passing likeness to each other.
Anyway, Brother Bear convinces the elves to take us to the Starsinger, the leader of the Elves to parlay. We are to fly there on the giant owls! Malfurion, Shar-Teel, and Motter remain with the skiff, while Bear, Cailyenna, Tes, Uuah and I leave to parlay with the Kiri Kitor.
The giant owls are magnificent creatures, and flying is an absolute treat, I thoroughly recommend it. We double up with the elves, Tes the showoff, takes off her helmet to flourish her locks in the wind, instantly gaining the attention of Arrowswift, who subsequently follows the ex-pirate around like a puppy. Off in the distance, we spy the sunken ruins of Rhest. Once the capital of the Rhestian Empire, now just old stones sunk in a swamp. In no time at all, we reach the Tiri Kitor settlement, where several clans have gathered on wooded ground rising out of the wetlands.
At the camp Brother Bear immediate secures an audience with Starsinger, who reminds me of dear old Mother Superior. Bear speaks for us, and the elves quickly share details of attacks they have suffered at the fangs of the razor beasts. They think the creatures are coming from the ruins of Rhest, a place taboo to the tribe. When we share the Hobber invasion plans we took at Keep Vraath with the elf council, Arrowswift again points out the goblin name Saarvith written over the location of Rhest. We all agree that there is a strong possibility the monster attacks on the elves and the goblins invasion plans are linked. We decide to investigate ruins. The reason the region is forbidden to the elves is that the ruins are home to home to a black dragon named Regiarix. Indeed, Malfurions brother and father both died at the claws of that Wyrm.
Cailyena requests of the Starsinger to see her stepdaughter. They agree to await the return of Ilian Snowmantle, an old mucker of Malfurion, before seeing the child. We pay our respects to Nightshadow's sister Trellara Nightshadow, she invites us to his funeral, which will take place upon Snowmatles return a few from now. We decide to rest, resupply, and wait for Snowmantle's return and attend Nightshadows funeral. At Lankiar Nightshadow's funeral Cailyenna sings a haunting dirge that the elves appreciate. The day after Cailyenna and Snowmantle meet to Malfurion's niece/daughter's well-being.
The day after that it's back to the adventuring business, and business is good…
18.7.1491 Blackfens.
We travel by skiff across the Blackfens. Killa Arrowswift guides us to the flooded ruins of Rhest, occasionally looking at where we are going. We arrive at dusk. My favourite time of day, the end of it.
Arrowswift tells us the lake is guarded by an encirclement of Lizardfolk camps. The lizardfolk have set up guard posts of 6-10 warriors. Arrowswift leads us to a creek, he believes is the least well defended. The swamp is hot and dark, it feels glorious. We agree to 'takeout' the sentry post, then ascertain a route deeper into the sunken ruins. Brother Bear uses his powers to camouflage us as we disembark from the skiff and creep toward the lizardfolk sentinels. The party moves to the front of the shack acting as a guard post, while I slip through the muck into the back of the hut. I can hear the lizards talking about their master Regiarix the dragon as I sneak into the shelter. Outside, Teselle drops her shield. Upon hearing the clang, the guards rush out of the shack to attack the party. The fight is over soon enough, Tes and Uuah taking the majority of the guards down quickly.
From the vantage point of the sentry post, finally, we lay eye upon the ruins of Rhest, the fallen city we have learned much about. It is an eerie place; the ruins of the city lie beneath approximately 20-25 feet of water. The city guardians flooded the plains in a last-ditch effort to turn back a goblin invasion many years ago. A few large buildings rise from the lake, many of the smaller ruins wholly submerged. We make out what looks like an old bell tower, surrounded by crude wooden pontoons and beyond it what must have been the government building or town hall, the premises fallen into disrepair and again is covered in the same crude wooden pontoon as the bell tower and some scaffolding. Not work of Lizardfolk, this is Hobber work, I'd bet Uuah's honour on it. It is further evidence of the scale of the invasion. With that in mind, I ask Arrowswift to go and fetch the rest of our party Malfurion, Motter, and Shar-Teel.
Brother Bear wisely performs a water breathing ritual on all of us. What a brouhaha, he blows water over us through a hollow reed using his left nostril. It hadn't worked properly on me apparently, so he insisted I fully immerse myself in the river for several minutes while the party threw scented flowers at me, when he finally let me out of the water, he beat me with rushes. With all the mud has washed off my clothes, everyone can see how threadbare they are. I skulk off like a tom cat thrown in the river.
Covered by darkness and Brother Bears spell of unseeing we punt quietly across the lake to the Bell Tower. Before long we are close enough to see Hobbers moving around inside, they have made crude repairs to the tower including a wooden pontoon surrounding the tower, it looks as if the bell is still intact on the upper level. One of the guard's spots Teselle and we rush the tower. Bear, Uuah, Tes and yours truly rush in catching the Hobbers off guard for a few seconds, one goes down quickly. But it's not enough, Hobbers occupy both levels of the tower and include a Blade Bearer. Bear summons, a Bear (would you believe it) and a wolf and they tear into the guards with great zeal. Tes get off one of her Timotei Thunderwaves, then goes down as veteran archers shoot her from the upper level, just then the Blade Bearer moves in to deliver the coup de gras.
I thought she was done for.
Cailyana and Bear rush to her aid with healing magic. I step over her unconscious body and bash the Hobber Blade Bearer to the floor with my shield. At which point the summoned Bear (not to be confused with Brother Bear) and Wolf rip into the scoundrel. More arrows rain down from above, this time I am the pincushion, the mithril breastplate works a treat stopping them from piercing my significant inside bits, but the shots are so savage that they deflect into my not completely insignificant bits like my arms and legs, the shabby old clothes are hanging together by threads, a little bit like me. Ouch, that hurt.
Tes, healed pulls herself together and crawls under a table, from there she silences the upper level, brilliantly stopping the Hobbers from raising the alarm by striking the bell and from shouting out orders to each other. I take a leaf out of her book, remove myself from the kill zone and hop onto the pontoon outside. Then I climb up the outside of the tower, to spring out onto the Hobbers on the roof. I stab one through the leg and try to knock the other down the hole, but I miss. Bear spider climbs up the other side and zaps one with some nasty swamp poison, that's we he said after the fight, but to me, it looked like he just spat in the Hobbers eye with a big greenie. Then they turn on me with blades, stab, stab, stab, the Hobbers slice me up good, but I hang in there long enough to run one through and bash the other down the hole in the bell tower. The Hobber sinks very quickly in heavy armour. Tadah! I slump to floor, eggsausted.
Meanwhile, inside, the Blade Master Boss has now crawled to the top of the stairs stands only to be torn down again, forever this time devoured and the final Hobber veteran run down. Tes and I use most of the bandages, while Cailyana sings a soothing melody, which does make all of us feel a little better. Healing magic is passed around, and we take stock.
From the top of the Tower, I can see the Town Hall 700-800' away surrounded by a similar but larger pontoon and covered in scaffolding, including crude stairs. Two pairs of ogres appear, one pair on the top level, and one on the bottom level. Both patrols use the external stairs. Armed and armoured the brutes pose a significant physical threat, but they are stupid and unlikely to spot skilled interlopers, which makes me think of Tes. I find her under the table playing with frogs impaled on a rusty dagger.
"Tes" says I, "Fancy a game of stupid frog?"
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