Far 27th Dravago, 998 Y.K.
With the Displacer Beasts dead and dawn almost there the Crimson Fists get down to the serious business of skinning the dead beasts. After a few hours of hard work the group have five fine pelts (and one badly mangled one).
It is decided to head back to the cave that was spotted earlier to investigate if the Displacer Beasts left anything worth looting. There is no way the child could match the speed the group will make so Ajax and Clian decide to stay at the camp-site to protect him.
*Ajax comments
The child's safety absolutely being the reason Ajax and Clian volunteer for duty which involves them being left alone together.
The rest of the group head swiftly back and find the cave empty of living creatures. They do find the skeletons of two Shifters which they believe must be the two missing scouts that the Shifters of Woodgard had asked them to look out for. Kapek collects their bones and stores them in his Heward's Handy Haversack so they can eventually be returned to their people for proper burial. They also uncover some money and gear which they help themselves to.
This done they quickly return to the camp and split the money up evenly (with Clian getting a share). Then Kapek casts 'Easy Trail' to increase their speed and they head on to their destination.
Good time is made that day and no problems occur (for once). The following day (28th Dravago) passes without event and it is not until around noon the day after, that the Crimson Fists almost inevitably run into trouble.
Sul 1st Dravago, 998 Y.K.
4. The Briarvex Hunting Party
1.00 p.m.
As the group are travelling along they hear crashing noises from ahead. Quickly the group take up ambush positions and wait for the next challenge the Reaches will throw at them.
Soon the waving of the undergrowth indicates creatures moving towards their position but the scrub is too high for the group to make out what they are and they can only grip their weapons tighter and wait. Suddenly the creatures burst into sight, giant stag beetles thundering towards them.
Lorric and Ajax leap from ambush (though of course Lorric's concealment was slightly better than Ajax's ) and bring down the first beetle while Kapek's boomerangs and a mounted charge from Anvil bring down a second.
Suddenly however the plants around them stir unnaturally and twist to entangle the surprised group and Clian lets out a yell of alarm as a weird, green creature emerges to attack her. Kapek identifies it as a
Vine Ogre or
Briarvex.
Quickly tearing themselves free of the grasping plants Kapek, Ajax and Lorric rush over to their left flank to aid Clian. Kapek approaching first is struck a terrible blow by the creature but to his horror the blow is not all the creature can do as the thorns it left in his wound come to vicious life and start to burrow bloody paths into his body.
On the right flank Anvil urges Stampede forward to flank the two remaining Stag Beetles but as he moves round another Vine Ogre strikes at him from ambush and then moves to the centre where Katerina waits unprotected.
One of the Stag Beetles moves to attack the rear of the four engaged with the first Vine Ogre but before it can affect the melee Kapek and Ajax bring the Vine Ogre down. The respite is short-lived as next second two more Vine Ogres appear and the plant life moves again at their command trapping Lorric firmly in their creepers.
In a flurry of blows Ajax kills one of the Vine Ogres and then using his War Shaper ability to stretch his limbs strikes out and kills the Stag Beetle threatening their rear.
Anvil engages the last beetle as yet another Vine Ogre appears. Stampede crushes the last beetle underfoot but Anvil is struck by a Vine Ogre and finds that its thorns will burrow into him as willingly as they will into his fleshy comrades. Meanwhile Clian slays one of the Vine Ogres with her flaming scimitar while Ajax discharges all of the magic for the day of his Healing Belt into her, healing some of her wounds.
Kapek finishes the last Vine Ogre threatening them while Anvil strikes at the last Vine Ogre only to see once again Stampede steal the kill from him by finishing of the creature with a well aimed steel hoof.
*Anvil comments
Anvil does feel as if the kill was stolen from him, indeed he need feels that way, as long as the foe is dealt with it doesn't matter who deals the killing blow as long as everyone feels as if they aided the group in some way. Should there be a tally Stampede is a direct extention of Anvils control and does only what it is directed to do, unlike Kapek's dinosaur mounts.
The group pause for breath and while thorns are dug out from wounds and healing magics applied Clian explains that the Vine Ogres are attracted to shiny objects which they store in pouches in their body. The Crimson Fist need no encouraging to loot the bodies and a fair haul of coin and gems is the result.
As the group heads on again Clian explains that just before nightfall they should reach a river across from which rises an impassable cliff. They will have to cross the river and then move along the base of the cliff until they reach a path around it. She goes on to inform them that they must make this journey as swiftly as possible as giant spiders live in the cliff. These creatures won't come out while the sun is shining directly on them but as the sun moves and the ground is put into shadow they will start to emerge. Therefore tonight they will sleep on the far side of the river and then at dawn cross and move along the cliff's base as fast as possible.
Just as the sun is setting they reach the river and set up camp.
In the night a giant spider passes near the camp but Anvil, who is on watch, decides not to attack it and the creature moves on. When the next day Lorric is informed of this he declares they should have killed the creature, others argue as it wasn't yet threatening them is was the right thing to leave it alone. Arguing the point they move on.
*Anvil comments
Given that the creature appeared to have no desire to approach the camp Anvil didn't feel the need to break the sleep of his companions. Given the debate that happened when Anvil suggested killing the infant and weak goblinoids that worshipped a dark and foul god, Anvil is still trying to work out how the rules of morality work.
Mol 2nd Nymm, 998 Y.K.
5. The Impasse
3.00 p.m.
The journey along the base of the cliff is nerve-wracking, although assured they are safe as long as the sun shines on them the occasional stirring of long spidery legs from cracks in the cliff does nothing to put the Crimson Fists at their ease.
When noon is reached and the sun begins to descend, putting the cliff in ever increasing shadow the feeling gets worse. Kapek decides to take Hurricane up to reconnoitre and Lorric goes with him.
Soon they reach an area where webs have been laid along the ground, to act as trip-wires in the group's opinion. Ajax argues they should leap or fly over it but he is over-ruled and the decision is made to burn the webbing away. Ajax leaps over the webbing so it can be burned from both sides at once.
As the webbing begins to burn the ever observant Lorric notices spiders emerging from the cliff. Ajax smugly points out that this means he was right but Kapek replies that they don't know what would have gone wrong if they'd used his method. Ajax points out that by that reasoning if he was wrong he was wrong and if he was right he was still wrong as other stuff could go wrong. Kapek considers this and agrees with this interpretation.
This doesn't do anything for Ajax's humour nor does the fact that the spiders are soon joined by two Cave Trolls. As the creatures scuttle towards the group Kapek swoops down on Hurricane and he and Lorric open fire on the enemy.
The Crimson Fists troubles are only just beginning though as a strange, slime-covered monstrosity lumbers on to the battlefield. Only Anvil recognizes the creature, identifying it as a Vaporighu, a weird Outsider.
The Crimson Fists are trapped between two waves of spiders so with an acrobatic movement Lorric leaps from Hurricane to engage the spiders attacking the group's rear as Ajax meets and slays the first spider to assail their front.
As the enemies close in on Ajax, one of the spiders spits a stream of sticky webbing at him which he narrowly dodges. Deciding it is time for the big guns Anvil draws his Wand of Fireballs and launches a fireball at the enemy.
*Ajax comments
Ajax hadn't really been convinced that the Wand would be a good investment when Anvil first suggested the group buy it. Now he regards it as vital to the Crimson Fists survival.
*Anvil comments
Anvil feels now more than ever that focusing his training to reach the ability to craft wands is vital to the group, having burned and destroyed more than one of the giant spiders and cave trolls with careful use of the fireballs.
It catches two of the spiders and one of the Cave Trolls but while the spiders perish in the blast the Cave Troll not only survives but instantly begins to regenerate his wounds.
Kapek sweeps across the field, targeting the Vaporighu with a clutch of force boomerangs but to his horror they bounce harmlessly off his slimy skin. His horror only increases as the creature smoothly rises into the air and strikes at Kapek. The Vaporighu also seems to grow in power and stature and the Crimson Fists are struck by a wave of fear but all push down the fear and fight on regardless.
On the ground one of the spiders webs Anvil but this doesn't stop him incinerating it with another fireball, though again the Cave Troll survives the blast. It lumbers forward striking Ajax then seizing him in its powerful grasp and begins to crush him, desperately Ajax plunges his short sword into the creature again and again but still it won't fall.
Up above Kapek strikes at the Vaporighu with his tangat, only slightly harming it and then notices that where its slime has adhered to the blade the tangat is starting to pit and smoke, with a deft twist of the wrist Kapek flicks the slime from his weapon before it is ruined completely.
The Vaporighu it seems has still more tricks up its disgusting sleeve as breaking off from Kapek it flies down to the central melee and breathes a cloud of poisonous acidic gas over friend and foe alike.
Lorric having killed the spider threatening the rear tumbles across the battlefield and rips into the Cave Troll grappling Ajax. More spiders fire their webs missing the nimble Lorric but trapping Katerina, thus denying the group their main source of healing.
Clian slices Anvil free of the webbing that had trapped him and Stampede and he leap forward to engage the unoccupied Cave Troll, dealing it mighty blows and then seeing Stampede (in what is becoming a habit) steal the kill by finishing the beast off with a kick. (Lorric is heard muttering something about developing Horse style Kung-Fu)
The last Cave Troll releases Ajax from its crushing hold and turns and strikes Lorric but is quickly cut down by the newly freed Ajax .
The Vaporighu's lingering breath paralyzes Katerina but Snowdrift, her loyal Unicorn, removes the poison before it can do any more harm.
Lorric leaps high into the air to strike at the flying Vaporighu but his blow bounces harmlessly off it and its slime eats the boot right off Lorric's foot.
Two more spiders scuttle up and web Anvil to the spot, despite also being targetted the nimble Lorric rolls away and the webbing flies harmlessly past him. In a fit of annoyance Anvil blows both the spiders apart with a fireball.
Meanwhile Ajax, Kapek and Lorric have engaged the flying Vaporighu and the last two spiders. Lorrics fist do little to the creature and Ajax's sword hurts it only a little more and every blow that brings the weapon into contact with the creature's slime threatens to be its last. With the situation looking desperate Anvil yells if his comrades are all right with him fire-balling the fight without hesitation they agree and Anvil launches a fireball straight into the heart of the conflict. This finishes the last spiders and seems to actually hurt the Vaporighu.
In a bravo move Lorric leaps high and strikes the Vaporighu with his tankard stunning the creature and causing it to crash to earth.
The Crimson Fist don't waste this opportunity. Anvil fireballs the downed creature, his wondrous back-pack Embattle adds a flask of Alchemist Spark and Ajax a flask of Alchemists fire. It is enough, the creature is transformed into a burning mass of foul smelling flesh and is no more.
*Anvil comments
Anvil is so pleased that he and his aids (Embattle, Guardian and Stampede) are working so well together and have become a very effective force.
*Lorric comments
Whilst Lorric recognises the effectiveness of Anvil's small army of machinery, he is beginning to wonder when Anvil will be creating a mechanical monk, halfling killing machine and warshaper, rendering the rest of the party redundant!
As is by now standard procedure, the Crimson Fist muse on the best method of looting their fallen adversaries. The bodies themselves have nothing, so it is decided to search the crevices in the cliff face from which they issued. Anvil uses his artificer skills to make himself small enough to fit into the spider lairs, then he and Kapek carefully explore them. As they do so, Lorric arranges to burn the webs out of those caves which the intrepid pair are not currently occupying.
Loot is indeed discovered, but more interesting are the crude paintings of volcanoes that adorn the troll caves. The lair of the Vaporighu contains a large volcano-themed icon, with writing above it that Anvil identifies as either Abyssal or Infernal. Since he can read neither of these tongues he simply copies the symbols down for later translation.
They emerge, and the group presses on, noting movement still in the forbidding rock face as they pass. By evening the ground above them has dropped dramatically and the group is relieved to be out of the brooding shadow of the Impasse.
Zol 3rd Nymm, 998 Y.K.
Having crossed over to the top of the Impasse, the Crimson Fist make their way through broken, rocky terrain and thick woods. Clian assures them that the going will be easier tomorrow, but does mention that they will be taking a slight southerly detour in order to avoid a dangerous keep, which apparently dates back to the Daelkyr Wars. This keep seems to fascinate Lorric.
Wir 4th Nymm, 998 Y.K.
6. The Ruined Keep
As they travel through more open woodland, the Crimson Fist do observe a blasted area to the north, the vegetation blackened and dead, and the wildlife strangely missing. From their vantage point atop Hurricane, Kapek and Lorric see that this area is about two miles in radius. At the centre is a large cylindrical keep, surrounded by smaller towers. Despite Lorric's best efforts, he cannot persuade either Kapek or Hurricane to go any closer.
Zor 5th Nymm, 998 Y.K.
7. The Hollow Oak
The woods get denser again through the day, and the ground becomes softer underfoot. By the time the Fist are ready to camp, it is distinctly boggy.
During his watch, Ajax spots several figures approaching and warns first Anvil, then the others. The newcomers, mainly shifters but also including two humans and an elf, wait on the outskirts of the camp, their weapons held above their heads in what the group feels is a gesture of peace. Their faces are covered in markings, which Clian identifies as those of the Ashbound, a militant Druidic sect violently opposed to civilisation and the use of magic.
The leader, a shifter, identifies himself as Stresk Lightstep and his group as the Hollow Oak. With him is his second-in-command, a female shifter called Zelfra Blackfur. He asks leave to join the camp and share the hospitality of the fire.
This is greeted with some suspicion from the Fist, especially from Anvil who is naturally concerned about their anti-magic attitude. Lorric asks Stresk if these beliefs are going to cause any problems while the two groups are together, and the shifter replies that they are hunting larger prey. Kapek, weary of this distrustful attitude and mindful of his people’s traditions that call for solidarity between travellers in the wilds, invites the Hollow Oak to join them. The halfling does not relax his guard though.
However, the evening passes in cheer and good fellowship. Stresg explains that the prey they seek is a group called the Burning Tree, members of a maverick sect of the Children of Winter, known as the Nightbringers. These people they believe to have taken up residence in Six Falls Ravine and, more disturbingly, may have awoken an entity called Mistwing. This dragon, reputed to have been “formed of darkness” when it flew out of the Gloaming, has been dormant for around two hundred years, and was centuries old even then.
Lorric asks about the Keep, and learns some of its lore. Oramellyx Keep is assumed to have been a battleground during the Daelkyr Wars, and was under the command of a Beholder. This creature fought against something that came from the canyon area, but the nature of this foe remains unknown. It was, however, not the dragon Mistwing, as the Daelkyr Wars were millennia ago.
*Lorric comments
Lorric did enquire if the Ashbound were prepared to offer a reward if we killed the burning tree first, and as they were reluctant to accept, suggested a wager instead. (Which they also, unfortunately, refused.)
The Crimson Fist are also made aware of a rumour from the south of the Eldeen Reaches, near Droaam, that a creature called a “Tarresque” has been sighted, travelling east towards Breland with a citadel on its back.
Far 6th Nymm, 998 Y.K.
8. The Sacred Wellspring
The Hollow Oak leave before most of the Crimson Fist are awake. The day is quiet and easy, and as evening approaches the group become aware of a feeling of calm and tranquillity such as they have not felt in a long time. Clian explains that they are approaching a place sacred to the forces of nature.
The source of this serenity is a clearing in the woods, with a pool of crystal-clear water and a moss-encrusted monolith. The group are warned not to offend the spirits of this place, and not to touch the water, although drawing it from the pool is permitted as long as one is not greedy. The water has healing properties if consumed within the grove, and even if it is taken away, it retains some of the blessings of nature. Kapek asks Anvil for a vial, which he carefully and reverentially fills with water from the pool. Lorric also takes this opportunity to fill his waterskin.
The group camp near the clearing. Clian says that she and Ajax will head off to scout the route to the ravine, which is now only a day or so away. If they are not back by morning, the group should press on along the trail and the two shifters will catch them up.
During the night, Anvil is as usual hard at work crafting items for the group, when he is surprised to have his technique criticised by the child. This is the most animation shown by the child, who seems to be weakening again after a period of stability, for quite a while, and Anvil seems happy to discuss crafting with him. After the warforged sees the merits of the child’s suggestions and adopts them, the child loses focus again, responding to Lorric’s concern with the single word “ill” before relapsing into his usual state. Lorric, mistaking it for “ale” offers the child some beer.
Sar 7th Nymm, 998 Y.K.
The day passes with out event and the group make good time.
The Crimson Fist then engage in a long debate about the best way to cross to the island. Many ideas are proposed and discarded before a decision is arrived at. It is decided to fly across to the island at top speed not engaging the Invisible Stalkers. Kapek and Lorric will fly on Hurricane and Anvil will cast 'Fly' on Stampede and transport himself, Katerina, Ajax and the child. (Ajax leaves Ranger signs to tell Clian what they have found out and what they intend to do).
