The Lighthouse

Eyre 14th, Sar, 998 Y.K.

Around 10.00 a.m. the group have climbed the steep valley side and arrive at the Lighthouse on the southernmost point of the Brelish coast.

They find that there is a small barn and a couple of rough shacks along with the solid building of the lighthouse itself around a cobbled courtyard.

The Barn (4)

This large building has a sliding, wooden door which stands open a fraction, darkness lies beyond. Strange gasps and wheezes can be heard in the darkness beyond.

The group slide the door open and enter.

The chicken coop has been decimated by a fox. Feathers and blood coat everything. The cattle are weak and cannot walk, rats have begun to gnaw at their ankles and sides, and their breath now comes in laborious rasps. The pig pen has been broken open from the inside and now lies empty as do the horse stalls. The sheep and goats are not well, but not beyond hope, if let out to graze they would recover in a couple of weeks.

A ladder leads up from the chicken pen to the hayloft (5), the darkness up there is silent.

Winterfeed for the livestock was kept here, now several dire rats have moved in, the group rapidly despatch the nests of the vermin.

The cattle are let out to graze and although there seems to be little hope for their survival, the group seem concerned, perhaps moreso than for any other living thing they have come across.

The Kennel (1)

Deep growling comes from the dark entrance, eyes glow green as they catch the light, and teeth bared glisten with saliva. A large dog chained here is in a sorry state, it is half starved, diseased and rat-bitten.

Once more the group display an extraordinary act of mercy and cast healing magics on the dog after feeding it.

They continue searching through the out-buildings before entering the Lighthouse.

The Tool-shed (2)

This is where most day to day tools are kept, gardening equipment, paint, oil, glue etc... Outside the shed are several barrels of some kind of oil or fat (most likely whale).

The Wood-shed (3)

A gentle thumping comes from this area as the wind blows the open door, as the wind builds the door becomes more frantic in its banging.

The wood supplies here are for the home fires as well as any other bonfire they may be having. It is well stocked and ready for winter.

A working water pump stands just outside this shed.

Into the Lighthouse

Living Room (6)

The front door is unlocked and leads through a small entrance room where cloaks are hung and dirty shoes have been discarded. A second door leads you into the living room.

The first thing that hits you with this room is the smell of rot and decay. As your eyes adjust to the dim light seeping through the shutters you can see a large, reasonably well furnished room. A large fireplace would have kept this place warm even on the bitterest nights.

Two doors leave the room, one to the tower and one to the kitchen, a set of stairs lead up and a trapdoor sits in the floor between the kitchen and tower doors.

The smell comes from the body of a man, his face is frozen in a look of sheer terror even though he is obviously many days dead, a short sword lies close by, but it has not even been drawn. Vermin have been nibbling at the body.

Kitchen (7)

In this room foodstuffs were obviously being stocked for winter, pickles, salted meats and smoked fish line the shelves of a pantry. Some of the fresh foods are beginning to rot. A half full cauldron of mouldy old cold stew hangs over a long dead fire.

Tower (8)

Stairs lead up and up and up. The top of the tower is some 50 feet above the rest of the house.

At the top is a small round room with a powerful telescope, a comfortable chair, a hearth and a selection of reading materials.. A ladder leads up to the beacon platform.

The Master Bedroom (9)

The door to this room is open. Immediately facing the entrance is a large double bed, a figure lies beneath the covers moving softly and rhythmically as if sleeping soundly.

Under the covers is the body of a woman, in her open stomach cavity 2 dire rats chew the remains of her organs.

After finding an item that Anvil identifies as "Hulbar's Hat of Infidelity" (a hat of diguise) the group (Loric in particular) take some time for frivolities, practising changing appearances.

The Children’s Room (10)

This bedroom has two small beds against one wall, wooden toys and dolls are heaped in one corner and clothing is heaped in another.

The Chart Room (11)

This room is filled with star charts, books on weather, navigation etc... All are stamped with the Brelish Royal Crest (indicating ownership). These would be useful to a sailor or traveller but not many others. They are the property of the crown and if claimed by those not authorised it is an arrestable offence.

The Cellar (12)

Ales, fruits, fresh and cured meats, pickles, smoked fish, flour, salt etc...pack shelves in this cold room, stocked for a long winter, barrels and crates are stacked on the floor. Some of the food has been spoiled by rats but most is ok, some has recently been disturbed, jars opened and the like.

Unknown tracks in some spilled flour coming from a large cupboard whose door stands slightly ajar. Mostly Dire rat, but one set of small clawed footprints, they appear to be webbed footprints.

The cupboard was home to many jars of herbs and spices, most are now spilled and broken. In the back of the cupboard is a hole bored through the wood from the earth beyond, the wood looks as if it were clawed through. The tunnel beyond is about 2 ½ feet in diameter and extends beyond 15 feet. This heads to the tunnels. (area 13)

Beneath the Lighthouse

The Collapsing Room (13)

As the tiny runnel is crawled along the walls change from earth to stone and it opens out into a small chamber filled with rubble and debris. The walls in this room seem quite recently hewn.
This room appears to have been designed to collapse at the pull of a rope, sealing the tunnels off. A simple strut held the ceiling. A rope was pulled from the shaft, removing the strut and thus bringing down the roof. But the collapse was not complete.
Ahead a shaft leads down a vertical drop of 40 feet before another slick tunnel leads another 80 feet down at a 40 degree angle. A thin trickle of water seeps into the tunnel through the rock wall, the slope then ends in a 20 foot drop onto solid rock.

At the bottom, the group find themselves in a tunnel that leads away some fifty feet before opening out into a larger opening.

The Main Shaft (14)
Before you a wide shaft some 50 feet across drops away into darkness below and narrows to about 10 feet wide some 80 feet above you. A small platform juts out from the tunnel and from here a ladder leads upwards and an iron staircase spirals down into the darkness. Two thick ropes lead from the darkness above into the darkness below in the centre of the shaft.

The Pulley Room (15)

The ladder for getting here goes under an overhang making it very difficult to access this room.

The ladder creaks precariously as you climb into this room, as you reach the overhang you feel the steel shift a little making you pause involuntarily; it is a long way down.

The sickly sweet odour of decay drifts faintly down from the portal above.

As you reach the top of the ladder a small room becomes visible, a large pulley is built above the hole and several barrels stand in one corner, these contain grease and a mop for greasing the axle.

Kapek scouts out this room and after a terrifying climb, which involved him nearly slipping from the ladder, he notices several shapes clinging to the ceiling, wracking his brains he desperately tries to recall what they are, with sudden clarity he remembers what they are - Darkmantles. Quickly and silently he begins to descend the ladder, as Anvil see his return he shouts, "What is up there?"

Kapek freezes in his tracks as he hears a sound from above like the flapping of sheets in the wind, he clings to the ladder with pure desperation and tries to become one with the shadows as the first of the creatures comes driftring down into the shaft.

The combat is fast and furious, Kapek tries to get upward into the pulley room where there is solid rock beneath his feet, but the constant assault of the half-fiend darkmantle makes it difficult for him.

Anvil umbues an arrow with light so that the party can penetrate the darkness, but the other three darkmantles render it useless with their darkness ability and head toward the light sources on the stairs.

Eventually the creatures are defeated and Kapek returns to safety, chastising Anvil for his impatience and instructing that until the scout returns, the area is not considered safe.

*Anvil Comments
Anvil is truly sorry for his action and is pleased that no one was killed by his action. He is now much more aware of his need to be able to be steathly and mentally makes note to make a device to aid him in this way. Once more he also reminds himself that he has no need to be hasty and feels that maybe he has been watching the way in which his friends rush around and his taken the bad elemental of that in his own actions, "Act swiftly when danger is present and act with thought when it is not " he thinks to himself.

The party head down the stairs.
About 50 feet down from the tunnel that they entered the shaft they find a tunnel that heads into the rock face. They head into trhe tunnel with Anvil leading the way searching for traps, it is not long before he finds one, a trip-wire that triggers a rack of spikes to swing from the ceiling. He disables it and they continue along the passage.

Another 100 feet along the passage widens into a small cavern, Anvil detects a false floor and several small figures can be seen hiding among boulders to the sides of the room. He addresses them and a high pitched yapping voice replies. Kapek recognises the voice as draconic and a kobold comes into view.
The Kobold asks what they are doing here and explains that this is their territory, he makes them aware that although they have been into the lighthouse foraging it was not them who dug the tunnel, it was those from below. He tells the group that they must come with him to meet their leader.

The group are led through several hundred feet of tunnels, avoiding many traps on the way before the passage opens out into a huge cavern that appears to be an excavated seam. Within this cavern is a shanty town, bustling with kobolds, loose wooden structures clinging to every available surface. The smell of cooking and smoke fills the air, they are led though the huts to a larger structure where an important looking kobold sit on a veranda flanked by guards and dire weasels. He is dressed in robes adorned with feathers and strange plant materials. He introduces himself as King Gribdel.

They are told that they are free to leave, but if they wish to pass back this way they must help the kobolds. They are told that in the darkness below there is a creature that the have barricaded in, this creature they call the "Lurker", it was once a spider but now it has been tainted by the darkness below into something worse. He can also offer them a cloak in return for this favour.

He lets them know that the things that dug the tunnel came from the darkness below and are warped versions of whatever they once were. One of his scouts tries to describe the creatures in more detail but is vague, Kapek offers the scout the Hat of Diguise that they found in the lighthouse so that he may show the group what the creatures looked like, after several tries he succeeds although he has difficulty with the tentacles that protrude from their shoulders.
It is a goblinoid figure with rough fur growing through its blue scaley hide. A film of black swims across its eyes.
King Gribdel informs the group that his people have lived here for over 250 years and they found that these old mineral seams were a good place to live as fresh water gathers at the base of the seam. It appears that the people who dug theses mines were after a mineral known as violet garnet.

The group are told that another 200 feet down the shaft there is a second kobold colony and a guide will take them that far so that they are not attacked, after that it is another 300 feet or so before they complex begins. They will know when they reach the lair of the "Lurker" as it is well marked.

And so the group move into action once more, heading downward into the shaft's depths.
As promised they are given a guide who leads them as far as the next kobold camp, once there he tells them that he will travel no further.

Some 300 feet further down the shaft the group come across a passageway. The walls and floor of this tunnel are well crafted, the floor is cobbled and the walls are expertly rendered. The group head in, in search of answers...



The Slave Level

The Slave Master (16)

This room was obviously once very plush. Rich linens cover a large well sprung bed, a large chest of drawers stand in one corner.
As the group investigate Anvil disturbs a nest of monsterous centipedes in the chest of drawers, the vermin are quickly despatched before they cause any problems.

The Communal Slaves Quarters (17)
This room has the floor covered with straw and many sacks stuffed with similar fibrous material. The stench of stale excrement is still strong here; you can only guess how it smelled whilst occupied. The walls are covered in graffiti, mainly in the goblin language, it appears as though this room was home to perhaps 40 goblins.

The Slave Cells (18)
Each of these cells is a tiny room with 2 small bunks, they were obviously meant for smaller than average humanoids. Graffiti helps to identify the inhabitants as Dwarves.
One of the bunks holds the skeletal remains of a short humanoid. There is nothing of worth to be found here.

*Anvil comments
Anvil feels some sadness that the Dwarven people had been imprisoned here, although his time with them has only been small he feels some affinity with them and their skill at stone working and crafting armour and weapons. He doesn't show any sign of it upon his face and continues on searching the cells.

The Manacles (19)
In this room there two sets of five huge rings set in circles in the floor, each ring has a length of heavy chain attached and what appear to be huge manacles on the end.
Claw marks etched into the floor around these rings are identified by Ajax as perhaps Umber hulks, huge subterranean aberrations.

The Prison Cells (20)
Thick plant growth fills the corridor ahead; beautiful yellow and purple flowers throughout the greenery emit a heady entrancing aroma.
The group identify the plant as a Yellow Musk Creeper, although they are unaware of any properties the plant has other than the intoxicating smell of it's blossom.
As they enter the corridor several door to the cells open and shambling figures move towards the group, clumps of plant growth sprouting from their bodies. They appear to have once been an adventuring party. The plant begins to fill the area with puffs of dusty pollen, Kapek feels a light-headed intoxication come over him but shrugs off the effects, the rest of the group, other than Anvil, move back out of range of this cloud of spores. The "zombies" are despatched quickly, Anvil remaining in the corridor while the rest of the group attack from a distance where possible. Eventually the plant and it's minions are destroyed and the party make the decision to burn the remains for fear of the spores contaminating anything or regrowing.

*Anvil comments
Anvil wishes the group had listened and he had just moved forward to burn the plant before anyone else was put in any kind of danger, Anvil doesn't like the thought of of the minds of his friends being effected after the trouble caused when Katerina had her mind altered.

The Pit (21)
Beyond the door the corridor slopes steeply down, a 30 foot slide, the sides and floor of this tunnel show signs of things sliding down, scraping their way, perhaps not of their own will....
It emerges into a room with smooth walls the floor is filled with bones, mostly dwarf, gnome and goblinoid. A roughly hewn tunnel leads out of the west wall; it is as though it was clawed through by something particularly powerful.

Water Cavern (22)
The group follow the rough tunnel on its winding path through the dark rock, unsure of the reason why it is not a more coherent path, a few moments later the sound of crashing water can be heard and the sight of a large insectoid creature can be made out staring into the turbulent waters.
This natural cavern has a spectacular waterfall plummeting in to the north and a turbulent whirlpool close to the walkway.
The umber hulk continues to look out over the water, perfectly still and seemingly unresponsive to the presence of the group. After some debate it is decided that Kapek should head into the cavern and see if there is further passage through the room. He heads in....
Once in the chamber he notices that the umber hulk is covered in a thick layer of dust, albeit damp from the spray of the waterfall, he nudges the creature that is still showing no response to his presence and with a sound of creaking and clattering the carapace falls to pieces, whatever flesh it once had is long gone.
The party discuss whether or not it is worth trying to find passage through the river but decide that it is too fast flowing to be safe.
With no further options in this part of the complex they head out to the main shaft and once more begin their descent.

*Anvil comments
Anvil for once wishes his size and bulk weren't causing an issue and begins thinking of some ways in which he can use magic and his artificer skills to craft something to help overcome this problem should it happen again.

Another hundred feet or so down the shaft and the group come across another passage, they enter.

The Workers Level

The Violet Garnet (23)

The door to this room is crudely painted with a picture of a gemstone, the word "Violet" painted above, and the word "Garnet" painted below.

Several rotten barrels lie overturned here alongside tables and benches. Occasional broken bottles or mugs litter the floor. This place looks like some type of inn or tavern. A huge symbol of The Mockery is painted over the bar.

The Store (24)
Barrels line the walls, this used to be where the ales and spirits were kept, and a hot stew would have been permanently bubbling over a fire-pit in the centre of the room with a small crack in the ceiling acting as a natural chimney.
Now this room is home to something else, a small bluish goblin like creature covered in scales and fur with tentacle protruding from its shoulders moves to attack regardless of Anvil's attempts to communicate.
As the group watch the thing changes form, becoming a writhing mass of tentacles, occasionaly a clawed hand or foot can be seen within the mass and as they fight the strange abomination its head shoots forth from the mass to bite at its attackers, the "thing" is killed and it reverts back to its original form.

*Anvil comments
Anvil is shocked by the changes that fleshy forms can alter into.

The Arena (25)
This room has a large set of circular doors on the floor some 20 feet across. They look as though they are reinforced so that they can be walked upon, auditorium style seating lines the walls.
The party lift one of the great wooden doors in the floor and find themselves peering down a deep and exceptionally smooth walled shaft. Anvil surmises, drawing upon his knowledge of architecture and engineering that the wall is so smooth due to the fact that whoever created it spent a lot of time and sand-paper on the project...

The group leave the Violet Garnet and head down the stairs they found near the entrance.

On the first level that the group find they can hear the sound of running water directly ahead, they head straight for this room to find a bath that has a constanly renewed water source as an underground watersource has been tapped into, fillling the bath which overflows into a grate around its base and is presumable drained back into the water flow.
Within this room they find three more of the strange tentacled goblin-creatures and one slightly larger rests in the bath.

The creature in the bath conjures a cloud of foul smelling vapour into the room, Anvil steps forward and begins the assault, the creatures take on the form of their amorphous mass of tentacles. The creatures fall one by one

As the combat continues several more of the creatures begin to move in from the corridors behind them, Ajax covers the rear of the group from the corridor with Katerina but sustains several particularly bad wounds from their viscious bite attacks. Katerina keeps the shifter on his feet but as the fight progresses the creature from in the bath moves down the corridor trying to get away from the party's assault and begins to attack Katerina as she is blocking its escape, the rest make chase, except for Lorric who falls foul of the vapours and begins vomitting. Ajax clears the rear of attackers giving Katerina the chance to get out of her predicament and the leadr becomes trapped between Ajax and Anvil. After a prolonge melee the thing dies at the hand of Kapek who has been attacking from behind Anvil with his sharrash.

*Ajax Comments
Ajax is very impressed with the mettle of the spell casting goblin, standing as he did against the entire group at once. He carefully takes his ear and affords it pride of place among his collection.

Once the combat is over the group search the rest of the level, determining that these were some kind of dormitories. Heading down the stairs they find three more levels of these small simple rooms, each having a rough wooden bed and occasionally a few personal belongings, judging by the apearance of these rooms they seem to have once housed dwarves, now the goblin-creatures have taken up residence in some of them.

Finding no further clues the group head back to the main shaft and begin their spiralling descent into the darkness.

About another 100 feet down the shaft the atmosphere tangibly changes. An overwhelming feeling of nausea, fear, doubt and uncertainty fills the senses. The air itself seems to thicken and coalesce around you, the darkness seems to hold sentience and you cannot shake the pervasive feeling of being watched. Nightmares sit on the periphery of your waking thoughts distracting your every action.
(All players are now at -1 attack/damage/AC.)

The Winch Level

The Main Shaft (Platform Room) (30)

In this chamber the stairs descend an overhang; at this point they become steel grill platforms hanging from the ceiling, an unnerving sight if one were to look at his feet as the entire shaft can be seen below.

A narrow bridge crosses the shaft here. Above the bridge a huge axle can be seen with 2 huge wooden pulley wheels. Ropes from one wheel lead up, the other lead down.

A set of steps lead steeply up to the platform that appears to go up.

Scattered around the floor are several skeletal remains and half eaten corpses most seem to be quite old, but others are much fresher, perhaps a few days.

One platform rests above the actual main axle and leads up to the mineral seam and is still functional, Steps lead from the bridge to a suitable height for loading and unloading. the second platform appears broken beyond repair, the rope has sheared and the platform now hangs precariously, wedged in the shaft.

As the group enter the area, their light source disrupts several Cave Crickets that have moved in and live within the shaft itself, they immediately begin chirping. The sound is almost deafening and the party can barely hear each other talking, when the lights are turned off the chirping stops, however the group decide that they need light in order to function.

*Anvil comments
This only helps to reaffirm Anvils need to begin work on a pair of Cannith Goggles as a part of his ongoing personal quest to overcome any faults or failings he finds in his Warforged body.

Ajax and Kapek search the  area for tracks and determine that several goblin-like tracks came from the narrower tunnel, and that footprints that appear almost boneless and tentacle-like came from the wider tunnel.

As the area is investigated Loric notices several flashes of blue-white light from the darkness of the shaft below them, accompanied by the faint sound of short, sharp cracks of energy. He decides to head back up the stairs a little and warn the rest of the group before going into hiding. Anvil however does not hear this warning above the sound of the crickets, he is busy searching, the narrow passageway for traps.

Moments later thae entire group can see the lights as the creatures that are causing the fly into view and begin to head straight for the light sources.

The creatures are determined to be aberrations known as Volts, it soon becomes apparent as to how dangerous they are when one aataches itself to Ajax's neck and begins to electrocute him whilst sucking his blood.

Eight of the creatures are killed before the assault ends and the group decide to head along the narrower of the two tunnels.

Ore Shipping (29)
A basic rail leads down a tunnel on side of the room and back in on the opposite side. An ore truck sits on rails as if ready for a load; a light chain runs from the front and back of the truck into each tunnel.
Four metal pillars keep the ceiling held up here and as the room is searched many tiny beetle-like creatures can be seen congregating on one side of the room.
Anvil recognises these bugs as Ether Scarabs, these panicky, harmless-looking beetles are native to the ethereal plane. A wide variety of ethereal predators eat ether scarabs, so the latter have developed the ability to flee across planar boundaries. They often appear on the material plane next to buildings or other large objects near which they have made their lair on the ethereal plane.

An Ether Scarab has six tentacle-like legs and a hard, amethyst-veined, chitinous shell marked by swirling, colourful patterns. It sports two pairs of vicious-looking mandibles, which it uses to tear planar boundaries.
The group find nothing else of interest here and investigate the next room, before deciding to finish investigating this level.

The Guard Room (28)

This room is empty except for a rough stone weapons rack. A tunnel leads of to the south where a staircase leads down into blackness.

As the party head back through the ore-shipping room and into the main shaft once more, Lorric decides that it is best for him to sneak some distance behind the party, the rest of the group are crossing the bridge as he leaves the ore shipping room and he notices a blue, spidery hand reach through the fabric of the planes and pluck one of the beetles from the air, he can make out blunt rubbery tentacles twitching in the darkness beyond. He makes the choice to inform the others of his sighting.
Meanwhile in the shaft, a gentle breeze begins to blow from below, the sound of cracks of energy resonates from the depths and a pervasive blue-white flashing begins to rise from the darkness. Concerned for their safety the group retreat to the area they have just explored and here Lorric tells them of his sighting. Concerned that this could be the "Lurker" that the kobolds told them of they make ready for attack. Anvil remains at the tunnels entrance and witnesses a vast swarm of volts rush into the cavern, swirling the air and crackling with energy. He holds his shield in a defensive position and keeps the tunnel blocked, as time passes he hears the cave crickets chirping begin to stop one by one.

*Anvil comments
Anvil is pleased that his size and stoic form can be used to defend the whole group. His ability to stand completely motionless is once again put to good use.

Behind him however the rest of the group seem to have agitated the ether scarabs and they begin to attack, only minor wounds are taken by the party and an interesting effect of the scarabs death is that they explode into a tiny planar rift upon their death, by the time the combat is over, there are sveral of these rifts gradually closing throughout the room. The group take the opportunity to peer through these holes into the ethereal realm and try to see what is behind the veil.
They can see a single form moving in the ethereal, a blue-skinned wiry humanoid with what appears to be a thick mane of short, blunt tentacles, it cannot be clearly made out beyond this shadow visage. Lorric slings a rock at it although can not be sure whether or not he made contact as the rifts close up leaving the worlds separate once more.
The raging activity in the shaft subsides with the rapidity in which it arrived and the tunnels once more fall into silence and darkness. The party head on, across the bridge and into the wider tunnel.

The Winch Room (31)
Two great sets of wooden gears are sat silently here, a barrel of tar by each one. Ropes lead from the vertical gears to the platforms (in area 30), and from the horizontal gears into holes in the walls. The ropes are daubed with some kind of tar or bitumen to prevent them slipping on the pulley wheels.

Ajax notices that there is an unusual amount of brown dusty material around here, and anything metal seems to have been practically destroyed, crumbling to rust as it is touched.

The door ahead can be seen to have no metal components to it at all and appears to have simply been propped up. The group have all heard rumours of rust monsters and fear that they are about to encounter one, Anvil seems particularly concerned.

*Anvil comments
Anvil, twice in the same day begins to think of ways to overcome one of his failings, he needs to get himself enchanted with Blueshine. Anvil is not ashamed by his need to fall back and allow his friends to deal with the Rust monster it is a tactical choice.

Ajax strips himself of as much metal as possible, takes hold of a quarterstaff and heads down the passageway searching for traps on the way. He heads up two sets of steps and reaches the far door in safety. Lorric enters the corridor next and as he does he sees the shape of a humanoid form clinging to the ceiling just over halfway down the tunnel, he manages to distract the creature just enough to go into hiding, this alerts the rest of the party behind him that there is something wrong.
Ajax checks the door infront of him, seeing that like the previous door all metal parts have rusted to nothing, he finds no traps and prepares to push the door open.
Lorric takes the opportunity as the thing on the ceiling is watching Ajax to leap from his hiding place. He pounces into the air and grapples the thing to the ground, the rest of the party move forward to attack and Ajax kicks the door in to be faced with the hugry antennae of a rust monster.

As the combat progresses, it becomes apparent that the creature that Lorric is wrestling is a choker, although larger than the ones they have encountered previously. And it also becomes apparent that they had not noticed one as they entered the tunnel, it was on the ceiling directly above the door, and as the party charged in they left Katerina on her own at the rear. The elven healer soon finds herself in the vile clutches of the aberration, unable to speak or breath. Without the quick thinking of Kapek and generous usage of his wand of cure light wounds Katerina would certainly have died of her injuries.

*Anvil comments
Anvil is pleased that the tactics to save Katerina worked well, but is aware that Katerina needs to always be in a more secure postion.

Meanwhile Lorric continues to wrestle with the other choker and Ajax battles the rust monster alone except for the help of a celestial dire badger that Anvil summoned from a wand. Ajax's fury grows as the monster before him smells gold in the shifter's belt pouch and brushes it's antenna into the bag destroying nearly 200 gold.

The combat ends leaving the group decidedly low on resources, Ajax is to weak to shift or rage without rest, Katerina has no more healing spells left and so the group decide to return to the Slaves Level to rest there. They assume that it is perhaps 4 or 4.30 in the afternoon, a little early but it gives them plenty of time to recuperate.

*Ajax Comments
While the rust monster is dead, Ajax is still in the grip of his ferocity and there is a short interlude as he stomps the unfortunate's creatures remains while yelling, "That's 5,000 beers you just cost me!" and similair complaints...

They examine the room that they are in before journeying back.

Device Room (32)
The central focus of this room is a polished metal disc some 12 foot in diameter and at least 6 inches thick. A series of large pipes and cables run to and from the disc.

Looking up you can see a shaft that is exactly the same size and shape as the disc.
Rings are welded to the steel in places where it seems things were tethered.
As the disc is investigated it becomes apparent why the rust monster did not destroy it, it has a purplish sheen to it, Anvil identifies the metal as Byeshk.

*Anvil comments
Anvil is amazed at the metal and may look into getting some as a possible coating for his adamantine body to futher fortifty his armour, he also marvels to the workmanship both here and in the device room and wonders at the times gone past, he makes a mental note to look into history books when the group passes by the Sages home.

The warforged spends some time attempting to cobtain some of the Byeshk for further study. As he chips away at the disc he finds that it is a thin coating, perhaps 2-3 mm thick over the disc and pipes.

Mined in the Byeshk and Graywall Mountains bordering Droaam, this rare metal is prized by smiths for use in jewelry and weapons. It has a lustrous purple sheen and is hard and dense. Byeshk weapons are known to be anathema to creations of the daelkyr, which can be resistant to other weapons.

Anvil also determines that a huge device behind the disc heated cold water in a boiler and the rising steam pressure filled a piston beneath the disc causing it to lift. Once at full extension the shaft could be locked into position.
The group assume that it rises into the arena several levels above.

The Journey to Bluescar

Eyre 12th-13th, 998 Y.K.

Eyre 12th - Zor

Anvil, unable to convince the alchemist to loan him his workshop for any longer heads to the forge where he is hoping that the smith will allow him to cast Unseen Crafter in order to begin work on his shield that will one day become his weapon familiar.
Upon entering the forge Anvil notices the crest of house Cannith emblazoned across the forge hood, and after admiring the craftsmanship in the warforged's physique he gladly allows Anvil to use his forge for 5 gold a day. He seems honoured that he would ask it of him.
Anvil responds, "I will speak of you highly when I return to Sharn, thank you for your kindness," handing him 25 gp.
"Should I not be back in 4 or 5 days my unsen servant will stop working and I will pay you for any trouble that is caused by the space that my equipment takes up."
After a hearty breakfast, and a few more ales for Loric, the party head out east along the coast, to Bluescar. They judge that they should reach Seaview farm by nightfall and hope they will be welcome enough to rest there overnight.

As the day draws to a close they see the weathered sign by a gate-post that reads "Seaview Farm".

Here they meet Trocard and Jerot Hairal, the farmer and his wife. The group are made most welcome and are offered a rich stew and barley wine.

Trocard confirms several of the rumours with regards to Bluescar.

He himself saw a glowing blue fog-bank roll in from the south on the night of the tragedy, which he can date as the 6th of Olarune 998 Y.K.

He walked out to the cliffs to take a better look and claims that it sat over the waters but never crept on to the land.

He claims that the day after the tragedy, Bluescar had a couple of visitors. They had found bodies by the roadside with their backs clawed and raked, and their eyes clawed out. They said that the hamlet had been left in such a hurry that meals were half finished, everyday jobs had beeen abandonned uncompleted. They said that livestock was unharmed. And finally, there seemed to only be a handful of bodies.

Since that time, as far as he is aware, Trocard claims that Bluescar has had no visitors, at least that he has seen.

He offers the group shelter in his hayloft overnight, or if they wish to pitch tents they may do so.

The night passes with gentle conversation, the farm couple ask questions about Sharn and city life, it is a world away from the life they have been born to.

Eyre 13th - Far

The group head out on the road once more. The day passes without event and as the sky begins to grow dim the land before them drops into a river valley and the houses of Bluescar can be seen in the distance by a golden beach. The massive slate-blue cliffs of the headland provide a grand backdrop, dwarfing the hamlet, giving it the appearance of a collection of toy houses and tiny fishing boats.

As they descend down the slope into the hamlet Ajax and Kapek notice something by the roadside. As they push the undergrowth aside the smell becomes all too apparent, rotting flesh. They uncover the body of a human man, he is in an advanced state of decay and his injuries are difficult to discern. His back has been torn to ribbons by clawed hands and his eyes have been removed, although it can't be determined when this was done as much of his soft tissue could have liquefied or been eaten by scavengers such as gulls.

The cursed hamlet of Bluescar lies ahead in a vale gradually becoming shrouded by twilight.

The group begin to scout into the silent hamlet. No signs of life here except for the occasional cow seeking shelter from the wind or the sound of dogs fighting over scraps of meat.
No home fires are lit, no fires burn in the hearths, many front doors swing open in the gathering winds there is no one here.

As they wander the streets Kapek and Ajax keep an eye out for tracks, there are none to be found, it has been over two months since the night that the blue mist was seen. They cross the river and spy a tavern, so they head there in search of any life.
Kapek comes upon some strange tracks that lead into the "Rusty Anchor" tavern, it looks like someone has dragged a sack or something into the bar, only there are no footprints, only hand-prints.
Upon entering the dark and still bar, the smell of stale beer and pipe-smoke hangs faintly in the cold air, the fire has not burned in many weeks and many of the tables are over-turned, some still have half-full tankards sitting on them along with half-eaten meals.

Ajax notices that the tracks lead around behind the bar, there is blood in the marks of what is being dragged. He heads around the bar to investigate, everyone expects a monster in the cellar scenario, but to Ajax's surprise he sees a human, its legs appear to be torn off and it has no eyes. The mutilated corpse bares it's teeth in aggression, the semi-decayed flesh beginning to tauten and dry out, it wildly thrashes out with it's broken, sharp nails. With one blow Ajax puts the thing out of its misery.

The group begin a house to house search of the hamlet.
They find empty scabards, within the houses, half-eaten meals, sprays of blood and the occasional dog-chewed corpse.
In time they come across a house where Lorric hears a low rasping exhalation or groan from within. Anvil knocks loudly with no response before kicking the door off its hinges and stepping in.
By the light of a dim everbright crystal, they can see the figure of an old man sitting at a desk slowly turning the pages of a book before him. Shelves of books line the walls, Lorric moves into the shadows and moves into a flanking position. Anvil tries to communicate with the figure but it simply turns its head slightly when it hears his voice and the continues reading, the alarm is raised and the rest arrive.
Ajax approaches the figure and sees the the dead flesh of the figure, lips tight and drawn, its eyes are simply dark cavities, he decapitates it with one swing of his sword, the old man falls to the floor, revealing that he only had one leg, and it appears that he was thus diabled in life.
Anvil begins to study the books lining the walls while Ajax looks ate what the creature was "reading".
The book is titled "The Writings of Wilgrim the Sage" and in thin spidery writin is the tale of Yberiggan.
Brief Synopsis:
"Decades ago Yberiggan the widow threw herself from Bluescar headland after her husband was lost at sea, as she fell she hollered a curse to The Devourer. As her body hit the rocky shore The Devourer cursed her in return, forever to serve her in the deep."

Anvil takes several books of local lore and interest, then the group continue searching the village before heading to the forge to rest for the night.
The forge is cold and, much to Anvil's disgust, many of the tools are begining to show signs of light rusting. Katerina goes round the building closing the wooden shutters that are beginning to bang in the gathering wind while the rest of the group make camp for the night.
The wind gathers as the night deepens, a storm blows in from the Thunder Sea, the sounds of wind and howling dogs are they only sounds through the night as Anvil and Lorric settle down to read some of the books they have collected.

*Anvil Comments
While the rest of the group sleeps or take they turns on watch, Anvil does what he does every night as his companions sleeps, he takes there weapons and armour one at a time and with great care and thought cleans, polishes and sharpen them where needed. (Kapek being a fine warrior and skilled craftman in his own right needs no aid with this). Then he turns his attention to the forge and once again with care and being as quiet as possible so as not to upset his sleeping companion, begins to clean the forge, sharpen rusted blades and prepare the forge to be lit by the next blacksmith. During these hours he pauses from time to time as one of his sleeping friends moans or jumps or moves in they sleep and he wonders what it is like to sleep and to dream.....

The Journey Continues/Gullsnest

Eyre 10th-11th, 998 Y.K.

The journey to Gullesnest continues without incident.
Early on the evening of the 10th the group realise that the feral prisoner they liberated is quite a burden. She begs for release in her more lucid moments and tries to bite, claw and scratch anyone close enough the rest of the time. Giving her a dagger they watch as she runs north into the barren twilight highlands.

Ajax remembers that he was supposed to be contacting Yulunga, his tribe's shaman, in Sharn on the 10th, unfortunately.

*Ajax Comments
Ajax is shocked to release so much time has passed. Growing up in the tiny world of the Fallen he never realised the world could be so big as to require more than a month to travel it.

As they travel the small of the air changes, a cool breeze from the coast fills their nostrils in contrast to the dry air of the Silln Highlands.

6.oo p.m. 11th Eyre

As the day begins to draw to a close and the highlands descend to the coast, the sleepy village of gullsnest can be seen ahead, gentle smoke of homely hearths can be seen lazily drifting into the evening sky, and dots of light from the homely cottages can be seen blinking into life.

Gullsnest

This is the closest port to Bluescar; it is also where the main road through the Silln Highlands ends.

It is a small town built by a natural river ravine, to the north sits a wooded hill known as Mount Greenwood. This hill is the site of the towns lord Grem ir’Kurven, his estate is known as Greenwood Manor.

Lorric, desperate for a drink, decides to find the best vantage point to locate a tavern. He heads to the water mill by the river and runs up on to the water wheel. Running as it turns beneath him he looks out to the town. Evelyn, who is familiar with Gullsnest, informs the group that there is an inn by the market-place, called "The Empty Nest". Lorric needs no further encouragement and charges into town, buying ten tankards of ale, and drinking most, before the rest of the party arrive.

Anvil goes in search of an alchemist with the intention of asking to use his workshop for the night.

The rest of the group arrive at "The Empty Nest", to find that Lorric has bought them drinks and rented the common room for the night.
Kapek stables his mounts, instructing a nervous stable-boy that he is not to approach his reptilian companions as they could be dangerous, the boy agrees without hesitation.
Ajax begins to ask around for any information on the lighthouse and Bluescar.
Kapek follows suit and the following information can be gleaned:

1. On the night of the tragedy several folk seemed to be trying to flee the village, they were found dying on the road with their eyes clawed out.
2. No bodies were found, although there were signs of struggle.
3. Whatever happened came quickly and unexpectedly as there were signs of people’s everyday activities unfinished.
4. No livestock was harmed.
5. The Headland has been cursed for centuries; the ghosts of lost ships haunt the rocky waters.
6. The villagers have angered The Devourer by not giving tribute.
7. Pirates wanted the lighthouse out of action so they could run ships aground.
8. A fearsome Kraken lairs nearby.
9. The townsfolk walked into the sea with blackened eyes.
10. Beautiful songs were heard across the waves that night.
11. A blue glowing fog bank was seen moving towards the town shortly after nightfall.

Meanwhile, Avil strikes a deal with Grimshaw, the village alchemist. With a chaperone from the village guard, he will allow Anvil to use his workshop through the night, as long as any components are paid for. He asks for a 500 gold returnable deposit up front and will check his stock in the morning to see how much Anvil owes him.
Anvil works through the night forging his first homunculus, a packmate he names"Embattled".

By the end of the night the group staying in "The Empty Nest" become minor celebrities.
Ajax wowed those who dared to listen with his ferocious tales of battle, and disgusted them with his ever growing collection of the ears of his fallen opponents.
Kapek, or as he is now locally known, "the dinosaur man", took Far-eye to the heath to graze and drew quite a crowd, all eager to ask questions and pet the strange creature.
Lorric got completely drunk and began trying to juggle his empty tankards, badly.... He was eventually encouraged back to the common room as he was intimidating the patrons. Here he continued to practise his juggling technique. When the rest of the group finally retired they found him surrounded by empty tankards and pools of ale covering the entire room.

*Ajax Comments
Ajax is genuinely suprised people are disturbed by his collection of ears. It comes as another indication of how different people are here outside the Fallen. He makes a decision to try to study these strange people so he can understand them.

The Journey to Gullsnest

Eyre 2nd - 6th, 998 Y.K.

Eyre 2nd - 5th

The group set out on the Sharn road after a relaxing night in the "Nymph and Unicorn" inn. Their next objective is to head to the lighthouse at Bluescar and, hopefully, restore it to working order. They are also keeping an eye out for any sign of Zametiro ir’Dheren's daughter, Evylyn, who has not been heard of in several weeks as the silk caravan she was travelling with to Gullsnest went missing.

The journey along the King's road is uneventful with regular patrols of the Crown's militia encountered. They inform the group that they have increased their patrols due to the increase in lizardman raids on travellers.

Eyre 6th - Far

As the day draws to a close the group reach the old and weathered sign that states "Gullsnest 154 miles", an arrow points down a much less travelled track to the south.

The terrain becomes much more barren as the group head south through the Silln Highlands.

The Silln Highlands

This stony plateau occupies most of Breland’s southern-most peninsula, separating the eastern crosspiece of The Hilt from the sea. Much of the area is rocky and barren, except where emerald oases of ferns and juniper trees spring up seemingly at random. Thousands of underground springs feed the small pools at the heart of these oases. What could be dangerous countryside is instead somewhat park-like, with the largest oases linked by the remnants of old Dhakaani roads. The stark contrast between grey-white stone and vivid green plant life has made the region popular with wealthy travellers willing to make the crossing from Sharn.

Even with patrols from Flint Keep on the alert, monsters still wander the region, often coming up from the caverns that wind throughout the massive plateau. Worst of all, a Dhakaani clan, hobgoblins who retreated underground after the Daelkyr Wars, took refuge under Silln. Most of their energies are turned toward breaking the curse of Yarkuun Draal, but they still make time for the occasional kidnap and ransom of a wealthy tourist or raid on Flint Keep. Were Yarkuun Draal to be restored, they would make themselves known in force, claiming all of Silln as their own nation.

Eyre 7th - 8th

The Journey south through the sun-baked highlands is uneventful for the first couple of days. The group rest at the occasional oasis where it is apparent that others have rested before, judging by the blackened fire-pits and the occasional sign of camping.

Eyre 9th

12.00 p.m.

As the sun reaches it's zentith in the bright sky, it's heat can be felt as the wheel of the year gradually turns from winter to summer. The air keeps some of its chill as a gentle breeze blows north from the sea.

1.30 p.m.

The road gradually declines into a ravine with the edges rising some 100 feet on either side.

Katerina carefully informs the group that she can see figures moving on either side of the canyon's edge above them, once she has pointed them out Lorric with a beaming smile shouts "Hello" at them with a friendly wave. The figures quickly vanish from the edge of the ravine.

The group press on with care.

2.00 p.m.

Ahead the group can see that the road winds between two wooded areas, they are aware that they are in a prime ambush situation and move forward with caution.

The trees and undergrowth here are a breath of fresh air in this arid and barren terrain. The trees are filled with fruit and berries. Beyond the woods to the west a small waterfall can be seen cascading down the cliff face and the sound of it crashing into a pool at its base can be heard in the distance.

The group reach the midpoint between the woods behind (1) them and the mesa (4) in front of them when they see figures on the pillar of rock ahead. With his usual cheek Lorric offers them a smile and a wave, they open fire immediately.
Anvil had already imbued his shield with the arrow catching property in preparation for trouble so any arrows targetted at the group bounced harmlessly of either his sheild or his adamantine plating.

As they prepare to enter battle the group are surprised as a scree slope (3) ahead of them at the base of the mesa bursts into life and five goblins leap from the loose stones thrwoing javelins at the party as they advance.
Remaining close together, to gain the full advantage of the arrow catching shield. the party await the approach of the goblins ahead.
As they wait with baited breath a sound from behind disturbs some of the party, a startled flock of parrots takes to the air from the woods behind them (1) and to the east a second scree slope (2) bursts into life with five more goblins emerging from the loose rock.
A large group of goblins rush from the woods (1) behind them and the ambush is now in full swing.
The group of ten goblins from behind them has a shaman amongst their ranks and also a lieutenant who seeks to drive his troops to further bloodshed. The shaman initially drops a web spell on the group which hinders them greatly for the first few seconds, the rest of the goblins charge at the group.

With dismay the group see that from the south another group is emerging from the trees beyond the mesa (5), there are four worg riders bounding towards them.
Most of the group struggle free from the web, however Katerina and Kapek remain stuck fast, taking full advantage of this the shaman invokes a spell, casting a scorching ray at Kapek, luckily for Kapek he misses, however the webs burst into flames injuring both the halfling and Katerina.
The shaman is quickly taken out, but unfortunately one of the worg riders from the south is also a shaman and in moments a mist rises from the ground around the feet of the party obscuring vision greatly. The lieutent yells at his men "Get in there!", gesturing at the billowing cloud of mist and the hesitant goblins on the borders of the spells area charge in without question.

The goblins fall to the weapons of the Crimson Fist slowly, and many wounds are taken, however the worg-rider shaman unwittingly helps the group as he charges into the mist and blasts an area with a burning hands spell, unfortunately killing two of his own men.

The battle rages on with the party targetting the spell-casters first followed by the worgs. They are eventually left with a handful of goblins which quickly fall to the superior weapon skills of the party. One goblin flees to the south-west, screaming "RETREAT!!!!".
Peering from the mist the group see him running and take a few shots at him, they also see the archers from the mesa have retreated.

As they follow to the south-west they can see that they goblins are headed for a cave entrance some thirty feet up the cliff face. A rickety rope bridge connects the mesa to the canyon's edge and stairs lead down to the cave entrance from there. On these stairs the party can see the archers from the mesa in full retreat, most of them do not make it to the safety of the cave, falling under the ranged assault of Anvil, Lorric and Kapek.
They approach the cave entrance.

The Outer Entrance
Just outside the entrance are several wagons and caravans. Many are partially burned and broken with moss and other greenery growing over their remains as though they have been here some time. One of the most recent wagons bears the crest of a noble family.
The entrance also has a refuse pile at the foot of the cliff; it contains many old and gnawed bones, and personal items that the goblins have no need for.

The Entrance

The cave entrance is 30 feet up the cliff face and is accessed by a stairway carved into the face of the rock.

At the foot of the steps are two marker stones inscribed with the Yellowtooth Clan symbol, an upper and lower incisor beside each other.

The original cave entrance is about 7 feet wide by 10 feet deep; the rear of the cave has been excavated to reveal the complex behind.

Just beyond the entrance is a wicker screen, it is assumed that this helps keep the winds out whilst preventing light from escaping and revealing the caves location.

The Meeting Hall

The entrance opens out into a great natural cavern, 30 feet wide by 60 feet long with a ceiling some 50 feet high. The far end of the cavern bears slightly to the right and another smaller, yet still large, cavern heads into the dark.

A large fire pit dominates the room, its embers glowing gently a few feet from the entrance.

Ahead a side cave produces a soft blue light.

The Group enter the cavern, all except Lorric keeping to the eastern wall, Lorric sneakes along the western wall and notices two narrow cracks, one in the ceiling directly above where the others are standing and one a few feet ahead of him in the side wall, from each he can see the steely tips of arrows taking aim at the group. With a swift movement he takes a few soft steps forward and thrusts his fist through the crack making contact with the wielder of the bow and shouting a warning to the rest of the group.

Ajax and Kapek move to Lorric's location and begin throwing boomerangs and jabbing their swords into the darkness beyond. Anvil pulls his wand of Summon Monster I from his pack and conjures a dire badger into the darkness beyond the crack above him, content with the resulting yells of surprise and pain he then conjures a second.

Ajax moves forward intent on heading down the western tunnel to confront any combatants, as he does so his eyes adjust to the dim light and further down the hall he can make out figures in the great hall ahead.

This elongated cavern is 15 feet wide by 30 feet long and it opens out into the throne room.

The Glowing Fungi Cave
These fungi are between 1 and 6 feet tall and they emit a faint blue light, the water in the room reflects and intensifies this light causing ripples to dance across the walls and ceiling.
The Animal Pen
The floor in this enclosure is scattered with straw, excrement and old gnawed bones.

The Great Hall

Down either side of the Hall on the wall are crudely painted scenes of battle, bloodshed, carnage, torture and self-mutilation. However it is difficult to make these paintings out due to the hanging corpses of Yellowtooth Clan’s victims. Many are mutilated beyond recognition by flaying, amputation and general torture. They hang in a row of ten down each side of the hall.

 

He can make out diminuative goblin figures, all facing north, filling the cavern. With a hushed alarm call he alerts the others who begin to move forward into an attack formation. With well practised tactics they begin to plough their way through the scarred, tattooed, pierced and partially flayed goblin warriors, ahead they see the throne room with three figures seated on three thrones moving into action. The Hobgoblin chieftan begins throwing javelins at the group, while the shaman begins throwing spells into the fray and the bugbear war-leader pushes his way past the smaller goblins intent on violence and filled with anger.

In the ensuing melee Ajax falls to the will of the shaman's magic and flees the caverns in fear, the rest of the group continue pushing forward, one by one the goblins fall. Lorric and Kapek head for the shaman and chieftan while Anvil confronts the war-leader. They soon fall to the might of the Crimson Fist.

The bodies are quickly looted and the throne room is searched.

A large trapdoor is discovered infront of the thrones, some 10 feet square, Anvil manages to open the trapdoor revealing a spiked pit some 25 feet deep. Rotten and decomposing corpses lie among the debris below.

On the central throne, where the chieftan sat, a small lever is found on one arm, when pulled the trapdoor on the pit begins to close once more, but the mechanism is damaged from Anvil's tampering and the latch does not catch, leaving the door to swing back down.

On the arm of the chair they find a secret compartment that contains a Bead of Force.

 

In the wall behind the thrones a secret door is found, the tunnel beyond is only 2 1/2 feet wide. It is decided that Kapek's small size makes him the ideal candidate to investigate further, so he dismounts Reaver (his clawfoot mount) and heads into the darkness beyond.

This crevass slopes downward quite steeply as it spirals into the solid rock, the walls are unhewn and as the tunnel descends the height of the walls seems to increase as though this crack in the earth is a natural phenomenon.

Kapek becomes unsure of what lies ahead, and without the aid of the others close at hand he decides that it is best to return.

The group decide to head down the eastern tunnel from the throne room.
The tunnel ends in a door that is neither locked nor trapped. Anvil opens the door.

The Chieftan's Room

The smell is the first thing that becomes apparent, somewhat like stale urine, a small candle illuminates what looks like a boudoir crossed with a stable. Straw lines the floor and is piled thicker in one corner with thick furs which you presume to be a bed. The walls at first seem to be painted red, but on further inspection the entire cavern walls are hung with skins, a crudely made table has a lit candle on it along with several small weapons.

As they are searching the room a rustling movement from the bedding, startles Anvil and Kapek into action.

A humanoid figure skin red and slick with blood and wild matted hair, leaps from the sraw and furs, savage claws and teeth bared in ferocious and feral rage directed at Anvil.

With a quick swing of his shield, Anvil bashes the figure square in the face, it drops to the ground, limp. Kapek quickly check and determines that the creature, which is actually a naked young woman covered in countless wounds and lacerations, is dead. Anvil draws a scroll of Repair Flesh (a.k.a. Cure light wounds) from his pack and casts it on the girl. She once more stirs to life, for a moment lucidity crosses her face as she takes in her situation, she then has to be restrained as her feral nature once more surfaces.

The group fear that this is Evylyn, the daughter of  Zametiro ir'Dheren, and wonder how they are going to tell her father of his daughter's fate. One opinion is that the girl should be put out of her misery.

Her gibbering and growling makes no sense, Anvil charms her in order to calm her and glean some information. It becomes apparent that her mind is broken and there is no real conversation, she continues lashing out at the rest of the group, trying to bite, kick and claw at them whenever the opportunity arises.

The group decide to leave her in the room for her own safety, while they explore the rest of the caves.

They close the door and wedge it shut with a dagger, as they walk away the woman pounds frantically on the door, "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!", she screams.

They open the door and let her out, all the while keeping her restrained so she cannot lash out at them, it doesn't stop her trying.

They head down the tunnel on the western side of the throne room.

The Shaman's Den

The smell of sweet incense drifts from several incense burners dotted about the room.

There are shelves and tables filled with stuffed animals, skins, body parts and jars of foul liquids. A small everbright crystal casts a dim orange glow across strange apparatus. This room has lots of spell components, partially brewed potions and many other strange concoctions, powders and unguents.

Once this room has been investigated they head into the tunnel that leads from the western wall of the great hall.

The Prison

Just off the Great Hall is a cavern roughly 20 feet in diameter. Directly opposite the entrance is a strong lattice of wood that sections off a shroud of darkness beyond.

Between the entrance and the cell stands a small “copse” of fungi and a small pool of fresh water.

As the room is entered several fungi begin to scream, with deafening intensity. Several more begin to move towards the group, poisoned tentacles thrashing about wildly. The group make short work of the fungi and as the shrieking diminshes they can hear shouts for help coming from the darkness beyond. A pale human hand reaches from the darkness through the bars, the door to the prison is opened and two humans stagger out, squinting in the dim light. The man and woman introduce themselves as Evylyn ir’Dheren, the daughter of a Sharn noble, and Alden Ghrysden, a wealthy and well spoken merchant.

Both are more than relieved at their release, they are more than aware of their potential fates and had resigned themselves to certain prolonged suffering and ultimately death weeks ago. Why they are still alive they have no idea.

The prisoners rush out into the daylight, shielding their eyes from the light that they have grown unaccustomed to and breathe the fresh air of freedom once more. They explain that they are happy to head to Gullsnest as they have contacts there, and the journey to Sharn is just too much for them to cope with at the moment.

The party head up the tunnel on the eastern wall of the meeting hall to find their passage is blocked by a makeshift barricade, Anvil hears the sound of goblin whimpers and hushed chattering beyond the blockage.

A prolonged debate on morality, belief and war ensues as each group member puts forward their case on whether or not the barricade should be broken and the occupants, which it is assumed are women, children and the old, should be killed.....

*Ajax Comments
Ajax argues from an animalistic point of view. He will kill to feed and to protect himself or his tribe, as killing the goblins serves neither purpose he considers it wrong and argues against it.

It is eventually decided that they should be left, Anvil shouts to inform them that their god is dead and they should change their ways. To enforce this point Ajax severs the head of the shaman and posts it on a spike at the tunnel entrance.

The guard rooms are search and the bodies of several badger gnawed goblins are found.

The group leave the caves, unfortunately the feral woman does not want to head into the daylight, so she is rendered unconscious by Ajax and carried out over his shoulder. The fresh afternoon air is a relief to everyone after the horrors they have just witnessed.

The Yellowtooth Caves

1. The Entrance
2. Guard Rooms
3. Meeting Hall
4. Glowing Fungi Cave
5. ???
6. The Great Hall
7. The Prison
8.The Shaman's Den
9. Throne Room
10. The Chieftan's Room
11. The Downward Pass ???

The party of adventurers and liberated prisoners head south as fast as the can, putting as much distance between themselves and the Yellowtooth territory as possible before nightfall.

Turvin to Zilspar

Therendor 26th - Eyre 1st, 998 Y.K.

Therendor 26th - Zor

Midday

The group arrive back in Turvin. They head to see the mayor, Barnabas Revland, and inform him of the situation.

Barnabas hands Katerina a potion, claiming that someone arrived in town with it and said that she must receive it. She drank the potion and her lost memories returned at once.

They decide to stay in the hamlet in case Chalit, the merchant who brought them here, returns. They remain there overnight, discussing their next course of action. They decide that the best place to go to next is to Zilspar to sell the weapons and goods they have recovered so come the morning of the 27th they head out.

Therendor 27th - 28th

The journey to Zilspar is uneventful. They meet Chalit on the road on the afternnon of the 28th. He is pleased that they have resolved the issues in Turvin and he explains that he is headed there now. He tells the group that he will inform Erunn of their excellent work and bids them farewell, not before offering to buy some of the cold iron weapons off them first. The group decline his offer as they think they are worth more than his offer.

Eyre 1st - Sul

The group arrive in Zilspar in the early afternoon and sell what they can to the various merchants in the town, and making a tidy sum thanks to Lorric's diplomacy skills.

They discuss their next plans. They are to head south, to the coast and the lighthouse at Bluescar.

Dhamoril Swampland

Therendor 24th, Zol, 998 Y.K.

8 a.m.

The following morning the group are awakened by the morning sun and the smell of freshly prepared breakfast. Banaba rests close by, obviously hung-over. They bid him farewell and he wishes them the best of luck in their endeavour, assuring them that should they be successful then he will endeavour to make sure that the hamlet of Turvin is no longer disturbed by fey presence.

For a few moments Katerina looks puzzled without cause, when asked about it she claims that there is a voice in her head asking for a "status report". The group assume that it is their employer, and due to the unfortunate events that have stripped Katerina of her memory she does not recognise the voice.

The group head out into the woods once more, this time with a map and an idea of what to expect.

1.00 p.m.

The land begins to creep downhill, and there are breaks in the trees, allowing sunlight to filter through. Suddenly the dense forest gives way, revealing a wide glade running down the hillside. A thick mist hangs over a vast stretch of lowland to the northeast. Two huge fir trees dominate the centre of the clearing, with countless mushrooms growing in their shade.

Kapek approaches one of the trees, intent on studying the mushrooms around it's base. As he does so, the huge fir tree grows a thick branch which rapidly becomes the form of a shapely female with leafy hair and skin like burnished wood, she looks at Kapek with large almond-shaped eyes and immediately attempts to cast a spell upon him.

The group have no desire to enter combat and try to talk, but the dryad has other ideas. With the appearance of a second from the other great fir, the ground erupts with entangling vines and combat begins. The dryad's tree-stride ability seems to cause the party the most problems, combined with the entangling terrain they have trouble reaching the elusive fey. One is killed quickly, but the other continues to pepper the group with arrows and jumping from tree to tree. Eventually she is killed and Kapek resumes his study of the mushrooms. He finds several strangely magically infused fungi that have the power to either cause the eater to grow or shrink, he also finds several striped toadstools, which are poisonous.

The group press onwards.

3.00 p.m.

The thinning forest gives way to a blasted region of swampland. This region may have once been a very mossy, wetland glen, full of sprites and darting creatures. Now greasy smoke hangs over everything, and the once prevalent trees have been hacked down.

A large post made of rotting wood stands forlornly against the backdrop of the swamps. A dead pixies hangs from the post by its wings, fixed there with a pair of cold iron spikes. Apparently it was nailed alive, as its tiny hands are torn from its attempts to remove itself.

A small sign is attached to the top of the post with the word "Deceiver" written in jagged sylvan script.

The party head into the swamp with the realisation that the foe they are up against is a particularly cruel enemy.

5.00 p.m.

As the sun grows low in the sky, hanging like a pale golden disc in the smokey sky the group encounter a patrol. Judging by their flame tattoos and the fact that their leader is riding a huge toad covered in the same fearsome tattoos, they rightly assume that these are hobgoblins of the Hellfire Militia.

They order the group to leave the swamps, the group respond by launching in a ranged assault.

There are 10 hobgoblins and their leader who is riding a fiendish dire toad, he is also accompanied by a shaman.

The militia advance on the group, peppering them with arrows as they proceed. Anvil imbues his shield with the arrow-catching property and the rest of the group stay close to him. One by one the advancing hobgoblins fall to the party's onslaught and their numbers are several less by the time they engage in melee.

The militia fall one by one by one to the ferocious might of Ajax in his shifting form and Lorric's lightning fists, Kapek and Reaver hack and chew their way through Hobgoblin flesh as Anvil moves forward like an indomitable wall of adamantine slamming a path to the toad riding leader with his shield.

Once the grunts are despatched all attention is turned towards the leader and his giant toad. The rider is quickly despatched and in the fray Kapek is grappled by the tongue of the toad and dragged into its gaping maw before being swallowed whole. Crushed and acid burned he fails to break free.

Killing the toad becomes priority as the party realise that Kapek will not last long in its gizzard. With a frenzied assault the final blow is struck by Ajax and Kapek spills out of the huge wound and into the murky blood-filled swamp water.

The shaman looks around in fear and tries to flee but is quickly brought down.

The group find that the hobgoblins were, unsuprisingly, carrying several cold-iron swords and arrows.

As they press on through the swamp the group come across a small island, some 15 minutes later, that they presume is the source of the excessively thick fog, a huge pyre stands in the middle of the rise surrounded by piles of damp and rotting wood, the pyre smoulders with a thick plume of smoke that rises about fifty feet before seamlessly dispersing into the surrounding swamp. Anvil begins to douse the fire and the rest soon join in. They find tracks of what they presume to be the patrol they just encountered on the island.

They continue on through the murky swamp.

It is not long before another island comes into sight through the fog, this one has tents pitched and several hobgoblins can be seen busying themselves with camp duties, to the far side another dire toad can be seen tethered to a post, the group begin to open fire, catching the hobgoblins by surprise.

They gradually push forwards to the island, protected by Anvil's arrow catching infused shield, and with an efficient tactical surge they defeat the hobgoblins and their giant toad with relative ease. Searching the camp and the fallen bodies they discover several more cold iron weapons.

The group feel that they are getting close to their destination and so they become more careful, they slow their pace while looking for traps and snares in the murky waters.

As the sky begins to darken the Crimson Fist finally aproach a ruined keep.

A ruined keep looms theough the smokey haze. The entire east side of the keep has collapsed, and the west side has begun to sink into the muck. The south face of the keep is surrounded by two feet of water, where moss and debris float in the fetid muck. the top floors of the ruin fell into the swamp long ago, and a series of flat rocky surfaces jut out at intervals from the waters surface.

 

The group head towards the eastern opening in the building, as they do so a toad-riding hobgoblin opens fire from the western opening, the group hurriedly enter the building to escape the arrows, and find themselves in some kind of toad stables.

This room is partially collapsed, and the entire south wall has fallen into the swamp. It is drafty and dense with moisture, and the crumbling walls are covered with a layer of dark blue mold. Several cubicles have swinging doors of rotting wood.

 

Ajax takes a more direct appraoch through the water towards the western entrance and in doing so he disturbs a grey ooze in the shallow waters, he heads for the toad rider and begins attacking despite the acidic assault of the ooze.

The rest of the party head through the structure to out-flank the rider.

He and the ooze are soon brought down and the group move on, Ajax in a ferocious haze charges upstairs soon followed by the others who have taken a quick glance into the western-most room, all except Kapek who decides to take a look in the room by the foot of the stairs.

Steam rises from the earthen floor of this dark, moist room. The sweet smell of incense overshadows the fainter smell of rotting meat. The area is decorated with archery equipment and atrisans tools, which line th walls and small workbenches. In the centre of the south wall, a small altar glows with two braziers on either side of a cold iron statue dedicated to the Keeper.

As he enters the room, Kapek is attacked by vines that grow on the ceiling, yelling in alarm he attracts the attention of Ajax who charges back down the stairs to his companion's aid. The vines are destroyed with several swift blows.

Heading back upstairs the pair find Anvil sourrounded by two-foot long centipedes that have burst from a rotten log between the two rooms.

The stairs end in a domed room with crumbling walls. the west wall has fallen, and portions of the fifteen-foot-high ceiling have given way, revealing open sky and the tip of a broken tower above. A large rotted log completely blocks the far door. Growing on and around the log are several plants and fungi giving off the faint smell of decay.

The centipedes are a mere hinderance for the group as they move into the next room.

This large space was once two seperate rooms, but the central wall has been removed and the rubble cleared out. Odds and ends of wooden furniture litter the room, ill-used and and in need of repair. Dangling from the wall and on desks are a number of grim trophies: a centaurs tail, two dessicated spriggan heads, and the preserved corpses of grigs floating in jars of brine. A rusted ladder ascends through a trapdoor in the northeast corner.

Anvil is the first to climb the stairs and as he emerges into the cool evening light he yells to his companions that he has found Wingclipper.

This open air roof was once just another floor in a tall keep, before the elements destroyed everything above it. the north-west portion is strewn with remnants of a broken tower, it's ruins still rising twenty feet above the landing. A hole has been carved into one of the tower walls, providing a usable entrance. A pallet and a few personal items lie against the south wall, and a hooked ladder rests against the broken west wall.

The rest of the group quickly head up the ladder to find Wingclipper with an arrow levelled at Anvil, one hazel and one of purest white, both filled with anticipation .

Despite Wingclipper's attempts to parley Lorric and Ajax simply chrge into combat, Wingclipper drops his bow and draws two shortswords, cutting viscious blows across Lorric's chest. Several blows are struck at Wingclipper and he desperately tries to surrender, but the bloodlust has caught Lorric and he makes short work of the ranger.

Searching his body, Anvil finds a broken satyr horn on a chain around the fallen ranger's neck, along with a locket containing the picture of a young woman, a secret latch on the locket opens a compartment with the words "Medley Starkson" etched into it, it also holds a note:

"I swear by the sun, the moons, and all the things that crawl upon the world, you will be avenged for your wrongful death."

*Anvil comments
Anvil then pushes hard against the side of the ranger's broken skull and without expression as neither disgust or contempt stirs within him, his goal is to simply pry the pearl from the oyster he removes the magical orb from the Wingclipper's eye socket.

Lorric and Ajax search the ruined tower to find a stash of gold protected by a viper.

As they do so they hear stumbling steps coming up the ladder on the west wall. Moments later the grinning face of Banaba peers over the wall. He seems pleased that his horn has been found, Anvil gladly hands it back, and Banaba informs the group that with Wingclipper's death the fey will once more return to the northern woods and will not disturb the hamlet of Turvin again.

He leaves quickly, not wishing to remain in such close proximity of all the cold iron that the keep holds.

The group head inside once more to study the cold iron armoury downstairs, where the shrine to the Keeper is housed.

They search for anything that they can use in crafting and come across a trapdoor in the floor. Heading down they find a room.

This large area has been dug out and drained, though there are still moist places along the earthen walls. The air is oppresive and stagnant, and smokey heat radiates from two braziers at opposite ends of the room. Four straw pallets are set up here, as well as two large chests. There is no light source other than a dim red glowing at either end.

Anvil is the first down here and he is immediately set upon by two wolf skeletons. Two dark-skinned halflings move to attack. Ajax heads into the room and kills the first with a single blow, the second infuses his hands with negative energy and delivers a death touch to Ajax, filling him with excruciating pain. This second halfling falls as Kapek moves in to aid his companion. Lorric and Anvil make short work of the skeletons.

8 p.m.

Confident that they are safe, the group make camp for the night. Anvil finishes crafting an item he promised to make for Loric, a magical beer dispensing item in the shape of a breast...

The next day the group head back to Turvin.

"Wingclippers Revenge", Dungeon Magazine 132.
Written by Christopher Wissel