The Lost Monk

My name is Arie, and these are my tales.

[draumrfold]

Queen of Fire

As we are finishing our rest we watch from BoBo’s tiny hut as Kolbolts file out, one of them pins a dagger to the wall with a note. Talerian is the only one who can read it, he says it says “Bad guy, tied up.” We all agree it’s probably some kind of trap. 

We learn the guy is named Hozziah, and he’s just kinda a mess. “Don’t bring her back.” We find out that her is The Queen of Fire, she watches over the Kolbolts, this dude doesn’t know the way out. We also find out that the fire pit we entered by is supposed to be a leap of faith to prove faithfulness to the Lord of Fire. We also determine we are in the Queen’s chamber. 

Eventually, the guy has served his purpose and I take some poison acid from  BoBo and shove it down the guy's throat. Killing him. (Moving forward, I have gained the general knowledge of how acid can be used to torture, someone). 

We continue to explore the Queen’s Chamber, actually finding her. She seems nice enough actually. I mean I wouldn’t want to cross her, but she did us no harm. We wrap up our conversation with the Queen of Fire and turn to leave when suddenly we hear noises from the giant pile of treasure, a huge ass dragon bursts forth, aka the Lord of Fire. He eyes Maladin and then Maladin loses his god damm mind and freaks the fuck out at us. I leave the situation, if the others stay it's on them, I’m not really a fan of Maladin’s attitude of giving everyone a second chance. I would rather just kill people and things. Death, after all, is a gift. 

Everyone joins me outside of the Queen's chamber as we hear the tail of the dragon smash against the floor sealing the doorway, with Maladin trapped inside. Everyone seems ok with their choice to leave him, as no one really says anything to the contrary. There is a few rumbles about we’ll have to go back and get him...I’m not looking forward to that...or he’s dead, that dragon could have eaten him. Maybe it’s because we are all really tired of being in this death hole. 

We continue on, eventually, we find BoBo’s father, who is a complete and total ass hole. We leave BoBo’s father and a few other halflings where we found them and go to look for a way out. We find Kuthos (Prince of Fire), who isn’t really happy to see us, go figure. He summons a Minatar. 

Ok, note to self: Never, ever, EVER. Let BoBo come up with a plan again. It will end badly every time. Because of him, and because I stupidly listened to him, I got the shit kicked out of me via the Minatar. This is why I can’t really trust other people, they are all idiots. 

We do manage to find a path out of the temple and defeat Kuthos. BoBo did manage to cage the Minatar long enough for me to run and grab the halflings and for us all to escape. We emerge from the “Dragon Maul Cave” to find ourselves on top of a huge ass mountain, we’re clearly hundreds of miles away from HalfHaven. We can see an abnormal blue cloud circling around HalfHaven.

The Mountain is covered in snow and we decide we should start heading down the mountain and find some kind of shelter and rest up. 

[draumrfold]

Purge The Heretics

We are faced with a man praying in front of a statue of a red dragon who has a couple of rather demonic looking dogs with him. He turns to us and questions why we are there. We learn we are in the Lord of Fire’s Temple, and that the only reason we should be there is one of two things: 1) We’re recruits, or 2) We’re sacrifices. We end up fighting him, and easily take him down then we continue into the temple as we can not go back. 

We continue on for quite some time until we come upon what looks to be a summoning circle. BoBo attempts to speak with them, but they sacrifice themselves and they turn to ooze and gooze into the circle. The circle summons an undead monstrosity “Bone Claw” a rather powerful undead, that apparently takes many sacrifices to be summoned. BoBo informed us after we finished it off. 

We continued battling each room we enter. This place really sucks. Why can’t it be a nice fire lord? We come into a large chamber that has lava on either side of our path and as we are battling summoned foes I get paralyzed and thrown into lava. On one hand, I should probably be worried, on the other hand, I feel the familiar tug of Ki and know I’ll be ok. The surge of pain I feel from the lava is unbearable, and while I’m paralyzed I go into myself, just as I had when I had been suspended in The Doomvault, meditating. 

I feel myself being lifted out of the lava and open my eyes to find myself levitating not above the ground but over the lava and see BoBo has lifted me up. I make a mental note that he is forgiven for peeing on me because he saved me. It seems like a deed worthy of redemption. As BoBo is concentrating on me, we all see BoBo’s sister jump into the lava, killing herself. There is nothing BoBo or anyone one of us can do to save her. 

Her loss seems rather meaningless at the time. As far as I could tell nothing came of her sacrifice. Everyone is visibly upset by BoBo’s Sister’s actions. Life, death, it's rather all the same.  

As soon as BoBo was able he set me down on the ground and took off after the man that had been guiding BoBo’s sister to her demise. Followed closely followed by everyone else. BoBo manages to catch up to the man and pushes him into the lava. At the last moment, the man is misty steps and reappears on the other side of the pit. 

At this everyone is enraged and bursts after the man (I do not feel this way and just follow everyone else). We find the next room is filled with Kobolts and we have to retreat and we get in a short rest. During our short rest, we are interrupted by some creature. Maladin & Galadin get a very dumb idea to throw Galadin at the creature. They overshoot and Galadin goes flying into the lava. Maladin takes out a grappling hook which I grab and leaps (with help from Maladin) over the caster and repels down the side of the pit to retrieve Galadin. I tie the grappling hook to Galadin and yell up to Malidin and Ashra to pull us up. Galadin opens his eyes and I look at him with pure annoyance and tell him he’s an idiot. 

Once topside again BoBo healed him, and we are able to finish our rest in peace. I am still horribly annoyed that I just had to save Galadin, the energy of the group tells me they could not endure another loss of life so close to BoBo’s Sister. Additionally, Galadin is pretty useful when he’s not being an idiot. 

[draumrfold]

Halfhaven: The Fallen

We finally made it to Halfhaven, home of BoBo. They were less than welcoming, but we managed to get in. The city guards did detain BoBo upon our arrival, but I guess on the plus side BoBo’s uncle is now the Mayor so things should work out. We are all invited to the Mayor's house where he tells us about BoBo’s family is missing. And conditionally releases BoBo, the whole reason the guards detained BoBo was that he attempted to steal some jewel but failed so now someone else has it and we need to get it back for the town to restore BoBo’s reputation. 

BoBo is very distracted by the fact that his family is missing and urges us to go look for them. We find ou that they were last seen heading towards the mine of Halfhaven. On one hand, I can empathize with BoBo if my family were still alive, much less on this plane I would try to make sure they were ok, or save them if I could. On the other hand, the world seems to be falling apart, literally by the seams, so it just seems like there are bigger problems to deal with. However it is whatever the group wants to do, I will follow and assist as needed. 

Upon arriving at the mine we discover a bunch of dead bodies. Talerean figures out which direction we should go in and we all head inside of the mine. In the mine we encounter the most curious of creatures, during our first fight in the mine I got “bitten” by some kind of parasite, and it dug its way into my skin. Talerean seemed very alarmed by this and I let him apply a turntourniquet to my shoulder, then I burn my arm and shoulder to get the parasite out. Luckily it worked. Talerean told me that if I didn’t get it out then the parasite would have gone straight to my heart and I would have died. So...I guess that was a close call. 

We continue on our way through the mine. In the next fight, I take on a bunch of these creatures called Kobolds. This realm has the strangest of creatures. Though I assume my own has them as well, I just haven’t witnessed them yet. Anyways,  I take out a bunch of them while the party moves deeper into the mine taking out more Kobolds in front of us. When I finish taking out the Kobolds BoBo appeared in front of me, our path was blocked by a giant boulder. Strenght has never been my strong suit, but I took a running start and I manage to move the boulder enough for BoBo and me to get through and rejoin the party. 

Taking in the next chamber I see that Ashaha has been paralyzed and is being dragged towards some sort of giant tree that is hanging from the ceiling. It doesn't look good, it seems like everyone has the monsters under control so I start to head towards Ashaha. Unforentually I am not fast enough and Ashaha is thrown into what appears to be lava or fire. I end up being thrown by the monster into the pit as well, but I adjust so that it’s at least a graceful fall. After a few moments, I find myself with Ashaha and we are looking at a red stone statue of a dragon, in front of the statute is a man praying in front of it. A few more seconds BoBo & Maladin join us, Talerean does not though. 

[draumrfold]

Halfhaven: Trap Door

We’ve all crammed into the hallway, making it safely across the way. Talerean’s plan worked, maybe not the best he had hoped for, but he kept us all alive. Unfortunately, we watched giants drag him off after beating the snot out of him. It’s unclear if he is unconscious or dead, it’s agreed that we will find him and rescue him if we can. 

We continue on through the hallway, we eventually find an armory and we set a fire trap on a door. It will go off in about eight hours so now we have a timer, hopefully, that will be enough time to find the information we need, and get Talerean back, otherwise, we’re all gonna go up in fire. We also run into a scout from a resistance part of the Orcs, Uutak, who temporality joins us in our quest as we all have common goals. 

Eventually, we find the prison section which holds the Orcs Uutak is looking for. I set to work picking the locks as we haven't found the keys yet. It’s easy enough work, and I easily get some of the locks open. While I’m working through, Maladin uses blunt force and just destroys the locks and doors. Together we unlock and open all the prison doors. Maladin, Uutak, and the leader of the prison orcs all have a conversation that is lost on me. It seems it would benefit me greatly to continue my studies of there languages. 

Next, we set to work on clearing out the other rooms down in the prison, behind the next door we find a bunch of Bugbears, there were so many, about 25 to 30, it was insane. Luckily it was pretty easy to take them down, especially since BoBo casted fireball and did a ton of damage. I kill the chieftain and absorb its ki and life, restoring some of my own. We then move into a room that has some dwarven slaves and two giants, fire giants specifically. The dwarven salves arm themselves and head back to the main section of the prison, while we take on the fire giants. Malidin charms one of the fire giants after we’ve worn it down, he tries to get information out of it, we learn:

They are being paid a lot of gold to fight and to be here.

He doesn't know how many are here, or why they are here specifically, the fire giants are rather low on the totem pole.

With that Malidin kills the giant, as we haven’t learned anything, and we turn our attention to more Hill Giants who have entered the room and take them out. 

[draumrfold]

The Past Always Finds Away

“Hey Arie, what was it like before?” Hallan asked, stretching out in front of her. They had finished training for the day, the sun was getting ready to set and smells of dinner drifted up to them on their lush grassy hillside just outside of the Monastery. Hallan had been volunteered to train Arie in more advanced techniques. Older than Arie by a few years, she was small and mouse-like for a human, but agile and strong, just like Arie, she made every hit count and never held back. A perfect training partner. 

Arie had tried to avoid the subject of her past for quite some time now. And she had managed to do a pretty good job, only letting others know the very basics. Where was she from? A city. How had she come to join the Monastery? Master  Urizili. Easy answers and no follow-ups. “Well, the others weren’t really posing much of a challenge for me anymore...” Arie said unsure of where exactly this was going. “Did the Masters not tell you?”

Hallan smerks and shifts into another stretching position, “No, silly, I mean what was your life like before the Monastery. You’ve been here now how many years? And no one really knows where you came from you just showed up one day.” 

“Oh, Master Uizili brought me,” Arie replied starting to stretch herself. Their training quarter staffs leaning up against a nearby tree. The setting sun smiled on them, and a light breeze had picked up, wofting in even more delicious smells of the meal they would soon be enjoying. 

Master Uizili in his younger days... Today he sits on the Council at the Monestary with a long thin white beard and billowing robes.

“Oh come on, give me more than that! What was your home like? Where are your parents from? Why did you decide to join the Monastery?” It seemed like Arie’s luck had run out. She could lie, she was very good at it, but she had been learning there was little honor in it. A noticeable moment of silence passed between them while Arie thought it over, trying to decide what to say. “If it helps, my parents don’t even know I’m here,” Hallan offered. “They probably haven’t even noticed that I left.” 

Arie just listened, “They had a lot of children you see, and they didn’t have a lot of money. My father hunted, fished, had a small farm and had my brothers help him grow crops, but it was just enough and it seemed like there was always another mouth to feed. When my eldest sister got married off and no one really noticed she was gone I packed a bag one day and left.” Hallan got the smallest look of sadness in her eyes for a moment and the next it was gone. Arie had always know Hallan to be rather cheerful and go-with-the-flow, it was strange to see her green eyes sadden. Even if for just a moment. “About six months into wondering from village to village I ran into Master Aeolus who was on her way back from filling an ambassadorship role in the nearby city, it’s my understanding there was some dispute about grain and it was driving two princes insane..uh.. anyways she found me in an ally outside of the tavern looking for scraps as I had no money. All she said to me was to follow. To be honest, I thought there was gonna be food wherever she was taking me, so I followed, and here I am.” She concluded with a smile. She waited for Arie to speak. Arie just stared at her. 

A few moments passed. The gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the tree behind them. Finally, Arie let out a long sigh and sat on her knees, picking at a few blades of grass. “My story is tragic and sad.” She said quietly. “My life before this was living on the streets, I stole what I needed to get by, pickpocketing money, food, jewels, whatever it took. I was quite good at it, or at least that is what I thought until Master Urizili caught me. Like you, all he said to me was to follow. I thought he was taking me to the city guard, and that I would be thrown in prison. I had thought about running, but something just made me follow. He brought me here, showed me around, and offered me a place. I’ve been here ever since.” The words were painful coming out. She had been trying so hard to let the pain go, to master it,  harness it, make it an advantage, it was still a work in progress though. 

Hallan looked at are and sat in front of her. “That is sad, but why is it tragic?” She asked softly and thoughtfully. 

Arie let out another sigh. “I hadn’t always lived on the streets,” she replied. The words choking her, getting caught in her chest. “Before, I had lived with my mother and father and little sister.” Hallan just sat quietly, waiting for Arie to continue. 

“My mother was a Nobel in a city far away. And my father was a respected merchant, one day on their travels their paths crossed. It was love at first sight.” She recounted the story her father so long ago. It uses to be her favorite bedtime story.

“Where I am from, my mother's kingdom had been in a century-year-old war with the Elves. They had reached a form of agreement to allow merchants to continue their trade, which is why my father was allowed into the city in the first place. Elves weren’t allowed to rent or purchase property anywhere in the city except for the slums, and even then they kept a close watch on, all of the Elves who had chosen to stay were. He wasn’t permitted into the noble section of the city, much less the royal place. Only as far as the grand market place.”

“My mother’s family, on the other hand, were big supporters of the war, if they won then the king would award them would more land for being loyal to the crown. My mother had only heard terrible stories of how awful the Elves were, never having met one for herself. And the first one she would meet was my Father. Who was nothing like the tales she had heard, this led to her questioning her parents. Who were also looking for a suitor for my mother to wed.  After their initial meeting, they went their separate ways, but my Father decided to move to her city in hopes of finding her again one day. While my mother was starting to accept her fate of being married off.

Some time passed and a suitor from another Noble family had was found for my Mother. She often thought of my father but hadn’t seen him or known where to look for him since their initial meeting. That was until her and her handmaiden were looking for materials in the Grand Market place where she walked into my Father’s stall. My father always talked about how breathtaking she was. He would get this look in his eye every time he told me the story, remembering her flowing silk gown, long braided brown hair, her warm gold eyes, and a beautiful smile when she saw him.  He always said I looked just like her. Soon after my mother would often find excuses to visit the Grand Market, and after that, they started having secret meetings. It soon became clear that my mother’s family would never let her marry an Elf let alone a merchant. So on the eve of my Mother’s wedding, she escaped. She and my father left the city and settled in a small, quiet village along the border of the two kingdoms, one where they hoped they would live in peace. Soon I was born then my sister. 

A few years passed and we were a happy little family. My father had opened a trading post where elven and humans could trade in peace. My mother furthered her research. The war, on the other hand, was getting worse, the village my parents settled in had mostly been mixed race, but as the years went on the Elves left and more humans moved in. My sister and I weren’t allowed to play with the other children because we were only half human, they would call us names, and spit at us. My parents were talking about moving again, into the Elven territory, they just had to figure out how to get my mother across the border. 

Their plan would never be carried out, late one night I awoke to our home on fire, thick smoke was all through our room. I woke my little sister and carried her out through our bedroom window. By the time we reached safety our entire home was ablaze, I wanted to go back in and find our parents but a neighbor held me back the men in our village had started work putting out the fire and had gone in to find our parents. After some time one of them came over to me and told me that they didn’t make it. 

We lost everything, and the villagers made it clear that we were not welcome. I thought maybe our mother’s family would take us in. I didn’t know where my father’s family was otherwise I would have gone there first. Or at least I would like to think that is what I would have done.”

“Did they take you? Wait if they did, then how did you end up on the street?” Hallan asked confused. 

Arie gave a small sad smile, “They didn’t take us in, I was lucky to have made it up into the noble district, I guess I looked enough like a human child no one paid me much attention. I used the description of what my mother had told me of her home to find her family. A young woman answered the door and I explained what happened, she looked so scared. Turns out she was my mother's handmaiden, she told me I must never come back here and to use someone else's name so that my mothers family would never find me. She said that if they did they would kill me and my sister. She told me that my mother’s family had never stopped looking for her, that they had hired assassins to find her and kill her for betraying the family. She said that my uncle had received a report saying they had found us and he was the one who gave the order to kill us. My sister and I were supposed to die in that fire.” 

“Why didn’t your sister come with you to the monastery, you were pretty young when you arrived here,” Hallan asked quietly. 

Arie was filled with sadness, she hated talking about her sister. “She died about four years into us living on the streets. She got sick one day and never got better. I couldn’t afford to buy her medicine...” Arie trailed off, she could feel tears coming and tried to regain control of her emotions. 

Arie and Hallan sat on the hillside until the sun went down, and the moonlight replaced the warm sun, then they walked back to the monastery in silence. They both pretended that talk never happened for the rest of the time they had to train together. Arie promised herself she would never talk about her past again while she was at the monastery, and that was a promise she kept. 

[draumrfold]

Half Haven: The Elf That Was On Fire

The early morning light drifts into my room, I’ve woken at the crack of dawn to see the sun just starting to ascend into the sky, I take this time to find my center and meditate on all that has happened recently. While I am meditating the ground starts to shake violently, which I find quite alarming, it lasts for about a minute or so. When it stops I head out to check on everyone, apparently earthquakes are quite normal and there is no need for concern. This plane of existence is very odd. 

After realizing everyone was fine, I went downstairs and ordered us all breakfast. They also had tea and coffee, it was delicious, it’s been quite some time since I had had either. Honestly, I find indulging in tea and coffee more enjoyable than drinking ale. Last night was well deserved and amusing and it looked like everyone else had a great time...there are just better ways for me to spend my time. 

After we had all eaten our fill we set out for the Bard’s College. BoBo seems very hesitant on fulfilling his promise he made me, but I don’t press him on it. However when we arrive at the College, we are denied access because only students and alumni are allowed to enter, and BoBo is neither of those. To say I am disappointed in BoBo would be an understatement, I keep this to myself though, because now is not the time, later I will talk with him about it. Maybe there is more to the story, but that seems doubtful knowing what I do so far about BoBo. I turn my attention so finding another solution and ask BoBo if he knows of any public library or places that would have information on plane shifting. He leads us to a small shop that sells parchment and ink, I’m starting to think we are wasting our time when a nice little old lady appears behind the counter. 

Turns out she use to be a pretty good mage and is able to offer some very useful information on plane shifting. She tells us that: 

The plane we are currently on is guarded against plane shifting by a divine barrier. 

 The Doomvault must have been a demi-plane with multiple connections or a nexus of sorts. 

Tells us of a realm of doors/realm of sigils, which connects to all planes.

We will need a powerful spellcaster to cast the spell “Plane Shifting” in order to send me back to the right plane.  However the Divine Barrier is what is going to stop me from going back, we have to find a way to bring it down or to get through it. Otherwise, I’m pretty stuck here. 

At the end of our discussion, she tries to banish me, despite saying that I didn’t wish to be banished, but it kinda worked? At least for a few seconds. However, I was in the strangest of places. It was a black room, with a man, who looked up at me and said “You’re not dead,” I looked back at him and said, “Ya I know, I’m lost and now confused,” he replied “Good luck with that,” snapped his fingers and I was back in the shop. 

On our way out of the shop, we ran into Talrean. “Glad you’re not dead,” I say to him. He randomly disappeared upon our arrival into the city yesterday. “It takes a lot to kill me.” He replies. “That remains to be seen,” I say flatly. 

Our conversation is interrupted by Galadin who stole Ashrah’s parchment and was running down the ally with it, while she shouted “Stop that thief,” Talrean raised his bow and threatened to shoot him. Of course, Guards happened to be walking by and came to check out the commotion. Maliadin managed to talk our way out of trouble. 

After leaving the ally and the guards we headed over to see the Hero’s of Easthaven monument in the Nobel district of the city. It was very peaceful. The monument is in a section of the city known as “The Hanging Gardens” flowers, and gardens, and magical plants were everywhere. I thought about how Maelin and Aura would have loved to see this place and would have loved to inspect each and every plant. Hopefully, they aren't dead, they seem like good people, and I would like to see them again even if they annoy me and aren’t most useful in fights. Even if it’s just to recount this tale to them. 

While we were at the monument and everyone was paying their respects I decided to wait patiently and meditate, the Ki here is strange, it all seems to flow strongest from on top of BoBo’s statues head. It would be wildly inappropriate to climb on his statue so I just sit in front and make due. 

“Sir Bradford is a Knight from Thrallia. He was sent to East Haven by his father who thought some time out of the city would do him some good as well as teach him the lessons he needed to be a successful leader”

Not long after we see Brightclaw appear in the sky with two riders. The Princess and Sir Bradford approach, the princess explains she's here to drop Sir Bradford off with us and she is on her way to see her father. Sir Bradford has a quest for us. Sir Bradford is the Prince of Thrallia (& the Princesses brother) and will be joining us as backup on our quest. He outfits us with war horses that are fully equipped. 

We set out for a Giants outpost our mission is to gather intelligence. I find it rather strange to be sending a party made up of mostly heavily armored people to gather intelligence when it seems more of a job for more sneaky people, but this is what the party has decided to do, so off we go. The day’s travel is fine, we rest at the same camp where we encountered the Man, Pig, Bear sighting which admittedly gives me pause but we have BoBo’s hut for protection. 

The next morning arrives and Sir Bradford makes some kind of attempt of conversation with me but in the end, fails or gives up, I’m not sure. It seems like he has something on his mind, but he asked the weirdest question about my master’s wisdom. I don’t think I’ve ever considered him wise is the thing. Crazy, interesting, obsessive, a little too invested in death sure, but wise? Mmmm. I’m not so sure. He did know a lot, and his research was top notch, but there is a difference in being intelligent and wise, I would definitely say my master was intelligent. He was a far cry from the Monks at the monastery, the council that ran it was made up of the most diplomatic, most honest people in the monastery. I would say they were wise, but maybe not so much my master.  

On our ride we notice the grass growing rather wildly, and Talrean seems to think it is growing at a rapid pace. At one point it’s so tall that I take my quarterstaff to see if I can cut it down so I can see. Vines entangle it and myself and throw me from my horse on to the ground. We end u facing several monsters all the while I am stuck on the stupid ground entangled in poisonous vines. The vines tingle kind of like acupuncture, it’s a bit relaxing after a while. When I am finally released most of the creatures are already dead and there is just one left. Thankfully this party is pretty good at fighting. I rush over to the last creature and with Talrean’s help we put it down. With the defeat of the creatures the grass resides and is back to normal, we continue on our journey. The rest of the journey is uneventful, thankfully. 

When we arrive outside of the Giant’s outpost Sir Bradford tells us that this is as far as his scouts have made it, and reinforces that he is here to serve as back up. That his “adventuring skills” do not compare to ours, that he is better at running a city and fighting on front lines. Talrean then compares running a city to adventuring like it’s the same thing. I give him a look of what an idiot, which Sir Bradford shares with me. 

It is soon revealed this is a terrible idea in general. We run into the problem of we have no idea where we are going and can’t really sneak around, nor do we know specifically what kind of intelligence we are looking for. In the end, we’re put into a position of having to figure out a distraction so we can all make it across a hallway and into another door without being seen. Talrean decides to attempt to distract them and/or self-sacrifice in order to cause a distraction. I don’t see exactly what he does but there is shouting and smells of smoke and fire. I do hear him shout for us to run, it’s then that I am faced with a critical decision, what he’s done is incredibly stupid, but I also hear my master's voice floating in my head.

He’s reading from a scroll from one of his many friends “To expire in service to its principle is one of the most profoundly holy experiences a living being can hope to enjoy.” It is with this that I see Talrean and I have something in common, both of us have mastered the fear of death, and use it to our advantage in our own ways. 

[draumrfold]

Thrallia: A Dueling Bard

"In this, our time of strife grant me enough understanding so I might have enough to distribute to all who have strayed" -Maliadin. 

Once we land on the other side of the portal, we find ourselves near a group of giants. I suggest that we head in the opposite direction, but Maliadin comes up with a plan to make it look like he’s just captured us and is on his way to sell us. This is a bad plan, yet everyone is ready to go with it so why not. I vaguely notice the blood that has stained my clothes and the ache in my head. Harnessing Ki to come back to life definitely has its toll. Rest would be so nice, but no. We have to fight giants. 

The plan goes just about as good as I expected, BoBo turned me invisible again, which I should have used to my advantage better than I did. Next time I will do better. I only got hit once by a massive javelin. Thankfully Ashrah and BoBo heal me. After the battle we loot their stuff, I found a giant hide cloak, I’ve no idea what I am supposed to do with this. Maybe I can sell it for some gold. We decide to take advantage of the Giants camp and their roaring fire they already had going. BoBo set up his magical barrier for our safety, and we were set for a well deserved long rest.

While I am not magically inclined, nor do I particularly enjoy magic, especially when it sends me through to different planes, but I do have to admit, it has it’s uses. 

While I was on watch the strangest of creatures appeared. I woke up Maliadin because I’m a stranger to these lands, but that thing just didn’t look right. Turns out we ended up waking everyone up and the creature was something no one had seen before. Galadin thought we were pranking him. I found this slightly insulting, why would I disrupt such important rest for a prank?  In the end, he ended up believing us, but dang, why would I lie? 

The creature looks like one of the experiments my master would have researched if I were in my home plane I might be inclined to think he or some of his friends had something to do with this creature's existence. It looks as though it was a mix between a Man, a bear, and a pig...so odd, why would anyone try to do that? BoBo did try to talk to it, I think that just made it worse though, it was at my suggestion, my thought was that we could make use of that Ring of Animal Influence. The creature did take a run at BoBo’s magical barrier and bounced right off. Everyone went back to sleep and we finished our rest with the creature losing interest and wandering off. 

When we were packing up our camp we noticed that some of our rations were missing, I opened one of mine and saw it was partially eaten, and that I remember eating it, it was when did I eat it that was a bit foggy. BoBo figures out we could be close to a chaos rift, and I add that it could be messing with time. So while we perceive we’ve been camped out for a few hours, it could have actually been days. 

I suggest we make our way to the closest city, my thought is that on my plane cities were the safest to be in, they hadn’t been affected by the chaos rifts yet so that might be the case here as well. I also remember the warning the inn keep gave my old party so long ago now.

We make it to the Human capital city of this plane called Thrallia, we arrive to the city’s gates being closed and guards posted, it seems like they have a special interest in Talrean and Galadin, I’m glad they don’t pay much attention to me. BoBo wins them over with the mention of a place named the Three Legged Devil, which sounds like a place to avoid if I’m being honest. Once in the city, we make our way to a temple,  Maliadin is very insistent while BoBo really wants to go and drink. I stay with the group, I have little interest in praying, but if it puts these people at ease then who am I to judge. 

As we make our way through the city everyone (except me) seems to notice that shops and buildings are misplaced, or closed, or moved, things seem to not be as they should be. The temple is very impressive compared to what I’ve seen back home. There is a priestess who welcomes us, as we talk it becomes very apparent that we’ve either been plane shifted from the reality my party remembers or we’ve been sent forward in time, we don’t have enough information yet to know which. 

Other things we learned from the Priestess:

The King and Princess are still in power from when everyone was last here

Elves, dwarfs, most towns are at war with Thrallia

The Lazy Lizzard -Tavern & Inn

Easthaven was the first to fall

Chaos vaults (**WTF** that sounds like a terrible idea) are being built by dwarfs who are also soldiers they hang out at the Lazy Lizzard. 

Maliadin, Galadin, and Ashrah take their time praying, I meditate for a while, then go and join BoBo outside who is playing some music. He tries very hard to get me to dance to what he’s playing. I do not dance, instead, I suggest that we could spar, he doesn't seem very excited about it, this I find amusing. But he is very talented, and he asked if I had any requests, so I asked him to play his favorite song. It was very good, at the end the rest of the party was coming out of the temple, and clapped, even some guards nearby clapping. 

It’s at this time when we are deciding what to do next, that I make a deal with BoBo to take me to a library so we could try to find some information on plane shifting as well as maybe some information on chaos rifts. It seems our next stop is to be The Lazy Lizzard, but first a nice trip to a bathhouse. I literally don’t remember the last time I bathed, so I’m all in on this plan. 

The bathhouse we visited is called the Bed of Clouds -Bath & Spa, it was very nice, very relaxing, exactly what my sore muscles needed. They even laundered our filthy clothes. When we arrive at at the Lazy Lizard Maliadin finds us a table and BoBo orders us food and drink. We have a great time, I drink very little even though they bought a keg, I also pocket some of the cheese for later for Sly. I guess some of my party members are known in this plane as “Defenders of the realm” and have statues dedicated to them somewhere in the noble district of the city.

Hours later they opened a fighting arena, and Galadin decides to challenge a Drow, by the looks of it, he might know him, I’m not sure, in any case, he loses, which I don’t find surprising seeing how intoxicated he is. BoBo keeps chanting for me to step into the ring. I don’t see the point, I know how good my skills are, and have no need to prove myself. Additionally, there could be very talented fighters here, there is no guarantee I would win, despite BoBo’s chanting. Instead, I turn it on him and challenge him. Our duel is a good one, or at least until he heals himself- I find that to be cheating, additionally flying should not be allowed, as to me, it’s leaving the ring. It did make it incredibly difficult to hit him, and at one point I thought I would concede as we there is just as much honor in knowing when you are beat as actually winning, but Asrah healed me and I was able to deliver a winning blow. After the fight, I helped BoBo up and out of the pit. I think he wants a rematch which could be fun. 

When we were getting ready to leave the Princess, Zia Weston, arrives and chats with us. She seems very apologetic about sending the party into the Doomvault, I guess it was supposed to be a kind of training grounds gone wrong? While they were in there they received a message from a Franny, this for the people in this plane was 6 years ago. There is someone named Celestia Blackrose who I guess is trying to take over this plane, she has been slaughtering mages, and now not many are left. The ones that are, are in hiding. There is one central chaos tower that we could infiltrate if we were more powerful it sounds like. 

Celestia demanded that all kingdoms bend the knee to her, and she threatened with chaos clouds, apparently, the other kingdoms bent the knee with no hesitation, which I find very suspicious. The other kingdoms are also using Giants which are really destroying just everything it sounds like. It sounds like we would be able to lend the most use to Halfhaven which is also where Fanny is so it seems like our vague plan right now is to head that way after finishing our business here in the city. 

We see the Princess off and I get to meet her Griffin, Brightclaw, it’s a very beautiful creature. We then turn in for the night after BoBo sends a message to Fanny letting her know we are going to make our way to her. 

[draumrfold]

Thrallia is the capital of the Human race, ruled by King Julius. 

 Various Colleges, Temples of various human gods, and the main structure of the human empire is centered in Thrallia.

Places of interest:

Cures And Curses - Apothecary and Magical Items

The Iron Maiden -Blacksmith (Weapons and Armor)

Three Legged Devil -Tavern / Dance Hall/ Inn (Brothel)

The Lazy Lizard -Tavern & Inn

Bed of Clouds - Bath & Spa

[draumrfold]

Doomvault: Kiss of Death

We’ve stopped to take a rest, finally. I feel very drained of Ki, after BoBo regained some consciousness he managed to construct an illusion that provided shelter for us, a safe place to rest. I do wish it was a bit more spacious, I would like to try and keep a good amount of distance between myself and these people, as to not further intrude on their kindness. Throughout our rest I could hear Maliadin softly chanting prayers, luckily I was able to block him out and focus on my own balance for my meditation. I also am able to fully sleep and fully recover from having my life force sucked from me. I feel within myself my full strength return. 

When we are finally ready to set off again, BoBo informs us part of his soul is missing. His friends don’t even question what needs to be done, so we all set off to perform a ritual of some kind to restore him. Magic isn’t my strong suit, but the idea of being able to spit a soul is fascinating, just as is how one might put a soul back together. So while I’m not thrilled at the idea of spending more time in this place, I am very intrigued to witness this ritual. 

We used what they are calling a “Black Gate” to get to the chamber they needed to perform the ritual in. Using the gate was a sensation I’ve never experienced before, it wasn’t like when I was shifted in the plane tear, this place has so many secrets to learn. In the chamber, we had to wait while BoBo reverse engineered the ritual when he was done he hopped up on to one of the stone slabs in the massive chamber. He held the scroll out to Talrean who looked less than enthusiastic that the burden had fallen to him, but accepts the scroll. BoBo lays back on the stone and enters a trance state, soon into Talrean’s reading of the scroll we can see BoBo astral projected soul floating above him and slowly it drifts down on to his body and re-merges with his body. 

BoBo slowly opens his eyes, and motions for Talrean to step closer, Ashrah also takes a step closer, when suddenly they both let out gasps and retreat- curing BoBo and his noxious gases. BoBo sits up laughing, and joking, all was once more good it appeared. BoBo I am learning is something of a jokester, which while amusing, there is also a time and a place. I am not sure being stuck in a dungeon after dying and putting one's soul back together is that time or place. 

We continue on to the next area, I have lost track of not only time but also how many chambers and hallways we’ve been through. I merely follow the group, somewhere near the back. It seems Maliadin did not find solace last night as he has gone from leading us to being in the back with me, if not trailing behind us. 

While I trained and studied I never really got into the whole worship thing, perhaps that is why I never truly felt at home in the Temple. I’ve tried prayer and worship, for whatever reason it just doesn't seem to click with me, not the way my studies of death have. Maliadin, in my humble opinion, could greatly benefit from meditation, and inner reflection, as I have found all true inner growth will make you feel uncomfortable, disturbed, or scared for a little while, and that’s ok, the feeling will pass. However Maliadin has seemed to give into fear and pain, he lets death have power over him, rather than embracing and accepting it. As long as he does that, he will never be the mighty warrior he projects to be. 

When we come to face our next enemies Maliadin has fallen so far behind us that I of all people have to lead the charge. I’m uncomfortable with this because I still don’t know the extent of these peoples powers, nor do I know if they will have my back. Trust and loyalty is earned, I recognize I must give them a chance, but I am also cautious about it. 

When we enter the chamber a mage casts a poisonous gas over us, through my training, I have become immune to such things, it would appear my comrades have not, however. I know there is a wall of enemies in front of me, so I take a running start and with all my might I rush into one, knocking it backward and causing a disruption to their wall. I manage to get outside of the gas and unleash a series of blows into the foe in front of me. The other enemies circle around me and I find Ashrah next to me, I assume the others have found their way into the room, blocking a path to safety, I do the only thing I can think of that might give me an advantage in this situation. I start a booming chant in a voice that is deeper than what I should be capable of making, this eerie chant strikes fear into most of the enemies around me, as well as Talrean and Sylvanna. This gives me not only me but all of us an advantage that we’re able to defeat everything and release a Dark Elf. I’ve never seen so many different kinds of elves in one setting before. 

In the next chamber have a similar fight and I see a beast so big and ugly, I’m told that it is an Orc. I don’t think we have Orcs on my plane, I’ve never seen or heard of them before and this one looked very fierce. I am told they are not that intelligent of beings so BoBo came up with a very easy way to communicate to it not to attack us. It went well enough, he looked diseased but wished for no help and he went on his way. 

It also occurs to me that we’ve watched every other being we have rescued (that was friendly) drift off through the white doors, without having to open them. I too was rescued, so I go over to a door and cautiously step through the door to the other side, astonished, I step back through. Cursing all the elven sware words I know in dismay. Why does this stuff keep happening to me? First plane shifting now I can walk through doors. Ashrah says she can’t sense any curses, and I can feel my Ki and lifeforce, nothing seems out of place. I then purpose that this would mean I am able to traverse anywhere in the dungeon, which means I could take us right to the phylactery chamber, and save us all some time and energy. Unfortunately, the others explain to me why that wouldn’t work, and I’m a bit disappointed that this weird power cannot be of more use. 

In the final chamber that had a Shrine of binding in it, and after the fighting, we see the creature has become a zombie and put it out of its misery. We also take a short rest here, where BoBo tries to tell me jokes. I don’t really find them amusing, but I appreciate the effort. We (BoBo, Talrean, Sylvanna, and I) end up having a really odd conversation about Humans, then Tea, or rather the lack of tea, and finally the subject of pets, which I actually felt comfortable enough to introduce them to Sly- I really need to find some proper cheese for her, doubt this will be the place for that though- they are all rather astonished I keep a mouse in my pocket. It can’t be that strange. Perhaps pets aren’t as widely accepted on this plane. I’m kinda surprised she was able to plane swap with me as well as she has. I haven’t observed any difference in her behavior. BoBo, upon learning I have a pet, offers me a ring of Animal Influence so I might communicate with Sly. While part of me would love to accept such an amazing gift as to further my research, another, stronger part of me feels it is not practical for me to have such a thing, and I politely decline the ring, at least for now. Maybe I will barrow it later when I have time to record and properly interview Sly, I’ll have to think about it. 

After the conversation and our short rest, I do feel more at peace and in balance with these people. As though our Ki are aligning. Something I never really felt with Maelin and Aura. Perhaps another sign this is the plane I am truly meant to be on, or at least these are people I was meant to meet. Off of one of the last monsters we defeated we find some Bracers of Defense that the group says I can have, I am humbled they would allow me to have anything we find here. 

We continue on through the chambers, and face down more mages, zombies, and yetis, it's very tiring work if I’m honest, but we’ve rested enough that I am able to keep my Ki up, also Maliadin has decided he’s done moping and has caught back up with and is fighting as normal now. I am very glad the pressure is off of me to lead us into battle. I did fine, admittedly, but moving forward it’s probably best for either Galadin or Maliadin to lead us. 

We enter the phylactery chamber, finally, this is what everyone has said is our goal. I am very happy to finally be here. There is no immediate danger from what we see, and start work on entering the small temples, after we get the first one open, we see BoBo be flung out of the temple and into a large pit of a tar-like substance. Which is of course home to monsters, a giant eye emerges from the tar pit after we’ve pulled BoBo out, and unleashes this incredibly painful sound that knocks me unconscious. 

While I lay there unconscious I feel life and death all around me, the flow of Ki in perfect balance, with my mind I reach out and touch the life flow and feel breath come back to my body and my eyes open. I pull myself up with help from my quarterstaff. “Well, that’s fascinating,” I think to myself. 

While I studied the Way of the Long Death I remember reading a story from what I thought at the time was a wack a loon monk who claimed he had mastered death it’s self and was able to feel life forces and the Ki that flowed not only within himself but within others as well. My master thought this guy was really onto something, and so together we would meditate feeling the Ki within us, sensing our life forces and life forces of others but never being able to feel death or to be able to manipulate the Ki of others. This is the first time I’ve been able to sense death, truly feel its power, and the true power of life. The flow of Ki is reinvigorating. I guess that monk wasn’t as crazy as I thought. I will have to review the notes I made on his work later. If only there was a way to let my master know the progress I have made. He would be so excited, I hope one day to at least be able to send a message to him. 

The creature continues to knock me unconscious, and I continue to harness the power of death and I end up running weird circles around the temple, that Talrean has decided to perch on. Weird ass elf. I sprint in, punch and attack, and run back to safety because by this time I’m just assuming I’m going to be knocked out. The next time I awaken it’s to Ashra shoving a health potion into my mouth. I mumble that if she had just waited a moment I would have come to on my own. She shrugs and helps me to my feet. We clear out the rest of the floors of the phylactery chamber without any problems. 

Upon finishing our work a vision appears before us, a crackling human, who is just talking crazy, he opens a portal and pushes us all through. While we are going through the portal I hear from somewhere beside me Talrean cursing him for not rewarding us properly. What an odd time to be concerned with such things. This also means I’ve been plane shifted, yet again. I doubt it to home. I will just have to wait and see where we land. 

[draumrfold]

The Doomvault, the place I now find myself.

[draumrfold]

Doomvault: Raise the Dead

I feel my consciousness return to me, my eyes are already wide open. I try to focus, and I take in the room around me. It’s a large dank chamber, with a few undead and weird creatures I’ve never seen before. Sensing panic in the back of my mind, I try to move for my quarterstaff only to find I can’t move at all. I struggle, wiggling with all my might, not moving a single inch.

My body tingles, and I feel weaker like energy is leaving my life force. I need to find a way to get out of this and find my companions. The crazy man we found in the crypt must have come to, followed us, and overtaken us somehow. The last thing I remember is fighting giant spiders that were half phasing in and out of our plane.

Hours pass, the horrors roam around the shrine that holds me captive, never getting near thankfully. I’ve given up trying to wiggle out of this, and instead focus of meditating, conserving my Ki, stroking my life force as I feel it slip away from me. If I don’t figure a way out of this then I will die. What an end, I think sarcastically to myself.

I hear the heavy doors smash open and a group of adventurers enters the chamber. I watch them take out the monsters one by one. The smallest of the group, a halfling by the looks of him makes his way up to my prison. First, he tries to walk right up to me, a magical barrier throws him backward. His next attempt is to use some kind of magical portal, which works until he is blasted backward again. By this time the rest of the monsters have been defeated, and the group comes over to my prison. I hear them talking about how to get me down. It takes them quite a while, and with a lot of failures mixed in. Eventually, though they knock over a pillar and I feel the bindings lifted.

I fall to my knees, swallowing for breath. I’ve never been in the need of rescuing, and these people clearly are not my companions. The small one comes up to me and introduces himself as BoBo, extending a hand. I take it and when I open my mouth I think I introduce myself but babble comes out as well. Shock. I’m in shock. I must have been up in that thing longer than I thought, I sit back on my heels and try to collect my thoughts. Another of the companions comes up to me, Ashah, and offers me her waterskin, I accept it,  cautiously, thankingly, and slowly sip from it. Again I try to talk and more babble comes out. Less crazy though I think. Still not really coherent. I take a moment and try again. “Where am I?” I manage. They inform me I am in something called the Doomvault.

BoBo comes back towards me, I’m still sitting on the ground, and he sits in front of me explaining how it sounds like I’ve been plane shifted. Which means I have no idea where  Maelin or Aura is or if I’ll even see them again. I really hate that freaking wizard! He said something like this was possible! I hope he falls into one of the tears himself. I am utterly annoyed, and now I find myself in a room with people who I don’t know or trust. Nor do I know whether they are deserving of trust.

For now, I will travel with them, fight with them, aid them, the best I can until we are out of this hell hole. Then I will have to figure out how to get back to my plane I guess. 

In the next chamber, we find a red wizard. These are apparently very evil people here. There is also something called the Red Keep that they keep mentioning. I’m not really sure of any of this so I try to just lend my fists the best that I can. We also learn that something called “The Lynch” is attempting to become a God by use of siphoning the life forces of victims who are held as I was in Shrines of Binding.  

The chamber after that holds not only monsters but also a piece of shit of a halfling, this creature felt compelled to not only insult my honor but also touch me...needless to say, I broke his nose. If I knew my new companions better I wouldn’t bother holding back, but I am trying to stay on their good side, and losing control is often not how one should do that. I notice the high elf, I believe his name is Talrean, looking at me after that interaction; if he has something to say he should just say it. I decide to ignore him and continue on with the party into the next chamber.

Here we face the same monsters we’ve seen in the previous chambers when we start work on releasing the creature trapped within the Shrine, Talrean tells us that this is a Yaun-ti, they are a vial race and we should kill it. Which is exactly what we do after some debate. He was a formidable opponent I must admit. I am finding I am more powerful on the plane than the last, I feel a stronger connection to my Ki, and when meditating, Ki flows within me more in harmony, which is then translated to battle by not only my quick and devastating attacks but also through my flowing swift movements. Maybe I was meant to come to this plane. 

While we were resting Bo Bo had some very strong alcohol, which made him extremely drunk, it was quite a sight! He led us through to the next room. He was able to sense how many foes were waiting for us, which considering his drunken state, was very impressive. He also attempted to hit on the female half-elf we rescued. I liked her, she seemed very capable. She didn’t stick around though, which is fine, she probably made it out ok. She seemed to know where she was going. 

This place seems like a never-ending maze of chambers and hallways I was bringing up the rear when I hear BoBo from the front in a very drunk voice “Maybe we should just go home?” Is that even an option for these people? They seem very intent on their goal of clearing the place. In front of us, I see why BoBo made that remark; we encountered yet another being I’ve never seen, it was called a Flesh Golem.  We end up not having to battle it and I watch as the others speak with the man that was in the room. He has a skeleton key and a tey to turmoil which we take from him. The golem stays where it is, unmoving, the entire time we are in the room. Someone in the group surmises that there must not be a control rod around to control the Golem. 

The next chamber has the most foes we have encountered thus far. Including a powerful mage called an Evoker. Our battle lasts what feels like for hours. BoBo does manage to get himself into quite a few pickles though, first, he is surrounded by undead after being beat on pretty badly. I tried my best and stunned 3 out of my 4 targets. He is whisked away by Galadin, to what I assume is safety as I didn’t see him for the rest of battle. One of the undead manages to shake off my blows and turns its attention to me. Talrean runs his dagger through it and destroyed it, he nods, as though I should be thankful, and motions to the other enemies. I give him a look back as though to say “no shit, we have bigger problems” and leap into my next attack. 

While we might have won the battle, we also lost a friend. BoBo while he was whisked to safety, he also gave his life protecting his friends. I don’t think I have ever felt so many emotions from the others as I did in that chamber. All was quite as Ashah took BoBo to the previous chamber, I hear Malidin shout in rage, and as I come out of the hallway I see him pummeling the flesh golem into the ground. Then turn to see Ashah chanting and setting up a ritual. I take a place on the steps of the destroyed shrine and watch, staying quiet, and giving them plenty of space. I suddenly feel very out of place, as though I am intruding. 

Ashah sets out three candles before she sets to work. Galadin comes over and pleas for BoBo to return to us. One of the candles ignites.  Then Talrean takes a small horn from his belt and grids in up, as well as one of the bottles of strong potion that had made BoBo intoxicated earlier, and mixes the two together, asking for BoBo to return. Another of the candles ignites. Galadin goes over to Malidin, and convinces him to come and speak as well. He has few words to say, but perhaps they are the most powerful. The third and final candle ignites. A moment passes and BoBo awakens coughing.

I am relieved to see BoBo still lives, we move into the hallway for a long rest to recover from the ritual and battle.    

[draumrfold]

Way of the Long Death

When it was time for me to set out on my own journey I wondered the lands aimlessly, meditating and looking for guidance. One evening I found myself stepping into an Inn. I make my way up to the bar and order some dinner. The barkeep is human but seems nice enough. He at least doesn't stare at my ears or ask why I am bald. Maybe in his time as a barkeep, he’s learned its better not to ask such things.  

The inn was quiet, not a lot of travelers, those who were there weren’t exactly talkative so not a lot of talking was going on. I looked down the bar and noticed a traveler, similar to myself, robes of the deepest black, his head was bald like mine but covered in symbols and markings, he looked worn and tired, like the barkeep he too was human. I eat in peace, and as I get up to leave he says to me, “What order are you from?” It’s obvious what I am, my hands and feet wrapped, and my quarterstaff at my back. 

I give a small bow, and reply, “Until recently, I studied as a disciple of Saint Sollars,” he nods. 

“A noble order. You are a fierce fighter then.” I’m not sure how to respond at this so I just give a small nod. “What brings you so far from home?” 

“I’m not sure that was my home,” I respond. “I guess you could say I have had a complicated life.” He smiles a little. 

“Ah, yes, haven’t we all. Come join me for a drink, let us recant some tales.” As it would turn out neither of us had many tales to tell. As I had just set out on my journey and was a Scholar of the Way of the Long Death. He did thoroughly enjoy telling me all about his research, it was all quite fascinating. “Where are you staying tonight?” He asks me. I tell him I had planned to rent a room here, and he insists I come to stay with him. It was the least he could do for a fellow monk. I reluctantly agreed. 

His home on the outside looked perfectly normal and modest, the inside though reeked of decay and rot. the place was littered with scrolls, vials, and dead creatures. He apologizes for the mess and shows me to the spare room, which was mostly free from all clutter. I cracked the window open to let fresh air flush out the stale air. The next morning he asks if I would mind helping him out with a new experiment, that he just needs a second pair of hands. I agree, curious to see if anything he has shared with me is actually true. 

Needless to say, one experiment led to another and eleven years later I found myself finally setting off on the road again. The scholar taught me all that he knew in the Way of the Long Death. While I never developed his taste for dead creatures or animal torture, uh, I mean experiments..., I did gain a new perspective on death and the state of being dead; to expire in service is one of the most profoundly holy experiences a living being can hope to enjoy, I no longer fear death, but embrace it. I’ve gained a better understanding through the meditation of my parent's murder and my sisters passing. 

From that embrace, I have found new power and abilities to manipulate Ki not only within myself but also within others. I hope to continue to grow these abilities as I travel onto my next adventure.  

[draumrfold]

Sly The Lucky

Sly the field mouse is a little sweetheart who came into my position about four years ago now. While I was studying the way of the long death, we were conducting a round of experiments on a group of field mice I had caught and out of all of them, Sly was the only one to survive. Earlier that week we had met a rather strange merchant that was traveling through our little village. He told us a little vial he possessed could expand the life span of any creature with just a drop. 

My master eyed him very suspiciously, but paid the coin the merchant was asking for. To say the experiment was one of our less exciting ones would be an understatement. We fed each of the mice one drop from the vial, and as far as we could tell it had no effect. Not until about three months later all but one of the mice dropped dead. 

I am to keep Sly to observe her and to see if her life span really is increased. It’s my understanding that a field mouse, out in the environment is lucky if it makes it a year, but since we’ve had her in captivity I would say maybe three years is more of a typical lifespan. It may be a bit bold, but I feel as though that merchant's potion has done something, or Sly is one of the luckiest field mice ever. She had to have been at least six months when we caught them, so my estimate age for her right now is four and a half years. 

In that time she has come to enjoy various cheeses, fruits, and nuts, riding in my pocket while we journey, and through my adventures, she will sometimes perch on my shoulder. She is very curious about the world when I have to fight however she is sure to tuck herself deep into one of my pockets. While we haven’t met that many other people she shows litter interest in them unless they have some food in their hands. I try to make sure I always have a little snack of some sort on hand for her. 

 It will be interesting to see if she continues to have this kind of progress. She looks exactly the same as when I caught her. 

[draumrfold]

A Mid-Winter Bemmi (One Shot)

This is one of many Bemmi’s of adventures. He finds himself being called to Waterdeep, for their mid-winter gala. 

Arriving in the city he is greeted by happy children running about, and as he takes in the city before notices all the festive decor and the generally festive atmosphere. He can hear laughter and drunken song coming from a tavern as he passes, and think a pint might be nice, but just as he is about to walk in spots some of his fellow adventures and goes to join the group. 

As he walks up the group one of them offers him a cookie and he happily accepts it. If ale is not to be had at least a sweat treat will tie him over. As he munches on it he can’t help but think there isn’t a better sugar cookie he had ever had the pleasure of eating. 

The group makes their way up the Villa that would be hosting the main event they had all come to see. Crumbs were now occupying his beard and he licks his fingers as if to savor every last sugar crystal he could. 

Their hosts are usually very private and this is one of the few times they have opened their home to the city. The group gets a prime spot to watch the performance, while others crowded into the ballroom. A wooden stage had been freshly built for the performance, Bemmi also notices guards at every entry, they gently guide guests to stay in the main ballroom and not to wonder the rest of the villa. 

A bard takes the stage and starts to perform. Her voice is amazing! Everyone is enchanted, and it’s as though the rest of the world melts away. Suddenly a bright red imp appears and attacks the bard! 

The guards are able to take care of it and ask the crowd for volunteers to help investigate this incident. Of course, our merry band of adventures steps forward. We find a torn piece of paper with a story on it, the story is a little strange. Especially since the girl's name in the story is the same as the daughter of their hosts. Bemmi notes this and finds it suspicious, he’s not sure what it means but it can’t be anything good. 

The group moves on to trying to figure out how the Imp got in. One of the groups magic users points out that it would have been summoned. They mention this after they all checked out the stage and rest of the room and questioned the hosts. 

The group goes into some of the other rooms they are granted access to, and eventually, find the twins room. Here the group finds a circle on the ground with marbles. When the group investigates the toy chest they find some other items and something clicks for Bemmi. 

These items are the same that were in the story and it’s actually a summoning ritual. To close the connection they must follow through and finish the sigil. So they set it back up and then go to the secondary location mentioned in the story, City of the Dead, which is part of Waterdeep. (Think cemetery meets amusement part). When they complete the next part of the sigil, a demon appears and after a short conversation the demon attacks. Bemmi takes the brunt of the damage as he is standing closest. He however also delivers some devastating blows to the demon. On the final and killing blow, the demon disappears in a cloud of black smoke. 

The group makes their way back to the villa and runs into the captain of the guard who is very happy with our success. When the group reaches the villa and reports their findings to the Woman Host she offers them each a bag of 1,000 gold in exchange for not saying anything about their adventure. The group questions her a bit and something just isn’t sitting right. 

Stay tuned for part two! 

[draumrfold]

Thystas: Follow The Spiders

Today is the day we set out for Mrs. Meyersmith's mansion. We grabbed a quick breakfast and set out on the road out of town. The trip there was rather uneventful, though I am glad we are traveling during the day. I’m not in any hurry to find out what goes bump in the night in these woods. 

When we reached the mansion it seemed to be abandoned. The grounds looked like they hadn’t had any proper care for quite some time. Maelin knocked on the door to find it was unlocked and it swung open. (That’s always a good start to a day’s adventure). 

Inside we found that it was really rather unkept and dirty, we could see footprints leading deeper into the mansion, as though someone had been through recently. We carefully made our way further inside to find spiders. Why is it always spiders? *sigh* These were no ordinary spiders, however, oh no, that would be easy. These were spiders were hard to keep in view, it was like they were touching two different planes of reality. Personally, I love hitting things, but these spiders looked, well not completely all there- if you’ll excuse the pun. So we managed to sneak by them into another room where we found a really old medallion of some kind, I put it in my tunic and went on our way. 

The plan was to sneak back by the spiders but someone -MAELIN- isn’t as trained in the ways of sneaking like the rest of us. So we end up dealing with the spiders, they were surprisingly weaker than I thought they would be. Also, the newest member of our party, a ranger, is pretty talented and can hold their own. 

After we defeated the spiders we eventually find a man in another room, whose very strange to say the least. His robes were covered in some of the same formulas as I found in a book earlier. Admittedly I would have very much liked to knock him out, but Maelin was very insistent on interrogating him. 

(There was also a really freaky mirror that I was not having any part of, first I get sent to a different dimension, next thing you know I’ll be stuck in a mirror. NO THANKS!)

He barely had a grip on reality and was really confused about everything. Notably, he had no idea his mistress had children, he thinks he is her child. The more Maelin talked with him the more out of it he seemed.  When she had finished with him it was as though we were never there to him. With what he shared with us, made the whole thing seem very cult-like. 

(ended session midway because I had to take off early, To Be Continued...)

[draumrfold]

Thystas: A Butler’s Tale

We enter the tavern from the day’s adventures and sit down to have dinner. Our food arrives when the Buttler walks through the door. Maelin waves him over and he orders the same as us. The tavern is busy and between clanks for mugs, forks scraping plates, chatter, and a bards song we didn’t feel as though we would be overheard, but we still kept our voices low.

 The Butler tells us that the Father has literally barries himself in work in his office, how the Butler is concerned for his sanity.  How Mr. Meyersmith hasn’t allowed the servants to clean his office in eight days (his children went missing three days ago).

Next, we ask about the rumors we’ve heard about the Mother (werewolf theory) the Butler laughs, and is rather dismissive of our theory and tells us not to believe everything we hear. Instead, he tells us about how the Mother and her Father (when he was alive) are trying to bottle magic so that even though who didn’t have magical abilities could benefit from it. Publically the Mother denounces her Father’s work as it was highly unethical. To further convince the city folk that she truly denounced her fathers work she married Mr. Meyersmith, whose family has a deep hatred of all things magical. 

Mr. Meyersmith hasn’t been to the bank in a week. As a father, he is very uninvolved in his children's lives, which oddly, is a direct contrast to his own upbringing.

We ask if there is anything we can do to get on Mr. Meyersmiths good side so he might open up to us more and allow us to do our jobs and help him. The Buttler suggests collecting on some outstanding accounts for him. He reaches into a pocket and produces a small slip of paper. It reads:

“Markus Mortain and Amilia Sindarin- 10,000 Gold, 2,000 Sliver, 500 Bronze”

and with that, the Buttler finishes his ale and leaves us. We agree that in the morning we will head out to collect the money that owed. 

The next morning after breakfast we set out for the Farmstead the Buttler had described to us. The farmers borrowed money from the bank with the intents of purchasing seed to grow Gloreisis Gravardius in the next growing season. A costly but delicious vegetable that was in high demand in the larger cities. 

As we approach the farmhouse we notice no animals are making any noise, the place seems abandoned. “Hello?” I call out, “Debt Collectors. If you come out now we won’t destroy your property and spare your life.” Maelin and Aura give me a very stern look. “What? How else will they come out? I’m trying to save us some time here.” No one responds. We find that the farmhouse is unlocked and we let ourselves in. We explore all the main level of the farmhouse and find nothing of interest. Upstairs we find a chest that has:

(1) Bottle of Water Breath

(1) Bottle of Animal Friendship

(1) Bottle of Detect Magic

(1) Bottle of False Life

(1) Greater Healing Potion

2,000 Gold

Large bag of seeds

  We then enter the basement, on the stairs heading down there is an unusual amount of spider webbing and it only increases the further we head into the basement. We see that a tunnel has been dug out, there is also massively huge egg sacks, we follow the tunnel and come out on into the basement of the other farmhouse. Here we find the bodies a man and a woman, they look as though they have been obliviated. I use my quarterstaff to shift through their remains, on the man I find a coin purse that has 200 gold, and a medallion, I notice the symbols that inscribed upon it, though they have no meaning to us. I show it to the others and they don’t recognize it either. The woman has a coin purse containing 200 gold. 

As we leave the second farmhouse we see their fields for the first time. Which are occupied by giant worms, we don’t engage them and they don’t notice us. We decide that they are a bit above our pay grade and we aren’t going to fight them if there isn’t anything in it for us. We head back to Mr. Meyersmiths home to deliver the seeds and gold we had collected. 

I’m annoyed to find that after our hard work, Mr. Meyersmith is still a sour puss, even though we return 2,400 gold to him. He is clearly upset and distraught however, his office is in disarray compared to how pristine it was on our initial visit. We ask the Butler if we can speak with Mrs. Meyersmith, before he can answer Mr. Meyersmith informs us she is not home. 

We return to the inn and devise a plan to break into Mrs. Meyersmith’s wing of the home. While we wait we enjoy a round of ale and some dinner when Mal brings us our food she lets us know about the notice board, there are a few slips of paper on it. I notice there is a reward for defeating those giant worms we saw earlier and I pocket it for later. 

We manage to break into the wing under the cover of nightfall. We enter what looks like a giant bathroom, an adjoining room holds a bath, then we find a secret door I manage to open, this leads to an alchemist's workshop, everything in here is very neat and orderly. Other than that there is nothing interesting to find in the rooms so we head back to the inn and get some rest. 

[draumrfold]

Thystas: The Curious Case of The Meyersmith’s Children

So I guess we had a session four, but my notes were eaten by the void I guess, because I have no idea where they are, so here is the summary from our DM: 

The adventurers went to the home of the Meyersmith's, whose children have gone mysteriously missing. Mr. Meyersmith, the town's banker, is unattentive, blunt, and dismissive when they arrive at the home. The butler is the one who answers the majority of their questions. Mrs. Meyersmith has declined visitors for the day, and the butler indicates that going against her wishes not to be disturbed is a bad idea.

In the girl's room: orderly, tidy, with a backpack hanging on the bed. Bed made, everything seems to be in its place. A picture of the family (drawing) is on the wall, with 3 smiling faces and one angry one (the dad). In the boy's room, dolls and doll parts everywhere - various toys, action figures, etc. appear to have been dismembered and attempted to be cobbled together. This room is less orderly, with the bed appearing to have been attempted to be made, but still rumpled. Toys all over the room, with partially assembled dolls on the desk. Under the bed is found a loose floorboard, which when pried up, reveals a notebook hidden beneath. Inside the notebook is a skeleton key, and portions of the notebook are written in code. The butler mentions an incident, which he declines to talk about while in the house. When asked how to get the master of the house to warm up to them, the butler says that helping the master collect some of the debts he's owed by locals would go a long way toward thawing him toward the adventurers. The adventurers return to the tavern, where they question Mal. Mal indicates that the "official" story is that the mother has some mental health issues, and on her "bad days" secludes herself and declines visitors. The town believes that she attacked the boy when he was 4 or 5 during one of these spells, and that is why she now secludes herself on these days.

We will pick up the next session with the butler entering the tavern to speak to the ladies who are searching for the missing children, without the fear of the master of the house overhearing what is discussed.