In Character Adventure Reports

(Please reserve comments for Discord or a new Forum, use this topic for Adventure Reports only or else this will become a bloated mess. Thank you) Date of Session: Saturday, 29 July, 2017 Date in Game: Janurary 3rd, 8 PF Ok boys and girl, adventurers of all ages and races, gather around and let your friendly neighborhood Goliath Natham tell you a tale that happened a long time ago, two months ago if I recall. Its started like any other day, with your naritor, me, walkin around town lookin for somthin to do, when all of a sudden, I see these two folk looking at a board. Now I never really looked at this board much, mainly only for the pictures of things I'd like to kill one day. These two were looking at this board rather intently when they see me standing behind them. That is when they introduce themselves as Leaf, Thorfoot and another I can't recall the name of, they kept correcting me with names that didn't sound quite right, so I persisted with Leaf and Thorfoot. After choosing a quest they choose to take me with, "Could use the muscle" said Leaf. We apparently were headed toward the village of Brightford and recover a shiny red rock. Hell if I knew what it was for sombody just wanted it. When we made it to the village there had to be at least a hundred of what Leaf called "Gnolls". I figured I could take them but the group choose instead to follow a river up to the top of a destroyed church. This is where the fun begins.  At this point, the man I can't remember had disappeared, never to be heard from again, never seen him back in town anyways. When we entered the Church, Thorfoot was visibly upset, drowning himself in his 5th bottle since we left town. I choose to search the nearby rooms for anything I could smash or use to smash. When we found a door that wouldn't open, I entered a rage out of frustration and destroyed the door into splinters. It was here that we met a man who was also a ghost, so I guess he was dead. I guess he ran the church or somthin I don't really care anymore. Anyways, for whatever reason this is when two random men by the names of Jacob and Yeti ran into the church hit the ghost once each, and then bailed through the church windows. To this day I have never seen them around town. We beat the ghost after we learned his teleportin trick and made our way to the graveyard, which I proceeded to rob the family grave of the people who hired us, assumin that was where the shiny rock was. It wasn't, well there was a rock but not the one we were lookin for. We saw a large Moso-Liam or whatever Leaf called it and decided to enter. Inside we discovered a large Golom who reacted badly to the new rock, collapsin on the spot. We spent about ten minutes bashin the damn thing, it took another frustration rage to do the trick. Inside was the Rock! We won! But out of the shadows we saw figures start to crawl around and bailed from the town before anybody knew better.  When walkin back to town we ran into a gnoll who I decided to become friends with. I tied him up in friendship rope and named him Bitey. The group and the town guard were upset about this for some reason and took Bitey to the prison, where I visit him to this day. Anyways, we returned the rock to the person who worked at a place called Fenbar's. Apparently this thing is used to power a toy but at that point I was already out the door, put Thorfoot on my shoulders and began ordering drinks at the bar. THE END.

Date of Session: Saturday, 5 August, 2017. Date in Game: February 3rd, 8 PF Ah I see you all enjoyed my last story so much that you want to hear another! Well I suppose its only fair. This one is a bit more recent, last month in fact! After making my new friends, I was in high spirits. The next time I went to the tavern I met my friend Leaf, Thorfoot was unconcious in a puddle of beer and other fluids, and a man by the name of Zal. Zal was a man who wore far to many belts to be practical. We choose to head to the Smudgehill mines in order to see what was going on there, I was just happy to be out of the city with my friends. We had to take this dwarf with us named G'lil. I never really got much of an impression of the guy, sometimes it felt like he wasn't there until he spoke up, must be because of the height difference. We camped outside for the night when we saw eyes shining through the cave like a wolf in the forest. I assumed it was a dog asserting its territory so I growled at it with... little success. When we woke in the morning the eyes where gone and we headed into the cave, weapons ready. We discoverd a crosswalk where two small dog-lizards appeared asking for help. Leaf called them "Kobolds" I've seen a few around town since then, you know how you hear about something and then see it everywhere? Yeah it was like that. The Kobolds took us to a lift that took 5 minutes to reach the bottom. When we did get to bottom it started to go back up. Zal preceeded to double backflip onto the lift and head back up, leaving us behind. Almost immediatly the "leader" of the kobolds arrived and told us that we needed to find the old leaders daughter to end the civil war of the kobolds or somethin like that. We got in an argument on where to find the daughter until he eventually left and Zal came back, with and entourage of 2 kobolds. The kobolds we were with raised there pikes but I was able to scare them into submission. We headed back up where Zal told us the second in command of the old leader is trying to take rightful control under kobold tradition. But the "leader" who was a oracle of sorts had a vison where the daughter of the king would rule. The oracles visions always were followed which left the kobolds with a problem. listen to the oracle, or tradition? Further more many did not even think the Daughter existed as she could not be found anywere. When we reached the top we discovered a third neutral faction who did not side either way. We met with the elders to devise a plan but Zal was determined to do nothing and leave saying "The kobolds need to handle this themselves" After a heated argument we eventually left the cave, with the Kobold Dilemma unresolved. I entered the tavern that night next to Thorfoot and stayed there a while. THE END.

Date of Session: Sunday, 13 August, 2017 Date in Game: March 3rd, 8 PF Gather around the tiny kobold standing on the table, citizens of all ages, sizes, shapes, and species! Pull up a chair! Grab a snack and a drink! Let me, Rattik, recount for you the events that transpired when I recently left Aegis with some companions... First and foremost, those involved: Vaalgrum, a squat huntsman and woodsman with a taste for fine ale, Kormag, a squat mystic and author seeking to study the creatures of the outside world, Riad, a human more at home in the wilderness than in the city, Donoma, a cleric who also happens to be untrustworthy swine, and last and least, myself. Our objective: the city has been plagued by a plague for some time now. We saw on a now-outdated job request where the potential cure was located; it was the venom of the ghost web spider, indigenous to the Webwood Forest. We walked out of Aegis, the motley crew we were, aiming to do something great. From the start, Riad already looked pretty rough, like he had come down with the plague. We mapped our route so that we could get a look at Brightford as we traveled; we wanted to see what kind of power it would take to free it. It was still swarming with gnolls; no way we could have saved it yet. As we traveled around Brightford, we kept our distance, but not enough to avoid running into some rodent-like creatures Kormag called the Rat Pack, first spotted by myself and Vaalgrum. These creatures were holed up in old houses surrounding Brightford. They had been farming, and now that I think about it, they might have only felt threatened by us walking into their home (or, rather, me sneaking into one of the houses through a hole in the wall). They might not be innately hostile, but I wouldn't recommend trying to strike up a conversation with one. They were about my size, they all had Sewer Plague (not what's been going around in Aegis, but they were very eager to share it), and they all carried daggers and wore leather armor... and did so like amateurs, I might add. They attacked us, but with a well-applied combination of blades, arrows, and spells, we took them down quickly enough. Not a threat in the small number we encountered, but we saw more of them. We kept our distance to avoid the slight possibility of being overwhelmed. After that, we crossed the river, spotted a watchtower controlled by the gnolls, and traveled through woodlands for a few days. During this timeframe, Donoma saw the sun setting and asked one of his companions with good night vision, which includes me and the two half-dwarves, to come to his aid. I eagerly responded, wanting to be helpful to my teammate, only to promptly have light cast on my face. This would have been no problem to anyone else in the team, but I, being a kobold, am particularly sensitive to bright light. Naturally, I didn't take kindly to being used as a light source, so I sat down and insisted that if I was being illuminated like a lantern, I could be carried like one. I would have gladly kept walking myself, but because of my sensitivity to the bright light being emitted by my face, I couldn't see where I was going. The next day, as we were traveling, we saw a very big, green-skinned human-shaped creature forcing its path through the forest and shoving trees down. Vaalgrum and Kormag made a note to investigate it further at a later date. We continued through the forest until we got to the Webwood Forest, which was easily identified by its namesake webs covering the trees. We found a large pile of bones soon after entry. Some of us tried to be optimistic about the situation, but Riad was quick to remind us that there were probably quite a few optimists in the bone pile. The bone pile turned out to be the nest of three bone grave spiders, each one the size of a mastiff, that crawled out and attacked us. We took them down quickly, but heard a lot more of the spiders that probably got woken up by the fighting start to crawl around. We pushed on and were soon attacked by two ghost web spiders, each one about the size of an ox, and an ettercap, a spider-like human-shaped creature that seemed like it was controlling the spiders. We killed our assailants with a combination of great tactics and even greater luck, but I got ensnared in webs before the fight ended. Donoma, who had just shriveled up one of the spiders into a dried-up husk, immediately walked over to me and asked me if I wanted some assistance breaking free of the web (keep in mind, I'm 2'4", 28lbs). I said yes. He cast light on my face again and laughed sadistically. I started hissing in pain and he immediately dispelled the spell. I broke free of the webs myself as the ranger and druid harvested the venom from the ghost web spider that remained intact after it died. With some days' travel, we managed to get back to Aegis and parted ways to accomplish our own missions. Kormag mentioned trying to get more info on the plague. Vaalgrum is still trying to perfect his family's recipe for ale, which I think he called the Logger's Lager. Riad, hopefully, went to find a doctor. I don't know what Donoma is doing. I've learned by now to tune out everything he says; listening to him has shown a staggeringly high probability of me being blinded. This concludes my tale for the day. Good night and thank you all for listening!

Date of Session: 8/17/17 Date In Game: 3/18/8 Narrated by Grista Oh, you’re asking for my take on what happened on our excursion? Can’t imagine why. … I told you already, I’m NOT old! I’m twenty-four! Fine. Well, ignore the kobold. We left to find the city’s missing scouts. Last we had heard, they were somewhere south of Brightford. We thought to do some scouting of our own and get a better look at the gnoll occupation there as we passed. Before we even reached the overlook, however, we discovered one of those rat-men that some of our compatriots had angered. The thing was terrified and tried to flee, yet Chi, Ko’Kraka, and Ettrick decided it was a good idea to shoot the poor creature in the back. They searched its body and found a note. It had apparently been ordered to scout the area and prevent any more of our kind from passing south, since we had attacked their farms. Without thinking, Chi kicked the body into the river before weighting it down, so now I imagine that the rest of the creature’s people know about our passage, or at least suspect. At the overlook, we found that the guard tower was indeed occupied, or at least we presumed as much from the little smoke rising out of it, and discovered that the town was littered with some thirty-two tents with perhaps six gnolls to each. Or at least that’s what I was told. It can get tricky trying to see out of this hood. Making our way south again, we noticed something moving through the brush. We thought it might have been another of the rats, though it appeared to pass us without anyone getting a good look. We eventually reached a bridge over the river that had been cut and around it were patches of dried blood. Ettrick was able to determine that the blood was leading toward the swamp and, having no better leads on our missing scouts, we followed the trail. Eventually, we discovered a half-dwarf lying dead beside another, grey-skinned dwarf that none of us had ever encountered before. Searching these bodies, we guessed that the first was one of our missing scouts and found a note on the grey dwarf saying in another language that its superiors were looking to capture slaves. We gave them a proper burial with what funeral rites I know before moving on. Following the note’s directions to a rendezvous, we found more of those grey dwarfs speaking what one of us identified as Undercommon. Behind them, tied to a couple of trees, were gagged captives; two dragonborn, kobolds, a human, and a dwarf. We were spotted and Chi immediately fired upon them. Despite the enemy’s superior numbers and reinforcements, through trickery and skill, we managed to butcher all except for two who fled into the swamp, terrified of us. Freeing the prisoners, we discovered that they were indeed our lost scouts, though beaten, exhausted, and malnourished. The half-dwarf we discovered on our way turned out to be the human woman’s and dwarf male’s son and the duergar lying beside him, as the grey dwarfs are apparently called, was apparently his killer. We escaped the swamp and, while we camped by the river in preparation for our return home, the scouts mentioned that they had been moving to the logging camp. Though they did not give specifics, they said that it was occupied by something which prevented Aegis from getting its much needed wood. Two notes to the wise, though: The rat creatures are able to speak Common, so diplomacy might be a better option than murdering one that had done us no harm. They only seem interested in protecting their homes. The duergar are armed with muskets and several were able to enlarge themselves, becoming almost giants in their own rights. They came from the mountains and are scouring the area for more slaves. Be careful. There, I hope you’re satisfied. I’m not much for theatrics and my voice is beginning to hurt. I will answer questions and, perhaps, next time I will give more of the gory details that you all seem to crave.

Date of Session: 8/17/17 Date In Game: Third day of the Forth month, Year 8 by Kormag Windspit Day One - We set out from the safety of the walls, hoping to negotiate or capture a member of the Rat Pack. The weather was fair, trails seem to be more worn as additional parties journey past. As we approached the fields outside Brightford, we crept low (Ko'Kraka and I), seeing if anything moved into the farmstead I helped clear a month ago. No signs of life here, but we did happen to spot several sentries of Gnolls around the city of Brightford. Continuing on, still looking for a Rat Pack to speak with, we decided to check each farm for signs of life. Nothing of note in the second farmstead, seemingly abandoned. I took advantage of the tall barn to peer towards the city; there is indeed around thirty tents, with two rather larger tents. I would assume this may be where the females and pups stay I cannot say for certain, but its possible the stronger members are located there in the grander tents. The next farmstead had some Rat Pack activity, they were laying in wait to ambush us. We tried to parlay with them, but this didn't seem to work. They attacked us first, and so we fought to defend ourselves. A dam shame, unnecessary lives were loss. They managed to get a few members behind us and took Grista down quick, I did my best to blast them down till allies could assist. Skipping the rest of the gory details, Grista was revived but Vex was out cold for a number of hours. Two members of the Rat Pack remained, surrendering to the ones they called Furless. This is quite similar to how "Bitey" referred to us. We bound them up and asked them several questions about how they were organized and relationship to the Gnolls. Long story made short, they are allies, quite fearful of something. Offered up that there was six clans of Rat Pack and Thirty bands of Gnolls; not sure what they consider a clan or a band, size wise. We kept insisting on a peaceful outcome, yet one insisted war would come to us. Might I add Ko'Kraka has quite the silver tongue. We attempted to release one to spread the word that we didnt mean them harm and that we wanted to have a peaceful resolution. Unfortunately he tried to run for the Gnolls and had to be shot down. Tied up and gagged the other, much debate on what to do with him, we decided we wanted to bring him back for further questioning. Rested here waiting on Vex to awake. Evening was setting in, stars shining over head with only few clouds. We checked another two farmsteads, not too much to note. Found a few new books to read on the plus side, one about karma-sutra in the one. The other house had a few barrels of wheat ale, stuff went bad a while ago so I gathered some of the brewing tools to help with my own brewing. We retreated back to the stead we encountered the Rat Pack when it got late. Allowed Vex to rest up after a rough encounter. End Day One Day Two - Today was a much more success day, I'm quite excited to say we made a breakthrough with the Rat Pack. Made peace with three of the clans; two are dead and the last is located in the Gnoll camp. Exchanged them some food and they were willing to work with us and manage the fields. They'd trade with us and no longer talk to the Gnolls. Gave them some farming advice. The third clan was very afraid of something in the fields, this is also fascinating! We found a Hell Hound, drawn below: These are almost a being of fire, a bite would burn you. I also wouldn't try to use fire against. This one had a collar around its neck with strange writing I don't recognize: Rat Pack was thankful but still scared, as we stayed with them for the night. Note: Don't eat their saved food, Laif and Ko'Kraka made that mistake. End Day Two Day Three - Today we returned home. Went to check on our captured Rat Pack, mind you we checked on him many times, to find he had bled out due to a knife wound. I have suspensions on who did that  Regardless, we made it back safely, wildly successful I might add. I believe that's everything, but then again this ale may be getting to me. Oh well. End Day Three

Date of Session: 08/26/2017 In Game Date: 04/28/ year 8 By Vex MISSION REPORT Mission group: Chi, Ettrick Galanodel, Grista, Natham Frightkiller, Vex, Xevikan Mission: Check Anvil mountains for refugee's Group went a short distance up the mountain from the north end. The group found a cave with a large aggressive humanoid inside. The giant creator was quickly taken care of. Once inside the cave some statues of Goliaths were found next to a door with a strange opening device. In order to open the door we had to through rocks at a plate 30ft up. Once inside we found desecrated tombs that no longer had anything in them and upon further exploration a large gate. The gate requires a large key that the group was unable to find. We did find a passageway that needed to be cleared of rocks before we could enter. Once inside the group found a large mass of Goliath skeletons seemingly from the desecrated tombs. Only one skeleton stuck out from the other, because it was dressed in a black robe. This skeleton was searched and two magic scrolls were found. In the center of the room was some sort of alter with a diary and an orb on it. Natham scooped the orb into his pack with his sword and Xevikan grabed the diary. Once Xevikan stepped away from the alter the skeletons sprang up and began to attack, estimated number: 10. The black robed skeleton vanished without a trace. The group fought a tough battle, Xevikan went down, and Natham was badly injured. When Xevikan went down the skeletons took the diary from him and replaced it on the alter and seemed to go lifeless once again. Xevikan was stabilized and brought back to his feat with a potion. The group hears a noise and comes to the realization that the door is shutting. The group makes a run for the door, but who ever was closing it on us stopped and ran off. The group camped out in the cave for the night. Xevikan made some great mushroom soup and Ettrick made friends with a goat. Eyes should be kept on Ettrick, woke to find the goat sleeping with him, something funny might be happening there. Come morning it was raining and the group could not move forward so they went back into the room for the diary to find the skeletons guarding it. The group quickly finished them off and took the diary. Vex and one other person returned the skeletons to their resting places while the other looked for the gate key and determined that the orb doesn't seem dangerous. There was a break in the storm, but more bad weather was on the way so the group decided to head back to Aegis. Mission Status: Incomplete Important note: Black robed skeleton may be on the loose.

Date of Session: 09/01/2017 In Game Date: 5/20/Year 8 From: Vex To: Captain Bane Mission Report Mission Group: Ettric Galanodel, Iris Darisa, Natham Frightkiller, Razbor Myalrar, Tavrog, Vex. Mission: Investigate mysterious glow The mission group set from Aegis went through the woods and scouted out the farthest Rat folk farmstead. There was a gnoll keeping guard over the Rat Folk and seemingly giving orders. Mission group decided to move on to the glow location. Mission group got the location, but there was no glow to be seen. Waited until nightfall and glow appeared. Group approached and discovered some sort of rift to a different plane. Group went in and found a strange place with a pond and large magic crystal in the middle, 30ft out. The were a few darting fairies over the water. Something causes random group members to dance uncontrollable.  Mission group comes to conclusion that the large magic crystal is generating this strange rift so Natham goes into the waste deep pond after the crystal. The pond water seemed to suck the life out of Natham the longer he was in. Tavrog went in after him with a rope and we pulled them back in. From this point on Natham's judgment was extremely impaired. Group chose to leave the rift to make camp, rest up, and make a plan. Mission group made camp. Natham had to be tied up to keep him from reentering the rift. Night was mostly uneventful, just heard strange noises and woke up with drawings on our face done in inc. Group came up with a plan to send Ettric into the pond on stilts with a rope around his waste and a net with a rope attached to it to put around the crystal. Group put parts of Nathams bed role in there ears to hopefully keep them from dancing.  Plan was successful. Only Natham started dancing this time. Group started heading for the rift exit but Natham was headed back to the pond, he wanted to catch one of the fairies. We went back and drug Natham out of the rift. Before we left one of the group members filled there canteen with the glowing pond water. When we exited we expected the rift to close, but it did not. Natham was tied up for the night once again. Group decided to wait until the next night to see if the rift reopened. During our rest more noise was heard and in the morning strange holes were found around camp with feathers in them. The group waited to nightfall and the rift reappeared. Group decided to come back another time to try and close the rift again. Natham poked one of the feathers in the hole and it set off a "trap" of feather that fell down on him. Feathers seemed to be from Natham's bedroll.  Mission group decided to swing by the mines on their way back to Aegis. It appears the entrance of the cave has been deliberately blocked with rocks.  Mission status: Strange glow investigated. Rift found, needs closed.

Date of Session: 9/2/2017 In-Game Date: June 12, 8 PF Mission Group: Kal Rayd, Kormag, Riad, Razbor, Xevikan Mission: scouting the farms of Brightford Posted by Riad Hanoora Expedition Outcome: Farms to the west of Aegis were confirmed to be untended.  A farming village of one gnoll overseer and eight ratfolk was found south of Aegis; all were killed except for two of the ratfolk, who were beaten and imprisoned but ultimately released.  A patrol of five gnolls was also killed. The gnoll and ratfolk were immediately hostile and ignored diplomacy.  It is unknown whether the ratfolk would have surrendered with the gnoll dead.  One of the surviving ratfolk witnessed its kind killed both after being offered surrender and while fleeing, so word from the surviving ratfolk will likely damn future diplomacy attempts. The ratfolk who were killed were buried in the barn of the farmstead, while the gnolls' bodies were left on the ground. Expedition Description: Our expedition set off on the 12th of June to scout the farms surrounding the gnoll village in Brightford.  We encountered no signs of recent activity in the northwestern famsteads; our first contact occurred in one of the southern farmsteads.  As the May expedition had reported, the farm was populated by one gnoll overlooking several ratfolk.  We attempted to make diplomatic contact with the gnoll, offering peace both to it and to the ratfolk, but the gnoll responded with aggression.  Hostilities broke out between our groups, with the ratfolk and gnoll attacking us and with us attacking the gnoll exclusively.  The gnoll was killed quickly, with minimal injuries to our party, and without harm to the ratfolk. Some members of our party had intended to allow the ratfolk to surrender, on the assumption that they had only been obeying the gnoll in attacking us.  Others took the ratfolk's initial hostility toward the party as voiding our offer of peace, and killed one of the ratfolk before they had a chance to surrender.  Another was later accidentally struck and nearly killed after being newly offered the chance to surrender.  Hostilities thus continued, with two ratfolk shot in the back and another two run down while fleeing to prevent word of the attack from spreading.  Two ratfolk prisoners were taken.  Attempts at questioning and pacifying the captured ratfolk were unsuccessful; they were left behind still bound.  The dead ratfolk were buried. We left the village demoralized and split over interpersonal disputes regarding the ratfolk's fate.  We noticed a gnollish patrol entering the village we had left; more out of frustration than practicality, we ambushed and killed them.  We then returned to Aegis. I suspect it would have been wiser diplomatically to kill and bury the two prisoners than to let spread word of our attack.  Ultimately, however, our relationship was tenuous if the ratfolk were willing to attack us, and was likely already doomed when we killed the first of them.  I judged the diplomatic benefit of silencing the last witnesses to be minor compared with the further group agitation it would cause.  I tell myself that, at least, to allay the fear that I was not strong enough to act for the good of Aegis.  The next expedition to the farms should expect actively hostile ratfolk, who are perhaps more willing to fight to the death than before.  More damaging still to Aegis's prospects was the conflict within our group, which I fear will render us far less effective in the future.  For my role in both of these, I sincerely apologize to the city of Aegis. Hanoora

Zalbag's Report On our mission to the mine we took the mountain path to see if we could glean any information sadly we learned nothing new. Upon reaching the cave it appeared to have been resealed from the inside. Natham went in a fury of pick axe blows and cleared the way. We came up a gruesome scenes with Kobold corpses strewn about, appearing to have died via puncture wounds. While Investigating the scene giant slug like creatures with a paralyzing touch one was devouring a corpse of a kobold, we dispatched them with out much effort, Following the path Natrham was snatched up by a snare into the air, Laif falling off his shoulders. Chi took this opportunity to spin the suspended Natham whom was wildly swing his fists. I shot down the rope holding Natham up, luckily Laif managed to roll out of the way. Continuing the path we located a bunch of mushrooms and a some caltrops submerged in mud which we gathered. Upon reaching the end where the elders were during my previous visit, We find youngling kobolds lead by Naiya, whom I believe to the previous chiefs daughter from the Shaman's visions. We were informed everyone else had been dragged off by fish people, whos location was marked on a crude map I had drawn. On the way to the location we ran into the afore mentioned fish people. Their appeerance reminded of the description of Merfolk from the books I read as a child. We killed two of them and captured a third. We found the path were the other Merfolk escaped down however it was submerged. Natham took it upon himself to start chucking people in the water. Chi managed to break free however Laif and Iris were thrown into the drink. We took the Merfolk "Fishy" back to the kobolds to see if they were able to communicate with him which unfortunately they were not. We left the cave Fishy in tow to see if anyone in town can communicate with our new friend or to look for a way to continue our exploration of the now flooded cave

A Report by your virtuous and marvelous alchemist, Valben Loopin, *trails off* Game Date: 7/25 On our mission, our band of adventurers including a varying group of dwarves, goliaths and humans set out toward the village of brightford to investigate what has happened. On our approach, we wandered up to a empty farmhouse. As we looked down upon the village of brightford. We noticed holes in the walls, and no busywork or life in sight besides our own within the area. We investigated further, with our esteemed Goliath 'Natham', he walked us in the front gates, and lead the group up against the wall towards the a mausoleum that Natham was eager to show his colleagues. We had the magical user Riley, use her familiar to scout around the mausoleum. We had found out that Gnolls were around the back, and we went in, and killed them all. Two left alive, surrendered, however one was finished off by Natham, and the other questioned and captured. Our next part of this report gets darker. We were led into an underground passage way inside the Mausoleum. Before, we were surrounded by shadowy figures, and light seemed to dim as it also repel ed them at the same time. As we go down a flight of stairs, half our group notices something in a small ten foot passage way. A ghostly figure, we believe to be called a Wraith. During the fight, Natham was seriously injured, however during the conflict. The 'Wraith' was slain, but so was our cohort magical warlock friend, Xevikan, known as the cook who, well cooks in the disgruntled dragon. We left immediately after that encounter, with Xevikans body in toe. We left brightford the way we came in, and got back to the city with no issue. The group is looking into a possible revival of our cohort Xevikan, and pursueing ways to revive him. His body remains in a cold deepfreeze the Loopin family uses to store meats and the like. This ends the report.  - Loopin, Valben.

The Recollection of Riley Bonventre on the events that transpired on 8-3-8PF and 8-4-8PF Location: Smudgehill Mines  [Important notes detailed at bottom of document] The city of Aegis has requested a team be sent to the Smudgehill mines in order to clear and drain the mines. The overall goal is to have the mines operational again. Team: Bri Penrose, Iris Darisa, Razborg Myalrar, Riley Bonventre, Valben Loopin, and Vex Supplies: Cart given to us by the city, Pump lent from the Fenbar Gadgets The Trip Leaving before sunrise our expedition took us through the Serpents Spine.  We were unhindered by any resistance on the initial trip making excellent time. The Pump The mine has 3 tunnels, to the left we were able to find the previous pump. The pump lay in a room along a cliff connected to two pipes.  One pipe went down a tunnel to lead the water out while the other looked to pull water from the bottom of the cliff edge. Valben attempted to do a on site repair of the old pump however was unable to do so and instead replaced it with the pump lent to him. After spending a minute to make sure the device worked we decided to see how the water was effected in the other parts of the mine. Iris only agreed to get the pump working apologizing he made his way back to town. The Elevator Shaft The mine's right sided tunnel contained an elevator shaft. The Elevator seemed to be in working condition even though it was made from wood and rope.  The elevator was large enough to take the whole group and first we went as far as we could. We were stopped by the water level which at the time was still very high and we hardly noticed any change. We were only able to access one floor below which looked to be the previous miner's inhabitance. We decided to investigate the seven rooms there: six of which looked to be bedrooms to sleep four while the other room looked to be an overseer's. Inside we discovered two logs written in Dwarvish: a journal from the overseer (prewar) and a book on their inventory [Both have been given to the city in hopes of being useful].  [Riley's Findings found at the end of report] The Kobolds Making our way back to the entrance we head down the middle path which part of the party have previously explored. In the first room we encountered a massive centipede that was maybe 30ft long and a 2ft in diameter. We spotted it from the ceiling and attacked it without giving it a chance to attack first. In the fight one of our members was hit by one of its tentacles and paralyzed for a short time. We were able to kill it with some ease. It seemed to be obvious that it feasting on the dead bodies around, in the interest of the city it would be best to take out the dead. Continuing on after hearing what sounded like metal clanking, we encountered many fish-men creatures to the tunnel that went straight from the entrance. There were two types: One that fits the description of fish-men that wielded mainly spears and sticky shields and another that had clamp like arms that extended out and attempted to bite whatever came close. Fighting off a hoard of them with a small kobold army we were able to kill them off, I've discovered thunder damage has some weird effect that makes the fish-men with clamping arms glow. We questioned the kobolds (draconic speakers) with the hopes of gaining information on the fish people's whereabouts, they weren't exactly helpful besides allowing us to rest with them. From there we headed back to a previous path that would have been to the right after coming down the middle path. It at the time contained about 5ft of water. We waded our way through and encountered two paths. We had one scout off ahead and they found a room containing 40-50 fishmen. They quickly ran back to inform us of the armylike numbers and we decided it was best to leave before we were discovered. Leaving Seeing that it was night and thinking the mountain road would be dangerous at night, we decided to spend the night in the miner's bedrooms in the middle of the elevator shaft thinking is was safest and slept uninterrupted. Before we left we took one final gander at the pump to check its progress; it seemed to be working fine. We left, old pump in hand with the cart back across the Serpents Spine. Razbor was able to see some rocks moving and in telling us, we decide to run in fear of falling off the mountain.  Everyone was able to make it back essentially unharmed. ~Riley Bonventre [Miner's journal/inventory] Interestingly there's a Cipher involved in this journal, I've made a copy to decrypt on my own time out of interest to turn in this report as quickly as possible.  From what I was able to gather there seems to be holes in the pipework possibly deeper in the tunnels. [What to note] ~ Pump will take a few days, maybe weeks to drain the mine. ~Pipes will need to be replaced or patched. ~ There seems to be an army of fish-men inside. ~I suggest either sending a group of 20-30 soldiers or someone mentioned mining charges for sabotage and there's the possibility of asking the local kobolds for help. ~ Massive Flesh eating centipedes that appear to eat corpses. ~ Be careful along the Serpents Spine in the morning from the mines. ~ Cipher in miner's journal ~There's a silver vein in the mine ~They woke something they shouldn't [unable to decipher]

Recollection of Riley Bonventre on the events that transpired on 8-30-8PF and 9-1-8PF Location: Village of Brightford and surrounding area As a continuation of the mission to scout and clear out the village of Brightford that originally took place on 7-25-8.  The area has seemed have seen a decrease in enemy activity and adventurers were hired to investigate.  Upon the previous investigation it seemed the enemy still remained however their numbers severely cut by an outside force.  Further examination showed that Wraiths appeared from the Mausoleum and it is to be assumed they come out at night and attack what remains in the city.  My colleague  Valben Loopin,  who's report was submitted, left out that there seemed to be a broken metal door covering the Mausoleum which could quite possibly keep these wraiths from attacking in the future.   Team: Chi, Kormag, Natham Frightkiller, Razborg Myalrar, Riley Bonventre, and Xevikan The Village We first attempted to see the Village using the surrounding farmhouses noticing nothing seems to have changed.  We made our approach through the front gate and around the East side (riverside).  Each house seemed to be uninhabited and we moved on closer to the city square.  The Gnolls have setup tents in the city square.  The dead lay through spears, the city fountain defecate in.  We investigated every tent to find some Gnolls still remain.  After dispatching what remain (4 to be exact) we went through their equipment in hopes to find anything useful.  A few barrels, crates and a Jewelry box that contained a silver lacrima.  We cobbled together a cart from a few in town to carry the equipment back with us.   The Tower The bridge to the tower seemed in good condition, very well made.  Beside the tower lay some empty barracks with not much for use.  Inside we've found that what I assume would be where the Gnolls probably ran off to at night in fear of the Wraiths.  There was a bonfire just inside at grown level away from the stairs.  A few levels higher we found some ruined gunpowder, some weapons and some uniforms.  Knowing the danger in the Village and having spent time on the cart we decided it would be best to spend the night in the tower.  The tower provided an excellent lookout point that allowed us to see everything from the ledge, to both of the bridges and city.  Until Brightford is rebuilt and repopulated we recommend that the scouts keep a lookout at the tower. The Farms The farms didn't seem to be populated, the only things that remain are corpses of ratmen on spears as warnings.  The fields still seem to have a yield of different grains.  We visited these on our return trip.  If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me. ~Riley Bonventre

9-2 Expedition to Mines On mission: Enyi, Laif, Meryl, Razbor, 16, Vex General -water pump observed; doesn't seem to have long span of runtime, extra tank may be needed in order to have it operating for a useful amount of time, water levels have decreased -Fish men either moved or dwindled, only a small crew of them spotted and killed -However, they did mention a higher power known as the Sea Mother, which they said they have enough sacrifices for, what that may mean is unknown -Spiraling ramp leading into deeper waters, high copper content it seems, if fish men descended deeper it'd be down there -Judging from a scratched in note left in a cage of bone, whatever the fish men imply to be summoning will be summoned in approximately 4 months, being at the beginning of the next year. -Note also seems to foretell that a kobold would have the potential to lead the others to potentially stop this threat, likely implies the kobold that is currently leading the group at the mines. -Elevator operational. There seems to be a lower level chamber that was half drained due do decrease in water levels. -Majority of things in the area are inedible, primarily due to toxicity Overall, research needs to be done on this prophecy discovered in the mines, and the fish men need to be monitored and controlled or eliminated before they become a seeming threat.

Recollection of Riley Bonventre on the events that transpired on 9-12-8PF Location: Path North East of Aegis and the Anvils On the date of 9-11-8PF fellow adventurer Natham Frightkiller left on his own outside the city.   This information was passed on from one of the town guards who watched him leave the North gate.  He has not returned and some of his friends have grown anxious.  This is a more personal expedition.  Team: Enyi Selnophe, Shadow, Maryl, Riley Bonventre, Vex and Zacara Koridatchi Informed not only did he leave through the North gate but carved something in a tree the team set out to see what message he might have left us.  To our surprise it was his family crest which he has tattoo on himself.  The crest was somewhat had a point and directed to the city, he has also left a small bag with some supplies which we left there.  Continuing on the journey across the path to the mountains we decided to go the route a previous member took before along with Natham thinking he would use the same path.  We were correct in thinking so and found his trail which we confirmed with one of his dropped close possession.  On the path we noticed two things, a sleeping troll which we ignored as it was much to far away and what seemed to be like a dimly lit cave.  The cave's entrance weaved until we reached a pair of large doors and a Skeletal giant sitting in a chair.  He stood up, carried Nathams weapon over his shoulder and very much resembled him.  After attempting to disarm him the skeleton broke under our attacks.  We pushed forward opening the double doors. We were met with a large sanctuary like room dimly lit.  Inside seemed to be an altar of some type with a tied up Natham who looked unconscious.  Three other skeletons took guard by the door and a large ogre like zombie creature without a head.  Once the doors were opened up a skeletal magic user of some type cackled very loudly before disappearing.  We fought hard, Vex stood guarding the hallway with I right behind him blasting away with holy flames.  The others stood back attempting to support us with ranged weapons and confidence boosters.  Before we knew it we took care of the monsters and ran in towards Natham.   I along with some other members were knocked out by the explosion which was caused for some unknown reason soon right after.  Hunch, my familiar, was killed in the blast.  I don't remember much but most of us had to take our potions.  Natham was cuffed on every limb and Shadow and I one by one unlocked them.  Luckily he was able to move and we made a quick retreat back out of the cave.  The previous skeleton we fought seemed to be an illusion and just happened to be another giant.  After leaving the cave we made our way back to Aegis without issue. It seems we have a great threat lurking outside the city.  Make sure everyone leaves with partners, magic users have a harder time dealing with groups than individuals.  Some advice from your local friendly magical detective Riley. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me. ~Riley Bonventre

What the hell happened during the small adventure of Meryl, Laif, Kormag (Dad), Shadow, Enyi, and, of course, myself, Iris Darisa. So before we got into the main part of this expedition, we went to check on the mines and the pump, but left quickly. AND THEN we got into the main part. Secure yourselves, because this will be an interesting ride.  We started trekking through the mountains, and met with a flail snail. After Shadow almost died multiple times, and after I had thrown my dagger in a rousing display of amazingness, the snail retreated and began to scream loudly. Several boulders fell onto the path back to Aegis, and we took a different path.  Upon following this path, we came upon a small forest, upon which Meryl and myself started to play our respective instruments, causing a bit of a stir. This turned out to be the worst thing we could have possibly done at the time, as it appeared several satyrs were nearby. They seemed to be in a frenzy of drunken rage, having just sacrificed a man in fantasy khakis. We engaged in battle with them, though it turned out to be little more than an intense tavern fight. At one point, after I had just stabbed a satyr (quite wonderfully, I might add), I was hit and almost died. I managed to retreat, and everyone kept fight the satyrs.  At this point, I must mention the dragon. Myself and Enyi had become very interested in this dragon upon its appearance, but it quickly vanished. Enyi went chasing after it, but I focused myself upon the battle. Until, after my retreat, the dragon somehow put me in a state similar to drunkenness.  As everyone else was finishing up the battle, I was suddenly seized with the urge to run off in a random direction, influenced by the dragon. Kormag, bless him, followed me. Due to this, I am unable to report on the end of the battle, since I wasn't there to witness it. When everyone had caught up to myself and Kormag, we happened upon an old crone, bent over a cauldron which appeared to have a human hand in it. Several of the party tried to talk with her, but she appeared to be insane (at least in my opinion) and gave off a strong feeling of dread. We quickly left upon encountering the crone and made our way back to Aegis.  Please contact me if you have any questions, but please remain casual about it. This is also your daily reminder not to drink the Icecap. ~Iris Darisa, bard extraordinaire 

Kormag's Mega Session Extravaganza!!! In Game Date:10/12/08 PF Real World Date: 09/30/17 Location: Vex's Magical disappearing tower!  Players: Natham Frightkiller, Xevikan, Kal Rayd, Riley Vonventre, Zalbag, Razbor Myalrar A Magical Tower first seen by Vex appeared once again. However this time it was just in front of the town of Aegis! It was up to our team of experts (yeah right who wrote this?) to solve its mysteries by delving headfirst into its deep, dark, dank, other descriptions that start with the letter D, hallways. We had 7 real life hours to complete the dungeon or be lost forever inside it. As described with the completely accurate and in no way hyperbolic words of Natham. It all began on a very particular day, today to be precise. A tower many described Town guard Vex as being crazy for talking about had just appeared at our front steps. The clearest course of action? Get the town guard to investigate? Get some magic users to investigate? No. Lets get some people who like to leave town once a month to murder monsters and live in a tavern to go in. So 6 of us go ahead and head inside to immediately be attacked by some tiny frog people who explode into tiny poison clouds. That was fun when there were like, 5 of the little guys crawling on me even more coming out of a mini rift in the center of the room. A puzzle that was in the room was eventually solved and frog people stopped infinitely spawning out of the mini rift. It was a great start to things. The next room involved 4 small, diamond shaped holes, a music box, and 3 passageways, one had a cold breeze, one a hot breeze, and one not breeze at all. We choose the cold breeze and found ourselves in a room filled with Ice, Ice, and more Ice. Xev, Zalbag, and Riley began destroying giant blocks of Ice with goodies inside, we got some new Lachrimaite and a need alchemy jar for Xev. Eventually we reached a large room with a pool of water in the middle. Everything was fine until the water came alive and began trying to kill us! This water was also kind of a jerk and tried hiding from us a few to many times. I eventually got tired of using Riley's bird thing as bait and just dived in to go after it, not very smart now that I look back since it was the day i finally started wearing armor. I started sinking until Riley cast feather-fall on me and Kal threw a rope. After the water died Riley obtained a small diamond crystal which fit directly in one of the holes. During this fight however, Zalbag choose to abandon the fight and go his own way, where we was almost killed by a giant gooey Ice cube. We had to save him and I almost got eaten as well, it was fun for the whole game. 3 more to go. Next was a small side area of the Ice room where we found a wall with music notes. I began playing the music box which opened a passage way and also had us begin floating in the air as if nothing was forcing us down!. We floated down the passageway as i continued to play the box and found both a diamond key and another music player! As we floated our way up however, we were attacked by small monsters. Time for some flying combat! Razbor definitely was the mvp this fight through his spinning attack right into one of the little bastards. meanwhile I was walking on the ceiling having the time of my life. Everyone else beat the monsters and a new key hole was filled. 2 more to go! We choose to go to the hot way and encountered a sign with gibberish that not many understood, something about a beast and music I guess? There was not beast in the area though only a cute dog made out of fire! We played the new music to it and everyone started slowly falling asleep, especially the dog which I then began petting, still have a few burns but it was definitely worth it! I would have tried to keep that dog if I could but we needed the key for a trapdoor on its neck to keep going forward, sorry dog, you will be missed. We opened the trapdoor only to be attacked by more tiny monsters that killed Riley's familiar Hunch, the first death of the trip.............. Anyways we killed them and moved on down. It was here that we found a room filled with lava and a destroyed scorpion statue. We found a new music box that could reverse time on certain things which unfortunately included the giant scorpion. This thing almost killed both Xev and I by stabbing us with its stinger, wanna see the scar? no? oh. ok. anyways It was eventually killed and in its death we got the red diamond key. 3 down 1 to go. We only had another hour to two to complete this puzzle so we had to work fast. We moved down the last path and found an overgrown, petrified tree and some broken gargoyles. We played the time box and turned the tree back into a sprout, which I tried to take with me. It was nice until it started growing back. I tossed it aside and we continued on our way. This next part moved very quickly but the gist of it was that we fought more tiny monsters, being blinded temporarily along the way and then attacked by giant suits of armor. My rage stopped us from escaping the fight even though we had the key to get out. The whole tower was freaking out, about to disappear with us inside! We successfully made it back to the first room but to our dismay we only had most of the new key! it was broken! One of us had the genius idea of jiggling it in its spot which somehow managed to work. A small portal appeared and we all jumped in with only seconds to spare.  We did not reappear in Aegis however and instead we found ourselves in a room with 3 dragons and an elderly man congratulating us for our completion of his dungeon. He told us that he knew many things and could answer any question we wanted answering, or... WE COULD HAVE WHATS IN THE MYSTERY BOX!!!!!!! It was a difficult decision so we drew straws to choose who would ask him. Xev one the draw and walked up to him slowly, bowed down before him and as we all waited in anticipation he said, "Mystery box please" after which we all reappeared in front of Aegis, face down on the ground with a small box by Xev. Inside? a helmet. thats it. just a normal helmet that apparently can help with magic and stuff, well a lot of good that is for me!. We walked back in the tavern, nothing really changing in us from our adventure except new scars and a slight distaste for the humor of elderly men. I hoped you had fun reading that, because we certainly had fun experiencing it.  The End. (or is it? hahahahaha, yeah it probably is. For now at least! (maybe))

What the hell happened during the small adventure of Natham, Vex, Chi, Riley, Thorfot, and, of course, myself, Iris Darisa. As per my request, we set out for the port town of Windmere. The journey took about seven days in total. Along the way, we had a small run-in with the grey dwarves, and a small town that appeared to have people similar to spirits wandering around. Riley was almost pulled into their circle, but with Natham holding her, we managed to continue on our way. Also, we spotted a weird mechanical spider along the way, though we didn't learn anything about it beyond the fact that it seemed to be watching us.  And then we arrived at Windmere. The town was exactly as I remembered it- save for the lack of people. The clocktower was still running smoothly, however, which we all found odd. We then quickly moved on to my old house. There wasn't much left, and what had been left was tossed about. So I'm assuming that my house was ransacked and combed through for valuables. After spending a minute contemplating, we continued on the large weeping willow tree behind the house.  It was still left alive. And Alex's....spirit was there. After getting their attention, Alex talked to me for a bit, and I... cannot say that I was entirely overjoyed by this. I spent my life after Alex thinking he was completely dead, and to see that the spirit of my love was still around was.... jarring, to say the least.  Anyhow. After some very personal talk in which I did not cry and anyone who tells you so is a liar  Alex directed me to where a present of sorts was left for me. And we went to retrieve it. Upon arriving in the house where Alex had said it was left, I saw a... doppelganger of Alex, though I did not know it at the time. I embraced this doppelganger, believing it to be Alex out of some miracle. And then someone opened the door to another room, and a copy of Kormag sat there. And then the doppelganger attacked me, knocking me back. To be honest, I didn't know what to do.... but a small battle broke out, and I was left wondering why the one person I had ever loved would attack me.  I don't wish to go through all the details, but someone (though I don't know who) struck the finishing blow to the doppelganger. The vision of Alex faded away, and the fake Kormag ran. What was left at our feet was a blue humanoid creature. Seeing a ring on its finger, I took it off, reading the inscription inside, and put it on, as this was the real 'present'. Though I'm not proud of what I did, I... well, I ground the heel of my boot into its head so it would be unrecognizable and very, very dead.  We left back to the willow tree, and I said goodbye to Alex for the last time, and turned away. I don't know why, but I can't shake the feeling that Alex's spirit was the one keeping the tree alive.  After this, I had decided I had enough of all the emotional duress, and went to wait for the rest of the party at the city gates while they continued the adventure. Riley will write about it later.  Oddly enough, I never felt cold the entire journey home. Please contact me if you have any questions, but please remain casual about it. This is also your daily reminder not to drink the Icecap. ~Iris Darisa, bard extraordinaire

Date of Session: 10/07/2017 In Game Date: 11/20/Year 8 From: Vex To: Captain Bane Mission Group:Enyi, Kormag, Natham Frightkiller, Xevikan, Razbor Myalrar,Riley B., Vex. Mission: Check Mine pumps/ clear mines Group entered mine, discovered pump had been torn apart by the fish people. Talked the Kobolds into helping check the rest of the mine. Lot of water filled back in. Group was attacked by some sort of water slime. The slime destroyed Nathams armor and great axe. Decided to go take the pump apart and haul it back to town to be repaired, with Kobolds following along. Kobolds integrated into town life. Came to the conclusion a base camp needed to be set up in the mine. Fenbar agreed to help by bringing the repaired pump and parts to fix the pump we hauled. Hauled pumps, hoses, fuel and supplies back to mine. Fenbar setup one working pump and are putting the other pump back together. Will take time to do the repairs. Group then decided to go "fishing" by attaching a rope to Natham and sending him into the water in the large part of the mine where we keep finding fish people. Natham found an under water tunnel that first dipped down then back up and into a new section of the mine with captured Kobolds and guarding fish people. Natham grabbed a fish person then yanked the rope to have us pull him back in. We pulled him in and took care of the fish person. Natham then went back in and grabbed another fish person and tossed it onto the bank at our feet. The other two fish people then followed and attacked. They were taken out shortly there after. Group went into the new section after Natham tied off the rope on the other end. Group let out the Kobolds gave them some food and then began to scout out more tunnels. Found a room with an alter in the middle, with a dead kobold on it. Fish people were all around the room. It was a very tough fight, we were very close to not making it out of the mine alive. Without Kormags heals we surely would all have died. Two fish people ran the rest were killed. One of the guys that ran was very tough and needs to be watched for, caries a powerful staff, don't get close. Brought the 9 Kobolds back to safety. Group camping here until mine is safe and can be run.

Securing the logging camp Date of Session: 10/08/2017 In Game Date: 11/30/Year 8 From: Laif Brauer The temperatures are falling quickly and it started to snow in the lower altitudes of the region. Razbor Myalrar of the townguards, Kal Rayd and myself started our adventure from Aegis. We made our way safely over to the mines to pick up Vex to reinforce our group. The plan was to secure the logging camp south of Brightfort. Traveling was pleasant, nice, crisp, cold air and lightly dusted fields. nothing more. The Four of us were greeted by a considerably decayed corpse of a Dwarf. We were not able to further investigate the rotten remains. The camp itself was inhabited by people. They seemingly just went through their normal life, working and some drinking. They didn’t seem to have noticed the corpse at the entrance of the camp for some reason. Vex and Kal seemingly forgot about the corpse and touching it did not help kal to realize the disgusting goo on his hands. Talking with the inhabitants did not result in anything. It seemed like they were unaware of anything that happened to the region. At a point suddenly the whole camp went through a complete year. Including season within a few moments. And shades that appear like the shadow army's henchman started to slaughter the people of the camp and started to attack us Four. The Melee was quick at first, there were 4 shades that got overwhelmed by us with little trouble, although our swords and bows seem not to get the right bite out of those smoky creatures. We noticed that all dead body did not just remain at their places but turned into smoke and gathered in the middle of the camp swirling in a dark whirl. I send a chill down our spine and it felt like the despair, fear, and other emotions of the logging camp during the war and their hopeless stand against the shadow army. A real ghost promptly appears out of the storm and did not hesitate to attack the group. We were able to deal some damage to it but again our attacks mostly just went through without much resistance. During the fight Kal was struck with fear and did through some cruel magic he aged rapidly. And the demonic magic did not end there, the ghost somehow took control over our friend Razbor, who suddenly threw away his bow to use a giant great sword swinging it at me. That little skirmish didn’t last long, Vex was able to grapple our dragonborn friend and I was able to beat calm Razbor down. That ghost appeared again for a brief moment just to get finished off by Kal. After the ghost dissipated the whole camp changed a little bit. Everything looked more normal for an abandoned logging camp. A little worn and gritty. The group spend a few days to prepare the camp for human inhabitants (preferably from aegis). The sawmill was not functional but it seems that everything was still at its place and just a few things needed to be replaced and repaired due to the neglect. I oiled the moving parts to help the disassembly later. Aegis city council as well as honey beard have been informed about the status of the logging camp, Actions to reclaim the camp will most likely happen after the mine is operational.

Fighting the Demon, Revenge for Razbor Date of Session 10/17/17 In Game Date 1/6/Year 9 From: 16 After pouring out a drink for the fallen Razbor, we decided to take revenge and go after the demon near the logging camp....Turns out its lair was turned into a wall appearing as part of the mountain when just a few weeks ago it was a lair for the demon, we tried our best to get it open, hitting it with swords, fists, and even a bucket, we decided to move out and explore more of the area.... only to alert the entire forest with Riley using some weird magic shit to hit the mountain. As we tried to set up camp, some weird wolves started to approach, surrounding us to the wall, however we managed to kill them off only leaving one to runaway. It was weird.... their shapes were similar to a wolf, however they were covered in shadows, glowing eyes, and resistant to many of our attacks, even the use of electricity and holy power seemed to shake off and absorbed from the shadows. As they creatures died, the shadows began to retreat, leaving behind a rotting wolf corpse with the scars of battle seen on the furs but the one consistent thing about it was the puncture mark on the side of the neck. As some prepared to "cook" or toss them to a pit, we heard a yip coming from the direction one of the wolves escaped. As Natham and I followed the sound, we happened to come across a wolf pack with an alpha killing off the "Shadow Hound" however on top of the alpha was a girl, carrying a spear and wearing a red cape and some armor. Although I arrived their a little later than Natham, there was a conversation being held between them (more of a talking and translating interaction) basically stating to find her pack and running away from the "boogeyman"- the creature most likely creating the Shadow Hounds. In the end we decided to encounter this monster, taking up most of the night and day resting before the big fight.... the need to find food eventually took up most of the resting as Natham decided to wait for a tree to give some sap and resorted to eating some bugs that Giazi managed to find under the log near by. Managing to find tracks of the monster, we were led to an open area of the woods that seemed easy enough for them to ambush us.... eventually we decided to press forward and take the attack (when I mean we... I mean Vex, Natham, and I). What popped out of the shadows was a large wolf, about as tall or even taller than Vex.... the boogeyman was most likely the Shadow Hound Alpha. Although the shields managed to have a good fight, the support really did not stand a chance against the surrounding pack, taking down Giazi and Enyi, almost taking down myself to the brink of death, however we managed to widdle the pack down to the Alpha and one hound against us. Although it escaped our grasp, it would be easier to survey the forest and take out the shadows that inhabit it. However one question that is still on my mind was who was the wolf girl? Natham said she wanted to find her family, mostly the dead wolves taken over by the shadows, however something in me feels as if she could be someone from my village. She did not recognize me or the langauge I spoke, the language of the village (Primordial)... however I need to know if that was my Emerald..... the one I lost at Brightford during the Darkening and the attack of the Shadow Army.... I need to know if she is alive. - 16. Known Survivor of the Pour'whenua people.

[10/25/17] Riad's notes on the expedition of February 8, 9PF to recover Natham's axe Location: Serpent's Spine, 2 days from Aegis Natham lost his axe or something, so we were looking for it. Team: Riley, Natham, Riad, Thorfot, 16, and Chi The Journey We set out in search of Natham's axe in the Serpent's Spine, following Riley and her stick that pointed us in the right direction.  Riley then made the interesting decision to down one of Thorfot's icecap ale, with predictable results.  We were then approached by a large patrol of goblins.  Natham, 16, and I surrendered.  Thorfot and Chi remained hidden, and Riley remained in a drunken daze for the whole time. The Pit The goblins took our weapons and put us in a pit, where Natham was reunited with his seven-year-old sister.  Chi, Thorfot, and a sobered Riley made a plan to break us out of the pit, setting tents on fire as a distraction.  I turned into a brown bear as a better distraction.  The goblins wanted to arrest me, but did not know how.  While they tried to figure that out, goblin archers wounded Riley and Throrfot made an entirely useless play of offering the goblins alcohol.  Natham injured himself trying to remove his shackles, and Chi did not do much better at the task.  The standoff ended when the leader of the goblins, who had some stupid difficult name, challenged Natham to a fistfight for our freedom. The Fight The goblin leader's punches turned out to hit really hard, possibly because of his magic bracers.  Natham fought hard, but was clearly losing.  I wanted to intervene, as I was a bear and could have slain the leader, but the small army of goblins stayed my hand.  Throrfot offered alcohol to the guards as he watched the fight. Ultimately, the goblin leader got cocky, letting Natham get in one punch too many.  He conceded when they were both almost dead.  He allowed us to walk free, and Natham then passed out from his injuries.  He unfortunately then woke up in time to learn that his sister would not be freed, so we had to knock him back unconscious, and drag him off.  Riley tried to trade her freedom for Natham's sister, but they said no. We parted with the goblins in peace, and returned to Aegis. Important Stuff ~ There is a large village of goblin slavers in the Serpentspine. ~ They keep their slaves in a 5 meter deep pit near the entrance to their camp. (DM note, Map not to scale was more in the center) ~ The village probably consists of around two dozen goblins, many good archers.  One of the leaders has magic bracers. ~ One of Natham's sisters is held as a slave at the camp, and the other may have been sold.  Natham may try to rescue her on his own. ~ The goblins are interested in slaves, not killing, and will demand and accept surrender without attacking. ~ The goblins are wary of ambushes and good at ambushing.

[On scribbled notebook paper with water stains] February 10th, 9PF This report is if I don't make it from my next trip. Our last trip Natham and I, Riley Bonventre, left to make a deal with the slave traders to trade Natham for his younger sister.  After our decent between the Serpents Spine and the Dragon's Spire we encountered the slave traders.  We approached with the idea that there was a trust between us after our last confrontation which ended in a draw. We met with the guards which questioned our approach and called for their leader, the man with the gloves.  We brought up the trade deal with him and he agreed that he would still honor it.  When I asked to see the Natham's sister, they allowed it.  After bringing him into the tent beyond my eyes and ears he was brought back, along with his sister.  They said their goodbyes in giant and she proceeded to join me as we walked back to Aegis.  I've learned that she can only speak Giant so we can't communicate much.  We stopped once and to my surprise she can cause a magical spark from her fingertips.  Tomorrow I plan to drop her off and make my way back. [Written Hastefully] I've dropped young Nallo off at Natham's home, the Disgruntled Dragon.  She was left with some friends of mine and Natham's that can communicate with her.  I'm off back to the slave traders to sneak in and bring Natham back using my invisibility and other spells.  May the gods be in my favor. I hope to be back to write I'm successful and update this report with my new findings.

Riley Bonventre Scouting Report February 10th, 9PF - February 29th, 9PF Intention for leaving Aegis:   To retrieve a friend Incident:   Natham, a well respected member of the city of Aegis who has countless times risked his life for the betterment of the people has been captured by slavers.  We encountered this group just days before while in search in one of Natham's possessions just down between the Serpent Spine and the Dragon's Spire Mountains due east of Aegis.  In our first trip, half our party was captured by these people where they met others that shared the same fate.  It was here that Natham encountered his little sister.  We were just barely able to escape with just the original party.  Natham, learned of my attempted trade through the reports, my life for his sister.  Asking around he found out that they were more accepting of Natham for his sister.  Learning this he set off with no intention of returning, I was by his side to be a guide for him and his sister.  I've planned to retrieve him as soon as I brought his sister back as promised.  With my spells I believed it to be no problem to sneak it, sneak him and myself out. Findings:   I made haste back through the pass as quickly as I could, it would have been my fifth time headed through this way and I knew the quickest routes.  Still, with the snow and distance it still took me another day.  I did my best to remain hidden as I grew closer to the slaver camp, however to my surprise most of it was gone.  I had nightmares of this happening, I had hoped to the point I believed it wouldn't be the case.  The tents, the barrels, the fires all gone.  The only thing the remained were some of the outer walls and the pit which as expected was also empty.  So, I attempted to find footprints, tracks, anything that would help me find where they went.  I've attempted many times to use my spell to find objects, meaning they weren't nearby.  When I couldn't find anything in the immediate area I expanded my search.  I spent days doing expanding my circles around the camp hoping that they've left some clue or didn't cover their tracks.  I prayed that the snow wouldn't fall to further cover any clues, and that the snow wouldn't melt.  "They wouldn't have gone East, North and South too were too difficult to travel through".  I thought as I traveled further West in hopes to find something, anything to help me locate my friend.  I traveled far out and encountered nothing.  My provisions were running low, the snow started to melt and all hope that was in me drained out.  I come from the forest damaged, nearly crippled, not because I was attacked but because of fear.  I can't help but feel like I've made a mistake.  Natham did what he thought he had to do and I respected that and him.  This isn't going to be the last mention of him, we'll find him.  Natham, if you're reading this we're looking for you so stay there.  We'll watch your sister until you're back. With a heavy heart, ~Riley Bonventre

3 - 5 - 9PF Search for portal with fairies gone wrong. Several injured. - Strange creature in a pond, takes the form of an attractive man. Lures individuals into water, and pulls them under. - Shadow got pulled under, many nearly killed trying to save him, including Nallo. - Narrowly defeated the creature, sifted through the remaining bones. Several victims apparent. - Traverse the southwest woods with great caution, creatures are hostile. - Portal does not seem to be present where Natham left his spear, it has either vanished entirely or moved to a distant location. - Little progress made towards identity of portal, but we know not to keep Nallo out for long. ~Enyi Selnophe

Entry in the adventure log of Kal Rayd for the Loreseekers Library. 1 May 9PF It was a long time ago since I had my last adventure, which left me with a body aged by 20-years more. I asked the help of the god of light in order to gather my strength again and go out in the world and help protect it from outside danger. Me and a couple of new friends, Iris, Chi and Thoroar headed to Brightford to inspect the situation there.  It seemed that there is a problem in the mausoleum. Dangerous shadows come out of it at night and haunt the place. They seem to be repulsed by light. We thought that we have to see that for ourselves in order to estimate how to deal with the situation best. We waited until nighttime, and with some good fighting, the help of some guards and some light and fire magic, it was relatively easy to defeat the ones coming out. We decided to go inside the mausoleum at daytime in order to detect the source where this evil comes from.  We did that, and a light spell casted on my armor seemed to work at holding the shadows back. We explored the deep of the mausoleum, however it didnt seem like there was some kind of source where the shadows came from. Besides that, our light got dimmer the deeper we got inside. We returned back to the top, as we remembered that on the entrance to the mausoleum crypt felt like it affected our blessed weapons. We discovered it be a portal which the shadow armies used to teleport. It was sealed in the past, but the seal is wearing off. In order to seal it again we need some kind of catalyst and a guardian and after asking around in the city we discovered that we can use some lachrimae as catalyst and a golem as guardian. We hoped we can use some of the lachrimae in Aegis for this. With that thought we returned to Aegis hoping to convince the others about that also.

[This report is in exceptionally shaky handwriting, and seems to have suffered extensive and highly uneven water damage.The handwriting also changes throughout, traversing the spectrum from overly precise, blocky letters to a nearly-illegible scribble.] 5 24 9 Nallo, Grokin, and Riley are dead.The six of us were taken from the tavern to a strange shadow world and they died so the rest of us could make it back.I owe them my lives and I will never be able to repay that debt because their gone and their bodies are consigned to that hellworld. the shadow lord, the bastard that did this to our world, is apparently coming again.This might have been his declaration of war I don’t know and i cant bring myself to care.his army is powerful so that those 3’s sacrifices were only barely enough and we need to find back and find the anchor and kill and him and make him bleed and make him pay.and we need to find shin and make her pay for not doing more for letting my comrades and my friends die. [A second report is posted under the first, this one on fine stationery and in the immaculate handwriting of a professional scribe.] I do apologize for the state of the prior report; it was hastily written by a grief and in anger.  Please find below the formal report. A report on the events of May 24, 9PF, concerning the abduction of six adventurers, the existence of the demigoddess Shin, and the Lord of Shadow’s activities in the Shadowfell. Filed by Riad Hanoora on May 26, 9PF. The event involved the adventurers Riley Bonventre, Grokin, Nallo, Enyi, Thoroar Silverkin, Riad Hanoora; we met a former soldier, Wrex, who will likely be joining our ranks.Riley, Grokin, and Nallo perished in the line of duty and will be fully honored and sorely missed. Abduction The six of us – all involved except Wrex – were socializing in the Disgruntled Dragon when a black skull (an artifact from a prior adventure) began pouring out black smoke, the teleported everyone present to a strange, shadowy realm termed the Shadowfell, which resembled a mirrored, twisted version of Aegis.In the Shadowfell version of the Disgruntled Dragon were two drunken, belligerent dwarf-trolls of some description.They attacked us when we approached, and seemed strong but highly stupid (due, at least in part, to their unmistakable inebriation). Shin After we slew the denizens, we noticed a mysterious, large cat-like creature who introduced herself as Shin.She offered us information on our surroundings in exchange for information of our own.The Plane of Shadow is apparently the base of the Lord of Shadows.He is preparing for a second assault on our plane; originally, he had either ignored or not noticed Aegis’s continuing existence, but we have increasingly grown an “unresolved thorn in His side,” as Shin put it. Shin gave the impression of an immensely powerful being, perhaps a demigoddess or lesser deity.She said that she “goes by many names,” and claimed that she has eyes everywhere and can pass readily between the planes, but beyond that she offered no clues as to her identity. Shin informed us that the path back to our plane was through the mausoleum in Brightford, and apprised us of an upcoming meeting at the prison.She also expressed interest in Nallo’s shield.Most importantly, however, Shin explained that the Shadow Lord has an agent in our world, an anchor who is holding open a path between the Shadowfell and our plane. The Prison We made our way to the prison, through the familiar but bastardized streets of the Shadowfell’s Aegis (one of our number proposed the name “Sigea” for this city) to reach the prison.There were guard patrols, pairs of white-skinned, gray- or black-haired soldiers clad in pig iron armor.Nallo volunteered to turn invisible and independently scout the prison.She found therein a few guards, as well as human prisoners actively being tortured. We agreed that we could not, in good conscience, leave the prisoners to such a fate, but that storming the prison would be suicidal and would prevent us from spying the meeting of which Shin had told us.Instead, we elected to sneak into the prison in disguise; to this end, we ambushed a pair of guards and appropriated their armor. The next step was for Nallo magically to disguise herself as one of the guards, to help sell our ruse.Tragically, her spell invoked a barrage of magic missiles, which burst out from her before turning around to strike her down.We tried a counterspell to prevent the tragedy, but it failed, and Nallo was killed on the spot. Another patrol encountered us as we grieved for our young comrade; we slaughtered them.Demoralized by the death, and cognizant of the hell that would be raised when the patrols failed to report back, we collectively gave up on the prison; we agreed to flee Sigea for the mausoleum in Brightford which would apparently take us back home. Fleeing Sigea We proceeded through the city without incident.As we approached the gate, however, we heard the unholy howling of wolves that indicated that the guards’ absence had been noted.We charged for the gate, quickly dispatching the guards.Reinforcements appeared, however, and overwhelmed us.Riley and Grokin fought courageously, charging in against overwhelming numbers to protect our fallen, but they ultimately succumbed to countless wounds.It was only by their heroism and by grace that I survived, that any of us did.By the time the coast was clear, everyone of us was either on death’s door or in his palace; we passed through the gate of Sigea with our dead equaling our living in number. We spent some time in the outskirts of Aegis, recovering in the Shadowfell’s perverse equivalent of the Brightford forest.We laid Nallo, Riley, and Grokin to rest among the glades, and were considering hunting the plane’s equivalent of deer when a soldier greeted us.He introduced himself as Wrex, a soldier who had mysteriously found himself trapped in the realm for months.With Wrex, we struck out for Brightford. The Mausoleum Brightford turned out to be heavily fortified in this plane, with wickedly-spiked walls and at least two guard towers.Around the back, however, we found a relatively safe stretch of wall near the mausoleum.We snuck past people raising skeletons and an encampment of unknown hostiles as we made our way to the mausoleum. We were greeted there by a pair of spectral guards intent on safeguarding our home plane from this nightmarish hellscape.Unfortunately, they mistook us for its denizens, and refused to let us enter the mausoleum.Initial attempts at diplomacy went nowhere, leading to a fight, which made it more difficult still to convince them to let us pass.They ultimately caved only as the encampment rallied to face us; we escaped into our home plane a mere minute before we would have been slaughtered. Consequences The Lord of Shadows is once again turning his attention to our world, and to Aegis.We can expect that, whatever he might have planned, we will need to thwart or face it soon.It may be possible to reach out to Shin again, bearing sufficient gifts of information or magic, and the intelligence she provides will likely be worth the price. Sigea will likely be better-fortified against assaults such as ours.It is unclear if its denizens are aware of our interest in the prison, but they will likely reinforce their patrols and their gate.We will need to hunt down and kill the anchor, whoever that might be, as Shin insists that this is the only way to close the path between the planes. Nallo, Grokin, and Riley rest in peace, consigned to the eternal as treasured comrades and war heroes.Wrex will, I suspect, take up the mantle – never to replace what we lost that day, but fulfilling the legacy of these fallen heroes. as reported by Riad Hanoora, transcribed and edited by Sir Samantha Kerren, Esq.

Webwood Hazard 6 - 12 - 9 People have gone missing of late near the Webwood Forest. Riad, Rowen, Melidan and myself decided to investigate. We found an unconscious kobold in the fangs of a spider, Squished the spider and brought the still living kobold to Brightford. Continuing on, we were later ambushed by masked humanoids, we killed the ones with blades. Melidan managed to put the leader asleep so we could capture her. She refused to give us a name, but she did hint at an Archdruid, "Vorgell the Witch". We placed he in the prison of Aegis.